This study analyses the treatment of Islamic law (Fiqh) under the English legal system by looking into the developments in waqf law in British India. It has the dual objective of analysing the impact of the English legal system upon Islamic law, and determining the role of various actors in this process. It argues that waqf law was transformed in order to fit into the state structure. The colonial state used the techniques of translation, adjudication, legislation and teaching in order to transform Islamic law. Adjudication was preferred over legislative codification as a mode of governance and rule making because of its flexibility. The translation of classical Islamic legal texts, the Hidāya and certain parts of the Fatāwā al-'Ālamgīriyya, relieved English judges of the need for a reliance on local legal advisors. However, Muslim lawyers, judges, legal commentators, and some religious scholars ('ulamā') simultaneously collaborated and negotiated with, and resisted colonial administrators in the process of legal transformation. As adjudication was a preferred mode of transformation, legal commentaries played a crucial role in legal developments. A majority of legal commentators were Muslims, such as Ameer Ali, Abdur Rahim and Faiz Tyabji. They used their legal treatises to resist any colonial intervention in Islamic law. Although English educated Muslims replaced 'ulamā' as cultural intermediaries between the state and society, this did not eliminate the role of 'ulamā' as the custodians of Islamic law. They established closer links with society and issued fatāwā (legal opinions) on legal issues. Fatāwā were sought regarding every important aspect of waqf law, from the validity of family awqāf to the management of awqāf and the permissibility of awqāf of movables such as shares of companies. 'Ulamā' also lobbied for the enforcement of Islamic law in order to promote women's rights of inheritance and to get a divorce. This study finds that Anglo-Muhammadan law was a product of interaction between various sections of Muslim society and colonial administrators. It reflected the socio-political context of colonial India and the process of negotiations between divergent interest holders. Despite replacing the traditional institutional structure, the overall legal system became more inclusive. It could interact with various stakeholders and represent them in the process of law making in order to respond to social change.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the short- and long-term complications of pediatric tracheostomy, emphasizing posttracheostomy tracheal stenosis in an animal model.

DESIGN
Twenty-five New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned to three groups: flap tracheostomy, traditional vertical tracheostomy, and control. Interactive image analysis was used to compare the tracheal cross-section area and circumference between groups 16 weeks after surgery. The incidence of peristomal infections and accidental decannulations was also compared.

RESULTS
The vertical tracheostomy group had a smaller circumference (P = .01) and smaller cross-sectional area (P = .006) than the control or flap tracheostomy groups. A 30% decrease in tracheal cross-sectional area occurred in the vertical tracheostomy group. The flap tracheostomy group had fewer problems with accidental decannulation and peristomal infection compared with the vertical tracheostomy group.

CONCLUSIONS
We found no significant risk of tracheal stenosis or adverse effects on tracheal growth for the flap tracheostomy in a developing animal model. This tracheostomy technique may be useful in the management of pediatric patients who require long-term bypass of the upper airway.


F-actin mediates motility both at the leading edge of a cell and in the nucleus. F-actin delivers MKL1 to the nucleus The highly dynamic actin cytoskeleton maintains cell shape, enables cell movement, and contributes to cell division. Perhaps surprisingly, actin cytoskeletal dynamics also regulate gene expression. Persistent cell migration involves both cytoskeletal reorganization and expression of specific genes. The transcription factor serum response factor (SRF) and the coactivator megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 (MKL1) mediate transcriptional changes in response to external signals that affect actin dynamics. Globular actin (G-actin) keeps MKL1 in the cytosol, and signals that promote the formation of filamentous actin (F-actin) trigger the nuclear translocation of MKL1 and transcriptional activation of SRF. MKL1 not only had to dissociate from G-actin but also had to associate with the F-actin binding protein filamin A (FLNA) to promote SRF activity. Indeed, FLNA bound to the promoters of the same genes that are regulated by MKL1-SRF. Blocking the interaction between FLNA and MKL1—by inhibiting actin polymerization, mutating the FLNA interaction site on MKL1, or reducing the amount of FLNA—impaired the expression of MKL1-SRF target genes. Thus, actin dynamics not only actively move cells but also actively mediate the transcriptional activity of regulators needed for cellular movement. Megakaryoblastic leukemia 1 (MKL1) is a coactivator of serum response factor (SRF) that promotes the expression of genes associated with cell proliferation, motility, adhesion, and differentiation—processes that also involve dynamic cytoskeletal changes in the cell. MKL1 is inactive when bound to monomeric globular actin (G-actin), but signals that activate the small guanosine triphosphatase RhoA cause actin polymerization and MKL1 dissociation from G-actin. We found a new mechanism of MKL1 activation that is mediated through its binding to filamin A (FLNA), a protein that binds filamentous actin (F-actin). The interaction of FLNA and MKL1 was required for the expression of MKL1 target genes in primary fibroblasts, melanoma, mammary and hepatocellular carcinoma cells. We identified the regions of interaction between MKL1 and FLNA, and cells expressing an MKL1 mutant that was unable to bind FLNA exhibited impaired cell migration and reduced expression of MKL1-SRF target genes. Induction and repression of MKL1-SRF target genes correlated with increased or decreased MKL1-FLNA interaction, respectively. Lysophosphatidic acid–induced RhoA activation in primary human fibroblasts promoted the association of endogenous MKL1 with FLNA, whereas exposure to an actin polymerization inhibitor dissociated MKL1 from FLNA and decreased MKL1-SRF target gene expression in melanoma cells. Thus, FLNA functions as a positive cellular transducer linking actin polymerization to MKL1-SRF activity, counteracting the known repressive complex of MKL1 and monomeric G-actin.


We live in a world of ubiquitous technology and pervasive data collection and mining. Third parties ("Collectors") collect data ("Data") from individuals ("Consumers") of a nature and in amounts that were unimaginable or acceptable just a decade ago. In turn, that collection and the associated mining that can occur in the Collector's database create an unprecedented risk that Collectors, their employees or even hackers might appropriate or disclose Data about Consumers for economic gain or simply for perverse pleasure. This article considers whether society should impose criminal liability to address misuse of Data relating to Consumers. Our use of ubiquitous technology has resulted, and will continue to result, in new relationships whereby we now use third parties to process or store information that we used to maintain ourselves or to replace real-world relationships that are now inefficient because they are too expensive, too slow or too imprecise. Each of these changes can create the implication that we have sacrificed privacy for convenience and cost-savings. Do we lose our privacy interest in that information because it is now more efficient to collect it in a database where it can be searched and sorted in myriad ways? We conclude that Consumers do not lose their privacy interests in these circumstances because the societal benefits of pervasive, ubiquitous technology can be exploited only by sharing that privacy. In the absence of that recognition, the only alternatives are to forego utilization of the technology or resort to inefficient barriers to exploitation of privacy. The article then analyzes whether civil remedies for invasion of that privacy interest are insufficient to protect Consumers or to protect the societal interest in assuring the sharing of private information. The inefficiency and inadequacy of civil sanctions leads us to consider the possibility of criminal liability. We do so by considering two models: The "true crime" approach and the notion of "public welfare offenses". "Public welfare" offenses emerged a century ago to protect tangible items and activities. Given the increasingly critical role intangible items, including personal data, play in defining the "public welfare" in twenty-first century America, it seems both reasonable and prudent to use this approach to protect them, as well.


Two conflicting trends are at work in Human Resources Management. On the one hand there is a growing trend toward high commitment policies designed to develop broadly trained employees who identify with their organization and who are prepared and trusted to exercize high orders of discretion. Organizations with such strategies are marked by participation, lifetime employment, career flexibility, new forms of compensation, and generous fringes. At the moment, however, these strategies are being threatened by corporate restructuring, downsizing, and leveraged buyouts, all of which discourage investment in human capital. But even if high commitment organizations dominate the heartland of the economy in the future, many in the labor force will be denied their benefits.


Traditionally the treatment of mental illness has been a responsibility of state governments, but they have been unable to solve the problem with any degree of success. In spite of rationalizations as to why a health department should not become involved in this field, more and more local health departments in California and across the nation are initiating various services in mental health. With the widespread interest in mental health at national and state levels and in local citizens' groups, local health officers must involve themselves in this most difficult effort. While the treatment of the emotionally disturbed and the psychotic is demanded most aggressively by the public which seeks outpatient, inpatient, and rehabilitation services on the local level, two services-consultation and education-information services-offer more hope in the promotion of mental health as contrasted with the treatment of mental illness.


Route maps, which depict a path from one location to another, can be powerful tools for visualizing and communicating directions. Although creating a route map may seem to be a straightforward task, the underlying design of most route maps is quite complex. Mapmakers choose which information is most essential for following the route and they use a variety of cartographic generalization techniques including distortion, simplification, and abstraction to emphasize this essential information.
Recently, route maps in the form of driving directions, have emerged as one of the most popular applications on the Web. In contrast to hand-designed route maps, these computer-generated route maps are more precise and contain more information. Yet, in general, they are also more difficult and frustrating to use. The main shortcoming of current route map rendering systems is that they do not distinguish between essential and extraneous information. As a result, these systems cannot apply the generalization techniques used in hand-designed maps to emphasize the information needed to follow the route.
In this dissertation we present a new set of techniques and algorithms for automatically designing and rendering route maps that are far easier to follow than standard computer-generated route maps. We begin by examining research in cognitive psychology and cartography, on how people think about and communicate routes. Based on this analysis we identify the essential information a route map must communicate to support navigation. We then examine a variety of hand-designed route maps and enumerate a new set of cartographic generalization techniques specifically designed to improve the usability of route maps by emphasizing the most essential route information.
Finally, we describe algorithmic implementations of these generalization techniques within LineDrive, a real-time system for automatically designing and rendering route maps. LineDrive designs routes maps to the constraints of the display device and can produce clear, easy-to-read maps for a variety of display devices including standard sized web pages, handheld personal digital assistants and WAP cell phones. LineDrive is publicly accessible at www.mapblast.com and we present feedback from over 2200 users of the LineDrive system. The feedback shows that just over 99 percent of users believe LineDrive maps are preferable to using standard computer-generated route maps alone.


Abstract The launching of biofuel vehicles in 2003 led to ethanol demand increase and a new phase of expansion of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil. Although the increase in area of production and the quantity of sugarcane produced have been very important to Brazilian agribusiness, the recent agricultural productivity rate has slowed. In this context, this article analyzed the factors that influence the growth rate of sugarcane productivity in the regions of new agricultural expansions, specifically in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Goias. For the collection and data analysis, we used bibliographical and documentary research. The shift-share method was used to analyze the evolution of sugarcane production, through the decomposition of this variable into two factors: area effect and productivity effect. The results show that the increase in production in the region under analysis was mainly due to the incorporation of new planting areas and not to an increase in productivity. In addition, structural factors have negatively impacted crop performance. The analysis indicates that there is a slow rhythm of sugarcane fields' renovation and the adoption of old varieties. Although the mechanization index is high in the studied regions, difficulties of technological adaptation still provide deficiency in the agricultural performance of sugarcane.


Transnational administration is the routinization and bureaucratization of global governance. Concepts of transnational administration move beyond methodological nationalism and absolutist understandings of administrative sovereignty vested solely with nation-state authorities to articulate various administrative arenas of global policy. Transnational administration is a new "third scale" of public administration. The first two scales of public administration are national administration, and its internationalization due to globalization, and the international public administration located in the secretariats of international organizations. Transnational administration incorporates nonstate actors in decentralized, devolved, or delegated interactions within and between policy communities operating in global and regional spheres. Organizations such as the Bank of International Settlements, the Kimberley Process, the Global Health and Partnership Model, and Transparency International highlight the actions of transnational administrative actors. Critiques of these and other organizations have raised new concerns about accountability, representation, and transparency.


A total of 17 Pichia (Wickerhamomyces) isolates obtained from enological ecosystems in the Utiel-Requena Spanish region were characterized by physiological (using API 20C AUX strips and ID Yeast Plus System miniaturized identification systems) and molecular (PCR-RFLP and sequencing) techniques as belonging to the species P. fermentans, P. membranifaciens, and W. anomalus. Data support the reclassification of P. anomala as Wickerhamomyces anomalus. In order to characterize their enzymatic abilities, xylanase, β-glucosidase, lipase, esterase, protease, and pectinase qualitative and quantitative assays were made. Wickerhamomyces anomalus and P. membranifaciens were the most interesting species as a source of enzymes for the winemaking industry. Glycosidase enzymes had a high degree of tolerance to high levels of glucose and ethanol, making them of great interest for enological use.


There are over 7,000 chambers of commerce in the United States. Most are led by a paid staff Executive who serves for multiple years as a fulltime employee. They are also driven by a volunteer Chairperson who, typically, serves for one year. Working together is critical for organizational success.


Newssources and quality in journalism. An exploration of domestic newsitems in Flemish and Dutch newspapers. This article analyzes domestic news in four Flemish and Dutch quality newspapers in terms of source transparency and the role of pre-packaged information. The purpose of the study is to provide an analysis of Flemish and Dutch newspapers in light of the British quality press situation. Davis (2008) and Lewis et al. (2008a; 2008b) found that 70% of the domestic news in British newspapers is entirely or partly based on 'recycled' information. This article analyzed De Morgen, De Standaard, NRC Handelsblad and de Volkskrant. The share of pre-packaged information among these newspapers differed rather much. The content analysis showed that 34% of domestic news consists entirely or partly of pre-packaged information. The outcomes were less dramatic than the British ones. Nevertheless, the results show that press and PR agencies do have a significant influence on the news agenda of leading newspapers. Hence, future large-scale research should focus more on the trajectories of information from sources to the possible news articles in the newspapers (and other news outlets). Our study shows that journalistic quality is vulnerable to pre-packaged news, which can be a threat to reliability, transparency, including the very identity of news outlets.


Eastern-inspired concepts of mindfulness, compassion, and acceptance have become widely recognized in mainstream psychological research, especially within applied fields such as clinical and counseling psychology. Within this context it is reasonable to question whether Eastern ideas can also inform dialogical self theory. The question is apposite given that dialogical self theory takes as its prerogative the 'bridging' of distinct, even opposing, theoretical approaches and research traditions into a single framework. Our paper examines what is at stake in such attempts through a study of Buddhist understandings of mind and consciousness. We argue that Buddhist principles are grounded in a unique, ethical epistemology contradistinctive from Western traditions and this makes a bridging of dialogical and Buddhist approaches unlikely in the first instance. Attempts to do so, we argue, risk compromising the meanings of Buddhist concepts. Does this preclude the possibilities for dialogue between Buddhism and dialogical self theory? We do not think so. Rather, we suggest that Buddhism can be drawn upon to study the assumptions of dialogical theory, and we exemplify this through a comparative analysis of the dialogical self's moral program. Our study reveals how dialogical self theory retains a uniquely Western ethics that, despite being explicitly open to alterity, remains at risk of imposing itself onto alternative cultural positions. To genuinely engage Buddhism in dialogue, we conclude, is not a matter of translating Buddhist ideas onto the dialogical platform but to allow the Buddhist position to disturb the certitudes of the dialogical model.


A wireless ad hoc network that has no connection to the Internet has difficulty to construct a public key infrastructure (PKI) when the network does not provide online access to trusted authorities. In this paper, we propose an on demand distributed public key management to construct the PKI for wireless ad hoc networks. The proposed system collects effective certificates on demand. Each node holds in its local repository only the certificates issued to it in order to reduce the amount of memory. To collect certificates efficiently, we propose an ad hoc simultaneous nodes search protocol (ASNS) that can search chained nodes using broadcast packets and routing tables. The proposed system can reduce memory size for authentication and does not have to manage a certificate revocation list (CRL). By a computer simulation, we show that the system is advantageous to the network in which density of the node is low.


Nanofibers form the broadest class of nanomaterials due to their unique properties. High surface-area-to-volume ratios, low diameters, high strength values, low basis weights, high porosities, and small pore sizes make them good candidates for numerous applications. Cosmetics are one of these important application areas. Excellent interaction with environment (e.g., skin or damaged tissue), increased loading capacity for agents, high liquid absorption capacities, high oxygen, and water vapor permeabil‐ ity values are provided by characteristic properties of nanofibers. They are used as therapeutics, facial masks, skin care, and renewal products. This chapter will provide an overview of nanofibers in cosmetics. A brief history of cosmetics, different types of nanomaterials used in cosmetics, nanofiber properties, and production methods are described in this chapter. Novel applications of nanofibers in cosmetics are also mentioned.


Stress, Obesogenic Behaviors, Measures of Obesity Risk Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Women Sepideh Dibay Moghadam Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Shirley A.A. Beresford, Ph.D. Department of Epidemiology Background: Obesity is a complex public health problem and is a risk factor for chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Hispanic population is growing in the United States, and obesity affects Hispanic women more than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Stress may shift dietary behaviors towards higher consumption of sugary and fatty foods (e.g. soft drink and fast food consumption) and promote distracted eating (e.g. eating while doing other activities such as watching TV). However, stress may affect obesogenic behaviors differently in Hispanics and NHW women because of cultural differences, which may influence experience of stress as well as dietary behaviors and practices. The overall goal of this dissertation is to evaluate the effects of perceived stress on three obesogenic behaviors and weight status among NHW and Hispanic women. This dissertation evaluates the difference in three obesogenic behaviors (i.e. soft drink consumption, fast food consumption, and distracted eating) by ethnicity and acculturation (chapter 1), whether ethnicity or acculturation moderates the association between stress and obesogenic behaviors (Chapter 2). The mediating roles of three obesogenic behaviors in the association between stress and measures of obesity risk are examined separately among Hispanics and NHW women (Chapter 3). Methods: For this dissertation, the data from socioeconomic status obesity (SESO) study was used. SESO is a population-based cohort of 1,040 women (NHW and Hispanic) in South King County who were followed for two years. Baseline data were used in chapter1 and 2, and for chapter 3, perceived stress at baseline, average of baseline and year-two follow-up obesogenic behaviors, and measures of obesity risk at year-two follow-up were used. The associations were evaluated using multivariable linear regression models. Mediation was tested by product-ofcoefficients methods. Results: Chapter 1 showed that Hispanic women consumed more soft drink compared to NHW women and showed less distracted eating behavior. Less acculturation was associated with less distracted eating among Hispanics. Chapter 2 showed that perceived stress was significantly lower in Hispanics compared to NHW and in less acculturated Hispanic women compared to more acculturated Hispanic women. Ethnicity only moderated the association between perceived stress and fast food consumption. Chapter 3 showed that three behaviors combined mediated 33% of the association between perceived stress and BMI among NHW women. Conclusions: These studies contribute to the understanding of the relationship of ethnicity/acculturation with three obesogenic behaviors, perceived stress, and measures of obesity risk. There is not much data on distracted eating, specifically among the Hispanic population. Since less distracted eating was associated with less acculturation, more studies on this behavior are needed. The results suggest stress control techniques may be helpful to reduce obesity and obesogenic behaviors specifically among NHW women. Weight loss interventions for NHW women may also benefit from targeting three obesogenic dietary behaviors.


The Greek author Lucian of Samosata (120 – 192 AD) has long remained an enigmatic figure for scholars of the Second Sophistic.This is due, in no small part, to his conflicting, satirical treatment of the two main cultural institutions of his day, the art of rhetoric and the practice of philosophy.Yet though he satirizes both of these in equal measure, upon more careful scrutiny it becomes clear that the underlying motivation for his critique of each stems from different emotional centers. It is the contention of the present paper that while Lucian's critique of rhetoric is best understood as based on a deep respect and reverence for eloquence, combined with a concomitant disgust for unworthy, contemporary representatives of it, on the other hand,his motivation for satirizing philosophy appears to be simply the fact that Lucian cared little for, and thought little of the subject(despite his objections to the contrary), and that he preferred instead the uncomplicated principles of common sense and practical virtue.


One hundred healthy subjects (50 male and 50 female), selected to provide an even distribution of age (15 to 71 yr) and height (165 to 194 cm in males and 152 to 176 cm in females), underwent a progressively incremental (100 kpm/min each min) exercise test to a symptom-limited maximum. Measurements were made of O2 intake and CO2 output, ventilation and breathing pattern, heart rate and blood pressure, and rating of perceived exertion. The ventilatory anaerobic threshold was identified. Predictive data were derived for measurements at maximal and submaximal exercise. Maximal power output (Wmax) and oxygen intake (VO2max) varied with sex (0, male; 1, female), age (yr), and height (Ht, cm): Wmax = 20.4 (Ht) - 8.74 (Age) - 288 (Sex) - 1,909 kpm/min (SEE, 216; r, 0.858); VO2max = 0.046 (Ht) - 0.021 (Age) - 0.62 (Sex) - 4.31 L/min (SEE, 0.458; r, 0.869). The extent of leisure time activity exerted a positive influence on VO2max (r, 0.47; p less than 0.001); VO2max was also related to lean thigh volume (r, 0.79). Maximal heart rate (HR) declined as a function of age: HRmax = 202 - 0.72 (Age) beats/min (SEE, 10.3; r, 0.72). Maximal O2 pulse (O2Pmax) was related to height and was systematically higher in males than in females: O2Pmax = 0.28 (Ht) - 3.3 (Sex) - 26.7 ml/beat (SEE, 2.8; r, 0.86). Ventilation was closely related to CO2 output, and the maximal tidal volume was related to vital capacity. The VO2 increased linearly with power throughout the test; in an individual subject, the intercept of this relationship was positively influenced by weight and height.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


can supplement their lack of energy access, in an effort to improve the health care available to those communities.
The report examines three separate case studies that have been carried out in India: the implementation
of solar photovoltaic systems into primary health centers in rural parts of southern India to combat issues of
intermittent or non-existent grid connected electricity, the deployment and analysis of solar direct drive vaccine
refrigeration systems in these same areas to preserve the potency of vaccines and medicines needed by these
communities, as well as an examination of a proposal for a solar powered boat ambulance to assist in providing
primary health care, supplies, and transport to isolated tribal communities in eastern India.
The study on the primary health centers has shownthat the implementation of solar systems in these facilities
has lead to an average 31% savings in monthly electricity bills and equal reduction in demand from electricity
from the grid, while increasing their overall reliability of electricity access. The solar direct drive vaccine refrigeration
field study has revealed that these systems are capable of keeping their contents within the required
temperature limits in the field, and surveys have shown they have many preferably qualities when compared to
conventional units. Finally the study of the solar powered boat ambulance has revealed that the latest evaluated
design would be able to service a distance of 25 kilometers in the month of the worst solar irradiation. This
would adequately serve the tribal population in the region and would aid in combatting the poor conditions
and undesirable health practices currently being implemented there.
The analysis of these cases involves the use MATLAB and Simulink software to determine the capabilities of
the technologies used and the benefits from their implementation. The analyses reveal the potential to improve
patient outreach and overall health of the communities in these isolated region by filling the gaps in their current
energy demand with solar photovoltaics. It is the hope that these learnings can serve as a reference for future
projects in India and other developing nations around the world.


who look after those in nursing or residential homes for the elderly. Typically patients will be admitted to such homes at times of crisis, when the availability of medical information may be critically important. There is an additional problem when people are not certain that they will settle in a particular home and prefer to register temporarily with a new doctor at first. When they register permanently the transfer of records is delayed by the time spent as a temporarily registered patient. Meanwhile hospital reports and discharge summaries continue to be sent to the previous doctor. I care for 21 patients in a nearby nursing home. One was previously registered with my practice, one is temporarily registered (two months), and I am waiting for the records offive (mean 4 2 months so far). For the remainder, who are permanently registered with me, there was a mean interval between registration and receipt of records of 5 1 months (range 2-8 months) with an additional temporary registration period in halfofthem of 3 7 months. Thus eight months or more can be spent caring for an elderly and often ill patient with no knowledge of his or her medical past. This is despite excellent liaison with the local family practitioner committee. I issue a questionnaire to all new patients, but the information gained is often vague and unhelpful. One patient mentioned problems with her neck and her blood, but not until her notes finally arrived did I appreciate her multiple myeloma. The last note by her previous general practitioner read, "Admit for terminal care." What can be done about this heroic but dangerous business of treating patients blindfold? The idea of a summary card held by the patient is attractive but probably impractical. Who should have one? When does one become elderly? Why just the elderly anyway? If all patients have one why do they not simply transfer the entire record? While we wait for electronic "credit cards" containing medical information in a decipherable but secure form a simple solution suggests itself. When it is imperative to know about a patient's history a telephone call to the previous practitioner (why are doctors' telephone numbers not on medical cards?) could easily result in the summary card from the patient's notes or at worst a brief resume of the history being sent directly to the new doctor. This would involve a minimum oftime and effort but would at least provide some peace of mind to the legions of blindfolded doctors.


Sustainable energy solutions are becoming increasingly popular as the shift away from conventional fuel-based energy solutions continues. Solar, wind, and hydro solutions are the most frequently used renewable energy sources. Modern wind energy solutions are usually constructed using a design of a large three-bladed horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). The blades are upwind facing, which helps support the turbine tower against environmental strain and torque ripple produced from the spinning motion of the blades. HAWTs are usually organised into large groups referred to as wind farms. Wind farms are becoming increasingly popular with their ability to adapt to offshore and onshore environments. In both scenarios, wind turbines have a relatively low footprint, with the land underneath still available to be utilised for agricultural and aquacultural purposes. This paper investigates the sustainability of wind farms by surveying a range of papers. The papers will cover the development, construction, and continued operation of wind turbines providing insights into the sustainability issues. Reviewing these papers will allow for an informed revision to the code of sustainability for future implementations of wind farms. The paper concludes with a case study to apply the suggested sustainability code in a contextual scenario and recommendations for the general engineering profession.


We study the effect of government encouraged or mandated interchange fee ceilings on consumer and merchant adoption and usage of payment cards in an economy where card acceptance is far from complete. We believe that we are the first to use bank-level data to study the impact of interchange fee regulation. We find that consumer and merchant welfare improved because of increased consumer and merchant adoption leading to greater usage of payment cards. We also find that bank revenues increased when interchange fees were reduced although these results are critically dependent on merchant acceptance being far from complete at the beginning and during the implementation of interchange fee ceilings. In addition, there is most likely a threshold interchange fee below which social welfare decreases although our data currently does not allow us to quantify it.


System reliability depends on inherent mechanical and structural aging factors as well as on operational and environmental conditions, which could enhance (or smoothen) such factors. In practice, the involved dependences may burden the modeling of the reliability behavior over time, in which traditional stochastic modeling approaches may likely fail. Empirical prediction methods, such as support vector machines (SVMs), become a valid alternative whenever reliable time series data are available. However, the prediction performance of SVMs depends on the setting of a number of parameters that influence the effectiveness of the training stage during which the SVMs are constructed based on the available data set. The problem of choosing the most suitable values for the SVM parameters can be framed in terms of an optimization problem aimed at minimizing a prediction error. In this work, this problem is solved by particle swarm optimization (PSO), a probabilistic approach based on an analogy with the collective motion of biological organisms. SVM in liaison with PSO is then applied to tackle reliability prediction problems based on time series data of engineered components. Comparisons of the obtained results with those given by other time series techniques indicate that the PSO + SVM model is able to provide reliability predictions with comparable or great accuracy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The utility of omniphobic surfaces stems from their ability to repel a multitude of liquids, possessing a broad range of surface tensions and polarities, by causing them to bead up and either roll or slide off. These surfaces may be self-cleaning, corrosion-resistant, heat-transfer enhancing, stain-resistant or resistant to mineral- or biofouling. The majority of reported omniphobic surfaces use texture, lubricants, and/or grafted monolayers to engender these repellent properties. Unfortunately, these approaches often produce surfaces with deficiencies in long-term stability, durability, scalability, or applicability to a wide range of substrates. To overcome these limitations, we have fabricated an all-solid, substrate-independent, smooth, omniphobic coating composed of a fluorinated polyurethane and fluorodecyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane. Liquids of varying surface tension, including water, hexadecane, ethanol, and silicone oil, exhibit low-contact-angle hysteresis (<15°) on these surfaces, allowing liquid droplets to slide off, leaving no residue. Moreover, we demonstrate that these robust surfaces retained their repellent properties more effectively than textured or lubricated omniphobic surfaces after being subjected to mechanical abrasion.


Early detection of breast cancer is key for a better survival rate, so there are huge demands for a safe and reliable breast cancer screening method, which currently is not available. Earlier studies are showing that the impedance spectroscopy can be an effective discriminator for breast tumor against healthy tissues. Traditional electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has progressed well into clinical stages for such an application with some promising results. But EIT generally operates at low frequencies, ranging typically lower than 1 MHz. Previous research work has suggested that the important information on the tumor impedance spectra exists in the higher frequency domain. Thus, this work focuses on the introduction and the evaluation of a spectral capacitively-coupled electrical resistivity tomography (CCERT) for breast cancer diagnosis. Compared to the traditional EIT, CCERT can reach a much higher frequency domain producing the spectroscopic images in a broader range. This in turns offers improved discrimination of tumors against normal tissues via frequency difference imaging or spectral imaging as it is shown in this paper. Additionally, direct contact between the EIT electrodes and the surface of the body, which causes significant challenges and uncertainties in measured data, is avoided in CCERT inherently a contactless method. In this paper, a 3D in-silico model of the CCERT system is created and solved using the finite element method (FEM) to simulate the forward model for each frequency. The feasibility simulation analysis is conducted based on the existing clinical breast cancer data and a CCERT reconstruction. For the experimental verification, an 8-electrode laboratory phantom was tested with the excitation frequency ranging from 200 kHz to 13 MHz. The simulation and experimental results show the promising potential of this method for breast cancer imaging. The wide-range spectroscopic images provide better discrimination of tumors against healthy tissues through their spectral conductivity profile as well as the rate of changes in spectral conductivity images.


ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 12 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Potassium contributes significantly to growth, development, yield, and quality of the crop plants. Application of unbalanced potassium fertilization leads to low productivity and quality of cereals and other crops. Hence, there is an urgent demand to find out the balanced source of potassium fertilizer through utilization of nutrient management approaches. In the current study, we applied farmyard manure (FYM) as an alternative source of potassium fertilization, combination of FYM and muriate of potash (MOP) to show their role on growth, development, yield. Expression study of potassium transporter in corn (PEHM2 variety) also carried out. A field experiment was carried out using 0, 60, 90 kg K/ha through MOP, FYM and their combinations in corn-wheat cropping system during two consecutive years 2010-11 and 2011-12. Results showed that potassium fertilization played a significant role in the enhancement in growth and development of shoot as well as root. The high expression of ZmKUP gene, associated with translocation of potassium in plants with fertilization of potassium resulted in an improvement in growth and yield which further leads to an increase in yield of corn. Application of MOP and FYM both as potassium fertilizer showed a significant improvement in growth and yield of corn through an enhancement of ZmKUP expression. So, here we are showing that FYM as an alternative source of potassium fertilization as a suitable option for sustainable yield. K e y w o r d s


The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) may be affected by inflammatory, traumatic, infectious, congenital, and developmental, as seen in other joints. However, the most common affliction of the TMJ and masticatory apparatus is a group of functional disorders with associated pain that occurs predominantly in women and was previously known as the TMJ pain dysfunction syndrome. Since 1978, there have been substantial changes in the study of etiologic factors, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of what are now called temporomandibular disorders (TMD).(1)The general perception that all symptoms in the head, face, and jaw region without an identifiable cause constitute a "TMJ" problem is clearly unfounded.Although some oral lesions, such as torus palatinus and torus mandibularis are normal variants, but require prompt diagnosis and sometime treatment to reduce the potential for serious complication and enhance prosthodontic treatment. The purpose of this study is to inspect the relation of TMJ dysfunction syndrome to the presence of oral exostosis, and find the prevalence of torus palatinus (TP) and torus mandibularis (TM)The sample consisted of 932 teachers, 301 males and 631 females were examined for the presence of TMD, TP and / or TM. Analysis was carried out according to age, gender, TMJ dysfunction and the presence of TP and TM.Results indicated that 123(16.1%) had at least one symptoms of TMD, where as 49 (5.3%) had TP; and 67 (7.2) had TM. The male: female prevalence ratios of TP and TM were 1: 3.42 and 1: 1.81 respectively. The results revealed that significant relationship between TMD and tori, and increase in percentage of mandibular tori with the presence of TMJ dysfunctional syndrome more than maxillary tori were found.TP and TM were more frequent in females and there is significant relation between the TP and TM with presence of TMJ dysfunction syndrome ( P< 0.05 ) especially TM , the presence of TM might be useful to look for sign of dysfunction.


The present invention provides even a very small area may be defined code information and XY coordinates of the dot pattern information, the information is also proposed such a method of reproducing a dot pattern and an information reproducing apparatus. Specifically formed by the reading unit in order to recognize various kinds of multimedia information, arranged in accordance with a predetermined rule medium dot pattern by the light spot generated dot code generation algorithm like print reading unit as image data, code, data of the image data, reads out the multimedia information corresponding to the code data from the storage unit to be reproduced.


A 23-year-old man, involved in a motor-vehicle accident, became quadraparetic due to cervical spinal cord injury at the C-4 to C-6 level. Five months later he was noted to have bilateral, asymmetric pupillary mydriasis precipitated by elevation and stretch of an arm or leg. Pharmacologic pupillary testing and ciliospinal reflex responses suggested that the oculosympathetic pathways were intact. Computed tomographic myelography using metrizamide disclosed a posttraumatic syringomyelic cyst at C-4. This pupillary phenomenon has been termed oculosympathetic spasm, and we reviewed four previous reports. While the cause of oculosympathetic spasm remains speculative, it may represent a localized form of autonomic hyperreflexia.


Development of technology and economy is often accompanied by surging usage of fossil fuels. Global warming could speed up air pollution and cause floods and droughts, not only affecting the safety of human beings, but also causing drastic economic changes. Therefore, the trend of carbon dioxide emissions and the factors affecting growth of emissions have drawn a lot of attention in all countries in the world. Related studies have investigated many factors that affect carbon emissions such as fuel consumption, transport emissions, and national population. However, most of previous studies on forecasting carbon emissions hardly considered more than two factors. In addition, conventional statistical methods of forecasting carbon emissions usually require some assumptions and limitations such as normal distribution and large dataset. Consequently, this study proposes a two-stage forecasting approach consisting of multivariable grey forecasting model and genetic programming. The multivariable grey forecasting model at the first stage enjoys the advantage of introducing multiple factors into the forecasting model, and can accurately make prediction with only four or more samples. However, grey forecasting may perform worse when the data is nonlinear. To overcome this problem, the second stage is to adopt genetic programming to establish the error correction model to reduce the prediction error. To evaluating performance of the proposed approach, the carbon dioxide emissions in Taiwan from 2000 to 2015 are forecasted and analyzed. Experimental comparison on various combinations of multiple factors shows that the proposed forecasting approach has higher accuracy than previous approaches.


The studies carried out to appropriate slope ratio for underwater trench of immersed tunnel of Hongkong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. A test trench of 100-meter-long and 21-meter-width was excavated under Lingding Ocean along designed axis of immersed tunnel. The trench includes four slope ratio, such as 1:5, 1:6, 1:8 and 1:10. Two actual measurement which includes multibeam measurement and single beam double frequency measurement were used to measure water depth and section form in different time. It is recommended that slope ratio 1:6 can be adopted for underwater trench of immersed tunnel of HZM Bridge.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of chocolate milk consumption on muscular recovery from eccentric exercise. Recovery will be monitored by measuring muscle soreness for 72 hours following eccentric fatiguing exercise. The second measure of muscular recovery will be changes in performance levels form before and after the eccentric fatiguing exercise
Methods: 10 male university students aged 18-22, regularly training and competing for a sports team participated in a randomised cross over design. A best of three jump mat protocol was completed. Exercise induced muscle damage and subsequently delayed onset muscle soreness were induced via two eccentric exercise; a 30-minute downhill run at -20% gradient at approximately 7km/h, followed by 10 box jumps. Participants consumed 400 ml of chocolate milk 15 minutes and then again 2 hours post-exercise, the second week participants consumed no chocolate milk (or vice-versa). After 24 hours jump mat scores were obtained for a post exercise performance measure score. 24, 48, 72 hours post-exercise soreness scores were recorded via the completion of multiple visual analogue scales.
Results: The findings of this study found that exercise induced muscle damage was successfully induced as performance levels were significantly lower post exercise. 80% of participant's performance levels dropped less when having consumed chocolate milk and collectively, the drop in performance was 16.2% less when consuming chocolate milk than when not. However, this difference between drink consumption was not significant. Pain intensities were significantly different across the 3 days, peaking at 48 hours and declining at 72 hours. Collectively pain scores were 16.51% greater without chocolate milk consumption than with ingestion, however this difference was again found to not be significant.


The soluble carbohydrate concentration of ruminal fluid, as affected by dietary forage content (DFC) and/or ruminally undegradable intake protein content (UIPC), was determined. Four ruminally cannulated steers, in a 4 × 4 Latin square design, were offered diets containing high (75 % of DM) or low (25 % of DM) DFC and high (6 % of DM) or low (5 % of DM) UIPC, in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Zinc-treated SBM was the primary UIP source. Soluble hexose concentration (145.1 μM) in ruminal fluid (RF) of steers fed low DFC diets exhibited a higher trend (P = 0.08) than that (124.5 μM) of steers fed high DFC diets. UIPC did not modulate (P = 0.54) ruminal soluble hexose concentrations. Regardless of diet, soluble hexose concentration declined immediately after feeding and did not rise until 3 h after feeding (P < 0.0001). Cellobiose (≈90 %) and glucose (≈10 %) were the major soluble hexoses present in RF. Maltose was not detected. Soluble glucose concentration (13.0 μM) was not modified by either UIPC (P = 0.40) nor DFC (P = 0.61). However, a DFC by post-prandial time interaction was detected (P = 0.02). Pentose concentrations were greater (P = 0.02) in RF of steers fed high DFC (100.2 μM) than steers fed low DFC (177.0 μM). UIPC did not influence (P = 0.35) soluble pentose concentration. The identity of soluble pentoses in ruminal fluid could not be determined. However, unsubstituted xylose and arabinose were excluded. These data indicate that: (i) soluble carbohydrate concentrations remain in ruminal fluid during digestion and fermentation; (ii) slight diurnal changes began after feeding; (iii) DFC influences the soluble carbohydrate concentration in RF; and (iv) UIPC of these diets does not affect the soluble carbohydrate concentration of RF.


This article addresses the benefits of undergraduate research to students, to faculty, and to universities. Research experiences are credited with increasing motivation for learning, helping undergraduate students decide on a career path, forming mentoring relationships between students and faculty, and improving student performance in writing, speaking, and working in teams. For many students, research experiences are their most memorable experiences as undergraduates. From the perspective of universities, students bring enthusiasm to research teams and often ask insightful questions-sometimes quite by accident-that can change the ways faculty approach research inquiries. Student researchers contribute to the world of knowledge. Research universities have distinct advantages in offering undergraduate research opportunities. For example, research and education strongly complement each other. Undergraduate students benefit from the libraries, laboratories, and computers that support faculty research and graduate education. Our experience at Penn State indicates that offering research opportunities to undergraduate students is an educational activity that doesn't cost large sums of money, although it does require substantial commitments of faculty time. Offering undergraduate research is a valuable recruiting tool, especially for academically gifted students. Several examples of undergraduate research at Penn State are included, for students in a variety of academic


This paper elaborates on a paradigm for quality-of-service (QoS) that is local, i.e., it does not depend on multinode cooperation. In order to maintain short queuing delays, we individuate flows that occupy a large fraction of a buffer and segregate those flows into a separate queue. The algorithm is provably fair and can avoid all packet reorderings. We show through extensive simulations that state requirements are minimal, and that other flows will benefit from short queuing delays while aggressive flows can still maintain high throughput.


Volunteer Computing is a low cost and easy deployable solution for scientific projects that require large amounts of computational power. Volunteer computing public access capabilities comes with several security threats to the projects, thus, this projects must be designed and focused towards security in order to be able to stand against this threats. The following paper presents a summary of the security threats identified in volunteer computing environments deploying the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) and some solutions implementing Sanboxing Techniques on distributed computing environments.


The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between ROA and the composition of the board of commissioners on earnings quality by mediating earnings management and institutional ownership. The research population is a company engaged in real estate and property listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2013 - 2015 as many as 48 companies. The determination of the research sample was based on purposive sampling and obtained as many as 38 samples. The data analysis method used is path analysis. The results show that ROA has a significant positive effect on earnings management; the composition of the board of directors has a significant negative effect on institutional ownership; earnings management has a significant negative effect on earnings quality. The results of the small test show that ROA has a significant negative effect on earnings quality through earnings management. Based on these conclusions, the advice that can be given is: management implements a corporate governance system in accordance with applicable regulations, treating institutional ownership variables as moderating variables.


The term "Prisoner's Dilemma" comes from the original anecdote used to illustrate this game of strategy. Two prisoners, held incommunicado, are charged with the same crime. They can be convicted only if either confesses. If both prisoners confess, their payoff is minus one. If neither confesses, it is plus one. If only one confesses, he is set free for having turned state's evidence and is given a reward of plus two to boot. The prisoner who holds out is convicted on the strength of the other's testimony and is given a more severe sentence than if he had confessed. His payoff is minus two. It is in the interest of each to confess no matter what the other does, but it is in their collective interest to hold out. There is no satisfactory solution to the paradox of this game. Its simplicity is misleading. What seems rational from your own point of view, turns out to be detrimental in the end. This book is an account of many experiments in which Prisoner's Dilemma was played. Analyzing the results, one can learn how people are motivated to trust or distrust their partners, to keep faith or to betray, to be guided by joint or selfish interest. The method represents an important step toward building a bridge between psychology which is based on hard data and reproducible experiments and psychology which is concerned with internal conflict.


A woman in her 80s presented to hospital with somnolence and fatigue of 2 days' duration. Medical history included lower urinary tract symptoms of 1-week duration for which she was prescribed cotrimoxazole with no improvement. She also reported progressively worsening vulvar and buttock pain of 5 days' duration. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit 3 weeks prior to presentation for pneumonia and remained hospitalized for 10 days. She was not sexually active and had no medical history of sexually transmitted infections. Anogenital examination revealed vulvar (Figure 1A) and buttock ulcers (Figure 1B) tender to palpation. Initial blood workup showed leukopenia with a white blood cell count of 2400 cells/μL (to convert to cells/L, multiply by 106), a differential of 72% neutrophils, and a hemoglobin level of 8.5 g/dL with a hematocrit differential of 27% (to convert hemoglobin to g/L, multiply by 10.0). Cotrimoxazole was discontinued on admission. A biopsy specimen was obtained from the left vulvar ulcer (Figure 1C).


Regular array languages for high performance computing based on aggregate operations provide a convenient parallel programming model, which enables the generation of efficient code for SIMD architectures, such as GPUs. However, the data sets that can be processed with current implementations are severely constrained by the limited amount of main memory available in these architectures. In this paper, we propose an extension of the embedded array language Accelerate with a notion of sequences, resulting in a two level hierarchy which allows the programmer to specify a partitioning strategy which facilitates automatic resource allocation. Depending on the available memory, the runtime system processes the overall data set in streams of chunks appropriate to the hardware parameters. In this paper, we present the language design for the sequence operations, as well as the compilation and runtime support, and demonstrate with a set of benchmarks the feasibility of this approach.


The role of grammar in the foreign language classroom has been widely questioned in language teaching methodology. The positions have oscillated between those who have rejected the possibility of including grammar contents and those that have used grammar like a kernel of the learning process. The work that we present here is based on two fundamental ideas: (1) grammar must be understood like an instrument for learning, and (2) the concept of descriptive grammar must be replaced by the one of pedagogical grammar, directed to complete the assimilation of linguistic contents as a vehicle of communication. We develop a new proposal for teaching grammar that will have to contribute to the definitive location of grammar contents in the process of learning a foreign language.


Entity synonyms are critical for many applications like information retrieval and named entity recognition in documents. The current trend is to automatically discover entity synonyms using statistical techniques on web data. Prior techniques suffer from several limitations like click log sparsity and inability to distinguish between entities of different concept classes. In this paper, we propose a general framework for robustly discovering entity synonym with two novel similarity functions that overcome the limitations of prior techniques. We develop efficient and scalable techniques leveraging the MapReduce framework to discover synonyms at large scale. To handle long entity names with extraneous tokens, we propose techniques to effectively map long entity names to short queries in query log. Our experiments on real data from different entity domains demonstrate the superior quality of our synonyms as well as the efficiency of our algorithms. The entity synonyms produced by our system is in production in Bing Shopping and Video search, with experiments showing the significance it brings in improving search experience.


Recent data suggest that treatment with n-3 fatty acids could enhance the susceptibility of plasma low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) to oxidation. Twelve hypertriacylglycerolemic, hemodialyzed patients were treated with 2.5 g n-3 fatty acids/d for 2 mo. Treatment was then withdrawn for 2 mo (washout phase). Plasma total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol increased significantly (9% and 28%) and plasma triacylglycerols decreased significantly after the n-3 phase compared with baseline and washout values. LDL susceptibility to oxidation was tested by oxidation of LDL particles with 2,2'-azobis (2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH). No significant changes were observed for the lag phase and the peroxidation rate. The vitamin E content of LDL also did not change significantly. The results thus suggest that a daily dosage of 2.5 g n-3 fatty acids does not enhance LDL susceptibility to oxidation, while retaining its hypotriacylglycerolemic effect.


Metabolic profiling allows for simultaneous and rapid annotation of biochemically similar organismal metabolites. An effective platform for profiling of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and their N-oxides (PANOs) was developed using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight (UHPLC-QTOF) mass spectrometry. Field-collected populations of invasive Australian weeds, Echium plantagineum and E. vulgare were raised under controlled glasshouse conditions and surveyed for the presence of related PAs and PANOs in leaf tissues at various growth stages. Echium plantagineum possessed numerous related and abundant PANOs (>17) by seven days following seed germination, and these were also observed in rosette and flowering growth stages. In contrast, the less invasive E. vulgare accumulated significantly lower levels of most PANOs under identical glasshouse conditions. Several previously unreported PAs were also found at trace levels. Field-grown populations of both species were also evaluated for PA production and highly toxic echimidine N-oxide was amongst the most abundant PANOs in foliage of both species. PAs in field and glasshouse plants were more abundant in the more widely invasive species, E. plantagineum, and may provide competitive advantage by increasing the plant's capacity to deter natural enemies in its invaded range through production of novel weapons.


F or those on the front lines of the fi ght to defend and improve public education, the 2016 presidential election is already a minefi eld. On July 11, 2015, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten announced that the roughly onemillionmember organization would offi cially throw its weight behind Hillary Clinton's candidacy for president of the United States. The million members had zero opportunity to discuss or vote on the matter. This was not surprising in the least, given the union's historic allegiance to the strategy of backing whichever Democrat is most likely to win, regardless of what he or she is likely to do in offi ce. We're living through an unprecedented attack on the public schools, on the teaching profession, and on unionized teachers in particular. The AFT could use its collective strength to alter the political landscape. At the very least, it could open up a political discussion in every local about the candidates and their positions. At best, it could do the unthinkable and dare to throw its weight behind "unelectable" candidates who actually support public education and teachers' unions. New York politics might offer some lessons for the presidential race. Here, Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo has been a fi erce advocate of what many call "corporate education reform"; the governor stoked statewide anger by starving public schools of funding while aggressively promoting charter schools. But when Cuomo faced a progressive challenge from Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in fall 2014, Weingarten lent her voice to a robocall to voters, encouraging support for Cuomo's rightist running mate, Kathy Hochul (the union didn't dare openly endorse Cuomo himself). To the union's most engaged and active members, those who had organized countless forums, town halls, pickets, and protests to save our schools, this was widely perceived as something of a kick in the teeth. Fortunately, after the primary, many of them backed Howie Hawkins's Green Party bid (I was the candidate for lieutenant governor), which pushed the campaign to a historic 5 percent of the overall vote. Needless to say, Cuomo and Hochul won the primary and the election. When the dust settled, Cuomo admitted that one of his goals for the next four years was "to break what is in essence one of the only remaining public monopolies"— public schools. Socalled "lesserevil" voting gives the Democrats a free pass. As long as they don't have an "R" next to their name, there is literally nothing they can do to lose the union's offi cial support. Tragically, the Clinton endorsement is a repeat of this approach on the national stage. Clinton is funded by the same banksters who are sinking their fangs into public education coffers. The privatization of public education— through charter schools, standardized testing, and union busting— is not a rightwing Republican conspiracy. It is being carried out by liberals in the Democratic Party. Clinton is a former board member of Walmart, a company owned by a family— the Waltons— deeply invested in privatizing public schools. Hillary Clinton does not represent a genuine alternative, or even necessarily a "lesser" evil. Meanwhile, the candidate tapping into the desire for change is Bernie Sanders. Sadly, Sanders has already vowed to back whichever Democratic candidate wins the primary, at which point his supporters can either hold their noses and vote for the establishment candidate, likely to be Clinton, or support a principled candidate like the Green Party's Jill Stein. The Democratic Party is smart to use Sanders in this way. Without him, angry voters in their historic base would have good reason to sit this one out or seek out a new party. For those of us who are trying to build that new party, 2016 is going to be a diffi cult year. But real change is never easy, and in the long run "winners" often turn out to be losers. The AFT leadership has given Democrats a license to keep taking teachers for granted. In order to change that we need to start supporting candidates who actually support us. That's why I'll be voting for Stein in 2016, and I urge others concerned about the fate of public education to do the same. ■ ''So-called "lesser-evil" voting gives the Democrats a free pass.


The edition of the Nachlass from the early thirties by Michael Nedo and the completion of the "Bergen Electronic Edition" (BEE) have provided Wittgenstein scholars with all the material required to investigate the author's philosophical development starting with his auto-criticism of the "Tractatus" and leading to his later views. Wittgenstein's strategy of dictating from his notebooks and cutting up the typescripts to rearrange paragraphs into sequences of remarks is well documented in Nedo's edition and the BEE provides convenient facsimile access to every page Wittgenstein wrote or edited throughout the process. Some researchers have begun to revise received opinions that were based upon the "books" previously published by the trustees. (Hrachovec 2002, 2004, Kientzler 1997, Nyiri 2002, Pichler 2004, Stern 2002) Yet, the scientific community has barely begun to discover the richness and density of the philosophical endeavor manifesting itself in this material. There has, understandably, been an interest to trace the origin of remarks, well-known from the "Philosophical Investigations", providing some background to Wittgenstein's most popular ideas. Various doctrines of what is becoming known as the "middle Wittgenstein" have been noticed, but they have themselves been perceived as more or less consolidated theories. Wittgenstein's editorial activity has been recognized as a hypertextual undertaking avant la lettre, yet there has been insufficient attention to the philosophical impact of these hypertextual strategies themselves. It is all too easy to be caught by someprovisional result captured on a printed page and to overlook the fact that some of its philosophical significance can only be recognized by considering its genesis.


Recently, the air pollution problem in Northern China has become a social focus, packaging printing industry has been considered as one of the most VOCs contributors among them. In the field of flexible packaging laminations, solventless lamination can effectively reduce VOCs emissions from the source and solve atmospheric pollution. It is a green and environmentally friendly lamination process. In this study, dry lamination process was used as the reference group, two-component solventless adhesives were used as the experimental group, two flexible packaging bags (seeds bag with PE/kraft Paper/AL/PE structure) were produced and their life cycle assessment and carbon footprint comparison were performed using eFootprint software. Through systematic research and analysis by using the popular eFootprint LCA online software, the following main research results were obtained: the results showed that the highest carbon content was 41.75% for paper and 39% for solvent-based adhesive when using a solventless lamination process. In the dry lamination process, the highest carbon content was PE film (40%) and solvent-based adhesive (18%). Taking 4000m2 film as a reference, solvent-based adhesives cost twice as much as solventless adhesives and consume 5 times more power. The solventless lamination technology does not have a liquid waste disposal step. We comprehensively compare its packaging performance, environmental and economic benefits. The results show that solventless laminations produce less VOCs emissions, energy consumption, carbon emissions and thus has higher investment-benefit ratios than dry laminations. Solventless lamination is a green flexible packaging lamination process technology that is very competitive and can indeed reduce emissions from the source and reduce atmospheric pollution.


Three simple equations are presented, which describe the variation of protein solubility (S) with changes in salt concentration, in terms of either the salt molality (M), the salt activity (ax), or the water activity (aw). Each equation yields, essentially independent, estimates of the numbers of salt ions (delta vx) and water molecules (delta vw) involved in the dissolution of a mol of the protein. The equations can be used to elucidate the physical significance of the parameters in other empirical equations for protein solubility.


We observed short-period comet 252P/LINEAR post-perihelion during its 2016 passage, which presented a favorable opportunity to survey its chemical composition at a close Earth approach (∼0.14 au). We characterized the comet's chemical composition on four dates (UT 2016 April 12, 19, 26, and 29) using spectroscopic measurements with the Near-infrared Spectrograph (NIRSPEC) at the Keck Observatory on Maunakea, HI. Our high-resolution infrared spectra yielded production rates for four species (H2O, CH3OH, C2H6, and HCN) and upper limits for five species (NH3, H2CO, C2H2, CO, and CH4). We measured water at an average production rate of 4.9 ± 0.1 × 1027 molec s−1. The chemical properties of 252P suggest a rather typical composition, yet somewhat enriched in methanol and ethane but low in formaldehyde (upper limit) compared to other short-period comets surveyed at infrared wavelengths. Analysis of the ortho/para ratio in water indicates a nuclear spin temperature larger than ∼38 K, consistent with statistical equilibrium (2σ). Spatial distributions of gases, which are representative of possible heterogeneity in the nucleus and/or gas dynamics upon sublimation, showed rather symmetric profiles, with subtle enhancements of the more volatile species C2H6 and HCN toward the sunward hemisphere, while water showed spatial distributions that were extended toward the anti-sunward hemisphere. The continuum was characterized by a narrow distribution. We place our infrared results in the context of observations with the Discovery Channel Telescope, the James Clerk Maxwell submillimeter Telescope, and the Hubble Space Telescope.


The epithelial lining of the intestine serves as a barrier to lumenal bacteria and can be compromised by pathologic Fas-mediated epithelial apoptosis. Phosphatidylinositol (PI)3-kinase signaling has been described to limit apoptosis in other systems. We hypothesized that PI3-kinase-dependent pathways regulate Fas-mediated apoptosis and barrier function in intestiynal epithelial cells (IEC). IEC lines (HT-29 and T84) were exposed to agonist anti-Fas antibody in the presence or absence of chemical inhibitors of PI3-kinase (LY294002 and wortmannin). Apoptosis, barrier function, changes in short circuit current (ΔI sc), and expression of adhesion molecules were assessed. Inhibition of PI3-kinase strongly sensitized IEC to Fas-mediated apoptosis. Expression of constitutively active Akt, a principal downstream effector of the PI3-kinase pathway, protected against Fas-mediated apoptosis to an extent that was comparable with expression of a genetic caspase inhibitor, p35. PI3-kinase inhibition sensitized to apoptosis by increasing and accelerating Fas-mediated caspase activation. Inhibition of PI3-kinase combined with cross-linking Fas was associated with increased permeability to molecules that were <400 Da but not those that were >3,000 Da. Inhibition of PI3-kinase resulted in chloride secretion that was augmented by cross-linking Fas. Confocal analyses revealed polymerization of actin and maintenance of epithelial cell adhesion molecule-mediated interactions in monolayers exposed to anti-Fas antibody in the context of PI3-kinase inhibition. PI3-kinase-dependent pathways, especially Akt, protect IEC against Fas-mediated apoptosis. Inhibition of PI3-kinase in the context of Fas signaling results in increased chloride secretion and barrier dysfunction. These findings suggest that agonists of PI3-kinase such as growth factors may have a dual effect on intestinal inflammation by protecting epithelial cells against immune-mediated apoptosis and limiting chloride secretory diarrhea.


Abstract In 1989 and 1990, Kitty van Leuven-Zwart published two articles on the similarities and dissimilarities between a translation and its original. My research is based on a classification model which derives primarily from Van Leuven-Zwart's comparative method, although I also work with concepts from other authors. The major difference to Van Leuven-Zwart's research is that the main aim of the model I propose is not to indicate the differences between a translation and the original, but to detect whether previous translations have had any influence upon the studied translation. The goal of this article is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the shift approach to find out the relationship between different translations. I explain and illustrate the classification model by comparing the Catalan translation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth by Josep M. de Sagarra ( 1959 ) with previous French, Spanish and Catalan translations in order to ascertain whether these texts had any influence upon Sagarra's translation.


This paper describes the development of a pneumatic ventricular assist device by our group from the first steps to the clinical assay. The device, called BCM, has an input compliant cannula that improves the filling of the device. Results of the clinical assay showed that the BCM device was suitable for clinical use. New developments of our group are also mentioned.


Godel asserts that his philosophy falls under the category of conceptual realism. This paper gives a general picture of Godel's conceptual realism's basic doctrines, and gives a way to understand conceptual realism in the background of Leibniz's and Kant's philosophies. Among philosophers of mathematics, there is a widespread view that Platonism encounters an epistemological difficulty because we do not have sensations of abstract objects. In his writings, Godel asserts that we have mathematical intuitions of mathematical objects. Some philosophers do not think it is necessary to resort to intuition to defend Platonism, and other philosophers think that the arguments resorting to intuition are too naive to be convincing. I argue that the epistemic difficulty is not particular to Platonism; when faced with skepticism, physicalists also need to give an answer concerning the relationship between our experience and reality. Godel and Kant both think that sensations or combinations of sensations are not ideas of physical objects, but that, to form ideas of physical objects, concepts must be added. However, unlike Kant, Godel thinks that concepts are not subjective but independent of our minds. Based on my analysis of Godel's conceptual realism, I give an answer to the question in the title and show that arguments resorting to intuition are far from naive, despite what some philosophers have claimed.


Representation learning of transmission gear parameters has been a challenging industrial problem due to its difficulty in learning the inherence of gear data with high dimension and coupling characteristics. To solve this issue, this article presents information generative Bayesian adversarial networks (IGBAN) to learn the interpretable representation of gear parameters with insufficient data and improve the effectiveness of evaluating corresponding gear reliability with the learned representation. In particular, to offset the assumption of Gaussian distribution in the generative adversarial network (GAN), a Bayesian discriminator is designed to distinguish original from generated samples. Then, we establish a Q-net to obtain information gain measuring the difference between original samples and learned representations. Furthermore, in IGBAN, the performance on gear reliability by the variation of key parameters is discovered through maximizing mutual information between latent representations and the reliability. Experimental results on real-world transmission gear data validate the effectiveness of our proposed model.


In this paper, we consider three types of computer-based systems that are employed individually and in pairs to achieve learning objectives: computer-supported learning systems, collaborative systems, and immersive presence systems. When these systems are integrated together, higher-order learning objectives that have typically required co-located interactions can be supported in a distributed fashion. The objective of this work is to report on educational uses of the intersection of these three different types of systems in the combination space we refer to as computer supported collaborative learning requiring immersive presence (CSCLIP). Educational uses of CSCLIP technology and their features are identified. We then provide a discussion and comparison of the features common to CSCLIP systems. Within this discussion, we develop the criteria necessary for comparison of current CSCLIPs and some key requirements of implementation of future CSCLIPs.


Magnaporthe oryzae is a rice blast fungus and plant pathogen that causes a serious rice disease and, therefore, poses a threat to the world's second most important food security crop. Plant transformation technology has become an adaptable system for cultivar improvement and to functionally analyze genes in plants. The objective of this study was to determine the effects (through over-expressing and using the CaMV 35S promoter) of Pikh on MR219 resistance because it is a rice variety that is susceptible to the blast fungus pathotype P7.2. Thus, a full coding DNA sequence (CDS) of the Pikh gene, 1206 bp in length, was obtained through amplifying the cDNA template from a PH9-resistant rice variety using a specific primer. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation technology was also used to introduce the Pikh gene into the MR219 callus. Subsequently, transgenic plants were evaluated from the DNA to protein stages using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), semi-quantitative RT-PCR, real-time quantitative PCR and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Transgenic plants were also compared with a control using a real-time quantification technique (to quantify the pathogen population), and transgenic and control plants were challenged with the local most virulent M. oryzae pathotype, P7.2. The Pikh gene was up-regulated in the transgenic plants compared with the control plants. The quantity of the amino acid leucine in the transgenic rice plants increased significantly from 17.131 in the wild-type to 47.865 mg g in transgenic plants. The M. oryzae population was constant at 31, 48 and 72 h after inoculation in transgenic plants, while it was increased in the inoculated control plants. This study successfully clarified that over-expression of the Pikh gene in transgenic plants can improve their blast resistance against the M. oryzae pathotype P7.2.


People and other organisms depend on natural resources such as fresh water, land, clean air, wood, and food for critical life requirements and wellbeing. It is well documented that today's Western way of living and the spread of capitalism is having a detrimental impact on societies and the natural environment. As one of the greatest users of natural and human recourses, many companies have started doing their part in the journey toward Earth's sustainability and are actively working on translating the idea of sustainable development (SD) into reality. Companies often address SD through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. CSR refers to as a company's continuing commitment to integrate ecological, social, and economic interests in company's operations and in its interactions with stakeholders. This commitment is usually done on a voluntary basis (Dahlsrud, 2008). This PhD thesis aims to provide a better understanding of how the CSR adaptation process in private companies can be supported, which is of particular importance and interest since the economic interests (i.e., business case logic) of private companies often clash with CSR objectives. Consequently, adapting to CSR principles can be quite challenging for these companies. Many scholars have attempted to identify factors that can facilitate the CSR adaptation process. However, though any large-scale organizational change requires employees to learn new ways of doing their jobs, the role of learning or human resource development in CSR adaption has remained largely unexplored in the CSR literature. This PhD thesis contributes to this line of research by answering the following research question: Which internal resources related to learning at the organizational and individual level contribute to the CSR adaptation process in private companies? With respect to the organizational level, we found that certain learning organization characteristics can support the CSR adaptation process. We found that stimulating group learning, leadership that encourages learning, and connecting to the local communities are LO characteristics that can directly influence CSR adaptation in a positive way. With respect to the individual level, we found that CSR managers, those managing the CSR adaptation process, need specific individual competencies in order to do their jobs effectively. We identified eight distinct individual competencies (e.g., Balancing personal ethical values and business objectives). We also found that CSR managers have different job roles in the CSR adaptation process. We identified six of these roles (e.g., strategizing role) and showed that the business case logic influences the relative perceived importance of specific individual competencies within each job role. To conclude, the key message of this thesis, and the answer to the research question is two-fold. First, because CSR managers are the ones who actually manage the CSR adaptation process they can play a crucial role in the CSR adaptation process if they possess the right individual competencies. In order to develop these individual competencies, CSR managers should take ownership of their learning process and seek opportunities to learn with and from others. Second, leadership and connecting with external parties are of particular importance to the CSR adaptation process. With respect to connecting with external parties: on the organizational level, having good relations with external parties improves CSR adaptation, because such relationships stimulate learning processes within the company. Furthermore, on the individual level, relationships with external parties promote the development of the individual competencies of the CSR managers responsible for the adaptation process. With respect to leadership: on the organizational level, leadership for learning, referring to active support and stimulation of learning, indirectly affects CSR adaptation; it enhances employees' learning behavior and therefore improve employees' cognitive readiness and support for the changes needed to integrate CSR within the company. Furthermore, on the individual level, leadership competencies are essential for driving the changes needed in the CSR adaptation process. This thesis contributes to the literature on the CSR adaptation process in several ways. First, this thesis addresses the issue of the CSR adaptation process from a learning or human resource development perspective and as such complements previous research employing the (human resource) management perspective on CSR. Second, it addresses learning from both the organizational and individual level, thereby providing valuable insights into if and how specific internal resources related to learning can contribute at different levels to the CSR adaptation process in private companies. Third, little is known about how factors on an individual level can support companies in their adaptation to CSR principles and their social performance at large (Aquinis & Glavas, 2012). This doctoral thesis is one of the first providing insights into this matter and demonstrates that learning-related influences on the individual level may be of value to the adaptation process. More specifically, this thesis adds to the literature by (1) identifying the job roles and individual competencies CSR managers need to effectively do their jobs within private companies; previous studies on CSR-related competencies often studied this topic from an educational point of view, thereby not fully addressing the complexity of the business context in which CSR managers operate; (2) by exploring how CSR managers can develop their competencies, which up till now remained unexplored in the CSR literature; and (3) by showing how certain organizational characteristics (i.e., learning climate) and personal characteristics (i.e., learning goal orientation) affect the development of CSR managers' competencies. There are several implications to be derived from our research with respect to learning (activities) for the benefit of CSR. For one, developing LO characteristics may help companies create favorable conditions for integrating CSR principles. By facilitating learning, companies provide employees with the opportunity to develop their "receptiveness to change". As such, we suggest that companies experiment with employing LO characteristics to advance the integration of CSR principles. In particular, we suggest that company's management show leadership for learning by endorsing learning behavior among their employees as this LO characteristic in particular seems to promote the integration of CSR principles. The management can stimulate such behavior by providing employees with continuous opportunities to learn (e.g., provide formal trainings and professional development opportunities), learn in groups (e.g., stimulate team work), and learn with and from external parties (e.g., stimulate stakeholder involvement). Furthermore, it is important for companies to set up and structure a learning system within the company that enables customized learning, meaning a learning system that provides learning opportunities that fit's the job and needs of individual workers. Companies can enable customized learning among CSR managers by, for example, providing them with flexible working hours and fixed budgets and hours that they can use for professional development. Such a learning system promotes meaningful learning and self-directed learning behavior among employees (Baars-van Moorsel, 2003), which, according to our research, can stimulate the development of CSR-related competencies. To conclude, we hope that this thesis will encourage more research on the role of learning in the CSR adaptation process. Our research provides ample directions to further explore this topic. Furthermore, we hope that this research will inspire CSR professionals to start a dialogue with their employers about their competencies and professional development opportunities or that it inspires them to take control of their learning process and create their own learning network in order to develop their competencies, if needed. Moreover, we hope that by developing the relevant CSR-related competencies, CSR managers will effectively manage the CSR adaptation process and that higher CSR maturity levels are reached and more ambitious sustainability challenges are successfully addressed by private companies.


Time, power and resistance are all central sociological concepts, but only rarely have the intertwi- ning between all three been explored. Here the guest editors of the special issue of Sociologisk Forskning called "Time, power and resistance" introduce five empirical research articles. The articles all investigate time and temporality in relation to forms of power, ranging from discursive power to dominant norms and state power. The resistances vary from organised, collective resistance to subtle and discreet forms of everyday and constructive resistance. Additionally, the guest editors point towards future avenues of research in the area and show sociologically interesting links between the three concepts.


We describe an accurate technique for computing the diffraction point-spread function for optical systems. The approach is based on the combined method of ray tracing and diffraction, which implies that the computation is accomplished in a two-step procedure. First, ray tracing is employed to compute the wave-front error in a reference plane on the image side of the system and to determine the shape of the vignetted pupil. Next the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction theory, combined with the Kirchhoff approximation and the Stamnes-Spjelkavik-Pedersen method for numerical integration, is applied to compute the field in the region of the image. The method does not rely on small-angle approximations and works well for a pupil of general shape. Both scalar and electromagnetic computations are discussed and numerical results are presented.


Background: Acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome, during the course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, is a rare entity. In such a situation, most previous cases were therapy-related after treatment. However, in very rare cases, acute myeloid leukemia has been diagnosed in untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Materials and Methods: In this paper, we present the case-study of a 60-year old woman who was diagnosed six years previously as being afflicted with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with no chromosomal changes. She was successfully treated with fludarabine in combination with cyclophosphamide and rituximab, and she obtained complete remission, yet with incomplete recovery. Subsequently, three years later, she was re-admitted to hospital with deep pancytopenia. Her bone marrow biopsy then revealed that 52% of her blasts cells demonstrated a myelomonocytic immunophenotype, albeit with no chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell clone, showing the following complex chromosomal abnormalities: 45~47, XX, del(5)(q13q33), trisomy 8, trisomy 20, monosomy 21, +mar[cp12]/46, XX. Thus, a diagnosis was made of acute myelomonocytic leukemia preceded by a transforming myelodysplastic syndrome. The patient received induction chemotherapy and obtained complete remission. Unfortunately, one month after completion of her consolidation regimen, a relapse occurred. She died 8 months post-diagnosis of AML. Conclusion: In this case study, we diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia. Of note, the theory of a common stem cell malignancy and the coexistence of two malignant clones seem not to be applied in the presented case. This is because an acute myeloid leukemia clone was not seen in her bone marrow, nor was peripheral blood evidenced at the time of her diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.


ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with ocular infections such as keratitis. Multipurpose contact lens solutions can be used for washing, disinfection and storage of contact lenses, however, P. aeruginosa biofilm disinfection by this method is unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ozonated water in reducing P. aeruginosa colony count. Lenses kept in storage cases were contaminated with P. aeruginosa and disinfected using ozonized water, chlorhexidine, ultrasound and multipurpose solutions. The multipurpose solutions and ultrasound methods reduced colony count from 1.17 to 1.63 log10 CFU/cm2 (92.93% to 97.31%), respectively, of P. aeruginosa biofilm cell viability when compared to the positive control. Both, ozonated water and chlorhexidine showed 7.42 log reduction in the number of viable cells of P. aeruginosa biofilm. As compared to chlorhexidine, ozonized water did not depose any known toxic residues, so that we recommend it as an alternative disinfectant solution for contact lenses storage cases.


Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a rare inherited autosomal recessive autoinflammatory disorder characterized by recurrent and self‐limited episodes of fever and painful serositis, lasting 1–3 days. FMF occurs almost exclusively among ethnic groups of the Mediterranean basin, although cases have also been found in Japan and Korean populations. Diagnosis is based on clinical features, response to colchicine and genetic analysis. Novel drugs are emerging, allowing better management of colchicine‐resistant/colchicine‐intolerant patients. This review aims to attract the attention of the readers on differential diagnosis and management of patients with FMF.


The objective of the paper was to investigate the main factors determining the yield of fat in goat milk in the dairy goat population of Lithuania. The research was carried out on a total of 1,079 dairy goats (4 breeds: Czech White Shorthaired (n = 610), Saanen (n = 364), Lithuanian native (n = 94) and Anglo-Nubian (11)) in 7 dairy farms. The average milk yield during lactation was 797.42 (±53.3) kg. The average milk fat content was 4.14% (±0.4). The research of the goat milk fat content demonstrated that the indicators investigated in different herds varied. The highest milk fat content in percent was determined among AngloNubian – 5.2%. The milk fat content of all breeds of goats increased with increasing the parity up to the 4–6th parity, respectively, and started decreasing then, after reaching the peak. While assessing the quantity of milk fat during the stage of lactation, the highest milk fat content was determined during the first months (4.5–4.7%) and at the end of lactation (4.5%). The research performed by us showed that such factors as breed, parity, stage of lactation and herd had an impact on the quantity of goat milk fat.


Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, obligate anaerobe and a leading cause of hospitalacquired diarrhoea in humans. Under conditions that are not favourable for growth, C. difficile triggers sporulation, producing metabolically dormant endospores through asymmetric cell division. These are regarded as the principal infective stage in the C. difficile life cycle, but must germinate to allow for vegetative cell growth and toxin production, representing an attractive target for intervention. A detailed understanding of sporulation and germination could thus have direct applications for disease prevention. While sporulation and germination in the model sporeformer Bacillus subtilis is well understood, little is known about these events in C. difficile. Therefore, the primary aim of this project was to provide a genome-wide overview of sporulation and germination in C. difficile and to identify genes that are essential in these processes using a combination of molecular microbiology, microscopy, transcriptomics and next-generation sequencing. The first part of this thesis is devoted to the characterisation of C. difficile sporulation and germination dynamics, and is followed by a transcriptional analysis of temporal gene expression in germinating spores. A functional analysis of the 511 genes identified as differentially regulated during germination is provided and the results validated for a number of selected genes. One gene in particular, encoding a membrane associated cell wall protein Cwp7, is examined in more detail. In the second part of this thesis I describe the construction of the first comprehensive transposon mutant library which is then used to identify genes that are essential for sporulation and/or germination using Transposon-Directed Insertion Site Sequncing (TraDIS). The results of this study are validated by constructing in-frame deletions in four selected genes followed by a thorough analysis of the resulting phenotypes. Two genes: CD0125 encoding a homologue of B. subtilis SpoIIQ and CD3567 encoding a putative cell wall hydrolase are shown to be involved in spore formation while CD0106 encoding a homologues of B. subtilis CwlD is shown to be involved in germination.


Seldom has the quality of the sibling relationship between children with disabilities and their siblings without disabilities been explored, particularly via firsthand accounts from the non-disabled sibling, rather than from parental observations and reports. Furthermore, research has shown mixed results regarding whether or not the siblings of children with disabilities have increased internalizing (anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder) or externalizing (attention deficits, hyperactivity, and oppositional) behaviors, psychosocial maladjustment, or impaired developmental stages, as opposed to siblings of children without disabilities. This study attempted to determine whether or not there was a correlation between the severity of autism disability; as measured by the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-II and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-II Communication and Socialization domains, the quality of the sibling relationship, as measured by the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, and perceptions of social and familial support in siblings of children with autism. Social support and familial support were measured by the Social Support Scale for Children. The only significant correlations identified were between the VABS-IJ Communication domain and SRQ Conflict domain. In addition, both V ABS domairu correlated with the SRQ Rivalry domain. A cOlTelation between the non-autistic siblings' feelings of parental support and decreased communication abilities of the child with autism were significant.