The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative scored two notable successes for the Clinton administration in 1993: the passage of the NAFTA and the completion of the Uruguary Round of the GATT. However, a stubborn trade dispute with Japan erupted again shortly thereafter. The dispute is sure to remain an issue in 1994 and beyond. This report surveys recent events and discusses possible courses of action for the USTR in 1994. I. The 1993 Trade Agreement In the summer of 1993, President Clinton and then-Prime Minister of Japan, Kiichi Miyazawa, signed a trade agreement that sought to decrease Japan's overall trade surplus of $131 billion, $60 billion of which is with the United States.(1) The agreement sought to reduce the trade imbalance by measuring progress through the use of "objective criteria, either qualitative or quantitative."(2) The current trade dispute arose from the different conceptions that the United States and Japan have with respect to what the concept "objective criteria" entails. To the United States, the term refers to numerical targets by which to measure the openness of Japanese markets. This approach is sometimes referred to as a "results-oriented" strategy.(3) The Japanese, on the other hand, believe such an interpretation will lead to managed trade because it would be tantamount to allowing the United States to set targets for import penetration of the Japanese market.(4) Japan maintains that the U.S. strategy of "managed trade" violates free trade principles.(5) The Japanese prefer a set of goals, rather than specific benchmarks. The inability of the two sides to explicitly define what was meant by |objective criteria' in the 1993 trade agreement led to the current stalemate. The United States wants specific commitments from Japan concerning market penetration by U.S. companies. For instance, the United States wants Japan to increase the number of Japanese dealerships that sell U.S.-built cars.(6) The Japanese, on the other hand, interpret "objective criteria" as referring to a way of measuring progress already made. Accordingly, Japan views the number of Japanese dealerships selling U.S.-built cars as one indicator of whether other countries have penetrated the Japanese car market.(7) However, Japan refuses to agree in advance to a specific number of car dealerships that must sell U.S. cars to avoid violation of the trade agreement, which would subject Japan to trade sanctions. The 1993 trade agreement called for a series of biannual summits to measure the progress made in opening the Japanese market. The first such summit took place in early February 1994, but ended in failure. Neither side was able to reach agreement in any of the four trade areas identified last July: automobiles and auto parts (which account for about half of the trade deficit with Japan), telecommunications equipment, medical equipment, and insurance.(8) As a result of the collapsed talks, the threat of an impending trade war triggered by the imposition of sanctions arose. II. Political Dimension to the Trade Dispute Politics and history are closely intertwined with the trade dispute. When the long-running hold on power by the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan came to an end and Morihiro Hosokawa became the new Prime Minister, the news was warmly received in the United States. Both U.S. and Japanese citizens widely believed that a new era in U.S.- Japanese trade relations had been ushered in - one characterized by cooperation rather than confrontation. However, this atmosphere of cooperation quickly dissipated. President Clinton became absorbed in domestic problems. Similarly, Prime Minister Hosokawa's government concentrated on political reforms. In addition, the current trade disagreement provided both leaders with an opportunity to capitalize politically. Both President Clinton and Prime Minister Hosokawa enhanced their standing with their respective electorates by taking an intransigent stance in the negotiations. …


The purpose of the present work is to analyse the economic performance and financial standing of a group of farms during the 2002- 2005 period, thus providing an opportunity to evaluate ex-post the effects of the new common agricultural policy orientations. The twenty agricultural enterprises studied occupy a total area of 8,000 acres and are situated in two regions of central-northern Italy: ten of the farms are in Emilia-Romagna and characterised by a prevalence of arable crops, while the remaining ten farms are in Tuscany and produce grapevines and olives in addition to arable crops. This paper presents the results of a profitability and balance sheet analysis of the agricultural enterprises, and examines the reliance of their overall business performance on EU payments. In line with the new directions of community policy, the role of diversification in creating value is specifically addressed, not just in terms of multifunctionality but also from the broader perspective of multiple business activities.


The study examined the effect of non-interest income on the profitability of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria between 2006 and 2015. Five out of the 21 DMBs in Nigeria were purposively selected based on the numerical strength of their customers, volume of transactions and geographical spread. Multiple regressions were used in analyzing the data. The result of the correlation shows that non-interest income and profit of Nigerian banks was found to be positive and significant at 0.05 level of significance with adjusted R = 0.583. However the growth rate of non-interest income has been inconsistent over the years. Liquidity ratio, prime lending rate and inflation are found to have no significant relationship with non-interest income. The study concluded that non-interest income has positive and significant effect on the profitability of DMBs in Nigeria. It is recommended that deposit money banks should be actively involved in customer analysis and market research in order to develop those products and services that will continually satisfy majority of their customers and also deploy effective and efficient technology that will ease banking transactions which the consumers will be willing to pay for so that high non- interest income can be generated.


This paper analyzes the intergenerational incidence of wage and consumption taxes imposed to finance a given amount of public expenditures. It employs a continuous time overlapping genera-tions framework to demonstrate that it essentially hinges on the relationship between the age-earnings and age-consumption profiles of the households which generations bear the major burden of wage respectively consumption taxes. Furthermore, the paper points to some political economy implications of the incidence of wage and consumption taxes.


Considering the aerospace structures, the advantages of Al-Li alloys in comparison with conventional aluminium alloys comprise relatively low densities, high elastic modulus, excellent fatigue and toughness properties, and superior fatigue crack growth resistance. Unfortunately, these alloys have some disadvantages due to highly anisotropic mechanical properties and due to a very high crack growth rate for microstructurally short cracks. This could mean relatively early cracking in high stress regions such as rivet holes in helicopter fuselage panels. Consequently a more accurate approach in fatigue life analysis is requested. Considering that the 8090 T81 aluminium alloy has been widely used in an helicopter structure, in particular in the bolted connection between the stringers and the modular joint frame in the rear of the fuselage, it is extremely important to found a reliable procedure for the fatigue life assessment of the component. Thus, using the results of experimental tests made on panel specimens, a FE general model and two submodels of the critical zone (involved in fatigue damage during the tests) have been modelled in order to investigate the complex state of stress near the rivets holes. These stress values obtained have been elaborated for a fatigue assessment.


In 1079 consecutive patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty between 1984 and 1992, complications of thromboembolic disease and related anticoagulation were reviewed for 6 months after hospital discharge, including cost data. Of 347 patients having venograms, 78 (22.5%) had positive results and 269 (77.5%) had negative results for deep venous thrombosis. In patients with negative venograms, 3 (1.1%) were readmitted with 2 symptomatic deep venous thromboses and nonfatal pulmonary embolism. There were no readmissions among the 55 patients who had venographically evident deep venous thrombosis diagnosed and treated with outpatient warfarin. Overall, 3 of 324 (0.9%) patients with true positive or negative venograms were readmitted for complications of thromboembolic disease. In contrast, 12 of 732 (1.6%) patients not receiving contrast venography were readmitted, including 9 (1.2%) deep venous thromboses and 3 (0.4%) nonfatal pulmonary embolisms. Four of 23 patients (17.4%) with untreated calf deep venous thrombosis suffered 2 nonfatal pulmonary embolisms resulting in readmission and 2 fatal pulmonary embolisms outside the hospital. Untreated calf deep venous thrombosis after total hip arthroplasty represents a significant threat of extension to more proximal veins and distant embolization. Routine thromboembolic disease prophylaxis combined with screening contrast venography and selective therapeutic anticoagulation is effective in preventing late thromboembolic disease complications and, compared with a strategy of extended prophylaxis for all, is cost effective management by reducing exposure of the elderly population to outpatient anticoagulant therapy.


This article offers a theoretical overview of transnational history in relation to the history of ideas, a field that certain specialists of transnational history have singled out as a promising field of future transnational research. Recent historiographical discussions within Enlightenment studies are offered to throw light about the actual novelty that a transnational perspective would offer for the history of ideas. Rather than being an entirely new outlook, transnational types of analysis can be understood as lying at the heart of classical, universalistic Enlightened scholarship, a perspective that was challenged according to the fundamental problem of context.


In the 1960s, art patron Dominique de Menil founded an image archive showing the ways that people of African descent have been represented in Western art. Highlights from her collection appeared in three large-format volumes that quickly became collector's items. A half-century later, Harvard University Press and the Du Bois Institute are proud to publish a complete set of ten sumptuous books, including new editions of the original volumes and two additional ones. "Slaves and Liberators" looks at the political implications of the representation of Africans, from the earliest discussions of the morality of slavery, through the rise of abolitionism, to the imposition of European imperialism on Africa. Popular imagery and great works, like Gericault's "Raft of the Medusa" and Turner's "Slave Ship", are considered in depth, casting light on widely differing European responses to Africans and their descendants.


ABSTRACT This paper considers how heterogeneous groups of regional stakeholders design and implement strategic activities that contribute to their region's innovation capacity. We aim to understand how these stakeholder groups attempt to create new regional development pathways, and explore why otherwise enthusiastic and willing partnerships might fail to progress. We conceptualize this in terms of partners seeking to develop a shared actionable knowledge set as the basis for future development, and contend that one explanation for these failures might be a failure of the ways that partners combine their knowledge. We conceptualize strategic processes in terms of a series of distinct phases, and identify how problems in knowledge combination processes might manifest themselves in preventing the creation of valuable knowledge for subsequent action. Drawing on a detailed empirical case study of the Creative Science Park in Aveiro (Portugal), we argue that a better understanding of inter-stakeholder knowledge combination processes is necessary for creating and implementing better strategic transformational development processes for regions.


This paper examines the believability of strong warnings about the negative consequences of drug use among young adults in Australia who have never tried, currently use, or have tried and rejected cannabis. It finds that the strong warnings about cannabis are generally believed by never‐triers. The same warnings are perceived by current users as only slightly believable. Surprisingly, but also consistent with cognitive dissonance, trier‐rejecters of cannabis are the most likely, more so even than never‐triers, to believe the warnings about cannabis. The paper also examines warnings about cocaine and heroin by cannabis usage status. Current users of cannabis, compared with non‐users, perceive the warnings about the harmful effects of cocaine as less believable, suggesting possible "gateway" susceptibility to trial of this drug. But for heroin, all groups perceive the warnings very believable. The beliefs about particular negative consequences that are most likely to lead to discontinuation of use of cannabis, and those that should discourage uptake of cocaine and heroin, are identified.


To a large degree, the expansion of student aid programs to potential college students over the past 25 years in the United States has been based on the presumption that borrowing constraints present an obstacle to obtaining a college education. Economists and sociologists studying schooling choices have found empirical support for college subsidies in the well-documented, large positive correlation between family income and schooling attainment. This correlation has been widely interpreted as evidence of credit constraints. Recently, however, Cameron, and Heckman (1998, 2000), Keane and Wolpin (1999), and Shea (1999) have questioned whether borrowing constraints plays any role on college choices. Over the last 30 years, a separate literature in economics has aimed at estimating measured returns to schooling purged of various biases. One potential source of bias arises when students have differential access to sources of credit for educational investments. The connection between credit access and returns to schooling-first articulated by Becker (1972)- has been recently explored by Lang (1993) and Card (1995a, 2000). Lang and Card term this bias discount rate bias,' and argue it can help explain anomalously high instrumental variables estimates of returns to schooling documented by a multitude of empirical researchers. This argument implicitly suggests borrowing constraints are important for schooling decisions. Our paper attempts to integrate and reconcile these two literatures. Building on the seminal work of Willis and Rosen (1979), we develop a framework that allows us to study schooling determinants and returns together. Identification of the effect of borrowing constraints arises from the fact that foregone earnings-the indirect costs of school-and the direct costs of schooling affect borrowing constrained persons differently from unconstrained individuals. We apply this idea using least-squares, instrumental variables regression, and a structural economic model to measure the extent of borrowing constraints on schooling choices. Because returns to schooling and quantity of schooling are jointly determined, the structural approach allows us to explore the importance of credit market constraints on schooling choices once the influences of ability and relative wages are parceled out. This type of experiment cannot be done in standard models of schooling-attainment. None of these methods produces evidence of borrowing constraints.


O-doped Diamond-Like carbon (O-DLC) films were prepared by direct magnetic filtered cathodic vacuum arc deposition (DC-MFCVAD) under different O2 gas flow at room temperature (R.T.). Raman spectra were used to characterize structure of films. The wettabilities of the O-DLC films also were investigated by contact angle measurements using four common liquids. For studying films' interaction with blood, platelet adhesion experiment in vitro was done to characterize anticoagulant property of the O- DLC films from an aspect. Furthermore, ultraviolet spectrophotometer was employed to measure the optical band gap of the synthesized films. All of the results showed that O-DLC films have good anticoagulant property, oxygen doping can prevent graphite-like tendency of DLC films and increase band gap in a way, this kind of film materials may be become a new candidated biomaterials.


Rehabilitated and restored mangrove ecosystems have important ecological, economic, and social values for coastal communities. Although a sine qua non of successful mangrove rehabilitation or restoration projects is accurate attention to local hydrology and basic biology of mangrove trees and their associated fauna, their long-term success depends on far more axes, each with their own challenges. Rehabilitation projects: are planned, designed, executed, and managed by people with diverse backgrounds and different scientific and socio-political agendas; need to be responsive to these multiple stakeholders and agents who hold different values; are often influenced by laws and treaties spanning local to international scales; and must be able to adapt and evolve both geomorphologically and socioeconomically over decades-to-centuries in the context of a rapidly changing climate. We view these challenges as opportunities for innovative approaches to rehabilitation and restoration that engage new and larger constituencies. Restored mangrove ecosystems can be deliberately designed and engineered to provide valuable ecosystem services, be adaptable to climatic changes, and to develop platforms for educating nonspecialists about both the successes and failures of restored mangrove ecosystems. When mangrove rehabilitation or restoration projects are developed as experiments, they can be used as case-studies and more general models to inform policy- and decision-makers and guide future restoration efforts. Achieving this vision will require new investment and dedication to research and adaptive management practices. These ideas are illustrated with examples from mangrove restoration and rehabilitation projects in the Indo-West Pacific and Caribbean regions, the two hotspots of mangrove biodiversity and its ongoing loss and degradation.


This study describes the development and validation of self-regulation learning strategy scale, a 30-item scale that measures pre-teachers'self-regulation learning strategy toward Industry 4.0 & 107 Curriculum Reform. A total of 476 pre-teachers completed the questionnaire. A pilot study (n= 120) was examined factorial validity and reliability of questionnaire and study objects (n= 356) used confirmatory factor analysis. The Self-regulation Learning Strategy Measure (SLSM) has three-factor model (Environmental Orientation, Behavioral Orientation and Process Orientation Self-regulation) was fit using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). The self-regulation learning strategy scale could be useful for understanding the ways in which teachers think about self-regulation learning issues and could be used to investigate the relationship between other variables. The applications of the SLSM were discussed.


Murshidabad is the second largest traditional silk producing district in West Bengal, which bears a golden legacy of producing superlative silk in India since seventeenth century. Kassimbazar was one of the major hubs of silk purchase for the British silk merchants. The industry went into great decline as the Industrial Revolution in West set in. In the post Independence period attempts were made to revive this home-based artisanal industry in India to expand employment and income opportunities in the rural economy. However, during 2002-2012, there was an exodus of more than 23 thousand silk farmers and 10 thousand silk weavers from the industry. This paper delves into issues related with income determinants of the household silk industry in Murshidabad. The primary data analysis exposes that 'language efficiency', 'number of family members', 'ownership of bicycle/motorbike and television', 'male labour force' and 'women autonomy' are positively influencing the income of the silk producing households, while the significant factors which inversely influences the level of annual income of the silk producing households are 'age of the household head', 'female workers', 'cost of production', 'male family members', 'morbidity of female' and 'expenditure autonomy of female in the family'. The government should adopt pro-active measures like subsidizing the cost of silk weavers, revamp the health insurance scheme of the silk manufacturing women and increase the language efficiency to enhance the silk manufacturers' income earning capacity. The government should also raise the level of sanitation facility of the silk reelers and weavers and communication goods like bicycle, television to be provided.


Nanostructured metals have higher strength than those of the coarse grained metals but suffer from the extremely limited ductility. Development of the multiscale microstructures can improve the ductility of these high strength materials due to the introduction of a specific range of grain sizes in micro level. The present work relates the multiscale microstructures in metals to their overall structure properties using a fractal theory and the modified mean-field method, where three microstructural parameters are introduced and thus mechanical properties such as strength and ductility are presented as a function of these microstructural parameters. Meanwhile, with the applications of the finite element method, the multiscale unit cell approach is also critically developed and applied with a focus on predicting the related stress-strain relations of the metals with multiscale microstructures. For verification of these proposed theoretical and numerical algorithms, the mechanical properties of the pure copper with three-grain microstructures are investigated and the results from FEA and theoretical solutions have a reasonable agreement.


Latin America as a region has had a somewhat bumpy development in its competition law and policy evolution. Latin America suffered from statist economic policies into the 1990s and lagged behind US, American and East Asian development. Modern competition law development in Latin America began during a period of growth and economic liberalization to exit statist policies. This period was known as the era of the Washington Consensus. In just a few years, the tone within Latin America had changed at the macro-economic level. Populist governments had taken power in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, and elsewhere in a backlash against the Washington Consensus. This backlash extended to competition law and policy. The current era of competition law and policy in Latin America has some clear winners. Those systems that have shown improved results seem to share common attributes. The first is a deeper embrace of economic analysis. A second factor that has improved competition law and policy has been a focus on end consumer related enforcement. The final factor that has changed competition law enforcement effectiveness is that institutional issues that plagued enforcement efforts in the earlier period have been somewhat resolved. As such, the institutional structures of competition enforcement have been recalibrated (and continue to do so) across the region to address the specific needs of the countries in question given their country level institutional backdrops.


Abstract. Measurements of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP), especially at altitudes relevant to cloud formation, are scarce. Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) has been used to probe aerosol chemical composition from ground and aircraft for over 20 years. Here we develop a method for identifying bioaerosols (PBAP and particles containing fragments of PBAP as part of an internal mixture) using SPMS. We show that identification of bioaerosol using SPMS is complicated because phosphorus-bearing mineral dust and phosphorus-rich combustion by-products such as fly ash produce mass spectra with peaks similar to those typically used as markers for bioaerosol. We have developed a methodology to differentiate and identify bioaerosol using machine learning statistical techniques applied to mass spectra of known particle types. This improved method provides far fewer false positives compared to approaches reported in the literature. The new method was then applied to two sets of ambient data collected at Storm Peak Laboratory and a forested site in Central Valley, California to show that 0.04–2 % of particles in the 200–3000 nm aerodynamic diameter range were identified as bioaerosol. In addition, 36–56 % of particles identified as biological also contained spectral features consistent with mineral dust, suggesting internal dust–biological mixtures.


The simplification of postoperative care continues to be a highly desirable goal of surgeons. Early restoration of the patient to his normal environment has been aided by the use of nonabsorbable suture materials for strong and early wound healing, by extremity exercises in bed, by early ambulation, by administration of full diets as soon as the gastrointestinal tract will receive them, by early continuation of convalescent care at home, by return to physical work as soon as the wound has adequate tensile strength, etc. One of the helpful simplifications has been the policy of leaving dressings off clean, wellcoaptated surgical wounds, or of removing them a day or two after surgery, as described by Heifetz and co-workers. 1,2 Many St. Louis surgeons have with gratification adopted this procedure for abdominal and other wounds, and others elsewhere have similarly simplified the care of thoracic wounds, too. 3-5 Heifetz, Lawrence, and Richards


Purpose: To develop, evaluate and apply a novel high-resolution 3D remote dosimetry protocol for validation of MRI guided radiation therapy treatments (MRIdian® by ViewRay®). We demonstrate the first application of the protocol (including two small but required new correction terms) utilizing radiochromic 3D plastic PRESAGE® with optical-CT readout. Methods: A detailed study of PRESAGE® dosimeters (2kg) was conducted to investigate the temporal and spatial stability of radiation induced optical density change (∆OD) over 8 days. Temporal stability was investigated on 3 dosimeters irradiated with four equally-spaced square 6MV fields delivering doses between 10cGy and 300cGy. Doses were imaged (read-out) by optical-CT at multiple intervals. Spatial stability of ∆OD response was investigated on 3 other dosimeters irradiated uniformly with 15MV extended-SSD fields with doses of 15cGy, 30cGy and 60cGy. Temporal and spatial (radial) changes were investigated using CERR and MATLAB's Curve Fitting Toolbox. A protocol was developed to extrapolate measured ∆OD readings at t=48hr (the typical shipment time in remote dosimetry) to time t=1hr. Results: All dosimeters were observed to gradually darken with time (<5% per day). Consistent intra-batch sensitivity (0.0930±0.002 ∆OD/cm/Gy) and linearity (R 2 =0.9996) was observed at t=1hr. A small radial effect (<3%) was observed, attributed to curing thermodynamics during manufacture. The refined remote dosimetry protocol (including polynomial correction terms for temporal and spatial effects, C T and C R) was then applied to independent dosimeters irradiated with MR-IGRT treatments. Excellent line iv profile agreement and 3D-gamma results for 3%/3mm, 10% threshold were observed, with an average passing rate 96.5%± 3.43%. Conclusion: A novel 3D remote dosimetry protocol is presented capable of validation of advanced radiation treatments (including MR-IGRT). The protocol uses 2kg radiochromic plastic dosimeters read-out by optical-CT within a week of treatment. The protocol requires small corrections for temporal and spatially-dependent behaviors observed between irradiation and readout.


A field experiment was carried out at College Farm, College of Agriculture, Rajendranagar, PJTSAU, Hyderabad, Telangana state, to evaluate the impact of different soil amendments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in maize crop. CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes from the soil surface were measured thrice a week during the crop growing season using static flux chambers and GC gas analyzer. Adjustments in sampling dates and frequency were made to include specific events such as rainfall, irrigation, temperature, N application or tillage. The application of vermicompost, tanksilt, (Farm Yard Manure) FYM, RDF (Recommended Dose of Fertilizers) and biochar decreased the cumulative CO2 emission (126.3, 124.4, 121.6, 111.13 and 109.18 kg Co2-C ha-1) respectively compared to the control (134.12 kg Co2-C ha-1). The cumulative CH4 emission was recorded in the order of vermicompost > control > biochar > RDF > tanksilt > FYM. The application of RDF, tanksilt, FYM, vermicompost and biochar increased the cumulative nitrous oxide (N2O) emission (1.58, 0.97, 0.78, 0.67 and 0.38 kg ha-1) respectively compared to the control (0.037 kg ha-1). The application of RDF, tanksilt, FYM, vermicompost and biochar increased the N2O emission factor (0.775, 0.41, 0.28, 0.243 and 0.127%) respectively. Highest global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) was observed in the RDF applied plots. Lowest GWP and GHGI being observed in the control and biochar applied plots respectively.


BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of socioeconomic factors on access to congenital hand surgery care, hospital admission charges, and analyze these geographic trends across regions of the country.

METHODS
Retrospective cohort study was conducted of congenital hand surgery performed in the United States from 2010 through 2020 using the Pediatric Health Information System. Multivariate regression was used to analyze the impact of socioeconomic factors.

RESULTS
During the study interval, 5531 pediatric patients underwent corrective surgery for congenital hand differences, including syndactyly repair (n = 2439), polydactyly repair (n = 2826), and pollicization (n = 266). Patients underwent surgery at significantly earlier age when treated at above-median case volume hospitals (P < .001). Patients with above-median income (P < .001), non-white race (P < .001), commercial insurance (P < .001), living in an urban community (P < .001), and not living in an underserved area (P < .001) were more likely to be treated at high-volume hospitals. Nearly half of patients chose to seek care at a distant hospital rather than the one locally available (49.5%, n = 1172). Of those choosing a distant hospital, most patients chose a higher-volume facility (80.9%, n = 948 of 1172). On multivariate regression, white patients were significantly more likely to choose a more distant, higher-volume hospital (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS
Socioeconomic and geographic factors significantly contribute to disparate access to congenital hand surgery across the country. Patients with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to be treated at high-volume hospitals. Treatment at hospitals with higher case volume is associated with earlier age at surgery and decreased hospital admission charges.


Weaning has been described as one of the most stressful events in the life of horses. Given the importance of the interaction between the gut-brain axis and gut microbiota under stress, we evaluated (i) the effect of two different weaning methods on the composition of gut microbiota across time and (ii) how the shifts of gut microbiota composition after weaning affect the host. A total of 34 foals were randomly subjected to a progressive (P) or an abrupt (A) weaning method. In the P method, mares were separated from foals at progressively increasing intervals every day, starting from five min during the fourth week prior to weaning and ending with 6 h during the last week before weaning. In the A method, mares and foals were never separated prior to weaning (0 d). Different host phenotypes and gut microbiota composition were studied across 6 age strata (days −30, 0, 3, 5, 7, and 30 after weaning) by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results revealed that the beneficial species belonging to Prevotella, Paraprevotella, and Ruminococcus were more abundant in the A group prior to weaning compared to the P group, suggesting that the gut microbiota in the A cohort was better adapted to weaning. Streptococcus, on the other hand, showed the opposite pattern after weaning. Fungal loads, which are thought to increase the capacity for fermenting the complex polysaccharides from diet, were higher in P relative to A. Beyond the effects of weaning methods, maternal separation at weaning markedly shifted the composition of the gut microbiota in all foals, which fell into three distinct community types at 3 days post-weaning. Most genera in community type 2 (i.e., Eubacterium, Coprococcus, Clostridium XI, and Blautia spp.) were negatively correlated with salivary cortisol levels, but positively correlated with telomere length and N-butyrate production. Average daily gain was also greater in the foals harboring a community type 2 microbiota. Therefore, community type 2 is likely to confer better stress response adaptation following weaning. This study identified potential microbial biomarkers that could predict the likelihood for physiological adaptations to weaning in horses, although causality remains to be addressed.


A comprehensive guide to information for students of the Statement of Attainment Polymers, Certificate III in Polymer Processing, and Certificate IV in Polymer Technology.


This essay reviews Nancy MacLean's Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America, which triggered a huge controversy that virally spread on the Internet and in various journals. We will evaluate MacLean's almost biographical account of James Buchanan, which portrays the 1986 Nobel Prize laureate as the mastermind behind today's attacks, by the foot soldiers of the radical right, on American democracy. This essay develops three main points. One, MacLean's general narrative puts too much emphasis on Buchanan and largely neglects the many other important characters who contributed to the intellectual criticism of government intervention. Two, MacLean's account is marred by many misunderstandings about public choice theory, for instance about the role that simple majority rule plays in constitutional economics. Third, in the midst of abundant archival material, her historical narrative is, at best, sketchy, and is replete with significantly flawed arguments, misplaced citations, and dubious conjectures. Overall, MacLean tends to overinterpret certain aspects in Buchanan's life and thought, while she overlooks others that are equally important in understanding his work and influence. In particular, we stress that Buchanan was, first and foremost, a scholar, not a political activist, who gave significant attention to ethical considerations in his analysis of markets. ( JEL A11, B21, B31, D72, K00, N42)


Introduction Successful treatment response for early syphilis involves resolution of signs and a fourfold decrease in RPR/VDRL or sero-reversion between 3 and 6 months. However, in the HIV-positive population the serological response can be unusual. Aims To compare serological response after treatment of early syphilis between HIV-positive and negative cohorts. Methods Retrospective cohort study of 100 HIV positive (HP) and 92 negative (HN) patients with early syphilis at an inner city GUM clinic from 2002 to 2011. Data were collected on demographics, stage of syphilis, treatment and serological response. Results Both HP and HN cohorts were mainly MSM (72 HN, 96 HP) and Caucasian (HN 76, HP 78). Median age 33 (range 20–63 years) in the HN and 37 (range 19–59 years) in the HP. Stage of syphilis: HN group, 22/92 primary, 26 secondary and 44 early latent (EL). HP group: 26/100 primary, 34 secondary and 39 EL. The HN group were treated with the standard regimen for their stage of disease. 49/100 of the HP group received treatment for neurosyphilis. 25/92 HN and 14/100 HP were lost to follow-up following treatment. Excluding these patients, by 6 months, 18/20 (90%) of the HP group with primary syphilis sero-reverted or had a fourfold decrease in RPR/VDRL compared to 17/17 (100%) of the HN. By 6 months, 51/55 (93%) of the HP group with secondary/EL syphilis had sero-reverted or had a fourfold decrease in RPR/VDRL compared to 41/45 (91%) of the HN. Median CD4 count in the HP group was 380 cells/μl prior to treatment and 518 after treatment. There were 4 reinfections in the HN group and 10 in the HP. Conclusions There were high rates of serological treatment success for early syphilis in both groups. However, the HP group were less likely to have a successful response by 6 months in primary syphilis. This study also demonstrates the need for strategies to address the large number of patients lost to follow-up.


Along with service in the Continental Army and Navy and the various state militias, American patriots during the Revolutionary War had the option of sailing aboard privateers, private ships authorized to attack British commerce during the war. Where studies analyzing other military forces during the Revolution have been more nuanced, scholars that have looked at privateering have either focused on its strategic effectiveness during the conflict or merely written it off as a profit-driven phenomenon of maritime plunder. Privateering played a role in the course of the Revolution to a degree, but more importantly the practice was influenced by the ideological considerations that framed the Revolution itself—considerations that are ignored when privateering is seen through the eyes of the profit-narrative. While in part motivated by profit, privateering during the American War for Independence can only be fully understood when placed in the context of contemporary debates over liberty, republicanism, and identity. These debates stretched across the range of actors involved in privateering, from the sailors crewing privateer vessels to the merchants investing in privateer expeditions. This thesis will draw upon existing literature on privateering, Revolutionary ideology, and original analysis of primary source information including correspondence, government documents, and individual narratives to place privateering within the broader framework of the Revolutionary period. In doing so, it will add a more complex and multilayered approach to privateering to place that scholarship alongside other studies of military phenomena during the American Revolution.


Leadership is increasingly becoming a major research focus in both the corporate and higher education sector (HES). Previous studies have shown that different leadership styles play a significant role in promoting both employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes. However, at present there is a lack of clear understanding of how leadership style, employee wellbeing and organizational outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention concurrently interact in the HES context, particularly within Australian regional university settings. A review of leadership studies literature also suggests that researchers have either focused on the relationship between a specific leadership style and wellbeing; leadership styles and organizational outcomes, or the relationship between wellbeing and organizational outcomes. However, rarely do empirical studies examine all three concurrently. More expansive and pluralist research approaches are needed if we are to better understand the contextual complexities of leadership in the current HES. For a complex organization such as a university, an effective way of examining leadership may be by applying leadership theories that examine a diverse range of leadership styles that may have both positive and negative outcomes. The Full Range of Leadership Theory (FRLT) examines transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles within a single continuum that may provide a way to concurrently examine how these differing leadership styles may impact on leadership effectiveness in the HES context. In this review paper, drawn from a current PhD study, contexts for leadership practice in HES today will be explored, then leadership studies literature more generally will be reviewed to locate amenable leadership approaches for this work. Lastly, possibilities for leadership approaches that concurrently address issues of wellbeing and outcomes will be discussed. Specifically, the FRLT will be used as a frame to examine transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership approaches within a single continuum as to identify how FRLT may differ from or concur with leadership theories and approaches understood more generally to fit within post-heroic leadership studies standpoints.


Efforts were made to develop robust statistical models to evolve a crop-logging technique for identifying best yield indicators of banana (cv. Robusta), across its different growth stages. Optimum values of the identified variables were also worked out based on various biometrical characters of 200 plants observed at a farmer's field. Statistical models developed and validated showed that at 70 days after planting (DAP), number of leaves and plant girth [Coefficient of Determination (R2) 88%] with optimum values as 8 leaves and 15.07 cm were the best yield indicators. While at 126 DAP, plant girth and number of leaves (R2 = 89%) with optimum values as 34.5 cm and 12 leaves and at 185 DAP, plant height and leaf length (R2 = 92%) with optimum values as 138.9 cm and 127.3 cm were significant crop-logging parameters. Further, results showed that at 250 DAP, plant height and plant girth (R2 = 90%) with optimum values as 159.21 cm and 67.8 cm and at 315 DAP, leaf breadth and leaf length (R2 = 81%) with optimum values as 67.2 cm and 164.1 cm were the significant yield predictors. Finally, during harvest stage, i.e., at 375 DAP, number of fingers per bunch, and number of hands per bunch (R2 = 99%) with optimum values as 26 fingers hand-1 and 13 hands bunch-1 were the best indicators of crop yield. Identified models were also made robust by removing the effect of multicollinearity among biometrical characters. Before making a final decision about the model adequacy, randomness assumption about the error term was statistically tested.


Agriculture in Kenya plays an important role in development as it contributes about 24% of GDP, 75% of industrial raw materials and 60% of export earnings and about 18% of the total formal employment. It also employs about 3.8 million people in farm, livestock production and fishing, while an estimated 4.5 million other people are employed in agriculture-related off-farm activities. Cereals including maize, sorghum, millet, and wheat among others largely constitute the major food items for many households, hence underlining their importance in ensuring food security. In particular, the utility of sorghum is in its climatic adaptability and household as well as industrial use. Hence it is not only a food security crop, but also a major income earner. Despite its utility, there is a remarkably low production of sorghum among Kenyan farmers against food security challenges. This paper provides insights into the institutional characteristics of farmers and how they influence their participation in its production. The institutional factors under study included access to sorghum seed, access to credit, access to contract farming, access to market information and group membership. Simple random and snowball sampling methods were applied in collecting data from 207 farmers using a questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed by the double hurdle model. Only access to seed, access to extension, access to market information and access to group membership were significantly influencing sorghum production in the study area. It was recommended that seed companies should avail improved sorghum varieties and farmers are encouraged to adopt them. There was also need for stakeholders to institutionalize access to extension, contract farming and group membership among farmers.


USApp Managing Editor, Chris Gilson, and Assistant Editor, Natalie Allen look at the week in U.S. state blogging. Click here for our weekly roundup of national blogs.


Worldwide cancer incidence is increasing, with viral infections including human papillomavirus (HPV) responsible for a significantly higher number of cancer deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) when compared to high income countries. Globally, in 2015, there were 72 national HPV vaccination programmes, and 39 demonstration or pilot programmes. Despite HPV's impact on both sexes, for examples in malignancies such as oropharyngeal cancer (whose incidence is increasing across the world) few countries have a gender-neutral vaccination policy. Herd protection and cost-effectiveness are important considerations in potential extension of vaccination to males and while there is some suggestion that a targeted vaccination programmes for "high risk" groups, such as men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) may be preferable, a universal vaccination approach is the best solution to protect both men and women from HPV-related cancer and sexually transmitted disease. Higher incidence of certain HPV-related male cancers, lack of effective treatment, high prevalence of HIV, attitudes to MSM and sexual orientation, all support a universal vaccination strategy for LMICs. Thus, policy-makers and healthcare providers in LMICs need to take timely decisions to "prevent the preventable" by providing vaccination for both girls and boys.


Recent science reform documents call for students to develop robust understandings of scientific concepts and reasoning through inquiry-based instruction. The challenge of this goal is increased in heterogeneous inclusive classroom settings with students identified as having learning disabilities and emotional impairments. This article describes a design experiment conducted over two school years in which we investigated the experiences and outcomes for special needs students in guided inquiry science instruction in upper-elementary grade classrooms (n = 4). Phase 1 (′97-′98) of the design experiment utilized qualitative and quantitative data to construct case studies of individual learners with special needs. Patterns across the cases informed the identification of advanced instructional strategies hypothesized to support special needs students relative to language/cognition, print literacy, attention, and social relations challenges. In Phase 2 (′98-′99), we studied learning outcomes from instruction including the advanced strategies (same teachers, topics as Phase 1). Our findings indicate that in Phase 2 (with the advanced strategies) all students demonstrated significant learning gains over Phase 1 and that special needs and low-achieving students in three of four classes showed changes in understanding comparable to those of normally achieving students. We conclude by identifying implications of these findings for the roles of general and special educators.


This study was conducted in Diyala University Laboratories collaboration with the Directorate of Diyala Health. Occurrence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated in 161 samples from different clinical sources included Swabs from wounds, burns, ear, eye and samples from Urine and sputum which were collected from patients. Depending on the cultural and micro features and biochemical tests 49 isolated items of this bacteria have been diagnosed and all the isolates showed the proteolytic activity by using skim milk agar through forming clear zone around the growing colonies, and tested the isolates ability of alkaline protease production by quantitative methods, the local isolation P. aeruginosa AP3 had been selected based on the higher productivity of enzyme comparing to other isolates and thus it was used in the current study. Studied the relationship between the production of alkaline protease enzymes and growth phases of P. aeruginosa to determine the time of the enzyme production and the results showed that the local isolation P. aeruginosa AP3 began production of the enzyme in the later stages of the log phase and increased production significantly in the stationary phase reaching amaximum after 48 hours as estimated the enzyme activity 159.2 units/ml in the farm leaky and keep the enzyme fully functional almost in the stationary phase.


Objective To investigate the effect of a soy isoflavone extract over insulin sensitivity and plasma leptin levels. Methods Eighty postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to participate for 24 months either to a physical exercise and Mediterranean diet program (Control group: CG) or this intervention plus a daily oral intake of a soy isoflavone extract (Soy isoflavone group: SIG). Anthropometry, body composition analysis, blood biochemistry, menopausal symptoms and health-related quality of life were assessed at baseline and every 6 months. Results Sixty-five women completed the protocol with no differences found among groups at baseline in age and time since the menopause. At month 24, body mass index (BMI) was lower in the SIG as compared to the CG. Fat mass, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Kupperman Index and Cervantes Scale values significantly decreased in the SIG as compared to baseline and to CG values. Kupperman scores and serum TNF-α levels significantly decreased in both studied groups. No changes in plasma leptin levels were observed after 24 months within and between groups. When analysis was stratified according to BMI values, changes in the aforementioned parameters displayed a similar trend; however, the impact over glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR values was more evident among obese women assigned to the SIG. Conclusion Diet, physical exercise and a daily oral intake of soy isoflavones exerted a beneficial effect on the homeostatic model in postmenopausal women which was not related to significant changes in plasma leptin levels, despite a decrease in TNF-α, fat mass and Kupperman values.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the labour market exclusion of the groups in Canada that have been defined as vulnerable in that they were persistently in poverty over a defined period of time. The vulnerable groups were: unattached individuals age 45-64, disabled persons, recent immigrants, lone parents, Aboriginal persons and youth not in school. Design/methodology/approach - – Five panels of data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics are used over the period from 1993 to 2010 to compare the vulnerable groups with a benchmark non-vulnerable in various dimensions: a descriptive profile of their labour market exclusion and characteristics; a portrayal of their trends in labour market exclusion; an analysis of the persistence of being excluded from the labour force; and an econometric analysis of the determinants of their probability of transitioning into the labour force and out of the labour force. Findings - – The vulnerable groups tend to be disproportionately excluded from the labour force and to be persistently excluded for longer periods of time. They are generally more likely to be female, lower educated, in poorer health and to find their life to be stressful and to have recently experienced a negative life event. Exclusion from the labour market tends to trend downward over time for both the non-vulnerable benchmark group and the various vulnerable groups. There is considerable variability in the patterns across the different groups with respect to transitions into and out of the labour market. Practical implications - – The labour market is a first line of defense against social and economic exclusion. While labour market exclusion is trending downward it remains stubbornly high for the vulnerable groups. Their diversity of experiences suggest a one-size-fits all solution to exclusion is not appropriate for the different vulnerable groups. Different policy initiatives are appropriate and they are discussed for each vulnerable group. Originality/value - – The paper is the first to systematically examine a wide range of dimensions of the labour market exclusion of the vulnerable groups in Canada and to highlight their similarities and differences. It also highlights the various policy initiatives that are appropriate for the different groups.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect mechanism of warm acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking therapy and its efficacy on insomnia by monitoring the level of brain neurotransmitters in the insomnia patients.

METHODS
One hundred and thirty patients with insomnia were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 65 cases in each one. In the observation group, based on the treating principle of warming yang and benefiting qi, acupuncture was applied to Xinshu (BL 15), Pishu (BL 20), Shenshu (BL 23), Yaoyangguan (GV 3), Baihui (GV 20), Neiguan (PC 6) and Shenmen (HT 7). Warm acupuncture was supplemented at Xinshu (BL 15), Pishu (BL 20), Shenshu (BL 23) and Yaoyangguan (GV 3). The treatment was given once every day. In the control group, estazolam tablets, 0. 5 to 1 mg were prescribed for oral administration, 30 min before sleep at night. The treatment of 14 days was taken as one session and 2 sessions were required in the two groups. The encephal of luctuograph technology was used to observe the sleep quality and brain neurotransmitters before and after treatment in the two groups and the efficacy was compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
The total effective rate was 83.1% (54/65) in the observation group and 87.7% (57/65) in the control group. The efficacy was similar between the two groups (P > 0.05). In the observation group, after treatment, 5-HT and GABA/Glu were all increased compared with those before treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and norepinephrine (NE) was reduced compared with that before treatment (P < 0.05). The level of each index did not change significantly before and after treatment in the control group (all P > 0.05). The regulations of 5-HT, GABA/Glu in the observation group were superior to those in the control group (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The combined therapy of warm acupuncture and auricular point sticking method for warming yang and benefiting qi effectively improves brain neurotransmitters and essentially improves sleep quality of the patients with insomnia differentiated as yang deficiency pattern.


Adhesive-bonded joints are widely used in the industry. Recently, applications of adhesive bonding joints have been increased extensively in automobile and aircraft industry. The strength of adhesive joints is influenced by the surface roughness, adhesive shape, stress distribution, and etc. However, the magnitude of the influence has not yet been clarified because of the complexity of the phenomena. In this study, as the fundamental research of adhesive bonding joints, the effects of adhesive shape and loading speed on bonding strength properties and durability of aluminum to polycarbonate single-lap joints were studied. To evaluate the effect of adhesive shape, several modified shapes were used, and loading speeds were varied from 0.05 to 5mm/min. As a result, the load distribution showed a brittle fracture tendency. The trigonal edged single lap and bevelled lap joints showed the higher strength than the plain single lap, trigonal single lap, joggle lap and double lap joints in same adhesive area. The fractures of trigonal single lap and trigonal edged single lap joints that had the higher strength level were shown as the mixture type of the cohesive and interfacial-failure, mostly joggle lap joints that had the lower strength level were shown as the adhesive-failure.


This handy grammar provides clear and simple explanations of today's written and spoken Japanese. Comprehensive and easy to use, with coverage of all the key points of Japanese grammar, it is the ideal reference tool for beginner and intermediate students, whether at school, college, or learning on their own. It is also an excellent support book to Oxford's Take Off In Japanese audio pack, or to any language learning course. Thousands of examples in an instantly accessible layout show how the language works. The verb tables are clear and easy-to-use and all grammatical terms are explained in a glossary.


Platinum group elements (PGE) and gold in selected ore samples and associated lithologies from four well-known volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) districts (i.e., the kuroko Zn-Pb-Cu deposits of Hokuroku, Japan; the Besshi Cu-Zn deposit of Shikoku, Japan; the Cu-Zn-Au-Ag deposits of Manitouwadge, Ontario, Canada; and the Cu-Zn-Co deposits of Outokumpu, Finland) have been determined by nickel sulfide fire assay preconcentration, tellurium coprecipitation, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis. The chalcopyrite-rich samples associated with mafic-ultramafic rocks from Besshi, Manitouwadge, and Outokumpu locally contain elevated contents of Pd (up to 1.8 ppm), Rh (up to 0.8 ppm), and Au (up to 14 ppm), whereas those of the kuroko deposits hosted by felsic volcanic rocks are poor in PGE. Moreover, the chalcopyrite-rich samples and cordierite-orthoamphibole gneisses show extreme fractionation of Au, Ir, Pd, and Pt (Au/Ir values up to 108,000; Pd/Ir, up to 29,500; and Pd/Pt, up to 2,100), which are somewhat similar to previously reported Au/Ir and Pd/Ir values in modern sea-floor hydrothermal sulfides but are significantly higher than those in magmatic Ni-Cu sulfides. The extreme fractionation of Au, Ir, Pd, and Pt in these volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits cannot be explained by the relative metal solubilities in sea-floor hydrothermal fluids but may be related to local remobilization of PGE and Au during late hydrothermal alteration and/or metamorphism.


This paper gives an overview on the system development of a wireless surface acoustic wave (SAW) temperature measurement application in high-speed high-voltage motors. The measurement location of interest is on the rotor in the vicinity of the copper squirrel cage. To fit the sensor in a 4 mm bore, a custom packaging with outer dimensions of 10.0 × 3.1 × 2.0 mm3 has been developed. For the purpose of interrogation a mechanically robust metal slot antenna has been designed to withstand rotation speeds up to 15 000 rpm. As the sensor interacts only during a very short time of a few 100 μs with the reader antenna a fast frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) reader was developed. The reader operates in the ISM band of 2.4 GHz and achieves a typical sweep time for data acquisition of 100 μs. The sensor system has been tested both in test bed and real engine conditions and performed stable read outs, although in the real engine signal behavior is disturbed by reflections and possibly electromagnetic field bursts caused by the power converter.


Kinesio Tape® (KT) has become very popular in all stages of treatment, injury prevention, rehabilitation and performance enhancement. Despite the increasing interest and use of KT there's still a limited evidence on its effectiveness. So, the purpose was to analyse the effects of the KT in subjects with musculoskeletal disorders of the lower limb, following the rules of PRISMA reporting. The P.I.C.O. strategy was applied for literature search under the following conditions: 1) human patients with musculoskeletal disorders in the lower limb; 2) intervention including Kinesio Tape®; 3) comparisons between Kinesio Tape® and placebo, control or other tapes and; 4) containing musculoskeletal outcomes. The application of inclusion and exclusion criteria's returned seven articles from a set of one hundred and fifty-one. Additionally, the methodological quality of the selected articles was evaluated using the PEDro scale, leading to the exclusion of one of them. From the analysis of the selected studies it is suggested that Kinesio Tape® could promote positive effects on edema, pain and specific venous symptoms. On the other hand, there is no evidence on its effectiveness on health-related quality of life, strength and joint function.


The industry-wide emphasis on cloud computing has created a new focus in Information Systems (IS) education. As the demand for graduates with adequate knowledge and skills in cloud computing is on the rise, IS educators are facing a challenge to integrate cloud technology into their curricula. Although public cloud tools and services are available for many students today, education institutes can build a private, educational cloud to facilitate more practical, interactive and hands-on learning. This paper presents a proposal of building a student-run data center through an industry partnership between Cal Poly Pomona and leading cloud technology firms such as Microsoft, Avanade, Chef, and Juniper. The data center will create a private cloud to engage faculty and students in a highly accessible, experimental cloud environment, where through real-world experience faculty can teach and students can learn the design, configuration, deployment, management, and use of cloud solutions. This polytechnic approach in cloud curriculum integration will also allow the IS department to be simulated as a modern enterprise with a goal to virtualize its IT provisioning, where students can gain a broader, more enterprise-centric view of modern computing.


Several studies in shallow-water sedi- ments have followed the recovery from hypoxia on a macro- or meiobenthic level, but on the microbenthic level such studies are rare. Outdoor flow-through mesocosms were used to monitor the resilience of a microbenthic community and nutrient turnover after hypoxia in natural, previously undisturbed sediment. Variables included oxygen and nutrient fluxes, denitri- fication and biomass (chl a) of microphytobenthos (MPB). Results showed that the community recovered rapidly after hypoxia (<15% of oxygen saturation). In a 7 d experiment preceded by 2 d of hypoxia, the initially changed oxygen and nutrient fluxes remained affected only during the first days after hypoxia. In a 50 d experiment, starting with 17 d of hypoxia, only nitrate under dark conditions remained significantly different at the termination of the experiment after a recovery period of 4.5 wk. The microbenthic community, as well as the basal functions, of shallow-water illuminated sediments possess a high resilience, at least after single events with short periods of hypoxia. This resilience appears to be related to the high resistance of MPB (especially diatoms) to hypoxia, which implies a rapid restoration of the oxygenation of the sediment surface and the base of the food web, securing food supply for new colonising grazers. The recovery was faster for functions under light conditions, indicating that the functions related to microalgal activity are less sensitive to hypoxic events than are heterotrophic processes.


Ten new steel plants were constructed in the United States from 1989 to 2001, each taking advantage of new steel slab casting technologies that gave scrap-based minimills access to the flat-products market. This market had been served previously exclusively by ore-based integrated mills. Some of the new minimills were built in established steel industry agglomerations. Others were built in greenfield locations with little or no prior steelmaking activity. This research, based on direct observation and plant visits, brings new evidence to bear on the nature and importance of agglomeration economies associated with steel production by analyzing industry clusters related to the advent of slab casting by steel minimills. The authors find that industry clusters can plan an important role in the process of market entry; however, certain product and firm characteristics can shape the nature of industry agglomerations and their effect on firms and regions.


The CCD-data based redetermination of the crystal structure of the title compound, magnesium chromate(VI) pentahydrate, confirms in principle the previous study based on precession film data [Bertrand et al. (1971 ▶). C. R. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci. Serie C, 272, 530–533.], but with all atoms refined with anisotropic displacement parameters and with all H atoms localized. This allowed an unambiguous assignment of the hydrogen-bonding pattern. MgCrO4·5H2O adopts the MgSO4·5H2O structure type. It contains two Mg2+ sites on special positions with site symmetry -1, one tetrahedral CrO4 group and five water molecules. Four of them coordinate to the Mg2+ cation, and one is an uncoordinating lattice water molecule. The octahedral environment of the Mg2+ cation is completed by two axial O atoms of CrO4 tetrahedra. This arrangement leads to the formation of chains parallel to [011]. Adjacent chains are linked through O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds (one of them bifurcated), involving both the coordinating and lattice water molecules, into a three-dimensional network.


The Canadian environmental effects monitoring (EEM) program is a regulated, cyclical, industry‐funded program designed to determine whether receiving water impacts exist when a mill is in compliance with its discharge limits. The results from three cycles of the fish monitoring program (1992 to 2004) are available from over 200 surveys of fish compared between sites located upstream and downstream of pulp and paper mill effluent outfalls. Previous meta‐analyses have shown a national average response pattern across cycles characterized by an increase in endpoints measuring energy storage and growth and a decrease in a reproductive endpoint, consistent with a response of nutrient enrichment in combination with some form of metabolic disruption. Although the national average pattern of effects was temporally consistent, there was some variability in the magnitude of effects among cycles. Questions were raised as to whether the intercycle variability was due to changes in effluent quality or due, at least in part, to other factors. The present study compares responses over the first three cycles, and shows that the choice of sentinel species is likely to be a major contributing factor to the variability in observed effects. Subset analyses using studies from mills that used the same sentinel species across cycles reveal fairly uniform responses and little evidence of significant improvements in overall fish health from cycles one to three. However, a meta‐analysis using 1991 data collected from 10 mills before the implementation of the EEM program and data from the same mills collected during cycles one to three of the program reveal significantly reduced effects on relative liver weight and potential improvements in other endpoints. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2010;29:440–452. © 2009 SETAC


Environmentally adapted lubricants (EALs) are becoming of increasing interest to the industry as legislation
demands the replacement of mineral oil lubricants. However, little or nothing is known about the infl uence of
ageing on the performance of these fl uids in mixed and boundary lubricated tribological contacts. In this study,
samples of three fully formulated lubricating oils, both in their 'unaged' form and 'aged' by means of an oxidation
process in the laboratory, were utilized in a detailed study whereby variations in relative lubrication performance
were examined. Standard laboratory pin-on-disc equipment was utilized in order to allow comparisons to
be made and the defi nition of conclusions for a sliding tin bronze on steel contact. This simulated the interaction
between an oil-lubricated bronze bushing and steel shaft as found in the vane adjustment mechanism of a Kaplan
turbine. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis was employed to assess the effect on surface layer structural
chemistry. Results showed, for the specifi c application being investigated, that EALs continue to function well
in terms of their friction and wear performance even at high acid numbers.


Periclinal chimera are made constituted of two genotypes growing side by side. One of these genotypes makes up the epidermis, the second forms the internal tissues. As a nonconventional method to improve cassava, it brought its productivity to an extraordinary level that has never been reported before. In previous experiments the chimera were synthesized by hormone treatment, which was applied to the surface of the grafts to promote callus formation. We propose here a simple method that significantly increases the induction of periclinal chimera. It is principally to make grafts in which scions are cut in a slanted position close to a bud and the rootstock cut in the opposite direction. The scion and the rootstock are placed in close contact, having the juxtaposition of the scion and the rootstock so that the buds can make contact with each other. A cello tape is used to fasten and hold them together. We also interpret what has been noted of exceptional chimera productivity based on combining ability between genotypes of multiple ploidy levels and the movement of DNA from one periclinal chimera layer to another. Manihot fortalizensis showed the highest combining ability and the highest compatibility with all cassava cultivars tested. Before synthesizing periclinal chimera it is


Solar sail technology has been developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) since the 1990s, culminating in a successful (20 m)² sail ground demonstrator deployment test in 1999 at DLR Cologne. In the last years a further development of the technology for controlled deployment of gossamer spacecraft was made in the DLR GOSSAMER-1 Project.
The DLR-ESTEC GOSSAMER roadmap originally envisaged the extremely fast-paced development of solar sailing technology by a series of successively leapfrogging low-cost demonstrator flights leading towards the technological basis for first science missions. In this framework, the GOSSAMER-1 deployment demonstrator for a (5 m)² sail structure in low Earth orbit dominated by drag was to be followed by the (20 m)² sail effect and attitude control demonstrator GOSSAMER-2 for higher Earth orbits dominated by solar radiation pressure, and the (50 m)² GOSSAMER-3 sailcraft proving the principle within the Earth-Moon system. It was to demonstrate sufficient trajectory and attitude control for science missions using a simple lightweight camera for timed pointing and localization reference imaging and a magnetometer to study the space environment around a sail. Since the first Roadmap studies, the expected payload capability increased from a few to several kg.
Three scientific mission types which are exclusively feasible with the unique capabilities of solar sail propulsion were identified and studied in detail by science working groups as candidates for a first science mission. These studies were based on the expected performance of solar sail technology developed in the Roadmap. Each mission was to be completed within 10 years:
• Multiple Near-Earth Asteroids (NEA) Rendezvous (MNR) & station-keeping, with optional Near-Earth Object (NEO) fly-bys of opportunity,
• Displaced Lagrange point 1 (DL1) solar storm early warning at twice L1 distance from Earth,
• Solar Polar Orbiters (SPO) for solar wind and coronal research and/or spectroscopic imaging of the Sun.
For MNR, trajectories for several triple-rendezvous missions were calculated assuming near-term 1st-generation sailcraft performance. Notably, a solar sail based mission can change target NEAs in flight whenever new knowledge triggers a change of interest. The science payload of 12 kg included a multispectral imager, a vis-NIR point spectrometer, an IR radiometer, and three 1U-CubeSat-sized drop probes. The spacecraft was expected to fit a standard ESPA or ASAP 'micro' piggy-back payload launch envelope. The 'mini'-class ENEAS missions with launch masses from 150 to 750 kg studied a decade earlier based on similar sail performance estimates include single- and triple-sample-return mission profiles. Sailcraft with a performance between MNR and ENEAS could carry a single MASCOT-type or several CubeSat-like landers to each rendezvous target. Sharing of the science payload between lander and sailcraft may be feasible for missions focusing more on a single target.
With the technology available already now, it would be possible to develop a lightweight solar sail that fulfills the mission requirements of a 10-year multiple NEO rendezvous mission, thereby providing the means to study, prospect, or even deflect such potentially mineable or dangerous objects. In recent years, DLR has gained significant experience in realizing small spacecraft based projects on very short timelines with a high degree of strategic re-use of proven components between projects such as MASCOT and its successors, GOSSAMER-1, ROBEX, the ADEO dragsail, the GOSSAMER successor project GOSOLAR for very large scale photovoltaics, and others. Also, the infrastructure has been expanded to include facilities for functional and qualification testing, and the study and testing of critical effects of the space environment on new types of structures such as sail foils and thin-film photovoltaics.


A true 3D image is a geo-referenced image. Besides having its radiometric information, it also has true 3Dground coordinates XYZ for every pixels of it. For a true 3D image, especially a true 3D oblique image, it has true 3D coordinates not only for building roofs and/or open grounds, but also for all other visible objects on the ground, such as visible building walls/windows and even trees. The true 3D image breaks the 2D barrier of the traditional orthophotos by introducing the third dimension (elevation) into the image. From a true 3D image, for example, people will not only be able to read a building's location (XY), but also its height (Z). true 3D images will fundamentally change, if not revolutionize, the way people display, look, extract, use, and represent the geospatial information from imagery. In many areas, true 3D images can make profound impacts on the ways of how geospatial information is represented, how true 3D ground modeling is performed, and how the real world scenes are presented. This paper first gives a definition and description of a true 3D image and followed by a brief review of what key advancements of geospatial technologies have made the creation of true 3D images possible. Next, the paper introduces what a true 3D image is made of. Then, the paper discusses some possible contributions and impacts the true 3D images can make to geospatial information fields. At the end, the paper presents a list of the benefits of having and using true 3D images and the applications of true 3D images in a couple of 3D city modeling projects.


A study was conducted to investigate how consumers respond to banking advertisements with environmental claims. The study adopts a 2×2×2 factorial design. Altogether 195 participants in Hong Kong, China, were asked to read an advertisement of either a well-known or a lesser-known bank, featuring either a global or a local environmental issue, and containing a substantive or an associative environmental claim. The advertisement featuring global warming generated more favorable attitudes toward the advertisement than the ad featuring air pollution in Hong Kong. Use of a substantive claim was able to generate a more favorable advertising effect than use of an associative claim. Advertising effectiveness was higher among participants who were more concerned about the environment. Lesserknown banks have the potential to leverage on environmental advertising. They should choose environmental issues with significant impact and adopt substantive claims. This is the first experimental study on effectiveness of environmental advertising used in the banking context.


Ethical issues in criminal justice dominated the news in 2016, in large part because of legal-thriller-like developments in a presidential election more divisive and controversial than any in recent memory. The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, was under investigation by the FBI throughout the campaign for possible criminal violations involving the use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State. FBI Director James Comey's unprecedented press conference and other disclosures about the investigation at key junctions during the campaign have raised questions about his own ethical conduct.
The Republican candidate and ultimate winner, President Donald Trump, came to the White House with a host of ethical issues of his own. Before his upset victory on November 8, 2016, Trump presided over the Trump Organization, a sprawling real estate empire he values in the billions of dollars, with holdings in many foreign countries. While Trump has turned the running of his business over to his sons, he continues to own it through a trust set up for his "exclusive benefit." Three days into Trump's presidency, a group of prominent constitutional scholars, Supreme Court litigators, and former White House ethics lawyers filed a federal lawsuit accusing Trump of violating the constitution. The lawsuit remains pending.
This past year also saw major developments in murder cases that became national media sensations in 2015. Adnan Syed, convicted of murdering his former girlfriend in 1995, and Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, convicted of murdering a young woman in 2007, would be serving out their life sentences in anonymity were it not for the 2015 Serial podcast and 2015 Making a Murderer documentary. These shows, listened to and watched by tens of millions of people, exposed ethical and constitutional violations in Syed, Avery, and Dassey's cases that attracted the attention of high-powered lawyers who signed on to represent the men post-conviction. In 2016, both Syed and Dassey were granted new trials. Avery's case remains in active litigation. Using compelling narrative styles that bridged the divide between lay and professional audiences, journalists and filmmakers teamed up with attorneys and defendants to explain breakdowns in the criminal justice system. As a result of these in-depth investigations, all three cases have moved forward in dramatic ways that would have been impossible without the unrelenting glare of media attention and public outcry that continued long after the programs had aired.
Also dominating the headlines in 2016 was an ethics scandal that threatened to engulf Pennsylvania's criminal justice system. It began in 2014, when then-embattled Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane released a trove of emails showing that judges, top ranking prosecutors, defense attorneys, police officers and even a state legislator used state servers to exchange a blizzard of shocking racist and misogynistic emails, cartoons, and videos. Known as "Porngate," the scandal mushroomed: two state Supreme Court justices and several top government officials were forced to resign. But Kane soon found herself under investigation, and by year's end, she had been convicted of perjury and forced to resign. Porngate, however, lingers on. Most notably, in late 2016, a federal judge granted an evidentiary hearing to an African American defendant who claimed that police coerced her confession with racist and misogynistic threats and taunts. Noting that two of the state judges who denied the request for relief were involved in the Porngate scandal, the federal judge questioned their ability to be fair. This ruling may lead to others, as the Porngate judges and prosecutors presided over tens of thousands of criminal matters.
As the national conversation continues, so do real shifts, not only in the way we think about ethical advocacy but in the way in which our profession asks — and sometimes demands — that defense attorneys, prosecutors, and judges adhere to specific ethical rules.


Notes: This is a Consortium funded project - examining teaching and learning in range of professional contexts, in relation to issues relating to inclusion. Students to explore what inclusion really means in educational environments.
We cannot help but be political beings in our professional lives, by opting not to engage in political issues is a political statement in itself.
Most people acknowledge that 'inclusion' is a positive thing. We insist that students have an understanding of what is notionally accepted as inclusion to then explore differing perspectives of the tensions and barriers, as well as developing knowledge of the political and ideological history to understand present day discrimination and of what this means in practice.
This can be uncomfortable and can place practitioners in a real professional dilemma, as clashes in values and practices are noted.
We then ask - do we all really 'belong' in our classrooms?


Essentials The diagnosis of mild platelet function disorders (PFDs) is challenging. Validation of flow cytometric testing in patients with suspected PFDs is required. Flow cytometry has added value to light transmission aggregometry (LTA) in diagnosis of PFDs. There is fair agreement in diagnosing PFDs between LTA and flow cytometry.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate a clearly defined way of developing fault-tolerant applications using software meta-level architectures. Meta-level architectures are software architectures based on computational reflection. It addresses complex pieces of software: fault-tolerant software. Fault-tolerant applications must cope with several non-functional requirements to maintain its functionality. So, it is particularly relevant to investigate how to alleviate developers from repeatedly dealing with this complexity. Some solutions are presented, such as software patterns and basic guidelines to help the development of such applications


For deep-space pulse-position modulation (PPM) optical communication links using Nd: YAG lasers, two types of laser transmitter modulation techniques are available for efficiently producing laser pulses over a broad range of repetition rates: Q-switching and cavity dumping. The desired modulation scheme is dependent on the required pulse repetition frequency and link parameters. These two techniques are discussed, theoretical and numerical calculations of the internal energy of the laser cavity in cavity dumping are described, and an example of cavity dumping is applied to a link for a proposed experiment package on Cassini.


Multiblock structured grids is widely used in numerical simulations with complex geometries. Multiblock structured grids can provide the geometrical flexibility and retain a low computational cost. However, high performance computations of large-scale realistic applications using multiblock structured grids technique under distributed memory systems face several communication challenges. A proper method that specifies the connectivity among so many blocks of structured grids may be a challenge in large-scale simulations. A proper communication schedule among a large number of subdomains may be another challenge. To solve the communication challenges broadly existing in multiblock structured grids parallel computing, a parallel module for multiblock structured grids computing has been designed and implemented in JASMIN infrastructure. The parallel module consists of a blocks' relationship description algorithm and a unified communication schedule. Meanwhile, by encapsulating parallel computing strategies, such as distributed storage, data communications, etc. and providing standard interfaces, this module can help user conveniently realize multiblock structured grids parallel computing. According to our test results, applications based on this module can be run efficiently on thousands of processor cores, which prove the module's satisfying parallel computing performance.


Although operations on varicous veins are regarded as easy and low-risk, severe complications with the involvement of arteries, veins and nerves can occur during the course of such operations and, in reconstruction, demand the whole spectrum of vascular surgery. Therefore, surgeons operating on varicous veins and on out-patients should possess sufficient experience in vascular surgery and be able to admit their patients to a centre of vascular surgery in the case of severe complications without unnecessary loss of time. Beside a perfectly done operation sufficient preoperative diagnostic examinations and postoperative care of the patient have to be claimed. The treatment of varicous veins in a hospital must be possible also in the future. The extent of the procedure is usually greater during stationary treatment and bilateral operations are feasible. Therefore, from the economic point of view, a stationary assignment for a few days does not seem more expensive than several single operations with subsequent outpatient treatment and repeated diagnostic examinations in ambulatory settings.


The use of family planning as one way to prevent and plan
pregnancy is very important to control the population. However, amid the function is very important, use of family planning brings its own dilemmas because of various complaints that may dialami.Oleh because it is extremely important to know all the effects of psychological effects and especially the efforts to overcome the effects of
psychological munculdari the use of contraceptives.
This research is a qualitative descriptive study that aims to describe the psychological effects from the use of contraception, namely contraceptive pill, IUD, syringes, condoms and calendar. The sample used was the family planning acceptors of the Community Health Center Dinoyo Malang and working areas (Posyandu). The data used for the
questionnaire as the main data sources and interviews as a source of supporting data as well as test validity of the method. The interview techniques used are free interview techniques guided, so that free communication exists but directed so impressed more flexible and flexible. As a test
to check the truth of the validity of the data, carried out crosscheck data with expert informants.
From the results of research that has been done, it is known that the more complaints experienced will make the cognitive aspects of contraceptives would subject the more
negative. On the subject of condom users, calendar, and some IUD users have positive cognitive aspects because these methods do not have hormonal effects. Affectively
disturbing nature of complaints of physical condition (physiological) led to fear and yang disebabkan worried because they do not fulfill the need for security subject to the instrument contraceptive use. The high failure rate in an intrauterine device is also potential to cause anxiety to the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies. This many occurred in the subjects who used condoms and contraceptive methods calendar. Complaints that its disturbing appearance, making the subject especially some subjects pill and injection users feel uncomfortable and "fear" with other people's opinions of appearance, so try to avoid the association, as a form of attempt to overcome inadequate. Other complaints, especially in pill users and methods syringe was decreased desire for sexual intercourse which has konatif interfere with the quality and harmony of sexual activity, thus making the subject uncomfortable with her partner as they often refuse to make the connection
sexual. In addition to one subject IUD users are also susceptible to interference in worship activities because of a prolonged menstruation. This makes the subject feel
anxious and ill at ease because they could not serve well. Also in konatif, the whole subject of condoms and calendar user has a good effect of konatif increasing the quality of sexual relations in the absence of hormonal effects of family planning methods used so that makes these activities more frequently to do.


The random walker algorithm is a graph-based segmentation method that has become popular over the past few years. The basis of the algorithm is a large, sparsely occupied system of linear equations, whose size corresponds to the number of voxels in the image. To solve these systems, typically comprised of millions of equations, the computational performance of conventional numerical solution methods (e.g. Gauss-Seidel) is no longer satisfactory. An alternative method that has been described previously for solving 2D random walker problems is the geometrical multigrid method. In this paper, we present a geometrical multigrid approach for the 3D random walker problem. Our approach features an optimized calculation of the required Galerkin product and a robust smoothing using the ILUβ method. To reach better convergence rates, the multigrid solver is used as a preconditioner for the conjugate gradient solver. We compared the performance of our new multigrid approach with the conjugate gradient solver on five MRI lung images with a resolution of 96 x 128 x 52 voxels. Initial results show an increasing in speed of up to four times, reducing the average computation time from six minutes to less than two minutes when using our proposed approach. Employing a multigrid solver for the random walker algorithm thus permits accurate interactive segmentation with fewer delays.


Abstract Irinarassite, Ca3Sn2SiAl2O12, a new mineral species of the garnet supergroup was discovered in metasomatically altered carbonate-silicate xenoliths in ignimbrites of the Upper Chegem Caldera, Northern Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. It occurs as small zones and irregular spots in kimzeyite-kerimasite or rarely as single crystals not exceeding 10 μm in size, within complex pseudomorphs after zircon. Lakargiite, tazheranite, baddeleyite, kerimasite, kimzeyite, baghdadite and rarely magnesioferrite are associated with irinarassite in the pseudomorphs which are confined to larnite-cuspidine zones immediately adjoining the ignimbrite. Larnite, cuspidine, rondorfite, fluor- and hydroxylellestadite, fluorite and secondary minerals such as ettringite, hillebrandite and bultfonteinite are associated with irinarassite. Irinarassite is pale brown to yellow colour. The mineral is characterized by the absence of cleavage and by an irregular fracture. The calculated density is 4.3 g cm-1. The mineral is isotropic with a calculated refractive index of 1.9. The empirical crystal chemical formula of irinarassite from the holotype specimen is as follows (Ca2.965Fe0.0352+)∑3(Sn1.016Zr0.410Ti0.262Sb0.2375+Fe0.0352+U0.0176+Sc0.014Hf0.006Nb0.004)∑2.001(Al1.386Fe0.8043+Si0.446Ti0.3644+)∑3O12. Electron backscatter diffraction patterns of irinarassite are fitted to the garnet model with a = 12.50(3) Å with excellent MAD (mean angular deviation) = 0.16º. The Raman spectrum of irinarassite is analogous to those of kerimasite and other Zr-Sn-garnets of the schorlomite and bitikleite groups.


Nonlinear electromagnetic waves generated due to the injection of high-power electromagnetic waves relating to an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) are investigated in the GAMMA10 tandem-mirror fusion device and the QT-Upgrade laboratory device. In the GAMMA10 device, an electrostatic wave in the ion-cyclotron range of frequencies is observed around a west barrier region. During the barrier and plug electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH), the nonlinear electromagnetic waves with the interval of the frequency corresponding to the electrostatic fluctuation are radiated from the plug region. In the QT-Upgrade laboratory device, on the other hand, the injected microwave nonlinearly interacts with an electrostatic drift-wave instability. These results in the GAMMA10 and the QT-Upgrade devices indicate the radiation of the electromagnetic waves originating from the parametric instability.


Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV)-encoded 2b protein from subgroup IA or subgroup II was shown to be a determinant of virulence in many solanaceous hosts. In this study, the virulence of 2b proteins from subgroup IB strains was analysed using four intraspecies hybrid viruses, which were generated by precise replacement of the 2b open reading frame (ORF) in subgroup IA strain Fny-CMV with the 2b ORFs of four subgroup IB strains, Cb7-CMV, PGs-CMV, Rad35-CMV and Na-CMV, generating FCb7(2b)-CMV, FPGs(2b)-CMV, FRad35(2b)-CMV and FNa(2b)-CMV, respectively. FCb7(2b)-CMV was more virulent than Fny-CMV, and was similar in phenotype to its parental virus Cb7-CMV on the three Nicotiana species tested. FNa(2b)-CMV also was virulent on these host species, equivalent to Fny-CMV or Na-CMV. However, FRad35(2b)-CMV only caused mild mosaic or undetectable symptoms on all the host species tested, and was less virulent than Fny-CMV or Rad35-CMV. FPGs(2b)-CMV infected all the host species systemically, and induced either mosaic or barely visible symptoms, demonstrating that the inability of PGs-CMV to infect these three Nicotiana species was not due to its 2b protein. The diverse virulence was shown to be mediated by the 2b proteins rather than the C-terminal overlapping parts of the 2a proteins, and was associated with the level of viral progeny RNA accumulation in systemically infected leaves, but not with the rate of long-distance viral movement in host plants. Through analysis of encapsidation of viral RNAs, there was an apparent correlation between the virulence and the high level of encapsidated RNA 2 in virions of Fny-CMV, FCb7(2b)-CMV and FNa(2b)-CMV.


The paper can analyse the relationship between formal training / education and education in the broad sense of the social-human. The emphasis is highlighted in psycho-pedagogical conditions of transforming an instruction into the decisive factor of education. Instructions for becoming a social- human emphasizes the first component / side of training and can help a student - personal awareness (acquiring knowledge, training necessary mental skills and abilities, forming opinions, beliefs, ideals, etc., a virtual behaviour) b) the second component of education - the formation of social-practical behaviour is relatively low / limited. Social-practical behaviour to the greatest extent can be formed in all education in the broad sense of society through direct personal employment in conditions of reasonable practical activity, guides and benefits from the organization (work, professional, environmental, scientific, political, etc.).


SEARCA, in its 10th five-year plan (10th FYP), implemented the program, Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development (ISARD). A pilot project was undertaken in a specific rural community following a well-defined scheme for an agroecosystem and through the integration of four inter-related components, technical assistance, capacity building, knowledge management, and linkage and networking. After the completion in 2020, evidences of well-developed agricultural system capable of contributing to the goals of food security and poverty alleviation emerged. In its 11th FYP, SEARCA endeavors to scale out the ARD model project in the Southeast Asian region. But, how will this benefit from adopting FAO's Sustainable Food and Agriculture (SFA)? This central question was addressed by authors in this study. Using an indicator-based assessment approach, the results revealed that the pilot ISARD project, in general, has adopted the SFA principles. It is rated as Good Sustainability, with an overall SFA index of 0.62. To further meet the aspired sustainability through agricultural interventions, the design, delivery, and implementation of ISARD components should include aspects related to facilitating access to productive resources, finance, services for basic infrastructure, protecting water resources, promoting tenure systems to access land, and enhancing nutrition-based programs for the community.


Gauri Viswanathan, "Conversion and the Idea of the Secret" (pp. 161–186)
 Obsessed with the notion of the secret in his writings on religion, Jacques Derrida uncannily evokes a predecessor with whom he has rarely, if at all, been compared—the Russian occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. This essay argues that Blavatsky's occult writings set the stage for the kinds of speculations on crypto-conversion, conscience, and responsibility that subsequently engaged Derrida. Like Blavatsky, Derrida saw conversion not as change but as retaining whatever it displaces in the form of a secret, persisting as an enduring reminder of supplanted religious beliefs. While Derrida was more interested in conversion as a form of repression that mutually constitutes the old and the new, Blavatsky held a broader and more dynamic view of conversion-as-repression: in describing Christianity's battle against the heterogeneous belief-systems it eventually supplanted, she sought to illuminate conversion as a larger process well beyond the individual and involving religious expansion and consolidation. The essay culminates in a close reading of an occult text, W. B. Yeats's "The Manuscript of 'Leo Africanus,'" that exemplifies the problematics of crypto-conversion as delineated by Blavatsky and Derrida in their respective ways. "Leo Africanus" stages Yeats's encounter with a dead spirit alternatively grasped as his anti-self and historical conscience. A breakthrough in understanding allows Yeats to acknowledge an occluded history—his as much as that of his deceased interlocutor—that can only be told in the terms of crypto-conversion, in this instance of a sixteenth-century African slave forcibly converted to Christianity and turned into a native informant of African history and geography.