'Making markets work for the poor' (M4P) is a generic approach to developing market systems that benefit poor people. Interest in M4P is increasing but there are still many misconceptions over what it is and why it is important. This article sets out to address these issues. The foundation for M4P lies in real world changes, new conceptual thinking and learning from the wider experience of development agencies. More recently, the positive experience of M4P in practice - and the results generated - are a strong argument for the approach. From an operational perspective, M4P presents a framework to define market systems, emphasizes the facilitation role of agencies and offers guidance in each element of the implementation process. Although there are a number of caveats associated with it, M4P has considerable potential to bring about pro-poor systemic change.


Thinking about the decline of morality in post-reform China, the author analyzes the development of virtuous governance based on moral education, and concludes that the reason why ancient rulers were so infatuated with it was the inhibitive function of public evaluation on moral transgressions in familiar neighborhoods. However, as China transforms into a dynamic and commercial society, and its people move from familiar neighborhoods to alienated communities in the cities, public evaluation is losing its power over moral transgressors. To prevent the collapse of the moral system, it is necessary to use rule by law to foster people's sense of justice and rule-consciousness—not to simply hope for the appearance of more altruists. This is possible because law is the embodiment of moral principle, and because legal restraints and penalties can be internalized as habits. After a sense of justice and rule-consciousness has been established in people, we can again take up Confucian virtue education to nurture people's sense of shame and dignity, and their humane and righteous mind. However, to stop the current chaos and corruption, it is urgent that we adopt rule by law and supplement it with moral education.


It is shown that the optic flow field arising from motion relative to a visually textured plane may be characterized by eight parameters that depend on the observer's linear and angular velocity and the coordinate vector of the plane. These three vectors are not, however, uniquely determined by the values of the eight parameters. First, the optic flow field does not supply independent values for the observer's speed and distance from the plane; it only gives the ratio of these two quantities. But more unexpectedly, the equations relating the observer's linear velocity and the plane's coordinate vector to the eight parameters are still satisfied if the two vectors are interchanged or reversed in direction, or both. So in addition to the veridical interpretation of the optic flow field there exist three spurious interpretations to be considered and if possible excluded. This purpose is served by the condition that an interpretation can be seriously entertained only if it attributes every image element to a light source in the observer's field of view. This condition immediately eliminates one of the spurious interpretations, and exhibits the other two as mutually inconsistent: one of them is tenable only if all the visible sources lie on the forward half of the plane (relative to the observer's linear velocity); the other only if they all lie on the backward half-plane. If the sources are distributed over both halves of the plane, only the veridical interpretation survives. Its computation involves solving a 3 x 3 eigenvalue problem derived from the flow field. If the upper two eigenvalues coincide, the observer must be moving directly towards the plane; if the lower two eigenvalues coincide, his motion must be directly away from it; in both cases the spurious interpretation merges with the veridical one. If all three eigenvalues are equal, it may be inferred that either the observer's linear velocity vanishes or the plane is infinitely distant.


The regulation of squamous differentiation is a tightly regulated process involving transcriptional repression and activation. Previous studies have established that squamous carcinoma cell lines inappropriately regulate the transcription of genes important to the control of squamous differentiation. Histone deactylase inhibitors such as trichostatin A (TSA) and butyrate disrupt normal chromatin structure and cause alterations in gene expression/regulation. For these reasons, we examined the effects of both butyrate and TSA on the growth and differentiation of human keratinocytes or squamous carcinoma cells in tissue culture. We found that treatment of keratinocytes or squamous carcinoma cells with butyrate induced a reversible growth arrest. TSA, on the other hand, induced an irreversible growth arrest in both keratinocytes and squamous carcinoma cells. The growth arrest of keratinocytes induced by TSA or butyrate was accompanied by a reduction in the mRNA levels for proliferation genecdk1 and an induction of the mRNA for the differentiation-specific transglutaminase type I gene ( TG1). In contrast, the squamous carcinoma cells had decreasedcdk1and TG1 mRNA in response to TSA or butyrate. Both of these agents produced transient increases in the acetylation of histone H4 in keratinocytes and squamous carcinoma cells. These data indicated that TSA may have potential as a topical treatment for epidermal malignancies.


A series of Ti(IV) complexes containing diamino bis(phenolato) "salan" type ligands with NH coordination were prepared, and their hydrolysis and cytotoxicity were analyzed and compared to the N-methylated analogues. Substituting methyl groups on the coordinative nitrogen donor of highly active and stable Ti(IV) salan complexes with H atoms has two main consequences: the hydrolysis rate increases and the cytotoxic activity diminishes. In addition, the small modification of a single replacement of Me with H leads to a different major hydrolysis product, where a dinuclear Ti(IV) complex with two bridging oxo ligands is obtained, as characterized by X-ray crystallography, rather than a trinuclear cluster. A partial hydrolysis product containing a single oxo bridge was also crystallographically analyzed. Investigation of a series of complexes with NH donors of different steric and electronic effects revealed that cytotoxicity may be restored by fine tuning these parameters even for complexes of low stability.


This chapter addresses the issue of the development of indicators aimed at providing a measurement base with both breadth and depth from which research in the "economics of knowledge" can benefit. While initial attempts at quantification in the area of the knowledge economy were based on both national accounting (Machlup 1962) and growth accounting (Abramovitz and David 2001), the use of indicators with a direct bearing on knowledge (Jaffe and Trajtenberg 2002) is becoming the dominant approach. There is no summation (or composite value), as in accounting, but rather a collection of available statistics on several dimensions of knowledge, such as scientific and technological knowledge, innovation inputs and outputs, and organizational practices. The strength of this latter approach is that, depending on the quality of the indicators, it allows a genuine grasp of the phenomena of knowledge and innovation under consideration. The economics of knowledge is now at the point where it has the potential to become a strong, empirically disciplined science, depending on whether enough progress can be made on developing the underlying data and the indicators ensuing from them. This chapter argues that the economics of knowledge is at a crossroads, and it uses the development of knowledge management indicators as and illustration of this.


Recent discoveries show that fungi can take up environmental RNA, which can then silence fungal genes through environmental RNA interference. This discovery prompted the development of Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS) for plant disease management. In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy of SIGS across a variety of eukaryotic microbes. We first examined the efficiency of RNA uptake in multiple pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi, and an oomycete pathogen. We observed efficient double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) uptake in the fungal plant pathogens Botrytis cinerea, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Aspergillus niger, and Verticillium dahliae, but no uptake in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and weak uptake in a beneficial fungus, Trichoderma virens. For the oomycete plant pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, RNA uptake was limited, and varied across different cell types and developmental stages. Topical application of dsRNA targeting virulence-related genes in the pathogens with high RNA uptake efficiency significantly inhibited plant disease symptoms, whereas the application of dsRNA in pathogens with low RNA uptake efficiency did not suppress infection. Our results have revealed that dsRNA uptake efficiencies vary across eukaryotic microbe species and cell types. The success of SIGS for plant disease management can largely be determined by the pathogen RNA uptake efficiency.


—Interaction of CD11/CD18 b 2 integrins on polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) with their counterreceptor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, on the surface of vascular endothelial cells is a critical event mediating stable PMN adhesion and migration across the pulmonary vascular endothelial barrier. Neutrophil inhibitory factor (NIF), a 41-kDa glycoprotein isolated from the canine hookworm ( Ancylostoma caninum ), binds to the I domain of CD11a and CD11b and inhibits b 2 integrin–dependent PMN adhesion. We describe a novel strategy using the endothelial cell–specific E-selectin promoter to induce NIF expression in an inflammation-specific manner in pulmonary vascular endothelial cells. A construct containing NIF cDNA driven by the inducible endothelial cell–specific E-selectin promoter (pESNIF) was transfected into human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs). Lipopolysaccharide challenge (known to activate E-selectin) resulted in NIF mRNA and protein expression in transfected HPAECs. NIF expression induced by the E-selectin promoter prevented PMN adhesion to the activated HPAECs, whereas PMNs adhered avidly to activated HPAECs in the absence of NIF expression. To address the utility of this approach in conditionally preventing in vivo PMN sequestration, we injected mice intravenously with cationic liposomes containing the pESNIF construct. Analysis of lung tissue showed that intraperitoneal challenge of Escherichia coli resulted in NIF expression. Inflammation-specific NIF expression induced by the E-selectin promoter prevented lung PMN sequestration and vascular injury induced by E coli challenge. These studies suggest the feasibility of conditionally blocking b 2 integrin function at sites where the endothelium is activated and thereby of locally preventing PMN activation and migration responses that lead to tissue inflammation. ( Circ Res . 2000;87:254-260.) of


The world has seen the onset of the seventh Coronavirus SARS CoV-2, in the winter of 2019, that spread from a local animal market in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province to all of China in 30 days. At this time the novel Coronavirus (COVID) disease has spread worldwide by droplets and contact transmission. It can affect people of all ages, though it has the most severe impact in the elderly and those with multiple medical co-morbidities, by affecting the respiratory system leading to high morbidity and mortality. RT-PCR testing of respiratory specimens allows diagnosis. No curative therapy has been approved, while vaccine trials are undergoing. Wearing facial masks, hand hygiene and social distancing can work to prevent community spread. Measures to reduce nosocomial spread and protecting the health of health care workers is crucial as this infection is combatted


In recent years there have been many demonstrations of phase super-resolution - previously thought to be a manifestly quantum phenomenon - using classical light, but at the expense of reduced interference visibility. It is therefore of interest to delineate what interference effects belong to the realm of classical world, and which require quantum states. Generalizing Hofmann's method of post-selection projection, we show that essentially any interference curve can be synthesized with high visibility with coherent state input. The method is based on the mathematical observation that any polynomial can be completely factored over the field of complex numbers. Hence, any two-mode, N-photon state can be written as a product of N single-photon, two-mode states, and the corresponding measurement projector can be experimentally implemented using beam splitters, phase-shifters, and N-photon coincidence measurements.


Abstract This study empirically evaluated two models of service quality pertaining to recreationists who visited a Pacific Northwest National Forest. The use of service quality ratings to measure an agency's provision of recreation services, facilities, information, experiences and so forth has grown substantially over the past decade. Greater examination of an overall measure of service quality is needed, as well as a better understanding of what specific items and service quality dimensions best predict overall service quality. In this study, the dependent variable (overall service quality) was operationalised by creating an index of quality domains. The results showed that the quality items were very good predictors of their respective domains, and that the same items were very good predictors of overall service quality. Overall these models were found to be excellent predictive models that accounted for a very high proportion of the variance. The first model, regressing the quality items on the quality dimensions, accounted for 28–50% of the variance, while about 71% of the variance was accounted for when regressing the quality items on the overall service quality measure. The results of this study add to the body of literature suggesting the use of a multiple-item index as a dependent measure of overall service quality rather than a single-item indicator of overall service quality. Additionally, the service quality items and dimensions used in this study contribute to a larger body of literature focused on developing a model of service quality that can be practically applied in an outdoor recreation setting.


The subject of the present paper is Nietzsche's Overman. It gives a new interpretation, emphasising a psychological-biographical approach towards Nietzsche. At the heart of our application of the Overman to Nietzsche's own life stands the demonstration of multiple escape movements, which obviously not only dominated his life, but also found expression in his work. In the concept of the Overman, the intrinsic paradoxical feature of Nietzsche's being and thinking is expressed. Here, the great hater of all escapes from the world constructs his own refuge Utopia; the 'timid eagle' (as Nietzsche can be called because of the contradiction between his life and thought) creates a flight-exercise from the inner conflict of thoughts into thought-lessness and a pure 'activism'. However, Nietzsche's thinking is not exhausted or can be dismissed with a philosophical-psychological analysis of his person. No matter how many attempts at psychological explanations of the philosophy of Nietzsche almost force themselves upon us, it would be ill conceived to conclude from this that thus his ideas are settled, his designs without value. Therefore it is important to save the philosophical value of these. So it is a second goal of this paper to review Nietzsche's idea of the Overman critically and to search for its possible meaning for a modern Christian self-understanding. The true core of the Christian message in view, i.e. the God of unconditional love, the paper proposes an attitude which can be called a 'Christian Overman: As Nietzsche defined the Overman as he who endures the death of God, a modern Christian should be able to review his picture of God and endure the end of the moral God.


In analyzing the point-to-point wireless channel, insights about two qualitatively different operating regimes-bandwidth and power-limited-have proven indispensable in the design of good communication schemes. In this paper, we propose a new scaling law formulation for wireless networks that allows us to develop a theory that is analogous to the point-to-point case. We identify fundamental operating regimes of wireless networks and derive architectural guidelines for the design of optimal schemes. Our analysis shows that in a given wireless network with arbitrary size, area, power, bandwidth, etc., there are three parameters of importance: the short-distance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the long-distance SNR, and the power path loss exponent of the environment. Depending on these parameters, we identify four qualitatively different regimes. One of these regimes is especially interesting since it is fundamentally a consequence of the heterogeneous nature of links in a network and does not occur in the point-to-point case; the network capacity is both power and bandwidth limited. This regime has thus far remained hidden due to the limitations of the existing formulation. Existing schemes, either multihop transmission or hierarchical cooperation, fail to achieve capacity in this regime; we propose a new hybrid scheme that achieves capacity.


Goal: To study the peculiarities of the course of acute glomerulonephritis in youngmen. Material and research methods: Current study presents the results of clinical examination of 150 youngmen, aged 18-22, who were hospitalized with acute glomerulonephritis. The control group consisted of 50 practically healthy youngmen. Results: The study results showed, that subclinical liver injury was observed in 66 out of 150 examined patients with acute glomerulonephritis, the cause of which can be hepatotoxic effects of antipyretic drugs, taken in the early stages of the disease. In general, liver injuries occurred in acute glomerulonephritis caused by streptococcal infection. Moreover, manifestation of liver injury did not depend on the dose of medicine. Due to toxic and immunological liver injury, levels of transaminases increase and albumin levels decrease.


This paper deals with the remains of butchered dogs from the La Tene and Early Roman sites in northern Slovakia. A large settlement revealed at Liptovska Mara was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of Cotini, representing the so-called Puchov culture. The long-term excavation of the site has yielded one of the largest collections from that time in Slovakia. During archaeozoological analysis, the skeletal remains of dogs were identified. Interestingly, a large portion of the specimens represent the cranial skeleton, and the majority of mandibles bear distinctive marks of butchery. On the basis of their placement and similar characteristics, the authors conclude that they resulted from tongue-removal procedures. Moreover, their frequent occurrence clearly supports the idea of the use of dog flesh at the site. The authors argue that cynophagia occurred mainly for economic reasons; however, it might also have been part of the rituals documented in the sanctuary of Liptovska Mara. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We report the effect of applied pressures on magnetic and superconducting order in single crystals of the aliovalent La-doped iron pnictide material Ca$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. Using electrical transport, elastic neutron scattering and resonant tunnel diode oscillator measurements on samples under both quasi-hydrostatic and hydrostatic pressure conditions, we report a series of phase diagrams spanning the range of substitution concentrations for both antiferromagnetic and superconducting ground states that include pressure-tuning through the antiferromagnetic (AFM) quantum critical point. Our results indicate that the observed superconducting phase with maximum transition temperature of $T_{c}$=47 K is intrinsic to these materials, appearing only upon suppression of magnetic order by pressure tuning through the AFM critical point. In contrast to all other intermetallic iron-pnictide superconductors with the ThCr$_2$Si$_2$ structure, this superconducting phase appears to exist only exclusively from the antiferromagnetic phase in a manner similar to the oxygen- and fluorine-based iron-pnictide superconductors with the highest transition temperatures reported to date. The unusual dichotomy between lower-$T_{c}$ systems with coexistent superconductivity and magnetism and the tendency for the highest-$T_{c}$ systems to show non-coexistence provides an important insight into the distinct transition temperature limits in different members of the iron-based superconductor family.


Digital watermarking has been widely applied to relational database for ownership protection and information hiding. But robustness and reversibility are two key challenges due to the frequently database maintaining operators on those tuples. This paper proposes a novel relational database watermarking scheme based on a fast and stable clustering method on database tuples, which adopts Mahalanobis distance as the similarity measurement. Before the process of watermark embedding and detecting, the databases tuples are adaptively clustered into groups according to the length of binary watermark. Moreover the watermark segments are respectively embedded into or detected from those groups according to the numeric field's Lowest Significant Bit (LSB) and polar angle expansion. The majority decision strategy is used to determine the value of watermark bit in blind detection process.


A correction to the Kirchhoff-Huygens approximation in the format of a diffraction coefficient is derived for an aperture terminated by a half plane. As in the physical theory of diffraction (PTD), this is achieved by considering the end point contribution to the aperture integral. It is seen that when the aperture is taken as conformal with the surface of the half plane, the conventional PTD result is obtained.


Over the last decade, workfare programmes provided support to the unemployed only insofar as they were willing to accept a job. The theoretical underpinnings of these programmes are that institutional constraints prevent labour supply from adjusting to the technologically determined requirements of labour demand. We contend that when individuals look for a job, they generally want to take into account non-monetary features such as occupational status. Status cannot be traded, it usually is complementary to income, it determines lifestyles and life possibilities. As for labour demand, its requirements do not reflect efficient behaviour and technical constraints because business "efficiency" cannot be taken to be a measure of social efficiency and technology cannot be used as a benchmark to assess the efficiency of business conduct. We suggest that Sen's notion of capabilities may constitute an appropriate benchmark to assess the social efficiency of the economic system. This leads us to a few policy implications. The "capabilities benchmark" leads us to stress the importance of freedom to choose how to conduct one's life. Acting in favour of freedom involves the understanding of how business strategies affect learning patterns and available choice sets. It also involves the assessment of policy issues - such as cooperation between the scientific community and business, scientific freedom, educational goals and their institutional implementation, and unemployment relief systems - which may influence the relation between business strategies and social learning.


Henri de Lubac and Rowan Williams have, in different ways, insisted upon the bond between the eucharist and the church. For both theologians, the eucharist is not simply the product of the ecclesial gathering but rather is instrumental in the realization of the ecclesial body of Christ. Likewise, both theologians have, in different ways, asserted that the church must resist introversion but recognize its responsibilities to the world beyond it. This essay examines the connection of the eucharist and the church in the thought of de Lubac and Williams and traces aspects of their resultant ecclesiologies before considering how their thought might facilitate the church's ongoing interaction with the wider world.


BACKGROUND
Collagen membranes cross-linked by glycation (GLYM) for guided bone regeneration (GBR) and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) are used extensively with proven safety and efficacy. Complete GLYM ossification, when placed in contact with bone, was described in a canine jaw model, suggesting that GLYM may serve as an ossification substrate. The purpose of this case series was to histologically evaluate GLYM in GBR procedures in humans.

METHODS
We retrospectively selected seven consecutive patients with implant-related bony defects who underwent GBR with GLYM. Six defects had bone grafts, and one had a barrier alone. Selection criteria were primary closure upon post-surgical examination and tissue that was 2- to 3-mm thick over the implant's cover screw. Tissue was removed when the implants were uncovered after 20 to 29 weeks. Decalcified sections were stained and analyzed under light microscopy.

RESULTS
In five of seven specimens, GLYM was identified and preserved its barrier effect. The mean membrane thickness was 0.17 +/- 0.054 mm. In two cases, the bone grafts under the membrane were embedded in new bone, whereas in five cases, they were embedded in fibrous connective tissue. Formation of new dense bone was observed along the side of the membrane facing the original bone, and various degrees of membrane ossification were evident in all five cases.

CONCLUSIONS
GLYM maintained its barrier effect in five of seven cases for 25 weeks and induced dense new bone along its interface with underlying tissues. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on GLYM ossification in humans with direct mineral apposition on glycated collagen and suggests a new concept of tissue-integrated active barriers.


Extraction of natural gas from hard-to-reach reservoirs has expanded around the world and poses multiple environmental threats to surface waters. Improved drilling and extraction technology used to access low permeability natural gas requires millions of liters of water and a suite of chemicals that may be toxic to aquatic biota. There is growing concern among the scientific community and the general public that rapid and extensive natural gas development in the US could lead to degradation of natural resources. Gas wells are often close to surface waters that could be impacted by elevated sediment runoff from pipelines and roads, alteration of streamflow as a result of water extraction, and contamination from introduced chemicals or the resulting wastewater. However, the data required to fully understand these potential threats are currently lacking. Scientists therefore need to study the changes in ecosystem structure and function caused by natural gas extraction and to use such data to inform sound environmental policy.


Analytical approaches to hydrostatic capillary (meniscus) problem in infinite horizontal channel and axisymmetric container are developed. For these geometric cases, finding the capillary menisci reduces to freeboundary problems for special systems of ordinary differential equations. Their solutions describe capillary curves, which appear as intersections of the capillary menisci and (depending on the container type) either crosssection or meridional plane. Further studies on capillary waves require to know analytical approximations of these capillary curves in the Cn, n ≥ 3 metrics. An objective may consists of constructing analytical approximate solutions of the corresponding systems of ordinary differential equations. The present paper focuses on limits of applicability of the Taylorpolynomial and Pad´e approximations, which were proposed for this class of capillary problems in 1984 by Barnyak&Timokha.


Objective In this study, the influence of various anatomical and biomechanical factors on the ability to detect the magnitude of elbow extension during the cricket bowling action, with either the naked eye or from conventional two-dimensional video footage was evaluated. Design Descriptive study Setting One male bowler who had a large ℌcarrying angleℍ was studied by means of a three-dimensional biomechanical analysis using the Vicon MX13 motion analysis system when bowling at match pace. Photographs were taken from various angles during the bowling delivery action to illustrate factors influencing the visual appearance of an illegal delivery. Main outcome measures The influence of extension of the elbow joint and the elbow's anatomically fixed position, known as the "carrying angle", on the visual perception of an illegal ("thrown") delivery were the main outcome measures. Results The elbow joint rotates about 90° as a result of humeral rotation during the movement of shoulder circumduction produced by the bowler's delivery action. This causes the plane in which the elbow joint moves to change throughout the delivery action. This movement will also vary between bowlers. The movement of elbow planar flexion/extension can be viewed only when the viewer's eyes are at exactly 90u to the plane of elbow joint movement. Thus, a cricket umpire wishing to detect elbow extension during the bowler's delivery action would need continuously to change his viewing position as the bowler's arm moved from the horizontal to the vertical position at ball release. We show that by viewing the action from only one position, the umpire will be confused by the illusion of a "throw" produced by a large "carrying angle" in some bowlers. Conclusion It is impossible for an umpire conclusively to cite a bowler for an illegal action based only on naked eye observation. To do this the umpire would need to be in at least three different positions throughout a single delivery. Similarly, video footage shot from at least three different angles during the bowler's delivery action would need to be viewed by the match referee. By viewing the delivery from only one position, the visual illusion of a "throw" will be created by the presence of a large "carrying angle".


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the mechanisms used by Flinders University Library to sustain a culture of research. Flinders University Library has been supporting its librarians to undertake research projects using a formal support group mechanism, known as the Research Working Group (RWG), sanctioned and resourced by library executive since 2010. This established a culture of practitioner-based research in the library, with the librarians developing a greater understanding of both the theory and practice of qualitative and quantitative methods by undertaking their own research projects. However, sustaining a research this culture brings new challenges which this paper now explores.

Design/methodology/approach
This case study describes the methods used at Flinders University Library in sustaining a culture of practitioner-research. This arose from a review of the formal support structure, as well as a previous study that surveyed staff responses to the RWG.

Findings
As academic libraries face ongoing challenges and engage more broadly with research support, librarians need experiential knowledge of research. In the case of Flinders University Library, the author has found that, in seeking to sustain a research culture, the author has needed to adapt the support mechanisms, including a greater emphasis on peer support, a different model of resourcing and more inclusivity for all staff to engage with research work.

Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited by its scope as a single-institution case study; however, there are opportunities for other academic libraries to learn from this experience.

Originality/value
Establishing a culture of practice-based research is not an easy undertaking, requiring dedication from all parties whether management, practitioner-researchers or mentors. While there are many examples in the literature of case studies examining the establishment of research culture, few if any take the next steps to explore how to maintain it. This paper seeks to fill that gap.


This paper focuses on the complete characterization of the wet micromachining of 3D microstructures on LGS plates. Circular and square membranes and mesas are etched at 80 °C in a HCl∶H2O solution of composition 2∶1. The anisotropy of the wet etching is found to be of type 2 with "square" membranes bounded partly by curved facets and by curved contours at corners. The database of the continuum simulation tool TENSOSIM is progressively adjusted. Accordingly numerical 3D etching shapes derived with the proposed database are very close to experimental shapes. The objective of an accurate adjustment of the database of the simulator TENSOSIM in order to build an efficient tool for the CAD of LGS resonant structures is thus reached.


In the Scandinavian Caledonides a eugeosyncline is well developed while a miogeosyncline is only known in a few localities, possibly because this structure is concealed by covering nappes from the eugeosyncline. Both in the western and eastern facies of the eugeosyncline faunas with an American (Appalachian) aspect prevail. The foreland sediments, well demonstrated in the Oslo Region, show repeated invasions of arenaceous sediments apparently from the western part of the foreland and from the geosyncline. Certain sedimentary cycles are suggested. The floras and faunas are partly Baltic, British and American. A considerable thickness of sediments towards the end of the Silurian indicate the formation of a syneclise reaching from the Oslo Region via Scania to the Baltic. The 'Faltungsgraben' and Devonian 'cuvettes' in western Norway and Scotland are interpreted as similar, but more trough-like depressions (Aulacogenes).


The Handling Qualities (HQs) of a helicopter can be adversely affected through the presence of an externally slung load. Helicopter stability margins may be reduced, due to the additional dynamics of the load system, which can subsequently increase pilot workload, and reduce the operational envelope. An automatic slung load stabilisation system has been designed and has been successfully tested in flight. This system, alongside slung load scenarios, has been implemented within DLRs Air Vehicle Simulator (AVES). In this paper, the results from a simulated test campaign to observe the influence of the stabilisation system on the vehicle HQs are presented. The system is assessed using three Mission Task Elements (MTEs), designed for externally slung load operations. Results show that the conflict between pilot and stabilisation can cause degradation in HQs. However, it is shown that when the stabilisation system is used only "when required", both the HQs of the helicopter are conserved, and load oscillations are reduced. The results in this paper are intended to motivate future flights tests using DLR's Active Control Technology / Flying Helicopter Simulator (ACT/FHS).


Objective: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of CAD as well as plaque morphology in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes using multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT). In addition, the relation between calcium score and MSCT findings was explored. Design: In 70 patients, coronary calcium scoring and non-invasive coronary angiography were performed. Angiograms showing atherosclerosis were further classified as obstructive (⩾50% luminal narrowing) CAD or not. Plaque type (non-calcified, mixed and calcified) was determined. Finally, the relation between calcium score and MSCT findings was explored. Results: A calcium score <10 was observed in 31 (44%) patients. A calcium score of 10–100 was observed in 14 (20%) patients while a score of 101–400 or >400 was identified in 12 (17%) and 13 (19%) patients respectively. Non-invasive coronary angiography showed CAD in 56 (80%) patients. 322 coronary segments with plaque were identified, of which 132 (41%) contained non-calcified plaques, 65 (20%) mixed plaques and 125 (39%) calcified plaques. The percentage of patients with obstructive CAD paralleled increasing calcium score. The presence of CAD was noted in 17 (55%) patients with no or minimal calcium (score <10). Conclusions: MSCT angiography detected a high prevalence of CAD in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes. A relatively high proportion of plaques were non-calcified (41%). Importantly, a calcium score <10 did not exclude CAD in these patients. MSCT might be a useful technique to identify CAD in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes with incremental value over calcium scoring.


This dissertation describes the application of the eco-hydrological model SWAT to a watershed in the Three Gorges Region, which is located in Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality in Central China. The region is heavily influenced by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on Yangtze River, which was completed in 2009. The dam was constructed for reasons of flood protection, hydropower production and navigation benefits. It exerts substantial influence on water resources in the affected sub-watersheds of Yangtze River.
In the Three Gorges Region, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam induced a large-scale land use change. This can mostly be attributed to the inundation of agricultural areas, villages and towns, which necessitated the resettlement of more than 1 million people and the relocation of agriculturally used areas from the valley bottoms to steep, formerly forested slopes. The clearance of forest on steep slopes and their use for agricultural production is expected to strongly increase the risk of erosion and diffuse sediment inputs to surface waters. Soil erosion results in the removal of nutrient-rich topsoil, which leads to an irreversible degradation of soils and to undesired off-site effects in surface waters. The sediment reduces the life span of the Three Gorges Reservoir due to siltation and carries large amounts of nutrients to the water bodies. At the same time, flow velocities are reduced and the residence time of water is prolonged in the reservoir. In combination, the increasing sediment and nutrient inputs and the altered flow regime are expected to exacerbate the risk of eutrophication and thereby hamper the usability of water resources. Especially in the backwater areas of Yangtze River tributaries, an increasing occurrence of algae blooms has been observed in recent years.
The current situation in the Three Gorges Region indicates a strong need for sustainable water resources management. This dissertation aimed at identifying a suitable tool for assessing the impact of land use change in the Three Gorges Region on water quantity and quality to support the development of integrated watershed management plans. Therefore, the eco-hydrological model SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was applied to the Xiangxi Catchment in Hubei Province. The Xiangxi Catchment comprises an area of 3200 km2 as is considered to be representative of the eastern part of the Three Gorges Region. Land use in the watershed is dominated by forest. Agriculturally used areas are restricted to relatively small areas, which are characterized by severe soil erosion.

SWAT was used in this dissertation to simulate water balance, streamflow and sediment yield under past, current and possible future land use conditions. Also, the most important sources of model error were identified in this study. Results indicate that the model performs very well with regard to streamflow and water balance, whereas the prediction of sediment yield is more problematic. SWAT output was analyzed at different spatial levels ranging from the entire watershed to individual Hydrologic Response Units. Generally, there is considerable uncertainty associated with the SWAT predictions in the Xiangxi Catchment, because of a low amount of data available for model parameterization, calibration and validation. Nevertheless results of the basic model calibration were considered a sufficient basis for the simulation of land use scenarios. The forested area in the Xiangxi Catchment has increased in the recent past which led to a decrease of fast flow components and sediment yield. Scenario simulations demonstrate that a further increase in forest would result in a continuation of the trends observed in the past, whereas an increase of agriculturally used areas would induce a strong increase in sediment yields. The scenario simulations indicate a high potential for conflicts between environmental protection and agricultural production, which is aggravated by conservation efforts of the Chinese government, e.g. the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). Through compensation and subsidy payments, SLCP encouraged farmers to convert sloping cropland to forest or grassland. While this is an effective means of reducing soil erosion on the afforested areas, it increases the pressure on the remaining cropland.
The results of this dissertation suggest that in the future the application of selected Best Management Practices may be more effective for realizing sustainable watershed management plans than continuing to reallocate land use types within the Xiangxi Catchment. SWAT has already been used successfully for assessing the effects of Best Management Practices on water resources in a number of studies. However, the data currently available for the Xiangxi Catchment does not allow for a sufficiently detailed parameterization and calibration of land use and management.
Future studies in the Xiangxi Catchment should focus on improving the data base by obtaining additional relevant input data. This can help to reduce the uncertainty in model results and facilitate the simulation of Best Management Practices. By testing the applicability of SWAT to the Xiangxi Catchment and identifying the main sources of uncertainty, this dissertation laid the groundwork for further research in the Three Gorges Region, which can help to preserve natural resources in this unique and sensitive ecosystem.


The optimal timing for discontinuing treatment with a long-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analog (TAP-144SR) was investigated in patients with central precocious puberty (CPP). Thirty-five girls with CPP (21 with idiopathic disease and 14 with organic disease) were treated with the analog for 3 to 5 years. No significant differences were seen between the idiopathic and the organic CPP in the suppressive effect of bone maturation. Advancement of bone maturation was noticeably suppressed during the period between bone ages (BA) of 11.0 and 11.9. The height standard deviation score (Ht-SDS) for BA was consistently improved from 10 to 11.5 years of BA, and patients reached peak Ht-SDS at a BA of 11.5 years. The OHt-SDS (annual change in Ht-SDS) was noticeably decreased at BA over 12 years in spite of prolongation of the treatment. In the eight patients who have reached final height, the average Ht-SDS was 0.49 at end of the treatment (BA 11.7 years) and the final Ht-SDS was -1.1 SD, respectively. Predicted adult height at the end of the treatment was significantly higher than the actual final height (P<0.01). The results suggest that a fall in Ht-SDS for BA which usually occurs at approximately 12 years of BA, is an indication for cessation of the treatment with TAP144SR, and residual growth potential judged solely from BA may be decreased in girls with CPP after discontinuation of the treatment.


In order to resolve the problem of water pollution owing to using a large number of urea in silk printing with reactive dyes, TEG (Triethylene glycol/3, 6-dioxaoctane-1/8-diol) was used to replace the urea. The effects of TEG on the performance of monochromic and combination printed fabrics were studied through testing K/S values (color depth) and Delta E (color differences) of printed fabrics. Meanwhile, the effect of TEG and urea on the solubility of reactive dye and the moisture absorbency of silk fabric were compared by testing the solubility of reactive dyes and the diameter of silk fiber respectively. The results indicated that the best replacement ratio of TEG to urea was 75%.


Botanic gardens have changed over time, as have their uses and social roles. They were initially developed in the 16th century for the study of medicinal plants, but between the 17th and 19th centuries, they expanded to Asia, America and Africa; they turned into active sites for the introduction, cultivation and dissemination of economically significant plants. The necessity for biodiversity protection and sustainable use gained prominence in the 20th century. Botanical gardens are faced with the challenge of addressing problems that go beyond the confines of the garden by making social and environmental responsibility a primary focus of their missions. Therefore, to a better understanding of the role of botanic gardens and to highlight the importance of biodiversity, this study focuses on the historical development of botanic gardens and their functions and the current conditions of botanic gardens in Türkiye.


Valparaiso was the fastest growing town in Chile during the 19th century, to the extent that the original inhabitants became a minority in relation to the newcomers. The most important of these groups of immigrants were the foreign communities, on account of their economic and social influence. They left their mark not only in the daily life of the port but also in their wy of thinking and religious attitudes. Valparaiso, in contrast to the rest of Chile, had an important group of noncatholics. The development and public manifestations of these dissidents, was due both to the growth in their numbers and to the weakness of the Catholic presence in that por during the first half of the 19th century. However, from the 1860s on, the situation tended to change due to difficulties faced by the protestants and freemasons, and the recovery of the Catholic Church under the apostolic governor Mariano Casanova. At the end of the century, Catholic worship who had remained aloof from the native population, began to make strong inroads in the midst thanks to the work of the Pentecostalists


Speech is considered an efficient communication channel. This implies that the organization of utterances is such that more speaking effort is directed towards important parts than towards redundant parts. Based on a model of incremental word recognition, the importance of a segment is defined as its contribution to word-disambiguation. This importance is measured as the segmental information content, in bits. On a labeled Dutch speech corpus it is then shown that crucial aspects of the information structure of utterances partition the segmental information content and explain 90% of the variance. Two measures of acoustical reduction, duration and spectral center of gravity, are correlated with the segmental information content in such a way that more important phonemes are less reduced. It is concluded that the organization of reduction according to conventional information structure does indeed increase efficiency.


The efficacy of murine monoclonal IgG1 antibody 2A3 specific for the 55 kD chain of the human IL-2 receptor (CD25) was evaluated for prophylaxis of acute GVHD in patients with advanced leukemia transplanted with unmodified bone marrow from related HLA-haploidentical donors incompatible for two or three HLA loci of the nonshared haplotype. As GVHD prophylaxis, 36 patients (control) received standard cyclosporine and methotrexate (C + M) whereas 11 patients (study) received C + M plus antibody 2A3, 1.0 mg/kg on day -1, and 0.5 mg/kg daily from day 0 through day +19. Antibody administration was not associated with appreciable toxicity and did not adversely affect engraftment. During treatment, circulating CD25+ cells appeared saturated by the infused antibody. Patients receiving antibody 2A3 tolerated more cyclosporine than controls (p less than 0.001) with lower increase of serum creatinine (p less than 0.05) during the first month. Seven of 10 (70%) evaluable study patients developed acute GVHD of grade II-IV with onset at a median of 20 days compared to 27 of 31 (87%) control patients with onset at a median of 13 days (p = 0.11). Trough serum levels of antibody 2A3 ranged from 7.2 to 68.8 mg/l, and lower values correlated with occurrence of acute GVHD. A human anti-mouse immunoglobulin antibody response was detected in four patients but was not associated with lower levels of antibody 2A3 in the serum. Two study patients and two controls have survived more than 1 year (p = 0.92). These findings suggest that administration of antibody 2A3 suppressed and delayed activation of alloantigen-specific T cells but did not result in their elimination.


This thesis deals with control of fuel cells, focusing on high-temperature proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells.Fuel cells are devices that convert the chemical energy of hydrogen, methanol or other chemical compounds directly into electricity, without combustion or thermal cycles. They are efficient, scalable and silent devices that can provide power to a wide variety of utilities, from portable electronics to vehicles, to nation-wide electric grids.Whereas studies about the design of fuel cell systems and the electrochemical properties of their components abound in the open literature, there has been only a minor interest, albeit growing, in dynamics and control of fuel cells.In the relatively small body of available literature, there are some apparently contradictory statements: sometimes the slow dynamics of fuel cells is claimed to present a control problem, whereas in other articles fuel cells are claimed to be easy to control and able to follow references that change very rapidly. These contradictions are mainly caused by differences in the sets of phenomena and dynamics that the authors decided to investigate, and also by how they formulated the control problem. For instance, there is little doubt that the temperature dynamics of a fuel cell can be slow, but users are not concerned with the cell's temperature: power output is a much more important measure of performance.Fuel cells are very multidisciplinary systems, where electrical engineering, electrochemistry, chemical engineering and materials science are all involved at various levels; it is therefore unsurprising that few researchers can master all of these branches, and that most of them will neglect or misinterpret phenomena they are unfamiliar with.The ambition of this thesis is to consider the main phenomena influencing the dynamics of fuel cells, to properly define the control problem and suggest possible approaches and solutions to it.This thesis will focus on a particular type of fuel cell, a variation of proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells with a membrane of polybenzimidazole instead of the usual, commercially available Nafion. The advantages of this particular type of fuel cells for control are particularly interesting, and stem from their operation at temperatures higher than those typical of Nafion-based cells: these new cells do not have any water-management issues, can remove more heat with their exhaust gases, and have better tolerance to poisons such as carbon monoxide.The first part of this thesis will be concerned with defining and modelling the dynamic phenomena of interest. Indeed, a common mistake is to assume that fuel cells have a single dynamics: instead, many phenomena with radically different time scales concur to define a fuel-cell stack's overall behaviour. The dynamics of interest are those of chemical engineering (heat and mass balances), of electrochemistry (diffusion in electrodes, electrochemical catalysis) and of electrical engineering (converters, inverters and electric motors). The first part of the thesis will first present some experimental results of importance for the electrochemical transient, and will then develop the equations required to model the four dynamic modes chosen to represent a fuel-cell system running on hydrogen and air at atmospheric pressure: cathodic overvoltage, hydrogen pressure in the anode, oxygen fraction in the cathode and stack temperature.The second part will explore some of the possible approaches to control the power output from a fuel-cell stack. It has been attempted to produce a modularised set of controllers, one for each dynamics to control. It is a major point of the thesis, however, that the task of controlling a fuel cell is to be judged exclusively by its final result, that is power delivery: all other control loops, however independent, will have to be designed bearing that goal in mind.The overvoltage, which corresponds nonlinearly to the rate of reaction, is controlled by operating a buck-boost DC/DC converter, which in turn is modelled and controlled with switching rules. Hydrogen pressure, being described by an unstable dynamic equation, requires feedback to be controlled. A controller with PI feedback and a feedforward part to improve performance is suggested. The oxygen fraction in the cathodic stream cannot be easily measured with a satisfactory bandwidth, but its dynamics is stable and disturbances can be measured quite precisely: it is therefore suggested to use a feedforward controller. Contrary to the most common approach for Nafion-based fuel cells, temperature is not controlled with a separate cooling loop: instead, the air flow is used to cool the fuel-cell stack. This significantly simplifies the stack design, operation and production cost. To control temperature, it is suggested to use a P controller, possibly with a feedforward component. Simulations show that this approach to stack cooling is feasible and poses no or few additional requirements on the air flow actuator that is necessary to control air composition in the cathode.


An algorithm which couples the level set method with the extended finite elementmethod to model crack growth is described. The level set method is used to represent the cracklocation, including the location of crack tips. The extended finite element method is used tocompute the stress and displacement fields necessary for determining the rate of crack growth.This combined method requires no remeshing as the crack progresses, making the algorithm veryefficient. The combination of these methods has a tremendous potential for a wide range ofapplications. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the combinedmethods. In addition, a level set algorithm for modelling crack growth in three dimensions isdescribed.


The paper studies the forming process of high inner-pressure hydroforming of T-branch tube by using DYNAFORM finite element simulation software based on its technology characteristics. First, the effects of different loading paths of key parameters(internal pressure, axial extrusion force, radial back force) on T-branch tube hydroforming process have been studied. The studies show that enough feed rate is essential to obtaining a certain branch height but excess feed rate can lead to the thickness seriously increased. The way of influence of internal pressure is contrary to radial back force, both excess internal pressure and slight radial back force can cause top branch thinned or fractured. If branch height is too low, radial back force will obstruct the extension of tube and productions cannot be compliance with design requirements. Second, the effects of coefficient of friction and radius of round angles on forming quality of T-branch tube have been discussed. The studies show that forming quality is better when the coefficient of friction is smaller or radius of round angles is larger.


Chemical defoliation of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in preparation for mechanical harvest can be difficult because of inconsistent response of plants to harvest-aid applications. Unsatisfactory harvest-aid performance is often blamed on environmental conditions, but proper selection of carrier volume and nozzle type may help to improve harvest-aid efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum combination of carrier volume and nozzle type for maximizing harvestaid efficacy. Desiccation, defoliation, and regrowth were evaluated on cotton treated with tribufos or thidiazuron alone at carrier volumes of 47, 94, and 140 L ha -1 with flat fan, hollow cone, or air induc tion nozzles. In Alexandria, carrier volume did not influence defoliation; however, defoliation with hollow cone and flat fan nozzles was at least 6% higher than defoliation with air induction nozzles at all evaluation dates regardless of carrier volume. In St. Joseph, percentage defoliation increased as carrier volume increased, and defoliation with flat fan and hollow cone nozzles was similar and superior to that of air induction nozzles. Carrier volumes ≥ 94 L ha -1 provided at least 10% more defoliation than 47 L ha -1 in Jackson, and performance of hollow cone nozzles was superior to both flat fan and air induction. A conclusion that can be drawn from these data are that harvest-aid applications should be made with flat fan or hollow cone nozzles at carrier volumes of at least 94 L ha -1 to maximize efficacy; however, the influence of carrier volume and nozzle type seem to be greater at more northern latitudes where environmental conditions often limit the performance of harvest-aids. Air induction nozzles should not be recommended for cotton defoliation due to inconsistent and inferior performance; however, they should still be considered in drift sensitive areas.


ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
Lathifah, Desy. 2019. "Personality Structure of main characters in "Kimi no Na wa" Novel by Makoto Shinkai (Psychology of Literature)", Thesis, Japanese Literature, Diponegoro University, Semarang. Supervisor Fajria Noviana, S.S, M.Hum.
The object of this research is the novel Kimi no Na wa by Makoto Shinkai. The purpose of this research was to describe intrinsic element and personality structure of the main characters in the novel Kimi no Na Wa.
This research used literature method, was in the form of books and written materials. The theories used to analyze were strutural theory and pstchological approach. Structural theory was used to analyzed intrinsic elements in the novel, while psychology approach used Ludwigh Klage's personality structure theory to analyzed main characters of Kimi no Na wa's personality structure.
The result of this research are explained as follows. A character named Taki had Sanguinis temprament which made him unyielding eventhough sometimes troubled others. The feeling that Taki had could be easily raised because Taki had a nerve feeling that wasn't in the right position. Meanwhile a character named Mitsuha had Phlegmatis tempramen that kept her from problem and always thought carefully. Mitsuha's feelings easily raised because Mitsuha had feeling nerves that wasn't in the right position so she was easily carried away.
Keywords : structural, literature psychology, personality structure


As a region with abundant tourism destinations, Gorontalo regency is rich of cultural diversity as a potential support to enhance the region's tourism sector, one of which is the community's traditional culture. That being mentioned, it is crucial to implement professionalism in tourism asset management, particularly in optimization of ecological and cultural-based tourism object planning and arrangement. Additionally, it is essential to take into consideration of tourism object preservation and effective management in order to prevent negative impacts on ecological and socio-cultural environment. This study intends to identify the cultural tourism potential as a means to support local content learning in Gorontalo regency. The data were collected by survey, field observation, and interview. Moreover, Geographical Information System (GIS) was employed to identify cultural tourism destinations in the area and folklore analysis to provide descriptive elaboration of the sites. The result elaborates eight potential cultural tourism sites as a support of local content learning in Gorontalo regency, i.e. Huntu lo Bohu (Pentadio Resort), Fort van Tangale Monument, Limboto Lake Historical Site, Soekarno Amphibious Aircraft Landing Monument, Bubohu Kingdom Site, Sacred Tomb of Baruwadi, Taluhu Barakati Hot Spring, and Bantayo Poboide Traditional House. From the findings, the study generates information in form of background story of the tourism site, which is closely related to the local community's folklore that develops throughout the time. The folklore, as an element of local culture, is recommended to be implemented in local content learning to the community as an act of preserving Gorontalo's local wisdom.


Background:  Intracranial and orbital abscesses in combination together are rare complications of sinusitis. They can be life-threatening and can result in multiple sequelae.
Case presentation: A 9-year-old female presented with left periorbital swelling, gaze restriction and headache. Following scans, she underwent emergency endoscopic sinus surgery, evacuation of the intraorbital empyema and stereotactic mini-craniectomy with the evacuation of the extradural empyema as a joint case. The patient recovered well and was discharged to complete intravenous antibiotics for 6 weeks.
Conclusion: In the pediatric population intracranial complications of acute sinusitis can have more devastating consequences. Therefore prompt recognition and management are essential within a multidisciplinary team setting.
We also highlight the rarity of concomitant multi-site abscess formation and the need to be vigilant for same.


While most civil wars seem to have an economic basis, they are generally pushed by political, ethnic, and religious differences. This paper attempts to identify the drivers of the Syrian civil war of 2011 by investigating the role of ethnic divisions in starting a conflict. We integrate a variety of variables such as excluded population, power-sharing, anocracy, ethnic groups in addition to a number of economic factors. The main results indicate that ethnicity does not seem to be a very important factor in starting both the civil and ethnic conflict in Syria, but it shows that the lack of power-sharing to be the most significant factor. Therefore, where power in Syria was not inclusive and shared among different demographic segments, such as religious or urban groups, it created upheavals between different groups, as some groups disidentify with the state, paving the way to causing the conflict. Economic factors also provide an explanation of the onset of conflicts in Syria. The paper offers detailed policy suggestions that could serve as a recovery mechanism for the Syrian crisis and a preventive measurement for its reoccurrence.


In their article "Summer of Discontent: Considering Conditions in Kashmir" (Review, Winter 2011), Professor Amitabh Mattoo and Souresh Roy survey the events of summer 2010 in Kashmir when Indian security forces meted out frequently fatal retaliation against massive protests by ordinary Kashmiris. They conclude that the bloody summer could have been avoided had New Delhi and the state government in Kashmir capitalized on a "unique opportunity" served up in 2008. The missed opportunity was the one provided by state elections in 2008. Mattoo and Roy describe these elections as marked by "inclusiveness and credibility," when a little over 60 percent of the electorate had voted into power a coalition government led by Omar Abdullah. The authors tell us there is still time for pushing through several confidence-building measures that will not only "win back" Kashmiris to the fold of die Indian nation, but also away from the forces of "obscurantism and fundamentalism." One has to winder from these remarks whether the authors comprehend the extent of alienation among Kashmiris, manifested not only in this past summer's protests, but also gathering force over summers in 2008 and 2009. Their reading of Kashmiri participation in the 2008 elections is based on, at best, a partial reporting of the circumstances in which Kashmiris turned out to vote. Can elections have credibility when held in an atmosphere of quiet, but potent, intimidation? Protests were pre-empted by imposing curfews in most districts for weeks before the polling dates and inflating the already heavy presence of the security forces with the addition of a further 50,000 troopers in the valley. Certainly, polling dates were observed, but the state had also incarcerated for the duration of the elections nearly 700 activists--those perhaps most in tune with the mood in the valley--who had participated only a short while earlier in massive unarmed demonstrations in Srinagar and other towns. Beginning the chronology of the summer's protests with Tufail Mattoo's killing on June 11 as the "immediate catalyst" is misleading. The narrative must connect earlier markers of an accumulating sense of outrage at the impunity of the Indian security forces' actions in Kashmir and what Kashmiris see as the Indian government's refusal to punish the guilty. In 2009, the rape and murder of two young women in Shopian, allegedly by members of the Central Reserve Police Force, produced only a botched up investigation and cover-ups. Kashmiris expressed their anger through "civil disobedience." This unrest had barely abated when two innocent teenagers were killed in early 2010 in separate actions by security forces ostensibly against protestors. …


ABSTRACT Ships and ports are increasingly connected to each other through cyberspace. This connectivity streamlines many aspects of maritime business, but also exposes maritime operators and administrations to new types of risk including hacking and outage. The maritime industry has been slow to realize the implications of this new environment within which it operates, and now lags behind other industries (like aviation) when it comes to cyber risk mitigation and regulation. We argue that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), alongside its members, urgently needs to create robust and resilient cybersecurity regulations. We suggest that the IMO should consider creating a standalone Cyber Code, based on a framework created by previous IMO Codes such as the Polar Code. Since the IMO uses Codes as a legally binding instrument, this would help to ensure the continued safety and efficiency of the maritime industry in the face of threats from cyberspace.


Past research has emphasized the importance of active classroom participation in student learning. However, relatively little research has addressed what variables relate to such participation, especially in the presence of a token economy. This study addressed these concerns. Students received bonus points for classroom participation by asking questions. More than 78% of students participated in the token economy. Non-traditional students, students higher in Extraversion, and students with a Performance Approach or Mastery Approach to school participated more. Contrary to past research, women, people with higher Openness Scores, and students with higher Conscientiousness scores did not evidence higher levels of participation. Surprisingly, higher levels of classroom participation only related to better class performance in Statistics and Applied Behavior Analysis classes. However, students endorsed class participation as important to learning and students may have learned from listening questions asked by other students. ********** Class participation can help students to perform better in school (e.g., Jalongo, Twiest,Gerlack, & Skoner, 1998). However, assessing class participation as a portion of a gradehas proven amixedblessing. Reported concerns about graded class participation have included difficulty in establishing objective criteria for grading, increased workload on instructors, and students feeling coerced to participate (Armstrong & Boud, 1983; Junn, 1994). On the other hand, reported benefits have included better class preparation (Armstrong & Boud; Dunaway, 2005) and greater mastery of course materials (Beekes, 2006). Given the reported benefits of active classroom participation by students, rates of actual participation have appeared quite low. Jalongo et al. (1998) indicated that approximately 10% of students voluntarily participate in class discussions. Examination of variables related to classroom participation has suggested that several variables external to the classroom setting may relate to classroom participation. Women and older, nontraditional students participated more in class discussions (Fritschner, 2000; Howard & Henny, 1998). Research using an undergraduate sample suggested that students who reported higher levels of classroom participation also tended to score slightly higher on personality traits of Openness and Conscientiousness (Scepansky & Bjornsen, 2003). Students who participated more reported a higher Learning Orientation toward school and lower levels of Grade Orientation (Scepansky & Bjornsen, 2003). A token economy can help overcome some of the difficulties associated with assessing classroom participation (Junn, 1994). Boniecki and Moore (2003) reported that the use of a token economy with rewards for correctly answering questions had multiple benefits. In addition to increasing the number of students attempting to answer questions correctly, students also participated more in class discussion and posed their own questions even though these activities earned no reinforcement tokens. Junn (1994) took a different approach to the token economy by reinforcing classroom participation in the form of asking questions or of contributing to ongoing class discussion. This intervention required students to participate in the classroom discussion at least 20 times over the course of the semester. Student reports indicated that they enjoyed the exercise, it increased their level of classroom participation, and that it helped students to increase participation in classes without the token economy. Although past research suggested that active classroom participation increased learning, most published research has not directly examined relationships between classroom participation and indices of learning, such as graded course materials. One team learning intervention reported that participation in classroom discussions increased as a result of the intervention, but that this yielded no measurable improvement in learning (Dunaway, 2005). …


Breast Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, progressive, currently, are classified according to in pattern of gene expression luminal A, luminal B, basal and HER-2neu + and Triple-negative, 75% to 80% have receptors positive hormonal and 15% to 20% are positive for hER-2neu and 10% to 20% are triple negative, with hormone receptor negative and HER2-neu and their diagnostic is made by exclusion, the Metabolic Syndrome is related to a higher incidence of these cancers where the insulin-leptin axis-adiponectin are implicated in carcinogenesis.


Implementation of a research-based bachelor thesis in nursing – process and experiences Background: Ability to ensure quality and to evaluate own practice of nursing, is essential in order to practice a research based health care. An increase of research skills among future nurses, are thus central. The aim of this paper is to describe experiences connected with implementation of a new research-based model for examination of bachelor thesis in bachelor degree in nursing at Molde University College, Norway. Results: The curriculum has gained a clearer focus on science and research, and informative guidelines have been developed. The final bachelor thesis is now consisting of a systematic literature review based on scientific articles. The auditorium as a learning arena in the form of a thesis defence contributes to awareness of importance of research for nursing. Conclusion: The introduction of a new research based model for the bachelor thesis has strengthened the academic environment. Currently, Bachelor of Nursing has a clear focus on research and development. Newly qualified nurses are well placed to work knowledge based and to participate in development of clinical practice.


ABSTRACT In the last decade, novel tick-borne pathogenic phleboviruses in the family Bunyaviridae, all closely related to Uukuniemi virus (UUKV), have emerged on different continents. To reproduce the tick-mammal switch in vitro, we first established a reverse genetics system to rescue UUKV with a genome close to that of the authentic virus isolated from the Ixodes ricinus tick reservoir. The IRE/CTVM19 and IRE/CTVM20 cell lines, both derived from I. ricinus, were susceptible to the virus rescued from plasmid DNAs and supported production of the virus over many weeks, indicating that infection was persistent. The glycoprotein GC was mainly highly mannosylated on tick cell-derived viral progeny. The second envelope viral protein, GN, carried mostly N-glycans not recognized by the classical glycosidases peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F) and endoglycosidase H (Endo H). Treatment with β-mercaptoethanol did not impact the apparent molecular weight of GN. On viruses originating from mammalian BHK-21 cells, GN glycosylations were exclusively sensitive to PNGase F, and the electrophoretic mobility of the protein was substantially slower after the reduction of disulfide bonds. Furthermore, the amount of viral nucleoprotein per focus forming unit differed markedly whether viruses were produced in tick or BHK-21 cells, suggesting a higher infectivity for tick cell-derived viruses. Together, our results indicate that UUKV particles derived from vector tick cells have glycosylation and structural specificities that may influence the initial infection in mammalian hosts. This study also highlights the importance of working with viruses originating from arthropod vector cells in investigations of the cell biology of arbovirus transmission and entry into mammalian hosts. IMPORTANCE Tick-borne phleboviruses represent a growing threat to humans globally. Although ticks are important vectors of infectious emerging diseases, previous studies have mainly involved virus stocks produced in mammalian cells. This limitation tends to minimize the importance of host alternation in virus transmission to humans and initial infection at the molecular level. With this study, we have developed an in vitro tick cell-based model that allows production of the tick-borne Uukuniemi virus to high titers. Using this system, we found that virions derived from tick cells have specific structural properties and N-glycans that may enhance virus infectivity for mammalian cells. By shedding light on molecular aspects of tick-derived viral particles, our data illustrate the importance of considering the host switch in studying early virus-mammalian receptor/cell interactions. The information gained here lays the basis for future research on not only tick-borne phleboviruses but also all viruses and other pathogens transmitted by ticks.


The prime source of vibration and noise in a gear system is originated from transmission error between the meshing gears. In this paper, the dynamic modeling method and response of a spur gear pair for the efficient system simulation are investigated by using a detailed contact analysis at each time step. Input values such as time-varying mesh stiffness and static transmission error excitation are not required in this investigation because mesh forces are obtained by contact analysis directly. The efficient contact search kinematics and algorithms in the context of the compliant contact model are developed to detect the interactions between teeth surfaces. In this investigation the compliant force model based on the Herzian law is employed using Coulomb friction force model, and dynamic transmission error (DTE) and mesh frequency values of contacting gear system are also illustrated.


Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) is a heritable condition and represents a multifarious group of diseases comprising different clinical signs and symptoms. The ED occurs as a result of disturbances in the ectoderm of the evolving embryo. Agenesis of teeth or anodontia is also the result of disturbance in this process, which prevents the proliferation of tooth buds. In the present case, an 18-month-old child with history of congenital anomalies (CAs), severely delayed developmental milestones, and mental retardation presented with complete anodontia and ED. The CA included pulmonary stenosis, pulmonary valvar regurgitation, ventricular septal defect (VSD), absence of grips, absence of head-holding capacity, inability to sit, simian crease (R), visual impairment with corectopia, blepharitis, lagophthalmos with cortical visual impairment, telecanthus, hypotrichosis, hypertelorism, high philtrum, high arched palate, degenerated nails, and depressed third toes. Routine karyotyping via peripheral blood culture revealed a ring chromosome 18, which was confirmed de novo after parental karyotyping. Although a straightforward association between r(18) and anodontia is yet to be established, it is apparent that anodontia coupled with multiple CA and systemic complications was caused by chromosomal/genetic mutations in the present case, and thus, this report strongly recommends phenotypic and genotypic examination in dental management in such a complex scenario.


This paper considers a generic convex minimization template with affine constraints over a compact domain, which covers key semidefinite programming applications. The existing conditional gradient methods either do not apply to our template or are too slow in practice. To this end, we propose a new conditional gradient method, based on a unified treatment of smoothing and augmented Lagrangian frameworks. The proposed method maintains favorable properties of the classical conditional gradient method, such as cheap linear minimization oracle calls and sparse representation of the decision variable. We prove $\mathcal{O}(1/\sqrt{k})$ convergence rate of our method in the objective residual and the feasibility gap. This rate is essentially the same as the state of the art CG-type methods for our problem template, but the proposed method is significantly superior to existing methods in various semidefinite programming applications.


An 11-month-old boy presented to the clinic with a papule on his right lower eyelid that had doubled in size since it first appeared 3months earlier (Figure 1). He had been born at full term and was otherwise healthy. His medication regimen included a pediatric multivitamin. There was no history of trauma to the area. On examination, the patient's pupils were equal in diameter and reactive to light, his ocular motility was full, and the lesion did not obstruct his vision. Findings from external examination were significant for a single 3 × 2 × 2–mm, red-brown, raised, solid, fixed papule at the center of the lower eyelid margin. There was nomadarosis and no evidence of epiphora or conjunctivitis. The lesion was initially diagnosed as a hemangioma and the decision was made to monitor it. On examination 1 month later, the papule had grown slightly, with a 1 × 1–mm area of ulceration. It also appeared to encroach on the visual axis in the downgaze position. The parents reported that the patient had started to rub his eyelid intermittently, causing irritation and a minimal amount of associated bleeding. Figure 1. Lesion on the right lower eyelid of an 11-month-old patient.


Abstract Motivation Alternative splicing (AS) of introns from pre-mRNA produces diverse sets of transcripts across cell types and tissues, but is also dysregulated in many diseases. Alignment-free computational methods have greatly accelerated the quantification of mRNA transcripts from short RNA-seq reads, but they inherently rely on a catalog of known transcripts and might miss novel, disease-specific splicing events. By contrast, alignment of reads to the genome can effectively identify novel exonic segments and introns. Event-based methods then count how many reads align to predefined features. However, an alignment is more expensive to compute and constitutes a bottleneck in many AS analysis methods. Results Here, we propose fortuna, a method that guesses novel combinations of annotated splice sites to create transcript fragments. It then pseudoaligns reads to fragments using kallisto and efficiently derives counts of the most elementary splicing units from kallisto's equivalence classes. These counts can be directly used for AS analysis or summarized to larger units as used by other widely applied methods. In experiments on synthetic and real data, fortuna was around 7× faster than traditional align and count approaches, and was able to analyze almost 300 million reads in just 15 min when using four threads. It mapped reads containing mismatches more accurately across novel junctions and found more reads supporting aberrant splicing events in patients with autism spectrum disorder than existing methods. We further used fortuna to identify novel, tissue-specific splicing events in Drosophila. Availability and implementation fortuna source code is available at https://github.com/canzarlab/fortuna.


Research using Group Support Systems has increased gradually from their beginning in 1984, and the area is a significant part of the overall MIS literature. Because of its importance, a few studies have attempted to identify the leading researchers and institutions in the area as well as trends over the years. This study updates the analysis with a survey of 236 papers published during the 1990s from 43 academic journals. The results show that many of the researchers identified earlier are still leaders, but individual rankings have changed.


ABSTRACT This paper aims to elucidate upon a model that imbeds historical skills, concepts and categorizations into a source-based analysis approach utilizing levels of cognitive complexity by combining different types of sources into a coherent system. This model will focus on the South African school context. In this paper, concepts such as cause and effect and chronology will be explored, as well as historical categorizations of social, economic and political history. The taxonomy of source-based questioning will also be highlighted, as well as the variety of sources that could be used in a history classroom. Various theories and perspectives have emerged in the field of History, and these will also be explored to better understand the model in question. The paper will conclude with an in-depth explanation as to how this Historically Imbedded Source-Based Analysis Model could be used in the history classroom and the potential benefits that this model holds. Keywords: Historiography; Levels of questioning; Cognitive complexity; Source-Based Analysis Model (HISBAM); History classroom; South Africa; Curriculum


Understanding the dynamical evolution of a percolating network during liquid–liquid demixing is crucial for many technological applications, including plastic electronics, such as organic photovoltaics, whose performance depends on the efficiency to transport the positive and negative charge carriers to the corresponding electrodes. The transport and collection of the charge carriers require sufficient asymmetry between the donor and acceptor phases by attaining a minimum concentration of the majority fluids in it, called the percolation threshold. We investigate demixing in symmetric binary blends on a substrate preferentially wet by one of the fluids from the perspective of such a percolation threshold to achieve directed and connectivity percolation. We also study the influence of the strength of the substrate interaction and the property of the blend right before the quench with respect to the critical point. It is commonly assumed that the bicontinuous morphology of a symmetric blend guarantees percolation, where the average concentration of the blend distinguishes the two phases. However, if the percolation threshold is larger than the average concentration, we find that percolating pathways grow monotonically and a percolating cluster forms only after a time lag. Furthermore, we find that this time lag is characterized by two universal kinetic regimes that can explain all our observations. The first regime is associated with the percolation threshold itself, which grows exponentially. The second regime displays an algebraic growth with an exponent of 1/3 and we argue that it must be associated with the directional connectivity of the wetting phase to the substrate.


If Mjolnir can change its mass by controlling gravitons, this may explain how Thor is able to fly. By spinning Mjolnir, angular momentum is gained. Mjolnir looses mass (by manipulating gravitons) as Thor jumps, and so for momentum to be conserved, Thor is able to fly. In order for Thor to fly from the ground to thunder clouds, Mjolnir must have a change in mass of 774 kg.


This paper deals with certain aspects of prenominal possessives (i.e. expressions of the kind John's wife, the city's destruction) in English. Consideration of the discourse function of the construction leads to the prediction that the possessor nominal will be high in topicality, whilst the possessee nominal will generally denote a highly non-topical entity. A number of text-based studies of the possessive confirm these predictions. It is then argued that the distribution of topicality within the construction offers a unified explanation of a range of grammaticality judgements.


Cassava is one of local prime comodity in Indonesia. Crispy chips of cassava is one of product was made from cassava. People interest in developing of it, for example, people in Bekasi. PT Inti Sari Rasa was built in 1981, it has a business in crispy chips of cassava industry. The company have an internal and external constraints to develop and awaken crispy chips of cassava industry (increasing competition power of product and business).  The aims of the study are: (1) to identify and evaluate the internal factor business of crispy chips of cassava industry in PT. Inti Sari Rasa which is become strength and weakness factors; (2) to identify and evaluate the external factors which is become opportunities and threats that can influence its developing; (3) to analyze strategy which was applied and formulate the alternative strategy for developing business of crispy chips of cassava. Data which was used in this analysis covered  primary and secondary data which have quantitave and qualitative character. The respondents were : (a) company management (5 persons); (b) agent (10 agents); (c) consumer (50 persons). The tools analysis used matrix of IFE (Internal Factor Evaluation), EFE (External Factor Evaluation), IE (Internal – External) and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesess, Opportunities and Threats) to arrange developing business strategy, also QSPM (Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix) to determine priority strategy which was chose. The result of IFE matrix calculation got score 2.703 and EFE 2.511. Based market on the mapping by IE matrix, position of the company in the cell V. Strategy that can apply in this cell are market penetration and developing product and market. The result of SWOT matrix are four types of strategy that done, they are : S-O strategy, to maintain consumer's loyalty and increasing productivity; W-O strategy, to expand distribution area and market, to increase quality of human resource marketing, to apply accountancy system in the company's finance; S-T strategy, to increase product diversification to counter a new comer, to increase image product in order to implant consumer loyalty; W-T strategy, to increase promotion activity in order to catch the potential consumer, to fix the product price in order to meet the most people. Based on the alternative strategy that was formulated. QSPM used to choose priority strategy which can be applied, it is expanding distribution area and market (4,612). That strategy rely on strengthens and opportunities, also solve some weaknesses and anticipate threatens which come from company surrounding


Purpose To determine whether soluble-triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) could serve as a reliable diagnostic biomarker of post-traumatic bacterial endophthalmitis (PTBE). Methods Thirty-two patients (32 eyes) clinically diagnosed having PTBE were further divided into a culture-positive (CP) group and a culture-negative (CN) group. Sixty-two patients (62 eyes) without traumatic endophthalmic infection were also enrolled. Twenty-one eyes from 11 donors without globe ocular injuries were included as control group. Vitreous sTREM-1 levels were detected by ELISA. The expression and tissue distribution of TREM-1 were revealed by immunohistochemistry. The diagnostic value of sTREM-1 was determined by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). The correlation between sTREM-1 concentration and final best-corrected visual acuity (FBCVA) and Peyman endophthalmitis score (PES) were also assessed. Results The vitreous sTREM-1 level in the PTBE group was higher than that in noninfected group and control group (P < 0.05). No remarkable difference was found between the CP group and the CN group in vitreous sTREM-1 levels (P > 0.05). No remarkable difference was found between the noninfected group and the control group (P > 0.05). No remarkable difference in TREM-1 level was found before and after intravitreal antibiotics (P > 0.05). TREM-1 was selectively highly expressed on the surface of cell membrane of neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages infiltrated in vitreous and uveal of the PTBE group. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.79 (>0.75), with a medium diagnostic efficiency. The sensitivity and specificity of sTREM-1 to differentiate PTBE from the noninfected intraocular condition were 62.50% and 86.25% separately. A cutoff value >524.50 pg/mL for sTREM-1 was predicted to be PTBE. Vitreous sTREM-1 levels in PTBE group were positively correlated with PES (r = 0.428, P < 0.05). However, sTREM-1 levels and FBCVA did not significantly correlate with one another (P > 0.05). Conclusions The sTREM-1 was a promising diagnostic biomarker of PTBE, especially CN-PTBE. Vitreous sTREM-1 levels were linked with intraocular inflammation levels and severity of PTBE.


Objectives: Echocardiography is the most commonly used modality for diagnosing fetal arrhythmias. Although simultaneous Doppler recording at the superior vena-cava (SVC) and the ascending aorta (aAo) is thought to be the most reliable method for analyzing the relation between the atrial and ventricular contraction, the relatively difficult technic and unclear interpretation are often problem for this method. In this study, we evaluated the relation between a small diastolic flow in the aAo (SDFAo) and an atrial contraction, and assessed the usefulness of making analyzing fetal heart rhythms using the SDFAo. Methods: First, to find the cause of the SDFAo, we obtained simultaneous recording of electrocardiogram, Doppler echocardiographic wave form at the aAo, color Doppler mapping, and color M-mode in neonates. Next, we measured AV interval in 83 fetal echocardiographic examinations using the two methods, the simultaneous SVC-aAo Doppler waveform and the SDFAo, and compared. Finally, we assessed fetal arrhythmias in SDFAo method and assessed the usefulness for assessing the heart rhythms. Results: In the neonatal examination, SDFAo is found to be created by posterior movement of the aAo due to atrial contraction. The interval between SDFAo and systolic flow at the aAo is the same as the PR interval by ECG. Next, in the fetal examination, AV interval measured using the SDFAo method is well correlated to that with the SVC-aAo method (r2 = 0.322, P < 0.001). Finally, in the case with fetal heart block, the SDFAo method was much easier and clearer for assessing atrial contraction than the SVC-aAo method. However, the SDFAo method can not detect atrial contraction during fetal tachycardia and paroxysmal contraction. Conclusions: The SDFAo method can be used to detect atrial contraction for measuring AV interval, and for analyzing fetal bradyarrhythmias. This method is much easier and more practical for analyzing fetal heart rhythms than SVC-aAo method.


Objectives: To determine the differences in a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) between seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and further investigate the possible pathogenesis of the two subtypes of RA. Method:Concentrations of APRIL in sera (18 seropositive RA patients, 16 seronegative RA patients, and 10 healthy controls) and synovial fluid (SF) (eight seropositive RA patients, two seronegative RA patients, and 10 controls) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Infiltration of plasma cells, macrophages, and APRIL-positive cells in the synovium [14 seropositives, eight seronegatives, and 10 osteoarthritis (OA) controls] was detected by immunohistochemistry. Correlations between serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28), and sera/SF levels of APRIL and synovial cell infiltration were analysed. Results: The mean serum APRIL level of seropositive RA patients was significantly higher than that of seronegative patients (26.1 ± 31.2 vs. 8.0 ± 10.2 ng/mL, p = 0.03). The level of APRIL in the SF of seropositive RA patients was comparable to that of seronegative patients [47.9 ± 54.4 vs. 32.82 (6.52–59.12) ng/mL, p > 0.05]. The SF APRIL level of RA patients was higher than that of patients with other inflammatory arthritis. Dramatically increased infiltration of APRIL-positive cells in the RA synovium was observed compared with the OA group (seropositive RA vs. OA, p < 0.001; seronegative RA vs. OA, p = 0.001). The infiltration of both plasma cells and macrophages was more in seropositive RA than in OA (p = 0.013 and p = 0.003, respectively). Conclusions: The serum APRIL levels of seropositive RA patients are significantly higher than those of seronegative RA patients. APRIL may participate in the formation of seropositive RA.


Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement in HMA is beneficial by reduction of initial costs. But the higher stiffness of aged binder may lead to workability issues in the field, therefore use of large percentages of RAP impacts the HMA properties. Utilizing Sasobit is a solution to use more RAP at a relatively lower temperature in HMA mixes. This study investigates the effects of 2 percent Sasobit on the reduction of compaction temperature by measuring low shear viscosity and workability of mixtures containing RAP binder. Low and intermediate temperature properties of RAP binder using mix designs were compared to properties of artificially aged binders. Virgin binder was aged in PAV to make artificial RAP binder. Comparison between physical parameters of RAP binder and binder aged in PAV was done and it was found that about 40 hours is sufficient for simulating the aging of RAP binder and making artificially aged binder. Results of this study on artificial RAP show that utilizing Sasobit is a feasible way to make HMA which contain 25% RAP. Utilizing RAP and Sasobit together in a HMA project would lead to select softer virgin asphalt binder with a lower performance grade.


The mechanisms involved in inflammation related accelerated atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) require further study.1

Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, a gastric peptide playing a role in the appetite regulation, possesses anti-inflammatory properties.2 Otero et al showed reduced ghrelin plasma concentrations in patients with RA compared to controls.3

Improvement of insulin resistance in patients with severe disease who started anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α therapy has been described previously.4 Additionally, we have reported a rapid improvement in endothelial dysfunction5 and insulin sensitivity6 following the infusion of the chimeric anti-TNFα/monoclonal antibody/infliximab in patients with RA with severe disease on periodical treatment with this drug. Moreover, inhibition of basal …


The concept of natural otherness can be found throughout the environmental ethics literature. Drawing on this concept, this article pursues two aims. For one, it argues for an account of individual natural otherness as stable difference as opposed to accounts of natural otherness that put more emphasis on independence for the purpose of differentiating individual natural otherness from the concept of wildness. Secondly, this account of natural otherness is engaged to argue for a particular way of theorising the moral standing of individual nonhuman entities. While individual natural otherness in itself does not provide an account of whether an entity matters morally in itself (that is, whether it is morally considerable); it points to an account of incommensurable moral significance for all entities which are attributed moral considerability. That is an often-overlooked alternative to egalitarian or hierarchical accounts of moral significance. Individual natural otherness understood in this way in turn provides another explanatory story for why relational accounts of environmental ethics that strongly emphasise the importance of concepts such as wildness are particularly salient.


Despite the global diffusion of the term social inclusion, as well as the use of sport to promote it, questions have been raised regarding the extent to which sport is able to contribute to transforming the exclusive nature of the social structure. The lack of analytical clarity of the concept has not helped to address these questions. This article proposes a conceptual framework based on Amartya Sen's capability approach, considering social exclusion as the denial of social relations that leads to serious deprivation of important capabilities. A person's capabilities could potentially be improved through micro-, meso-, and macro-level social processes. At the micro level, sport-based social inclusion programmes could offer such social relations to varying degrees, though sport's values are only relative to other leisure activities. The scale of impact depends primarily on the meso-level processes, in which the size and quality of each programme can be improved through organisational learning, and secondarily on the macro-level processes whereby the organisational population is institutionalised. It is argued that more research needs to be done on the meso and macro levels, as they are concerned with the ultimate potential of sport to facilitate structural transformation towards more socially inclusive society.