Human neural threshold tuning curves are estimated by scaling the parameters of Allen's [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 68, 1660–1670 (1980)] resonant tectorial membrane model of the cat cochlea. A way to evaluate the derived tuning curves using psychophysical data is developed, based on a psychophysical detection model which relates the physiological tuning curves to psychophysical masking data. A detection criterion, defined by a relationship among the bandwidth of the frequency tuning curves, expressed as an equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB), the width of the excitation patterns, expressed as an equivalent rectangular spread (ERS), and the psychophysical critical ratio, is explored and verified using cat data. The detection criterion is then used to test the derived human curves by making predictions of psychophysical masking and comparing the predictions to experimental data. The detection model may also provide a deeper understanding of the frequency resolving properties of the cochlea.


In recent years, vibrant social movements have emerged across the world to fight for environmental justice –- for more equitable access to natural resources and environmental quality, including clean air and water. In seeking to build community rights to natural assets, these initiatives seek to advance simultaneously the goals of environmental protection and poverty reduction. This paper sketches the contours of struggles for environmental justice within and among countries, and illustrates with examples primarily drawn from countries of the global South and the former Soviet bloc.


In the rush to practice patient safety, and thereby improve the delivery of healthcare, few spend much time reflecting on what they do. This is an understandable attitude, since there always are substantial pressures to improve things - which usually means reducing the number of certain events or outcomes. When the first rush is over, which often coincidences with the grim realisation that the efforts have not yielded the intended results, it may be time to reflect on what was actually done. Such reflections must also ask the question of what patient safety actually is. One way of doing that is to consider whether the meaning and contents of patient safety is derived from the various indicators that are used in practice, or whether the indicators are derived from an independent understanding of what patient safety is. This 'deconstruction' of patient safety is analogous to taking a machine or a clock apart to find out what is inside and how it works. However, unlike machines and clocks there may be more than one way of reassembling or reconstructing the parts. By understanding what patient safety is and how it works, it may be possible to reconstruct it in a better way.


Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) also termed to be a learning machine is preliminarily used with an extension of various image classifications based on Training networks and Testing networks. To efficiently detect Brain Tumor cells, clustering method based on FCM can also be implemented. The Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN) will be employed to classify the various stages of Tumor cut levels such as Benign, Malignant or Normal. Probabilistic Neural Network with Radial Basis Function will be applied to implement tumor cells segmentation and classification. Decision should be made to classify the input image as normal or abnormal cells. This can be performed in two stages: Gray-Level Cooccurrence Matrix and the classification using Neural Network based function. The schematic method for Computerized Tomography based tumor cells detection is done using human inspection method. Probabilistic Neural Network with Discrete Cosine Transform has been imparted for Brain Tumor Classification. Prediction of malignant cells or non-tumor cells can be executed using two variants: i) Feature extraction using the Discrete Cosine Transform and ii) classification using Probabilistic Neural Network (PNN).


Trimethylguanosine synthase (Tgs1) is the enzyme that converts standard m7G caps to the 2,2,7-trimethylguanosine (TMG) caps characteristic of spliceosomal small nuclear RNAs. Fungi and mammalian somatic cells are able to grow in the absence of Tgs1 and TMG caps, suggesting that an essential function of the TMG cap might be obscured by functional redundancy. A systematic screen in budding yeast identified nonessential genes that, when deleted, caused synthetic growth defects with tgs1Δ. The Tgs1 interaction network embraced proteins implicated in small nuclear ribonucleoprotein function and spliceosome assembly, including Mud2, Nam8, Brr1, Lea1, Ist3, Isy1, Cwc21, and Bud13. Complementation of the synthetic lethality of mud2Δ tgs1Δ and nam8Δ tgs1Δ strains by wild-type TGS1, but not by catalytically defective mutants, indicated that the TMG cap is essential for mitotic growth when redundant splicing factors are missing. Our genetic analysis also highlighted synthetic interactions of Tgs1 with proteins implicated in RNA end processing and decay (Pat1, Lsm1, and Trf4) and regulation of polymerase II transcription (Rpn4, Spt3, Srb2, Soh1, Swr1, and Htz1). We find that the C-terminal domain of human Tgs1 can function in lieu of the yeast protein in vivo. We present a biochemical characterization of the human Tgs1 guanine-N2 methyltransferase reaction and identify individual amino acids required for methyltransferase activity in vitro and in vivo.


The concept of time discounting introduces weights on future goods to make these less valu- able. Famously, both the specic functional form of time discounting and its normative sta- tus are contested. To address these problems, this paper provides a measurement-theoretic framework of representation for time discounting. The general representation theorem char- acterises time discounting factors as ratio-scale representations of dierences in temporally extended prospects. This framework of representation is used to reconsider interpretations of time discounting factors such as time preferences, uncertainty and preference change. It also allows to compare these interpretations with regards to their normative appeal, the kinds of reductionism regarding time and preference they imply and the specic functional form of time discounting they suggest. Farther, multiple-self interpretations of decision-makers become available, such that a time discounting factor represents the degree of connectedness between temporal selves in a person.


Mr. Bartels forwarded to me some small Mammals from Java, for identification. It appears that a Bat belongs to a hitherto not recognized species. This Bat, found at the top (10,000 feet) of the Pangerango-mountain, March 22. 1908, strongly reminds by its bright colours the splendid Kerivoula Weberi from Celebes, described by me in "Weber's Zoologische Ergebnisse", Band I, p. 129, and figured on Tab. XI (1890—91). When I described the latter, I had not extracted the skull of this type-specimen, and so the middle lower incisors made the impression of having each three cusps, like many other Kerivola-specimens; these incisors are so imbricated that, as a matter of fact, only three cusps are to be seen when the skull is in the flesh. Having, however, now extracted the skull for comparison with Bartels' bat, I see not only that the middle lower incisors have four cusps each, but that moreover the second ones also have four cusps; further that the second upper premolar is very small and invisible from without, and that the skull is flat, not inflated. The skull of Bartels' bat presents the very characters. As they call in mind some Kerivouline-species by external appearance as well as by the four-cusped middle lower incisors, at the same time, however, they have some characters in common with true with Vespertilionidae, especially Myotis 1); by the flatness of the skull and the smallness of the second upper premolar, it is evident that Weber's and Bartels' bat cannot be brought under one of the named or other existing genera. I propose to create for their reception a new genus, viz.: Chrysopteron, n. g.


Our research focuses on perceptual and cognitive mechanisms involved in learning procedures in order to develop and validate innovating technologies in the field of health for blind people through the implementation of an embarked version of a Tactile Vision Sensory Substitution device (TVSS) with wireless connections between the three TVSS components (micro camera, coupling system and matrix of tactile stimulators), aesthetically acceptable and allowing an ecological use. Such a device could allow prevention of developmental disorders in blind infants, autonomy for blind people in everyday life (thanks to the implementation of a Human Machine Interface allowing connections between the embarked TVSS device and a Personal Computer with a software development presenting a 3D numerization of the subject's urban environment). A new perspective is proposed in favour of innovating taking care programs for autistic people. The main goal of this project is to allow disabled people to benefit from the scientifically demonstrated efficacy of TVSS devices.


Welcome to the third issue of the Journal of Vascular Societies Great Britain and Ireland (JVSGBI). The journal is certainly going from strength to strength, and I hope that you find the May edition both informative and enjoyable. On behalf of the Editorial Board, thank you to all authors who have submitted articles. This issue includes two editorials. The first is a personal journey with respect to equality, diversity and inclusion from Mr Neeraj Bhasin, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon, in West Yorkshire. The second editorial examines what the recently published Vascular PAD-QIF CQUIN, means for vascular patients, clinicians and patients. The full report is also a supplement to this issue, and can be located on the JVSGBI website, for easy reference. This issue includes four original research articles, which cover a variety of research topics including: outcomes of revascularisation in elderly CLTI patients; a study of the reliability of WIfI risk stratification in the diabetic foot clinic; factors associated with delays to carotid endarterectomy in the Republic of Ireland; and a study of training in open aortic aneurysm surgery. We also have two trial protocols: the first (VENUM) aims to evaluate the provision of undergraduate vascular teaching in UK medical schools, whilst the second (WALKSTRONG) aims to test the feasibility of a novel home exercise programme for patients with intermittent claudication. Finally, this issue also contains the JVSGBI's first case report and literature review – distal venous arterialisation for 'no-option' CLTI. It is particularly pleasing to see such a wide variety of study designs, research topics and our first publication from a non UK centre. Recently, the JVSGBI Editorial Board took the decision to acknowledge the sterling and essential input of article reviewers. Therefore from this point forward each article will include a note of gratitude to the individual article reviewers. A list of reviewers will also be published in each November edition. Additionally, as Editor in Chief, I am proud to advise that time from article submission to on-line publication at www.jvsgbi.com is taking approximately eight weeks and that all articles have free, open access. A Twitter notification is sent out when articles are published online via @VSjournalGBI. Our Twitter following is growing – if you are not yet following us on social media please visit and follow to receive the latest news from the journal. Finally, I hope that you enjoy reading this issue of JVSGBI. Please do continue to submit your work for publication, and follow us on social media.


This paper presents architectural performance requirements for a framework dedicated to Augmented Reality (AR) applications. This work has been made as a starting point to evaluation of a framework named ARCS (Augmented Reality Component Systems) allowing rapid-prototyping, development, debugging and monitoring of AR applications. The article first introduces the need of such a dedicated framework and the importance of distribution for AR. It also identifies main features that should be offered by an AR framework and key performance criteria to be satisfied. These are partially inspired by the SPE (Software Performance Engineering) distributed architecture evaluation approach. These criteria are application specific. Thus, we first classify different distributed AR applications in scenarios and extract relevant criteria for each. We also provide a custom assessment protocol inspired by SPE evaluation methodology and based on previously identified criteria. This assessment is application independent as it is based on generic design patterns and most likely scenarios of distribution. Keeping in mind identified criteria and handling existing framework's constraints, a reliable generic AR framework should satisfy all criteria for each application class. Assessment protocol results for each criterion are compared to the typical features and performance that should be offered by an AR system.


The paper discusses the challenges of women in Science and Technology Education in relation to reforms and development in Nigeria. These challenges, such as socio-cultural factors, can reduce and even inhibit women participation in scientific and technological fields. The study presented here adopted a descriptive survey design to sample the opinion of professional women in
Science and Technology and female students studying Science and Technology presently. A representative sample of 406 respondents was administered a questionnaire, later analyzed using mean and Z-ratio. The major findings revealed that, from birth, women are discouraged by the society from studying Science and Technology through cultural practices and socialization, on the pretext that Science and Technology are too hard and rigorous for women.
Our recommendation is that girls should be allowed to exercise their mental ability according to individual potentials. Teachers should use a gender inclusive(girls friendly) approach in teaching Science and Technology, and the Government should ensure implementation of specific policies for women education.


The EU/UK negotiations on Brexit are now imminent following the formal notification by Prime Minister May of the UK's intention to leave the EU in the 'Article 50 letter' delivered to European Council President Tusk on 29 March 2017. The treatment of financial services will be a critical element of these negotiations. Prime Minister May had previously indicated in her 17 January 2017 speech on the UK's negotiating objectives that the UK is to leave the single market and confirmed this position in the Article 50 letter. Under current EU financial law the UK will accordingly become a 'third country' on Brexit. UK financial firms and actors will lose the ability to 'passport' into the single market in financial services from the UK – unless passporting rights are preserved under any new EU/UK arrangement, an outcome which is highly unlikely. This paper considers the risks to the EU from its oft-described 'investment banker' becoming a third country and explores the regulatory remedies which may be available and the preferences which may shape these remedies. The paper adopts a legal-institutionalist perspective, which draws on the insights of comparative/international political economy, to examine the implications of the UK's future status as a 'third country' for the EU capital market and for its current flagship Capital Markets Union (CMU) agenda. The extent to which EU regulation is transformative is contested in relation to the development of the EU capital market. But the EU regulatory regime which governs third country access to the EU capital market is likely to be a significant determinant of the strength of the EU's capacity to absorb the loss of the UK from the single EU capital market and to contain related stability, liquidity, and efficiency risks. Drawing on international experience with access arrangements and on EU preferences and incentives, the paper considers the likely future of the current third country regime and how it might be re-configured so that third country access is based on a more secure footing.


Most mammalian stem cells undergo cellular division during their differentiation to produce daughter cells with a new cellular identity. However, the cascade of epigenetic events and molecular mechanisms occurring between successive cell divisions upon differentiation have not yet been described in detail due to technical limitations. Here, we address this question by taking advantage of the Fluorescent Ubiquitination-based Cell Cycle Indicator (FUCCI) reporter to develop a culture system allowing the differentiation of human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) synchronised for their cell cycle. Using this approach, we have assessed the epigenome and transcriptome dynamics during the first two divisions leading to definitive endoderm. We first observed that transcription of key markers of differentiation occurs before division suggesting that differentiation is initiated during the progression of cell cycle. Furthermore, ATAC-seq shows a major decrease in chromatin accessibility after pluripotency exit indicating that the first event of differentiation is the inhibition of alternative cell fate. In addition, using digital genomic footprinting we identified novel cell cycle-specific transcription factors with regulatory potential in endoderm specification. Of particular interest, Activator protein 1 (AP-1) controlled p38/MAPK signalling seems to be necessary for blocking endoderm shifting cell fate toward mesoderm lineage. Finally, histone modifications analyses suggest a temporal order between different marks. We can also conclude that enhancers are dynamically and rapidly established / decommissioned between different cell cycle upon differentiation. Overall, these data not only reveal key the successive interplays between epigenetic modifications during differentiation but also provide a valuable resource to investigate novel mechanisms in germ layer specification.


This is one of the three proposals funded through a competitive call for proposals to evaluate the links between agricultural research and poverty in 2011. More background on the SPIA project (Social impacts: poverty and hunger) can be found here.

The productivity impact of the initial diffusion of modern varieties (MVs) of rice across Asia during the 1960s through the 1980s, as part of the 'Green Revolution', is one of the most documented successes of international development assistance in agriculture. However, much less is known about whether continued efforts to further improve rice varieties are making similar contributions to on farm productivity. This study assesses the degree to which post 1989 MVs of rice have led to increased agricultural productivity, economic surplus, welfare for the poor, food security and environmental benefits in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.


BACKGROUND: The management of the rectal wall defect after local excision of rectal neoplasms remains controversial, and the existing data are equivocal. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the effect of open versus closed defects on postoperative outcomes after local excision of rectal neoplasms. DESIGN: Data from 3 institutions were analyzed. Propensity score matching was performed in one-to-one fashion to create a balanced cohort comparing open and closed defects. SETTINGS: This study was conducted at high-volume specialist referral hospitals. PATIENTS: Adult patients undergoing local excision via transanal endoscopic surgery from 2004 to 2016 were included. Patients were assigned to open- and closed-defect groups, and further stratified by full- or partial-thickness excision. INTERVENTION: Closure of the rectal wall defect was performed at the surgeon's discretion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome measured was the incidence of 30-day complications. RESULTS: A total of 991 patients were eligible (593 full-thickness excision with 114 open and 479 closed, and 398 partial-thickness excision with 263 open and 135 closed). After matching, balanced cohorts consisting of 220 patients with full-thickness excision and 210 patients with partial-thickness excision were created. Operative time was similar for open and closed defects for both full-and partial-thickness excision. The incidence of 30-day complications was similar for open and closed defects after full- (15% vs. 12%, p = 0.432) and partial-thickness excision (7% vs 5%, p = 0.552). The total number of complications was also similar after full- or partial-thickness excision. Patients undergoing full-thickness excision with open defects had a higher incidence of clinically significant bleeding complications (9% vs 3%, p = 0.045). LIMITATIONS: Data were obtained from 3 institutions with different equipment and perioperative management over a long time period. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in overall complications between open and closed defects for patients undergoing local excision of rectal neoplasms, but there may be more bleeding complications in open defects after full-thickness excision. A selective approach to defect closure may be appropriate. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A470.


Pine tussock moth (Dasychira axutha Collenette (Lymantriidae)) and masson pine caterpillar (Dendrolimus punctatus Walker (Lasiocampidae)) cause serious damage to Pinus massoniana and P. merkusii plantations in Vietnam. An integrated pest management (IPM) program is required to control these pests. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify damage thresholds and to evaluate control options for implementing IPM in the Northeast and North Central regions of Vietnam. Three damage thresholds were considered: <25%, 25%–50% and >50% loss of leaf area. Control options were manual collection of eggs and pupae and the use of light traps and biological agents. An initial IPM model was developed for each pest and these gave control efficacies of 82.4% (Da. axutha on P. massoniana) and 77.8% (De. punctatus on P. merkusii). Six extended IPM models were undertaken by forest companies giving pest control efficacies of 79.2%–85.9%. The collection of pine resin provides an important source of income to local communities and the resin yield in the IPM models increased by 20.9%–22.7% compared to untreated control plots. The IPM protocols would help in developing policies that promote a more sustainable management of forest pests in Vietnam, thus reducing dependence on the use of insecticides of environmental and public health concerns.


In this master's thesis, a turbine model and a common control structure for theturbocharger for SI and CI-engines is developed. To design the control structure,simulations are done on an existing diesel engine model with VGT. In order tobe able to make simulations for engines with a wastegated turbine, the model isextended to include mass flow and turbine efficiency for that configuration. Thedeveloped model has a mean absolute relative error of 3.6 % for the turbine massflow and 7.4 % for the turbine efficiency. The aim was to control the intake manifoldpressure with good transients and to use the same control structure for VGTand wastegate. By using a common structure, development and calibration timecan be reduced. The non-linearities have been reduced by using an inverted turbinemodel in the control structure, which consists of a PI-controller with feedforward.The controller can be tuned to give a fast response for CI engines and a slowerresponse but with less overshoot for SI engines, which is preferable.


U.S. time use patterns have changed over the last century in ways that appear inconsistent. Leisure has increased with income but has increased most for the poorest. I develop a unified model that treats leisure as an economic activity. Leisure services are produced using capital, like televisions, and non-market time. Doing so improves the labor supply predictions of macro models. The model's U.S. labor wedge more closely matches observable labor market distortions. It is also is consistent with the observed reversal in 20th Century leisure inequality, where high income workers went from working less to more than low income workers. Leisure capital reinforces inequality; poorer households have more leisure hours but less capital.


"A dip in the ocean of international creativity at its most poetic and radical, one that has experimental video art swimming alongside a fresh gaze on society and the world: Gene Youngblood's "expanded cinema", thirty years on; theoretical and creative pathways through the audiovisual led by Michel Chion; the long existence and "resistance" of Living Theatre; the decades-old "poetronics" of Gianni Toti, together with the poetronic compilation of young independent videomakers. Music, literature, poetry, cinema, dance - but also portraits of our stricken planet, the Utopian dreams of communication from yesterday and today. And more: the competition on "Film and the Ego"; music videos by Floria Sigismondi; the existential thresholds crossed in the work of Francisco Ruiz De Infante; the insecure personal and media identities explored by Bjorn Melhus; "travel pages" recorded by Giuseppe Cederna and Giuseppe Baresi; "cartographies" drawn from dance and urban spaces by Philippe Saire and his company; tributes to Studio Azzurro and Monica Petracci; experimentation in electronic music and video." -- Publisher's website.


Context. Nearby stars are prime targets for exoplanet searches and characterization using a variety of detection techniques. Combining constraints from the complementary detection methods of high-contrast imaging (HCI) and radial velocity (RV) can further constrain the planetary architectures of these systems because these methods place limits at different regions of the companion mass and semi-major axis parameter space. Compiling a census of the planet population in the solar neighborhood is important to inform target lists for future space missions that will specifically target nearby stars to search for Earth analogs.
Aims. We aim to constrain the planetary architectures from the combination of HCI and RV data for six nearby stars within 6 pc: τ Ceti, Kapteyn's star, AX Mic, 40 Eri, HD 36395, and HD 42581. We explored where HCI adds information to constraints from the long-term RV monitoring data for these stars.
Methods. We compiled the sample from stars with available archival VLT/NACO HCI data at L′ band (3.8 μm), where we expect substellar companions to be brighter for the typically older ages of nearby field stars (>1 Gyr). The NACO data were fully reanalyzed using the state-of-the-art direct imaging pipeline PynPoint and combined with RV data from HARPS, Keck/HIRES, and CORALIE. A Monte Carlo approach was used to assess the completeness in the companion mass and semi-major axis parameter space from the combination of the HCI and RV data sets.
Results. We find that the HCI data add significant information to the RV constraints, increasing the completeness for certain companions masses and semi-major axes by up to 68–99% for four of the six stars in our sample, and by up to 1–13% for the remaining stars. The improvements are strongest for intermediate semi-major axes (15–40 AU), corresponding to the semi-major axes of the ice giants in our own solar system. The HCI mass limits reach 5–20 MJup in the background-limited regime, depending on the age of the star.
Conclusions. Through the combination of HCI and RV data, we find that stringent constraints can be placed on the possible substellar companions in these systems. Applying these methods systematically to nearby stars will quantify our current knowledge of the planet population in the solar neighborhood and inform future observations.


This paper aims to investigate whether exposure to international trade increases the firm's ability to create jobs, improve its productivity and profitability using a unique Tunisian firm level data set. Several types of firms are considered: onshore non-exporters and importers, onshore exporters and non-importers, onshore exporters and importers, offshore exporters and non-importers and offshore exporters and importers. Findings are mixed concerning firm's involvement in trade and job creation. Onshore firms exclusively importing and offshore firms (exporters and two way traders) appear to be the only ones to create jobs compared to non traders. Evidence related to the relationship between firm's performance and trade status is more clear-cut. Tunisian firms involved in foreign markets are more productive and profitable than nontraders. JEL Classification: F14, L15


The 3D mapping of road and city scenes is useful and necessary for many professional and consumer applications. Active perception systems based on lasers were initially developed for their robustness properties, in applications requiring automation such as robotics. The development of LiDARs has been accelerated by their use on mobile systems, which have fostered the productivity of 3D dense and accurate mapping of environments. Such systems are now widely exploited for the off-line creation of accurate road and city maps, which are stand-alone products of interest. But the development of autonomous vehicles brings back the issue of real-time mapping and processing of data over large areas. This talk will consider several issues regarding 3D road scene perception such as data acquisition, localization and geo-referencing, surface reconstruction, real-time and off-line processing for various applications.


Transitional or retroactive justice is chosen by political elites of countries in transition to come to terms with past. Lustration is a non-criminal measure of transitional justice. The Czech Republic and Poland both initiated lustration policy in the post communist period. The difference between these countries is that the former approved initial lustration act in 1991while the latter adopted lustration bill only in 1997. The laws were temporarily limited yet, both Czech and Polish legislators decided to engage with lustration once again after the initial laws had expired. The thesis offers a double layered comparative study of lustration policy in the Czech Republic and Poland. The first part focuses on initial lustration policy and highlights a) the factors which influenced the decisions whether to adopt or not lustration laws soon after the regime change and b) the factors that determined the nature of original bills. In the second part this thesis will explore various explanatory variables to explain the wave of late and renewed lustration initiatives in both countries. The analysis reveals that the decisions whether to approve or not lustration acts in the early years of post communist period were influenced by various past factors: the lack of legitimacy of the post Prague Spring government; the crisis in other communist countries; the loss of strengths of the ruling forces in Czechoslovakia, the weakness of the governing forces in Poland; Solidarity's attitude towards regime change. The difference in nature was a result of different factors of present: the collapse of two governments and the communist return to power in Poland, the tendency of misusing past in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the need to safeguard democracy/or the desire to discredit political opponents as well as the memory of post Prague spring regime as illegitimate and the memory of negotiated transition in Poland as a mistake explain the decision about the wave of new and renewed lustration in both countries.


The words that children learn can be characterized as a semantic network, with links connecting related words. Recent analyses have shown these networks to have smallworld structure, with a few highly-connected hub words facilitating short paths between otherwise distant words. This structure contributes to network robustness, and differences in structure can predict differences in language learning outcomes. While previous studies have shown that semantic network structure reflects linguistic input structure, we provide the first evidence that it is related also to children's own language learning biases. Two-year old children who show a mutual-exclusivity bias have significantly more hublike networks than children who do not, even when they know the same number of words. This finding contributes to our understanding of both semantic networks and the origins of mutual exclusivity.


Sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council affect large numbers of people, businesses and governments worldwide. They are central to the UN's efforts to maintain international peace and security. A recent wave of litigation suggests that 'fair process' concerns raised in relation to UN sanctions on ISIL, Da'esh and Al Qaida are now providing the basis for litigation of other UN sanctions regimes, including those dealing with armed conflicts and nuclear proliferation. 'Fairly Clear Risks', an independent study from UN University, reviews 47 fair process challenges to UN sanctions from 12 jurisdictions, assesses the risks that UN sanctions now face. The report suggests steps that might be taken to protect their legitimacy and effectiveness at a crucial moment for the UN system.


It has long been hypothesized that perceptual ambiguities play an important role in aesthetic experience: A work with some ambiguity engages a viewer more than one that does not. However, current frameworks for testing this theory are limited by the availability of stimuli and data collection methods. This article presents an approach to measuring the perceptual ambiguity of a collection of images. Crowdworkers are asked to describe image content, after different viewing durations. Experiments are performed using images created with Generative Adversarial Networks, using the Artbreeder website. We show that text processing of viewer responses can provide a fine-grained way to measure and describe image ambiguities.


The medicinal and nutritional value of sea cucumber propelled the development of dried sea cucumber powder technology so it will be easy to use and readily available in the local market. The technology's goal is to promote nutritional awareness and utilization. The technology utilizes any commercial species of sea cucumber. Processing of sea cucumber powder involves procurement of raw materials, washing, and evisceration, slicing, drying, pounding, sifting and packing. A Return on Investment of more than 300% is expected if sold at 3 grams per pack. Further, other economic importance of this powder includes for consumption, pharmaceutical, biomedical and veterinary purposes. A study was conducted to test the sea cucumber powder as food seasoning. Test trials results indicate that majority of the respondents rated the product from more acceptable to most acceptable in terms of its taste, palatability, color, texture and odor . Participation to trade fares and distribution of brochures were done as product promotion and patent application on the technology was submitted to the Intellectual Property Office. Finally, this value-adding technology supports the gleaners to have additional income. Keywords - Sea cucumber, product development, powder technology


The convenient access to observational data enables us to learn causal effects without randomized experiments. This research direction draws increasing attention in research areas such as economics, healthcare, and education. For example, we can study how a medicine (the treatment) causally affects the health condition (the outcome) of a patient using existing electronic health records. To validate causal effects learned from observational data, we have to control confounding bias -- the influence of variables which causally influence both the treatment and the outcome. Existing work along this line overwhelmingly relies on the unconfoundedness assumption that there do not exist unobserved confounders. However, this assumption is untestable and can even be untenable. In fact, an important fact ignored by the majority of previous work is that observational data can come with network information that can be utilized to infer hidden confounders. For example, in an observational study of the individual-level treatment effect of a medicine, instead of randomized experiments, the medicine is often assigned to each individual based on a series of factors. Some of the factors (e.g., socioeconomic status) can be challenging to measure and therefore become hidden confounders. Fortunately, the socioeconomic status of an individual can be reflected by whom she is connected in social networks. With this fact in mind, we aim to exploit the network information to recognize patterns of hidden confounders which would further allow us to learn valid individual causal effects from observational data. In this work, we propose a novel causal inference framework, the network deconfounder, which learns representations to unravel patterns of hidden confounders from the network information. Empirically, we perform extensive experiments to validate the effectiveness of the network deconfounder on various datasets.


The notion of homomorphism of signed graphs, introduced quite recently, provides better interplay with the notion of minor and is thus of high importance in graph coloring. A newer, but equivalent, definition of homomorphisms of signed graphs, proposed jointly by the second and third authors of this paper and Thomas Zaslavsky, leads to a basic no-homomorphism lemma. According to this definition, a signed graph $(G, \sigma)$ admits a homomorphism to a signed graph $(H, \pi)$ if there is a mapping $\phi$ from the vertices and edges of $G$ to the vertices and edges of $H$ (respectively) which preserves adjacencies, incidences, and signs of closed walks (i.e., the product of the sign of their edges).  For $ij=00, 01, 10, 11$, let $g_{ij}(G,\sigma)$ be the length of a shortest nontrivial closed walk of $(G, \sigma)$ which is, positive and of even length for $ij=00$, positive and of odd length for $ij=01$, negative and of even length for $ij=10$, negative and of odd length for $ij=11$. For each $ij$, if there is no nontrivial closed walk of the corresponding type, we let $g_{ij}(G, \sigma)=\infty$. If $G$ is bipartite, then $g_{01}(G,\sigma)=g_{11}(G,\sigma)=\infty$. In this case, $g_{10}(G,\sigma)$ is certainly realized by a cycle of $G$, and it will be referred to as the \emph{unbalanced-girth} of $(G,\sigma)$.
It then follows that if $(G,\sigma)$ admits a homomorphism to $(H, \pi)$, then $g_{ij}(G, \sigma)\geq g_{ij}(H, \pi)$ for $ij \in \{00, 01,10,11\}$.
Studying the restriction of homomorphisms of signed graphs on sparse families, in this paper we first prove that for any given signed graph $(H, \pi)$, there exists a positive value of $\epsilon$ such that, if $G$ is a connected graph of maximum average degree less than $2+\epsilon$, and if $\sigma$ is a signature of $G$ such that $g_{ij}(G, \sigma)\geq g_{ij}(H, \pi)$ for all $ij \in \{00, 01,10,11\}$, then $(G, \sigma)$ admits a homomorphism to $(H, \pi)$.
For $(H, \pi)$ being the signed graph on $K_4$ with exactly one negative edge, we show that $\epsilon=\frac{4}{7}$ works and that this is the best possible value of $\epsilon$. For $(H, \pi)$ being the negative cycle of length $2g$, denoted $UC_{2g}$, we show that $\epsilon=\frac{1}{2g-1}$ works.
As a bipartite analogue of the Jaeger-Zhang conjecture, Naserasr, Sopena and Rollovà conjectured in [Homomorphisms of signed graphs, {\em J. Graph Theory} 79 (2015)] that every signed bipartite planar graph $(G,\sigma)$ satisfying $g_{ij}(G,\sigma)\geq 4g-2$ admits a homomorphism to $UC_{2g}$. We show that $4g-2$ cannot be strengthened, and, supporting the conjecture, we prove it for planar signed bipartite graphs $(G,\sigma)$ satisfying the weaker condition $g_{ij}(G,\sigma)\geq 8g-2$.
In the course of our work, we also provide a duality theorem to decide whether a 2-edge-colored graph admits a homomorphism to a certain class of 2-edge-colored signed graphs or not.


The main influence on the dimensional accuracy in incremental sheet metal forming results from the compliance of the involved machine structures and the springback effects of the workpiece. This holds especially for robot based sheet metal forming, as the stiffness of the robot's kinematics compared to a conventional machine tool is low, resulting in a significant deviation of the planned tool path and therefore in a shape of insufficient quality. To predict these deviations, a coupled process structure model has been implemented. It consists of a finite element (FE) approach to simulate the sheet forming and a multi body system (MBS) modeling the compliant robot structure. The forces in the tool tip are computed by the FEA, while the path deviations due to these forces can be obtained using the MBS model. Coupling both models gives the true path driven by the robots. Built on this path prediction, mechanisms to compensate the robot's kinematics can be implemented. The current paper describes an exemplary model based path prediction and its validation.


Using counterpublic theory as framework and situating the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) as a counterpublic, counterpublics being alternative, non-dominant publics who voice their oppositional needs and values through diverse discursive practices, the goal of this study is to: (a) Examine, in the context of the years preceding the 2011 Egyptian uprising, whether the Egyptian MB, as a counterpublic, portrays a deliberative ethic/voice in its cyber rhetoric; (b) Explore whether traditional/Western ideas of deliberation are upheld or challenged in the cyber rhetoric of the Egyptian MB; and (c) Comment on the role of Ikhwanweb, as a counterpublic sphere, in providing the Egyptian MB a space to demonstrate its deliberative potential. By looking for traits and evidences of deliberative ethic in the Egyptian MB's cyber rhetoric—in a 'text' produced by an Islamist organization functioning within a secular/authoritarian socio-political 'context'—the overarching purpose of this analysis is to make sense of : (a) an Islamist organization's role as a counterpublic and its deliberative potential in a non-democratic setting; (b) the implications of this for thinking about deliberation between diverse groups of social agents in non-democratic cultures; and (c) the role of the Internet in facilitating counterpublics' deliberative potential in authoritarian contexts. Thus, from a heuristic standpoint, this study is an endeavor towards contributing to a key question that animates public deliberation: how can we engage/engage with voices that hold (or are assumed to hold) anti-deliberative attitudes and/or those that operate within non-democratic socio-political contexts?


A major challenge in the soft x-ray (SXR) and eXtreme UltraViolet (XUV) spectral ranges is the ability to manipulate the incident radiation using optical elements. By patterning conventional multilayer mirrors with nanoscale structures, novel optical elements with a variety of optical properties can be obtained. In this work, the design, fabrication and characterization of Lamellar Multilayer Gratings (LMG) was investigated. Such LMGs are a particular form of the general class of Bragg-Fresnel optics which combine Fresnel optics with Bragg reflection to provide unique dispersive and focusing optics. In particular, LMGs can be used to improve the spectral resolution of x-ray fluorescence techniques.
A Coupled Waves Approach (CWA) was derived to simulate the optical performance,
in terms of resolution and reflectivity, of LMGs. This CWA allowed to study the physical principles behind LMGs and resulted in the identification of an optimal LMG operating regime. In this regime, the incident beam is reflected in a single diffraction order and is hence referred to as the singleorder regime. Such single-order LMGs were fabricated using UV-NanoImprint Lithography and Bosch Deep Reactive Ion Etching, a process chosen to enable rapid practical development. Single-order operation was experimentally demonstrated and showed an improvement in spectral resolution of a factor of 3.8 with regard to convenventional multilayer mirrors. Singe-order excitation of higher diffraction orders was also measured and analyzed.
Single-order operation often requires multilayer stacks and grating structures
that cannot be fabricated with sufficient accuracy using current technologies.
As this invalidates the semi-infinite multilayer approximation, we investigated the optical performance of LMGs with finite multilayer stacks. We determined the ratio between the absorber thickness and bi-layer period of the multilayer stack can be used to further tailor LMG optical performance to maximize bandwidth reduction or minimize peak reflectivity loss. We also investigated various degradation processes that could limit the lifetime of LMGs, which is important for the applicability of such elements. Oxidation of tungsten and silicon as well as changes to the sidewall composition were clearly seen.
However, SXR reflectivity remained stable to within measurement accuracy for
an extended storage period of 18 months in a 1 atm air environment. The possibility of applying a capping layer on LMG structures to reduce degradation
was also studied.


Abstract This article aims to introduce the concept of "Invecticity" as a new perspective for social and cultural studies. It understands phenomena of insult and debasement, of humiliation and exposure as - cross-cultural and epoch-spanning - basic operations of societal communication. Due to their disruptive, stabilising or dynamising effects on social order, invective communication have the potential to unite and shape societies. This article subsumes such phenomena under the term Invectivity. The term includes all aspects of communication (either verbal or non-verbal, oral or written, gestural or graphic) that are used to degrade, to hurt or to marginalize others. Manifestations and functions of the Invective are not systemised under strict patterns but medially, politically, socially and aesthetically contextualized depending on the diverse historical contexts and complex constellations they occur in. Thus, they can only be properly understood as performative events which develop through the interaction of ascription, response and follow-up communication as well as by means of the social, discursive and media conditions in which they arise.


In this paper, we propose an iterative algorithm for finding the common element of solution set  of a  split equilibrium problem and common  fixed point set of  a finite family of  asymptotically nonexpansive mappings  in Hilbert space. The strong convergence of this algorithm is proved.


Ocular symptoms of Behçet's syndrome in 16 patients and the results of cytostatic and immunosuppressive therapy with cyclosporin A (6 patients), chlorambucil (6 patients), and a combination of cyclophosphamide and procarbacin (4 patients) are described. The clinical course and therapeutic outcome were compared to the patients' visual acuity and the duration of the disease prior to institution of cytostatic therapy. Average follow-up was 4.6 years, maximum 9 years. The principal ocular symptom in all patients was hemorrhagic, occlusive periphlebitis. Other symptoms, in descending order of frequency, were chorioretinitis, iridocyclitis, complicated cataract, secondary glaucoma and exudative retinal detachment. The patients in whom cytostatic therapy was instituted no later than 6 months after onset of the disease showed an improvement in or stabilization of visual acuity, as well as a clear reduction in signs of intraocular inflammation and frequency of recurrence. No improvement in visual acuity or ocular symptoms was achieved in cases where the disease was very advanced, despite cytostatic-immunosuppressive therapy. The results support early institution of immunosuppressive therapy in cases with Behçet's syndrome where severe, irreversible damage has not yet occurred and in which vision is threatened in both eyes. However, due consideration must be given to the potential risks of immunosuppressive therapy, in particular the risk of a malignant tumor.


Abstract Earth system interventions (ESIs)—intentional large-scale interventions in Earth systems—are not entirely new. However, in response to threats to sustainability, particularly from climate change and biodiversity loss, some scientists and others are researching, developing, and using new, largely technological ESIs. These include carbon dioxide removal, solar geoengineering, in situ genetically modified organisms, gene drive organisms, de-extinction, and high-tech ecosystem restoration. Some emerging ESIs appear to be effective and feasible, both technically and economically, and may be necessary to achieve important sustainability and human welfare objectives. They also pose serious environmental risks. This paper identifies more than a dozen social, political, and ethical challenges that are common across many of the emerging technological ESIs. Governance could mitigate and manage these issues, and it would be made more effective and robust by understanding and treating new ESIs as such and as a potentially transformative set of innovations in human-Earth system relations.


With the cloud paradigm being applied broadly, how to make an efficient scheme of resource placement regarding to the energy cost has become a prerequisite problem to be solved. But nearly all of existing resource placement approaches always ignore the energy use caused by virtual machine (VM) dynamical migration. In this paper, we established the energy consumption model in cloud computing environment, and analyzed the energy use in our model. Based on the analysis, we improved the Online Bin Packing algorithm, and proposed a new energy-aware approach with consideration of energy efficiency in cloud computing environment which is composed of virtual machines. At the end of this paper, we proved our placement approach by simulation results. The simulation results show that this algorithm can not only increase resource utilization rates, but also make the data center more energy-efficient.


PURPOSE
We characterized the ocular pharmacokinetics of bevacizumab in vitrectomized eyes with silicone oil tamponade.

METHODS
A total of 18 pigmented rabbits underwent vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade before an intra-silicone oil injection of 1.25 mg bevacizumab. At post-injection days 1, 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56, 3 rabbits were sacrificed and enucleated, and bevacizumab concentrations were measured in various ocular tissues and plasma.

RESULTS
The bevacizumab peak concentration was reached at day 14 in the aqueous humor (4030.70 ng/mL), retina (42,171.7 ng/g), and choroid (56,243.33 ng/g). In the iris/ciliary body and plasma, the peak concentration was reached at day 7 with 52,648.30 ng/g and 197.70 ng/mL, respectively. The choroid had the maximum exposure to bevacizumab with an area under the curve calculated from time zero to the last observed time (AUC(last)) of 1,151,633.40 ng/day/g and the aqueous humor had the minimum exposure (AUC(last) = 74,611.28 ng/day/g) among the ocular tissues, while the drug exposure to the plasma was the smallest of all tissues studied (AUC(last) = 3795.17 ng/day/g). The terminal half-lives and the mean residence time of bevacizumab in the ocular tissues ranged from 3-5 and 10-13 days, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The peak concentration of bevacizumab in various ocular tissues and plasma was delayed and lower than that found in normal rabbit eyes; however, the terminal half-lives were similar to those found in the eyes with native vitreous following an intravitreal injection. Oil may have impacted the distribution of bevacizumab and led to an altered profile of drug level in the ocular tissues.


A framework is developed to enable transition from a typical real estate agency towards an e-business enabled business environment, based on an agency configuration located in Townsville, Australia. This transition is modeled according to a number of stages. In the strategic audit stage, a TOWS matrix is suggested which combines Porter's Five Forces Model of Competition, adapted with a SWOT analysis. The next stage of an e-business case development for this real estate setting differentiates among inside partners, nearside partners, and external partners. Stage three states the composition of the systems analysis team, whereas in stage four the system architecture and infrastructure are specified, including a number of relevant legislative issues. Subsequently, the web interface design-stage is elaborated on, including accessing issues by different user groups. Two extreme examples of customer interfacing are presented to illustrate the need for the interface to be flexible, information gathering, and execution focused. These four stages summarize the transition process real estate agencies may work through to become fully e-business enabled.


The structural stress (SS) method developed by BATTELLE has been studied based on small or mid-size scale specimens. In order to apply the new method, such as SS, on an actual project, it should have application results on actual project. However, SS method didn't have a lot of application data compared to class procedure using hot spot stress (HSS). In order to find out whether the SS method, for the evaluation of fatigue life, can give reasonable results when it is applied under the same loading suggested by classification societies, it was compared with fatigue lives derived by class. ABS & DNV's simplified fatigue analysis method were adopted to check the validity of SS method. Before applying complicated loading of class, static loading case was applied, since the class method has their own correlation factor for wave loading. And then, simplified fatigue analysis was performed with more complicated loading cases. From the results of fatigue life calculation, it can be said that SS shows reasonable fatigue lives with respect to HSS or notch stress based fatigue lives.


Comparative study of vagotomy and desympathization results, performed by similar methods and in similar terms demonstrated that disturbance of sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation of small intestine is accompanied with acquiring of morphofunctional alterations, similar in reaction of local immune apparatus and in disorders of digestive, absorptive and excretory functions. Specific properties of vagotomy and desympathization effects mainly concern dynamics of destructive, dystrophic (atrophic), inflammatory and vascular changes, extent of expression of secretory function disturbances and of intensity of intestinal epithelium proliferation.


Michael Allen. Charles Dickens and the Blacking Factory: Oxford-Stockley Publications: St. Leonards, 2011. Pp. 310. [pounds sterling]24.95. For a novelist given to secrecy and burdened with memories of a past he worked hard to conceal, Dickens behaved inconsistently. According to John Forster, who knew him "better than any other man does, or ever will," hints and scraps of information emerged, orally and in writing no longer extant, about those aspects of his childhood Dickens found troubling. These revelations, communicated during the first decade of their friendship, gradually expanded, the degree of intimacy increasing to the point in November 1846 when Dickens made Forster an explicit offer: "Shall I leave you my life in MS. when I die? There are some things in it that would touch you very much, and that might go on the same shelf with the first volume of Holcroft's" (Letters 4: 653). No record of Forster's response exists. But the proposal from Dickens must have set him thinking, both professionally and perhaps more searchingly about the nature of his friend's past. As the author of one biography (The Lives of Statesmen of the Commonwealth, 1840) committed to a second (The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith, 1848), the prospect of writing about Dickens surely crossed his mind, while the reference to Thomas Holcroft, whose Memoirs (1816) recount a youthful struggle with poverty, neglect and self-education, would have resounded with the little of Dickens's past Forster already knew. Further conversation on these matters seems to have been suspended until February 1847. No precise timetable is possible, but we can infer that exchanges continued until by chance Forster asked Dickens in March if he ever remembered "the elder Mr. Dilke, his father's acquaintance and contemporary" and former clerk at Somerset House. An evasive "Yes" in reference to meeting Charles Wentworth Dilke at the house of a relative prompted Forster to push further, the point of which was to say that he had learned from Dilke of Dickens's "having had some juvenile employment in a warehouse near the Strand." Dickens responded by remaining silent "for several minutes," whereupon Forster concluded that he had unintentionally touched "a painful place in his memory" and resolved never to speak of it again (Life bk. 1, ch. 2). It was Dickens, however, who broke the silence a few weeks later. First orally in frequent interchanges and then in writing, a vivid account emerged of how he had been "so easily thrown away," a poor little lad at the age of ten. The material Dickens supplied served Forster well, endowing his three-volume Life of Charles Dickens (1871-74) with a twofold legacy. By making use of the MS pages Dickens had left to him, Forster achieved an impact that may have surprised him. "Never, perhaps, has a fragment of biography wakened more interest and amazement than the first chapters of Mr. Forster's biography," wrote one reviewer of the first volume in February 1872, already in its ninth edition within months of its publication (Collins 579). Less conjectural is the enduring importance of his decision to supply "those passages [of Dickens's childhood] omitted from [David Copperfield], which, ... present to us a picture of tragical suffering, ... unsurpassed in even the wonders of his published writings" (Life bk. 1, ch. 2). By publishing "the fragment of the autobiography of Dickens" left to him and by augmenting it with recollections of conversations and letters, Forster laid the foundation for his own Life. Doing so, he also provided the keystone to every biographical study published since. "The story of Charles Dickens' childhood is dominated by a single narrative, mostly written down by Dickens himself, then edited, arranged, and supplemented by John Forster," writes Michael Allen. Over the history of his own childhood and of his time at Warren's Blacking, he continues, Dickens "exercised supreme control. …


In this article, we examine the concept of non-personal data from a law and computer science perspective. The delineation between personal data and non-personal data is of paramount importance to determine the GDPR's scope of application. This exercise is, however, fraught with difficulty, also when it comes to de-personalised data – that is to say data that once was personal data but has been manipulated with the goal of turning it into anonymous data. This article charts that the legal definition of anonymous data is subject to uncertainty. Indeed, the definitions adopted in the GDPR, by the Article 29 Working Party and by national supervisory authorities diverge significantly. Whereas the GDPR admits that there can be a remaining risk of identification even in relation to anonymous data, others have insisted that no such risk is acceptable. A review of the technical underpinnings of anonymisation that is subsequently applied to two concrete case studies involving personal data used on blockchains, we conclude that there always remains a residual risk when anonymisation is used. The concluding section links this conclusion more generally to the notion of risk in the GDPR.


In the context of an airship development programme, inviscid flow behavior and its coupling with structure flexibility are investigated. For this purpose, we have chosen a nonlinear analysis tool relying on the unsteady Euler model for the flow part and the classical elastodynamic equations for the structure. The numerical model for the flow is based on a Mixed Element Volume discretization derived in an Arbitrary-Lagrangian- Eulerian framework in order to cope with the structural deformations. The case of low- Mach flows (natural flight regime for an airship) can be handled by a special dissipation preconditioner which improves the accuracy of the flow simulation. The structural model, coupled to the flow solver, is discretized by the finite element method in a Lagrangian formulation. In this work we have performed a series of inviscid flow calculations with the goal to evaluate accurately the global aerodynamical coefficients. We first compare the influence of different stiffeners in the airship structural model for flows with zero and nonzero (20o) angle of attack. Then, we study the influence of the numerical dissipation and of the low-Mach preconditioning. We observe -as expected- the stabilizing effect of the stiffeners, specially longitudinal ones. The positive impact of low Mach preconditioning and numerical dissipation on the results is also evaluated.


Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play an integral role in the adaptive immune response by killing infected cells. Antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells, present pathogenic peptides to the T cell receptor on the CTL surface and co-stimulatory signals required for complete activation. Activated CTLs secrete lytic granules containing enzymes that trigger target cell death at the CTL-target contact, also known as the immune synapse (IS). The actin and microtubule cytoskeletons are instrumental in the killing of CTL targets. Lytic granules are transported along microtubules to the IS, where granule secretion is facilitated by actin depletion and recovery. Furthermore, actomyosin contractility promotes target cell death by mediating mechanical force exertion at the IS. Recent studies have shown that inflammatory cytokines produced by APCs, such as interleukin-12 (IL-12), act as a third signal for CTL activation and enhance CTL proliferation and effector function. However, the biophysical mechanisms mediating such enhanced effector function remain unclear. We hypothesized that the third signal for CTL activation, IL-12, modulates cytoskeletal dynamics and force exertion at the IS, thus potentiating CTL effector function. Here, we used live cell total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to study actomyosin and microtubule dynamics at the IS of murine primary CTLs activated in the presence of peptide-MHC and co-stimulation alone (two signals), or additionally with IL-12 (three signals). We found that three signal-activated CTLs have altered actin flows, myosin dynamics and microtubule growth rates as compared to two signal-activated CTLs. We further showed that lytic granules in three-signal activated CTLs are less clustered and have lower velocities than in two-signal activated CTLs. Finally, we used traction force microscopy to show that three signal-activated CTLs exert greater traction forces than two signal-activated CTLs. Our results demonstrate that activation of CTLs in the presence of IL-12 leads to differential modulation of the cytoskeleton, thereby augmenting the mechanical response of CTLs to their targets. This indicates a potential physical mechanism via which the third signal can enhance the CTL response.


As science advances, mobile communication technology is developing very fast, and smart phones have become more and more important in people's lives. Due to its large population, China has a huge number of mobile phone users which means one billion by 2011 with a penetration rate of more than 80%. Thus China is likely to become the mobile market leader in the future on the use of smart phones and mobile Internet services. With the development of smart phones, mobile applications are beginning to involve new areas such as mobile payment in addition to the traditional functions of calling, texting and surfing the Internet. With the above mentioned large group of mobile users, China has got a spontaneous market for mobile payment. Up to now, mobile payment has got much attention and applied by more and more mobile users. Among all the technologies of mobile payment, NFC has its own advantages over others and has a bright prospect in market and application. In the future, mobile payment will become the main payment method in China, and near-field mobile payments based on NFC technology will become more popular. Therefore, this paper, after combing the development of mobile payment at home and abroad, compares the present using mobile payment method with NFC-SIM based payment method, analyses the advantage of the latter one in safety and convenience, then explains the connection scheme of NFC and SIM card.


What causes range limits is a central question in evolutionary ecology. Transplant studies indicate that areas just across range boundaries are often stressful. The recent Defense constraint (DC) hypothesis for plants states that the evolution of tolerance to stressful environments across a range boundary is constrained by allocation to chemical defense because of antagonistic crosstalk between abiotic and biotic stress signaling pathways that otherwise could be co-opted for range expansion. Abscisic acid (ABA) drought stress tolerance and jasmonic acid/ethylene (JA/ET) defense signaling pathways, for example, are known to be antagonistic to one another in Arabidopsis and other species. To test the DC hypothesis, we examined quantitative genetic variation and co-variation among marker-inferred inbred lines and sib-families of Boechera stricta, a close wild relative of Arabidopsis. The dynamics of the defense-stress tolerance tradeoff was examined across 1) years that differed in precipitation, 2) drought and ABA treatments, and 3) a NPK nutrient supply gradient. In support of the DC hypothesis, we observed the tradeoff a) in the dry year, and b) in response to water deficiency, which c) was affected by ABA treatments, but the interaction between ABA and glucosinolate (GS) toxin levels was not significant. In contrast to the effects of water deficiency, d) the effect of lower NPK supply to cause the tradeoff was only marginally significant. Because an ABA-mediated stress response is intrinsic to water deficient conditions and because of the known involvement of JA/ET in GS regulation, we suggest that these results provide circumstantial evidence implicating both of these pathways in the tradeoff and thus in the development of range limits.


Present study deals with efficacy of AV/FRC/18 (Keetguard Liquid), a Polyherbal ectoparasiticidal against lice and tick infestation in buffaloes. All the buffaloes were infested with Haematopinus spp. (Lice) and Boophilus spp. (Ticks). Lice infestation was mostly seen on scapular region, back, groin and axilla region while tick Infestation was mostly seen in the region of perineum, inner thigh, ears, neck, groin and axilla regions. Percent efficacy of AV/FRC/18 against lice and tick infestation was recorded and it was found that thrice a week application of 1:20 dilution results in 99% and 95% respectively on day 7th post-treatment and maximum period of effectiveness was found 95% and 90% respectively up to 30 days post treatment.


Background : Taekwondo is a martial sport that is often included in competitions, especially in a national event such as Pekan Olahraga Nasional (PON) XVIII Riau in September 2012. A taekwondo athlete must have maximum physical condition in order to achieve maximum performance. West Java taekwondo athletes who will participate in this national sport event receive centralized exercises as a special preparation stage. This study aimed to determine the physical condition profile of male and female taekwondo athletes for PON XVIII Riau Methods : A quantitative descriptive study was conducted in September 2012 to 15 West Java taekwondo athletes for PON Riau XVIII consisting of 7 male athletes and 8 female athletes. Physical conditions measured were strength, endurance, power, speed, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, agility, and reaction time. The measurement results were then compared to the physical standards data from the head of National Sports Committee of Indonesia (Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia/KONI) and were analyzed by percentage category Results : Characteristics in less category were abdominal muscle endurance (male 71.43% and female 100%), cardio respiratory fitness (male 85.71%), and agility (female 37.50%). Characteristics in far category were cardio respiratory fitness (female 62.50%) and agility (male 57.14%) Conclusion : The ability of the physical condition of male and female West Java taekwondo athletes for Pekan Olahraga Nasional XVIII Riau still needs to be improved to maximize achievement. [AMJ.2015;2(1):281–86]


Abstract Livestock grazing is often perceived as being detrimental to the quality and functioning of dryland ecosystems. For example, a study in a semiarid Kenyan savanna proposed that cattle form bare spaces throughout the landscape, which indicate ecosystem degradation. Other studies, conducted in north‐eastern Spain, where climatic conditions range between semiarid and Mediterranean subhumid, reported that sheep and goat trails have increased the emergence of rill erosion processes. Sometimes, this negative perception is extended to include wild, large ungulate herbivores as well. Here, we challenge this perception by highlighting the generally nonadverse and even ameliorative impacts of moderate animal rate on geoecosystem functioning of hilly drylands. Specifically, trampling routes (also known as treading paths, livestock terracettes, cattle trails, migration tracks, cowtours, etc.) formed across hillslopes by grazing animals—being either domesticated livestock or native large herbivores—transform the original two‐phase vegetation mosaic of shrubby patches and interpatch spaces into a three‐phase mosaic. The animal routes increase the complexity of ecosystem, by strengthening the spatial redistribution of water and soil resources at the patch scale and decreasing hydrological connectivity at the hillslope scale. As a consequence, the animal routes improve functioning of hilly drylands and increase their resilience to long‐term droughts and climatic change. Therefore, instead of viewing the animal routes as degraded spots, they should be perceived at a wider perspective that allows to properly understand their overall role in sustaining dryland geoecosystems.


Patients with symptomatic advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who experience recurrent exacerbations are particularly at risk of poor outcomes and present a significant burden on healthcare systems. The relative merits of treating with different inhaled combination therapies e.g. inhaled corticosteroids (ICS)/long-acting β2-agonist (LABA), LABA/long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA), ICS/LABA/LAMA, in this patient group are poorly understood, as is reflected in current guidelines. The InforMing the PAthway of COPD Treatment (IMPACT) study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of fluticasone furoate (FF)/umeclidinium (UMEC)/vilanterol (VI) versus FF/VI or UMEC/VI over a 52-week treatment period. The study has been designed with a focus on understanding the comparative merits of each treatment modality in different phenotypes/endotypes. This is a phase III, randomised, double-blind, three-arm, parallel-group, global multicentre study comparing the rate of moderate and severe exacerbations between FF/UMEC/VI and FF/VI or UMEC/VI over a 52-week treatment period. The study aims to recruit 10 000 patients from approximately 1070 centres. Eligible patients are aged ≥40 years, with symptomatic advanced COPD (Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) group D) and an exacerbation in the previous 12 months. The first patients were recruited to the IMPACT study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02164513) in June 2014 and the anticipated completion date is July 2017. Treatment choices between LABA/LAMA versus ICS/LABA versus ICS/LABA/LAMA in GOLD group D subjects with COPD http://ow.ly/bg7R300C2uo


Introduction The Joint Advisory Group on gastrointestinal endoscopy and the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) have published guidelines on the tattooing of malignant and suspicious lesions at colonoscopy. Our endoscopy department has a local protocol for the tattooing of these lesions based on these guidelines. The BCSP has led to an increase in the number of colonoscopies performed and the number of lesions identified. Aim To assess adherence to a local protocol in a single endoscopy unit and identify if lesions identified through the BCSP are more likely to be tattooed than lesions identified for other reasons. Methods A retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database was performed. All colonoscopies performed between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011 were reviewed and screening cases identified. Results 4023 colonoscopies were performed, 307 (8%) as part of the BCSP. Malignancy or polyps were identified in 192 (63%) of BSCP colonoscopies compared to 26% (958/3716) of non-BCSP colonoscopies. Significantly more polyps and malignancies were identified during BCSP colonoscopies than non-BCSP colonoscopies (p<0.0001 χ2 test). Our local protocol states that any malignant/suspicious/>1 cm lesion distal to the right colon should be marked by placing three tattoos just distal to the lesion. 94 (49%) lesions were identified during BCSP colonoscopies that met these criteria. Of these 54 (57%) were tattooed, and 20 (21 %) were tattooed by the method advised. This compared to 262 non-BCSP lesions identified that should have been tattooed of which 77 (29%) were tattooed and 20 (8%) were tattooed by the method advised. Tattooing rate was significantly higher in BCSP detected lesions (54/94 compared with 77/262, p≤0.0001, χ2 test). Conclusion Tattooing practice in our endoscopy unit is poor despite the presence of a local protocol. However, tattooing practice is significantly better in lesions identified through the BCSP. Reasons for this may include the higher yield of lesions in screening colonoscopies or lack of awareness of the protocol. We aim to improve adherence by increasing awareness among all endoscopy staff to ensure optimum management of malignant and suspicious lesions. Competing interests None declared. References 1. Chilton A, Rutter M, et al. Quality assurance guidelines for colonoscopy. NHS BCSP Publication 6. 2010. 2. BSG Quality and Safety indicators for Endoscopy, Joint Advisory Group on GI Endoscopy. 2007. http://www.thejag.org.uk/downloads%5CUnit%20Resources%5CBSG%20Quality%20and%20Safety%20Indicators.pdf


The United States Copyright Office defines "orphan works" as: "a term used to describe the situation where the owner of a copyrighted work cannot be identified and located by someone who wishes to make use of the work in a manner that requires permission of the copyright owner." (1) For example, consider this hypothetical situation. Suppose a publisher, Fosterage Music Co., wishes to publish a music anthology including an unjustly neglected song, "Das klagende Pflegekind" by Philip von Waisenhauser, first published in 1978 by Immigrant Musician & Stepsons, Unlimited, of Tucumcari, New Mexico. The original publication carries a copyright statement naming Mr. Von Waisenhauser as the rights holder. A letter to Immigrant Musician receives a response informing Fosterage Music that Mr. Von Waisenhauser moved to the United States from Germany in 1972 with his daughter, but he died in 1983. His daughter, the sole heir of his estate, was married in 1990 and moved to Tulsa for a few years. Then all mailings sent to her were returned due to no forwarding address, and there were no further communications from her. Fosterage Music has reached a dead end, so to speak. The work is still under copyright, but all attempts to find the composer's daughter, and presumably the current copyright owner, are fruitless. Under current copyright law, "Das klagende Pflegekind" will not enter die public domain until 2053, seventy years after the death of Von Waisenhauser. Until then any subsequent uses of the song will need the permission of the Von Waisenhauser estate. Should the publisher include the work in the anthology? Would the publisher be sued for copyright infringement or required to pay a licensing fee by the composer's daughter if she identifies herself after republication? Will this orphan work simply languish unknown and unappreciated for decades? Why do situations like this exist? Over the years, the United States copyright laws have extended the length of copyright. In the first copyright act of 1790, copyright was registered for fourteen years and could be renewed for another fourteen. By the time of the 1909 act, these time periods were doubled to twenty-eight years each. Beginning with the 1976 act, copyright terms became much more complicated, and various term extensions were added in subsequent legislation, until today, when an individual's copyright (registered or not) extends until seventy years after the author's death. Also, the 1976 act no longer required registration with the copyright office or even evidence of copyright on the item. As long as the work is original and "fixed in a tangible medium of expression," the creator immediately has copyright protection over the work. Copyrights held by corporations enjoy copyright protection for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever occurs first. (2) The increased term lengths, plus the instantaneous granting of copyright protection at the moment of creation, combine to create a large number of orphan works, because it can be difficult to locate the heirs thirty, fifty, or more years after an author's death. The situation with corporations is no better given the number of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies that can occur over a century. MLA'S STATEMENT OF INTEREST FOR THE ORPHAN WORKS ROUNDTABLES In January 2005, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate requested that the Copyright Office study and report on the issue of orphan works. The first step in the study was a "Notice of Inquiry," by which the public was asked to submit written comments and replies to the Copyright Office. (3) The response was surprising--over 850 submissions were received. (4) Following the comment period, three days of roundtable discussions were conducted in Washington, DC (26-27 July 2005), and Berkeley, California (2 August 2005), to which the public applied to participate. In July 2005, the MLA Legislation Committee reviewed the comments and replies to the Copyright Office's Notice of Inquiry on orphan works and requested to participate in the roundtable discussion to be held on 2 August 2005 in Berkeley. …


CONTEXT
Autoimmune pancreatitis is a rare but increasingly recognised condition with unique clinical, immunological and histological features. We report the first case of autoimmune pancreatitis associated with spontaneous splenic haemorrhage.

CASE REPORT
A 75-year-old man presented with severe epigastric pain radiating to the back associated with nausea and vomiting. A CT-scan of his abdomen showed a large pseudocyst within the pancreatic tail as well as a subcapsular splenic haemorrhage. His IgG4 levels were elevated and clinical history and investigations were consistent with severe acute pancreatitis, but were negative for other known causes of pancreatic disease. The patient was started on steroid therapy and improved dramatically clinically, immunologically and radiologically thus confirming the diagnosis of autoimmune pancreatitis. His splenic haemorrhage was managed conservatively in view of his haemodynamic stablity and eventually self-resolved.

CONCLUSION
Autoimmune pancreatitis should not be overlooked in cases of acute pancreatitis without other obvious etiology. Furthermore, superimposed splenic haemorrhage is a rare but important complication of autoimmune pancreatitis.


Novel atomic force microscope (AFM) probes with integrated thin film thermal sensors are presented. Silicon micromachining and high resolution electron beam lithography (EBL) have been used to make batch fabricated, functionalised AFM probes. The AFM tips, situated at the ends of Si3N4 cantilevers, are shaped either as truncated pyramids or sharp triangular asperites. The former gives good thermalisation of the sensor to the specimen for flat specimens whereas the latter gives improved access to highly topographic specimens. Tip radii for the different probes are 1 m and 50 nm respectively. A variety of metal structures have been deposited on the tips using EBL and lift-off to form Au/Pd thermocouples and Pd resistance thermometer/heaters. Sensor dimensions down to 35 nm have been demonstrated. In the case of the sharp triangular tips, holes were etched into parts of the cantilever in order to provide self alignment of the sensor to the tip. On the pyramidal tips it has been shown that multiple sensors can be made on a single tip with good definition and matching between sensors.

A conventional AFM was constructed in order to test the micromachined thermal probes. During scans of a photothermal test specimen using improved access thermocouple probes, 80 nm period metal gratings were thermally resolved. This is equivalent to a thermal lateral resolution of 40 nm. Pyramidal tips with a resistance thermometer/heater, which were made for the microscopy and analysis of polymers, have been showed by others to produce high resolution thermal conductivity images. The probes have also been shown to be capable of locally heating a polymer specimen and thermomechanically measuring phase changes in small volumes of material.

Also presented here is a study of scanning thermal microscopy of semiconductor structures using a commercial AFM. Included are scans of several specimens using both commercial andthe new micromachined probes. Subsurface images of voids buried under a SiO2 passivation layer were taken. It is shown that contrast caused by thermal conductivity differences in the specimen may be detected at a depth of over 200 nm.


Current health care delivery systems in the United States have led to high cost, uneven quality, less than universal coverage, undue emphasis on a medical/clinical model, and scant attention to primary care and prevention. In the context of health care reform, a new strategy is introduced that reverses present trends and incentives, called managed outcomes. This strategy is not specific to any particular health care delivery system. Managed outcomes encourages experimentation and flexibility in the design of health care systems and fosters primary care, health promotion, and disease prevention models. It links purchasing decisions to established specific and measurable goals that can provide quality and cost-effective services to improve health.


Perhaps more so than any other area of law affecting individuals of low-to-moderate means, bankruptcy poignantly presents an affordability paradox: The system's purpose is to relieve individuals from financial distress, yet it simultaneously demands a significant commitment of resources to obtain such relief. To date, no one has undertaken a comprehensive study of the complexities and costs of the litigation burden that Congress has imposed on self-represented debtors who seek a fresh start in bankruptcy. In order to explore the problems inherent in a system that sometimes necessitates litigation as the path for vindicating a debtor's statutory right to a discharge, this Article focuses on the particular example of debtors who seek to discharge their educational debt (e.g., student loans) through bankruptcy. Such debt may be discharged only if the debtor can establish through a full-blown lawsuit, essentially governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, that repaying the debt would impose an undue hardship on the debtor.Using an original dataset of educational-debt dischargeability determinations, this Article reveals that, even when controlling for a variety of factors, including a debtor's financial characteristics and applicable legal standards, the typical self-represented debtor in such proceedings has only a 28.5% chance of litigation success, which pales in comparison to the 56.2% success rate of a similarly situated debtor who is represented. This finding casts serious doubt on the litigation framework that has been implemented to resolve disputes over a debtor's discharge rights. After exploring various approaches to reforming the framework, this Article concludes that our reform efforts will signify how committed we are as a society to deliver bankruptcy law's promise of a fresh start to financially distressed individuals — to wit, whether we are willing to take bankruptcy rights seriously.


Abstract : The applicability as well as the accuracy and efficiency of a finite element-differential method, which had been shown to be a very effective method for laminar flows, is investigated in detail for more complex steady two-dimensional incompressible turbulent boundary layer flow problems. The closure model chosen for the turbulent flows is a two-layer eddy viscosity model. A number of important transformations have been carried out for the system of governing equations before the application of the proposed solution method. In the method of solution, the transformed partial differential equation is first reduced to a system of first order nonlinear ordinary differential equations by a subdomain collocation method, in which the unknown function at a streamwise station is represented by a classical spline function. The resulting initial value problem is then integrated numerically by the modified Hamming's predictor-corrector method as well as by Gear's method for stiff equations. The numerical experiments have been conducted on the flat plate problem which consists of the laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow regions covering the range of local Reynolds numbers from 800 to 800 million. The study shows that the method of solution can be very efficient and provides highly accurate results for the turbulent flow problem.


By means of the full leaky guided mode technique, the transmittance of the full leaky waveguide geometry which consists of pyramid, matching fluid of refractivity, the vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal cell are investigated experimentally. The experimental curves with different voltages between polarization-conserving transmittance Tss and the internal angle (the angle of incidence for which light is incident on the vertical alignment liquid crystal cell) are obtained. Comparing these experimental curves with the theoretical curves obtained from multi-layer optics theory, the director profile of vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal cell for different voltages is determined.


Luton Town have loaned the versatile Andy Parry to National League side Barrow for a month. The 24-year-old can play in defence and midfield and has been added to the Bluebirds' squad for Saturday's FA Trophy tie with FC Halifax. He played 10 games in a loan spell for divisional rivals Altrincham earlier in the season. Parry, who joined the Hatters in June 2013 from Southport, has also spent time on loan at Telford.


Even though graphics processors (GPUs) are becoming increasingly popular for general purpose computing, current (and likely near future) generations of GPUs do not provide hardware support for detecting soft/hard errors in computation logic or memory storage cells since graphics applications are inherently fault tolerant. As a result, if an error occurs in GPUs during program execution, the results could be silently corrupted, which is not acceptable for general purpose computations. To improve the fidelity of general purpose computation on GPUs (GPGPU), we investigate software approaches to perform redundant execution. In particular, we propose and study three different, application-level techniques. The first technique simply executes the GPU kernel program twice, and thus achieves roughly half of the throughput of a non-redundant execution. The next two techniques interleave redundant execution with the original code in different ways to take advantage of the parallelism between the original code and its redundant copy. Furthermore, we evaluate the benefits of providing hardware support, including ECC/parity protection to on-chip and off-chip memories, for each of the software techniques. Interestingly, our findings, based on six commonly used applications, indicate that the benefits of complex software approaches are both application and architecture dependent. The simple approach, which executes the kernel twice, is often sufficient and may even outperform the complex ones. Moreover, we argue that the cost is not justified to protect memories with ECC/parity bits.


The collapse of a volcanic flank can be destructive and deadly. Hydrothermal alteration is common to volcanoes worldwide and is thought to promote volcano instability by decreasing rock strength. However, some laboratory studies have shown that not all alteration reduces rock strength. Our new laboratory data for altered rhyodacites from Chaos Crags (Lassen volcanic center, California, USA) show that pore- and crack-filling mineral precipitation can reduce porosity and permeability and increase strength, Young's modulus, and cohesion. A significant reduction in permeability, by as much as four orders of magnitude, will inhibit fluid circulation and create zones of high pore fluid pressure. We explored the consequences of pore fluid pressurization on volcano stability using large-scale numerical modeling. Upscaled physical and mechanical properties for hydrothermally altered rocks were used as input parameters in our modeling. Results show that a high-pore-pressure zone within a volcano increases volcano deformation and that increasing the size of this zone increases the observed deformation. Hydrothermal alteration associated with mineral precipitation, and increases to rock strength, can therefore promote pore pressurization and volcano deformation, increasing the likelihood of volcano spreading, flank collapses, and phreatic/phreatomagmatic explosions. We conclude that porosity-decreasing alteration, explored here, and porosity-increasing alteration can both promote volcano instability and collapse, but by different mechanisms. Hydrothermal alteration should therefore be monitored at volcanoes worldwide and incorporated into hazard assessments.


Case-based assignments represent a common form of assessment on academic business programmes (Easton 1982 and Mauffette-Leenders , Erskine and Leenders 1997), with students required to generate amongst other responses, business case reports, case critiques and case analyses (Nathan 2013). Only limited research is available to support academic writing tutors in understanding such case response texts with published studies focusing solely on business case reports (Freedman and Adam 1994, Forman and Rymer 1999a, 1999b and Nathan 2013). In order to aid writing tutors in supporting academic business students, this paper presents a small corpus study of 36 case response non-report texts (ca. 40000 words), generated on a UK MBA programme. These texts represent categories designated case critique, case advisory and case comparison texts, and were written in three business specialisms, Marketing, Human Resource Management, and Finance, respectively. Rhetorical analysis identified variable rhetorical structure dependent on text category, although orientation, analytical and conclusion components were present at high frequency in all text categories. Substantial variability in citation frequencies, modal verb, business lexis, and first person pronoun deployment was also identified between text categories. Awareness of both similarities and differences in case-based writing responses should serve as a useful aid in informing academic writing pedagogy.


This work presents a comprehensive study on the retention mechanism of aliphatic and
aromatic carboxylic acids in ion-exclusion chromatography (ICE) by considering
simultaneous electrostatic repulsion effects and hydrophobic adsorption effects, as well
as other factors which affect retention. These factors can be divided into three
categories: analyte effects, mobile phase effects and stationary phase effects.
The analyte properties including pKa values, charge, hydrophobicity and size were found
to have the most significant effect in its retention. Furthermore, the retention mechanism
could be controlled by varying the mobile phase conditions from 1 o-6 to 10-3 M sulfuric
acid and 0 to 20% methanol, which in turn affected the degree of ionisation of the acid,
as well as reducing the adsorption oflong-chain and aromatic carboxylic acids.
The stationary phase substrate was also found to have a profound effect on the retention
mechanism. Changing the substrate affected the hydrophobicity of the columns, thereby
increasing or decreasing the contribution of adsorption to the retention mechanism. This
was especially evident for aromatic acids which exhibited very long retention times
when separated on polymeric columns, but were eluted significantly faster on silica
based columns. In addition, the effects of varying the ion-exchange capacity (from 0.5
to 5 mequiv/g) and the degree of cross-linking of the polystyrene-divinylbenzene
substrate (from 4 to 12%) were investigated and found to have a significant effect on the
retention of some acids.
A mathematical retention model which describes the relationship between the retention
factor of the analyte and the mobile phase composition, the type of analyte and physical
characteristics of the stationary phase was derived. Fourteen carboxylic acids
(comprising mono- and divalent, aliphatic and aromatic acids) were chosen and used to
acquire retention data on three different cation-exchange stationary phases (in which the
sulfonate functional groups are bound to polystyrene-divinylbenzene, polymethacrylate
or silica). Thirteen different mobile phase conditions of varying sulfuric acid
concentration and percentage of methanol were employed. These retention data were
used to derive the parameters necessary to solve the retention model using non-linear
regression. A plot of the calculated retention factors against the experimental values
gave a correlation coefficient (r2) calculated by least-squares regression of 0.9755. The
retention model was then applied to optimising the separation of nine carboxylic acids.
When solutions of sulfuric acids were used as the eluent in ICE, the poor buffer capacity
of the eluent introduced a significant error into the mathematical model. Therefore, a
second retention model was derived which accounted for unbuffered eluents and also
considered the degree of hydrophobic adsorption of the undissociated and dissociated
forms of the analyte onto the unfunctionalised polymer surface. The adsorption
coefficients calculated from the model were in accordance with expected trends and
showed that both the undissociated and dissociated forms of the analyte acids were
retained by hydrophobic adsorption effects. The correlation coefficient calculated for
this retention model was 0.9863 and the derived equation was able to accurately predict
the retention of acids which exhibited strong adsorption effects as well as to optimise the
conditions for their separation.


The relationship between parental self-esteem and behavior problems in children was investigated using 1624 married couple's responses from the National Survey of Families and Households. The sample was weighted to be nationally representative in terms of race and ethnicity. It was hypothesized that the existence of behavior problems among children would be associated with low self-esteem among parents and that the parent's gender, child's gender, parents' gender role attitudes, and parental employment would moderate this relationship. The results indicated that parental self-esteem is negatively associated with behavior problems in children. However, none of the moderating variables had a significant impact. This suggests that the relationship between parental self-esteem and behavior problems among children is robust and does not vary appreciably with the gender of the parent, the gender of the child, the attitudes of the parent, or the employment of the parent.


An orally available inhibitor of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), with potential antineoplastic activity. Upon oral administration, GDC-0994 inhibits both ERK phosphorylation and activation of ERK-mediated signal transduction pathways. This prevents ERK-dependent tumor cell proliferation and survival. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/ERK pathway is upregulated in a variety of tumor cell types and plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation, differentiation and survival.


Much of the book is extremely lively for an academic text, as Adrian Furnham graphically points out the limitations of various studies and the different backgrounds, interests and motivations of researchers. He does not shirk intellectually difficult topics, and readers who lack a knowledge of basic statistical approaches will find some passages demanding, but overall the vigour of the writing wins through. There does tend to be a bias in favour of evaluating personality factors from the point of view of the employeror organisation rather than that of the individual worker, but I suspect that this is a bias within the literature as a whole rather than within Furnham's approach, given that studies will often be financed by an organisation and rarely by its employees. The book is very well produced, and the table of contents, indexes, and list of references are well designed and very helpful. This is not a book which one is likely to read from cover to cover, or to use as a quick reference for clinical problems. Rather, I suspect that occupational therapists will use it as an important reference work for academic study, to gain quick access to a wealth of references, surveyed in an authoritative way. Alan Home, Gaskell House, Manchester.