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Early Days (early + day)
Selected AbstractsPersonal Reminiscences of Early Days in California, With Other SketchesJOURNAL OF SUPREME COURT HISTORY, Issue 1 2004Stephen J. Field [source] Teaching & Learning Guide for: Victorian Life WritingLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2007Valerie Sanders Author's Introduction The Victorian period was one of the great ages for life-writing. Though traditionally renowned for its monumental ,lives and letters', mainly of great men, this was also a time of self-conscious anxiety about the genre. Critics and practitioners alike were unsure who should be writing autobiography, and whether its inherent assertiveness ruled out all but public men as appropriate subjects. It was also a period of experimentation in the different genres of life-writing , whether autobiography, journals, letters, autobiographical novels, and narratives of lives combined with extracts from correspondence and diaries. Victorian life-writing therefore provides rich and complex insights into the relationship between narrative, identity, and the definition of the self. Recent advances in criticism have highlighted the more radical and non-canonical aspects of life-writing. Already a latecomer to the literary-critical tradition (life-writing was for a long time the ,poor relation' of critical theory), auto/biography stresses the hidden and silent as much as the mainstream and vocal. For that reason, study of Victorian life-writing appeals to those with an interest in gender issues, postcolonialism, ethnicity, working-class culture, the history of religion, and family and childhood studies , to name but a few of the fields with which the genre has a natural connection. Author Recommends A good place to start is the two canonical texts for Victorian life-writing: George P. Landow's edited collection, Approaches to Victorian Autobiography (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1979) and Avrom Fleishman's Figures of Autobiography: The Language of Self-Writing in Victorian and Modern England (Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1983). These two re-ignited interest in Victorian life-writing and in effect opened the debate about extending the canon, though both focus on the firmly canonical Ruskin and Newman, among others. By contrast, David Amigoni's recently edited collection of essays, Life-Writing and Victorian Culture (Aldershot: Ashgate 2006) shows how far the canon has exploded and expanded: it begins with a useful overview of the relationship between lives, life-writing, and literary genres, while subsequent chapters by different authors focus on a particular individual or family and their cultural interaction with the tensions of life-writing. As this volume is fairly male-dominated, readers with an interest in women's life-writing might prefer to start with Linda Peterson's chapter, ,Women Writers and Self-Writing' in Women and Literature in Britain 1800,1900, ed. Joanne Shattock (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 209,230. This examines the shift from the eighteenth-century tradition of the chroniques scandaleuses to the professional artist's life, domestic memoir, and spiritual autobiography. Mary Jean Corbett's Representing Femininity: Middle-Class Subjectivity in Victorian and Edwardian Women's Autobiographies (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992) begins with material on Wordsworth and Carlyle, but ,aims to contest the boundaries of genre, gender, and the autobiographical tradition by piecing together a partial history of middle-class women's subjectivities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries' (3). Corbett is particularly interested in the life-writing of actresses and suffragettes as well as Martineau and Oliphant, the first two women autobiographers to be welcomed into the canon in the 1980s and 90s. Laura Marcus's Auto/biographical Discourses, Theory, Criticism, Practice (Manchester and New York, NY: Manchester University Press, 1994) revises and updates the theoretical approaches to the study of life-writing, stressing both the genre's hybrid qualities, and its inherent instability: in her view, it ,comes into being as a category to be questioned' (37). Another of her fruitful suggestions is that autobiography functions as a ,site of struggle' (9), an idea that can be applied to aesthetic or ideological issues. Her book is divided between specific textual examples (such as the debate about autobiography in Victorian periodicals), and an overview of developments in critical approaches to life-writing. Her second chapter includes material on Leslie Stephen, who is also the first subject of Trev Lynn Broughton's Men of Letters, Writing Lives: Masculinity and Literary Auto/biography in the Late Victorian Period (London: Routledge, 1999) , her other being Froude's controversial Life of Carlyle. With the advent of gender studies and masculinities, there is now a return to male forms of life-writing, of which Martin A. Danahay's A Community of One: Masculine Autobiography and Autonomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993) is a good example. Danahay argues that nineteenth-century male autobiographers present themselves as ,autonomous individuals' free of the constraints of social and familial contexts, thus emphasizing the autonomy of the self at the expense of family and community. Online Materials My impression is that Victorian life-writing is currently better served by books than by online resources. There seem to be few general Web sites other than University module outlines and reading lists; for specific authors, on the other hand, there are too many to list here. So the only site I'd recommend is The Victorian Web: http://.victorianweb.org/genre/autobioov.html This Web site has a section called ,Autobiography Overview', which begins with an essay, ,Autobiography, Autobiographicality and Self-Representation', by George P. Landow. There are sections on other aspects of Victorian autobiography, including ,Childhood as a Personal Myth', autobiography in Dickens and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and a list of ,Suggested Readings'. Each section is quite short, but summarizes the core issues succinctly. Sample Syllabus This sample syllabus takes students through the landmarks of Victorian life-writing, and demonstrates the development of a counter-culture away from the mainstream ,classic male life' (if there ever was such a thing) , culminating in the paired diaries of Arthur Munby (civil servant) and Hannah Cullwick (servant). Numerous other examples could have been chosen, but for those new to the genre, this is a fairly classic syllabus. One week only could be spent on the ,classic male texts' if students are more interested in pursuing other areas. Opening Session Open debate about the definition of Victorian ,life-writing' and its many varieties; differences between autobiography, autobiographical fiction, diary, letters, biography, collective biography, and memoir; the class could discuss samples of selected types, such as David Copperfield, Father and Son, Ruskin's Praeterita, and Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë. Alternatively, why not just begin with Stave Two of Dickens's A Christmas Carol (1843), in which the First Spirit takes Scrooge back through his childhood and youth? This is a pretty unique type of life-writing, with Scrooge ,laughing and crying' as his childhood and youth are revealed to him in a series of flashbacks (a Victorian version of ,This is Your Life?'). The dual emotions are important to note at this stage and will prompt subsequent discussions of sentimentality and writing for comic effect later in the course. Week 2 Critical landmarks: discussion of important stages in the evolution of critical approaches to life-writing, including classics such as Georges Gusdorf's ,Conditions and Limits of Autobiography', in Autobiography: Essays Theoretical and Critical, ed. James Olney (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980), 28,47; Philippe Lejeune's ,The Autobiographical Pact', in On Autobiography, ed. Paul John Eakin, trans. Katherine Leary (original essay 1973; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989), 3,30; and Paul De Man's ,Autobiography as De-Facement', Modern Language Notes 94 (1979): 919,30. This will provide a critical framework for the rest of the course. Weeks 3,4 Extracts from the ,male classics' of Victorian life-writing: J. S. Mill's Autobiography (1873), Ruskin's Praeterita (1885,89), and Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864). What do they think is important and what do they miss out? How open or otherwise are they about their family and personal lives? Are these essentially ,lives of the mind'? How self-aware are they of autobiographical structures? Are there already signs that the ,classic male life' is fissured and unconventional? An option here would be to spend the first week focusing on male childhoods, and the second on career trajectories. Perhaps use Martin Danahay's theory of the ,autonomous individual' (see above) to provide a critical framework here: how is the ,Other' (parents, Harriet Taylor) treated in these texts? Weeks 5,6 Victorian women's autobiography: Harriet Martineau's Autobiography (1877) and Margaret Oliphant's Autobiography (1899): in many ways these are completely unalike, Martineau's being ordered around the idea of steady mental growth and public recognition, while Oliphant's is deeply emotional and disordered. Can we therefore generalize about ,women's autobiography'? What impact did they have on Victorian theories of life-writing? Students might like to reconsider Jane Eyre as an ,autobiography' alongside these and compare scenes of outright rebellion. The way each text handles time and chronology is also fascinating: Martineau's arranged to highlight stages of philosophical development, while Oliphant's switches back and forth in a series of ,flashbacks' to her happier youth as her surviving two sons die ,in the text', interrupting her story. Week 7 Black women's autobiography: how does Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands (1857) differ from the Martineau and Oliphant autobiographies? What new issues and genre influences are introduced by a Caribbean/travelogue perspective? Another key text would be Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave-Girl (1861). How representative and how individual are these texts? Do these authors see themselves as representing their race as well as their class and sex? Week 8 Working-class autobiography: Possible texts here could be John Burnett's Useful Toil (Allen Lane, 1974, Penguin reprint); Carolyn Steedman's edition of John Pearman's The Radical Soldier's Tale (Routledge, 1988) and the mini oral biographies in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor (1861,62) (e.g., the Water-Cress Seller). There is also a new Broadview edition of Factory Lives (2007) edited by James R. Simmons, with an introduction by Janice Carlisle. This contains four substantial autobiographical texts (three male, one female) from the mid-nineteenth century, with supportive materials. Samuel Bamford's Passages in the Life of a Radical (1839,42; 1844) and Early Days (1847,48) are further options. Students should also read Regenia Gagnier's Subjectivities: A History of Self-Representation in Britain 1832,1910 (Oxford University Press, 1991). Week 9 Biography: Victorian Scandal: focus on two scandals emerging from Victorian life-writing: Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) (the Branwell Brontë/Lady Scott adultery scandal), and Froude's allegations of impotence in his Life of Carlyle (1884). See Trev Broughton's ,Impotence, Biography, and the Froude-Carlyle Controversy: ,Revelations on Ticklish Topics', Journal of the History of Sexuality, 7.4 (Apr. 1997): 502,36 (in addition to her Men of Letters cited above). The biographies of the Benson family written about and by each other, especially E. F. Benson's Our Family Affairs 1867,1896 (London: Cassell, 1920) reveal the domestic unhappiness of the family of Gladstone's Archbishop of Canterbury, Edward White Benson, whose children and wife were all to some extent homosexual or lesbian. Another option would be Edmund Gosse's Father and Son (1907) in which the son's critical stance towards his father is uneasy and complex in its mixture of comedy, pity, shame, and resentment. Week 10 Diaries: Arthur Munby's and Hannah Cullwick's relationship (they were secretly married, but lived as master and servant) and diaries, Munby: Man of Two Worlds: The Life and Diaries of Arthur Munby, ed. Derek Hudson (John Murray, 1972), and The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick: Victorian Maidservant, ed. Liz Stanley (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1984): issues of gender and class identity; the idealization of the working woman; the two diaries compared. Half the class could read one diary and half the other and engage in a debate about the social and sexual fantasies adopted by each diarist. It would also be sensible to leave time for an overview debate about the key issues of Victorian life-writing which have emerged from this module, future directions for research, and current critical developments. Focus Questions 1To what extent does Victorian autobiography tell an individual success story? Discuss with reference to two or three contrasting examples. 2,All life writing is time writing' (Jens Brockmeier). Examine the way in which Victorian life-writers handle the interplay of narrative, memory, and time. 3To what extent do you agree with the view that Victorian life-writing was ,a form of communication that appeared intimate and confessional, but which was in fact distant and controlled' (Donna Loftus)? 4,Bamford was an autobiographer who did not write an autobiography' (Martin Hewitt). If autobiography is unshaped and uninterpreted, what alternative purposes does it have in narrating a life to the reader? 5,Victorian life-writing is essentially experimental, unstable, and unpredictable.' How helpful is this comment in helping you to understand the genre? [source] Scenarios, Mostly from the Early Days of MusAMUSIC ANALYSIS, Issue 2002Jonathan Dunsby First page of article [source] Application of robust procedures for estimation of breeding values in multiple-trait random regression test-day modelJOURNAL OF ANIMAL BREEDING AND GENETICS, Issue 1 2007J. Jamrozik Summary Robust procedures for estimation of breeding values were applied to multiple-trait random regression test-day (TD) model to reduce the influence of outliers on inferences. Robust estimation methods consisted of correcting selected observations (defined as outliers) in the process of solving mixed-model equations in such a way that ,new' observations gave residuals (actual observation minus predicted) within k residual standard deviations for a given day in milk in 305-day lactation. Data were 980 503 TD records on 63 346 Canadian Jersey cows. Milk, fat, protein and somatic cell score in the first three lactations were analysed jointly in the model that included fixed herd-TD effect and regressions within region,age,season of calving, and regressions with random coefficients for animal genetic and permanent environmental effects. All regressions were orthogonal polynomials of order 4. Robust procedures for k = 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 2.75 and 3.0 were contrasted with the regular best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) method in terms of numbers and distributions of outliers, and estimated breeding values (EBV) of animals. Distributions of outliers were similar across traits and lactations. Early days in milk (from 5 to 15) were associated with larger frequency of outliers compared with the remaining part of lactation. Several, computationally simple, robust methods (for k > 2.0) reduced the influence of outlier observations in the model and improved the overall model performance. Differences in rankings of animals from robust evaluations were small compared with the regular BLUP method. No clear associations between changes in EBV (rankings) of top animals from different methods and the occurrence of outliers were detected. [source] Early days of an ingenious aspirin and sirolimus-eluting stent,CATHETERIZATION AND CARDIOVASCULAR INTERVENTIONS, Issue 2 2008Pedro A. Lemos MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Are Points the Better Graphics Primitives?COMPUTER GRAPHICS FORUM, Issue 3 2001Markus Gross Since the early days of graphics the computer based representation of three-dimensional geometry has been one of the core research fields. Today, various sophisticated geometric modelling techniques including NURBS or implicit surfaces allow the creation of 3D graphics models with increasingly complex shape. In spite of these methods the triangle has survived over decades as the king of graphics primitives meeting the right balance between descriptive power and computational burden. As a consequence, today's consumer graphics hardware is heavily tailored for high performance triangle processing. In addition, a new generation of geometry processing methods including hierarchical representations, geometric filtering, or feature detection fosters the concept of triangle meshes for graphics modelling. Unlike triangles, points have amazingly been neglected as a graphics primitive. Although being included in APIs since many years, it is only recently that point samples experience a renaissance in computer graphics. Conceptually, points provide a mere discretization of geometry without explicit storage of topology. Thus, point samples reduce the representation to the essentials needed for rendering and enable us to generate highly optimized object representations. Although the loss of topology poses great challenges for graphics processing, the latest generation of algorithms features high performance rendering, point/pixel shading, anisotropic texture mapping, and advanced signal processing of point sampled geometry. This talk will give an overview of how recent research results in the processing of triangles and points are changing our traditional way of thinking of surface representations in computer graphics - and will discuss the question: Are Points the Better Graphics Primitives? [source] The Development of the Observational MethodGEOMECHANICS AND TUNNELLING, Issue 5 2008Wulf Schubert o.Univ.-Prof. A continuous observation during construction always has been an important element of geotechnical engineering for minimizing risks. The reasons are the uncertainties in the geological and geotechnical models, as well as the limited capability to sufficiently accurately describe the complex ground behaviour. In the early days design of geotechnical structures thus was mainly based on experience. As usual, experience was used to develop mathematical solutions to the problem. To account for the inherent scatter of parameters and uncertainties in the models, the assumptions made during design had and have to be verified or falsified during construction by observations. For safe and economical construction, the design has to be adjusted during construction to the actual conditions. The term "observational method" was first formally introduced by Peck and Terzaghi. The original ideas behind the method have not always been understood or followed. After a brief historical review of the observational method the current status of the method is critically reviewed, and further developments discussed. Die Beobachtungsmethode einst und jetzt Die Schwierigkeit, den Baugrund ausreichend zu erkunden und dessen Interaktion mit dem Bauwerk zutreffend mathematisch zu modellieren, erfordert die laufende Beobachtung während des Baus, um die Baumaßnahmen an die tatsächlichen Verhältnisse anzupassen und das Risiko vermindern zu können. Mit vermehrter Erfahrung wurden auch Analysemodelle entwickelt. Zur Berücksichtigung der unvermeidlichen Streuung der Baugrundeigenschaften und der Unsicherheiten in den Modellen wurden und werden während des Baus Beobachtungen durchgeführt. Die Bezeichnung "Beobachtungsmethode" wurde formal von Peck und Terzaghi eingeführt. Die damals formulierten Grundsätze wurden nicht immer verstanden und befolgt. Im Beitrag wird nach einem kurzen historischen Rückblick über Entstehung und Entwicklung der Methode der derzeitige Stand kritisch beleuchtet, und weitere Entwicklungen werden diskutiert. [source] Accelerating executive transitions at The Home DepotGLOBAL BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE, Issue 5 2008Leslie W. Joyce The Home Depot accelerates "speed to competency" for new executives through a variety of processes and tools tailored to different types of transitions. The approaches focus on the early days of the transition, engage key stakeholders in the process, and emphasize organizational realities, including what it really takes to make it at The Home Depot. The author discusses research into the factors common to successful transitions in the company; the company's acceleration framework; two different approaches, for role-based transitions in the field and context-based transitions at headquarters; and other tools for supporting executives new to the company and/or their roles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Myth and Reality in the Attitude toward Valence-Bond (VB) Theory: Are Its ,Failures' Real?HELVETICA CHIMICA ACTA, Issue 4 2003Sason Shaik According to common wisdom propagated in textbooks and papers, valence-bond (VB) theory fails and makes predictions in contradiction with experiment. Four iconic ,failures' are: a) the wrong prediction of the ground state of the O2 molecule, b) the failure to predict the properties of cyclobutadiene (CBD) viz. those of benzene, c) the failure to predict the aromaticity/anti-aromaticity of molecular ions like C5H and C5H, C3H and C3H, C7H and C7H, etc; and d) the failure to predict that, e.g., CH4 has two different ionization potentials. This paper analyzes the origins of these ,failures' and shows that two of them (stated in a and d) are myths of unclear origins, while the other two originate in misuse of an oversimplified version of VB theory, i.e., simple resonance theory that merely enumerate resonance structures. It is demonstrated that, in each case, a properly used VB theory at a simple and portable level leads to correct predictions, as successful as those made by use of molecular-orbital (MO) theory. This notion of VB ,failure', which is traced back to the VB-MO rivalry, in the early days of quantum chemistry, should now be considered obsolete, unwarranted, and counterproductive. A modern chemist should know that there are two ways of describing electronic structure, which are not two contrasting theories, but rather two representations or two guises of the same reality. Their capabilities and insights into chemical problems are complementary, and the exclusion of any one of them undermines the intellectual heritage of chemistry. [source] Forms of Governance in European Union Social Policy: Continuity and/or Change?INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2 2006Gerda Falkner This article addresses the question of the evolution of regulatory and distributive social policy at European Union (EU) level, with special emphasis on its quantitative aspects. Data collected in meticulous detail on the EU's powers in the area of social policy and their practical implementation from the early days of European integration through to the end of 2002 are presented in a range of figures and tables. It becomes apparent that, quantitatively speaking, the body of EU social law in existence to date is impressive. Contrary to expectation, non-binding forms of action have not replaced those which are binding, or at least not yet. Soft law and the "open method of coordination", the subject of so much recent debate, are rather a complement to classic legislation, entailing a minimum of harmonization. In terms of political science and legal theory this means that while the neo-voluntarism and legalization hypotheses highlight important aspects of EU social policy, neither of them represents the whole story. [source] Development of selective tolerance to interleukin-1, by human chondrocytes in vitro,JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Greta M. Lee Interleukin-1 induces release of NO and PGE2 and production of matrix degrading enzymes in chondrocytes. In osteoarthritis (OA), IL-1 continually, or episodically, acts on chondrocytes in a paracrine and autocrine manner. Human chondrocytes in chondron pellet culture were treated chronically (up to 14 days) with IL-1,. Chondrons from OA articular cartilage were cultured for 3 weeks before treatment with IL-1, (0.05,10 ng/ml) for an additional 2 weeks. Spontaneous release of NO and IL-1, declined over the pretreatment period. In response to IL-1, (0.1 ng/ml), NO and PGE2 release was maximal on Day 2 or 3 and then declined to near basal level by Day 14. Synthesis was recovered by addition of 1 ng/ml IL-1, on Day 11. Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), detected by immunofluorescence, was elevated on Day 2 and declined through Day 14, which coordinated with the pattern of NO release. On the other hand, IL-1,-induced MMP-13 synthesis was elevated on Day 3, declined on Day 5, and then increased again through Day 14. IL-1, increased glucose consumption and lactate production throughout the treatment. IL-1, stimulated proteoglycan degradation in the early days and inhibited proteoglycan synthesis through Day 14. Chondron pellet cultures from non-OA cartilage released the same amount of NO but produced less PGE2 and MMP-13 in response to IL-1, than OA cultures. Like the OA, IL-1,-induced NO and PGE2 release decreased over time. In conclusion, with prolonged exposure to IL-1,, human chondrocytes develop selective tolerance involving NO and PGE2 release but not MMP-13 production, metabolic activity, or matrix metabolism. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A review of the early discharge experiences of stroke survivors and their carersJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 18 2008Jan Pringle Aims and objectives., Understanding the experiences of stroke patients and their carers during the early days following discharge from hospital is an important aspect of providing appropriate care during this crucial time. Background., Due to the diverse changes that can result from a stroke, adjustment to returning home may raise many issues for those involved. A review of research was undertaken with the aim of identifying what is already known about experiences at this time. Design., Systematic review. Method., Search of electronic databases. Results., The review revealed that recognition of the impact of stroke on patients and carers is improving, with many studies focussing on the longer-term aspects of stroke recovery. Research into the early discharge experiences of stroke patients and/or their carers is often limited to retrospective, longitudinal studies. With the continuing shift towards care in the community, patients and carers can increasingly expect more recovery to be taking place at home at an even earlier stage. Earlier discharge may have important implications for those involved. The review also highlighted that patients with aphasia have frequently been excluded from stroke research and that social roles are important aspects in stroke recovery. Conclusions., To prepare patients and carers better for the impact of returning home, further research is needed into their experiences at this significant time, particularly in the UK. There is also a need to facilitate the inclusion of those with aphasia in stroke research. Relevance to clinical practice., An improved understanding of the issues facing stroke patients and carers during their early days at home should facilitate the preparation for discharge in the hospital setting and allow more focussed follow-up services in the community. [source] Consumer recycling: role of incentives, information, and social classJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2007Easwar S. Iyer More and more communities have instituted recycling programs and consumer recycling is no longer a new fad; it is here to stay. However, consumer commitment to recycling and participation rates have leveled off. Whereas lack of access to recycling facilities was cited as a key inhibitor to participation in the early days of recycling, that is generally not the case anymore. Thus there is an imperative to revisit consumer recycling by focusing on behavioral issues that reflect today's context. In this study we review the past literature and propose a comprehensive model of consumer recycling. We identify two intervention mechanisms , incentives or information , that are believed to increase recycling participation. We, then, describe a longitudinal field experiment to evaluate the relative merits of these intervention programs. We conclude that either intervention program is effective, although informational programs appear to have more long-term effects than incentive programs. We also create a new measure of social class, one that includes other influential actors' characteristics, and show its relationship to recycling attitudes and behaviors. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The genic view of the process of speciationJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2001Chung-I Wu The unit of adaptation is usually thought to be a gene or set of interacting genes, rather than the whole genome, and this may be true of species differentiation. Defining species on the basis of reproductive isolation (RI), on the other hand, is a concept best applied to the entire genome. The biological species concept (BSC; Mayr, 1963) stresses the isolation aspect of speciation on the basis of two fundamental genetic assumptions , the number of loci underlying species differentiation is large and the whole genome behaves as a cohesive, or coadapted genetic unit. Under these tenets, the exchange of any part of the genomes between diverging groups is thought to destroy their integrity. Hence, the maintenance of each species' genome cohesiveness by isolating mechanisms has become the central concept of species. In contrast, the Darwinian view of speciation is about differential adaptation to different natural or sexual environments. RI is viewed as an important by product of differential adaptation and complete RI across the whole genome need not be considered as the most central criterion of speciation. The emphasis on natural and sexual selection thus makes the Darwinian view compatible with the modern genic concept of evolution. Genetic and molecular analyses of speciation in the last decade have yielded surprisingly strong support for the neo-Darwinian view of extensive genetic differentiation and epistasis during speciation. However, the extent falls short of what BSC requires in order to achieve whole-genome ,cohesiveness'. Empirical observations suggest that the gene is the unit of species differentiation. Significantly, the genetic architecture underlying RI, the patterns of species hybridization and the molecular signature of speciation genes all appear to support the view that RI is one of the manifestations of differential adaptation, as Darwin (1859, Chap. 8) suggested. The nature of this adaptation may be as much the result of sexual selection as natural selection. In the light of studies since its early days, BSC may now need a major revision by shifting the emphasis from isolation at the level of whole genome to differential adaptation at the genic level. With this revision, BSC would in fact be close to Darwin's original concept of speciation. [source] A history and review of school meal standards in the UKJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2 2009C. E. L. Evans Abstract This review details the history of school meals in the UK, from their origin in the mid-19th Century, to the present day, and provides a summary of how each country has independently developed its own food and or nutrient-based standards for school meals. The standards in place in the UK are amongst some of the most detailed and comprehensive in the world. Regular monitoring to ensure that these standards are being met and that schools are improving healthy eating is essential to their success. Of no lesser importance are assessments to determine whether changes to school meals are having an impact on the diets of school children. It is early days in terms of evaluation because food-based standards have only recently been introduced and nutrient-based standards are in the process of being developed and implemented. Studies in England provide some evidence that the re-introduction of standards for school food is having a positive impact on both pupil's food choices and the nutritional profile of school lunches. At present, there does not appear to be a pattern between current obesity levels and the types of school meals provided, although it is anticipated that, in the long term, these comprehensive standards may contribute to a less obesogenic environment. [source] The history of sweet taste: not exactly a piece of cakeJOURNAL OF MOLECULAR RECOGNITION, Issue 3 2006Pierandrea Temussi Abstract Understanding the molecular bases of sweet taste is of crucial importance not only in biotechnology but also for its medical implications, since an increasing number of people is affected by food-related diseases like, diabetes, hyperlipemia, caries, that are more or less directly linked to the secondary effects of sugar intake. Despite the interest paid to the field, it is only through the recent identification and functional expression of the receptor for sweet taste that new perspectives have been opened, drastically changing our approach to the development of new sweeteners. We shall give an overview of the field starting from the early days up to discussing the newest developments. After a review of early models of the active site, the mechanisms of interaction of small and macromolecular sweet molecules will be examined in the light of accurate modeling of the sweet taste receptor. The analysis of the homology models of all possible dimers allowed by combinations of the human T1R2 and T1R3 sequences of the sweet receptor and the closed (A) and open (B) conformations of the mGluR1 glutamate receptor shows that only ,type B' sites, either T1R2(B) and T1R3(B), can host the majority of small molecular weight sweeteners. Simultaneous binding to the A and B sites is not possible with two large sweeteners but is possible with a small molecule in site A and a large one in site B. This observation accounted for the first time for the peculiar phenomenon of synergy between some sweeteners. In addition to these two sites, the models showed an external binding site that can host sweet proteins. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A prospective study of patients absconding from a general hospital psychiatry unit in a developing countryJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 6 2008N. KHISTY Characteristics of patients absconding from an open psychiatry ward in a developing country may be different from both those in developed countries and a mental hospital setting. The aim of this paper is to study the incidence and characteristics of patients absconding from an open psychiatric ward in a general hospital-based psychiatric unit in India. We studied patients consecutively admitted to an open psychiatric ward over a 2-month period. We compared those who absconded with those who did not. Out of 231 patients admitted, 33 absconded. Among those who absconded, 15 had bipolar disorder, 11 had schizophrenia and five had substance-related disorders. Nine had indicated their intention to do so at admission. Ten patients had absconded by the second day. The treatment cost was the likely influencing factor for seven patients who absconded after deemed fit for discharge on clinical grounds. Only 10 patients were readmitted to the hospital within 2 weeks of absconding. The risk of absconding is highest in the early days following. Absconding patients did not differ significantly from others in many socio-demographic and clinical features. Treatment costs are an important consideration in India. [source] Impact of synchrotron radiation on macromolecular crystallography: a personal viewJOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, Issue 4 2010Zbigniew Dauter The introduction of synchrotron radiation sources almost four decades ago has led to a revolutionary change in the way that diffraction data from macromolecular crystals are being collected. Here a brief history of the development of methodologies that took advantage of the availability of synchrotron sources are presented, and some personal experiences with the utilization of synchrotrons in the early days are recalled. [source] Femtonik , aus dem Labor in die IndustrieLASER TECHNIK JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005Holger Kock Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser, sicher haben Sie es schon gelesen: der Nobelpreis für Physik wird in diesem Jahr an Roy Glauber, John Hall und Theodor Hänsch verliehen. Redaktion und Verlag gratulieren allen dreien, besonders herzlich natürlich Professor Hänsch aus München. Ich möchte hier nur ein paar Worte aus einem seiner ersten Interviews zitieren*: , What does it mean to you, to get the Prize? , Well, I mean, it's the ultimate recognition that scientists can hope to receive. It's recognition not just for my person, but, I think, for our entire team, for the organisations that have supported our work. And I think for Germany it is certainly a sign that, hopefully, will attract more young people into science, because for a while it looked like we were out of luck with modern Nobel Prizes. Of course, in the early days, Germany did pretty well. Nach den Preisen 1997, 1999 (Chemie) und 2001 ist das der vierte Nobelpreis in nur einer Dekade für ein Thema aus der Photonik , ein klarer Beleg für die Bedeutung des Themas. Als dieses Sonderheft geplant wurde, war von dieser Nobelpreisverleihung nichts zu ahnen, jetzt erscheint die Thematik Femtonik natürlich in einem ganz anderen Licht. Die Preisverleihung bestätigt, wie wichtig und grundlegend die Forschungen auf diesem Gebiet sind. Nicht zuletzt durch die Preisträger wurden Forschung und Entwicklung in den letzten Jahren massiv vorangetrieben und führten sowohl zu bahnbrechenden Erkenntnissen in der Grundlagenforschung als auch zu ersten neuen Verfahren und Produkten. Das Anliegen dieses Heftes ist es nun, dem Nicht-Experten die Grundlagen der Femtonik zu erklären und anhand von einigen Beispielen Anwendungen vorzustellen, die das Labor inzwischen verlassen haben. Darunter ist übrigens auch ein Beitrag (S. 48), der die Umsetzung genau jener Idee beschreibt, für die John Hall und Theodor Hänsch Ihren Preis erhielten. Ein entscheidender Hintergrund bei diesem Thema war und ist die gezielte Förderung durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung. Ein Bekenntnis dazu finden Sie auch im Beitrag des Referatsleiters "Optische Technologien" auf Seite 25. Zum Zeitpunkt der Druckfreigabe stand die neue Regierungsmannschaft noch nicht fest. Wir können uns nur wünschen, dass die neue Regierung ernst macht mit Ihrem Ziel, Exzellenz in der Forschung und Entwicklung stärker zu fördern. Denn gerade der aktuelle Nobelpreis zeigt es: Spitzenforschung geht auch in Deutschland. Vor ein paar Jahren war Femtonik einfach "nur" Grundlagenforschung. Heute gibt es auf diesem Gebiet einerseits Nobelpreise, andererseits werden die ersten Kurzpulslaser in der Automobilindustrie eingeführt. Hoffen wir, dass dieses Beispiel Schule macht. * Interview von Joanna Rose, © Nobel Web AB [source] Review article: prebiotics in the gastrointestinal tractALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 5 2006S. MACFARLANE Summary Background Prebiotics are short-chain carbohydrates that alter the composition, or metabolism, of the gut microbiota in a beneficial manner. It is therefore expected that prebiotics will improve health in a way similar to probiotics, whilst at the same time being cheaper, and carrying less risk and being easier to incorporate into the diet than probiotics. Aim To review published evidence for prebiotic effects on gut function and human health. Methods We searched the Science Citation Index with the terms prebiotic, microbiota, gut bacteria, large intestine, mucosa, bowel habit, constipation, diarrhoea, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, pouchitis, calcium and cancer, focussing principally on studies in humans and reports in the English language. Search of the Cochrane Library did not identify any clinical study or meta-analysis on this topic. Results Three prebiotics, oligofructose, galacto-oligosaccharides and lactulose, clearly alter the balance of the large bowel microbiota by increasing bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus numbers. These carbohydrates are fermented and give rise to short-chain fatty acid and intestinal gas; however, effects on bowel habit are relatively small. Randomized-controlled trials of their effect in a clinical context are few, although animal studies show anti-inflammatory effects in inflammatory bowel disease, while calcium absorption is increased. Conclusions It is still early days for prebiotics, but they offer the potential to modify the gut microbial balance in such a way as to bring direct health benefits cheaply and safely. [source] SUPRACENTER: Locating fireball terminal bursts in the atmosphere using seismic arrivalsMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 9 2004W. N. EDWARDS A computer program, SUPRACENTER, calculates travel times by ray tracing through realistic atmospheres (that include winds) and locates source positions by minimization of travel time residuals. This is analogous to earthquake hypocenter location in the solid Earth but is done through a variably moving medium. Inclusion of realistic atmospheric ray tracing has removed the need for the simplifying assumption of an isotropic atmosphere or an approximation to account for "wind drift." This "drift" is on the order of several km when strong, unidirectional winds are present in the atmosphere at the time of a fireball's occurrence. SUPRACENTER-derived locations of three seismically recorded fireballs: 1) the October 9, 1997 El Paso superbolide; 2) the January 25, 1989 Mt. Adams fireball; and 3) the May 6, 2000 Morávka fireball (with its associated meteorite fall), are consistent with (and, probably, an improvement upon) the locations derived from eyewitness, photographic, and video observations from the respective individual events. If direct acoustic seismic arrivals can be quickly identified for a fireball event, terminal burst locations (and, potentially, trajectory geometry and velocity information) can be quickly derived, aiding any meteorite recovery efforts during the early days after the fall. Potentially, seismic records may yield enough trajectory information to assist in the derivation of orbits for entering projectiles. [source] Skin testing for immediate hypersensitivity to betalactams: comparison between two commercial kitsALLERGY, Issue 8 2006J. L. Rodríguez-Bada Introduction:, Skin testing with major and minor determinants of benzylpenicillin is the recommended standard practice to evaluate subjects with immediate hypersensitivity to betalactams. The withdrawal of these products from the market has set us back to the early days, before the introduction of reagents for in vivo testing. Objectives:, To compare a recently released kit of benzylpenicillin conjugated to poly- l -lysine (PPL) and minor determinants mixture (MDM) with the previously existing kit in a positive control group of subjects sensitized to major and/or minor determinants of benzylpenicillin. Methods:, Skin tests with both kits were made in a group of positive subjects previously diagnosed with immediate hypersensitivity to penicillins and with positive results to PPL and/or MDM and in a negative control group. Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) inhibition assays with a pool of sera and individual samples were carried out to compare the inhibition capacity of PPL and MDM of both kits. Results:, Of 22 cases selected from our historical group, 14 were positive: eight to PPL, three to MDM and three to both. These results were equivalent for both kits. RAST inhibition studies showed similar potencies in the inhibition of PPL and MDM. Conclusions:, Both tests show similar results in terms of RAST inhibition assays and skin tests sensitivity and specificity in the groups selected. The new assay can be used for the same purpose and indications as the previous test. [source] D.E.Z. , A history.MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE IN BERLIN-DEUTSCHE ENTOMOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, Issue 2 2007150 years of scientific publishing in entomology The article sketches the 150 year long history of the Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift from its foundation in 1857 as Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift by Ernst Gustav Kraatz. It gives insight into the struggle for defining good taxonomic practice in those early days and the founder's rather modern philosophy towards the purpose of natural history collections. A chronological table featuring the most important events is provided as well as historic photographs of the journal's founder and other long-time editors. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Cell architecture comes to phage biologyMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2008Roger Hendrix Summary Nothing is more iconic of the early days of molecular biology than the image of a bacteriophage infecting an Escherichia coli cell. It is perhaps surprising therefore that more than 50 years later, it is still possible to learn something entirely new and unexpected about how phage infection works, as we see in the paper by Edgar et al. of this issue of Molecular Microbiology. The results give fundamental new insight into the way these viruses infect their hosts and promise to open new windows on the virus,host interactions that have shaped the evolution of both. [source] Home haemodialysis: ,home, home, sweet, sweet home!' (Review Article)NEPHROLOGY, Issue 3 2005CHRISTOPHER R BLAGG SUMMARY: Home haemodialysis was first developed 40 years ago as a means of treating more patients with the limited funds then available. It soon became obvious that the treatment worked well and subsequent studies and experience have confirmed that it improves both mortality and morbidity and provides the best quality of life and other benefits for dialysis patients. The present review describes the history of the development of home haemodialysis in Seattle and elsewhere and the lessons learned about its benefits in the early days, which are just as relevant today. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed, as are the issues of which patients are candidates for this treatment and what is required of a home haemodialysis training and support programme. The decline in use of home haemodialysis in the USA and elsewhere is described and the actions that may already be beginning to reverse this trend. The role of home haemodialysis in giving the opportunity for longer hours of dialysis three times a week or on alternate nights is important. There is discussion of the relationship of home haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis and its important future role as the means to enable treatment with more frequent short daily and long nightly haemodialysis. [source] Oral fungal and bacterial infections in HIV-infected individuals: an overview in AfricaORAL DISEASES, Issue 2002TA Hodgson Oral opportunistic infections developing secondary to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection have been reported from the early days of the epidemic and have been classified by both the EC-Clearinghouse and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Among the fungal infections, oral candidiasis, presenting in African HIV-infected patients has been sporadically documented. We review the literature with respect to candidal carriage, oral candidiasis prevalence and the predictive value of oral candidiasis for a diagnosis of underlying HIV disease in African HIV-infected patients. The use of oral candidiasis as a marker of disease progression, the species of yeasts isolated from the oral cavity in Africa and the resistance of the yeasts to antifungal agents and treatment regimens are discussed. Orofacial lesions as manifestations of the systemic mycoses are rarely seen in isolation and few cases are reported in the literature from Africa. In spite of the high incidence of noma, tuberculosis, chronic osteomyelitis and syphilis in Africa, surprisingly there have been very few reported cases of the oral manifestations of these diseases in HIV-positive individuals. Orofacial disease in HIV-infected patients is associated with marked morbidity, which is compounded by malnutrition. The authors indicate specific research areas, initially directed at the most effective management strategies, which would complete data in this important area. [source] Measuring Conditional Persistence in Nonlinear Time Series,OXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 3 2007George Kapetanios Abstract The persistence properties of economic time series have been a primary object of investigation in a variety of guises since the early days of econometrics. Recently, work on nonlinear modelling for time series has introduced the idea that persistence of a shock at a point in time may vary depending on the state of the process at that point in time. This article suggests investigating the persistence of processes conditioning on their history as a tool that may aid parametric nonlinear modelling. In particular, we suggest that examining the nonparametrically estimated derivatives of the conditional expectation of a variable with respect to its lag(s) may be a useful indicator of the variation in persistence with respect to its past history. We discuss in detail the implementation of the measure and present a Monte Carlo investigation. We further apply the persistence analysis to real exchange rates. [source] Brian Scarlett , Myth, Motivator, Mentor, and ManPARTICLE & PARTICLE SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION, Issue 1 2007Reg Davies Few think of Particle Science and Engineering without thinking of Brian Scarlett. His career spanned over 40 years. From his early days in Nottingham to his final days in Florida, Particle Science and Engineering were not only his passion but his life. He was a complex man. Not all found him easy. However, he left an abiding legacy in the many students that he loved and mentored. He believed in providing opportunity for his students in travel, and sometimes accomplished this while stretching budgets. He motivated many into new arenas of technology, and had just begun to fulfil his technical dreams when cancer claimed him. His final years exposed the man; one who was single-minded, driven, and very brave. He did not complete the work he wanted to finish, but still left an indelible mark on the field of Particle Science and Technology for generations to come. In this paper, the life and accomplishments of this complex man are put into perspective; and, in so doing, we honor him in this special edition of the journal. [source] Space and terrestrial photovoltaics: synergy and diversity,PROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH & APPLICATIONS, Issue 6 2002Sheila G. Bailey A historical view of the research and development in photovoltaics from the perspective of both the terrestrial and the space communities is presented from the early days through the 1970s and 1980s, 1990s and beyond. The synergy of both communities, both at the beginning and in the present, and hopefully in the future, are highlighted, with examples of the important features in each program. The space community which was impressed by the light weight and reliability of photovoltaics drove much of the early development. Even today, nearly every satellite and other scientific space probe that has been launched has included some solar power. However, since the cost of these power systems was only a small fraction of the satellite and launch cost, the use of much of this technology in the terrestrial marketplace was not feasible. It was clear that the focus of the terrestrial community would be best served by reducing costs. This would include addressing a variety of manufacturing issues and raising the rate of production. Success in these programs and a resulting globalization of effort resulted in major strides in the reduction of PV module costs and increased production. Although, the space community derived benefit from some of these advances, its focus was on pushing the envelope with regard to cell efficiency. The gap between theoretical efficiencies and experimental efficiencies for silicon, gallium arsenide and indium phosphide became almost nonexistent. Recent work by both communities have focused on the development thin-film cells of amorphous silicon, CuInSe2 and CdTe. These cells hold the promise of lower costs for the terrestrial community as well as possible flexible substrates, better radiation resistance, and higher specific power for the space community. It is predicted that future trends in both communities will be directed toward advances through the application of nanotechnology. A picture is emerging in which the space and terrestrial solar cell communities shall once again share many common goals and, in fact, companies may manufacture both space and terrestrial solar cells in III,V materials and thin-film materials. Basic photovoltaics research, including these current trends in nanotechnology, provides a valuable service for both worlds in that fundamental understanding of cell processes is still vitally important, particularly with new materials or new cell structures. It is entirely possible that one day we might have one solar array design that will meet the criteria for success in both space and on the Earth or perhaps the Moon or Mars. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Third generation photovoltaics: Ultra-high conversion efficiency at low costPROGRESS IN PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH & APPLICATIONS, Issue 2 2001Martin A. GreenArticle first published online: 5 APR 200 Since the early days of terrestrial photovoltaics, a common perception has been that ,first generation' silicon wafer-based solar cells eventually would be replaced by a ,second generation' of lower cost thin-film technology, probably also involving a different semiconductor. Historically, cadmium sulphide, amorphous silicon, copper indium diselenide, cadmium telluride and now thin-film polycrystalline silicon have been regarded as key thin-film candidates. Any mature solar cell technology seems likely to evolve to the stage where costs are dominated by those of the constituent materials, be they silicon wafers or glass sheet. It is argued, therefore, that photovoltaics is likely to evolve, in its most mature form, to a ,third generation' of high-efficiency thin-film technology. By high efficiency, what is meant is energy conversion values double or triple the 15,20% range presently targeted, closer to the thermodynamic limit of 93%. Tandem cells are the best known of such high-efficiency approaches, where efficiency can be increased merely by adding more cells of different bandgap to a cell stack, at the expense of increased complexity and spectral sensitivity. However, a range of other more ,paralleled' approaches offer similar efficiency to an infinite stack of tandem cells. These options are reviewed together with possible approaches for practical implementation, likely to become more feasible with the evolution of materials technology over the next two decades. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||