Fluid Borders, Concrete Locations: Epicenters of Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Eighteenth Century Borderland of the Great Lakes

In a recent article on the advent of borderlands history as a prominent field of historical scholarship, Pekka Hämäläinen and Samuel Truett described borderlands as “realms where boundaries are also crossroads, peripheries are also central places, homelands are also passing-through places, and the end points of empire are also forks in the road.” One such region that certainly fits this definition of a borderland and unquestionably hosts such specific crossroads and cultural junctions is the maritime region of the Great Lakes of North America. [excerpt

Disulfides – Effective radical generators for flame retardancy of polypropylene

The potential of thirteen aliphatic, aromatic, thiuram and heterocyclic substituted organic disulfide derivatives of the general formula R-S-S-R’ as a new group of halogen-free flame retardants (FR) for polypropylene films have been investigated. According to DIN 4102-1 standard ignitibility test, for the first time it has been demonstrated that many of the disulfides alone can effectively provide flame retardancy and self-extinguishing properties to polypropylene (PP) films at already very low concentrations of 0.5 wt%. In an effort to elucidate the mechanism of the thermal decomposition of disulfide derivatives the fragmentation patterns of the evolved gases from a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) have been analyzed by simultaneous mass spectrometry (MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The main decomposition products initiated by homolytic scission of the S-S bond and/or scission of the C-S bond were identified as thiols, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, isothiocyanates (depending on the disulfide structures) with further evolution of elemental sulfur and sulfur dioxide at temperatures of above 300 oC and 450 oC, respectively. Based on this preliminary study, we have shown that disulfides represented by e.g. diphenyl disulfide (1), 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (2), bis(1-phenyl-1H-tetrazol-5yl)-disulfide (4), 2-bisbenzothiazole-2,2′-disulfide (6) and N,N-dithiobis-(phtalimide) (10) constitute a new halogen-free family of additives for flame retarding of polypropylene

Debates—Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: why stochastic modeling has not yet permeated into practitioners?

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: [Sanchez-Vila, X., and D. Fernàndez-Garcia (2016), Debates—Stochastic subsurface hydrology from theory to practice: Why stochastic modeling has not yet permeated into practitioners?, Water Resour. Res., 52, 9246–9258, doi:10.1002/2016WR019302], which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016WR019302/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingWe address modern topics of stochastic hydrogeology from their potential relevance to real modeling efforts at the field scale. While the topics of stochastic hydrogeology and numerical modeling have become routine in hydrogeological studies, nondeterministic models have not yet permeated into practitioners. We point out a number of limitations of stochastic modeling when applied to real applications and comment on the reasons why stochastic models fail to become an attractive alternative for practitioners. We specifically separate issues corresponding to flow, conservative transport, and reactive transport. The different topics addressed are emphasis on process modeling, need for upscaling parameters and governing equations, relevance of properly accounting for detailed geological architecture in hydrogeological modeling, and specific challenges of reactive transport. We end up by concluding that the main responsible for nondeterministic models having not yet permeated in industry can be fully attributed to researchers in stochastic hydrogeology.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Societal Rather than Governmental Change: Religious Discrimination in Muslim-Majority Countries after the Arab Uprisings

This study examines shifts in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities in Muslim-Majority states after the Arab Uprisings by using the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset for the years 2009-2014 and by focusing on 49 Muslim-majority countries and territories. We build on threads of literature on religious pluralism in transitional societies to explain the changes in governmental religion policy and societal discrimination against religious minorities after the Arab Uprisings. This literature predicts a rise in all forms of discrimination in Arab Uprising states as compared to other Muslim-majority states, and an even more significant rise in societal religious discrimination since societal behavior can change more quickly than government policy, especially at times of transition. The results partially conform to these predictions. There was no significant difference in the shifts in governmental religion policy between Arab Uprising and other Muslim-Majority states, but societal religious discrimination increased substantially in Arab Uprising states as compared to non-Arab Uprising states. Understanding the nature of religion policies and religious discrimination provides further opportunities to unveil the dynamics of regional politics as well as conflict prevention in the region

Pancreatogenic type 3C diabetes

Background. The relationship between chronic pancreatitis and diabetes is well established. This form of diabetes is secondary to exocrine pancreatic disorder and is known as diabetes mellitus type 3c (T3cDM). Materials and Methods. In this retrospective study we included 261 patients, 59 patients being diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and secondary diabetes mellitus, and admitted in the Fundeni Clinical Institute, 2nd Department of Gastroenterology or N.C. Paulescu Institute/ Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Results and Discussions. Patients were 22.2% women and 77.8% men, with an average age of 56.8 years and 53.4 years respectively. 63% came from urban areas. The mean duration of chronic pancreatitis was six years. Non-diabetic patients were compared with patients who were previously diagnosed with T3cDM and who had been analyzed for body mass index (BMI). Imaging investigations were also performed to confirm pseudotumors or pancreatic tumours. Patients already considered non-diabetic had basal blood glucose values and were mostly overweight and obese. In this context, insulin resistance cannot be excluded for this group of patients. Conclusions. T3cDM is a new pathological entity that needs to be explored more deeply, and that should benefit from both a diagnostic stratification and treatment

Understanding school teachers’ perceptions of expertise: Impact on Initial Teacher Education programmes

In 2015-16, for the first time, school-centred Initial Teacher Education (ITE) recruited more student teachers than universities did. It seems that schools and teachers are gaining more power to decide the future of ITE and to shape teachers’ practice. Eliciting teachers’ perceptions of Newly Qualified Teachers’ (NQT) readiness and their own understandings of teaching could raise awareness among schoolcentred programmes and teachers about their teaching positions and potential areas of improvement, and also help universities to reposition themselves as providers and ITE, particularly in school-university partnerships. This study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions of NQTs’ preparedness for two reasons: First, to explore the perceived level of preparedness among colleagues, and second, to gain understanding of teachers’ conceptions of expertise

SISTEM PEMELIHARAAN TERNAK BABI DI DESA TAPENPAH

Tenak babi yang dikembangkan oleh masyarakat di desa Tapenpah sebagai suatu usaha yang menunjang perekonomian peternak. Tujuan dilakukannya kegiatan ini untuk mengobservasi dan menganalisis sistem pemeliharaan ternak babi di desa Tapenpah. Hasil observasi peternakan babi di desa Tapenpah memiliki populasi ternak babi berjumlah 195 ekor dengan sistem perkandangan secara intensif, pemberian pakan dilakukan dua kali sehari yaitu pagi dan sore hari dengan jenis pakan yang diberikan berupa campuran dedak padi, jagung halus, konsentrat dan probiotik, adanya penerapan biosecurity dan sanitasi serta dilakukan pengobatan pada ternak yang sakit, manajemen reproduksi dilakukan dengan cara kawin alam dan inseminasi buatan (IB). Kesimpulannya manajemen perkandangan telah memenuhi standar perkandangan yang baik, manajemen pakan yang diterapkan dapat memenuhi kebutuhan zat nutrisi, manajemen kesehatan berupa biosekuriti yang diterapkan sudah baik, dan manajemen reproduksi yang diterapkan telah memenuhi standar yang baik

High-density consensus linkage map based on three mapping populations using the Vitis18K SNP chip for grapevine breeding

11openInternational coauthor/editorThe improvement of grapevine through biotechnology requires the understanding and identification of molecular bases of traits of interest. These determinants can be identified through studying the association between molecular markers, such as SNPs, and target traits. The Vitis18K SNP chip provides an inexpensive genotyping tool that allows for genome-wide scale marker analysis across populations. The majority of linkage maps are based on a single mapping population, but a consensus map obtained from multiple mapping populations can increase marker density and provide insight into marker order conservation. Here we present a consensus map based on three mapping populations. The genetic parents consist of wellknown wine cultivars such as ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, ‘Corvina’ and ‘Riesling’ often used for constructing linkage maps, but also include lesser known varieties like ‘Deckrot’ and a table grape selection, G1-7720. We have first developed three high-density population maps with an average inter-locus gap ranging between 0.74 and 0.99 cM. These maps show high correlation (0.9797 – 0.9997) with the ‘PN40024 12X.2’ reference assembly, whilst still allowing to report on approximately 100 markers with large order discrepancies, of which a third is consistent across multiple populations. Furthermore, our genetic data provide information useful to further refine the grapevine genome assembly, by anchoring yet unanchored sequences. Finally, we present a consensus map including 6 895 molecular markers and with an inter-locus gap distance of 0.53 cM. Importantly the consensus map shows even higher collinearity to the reference assembly compared to the single population maps. All together this study provides a promising tool for the identification of molecular determinants associated with traits of interest, releases information useful for researchers using the Vitis18K SNP chip and allows to increase our current understanding of the grapevine genomeopenVervalle, J.A.; Costantini, L.; Grando, M.S.; Lorenzi, S.; Mora, R.; Marini, M.; Lashbrooke, J.G.; Burger, P.; Vivier, M.A.; Roodt-Wilding, R.; Bellin, D.Vervalle, J.A.; Costantini, L.; Grando, M.S.; Lorenzi, S.; Mora, R.; Marini, M.; Lashbrooke, J.G.; Burger, P.; Vivier, M.A.; Roodt-Wilding, R.; Bellin, D