A review of the literature of phosphorus compounds in animal metabolism,

Running title: Phosphorus metabolism.

The English poets;

On cover: Students edition.

Papers

Part 6 never published

Report of cases determined by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Imprint varies.

Literary anecdotes of the nineteenth century: contributions towards a literary history of the period,

Vol. 2 has imprint: New York, Dodd, Mead and company, 1896.

Hss, Stroop y Stangl: Verdugos profesionales. Estudio comparativo sobre los perpetradores del Holocausto a la luz de sus propias palabras

El presente trabajo es un estudio comparativo sobre perpetradores del Holocausto. Luego de una breve introducción sobre el fenómeno nazi en su contexto, se analizan los casos de tres de sus protagonistas: Rudolf Hss, Jrgen Stroop y Franz Stangl; comandante del campo de exterminio Auschwitz, responsable de la liquidación del gueto de Varsovia y comandante del campo de exterminio de Treblinka respectivamente. El caso de Hss es estudiado a partir de su autobiografía, mientras que los dos restantes a partir de las entrevistas e investigaciones de Kazimierz Moczarski y Gitta Sereny. Hss, Stangl y Stroop fueron condenados por las muertes de 1.100.000, entre 750.00 y 900.00 y 350.000 personas respectivamente. En este sentido una premisa de este trabajo es que ninguno de ellos puede ser considerado hombre corriente o persona común; por el contrario siguiendo a Raul Hilberg se los piensa como sujetos totalmente identificados e impregnados de la cosmovisión y la ideología del nacionalsocialismo y las SS que desde un marco de referencia previo agresivo y violento eventualmente fueron transformándose en asesinos en masa. Como sostiene Gustavo Cosacov estos sujetos serían dueños de una "santidad maligna o invertida" que había reemplazado sus valores éticos y morales cristiano-occidentales; permitiéndoles cometer crímenes en forma sistemática. A pesar de que la cuestión de los victimarios ha sido menos abordada que la de las victimas, en el campo historiográfico existen sólidos aportes. Basta nombrar a Christopher Browning, Peter Longerich o Raul Hilberg para explicitar la corriente de investigación a la que este texto reconoce y aspira. En este sentido el objetivo de las siguientes páginas primero es describir y explicar algunos de los mecanismos históricos, psicológicos y sociológicos que producen a perpetradores de asesinatos en serie de personas tan distantes como desconocidas; como así descifrar a también su marco de referencia. Para ello se hará un repaso crítico por las fuentes históricas a la luz de múltiples disciplinas sociales, analizando sus discursos, sus argumentos, tratando de delinear las voluntades y motivaciones de Hss, Stangl y Stroop. Un concepto clave de esta investigación es "burocracia" en el sentido de Max Weber. En un segundo lugar se reflexionará sobre la violencia nazi, en el sentido de una violencia autotélica contradictoria con respecto al paradigma social liberal y al estado de derecho. En ambos casos se priorizará recrear e interpretar el punto de vista de los perpetradores. Buscando amplitud historiográfica, se utilizarán obras clásicas como también publicaciones recientes sobre el tema. No se busca obtener conclusiones ni respuestas absolutas sino reflexionar, repensar y complejizar a los protagonistas de, acaso, el hecho más oscuro de la historia humana

Vascular endothelial growth factor-B and retinal vascular development in the mouse

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is crucial to retinal vascular growth, both normal and pathological. VEGF-B, recently characterized, is reported to be expressed in retinal tissues, but the importance of VEGF-B to retinal vascular development remained unknown. The aim of this study was to analyse retinal vascular growth in the Vegfb (-/-) knockout mouse. Methods: Retinal vascular growth was measured in Vegfb (-/-) knockout mice raised under normal conditions, and Vegfb (-/-) knockout mice with an oxygen-induced proliferative retinopathy. Wild type Vegfb (+/+) mice served as controls. Vessels were perfused with ink and retinal flatmounts secondarily labelled with FITC-lectin (BS-1, Griffonia simplicifolia ). Area and diameter of retinal growth and retinal vascular growth were recorded over days 0-20, and capillary density and mean diameter recorded from day 17 pups. Results: A variety of techniques confirmed that Vegfb (+/+) mice expressed VEGF-B and that VEGF-B expression was absent in Vegfb (-/-) mice. Vegfb (-/-) mice raised in room air showed no significant differences from Vegfb (+/+) controls. No differences were found in oxygen-induced retinopathy between Vegfb (-/-) and Vegfb (+/+) pups in either the extent of the initial oxygen-induced ablation, or in the regrowth of retinal vessels or vitreal (neovascular) sprouts; vitreal sprouts are important markers of the abnormal proliferative response, and are maximally expressed on day 17 in this model of oxygen-induced retinopathy. Conclusions: These results indicate that a lack of VEGF-B does not significantly affect development of the retinal vasculature under normal conditions, nor does it appear to affect the proliferative retinal responses seen in oxygen-induced retinopathy.

Between-tree variation in fruit quality and fruit mineral concentrations of Hass avocados

Inconsistent internal fruit quality in Hass avocados affects consumer confidence. To determine the influence of individual trees on fruit quality, Hass avocado fruit were harvested from adjacent trees of similar external appearance in 3 commercial orchards in 1998 and 1 orchard in 1999. The trees in each orchard were grown with similar commercial practices and in similar soil types. Within each location, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in the mean ripe fruit quality between trees with respect to fruit body rot severity ( mainly anthracnose) with and without cold storage, internal disorders severity due to diffuse discolouration and vascular browning ( after cold storage), days to ripen, percentage dry matter, and the percentage of the skin area with purple-black colour when ripe. These effects were also noted in the same orchard in 1999. There were significant (P < 0.05) differences in fruit flesh calcium, magnesium, potassium, boron and zinc concentrations between trees. Significant (P < 0.05) correlations were observed between average fruit mineral concentrations in each tree ( particularly calcium, magnesium and potassium) and body rot severity, percentage dry matter and fruit mass. There was little conclusive evidence that characteristics such as the growth of the non-suberised roots or the degree of scion under- or overgrowth was involved in these tree effects; however, differences between trees with respect to other rootstock characteristics may be involved. The inconsistency of the correlations across sites and years suggested that other factors apart from tree influences could also affect the relationship between fruit minerals and fruit quality.

Postharvest characteristics and handling of litchi fruit - an overview

Litchi ( Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is a tropical to subtropical crop that originated in South-East Asia. Litchi fruit are prized on the world market for their flavour, semi-translucent white aril and attractive red skin. Litchi is now grown commercially in many countries and production in Australia, China, Israel, South Africa and Thailand has expanded markedly in recent years. Increased production has made significant contributions to economic development in these countries, especially those in South-East Asia. Non-climacteric litchi fruit are harvested at their visual and organoleptic optimum. They are highly perishable and, consequently, have a short life that limits marketability and potential expansion of demand. Pericarp browning and pathological decay are common and important defects of harvested litchi fruit. Postharvest technologies have been developed to reduce these defects. These technologies involve cooling and heating the fruit, use of various packages and packaging materials and the application of fungicides and other chemicals. Through the use of fungicides and refrigeration, litchi fruit have a storage life of about 30 days. However, when they are removed from storage, their shelf life at ambient temperature is very short due to pericarp browning and fruit rotting. Low temperature acclimation or use of chitsoan as a coating can extend the shelf life. Sulfur dioxide fumigation effectively reduces pericarp browning, but approval from Europe, Australia and Japan for this chemical is likely to be withdrawn due to concerns over sulfur residues in fumigated fruit. Thus, sulfur-free postharvest treatments that maintain fruit skin colour are increasingly important. Alternatives to SO2 fumigation for control of pericarp browning and fruit rotting are pre-storage pathogen management, anoxia treatment, and dipping in 2% hydrogen chloride solution for 6-8 min following storage at 0 degrees C. Insect disinfestation has become increasingly important for the expansion of export markets because of quarantine issues associated with some fruit fly species. Thus, effective disinfestation protocols need to be developed. Heat treatment has shown promise as a quarantine technology, but it injures pericarp tissue and results in skin browning. However, heat treatment can be combined with an acid dip treatment that inhibits browning. Therefore, the primary aim of postharvest litchi research remains the achievement of highly coloured fruit which is free of pests and disease. Future research should focus on disease control before harvest, combined acid and heat treatments after harvest and careful temperature management during storage and transport.

Multi-robot control in highly dynamic, competitive environments

The control and coordination of multiple mobile robots is a challenging task; particularly in environments with multiple, rapidly moving obstacles and agents. This paper describes a robust approach to multi-robot control, where robustness is gained from competency at every layer of robot control. The layers are: (i) a central coordination system (MAPS), (ii) an action system (AES), (iii) a navigation module, and (iv) a low level dynamic motion control system. The multi-robot coordination system assigns each robot a role and a sub-goal. Each robot’s action execution system then assumes the assigned role and attempts to achieve the specified sub-goal. The robot’s navigation system directs the robot to specific goal locations while ensuring that the robot avoids any obstacles. The motion system maps the heading and speed information from the navigation system to force-constrained motion. This multi-robot system has been extensively tested and applied in the robot soccer domain using both centralized and distributed coordination.