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In this paper we explore the properties of the |$z=6.853$| obscured hyperluminous quasar COS-87259, discovered in the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field, with our recently developed Bayesian spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code SMART (Spectral energy distributions Markov chain Analysis with Radiative Transfer models). SMART fits SEDs exclusively with multicomponent radiative transfer models that constitute four different types of pre-computed libraries for the active galactic nucleus (AGN) torus, the starburst, and the spheroidal or disc host. We explore two smooth radiative transfer models for the AGN torus and two two-phase models, in order to put constraints on the AGN fraction of the galaxy, the black hole mass, and its star formation rate (SFR). We find that either of the smooth tapered disc or the two-phase flared disc models provide a good fit to the SED of COS-87259. The best-fitting models predict an AGN fraction in the range |$86-92$| per cent, a bolometric AGN luminosity of |$5.8-10.3 \times 10^{13} L_\odot$|⁠ , a black hole mass of |$1.8-3.2 \times 10^{9} M_\odot$| (assuming the quasar is accreting at the Eddington limit), and an SFR in the range |$1985-2001~M_\odot \rm yr^{-1}$|⁠. The predicted space density of such objects in the redshift range |$4-7$| is |$\sim 20$| times more than that of co-eval unobscured quasars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decades of the Ottoman Empire were characterised by mass violence that saw millions, mostly Ottoman Christians, perishing and forcibly moved within Ottoman borders, or expelled out. While it is generally accepted (except by Turkey and pro-Turkish commentators) that what befell the Armenians in 1915 and 1916 was a Genocide, in recent years many have taken to calling what befell other Ottoman Christians as a genocide as well, referring to a genocide of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians from 1915 to 1923, and some even to a 30-year genocide. This essay attempts to scrutinise this recent trend, by contrasting what happened to the Armenians and the Greeks during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and during the rise of Nationalist Turkey, namely from 1915 to 1923. It first distinguishes between the terms genocide, genocidal and ethnic cleansing. It then establishes that population numbers are pivotal to genocide, as those killed and those that survived are important to evidence intent and application. The article then delves into the cases, comparing and contrasting across the criteria of intent and destruction processes, and the number of dead and survived. Finally, the article answers why the Armenian case (1915–16) is a Genocide, but not the Greek case (1915–23) or that of the Armenian case (1919–23). This article is important for the overall special issue on mass deportation because it clarifies the differences between various genocidal processes, including mass deportation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study of the Cypriot Civil War (1963–1967) demonstrates that existing scholarly definitions of civil war are inadequate. The arbitrary death thresholds that qualify conflicts for inclusion in civil war datasets are demonstrably biased against smaller countries and do not account for all internal conflicts that exhibit the qualitative characteristics of civil war. An alternative model of study showcases how quantitative data might be better supported by qualitative analysis through the use of relative death thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After attacks on Greek-Australian businesses early in 1915 and as a pre-emptive measure if Greece, hitherto neutral in the Great War, joined the Central Powers, the Australian authorities conducted a 'secret census' of Greeks and Greek establishments in 1916. Lists were prepared containing the names, addresses, professions and ages of individuals and businesses. The purpose was to intern these individuals if Greece entered the war on the side of the Central Powers. Adapting the theory of the 'suspect community', this article shows how Australian authorities, driven by questions of Greek loyalty, considered the Greek community 'suspect' and prepared for its internment. This indicated an underlying racism and distrust in both the Australian public and Australian authorities. This article investigates the attacks on Greeks and issues of naturalisation, challenges claims regarding the number of Greeks in Australia, and explores the 'secret census' using South Australia as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 1958 Archbishop Makarios, the Greek Cypriot leader, told Barbara Castle, the then Chair of the British Labour Party, that, after three and a half years of violence from EOKA (Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών/National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) to achieve the union of Cyprus with Greece (enosis), he now supported a brief period of self-government, followed by the independence of Cyprus. He agreed to set aside enosis unless it was supported in the United Nations in the future. This led to independence, with Makarios considered 'the father' of Cypriot independence. But little has been said about the idea of independence before that point, about the opposition to it from EOKA, or about others who proposed independence from 1954. This article focuses on the role and proposals of Jason Loukianou, a prominent Cypriot in London, which have not been previously discussed. It proposes a revision to the idea that Makarios was 'the father' of Cypriot independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the publicly available open-source spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code SMART (Spectral energy distributions Markov chain Analysis with Radiative Transfer models). Implementing a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method, SMART fits the ultraviolet to millimetre SEDs of galaxies exclusively with radiative transfer models that currently constitute four types of pre-computed libraries, which describe the starburst, active galactic nucleus (AGN) torus, host galaxy, and polar dust components. An important novelty of SMART is that, although it fits SEDs exclusively with radiative transfer models, it takes comparable time to popular energy balance methods to run. Here we describe the key features of SMART and test it by fitting the multiwavelength SEDs of the 42 local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) that constitute the HERschel Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy Survey (HERUS) sample. The Spitzer spectroscopy data of the HERUS ULIRGs are included in the fitting at a spectral resolution, which is matched to that of the radiative transfer models. We also present other results that highlight the performance and versatility of SMART. SMART promises to be a useful tool for studying galaxy evolution in the JWST era. SMART is developed in Python and is available at https://github.com/ch-var/SMART.git. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portable instruments that can measure the number concentration and size of airborne nanoparticles are very useful for assessing their impacts on human health and climate, mainly because they can enable personal monitoring when carried by individuals, and/or 2- or 3-dimensional mappings when employed onboard mobile platforms. Partector 2 (P2), which is a lightweight and portable instrument manufactured by Naneos Particle Solutions GmbH (Windisch, Switzerland), can determine the concentration (up to 106 #/cm3) and average diameter of aerosol particles having sizes from 10 to 300 nm, making it an excellent candidate for such measurements. Although its performance has been investigated at standard conditions (i.e., ground level pressure and room temperatures), it has not been assessed under reduced pressure and temperature conditions that are typically encountered at higher altitudes; e.g., when employed outdoors in mountainous environments and/or onboard Unmanned Aerial Systems; UASs. Here we assess the counting and sizing capabilities of P2 at temperatures from ca. 22 down to 4 °C, and pressures from 1013 down to 710 hPa that correspond to altitudes from sea level to ca. 3 km. Our results show that the performance of the instrument is not substantially affected when operated at these conditions, remaining within the accuracy thresholds of ±30% reported by the manufacturer. P2, therefore, qualifies for outdoor use at higher altitudes, and can be employed in such environments to determine the number concentration and mean size of sub-300 nm aerosol particles, complementing existing portable optical particle counters that are already employed onboard aerial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Τhe effect of different parameters such as pH, ligand type (e.g. HCO3−, EDTA, citric acid) and concentration on the uranium leaching from phosphogypsum samples has been investigated as a function of time by means of batch-type experiments, and uranium concentration was analyzed by ICP-OES. The highest leaching rate of uranium has been observed for EDTA, followed by citrate and carbonate. The ligand concentration, which has been studied for 0.01 M and 0.001M, seems to significantly affect the leaching rate only in the case of EDTA, and the effect of pH differs from one ligand to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Colonial Citizenship and Everyday Transnationalism: An Immigrant's Story" by Alexandria J. Innes is a valuable book that explores the colonial immigrant story of the author's grandfather, who left Cyprus and settled in the UK in 1954. Innes takes an International Relations approach to examine the politics of colonial migration, settlement, and identities. The book provides insights into Cypriot emigrants and immigrant stories in the UK, offering analysis of the author's grandfather's narrative. While the book is well-structured and sophisticated in its analysis, there are some areas where the author could have been more critical and nuanced. Overall, it is an excellent resource for those interested in colonial migrant experiences and Cypriot migration and settlement in the UK. [Extracted from the article]

As the current climate crisis intensifies, drought resistant crops are becoming more important due to their ability to withstand the increasingly hotter and drier summers. Such crops are valuable for pollinators as they provide food resources for wild and managed species. The carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) represents an example of a heat- and drought- resistant crop, able to grow in dry areas with practically no inputs. The current study assessed over two growing seasons the diversity of wild bees and other pollinators relying on carob flowers, as well as the contribution of animal pollination to carob production. Carob flowers were subjected to two treatments: Open pollination, where inflorescences were left untreated, and wind pollination, where inflorescences were bagged in a mesh during blooming. Weekly observations during blooming showed that Apis mellifera was the most frequent floral visitor followed by wild bees and wasps. Carob flowers were visited by at least 10 different wild bee species. Open-pollinated flowers produced significantly more pods, with the benefit ranging from 4 to 16 times higher production, depending on the region. Open pollination led to pods with greater weight, length and number of seeds compared to pods derived from wind pollination. The results of the current study highlight the importance of animal pollination to carob production, as well as the significance of carob trees to wild bee conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autologous breast reconstruction is a reliable solution for many patients after mastectomy. While this technique represents a standardized approach in many patients, patients with ptotic breasts may require a combination of procedures to achieve an aesthetically pleasing result. Methods: We reviewed the mastectomy and free-flap breast reconstruction procedures performed at our institution from 2018 to 2022 in patients with ptotic breasts. The technique used to address the ptosis was put in focus as we present the four strategies used by our reconstructive surgeons. We performed two different one-stage and two different two-stage procedures. The difference between the two-stage procedures was the way the nipple areola complex was treated (inferior dermal pedicle or free skin graft). The difference between the one-stage procedures was the time of execution of the mastopexy/breast reduction (before or after the mastectomy and autologous breast reconstruction). Results: The one-stage procedure was performed with a free NAC in three patients and with a pedicled NAC in five patients. The two-stage procedure was performed in seven patients, with six of them undergoing mastopexy before and one patient undergoing mastopexy after the bilateral mastectomy and autologous reconstruction. No flap loss or total loss of the nipple areola complex occurred. Partial NAC loss was observed in five breasts in the single-stage group without any occurrence in the double-stage group. Conclusions: While both one- and two-stage procedures were performed in a safe fashion with satisfactory results at our institution, larger trials are required to determine which procedure may yield the best possible outcomes. These outcomes should also include oncological safety and patient-reported outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although microsurgical breast reconstruction represents a very interesting and rewarding field of plastic surgery, appropriate microsurgical training is not possible in every plastic surgery department. In this retrospective study, we present the learning curve of our plastic surgery department as a whole and of a single microsurgeon assessing breast reconstruction procedures with a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap between July 2018 and June 2021. The present study included 115 patients and 161 flaps. Cases were stratified into single DIEP/double DIEP groups and into early and late groups based on the flap order. Surgery times and postoperative complications were analyzed. Regarding the institution, the length of hospital stay was lower in the late group than in the early group (single 7.1 ± 1.8 vs. 6.3 ± 1.5 days, p = 0.019; double 8.5 ± 3.8 vs. 6.6 ± 1.4 days, p = 0.043). Apart from that, no statistically significant differences were found between the start and end of our study. In terms of the single surgeon, there was a significant improvement in the total surgery time (single 296.0 ± 78.7 vs. 227.5 ± 54.7 min, p = 0.018; double 448.0 ± 85.6 vs. 341.2 ± 43.1 min, p = 0.008), flap ischemia time (53.6 ± 15.1 vs. 40.9 ± 9.5 min, p = 0.007) and length of stay among the compared groups. There was no significant difference in flap loss rate or other complications between the early and late groups. Further performance of surgeries seemed to improve the surgeon's skills as well as the overall experience of the medical institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did the Australian far-left, namely the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), and the left-wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP-left), support Cypriot enosis (union with Greece), when it was led by a violent far-right nationalist group, EOKA, and Greece was a repressive right-wing state? There are two aspects to answering this question: the ideological-intellectual and the political-electoral. Intellectually, the CPA and the ALP-left favoured their anti-imperialism and support for left-wing national liberation over any qualms in supporting far-right nationalist causes. Politically, they saw an electoral opportunity in courting left-wing and potential left-wing Greek-speaking migrants from Greece and Cyprus and championing both their labour and perceived 'national' causes. In doing so, they engaged with the Greek-speaking migrant labouring classes and gave prominence to their perceived 'national' struggles. This article considers why and how the Australian far-left in the form of the CPA and ALP-left became involved in the enosis politics of Greek Cypriots and the violent struggle of a small far-right minority in the island, while attempting to court the votes of left-wing Greek-speaking migrants, by supporting them in what they accepted was their 'national' cause – the 'liberation' of Cyprus and its enosis with Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) has been applied in cancer treatment for over 25 years. However, guidelines for dose–volume constraints have not been established yet. The aim of this review is to summarize the dose–volume constraints in CIRT for head‐and‐neck (HN) cancer that were determined through previous clinical studies based on the Japanese models for relative biological effectiveness (RBE). Methods: A literature review was conducted to identify all constraints determined for HN cancer CIRT that are based on the Japanese RBE models. Results: Dose–volume constraints are reported for 17 organs at risk (OARs), including the brainstem, ocular structures, masticatory muscles, and skin. Various treatment planning strategies are also presented for reducing the dose delivered to OARs. Conclusions: The reported constraints will provide assistance during treatment planning to ensure that radiation to OARs is minimized, and thus adverse effects are reduced. Although the constraints are given based on the Japanese RBE models, applying the necessary conversion factors will potentially enable their application by institutions worldwide that use the local effect model for RBE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic structure calculations indicate that the Sr2FeSbO6 double perovskite has a flatband set just above the Fermi level that includes contributions from ordinary subbands with weak kinetic electron hopping plus a flat subband that can be attributed to the lattice geometry and orbital interference. To place the Fermi energy in that flat band, electron-doped samples with formulas Sr2,La,FeSbO6 (0 < x < 0.3) were synthesized, and their magnetism and ambient temperature crystal structures were determined by high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. All materials appear to display an antiferromagnetic-like maximum in the magnetic susceptibility, but the dominant spin coupling evolves from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic on electron doping. Which of the three subbands or combinations is responsible for the behavior has not been determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the mobile yet chequered imperial career of Hamilton Goold-Adams. Initially serving as a military officer in the India, Ireland, Malta and the West Indies, Goold-Adams rose to distinction in the British imperial administration after serving in Bechuanaland and in the South African War. He then became Governor of the Orange River Colony (1901–1907), High Commissioner of Cyprus (1911–1914), and Governor of Queensland (1915–1919). Rarely considered in imperial history, little is known about the dynamics of Goold-Adams' imperial mobility, actions and public reflections. It has been argued that explorations into imperial careers have foregrounded alternative ways of approaching historical biography while enhancing historical understandings of intersecting imperial discourses, movements, and identities. Providing insight into the spatiality of empire, as well as of imperial subjectivity, this article charts Goold-Adams' military and administrative imperial service in southern Africa and Cyprus and then analyses how he performatively reflected on these imperial appointments while serving in Queensland. Through an examination of a series of public lectures delivered by Goold-Adams in Brisbane, we argue, that his pervious imperial appointments were performatively drawn upon to encourage an interested settler colonial audience to continue thinking of themselves as loyal and well-informed British imperial subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experimentally investigated charge transport through a single planar junction between a NiTe 2 Dirac semimetal and a normal gold lead. At milli-Kelvin temperatures, we observe non-Ohmic d V / d I (V) behavior resembling Andreev reflection at a superconductor–normal metal interface, while NiTe 2 bulk remains non-superconducting. The conclusion on superconductivity is also supported by the suppression of the effect by temperature and magnetic field. In analogy with the known results for Cd 3 As 2 Dirac semimetal, we connect this behavior with interfacial superconductivity due to the flat-band formation at the Au-NiTe 2 interface. Since the flat-band and topological surface states are closely connected, the claim on the flat-band-induced superconductivity is also supported by the Josephson current through the topological surface states on the pristine NiTe 2 surface. We demonstrate the pronounced Josephson diode effect, which results from the momentum shift of the topological surface states of NiTe 2 under an in-plane magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Colonial Citizenship and Everyday Transnationalism: an Immigrant's Story" by Alexandria J. Innes is a valuable book that explores the colonial immigrant story of the author's grandfather, Nicholas Charalambou Kanaris, who left Cyprus and settled in the UK in 1954. Innes takes an International Relations approach to examine the politics of colonial migration, settlement, and identities. The book provides interesting insights into Cypriot emigrants and immigrant stories in the UK, offering analysis of her grandfather's narrative. While the book is well-structured and sophisticated in its analysis, there are some areas where the author could have been more critical and nuanced in her examination of historical records and interviews. Overall, this book is important for researchers interested in colonial migration and the experiences of Cypriot migrants in the UK. [Extracted from the article]

'Undesirables' explores the various border control practices employed against migrant communities that have been branded as undesirable by the authorities, including exclusion, deportation, monitoring and detention. The contemporary approaches to undesirable migrant groups have deep historical connections. This special issue offers evidence that current policy and practices are products of a long-term historical recourse. This proposed issue explores how certain migrant groups (on the grounds of race, gender, ethnicity, political ideology, and perceived criminality) were identified as 'undesirable' by the authorities of the state and subjected to various border and policing practices. This often involved the exclusion of 'undesirable' migrants at the border or the deportation of individuals if found to be 'undesirable', but also included the surveillance, arrest and detention of undesirables from migrant groups by police and intelligence agencies once they had settled in the destination country.This special issue shows that border control practices extended far beyond the physical border and that as well as using border practices to reject or expel 'undesirable' migrants, the state highly monitored those 'undesirable' migrants who had been allowed to enter the country. This builds on Paddy Hillyard's (1993) theory of the 'suspect community', which described the heavy policing of the Irish community in Britain during the 1970s-80s. While some studies have looked at how some community groups have replaced others in the contemporary government's security agenda (Pantazis and Pemberton 2009), this special issue showcases that the 'undesirability' concept has historical origin that still influences current approaches to policies, hence it warrants a more comprehensive investigation and reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores why and how the British and Australian authorities monitored their British Cypriot communities and how this impacted upon their respective immigration policies in connection with British Cypriots. Both the British and Australian authorities monitored sections of the British Cypriot community for similar reasons, especially political, using similar techniques, yet adopted different immigration policies on more Cypriots arriving. While the historiography for this period claims that the British were moving towards restricting immigration from their Empire and Australia was opening its borders, the opposite is in fact the case for the British Cypriots. The British did not alter their policies or procedures very much on the immigration of Cypriots from the 1930s, and even opened their border to Cypriot informers during the EOKA period. On the other hand, the Australian authorities progressively placed restrictions on Cypriots until they suspended immigration in 1956. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greek Cypriots became a key feature of early post-Second World War London. This article focuses on the case of the penultimate woman hanged in Britain, Styllou Christofi, who was executed in December 1954 for the murder of her German-born daughter-in-law, Hella. It outlines the emergence of the Cypriot community in London, tackles the image of the Cypriot in the British imperial imagination and investigates the hostility that this new community faced in Britain. The article investigates the nature of family in Cyprus and London and questions why Cypriots have received so little attention from historians, despite their numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean, constitutes a biodiversity hotspot with high rates of plant endemism. The wild bees of the island were studied extensively by the native George Mavromoustakis, a world-renowned bee taxonomist, who collected extensively on the island from 1916 to 1957 and summarised his results in a series of eight Cyprus-specific papers published from 1949 ["1948"] to 1957. The current work represents the first modern checklist of the wild bees of Cyprus, based on a compilation of previous publications, museum specimens and authors' recent collections. Overall, 369 verified wild bee species have been recorded on the island, with eleven species reported from Cyprus for the first time. The island hosts all six of the globally widespread bee families, with Apidae represented by 110 species, Megachilidae with 91, Andrenidae with 76, Halictidae with 72, Colletidae with 19, and Melittidae with 1. Twenty-one of the recorded bee species are endemic (i.e., 5.7% endemism rate) and Cyprus ranks third after Lesvos and Sicily in known bee species richness among the Mediterranean islands. Previously unpublished records from various locations on Cyprus for 156 previously reported bee species are also provided in the study. The current work provides a baseline for future studies of wild bee diversity on the island of Cyprus and neighbouring regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the nineteenth century European powers employed "natives" perceived to be inherently "martial" as the mainstay of their imperial armed forces. This theory of "martial races" undergirded the composition, for example, of Britain's Indian Army. An attempt in the 1890s to apply "martial races" theory to the formation of an indigenous defence force in Cyprus, however, proved to be an unqualified failure. Although the British government claimed that the scheme fell through because of inadequate funds, the main reason was that the decision to recruit the force exclusively from among the presumably more "martial" Turkish Muslim population of the island contradicted local ideas of identity by dividing Cypriots into "Greeks" and "Turks," with unhappy consequences for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering both fundamental principles and application perspectives, it is imperative to characterize biosurfactants (BSFs) for replacing their synthetic counterparts. In this study, a BSF produced by the Pseudomonas citronellolis 620 C bacterium, using oily wastewater, was identified as a lipopeptide based on ultraviolet spectroscopy, thin layer chromatography, high-pressure liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The latter detected the lactone ring at the 5.1–4.9 ppm region, suggesting it as a cyclic lipopeptide (CLP). Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry detected high percentage of C16:0, C18:0 fatty acids, and aliphatic amino acids. A novel CLP is here proposed. To reduce its bioprocess costs, different nitrogen (N)-sources were tested using oily wastewater as the main nutrient source. Ammonium sulfate was the best N-source for the bacterium, reaching BSF production of 556 mg/L, at 10/2 C/N ratio. The BSF ecotoxicity for Aliivibrio fischeri , expressed as effective concentration (EC), was 0.45 and 3.04 g/L as EC 20 and EC 50 , respectively. For Daphnia magna, the EC 50 at 24 h and 48 h were 0.980 and 0.936 g/L, respectively. The lipopetide had no estrogenic activity up to 8 g/L. These data make the novel lipopeptide suitable for agriculture, environmental restoration, as dispersant in waste(water) biodisposal and life sciences applications. • P. citronellolis 620 C biosurfactant characterization upon oily wastewater biodegradation. • Characterization of the lipopeptide using multiple complimentary techniques. • Qualitative and quantitative analysis of lipopeptide's fatty and amino acid content. • Enhanced lipopeptide production with (NH 4) 2 SO 4 as N-source and C/N ratio of 10/2. • Ecotoxicological tests demonstrate lipopeptide's low toxicity and no estrogenic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1970s Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) inspired a generation with his songs on anti-materialism, finding self and peace in such classic albums as Tea for the Tillerman (1970, US 3x platinum) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971, US 3x platinum). In December 1977 he converted to Islam, gave up popular music and focussed on humanitarian and educational work, until he returned to popular music in 2006. Meanwhile, Muslims became associated in the West as intolerant and violent. Yusuf has emerged in the last decade as a voice for progressive Muslims. This article explores the continuities in his music from his Cat Stevens days to his comeback and how he has reconciled popular music and his Cat Stevens past with his understanding of Islam. The focus is on his anti-war and pro-peace songs. It argues that his earlier songs are similar in their messages of world peace through love and unity, though less dark than his post-2006 songs. Additionally, his recent songs have a new message that the world must be more inclusive to achieve world peace. This is connected to him being a Muslim in the West and his feeling of exclusion, in an age when many in the West portray all Muslims as extremists. Consequently, in his recent music he reflects his experience as a Muslim, in the same way as his earlier music reflected the counter-culture of that period. Thus he has gone back to his earlier self after adopting a progressive understanding of Islam. Not Started Completed Rejected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the synthesis of peptides is concurrent with the production of enormous amounts of toxic waste. DMF, CH2Cl2, and NMP are three of the most toxic organic solvents used in chemical synthesis and are the most common solvents used for peptide synthesis. Additionally, concerns about the hepatotoxicity caused by exposure to DMF and from the toxic and allergenic nature of additives used in peptide synthesis necessitates the need for a green, environmentally friendly, and safer protocol for peptide synthesis. This review summarizes the current literature on green solid‐phase peptide synthesis successes and challenges encountered. The review concludes with suggestions for future research towards a simple and efficient green peptide synthesis protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the refugee crisis caused by the Armenian resistance to the Armenian Genocide on the mountain of Musa Dagh in Turkey in 1915. It analyzes the depiction of the Musa Dagh resistance in the 2016 film "The Promise." The influence of European humanitarianism on dealing the refugee crisis is discussed, as well as the role of European imperialism in the treatment of the Ottoman Empire after it launched its extermination policy.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy with CyberKnife for prostate cancer has long treatment times compared with conventional radiotherapy. This arises the need for designing treatment plans with short execution times. We propose an objective function for plan quality evaluation, which was used to determine an optimal combination between small and large collimators based on short treatment times and clinically acceptable dose distributions. Data from 11 prostate cancer patients were used. For each patient, 20 plans were created based on all combinations between one small (⌀ 10–25 mm) and one large (⌀ 35–60 mm) Iris collimator size. The objective function was assigned to each combination as a penalty, such that plans with low penalties were considered superior. This function considered the achievement of dosimetric planning goals, tumor control probability, normal tissue complication probability, relative seriality parameter, and treatment time. Two methods were used to determine the optimal combination. First, we constructed heat maps representing the mean penalty values and standard deviations of the plans created for each collimator combination. The combination giving a plan with the smallest mean penalty and standard deviation was considered optimal. Second, we created two groups of superior plans: group A plans were selected by histogram analysis and group B plans were selected by choosing the plan with the lowest penalty from each patient. In both groups, the most used small and large collimators were assumed to represent the optimal combination. The optimal combinations obtained from the heat maps included the 25 mm as a small collimator, giving small/large collimator sizes of 25/35, 25/40, 25/50, and 25/60 mm. The superior-group analysis indicated that 25/50 mm was the optimal combination. The optimal Iris combination for prostate cancer treatment using CyberKnife was determined to be a collimator size between 25 mm (small) and 50 mm (large). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double‐network hydrogels were prepared using well‐defined first networks comprising interconnected amphiphilic "in‐out" star copolymers synthesized via sequential reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, and second networks based on a photopolymerized mixture of acrylamide and N,N′‐methlyenebisacrylamide. All first and double‐network hydrogels were characterized in terms of their aqueous degrees of swelling and mechanical properties in compression. The most hydrophobic first and double‐network hydrogels exhibited the best mechanical properties, which may be attributed to their low aqueous swelling degrees and good mesoscale organization in water as revealed using small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) which showed that the size of the formed hydrophobic domains could be controlled by the polymer conetwork structure. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 2161–2174 Amphiphilic polymer conetworks based on interconnected "in‐out" star copolymers were synthesized using a four‐step sequential RAFT copolymerization, and were employed as scaffolds to prepare double‐network hydrogels which exhibited mechanical properties superior to their first network precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This work demonstrates that the human autophagy 16 polypeptide (Atg16) has antibacterial and antibiofilm potential, perturbs both Gram positive and negative bacterial membranes and subsequently also produces ROS in compromised bacteria. Engineered Atg 16 analogues containing 1‐ and 2‐naphthyl alanines showed significant enhancement of antibacterial activity and eradicated biofilms while also possessing negligible hemolysis of mouse erythrocytes. This new family of antibacterial peptides are promising candidates in the fight against bacterial biofilms, responsible for several thousand deaths annually which are predicted to rise into the millions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) develops prescribing advice and is responsible for appraising new medicines for use in Wales. In this article, we examine the medicines appraisal process in Wales, its timeliness and its impact on medicines availability in Wales, and compare its processes and recommendations with the two other UK health technology appraisal bodies [the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC)].Methods: We reviewed the medicines appraisals conducted by AWMSG between October 2010 and September 2015. The duration of the process and the recommendations made by AWMSG were compared with those of NICE and SMC. Only publicly available data were considered in this review.Results: AWMSG conducted 171 single technology appraisals for 137 medicines during the study period (34 were for medicines previously appraised by AWMSG but these were for new indications). Of these, 152 appraisals were supported for use in NHS Wales (33 with restrictions) and 19 were not supported. Recommendations broadly concurred with SMC and NICE for the majority of appraisals. Compared with NICE recommendations, the median time advantage gained in Wales for those medicines that received a positive AWMSG recommendation and which were subsequently superseded by NICE advice was 10.6 months (range 3.5-48.3 months; n = 17).Conclusion: This review highlights the work carried out by AWMSG over a 5-year period, and provides evidence to support the effectiveness of the appraisal process in terms of patients in Wales gaining earlier access to medicines and efficiency through reduced duplication with NICE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Schizophrenia has a heterogeneous clinical manifestation. The delimitation of its symptomatology is further complicated by the comorbidity with other psychiatric conditions, of which obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms are particularly common. Objective: This work aims to describe the co-existence of OCD/OC symptoms in patients with schizophrenia through a bibliographic review. Materials and methods: Pubmed was used as the principal database for searching articles. Inclusion criteria were (a) publication date (2007-2017), (b) article type (RCTs, test trials and pilot studies), (c) articles in English, (d) keywords in either the title or the abstract of the article. The search took place from February to April 2017. Results: A total of 6 articles were identified and included in the analysis. The results showed that the comorbidity of schizophrenia and OCD or OC symptoms is between 4% to 31.3%, while in two of the six studies, the corresponding percentages ranged between 10-12%, thus confirming the arithmetic fluctuation presented in the bibliography. There were no repeatable differences due to demographic characteristics between individuals with schizophrenia and schizophrenia/OCD or OC symptoms. Conclusions: There exists a relationship between schizophrenia and OCD/OC symptoms but this remains to be clarified and described in more detail. Large-scale studies are needed to elucidate whether these constitute two independent conditions or OCD/OC symptoms are a prelude for the appearance of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses historical research which focused on the monitoring of the Cypriot community in London, England due to their perceived criminality in the 1930s. Topics explored include the link of the Cypriot community to communism during the said period, the murder cases involving Cypriots from 1931 to 1934 in London, and the restriction of Cypriot migration to Great Britain in addition to their control by British authorities.

This article aims to write the army transport mule, which has previously been neglected in the equine historiography of the conflict, into the story of the First World War. It does not aim to tell the entire story of the role of mules in the war, as this deserves fuller investigation. Instead, it focuses on how various British sources depicted the army transport mule and how the actual involvement and treatment of these animals on the Salonica Front accorded with these perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role played by British colonial possessions during the Great War is only now starting to emerge in the last decade or so. This article aims to include Cyprus amongst those possessions that contributed enormously to the British war effort, such as India, Jamaica and the former settler colonies. Before the war Cyprus was an ‘inconsequential possession’ and during the first two years of the war it played a very minor role, when for the most part it served as a pawn to lure Greece into the war, which failed when Athens rejected the British offer to cede Cyprus to Greece in exchange for Greece coming to the military aid of Serbia in October 1915. From the summer of 1916, soon after the British and French signed the Sykes–Picot Agreement, the island became a bustling military and humanitarian base, while it also fed and fuelled the allied armies in Egypt, Macedonia and France. Its most significant contribution was undoubtedly the formation of the Cypriot Mule Corps in summer 1916. Until it was dissolved in April 1920 over 12,000 men had served at one time or another, a staggering number given the small size of the island, representing 25% of the male population aged 18–35. The contribution of the island and its people says much about imperial loyalty as well as the social fabric of a Mediterranean island emerging after centuries of Ottoman rule to the modernizing influences of British modernity. Therefore, this article does not merely aim to fill a gap in the historiography of the Great War by including the role of Cyprus and Cypriots in the story, but also endeavours to contribute to the historiography of the British Empire and its relations with the people it controlled before the advent of anti-colonial movements during the inter-war years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In summer 1916 the British Salonica Army and the Cypriot colonial government established the Cypriot Mule Corps (also known as the Macedonian Mule Corps). It was a staggering success in terms of recruitment, with over 12,000 men serving at one time or another in Salonica during the war and in Constantinople after the armistice, consisting of about 25% of the Cypriot male population aged 18-35. This article engages with three historiographical fields: British military history, British imperial history and Cypriot colonial and peasant and labouring history. All three are connected by the scope, the Great War and its immediate aftermath, and more specifically by the Cypriot Mule Corps. It brings Cyprus into the broader debate on the participation of the British non-settler empire in World War I. The main focus of the article is on the experiences of the men and their dependants. At the heart of this story is the power-imbalance in the relationship between the British coloniser, who desperately needed mule drivers, and the colonised Cypriots, mostly peasants and unskilled rural and urban labourers who enlisted because of the wages. The Cypriots had little control over the terms of their service, as the British progressively reduced their responsibilities to the men and their families, but because the British were desperate for their service they attempted to accommodate their grievances. Therefore, the article proposes to envisage the experience of Cypriot muleteers and their families through a theoretical framework borrowed from the Subaltern Studies Group. Homi Bhabha's 'liminal space', in which 'negotiation' can take place between colonised and coloniser, seems applicable here, even if dominated by the coloniser. When it suited them, such as when recruitment was at risk, the British not only listened but attempted to rectify the injustices, even showing flexibility; but when it did not they proved inflexible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how mules were procured in Cyprus for the Salonica campaign and how they were treated by Cypriot muleteers in the British army in Macedonia. Cyprus provides an ideal case since over 6,000 mules were recruited for the Salonica campaign, presenting a sizeable sample for analysis of recruitment strategies and practices. Equally, since over 12,000 Cypriot muleteers served in the British army in Salonica and later in Istanbul during and after the Great War (from July 1916 to April 1920), the focus on the treatment of mules by Cypriot muleteers offers a significant sample. This article contributes to the growing historiography on the role of equines and their treatment and condition in the Great War. It argues that Cypriot mules were procured in significant numbers and became important to British supply and logistics in Salonica. Cypriot muleteers treated their mules relatively well, and therefore mules in Salonica, although overworked, were generally in reasonable condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the analysis for the hp finite element approximation of the solution to singularly perturbed fourth order problems, using a balanced norm. In Panaseti et al. (2016) it was shown that the hp version of the Finite Element Method (FEM) on the so-called Spectral Boundary Layer Mesh yields robust exponential convergence when the error is measured in the natural energy norm associated with the problem. In the present article we sharpen the result by showing that the same hp-FEM on the Spectral Boundary Layer Mesh gives robust exponential convergence in a stronger, more balanced norm. As a corollary we also get robust exponential convergence in the maximum norm. The analysis is based on the ideas in Roos and Franz (Calcolo 51, 423-440, 2014) and Roos and Schopf (ZAMM 95, 551-565, 2015) and the recent results in Melenk and Xenophontos (2016). Numerical examples illustrating the theory are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) is associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death or death from heart failure. Little is known of the pathologic substrate for risk of premature death in this disease. We therefore set out to correlate the pathologic findings with the mode of death and risk profile in 75 patients with HC. Hearts with HC were obtained after death or transplantation. The clinical details were correlated with the macroscopic findings and the percent fibrosis, disarray, and small-vessel disease across 19 sections of each heart. Thirty-nine patients died suddenly, 28 had end-stage heart failure, and 8 died of other causes. Myocyte disarray correlated positively with evidence of ischemia (r = 0.5, p <0.0001), and was greater in patients who died before age 21 years (mean disarray 33% vs 18%, p <0.0001) and in those with an abnormal vascular response to exercise (mean disarray and 30% vs 19%, p = 0.04). Myocardial fibrosis was greater in patients who died in heart failure (mean percent fibrosis was 2.8% versus 0.9%, p = 0.003), and in patients with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia or a high risk fractionation study (4.9% vs 2.7%, p = 0.04, and 6.84% vs 2.8%, p = 0.03, respectively). In conclusion, young patients who die with HC have greater disarray than their older counterparts. In contrast, myocardial fibrosis is the substrate for premature deaths from heart failure and is associated with an increased risk of a primary ventricular arrhythmia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, colonial and foreign legions have been a part of larger armies but rarely have they been as politically 'loaded' as the three proposed to the British government during the Great War. Cypriot, Armenian, and Jewish political elites proposed the formation of volunteer legions in the British army in late 1914 and early 1915. The primary sources show that they were initially rejected for political as well as military reasons. In 1916 the British agreed for the French to establish an Armenian legion, while in April 1917 the British agreed to establish a Jewish legion. When the French and British authorities accepted the Armenian Legion in the French army and the Jewish Legion in the British army respectively, the same political reasons for initially rejecting them were overcome or set aside. Imperialism was the key to understanding the initial rejecting of all three and the acceptance of those two: the Cyprus proposal threatened British rule in Cyprus and so was never accepted; the Armenian proposal did not play into British imperial interests, but once the British accepted French imperial interests in Cilicia in the Sykes-Picot Agreement the British accepted it; the Jewish Legion was accepted after the British embarked on their conquest of Palestine. Using British, French, and Cypriot archives, this article explores the official British reasoning for rejecting offers of Cypriot, Armenian, and Jewish legions and then accepting the latter two during the Great War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In October 1916, the French government agreed with Armenian political elites to establish a Légion of Armenian volunteers in British Cyprus to fight the common Ottoman enemy. Despite British, French, and even Armenian rejections of such a Légion during different times throughout 1915 and early 1916, all sides overcame earlier concerns. Understanding how they managed to overcome these concerns will allow for this little-known episode in the history of the Great War in the eastern Mediterranean to contribute to the knowledge on (1) the complex French and British wartime stances towards this region, driven by imperialism and humanitarianism; (2) the ability of local elites to draw concessions from the Allies; (3) the important role played by local British and French colonial and military officers; and (4) broader historiographical debates on the responses to the Armenian Genocide. This article explores the origins of how the Entente co-opted Armenians in their eastern Mediterranean campaigns, but also made them into pawns in the French and British reinvention of their imperial rivalry in this region in order to achieve their post-war imperialist agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Scrutinizing and questioning contentious and failed policy decisions should result in discussing 'ifs, buts, and maybes', particularly when there are policy alternatives. This article scrutinizes and questions the British decision to reject Armenian proposals to form a legion of Armenian volunteers in 1914 and 1915, especially since in late 1916 the French, with British approval, established an Armenian legion (until 1919 called the Legion d'Orient); and because the first proposals for a legion were connected to British considerations, also overlooked, to land a force at Alexandretta. Nothing of substance has been published on the initial proposals to form an Armenian legion, and on its connection to the Armenian genocide and the proposed British landing at Alexandretta. By focusing on why the British rejected the proposal to form an Armenian legion and the implications, if any, for the Armenian genocide and the Allied discussions on where to attack the Ottoman empire during the first four months of 1915, this article offers important new insights into why the British and French failed to do anything to prevent the Armenian genocide, and got it wrong with their decision to land forces at Gallipoli in April 1915 instead of at Alexandretta. Imperialism lies at the heart of the explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic isolation is an effective method for the protection of buildings and their contents during strong earthquakes. This research work aims to assess the appropriateness of the linear and nonlinear models that can be used in the analysis of typical low-rise base isolated steel buildings, taking into account the inherent nonlinearities of the isolation system as well as the potential nonlinearities of the superstructure in case of strong ground motions. The accuracy of the linearization of the isolator properties according to Eurocode 8 is evaluated comparatively with the corresponding response that can be obtained through the nonlinear hysteretic Bouc-Wen constitutive model. The suitability of the linearized model in the determination of the size of the required seismic gap is assessed, under various earthquake intensities, considering relevant methods that are provided by building codes. Furthermore, the validity of the common assumption of elastic behavior for the superstructure is explored and the alteration of the structural response due to the inelastic deformations of the superstructure as a consequence of potential collision to the restraining moat wall is studied. The usage of a nonlinear model for the isolation system is found to be necessary in order to achieve a sufficiently accurate assessment of the structural response and a reliable estimation of the required width of the provided seismic gap. Moreover, the simulations reveal that the superstructure's inelasticity should be taken into account, especially if the response of the structure under high magnitude earthquakes is investigated. The consideration of the inelasticity of the superstructure is also recommended in studies of structural collision of seismically isolated structures to the surrounding moat wall, since it affects the response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following parietal damage most patients with visual neglect bisect horizontal lines significantly away from the true centre. Neurologically intact individuals also misbisect lines; a phenomenon referred to as ‘pseudoneglect’. In this study we examined the relationship between neglect and pseudoneglect by testing how patterns of pre-existing visuospatial asymmetry predict asymmetry caused by parietal interference. Twenty-four participants completed line bisection and Landmark tasks before receiving continuous theta burst stimulation to the left or right angular gyrus. Results showed that a pre-existing pattern of left pseudoneglect (i.e. right bias), but not right pseudoneglect, predicts left neglect-like behaviour during line bisection following right parietal cTBS. This correlation is consistent with the view that neglect and pseudoneglect arise via a common or linked neural mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of civil-military relations and an unreliable – even disloyal – local population upon intelligence-gathering and counter-espionage in Cyprus, and therefore adds to the existing literature on British Near and Middle East military intelligence during the First World War. Drawing upon archives in Britain and Cyprus, and a range of published primary sources, a fresh contribution to First World War intelligence studies is offered through a focus on British counter-espionage efforts in Cyprus after 1916. The article covers Anglo-French intelligence cooperation on the Syrian and Cilician coast, the wartime loyalties of Cypriots and their value as spies, and insights into Ottoman and German human intelligence activity in the region. The primary focus is on the civil-military relations between the Cyprus colonial government and the military intelligence officers. It is argued that Cyprus acquired some importance as a post for intelligence-gathering and especially counter-espionage, but the problems derived from inadequate civil-military relations, disloyal Cypriot subjects, and the island’s status as a backwater hindered its development as a valuable asset in the Near and Middle East theatre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to establish the reliability of the observation of movement (OM) method for obtaining motor threshold (MT) in transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). MTs were obtained on separate days, following separate hunting procedures, for both left and right motor cortex (M1), with one or multiple estimates obtained from the same hemisphere within a single session. MTs obtained using the OM method were highly reliable and reproducible on different days (left M1: r =.98, p <.0001; right M1: r =.97, p <.0001). MTs were not influenced by the order of acquisition when two hemispheres were stimulated in the same session [F(1,22)=.12, p =.73] or by the collection of additional MTs as part of the distance-adjusted procedure [F(1,23)=.74, p =.40]. The results verify the reliability of the OM method and confirm its viability for the safe and efficient application of TMS to the left and right M1. The OM method is a reliable technique for obtaining MT and is relatively simple and quick to run. It therefore provides an effective procedure for research and clinical applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the importance of Work and Organization Assessment Questionnaire (WOAQ) in evaluating public sector development. It cites the cross-sectional survey which is designed to measure demographics, characteristics and work organizations in the public sector. It demonstrates how WOQA, with the scoring method, develops the manufacturing sector. It claims that WOQA is the most useful and potential transferable tool to examine the work and organization factors in the public sector.