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Abstract Our knowledge of the geography of medieval religious dissent and its repression in the Latin West is limited by a lack of systematic study of locational information in inquisition trial records. Spatial analysis of these rich details has the potential to help build a bottom-up picture of interaction between dissidents and inquisitors that moves beyond institutional perspectives. This task is rendered challenging due to the inconsistencies and uncertainties of what inquisitors and their notaries typically recorded about the spatial associations of suspects. Probably the most common indicator of such associations found in inquisition records are toponymic surnames. They present challenges of coverage (not everybody had a toponymic surname) and interpretation (multiple possible meanings). This study attempts to tackle the challenge of interpreting such surnames within the context of the nine sentencing events held by the inquisitor Peter Seila in 1241 and 1242 in the Quercy region of Languedoc: covering 650 sentenced individuals, the register documenting these events is the earliest extant record of an inquisition of such scale. Rather than taking the interpretative challenges of toponymic surnames as reasons to limit ourselves to qualitative analysis, our approach shows the value of rendering and analysing them as structured data. Firstly, we quantify the context of toponymic surnames, placing them against the background of broader name construction practices and other social factors. Secondly, we plot and analyse the geocoded data derived from toponymic surnames with the benefit of this contextualisation, looking especially at the distance of toponyms from their associated sentencing centres, in order to derive narratives that best explain the generality of their meaning. The results allow us to appraise the actual spatial coverage of the nine sentencing events. The first two, centred on the important towns of Montauban and Moissac, seem most likely to have been primarily urban affairs, with little evidence of rural coverage. The remainder, which took place in castra (fortified villages), appear to have covered more of the surrounding countryside. These results geographically contextualise the reports of dissidence conveyed within Peter’s register, and suggest narratives for how Peter optimised his strategy for impact in the face of constraints.

Objectives: This study investigates the estimation of the fluoride concentration in drinking water in Rohtak district, Haryana, and quantifies its effect on the prevalence of dental fluorosis and dental caries. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1262 school children in endemic fluoride areas of Haryana. Using simple random sampling, thirty villages from five blocks of Rohtak districts were selected, and children 6–12 years of age were examined. A questionnaire survey form was filled out to record the demographic details of the samples. Dental caries was recorded according to DMFT (D = Decayed, M = Missing due to caries only, F = Filled, T = Teeth)/deft index (d = decayed, e = extracted due to caries, f = filled, t = teeth). Assessment of Dental Fluorosis was done according to Dean's Fluorosis index, modified in 1942. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 19, and nonparametric tests were used to assess the significance. Results: The study participants included 615 males and 647 females among which Mean DMFT in the area of study ranged from 0.32 to 1.90. Mean deft in the area of study ranged from 0.34 to 1.91. The fluoride concentrations in groundwater are in the range of 0.532–8.802. Out of 1262 children examined, 655 (51.90%) children were having dental fluorosis. 607 (48.10%) of the subjects were free from fluorosis. 16.09%, 13.39%, 9.11%, and 8.16% and 5.15% were having questionable, very mild, mild, moderate, and severe form of fluorosis, respectively. Conclusion: It can be concluded that in Rohtak district, the fluoride levels in drinking water and the prevalence of dental fluorosis are high, so requiring an urgent need to improve the quality of water and institute de-fluoridation of drinking water in affected areas to lower the burden of dental fluorosis in the community.

Nanotechnology has enabled the discovery of a multitude of novel materials exhibiting unique physicochemical (PChem) properties compared to their bulk analogues. These properties have led to a rapidly increasing range of commercial applications; this, however, may come at a cost, if an association to long-term health and environmental risks is discovered or even just perceived. Many nanomaterials (NMs) have not yet had their potential adverse biological effects fully assessed, due to costs and time constraints associated with the experimental assessment, frequently involving animals. Here, the available NM libraries are analyzed for their suitability for integration with novel nanoinformatics approaches and for the development of NM specific Integrated Approaches to Testing and Assessment (IATA) for human and environmental risk assessment, all within the NanoSolveIT cloud-platform. These established and well-characterized NM libraries (e.g. NanoMILE, NanoSolutions, NANoREG, NanoFASE, caLIBRAte, NanoTEST and the Nanomaterial Registry (>2000 NMs)) contain physicochemical characterization data as well as data for several relevant biological endpoints, assessed in part using harmonized Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) methods and test guidelines. Integration of such extensive NM information sources with the latest nanoinformatics methods will allow NanoSolveIT to model the relationships between NM structure (morphology), properties and their adverse effects and to predict the effects of other NMs for which less data is available. The project specifically addresses the needs of regulatory agencies and industry to effectively and rapidly evaluate the exposure, NM hazard and risk from nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, enabling implementation of computational ‘safe-by-design’ approaches to facilitate NM commercialization.

This study develops and tests theoretical formulas for linking country size and party system characteristics. For countries using one-seat electoral districts or nationwide districts, the averages of the largest seat-share, effective number of assembly parties and mean duration of cabinets can be predicted based solely on population. For countries allocating seats by PR in multi-seat districts, the averages of these characteristics can be predicted based on population and district magnitude. We show that first-past-the-post countries of less than one million tend to have highly dominant largest parties and one-and-a-half party assemblies, rather than a balance of two parties. For larger countries, and PR countries of any size, population is not destiny, as far as party system is concerned. © The Author(s) 2012.

Cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai’s theories about place link together various surrounding contexts: technology, media, economics, and ideology. He sees locality as a “complex phenomenological quality” (1996, p. 178) that we should not look at as context, but instead focus on how contexts define the boundaries of localities. Appadurai’s theories help to link global and local by taking into account the various surrounding contexts: technology, media, economics, and ideology. This paper uses Appadurai’s theory as a basis to explore how localities emerge in grassroots queer activist practices that combine offline and online tactics in their organizing. I use participant observation, in-depth interviews, and content analysis to gain an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of networked locality created by LGBTQ activists physically located in Southern United States.

This study joins two existing logical models and tests the resulting predictions of mean cabinet duration (C). One of these models predicts C based on effective number of parties (N): C = k/N2, where k is found to be around 42 years. The other predicts N on the basis of number of seats in the assembly (S) and district magnitude (M). The new combined model leads to a prediction for the mean cabinet duration in terms of these two institutional factors: C = 42 years/(MS)1/3. Three-quarters of the actual mean durations agree with the prediction within a factor of 2. For the purposes of institutional engineering, the model predicts that doubling the district magnitude would reduce the mean cabinet duration by 21 percent ceteris paribus. © 2010 SAGE Publications.

A literature curated dataset containing 24 distinct metal oxide (MexOy) nanoparticles (NPs), including 15 physicochemical, structural and assay-related descriptors, was enriched with 62 atomistic computational descriptors and exploited to produce a robust and validated in silico model for prediction of NP cytotoxicity. The model can be used to predict the cytotoxicity (cell viability) of MexOy NPs based on the colorimetric lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and the luminometric adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay, both of which quantify irreversible cell membrane damage. Out of the 77 total descriptors used, 7 were identified as being significant for induction of cytotoxicity by MexOy NPs. These were NP core size, hydrodynamic size, assay type, exposure dose, the energy of the MexOy conduction band (EC), the coordination number of the metal atoms on the NP surface (Avg. C.N. Me atoms surface) and the average force vector surface normal component of all metal atoms (v⊥ Me atoms surface). The significance and effect of these descriptors is discussed to demonstrate their direct correlation with cytotoxicity. The produced model has been made publicly available by the Horizon 2020 (H2020) NanoSolveIT project and will be added to the project’s Integrated Approach to Testing and Assessment (IATA).

Akmenų naudojimo Estijos akmens amžiaus ugniavietėse nustatymas Ugniavietės ir su jais susiję degę akmenys yra įprastos struktūros, randamos akmens amžiaus gyvenvietėse. Nors informacija apie šiuos objektus pateikiama archeologinėse ataskaitose ir publikacijose, iki šiol nebuvo specialaus jiems skirto tyrimo. Šio straipsnio tikslas yra užpildyti šią spragą ir patikrinti hipotezę, kad ugniaviečių struktūriniai bruožai atskleidžia informaciją apie pragyvenimo gyvenvietėse modelį. Šioje studijoje remiamasi Estijos akmens amžiaus ugniaviečių duomenų baze, kuri sudaryta iš visų prieinamų kasinėtų objektų. Duomenų bazėje yra 167 ugniavietės ir kiekybiniai duomenys apie akmenis jose. Duomenų analizė atskleidė, kad akmenų naudojimas ugniavietėse laikui bėgant smarkiai keitėsi. Daugumoje mezolito laikotarpio ugniaviečių akmenų yra, o neolito laikotarpio ugniavietėse akmenys tapo retenybe. Galima daryti išvadą, kad akmenų naudojimas ugniavietėse susijęs su gyvenviečių ekonomika ir pokyčiai laikui bėgant atspindi bendros gyvenimo strategijos pokyčius.

Villem Tamm, who was called also as Tamme Villu or simply Villu, was born on 10th of February 1942 in Viljandi county Kabala. He studied seven years in Villavere school and then in high school in Viljandi. He graduated Tartu State University as „economic cybernetics” (mathematical economists) in 1969. His course mates considered him as a capable and talented person and predicted him successful and fast career as a lecturer and scientist. Villu worked at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, almost 40 years. He started as assistant and continued as senior lecturer, associate professor in the Chair of Economic Cybernetics and Statistics (during the years 1991-1992 he was the head of this chair). During the years 1993-1996 he was professor of statistics and also the head of the Institute of Informatics and Economic Modelling. In the following years he worked as associate professor of statistics and retired in 2007. The new specialisation in the soviet economic education with the name “economic cybernetics” was opened at the Tartu State University in 1967 and there was an urgent need for academic staff who could teach the subjects of specialisation. Villem Tamm was assigned to teach basic principles of “economic cybernetics” and mathematical and statistical methods. He was one of the main lecturers who were teaching the specialisation subjects of “economic cybernetics” and also one of the main supervisors of students’ research papers and Diploma Thesis. He has remarkable contribution in preparation of almost 450 students, who have graduated the specialisation of “economic cybernetics”. In essence he is one of the founders of the new direction in education of economists – “economic cybernetics” - in Estonia. During his career he was teaching different statistical and mathematical planning courses in Estonian and in Russian for stationary students and for Open University students. For those students, who specialised to economic modelling, Villu was teaching subjects like principles of economics prognosis, input-output tables, Leontief’s economic equilibrium models, system analysis in economics, etc. Lot of students from Pärnu and Narva Collage, private universities of Audentes and Veritas can consider him also as their lecturer. Students evaluated him highly as a lecturer, as he was concrete in his taught subjects, he was thought-provoking and the personality to his lectures added his smugly humour. He was innovative and quickly adopted new technics and methods to modernise the teaching process. For example in 1980 he made dozens of dispositive about statistics, prepared punched card test for controlling students’ knowledge. In 2003 together with his colleague he designed a web-based course “Statistics”, which get the first price in the faculty’s competition. In total Villem Tamm has published nine textbooks and voluminous methodological materials for six courses. The way to the candidate (Ph.D) degree was not so quick. He continued his post-graduate studies in 1977 and defended Ph.D thesis (candidate in economics) in 1985. His main research areas have been very diverse: starting from the studies devoted to efficiency and effective use of labour resources, regularity of working processes up to problems and misunderstandings of statistical information. During several decades he was doing research in the field of input-output tables. From his personality Villem Tamm had good leadership abilities and as a head of different structural units he was tolerant, steady and fair leader. He had desire to motivate and direct both students and his colleagues; at the same time being dispassionate in communication and dignified in his behaviour. He was helpful and mindful of others; he had skills to solve complicated situations humanly and peacefully. During his working career he had also to fulfil different administrative obligations. He was 15 years supervisor and leader for different courses, curator of cooperation agreement between economic cybernetics from Vilnius, Latvia and Tartu Universities, member of teaching methodology commission, member of faculty’s council, etc. He was one of the founders of Estonian Statistical Society, alumni society “Hermes”, lecturer of association “Teadus” (“Science”), etc. He was participating in conducting population censuses, where he could implement his statistical knowledge and organiser’s abilities. Since the independence of Estonia he was several times leading the local election commissions during the parliament and local elections. Even if sometimes others could not see active engagement to these named and also to lot of others not mentioned activities, everything was functioning and was done at high quality.

During recent years, a syndrome of hypokinesia, dysarthria, dystonia, and postural impairment, related to intravenous use of a “designer” psychostimulant derived from pseudoephedrine using potassium permanganate as the oxidant, has been observed in drug addicts in several countries in Eastern Europe with some cases also in Western countries. A levodopa unresponsive Parkinsonian syndrome occurs within a few months of abusing the homemade drug mixture containing ephedrone (methcathinone) and manganese. The development of this neurological syndrome has been attributed to toxic effects of manganese, but the role of the psychostimulant ephedrone is unclear. This paper describes the clinical syndrome, results of neuroimaging, and therapeutic attempts.

Professor Heiki Müür had his successful professional career mainly during the soviet period. Heiki Müür was born in 1932 in Tallinn. In 1954, at the age of 22, he received the diploma from the Tallinn Technical University, honouring him as a good specialist in socialist economy. This educational background allowed him to continue the post-graduate studies in the Moscow Institute of Economics. In 1959, he defended PhD thesis (candidate in economics), and in 1976, was approved as the habilitated doctor in Economics. Heiki Müür started his academic career at the Tartu State University in 1956, working initially as a lector and later as a docent and a professor. He published several books in Estonian that were actively used by the students as well as practitioners: Management and Planning, 1964; Prices and Economic Reform, 1971; Economic Planning, 1971; Economics and National Economy (editor of the series of books, 1972-1974; National Balance and Planning (1987, co-author). During his academic career, professor Heiki Müür demonstrated good abilities for leadership working as a vice dean and the dean at Tartu State University, and after 1990s, as a head of the institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at the University of Tartu. During the years 1981-1986, he was the director of the Research Institute, which worked for the Soviet Estonian government in Tallinn; during these years, he also continued to work as a part-time professor at the university. We, as his students of the field of “economic cybernetics” (mathematical economics) and successors, appreciate particularly highly his activities and success in establishing and promoting education in mathematical economics at the Faculty of Economics of the Tartu State University. The new specialisation in the soviet economic education with the name “economic cybernetics” was opened at the Tartu State University in 1967. Professor Heiki Müür devoted lots of his energy, time and knowledge to create the school of young economists who have good knowledge in applying mathematical and statistical methods for analysing economic problems in Estonia. The knowledge in economics and research methodology of these graduates was not heavily related to the soviet rules of the economic mechanism. In collaboration with the young postgraduates, professor Müür started to develop applied research for the soviet firms examining the relationship between the working conditions and economic outcomes and implementing modern mathematical and statistical methods by conducting economic analysis. He was one of the initiators and organisers of the high scientific level economic conference on applying modern methods for analysing economic processes in Tallinn in 1981. L. Kantorovitš, the only soviet economist who got Nobel Prize (1975) in relation to elaborating and developing linear programming methods, was among the participants of the conference. Professor Heiki Müür was innovative and flexible in starting to restructure the curricula and study process at the University of Tartu after Estonia regains its independence. He was the initiator of offering new study courses in market economy not only for the students of the Faculty of Economics, but also for students from other faculties as well as for practitioners. The graduates, who obtained diploma in “economic cybernetics” and belonged to the school of the Estonian economists established by the significant contribution of professor Heiki Müür continued his work being the initiators and developers of the new economic curricula and of restructuring economic education and research in compliance with high level international requirements

Highlights • Higher weighted average size of the land parcel increases farm productivity. • Agricultural training, conventional production type increases farm productivity. • Land fragmentation is an important determinant of farm productivity. • Januszewski index has U-shape relation to farm productivity. Abstract The rising population of the world increases the need for raw materials and food. The more efficient production methods help to reduce the shortage of production and to mitigate climate change. This paper analyses the relationship between land fragmentation and farm productivity. The results show that land fragmentation measured using the Januszewski index has U-shape relationship to farm productivity: there are larger farms with many parcels which are productive, but their parcels are scattered and smaller farms, with few parcels that are also productive. We found an indicator which describes the differences in farms' productivity based on their land use – the area-weighted mean size of the parcels of one farm. This indicator is a statistically significant determinant of farm productivity. Other significant variables that are related to higher productivity are farm owners' education, farm size, farming system and production type. Agricultural land policies should consider multiple indicators and analyse different production types to intervene more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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[Display omitted] • Comparative study of americium and europium complexation with BTPhen-CH was done. • Both pure cation and its tetraaquatrinitrato complex were used as reactants. • Five different reactions were studied. • In case of pure cation europium forms the more stable complexes. • In case of tetraaquatrinitrato complex americium form the more stable complexes. 2,9-bis(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenantroline (BTPhen) based ligands have shown great promise in separation of trivalent lanthanides and actinides. Although many experimental studies have shown that americium is forming stronger complexes with the BTPhen ligands than europium, most theoretical studies have thus far failed to reproduce these results. In the current study, two different metal forms (the naked cation and its tetraaquatrinitrato complex) were used to study five different complexation reactions. It was shown that in case of naked cations europium forms the most stable complex with the 2,9-bis(1,2-diazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline (BTPhen-CH) ligand in all of the compared reactions. In case of tetraaquatrinitrato complex it was shown that europium gets a higher stabilizing effect and thus americium complexes with BTPhen-CH become the more stable form, as can be seen in the experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulation of mitochondrial respiration both by endogenous and exogenous ADP in the cells in situ was studied in isolated and permeabilized cardiomyocytes, permeabilized cardiac fibers and 'ghost' fibers (all with a diameter of 10-20 µm) at different (0-3 µmol 1[sup -1]) free Ca[sup 2+] concentrations in the medium. In all these preparations, the apparent K[sub m] of mitochondrial respiration for exogenous ADP at free Ca[sup 2+] concentrations of 0-0.1 µmol l[sup -1] was very high, in the range of 250-350 µmol 1[sup -1], in contrast to isolated mitochondria in vitro (apparent K[sub m] for ADP is approximately 20 µmol l[sup -1]). An increase in the free Ca[sup 2+] concentration (up to 3 µmol l[sup -1], which is within physiological range), resulted in a very significant decrease of the apparent K[sub m] value to 20-30 µmol l[sup -1], a decrease of V[sub max] of respiration in permeabilized intact fibers and a strong contraction of sarcomeres. In ghost cardiac fibers, from which myosin was extracted but mitochondria were intact, neither the high apparent K[sub m] for ADP (300-350 µmol 1[sup -1]) nor V[sub max] of respiration changed in the range of free Ca[sup 2+] concentration studied, and no sarcomere contraction was observed. The exogenous-ADP-trapping system (pyruvate kinase + phosphoenolpyruvate) inhibited endogenous-ADP-supported respiration in permeabilized cells by no more than 40%, and this inhibition was reversed by creatine due to activation of mitochondrial creatine kinase. These results are taken to show strong structural associations (functional complexes) among mitochondria, sarcomeres and sarcoplasmic reticulum. Inside these complexes, mitochondrial functional state is controlled by channeling of ADP, mostly via energy- and phosphoryltransfer networks, and apparently depends on the state of sarcomere structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Five BTPhen derivatives were studied to better understand lanthanide complextion. • Studied complexes contained two ligands and one lanthanide 3+ ion. • Substituting the outer nitrogen of triazine group increases the complex stability. • Substituting the inner nitrogen of triazine group lowers the complex stability. The complexation reactions between lanthanide 3+ cations and 2,9-bis(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline and its derivatives were studied with density functional theory Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functionals. The complexes consisted of one lanthanide cation and two ligand molecules. Complexation reactions were found to be exothermic and spontaneous in the gas phase. Absolute values of complextion energy and enthalpy increase in the lanthanide series and follow linear trends of lanthanide atomic number. All the bond lengths decrease in the lanthanide series with increasing charge density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]