Within business-to-business relationship marketing, boundary-spanning representatives play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining positive relations between their organizations. Spirituality, a workplace individual-level variable, is proposed to significantly influence buyer representatives' relationship formation with their seller counterparts, which subsequently affects the relationship development between organizations. Here we identify aspects of spirituality within buyer representatives and present a conceptual framework that delineates the impact of spirituality upon individual perceptions of relational constructs such as trust and commitment. Structural equation modeling analyses support the inclusion of spirituality as a relevant construct in relationship marketing research. In addition, because cultural differences are known to exist regarding the role of spirituality, the impact of spirituality upon perception within relationship marketing is addressed with data collected from both American and Chinese buying representatives. The results indicate that spirituality is significantly related to perceptions about communication, commitment, and shared values for both sets of participants.


Paramagnetic suppression in TTTA at pressure is caused by a steady decrease in the separation between moieties containing the radical electron along π-stacking chains with no phase transition.


In a recent paper Hvidding [5] derived some interesting policy implications of a non-linear Phillips curve when the unemployment rate is a random variable. Hvidding's analysis focussed on the following model:where p is the current inflation rate, u is the unemployment rate, p* is the expected inflation rate and a, b and c are constants. The influence of uncertainty in this model manifests itself in the expected value of u-1. For this Hvidding used an approximation suggested by Mood, Graybill and Boes ([6] page 181).


For Charles Peirce, the project of inquiry is a social one. Though inquiry, the passage from genuine doubt to settled belief, can be described on the individual level, its significance as a human activity is manifested in collective action. Peirce carefully described the proper method of inquiry as the "scientific method" in the 1877-8 Popular Science Monthly article series. Carried out by a community of investigators, the conclusion to be attained, given a sufficient amount of time, is what philosophers have generally referred to as Truth, its object, Reality. For any individual, Truth transcends experience and inquiry. But it does not transcend experience and inquiry altogether: is a fixed limit, an ideal, towards which a properly functioning community converges. What, in principle, makes the cohesion of such a community possible? Why did Peirce believe that convergence towards an ultimate conclusion was the necessary end of unlimited scientific inquiry? This essay examines Peirce's notion of community to answer these questions and suggests that the presence of genuine doubt not only makes convergence possible, but also constitutes the starting point for almost all inquiry. The exception is philosophical inquiry. As Douglas Browning points out in his paper "The Limits of the Practical in Peirce's View of Philosophical Inquiry" Peirce's later work describes philosophical inquiry as one type of inquiry where genuine doubt is commonly not the starting point but rather an intermediate stage resulting from cultivated doubt. How can Peirce make room for "cultivated doubt" in philosophical inquiry after he has stressed how crucial genuine doubt is in providing the objectivity necessary for an eventual convergence of belief? Taking my cue from Browning's analysis, I argue that passages in Peirce's Popular Science Monthly articles indicate that Peirce had already begun to shift away from genuine doubt as the necessary starting point for philosophical inquiry. What is the significance of this shift for the scientific community's convergence of opinion? I conclude by exploring the effects of two plausible interpretations of the shift.


Sara Bender (Brandeis University Press, 2008), xiv þ 384 pp., cloth $50.00. After his appointment in 1942 as deputy commander of the ghetto police in Białystok, Poland, Moshe Berman remarked: "If at some point a monograph is written on the ghetto, we shall deserve an honourable mention" (p. 137). His hopes are fulfilled in Sara Bender's clear narrative—a narrative that offers a fairly sympathetic rendering of the Jewish leadership within the Białystok ghetto. In telling the story of the city's Jews, Bender sensibly adopts a chronological structure to capture the radical changes they experienced living in one of Europe's border zones. But she also focuses on the unlikely relationship of two leading ghetto personalities who saw differing solutions to Nazi rule. One was the leader of the ghetto Judenrat—Ephraim Barash—and the other, the leader of the ghetto underground—Mordecai Tenenbaum. The result is an important case study that fits into broader literatures on the role of the Jewish Councils in occupied Europe and the nature of Jewish resistance in the ghettos. Bender traces the history of Jewish life in Białystok from the seventeenth century through the late nineteenth century. At the close of this period, Jews made up an extraordinary 76 percent of the total population of this industrial city. By 1936, the influx of Polish peasants into the city meant that the proportion of Jews dropped to just over 42 percent. The city changed hands between Russia and Poland a number of times around the time of the First World War. These were difficult times for the Jews, but worse was to come. In September 1939, the city was occupied briefly by the Germans. Six days left more than 100 Jews dead and more than 200 Jewish factories and homes looted. In the aftermath, the Jews welcomed the Soviet occupation—although as Bender points out, the impact of Soviet rule on Jewish economic, cultural, and religious life was largely negative. The German occupation in June 1941 brought about a radical change of fortunes for Białystok's Jews. The initial weeks of occupation were bloody; Police Battalion 309 killed more than two thousand Jewish men, including around eight hundred who were burnt alive in the synagogue. After Police Battalion 309 came the Einsatzgruppen and another wave of shootings in which several hundred Jewish men were killed. Worse was to come with the arrival of Police Battalions 322 and 316, which shot approximately four thousand Jewish men on a Sabbath in mid-July. The targeting of Jewish men points to the gendering of these initial waves of killing across the former Soviet territories. While gendered stories are implicit in Bender's account, they are not as developed as they could be, in particular given that the widows of the men killed in these early atrocities played an important role in challenging the authority of the Judenrat once the ghetto was established. After the immediate trauma of initial evacuations to Pruzhany in the fall of 1941, the ghetto settled into a period of relative "calm"; a modus vivendi of sorts was achieved between the Judenrat and the local German authorities. Because


The present study uses an integer linear programming formulation to solve the vehicles routing problem with time windows associated to a transportation process of employees, especially train conductors, of a major Brazilian logistics operator. In this problem, a daily schedule is provided for each employee, indicating the presentation, work and journeys times to be made by them. A great part of this transportation is made through outsourced cars with routes defined by the operator. In this context, this work proposes a model of Integer Linear Programming that finds the route that must be covered by each vehicle, respects the schedules and minimizes the total distance traveled. The model is applied across multiple instances generated from actual data. To do this, we use VBA programming and the UFFLP interface to solve the modeling problem.


The article is devoted to the issue of assessing the level of socio-economic development of border regions in foreign countries in the context of similar domestic experience. The analysis is based on a comparison of the countries of the world in terms of the level of interregional differentiation in terms of gross regional product per capita and a correlation analysis of the GRP per capita with the share of the titular ethnic group in the structure of the population of border regions, as a significant subjective influencing factor. The analysis shows that the deepest lag of border territories is characteristic of multi-ethnic states with administrative division along ethnic lines. A typical representative of countries with a cultural and civilizational type of border area is China, for which the correlation between the indicators of gross regional product per capita and the relative share of the titular ethnic group in the composition of the population in the border areas as of 2010 was 0.55. At the same time, by the 1920s, China should reduce the gap in the backlog of ethnic border areas to the level of the absence of a connection between the GRP indicator and the share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the provinces. The analysis shows that the cultural and civilizational type of the borderlands, characterized by a relatively low share of the titular ethnic group in the structure of the population, requires that this factor be taken into account as one of the key factors in the implementation of investment projects and integrated projects for the development of such territories. Unlike those for border areas with a relatively homogeneous population structure (spatial-economic type of border areas) with a predominance of the titular ethnic group, it is possible to limit oneself to standard approaches to stimulating economic activity and economic growth. From this point of view, the experience of developing the Tibetan and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions of China may be relevant for solving the problems of the development of Russia's ethnic borderlands.


The role of enterprise/entrepreneurship education globally whilst strongly supported, is relatively plastic. This paper steps back the various debates that relate to the expected contribution of enterprise/entrepreneurship education to contemplate the positioning of enterprise/entrepreneurship education in Higher Education. We utilize four secenarios to explore a variety of ways in which enterprise/entrepreneurship education is typically positioned. Our aim is not to determine what positioning is most appropriate for enterprise/entrepreneurship education, but rather to consider the issues associated with the four types of positioning discussed. We conclude that a united pathway forward can be built around providing genuine choice and allowing individual students to travel a learning pathway that is most appropriate to their life circumstances.


Cyclosporin (CyA) was used to treat 13 patients suffering from allergic cutaneous vasculitis (AVC) with multiple recurrences. CyA at a dose of 5 mg/kg was administered orally for the first 2 months. For the following 4 months, CyA at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg alone or in combination with prednisolone was used, depending on the clinical response. Clinical and laboratory examinations were performed once weekly throughout the study period. Seven patients remained in excellent condition under CyA (2.5 mg/kg) monotherapy. Three patients showed an excellent response to the combination of CyA (2.5 mg kg) and prednisolone (10 mg/24 h). Finally, in three patients the treatment was discontinued during the first month because the creatinine level increased by more than 30% of the initial value. This study shows that CyA alone or in combination with prednisolone is an effective treatment for ACV with multiple recurrences.


Recent advances in Beam Optics Analyzer include anisotropic materials implemented within the finite element framework, higher order interpolation for thermal and stress analyses, and smoother, more efficient shapelets method to construct current density on 3D surfaces


This study was conducted in an effort to determine whether or not the degree of growth in practical skills, personal and social development, and knowledge of subject matter content which an adolescent demonstrates is significantly related to the assumption of leadership roles in the classroom.


Cepheid microDiagnostics systems cover the full range of biochemical processing required to yield an analytical result from sample collection, to nucleic acid extraction, concentration, and amplification, to detection. While others focus on nano-liters and pico-liters of fluids, Cepheid has developed systems for processing real-life, practical biological samples, from microliters to milliliters.


The paper deals with the quickest detection of intensity change for Poisson process. We show that the generalized Bayesian formulation of the quickest detection problem can be reduced to the conditional-extremal optimal stopping problem for a piecewise-deterministic Markov process. For this problem the optimal procedure is described and its characteristics are found.


Abstract α-Cyclodextrin mainly underwent monoiodo substitution on treatment with N-iodosuccinimide and triphenylphosphine in DMF, giving 6-monodeoxy-6-monoiodo-α-cyclodextrin. A small amount of 6,6′-dideoxy-6,6′-diiodo-α-cyclodextrin was also obtained as a by-product. The structures of these compounds were elucidated from their elemental analyses and 13C NMR spectra.


Adnexal torsion is rare before menarche. We report the case of a 10‐year‐old girl with persistent left lower quadrant pain proven by surgery to be caused by adnexal torsion due to a hemorrhagic cyst. Sonography showed a well‐defined, complex, predominantly solid mass with some sound through‐transmission and a small amount of fluid. The left ovary could not be distinguished from the mass; the right ovary appeared normal. Doppler sonography demonstrated no blood flow within the mass. MRI revealed a circumferential region of high signal intensity in the periphery of the mass and multiple hyperintense foci in the left ovary. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 29:200–202, 2001.


Despite, customer relationship management (CRM) has reengineered the traditional marketing practices and recently gained wide attention in business and literature as an essential approach for achieving competitive advantage and profitability few works empirically investigated the impact of implementing CRM on marketing innovation capabilities in construction industry and particularly in developing countries context. In responding to this call, the current study aimed at helping to narrow the existing research gap in the literature and contribute to the accumulated knowledge by (1) empirically examining the effects of implementing the new dimensions of customer relationships on enhancing marketing innovation capabilities. (2) assessing the mediating role of CRM readiness in the relationship between CRM implementation and marketing innovation capability; (3) developing and validating a structural equation model for predicting the construction companies' marketing innovation capabilities; and (4) determining the extent to which the new multidimensional approach of CRM is actually applied in construction industry. A multi-stage research methodology was utilized, combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to validate the research model and empirically test the hypothesized relationships. The research design involved a cross-sectional national sample survey for data collection during September to November 2016 (n=186). The developed questionnaire was pretested and feedback from the pre-test and the panel of experts used to revise the survey instrument. The reliability analysis was taken for each construct and the results showed that the value of Cronbach's alpha of every construct is significantly higher than the reliability acceptable level (ranging from 0.81 to 0.94). Also exploratory factor analysis was used to evaluate the construct validity and the results demonstrate acceptable standard. The evidence of a good fit, reliability and validity indicated that the measurement model deemed appropriate for testing the structural model that demonstrated highly explanatory power. The results indicated that strengthen the completeness of CRM new dimensions can establish lifetime value based on sustainable relationship and in turn enhance construction company competitive advantage and marketing innovation capability. As the current research offered a multidimensional approach of CRM differs than the traditional perspective of CRM, the results can help practitioners and construction companies to develop more customized CRM practices as well as overcoming the barriers of both organizational and technical CRM readiness. Unlike previous studies with similar objectives, this study taken a further significant step in contributing to both theory and practice and expand the research scope through integrating the most critical antecedent predictors, into one framework subject to examination for validation and relationship. Therefore, the structural research model contained variables that have not been examined simultaneously.


Objective To discuss demand of health knowledge of members of patients' family and improve the status of family support so as to enhance the cure rate and reduce incidence of tuberculosis. Methods Health knowledge level in the members of tuberculosis patients' family concerning the control of tuberculosis and demand for health knowledge, sterilization, isolated and preventive measures were surveyed and the results were analyzed. Results 93.18% of the members in tuberculosis patients' family needed tuberculosis knowledge, preventive measures and sterilizing methods; 86.82% of them wanted to know the therapeutic effect and adverse effect of the drugs. 84.09% of them wanted to understand the relationship between cigarette smoking and tuberculosis. 65.91% of them concerned with the results of prognosis and the date rehabilitation. Conclusion Attention be paid to the demand of health knowledge by the members of tuberculosis patients' family and proper health education be carried out so as to form a sound and comprehensive social and psychological support system for the good of tuberculosis patients and their families.


The utility of flow simulations relies on the robustness of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solvers and reproducibility of results. The aim of this study was to validate the Oasis CFD solver against in vitro experimental measurements of jet breakdown location from the FDA nozzle benchmark at Reynolds number 3500, which is in the particularly challenging transitional regime. Simulations were performed on meshes consisting of 5, 10, 17, and 28 million (M) tetrahedra, with Δt  =  10−5 seconds. The 5M and 10M simulation jets broke down in reasonable agreement with the experiments. However, the 17M and 28M simulation jets broke down further downstream. But which of our simulations are "correct"? From a theoretical point of view, they are all wrong because the jet should not break down in the absence of disturbances. The geometry is axisymmetric with no geometrical features that can generate angular velocities. A stable flow was supported by linear stability analysis. From a physical point of view, a finite amount of "noise" will always be present in experiments, which lowers transition point. To replicate noise numerically, we prescribed minor random angular velocities (approximately 0.31%), much smaller than the reported flow asymmetry (approximately 3%) and model accuracy (approximately 1%), at the inlet of the 17M simulation, which shifted the jet breakdown location closer to the measurements. Hence, the high‐resolution simulations and "noise" experiment can potentially explain discrepancies in transition between sometimes "sterile" CFD and inherently noisy "ground truth" experiments. Thus, we have shown that numerical simulations can agree with experiments, but for the wrong reasons.


Self-learning comes from a personal desire to gain knowledge which paves way to success. If we learn to find more information about a topic, and it is used for a particular purpose it is enjoyable, leading to good results. Self-learning must occur naturally and it happens out of curiosity. If one is motivated to learn oneself rather than outside sources there is a possibility of acquiring knowledge . Among many mode of learning such as you tube tutorials, webinars, books, we can choose one that suits best for us and most engaging. Though it is challenging, it requires lots of discipline. If we get ready to learn, have clear learning goals, ability to decide which tools are best for us, clear idea of deciding to the suitable assessment, Self-learning enables us to learn what we want and tends to be more effective than instructional learning.


AND ll~~~~~~~~~g~ MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER" UPON CONSIDERATION of the defendant's motions of November 30, 1977, to quash a subpoena duces tecum and for a protective order, and for the reasons stated in the opinion accompanying this order, IT IS ORDERED that the defendant's motions to quash a subpoena duces tecum and for a protective order, as captioned above, be and the same are hereby granted.


Studies with the homodimeric recombinant human macrophage colony‐stimulating factor beta (rhM‐CSFβ), show for the first time that a large number (9) of disulfide linkages can be reduced after amide hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange, and the protein digested and analyzed successfully for the isotopic composition by electrospray mass spectrometry. Analysis of amide H/D after exchange‐in shows that in solution the conserved four‐helix bundle of (rhM‐CSFβ) has fast and moderately fast exchangeable sections of amide hydrogens in the αA helix, and mostly slow exchanging sections of amide hydrogens in the αB, αC, and αD helices. Most of the amide hydrogens in the loop between the β1 and β4 sheets exhibited fast or moderately fast exchange, whereas in the amino acid 63–67 loop, located at the interface of the two subunits, the exchange was slow. Solvent accessibility as measured by H/D exchange showed a better correlation with the average depth of amide residues calculated from reported X‐ray crystallographic data for rhM‐CSFα than with the average B‐factor. The rates of H/D exchange in rhM‐CSFβ appear to correlate well with the exposed surface calculated for each amino acid residue in the crystal structure except for the αD helix. Fast hydrogen isotope exchange throughout the segment amino acids 150–221 present in rhM‐CSFβ, but not rhM‐CSFα, provides evidence that the carboxy‐terminal region is unstructured. It is, therefore, proposed that the anomalous behavior of the αD helix is due to interaction of the carboxy‐terminal tail with this helical segment.


Conventional bacteriology techniques and quantitative polymerase-chain reaction (qPCR) were applied to the eggshell, albumen, and yolk of washed and unwashed commercial white and brown eggs, to detect Salmonella spp. Pooled samples of eggshells, albumen, and yolk of white and brown eggs were collected at the poultry house and at the egg-storage room. Salmonella spp. was detected by conventional bacteriology in 5.4% (21/387) of analyzed samples and in 16% (68/387) by qPCR. In the 114 unwashed white eggs samples of eggshell, albumen and yolk, the bacterium was identified in 2.6% of the eggs (3/114) by conventional bacteriology and in 13.2% (15/114) by qPCR. In the 90 samples of washed eggs, 6.7% (6/90) were contaminated as detected by conventional bacteriology and 10.0% (9/90) by qPCR. In the 81 samples of unwashed brown eggs, Salmonella spp. was detected in 6.1% of the eggs (5/81) by conventional bacteriology and 27.2% (22/81) by qPCR. In the 102 samples of brown washed eggs, 6.9% (7/102) where positive by conventional bacteriology and 35.3% (16/102) by qPCR. All samples detected as positive by conventional bacteriology were also positive by qPCR. Salmonella Agona represented 18.2% (4/22) of identified serovars, Salmonella enterica subs. enterica O: 4.5 18.2% (4/22), Salmonella Schwarzengrund 18.2% (4/22), Salmonella Cerro 13.6% (3/22), Salmonella Anatum 13.6% (3/22), Salmonella Enteritidis 9.1% (2/22), Salmonella Johannesburg 4.5% (1/22), and Salmonella Corvallis 4.5% (1/22). The qPCR method provided better detection of Salmonella spp. in commercial eggs than conventional bacteriology. The conventional egg washing and disinfection procedures are not efficient to eliminate Salmonella.


Simple Summary Improving stakeholder attitudes to livestock welfare may help to facilitate the better welfare that is increasingly demanded by the public for livestock. Knowledge of the existing attitudes towards the welfare of livestock during transport and slaughter provides a starting point that may help to target efforts. We compared the attitudes of different stakeholders within the livestock industries in east (E) and southeast (SE) Asia. Farmers were more motivated to improve animal welfare during transport and slaughter by peer pressure, business owners by monetary gain, and business managers by what is prescribed by their company. Veterinarians showed the most support for improving animal welfare. The results suggest that the role that stakeholders play in their sector of the livestock industry must be considered when attempting to change attitudes towards animal welfare during transport and slaughter. Abstract Stakeholders in the livestock industry are in a position to make critical choices that directly impact on animal welfare during slaughter and transport. Understanding the attitudes of stakeholders in livestock-importing countries, including factors that motivate the stakeholders to improve animal welfare, can lead to improved trade relations with exporting developed countries and improved animal welfare initiatives in the importing countries. Improving stakeholder attitudes to livestock welfare may help to facilitate the better welfare that is increasingly demanded by the public for livestock. Knowledge of the existing attitudes towards the welfare of livestock during transport and slaughter provides a starting point that may help to target efforts. This study aimed to investigate the animal welfare attitudes of livestock stakeholders (farmers, team leaders, veterinarians, business owners, business managers, and those working directly with animals) in selected countries in E and SE Asia (China, Thailand, Viet Nam, and Malaysia). The factors that motivated them to improve animal welfare (in particular their religion, knowledge levels, monetary gain, the availability of tools and resources, more pressing community issues, and the approval of their supervisor and peers) were assessed for their relationships to stakeholder role and ranked according to their importance. Stakeholder roles influenced attitudes to animal welfare during livestock transport and slaughter. Farmers were more motivated by their peers compared to other stakeholders. Business owners reported higher levels of motivation from monetary gain, while business managers were mainly motivated by what was prescribed by the company for which they worked. Veterinarians reported the highest levels of perceived approval for improving animal welfare, and all stakeholder groups were least likely to be encouraged to change by a 'western' international organization. This study demonstrates the differences in attitudes of the major livestock stakeholders towards their animals' welfare during transport and slaughter, which advocacy organisations can use to tailor strategies more effectively to improve animal welfare. The results suggest that animal welfare initiatives are more likely to engage their target audience when tailored to specific stakeholder groups.


Solving the problem of processing grain material during storage is a very important issue. After all, the issue of grain losses is a priority in the world; it being under the control of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and especially for the territory of Ukraine, as Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of grain in the world. Therefore, solving the problem of sound processing of grain products on retention of their varietal properties is a currently urgent problem. Based on the analysis of the existing scientific publications and research of modern methods of processing grain products according to the criterion of efficiency in storage of grain material, the advantages and disadvantages of chemical, biological and electrophysical methods of grain processing during storage have been considered. An alternative is to use extremely high frequency and ultra-high frequency method, which has advantages over the existing electrophysical, biological and chemical treatment methods. The use of the method of extremely high frequency and ultra-high frequency of irradiation is extremely efficient against pests, as it affects living cells by destroying them from inside. The method is not counter-indicative for the human body and the biological indicators of cereals have been improved, because the method has a positive effect on the processed grain by stimulating the organelles of the seed cell and satisfying the modern needs of agriculture. The article forms a table with the analyzed methods of seed treatment, which includes the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The data presented in the materials of the article can be used to effectively choose the method of processing depending on the conditions and subsequent use of grain


The importance of UVA in skin cancer and human health has been a matter of continuing debate for at least two decades. It is an important question because UVA accounts for up to 95% of the UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface and penetrates more deeply into the skin, where putative targets of skin cancer (i.e., melanocytes and basal keratinocytes) reside. UVA is problematic in several respects. First, whereas most sunscreens block UVB, only 'fullspectrum' sunscreens block UVA and are more commonly available in Europe than in the United States. Second, although UVA is considered a 'safe' alternative to full sunlight by the tanning industry, indoor tanning during youth is associated with a 75% increased risk of melanoma, especially in women (Zhang et al., 2012). The high-pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit predominantly UVA at a dose rate as much as 12 times that of the sun and unavoidably emit small amounts of UVB. Data from the FDA show that, regardless of extensive public warnings of the dangers of UV exposure and skin cancer, 30 million Americans use indoor tanning at least once a year. Indoor tanning is a burgeoning industry in the United States and Europe, marketed as a healthy alternative to sun exposure because it promotes vitamin D metabolism, regardless of the fact that UVA is relatively ineffective in promoting vitamin D synthesis. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) placed tanning devices in the highest-risk category for cancer with the same potential carcinogenicity as cigarette smoke. We have long known that UVA is a complete carcinogen and can, by itself, induce squamous cell carcinoma in animal models. However, the role of UVA in melanoma does not lie on the same solid experimental footing as carcinoma. The reasons for this are due to the fact that melanoma is a much more complex disease process compared to carcinoma, which is clearly associated with chronic sunlight exposure and sun-exposed body sites. In contrast, melanoma does not correlate with accumulated sunlight exposure and can occur on body sites rarely exposed to sunlight (i.e., sporadic melanoma). And, whereas the 'signature mutations' of sunlight occur with regularity in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes of skin carcinomas, their association with melanoma is not clear. Efforts made by experimental scientists using a number of vertebrate animal models have not been consistent with the epidemiological evidence implicating UVA in human melanoma. Whereas exposure of neonates to UVB can induce melanoma at significant frequencies, similar exposures to UVA do not induce melanoma. Current research suggests that UVA may not be able to initiate melanoma but, along with UVB and endogenous oxidative processes, may play an important role in its progression. A new study conveyed in Nature Communications entitled Melanoma induction by UVA but not UVB radiation requires melanin pigment makes a significant advance in our understanding of the mechanisms contributing to melanoma formation. In a nutshell, this study by Frances Noonan, Ed De Fabo, and associates shows that 'melanoma induction by UVA requires the presence of melanin' and that 'UVB initiates melanoma in a pigment-independent manner associated with UVB DNA damage'. To briefly summarize, although hepatocyte growth factor ⁄ scatter factor (HGF) transgenic mice have been used for several years in melanoma studies, this is the first study that directly compares the responses of pigmented and nonpigmented HGF models in the same genetic background to different wavelengths of solar UV. The onset, frequency, and multiplicity of melanoma were significantly increased in pigmented C57BL ⁄ 6-HGF black mice versus C57BL ⁄ 6-c-HGF albino mice after neonatal (3 days old) exposure to sunlamp UVA ⁄ UVB. The absence of melanomas observed in the albino transgenics after UVA concurred with that observed previously in FVB-HGF mice treated with the same UVA source. In contrast, the pigmented C57BL ⁄ 6-HGF mice showed significant levels of spontaneous melanoma in the absence of any UV and a significant increase over background after a single dose of UVA. A notable distinction between the HGF mice and wild-type mice is the sustained constitutive synthesis of pigment, mostly eumelanin, in the skin. A substantial increase in melanin was even evident between 3 and 5 days of age. The authors conclude that melanoma induction by UVA is dependent on the presence of pigment and that melanoma induction by UVB is melanin independent. Because UVA induction of cyclobutane dimers in the C57BL ⁄ 6-HGF mice was comparable with that measured in albino FVB-HGF mice, direct damage by UVA could not be responsible for melanoma. In contrast, oxidative damage was found to be significantly greater in the UVAbut not in UVB-irradiated C57BL ⁄ 6-HGF mice compared to the wild-type and albino strains. These data, combined with studies showing peak melanin free radical production within the UVA (Wood et al., 2006) and reduced repair of oxidative damage in melanocytes (Wang et al., 2010), suggest that oxidative damage may be important in UVAinduced melanoma. The authors draw several important conclusions from this study. First, they confirm that UVB is the predominant pathway in the induction of melanoma by sunlight and is probably the major contributor to the increasing melanoma incidence in the general population associated with global decreases in stratospheric ozone and increased recreational exposure. Second, they convincingly show that UVA induces melanoma in the skin contingent on melanogenesis and independent from direct DNA damage. Thus, a mechanism is described whereby UVA may be linked to the increased melanoma rates ascribed to the indoor tanning industry. Third, dysregulation of melanin synthesis in this animal model can induce melanoma in the absence of UV radiation. This observation is important Coverage on: Noonan, F.P., Zaidi, M.R., WolnickaGlubisz, A., Anver, M.R., Bahn, J., Wielgus, A., Cadet, J., Douki, T., Mouret, S., Tucker, M.A., Popratiloff, A., Merlino, G., De Fabo, E.C. (2012). Melanoma induction by ultraviolet A but not ultraviolet B radiation requires melanin pigment. Nat. Commun. Jun 6; 3, 884.


A major practical lMt to the size of antennas in space is the oinimra feasible mass per dt reflecting area. To achieve lov antenna mass the reflector could be constructed fra a wire mesh or metalized plastic film. This structure has little Inherent aechanical rigidity, but rigidity can be achieved by feedback control of surface deflections at many points. For geodesic reflectors with flat facets, for instance, D/93E6 control points are required to achieve an rms surface tolerance of E for an antenna with aperture diameter D and focal length 6D. Simple electrostatic actuators are considered which can reduce this required number of control points by a factor of 10 or more. As antenna geometry is adjusted to achieve increasingly precise electrostatic reflector figure control, the reflector will begin to exhibit RayleighTaylor instabilities. It can be advantageous to operate within this unstable regbe because achievable DIE, and hence antenna bddth and gain, scale as 2, M-2, and M respectively, where M is the number of successfully stabilized reflector deflection modes. The origin and essential elments of this control problem are described and a control approach is proposed.. A laboratory demonstration of three successfully stabilized modes on a met,er-square wire mesh is also described which suggests that electrostaticallyfigured antennas with 6 as small as 1 could perhaps achieve beamwldths of 1 to 10 arc-seconds. 4


Abstract 523 Introduction. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the treatment of choice for acquired severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients with a matched sibling donor. A previous study has shown that bone marrow (BM) HSCT from matched sibling donors, result in significantly improved survival, as compared to peripheral blood (PB) grafts, but only in patients under the age of 20 years (Blood. 2007; 110: 1397); the advantage for older patients was not statistically significant. That study included 692 patients, of whom 134 had received PB transplants. Methods. In this study we evaluated in a larger data set of the EBMT Working Party for SAA, whether the advantage of BM over PB was maintained with longer follow up, whether the difference was significant only in young patients, and also whether we could identify other prognostic factors. We have thus analyzed 1936 patients with acquired aplastic anemia (AA), who received a matched sibling transplant between 1998 and 2009. There were 1194 BM and 742 PB transplants: the median age was 18 years (1-68) for BM and 24 years (1-69) for PB grafts. Results. The overall actuarial 10 year survival for the entire population was 74%. In univariate analysis the actuarial 10 year survival was 81% vs 67% (p 100 days; 85% vs 75% (p multivariate COX analysis with the following variables: year of transplant as a continuous variable, age ( 20 years), interval diagnosis transplant (Dx-Tx) ( 100 days), previous immunosuppressive therapy (yes no), anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) in the conditioning (yes no) and stem cells source (BM/PB). Favorable predictors of survival in multivariate analysis comprised: transplant year (p 20 years (75% vs 66%, p=0.001). Although patient numbers become smaller, the survival advantage for BM (n=202) over PB (n=289) was maintained, and if anything increased, above the age of 40 years (65% vs 45% p=0.003). The crude percentage of total deaths was 14% in BM and 27% in PB grafts (p Conclusions. This study confirms that BM should be the preferred stem cell source for first matched sibling transplants in acquired aplastic anemia, in all age groups. It also suggests that ATG may further improve results, in keeping with data from Seattle (Br J Haematol. 2005; 130:747); a prospective trial had failed to show an advantage for patients receiving ATG (Blood 2007; 109: 4582) but this may have been due to small numbers of patients. Early referral and early transplants for eligible patients, remain an important factors for improved outcome. Whether PB could play a role in second transplant after engraftment failure or in heavily sensitized patients is unknown and should be evaluated separately. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a common neuropsychological measure sensitive to cognitive changes among older adults. This article objective to compare the performance in the CDT among Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and elderly health. Seventy elderly, over 60 years old, of both gender, were selected 47 as controls and 23 with AD. The mean and the standard deviation scores in the CDT were 7.8±2.2 for the control group and 4.9±2.3 for de group with AD (p<0.001). The effect size was calculated in 1.30 with 34.5% of overlapping. The CDT can be used as an instrument of screening to help in the diagnosis of the elderly with dementia. However, the performance in the CDT is not a good predictor of the dementia in the initial stages of the AD due to the great amount of overlapping with the normal elderly.


The "Software as a Service" (SaaS) model of cloud computing popularized online multiuser collaborative software. Two famous examples of this class of software are Office 365 from Microsoft and Google Workspace. Cloud technology removes the need to install and update the software on end users' computers and provides the necessary underlying infrastructure for online collaboration. However, to provide a good end-user experience, cloud services require an infrastructure able to scale up to the task and allow low-latency interactions with a variety of users worldwide. This is a limiting factor for actors that do not possess such infrastructure. Unlike cloud computing which forgets the computational and interactional capabilities of end users' devices, the edge computing paradigm promises to exploit them as much as possible. To investigate the potential of edge computing over cloud computing, this paper presents a method for engineering interactive collaborative software supported by edge devices for the replacement of cloud computing resources. Our method is able to handle user interface aspects such as connection, execution, migration, and disconnection differently depending on the available technology. We exemplify our approach by developing a distributed Pictionary game deployed in two scenarios: a nonshared scenario where each participant interacts only with their own device and a shared scenario where participants also share a common device, including a TV. After a theoretical comparative study of edge vs. cloud computing, an experiment compares the two implementations to determine their effect on the end user's perceived experience and latency vs. real latency.


wielded by PR fi rms operated alongside military reconnaissance as a bulwark against the Soviet threat. Mingus does a good job at giving nuance to potentially highly polemical subject matter, such as the contradictions of denazifi cation, or how the Western Allies consistently violated treaty agreements with the Soviets outlined at Yalta and Potsdam leading to the Berlin blockade. However, at times it can read too much like a dissertation, overburdened with details like a failed concept for a PR contract bid to represent West Germany in the US. Moreover, the work is short and somewhat limited in scope; those specifi cally interested in denazifi cation or remapping East Germany will have to continue elsewhere. Nevertheless, Mingus presents an important contribution to a timely subject, as supranational institutions birthed during this time, like NATO and the European Union, are called into question and remapped.


Biopolymers are receiving more and more attention as alternatives to synthetic polymers in several technological processes ranging from environmental, food and health applications. Among them, chitosan is one of the most promising, being produced from heterogenous alkaline de-Nacetylation of chitin. Chitosan exhibits several attractive and promising biological activities such as hemostatic, antimicrobial and immunostimulant. Nonchemically modified chitosan is only soluble at acid pH. Therefore, pH and acid solvents, affect its antibacterial activity. In this work, several biological properties of chitosans such as, anti-bacterial, coagulant, flocculant and biofilm formation capability upon Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Escherichia coli have been explored . INTRODUCTION


In order to stabilize the unstable Couette flow by boundary conditions we construct a discrete analogue of the algorithm proposed for the differential case by A. V. Fursikov. We carry out a complete stabilization computation cycle and discuss the results obtained.


This article provides insight into the entwinement of the allegedly neutral category of handedness with questions of sex/gender, reproduction, dis/ability, and scientific authority. In the 1860s, Paul Broca suggested that the speech centre sat in the left brain hemisphere in most humans, and that right-handedness stemmed from this asymmetry. One century later, British psychologists Marian Annett and Chris McManus proposed biologically unconfirmed theories of how handedness and brain asymmetry were passed on in families. Their idea to integrate chance into genetic models of handedness was novel, and so was their use of computerized statistics to parse out the incidence of handedness genotypes and phenotypes. Notwithstanding significant conceptual and methodological overlaps, McManus and Annett did not collaborate and proposed competing theories. I analyse the sexed/gendered dimensions of their controversy by drawing on published literature, unpublished documents, and oral history interviews. I first attend to the epistemological importance of sex/gender. Both psychologists published several iterations of their models, which increasingly relied on questions of sex/gender and reproduction. Annett additionally linked handedness with stereotypically gendered cognitive abilities. Second, I argue that using masculine-coded computer technologies contributed to Annett's professional marginalization whereas similar methods endowed McManus with surplus authority. Finally, I show that Annett's complicity in stabilizing sociocultural hierarchies within her theory mirrored her personal experience of marginalization based on sex/gender, age, education, and lack of institutional affiliation. This analysis exemplifies the entanglement of cognitive and social factors in scientific controversies and adds to the literature on 20th-century British women psychologists.


The various influential factors existed in iodized table salt automatically are researched in detail,and the new conception'paralel feed with double pump' is introduced.It is not only used to iodize table salt automatically but also applied to add microelement,including Se and so on.Meanwhile,it is of quite pratical value.


The reservoir, which cannot be found or identified directly by nowadays theory and technique, could be all called as subtle reservoir. It can be classified by discrimination difficulties, concealed modes, oil and gas accumulated dynamics mechanism, and it was put forward by the concealment of trap and difficulty of exploration discovery. So its meaning and content change with the development of exploration techniques as well as exploration theory. It should not be equaled to lithologic stratigraphic reservoir or nonstructural reservoir as some specific reservoirs would be ignored if only the two latter ones are regarded. Lithologic stratigraphic reservoirs are still the major exploration emphasis in subtle reservoirs which is a general expression of all the nonstructural traps and includes some structural reservoirs that are difficult to find nowadays.


The theory of Schur and Schubert polynomials is revisited in this paper from the point of view of generalized Thom polynomials. When we apply a general method to compute Thom polynomials for this case we obtain a new definition for (double versions of) Schur and Schubert polynomials: they will be solutions of interpolation problems.


Simulation models for the engine,generator and controlling systems of the auxiliary power unit(APU) were established by Matlab/Simulink.Controls for engine's speed and generator's torque were implemented by decoupling control.Finally,the target that the required power of the system can be followed by the actual power quickly was achieved by the model.


Two events have fundamentally altered the trajectory of the post-war German–American relationship into the twenty-first century: the American response to the existential challenge posed to open societies by those aligned with the purposes and methods of al-Qaeda and the Taliban; and the destabilisation of the global economy initiated with the collapse of the international financial system in 2008 conjoined to the largely uncoordinated national policy responses to the ensuing global recession that bears realistic comparison with the twentieth century's Great Depression. Both episodes illustrate Germany's relative decline as a key partner on many issues at the top of the American foreign policy agenda and may be traced to the changed strategic context of the transatlantic area, the rising strategic and economic importance of China for the United States, and Germany's continuing inability and unwillingness to assume a proportionately robust and responsible role towards meeting the challenges posed by growing global disorder.


It is pointed out that the shear strength of cemented soil improved with calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) crystal is enhanced by decrease in saturation degree during precipitation. In this study, improvement efficiency of liquefaction resistance enhanced through controlling saturation degree (from 20 to 100%) and CaCO 3 content (from 0 to 1%) was investigated by undrained cyclic triaxial tests for coarse and fine sand specimens. Enzymatically Mediated Calcite Precipitation (EMCP) technique was employed to precipitate CaCO 3 . SEM-EDX was utilized to observe calcium carbonate crystal on the sand grain surface and to identify the crystal. It was found that, in EMCP with controlling saturation degree during precipitation, high efficiency in liquefaction mitigation was provided to finer sand including larger crystal.


The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between job insecurity, burnout, engagement and coping of workers in a local government organisation. A crosssectional survey design was used. The Job Insecurity Questionnaire, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the COPE Questionnaire were administered together with a biographical questionnaire. Results indicate that participants experience low levels of job insecurity and burnout and high levels of engagement. The Pearson product correlation shows that job insecurity are related to burnout, that burnout has a negative correlation with engagement and coping and that a positive relationship exists between engagement and coping. Finally, regression analysis shows that nine percent of variance in burnout, as measured by the OLBI, can be predicted by total job insecurity and job insecurity can thus partially be used in the prediction of burnout.


The latest molecular biology methods, in particular, bacterial 16S rRNA sequencing, makes it possible to reveal the diversity of the ocular surface microbiota and expand the list of the most common types identified by cultural methods. Most metagenomic sequencing results confirm that Corynebacterium, Propionibacterium, and Staphylococcus are dominant on the healthy ocular surface. However, the obtained data point to differences in the microbial spectrum among people. Factors explaining this variability are currently unknown, in particular, to what extent it is related to people and their environment, and to what extent they are artificial, i.e. brought in from outside. Describing the microorganisms on the ocular surface is not easy due to the possible risk of bacterial contamination. More research is needed, including better experimental studies, to avoid bias in the study of the role of the ocular surface microbiome in relation to healthy and pathological conditions. In particular, the study of strain heterogeneity, overlaps, taxonomic composition and functional profile of the healthy eye surface microbiome are important for drug development, especially those based on probiotics, for the treatment of eye diseases. Key words: ocular surface of a healthy person, ocular microbiome, ocular microbiota, microbial flora, cultural method, identification by the 16S rRNA marker gene, metagenomic sequencing


Silica-scaled chrysophytes were studied in the region of the Czech-Moravian Highlands. A total of 40 taxa were found. Species Paraphysomonas butcheri was recorded for the first time from the territory of the Czech Republic. Synura petersenii was the most abundant species. The composition of the flora is typical of vernal phytoplankton.


We report on emission spectra of iron in the extreme ultraviolet recorded at an electron density of ∼1011 cm−3 on the Lawrence Livermore electron beam ion trap facility. We present a summary of the observed emission lines, including wavelengths and emission intensities, and present spectra of pure Fe xiv through Fe xvi emission derived from our measurements in the 40–100 Å wavelength range. We show that spectral models, especially the current version of CHIANTI v10.0, describe the M-shell emission from these three charge states of iron reasonably well, and we are able to verify several transitions in CHIANTI for the first time.


Systems of multiple sources of energy (SMSEs) are electric systems composed by two or more sources of energy, renewable and not renewable, to generate electrical energy. In this paper, SMSEs are modeled and analyzed as a hybrid system by the use of the formalism differential hybrid Petri nets. In this manner, the objective is to study SMSEs by the use of methods to obtain a more accurate analysis of the system taking into account the interactions among their dynamics, aiding the planners of these systems during the specification phases, development and project. In summary, SMSEs with different operating profiles, depending on system complexity and operation strategy, can be analyzed with regard to their impact on energy storage system performance.


The Endangered Species Act of 1973 ("ESA") is among the most powerful environmental statutes passed in U.S. history and serves as a blueprint for government-sanctioned conservation efforts globally. At its core, the ESA seeks to protect listed plant and animal species by prohibiting actions that harm their chances of survival. While the ESA has generally succeeded in pursuing this goal as implemented, it has also led to a host of problems that undermine its effectiveness and generated widespread discontent among conflicting, disparate stakeholders, including environmentalists, industry groups, government agencies, and private landowners. Criticisms of the ESA generally focus on several issues including its procedural inconsistency and the perceived indiscriminate harshness of its land-use restrictions. However, the greatest shortcoming of the ESA underpins all these concerns: its failure to achieve its stated objective of widespread and efficient species recovery. As climate change, habitat destruction, and other major, anthropogenic threats to biodiversity continue to mount on a global scale, the need to preserve biodiversity for present and future generations, as well as the attendant ecological, economic, and cultural benefits, is greater than ever.
This Comment contends that the ESA is a critical statute whose failure to achieve species recovery is not only its greatest weakness but also its greatest opportunity for reform. The Comment begins by exploring why the ESA has thus far failed to achieve widespread species recovery, in particular the issues of insufficient funding and the legal unenforceability of recovery plans. Next, this Comment argues that the ESA can achieve higher rates of species recovery through basic, common-sense changes to the present ESA. These measures include (1) establishing a recovery budgeting committee that analyzes the effectiveness of prescribed management actions and recommends allocation of funding based on a comprehensive framework and (2) amending the ESA to make adherence to management actions in recovery plans binding on the acting agency, with procedures for revising management actions in the face of new information. The Comment concludes by charging that in strengthening the ESA's commitment to recovery, the Act may function more effectively while reconciling the interests of juxtaposed stakeholders.


In order to study the flow characteristics of seawater-ice crystals two-phase flow in the polar cruise seawater pipeline system, the curved pipe in the pipeline system is taken as the research object. Through numerical simulation, the effects of different initial conditions on the flow of seawater-ice crystal two-phase flow in curved pipe are analyzed, and the flow analysis results are obtained. The results show that in the curved pipe, the fluid is separated at the bend, and the pressure loss at the corner of the curved pipe is the most serious; the increase of the flow rate and the IPF (ice packing factor) will cause the ice crystals to gather toward the center; when the fluid has a high IPF, the ice crystals can be converted into a symmetric distribution state by being concentrated on the inner wall surface of the pipe at a relatively low flow rate; in the range of 0.5 m/s-2 m/s, the increase in fluid velocity has a significant effect on the distribution of ice crystals, and when the fluid velocity exceeds 2 m/s, the increase in flow rate has no significant effect on the distribution of ice crystals.


References to signiflcant design information for a steam generator in a gas-cooled reactor system are presented. Papers concerning heat transfer and pressure drop correlations for gas flow across banks of bare and circular finned tubes and for subcooled waters boiling water, and superheated steam flow inside pipes are listed and briefly discussed. (auth)


Abstract: Combined appearance of different cardiovascular risk factors seems to be more prevalent in individuals with decreased insulin sensitivity and increased visceral obesity, thereby being components of the so‐called metabolic syndrome or syndrome X. Alterations in the abundance and activity of transcription factors lead to complex dysregulation of gene expression, which might be a key to understand insulin resistance‐associated clinical clustering of coronary risk factors at the cellular or gene regulatory level. Recent examples are members of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily—for example, peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptors (PPARs) and sterol regulatory element‐binding proteins (SREBPs). Besides their regulation by metabolites and nutrients, these transcription factors are also targets of hormones (like insulin and leptin), growth factors, inflammatory signals, and drugs. Major signaling pathways coupling transcription factors to extracellular stimuli are the MAP kinase cascades. We have recently shown that SREBPs appear to be substrates of MAP kinases and propose that SREBP‐1 might play a role in the development of cellular features belonging to lipid toxicity and possibly syndrome X. Thus, the metabolic syndrome appears to be not only a disease or state of altered glucose tolerance, plasma lipid levels, blood pressure, and body fat distribution, but rather a complex clinical phenomenon of dysregulated gene expression.


There is a virtual stampede in Washington, D.C., to cut federal taxes paid by individuals. If the Republicans have their way with a $1.6 trillion tax reduction package over the next decade (which is really at least $2.1 trillion once we account for the extra federal interest costs that will result from the tax cut), there will be nothing left for discretionary spending. Cynics would say that's the objective of the tax cuts— to reduce the role of government. If the cynics are right, the audacity of the major tax cut proponents is breathtaking. Even if we believe that the budget surplus projections will come true—a questionable assumption—the tax cuts being proposed by President Bush are risky business. They will impose hardships not only on people today, but also on people 20 and 40 years from now. Just with respect to health issues, there are at least three different demographic groups that will be affected now and in the future if we reduce taxes on the scale envisioned.


Although stored at near room temperature, a large amount of stored industrial food waste or their recycled material gradually heats up and then ignites. To understand this phenomenon, soy sauce squeezing residue produced from the soy sauce brewing process and fish meal residue from processing fish were examined. We used a thermo gravimetric/differential thermal analysis system, a highly sensitive heat flux calorimeter (C80) and a spontaneous ignition tester to study their thermal properties. We applied Frank–Kamenetskii's thermal ignition theory to obtain the critical ignition temperature (Tc) and the relationship between Tc and the pile height. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract The first Lichen Bio-Quest was held at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont near Townsend, TN, on 19–20 June, 2004. More than 30 participants included high school teachers and students, Park volunteers and staff, area residents, and professional lichenologists. The primary goal was first to provide an educational component, including lichen morphology, growth forms, terminology, and identification using lecture and video-microscopy presentations, followed by a field component collecting lichens in different habitats. H. Thorsten Lumbsch, an expert on crustose lichens, and Steven B. Selva, an expert on calicioid (stubble) lichens, served as instructors, foray captains, and helped identify specimens. Lower-elevation collection sites were located in the Tremont area (Lumber Ridge Trail and Spruce Flats Falls Trail) and ranged from 405–550 m. High-elevation sites (Indian Gap, Spruce-Fir Nature Trail, and the Balsam Mountain Road area) ranged from 1094 to 1706 m. Eighty-eight lichen and lichenicolous fungi species were identified, including 10 new published Park and Tennessee records. The new lichen records were: Aspicilia caesiocinerea, Calicium glaucellum, Chaenotheca brunneola, Placynthiella icmalea, Trapelia glebulosa, T. placodioides, and Trapeliopsis flexuosa. The new lichenicolous fungi records were: Mycocalicium subtile, Phaeocalicium polyporaeum, and Sphinctrina turbinata.


Abstract Ti(OEt)4 can be reduced by various metal alkyls to yield an active catalyst for the dimerization of ethylene to 1-butene. Whatever metal alkyl is used for reduction, dimerization occurs only when aluminum alkyl is also present, suggesting that it, too, must be part of the active site. The amount of aluminum added, i.e., the Al Ti ratio in the reactor, is extremely critical to the activity, and the optimum ratio depends on the particular catalyst preparation. Anchoring the catalyst to a carrier, such as silica, alumina, or aluminophosphate, seems to stabilize the active species as indicated by the relatively constant kinetic response, which produces better overall activity. The effectiveness of each carrier, its calcining temperature, and various preparation methods is discussed.


A high-luminosity asymmetric energy B Factory, proposed as an upgrade to the PEP storage ring at SLAC, provides the best opportunity to study CP violation as a means of testing the consistency of the Standard Model. If the phenomenon of CP violation is xplained by the Standard Model simply through the non-zero angles and phase of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix, then there are precise relations between the K-M parameters and the various measurable CP-violating asymmetries in B meson decay. Should these onsistency relations fail, the origin of CP violation must lie outside the Standard Model framework. Our measurements would then lead to the first experiment-driven extensions of the Standard Model. The B Factory will also carry out a varied, high-quality program of studies f other aspects of the physics of b quarks, as well as high-precision measurements in r and charm physics. We describe a detailed series of measurements to be carried out in the first few years at a peak luminosity of 3 x 10{sup 33} cm{sup -2}sec{sup -1}, the initial luminosity goal of the B Factory, as well as the program accessible to a larger data sample.


Abstract A new genus and species of calanoid copepod belonging to the family of Ridgewayiidae is described from an anchialine cave on the small island of Badija, Croatia. In the new species Badijella jalzici, body length varies from 720–870 µm in both sexes. The prosome is 6-segmented, the female urosome is 4-segmented and 5-segmented in the male. The antennules are symmetrical and 26-segmented in the female, and 23-segmented on right side in the male, with two areas of geniculation. The caudal rami are symmetrical and longer than wide. The mouthparts and swimming legs 1–4 are identical in both sexes. The female fifth leg is biramous and symmetrical; the male fifth legs are strongly developed, asymmetrical, biramous on both sides, endopods 2-segmented and exopods 2-segmented and complex in structure.


A standard design for heavy ion fusion drivers under study in the US. Is an induction linac with electrostatic focusing at low energy and magnetic focusing at higher energy. The need to focus the intense beam to a few-millimeter size spot at the deuterium-tritium target establishes the emittance budget for the accelerator. Economic and technological considerations favor a larger number of beams in the low-energy, electrostatic-focusing section than in the high-energy, magnetic-focusing section. Combining four beams into a single focusing channel is a viable option, depending on the growth in emittance due to the combining process. Several significant beam dynamics issues that are, or have been, under active study are discussed: large space charge and image forces, beam wall clearances, halos, alignment, longitudinal instability, and bunch length control.


A proposed soundscape design method to evaluate acoustical impacts of planning and building projects on the surrounding community as a way to work toward net zero noise impacts is summarized. The concept of net zero impacts is borrowed from ecological planning where buildings are designed to produce as much energy as they use. The idea of a net zero noise impact is one where a building or planning project does not increase the existing ambient noise level during its use. The first step in this process is to define the nature of the existing ambient soundscape in the vicinity of the project. The method includes long term acoustical measurements of ambient sounds, short term detailed measurements of specific acoustic events, focus group meetings with residents and stakeholders to identify and evaluate acoustical issues, methods to map qualitative aspects of the soundscape, computer modeling of various types to assist in developing design alternatives, evaluation of possible weather effects, qualitative and ...


The invention discloses a new preparing method for midwifery gel. With reference to the bionic design, the midwifery gel is composed of 3 parts, namely, drawing mucus, a gel skeleton and gel microspheres. With reference to biological lubricating fluid, the drawing mucus takes sodium hyaluronate as a main ingredient, carbomer is added to improve skin-friendly ability, and hydroxyethyl cellulose is added to adjust viscosity. The whole formula is similar to lubricating fluid in a human body and has the same viscosity, same drawing ability and skin-friendly abilityand lubricating liquid in a human body. Reticulated skeleton gel provides very high compressible and film-forming property for a system. When a fetus enters a birth canal, about 30 kPa of pressure is generated, the gel is squeezed to form a flowing elastic mucous membrane with the thickness being 0.24 [mu]m. 50-100nm sodium alginate gel microspheres are added into the system, original interlayer sliding friction of the gel is changed to rolling friction, so that not only is sliding friction reduced, but also static friction can be reduced effectively, residence time is reduced, injury and pain during maternal uterine contraction are reduced, and delivering time is shortened.


In 1932, Adrian and colleagues published the first recordings of sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) in anaesthetized mammals (cats and rabbits). They reported that the discharges appeared as waves that varied in size and which were often synchronized with both the cardiac and respiratory cycles (Adrian et al. 1932). Since this landmark study, these characteristics of SNA have been documented over and over again by many investigators using a wide range of mammalian species. As described in a delightful historical perspective (Vallbo et al. 2004), 36 years after those first recordings of SNA in animals, Karl-Erik Hagbarth introduced the use of microneurography to record nerve activity in humans by inserting a needle into his own ulnar nerve. This daring early study set the stage for what now seems to be 'dogma': the hallmark of SNA traffic to the vasculature of skeletal muscle (MSNA) in resting humans is the appearance of pulse-synchronous bursts of various amplitudes that occur sporadically or in short sequences, often on the time scale of respiration.

There is another rather rigid criterion, i.e. that the interval between the preceding R-wave of an electrocardiogram and the peak of each burst must be ∼1.3 s. This is based on the theory that bursts in MSNA occur simply because they are inhibited during systole and released from the inhibition during diastole, as a result of alterations in baroreceptor nerve activity.

When recording from sympathetic nerves in animals, one is able to isolate directly the nerve of interest (to just about any target organ) and study its discharge pattern at rest and during various manipulations. As reviewed by Barman & Gebber (2000), this has led to the conclusion that the pattern of SNA can change, depending on the experimental condition (type of anaesthetic used, integrity of the baroreceptor reflex, integrity of supra-spinal structures, etc.). For example, in urethane-anaesthetized or unanaesthetized decerebrate cats, the pattern of SNA can change from a prominent cardiac-related rhythm when arterial pressure is relatively high, to a prominent 10 Hz rhythm when arterial pressure is lowered (i.e. when the activity in baroreceptor afferent nerves is reduced). Substantial data have amassed from studies primarily using anaesthetized cats to support the contention that the brainstem contains the neural circuitry to produce rhythmic discharges of various frequency ranges in sympathetic nerves. These rhythms can be entrained to inputs such as the baroreceptor afferents, lung inflation afferents, and the central respiratory network which gives rise to their characteristic rhythmic pattern (Barman & Gebber, 2000; Barman & Kenney, 2007).

When recording from sympathetic nerves in human subjects, one must probe to find an appropriate site (Vallbo et al. 2004), which is defined as a recording that has characteristic pulse-synchronous bursts of activity. So what would happen if an individual had an atypical activity pattern? The investigator might be left to mistakenly conclude that he/she was unsuccessful in recording MSNA. Few investigators seem to challenge the notion that MSNA must have a cardiac-related periodicity. An article by Fagius et al. (1985) is one of a few to report a break from this pattern. They noted that after local anaesthetic blockade of the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves in the necks of two individuals (baroreceptor deafferentation), the cardiac rhythmicity in MSNA disappeared, and was replaced by a slow, irregular oscillation. The authors speculated that, as in the cat, rhythmicity in MSNA does not simply occur because of the waxing and waning of baroreceptor nerve activity.

In this issue of The Journal of Physiology, Cooke et al. (2009) have presented some exquisite examples of changes in the pattern of MSNA in healthy individuals subjected to intense levels of lower body negative pressure (LBNP) to the point of presyncope. This study is the first to accomplish the difficult feat of maintaining stable, high-quality nerve recordings even at chamber pressures of −90 mmHg in some individuals. Amongst their several interesting and novel observations, they have shown that in 10 of 17 individuals, reductions in venous return due to intense LBNP disrupted the typical pulse-synchronous burst pattern of MSNA. Instead, MSNA showed wide burst durations (spanning multiple cardiac cycles), a pattern they refer to as 'fusing of integrated sympathetic bursts.' Although they acknowledge that the 0.1 s time constant used to integrate MSNA may contribute to the appearance of the fused slow waves, they also provide evidence that these fused bursts are not likely artifacts of the recording method. Rather, they may reflect a physiological change in the generation of MSNA bursts. These waveforms cannot be described as simple consequences of the baroreceptor reflex, but might reflect a central rhythm-generating process.

Does it matter whether bursts in MSNA are merely sculpted by the baroreceptor reflex or are driven by an inherent central rhythm-generating mechanism? Certainly, the existence of the latter implies a more complicated central sympathetic network, allowing the network to function independent of the baroreceptor reflex. This consideration also raises the question of the importance of oscillations or rhythms in nerve signals. Barman & Kenney (2007) present evidence suggesting that rhythmic activity may have several advantages over randomly occurring activity. Rhythmic activity may lead to more effective activation of sympathetic neurons than randomly occurring activity. Also, rhythmicity is important in coordinating activity in different sympathetic nerves, and it may help maintain homeostasis.

Cooke et al. (2009) have presented some remarkable findings which indicate that we still have a lot to learn about factors that contribute to the character of MSNA. Future studies may use other manipulations to alter the pattern of MSNA and reveal new features of human autonomic regulatory control processes.


Social marketing can refer to the promotion of either a product or an idea. The 1st approach includes the sale of a socially beneficial product such as condoms or oral rehydration salts. Although the product is generally subsidized to keep costs within the reach of consumers, the actual sale is considered critical because of its role in ensuring consumer motivation, increasing internal efficiency, and facilitating longterm self-sufficiency of the program. The 2nd approach stresses the promotion of socially beneficial ideas and practices rather than products, e.g. breastfeeding. Social products differ from commercial products in several important ways: they are more complex, often more controversial, less immediately satisfying to the consumer, require more spectacular results, and are aimed at an audience with fewer resources than most consumers of commercial products. In addition, there are many factors that make social marketing more difficult difficult than marketing in the commercial sector. Social programs have less control over the delivery system and consumer research is more complicated. Despite these differences, both social and commerical marketing are organized aroung the same 4 qualities: product, price, place, and promotion. The product must be configured to maximized consumer acceptance and use. Hidden costs must be considered. There must be an adequate distribution and supply system to ensure easy availability of the product. Finally, the product must be promoted through different communication channels by a wide array of techniques. Attention to these 4 factors can significantly enhance social service delivery of both products and ideas.


After decades of Cold War, when Africa was simply viewed as a convenient pawn on the global chessboard, and a further decade of benign neglect in the 1990s, the African continent has now become a vital arena of strategic and geopolitical competition for not only the United States, but also for China, India, and other new emerging powers. The main reason for this is quite simple: Africa is the final frontier as far as the world's supplies of energy are concerned with global competition for both oil and natural gas (particularly the latter) becoming just as intense – if not even more so – than the former. The factors behind the growing attention to African energy supplies are well known; so we will only summarise them here.1 World oil production is only just meeting world demand and old fields are being drained faster than new production can be brought on line. Supplies will be tight for the foreseeable future, so any new source of supply is significant. Most importers are also trying to reduce their dependence on Middle Eastern oil. In the next 10-15 years, most of the new oil entering the world market is going to be coming from African fields because it is only in Africa – and to a lesser extent in the volatile Central Asia region – that substantial new fields have been found and brought into production.


Gifted children with special needs are a heterogeneous group that needs the encouragement of their talents and special care of their deficits. The practice showed that their problems, including their talents, are often not identified and are left out without help or support. The identification and diagnosing of the special needs and talents are dominated by the stereotypes of talented and special needs learners such as problems of defining and identification and also the different educational needs this group of learners needs.
In my diploma thesis we focused on the gifted children with special needs. We were interested in the characteristics, which help us to identify them as gifted children with special needs, which diagnostic procedures are needed for identification of a talent and what kind of teaching methods are appropriate for them. The main purpose of the thesis was to get the information on the frequency of identifying gifted children with special needs and to collect the data on the methods and accommodations that are necessary to work with those learners through their language learning process. One of the goals of the diploma was also to provide the social workers' personal opinions and attitudes towards the gifted children with special needs. The empirical part includes the sample of 23 schools from Maribor and its vicinity that has had learners identified as gifted with special needs. The social workers filled in the questionnaires on their personal opinion, position and their viewpoints. The results show that there is 0,43 percent of all included learners from Maribor and its surroundings, identified as gifted children with special needs, which attend the regular primary school. Social workers that were included in the study stated that the most difficulties to identify the gifted children with special needs appear because of learners' compensation of their deficits and because their talents are usually hidden. This study helped us to find out that social workers have a positive attitude and are familiar with the needs of gifted children with special needs. They are also acquainted with the special educational activities, which are already used in schools.
In the future we should concentrate on more systematic identification of the gifted children with special needs. Social workers should have more training to get the knowledge on gifted children with special needs. When knowing the characteristics of this heterogeneous group, we can provide them the suitable help and support.


This paper presents mathematical models derived from the study of the chemical composition and mechanical properties of aluminum alloy type 6082 AlSi1MgMn. They were determined based on the study of the chemical composition of 30 batches of alloy 6082 and their mechanical properties. Mathematical models obtained were checked by Fisher test, and the two of them had the optimal coefficient of determination. Aluminum alloy was hot rolled and hardened through heat treatments.


The restructuring of the Company's assets and liabilities allowed it to emerge with almost full ownership of two operations generating good cash flow, no long-term debt, significant initial cash balances from the issuance of equity, and fully unhedged production. This strong financial foundation will underpin Centerra's growth strategy.


The paper discussed the Chinese date industry development in Jiaxian county as well as the problems existed and future development.Countermeasures were suggested for improvement too.


It is standard in feminist commentaries to argue that Wollstonecraft's feminism is vitiated by her commitment to a liberal philosophical framework, relying on a valuation of reason over passion and on the notion of a sex-neutral self. I challenge this interpretation of Wollstonecraft's feminism and argue that her attempt to articulate an ideal of self-governance for women was an attempt to diagnose and resolve some of the tensions and inadequacies within traditional liberal thought.1


Language comprehenders routinely make pragmatic inferences that go beyond the literal meanings of utterances. If A said "I ate some of the cookies," B should infer that A ate some but not all. Children perform poorly on experimental tests of scalar implicatures like this, despite their early-emerging sensitivity to pragmatic cues. Our current work explores potential factors responsible for children's successes and failures in computing pragmatic inferences. In two experiments, we used an eyetracking paradigm to test children's ability to compute implicatures when they have access to contextual alternatives to the target word (Experiment 1), and when they hear prosodic cues that emphasize the contrast between the target and alternative (Experiment 2). We found that by the time children are four years old, they successfully identify the inferential target referent in this paradigm; with supportive prosodic cues, we saw evidence of success in three-year-olds as well. In sum, with sufficient contextual support, preschool children are capable of making online pragmatic inferences.


Background: Study on the reproductive health of dogs is a matter of concern since it affects the existence of future generation. There are various reproductive ailments that may affect a dog in its lifetime. The present study was aimed to find out the incidence of different reproductive disorders in canine populations reported at the Veterinary Clinical Complex (VCC), College of Veterinary Science, Guwahati, India in respect of breed, age, sex and season.
Methods: The study was conducted on canine populations reported at the VCC, College of Veterinary Science, Guwahati, India during the period from 1/03/2016 to 28/02/2021. Clinical cases were grouped based on their breed, age, sex and the season and the type of various reproductive ailments and their incidence was worked out. Result: The overall incidence of reproductive disorders in dogs was 2.45%. Labradors had the maximum incidence of reproductive ailments (24.79%) followed by local breeds (17.52%) and the least was in Dachshund (2.56%). The animals under the age group 1.1 to 4.0 years appeared to have the highest incidence (47.86%) of reproductive ailments and the lowest (12.39%) was in 10.1 to 13.0 years of age group. The highest incidence of reproductive ailments was recorded in female dogs (96.15%). In canine population, summer resulted in higher (35.86%) incidence of reproductive disorders.


This paper uses the topology theory to analyze the surface flow spectrums of straight,positively curved and negatively curved cascades with relative tip clearances of 0.036,finds apparent differences of topology structures on the suction surfaces of above half blade spans,inquires into the mechanism of the difference formation as well as their effects on the relative leakage and total flow losses.


Tolypocladium lignicola is described as new. The asymmetrical conidia lodge in the mastax of bdelloid rotifers and germinate to produce assimilative infection hyphae composed of elongate, clavate to turbinate, assimilative cells. Conidial production is prolific in air but suppressed under water.


Gross domestic product continued to grow in 2002, faster than in the economies of most of the Czech Republic's major partners, albeit at a slower pace than in 2001. The major driving force of economic growth was private consumption, followed by government consumption. Investment demand registered a slowdown as an indirect result of weak foreign demand. 2002 was the year of record-low inflation in the history of the Czech Republic - at the end of the year, the consumer price index stood at 0.6 %. During 2002, nominal appreciation of the Czech currency accelerated - the koruna appreciated against the euro by almost ten per cent. The labor market was severely hit by the general economic slowdown and the unemployment rate anew reached the record-high level at the end of the year.


The UK body responsible for advising academic institutions and NHS trusts on how to deal with research misconduct has launched a protocol to try to standardise the procedure for investigating allegations and ensure that cases are handled fairly.

The protocol is a step by step guide to investigating and acting on allegations of research misconduct brought by other colleagues or external bodies, from the types of documentary evidence required, to who should be involved and over what time frame.

It is targeted at all employers of people engaged in research who rely on funds from government …


The accidents at nuclear power plants pose a particular threat to the population and the environment. Accidental emissions at nuclear power plants can cause long-term radioactive pollution of the environment, and the elimination of such pollution can take years. For practice, it is very important to predict the intensity and size of radioactive contamination zones for various scenarios of extreme situations at the nuclear power plants. Such a forecast will identify the most vulnerable areas and develop a response strategy to the situation that has arisen. A numerical model has been built that allows to quickly predict the scale of radioactive contamination of the territory during an emergency release at a nuclear power plant. The model is based on the application of implicit difference schemes for the numerical integration of the equation of convective-diffusion transport of impurities in the atmosphere. The developed model is characterized by the calculation speed. The results of the computational experiment are presented.


Currently, cardiovascular diseases play a leading role in the structure of morbidity. It is expected that by 2020 in developing countries cardiovascular diseases will take the leading position in the structure of mortality. Among the diseases of the cardiovascular system the leading position is occupied by coronary heart disease. One of the manifestations of coronary heart disease is acute coronary syndrome. In addition to endovascular treatment, dual antiplatelet therapy plays a key role in the treatment and prevention of acute coronary syndrome. Double antiplatelet therapy is a combination of acetylsalicylic acid and platelet P2Y 12 receptor inhibitors. One of the first drugs from the group of P2Y 12 receptor inhibitors is clopidogrel. It has been proven that the use of clopidogrel to date not always reduces the risk of development of thrombotic complications, of particular interest are the representatives of the "new" platelet P2Y 12 receptor inhibitors. Such platelet P2Y 12 -receptor inhibitors include ticagrelor and prasugrel. The article considers in detail the issue of efficiency and safety of prasugrel use. The results of the studies allow to distinguish this drug as an effective inhibitor of P2Y 12 platelet receptors in patients with acute coronary syndrome who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention. Considering the pronounced antiplatelet effect of the drug, it should not be prescribed to patients with stroke and a history of transient ischemic attack. Prasugrel also should not be prescribed in a full dose to patients over 75 years old and patients weighing up to 60 kg. These studies showed that when the recommendations are followed, prasugrel demonstrates good results in reducing the frequency of cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome and percutaneous coronary intervention. Separately, we can distinguish the effect of prasugrel on the development of stent thrombosis. So, in patients that underwent stenting, the use of prasugrel significantly reduced the frequency of confirmed stent thrombosis, which can also affect the development of undesirable cardiovascular events.


Abstract : In practice it is often permissible to assume that the observations of a set are statistically independent and from continuous populations with a common median. Then the population median can be investigated by using the sign test. For small numbers of observations, however, the sign test does not furnish very many suitable significance levels. Also, some of the sign tests with suitable significance levels are not very efficient. The note presents some tests whose significance levels are only approximate but cover a wide range of suitable values. The significance levels of these tests are exactly determined if the populations are symmetrical; they are bounded otherwise. Some of these bounded significance level tests have high efficiencies.


Taoism,in essence,aims at revealing the limitations of human civilization.As to its philosophy of language,Taoist thinks that language only has limited political impact.Laozi suggests that language plays a limited role in the understanding of existence.Guided by his thoughts on "appropriate speech","to experience without abstraction" is proposed as a way to cure the society.Zhuangzi developed Laozi's thoughts by explicating the relationship between words and meaning,between naming and objects.Zhuangzi's "three ways of speech" is to ease the tension between "speech" and the "way" in Laozi's philosophy.Viewpoints on the significance of language upheld by Zhuangzi and his disciples are marked by a drastic turn to the subjectivity of speech-makers.Social aspects of language function and objectivity of evaluation are eroded.


Mustarinda Association is a group of artists and researchers whose goal is to promote ecological reconstructions within society, a diversity of naturecultures, and connections between art and science. Reaching towards a post-fossil culture, Mustarinda works in/through/with contempo-rary art, boundary-crossing research, practical experimentation, communication, education, and events. Its activities are rooted in the Mustarinda house, located by an old-growth forest in Hyrynsalmi, Kainuu. The house has versatile spaces for artist and researcher residencies, and also hosts exhibitions and various events. Mustarinda house group is an ensemble of active members of the association who carry the collective responsibility of maintaining the house and its activities. What follows is an edited excerpt of a text-based conversation between some house group members who've cared for and with the house between 2015 and the present. In summer 2022, this group dis-cussed reconstruction and social reproduction with-in the house; the constructed division between theory and practice; the extractive aspects of conventional research; and a rethinking of how knowl-edge production happens.


This chapter centers on an analysis of three brief letters written in the Turki language by elite Qazaq Chinggisids to Russian officials within the first decade of Russian administrative rule over the Middle Horde Qazaq steppe. It follows the Qazaqs' own voices and ultimately builds from them a collective image of their political lives in a particular time and place. The purpose of the chapter is to interpret the three archival documents in Turki language, which serve as samples from a corpus of similar documents that guide the author's conceptual and methodological reassessment of local Qazaq political and social history in the period 1820s-30s. There are two different contexts within which the chapter views and analyzes the documents: (1) Inner Asian nomadic political-cultural traditions and (2) Russian imperial politics and practices in the Qazaq steppe. Keywords:Inner Asian nomadic history; local Qazaq political history; Qazaq letters; Russian imperial history; Turki language


In this study, several predictive enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques are used to evaluate potential thermal oil recovery techniques that could be applied on a very heavy oil (10-12°API) field located in Southeast Turkey. Two of the EOR techniques were found to be applicable after the screening process: in situ combustion and steam injection. Sensitivity of the processes to several operating parameters, such as steam injection rate, air injection rate, and steam quality, were established. It was observed that initial project life was not critical in steam injection. However, at higher air injection rates project life was shorter for in situ combustion. As a result of steam-flood and in situ combustion model applications, it was observed that the steam-flood model provided higher recoveries and longer project lives with low residual oil saturation.


The Bernese periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) described by Ganz, et al. is a commonly used surgical intervention in hip dysplasia. PAO is being performed more frequently and is a viable alternative to hip arthroplasty for younger and more physically active patients. The procedure is challenging because pelvic anatomy is prohibitive to visibility and open access and requires four X-ray guided blind cuts around the acetabulum to free it from the hemi-pelvis. The crucial step is the re-orientation of the freed acetabulum to correct the inadequate coverage of the femoral head by idealy rotating the freed acetabular fragment. Diagnosis and the decision for surgical intervention is currently based upon patient symptoms, use of two-dimensional (2D) radiographic measurements, and the intrinsic experience of the surgeon. With the advent of new technologies allowing three-dimensional reconstructions of hip anatomy, previous two-dimensional X-ray definitions have created much debate in standardizing numerical representations of hip dysplasia. Recent work done by groups such as Arminger et al. have combined and expanded two-dimensional measurements such as Center-Edge (CE) angle of Wiberg, Vertical-Center-Anterior margin (VCA) angle, Acetabular Anteversion (AcetAV) and applied them to three-dimensional CT rendering of hip anatomy. Further, variability in pelvic tilt is a confounding factor and has further impeded measurement translatability. Computer assisted surgery (CAS) and navigation also called image-guided surgery (IGS) has been used in clinical cases of PAO with mixed results. The first appearing study of CAS/IGS in PAO was conducted by Langlotz, et. al 1997 and reported no clinical benefit to using CAS/IGS. However, they did conclude that the use of CAS/IGS is undoubtedly useful for surgeons starting this technically demanding procedure. This is supported by a more recent study done by Hsieh, et. al 2006 who conducted a two year randomised study of CAS/IGS in PAO and concluded its feasibility to facilitate PAO, but there was not an additional benefit when conventional PAO is done by an experienced surgeon. A study done by Peters, et. Al 2006 studying the learning curve necessary to become proficient at PAO found that "The occurrence of complications demonstrates a substantial learning curve" and thus makes a compelling argument for the use of CAS/IGS. A major obstacle to navigation and CAS/IGS revolves around consistency, intra-operative time and ease of use. Custom made guides and implants may help circumvent these limitations. The use of CAS/CAM in developing custom made guides has been proven very successful in areas of oral maxillofacial surgery, hip arthroplasty, and knee replacement surgeries. Additionally, a significant study in the development of rapid prototyping guides in the treatment of dysplastic hip joints was done by Radermacher et. al 1998. They describe a process of using CAS/CAM within the operational theatre using a desktop planning station and a manufacturing unit to develop what they termed as "templates" to carry out a triple osteotomy. Our group is evaluating and developing strategies in PAO using CAS/IGS and more recently using CAS and computer aided modeling (CAM) to develop custom made guides for acetabular positioning. Our first study (Burch et al.) focused on CAS/IGS in PAO using cadavers and yielded small mean cut (1.97± 0.73mm) and CE angle (4.9± 6.0) errors. Our recent study used full sized high-resolution foam pelvis models (Sawbones ® , Vashon, Washington) and used CAS/IGS to carry out the pelvic cuts and CAS/CAM to develop a acetabular positioning guide (APG) by rapid prototyping. The CAS/IGS pelvic cuts results were good (mean error of 3.18 mm ± 1.35) and support our and other studies done using CAS/IGS in PAO. The APG yielded high accuracy and was analysed using four angles with an overall mean angular error of 1.81 (0.55 0 )and individual angulation was as follows: CE 0.83° ± 0.53, S-AC 0.28° ± 0.19, AcetAV 0.41° ± 0.37, and VCA 0.68° ± 0.27. To our knowledge this is the first developed APG for PAO. The APG we developed was to demonstrate the concept of using a positioning guide to obtain accurate rotation of the acetabular fragment. For a clinical application a refined and sleeker design would be required. Further, because working space within the pelvis is extraordinary constrained, once fitted the APG would need to remain and serve as an implantable cage capable of holding bone graft. A potential material is polyetheretherketone (PEEK). Customised PEEK implants and cages have been established in the literature and is a potential option for PAO. The benefits of an implant not only serve to constrain the acetabular fragment in the ideal position based upon the pre-operative plan, but may also provide the structural support for rotations not other wise possible. Though CAS/IGS is a proven viable option, we envision a potentially simpler method for PAO, the use of a cut guide and an acetabular positioning implant. Using customized guides and implants could potentially circumvent the need for specialised intra-operative equipment and the associated learning curves, by providing guides that incorporate the pre-operational plan within the guide, constraining the surgeon to the desired outcome.