Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) can be applied extensively in the clinic because they can be easily isolated and cause less donor-site morbidity; however, their application can be complicated by patient-specific factors, such as age and harvest site. In this study, we systematically evaluated the effects of age on the quantity and quality of hADSCs isolated from excised chest subcutaneous adipose tissue and investigated the underlying molecular mechanism. hADSCs were isolated from donors of three different age groups (i.e., child, young adult and elderly). hADSCs are available from individuals across all age groups and maintain mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) characteristics. However, the increased age of the donors was found to have a significant negative effect on the hADSC frequency base on CFU-Fs assay. Moreover, there is a decline in both stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cell yield and the proliferation rate of hADSCs with increasing age, although this relationship is not significant. Aging increases cellular senescence, which is manifested as an increase in SA-β-gal-positive cells, increased mitochondrial-specific ROS production, and the expression of p21 in the elderly. Further, advancing age was found to have a significant negative effect on the adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation potentials of hADSCs, particularly at the early and mid-stages of induction, suggesting a slower response to the inducing factors of hADSCs from elderly donors. Finally, impaired migration ability was also observed in the elderly group and was determined to be associated with decreased expression of chemokine receptors, such as CXCR4 and CXCR7. Taken together, these results suggest that, while hADSCs from different age populations are phenotypically similar, they present major differences at the functional level. When considering potential applications of hADSCs in cell-based therapeutic strategies, the negative influence of age on hADSC differentiation potential and migration abilities should be taken seriously.


OBJECTIVE
Despite significant advances in neuroscience and treatment development, no widely accepted biomarkers are available to inform diagnostics or identify preferred treatments for individuals with major depressive disorder.

METHOD
In this critical review, the authors examine the extent to which multimodal neuroimaging techniques can identify biomarkers reflecting key pathophysiologic processes in depression and whether such biomarkers may act as predictors, moderators, and mediators of treatment response that might facilitate development of personalized treatments based on a better understanding of these processes.

RESULTS
The authors first highlight the most consistent findings from neuroimaging studies using different techniques in depression, including structural and functional abnormalities in two parallel neural circuits: serotonergically modulated implicit emotion regulation circuitry, centered on the amygdala and different regions in the medial prefrontal cortex; and dopaminergically modulated reward neural circuitry, centered on the ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex. They then describe key findings from the relatively small number of studies indicating that specific measures of regional function and, to a lesser extent, structure in these neural circuits predict treatment response in depression.

CONCLUSIONS
Limitations of existing studies include small sample sizes, use of only one neuroimaging modality, and a focus on identifying predictors rather than moderators and mediators of differential treatment response. By addressing these limitations and, most importantly, capitalizing on the benefits of multimodal neuroimaging, future studies can yield moderators and mediators of treatment response in depression to facilitate significant improvements in shorter- and longer-term clinical and functional outcomes.


This research aims to explore counter terrorism: a case study of radical religious group. This research used the normative juridical approach. Data collection techniques using data reduction, data presentation, triangulation and conclusion. The results showed that the group of religious radicalism in the jurisdiction of Bekasi police pioneered by asatidz or Imam FPI called for promotion of hatred toward religious groups. The media used in the spread of religious radicals in Bekasi Police Jurisdiction is through social media with the modus operandi of instilling the idea that Islamic law is the most correct. In recruiting, there are several methods used, including the cadre, mentoring, and mastery of places of worship with the main target is the younger age groups. Flourishing of religious radicalism caused by several factors, among others. Bekasi location of the region as a buffer capital city of Jakarta, the lack of supervision of the police, the involvement of religious leaders, the low education level of the community, as well as the economic conditions of the needy. Policing is done by Bekasi policecurrently done with prevention efforts, either through counseling activities, socialization, door to door system, coordination with Tomas, Toda, or Toga, as well as joint meetings FKUB about the dangers of radicalism and terrorism. The effort is still deemed less effective, so the Bekasi police in the future in the fight against terrorism must be put forward Counter Radicalization and Deradicalisation to strengthen four pillars of nationhood.Keywords: Radicalism; Terrorism; Religion.


Problem Statement: Tropical rainforests cover about 19.37 million ha (60%) of Malaysia's total area and about 8.71 million ha can be found in Sarawak, Malaysia. Excessive logging, mining and shifting cultivation contribute to deforestation in Sarawak. The objectives of this study were to: (i) Quantify soil Organic Matter (SOM), Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) and Humic Acids (HA) in rehabilitated and secondary forest soils and (ii) Compare SOM, SOC and HA sequestrations of both forests. Approach: Soil samples were collected from a 16 year old rehabilitated forest and a secondary forest at Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bintulu Campus. Fifteen samples were taken at random with a soil auger at 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm depths. The bulk densities at these depths were determined by the coring method. The bulk density method was used to quantify the total C (TC), Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Organic Matter (OM), Humic Acids (HA) and total N at the stated sampling depths. Results: Regardless of forest soil type and depth, the amount of SOM of the two forests was similar. Except for 20-40 cm of the secondary forest soil whereby the quantity of total C sequestered was significantly lower than that of the rehabilitated forest soil, C sequestration was similar irrespective of forest type and depth. Nevertheless, stable C (organic carbon) sequestered in HA was generally higher in the rehabilitated forest soil compared with the secondary forest soil. This was attributed to higher yield of HA in the rehabilitated forest soil partly due to better humification at 20-40 cm in the rehabilitated forest soil. Conclusion: Hence, the findings suggest that organic C in HA realistically reflects C sequestration in the soils of the two forests investigated.


We report the experimental studies of hot-electron energy and momentum relaxation in the steady state in GaN/AlGaN HEMT structures with a high two-dimensional electron density of n = 1.5×1013 cm-2. From the LO-phonon-scattering-limited component of the mobility we obtain for the LO phonon the energy of ℏω~90 meV and the momentum relaxation time of τm~4 fs. Drift velocity versus electric field characteristics obtained from the pulsed I-V measurements show that, at TL = 77 K, the drift velocity saturates at vd = 1.0×107 cm s-1 at electric fields in excess of E~7.5 kV cm-1, and at TL = 300 K it saturates at vd~5×106 cm s-1, at an electric field of around E~10 kV cm-1. Electron temperature as a function of applied electric field is obtained by comparing the measured electric field dependence of the mobility µE at a fixed lattice temperature, with the lattice temperature dependence of the mobility at a fixed low electric field. The electron energy loss rate is then determined from the electron temperature dependence of the power loss using the power balance equations. The effect of hot-phonon production on the observed momentum and energy relaxation of hot electrons is discussed within the framework of a theoretical model, which was originally developed for III-V material systems and has been adapted for a two-dimensional electron gas in GaN, and in which phonon drift is neglected.


The USAF MINUTEMAN ICBM Transportation and Handling Test Program in volves vibration testing of full scale motors. A major problem in vibration testing of large solid propellant motors is developing a method of embedding accelerometers in the viscoelastic propellant. The accelerometers are needed to determine experi mentally the dynamic response of the propellant during the environmental tests, and to verify the motor's dynamic analysis. The engineering analyses and experimental tests employed by Thiokol Chemical Corporation to develop the accelerometer installation method is the subject of this paper. The results of the instrumentation, and the degree to which the desired re sults were achieved, are discussed. Extensive engineering studies were made to determine the minimum number, location, and type of accelerometers required to describe the dynamic response of the propellant. A technique was developed for controlling the position and orienta tion of the accelerometers when embedded in the motor propellant. A laboratory re search program was conducted to develop reliable bond joints. The configuration finally selected uses 24 triaxial accelerometers, of which 14 are embedded in the propellant and 10 are mounted on the propellant surface. The accelerometer and cable assemblies are precast in propellant wedges, which are bonded in the case prior to casting the motor. Piezoelectric accelerometers were selected in order to meet the dynamic response, safety, density, and temperature specifications. Asa final verification of the design concept, and to check out special manu facturing techniques and tooling, a subscale motor was successfully cast with ac celerometers embedded in the propellant. This was accomplished prior to casting a full scale motor. Both the subscale and full scale motors were used in the vibration testing program. *Project Staff Engineer, MINUTEMAN Project Engineering Department. **Senior Dynamics Engineer, Applied Studies Department.


The paper presents a novel algebraic framework for specification and design of model synchronization tools. The basic premise is that synchronization procedures, and hence algebraic operations modeling them, are diagrammatic: they take a configuration (diagram) of models and mappings as their input and produce a diagram as the output. Many important synchronization scenarios are based on diagram operations of square shape. Composition of such operations amounts to their tiling, and complex synchronizers can thus be assembled by tiling together simple synchronization blocks. This gives rise to a visually suggestive yet precise notation for specifying synchronization procedures and reasoning about them.


Signature sequences with good even even and odd (or polyphase) correlations are crucial for asynchronous code-division multiple access (CDMA). When the data sequence is random, the even and odd (or polyphase) correlations are equally important. However, for most known signature sequences, only their even correlations were analyzed. It appears that determining the odd (or the polyphase) correlations is generally a very hard problem since the odd (or the polyphase) correlations depend on the phases of the signature sequences. Sole (1989), Boztas, Hammons, and Kumar (1992) found a family of quadriphase sequences that are asymptotically optimal. These sequences gain a factor /spl radic/2 in terms of their maximum periodic even correlations when compared with the best possible binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) sequences. We find the optimal phases of these sequences. The optimality is in the sense that at these phases, the mean square values of the even, odd, and the polyphase correlations are minimal, and achieve the Welch (1974) bound-equality simultaneously. Furthermore, we show that at these phases, the average user interference of these sequences is always smaller than that of the ideal random signature sequences. Comprehensive analytical and numerical results show that good phase sequences can offer a nonnegligible amount of gain over bad phase sequences at modest and high signal-to-noise ratios.


Altering the cultivation conditions, such as temperature, media compositions, illumination, aeration, the shape of the culturing flask, etc., is regarded as a useful strategy for the exploitation of structurally novel and bioactive secondary metabolites, which inspired us to explore the chemical and pharmacological diversities from the genetically powerful fungus Alternaria brassicicola. As a result, twelve fusicoccane-type diterpenoids, including eight new ones, termed brassicicenes Q-X (1-8), were isolated from a modified rice medium. Biosynthetically, all these compounds were derived from the mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway, and their structures incorporating absolute configurations were assigned by the interpretation of spectroscopic (HRESIMS and 1D and 2D NMR) analyses, chemical conversion, a modified Mosher's method, 13C NMR calculation, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Cu Kα). Structurally, compound 1 was an unusual 16-nor-dicyclopenta[a,d]cyclooctane diterpenoid bearing a fused cyclopent-2-en-1-one moiety. In addition, compound 3 was found to show significant anti-inflammatory activity against the production of NO, TNF-α, and IL-1β at 10 μM. Further western blot and immunofluorescence experiments found the mechanism of action to be that 3 inhibited the NF-κB-activated pathway, highlighting it as a promising starting point for the development of new anti-inflammatory agents.


Broadcast Encryption (BE), means transmitting information that anyone listening can access but only those selected by the transmitter, using a suitable criteria, can understand. An example is the___14 pay TV system an existing solution known as the Subset Difference Revocation (SDR) performs this in a stateless manner i.e. once the system is set up, new receivers are not allowed to join though existing receivers can each be revoked and restored as necessary. The statelessness can lead to unnecessary high key storage for a receiver and messaging overhead due to potentially poor adjacency of receivers to each other on the binary key tree when the number of receivers is much smaller than the number of potential receivers This thesis is about a scheme that converts the static SDR into a dynamic SDR scheme .Rather than use multi-tree solution which employs multiple equally sized binary trees known as allocation units that are added and discarded on demand, it uses a single binary tree that shrinks and grows on demand. When the positions to be assigned to active members all get filled, the tree grows by one level rather that in breadth. Similarly, when the members is not more than half the tree capacity, the tree shrinks by one level. Therefore, there is no need to know the maximum number of potential receivers in advance, a value that can be difficult to estimate in practice In this thesis, we investigated how this solution compares in efficiency to the multi-tree solution that uses allocation units in terms of key storage at the receiver, the multicast cost and the inevitable unicast cost. The methodology used is simulation. The results obtained show that the single – tree solution in typical usage performs, at worst, like the multi-tree solution and this is the major contribution


Mineral dust deposits were collected at Mbour, Senegal, throughout the spring of 2006 and especially during the well-documented March 7-13 large Saharan dust outbreak. During this 7-day period, significant changes in mass flux, grain-size, clay mineralogy and Sr and Nd isotopic compositions were recorded, indicating distinct provenances for the dust transported and deposited during and outside the event. All these terrigenous proxies, as well as freshwater diatom taxa, also showed significant temporal variations during the outbreak, implying contributions from at least two different provenance regions. Tri-dimensional back-trajectories and satellite imaging enabled us to link those distinct signatures to regions increasingly to the southeast within a large area covering Mauritania, Mali and southern Algeria, identified by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) as the main source of the prominent winter/spring plume over the tropical Atlantic. The multiproxy characterization of the March 7-13 dust fall therefore enables us to typify the terrigenous signature of two different regions supplying dust off West Africa, and provide valuable clues for the interpretation of Northeastern Tropical Atlantic Ocean dust sedimentary records in terms of changes in provenance regions and transport systems. Additionally, because dust deposition data are scarce, flux and grain size data obtained in this study, among other parameters such as clay assemblages, provide important constraints for atmospheric transport models and dust deposition budget estimates in this area.


Vacuolar proton-pyrophosphatase (H(+)-PPase) of mung bean seedlings contains a single kind of polypeptide with a molecular mass of approx. 73 kDa. However, in this study, a molecular mass of approx. 140 kDa was obtained for the purified vacuolar H(+)-PPase by size-exclusion gel-filtration chromatography, suggesting that the solubilized form of this enzyme is a dimer. Radiation inactivation analysis of tonoplast vesicles yielded functional masses of 141.5 +/- 10.8 and 158.4 +/- 19.5 kDa for PP1 hydrolysis activity and its supported proton translocation respectively. These results confirmed the in situ dimeric structure of the membrane-bound H(+)-PPase of plant vacuoles. Further target-size analysis showed that the functional unit of purified vacuolar H(+)-PPase was 71.1 +/- 6.7 kDa, indicating that only one subunit of the purified dimeric complex would sufficiently display its enzymic reaction. Moreover, in the presence of valinomycin and KCl, the functional size of membrane-bound H(+)-PPase was decreased to approx. 63.4 +/- 6.3 kDa. A working model was proposed to elucidate the structure of native H(+)-PPase on vacuolar membrane as a functional dimer. Factors that would disturb the membrane, e.g. membrane solubilization and the addition of valinomycin and KCl, may induce an alteration in its enzyme structure, subsequently resulting in a different functional size.


The rural Australian recession resulting from lower commodity prices and poor weather conditions raised concerns about how people were coping in the bush. A survey was distributed to all grazing properties in 10 shires of central western Queensland. Of 1,050 surveys distributed, 223 were returned representing 284 families and 914 individuals. Results revealed that many families were not getting by and were in a state of distress, particularly regarding their future prospects. Approximately 65 percent of respondents were living off either savings, overdraft, Job Search Allowance, Household Support or any combination of these. Only a small number of respondents were receiving government support. (Eight percent are receiving Job Search Allowance, Household Support or both). The level of assistance currently being received was minimal, but respondents' requests for assistance were considerable. About half of respondents had school-age children on the property. Forty percent of children were educated at home through the School of Distance Education. The additional work and stress placed on families by drought conditions were eroding time and attention paid to supervising children with school work. About 30 percent of children were attending the nearest school, and a number of these families faced long distances and considerable expense to transport them to the school bus. Government transportation subsidies were inadequate. About 24 percent of children attended boarding school; half of these were facing withdrawal due to the expense. Recommendations for meeting rural needs are offered. Appendix contains the survey instrument; a list of types of available public assistance; and background information on the region's wool and beef production, rainfall, debt levels, and educational attainment. (SV) 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


Introduction Two waves stand out in the history of globalization. The first wave took place in between 1850–1913, and the second wave started after World War Two and continues until this day (see Bordo et al. 2003); moreover, Baldwin (2006) characterizes globalization in terms of two great unbundlings. In his view, during the first wave and much of the second, the fall in transportation costs and the removal of trade barriers spatially unbundled production from consumption, which enabled international specialization. With the second unbundling, the start of which Baldwin (2006) dates at around 1980–90, production itself is increasingly geographically separated; that is, it is no longer the case that production takes place under a single roof. In this light, new technologies enable firms to relocate certain stages of the production process to other countries.As Figure 11.1 shows, throughout the past fifteen years the growth rate of FDI has surpassed those of both world GDP and world trade. This increased importance of FDI has led to an enthralling and relatively new research agenda that tries to explain the existence of multinational enterprises or MNEs (see for example Markusen 2002; Barba Navaretti and Venables 2004; Helpman 2006; and Brakman and Garretsen 2008). A key feature of these models is the role of trade barriers or, in general, economic distance in determining FDI, since distance-related variables are crucial for understanding FDI patterns.


Thank you very much for downloading odiyan country cookbook. As you may know, people have search numerous times for their chosen books like this odiyan country cookbook, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some infectious bugs inside their desktop computer. odiyan country cookbook is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the odiyan country cookbook is universally compatible with any devices to read.


RNA editing describes the process in which individual or short stretches of nucleotides in a messenger or structural RNA are inserted, deleted, or substituted. A high level of RNA editing has been observed in the mitochondrial genome of Physarum polycephalum. The most frequent editing type in Physarum is the insertion of individual Cs. RNA editing is extremely accurate in Physarum; however, little is known about its mechanism. Here, we demonstrate how analyzing two organisms from the Myxomycetes, namely Physarum polycephalum and Didymium iridis, allows us to test hypotheses about the editing mechanism that can not be tested from a single organism alone. First, we show that using the recently determined full transcriptome information of Physarum dramatically improves the accuracy of computational editing site prediction in Didymium. We use this approach to predict genes in the mitochondrial genome of Didymium and identify six new edited genes as well as one new gene that appears unedited. Next we investigate sequence conservation in the vicinity of editing sites between the two organisms in order to identify sites that harbor the information for the location of editing sites based on increased conservation. Our results imply that the information contained within only nine or ten nucleotides on either side of the editing site (a distance previously suggested through experiments) is not enough to locate the editing sites. Finally, we show that the codon position bias in C insertional RNA editing of these two organisms is correlated with the selection pressure on the respective genes thereby directly testing an evolutionary theory on the origin of this codon bias. Beyond revealing interesting properties of insertional RNA editing in Myxomycetes, our work suggests possible approaches to be used when finding sequence motifs for any biological process fails.


Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovas - cular, and renal diseases which are together among the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Despite the availability of a wide range of effective medicines, many individuals suffering from hypertension use plant-derived preparations for treat ing their disease. The choice for these alternatives is often associated with the closer rela - tionship of such approaches to specific social, cultural, and religious perceptions about health and disease. However, in most cases, the scientific evidence for clinical efficacy of such medications is scant. The Republic of Suriname is a middle-income country in South America with a relatively high prevalence of hypertension and other cardiovascular dis - eases. This country harbors descendants of all continents, all of whom have preserved their cultural customs including their ethnopharmacological traditions. As a result, many Surinamese are inclined to treat their diseases including hypertension as they have done for centuries, that is, with plant-based preparations. This chapter has compiled the plants used for treating hypertension in Suriname; extensively evaluates 15 commonly used plants for potential efficacy on the basis of available phytochemical, mechanistic, pre - clinical, and clinical literature data; and closes with conclusions about their potential use fulness against the disease. plants, Suriname, preclinical studies, clinical studies,


Introduction: Regarding the manufacture of different gutta-percha cones and the importance of apical seal in a successful root canal therapy, this experimental study was designed to compare the invivo effects of Ariadent gutta-percha with Roeko and Diadent. Materials & Methods: In this exprimental invivo study, 29 mature Albinus rats (mean weight 202/77 gr) were selected. Four intradermal incisions were made in the dorsal part of each rat. In three incised areas, a piece of each gutta-percha was placed and one of the four incised areas was assumed as the negative control. Animals were sacrificed at 15, 30 and 60 day intervals and then specimens were taken from subcutaneous connective tissues of rats. All of the specimens were prepared histologically and stained using H & E staining method. histological assessment was based on the number of inflammatory cells. Data were analysed using One-Way ANOVA and Duncan test with 95 confidence level through SPSS software. Results: The results revealed that Ariadent gutta-percha in 15 day interval was more reaction inducing than Roeko and Diadent but in 30 and 60 day intervals, tissue biocompatibility of Ariadent was the same as Roeko and Diadent. Conclusion: Iranian Ariadent gutta-percha can be considered as a substitute for other foreign gutta-percha cones.


As the world economy has become increasingly integrated the spectre of transnational supply chains has become a central feature of globalisation. The smooth and unfettered working of transnational supply chains has facilitated efficiency increasing changes to business operations (such as just in time inventory management). The automotive sector worldwide has been at the forefront of internationally integrated supply systems. The European Union (EU) has, in part, been structured to reduce friction in Europe-wide supply chains through the single market. Transnational supply chains are at the heart of United Kingdom (UK) EU trade, and the UK's departure from the EU's single market (Brexit) will increase friction in international trade. This case study of the UK's automotive sector uses a social network approach to analyse supply chain linkages between the UK, EU and other trading partners, and how these could be impacted as a result of Brexit. We use data from Trade in Value Added (TiVA) and World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to map supply chains, estimate total value-added in exports and examine how Brexit is likely to impact the competitiveness of UK exports. Results confirm that the UK's automotive sector is closely integrated with the EU. To offset the loss of UK's export competitiveness after Brexit, trade facilitation measures complemented with a duty drawback scheme could be an option in the short run. Policy measures are, however, unlikely to replace the benefits of duty-free and frictionless access enjoyed under single market trading arrangements. This suggests that the UK automotive sector, which is primarily comprised of globally active firms, may have to reconfigure supply chain arrangements and in the long run alter how decisions pertaining to locations are made.


Abstract : The survey of Alaskan schistosomes (blood flukes) of military-medical importance resolved itself into a collection of snails which are the intermediate hosts of the worms and which release infective, penetrating cercariae. A total of seventy-six bodies of water was investigated during the summer of 1952. Sixteen were found to harbor snails infected with the itch-producing cercariae. Infested sites were in the Fairbanks area, Yukon flats, near the Tok and lower Alaska Highways. Ten species of snails were found and the two most common species, Lymnaea palustris L. stagnalis were found to harbor the cercariae. The highest incidence of schistosome cercariae was in late July and August. Natural clinical cases of schistosome dermatitis were found and the itch-producing ability of the located cercariae was demonstrated in all instances. The general syndrome of schistosome dermatitis is discussed. A limited study of the morphology of the cercariae is presented and the behavior of the liberated cercariae is iscussed. Additional morphological, ecological, and life history studies are necessary before positive identification can be made. (Author)


Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) infects sugarcane and other species in the family Poaceae. In the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) of south Florida, we detected SCMV in Columbus grass (Sorghum almum), maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), southern crabgrass (Digitaria ciliaris), and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). The entire coat protein (CP) of 43 SCMV isolates from these six host plants was amplified by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. The size of the CP sequences ranged from 837 to 1008 nucleotides. A phylogenetic analysis was performed using the sequences obtained in this study along with the CP sequences of other SCMV isolates retrieved from GenBank. SCMV isolates causing mosaic of sugarcane formed a distinct phylogenetic group. This group was closest to a separate phylogenetic group formed by SCMV isolates from Florida causing mosaic of Columbus grass, maize, and sorghum. Maize and sorghum showed mosaic symptoms when mechanically inoculated with SCMV isolates from sugarcane and Columbus grass. SCMV was not transmitted mechanically from sugarcane to Columbus grass or from Columbus grass to sugarcane. This suggests that SCMV from sugarcane and SCMV from Columbus grass are two different strains of the virus, and that Columbus grass is not the inoculum source for SCMV infecting sugarcane in the EAA. Furthermore, close phylogenetic relationship between isolates of SCMV from Columbus grass, maize, and sorghum suggests that the same virus strain is naturally spread among these plants in south Florida.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible morphological recovery of the granule cells in the olfactory bulb as a consequence of oxidative stress after an acute ozone exposure. Rats were divided in two groups: Control (air exposed) and experimental group, exposed 4 h, to 1 ppm ozone and divided into 4 subgroups, which were sacrificed at 2 and 24 h, 10 and 15 days, respectively. Olfactory bulbs were processed with the rapid Golgi method and for transmission electron microscopy. The granule cells of the olfactory bulb disclosed less dendritic spine density at 2, 24 h, and 10 days after the exposure compared with controls. At 15 days, the number of spines increased to values similar to those found in controls. The granule cells ultrastructure demonstrated an increment in lipofucsin granules, as well as swollen organelles, changes that decreased overtime. This change decline might be related to a partial recovery of the associative granule cells function.


The debate on the impact of the information and communication technologies (ICT) on contemporary democracy has lasted in political science since the beginning of the information revolution. Two dominating and antagonistic standpoints present the electronic democracy as either the cure for democracy crisis, or the factor deepening major problems of democracy. The text questions such a simplified perspective and proves that the overall assessment of the ICT influence on democracy is ambiguous. If the focus of the analysis is on the process of political mobilisation or the electronic service delivery, major consequences of electronic democracy are positive. They are e.g. lowering the barriers to entry into political market and making the state apparatus more responsive towards citizen's expectations. From the perspective of the unequal access to the ICT and possible introduction of the electronic plebiscitary democracy, new technologies seem harmful for the principles of democracy. Finally, if someone observes the impact of e-democracy on the overall level of political participation, he can advocate the thesis of no significant impact of the ICT on contemporary democracy. Consequently, there are three different faces of e-democracy. Doubtless, acceptance of such a model must determine directions of future research.


Background and objective:  Extrapulmonary sarcoidosis is common, and is almost always associated with concomitant thoracic involvement. Extrapulmonary manifestations vary on the basis of gender, age at presentation and ethnicity. The aim of this study was to investigate extrapulmonary involvement in patients with sarcoidosis in Turkey.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the occurrence of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and isolated cleft palate (CP) in the Faroe Islands and Greenland over a 50-year time period that has included substantial changes in lifestyle.

DESIGN
A prevalence study based on patient records obtained from the Institute of Speech and Hearing Disorders in Copenhagen, Denmark, at which the treatment of patients with CP and CL/P from Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Denmark is coordinated.

PARTICIPANTS
All live-born children in the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Denmark with CL/P or CP born in the period 1950 to 1999 (Faroe Islands and Greenland) and 1950 to 1987 (Denmark).

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
The mean prevalence of CL/P in the Faroe Islands and Greenland during the period 1950 to 1999 was 1.0 and 0.6 per 1000 live births, respectively. This is significantly lower than the mean prevalence of 1.4 (p <.05 and p <.001) per 1000 live births found in Denmark. The mean prevalence of CP in the Faroe Islands and Greenland was 1.5 and 1.1 per 1000 live births, respectively, which is significantly higher than the Danish prevalence of 0.5 per 1000 live births (p <.001 in both tests). There was no clear time trend in the prevalence, indicating that genetic factors or timetable environmental factors play a dominating role in the etiology of CL/P and CP in the Faroe Islands and Greenland.


"The Economics of Religion" explores the new paradigms of "religious economics" and "economies of religion" under the scope of transdisciplinary and international perspectives. It examines and appraises some of the recent theoretical developments and methodological innovations in religious and social sciences. This volume offers the chance to extend the analysis of religious behaviours by means of conceptual and methodological models of economics. It goes far beyond the classical "economy and religion" debate, and suggests not only theoretical but also epistemological changes in the study of religion: individual rationality and rational choice, market theory, demand and supply theory, branding and commodification of religion, believers' "consumer" habits, churches' competitive strategies, for example. Of course, these are not exempt from criticism, which this volume also addresses. These detailed and localized case-studies range from experimental to ethnographic methods, psychological to cultural aspects of believing and practising cults in the scope of economics of religion. Geographical areas covered include Nigeria, Bolivia, Italy, Mexico, France, Korea, Nepal and Tonga.


This randomized study was designed to compare the efficacy and toxicity of MMV chemotherapy (mitomycin C(MMC), methotrexate (MTX) and vincristine(VCR)), MMVM (MMV+medroxyprogesterone acetate(MPA)) and MMVP (MMV+prednisolone(P)), and to evaluate potential additional effects of MPA or P to the chemotherapy in doxorubicin (ADR)-refractory cancer patients. A total of 108 advanced breast cancer patients who had been resistant to ADR or who had relapsed after response were randomized to the three treatment arms: MMC 4mg/m2, MTX 35mg/m2 and VCR 0.7mg/m2, i.v., on days 1 and 8; repeated every 3 weeks. MPA 1,200 mg/day or P 10mg/day was given orally in the MMVM and MMVP arms, respectively. An interim analysis showed that the response to MMV was marginally significantly lower than the other groups; entry to the arm was thus interrupted. 102 patients were evaluable. Totally, response rates of 9.5%(2/21) in MMV, 37.5%(15/40) in MMVM and 29.2%(12/41) in MMVP were obtained. There was a significant difference in the response between the MMVM and MMV arms (p = 0.0206), and a marginal difference between MMVP and MMV (p = 0.0784). Although overall survivals in the 3 groups were equivalent, the time to progression of patients treated with MMVM and MMVP was shown to be significantly longer than MMV patients. Hematological adverse effects, especially thrombocytopenia, were significantly diminished by the addition of hormones, particularly MPA, to the chemotherapy, thus increasing total doses of chemotherapeutic agents. It was shown that in ADR-resistant cancers MMVM had an effect equivalent to that in ADR-sensitive breast cancers. The authors conclude that MMVM may be a candidate for a noncross resistant regimen for ADR-resistant cancers, as well as an effective 2nd line chemoendocrine treatment of advanced breast cancer.


Three issues essential to our insight into the concept and function of historical consciousness, and the description thereof, form the core of this book: historical truth, historical comment and criticism, and ideology (including the historian's trustworthiness). Taking as a point of departure the workings of these concepts in Chinese historical thinking, the volume carefully draws comparisons with similar topics in the Western tradition. It thus advocates and shows a truly comparative approach that sets the stage for an intercultural dialogue on this important subject. The first comprehensive work on the political and cognitive dimensions of Chinese historical consciousness set against its Western counterpart.


The immunological survey of 1,688 patients with tuberculosis and 486 with non-specific pulmonary diseases was made. Criteria were identified for immunodiagnosis. The use of current mathematical methods of analysis allowed the development of high performance immunodiagnostic systems for pulmonary abnormalities, which included diagnostic tables and discriminant analysis by employing a computer. The major immunological disorders were determined, which in agreement with the definite direction of a tuberculous process with the subsequent use of data for monitoring the patient's status and correcting the treatment. The most potent immunocorrective drugs were studied, indications for their use were specified, proceeding from the immunological characterization of a specific patient. It was shown that the comprehensive assessment of various links of the immune system is of undoubtful value for the diagnosis and prediction of diseases, and prescription of immunocorrective therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis.


This article attempts to answer a few open questions related to price convergence in the Czech Republic and in other Central and Eastern European Countries toward prices in the European Union. The authors address the following issues: First, what, from the theoretical viewpoint, should the quantitative relationship be between price level and GDP? Second, does the existing empirical data allow for a clear distinction between tradable and non-tradable commodities, as assumed by standard theory? Third, what is the relationship between price levels and coefficient measuring differences in the structures of relative prices in individual countries? Fourth, what are the likely forms of relative price convergence in the Czech Republic toward accession to the European Union? Fifth, what is the reason for the significantly negative residual of the Czech economy in the cross-country regressions of the average price level on GDP.


Although research on CEO compensation is voluminous, only limited attention has been paid to the role of industry. In this paper we develop an industry-level explanatory theory based on the concept of managerial discretion, and test it using a multi-level structural equation modeling approach at the industry level. In contrast to previous work, this theory offers an explanation of why, and how, industry is related to CEO compensation. In a sample of 933 firms in 109 3-digit SIC industries, we find that the level of industry discretion is significantly related to both the level of CEO compensation, and the proportion of performance-contingent CEO compensation. The implications of these findings for industry-level research in general, and research on CEO compensation in particular, are discussed.


Research on the effects of medical news stories on the public has demonstrated that consumers make decisions about personal health care options and choices sometimes exclusively based on stories published by the media. Given the news media's ability to set the agenda for what the lay public, government policymakers and even health professionals consider topical and important, medical news reporting has an added sense of responsibility to be timely, reliable and accurate. Public relations practitioners involved in medical promotion can be the behind-the-scenes providers of information and access to important sources in medical news production. This relationship has been an emerging area of research focus in the US but has received scant attention in Australia. Just as in other areas of reporting, the relational dynamics between reporter and PR source are often conflicting and contradictory. This article will explore the views of 25 Australian medical reporters in a mixed method study on their relationship with public relations practitioners through the construct of trust. The findings indicate that most medical reporters, although acknowledging the increasing influence of public relations on medical news production, generally do not trust public relations sources, especially those in the corporate sector. However, if ongoing PR sources are considered reliable and trustworthy, then the relationship can become one of trust and interdependence.


Microbial competition is most often studied at the genus or species level, but interstrain competition has been less thoroughly examined. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important pathogen in the context of hospital-acquired pneumonia, and a better understanding of strain competition in the lungs could explain why some strains of this bacterium are more frequently isolated from pneumonia patients than others. ABSTRACT Microbial competition is most often studied at the genus or species level, but interstrain competition has been less thoroughly examined. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important pathogen in the context of hospital-acquired pneumonia, and a better understanding of strain competition in the lungs could explain why some strains of this bacterium are more frequently isolated from pneumonia patients than others. We developed a barcode-free method called "StrainSeq" to simultaneously track the abundances of 10 K. pneumoniae strains in a murine pneumonia model. We demonstrate that one strain (KPPR1) repeatedly achieved a marked numerical dominance at 20 h postinoculation during pneumonia but did not exhibit a similar level of dominance in in vitro mixed-growth experiments. The emergence of a single dominant strain was also observed with a second respiratory pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, indicating that the phenomenon was not unique to K. pneumoniae. When KPPR1 was removed from the inoculum, a second strain emerged to achieve high numbers in the lungs, and when KPPR1 was introduced into the lungs 1 h after the other nine strains, it no longer exhibited a dominant phenotype. Our findings indicate that certain strains of K. pneumoniae have the ability to outcompete others in the pulmonary environment and cause severe pneumonia and that a similar phenomenon occurs with A. baumannii. In the context of the pulmonary microbiome, interstrain competitive fitness may be another factor that influences the success and spread of certain lineages of these hospital-acquired respiratory pathogens.


The discourse on development is a fundamental issue as it affects everything that man does. It could be seen as a form of social change in which new ideas are introduced into a social system to produce higher and better living standards. In other words, it could be interpreted as man's capacity to expand his own form of consciousness, awareness and power over himself and the society; that is, the optimum realisation of the well-being of individuals and the common good. It is the power of a people to solve their own problems with their own wisdom, experiences and resources.Dependency theory emerged as a result of the modernist theory's limitation, which has a Marxian orientation. The major stand of the school is that development and under-development have dialectical relationship, that is, one leads to the other through the process of exploitations. The main factors responsible for development on one side and under-development on the other include the following: the pre-colonial trade, slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism among others. These forces are characteristics of imperialism, which is a significant feature of capitalist expansion. The intent of this paper is to argue that there is always a cultural context to development, outside which a development change may not be appreciated. This paper, therefore, will submit that development would be meaningful when peoples' choices, values and ideals are enlarged enough for them to acquire knowledge, have access to resources necessary for standard decent life and their active participation in community life.Key words: Dependency theory, development, Africa, values, Humanism


According to numerous researches the authors emphasize the importance of the quantification of C-reactive protein in patients with community-acquired pneumonia. We gave an analysis of different publications on the given issue. We came to conclusion that available laboratory kits for the quantification of C-reactive protein in blood serum, including instant diagnosis, allow considering the given method as a method of common use for military-medical facilities.


Objectives: Previous research suggests that parents of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder often experience communication problems and conflict in their relationship. The aim was to explore parents' subjective experience and identify main processes by which caring for a child with ADHD may generate distress in the parental relationship.
Design: The study was qualitative, interview-based.
Methods: Twenty-four parents with a child suffering from ADHD were recruited from relevant charities based in the UK and interviewed for about 45 minutes. A semi-structured interview schedule was used, focused on how parents experienced caring for their child and the potential impact they thought such caring may have had on their couple relationship. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed.
Results: Thematic analysis of the transcripts identified three main themes: Theme 1 referred to the various sources of stress parents felt were put on them directly by the behaviour of their child (e.g. managing aggressive or anti-social behaviour); Theme 2 referred to parents' experience of having too little intimate time with their partners as a result of their child's increased needs; and Theme 3 referred to parental conflict experienced as being caused by their child's needs.
Conclusions: Findings may have identified specific interpersonal processes in the couple that are disrupted while caring for a child with ADHD. Parents' inability to devote time to each other may be a central process by which the emotional bond of the couple is disrupted.


Abstract. All the nuclear facility structures must be analyzed for tornado loads. This analysis was per-formed when designing the New Safe Confinement over the ruined Chernobyl power unit (NSC ChNPP). The standard methods of tornado analysis could not be applied due to its large size and geometric shape. Therefore, it was necessary to develop new calculation methods. The paper provides detailed information on the performed calculations and describes the conservative assumptions made when there was not enough information. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the gained experience of performing such an analysis of this unique structure, which may be of some interest. The following two complex problems are considered: • establishing the design tornado parameters; • developing an engineering methodology for the tornado analysis. Moreover, questions are formulated that should be clarified when carrying out similar designs.


To assess explosion hazard, the french Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) is developping the P2REMICS software (for Partially PREMIxed Combustion Solver) on the basis of the generic CFD solver library CALIF3S (for Components Adaptive Library for Fluid Flow Simulation). Both P2REMICS and CALIF3S are in-house IRSN softwares, released under an open-source license. CALIF3S-P2REMICS is dedicated to the simulation of explosion scenarii (explosive atmosphere formation, deflagration or detonation and blast waves propagation), for hydrogen as, more generally, for any explosive gas or gas/dust mixture. It is based on staggered space discretizations and implements fractional-steps time algorithms, well suited for massively parallel computations. A wide range of experiments is used for the software validation. Among them, we focus here on a free underexpanded hydrogen jet deflagration, performed in two steps: first, the hydrogen is released in air, up to obtain a steady jet (dispersion phase), then the deflagration is triggered. For the dispersion phase simulation, a notional nozzle approach is used to get rid of the description of the shocked zone located near the nozzle. Then a so-called turbulent flame velocity approach is chosen for the deflagration simulation. The computations allow to highlight the complex flow structures induced by the inhomogeneity fuel concentration in the jet. A large dispersion of results is observed, depending on the chosen correlation for the turbulent flame speed.


As the environment confronts multitude of dilemmas which tend to beset the ecological equilibrium, environmental stewardship is being strengthened in the academe. Furthermore, the onset of ASEAN integration posed challenges for ASEAN colleges and universities to strengthen its environmental education. This study was conducted to look into the perspectives of tertiary students on environmental stewardship. A total of 20 sophomore university students of the President Ramon Magsaysay State University in Zambales, Philippines served as the participants of the study. The primary instrument used in data gathering was an open-ended questionnaire supplemented by one-one-one interviews and small group discussions. The study found out that strong collaboration and stewardship are the keys to resolve environmental problems. Furthermore, the students have positive perspectives on environmental conservation and intensely commit themselves to be stewards of the ailing environment. Thus, it was recommended that the perspectives of the students on environmental stewardship be incorporated in the curriculum to make environmental education in ASEAN higher education institutions (HEIs) be more learner-centered, research-based and comprehensive.


The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing in the USA. Traditional factors, such as hepatitis C and hepatitis B, along with new emerging trends suggest that the incidence is not only increasing, but is also likely to be under-represented in the current literature. Emerging knowledge of its incidence and epidemiology reflects an increased incidence in younger patients and certain ethnic groups. Without a clear treatment algorithm for this complex cancer, therapy and its utilization remain unclear.


Using a corpus-based and cross-modal approach, this study explores mediatic linguistic representations of gendered violence. Specifically, we analyse a journalistic corpus (WItNECS, Women in Italian Newspaper Crime Sections) and a multimedia dataset of the Italian TV program Amore Criminale (AC). The corpus is explored via collocational analysis of key terms and topic modelling. AC is investigated with a multimodal analysis of speech and gestures. Finally, we compare similarities and differences of newspaper and television language. Findings from this innovative methodology bring new evidence on the mediatic representation of 'women as victims'.


The superhard abrasive tools are usually made by the electroplating abrasive method. The electroplating quality has the directly effect on the life and the performance of the superhard abrasive tools. The electroplating technology is the major factor which influences the electroplating qualityy. The plating pretreatment and plating nickel processes in the basic electroplating technology were improved in this paper. The deburring, the oil removing by electrochemistry, the anode dispose procedures and a set of new electroplating technology about incoming slot with electronics and impact current in the plating nickel process were brought forward in this paper and the experiment research was taken as well. The result of the experiment which used the new technology showed that the binding power on the plating tier was enhanced, the electroplating quality was advanced; secondly, the effects of the parameters such as the directions for the electroplating solution, the current density, the temperature of the electroplating solution and PH values on the electroplating quality were studied in the experiment. Finally the optimization result was gained.


In a variety of electronic systems, cooling of various components imposes a significant challenge. A major aspect that inhibits the performance of many cooling solutions is the thermal resistance between the chip package and the cooling structure. Due to its low thermal conductivity, the thermal interface material (TIM) layer imposes a significant thermal resistance on the chip to cooling fluid thermal path. Advanced cooling methods that bypass the TIM have shown great potential in research and some specialty applications, yet have not been adopted widely by industry due to challenges associated with practical implementation and economic constraints. One advanced cooling method that can bypass the TIM is jet impingement. The impingement cooling device investigated in the current study is external to the integrated circuit (IC) package and could be easily retrofitted onto any existing microchip, similar to a standard heatsink. Jet impingement cooling has proven effective in previous studies. However, it has been shown that jet-to-jet interference severely degrades thermal performance of an impinging jet array. The present research addresses this challenge by utilizing a flow path geometry that allows for withdrawal of the impinging fluid immediately adjacent to each jet in the array.
 In this study, a jet impingement cooling solution for high-performance ICs was developed and tested. The cooling device was fabricated using modern advanced manufacturing techniques and consisted of an array of micro-scale impinging jets. A second array of fluid return paths was overlain across the jet array to allow for direct fluid extraction in the immediate vicinity of each jet, and fluid return passages were oriented in parallel to the impinging jets. The following key geometric parameters were utilized in the device: jet diameter (D = 300μm), distance from jet to impinging surface (H/D = 2.5), spacing between jets (S/D = 8), spacing between fluid returns (Sr/D = 8), diameter of fluid returns (Dr/D = 5). The device was mounted to a 2cm × 2cm uniformly heated surface which produced up to 165W and the resulting fluid-to-surface temperature difference was measured at a variety of flow rates. For this study, the device was tested using single-phase water. Jet Reynolds number ranged from 300–1500 and an average heat transfer coefficient of 13,100 W m−2 K−1 was achieved at a Reynolds number of only Red = 305.


Bio BIO Boris Murmann is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He joined Stanford in 2004 after completing his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 2003. From 1994 to 1997, he was with Neutron Microelectronics, Germany, where he developed low-power and smart-power ASICs. Since 2004, he has worked as a consultant with numerous Silicon Valley companies. Dr. Murmann's research interests are in mixed-signal integrated circuit design, including sensor interfaces, data conversion, high-speed communication, and embedded machine learning. He was a co-recipient of the Best Student Paper Award at the 2008 and 2021 VLSI Circuits Symposia, as well as a recipient of the Best Invited Paper Award at the 2008 IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference (CICC). He received the 2009 Agilent Early Career Professor Award, the 2012 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award by the Humboldt Foundation, and the 2021 SIA-SRC University Researcher Award for lifetime research contributions to the U.S. semiconductor industry. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, an AdCom member and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS), the Data Converter Subcommittee Chair and Technical Program Chair of the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), as well as the Technical Program Co-Chair of the tinyML Research Symposium. He currently serves as the chair of the IEEE SSCS Technical Committee on Open-Source Ecosystem and the General Co-Chair of the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS). He is a Fellow of the IEEE.


PURPOSE
Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality in the United States have steadily declined since the 1980s, but racial and socioeconomic disparities remain. The influence of geographic factors is poorly understood and may be affected by evolving insurance coverage and screening test uptake. We characterized temporal trends in the association between geographic and sociodemographic factors and CRC outcomes.

METHODS
We used the 1973-2010 SEER-Medicare files to identify patients aged ≥65 years with and without CRC. Beneficiary residential ZIP codes were used to extract local-level data. We constructed multivariable logistic regression models for CRC incidence and mortality using geographic and sociodemographic variables in 4 time periods: (1) 1973-1997; (2) 1998-2001; (3) 2002-2006; and (4) 2007-2010.

FINDINGS
We analyzed 1,093,758 records, including 336,321 CRC cases. Compared to urban residence, small rural residence was strongly associated with increased CRC incidence (OR 1.50, 95% CI: 1.43-1.57) and mortality (OR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.26-1.45) in 1973-1997, but the associations diminished by 2007-2010 (OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04-1.15 for incidence; OR 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20 for mortality). The disparity between blacks and whites increased over time for both incidence (OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.05-1.13 in 1973-1997 vs OR 1.32, 95% CI: 1.27-1.37 in 2007-2010) and mortality (OR 1.22, 95% CI: 1.16-1.28 in 1973-1997 vs OR 1.34, 95% CI: 1.26-1.42 in 2007-2010). High socioeconomic status was associated with greater incidence and mortality in 1973-1997, but it became protective after 1998.

CONCLUSIONS
Although disparities persist among Medicare beneficiaries, the relationship between geographic and sociodemographic factors and CRC incidence and mortality has evolved over time.


Pregnant mice infected with Toxoplasma by the vaginal route have been found to transmit toxoplasmosis to the placentas and fetuses in utero. The microorganism entered the blood stream of the mother from primary foci of infection in the vaginal wall and produced disseminated lesions in the labyrinth of the allantoic placenta at the same time as other peripheral maternal tissues were involved. Placental lesions were observed in mice infected with Toxoplasma by vagina between the 3rd and the 9th day of pregnancy. They consisted of microscopic foci of degeneration, without inflammation, in the syncytial trophoblast, and parasites undergoing multiplication were readily identified in them. Here Toxoplasma gained access to the fetal circulation. Following the vaginal instillation of Toxoplasma on the 8th day of pregnancy, subinoculation of test animals revealed the parasites in the maternal peripheral and placental blood on the 13th day and later, while the first histopathologic changes in the placenta were found on the 17th day. Toxoplasma could be demonstrated in suspensions of fetal tissues on and after the 17th day by the injection of normal test animals. However, no lesions of toxoplasmosis, or Toxoplasma, were found in histologic sections of fetuses 11 to 21 days old removed at autopsy from vaginally infected mothers. It is concluded that before birth the parasites were confined to the fetal blood. The experiments provide the first direct histological demonstration of placental toxoplasmosis. The possible bearing of the experimental disease on human placental and fetal toxoplasmosis is briefly considered. It is probable that a maternal parasitemia during the latter part of pregnancy, whatever the portal of entry may be, is an essential factor in the pathogenesis of human congenital toxoplasmosis and that this occurs shortly after exposure to Toxoplasma rather than in a later chronic stage of the infection. The suggestion is offered that some instances of spontaneous abortion or fetal death in man, as in the mouse, may be due to inapparent toxoplasmosis.


The Diversity of Science in Carnap's, Lewin's and Fleck's Philosophy: Toward a Pluralistic Point of View. In the 1920s and 1930s three different but simultaneous approaches of philosophy of science can be distinguished: the logical approach of the physicist Rudolf Carnap, the logico-historical approach of the psychologist Kurt Lewin and the socio-historical approach of the medical scientist Ludwik Fleck. While the philosophies of Lewin and Fleck can be characterized as contextual appraisals which account for the interactions between particular sciences and their historical, socio-cultural or intellectual environments, Carnap's philosophy is narrowed to an internal methodology centered on scientific propositions and logical structures in general. In addition to these differences in aim and practice of methodological analysis the estimation of the real disunity and diversity of the special branches of science differs. Instead of Carnap's ideal of a unified science from the new pluralistic point of view the evaluation of the empirical multiplicity of particular sciences obtains philosophical acceptance.


Breast Self-Examination (BSE) is important to be introduced to secondary school girls in order to develop a positive health behavior. Limited attention has been given on knowledge among school girls. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of educational intervention program on knowledge of BSE among secondary school girls in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 502 volunteered secondary school girls using pre and post self-administered validated questionnaire. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 14.9 (± 0.1) years. Majority of the participants were Malays (87.1%). Pre-intervention educational program revealed that 91% of the participants had poor knowledge whereas 9% had good knowledge on BSE. Post-educational intervention program showed that knowledge has increased by 33.4% and percentage for 'poor' knowledge reduced by 33.4% from pre-intervention scored (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference on knowledge of BSE among participants with and without family history of breast cancer (p = 0.204). Health campaign was the top source of information to gain knowledge related to BSE prior (56.6%) and after (90.2%) the intervention program (p<0.001). Thus, the educational intervention program was found to be effective method to improve the knowledge on BSE among secondary school girls. DOI : http://dx.doi.org./10.17576/JSKM-2019-1702-08


A quantum generalization of Natural Gradient Descent is presented as part of a general-purpose optimization framework for variational quantum circuits. The optimization dynamics is interpreted as moving in the steepest descent direction with respect to the Quantum Information Geometry, corresponding to the real part of the Quantum Geometric Tensor (QGT), also known as the Fubini-Study metric tensor. An efficient algorithm is presented for computing a block-diagonal approximation to the Fubini-Study metric tensor for parametrized quantum circuits, which may be of independent interest.


Protecting property rights in creative works represent a classic institutional approach to a specific economic problem of non-rivalness and non-excludability of information. By providing the copyright owner with an enforceable right against non-paying members of society, copyright laws encourage the production and dissemination of literary and artistic works to society for the purposes of learning. Implicit in the grant of property rights is the assumption that commercial incentives foster creative activity and productivity. In recent years, literary and artistic works have increasingly become the subject matter of exclusive property rights and control, particularly as new technologies emerge to provide users of creative works with greater access to informational goods. As a result of expanding property rights in literary and artistic works, society's access to, and use of, information has, however, been severely restricted by increasing access costs despite the development of enabling technologies to facilitate greater access. This Article examines the general social claim to a right of access to information for the purposes of furthering the constitutional goals of promoting progress, and proposes that the question of access to information is a question of sustainable resource use that should not evoke the exclusionary rights of a strict property rule. The rights under copyright laws protect economic privileges in information and govern society's use of informational resources. They do not provide copyright owners with a general right to exclude socially beneficial uses of informational works, are specifically tailored to increase social welfare, and must be distinguished from a property right to exclude others from use of a thing. Exclusionary property rights in creative works, arise, if at all, to protect an author's creative integrity, validate the importance of authentic authorship, and provide personal and moral incentives for authors to produce creative works of social value. Property rights and economic privileges, this Article proposes, encourage the production of informational goods and are necessary to ensure the advancement of science and the useful arts in accordance with the Constitutional goals of the copyright system.


The reduction of tetrazolium was used to assay the metabolic capability of developing Mycoplasma pneumoniae cultures on glass. Generally, the amount of tetrazolium reduced correlates with the amount of growth as measured by protein. Until a culture enters the late phase of the growth cycle, the drop in pH of culture medium provides similar information. In this last stage of growth, protein appears to be leveling. The pH continues to fall, but tetrazolium reducing activity decreases. Thus, considering the entire M. pneumoniae growth cycle, formazan production is a more reliable measure of metabolic capability of the organisms than either protein or pH. The reduction of tetrazolium provides a quantitative means of assessing enzymatic activities of glass-adherent M. pneumoniae.


The small amplitude-to-thread ratio helical configuration of a
vortex filament in the ideal fluid behaves exactly as de Broglie
wave. The complex-valued algebra of quantum mechanics finds a
simple mechanical interpretation in terms of differential
geometry of the space curve. The wave function takes the meaning
of the velocity, with which the helix rotates about the screw
axis. The helices differ in type of the screw—right- or
left-handed. Two kinds of the helical waves deflect in the
inhomogeneous fluid vorticity field in the same way as spin
particles in the Stern-Gerlach experiment.


This article provides an introduction to, and makes a case for, cultural intermediaries as an entry point for the study of media and cultural production. We offer a strategic parsing of the conceptual foundations provided by Bourdieu with regard to cultural intermediaries and the media, loosely organized in terms of where they are located (working in media); the means of accomplishing their role (working with media); and their economic role in promoting consumption (the work of mediation). We then follow the translation of the concept from Bourdieu to a cultural economy approach that is concerned with the material practices involved in the formation of value. A review and comparison of substantive findings from a range of cultural economic case studies of cultural intermediary occupations serves as an introduction to a three-fold approach that might guide future studies of occupations in cultural industries, in terms of: historicizing occupations, material practices, and assessments of impact. Finally, we conclude with a claim for the utility of 'cultural intermediaries' as a way to think about cultural production, and highlight areas in which work remains to be done.


The deterministic near-wall turbulence model developed by Kasagi et al. (1984b) is used in a numerical analysis of turbulent heat transfer, in which the unsteady heat conduction inside the wall associated with the turbulent flow unsteadiness is taken into account. Unlike the typical methodology based on Reynolds decomposition, the algebraic expressions for the three fluctuating velocities given by the model are directly introduced into the governing energy equation. From the numerical results of the unsteady conjugate heat transfer, the statistical quantities, such as temperature variance, turbulent heat flux, and turbulent Prandtl number, are obtained for fluids of various Prandtl numbers. It is demonstrated that the near-wall behavior of these quantities is strongly influenced by the thermal properties and thickness of the wall. In addition, the budget of the temperature variance associated with coherent turbulence structure is calculated and, except for dissipation, each budget term is in qualitative agreement with the experiment.


The bilateral filter is a non-linear filter that uses a range filter along with a spatial filter to perform edge-preserving smoothing of images. A direct computation of the bilateral filter requires O(S) operations per pixel, where S is the size of the support of the spatial filter. In this paper, we present a fast and provably accurate algorithm for approximating the bilateral filter when the range kernel is Gaussian. In particular, for box and Gaussian spatial filters, the proposed algorithm can cut down the complexity to O(1) per pixel for any arbitrary S. The algorithm has a simple implementation involving N+1 spatial filterings, where N is the approximation order. We give a detailed analysis of the filtering accuracy that can be achieved by the proposed approximation in relation to the target bilateral filter. This allows us to estimate the order N required to obtain a given accuracy. We also present comprehensive numerical results to demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is competitive with the state-of-the-art methods in terms of speed and accuracy.


The use of conventional breeding methods has resulted in consistent crop improvement within the cultivated gene pool by producing genotypes with new combinations of alleles that produce better phenotypes than either of the parents (transgressive segregation). Biotechnology has provided new methods to generate, identify, characterize, and manipulate genetic variation. Among these methods, marker assisted selection (MAS) with DNA markers has been applied in plant improvement programs. However, MAS is limited by the effort required to generate information about map location and breeding value of genes controlling important traits. Comparative genetic analysis across the domesticated grasses facilitates the identification and localization of gene sequences controlling specific traits of interest. The emerging databases of gene sequences will allow directed discovery of genes in higher plants and classification of alleles present within breeding germplasm. Identification of the genes controlling a trait and knowledge of their DNA sequence would facilitate classification of variation in the germplasm pool based on gene fingerprinting or characterization of variation in key DNA sequences. Classification of sequence variants at a targeted locus would substantially reduce the amount of work required to determine their relative breeding value and lead to the identification of superior alleles. Combining direct allele selection (DAS) with conventional selection, would allow more rapid and precise improvement of populations and breeding lines. Limitations of current technology can be minimized by transfer of genetic information across species, identification of highly variable genes, and focusing on the most important genes and traits for the species of interest.


Children do not learn language from passive observation of the world, but from interaction with caregivers motivated to communicate with them. Does this communicative pressure on caregivers lead them to structure children's linguistic input in a way that facilitates learning? As a case study, we analyze a canonical pedagogical behavior in caregivers: use of ostensive labeling to teach children new words. Using a multi-method approach, we show that this pedagogically supportive behavior can emerge from communicative pressure alone, without any explicit pedagogical goals. First, in a corpus study, we show that caregivers communicate by ostensive labeling precisely when children are likely to learn a new word. In an iterated reference game, we experimentally show that this strategy can arise from pressure to communicate successfully with a less knowledgeable partner. Then, we show that speaker behavior in our experiment can be explained by a rational communication model that includes planning, without any explicit teaching goal. Finally, in a series of simulations, we explore the language learning consequences of having a communicatively-motivated caregiver. We show that under many parameterizations, simple learning mechanisms interacting with a communicatively-motivated partner outperform more powerful learning mechanisms. This perspective offers a first step toward a unifying, formal account of both how linguistic input is structured and how children learn from it.


RATIONALE
Cardiac stem cells (CSC) therapy has been clinically introduced for cardiac repair after myocardial infarction (MI). To date, there has been no systematic overview and meta-analysis of studies using CSC therapy for MI.

OBJECTIVE
Here, we used meta-analysis to establish the overall effect of CSCs in preclinical studies and assessed translational differences between and within large and small animals in the CSC therapy field. In addition, we explored the effect of CSC type and other clinically relevant parameters on functional outcome to better predict and design future (pre)clinical studies using CSCs for MI.

METHODS AND RESULTS
A systematic search was performed, yielding 80 studies. We determined the overall effect of CSC therapy on left ventricular ejection fraction and performed meta-regression to investigate clinically relevant parameters. We also assessed the quality of included studies and possible bias. The overall effect observed in CSC-treated animals was 10.7% (95% confidence interval 9.4-12.1; P<0.001) improvement in ejection fraction compared with placebo controls. Interestingly, CSC therapy had a greater effect in small animals compared with large animals (P<0.001). Meta-regression indicated that cell type was a significant predictor for ejection fraction improvement in small animals. Minor publication bias was observed in small animal studies.

CONCLUSIONS
CSC treatment resulted in significant improvement of ejection fraction in preclinical animal models of MI compared with placebo. There was a reduction in the magnitude of effect in large compared with small animal models. Although different CSC types have overlapping culture characteristics, we observed a significant difference in their effect in post-MI animal studies.


Purpose This study aims to evaluate the use of handheld ultrasound devices (HHUS) for point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) to improve outpatient care in rural


In this study, repetitive response surface enhancement technique (RRSET) is proposed as a new system approximation method for the efficient multidisciplinary design and optimization (MDO). In order to represent the highly nonlinear behavior of the response with second order polynomials, RRSET introduces a design space transformation using stretching functions and repetitive response surface improvement. The tentative optimal point is repetitively included to the set of experimental points to better approximate the response surface of the system especially near the optimal point, hence a response surface with significantly improved accuracy can be generated with very small experimental points and system iterations. As a system optimizer, the simulated annealing, a global optimization algorithm is utilized. The proposed technique is applied to the several numerical examples, and demonstrates the validity and efficiency of the method. With its improved approximation accuracy, the RRSET can contribute to resolve large and complex system design problems under MDO environment.


Basing on modified Mason's equivalent circuit of an acoustic probe the authors carried out the computation of admittances and pulses reflected from the ideal reflector immersed in water. The relation between the admittance of a PZT transducer with acoustic layers (matching the acoustic impedance of the transducer to the acoustic impedance of the human body) and the thickness of the layer is given. It is shown the optimal layer thickness should be determined as a quarter wave-length λe/4 (calculated for the electric resonance frequency). In such a case the admittance curve is symmetrical and reaches the minimum, and the reflected pulse is shortest. Small thickness changes of the layer causes more distinct changes of the admittance than of the reflected pulses. The influence of the acoustic impedance of layers and electromechanical coupling coefficient kt on the admittance curves is discussed. The admittances of the transducer measured for different thicknesses of the acoustic matching layer are shown. The results are in good agreement with computations.


Three decades ago, theoretical physicists suggested that the controlled recovery of charges could result in electronic circuitry whose power dissipation approaches thermodynamic limits, growing at a significantly slower pace than the fCV/sup 2/ rate for CMOS switching power. Early engineering research in this field, which became generally known as adiabatic computing, focused on the asymptotic energetics of computation, exploring VLSI designs that use reversible logic and adiabatic switching to preserve information and achieve nearly zero power dissipation as operating frequencies approach zero. Recent advances in CMOS VLSI design have taken us to real working chips that rely on controlled charge recovery to operate at substantially lower power dissipation levels than their conventional counterparts. Although their origins can be traced back to the early adiabatic circuits, these so-called energy-recovering systems approach charge recycling from a more practical angle, achieving operating frequencies in the hundreds of MHz with relatively low overhead. Among other energy recovering designs, researchers in the field have demonstrated microcontrollers, standard-cell ASICs, SRAMs, LCD panel drivers, I/O drivers, and multi-GHz clock networks. In this tutorial, we present an overview of the field, focusing on the most promising charge recovering design techniques for ASICs that are close to integration into the field.


The Journal welcomes comments from its readers. All communications should be addressed to the Editor and bear the full name and address of the writer. A selection of those received will be published periodically in these columns. When a comment is received regarding an article or review published in the Journal, and we feel it merits serious consideration, the author will be given the option to respond in kind. As a matter of policy, such exchanges are normally limited to one round. The Journal reserves the right to edit or abridge all contributions. In addition to letters of comment, communications on other information of interest will be printed as space is available. To the Editor: I write in response to the article by Prof. Hilde Henriksen Waage, "The Winner Takes All: The 1949 Island of Rhodes Armistice Negotiations Revisited," (The Middle East Journal, Vol. 65, No. 2, Spring, 2011). The subject article contains so many factual errors that, once listed, they will surely demonstrate the untenability of the argument which she derives from them. Here are some of the more blatant ones: pp. 289-290: UN Secretary General Lie "secretly passing information from the confidential negotiations to ... the American delegations at the UN" [She confuses the American Section of the Jewish Agency with the US Government delegation.] p. 289: Lie gave "all of Bunche's reports" secretly "to the American delegation" [Actually, he did so for the representatives of the US, France, and Turkey, who comprised the membership of the UN's Palestine Conciliation Commission [PCC], which was coordinating with Acting Mediator Bunche, the former seeking to establish negotiations for a final peace settlement, while Bunche, of course, in Rhodes was working toward agreements on military armistices.] p. 290: (a) "UN Security Council Resolution 62 of November 16, 1948 marked the end of the efforts to negotiate a permanent peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors;" instead, the goal now was only armistices, "and not peace agreements." "... peace negotiations ... were expected to commence within a year." [As noted, the UN retained the goal of a final peace by establishing the PCC, whereas the Rhodes negotiations were in realistic recognition that a prerequisite for peace was the establishment of a more stable military situation than could be obtained by mere cease-fires and truces. There was no one year delay in UN efforts, through the PCC, to start peace negotiations.] (b) "William Epstein, a Jewish member of the Canadian mission to the UN" helped Israel secretly "engineer" the Security Council resolution of November 16, 1948. [This charge contains a factual inaccuracy compounded by a rather unpleasant innuendo based on the mere assumption of a person's religion. The factual error is that Epstein was actually a UN official on Bunche's staff. The innuendo is of a similar kind to the author's attributing Lie's efforts to implement the partition resolution to his love of Jews "ever since childhood" - p. 288.] Passim: (a) the author consistently mis-describes the UK as on longer on "the list of relevant actors in a position to influence the future outcome of the conflict in the Middle East" - e.g., p. 286. Also on that page: Britain was pressing for "Egypt to retain parts of the Negev desert." This betrays a profound misunderstanding of the UK's goal of having Transjordan on the Meditarranean coast near the Suez Canal. p. 283: "Fighting broke out again" after the expiration in July of the first truce period. [The Arab States, not Israel, rejected extension of the truce and re-opened the fighting.] p. 283: The "compromise solution" worked out by the mediator in June was "never adopted" by the UN. [The author fails to understand, or even note, that that plan was scratched in favor of a totally revised "Bernadotte Plan" submitted on the eve of the General Assembly in September.] p. 284: Eban was at this time "Ambassador to the US and the UN. …


Background Dorsal augmentation is the most commonly performed procedure in rhinoplasty for Asian patients. Due to the anatomic features of the Asian nose, the use of nonautologous materials to obtain a proper degree of augmentation is inevitable in most cases. Because the use of nonautologous materials possesses a higher risk of complications, surgeons are concerned about selecting suitable materials for the procedure, especially in revision rhinoplasty. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the suitability and usefulness of a homologous material, Tutoplast-processed fascia lata (TPFL), in revision augmentation rhinoplasty. Methods Retrospective analysis of 104 rhinoplasty patients (primary, 86; revision, 18) who had undergone dorsal augmentation using TPFL was conducted. The comparison of surgical outcomes between primary and revision surgery was made using objective [dorsal height (DH) and radix height (RH), complication rate] and subjective (patient satisfaction) parameters. Results The degree of augmentation represented by DHand RH was comparable between primary and revision rhinoplasty using TPFL. In comparing the rate of postoperative complications, only minor incidents were noted, in six cases after primary surgery and in one case after revision surgery. Patient satisfaction was measured in both primary and revision augmentation, with a significant difference observed between the two groups (40.57 ∓ 9.25 versus 31.48 ∓ 7.59; p < 0.05). Conclusion TPFL is a feasible implant material that delivers suitable augmentation and patient satisfaction with minimal morbidity in both primary and revision rhinoplasty.


This paper explores how famous female characters express societal views and expectations for actual females and presents ways new works can provide expanded options, liberating performers and audiences from restrictive preconceptions. Evidenced by characters like Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet and Laura Wingfield from Williams' The Glass Menagerie, these bonds limit audiences and performers from envisioning more rounded roles for female characters—in art and in life. Like Virginia Woolf who felt she—and her audience—must "kill the 'Angel in the House'" to find their own voice and strength as artists, professionals, and individuals, I, too, as a burgeoning educator and performer, feel compelled to give students a wider array of choices and perspectives beyond the stock characters and expectations that reinforce skewed visions of females by calling attention to characters who are either oppressed, submissive "Angels" or rebellious femme fatales, obeying or reacting to male definitions and demands, and by then creating space for female characters committed to and successful at pursuing personal goals and freedoms.

This paper examines how playwrights and typical classroom selections too often depict young women trapped in terrible situations and how, despite all their weaknesses, these female characters still hold sway over audiences, influencing male and female students' perceptions and expectations about gender roles and power, particularly the power inherent or forbidden in a female character's options. Finally, this paper emphasizes ways traditional and newer works can help enhance performers and audiences' options, providing more realistic, vibrant, and memorable character role(model)s.


1. A great deal of money is being invested in calcareous grassland restoration on arable land within agri-environment schemes in the European Union. There is, however, little evidence that the target ecosystem can be obtained from the restoration techniques and management practices currently used. We evaluated these techniques using a multi-site approach in order to improve the success of future restoration efforts.

2. We compared 40 restoration sites with 40 paired reference sites and addressed the following specific hypotheses: (i) Are plant communities of restoration sites becoming more like those of mature calcareous grassland? (ii) How long does the restoration process take? (iii) Are there any environmental filters that hinder the process? (iv) Is there a difference in plant attributes between restored and ancient grassland communities, and between restored communities of different ages?

3. We used a multivariate approach to assess the similarity of sites and found that there was little overlap between restored and ancient grassland communities even after 60 years. Successful restoration of calcareous grasslands is achievable but the process is slow.

4. Different plant attributes were present at different frequencies in restored and reference sites, and the frequency of some attributes became more like those of reference sites with increasing age of restored site (e.g. perenniality and ruderality).

5. Seeding restoration sites with a low diversity mix appeared detrimental to restoration. Sites that regenerated naturally moved towards the target over time, although success was limited by proximity to ancient grassland vegetation. High soil phosphorus concentration was detrimental to restoration.

6. Synthesis and applications. We recommend selecting restoration sites with low phosphorous concentrations that adjoin patches of ancient calcareous grassland. Seed mixes should be devised carefully to prevent the assembly of low-value, competitive, stable communities dominated by grasses; natural regeneration may avoid this, but will only be effective close to sources of propagules. Other methods of restoration or habitat management would undoubtedly benefit from similar multi-site evaluation.


In aquatic ecosystems, where organisms typically feed and grow by eating smaller individuals, a characteristic size spectrum emerges, such that large organisms are much more rare than small ones. Here, a stochastic individual-based model for the dynamics of size spectra is described, based on birth, growth, and death of individuals, using simple assumptions about feeding behavior. It is shown that the deterministic limit derived from the stochastic process is a partial differential equation previously used to describe the dynamics of size spectra. The equation has two classes of dynamics in the long term. The first is a steady state. A derivation under simple mass-balance assumptions shows that, at steady state, the linear size spectrum relating log abundance to log mass has a slope of approximately -1, similar to that often observed in natural size spectra. The second class of dynamics, not previously described, is a traveling-wave solution in which waves move along the size spectrum from small to large body size. Traveling waves become more likely when predators prefer prey much smaller than themselves and when they are specialized in the range of prey body sizes consumed. Wavelength depends on the size of prey relative to the size of predator, and wave speed depends on how fast mass moves through the spectrum.


Some aspects of the host-parasite interaction of the nematode Heligmosomum mixtum and the bank vole have been studied. The dependence of infestation on the host sex, age and weight, the seasonal and annual abundance dynamics are investigated. It has been found that the bank vole is the main host of H. mixtum; the distribution of H. mixtum abundances in the host population is described by a negative binomial distribution model. The greatest infestation is characteristic for mature bank voles; males are infected more heavily than females. Infestation with the nematode increases alongside with the host weight. Seasonal dynamics of the nematode abundance in a bank vole population appears as a curve with a maximum in January and a minimum in August; the infestation curve for 1-month-old animals captured from June through October has two peaks (in July and October), with a minimum in June. The number of parasites in the ecosystem over a long-term period changed synchronously with the host abundance. The synchronism in the host-parasite system dynamics is possible when the parasite has a short life span, and does not influence the host abundance.


The recent financial crisis has highlighted the role of a number of procyclical behaviours in amplifying financial system stress. The easing of credit terms during the period of low market volatility and high liquidity preceding the crisis contributed to the significant growth in leverage during this time. When market conditions reversed in 2007 credit was abruptly tightened, in some cases forcing highly leveraged market participants to liquidate their holdings, which further exacerbated existing market conditions.

Within perfectly efficient markets, new information is impounded simultaneously into cash, futures and their associated derivative markets. However, institutional factors which incorporate transactional based impediments such as liquidity or transaction costs may in-turn influence the sequential relationship between information and efficiency.

The use of terms such as 'market success' or 'market failure' implies the ability to correctly calibrate the criteria for these parameters. The whole exercise becomes meaningful, however, only on the presupposition that one can isolate those elements which contribute to a fully functioning market. In more specific terms, market success is defined as the attainment of efficiency in the allocation of valued and limited resources. If attainable, the interpretive value from price information enhances regulators ability to accurately adjust policy. Take for example the use of breakeven inflation as a determinant of inflation expectations. The measure forms a critical role in forecasting the domestic outlook for inflation via the Phillips curve and Mark-up models. Equity prices implicitly signal the cost at which limited funds are channeled to the most productive investment opportunities providing regulators with insight into capital investment. Dislocation in capital markets can be exacerbated by the regulatory response. The level of futures margins represents a liquidity cost to participants, particularly, when capital is already constrained. Equally, basis and the transmission between markets can be observed via replication of a debt instrument within equity markets. A consistent non-zero steady state provides information on the connectedness of these two markets under crisis conditions.

The affects of crises are embedded in varying ways and transmitted accordingly across markets. The culmination of these examples provides an overview of the ability of markets to respond in crisis moments, and their subsequent affects upon dislocation. Broadly, results indicate that policy could be adjusted to enable flexibility in such times. Equally, the reliability of data throughout these periods should be viewed with caution, specifically when conducting long-run policy or asset allocation decisions.


Respiratory syncytial (RS) virus-infected HeLa, HEp-2, Vero and BS-C-1 cell lysates were electrophoresed on SDS-polyacrylamide gels under reducing conditions and analysed by Western blotting and immunoperoxidase using monoclonal antibodies specific for the 22K protein (relative mol. wt. of 23,000 in our gel system). Three novel polypeptides with mol. wt. of 24,000, 21,000 and 17,000 were stained in addition to the 23,000 polypeptide which was present in the greatest amount in all three virus strains tested regardless of host cell line. When samples were electrophoresed under non-reducing conditions each of the three higher mol. wt. polypeptides seen in reducing gels migrated as two bands (total of six bands) with altered electrophoretic mobilities. In experiments using the alkylating agent iodoacetamide under conditions where the novel 24,000, 21,000 and 17,000 polypeptides were not visible, the number of mobility variants of the 23,000 polypeptide which could be detected in non-reducing conditions was increased from two to four. At least one, and possibly three, of these variants was the result of conformational variation in the 23,000 polypeptide caused by the generation or rearrangement of intrachain disulphide bonds after the infected cells were lysed in SDS-PAGE sample buffer. Post-lysis conformational changes were minimized by treatment of the infected cells with iodoacetamide before solubilization or by decreasing the SDS concentration or using milder detergents in the lysis buffer.