HENSCHKE, M., P. K. CZUCHAJ and S. J. SZCZEPANIAK, 2015. The effect of benzyladenine and gibberellic acid on the growth and flowering of Helleborus orientalis Lam. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21: 1198–1203 The aim of the study was to treat Helleborus orientalis 'Red Hybrids' with benzyladenine and gibberellic acid in foliar and soil applications in order to obtain intensively growing and flowering plants. Vegetative growth and flowering of plants was observed over the period of three years. The type of growth regulator had a significant effect on plant height and the number of leaves starting from the second year of growing. Plants produced with a BA + GA 3 solution were shorter and had a larger number of leaves than those treated with a BA solution. The manner of growth regulator application had a significant effect primarily on the number of leaves, which was higher in the case of soil application of growth regulator solutions in comparison to foliar applications.


Back in the early 1940s, late at night in the clubs of Harlem, a handful of jazz musicians began to experiment with a style that no one had ever heard before. The music was fast, complicated, impossible to play for many of the older musicians--but it soon became the lingua franca of jazz music. They called it bebop, and as the years went by, it became even more popular. Today it reigns as perhaps the best-loved style of jazz ever created. Ira Gitler conveys the excitement of this musical birth as only someone who was there can. In The Masters of Bebop, Gitler traces the advent of what was a revolution in sound. He profiles the leading players--Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillepie, Max Roach--but also studies the style and music of the first disciples, such as Dexter Gordon and J. J. Johnson, to reveal bebop's pervasive influence throughout American culture. Revised with an updated discography--and with a new chapter covering bebop right up through the end of the twentieth century--The Masters of Bebop is the essential listener's handbook.


This article examines the extent to which citizens of migrant origin are included within discourses of national identity in civic education curricula in England, France and Ireland. We explore how much space is given to citizens of migrant origin in discourses of national identity in civic education curricula and how they fit with central values normalized by a higher degree of recognition in schools. Although early immigration systems assumed that incorporation of migrants into the national polity would take place via socialization in education, the failure to include citizens of migrant origin in the contemporary 'imagined community' articulated in civic education discourses risks marginalizing some citizens which gives rise to a sovereignty gap. The disparity between legal and cultural belonging of some individuals in Western Europe presents a major challenge for education systems which are tasked with making national identity discourse resonate with a globalized citizenry. The study found that despite commonalities around the promotion of human rights and democracy, civic education curricula diverge with regard to representation of religion. Moreover, nationalistic aspects of the French model contrast with a multicultural, and recently global, approach to citizenship education in England and the promotion of European citizenship in Ireland.


This study aims at better understanding how the massive shift to telework following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 affected workers' jobs and lives. In particular, we shed light on how this exogenous change had an impact on tasks content and work organisation dimensions like teamwork, routine, workers' autonomy and types and extent of supervisory control methods. Moreover, we explored both subjective and objective dimensions of job quality such as job satisfaction, motivation, changes in working time and pay, together with issues related to physical and mental health and more generally to work-life balance. In each of selected countries, 25 teleworking employees with different job profiles, family compositions, and personal characteristics were interviewed during the lockdown of spring 2020. The picture that emerges is quite multifaceted largely depending on workers' occupation and family composition, although some general patterns can be observed. After an initial period in which workers could gain more autonomy and decisional power at almost of levels of the hierarchy, during a stabilization period new forms of remote supervisory control have been put in place and contributed to a standardization of working routines. For some, working from home increased satisfaction and productivity, and allowed to better reconcile work-family duties. In contrast, others felt teleworking, and the ensuing communication through digital platforms, challenged the possibility to receive meaningful feedback and exchange ideas with co-workers and supervisors. At times, for workers with children in school age, the negative impact was aggravated by school closure and the general lockdown. Yet, and despite the many challenges of adapting to the sudden, obligatory and high-intensity telework, most of the respondents agreed that teleworking has upsides, and would be willing to continue to work remotely in the future, at least occasionally. Before that, however, workers would like to seek greater clarity around their working conditions as teleworkers


Objective: Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) is a heterogeneous immune disorder characterized by frequent and recurrent upper and lower respiratory tract infections. Although immunoglobulin (Ig) replacement therapy (IgRT) reduces the frequency of infections, complications due to infections of the respiratory tract, particularly bronchiectasis, is still challenging and occur in approximately 20% of patients. Therefore, we aimed to identify independent predictors of bronchiectasis in adult patients with CVID. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the hospital records of 45 CVID patients (26 male, 19 female). Additionally, we classified the patients according to the presence of bronchiectasis. Bronciectasis was confirmed by high resolution computed tomography of thorax. Results: Forty-five patients with CVID (F:19 [42.2%], M: 26 [57.8%]) were included in the study (age: 36.52 ± 12.86). Bronchiectasis was observed in 60% of the study group. Univariate regression analysis revealed that IgG levels (OR: 4.889, 95% CI, 0.485-0.959, p: 0.012) and IgA levels (OR: 2.559, 95% CI, 0.097-1.235, p: 0.030) at the time of diagnosis and the percentage of switched memory B cells (OR: 0.848, 95% CI, 0.730-0.984, p: 0.030) were significantly associated with bronchiectasis. Multivariate regression analysis showed that a lower percentage of switched memory B cells (OR: 0.853, 95% CI, 0.733-0.991, p: 0.038) and a low platelet count (OR: 1.000, 95% CI, 1.000-1000, p: 0.026) were also independent predictors of bronchiectasis. Conclusion: Clinicians should be alert for CVID patients with reduced switched memory B cells and low platelet counts in order to detect and treat complications associated with bronchiectasis at an early stage.


Students of programming languages in massive on-line open courses (MOOCs) solve programming assignments in order to internalize the concepts. Programming assignments also constitute the assessment procedure for such courses. Depending on their motivation and learning styles, students pursue different strategies. We identify which approach to attempt these assignments results in better performance. We predict students' success from their online behaviour; and identify different paths students chose in order to complete the MOOC. We also discuss how students resign from the course after having difficulties with assignments. Moreover, we also predict, when would a student give-up (or succeed) submitting solutions to a given assignment.


Abstract Background: Surgeons have successfully combined various laparoscopic procedures with increasing technical ease. However, few reports exist regarding the feasibility of combined robotic operations. We present our institution's successful concomitant robotic surgery for early gastric cancer and coexisting gallbladder disease. Material and methods: From our prospectively collected database, seven patients who received robotic cholecystectomies during their robotic gastric cancer operations were retrospectively compared to 247 patients who underwent robotic gastrectomies alone. Preoperative patient characteristics, operative factors, postoperative length of stay, and complications were evaluated. Results: The preoperative patient characteristics and operative factors did not differ between the two groups. All robotic cholecystectomies were performed with the same ports and instruments used during robotic gastrectomies without open conversion, robot redocking or patient repositioning. Mean time to perform robotic cholecystectomies was 15.1 + 3.2 minutes. The combined group had no mortality, one wound infection, and one intraabdominal fluid collection at the gastric resection bed, which were comparable to the gastrectomy alone group. The mean postoperative length of hospital stay was unaltered by the addition of the cholecystectomy. Conclusions: Robotic cholecystectomies can safely and efficiently be combined with robotic gastric cancer surgery, yielding several benefits. Improving robotic technology and experience may allow surgeons to efficiently combine more complicated procedures.


Over the last few decades, we witnessed notable progress in wireless communication. This has led to rapid emergence of heterogeneous wireless technologies that share the RF spectrum in an un-coordinated way. Such a coexistence introduces high uncertainty and complexity to the medium, affecting reliability and availability of wireless net works. This problem aggravates for technologies operating in the lightly regulated, yet crowded ISM bands. To address coexistence of different technologies in the scarce RF spectrum, provide proper interference-aware protocols, and mitigation schemes, we need to develop a good understanding of the interaction patterns of these technologies. In this paper, we provide a thorough study of the implications of Cross Technology Interference (CTI) on the particularly vulnerable low-power IEEE 802.15.4 wireless networks. We identify the underlying vulnerabilities that hamper 802.15.4 to withstand CTI. We show that the uncertainty that CTI induces on the wireless channel is not completely stochastic; CTI exhibits distinct patterns that can be exploited by interference-aware protocols.


Intrauterine inflammation (IUI) associated with infection is the major cause of preterm birth (PTB) at <32 weeks' gestation and accounts for ∼40% of all spontaneous PTBs. Pharmacological strategies to prevent PTB and improve fetal outcomes will likely require both antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory therapies. Here we investigated the effects of two cytokine-suppressive anti-inflammatory drugs (CSAIDs), compounds that specifically target inflammatory signalling pathways, in an ovine model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced chorioamnionitis. Chronically catheterized ewes at 116 days gestation (n = 7/group) received an intra-amniotic (IA) bolus of LPS (10 mg) plus vehicle or CSAIDS: TPCA-1 (1.2 mg/kg fetal weight) or 5z-7-oxozeaenol (OxZnl; 0.4 mg/kg fetal weight); controls received vehicle (dimethylsulphoxide). Amniotic fluid (AF), fetal and maternal blood samples were taken 0, 2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h later; tissues were taken at autopsy (48 h). Administration of TPCA-1 or OxZnl abrogated the stimulatory effects of LPS (P < 0.01 versus vehicle control) on production of PGE2 in AF, with lesser (non-significant) effects on IL-6 production. Fetal membrane polymorphonuclear cell infiltration score was significantly higher in LPS versus vehicle control animals (P < 0.01), and this difference was absent with TPCA-1 and OxZnl treatment. LPS-induced systemic fetal inflammation was highly variable, with no significant effects of CSAIDs observed. Lung inflammation was evident with LPS exposure, but unaffected by CSAID treatment. We have shown in a large animal model that IA administration of a single dose of CSAIDs can suppress LPS-induced IA inflammatory responses, while fetal effects were minimal. Further development and investigation of these compounds in infectious models is warranted.


A fiber-optic probe and an optical interface have been developed for drug dissolution testing with UV spectroscopy. A simple light cone was used to launch the light into the fiber; this increased the efficiency of light collection and reduced the dependence of the interface on the position of the source fiber. A principal component regression model was developed with the use of Fourier transformed spectra. The backgrounds and noise were reduced by the elimination of the first three terms and the use of the following 32 terms in the Fourier transforms. A commercial therapeutic drug, Sudafed Plus®, was tested, and the dissolution curves were very close to those obtained with a cuvette. The fiber-optic probe and the interface developed in this investigation can potentially be used in automated drug dissolution tests with spectroscopy.


This article addresses the strategic application of systemic oral transmucosal* (i.e., sublingual and buccal) drug delivery. Circumvention of first-pass hepatic metabolism in the gut, rapid onset of action, easy access via the oral cavity, easy administration for patients with dysphagia and a high level of patient acceptance are the principal advantages of the oral transmucosal route. Key clinical and commercial strategies driving the development of oral transmucosal formulations are addressed. A case study of Cynapsus Therapeutics' APL-130277, a sublingual apomorphine formulation in clinical development for Parkinson's disease exemplifies the scientific, clinical and commercial considerations for systemic oral transmucosal drug delivery. *Note: In this article, oral transmucosal delivery refers to systemic drug delivery through the sublingual or buccal mucosa. Local delivery to the oral mucosa is not included.


INTRODUCTION
India is the 2nd most populated country in the world. Population of India is increasing at a tremendous rate. Proportionately, the numbers of people seeking health care are increasing. In that ratio the quantities of hospital wastes, in wider terms, healthcare wastes that are getting generated is also increasing. Current methods for the safe disposal of healthcare wastes are not able to cope up with the rate of generation of healthcare wastes and moreover are not eco-friendly at all. Due to this, the current rules and regulations regarding the safe disposal of healthcare wastes are getting violated, ultimately leading to improper management of healthcare wastes, posing a serious threat to the environment and to the community.

AIM
To develop a novel, sustainable and beneficial system for the systematic management of healthcare wastes utilizing the strategies of waste reduction, waste segregation and recycling of Non Hazardous Hospital Wastes (NHHWs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Firstly a detailed study of the Healthcare Waste Management System (HCWMS) operational at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre was done. A pilot study was then performed. After that, data regarding the generation and management of healthcare wastes in the other healthcare settings was collected and analyzed. Considering all this, a novel, sustainable and beneficial template system for the systematic management of healthcare wastes was proposed. Lastly the possible positive impacts from the implementation of HCWMSs designed using proposed template HCWMS in significant numbers of healthcare establishments was gauged.

RESULTS
The healthcare waste management system operational at the Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre was found to be very efficient and provided vital inputs about developing the novel HCWMS. The pilot study was successfully completed generating significant revenue from the hospital's own NHHWs while managing them in an eco-friendly way. The total healthcare waste generation in Maharashtra was approximately estimated at about 2,89,200kg/day of which about 43,380kg/day was Bio-Medical Wastes (BMWs) while about 2,45,820kg/day were the NHHWs. This stresses the need of implementing HCWMSs in Healthcare Establishments (HCEs) based on the proposed novel template of HCWMS.

CONCLUSION
The novel template system is proposed in a detailed manner under various heads in the form of a handbook which is scalable upwards or downwards as per the requirement of a HCE. The enormous economic and environmental positive impacts from the implementation of the HCWMSs based on the proposed HCWMS in significant numbers of HCEs were presented numerically, putting light on the necessity and tremendous potential of this field of research.


Background: Healthcare workers have a greater exposure to individuals with confirmed SARS-novel coronavirus 2, and thus a higher probability of contracting corona virus disease (CoViD)-19, than the general population. It is critically important, therefore, for health systems to protect the lives of their staff especially those on the frontline. Urgent work is needed to identify how best to protect those most at risk in an evidence-based way in order to implement protective allocations. We wished to explore the predictive role of basic demographics in order to establish a simple tool that could help risk stratify healthcare workers. Objectives and Study question: To develop a risk stratification tool for use to assist staff allocation by examining reported demographics of hospitalisation and mortality in the UK from CoViD-19 compared to population demographics and historic admissions for viral pneumoniae. Setting: Secondary Care in the UK and worldwide. Participants: Patients and Health Care Professionals hospitalised and dying of CoViD-19. Methods: We undertook a review of the published literature (including multiple search strategies in MEDLINE with PubMed interface) and critically assessed early reports on medRxiv, a pre-print server (https://www.medrxiv.org/) (date of last search: April 30, 2020). We explored the relative risk of mortality from readily available demographics in order to identify the population at highest risk. Results: The only published studies specifically assessing the risk of healthcare workers had limited demographics available, therefore we explored the general population in the literature. Clinician Demographics. Mortality increased with increasing age from 50 years onwards. Male sex at birth, people of black and minority ethnicity groups had higher susceptibility to both hospitalisation and mortality. Co-morbid Disease. Vascular disease, diabetes and chronic pulmonary disease further increased risk. Those with pre-existing mental health issues may also be more likely to experience emotional trauma, depression and anxiety with consequences for self-harm too. Risk stratification tool. A risk stratification tool was compiled using a Caucasian female <50years with no comorbidities as a reference. A point allocated to risk factors associated with an approximate doubling in risk. This tool provides numerical support for healthcare workers when determining which team members should be allocated to patient facing clinical duties compared to remote supportive roles. Clinical Domain. Those working with aerosol generating procedures were at increased risk, however healthcare workers in any clinical domain are at higher risk than the general population. Conclusions. We have generated a tool which can provide a framework for objective risk stratification of doctors and health care professionals during the CoViD-19 pandemic.


Let $D(s)=\sum^\infty_{m=1}a_mm^{-s}$ be the Dirichlet series generated by the infinite product $\prod^\infty_{k=2}(1-k^{-s})$. The value of $a_m$ for squarefree integers $m$ with $n$ prime factors depends only on the number $n$, and we let $f(n)$ denote this value. We prove an asymptotic estimate for $f(n)$ which allows us to solve several problems raised in a recent paper by M. V. Subbarao and A. Verma.


Introduction: Women live more than one-third of their life in their menopausal period. Syndrome of the psychological, physical as well as vasomotor together with sexual problems is common in this age. In Indian scenario, menopausal health need is a priority among slum women. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 07, Issue 06, 2020 850 850 Objective: To identify the commonly reported menopausal symptoms alongside linked threats to urban slum women. Methods: The study has been taken based upon a cross-sectional population conducted among 104 postmenopausal women in an urban slum during September and October 2019. Women who had menopause more than 12months were inducted in the study. Data have been collected by using predesigned and pretested schedule and tested upon the modified Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) . Data analysis has been conducted by means of SPSS version 20 software. Results: In this study mean age was 50.92 ± 3.2 years, among them all were Hindu, 75% belonged to general caste and 50% had nuclear family. The age group of 47.29± 2.98 years is considered for menopause. The most frequent symptom described was joint / muscular discomfort by 94.2% women, followed by irritability, anxiety, and corporeal as well as mental exhaustion (92.3%). Hot flushes were reported by 63.5% respondents. Most of the participants (61.5%) reported moderate symptoms followed by mild (19.2%). Physical activity was low among 63.5% participants. MRS score was significantly higher among women more than 50 years of age, literate women, middle socioeconomic group, women who had attained menopause after 50 years, who had attained menopause naturally, exposed to second hand smoke and women with comorbidities (P<0.05). Conclusion: The occurrence of menopausal indication is high and interventions should be targeted to reduce these symptoms.


In the healthcare setting, approximately 2 million bioinert devices are implanted into patients on an annual basis. However, interfacial instability of bioinert implants leads to reduced implant survivability and as a result revision surgery. Implant related infections are also a major concern which are associated with considerable repercussions for both the patient and healthcare system. Therefore, to overcome these failures materials that stimulate growth, repair and regeneration of tissues whilst simultaneously preventing infections need to be developed. A growing body of clinical data demonstrates that bioactive glasses offer great hope as they endorse these properties. Melt quench derived 3 mol% gallium doped bioactive glass was tested for antibacterial and cytotoxic activity. The results were compared with archetypal 45S5 Bioglass®, prepared and processed under identical conditions to allow a direct comparison. The antibacterial activity was studied using Escherichia coli (NCTC 10538) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538). The cytotoxic activity was evaluated using osteosarcoma Saos-2 cells and bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells. The group IIIa metal, gallium is known to possess antibacterial, antiresorptive and osteogenic properties and is therefore of interest for biological and tissue engineering applications. Results of the current work illustrated that 3 mol% gallium doped bioactive glass behaves in a similar manner to 45S5 Bioglass®. The antibacterial studies demonstrated that 3 mol% gallium doped bioactive and 45S5 Bioglass® do not possess a broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, as growth inhibition was only observed for E. coli; they were also rendered ineffective following pH neutralisation. Additionally studies with mammalian cells revealed that 3 mol% gallium doped bioactive glass did not exhibit significant osteogenic activity, in comparison to 45S5 Bioglass®, after pH neutralisation.


ABSTRACT A new species of Capparis L., C. lianosa Fici & Souvannakhoummane, is described and illustrated from limestones of the Muang Ngoi District, Luang Prabang Province, in northern Lao PDR. The new species, belonging to Capparis sect. Monostichocalyx Radlk., is related to C. zeylanica L., differing in several characters as the shorter stipular thorns, the leaves with apex acuminate, the shorter, glabrous or glabrescent gynophore and the flattened stigma.


Background Understanding geographic and temporal trends in imported infections is key to the management of unwell travellers. Many tropical infections can be managed as outpatients, with admission reserved for severe cases. Methods We prospectively recorded the diagnosis and travel history of patients admitted between 2000 and 2015. We describe the common tropical and non-tropical infectious diseases and how these varied based on region, reason for travel and over time. Results A total of 4362 admissions followed an episode of travel. Falciparum malaria was the most common diagnosis (n=1089). Among individuals who travelled to Africa 1206/1724 (70.0%) had a tropical diagnosis. The risk of a tropical infection was higher among travellers visiting friends and relatives than holidaymakers (OR 2.8, p<0.001). Among travellers to Asia non-tropical infections were more common than tropical infections (349/782, 44.6%), but enteric fever (117, 33.5%) of the tropical infections and dengue (70, 20.1%) remained important. The number of patients admitted with falciparum malaria declined over the study but those of enteric fever and dengue did not. Conclusions Most of those arriving from sub-Saharan Africa with an illness requiring admission have a classical tropical infection, and malaria still predominates. In contrast, fewer patients who travelled to Asia have a tropical diagnosis but enteric fever and dengue remain relatively common. Those visiting friends and relatives are most likely to have a tropical infection.


Functional hyperaemia is an important mechanism by which increased neuronal activity is matched by a rapid and regional increase in blood supply. This mechanism is facilitated by a process known as "neurovascular coupling" – the orchestrated communication system involving the cells that comprise the neurovascular unit (neurons, astrocytes and the smooth muscle and endothelial cells lining arterioles). Blood flow regulation and neurovascular coupling are altered in several pathological states including hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cortical spreading depression and stroke. By adapting and extending other models found in the literature, we create, for the first time, a mathematical model of the entire neurovascular unit that is capable of simulating two separate neurovascular coupling mechanisms: a potassiumand EET-based and a NO-based mechanism. These models successfully account for several observations seen in experiment. The potassium/EET-based mechanism can achieve arteriolar dilations similar in magnitude (3%) to those observed during a 60-second neuronal activation (modelled as a release of potassium and glutamate into the synaptic cleft). This model also successfully emulates the paradoxical experimental finding that vasoconstriction follows vasodilation when the astrocytic calcium concentration (or perivascular potassium concentration) is increased further. We suggest that the interaction of the changing smooth muscle cell membrane potential and the changing potassium-dependent resting potential of the inwardly rectifying potassium channel are responsible for this effect. Furthermore, our simulations demonstrate that the arteriolar behaviour is profoundly affected by depolarization of the astrocytic cell membrane, and by changes in the rate of perivascular potassium clearance or the volume ratio between the perivascular space and astrocyte. In the modelled NO-based neurovascular coupling mechanism, NO exerts its vasodilatory effects via neuronal and endothelial cell sources. With both sources included, the model achieves a 1% dilation due to a 60-second neuronal activation. When the endothelial contribution to NO production is omitted, the arteriole is more constricted at baseline. Without the endothelial NO contribution, the arteriolar change in diameter during neuronal activity is greater (6%). We hypothesize that NO has a dual purpose in neurovascular coupling: 1) it dixxxvi rectly mediates neurovascular coupling through release by neuronal sources, and 2) it indirectly modulates the size of the neurovascular coupling response by determining the baseline tone. Our physiological models of neurovascular coupling have allowed us to replicate, and explain, some of the phenomena seen in both neurovascular coupling-oriented and clinicallyoriented experimental research. This project highlights the fact that physiological modelling can be used as a tool to understand biological processes in a way that physical experiment cannot always do, and most importantly, can help to elucidate the cellular processes that induce or accompany our most debilitating diseases.


This classic armchair read is the sixth volume in our James Beard Library of Great American Cooking and is considered by many to be the best of the collection. The closest the "Dean of American Cooking" ever came to writing an autobiography, "Delights and Prejudices" is full of insightful, entertaining stories that chronicle the development of one of America's most discerning palates. Along the way, Beard shares more than 150 recipes for sumptuous treats like scalloped clams, potato gnocchi, and much more, including many recipes from his own mother's kitchen. In the words of Julia Child, "It is a wonderful event for all lovers of good cooks and good food that "Delights and Prejudices" is with us again."


In recent years great success has been achieved in sentiment classification for English, thanks in part to the availability of copious annotated resources. Unfortunately, most languages do not enjoy such an abundance of labeled data. To tackle the sentiment classification problem in low-resource languages without adequate annotated data, we propose an Adversarial Deep Averaging Network (ADAN1) to transfer the knowledge learned from labeled data on a resource-rich source language to low-resource languages where only unlabeled data exist. ADAN has two discriminative branches: a sentiment classifier and an adversarial language discriminator. Both branches take input from a shared feature extractor to learn hidden representations that are simultaneously indicative for the classification task and invariant across languages. Experiments on Chinese and Arabic sentiment classification demonstrate that ADAN significantly outperforms state-of-the-art systems.


This Note argues that current state postmortem right of publicity statutes are unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause. The dormant Commerce Clause doctrine is an implicit restriction within the Commerce Clause that prohibits states from regulating interstate commerce. The current patchwork of state postmortem right of publicity statutes violates the dormant Commerce Clause in two different ways.
First, postmortem right of publicity laws containing "all comers" provisions like those in Indiana, Washington, and the proposed bill in New York violate the dormant Commerce Clause because they can be applied extraterritorially to the estates of nonresident individuals. By allowing non-resident estates to bring right of publicity actions, these laws can be used to stifle commerce occurring wholly outside of the state—precisely the sort of burden the dormant Commerce Clause prohibits.
Second, even those postmortem right of publicity laws that do not contain "all comers" provisions can violate the dormant Commerce Clause when applied to certain businesses operating without distinct geographic boundaries, such as websites. Courts have struck down state laws regulating website content in the past under the dormant Commerce Clause, reasoning that such laws create de facto national regulation and impose the policy preferences of one state on other states in which a particular website can be accessed. The same principle can be applied to state postmortem right of publicity laws, which in effect require website operators using the likenesses of deceased individuals to tailor their business practices to the most expansive postmortem right of publicity provisions. In this way, state postmortem right of publicity statutes impose significant costs on Internet content providers by adding another group of right holders with which those content providers must negotiate. The desire to protect individuals from commercial exploitation after death—especially beloved celebrities like Prince—is understandable. The dormant Commerce Clause, however, prohibits one state from designing the means by which that protection is afforded across the entire country.
This Note proposes that the only means of remedying the constitutional issue posed by the current patchwork of postmortem right of publicity statutes is through federal action. Congress must either create a federal right of publicity or explicitly authorize states to create their own right of publicity laws.
Part I traces the origination and evolution of state postmortem right of publicity laws over the past forty years, concluding with New York's recently proposed bill. Part II examines current dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence and how the dormant Commerce Clause has been applied to invalidate extraterritorial state laws and regulations of the Internet. Using the recently proposed bill in New York as a case study, Part III shows that: (1) postmortem right of publicity laws with "all comers" provisions are facially unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause; and (2) other postmortem right of publicity laws are unconstitutional as applied to Internet businesses. Part III then concludes by suggesting that congressional consideration of the right of publicity is necessary to alleviate dormant Commerce Clause violations created by current state right of publicity statutes.


The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the degradation and turnover of proteins in eukaryotes. As such it is a key process that is involved in normal and in some cases, abnormal cellular functions. Ubiquitin conjugating enzymes (UBCs) are key components of the UPS and may serve as therapeutic targets. The aims of this project are the structural and functional analyses of UBCs in eukaryotic organisms whose genomes have been fully sequenced, and also the review of the nomenclature of yeast and human UBCs. The main findings were: 1) The successful construction of Phylogenetic trees containing all 14 yeast UBCs and UBC-like proteins and their homologues in selected species whose genomes have been fully sequenced. The phylogenetic tree consists of 15 different branches. Thirteen of the branches contain a member of the yeast UBC or UBC-like family (MMS2) and their homologues. The remaining two branches contain firstly the human UBE2L proteins and secondly the TSG101 UBC like proteins, both of which branches do not appear to have any yeast orthologues. 2) The UBC phylogenetic study was also used to identify the previously unknown UBC active site of the Drosophila transcription factor, TAFn250. Using multiple sequence manual alignments of known TAFn250 and UBC protein sequences a putative UBC active site in Drosophila melanosaster and Apis mellifera TAFn250 was successfully identified, and was shown to share approximately 70% homology to the known UBC PROSITE signature. 3) Using multiple sequence alignments the hitherto unknown PROSITE signature of the clinically important UBE2J family was identified. This PROSITE signature is very different from all other UBCs suggesting that this family of enzymes has significant structural changes at their active sites. Homology modelling proved to be a successful approach to obtain structural information of the UBE2J1 active site. Superimposition studies using the previously solved structures for human UBE2J2 and human UBC9 were carried out. Significant differences were observed near the active sites of human UBE2J proteins compared to the active site for human UBC9.


This guide was developed for MKT 678 students to help identify Shapiro Library resources for use in their course assignments and project.


Marilyn Manning, Ph.D., is a certified management consultant, conflict mediator, and international speaker. She facilitates and coaches teams and leaders to solve difficult people problems and organizational challenges. Author and consultant Patricia Haddock works with organizations to help people increase productivity and effectiveness. She gives speeches and workshops at association events and conferences and for corporations. Coverage includes- To explain the role of an office manager To discuss personnel relationships To present leadership and human relations skills To give tips about handling special situations


Abstract. The purpose of the article is to illustrate the use of pedigree analysis to evaluate mtDNA diversity in a selected population of pedigree dogs, to describe the paths of mtDNA inheritance and to estimate the spread of potential pedigree errors or mutations that occurred in different generations of ancestors. Hovawart, old German breed, was used as an example. The number and frequencies of mtDNA haplotypes were calculated based on numbers of dam lines and their representatives. The scale of potential errors in calculations that can result from pedigree errors or from new mutations in ancestors from the 5th or 10th ancestral generation was evaluated. The analysis included 368 breeding bitches from four German kennel organizations. The bitches represented three dam lines, with the Ho1, Ho2 and HoU mtDNA haplotypes. Significant differences in the frequency of the haplotypes in the population, from 0.27 to 73.37 %, and among kennel organizations and regions of the country were recorded. Considerable differences in the scale of potential errors in calculations arising from mtDNA mutations or pedigree errors were noted between 0.27 and 28.69 %, depending on the number of representatives of the subline in which the error appeared and the generation taken into account in the simulations. The study revealed an interesting paradox: although the differences between the haplotypes are the result of events (mutations) from thousands of years ago, the number and the frequencies of the haplotypes in the population are the result of the modern history of the population and current breeding policy.


Background: Cardiac complications due to iron overload are the most common cause of death in patients with thalassemia major. The aim of this study was to compare iron chelation effects of deferoxamine, deferasirox, and combination of deferoxamine and deferiprone on cardiac and liver iron load measured by T2* MRI. Methods: In this study, 108 patients with thalassemia major aged over 10 years who had iron overload in cardiac T2* MRI were studied in terms of iron chelators efficacy on the reduction of myocardial siderosis. The first group received deferoxamine, the second group only deferasirox, and the third group, a combination of deferoxamine and deferiprone. Myocardial iron was measured at baseline and 12 months later through T2* MRI technique. Results: The three groups were similar in terms of age, gender, ferritin level, and mean myocardial T2* at baseline. In the deferoxamine group, myocardial T2* was increased from 12.0±4.1 ms at baseline to 13.5±8.4 ms at 12 months (p=0.10). Significant improvement was observed in myocardial T2* of the deferasirox group (p<0.001). In the combined treatment group, myocardial T2* was significantly increased (p<0.001). These differences among the three groups were not significant at the 12 months. A significant improvement was observed in liver T2* at 12 months compared to baseline in the deferasirox and the combination group. Conclusion: In comparison to deferoxamine monotherapy, combination therapy and deferasirox monotherapy have a significant impact on reducing iron overload and improvement of myocardial and liver T2* MRI.


Objective: The aim of this case report was to describe the endodontic treatment of a mandibular first premolar with three canals. Case report: A 54-year-old male patient sought Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) emergency care with painful tooth #34. Clinical/radiographic examination revealed severe caries. Pulp sensibility tested positive and exacerbating, with no periapical symptoms at palpation and percussion. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis. He was subjected to anesthesia, kept under rubber dam isolation and subjected to root canal access. Mechanical preparation was carried out by the crown-down technique, with working length set at 1mm from the root apex in all three canals. 2.5% sodium hypochlorite was used as irrigating solution, whereas 17% EDTA was used to remove smear layer. Root canal filling was carried out by Tagger's hybrid technique with Endofill sealer and gutta-percha cones. Final radiograph revealed the presence of three canals, one lingual and two buccal ones, all of which were at the apical third starting point. A furcation connecting the buccal canals (intercanal) was also found. Final considerations: Knowing and mastering root canal anatomical traits are key factors to achieve success in endodontic treatment.


From the macro- to the nanoscale, kirigami structures show novel and tunable properties by tailoring the original two-dimensional sheets. In this study, the large stretchability and failure behavior in graphene nanoribbon kirigami (GNR-k) are obtained using the finite element (FE) method and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The carbon-carbon bond in the FE method is equivalent to a nonlinear Timoshenko beam based on the Tersoff-Brenner potential. All the results from the present FE method are in reasonable agreement with those from our MD simulations using the REBO potential. These results from the two methods show that the maximum ultimate strain of GNR-k (around 100%) is around 4 times higher than that of a pristine graphene nanoribbon (GNR), whereas the minimum ultimate stress of GNR-k is around one order of magnitude lower than that of the GNR. In particular, the large stretchability of GNR-k is indirectly proven to be mainly derived from the out-of-plane bending deformation by measuring the nonlinear mechanical properties of paper kirigami. Our results provide physical insights into the origins of the large stretchability of GNR-k and make GNR-k applicable to flexible nanodevices.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Whether you're a hobbyist or a budding game design pro, your objective is probably the same: To create the coolest games possible using today's increasingly sophisticated technology. To do that, however, you need to understand some basic math and physics concepts. Not to worry: You don't need to go to night school if you get this handy guide! Through clear, step-by-step instructions, author Wendy Stahler covers the trigonometry snippets, vector operations, and 1D/2D/3D motion you need to improve your level of game development. Each chapter includes exercises to make the learning stick, and Visualization Experience sections are sprinkled throughout that walk you through a demo of the chapter's content. By the end of the volume, you'll have a thorough understanding of all of the math and physics concepts, principles, and formulas you need to control and enhance your user's gaming experience.


We developed a system that supports disease association studies to detect genes that may cause complex diseases. The main function of the system is to examine the possibility of each polymorphism being associated with a disease. Another important function is to perform linkage disequilibrium analysis and combine SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) together into LDblocks (linkage-disequilibrium-blocks) to improve statistical power for association study. Those analyses can be efficiently performed using an analysis pipeline of the new system with handy tools for eliminating the inadequate data and so on. Consequently, the number of SNPs the system can analyze is about 30 to 50 times higher than by the standard manual procedures per unit of time. The new system also has a sophisticated visualization tool. The main viewer displays the genomic structure and is linked to another main viewer showing the in-depth analysis result. These viewers let the user easily check and make an interpretation of the results. The new system should provide significant assistance for the genome research of complex diseases.


Water shortage and environmental hazards of wastewater have increased the need of wastewater reuse to be used for agricultural irrigation. Experimental approach was used in order to examine the influence of applying treated wastewater as a source of irrigation on physical properties and chemical composition of white-corn, this experiment was performed on a land with an estimated area about 100 m 2 behind the main wastewater treatment plant. The land was divided into three equal cells with different water irrigation types, fresh water, Treated wastewater, and finally alternating irrigation equally with both fresh water and treated wastewater. Physical and chemical tests for white-corn plant were conducted and then analyzed statistically. As a result of analysis, alternating irrigation with water and treated wastewater do not recorded significant difference in term of the physical properties comparing with water irrigation; nevertheless, the wastewater irrigation showed lower physical properties with significant differences. On the other hand, high level of the Total Kjehldal Nitrogen (TKN), Total Phosphorus (TP) and Potassium (K) concentrations found in plant's leaves in case of alternating irrigation. They were evidenced during chemical analyses as the following, 14%, 20% and 33%, respectively.


In 2006, Elliott et al 1 reported that children age 2–6 years in a crash had a lower risk of death when using a child restraint (car seat or seat belt with booster seat), compared with a seat belt only: risk ratio (RR) 0.79, and 0.72 if restraint misuse was excluded. In 2009, Rice et al 2 3 reported that child restraints, compared with seat belts, did little to reduce mortality for children age 2–8 years: RR 0.52 for a child younger than 1 year, 0.51 for age 1, 0.93 for age 2, 1.05 for age 3, 0.89 for 4–5 years, and 1.15 for 6–8 years.

In a letter, Elliott et al 4 argued that because Rice et al 2 included adults in their study, their estimates might be biased. In response, Rice and Anderson5 estimated that for children age 3 years and younger the RR for death in a safety seat, compared with a seat belt, was 0.85 if the analysis included adults and 0.94 if adults were excluded. In their articles in this issue of Injury Prevention , Elliott ( see page 367 ), 372 ),7 expand on this question: will a study of child restraints be biased if adults are included?

To estimate whether restraint use influences the risk of death, we can compare the proportions of restrained and unrestrained children who died in crashes. However, this may be a biased estimate of restraint effects if those restrained and unrestrained differ in regard to other factors related to death. Factors that might produce this bias include vehicle features (model, weight), crash attributes (force due to deceleration, distance to a trauma center), and occupant characteristics (age, seat position). This type of bias is called confounding. Methods to reduce confounding include …


Atherosclerosis is characterised by the deposition and accumulation of modified lipids in the subendothelial space of the arterial wall, as well as vascular remodelling leading to atherosclerotic plaque formation. Restenosis is a known complication of the surgical interventions used to treat atherosclerosis and results in neointimal thickening, in part by the action of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Various physiological effects have previously been attributed to the action of oxidised low density lipoproteins leading to an exacerbation of the inflammatory response and vascular remodelling processes in atherosclerosis and restenosis. Little is known to date about the effects of individual modified lipids generated by the action of phagocytic myeloperoxidase (MPO) on these processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the biological effects of modified lipids, both chlorinated and oxidised species, in vascular injury and disease, focussing primarily on their effects on vascular smooth muscle (VSM). Primary VSMCs were used to examine the effects of these modified lipids at a cellular level. Chlorinated lipids, phospholipid chlorohydrins and alpha-chloro fatty aldehydes were found to have a limited effect on VSMC proliferation, viability or migration whereas, oxidised phospholipids caused a concentration-dependent reduction in all of these vascular remodelling processes. As AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has recently been implicated in vascular disease and found to exert anti-apoptotic effects, the impact of AMPK signalling on the effects of the modified lipids in VSM was assessed. Activation of AMPK prior to incubation of 1-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine chlorohydrin resulted in an increase in VSMC proliferation while a greater level of VSMC death was observed after treatment with the oxidised phospholipid, 1-palmitoyl-2-oxovaleroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine than with the lipids alone. The occurrence of these modified lipids in neointima formation was subsequently investigated using a carotid artery injury model in healthy and atherosclerotic mice (mice deficient in apolipoprotein E, ApoE-/-). Neointimal growth and levels of plasma MPO were increased in ApoE-/- mice resulting in elevated levels of lysophosphatidylcholines and altered relative proportions of phosphatidylcholines (PCs) in injured carotid arteries compared to their contralateral uninjured right carotid arteries. Finally, in vivo AMPK activation by administration of 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) in healthy and atherosclerotic mice and its effect on the lipid profile of the aorta were characterised. Chronic AMPK activation resulted in a reduction in mean arterial and diastolic pressures as well as a dramatic increase in pulse pressure in ApoE-/- mice compared to their saline-treated littermates. Plasma MPO was elevated in AICAR-treated ApoE-/- mice with an alteration in the relative intensities of PCs in aortae of AMPK activated ApoE-/- mice. The present study is the first report of divergent effects of different classes of modified lipids on vascular remodelling processes and how these processes may be modulated by AMPK signalling in VSM in atherosclerosis. In addition, this study has generated novel data on the relative changes in distribution of PCs in carotid arteries after vascular injury as well as in aortic tissue of healthy and atherosclerotic mice after AMPK activation. Additional analysis is required to confirm these differences which could offer further insight into the involvement of modified lipids in vascular diseases. This study has also highlighted a novel interaction of AMPK signalling and modified lipids in VSM and could therefore provide novel therapeutic targets in the treatment of both atherosclerosis and restenosis.


Audio and Video has become easier to record and store but while users can easily bookmark, search, link to, or tag the WHOLE of a recording available on the web (e.g. YouTube) they cannot easily find, or associate their notes or resources with, PART of that recording. This project therefore addresses the important user need of making multimedia web resources easier to access, search, manage, and exploit for learners, teachers and other users through developing Synote, a unique web based application that supports the collaborative creation of synchronised bookmarks called Synmarks, containing notes, tags and links. Synote has been developed using JAVA and the Google Web Toolkit and is able to play audio or video recordings stored by users on their chosen web accessible space. Since the Synote server only stores the text annotations, millions of hours of recordings can be catered for. The performance, efficiency and effectiveness of Synote was evaluated by using it with students and teachers for a number of undergraduate courses and this has shown that they like using Synote and want more recordings and lectures to be available in this way. Synote enables learners to: search text transcripts for specific topics and then replay recordings from that point; read captions to support learning style preference, deafness, or a second language; learn more easily from the colloquial style of transcribed text; insert a bookmark to be able to continue later from where they left off; link to sections of recordings from other resources or share these sections with others; tag and highlight sections of recordings/transcripts to revisit later for clarification; annotate recordings with notes and URLs of related resources to support revision; annotate recordings of group meetings to provide evidence for assessment. Synote enables teachers to: index their recordings using syllabus topic tags; provide synchronized slides and text captions to accompany podcasts; identify which topics need further clarification from learners' notes and tags; provide feedback on learner-created recordings of presentations; tag recordings with URLs of related resources; link to and re-use sections of existing multimedia without having to edit the recording. A typical example scenario that demonstrates the use of Synote is: "Mike records a narrated PowerPoint of his lecture and as the students are leaving his class he uploads this into Synote which automatically creates a clickable index from the slide titles and a transcript synchronised with the recording of his voice and the slides. He quickly adds some questions students should think about for next week as well as the URLs of some other resources (including a section of a recording he made the previous year) and synchronises these with the relevant parts of lecture. By the time Sally, one of Mike's students, sits down at a computer all Mike's material is available on the web allowing her to search the slides and text transcript and notes for specific topics and then replay the recording from that point, automatically highlighting currently spoken words. She annotates the recording at specific points with notes made from the text book to aid exam revision and also tags and highlights a section of the transcript she doesn't understand fully for Mike to clarify. Before going to lunch and logging off she prints out some information she wants to discuss with her group and inserts a synchronised bookmark into the recording to be able to continue later from where she left off."


Dividing patients into similar groups plays a significant role in implementing personalized care. Clinicians and researchers have been applying patient grouping techniques in disease phenotyping, risk stratification, and personalized medicine. However, the current approaches are either based on pure domain knowledge where the underlying patient similarity cannot be precisely quantified, or based on unsupervised clustering techniques which completely ignore the clinical context of measuring patient similarity. In the study, we propose an outcome-driven approach to identify clinically similar patients which are grouped together as a precision cohort. The approach quantitatively measures the similarity between patients in terms of a particular clinical outcome of interest, thus patients who have a similar clinical outcome tend to be grouped into the same group. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in a real-world case study: from an atrial fibrillation patient cohort that is usually considered to be at high risk for ischemic stroke (IS), according to current clinical guidelines. Our approach successfully identified a precision cohort of patients with truly low risk of IS.


The growing need for environmentally sustainable remote collaborative research is often addressed using the 'if you build it thy will come' model, where the provision of e conferencing technology is believed to instigate changes in practices and the replacement of facetoface meetings with virtual ones. More comprehensive approaches where non technical variables were addressed tended to follow a binary trend which classified variables as drivers and barriers. The report challenges these approaches arguing that there is a need to break away from any binary models, and that processes of adopting technology should be viewed as complex systems comprised of interdependent relationships between various factors. The report describes the findings of a one year project which set out to identify the technical and non technical variables entailed in the process of uptake, and chart the routes through which they interrelate. Emerging from this work is a System's approach based analysis of uptake processes where variables entailed are perceived as participants in subsystems within a greater system embracing the process as a whole. Acknowledging the strategic difficulties entailed in implementing such an approach, the report proposes a new method which enables decision makers attempting to implement econferencing tools to prioritise clusters of factors aggregated into subsystems. The prioritisation of subsystems is achieved through the adoption of concepts from Social Network Analysis (SNA), and illustrated using Graph Theory techniques. The method enables to administer the implementation process in manageable yet interconnected parts of a multi factor system. The report concludes that the method described here can serve as a generic model for the implementation of diverse innovations and the introduction of changes to practice and culture they prompt.


This paper presents a new methodology for collaborative sensor data management known as WikiSensing. It is a novel approach that incorporates online collaboration with sensor data management. We introduce the work on this research by describing the motivation and challenges of designing and developing an online collaborative sensor data management system. This is followed by a brief survey on popular sensor data management and online collaborative systems. We then present the architecture for WikiSensing highlighting its main components and features. Several example scenarios are described to present the functionality of the system. We evaluate the approach by investigating the performance of aggregate queries and the scalability of the system.


Wall Curtain creates a spatial curtain to be inhabited by the body. Like a cocoon, it invites inhabitation of a threshold space between inside and outside, where light seeps through its translucent layers. Like a room in a room, Wall Curtain creates soft proximities, dressing the space as an internal membrane and creating a new programme within the existing architectural frame. Wall curtain examines the concept of a soft architecture.
The project operates within the concept of the soft in both physical and digital worlds, that meet each other on different semantic, analytical or technological levels. Computation is here seen as a material address, transferring techniques from physical crafts to digital design environments through developing concepts of digital sewing and digital stitch.
The crucial part of the research contains prototype making in textile materials, where the deviation between the computational prediction and the fabricated model provides valuable feedback and a new layer of performance. As a result, the new interior, soft enclosure is created. Architecture is filled with soft proximities which build a different space and invites us to visit and experience its inner cavities, providing depth to accommodate multiple bodies, which imprint their traces and co-shape its performance.


In 1973 the economist E.F Schumacher wrote 'Small is Beautiful'. In this he created the vision of a concept known as 'intermediate technology'. Directly from this grew the popular 'appropriate technology' movement. An appropriate technology, in the ideal sense, is designed with special consideration of the environmental, ethical, cultural, social, political, and economical aspects of the community it is intended for. The term 'appropriate technology' is continually used when referring to water supply and treatment technologies in international development. The widespread provision of hand-pumps in Africa by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) fully characterises the approach and remains the most prominent display of technologies, transferred on a charitable basis, between the developed and developing countries. However, after years of NGOs working with hand-pumps in Africa the first signs are showing that there are widespread problems with the current approach. In many cases the nature of 'appropriateness' is determined from the perspective of an external technical expert and not by the communities themselves. The lack of appropriateness is leading to severely unsustainable projects. This paper explores the linkage that has not been clearly mapped in technology transfer, i.e., the use of scientific and technical education. The focus of the transfer is on developing the knowledge and skills necessary to evaluate 'appropriateness' from the perspective of the end user. It explores the concept of 'Intermediate Education' – a method of using experimental learning to address a systemic weakness in safe water provision in development.


ABSTRACT Proponents of change in management education suggest that entrepreneurship should receive greater emphasis in the curriculum. However, there maybe differences in the cognitive abilities of entrepreneurs and business students. This study examined differences in psychological type preferences of business school students and high-growth entrepreneurs. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was used to identify students' preferred methods of perceiving information and making decisions. These preferences were then compared with a previous study of high-growth entrepreneurs. The results indicate significant differences in the cognitive styles of the two groups. Implications of these differences for management education are discussed. INTRODUCTION In a recent analysis of the prospects for future management education and development, Porter and McKibbin (1988, p. 316) recommend: more diversity of mission (but not of quality) is vital if universitybased management education and development is to make major strides toward improvement in the future. Their analysis concludes that business school education tends to be focused on a narrow range of analytical tools and techniques. A major shortcoming of this approach is that students learn to analyze situations from this narrowly focused perspective and appear to be unable to assess the impact of a much broader range of issues that affect an organization's success. Two major criticisms of the business school curriculum cited by Porter and McKibbin are "insufficient emphasis on generating 'vision' in students" and "insufficient emphasis on integration across functional areas." Entrepreneurship, which focuses on the process of creating new organizations, received a high degree of interest from study participants as an area that needed more attention by business schools. Increased attention to this topic was based on two considerations: that business schools need to respond to the downsizing of large corporations by stressing "intrapreneurship," entrepreneurship within an existing business organization, and that many business school graduates either start their own small, entrepreneurial businesses or are employed by small businesses. Gartner, Bird and Starr (1992) raise an important consideration for universities that plan to focus more attention on entrepreneurship education. They note that entrepreneurship education differs fundamentally from other types of management education. Emerging businesses deal with uncertainties, while managers of existing organizations are primarily concerned with non-equivocal events. This difference may suggest that the cognitive processes of entrepreneurs are different from those of managers. If the cognitive styles of business students are more compatible with those of managers than entrepreneurs, then business schools may need to pay special attention to this difference in their entrepreneurship program. If business schools focus more attention on entrepreneurship, the cognitive styles of current and prospective business school students will need to be considered as a part of the change process. For example, students who are successful in today's business schools may not have the same personal attributes as entrepreneurs. Curriculum changes alone may not enable students to become more entrepreneurial. Additionally, many students who possess entrepreneurial abilities may be unable to gain admission or be successful in current business schools. This study investigates the cognitive style preferences of a sample of business school students using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBIT) and compares the results to a sample of high-growth entrepreneurs. By comparing the psychological types of current business school students and highgrowth entrepreneurs, significant differences in personal abilities may be identified that need to be addressed as part of the change process. Changing the business curriculum to encourage entrepreneurship may not be the only area that needs to be addressed in improving business school education. …


Gain control of the auditory system operates at multiple levels. Cholinergic medial olivocochlear (MOC) fibers originate in the brainstem and make synaptic contacts at the base of the outer hair cells (OHCs), the final targets of several feedback loops from the periphery and higher-processing centers. Efferent activation inhibits OHC active amplification within the mammalian cochlea, through the activation of a calcium-permeable α9α10 ionotropic cholinergic nicotinic receptor (nAChR), functionally coupled to calcium activated SK2 potassium channels. Correct operation of this feedback requires careful matching of acoustic input with the strength of cochlear inhibition (Galambos, 1956; Wiederhold and Kiang, 1970; Gifford and Guinan, 1987), which is driven by the rate of MOC activity and short-term facilitation at the MOC–OHC synapse (Ballestero et al., 2011; Katz and Elgoyhen, 2014). The present work shows (in mice of either sex) that a mutation in the α9α10 nAChR with increased duration of channel gating (Taranda et al., 2009) greatly elongates hair cell-evoked IPSCs and Ca2+ signals. Interestingly, MOC–OHC synapses of L9′T mice presented reduced quantum content and increased presynaptic facilitation. These phenotypic changes lead to enhanced and sustained synaptic responses and OHC hyperpolarization upon high-frequency stimulation of MOC terminals. At the cochlear physiology level these changes were matched by a longer time course of efferent MOC suppression. This indicates that the properties of the MOC–OHC synapse directly determine the efficacy of the MOC feedback to the cochlea being a main player in the "gain control" of the auditory periphery. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Plasticity can involve reciprocal signaling across chemical synapses. An opportunity to study this phenomenon occurs in the mammalian cochlea whose sensitivity is regulated by efferent olivocochlear neurons. These release acetylcholine to inhibit sensory hair cells. A point mutation in the hair cell's acetylcholine receptor that leads to increased gating of the receptor greatly elongates IPSCs. Interestingly, efferent terminals from mutant mice present a reduced resting release probability. However, upon high-frequency stimulation transmitter release facilitates strongly to produce stronger and far longer-lasting inhibition of cochlear function. Thus, central neuronal feedback on cochlear hair cells provides an opportunity to define plasticity mechanisms in cholinergic synapses other than the highly studied neuromuscular junction.


Semiarid ecosystems (including arid, semiarid and dry-subhumid ecosystems) span more than 40% of extant habitats and a similar percentage of human population. As a consequence of global warming, these habitats face future potential shifts towards the desert state characterized by an accelerated loss of diversity and stability leading to collapse. Such possibility has been raised by several mathematical and computational models, along with several early warning signal methods applied to spatial vegetation patterns. Here we show that just after a catastrophic shift has taken place an expected feature is the presence of a ghost, i.e., a delayed extinction associated to the underlying dynamical flows. As a consequence, a system might exhibit for very long times an apparent stationarity hiding in fact an inevitable collapse. Here we explore this problem showing that the ecological ghost is a generic feature of standard models of green-desert transitions including facilitation. If present, the ghost could hide warning signals, since statistical patterns are not be expected to display growing fluctuations over time. We propose and computationally test a novel intervention method based on the restoration of small fractions of desert areas with vegetation as a way to maintain the fragile ecosystem beyond the catastrophic shift caused by a saddle-node bifurcation, taking advantage of the delaying capacity of the ghost just after the bifurcation.


BACKGROUND
The aim of the surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is to achieve its complete cure, evidenced by normal serum calcium in the postoperative period. Measurement of intraoperative serum parathormone (PTH) can be useful to predict complete cure of the disease.

AIM
To assess the usefulness of intraoperative PTH measurement to predict complete cure of PHPT.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Serum PTH was measured to all patients operated for PHPT between 2003 and 2008, before and five and ten minutes after the excision of the parathyroid gland causing the disease. The criteria for complete cure were normal serum calcium at 24 hours and 6 months after surgery and the pathological confirmation of parathyroid gland excision.

RESULTS
Eighty-eight operated patients, aged 58+/-15 years (72 females) were studied. Sixty four percent were asymptomatic and their preoperative serum calcium was 11.6+/- 1.2 mg/dl. A normal serum calcium was achieved in 86 patients (98%) at 24 hours and 50 of 52 patients followed for six months (96%). The pathological study disclosed an adenoma in 69 (78%), and multiglandular disease in 16 (18%), a parathyroid cancer in one and a normal gland in one patient. Intraoperative PTH predicted early and definitive cure in 97% and 100% of patients with a single adenoma, respectively. Among patients with multiglandular disease, the predictive figures were 94% and 100%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Intraoperative PTH measurement efficiently predicts early and definitive surgical cure of PHPT.


This study was carried out in 1991 as part of the International Reading Literacy Study. A stratified random sample of 2749pupils in 143 schools in Form II during 1991 were administered the tests and questionnaires. Their teachers(143) and the heads of their schools also completed background questionnaires. A number of the items in the tests were concerned with the reading of tables, including timetables and graphs, which is a specifically mathematical reading skill. These items were analyzed to gain an overview of the reading skills in mathematics possessed by Zimbabwean pupils. On the whole less than half the pupils and in some cases less than one-third of the pupils were able to perform these tasks. Thus Zimbabwean pupils are not acquiring mathematical reading skills in spite of these skills being specifically provided for in the primary and lower secondary school mathematics syllabuses. Further it was found that better resourced, particularly in terms of textbooks and library books, schools performed better than poorly resourced schools. Additionally, schools with more experienced heads showed better levels of performance.


In the research described in this thesis, the trafficking of each CD23 isoform was studied in detail in both wild-type and mutant CD23 proteins, using an identical cell system and the same method of CD23 ligation for both isoforms. Confocal microscopic analysis demonstrated intracellular sorting differences to exist between the two isoforms, with CD23a utilising the endocytic pathway, and CD23b following both the endocytic and phagocytic pathways in a B-cell line. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to investigate a number of potentially key residues present in the unique N-terminal tail of each isoform. The serine groups at positions 7 and 5 in the CD23a and b isoforms, respectively, and the NNP tri-peptide motif in the b isoform were found to be necessary for accurate trafficking of these proteins. The discovery that the CD23 isoforms utilise different trafficking pathways corroborates the hypothesis that CD23a and CD23b may have functionally different roles.

Current models of human CD23 signalling link the CD23a isoforms to a cAMP-generating pathway and the CD23b isoform to stimulation of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate production and calcium mobilisation. The ability of CD23 to transmit a signal within various cells and the fact it has a very short cytoplasmic tail, of only 23 amino acids and bereft of catalytic motifs, strongly suggests that CD23 may associate with other molecules involved in signal transduction. The divergence in the signalling pathways associated with each CD23 isoform has been attributed to the unique amino acids at the N-terminal cytoplasmic tails, as the remainder of the proteins are identical. However, there is no definitive evidence to link directly CD23 to any of these individual signalling pathways. The research presented in this thesis utilises the yeast two-hybrid assay to investigate binding partners for the N-terminal tail of CD23. Filamin A was identified as a potential interacting protein, and was found to interact with both the CD23a and CD23b isoforms. It is hypothesised that CD23 interacts with filamin A, which functions as an adaptor protein, to enable downstream responses to CD23 through connections to the appropriate signalling pathways in an isoform-specific manner.


Objectives: Unethical drug promotion is a common problem worldwide. In, Nepal, there is limited vigilance on the quality of information supplied by the drug companies to the doctors. The objectives of this study were to analyze the promotional materials provided by the drug companies as per WHO ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion. Methods: Promotional materials present in the Drug Information Center (DIC) during the period from September to December 2007 were collected. The collected promotional materials of different pharmaceutical companies were compared with WHO's Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion. Results: The name of active constituent(s) was mentioned in 87.87% (n=29) of promotional items. Therapeutic indication was mentioned in 87.88% (n=29) of promotional material but information on side effects [33.33% (n=11)], drug interactions [9.09% (n=3)] and use in pregnancy and lactation [12.12% (n=4)] were lacking in the majority of promotional materials. Conclusion: In a country like Nepal with limited drug information resources, the promotional materials provided by the manufacturers can largely influence the prescription behavior of the clinicians. Our findings suggest the need for interventions to improve the content of the promotional materials provided by the drug companies.


Introduction The expedition of H.M. "Willebrord Snellius,, in the eastern Indonesian seas (1929-1930) brought home a large collection of corals. The biologist on board, Dr. H. Boschma, as well as the geologist Dr. Ph. H. Kuenen collected these specimens during low tide on the reefs or by way of dredging and diving. The greater part of the material comes from shallow waters (depths of 0.5 to 5 m). The use of diving apparatus allowed collecting at a depth of 2 to 15 m. Sometimes corals were dredged from depths of 30 m or more. The total coral material consists of more than 10.000 samples, about half of which are specimens of the genus Acropora. Although the material was sorted out and generally identified as to the genus, so far no study was made of any special group. Boschma (1936) published a paper on the biological data of the Snellius expedition. All field data in the present paper stem from that report as well as from personal communications of Dr. Boschma himself. Presently the genus Favia (Faviidae sensu Wells, 1956) is dealt with. The same species concept is applied as in my former paper on the Faviinae of New Caledonia (Wijsman-Best, 1972). Both regions lay centrally in the Indo Pacific area, and they have most of their species in common. Faviinae from eastern Indonesia are only occasionally mentioned in the literature (Quelch, 1886; Thiel, 1932; Umbgrove, 1939, 1940; Verwey, 1931). Specimens from this area collected by the Siboga expedition have been mentioned by Wijsman-Best, 1972. Explanation of the localities as mentioned by Boschma, 1936 (see map fig. 1): 1. Suvadiva atoll, Maldive Islands (3-4 May 1929). Collecting on the reefs and dredging in the lagoon.


This contribution proposes a decompositional iterative method with low memory requirements for the steady-state analysis of Kronecker structured Markov chains. The Markovian system is formed by a composition of subsystems using the Kronecker sum operator for local transitions and the Kronecker product operator for synchronized transitions. Even though the interactions among subsystems, which are captured by synchronized transitions, need not be weak, numerical experiments indicate that the solver benefits considerably from weak interactions among subsystems, and is to be recommended specifically in this case.


Humans are extremely rapid at categorizing visual inputs, an ability which relies on occipito-temporal brain processes. Functional neuroimaging studies have identified the spatial organization of neural responses in these regions to ecologically-relevant categories such as faces, bodyparts or houses. However, much less is known about the spatio-temporal dynamics of these category-selective responses at the system level of organization. Here we investigate this issue by recording scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) during fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) with natural images (Rossion et al., 2015). Eleven subjects viewed 60 seconds sequences of natural images of various object categories displayed at a base frequency of 6 Hz (6 images/second), in which images of either faces, bodyparts or houses appeared every 5 images (oddball frequency =6Hz/5 =1.2Hz). Category-selective oddball responses manifest at the 1.2Hz oddball frequency and harmonics (2.4Hz, 3.6Hz, etc.). While significant oddball responses were observed for all categories over occipito-temporal regions, responses were much stronger for faces than for limbs and houses. Further, scalp topography pattern analyses point to distinct neural sources across category-selective responses, with responses to faces, bodyparts and houses respectively maximal at ventral occipito-temporal, lateral occipito-temporal, and dorso-medial occipital channels. Time-domain analyses indicate that EEG responses are dissociable across categories at multiple spatio-temporal windows from around 110ms to 500ms post-stimulus onset, with faces eliciting up to five distinct selective responses. These observations go well beyond traditional face-selective EEG responses as identified using transient stimulus presentation (i.e., N170) by indicating that multiple ecologically-relevant categories generate unique spatio-temporal signatures over posterior scalp regions. Finally, these findings highlight the power of the FPVS approach to reveal the spatio-temporal signatures of high-level visual processing at the system level. Rossion, B., et al. (2015). Fast periodic presentation of natural images reveals a robust face-selective electrophysiological response in the human brain. Journal of Vision. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


This paper introduces a Czech dataset for semantic similarity and semantic relatedness. The dataset contains word pairs with hand annotated scores that indicate the semantic similarity and semantic relatedness of the words. The dataset contains 953 word pairs compiled from 9 different sources. It contains words and their contexts taken from real text corpora including extra examples when the words are ambiguous. The dataset is annotated by 5 independent annotators. The average Spearman correlation coefficient of the annotation agreement is r = 0.81. We provide reference evaluation experiments with several methods for computing semantic similarity and relatedness.


The sequence of civil wars that ripped England apart in the seventeenth century was the single most traumatic event in this country between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars. Indeed, it is likely that a greater percentage of the population were killed in the civil wars than in the First World War. This sense of overwhelming trauma gives this major new history its title: "God's Fury, England's Fire". The name of a pamphlet written after the king's surrender, it sums up the widespread feeling within England that the seemingly endless nightmare that had destroyed families, towns and livelihoods was ordained by a vengeful God - that the people of England had sinned and were now being punished.As with all civil wars, however, "God's Fury" could support or destroy either side in the conflict. Was God angry at Charles I for failing to support the true, protestant, religion and refusing to work with Parliament? Or was God angry with those who had dared challenge His anointed Sovereign? Michael Braddick's remarkable book gives the reader a vivid and enduring sense both of what it was like to live through events of uncontrollable violence and what really animated the different sides.The killing of Charles I and the declaration of a republic - events which even now seem in an English context utterly astounding - were by no means the only outcomes, and Braddick brilliantly describes the twists and turns that led to the most radical solutions of all to the country's political implosion. He also describes very effectively the influence of events in Scotland, Ireland and the European mainland on the conflict in England. "God's Fury, England's Fire" allows readers to understand once more the events that have so fundamentally marked this country and which still resonate centuries after their bloody ending.


Woody species hydraulically vulnerable to xylem cavitation may experience daily xylem embolism. How such species cope with the possibility of accumulated embolism is unclear. In this study, we examined seven temperate woody species to assess the hypothesis that low cavitation resistance (high vulnerability to cavitation) is compensated by high recovery performance via vessel refilling. We also evaluated leaf functional and xylem structural traits. The xylem recovery index (XRI), defined as the ratio of xylem hydraulic conductivity in plants rewatered after soil drought to that in plants under moist conditions, varied among species. The xylem water potential causing 50% loss of hydraulic conductivity (Ψ50) varied among the species studied, whereas only a slight difference was detected with respect to midday xylem water potential (Ψmin), indicating smaller hydraulic safety margins (Ψmin - Ψ50) for species more vulnerable to cavitation. Cavitation resistance (|Ψ50|) was negatively correlated with XRI across species, with cavitation-vulnerable species showing a higher performance in xylem recovery. Wood density was positively correlated with cavitation resistance and was negatively correlated with XRI. These novel results reveal that coordination exists between cavitation resistance and xylem recovery performance, in association with wood functional traits such as denser wood for cavitation-resistant xylem and less-dense but water-storable wood for refillable xylem. These findings provide insights into long-term maintenance of water transport in tree species growing under variable environmental conditions.


An improved infrared microspectrometer is described. A figure of performance or merit for infrared spectrometers using certain types of specimens is suggested. An experimental value is given for this performance figure for the instrument now in use in our laboratory. The increased performance of the microspectrometer may be observed in the spectral data shown for typical specimens.Spectral resolving power and sample size requirements for infrared microspectroscopy are considered for typical organic chemical substances. It now appears that for many applications the limiting factor on sample size is the difficulty in the preparation and handling of the sample rather than the performance of the instrument.


Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare rates of change of various macular thickness measures and evaluate the influence of baseline damage on macular rates of change. Methods One hundred twelve eyes (112 patients) with ≥ 2 years of follow-up and ≥ 5 macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) images and 10-2 visual field (VF) tests were included. OCT measures of interests were full macular thickness (FMT), ganglion cell complex (GCC), ganglion cell/inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), and outer retinal layer (ORL) thickness in 3° × 3° superpixels. Rates of change were estimated with linear regression and normalized by dividing rates by the average normative superpixel thickness. We compared rates of change and proportion of significantly worsening superpixels (detection rate) and improving superpixels (false discovery rate [FDR]) among macular measures as a function of baseline thickness and 10-2 VF status. Results Median (interquartile range [IQR]) baseline VF mean deviation, follow-up time, and number of VFs/OCTs were −7.6 dB (−11.8 to −3.8 dB), 4.5 years (4.0–5.0 years), and 9 (8–10), respectively. Normalized FMT and GCC rates of change were faster and detection rates were higher than GCIPL and GCL (P < 0.001), but FMT had lower FDR than GCC (P = 0.02); faster FMT rates were partially explained by ORL rates of change. GCC detection rates were less likely than GCIPL and GCL rates to decrease with diminishing baseline thickness or worse VF damage. In eyes with 10-2 VF worsening, GCC and GCL demonstrated the fastest rates of change. Conclusions GCC measurements are most likely to detect structural worsening along the spectrum of glaucoma severity. Although FMT rates of change are least influenced by baseline thickness, they partially reflect likely age-related ORL changes. Translational Relevance GCC thickness measurements seem to be the optimal macular outcome measure for detection of glaucoma deterioration.


For integers $0\leq t\leq k\leq v-t$, let $X$ be a $v$-set, and let $W_{tk}(v)$ be a ${v \choose t}\times{v \choose k}$ inclusion matrix where rows and columns are indexed by $t$-subsets and $k$-subsets of $X$, respectively, and for row $T$ and column $K$, $W_{tk}(v)(T,K)=1$ if $T\subseteq K$ and zero otherwise. Since $W_{tk}(v)$ is a full rank matrix, by reordering the columns of $W_{tk}(v)$ we can write $W_{tk}(v) = (S|N)$, where $N$ denotes a set of independent columns of $W_{tk}(v)$. In this paper, first by classifying $t$-subsets and $k$-subsets, we present a new decomposition of $W_{tk}(v)$. Then by employing this decomposition, the Leibniz Triangle, and a known right inverse of $W_{tk}(v)$, we  construct  the inverse of $N$ and consequently special basis for the null space (known as the standard basis) of $W_{tk}(v)$.


With reference to the discussion about shareholder versus stakeholder maximization it is argued that the normal type of maximization is in fact stakeholder-owner maximization. This means maximization of the sum of the value of the shares and stakeholder benefits belonging to the dominating stakeholder-owner. Maximization of shareholder value is a special case of owner-maximization, and only under quite restrictive assumptions shareholder maximization is larger or equal to stakeholder-owner maximization. Broad stakeholder maximization is the sum of the returns to all stakeholders also including the shareholders of a company. Although it may be the ultimate goal for Corporate Social Responsibility to achieve this kind of maximization, broad stakeholder maximization is quite difficult to give a precise definition. There is no one-dimensional measure to add different stakeholder benefits not traded on the market, and therefore there is no possibility for practical application. Broad stakeholder maximization instead in practical applications becomes satisfying certain stakeholder demands, so that the practical application will be stakeholder-owner maximization under constraints defined by other stakeholders' interests. These constraints vary for different stakeholder owners and new standards for Corporate Social Responsibility and more active political consumers will strengthen these constraints.


This study examined the utility of a high resolution ground-based (mobile and terrestrial) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) dataset (0.2 m point-spacing) supplemented with a coarser resolution airborne LiDAR dataset (5 m point-spacing) for use in a flood inundation analysis. The techniques for combining multi-platform LiDAR data into a composite dataset in the form of a triangulated irregular network (TIN) are described, and quantitative comparisons were made to a TIN generated solely from the airborne LiDAR dataset. For example, a maximum land surface elevation difference of 1.677 m and a mean difference of 0.178 m were calculated between the datasets based on sample points. Utilizing the composite and airborne LiDAR-derived TINs, a flood inundation comparison was completed using a one-dimensional steady flow hydraulic modeling analysis. Quantitative comparisons of the water surface profiles and depth grids indicated an underestimation of flooding extent, volume, and maximum flood height using the airborne LiDAR data alone. A 35% increase in maximum flood height was observed using the composite LiDAR dataset. In addition, the extents of the water surface profiles generated from the two datasets were found to be statistically significantly different. The urban and mountainous characteristics of the study area as well as the density (file size) of the high resolution ground based LiDAR data presented both opportunities and challenges for flood modeling analyses.


The effects of exercise training on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) were studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats made mildly to severely diabetic by partial pancreatectomy. Exercise trained (10 wk treadmill; T) and untrained (Unt) rats were grouped according to posttraining fed-state hyperglycemia as follows: T less than 200 and Unt less than 200 (glucose concn less than 200 mg/dl), T 200-300 and Unt 200-300 (glucose concn 200-300 mg/dl), and T greater than 300 and Unt greater than 300 (glucose concn greater than 300 mg/dl). After exercise training, hyperglycemic glucose clamps were performed in awake rats by elevation of arterial blood glucose concentration 126 mg/dl above fasting basal levels for 90 min. Exercise training significantly increased muscle citrate synthase activity. Prevailing hyperglycemia was reduced during the 10-wk exercise training period in all T rats with fed-state glucose concentrations less than 300, and only 53% of Unt rats in these groups had reduced glycemia. GSIS was significantly higher in T less than 200 [2.4 +/- 0.7 (SD) ng/ml at 90 min] than in Unt less than 200 (1.5 +/- 0.3). A similar response was found for T 200-300 (1.1 +/- 0.3 ng/dl) vs. Unt 200-300 (0.7 +/- 0.1) but not T greater than 300 (0.36 +/- 0.2) vs Unt greater than 300 (0.44 +/- 0.05). Sham-operated control rats had insulin concentrations of 6.6 +/- 1.6 ng/ml at the 90th min of the clamp. Acute exercise reduced fed-state glycemia in rats with mild-to-moderate (less than 300 mg/dl) diabetes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


A limiting factor in the widespread deployment of LMDS systems is the limited distance of current systems. Rain attenuation and limited transmitter power are the primary causes of the limited distance. Adaptive digital predistortion is presented as a method of increasing effective transmitter power. A background on LMDS link design, non-linear amplification, and predistortion is presented to assist the reader. A developed simulation uses AM-AM and AM-PM characteristics obtained from laboratory measurements of a 28 GHz amplifier to determine the effect of several predistortion implementation options and to confirm the feasibility of the proposed architecture. The potential impact of this predistortion architecture on LMDS system design is considered. The presented multi-stage predistortion architecture is found to be capable of implementation at Msymbol/second rates utilizing a FPGA or custom IC and a moderate speed digital signal processor. iii Acknowledgements


Whether in natural populations or between two unrelated members of a species, most phenotypic variation is quantitative. To analyze such quantitative traits, one must first map the underlying quantitative trait loci. Next, and far more difficult, one must identify the quantitative trait genes (QTGs), characterize QTG interactions, and identify the phenotypically relevant polymorphisms to determine how QTGs contribute to phenotype. In this work, we analyzed three Saccharomyces cerevisiae high-temperature growth (Htg) QTGs (MKT1, END3, and RHO2). We observed a high level of genetic interactions among QTGs and strain background. Interestingly, while the MKT1 and END3 coding polymorphisms contribute to phenotype, it is the RHO2 3′UTR polymorphisms that are phenotypically relevant. Reciprocal hemizygosity analysis of the Htg QTGs in hybrids between S288c and ten unrelated S. cerevisiae strains reveals that the contributions of the Htg QTGs are not conserved in nine other hybrids, which has implications for QTG identification by marker-trait association. Our findings demonstrate the variety and complexity of QTG contributions to phenotype, the impact of genetic background, and the value of quantitative genetic studies in S. cerevisiae.


404 words. Short abstract, 95 words. Paper 5561 words, 2 tables, 2 figures Some of the material in this technical report will be published in the Journal of Health Education and Behavior, 2010. Hosted by The Berkeley Electronic Press 2 Using the Stages of Change Model to Choose an Optimal Health Marketing Target Abstract Background: In the transtheoretical model of behavior change, "stages of change" are defined as Precontemplation (not even thinking about changing), Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance (maintaining the behavior change). Marketing principles suggest that efforts should be targeted at persons most likely to "buy the product." Objectives: To examine the effect of intervening at different stages in populations of smokers, with various numbers of people in each "stage of change." One type of intervention would increase by 10% the probability of a person moving to the next higher stage of change, such as from Precontemplation to Contemplation. The second type would decrease by 10% the probability of relapsing to the next lower stage, such as from Maintenance to Action, and also of changing from Never Smoker to Smoker. Nine hypothetical interventions were compared with the status quo, to determine which type of intervention would provide the most improvement in population smoking. Methods: Three datasets were used to estimate the probability of moving among the stages of change for smoking. Those probabilities were used to create multi-state life tables, which yielded estimates of the expected number of years the population would spend in each stage of change starting at age 40. We estimated the effect of each hypothetical intervention, and compared the intervention effects. Several initial conditions, time horizons, and criteria for success were examined. Results: A population of 40-year-olds in Precontemplation had a further life expectancy of 36 years, of which 26 would be spent in the Maintenance stage. In a population of former and current smokers, moving more persons from the Action to the Maintenance stage (a form of relapse prevention) decreased the number of years spent smoking more than the any other intervention. In a population of 40-year-olds that included Never Smokers, primary smoking prevention was the most effective. The results varied somewhat by the choice of criterion, the length of follow-up, the initial stage distribution, the data, and the sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: In a population of 40-year-olds, smokers were likely to achieve Maintenance without an intervention. On the population basis, targeting quitters and never-smokers was more effective than targeting current smokers. This finding is supported by some principles of health marketing. Additional research should target younger ages as well as other health behaviors. http://biostats.bepress.com/uwbiostat/paper361 3 Using the Stages of Change Model to Choose an Optimal Health Marketing Target


Tantalum metal is analyzed for 12 impurity elements by using a carrier distillation technique with a dc arc. The metal is oxidized in a muffle oven at 900°C. The oxide is mixed with a special carrier made of silver metal, silver chloride, and barium fluoride. A set of standards is included on each plate, and the analytical curves are linear for the concentration range used. The coefficient of variation varies from 30 to 87%