In Korea, an inflation targeting (IT) regime was adopted in the aftermath of the Korean currency crisis of 1997–1998. At that time, the Bank of Korea (BOK) shifted the instrument of monetary policy from monetary aggregates to interest rates. Recently, central bank policymakers have confronted more uncertainties than ever before when deciding their policy interest rates. In this monetary policy environment, it is worth exploring whether the BOK has kept a conservative posture in moving the Korean call rate target, the equivalent of the US Federal Funds rate target since the implementation of an interest rate-oriented monetary policy. Together with this, the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009 provoked by the US sub-prime mortgage market recalls the following question: should central banks pre-emptively react to a sharp increase in asset prices? Historical episodes indicate that boom-bust cycles in asset prices, in particular, house prices, can be damaging to the economy. In Korea, house prices have been evolving under uncertainties, and in the process house-price bubbles have been formed. Therefore, in recent years, central bankers and academia in Korea have paid great attention to fluctuations in asset prices. In this context, the aims of this thesis are: (i) to set up theoretical and empirical models of monetary policy under uncertainty; (ii) to examine the effect of uncertainty on the operation of monetary policy since the adoption of interest rate-oriented policy; and (iii) to investigate whether gradual adjustment in policy rates can be explained by uncertainty in Korea. Another important aim is (iv) to examine whether house-price fluctuations be taken into account in formulating monetary policy. The main findings of this thesis are summarised as follows. Firstly, as in advanced countries, the four stylised facts regarding the policy interest rate path are found in Korea: infrequent changes in policy rates; successive changes in the same direction; asymmetric adjustments in terms of the size of interest-rate changes for continuation and reversal periods; and a long pause before reversals in policy rates. These patterns of policy rates (i.e., interest-rate smoothing) characterised the central bank's reaction to inflation and the output gap as being less aggressive than the optimising central bank behavior would predict (Chapter 3). Secondly, uncertainty may provide a rationale for a smoother path of the policy interest rate in Korea. In particular, since the introduction of the interest rate-oriented monetary policy, the actual call money rates have shown to be similar to the optimal rate path under parameter uncertainty. Gradual movements in the policy rates do not necessarily indicate that the central bank has an interest-rate smoothing incentive. Uncertainty about the dynamic structure of the economy, which is dubbed ‗parameter uncertainty', could account for a considerable portion of the observed gradual movements in policy interest rates (Chapter 4). Thirdly, it is found that the greater the output-gap uncertainty, the smaller the output-gap response coefficients in the optimal policy rules, and in a similar vein, the greater inflation uncertainty, the smaller the inflation response coefficients. The optimal policy rules derived by using data without errors showed the large size of the output-gap and inflation response coefficients. This finding confirms that data uncertainty can be one of sources explaining the reasons why monetary policymakers react less aggressively in setting their interest rate instrument (Chapter 5). Finally, we found that house prices conveyed some useful information on conditions such as possible financial instability and future inflation in Korea, and the house-price shock differed from other shocks to the macroeconomy in that it had persistent impacts on the economy, consequently provoking much larger economic volatility. Empirical simulations showed that the central bank could reduce its loss values in terms of economic volatility, resulting in promoting overall economic stability when it responds more directly to fluctuations in house prices. This finding provides the reason why the central bank should give more attention to house-price fluctuations when conducting monetary policy (Chapter 6).


Since first described by Markides and Coreil in 1986, multiple authors have attempted to unravel the curious finding that Hispanic Americans appear to, in spite of seemingly disadvantageous health factors, to have better outcomes than expected. While there have been some dissenting studies, the preponderance of evidence seems to support the finding, although the exact mechanism remains elusive. A computational analysis of the 2011-2016 data on the counties of Arizona and New Mexico contained in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's County Health Rankings and Roadmaps confirmed that this Hispanic Paradox does indeed exist. However additional factors, such as the distribution and concentration of the Hispanic population, appear to be necessary in order for it to manifest. It is maximized once a critical level of population percentage and lack of acculturation are met. These levels are achieved in some counties in Arizona, but are absent in New Mexico, despite an average county Hispanic population percentage only 60% that seen in New Mexico. In this regard, the Hispanic Paradox appears to follow the same dynamics as that seen in the Roseto Effect described in the 1960's and may be related to the differing effect of curanderismo in these areas.


Investigating and reimagining the origin story of the sex doll through the tale of the sailor's dames de voyage. The sex doll and its high-tech counterpart the sex robot have gone mainstream, as both the object of consumer desire and the subject of academic study. But sex dolls, and sexual technology in general, are nothing new. Sex dolls have been around for centuries. In Sex Dolls at Sea, Bo Ruberg explores the origin story of the sex doll, investigating its cultural implications and considering who has been marginalized and who has been privileged in the narrative.
 Ruberg examines the generally accepted story that the first sex dolls were dames de voyage, rudimentary figures made of cloth and leather scraps by European sailors on long, lonely ocean voyages in centuries past. In search of supporting evidence for the lonesome sailor sex doll theory, Ruberg uncovers the real history of the sex doll. The earliest commercial sex dolls were not the dames de voyage but the femmes en caoutchouc: "women" made of inflatable vulcanized rubber, beginning in the late nineteenth century.
 Interrogating the sailor sex doll origin story, Ruberg finds beneath the surface a web of issues relating to gender, sexuality, race, and colonialism. What has been lost in the history of the sex doll and other sex tech, Ruberg tells us, are the stories of the sex workers, women, queer people, and people of color whose lives have been bound up with these technologies.


The pentose metabolism of Archaea is largely unknown. Here, we have employed an integrated genomics approach including DNA microarray and proteomics analyses to elucidate the catabolic pathway for d-arabinose in Sulfolobus solfataricus. During growth on this sugar, a small set of genes appeared to be differentially expressed compared with growth on d-glucose. These genes were heterologously overexpressed in Escherichia coli, and the recombinant proteins were purified and biochemically studied. This showed that d-arabinose is oxidized to 2-oxoglutarate by the consecutive action of a number of previously uncharacterized enzymes, including a d-arabinose dehydrogenase, a d-arabinonate dehydratase, a novel 2-keto-3-deoxy-d-arabinonate dehydratase, and a 2,5-dioxopentanoate dehydrogenase. Promoter analysis of these genes revealed a palindromic sequence upstream of the TATA box, which is likely to be involved in their concerted transcriptional control. Integration of the obtained biochemical data with genomic context analysis strongly suggests the occurrence of pentose oxidation pathways in both Archaea and Bacteria, and predicts the involvement of additional enzyme components. Moreover, it revealed striking genetic similarities between the catabolic pathways for pentoses, hexaric acids, and hydroxyproline degradation, which support the theory of metabolic pathway genesis by enzyme recruitment.


Methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) possess the ability to use methane for energy generation and growth, thereby, providing a key ecosystem service that is highly relevant to the regulation of the global climate. MOB subgroups have different responses to key environmental controls, reflecting on their functional traits. Their unique features (C1-metabolism, unique lipids and congruence between the 16S rRNA and pmoA gene phylogeny) have facilitated numerous environmental studies, which in combination with the availability of cultured representatives, yield the most comprehensive ecological picture of any known microbial functional guild. Here, we focus on the broad MOB subgroups (type I and type II MOB), and aim to conceptualize MOB functional traits and observational characteristics derived primarily from these environmental studies to be interpreted as microbial life strategies. We focus on the functional traits, and the conditions under which these traits will render different MOB subgroups a selective advantage. We hypothesize that type I and type II MOB generally have distinct life strategies, enabling them to predominate under different conditions and maintain functionality. The ecological characteristics implicated in their adopted life strategies are discussed, and incorporated into the Competitor-Stress tolerator-Ruderal functional classification framework as put forward for plant communities. In this context, type I MOB can broadly be classified as competitor-ruderal while type II MOB fit more within the stress tolerator categories. Finally, we provide an outlook on MOB applications by exemplifying two approaches where their inferred life strategies could be exploited thereby, putting MOB into the context of microbial resource management.


Spatial microsimulation (SMS) is a range of techniques for estimating the local distribution of a variable - here, household income - by combining social survey microdata with Census or administrative population totals. This paper makes a case for the value of these methods in social policy analysis of spatial economic differences because unlike other methods and sources, they permit distributional analysis of income, encompass both market outcomes and secondary distribution through taxes and transfers, and measure income poverty in standard national terms. As a demonstration of spatial microsimulation by iterative proportional fitting (IPF), the household income distribution in London's 33 boroughs in 2001/02 and 2011/12 is estimated in this paper. The coherence and plausibility of the results in comparison to other official statistics is examined in some detail. Two refinements to standard IPF methods are presented, including "multi-level IPF", which allows the use of both person- and household-level data; this is found to improve the estimation of poverty rates. The paper confirms the value of SMS for synchronic spatial analysis, and argues for its hitherto little-explored use in modelling spatial differences in the effects of fiscal and welfare policy changes.


Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka expands the phenomenological study of meanings (sense-bestowal) into an onto-genetic inquiry by grounding it in a phenomenology of life, including the emotional dimension. This phenomenology of life is informed by the empirical sciences and its doctrines parallel the new scientific paradigm of open dynamic systems. Embedded in the dynamics of the real individuation of life forms, human consciousness emerges at a unique station in the evolutionary process. Tymieniecka treats the constitution of sense as a function of life, and thus the transcendental constitutive function of the cognitive, objectifying intentionality of consciousness, the purview of classical phenomenology, is viewed as a project that is limited in its scope. According to the phenomenology of life, meaning-genesis is exhibited throughout the various stages of structurization in the evolution of life. This paper highlights the transformative function of the "Imaginatio Creatrix," which is the dynamic process at the human station of evolution that accounts for humanity's inventive capacities necessary for the construction of a human world. The Imaginatio Creatrix transforms the more primitive stirrings of the human "soul" into subliminal passions of human existential significance. The enactive theory of the mind corroborates Tymieniecka's rejection of Husserl's doctrine of passive synthesis. However, Tymieniecka's study of the creative function offers a key for further advancement in enactive theory. Three sense-bestowing functions of the Imaginatio Creatrix account for the human expansion of life: the Aesthetic/Poetic sense, the Objectifying Sense, and the Moral Sense. The Moral Sense, for Tymieniecka, is not the product of reasoning powers, but rather the fruit of subliminal passions that acquire their moral aspect through trans-actions guided by the "benevolent sentiment."


In Chapter 2 we describe the quantitative ChIP-seq analysis of Polymerase II DNA occupancy. We show that levels of Polymerase II occupancy can be used as a measure for transcriptional activity. However, it also reveals additional information on transcription rates in relation to mRNA stability if it is compared to conventional techniques like microarray hybridization an RNA-seq. In Chapter 3 we describe the ChIP-seq analysis of two of the Wnt-signal executing factors: β-catenin and Tcf4. We define two classes of β-catenin peaks in primary mouse tissue and confirm their existence in two cell lines. Using a truncated, dominant negative, form of Tcf4 we find that both classes of β-catenin binding are mediated by TCF/LEFs. In Chapter 4 we investigate the transcription factor Ascl2 and the mechanism by which it performs it pivotal role in stemness. Using ChIP-seq we show that Ascl2 and β-catenin/Tcf4 converge on specific elements, and together drive the transcriptional program that defines stemness. Ascl2 adds another, very specific, layer of Wnt-signal amplification on top of previously defined Wnt enhancing mechanisms acting on intestinal stem cells. In Chapter 5 we describe the generation of a new transgenic allele. Mice harboring the Olfm4-IRES-eGFPCreERT2 allele express an eGFPCreERT2 fusion protein exclusively in the stem cells of the small intestine. Combination with a lacZ reporter strain confirmed the specific expression and the capability of Olfm4 marked cells to renew the cells of the small intestinal epithelium with the same kinetics of Lgr5+ stem cells. This mouse model improves upon the previously described Lgr5-eGFP-IRES-CreERT2 model because it is not silenced and therefore is expressed in the stem cells of all the crypts of the small intestinal epithelium. In Chapter 6 we report the results of an over-expression based screen in intestinal organoids. We show that organoids challenged by noggin withdrawal provide a valid system to screen for factors important to the intestine. By over-expressing transcription factors selected for their enrichment in stem cells we find three candidates that are able to induce insensitivity to noggin withdrawal. We show that one of these factors, Tgfβ induced factor homeobox 2 (Tgif2), is important to limit Paneth cell differentiation in vivo and in vitro. This thesis is concluded in Chapter 7 with a summarizing discussion of the different chapters.


Duplicated eukaryotic chromosomes are segregated into daughter cells through cell division. Faithful chromosome segregation depends on kinetochores, which are specialized macromolecular structures built upon centromeric chromatin. The dynamic kinetochore structures connect chromosomes with spindle microtubules, power chromosome movement, and signal the activation and silencing of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC). Molecular analyses of the components and architecture of kinetochores have advanced rapidly in recent years. A human kinetochore contains approximately 200 proteins, many of which are evolutionarily conserved in other organisms. A histone H3 variant, CENP-A and associated constitutive centromere proteins lay the foundation for kinetochore build-up. Multiple kinetochore-localised microtubule-binding proteins including the Ndc80 complex help regulate chromosome movement. The SAC signalling originates from kinetochores and contributes to the fidelity of chromosome segregation. Many fascinating properties remain to be elucidated about the kinetochore as a fundamental machinery to maintain genomic stability.

Key Concepts:

Chromosome segregation in eukaryotic cells depends upon connecting spindle microtubules with special macromolecular structures on chromosomes called kinetochores.

The centromere is the chromosomal locus where a kinetochore is built.

Laying the foundation for kinetochore assembly at centromeres are CENP-A (a histone H3 variant) containing nucleosomes and a group of CENP-A associated proteins (termed constitutive centromere proteins).

There are multiple microtubule motors and nonmotor microtubule-binding proteins localised at kinetochores to coordinate chromosome movement.

A 10 protein complex called KMN network is currently thought to provide the primary end-on microtubule-binding activity.

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) monitors the kinetochore–microtubule attachment and signals the delay of the metaphase-to-anaphase transition when defects are detected.

Conformational change of MAD2 and assembly of the mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) are the key events to activate the SAC.

Comparative studies of similar and distinct kinetochore composition, structure and function in different species and during mitosis or meiosis have provided evolutionary perspectives on mechanisms regulating chromosome segregation.

Keywords:

kinetochore;
centromere;
mitosis;
chromosome segregation;
spindle assembly checkpoint;
microtubule-binding proteins


I. INTRODUCTION For many American couples and singles looking to adopt a child, intercountry adoption provides an attractive alternative to the domestic adoption process. Whether the adoptive parents are motivated by humanitarian considerations or a perceived notion of an unavailability of adoptable U.S.-born children, intercountry adoption has become increasingly popular since its introduction to the international legal scene following World War II.l Indeed, statistics show that U.S. adoptions of foreign children have "doubled over the last decade, exceeding 16,000 in 1999," with four out of five internationally adopted children being adopted by U.S. parents.2 Experience and time, however, have shown that intercountry adoption is not always a positive experience for the adoptive parents, the biological parents and, perhaps most importantly, for the child. Stories abound of black market baby trades, of biological parents being coerced to relinquish their children, and of adoptive parents spending excessive sums of money to secure the adoption of a child who either doesn't exist or who exists, but has such severe disabilities as to make the adoption imprudent.3 In response to the abuses suffered by adoptive parents, biological parents, and adoptive children, the Hague Conference on Private International Law completed the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) in May 1993.4 Among other things, the Hague Convention provides for the establishment of a Central Authority to oversee and coordinate international adoption procedures and establishes an adoption agency accreditation system.5 On October 6, 2000, President William Clinton signed the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA) into law for the purposes of implementing the 1993 Hague Convention in the United States.6 The IAA names the U.S. State Department of State as the Central Authority,7 heeds the Hague Convention's call for an accreditation system, and establishes criteria for agency accreditation.8 Despite the laudable goals of The Hague Convention and the IAA, an argument exists that implementation may cause problems for small adoption agencies, for those parents pursuing independent adoptions, and for those adoption professionals assisting in independent adoptions.9 This Note will address these arguments. First, this Note examines the history of intercountry adoption as an alternative to the domestic adoption process and the problems associated with the intercountry adoption process that precipitated The Hague Convention and the enactment of IAA. second, it considers whether, by instituting substantive requirements regarding staff credentials and other ethical and practical standards, the IAA makes it impossible or excessively difficult for smaller adoption agencies to achieve accreditation. Finally, it addresses whether the failure of the IAA and the Hague Convention to regulate independent adoptions as an alternative to agency adoptions signals a preferred status to agency adoptions. Assuming this scenario, this Note addresses whether a preferred status to agency adoptions will result in "fewer people working to place children"10 or whether the agency accreditation system and the favoritism of agency adoptions are necessary to protect the parties involved in intercountry adoptions. II. DISCUSSION A. The Rise of Intercountry Adoption as an Alternative to Domestic Adoptions World War II produced not only an abundance of newly "orphaned or abandoned children," but it also devastated economic and social environments in the war-torn countries.11 As a result, intercountry adoption became a prevalent alternative to the domestic adoption process.12 U.S. soldiers stationed abroad and expanded media coverage brought the plight of the abandoned and/or orphaned children home to the U.S. audience.13 A similar increase of intercountry adoptions occurred following the Korean and Vietnam wars. …


Functional MRI (fMRI) based on the blood oxygen level‐dependent (BOLD) contrast is widely used in preclinical neuroscience. The small dimensions of rodent brain place high demands on spatial resolution, and hence on the sensitivity of the fMRI experiment. This work investigates the performance of a 400‐MHz cryogenic quadrature transceive radiofrequency probe (CryoProbe) with respect to the enhancement of the BOLD sensitivity. For this purpose, BOLD fMRI experiments were performed in mice during electrical forepaw stimulation using the CryoProbe and a conventional room temperature surface coil of comparable dimensions. Image signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and temporal SNR were evaluated as quality measures for individual images and for fMRI time series of images, resulting in gains (mean ± standard deviation) with factors of 3.1 ± 0.7 and 1.8 ± 1.0 when comparing the CryoProbe and room temperature coil. The CryoProbe thermal shield temperature did not affect the noise characteristics, with temporal noise levels being 63 ± 16% of the corresponding room temperature value. However, a significant effect on BOLD amplitudes was found, which was attributed to temperature‐dependent baseline cerebral blood volumes. Defined local thermal conditions were found to be a critical parameter for achieving an optimal and reproducible fMRI signal. In summary, the CryoProbe represents an attractive alternative for the enhancement of image SNR, temporal SNR and BOLD sensitivity in mouse fMRI experiments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This working paper explores wireless broadband as an alternative means for broadband expansion through a case-based analysis of business strategies. Although wireless cannot provide the capacity available from advanced fiber networks, it has many other advantages. First, and perhaps foremost, wireless alternatives may be the only economically feasible means of broadband expansion to certain parts of the country. Although they cannot provide capacity that is measurable in terabits per second, as fiber networks can, wireless technologies — depending on the frequencies used and other factors — can suffice for many modern applications: information acquisition for job search, health, and other needs; distance learning; and even video streaming. Second, wireless broadband can permit mobility, something that wireline networks are not designed to provide. Third, the performance of last mile wireless links is partly dependent on the backhaul capacity to which it is connected. So, as fiber extends closer to end users, it enhances the speed and reliability of the wireless connections it supports. Finally, wireless networks can be deployed more rapidly than wireline networks, so that even if there are plans for higher capacity, wireline deployment in the future, wireless can meet more urgent needs. In this report we examine a dozen cases that provide real world evidence and strategic insight related to both the advantages and challenges involved in deploying wireless in scenarios spanning a range of densities and topographies, spectrum, applications and the institutions and stakeholders involved in and impacted by the network deployments.


Eunotioid diatoms that express asymmetry in both the apical and transapical axes, forming heteropolar valves, are generally placed in the genus Actinella. The degree of heteropolarity varies between species, ranging from subtle differences between poles to highly differentiated head poles bearing an apical protuberance. Actinella species with less difference between the poles and lacking an apical protuberance are gradational with Eunotia. With over 100 known species reported globally, primarily in the tropics, only Actinella punctata Lewis, 1864 is currently known from North America. As part of a biotic survey and inventory project focused on the middle Eocene Giraffe crater locality near the Arctic Circle in northern Canada, we have uncovered a wealth of eunotioid diatoms including at least five heteropolar species attributed to Actinella, three of which are described formally herein as A. hickeyi sp. nov., A. goodwinii sp. nov. and A. kimberlitica sp. nov.. These diatoms all lack apical protuberances and bear resemblance to modern heteropolar counterparts within Eunotia. The objectives of this contribution are to report the findings from the Giraffe locality relative to modern and fossil eunotiophycid taxa, discuss the use of heteropolarity as a distinguishing character for the genus Actinella, and consider the palaeoclimatic and biogeographical implications of these observations.


A key open question in economics is the practical, portable modeling of bounded rationality. In this short note, I report ongoing progress that is more fully developed elsewhere. I present some results from a new model in which the decision-maker builds a simplified representation of the world. The model allows to model boundedly rational dynamic programming in a parsimonious and quite tractable way. I illustrate the approach via a boundedly rational version of the consumption-saving life cycle problem. The consumer can pay attention to the variables such as the interest rate and his income, or replace them, in his mental model, by their average values. Endogenously, the consumer pays little attention to interest rate but pays keen attention to his income. One consequence of this is that Euler equations will be biased, and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution will be biased toward 0, in a manner that is quantitatively important.


The role of volunteers has become a core component for the overall success of major international sport events. In recent years, the Olympics, considered to be the world's biggest sporting event could not be hosted without the contribution of a large number of volunteers. From the large number of volunteers, the Olympic organizing committee could not only obtain a huge financial advantage but also create a positive energy and culture. Despite the significance of volunteers in the Olympics, research on Olympic volunteers' motivations is still limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the motives and future intentions of volunteers at the 2018 Olympics, and investigate the factorial structure of the Motivation Scale adapted for this study. Data were collected from a volunteer sample of 36 individuals who offered their services at the 2018 Olympic Games. The results from the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression show that only the "Volunteer Attachment" variable out of the four factors of volunteer motivation has a significantly positive relationship with volunteers' future intention. This study will provide information that could enhance effective volunteer recruitment and retention in the Olympics.


Distributed detection strategies for wireless sensor networks are studied under the assumption of spatially and temporally independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) observations at the sensor nodes. Both intelligent (with knowledge of observation statistics) and dumb (oblivious of observation statistics) sensors are considered. Two types of communication channels are studied: a parallel access channel (PAC) in which each sensor has a dedicated additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel to a decision center, and a multiple-access channel (MAC) in which the decision center receives a coherent superposition of the sensor transmissions. Our results show that the MAC yields significantly superior detection performance for any network power constraint. For intelligent sensors, uncoded (finite duration) communication of local log-likelihood ratios over the MAC achieves the optimal error exponent of the centralized (noise-free channel) benchmark as the number of nodes increases, even with sublinear network power scaling. Motivated by this result, we propose a distributed detection strategy for dumb sensors-histogram fusion-in which each node appropriately quantizes its temporal data and communicates its type or histogram to the decision center. It is shown that uncoded histogram fusion over the MAC is also asymptotically optimal under sublinear network power scaling with an additional advantage: knowledge of observation statistics is needed only at the decision center. Histogram fusion achieves exponential decay in error probability with the number of nodes even under a finite total network power. In principle, a vanishing error probability at a slower subexponential rate can be attained even with vanishing total network power in the limit. These remarkable power/energy savings with the number of nodes are due to the inherent beamforming gain in the MAC


Background and Purpose: Grip strength is a good predictor of hand functions; it is an important part of hand assessment for proper hand function and integrity of muscles. It is not clear whether a relationship exists between hand grip strength and anthropometric measures of the upper limb from childhood period to adolescence period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between hand grip strength and some upper limb anthropometric measures and to detect the difference between boys and girls for all measured parameters in different school grades. Design: Cross Sectional study. Participants: Seven hundred and fifty seven healthy children of both sexes with age range between 7 to 18 years. Methods: Hand grip strength was assessed by hydraulic hand held dynamometer and it was correlated to some anthropometric measures including (Height, whole arm length, upper arm length, forearm length, Hand width (cm), weight (kg), percentile body mass index (PBMI), and hand grip strength for both dominant and non-dominant hands for each child in each grade separately. Results: A strong positive relationship between hand grip strength and anthropometric measures in primary grades was detected with a weak positive relationship in preparatory and secondary grades. Multiple regression analysis revealed that age, sex, weight and height were predictors of grip strength in both hands. Conclusion: It was concluded that hand grip strength had a significant relationship with some anthropometric measures of upper limb in Egyptian school children in different grades.


Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the major pediatric cancer in developed countries. To date most association studies of acute lymphoblastic leukemia have been based on the candidate gene approach and have evaluated a restricted number of polymorphisms. Such studies have served to highlight difficulties in conducting statistically and methodologically rigorous investigations into acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk. Recent genome-wide association studies of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia have provided robust evidence that common variation at four genetic loci confers a modest increase in risk. The accumulated experience to date and relative lack of success of initial efforts to identify novel acute lymphoblastic leukemia predisposition loci emphasize the need for alternative study designs and methods. The International Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Genetics Consortium includes 12 research groups in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas engaged in studying the genetics of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The initial goal of this consortium is to identify and characterize low-penetrance susceptibility variants for acute lymphoblastic leukemia through association-based analyses. Efforts to develop genome-wide association studies of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, in terms of both sample size and single nucleotide polymorphism coverage, and to increase the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms taken forward to large-scale replication should lead to the identification of additional novel risk variants for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Ethnic differences in the risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia are well recognized and thus in assessing the interplay between inherited and non-genetic risk factors, analyses using different population cohorts with different incidence rates are likely to be highly informative. Given that the frequency of many acute lymphoblastic leukemia subgroups is small, identifying differential effects will realistically only be possible through multi-center pooled analyses. Here, we review the rationale for identifying genetic risk variants for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and our proposed strategy for establishing the International Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia Genetics Consortium.


Deepfakes pose severe threats of visual misinformation to our society. One representative deepfake application is face manipulation that modifies a victim's facial attributes in an image, e.g., changing her age or hair color. The state-of-the-art face manipulation techniques rely on Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). In this paper, we propose the first defense system, namely UnGANable, against GAN-inversion-based face manipulation. In specific, UnGANable focuses on defending GAN inversion, an essential step for face manipulation. Its core technique is to search for alternative images (called cloaked images) around the original images (called target images) in image space. When posted online, these cloaked images can jeopardize the GAN inversion process. We consider two state-of-the-art inversion techniques including optimization-based inversion and hybrid inversion, and design five different defenses under five scenarios depending on the defender's background knowledge. Extensive experiments on four popular GAN models trained on two benchmark face datasets show that UnGANable achieves remarkable effectiveness and utility performance, and outperforms multiple baseline methods. We further investigate four adaptive adversaries to bypass UnGANable and show that some of them are slightly effective.


While scholars recognize that digital technology is a major tool employed by contemporary learners to access knowledge, its full capacity is yet to be utilized. This paper investigates opportunities to increase individual learning engagement and knowledge retention in higher education and corporate environments through integrating educational content with innovative digital technology. Currently, within commonly adopted e-learning platforms, the most utilized online content delivery and student progress assessment tools in leadership education appear to be discussion-based instruction, along with written assignments, and research projects (Jenkins, 2016). To inform leadership educators' choice in innovative tools for increased effectiveness of instruction, this paper shares an experience of delivering integrated global leadership education pedagogical content (i.e., cross-cultural competency instruction for graduate management class at a U.S.-based public university) within a gamified real-time multiuser learning platform—MyAltis—and discusses implications for leadership education.


We present the short-term noise budget and metro-logical studies on the medium-to long-term stability of our Rb standard. Our clock exhibits a short-term stability of ~ 1.4×10-13 τ-1/2. The dependance of microwave power shift on light intensity, and the possibility to nullify the microwave power shift is demonstrated. The perturbing vapor cell geometric effect on medium-to long-term time scales, limiting the stability around 6×10-14 level is identified. Further required improvements are discussed.


We propose an alternative generator architecture for generative adversarial networks, borrowing from style transfer literature. The new architecture leads to an automatically learned, unsupervised separation of high-level attributes (e.g., pose and identity when trained on human faces) and stochastic variation in the generated images (e.g., freckles, hair), and it enables intuitive, scale-specific control of the synthesis. The new generator improves the state-of-the-art in terms of traditional distribution quality metrics, leads to demonstrably better interpolation properties, and also better disentangles the latent factors of variation. To quantify interpolation quality and disentanglement, we propose two new, automated methods that are applicable to any generator architecture. Finally, we introduce a new, highly varied and high-quality dataset of human faces.


Background: China contributes to almost half of the esophageal cancer cases diagnosed globally each year. However, the prognosis information of this disease in this large population is scarce. Methods: Data on a population-based cohort consisting of residents of Shandong Province, China who were diagnosed with esophageal cancer during the period from 2005 to 2014 were analyzed. The cancer-specific survival rates were estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis. Discrete-time multilevel mixed-effects survival models were used to investigate socioeconomic status (SES) disparities on esophageal cancer survival. Results: The unadjusted 1-, 3-, and 5-year cause-specific survival rates were 59.6% [95% confidence interval (CI), 59.2%–59.9%], 31.9% (95% CI, 31.5%–32.3%), and 23.6% (95% CI, 23.1%–24.0%), respectively. Patients of blue-collar occupations had higher risk of esophageal cancer–related death than those of white-collar occupations in the first 2 years after diagnosis. Rural patients had higher risk of death than urban patients in the first 3 years after diagnosis. The risks of esophageal cancer–related death among patients living in low/middle/high SES index counties were not different in the first 2 years after diagnosis. However, patients living in high SES index counties had better long-term survival (3–5 years postdiagnosis) than those living in middle or low SES index counties. Conclusions: Socioeconomic inequalities in esophageal cancer survival exist in this Chinese population. Higher individual- or area-level SES is associated with better short-term or long-term cancer survival. Impact: Elucidation of the relative roles of the SES factors on survival could guide interventions to reduce disparities in the prognosis of esophageal cancer.


This article pursues two objectives. First, it provides a literature review of research on group radicalization and, second, building on previous research about narratives and their influence on radicalization, it introduces a new concept for comparative radicalization studies: bridging narratives. We use this term to address commonalities in the ideological elements found across various radicalized groups. As narratives shape perceptions of the world and guide processes of identification, they assume an important (internal) function in group formation. At the same time, various radical groups (ethnic nationalists, Salafist-jihadists and militant leftists) share core ideological elements, commonalities that can lead to the creation of new coalitions and unexpected alliances (an external function). The common factor among them are constructed conceptions of the adversary – be they modernity, universalism, Jewish people or feminism. Such constructions allow for the fabrication of an enemy as well as specific conceptions of hierarchical social orders. We analyze two examples in this context: anti-feminism (including heroic or toxic masculinity) and the resistance dispositif that promotes vigilante terrorism. This approach allows us to investigate processes of group radicalization while also taking into account their ideological content as well as the formal effects of such content on processes of group-building and the dynamics of radicalization. In the final section, we provide recommendations for action.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical efficacy of two flowable composite resins used to restore occlusal caries lesions. Tetric Flow (Vivadent) and Esthet-X Flow (Dentsply/Caulk) are composite resins with decreased filler loading (Tetric Flow: 67% filler by weight, 43% by volume; Esthet-X Flow: 61% filler by weight, 53% by volume) and lower viscosity compared to conventional composite resins.

METHOD AND MATERIALS
Sixty-three teeth with occlusal caries were randomly assigned to calibrated practitioners who placed occlusal restorations (32 for Esthet-X Flow; 31 for Tetric Flow). After tooth preparation and caries removal, each material was inserted. A polyvinyl impression was made of each preparation and measured to record the preparation size. Prime and Bond NT (Dentsply/Caulk) was used to bond both flowable composites, which were incrementally placed and light cured for 20 seconds. Each restoration was evaluated at baseline (1 week after restoration placement) and 3, 6, 12, and 36 months for marginal discoloration, secondary caries, anatomical form, retention, polishability, marginal adaptation, and color match. Groups were compared at 3 years and the data analyzed statistically with a .05 level of significance using generalized estimating equations, with size of restoration compared to the modified Ryge criteria.

RESULTS
Of the effects that were estimable, only color match exhibited a difference between treatment groups (P = .0467, favoring Esthet-X Flow). No other differences were observed between materials. Although no difference was observed between groups, marginal discoloration (P = .0164) and marginal adaptation (P = .0001) significantly worsened at 36 months. For polishability, a significant difference was observed at 36 months (P = .0066). No other outcomes changed significantly over time. Size of the restoration was found to be positively associated with worse outcome for color match (P = .0062 for area; P = .0439 for volume).

CONCLUSION
Although flowable composite resins are advocated for occlusal restorations, this study suggests that they should be limited to small restorations such as preventive resin restorations having isthmus widths of one-quarter or less of intercuspal distance.


Corticosteroids still remain the anchor drugs in therapy strategies for patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases even though new drugs such as biologic or targeted synthetic molecules have emerged in the past years, being the most commonly prescribed medicines in the world due to their powerful immune-modulating properties. In this chapter, we aim to discuss the main characteristics of the glucocorticoids, their mechanism of action and effects on the immune system given the fact that they reduce the activation, proliferation, differentiation and survival of inflammatory cells such as macrophages and lymphocytes. Nevertheless, of great importance are the indications and tapering regimens, but also the adverse effects and various methods of monitoring the corticosteroid therapy.


This study examines the effect of guided inquiry and expository teaching methods on secondary school social studies students' academic achievement in Delta South Senatorial District. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopts a quasiexperimental design; pre-test and post control group were used. The population of the study comprises all the students in JSS II classes in Delta State South Senatorial District. A sample of 240 students was randomly selected from six public secondary schools. The instrument used for data collection was Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). The data collected were analyzed using t-test statistical tool. The findings of this study revealed that guided inquiry teaching method was more effective in enhancing students' performance than the lecture method. The study significantly establishes that students who were taught with guided inquiry method performed better than students taught with the lecture method. The findings of the study also confirm that students in urban area outperformed students in rural schools. Based on these, it is recommended among others that social studies teachers should be encouraged to employ guided inquiry teaching method in their pedagogical practices.


Despite improvements in medical management, sickle cell disease (SCD) remains associated with severe morbidity and decreased survival. Allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remains the only curative approach. We report the outcome of 50 consecutive children with severe SCD that received HSCT in our unit between November 1988 and April 2013. The stem cell source was bone marrow (n = 39), cord blood (n = 3), bone marrow and cord blood (n = 7) and peripheral blood stem cells (n = 1). All patients had ≥1 severe manifestation: 37 presented with recurrent vaso‐occlusive crises/acute chest syndrome, 27 cerebral vasculopathy and 1 nephropathy. The conditioning regimen consisted of busulfan + cyclophosphamide (BuCy) before November 1991 and BuCy + rabbit antithymocyte globulin after that date. Since 1995, all patients have been treated with hydroxycarbamide (HC) prior to transplantation for a median duration of 2·7 years. Median age at transplantation and median follow‐up was 8·3 and 7·7 years, respectively. Acute graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) and chronic GVHD were observed in 11 and 10 patients, respectively. An excellent outcome was achieved, with 8‐year overall survival and event‐free survival (EFS) rates of 94·1% and 85·6%, respectively. Since HC introduction, no graft failure occurred and EFS reached 97·4%. Prior treatment with HC may have contributed to successful engraftment.


Background In Cushing's syndrome (CS), when surgery is unsuccessful or contraindicated, ketoconazole is the drug most frequently used to treat hypercortisolism. In July 2013, European Medicines Agency announced their negative risk-benefit assessment of oral ketoconazole as treatment of fungal infections, because it can cause liver damage and drug interactions due to cytochrome P450 inhibition. Ketoconazole was suspended as an antifungal in the European Union, but compassionate use is authorised for CS. Purpose To analyse the hormonal effects and tolerance of ketoconazole in CS over the last year. Material and methods Nine patients [32–83 years old] were treated in hospital. All patients were retrospectively studied with a follow-up of 26 months; their treatment had lasted from 12 days–25 years. One patient had ectopic ACTH production, two had pituitary adenoma, and six had adrenal neoplasia. Four patients had previously had surgery, but it was not effective in two cases. The dose of ketoconazole was between 200–1,200 mg/day. Liver tests checked: transaminases, total bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase. Hormonal control was observed with Nugent's test and 24 h urinary free cortisol. The patient's current treatment was noted to check for drug interactions. Results All patients were checked. No adrenal insufficiency was observed. Liver function tests were normal. Five patients stopped ketoconazole: two for surgery; two died of metastatic cancer; and one because of a potential drug interaction with calcium antagonism. 77.8% of the patients had some possible drug interactions, but only one stopped ketoconazole. Other interactions were with drugs metabolised by CYP450; or with proton pump inhibitors which reduce the pH-dependent absorption of ketoconazole. These problems were solved by changing the dose of the drugs concerned. Conclusion Ketoconazole seems to be a safe and efficacious treatment in CS. However, it is necessary to perform a bigger study to get significant conclusions. Reference Feelders RA, Hofland LJ, de Herder WW. Medical treatment of Cushing's syndrome: adrenal-blocking drugs and ketoconazole. Neuroendocrinology 2010;92(Suppl 1):111–15 No conflict of interest.


BACKGROUND
High daily intake of folic acid (FA) could determine health risks in some populations.

AIM
To review the Chilean FA wheat flour fortification and to identify the existence of populations at risk.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We categorized the FA levels in flour samples (percentil P) (2005-2008) and estimated intake of FA (mg/d) in adults from apparent bread consumption according to different levels (P20, 50 and 95) and children consumption (8-13 years) considering socioeconomic status (SES), bread/g/d intake (P20, 50 and 75) and regulated level of flour fortification (2.2 mg FA/100 g). Daily Dietary Folate Equivalent (DFE) consumption was estimated from serum folate in adults and elderly people (both sexes). We calculated the percentage of population with FA intakes over the estimated average requirement (EAR) and maximum level (UL) pre and post-fortification.

RESULTS
There is great variability in FA flour: 10-20% samples without FA and 10-30% with levels > 2.2 mg/100 g. Adult daily consumption (2-4 day/loaves) could determine FA intakes close to UL. Children daily bread consumption (low socioeconomic level) > P75 have intakes close to UL. Post-fortification estimated daily DFE from serum folate in women, men and elderly people show: 99% of women, 100% of men and the elderly people have intakes higher than EAR. Additionally 2.3% of women and 6% of men would have intakes near the UL.

CONCLUSIONS
The flour FA levels and serum folate levels in some populations show increased FA post-fortification intakes, which could lead to greater risk suggesting a revision of the fortification level.


In recent years, adverse market conditions have demolished the funding status of many defined benefit (DB) pension plans, highlighting the need for better risk management. In this article, the authors propose a novel framework to decompose the risk of DB pension plans, which differs from earlier work in two fundamental ways. First, while others focused on surplus risk, the authors give sound reasons to focus on funding-ratio risk instead. Second, the authors include a special mismatch factor to measure the sensitivity of the funding ratio to changes in the value of liabilities. They illustrate their framework with a case study based on an actual DB pension fund and decompose its funding-ratio risk into mismatch risk and other factor exposures dealing with real interest rates, inflation, and economic growth risks.


We introduce new techniques to the analysis of neural spatiotemporal dynamics via applying e-machine reconstruction to electroencephalography (EEG) microstate sequences. Microstates are short duration quasi-stable states of the dynamically changing electrical field topographies recorded via an array of electrodes from the human scalp, and cluster into four canonical classes. The sequence of microstates observed under particular conditions can be considered an information source with unknown underlying structure. e-machines are discrete dynamical system automata with state-dependent probabilities on different future observations (in this case the next measured EEG microstate). They artificially reproduce underlying structure in an optimally predictive manner as generative models exhibiting dynamics emulating the behaviour of the source. Here we present experiments using both simulations and empirical data supporting the value of associating these discrete dynamical systems with mental states (e.g. mind-wandering, focused attention, etc.) and with clinical populations. The neurodynamics of mental states and clinical populations can then be further characterized by properties of these dynamical systems, including: i) statistical complexity (determined by the number of states of the corresponding e-automaton); ii) entropy rate; iii) characteristic sequence patterning (syntax, probabilistic grammars); iv) duration, persistence and stability of dynamical patterns; and v) algebraic measures such as Krohn-Rhodes complexity or holonomy length of the decompositions of these. The potential applications include the characterization of mental states in neurodynamic terms for mental health diagnostics, well-being interventions, human-machine interface, and others on both subject-specific and group/population-level.


Because of its robustness and low maintenance Induction motors have found many applications in various industries. The Induction motors are used for various control process in industries. And they are about to operate in different environmental conditions. These different operating conditions may cause various stress factors on the windings of the Induction motor. And which in turn causes short circuit faults in the motor. In this paper the short circuit faults are identified using adaptive neuro-fuzzy interface system (ANFIS).


Wildfire Disaster Funding Act This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require specified adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2015-FY2022 to accommodate appropriations for wildfire suppression operations in the Wildland Fire Management accounts at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of the Interior. If USDA or Interior determines that supplemental appropriations are necessary for wildfire suppression operations, the bill requires the relevant department to submit to Congress a request for the funding and a plan for obligating the funds. The bill also requires the President's budget to include the average costs for wildfire suppression over the previous 10 years.


The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa prompted a select group of US hospitals to establish high-level isolation units equipped with advanced engineering controls, trained staff, and stringent protocols to safely treat highly infectious disease patients. This survey details the comprehensive infection control protocols developed by these units, including for decontamination of units, post-mortem management, liquid waste disposal, and personal protective equipment (PPE) use. In spring 2016, a survey was electronically distributed to the 56 original Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-designated high-level isolation units. Responses were collected via a fillable PDF and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Thirty-six (64%) high-level isolation units responded; 33 completed the survey, and 3 reported they no longer maintained high-level isolation unit capabilities. Nearly all responding units had written procedures for decontamination, liquid waste disposal, and PPE use; however, infection control protocols varied between units. High-level isolation units implemented multiple strategies in promoting hand hygiene among staff and in monitoring correct PPE use. Maximum time allowed in full PPE was restricted in all but 2 units (average of 3.45 hours per shift). Almost all (94%) had written procedures for the management of human remains, although only 2 units had written protocols for an autopsy of a patient with a highly infectious disease. While the vast majority of high-level isolation units reported having written protocols for infection control practices, staff compliance and procedural application are the true indicators of the state of preparedness. Therefore, rigorous training and staff adherence to infection control practices is critical to minimizing exposure risks.


The relation between the near-field and far-field properties of plasmonic nanostructures that exhibit Fano resonances is investigated in detail. We show that specific features visible in the asymmetric lineshape far-field response of such structures originate from particular polarization distributions in their near-field. In particular we extract the central frequency and width of plasmonic Fano resonances and show that they cannot be directly found from far-field spectra. We also address the effect of the modes coupling onto the frequency, width, asymmetry and modulation depth of the Fano resonance. The methodology described in this article should be useful to analyze and design a broad variety of Fano plasmonic systems with tailored near-field and far-field spectral properties.


Some psychology researchers argue that a scientific culture that too heavily favors new and counterintuitive ideas over the confirmation of existing results has led to too many findings that are striking for their novelty and published in respected journals—but are nonetheless false. A new online site (PsychFileDrawer.org) lets psychologists post results of replications of experiments—whether they succeed or fail—that would ordinarily never leave their file drawer because most journals decline to publish straightforward replication studies. And a group of more than 50 academic psychologists, which calls itself the Open Science Collaboration, has begun an unprecedented, large-scale project to systematically replicate psychological experiments recently published in leading journals. Some researchers are optimistic that many published findings will be replicated. But others are concerned that if the project confirms few studies, it could unfairly indict psychology. Indeed, the prospect of exposing psychology9s foibles has upset some scientists.


An example of Turkish-German language contact and the employment of resources of Turkish in the mixed language is a construction with the dummy word sey ('thing'). Şey occupies the position of a noun, an adverb or a verb (another verb plus the light verb yapmak 'to do/make') within a phrase. Following completion of the syntactic unit, which in Turkish is marked by the finite verb, the dummy word is replaced by the correct noun. The main objective of my study is to describe a similar construction of Turkish-German produced with the German equivalent dings (meaning 'thing'). The prosodic features which I consider a distinctive cue will show how the two languages interplay on more than one structural level.


We address the problem of extracting human body posture labels, upper body orientation and the spatial location of individual body parts from near-infrared (NIR) images depicting patterns of retro-reflective markers. The analyzed patterns originate from the observation of humans equipped with protective high-visibility garments that represent common safety equipment in the industrial sector. Exploiting the shape of the observed reflectors we adopt shape matching based on the chamfer distance and infer one of seven discrete body posture labels as well as the approximate upper body orientation with respect to the camera. We then proceed to analyze the NIR images on a pixel scale and estimate a figure-ground segmentation together with human body part labels using classification of densely extracted local image patches. Our results indicate a body posture classification accuracy of 80% and figure-ground segmentations with 87% accuracy.


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Orientation: Active listening is the single most important contributor to effective communication by managers; however, this is the skill they seem to struggle with the most. Other important skills for effective communication include feedback and the ability to deal with interference.Research purpose: This study's primary objective was to determine the effectiveness of managers' listening and feedback skills and their ability to deal with interference during the listening and feedback phases of the communication process as perceived by subordinates with varying educational backgrounds.Motivation for the study: The aim was to improve managers' communication with their subordinates.Research design, approach and method: The research followed a quantitative descriptive design. A self-administered questionnaire was compiled, a non-probability convenience sample was chosen and 931 usable responses were acquired.Main findings: The results showed that subordinates perceived their managers' communication competencies to be marginally above average. Managers' listening and feedback skills were perceived to be better by graduate-level subordinates than by those with only a Grade 12 qualification. Subordinates with a postgraduate degree also had better perceptions of these skills than those with a Grade 12 qualification, although this finding was not statistically significant.Practical and managerial implications: Managers need to be aware that their communication competencies are crucial to their business's success. Additionally, their subordinates' perception of the effectiveness of their communication varies according to varying educational levels. Therefore, managers are advised to consciously make greater efforts in their communication with subordinates with lower qualifications.Contribution or value-add: In conclusion, this article will make managers more knowledgeable about potential challenges they may encounter during the communication process regarding listening skills, feedback skills and propensity to deal with interference.


This article examines issues facing the future health care workforce in Australia in light of factors such as population ageing. It has been argued that population ageing in Australia is affecting the supply of health care professionals as the health workforce ages and at the same time increasing the demand for health care services and the health care workforce. However, the picture is not that simple. The health workforce market in Australia is influenced by a wide range of factors; on the demand side by increasing levels of income and wealth, emergence of new technologies, changing disease profiles, changing public health priorities and a focus on the prevention of chronic disease. While a strong correlation is observed between age and use of health care services (and thus health care workforce), this is mediated through illness, as typified by the consistent finding of higher health care costs in the months preceding death. On the supply side, the health workforce is highly influenced by policy drivers; both national policies (eg funded education and training places) and local policies (eg work place-based retention policies). Population ageing and ageing of the health workforce is not a dominant influence. In recent years, the Australian health care workforce has grown in excess of overall workforce growth, despite an ageing health workforce. We also note that current levels of workforce supply compare favourably with many OECD countries. The future of the health workforce will be shaped by a number of complex interacting factors. Market failure, a key feature of the market for health care services which is also observed in the health care labour market – means that imbalances between demand and supply can develop and persist, and suggests a role for health workforce planning to improve efficiency in the health services sector. Current approaches to health workforce planning, especially on the demand side, tend to be highly simplistic. These include historical allocation methods, such as the personnel-to-population ratios which are essentially circular in their rationale rather than evidence-based. This article highlights the importance of evidence-based demand modelling for those seeking to plan for the future Australian health care workforce. A model based on population health status and best practice protocols for health care is briefly outlined. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Background: Rosuvastatin calcium exhibits poor oral bioavailability due to extensive pre-systemic metabolism. Orodispersible tablets (ODTs) were prepared that disintegrate rapidly in oral mucosa thus preventing presystemic metabolism and enhancing the bioavailability of the drug. Objective: The objective of this study was to employ SeDeM ODT Expert system for characterization of excipients and formulation development of orodispersible tablets of rosuvastatin calcium. Materials and methods: ODTs were prepared by direct compression method using starlac as diluent and lycatab C and crospovidone as superdisintegrants in different concentrations. SeDeM ODT expert system was used on the excipients to predict their suitability for direct compression method. Results: SeDeM ODT expert system employed revealed that starlac, lycatab C and crospovidone were suitable and xylitol and sodium starch glycolate were unsuitable for direct compression method. FTIR studies revealed that there was no physico-chemical interaction between drug and other excipients. Preformulation studies were carried out to study the powder flow characteristics in order to achieve tablets of uniform weight. The values were well within the permissible limits. The tablets were subjected to post formulation evaluation parameters like thickness, weight variation, hardness, friability, wetting time, water absorption ratio, drug content uniformity, in vitro disintegration and in vitro dissolution studies. Conclusion: Suitability of the material for direct compression was successfully predicted using the SeDeM expert system. Formulations were developed based on the results of the SeDeM ODT expert system. Formulation F3 containing 15%w/w lycatab C as superdisintegrant exhibited minimum disintegration time and wetting time of 14.02±0.151s and 12.31±0.139s respectively and a maximum cumulative drug release of 93.06% at 15min. Hence, F3 formulation was the optimized formulation subjected to stability studies. Stability studies revealed that the formulation F3 was stable when stored at 40±2°C/75±5%RH for one month. Key words: Direct compression, Lycatab C, Orodispersible tablets, Se- DeM ODT Expert system, Starlac, Crospovidone.


We investigate the use of overcomplete frame representations to correct errors occurring over burst-based transmission channels or channels leading to isolated errors. We show that when the overcomplete signal representation is based on a class of frames, called cyclic geometrically uniform (CGU) finite frames, the family of frames containing finite harmonic frames (both in C-M and R-M), this representation becomes equivalent to a Reed-Solomon (RS) coding scheme. Hence, introducing an RS decoding procedure at the receiver, leads to remove the errors introduced by the transmission channel and consequently results in a quasi-perfect reconstructed signal. The advantage of this approach is to exploit the RS coding scheme without using it explicitly at the transmitter, which Would lead to a robust and low complexity transmission. Furthermore, we prove that the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coding is a special case of CGU-frame-based representations and this property holds also true for the discrete sine transform (DST) coding scheme. Simulation results are presented to confirm our claims. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Soils, Ltd.


Genetically modified cotton expressing the Cry1Ac toxin has been used in Arizona since 1996 with exceptionally positive results in terms of economic returns to growers and reductions in insecticide use in cotton. Since 1995, average insecticide use in Arizona cotton has declined from greater than six applications per acre to less than two in 2000. Bt cotton has contributed greatly to these savings to growers, as have insect growth regulators used for whitefly control. Collections of pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, made in 1997 and subsequently exposed to Cry1Ac in the laboratory from 1998 to 2000, yielded a laboratory strain with susceptibility to Cry1Ac reduced 1,000 to 3,000fold, relative to highly susceptible field populations. Unparalleled measures have been taken to detect and manage this resistance. In this report we summarize results of statewide monitoring of pink bollworm susceptibility to Cry1Ac conducted from 1997 to 2000, and results of field evaluations of the effectiveness of Bt cotton from 1995 to 2001. Susceptibility of Arizona pink bollworm to Cry1Ac, increased from 1997 to 2000. Mean corrected mortality in 1μg/ml Cry1Ac assays was 57.4% in 1997, 90.6% in 1998, 97.9% in 1999 and 97.4% in 2000. Mean corrected mortality in bioassays of 10 μg/ml also increased: it was 94.1% in 1997, 99.9% in 1998, 100% in 1999 and 100 % in 2000. Field performance of Bt cotton in 2000 continued to be excellent at 39 locations throughout Arizona cotton at which paired Bt and non-Bt fields were evaluated. Whereas non-Bt cotton fields had mean infestations of over 15% infested bolls, Bt cotton fields averaged less than 0.15% infested bolls. Thus, after six years of intensive use of Bt cotton in Arizona, pink bollworm populations show no signs of being resistant to Bollgard cotton. Indeed, for reasons that are not understood at this time, they have been found to be significantly more susceptible to the Bt toxin in Bollgard cotton at the end of the 2000 season than they were in 1997.


When compared to single-input singleoutput system (SISO), the multiple-input multipleoutput system have a better and larger channel capacity. With this, it is succeeded of having a better multiplexing gain. To approach the channel capacity the Adaptive Modulation technique is a better technique which is utilized by channel state information at transmitter. In this paper, following an analysis of the multiplexing gain of a generic AMC MIMO system, we propose an adaptive coded MIMO system that achieves a near-full multiplexing gain as well as a robust BER performance in an outdated CSI environment with Space Time Block Codes


The Motor Impaired Child provides a wealth of information and practical guidance for teachers on both the social and educational implications of impairment. Issues covered include working with parents, physical disability in childhood, and the problems posed by limited mobility. Practical advice is given on the integration of impaired children in the classroom, and the final sections focus on how a motor impaired child may be helped through adolescence towards independent adulthood.


An anthology by Austin Sarat is reviewed from a critical race perspective. The book's agenda is to show how the law seeks to work in the world, particularly when, why, and how legal decisions respond to social characteristics of those making them as well as those who are subject to them. Also emphasized are the complex relations among the law's various parts (e.g., judges and jurors, police and prosecutors, appellate and trial courts). The book is organized around the law's paradoxes, purposes of the law which can be somewhat mutually exclusive. Many of the leading voices in the law and society movement are represented in the excerpts included in the anthology. Still, the review shows that the book fails to incorporate a critical race or feminist perspective into its stated goals. Discussion of race is not completely absent, just inadequate. The review considers many of the selections from the anthology and offers some commentary on them, as well as suggesting pieces that may have been included to address race and gender more effectively. The review also briefly considers the relationship between the law and society and critical race movements and pointedly questions what meaning has been imposed upon the law and society movement as a consequence of Sarat constructing and interpreting its introductory canon.


Objectives: To determine the association between De Quervain Tenosynovitis (QT) and the hours of Smartphone usage and to explore other potential associated factors.
Material and methods: We performed a cross-sectional study in university students. QT was measured through Finkelstein's test and hours of smartphone usage were determined through a survey. Participants were Smartphone users and students from the business faculty at a local university. Those who reported having an actual injury or in the last year in their hands (fractures, neurological injury, amputation) or reported using a Smartphone for less than a year were excluded. Bivariate associations were tested with Chi squared and Student's t tests. We calculated the Prevalence Ratio (PR) through Poisson regression models to control for potential confounders.
Results: Out of the 515 recruited participants, 68, 68% were women; the average age was 20±2.4 years. Regarding QT, 58, 95% of the population presented a positive sign in Finkelstein's test. The total mean of hours of Smartphone usage was 7.2±3.4. After adjusting for age and gender, we did not find an association between QT and hours of Smartphone usage (PR: 0.99, IC95%: 0.96-1.01). Other factors tested like age, gender, dominant hand or having a job were also not associated to QT (all PRs>1, p>0.05).
Conclusions: We did not found an association between QT and hours of Smartphone usage in university students. Additionally, other factors like age, gender, dominant hand or having a job were not associated to QT.


Abstract An approach for the construction of optimal analog wavelet bases is presented. First, the definition of an analog wavelet is given. Based on the definition and the least-squares error criterion, a general framework for designing optimal analog wavelet bases is established, which is one of difficult nonlinear constrained optimization problems. Then, to solve this problem, a hybrid algorithm by combining chaotic map particle swarm optimization (CPSO) with local sequential quadratic programming (SQP) is proposed. CPSO is an improved PSO in which the saw tooth chaotic map is used to raise its global search ability. CPSO is a global optimizer to search the estimates of the global solution, while the SQP is employed for the local search and refining the estimates. Benefiting from good global search ability of CPSO and powerful local search ability of SQP, a high-precision global optimum in this problem can be gained. Finally, a series of optimal analog wavelet bases are constructed using the hybrid algorithm. The proposed method is tested for various wavelet bases and the improved performance is compared with previous works.


The purpose of the project was to understand collegiate sport coaches' engagement in cross-cultural interactions with international student-athletes (ISAs). Horn's working model of coaching effectiveness (2008) identifies cultural context as an antecedent that shapes values, expectancies, and behaviors exhibited by sport coaches. Sue's multicultural competencies model (MCC) (1982, 1992) emphasizes the importance of awareness, knowledge, and skills used to enhance cross-cultural relationships in all service fields. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of cross-cultural interactions among coaches and ISAs. Results indicated that collegiate sport coaches rate their ability to interact with athletes of low socio-economic status as higher than other cultural groups, and feel most limited in their ability to serve transgender athletes. In terms of coach interactions with ISAs, about one-third reported limited competence when interacting with student-athletes that are recent immigrants, and/or use English as their second language. A majority express agreement on cultural competence being an essential component of sport coaching, but disagree somewhat on whether it should be included in coach certifications. Interviews with coaches reinforced these findings, and offered suggestions for how to integrate cultural competence into coach training and education.


OBJECTIVE
We aim to identify maternal genetic affinities between the Middle to Final Neolithic (3850-2300 BC) populations from present-day Poland and possible genetic influences from the Pontic steppe.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We conducted ancient DNA studies from populations associated with Złota, Globular Amphora, Funnel Beaker, and Corded Ware cultures (CWC). We sequenced genomic libraries on Illumina platform to generate 86 complete ancient mitochondrial genomes. Some of the samples were enriched for mitochondrial DNA using hybridization capture.

RESULTS
The maternal genetic composition found in Złota-associated individuals resembled that found in people associated with the Globular Amphora culture which indicates that both groups likely originated from the same maternal genetic background. Further, these two groups were closely related to the Funnel Beaker culture-associated population. None of these groups shared a close affinity to CWC-associated people. Haplogroup U4 was present only in the CWC group and absent in Złota group, Globular Amphora, and Funnel Beaker cultures.

DISCUSSION
The prevalence of mitochondrial haplogroups of Neolithic farmer origin identified in Early, Middle and Late Neolithic populations suggests a genetic continuity of these maternal lineages in the studied area. Although overlapping in time - and to some extent - in cultural expressions, none of the studied groups (Złota, Globular Amphora, Funnel Beaker), shared a close genetic affinity to CWC-associated people, indicating a larger extent of cultural influence from the Pontic steppe than genetic exchange. The higher frequency of haplogroup U5b found in populations associated with Funnel Beaker, Globular Amphora, and Złota cultures suggest a gradual maternal genetic influx from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. Moreover, presence of haplogroup U4 in Corded Ware groups is most likely associated with the migrations from the Pontic steppe at the end of the Neolithic and supports the observed genetic distances.


The modern world could not be imagined without the information and communications technology. Today's society, its life and social relations are deeply influenced by the virtual space, and that stands as a reason why the world's Information Technology specialists and representatives of various branches of science have been focusing on solving the problems in the sphere of cyber security. Software and technological solutions used in reorganization of the activity of private sector nowadays are widely used in the public sector as well. By using technologies, countries put their effort into involving their citizens into the process of governance and direct participation in various political processes inside the state itself, and one of the most widespread tools to motivate the citizen-to-state political participation and resident's direct interaction in political processes is internet voting. Authors of scientific literature investigate how cybersecurity management is being comprehended and analyzed in technological, legal, management, economical, human resource management and other aspects; how cyber security is analyzed in the context of services provided by institutions of public administration; which means of cyber security management are essential, in order to speed up the processes of establishing e-voting systems. In this article the authors investigate the theoretical aspects of cyber security management in internet voting, analyze the global experience in the sphere of cyber security management implementation with the help of already established e-voting systems, evaluate the properties of cyber security management in the process of implementation of internet voting in Lithuania, as well as present audience with an in-depth analysis of the opinion of the local population, cyber security and voting system specialists, concerning the matters and possibilities of establishing internet voting in Lithuania. The authors also propose a cyber security management model, which could be used in the process of implementation (both preparation and establishment) of the internet voting system in Lithuania.


The current study investigated the relationship between therapist and client attachment styles and perceptions of therapeutic alliance in a sample of inpatients with psychosis. A review of the literature found that attachment theory can provide understanding regarding the behaviour of clients with psychosis in therapeutic relationships, especially in inpatient settings. Working alliance can be measured as a representation of the therapeutic relationship and both client and therapist attachment styles contribute to the working alliance and can be measured in various ways. Research has suggested that for clients with psychosis diagnoses dissimilarity between client and therapist attachment styles indicated a better client rated working alliance. Given the low number of studies in this area and the relevance of attachment theory in working with clients with a psychosis diagnosis, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between therapist and client attachment styles and client perceptions of working alliance in therapy when clients had a diagnosis of psychosis. The present study hypothesised that clients' with psychoses and therapists who were dissimilar in terms of attachment styles would predict better client perceptions of working alliance.
The current study focused on clients with a diagnosis of psychosis because distress, trauma and interpersonal difficulties are prominent features of psychosis, which would influence individuals' attachment behaviours and outline a role for attachment theory in understanding difficulties and tailoring treatments for this client group. The current research decided to focus on clients with psychosis in an inpatient setting to extend previous research which has mainly included clients in a community setting. Attachment theory can play an important role in considering the inpatient environment and how it can influence attachment behaviours.
The present study was a cross sectional, within subjects design. Therapists and clients rated their attachment styles and working alliance. Most therapists rated their attachment style and working alliance with more
than one client, therefore client data was nested within specific therapists. Using the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) and Working Alliance Inventory (WAI), 46 pairs of therapists and clients recruited from independent inpatient psychiatric hospitals were assessed. A regression analysis examined the relationship between client and therapist attachment styles and client rated working alliance. The nested structure of the data and therapist rated working alliance was controlled for in the analysis. The present study did not find a significant relationship between the difference between therapist and client attachment styles and client rated working alliance. The present study hypothesised that clients' with psychoses and therapists who were dissimilar in terms of attachment styles would predict better client perceptions of working alliance. Therefore, the current study did not confirm this hypothesis.
It is considered that perhaps clients had not had enough time to build up the therapeutic relationship with therapists to allow the difference in attachment styles to lead to a better working alliance, meaning that more time may be needed in the initial stage of therapy. Further research is recommended to tease apart the attachment style interaction, including considering other variables and measuring working alliance over time in longitudinal studies.


Breast Cancer is one of the major causes of mortality among women in the world. During normal tissue development, cell growth is controlled by a mechanism of cell death called apoptosis. However, during cancer, the balance between cell division & apoptosis is altered, leading to cell survival, cell proliferation and tumour formation. The nuclear receptor Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) is expressed in human breast cancer tissue and the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468. In these cells, activators of FXR caused apoptosis, but the exact mechanism of how FXR regulates apoptosis in breast cancer is unknown. The aim of this research is to elucidate the mechanism of FXR-mediated apoptosis using human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231.

Cell viability after treatment with FXR agonists chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) & GW4064 was measured by MTT (3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The effect of staurosporine was also examined as a positive control for induction of apoptosis. All three chemicals significantly decreased the viability of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells in a concentration dependent manner, with IC50 values determined as 35µM, 245µM and 6µM for GW4064, CDCA and staurosporine, respectively for MCF-7 cells and 22µM, 440µM and 4µM for GW4064, CDCA and staurosporine, respectively for MDA-MB-231 cells.
The difference in efficacy of the two FXR agonists corresponds to differing potency as GW4064 is a high affinity synthetic ligand for FXR, whereas CDCA is an endogenous bile acid that has much lower affinity for FXR.

FXR expression was confirmed in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines by Western blotting. Poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage is the classical marker for apoptosis. Cleaved PARP, indicative of active caspase-3, was observed in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells exposed to staurosporine (positive control for apoptosis) or the FXR agonists GW4064 and CDCA. Luminescent analysis for caspases: 3/7, 9 and 8 were measured for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells treated with staurosporine (positive control for apoptosis), FXR agonists GW4064 and CDCA. Further research focused more specifically on the mechanism of apoptosis. Proteins involved in apoptotic pathway such as BAX, Bcl-2, and cytochrome c were studied through Western blotting performed on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines treated with staurosporine and FXR agonists. Reactive oxygen species were studied on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines treated with FXR agonists, measured using ROS luminescence assay. The results showed that FXR agonists GW4064 and CDCA induced intrinsic apoptotic pathway via ROS activation in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.
Chemotherapy has been extensively used to treat patients with breast cancer. Tamoxifen (Tam) has been in use for over 30 years to treat patients. However, due to its toxicity and resistance, there is constant need for new therapeutic alternatives. In this study, the interaction between tam and FXR agonists was studied using MTT and clonogenic assay. The results showed a synergistic interaction of GW4064 with tam in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell line. However, the mechanism needs further investigation.
In summary, FXR agonists induce mitochondrial dependent apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Also GW4064 synergises with tam and reduces cell proliferation in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 irrespective of their estrogen status.


Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing on September 11, 2001. Why do most experiences leave little trace while some-even terrible ordeals that people wish they could forget-leave memories that last a lifetime? That is the mystery at the heart of this book. Drawing on fascinating research and case studies, James McGaugh, a distinguished neuroscientist, reveals that the key to understanding how memories are created may well be understanding how they are lost. He shows that lasting memories are not stored instantly. Why the delay? The author explains how the slow consolidation of memory has important adaptive consequences. It allows physiological processes activated by experiences to regulate the strength of the memory of the experiences. Emotionally arousing experiences induce the release of stress hormones, which act on the brain to influence the consolidation of our memories of recent experience. These findings have important implications for the controversial issues of post-traumatic stress disorder and repressed memory syndrome. From the prescientific writings of William James to the animal studies of the memory-research pioneers Pavlov, Thorndike, and Tolman, to the latest research of psychologists and neurologists drawing on PET imaging studies of the brain and laboratory experiments involving a variety of drugs, this succinct book provides a wealth of information.


The advent of artificial intelligence has provoked considerable speculation about the future of the American workforce, including highly educated professionals such as lawyers and doctors. Although most commentators are alarmed by the prospect of intelligent machines displacing millions of workers, not so with respect to the legal sector. Media accounts and some legal scholars envision a future where intelligent machines perform the bulk of legal work, and legal services are less expensive and more accessible. This future is purportedly near at hand as lawyers struggle to compete with technologically-savvy alternative legal service providers.

This Article challenges the notion that lawyers will be displaced by artificial intelligence on both empirical and normative grounds. Most legal tasks are inherently abstract and cannot be performed by even advanced artificial intelligence relying on deep-learning techniques. In addition, lawyer employment and wages have grown steadily over the last twenty years, evincing that the legal profession has benefited from new technologies, as it has throughout its history. Lastly, even if large-scale automation of legal work is possible, core societal values counsel against it. These values are not merely aspirational but are reflected in the multi-faceted role of lawyers and in the way that the legal system is structured.


Coal mining is one of the main industries in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. From an environmental perspective, dust and the contribution from mining is a key topic of discussion by industry, regulators and the community. While measured dust levels are influenced by many sources, the local mining industry generally aims to manage site emissions as far as is reasonably practicable. To assist with the management of dust emissions from coal mines in the Hunter Valley, the Australian Coal Association Research Program funded a project (C19034) to develop an emission estimation and air dispersion modelling system. This paper describes the system and its key outcomes. The main objective of the system is to issue dust and meteorological forecasts so that operations can plan for and implement suitable emission reduction measures in advance of potentially adverse conditions. The system makes use of the CSIRO's computer-based air dispersion model known as TAPM (The Air Pollution Model). This model is provided with estimates of mine site dust emissions and forecasts of meteorological conditions to predict ambient dust concentrations in the Hunter Valley, for up to two days in advance. Dust concentrations are represented as an air quality index, consistent with the approach adopted by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Forecasts are delivered via a daily email and detailed system outputs are uploaded to a dedicated web-site that can be accessed at any time by relevant stakeholders. Interest in the system has grown since its development and the main factor for the take up appears to be the simplistic nature of the outputs. Further work could involve improving the emission estimation, especially during rainfall events, to improve the overall performance of the system.


The surface acoustic wave motor in this study utilized transparent lithium niobate for a stator. We then measured the normal and tangential displacements of the frictional surface of the slider via the transparent stator by means of 2 laser Doppler vibrometers. We thoroughly inspected the measurement conditions and indicated that the measured data were reliable and usable for subsequent precise analyses of the friction drive. The driving conditions for the measurements were a driving frequency of 9.61 MHz and a wave vibration amplitude of 20 nm. The start-up transients of the motor for a duration of 10.4 mus were measured. The measurements showed that the frictional surface of the slider displaced in both the normal and tangential directions followed each wave vibration. The displacements increased with the wave's vibration amplitude: they increased to 10 nm in both directions, in response to the transient increase of the wave's vibration amplitude to 20 nm, under the 15 N preload condition. Moreover, the slider surface rotated in the same direction as the wave surface and its trajectories were a tilted elliptical orbit. Since the surface of the wave rotated in an upright elliptical orbit, the result indicated that the tangential displacement of the slider surface was delayed in relation to that of the wave. The delay was in the range from 30deg to 60deg under the 15 N preload condition.


ABSTRACT Britain's post-war interventions in former colonial territories remain a controversial area of contemporary history. In the case of India, recent releases of official records in the United Kingdom and South Asia have revealed details of British government anti-communist propaganda activity in the subcontinent during the Cold War period. This article focuses attention on covert or unattributable propaganda conducted in India by the Foreign Office's Information Research Department (IRD). It specifically examines the 1960s: a time between the outbreak of the Sino-Indian border war in 1962, and the Indian general election of 1967, when IRD operations peaked. The Indian government welcomed British support in an information war waged against Communist China, but cooperation between London and New Delhi quickly waned. Britain's propaganda initiative in India lacked strategic coherence, and cut across the grain of local resistance to anti-Soviet material. The British Government found itself running two separate propaganda campaigns in the subcontinent: one focused on Communist China, and declared to the Indian government; and a second, secret programme, targeting the Soviets. In this context, Whitehall found it difficult to implement an integrated and effective anti-communist propaganda offensive in India.


The title of this book is taken from the author's nickname ('Bwana Dudu') when he worked in Africa: he was a medical entomologist and, with his colleagues, was in the vanguard of the fight against the Anopheles mosquito, carrier of malaria. He joined the Colonial Medical Research Service in 1950, and took up a post in Tanzania (then still Tanganyika) with the newly established Filariasis Research Unit. Dr. Smith later went on to work for the World Health Organisation in Southern Africa and Nigeria, and his book covers vital developments in tropical medicine and deals with, for example, the dilemma over the use of DDT - its initial success followed by growing concern over its long-term effects. There are also lively descriptions of social life in an expatriate community and the close and fruitful relationship with Africa.


Modulation of monocyte function is a critical factor in the resolution of inflammatory responses. This role is mediated mainly by the production of TNF-α. Investigations of the actions of TNF have mostly focused on acute activation of other cell types such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Less is known about the effects of TNF on monocytes themselves, and little is known about the regulation of cell responses to TNF beyond the activation of NF-κB. In this study, we investigated the regulation of NF-E2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) cyctoprotective responses to TNF in human monocytes. We found that in monocytes TNF induces sustained Nrf2 activation and Nrf2 cytoprotective gene induction in a TNFR1-dependent manner. Under TNF activation, monocytes increased their expression of Nrf2-dependent genes, including NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 and glutamyl cysteine ligase modulatory, but not heme oxygenase-1. We also showed that autocrine TNF secretion was responsible for this sustained Nrf2 response and that Nrf2 activation by TNF was mediated by the generation of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, we showed that Nrf2-mediated gene induction can modulate TNF-induced NF-κB activation. These results show for the first time, to our knowledge, that TNF modulates prolonged Nrf2-induced gene expression, which in turn regulates TNF-induced inflammatory responses.