Dairy cattle often make poor use of protein when offered diets comprising high proportions of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) hay or silage because nonprotein N formed during forage conservation and ruminal fermentation exceeds requirements for rumen microbial protein synthesis; however, condensed tannins (CT) may reduce proteolysis in the silo and in the rumen, thereby potentially improving the efficiency of crude protein (CP) use in ruminant diets. Two harvests, yielding 12 hays and 12 silages made from alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) that varied in concentrations of CT, were evaluated for in situ disappearance kinetics of CP in 6 ruminally cannulated lactating Holstein dairy cows (627 ± 56.3 kg). Prior to conservation, alfalfa contained no detectable CT, whereas CT in fresh lyophilized birdsfoot trefoil ranged from 1.16 to 2.77% of dry matter, as determined by a modified acetone-butanol-HCl assay. Percentages of CP remaining at each incubation time were fitted to nonlinear regression models with or without a discrete lag time. Effective ruminal disappearance of CP (rumen-degradable protein, RDP) was calculated by 3 procedures that included (1) no discrete lag (RDPNL), (2) discrete lag (RDPL), and (3) discrete lag with a lag adjustment (RDPLADJ). Regardless of the calculation method, RDP declined linearly with increasing CT concentrations (R(2)=0.62 to 0.97). Generally, tests of homogeneity showed that conservation type (hay or silage) or harvest (silage only) affected intercepts, but not slopes in regressions of RDP on CT. A positive relationship between lag time and CT suggests that the RDPLADJ approach may be most appropriate for calculating RDP for legumes containing tannins. With this approach, regression intercepts were mainly affected by conservation method, and RDPLADJ averaged 77.5 and 88.7% of CP for hay and silage, respectively, when no CT was present. Greater estimates of RDP for silages were related to extensive proteolysis in laboratory silos resulting in conversions of protein into nonprotein N forms, which readily washed out of Dacron bags. When RDPLADJ and CT were expressed on a CP basis, regression slopes indicated that each unit of CT protected 0.61 units of CP from ruminal degradation in hays and silages. Applying this relationship to a typical mid-maturity forage legume containing 21% CP suggests that a CT concentration of 3.8% of DM would be required to reduce RDP from 81% to a 70% target considered optimal for improving protein utilization and milk yields by dairy cattle.


This paper proposes two distributed algorithms for the heuristic solution of the Steiner Tree Problem in Networks (SPN). The problem has a practical application in the construction of a minimum cost distribution tree for multicast transmission. Multicast transmission represents a necessary lower network service for the wide diffusion of new multimedia network applications. Currently, given the lack of efficient distributed methods, the existing protocols build the multicast distribution tree using some selected central node. The proposed distributed algorithms allow the construction of effective distribution trees using a coordination protocol among the network nodes. The algorithms have been implemented and tested both in simulation and on experimental active networks, and their performance values are presented.


Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to quantify the cure reaction of 4,4′-methylene-bis-(2,6-diethylaniline) (MDEA)–epoxy resins (E/A = 1.4) carried out at 72 and 160 °C. The absorption bands of the functional groups of interest in MDEA–epoxy resins are assigned according to the literature. A new assignment at 6580 cm−1 is also proposed for the secondary amine: it was supported by a synthesized model compound. Two different spectrum treatments were proposed. The first one is based only on a normalization at 4610–4620 cm−1, while the second one needs the subtraction of the normalized spectrum of a post-cure sample. To follow the curing process, amines and epoxy were studied at the same time in the combination and the overtone regions. The results are compared. In the combination region, quantitative results are obtained from absorbance measurements, while in the overtone region spectrum decompositions and area measurements are necessary. Complementary and reliable information are so obtained and allow us to calculate conversions of epoxide and amine I and concentrations in amine II, amine III, hydoxyl groups, and ether links. Kinetics are also established. The curing process mechanism is at last discussed for both curing temperatures.


Aim: To identify the sensory attributes responsible for the typicity of Cabernet Sauvignon wines from three Australian Geographical Indications (GIs) and to explore consumer purchase behaviour and preference with regard to regional wines. Methods and Results: Descriptive analysis (DA) was applied to identify the sensory profiles of vintage 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Coonawarra (n = 24), Margaret River (n = 10), Yarra Valley (n = 13), and Bordeaux (n = 5). A trained panel (3 males and 7 females) rated 45 aroma, flavour, and mouthfeel attributes, of which 19 were found to be significantly different among the wine samples. Results from canonical variate analysis demonstrated that Bordeaux wines had a more distinct sensory profile compared to the Australian regions; within the Australian regions, wines from Margaret River had a closer profile to those from Yarra Valley than Coonawarra. Of the wines that underwent DA, two from each region were chosen for a study involving consumers (n = 112) that were divided into two groups. One group was informed of the regions prior to tasting each sample and the other group had no information about region. Consumers were surveyed about their wine purchase behaviour, knowledge of wine typicity, preference for the wines, and sensory profile of each wine using rate-all-that-apply methodology. Conclusions: Bordeaux wines had a more distinct sensory profile compared to the Australian regions, and were associated with developed characters including 'savoury', 'tobacco', and 'earthy'. Wines from Margaret River were deemed to possess a fruit-forward profile along with 'floral' characters. With a similar profile to Margaret River, Yarra Valley wines were also found to have a greater incidence of 'red fruits' and 'cooked vegetables' attributes. Coonawarra wines were characterised by 'chocolate/vanilla', 'mint', and 'mallee leaf' attributes and were rated low in 'cooked vegetables'. When consumers were informed of the wine region of origin there was an apparent increase in their liking scores, with the effect seeming to be positively related to familiarity with the region. Significance and Impact of the Study: Well-established for "Old World" wine producers, typicity is a concept that incorporates aspects of cultivar and terroir of a wine, and acts as a wine quality indicator. Australia also has a range of terroirs contributing to the characters of regional wines, and knowing more about the drivers of distinctiveness can help harness terroir in the promotion of fine Australian wines at an international level. This extends to understanding wine consumers' behaviours, and being able to attend to their expectations in an objective manner.


Abstarct: It is expected that as the Sun travels through the interstellar medium (ISM), there will be different filtration of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) that affect Earth. The effect of GCR on Earth's atmosphere and climate is still uncertain. Although the interaction with molecular clouds was previously considered, the terrestrial impact of compact cold clouds was neglected. There is overwhelming geological evidence from 60Fe and 244Pu isotopes that Earth was in direct contact with the ISM 2-3 million years ago, and the local ISM is home to several nearby cold clouds. Here we show, with a state-of the art simulation that incorporate all the current knowledge about the heliosphere that if the solar system passed through a cloud such as Local Leo Cold Cloud, then the heliosphere which protects the solar system from interstellar particles, must have shrunk to a scale smaller than the Earth's orbit around the Sun (0.22AU). Using a magnetohydrodynamic simulation that includes charge exchange between neutral atoms and ions, we show that during the heliosphere shrinkage, Earth was exposed to a neutral hydrogen density of up to 3000cm-3. This could have had drastic effects on Earth's climate and potentially on human evolution at that time, as suggested by existing data.


BACKGROUND
Although several macrolide antibiotics are proarrhythmic and associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death, azithromycin is thought to have minimal cardiotoxicity. However, published reports of arrhythmias suggest that azithromycin may increase the risk of cardiovascular death.

METHODS
We studied a Tennessee Medicaid cohort designed to detect an increased risk of death related to short-term cardiac effects of medication, excluding patients with serious noncardiovascular illness and person-time during and shortly after hospitalization. The cohort included patients who took azithromycin (347,795 prescriptions), propensity-score-matched persons who took no antibiotics (1,391,180 control periods), and patients who took amoxicillin (1,348,672 prescriptions), ciprofloxacin (264,626 prescriptions), or levofloxacin (193,906 prescriptions).

RESULTS
During 5 days of therapy, patients taking azithromycin, as compared with those who took no antibiotics, had an increased risk of cardiovascular death (hazard ratio, 2.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.79 to 4.63; P<0.001) and death from any cause (hazard ratio, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.75; P=0.002). Patients who took amoxicillin had no increase in the risk of death during this period. Relative to amoxicillin, azithromycin was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death (hazard ratio, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.38 to 4.50; P=0.002) and death from any cause (hazard ratio, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.24 to 3.30; P=0.005), with an estimated 47 additional cardiovascular deaths per 1 million courses; patients in the highest decile of risk for cardiovascular disease had an estimated 245 additional cardiovascular deaths per 1 million courses. The risk of cardiovascular death was significantly greater with azithromycin than with ciprofloxacin but did not differ significantly from that with levofloxacin.

CONCLUSIONS
During 5 days of azithromycin therapy, there was a small absolute increase in cardiovascular deaths, which was most pronounced among patients with a high baseline risk of cardiovascular disease. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics.).


Conventional representations of consulting stress the need to predict possible organizational realities associated with improved economic performance. It is conceptualized as a useful tool from which practice might profit if applied properly. In this article we explore theory as a means by which practice may not so much be honed by wellcrafted advice as interrupted and transformed. Further, we propose a parasitical role for the management consultant as a source of 'noise' that disrupts established ways of doing and being by introducing interruptive action into the space between organizational order and chaos. What consulting can do is open up these spaces and create concepts that encourage new possible realities and real possibilities. The relation posited between organization theory and practice has the potential to create new forms of situated organization/organizing through disrupting established practice rather than by creating order. Consultants willing to take the risk of working in the productive space between organization and disorganization have a potential that questions the usual auspices of the enterprise.


Background Patients with aluminum hydroxide adjuvant-induced macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) complain of arthromyalgias, chronic fatigue and cognitive deficits. This study aimed to characterize brain perfusion in these patients. Methods Brain perfusion SPECT was performed in 76 consecutive patients (aged 49±10 y) followed in the Garches-Necker-Mondor-Hendaye reference center for rare neuromuscular diseases. Images were acquired 30 min after intravenous injection of 925 MBq 99mTc-ethylcysteinate dimer (ECD) at rest. All patients also underwent a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests, within 1.3±5.5 mo from SPECT. Statistical parametric maps (SPM12) were obtained for each test using linear regressions between each performance score and brain perfusion, with adjustment for age, sex, socio-cultural level and time delay between brain SPECT and neuropsychological testing. Results SPM analysis revealed positive correlation between neuropsychological scores (mostly exploring executive functions) and brain perfusion in the posterior associative cortex, including cuneus/precuneus/occipital lingual areas, the periventricular white matter/corpus callosum, and the cerebellum, while negative correlation was found with amygdalo-hippocampal/entorhinal complexes. A positive correlation was also observed between brain perfusion and the posterior associative cortex when the time elapsed since last vaccine injection was investigated. Conclusions Brain perfusion SPECT showed a pattern of cortical and subcortical changes in accordance with the MMF-associated cognitive disorder previously described. These results provide a neurobiological substrate for brain dysfunction in aluminum hydroxide adjuvant-induced MMF patients.


This paper provides a method to construct simultaneous confidence bands for quantile functions and quantile effects in nonlinear network and panel models with unobserved two-way effects, strictly exogenous covariates, and possibly discrete outcome variables. The method is based upon projection of simultaneous confidence bands for distribution functions constructed from fixed effects distribution regression estimators. These fixed effects estimators are bias corrected to deal with the incidental parameter problem. Under asymptotic sequences where both dimensions of the data set grow at the same rate, the confidence bands for the quantile functions and effects have correct joint coverage in large samples. An empirical application to gravity models of trade illustrates the applicability of the methods to network data.


A Kerr-effect sensitive microcavity device based on the two-dimensional pillar-array hybrid nonlinear photonic crystal slab has been designed for all-optical switching. The cavity is made from infiltrating the void space of the pillar-array semiconductor photonic crystal slab with polystyrene. The structure parameters have been optimized by numerical simulations based on the three-dimensioanl finite-difference time-domain method. It is found that the resonant wavelength can shift 15 nm under the pump light with an intensity of 80  GW/cm2, which is far larger than the shift magnitude of the holes-array nonlinear photonic crystal slab.


The size of the arable land is constantly decreasing all over the world due to severe anthropogenic disorders. Plant production therefore has to be adapted to changing environmental conditions along with the proper selection of crop varieties and the application of sustainable environmental technologies which also consider economic aspects. The investigations were carried out in the Westsik long-term fertilization experiment near Nyíregyháza, East Hungary, which was set up in 1929 (89 years ago). Alternative forms of nutrient supplies (A) (green manure, straw with and without fermentation, organic fertilizer with and without inorganic fertilizer supplements) were used in different crop rotations. The test plant was potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and the soil type sand with a low humus content (Arenosols). A further long-term experiment is located on calcareous chernozem soil (Chernozems) in Debrecen (set up in 1983, 35 years ago). In one part of this experiment, organic farming (OF) has been carried out with a pea, winter wheat and maize crop rotation for over 15 years with no inorganic fertilization. In another block in this experiment, changes in soil properties as a result of the medium and high doses of fertilizers applied in intensive farming (I) were evaluated with a maize (Zea mays L.) monoculture as the test plant.
 The results obtained with alternative nutrient supplies (green manure, fermented and unfermented straw, farmyard manure, fertilization) proved that the soil organic carbon content increased to varying degrees in humus-poor, acidic sand soil. The organic matter content of the soils increased in response to the treatments, contributing to a significant enhancement in soil microbial parameters (MBC, saccharase, dehydrogenase and phosphatase enzyme activities).
 The carbon dioxide production and saccharase enzyme activity in organic plots (OF) were significantly lower than in intensively farmed (I) soils. At the same time, in the case of organic farming (OF) the microbial biomass carbon, phosphatase and dehydrogenase activity were significantly higher in OF plots than in I plots. Compared to the control soil, MBC was 7-8 times higher in organic plots and 1.3-3.8 times higher in intensive plots.
 Organic farming on chernozem soil generally resulted in higher microbial activity (MBC, phosphatase, saccharase and dehydrogenase enzyme activity) than in either intensively farmed chernozem or in the case of alternative farming (A) on sandy soil.


The National Library of Medicine, in partnership with the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Eye Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and the National Cancer Institute, has founded a software consortium to support the creation of a public resource in high-dimension data processing tools. The initial emphasis of this effort is to provide public software tools in 3D segmentation and deformable and rigid registration, capable of analyzing the head-and-neck anatomy of the Visible Human Project data. The eventual goal is for the consortium to provide the cornerstone of a self-sustaining software community in 3D, 4D and higher dimensional data analysis. The consortium is committed to open-source code, public software including open interfaces supporting connections to a broad range of visualization and graphic user interface platforms.


Government of India launched PPI in 1995 to eradicate polio by the end of 2000. Despite this 733 cases were reported last year alone. There is a need to understand the reason behind high number of cases being reported even after so many years of programme implementation. This study was therefore conducted to assess knowledge of people about polio and PPI, their attitude and practice towards PPI. This cross sectional study was done in Mangalore city of Karnataka. Only houses having under five children were taken for the study. Data was collected by interviewing any adult member of the household using a pretested questionnaire. Out of 100 participants 99 were literates but only 11 knew the correct mode of transmission of polio. Twenty seven had misconception that polio is a curable disease. Only 40 participants knew that polio drops can be given to children even with mild illnesses. Few (2%) participants felt that PPI causes vaccine overdose and 8 participants thought PPI to be a substitute for routine immunization. This study identified few important misconceptions associated with polio and PPI. This needs to be addressed by large scale awareness campaigns in order to eradicate polio in the near future.


Public policy has to ensure a smooth development of the subjects at all levels of the state. The development of a municipal warden, which constitutes the core of the municipalities, is especially important. The factors for sustainable development and the methodical issues concerning the analysis of the problems of warden development are discussed in this article. The following methods were used for the research of the problems of municipal warden development: resource analysis, case analysis, questionnaire surveys, and expert evaluation. The methodical principles of the analysis of the problems of municipal warden development were defined during the research. A completed case study allowed identifying the fields of social tensions in the demographical, property, welfare and other domains of a selected municipal warden. By applying expert evaluation the solutions for the problems of economic, social and environmental development of the municipal warden were proposed. The results of the research are relevant for the conduction of public policy and for the preparation of the strategies and programmes for the municipal warden development.


Magnetic nanoparticles have been of continuous interest, in part, because of the surface effects on the magnetic properties and, in particular, because of their possible use in future magnetic storage devices. In this contribution we discuss the results of ab initio calculations for tiny magnetic transition metal clusters up to ∼103 atoms and show the variation of the magnetic moments and magnetic anisotropy as a function of the cluster size, morphology and kind of transition metal atoms. Since the ab initio calculations show that the magnetic moments of the clusters have rather localized character, we have also considered quantum Heisenberg models of spin‐1/2 and spin‐1 clusters. The exact diagonalization of these models provide some supplementary informations to the first‐principles calculations regarding correlation functions and thermodynamic properties.


The geometry of clinopyroxene-plagioclase-plagioclase junctions in mafic rocks, measured by the median dihedral angle Θcpp, is created during solidification. In the solidifying Kilauea Iki (Hawaii) lava lake, the wider junctions between plagioclase grains are the first to be filled by pyroxene, followed by the narrower junctions. The final Θcpp, attained when all clinopyroxene-plagioclase-plagioclase junctions are formed, is 78° in the upper crust of the lake, and 85° in the lower solidification front. Θcpp in the 3.5-m-thick Traigh Bhan na Sgurra sill (Inner Hebrides) is everywhere 78°. In the Whin Sill (northern England, 38 m thick) and the Portal Peak sill (Antarctica, 129 m thick), Θcpp varies symmetrically, with the lowest values at the margins. The 266-m-thick Basement Sill (Antarctica) has asymmetric variation of Θcpp, attributed to a complex filling history. The chilled margins of the Basement Sill are partially texturally equilibrated, with high Θcpp. The plagioclase grain size in the two widest sills varies asymmetrically, with the coarsest rocks found in the upper third. Both Θcpp and average grain size are functions of model crystallization times. Θcpp increases from 78° to a maximum of ∼100° as the crystallization time increases from 1 to 500 yr. Because the use of grain size as a measure of crystallization time is dependent on an estimate of crystal growth rates, dihedral angles provide a more direct proxy for cooling rates in dolerites.


Background/Objective: Burkitt lymphoma, a form of non Hodgkin lymphoma, is a rare aggressive mature B-cell neoplasm with a favorable prognosis. The objective of this article is to demonstrate that the prompt diagnosis and the application of effective treatments of Burkitt lymphoma is facilitated by the efficacious use of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography. Case Report: A 45-year-old man presented with pain in and around his joints and his bones. After multiple inconclusive diagnostic procedures, a 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scan was obtained revealing diffuse intense radiotracer activity throughout the skeletal system with multiple areas of photopenia in multiple vertebral spine levels and the posterior iliac crest. Subsequent bone marrow biopsy showed a high Ki-67 proliferative index consistent with Burkitt lymphoma. Conclusions: This case report is of interest to all clinicians who may evaluate adults with pain in and around joints and bones. Burkitt lymphoma merits inclusion in the differential diagnosis of pain in and around joints and bones in adults. Utilization of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography will facilitate the prompt diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma and the application of effective interventions.


Cool roofs, cool pavements, and urban vegetation reduce energy use in buildings, lower local air pollutant concentrations, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from urban areas. This report summarizes the results of a detailed monitoring project in India and related simulations of meteorology and air quality in three developing countries. The field results quantified direct energy savings from installation of cool roofs on individual commercial buildings. The measured annual energy savings potential from roof-whitening of previously black roofs ranged from 20 - 22 kWh/m2 of roof area, corresponding to an air-conditioning energy use reduction of 14 26percent in commercial buildings. The study estimated that typical annual savings of 13 - 14 kWh/m2 of roof area could be achieved by applying white coating to uncoated concrete roofs on commercial buildings in the Metropolitan Hyderabad region, corresponding to cooling energy savings of 10 - 19percent. With the assumption of an annual increase of 100,000 square meters of new roof construction for the next 10 years in the Metropolitan Hyderabad region, the annual cooling energy savings due to whitening concrete roof would be 13 -14 GWh of electricity in year ten alone, with cumulative 10-year cooling energy savings of 73 - 79 GWh for the region. The estimated savings for the entire country would be at least 10 times the savings in Hyderabad, i.e., more than 730 - 790 GWh. We estimated that annual direct CO2 reduction associated with reduced energy use would be 11 - 12 kg CO2/m2 of flat concrete roof area whitened, and the cumulative 10-year CO2 reduction would be approximately 0.60 - 0.65 million tons in India. With the price of electricity estimated at seven Rupees per kWh, the annual electricity savings on air-conditioning would be approximately 93 - 101 Rupees per m2 of roof. This would translate into annual national savings of approximately one billion Rupees in year ten, and cumulative 10-year savings of over five billion Rupees for cooling energy in India. Meteorological simulations in this study indicated that a reduction of 2C in air temperature in the Hyderabad area would be likely if a combination of increased surface albedo and vegetative cover are used as urban heat-island control strategies. In addition, air-temperature reductions on the order of 2.5 - 3.5C could be achieved if moderate and aggressive heat-island mitigation measures are adopted, respectively. A large-scale deployment of mitigation measures can bring additional indirect benefit to the urban area. For example, cooling outside air can improve the efficiency of cooling systems, reduce smog and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and indirectly reduce pollution from power plants - all improving environmental health quality. This study has demonstrated the effectiveness of cool-roof technology as one of the urban heat-island control strategies for the Indian industrial and scientific communities and has provided an estimate of the national energy savings potential of cool roofs in India. These outcomes can be used for developing cool-roof building standards and related policies in India. Additional field studies, built upon the successes and lessons learned from this project, may be helpful to further confirm the scale of potential energy savings from the application of cooler roofs in various regions of India. In the future, a more rigorous meteorological simulation using urbanized (meso-urban) meteorological models should be conducted, which may produce a more accurate estimate of the air-temperature reductions for the entire urban area.


Mitigation measures are a priority to avoid irreversible damages to the environment due to climate change. However, additional adaptation efforts will be required to reduce the adverse impacts of projected climate change. While mitigation is more likely to be a global effort, adaptation measures can be implemented on a national or a regional scale, providing sufficient implementation time and more topographical flexibility. An ex-ante assessment of adaptation strategies is necessary. However, it is still methodologically abstract how to deal with uncertainties in future impacts and the intensity of climate change in economic modeling. The paper addresses decision rules for the implementation of adaptation measures under uncertainty within the framework of a general equilibrium model. I study extreme flood hazards in Switzerland, which are likely to become more frequent as a function of uncertain climate change. Employing a computational general equilibrium (CGE) model, stochastic flood damages and related adaptation decisions will be simulated. Uncertainty is of general interest for the CGE modeling community, thus, showing the modeling method will be another focus. The damage costs caused by flooding will be estimated, considering the long-term economic developments and the impact of climate change. Through the project, I aim to show how the uncertain shocks that are caused by floods can be introduced into a CGE model and also to gain a better understanding of the economic nature of different adaptation options for climate change.


Objective The aim of the current study is to investigate the association of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of environmental pollutants, with diabetes mellitus. Animal studies link PAHs to inflammation and subsequent development of diabetes mellitus. In addition, occupational studies suggest that exposure to other aromatic hydrocarbons such as dioxins may be associated with diabetes risk in humans. Design We examined participants from the merged National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2002, 2003–2004 and 2005–2006. Exposures of interest were eight urinary monohydroxy-PAHs. Our outcome was diabetes mellitus defined as a glycohemoglobin level (HbA1c) ≥6.5%, a self-reported physician diagnosis of diabetes or use of oral hypoglycaemic medication or insulin. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, race, alcohol consumption, poverty–income ratio, total cholesterol and serum cotinine. Results We observed a positive association between urinary biomarkers of 1 and 2-hydroxynapthol, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene and summed low molecular weight (LMW) PAH biomarkers, and diabetes mellitus. Compared with participants with summed LMW PAH biomarkers in the lowest quartile, the multivariable-adjusted OR of diabetes mellitus among those in the highest quartile was 3.1 (95% CI 1.6 to 5.8). Conclusions Urinary biomarkers of 1 and 2-hydroxynapthol, 2-hydroxyphenanthrene and summed LMW PAH biomarkers are associated with diabetes mellitus in US adults 20–65 years of age. The association of a one-time biomarker of PAH exposure has limitations commonly associated with cross-sectional studies, yet is consistent with experimental animal data and is worthy of additional consideration.


In February of 2011, an Iowa high school boy captured national attention when he refused to wrestle a girl at the state championship meet. The media shaped the story into a tale that honored the boy for sacrificing personal gain out of a moral imperative to "never hurt a girl." Unpacking this incident reveals several "fault lines" in U.S. culture that often derail gender equality projects: (1) religion/morality is interposed as an oppositional and equally weighty social value that neutralizes an equality claim; (2) the agency of persons supporting traditional gender norms is assumed, while the agency of persons contesting them is questioned; (3) opting out or "leveling down" is employed to reinforce status hierarchies while maintaining a semblance of formal equality (neither boy nor girl wrestles); and (4) de-contextualized strands of feminist theory are appropriated and co-opted in service of the existing gender order. This paper asks, what happens when sex equality law is interjected into this narrative? After examining the anatomy of the backlash to the threat to the gender order posed by the entry of girls into wrestling, this paper constructs an argument that Title IX obligates schools and athletic associations to take measures designed to deter gender-based forfeitures that deprive girls of athletic opportunity. It then explores a tougher question: does the introduction of a sex equality claim disrupt the conventional understandings of gender that emerged from this narrative? I ultimately contend that law has a potentially useful role to play in subverting the gender order, but that to do so it must engage the crucial dynamic at the heart of forfeiture incident: the construction of masculinity, both for the boy who forfeited and for the sport of wrestling itself. Feminist legal strategies must contend with how masculinity is constructed and valued for the boys and men who play sports in order to further advance the cause of girls' and women's equality in sports.


The virtual item auctioning system (VIAS) has economic potential as millions of online players trade their virtual items in an auction‐based environment. However, little empirical research has been conducted about understanding the factors affecting the decision to use the VIAS in online games. To address this gap, the current study uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) to explore the effects of extrinsic motivation‐perceived usefulness, intrinsic motivation‐flow, and trust on the decision to use the VIAS in online games. Three hundred and twenty‐eight surveys were gathered from the users of VIAS in online games. The research model was tested with the structural equation modeling technique, using AMOS 20. The results showed that intrinsic motivation is more important than extrinsic motivation in explaining the use of the VIAS. Furthermore, trust is a strong predictor of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We conclude the study with the discussion of the findings, managerial implications, and suggestions for future research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Nitrogen rich glasses in the systems Ca-Si-O-N, Sr-Si-O-N and AE-Ca-Si-O-N (AE = Mg, Sr and Ba) have been prepared using a novel glass-synthesis route. The limits of the glass forming regions in the Ca and Sr systems and substitution limits in the AE-Ca-Si-O-N systems have been determined and physical properties of the glasses measured. Transparent glasses were obtained for a few specific compositions in the Ca-Si-O-N and Mg-Ca-Si-O-N systems. All other glasses were found to be translucent gray to opaque black, with the coloration of the glasses depending on the modifier. Small inclusions of Ca/Sr silicides and, in much smaller amounts, elemental Si are believed to be responsible for their poor transparency. A large glass forming region was found for the Ca-Si-O-N system, with glasses retaining up to 58 e/o N and 42 e/o Ca. In comparison, a more narrow glass forming region was found for the corresponding Sr system, with glasses retaining up to 45 e/o N and 39 e/o Sr. The glass formation was found to depend on reaction kinetics and precursors used. A strong exothermic reaction was observed at temperatures 650–1000oC, providing improved conditions for reaction kinetics upon further heating. Physical property measurements for the Ca and Sr glasses showed that glass transition and crystallization temperatures, viscosity, hardness, Young's modulus and shear modulus depend strongly on the nitrogen content and that these properties increase approximately linearly with increasing nitrogen content. Glass density and refractive index are also dependent on the modifier element and content, in particular for the Sr glasses. Glasses AE-Ca-Si-O-N, with approximately constant (Ca/AE): Si:O:N ratios, showed that mixed modifier glass properties, such as density, molar volume, glass transition temperature, hardness, refractive index can be related to the effective cation field strength of the modifiers.


The development of cisplatin drug resistance remains a chief concern in ovarian cancer chemotherapy. β-Elemene is a natural plant product with broad-spectrum antitumor activity towards many types of carcinomas. This study aimed to define the biological and therapeutic significance of β-elemene in chemoresistant ovarian cancer. In the present study, β-elemene significantly inhibited cell growth and proliferation of both the cisplatin-sensitive human ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and its cisplatin-resistant counterpart A2780/CP. β-Elemene also suppressed the growth of several other chemosensitive and chemoresistant ovarian cancer cell lines, including ES-2, MCAS, OVCAR-3, and SKOV-3, with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values ranging from 54 to 78 μg/ml. In contrast, the IC(50) values of β-elemene for the human ovarian epithelial cell lines IOSE-386 and IOSE-397 were 110 and 114 μg/ml, respectively, which are almost two-fold those for the ovarian cancer cell lines. Cell cycle analysis demonstrated that β-elemene induced a persistent block of cell cycle progression at the G(2)/M phase in A2780 and A2780/CP cells. This was mediated by alterations in cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinase expression, including the down-regulation of CDC2, cyclin A, and cyclin B1, and the up-regulation of p21(WAF1/CIP1) and p53 proteins. Moreover, β-elemene triggered apoptosis and irreversible cell death in both sensitive and resistant ovarian cancer cells via the activation of caspase-3, -8 and 9; the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (δΨm); the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol; and changes in the expression of BCL-2 family proteins. All of these molecular changes were associated with β-elemene-induced growth inhibition and cell death of ovarian cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that β-elemene has antitumor activity against both platinum-sensitive and resistant ovarian cancer cells, and thus has the potential for development as a chemotherapeutic agent for cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer.


Background: Garcinia schomburgkiana is a conventionally used as an herb for the treatment of diabetes, coughs, and menstrual disturbances. Objectives: The study was to examine in vitro antioxidant potentials and inhibitory effect against α-amylase and α-glucosidase of the bark, fruit, and leaf extracts of G. schomburgkiana using different traditional extraction methods and investigate the bioactive compound using spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. Materials and Methods: The extracts were prepared by maceration with 80% ethanol and decoction with distilled water. The anti-free radical activities of the extracts were tested through decolorization of 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), and lipid peroxidation assays. The active compound was elucidated and quantified. Results: The ethanolic bark extract displayed the highest activities of DPPH, ABTS, lipid peroxidation, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase inhibition assays with EC50 values of 28.96 ± 1.62, 9.79 ± 0.14, 574.89 ± 14.68, 20.40 ± 1.33 and 2.81 ± 0.43 μg/mL, respectively. Thus, the ethanolic bark extract was selected to assess the bioactive compound by bioactivity-guided isolation. The active biflavonoid, named morelloflavone, was isolated and elucidated. Morelloflavone exhibited high activities comparable with positive controls (ascorbic acid and acarbose). Moreover, the content of morelloflavone from different extracts was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The bark maceration with ethanol yielded the highest contents of morelloflavone. Conclusion: The bark ethanolic extract of G. schomburgkiana has more potentials than other extracts. The isolated compound demonstrated the strong activities and could be the alternative source of natural antioxidants and α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitor.


Background The safety of pancreatic resection for elderly patients is still controversial. We examined the postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients aged 75 years or more undergoing pancreatic resection. Methods Patients undergoing pancreatic resection were studied retrospectively and the outcomes were compared between patients aged <75 and ≥75 years. Results Of the 556 patients enrolled, 78 (14%) were ≥75 years old. Elderly patients had significantly more co-morbidities, especially cardiovascular pathology (P=0.005). Also, elderly patients had significantly lower body mass index prior to surgery (P=0.005). There were no significant differences in terms of surgical procedures and tumor types between age groups. The incidence of postoperative pancreatic fistula grade A was significantly lower in the elderly group (P=0.022), but no significant differences were noted in the overall morbidity or the incidence of postpancreatectomy hemorrhage, delayed gastric emptying, bile leakage, cardiac complications, pulmonary complications or septic complications. The 30-day mortality rate was similar between groups (0.8% vs. 1.3%; P=0.532). Conclusion Pancreatic resection is a safe option for selected elderly patients. Our study confirms that age alone should not preclude potentially curative surgical therapy.


&NA; Rationale: Rural residence is associated with poor outcomes in several chronic diseases. The association between rural residence and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations remains unclear. Objectives: In this work, we sought to determine the independent association between rural residence and COPD‐related outcomes, including COPD exacerbations, airflow obstruction, and symptom burden. Methods: A total of 1,684 SPIROMICS (Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study) participants with forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity < 0.70 had geocoding‐defined rural‐urban residence status determined (N = 204 rural and N = 1,480 urban). Univariate and multivariate logistic and negative binomial regressions were performed to assess the independent association between rurality and COPD outcomes, including exacerbations, lung function, and symptom burden. The primary exposure of interest was rural residence, determined by geocoding of the home address to the block level at the time of study enrollment. Additional covariates of interest included demographic and clinical characteristics, occupation, and occupational exposures. The primary outcome measures were exacerbations determined over a 1‐year course after enrollment by quarterly telephone calls and at an annual research clinic visit. The odds ratio (OR) and incidence rate ratio (IRR) of exacerbations that required treatment with medications, including steroids or antibiotics (total exacerbations), and exacerbations leading to hospitalization (severe exacerbations) were determined after adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: Rural residence was independently associated with a 70% increase in the odds of total exacerbations (OR, 1.70 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.13‐2.56]; P = 0.012) and a 46% higher incidence rate of total exacerbations (IRR 1.46 [95% CI, 1.02‐2.10]; P = 0.039). There was no association between rural residence and severe exacerbations. Agricultural occupation was independently associated with increased odds and incidence of total and severe exacerbations. Inclusion of agricultural occupation in the analysis attenuated the association between rural residence and the odds and incidence rate of total exacerbations (OR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.00‐2.32]; P = 0.05 and IRR 1.39 [95% CI, 0.97‐1.99]; P = 0.07). There was no difference in symptoms or airflow obstruction between rural and urban participants. Conclusions: Rural residence is independently associated with increased odds and incidence of total, but not severe, COPD exacerbations. These associations are not fully explained by agriculture‐related exposures, highlighting the need for future research into potential mechanisms of the increased risk of COPD exacerbations in the rural population.


Many studies have acknowledged the importance of cause-related marketing (CRM) (e.g. Steckstor, 2011; Guerreiro et al., 2016) and increasing consumer cynicism about it (e.g. Johansen, 2016). Although the topic of consumer cynicism has attracted increasing attention in contemporary research (Andersen and Johansen, 2016), an extensive review of the literature conducted for this study revealed that such studies remain on conceptual grounds (e.g. Odou and Pechpeyrou, 2011) or focus on general consumer cynicism in the marketplace (e.g. Chylinski and Chu, 2010; Helm et al., 2015; Ketron, 2016). Despite consumer cynicism being a major challenge to CRM practices (Andersen and Johansen, 2016), previous research calls for additional studies specifically relating to cynicism within a CRM context (e.g. Paek and Nelson, 2009; Chang, 2011; Hawkins, 2012). Therefore, this research aims to fill this gap in the literature. To fulfil the research aim, this study takes the philosophical position of post-positivism by applying a 2 × 2 factorial (sudden disaster versus ongoing cause and high versus low brand-cause fit) quasi-experimental design. Two focus groups were conducted to obtain relevant information to design a self-administrated questionnaire. Students were used to satisfy the requirements of an experimental design for a homogeneous sample. Out of the 420 questionnaires collected, 408 were considered to be usable for the final analysis. Attribution Theory and the TPB were used as theoretical frameworks on which to base this research. The findings add two new dimensions to theoretical knowledge in understanding consumer cynicism in a CRM context, namely, consumers' perceptions of company motive and protest behaviour. Protest behaviour was found to be positively related to consumer cynicism in the ongoing cause groups. This finding is consistent with Attribution Theory's suggestion that individuals are more supportive to victims affected by sudden disaster (Ellen et al., 2000; Chochinov, 2005). Attribution Theory was applied to identify the link between consumers' perceptions of company motives, consumer cynicism and protest behaviour. Following Fiske and Taylor (1991) quasi-experimental stimuli/scenarios (high versus low brand-cause fit and ongoing cause versus sudden disaster cause) the same technique was used for this study in order to explore how individuals make causal attributions about firms' CRM practices. Consumer cynicism was also investigated in TPB model by using indirect questioning technique. The findings of this application indicated that consumers make different causal attributions about companies' involvement in CRM practices when they are exposed to different information sources. Consumer cynicism was investigated in TPB model by using indirect questioning technique. In addition, the findings indicated that cynical consumers have some volitional control of intention to purchase CRM products. Despite having cynicism, the increasing self-efficacy and subjective norm play an influencing role in predicting intention. This is an important contribution to knowledge both theoretically and in terms of possible intervention strategies aiming to reduce cynicism level. This research not only demonstrates the feasibility of applying Attribution Theory and TPB to understand consumer cynicism in the context of CRM, but also identifies an interesting connection between these two theories. Future studies can incorporate consumers' perception of company motives from Attribution Theory into TPB to explore the possibility of gaining a stronger understanding of consumer cynicism in the context of CRM. A new theoretical model was suggested for a possible application in future studies.


This paper analyzes the optimal response of the social insurance system to a rise in labor market risk. To this end, we develop a tractable macroeconomic model with risk-free physical capital, risky human capital (labor market risk) and unobservable effort choice affecting the distribution of human capital shocks (moral hazard). We show that constrained optimal allocations are simple in the sense that they can be found by solving a static social planner problem. We further show that constrained optimal allocations are the equilibrium allocations of a market economy in which the government uses taxes and transfers that are linear in household wealth/income. We use the tractability result to show that an increase in labor market (human capital) risk increases social welfare if the government adjusts the tax-and-transfer system optimally. Finally, we provide a quantitative analysis of the secular rise in job displacement risk in the US and find that the welfare cost of not adjusting the social insurance system optimally can be substantial.


A partial release of K-specific restriction of phage X grown in Escherichia coli C was observed when E. coli K strains AB1157 (having wild-type repair of UVproduced DNA damage) and AB1886 (uvrA) were irradiated with UV light before infection. The effect occurred in AB1886 at lower UV fluences than it did in AB1157. Little or no release of restriction was observed when AB2463 (recA) or AB2494 (lex-1) was used. Such release of restriction appears to be another of the UV-induced phenomena associated with "SOS" repair.


Abstract. The presented method provides for a possibility to perform graph-based indoor localization, by comparing the topological structure embedded in a mesh model to the topological structure of a semantically rich reference model, specifically a BIM. However different in nature and structure, both input sources can be converted to a graph of similar calibre, such that they can be tested for a match. After a match between both graphs is found, the current position of the actor within the mesh model can be translated to the room found in the graph. This room is now connected to a room within the reference graph, for which the semantics are stored in the BIM. Returning these to the actor, a location description can be formed.Many indoor positioning methods have been developed, which can provide an actor with a relative geometric place. Most preferred are positioning systems not relying on a contingent system, which can be performed using a fusion of sensors embedded into a mobile device. Such a system found to perform sufficiently is VI-SLAM, simultaneously building a geometric place and tracking each pose and heading relatively. Its output is a mesh model, in which a viewshed of the indoor environment is built. Indoor localization however, entails finding a humanly interpretable qualitative description of a place, rather than a quantitative position in Euclidean space. In order to transcend such a position to a meaningful location, the context of an indoor environment has to be understood. As the interpretation of indoor space is different across the board, misalignment in data sources representing the indoor environment occurs.


We have studied normal and transformed cultured human fibroblasts by ultrastructural immunocytochemistry with antibodies to fibronectin (the large external transformation-sensitive glycoprotein). Human fibroblasts at low density have very little extracellular material organized into a filamentous form. A diffuse membrane component of low-density fibroblasts reacts with fibronectin antibodies. As normal fibroblasts grow to confluence, an extensive extracellular filamentous matrix forms. The filaments are 15 to 20 nm in diameter, lack periodicity, and frequently occur in a meshwork. Antibody to fibronectin reacts with these filaments as well as with a diffusely distributed membrane component. Cultures of SV40-transformed human fibroblasts lack the extracellular filamentous matrix reacting with fibronectin antibodies; however, fibronectin is detected on plasma membranes. These studies indicate that a major difference between normal and transformed human fibroblasts is the failure of transformed fibroblasts to form a fibronectin-containing extracellular filamentous matrix.


Localization of HTLV-I-associated antigens was studied in adult T cell leukemia (ATL) cells and HTLV-I-infected cell line cells using monoclonal and human polyclonal antibodies against the viral-related antigens. Two monoclonal antibodies that we obtained by hybridoma technique reacted with HTLV-I-virus core antigens, P19 and P24, respectively. Human anti-HTLV-I-antibodies, which were purified from sera from ATL patients reacted with not only HTLV-I virus particles but also their precursors located in the cytoplasm. In tumor cells freshly isolated from ATL patients, no expression of the virus antigens was observed. When the cells were cultured for several days, the virus antigens were defined in about 3-5% of the cultured cells by the monoclonal antibodies, and in 5-10% by the purified human anti-HTLV-I antibodies. Addition of 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine to the culture inhibited cell growth, and at the same time, increased the percentage of the virus antigen-positive cells. Established HTLV-I-infected cell lines showed different cytological profiles from the original ATL cells in the viral replication and morphology.


Abstract Background: Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is an uncommon diagnosis in patients less than 40 years of age. Over the last two decades, there is an increase in the frequency of cardiovascular events among young adults. However, at present there is only limited clinical data on the clinical characteristics and outcomes of STEMI in young patients who were treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Plaque erosion is the underlying pathological mechanism leading to STEMI in the vast majority of young adults. Thrombi that complicate superficial erosion seem more platelet-rich than the fibrinous clots precipitated by plaque rupture. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is recognized as a marker of the platelet activation process and may be a better indicator of short-term prognosis than the inflammatory markers in young patients with STEMI. Therefore, we aimed to investigate clinical and angiographic characteristics, risk factors and the independent value of MPV on predicting short-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in young adults with STEMI. Methods: A total of 349 patients aged 40 years or younger who underwent pPCI at our center between 2010–2015 with the diagnosis of STEMI were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The mean age of the patients was 36.4 ± 3.6 years and 90% of them were men. Smoking was by far the most frequent cardiovascular risk factor. MACEs were observed in 23 patients (6.6%), and according to the multivariate regression analysis, Killip IIIIV (OR 7.52, 95% CI 1.25–45.24, p = 0.03), lower admission SBP (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.90–0.98, p <0.01) and increased MPV (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.05–2.67, p = 0.03) were found to be independently correlated with MACE in the study population. Conclusion: Our results indicate that MPV is an independent predictor of MACEs at the short-term follow-up in young patients with STEMI undergoing pPCI. Accordingly, we suggested that MPV, a marker of platelet activation, could play a significant role in predicting clinical evolution in young patients with STEMI.


The effect of fluorine substitution on the ubiquitously-studied, moderate band gap polymer, poly(2,7fluorene-alt-dithienylbenzothiadiazole) (PFO-DBT) has been investigated by substituting the hydrogen atoms at the 5,6-positions of benzothiadiazole to yield the polymer, PFO-DffBT. An analogous polymer, PFDo-DffBT, with longer chains on the 9H-positions of the fluorene moiety, was synthesised to rectify the low Mw of PFO-DffBT. In thin films, both fluorinated polymers display absorption bands with welldefined shoulders, giving optical band gaps of 1.91 and 1.89 eV, respectively. The optical band gap of PFDo-DBT is identical to that of PFDo-DffBT, despite the former having a significantly larger Mw. However, PFDo-DffBT displayed a blue-shifted lmax relative to its non-fluorinated counterpart. The HOMO levels of PFO-DffBT and PFDo-DffBT are lower than their non-fluorinated analogues, owing to the incorporation of electron withdrawing substituents on the benzothiadiazole moiety. The photovoltaic properties of all polymers were investigated by fabricating bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells using PC70BM as the electron acceptor. PFO-DffBT displayed the highest efficiency with a PCE of 4.4% despite having the lowest Mw of all polymers studied.


Hydrological models are used to represent the rainfall-runoff and pollutant transport mechanisms within watersheds. Accurate representation of these dynamic and complex natural processes within a watershed is an important step in managing and protecting a watershed. Artificial neural network (ANN) models are often used in hydrologic modeling. Typical ANN models are trained to use lumped data. However, watershed characteristics used as inputs in hydrological modeling are spatially and often temporally dynamic. Therefore, a lumped model does not have the ability to represent changes in spatial dynamics of a watershed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a distributed ANN model for simulating the rainfall-runoff process in the L'Anguille River Watershed located in Eastern Arkansas. The watershed was divided into nine sub-basins to account for the spatial dynamics of flow within the watershed. Inputs for the model were rainfall, average temperature, antecedent flow and curve number. Output was runoff, collected from gage-stations at Colt and Palestine representing two of the sub-basins. Daily SCS curve numbers were developed and adjusted for crop planting and harvesting dates and crop rotation practices in each sub-basin. The model had nine layers with one neuron each to represent the nine sub-basins. The layers were connected so that if one sub-basin spatially flowed into another, its output would be an input for the downstream sub-basin. The model performed well, showing R2 values of 0.93 and 0.98 and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency values of 0.92 and 0.97 for the validation and test datasets.


A fundamental abstraction in earth science has been the concept of a geotectonic cycle. It has gone hand-in-hand with various classifications of tectonic elements and has been intricately interwoven in geosynclinal theory. The basic scheme which has emerged is a progressive and somewhat deterministic sequence of events in space and time made up of three phases usually termed the geosynclinal phase, the tectogenic phase, and the orogenic phase. The geotectonic cycle has been equated with evolution of mountain systems and long considered a prime process in continental evolution. The geotectonic cycle is examined in light of recent developments, including geosynclinal theory, studies in tectogenesis, and advances in submarine geology and geophysics. It is concluded that the concept of a geotectonic cycle is obsolete as a model of mountain system evolution, since definition of each of the so-called phases is obscure, relationship of any one phase to another is in doubt, and there is considerable evidence that the entire cycle can not be attributed to any single internal deterministic mechanism. Instead, the concept of multiple origins for mountain systems is suggested. Mountain complexes result from irregular successions of tectonic responses due to sea-floor spreading, shifting lithosphere plates, transform faults, and colliding, coupled, and uncoupled continental margins.


This paper proposes a compact microstrip Yagi-Uda antenna for 2.45 GHz radio frequency identification (RFID) handheld reader applications. The proposed antenna is etched on a piece of FR4 substrate with an overall size of 65 mm × 55 mm ×1.6 mm and consists of a microstrip balun, a dipole, and a director. The ground plane is designed to act as a reflector that contributes to enhancing the antenna gain. The measured 10-dB return loss bandwidth and peak gain achieved by the proposed antenna are 380 MHz and 7.5 dBi, respectively. In addition, a parametric study is conducted to facilitate the design and optimization processes for engineers.


Information systems projects play an important strategic role in organisations and are key drivers to the delivery of change. Given this prominence it is essential to find measurement methods that effectively analyse and communicate the performance to its stakeholders. Further, to assure contribution to both research and practice it is essential to verify the utility of the artefacts (i.e. methods) developed to help validate or justify that the solutions are suitable for practice, and fit the needs and contexts for which it is created. Grounded in the design science paradigm, this paper reports an exploratory evaluation of the perception of certain qualities of two recently developed measurement methods (The Project Performance Scorecard and Project Objectives Measurement Model) against the traditional Triple Constraint method. An analytic scenario-based survey of fifty-one (51) participants, comprising of three (3) sets of independent sample of seventeen (17) respondents each was used. The study analysed dimensions of task performance, ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived semantic qualities and user satisfaction from the perspective of the participants. The preliminary study revealed encouraging results for the new methods and the general design process which can help guide current use and further refinements. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.


Human cyclin E, originally identified on the basis of its ability to function as a G1 cyclin in budding yeast, associated with a cell cycle-regulated protein kinase in human cells. The cyclin E-associated kinase activity peaked during G1, before the appearance of cyclin A, and was diminished during exit from the cell cycle after differentiation or serum withdrawal. The major cyclin E-associated kinase in human cells was Cdk2 (cyclin-dependent kinase 2). The abundance of the cyclin E protein and the cyclin E-Cdk2 complex was maximal in G1 cells. These results provide further evidence that in all eukaryotes assembly of a cyclin-Cdk complex is an important step in the biochemical pathway that controls cell proliferation during G1.


This article presents a qualitative study employing hermeneutic phenomenology to explore the experience of 4 counsellors using mindfulness to practice acceptance in their therapeutic work with clients. Findings are presented as four themes that demonstrate counsellors' practices of acceptance: recognizing, allowing, attending to the physical, and experiencing the self and accepting clients. The findings suggest that accepting clients involves the intrapersonal process of accepting our experiences of clients—a practice honed through the self-cultivation of particular qualities and attitudes. The findings have implications in counsellor training and highlight the importance of self-cultivation for counsellors.


Our aim is to prove existence and uniqueness of time-periodic strong solutions with finite kinetic energy for the Navier–Stokes equations in . For this, appropriate conditions are imposed on the external force, together with a smallness condition involving the viscosity of the fluid and the period of motion. We extend the method we have recently used to construct steady states with finite kinetic energy to the time-periodic case. First, existence and uniqueness of strong solutions with finite kinetic energy are established for a linearized version of the problem, using the Galerkin method and the Fourier transform in the space variables. Then, a strong solution with finite kinetic energy for the nonlinear problem is obtained by means of the contraction mapping principle. We also show that such a solution satisfies the energy equality and is unique within a class of weak solutions.


Background: The number of applicants to surgical specialties has decreased worldwide. Several factors contribute to this decline, and early intervention is essential to correct students' misconception about surgical training. The aim of this study was to explore the perception of Umm Al-Qura University Medical Students and Interns about surgery and a career in surgery. Methods: We conducted an institutional-based cross-sectional study at Umm Al-Qura Medical College in Makkah to explore 6th year students' and interns' perception about surgical specialties. The participants were divided into four groups: Group 1 (female 6th year; n = 144); Group 2 (male 6th year; n = 133); Group 3 (female intern; n = 81); and Group 4 (male intern; n = 25). Participation was mandatory for students, and the response rate was 100% in Group 1 and 96% (132/138) in Group 2. Participation was optional for interns, and the response rate was 65% (78/120) in Group 3 and 21% (25/118) in Group 4. Results: Eighty-one percent of the participants think that going to the medical school was a wise decision, and the choice of nonsurgical career was more prominent in female interns. Career choice increased significantly after the 6th year, and the likelihood of choice of the surgical career was higher in males (P = 0.045); however, the possibility to choose pediatric surgery was equal between groups (P = 0.122). Most participants think there was insufficient ward training, and they agreed that they had inadequate operative room training. Conclusion: The majority of medical students and interns are willing to pursue a career with a reasonable quality of life regardless of the income or the social status of this career, and a surgical career is still considered a stressful and demanding specialty. We recommend more lectures, hands-on training, and workshops directed toward medical students to increase their knowledge about these potential factors, which could alter their decision when choosing a surgical career.


ntroductions : The objective of this study was to evaluate the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy findings in patients presenting with dyspepsia. Methods : This retrospective observational study was conducted in Department of internal medicine, Patan Hospital from April 2013 to March 2014. Adult patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for dyspepsia were included in the study. Results : There were 2141 endoscopies (out of total 3195) performed for dyspepsia, male 996 (46.52 %), female 1145 (53.48%), mean age 39.37 years (SD ±18.16). A single endoscopic diagnosis was made in 1991 (93%) and in rest combinations of lesions were seen. Gastritis 892 (41.66%), Oesophagitis 215 (10.04%), Duodenal Ulcer 100 (4.67%), Gastro-duodenitis 85 (3.97%), Hiatus hernia 82 (3.82%), Gastric Ulcer 46 (2.14%) and no lesions in 594 (27.74%) were seen. Conclusion : Gastritis followed by oesophagitis was seen half of the dyspeptic, while a quarter had functional dyspepsia with normal findings. Keywords : duodenal ulcer, gastritis, gastric ulcer, hiatus hernia, oesophagitis, upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy


The article aims to present social conditions of innovation development in rural tourism. The first part of the article deals with the essence and types of innovation in the tourist industry in rural areas. Next, the article discusses the opinions on social conditions of innovation expressed by 139 students of the University of Life Sciences in Warsaw and 35 students of Jadwiga Dziubinska Agricultural Education Centre Schools in Golądkowo. In the students' opinion, the most important interpersonal features and skills of agritourism farm owners useful for innovation in rural tourism are: creativity, openness to tourists' needs and diligence. All the survey respondents believed that service providers should first of all initiate cooperation in the field of innovation with other companies of the tourism sector and obviously also with tourists.


Abstract Temporary labor migration (TLM) constitutes a significant trend of migration movements within the European Union, especially after the 2004 and 2007 EU enlargements. However, compared to other forms of TLM, intra-EU TLM has received scant attention from normative theorists. By drawing on Iris Marion Young's conception of structural injustice, this article analyzes the injustice of TLM within the EU. It argues that purely rights-based approaches are deficient and that a structural injustice approach is needed. The latter sheds light on the formal and informal processes that place EU temporary migrants in a condition of vulnerability and reveals the multiple individual and collective agents participating in such processes. Moreover, such an approach offers important insights into the agency of migrants by showing how they themselves reinforce structural processes that put not only (i) individual temporary migrants but also (ii) similarly positioned migrants and (iii) other members of the sending and receiving countries in a vulnerable position. A structural injustice approach does not deny that intra-EU temporary labor migrants should enjoy the rights and entitlements that they currently have in the host country as European citizens. Nor does it dispute that reducing the vulnerability of temporary migrants may require "special rights" accommodating the specific nature of their life plans. Instead, though such rights may be necessary, a structural injustice approach demonstrates how they are insufficient to tackle the injustice of intra-EU TLM and other forms of temporary labor migration more broadly.


Reconstructing the detailed geometric structure of a face from a given image is a key to many computer vision and graphics applications, such as motion capture and reenactment. The reconstruction task is challenging as human faces vary extensively when considering expressions, poses, textures, and intrinsic geometries. While many approaches tackle this complexity by using additional data to reconstruct the face of a single subject, extracting facial surface from a single image remains a difficult problem. As a result, single-image based methods can usually provide only a rough estimate of the facial geometry. In contrast, we propose to leverage the power of convolutional neural networks to produce a highly detailed face reconstruction from a single image. For this purpose, we introduce an end-to-end CNN framework which derives the shape in a coarse-to-fine fashion. The proposed architecture is composed of two main blocks, a network that recovers the coarse facial geometry (CoarseNet), followed by a CNN that refines the facial features of that geometry (FineNet). The proposed networks are connected by a novel layer which renders a depth image given a mesh in 3D. Unlike object recognition and detection problems, there are no suitable datasets for training CNNs to perform face geometry reconstruction. Therefore, our training regime begins with a supervised phase, based on synthetic images, followed by an unsupervised phase that uses only unconstrained facial images. The accuracy and robustness of the proposed model is demonstrated by both qualitative and quantitative evaluation tests.


For MCMC methods like Metropolis-Hastings, tuning the proposal distribution is important in practice for effective sampling from the target distribution \pi. In this paper, we present Sample Adaptive MCMC (SA-MCMC), a MCMC method based on a reversible Markov chain for \pi^{\otimes N} that uses an adaptive proposal distribution based on the current state of N points and a sequential substitution procedure with one new likelihood evaluation per iteration and at most one updated point each iteration. The SA-MCMC proposal distribution automatically adapts within its parametric family to best approximate the target distribution, so in contrast to many existing MCMC methods, SA-MCMC does not require any tuning of the proposal distribution. Instead, SA-MCMC only requires specifying the initial state of N points, which can often be chosen a priori, thereby automating the entire sampling procedure with no tuning required. Experimental results demonstrate the fast adaptation and effective sampling of SA-MCMC.


Often considered the greatest American political philosopher of the twentieth century, and the most important liberal theorist since John Stuart Mill, John Rawls enjoys a practically sacrosanct status among scholars of political theory, law, and ethics. In ""Illiberal Justice"", David Schaefer offers the most thorough challenge to Rawls' doctrine yet published, demonstrating how his teachings deviate from the core tradition of constitutional liberalism as exemplified by leading American statesmen from the founders through Lincoln and beyond. ""Illiberal Justice"" is the first comprehensive overview of all of Rawls' writings, emphasizing the continuity in his thought and intention to a greater extent than other scholars have done. Schaefer offers a fundamental critique of both Rawls' conception of political philosophy and the policy judgments he derives from his ""principles of justice."" Schaefer argues that Rawls' failure to ground his teaching about justice in a serious analysis of human nature or an empirical grasp of political life is symptomatic of a larger crisis within contemporary liberal political and jurisprudential theorizing. Although Rawls is commonly viewed as a welfare-state liberal, Schaefer stresses that his writings actually embody a radical transformation of liberalism in the direction of libertarianism that deviates sharply from the American liberal tradition. Citing empirical evidence of the persistence of political and economic opportunity in America, Schaefer challenges Rawls' allegations that our polity suffers from grave injustices. He points out the strikingly apocalyptic tone of Rawls' last writings, in which Rawls even questions whether human existence is worthwhile if his principles are not actualized. ""Illiberal Justice"" is not only a critique of Rawls' political program and philosophic methodology, it is also a defense of the American constitutional order against Rawls' dogmatic theorizing, which Schaefer argues has exercised an increasing, and detrimental, effect on our jurisprudence. By combining a thorough critical exegesis of Rawls' texts with a broad engagement with the tradition of political philosophy and American political thought, Schaefer makes an important contribution to both our understanding of Rawls and the enterprise of political philosophy.


We recommend a major shift in the Econometrics curriculum for both graduate and undergraduate teaching. It is essential to include a range of topics that are still rarely addressed in such teaching, but are now vital for understanding and conducting empirical macroeconomic research. We focus on a new approach to macro-econometrics teaching, since even undergraduate econometrics courses must include analytical methods for time series that exhibit both evolution from stochastic trends and abrupt changes from location shifts, and so confront the "non-stationarity revolution". The complexity and size of the resulting equation specifications, formulated to include all theory-based variables, their lags and possibly non-linear functional forms, as well as potential breaks and rival candidate variables, places model selection for models of changing economic data at the centre of teaching. To illustrate our proposed new curriculum, we draw on a large UK macroeconomics database over 1860–2011. We discuss how we reached our present approach, and how the teaching of macro-econometrics, and econometrics in general, can be improved by nesting so-called "theory-driven" and "data-driven" approaches. In our methodology, the theory-model's parameter estimates are unaffected by selection when the theory is complete and correct, so nothing is lost, whereas when the theory is incomplete or incorrect, improved empirical models can be discovered from the data. Recent software like Autometrics facilitates both the teaching and the implementation of econometrics, supported by simulation tools to examine operational performance, designed to be feasibly presented live in the classroom.


Control and communication have been increasingly studied together in the recent past. The 'Satellite Ground Controller' is a classic example of a remote control problem. Another closely related topic of study is control over an unreliable communication network and its applications seem to grow continuously. Networked Control Systems (NCS) is a rapidly growing research topic and examples of practical significance include multiple vehicle coordination, air-traffic control, and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The work presented consists of two problems I) The Remote control problem and 2) The Networked control problem. The remote control problem we address is the feedback stabilization of a linear discrete-time plant in feedback with a linear controller via unreliable communication channels. The channels are modeled as analog packet-drop (erasure) channels. Erasure channel is a good model of loss of data packets, typical in large networks like the Internet. We analyze the maximum sustainable erasure on the sensor and actuator channels given a level of erasure on the feedback (Service) channel and synthesize controllers. The networked control problem we address is a special case of spatially invariant plants interconnected through a static network. We consider a circular topology of interconnection and introduce a new notion of Bode sensitivity integral for networks of spatially invariant plants in feedback with static networks and comment on the fundamental limitations of design of such feedback networks.


Flavonoids are major pigments in plants, and their biosynthetic pathway is one of the best-studied metabolic pathways. Here we have identified three mutations within a gene that result in pale-colored flowers in the Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil). As the mutations lead to a reduction of the colorless flavonoid compound flavonol as well as of anthocyanins in the flower petal, the identified gene was designated enhancer of flavonoid production (EFP). EFP encodes a chalcone isomerase (CHI)-related protein classified as a type IV CHI protein. CHI is the second committed enzyme of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway, but type IV CHI proteins are thought to lack CHI enzymatic activity, and their functions remain unknown. The spatio-temporal expression of EFP and structural genes encoding enzymes that produce flavonoids is very similar. Expression of both EFP and the structural genes is coordinately promoted by genes encoding R2R3-MYB and WD40 family proteins. The EFP gene is widely distributed in land plants, and RNAi knockdown mutants of the EFP homologs in petunia (Petunia hybrida) and torenia (Torenia hybrida) had pale-colored flowers and low amounts of anthocyanins. The flavonol and flavone contents in the knockdown petunia and torenia flowers, respectively, were also significantly decreased, suggesting that the EFP protein contributes in early step(s) of the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway to ensure production of flavonoid compounds. From these results, we conclude that EFP is an enhancer of flavonoid production and flower pigmentation, and its function is conserved among diverse land plant species.


Purpose: PD-1 checkpoint blockade has revolutionized the field of cancer immunotherapy, yet the frequency of responding patients is limited by inadequate T-cell priming secondary to a paucity of activatory dendritic cells (DCs). DC signals can be bypassed by CD27 agonists and we therefore investigated if the effectiveness of anti-PD-1/L1 could be improved by combining with agonist anti-CD27 monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Experimental Design: The efficacy of PD-1/L1 blockade or agonist anti-CD27 mAb was compared with a dual-therapy approach in multiple tumor models. Global transcriptional profiling and flow-cytometry analysis were used to delineate mechanisms underpinning the observed synergy. Results: PD-1/PD-L1 blockade and agonist anti-CD27 mAb synergize for increased CD8+ T-cell expansion and effector function, exemplified by enhanced IFN-  , TNF-α, granzyme B and T-bet. Transcriptome analysis of CD8+ T cells revealed that combination therapy triggered a convergent program largely driven by IL-2 and Myc. However, division of labor was also apparent such that anti-PD-1/L1 activates a cytotoxicity-gene expression program whereas anti-CD27 preferentially augments proliferation. In tumor models, either dependent on endogenous CD8+ T cells or adoptive transfer of transgenic T cells, anti-CD27 mAb synergized with PD-1/L1 blockade for anti-tumor immunity. Finally, we show that a clinically-relevant anti-human CD27 mAb, varlilumab, similarly synergizes with PD-L1 blockade for protection against lymphoma in human-CD27 transgenic mice. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that suboptimal T-cell invigoration in cancer patients undergoing treatment with PD-1 checkpoint blockers will be improved by dual PD-1 blockade and CD27 agonism and provide mechanistic insight into how these approaches co-operate for CD8+ T-cell activation. These data reveal the complex interplay between co-stimulatory and inhibitory receptors in regulating T-cell activation and provide new impetus for evaluating combined agonist anti-CD27 and PD-1/L1 blockade in patients.


In 2011 a seemingly 'typical' architectural competition was organised (consisting of a real site, design brief, International jury and prizes) by the Universities of Freiburg and Bremen (Germany) in collaboration with Northumbria University (UK) but with an ulterior motive of pursuing a specific design-research agenda. The reasons for the competition were: to engage architects in an academic research agenda through a comfortingly familiar modus operandi; to bring together researchers in architectural theory/spatial cognition and practising architects with an interest in user-centred design; to use a design competition as a means to investigate the effects of designing with a particular focus (in this case: movement paths/pedestrian flow and the unfolding user experience); to amass a uniform database of example buildings, all responding to the same brief and site whilst also in a common format amenable to further research analysis.
The competition was entered by 30 teams of which a short-list of 12 schemes was selected for exhibition in New York, which took place in November 2011. Three schemes were selected as prize-winners and those designers were invited to present at an academic workshop (on the topic of spatial cognition and architectural design) held concurrently with the exhibition. The compe-tition was perceived as being a highly productive way to engage design practitioners in an active research agenda (and vice versa). The winning architects who subsequently participated in the workshop found it a valuable experience whilst the competi-tion organisers have now amassed a valuable database that will be invaluable resource for further research into the topic. The success of this event has led to plans to repeat the process.


This article examines the application of chaos theory to provide a clear comprehensive view of career development. Examples from career decision-making and career transitions are used to illustrate the general concepts of chaos theory, including sensitive dependence on initial conditions, aperiodicity and predictability horizons. The examples are further used to demonstrate the chaotic nature of careers. The article also proposes a reassessment of the theoretical constructs of career development. Implications and suggestions for practitioners are explored. Most career theorists would agree that career development is an ongoing process and not confined to the outcome of one decision. Donald Super (1990) included cycling and recycling in his Life-Span Theory, despite specifically included age ranges, just as David Tiedeman (1961) reasoned that it was possible to return to an earlier period if information led the decision maker to believe that a wrong choice had been made. Other researchers have focused on specific internal and external influences on career decision making, such as familial influences (Chope, 2001; Roe, 1956) economic influences (Borgen, Amundson & Harder, 1988) and self-efficacy (Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994). While these theorists may focus differently on the source and impact of the influences, little has been done to develop a theory that incorporates all possible influencing factors. Hershenson (2005) wrote that the lack of a complete theory with a comprehensive model of career development is because the career development process is too complex, too dependent on interconnected variables. People making decisions on their career development are not solely influenced by one set of factors, but all factors- whether they are acknowledged or not. The simple sublime truth is that career decisionmaking, with its influences and projected outcomes, is incredibly complex. Recently, some writers and practitioners have brought the concepts of chaos theory to bear on the problems of integrating career development and comprehensive career decision-making (Pryor & Bright, 2003; Bloch, 2005). There is a common misconception that chaos theory is used to provide meaning to random occurrences. Chaos theory is not about random behavior, but instead attempts to explain behavior in complex systems. Chaos theory is ideal in explaining behavior occurring on a large scale with an indeterminable number of variables. It is a theory that is well suited to the complexities of life and human behavior. In this case, the behavior is the method and process of career decision-making. A chaotic system will result in certain specific characteristics of behavior or roughly follow patterns of behavior that can be studied and understood. The best known of these characteristics is what Edward Lorenz (1993) referred to as sensitive dependence on initial conditions. This might be more commonly known as the Butterfly Effect or non-linearity. Sensitive dependence implies two things; one is that the behavior that will occur in the future happens as a direct result from the behavior in the current system. The other implication is that minute differences in input, or tiny changes in the system, can result in exponential differences in resulting behavior. This means that extremely minor behaviors can have enormous impacts on the future of the system. Reactions do not occur on a predictable or linear scale. Usually we think in linear terms of causeand-effect. If I turn on a sink faucet just a little, then a small amount of water comes out. If I open it even more, I expect more water to come out. This is a linear reaction. A non-linear reaction occurs when I open the valve all of the way, thereby creating turbulence in the flow of water. Instead of getting a proportional increase in water, I get less water coming out than before. For a comparable example in career planning, take an undecided freshman. In this example, the undecided freshman makes every appropriate effort to figure out what to major in. …


Both formal analysis in the sense of proving theorems about the properties of agent and mechanism design and the use of formalisms as representation languages have been central elements in the foundation of multi agent systems research. The choice and frequently the development of formalisms for the specification and description of multi agent systems has been guided by intuition regarding the importance and nature of such concepts as belief and intention. An alternative to this foundational approach is a representational approach developed by modellers of observed social systems who design agents and mechanisms to capture observed behaviour and modes of social interaction. While the foundational approach has had an important influence on the research agenda of agent based social simulation, the representational techniques of agent based social simulation modellers have had no discernable influence on formalistic approaches to software engineering for multi agent systems. The purpose of this paper is to define a means of making available the lessons of real social systems to adopting formal approaches to MAS design. The means employed turns on the development of a canonical model capturing features of an observed social system in a way that relates explicitly to concepts such as belief, desire, intention, commitment, norms, obligation and responsibility. As a result, it is possible to define these concepts with minimal ambiguity either as an alternative to the use of formalisms as representation languages or as a bridge to such formalisms.


ISBN 978-85-86497-40-7 / 978-85-86497-42-1 (e-book), CLE/Unicamp, 1a. Edicao (2019)
One of the main sources of contemporary analytic philosophy, the work of Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein impacted neighboring fields not only in philosophy but also in areas like semiotics, linguistics, education and translation studies, even though such influence is not always clearly visible or explicitly recognized – especially where this happened indirectly. Coming from these different areas, the contributors to this volume share a large experience of reading Wittgenstein – through their own research interests – and, to a great extent, also in dealing with translational questions. The topic translation serves them here as a common theme to be addressed from their particular perspectives, with sometimes complementary, sometimes conflicting results.
The Wittgenstein in translation variant involves analyzing translations of the Wittgensteinian body of work now available in several languages, by the criteria that guided the process. It also involves taking up the texts translated or revised by the author himself, which are of a signicant number in his Nachlass, whose electronic version is available online from the Wittgenstein Archives of the University of Bergen/Norway, host of the 2017 meeting that gave rise to this volume. Also guiding the Wittgenstein on translation variant is the philosopher's perspective(s) on what translation is and how language works. What does 'translating' mean? Does it depend on how we conceive language itself? What Wittgensteinian concepts can be mobilized for a better understanding of the notion and practice of translating in different fields of application? These are some of the questions tackled here.
This book is an effort not only in international cooperation, but also in intercultural communication. It is written in English, which – as lingua franca – is the mother tongue of none of the contributors. It is also a result of long-term exchanges between Brazilian researchers and their European (and Latin-American) fellows, spread over many countries, but gathered around the common interest in Wittgenstein's philosophy. Arley Ramos Moreno, one of the guest editors, left us before the book was finished – an additional reason for us to remember the Wittgenstein Colloquia he organized for many years at Unicamp, gathering many of the leading voices in the field in both sides of the Atlantic, their results being usually published by Colecao CLE. This book, which we in a way dedicate to him, is certainly in line with that tradition.
Paulo Oliveira - CEL/Unicamp, member of the CNPq research group Philosophy of Language and Knowledge


Many of the new digital communication standards, conceived to overcome the ever greater demands on bit rate capacity and spectral efficiency, consider the use of non-constant amplitude modulations such as M-QAM in OFDM formats. One of the major limitations on the performance of such systems is the non linear distortion typically introduced by high power amplifiers (HPA) in the transmission chain. This paper summarizes the proposal of a new signal processing algorithm for the adaptive estimation of the complex gain characteristic of a nonlinear HPA, in a pre/post-distortion scheme. Some simulation results are presented in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this linearization procedure and future related research to consider.


Research supporting the Matthew effect demonstrates that high-status actors experience performance benefits due to increased recognition of their work and greater opportunities and resources, but recent research also indicates that high-status actors face a greater risk of negative performance evaluations. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the status literature by reconciling these findings and ask: To what extent does status influence heterogeneity in performance evaluations? We explore how project leader status affects the performance of innovation projects in the video game industry. We hypothesize that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between project leader status and project performance, and a positive relationship between project leader status and performance extremeness (i.e., performance variation). In order to test our hypotheses, we analysed the performance of video game projects and computed the status of project leaders by applying a project affiliation social network analysis. We find that an intermediate level of status – neither too much nor too little – is positively associated with average project performance. We also reveal more extreme performance effects for high-status leaders: While some achieve superior project performance, others experience significant project failures. We, therefore, provide important theoretical and practical insights regarding how status affects the implementation of innovations. We also discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on middle-status conformity.


ABSTRACT Two similar species of Primula section Dodecatheon are native and rare in Pennsylvania: Primula meadia in the Potomac watershed and Primula fassettii (syn. D. amethystinum), in the Susquehanna watershed. In the field, P. meadia is more robust than P. fassettii in most features. We conducted a common garden experiment to determine whether P. fassettii would more nearly resemble P. meadia. We collected seeds from one field site in both watersheds in 2008. Plants were grown in a greenhouse at Mt. Cuba Center, Delaware, until 2011, then in raised beds in a shade house. The first plants bloomed in 2012, and almost all bloomed in 2013 and 2014. We gathered data on 22 characteristics through 2014. The two populations exhibited statistically significant convergence in the common garden (less difference than in the field) in leaf length and length-width ratio, flower number, and capsule wall thickness. Significant divergence (more difference than in the field) occurred in scape diameter, corolla color, and capsule shape and color value. The remaining characters did not converge or diverge: leaf width, leaf base coloration, scape length, calyx lobe length, corolla length, calyx:corolla length ratio, anther length, and anther color, as well as capsule length, width, length-width ratio, valve length, hue, and chroma. In common garden (compared to field) scape dimensions, flower number, capsule dimensions, and capsule wall thickness increased while calyx lobe length decreased. Corolla and anther length did not change. Corolla color was significantly darker in Susquehanna plants, while capsule hue became more reddish in both populations.


Purpose: Our research objective is to perform a descriptive analysis of the information on intangible assets disclosed by Spanish banks indexed on the IBEX 35 as a step prior to the creation of which allows us to eventually create a specific disclosure index for this type of content during 2010-2012, the most critical years of the crisis in Spain. Design/methodology/approach: In a first section of the methodology, it has been carried out a content analysis using five categories that cover all the terms that were considered the most relevant in the literature on intangible assets: concepts of intellectual capital, human capital, structural capital, relational capital and usefulness of information. This information has been the basis for the design of an index by categories and global as a second part of the methodological design. Findings: Our results found that the disclosure level of Spanish financial entities in terms of intangibles is reduced with an aggregate index of intangible assets of 0.2698 (between 0 and 1). Although, within the categories proposed it can be highlighted the priority role of the usefulness information index followed by the relational and human capital indexes. Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on 2010 to 2012, which conditions and justifies the results obtained for a period of crisis such as the one analyzed. Practical implications: Our results confirm that the financial entities have not bet for the use of the disclosure of information on intangibles during the crisis despite their potential value in order to guarantee a competitive business performance. Social implications: Managers of financial institutions may have a comparative vision of the disclosure of intangibles and adopt future disclosure policies that consider the value of this information. Originality/value: As the main contribution, this paper incorporates the results of a specific index on intangibles (both globally and specifically for 5 categories) for financial institutions. Our results open future lines of research that analyze why not use this information for competitive purposes and, specifically, to gain confidence in a context as difficult as that experienced in the years of crisis studied.