Active Na+ transport by alveolar epithelial cells has been demonstrated to contribute significantly to alveolar fluid clearance. However, the contribution of transepithelial Cl- movement to the reabsorption of isosmotic fluid across the alveolar epithelium in vivo has not been elucidated. We hypothesized that Cl- transport could be increased across the alveolar epithelium in vivo and across cultured alveolar type II cells by agents that increase intracellular cAMP (e.g., forskolin). In studies where 5% albumin in sodium methanesulfonate (a Cl--free solution) was administered into the lung, forskolin administration significantly increased intracellular influx of Cl- and fluid into the alveolar space. In vitro studies with cultured rabbit alveolar type II cell monolayers in Ussing chambers demonstrated that elevations in intracellular cAMP increase short-circuit current by increasing both Cl-secretion and Na+ reabsorption. The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator channel blocker glibenclamide and the loop diuretic bumetanide partially decreased the forskolin-induced increase in short-circuit current. These data may explain the failure of agonist that stimulated intracellular cAMP to increase alveolar fluid clearance in the rabbit. Moreover, the data suggest that in the event Na+absorptive pathways are damaged, transepithelial Cl- secretion and the consequent intra-alveolar fluid influx may be upregulated.


For the past 65 years, the National Galleries of Scotland has displayed the acclaimed "Bridgewater Collection", one of the world's most important groups of Old Master paintings still under private ownership. Consisting largely of French and Italian works, the collection includes Titian's "Diana and Actaeon" (recently purchased by the National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery of London) and "Diana and Callisto", each an undeniable masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. Featuring 50 beautiful colour illustrations, this catalogue accompanies an unprecedented exhibition of 25 paintings and drawings from the National Galleries of Scotland. In addition to the works by Titian, the book features superb paintings and drawings by Lorenzo Lotto, Jacopo Bassano, Tintoretto, and Veronese. With special emphasis on the Titian masterpieces, the expert authors discuss aspects of the Bridgewater Collection and its long, proud history of bringing Old Master paintings to public view.


Background and objective To our knowledge, no previous studies have focused on the immunomodulatory effects of fresh royal jelly (RJ) administration on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in humans. Our aim was to study the effect of fresh RJ administration on the disease course in children with SLE with some immunological markers (CD4+ and CD8+ regulatory T cells and T lymphocytes apoptosis). Methods This was an open-label study in which 20 SLE children received 2 g of freshly prepared RJ daily, for 12 weeks. Results The percentages of CD4+ CD25+high FOXP3+cells (CD4+ regulatory T cells) and CD8+CD25+high FOXP3+cells (CD8+ regulatory T cells) were significantly increased after RJ treatment when compared with baseline values. Apoptotic CD4 T lymphocytes were significantly decreased after RJ therapy when compared with baseline values and the control group. Conclusion This is the first human study on the effect of RJ supplementation in children with SLE. Our results showed improvements with 3-month RJ treatment with regard to the clinical severity score and laboratory markers for the disease. At this stage, it is a single study with a small number of patients, and a great deal of additional wide-scale randomized controlled studies are needed to critically validate the efficacy of RJ in SLE.


The paper presents direct measurement of in-cylinder friction from a single cylinder motocross race engine under motored conditions and compares the same with a new analytical predictive method. These conditions are encountered in piston–cylinder system with the application of cylinder deactivation (CDA) technology, which is a growing trend. The analytical method takes into account the various regions within instantaneous contact of compression ring–cylinder liner, including lubricant film rupture, cavitation zone and the subsequent lubricant film reformation. The analysis also includes the effect of boundary friction and lubricant rheology. The predictions and direct measurements of cyclic friction show good agreement and indicate dominance of viscous friction under the investigated engine running conditions. In particular, it is shown that the compression ring contribution to in-cycle friction is most pronounced in the region of high cylinder pressures because of combined Poiseuille friction and some boundary solid interactions. The combined experimental-analytical approach has not hitherto been reported in literature.


Although it is convenient to think of cell signaling cascades as linear responses to extracellular inputs, the reality is that cells receive multiple stimuli and the signaling network is highly interconnected with many points of crosstalk and feedback. Crosstalk among signaling pathways results in cellular responses that may not simply be the additive effects of the ligands present, but rather a context-dependent response. Natarajan et al. prove this by analyzing signaling responses to 22 single ligands and 231 pairwise combinations in RAW 264.7 macrophages (data from the Alliance for Cellular Signaling). The responses were changes in the concentrations of intracellular calcium and cAMP, phosphorylation status of 21 signaling proteins, and secretion of 18 cytokines. For single ligand experiments, the raw data were transformed into a mathematical value, the Z-score, to allow uniform statistical analysis. For the double ligand experiments, a new score representing the nonadditive effects of the two ligands on the cellular responses was calculated (ΔΔZ). In many cases, crosstalk between the two pathways was evident, with examples including synergy (response greater than the predicted additive response) and saturation of the response (the response was the same as that for either ligand alone). These nonadditive responses were consistent with previously reported crosstalk. In some cases, the authors chose to further investigate the mechanism of crosstalk experimentally. Each of the 22 ligands showed a nonadditive interaction with at least one other ligand for regulation of cytokine secretion. The authors suggest that the grouping of ligands based on their effects on cytokine secretion suggest a limited set of "interaction agents," which are defined as signaling circuits that couple distinct signaling pathways. In some aspects, this analysis confirms existing data. Also the analysis points to new points of crosstalk and suggests that the complexity of the cellular response to any ligand is highly context-dependent, with the potential to vary with the cell's signaling history and current signaling environment (presence of one or more ligands). M. Natarajan, K.-M. Lin, R. C. Hsueh, P. C. Sternweis, R. Ranganathan, A global analysis of cross-talk in a mammalian cellular signalling network. Nat. Cell Biol. 8, 571-580 (2006). [PubMed]


ABSTRACT The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA) was launched by the European Commission in 2011 to promote innovation in ageing research. This paper explores the experiences of partners delivering frailty interventions within Europe, registering their programmes with the EIP-AHA. Data were collected using an online survey from 21 partners in seven countries. A mixed-method approach was used with inductive thematic analysis of free-text responses to improve data richness. Responses indicated that there was a lack of consistency between EIP-AHA partners in methods of defining, screening and measuring for frailty and pre-frailty. Open responses to survey questions about intervention facilitators, moderators and barriers were coded into two themes: working with stakeholders and project management. We concluded that EIP-AHA partners are providing interventions addressing physical, cognitive and wellbeing elements of frailty. However, there needs to be an increase in the proportion of interventions that consistently apply valid methods of screening and/or measuring frailty and pre-frailty. Most, but not all projects are targeting pre-frail older adults, suggesting an appropriate balance of prevention in a useful 'intervention window' but also a growing understanding that frailty at later stages is amenable to intervention. Findings suggest design manipulations to improve outcomes and adherence to interventions, specifically inclusion of a perceived benefit/reward for older adults, e.g. a social aspect or health-care promotion.


Imperialism is not confined to the political or economic aspects of the historical process. Rather, it is to be considered as a cluster. A phenomenon such as imperialism is a cluster of different aspects of human undertakings. What is usually discussed is economic and political imperialism. In this paper, however, we turn to intellectual imperialism, first describing what it is, and second enumerating the problems connected with it. Intellectual imperialism has, among other things, resulted in a displacement of attention from issues that should be of vital concern to Asian and African societies. The emancipation of the mind from the shackles of intellectual imperialism is the major condition for the development of a creative and autonomous social science tradition in developing societies.


Wind tunnel tests were performed to measure the effect of a satellite transmitter on a juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas). A full-scale turtle model was constructed from an 11.5 kg specimen with a 48 cm carapace length, and a transmitter model was constructed from a Telonics ST-6. The turtle model was tested in a wind tunnel with and without the transmitter, which was mounted on the forward, topmost part of the carapace. Drag, lift and pitch moment were measured for several speeds and flow angles, and the data were scaled for application to the marine environment. At small flow angles representative of straight-line swimming, the transmitter increased drag by 27-30 %, reduced lift by less than 10 % and increased the pitch moment by 11-42 %. On the basis of the drag data at zero angle of attack, it is estimated that the backpack will reduce swimming speed by 11 %, assuming that the turtle produces the same thrust with the unit attached. The drag data are also used to estimate the effect of a transmitter on the swimming energetics of an adult green turtle. Design guidelines are included to minimize the adverse forces and moments caused by the transmitter.


The catalytic properties of tin-, zirconium- and hafnium-containing siliceous zeolite Beta were investigated in the Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley reduction of furfural using a liquid-phase plug-flow microreactor at temperatures between 328–358 K. Catalytic rates varied widely with the highest turnover frequency observed on Hf-Beta (4.6 min−1), followed by Zr- and Sn-Beta (1.8 min−1 and 0.51 min−1, respectively). The lowest activation energy was observed on Hf-Beta (49.6 kJ mol−1) while Zr- and Sn-Beta showed higher but similar activation energy (60.7 and 60.4 kJ mol−1, respectively). The catalysts deactivate with time on stream (with a half-life of 3.5 hours or longer) and are poisoned by the reaction product furfuryl alcohol. Deactivation is caused partly by the polymerization of reactants and products that are retained in the zeolite pores and block access to active sites, but operation at higher temperature (408 K) slows the rate of deactivation significantly. The catalytic properties of the materials can be regenerated by calcination in air.


OBJECTIVE
Childhood diarrhea accounts for substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Multiple studies in children have shown that Lactobacillus, administered orally, may have antidiarrheal properties. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled studies to assess whether treatment with Lactobacillus improves clinical outcomes in children with acute infectious diarrhea.

METHODS
Studies were sought in bibliographic databases of traditional biomedical as well as complementary and alternative medicine literature published from 1966 to 2000. Search terms were "competitive inhibition," "diarrhea," "gastroenteritis," "Lactobacillus," "probiotic," "rotavirus," and "yog(h)urt." We included studies that were adequately randomized, blinded, controlled trials in which the treatment group received Lactobacillus and the control group received an adequate placebo and that reported clinical outcome measures of diarrhea intensity. These inclusion criteria were applied by blind review and consensus. The original search yielded 26 studies, 9 of which met the criteria. Multiple observers independently extracted study characteristics and clinical outcomes. Data sufficient to perform meta-analysis of the effect of Lactobacillus on diarrhea duration and diarrhea frequency on day 2 were contained in 7 and 3 of the included studies, respectively.

RESULTS
Summary point estimates indicate a reduction in diarrhea duration of 0.7 days (95% confidence interval: 0.3-1.2 days) and a reduction in diarrhea frequency of 1.6 stools on day 2 of treatment (95% confidence interval: 0.7-2.6 fewer stools) in the participants who received Lactobacillus compared with those who received placebo. Details of treatment protocols varied among the studies. A preplanned subanalysis suggests a dose-effect relationship.

CONCLUSION
The results of this meta-analysis suggest that Lactobacillus is safe and effective as a treatment for children with acute infectious diarrhea.


Saez (2010) introduced an influential estimator that has become known as the bunching estimator. Using this method one can get an estimate of the taxable income elasticity from the bunching pattern around a kink point. The bunching estimator has become popular, with a large number of papers applying the method. In this paper, we show that the bunching estimator cannot identify the taxable income elasticity when the functional form of the distribution of preference heterogeneity is unknown. We find that an observed distribution of taxable income around a kink point in a budget set can be consistent with any taxable income elasticity if the distribution of heterogeneity is unrestricted. If one is willing to assume restrictions on the heterogeneity density some information about the taxable income elasticity can be obtained. We give bounds on the taxable income elasticity based on monotonicity of the heterogeneity density and apply these bounds to the data in Saez (2010). We also consider identification from budget set variation. We find that kinks alone are still not informative even when budget sets vary. However, if the taxable income specification is restricted to be of the parametric isoelastic form assumed in Saez (2010) the taxable income elasticity can be well identified from variation among linear segments of budget sets.


As part of an international research project—funded by the European Union—capillary glasses for facades are being developed exploiting storage energy by means of fluids flowing through the capillaries. To meet highest visual demands, acrylate adhesives and EVA films are tested as possible bonding materials for the glass setup. Especially non-destructive methods (visual analysis, analysis of birefringent properties and computed tomographic data) are applied to evaluate failure patterns as well as the long-term behavior considering climatic influences. The experimental investigations are presented after different loading periods, providing information of failure developments. In addition, detailed information and scientific findings on the application of computed tomographic analyses are presented.


Start by creating or modifying the position you want to fill. Learn how to create and update position data and the non-person profile (job description), and, if necessary, prepare to feed data to CU Careers for recruitment. The types of changes you can make include working with vacant positions, reactivating positions, updating positions, new positions, and moving position and non-person profile data to CU Careers. Learn how to: Step-by-step: Adding Required Training [2] Step-by-step: Approving Transactions [3] Step-by-step: Create a Position [4] Step-by-step: Creating or Updating a Non-Person Profile [5] Step-by-step: Updating a Position [6] Step-by-step: Union Code Field in Position Data [7] Quick Reference Guide: View Completed ePAR Transactions and Track their Status [8]


Summary Objective Mesenteric arteries release C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), which hyperpolarises vascular smooth muscle. We measured the levels of this peptide after inducing mesenteric ischaemia over a series of time intervals, so as to determine its predictive value in demonstrating the severity of ischaemia in a rat model. Methods A total of 32 rats were allocated to four groups containing eight rats each. Basal CNP reference levels were measured in the control group, which was not exposed to any intervention. In groups I, II and III, mesenteric ischaemia was induced over three, six and nine hours, respectively, and plasma CNP levels were measured afterwards. Mesenteric ischaemia was induced by clamping the superior mesenteric artery. Results In comparison with the controls (2.38 ± 0.18 pg/ml), CNP levels were relatively lower in group I (2.54 ± 0.42 pg/ml). However, significant increases in plasma CNP levels were observed over longer periods of ischaemia in group II, at 5.23 ± 0.22 pg/ml, and in group III, at 6.19 ± 0.67 pg/ml (p < 0.05). A significant direct relationship was determined between plasma CNP levels and prolonged intervals of mesenteric ischaemia (R = 0.56, p < 0.001). Conclusion Measuring plasma CNP levels in patients with acute mesenteric ischaemia may be beneficial in estimating the time period over which the ischaemic injury has occurred.


A central issue in urban inequity has to do with distributive justice in the costs and benefits associated with urban transport, and whether certain population groups are systematically disadvantaged about mobility, accessibility, affordability, and externalities, the preponderant factors in transport poverty. This article proposes a methodology for analyzing how investment in transport infrastructure and non-housing construction, mobility levels (trip distances, times, and speeds) and the associated trip costs (monetary, accidents, pollution, and energy consumption) are distributed across the different socioeconomic quintiles of a city. The methodology was applied to the real-world case of Santiago de Chile. The results showed that compared with the lowest income quintile, people in the highest income quintile made 1.2 times more trips at an average speed 1.6 times higher. In relation to costs, the richest quintile generated 6.7 times as much pollution and used 7 times as much energy but consumed a significantly lower share of their income (10% vs. 45%). In addition, the top quintile was the beneficiary of 2.5 times more investment in both transport infrastructure and new construction space for commercial activities and services over the period considered. Finally, private car use in the top quintile was 5.3 times greater. This transport mode accounts for 6.8 times more of the accident rate than public transport, bicycles, or walking combined. This clearly inequitable scenario points to the needs for progressive policies that target lower income groups and promote a more rational use of cars in view of their negative impacts on the city.


This paper surveys the history of the oil industry with a particular focus on the events associated with significant changes in the price of oil. Although oil was used much differently and was substantially less important economically in the nineteenth century than it is today, there are interesting parallels between events in that era and more recent developments. Key post-World-War-II oil shocks reviewed include the Suez Crisis of 1956-57, the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-1974, the Iranian revolution of 1978-1979, the Iran-Iraq War initiated in 1980, the first Persian Gulf War in 1990-91, and the oil price spike of 2007-2008. Other more minor disturbances are also discussed, as are the economic downturns that followed each of the major postwar oil shocks.


Background: Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and their combination are considered to warrant especially aggressive treatment if caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Methods: Our prospective treatment trial of children aged 3 months to 15 years included 199 cases of S. aureus osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, or their combination. These cases were compared with 66 cases caused by other agents, mainly Haemophilus influenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniae, or Streptococcus pyogenes. According to protocol, the treatment was initiated intravenously only for 2 to 4 days and completed orally. Nonstaphylococcal and staphylococcal infections were treated similarly. Primary antibiotics were clindamycin or a first-generation cephalosporin. Follow-up lasted ≥12 months posthospitalization. Results: Staphylococcal infections did not significantly differ in the duration of medication, hospital stay, surgery performed, or the number of sequelae when compared with the other etiologic groups. One child with S. aureus arthritis developed 2 late infections by other agents in the same anatomic site. Except 3 mild sequelae (2 caused by S. aureus and 1 by S. pyogenes) 12 months posthospitalization, all patients recovered completely. Conclusions: Osteoarticular infections of childhood caused by methicillin-susceptible S. aureus can be treated according to the same protocol as those used for infections caused by other agents.


Background The two typhoid vaccines, the parenteral Vi capsular polysaccharide and the oral live whole-cell Salmonella Typhi Ty21a vaccine, provide similar levels of protection in field trials. Sharing no antigens, they are thought to confer protection by different mechanisms. This is the first head-to-head study to compare the humoral immune responses to these two vaccines. Methods 50 age- and gender-matched volunteers were immunized, 25 with the Vi and 25 with the Ty21a vaccine. Circulating plasmablasts reactive with whole-cell Salmonella Typhi or one of the typhoidal antigenic structures, Vi, O-9,12, and H-d antigens, were identified as antibody-secreting cells (ASC) with ELISPOT. Homing receptor (HR) expressions were determined. These results were compared with ASC in four patients with typhoid fever. Antibodies to S. Typhi lipopolysaccharides were assessed in cultures of ALS (antibodies in lymphocyte supernatants) and in serum with ELISA. Results In 49 out of 50 vaccinees, no typhoid-specific plasmablasts were seen before vaccination. On day 7, response to Vi antigen was mounted in 24/25 volunteers in the Vi, and none in the Ty21a group; response to S. Typhi and O-9,12 was mounted in 49/50 vaccinees; and to H-d in 3/50. The numbers of typhoid-specific plasmablasts (total of ASC to Vi, O-9,12 and H-d antigens) proved equal in the vaccination groups. The HR expressions indicated a mainly systemic homing in the Vi and intestinal in the Ty21a group, the latter resembling that in natural infection. Plasmablasts proved more sensitive than serum and ALS in assessing the immune response. Conclusions The typhoid-specific humoral responses to Vi and Ty21a vaccines are similar in magnitude, but differ in expected localization and antigen-specificity. The unforeseen O antigen-specific response in the Vi group is probably due to lipopolysaccharide contaminating the vaccine preparation. Only the response to Ty21a vaccine was found to imitate that in natural infection. Trial Registration Current Controlled Trials Ltd. c/o BioMed Central ISRCTN68125331


I AM A THEATER DIRECTOR, and my research is prompted by my obsession with August Strindberg's Ett dromspel (A Dream Play). Here I will discuss Earthbound, an original adaptation of Ett dromspel that I am currently working on, one in which I employ digital technologies to provide a new solution to Strindberg's own vision for the play as evidenced in his stage directions. Earthbound is a "hyperserial," which is to say it merges an episodic video structure with the Internet as a venue. I am a director, not a scholar, and what I have to say mainly concerns process and structure (though towards the end I will also discuss outcomes). So in order to talk about Ett dromspel and Earthbound, I need to back up and talk about dreams and experiments and the relationship between the two. I am what you might call an experimental theater director--though experimental is one of those unfortunate words that is more confusing than revealing, but that theater is stuck with. Much of what passes as experimental theater today is actually quite conventional, in that it is not really experimental at all but would have been cutting-edge say seventy years ago. There is now a generalized idea of what experimental work is supposed to look like, an idea that hearkens back to the heyday of twentieth century modernism. This is regrettable since it tends to close off the search for what is genuinely experimental in theater. Russian-American director and actor Michael Chekov, a disciple of Konstantin Stanislavski, promoted a concern for something he called "The Theater of the Future," which never arrives; it's something we continually strive for. The people from whom I draw great inspiration are the likes of directors Anne Bogart, especially her Viewpoints technique; Scandinavia-based Eugenio Barba's laboratory approach and interest in theater anthropology; the Wooster Group's continuous exploration of ensemble acting potential; and Robert Wilson's mixed-media creative reappropriation tableau-approach, evident not least in his 1998 production of Ett dromspel at Stockholm City Theater. These people are not afraid to make something that might not look like theater as we've come to expect it. I believe Strindberg belongs in this category. As long as audiences believe they know what they are going to see when they enter the theater--as they do now--we are in a bad state. The moment that people become unsure about this and feel that they can't anticipate what they are going to see, then experimental theater is alive and well. In this particular project, I am trying to create this uncertainty in the audience by redefining the relationship between the spoken text of the actors and the images to which they are anchored, both psychically (as actors) and in terms of the environment in which they find themselves and to which they must respond. CONCEPTS A dream: I am sitting on a tall stool facing a wall. The stool is on the mezzanine level of a large open space overlooking the playing area of a theater dedicated to the production of experimental theater. I am in the process of staging a new work here, and a lighting instrument has just been hung to illuminate me as I sit on the stool with the idea of incorporating my presence as the director into the actual performance. It is late and the actors are tired. My wife encourages me to let them go, confident that she can do all the work that still needs to be done without us--I too have been dismissed. And now I am outside looking down on the building from an elevated location across the street. The world of the dream is dark, but I can see the actors as a group making their way to a vampire-themed party they have been invited to by Cornel West, the prominent African-American author and activist. I hurry to catch up so I can ask them to wait for me because of one last errand I need to attend to in the theater. These little errands are the make-and-break of all theatricals. I am a little anxious about whether I will be able to reach the actors before they disappear into the night, and about whether they will agree to wait for me, and finally I am anxious about whether I can complete my errand quickly. …


Tropical freshwater prawns are of considerable interest because of the importance
of this commodity in international trade. They are one of the highest valued
products in international fisheries trade and as such have good long term potential.
Studies on the bacteriological and biochemical changes 'of pond water and cultured
freshwater prawns were carried out to evaluate the relationship between water
quality and microbiological changes during storage. Prawns were taken from three
sampling sites viz: Site 1- Kg. Jumbang, Negri Sembilan; Site 2- Kg. Cangkat Tin,
Perak and Site 3- Kg. Cenderiang, Perak. They were then stored at 3 different
storage conditions: 1) 20 d at ambient (280 ± 2°C); 2) 10 d at 100 ± 2°C and 3) 16 d
at iced storage (4° ± 2°C). Microbiological analysis was performed for total
mesophilic and psychrophilic aerobic COWlts, proteolytic bacterial COWlts, histamine
producing bacteria, cadaverine producing bacteria and putrescine producing
bacteria in the prawns and pond water for the three sites using appropriate bacteriological agar media. Biochemical analysis was carried out for pH profiles
using pH meter, freshness in terms of K-values from the test paper strips, amino
acids profiles using the amino acid analyser, total volatile bases (TVB) and total
volatile acids (TVA) from the distillation methods and biogenic amines viz;
histamine, cadaverine and putrescine using the high performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC) method. Results obtained showed that the
microbiological quality of freshwater prawns was related to the micro flora of pond
water where they were grown. The initial counts indicated the values were in the
range of log 4+ CFU/g for all samples. Total mesophilic and psychrophilic counts
of the head regions were higher than that of the body regions for all prawn samples
and types of growth media tested. All samples showed an increase in counts with
time and temperature of storage up to log 7+ CFU/g for mesophilic counts after 12
hat ambient, 6 d at lO˚C and 12 d at iced storage. Site 2 samples had relatively
higher counts as compared to that of the other two sites which correlated well with
the levels determined in their pond water. Similar trends were observed for
psychrophilic counts but at lower values for different types of media studied.
Biochemical results showed similar trends of increment in values and were closely
related to the microbiological data until spoilage set in.
Effect of preservatives on quality changes, biogenic amines production and
shelf life of prawns during iced storage were investigated by sensory,
microbiological, physical and chemical analyses. Sensory results indicated that the
whole prawns had a shelf life of about 20 d when treated with 2% sucrose, boric
acid, lactic acid, sodium chloride, and sodium metabisulfite except for control which had only 15 d shelf life. Boric acid, lactic acid and sodium metabisulfite
managed to inhibit psychrophilic bacteria and biogenic amines formation in prawns
while maintaining the mesophilic counts at lower levels during iced storage.
Different analytical methods for the determination of histamine in prawns
were evaluated. Use of enzymatic methods in the form of oxygen electrode and
spectrophotometer offered excellent alternative methods for determination of
histamine in freshwater prawns. The experimental results showed there was an
increase of histamine measured by the oxygen electrode and very good correlation
of above 0.98 with the HPLC analyser for all samples. Recovery percentages of
about 100% for values of histamine between 0-200 µg/g was observed. Similarly,
use of spectrophotometer with coupled diamine oxidase and horseradish peroxidase
in the system allowed a semi quantitative estimation of histamine in prawns.
Correlation coefficients of r2
= 0.99 were observed when compared to that of the
HPLC method. Percentages of recovery of histamine in augmented samples were
also about 100% for concentration of histamine between 0-200 µg/g.


Abstract As simulations of 21st-century climate start to include components with longer timescales, such as ice sheets, the initial conditions for those components will become critical to the forecast. This paper describes an algorithm for specifying the initial state of an ice-sheet model, given spatially continuous observations of the surface elevation, the velocity at the surface and the thickness of the ice. The algorithm can be viewed as an inverse procedure to solve for the viscosity or the basal drag coefficient. It applies to incompressible Stokes flow over an impenetrable boundary, and is based upon techniques used in electric impedance tomography; in particular, the minimization of a type of cost function proposed by Kohn and Vogelius. The algorithm can be implemented numerically using only the forward solution of the Stokes equations, with no need to develop a separate adjoint model. The only requirement placed upon the numerical Stokes solver is that boundary conditions of Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin types can be implemented. As an illustrative example, the algorithm is applied to shear flow down an impenetrable inclined plane. A fully three-dimensional test case using a commercially available solver for the Stokes equations is also presented.


Urbanization of the countryside affects rural areas, especially in the immediate surroundings of large cities. Normally, this occurs as an unpromoted process, but in Chile, it is driven by the legal framework. This research focuses on rural residential plots (RRPs) around the capital city, Santiago. The analysis seeks to understand the significance and consequences of RRPs during the last four decades and the role of a favorable legal framework in affecting their development. By examining data and official cartography on rural residential plots, the analysis shows a large phenomenon of rapid RRP development in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile (MR). The study confirms the existence of an ongoing process that is still partially latent and potentially both uncontrolled and evolving. This work demonstrates the negative effect that land liberalization policies can have by promoting territorial transformations that policymakers cannot subsequently control. The conclusions provide a critical perspective on the counter-urbanization process in the context of fragility and scarce resources.


The ubiquity of plastics in oceans worldwide raises concerns about their ecological implications. Suspended microplastics (<5 mm) can be ingested by a wide range of marine organisms and may accumulate up the food web along with associated chemicals. Additionally, plastics provide a stable substrate to a wide range of organisms and, owing to their widespread dispersal, may function as vectors for harmful and invasive species. Despite the growing application of molecular techniques to study ocean microplastic colonizers, to date there is no comparative study on DNA extraction methods for ocean plastic biofilms. The present study aims to fill this gap by comparing DNA yield, amplification efficiency, costs and processing time of different DNA extraction techniques applied to oceanic microplastics. DNA was extracted with five methods (four extraction kits, and standard phenol:chloroform purification) using two mechanical lysis techniques (bead beating and cryogenic grinding with liquid nitrogen) applied to three plastic quantities (1, 15, and 50 fragments per extraction) and size classes (0.05–0.15 and 0.15–0.5 mm). All methods resulted in DNA suitable for downstream applications and were successfully amplified. Overall, the Qiagen Puregene Tissue kit yielded relatively high DNA concentrations for most sizes and amounts of plastics at relatively low costs and short processing time. This study provides a detailed evaluation of DNA extraction methods from ocean plastics, and may assist future research using molecular techniques to study ocean plastic biofilms.


To evaluate the failure potential of insulated packaging to heat outside, a so-called evaluation boundary for insulating packages was proposed for designing and estimating insulating packages based on the heat transfer law between the environment and a packaged product through packaging. Three evaluation parameters were suggested for describing the failure mechanism of insulating packages. The validity of the presented evaluation boundary was verified by the experimental data. Finally, a new design method of insulating packages based on the boundary was proposed and an application example was performed as a demonstration. The results indicated that the three evaluation parameters (which are thermal load, adsorption ability of phase change material (PCM) and system thermal resistance of insulating packages) are the key parameters for designing insulating package and that the performance of insulating packages is only determined by the thermal load. Moreover, the proposed evaluation boundary shows a good agreement with experimental results, and the availability of the new method to design insulating packages was affirmative through the application example.


The hypothesis of escalation proposes that biologic hazards, such as predation,
have increased through the Phanerozoic and that these hazards are important agents of
selection. Traits that give organisms an advantage over their enemies (predators,
competitors, and dangerous prey) should become better expressed with time. The naticid
predator-prey system is ideal for testing the hypothesis of escalation, because the
characteristic predatory drill holes made by naticid gastropods in their hard-shelled prey
produce a fossil record of predator-prey interaction. Three species from the bivalve
families Corbulidae and Lucinidae from the US Atlantic Coastal Plain ranging in age
from Miocene to Pleistocene were examined in this study. Anti-predatory related
morphologic characters (valve thickness, internal volume, and cost-benefit ratio) were
traced through the time interval studied. Valve thickness and cost-benefit ratio were
hypothesized to increase with time. Internal volume was hypothesized to decrease with
time. Three of nine predicted trends in anti-predatory morphology were confirmed.
Valve thickness increased in Caryocorbula conradi. Cost-benefit ratio increased in C.
conradi and Parvilucina crenulata. The evolution of anti-predatory traits was not
correlated with changes in drilling predation intensity nor prey effectiveness. The
evolution of anti-predatory morphology by the corbulids and lucinids may have been
outpaced by the evolution of the naticid predators. Determining causes in the evolution
of shell morphology is complicated, but the driving force of evolution is likely
attributable to selection produced by predators, primary productivity, and abiotic factors.


The quaternary business sector growth, as an up-to-date form of service, has long been considered harmless to the environment, and is separated from the industrial and manufacturing sectors which are considered to have a direct effect on environmental sustainability. This is because quarternary business is generally considered to have intangible and experience-based services that are considered not to have real consequences on the environment. This study seeks to examine the role of environmental staff in efforts to manage hotels in Batam Indonesia. Furthermore, this study seeks to explore the use of human resources to improve environmental performance in the hospitality business in Batam. Some key aspects of the HR study, such as compensation and leadership, were tested in this study. The method used is a quantitative approach with a sample of 150 respondents environmental management staff. Analysis of research data using path analysis through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that there was a significant and positive direct influence between work ability, leadership, and compensation on motivation of environmental staff. Subsequent results showed an indirect effect of work skills, leadership, and compensation on performance through motivational mediation variables. The originality of this study lies in its efforts to emphasize that the hospitality business should also be considered a business that has an effect on the environment, and the exploration of this study that brings the perspective of HR in improving environmental performance in the implementation of environmentally friendly businesses. This study underscores the importance of standardized environmental management in starred hotel management. In addition, this study offers originality that various forms of appreciation and increased motivation affect not only on improving business performance, but also on environmental performance in managing hospitality services


Is it an Animal? Is it Human? Is it an Extraordinary Freak of Nature? Or is it a legitimate member of Nature's Work? --The Illustrated London News, 29 August, 1846 In the deep shade, at the farther end of the room, a figure ran backwards and forwards. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight tell [...]. --Jane Eyre For Charlotte Bronte's readers, a generation indulging their appetite for monstrous marvels, the attic scene on the third floor of Thornfield in Jane Eyre might have been surprising, but not unfamiliar. When Rochester reveals the existence of his mad wife Bertha Mason, Jane Eyre and her wedding party are led into "a wild beast's den" (336), their eyes drawn toward a dark figure: In the deep shade, at the farther end of the room, a figure ran backwards and forwards. What it was, whether beast or human being, one could not, at first sight tell: it grovelled, seemingly, on all fours; it snatched and growled like some strange wild animal: but it was covered with clothing, and a quantity of dark, grizzled hair, wild as a mane, hid its head and face. (321-22) Rochester's audience is witnessing a scene that, in image, rhetoric, and form, echoes many nineteenth-century displays of anomalous bodies-giants, dwarfs, Siamese twins, hermaphrodites, fat ladies, living skeletons, wild men, and noble savages--in taverns, on street corners, in upper-class houses or courts, or in metropolitan exhibition places like Leicester Square and Egyptian Hall in London. Bertha's entrance recalls that of the "Hottentot Venus," one of the most notorious figures in London freak shows, who would emerge "like a wild beast, and [was] ordered to move backwards and forwards, and come out and go into her cage, more like a bear in a chain than a human being" (qtd. in Altick 269). The suspense surrounding Bertha's appearance echoes the provocation in advertisements such as that of "the Wild Man of the Prairies" in The Illustrated London News cited above. Though the show, the first of the "What Is It?" exhibitions staged by the famous showman Phineas Taylor Barnum, was promoted particularly with the appeal of the "missing link"; Barnum's advertisement, like many nineteenth-century freak show advertisements or handbills, established the attraction by emphasizing how the freak body borders on the boundaries of human and animal. Yet the astounding power of this scene relies on more than the images from nineteenth-century freak shows. Significantly, the scene achieves much of its dramatic effect and intensity by evoking the entwined narrative forms that produce freak shows, including, as Rosemarie Garland Thomson notes, the advertisement account of the freak's "extraordinary" life and identity, the showman's pitch that introduces the exhibited body by emphasizing its "deformity" or "anomaly," the staging that involves performances monitored by the showman, and the display that functions to establish the distance between the "civilized" spectator and the freak (Introduction 7). With the rhetoric of a freak show host, Rochester introduces Bertha, highlighting her "exotic" background and hybrid inheritance as the "anomalous": "Bertha Mason [...] came from a mad family; idiots and maniacs through three generations! Her mother, the Creole, was both a madwoman and a drunkard!" Describing himself as both a "civilized" host and a human victim of deception, Rochester invites his audience to see her as the monstrous: "You shall see what sort of a being I was cheated into espousing, and judge whether or not I had a right to break the compact, and seek sympathy with something at least human" (320). In Bertha's "goblin cell" (336), Rochester enacts the performance of a man and a "clothed hyena," making Bertha a supporting player: [T]he clothed hyena rose up, and stood tall on its hind-feet. …


The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative comparative analysis of growers' costs for inputs related to production, processing, packaging, and distribution of local foods to independent restaurants. Growers have been motivated to sell locally due to the asymmetry in farm-retail price spreads. Yet selling locally direct to restaurants may imply new types of processes, costs, and investments. While local farm-to-retail markets may provide opportunities to reduce these price spreads and maximize benefits for growers, it is unclear whether such efforts are economically viable for growers when all input costs are considered. Interviews with local food producers found that there were clearly higher costs for growers in most of the value chain for directly selling products to restaurants. Specifically, growers expressed a need for increased communication and interaction with restaurant buyers. Such interaction helped growers showcase their products to restaurants, yet required greater time inputs. However, premiums received by growers for these direct market sales were perceived to offset these costs. Local food is gaining popularity as an alternative economic strategy for developing local communities. For it to develop and be adopted progressively, however, clear costs and benefits need to be examined, evaluated, and communicated to producers and consumers.


We present a generic objectness measure, quantifying how likely it is for an image window to contain an object of any class. We explicitly train it to distinguish objects with a well-defined boundary in space, such as cows and telephones, from amorphous background elements, such as grass and road. The measure combines in a Bayesian framework several image cues measuring characteristics of objects, such as appearing different from their surroundings and having a closed boundary. This includes an innovative cue measuring the closed boundary characteristic. In experiments on the challenging PASCAL VOC 07 dataset, we show this new cue to outperform a state-of-the-art saliency measure [17], and the combined measure to perform better than any cue alone. Finally, we show how to sample windows from an image according to their objectness distribution and give an algorithm to employ them as location priors for modern class-specific object detectors. In experiments on PASCAL VOC 07 we show this greatly reduces the number of windows evaluated by class-specific object detectors.


In this paper, the optimal trajectory and deployment of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used as aerial base stations to collect data from ground Internet of Things (IoT) devices, is investigated. In particular, to enable reliable uplink communications for IoT devices with a minimum energy consumption, a new approach for optimal mobility of the UAVs is proposed. First, given a fixed ground IoT network, the total transmit power of the devices is minimized by properly clustering the IoT devices with each cluster being served by one UAV. Next, to maintain energy-efficient communications in time-varying mobile IoT networks, the optimal trajectories of the UAVs are determined by exploiting the framework of optimal transport theory. Simulation results show that by using the proposed approach, the total transmit power of IoT devices for reliable uplink communications can be reduced by 56% compared to the fixed Voronoi deployment method. Moreover, our results yield the optimal paths that will be used by UAVs to serve the mobile IoT devices with a minimum energy consumption.


Everything that lives will die. That's the fundamental fact of life. But not everyone dies at the same age: people vary wildly in their patterns of aging and their life spans - and that variation is nothing compared to what's found in other animal and plant species. A giant fungus found in Michigan has been alive since the Ice Age, while a dragonfly lives but four months, a mayfly half an hour. What accounts for these variations - and what can we learn from them that might help us understand, or better manage, our own aging? With The Long and the Short of It, biologist and writer Jonathan Silvertown offers readers a fascinating tour through the scientific study of longevity and aging. Dividing his daunting subject by theme - death, life span, aging, heredity, evolution, and more - Silvertown draws on the latest scientific developments to paint a picture of what we know about how life span, senescence, and death vary within and across species. At every turn, he addresses fascinating questions that have far-reaching implications: What causes aging, and what determines the length of an individual life? What changes have caused the average human life span to increase so dramatically - fifteen minutes per hour - in the past two centuries? If evolution favors those who leave the most descendants, why haven't we evolved to be immortal? The answers to these puzzles and more emerge from close examination of the whole natural history of life span and aging, from fruit flies to nematodes, redwoods, and much more. The Long and the Short of It pairs a perpetually fascinating topic with a wholly engaging writer, and the result is a book that will reward curious readers of all ages.


Heart arrhythmias or arrhythmias refer to the irregular heartbeats of patients. Not all arrhythmias are serious or life threatening but some types (e.g., atrial fibrillation, ventricular escape and ventricular fibrillation) may be a sign of heart diseases and could cause sudden cardiac death if prompt treatments are not received. Usually medical doctors use di↵erent types of electrocardiography (ECG) (e.g., 12-lead ECG and Holter monitors) to check for a variety of heart conditions and identify arrhythmias through analyzing the ECG. With the growing popularity of wearable technology, a large amount of ECG data are required to be analyzed. Therefore, automatic heartbeat classification from ECG signals is an essential step toward arrhythmias detection in medical practice. This thesis explores the applications of deep learning in automatic heartbeat classification, especially for the detection of occasional arrhythmias during long-term continuous cardiac monitoring. A lot of research e↵orts have been spent on the classification of heartbeats based on the University of California, Irvine, (UCI) cardiac arrhythmia dataset. Among them, support vector machines (SVMs) and shallow neural networks (NNs) are the most popular classification methods. However, most of the previous studies reported the performance of either the SVMs or the ANNs without in-depth comparisons between these two methods. Also, a large number of handcrafted features have been provided by the UCI dataset, and some may be more relevant to arrhythmias than the others. This thesis is to enhance the performance of heartbeat classification by selecting relevant features from ECG signals, applying dimension reduction on the feature vectors, and applying deep neural networks (DNNs) for classification. A holistic comparison among DNNs, SVMs, and shallow NNs will be provided. Experimental results based on the UCI dataset suggest that DNNs outperform both SVMs and shallow NNs, provided that relevant features have been selected. To obtain better ECG representation for heartbeat classification, this thesis proposes deep learning methods with signal alignment that facilitate the end-to-end classification of raw ECG signals into heartbeat types, i.e., normal beat or di↵erent types of arrhythmias. Time-domain sample points are extracted from raw ECG signals, and consecutive vectors are extracted from a sliding time-window covering these sample points. Each of these vectors comprises the consecutive sample points of a complete heartbeat cycle, which includes not only the QRS complex but also the P and T waves. Unlike existing heartbeat classification methods in which medical doctors extract handcrafted features from raw ECG signals, the proposed end-toend method leverages a DNN for both feature extraction and classification based on aligned heartbeats. This strategy not only obviates the need to handcraft the features but also produces optimized ECG representation for heartbeat classification. Evaluations on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database show that at the same specificity, the proposed patient-independent classifier can detect supraventricularand ventricularectopic beats at a sensitivity that is at least 10% higher than current state-of-the-art methods. More importantly, there is a wide range of operating points in which both the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed classifier are higher than those achieved by state-of-the-art classifiers. The proposed classifier can also perform comparable to patient-specific classifiers, but at the same time enjoys the advantage of patient independency. To address the significant variability in waveforms and characteristics of ECG signals among di↵erent patients, termed as inter-patient variations, this thesis proposes adapting a patient-independent DNN using the information in the patient-dependent identity vectors (i-vectors). The adapted networks, namely i-vector adapted patientspecific DNNs (iAP-DNNs), are tuned towards the ECG characteristics of individual patients. For each patient, his/her ECG waveforms are compressed into an i-vector using a factor analysis model. Then, this i-vector is concatenated to the middle hidden layer of the patient-independent DNN. Stochastic gradient descent is then applied to fine-tune the whole network to form a patient-specific classifier. As a result, the adaptation makes use of not only the raw ECG waveforms from the specific patient but also the compact representation of his/her ECG characteristics through the i-vector. Analysis on the hidden-layer activations show that by leveraging the information in the i-vectors, the iAP-DNNs are more capable of discriminating normal heartbeats against arrhythmic heartbeats than the networks that use the patient-specific ECG only for the adaptation. Experimental results based on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database suggest that the iAP-DNNs perform better than existing patient-specific classifiers in terms of various performance measures. In particular, the sensitivity and specificity of the existing methods are all under the receiver operating characteristic curves of iAP-DNNs. AUTHOR'S PUBLICATIONS


CURRENT CONDITIONS Zambia's climate is characterized by a dry period, which runs from May to October, and a wet period that runs from November to April. Because most of the country's agriculture is rainfed, rainfall variability poses challenges for food security and planning. Agriculture accounts for about 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with maize as the dominant crop (the other main crops are wheat, sorghum, cassava, rice, millet, groundnuts, soybeans, mixed beans, peanuts, sunflower seed, vegetables, coffee, flowers, tobacco, cotton, and sugarcane). Agricultural jobs account for 71.6 percent of employment in Zambia. During the period between 1960 and 2008, the population increased by more than 50 percent. The urbanization rate in Zambia has averaged 4.3 percent over the past 50 years.


In industrial automation, end users, who usually have no or only limited programming expertise, often need to change and adapt the control program at hand. This results in high demands on end-user programming environments with respect to supporting, guiding, and supervising end users. In the project MONACO, we developed a domain-specific language and respective tools for end-user programmers. In particular, we developed a verification technique and semantic assistance tools for preventing end users from introducing semantic errors that violate specified contracts and constraints. In this paper, we present a further tool for supporting end users. The knowledge derived in the verification algorithm about states at particular code positions is leveraged in a design-time animation tool which displays the possible states of the machine. Hence, an end user can gain an intuitive understanding of the program and assess the consequences of program changes already at design time and without conducting test run.


The sharing economy — the rapidly evolving sector of peer-to-peer home-sharing and ride-hailing transactions facilitated by platforms like Airbnb and Uber — offers the potential for economic growth, greater sustainability, and expanded access for underserved groups. But the massive number of small-scale activities facilitated by these platforms is also resulting in negative cumulative impacts and exposing regulatory fractures, from the loss of long-term rental housing to discrimination against protected classes to increased burdens on public infrastructure.This Article contends that scale is a defining feature and fundamental challenge of the sharing economy. Small may be beautiful, but when everything is small, the regulatory challenge is immense. Small-scale activities that once fit the criteria for light or no regulation are occurring at scales at which non-regulation makes little sense. As the sharing economy becomes an increasingly large segment of the public accommodations and transportation markets, the traditional ways we distinguish between activities that we should regulate and those we treat with regulatory leniency no longer fit. Existing regulatory systems, from civil rights and environmental law to consumer protection and tax law, do not map neatly onto the configuration of scale in the sharing economy. This regulatory misfit threatens to result in inequitable and discriminatory outcomes across the sharing economy.Effective governance of the sharing economy requires a more complete understanding of the role of scale. This Article investigates the implications of scale in the sharing economy, focusing on the prominent sectors of home-sharing and ride-hailing. The Article unpacks how massive numbers of home-sharing and ride-hailing activities are producing negative cumulative impacts and exposing regulatory fractures, which threaten to undermine a range of important public policies — including affordable housing, civil rights, and consumer protection — and considers possible legal regimes for responding to scale.


Purpose: Research explores the price determinants of the small and family owned hotels, as a specific segment of the overall hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach: Hedonic pricing model has been designed to analyse the impact of 19 price determinants on 140 small and family owned hotels in Croatia, leading destination in Southeastern /Mediterranean Europe. The choice of variables follows recent literature, while data have been obtained from an official catalogue of small hotel and family hotel association. Findings: Findings suggest that (1) the highest impact on small hotel prices is generated by hotel core facilities and attributes (category, wellness facilities, inner pool, elevator, mini bar, internet connection) ; (2) location same as following variables (children day-care and pets allowed) does not have significant impact on small hotel prices. Additionally, research results demonstrate that there are differences, considering price determinants, between small and family hotels and regular size hotels. Research limitations/implications: The main limitations of this study are reliance on catalogue data and mostly dummy variables. Despite those shortcomings, findings provide valid and encouraging starting point for any future analysis of differences between hotels market segments. Results are beneficial to researchers and practitioners especially those involved in the strategic planning process in the hotel industry. Originality/value: Despite they are a specific segment of the overall industry, the price determinants of small and family-owned hotels have not been addressed in research literature sufficiently. This research addresses those shortcomings and provides the basis for their future analysis. Furthermore, it explores the impact of two variables, which to our knowledge have not been discussed so far.


Thousands of young Europeans have joined the jihad. This essay looks at the reasons why the holy war is so popular among this cohort. While failed integration policies and widespread online media recruitment remain crucial for understanding this popularity, these explanations alone are too simplistic. Personal knowledge of other young fighters and fundamentalist imams, a lack of guidance resulting from the absence of fathers, trauma, and a kind of "outsiderism" akin to the one seen among early Nazi recruits in the 1920s are also similarities found in many of the young volunteers' biographies.


Introduction: Cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction, is associated with progressive ventricular dysfunction and cardiovascular death. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of endurance exercise training on morphological changes in rat heart tissue following experimental myocardial infarction. Materials and methods: Rats used in this experiment (8-10 weeks old, 235 ± 5 g body weight) after homogenization according to body weight, were randomly divided to three groups: Healthy (Sham), control (Sedentary) and endurance training groups. Myocardial infarction was induced by subcutaneous injection of isoprenaline (150 mg/kg) in two consecutive days with an interval of 24 hours. Endurance training initiated 2 days after infarction and continued for 4 weeks. In order to assess the necrosis lesion and fibrosis tissue, Hematoxylin–Eosin and Masson's trichrome staining were used, respectively. Data were analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) at P< 0.05 level. Results: The results indicated that subcutaneous injection of isoprenaline, induced myocardial infarction in rat heart tissue. Rate of necrotic lesion in the Endurance training group was significantly higher than Sedentary (control) group (P=0.005). Also, the size of fibrosis tissue in the Endurance training group was significantly higher than the sedentary (control) group (P= 0.001). Conclusion: In general, results of this study showed that 4 weeks of endurance exercise training after myocardial infarction exacerbate tissue injury in rat heart.


Noting the increasing tendency of Indonesian pop performers to organize and agitate politically, the article aims to locate these celebrity politics in a history of media change, and to explore their implications for lower-class collective organizing. Through a discussion of two pop performances that explicitly address the lower classes—the Jakarta-based rock band Slank and the Balinese solo performer Nanoe Biroe—the author traces the increasing recognition of pop idols as politically authoritative figures and the emergence of a new form of corporatized associational life (the fan group) as a site for attending to that authority. The author argues that these developments in public culture can be linked to changes to the media environment since the end of the Cold War, which include but are not limited to widespread digital uptake. The article engages work investigating prospects for critical forms of belonging within a neoliberal communicative environment–especially Jodi Dean's writings on communicative capitalism. It examines the vulnerabilities and possibilities of lower-class performances and solidarities and brings to light the broader media infrastructures that enable them.


Objectives: Sepsis is a common cause of morbidity and mortality and is associated with significant costs to the healthcare organizations. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether high or low-dose statin therapy improved mortality in patients with sepsis. Methods: The trials analyzed in this study were multicenter or single center randomized control studies using statins for sepsis in a hospital setting. The patients included were adults with suspected or confirmed infection. Interventions: This study found eight randomized controlled trials where participants were given either a statin or placebo daily for 14–28 days, the duration of their illness, or until their death or discharge, which ever occurred first. Primary and Secondary Outcomes Measured: This meta-analysis measured the effect of statin therapy on in hospital and 28 days mortality. Results: In unselected patients, there was no demonstrable difference in the 28 days mortality (relative risk [RR] 0.88 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70–1.12 and P = 0.16). There was also no significant difference between statin versus placebo for in-hospital mortality (RR 0.98 95% CI, 0.85–1.14 P = 0.36). When the studies where divided into low-dose and high-dose groups, there were no statistically significant differences for in-hospital mortality between low-dose statin versus placebo for (RR 0.81 CI 0.44–1.49 P = 0.27) or high-dose statin versus placebo (RR 0.99 95% CI 0.85–1.16, P = 0.28). There was no significant difference in adverse effects between the high- and low-dose groups. Conclusions: In this meta-analysis, we found that the use of statins did not significantly improve either in-hospital mortality or 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. In the low-dose group, there were fewer quality multicenter studies; hence, conclusions based on the results of this subgroup are limited.


Objective: We systematically reviewed models to predict adult ICU length of stay. Data Sources: We searched the Ovid EMBASE and MEDLINE databases for studies on the development or validation of ICU length of stay prediction models. Study Selection: We identified 11 studies describing the development of 31 prediction models and three describing external validation of one of these models. Data Extraction: Clinicians use ICU length of stay predictions for planning ICU capacity, identifying unexpectedly long ICU length of stay, and benchmarking ICUs. We required the model variables to have been published and for the models to be free of organizational characteristics and to produce accurate predictions, as assessed by R2 across patients for planning and identifying unexpectedly long ICU length of stay and across ICUs for benchmarking, with low calibration bias. We assessed the reporting quality using the Checklist for Critical Appraisal and Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modelling Studies. Data Synthesis: The number of admissions ranged from 253 to 178,503. Median ICU length of stay was between 2 and 6.9 days. Two studies had not published model variables and three included organizational characteristics. None of the models produced predictions with low bias. The R2 was 0.05–0.28 across patients and 0.01–0.64 across ICUs. The reporting scores ranged from 49 of 78 to 60 of 78 and the methodologic scores from 12 of 22 to 16 of 22. Conclusion: No models completely satisfy our requirements for planning, identifying unexpectedly long ICU length of stay, or for benchmarking purposes. Physicians using these models to predict ICU length of stay should interpret them with reservation.


It is well known that the long-term unemployed fare worse in the labor market than the short-term unemployed, but less clear why this is so. One potential explanation is that the long-term unemployed are "bad apples" who had poorer prospects from the outset of their spells (heterogeneity). Another is that their bad outcomes are a consequence of the extended unemployment they have experienced (state dependence). We use Current Population Survey (CPS) data on unemployed individuals linked to wage records for the same people to distinguish between these competing explanations. For each person in our sample, we have wage record data that cover the period from 20 quarters before to 11 quarters after the quarter in which the person is observed in the CPS. This gives us rich information about prior and subsequent work histories not available to previous researchers that we use to control for individual heterogeneity that might be affecting subsequent labor market outcomes. Even with these controls in place, we find that unemployment duration has a strongly negative effect on the likelihood of subsequent employment. This result is robust to efforts to account for differences in labor market circumstances that might affect job-finding success rates. The findings are inconsistent with the heterogeneity ("bad apple") explanation for why the long-term unemployed fare worse than the short-term unemployed and lend support to the state dependence explanation for the negative association between unemployment duration and subsequent employment rates. We also find that longer unemployment durations are associated with lower subsequent earnings, though this is mainly attributable to the long-term unemployed having a lower likelihood of subsequent employment rather than to their having lower earnings once a job is found.


When firearms first arrived on the island of Madagascar at the beginning of the 16th century, they soon became a very much sought-after commodity for the local population. This contribution traces for the first time the history of firearm technology on Madagascar during precolonial times, until the French colonization in 1896, in a systematic perspective. A case study on the use of firearms around 1710 shows that firearms became integrated into an already long-established logic of intensive war. On the political level, the firearms gave rise to a new form of chieftaincy that has endured for more than three centuries: the "lords of muskets."


Holocene tufa deposits in the Test valley, Hampshire, UK, have been examined as part of a wider project into prehistoric activity and landscape change in the central southern chalklands. Molluscan and ostracod analysis on three tufa sequences shows that the tufa began developing around 9300 BP in open marsh/open woodland environment. Although one of the sequences (Boss 10) demonstrates a wooded environment throughout, another sequence (Boss 360n/60e) indicates that the initial woodland is followed by reversion to more open conditions. Both profiles then show a short 'drier' woodland phase. Subsequent to this, one of the profiles then shows wetter woodland conditions developing (Boss 10), the other (Boss 360n/60e) more open wetland. Deposition rates are comparable to tufa deposits elsewhere and indicate that the short-lived 'drier' woodland phase perhaps lasted only a few hundreds of years. There are also indications of woodland clearance, associated with a charcoal peak, although no causal mechanism can be proposed. The formation of substantial portions of Holocene tufa deposits within open or only A lightly wooded landscapes has not previously been documented for southern Britain, where generally tufa HOLOCENE has been shown to have formed in densely wooded conditions. Through the tufa deposits the ostracod and RESEARCH molluscan evidence are in accord and provide detailed hydrological and environmental information respectively. Fine sampling (1 cm units) allowed a temporal resolution of perhaps around 20 years per sample. It is clear that the tufas studied here formed as groundwater-fed paludal deposits within the valley bottom.


For healthcare innovations to be successful, the voices of those receiving or delivering such innovations need to be heard much earlier in the design process. This is not easy as there are likely to be multiple stakeholders involved, and their different backgrounds make it difficult to challenge or evaluate potential innovation in the early stage of development. This paper positions the Experience Lab as a means of co-creating sustainable, innovative solutions to healthcare challenges. The Experience Lab offers participants, both receiving and delivering healthcare, the opportunity to engage in the design process, share insights, experience new concepts and imagine new ways of responding to challenges. The material artefacts and bespoke tools provide the conditions through which to create new meanings and shared experiences. This paper presents the Experience Lab approach, artefacts and tools, providing examples of these in context. The paper concludes with the need for further research to understand the role of artefacts and tools in supporting detail design and implementation beyond the Lab, and the potential of the Lab approach for other contexts.


A lack of prudent corporate governance practice has been identified as a significant contributor to the Asian economic crisis, which hit the region, including Indonesia, in 1997. In response to the crisis aftermath, in 2001, Indonesia implemented an improved set of corporate governance principles through the establishment of a national committee and corporate governance code. These corporate governance principles have also been incorporated into relevant laws and regulations.
With the adoption of corporate governance principles, the remaining issue is the assessment of the effectiveness of corporate governance in Indonesia. On the one hand, reviews by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2004, 2010) have highlighted that Indonesia has mostly incorporated good corporate governance principles into its regulatory framework in the form of law, regulations and sanctions. However, these same commentators point out that corporate governance practices in Indonesia are often distant from what is required by regulation and code, and they recommended that Indonesia improve the effectiveness of its good corporate governance implementation and enforcement.
Past studies have mostly focused on the effect of corporate governance on the behaviour of management, company performance, reporting quality and firm value. These studies appear less relevant for developing countries like Indonesia because the findings are inconclusive and are specific to the countries or regions in which the studies are conducted. Further, they are largely based on the conditions and environment of developed countries. Only a handful of studies have evaluated the relationship between corporate governance and the incidence of sanctions in developing countries. Even in these cases, the findings of these studies are subject to the legal, social and political environmental conditions of the economies in which they are conducted, and the findings have little or no relevance for the Indonesian situation. Further, Indonesia follows a civil law legal system and two-tier board system structure that differs from the one-tier systems found in many other countries. As such, in-depth analysis of corporate governance practices under a variety of governance structures and regulatory regimes, including under two-tiered systems such as that of Indonesia, is required.


Hepatitis B virus infection, both acute and chronic, occurs commonly in the black population of South Africa, and chronic infection and its sequelae of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are major public health threats. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is rare in the other population groups, with the exception of the very small Chinese community. Prevalences of chronic carriage of hepatitis B virus in South African blacks are 5-16% in rural males, 8-9% in urban males, 4-12% in rural females, and 2.7-4% in urban females. The overall male to female ratio is 2.6:1.0. There are now three to four million South African blacks who are chronically infected with this virus. In rural black populations chronic hepatitis B virus infection is acquired very early in life, predominantly as a result of horizontal transmission of the virus, and by the age of 5 years carrier rates approach those seen in adulthood. A further slight increase occurs at school-going age and a greater increase at the time of becoming sexually active. Urban black carrier rates are significantly lower and the infection is acquired later in life. The decreased urban viral carriage rates occur mainly in the first generation born in an urban environment. Hepatitis B virus accounts for about 60% of clinically evident acute viral hepatitis among blacks and about 10% of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. It is the cause of the majority of the many cases of hepatocellular carcinoma that occur in black South Africans. The tumour is more common in males and in rural-born than in urban-born blacks. The close association between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma holds true in rural and urban patients and males and females. The association is age-related, being closer in younger patients. Genotypes A and D of hepatitis B virus predominate in South African isolates, with genotype A and its subtype Aa having a particularly high hepatocarcinogenic potential.


BACKGROUND
The benefits of exercise for patients with cancer are well documented. However, exercise is still not a standard of care for this population. Several factors contribute to the lack of exercise prescriptions for patients with cancer, including challenges posed by treatment-related side effects, lack of knowledge among healthcare providers and the laypeople, and inadequate resources.

OBJECTIVES
This article reviews the benefits of exercise in general and specifically to patients with cancer, discusses the specific challenges and considerations required in recommending exercise to this population, and provides specific recommendations for healthcare providers to incorporate exercise into treatment plans.

METHODS
Using a case study exemplar, this article discusses the benefits and challenges to exercise while undergoing treatment for cancer and proposes specific solutions and recommendations.

FINDINGS
Oncology practitioners can provide the opportunity for patients to safely engage in exercise with the appropriate resources and trained personnel using a successful model of delivering exercise to patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Exercise improves quality of life in all patients, including those with advanced-stage cancers and those actively receiving treatment.


The question of physical interaction is especially relevant in school physical education, where a lot of the teaching and activities are based on body movements. However, the issue of 'touching' has been questioned in recent years. This paper takes its starting point in the discourse of child protection and the growing anxiety around intergenerational touch in educational settings. The purpose is to examine PE teachers' self-regulation in relation to the child protection discourse and no touch policies. What sort of strategies have the teachers developed for dealing with physical contact in their teaching? It is a matter of problematising teachers' pedagogical interactions in PE practice. The study takes its starting point in a discourse-analytical tradition using a methodology based on Foucault's ideas about governmentality. Twenty-three teachers (10 women and 13 men) aged 30–63 and at different stages in their careers were interviewed. The results show two different self-regulating processes: (1) adaptation using avoidance-oriented strategies and (2) resistance using downplaying-oriented strategies. The paper discusses potential consequences for PE teachers' pedagogical work if they feel that they have to protect themselves instead of operating in a way that is in the best interest for students' learning and development. The study aims to contribute to the literature on child protection and 'no touch' policies and to a more multifaceted understanding of physical interaction in PE.


A new neural network for convex quadratic optimization is presented in this brief. The proposed network can handle both equality and inequality constraints, as well as bound constraints on the optimization variables. It is based on the Lagrangian approach, but exploits a partial dual method in order to keep the number of variables at minimum. The dynamic evolution is globally convergent and the steady-state solutions satisfy the necessary and sufficient conditions of optimality. The circuit implementation is simpler with respect to existing solutions for the same class of problems. The validity of the proposed approach is verified through some simulation examples.


Recent studies show that the chemical evolution of Sr and Ba in the Galaxy can be explained if different production sites, hosting r- and s-processes, are taken into account. However, the question of unambiguously identifying these sites is still unsolved. Massive stars are shown to play an important role in the production of s-material if rotation is considered. In this work, we study in detail the contribution of rotating massive stars to the production of Sr and Ba, in order to explain their chemical evolution, but also to constrain the rotational behaviour of massive stars. A stochastic chemical evolution model was employed to reproduce the enrichment of the Galactic halo. We developed new methods for model-data comparison which help to objectively compare the stochastic results to the observations. We employed these methods to estimate the value of free parameters which describe the rotation of massive stars, assumed to be dependent on the stellar metallicity. We constrain the parameters using the observations for Sr and Ba. Employing these parameters for rotating massive stars in our stochastic model, we are able to correctly reproduce the chemical evolution of Sr and Ba, but also Y, Zr, and La. The data supports a decrease of both the mean rotational velocities and their dispersion with increasing metallicity. Our results show that a metallicity-dependent rotation is a necessary assumption to explain the s-process in massive stars. Our novel methods of model-data comparison represent a promising tool for future galactic chemical evolution studies.


The problem discussed in this article is essentially one of 'where to draw the line' between conflicting legal rules on money of payment issues. In deciding where such line lies, there is some merit in maintaining a distinction between contractual and non-contractual obligations. In the case of contractual obligations, the identity of the place of payment and the rate at which conversion must be effected should lie on the side of the lex causae, on the assumption that a decision on these matters goes to the substance of the obligation. As regards the right/duty to pay in local currency, the answer is less clear. This too, should as a point of departure be governed by the lex causae, as this gives better effect to the principle of the proper law of the contract. The courts, however, should have a discretion to have regard to the lex loci solutionis and apply such law in the interests of justice and fairness between the contracting parties. In the case of non-contractual obligations, it seems more fruitful to distinguish between the lex causae and the lex fori, with most money of payment issues being determined or governed by the lex fori.


We have established novel, aqueous 'Click' chemistry that is based on the thiophosphoryl group. Two systems for the creation of thiophosphoryl derivatives were involved: Thiophosphoramidate I and Bromoacetyl II. The first step in the Thiophosphoramidate system is our aqueous thiophosphorylation of amines using thiophosphoryl chloride. Through careful control of reaction conditions we have devised a method that allows us to prepare and alkylate the thiophosphoramidate group in aqueous media with high conversions, and thus provide a fast, clean and straightforward route to a number of products. The thiophosphoramidate system was, then, successfully applied towards the production of nucleoside monothiophosphoramidates. In addition, a number of quinoline-based thiophosphoramidates were generated as potential antileishmanials and in vivo assays were performed against Leishmania mexicana. The bromoacetyl system uses thiophosphorylated alcohols that we alkylated with a range of activated bromoacetate esters. Hydrolysis and aminolysis kinetic studies were employed on this system for a better understanding of the conditions required for facile production of amides on these thiophosphoryl acetate esters in water. Finally, we have combined the achievements from these two systems into the thiophosphoramidate-romoacetyl strategy III, expanding the scope for generating thiophosphoryl derivatives.


Mother's own milk is widely recognized as the optimal feeding not only for term but also for preterm infants. Evidence documents short and long-term metabolic, immunologic and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding when compared to formula. Moreover benefits of breastfeeding on psychological and relational aspects have to be considered. In order to meet the unique nutritional requirements of preterm infants and preserve the singular benefit of breastfeeding, human milk should be fortified to allow adequate growth and bone mineralization. Best fortification models are still object of research, in order to obtain a balance between the risk of undernutrition and the metabolic risks of a too rapid catch-up growth. When mother milk is unavailable or in short supply, donor milk (DM) represents the second best alternative and although some nutritional elements are inactivated by the pasteurization process, it still has documented advantages compared to formula. The demonstrated benefits of human milk (HM) highlight the importance of health care professional education in the support of breastfeeding.


Segmentation of transparent cells in brightfield microscopy images could facilitate the quantitative analysis of corresponding fluorescence images. However, this presents a challenge due to irregular morphology and weak intensity variation, particularly in ultra-thin regions. A boundary detection technique is applied to a series of variable focus images whereby a level set contour is initialised on a defocused image with improved intensity contrast, and subsequently evolved towards the correct boundary using images of improving focus. Local phase coherence is used to identify features within the images, driving contour evolution particularly in near-focus images which lack intensity contrast. Preliminary results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach in segmenting the main cell body regions


In the framework of the European Integrated Project PALETTE, the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Patras are developing mediation services. These services aim at sustaining collaboration, supporting tacit and explicit knowledge management and enhancing individual and organizational learning in communities of practice (CoPs). Defined by Dourish and Belloti as "an understanding of the activities of others, which provides a context for one's own activity", awareness is one of the most crucial needs expressed by communities of practice in the framework of the participatory design process implemented within the Palette project. Awareness of past and current actions in shared environments and over shared artifacts motivates participation and guides the members' decisions and course of actions. This paper describes the approach adopted by two Web-based collaboration support applications, namely eLogbook and CoPe_it!, for developing awareness services. CoPs needs, in terms of awareness, were identified through the participatory design approach. Then, a combination of relevant awareness types found in the literature was adopted in order to address the identified awareness requirements. The resulting awareness services implemented by Palette's mediation services (eLogbook and CoPe_it!) are presented. In particular, the kind of awareness information provided and its rendering means are described. For each tool, the available awareness functionality is related to the awareness type it contributes.


In this study purposes to indicate the effect of the number of DIF items and the distribution of DIF items in these forms, which be equalized on equating error. Mean-mean, mean-standard deviation, Haebara and Stocking-Lord Methods used in common item design equal groups as equalization methods. The study included six different simulation conditions. The conditions were compared according to the number of DIF items and the distribution of DIF items on tests. The results illustrated that adding DIF items to tests were equated caused an increase in the errors obtained by equating methods. We may state that the change in errors is lowest in characteristic curve transformation methods, largest in moment methods depending on the situations in these conditions.


Research and Science Today Journal is a publication founded in 2011 and it is dedicated to the students of all levels (license, master and doctoral) of faculties in the country and abroad. We want to offer the participants the opportunity to present their scientific works in the following areas: Social Sciences, Economic Sciences, Legal Sciences, Humanities, Education Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Sport. This journal provides students the opportunity to create and / or to improve their abilities to write scientific papers. So each appearance (two appearances per year at which we can add supplements) contains a number of papers written by students, masters and doctoral from the faculties from the country or / and abroad. The journal promotes original studies contributing to the progress of knowledge and it is motivated by the need to address issues of theory and practice in the areas mentioned above. The Journal is a training means of the factors involved in the conceptualization, development, implementation and evaluation , aiming the formation of creative personalities who could be able to adapt through the changing conditions of life. Journal wants to be a forum for debates disciplinaries and interdisciplinaries theoretical topics, to become a research support, to leverage this work at regional, national and international levels. We believe that this gathering will enjoy the support from both parts of the researchers and of the practitioners, and will provide appropriate training sources held professional through the current problems.


The ecosystems and economies of small island nation states and territories of the tropical southwest Pacific region are widely agreed to be among the most vulnerable to climate variability and weather extremes anywhere in the world. Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are capable of exacerbating existing hazards and those made more severe by climate change (e.g. local sea level rise). In order to properly understand TC impacts in this region, a comprehensive database of TC tracks is required. This work has collated TC best track data from forecast centres around the globe with the aim of producing a unified global best TC track dataset for the historical period. Data from the International Best Tracks for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) project information for the southwest Pacific (135°E–120°W, 5°–25°S) is built upon and included in this effort. We document the construction of an enhanced TC database for the southwest Pacific, the quality controls needed to construct the database, and discuss how it has enhanced the chronology of region‐wide historical TC activity in light of newly discovered data. We suggest this enhanced dataset can be used in forthcoming climate and weather studies to better characterize the climatology and behaviour of TCs in the southwest Pacific. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society


Multi-band photometric and multi-object spectroscopic surveys of merging galaxy clusters allow for the characterization of the distributions of constituent DM and galaxy populations, constraints on the dynamics of the merging subclusters, and an understanding of galaxy evolution of member galaxies. We present deep photometric observations from Subaru/SuprimeCam and a catalog of 4431 spectroscopic galaxies from Keck/DEIMOS observations of 29 merging galaxy clusters ranging in redshift from z = 0.07 to 0.55. The ensemble is compiled based on the presence of radio relics, which highlight cluster-scale collisionless shocks in the intracluster medium. Together with the spectroscopic and photometric information, the velocities, timescales, and geometries of the respective merging events may be tightly constrained. In this preliminary analysis, the velocity distributions of 28 of the 29 clusters are shown to be well fit by single Gaussians. This indicates that radio-relic mergers largely occur transverse to the line of sight and/or near-apocenter. In this paper, we present our optical and spectroscopic surveys, preliminary results, and a discussion of the value of radio-relic mergers for developing accurate dynamical models of each system.


All over the world, plant domestication is continually being carried out by local communities to support their needs for food, fibre, medicine, building materials, etc. Using participatory rapid appraisal approach, 150 households were surveyed in 5 villages (Aglamidjodji, Banon, Batia, Gbede and Korontiere) selected in five ethnic groups of the two contrasting agroecological zones (arid and humid) of southern and northern Benin, to investigate the local communities' motivations for plant domestication and the contributions of this process to in situ conservation of genetic resources. The results indicated differences in plant domestication between agroecological zones and among ethnic groups. People in the humid zones give priority to herbs while those in dry area prefer trees. The Gourmantche people in Batia domesticate plants mostly for their fruits, while the ethnic groups Mahi (Aglamidjodji), the Nago-Fe (Banon), the Nago-Tchabe (Gbede) and the Ditamari / Lamba (Konrontiere) domesticate plants mainly for their leaves. Local communities were motivated to undertake plant domestication for foods (80% of respondents), medicinal use (40% of respondents), income generation (20% of respondents) and cultural reasons (5% of respondents). 45% of the species recorded are still at early stage in domestication and only 2% are fully domesticated. Eleven factors related to the households surveyed (size, number of crops practiced, total area available, total area cultivated, total area occupied by the major crops, number of food shortages experienced during the last ten years) and to the head of the household interviewed (age, education level, number of wives, age of the first wife, number of the social groups to which he belongs) affect farmers' decision making in domesticating plant species. There is gender influence on the domestication: Women are keen in domesticating herbs while men give priority to trees.

 Key words: Domestication, plant species, gender influence, motivation, in situconservation.


In 1998 the United States Department of Justice and state antitrust agencies charged that Microsoft was monopolizing the market for personal computer operating systems. More than ten years later, the case is still the defining antitrust litigation of our era. William H. Page and John E. Lopatka's "The Microsoft Case" contributes to the debate over the future of antitrust policy by examining the implications of the litigation from the perspective of consumer welfare. The authors trace the development of the case from its conceptual origins through the trial and the key decisions on both liability and remedies. They argue that, at critical points, the legal system failed consumers by overrating government's ability to influence outcomes in a dynamic market. This ambitious book is essential reading for business, law, and economics scholars as well as anyone else interested in the ways that technology, economics, and antitrust law have interacted in the digital age.


This note outlines the Bachelor with Honors (BHons) program of the Faculty of Informatics at TU Wien, the very first honors program shaped according to American standards at an Austrian university. Besides the usual excellence goals of such programs, a main driver for its creation was exposing gifted students to scientific research very early in their academic careers to hopefully prevent them from accepting industry jobs before doing a Ph.D. Main design challenges were broad accessibility for all top students, demanding and fully transparent admission and completion rules, and dealing with severe resource constraints for running the program.  Main implementation challenges were the need to convince other Faculties at TU Wien that the BHons would not jeopardize the existing Bologna-type study programs and to overcome certain reservations against such "elite programs" in general. Substantial efforts eventually convinced the senate of TU Wien to approve the program, which was started in January 2018. Albeit still in the bootstrapping phase, we are happy to say that the program has developed very well so far.


Pregnenolone sulfate and 15 related steroids were investigated for their effects on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced elevations in intracellular Ca++ ([Ca++]i) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons by microspectrofluorimetry with the Ca(++)-sensitive indicator fura-2. Several pregn-5-ene steroids markedly potentiated NMDA-mediated [Ca++]i responses. Pregnenolone sulfate and its 21-acetoxy derivative and pregnenolone hemisuccinate were the most active. At a concentration of 50 microM, each produced approximately 300% potentiation of 5 microM NMDA responses. In addition, several steroids were identified that inhibited NMDA-induced elevations in [Ca++]i, the most potent of which was 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 beta-pregnan-20-one sulfate (IC50, 37 microM). Concentration-response curves for NMDA in the presence of active steroids revealed noncompetitive interaction(s) of these steroids with the NMDA receptor. Although the mechanism(s) responsible for either steroid-induced augmentation or inhibition of NMDA-receptor responses is unknown, these data suggest the presence of one or more steroid recognition sites with a high degree of structural specificity associated with NMDA receptors. These results further raise the possibility that pregn-5-ene 3-sulfates and pregnane 3-sulfates could be endogenous modulators of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic events.