Drug development consists of many sequential and parallel steps; failure in one of the steps can lead to discontinuation of the process. The process is time-consuming and very expensive, especially the clinical phase. In order to enhance cancer drug development in the 1980s, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) adopted a new screening system using 60 different tumour cell lines from various histologies.  All standard drugs were tested in this panel and it is still open for testing of new chemical entities (NCE) of potential interest. The European NCI compounds initiative, a collaborative programme of the NCI, the Cancer Research Campaign (CRC; now CRUK) and the Pharmacology and Molecular Mechanism Group (PAMM) of the EORTC (European Organization on Research and Treatment of Cancer), was initiated in 1993. The programme aimed to help the NCI reducing its backlog of in vivo testing by further evaluation of interesting European compounds using a pharmacologically directed approach. Considerable multidisciplinary expertise in drug development was combined by the CRC and EORTC-PAMM: chemists, pharmacists, biologists, pharmacologists, oncologists. Selection criteria for European NCI compounds included novelty of the NCE, in vitro activity, if available in vivo and hollow fibre activity, and COMPARE negativity. Over a period of more than 20 years 95 out of approximately 2,000 reviewed compounds were selected. These compounds were put through a series of stepwise pharmacological tests comprising solubility (suitable formulation to administer the NCE to mice), feasibility to develop a simple analytical assay (usually HPLC), limited toxicology and angiogenic properties. This paper provides examples to illustrate the rigorousness of the elimination process of the compounds and discusses the way to improve the process by inclusion of more physico-chemical parameters.


To perform an Optical Burst Switching (OBS) network, a lot of challenges are faced that have to be solved. The edge node has to manage burst offset time and burst assembly technique. The core node has to reserve resources to send the data burst, schedule the control packet and data burst and contention resolution strategy. In this paper, we discuss the burst assembly mechanisms and their disadvantages which we will overcome using a new and simple algorithm for data burst generation which relies on changing some characteristics in queuing model in OBS network by taking into consideration the presences of Quality of Service (QoS) for multiple data priorities. The OBS network simulation using our algorithm shows that it adaptively changes the data burst size according to the offered load. So, it can offer high data burst utilization, limits the maximum end to end delay and reduces burst drop rate for high priority packets.


This paper examines the alignment between self-reported and administrative records of applications to and receipt of federal disability benefits. It uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), specifically the cross-wave consistent version developed by the RAND Corporation. The HRS has surveyed adults over the age of 50 every other year since 1992 to be nationally representative of the non-institutionalized older adult population, replenishing the sample with a new cohort every six years. The HRS asks respondents periodically if they are willing to have their survey information linked to earnings and benefits information maintained by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). Most respondents agree to the linkage, which provides another source of information about application and receipt patterns for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) than the data that is collected from respondents in the survey. This information may be valuable in understanding disability program participation among older workers and the extent to which survey respondents accurately report their benefit receipt. Using information in the HRS linked to SSA's Form 831 records about disability benefit applications and its Disability Analysis File about benefit receipt, the paper compares survey and administrative reports of having ever applied to SSDI and SSI as well as the receipt of those benefits in each HRS survey wave from 1996 through 2016. It presents statistics on the characteristics of HRS respondents based on whether they consented to have their records linked to administrative files as well as whether those who consented to the linkage accurately reported their benefits status. The analyses make comparisons by calendar year and HRS sampling cohort, as well as by each age from 51 through full retirement age. An appendix to the paper offers a primer for other researchers considering using the HRS-SSA linked data. The paper found that: • Older cohorts in the HRS are more likely than younger ones to have consented to having their HRS data linked to SSA administrative records. Younger cohorts, however, are more likely to have consented in recent years, which is necessary to have been included in HRS's prospective permission scheme and to have consented to certain file linkages that may be useful to researchers, including the ones we used in our analysis. • Aggregate self-reported percentages of application and receipt of SSDI and SSI are lower than those reported in HRS-SSA administrative data at nearly all ages, but rates of new applications and receipt of benefits (i.e., incidence) are similar between the ages of entering the HRS survey (51-56) through SSA's full retirement age. • There are differences in SSDI and SSI application and receipt shares between HRS selfreports and administrative data across birth cohorts in the survey, but no systematic pattern in the difference between the two sources of information across all of the survey cohorts. • Individual misreporting represents a minority of total cases but is more common relative to the share of older adults with interactions with the SSDI and SSI programs. Misreports range from approximately 4 percent to 12 percent of total respondents, depending on the program and age of respondents. False negatives (the respondent reports no application or receipt while the SSA data indicates application or receipt) tend to be more common than false positives, especially at older ages. • The demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics of respondents who incorrectly report their benefits receipt (relative to SSA information) are different from respondents whose self-reports align with administrative records. Those differences vary by receipt of SSDI or SSI, but include respondent age, race, income, assets, education, health conditions, and health behaviors. The policy implications of the findings are: • Researchers who use HRS self-report data alone should be aware of differences in the prevalence rates relative to SSA-published statistics and administrative records for the same respondents. Using HRS self-reported data is likely to result in an underestimation of program application and receipt relative to HRS-SSA data. Moreover, characteristics of those who misreport differ from the full sample, meaning that descriptions of applicants' or recipients' demographics, employment, income, and health may differ depending on what sample is being used. As such, care should be taken in interpretations of applicant or beneficiary characteristics when using self-reports. • Use of the SSA data linkage may not be feasible for all research purposes, particularly those where a loss in sample size due to consenting to the linkage would be problematic. In cases where a linkage may not be practical, use of self-responses can still be informative in many research applications. These can include, but are not limited to, longitudinal analyses of employment or health characteristics in relation to SSA programs or the use of receipt or beneficiary status as covariates or controls in analysis.


Alzheimer disease (AD) represents a group of multifactorial disorders characterized by a progressive decline of mental faculties eventually leading to dementia and death. Aging of human populations is behind the rapid worldwide increase in the prevalence of AD in recent decades. AD prevention critically depends on reliable AD-predictive genetic testing but its further development is delicately poised at present. New DNA-analyzing technologies such as the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) have allowed rapid and comprehensive analysis of the genome and might have aided the research into the genetics of AD. However, discoveries of epigenetic mechanisms and non-coding forms of DNA and RNA - while helping to explain complexities of AD etiologies - have imposed additional challenges onto the AD diagnostics based on DNA analyses. Environmental factors can, via epigenetic mechanisms, modify both coding and non-coding DNA and this has to be respected in DNA testing, including NGS. Risk calculations based on the known odds and risk ratios for selected DNA polymorphisms are viable options at present, while the applications of neural network methodology seems the most promising way forward in the development of predictive AD tests in future.


Whether he's teaching his pet pig to dance, being chased by a mad cow or wrestling a robber, Emil's adventures never stop. Hens, dogs, little sisters - and adults - all flee his path. But Emil doesn't mean to be bad, it's just that trouble - and fun - follow him wherever he goes. A collection of utterly engaging tales from one of the world's best-loved children's authors.


Abstract In biomedical research institutions, the protection of human subjects from research risks is the highest of all ethical mandates. The responsibility for the protection of human subjects from research risks is given to Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) or other analogously named committees. IRB's perform stringent ethical reviews of research protocols to insure that the rights, dignity, and freedom of volunteers are protected at all times. Research administrators in biomedical institutions are often assigned to serve as IRB executive administrators and executive managers of IRB programs. As in other aspects of research administration, there is the temptation to perceive IRB administration as simply another performative activity. However, research administrators who serve as IRB executives are at the very heart of extremely powerful processes that can transform biomedical research organizations from being only associations of knowledge or businesses of industrial performance into communities of wisdom and cultures of human inquiry. In this respect, IRB administration is essential to the responsible development of the culture of research in every discipline and in every industry. The Research Institution as Culture Social scientists and philosophers of human nature often have commented over the centuries that maturation in the human animal is a developmental phenomenon. Whatever else can be said of our species, one thing is certain: we are not static. We are dynamic, ever evolving beings. Academics and clinicians articulate in variant ways the stages of human development. However, one thing that experts agree upon is a non-chronological "later age" in human maturity in which the human being embarks upon a need for and an ability to reflect upon the quality of one's life, to engage in a consideration of what one "means" in the continuum of things. The entry into this level of maturity is preceded by the negotiation of a variety of challenges and life tasks. These tasks include the need for establishing relationships, the need for grasping intellectual knowledge, the need to acquire dynamic skills, and the need to approach a sense of self worth through personal productivity. As experts and simple common sense dictates, passing through the various steps of human maturation is not automatic and not always easy. Many times, it takes the proverbial three steps backwards before one can make a firm step forward. Let us, for the moment, embrace this understanding of human nature, and accept that human corporate entities seem to develop somewhat along the same lines as human individuals. It should then strike us as meaningful that human amalgams, communities and institutions follow a similar path. This path involves negotiating a variety of skills and tasks on the road toward achieving corporate meaning, integrity, or an understanding of the corporate being's worth and purposefulness. Research institutions are analogues of the human community. They share common knowledge, semiotics, missions, goals, standards of behavior and metrics of inclusion and exclusion for group membership. From a rarified perspective, research institutions are "cultures" within the broader framework of social culture itself. Engaged in methodological investigations for the advancement of human knowledge, research institutions are woven into the fabric of contemporary society's overall cultural processes and evolution. Given society's quantum leap from the Industrial Revolution to the Information Age, it is no small wonder that research institutions affect the evolving shape and substance of culture itself. No longer tucked away amid dust-laden scrolls or behind the alchemist's s flame, the researcher affects the course of culture's progress and culture's difficulties. However, questions do emerge about the identity of research as a culture. Given that one can only approach a community's culture from the deeply powerful perspective of metaphor, is there a way the research culture can grasp its ultimate place in social history? …


1-(4-Fluorophenyl)propan-2-amine (4-fluoroamphetamine, 4-FA) is a psychomotor stimulant that was first synthesized in the early 1940s. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) received the first formal notification of the detection of 4-FA in Europe in December 2008 although its presence has been noted since at least 2007. In Europe, it has been found in tablets sold as 'ecstasy'/MDMA, paste or powder sold as amphetamine. In addition, it can be obtained from Internet retailers as a 'research chemical' and it has also been detected as an adulterant present in other illicit controlled substances. 4-FA appears to be most commonly administered orally or by nasal insufflation (snorting). The EMCDDA has been notified of seizures from various locations in Europe since 2008. Data indicate that 4-FA may be able to inhibit monoamine oxidase and that it functions as a substrate-type releasing agent of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. It has been shown to display amphetamine-like features in vivo and in vitro and further research is warranted to investigate the extent to which 4-FA displays a potential for abuse and dependence in both animals in humans that is comparable to substances such as amphetamine, cocaine or related psychostimulants. Case report data in the scientific literature that unambiguously confirm a causal relationship between adverse effects of 4-FA and its presence in biofluids are limited to only a relatively small number of cases. In cases where this information is available, reported clinical features were associated with those of a sympathomimetic toxidrome. The EMCDDA has received reports from positive identifications in biofluids samples from 2009 onward. It has been reported that 4-FA might have established itself as a drug of choice in a surveyed convenience sample of 249 life-time users of 4-FA in one European country. Surveys that systematically assess the prevalence of use 4-FA within the general population are not available.


The paper explores the relationship between trade liberalisation and regulation as developed through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and human rights principles and discourses. It suggests that human rights could be used to enhance the legitimacy of the WTO, although most of the organisation's supporters prefer it to remain self-contained, so that its obligations override general rules of international law including human rights. Contrary to the views of some critics of the WTO, its principles could be compatible with human rights discourses, either by (i)the re-assimilation of human rights discourses into a neo-liberal perspective of individual (and corporate) freedoms, or (ii) tempering the negative effects of liberalisation by encouraging measures for socio-economic provision, or perhaps (iii) challenging the assumptions of liberalisation to provide the basic for alternative perspectives. However, it concludes that such debates would be unhelpful, in exacerbating the gap between rhetorical conflicts and cogent, concrete policy alternatives.


A new philosophy in structural health monitoring was explored, with the view to the creation of a smart mining bolt: one which would bear the normal load of any bolt used in South African gold mining tunnels, but at the same time be capable of monitoring its own level of damage. To this end, a survey of various smart materials currently used in structural health monitoring applications, was conducted, and a group known as strain memory alloys isolated as holding the most promise in this regard. Strain memory alloys give an indication of peak strain based on an irreversible transformation from paramagnetic austenite to ferromagnetic martensite, which occurs in direct proportion to the amount of strain experienced by the material. A measurement of magnetic permeability can therefore be correlated to peak strain. An extensive study of the alloying chemistry, material processing and transformation characteristics was therefore carried out, including an analytical model for the quantification of the energy associated with martensitic nucleation, at a dislocation-disclination level. The conditions within typical South African gold mining tunnels were evaluated, and a smart mining bolt design produced, based on the loading and environmental conditions present. Several material formulations were then proposed, melted, tested and evaluated against the relevant strength, corrosion and transformation criteria. A suitable material was selected and further tested. A working prototype bolt has been produced, and in situ tests of complete bolts, are scheduled to take place shortly.


Modern embedded systems (i.e. highly resource-constrained, microcontroller-based devices) are increasingly availab le at very low cost and consist of a variety of hardware components. As a result, these systems have become increasingly ubiquitous and are emerging as an important computing platform. Advances in support for easy program development across heterogeneous devices, by a broad developer base (with a range of expertise and backgrounds) for such devices is vital, but unfortunately has not kept pace. Current ly, only very skilled developers are able to develop even simple applications or extant software development frameworks only support a small set of similar devices or a particular application domain. Toward this end, we present a new programming language, called Em, for the development of highly resourceconstrained device applications. Em is an extension to the C language that integrates high-level language and software engineering features that include modularity, encapsulat ion and data hiding, interface separation from implementation, inheritance, support for key design patterns, and reduced syntax verbosity, among others. Em facilitates code reuse, portability across platforms and device components, interchangeability (substitutability) while still achieving t he footprint and code efficiency of C. Em also integrates novel features such as unifying the configuration (build time execution) and target (run time execution) code development. We demonstrate the efficacy of Em using multiple embedded systems building blocks and applications.


Purpose Intranasally delivered ST266, the biological, proteinaceous secretome of amnion-derived multipotent progenitor cells, reduces retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss, optic nerve inflammation, and demyelination in experimental optic neuritis. This unique therapy and novel administration route delivers numerous cytokines and growth factors to the eye and optic nerve, suggesting a potential to also treat other optic neuropathies. Thus, ST266-mediated neuroprotection was examined following traumatic optic nerve injury. Methods Optic nerve crush injury was surgically induced in C57BL/6J mice. Mice were treated daily with intranasal PBS or ST266. RGC function was assessed by optokinetic responses (OKRs), RGCs were counted, and optic nerve sections were stained with luxol fast blue and anti-neurofilament antibodies to assess myelin and RGC axon damage. Results Intranasal ST266 administered daily for 5 days, beginning at the time that a 1-second optic nerve crush was performed, significantly attenuated OKR decreases. Furthermore, ST266 treatment reduced damage to RGC axons and myelin within optic nerves, and blocked RGC loss. Following a 4-second optic nerve crush, intranasal ST266 increased RGC survival and showed a trend toward reduced RGC axon and myelin damage. Ten days following optic nerve crush, ST266 prevented myelin damage, while also inducing a trend toward increased RGC survival and visual function. Conclusions ST266 significantly attenuates traumatic optic neuropathy. Neuroprotective effects of this unique combination of biologic molecules observed here and previously in optic neuritis suggest potential broad application for preventing neuronal damage in multiple optic nerve disorders. Furthermore, results support intranasal delivery as a novel, noninvasive therapeutic modality for eyes and optic nerves.


Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone secreted in response to nutrient ingestion following it's binding to the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R). Long-acting GLP-1R peptidomimetics have become an important class of therapeutics for treating type 2 diabetes (T2D) because of their gluco-regulatory actions. However, they have been associated with adverse side-effects. Pharmaceutical companies are actively pursuing development of small molecule ligands as alternatives, but with little success to date. GLP-1R ligands can stabilize distinct subsets of receptor conformations that can "traffic" stimulus to diverse functional outputs with varying prominence, a concept referred to as biased agonism. Allosteric modulators can also alter the signalling profiles of orthosteric ligands in a ligand-dependent manner, termed probe-dependence. While GLP-1R biased agonism and allosteric probe dependence are established, to date most studies are from recombinant systems overexpressing the GLP-1R. This thesis utilizes a reductionist (cAMP accumulation, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), ERK1/2 phosphorylation, proliferation and apoptosis) and non-reductionist approach (transcriptomics) to understand GLP-1R biased agonism and allosteric modulation in natively expressing cells that display glucose dependence, addressing some of the issues of translation from recombinant to more physiologically relevant systems mimicking β-cell physiology. Extensive and systemic analysis performed using GLP-1R peptides in INS-1 832/3 insulinoma cells, revealed that cAMP accumulation, proliferation and anti-apoptosis were glucose-independent, whereas, insulin secretion, [Ca2+]i mobilization and aspects of the ERK1/2 phosphorylation kinetics were glucose-dependent. Furthermore, attenuation of glucose-mediated activation of ERK1/2 at 5 min by GLP-1R peptides was a novel, unexpected observation. Assessment of ligand signalling profiles revealed that biased agonism occurred with distinct ligands; however the bias profile was different in two physiologically relevant glucose concentrations. One significant observation was a large degree of bias at the therapeutically relevant endpoints of proliferation and apoptosis, where for equivalent amounts of cAMP generated, GLP-1 was more efficacious compared to exendin-4 and oxyntomodulin. For small molecule ligands there was bias relative to GLP-1 between the amount of cAMP production and insulin secretion that was not observed with peptide ligands. In addition, both BETP and Compound 2 allosterically altered the signalling profiles of peptide ligands, in a peptide-dependent manner that differed depending on the glucose concentration assessed, observations that have clinical relevance for the development of allosteric drugs. In the final chapter, analysis of transcriptomics data identified a number of genes associated with functions of cell to cell signalling, signal transduction, proliferation, cell death and survival, along with number genes for GPCRs and GPCR ligands that were up or down-regulated following GLP-1R activation. In addition, a number of genes associated with T2D, but not previously with GLP-1R signalling also emerged. Exendin-4 and oxyntomodulin displayed bias relative to GLP-1 at the level of gene transcription with a number of differentially regulated genes identified. Thus, this thesis expands the existing knowledge around GLP-1R pharmacology and signalling. This will facilitate ligand profiling and better understanding of biased agonism in natively expressing systems that may be useful for future therapeutic development.


The subject of the research relates to the development and
implementation of algorithms for short-term prediction of the district
heating system characteristics using artificial neural networks. The
research is aimed at developing algorithms for the selection of
standard feedforward and recurrent artificial neural networks and their
architectures, choice and adjustment their parameters, choice and
definition of adequate inputs, modification of network architecture
and its adaptation to meet the demands imposed by the application of
artificial neural networks for short-term prediction of heat load as
main characteristic od district heating system. Special attention will
be devoted to a comparative analysis of proposed and adopted
artificial neural networks with their different architectures to obtain
optimal algorithms.
An adequate heat load prediction and satisfying consumer demands
with delivered heat energy in sense of control system, energy saving
and environment protection, are very important preconditions for
optimal adjusting of district heating system
Improving quality of prediction, as one of the dissertation objective,
has positive impact to control of district heating system, in general.
The main focus is on adequate choice of input vector, number of input
nodes and other parameters for standard types of neural networks,
contrary to solutions of some authors from literature, where they are
creating totally new and unique networks for solving specific
problem. On that way, they are loosing possibility of generalization
which is opposite to one of the dissertation objective.
Specific attention is given to problem of transient regime of heating,
where there are no continuation in heating during a day and defined heating period.
Achieving qualitative prediction for short period is very important for
decrease heat consumption and increase the coefficient of equipment
exploitation. This is more important due the fact that district heating
systems in Serbia are intermitted by definition which means that
heating is not realized in continuation but with turning on and off in
the morning and evening hours. Short term prediction is realized for
prediction of selected parameters and district heating system
characteristics for period of one, three and seven days.
Deigned modified feedforward and recurrent neural networks satisfy
needed quality of prediction for district heating systems, adequately
predict peak loads in transient heating regimes and through the
realization of neural networks of the same architecture on four
different data heat sources, they are showing possibility of
generalization on specific level.


The study investigated differences in skeletal muscle function between obese and non-obese children using a force platform. Forty obese children and adolescents (age range 8 to 18 years; 21 girls) and 40 age- and sex-matched controls performed two tests: (1) single two-legged jump, a countermovement jump for maximal height; (2) multiple one-legged hopping on the forefoot, a test of maximal force. In the single two-legged jump, obese subjects had higher absolute peak force (1.62 kN vs 1.09 kN) and peak power (2.46 kW vs 2.06 kW), but lower body weight-related peak force (2.10 vs 2.33) and lower peak power per body mass (30.9 W/kg vs 41.6 W/kg). Jump height (29.3 cm vs 37.5 cm) and maximal vertical velocity (1.92 ms(-1) vs 2.31 ms(-1)) were reduced in obese children. In multiple one-legged hopping, obese subjects had 72% and 84% higher absolute peak force on the left and right foot, respectively. However, forces relative to body weight were 24% and 23% lower in the obese group than in the control group. In conclusion, obese children and adolescents have increased muscle force and power. This partly compensates for the effect of high body weight on muscle performance.


Obesity is associated with a worse breast cancer prognosis and elevated levels of inflammation, including greater cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and activity in adipose-infiltrating macrophages. The product of this enzyme, the proinflammatory eicosanoid prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), stimulates adipose tissue aromatase expression and subsequent estrogen production, which could promote breast cancer progression. This study demonstrates that daily use of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), which inhibits COX-2 activity, is associated with reduced estrogen receptor α (ERα)-positive breast cancer recurrence in obese and overweight women. Retrospective review of data from ERα-positive patients with an average body mass index of >30 revealed that NSAID users had a 52% lower recurrence rate and a 28-month delay in time to recurrence. To examine the mechanisms that may be mediating this effect, we conducted in vitro studies that utilized sera from obese and normal-weight patients with breast cancer. Exposure to sera from obese patients stimulated greater macrophage COX-2 expression and PGE2 production. This was correlated with enhanced preadipocyte aromatase expression following incubation in conditioned media (CM) collected from the obese-patient, sera-exposed macrophages, an effect neutralized by COX-2 inhibition with celecoxib. In addition, CM from macrophage/preadipocyte cocultures exposed to sera from obese patients stimulated greater breast cancer cell ERα activity, proliferation, and migration compared with sera from normal-weight patients, and these differences were eliminated or reduced by the addition of an aromatase inhibitor during CM generation. Prospective studies designed to examine the clinical benefit of NSAID use in obese patients with breast cancer are warranted.


Abstract Attempts to use Fourier methods to quantify ammonoid suture shape have failed to yield robust, repeatable results because sutures are complex curves that violate the assumptions of Fourier mathematics. In particular, sampled sutures are artificially truncated such that the first and last sampled points are not equivalent, the folds are non-stationary, and a position along a horizontal reference axis may map to multiple amplitudes along the suture path. Here I introduce an alternative Fourier method—the windowed short-time Fourier transform (STFT)—that accommodates these characteristics of complex curves. For each suture, digitized landmarks were parameterized using a tangent angle function and then smoothed by convolving with an apodization function. Piece-wise Fourier transforms were then calculated and averaged, resulting in a robust, unique quantification of line morphology. STFT coefficients and estimated power spectra describing the relative weights of harmonics were generated for 576 Paleozoic-basal Triassic ammonoid genera, representative of the range of suture morphotypes. While insensitive to major episodes of taxonomic turnover (Frasnian/Famennian, end-Devonian, and Permian/Triassic extinctions), the summed power data support the previously observed trend toward increasing suture complexity through time. Moreover, partitioning the summed power statistic into harmonic ranges allows novel insight into Paleozoic suture evolution. In particular, the data show significant shifts in the dominant morphotypes during periods of rebound and radiation and suggest that basal Triassic ammonoids possessed unique suture morphotypes when compared with those of the Paleozoic.


The intestinal microbiota contribute to the integrity of the blood-brain barrier in fetal and adult mice. The blood-brain barrier is an important gateway that controls the passage of molecules and nutrients into and out of the brain. An intact blood-brain barrier is a crucial checkpoint for appropriate development and function of the brain. Braniste et al. showed that germ-free pregnant dams, devoid of commensal microbes, have offspring with increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier. The increased permeability persisted as the germ-free mice reached adulthood. However, fecal transplants, containing commensal bacteria, from pathogen-free mice into adult germ-free mice reduced blood-brain barrier permeability, which was associated with increased expression of genes encoding tight junction proteins. These findings suggested that crosstalk between the gut microbiota and the brain, initiated during the intrauterine period, persists throughout life. V. Braniste, M. Al-Asmakh, C. Kowal, F. Anuar, A. Abbaspour, M. Tóth, A. Korecka, N. Bakocevic, N. L. Guan, P. Kundu, B. Gulyás, C. Halldin, K. Hultenby, H. Nilsson, H. Hebert, B. T. Volpe, B. Diamond, S. Pettersson, The gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability in mice. Sci. Transl. Med. 6, 263ra158 (2014). [Abstract] N. Bien-Ly, R. J. Watts, The blood-brain barrier's gut check. Sci. Transl. Med. 6, 263fs46 (2014). [Abstract]


This paper will briefly consider the general conceptualisation of mental disorder before focusing on the specific case of Parental Alienation (PA), variously termed a disorder or a syndrome. By virtue of the recent debate surrounding its potential inclusion in the newest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), this is a topical example. A critical analysis of the petition for its inclusion within DSM-5 will both highlight the range of professionals' views, and also consider ethical and practical issues inherent in the conceptualisation of a mental disorder and its classification within the evolving DSM. Following this general and specific conceptualisation of mental disorder, the tensions that diagnosis raises for counselling psychology will be briefly deliberated. The positive aspects of classification and diagnosis will be acknowledged, whilst highlighting the focus on the subjective experience of individual clients.Despite the controversy about the concept, validity and reliability of PA, the evidence suggests that there is more agreement than disagreement among practitioners and professionals in the field. Whilst there is a general consensus that alienation exists within a distinct population who would benefit from intervention, there is no consensus on its inclusion in DSM-5. Irrespective of its inclusion in any nosology, the recent debate has highlighted the need for further research. A greater understanding of the processes, symptoms and behaviours involved in PA will enable the needs of children and families involved in high-conflict separation to be better addressed.


Summary Lactating Holstein cows in one herd were milked three times daily and enrolled in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design with eight treatments before first postpartum artificial insemination (AI). These treatments were employed to test ovulatory, progesterone, and luteolytic outcomes to three main effects: (1) two GnRH-PGF 2α presynchronization programs (PG-3-G vs. Double Ovsynch); (2) 5-vs. 7-day Ovsynch-duration programs; and (3) two doses (25 mg on consecutive days) or one dose (50 mg) of PGF 2α administered before timed AI. Results from this experiment demonstrate no differences in the presynchronization treatments of PG-3-G vs. Double Ovsynch; both are effective in initiating estrous cycles during warm-hot vs. cool-cold seasons. Although ovulatory responses were similar after the first GnRH administration, Double Ovsynch cows tended to have greater ovulation responses after the second GnRH administration. The single large, one-time administered 50-mg dose was effective in causing luteolysis in the 7-day program but slightly less effective in the 5-day program. Thus, when using the shorter 5-day program, the two 25-mg PGF 2α doses administered 24 hours apart are recommended. Insufficient numbers of cows were treated to make conclusions about pregnancy outcomes in this one-herd study. Pregnancy rates, however, were reduced in 5-day Ovsynch program when the single large 50-mg dose of PGF 2α was employed.


Abstract I compared nesting intervals during three consecutive years in five species of temperate-nesting dabbling ducks (Mallard [Anas platyrhynchos], Northern Pintail [Anas acuta], Northern Shoveler [Anas clypeata], Blue-winged Teal [Anas discors], Gadwall [Anas strepera]) and assessed whether differences existed in timing of refractoriness. Most nesting by females of all five species ended by the summer solstice. Nesting ended earliest for Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails and latest for Gadwalls. Some Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, and Gadwalls continued to nest into mid- and late summer, whereas Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails did not. Mallards, Blue-winged Teal, and Gadwalls accounted for 99% (81 of 82) of flightless broods resulting from nests initiated during mid- or late summer in North Dakota and 98% (58 of 59) of flightless juveniles shot on or after 1 October by a random sample of duck hunters from across the United States. Early cessation of breeding by Northern Shovelers may have evolved in response to the species' limited flexibility in diet. Photorefractory mechanisms that limit most breeding to spring presumably evolved in response to severe constraints on reproductive success when nesting continued through summer (e.g. mortality of late-hatched young and molting females due to low temperatures). Interspecific differences in photosensitivity may account for variation in timing of cessation of nesting in late spring, but controlled experiments are needed to assess the possible role of non-photic influences. My results suggest that the refractory mechanisms controlling length of the breeding season in temperate-nesting dabbling ducks are more varied and complex than previously thought, with non-photic influences (e.g. water conditions, food availability, food quality) having a larger role than indicated by earlier research.


Our ability to process words during a lexical decision task depends on a number of lexical features. These lexical features include, but are not limited to, word frequency (i.e. the number of times a word appears in written text), orthographic neighborhood count (i.e. the total number of new words that can be created by changing one letter at a time), letter count, and number of syllables (Andrews, 1992; Sears et al.. 2008;). For example, words that are high in frequency are responded to more quickly and accurately than low frequency words (Rubenstein, Garfield & Millikan, 1970; Scarborough, Cortese & Scarborough, 1977; Stone & Van Orden, 1993). When designing a lexical decision experiment researchers often vary specific lexical features while matching other features. For example, if one were to investigate the frequency effect, two groups of words would be created that differed on frequency but matched on other lexical features, such as average orthographic neighborhood, letter count, and number of syllables. When creating a list of items for a lexical decision task, researchers report the mean values for each of the lexical features they are controlling and manipulating. However, researchers typically do not refer to the amount of variability for each of the lexical features that are being controlled. The amount of variability in a list of items can have an effect on lexical decision performance. For example, in two separate studies, Glanzer and Ehrenreich (1979) and Gordon (1983), the variability of the frequency ratings were manipulated. In each study, participants received six blocks of trials that contained either a pure low frequency list of items, a pure medium frequency list of items, a pure high frequency list of items, or one of three mixed frequency, high variability lists. The mixed frequency lists were created by choosing an equal number of items from each of the three pure frequency lists. Their results indicated that increasing the variability of a list of word items both increased reaction time and decreased the error rate. According to Balota and Chumbley (1984), a lexical decision may be performed based on an early familiarity measure. When an item is presented during a lexical decision task, a representation begins to form that becomes more and more like something that is stored in memory. For word items, the similarity between the representation that is forming and memory will increase at a rate that is greater than the rate for nonwords. Words will also reach a higher level of familiarity than nonwords. Therefore, a familiarity decision criterion that falls somewhere between the average level of familiarity for words and nonwords could be used as a basis for categorization. If the familiarity decision criterion is determined based on the average familiarity for words and nonwords, increasing the variability of a list of words should have an effect on accuracy but no effect on reaction time. Increasing the variability of a word list will not affect the average level of familiarity; however, a highly variable word list will contain items that are not very familiar and these items would have a greater chance of incorrectly being called nonwords. There are a number of lexical decision models that utilize decision criteria that are based on some measure of familiarity or similarity between the representation that is forming and memory (Granger & Jacobs, 1996; Joordens, Piercey, & Azarbehi, 2009; Ratcliff, Gomez, & McKoon, 2004). However, the purpose of this study is not to perform a critical evaluation of the existing models of lexical decision. Rather, the purpose is to determine how changes in the variability of a word list will affect lexical decision performance. The mixed lists utilized by Glanzer and Ehrenreich (1979) and Gordon (1983) were created by combining high, medium, and low frequency words. Therefore, the resulting lists of mixed words had an average frequency rating that fell somewhere between the low and high frequency pure lists and had a greater variability than the pure lists. …


Shale gas currently provides 20% of domestic supply, is targeted by half of the gas-directed drilling rigs, and represents the large majority of domestic resources. However, modern shale plays, their development strategies and their engineering analysis are young by comparison to those of conventional reservoirs. Uncertainty in shale gas reserves has significant implications at both the micro and macro levels. Conventional reservoir engineering tools must be viewed as potentially inadequate (or even inappropriate) for the evaluation of shale gas performance primarily because of the extremely low aggregate permeability of these systems, but also because of other unique aspects of the systems. Reservoir modeling (simulation) has an important role as an assessment and prediction tool; however, the character of the reservoir (induced and enhanced natural fractures) must be considered, as well as the geological and fluid characteristics. Rate-transient analysis (modern decline analysis) techniques are also more rigorous and have been expanded and adapted to fit the uniqueness of shale gas production. Application of each method for shale gas is discussed, including methods and limitations. These two techniques more closely represent the physics of shale gas production, but their implementation is often prohibitive. By way of necessity, much engineering evaluation is performed using Arps decline curve analysis. This technique is argued by some to be inappropriate due to a lack of theoretical support and demonstrated tendency to over-estimate reserves in tight gas systems. Given the limitations, practical methods exist to reduce error associated with its use. A newer decline method, power-law exponential, is also investigated.


In 2000, a 26-year-old woman presented to the Auckland Hospital Neurology Department for assessment of chronic weakness. Medical history included stridor at age 1 month requiring intubation and ventilation and feeding problems requiring gastrostomy feeding between the ages of 1 and 8 months. Following this, early motor milestones were normal with sitting at 6 months and walking at 12 months. At age 5 years her parents noted an exaggerated lumbar lordosis and inability to run as fast as her peers. By age 11, she had difficulty climbing steps or riding a bike uphill. There was no family history of neuromuscular disease or consanguinity. She had three healthy siblings and one sister who died within 24 hours of birth due to perinatal asphyxia (no further details available).

Examination at age 11 years had shown slight right ptosis and marked weakness of shoulder girdle, elbow, hip girdle and knee movements. Her gait was described as waddling. Reflexes and sensation were intact.

Now aged 26 years, she reported stable weakness with difficulty lifting heavy items, washing hair, climbing stairs and walking long distances. Examination showed moderate weakness of upper and lower facial muscles and mild-to-moderate weakness of cervical muscles. Her muscles were generally thin. There was severe shoulder and hip girdle muscle weakness and moderate weakness about the knees and elbows. Arm reflexes were absent.

Proximal muscle weakness is characteristic of myopathy or spinal muscular atrophy. Myopathies that could present in childhood include primary muscle disorders such as congenital myopathies, collagen type VI-related congenital muscular dystrophies or muscular dystrophies such as limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD). Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and myotonic dystrophy need to be considered because of facial involvement (though the absence of clinical myotonia and lack of distal weakness makes myotonic dystrophy unlikely), and ptosis should always lead the clinician to consider …


Objective: To compare the differences in the modes and distance of the displacements in high school and university stage in the same sample. Methods: A total of 1288 volunteer university students (614 males and 674 females) participated, with an average age of 22.7 ± 5.8 years, belonging to four private and public universities in Chile where a validated self-report questionnaire was applied to the study, which included the modes, travel time, and distance at school and university. Results: The active commuting decreases from school to university when leaving home (males: 39.6% to 34.0%; p = 0.033 and females: 32.9% to 18.5%, p < 0.001), as well as when returning (males: 44.1% to 33.7%; p < 0.001 and females: 38.6% to 17.6%, p < 0.001). Conversely, non-active modes of transport increase, especially in females (go: 67.1% to 81.4%, return: 61.5% to 82.6%), affected by the increase in the use of public transportation in university. It was also defined that at both school and at university, the active commuting decreases the greater the distance travelled. Conclusion: The active modes of commuting decreased between high school and university and the non-active mode of commuting was the most frequent form of mobility to high school and university, observing that the active trips decreased when the distance from the home to high school or university increased. Public and private intervention policies and strategies are required to maintain or increase the modes of active commuting in the university stage for an active life in adulthood.


Dewatered tailings facilities (thickened, paste, filtered) are generally considered safer alternatives to conventional tailings disposal, primarily due to the lower amounts of water stored as a pond or interstitially within the tailings mass. While it is acknowledged that a risk-based approach to TSF design should always be followed, the pressure to deliver projects quickly and often within limited budgets creates a tendency to rely on standards-based design criteria which may not always be directly applicable to dewatered tailings facilities. Key design criteria commonly adopted from conventional TSF design are driven by the Population at Risk (PAR) and Dam Failure Consequence, slope stability Factors of Safety (FOS), Stormwater storage and Earthquake Loading. For dewatered tailings facilities it is important for stakeholders to recognise that prescriptive design elements, typically adopted from conventional TSFs, may not represent the most critical sources of risk, and therefore selection of design criteria should be case-specific. There is arguably a void in international guidelines with respect to incorporating a design flowchart to streamline the design of dewatered tailings facilities. This paper discusses current practice for evaluating key TSF design criteria, taking as a base leading guidelines such as MAC (2019), ANCOLD (2012) and CDA (2007, 2014), and relates this to the context of dewatered tailings facilities. It identifies important elements to consider, issues likely to be encountered and areas of improvement, and provides a basis for continuing research and discussion.


Chloroplasts were once free-living cyanobacteria that became endosymbionts, but the genomes of contemporary plastids encode only ≈5–10% as many genes as those of their free-living cousins, indicating that many genes were either lost from plastids or transferred to the nucleus during the course of plant evolution. Previous estimates have suggested that between 800 and perhaps as many as 2,000 genes in the Arabidopsis genome might come from cyanobacteria, but genome-wide phylogenetic surveys that could provide direct estimates of this number are lacking. We compared 24,990 proteins encoded in the Arabidopsis genome to the proteins from three cyanobacterial genomes, 16 other prokaryotic reference genomes, and yeast. Of 9,368 Arabidopsis proteins sufficiently conserved for primary sequence comparison, 866 detected homologues only among cyanobacteria and 834 other branched with cyanobacterial homologues in phylogenetic trees. Extrapolating from these conserved proteins to the whole genome, the data suggest that ≈4,500 of Arabidopsis protein-coding genes (≈18% of the total) were acquired from the cyanobacterial ancestor of plastids. These proteins encompass all functional classes, and the majority of them are targeted to cell compartments other than the chloroplast. Analysis of 15 sequenced chloroplast genomes revealed 117 nuclear-encoded proteins that are also still present in at least one chloroplast genome. A phylogeny of chloroplast genomes inferred from 41 proteins and 8,303 amino acids sites indicates that at least two independent secondary endosymbiotic events have occurred involving red algae and that amino acid composition bias in chloroplast proteins strongly affects plastid genome phylogeny.


"In the place of the public sphere?" takes its point of departure in conceptions of practice and spectatorship based on the notion of a fragmented public sphere, and explores the potentials, problematics and politics lying behind a construction (real or imaginary) of particular "public" spheres. How does one perceive and / or construct specific public spheres and positional and / or participatory models for spectatorship as opposed ti (modernist) generalized ones? Does this entail reconfiguration of the (bourgeois) notion of the public sphere into a different arena and / or into a mass of difference, overlapping spheres? or, in other words, what can be put in the place of the public sphere? privat zones, salons, institutions, sub- and / or counterpublics? and what are the different arenas, possibilities and methods for interaction within and between them? finally, the question to be raced is how this should relate to artistic production and arts spaces and institutions?


In the transition from industrial to service robotics, robots will have to deal with increasingly unpredictable and variable environments. We present a system that is able to recognize objects of a certain class in an image and to identify their parts for potential interactions. This is demonstrated for object instances that have never been observed during training, and under partial occlusion and against cluttered backgrounds. Our approach builds on the Implicit Shape Model of Leibe and Schiele, and extends it to couple recognition to the provision of meta-data useful for a task. Meta-data can for example consist of part labels or depth estimates. We present experimental results on wheelchairs and cars.


Conventional equation solving and optimization techniques for solving the phase stability problem may fail to converge or may converge to an incorrect result. A technique for solving the problem with mathematical certainty is needed. One approach to providing such assurance can be found in the use of interval methods. An interval Newton/generalized bisection technique is applied here to solve the phase stability problem. Results for two models of liquid-phase systems, using several different feed compositions, indicate that the technique used is reliable and very efficient.


When situated learning was first described as an emerging model of instruction in 1989, its principal proponents believed that this was just the beginning - the model would continue to evolve and develop with new research and theory. This paper will describe the current thinking on situated learning and the critical characteristics that distinguish it from other models of instruction. The use of situated learning as an approach to the design of learning environments has significant implications for the instructional design of computer-based programs. Strategies for the application of these characteristics to the instructional design of interactive multimedia will be explored. Specific examples will be given to show how these strategies have been applied in the development of interactive multimedia products at Edith Cowan University.


Resume: Une analyse rigoureuse de la trame sonore de Tesis d'Alejandro Amenadar devoile le fonctionnement du film a l'interieur des conventions du cinema d'horreur et elucide son interpellation des spectateurs feminins et masculins. Malgre certains elements novateurs, Tesis maintient une division rigide entre les sexes et reaffirme la hierarchie traditionnelle entre l'image et le son. Alejandro Amenabar's Tests ([Thesis] Spain, 1996) is well titled. A horror thriller, it also functions meta-textually as a statement about audio-visual violence, Spanish cinema and its relationship to Hollywood and commerce. Tesis tells the story of Angela (Ana Torrent) who, while researching her thesis on audio-visual violence, comes across a ring of snuff filmmakers at her university (the Facultad de las Ciencias de la Informacion at the Complutense in Madrid where the film was shot1) including Professor Castro (Xavier Elorriaga), the beautiful pijo2 Bosco (Eduardo Noriega) and quite possibly her accomplice Chema (Felez Martinez), a gore and porn aficionado who lives alone in a spooky apartment in Madrid. The film has been read in terms of its exploration of questions of genre, gender and national identity. For Leora Lev, the film is about the predatory nature of the eye: "security cameras, video recorders, electronic eyes, instruments that invade private, personal space with a voyeuristic impetus that ultimately kills." Placing her reading within a Spanish perspective, she claims that the film suggests that "Francois! surveillance may be a thing of the past, but an inquisitorial, fratricidal fervor is still fed by this network of spying mechanisms embedded within the very architecture of the new, technologically savvy, consumerist Spain."3 The casting of Ana Torrent, the little girl from Victor Erice's El espintu de la colmena ([The Spirit of the Beehive] Spain, 1973), whose eyes were to mark Spanish cinema, adds an intertextual emphasis on the gaze.4 According to Cristina Buckley, Torrent further " recall [s] for the contemporary Spanish audience the cinematic and political adherents of its predecessor."5 The famous actor's presence seems to set Amenabar's film against Erice's, as a new standard in Spanish cinema, one where the inspiration in U.S. monster movies is not elided and poeticized, and where commerce presides alongside (over?) art.6 Certainly, parallels can be drawn between the two films. Both have as an inspiration and intertext the horror genre. Erice plays with the genre from another era: the Universal Studio monster, Boris Karloff's Frankenstein, drawn in as a polysemic metaphor; Amenabar's inspiration is primarily Hanibal Lecter and more recent examples of the horror genre. Their difference is felt most pointedly in the use of sound: where Erice's art film is nearly silent, Amenabar's is densely packed with noise, music and dialogue, with loud music serving the "startle effect."7 Both, however, use dissonance and ethereal sounds to create ambiguity and to disorient the spectator.8 Yet there is no mistaking Amenabar's score for introspection: his is designed to set the heart racing. If Erice wanted to show the slow, metaphorical death by silence of the losing side after the Spanish civil war, Amenabar is fascinated by the quick, screaming, spectacular deaths perpetuated by society's winners. One might say they are inspired by two contrary versions of monstrousness and its meanings. The Frankenstein monster is the lonely outsider to Dracula's sexy conqueror, and Amenabar picks the vampiric aristocrat to Erice's proletarian living dead. Both are culled via Hollywood from American popular culture, though Amenabar's monster serves a much less metaphorical function. Bosco is a postmodern Bosch, as Leora Lev points out, smashing and slashing the female body to grotesque (im)perfection. While it might be tempting to trace a Spanish connection through Felipe II's love of the Flemish master, as Lev does, it may be more important to keep in mind Jeffrey Dahmer's reduction of "what was once a vital living person to a piece of sculpture,"9 as well as films like Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer (USA, 1986, John McNaughton) that conflate sexual possession with videotaping and murder. …


The penetration resistance of different arable soils is quite different depending on the Estonian area. We are briefly introducing the results of our research on soil compaction, penetration resistance of different soils in Estonia, uptake of nutrients and changes of intracellular fluid pH of barley depending on soil bulk densities. These data were mainly collected in a research field (58°23'N, 26°44'E) of the Estonian Agricultural University, with different levels of soil compaction (10 levels) on sandy loam Fragi-Stagnic Albeluvisol (WRB) soil in 2001 and 2002. The investigated cultural plant was spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). In Estonia H. Loogus has studied changes of cellular fluid pH, depending on seedbed, by using microelectrodes directly on plants by quick method. The effect of soil bulk density on cellular fluid pH of barley leaves generally depends of number of passes. The experiment showed also that a higher decrease in nitrogen content started at the same soil bulk density value as the cellular fluid pH quickly increased. If the soil bulk density was increasing up to level 1.52-1.54 Mg m - 3 , the cellular fluid pH suddenly increased very quickly. Nitrogen assimilation change in plants of barley decreased at the same bulk density values as a remarkable increase of intracellular pH was observed.


In recent years, mycosterols have emerged as potential functional ingredients for the development of sterol-enriched food products and dietary supplements. Agaricus blazei is a mushroom rich in bioactive compounds. For commercial purposes, their fruiting bodies must obey rigid morphological criteria. Those not conforming to these criteria are usually discarded, although this does not mean impairment of their content in bioactives. The aim of the present work was to propose the use of commercially discarded A. blazei fruiting bodies for obtaining an extract rich in ergosterol as a fortifier ingredient for yogurts. For extraction, the Soxhlet technology was used and the highest ergosterol yield (around 12%) was achieved in the 5th cycle, yielding 58.53 ± 1.72 µg of ergosterol per 100 g of mushroom (dry weight). The ergosterol rich extract presented notable antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, besides showing no hepatotoxicity. When added to the yogurts it significantly enhanced their antioxidant properties. Furthermore, it did not significantly alter the nutritional or the individual fatty acid profiles of the final dairy products. Thus, A. blazei fruiting bodies that do not conform to the commercial requirements of the market and are normally discarded could be exploited for obtaining a natural high added-value food additive, following the circular bioeconomy concept.


In Toni Cade Bambara's short story, "The Lesson" (1972), the narrator, Sylvia, speaks and narrates in African American Vernacular English (AAVE). This is an appropriate dialect for Sylvia, who lives in a New York ghetto, is a working-class black child about twelve years old, and has a strong feminist attitude. AAVE is also a dialect that Bambara herself would have learned growing up during the 1940s and 1950s in New York City's Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant communities. AAVE adds realism and humor to Sylvia's narrative. The dialect also reflects Bambara's pride in her ethnic heritage. Finally, AAVE fits the story's themes, one of which is that the black children in the story need to learn about the world outside their ghetto and another that wealth is unequally and unfairly distributed in American society. In "The Lesson," most of the have-not children in need of education speak AAVE. This dialect emphasizes the children's distance from mainstream white bourgeois culture and economic power. However, Bambara also celebrates AAVE as a vehicle for conveying black experience: Sylvia uses AAVE to express her self-confidence, assertiveness, and creativity as a young black woman. Gavin Jones points out that, by the late nineteenth century, ethnic dialects provided American writers with "a voice for social commentary and political satire" (5). Dialect literature questions "sociolinguistic wholeness" (51). Writers like Paul Laurence Dunbar valued dialect for its realism as well as "its power to structure a political response to larger social, cultural, and racial issues" (Jones 20). Such writing implies resistance to the dominant culture, destabilizes the privileged dialect/discourse, and portrays "subversive voices" that present "alternative versions of reality" (11, 13, 46). Bambara's fiction reflects the perspective of her black contemporaries. Sylvia Wallace Holton explains that, by the 1960s, many African Americans were alienated from aspects of lire in the United States. Especially traumatic for blacks were "White resistance to Civil Rights legislation, the loss of a number of important leaders," and the Vietnam War, which blacks considered racist. African Americans became interested in the movements that emphasized Black Power, Black Pride, and black nationalism (144-45). Holton analyzes the work of black writers like Amiri Baraka who experimented with AAVE in fiction. "Committed to writing for a black rather than a white audience, Baraka [...] refuses to be bound by the rules of 'white' literature and language. Instead, he expresses himself [...] in a normative but distinctive black speech" (180). Bambara carries on this tradition of cultural nationalism in her fiction and essays. Barbara Hill Hudson's research indicates that in literature by African-American women writers, "the Standard speakers display conformist behavior, while the Vernacular speakers use more creative, individualistic behavior." Colorful, striking language is part of this individualism (120, 161, 185, 192). Denise Troutman argues that black women often use an assertive, outspoken style of speech (219). In general, the African-American community values sophisticated verbal skills and associates such ability with intelligence (223, 234). Furthermore, Richard O. Lewis has pointed out that African-American writers use AAVE to emphasize their political and social commentary. AAVE can effectively convey the characters' "strong emotion. The language of these characters marks impropriety; it signals commission of some taboo act that transgresses society's limits. These challenge phrases indicate conflict between authority figures and subordinate figures" (27). Lewis's analysis applies to Sylvia: she is a rebellious youngster who dislikes having to learn summer lessons from Miss Moore, an older woman and the authority figure in the story. Sylvia's language, which includes cursing, expresses her self-confidence, nonconformity, anger, frustration, and inventiveness. …


The determination of scattering strengths in shallow water is difficult due to multipath effects. A method is described that is based on global inversion of reverberation data, which allows both the bottom scattering strength and geoacoustic parameters (bottom loss) to be determined simultaneously. Ellis [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 2804 (1995)] has described a computationally efficient reverberation model based on normal modes and ray‐mode analogies. This is combined with the global inversion method of Gerstoft [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 770 (1994)]. Using broadband reverberation data from a shallow‐water site north of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea, bottom scattering strengths and bottom sound speeds have been extracted. The reliability of estimating other environmental parameters is also investigated. By using the data from all frequencies simultaneously in the inversion, the stability of the estimates is significantly improved.


Abstract The bead foaming behavior of ether- and an ester-based Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) resins were investigated in a lab-scale reactor using supercritical CO2 as the blowing agent. The samples were saturated at various saturation temperatures and the effects of hard segment crystallization during the saturation on the foaming behavior of the TPU samples were explored. The results revealed that the different HS crystallization tendencies and possible CO2 solubility differences in two TPU grades led to their different foaming behaviors. The ester-based TPU could be foamed within a wider saturation temperature range and revealed an easier cell growth and foam expansion while the ether-based TPU showed a more limited cell growth behavior and hence processing window. The effect of pre-annealing and hence the isothermally induced HS crystallization on the foaming behavior of the ether-based TPU and the influence of depressurization rate on the foaming behavior of ester-based TPU was also explored.


The widely parallel, spiking neural networks of neuromorphic processors can enable computationally powerful formulations. While recent interest has focused on primarily machine learning tasks, the space of appropriate applications is wide and continually expanding. Here, we leverage the parallel and event-driven structure to solve a steady state heat equation using a random walk method. The random walk can be executed fully within a spiking neural network using stochastic neuron behavior, and we provide results from both IBM TrueNorth and Intel Loihi implementations. Additionally, we position this algorithm as a potential scalable benchmark for neuromorphic systems.


We consider the problem of MaxMin allocation of indivisible goods. There are m items to be distributed among n players. Each player i has a nonnegative valuation pij for an item j, and the goal is to allocate items to players so as to maximize the minimum total valuation received by each player. There is a large gap in our understanding of this problem. The best known positive result is an Õ( √ n)-approximation algorithm, while there is only a factor 2 hardness known. Better algorithms are known for the restricted assignment case where each item has exactly one nonzero value for the players. We study the effect of bounded degree for items: each item has a nonzero value for at most D players. We show that essentially the case D = 3 is equivalent to the general case, and give a 4-approximation algorithm for D = 2. The current algorithmic results for MaxMin Allocation are based on a complicated LP relaxation called the configuration LP. We present a much simpler LP which is equivalent in power to the configuration LP. We focus on a special case of MaxMin Allocation—a family of instances on which this LP has a polynomially large gap. The technical core of our result for this case comes from an algorithm for an interesting new optimization problem on directed graphs, MaxMinDegree Arborescence, where the goal is to produce an arborescence of large outdegree. We develop an n -approximation for this problem that runs in nO(1/ ) time and obtain a polylogarithmic approximation that runs in quasipolynomial time, using a lift-and-project inspired LP formulation. In fact, we show that our results imply a rounding algorithm for the relaxations obtained by t rounds of the Sherali-Adams hierarchy applied to a natural LP relaxation of the problem. Roughly speaking, the integrality gap of the relaxation obtained from t rounds of Sherali-Adams is at most n1/t. We are able to extend the latter result to a more general class of instances called InfDegreeTwo: each item has infinite utility for at most two players. Along the way, we prove a result about the existence of a perfect matching in a probabilistically pruned graph which may be of independent interest.


Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurological disorder with high mortality and morbidity. Some risk factors have been implicated for ALS such as exposure to high magnetic fields, and trace elements like selenium, cadmium and lead. A few studies have been carried out throughout the world to evaluate the prevalence of ALS among veterans. This study was aimed to evaluate ALS frequency among Iran – Iraq war veterans. Methods: Medical records of 52580 veterans were studied and those with suspected neuromuscular disorders were referred to a blind neurologist. ALS was verified according to World Federation of Neurology criteria. Student t-test and chi-square test were used for analysis and a P value less than 0.01 was considered significant. Results: Eleven definite ALS and two possible ALS cases were identified among the subjects. The mean age of onset of the disease was 43.7±9.7 years. All subjects had a record of at least three months involvement in action and symptoms began to show up after 16.5±3.6 years. The mean interval between exhibition of symptoms and the definitive diagnosis of the disease was 16.5 months. Conclusion: The prevalence of ALS in our population was significantly greater than that of international surveys (P<0.01). The onset of the disease occurred at a significantly lower age than typical ALS (P<0.01). Military service might therefore be a risk factor for ALS.


This CCR Focus went to press shortly after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, on April 28, 2011, of abiraterone in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Abiraterone was synthesized in the early 1990s by Mike Jarman's group at the Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, England. After some delay, clinical development was initiated under the leadership of Johann de Bono, who conducted phase I, II, and III trials, with activity observed at each stage. Several aspects of this are notable. One, this is the third major regulatory approval in the space of 1 year for a disease that once had few treatment options after testosterone-lowering therapy. Second, approvals of all 3 were based on an overall survival advantage, a feat that many have argued has become impossible in oncology. Third, the approvals were for drugs against old targets, microtubules and the androgen receptor, and in the case of sipuleucel-T, a new approach in an established treatment paradigm (i.e., immunotherapy). The irony of this should not be lost in the age of targeted therapies, with the steady expansion of exotic new targets as well as the exhaustive list of kinase inhibitors/ antiangiogenic agents in development. Taken together, these studies represent the type of achievement that shows oncology at its best—incremental steps that instruct us in the biology of cancer while providing true clinical benefit. The clinical trial results clearly meet the ''substantial evidence'' criteria of adequate and well-controlled investigations anticipated when the U.S. Congress adopted the 1962 Drug Amendments requiring ''manufacturers of drug products to establish a drug's effectiveness by substantial evidence'' (1, 2). It is fitting that de Bono and Gerhardt Attard, who also participated in abiraterone development, serve as Guest Editors of this issue of CCR Focus. They have recruited a series of experts to discuss the new developments: Massard and Fizazi to discuss continued androgen receptor signaling; Madan, Pal, Sartor, and Dahut to discuss cabazitaxel and other small molecules in development; and Gulley and Drake to discuss sipuleucel-T and other immunotherapies. These articles are complemented by a discussion by Danila, Fleisher, and Scher of circulating tumor cells as biomarkers, also the subject of an FDA device approval in 2009. As with every issue of CCR Focus, this issue is meant to be accessible to those interested but nonexpert in this topic, to stimulate the thinking of those working in the field, and to highlight concepts for future research.


Background: Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are human somatic cells that have been reprogrammed to a pluripotent state. Several methods have been used to generate hepatocyte-like cells from iPSCs. However, these hepatic cells have limited clinical application because of their immature function compared to primary hepatocytes. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been reported to inhibit apoptosis of hepatic cells and to improve hepatic regeneration in acute liver injury. Therefore, we expected that MSCs had the potential to positively contribute to the maturation of hepatic cells. Here we demonstrate the effect of MSCs on the maturation of hepatoblasts derived from human iPSCs. Methods: MSCs were isolated from human bone marrow and cultured to 70-80% confluence. MSC-conditioned medium (MSC-CM) was collected 48 h after culture in hepatic maturation medium. Human iPSC-derived hepatoblasts were then cultured for 6 days with MSC-CM. Hepatic functions were analyzed and compared to those from cells cultured in general maturation medium. Results: Cells in both groups had a cuboidal morphology typical of hepatocytes. The proportion of Oct4-positive cells was decreased and those of albumin- and alpha-fetoprotein-positive cells were increased in the MSC-CM group. Albumin secretion and urea synthesis as well as cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 activity were enhanced in the MSC-CM group. The gene expressions of some CYP enzymes were upregulated as demonstrated by RT-PCR. Conclusion: Secreted molecules from human MSCs could enhance the hepatic function of human iPSC-derived hepatocyte-like cells. Although more technological innovations are needed, MSC-CM will be useful as a novel efficient strategy for clinically relevant hepatic cell maturation.


Objective—This study aimed to assess the effect of the Master Settlement Agreement's (MSA) 24 April 1999 ban on billboard tobacco advertising on the tobacco industry's point-of-purchase marketing strategies. Methods—Observations were conducted from 16 February through 23 June 1999 in 3,464 tobacco-selling retail stores in a total of 191 communities across the nation. Communities were determined by the location of schools in a nationally representative sample of students in grades 8, 10, and 12 in the United States. At each store, information was collected on the extent of interior and exterior tobacco advertising, extent of tobacco functional objects, presence of tobacco promotions, and placement of tobacco and low-height advertisements. Logistic regression and cumulative logit analyses were used to assess changes in pre- and post-ban retail environments, after adjusting for store type, store size, presence of state tobacco control program and urbanicity. Results—After adjustment for covariates, there were significant post-ban increases in the presence of tobacco sales promotions, the presence and extent of functional objects, the presence of exterior and interior store advertising, and the extensiveness of exterior store advertising. Conclusions—The observed increase in point-of-purchase marketing in the period following the billboard advertising ban suggests that the tobacco industry may be shifting at least some of the expenditures once spent on billboard advertising to the advertising and promotion at the point-ofpurchase. To the extent that this is so, the intended effects of the MSA billboard ban may not be fully realized.


A study was undertaken in 2007 among library and information service (LIS) workers in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) to investigate LIASA membership trends. The objectives of the study were to investigate: 1) the extent to which workers in library and information services in KwaZulu-Natal are members of LIASA; and 2) the reasons for non-membership, if there are substantial numbers of LIS workers who are not members. The purpose of this paper is to report on the main findings of this study. The study surveyed three types of library services in KwaZulu-Natal, namely, academic, public and special libraries with 330 LIS workers participating in the study. A census was done of LIS workers in special libraries and in academic libraries of public higher education institutions in KZN. Simple random sampling was used to select public libraries in KZN for participation in the study. All staff in the selected sample of public libraries were surveyed. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather the required data from the target population. It was established that a significant number of LIS workers in all three types of libraries surveyed in KZN are not members of LIASA for various reasons. LIASA has been unable to draw significant membership from the support staff category in LIS services despite its constitution claiming to embrace all LIS workers. The study recommends that LIASA market itself more aggressively to increase membership levels particularly in the public library sector and among support staff in all LIS services. It also recommends that LIASA should consider involving itself in the industrial concerns of the LIS sector.


Abstract. Reduced-reference (RR) and no-reference (NR) models for video quality estimation, using features that account for the impact of coding artifacts, spatio-temporal complexity, and packet losses, are proposed. The purpose of this study is to analyze a number of potentially quality-relevant features in order to select the most suitable set of features for building the desired models. The proposed sets of features have not been used in the literature and some of the features are used for the first time in this study. The features are employed by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO), which selects only the most influential of them toward perceptual quality. For comparison, we apply feature selection in the complete feature sets and ridge regression on the reduced sets. The models are validated using a database of H.264/AVC encoded videos that were subjectively assessed for quality in an ITU-T compliant laboratory. We infer that just two features selected by RR LASSO and two bitstream-based features selected by NR LASSO are able to estimate perceptual quality with high accuracy, higher than that of ridge, which uses more features. The comparisons with competing works and two full-reference metrics also verify the superiority of our models.


Abstract This study focused on the structure and physical properties of acid-treated bentonite L45 from the Lieskovec deposit (Slovakia). New applications of near infrared and visible spectroscopies were used to follow Fe-montmorillonite dissolution and layer-charge reduction. Progressive dissolution of L45 results in the formation of a protonated amorphous silica phase. The OH overtone at 7312 cm-1 revealed the creation of Si-OH groups in the mildly treated samples. The area of the Si-O-Moct band, as obtained by a peak-fitting procedure, is a sensitive indicator of the changes in the octahedral sheets. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy of the smectite dispersions with methylene blue (MB) is an efficient method for controlling the acid activation process of bentonites. The results reveal that acid treatment causes a substantial layer-charge reduction, probably due to prevailing dissolution of MgO4(OH)2 polyhedra in the octahedral sheets. The layer-charge reduction is proportional to the structural changes and to the extent of mineral decomposition upon acid treatment.


Introduction
Pregnancy and childbirth are unique experiences in a family's lifetime. They are time periods of highest emotional sensitivity. Also, they may constitute substantial health risks for both the mother and the infant. With the advent of modern neonatal intensive care, ethical dilemmas have arisen more often in perinatology. Decisions on intensive vs. compassionate care for critically ill infants may have long-term emotional and mental health effects on parents. A questionnaire among parents of deceased newborns after delivery room resuscitation showed that predictions of morbidity and mortality were not central to their decision-making. However, religion, hope, spirituality and compassion were mentioned as being most valuable guidance to decision-making regarding delivery room resuscitation.
Little is known about German professionals' views regarding the role of religion and spirituality in perinatology. We therefore administered a cross sectional survey to medical professionals (midwives, nurses, obstetricians and neonatologists) who are working in perinatal medicine in Germany. Our study aims were to evaluate their perspectives on religion / spirituality and health as well as their personal religious and spiritual characteristics.
Methods
A modified version of a questionnaire on "religious characteristics of U.S. physicians" that was developed by Curlin et al. was used. The questionnaire was translated, adapted and validated. The questionnaire contained 47 items divided over three sections that evaluated personal perspective on religion/spirituality and health, personal religious and spiritual characteristics of the respondents and demographic characteristics.
Results and conclusion
Four study centers were enrolled in the study. There were 374 eligible participants, 296 medical professionals participated (78% response rate). Among these 296 professionals, 21 chose not to fill out the entire questionnaire. They used an abbreviated version of the questionnaire.
This resulted in 275 active survey participants: 45 midwives (16%), 121 neonatal intensive care nurses (44%) and 109 physicians (neonatologists, obstetricians) (40%). The median age of all participants was 36 years (minimum 23, maximum 64, between center - range 41). 30% said to have no religious affiliation, 47% reported to be Roman Catholic, 18% Protestant and 5% indicated other religious affiliations.
10% reported to be very religious and 16% to be very spiritual, 47% reported to be moderately religious and 46% moderately spiritual, 21% slightly religious and 26% slightly spiritual and 22% reported to be not religious at all and 12% not spiritual at all.
96% of the survey participants think that R/S has an influence on health. They valued R/S mainly as something positive, that gives patients hope and helps to cope with and endure illness. Although the medical professionals valued R/S mainly as something positive only 50% of the medical professionals ever inquired about R/S issues. They were more likely to inquire about R/S issues when the clinical situation is more severe. Furthermore, medical professionals likelyhood to inquire about R/S issues seems related to their own spirituality and religious affiliation, those who are more spiritual are more likely to inquire about R/S issues. 40% of the participants noted that they experience barriers that discouraged them from discussing R/S issues with patients. Most frequently mentioned barriers were lack of time and training as well as general discomfort speaking about R/S issues and fear to offend patients.
The study results suggest that educational programs should be made available to overcome such barriers. This study should encourage medical professionals in perinatal care to bring up religious and spiritual issues in patient care.


Abstract This paper describes a modeling and analysis approach for reliability prediction based on degradation modeling, considering multiple degradation measures and with respect to the thermal-hydraulic passive systems. Previous research on the topic has drawn attention to the susceptibility of passive systems to several modes of failure. In fact, it has been recognized that a system may have, in addition to component mechanism failures, multiple degradation paths, so it is necessary to simultaneously consider multiple degradation measures. Also, many research efforts on degradation analysis were initiated by making assumptions about the degradation mechanism. In reality, often there is very limited understanding about the concerned degradation mechanisms together with their interdependencies. In this paper, an analysis procedure is developed to address this aspect. Simulated data have been used to illustrate the applicability of this approach. Results on the application of the methods to a simplified model of the passive residual heat transport system in water-cooled reactors is presented. It was verified that when the multiple degradation measures in a system are correlated, an incorrect independence assumption may overestimate the system reliability.


ABSTRACT The present study aims to investigate cases for which there was a claim of medical malpractice, to evaluate the role of autopsy in decisions about medical malpractice. A total of 306 cases for which there were claims of medical malpractice and for which autopsies were performed in Istanbul between 2006 and 2010 were retrospectively analysed. Age, gender, duration of hospitalization, decisions of medical malpractice, and specializations of the physicians who were found responsible for medical malpractice were evaluated. The clinical diagnosis and autopsy diagnosis of these cases were also evaluated retrospectively. The cases with or without major diagnostic changes have been compared regarding aspects of year, age groups, duration of hospitalization, and specializations of the staff who were accused of medical malpractice. Of the cases, 185 (60.46%) were males and the mean age was 37.2 years. The intrauterine and perinatal death group formed the largest group with a total of 70 cases (22.9%). Physicians constituted the largest group found to be guilty of medical malpractice. Eighty-one (26.5%) of the cases were concluded to show medical malpractice. The major change was 45.4%. The major change in autopsy was found to be statistically significant in cases with medical malpractice. In conclusion, autopsy is still the most important means for ensuring quality control for clinical applications.


Background and objectives. High salt intake increases blood pressure and thereby the risk of chronic diseases. Food reformulation (or food product improvement) may lower the dietary intake of salt. This study describes the changes in salt contents of foods in the Dutch market over a five-year period (2011–2016) and differences in estimated salt intake over a 10-year period (2006–2015). Methods. To assess the salt contents of foods; we obtained recent data from chemical analyses and from food labels. Salt content of these foods in 2016 was compared to salt contents in the 2011 version Dutch Food Composition Database (NEVO, version 2011), and statistically tested with General Linear Models. To estimate the daily dietary salt intake in 2006, 2010, and 2015, men and women aged 19 to 70 years were recruited through random population sampling in Doetinchem, a small town located in a rural area in the eastern part of the Netherlands. The characteristics of the study population were in 2006: n = 317, mean age 49 years, 43% men, in 2010: n = 342, mean age 46 years, 45% men, and in 2015: n = 289, mean age 46 years, 47% men. Sodium and potassium excretion was measured in a single 24-h urine sample. All estimates were converted to a common metric: salt intake in grams per day by multiplication of sodium with a factor of 2.54. Results. In 2016 compared to 2011, the salt content in certain types of bread was on average 19 percent lower and certain types of sauce, soup, canned vegetables and legumes, and crisps had a 12 to 26 percent lower salt content. Salt content in other types of foods had not changed significantly. Between 2006, 2010 and 2015 the estimated salt intake among adults in Doetinchem remained unchanged. In 2015, the median estimated salt intake was 9.7 g per day for men and 7.4 g per day for women. As in 2006 and 2010, the estimated salt intake in 2015 exceeded the recommended maximum intake of 6 g per day set by the Dutch Health Council. Conclusion. In the Netherlands, the salt content of bread, certain sauces, soups, potato crisps, and processed legumes and vegetables have been reduced over the period 2011–2016. However, median salt intake in 2006 and 2015 remained well above the recommended intake of 6 g.


This book offers insights into the process of economic reform in developing countries. It is organized around three factors that are critical to the success of any reform. According to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, these key dimensions are Reach, Range, and Reason. 'Reach' refers to the ability of reform to be person-centered and evenhanded, reaching all individuals in society. 'Range' considers the institutional reforms and policy changes necessary to implement change and the possible ripple effects on other policies and populations. Finally, 'Reason' captures the importance of constantly asking why a particular reform has been selected.


The intensity of asylum flows over the last 20 years represents a significant challenge to national and European policy making. This article studies the dynamic reciprocal effects between asylum applications and recognition rates in 29 European countries over 24 years. Furthermore, it explores the impact of the national economic and political context on these two aspects of asylum policy. Using a wide range of statistical models and approaches, the article reveals that asylum applications exert a negative effect on recognition rates, and recognition rates exert a positive effect on applications. However, despite their statistical significance, the effects are rather small and mostly related to between-country rather than within-country variation, which implies that they are of limited practical significance. Unemployment is only weakly related to recognition rates and not at all to application shares, while government positions favoring immigration and multiculturalism have no effect on asylum application shares and recognition rates.


In view of the persistence of health inequalities and declines in leisure-sport participation over the life course, several quantitative investigations have explored the links between participation and other leisure activities, which have their foundations in childhood and youth, as a means of understanding adults' health behaviours. This paper presents new qualitative evidence to examine the largely under-explored relationship between leisure-sport participation and health within the context of educational transitions among a sample of 30–35-year-olds in north-west England. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with 19 participants between July and August 2009, the paper illuminates the differential impact that gender and social class had on sports participation, and other health-related behaviours (e.g. drinking and smoking), among different groups of adults during the inherently transitional life-stage of youth. The findings suggest that while significant, the length of time spent in education and the differential educational experiences recalled by adults cannot adequately explain the observed differences in health and leisure-sport participation. The major sources of difference, while associated with educational transitions, appeared to lie instead in the broader inequalities that characterized adults' lives and it is argued that simply enhancing leisure-sport participation and individual lifestyle change, as a means of health promotion, is a futile endeavour that does little to tackle the socio-economic structural determinants of health. We conclude by suggesting that until this is recognized by government and those both inside and outside of the health and sport policy communities, stubborn differences in leisure-sport participation rates and health inequalities—that have their foundations in childhood and youth, but extend over the life course—are likely to remain intact, and the unequal lives people currently lead are likely to become even more unequal in the future.


This paper examines public perceptions towards qualitative and quantitative attributes of a solid waste management (SWM) system in terms of willingness-to-pay (WTP) values. A stated choice (SC) survey instrument was designed and data was collected from residents in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) of West Bengal, India. Respondents were approached randomly and face-to-face interviews were carried out. The behavioural data collected from residents are analysed by developing a standard multinomial logit (MNL) model and model coefficients are used for calculating the WTP values. Using the WTP values, the total disutility of SWM system is expressed in the form of generalised cost (GC).


The ocean seems the same everywhere, whether at your local beach or in the cold Arctic. But ocean properties vary greatly. Like different types of soil on land, some seawater is rich in nutrients, while others are nutrient-poor. If more nutrients are available, then more life can grow. With more life, the ocean can remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce more fish for us to eat. Today, climate change is altering the amount of nutrients in Arctic seawater. Nutrient-rich seawater from the Pacific Ocean is flowing more quickly into the Arctic, while nutrient-poor seawater from the Atlantic Ocean is also invading. Which kind of seawater will dominate in a warmer, ice-free Arctic? Will the Arctic become rich with nutrients and support productive ecosystems, or will it become an oceanic desert? Scientists are working hard to predict what will happen in a warmer world.


Data from the 1990-1994 period presented in the "Brazil's Initial National Communication" document indicated that the country is one of the top world greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. A large majority of Brazil's GHG emissions come from deforestation mainly of the Amazon biome for agriculture and livestock land uses. This unique inventory is now out of date. Thus, the aims of this review were (i) to update estimates of the GHG emissions for the Brazilian territory, (ii) to estimate the sinks to provide calculations of the GHG net emissions for the 1990-2005 period, (iii) to calculate the actual and estimate shares of agricultural and livestock activities, and (iv) to discuss in light of the new figures and patterns the best mitigation options for Brazil. Total emissions in CO2-eq increased by 17% during the 1994-2005 period. CO2 represented 72.3% of the total, i.e. a small decrease, in favour of non-CO2 GHG, in relation to 1994 when its share was 74.1%. The increase of all GHG excluding Land Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) was 41.3% over the period 1994-2005. Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT) - World Resources Institute (WRI) estimated a higher increase (48.9%) that classified Brazil at the 69th position. Using our estimates Brazil will fall to the 78th position. But in both cases Brazil increased in clearly lower values than the tendency calculated for China and India, two major emitters, with increases of 88.8% and 62.1%, respectively. Brazil's increase is less than those presented for some countries in Annex 1 that are submitted to a quota of reduction, e.g. Spain with 55.6% of increase and New Zealand with 45.8%. Brazil also is below the average increase shown by non-Annex I countries, estimated to be 61.3%, but above the world average (28.1%). Besides the effort to curb emissions from the energy and deforestation sectors, it is now a top priority to implement a national program to promote mitigation efforts concerning the agricultural and livestock sectors. These mitigation options should not be only focused on emission reductions, but also prone enhancement of the carbon sink. Such a program would be easy to be implemented, because several mitigation strategies have already proven to be efficient, simple to adopt and economically viable.