Background. Because VO2max doesn't provide any detailed information about aerobic examinations Oxygen Kinetic is used for more accuracy. Long intensive and repetitive exercises with sufficient time lead to increase in aerobic parameters like kinetic absorption of oxygen. Objectives. The purpose of this study was to determine time dependent effects of short-time high intensity interval training (HIIT) on oxygen kinetics in females. Methods. Forty active and healthy students (age: 25.5±5yr) were randomly allocated to one of four groups: H1, which performed one session HIIT (with 120% vo2 max intensity for 1 minutes and 1 minutes active break for 8 times); H2, which performed two session HIIT; H3, which performed four session HIIT; and a control group (CON). Both exercise and control groups performed the incremental test (initially the work load was 50 watts and after every 4 minutes adding 30 watts and 1 minute active break for recovery) on the ergometer bicycle. After 2 days of pretesting, training groups participated in 1, 2 and 4 session HIIT (with 120% of their Vo2max intensity for 1 minutes and 3 minute active breaks for 8 times). Two days after the completion of the exercise protocol, post-test accordingly pretest was used by control and exercise groups. Result was measured by gas analyzer to breath-by breath method. Results. The findings showed that 1 session HIIT had no significant effect on oxygen kinetic factors (Vo2max, oxygen deficit, time constant 1 and 2) (p>0.05). Two sessions HIIT significantly improved some of oxygen kinetic factors (Vo2max, oxygen deficit, time constant 2) (p<0.05), but had not significant effect on time constant 1 (p>0.05). In addition, 4 sessions HIIT, significantly associated with improvement in all of oxygen kinetic factors (Vo2max, oxygen deficit, time constant 1 and 2) (p<0.05). Conclusion. It seems that 4 sessions HIIT is the at least time for improvement of all oxygen kinetic factors.


We all know that Euclidean geometry does not adequately explain the space in which we live. Our world is not that of the plane, as found in Edward Abbott's Flatland. Why, then, is Euclidean geometry still taught in schools? I suggest that without an understanding of Euclidean geometry, one would have difficulty understanding advanced concepts, such as trigonometry or calculus. As my college calculus teacher noted, calculus is just addition done with lines. Advanced concepts build on previous knowledge. During my rhetorical criticism course, students sometimes wonder why we cover so much history. A similar issue is also raised in my rhetorical theory course, a survey course that begins with the pre-Socratics and ends with postmodern rhetorical theory. I openly state that some of the material that we cover is no longer useful from a methodological standpoint, but that there are reasons for teaching the material. I explain to the students that it is important to recognize not only current rhetorical theory and methods of criticism, but also the controversies, dead ends, and landmarks that brought us to the place we are today. Innovation is often the result of recognition of suboptimal processes or ideas. If we help students see where these shifts in method or theory occurred and what spawned these insights, and, more importantly, why previous generations held inaccurate understandings, we are more likely to have students who will likewise improve the discipline because they, too, can see potential ways to improve their craft. In this essay, I will draw on the idea of time-binding in order to make a case for teaching supposedly "outdated" material. My focus is primarily toward educators, but the idea can also be applied by anyone who wishes to more fully understand his or her craft. Knowledge does not spring forth ex nihilo; current knowledge is built on previous knowledge. But it is not enough to simply teach history; we must teach students how to use history. If we can teach students how to bind together previous knowledge with current knowledge, there will be little in any discipline that can truly be considered outdated. Time-Binding and Education Every subject has a history, including biology, physics, mathematics, literature, music and art. ... To teach, for example, what we know about biology today without also teaching what we once knew, or thought we knew, is to reduce knowledge to a mere consumer product. It is to deprive students of a sense of the meaning of what we know, and of how we know. --Neil Postman (1) Too often we seek the most up-to-date material at the expense of the monumental works that defined a discipline. This is also structural; publishers stop publishing groundbreaking books because there is no longer sufficient demand for them. For example, when I ordered Postman's Teaching as a Conserving Activity as part of the readings for my graduate pedagogy course, I was informed by the university bookstore that the book was "out of stock indefinitely with the publisher and no longer available" (despite the many potential sellers on Amazon and other such sites). Groundbreaking works in my field of rhetorical criticism, such as Edwin Black's Rhetorical Criticism: A Study in Method, are only recently available through print-on-demand. With a seemingly constant flood of new books and knowledge, it is difficult enough to simply keep up, let alone delve into the archives. We must, of course, stay up-to-date on current trends in our field. However, we must also remember that the insights of tomorrow are dependent on the knowledge of the past. Alfred Korzybski observed: The simple steel structure of a bridge, familiar to us in every day life, is a clear reminder to us all of the arts of Hephaestus and the bound-up knowledge of countless generations of smiths and mechanics, metallurgists and chemists, mathematicians and builders, teachers and engineers who toiled for many thousands of years to make possible the riveted steel beams which are the elements of modern structure. …


Is the profession of medicine ethically neutral? If so, whence shall we derive the moral norms or principles to govern its practices? If not, how are the norms of professional conduct related to the rest of what makes medicine a profession?


Chronic pain is a debilitating symptom of a wide range of conditions. These conditions are both highly prevalent and create adverse consequences for individuals and society. Whilst understanding of chronic pain conditions has improved, in a number of cases the mechanisms of chronic pain are not fully understood and no cure is available. It is appreciated that chronic pain is not only unpleasant in itself, but can also lead to a reorganisation of the nervous system resulting in further suffering. These factors present a justification for further investigation into the mechanisms and effects of chronic pain to enable progress towards more effective treatments.
Neuroimaging techniques have helped our understanding the mechanisms and effects of chronic pain. Techniques have been developed to examine the structure, chemistry and activity of the brain. This thesis describes investigations that used neuroimaging to examine the effects of chronic pain on the human brain.
A distinction has been drawn between chronic widespread pain (CWP) and chronic localised pain (CLP). Historically, the latter was seen as a condition of the peripheral components of the pain system. More recently, however, an understanding has been gained that central mechanisms may also be a factor in these conditions. The purpose of my investigations was to examine differences and similarities in the effects of two CWP and CLP conditions on the human brain. Fibromyalgia (FM) and Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) were chosen as representatives of these classes of condition. The effects on neurochemistry, brain structure and coordinated brain activity in these conditions were compared using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC).
Using MRS I observed a reduction in N-Acetylaspartic acid (NAA) in the thalamus of OA patients when compared to FM. Using VBM I observed that grey matter volume (GMV) was reduced in the left brainstem and posterior cingulate cortex in FM patients when compared to OA. GMV was reduced in the left precentral, middle frontal and supramarginal gyri in OA when compared to FM. Using rs-FC I observed an increase in functional connectivity in the default mode network of FM patients when compared to OA. I observed increased functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) in both pain conditions compared to healthy controls. I also observed increased functional connectivity between the precuneus and regions in both the DMN and executive attention networks.
Consideration is given to these findings in the context of previous relevant research. The implications of the results are related the patients' own experience of their condition and links to clinical measures are also discussed. The findings provide further evidence for the neural basis of elements of patients' experience of their condition and further understanding of the differences between the wider presentations of these conditions. The findings are drawn together to demonstrate where the effects of CWP and CLP overlap and where their effects contrast. Consideration is given to the mechanisms at work in these conditions that suggest differing effects on the components of the pain system and also to demonstrate where prolonged abnormal peripheral input may be a factor driving adaptation in CLP.


In this chapter, we present various opportunities of using optical wireless communication (OWC) technologies in each sector of optical communication networks. Moreover, challenges of optical wireless network implementations are investigated. We characterized the optical wireless communication channel through the channel measurements and present different models for the OWC link performance evaluations. In addition, we present some technologies for the OWC performance enhancement in order to address the last-mile transmission bottleneck of the system efficiently. The technologies can be of great help in alleviating the stringent requirement by the cloud radio access network (C-RAN) backhaul/fronthaul as well as in the evolution toward an efficient backhaul/fronthaul for the 5G network. Furthermore, we present a proof-of-concept experiment in order to demonstrate and evaluate high capacity/flexible coherent PON and OWC links for differ- ent network configurations in the terrestrial links. To achieve this, we employ advanced modulation format and digital signal processing (DSP) techniques in the offline and real- time mode of the operation. The proposed configuration has the capability to support different applications, services, and multiple operators over a shared optical fiber infra- structure.


The understanding of protein evolution depends on the ability to relate the impact of mutations on molecular traits to organismal fitness. Biological activity and robustness have been regarded as important features in shaping protein evolutionary landscapes. Conformational dynamics, which is essential for protein function, has received little attention in the context of evolutionary analyses. Here we employ NMR spectroscopy, the chief experimental tool to describe protein dynamics at atomic level in solution at room temperature, to study the intrinsic dynamic features of a metallo- Β: -lactamase enzyme and three variants identified during a directed evolution experiment that led to an expanded substrate profile. We show that conformational dynamics in the catalytically relevant microsecond to millisecond timescale is optimized along the favored evolutionary trajectory. In addition, we observe that the effects of mutations on dynamics are epistatic. Mutation Gly262Ser introduces slow dynamics on several residues that surround the active site when introduced in the wild-type enzyme. Mutation Asn70Ser removes the slow dynamics observed for few residues of the wild-type enzyme, but increases the number of residues that undergo slow dynamics when introduced in the Gly262Ser mutant. These effects on dynamics correlate with the epistatic interaction between these two mutations on the bacterial phenotype. These findings indicate that conformational dynamics is an evolvable trait, and that proteins endowed with more dynamic active sites also display a larger potential for promoting evolution.


Mitigation of risk associated with snow avalanches in the United States has traditionally required intensive effort by winter maintenance crews during peak storm periods to forecast and subsequently release high-risk avalanche sites with explosives. Though the approach is common in Europe, a novel approach in the United States is to implement avalanche starting zone structures to hold the snowpack in place and prevent the release of an avalanche. This approach eliminates the need for active management of the avalanche and frees up resources during winter storms. The Wyoming Department of Transportation has embraced the use of this technology for the Milepost 151 Avalanche near Jackson, Wyoming. This paper describes the critical aspects of the design of snow-supporting structures (SSSs) and details a research project that is under way to monitor both snowpack conditions and the resulting quasistatic snowloads on one SSS by using field instrumentation. The instrumentation includes transducers to measure snow pressure, strain gauges to measure SSS axial strains, and snow depth gauges to track snowpack depth immediately uphill of the SSS. Preliminary results from winter season 2014–2015 are presented, and their impact on the design of SSSs is discussed.


Abstract The complex dynamics of inter-ethnic relations in post-communist countries leads to a puzzle: why do some ethnic minorities mobilise to obtain political representation whereas others do not? We use qualitative comparative analysis to capture complex causal patterns explaining the formation of ethnic parties and to analyse the combined effect of social, economic and political variables. Our article bridges a significant gap in the existing literature that usually focuses on simple explanations for the existence of ethnic parties. The analysis reveals that the political mobilisation of ethnic minorities is explained by institutional elements often underemphasised in existing theories and research.


One relevant way to structure the domain of lexical knowledge (e.g. relations between lexical units) acquisition from corpora is to oppose numerical versus symbolic techniques. Numerical approaches of acquisition exploit the frequential aspect of data, have been widely used, and produce portable systems, but poor explanations of their results. Symbolic approaches exploit the structural aspect of data. Among them, the symbolic machine learning (ML) techniques can infer efficient and expressive patterns of a target relation from examples of elements that verify this relation. These methods are however far less known, and the aim of this paper is to point out their interest through the description of one precise experiment. To remove their supervised characteristic, and instead of opposing them to numerical approaches, we finally show that it is possible to combine one symbolic ML technique to one numerical one, and keep advantages of both (meaningful patterns, efficient extraction, portability).


This paper presents the investigation of using air-based solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collectors in phase change materials (PCMs) enhanced buildings for effective thermal management. PVT collectors are used to generate electricity and provide low grade heating energy to buildings for winter space heating. PCMs are either integrated into building walls to increase the local thermal mass or used as a temporary centralized thermal storage to store the low grade thermal energy derived from the PVT collectors. The thermal performance of buildings due to the integration of the PVT collectors and PCMs is tested and evaluated through computer simulations. It is found that appropriate use of PCMs in buildings can smooth the indoor temperature fluctuations. Using heated thermal energy generated from the PVT collectors in PCM enhanced buildings can significantly improve the indoor thermal comfort in winter heating conditions and appropriate integration of PVT collectors and PCMs can avoid undesirable overheating problems.


It is shown that the nonhomogeneous Dirichlet and Neuman problems for thend-order Seiberg-Witten equation on a compact-manifold admit a regular solution once the nonhomogeneous Palais-Smale condition is satisfied. The approach consists in applying the elliptic techniques to the variational setting of the Seiberg-Witten equation. The gauge invariance of the functional allows to restrict the problem to the Coulomb subspace of configuration space. The coercivity of the-functional, when restricted into the Coulomb subspace, imply the existence of a weak solution. The regularity then follows from the boundedness of-norms of spinor solutions and the gauge fixing lemma.


While large models based on a deterministic-reductionist philosophy have an important part to play in environmental research, it is advantageous to consider alternative modelling methodologies which overtly acknowledge the poorly defined and uncertain nature of most environmental systems. The paper discusses this topic and presents an integrated statistical modelling procedure which involves three main methodological tools: uncertainty and sensitivity studies based on Monte Carlo simulation techniques; dominant mode analysis using a new method of combined linearization and model-order reduction; and data-based mechanistic modelling. This novel approach is illustrated by two practical examples: modelling the global carbon cycle in relation to possible climate change; and modelling a horticultural glasshouse for the purposes of automatic climate control system design.


Abstract. The formation of ice in clouds can initiate precipitation and influence a cloud's reflectivity and lifetime, affecting climate to a highly uncertain degree. Nucleation of ice at elevated temperatures requires an ice nucleating particle (INP), which results in so-called heterogeneous freezing. Previously reported measurements for the ability of a particle to nucleate ice have been made in the absence of other aerosol which will act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and are ubiquitous in the atmosphere. Here we show that CCN can outcompete INPs for available water vapour thus suppressing ice formation, which has the potential to significantly affect the Earth's radiation budget. The magnitude of this suppression is shown to be dependent on the mass of condensed water required for freezing. Here we show that ice formation in a state-of-the-art cloud parcel model is strongly dependent on the criteria for heterogeneous freezing selected from those previously hypothesised. We have developed an alternative criteria which agrees well with observations from cloud chamber experiments. This study demonstrates the dominant role that competition for water vapour can play in ice formation, highlighting both a need for clarity in the requirements for heterogeneous freezing and for measurements under atmospherically appropriate conditions.


Traffic congestion is an increasing problem with high costs in financial, social and personal terms. These costs include psychological and physiological stress, aggressivity and fatigue caused by lengthy delays, and increased likelihood of road crashes. Reliable and accurate traffic information is essential for the development of traffic control and management strategies. Traffic information is mostly gathered from in-road vehicle detectors such as induction loops. Traffic Message Chanel (TMC) service is popular service which wirelessly send traffic information to drivers. Traffic probes have been used in many cities to increase traffic information accuracy. A simulation to estimate the number of probe vehicles required to increase the accuracy of traffic information in Brisbane is proposed. A meso level traffic simulator has been developed to facilitate the identification of the optimal number of probe vehicles required to achieve an acceptable level of traffic reporting accuracy. Our approach to determine the optimal number of probe vehicles required to meet quality of service requirements, is to simulate runs with varying numbers of traffic probes. The simulated traffic represents Brisbane's typical morning traffic. The road maps used in simulation are Brisbane's TMC maps complete with speed limits and traffic lights. Experimental results show that that the optimal number of probe vehicles required for providing a useful supplement to TMC (induction loop) data lies between 0.5% and 2.5% of vehicles on the road. With less probes than 0.25%, little additional information is provided, while for more probes than 5%, there is only a negligible affect on accuracy for increasingly many probes on the road. Our findings are consistent with on-going research work on traffic probes, and show the effectiveness of using probe vehicles to supplement induction loops for accurate and timely traffic information.


Agricultural oasis expansion and intensive management practices have occurred in arid and semiarid regions of China during the last few decades. Accordingly, regional carbon and water budgets have been profoundly impacted by agroecosystems in these regions. Therefore, study on the methods used to accurately estimate energy, water, and carbon exchanges is becoming increasingly important. Process-based models can represent the complex processes between land and atmosphere among agricultural ecosystems. However, before the models can be applied they must be validated under different environmental and climatic conditions. In this study, a process-based agricultural ecosystem model (Agro-IBIS) was validated for maize crops using 3 years of soil and biometric measurements at Wulanwusu agrometeorological site (WAS) located in the Shihezi oasis in Xinjiang, northwest China. The model satisfactorily represented leaf area index (LAI) during the growing season, simulating its peak values within the magnitude of 0–10%. The total biomass carbon was overestimated by 15%, 8%, and 16% in 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively. The model satisfactorily simulated the soil temperature (0–10 cm) and volumetric water content (VWC) (0–25 cm) of farmland during the growing season. However, it overestimated soil temperature approximately by 4 °C and VWC by 15–30% during the winter, coinciding with the period of no vegetation cover in Xinjiang. Overall, the results indicate that the model could represent crop growth, and seems to be applicable in multiple sites in arid oases agroecosystems of Xinjiang. Future application of the model will impose more comprehensive validation using eddy covariance flux data, and consider including dynamics of crop residue and improving characterization of the final stage of leaf development.


The development of prostate cancer from small regions of hyperplasia to invasive tumors requires genetic and epigenetic alterations of critical cellular components to aid in the development of cells more adapted for aberrant growth. Cell cycle control by the transcription factor p53 is necessary for the homeostatic proliferation and death of cells in response to DNA damage. Examination of prostate cancer cell lines harboring either wild-type (22Rv-1 LNCaP) or non-functional mutated p53 protein (DU145 PC3) responses to commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs demonstrated that p53 protein status dictated the apoptotic effectiveness a given drug would have on prostate cancer treatment. Moreover restoration of functional p53 in p53-negative DU145 cells activated the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway through increased expression of a receptor tyrosine kinase DDR1. Expression of NGAL a small secreted extracellular protein belonging to the lipocalin super family in early androgen receptor (AR) positive prostate cancer cell lines (22Rv-1 LNCaP) was demonstrated to increase these cells' invasiveness by their enhanced abilities to form colonies in soft agar. Conversely reduced expression of NGAL in advanced AR negative prostate cancer cell lines (DU145 PC3) by use of a NGAL specific shRNA vector decreased their soft agar colony formation ability. In contrast to previously published studies NGAL expression does not appear to augment drug sensitivity in these cell lines suggesting that NGAL's function in cancer is cell type specific. We also report here that the regulation of NGAL was mediated in part by NF-κB as a direct transcriptional target as previously reported and by p53 through some as of yet unknown mechanism. Detection of NGAL and NGAL:MMP-9 complexes in the urine of prostate patients as well as others (glioblastoma head & neck) indicated that NGAL could be potentially used as a biomarker for disease presence and progression. Taken together our data suggests that p53 and NGAL function in the development and progression of prostate cancer.


This study aimed to evaluate the thermal comfort considering natural and cooling ventilation on the performance, physiological parameters and thermal comfort indices for sows from first to third parturition. A total of 30 sows from commercial lineage (genetic base Landrace x Large White) initially weighing 252.3±5.7, 280.8±9.5 and 324.5±4.8 kg at first, second and third parturition, respectively, were distributed in a 3x2 factorial arrangement, considering the three parturition orders and the two ventilation methods, with five replicas per treatment. The effect of ventilation methods and times of the day on relative humidity, radiant thermal load, temperature and humidity index and black globe humidity index. There was an interaction among ventilation methods and parturition order for sow weight at weaning and daily feed intake. Regarding the females physiological parameters, with the exception of rectal temperature, there was an interaction between ventilation methods and times of the day. The thermal conditioning using cooling ventilation provides better values for thermal comfort indexes of the sows and promotes an increase in feed intake, mainly in gilts.


Objective: To examine the pricing trajectories in the United States of disease-modifying therapies (DMT) for multiple sclerosis (MS) over the last 20 years and assess the influences on rising prices. Methods: We estimated the trend in annual drug costs for 9 DMTs using published drug pricing data from 1993 to 2013. We compared changes in DMT costs to general and prescription drug inflation during the same period. We also compared the cost trajectories for first-generation MS DMTs interferon (IFN)–β-1b, IFN-β-1a IM, and glatiramer acetate with contemporaneously approved biologic tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. Results: First-generation DMTs, originally costing $8,000 to $11,000, now cost about $60,000 per year. Costs for these agents have increased annually at rates 5 to 7 times higher than prescription drug inflation. Newer DMTs commonly entered the market with a cost 25%–60% higher than existing DMTs. Significant increases in the cost trajectory of the first-generation DMTs occurred following the Food and Drug Administration approvals of IFN-β-1a SC (2002) and natalizumab (reintroduced 2006) and remained high following introduction of fingolimod (2010). Similar changes did not occur with TNF inhibitor biologics during these time intervals. DMT costs in the United States currently are 2 to 3 times higher than in other comparable countries. Conclusions: MS DMT costs have accelerated at rates well beyond inflation and substantially above rates observed for drugs in a similar biologic class. There is an urgent need for clinicians, payers, and manufacturers in the United States to confront the soaring costs of DMTs.


This chapter explores whether restorative justice practices, implemented in hate crime cases involving young participants, are capable of repairing the harms caused by prejudice and hatred. Using qualitative research, including observations of restorative justice meetings and semi-structured interviews with young victims and restorative practitioners, the chapter explores how restorative justice processes promote the values of dignity and respect. In so doing, it is argued that restorative practices can assist in young victims' recovery from targeted abuse. The chapter then further evaluates whether the restorative process is capable of inducing an empathetic response from hate offenders, potentially promoting mutual respect amongst the parties and breaking down stereotypes to reveal the humanity of each stakeholder.


Abstract. From 2006 to 2007, the daily concentrations of major inorganic water-soluble constituents, mineral aerosol, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in ambient PM10 samples were investigated from 16 urban, rural and remote sites in various regions of China, and were compared with global aerosol measurements. A large difference between urban and rural chemical species was found, normally with 1.5 to 2.5 factors higher in urban than in rural sites. Optically-scattering aerosols, such as sulfate (~16%), OC (~15%), nitrate (~7%), ammonium (~5%) and mineral aerosol (~35%) in most circumstance, are majorities of the total aerosols, indicating a dominant scattering feature of aerosols in China. Of the total OC, ~55%–60% can be attributed to the formation of the secondary organic carbon (SOC). The absorbing aerosol EC only accounts for ~3.5% of the total PM10. Seasonally, maximum concentrations of most aerosol species were found in winter while mineral aerosol peaks in spring. In addition to the regular seasonal maximum, secondary peaks were found for sulfate and ammonium in summer and for OC and EC in May and June. This can be considered as a typical seasonal pattern in various aerosol components in China. Aerosol acidity was normally neutral in most of urban areas, but becomes some acidic in rural areas. Based on the surface visibility observations from 681 meteorological stations in China between 1957 and 2005, four major haze areas are identified with similar visibility changes, namely, (1) Hua Bei Plain in N. China, and the Guanzhong Plain; (2) E. China with the main body in the Yangtze River Delta area; (3) S. China with most areas of Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta area; (4) The Si Chuan Basin in S.W. China. The degradation of visibility in these areas is linked with the emission changes and high PM concentrations. Such quantitative chemical characterization of aerosols is essential in assessing their role in atmospheric chemistry and weather-climate effects, and in validating atmospheric models.


AI Ethics is now a global topic of discussion in academic and policy circles. At least 63 public-private initiatives have produced statements describing high-level principles, values, and other tenets to guide the ethical development, deployment, and governance of AI. According to recent meta-analyses, AI Ethics has seemingly converged on a set of principles that closely resemble the four classic principles of medical ethics. Despite the initial credibility granted to a principled approach to AI Ethics by the connection to principles in medical ethics, there are reasons to be concerned about its future impact on AI development and governance. Significant differences exist between medicine and AI development that suggest a principled approach in the latter may not enjoy success comparable to the former. Compared to medicine, AI development lacks (1) common aims and fiduciary duties, (2) professional history and norms, (3) proven methods to translate principles into practice, and (4) robust legal and professional accountability mechanisms. These differences suggest we should not yet celebrate consensus around high-level principles that hide deep political and normative disagreement.


Books on journalists typically focus on the dynamics of the newsmaking process. "The Politics of News: The News of Politics" extends this examination to explore the struggle between journalists, political actors, and the public for control of the news in democratic countries. This book shows how the news media function as an intermediary between governments and citizens, as well as between political actors (such as parties and interest groups) and the public. It includes essays that present a diversity of views and are written by a distinguished group of authors that includes such luminaries as Jim Lehrer, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Robert Picard, and Andrew Kohut. "The Politics of News" is policy-oriented. By diagnosing problems faced by those whose influence affects newsmaking in both existing and emerging democracies, authors generate ideas about possible reforms. Several chapters offer comparative analysis that offer students insight into the impact of cultural factors on newsmaking. Accessible yet sophisticated, this anticipated second edition covers significant issues surrounding political news, ranging from the limits of press freedom during times of war and the implications of media concentration for democratic participation, to the ingenious ways that governments and interest groups draw attention to their concerns.


The inability to determine reactions beyond a maximum of six for a three-dimensional rigid body (or three for a planar rigid body) is termed statical indeterminacy and represents a flaw in the elementary statics of particles and rigid bodies because the indeterminate reactions cannot be obtained by methods developed from within the subject. As noted in virtually every modern textbook on statics, statical indeterminacy may be resolved by relaxing the assumption of structural rigidity. This theory forms the content of the mechanics of deformable solids, which considers the stretching, twisting and bending of elastic bars. The indeterminacy may also be resolved by maintaining structural rigidity but relaxing the assumption of support rigidity. Because deformable supports may be modeled by lumped linear and torsional springs (which are traditionally part of the statics of particles and rigid bodies), analysis of statically indeterminate reactions in such systems utilizes no new concepts except that of rigid body translation and rotation. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, by means of example, that this class of statically indeterminate problem is amenable to simple solution and therefore should be treated in standard presentations of the subject.


When we started the development of our CD to support the teaching of our basic statistic courses our work was twofold: we had to develop the content and the necessary software ourselves. Maintaining our software development in a university environment turned out to be especially difficult since it is time-consuming. At the same time the available open source software has become much more powerful such that our own development has become super uous. The use of \standard software" (wikis) allows us to concentrate more on content rather than on software development. In several projects we have used wikis to support the teaching of our students and to publish their projects and homework. However the introduction of the bachelor/master system has reduced the willingness of students to make contributions to our wikis. As a consequence we have now started to involve ourselves and our students in more direct contributions to the German Wikipedia.


Wood pellet is an excellent fuel for residential and service heating and for producing CHP, DH and green electricity. The current EU pellet market of about 10 m tons is expected to grow up to 100 m tons by 2020. The key objective of the project is to create and implement a uniform certification system for pellets in Europe ("ENplus") which will be used by heat, CHP and power markets. The EU pellet standard EN 14961-2 is an important step to create a harmonised set of pellet qualities. A solid EU quality certification scheme is crucial to simplify work of the pellets producers and increase confidence by pellets equipment manufacturers and consumers. So far only national schemes have been developed. A scheme that would be recognised by the small scale heat market and the medium/large scale industrial users will improve flexibility and fluidity of the market, thereby improving supply security and reducing detrimental price peaks. Sustainability criteria are heavily debated today, but only private initiatives have really started, mainly driven by power utilities. ENplus will include sustainability criteria endorsed by market actors after consultation with stakeholders.


This paper explores data from two early reports related to an evaluation of the trial of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) roll-out in the Electoral Division of Hinkler, Queensland, which began in January 2019. This trial, which includes residents of Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, is the first in a non-remote area where the population is predominantly non-Indigenous. It is focused only on persons aged 35 years or under, who are on four income support payments (Jobseeker Payment, Parenting Payment (Single), Parenting Payment (Partnered) and Youth Allowance (Jobseeker)). The baseline study includes what is termed a 'Quantitative Data Snapshot' (Mavromaras et al., 2020) and a Qualitative Study (Mavromaras et al., 2019b). An analysis of the reports raises real doubts about why the trial is deemed an appropriate response to the problems of the area at all, and how the evaluation will even assess the CDC's impact due to the disruptive economic and social effects of COVID-19.


Most existing set encoding algorithms operate under the implicit assumption that all the set elements are accessible, and that there are ample computational and memory resources to load the set into memory during training and inference. However, both assumptions fail when the set is excessively large such that it is impossible to load all set elements into memory, or when data arrives in a stream. To tackle such practical challenges in large-scale set encoding, the general set-function constraints of permutation invariance and equivariance are not sufficient. We introduce a new property termed Mini-Batch Consistency (MBC) that is required for large scale mini-batch set encoding. Additionally, we present a scalable and efficient attention-based set encoding mechanism that is amenable to mini-batch processing of sets, and capable of updating set representations as data arrives. The proposed method adheres to the required symmetries of invariance and equivariance as well as maintaining MBC for any partition of the input set. We perform extensive experiments and show that our method is computationally efficient and results in rich set encoding representations for set-structured data.


Rice bacterial blight (Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae) is a major constraint to rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in Uganda and as part of strategies to develop resistant cultivars, it is important to evaluate resistance of commonly used cultivars. A full-diallel mating design involving three resistant and three susceptible rice cultivars was used to produce F 1 and F 2 progenies in a screen-house at the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Namulonge in Uganda. The parents and F 2 populations were challenged with the Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae isolate (UX00) and lesion lengths were scored 21 days after inoculation (DAI). Griffing's combining ability analysis showed significant specific combining ability (SCA) and non-significant general combining ability (GCA) effects, indicating the preponderance of non-additive gene effects in controlling the resistance to bacterial leaf blight (BLB) in rice. Rice genotypes, NERICA14, NERICA10 and NERICA4 had desirable GCA estimates, and were, therefore, the best general combiners. Crosses CO39 x NERICA10 and NERICA14 x IRAT104 had favorable SCA values. These hybrids are thus, promising in developing the BLB resistant progenies. Significant reciprocal effects indicate the importance of maternal contribution in controlling the BLB virulence. For this, resistant lines can be used as female parents for fear of affecting transfer of resistance to the progenies, and the hybrids and their reciprocals would be handled separately. Low estimates of narrow sense coefficient of genetic determination (NSCGD) (0.9%) and medium broad sense coefficient of genetic determination (BSCGD) estimates (16.4%) highlight the influence of non-additive gene action in controlling the resistance to BLB, confirming an effective selection of superior genotypes at advanced generations when the maximum homozygosity is fixed.


Introduction: A varicocele is defined as an abnormal venous dilatation and/or tortuosity of the pampiniform plexus in the scrotum. Varicocele is the major reversible cause of male infertility. It is observed in 35%–40% of all men with primary infertility. Objectives:Our purposes were determination of varicocelectomy benefits, anthocyanin effects on varicocle and also varicocelectomy isn't contacted with races. Methods: We did a review of 22 studies identified by searching Google scholar,PubMed, SID and Elsevier. Results: All studies were based on the role of varicocelectomy in improvement sperm and semen parameters as well as those were relied of the anthocyanin good effects for varicocle disease, also analysis of those showed varicocelectomy isn't contacted with races. Conclusions:We concluded that varicocelectomy is a way for improvement sperm and semen parameters and it isn't contacted with races. Also anthocyanin has good effects for varicocle disease.


Objective: To assess the aetiology, and prognosis of ST-segment elevation (STE) on the exercise electrocardiogram in patients with chest pain without a prior history of myocardial infarction (MI). Methods: Between January 1998 and December 2005, 14 941 exercise stress tests were performed to assess chest pain in patients without a prior history of MI. Those who developed STE were identified. Results: STE occurred in 0.78% (116/14 941). Coronary angiography was performed in 108 patients. All patients had at least one severe coronary artery stenosis (>70%). The site of STE on exercise ECG was shown to be 95.4% predictive of a severe stenosis in the coronary artery supplying that area. Lateral STE was rare (1/116). Ninety-eight patients underwent revascularisation; 67 patients had percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and 31 underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Follow-up included recording of death, MI, cerebrovascular event, heart failure and target vessel revascularisation. The projected 7-year event-free survival probability was 62.1% for those undergoing CABG, 77.1% for those who had PCI and 68.6% for those not undergoing revascularisation (no difference between these three groups, log rank p = 0.802). Conclusions: STE on the exercise ECG is rare but specific for ischaemic heart disease and is predictive of a severe stenosis in the corresponding coronary artery. Prognosis is favourable following revascularisation.


Soil and stream salinisation is a major environmental problem because it reduces the productivity of landscapes and degrades water quality. The Berg River (South Africa) has been exhibiting a trend of increasing salinity levels, which has primarily been attributed to the manifestation of dryland salinity. Dryland salinity occurs as a result of changes in land use (indigenous vegetation to agriculture and/or pasture), which cause a change in the water and salt balance of the landscape, consequently mobilising stored salts. The quantification of salinity fluxes at the catchment scale is an initial step and integral part of developing dryland salinity mitigation measures. The objective of this study was to quantify the salinity fluxes in the Sandspruit catchment, a tributary catchment of the Berg River. This included the quantification of salt storage, salt input (rainfall) and salt output (in run‑off). The results of the catchment salt balance computations indicate that the Sandspruit catchment is exporting salts, i.e. salt output exceeds salt input, which may have serious implications for downstream water users. Interpolated regolith salt storage generally exhibited increasing storage with decreasing ground elevation. A salinity hotspot was identified in the lower reaches of the catchment. It is envisaged that the data presented in this study may be used to classify the land according to the levels of salinity present; inform land management decisions; and provide a guide and framework for the prioritisation of areas for intervention and the choice and implementation of salinity management options. The data which were generated may also be used to calibrate hydrosalinity models.Online Supplementary Material: Quantifying the catchment salt balance: An important component of salinity assessments


Spirituality relates to an internal movement towards the sacred, while kinesiology is the science of physical human movement. Strong, user-friendly communication between spiritual directors and retreatants is important to the development of an individualized productive retreat experience. To better facilitate guidance, it is helpful for directors to understand the parallels between spiritual exercises and the expertise of retreatants and for retreatants to understand comparisons between their professional and spiritual lives. The physical activity of St. Ignatius during his pilgrimage across Spain exemplifies the similarities between Ignatian spirituality and the science of human movement. Comparisons between Ignatian spirituality and kinesiology include the need for practice of specific exercises, the underlying structure of the Ignatian spiritual exercises compared to a periodized physical exercise program, and the discernment or analysis of movements involved in both fields. Knowledge of the overlap between kinesiology and spirituality may result in retreatants familiar with the science of human movement and exercise developing a better understanding of their spiritual selves and ultimately a closer relationship to God.


The principle of nonmaleficence requires that every medical action be weighed against all benefits, risks, and consequences, occasionally deeming no treatment to be the best treatment. In medical education, it also applies to performing tasks appropriate to an individual's level of competence and training. Students, residents, and attending physicians alike maintain a beneficence-based responsibility to patients, and attending physicians have a fiduciary responsibility to educate younger generations of doctors. For medical education to progress, medical students and resident physicians must develop new skills throughout their time in training. Yet involving inexperienced students in delivering patient care can place the value of education and training in opposition to the bioethics values of patient-centred care and nonmaleficence by increasing the risk of harm to patients. Having all medical procedures, examinations, and histories performed by seasoned medical professionals would mitigate the risk but would also destroy the institution of medical education and lead to a shortage of trained professionals. For medical education to be successful, students and their supervisors must balance the principles of nonmaleficence with those of education in order to ensure excellence in both patient care and medical training. We present a broad discussion of the ethical dilemmas raised by the interaction of medical education and current patient care and suggest guideposts for training practices that satisfy the dual requirements of medical learning and patient-centred care.


We show by simulation that Fourier transform profilometry (FTP) is capable of reconstructing a 2D Gaussian phase from incomplete fringe pattern. This incomplete fringe pattern is generated by removing some pixel information on the fringe. Using normalized mean square error (NMSE), we quantitatively analyze how much of the reconstructed Gaussian phase is affected by the removal of information on the fringe pattern. Results shows that the NMSE's are considerably small with values scaled at 10-2, which means that the reconstructed Gaussian phases are still comparable with the actual Gaussian phase. This study is important in fringe projection profilometry to determine how dark spots on the captured image affects surface measurements.


Although phraseology has recently begun to establish itself as a field in its own right, this process is being hindered by two main factors: the highly variable and wide-ranging scope of the field and the vast and confusing terminology associated with it. This chapter tackles these two issues successively in an attempt to disentangle the 'phraseological web'. We first draw up a clear distinction between two major approaches to the study of multi-word units, i.e. the phraseological approach and the distributional or frequency-based approach, which have set quite different boundaries to the field. We then argue that the variations in scope that characterize the field of phraseology are a direct result of its fuzzy borders with four neighbouring disciplines: semantics, morphology, syntax and discourse. We describe some of the most influential typologies of word combinations within the phraseological approach and present a categorization of multi-word units emerging from the distributional approach. We conclude with suggestions regarding both the scope of the field and the terminology used.


This paper maps out multiple dimensions of interoperability in the emerging digital identity management infrastructure, with a view to promoting openness in this infrastructure. The paper provides a background to the infrastructure; an explanation of components, items exchanged, and interconnection flows; an account of interoperability at various levels; a look at the costs and benefits of interoperability; and a brief consideration of factors that influence interoperability and innovation, such as the market, law, and self-regulation. Because this technology is still developing, the paper seeks to offer a snapshot of the current landscape with a view to promoting discussion about the future.


This joint Special Issue by Science's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment (STKE) and Science presents important developments in the sprawling field of signal transduction. (Signal transduction refers to the processes by which cells perceive their environment or internal status and react to such stimuli with appropriate physiological responses.) The Viewpoints in this issue of Science provide authoritative syntheses that are accessible to the nonspecialist, explaining what a signaling pathway does and why it does it. Furthermore, this issue highlights new ways in which Science's STKE is working with authors to efficiently convey complex information. At Science's STKE , readers can delve deeper into the topic and take advantage of special electronic features, particularly the "Connections Map" database in which the details of the signaling pathway are dynamically displayed and annotated. (STKE is the first of a series of Knowledge Environments published by AAAS. These electronic publications gather a comprehensive set of resources to enhance access to information in a fast-moving field like cell signaling.)

![Figure][1]

Advances in information technology are required in the biological sciences to cope with the amount and complexity of information that must be handled in the postgenome era. Thus, Science's STKE has explored a new way of organizing, storing, and communicating the essence of our current understanding of signaling mechanisms. The Connections Maps are an interface to a database of authoritative information on signaling molecules and their relations with one another.[*][2] The reader accesses information through a Web interface that displays dynamically generated maps of the pathways (created in real time from the database, so there is no lag while an artist works on updating a drawing). Symbols in the maps represent signaling components or the relations between them, and users can access more information just by clicking on these symbols.

The Connections Maps are identified as either "canonical" or "specific." The canonical maps show the generic pathway module—a sort of consensus view. This type of pathway is useful for understanding the general signaling principles of the pathway and how modules are adapted to distinct functions, but are not intended to represent the situation in a real cell at a particular point in time. The specific pathways, on the other hand, depict real molecules and only those relations that are experimentally supported for a particular species, tissue, and cell type. Thus, components in the specific pathways can be linked to a defined entry in existing databases that catalog sequence information on individual genes or proteins.

The information in the database and maps is highly reliable. This quality is derived from the efforts of leading authorities recruited from many areas of signaling, who frequently update the database. These contributing authorites also provide an evaluation of the quality of the evidence for any given relation in the maps. We wanted to bring the diversity, importance, and—as one author says—the "beauty" of these signaling mechanisms that underlie so many aspects of biology to all of the readers of Science. Therefore, we invited the pathway authorities who author and curate the Connections Maps to write short Viewpoints that capture the essence of their pathway in this issue of Science . (Both the Viewpoints and the pathways at STKE were critically evaluated by peer review.)

![Figure][1]

We take a broad view of signaling at STKE and, therefore, have represented many sorts of pathways. Some paths can be deadly, like those emanating from members of the tumor-necrosis factor receptor family (Chen and Goeddel, p. 1634 and Wajant, p. [1635][3]), but only when the balance is tipped away from growth-promoting or survival signals sent from the same receptors. The T and B cell antigen receptors are at the heart of the body's defenses, and unraveling their signaling mechanisms has revealed much about immunodeficiencies and autoimmune disorders, as well as the function of the healthy immune system (Singer and Koretzky, p. [1639][4], and Gauld et al., p. 1641). Estrogen, a steroid hormone, doesn't bother much with signaling intermediates and makes its way right to the nucleus. But how does it interact with one receptor to produce so many different effects (McDonnell and Norris, p. [1642][5])? Many pathways have important roles in cellular transformation, like the Wnt/_-catenin pathway that also has critical roles in development (Moon et al., p. 1644), or the JAK-STAT pathway, better known for mediating signals from interferons and other cytokines (Aaronson and Horvath, p. [1653][6]). The signal from transforming growth factor receptors seem simple enough—just modify a SMAD protein and send it off to regulate transcription in the nucleus. But nature has found room for plenty of interaction with other pathways and other modulation along the way (Attisano and Wrana, p. [1646][7]).

The Connections Maps are not limited to the animal kingdom, but include plant signaling as well. Unlike vertebrate hormone receptors, plant receptors for cytokinins are histidine kinases that control many aspects of growth and development (Sheen, p. [1650][8]). The lipid jasmonate is a key regulator in plants impacting processes like reproduction and stress responses. Although the biochemical pathway to synthesize these bioactive lipids is well delineated, many genetic components are waiting to be discovered (Liechti and Farmer, p. [1649][9]).

Vaudry et al. explore how the same signal can be used to promote proliferation in one instance and differentiation in another. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway uses changes in lipids at the cell membrane to recruit appropriate signaling molecules that ultimately control growth, survival, migration, and other responses (Cantley, p. 1655). G protein pathways are targets of the majority of therapeutic drugs currently available, and Neves et al. (p. [1636][10]) highlight several such pathways that regulate fundamental processes from metabolism to learning and memory. Martin et al. (p. 1652) take us to "infinity and beyond," seeking understanding of how signals are generated by integrins, proteins that are literally so important that cells cannot live without them.

Please explore the beauty and complexity of these pathways and augment your reading of Science with the innovative tools available online at Science 's STKE . Think of Science 's STKE as a "GPS" enhancement to Science 's Compass. You'll never lose your way.

 [1]: pending:yes
 [2]: #fn-1
 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071553
 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071551
 [5]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071884
 [6]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071545
 [7]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071809
 [8]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071883
 [9]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071547
 [10]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1071550


Pure culture experiments were conducted to assess the bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects of phlorotannins (PT) isolated from Ascophyllum nodosum (brown seaweed) on Escherichia coli O157:H7. In Exp. 1, one non-0157:H7 strain (25922) and three strains of E. coli O157:H7 (3081, EDL933 and E318N) were cultured in M9 medium with PT included at 0 (control), 25, 50 or 100 μg/ml (n = 3). Bacterial growth was monitored by OD 600 at 0, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h, and by dilution plating at 0, 4, 6 and 24 h. All strains were inhibited (p<0.001) by PT to varying degrees. At 50 or 100 μg/ml, PT prevented growth of all four strains. At 25 μg PT/ml, growth of 25922, 3081, E318N and EDL933 was inhibited for 6, 12 and 24 h, respectively, but 25922 and 3081 resumed growth by 12 and 24 h. Direct plating confirmed bactericidal effects of PT on all four strains at 100 mg/ml, and on EDL933 and E318N at 50 μg/ml. In Exp. 2, strains 25922 and 3081 were incubated with no tannins or with 50 μg/ml of PT, purified condensed tannins (CT) from Quebracho (Schinopsis balansaei), or purified tannic acid from Rhus semialata (Anacardiaceae) as hydrolysable tannins (HT). Strain 3081 was unaffected by HT or CT, but was completely inhibited (p<0.001) by PT at 4, 6 and 24 h. Strain 25922 was unaffected by HT, slightly inhibited by CT, and almost eradicated by PT at 4 and 6 h. Transmission electron microscopy revealed tannin-mediated alterations to bacterial cell walls. Phlorotannins from A. nodosum exhibit growth-inhibiting and bactericidal effects in vitro against the strains of E. coli O157:H7 investigated. Anti-E. coli efficacy of A. nodosum PT is superior to that of terrestrial tannins purified from Quebracho and from Rhus semialata.


The hybridization properties of a series of probes, based on two 9mer oligodeoxynucleotides (designated as I and II) having an appended oligoarginine chain (Rn) to produce peptide-oligonucleotide conjugates or peptide-bridged oligonucleotide pairs (e.g. Rn-I or II-Rn-I), were investigated. For the double-linked probes, we found that the peptide bridge induces the two 9mers to bind complementary single-stranded DNA or RNA targets with substantially enhanced thermal stability. The resulting hybrid with complementary DNA was found to assume a 1:1 complex in the B conformation as judged by UV mixing curves and CD spectroscopy. Complexes of single or double-linked probes with complementary RNA exhibited sensitivity to RNase H digestion. The influence of the identity and chirality of the repeating unit in the bridge, the length of the bridge, the gap size and the salt concentration on the hybridization properties of this new class of oligonucleotide probes was also studied. Our data reveal that these compounds exhibit properties that should prove useful in the development of antisense strategies.


The central generation of burst activity was investigated in the buccal ganglia of Lymnaea. Eight different patterns of burst activity were generated by one or two consecutive phases of compound synaptic potentials resulting from activity of neurones. These inputs acted upon the different endogenous properties of buccal neurones such as post-inhibitory rebound and spike adaptation. Effects of synaptic inputs were reinforced by by electrotonic coupling of some buccal neurones of the same type.


Writing documents together using collaborative editing tools has become extremely common with the widespread availability of tools such as Google Docs. The design of such tools, rooted in early CSCW research, has historically been focused on providing awareness of the presence and activities of one's collaborators. Evidence from a recent qualitative study, however, suggests that people are also concerned about how their behaviors -- and they themselves -- will be perceived by others; and take steps to mitigate possible negative perceptions. We present an experimental study of dyads composing documents together, focusing in particular on group maintenance, impression management and relationship-focused behavior. Results suggest that communication is positively related to social relations, but only for synchronous writing in a shared space; the reverse can be true in asynchronous commenting and editing.


The Trindade and Martin Vaz island group (TMVIG) is located at about 1,120 km off the Brazilian coast. Despite its importance, highlighted by the presence of several endemic fish species, the TMVIG lacks detailed information on the structure of fish and benthic assemblages. Presented here is the first quantitative assessment of reef fish and benthic assemblages of the TMVIG in a depth gradient ranging from 5 to 45 m. Additional qualitative information on reef assemblages between 45 and 100 m was obtained using advanced gas diving techniques (TRIMIX) and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Similarly to other Brazilian oceanic islands, the TMVIG possesses depauperated fish and benthic assemblages, possibly due to its isolation and small size in comparison to the mainland. Depth was the most important factor affecting the structure of fish assemblages, with the density of most fish species declining with depth. Deep reefs (> 45 m) were characterized by the presence of extensive rhodolith beds and rocky reefs sparsely covered with crustose coralline algae, black coral (Cirripathes sp.) and a few massive or plate-like reef corals. Part-time or obligatory planktivorous fishes (e.g. Cephalopholis furcifer and Clepticus brasiliensis) also dominated deep reefs. Similar characteristics were recorded in mesophotic reef ecosystems across the Western Atlantic. Evidence of overfishing (obtained here and in other recent studies), the presence of four endemic and restricted range fish species, as well as the increase in number of new (and still undescribed) endemic taxa, indicates that the adoption of precautionary conservation measures are urgently needed in order to maintain the fragile and unique ecosystems of the TMVIG.


Abstract Context: Descriptions of subtle palpatory perceptions in osteopathic cranial palpation can be misperceived by students. Thus, adequate dissemination and replication of cranial palpatory techniques is challenging for osteopathy students. Objective: To evaluate the effects of standardized protocol training on cranial palpation of the frontomalar suture. Methods: Fourth-year osteopathy students from the European Center for Osteopathic Higher Education in Paris, France, were recruited and randomly divided into three groups. Students in the study group received instruction in a standardized protocol for palpatory assessment of the frontomalar suture; students in the control group did not receive instruction; and the remaining students acted as subjects. A specialized force sensor was placed on the skin covering the left frontomalar suture of each subject. Student practitioners were instructed to palpate subjects' left frontomalar suture using the customary pressure described for evaluation and treatment of somatic dysfunction of the cranium. Pressure measurements were exported to a laptop computer. Results: Twelve students were in each group. Student practitioners' palpation pressures ranged from 0.19 to 1.12 N/cm2, while mean palpation pressures for each test ranged from 0.27 to 0.98 N/cm2. The mean (SD) palpation pressure in the study group and control group was 0.55 N/cm2 (0.16 N/cm2) and 0.53 N/cm2 (0.15 N/cm2), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in mean palpation pressures used by the two groups. Substantial variation in test performance was noted in both groups. Conclusion: Palpatory training was ineffective in improving student practitioners' precision of cranial palpation performance. Quantitative feedback of palpation pressures during training may improve outcomes. To our knowledge, data on palpation pressures used during osteopathic cranial manipulation have not been reported previously in the medical literature.


A meta-surface loaded bowtie antenna with orientation and gap analysis depicting multi-band features from 1.5 GHz to 7.2 GHz is proposed. The orientation and the gap between the meta-surface unit cells are altered to investigate the effect on parameters like gain, bandwidth and directivity. The bowtie antenna uses FR4 material with relativity of 4.6, loss tangent of 0.02 and thickness h = 1.5 mm as substrate. The measured results of the fabricated antenna show a positive agreement with the simulation results. The proposed antenna shows the application in the range of WLAN. ANSYS High Frequency Structural Simulator (HFSS) software is used to simulate the antenna.


This paper investigates the influences of reservoir water level variations of the operation rule curves on different objectives, especially on ecological objectives. Five representative ecological objectives are selected besides industrial and domestic (I&D) and agricultural water supply objectives. They can reflect the impacts of reservoir operation on different attributes of ecological flow regime in the Biliuhe Reservoir case study, Northeastern China. Sensitivities of water supply and ecological objectives caused by water level variations of I&D and agricultural operation rule curves are analyzed by using a variance-based sensitivity analysis method – Sobol's method. Results show that impacts of individual water levels and their interactions on ecological objectives are very different. Also the ecological objectives do not always conflict with water supply objectives. This study provides new insights for reservoir managers to improve downstream aquatic ecosystem by adjusting water levels not only at individual time periods but also at some interacting time periods. Furthermore, it helps us better understand the influence mechanism of water level changes on different objectives, and provides guidance for the development of reservoir operation rules.


Account-based marketing, also known as client-centric marketing, is in the process of transforming modern marketing practice. It involves taking a strategic approach to business to business marketing, whereby important individual accounts are treated as markets in their own right. After all, many of the world's leading companies have annual revenues the size of some countries' GDP, so for the businesses that provide services and solutions to these companies, such key accounts truly do represent a global market. A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing explores the development of account-based marketing (ABM) as a business practice, and outlines a clear, step-by-step process for readers who wish to set up an ABM programme to accelerate growth.

 Rich with fascinating case studies and personal stories, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing offers readers privileged access to lessons learned by pioneering companies in the field, including BT, Fujitsu, IBM, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, SAP, and many more. The text is fully endorsed by the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), who run the only formally recognized qualification in the sector: the Account-Based Marketing Certification Programme. Meticulously researched and highly practical, A Practitioner's Guide to Account-Based Marketing will help all marketers strengthen relationships, build reputation, and increase revenues in their most important accounts.


* Barbara G. Ellis (2001). The Copy-- Editing and Headline Handbook. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Publishing. pp.338 * Paul R. Martin (2002). The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Usage. New York: Wall Street Journal Books. pp. 261 Of all the skills and knowledge that make up the repertoire necessary to be a good journalist, the least important - by far - has to be knowledge of news style. Yet knowing style is a prerequisite for any newsroom position and many other jobs in communications as well. And that is why teachers continue to teach it while more important skills and knowledge expected of journalists either cannot be taught - common sense and general knowledge - or, as with news judgment, must be gained from experience. Not so many years ago, in the pre-- Watergate era, The Associated Press Stylebook was a mere 52-page booklet. Today it includes a libel manual and more than 300 pages and seems to grow with each annual update. Just three years ago, the New York Times came out with a new edition of its Manual of Style and Usage. Previous versions had appeared in the '70s (use apostrophe before numerals in AP style) and the 80's (with apostrophe after numerals in New York Times style). The Washington Post, The Economist and others also have published stylebooks. Now comes the Wall Street Journal's Guide to Business Style and Usage. Does the world need another stylebook? The short answer is "yes." But not this one. Like the other modern stylebooks, the Journal's stylebook is organized alphabetically. This makes perfect sense if you know what you want to look up. It also was necessary to change to an alphabetical organizational system as stylebooks grew in size. But an alphabetical system is a terrible approach for beginners learning the rudiments of style. Just the size of most stylebooks is intimidating to students. Asking them to learn from an alphabetized stylebook is like asking them to prepare for a test on the dictionary. For learners, the stylebook should be organized by topics covering general principles such as capitalization, punctuation, numerals, abbreviations and spelling. And that's the way my dog-eared, pre-Watergate AP stylebook is organized. Although the Journal's stylebook might not be the best for beginners, does it give veterans something different? Here, the short answer is "no." Although some specialized business terms are defined (for example "Ebitda" - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) that aren't in the AP stylebook, there remains significant overlap with AP. Indeed, many of the entries match the AP entries word for word, or nearly so. There should be no surprise or plagiarism concern in this; after all, what more needs to be said - to pick an entry at random - about "beside" and "besides" than "Beside means at the side of. Besides means in addition to." And much of the Journal's style guide is made up of such entries, not business-specific terminology. Even so, the book might be useful in a business news writing class. Perhaps in recognition that style is the least important skill for a journalist, Barbara Ellis begins her Copy-Editing and Headline Writing Handbook by focusing on headlines, and this is the strength of the book. Starting off with headlines is a novel approach and one that should be studied by others. Most copy editing books and workbooks (and I am guilty of this, too) begin with grammar and punctuation exercises. This is a sure turnoff for students and may be one of the reasons that so few look to careers in copy editing. I've often thought that an even more untraditional approach to teaching copy editing would be to start with layout. Many students are computer savvy enough - or want to be - to jump right in with QuarkXPress or Pagemaker. …


Estimating leakage in developing countries' water networks is challenging as accurate records are needed. Three leakage estimation methods were compared to ascertain which was most suitable for such networks. The factors accounting for the differences in application of these methods to water networks were also ascertained. The water balance and component analysis methods were compared with the modified minimum night flow (MNF) method. The MNF method was modified to make it suitable for networks in developing countries. In the comparison, leakage was estimated at 10 and 18%, respectively, against 11% for the modified MNF. The latter is considered the most suitable for developing countries as all parameters are determined or estimated from field measurements. It was realized that burst flow rates and the infrastructure condition factor used in the water balance and component analysis methods affect the accuracy of leakage estimates. This has implications for further research, as well as policy and practice for developing countries' water utilities.


We investigated the variation in birth synchrony displayed by impala Aepyceros melampus populations across their distribution from southern to eastern Africa. Our analysis was based on field data from Chobe National Park in Botswana and Mala Mala Private Game Reserve in South Africa (4 and 13 years of monitoring, respectively). We compared our results with those from other studies conducted across the impala species range. Impala lambing was highly synchronized in Chobe with 90% of lambs born within 2 weeks in mid-November. Variation in rainfall in the preceding wet season explained 74% of variation in the dates of the first lamb observation in Mala Mala. In Chobe, the earliest birth peak occurred after the highest rainfall and the body condition of lambs in that cohort was also best for both males and females. No association was found between the lunar cycle and the estimated onset of the conception period, despite previous studies having found an association between the lunar cycle and the rutting behaviour in males. On a regional scale, impalas in areas with a marked dry season (several months with no rain) tend to synchronize births with the onset of the rains, when grass quality is highest. Number of months with rain explained 78% of the regional variation in birth synchrony. Neither latitude nor total rainfall contributed significantly to a stepwise multiple regression model. These data support the theory that impalas synchronize births in areas with a highly seasonal food supply, and temporally space births in less seasonal (equatorial) areas to reduce predation risks.


History is a constant reminder that sustainable healthy economic development requires sound and credible monetary policy. This is true of all nations, industrial and developing. Frequently, economic policy conferences focus on issues that elicit tirades about how everything is going wrong and radical reform is required. But recent trends in the conduct of global monetary policies have been highly favorable, helping to generate dramatic improvement in international inflation and economic performance. My focus in this article is on the key foundations for sound and credible monetary policy, the plusses and minuses of when simple principles are followed or violated, and suggestions for maintaining recent favorable trends. The bottom line is that well-understood principles--such as zero inflation and the importance of maintaining inflation-fighting credibility, transparency, central bank independence, reliance on market-based mechanisms to address undesired imbalances--apply to both developing and industrialized nations, and must be pursued independently of fiscal and regulatory policies. If such independence is impossible--primarily because of the lack of independence between the monetary authorities and the treasury--other institutional arrangements are required to ensure monetary soundness and credibility. A generation ago, around 1980, the circumstances and perceptions about central banks and monetary policy were far different than now. Inflation was very high and economic and financial market performance was poor in industrialized and developing nations alike. Central banks lacked credibility and inflationary expectations were high and volatile. Budget deficits were high and rising, and projections of soaring government debt-to-GDP ratios dominated the fiscal debate. The projected unsustainable rises in debt-to-GDP and the associated "unpleasant monetarist arithmetic" that pointed to eventual debt monetization suggested that monetary policy ultimately may be hostage to irresponsible fiscal policy. On top of the undesirable macroeconomic trends of the day, this perception undercut the implied independence and credibility of the monetary authorities. The potential for improvement seemed remote. Other aspects of monetary policy were also distinctly different, and weighed heavily on central bank credibility. Many monetary authorities--including the U.S. Federal Reserve--either did not have sound objectives that included zero inflation, did not articulate them effectively, or were not credible. Central bank opacity of policies and actions was the rule, as it long had been, with market participants and the public purposely left in the dark. Some misunderstood the rational expectations school to imply that policy surprises, theoretically necessary in order to affect real activity, were somehow desirable. In fact, the key implication, as Milton Friedman, Robert Lucas, and others were early to recognize, is that fine-tuning in order to achieve multiple objectives is ultimately counterproductive. It has not been a smooth ride by any means--there have been supply shocks, several "crises," including financial upheavals in Mexico and other Latin American nations, the Russian default and Asian tumult of 1997, Long-Term Capital Management in 1998, and the stock market bubble of 1999-2000--but the conduct of monetary policy globally has been significantly transformed for the better, and macroeconomic performance has improved accordingly. By and large, most leading central banks now pursue low inflation objectives and have gained significant credibility. Importantly, most know that this hard-won credibility cannot be taken for granted and must be maintained through adherence to sound principles. Successful Disinflationary Policies What seemed remote a generation ago has largely become a reality. Inflation has receded dramatically--far more than even the most optimistic observer had speculated was possible (Rogoff 2003). …


The literature on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) young people commonly assumes that GLB adolescents have difficult relationships with their parents, due to their parents' difficulty accepting their sexual orientation. However, research tends to show that the family experiences of GLB individuals are diverse. The current research compared the family experiences of GLB and non-GLB college students, specifically, levels of conflict with parents during the respondent's last year of high school, parent-child relationship quality, and physical and psychological assaults by parents during the same time frame, as well as perceived social support from parents at the time of the survey. Levels of depressive symptoms in GLB and non-GLB respondents were also compared. The possibility that parent-adolescent conflict mediated the relationship between sexual orientation, and relationship quality, perceived social support, or depression was also examined. No relationship was found between respondent's sexual orientation and any of the dependent variables, nor did any of the results suggest significant mediation. The lack of significant differences between GLB respondents and non-GLB respondents in this study suggests that the family experiences of GLB young people are not necessarily a great deal worse than those of their non-GLB counterparts. These findings are consistent with recent scholarship on adolescents with same sex attractions (including those who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual), which tend to emphasize the diversity of identities and experiences of young people with same-sex attractions. Implications for future research, particularly the need for more realistic models of sexual orientation are discussed.


The HIV and AIDS epidemic arrived in Brazil as a gay cancer, a narrative created mostly through the media before actual cases were diagnosed. This narrative has remained strong and powerful maintaining the stigma and discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS. Any truthful and honest theological or church response to the epidemic will have to deal with this ghost even when the focus is moved from the LGBT community to speak of other vulnerable subjects and groups. The first part of this article shows how the gay cancer narrative was constructed in the context of an emerging homosexual movement and major political changes in the country. The second part of the article presents some of the responses in the field of religion in the Brazilian context, how they reinforced the gay cancer narrative, but also how more positive answers were given, especially in the early years of the epidemic. It also makes explicit the virtual absence of a systematic theological reflection, even in the context of Latin American Liberation Theology, mostly because of the difficulty in dealing with structural issues that deepen and make more complex class and economic poverty. The third part of the article reports the creation and reactions to the HIV and AIDS prevention campaign Not even the Saint protects you Use condom in the context of the 15 th S Paulo GLBT Pride Parade in 2011. The fourth and final part makes some theological remarks emerging from the narrative of the advertising campaign in the search for an out of the closet theology in the context of the HIV and AIDS epidemic.


In this research, we propose a shoe-shaped I/O interface. The benefits to users of wearable devices are significantly reduced if they are aware of them. Wearable devices should have the ability to be worn without requiring any attention from the user. However, previous wearable systems required users to be careful and be aware of wearing or carrying them. To solve this problem, we propose a shoe-shaped I/O interface. By wearing the shoes throughout the day, users soon cease to be conscious of them. Electromechanical devices are potentially easy to install in shoes. This report describes the concept of a shoe-shaped I/O interface, the development of a prototype system, and possible applications.


Very little is known about the role of effective cognitive therapy in reversing imbalances in brain activity after trauma. We hypothesised that exaggerated threat perception characteristic of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and subsequent recovery from this disorder, are underpinned by changes in the dynamics of large-scale brain networks. Here, we use a novel data-driven approach with high temporal precision to find recurring brain networks from fMRI data and estimate when these networks become active during exposure to either trauma reminders or neutral pictures. We found that PTSD patients spend less time in two default mode sub-networks in contrast to trauma-exposed healthy controls, and that PTSD symptom severity correlates positively with time spent in the salience network during exposure to trauma reminders. The former are important for different aspects of self-referential processing and the latter for detection of threat. Importantly, the decreased time in the default mode sub-networks is rebalanced after successful cognitive therapy for PTSD. Our results show that remittance of PTSD through trauma-focused cognitive therapy is associated with the successful reinstatement of a healthy balance in self-referential and threat detection brain networks.


[1] The GISS coupled model is used to investigate the sensitivity of sea ice to each of the following parameterizations: (1) two sea ice dynamics (CF: cavitating fluid; VP: viscous-plastic), (2) the specification of oceanic isopycnal mixing coefficients in the Gent and McWillams isopyncal mixing (GM), and (3) the wajsowicz viscosity diffusion (WV). The large-scale sea ice properties are highly sensitive to sea ice dynamics. With the inclusion of resistance to shear stress, VP captures the major observed sea ice drift features and improves the simulations of sea ice concentrations, thickness, and export through Fram Strait relative to CF. GM significantly improves the simulation of vertical temperature distributions in the Southern Ocean, although it leads to a dramatic reduction of Antarctic sea ice cover. The reduced oceanic isopycnal mixing coefficients lead to Arctic sea ice that tends to be less and thinner in almost the entire Arctic except in the North Pacific and Labrador Sea, while Antarctic sea ice that extends more equatorward throughout the circumpolar regions. The responses of sea ice to WV show an enlargement and thickening of sea ice in the Arctic, within the ice packs around the Antarctic and a reduction and thinning of sea ice in the northern Weddell and Ross Seas. On the basis of these experiments, two composite experiments with the best parameterizations are investigated. The atmospheric responses associated with sea ice changes are discussed. While improvements are seen, there are still many unrealistic aspects that will require further improvements to sea ice and ocean components.


In his new book, Westminster scholar Daya Thussu puts the focus on the rise of global infotainment. Since the deregulation of television in most Western nations and the introduction of commercial television after the collapse of the communist nations in the former east, there are an increasing number of TV channels all around the world, and commercialization has become the driving force behind the development of global television. On the one hand, the international trade in TV formats, fictional and factual, is part of an increasing market where entertainment programmes are sold all over the world. On the other hand, international news has seen a worldwide expansion, under the sign of commercialization. Thussu claims, 'as television news has been commercialized, the need to make it entertaining has become a crucial priority for broadcasters, as they are forced to borrow and adapt characteristics from entertainment genres and modes of conversation that privilege an informal communicative style, with its emphasis on personalities, style, storytelling skills and spectacles. Its tendency to follow a tabloid approach, its capacity to circulate trivia, blend fact with fiction and even distort the truth is troubling' (p. 3). The author argues that there is a need to go beyond the debate about 'dumbing down', the so called infotainment, because it works as 'a powerful discourse of diversion, in both senses, taking the attention away from, and displacing from the airwaves, such grim realities of neo-liberal imperialism as witnessed in the US invasion and occupation of Iraq; the intellectual and cultural subjugation by the tyranny of technology; of free-market capitalism and globalization of a profligate and unsustainable consumerist lifestyle' (p. 9).


PURPOSE
To describe the relationship of retinal arteriolar and venular caliber with retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness.

METHODS
A population-based, cross-sectional study of Malay persons aged 40 to 80 years residing in Singapore was conducted from 2004 to 2006. Retinal arteriolar and venular calibers were measured with a computer-based technique according to a validated, standardized protocol. RNFL was assessed with retinal tomography.

RESULTS
There were 2706 persons with gradable retinal photographs and HRT images of acceptable quality available for analysis. In linear regression models that adjusted for age, sex, diabetes, body mass index, intraocular pressure, and other factors, each standard deviation decrease in arteriolar and venular caliber was associated with a 5.81- and 8.37-microm decrease, respectively, in mean global RNFL thickness (both P < 0.001). These associations remained similar after persons with glaucoma were excluded. In persons with glaucoma, retinal venular caliber was independently associated with the temporal and temporal-to-inferior region of mean RNFL thickness in multivariate analysis; each SD decrease in retinal venular diameter was associated with an 8.54-microm decrease in the temporal region (P = 0.022), and a 38.32-microm decrease in the temporal-to-inferior region (P = 0.006) of mean RNFL thickness.

CONCLUSIONS
Narrower retinal vessel caliber was associated with reduced RNFL thickness in this Asian population.


We present a technique for the determination of viscoelastic properties of a medium by tracking the motion of an embedded probe particle by using molecular dynamics simulations. The approach involves the analysis of the simulated particle motion by continuum theory; it is shown to work in both passive and active modes. We demonstrate that, for passive rheology, an analysis based on the generalized Stokes-Einstein relationship is not adequate to obtain the values of the viscoelastic moduli over the frequency range studied. For both passive and active modes, it is necessary to account for the medium and particle inertia when analyzing the particle motion. For a polymer melt system consisting of short chains, the values calculated from the proposed approach are in good quantitative agreement with previous literature results that were obtained using completely different simulation approaches. The proposed particle rheology simulation technique is general and could provide insight into the characterization of the mechanical properties in biological systems, such as cellular environments and polymeric systems, such as thin films and nanocomposites that exhibit spatial variation in properties over the nanoscale.


In recent years, express bus service has come into the spotlight by overcoming slow bus operating speeds while maintaining its accessibility when it operates with local bus services. This study developed an optimal limited-stop bus routes selection (LSBRS) guideline as a scenario-based analysis and compared it with case study results. Smart card data and a genetic algorithm (GA) were used to develop the model with different scenarios. Then, total travel time savings as a result of implementing limited-stop bus service generated by the GA model were computed. The effectiveness of each factor was verified by multiple regression analysis, and the LSBRS methodology was determined. This methodology was applied to Suwon, Korea, as a case study. As a result, travel time savings were estimated to be 9.0–19.0%. The ranking of the total travel time savings proposed by the LSBRS methodology presented a similar tendency with that of the casestudy analysis.


Sub–Saharan Africa (SSA) alone accounts for 40% of all global deaths, a phenomenon attributed to lack of access to available lifesaving vaccines (Wiysonge, Uthman, Ndumbe, & Hussey, 2012). WHO estimates that in 2019 the African region accounted for approximately 43% of unimmunised and incomplete immunised infants in the world (i.e.: 8.5 million of the global 19.4 million). Relatedly, the region scores the lowest immunisation coverage, at 76% versus the global coverage of 86% (WHO, 2020a). This is despite several documented efforts by different stakeholders to improve coverage in the region (Mihigo, Okeibunor, Anya, Mkanda, & Zawaira, 2017). Many studies have been conducted on coverage and drivers for and bottlenecks against immunisation in SSA. (Wiysonge, Uthman, Ndumbe, & Hussey, 2012), (Wiysonge, Young, Kredo, McCaul, & Volmik, 2015), (Mihigo, Okeibunor, Anya, Mkanda, & Zawaira, 2017), (Madhi & Rees, 2018),(Bangura, et al., 2020), all of which have observed that there is varied performance among the constituent countries, and also within countries over time, denoting some implicitly common underlying correlates threading through areas of higher performance; and the same is seen with the poorer performing areas. This consensus study therefore seeks to categorise and make explicit these "root causes" and based on documented successes, to make recommendations to address the bottlenecks and harness the opportunities for reaching every child with all the recommended vaccines. The theory of change presentation style used in this report, categorising the root causes under four broad interlinked themes, can provide a common basis to rally like-minded partners around a thematic cause and thus develop multi-component, comprehensive strategies to bring about impactful change. This is in line with the call made by the World Health Organisation Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation, which recommended that countries, regions and global immunisation partners commit to a comprehensive review of progress, impact, and implementation of the WHO Global Vaccine Action Plan to inform a post-2020 strategy taking into account lessons learned. This strategy will assist with attaining the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.


The report contains a description of educational 3D visualization techniques and their use in training mechanical engineering students. After the recognition of the benefits of presenting the information in 3D environment, a web tool using 3D models has been created for the students to use. A step by step methodology for education in web has been created, which in turn led to the use of a wide variety of intertwined methods to present the information to the students, such as video, picture gallery, 3D image virtual laboratory exercise, and text. In order to be able to go through an experience closer to the real-life experiment and exercise, the students need to interact with all kinds of tools that they can come across while taking the course in "Cutting tools". The learning tool features the following steps, based on the methodology for education in the web: Step 1: Theoretical lecture notes, introduction in what will be measured and how; Step 2: Learning through multimedia - photo gallery and video gallery; Step 3: 3D object gallery, containing the tools which will be used; Step 4: Theoretical test, to check on the basic knowledge gained so far; Step 5: Assessment of the test results, if the threshold of correct answers is passed, they are allowed to continue to the actual practical exercise, if not - they go back to Step 1; Step 6: Using the virtual cutting tools according to predefined methodology for virtual measuring in a virtual laboratory environment; Step 7: Generating a report, which contains the results of the measurement. The proposed highly interactive tool for self-learning in measuring the constructive and geometrical parameters of the cutting knives increases the level of understanding students gain. The interactive 3D virtual models enable students to have free and safe experience very close to the practical one at any time and from any location. The 3D objects can be 'handled' in much the same way their real counterpart can. This leads to the brain of the student recognizing the object as such – a real object, that can be manipulated not only a photo or a schematic in a book. This in turn helps the brain recognize the three dimensional existence and memorize it better. Each step of the methodology builds up and enhances the assimilation of the information by the young people. Guiding students with such a tool helps bridge the gap between knowledge and practical experience. Combination of methods and hybrid approach to finding solution of similar problems may very well be the future of educating the digital generation.


The article discusses the Gorilla case, an officially still-contested partial state capture by a single local oligarchic group, in line with the (partial) Elite Cartels corruption pattern in Slovakia. Due to the manner in which evidence, although considered unofficial, was made available, this case illustrates secret political and business processes during partial state capture. The initial absence of the case in public, political, and academic discourses, suggests that state capture can be present and operate undetected for a long time. This study also shows that in-depth analysis of the Gorilla case was avoided by both domestic and international political scientists, despite its paramount practical and theoretical importance. This, in turn, reflects a methodological capture of political science. Consequently, this article disentangles the complexities of the Gorilla case and lays down the foundation for further studies. Specifically, it highlights the need for more careful research, terminological precision in both theory-building and empirical findings on state and media capture based on case studies, as well as re-assessment of the methodology of political sciences used in these research areas.


A 35-year old woman developed Burkitt's lymphoma and was treated with rituximab and CHOP therapy early during pregnancy. Monitoring of rituximab concentrations and B-cell counts in the child revealed a transient complete B-cell depletion associated with high rituximab cord blood concentrations. B-cell recovery was fast, showing a regular immunophenotype without loss of CD20 antigen, no functional deficits and adequate vaccination IgG titers.


Clinical Nursing Research is a refereed journal publishing research articles that focus on nursing practice. It disseminates research findings of particular interest to practicing nurses, provides an international forum for discussion among clinical nurse researchers and by identifying practical applications of research, enhances practice. Manuscripts of interest to CNR are those that focus on assessment and/or measures of intervention effectiveness, or on tool development for application in practice settings.