THE ROLE OF PAX3 IN NEURONAL DIFFERENTIATION OF THE OPHTHALMIC (OPV) TRIGEMINAL PLACODE AND NEURAL TUBE DURING CHICKEN EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT James R. Bradshaw Department of Zoology Doctor of Science Pax3 has been used as a valuable marker in research aimed at understanding tissue interactions involved in trigeminal ophthalmic (opV) placode development. While Pax3 expression coincides with opV neuron specification, the function of Pax3 in these cells has not previously been investigated. Splotch mutant mice (which lack Pax3) have a reduced trigeminal ganglion; however it is not clear whether this reduction is due to neural crest or placode cells. We have used electroporation in the chick model system to block or ectopically express Pax3 at key times in opV placode development. Using several markers of placode cell differentiation, we have determined the experimental effects manipulating Pax3. Blocking placodal Pax3 with gene specific morpholinos resulted in a loss of migratory placode cells, and a downregulation of all opV placode markers in targeted cells. Ectopic expression of Pax3, either within the placode domain or in adjacent cranial ectoderm, resulted in the upregulation of some but not all placode markers. We conclude that opV placodal Pax3 expression is required for normal placode cell development, and hypothesize that its expression must be tightly regulated in order for placode cells to fully differentiate. The precise role of Pax3 and Pax7 in the restriction and differentiation of dorsal interneuron progenitors has been difficult to assess due to the many additional factors involved in specification and patterning of the neural tube. We have used electroporation in the chick model system to ectopically express Pax3 and Pax7 unilaterally in the neural tube. Using several markers for differentiation of ventral and dorsal neuronal progenitors, we have experimentally determined the effects of Pax3 and Pax7 ventrally and dorsally. Ectopic expression of these transcription factors in the ventral neural tube resulted in the loss of motorneurons. Though mis-expression did not qualitatively affect commissural neurons as assayed by neurofilament staining, ectopic expression of Pax3 and Pax7 in the dorsal neural tube stopped dorsal interneuron progenitors from differentiating. We conclude that Pax3 and Pax7 expression is sufficient to restrict ventral neuron identity. We also hypothesize that downregulation of these transcription factors in the dorsal neural tube is required for normal dorsal interneuron differentiation.


BACKGROUND: While morphine is the gold standard for the management of severe cancer pain, some patients either do not achieve adequate analgesia, or suffer intolerable morphine-related toxicity. For these patients alternatives such as hydromorphone are recommended. However, there appear to be gaps in our understanding of the efficacy and potency of hydromorphone. OBJECTIVES: This review explores and assesses the evidence for the efficacy of hydromorphone in the management of pain. SEARCH STRATEGY: Randomised trials which included hydromorphone were sought using electronic databases and by handsearching relevant journals. Date of the most recent search: February 2000. SELECTION CRITERIA: RCTs which involved the administration of hydromorphone, for both acute and chronic pain conditions, in adults and children, were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: A data extraction form was designed for the purpose of the review. The validity of each trial for inclusion was assessed using criteria described in the Cochrane Handbook. A grade was allocated to each study on the basis of allocation concealment. A checklist was used to assess blinding. MAIN RESULTS: Forty three studies (2725 subjects) were included in the review. Approximately half of these studies received a low quality score. In addition, the heterogeneity of the studies precluded combination of data and results. A meta-analysis was therefore not possible. Of the 43 included studies, 11 (645 subjects) involved chronic pain conditions (all cancer) and 32 (2080 subjects) acute pain. Three studies were placebo-controlled. Of the remainder, hydromorphone was compared with other opioids (morphine, fentanyl, sufentanyl, meperidine, oxycodone, diamorphine), bupivicaine and with itself, using different formulations. The routes of administration included intravenous, oral, spinal, intramuscular and subcutaneous. Overall, hydromorphone appears to be a potent analgesic. The limited number of studies available suggest that there is little difference between morphine and hydromorphone in terms of analgesic efficacy, adverse effect profile and patient preference. However, as most studies involved small numbers of patients, it is difficult to determine real differences between both drugs. In the context of both acute and chronic pain, the issue of equi-analgesic ratios between morphine and hydromorphone was not resolved. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: The studies included in this review were varied in terms of quality and methodology. However, the majority demonstrated that hydromorphone is a potent analgesic, that the clinical effects of hydromorphone appear to be dose-related, and that the adverse effect profile of hydromorphone is similar to that of other mu opioid receptor agonists.


This article purports to trace the origin of money on the basis of factors in interpersonal relationships, affecting a sustainable development and public happiness, namely trust, reciprocity and the concept of we-rationality. Both the historical approach and the one based on traditional economic theory have been found inadequate mainly because they did not take into account these factors. The hypothesis expounded in the paper is that these values underlaid the beginning of economic activity. Initially economic activity was carried out within small human groups. In such groups interpersonal relations were not based on individual self-interest. As a matter of fact, there is historical evidence supporting the notion that the first exchanges were gift-giving and were made possible by trust and reciprocity as expounded by Polanyi (1957) and Sudgen (2000) among others. When the exchanges strengthened between elements of various groups all with the same values and moral characteristics the process toward the creation of money started, without any intrinsic value and the presence of any superior authority. In the paper it is also hypothesized that the creation of money is one of the basic factors in the progress of economic and social activity, together with ancient phenomena as language ad writing. Finally, the paper advocates that in future the economic activity be permeated by those moral values on which a sustainable development can be based. This will, in turn, increase the rate of economic and social growth.


Most analysts of corporations and industries adopt the focal perspective of a single prototypical organization. Many analysts also study corporations primarily in terms of their internal organizational structures or as complex systems of financial contracts. Glenn Carroll and Michael Hannan bring fresh insight to our understanding of corporations and the industries they comprise by looking beyond prototypical structures to focus on the range and diversity of organizations in their social and economic setting. The result is a rich rendering of analysis that portrays whole populations and communities of corporations."The Demography of Corporations and Industries" is the first book to present the demographic approach to organizational studies in its entirety. It examines the theory, models, methods, and data used in corporate demographic research. Carroll and Hannan explore the processes by which corporate populations change over time, including organizational founding, growth, decline, structural transformation, and mortality. They review and synthesize the major theoretical mechanisms of corporate demography, ranging from aging and size dependence to population segregation and density dependence. The book also explores some selected implications of corporate demography for public policy, including employment and regulation.In this path-breaking book, Carroll and Hannan demonstrate why demographic research on corporations is important; describe how to conduct demographic research; specify fruitful areas of future research; and suggest how the demographic perspective can enrich the public discussion of issues surrounding the corporation in our constantly evolving industrial society. All researchers and analysts with an interest in this topic will find The Demography of Corporations and Industries an invaluable resource.


Conventional automation and control devices are passive and responsive. These devices typically "respond" to changes in the power system as measured against fixed thresholds and preset limits. These systems are designed to prevent catastrophic failures and incorrect operations and work well for general data acquisition and remote supervisory control. How ever, feedback control, system diagnostics, advanced protection, and contingency control are difficult to implement on the ever changing power system with these conventional approaches. Knowledge based systems have the potential for following the changes in the power system and adjusting decision criteria accordingly. Decisions can be made on a more complete data base which is constantly adjusted to changes ir system parameters and operation. This paper describes the various functions where knowledge based systems could ideally be used. The use of a knowledge based, adaptive system approach for diagnosing distribution system disturbances and equipment failures is presented. Two field experiments are described.


The scope of this paper includes development and implementation of virtual lab for amplitude Modulation. The study of amplitude modulation is important in data communications and network. The amplitude modulation experiment can be performed by using the concept of virtual Intelligent SoftLab (VIS). The virtual experiment described here will help students to perform it any time anywhere. The screen shows virtual carrier, modulating and modulated waves and the necessary circuit for studying Amplitude modulation. There is a facility for change of amplitude and frequency of modulating signal. The effect of mixing of carrier and modulating signal is also visible on the screen.


This paper describes a new, simple and sensitive catalytic kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of total polyphenols in white wines. The method was based on the catalytic effect of Cu(II) on the oxidation of phenolic compounds by H2O2 in acid media. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the increase in absorbance of oxidation products at 420 nm. Under optimal experimental conditions, a differential variation of the tangent method was used to obtain a calibration curve over the range of 23.01–194.11 g mL –1 of phenols. The calculated detection limit (3.3S0/b) was 6.77 g mL –1 for ten replicate measurements of blank signal. The relative standard deviations for five replicate determinations on 70.0, and 170.0 gmL –1 of galic acid were 2.49 and 1.79 %, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of total polyphenols in white wine samples and the results were in excellent agreement with the Folin-Ciocalteau method. KEYWORDS : Kinetic-spectrophotometric method, phenolics oxidation, white wine.


Background/Aim: Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved stress response mechanism which creates alternative sources of building blocks and energy to cells. Although induced autophagy in fibroblasts, major component of stroma, has an important role for the proliferation and metastasis of cancer, initial signal(s) of induced autophagy in fibroblasts during their crosstalk with cancer cells is not clearly understood, yet. Here, we present a biochip system to mimick a simple tumor microenvironment and to monitor communication between can-cer-fibroblasts through modulation of autophagy. Materials& Methods: In this study, transgenic GFP-LC3 mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells and stably RFP expressing MDA-MB-231 (MDA) breast cancer cells were used. For autophagy analysis under microscope, over 20 GFP-LC3 dots per MEFs was called as GFP-LC3 dot positive cells. Biocompatibility and autopha-gy analysis of PDMS membrane in biochip was performed with live/death assay and autophagy analysis methods. 1.0×104 MDA cells, infected with shGFP (CNT) or shTGFβ1 viruses, were loaded on the top reservoir of biochip and cells were trapped into the pore by shaking motion and suction pressure. Trapped MDA cells were arrayed on a MEF monolayer and autopha-gy analysis was performed using Nikon A1R microscope. Re-sults&Discussion: Transforming growth factor (TGFβ1) was tested as a communication signal between cancer-fibroblasts. First, effect of TGFβ1 on autophagy in MEFs was analyzed using microscope and immunoblot analysis. According to our results, autophagy in fibroblasts was induced in the presence of TGFβ1 and was kept basal level in the absence of TGFβ1. Next, autophagy in MEFs around single MDA-trapped or empty holes in biochip systems was analyzed. Captured single MDA cells in-duce autophagy in fibroblast cells near to the holes. To test the biochip system for screening, the effect of mixed CNT-MDA and shTGFβ1-MDA cancer cells on autophagy in fibroblast cells was tested in biochip system. CNT-MDA cells induced autophagy in fibroblast cells around the holes upto 40%. shTGFβ1-MDA cells have caused basal autophagy level in surrounding fibro-blast cells similar to empty hole result. Genomic DNA analysis confirmed the unbiased screening result with 81% accuracy. These results showed that specificity of TGFβ1-induced auto-phagy was 90%. Due to allowing cancer cells retrieval back from chip system, this biochip system is suitable for large-scale un-biased omics such as single cell genomic, transcriptomics and even metabolomics analysis. Conclusion: We propose that our biochip platform can be used as a promising tool for autophagy quantification during tumor-stroma interaction, especially for high-throughput screening of paracrine factors that are secret-ed from heterogeneous tumor cell populations.


This paper offers a structural and semantic analysis of expressions of caused motion in Lowland Chontal of Oaxaca, an indigenous language of southern Mexico. The data were collected using a video stimulus designed to elicit a wide range of caused motion event descriptions. The most frequent event types in the corpus depict caused motion to and from relations of support and containment, fundamental notions in the description of spatial relations between two entities and critical semantic components of the linguistic encoding of caused motion in this language. Formal features of verbal construction type and argument realization are examined by sorting event descriptions into semantic types of placement and removal, to and from support and to and from containment. Together with typological factors that shape the distribution of spatial semantics and referent expression, separate treatments of support and containment relations serve to clarify notable asymmetries in patterns of predicate type and argument realization.


Summary and Conclusions
1.
Bacitracin given by mouth is an effective agent in terminating acute attacks of amebic colitis. Complete clinical recovery, healing of ulceration, and disappearance of amebae occurred in 8 severe cases. In one, clinical and parasite relapse occurred 8 months after therapy, and in 3 additional patients, parasite relapse occurred without clinical activity or evidence of disease 5, 18, and 350 days after therapy. In one severe case, bacitracin was effective after other amebicidal drugs and antibiotics, including aureomycin, failed to terminate the infection. Of 43 mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic patients who received one or more courses of bacitracin, apparent cures resulted in 80 per cent. The probability of cure from a single course of treatment is 66 per cent. The recommended dose is 80,000 units daily for 10 days. Toxicity from oral medication is negligible.
2.
Auroemycin has been found effective in eliminating amebic infections in 31 of 32 mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic cases of amebiasis. In one of the latter, parasite relapse occurred 15 days after completion of therapy. In one severe case of amebic dysentery, 23.25 grams of aureomycin given during 9 days failed to terminate the clinical attack or eliminate E. histolytica. At the present stage of our follow-up observation, the cure rate is 93 per cent. Approximately 20 per cent of patients who received 2.0 grams or more of the drug daily had nausea and vomiting. At present, we advocate 2.0 grams daily for 10 days.
3.
The uniform disappearance of enterococci and/or clostridia during therapy with bacitracin or aureomycin may indicate an important relationship between these organisms and the pathogenesis of clinical amebic colitis.
4.
Chloromycetin was found ineffective in 6 cases of amebiasis, including one severe case of dysentery. Polymyxin B apparently eliminated E. histolytica from one of 7 patients treated.
5.
Bacitracin and aureomycin represent important and potent additions to the agents available in the chemotherapy of intestinal amebiasis. The use of these antibiotics alone or in combination with other amebicidal drugs should materially influence the probability of cure in any given case of intestinal amebiasis.


This article provides a brief historical review of the devastation inflicted by plagues and pandemics and then considers the only recent availability of medicines to prevent, cure, or at least ameliorate the effects of these underlying diseases. It is extremely costly to develop these medicines and to obtain government approval for their distribution. The patent system accordingly plays a key role in providing the incentive to make such investments in developing pharmaceutical inventions. The patent system has become internationalized under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS"), which requires member states to provide patent protection "in all fields of technology," including pharmaceutical inventions. The tension is clear between the need for access to life-saving medicines on a world-wide basis and the need to provide a strong incentive via the patent system to insure that such medicines are developed. The tension is particularly acute with respect to the least-developed countries that do not have the ability to pay for such patented medicines and do not even have the technical infrastructure to replicate such medicines. To alleviate this tension somewhat, it has been proposed to amend the compulsory licensing provisions of the TRIPS Agreement to enable these least-developed countries to import patented medications from suppliers in other countries working under compulsory licenses. It is questionable whether this amendment will be a viable solution, particularly if there is a severe pandemic. The primary purpose of the present article is to address the moral issue of whether a developing country unable to pay for patented medicine may be morally justified in securing that medication from whatever source to prevent the significant loss of life of its nationals. This argument follows the general moral proposition that taking another's property may be justified to save one's own or another's life, but that the property owner is entitled to compensation for the loss. The legal proposition is the same: requiring compensation of the owner where the taking may be necessary to save life or property and may be quite reasonable under the circumstances. The further proposition is also accepted that a violation of law is a prima facie moral violation. These propositions are conceded in the article and are then extended to the situation where the developing country is incapable of paying for the patented drug and is faced with the significant loss of life of its nationals. The conclusion drawn from the analysis is that even though the law may have been violated, there is no moral violation by the developing country in securing the patented drug while not being able to compensate the patent owner at the TRIPS mandated level of "adequate remuneration."


Movement-based visual signals are widely distributed among animal species. They are used in a variety of contexts including mate-choice, pursuit deterrence, alarm signalling and opponent assessment. Important contributions to general theories of animal communication have been made using lizards as model systems. However, much of this work has focused on the iguanids of North and South America. The agamid lizards of Australia have received little attention even though many species are characterized by complex visual displays. Here we present a detailed description of the push-up display of the Jacky Dragon ( Amphibolurus muricatus ), which comprises five distinct components, including tail-flicks, foreleg waves, and push-ups. Rival males exchange displays when competing for territory, but little is known about the rules that govern their expression. We set up simulated intrusions in a captive setting to overcome the inherent difficulty in observing these interactions in the field. An 'intruder' housed in a small tank was positioned in front of a larger enclosure containing a 'resident' male. The response of the resident was video-taped for subsequent analysis. We first examined characteristics of the initial display bout and explored sources of variation within and between residents. Measurements included bout duration, the number and hold duration of push-ups, the total number of components, and limb preferences during foreleg waves. Markov analysis was then used to measure serial dependencies among display components. This showed that the push-up display is a semi-Markovian process: the preceding component predicted the next one with high accuracy. The display is highly constrained irrespective of whether the bout was the first or subsequent response to an intruder, and irrespective of substrate, intruder identity and resident identity. These data are an important first step in understanding the design, perception and function of movement-based visual signals in agamid lizards.


This paper analyses regionalism in Latin America and the Caribbean and interregionalism between this region and the European Union. The complexities and overlapping of Latin American regionalisms are reflected in the several interregional mechanisms that the European Union has with Latin American and Caribbean countries and regional organisations. The paper argues that different political and economic interests in Latin America have given rise to overlapping regionalist projects, where the overlapping of competences is more problematic than that of membership. Also, Latin American regionalisms have constantly evolved in terms of strategies and organisations. This has generated a number of interregional institutionalized mechanisms between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, but the current structure seems in need for reform. [The first draft of this Scientific Paper was presented at the ATLANTIC FUTURE seminar in Lisbon, April 2015]


Supersonic rockets generate low-frequency acoustic waves, that is, infrasound, during the launch and re-entry. Infrasound is routinely observed at infrasound arrays from the International Monitoring System, in place for the verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Association and source identification are key elements of the verification system. The moving nature of a rocket is a defining criterion in order to distinguish it from an isolated explosion. Here, it is shown how infrasound recordings can be associated, which leads to identification of the rocket. Propagation modelling is included to further constrain the source identification. Four rocket launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2009 and 2017 are analysed in which multiple arrays detected the infrasound. Source identification in this region is important for verification purposes. It is concluded that with a passive monitoring technique such as infrasound, characteristics can be remotely obtained on sources of interest, that is, infrasonic intelligence, over 4500+ km.


A hybrid censoring scheme is a mixture of type I and type II censoring schemes. When n items are placed on a life test, the experiment terminates under type I or type II hybrid censoring scheme if either a pre- fixed censoring time T or the rth (1 6 r 6 n is fixed) failure is first or later observed, respectively. In this paper, we investigate the decomposition of entropy in both hybrid censoring schemes. Entropy of type I hybrid censoring scheme is formulated and in order to determining the entropy of type II hybrid censoring scheme the available information are used. The results are then applied to some common life time distributions as illustrative examples. Finally, maximum entropy of the mentioned censoring schemes is discussed.


We present a rhythm transcription system integrated in the computer-assisted composition environment OpenMusic. Rhythm transcription consists in translating a series of dated events into traditional music notation's pulsed and structured representation. As transcription is equivocal, our system favors interactions with the user to reach a satisfactory compromise between various criteria, in particular the precision of the transcription and the readability of the output score. It is based on a uniform approach, using a hierarchical representation of duration notation in the form of rhythm trees, and an efficient dynamic-programming algorithm that lazily evaluates the transcription solutions. It is run through a dedicated user interface allowing to interactively explore the solution set, visualize the solutions and locally edit them.


Just like any other process, vaccine manufacturing procedures are defined as a series of interrelated functions and activities using a variety of specified actions and equipment designed to produce a defined product. To assure the reproducibility and consistency of such processes, they must be carried out using validated equipment and under the established procedures that meet all the acceptance criteria, at least 3 times. In many cases, "worst case" conditions are used for the validation purposes to ensure that the process would be acceptable in extreme cases. Therefore, the validation concept in vaccine production facilities is a key element of the quality assurance goals which may reduce the dependence upon intensive in-process and finished products testing. Nevertheless, the concept of validation has expanded through the years to embrace a wide range of activities such as analytical methods used for quality control of drugs, the computerized systems for the clinical trials, the labeling and the process control. To perform such validation activities properly, the updated knowledge of the current regulations are needed. Therefore, the present article focuses on the recommendations in the related guidelines addressing different aspects of validation procedures related to the vaccine production facilities as a part of the product's life-cycle.


This study examines former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Jr.'s opinions on the following administrative law topics: civil rights, civil liberties, human resource management, due process, and privacy. The purpose of this examination is (1) to apply Rohr's regime values framework to Brennan's case law, (2) to determine the usefulness of Brennan's regime values to discretionary decision making, and (3) to consider the effectiveness of these regime values as a pedagogical approach to ethics. A purposive sample of 25 cases was selected for the study. Case briefing and discourse analysis were the primary research methods used. I found eight regime values in Brennan's opinions: freedom, accountability, flexibility, equity and equality, unconstitutional conditions, property, and social justice. Social justice was his dominant regime value and is the basis for all of his jurisprudence. Brennan's regime values reconcile two approaches to ethics, the low road and the high road, by emphasizing a Constitutional basis for the latter. Brennan's values may help administrators learn how to think through the important decisions they make daily by providing both a foundation and justification for their choices. Public administrators can be taught how to use the regime values method to extract additional values.


ABSTRACT DNA evidence continues to make a significant contribution to the Australian criminal justice system. The techniques used by forensic scientists, and the legal principles governing the collection of DNA evidence and its use in court by law enforcement, have developed considerably since they were first introduced. DNA evidence is continually evolving as new scientific techniques are applied to investigations and presented in court, and new database infrastructure is introduced by government agencies. This paper examines the development of DNA evidence in Australia over the last 30 years. It proposes that this development can be understood as a three-stage process: the first stage, from 1989 to 2000; the second, from 2001 to 2014; and the third, from 2015 to the present. In delineating the development of DNA evidence into three stages, a holistic approach has been taken to describe the scientific development of DNA evidence throughout this period, as well as the associated legal and regulatory framework.


This paper presents microeconometric evidence on financing con-traints for research and development activities in German small and medium?sized firms (SME). Special attention is paid to the role of public R&D subsidies. For this purpose SME in Western and East-ern Germany are compared because these regions are very different in their supply of public R&D funding. It turns out that Western German SME are financially constrained in their R&D activities by both internal and external resources. In Eastern Germany, firms are not sensitive to external constraints, possibly due to high public R&D subsidies. The results suggest that R&D in Eastern Germany is to a large extent driven by public subsidies since the German re?unification in 1990 and that the usual financial market mechanisms are repealed with respect to R&D in this region.


Whether animals, especially companion animals, count as friends depends on the conception of friendship as well as on the conception of animals. Some accounts of friendship can include (other than human) animals more easily than others. I present an argument in favour of characterising some animal-human connections as friendships, and address some of the standard objections to this characterisation. It might seem that under any conception of friendship, characterising animals as (potential) friends would likely lead to better treatment of animals, as various kinds of ill-treatment or use would not be consistent with treating someone as a friend. However, concern for animal welfare typically extends well beyond the direct concern for our own household companions, and is a concern for animals (or certain animals) in general, whereas friendship, by its nature, is particularist. There are limits to applying the concept of friendship to animal treatment beyond particular relationships.


Background and Aim: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a distinct type of leukemia which is caused due to a blockage in myeloid cells normal maturation. The most important therapeutic strategies include the use of ATRA and Arsenic trioxide. Although ATRA is generally well tolerated, some patients develop Retinoic acid syndrome. Some of the symptoms of this syndrome are directly or indirectly related to elevated WBC counts. This study aims to determine the effect of ATRA and BIBR1532 combination on WBC count as a factor leading to the formation of ATRA syndrome. Materials and Methods: To investigate the effect of BIBR1532 and ATRA combination, NB4 cells were cultured in the presence of 30 μ M and 1 μ M densities of the drugs. To study the effect of drugs on living cells count, proliferation activity, and metabolic activity of the cells, Trypan blue, Brdu and MTT tests were used, respectively. Results: The results of Trypan blue, MTT and Brdu suggest that the combination of ATRA and BIBR1532 is more effective than ATRA alone on the reduction of viable cell count, metabolic activity and proliferation of leukemic cells in the first five days of treatment. Conclusion: The results suggest that the combination of ATRA and BIBR1532 is probably more effective in the treatment of APL patients. It seems that such improvement in results is more obvious especially among the patients who are at a higher risk of ATRA syndrome.


The sulphate-reducing bacteria strain H1 with the function for Hydrolysed Polyacrylamide (HPAM) degradation was isolated from a curing pot in the HPAM distribution station of Daqing Oil Field using the Hungate Anaerobic Technique. The isolates were characterised morphologically, physiologically, biochemically and molecularly. The pictures of the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) have shown that this is a short bacillus with width 0.30?0.39 ?m and length 0.72-1.63 ?m, with flagellum and spores, and is gram negative and strictly anaerobic bacteria, which can reduce sulphate to H2S. Alignment of 16S Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and 16S?23S rDNA intergenic spacer sequences suggests that this isolate was closely related to the Clostridium. Fatty acids were distributed at C12.0-C20,0, mostly at C14.0, C16.0 and C19:11ω12c, the content being 9.10%, 40.01% and 7.11%, respectively, i.e. 56.22% of all fatty acids. The isolate was identified as a new species belonging to fusobacterium, temporarily named Clostridium bifermentans H1. Analysis results of Infrared (IR) spectroscopy showed that the bacteria can use HPAM as the only carbon source, hydrolysing the amide to carboxyl group by the molecule chain amide hydrolysis, degrading the side chain and changing some function group, resulting in obviously decreased viscosity. Using GC-MS determined HPAM-degraded products of low molecular weight compounds were polyacrylamide fragments with duplet bonds, epoxy as well as carbonyl group, but most of them were acrylamide oligomer derivatives. The removing efficiency for HPAM reached 30.8%.


A commitment to nondiscrimination at times appears to require both that one not act in particular ways and that one not believe certain things. This is potentially troubling if one ought to believe what one has warrant to believe, and to the extent that one can take actions that affect what one comes to believe, one ought to do so with the aim of acquiring true beliefs. This article argues that current social controversies—like the debate over the memo by the Google employee which claimed that women are less suited for careers in technology fields—demonstrate that some defenders of norms of nondiscrimination understand these norms as including epistemic commitments. The article articulates what these epistemic commitments are, explores whether they can themselves be epistemically justified and, if not, situates the popular controversy in a philosophical debate about whether moral considerations properly encroach on epistemic norms.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the nutrition knowledge andfruitjuice beverages product knowledge correlate to consumed brand specifically. The data were collected from 200 IPB students with food and non-food educational background Mann Whitney test, Friedman test and regression test were used to analyze the data. The result of this study showed that most of the study participants (81,0%) have a good nutrition knowledge, and most of them have a medium level of product knowledge. In liquid form, Buavita brand is the most fruit juice consumed by the study participants, while in powder form is Nutrisari Brand Spearman correlation test showed that there was no significant correlation (p>O,05) between nutrition and product knowledge with fruit juice beverage brand consumed either in powder or in liquidform.


What attracts women to far-right movements that appear to denigrate their rights? This question has vexed feminist scholars for decades and has led to many lively debates in the academy. In this context, during the 1980s, the study of women, gender, and fascism in twentieth-century Europe took off, pioneered by historians such as Claudia Koonz and Victoria de Grazia. This volume makes an exciting contribution to the evolving body of work based upon these earlier studies, bringing emerging scholarship on Central and Eastern Europe alongside that of more established Western European historiography on the topic. Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 1919-45 features fourteen essays covering Serbia, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, and Poland in addition to Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Britain, and a conclusion that pulls together a European-wide perspective. As a whole, the volume provides a compelling comparative examination of this important topic through current research, literature reviews, and dialogue with existing debates. The essays cast new light on questions such as women's responsibility for the collapse of democracy in interwar Europe, the interaction between the women's movement and the extreme right, and the relationships between conceptions of national identity and gender. Kevin Passmore is a lecturer in history at Cardiff University and author of Fascism: A Very Short Introduction.


Local search engines are very popular but limited. We present Hapori, a next-generation local search technology for mobile phones that not only takes into account location in the search query but richer context such as the time, weather and the activity of the user. Hapori also builds behavioral models of users and exploits the similarity between users to tailor search results to personal tastes rather than provide static geo-driven points of interest. We discuss the design, implementation and evaluation of the Hapori framework which combines data mining, information preserving embedding and distance metric learning to address the challenge of creating efficient multidimensional models from context-rich local search logs. Our experimental results using 80,000 queries extracted from search logs show that contextual and behavioral similarity information can improve the relevance of local search results by up to ten times when compared to the results currently provided by commercially available search engine technology.


Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is a technological innovation that enables small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to compete on the same level with their larger counterparts. And it has the potential to improve efficiency and productivity in many areas and, therefore, has received significant attention in many countries of the world. A thorough analysis of the impact of the internet and e-commerce across firms, industries and economies is necessary to separate hype from reality. However, several researchers have called for the investigation of the association between the perceptions of e-commerce and the barriers to its adoption in developing countries. It is however on record that SMEs the world over are faced with significant challenges that compromise their ability to function and to contribute optimally to the respective economies where they operate. This study was conducted in three states of Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja and Enugu states) with the use of interviews to gather relevant data; the aim of which was to understand the challenges which serve as barriers to E-Commerce adoption by small and medium scale enterprises in the Nigerian context. Findings indicates that small and medium scale online present is at best unknown. The most common e-Commerce applications used by most SMEs include but not limited to the use of e-mails for communication purposes and a simple website for basic product information – information contained are usually outdated as most of these websites are hardly updated. Findings revealed, among others, that lack of and total absence of a regulatory framework on e-Commerce security, as well as technical skills, and basic infrastructures are some of the barriers to electronic commerce adoption. The findings however, provide a constructive insight to financial practitioners, governments as well as other stakeholders on the need to give e-commerce a place in all aspects of e-commerce activities.


Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) acts on cytochrome c oxidase, the terminal enzyme in the mitochondrial electron transport chain, inhibiting mitochondrial oxygen consumption and promoting the release of free radicals. Quintero et al. investigated the consequences of NO regulation of mitochondrial activity in vascular endothelial cells, which are highly glycolytic and have abundant NO. Analysis of the effects of inhibitors of mitochondrial electron transport or glycolysis at various oxygen concentrations indicated that ATP production in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) depended more on glycolysis than it did on mitochondrial respiration. Exposure to a low concentration of oxygen (1.5%) that promoted the accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) in human smooth muscle and epithelial kidney cells had little effect on HIF-1α abundance in human vascular endothelial cells unless the production of NO was inhibited. The ability of NO to inhibit HIF-1α accumulation in HUVECs depended on mitochondrial respiration. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HUVECs depended on oxygen concentration, being greater at 3% oxygen than at 0.5% or 21% oxygen, and, at 3% oxygen, depended on the production of NO. Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) also peaked at 3% oxygen, and this did not depend on the ratio of AMP to ATP or on the abundance of AMP. Rather, the activation of AMPK at 3% oxygen was stimulated by ROS and was inhibited by antioxidants. Thus, the authors came to the intriguing conclusion that, in vascular endothelial cells, mitochondria may function primarily as NO-regulated organelles that signal through oxygen or ROS rather than as the "powerhouse" that provides cells with ATP. M. Quintero, S. L. Colombo, A. Godfrey, S. Moncada, Mitochondria as signaling organelles in the vascular endothelium. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 5379-5384 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Prevalence rates of dementia are increasing worldwide and more so in developing countries. Early and accurate diagnosis of dementia then assumes critical importance. Cross-cultural neuropsychological assessment of dementia depends on the use of instruments that have been appropriately normed and validated for target populations. While culture and ethnicity have been acknowledged as variables which significantly impact cognitive performance, they are not usually included in normative and validation studies. The main aim of this dissertation was to standardise and identify the role played by ethnicity in performance on a number of instruments used in the assessment of dementia and identify the role and interaction of ethnicity with other common demographic variables on performance for Caribbean populations. Performance on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) was influenced by age, education and ethnicity and a validation of corrected scores yielded a cut-off that resulted in a 35% reduction in false positive rates among non-AD persons. The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-cognitive section (ADAS-cog) was influenced by education and was resistant to effects of ethnicity. Cut-off scores were lower than traditionally suggested, perhaps due to higher educational levels, but resulted in very high sensitivity (89%) and specificity (89%) rates. Education influenced scores on most measures: digit span, digit cancellation, logical memory, semantic and phonemic fluency and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. Ethnicity also influenced scores on digit span backwards, digit cancellation, semantic fluency and Raven' Matrices. Ethnic differences in performance may be attributed to differences in attention, working memory and also to differences in cognitive styles. Differences in educational attainment across cultures and generations renders earlier norms invalid and highlight the needs for norms to be periodically revised in order to be considered representative of current populations. The provision of culturally relevant and contemporary norms yielded in this study can be regarded as invaluable tools in the assessment and diagnosis of dementia in diverse populations.


The authenticity of art has always commanded the attention of experts, dealers, collectors and the art-minded public - especially those who relish the Robin Hoods of art forgery who deceive rich collectors and pompous experts. This book os essays, edited by a lawyer specializing in art law and authenticity, proposes to make the question of authenticity more easily understood. The mainpoints to be argues are (1) that the pereption of form in a work of art is not like other types of evidence accepted in courts of law; (2) that in determining authenticity, experts must adopt a careful, organized approach; (3) that all authentication should be based on the consensus of experts at arm's length from an object.


The fit, comfort and the fashionable look of professional clothing as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) gain in importance. In addition to the protection and functional properties, the working and protective clothing demands perfect fit for optimal freedom of movement. The balancing act between freedom of movement, functionality and fashion-oriented fit of different target groups offers new complex challenges to manufacturer of professional clothing. Anthropometric data are used for clothing design, PPE, workstations and man-machine interfaces. Therefore two different measuring systems are used: size charts and ergonomic standards. Size charts are the base for clothing industry, however size charts cannot cover the functional requirements of professional clothing and PPE. The body measurements during exercising movements (standing, sitting, kneeling, etc.) deviate significantly from the measurements of size charts, which are measured in standard standing position. The motion-related variability of body dimensions is partly reflected in ergonomic standards. The ergonomic standards describe different modes of motion, e.g. arm range, without any size references, only percentiles type. A measurement standard which considers size reference as well as function-oriented motion of the body at work, is currently not available. In the project "functional dimension" the motion-related variability of body measurements are investigated and converted into a new size system. The following work steps are in the presented project: analysis and classification of work-related postures (standing, sitting, etc.), posture capturing by using 3D-scanner technology, identification of changes in the motion-dependent body shape and analysis of the extrema, statistical evaluation of ergonomic dimensions, development of ergonomic and motion-related size systems. project is to re-evaluate fundamentally the motion- induced changes of the body, to identify the respective characteristic and to derive new defined functional dimensions. The new motion- oriented size system allows fitting and ergonomically based design of function-oriented, comfortable and fashionable professional clothing and PPE in future. The challenge consists of the systematic derivation of new functional dimensions as well as their conversion into optimized clothing products in addition to reproducible detection of the ROM (range of motion).


A class of asynchronous cellular automata (ACA) whose evolution simulates physicochemical kinetics of nano-systems is defined. It is characterized by multicell probabilistic transition rules and stochastic character of their application. To simulate real processes in real time ACAs should have huge cellular arrays and a very long evolution. So, the problem of parallel implementation of ACA algorithms is actual. But as distinct from a synchronous case, it has not any good and simple solution. To overcome this difficulty, a method of ACA approximation by a blocksynchronous cellular automata (BCA) is proposed, analyzed and experimentally studied.


Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the antihypertensive drug usage and dosage differences between geriatric and non-geriatric diabetics with reference to the duration of hypertension and creatinine clearance (Crcl).Methods: In this observational study, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were grouped into geriatric (age ≥60 years) and non-geriatric (age <60 years). Patients' demographic data, duration of hypertension, drugs prescribed, and serum creatinine were recorded after the patients had a stabilized antihypertensive dose for 6 months. Crcl was calculated using Cockcroft–Gault formula. The dosages of antihypertensives were converted into equivalent doses for easy comparison within a group. For angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), enalapril was considered as prototype, and for angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) losartan, beta-blocker atenolol, and calcium channel blockers (CCBs), amlodipine was considered as prototype. Univariate analysis was done for comparison of drug doses between groups.Results: A total of 336 diabetics with hypertension were included, of which 252 were geriatric and 84 non-geriatric. Duration of hypertension was expectedly longer in the geriatric group (8.40±7.26 vs. 5.46±5.67; p=0.001). Systolic blood pressure was higher in geriatrics (137.14±13.51 vs. 133.38±12.49; p=0.01). When adjusted for the duration of hypertension and Crcl, there were no significant differences in the mean converted equivalent doses of beta-blockers, CCBs, ARBs, and hydrochlorothiazide between geriatrics and non-geriatrics. However, statistically significant lower converted equivalent doses of all ACEIs were needed in geriatrics compared to non-geriatrics, when adjusted for duration of hypertension and Crcl. Enalapril required 20.57% and ramipril required 18.36% dose reduction in geriatrics compared to non-geriatrics.Conclusion: A 20% dosage reduction is needed for ACEIs in the elderly.


Despite increased worldwide popularity of keeping reptiles as pets, we know little about hematologic and biochemical parameters of most reptile species, or how these measures may be influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Blood samples from 43 wild-caught pythons (Morelia spilota imbricata) were collected at various stages of a 3-yr ecological study in Western Australia. Reference intervals are reported for 35 individuals sampled at the commencement of the study. As pythons were radiotracked for varying lengths of time (radiotransmitters were surgically implanted), repeated sampling was undertaken from some individuals. However, because of our ad hoc sampling design we cannot be definitive about temporal factors that were most important or that exclusively influenced blood parameters. There was no significant effect of sex or the presence of a hemogregarine parasite on blood parameters. Erythrocyte measures were highest for pythons captured in the jarrah forest and at the stage of radiotransmitter implantation, which was also linked with shorter time in captivity. Basophil count, the only leukocyte influenced by the factors tested, was highest when the python was anesthetized, as was globulin concentration. Albumin and the albumin:globulin ratio were more concentrated in summer (as was phosphorous) and at the initial stage of radiotransmitter placement (as was calcium). No intrinsic or extrinsic factors influenced creatinine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, uric acid, or total protein. This study demonstrates that factors including season, location, surgical radiotransmitter placement, and anesthetic state can influence blood parameters of M. s. imbricata. For accurate diagnosis, veterinarians should be aware that the current reference intervals used to identify the health status of individuals for this species are outdated and the interpretation and an understanding of the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors are limited.


Abstract. Formaldehyde columns retrieved from the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography/Chemistry (SCIAMACHY) instrument onboard ENVISAT satellite through 2003 to 2006 are used as top-down constraints to derive updated global biogenic and biomass burning flux estimates for the non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) precursors of formaldehyde. Our interest is centered over regions experiencing strong emissions, and hence exhibiting a high signal-to-noise ratio and lower measurement uncertainties. The formaldehyde dataset used in this study has been recently made available to the community and complements the long record of formaldehyde measurements from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME). We use the IMAGESv2 global chemistry-transport model driven by the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED) version 1 or 2 for biomass burning, and from the newly developed MEGAN-ECMWF isoprene emission database. The adjoint of the model is implemented in a grid-based framework within which emission fluxes are derived at the model resolution, together with a differentiation of the sources in a grid cell. Two inversion studies are conducted using either the GFEDv1 or GFEDv2 as a priori for the pyrogenic fluxes. Although on the global scale the inferred emissions from the two categories exhibit only weak deviations from the corresponding a priori estimates, the regional updates often present large departures from their a priori values. The posterior isoprene emissions over North America, amounting to about 34 Tg C/yr, are estimated to be on average by 25% lower than the a priori over 2003–2006, whereas a strong increase (55%) is deduced over the south African continent, the optimized emission being estimated at 57 Tg C/yr. Over Indonesia the biogenic emissions appear to be overestimated by 20–30%, whereas over Indochina and the Amazon basin during the wet season the a priori inventory captures both the seasonality and the magnitude of the observed columns. Although neither biomass burning inventory seems to be consistent with the data over all regions, pyrogenic estimates inferred from the two inversions are reasonably similar, despite their a priori deviations. A number of sensitivity experiments are conducted in order to assess the impact of uncertainties related to the inversion setup and the chemical mechanism. Whereas changes in the background error covariance matrix have only a limited impact on the posterior fluxes, the use of an alternative isoprene mechanism characterized by lower HCHO yields (the GEOS-Chem mechanism) increases the posterior isoprene source estimate by 11% over northern America, and by up to 40% in tropical regions.


Event synopsis: At present International Human Resource Management constitutes the clearly defined discipline from an Academic, Pedagogy and Practice perspective. It has already reached its maturity and deserves to take a critical look at its bases and achievements. We also believe that it is the right time to discuss possible areas of IHRM development.

IHRM is under an increasing influence of modern information technology and globalization processes, which may be perceived as invariable factors affecting it. At the same time, IHRM is determined by the consequences of the crisis on the financial markets reflected in the global economy, and also in the work environment. This entails a question about the relevance of the contemporary paradigms in human resources management on the international markets and their adequacy in explaining problems that arise.

One of the characteristic features of IHRM in the flattening world is the uncertainty associated with: the above mentioned doubts regarding the management paradigms in the emerging post-crisis world, the risk assigned to each of the HRM stakeholders, the imitativeness and innovativeness of the HRM strategies and methods, the clash of the approaches to diversified HR issues from the perspective of the centers and periphery of the world economy, and the changes of the values systems amid the young generation.

The paradigm and context of IHRM shows that there are a number of challenges for the theory and practice of IHRM, which constitute an interesting area of research and academic discussion. Several areas and issues can be listed here: strategic IHRM, cultural perspective of IHRM, international assignments and expatriate management, HRM in cross-border strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, career�s management from national and global perspective, talent management, leadership development, diversity management, ethics and corporate social responsibility in multinational environment.

The main intention of the 13th IHRM Conference organizers is to create an opportunity to exchange views on the issues indicated above and other related to them. Another aim of the conference is to answer the question whether the researchers, academic teachers are ready to take up the above mentioned challenges and act as those who would further IHRM development as an academic discipline and improve its practical issues.


The social and environmental implications of plantations in the CDM are analysed under a hypothetical laissez faire approach and a proactive approach to Sustainable Development (SD), bounded by existing COP7 agreements and efficiency and equity considerations. Implications for timber rich, timber depleted and inherently timber poor regions are assessed. The social risks of industrial plantations cannot be fully addressed under COP7 rules and are likely to be highest in timber rich regions under repressive regimes or where politics dominate the forestry sector. Risks could, however, be reduced through minimum standards for stakeholder consultation and favourable legal institutions. Low cost opportunities with multiple benefits exist and require information dissemination, but some opportunities for biodiversity benefits will need financial support. Reduction of transaction costs would increase the participation of smallholder plantations but their role is likely to remain limited. Inclusion of assisted natural regeneration opens up opportunities for options with multiple benefits.


These volumes are collections of the Nobel Lectures delivered by the prizewinners, together with their biographies, portraits and the presentation speeches for the period 1971 – 1990. Each Nobel Lecture is based on the work that won the laureate his prize. New biographical data of the laureates, since they were awarded the Nobel Prize, are also included. These volumes of inspiring lectures by outstanding physicists should be on the bookshelf of every keen student, teacher and professor of physics as well as those in related fields.Below is a list of the prizewinners during the period 1971–1980 with a description of the works which won them their prizes: (1971) D GABOR — for his invention and development of the holographic method; (1972) J BARDEEN, L N COOPER & J R SCHRIEFFER — for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory; (1973) L ESAKI & I GIAEVER — for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively; B D JOSEPHSON — for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects; (1974) M RYLE & A HEWISH — for their pioneering research in radio astrophysics: Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars; (1975) A BOHR, B MOTTELSON & J RAINWATER — for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection; (1976) B RICHTER & S C C TING — for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind; (1977) P W ANDERSON, N F MOTT & J H VAN VLECK — for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems; (1978) P L KAPITSA — for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics; A A PENZIAS & R W WILSON — for their discoveries of cosmic microwave background radiation; (1979) S L GLASHOW, A SALAM & S WEINBERG — for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including inter alia the prediction of the weak neutral current; (1980) J W CRONIN & V L FITCH — for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons.


The financial crisis that started in 2008 led to issues of corporate financial distress and bankruptcy. The global financial crisis has resulted in many venerable institutions being rescued by the government. There is an ongoing research debate in law and economic theories about the efficiency of the US bankruptcy code (Senbet and Wang, 2012; Jory and Madura, 2010; Zhang, 2010; Faelten and Vitkova, 2014). Due to the global financial crisis, there is a fundamental issue questioning whether the bankruptcy law (e.g., Chapters 11 and 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code) is efficient in rehabilitating economically efficient but financially distressed firms and liquidating economically inefficient firms (Senbet and Wang, 2012). Mergers and acquisition (hereafter M&A) involving financially distressed targets and bankrupt targets have become a common practise in the US. Theoretically, restructuring is meant to be a way of reorganizing operations and generating extra resources. However, due to the complexity of businesses and recent global financial crises, there is inconsistency in the association of rewards for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and management with the firm's performance.
This thesis explores the issues about corporate restructuring, performance and governance of firms including banks in the US emanated from the economic crisis. It comprises three empirical pieces of research. The first empirical research is on the wealth creation of bidders and of MA taking into consideration the importance and crucial and urgency in the research related areas, such as the pay structure of the top management, and the existence of the internal monitoring. Institutional ownership plays an important role in corporate performance of firms particularly to banks in the US.
First, we examine the wealth effects of M&A activities involving financially constrained targets (hereafter FCTs). By interrogating the wealth creation of bidders of these target firms, this study extends the analysis on the relationship between the discount on deal value, and the financial health of bidder firms. Based on sample data between 1985 and 2012, the study finds that bidders of FCTs earn abnormally positive cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) the day of the M&A announcement. This contrasts with the findings of negative to zero CARs accruing to bidders of financially healthy targets, as documented in the literature. The bidder firms benefit from a low M&A premium on these deals. However, in the long run, both their stock and operating performance lag those of bidders of healthy targets.
Second, we examine the earnings management (hereafter EM) behaviour of firms engaged in corporate reorganization and restructuring. More specifically, our sample includes carve-outs, spin-offs, asset sell-offs, and divestitures. We follow Anagnostopoulou and Tsekrekos (2015) and Cohen and Zarowin (2010) to calculate the EM variables. This is so especially the accrual-based and real EM variables. To measure firm performance, we use industry-adjusted return on assets (ROA), cumulative abnormal returns (CARs), and Buy-and-Hold Abnormal Return (BHARs). We use the standard deviation of monthly stock returns (SDAR), as the proxy to measure the stock volatility and information asymmetry. We document a direct relationship between firms that manage earnings above the industry-year median EM index, and changes in the ROA, CARs, and BHARs. Conversely, firms that manage their earnings EM are associated with lower standard deviations in the firms' stock returns for carve-outs.
Finally, we examine the relationship between the CEO's pay (CPS) and each of the bank's efficiency and risk. We use several measures of CEO pay including the ratio of CEO pay-to-the total pay of the top five managers. The ratio of CEO pay to the total pay of executives who also serve on the firm's board. We use the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to measure bank efficiency. To measure firm risk, we compute the Z-Score and standard deviation of daily and annual returns. We document an inverse relationship between CEO pay ratio and bank efficiency. Conversely, high pay disparity is associated with lower insolvency risk, lower Z-scores, and lower standard deviations in the banks' stock returns.


This evidence-based clinical practice guideline provides recommendations to primary care clinicians for the management of children from 2 months through 12 years of age with uncomplicated acute otitis media (AOM). The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians convened a committee composed of primary care physicians and experts in the fields of otolaryngology, epidemiology, and infectious disease. The subcommittee partnered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Southern California Evidence-Based Practice Center to develop a comprehensive review of the evidence-based literature related to AOM. The resulting evidence report and other sources of data were used to formulate the practice guideline recommendations. The focus of this practice guideline is the appropriate diagnosis and initial treatment of a child presenting with AOM. The guideline provides a specific definition of AOM. It addresses pain management, initial observation versus antibacterial treatment, appropriate choices of antibacterials, and preventive measures. Decisions were made based on a systematic grading of the quality of evidence and strength of recommendations, as well as expert consensus when definitive data were not available. The practice guideline underwent comprehensive peer review before formal approval by the partnering organizations. This clinical practice guideline is not intended as a sole source of guidance in the management of children with AOM. Rather, it is intended to assist primary care clinicians by providing a framework for clinical decisionmaking. It is not intended to replace clinical judgment or establish a protocol for all children with this condition. These recommendations may not provide the only appropriate approach to the management of this problem. ABBREVIATIONS. AOM, acute otitis media; OME, otitis media with effusion; AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics; AAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians; AHRQ, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; MEE, middle-ear effusion; CAM, complementary and alternative medicine. Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common infection for which antibacterial agents are prescribed for children in the United States. As such, the diagnosis and management of AOM has a significant impact on the health of children, cost of providing care, and overall use of antibacterial agents. The illness also generates a significant social burden and indirect cost due to time lost from school and work. The estimated direct cost of AOM was $1.96 billion in 1995. In addition, the indirect cost was estimated to be $1.02 billion.1 During 1990 there were almost 25 million visits made to office-based physicians in the United States for otitis media, with 809 antibacterial prescriptions per 1000 visits, for a total of more than 20 million prescriptions for otitis media–related antibacterials. Although the total number of office visits for otitis media decreased to 16 million in 2000, the rate of antibacterial prescribing was approximately the same (802 antibacterial prescriptions per 1000 visits for a total of more than 13 million prescriptions).2–4 An individual course of antibacterial therapy can range in cost from $10 to more than $100. There has been much discussion recently as to the necessity for the use of antibacterial agents at the time of diagnosis in children with uncomplicated AOM. Although in the United States the use of antibacterial agents in the management of AOM has been routine, in some countries in Europe it is common practice to treat the symptoms of AOM initially and only institute antibacterial therapy if clinical improvement does not occur. For the clinician, the choice of a specific antibacterial agent has become a key aspect of management. Concerns about the rising rates of antibacterial resistance and the growing costs of antibacterial prescriptions have focused the attention of the medical community and the general public on the need for judicious use of antibacterial agents. Greater resistance among many of the pathogens that cause AOM has fueled an increase in the use of broader-spectrum and generally more expensive antibacterial agents. It is the intent of this guideline to evaluate the published evidence on the natural history and management of uncomplicated AOM and to make recommendations based on that evidence to primary care clinicians including pediatricians, family physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and emergency department physicians as well as otolaryngologists. The scope of the guideline is the diagnosis and management of uncomplicated AOM in children from 2 months through 12 years of age without signs or symptoms of systemic illness unreThe recommendations in this guideline do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate. PEDIATRICS (ISSN 0031 4005). Copyright © 2004 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 5 May 2004 1451 by guest on September 14, 2021 www.aappublications.org/news Downloaded from lated to the middle ear. It applies only to the otherwise healthy child without underlying conditions that may alter the natural course of AOM. These conditions include, but are not limited to, anatomic abnormalities such as cleft palate, genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, immunodeficiencies, and the presence of cochlear implants. Also excluded are children with a clinical recurrence of AOM within 30 days or AOM with underlying chronic otitis media with effusion (OME).


I analyzed regurgitated pellets, prey remains, and video recordings to describe Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) diet in two grasslands in New Mexico, USA, the Estancia Valley and the Plains of San Agustin, that differed in anthropogenic alteration. Video monitoring revealed Ferruginous Hawks provisioned nestlings with more biomass than pellet analysis estimates from the same nests. Three mammalian prey species, Botta's pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae), Gunnison's prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni), and desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), contributed similar proportions to Ferruginous Hawk diet in percent biomass while Botta's pocket gopher dominated diet in percent frequency. Ferruginous Hawks breeding in the anthropogenically-altered Estancia Valley consumed more Gunnison's prairie dogs than Ferruginous Hawks in the rural Plains of San Agustin, regardless of calculative method, while Ferruginous Hawks in the Plains of San Agustin consumed more desert cottontails. From 1998-2005, Ferruginous Hawks in the Estancia Valley produced significantly more fledglings per nesting attempt than Ferruginous Hawks in the Plains of San Agustin. This indicated that the persistence of colonial mammals like Gunnison's prairie dogs, which offer minimal


Farming activities can be assumed to be one of several driving forces which lead to continuous deterioration processes of tree and bush savannahs in the Kavango Region of northeastern Namibia. However, these farming activities can be assumed to be closely connected with securing subsistence needs of peasant farmers. In this context, the present study aims to a) empirically identify objectives of peasant farmers, b) quantify their most prevailing and other possible on-farm and off-farm activities, c) identify optimal farming strategies under important system constraints and their impacts on environmental and socioeconomic aspects and d) identify policyinduced changes to the previously identified optimal farming strategies. Results of this study are intended to a) serve as a solution point for similar problems in related ecological or economic systems and b) be relevant for policy makers to investigate policy impacts on peasant farming strategies.
Chapter 2 addresses some major challenges of the Namibian economy. In particular, the agricultural sector and the peasant farming system of the Kavango Region are described. In this environment, agricultural activities are predominantly subsistenceoriented and embedded in a semi-commercial system of imperfect markets. The prevailing farmingsystem comprises of three major elements: a) crop production, b) livestock production and c) natural resource production. By a varying degree, all elements contribute to food security, cash income or domestic usage patterns. Hence, an important internal driving force which causes (over)usage or depletion of natural resources is the obligation to secure substantial living needs. This aspect is further discussed by giving an outline of a) environmental and socioeconomic threats as well as b) possible coping strategies.
Chapter 3 illustrates the theoretical background of the present study by discussing two different methodological approaches. Peasant farmers in the research area can be as-sumed to be both producers and consumers. This aspect determines the first considered methodological approach. Several concepts of farm household (FHH) models reflect non-separability under specific assumptions and imply certain benefits and limitations. This study uses a FHH model which is primary based on Barnum and Squire. However, it is supplemented by features from Chayanov and Low. Economic farm activities are influenced by the natural resource base and vice versa. This aspect determines the second considered methodological approach. In order to reflect economic and environmental dynam-ics, bio-economic models (BEM) are wellknown tools. Hence, important facets of BEMs and their applications to various research tasks and areas are briefly outlined. This study develops a multiannual programming optimisation model (MAPOM) which is based on theories of FHHs and BEMs. MAPOM represents a typical village with two non-separable and non-interacting gender-specific FHH categories and includes some bio-physical features. Both FHH categories are equally equipped with several farm assets but follow different objectives.
Utility is maximised for both FHH categories by consuming several goods and services which are generated by participating in different farm and off-farm activities. One major constraint which needs to be respected is food security. Biophysical dynamics are addressed by a) including rainfall in all on-farm production functions, b) updating the resource base each year and c) calculating a 'native biomass loss' index for each farming element.
Chapter 4 consists of two parts which describe the data base of MAPOM. Primary data is predominantly obtained by a case study on farming systems (CSFS). Outcomes of the CSFS build the basis of all relevant parameter calculation processes (e.g. static input-output relationships). Moreover, a review of region-specific publications is supplemented to validate calculation outcomes and to fill data gaps. In a second part, this chapter de-picts the methodological approach of a traditional conjoint analysis (TCA). This method is used to identify objectives of peasant farmers. A brief outline of the research design is specified after a description of the theoretical foundation of TCAs and their applications in developing countries. Results of this analysis generated weighting factors for the arguments of the objective function used in MAPOM. Since these results showed some gender specifications, MAPOM distinguishes in this point between female and male-headed FHH.
Chapter 5 presents the model framework and the mathematical model formulations. Generally, it embeds the previously determined static input-output combinations in dy-namic ecological and economic relationships, in terms of equations. These equations are specified for each farming element and off-farm activity in MAPOM. Moreover, the most important consumption patterns are outlined along with production functions. As an example, equations are specified for cattle dynamics, annual growth of native biomass and population dynamics. Linkages of the different farming system elements become apparent in exchange relationships specifically between livestock and crop production. In addition, attention is paid to the description of system-related constraints. They are imple-mented in MAPOM to mirror the prevailing conditions in the research area. A final section presents the development of the objective function.
Chapter 6 illustrates the results of four different scenarios simulated by MAPOM. In general, all different farming elements and off-farm activities are represented to a varying
degree in the optimal solution of the baseline scenario. Cattle production plays a minor role in optimal farming strategies. Results indicate that land and labour are limiting fac-tors. A trade-off between food security and native biomass conservation is apparent. To some degree, native biomass could be potentially conserved without tremendously threat-ening food security. Scenario 2 involves a modification of the cattlekeeping element in the objective function. Then, cattle production is slightly intensified at the costs of crop production activities. Simultaneously, overcompensations of nutrition requirements and potentials of native biomass conservation are reduced. Scenario 3 addresses the enforcement of a fee system for natural resources usage and considers an increased land endowment. Impacts of these changes on optimal farming strategies are rather small. However, in some cases farmers use even more land for cultivation, instead of conserving native natural resources. In a final scenario, weighting factors in the objective function are modified. Generally, average weighting factors (over both genders) are suitable to reflect optimal farming strategies of both genders to some degree. Contrarily, equal weighting factors underestimate or overestimate optimal production levels. Hence, they do not reflect actual native biomass destruction potentials. Results of all scenarios indicated that FHHs are highly attracted to labour-saving technologies or activities which demand little labour. Hence, family labour is one of the most prominent limiting factors. This factor might, however, be threatened in the future by several socioeconomic developments. Therefore, it seems to be of high relevance to promote labour-saving devices for the different farming activities of peasant farmers in the research area.


We show that the strongly spin-orbit coupled materials Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 and their derivatives belong to the Z2 topological-insulator class. Using a combination of first-principles theoretical calculations and photoemission spectroscopy, we directly show that Bi2Te3 is a large spin-orbit-induced indirect bulk band gap (delta approximately 150 meV) semiconductor whose surface is characterized by a single topological spin-Dirac cone. The electronic structure of self-doped Sb2Te3 exhibits similar Z2 topological properties. We demonstrate that the dynamics of spin-Dirac fermions can be controlled through systematic Mn doping, making these materials classes potentially suitable for topological device applications.


Introduction: Twin and higher-order multiple pregnancies are becoming increasingly common in obstetric practice and are associated with significant morbidity for both mothers and fetuses. A study of this type had not been carried out in the Dubai Health Authority area, or in the UAE. Therefore data from studies such as this can provide important insights for obstetricians in this region. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of multiple pregnancy in a Dubai hospital in 2012 and to analyse the adverse maternal, perinatal and neonatal outcomes associated with these pregnancies. Methods: This is a retrospective study involving all multiple pregnancies delivered at Dubai Hospital, Dubai, between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012. All multiple pregnancies at or beyond 24 weeks of gestation delivered at Dubai Hospital during the study period were included. Data for patients with multiple pregnancy and their babies were obtained from the maternity register in Dubai Hospital's labour ward and antenatal files after obtaining ethics approval from the Dubai Health Authority's Medical Research Committee. We used Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) to organise the data collected from patient medical records. Excel was also used for statistical analysis and presentation of data in tabular and graphical form. Results: In total, there were 106 multiple pregnancies over the period – 97 twin and nine triplet pregnancies – giving a multiple birth rate of 64.3/1000 live births. This is higher than any other documented multiple birth rate in the world. The mean maternal age was 30.5 ± 5.3 years (standard deviation). The most common morbidity in these multiple pregnancies was prematurity (72.6%), as expected, followed by maternal diabetes mellitus (22.6%). However, excluding premature delivery, almost 60% of mothers had no associated morbidities. Half of the multiple pregnancies were spontaneous conceptions, and half were the result of infertility treatments such as ovulation induction. Around one-third (30%) were conceived by in vitro fertilisation procedures, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection. As expected, triplets were delivered more prematurely than twins: the mean gestational age at delivery was 34.3 ± 3.7 weeks for twins and 31.0 ± 3.5 weeks for triplets. Around three-quarters (72.6%) of deliveries were by caesarean section, with the main indication (32.1%) being maternal request, 25.5% were delivered vaginally, 0.9% were delivered instrumentally and 0.9% were delivered vaginally (fi rst twin) and by caesarean section (second twin). Most of the newborns (58.4%) were of low birth weight. The vast majority (93.2%) had a 5-min Apgar score of ≥7, but the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit admission rate was around 38%, with triplets more likely to be admitted than twins (76.9% of all triplets vs. 33.3% of all twins). Overall, the results suggest a multiple pregnancy prevalence rate much higher than that of other developed countries, such as the USA, and even higher than that of Nigeria, which currently has the highest twin birth rate in the world. Conclusion: The increasing burden of multiple pregnancy in the United Arab Emirates may be attributable to the increasing availability and affordability of assisted reproductive technologies. Multiple pregnancy is associated with greater risks to both mothers and foetuses than singleton pregnancy, which warrants greater awareness of associated complications.


Abstract. Ice crystals, also known as diamond dust, are suspended in the boundary layer air under clear sky conditions during most of the Arctic winter in Northern Canada. Occasionally ice crystal events can produce significantly thick layers with optical depths in excess of 2.0 even in the absence of liquid water clouds. Four case studies of high optical depth ice crystal events at Eureka in the Nunavut Territory of Canada during the winter of 2006/07 are presented. They show that the measured ice crystal surface infrared downward radiative forcing ranged from 8 to 36 W m −2 in the wavelength band from 5.6 to 20 μm for 532 nm optical depths ranging from 0.2 to 1.7. MODIS infrared and visible images and the operational radiosonde wind profile were used to show that these high optical depth events were caused by surface snow being blown off 600 to 800 m high mountain ridges about 20 to 30 km North-West of Eureka and advected by the winds towards Eureka as they settled towards the ground within the highly stable boundary layer. This work presents the first study that demonstrates the important role that surrounding topography plays in determining the occurrence of high optical depth ice crystal events from residual blowing snow that becomes a source of boundary layer ice crystals distinct from the classical diamond dust phenomenon.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The importance of LMF in the outcome after acute ischemic stroke is increasingly recognized, but imaging presents a wide range of options for identification of collaterals and there is no single system for grading collateral flow. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the available methods for measuring LMF adequacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a systematic review of Ovid, MEDLINE, and Embase databases for studies in which flow in the leptomeningeal collateral vessels was evaluated. Imaging technique, grading scale, and reliability assessment for collateral flow measurement were recorded. RESULTS: We found 81 publications describing 63 methods for grading collateral flow on the basis of conventional angiography (n = 41), CT (n = 7), MR imaging (n = 9), and transcranial Doppler (n = 6). Inter- and/or intraobserver agreement was assessed in only 8 publications. CONCLUSIONS: There is inconsistency in how LMF is graded, with a variety of grading scales and imaging modalities being used. Consistency in evaluating collateral flow at baseline is required for the impact of collateral flow to be fully appreciated.


This paper investigates the kind of sign making that goes on in text-based human–computer interaction, between human users and chatbots, from the point of view of integrational linguistics. A chatbot serves as a "conversational" user interface, allowing users to control computer programs in "natural language". From the user's perspective, the interaction is a case of semiologically integrated activity, but even if the textual traces of a chat may look like a written conversation between two humans the correspondence is not one-to-one. It is argued that chatbots cannot engage in communication processes, although they may display communicative behaviour. They presuppose a (second-order) language model, they can only communicate at the level of sentences, not utterances, and they implement communicational sequels by selecting from an inventory of executable skills. Instead of seeing them as interlocutors in silico, chatbots should be seen as powerful devices for humans to make signs with.


Abstract The Rufous Twistwing (Cnipodectes superrufus), a newly described Amazonian tyrant-flycatcher, is known from five specimens and five localities in Cuzco and western Madre de Dios departments, Peru. We report three additional specimens and eight new localities extending the known range of the species east across Dpto. Madre de Dios, Peru, into Dpto. Pando, Bolivia, and Acre State, Brazil. The new localities increase the distribution from ∼3,400 to ∼89,000 km2. We collected biometric data from five individuals, made behavioral observations in the field, and recorded three separate types of vocalizations, two of which (including the song) were previously unknown. We provide quantitative description of these vocalizations, consider their function, and compare them with vocalizations of the only known congener, the Brownish Twistwing (Cnipodectes subbrunneus). Unique vocal repertoires support the classification of these two forms as sister species. The Rufous Twistwing resembles the Brownish Twistwing in producing loud vocalizations from regular song posts and both species appear to have a polygamous mating system. We provide further evidence consistent with the hypothesis the Rufous Twistwing is a Guadua bamboo specialist and recommend that it be listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.


Decentralized control of multi-agent aerial transportation systems Noureddine Toumi Autonomous aerial transportation has multiple potential applications including emergency cases and rescue missions where ground intervention may be difficult. In this context, the following work will address the control of multi-agent Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft (VTOL) transportation system. We develop a decentralized method. The advantage of such a solution is that it can provide better maneuverability and lifting capabilities compared to existing systems. First, we consider a cooperative group of VTOLs transporting one payload. The main idea is that each agent perceive the interaction with other agents as a disturbance while assuming a negotiated motion model and imposing certain magnitude bounds on each agent. The theoretical model will be then validated using a numerical simulation illustrating the interesting features of the presented control method. Results show that under specified disturbances, the algorithm is able to guarantee the tracking with a minimal error. We describe a toolbox that has been developed for this purpose. Then, a system of multiple VTOLs lifting payloads will be studied. The algorithm assures that the VTOLs are coordinated with minimal communication. Additionally, a novel gripper design for ferrous objects is presented that enables the transportation of ferrous objects without a cable. Finally, we discuss potential connections to human in the loop transportation systems.


This internet resource aims to introduce the world-wide scientific (and not only scientific) community to the biological diversity of Georgia (and, to certain extent, the Caucasus ecoregion).

The resource includes the lists of the species from different taxonomic groups ever recorded in

terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of Georgia, arranged in the taxonomic hierarchical system, the position of Georgian plants and animals concerning the evolutionary tree, and basic information on the individual species and higher-order taxa, including verbal descriptions of key ecological features and range, systematic remarks, bibliographies, images, and distribution maps. Of course, completing the information for thousands of species is a long-term task, and even a permanent one - taking into account eminent process of the gaining new information, nomenclatural changes, or just appearance of people interested in one or another taxonomic group. For the most of the species, only checklist-type information is provided at the moment. Some groups are covered better then the others - e.g. reptiles and amphibians, orchids, or carabid beetles - thanks to the team members with a professional interest to these groups.

The website is a part of a long term project developing the database on the Georgian Biodiversity executed by the Center of Biodiversity Studies of the Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

In the year 2005, it was Financed by the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science, and in 2007 the development of the site was additionally supported by Georgian Biodiversity Program sponsored by BP. Currently, the development of the site is supported by Pan-European Species Inventories Project (PESI).

We expect a visitor to understand that the website is a permanently developing internet resource and not to be too severe for lack of information for many species and higher-order taxa, or inconveniencies in the taxonomy which, for the most of the groups of plants, invertebrates, and fish is just copied from the available checklists (the references are given on the respective pages).
Our team is mostly comprised by the research students, although includes experienced biologists as well; contributions from outside are highly welcome.

All contributors are indicated in the bottom of the corresponding page.
Copyright on the photographic pictures belong to the authors indicated below the picture.


Who exactly are China's new rich? This pioneering investigation introduces readers to the private lives-and the nightlives-of the powerful entrepreneurs and managers redefining success and status in the city of Chengdu. Over the course of more than three years, anthropologist John Osburg accompanied, and in some instances assisted, wealthy Chinese businessmen as they courted clients, partners, and government officials. Drawing on his immersive experiences, Osburg invites readers to join him as he journeys through the new, highly gendered entertainment sites for Chinese businessmen, including karaoke clubs, saunas, and massage parlors-places specifically designed to cater to the desires and enjoyment of elite men. Within these spaces, a masculinization of business is taking place. Osburg details the complex code of behavior that governs businessmen as they go about banqueting, drinking, gambling, bribing, exchanging gifts, and obtaining sexual services. These intricate social networks play a key role in generating business, performing social status, and reconfiguring gender roles. But many entrepreneurs feel trapped by their obligations and moral compromises in this evolving environment. Ultimately, Osburg examines their deep ambivalence about China's future and their own complicity in the major issues of post-Mao Chinese society-corruption, inequality, materialism, and loss of trust.


We provide empirical evidence that risk sharing enhances specialization in production. To the best of our knowledge, this well-established and important theoretical proposition has not been tested before. Our empirical procedure is summarized as follows. First, we construct a measure of specialization in production, and calculate an index of specialization for each of the European Community (EC) and non-EC OECD countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces, Japanese prefectures, Latin American countries, and regions of Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Then, we estimate the degree of capital market integration (a measure of risk sharing) within each of these groups of regions: the EC countries, the non-EC OECD countries, the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom (and rely on another author's estimate for Latin America). Finally, we perform a regression of the specialization index on the degree of risk sharing, controlling for relevant economic variables. We find a positive and significant relation between the degree of specialization of individual members of a group of countries, provinces, states, or prefectures, and the amount of risk that is shared within the group. We perform regressions using variables such as shareholder rights and the size of the financial sector (relative to GDP) as instruments for the amount of inter-regional risk sharing. These regressions confirm that risk sharing--facilitated by a favorable legal environment and a developed financial system--is a direct causal determinant of industrial specialization.


In today's business environment, manufacturers need to manage their enterprises as an
inseparable part of a supply chain. Key to achieving this is the creation of an extended
and integrated information system.
In an attempt to find out what needs to be done to improve current supply chain
methods and tools, the current research project 1) reviewed the literature to establish
current approaches to Supply Chain Management (SCM); 2) identified what tools and
methods are available; 3) categorised the current approaches to supply chain
management and established a current practice SCM model; 4) identified the
requirements for improved SCM; 5) produced an outline requirements specification for
improved SCM.
The research has made a number of contributions to knowledge. A literature survey on
the subject of what SCM involves and what a SCM system is was carried out and was
followed by the conclusions that existing software systems have not been classified and
tested against the criteria of a true SCM system. A survey of existing SCM software
solutions provided data for an analysis of what typical SCM applications include and
concluded that a comprehensive SCM solution currently does not exist. That
conclusion was verified by a survey based on SCM expert interviews. Three case
studies were carried out that looked into different parts of the supply chain and
demonstrated the significance of advanced SCM functionality for each one of them.
The case studies also involved the design and implementation of a supply chain
mapping tool and a supplier relationship management tool. Finally, a conceptual
specification of an improved SCM system was developed.
The research will be of interest to practitioners in the area of SCM that are looking for
ideas to improve SCM procedures and namely, are looking into implementing or
developing an already existing software system for SCM. It also suggests ideas for
further research, which may be of interest to research students who are interested in the
area of SCM.


Summary
1The nutrient supply network model of the metabolic theory of ecology predicts that metabolic rate scales as mass0·75 at all hierarchical levels.
2An alternative, cell size, model suggests that the scaling of metabolic rate is a by-product of the way in which body size changes, by cell size or number, or some combination thereof. It predicts a scaling exponent of mass0·75 at the widest interspecific level, but values of mass0·67−1·0 for lower taxonomic groups or within species.
3Here these predictions are tested in insects using 391 species for the interspecific analysis, and the size-polymorphic workers of eight ant species at the intraspecific level. In the latter, the contribution of ommatidium size and number to variation in body length, which is closely related to eye size, is used to assess the relative contributions of changes in cell size and number to variation in body size.
4Before controlling for phylogeny, metabolic rate scaled interspecifically as mass0·82. Following phylogenetic correction, metabolic rate scaled as mass0·75.
5By contrast, the intraspecific scaling exponents varied from 0·67 to 1·0. Moreover, in the species where metabolic rate scaled as mass1·0, cell size did not contribute significantly to models of body size variation, only cell number was significant. Where the scaling exponent was < 1·0, cell size played an increasingly important role in accounting for size variation.
6Data for one of the largest groups of organisms on earth are therefore inconsistent with the nutrient supply network model, but provide support for the cell size alternative.