Changes in tissue elasticity are related to diffuse disease processes of living soft tissue. The goal of this study is to characterize tissue elasticity based on ultrasonic measurement of displacement and strain when the primary cardiac pulsation or the external mechanical force is applied to the soft tissue. A model is presented for the changes in tissue elasticity as a change of internal strain tensor, which results in variation in the Young's or shear modulus of elasticity. Measurements are performed using real-time ultra-sound and the sequences of RF echo signal returned from tissue are digitized to estimate local tissue displacement. In this paper the 2-dimensional distribution of internal displacement is estimated using the spatio-temporal derivative of RF echo envelope signals, from which components of internal strain tensor are computed. Experiments on tissue mimicking phantoms indicate that 2-dimensional fields of components of strain tensor can be estimated with the spatial resolution of 8 mm/spl times/8 mm. The distribution of the relative shear modulus based on strain images is reconstructed. In experiments with living soft tissue, such as liver in vivo, the relative shear modulus is large in less elastic regions. The elasticity of soft tissue can be characterized as the relative shear modulus computed from the local strain tensor observed in the received RF echo signals.


ABSTRACTWorkers from specific occupational settings may be exposed to high fungal bioaerosol concentrations, causing detrimental health effects. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the characteristics and health effects of fungal bioaerosols present on agricultural farms. By using IOM inhalable dust samplers, personal and area samples of airborne fungi were collected from five agricultural farms—two mushroom and three vegetable farms. A standardized questionnaire and spirometry were used to evaluate workers' health. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to examine the distributions of fungal and environmental factors among the different farms, and regression analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of personal bioaerosol exposure on workers' health. In the personal samples, the geometric mean concentrations ranged from 4.3 × 103 to 3.0 × 104 CFU m–3 for total culturable fungi and from 4.2 × 103 to 1.2 × 105 spores m–3 for total fungal spores. The total fungal spore concentrations differed significantly among the personal samples (p = 0.026), but not among the area samples, from the five farms. The culturable fungal concentrations among the five farms did not differ significantly in the personal or area samples. Decreased lung functions of the workers were significantly associated with the concentrations of total fungi and several fungal taxa such as Ascospores, Fusarium, and Periconia. This study demonstrated that exposure to high fungal bioaerosol concentrations reduced the lung functions of the mushroom and vegetable farm workers. Superior ventilation and appropriate personal protection equipment are required to reduce occupational biohazards.


This idea of sex without the possibility of conception has been used by the judiciary over the last 140 years to characterize homosexuality as a 'perversion', 'despicable specimen of humanity', 'abhorrent crime', 'result of a perverse mind' and 'abhorred by civilized society'. With the judgment of Delhi High Court , there can be expected a change in the situation both at the social and legal platform. However the same has been countered by religious groups. Although rights may be granted legally, they cannot be enforced unless there is a favourable social climate. With this, several concerns and controversies have been raised at the same time. The nation stands divided on the point. Other than the issue of enforceability, another major concern or more precisely "confusion" is regarding the legal consequences of this judgement; since it only "decriminalizes" the section 377 and has not legalized it yet. The focus of authors in this article would be mainly on the Right of Indian homosexuals to have surrogate children in the light of this recent Delhi HC judgment . India serves innumerable single and same-sex intended parents who wish to have a child through surrogacy. With our experience, we find that single and same-sex parents are a lot aware of their rights, much more than what a heterosexual intended parent usually does. Now, India has opened itself with welcoming hands for embracing this world of homosexuality. The gay community can now proudly come forward to announce themselves as what they are. Now at least, it is not criminal to be what they are.


The concept of corporate governance has come under intense public scrutiny in recent years. Business people everywhere are asking: What exactly does 'good' corporate governance entail? Which aspects of it are legally binding, and in what ways is it merely a set of expectations on how corporations should be organized ideally? Nowhere are these important questions answered more precisely - nowhere are the lines more clearly drawn - than in the insightful synthesis of statutory law, case law, and organizational theory presented in this book. Recognizing that the concept of 'good' corporate governance is not dramatically different from one jurisdiction to another but represents an international phenomenon that has to a reasonable extent the same characteristics everywhere, the author proceeds, with detailed analysis, through a series of issues that (he shows) make up the brunt of corporate governance. Each of these issues in turn gives rise to such specific problem areas as the following: * board compensation and executive compensation; * unitary and dual board structures; * monitoring management; * legal parameters of 'mismanagement'; * the 'supervisory gap'; * audit, selection and appointment and remuneration committees; * director tenure and retirement policy; * risk management and risk reporting; * corporate safety culture; * conflicts of interest; * whistleblower arrangements; * aims of the regulation of public takeover bids; and * defensive tactics in case of a hostile public takeover bid. These problems - and many others - are examined in the light of corporate governance codes and guidelines and of reports and judgments that deal with specific instances where investigators or courts were asked to analyze corporate governance issues in concrete cases. Each of the ten chapters includes in-depth analysis of such cases. A special feature of the book is a set of model corporate governance guidelines based on US corporate practice. Corporate Governance as a Limited Legal Concept is remarkable for its very thorough characterization and definition of corporate governance as a legal concept, as a code of conduct, and as an organizational structure. The author's clearly reasoned analysis of the legal limits of corporate governance will be of great interest and practical value to business people and their counsel in any jurisdiction.


Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and degenerative disease of the central nervous system of unknown aetiology. It is the commonest cause of chronic neurological disability in young people. The disease is more common in those of Northern European origin and the highest prevalence rates in the world have been recorded in the North of Scotland. However, there has been no prevalence study in this area since 1983. Aims We undertook a new prevalence study of MS in Aberdeen City, and the Orkney and Shetland islands to: calculate age-gender specific prevalence rates; compare variations in age-gender standardised prevalence rates between areas and over time; calculate prevalence rates by MS sub-type, diagnostic criteria and to gather information on disability status. Methods We used GP-practice records, hospital records and laboratory data for case ascertainment of patients alive and resident in the study area on prevalence day (24 September 2009), verified their diagnoses by reviewing medical records and included participants according to the research diagnostic criteria of Poser, McDonald 2001 and McDonald 2005. Information on disability was gathered from medical records and patient questionnaires. Prevalence rates and CIs were calculated assuming a Poisson distribution and standardised against the Scottish population (30 June 2009). Results We found 590 patients in the combined study area (Aberdeen 442, Orkney 82, Shetland 66). Mean age was 52 years (SD ±13), and the age-standardised male to female ratio was 1:2 (95% CI 1.6 to 2.1). The standardised prevalence rate for the combined study area was 257 per 100 000 (95% CI 236 to 277), in Aberdeen City 237 per 100 000 (95% CI 214 to 257), in Orkney 421 per 100 000 (95% CI 329 to 512) and in Shetland 305 per 100 000 (95% CI 231 to 379). There were significant differences between Orkney and the other areas, and significant differences in the prevalence rates over time in Orkney and Shetland, but not for Aberdeen City. A relapse-remitting disease pattern was recorded in 50% of participants and 45% of patients had significant disability levels. Conclusion The prevalence of MS has increased in the North of Scotland over the last 30 years, which may reflect methodological differences in studies over time, improved diagnostic methods, or a true increase in prevalence due to improved survival, higher incidence rates or as a result of migration. Currently Orkney has the highest MS prevalence rate in the world. New disability data could be used to plan health services in these communities.


Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a growing challenge because of the ever- increasing number of drugs used in medical care. DILI is rare but can be serious and is largely unpredictable. It is an important cause of mortality and liver transplantation, and a leading cause of attrition in drug development. Progress is under way in identifying genetic risk factors, exploring new mechanistic concepts of the complex underlying interactions, and developing new biomarkers that can predict or diagnose DILI. The pharmaceutical industry has a key role in advancing these initiatives, and prospective DILI registries must adopt standard procedures for biological sample collection and storing. There is a strong need for standard guidelines to support these efforts. The consensus report of the CIOMS DILI Working Group aims to provide a critical framework and essential set of tools to detect, diagnose and manage DILI during drug development and in the post-marketing setting. The report is intended for clinical and basic pharmaceutical industry investigators who capture, analyze and communicate liver safety data in drug development. It is also intended for regulatory scientists and expert consultants who comprehensively evaluate new products and emerging biomarkers for their association with DILI risk, and for health care professionals who monitor and manage patients treated with potentially hepatotoxic drugs in clinical practice.


This paper investigates the effect of stereotypical beliefs of teachers on learning outcomes of secondary school students in India. We measure teacher's bias through an index capturing teacher's subjective beliefs about the role of gender and other characteristics in academic performance. We tackle the potential endogeneity of teacher's subjective beliefs by controlling for teacher fixed effects in a value-added model that includes lagged test score of students. We find that a standard deviation increase in biased attitude of the math teacher widens the female disadvantage in math performance by 0.07 standard deviation over an academic year. This negative effect of biased teachers is significant only for male teachers. The effect is especially strong among the medium-performing students and in classes where the majority of students are boys. Moreover, among the medium-performing students, having a female teacher significantly reduces the gender gap in math performance. As a plausible mechanism, we show that biased teachers negatively affect girls' attitude towards math as compared to boys. Unlike math outcome, we do not find any significant effect when we analyze the effect of biased English teachers on English scores of the same students.


It has been more than two decades since White (1985) and Zindler and Hart (1986) proposed that the observed range of Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios of oceanic basalts can be described as mixtures of depleted mantle (DMM) with a limited number of enriched global endmember components (HIMU, EMI, EMII). There is no doubt that the global endmembers in isotope space represent extremes of the timing and magnitude of chemical fractionation processes in the Earths mantle. However, it remains a matter of debate how the intermediate isotopic compositions often evident on the local scale of individual islands are formed: (1) Do they represent mixtures between the limited number of global endmembers, or (2) do they reflect processes intermediate to the ones forming the global endmembers, or (3) does each individual ocean island basalt suite provide us with information about the timing and kind of geochemical differentiation forming that single source? Each possibility has important geodynamic implications. The Earths mantle is continuously differentiating through partial melting and remixing through plate tectonic recycling and convection, suggesting variable timing and composition of mantle sources. However, mantle sources might be formed by mixed lithologies and thus melt compositions might reflect mixtures of sources of more extreme compositions, possibly representing the global endmembers. We further address these questions based on two examples. Grande Comore Island is located on 140 Ma Indian Ocean lithosphere and its lavas reflect plume-lithosphere interaction. The Grande Comore plume component has Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions intermediate between HIMU and EMI. Its extreme Os isotope ratios are among the highest measured in shield building-stage lavas of oceanic islands, giving further support for generally radiogenic Os isotope ratios in the EMI and HIMU compositions. A lack of correlation between OIB with high Os isotope ratios with inferred lithospheric thickness implies that they are not solely controlled by melt dynamics of a pyroxenite-peridotite source, but require variable proportions of pyroxenite in individual sources. New isotope data from the second example, the Discovery Seamounts in the South Atlantic, reveal a continuum in compositions between the extreme EMI composition of Walvis Ridge DSDP 525A and the LOMU extreme of the Discovery ridge anomaly (Douglass et al., 1999) and require a range of extreme composition outside the mixing tetrahedron of the global endmembers. In the global context, each individual island or volcano with enriched mantle affinity seems to form a trend towards its own unique enriched mantle endmember, inconsistent with mixing between narrowly defined global endmembers. The spectrum of enriched mantle endmembers is consistent with a dynamic Earth, continuously recycling varying proportions of oceanic crust, sediment and some continental lower crust or mantle. Douglass, J., Schilling, J.-G. and Fontignie, D., 1999. J. Geophys. Res., 104: 2941-2962.White, W.M., 1985. Geology, 13: 115-118.Zindler, A. and Hart, S., 1986. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 14: 493-571.


The effects of different levels of crude protein (CP) and cottonseed meal replacing for soybean meal in cassava chips and rice straw-based diets for mid-lactating cows (100-150 day in milk [DIM]), were studied using 32 multiparous Holstein Fresian crossbred dairy cows. Diets containing 10.5, 12.5, 13.7, 14.4% CP of the rations and 0, 12.1, 14.9, 17.8% cottonseed meal were fed to cows for 60 days. Thirty two cows were randomly divided into four dietary treatments using a Randomized complete block design. Four dietary treatments were offered in the form of total mixed ration (TMR) with concentrate to roughage (chopped rice straw) at 60:40 and offered ad libitum. Dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intakes tended to linearly increase with increasing dietary CP levels. Intakes and digestibility of crude protein increased linearly with increasing dietary CP level (p<0.01). Crude protein digestibility of the 10.5% CP diet was lower (p<0.05) than that in diets with higher levels of CP, while there were no significant differences among the other three levels of CP (12.5, 13.7 and 14.4%). Daily milk yield tended to increase with increased CP from 10.5 to 14.4%. Income over feed in terms of USS/kg of milk increased with increased CP from 10.5 to 13.7% and decreased when the CP level was higher than 13.7% (quadratic effect p<0.09). Milk composition was not significantly affected by increasing level of CP, however there were relatively high contents of protein and fat among treatments. The proportion of milk-urea N (MUN), ammonia-N (NH 3 -N) and blood-urea N (BUN) were closely correlated and increased linearly with increasing CP levels (p<0.01). Balanced diet was found in diet containing 12.5 and 13.7% CP of the rations when BUN and MUN were used as indicators of the protein to energy ratio in the diet. Conclusions can be made that increasing dietary CP levels from 10.5 to 13.7% using cottonseed meal as the main source to completely replace soybean meal was beneficial to cows consuming rice straw and cassava chips based-diets. Increasing the CP level above 13.7% of total ration did not additionally improve milk yield and composition or net income.


INTRODUCTION During the past two decades, information technology (IT) function has experienced a rapid growth in most organizations due to the intense competition in the field, which has led more demanding and complex roles for knowledge workers (Huarng, 2001; Fox, 2002; Maudgalya et al, 2006). Various studies (Li & Shani, 1991; Ford, Heinen & Langkamer, 2007; Slattery, Selvarajan & Anderson, 2009) have analyzed the consequences of these changes, and in this paper we attempt to take a deeper look at job stressors and determine how they impact the retention likelihood of IT employees. Other scholars (Judge & Colquitt, 2004; Monsen & Boss, 2009) have pointed out that work-life conflict is a significant factor in employee's decision to leave or retain in an organization. In particular, the importance of work-leisure conflict in terms of the impact of various job stressors on retention is another crucial area that this research addresses. Through a survey of IT professionals in two large centers of a global bank, we collected 575 responses to test our model. Findings followed by discussions and practical implications are also presented. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES To study the impact of work-leisure conflict on the relationship between job stress and retention, we propose the following theoretical framework (see Figure 1) with five interrelated components. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Work-life conflict reflects "how work spills over into family time" (Russell, O'Connell & McGinnity, 2009). Work spillover into personal life of employees can manifest itself in several ways such as: amount of time spent at work and away from home (Piotrkowski, 1979); mental preoccupation and absorption at work that impacts life outside work (Kanter, 1977); and, physical challenge of work can fatigue an employee and drain the energy needed for carry out and non-work activities--he or she becomes too tired to effectively engage in personal activities and relationships (Crouter et. al., 1983). As an important part of nonwork variables, leisure is defined as "a period of time free from paid work or other obligatory activities" (Parker, 1971). Following this definition, leisure is perceived as "opposite" and "neutral" (unrelated) to work practices (Parker, 1971; Parker, 1983). Leisure can potentially compensate for negative experience or insufficient positive outcomes associated with paid work (Pearson, 2008). On the contrary, work-leisure conflict is negatively related to job satisfaction (Ford, Heinen & Langkamer, 2007), organizational commitment (Siegel et al., 2005), retention (Monsen & Boss, 2009) and life quality (Rice, Frone & McFarlin, 1992). Based on these negative spillover effects, we hypothesize that: H1: Work-leisure conflict is negatively related to retention. Job stress in general has negative consequences on job outcomes for the employees and organizations, and it typically leads to higher intention to quit and increased employee turnover (Netemeyer, Burton, & Johnston, 1995). Following the literature (Netemeyer, Burton & Johnston, 1995; Gilboa et al., 2008; Monsen & Boss, 2009), we break down job stress into three main components: role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload. and specifically test their relationship to retention as well as how work-leisure conflict may play a mediating role this relationship. Role ambiguity is the degree to which clear information is lacking. Specifically, IT professionals may deal with unclear expectations from users and changes under uncertain authority (Li & Shani, 1991). According to Ashforth and Saks (1996), role ambiguity is positively correlated with intention to quit. Similarly, Rafferty and Griffin (2006) argued that uncertainty at work in general was associated with intention to quit. When roles are not well defined, typical reaction of employees is negative leading to withdrawal which can eventually lead to employee leaving the organization (Harris & Mossholder, 1996). …


Accidental overexposures are rare and unique events and are of the greatest importance for lessons to be learned in terms of radiopathology and medical management for diagnosis and treatment. Several victims of industrial radiation source accidents which occurred in the past in different countries (Georgia 1997, 2002, Peru 1999, Poland, 2001, Chile 2005, Belgium 2006, Senegal 2006, and Tunisia 2008) were successively treated in France in Percy Hospital for very severe skin radiation burns. Different types of treatments were applied and new therapeutic approaches were designed in order to improve the final outcome. Another accident occurred in a stereotaxic radiosurgery unit in Rangueil Hospital (Toulouse, France) between April 2006 and April 2007. This accident was the cause of a high level of brain complications among a cohort of 145 patients treated for benign or malignant tumours of the brain. The experience feedback of these accidents revealed emerging concepts in several fields of radiopathology. The Chilean accident illustrated the advantage of dosimetry-guided surgery in the treatment of radiation burn, the accidents of Chile, Senegal and Tunisia demonstrated the benefits of cell therapy in the treatment of severe skin injuries, the Senegal and the Belgium accidents demonstrated the interest of a new approach in the treatment of the hematopoietic syndrome and the French radiosurgery accident provided new information concerning the radiosensitivity of brain structures and cranial nerves. Lessons to be learned in the field of treatment of radiation burn. The therapeutic management of severe radiation burns remains a highly puzzling and challenging issue. In case of profound and painful ulcerations or necrosis with ischemic process the lesion should be excised (ulcerectomy, necrectomy) and the wound bed should be covered with a rotation flap and/or a good quality, full thickness skin graft. This conventional surgical treatment often fails to prevent unpredictable and uncontrolled extension of the radiation-induced necrotic process. This is due to several causes: the very frequent delay in the recognition of the radiological nature of the lesions, the dynamic feature of radiation burn due to the occurrence of serial inflammatory waves, the difficulty to delineate excision of radiation lesions on account of apparently healthy irradiated tissues, the possible expansion of the necrosis after each surgical excision and the long, fragile and uncertain healing of these radiation injuries involving muscles, blood vessels and skin. The radiation lesion often becomes uncontrolled and the final option is a last surgical act leading to a very high morbidity and disability. In the Peruvian accident (1999), the recurrence of successive inflammatory waves and uncontrolled superinfections required iterative excisions leading to amputation and mutilations (Peru 1999). In another case (Georgia, 2002), the wide size of the radiological lesion in surface and in depth involved a very long surgical treatment (500 days) where 4 successive excisions with skin autografts allowed a partial healing of the peripheral part of the radiological lesion. The final cicatrisation of the centre of the radiation burn was obtained only with a vascularised tissue flap (omentum). A similar treatment was also applied in a case from the Poland accident (2001). In the most recent accidents new therapeutic strategies were planned to shorten the duration of the treatment and to improve its efficiency. One of the unsolved issue in the classical surgical treatment of the radiation burn is the size of the excision surgery, the actual limits of the lesion being unknown. In the Chile accident, it was possible to perform a physical dosimetric reconstruction to guide the surgical excision. Physical dose reconstruction with numerical methods requires perfect knowledge of position and distance of the source and the duration of the exposure. The most subjective key parameter of the dose reconstruction is the duration of exposure which was pretty well quantified in this accident. A dose reconstruction mapping was obtained from a personalized voxelized phantom generated from the tomodensitometric images of the victim. The isodose of 20 Gy was used as a guide value for the surgical excision (10 cm in diameter and 5 cm in depth) in the apparently healthy tissues surrounding the moist desquamation area. This accident illustrated that dose reconstruction is a useful tool to guide the surgical gesture and this approach should be prioritized when the accidental circumstances are well defined. In the 3 recent accidents (Chile, Senegal, Tunisia) an innovative therapeutic approach combining surgery with autologous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation was applied. MSC are defined as pluripotent cells capable of proliferating extensively and able to give rise to skeletal tissue and marrow stroma cells. The aim of the MSC therapy was to deliver to the site of the lesion trophic factors able to favour the healing of the impaired tissue. Using successive local administrations of MSC combined with rotation flaps and skin autografts it was possible to obtain a favourable outcome of radiological lesions located in various anatomical areas (fingers, hands, arm, and buttock) and due to radiation doses up to 50 Gy. MSC could favour the healing process through the secretion of cytokines and trophic factors that may have counteracted the local inflammation. This novel multidisciplinary therapeutic approach may be of clinical relevance for improving the medical management of severe localized irradiations. It may open new prospects in the field of radiotherapy complications. Lessons to be learned in the field of treatment of the Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). The classical treatment of the hematopoietic syndrome of the ARS depends on the evaluation of damage to the bone marrow. If the damage is reversible then the treatment is a substitution and supportive therapy or a stimulation therapy by cytokines. If the damage to bone marrow is irreversible the treatment is stem cell transplantation. In past accidents, several ARS patients were treated with stem cell transplanatation in the days following exposure, provided that the irradiation dose was estimated to be high. The experience feedback of these stem cell transplanatations suggests that the radiation dose window in which the stem cell therapy may be useful is narrow and require a lethal marrow injury without any evidence of injury to other organs that may lead to a multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. In order to propose a consensus guideline in the treatment of the hematopoietic syndrome, two consensus conferences were organized in 2003 and 2005. Based upon this experience feedback, it was proposed the following criteria for proposing a stem cell transplantation: a persistent bone marrow aplasia on day 21 post-irradiation, without any sign of an endogenous haematopoiesis, no sign of digestive and/or pulmonary severe disease, and a biological/biophysical dosimetry suggesting a radiation dose over 10 Gy with a minimal gradient of dose. In two recent radiation accidents (Belgium 2006 and Senegal 2006), two victims presented some sign of an hematopoietic syndrome. In the Senegal case, the hematopoietic syndrome was treated with cytokine injections approximately one month post-irradiation and resolved in few days. With the Belgium case, which was detected 3weeks after irradiation, the hematopoietic syndrome was severe. However, due to uncertainty on both the radiation dose and the heterogeneity, it was choose to start a cytokine treatment on day 28 post-irradiation, in order to stimulate a possible residual hematopoiesis. An hematopoietic recovery was then observed during the following week. These results demonstrate that the radiation-induced hematopoietic syndrome is not an emergency for stem cell transplantation, and that it is an absolute requirement to obtain evidence of an irreversible damage to the bone marrow before proposing a stem cell transplantation. These results also demonstrate that a cytokine treatment should be efficient, even if started more than 4 weeks after irradiation, thus confirming the validity of the proposed approach by these consensus conferences. Lessons to be learned in the field of treatment of the brain radiopathology. The stereotactic radiosurgery accident that took place in France between 2006 and 2007was linked to underestimation of a scatter factor in a dedicated LINAC system. 32 patients with unilateral acoustic neurinomas were overexposed. The experience feedback of this accident on this cohort of patients allowed assessing a dosimetric-related index for prediction of cranial nerve deficits. This index was derived from dose volume histograms and should allow sparing trigeminal nerve during radiosurgery of vestibular schwannomas. During the median follow-up period of 12 months, the actuarial rate of trigeminal neuropathy in patients was 31% which is undoubtedly higher to those reported in the literature and is directly related to the accidental overexposure. The prediction index of the cranial neuropathies was derived from the dose volume histograms of the cisternal part of the trigeminal nerve which was manually segmented on T2 weighted MR acquisitions. None of the patients who underwent less than 8 Gy to 50% of the nerve volume developed trigeminal neuropathy. In conclusion, the trigeminal nerve in its cisternal course should be a key risk organ to take into account in the planning treatment of sterotactic surgery of neurinomas. This preliminary result will have to be confirmed at the end of a 48 months follow-up. Disclaimer: Title and text of abstracts are under the sole responsibility of authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of either the ERR 2008 scientific Committee, the ERR 2008 organizing committee, the European Radiation research Society or the Journal Radioprotection.


Abstract The clade Archosauria contains two very different sister groups in terms of diversity (number of species) and disparity (phenotypic variation): Crurotarsi (taxa more closely related to crocodiles than to birds) and Ornithodira (pterosaurs and dinosaurs including birds). The extant species of Crurotarsi may constitute a biased sample of past biodiversity regarding growth patterns and metabolic rates. Bone histological characters can be conserved over hundreds of millions of years in the fossil record and potentially contain information about individual age at death, age at sexual maturity, bone growth rates, and basal metabolic rates of extinct vertebrates. Using a sample of extant amniotes, we have constructed a paleobiological model to estimate bone growth rate from bone histological traits. Cross-validation tests show that this model is reliable. We then used it to estimate bone growth rates in a sample of extinct archosaurs including Crurotarsi and Ornithodira. After testing for phylogenetic signal, optimization of femoral growth rates through squared change parsimony onto a time-calibrated tree of amniotes shows two divergent evolutionary trends: whereas bone growth rates increase from the last common ancestor of Ornithodira to extant birds, they decrease from the last common ancestor of Crurotarsi to extant crocodiles. However, we conclude, on the basis of recent evidence for unidirectional airflow in the lungs of alligators, that crocodiles may have retained the capacity of growing at high rates.


While the critical establishment baulked at the rapid expansion of the literary marketplace in the early nineteenth century, Lady Morgan's Florence Macarthy boldly declared its allegiance to the precariously feminised domain of popular romance. Embracing its own synthetic and syncretic modernity, Morgan's seventh novel revels in the spectacle, sensation and simulation so vociferously denounced by reviewers of her earlier works. Moreover, in its self-reflexive scrutiny of the material processes of Romantic literary production, Morgan's fiction interrogates its own position within an increasingly commercialised and mechanised publishing industry. In asserting the centrality of such commercial and mechanical modernity to Morgan's aesthetic, this article departs from previous scholarly discussions of her oeuvre. It argues that Florence Macarthy's engagement with Irish politics is not anchored in antiquarian retrospection but instead emerges out of an effervescent literary marketplace in direct competition with new arenas of spectacular entertainment. Thus, rather than promote a supposedly atavistic and anachronistic cultural nationalism, the surface narrative's flirtation with the romance of Irish antiquity is continually disrupted by an underlying acknowledgement of the competing literary, political and historical narratives at play within the national tale. Synchronising and synthesising these competing discourses for the popular reader, Florence Macarthy registers the hybridity of its own romance as a distinctly modern yet sophisticated form of mechanical reproduction that cannot be dismissed as the mere automatism of an antiquarian reflex.


According to the Multiprocess Theory (Einstein and McDaniel, 1990), prospective memory is supported by two separate cognitive processes: monitoring and spontaneous retrieval. Successful monitoring during prospective memory tasks requires attention to be divided between separate stimuli and the attention needs to be sustained throughout the course of the task. However, this theoretical account also allows for prospective memory in the absence of monitoring, as in cases where memory is retrieved spontaneously in response to some cue. In the course of this study, support for the Multiprocess Theory has been found. Using a dual-task paradigm, prospective memory targets were displayed during a lexical decision task where participants were required to make a word/nonword decision to letter strings. Prospective memory targets were found using both monitoring and spontaneous retrieval, although displaying the target in the focus of attention or not did not differentially induce monitoring. A small increase from 2% target presentation rates (Experiments 1 through 3) to 3% target presentation rates (Experiment 4) did produce evidence of task interference that reflects monitoring; however, increasing target presentation rates to 5% did not increase reaction times above those found with 3% target presentation rates. Focal prospective memory targets (words) had higher accuracy rates than nonfocal prospective memory targets (words starting with letter "g"). Inhibiting responses to the lexical decision task to respond to prospective memory targets encouraged priorities to shift attention to the lexical decision task and increased the speed of lexical decision responding across the extended task. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that sustained attention is identical to, or even a significant component of, monitoring. Sustained attention was not necessary to accomplish the prospective memory action, as variables affecting vigilance were not found to influence prospective-memory performance in the extended version of the dual-task paradigm used in this experiment. In Experiment 3, draining attention resources did negatively affect lexical decision reaction times and prospective memory performance with focal targets, but not with nonfocal targets. The strength of the lexical decision task routine was manipulated by varying the number of lexical decision practice trials given before the dual-task in Experiment 5. The strength of the routine did not affect task interference for focal or nonfocal targets. Overall, monitoring did not follow the sustainedattention pattern observed in vigilance. Prospective memory can be performed utilizing both cognitive mechanisms of monitoring and spontaneous retrieval. INDEX WORDS: Prospective memory, Attention, Vigilance, Sustained attention, Monitoring THE ROLE OF SPONTANEOUS RETRIEVAL, MONITORING AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN PROSPECTIVE


The United States needs a broader, more coordinated strategy for precollege education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). That strategy should include all the STEM disciplines and address the need for greater diversity in the STEM professions, for a workforce with deep technical and personal skills, and for a STEM-literate citizenry prepared to address the grand challenges of the 21st century. There have been repeated efforts to produce major improvements in such education, including the production of voluntary national education standards for science and for mathematics in the 1990s. But as a battle-scarred veteran of those efforts, I view the next decade as the time when real progress might finally be made.


This study assesses the estimated crashes per bicyclist and per vehicle as a function of bicyclist and vehicle traffic, and tests whether greater traffic reduces the per-car crash rate. We present a framework for comprehensive bicyclist risk assessment modeling, using estimated bicyclist flow per intersection, observed vehicle flow, and crash records. Using a two-part model of crashes, we reveal that both the annual average daily traffic and daily bicyclist traffic have a diminishing return to scale in crashes. This accentuates the positive role of safety in numbers. Increasing the number of vehicles and cyclists decelerates not only the probability of crashes, but the number of crashes as well. Measuring the elasticity of the variables, it is found that a 1% increase in the annual average daily motor vehicle traffic increases the probability of crashes by 0.14% and the number of crashes by 0.80%. However, a 1% increase in the average daily bicyclist traffic increases the probability of crashes by 0.09% and the number of crashes by 0.50%. The saturation point of the safety in numbers for bicyclists is notably less than for motor vehicles. Extracting the vertex point of the parabola functions examines that the number of crashes starts decreasing when daily vehicle and bicyclist traffic per intersection exceed 29,568 and 1,532, respectively.


We consider a Markov process on a connected graph, with edges labeled with transition rates between the adjacent vertices. The distribution of the Markov process converges to the uniform distribution at a rate determined by the second smallest eigenvalue $\lambda_2$ of the Laplacian of the weighted graph. In this paper we consider the problem of assigning transition rates to the edges so as to maximize $\lambda_2$ subject to a linear constraint on the rates. This is the problem of finding the fastest mixing Markov process (FMMP) on the graph. We show that the FMMP problem is a convex optimization problem, which can in turn be expressed as a semidefinite program, and therefore effectively solved numerically. We formulate a dual of the FMMP problem and show that it has a natural geometric interpretation as a maximum variance unfolding (MVU) problem, , the problem of choosing a set of points to be as far apart as possible, measured by their variance, while respecting local distance constraints. This MVU problem is closely related to a problem recently proposed by Weinberger and Saul as a method for "unfolding" high-dimensional data that lies on a low-dimensional manifold. The duality between the FMMP and MVU problems sheds light on both problems, and allows us to characterize and, in some cases, find optimal solutions.


The aim of this study was to find out if it is possible to predict the height of the vertical jump from kinematic, dynamometric and anthropometric variables using a multiple linear regression model. Fifty-three subjects, 21 male and 9 female volleyball players of first National categories (First National League and First League), as well as 23 Physical Education students (12 males and 11 females) participated in this study. First, the height of the flight during the performance of a "squat jump" (SJ) and "countermovement jump" (CMJ) was determined. Then, the maximal isometric strength in the squat position was assessed with the knees bent at 90o, 120o and 140o while the electromyographic activity was simultaneously recorded on the vastus lateralis with surface electrodes. The muscle mass of the lower limbs was obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). The positive mechanical impulse explained on its own 77% of jumping height variability. Prediction power was increased to 82% by including in the model the percentage of body mass represented by de muscle mass of the lower limbs. The inclusion of the muscle mass of the lower limbs, as a third variable, raised the prediction power to 98% of jumping height variability. The same variables allowed for a similar level of prediction during the squat jumps. KEY WORDS: Vertical jump, DEXA, muscle mass, strength.


The main components of mammalian tissue, after water, are lipids. Both xenon (Xe) and cryptophane-A (CrA), which acts as a molecular host for Xe, preferentially embed into lipid environments. These environments generate a large chemical shift difference (∼10 ppm) of the Xe@CrA complex compared to it being in aqueous solution. In this chapter, we describe how membrane models can easily be prepared and demonstrate the detection of Xe@CrA complexes interacting with such membrane models using the selectivity of Hyper-CEST NMR. Additionally, we review how Hyper-CEST spectroscopy and MRI can be used to obtain information about the membrane's constituents and their phase properties and compare the Hyper-CEST responses of membrane models to the ones of cells.


SUMMARY An experimental model has been developed to quantify some of the major processes initiated by tumor transplanta tion and culminating in pulmonary métastases. The T241 fibrosarcoma, chosen because of its high hematogenous metastatic propensity and reproducible biological behavior, is transplanted into the femoral region of the C57BL mouse. Experiments are performed at specified times after trans plantation to determine the dynamics of tumor growth, density, and size distribution of perfused tumor vessels, entry rate of tumor cells into the circulation, and the number of pulmonary métastases.Estimates of the entry rate of tumor cells into the circulation are obtained by perfusing tumors with an oxygenated, cell-free medium to allow the counting of single tumor cells and tumor cell clumps collected in the venous effluent. The tumor vascular network appears at approximately Day 4, while tumor cells are first observed in the perfusate approximately 5 days after transplantation. The concentration of effluent tumor cells, singly and in clumps, increases rapidly until Day 10, after which the rate of cell entry into the perfusion is diminished. A linear relation is found between the density of perfused vessels and the concentration of effluent tumor cells. Métastases, first observed on Day 10, increase rapidly with time, at a rate similar to that of the concentration of effluent tumor cell clumps containing 4 or more cells. These studies suggest that dynamics of hematogenously initiated métastasesdepend strongly on the entry rate of tumor cell clumps into the circulation, which in turn is intimately linked to tumor vascularization.


Eight endogenous G1 inhibitors of the proliferation of JB-1 ascites tumor cells have been isolated and characterized. The activity of the inhibitors has been analyzed on synchronized JB-1 (murine plasmacytoma) and L1A2 (murine sarcoma) cells in vitro using flow cytometry. The purified inhibitors have been tested for in vivo activity on partially synchronized JB-1 and L1A2 ascites tumors in situ. Four of the inhibitors exhibited a high degree of cell specificity (chalone-like inhibitors) and were chemically related, whereas the other four showed no cell specificity. In most extractions, the amount of cell-specific activity is more than 50% of the total G1-inhibitory activity. Most of the inhibitors are low-molecular-weight peptides and glycopeptides.


Accurate particle size and density distributions for nuclear tank waste materials are essential information that helps determine the engineering requirements for a host of waste management unit operations (e.g., tank mixing, pipeline transport, and filtration). The most prevalent approach for determining particle size and density distribution is highly laborious and involves identifying individual particles using scanning electron microscope/x-ray diffraction and then acquiring the density of the materials from the technical literature. Other methods simply approximate individual particle densities by assuming chemical composition, rather than obtaining actual measurements of particle density. To overcome these limitations, a Particle Shadowgraph Velocimetry and Size (PSVS) system has been designed to simultaneously obtain particle size and density distributions for a broad range of Hanford tank waste materials existing as both individual particles and agglomerates. The PSVS system uses optical hardware, a temperature-controlled settling column, and particle introduction chamber to accurately and reproducibly obtain images of settling particles. Image analysis software provides a highly accurate determination of both particle terminal velocity and equivalent spherical particle diameter. The particle density is then calculated from Newton's terminal settling theory. The PSVS system was designed to accurately image particle/agglomerate sizes between 10 and 1000 µm and particle/agglomerate densities ranging from 1.4 to 11.5 g/cm 3 , where the maximum terminal velocity does not exceed 10 cm/s. Preliminary testing was completed with standard materials and results were in good agreement with terminal settling theory. Recent results of this method development are presented, as well as experimental design.


Posttransplant total lymphoid irradiation is a nonmyeloablative regimen that has been extensively studied in rodent models for the induction of tolerance to bone marrow and solid organ allografts. Previous studies of experimental models and clinical transplantation have used total lymphoid irradiation in combination with anti‐lymphocyte–depleting reagents and donor cell infusion to promote graft acceptance. In a rat model of orthotopic liver transplantation, we demonstrated that total lymphoid irradiation alone induced long‐term graft survival. Apoptotic T cells were detected in markedly higher numbers in the livers of the total lymphoid irradiation–treated group in comparison with the control group of liver allograft recipients. Intragraft CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ cells were increased in the total lymphoid irradiation group in the first week post‐transplant and remained elevated in the graft and in the spleen. Importantly, the adoptive transfer of splenocytes from recipients that received posttransplant total lymphoid irradiation prolonged the survival of donor heart grafts, but not third‐party heart grafts, whereas the depletion of CD4+CD25+ cells from transferred splenocytes abrogated this prolongation. We conclude that posttransplant total lymphoid irradiation significantly increases the apoptosis of T cells in the liver graft and allows the accumulation of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ T regulatory cells, which facilitate the generation of donor‐specific tolerance. Liver Transpl 16:147–154, 2010. © 2010 AASLD.


Objective: Computerised CBT promises a way of bringing an effective
intervention to a large population. However, there are challenges to
achieving this within a viable business model. One approach may be
through Occupational Health departments.

Methodology: Case study of the introduction of the Xanthis system, a
cCBT package, in three large, public sector organisations in the UK:
Dyfed-Powys Police, Cardiff University and Oxford University.

Xanthis was made confidentially available to all employees, accessible
over the Internet. Its use was tied into Occupational Health/Human
Resources policies. Different research methods were conducted to
investigate use. User numbers were monitored; results now cover three
years. Interviews were conducted with purchasers of the package. At
Dyfed-Powys Police, a before/after questionnaire was conducted on users.

Conclusions: User numbers peaked after launch in all organisations
before settling at 5-10% staff. Users find the tool a useful support and
like that it is confidential, accessible, increases knowledge and
understanding about problems, and links to sources of help. The best
testimonial was from a suicidal individual who used Xanthis to gain
understanding of their situation and then seek help. The experience
shows that technology has a role within organisations for the support of
employees and in early intervention for mental health problems.

There were many problems associated with the implementation and launch
of the tool. Different organisations wanted to use Xanthis in different
ways and in conjunction with other activity. How the tool was promoted
internally was critical. Commercialisation was constrained by the
resources devoted to Occupational Health.


This article analyses the discursive construction of solidarity regarding immigration and integration in two European countries: Spain and Denmark. The study is based on interviews with representatives of 10 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and it focuses on the affective and evaluative dimensions of language aimed at achieving alignment with civil society. The analytical approach combines Positive Discourse Analysis and Appraisal Theory, since these perspectives deal from a discourse analytic point of view with social change promoted by community and interpersonal relations. The discourses on solidarity are framed with reference to their respective national policies and debates. Therefore, different approaches exist between the two countries, albeit that all the NGOs aim to show new dimensions of integration in order to promote empathy towards immigrants. The goal of the NGOs is to contribute positively to social change and combating the current unfair situation. In the article it is argued that solidarity is built on affect and evaluative language at the national level, challenging in this way dominant policies on immigration. Furthermore, the findings show that a European discourse which would be able to solve contradictions related to the scope of human rights, politics of asylum and inclusion of irregular immigrants is still missing.


Power factor correction (PFC) pre-regulators are used between the ac line and non-linear load to improve the line current in terms of power factor and total harmonic distortion (THD). In medium- and high-power applications, the interleaved boost PFC converter is the proper solution for this purpose to obtain a pre-regulator with lower size. The operation of the interleaved boost PFC converter provides a reduction of the inductor and electromagnetic interference filter volumes compared with those of the conventional single switch boost PFC converter. However, proper current sharing and current ripple minimisation must be ensured to achieve these benefits. The current sharing between cells of a two-cell interleaved boost PFC converter, which is an important problem in applications is analysed and discussed in this study and the problem is removed by using a digital signal processing (DSP)-based simple practical solution. The proposed technique provides the proper current sharing by sensing only the rectifier output current (total current of cells) without using any external control loop. The simulation and the experimental results are presented to show the validity.


A coral belonging to the rare Late Mississippian–Early Pennsylvanian Family Pseudopavonidae and a specimen of the Permian waagenophyllid coral genus Parawentzelella have been recovered from the Cache Creek assemblage in northern British Columbia and from a small limestone block in southern British Columbia, Canada, respectively. Both of these fossils are closely related to corals known from eastern Japan and western Sze-chuan, China; Parawentzelella also occurs in Indochina. These corals apparently occur in shallow-water carbonates that overlie pieces of oceanic volcanic ridges or plateaus. In both Asia and North America these corals now lie geographically close to coeval, but completely different, coral faunas that lived on shallow carbonate platforms built on continental shelves. This suggests that the circum-Pacific terranes bearing these unusual corals were displaced from a single, shallow-water oceanic region that in late Paleozoic time lay in the paleo-Pacific Ocean far from any continental margin. In Late Permian or early Mesozoic time the region colonized by these fossils was torn apart; the rock masses bearing these fossils were then carried on oceanic plates to subduction zones at continental margins on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, where they became lodged.


The flange hole forming is a complex process, Under the assumption of Prandtl-Reuss flow rule and von Mises yield criterion, the incremental elasto-plastic large deformation finite element model was established based on the Updated Lagrangian Formulation (ULF).The elasto-plastic conversions of boundary and deformation are reduced with r-min rule. The friction phenomenon of slippage and viscosity at the boundary interface is revised with increment of revision Coulomb rule. The increment rules are led into the whole stiffness matrix, and derived out the stiffness equation. The studies show that the influence on steel elliptical hole flange forming deformation is influenced by punch structure and parameter. The dates show that finite element simulation and experimental result have a good consistency.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, a form of dementia that worsens over time. With the number of AD patients rising year by year, the total number of patients has already surpassed more than 25 million and this number will grow closer to 63 million by 2030. Symptoms of this disease include memory loss, challenges in problem solving, trouble in understanding visual images or spatial relationships and problems in speaking and writing. Current methods of detection rely on the minimal mental state examination. This is often inaccurate and cannot differentiate between AD and other forms of dementia. The two hallmarks that are responsible for AD are the formation of senile plaques (SPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the brain. SPs are formed by the aggregation of insoluble amyloid beta protein and NFTs are formed by aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. In a healthy human brain, these two proteins are produced and broken down to small fragments and eliminated. In AD patients, SPs and NFTs are formed by aggregation of these two proteins.
It is possible to image these SPs and NFTs by techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) or fluorescence imaging which may enable early diagnosis of AD. Although, SP imaging is known, SP deposition does not correlate with the disease and is observed in healthy patients also, hence, a diagnosis of the disease based solely on SPs imaging is likely to be inaccurate. In addition to this, it is difficult to correlate the disease progression with senile plaque quantity in the brain. On the other hand, NFT formation known to correlate with the disease progression, and therefore, fluorescence imaging of such NFTs may reveal the disease progression.
The present study describes a set of compounds able to visualize NFTs and SPs in a human AD brain obtained at autopsy. Several classes of compounds were synthesized and explored for their ability to stain NFTs, of these; rhodanine-3-acetic acids, 5H-imidazo [4,5-c] pyridine derivatives, bis(arylvinyl)pyrazine derivatives were identified as promising compounds for tau imaging. Our observations with these compounds showed us that thesecompounds bind to NFTs in an AD brain, which were clearly visualized by the fluorescence microscopy. In addition to this, selected compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and zebrafish embryo development assay. These cytotoxicity studies indicated that these compounds display no or negligible cytotoxicity. Further, in vitro experiments of rhodanine-3-acetic acid derivatives in P30lS mice retina and in vitro experiments in human AD retina resulted in the absence of staining of retinal tissues. Remarkably, control tissues were stained with AT8 antibody. These results suggest that the tau aggregates in the retina of P301S mice are different from human tau deposits present in hyperphosphorylated NFTs. Further, in vitro experiments with 5H-imidazo [4,5-c] pyridine derivatives on olfactory epithelium tissues visualized tau deposits in olfactory epithelium tissues.


Abstract. Linking landslide size and frequency is important at both human and geological timescales for quantifying both landslide hazards and the effectiveness of landslides in the removal of sediment from evolving landscapes. The statistical behaviour of the magnitude-frequency of landslide inventories is usually compiled following a particular triggering event such as an earthquake or storm, and their statistical behaviour is often characterised by a power-law relationship with a small landslide rollover. The occurrence of landslides is expected to be influenced by the material properties of rock and/or regolith in which failure occurs. Here we explore the statistical behaviour and the controls of a secular landslide inventory (SLI) (i.e. events occurring over an indefinite geological time period) consisting of mapped landslide deposits and their underlying lithology (bedrock or superficial) across the United Kingdom. The magnitude-frequency distribution of this secular inventory exhibits an inflected power-law relationship, well approximated by either an inverse gamma or double Pareto model. The scaling exponent for the power-law scaling of medium to large landslides is α = −1.71 ± 0.02. The small-event rollover occurs at a significantly higher magnitude (1.0–7.0 × 10−3 km2) than observed in single-event landslide records (~ 4 × 10−3 km2). We interpret this as evidence of landscape annealing, from which we infer that the SLI underestimates the frequency of small landslides. This is supported by a subset of data where a complete landslide inventory was recently mapped. Large landslides also appear to be under-represented relative to model predictions. There are several possible reasons for this, including an incomplete data set, an incomplete landscape (i.e. relatively steep slopes are under-represented), and/or temporal transience in landslide activity during emergence from the last glacial maximum toward a generally more stable late-Holocene state. The proposed process of landscape annealing and the possibility of a transient hillslope response have the consequence that it is not possible to use the statistical properties of the current SLI database to rigorously constrain probabilities of future landslides in the UK.


Anions are involved in fundamental processes in all living things. Recognition,transport and concentration control of anions such as chloride, phosphate and sulfate iscarried out by biological systems on a perpetual basis. Fluoride, nitrate and pertechnetate are potentially dangerous contaminants that can gain access to our watersystems by various means. Fluorosis, toxicity due to high levels of fluoride in drinkingwater, is a serious human health concern in many parts of the world Synthetic chemistsseek to mimic nature's level of sophistication in designing and making chemosensorscapable of determining the concentration of a target anion in any medium. Beginning with a review of anion sensor chemistry with a particular focus ondevelopments over the past 15 years, this thesis documents research into novelmolecular sensors that target the differential sensing of fluoride and chloride anions.The design of these sensors has focussed on an optical signalling event based onelectronic changes on binding but in addition, by virtue of a significant change instructural conformation. Fluorescent molecules have been utilised and as such,fluorescence emission changes investigated in the presence of a variety of anions. Results and Discussion I outlines our conformational model and discusses the design,synthesis and sensory behaviour of phenyl(boronates). UV, electrochemical,fluorescence and NMR techniques are brought together to elucidate the response of thisclass of molecule to various anions. One example designed to fit our proposed modelshows interesting and unusual fluorescence quenching response to chloride anion. Inaddition, the synthesis of a related carbamate species and a range of oxygen bridgedboron macrocycles are reported. Results and Discussion II discloses our approaches to more synthetically demandingconstructs, obeying the model but trying to overcome the challenges met previously.An interesting, highly selective ratiomeric response to fluoride is observed with anisolated target molecule. Fluoride binding behaviour of a previously unexamined sp2boron centre is examined.


Chronic stress has been known as a main cause for human mood disorders. The understanding of the pathogenesis of the mood disorders are primarily based on the usage of animal models. Low reproducibility and complicacy of production are commonly known shortcomings in the current models with chronic stress. Here, we tested a simple stress paradigm, daily exposure of 6-min tail-suspension (TS), in modelling chronic stress-induced mood disorders in mice. We found that after 2-3-weeks of TS stress mice displayed a significant decrease in exploratory behavior, increases in anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors as well as significant decreases of NeuN and GFAP levels in the hippocampus. We also found that longer exposure of mice to TS stress (up to 4 weeks) resulted in significant adaptation of these responses and reversal of most of the behavioural and biochemical changes. This study suggests that chronic TS stress for 2-3 weeks could be used as a model of mood disorders.


Excessive dietary fat intake is related to metabolic dysfunction and enhances susceptibility to hypertension and cognitive impairment. Although there are sex differences in the prevalence and progression of these diseases, few studies have investigated sex differences in cardio-metabolic and cognitive parameters in rats with high-fat diet-induced metabolic dysfunction. To better reflect actual clinical conditions, sex-differences in rats with high-fat diet-induced metabolic dysfunction were evaluated. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a high-fat diet to induce metabolic dysfunction and intraperitoneally injected with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester and scopolamine to model vulnerability to hypertension and cognitive impairment, respectively, whereas control rats were fed a regular diet and treated with distilled water and 0.9% saline. Male experimental rats showed significantly higher systolic blood pressure than female experimental animals. More importantly, acetylcholine-induced relaxation of carotid arteries was decreased only in the male experimental rats, revealing a significant difference compared with female experimental rats. These findings provide evidence for individualized sex-based management of patients with metabolic dysfunction and susceptibilities to hypertension and cognitive impairment. Impact statement Excessive dietary fat intake plays important roles in the process of metabolic dysfunction and increases susceptibilities to chronic diseases such as hypertension. Few previous studies, however, have accurately reflected real-world medical conditions. In addition, studies performed to date have not examined detailed sex-differences in cardio-metabolic and cognitive parameters, precluding the development of sex-tailored interventions for patients with metabolic dysfunction who are susceptible to hypertension and cognitive impairment. In this study, using rats with HFD-induced metabolic dysfunction that made them susceptible to hypertension and cognitive impairment, we demonstrate that male rats show greater impairment of acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation of the carotid artery and systolic blood pressure compared to female rats. These findings may provide a basis for the early detection of carotid artery dysfunction and systolic blood pressure increase, especially in males.


The speed of magnetization reversal is a key feature in magnetic data storage. Magnetic fields from intense THz pulses have been recently shown to induce small magnetization dynamics in a cobalt thin film on the sub-picosecond time scale. Here, we show that at higher field intensities, the THz electric field starts playing a role, strongly changing the dielectric properties of the cobalt thin film. Both the electronic and magnetic responses are found to occur simultaneously, with the electric field response persistent on a time scale orders of magnitude longer than the THz stimulus.


Pro-anorexia (pro-ana) is an Internet-based movement that provides advice and support for the development/maintenance of an eating disorder (ED). The movement is sometimes framed as a religion, with rituals, psalms, creeds and the invocation of a deity (Ana) who personifies the ED. The latter aspect is likely to influence identities and behaviours as well as providing emotional support and motivation for community members. However, there is little sustained empirical analysis of how members themselves orient to and self-position within the religious discourse. Here, we apply the concept of interdiscursivity to examine the construction of Ana as god(dess). Drawing on a body of online interactions from one pro-ana website over a 47-day period, we discursively analyse members' constructions of Ana and their relationship with her. With reference to biblical texts, we consider how these constructions directly reference concepts of Christian religion and faith. Implications for understanding pro-ana and interdiscursivity are discussed.


Louise Johannesson (2018): Settling disputes at the World Trade Organization. Örebro Studies in Economics 38 This cumulative dissertation consists of five self-contained essays, all of which are closely focused around issues that concern the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). In Essay 1, we describe salient features of the DSM using a unique data set. We observe a spike in new disputes in 2012, which in turn led to an increasing number of panels and appeals. This put the WTO under a heavy workload and delays soon became an issue. In Essay 2, we show that the DSM often appoint institutional insiders to serve as judges. Although the DSM was reformed under the WTO, the judges are similar to those found in the GATT. Furthermore, there is an incentive structure in place that encourage the WTO Secretariat to assume a larger role in writing panel reports and for panelists to let them. Essay 3 examines the role of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) provision Art. 8.10 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) in helping developing countries win disputes against richer countries. We observe that developing countries lose more claims when this provision is applied. I formulate a model and show that this observation can be consistent with the presumed benefit of Art. 8.10. Essay 4 addresses the problem of delays by asking ourselves whether we can lessen the problem with a permanent panel. I study features such as the panelists' experience and prior working relationships in explaining the time it takes to issue panel reports and efficiency in examining claims. We find that prior collaboration can decrease duration. Lastly, in Essay 5, we assess the impact on trade for members that are not involved in disputes. There is evidence of positive trade effects after a dispute for noncomplainants, but the effects are limited to disputes that did not escalate to adjudication. We found no external dispute effects for adjudicated disputes.


The Scottish National Party (SNP) controls Scotland's devolved government just as support for complete separation from the rest of Great Britain is growing. The party is cautious about strengthening the democratic basis of Scottish governance and its nationalism is paradoxical. The SNP recoils from popular sovereignty being an enthusiastic backer of the European Union's plans for a post-national Europe. It also gives similar endorsement to radical forms of multiculturalism. But for all its incoherence it stands a real chance of breaking up the 300-year union state mainly due to the failure of its opponents to devise a convincing British counter-narrative or indeed a form of broad nationalism that falls short of separation.


Present study deals with training and development strategies in IT service industry in Kolkata region. This study highlighted present trends and common practices in training and development activities in specific and in human resources management in general.
InfoTech sector is a thrust area of economic development in developing economies, like in India. Government and private joint initiatives make this sector a sunshine industry sector. Potentials of human resources explore in the professionally managed IT service companies. The training and development activities strengthen capabilities of IT service companies and help them to achieve excellence. Present study evaluated the heart of this knowledge industry, which centered on knowledge workers. Present study briefly elaborated the training and development practices of two top-ranked companies in Kolkata and found some unique modes of delivery of training. This study also pointed out that companies placed in higher value-chain have long-term vision as compared to ones in lower in value-chain.
This report is a modest attempt to study a sunshine industry in India and particularly in Kolkata region, within a limited timeframe and resources. The findings and observations are based on my understanding on the industry profile in respect to the training and development practices.
The companies operating from Kolkata are placed in different levels in value-chain, where the top revenue earning companies are placed in highest value-chain and others are moving up the value-chain. Similarly, different companies are targeted to different market segments, like, domestic market and international market segments. Thus, their training and development practices and policies are significantly different.
The companies surveyed here sometimes could not share information, which are confidential in nature. Also there is limited statistics with the respondents, as most training programmes are organised for the requirements of particular projects.
The information technology (IT) service industry sometimes refers as IT industry or software industry or InfoTech sector. The term is used here interchangeably.
The study report is presented here in chapters. The chapter one introduces basic concepts and industry profile in India and in Kolkata region. Chapter two states the objectives and methodology of this study. Chapter three represents analytical general discussions on results and findings, and depth study of two cases. These two cases represent some unique features of their training and development practices. These companies are placed in higher value-chain and thus their training objectives are much focused for the growth of the companies. Chapter four concludes the study and suggests a future direction for further growth of the industry in Kolkata. At the end a list of references and two annexures are appended.


Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) are significantly increasing
since the industrial revolution at an accelerating rate causing environmental
impact such as global warming and climate change. Projections indicate that CO2
concentrations will continue to rise to unsustainable levels. This highlights the
scale of the challenge our scientists are facing in order to reduce CO2 emissions
and underpins the importance of promoting green process engineering for the
utilisation of CO2 as a valuable commodity in the process industry. The
transformation of CO2 to value-added chemicals such as organic carbonates
provides a promising technological advancement aimed at reducing CO2
atmospheric concentrations to sustainable levels.
Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is a promising green compound that exhibits versatile
and excellent chemical properties and therefore finds applications as an
intermediate in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. DMC has a high
oxygen content and can be used as an oxygenate additive to gasoline to improve
its performance and reduce exhaust emission. The conventional method for DMC
synthesis involves the utilisation of phosgene as a toxic feedstock. Thus, greener
and more sustainable synthetic processes for the synthesis of DMC are required.
Recently, non-toxic synthetic routes have been explored; these include, oxidative
carbonylation of carbon monoxide (CO), oxygen (O2) and MeOH, direct synthesis
from MeOH and CO2 and the transesterification of cyclic carbonates and
methanol (MeOH). The oxidative carbonylation route suffers from the use of
expensive raw materials and corrosive reagents as well as being hazardous due
to the explosive potential of CO. The direct production of DMC from MeOH and
CO2 offers an attractive and green synthetic route for DMC synthesis. Also, the
synthesis of DMC via the transesterification of cyclic carbonates and MeOH,
where cyclic carbonates can be synthesised from their corresponding epoxides
and CO2, makes the synthesis of DMC via transesterification route more
environmentally friendly and desirable in terms of green chemistry and
sustainable development. Therefore, in this research new greener catalytic
processes for DMC synthesis via addition of MeOH to CO2 route and
transesterification route have been explored.
In this work, several commercially available heterogeneous catalysts such as
ceria and lanthana doped zirconia (Ce–La–Zr–O), ceria doped zirconia (Ce–Zr–
O), lanthana doped zirconia (La–Zr–O), lanthanum oxide (La–O) and zirconium
oxide (Zr–O) have been extensively assessed for the synthesis of DMC. Strongly
coupled graphene based inorganic nanocomposites represent an exciting and
new class of functional materials and therefore the utilisation of graphene oxide
(GO) as a suitable support for metal oxide catalysts has been explored. Ceria
doped zirconia graphene nanocomposites (Ce–Zr/GO) have been synthesised
using conventional wet impregnation methods. Samples of Ce–Zr/GO have been
subjected to heat treatment at various temperatures (773 K, 873 K, 973 K and
1073 K) in an attempt to enhance their catalytic performance. As-prepared Ce–
Zr/GO sample and the corresponding heat treated samples have been assessed
for the direct synthesis for DMC from MeOH and CO2. Furthermore, a new
innovative approach has been employed for synthesising advanced, highly
efficient and active heterogeneous catalysts via utilisation of a continuous
hydrothermal flow synthesis (CHFS) reactor. Tin doped zirconium oxide (Zr–Sn–
O) and tin doped zirconia/graphene nanocomposite (Zr–Sn/GO) have been
assessed as suitable heterogeneous catalysts for the synthesis of DMC via the
transesterification route. The catalysts were characterised using various
analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission
electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET)
surface area measurement.
A heterogeneous catalytic process for the synthesis of DMC has been
investigated using a high pressure reactor. The effect of various reaction
parameters such as the reactant molar ratio, catalyst loading, reaction
temperature, CO2 pressure, reaction time and the use of a dehydrating agent was
studied for the optimisation of DMC synthesis. Reusability studies were
conducted to evaluate the long term stability of the heterogeneous catalysts by
recycling and reusing the catalyst several times for the synthesis of DMC. Tin
doped zirconia graphene oxide (Sn–Zr/GO) nanocomposite catalyst has been
found to be the best performed catalyst for the synthesis of DMC as compared to
other catalysts evaluated in this research work. This can be attributed to the
phase composition and crystallinity of the catalyst along with the defects on the
graphene sheet such as, holes, acid/basic groups and presence of residual which
can provide additional active catalytic sites. Catalyst reusability studies evidently
showed that Sn–Zr/GO nanocomposite can be easily recovered and reused
without any significant reduction in the catalytic performance.
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has track record in helping researchers in
modeling and optimisation of the experimental design for various applications in
food industry, catalysis and chemical reaction engineering. Therefore, it has been
employed to evaluate the relationship between multiple process variables in order
to optimise a specified response (i.e. yield of DMC). RSM using Box-Behneken
design (BBD) was carried out for process modeling and optimisation, with an aim
to better understand the relationship between five operating variables (i.e.
MeOH:PC molar ratio, catalyst loading (w/w), reaction temperature, reaction time
and stirring speed) and their impact on the yield of DMC. A model for the
synthesis of DMC by transesterification of PC and MeOH has been developed
using BBD to compare the experimental data and the predicted results by the
BBD model. Furthermore, regression analysis was applied to establish the
optimum reaction conditions for a maximising DMC synthesis. The BBD model
predicted values are in good agreement with the experimental results.


Abstract Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic/martensitic (FM) steels are promising candidates for structural applications in future fusion power reactors. In order to evaluate the thermal stability of 80% cold-rolled ODS-EUROFER, samples were annealed for 1 h at temperatures up to about 0.9 Tm, where Tm is the absolute melting point. The characterization of the annealed samples was performed using transmission electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. Results show that static recovery is the main softening mechanism of this steel when annealed below 800°C. The volume fraction of recrystallized grains is quite small (below 0.10). Above 900°C, martensitic transformation takes place causing pronounced hardening. Large M23C6 particles are found at the grain boundaries after tempering at 750°C for 2 h.


Abstract ISO15189:2012 requires medical laboratories to document metrological traceability of their results. While the ISO17511:2003 standard on metrological traceability in laboratory medicine requires the use of the highest available level in the traceability chain, it recognizes that for many measurands there is no reference above the manufacturer's selected measurement procedure and the manufacturer's working calibrator. Some immunoassays, although they intend to measure the same quantity and may even refer to the same reference material, unfortunately produce different results because of differences in analytical selectivity as manufacturers select different epitopes and antibodies for the same analyte. In other cases, the cause is the use of reference materials, which are not commutable. The uncertainty associated with the result is another important aspect in metrological traceability implementation. As the measurement uncertainty on the clinical samples is influenced by the uncertainty of all steps higher in the traceability chain, laboratories should be provided with adequate and appropriate information on the uncertainty of the value assignment to the commercial calibrators that they use. Although the between-lot variation in value assignment will manifest itself as part of the long-term imprecision as estimated by the end-user, information on worst-case to be expected lot-lot variation has to be communicated to the end-user by the IVD provider. When laboratories use ancillary equipment that potentially could have a critical contribution to the reported results, such equipment needs verification of its proper calibration and criticality to the result uncertainty could be assessed by an approach based on risk analysis, which is a key element of ISO15189:2012 anyway. This paper discusses how the requirement for metrological traceability as stated in ISO15189 should be met by the medical laboratory and how this should be assessed by accreditation bodies.


Academic critique drives most political ecology scholarship. An engaged and affirmative political ecology, however, is practiced in scholarly, everyday and activist communities. Many academic political ecologists, including some founding figures like Piers Blaikie, take an interest in the ''relevance'' of their work and wish to remain ''engaged'' with the communities and policy actors that their research identifies as vital for positive social and environmental change. A biographical approach provides clues to what makes ''affirmative'' scholarship important and viable. Research engagement, and particularly activism, is desirable but often deemed to be nonconformist by the research culture of Western research universities and organisations. I argue for a more affirmative political ecology, illustrated with examples from research work in an international development project in West Africa. The use of participatory research techniques can reveal injustices, but in this case it was less successful at redressing power imbalances. The more general conclusion is that strong engagement can be effective and satisfying. As environmental problems and injustices worsen, it is essential.


Background: Garcinia daedalanthera is an Indonesian plant where commonly found in Sulawesi, Indonesia and spread out in the forest. Garcinia daedalanthera is one of Clusiaceae family that have been scientifically proven to provideantidiabetic and antioxidant activity but never been examined in pharmacognosy parameters. Pharmacognostical parameters of the leaves were studied with the aim of drawing the pharmacopoeial standards for this species. Methods: The present study was aimed to analysis the pharmacognosy of Garcinia daedalanthera including leaf morphology, microscopic characteristics, physicochemical parameters, phytochemical study, contaminant analysis and FTIR spectrum analysis. Results: The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannin, steroids and phenols.The moisture content was 2.35%, total ash 2.51%, acid insoluble ash 0.05%, total flavonoid and phenolic content were found to be 3.121% and 14.36% (w/w). The level of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were found under the limit (0.357 ppm) and the extract of leaves Garcinia daedalanthera Pierre does not contain bacterial contamination. Conclusion: The data generated from this study would help in standardization for pharmacopoeial and prevent adulteration of leaves extract of Garcinia daedalanthera Pierre and the authentic plant material can be explored for its pharmacological. Key words: Standardization, Garcinia daedalanthera extract, FTIR, Macromicroscopy study, preliminary screening, pharmacognosy study


Lightning has been a major concern to the power system researchers as it may cause
damage to the connected electrical equipment especially to the transmission line. One of
the event that will cause lightning overvoltage and most likely to occur is backflashover.
For that reason, one study has been carried out where values of backflashover rate (BFR)
on a transmission line and probability of transformer damage at substation are observed
due to backflashover. A sample of worst performance of transmission line in Peninsular
Malaysia i.e. 132 kV Kuala Krai-Gua Musang transmission line data was obtained from
Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for the purpose of backflashover analysis. Power
System Computer Aided Design, PSCAD software was used to model integral part of
transmission line components such as insulator gap, tower and footing resistance
followed by doing the backflashover simulation and analysis. Besides that, the effects of
line parameters such as ground resistance, soil resistivity, tower surge impedance, tower height and number of shield wires in lightning performance study were also investigated.
Findings from backflashover analysis of Kuala Krai-Gua Musang transmission line
using PSCAD imply that the values of backflashover rate (BFR) and probability of
transformer damage are influenced by the values of line parameters. Right selection of
line parameters may reduce BFR and probability of transformer damage, thus improve
the transmission line performance. Findings of this research can be useful guideline
towards high voltage transmission line design and planning in Malaysia.


Abstract. Few glaciological field data are available on glaciers in the Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalayan (HKH) region, and remote sensing data are thus critical for glacier studies in this region. The main objectives of this study are to document, using satellite images, the seasonal changes of surface albedo for two Himalayan glaciers, Chhota Shigri Glacier (Himachal Pradesh, India) and Mera Glacier (Everest region, Nepal), and to reconstruct the annual mass balance of these glaciers based on the albedo data. Albedo is retrieved from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images, and evaluated using ground based measurements. At both sites, we find high coefficients of determination between annual minimum albedo averaged over the glacier (AMAAG) and glacier-wide annual mass balance (Ba) measured with the glaciological method (R2 = 0.75). At Chhota Shigri Glacier, the relation between AMAAG found at the end of the ablation season and Ba suggests that AMAAG can be used as a proxy for the maximum snow line altitude or equilibrium line altitude (ELA) on winter-accumulation-type glaciers in the Himalayas. However, for the summer-accumulation-type Mera Glacier, our approach relied on the hypothesis that ELA information is preserved during the monsoon. At Mera Glacier, cloud obscuration and snow accumulation limits the detection of albedo during the monsoon, but snow redistribution and sublimation in the post-monsoon period allows for the calculation of AMAAG. Reconstructed Ba at Chhota Shigri Glacier agrees with mass balances previously reconstructed using a positive degree-day method. Reconstructed Ba at Mera Glacier is affected by heavy cloud cover during the monsoon, which systematically limited our ability to observe AMAAG at the end of the melting period. In addition, the relation between AMAAG and Ba is constrained over a shorter time period for Mera Glacier (6 years) than for Chhota Shigri Glacier (11 years). Thus the mass balance reconstruction is less robust for Mera Glacier than for Chhota Shigri Glacier. However our method shows promising results and may be used to reconstruct the annual mass balance of glaciers with contrasted seasonal cycles in the western part of the HKH mountain range since the early 2000s when MODIS images became available.


Phosphorus (P) is an essential element as plant macronutrition. Approximately all the most important biochemical and assimilation processes relate to phosphorus availability. In the old alfalfa stands the phosphorus availability becomes lower and lower and, consequently, alfalfa forage yield decreases extensively. Thus, in order to study the effect of P on alfalfa recovering rate we compared the combined effect of P and plant growth regulator - gibberllic acid (GA) application in a 3-years-old alfalfa stand, cut three times in year. Sources of P were phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) biofertilizer and triple super phosphate (TSP) fertilizer. Effects on alfalfa were studied after each of the three cuts in a field experiment set up as a split-plot randomized complete block design in four replications in 2011 year in the region of Shazand, Arak, Iran. Phosphorus treatments at 3 levels were applied to the main plots and included P0: control, P1: PSB and P2: TSP. GA levels, applied to the sub-plots, were also in 3 levels; G0: control, G1: 35 ppm of GA and G2: 75 ppm of GA. The results showed that in the third cut, application of TSP had a significant effect on the increase of fresh and dry weight of alfalfa's stem and leaf. GA applied with biological and chemical fertilizers effectively increased forage yield of alfalfa as well. Application of GA in the G2 concentration significantly increased stem yield up to 5.37 t/ha.


A framework for the validation of computational models used to predict seismic response based on observations from seismometer arrays is presented. The framewo rk explicitly accounts for the epistemic uncertainty related to the unknown characteristics of the 'site' (i.e. the problem under consideration) and constitutive model parameters. A mathematical framework which makes use of multiple prediction observation pairs is used to improve the statistical significance of inferences regarding the accuracy and precision of the computational methodology and constitutive model. The benefits of such a formal validation framework include: (i) development of consistent me thods for determination of constitutive model parameters; (ii) rigorous, obj ective and unbiased assessment of the validity of various constitutive models and computational methodologies for various problem types and ground motion intensities; and (iii) an improved understanding of the uncertainties in computational model assumptions, constitutive models and their parameters, relative to other seismic response uncertainties such as ground motion variability.


ABSTRACT This article focuses on vocational learning in technical vocational education in upper-secondary school, with a special focus on the object of learning to weld. A concrete teaching situation where the learning object to weld is the focus of the interaction between a vocational teacher and an upper-secondary student was documented by a video camera and then analysed from two different perspectives: a conversation analytical perspective and a variation theory perspective. The combination of the two perspectives allows a study of learning that deals with issues regarding both form and content, which may increase our understanding of vocational learning in technical vocational education in upper-secondary school.


We analyze social and economic phenomena involving beliefs which people value and invest in, for affective or functional reasons. Individuals are at times uncertain about their own 'deep values' and infer them from their past choices, which then come to define 'who they are'. Identity investments increase when information is scarce or when a greater endowment of some asset (wealth, career, family, culture) raises the stakes on viewing it as valuable (escalating commitments). Taboos against transactions or the mere contemplation of tradeoffs arise to protect fragile beliefs about the 'priceless' value of certain assets (life, freedom, love, faith) or things one 'would never do'. Whether such behaviours are welfare-enhancing or reducing depends on whether beliefs are sought for a functional value (sense of direction, self-discipline) or for 'mental consumption' motives (self-esteem, anticipatory feelings). Escalating commitments can thus lead to a 'hedonic treadmill', and competing identities cause dysfunctional failures to invest in high-return activities (education, adapting to globalization, assimilation), or even the destruction of productive assets. In social interactions, norm violations elicit a forceful response (exclusion, harassment) when they threaten a strongly held identity, but further erode morale when it was initially weak. Concerns for pride, dignity or wishful thinking lead to the inefficient breakdown of Coasian bargaining even under symmetric information, as partners seek to self-enhance and shift blame by turning down 'insultingly low' offers.


Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a potential tool for noninvasive optical tissue diagnosis. Applications of this technique for non-clinical purposes have increased since it has been shown that it can also provide the identification of functional groups, bonding types, and molecular conformations. Moreover, the spectral bands are molecule-specific and provide direct information about the biochemical composition. However, the exploitation of FT-IR spectroscopy for reproductive studies is still limited. The aim of this study was to determine molecular profiles of spermatozoa and seminal plasma from different species to define important peaks present in the natural tissues. The study was based on fresh semen samples from 4 different species (human, bovine, ovine, and porcine). Semen samples were collected and evaluated for concentration and motility parameters. After that, samples were centrifuged and the seminal plasma was transferred to another tube. Spermatozoa were washed three times in PBS and 5 × 106 cells were resuspended in 50 μL of deionized water. Samples of 2 μL from spermatozoa and seminal plasma were placed separately on a gold slide and left to dry for 15 min in air. Spectral data were collected on a FT-IR spectrometer (Model 610; Varian Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA). The absorbance spectra were acquired in reflectance mode at a spectral resolution of 2 cm-1 with 400 scans co-added. Apodization was performed using a triangular function. The system enabled spectra to be acquired from a sample area of approximately 200 μm2 in about 2 min. The preliminary tentative vibrational bands assignment was performed based on literature. Spectral differences among species were statistically validated with principal components analysis and clustering. The main spectral differences among spermatozoa spectral bands were observed in the DNA/RNA (A, B, and Z conformations), glycogen, lipids, fatty acids, cholesterol, and phospholipids vibrational bands. For seminal plasma, main spectral differences were found at the 1500-1700 cm-1 spectral region assigned to protein secondary structure (amide I and amide II). Increasing a-helix, fi-sheet, fi-turn bands assignments suggests the presence of fragmented protein in human, ovine, and porcine seminal plasma spectra. These results suggest compositional similarity among these 3 species compared to the bovine. In conclusion, FT-IR spectroscopy could provide relevant information related to spermatozoa and seminal plasma physiology useful in improving freezing methods and fertility monitoring. More studies will be needed to establish the relationship between spectral features and physiological processes.


Many households in less developed countries suffer from food insecurity which is unreliable access to a sufficient quantity of nutritious food. It is a major cause of malnutrition, and may lead to reduced worker capacity and low productivity. This study examines the impact of nutrient intake on the productivity of rice-producing households in Thailand. There are three objectives: first, to analyse the relationship between nutrient intake and labour productivity; second, to examine factors affecting the nutrition-labour productivity relationship; and third, to study the links between nutrition, labour productivity and food security. Agricultural household models are used to examine decision-making behaviour, namely production, consumption, and labour allocation. The efficiency wage hypothesis is also examined where an increase in nutrient consumption increases labour productivity. Accordingly, labour is determined by caloric consumption, and nutrition affects productivity. The empirical study adopts econometric methods with data from Thailand's Socio-Economic Survey for 2011 for 2,781 rice-farming households. A semi-log wage equation and a CobbDouglas production function are estimated; and a logit model is used to examine the determinants of food security on the production-consumption relationship. Results from the wage equation show that increasing consumption of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C and iron increase household income, while increasing calorie intake reduces income. An increase in the consumption of grains and starches reduces income, whereas extra consumption of meat and poultry, fruits, vegetables and nuts lead to an increase in income. Male household heads earn more than female heads. Higher levels of education, age, the dependency ratio, and farm size increase income. In the production function, all nutrients affect farm productivity positively which supports the efficiency wage hypothesis. The logit results show that income, education, food expenditure, owning livestock, production for ownconsumption, farm size, fertiliser use, and the use of family labour improve food-security; while household size, the dependency ratio, and total household expenditure do not. In conclusion, enhancing micronutrient intake is an investment for improving productivity. The Thai government should focus on building awareness of nutrition in diet and provide dietary guidelines. Food quality and safety standards should be promoted to improve accessibility to nutritious foods. Policies on vitamin and mineral fortification of processed foods, including cooking oils, flours, salt, and sweetness additives, could be designed to improve nutrientcontent.