Summary THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENED THE RACISM CONFERENCE AS THE GLOBAL FORUM in which member states would at last commit to remedying and ultimately eliminating racism and related violations. (1) This report starts and ends with a discussion of the Conference's final document, the purpose of which is to furnish governments and, equally importantly, civil Society with an actionable plan for ending racism in their home countries. The report summarizes major themes of the Racism Conference, discusses the U.S. government's activities in the context of just two of the highly publicized issues (slavery/reparations and "Zionism! racism"), mentions briefly the Conference final document's references to human rights education and to religion, and ends with an update concerning the final document. (2) Introduction Because racism and its related violations affect people everywhere in the world, the United Nations was mandated to plan and implement the third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance (the WCAR/the Conference). South Africa offered to host the U.N. Conference and, along with it, the customary unofficial but affiliated NGO (nongovernmental organizations) Forum in Durban, a bustling city on the shores of the Indian Ocean. The WCAR was scheduled to run from August 31 to September 7; the NGO Forum, from August 28 to September 1. A specially convened Youth Summit was held on August 27, for one day preceding the opening of the NGO Forum. At the NGO Forum, the earlier of the two overlapping conferences, some 7,000 representatives of NGOs participated in hundreds of workshops. The WCAR, opening three days later and attended by more than 2,000 official representatives from 163 governments, was scheduled to close down on September 7, but in fact ended one day past its deadline, on September 8, while Conference delegates struggled to complete the official final document. The Racism Conference's final document, the Durban Declaration and Program for Action, was to follow the pattern of U.N. conferences; that is, final documents are produced that reflect governments' agreements on implementing conference recommendations. Indeed, U.N. conferences' final documents are considered by some the raison d'etre of U.N. conferences. Optimally in this case, the WCAR final document would contain most if not all governments' formal stamp of approval on plans for ending racism and related problems. When the NGO Forum closed its doors, the WCAR was handed its recommendations coming from civil societies around the globe who had met in preparatory drafting conferences. Preparatory conferences had been held over the years prior to August of 2001 on the different continents, in Strasbourg, Santiago, Dakar, and in Tehran, Warsaw, Kathmandu, Cairo, and Quito. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the final Conference document has not been approved for publication. The events of September 11 contribute d to, but were not the main cause for the delay that had already been evident when the Conference closed its doors on September 8. Summary of Issues on the Conference Agenda Reparations: Reparations is an internationally accepted principle that provides for people to be compensated for violations of their human rights. Examples: Groups that have successfully obtained reparations for egregious violations of human rights include victims of the Jewish Holocaust; political prisoners in Argentina; and Japanese-Americans interned during World War II. Race and Gender: Women and girls are marginalized in many ways--by racism and discrimination, as well as through caste, age, language, ethnicity, sexual orientation, culture, religion, ability, and socioeconomic class. Examples: African-American women are the fastest rising U.S. prison population; in the Czech Republic, girls are disproportionately denied access to education; in Palestine, 56 to 62% of those working in the informal sector of the economy--market and street vendors, and home cleaners-are women heads of households. …


Statues and statuettes of reclining banqueters were dedicated at several Ionian sanctuaries during the sixth century B.C.E., beginning with the Geneleos Group at the Samian Heraion. Though common for small bronze and terracotta sculpture, this figure type is not otherwise attested in monumental dedicatory sculpture and is rare as architectural decoration elsewhere in archaic Greece. This article explores the social implications of this Ionian sculptural tradition, which paired the luxury of the reclining banquet with bodily corpulence, in light of archaic poetry and Samian history. The short-lived trend of reclining banqueter dedications may be understood as a locally specific type of aristocratic self-definition and an Ionian corollary to burials on klinai (banquet couches) in neighboring western Asiatic dynastic cultures. These sculptures also challenge conventional distinctions between private and cultic banqueting and illuminate the place of sym-potic culture in archaic Ionian sanctuaries and the social implications of East Greek sculptural style.*


Climate change mitigation strategies, including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are not specifically designed to improve human health but could potentially do so anyway.1,2 A review in this issue of EHP critically examines different models for estimating these so-called co-benefits and highlights improvements that could help assess which mitigation strategies are the most promising for both climate and human health.1

Mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions include shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, reducing energy use and waste, and improving transportation options.3 These strategies may also reduce air pollution, improve water quality, and promote physical activity.1,2,3 Characterizing the potential scope and scale of these health co-benefits can help policy makers prioritize mitigation actions against a backdrop of finite time and resources.

Table 1

Examples of Mitigation Strategies and Selected Co-Benefits/Co-Harms (adapted from Remais et al.1)

In constructing models to estimate co-benefits, experts must consider which health factors to include and how sensitive they are to mitigation actions. They must also consider key methodological issues such as sources of uncertainty and the possibility that some mitigation actions may be accompanied by low-probability events with highly adverse health impacts (e.g., a nuclear power plant disaster). These hypotheticals are challenging to characterize and quantify.

Modelers also must interpret the results, for example, by using discount rates—complex calculations that convert anticipated future intervention costs, impacts on the climate, adverse health effects, and health cost savings, to their present-day value. "Discount rates are central to all decisions with long-term implications, and the co-benefits of mitigation activities have multiple costs and benefits distributed over time," says lead author Justin Remais, an associate professor in environmental health at Emory University. "We need to consistently account for the relative value of near-term versus long-term benefits and costs."

But choosing an appropriate discount rate is challenging because it is based on a number of unknowns, including future generations' wealth. The rate must also accommodate the social values of the current generation—for instance, how much people are willing to sacrifice their own comfort for an uncertain benefit to their descendents.

Discount rates currently are not applied consistently across co-benefit models, something the authors recommend changing. They also suggest that policy makers be involved from the outset in developing models. Finally, they recommend that co-benefits modelers evaluate mitigation strategies on the basis of many criteria simultaneously, including not just health and climate impacts but also economic growth and political acceptability.

"[This review] is a logical extension of the earlier range-finding papers published in The Lancet several years ago,2 featuring the health co-benefits idea and the related public health and economics arguments," says Anthony McMichael, professor emeritus at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, who was not involved in the study. "The discounting issue is particularly important and will make a great difference to the estimated longer-term cost-benefits," he says. McMichael also highlights inclusion of water impacts and potential health co-harms as welcome additions to models, although uncertainties continue to be a problematic, yet unavoidable issue.

The need for rigorous co-benefits research and modeling is increasingly urgent because many significant mitigation policy decisions will be made worldwide in the next decade. "Policy makers need relevant, credible, and useful information regarding potential health impacts to inform these decisions," Remais says. "Models that estimate the health co-benefits and co-harms of mitigation strategies can play a key role."


The paper examines the extent of apprenticeships in the first job for a cohort of young men entering the labour market at age 16 in the late 1970s. The impact of the apprenticeship on employment duration and early labour market mobility is estimated. The data set used is the National Child Development Study. The conditional logit estimates of the probability of starting an apprenticeship indicate that apprenticeships were found in a core of industries, in large firms, and were associated with higher-ability workers. There were no significant differences between apprenticeship provision in the public and private sectors. Competing risks models of the hazards of exit from the first job into a number of competing destinations are also estimated. Estimates from models with and without explicitly modelling the timing of training produce broadly similar results. Completed apprenticeships reduced the exit rate to each destination, while terminated apprenticeships increased each exit rate, relative to the base of no training. The finding for completed apprenticeships suggests that both employers and apprenticed youths wished to continue the employment relationship. Employers were relatively more likely to retain trained workers, since involuntary layoffs were reduced by completed apprenticeships. Moreover, trained workers were relatively more likely to want to stay, since voluntary quits were reduced by completed apprenticeships.


Vital signs, such as respiration and heartbeat, are useful for health monitoring because such signals provide important clues of medical conditions. Effective solutions are needed to provide contact-free, easy deployment, low-cost, and long-term vital sign monitoring. In this article, we present PhaseBeat to exploit channel state information, in particular, phase difference data to monitor breathing and heart rates with commodity WiFi devices. We provide a rigorous analysis of channel state information phase difference with respect to its stability and periodicity. Based on the analysis, we design and implement the PhaseBeat system with off-the-shelf WiFi devices and conduct an extensive experimental study to validate its performance. Our experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of PhaseBeat over existing approaches in various indoor environments.


Background : An accurate tool with good discrimination for bleeding would be useful to clinicians for improved management of all their patients. Bleeding risk models have been published but not externally validated in independent clinical dataset. We chose the NCDR PCI score to validate within a large, multi-site community datasets. The aim of the study was to determine the diagnostic utility of this bleeding risk score tool. Methods : This is a large-scale retrospective analysis utilizing American College of Cardiology data from a 37-hospital health system. The central repository of PCI procedures between 6-1-2009 and 6-30-2012 was utilized to validate the NCDR PCI bleeding risk score (BRS) among 4693 patients. The primary endpoint was major bleeding. Discriminant analysis calculating the receiver operating characteristic curve was performed. Results : There were 143 (3.0%) major bleeds. Mean bleeding risk score was 14.7 (range 3 – 42). Incidence of bleeding by risk category: low (0.5%), intermediate (1.7%), and high risk (7.6%). Patients given heparin had 113 (3.7%) major bleeds and those given bivalirudin had 30 (2.1%) major bleeds. Tool accuracy was poor to fair (AUC 0.78 heparin, 0.65 bivalirudin). Overall accuracy was 0.71 (CI: 0.66-0.76). Accuracy did not improve when confined to just the intermediate risk group (AUC 0.58; CI: 0.55-0.67). Conclusion : Bleeding risk tools have low predictive value. Adjustment for anticoagulation use resulted in poor discrimination because bivalirudin differentially biases outcomes toward no bleeding. The current state of bleeding risk tools provides little support for diagnostic utility in regards to major bleeding and therefore have limited clinical applicability.


Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) worsens with multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses and disease progression. Common symptoms including depression and fatigue may contribute to poor HRQoL. Objectives: To report exploratory analyses assessing the impact of fingolimod (FTY720) on HRQoL and depression in a phase II study of relapsing MS. Methods: The Hamburg Quality of Life Questionnaire in MS (HAQUAMS) and Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II) scores were assessed during a 6-month, placebo-controlled study and optional extension. Results: HAQUAMS total score improved with fingolimod and worsened with placebo. Mean score change from baseline to month 6 was −0.02 with fingolimod 1.25 mg (p < 0.05 versus placebo), −0.01 with fingolimod 5.0 mg and + 0.12 with placebo. Categorical data supported a clinically important effect of fingolimod on HRQoL. Fingolimod 1.25 mg was also beneficial over placebo in the fatigue/thinking HAQUAMS sub-domain (p < 0.05 versus placebo). Change in mean BDI-II scores from baseline to month 6 and the proportion of patients with BDI-II scores indicative of clinical depression favored fingolimod 1.25 mg over placebo (p < 0.05 for both). At month 4, mean BDI-II and HAQUAMS total scores appeared to be maintained in fingolimod-treated patients. Conclusion: Fingolimod 1.25 mg may improve HRQoL and depression at 6 onths compared with placebo in patients with relapsing MS.


The kelenteng was used by three traditional religions brought by Chinese traders, namely Tao, Khonghucu and Buddhism which then together named Sam Kouw (Tri Darma) The kelenteng Sam Kouw had many worshiped sculptures to which their worship ritualwas based. The kelenteng was taken care by a suhu acted as a mediator during the worship. Due to his role in worship, the Suhu and his family also stayed in the kelenteng.Based on that phenomenon, this research is focused on the rooms usage in kelenteng as a place of interaction of both worship and household routines. This research applies naturalistic qualitative methodology. The researcher played as the main instrument in collecting the data by observation, interview. The data gained during the research was formulated to some topics analyzed inductively before the researcher conducted an inter -topic dialog.. Thi s researched was conducted in three objects with cross sectional method to strengthen the data and sharpen the focus of observation. The three objects are: 1) Kelenteng T'ien Kok Sie in Ketandan; 2) Kelenteng Poo An Kiong in Coyudan, and 3) Cetiya Ksiti Garbha in Srambatan  The result of the research shows that kelenteng Sam Kouw has a public worship room in front of kelenteng , has a particular worship room in behind of kelenteng , and always has a meditation room that has always perpendicular a prominent god altar.


BACKGROUND
We have previously reported on single-port thymectomy (SPT), which involves performing thymectomy via a single subxiphoid incision, and trans-subxiphoid robotic thymectomy (TRT), which is performed using the da Vinci surgical system. The aim of this study was to investigate the early surgical outcomes of thymectomy using the SPT and TRT subxiphoid approaches and to discuss their appropriate uses.

METHODS
The subjects included 80 patients who underwent thymectomy via a subxiphoid approach. These patients were selected from among 99 surgical cases of myasthenia gravis or anterior mediastinal tumors at Fujita Health University Hospital between March 2011 and November 2015. The patients were divided into a SPT group (n=72) and a TRT group (n=8).

RESULTS
The operative time was shorter in the SPT group compared with that in the TRT group (135±48 and 20±40 min, respectively; P=0.0004). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of blood loss volume (5.9±16.8 and 5.4±4.6 mL, respectively; P=0.48), postoperative hospital stay duration (4.0±2.0 and 4.3±3.6 days, respectively; P=0.21), or the period of postoperative oral analgesic use (10.7±5.4 and 10.1±3.4 days, respectively; P=0.89). There were no intraoperative complications, such as intraoperative bleeding, in either group. In the SPT group, there was one case (1.4%) of postoperative left phrenic nerve paralysis and one case (1.4%) of transient paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. No one died during or after the surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
TRT may be as equally minimally invasive as SPT. In cases where the thymoma has infiltrated the surrounding organs, the extent of the infiltration should be used to determine whether to select TRT, or median sternotomy.


OBJECTIVES
This study assessed and compared the prevalence and severity of dental caries and the prevalence of periodontal disease among pregnant and nonpregnant women of reproductive age (15-44 years) using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES (1999-2004).

METHODS
Estimates were derived from a sample of 897 pregnant women and 3,971 nonpregnant women. Chi-square and two-sample t-tests were used to assess differences between groups stratified by age, race/ethnicity, education, and poverty. Bonferroni method was applied to adjust for multiple comparisons.

RESULTS
In general, there were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence estimates of dental caries and periodontal disease between pregnant women and nonpregnant women. However, results showed significant differences when stratified by sociodemographic characteristics. For example, the prevalence of untreated dental caries among women aged 15-24 years was significantly higher in pregnant women than in nonpregnant women (41 percent versus 24 percent, P = 0.001). Regardless of their pregnancy status, racial/ethnic minorities or women with less education or lower family income had higher prevalence of untreated dental caries, severity of dental caries, and periodontal disease compared to the respective reference groups of non-Hispanic whites or women with more education or higher family income.

CONCLUSION
Results of this study show few clinical differences in dental caries and periodontal disease between pregnant and nonpregnant women but persistent disparities by sociodemographic characteristics. In order to reduce oral health disparities in the United States, it is important to improve access to oral health care particularly among vulnerable groups. Integrating oral health into the overall health care could benefit and improve women's oral health outcomes.


We design and construct a new type of solid-state electrochromic batteries powered by perovskite solar cells for smart windows. In addition to optical modulation, this integrated system can exhibit multifunctionality of solar energy harvesting, electrochemical energy storage and reutilization. The solid-state electrochromic batteries are composed of a reduced graphene (rGO)-connected bilayer NiO nanoflake array cathode and a WO3 nanowire array anode. The charge storage and release are accompanied by color changes (between transparent and blue) and relatively fast (2.5–2.6 s) and large optical modulation (up to 62% at the infrared range, 1000–2000 nm). The electrochromic batteries can act as a power source and exhibit a capacity of 75 mA h g−1 at 1 A g−1 and good cycling life.


Less than one hundred years ago Paul Bert discovered that oxygen at raised pressures was injurious to a wide range of organisms and, in a number of experiments conducted over several years, he investigated this and other problems which form the basis for what has subsequently become high-pressure physiology. It seems however that the large amount of research which has been done in an attempt to understand the nature of oxygen poisoning has touted to confuse the original simple view of oxygen as a universal poison. A very large number of reactions which depend upon enzymes are adversely affected by raised pressures of oxygen, sufficient indeed to make it likely that the 'cause' of oxygen poisoning will not be found, in the sense that no single critical reaction will be identified as giving rise to any one of the various toxic manifestations. Instead the emphasis must be upon studying the way in which cellular metabolism is modified and finally disrupted by raised pressures of oxygen; and in particular by trying to identity the rate-limiting step within the complex of reactions. The present work has been upon one aspect of oxygen toxicity, namely the development of convulsions in mice which have been exposed to raised pressures of oxygen. These experiments have been based upon two hypotheses; the first of these was that the dose-response relationship was related to the dynamics of the underlying biochemical processes and particularly, that the rate at which toxic signs developed would be determined by whichever reaction was rate-limiting. Attempts to correlate biochemical and physiological information have not so far been possible since there hare been no estimates available of the rate at which toxicity develops. The first task was therefore to define as accurately as possible the dose-response relationship between the ambient oxygen pressure and the time taken for convulsions to appear, and then, by dividing each exposure into two parts, to attempt to measure the rate at which toxicity develops. The second hypothesis was that the time to convulsions was not uniquely determined by the partial pressure of oxygen inspired and hence that the convulsion time would be modified by the presence of other respirable gases. Since it was thought that the nature of such modifications would give further information about the process which leads to convulsions, the interactions between oxygen and other gases, name, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Nitrogen and Helium therefore form the second part of this work. The first notable feature of oxygen convulsions in mice was that at least two types of convulsion were distinguishable. The first type, referred to as minor convulsions, tended to occur early, was of short duration and was minor in intensity, while the second tended to occur later, was more prolonged and more violent and was called a major convulsion. A few animals showed chronic rolling movements after relatively long exposures. The second point of importance was that, for any particular oxygen pressure, convulsions in mice were found to be distributed in a skew manner. This could however be converted to a normal distribution by a logarithmic transformation, which also had the desirable feature that the standard deviation of the transformed results was independent of the mean, unlike the untransformed data. Consideration of the dose-response curve led to an approximate relationship in which the product of the ambient oxygen pressure and the mean logarithmic convulsion time for that pressure was found to be constant. A similar relationship was also found to describe the occurrence of minor convulsions and the relationship between minor and major convulsions expressed as the ratio between the slopes of the respective dose-response lines. When an initial exposure, short of convulsions, was immediately followed by a second exposure leading to convulsions, such divided exposures were found to be additive; that is, the parts were capable of being described by the same mathematical relationship as the whole. These divided exposures also led to the definition of a provoked threshold which for mice was at the pressure of about 3 atm. of oxygen. Exposure to pressures above this threshold shortened subsequent exposures, while exposures below the threshold had not detectable effect upon subsequent exposures. Other experiments using divided exposures, in which the time of the first exposure was varied, were interpreted as showing that the process leading to convulsions was, as a first approximation, exponential in form and that its rate was proportional to the ambient oxygen pressure. Estimates for the half-time of this process at 3 atm. and 4 atm. were 35 mins. and 22 mins. respectively. The first interaction to be investigated was that between oxygen and carbon dioxide and the results obtained were found to be in agreement with the findings of Marshall and Lambertsen (1961), since carbon dioxide at low levels hastened the onset of convulsions, although at high levels no significant effect could be demonstrated. This would seem to be consistent with the view that high carbon dioxide levels protect against convulsions and would point to a cross-over point at about 7 atm. of oxygen for carbon dioxide levels of 0.03-0.07 atm. Similar results were obtained for nitrogen, these tow gases, carbon dioxide and nitrogen both changed the slope and the intercept of the dose-response line as is shown diagrammatically in Figure 17. While the mechanism of action is not known it is speculated that both may lead to changes in intracellular pH. at lower concentrations, while at higher concentrations the anaesthetic properties of these gases may preponderate. The evidence obtained from the interaction with nitrous oxide seemed to show that more than one type of interaction was possible, since this gas altered the slope of the dose-response line. 0.54 atm. of N 2 O gave a marked protection against convulsions, but did not appreciably alter the intercept. Helium was found to produce a marked acceleration in the onset of oxygen convulsions, bat no evidence was found for any convulsant action of helium itself, since supra-liminal oxygen pressures were necessary in order to show the effects of helium. The magnitude of the effect, judged by the change in slope of the dose-response time, was proportional to the helium partial pressure; hence the possibility has been considered that this effect was due not to any physiological action of helium, but rather to the effects of pressure 'per se'. The significance of the threshold, i.e. the minimum effective pressure to produce convulsions and the minimum response time, has been discussed. Two possible mechanisms to account for the threshold were considered. The first of these depends upon the fact that the tissue oxygen consumption tends to keep the tissue oxygen tension within normal limits until the total quantity of oxygen supplied exceeds the quantity being consumed. The second possibility which was considered was that of a competing recovery process which removed some product of the convulsion-producing reaction at a rate different from that at which it was produced. While on balance the first explanation was thought more likely, recovery undoubtedly does occur, and both may therefore be involved. Regarding the minimum response time, this was thought to be a simple consequence of the rate of the process to convulsions reaching a value; although the reason for this is not obvious, it was suggested that it might be due to the progressive inactivation of enzymes by oxygen at pressure. Consideration of the possible sites of action of oxygen in producing convulsions may perhaps be premature, since it is uncertain whether the convulsions represent a generalised reaction of brain tissue or whether there are particularly sensitive areas on the basal ganglia from which the convulsions originate. It was thought however that there was sufficient evidence to show that oxygen acts by disturbing cellular oxidations to make the choice of the mitochondrion, as the site of action, not unlikely. Using the previous assumption and available data, an estimate was made of the toxic level of oxygen in the brain of man as being of the order of 40-85 min. Hg. at the mitochondria, or 70-100 min. Hg. in the venous blood. It was shown that the dose-response curve might be interpreted as resulting from a process leading to convulsions. It was further suggested that this hypothetical process to convulsions represented the rate-limiting step of a cyclic or chain reaction involved in tissue oxidations and that the kinetics of this process might help to identify the site or sites at which oxygen acts to produce convulsions. The existence of interactions between oxygen and other gases has been confirmed and it has been suggested that these interactions may represent interference with tissue oxidations either at the same sites as those involved in oxygen toxicity or at adjacent sites. The evidence suggested that there were two principal modes of interaction, the first represented by the anaesthetic gases and the second by the action of helium, although alterations in intra-cellular pH. may also be of some importance.


International sanctions, which commonly seek to engineer target state compliance with human rights norms, often fail to deliver on their objectives. In recent years, however, a fresh approach has emerged through the rise of international justice, which can act as either a complement or an alternative to sanctions. In this article, the authors develop three hypotheses. Political change will be facilitated by: (1) lifting sanctions; (2) guarantees of non-prosecution; or (3) lifting sanctions combined with guarantees of non-prosecution. The authors test the hypotheses on Myanmar, a country that has long been subject to international sanctions, but that has rarely complied with human rights norms. Myanmar is also situated in a region where international justice is currently being applied through prosecution of former Khmer Rouge leaders in Cambodia. The authors' test was undertaken in June 2010 through a vignette-based expert survey that manipulated international sanctions, international justice and their absence in a 2 x 2 factorial design. The findings point to the need for a consistent approach. Lifting sanctions and guarantees of non-prosecution, when applied in tandem, are thought likely to promote political change. At the other extreme, imposing sanctions and prosecuting state leaders, when done together, are also viewed as facilitators of political change, though support is considerably smaller.


ABSTRACT Extensive and well-preserved tracksites in the coastally exposed Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Dampier Peninsula provide almost the entire fossil record of dinosaurs from the western half of the Australian continent. Tracks near the town of Broome were described in the late 1960s as Megalosauropus broomensis and attributed to a medium-sized theropod trackmaker. Brief reports in the early 1990s suggested the occurrence of at least another nine types of tracks, referable to theropod, sauropod, ornithopod, and thyreophoran trackmakers, at scattered tracksites spread over more than 80 km of coastline north of Broome, potentially representing one of the world's most diverse dinosaurian ichnofaunas. More recently, it has been proposed that this number could be as high as 16 and that the sites are spread over more than 200 km. However, the only substantial research that has been published on these more recent discoveries is a preliminary study of the sauropod tracks and an account of the ways in which the heavy passage of sauropod trackmakers may have shaped the Dampier Peninsula's Early Cretaceous landscape. With the other types of dinosaurian tracks in the Broome Sandstone remaining undescribed, and the full extent and nature of the Dampier Peninsula's dinosaurian tracksites yet to be adequately addressed, the overall scientific significance of the ichnofauna has remained enigmatic. At the request of the area's Goolarabooloo Traditional Custodians, 400C hours of ichnological survey work was undertaken from 2011 to 2016 on the 25 km stretch of coastline in the Yanijarri-Lurujarri section of the Dampier Peninsula, inclusive of the coastline at Walmadany (James Price Point). Forty-eight discrete dinosaurian tracksites were identified in this area, and thousands of tracks were examined and measured in situ and using three-dimensional photogrammetry. Tracksites were concentrated in three main areas along the coast: Yanijarri in the north, Walmadany in the middle, and Kardilakan-Jajal Buru in the south. Lithofacies analysis revealed 16 repeated facies types that occurred in three distinctive lithofacies associations, indicative of an environmental transgression between the distal fluvial to deltaic portions of a large braid plain, with migrating sand bodies and periodic sheet floods. The main dinosaurian track-bearing horizons seem to have been generated between periodic sheet floods that blanketed the preexisting sand bodies within the braid plain portion of a tidally influenced delta, with much of the original, gently undulating topography now preserved over large expanses of the present day intertidal reef system. Of the tracks examined, 150 could be identified and are assignable to a least eleven and possibly as many as 21 different track types: five different types of theropod tracks, at least six types of sauropod tracks, four types of ornithopod tracks, and six types of thyreophoran tracks. Eleven of these track types can formally be assigned or compared to existing or new ichnotaxa, whereas the remaining ten represent morphotypes that, although distinct, are currently too poorly represented to confidently assign to existing or new ichnotaxa. Among the ichnotaxa that we have recognized, only two (Megalosauropus broomensis and Wintonopus latomorum) belong to existing ichnotaxa, and two compare to existing ichnotaxa but display a suite of morphological features suggesting that they may be distinct in their own right and are therefore placed in open nomenclature. Six of the ichnotaxa that we have identified are new: one theropod ichnotaxon, Yangtzepus clarkei, ichnosp. nov.; one sauropod ichnotaxon, Oobardjidama foulkesi, ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov.; two ornithopod ichnotaxa, Wintonopus middletonae, ichnosp. nov., and Walmadanyichnus hunteri, ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov.; and two thyreophoran ichnotaxa, Garbina roeorum, ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov., and Luluichnus mueckei, ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. The level of diversity of the main track types is comparable across areas where tracksites are concentrated: Kardilakan-Jajal Buru (12), Walmadany (11), and Yanijarri (10). The overall diversity of the dinosaurian ichnofauna of the Broome Sandstone in the Yanijarri-Lurujarri section of the Dampier Peninsula is unparalleled in Australia, and even globally. In addition to being the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half of Australia, this ichnofauna provides our only detailed glimpse of Australia's dinosaurian fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous. It indicates that the general composition of Australia's mid-Cretaceous dinosaurian fauna was already in place by the Valanginian-Barremian. Both sauropods and ornithopods were diverse and abundant, and thyreophorans were the only type of quadrupedal ornithischians. Important aspects of the fauna that are not seen in the Australian mid-Cretaceous body fossil record are the presence of stegosaurians, an overall higher diversity of thyreophorans and theropods, and the presence of large-bodied hadrosauroid-like ornithopods and very large-bodied sauropods. In many respects, these differences suggest a holdover from the Late Jurassic, when the majority of dinosaurian clades had a more cosmopolitan distribution prior to the fragmentation of Pangea. Although the record for the Lower Cretaceous of Gondwana is sparse, a similar mix of taxa occurs in the Barremian-lower Aptian La Amarga Formation of Argentina and the Berriasian-Hauterivian Kirkwood Formation of South Africa. The persistence of this fauna across the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary in South America, Africa, and Australia might be characteristic of Gondwanan dinosaurian faunas more broadly. It suggests that the extinction event that affected Laurasian dinosaurian faunas across the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary may not have been as extreme in Gondwana, and this difference may have foreshadowed the onset of Laurasian-Eurogondwanan provincialism. The disappearance of stegosaurians and the apparent drop in diversity of theropods by the mid-Cretaceous suggests that, similar to South America, Australia passed through a period of faunal turnover between the Valanginian and Aptian.


Most of the participants in the internet discussion forums, the Kava Bowl and the Kamehameha Roundtable, herald from the South Pacific islands of Tonga and Samoa. These forums are part of a cluster of popular online meeting places for the 'Polynesian Diaspora' and other people from the Pacific Islands who live in the USA, Australia and New Zealand for the most part. They have been going strong since the mid-1990s, nearly as long as the worldwide web. One of the most recurring topics in the discussions is the nature of Tongan and/or Samoan 'identity' and how this relates to 'living overseas'. In these discussions, participants - many of whom are of 'mixed race' - exchange personal experiences, political opinions, emotional and intellectual expectations about the outer and inner limits of race/ethnicity, and/or culture in their everyday lives. This article reconstructs several of the more substantial debates on the meaning and implications of 'identity' that show how these generations of the postcolonial South Pacific Islands are (re)defining what it means to be Tongan, Samoan - Polynesian - in a diasporic context. Discussions revolve around several axes; the personal and political issues of race (ethnicity) as everyday embodiments; Tongan/Samoan and Pacific Island cultures as negotiable rather than fixed practices; ways of turning colonialist categories for Pacific Island societies, such as 'Polynesian', into futurist tropes for communities who are often socioeconomically disadvantaged and discriminated against both 'at home' and 'overseas'. As they argue, write, read, send emails and interact with one another on and offline, the creators of thousands of interwoven online texts over the years have been articulating 'race' and 'culture' on their own terms. They have been doing so in the public cyberspaces of the worldwide web, tracing, as they come and go, a nascent postcolonial politics of representation.


Abstract. Climate models' outputs are affected by biases that need to be detected and adjusted to model climate impacts. Many climate hazards and climate-related impacts are associated with the interaction between multiple drivers, i.e. by compound events. So far climate model biases are typically assessed based on the hazard of interest, and it is unclear how much a potential bias in the dependence of the hazard drivers contributes to the overall bias and how the biases in the drivers interact. Here, based on copula theory, we develop a multivariate bias-assessment framework, which allows for disentangling the biases in hazard indicators in terms of the underlying univariate drivers and their statistical dependence. Based on this framework, we dissect biases in fire and heat stress hazards in a suite of global climate models by considering two simplified hazard
indicators: the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and the Chandler burning index (CBI). Both indices solely rely on temperature and relative humidity. The spatial pattern of the hazard indicators is well represented by climate models. However, substantial biases exist in the representation of extreme conditions, especially in the CBI (spatial average of absolute bias: 21 ∘C) due to the biases driven by relative humidity (20 ∘C). Biases in WBGT (1.1 ∘C) are small compared to the biases driven by temperature (1.9 ∘C) and relative humidity (1.4 ∘C), as the two biases compensate for each other. In many regions, also biases related to the statistical dependence (0.85 ∘C) are important for WBGT, which indicates that well-designed physically based multivariate bias adjustment procedures should be considered for hazards and impacts that depend on multiple drivers. The proposed compound-event-oriented evaluation of climate model biases is easily applicable to other hazard types. Furthermore, it can contribute to improved present and future risk assessments through increasing our understanding of the biases' sources in the simulation of climate impacts.


Background: There is continued controversy related to flexibility gains from different stretching protocols and within single protocols. Stretching methods include static, ballistic, dynamic, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). A combination of stretching methods may be an improved way to increase active knee range of motion (ROM). This study evaluated a single program formulated with static and ballistic components. Objective: To compare active knee ROM following stretching programs which either included combined static and ballistic stretching (CSBS) or static stretching (SS) alone. It was hypothesized that CSBS would show a greater increase in active knee ROM than SS. Setting: The pre- and post- measurements were performed in a laboratory. Subjects were randomly assigned to either treatment group or a non-stretching control group and given written instructions on how to perform their designated protocol at home. Subjects: Forty-three (33M, 10F) healthy collegiate aged participants (24.0 + 3.69 yrs, 176.21 + 10.0 cm, 78.15 + 12.93 kg) with no history of injury to the lower extremity or low back for the previous 6 months were eligible to participate in the study. Interventions: Two treatment groups either performed SS or CSBS for 30 seconds on each leg, twice a day for 2 weeks. All subjects but 3 provided both legs, and each leg was evaluated separately, providing 83 total measurements. Main Outcome Measures: A Johnson Digital Inclinometer was used to measure active knee extension. A mixed ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test was used for statistical analysis. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in active knee ROM between groups at the pre-test, F(2,80)=1.062, p=.351, partial ƞ2=.026 (SS: 52.56 + 7.50º, CSBS: 49.84 + 8.91⁰, control: 49.39 + 10.09⁰). There was a statistically significant difference in active knee ROM between groups at the post-test, F(2,80)=29.034, p .05). There was homogeneity of covariance's, as assessed by Box's test of equality of covariance matrices (p = .076). There was homogeneity of variances, as assessed by Levene's test of homogeneity of variance (p>.05). Conclusions: SS and CSBS are equally effective for improving active knee ROM. A trend indicating CSBS showing only slightly greater differences may be due to limited time allowed to master the CSBS method, with no supervision during stretching sessions.


We present photon beam diffusion, an efficient numerical method for accurately rendering translucent materials. Our approach interprets incident light as a continuous beam of photons inside the material. Numerically integrating diffusion from such extended sources has long been assumed computationally prohibitive, leading to the ubiquitous single‐depth dipole approximation and the recent analytic sum‐of‐Gaussians approach employed by Quantized Diffusion. In this paper, we show that numerical integration of the extended beam is not only feasible, but provides increased speed, flexibility, numerical stability, and ease of implementation, while retaining the benefits of previous approaches. We leverage the improved diffusion model, but propose an efficient and numerically stable Monte Carlo integration scheme that gives equivalent results using only 3–5 samples instead of 20–60 Gaussians as in previous work. Our method can account for finite and multi‐layer materials, and additionally supports directional incident effects at surfaces. We also propose a novel diffuse exact single‐scattering term which can be integrated in tandem with the multi‐scattering approximation. Our numerical approach furthermore allows us to easily correct inaccuracies of the diffusion model and even combine it with more general Monte Carlo rendering algorithms. We provide practical details necessary for efficient implementation, and demonstrate the versatility of our technique by incorporating it on top of several rendering algorithms in both research and production rendering systems.


I. INTRODUCTION Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the 7000 Muslims in Taganrog, a city in southern Russia, "have had nowhere to meet."1 When the "community applied for permission to build a mosque, the city administration offered a plot of land."2 After construction began, however, the non-Muslim community began expressing fears and concerns, sometimes violently.3 As local elections approached, "[T]he Cossacks issued an open letter saying they would only support a candidate opposing construction of the mosque."4 Finally, the regional administration called a meeting to resolve the problem. Despite agreeing that religious groups have the right to build places of worship, the administration, "bowing to public unease, . . . agreed the mosque should be built without a minaret so that it would not be obvious as a mosque."5 While Russia guarantees its citizens religious freedom, the unfortunate reality, as seen in this example, is that religious freedom is often sacrificed to the whims and prejudices of various authorities, especially when pressured by political majorities. In 1997, the Russian Federation passed a new law on freedom of conscience.6 Many people in the West have concentrated on how this law affects religious freedom in Russia and the ability of non traditional Christian religious groups to proselyte and operate in Russia.7 Few people have focused on how this law affects nonChristian religious practices such as Islam. Though Muslims have historically played important roles in the development of Russian history, culture, and politics, they have experienced state-sponsored discrimination and repression. Currently, the government officially supports the existence of Islam in the country; however, treatment of Muslims by government officials indicates that intolerant attitudes still exist. The main obstacle for Islam under the new law is not the law itself, but how the law is applied in connection with historical and contemporary perceptions and prejudices about Muslims. To provide a background for understanding current perceptions of Islam in Russia, Part II briefly explains the history of Islam in Russia. Next, Part III examines the contemporary laws of the Russian Federation enacted to protect and regulate freedom of conscience and religion. Part IV provides a brief description of the organization of Islam in Russia and discusses the treatment of Muslims in different areas of the country. Part V suggests three main areas of concern that Russia should address in order to assuage the Islamic community's concerns and avoid what the government fears most-a rebellion of the Islamic population, the likes of which have not been seen since Pugachev.' This paper concludes in Part VI that while the Muslim population is stable and loyal to the Russian government, the situation could change quickly, especially if the government continues to allow police persecution of ethnic Muslims and the repression of all Muslims in order to control extremism and terrorism. II. HISTORY OF ISLAM IN RUSSIA From its modest beginnings over a thousand years ago, Islam has become a very large movement in Russia. Official state treatment of Islam varied over the course of time according to who was in power. Under the tsars, Muslims received some official recognition. The Soviets, after initially ignoring the Muslims, sought to eliminate Islam along with all other religions. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Islam has experienced a rebirth. This rebirth shows that, as a religious minority, Muslims will have an important voice in Russia's future. A. Russia and Islam Under the Tsars Only twenty years after it was founded in what is now Saudi Arabia, Islam came to Dagestan as the result of conquest by Arab Muslims.9 Conversion of the people along the Volga River (Tatarstan) occurred in the ninth century. In A.D. 922, the Volga Bulgars, the ancestors of the Tatars, adopted Islam. …


Many of Indonesian main manufacturing industries based on agriculture should be more responsive to the challenging domestic and global strategic environment, including the newly emerging ASEAN economic community (AEC) which will be effectively implemented by the end of 2015. Dairy industry in Indonesia is a very potential business to play significant role in the ASEAN market based on the existing dairy population, feed resources and the number of dairy farmers. Recently, small and medium enterprise (SME) model in Java has been developed for processing milk. They provide higher farm gate prices under partnership agreement which created a good benchmark and business model for the future dairy industry to adopt. This new attractive business environment gives higher return to the farmers as opposed to the tradition of paying low farm gate milk prices. As feed represents 80% of the total production cost, special attention must be given to land availability to increase feed supply in terms of quality and quantity. Consequently, sustainable support from both central and local government is very critical to keep the partnership model between farmers and the SME milk processing. It also opens new opportunity to increase the linkage more closely between producers and milk processing plants.


Abstract Existentialist thinkers often publicly acknowledged Husserl's phenomenology as one of their main points of departure for treatment of such themes as intentionality, comportment, transcendence, and the lifeworld. Several central elements of Husserl's approach were adopted by the Existentialists, but equal to their gratitude were vigorous declamations of Husserl's mistakes, dead-ends and failures. Many of the Existentialists' criticisms of Husserl's project are well-known and have been rehearsed in various surveys of 20th century thought, but less well-remarked are the discrepancies between their complaints about Husserl's aborted achievements and what Husserl actually delivered. This paper attempts to uncover the accuracy of some of their assessments of Husserl's alleged failures and mistakes, whether or not Husserl actually held the position they claim he did, and especially whether or not Husserl was himself aware of some deficiency in his thematic analysis, and thus would have been able to offer a cogent response to critique. In doing so, a good case can be made that Heidegger, for example, quietly adopted some of Husserl's main insights without credit, slanted his picture of Husserl's work so that his own reversals had better purchase, or overlooked evidence that Husserl had already moved beyond that position. At least on some key topics, Husserl emerges as an exceptionally self-critical philosopher who had already gained the perspective more usually associated with an Existentialist orientation.


Primiparous sows (n = 36) were used to evaluate the effects of dietary lysine intake in lactation on follicular development and oocyte maturation after weaning. Sows were assigned randomly to one of three diets containing .4% (low lysine, LL), 1.0% (medium lysine, ML), or 1.6% (high lysine, HL) total lysine. All diets contained 2.1 Mcal NE/kg and exceeded NRC (1988) requirements for all other nutrients. Actual lysine intakes over an 18-d lactation were 16, 36, and 56 g/d for sows consuming LL, ML, and HL, respectively. Ovarian data were analyzed for sows determined to have been slaughtered during the first proestrus period after weaning, using previously established criteria. Compared with sows fed ML and HL, sows fed LL tended to have lower uterine weight, follicular fluid volume, and follicular fluid (FF) estradiol (E2) content (P < .15), but similar ovarian weight and follicular fluid IGF-I concentration. Within the largest 15 preovulatory follicles, sows fed LL had a lower percentage of large (> or = 7.0 mm) follicles (33 vs 50 and 58%; P < .01) and a higher percentage of medium (5.5 to 7.0 mm) follicles (62 vs 44 and 39%; P < .01) but a similar percentage of small (< or = 5.5 mm) follicles (4.4 vs 5.9 and 3.7%; P > .15), respectively, compared with sows fed ML or HL. Standardized pools of oocytes aspirated from follicles of prepubertal gilts were incubated for 44 h with pooled FF recovered from the largest 15 follicles of each experimental sow. Fewer oocyte nuclei matured to metaphase II of meiosis when cultured with FF recovered from sows fed LL, than from sows fed ML or HL (47.1 vs 59.8 and 63.8%, respectively; P < .01). Our results suggest that low lysine (protein) intake in primiparous lactating sows impaired follicular development and reduced the ability of follicles to support oocyte maturation. However, high compared with medium lysine (protein) intake had no further positive effects on ovarian function.


This dissertation develops econometric methods that facilitate estimation and improve forecasting performance in panel data models. The panel considered in this paper features large cross-sectional dimension (N) but short time series (T). It is modeled by a dynamic linear model with common and heterogeneous coefficients and cross-sectional heteroskedasticity. Due to short T, traditional methods have difficulty in disentangling the heterogeneous parameters from the shocks, which contaminates the estimates of the heterogeneous parameters. To tackle this problem, the methods developed in this dissertation assume that there is an underlying distribution of the heterogeneous parameters and pool the information from the whole cross-section together via this distribution. Chapter 2, coauthored with Hyungsik Roger Moon and Frank Schorfheide, constructs point forecasts using an empirical Bayes method that builds on Tweedie's formula to obtain the posterior mean of the heterogeneous coefficients under a correlated random effects distribution. We show that the risk of a predictor based on a non-parametric estimate of the Tweedie correction is asymptotically equivalent to the risk of a predictor that treats the correlated-random-effects distribution as known (ratio-optimality). Our empirical Bayes predictor performs well compared to various competitors in a Monte Carlo study. In an empirical application, we use the predictor to forecast revenues for a large panel of bank holding companies and compare forecasts that condition on actual and severely adverse macroeconomic conditions. In Chapter 3, I focus on density forecasts and use a full Bayes approach, where the distribution of the heterogeneous coefficients is modeled nonparametrically allowing for correlation between heterogeneous parameters and initial conditions as well as individual-specific regressors. I develop a simulation-based posterior sampling algorithm specifically addressing the nonparametric density estimation of unobserved heterogeneous parameters. I prove that both the estimated common parameters and the estimated distribution of the heterogeneous parameters achieve posterior consistency, and that the density forecasts asymptotically converge to the oracle forecast. Monte Carlo simulations and an application to young firm dynamics demonstrate improvements in density forecasts relative to alternative approaches. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Economics First Advisor Francis X. Diebold Second Advisor Frank Schorfheide This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2432


Time and logic are central driving concepts in science and technology. In this book, some of the major current developments in our understanding and application of temporal logic are presented in computational terms. "Time and Logic: A Computational Approach" should be a useful sourcebook for those within the specific field of temporal logic, as well as providing valuable introductory material for those seeking an entry into this increasingly important area of theoretical computing.; The emphasis of the book is on presenting a broad range of approaches to computational applications. The techniques used will also be applicable in many cases to formalize beyond temporal logic alone, and it is hoped that adaptation to many different logics of programmes will be facilitated. Throughout, the authors have kept implementation-oriented solutions in mind.; The book begins with an introduction to the basic ideas of temporal logic. Successive chapters then examine particular aspects of the temporal theoretical computing domain, relating their applications to familiar areas of research, such as stochastic process theory, automata theory, established proof systems, model checking, relational logic and classical predicate logic. This should be a useful addition to the library of all theoretical computer scientists, providing a synthesis of well established results in temporal logic with the most up-to-date findings of some of the world's leading theoreticians.


Chapter 1: Maintaining discipline in the classroom. Part one: Basics of maintaining order: Introduction Key practices Part two: Routines for maintaining order: 1.1 Jobs for friendship pairs 1.2 Spatial anchoring 1.3 Noise control: The disappearing word 1.4 Confiscating things 1.5 Behaviour charts Part three: Peer mediation: structured discussion of conflictual behaviour: Introduction 1.6 Writing scenarios 1.7 Discussing ground rules 1.8 Asking questions about people's stories and thinking of solutions 1.9 Dry run, with role reversal and solutions brainstorm Chapter 2: Short auxiliary activities: ice-breakers, warm ups, breaks and closers Introduction 2.1 Clap and say 2.2 Passing on 2.3 Flash the picture 2.4 Alphabetical vocabulary review 2.5 Surprise questions 2.6 From letters to grammar 2.7 Comparing it and me 2.8 Kill the text (then bring it back to life) 2.9 Question, question improvisation dialogues 2.10 Alphabet improvisation dialogues Chapter 3: Mainly Speaking Introduction Part One: Oral fluency in pairs and groups: instructing, conversing, interviewing 3.1 LEGO constructions 3.2 Describe and draw the opposite 3.3 The same but different 3.4 Newspaper pictures 3.5 My map of the world 3.6 Be someone else 3.7 Picture interviews 3.8 Tell me about it 3.9 Stories from pictures 3.10 Graffiti Part two: Holding forth, being in the spotlight: 3.11 Letter on the board 3.12 30 second stimulus talks 3.13 Pitching a wonderful new product 3.14 Questions to the head 3.15 The third degree about a text 3.16 Simulation and presentations by groups 3.17 Performing stories from sounds Chapter 4: Mainly Listening Introduction: Part one: Using your own voice 4.1 Ticking differences 4.2 General knowledge quizzes 4.3 Picture dictation-a basic version Part two: Using recordings: 4.4 Which was it? 4.5 Who said what, when and why? -using an excerpt from a film 4.6 Where do these words go? 4.7 Interactive song dictation Chapter 5: Mainly reading Introduction Part one: Reading tasks for authentic English 5.1 Mind-map the text 5.2 Listening for the differences 5.3 Put it in order 5.4 Take a good song and make it better 5.5 Quiz with a difference 5.6 Horoscopes Part two: Reading stories, then reading out or telling them: 5.7 Reading a story aloud 5.8 What comes next? 5.9 Imagine that! Chapter 6: Mainly Writing Introduction 6.1 What's the number? 6.2 ABC sentences 6.3 Writing from a medley 6.4 Connecting the Top Fifty 6.5 Fake biographies 6.6 What a story! 6.7 Put yourself in the picture 6.8 Write in the shape 6.9 Draw the text 6.10 Diary questions Chapter 7: Vocabulary-learning and reviewing Introduction: Part one: Activities completable in one or two lessons 7.1 Mime the text 7.2 That can I see in English? 7.3 How many? 7.4 Find the words in the picture 7.5 Lists from pictures, pictures from lists 7.6 My schoolbag--and yours? 7.7 The best 7.8 What can you hear and smell in the picture? Activities that can roll from lesson to lesson: 7.9 Acting out prepositions 7.10 Memory poster circles 7.11 Physical action vocabulary and metaphor Chapter 8: Literature Introduction: Writing poetic texts: learning about basic features of poetic writing 8.1 Writing haikus 8.2 Writing limericks 8.3 Word association poems First encounters with a poem-preparing for reception, hearing/reading 8.4 From words to predictions 8.5 Find the poem 8.6 Gradual reveal Learning a poem really well-reading out loud and/or memorising 8.7 Starting and ending with dashes 8.8 Picture poem 8.9 Technicolour reading-recital in voice groups Exploring the meanings of literary texts: reading, thinking, discussing 8.10 Poem picture metaphor 8.11 From sketch to discussion of a short story 8.12 Literature interpretation mandala 8.13 Summarap 8.14 Card quiz game on a novel 8.15 Two short texts on a similar topic Chapter 9: Building the skills of discussion and debate


Hanna Slozanska, Volodymyr Hnatyuk Ternopil National Pedagogic University, Ternopil, Ukraine, E-mail: email@example.com ABSTRACT. The paper analyses the key issues related to dual degree social work programs in Ukraine. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed to explore the overall number of programs, the levels and types of degrees they award, Heads of Social Work Departments' perceptions and attitudes towards dual degree programs. The survey results have shown there are no dual degree social work programs in Ukraine, but the majority of respondents (81%) expressed confidence in positive outcomes of implementation of these programs both for students and higher education institutions. Some reservations were conveyed which highlighted difficulties for institutions in implementation and for students in completing these programs. The authors prove that combining social work with other fields of study within undergraduate or graduate dual degree programs is relevant to the labour market's and the profession's demands, and educational needs of practitioners. It also suits the interests of social work programs being one of the ways to address the challenges that higher education reform in Ukraine presents for social work education. The paper offers a platform to further discuss the value and possibilities of dual degree programs' implementation under the current situation in social work education in Ukraine. Received: December, 2016 1st Revision: February, 2017 Accepted: April, 2017


Abstract This study presents the neutronic analysis of an advanced fuel design concept for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) that could significantly extend the current fuel cycle length under the existing design and safety criteria. A key advantage of the fuel design herein proposed is that it would not require structural changes to the present HFIR core, in other words, maintaining the same rated power and fuel geometry (i.e., fuel plate thickness and coolant channel dimensions). Of particular practical importance, as well, is the fact that the proposed change could be justified within the bounds of the existing nuclear safety basis. The simulations herein reported employed transport theory–based and exposure-dependent eigenvalue characterization to help improve the prediction of key fuel cycle parameters. These parameters were estimated by coupling a benchmarked three-dimensional MCNP5 model of the HFIR core to the depletion code ORIGEN via the MONTEBURNS interface. The design of an advanced HFIR core with an improved fuel loading is an idea that evolved from early studies by R. D. Cheverton, formerly of ORNL. This study contrasts a modified and increased core loading of 12 kg of 235U against the current core loading of 9.4 kg. The simulations performed predict a cycle length of 39 days for the proposed fuel design, which represents a 50% increase in the cycle length in response to a 25% increase in fissile loading, with an average fuel burnup increase of ~23%. The results suggest that the excess reactivity can be controlled with the present design and arrangement of control elements throughout the core's life. Also, the new power distribution is comparable or even improved relative to the current power distribution, displaying lower peak to average fission rate densities across the inner fuel element's centerline and bottom cells. In fact, the fission rate density in the outer fuel element also decreased at these key locations for the proposed design. Overall, it is estimated that the advanced core design could increase the availability of the HFIR facility by ~50% and generate ~33% more neutrons annually, which is expected to yield sizeable savings during the remaining life of HFIR, currently expected to operate through 2014. This study emphasizes the neutronics evaluation of a new fuel design. Although a number of other performance parameters of the proposed design check favorably against the current design, and most of the core design features remain identical to the reference, it is acknowledged that additional evaluations would be required to fully justify the thermal-hydraulic and thermal-mechanical performance of a new fuel design, including checks for cladding corrosion performance as well as for industrial and economic feasibility.


Small area estimates on where services for potential Medicare beneficiaries may be needed, could provide unique research opportunities for improving the healthcare quality of the ageing U.S. population. The project described in this paper validates this argument by contrasting the spatial clustering results from an analysis that uses large geographical units with proxy measures to the results from an analysis using small area geographic units with direct measures. Large- area proxy measures come from county-level U.S. Census Bureau 2010 cross sectional data on the number of people aged 65 and over. Medicare beneficiary estimates in 2007 with Primary Care Service Areas (PCSAs) make up the small-area direct- measure analysis. Findings show that the latter offers a more geographically defined appraisal of where healthcare quality efforts should focus to aid potential Medicare beneficiary populations. Because the healthcare quality of an aging population will only increase in importance as their numbers grow in the US, further research is needed.


The effects of peptidoleukotrienes (LTs) on electrically driven guinea pig left atria (GPLA) were investigated. LTD4 produced a positive inotropic response; however, rapid desensitization required the construction of noncumulative dose-response curves to naive tissues. The maximal inotropic response to LTD4 was 24 +/- 3% of isoproterenol and the EC50 = 267 +/- 77 nM. The functional response was corroborated by the demonstration of specific and rapid [3H]LTD4 binding to GPLA membranes with low affinity (Kd = 212 +/- 80.2 nM), in a saturable (Bmax = 20 +/- 1.1 pmol/mg protein) manner. In tissues pretreated with acivicin, which inhibits conversion of LTC4 to LTD4, the response to LTC4, but not LTD4, was abolished. Selectivity towards LTD4 was demonstrated by the inability of propranolol, prazosin, atropine, pyrilamine, capsaicin or indomethacin (all tested at 1 microM) to alter the functional response to LTD4. Similarly, none of the tested compounds (100 microMs) was inhibitory in the binding assay. Structurally diverse LTD4 antagonists SKF102922 (pKb = 6.42) and ICI 198.615 (pKb = 8.74) were able to inhibit the functional response as well as [3H]LTD4 binding to GPLA membranes. The calcium channel antagonist, verapamil, inhibited the functional response but did not alter [3H]LTD4 binding. These data support the existence of specific LTD4 receptors in GPLA which evoke a modest, rapidly desensitized, increase in the force of myocardial contraction.


Allozyme electrophoresis was used to measure and compare, with other members of the Proteaceae, levels and distribution of genetic diversity in Embothrium coccineum J.R.Forst., a widespread outcrossing species endemic of Andean Patagonian forests. We analysed variation at the species level by sampling 34 populations along its entire range of ∼20 ◦ latitude. We tested the hypothesis of multiple Pleistocene refugia by phylogeographic methods. We resolved 16 isozyme loci assayed in 934 adult trees. At the species level, total genetic diversity (HT = 0.220) was similar to that of other outcrossed and widespread plant species. Genetic parameters (NA, PSS, HE) were not statistically different from other outcrossed but mostly range-restricted Proteaceae, reflecting a strong phylogenetic imprinting for species sharing life-history traits. Populations are genetically divergent among each other (FST = 0.202). The low correlation between geographic and genetic distances suggests separate histories, i.e. multiple glacial refugia for the cold-tolerant E. coccineum. Phylogeographic trees produced different topologies, although maximum likelihood and parsimony trees shared some elements. Both trees suggest a northern and central clade, and then a separate southern clade. Current processes such as gene flow and selection confound the historic signal. These results seem in contrast to many of the northern hemisphere post-glacial phylogeographic reconstructions which show clear historical tracks of northern range expansion from southern refugia. The present study highlights the importance of phylogenetic imprinting, life-history traits and historical events driving genetic diversity patterns in this widespread Proteaceae from southern South America.


This document proposes to add mutual authentication, based on a human-
memorizable password, to the basic, unauthenticated Diffie-Hellman key
exchange. The proposed algorithm is called the Password-Authenticated
Key (PAK) exchange. PAK allows two parties to authenticate themselves
while performing the Diffie-Hellman exchange. The protocol is secure
against all passive and active attacks. In particular, it does not
allow either type of attacker to obtain any information that would
enable an offline dictionary attack on the password. PAK provides
Forward Secrecy. This document is not an Internet Standards Track
specification; it is published for informational purposes.


Rehabilitation of a 54-year old thin concrete arch-buttress dam was completed without interruption of power generation using pressure injection of an epoxy adhesive. This paper presents the case history of the investigations made in development of the rehabilitation program, the final methods selected, the results obtained, and the conclusions reached. Methods investigated and used to establish the concrete conditions and extent of rehabilitation required; prepare the structures for injection; establish materials, equipment, and techniques for injection; investigate and verify the adequacy of injection; and analyze and document the results are presented.


The tremendous benefits of taking a software product line approach are well documented. Organizations have achieved significant reductions in cost and time to market and, at the same time, increased the quality of families of their software systems. However, to date, there are considerable barriers to organizational adoption of product line practices. Phased adoption is attractive as a risk reduction and fiscally viable proposition. This tutorial describes a phased, pattern-based approach to software product line adoption. A phased adoption strategy is attractive as a risk reduction and fiscally viable proposition. The tutorial begins with a discussion of software product line adoption issues and then presents the Adoption Factory pattern. The Adoption Factory pattern provides a roadmap for phased, product line adoption. The tutorial covers the Adoption Factory in detail, including focus areas, phases, subpatterns, related practice areas, outputs, and roles. Examples of product line adoption plans following the pattern are used to illustrate its utility. The tutorial also describes strategies for creating synergy within an organization between product line adoption and ongoing CMMI or other improvement initiatives.


A regression analysis is used to verify the determinants of corruption. Using a cross-sectional data set of 48 countries, a significant relationship between GDP per capita and the level of corruption is confirmed. However, it is likely that GDP per capita is a determinant of corruption and affected by corruption. An instrumental variable technique is used to help determine the true impact of GDP per capita on corruption. Key Words: GDP per Capita, Transparency International, corruption, freedom, government interference, bureaucracy, I. Introduction Corruption - what causes it, its costs, and remedies - is a major concern in international business today. Corruption has been blamed for underdevelopment in some countries and a lack of foreign investment in others. Corruption is the result of too much government interference in the economy, or not enough government oversight. Corruption stems from a lack of competition according to some analysts, while others highlight cultural factors, and still others focus on low wages among bureaucrats. Remedies to fight corruption run the gamut from promoting development and competition to invoking stiffer penalties for the individuals involved (Klitgaard, 2000). All of this points to a multi-faceted problem with entangled causes. A better understanding of the causes of corruption would help in the design of policies to overcome it. For instance, if corruption is found to be primarily the result of badly functioning large bureaucracies, then attention could be devoted to improving the functionality of national and business institutions. On the other hand, if corruption is rampant primarily in economies where governmental restrictions are prevalent, then an opening up of the economy to competition and a reduction in regulation will help. The reasons why corruption is prevalent in some countries are not well understood. Consider the theory that governments that are heavily involved in their economies, whether it is redistributing income or granting licenses for foreign trade, promote corruption. The idea certainly has intuitive appeal and some anecdotal evidence stands behind it. Vietnam and India have relatively high rates of government interference in economic matters and both have high levels of corruption. But Demark, Norway, and Finland have very high levels of government intrusion in their economies and some of the lowest levels of corruption in the world. II. Measuring Corruption The standard definition of corruption comes from Nye (1967, pg. 966): "Corruption is behavior which deviates from the formal duties of a public role because of private-regarding (personal, close family, private clique) pecuniary or status gains; or violates rules against the exercise of certain types of private-regarding influence." This broad definition allows for most forms of corruption - bribery, coercion, kickbacks, protection, and other illegal forms of business and politics. In 1995 Transparency International, an organization "dedicated to curbing both international and national corruption", began releasing its annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The CPI is an index of indexes in that it combines various surveys and measures of corruption into a single number based on a scale from 0 to 10. The 1999 CPI covers 99 countries and includes data from the following sources: * Freedom House Nations in Transit * Gallup International * The Economist Intelligence Unit * The Institute for Management Development, Lausanne * The International Crime Victim Survey * The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, Hong Kong * The Wall Street Journal, Central European Economic Review * The World Bank and University of Basel * The World Economic Forum A detailed methodology of the CPI is available at Transparency International's website (www. …


This research introduces the concept of visibility as a useful tool to assess the democratic features of public spaces. We understand democratic public spaces as open spaces, which are accessible to all and allow different cultural expressions for individuals and groups. The concept of visibility refers to the visual perception of the observable features of distinctive urban groups in public space, which give evidence of their lived experiences, and how they engage with, shape, and construct public space in everyday life. The main assumption of the study is that the visibility of distinctive urban groups on the street manifests the rights of these groups to participate in the public life of the city, which is a key feature of a democratic public space. Consequently, the presence and changes in the visibility of urban groups in public space is a highly political issue, which raises concerns in relation to just or unjust urban conditions.

Open and democratic public spaces are an asset to achieve socially inclusive cities, recognized as such in academic and policy circles. However, the present political and economic context has turned public spaces into a tool for the branding and marketing of cities. Public space is increasingly designed and geared to attract tourists and higher-income groups, leading to trends toward the commodification of urban development. Such trends discourage the presence in, and uses of, public space by some groups, contributing to the erosion of key features of democratic public spaces.

The urban literature gives useful indications about the observable qualities of democratic public spaces, but their tangible and physical aspects have not been sufficiently studied in the urban design and planning literature. Furthermore, little attention has been given to the precise effects that urban transformations may have on the democratic features of public spaces, or on their implications for the design and planning of socially inclusive cities. Consequently, the main objective of this research is to advance knowledge about the democratic features of public space that promote socially inclusive neighbourhoods and cities.

The approach considers the visibility of commercial and communal amenities as a proxy for the presence and appropriation of public space by immigrant groups through their distinctive signs, languages, and uses. The analysed and documented the recent changes in the visibility of Turkish amenities in the streets of Amsterdam in the context of urban transformations in the period between 2007 and 2016. The methodology of the research included deskwork and fieldwork. The former included theory review and identification of the policy context. The latter included primary data collection about the immigrant amenities' spatial and social characteristics, mapping of the presence and changes of the amenities in two selected streets, and finally, analyses, synthesis and interpretation of the findings.

Two streets located in the inner-city (Javastraat) and the outskirts (Burgemeester de Vlugtlaan) of Amsterdam were selected as case-study, in base of their location; demographic trends; and type of users. Their empirical examination was useful to appraise and document the presence and changes of Turkish amenities in these streets during the studied period.

There are five major findings in this research. First, visibility can be operationalized by studying the spatial and social characteristics of immigrant amenities in public space. Measuring and documenting the spatial (at city and neighbourhood level) and social (social life of parochial and public realm) characteristics of immigrant amenities, the visibility of culturally distinctive groups in public space can be compared in a synchronic and diachronic way. This constitutes an innovative approach to the empirical assessment of public space, which complements statistical and quantitative approaches to public space. A longitudinal analysis of these changes then offers a better understanding of the relationship of these changes with the corresponding urban policies and trends.

Second, immigrant neighbourhoods and their commercial amenities have been significantly affected by the commercial and residential gentrification of innercity immigrant neighbourhoods in Amsterdam. These trends have been the result of a gradual shift from a social democratic towards a liberal welfare regime in the Netherlands since the 1980s, which has strongly influenced successive national and city level urban policies and strategies. Since then, Amsterdam urban renewal and housing policies have evolved significantly from the 'building for the neighbourhood' approach towards a market-oriented approach.

Third, the social characteristics of immigrant amenities – related to their capacity to promote social contacts within the immigrant and larger community – are different for commercial and communal amenities. The former are more open, and therefore more visible in public space. The location-related spatial characteristics vary for inner-city/outskirts and main street/back streets locations. Inner city and main street locations are more visible for a broader public. Other spatial characteristics that contribute to a greater visibility of immigrant amenities are high levels of legibility; personalisation; and robustness.

Fourth, the visibility of distinctive urban groups in public space – linked to their participation in public life – is a strong indication of the socio-cultural inclusion of these groups into the society. Taking that into account, the decreasing visibility of Turkish amenities found in Javastraat during the 2007-2016 period has produced a negative impact on the socio-cultural inclusion of Turkish immigrants in Amsterdam.

Fifth, the decreasing visibility of immigrant groups has detrimental consequences for shaping democratic public spaces and for promoting urban justice principles, specifically from the perspectives of diversity and equity. Diverse public spaces welcome urban groups from different social, cultural and economic backgrounds. Equity refers to the accessibility of public spaces – both physically and perceptually – for different groups.

The overall conclusion is that visibility in public space can provide solid evidence of the most important aspects of democratic streets, which are difficult to obtain through conventional statistical methods. Even though this study focused on immigrant amenities (used as a proxy), the conclusions can be broadened to include other distinctive urban groups, such as sexual minorities, and vulnerable groups, as well as other forms of visibility such as festivals, parades and events.

Visibility can be a valuable tool for ex-ante and ex-post evaluations of the democratic character of streets to inform designers, researchers and policy makers about the impact of the proposed or finished interventions. It would be especially valuable in cases of profound neighbourhood transformation processes, which modify the demographic profile of a neighbourhood.

Finally, training and education of designers and planners of public space should incorporate visibility as an important concept to examine the diversity and vitality features of public space, in order to promote democratic streets and more socially inclusive cities. Neighbourhood visions and development plans should take into account the role of the presence of distinctive urban groups in public life to promote the sociocultural inclusion of distinctive urban groups.


The Irish Traveller Community represents an indigenous minority group defined largely by its supposedly 'traditional' lifestyle of mobility within the Irish state. By considering the perception of mobility as a cultural trait, this paper traces the development of discursive themes regarding Irish Travellers from the 1950s through to the present day, categorising these into a class-poverty and a culture-ethnicity paradigm. It is illustrated how such discursive categories in turn informed the state's practical interaction with the Traveller community, shaping political action, policy and legislative developments. This analysis highlights the simultaneous maintenance and marginalisation of the Traveller Community, creating a definitional 'other' in the process of constructing an Irish national identity.


Sedimentary sequences currently forming at the margins of Spitsbergen glaciers are identical in thickness and detail to many Pleistocene and pre-Pleistocene glacigenic sequences. The transport of considerable volumes of englacial debris leads directly to the predominance of supraglacial till deposition, giving hummocky till surfaces and till plains. The association of supraglacial outwash with flow till produces tripartite till/outwash/till sequences, and multitill sequences, which are the result of a single glacier retreat phase. Complex tectonic structures, often with systematic regional trends are described, which are not the result of ice pushing but of downslope flow and collapse of supraglacial sequences above melting ice. New classifications are suggested for ice-contact stratified deposits and till, both of which depend upon position of deposition, supraglacial, englacial or subglacial It is suggested that existing models for the interpretation of ancient tills and the sequences in which they lie are often too simple and lead to erroneous stratigraphic and palaeogeographic conclusions. Till is too often interpreted solely as lodgement till, and it is suggested that many Pleistocene and earlier sequences, currently thought of as products of repeated glacier advance and readvance, may be perfectly normal products of a single retreat phase by a glacier with a thick englacial debris load. Ways of reconstructing the structural character of ancient ice margins are presented and it is also suggested that the thermal regimes of past ice sheets can be reconstructed from the nature of their deposits. The last Pleistocene ice sheet in Britain is thought to have been composed, at its maximum extent, of cold ice in the marginal zone and temperate ice in the internal zone.


The ocular problems associated with premature birth have been with us ever since it was discovered that the application of high levels of inspired oxygen provided a reduction in mortality. The consequence of this reduction in mortality has been a rise in morbidity; these mortality and morbidity rates have oscillated during the attempt to find a reasonable balance. The use of contemporary technology during the attempt both to understand the premature baby's delicate physiology and to maintain life to younger and lighter babies has not yet produced stability. The incidence of typical retinal maldevelopment, retinopathy of prematurity (RCP), was analysed by serial weekly ophthalmoscopy examinations in a regional special care baby unit, 579 examinations being made on 138 babies. The best instrument for this examination was found to be a compact indirect ophthalmoscope incorporating an inverting eyepiece - the Reichert Jung monocular indirect ophthalmoscope. The optimum time for ocular examination to discover potential ocular morbidity was at 33 weeks post-conceptual age (PCA) with continued examinations to the age of 37 weeks PCA. The babies that were found to be at risk of a significant grade of RCP were found to be of a birth weight of less than 1251 grams or had an estimated gestational age at birth of 30 weeks or less. A refractive state of myopia was found to be the norm. The myopia reduced as life progressed to attain emmetropia around the age of 50 weeks PCA or 22 weeks survival. The reduction of the myopic state was found to be dependent on birth weight and gestational age at birth, the youngest and therefore the lightest being more predictable in attaining emmetropia. Refractive variations were found to be coincident with the timings of certain medical treatment regimes and a hypothesis is postulated as to the mechanism of this association.


Natural landscape views have positive sides, such as providing restorative effects to urban residents, and negative sides, such as deepening wealth inequality. Previous studies have mainly focused on the positives and rarely on the negatives. From this perspective, this study aimed to analyze the unequal impact of natural landscape views on housing prices for apartments in Seoul. We proposed a visual perception model to analyze natural landscape views and, based on a hedonic price model, we used ordinary least squares and quantile regression to estimate the marginal impacts on housing prices. The results show that: (1) natural landscape views had positive impacts on housing prices, but their impacts did not reach the level of structural and locational characteristics such as apartment area and the distance to subway stations; (2) natural landscape views had different marginal impacts by housing price range and, in particular, had much higher value-added effects on higher-priced apartments, meaning that if old apartment complexes are redeveloped into high-rise ones, the improvement in natural landscape views generates great profit for apartment owners and intensifies wealth inequality; (3) the geographic information system-based visual perception model effectively quantified the natural landscape views of wide areas and is thus applicable for the rigorous analysis of various landscape views.


Several previous studies have demonstrated that aged garlic extract (AGE) inhibits the progression of coronary artery calcification and non-calcified plaque (NCP) in the general population. However, its effects on plaque progression in patients with diabetes have not yet been investigated, at least to the best of our knowledge. This study investigated whether AGE reduces the coronary plaque volume measured by cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). A total of 80 participants with DM with a median age of 57 years were prospectively assigned to consume 2,400 mg AGE/day (after completion, 37 participants) or placebo (after completion, 29 participants) orally. Both groups underwent CCTA at baseline and follow-up 365 days apart. In total, 66 participants completed the study. Coronary plaque volume, including total plaque (TP), dense calcium (DC), fibrous, fibro-fatty and low-attenuation plaque (LAP) volumes were measured based upon pre-defined intensity cut-off values using semi-automated software (QAngio CT). Changes in various plaque types were normalized to the total coronary artery length. The non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum test was performed to examine the differences in plaque formation between the 2 groups. No significant differences were found in the baseline characteristics between the AGE and placebo groups. Compared with the placebo group, the AGE group exhibited a statistically significant regression in normalized LAP [median and standard deviation (SD) −0.2 (18.8) vs. 2.5 (69.3), P=0.0415]. No differences were observed in TP, fibrous, or fibrofatty plaque volumes between the AGE and placebo group. On the whole, this study indicated that the %LAP change in the AGE group was significantly greater than that in the placebo group in patients with diabetes. However, further studies are warranted to evaluate whether AGE has the ability to stabilize vulnerable plaque and decrease adverse cardiovascular events.


Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition using Fe-Mo/MgO as a catalyst at 1000 degrees C under the mixture of methane and hydrogen gas. The nanotubes were purified by acid but were not damaged. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed the purity of the tubes to be about 90%. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy image showed that DWCNTs have inner tube diameters of 1.4-2.6 nm and outer tube diameters of 2.3-3.4 nm. We observed radial breathing modes in Raman spectra, which are related to the diameter of inner nanotubes. The purified DWCNTs were mixed with organic vehicles and glass frit, and then they were screen-printed on glass substrate coated with indium tin oxide. The field emission properties of the screen-printed DWCNT films were examined by varying the amount of glass frit ingredient within the DWCNT paste. The results showed that DWCNT emitters had good emission properties such as turn-on field of 1.33-1.78 V/microm and high brightness. When the applied anode voltage was gradually increased, current density and brightness became saturated. We also observed DWCNTs adsorbed on the anode plate; they were DWCNTs peeled off from the cathode plate for field emission measurement.


The pursuit of migration is an extreme example of the severing of ties with, or a distancing from, one's friends and home. The 'failure' of migrants to assimilate cannot plausibly be attributed merely to an urge to stay close to their friends, or they might not have migrated to begin with. Non-assimilation arises from a fear of enhanced relative deprivation if they reduce their distance from the natives as a reference group. Fundamentally, migration is a change of those with whom people associate. But it would be wrong to infer that a change of associates crowds out a change of behavior, given the associates. Through their actions, migrants can elect to associate more with some groups, less with others. However, when actions to keep in check the weight accorded to the rich natives as a reference group are not viable, the very choice of migration destination could be affected in an unexpected way: a country that is not so rich could be preferable to a country that is rich; migrants will protect themselves from an unfavorable comparison by not migrating to where the comparison, when unavoidable, would be highly unfavorable. Relatedly, the variance in the assimilation effort of migrants across host countries could arise from the variance in the income distance with the natives: the richer the natives, the weaker the effort to assimilate, other things held the same. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..


Objective: To investigate the significance of tumor molecular marker matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) combined with iconography in the staging of esophageal cancer.
Methods: The clinical staging of 108 esophageal careinoma patients were detected by CT image. The protein level of MMP-9 was determined by immunohistochemistry. The correlation of MMP-9 and clinical staging of esophageal careinoma was analyzed.
Results: Positive expression rate of MMP-9 was 60.19% in biopsy tissue of esophageal carcinoma, while 78.00% in patients in stage T3-T4 was higher than that in T1-T2 stage (43.10%, P<0.01). Positive expression rate of MMP-9 in lymph metastasis group (N1) was 90.91%, which was higher than that in non-lymph metastasis group (N0, 43.40%, P<0.01). Positive rate of MMP-9 was 94.12% in clinical III-IV phase, which was higher than that in stage I-II (47.30%, P<0.01). The correlation coefficient were 0.389, 0.496, 0.461 between MMP-9 protein expression and stage T, N, TNM, respectively,and presented positive correlation (P<0.05).
Conclusion: MMP-9 expression has increased in late stage tumor.