Background: Tobacco consumption is a major contributor to deaths from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other chronic diseases. The prevention of tobacco use among adolescents appears to be the single greatest opportunity for preventing noncommunicable diseases. Aim: The study aimed to assess the risk factors for current tobacco use among urban and rural school-going adolescents in Mangalore taluk. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 620 adolescents, and an equal number of participants were surveyed from urban and rural areas. After obtaining necessary approvals, schools were selected by stratified cluster sampling. A 10-item structured, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed in the SPSS version 20.0 using the Chi-squared test with a significance level set at P < 0.05. Results: Current tobacco use was 12.7%. It was higher among males ( P < 0.001) and urban adolescents. Smokeless tobacco use was reported by 72.1% of current users; 68.3% of users reported starting habit in the past year. Rural boys formed a statistically significant component of frequent users ( P = 0.0024). Predominant reasons for initiation were used by family and friends/peers. Enhanced self-esteem was reported by 19.0% of users, whereas 39.2% experienced ill-effects. Desire to quit habit was expressed by 31.7% of users; 88.6% of users and 78.9% of nonusers stated that tobacco use was harmful. Conclusions: The prevalence of current tobacco use was 12.7%, and the smokeless form was predominantly used. Major influences on habit initiation were used by family and friends. While one-fifth reported enhanced self-esteem and 31.7% users wanted to quit habit. Enforcement of comprehensive tobacco control legislations is essential to protect this vulnerable population.


Speech communication involving audio conferencing, video conferencing, teleconferencing via laptops became greatly influenced in office environments i.e. between employer and employee, and also influenced in personal life meetings between friends or in-between parents and children. These meeting conversations will mostly disturbs by annoying noise, i.e. fan noise which is produced by laptop cooling fan, which suffers at the both ends of communication due to this noise. With this noise effect the intelligibility of original speech is degraded between the conversations of meetings. So there is need of enhancing the speech from noisy speech environment in the communication. Thus speech enhancement is emerging technology in the communication and signal processing filed. So this thesis focuses on attenuating the noise produced by laptop cooling fan, with use of different speech enhancement algorithms. In this thesis we implement a multichannel Microphone Array (MA) of linearly arranged two microphones with different speech enhancement algorithms in spatial frequency domain. As the implementation involves frequency domain, we design a filter bank which is back bone structure of thesis, which is used to transform the signals received by microphone array into subband sequence, this subbands are processed through enhancement algorithms to attenuate noise, and then finally used to reconstruct the estimated original speech signal in time domain. The speech enhancement algorithms, involve beamforming technique i.e. Wiener BeamForming (WBF), and Spectral Subtraction (SS). Here we utilize a Direction Of Arrival (DOA) technique, to localize the speech source based on Time Difference Of Arrival (TDOA) in frequency domain only. Here we implements different systems involving individual WBF and SS algorithms, and also hybrid combination of algorithms WBF and SS, to suppress the fan noise. These systems were implemented at different positions of speech and noise sources. These systems were implemented and evaluated using simulation tool Matlab. The objective quality measures used to validate the systems are Signal to Noise Ratio Improvement (SNRI) and Perceptual Evaluation Speech Quality (PESQ) measure. The systems were validated with a pure speech combination of male and female sampled at 16 KHz, and fan noise recorded in the real time of anechoic environment. The systems are simulated at different SNR ratios of 0dB, 5dB, 10dB, 15dB, 20dB. The simulation result shows that hybrid system proves to be efficient in reduction of noise at higher SNR ratios, with compromise of speech quality. Whereas the individual beamformer system proves to be very highly efficient in reducing the noise while maintaining high quality in speech at both high and low SNR's, whereas the spectral subtraction individual alone reduces a noise sufficiently only but its speech quality is very poor in performances. Also at different positions the systems were simulated, at the position where DOA of noise is 90 then all systems works highly efficient in reducing noise since SNRI are around 40dB to 50 dB while maintaining speech quality.


This paper presents a measurement system design methodology that incorporates damage scenarios. One of the goals of a measurement system is to detect damage for safety and for management of maintenance activities. This study builds upon previous research at EPFL in the area of model based diagnosis. An existing bridge in Switzerland is used to illustrate how damage scenarios are identified and a population of models are generated. A greedy algorithm is used to place sensors such that there is maximum separation between the predictions of the models in the population.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature and the main dimensions of the transition in European food systems. We examine the main stylized facts in the evolution of food final demand as well as the structural changes and firms' strategies at different stages of food systems. We find the existence of a process of convergence towards an EU food system. Such a process is the result of two main determinants. First, there is a convergence towards a common European consumer who increasingly demands a variety of healthier food products and reveals growing concerns for food safety issues. A second crucial factor is the role played by food retailers in determining the convergence of European competitive environments. We show that retailers' consolidation and strategies affect and determine structural changes at all stages of food system. Finally, the paper examines the new policy implications of these changes and suggests some areas and topics which are likely to become increasingly relevant for future research.


In Ricci v. DeStefano, Justice Scalia contended in a concurring opinion that the disparate impact claim may be unconstitutional. Justice Scalia's assertions sound an alarm because commentators herald the opinion establishing the disparate impact doctrine – Griggs v. Duke Power Co. – as the most important civil rights decision behind Brown v. Board of Education. To date, the prevailing approach to responding to Justice Scalia's contentions rests upon the same, implicit baselines underlying his assertions. Although not contained in the disparate impact claims' elements, those baselines provide that the disparate impact doctrine exists to either 'smoke out' hidden discrimination or rectify the structural inequality resulting from centuries of de jure and de facto discrimination.I argue that the origins of the disparate impact doctrine reveal another baseline proposition for the doctrine. Principally, the adoption of the business necessity prong of the doctrine reveals a concern with employment practices that contravene an established workplace governance process. This same concern exists in the present, as evidenced by the widespread efforts of employers to avow the values of fair and equitable processes in workplaces. Therefore, this article will demonstrate that a workplace governance baseline according fair and just procedures for workers exists in the modern employment context. Selection practices that distort fair procedures in the workplace contradict this normative baseline, and the disparate impact doctrine serves as a measure to remedy such procedural distortions. With this conceptualization of the reasons underlying the disparate impact doctrine, I provide an alternative basis for assessing the constitutionality of the doctrine and addressing Justice Scalia's contentions.


This final article of a three-part series on the advances of occupant modeling for building design and code compliance is focused on recommendations and future outlook. To summarize the first two parts, we argued and demonstrated that current occupant modeling approaches (particularly as mandated by the performance path of building energy codes) are often inadequate in the context that: 1) occupants do not passively tolerate discomfort (as is implicitly assumed by fixed schedules), but rather actively attempt to restore comfort, frequently with energy consequences, and 2) there is considerable uncertainty associated with occupants from the time of design to occupancy and over the building life cycle. Moreover, we showed in a previous ASHRAEJournalarticle (Ouf and O'Brien 2018) that there are major drawbacks to the approach of treating occupants the same in reference and proposed building models without also using reasonable occupant modeling approaches.


BACKGROUND
Platelet glycoprotein VI (pGPVI) expression is increased in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), reflecting platelet activation. There is no reliable method available to measure pGPVI. Our aim was to develop a bead-based sandwich immunoassay to measure soluble GPVI (sGPVI).

METHODS
Based on antibodies for sGPVI developed earlier, we established and validated a bead-based sandwich immunoassay in 2438 consecutive patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP; n = 1371), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI; n = 724), and ST-elevation MI (STEMI; n = 343). In a subgroup (n = 1011), we measured surface expression of pGPVI using flow cytometry.

RESULTS
The assay revealed a working range of 8-500 ng/L. Intra- and interassay imprecision was <7% and <14%, respectively. Patients with NSTEMI and STEMI showed significantly lower mean sGPVI concentrations than patients with SAP [mean (SD), 8.4 (3.6) μg/L and 8.6 (4.1) μg/L vs 9.8 (4.8) μg/L; P = 0.002], whereas subgroup analysis revealed significantly enhanced pGPVI in NSTEMI (n = 276) and STEMI (n = 80) patients compared with SAP (n = 655) [mean fluorescence intensity (SD), 21.2 (8.1) and 19.8 (6.8) vs 18.5 (7.7); P = 0.002 and P = 0.018]. pGPVI and sGPVI were inversely correlated (r = -0.076; P = 0.023). Area under the ROC curve was 0.716, 95% CI 0.681-0.751, for sGPVI, distinguishing patients with SAP from those with ACS, and was superior (P = 0.044) to the curve of subgroup analysis for pGPVI (0.624, 95% CI 0.586-0.662). sGPVI (P = 0.023) and pGPVI (P = 0.028) had better association with the development of ACS than troponin I (P = 0.055) in the very early stage of disease, based on logistic regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
This sandwich immunoassay reliably measures sGPVI and may help to identify patients with ACS earlier than other laboratory markers.


The paper departs from the standard practice that takes the estimated marginal effects of either the amount of credit received or membership in a credit program as measures of the impact of access to credit on household welfare. The marginal effects of the formal credit limit variable on household welfare, controlling for the credit limit from informal sources as well as the credit demanded from both sources, measure the marginal effects of access to formal credit. The main finding of the paper is that access to formal credit, by enabling households to reduce their borrowing from informal sources, has marginally beneficial effects on household annual income. However, these effects are very small and do not cause any significant difference between the per capita incomes, food security, and nutritional status of credit program members and noncurrent members. Moreover, the beneficial substitution effect reflects only the fact that reduced borrowing from informal sources makes informal loans play a lesser role in the negative impact that borrowing (from formal or informal sources) has on net crop incomes. The marginal effects on household farm and nonfarm incomes resulting from mere access to formal credit (without necessarily borrowing) are positive and quite sizable, but not statistically significant. Land scarcity and unfavorable terms of trade for the smallholders' farm products remain by far the factors that most constrain per capita household income growth in Malawi. The paper concludes that the necessary complementary resources and economic environment are not yet in place for access to formal credit to realize its full benefits for Malawi's rural population.


One of solid slaughterhouses waste is visceral organs which contain high lipid content. Besides, this waste has function as medium growth of thermophilic bacteria to produce a wide variety of lipolytic enzymes, such as protease, chitinase, and lipase.Lipase is the most important group of biocatalyst for biotechnology. The aim of this research is utilize solid slaughterhouses waste of visceral organs (the intestine and rumen) as a substrate to produce lipase from Bacillus sp. SK II-5 and determine the optimum substrate concentration to lipase production.Lipase produce by Bacillus sp. SK II-5 as lipolytic bacteria which confirmed use tween80agar medium. After the results obtained, Bacillus sp. SK II-5 inoculated to starter preparation and acclimatization. Carbon source was provided by fat which isolated from the tissue of bovine intestine and rumen. Substrate with variation of concentration is 0.11%, 0.21%, 0.31% and 0.42%. The highest lipase activity was determined from substrate 0.11% intestine and 0.21% rumen fat with activity 2858.6 U/ml and 3009.3 U/ml, respectively. Lipase was isolated by centrifugation method and toprecipitate by ammonium sulfate, experiment conducted with 15-30%, 30-45%, 45-60%, 60-75% and 75-90%, Results revealed that 60-75% saturation was proved to be effective for maximum specific activity of 1717.3 U/ml and 1642.6 U/ml. Isoelectric point of lipase is pH 5. The molecular weight of lipase which produced by Bacillus sp. SKII-5 is 43,3 kDa by SDS-PAGE


In a visual search task, if target appears more frequently in one region of the scene, over time participants will search faster when the target appears in that region compared to regions appeared less frequently. Previous research has demonstrated that the attended locations are viewer centered and are not updated with viewer movement (Jiang & Swallow, 2012). In the current study, we reexamined the frame of reference in this type of learning using computer rendered illustrations of realistic 3D scenes displayed on a table. The scene consisted of an array of chairs randomly positioned on the ground but with coherent orientation. The viewpoint information was readily available visually from the orientation of the chairs and a landmark positioned in the periphery of the scene. Participants searched for and identified a target positioned on the seat of a chair. During training, participants performed search from one side of the table. The target appeared more often in a "rich" quadrant (50% probability) than in any one of the "sparse" quadrants (16.7% probability). Following training, participants moved to another side of the table, producing a 90 or 180 degree changes of their viewpoints within the horizontal plane. During testing, the target appeared randomly with 25% of the time in each quadrant. Results demonstrated probability cuing during training with lower reaction time in the rich quadrant compared to the sparse quadrants. During testing, participants showed lowest reaction time in the quadrant that maintained the same spatial relationship with the viewer as the previously rich quadrant. However, one third of the participants also showed comparably low reaction time in the original rich quadrant. These data suggest while for most participants, the attended locations are viewer centered without update with their movement, some participants could possibly update with their movements (at least sometimes). Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending the Groote Schuur Hospital Diabetes Clinic in relation to contextual factors that promote or impede adherence to nutrition care guidelines. Subjects and setting: Eight diabetic patients (four males and four females) attending the Groote Schuur Hospital Diabetes Clinic who were between 40–70 years old. Outcome measures: Qualitative analysis of factors influencing adherence to dietary guidelines. Method: An explorative study, using a qualitative approach with eight semi-structured interviews, was used. Patients were interviewed at the diabetes outpatient clinic in Cape Town. Semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed, and thereafter analysed using ATLAS/ti®. Results: Various themes as to what influences adherence to dietary guidelines emerged. An ecological analysis is offered to understand the different levels of influence on participants' dietary behaviour. The main identified factors at individual level were motivation, individual knowledge, perceptions of moderation, self- responsibility, taste concept or cravings, and temptations. At small group (family and friends) level, family relations with the patients were identified as the main support system used to manage the diabetes. At the organisational or health systems level, long waiting times and the theme of seeing different doctors emerged as problematic factors, but overall, patients were satisfied with the clinic service. At community and policy level, culture and the cost of food were identified as key influential factors with regard to adherence to nutrition care guidelines. Conclusion: This study shows the usefulness of adopting an ecological model in identifying factors that influenced adherence to dietary guidelines by patients with type 2 diabetes. Some factors acted as enablers and others as barriers. These had an impact on patient adherence to nutrition care guidelines. These factors should be considered by diabetes educators, including dietitians and nurses and doctors, when planning treatment modalities for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.


MacKichan, J. K., Tuininga, A. R., and Kerwin, J. L. 1994. Preliminary characterization of phospholipase A2 in Lagenidium giganteum. Experimental Mycology 18, 180-192. Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) hydrolyses the fatty acyl ester bond at the sn-2 position in glycerophospholipids. To better understand its regulatory roles, factors affecting PLA2 activity in Lagenidium giganteum were investigated: divalent ions; chelators: inhibitors; pH; and substrate concentration. PLA2 activity of L. giganteum whole cell homogenates was determined using 1-stearoyl-2-[1-14C]arachidonoyl phosphatidylcholine as substrate. The divalent cations Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+ all enhanced PLA2 activity, while Co2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+ were either slightly inhibitory or without effect. High concentrations of EGTA enhanced activity, low concentrations of the chelators were slightly inhibitory, while high concentrations of EDTA had little effect. EGTA, which has a higher affinity for Ca2+ and Mn2+ than Mg2+, reduced hydrolysis less than a comparable concentration of EDTA. Two pH optima were found, at both acid (ca. 5.5) and alkaline (ca. 11.5) levels. Four classical inhibitors, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, ellagic acid, gossypol, and 4-bromophenacylbromide, reduced PLA2 activity by about 80% at 5 mM concentration, 50% with 1 mM inhibitor, and had no effect at 100 μM. The relatively high levels of these compounds needed to inhibit PLA2 hydrolysis may have been due to the presence of a cocktail of enzymes, some of which were not susceptible to inhibition. All inhibitors at 1 mM concentration in live cell cultures effectively shut down oosporogenesis, without adverse effects to the mycelia. PLA2 activity was highest in the late oospore stage of the life cycle, although the enzymes were probably not metabolically active in these stationary cultures. Cultures grown on cholesterol-supplemented defined media had significantly higher levels of PLA2 activity relative to cultures grown on sterol-free media. The enzyme was found to be associated primarily with microsomal membranes, but there was significant activity in cytosolic fractions. Separation of cell homogenates by column chromatography revealed that there were at least nine enzymes capable of cleaving fatty acids in the sn -2 position of phospholipids.


1. Angiotensin II together with any immunoreactive fragments of angiotensin were measured in arterial and venous plasma before and during infusion of angiotensin II amide in five normotensive subjects, both in sodium-replete and sodium-depleted states. Because the antibody used in the radioimmunoassay cross-reacted with larger angiotensin breakdown products and because these fragments are present in higher concentrations in venous than arterial plasma, samples of both were assayed. Measurements on venous plasma are referred to as immunoreactive material (IM). 2. Arterial plasma angiotensin II concentration (PAC) and venous IM were compared in two additional subjects during infusion of angiotensin II amide and of synthetic human angiotensin II. 3. Arterial PAC and venous IM increased in linear relation to the dose of angiotensin infused, similar results being obtained with angiotensin II amide and synthetic human angiotensin II. 4. Before infusion, venous IM and arterial PAC were comparable (A:V ratio = 0·99 ± 0·16, n = 29). During infusion venous IM was consistently lower than arterial PAC; with angiotensin II amide the A:V ratio was 1·72 ± 0·49 ( n = 35), and with synthetic human angiotensin it was 1·63 ± 0·2 ( n = 6). 5. Results of an in vitro study suggest that the formation of new angiotensin in the vein is not sufficient to explain the lower A:V ratio of PAC before infusion. 6. It is proposed that arterial PAC rather than venous IM should be measured when the relationship between blood levels and biological effects of the peptide are the object of the study, particularly during angiotensin infusion or when rapid changes in circulating angiotensin occur.


In this work we investigated the point defects at the origin of the degradation of radiation-tolerant optical fibers used in the visible part of the spectrum for plasma diagnostics in radiation environments. For this aim, the effects of γ-ray irradiation up to the dose of 10 MGy(SiO2) and post-irradiation thermal annealing at 550°C were studied for a Fluorine-doped fiber. An absorption peaking around 2 eV is mainly responsible for the measured radiation-induced losses, its origin being currently debated in the literature. On the basis of the unchanging shape of this band with the radiation dose, its correlation with the 1.9 eV photoluminescent band and the thermal treatment results we assign the asymmetric absorption around 2 eV to an unique defect, the NBOHC, instead of a set of various defects.


The projects of the Research Group »Central Places and Their Environment« involved investigations of individual sites having the character of central places or of limited regions within which networks of settlements were present. Cities, seats of power, and sacred sites are investigated in terms of their significance for and shaping influence on surrounding regions. These themes are explored through direct collaborations between scientists from the archaeological and earth sciences respectively. The focus of our investigations is the network of relations between central sites or settlements in spaces of limited extension and their surroundings. This involves reconstructing the development of the respective central site and of the historical landscape, as well as of various site factors, and analyzing the structure of relationships with the surrounding territory and the connecting region. The types of influence exerted by such central places on the surrounding space are compared in terms of various cultures, regions, and societal systems. The focal areas of investigation are the Mediterranean region, the Black Sea area, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Studies include central places for which adequate historical sources are available, but also sites from preliterate epochs. Keywords: Geoarchaeology Human-Environment Interactions • Migration • Settlement History • Traditional Knowledge • Water Harvesting


The purpose of this paper is to discuss how much the phases of flight planning and the setting of the camera orientation can affect a UAVs photogrammetric survey. The test site chosen for these evaluations was the Rocca of San Silvestro, a medieval monumental castle near Livorno, Tuscany (Italy). During the fieldwork, different sets of data have been acquired using different parameters for the camera orientation and for the set up of flight plans. Acquisition with both nadiral and oblique orientation of the camera have been performed, as well as flights with different direction of the flight lines (related with the shape of the object of the survey). The different datasets were then processed in several blocks using Pix4D software and the results of the processing were analysed and compared. Our aim was to evaluate how much the parameters described above can affect the generation of the final products of the survey, in particular the product chosen for this evaluation was the point cloud. * Corresponding author


Ride sharing is a sustainable, environmentallyfriendly mode of commute that is gaining in popularity. Though there are well-established commercial service providers, there are not many platforms for facilitating peer-to-peer ride sharing, especially in a dynamic scenario, integrated with multi-modal trip planners. Such systems would need to be highly searchoptimized for retrieval of multiple potential ride matches in real time, especially because multi-modal trip planners have a high look-to-book ratio. At the same time, validity of the matches need to be ensured, even in a dynamic setting, while addressing quality considerations and constraints such as maximum detour incurred by rides, walking distance for commuters, and time windows of requests. We describe Xhare-a-Ride (XAR) system, a platform for dynamic peer-to-peer ride sharing, that is scalable, efficient, and highly search-optimized for retrieving multiple potential matches for every ride request, while handling quality considerations. We propose a hierarchical discretization of the geographical region using grids, landmarks and clusters with theoretical guarantees, along with an efficient in-memory indexing of rides for maintaining spatio-temporal validity within a specified error tolerance. This helps eliminate shortest path computation in realtime during search, thus making XAR search-optimized, hence, suitable for integration with a multi-modal trip planner. We discuss modes of integrating XAR with such a trip planner for building an integrated system. Finally, we evaluate XAR thoroughly on ride share request data generated from the NY taxi trip data set on three fronts: (i) empirical performance against the theoretical guarantees as well as trade-off of performance with system parameters, (ii) benchmark XAR against a state-of the-art ride share system, showing a significant improvement in the search efficiency, and finally, (iii) the efficacy of combining ride sharing with public transportation.


Security analysis of large power systems requires the evaluation of a large number of possible contingencies of the power system. For large power systems, even if only single component contingencies are considered or if fast methods are employed, full AC analysis of all contingencies would need a large computation time. An efficient method for contingency analysis is presented. The proposed approach is based on the offline calculation of a full single contingency analysis of the studied power system. The information acquired by realizing this contingency analysis is stored and utilized to establish a knowledge base. In real time the knowledge base is used to perform a single contingency analysis around the operating point for which the basis case has been calculated. The same knowledge base is also used to carry out a double contingency analysis at the operating point for which it has been established


Abstract Objective: To compare incidences of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general and myocardial infarction (MI) specifically between new users of different statins in daily practice. Design and methodology: Retrospective observational cohort study. Data were obtained from the PHARMO Record Linkage System; the PHARMO database contains pharmacy dispensing records of 3 million patients in the Netherlands registered with community pharmacies, linked to hospitalisation records. The participants were new statin users in the period 2000–2005, excluding patients hospitalised for CVD events in the year prior to start of statin use. Main outcome measures: Adjusted hazard ratios of hospitalisations for CVD (including any type of ischemic heart disease, stroke, or revascularisation procedure) in general, or MI in particular, occurring during use of the initial statin within two years of start of therapy, comparing users of different statins. Results: The mean follow-up duration of 76,147 new statin users (14,530 pravastatin, 27,752 simvastatin, 25,777 atorvastatin, 8088 rosuvastatin) was 55 weeks. Incidence rates of CVD and MI per 100 person years ranged from 0.75 and 0.15 for rosuvastatin to 1.72 and 0.29 for pravastatin. Rosuvastatin users had a lower incidence rate of CVD compared to other statin users in general (28% lower), and simvastatin (29% lower) and pravastatin users (40% lower) in particular. The difference with atorvastatin was not statistically significant. Since this was not a prospective randomised study, there is the potential for unobserved risk factors to be responsible for some of the differences observed. Conclusion: Compared to other statin users without recent prior cardiovascular events, the incidence of fatal and non-fatal CVD in this retrospective observational cohort study was 28% lower among rosuvastatin users.


This thesis seeks to investigate the development of social enterprises in the UK. Specifically, it analyses the determinants, nature and forms of legal structures of such organisations in South Yorkshire and how these impact on their operations. In order to do so, the thesis develops a hybrid conceptual framework of analysis which is broadly informed by political economy approaches but also draws on the behavioural theory of the firm and its contractual elements. The research design of the thesis is based on a mixed method approach involving the complementary use of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Data from a postal survey of 102 self-defined social enterprises and semi-structured interviews of 18 support organisations in South Yorkshire is complemented by detailed analysis of four selected cases and some key informant interviews. The study findings are based on the critical analysis of two key legal structures, Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) and Company Limited by Shares (CLS) that underpin the activities of social enterprises in South Yorkshire. While there has been an upsurge of academic interest in social enterprise over the past decade, little is known and understood about the determinants and types of social enterprises' legal structures and how these influence their operations. The thesis makes significant empirical and theoretical contributions to existing knowledge on this subject and provides new insight into understanding the determinants and formulation of legal structures of social enterprise. The investigation identifies a complex taxonomy of six exogenous and endogenous factors which influence the type and nature of a social enterprise's legal structure and its ability to achieve financial sustainability. The thesis reveals that those social enterprises with charitable, less flexible legal structures such as CLG struggle to operate as viable businesses in competitive environments compared to those with CLS legal structures. The study recommends that social enterprises adopt legal structures that allow them to maximise the extraction and delivery of value to the communities they serve.


The continuous implementation of highly technological functions and specifically intelligent transport systems in public transport highlights the need of highly efficient, accurate and reliable bus operations network. Intelligent transport systems can support a variety of functions, including dynamic bus fleet management which has yet to be established in most bus fleets in the UK in a systematic way. In order to support dynamic bus fleet management by detecting the fundamental role of bus and traffic incidents in bus-based public transport, a microscopic simulation model capable of modelling the impact of the individual incidents? characteristics on bus operations has been developed and applied to a variety of scenarios. This research draws on a review of existing literature on bus fleet management and available computer software in this field. It investigates research gaps in modelling the impact of traffic incidents on overall bus performance; it describes the design and development of the new simulation model, SIBUFEM (Simulating Incidents for Bus Fleet Management) for modelling bus operations during whole day periods in which incidents of different types can occur. The model simulates a high frequency bus service using existing field data and incorporates the continuous circulation of buses along the bus route. It uses journey time profiles, passenger-dependent bus stop dwell times and deterministic time-dependent queuing theory to model traffic incidents and the impact of their characteristics on the bus performance parameters. The model results, presented in this thesis, focus on performance measures including but not limited to bus journey times, passenger waiting times and bus delays resulting from various bus and traffic incidents. Incidents vary from bus breakdowns, to traffic incidents such as road-works, traffic accidents, burst water mains, disabled vehicles and illegal parking; in SIBUFEM they are specified in terms of their location, duration and severity (i.e. loss of capacity). The model has been applied to a main bus corridor in Southampton, UK, with a base case of "normal? operations established, for comparison with results from 24 different incident scenarios, and using key model performance parameters of average bus journey time, bus speed and excess waiting time. This PhD demonstrates the functionality of SIBUFEM with model results demonstrating the extent to which passenger waiting times increase with increasing incident severity and duration. The overall comparison of the simulation results showed that the more severe the level of severity or the longer the duration of an incident, the higher the expected impact of the event on the overall bus performance was. In terms of the incident location parameter, the effect is greater when the incident occurs in the middle of the bus route than when it occurs at the end. The effect of incident location is especially evident in the case of traffic incidents such as roadworks, traffic accidents and illegal parking. Findings from this research also demonstrated that these incidents are usually more severely affected by a change in an incident parameter than by bus breakdown incidents. The thesis concludes with a discussion on potential dynamic bus fleet management strategies and how SIBUFEM can be further developed to allow these strategies to be evaluated. SIBUFEM is capable of modelling traffic incidents to support dynamic bus fleet management and, thus, encourage the use of intelligent transport systems applications in bus operations. This offers great potential in the field of bus-based public transport as part of a guidance tool for bus operators, as well as the way to increase bus level service thereby increasing customer satisfaction and thus the development of a sustainable transport system.


The increased risk of pneumonia from proton pump inhibitors (PPI) has been addressed in recent studies. This study aimed to investigate the risk of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in critically ill patients receiving PPI or sucralfate. This retrospective observational cohort study analyzed patients who were prescribed with PPIs or sucralfate for stress ulcer prophylaxis in intensive care units (ICU). A propensity score and other risk factors were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the two groups. The final cohort comprised 388 patients with 302 patients on PPI and 86 patients on sucralfate therapies. HAP developed in 63 patients (20.86%) on PPI, and 8 patients (9.30%) on sucralfate (adjusted OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.35-8.45, p-value 0.009). The enrolled patients on PPI therapy with an APACHE II score > 13 (adjusted OR 3.70,95% CI 1.04-13.10, p-value 0.043), or those on PPI therapy with an ICU stay of more than 8 days (adjusted OR 9.04, 95% CI 1.94-42.06, p-value 0.005) had the highest risk of developing HAP. Patients in medical ICU treated with PPIs had a higher risk of developing HAP than those treated with sucralfate. For the ICU patients requiring stress ulcer prophylaxis, sucralfate can be considered as a priority treatment. The risk and benefit of PPI treatment should be evaluated for patients who may have a longer ICU stay or have a high APACHE II score.


Data integration systems (DIS) are systems where query answers are collected from a set of heterogeneous and autonomous data sources. Data integration systems can improve results by detecting the quality of the data sources and retrieve answers from the significant ones only. The quality measures of the data in the data sources not only help in determining the significant data sources for a given query but also help data integration systems produce results in a reasonable amount of time and with less errors. In this paper, we perform an experiment that shows a mechanism used to calculate and store a set of quality measures on data sources. The quality measures are, then, interactively used in selecting the most significant candidates of data sources to answer users' queries. The justification and evaluations are done using amalgam and THALIA benchmarks. We show that our approach dramatically improves query's answers. Keywords-component data integration; quality measures; data sources; query answers; user preferences.


MicroRNA (miRNA) deregulation contributes to cancer pathogenesis. However, analysis of miRNAs in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) has been hindered by a focus on cell lines, limited number of miRNAs examined, and lack of copy number data. To address these restrictions, we investigated genomewide miRNA expression and copy number data in 86 DLBCLs. Permutation analysis showed that 63 miRNAs were recurrently disrupted in DLBCL, including highly expressed oncomirs not previously linked to chromosomal abnormalities. Further, using training and validation tumor groups, we defined a collection of miRNAs that robustly segregates DLBCLs into 3 subsets, which are independent of the cell-of-origin classification, extent of T-cell infiltrate, and tumor site. Instead, these unique miRNA-driven DLBCL subgroups showed markedly different MYC transcriptional activity, which explained the dominance of miRNAs regulated by MYC in their expression signatures. In addition, analysis of miRNA expression patterns of normal B cells and integration of copy number and expression data showed that genomic abnormalities and the genetic fingerprint of nonmalignant cells also contribute to the miRNA profile of DLBCL. In conclusion, we created a comprehensive map of the miRNA genome in DLBCL and, in the process, have uncovered and mechanistically elucidated the basis for additional molecular heterogeneity in this tumor.


Childhood community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is common, and recent data have shown that the number of children with severe CAP is increasing worldwide. Regardless of geographical area, severe cases are those at the highest risk of hospitalisation, prolonged hospitalisation and death, and therefore require prompt identification and the most effective treatment in order to reduce CAP-related morbidity and mortality. This review evaluates the available data concerning the diagnosis and treatment of severe and/or complicated cases of paediatric CAP in developed and developing countries. It also underlines the fact that any evidence-based recommendations require more research in various areas, including the aetiology of severe cases and the reasons for the complications, the better definition of first-choice antibiotic treatment and when surgery may be useful, and the role of chest physiotherapy.


The article presents the Corpus of Czech Verse (i.e. a lemmatised, phonetically, morphologically, metrically and strophically annotated corpus of Czech poetry) and the online tools and frequency lists that give access to its data. The following online tools are described: Database of Czech metres – the main tool for working with the corpus data, Gunstick – a web application that serves to investigate the frequency of rhyme pairs and their historical development, Hex – an application which enables to search the Corpus of Czech Verse for texts which contain a keyword specified by the user, or to display all keywords found in the group of texts specified by the user, and Euphonometer – application which enables to quantify the degree of non-randomness of sound repetition in any text.


Glycoprotein-deleted rabies virus-mediated monosynaptic tracing has become a standard method for neuronal circuit mapping, and is applied to virtually all parts of the rodent nervous system, including the spinal cord and primary sensory neurons. Here we identified two classes of unmyelinated sensory neurons (nonpeptidergic and C-fiber low-threshold mechanoreceptor neurons) resistant to direct and trans-synaptic infection from the spinal cord with rabies viruses that carry glycoproteins in their envelopes and that are routinely used for infection of CNS neurons (SAD-G and N2C-G). However, the same neurons were susceptible to infection with EnvA-pseudotyped rabies virus in tumor virus A receptor transgenic mice, indicating that resistance to retrograde infection was due to impaired virus adsorption rather than to deficits in subsequent steps of infection. These results demonstrate an important limitation of rabies virus-based retrograde tracing of sensory neurons in adult mice, and may help to better understand the molecular machinery required for rabies virus spread in the nervous system. In this study, mice of both sexes were used. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT To understand the neuronal bases of behavior, it is important to identify the underlying neural circuitry. Rabies virus-based monosynaptic tracing has been used to identify neuronal circuits in various parts of the nervous system. This has included connections between peripheral sensory neurons and their spinal targets. These connections form the first synapse in the somatosensory pathway. Here we demonstrate that two classes of unmyelinated sensory neurons, which account for >40% of dorsal root ganglia neurons, display resistance to rabies infection. Our results are therefore critical for interpreting monosynaptic rabies-based tracing in the sensory system. In addition, identification of rabies-resistant neurons might provide a means for future studies addressing rabies pathobiology.


Mesh networking technologies allow a system of communication devices to communicate with each other over a dynamic and self-organizing wired or wireless network from everywhere at anytime. Large-scale mesh communication networks involve a large number of heterogeneous devices, each with different on-board computation speeds, energy supplies, and communication capabilities, communicating over the dynamic and unreliable networks. How to coordinate the resource utilization behaviors of these devices in a large-scale mesh network remains a challenging task. And an effective solution to this type of problems needs to meet the following three requirements: distributed, asynchronous, and non-convex. In this work, based on swarm intelligence principles, we develop a set of distributed and asynchronous schemes for resource allocation and performance optimization for a wide range of mesh networking-based applications, including particle swarm optimization (PSO) with convex mapping, decentralized PSO, distributed and asynchronous PSO, and energy efficient DAPSO. Our extensive experimental results in distributed resource allocation and performance optimization demonstrate that the proposed schemes work efficiently and robustly. Compared to existing algorithms, including gradient search and Lagrange optimization, the proposed approach had the advantage of faster convergence and the ability to handle generic network utility functions. Compared to centralized performance optimization schemes, the proposed approach significantly reduces communication overhead while achieving similar performance. The distributed algorithms for resource allocation and performance optimization provide analytical insights and important guidelines for practical design of large-scale video mesh networks.


This thesis describes studies of noncyclic and macrocyclic thioether-diazine polydentate ligands and their coordination chemistry with Cu(II), Cu(I) and Ag(I). In chapter 1, The magnetic interactions in polynuclear copper(II) complexes involving diazine (N-N) bridges are briefly reviewed. The synthesis and properties of a series of polynuclear Cu(II), and Cu(I) complexes of three noncyclic tetradentate (N₄) thioether-diazine ligands are described. The Cu(II) complexes are generally synthesized by the reaction of Cu(II) salts with ligands while some of them are synthesized by oxidation of Cu(I) complexes with air in situ. The X-ray structures of eight complexes were determined. The dinuclear Cu(I) complex is bridged by the diazine group only and dinuclear and tetranuclear Cu(II) complexes are bridged by the diazine and a hydroxide or halogen. Variable-temperature magnetic studies on the Cu(II) complexes indicate moderately strong antiferromagnetic coupling (-2J = 35-537 cm⁻¹). Cyclic voltammetry on the Cu(II) complexes in DMF shows single, essentially nonreversible, redox waves at positive potentials (E¹/² = 0,41-0.48 V vs. SCE) associated with two electron reduction to produce rearranged dinuclear Cu(I) species. In chapter 2, the synthesis, structural, electrochemical, esr and magnetic properties of a series of dinuclear Cu(II) complexes of a potentially octadentate (N⁸) ligand PTAPY (PTAPY=3,6-bis-N,N,N'N'-tetrakis(pyridine-2-ylmethyl)-aminoethanethiolato- pyridazine) are discussed. The X-ray structures of two complexes were determined. In each case the ligand is hexadentate with the pyridazine group remaining uncoordinated and there is no magnetic interaction between the distant copper centres. In chapter 3, five novel thioether-pyridazine macrocycles containing one, two or three pyridazine subunits were synthesized. A series of mononuclear, dinuclear, trinuclear and polymeric polynuclear Cu(II) complexes were isolated. The X-ray structures of six of these complexes were determined. The macrocycles generally act as nitrogen donors with the copper centres in square planar geometries. The esr spectra of these complexes were studied in detail and interpreted according to their structures. The presence of very weak intradimer antiferromagnetic exchange (-2J <18 cm⁻¹), with even weaker interdimer exchange (-zJ' <0.51 cm⁻¹) was observed. In chapter 4, a series of Cu(I) and Ag(l) complexes with two macrocycles containing one pyridazine or phthalazine subunit and a S₄ linkage were prepared. The X-ray structures of one ligand and four complexes were determined. The complexes have most unusual polynuclear structures including double stranded chains and crosslinked polymers with the ligands acting predominantly as sulfur donors.


Complexity and uncertainty have impacted wind power systems and their applications.Commercial wind power asset exhibits complex system behaviour due tostochastic loading characteristics of its installation context. However, differentstakeholders' practices in whole life cycle processes try to treat multi-disciplinarycomplexity issues. Moreover, wind power system failures, stoppages, faults, supportdelays and human/organizational errors provide a clear proof of increasingthe needs for dependability. Therefore, dependability is considered as an aggregatetheory for RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety & Supportability)in order to cope with complex systems (i.e. physical systems and their assetmanagement systems) and their behaviour phenomenon. Consequently, to addresswind power practical problem as one of the modern complex and interdependentsystems, it is worth to enhance both the way of how we look at dependability andthe method of inquiry. Technical system complexity, system interdependency andsystem learn-ability are the main challenges within system dependability field.Therefore, this research work is done to integrate both terotechnology and systemsengineering methodologies to enhance systems dependability theory and practices.In particular, it focuses on three main aspects within systems dependability engineering:challenges, practitioners' concepts and system-level methodologies.The research methodology of this thesis has utilised the mixed research approachof qualitative and quantitative methods to extract the empirical findings that arerequired to validate the dependability theory developments. Qualitative survey isused to identify the challenges of dependability theory within wind power applications.Grounded theory is used to define the practical understanding of windpower stakeholders concerning to dependability and asset management concepts.Case study is implemented to validate the systems dependability engineering, ascross edge theory of dependability and systems engineering. Moreover, the phenomenographymethod is used to capture the individual experiences and understandingof purposefully selected stakeholders, due to different site-specific circumstancesfor each wind farm.In general, the thesis contributes to the body of knowledge of five fields: dependability,terotechnology, asset management, systems engineering and wind energy.In particular, the focus of thesis contributes with retrospective review to be as referenceline for system dependability theory. Simultaneously, on basis of empiricalfindings, it contributes to be a pivot point for further enhancements from both theacademic contributions and industrial developments.


Confucianism as the old ideology had been criticized for a long time from the official point of view in China; however, its core value is still influencing Chinese society. On the way towards road of the rule of law, Confucianism is considered playing the negative role. It is necessary to study the framework of Confucianism systematically so as to understand why the rule of law shows difference in between China and western world, and why Chinese would rather resolve disputes in Confucianism way than the rule of law. I will discuss the thinking way of Confucianism, analyze its core value and the relation between Confucianism and the rule of law, through which get to the conclusion that Confucianism value has the inclination to avoid the law.


Pseudomonas sp. W3, a bacterium known to produce an extracellular alkaline protease, secreted secondary metabolites that inhibited pathogenic bacteria responsible for shrimp luminous vibriosis disease. Antivibrio compounds in the culture supernatant or culture filtrates (0.45 µm and 0.22 µm) of the isolate W3 were tested using an agar well diffusion method on a number of pathogenic vibrios. Vibrio harveyi PSU 2015 a pathogenic isolate was the most sensitive strain. The effectiveness of preparations from the isolate W3 against V. harveyi PSU 2015, and V. cholerae PSSCMI 0062 was in the order of culture supernatant > 0.45 µm culture filtrate > 0.22 µm culture filtrate. These extracellular antivibrio compounds also lysed both dead and living cells of V. harveyi PSU 2015. Results of the partial characterization tests indicated that there was some particulate antivibrio compound that was destroyed by treatment with enzymes particularly α-chymotrypsin, autoclaving at 121oC for 15 min and was mostly removed by filtration through a 0.22 µm filter. Most of the inhibitory compounds were of small molecular weight able to pass through a 0.22 µm filter and were resistant to treatment with various enzymes, pH values between 4-8 and temperatures up to 121oC for 30 min. The optimum pH for the antivibrio activity in the 0.45 µm culture filtrate was between pH 6-7.


Europe is in crisis. In recent years, there has been a rise of xenophobic parties in a number of European countries. While arguing that there is indeed a European crisis, this article focuses on the Swedish take on the crisis. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of migration, from a Swedish vantage point. This orientation has particular significance since Sweden has traditionally been extolled as defending human rights and multiculturalism by opening its doors to refugees – the so-called Swedish exceptionalism. Reality, however, is quite different and former policies are contested, raising the question whether this signals the end of this exceptionalism. In Sweden, ongoing processes are transforming the core social fabric of what was previously known as the Swedish model. It is potentially a bellwether for the transformation of a previously inclusive democratic society into something quite different, in which 'the Other' increasingly plays a defining role.


Purpose To apply a novel visible and near-infrared optical coherence tomography (vnOCT) in the dexa-methasone-induced ocular hypertension mouse model, and test the capability of four optical markers, peri-papillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, total retinal blood flow, VN ratio and hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO2), in detecting retinal ganglion cell (RGC) damage in association with ocular hyper-tension. Methods Twelve mice (C57BL/6J) were separated into a control (n=6) and a dexamethasone group (n=6) receiving twice daily saline or dexamethasone eye drops, respectively, for 7 weeks. Intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements were taken at baseline and weekly. Optical measurements by vnOCT were longitudinally taken at baseline, 4 weeks and 7 weeks. Following week 7, ex vivo RGC counting was performed by immunostaining. Results The dexamethasone group showed a measurable rise in IOP by week 2. Despite the IOP differences between the dexamethasone and control groups, there was not a statistical difference in RNFL thickness or total blood flow over 7 weeks. The dexamethasone group did show an increase in retinal arteriovenous sO2 difference (A-V sO2) that was significant at week 4 and 7. The RNFL VN ratio showed a significant decrease at week 4 and 7 in dexamethasone group associated with a decreased RGC count. Conclusions RNFL VN ratio and A-V sO2 are capable of detecting early retinal alterations in the dexamethasone-induced ocular hypertension mouse model. Data analysis suggests VN ratio and A-V sO2 are corralated with RGC loss secondary to ocular hypertension, while being independent of IOP.


Background: Abstracts presented at meetings may be a reflection of the meeting's quality. Summary: The goal is to determine purpose, content areas, research design, and subsequent publication rates of abstracts presented at Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine's annual meetings. Abstracts presented in 1995–2005 were analyzed. A total of 201 abstracts were analyzed and coded. The purpose of the majority of the studies was description (155, 77%), 44 (22%) were justification studies, and 2 (1%) were clarification studies. In all, 109 (54%) assessed the relationship between teaching and student performance. Seven (4%) were studies about how students learn, study, solve problems, obtain medical knowledge, and think critically. Nineteen (10%) were studies about students' noncognitive skills, professionalism, interpersonal skills, and well-being studies. In all, 29 (14%) were measurement studies assessing reliability or validity of assessments. Twenty (10%) focused on career or faculty development pertaining to either faculty or residents. Research design of most studies was descriptive or pre-experimental (175, 87%), some were quasi-experimental (13, 7%), and two thirds (135, 66%) were not published as full articles in peer-reviewed journals. and there was an upward trend in publication rates. Conclusions: These findings may serve as an indicator of the quality of the educational meeting. It may further stimulate efforts to develop programs to help program attendees achieve scholarly publications for work presented and serve as a benchmark against which future meetings may be judged.


Prologue and Introduction to Part I Background. Chapter 1. An Introduction to Structure and Bonding. A. The Sources of Carbon Compounds. B. More About Hydrocarbons. C. On the Nature of the Chemical Bond. Chapter 2. An Introduction to Spectroscopy and Selected Spectroscopic Methods in Organic Chemistry. A. General Introduction. B. X-Ray Crystallography. C. Photon Spectroscopy. D. Mass Spectrometry. Chapter 3. Structure: The Nomenclature of Hydrocarbons and the Shape of Things to Come. A. Introduction. B. Nomenclature and Spectroscopy. C. Physical and Chemical Properties Oxidation and Reduction of Hydrocarbons. Chapter 4. An Introduction to Dynamics. A. Introduction. B. Review of Some Energy Considerations. C. The Barrier Between Reactants and Products. D. More About the Transition State. E. Rotation About Sigma (s) Bonds in Acyclic Alkanes, Alkenes, Alkynes and Alkyl Substituted Arenes. F. Conformational Analysis of Medium-Ring Cyclic Alkanes . G. The Conservation of Symmetry During Reactions. H. The Measurement of Chirality. Chapter 5. Classes of Organic Compounds - A Survey. An Introduction to Solvents, Acids and Bases Computational Chemistry. A. Introduction. B. General Characteristics of Functional Group Placement. C. The Functional Groups and Their Names. D. An Introduction to Solvents. E. Acids and Bases. F. Computational Methods. Introduction to Part II Middleground. Chapter 6. Reactions of Hydrocarbons: Oxidation, Reduciton, Substitution, Addition, Elimination and Rearrangement. A. Introduction. B. Alkanes. C. Alkenes. D. Alkynes. E. Arenes and Aromaticity: Special Introduction. Chapter 7. The Reactions of Alkl, Alkenyl and Aryl Halides: Oxidation Reduction, Substitution, Addition Elimination, and Rearrangement. A. Introduction. B. Fluorocarbons. C. Oxidation. D. Reduction of Alkyl, Aldenyl and Aryl Halides. E. Nucleophilic Substitution. F. Addition Reactions. G. Elimination Reactions of Alkyl and Alkenyl Halides. H. Rearrangement Reactions of Alkyl and Alkenyl Halides. Chapter 8. Part I The Reactions of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols: Oxidation Reduction, Substitution, Addition Elimination, and Rearrangement. Part II Ethers. Part III Selected Reactions Of Alkyl and Aryl Thiols and Thioethers. Special Introduction. Part I. Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. A. Acidity and Basicity. B. Oxidation of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. C. Reduction of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. D. Substitution Reactions of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. E. Addition Reactions of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. G. Rearrangement Reactions of Alcohols, Enols and Phenols. Part II. Ethers. I. Introduction II. The Reactions of Ethers. Part III. Thiols, Thioethers, and Some Products of Their Oxidation. Chapter 9. Part I The Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones: Oxidation, Reduction, Substitution, Addition Elimination, and Rearrangement. Part II The Reactions of Carboxylic Acids and Their Derivatives: Oxidation, Reduction, Substitution, Addition Elimination, and Rearrangement. Introduction. Part I. Aldehydes and Ketones. A. Oxidation of Aldehydes and Ketones. B. Reduction of Aldehydes and Ketetones. C. Addition to Aldehydes and Ketones. D. Substitution Reactions Producing Aldehydes and Ketones. E. Rearrangement Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones. Part II. Carboxylic Acids and Their Derivatives. A. General Introduction. B. Oxidation. C. Reduction. D. Substitution: Addition and Elimination. E. Additional Reactions and Rearrangements of Esters and ss-Dicarbonyl Compounds. Chapter 10. Part I The Reactions of Amines: Oxidation.Reduction, Addition, Substitution and Rearrangement. Part II Some Organo- phosphorus Chemistry. Part III Some Organosilicon Chemistry. Part I. The Reactions of Amines: Introduction. A. Oxidation of Amines. B. Reduction of Amines. C. Addition and Substitution Reactions of Amines with a General Introduction. D. Addition and Rearrangement Reactions of Amines. Part II: Some Organophosphorus Chemistry. Part III. Some Organosilicon Chemistry. Introduction to Part III Foreground. Chapter 11 An Introduction to Carbohydrates, Acetogenins and Steroids. I. Introduction. II. The Calvin Cycle. III.Carbohydrates. A. Biosynthesis. B. Chemistry. C. Oligosaccharides. D. Polysaccharides. IV. Actetogenins. A. Acetyl Coenzyme A. B. Acetyl CoA to Fatty-Acids and Related Compounds. C. Isoprenoides: To Dimethylallyl Diphosphate and Beyond. Chapter 12 An Introduction to Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins, Enzymes, Coenzymes and Metabolic Processes. I Introduction. II Amino Acids. A. Biosynthesis. B. Synthesis. III Peptides and Proteins. A. Amino Acids from Peptides. B. Peptides from Amino Acids in vivo. C. Peptides from Amino Acids in vitro. IV. The Coenzymes. A. Pyridoxal Phosphate. B. Lipoic Acid. C. Thiamin Diphosphate. D. Biotin. E. Adenosine. F. Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+). G. Coenzyme A (CoA-SH). H. Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide (FAD). I. S-Adenosylmethionine. J. Tetrahydrofolate. Chapter 13 An Introduction to Alkaloids and Some Other Heterocyclic Compounds. I. Introduction. II. Tropane Alkaloids. A. Chemistry of Hyoscyamine. B. Chemistry of Nicotine. C. Biosynthesis of Hyoscyamine and Nicotine. III. Morphine (and Codeine and Thebaine). A. Chemistry of Morphine (and Codeine and Thebaine). B. The Biosynthesis of Morphine (and Codeine and Thebaine). C. The Synthesis of Morphine. IV. Vinblastine. A. Chemistry of Vinblastine. B. Biosynthesis of Vinblastine. V. Caffeine. A. Some History and the Synthesis of Caffeine. B. Biosynthesis of Caffeine. Chapter 14 Part I. On the Genetic Code: Unity and Diversity. Part II The Tetrapyrrolic Cofactors: Unity and Diversity. Part I. Introduction (The Genetic Code). Part A The Bases of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA and Ribonucleic Acid (RNA). A. Deoxynucleotides. B. The Role of Phosphate Part B. A. The Sequencing of DNA. B. Chemical Synthesis of DNA. C. Modification to DNA. Part II The Tetrapyrrolic Cofactors. A. Introduction. B. Some Early Chemistry. C. Current Biosynthetic Understanding. Epilogue. Appendix I The Schrodinger Equation. Appendix II The Literature.


Rapid urbanization has led to the increase of anthropogenic input to the environment. A way of evaluating this effect is by measuring the elemental composition of sediments and their corresponding enrichment factor. Sediment samples collected from Laguna Lake near the mouth of Bagumbayan River in Taguig were characterized using a scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope (SEM-EDX). The EDX spectrometer was able to quantify 11 elements namely oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, titanium, sulfur, and phosphorous. The calculated enrichment factor for the different metals showed minimal enrichment in titanium (1.26 to 1.75) and iron (1.05 to 1.56), with the highest value observed at the mouth of Bagumbayan River. This is an indicative of their anthropogenic nature. Moreover, variations in phosphorus concentration along the six sampling sites were observed. This can be attributed to the density of fish pens along the sampling area, in which phosphorous is a primary component of fish feed.


Recent scandals involving national governing bodies for sport and allegations of athlete abuse have captured media attention. The most recent, focusing on the actions of USA Gymnastics, prompted Congress to propose legislation to require better protections for Olympic Movement athletes. Signed into law on February 14, 2018, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 designates the United States Center for SafeSport (SafeSport) as the independent organization charged with exercising jurisdiction over the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and sport national governing bodies to safeguard amateur athletes against all forms of abuse. Congress's instincts in this regard are admirable, and the empowerment of SafeSport is critically important. However, this Article asserts that the issue targeted by the recently enacted legislation must be viewed in the context of the overall regulation of Olympic and amateur sport in the United States. In doing so, Congress should consider more comprehensive reform that goes beyond the issue of athlete abuse. Instead, Congress should further amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, the statute establishing the USOC and regulating the US Olympic program, to address the new realities of Olympic and amateur sport in the United States. Specifically, this Article asserts that the statute should be amended to require reforms in three areas: athlete health and well-being, whistleblowing, and gender equity in the US Olympic program. In addition, this Article argues that Congress should enact a true amateur sports act, with a primary feature being the creation of an entity charged with developing an agenda and reforms for youth and amateur (non-Olympic) sports.


ABSTRACT A prominent feature of media coverage during the UK's referendum on European Union (EU) membership was the stark difference between the pro-EU young and their Eurosceptic elders, widely assumed to reflect a generational divide. The positive relationship between age and hostility towards the EU is well established in academic research, however only Down, and Wilson [(2013). "A rising generation of Europeans? Life-cycle and cohort effects on support for 'Europe'." European Journal of Political Research 52: 431–456] have considered whether this reflects a generational or life-cycle effect. While their research confirms that there is such a generational effect, their capacity to explain it is limited. This study utilizes data from Britain and builds on previous attempts to identify and explain generational trends in Euroscepticism, bridging it with studies on individual-level determinants of hostility towards the EU, providing the most detailed assessment of the extent and causes of generational differences in Euroscepticism to date. The results confirm that today's young people are the most supportive generation of EU membership, caused by a combination of factors including their experience of the EU during their formative years, their relationships with domestic political institutions, and their access to education.


Animal migration is an amazing phenomenon that has fascinated humans for long. Many freshwater fishes also show remarkable migrations, whereof the spectacular mass migrations of salmonids from the spawning streams are the most well known and well studied. However, recent studies have shown that migration occurs in a range of freshwater fish taxa from many different habitats. In this review we focus on the causes and consequences of migration in freshwater fishes. We start with an introduction of concepts and categories of migration, and then address the evolutionary causes that drive individuals to make these migratory journeys. The basis for the decision of an individual fish to migrate or stay resident is an evaluation of the costs and benefits of different strategies to maximize its lifetime reproductive effort. We provide examples by discussing our own work on the causes behind seasonal migration in a cyprinid fish, roach (Rutilus rutilus (L., 1758)), within this framework. We then highlight different adaptations that allow fish to migrate over sometimes vast journeys across space, including capacity for orientation, osmoregulation, and efficient energy expenditure. Following this we consider the consequences of migration in freshwater fish from ecological, evolutionary, and conservation perspectives, and finally, we detail some of the recent developments in the methodologies used to collect data on fish migration and how these could be used in future research.


We consider the imprint of superradiant instabilities of nonevaporating primordial black holes (PBHs) on the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In the radiation dominated era, PBHs are surrounded by a roughly homogeneous cosmic plasma which endows photons with an effective mass through the plasma frequency. In this setting, spinning PBHs are unstable to a spontaneous spindown through the well-known "black-hole bomb" mechanism. At linear level, the photon density is trapped by the effective photon mass and grows exponentially in time due to superradiance. As the plasma density declines due to cosmic expansion, the associated energy around PBHs is released and dissipated in the CMB. We evaluate the resulting spectral distortions of the CMB in the redshift range 10^3 < z < 2x10^6. Using the existing COBE/FIRAS bounds on CMB spectral distortions, we derive upper limits on the fraction of dark matter that can be associated with spinning PBHs in the mass range 10^{-8}*Msun < M < 0.2*Msin. For maximally-spinning PBHs, our limits are much tighter than those derived from microlensing or other methods. Future data from the proposed PIXIE mission could improve our limits by several orders of magnitude.


Using the 1996-2001 Chilean CASEN Panel Survey, this paper analyzes the impact on income of the switch from salaried employment to entrepreneurship (self-employment and leadership of micro-enterprises). By means of a difference-in-differences non-parametric matching estimator the paper alleviates problems of selection bias (on observable and unobservable traits) and creates the appropriate counterfactuals of interest. The results indicate that the income gains associated with the switch from salaried employment to entrepreneurship are positive, statistically significant and financially substantial. Even more, the results are qualitatively the same using mean and medians, suggesting that the impacts are not influenced by the presence of few superstar winners. Additionally, the income changes associated with the reverse switches (from self-employment to salaried jobs) are negative. The results also suggest interesting gender differences, as females show higher gains than males on the switch from salaried jobs to entrepreneurship and lower losses on the reverse switch.


This study investigates the incidence and acuteness of occupational burnout in full-time Association of Research Libraries (ARL) liaison/subject librarians in the United States, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Areas of Worklife Survey . Findings show that lack of personal agency is the primary contributor to a sense of burnout and that, while many liaisons feel significant levels of overwork and lack of fair treatment, positive correlation between institutional and personal values runs high regardless of gender, time as a liaison, or time spent at a particular institution. This values relationship, along with a strong sense of personal efficacy, may moderately offset burnout symptoms. Still, findings indicate a need for further study of burnout in the overall academic librarian population, as well as a significant need for change in liaison librarians' professional experiences to ease their reported levels of burnout.


Two groups investigated mechanisms by which microtubules may be regulated in response to signals that promote axonal movement (see Kalil and Dent). Lee et al. identified the microtubule-associated protein orbit (also known as mast and the ortholog of vertebrate CLASPs) in a genetic screen in Drosophila as interacting with the kinase Abl in the retina. Orbit was implicated in both central and peripheral axon migration in Drosophila and interacted genetically with the Slit-Robo signaling pathway. Analysis of the vertebrate ortholog in Xenopus by visualization of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged CLASP showed that CLASP associated with a subset of microtubules in the growth cone, and these microtubules penetrated into the leading edge of the actin-rich filopodia. Overexpression of GFP-CLASP resulted in microtubule looping and a reduction in the advance of the leading edge of the growth cone. Thus, orbit (or CLASP in vertebrates) appears to be poised between the repellent receptor (robo) and the cytoskeleton to coordinate the movement of microtubules in the growth cone in response to axon guidance cues. Zhou et al. investigated the mechanism by which nerve growth factor (NGF) promoted axon growth in embryonic mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Various pharmacological treatments and analysis of cells expressing mutants of the signaling components verified that signaling stimulated by NGF proceeded from phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) to integrin-linked kinase (ILK) to glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) and that this pathway was necessary for NGF-mediated axon elongation. APC (adenomatous polyposis coli), a microtubule-binding protein and target of GSK-3β, was found in axons associated with the cytoskeleton (based on insolubility to detergent extraction) and was visually localized to the tips of growing microtubules. APC localization to the distal ends of axons was lost under conditions that blocked NGF signaling and caused growth cone collapse. Expression of mutants of APC that lacked critical domains for mediating direct or indirect microtubule interactions inhibited axon elongation. Thus, NGF-mediated axon elongation appears to follow a path to APC to control microtubule assembly in the growth cone. K. Kalil, E. W. Dent, Hot +TIPS: Guidance cues signal directly to microtubules. Neuron 42, 877-883 (2004). [Online Journal] H. Lee, U. Engel, J. Rusch, S. Scherrer, K. Sheard, D. Van Vactor, The microtubule plus end tracking proteins Orbit/MAST/CLASP acts downstream of the tyrosine kinase Abl in mediating axon guidance. Neuron 42, 913-926 (2004). [Online Journal] F. Q. Zhou, J. Zhou, S. Dedhar, Y.-H. Wu, W. D. Snider, NGF-induced axon growth is mediated by localized inactivation of GSK-3β and functions of the microtubule plus end binding protein APC. Neuron 42, 897-912 (2004). [Online Journal]


textabstractDuring the last two decades, sparsity has emerged as a key concept to solve linear and non-linear ill-posed inverse problems, in particular for severely ill-posed problems and applications with incomplete, sub-sampled data. At the same time, there is a growing demand to obtain quantitative instead of just qualitative inverse results together with a systematic assessment of their uncertainties (Uncertainty quantification, UQ). Bayesian inference seems like a suitable framework to combine sparsity and UQ but its application to large-scale inverse problems resulting from fine discretizations of PDE models leads to severe computational and conceptional challenges. In this talk, we will focus on two different Bayesian approaches to model sparsity as a-priori information: Via convex, but non-smooth prior energies such as total variation and Besov space priors and via non-convex but smooth priors arising from hierarchical Bayesian modeling. To illustrate our findings, we will rely on experimental data from challenging biomedical imaging applications such as EEG/MEG source localization and limited-angle CT. We want to share the experiences, results we obtained and the open questions we face from our perspective as researchers coming from a background in biomedical imaging rather than in statistics and hope to stimulate a fruitful discussion for both sides.


Unstructured grids are useful for resolving key geological or flow features in reservoir simulation. Accurate finite volume discretization of the reservoir flow equations on such grids generally requires the use of multipoint flux approximation (MPFA). MPFA can be applied to heterogeneous, anisotropic systems on generally unstructured grids, though it may suffer from loss of monotonicity of the inverse of the resulting linear operator at moderate to high permeability anisotropy ratios. As a consequence, the resulting pressure solution can show errors in the form of spurious oscillations. In recent work, we developed new algorithms for 2D and 3D systems that address this loss of monotonicity from a grid optimization perspective. Given an underlying fine-scale heterogeneous permeability field, the approaches can be generalized (via iteration) to couple permeability upscaling with the unstructured grid optimization. In our previous work, solutions of the single-phase incompressible pressure equation were considered for 2D and 3D models. In this paper we describe our grid optimization procedures, consider new example cases, and apply the approach to a two-phase flow problem. We demonstrate that the overall procedure is capable of providing accurate solutions (for both single-phase and two-phase flows) that are free of spurious pressure oscillations. An upscaling example demonstrates results in reasonably close agreement with the corresponding fine-grid solution. Although not presented here, the method can be coupled with a flow-based grid generation procedure to provide an overall gridding capability that resolves key flow regions while minimizing or eliminating spurious pressure oscillations.


This study was carried out to examine the various sources of water which are being used by
residents in squatter settlements around Kuala Lumpur. The results showed that piped water from the
public stand-pipes was used primarily Jar drinking and cooking purposes but water from other
sources was also collected to augment their water supply jar use in washing, gardening, etc. An
evaluation of the methods used Jar the collection and storage of water other than piped water,
indicated that the system can be further improved to yield good quality water by adoption of appropriate
technologies for household water treatment.


This study examines the impact of sound structure on children's acquisition of noun plural morphology, focussing on stem change. For this purpose, a three-level classification of stem change properties according to sound structure is presented, with increasing opacity of the plural stem: no change, weak change, strong change. General hypotheses are presented as well as predictions following from them, both general and language-specific. The relevance of stem change is tested in 140 German-speaking and 140 Danish-speaking children from the age of three to nine years, by using a plural elicitation task. Results show that in both languages, stem change has an impact on children's correct production of plural stems. Language-specific differences between German and Danish both in correct responses and in overgeneralization errors are compared to our predictions and discussed in detail.


Antibody (IgG) responses to the saliva of Phlebotomus argentipes were investigated using serum samples from regions of India endemic and non-endemic for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). By pre-adsorbing the sera against the saliva of the competing human-biting but non-VL vector P. papatasi, we significantly improved the specificity of a P. argentipes saliva enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Using this method, we observed a statistically significant correlation between antibodies to P. argenitpes saliva and the average indoor density of female sand flies. Additionally, the method was able to detect recent changes in vector exposure when sera from VL patients were assayed before, during, and after hospitalization and protected from sand fly bites under untreated bed nets. Collectively, these results highlight the utility of antibodies to P. argentipes saliva as an important tool to evaluate VL vector control programs.


The number of elderly in Sweden is increasing due to improved living conditions and better medical care. It is important that society adapts to the increase and begins to work preventively to reduce the costs of the increase. An important aspect is the elderly accommodation, the cost of health care in specific accommodation is almost twice as high as those for ordinary housing. Therefore, it is important that we availability adapt dwelling to allow older people to live in ordinary housing for as long as they wish, instead of moving to assisted living before they need it. If we can fulfil the elder's needs with home care instead, society can save a lot of money.In this report, three different forms of housing has undergone accessibility increases and been inventoried and analysed. The result shows especially on major shortcomings in the real estate and site level. Many simple and inexpensive actions could be done to improve the sense of security and the availability.


As part of the validation phase of the Drosophila melanogaster segment of the National Toxicology Program, a comparison has been made of positive and negative controls for sex-linked recessive lethal mutations and reciprocal translocations from three laboratories. This comparison involves approximately 700,000 spontaneous recessive lethal mutation tests, 70,000 spontaneous translocation tests, and screens for genetic damage induced by N-nitrosodimethylamine and beta-propiolactone. Spontaneous frequencies for lethal mutations and translocations were homogeneous in the laboratories regardless of solvent or broods sampled. Inhomogeneity was observed in induced frequencies among laboratories, but the variation was no greater than that found within a laboratory.


Compressively strained germanium-on-insulator (c-GeOI) substrates with a definitely reduced defect density are expected to yield superior hole mobilities together with low off-state currents in p-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). In order to fabricate c-GeOI wafers, we started with double-side polished Si(0 0 1) substrates and grew, by reduced pressure-chemical vapour deposition, Si0.15Ge0.85 virtual substrates (VS) on the front side. The wafer curvature was compensated thanks to the deposition of a thick Ge layer on the backside. We then grew, after a chemical mechanical polishing, various thickness (37–148 nm) Ge layers. They stayed smooth (root-mean-square roughness <5 Å) and pseudomorphically strained on the VS underneath (perpendicular lattice parameter: 5.681 Å ⇔ bulk Ge lattice parameter: 5.658 Å) up to a 74 nm thickness. These c-Ge layers were then bonded on oxidized Si substrates using the SmartCut™ process. The resulting c-GeOI substrates were of high crystalline quality, compressively strained and smooth. The threading dislocations density (8 × 105 cm−2 ⇔ 1.7 × 105 cm−2 for the SiGe VS template used to strain the c-Ge layers) was indeed 20 times less than the one associated with conventional GeOI substrates obtained from thick Ge epilayers. Pseudo-MOSFET measurements were performed to quantify the hole mobility gain in those c-GeOI substrates. A +150% enhancement compared to conventional silicon-on-insulator substrates was evidenced, validating the interest of these stacks.


Abstract This study examines public sector change, motivation and person–organization (P–O) fit in a stress context. The results provide empirical evidence that change initiatives produce change-induced stressors. However, change processes, including participation in change decision-making and the provision of change information, increase public service motivation, reduce change-induced stressors and ultimately improve P–O fit and job satisfaction. The results also depict that, in the context of change, public service motivation positively influences job satisfaction, with this relationship partially mediated by P–O fit. Implications for New Public Management and the importance of change processes for reducing workplace stress are discussed.


Most of past research on the skid resistance/road wetness relationship deal with thick water depths (> 1mm). Questions remain as to the variation of skid resistance with thin water films and the transition between the dry state and the so-called "damp" or "humid" state at which the skid resistance drop can be as high as 30-40%. This paper deals with a theoretical and experimental assessment of the friction/water depth relationship. The main objective is to estimate local water depths trapped between the tire and the road asperities and to define a so-called "critical" water depth which can be used for driver assistance systems. Tests are performed in laboratory and on test tracks. It was found that the friction-water depth curves have an inverse-S shape and present an initial constant-friction part before decreasing to a minimum value. A "critical" water depth, defined as the water depth above which the friction coefficient collapses significantly, is determined from observed frictionwater depth curves. Influence of test speed and road surface texture on critical water depth is discussed.


The spinodal decomposition of the homopolymer blends has been studied by the numerical integration of the Cahn–Hilliard–Cook equation. We have investigated the time evolution of the morphological measures that characterize quantitatively the interface in the system. For symmetric blends we have found that the Euler characteristic of the interface is negative and increases with time as τ0.75 (connectivity of the domains decreases) regardless of the final quench temperature. The homogeneity index of the interface is constant in this case. This suggests that at the level of the integral geometry quantities (Minkowski functionals), the dynamic scaling hypothesis holds for the evolution of the interface morphology in quenched critical systems. The nonuniversal morphological evolution of the asymmetric blends have been studied. Also, we have shown that the thermal fluctuations can modify significantly the curvature distribution.


It has long been noted that conversational partners tend to exhibit increasingly similar pitch, intensity, and timing behavior over the course of a conversation. However, the metrics developed to measure this similarity to date have generally failed to capture the dynamic temporal aspects of this process. In this paper, we propose new approaches to measuring interlocutor similarity in spoken dialogue. define similarity in terms of convergence and synch propose approaches to capture these, illustrating our techniques on gap and pause production in Swedish spontaneous dialogues.


Online forums are now one of the primary venues for public dialogue on current social and political issues. The related corpora are often huge, covering any topic imaginable. Our aim is to use these dialogue corpora to automatically discover the semantic aspects of arguments that conversants are making across multiple dialogues on a topic. We frame this goal as consisting of two tasks: argument extraction and argument facet similarity. We focus here on the argument extraction task, and show that we can train regressors to predict the quality of extracted arguments with RRSE values as low as .73 for some topics. A secondary goal is to develop regressors that are topic independent: we report results of cross-domain training and domain-adaptation with RRSE values for several topics as low as .72, when trained on topic independent features.


This generation of young people may have a unique risk of exposure to stress and researchers and clinicians are increasingly concerned about the long-term health consequences of such chronic exposure for young adults.


In this study, the prevalence and genetic diversity of Bartonella species in various arthropod vectors from both wild and domestic animals in Australia were investigated using nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA). Previous studies on Bartonella species in Australia have been confined to mammalian hosts, including humans, cats, native rodents and eastern grey kangaroos. However, little is known about the status of bartonellae in arthropod vectors, which is essential in understanding the transmission dynamics of the organisms.

To facilitate the investigation, ectoparasites (ticks and fleas) were collected from both wild and domestic animals from various locations in Australia. All ectoparasites were screened for Bartonella species using newly designed nested-PCRs targeting the gltA gene (citrate synthase) and the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, developed as part of the present study. Multilocus sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), citrate synthase (gltA),cell division protein (ftsZ) and RNA polymerasebeta-subunit (rpoB) genes and the ribosomal ITS region was applied to identify and confirm the status of all Bartonella species identified in this study. Multilocus sequence analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes of flea vectors harbouring a diversity of Bartonella species were analysed to characterize the extent of genetic diversity in the flea vectors and to elucidate vector-parasite associations.

A phylogenetic analysis of the 5 concatenated loci identified 3 novel Bartonella species in flea vectors from marsupials in Western Australia. Candidatus Bartonella antechini was detected in fleas (Acanthopsylla jordani) from mardos (Antechinus flavipes - also called the yellow-footed antechinus). Candidatus Bartonella woyliei was detected in fleas (Pygiopsylla hilli), from brush-tailed bettongs (Bettongia penicillata– also called woylies), and Candidatus Bartonella bandicootii was detected in Pygiopsylla tunneyi fleas from western barred bandicoots (Perameles bougainville). Furthermore, a potential novel species, Bartonella sp. strain WC2 was detected in ticks (Ixodes australiensis) from woylies based on the criterion of a genetic similarity of less than 96% of the gltA locus compared with other validated Bartonella species. In the present study, the grouping of marsupial-derived Bartonella species confirmed the existence of a marsupial cluster of Bartonella species in Australia, which appears to have evolved separately to Bartonella species in other mammals.

The detection of the known zoonotic Bartonella species, B. henselae and B. clarridgeiae in red foxes and their fleas (Ctenocephalides felis), indicated that red foxes could be an important reservoir of Bartonella infections for other animals and humans in the same geographical locality. Bartonella henselae and B. clarridgeiae DNA were also detected from fleas collected from pet cats in the same area. The genetic association of these zoonotic Bartonella species detected in wildlife and pet animals has demonstrated and confirmed the distribution of zoonotic Bartonella species in fleas from both wild and domestic animals in this region and a possible ecological association between the animal species.

The genetic clustering of Bartonella species and flea vectors with their Australian fauna hosts suggests co-evolution of hosts, fleas and Bartonella species in Australia. In conclusion, the close association between Australian fauna, Australian fleas and Bartonella species suggests adaptation by Bartonella species to a specific ecological niche, comprised of specific mammalian hosts and specific flea vectors in particular environments.


Through a reading of Arturo Islas's posthumously published La Mollie and the King of Tears, this essay offers a critique of liberal, multicultural uses of postcolonial hybridity in the context of U.S. literature and literary criticism. The essay reviews current uses of hybridity as a celebratory model of either an ideal embodied pluralism or a free-floating deconstructive signifier. It presents an alternative model in Islas's use of hybridity for critiquing readerly desires for identity representation and common, everyday habits of thinking of identity in terms of a one-to-one relation between an identity category and an individual body. In La Mollie, sexuality, ethnicity, and race are revealed to be always mutually constituted. They become legible simultaneously as inhabited positions, projected identifications, and metaphors used to describe both internal and external spaces too complicated to house individual and whole identities. Through such representations of sexuality, ethnicity, and race, Islas presents hybridity as both a (sometimes violently) lived experience and a conscious literary aesthetic. The essay ends by discussing how Islas places his readers in a psychic space where they must recognize the historical circumstances that have produced inequality through identity and desire, and their own complicity in this production.


The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky), is a serious pest affecting a wide range of cereal crops, such as maize, rice, beans and other stored dried grains. As a S. zeamais female can keep laying eggs for a long time throughout its life after chewing its way into the grains, most development stages of the maize weevil, such as eggs, larvae and pupae, can always be found in stored maize grains. Our experiment with S.  zeamais on long grain rice showed that 10 days after eclosion and mating, maize weevil females started laying eggs for a period of 145 days. On average, a S.  zeamais female laid 38.67 eggs, of which, up to 62.81% were laid in the first 7–8 weeks (with the remaining 37.19% in the latter half of the 145 day period), and 55.07%  were laid within day 55–95. The egg laying pattern of S. zeamais was modeled using cubic polynomials, which described the maximum percentages of eggs laid at day 15, 35, 75, 95 and 105.


In this paper, an experimental test performed on a hybrid steel plate girder was subjected to concentrated loads at the end of an unstiffened panel is presented. This load was intended to produce a typical reaction of the piers while launching steel girders in bridges. In this test, strain measurements were taken with conventional pre-wired gauges as well as with newly developed wirelessly connected strain-measuring system. Both measurements were carefully compared and the accuracy of the developed system was demonstrated. Results were also compared with numerical simulations deployed with FE models and on such a basis; the reliability of the developed wireless system was proven. Finally, suggestions of potential research trends in this area are provided.


Based on their use of a shared computer and the Internet ads that keep popping up, two co-workers suspect that another co-worker is HIV-positive or has AIDS. Using this story platform, the case explores Internet marketing, especially the powerhouse search engine Google and how it tracks its users' habits. The history of Google is chronicled, as well as the privacy issues that have mushroomed as the Internet and its technology have developed.


Living systems produce more than 90% of Earth's atmospheric methane; the balance is of geochemical origin. On Mars, methane could be a signature of either origin. Using high-dispersion infrared spectrometers at three ground-based telescopes, we measured methane and water vapor simultaneously on Mars over several longitude intervals in northern early and late summer in 2003 and near the vernal equinox in 2006. When present, methane occurred in extended plumes, and the maxima of latitudinal profiles imply that the methane was released from discrete regions. In northern midsummer, the principal plume contained ∼19,000 metric tons of methane, and the estimated source strength (≥0.6 kilogram per second) was comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, California.


Viral vectors are extensively used to deliver foreign DNA to cells for applications ranging from basic research to potential clinical therapies. A limiting step in this process is virus uptake and internalization into the target cells, which is mediated by membrane receptors. Although it is possible to modify viral capsid proteins to target the viruses, such procedures are complex and often unsuccessful. Here we present a rapid, inexpensive system for improving transduction of cells, including those that lack receptors for adenovirus fiber proteins. Addition of GeneJammer (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) during the adenovirus transduction led to a significant increase in both the total number of transduced cells and the level of transgene expression per cell. Studies using cell lines deficient in adenovirus receptors demonstrated that addition of GeneJammer provided a novel cellular entry mechanism for the virus. These findings were tested in a cell-based gene therapy system for the induction of bone, which is contingent on high-level expression of the transgene. Inclusion of GeneJammer in either Ad5BMP2 or Ad5F35BMP2 transduction of a variety of cells demonstrated a correlating increase in bone formation. The results suggest a novel and versatile method for achieving high-level transduction using adenovirus.


In spite of active measles vaccination efforts in 2005 in southern Nigeria, re-emergence continues to occur. This study was carried out to ascertain the incidence of measles, severity, mortality and its complications, in order to enhance treatment and reduce under-five child mortality. Secondary data from the records in the measles ward of Oni Memorial Children's Hospital, Ibadan was used. The period under investigation was 2005 to 2008, following the catch-up and follow-up measles vaccination exercise. Four hundred children between the ages of 5 months and 14 years were clinically diagnosed with measles from 2005 to 2008, of which 124 (31%) had complications. Among those with complications, 70 (56.5%) mortalities were observed, and as the children approached 14 years of age, incidence of measles reduced to 0%. Measles is still a major childhood problem in the southern part of Nigeria, even as the burden is more in northern Nigeria. This will invariably hamper global measles mortality reduction initiatives and the attainment of the fourth millennium development goal of reduction of under-five child mortality by 2015, hence the need for a coordinated and strategic mass vaccination effort to target unimmunized children.

 Key words: Measles in children, complications, clinical diagnosis, mortality, mass vaccination.