Breast cancer affects more women in the world today than any other cancer.
Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that diet and lifestyle play a substantial
role in the development of breast cancer in women. The landmark reports by the World
Cancer Research Fund (1997 & 2007) concluded that cancer is largely a preventable
disease. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of an educational intervention
to modify the nutrition and physical activity related to breast cancer risk among female
secondary school teachers in Selangor. This study aimed to improve diet and lifestyle
behaviors that included fruit and vegetable intake, the total energy from fat, physical
activity and anthropometric indicators. Psychosocial factors (knowledge, attitude, barriers
and self-efficacy) were examined for their relationship to change in diet and physical
activity. This intervention was developed based on the guidelines of the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF, 1997; 2007) for cancer prevention, as well as the Malaysian
Guidelines for Cancer Prevention of The National Cancer Society of Malaysia. A total of
210 female teachers, from eight randomly selected schools in four districts in the state of
Selangor, were randomized into the intervention group (n= 108) and the control group (n=
102). The intervention group received a multi-component diet and lifestyle educational
program, comprising a one-day seminar, a self-help educational module, face to face diet
and lifestyle motivational counselling. The control group received only the self-help
educational material after completing the final follow-up assessment. A validated and
reliable questionnaire was used to obtain the necessary information, over three time points
i.e: baseline, immediate (post-1) intervention and 4-months follow-up (post-2). Descriptive
and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the data. The teachers were predominantly
Malays, Muslims, and married with a mean age of 37 years. At baseline, the mean
consumption of fruit and vegetable intakes were two servings per day in both groups, with
a high proportion in both groups showing a moderate level of physical activity and body fat
percentage. Both groups were at the moderate level for total knowledge and the three subscales
of knowledge, attitude, barriers and self-efficacy. The results of the ANOVA - GLM
Repeated Measure showed that there was a significant difference within and between the
groups (p<0.05) for change in the consumption of fruit and vegetables (+0.68 serving/ day),
body fat percentage (-.61%), and the multiple of resting metabolic rates (+210.56 MET), as
well as for the time spent for high, moderate and walking activities, where significant
changes were found within groups only. A significant difference between the groups
(p<0.05) indicated an increase in knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy, as well as a
reduction in barriers in the intervention group. No significant change was observed in the control group for the consumption of fruit and vegetables, and body composition, but there
was significant increase in knowledge was observed. The change in self-efficacy was
found to be predictors for the change in the intake of fruit and vegetables, MET and
reduction in the percentage of body fat in the intervention group. The reduction in barriers
and the increase in knowledge were found to be the predictors for the reduction in the
percentage of body fat. These findings suggest that the strategies used in this intervention
study have had some impact in promoting positive changes in the diet and lifestyle
behaviours. In conclusion, this study confirmed that apparently healthy and educated
women participated in short term intervention can be motivated to increase their dietary
intake of fruits and vegetables, improved their physical activity and reduce their body fat
percentage.


One of every six couples in America is experiencing infertility, a devastating crisis that affects men and women individually and as a couple. This comforting and informative book addresses the medical, financial, and emotional issues that couples must work through while resolving their infertility. Written in a question-and-answer format, this sympathetic book offers practical advice on how to contend with the emotional ups and downs of infertility-from learning how to communicate feelings more effectively to coping with the losses of failed treatments or miscarriages. Warm and practical, the book is divided into twelve chapters, grouped according to the four stages involved in resolving infertility: crisis, acceptance, resolution and epilogue. Addressing the crisis phase are chapters on communicating effectively in a crisis, viewing infertility through the eyes of a parent, coping with family and friends, dealing with stresses at work while going through medical treatment, dealing with the medical establishment, and working through loss. For the stages of acceptance and resolution the authors offer chapters on deepening one's faith, knowing when to stop medical treatment, and practical advice for couples deciding to live child-free or considering adoption. An extensive section at the end addresses issues and concerns of professionals dealing with infertility patients. In addition, there are self-help exercises and a guide to resources. Originally titled What to Expect When You're Experiencing Infertility in hardcover.


Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis) was esterfied with phenylisothiocya-nate, and dimensional stability, decay resistance, and photo stability of the modified wood was assessed. The chemically modified wood was characterized by FTIR and CP/MAS 13C NMR spectroscopy. Unmodified and modified samples were exposed to a brown rot (Polyporus meliae) and a white rot (Coriolus versicolor) fungus for 12 weeks. Modified wood samples exhibited good dimensional stability and were very resistant to decay. However, phenylisothiocyanate modification of wood was not effective in decreasing photo-yellowing.


Novel and highly sensitive static strain interrogation technique is demonstrated, where the sensing element is a fiber-Bragg grating (FBG) and the light source is a frequency-locked diode laser. Locking the laser frequency to the center of an absorption line (atomic line of potassium in our experiment) eliminates the slow frequency drift of the laser. The stabilized laser source is used to measure low frequency ("static") strain, with a sensitivity of 1.2 nanostrain//spl radic/Hz rms at 1.5 Hz.


We are running a collective chemical fever that we cannot break. Everyone everywhere now carries a dizzying array of chemical contaminants, the by-products of modern industry and innovation, that contribute to a host of developmental deficits and health problems in ways just now being understood. These toxic substances, unknown to our grandparents, accumulate in our fat, bones, blood, and organs as a consequence of womb-to-tomb exposure to industrial substances as common as the products that contain them. Almost everything we encounter from soap to soup cans, computers to clothing contributes to a chemical load unique to each of us. Scientists studying the phenomenon refer to it as "chemical body burden," and in "The Body Toxic," the investigative journalist Nena Baker explores the many factors that have given rise to this condition."


IN AN EFFORT TO BE INCLUSIVE, Arkansas history has been broadly defined in the compilation of this bibliography. Some materials, such as genealogical or local history society journals, government documents, and nonprint productions, have been omitted. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly is cited as AHQ. BOOKS Baer, Frances Lisa. Resistance to Public School Desegregation: Little Rock, Arkansas and Beyond. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2008. Bagley, Will and David L. Bigler. Innocent Blood: Essential Narratives of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clarke, 2008. Bolsterli, Margaret Jones. During Wind and Rain: The Jones Family Farm in the Arkansas Delta, 1848-2006. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2008. Brock, Pope. Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam. New York: Crown, 2008. [Dr. John Brinkley and his quack medical cures] Bryant, Jimmy. Centennial History of the University of Central Arkansas. Virginia Beach, VA: Donnings, 2008. Bush, A. E. and P. L. Dorman. History of the Mosaic Templars of America. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2008. [reprint, with an introduction by John W. Graves] Camp, Marcia, ed. The Charity Letters of JoAnn Cayce. Little Rock: Bright Cloud Press, 2008. [insight into the social service needs being addressed by a one woman-assistance program in Calhoun County] Carroll, D. P. Bathhouse Row: We Bathe the World. Hot Springs: Matter of Time Publishing, 2008. Cate, George. The Good Ground of Central High: Little Rock Central High and Legendary Coach Wilson Matthews. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2008. Clapp, Rodney. Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction: Christianity and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. Coleman, Ewell. A Life on the Black River in Arkansas: The Memoir of a Farmer, Rural Entrepreneur, and Banker. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2008. Felsenthal, Carol. Clinton in Exile: A President Out of the White House. New York: William Morrow, 2008. Gartner, John. In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008. Gillespie, Marcia, ed. Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. New York: Doubleday, 2008. [biographical tribute] Gillon, Steven. The Pact: Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Goldenberg, Suzanne. Madam President: Is America Ready to Send Hillary Clinton to the White House? London: A & C Black, 2008. Hanley, Steven and Ray Hanley. Arkansas County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. [pictorial history in the Images of America series] Heat-Moon, William Least. Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey. New York: Little, Brown, & Co., 2008. [author's travels include a retracing of the Dunbar-Hunter Expedition along the Ouachita] Historical Report of the Secretary of State, 2008. Little Rock: Secretary of State's Office, 2008. Howard, John. Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. [history of the Arkansas internment camps at Jerome and Rohwer] Kessler, Daniel. Sarah Caldwell: The First Woman of Opera. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008. Kirk, John, ed. An Epitaph for Little Rock: A Fiftieth Anniversary Retrospective on the Central High Crisis. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2008. Kovalcik, Timothy. The Great Passion Play. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. [pictorial history of the Eureka Springs production in the Images of America series] Laymon, Sherry. Pfeiffer Country: The Tenant Farms and Business Activities of Paul Pfeiffer in Clay County, Arkansas, 1902-1954. Little Rock: Butler Center Books, 2008. Light, Patsy Pittman. …


Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a noninvasive and relatively inexpensive method of assessing body composition. Manufacturers of BIA technology recommend to avoid testing women when they perceive to be retaining water during the menstrual cycle. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effect of the menstrual cycle on body composition determined by contact-electrode BIA analyzers. Forty-three college-aged women volunteered to participate in this study (age=21.2 ± 1.1 years; body mass index = 24.0 ± 3.7 kg/m2). Subjects had their body composition assessed using four different contact-electrode BIA analyzers during the following menstrual cycle phases: menstrual, follicular, early and late luteal. Regardless of the BIA analyzer used for the assessment, no significant differences in body composition measures were found between cycle phases. The results of this study indicate that the contact-electrode BIA devices used in this study can be used at any time during a woman's menstrual cycle without altering the body composition values.


Known for her far-reaching examinations of psychoanalysis, literature, and politics, Jacqueline Rose has in recent years turned her attention to the Israel-Palestine conflict, one of the most enduring and apparently intractable conflicts of our time. In "Proust among the Nations", she takes the development of her thought on this crisis a stage further, revealing it as a distinctly Western problem. In a radical rereading of the Dreyfus affair through the lens of Marcel Proust in dialogue with Freud, Rose offers a fresh and nuanced account of the rise of Jewish nationalism and the subsequent creation of Israel. Following Proust's heirs, Beckett and Genet, and a host of Middle Eastern writers, artists, and filmmakers, Rose traces the shifting dynamic of memory and identity across the crucial and ongoing cultural links between Europe and Palestine. A powerful and elegant analysis of the responsibility of writing, Proust among the Nations makes the case for literature as a unique resource for understanding political struggle and gives us new ways to think creatively about the violence in the Middle East.


The climate change debate and economic recovery strategies in various industries demand transformational projects in clean technology. Transformation in this context refers to a nearly tenfold improvement in a key technical performance indicator that is typically conditioned upon making high risk scientific breakthroughs. These projects face multiple sources of uncertainty in high risk situations, and require specialized knowhow and longer periods for revenue growth than their counterparts in other industries. The risk profile of such projects makes them unattractive investments to conventional financiers like banks and venture capital funds. We use data from 36 clean technology projects funded by the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, to examine how operations design can hedge risk and enhance project valuation during early start-up stages. For start-up managers who are attempting to develop transformational technologies, our findings clarify the valuation criteria in high risk, high reward circumstances and offer strategies for securing and assigning resources. We find that firms with an operations design to reduce business risk receive more project funding. On the other hand, the choice of market segments for deployment remains uncertain for such start-ups, and design choices related to market competitiveness show a negative correlation to the level of funding.


Brain morphometry based classification from magnetic resonance (MR) acquisitions has been widely investigated in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its prodromal stage, i.e., mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In the literature, a morphometric representation of brain structures is obtained by spatial normalization of each image into a common space (i.e., a pre‐defined atlas) via non‐linear registration, thus the corresponding regions in different brains can be compared. However, representations generated from one single atlas may not be sufficient to reveal the underlying anatomical differences between the groups of disease‐affected patients and normal controls (NC). In this article, we propose a different methodology, namely the multi‐atlas based morphometry, which measures morphometric representations of the same image in different spaces of multiple atlases. Representations generated from different atlases can thus provide the complementary information to discriminate different groups, and also reduce the negative impacts from registration errors. Specifically, each studied subject is registered to multiple atlases, where adaptive regional features are extracted. Then, all features from different atlases are jointly selected by a correlation and relevance based scheme, followed by final classification with the support vector machine (SVM). We have evaluated the proposed method on 459 subjects (97 AD, 117 progressive‐MCI (p‐MCI), 117 stable‐MCI (s‐MCI), and 128 NC) from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database, and achieved 91.64% for AD/NC classification and 72.41% for p‐MCI/s‐MCI classification. Our results clearly demonstrate that the proposed multi‐atlas based method can significantly outperform the previous single‐atlas based methods. Hum Brain Mapp 35:5052–5070, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The study has been triggered by the increase in information breaches in financial organizations worldwide. Such organizations may have policies and procedures, strategies and systems in place in order to mitigate the risk of information breaches, but data breaches are still on the rise. The objectives of this study are to explore the shortfalls of information security on a South African financial institution and further investigate whether business processes are respon-sive to organization's needs. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Questionnaires were sent to staff level employees, and semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with senior management at the organization. The study revealed that employees require training on information management and that there are major training deficiencies for training officers to conduct beneficial information management training at the organization. Information security program that include business risk analysis were not implemented, which results in inade-quate information management planning and decisions. A standardized or uniform house rule policy was not consistently implemented across the organization, which resulted in certain areas not protecting information. The qualitative findings revealed that the external cleaning company could obtain access to customer information, if customer data are left lying around. Furthermore, there is major misalignment between policy setters and employees in this organization. The findings allow senior managers to construct projects and program with their teams to improve the state of information management in the organization which spans across the people aspect, technology systems and general information management processes. Furthermore, external companies should start signing Non-Disclosure Agreements - which is not being done currently as this opens the door for data fraud. The organization has information management and security policies in place, but the study concluded that employees do not understand these policies and should receive specialized training to ensure understanding and, ultimately, have employees following these information security policies.


The importance of agriculture to development in Africa is underlined by the dependence of over 70% of the population's livelihood mainly from farming and related activities, or through self employment on small farms; while only 20% of the farmers operate large holdings which employ large workforces. However, African agricultural performance has been weak, contributing less than 20% of GDP, with the world share of agricultural exports falling from 8% to 2% over four decades, and falling from being a net food exporter to being a net food importer, in spite of food price increases. Yet agricultural production has remained predominantly export oriented, with food exports growing to 13%, while food imports grew to around 20% over the last two decades. The growing importance of tourism also means that about 30% of the land (especially in southern and eastern Africa) is reserved for nature conservancies and woodlands. These patterns limit the expansion of home markets and the integration of agriculture within other industries. Africa continues to face a food production and consumption 'crisis' and dependence on food aid. The consumption defi cit refl ects escalating food prices and food shortages, which particularly limits access by the poor. Declining agricultural productivity and increased production costs determine the escalating food prices, with food accounting for 60–70% of total consumption expenditure of Africa's growing low-income groups. Malnourishment – a basic indicator of the social reproduction crisis – is endemic, with over 200 million people in 2001 compared to 133 million in 1980 affected.


Health care reform will not pass our test. . . * It will not provide basic security. . . * It will not provide universal coverage. . . * It will not be comprehensive. . . * And it will not control costs. . . Unless it includes real long term care. Alzheimer's Association, 1994, p. 1 Health insurance has traditionally paid for acute care because employers, the largest payers of private health insurance premiums, have generally only been willing to contribute to the health care of their workers as long as they were employable. Griss, 1994, p. 8 Social workers watch with guarded optimism as the much-heralded congressional debate on health care reform approaches its prolonged crescendo. As of the Memorial Day recess, with basic issues such as employer mandates and the standard benefit package yet undecided, it seems certain that the final legislation will overlook many critical needs. But given this historic opportunity, one provision in President Clinton's Health Security Act (HSA) bill, on a subject addressed by several of the articles in this issue of Health & Social Work, is of particular significance to social workers in health care: Long-term care will remain in urgent need of national policy attention whether health care reform legislation addresses it or not. WHERE ARE THE LONG-TERM CARE REFORMS? The health care needs of disabled people, frail elderly people, developmentally disabled individuals, and people with chronic mental illness are largely social and supportive, not acute and curative. It is estimated that between 9 million and 11 million Americans of all ages--one in 20--suffer severe chronic disabling conditions requiring help with one or more activities of daily living (ADLs) (U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, 1990). The vast majority receiving care live in the community, but approximately 1.6 million elderly people and 700,000 nonelderly people live in nursing homes and other facilities that provide 24-hour care (White House Task Force on Health Care Reform, 1993). By 2030 these numbers are expected to more than double as our population ages. At least another 7 million Americans--spouses, adult children, other relatives, friends, and neighbors--provide unpaid assistance to noninstitutionalized elders at any given time (Stone & Kemper, 1989). The catastrophic costs of long-term care are the single largest reason for personal bankruptcies, affecting over 1 million persons per year (Halmandaris, 1994). The health care concerns of these Americans involve not only obtaining medical treatment, but also living and coping with diseases and disabling conditions. An insurance approach usually fails to address social and personal needs. The lack of attention to long-term care is embedded in the nature of our discourse about health care and its reform, as well as in the economic paradigm used to analyze its costs. Long-term care is an afterthought, an add-on, perceived as a costly "benefit" in health care reform considerations. It does not fit the American indemnity model of private insurance and is therefore considered nonessential. One of the persistent symptoms of the acute-care bias in our health care system is that acute and long-term care are separated in most health insurance coverage. Long-term care is of little interest to employers or to physicians, who have financial incentives to over-specialize in acute-care treatments, so both prevention and long-term care are shortchanged (Griss, 1994). The current policy paradigm assumes that if not by government or insurance, long-term care will be provided by someone; that "someone" is families and, loved ones--80 percent of whom are women--who provide care "for free." Thus, in-home care and community care are usually considered by economic analyses to be "costless." The considerations are full of catch-22s. Several of the bills now slogging their way through Congress claim to address long-term care, but only the President's Health Security Act bill and the Single Payer bill sponsored by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) and Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA) have detailed these provisions sufficiently to estimate their costs. …


Although cities are a poor place to situate consumer protection regulation, especially "top down" efforts to "command and control" lending decisions, they are an especially good source of consumer "empowerment" initiatives. Consumer empowerment might take the form of debt advice or education initiatives. Empowerment might also occur by enabling consumers to register complaints about lenders or other financial service providers' conduct. It might involve financial inclusion initiatives to encourage banks and other institutions to provide financial services that are affordable and convenient to consumer residents, and non-predatory. These sorts of empowerment initiatives assist in resolving a range of credit market failures by enhancing consumers' abilities to make financial decisions rather than restricting lenders' conduct in lending markets.
Cities are a superior location for providing financial empowerment programs for three reasons. First, cities enjoy greater proximity to consumer constituents than state or federal government actors, and in greater concentrations. Second, cities are used to working pragmatically in tandem with private and nonprofit actors. These partnerships are often the keys to successfully empowering consumers' financial decisionmaking because the success of empowerment initiatives often depends on garnering the trust and confidence of the participants. Third, cities' existing municipal infrastructures provide important programmatic advantages.
Close examination of cities' provision of consumer empowerment services highlights the extent to which empowerment strategies can and should be relied on to protect consumers in their financial decision-making. It also enables greater focus on cities' strengths as a source of consumer financial protection more generally. Finally, through this examination it is possible to understand how cities might "teach" federal and state actors to better regulate and enforce regulations with an eye on the "local."


Treatment of sludge in sludge treatment reed bed systems includes dewatering and mineralization. The mineralization process, which is driven by microorganisms, produces different gas species as by-products. The pore space composition of the gas species provides useful information on the biological processes occurring in the sludge residue. In this study, we measured the change in composition of gas species in the pore space at different depth levels in vertical sludge residue profiles during a resting period of 32 days. The gas composition of the pore space in the sludge residue changed during the resting period. As the resting period proceeded, atmospheric air re-entered the pore space at all depth levels. The methane (CH4) concentration was at its highest during the first part of the resting period, and then declined as the sludge residue became more dewatered and thereby aerated. In the pore space, the concentration of CH4 often exceeded the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the total emission of CO2 from the surface of the sludge residue exceeded the total emission of CH4, suggesting that CO2 was mainly produced in the layer of newly applied sludge and/or that CO2 was emitted from the sludge residue more readily compared to CH4.


The effect of glycol and heat on some clay minerals of the eastern southern region of Lake Victoria in Tanzania has been studied. First, Whole Rock Powder mount XRD analysis was carried out at the measuring range 2 # ranging between 2 o – 65 o . Four non-clay minerals found in samples were Na-feldspar, K-feldspar, pyrope and quartz. Oriented clay mineral XRD analysis diffractograms were developed when the air-dried samples were diffracted in measuring range 2# between 2 o o – 32 o . Main clay mineral groups found in the samples were kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite. After glycolating the samples, it was evident that kaolinite diffractograms were inverted while montmorillonite diffractograms peaks were widened and shifted. But on heating to 550 o C, the peaks for both kaolinite and montmorillonite collapsed. The case was different for illite peaks which showed stability under both treatments. This analysis made it possible to differentiate between kaolinitic and non-kaolinitic clays. IR spectroscopy study was also carried out and the results were presented for comparison to clay minerals identified by XRD analysis. XRD analysis identified kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite as clay minerals in the samples, results which agree with IR. IR absorption bands occurred at 3694, 3825, 694 and ca 430 – 470 cm -1 are characteristic of kaolinite mineral. While absorption bands which appeared at 3455, 3463, 3600, 3440, 3610 and 532 – 539 cm -1 are characteristics of illite mineral group, and a band at 3432 cm -1 signifies the presence of both kaolinite and montmorillonite. Tanz. J. Sci . Vol. 37 2011, 167-178


STUDY QUESTION
Is age at natural menopause (ANM) associated with the development of multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity) in postmenopausal life?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Women with premature menopause experience increased odds of developing individual chronic conditions and multimorbidity.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
ANM is considered as a marker of age-related morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal life. Multimorbidity affects more than 60% of older women and has been recognized as the most common 'chronic condition'. Few studies have examined the association between ANM and the development of multimorbidity.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
A prospective national cohort study of 11 258 Australian women, aged 45-50 years in 1996. Women were followed from 1996 to 2016.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
Information about ANM and 11 chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, anxiety and breast cancer) were estimated approximately every 3 years. Multimorbidity is defined as 2 or more of these 11 conditions. Generalized estimating equations were used to link the categorical ANM with individual chronic conditions and multimorbidity.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Among 5107 women reporting ANM, 2.3% experienced premature menopause (≤40 years) and 55.1% developed multimorbidity. Compared with women who experienced menopause at age 50-51 years, women with premature menopause had twice the odds of experiencing multimorbidity by age 60 (OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.98) and three times the odds of developing multimorbidity in their 60s (OR = 3.03, 95% CI 1.62 to 5.64). Women with premature menopause also experienced higher incidence of most individual chronic conditions.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The main limitation of this study was the use of self-reported data, but with repeated assessments from prospective study design and the validity of most of the chronic conditions from hospital data, the potential for non-differential misclassification is minimized.

WIDE IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the association of premature menopause and development of multimorbidity in a larger national cohort of mid-aged women. Health professionals should consider comprehensive screening and assessment of risk factors for multimorbidity when treating women who experienced premature menopause.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health was supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. X.X. is funded by an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship from the Australian government and a UQ Centennial Scholarship from The University of Queensland. G.D.M. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship (APP1121844). None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare.


Turbulent swirling flows are important in many applications including gas turbines, furnaces and cyclone dust separators among others. Although the mean flow fields have been relatively well studied, a complete understanding of the flow field including its dynamics has not been achieved. The work contained in this dissertation attempts to shed further light on the behavior of turbulent swirling flows, especially focused on the dynamic behavior of a turbulent swirling flow encountering a sudden expansion. Experiments were performed in a new isothermal turbulent swirling flow test facility. Two geometrical nozzle configurations were studied. The center–body nozzle configuration exhibits a cylindrical center–body in the center of the nozzle. The free vortex nozzle configuration is obtained when the cylindrical center–body is removed. Detailed laser velocimeter measurements were performed to map out the flow field near the sudden expansion of the 2.9" (ID) nozzle leading to the 7.4" (ID) downstream section. In addition to presenting detailed flow profiles for both nozzle and downstream flow fields, representative frequency spectra of the flow dynamics are presented. Along with the flow time histories and histograms, the wide variety of dynamic behavior was thus described in great detail. The dynamics observed in the experiment can be classified into three main categories: coherent and large scale motion, intermittent motion and coherent periodic motion. Free vortex geometry flows, in the parameter space of the experiments (Swirl number = 0 0.21), exhibited mostly coherent and large scale motion. The spectra in these cases were broadband with very light concentration of spectral energy observed in some specific cases. Center–body geometry flows exhibited all three categories of flows as swirl strength was increased from zero. Flows with little or no swirl exhibited broad–band spectra similar to those for the free vortex geometry. Intermediate swirl levels resulted in a large amount of low frequency energy which, with the aid of the time histories, was identified as a large scale intermittence associated with radial movement of the annular jet as it enters the sudden expansion. Large swirl levels resulted in high magnitude coherent oscillations concentrated largely just downstream of the sudden expansion. Linear stability analysis was used to help in the interpretation of the observed dynamics. Although, as implemented here (using the parallel flow assumption), the analysis was not successful in quantitatively matching the experimentally observed dynamics, significant insight into the physical mechanisms of the observed dynamics was obtained from the analysis. Specifically, the coherent oscillations observed for larger swirl levels were able to be described in terms of the interaction between the inner and outer shear layers of the flow field.


This paper examines the potential impact of local-option taxes on meals, general sales, income, and payroll on revenue-raising capacity in Massachusetts municipalities. It finds that, while new local-option taxes would generate considerable additional revenues from untapped sources, revenue capacity is not evenly distributed across municipalities. Indeed, local-option taxes are likely to exacerbate fiscal disparities, because municipalities with low existing revenue-raising capacity often lack the tax bases for new local-option taxes. Policymakers could consider increasing equalizing state aid to offset these fiscal disparities. If more aid is not forthcoming, this paper proposes that the state change aid formulas to reflect differences across municipalities in local-option tax capacity, and to better target fiscally distressed communities. These strategies - explored in the Massachusetts context - could also be useful in other states.


Abstract The gradual institutionalization of defence diplomacy is becoming an increasingly prominent and potentially important feature of security dialogue in the Asian region. This stands in marked contrast to Asia's recent history, where across the region multilateral defence or military interactions have traditionally been regarded with suspicion. This article examines the emergence of Asia's most prominent exercise in defence diplomacy: the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD). Within a relatively short space of time, this forum has developed into one of the most important opportunities for regional defence ministers and senior military officers to meet and exchange views on security issues. Yet despite its growing standing, the SLD has received virtually no scholarly attention. The article begins by reviewing the origins and development of the SLD, before outlining its operating modalities. It seeks to account for the apparent appeal of the SLD, measured in terms of its capacity to consistently attract high-level representation and favourable reviews. The article explores how the SLD might develop in the future and outlines some of the challenges it faces, including the rise of potentially competing mechanisms for defence diplomacy in East Asia. The article closes by outlining a number of areas for further research.


During the last few years the international migration of our fellow citizens has become a day to day trifle. Even before accessing the European Union, Romanians had learnt what Europe stands for, what it aspires to and especially how the real and rich Europe functions, that all so desired and precious Europe. However, this learning act did not occur through the classical method, in a theoretical – didactical manner; instead it was achieved on a more empirical note, in which the place of the classrooms and the sophisticated conference rooms was taken by the actual economic activities performed by Romanians in the West after 1989. Up to this point, adapting and finding a common goal meant physical and nervous effort as opposed to intellectual exercise and academic approach. Categorized by the mass-media with such derogatory titles as "strawberry-pickers", "Italians" or "voyagers" – these migrants play an important role for the Romanian social landscape, that of a catalyst for the integration of this country into an economically functional system. More than anyone and anything, they constituted the binding material to connect the rest of the country to the West. All these recent past years, they formed the "source" and the "pipeline" through which the wellbeing of so many people poured, from the packed European wallet to the spacious local money belt. Thus, in recent years in Romania, the rich uncle from America multiplied into millions of copies. In fact there was a rather sudden change from an almost entirely internal migration imposed by political restrictions of the movements within a confined space (with a prevailing village-towards-city trajectory) to a totally different structure, in which the main element of novelty is represented by the (re)activation of migration flows with international destinations. Once activated, especially after the year 2000, this type of migratory behavior tends to become one of the most important socio-economic phenomena manifested in present Romania.


Cigarette smoking is a public health problem. It decreases the commensal population of normal flora in the oral cavity leading to an increase of pathogenic microbes. It causes oral cancer, periodontitis, colour change on the teeth, halitosis and other health implications. The study was designed to determine the changes caused by tobacco smoking on the microbial profile and oral health conditions of cigarette smokers. One hundred and twenty subjects comprising 60 tobacco smokers and 60 non smokers were enrolled for the study. Oral swabs were collected from the oral cavity of the subjects using sterile swab sticks under standard aseptic methods. The specimens were subjected to microscopy and culture. Organisms were identified using standard microbiological techniques. Higher rates of microbes 86.7% were recovered from the oral cavity of smokers than non smokers 33.3%.There was a statistically significant effect of tobacco smoke on the oral flora of smokers (χ = 299.0, P = 0.0002). Staphylococcus aureus 13(25.0%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae 10(19.2%) were more prevalent among smokers, while Klebsiella pneumoniae 4(20.0%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 4(20.0%) were the most prevalent bacterial isolates among the control subjects. Smokers had a diverse microbial colonization than non smokers. Smoking may have altered bacterial acquisition and oral mucosal colonization in favor of periodontal pathogens. The campaign against smoking should therefore be intensified as this may help to improve the oral health conditions of smokers.


European societies are currently facing serious challenges in responding to a large and growing demand of long-term care services. To a varying, but overall substantial, extent this increasing demand is satisfied through migration, with migrant women workers representing everywhere a considerable share of the workforce available in the care sector. In this paper two key questions arising from these observations will be addressed: What has been the specific role of migration in addressing labour shortages in the care sector across Europe? And, secondly, what are the drivers of the different immigration policy approaches adopted? Drawing on EU-LFS data I will describe the main entry channels of migrant care workers, also distinguished by skill and occupational level, to highlight the specific immigrant labour supply policy mix adopted by national governments. Recent theories of managed migration policies will be critically assessed to ultimately discuss their ability to explain the immigrant labour supply policy mix in the care sector.


We descibe an automatic, objective routine for analyzing the clumpy structure in a spectral line position-position-velocity data cube. The algorithm works by first contouring the data at a multiple of the rms noise of the observations, then searches for peaks of emission which locate the clumps, and then follows them down to lower intensities. No a proiri clump profile is assumed. By creating simulated data, we test the performance of the algorithm and show that a contour map most accurately depicts internal structure at a contouring interval equal to twice the rms noise of the map. Blending of clump emission leads to small errors in mass and size determinations and in severe cases can result in a number of clumps being misidentified as a single unit, flattening the measured clump mass spectrum. The algorithm is applied to two real data sets as an example of its use. The Rosette molecular cloud is a 'typical' star-forming cloud, but in the Maddalena molecular cloud high-mass star formation is completely absent. Comparison of the two clump lists generated by the algorithm show that on a one-to-one basis the clumps in the star-forming cloud have higher peak temperatures, higher average densities, and are more gravitationally bound than in the non-star-forming cloud. Collective properties of the clumps, such as temperature-size-line-width-mass relations appear very similar, however. Contrary to the initial results reported in a previous paper (Williams & Blitz 1993), we find that the current, more thoroughly tes ted analysis finds no significant difference in the clump mass spectrum of the two clouds.


ABSTRACT Background: To assess patients' preferences for HIV testing in Colombia. Methods: A discrete choice experiment was used to assess preferences of patients diagnosed with HIV, for HIV testing in two HIV clinics in Bogotá, Colombia. Patients were asked to choose repeatedly between two hypothetical HIV testing options that varied with respect to five attributes: distance to testing site, confidentiality, testing days, sample collection method, and the services if HIV positive. A random parameter model was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 249 questionnaires were eligible for data analysis. Respondents showed a preference for testing on weekdays, nobody being aware, a sample taken from the arm, and receiving medications through a referral. The respondents showed a high negative preference for many people being aware, followed by testing during the weekend and home testing. Subgroup analyses by gender and prior testing history did not reveal significant differences. Conclusion: This study suggests that patients' preferences for HIV testing focused especially on confidentiality, availability during weekdays, and using a sample from the arm. This information could be useful to improve uptake of HIV testing in Bogotá, Colombia.


Multipath is the major concern in GPS receivers that fade the actual GPS signal causes positioning error up to 10 m so special care need to be taken to mitigate the multipath effects. Numerous methods like hardware based antenna arrays technique, receiver based narrow correlator receiver, double -delta discriminator, Adaptive Multipath Estimator, Wavelet Transformation and Particle filter, Kalman filter based post receiver methods etc. used to resolve the problem. But some of the methods can only reduce code multipath error but not effective in eliminating carrier multipath error. Most of these techniques are based on the assumption that the Line-of-Sight (LOS) signal is stronger than the Non-Line of-Sight (NLOS) signals. However, in the scenarios where the LOS signal is weaker than the composite multipath signal, this approach may result in a bias in code tracking. In this chapter, different types of multipath mitigation and its limitation are described. The recent development in sparse signal processing based blind channel estimation is investigated to compensate the multipath error. The Rayleigh and Rician fading model with different multipath parameters are simulated to test the urban scenario. The inverse problem of finding the GPS signal is addressed based on the deconvolution approach. To solve linear inverse problems, the suitable kind of appropriate objective function has been formulated to find the signal of interest. By exploiting this methods, the signal is observed and the carrier and code tracking loop parameters are computed with minimal error.


A simple, rapid, sensitive, accurate, precise and r eproducible high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed to estimate impurity profile for Olmesart an medoxomil in drug as well as in tablet dosage fo rm. The HPLC analysis used a reversed phase Kromasil C18 (1 50 x 4.6mm, 5 µm) column and a mobile phase constituted of buffer and acetonitrile (60:40 % v/v). The buffer w as composed of 4.7 g of sodium dihydrogenorthophosp hate and 1 mL of triethyl amine in 1000 mL of water and the pH of the solution was adjusted to 4.0± 0.05 with ort hophosphoric acid. The wave length of the detection was 225 nm. The validation data showed that the method is sensi tive, specific and reproducible for the impurity determination of olmesartan in the dosage form. The method was found to be linear from 2 µg/mL to 7 µg/mL for Olmesartan medoxomil and from 0.25 µg/mL to 7 µg/mL for olmesartan Acid Impurity. The accuracy of the method was found to be 100.73% for olmesartan acid impurity. Inter and intraday assay relative standard deviation (RSD) was less th an 0.71% in drug form and 1.10% in tablet dosage fo rm for Olmesartan acid impurity. The proposed method provi ded an accurate and precise analysis of Olmesartan acid impurity in Olmesartan medoxomil Drug form as well as in pharmaceutical dosage form


ABSTRACT Reviews of the ICTD literature have noted a scarcity of studies about Latin American countries. We investigate (1) what are the alternatives to ICTD and English-language ICTD publication venues researchers utilize to disseminate their work and why they may do so, and (2) what methodological, theoretical, and contextual characteristics these researchers bring to their publications. The study takes a two-pronged approach to answer these questions: a survey of researchers who have conducted ICTD research in Latin America and an analysis of their ICTD publications. We find that researchers use an array of specific alternative and additional terms to describe ICTD research, that methodological and theoretical characteristics of the literature resemble ICTD in general, and that contextual coverage of the region is lacking. Our results prompt a set of recommendations for better incorporating scholarship about Latin America in the ICTD field as well as improving global coverage of the ICTD community.


The increasing incidence of RCC in most populations may in part be due to increasing numbers of incidentally detected cancers with new imaging methods. Further, the increase is not only limited to small local tumours but also includes more advanced tumours, which may to some part explain the still high mortality rates. The variation in incidence between populations may have several other explanations. Traditionally the starting point has included thoughts of environmental exposures, which so far have only in part explained the causes of RCC, by means of cigarette smoking and obesity, which may account for approximately 40% of cases in high-risk countries (Table 2). Further, the genetic variations may be of importance as a cause of the difference between populations. Continued research in RCC is needed with the knowledge that nearly 50% of patients die within 5 years after diagnosis. The further search for environmental exposures should take in account the knowledge that RCC consists of different types with specific genetic molecular characteristics. These genetic alterations have in some cases been suggested to be associated with specific exposures. Furthermore, there might exist a modulating effect of genetic polymorphisms among metabolic activation and detoxification enzymes. Hence, a further understanding of the genetic and molecular processes involved in RCC will hopefully give us a better knowledge how to analyse and interpret exposure associations that have importance for both initiation and progression of RCC.


Certain types of brain cancer cells, called cancer stem cells, help brain tumors to buffer themselves against radiation treatment by activating a "repair switch" that enables them to continue to grow unchecked, researchers at Duke University Medical Center have found. The researchers also identified a method that appears to block the cells' ability to activate the repair switch following radiation treatment. This finding may lead to the development of therapies for overcoming radiation resistance in brain cancer as well as other types of cancer, the researchers said. Working with animal and cell culture models, the researchers found that a specific cellular process called the "DNA damage checkpoint response" appears to enable cancer stem cells to survive exposure to radiation and to switch on a signal to automatically repair any damage caused to their DNA. "In recent years, people have hypothesized that cancer stem cells are responsible for the resistance of malignant tumors to radiation treatment," said Jeremy Rich, M.D., senior investigator of the study and an associate professor of neurology at Duke. "We have shown, for the first time, that this is indeed the case." The findings appear Oct.18, 2006, in the advance online edition of the journal Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/index.html. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and a number of philanthropic organizations [complete list below]. The type of cancer that the researchers studied, glioblastoma, is highly resistant to radiation and other forms of treatment and is the most deadly form of brain cancer worldwide. Although aggressive treatments can destroy the majority of the cancerous cells, a small fraction of them remain and often regenerate into even larger masses of tumor cells. Until recently, scientists knew little about what made these resistant cells different from those that succumb to radiation treatment. It was clear, however, that the cells shared characteristics similar to those of normally functioning nerve stem cells, Rich said. In the current study, the researchers used glioblastoma tissue removed from patients during neurosurgery and created two separate models. For one model, the researchers extracted cells from the tissue and grew them in cultures in the laboratory. For the second model, they transplanted the glioblastoma tissue into the frontal lobes of the brains of mice. The researchers first measured the number of glioma stem cells present in the original tissue and then administered set doses of ionizing radiation to the cell cultures and to the mice. In both cases, the researchers observed a roughly fourfold jump in the number of glioma stem cells present in the tumor tissue following radiation treatment. Because ionizing radiation works primarily by causing permanent damage to the key genetic material of cells, DNA, the researchers hypothesized that the glioma stem cells survive and multiply by somehow fixing radiation-induced DNA damage better than the other cancer cells. To test this, the researchers searched the tissue samples for specific proteins that are responsible for detecting DNA damage. Using cell samples taken from both study models, the team examined the DNA damage checkpoint response both before and after use of ionizing radiation treatments by testing for activation of the key proteins that detect DNA damage. The researchers wanted to know whether the cells, following exposure to radiation treatment, would repair the DNA damage by activating the checkpoint response or whether they would instead die. The team found that after ionizing radiation, the DNA damage checkpoint proteins in glioma stem cells were more highly activated than in other cancer cells. This heightened activation, the researchers said, leads cancer stem cells to more effectively repair DNA damage and thus render the cells less likely to die as a result of the treatment. In another set of experiments, the researchers treated both the test animals and the cell cultures with a drug, called debromohymenialdisine, which is known to inhibit the proteins involved in the activation process. They added the drug before and after radiation treatment and measured the number of surviving cancer stem cells. They found that administering the drug before radiation did little to change the number of cancer stem cells, but giving the drug in conjunction with radiation appeared to halt the resistance of cancer stem cells to radiation. This finding, the researchers said, suggests that use of a checkpoint inhibitor during radiation ruins the cells' potential to repair themselves and increases the likelihood that the cells will die. "Our findings show one pathway in cancer stem cells that promotes the radiation resistance of glioblastomas," said Rich. "Treatments that target DNA damage checkpoint response in cancer stem cells may overcome the radiation resistance and eventually allow us to help even greater numbers of cancer patients." Other researchers involved in the study were Shideng Bao, Qiulian Wu, Roger McLendon, Yueling Hao, Qing Shi, Anita Hjelmeland, Mark Dewhirst and Darell Bigner.The philanthropic organizations that supported the research include the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research, Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center Stem Cell Initiative. For more information, contact: Tracey Koepke; Tel.: 919.684.4148 or 919.660.1301; Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


Assessment of open-ocean ecosystems relies on understanding ecosystem dynamics, and development of end-to-end ecosystem models represents an approach that addresses these challenges. These models incorporate the population structure and dynamics of marine organisms at all trophic levels. Satellite remote sensing of ocean colour and direct at-sea measurements provide information on the lower trophic levels of the models, and fisheries studies provide information on top predator species. However, these models suffer from a lack of observations for the so-called mid-trophic levels, which are poorly sampled by conventional methods. This restricts further development, and we argue that acoustic observations from a range of platforms (e.g. buoys, moorings) can be linked to the ecosystem models to provide much-needed information on these trophic levels. To achieve this, the models need to be tailored to incorporate the available acoustic data, and the link from acoustic backscatter to biologically relevant variables (biomass, carbon, etc.) needs attention. Methods to progress this issue are proposed, including the development of observation models and focal areas for ground truthing. To ensure full use of the potential of acoustic techniques, we argue that a systematic and long-term strategy incorporating the following elements is required: development of metadata standards and automated data analysis, inclusion of acoustic sensors in large-scale observatory programmes, improvement of observation-model links, and efficient sampling strategies. Finally, these elements should be tied together in an observation-modelling framework, coordinated by international organizations, to improve our understanding and quantification of open-ocean ecosystem dynamics.


This dissertation carries forward in time earlier work concerned with the
relationship between the Tasmanian government and the metal mining industry
from the foundation of the colony in 1804. It covers the period from 1880 to
1914.
By 1880, metal mining was well established as a major industry, vying
with agriculture as the economic driving force. As the industry grew, the
Government was faced with increasing problems resulting from a lack of
infrastructure in the main mineral fields which were located in largely
uninhabited areas in the northern half of the state. In order to maintain control
and offer assistance, the Government gradually increased the numbers of
administrative and technical staff, albeit sometimes reluctantly. Particularly in
the technical area, politicians were sometimes slow to address shortcomings, for
example in data collection. This resulted in delays between the onset of
problems and appropriate official reaction, often to the detriment of the industry
progress.
Earlier work adopted a continuous narrative approach but the increasing
complexity of issues arising from 1880 necessitated a change to more rigorous
discussion of specific topics. Whilst no attempt has been made to compare
Tasmanian practices with those in other colonies, relevant observations are
made where appropriate.
Chapters 1 and 2 review the political background and the roles played by
the civil service. Chapter 3 discusses the importance of education in an industry
changing from the use of simple techniques to a more sophisticated
environment requiring skilled men. Chapter 4 traces the growth of legislation in
response to change and specific Government initiatives adopted to assist mining
development are described in Chapter 5.
The successes and shortcomings of Government involvement in the main
mining fields are discussed in Chapter 6-9. Development of the North East tin
fields is the subject of Chapter 6 The West Coast south of the Pieman River
figures in Chapters 7, 8 and 9. Chapters 7 and 8 are concerned with general
developmental issues while Chapter 9 examines in more detail the particular
practical and political problems posed in deciding on and providing satisfactory
all-season access between the remainder of the colony and the West Coast.

Eight appendices and ten figures are included. Figs. 1 and 2 summarise
basic data in time-line fonn. Figs. 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are designed to assist with an
areal appreciation of the mining fields in a colony-wide context, while more
detailed locations of specific features are illustrated for the North East (Fig. 4)
and the West Coast (Figs. 5 and 10).


Introduction. Part I: Network Basics. Chapter 1: Planning the Lay of the LAN. Chapter 2: Installing Network Adapters. Chapter 3: Installing Ethernet Cable. Chapter 4: Using Wires That Are Already There. Chapter 5: Look Ma, No Wires. Part II: Configuring Computers for Networking. Chapter 6: Putting It All Together. Chapter 7: Configuring Computer Sharing. Chapter 8: Setting Up Users. Part III: Communicating Across the Network. Chapter 9: Printing Across the Network. Chapter 10: Getting Around the Neighborhood. Chapter 11: Using Files from Other Computers. Part IV: Network Security and Maintenance. Chapter 12: Making Your Network Secure. Chapter 13: Disaster Planning and Recovery. Chapter 14: Using Windows Maintenance Tools. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 15: Ten Clever Things to Do on Your Network. Chapter 16: Ten Fun Things to Do on Your Network. Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Make the Internet Safe for Children. Index.


Women and Leadership around the World is the third volume in a new series of books ( Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice ) that will is now being published to inform leadership scholars and practitioners. The purpose of this volume is to explore areas of women's leadership in four regions around the world: the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. Hence, we have included 14 chapters that cover a wide range of important topics relevant to women and leadership within specific contexts around the world. Our goal for this volume is to provide readers with explorations of women's experiences as leaders, including recent research studies, analysis and interpretation of statistics unpacking the status of women in various sectors and countries, stories of influential women leaders with national or local spheres of influence, and including recommendations for positive change to increase women's access to positions of authority. The volume contributors use various theories andconceptualizations to problematize, historicize, and analyze women's limited access to power, and their agency as leaders from the grassroots to the national scene, from education to non-profits and business organizations. Overall, the book contributes interpretations of the status of women in various countries, presenting the stories behind the numbers and statistics and uncovering not only challenges but also opportunities for resiliency and effectiveness as leaders. The authors offer recommendations for change that cross national boundaries, such as structural changes in organizations that would open the door for more women to access positions of authority and be effective as leaders. It is rare to find a book with such a diverse array of topics and countries, making this a timely contribution to the literature on women and leadership. The authors remind us to continue to expand the literature base on women and leadership, drawing from both qualitative and quantitative studies as well as conceptual explorations of women as leaders in different countries, regions, indigenous communities, and across different sectors. The more we know, the better informed will be our efforts to create appropriate leadership development activities and experiences for emerging women leaders and girls around the world. This book contributes significantly to that very effort.


Classic studies on social influence used simple perceptual decision-making tasks to examine how the opinions of others change individuals' judgments. Since then, one of the most fundamental questions in social psychology has been whether social influence can alter basic perceptual processes. To address this issue, we used a diffusion model analysis. Diffusion models provide a stochastic approach for separating the cognitive processes underlying speeded binary decisions. Following this approach, our study is the first to disentangle whether social influence on decision making is due to altering the uptake of available sensory information or due to shifting the decision criteria. In two experiments, we found consistent evidence for the idea that social influence alters the uptake of available sensory evidence. By contrast, participants did not adjust their decision criteria.


PURPOSE
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the deproteination potential of 5% aqueous NaOCl solution applied by rubbing action on the molecular composition and morphology of smear-layer covered and acid-etched human coronal dentin surfaces.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Paired specimens (n = 4 x 2 per group) of acid-etched (Group A) and smear-layer covered (Group B) human coronal dentin surfaces were sequentially treated with the NaOCl solution for time intervals ranging from 5 s to 120 s and analyzed by reflectance FTIR microspectroscopy and tapping mode atomic force microscopy. The changes in the mineral (v4 P-O stretching vibrations) to matrix (C = O stretching vibrations of amide I) peak area ratios and in the Ra roughness parameter were used to quantify the effect of treatment. Two-way ANOVA and Dunn's tests were used to assess the differences within each group and between groups (a = 0.05).

RESULTS
In both groups, NaOCl treatment reduced organic matrix (amide I, II, III peaks), but did not affect carbonates and phosphates. In group A, the rate of deproteination was slow, and reached a peak value after 120 s. Tubule orifices became visible after 40 s of treatment; after 120 s, excessive porosity was detected, with Ra values presenting no statistically significant difference from group B. In group B after 10 s, the extent of deproteination was enhanced, reaching a plateau between 30 s and 60 s, and attaining a maximum after 120 s. Tubule diameter, intertubular porosity, and Ra were increased; intertubular dentin area was reduced. For both groups after 40 s of treatment, the mineral to matrix ratio recorded was similar to smear-layer-free sectioned dentin.

CONCLUSION
The results of the present study imply that deproteination of mineralized or acid-etched dentin surfaces within a clinically relevant time frame may provide methods for bonding to dentin alternative to conventional technique-sensitive dentin hybridization.


The current discourse on public engagement in the mining industry revolves around legislated processes that drive communication and information sharing with interested parties.
This discourse neither aligns with modern tools for communication nor with the reality of a highly networked society that use social media to facilitate dialogue. This thesis addresses the gap between traditional communication processes in the mining industry and social media tools that create opportunities for dialogue and information sharing.

The research used a qualitative and mixed method approach to data collection. Twelve
social media websites were observed to assess the extent of mining-related dialogue, and 41
interviews were conducted with representatives from the public, private, academic and civil
sectors to learn about the challenges and opportunities of using social media. The interviews found that 62% of respondents were using social media tools; the most popular applications were blogs, followed by social networking platforms. These platforms are being used for outreach to established supporters and networks. Industry's use of these platforms mimics their public
relations and marketing messaging approaches, whereas civil society is able to generate
dialogue on a number of topics through authentic disclosure of information. Government
departments have been hesitant to incorporate social media tools as they struggle to align them
with regulatory structures while also presenting an authentic and credible voice. Many
respondents were using a trial and error approach to implement social media, despite having identified risks of using them. Risks and challenges include the possibility of losing control of messaging and wasting time on unproven communications technology. While some mining companies are adopting social media applications to conduct public outreach, these tools have not been explicitly used for stakeholder engagement. Case studies show how mining stakeholders use social media tools and their experience provides a foundation for strategic recommendations. This research demonstrates that social media is being used for specific purposes by mining stakeholders, although there is hesitancy around perceived risks of online dialogue.


Automotive air conditioning systems are subject to constantly changing operation conditions and steady state simulations are not sufficient to describe the actual performance. The refrigerant mass migration during transient events such as clutch-cycling or start-up bas a direct impact on the transient performance. It is therefore necessary to develop simulation tools which can accurately predict the migration of the reiTigerant mass. To this end a dynamic model of an automotive air conditioning system is presented in this paper using a switched modeling framework. Model validation against experimental results demonstrates that the developed modeling approach is able to describe the transient behaviors of the system, and also predict the reiTigerant mass migration among system components during compressor shut-down and start-up (stop-start) cycling operations. To further investigate the potential of the dynamic modeling tools, two simulation examples of evaluating the system performance are given in the paper: (i) impact of system component variations on the reiTigerant mass migration; and (ii) control implementation for the system start-up performance improvement.


The seasonal snowcover and snowmelt (2008–2010) of an extensive low-gradient wetland at Polar Bear Pass, Bathurst Island, Nunavut, Canada (75°40′ N, 98°30′ W) was examined. This wildlife sanctuary is characterized by two large lakes and numerous tundra ponds, and is bordered by rolling hills with incised hillslope stream valleys. In arctic environments snow remains one of the most important sources of water for wetlands. End-of-winter snowcover measurements (snow depth, density, water equivalent) together with direct and modeled estimates of snowmelt provided an assessment of the seasonal snowcover regime of representative terrain types comprising upland (plateau, stream valley, late-lying snowbed) and lowland landscapes (wet meadow, ponds, lakes). In all three seasons, deep and persistent snowpacks occurred in sheltered areas (stream valleys) and in the lee of slopes adjacent to the wetland. Exposed areas yielded shallow snowpacks (e.g. plateau, pond) and they melted out rapidly in response to favorable weather conditions. Overall, the basin snowcover and melt progression was dominated by accumulation and melt occurring in upland areas. We surmise the sustainability of this low-gradient wetland is dependent on snowmelt contributions from upland sites.


Daniel Libeskind constructs Three Lessons in Architecture for the Venice Biennale 1985. The project consists of three large machines; The Reading Machine, The Memory Machine and The Writing Machine. Each machine embodies a way of thinking and making architecture within the tradition of humanism. Libeskind directs this experiment with the belief that the humanist means of architectural production although present today are at their final stage; the era of the architecture of humanism and its respective technology of the mechanical machine is ending. Libeskind's project questions the present state of architecture by examining its past and anticipates a transition into a post-humanist era.

'Humanist Machines' is a critical analysis of Three Lessons in Architecture. It argues that Libeskind's 'post-humanist' project re-articulates the role of humanism in design by bridging the gap between theorising and making. Thus it proposes a template for architectural research which combines intellectual inquiry into the humanities and design creativity.


1. We have little idea how landscape-scale factors influence the success of wild bumblebee nests over time. Here for the first time we use molecular markers to estimate within-season changes in the numbers of nests.

2. Workers of two bumblebee species were sampled in an arable landscape in late May–June and late July–August, and the numbers of nests represented in each sample were estimated. We compare the methods available to estimate nest number from such samples and conclude that methods which allow for heterogeneity in the probability of capture of nests provide the best fit to our data. Changes in numbers of nests at the two time points were used to infer nest survival.

3. The two bee species appeared to differ markedly in survival over time, with estimates of 45% of nests surviving for Bombus lapidarius and 91% for B. pascuorum. However, our data suggest that the foraging range of B. pascuorum may be greater in late season, which would lead us to overestimate nest survival in this species. Differential survival may also reflect differences in phenology between the two species.

4. The land use class which had the most consistent effects on nest number and survival was gardens; for B. lapidarius, the area of gardens within a 750 and 1000 m radius positively influenced nest survival, while for B. pascuorum, the number of nests in late samples was higher at sites with more gardens within a 500 and 750-m radius. For B. pascuorum, the area of grassland within a 250 and 500-m radius also positively influenced nest number in late samples, probably because this is the preferred nesting habitat for this species.

5. The importance of gardens is in accordance with previous studies which suggest that they now provide a stronghold for bumblebees in an otherwise impoverished agricultural environment; furthermore, our data suggest that the positive influence of gardens on bumblebee populations can spill over at least 1 km into surrounding farmland.

6. Synthesis and applications. The substantial effects that even small areas of local resources such as rough grassland or clover leys can have on bumblebee nest numbers and survival is of clear relevance for the design of pollinator management strategies.


Vohwinkel syndrome, also known as hereditary mutilating keratoderma, is a rare palmoplantar keratoderma that manifests in childhood and becomes more evident in adolescence and adulthood. This preferential autosomal dominant disease affects more women and Caucasians. Its clinical features are diffuse palmoplantar keratoderma with the appearance of honeycomblike constricting rings in the fingers and toes known as pseudo-ainhum, and starfish-shaped keratotic plaques on the dorsal aspect of the hands and feet that can affect the elbows and knees. The present report describes a case report of a patient with Vohwinkel syndrome and surgical correction of the constrictive bands.


The study was aimed at investigating the strategies that are applied by Resolution Health
East Africa Limited to improve profitability. The study focuses on the management and
activities of Resolution Health East Africa Limited, and will include the staff and related
activities in at the health institution.
The researcher adapted a descriptive research design as there are variables which cannot
be quantified but can only be described. Through random stratified sampling method the
researcher selected 31 out of total population of 62 staff members of the Resolution
Health East Africa Limited Head offices in Upper Hill Nairobi. Data was collected
through the administering of questionnaire to the respondents. Quantitative and
qualitative techniques of data analysis was used to collect Data and the findings presented
through charts, tables and graphs for simple understanding of the findings.
In order to survive and remain profitable in the competitive environment, it becomes
necessary for the threatened companies to be aggressive in their search and development
of strategies that provide competitive advantage as they step up defensive strategies to
protect their competitive advantages held. Strategic deployment of competitive strategies
is a fundamental function for every ..company. Any company that fail to adopt a
competitive strategies will continuously experience heavy financial loses. Insurance
companies with strong financial background have long realized this key operational
aspect and their strategy is to deploy various based on prevailing demands. Success of
any insurance company depends on implementation of deployed competitive strategies.
Successful strategies lead to superior profitability and sustainable competitive advantage.
The ability of a insurance company to command a competitive advantage depends on the
sustainability of the competitive advantages that it commands.
The study also concludes that corporate growth and development strategies applied by the
insurance company affect its profitability to a great extent. The study further concludes
that market focus strategies employed by the insurance company enhance its profitability
to a very great extent. The study finally concludes that application of differentiation
strategies as a competitive strategy affects the profitability of the insurance company to a
very great extent. From the study findings, the study recommends that in order to maintain its competitiveness in the insurance industry, the insurance company should
offer their products and services at a lower price than its competitors.


Despite initiatives to 'diversify' the publishing sector, there has been almost no transformation to the historic racial inequality that defines the field. This Element argues that contemporary book culture is structured by practice that operates according to a White taste logic. By applying the notion of this logic to an analysis of both traditional and new media tastemaking practices, White Literary Taste Production in Contemporary Book Culture examines the influence of Whiteness on the cultural practice, and how the long-standing racial inequities that characterize Anglophone book publishing are supported by systems, institutions and platforms. These themes will be explored through two distinct but interrelated case studies-women's literary prizes and anti-racist reading lists on Instagram-which demonstrate the dominance of Whiteness, and in particular White feminism, in the contemporary literary discourse.


The functional components of any tutor, be it human or computer, can be broken down by process: presenting content to the learner, assessing the performance of the learner, making an instructional strategy decision, implementing this strategy, and determining the impact. While an ideal Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) can perform all of these actions, the construction of such a system poses its own problem: authoring these functions. This is part of the reason that ITSs are frequently built as monolithic single-topic systems, rather than modular, open-architecture frameworks. An ideal authoring tool would allow a user to create, or have automatically created, all the elements of an ITS with little interaction. While this goal is far reaching, there has been significant effort in the creation and evaluation of tools to support at least one function of tutoring. The creation of adaptive training is likely to take longer than traditional training for the foreseeable future. This is for one simple reason: more content is required. Due to the corresponding increase in effort, each organization must decide individually whether the performance improvement is worth the cost. However, developmental costs are declining due to the utilization of user tools and automated computer tools to develop the content and function of the intelligent tutor. Research in this area focuses on streamlining the process of authoring adaptive content. This paper discusses the issues and successes in the development of authoring tools used to generate adaptive training content and functionality. This includes automated tools, such as those for unobtrusively capturing Subject Matter Expert (SME) performance for the purpose of student assessment. This also includes human user tools, such as cognitive model authoring via SME input. The authors conclude with recommendations, based on current research, providing direction to the tasks of creating adaptive content and function.


This article addresses recent trends in the development of standards for English language arts and their relevance for English learners who speak languages other than English (ESOL). First, the article reviews mainstream efforts to develop English standards at the national level and examines the extent to which those standards are sensitive to issues of language diversity. Next, it discusses efforts to develop English language development (ELD) standards specifically for ESOL students. An examination follows of one district's efforts to design ELD standards as a bridge to mainstream standards. The article concludes by considering the appropriate role of standards for English learners. Background: Language Diversity and the Need for ESL/ELD Standards The recent national emphasis on formal standards for the English language arts is of particular interest to curriculum planners seeking to promote equitable instruction tot students who are learning English as a second or new language. In this article we concur with those who argue that efforts to develop standards and model programs of study are well motivated for several reasons. First, there is a need to ensure that there is a well-defined curriculum of English for Speakers of other languages (ESOL). English language development (ELD) needs to be guided by specific goals and standards for the traditional skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, there is also a need for a formal plan that articulates the ELD curriculum with the rest of the academic curriculum. Such a plan needs to include an assessment of the English language demands associated with the mastery of traditional subject areas because English learners face the dual task of both learning English and using English to learn. Thus, an explication of the relationship between English and academic content mediated by English as the language of instruction is essential. Last, standards are needed to ensure that expectations for achievement among language minority students are equal to those for all other students. There are several areas of ambiguity that arise in discussions of standards generally. Consideration of the use of content standards in the curriculum planning process necessarily involves the issues of assessment and evaluation. The distinction between content standards and performance standards is a subtle one. Content standards are designed to define what a student is to be able to know or do. Performance standards are intended to specify how well the students achieve the standard and at what level of performance they are able to achieve it. A student's level of performance is evaluated in terms of benchmarks. Performance standards also specify the method by which students will achieve them (Teachers of English to Speaker of Other Languages, 1997). A second area of confusion or ambiguity in discussions about language standards results from differences in the way linguists use the term and how it is understood by the public at large. McGroarty notes the following tension: The notion of standard strongly cognates attention to written language; as linguists note, `a standard language variety is one which has undergone the lengthy process of standardization' (Finegan & Besnier, 1984, p. 496). Public discussions of language standards, heard mainly in the context of laments about declines in school-related skills or achievement measures, nearly always present the linguistic uniformity embodied in a standard as evidence of felicity and appropriateness of expression, threatened by incorrect use, or as evidence of moral superiority and accurate thinking, which has been threatened by changes or variant forms. [p. 23] Because language is central to all learning, policies and expectations regarding how to use it appropriately are operative across the curriculum, even in schools that are relatively linguistically homogenous. …


This study investigates the relationship between the personality type and cognitive-metacognitive strategies utilized by test-takers in reading comprehension tests. One hundred undergraduate Iranian English Foreign Learning (EFL) students participated in a reading comprehension test followed by a questionnaire and the Myers & Briggs Type Inventory. The questionnaire consisted of 30 cognitive-metacognitive items (Phakiti, 2003). These questions inquired about the thought process that occurred while completing the test. The 93-item Myers-Brigs Type Indicator (MBTI) questionnaire is a tool that provides individuals with a personality type. The study employed a quantitative data analysis where the input data was analyzed in two ways. First, descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample characteristics, and then a two-way ANOVA was calculated to obtain a general view of the relationship between the variables. The data analysis resulted in the identification of 14 personality types along with three groups of readers distinguished by their reading comprehension test scores as highly successful, moderately successful, or unsuccessful. However, the results suggested that there were no significant relationships between personality types of test-takers and the cognitive-metacognitive strategies utilized during a reading comprehension test. Using a 90 percent Confidence Interval (CI), there was meaningful interaction between the personality traits (Extroversion/Introversion and Judging/Perceiving) of Iranian EFL test-takers and their use of cognitive-metacognitive strategies.


HeLa cells infected with poliovirus exclusively synthesized proteins coded by the P2 and P3 regions of the viral genome when they were placed in an alkaline medium lacking sodium ions. The amount of viral protein synthesized was augmented by increasing the concentration of KC1. Also in the presence of KC1, the ceils continued synthesizing this altered pattern of proteins for longer times. This effect occurred in the presence of guanidine, it was reversible, and the normal pattern of poliovirus proteins reappeared when control medium was added, even when guanidine was present. These findings suggest that truncated viral RNA is not made under these conditions. Pactamycin and sodium fluoride, two known inhibitors of the initiation of translation, blocked protein synthesis in cells placed in alkaline medium, indicating the possibility that initiation at internal sites of the viral mRNA may take place under these conditions. Finally, the proteins synthesized were analysed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The proteins migrated as authentic viral proteins indicating that if internal initiation takes place, at least some of these initiation events occur in phase with the initiation codon present in the poliovirus genome.


Tomato is second most important vegetable, having nutritional and aesthetic value. Due to high temperature and lack of proper storage facility most of the produce is wasted. This loss can be reduced by increasing shelf life of tomato, so that produce can be stored for long time. In the present investigation alcobacca, a ripening mutant of tomato has been crossed with tomato variety, Vaibhav. To dissect trait genetics, Genetic variability, Correlation and path coefficient analysis were conducted in the F6 recombinant inbred population developed from alc x Vaibhav by single seed descent method. Highest shelf life of 85 days was observed with a mean of 51 days for RILs. Shelf life was significantly and positively associated with fruits per cluster (0.13@5%), fruit firmness (0.23 @ 1%, 5%), total soluble solutes (0.15@1%,5%), lycopene content (0.12@5%), yield per plant (0.30@1%,5%) and number of fruits per plant (0.38@1%,5%). Thirty eight polymorphic SSR markers have been screened for RILs. QTL detection was done using ANOVA and Linear regression using Minitab® 16.1.1. Three SSR markers viz., SSR146, LEaat007 and TGS2259 have been found to be linked to shelf life with R square value of 2.9, 4.1 and 3.5 respectively. * Corresponding Author: Pallavi Pawar  firstname.lastname@example.com International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (IJAAR) ISSN: 2223-7054 (Print) 2225-3610 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 25-36, 2016 International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (IJAAR) ISSN: 2223-7054 (Print) 2225-3610 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 14-22, 2014


First discovered in 1976, and long regarded as an easily manageable virus affecting isolated rural communities, Ebola rocketed to world prominence in 2014 as a deadly epidemic swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in West Africa. Thousands of people died as the extraordinarily contagious disease spread rapidly from villages to urban centres. Initial quarantine responses proved often too little and too late, and the medical infrastructure of the affected countries struggled to cope. By August 2014, several months after the start of the outbreak, the WHO declared the epidemic a public health emergency and international aid teams and volunteers began to pour in. But halting the epidemic proved to be hugely challenging, not only in terms of the practicalities of dealing with the sheer numbers of patients carrying the highly infectious virus, but in dealing with social and cultural barriers. The author, Dorothy Crawford, visited Sierra Leone while the epidemic was ongoing and met with those on the frontline in the fight against the virus. In Ebola Crawford combines personal accounts from these brave medical workers with the latest scientific reports to tell the story of the epidemic as it unfolded, and how it has changed our understanding of the virus. She looks at its origin and spread, the international response, and its devastating legacy to the health of those living in the three worst affected countries. She describes the efforts to prevent international spread, the treatment options for Ebola, including the drug and vaccine trials that eventually got underway in 2015, and the sensitive issue of running trials of experimental therapies during a lethal epidemic. Our understanding of the Ebola virus continues to develop as long-term health problems and complications following recovery from the disease are being identified. Epidemics of Ebola or other dangerous microbes will continue to threaten the world regularly. Already concerns have been raised by the possible impact of the Zika virus. What lessons have been learnt from Ebola? How, asks Crawford, might we prevent a repeat of the awful suffering seen in 2014-16?


Background. Recovery of strength, range of motion and function are considered major determinants of success following rotator cuff repair. The strength of the distal limb measured as handgrip strength is a simple predictor of proximal muscle function. Moreover, grip strength is used to prognosticate outcomes in several conditions. This study investigated whether preoperative handgrip strength can be used as an indicator of outcomes in patients undergoing rotator cuff repair. Methods. A cross sectional study was performed on 21 patients (13 males and 8 females; mean age 55.14 ± 8.88 years) undergoing rotator cuff repair. Grip strength on the affected side was assessed preoperatively, and correlated with postoperative outcomes measured at fourth month follow up, which included isometric shoulder internal and external rotator strength, active Range of Motion (ROM) of the shoulder, pain assessed using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), and a performance-based shoulder function test, consisting of three activities. Results. Handgrip strength did not correlate with shoulder strength, ROM and pain. However, there was a moderate correlation (p = 0.505, r = 0.020) between pre-operative grip strength and shoulder function. Conclusion. Handgrip strength did not correlate with any of the outcomes of rotator cuff repair. Although a relationship between grip strength and shoulder function was shown, the correlation was moderate, indicating that multiple factors could contribute to the outcomes in individuals undergoing rotator cuff repair.


Within a largely concealed, caldera-related volcaniclastic succession of the Ordovician Borrowdale Volcanic Group in the western Lake District, two thick (100–350 m) ignimbrites within the Fleming Hall Formation exhibit a number of features that in combination make them unusual deposits. They are both homogeneous with comparatively low-SiO2 (63%) bulk composition, contain only a moderate crystal content, are generally poor in lithic clasts, show uniformly very dense welding (yielding parataxitic to massive vitrophyric texture) throughout and lack associated fall-out or surge deposits. Ignimbrites of comparable bulk composition in this geological setting are usually part of zoned sheets and/or frequently very crystal-rich. Large-scale, unzoned densely welded ignimbrites are usually rhyodacitic to rhyolitic. By contrast, ignimbrites of intermediate composition that display dense welding are relatively small deposits that form by agglutination of hot, plastic spatter. It is postulated that the Fleming Hall ignimbrites were derived from low column height, low explosivity eruptions that conserved heat and minimized entrainment of accidental lithic clasts and the formation of fine ash. The very dense welding and lack of bubble-wall shard vitroclastic textures indicate that pyroclasts were hot and relatively dry, probably occurring as mildly vesicular (scoriaceous) fragments which welded or fused together during aggradational deposition rather than by post-depositional compactional loading. There is little variation in the degree of matrix or melt crystallization throughout the two ignimbrites, despite the fact that high temperatures must have been maintained for many years following deposition. Both display virtually ubiquitous development of micropoikilitic glass devitrification texture, which suggests that the viscosity of the supercooled dacitic melt was sufficiently high, probably due to initial degassing, to inhibit significant melt crystallization after deposition. The eruption of the Fleming Hall magmas was probably initiated by the rise or injection of hotter, more basic, magma, and not by overpressurization due to volatile exsolution resulting from cooling and crystallization. Foundering of the chamber roof caused forcible and rapid eruption of the magma, probably along a series of volcanotectonic faults rather than a central vent, and probably flooded the resultant caldera depression. It is predicted that this type of eruption will not have produced a widely dispersed deposit, the bulk of which may have been largely contained within its own caldera.


Objective Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is a heart condition characterised by a sudden transient left ventricular dysfunction; its pathophysiology is probably associated with elevated levels of catecholamines but the exact mechanism is not known as yet. Literature and clinical experience suggest that TS affects persons with various comorbidities. This pilot work aims to evaluate the frequency of comorbidities with potential pathological immune reactivity, and to evaluate the potential association between TS and hypersensitivity to metals assessed by LTT-MELISA®. Methodology, Results A total of 24 patients (23 women, 1 man) with a history of TS attack and 27 healthy controls were evaluated. Hypersensitivity was evaluated by a lymphocyte transformation test (LTT-MELISA®); a questionnaire of environmental burden was used to select evaluated metals. A total of 19 patients (79%) had at least one condition that might potentially be associated with pathological immune reactivity (autoimmune thyroid disease, drug allergy, bronchial asthma, cancer, contact dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis). Hypersensitivity to metals was identified significantly more frequently in TS patients than in healthy controls (positive reaction to at least one metal was identified in 95.8% of TS patients and in 59.3% of controls; p = 0.003); the difference was statistically significant for mercury (45.8% and 14.8%, respectively; p = 0.029). Conclusion Our work shows that conditions with pathological immune reactivity occur frequently in TS patients, and our data suggest a possible association between TS and hypersensitivity to metals (mercury in particular) evaluated by LTT-MELISA®. We also suggest that apart from the triggering stress factor, potential existence of other serious conditions should be considered when taking medical history of TS patients.


The authors report the case of a 64-year-old female renal transplant
patient who presented with acute onset of right lower extremity
weakness and urinary retention. Her imaging studies confirmed
a T11-12 paracentral disc herniation with spinal cord deformation
and myelomalacia with concomitant degenerative spondylolisthesis
at L4-5 resulting in epidural compression syndrome. Following
appropriate surgical intervention, she regained the ability urinate at
4 months following surgery, independent ambulation at 6 months,
and return to pre-injury activities one year following surgery.


Although pricing strategy in marketing is a crucial issue, there islittle literatureon the relationship between pricing and sellers' reputation based on dynamic pricing data. Using data on Taobao.com, we compare pricing behaviors of two types of sellers, business sellers (T-Mall sellers) which have higher reputation and individual sellers (Tao sellers) which have relatively lower reputation. We findthat sellers with different reputation levels will choose different pricing strategies and high-reputation sellers will have advantages in pricing. More specifically, our results reveal thatwhen a T-Mall seller enters into a market as a new extant it will be more likely to sethigher initial price than a Tao seller. In addition the magnitudes of price adjustments of Tao sellers have significant correlation with price changes in T-Mall market.On contrary, prices changes of T-mall sellers are not influenced by price changes in Tao market.