While millions of users feel pity for the removal of Flappy Bird, many Flappy Bird copycats are flowing into the mobile app stores and even rocket up the top rank charts. In the highly competitive mobile app stores, imitating the names of "superstar" apps is a tactic shared by developers. In this paper, we examine the effects of this strategy – how and to what extent it influences the imitator apps' downloads. To achieve a better understanding, we also investigate the imitation-related factors that affect the imitators' downloads. With a dataset from Google Play, we evaluate the research questions with propensity score matching and linear regression. The results suggest that, on average, imitating the names of "superstar" apps brings imitators an improvement in downloads. This positive effect is influenced by the number of "superstar" apps that the imitator's name looks like, the name similarity level, functional similarity and price difference between the imitator and "superstar" apps. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


This study analyzed the training school principals receive in student speech and press law. The study has three components. First, the researcher collected school law course syllabi from 13 of Missouri's 17 principal preparation programs. These were analyzed to determine the amount of time devoted to student expression issues and the instruments used to measure pupil performance. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of six school law instructors to explore their attitudes about student expression and how those issues are presented in their courses. Finally, a statewide survey of public high school principals measured administrator knowledge of and attitudes toward both student expression and their leadership training. The results indicate a very shallow presentation of the relevant legal standards, particularly in the area of student press law. Personal stories often overshadowed important principles from case law. The study concludes with specific suggestions for improvement.


Abstract The majority of land in Ghana is still held under a diversity of customary tenures, embedded in family, community and chiefly institutions; but land disputes may be adjudicated in a variety of institutions: informal arbitrations and family tribunals, chiefs' courts, quasi-legal state agencies and the formal state courts. Current debates on how to protect the land rights of the majority of customary land holders revolve around the respective merits of customary and non-state regulation (said to be accessible, flexible and socially embedded), and state systems, which are said to offer more certainty, impartiality and non-discriminatory codes and procedures. In Ghana, however, customary and state legal codes have been integrated for some time, and the state courts, which are frequently used as first instance adjudicators, apply customary rules. Does this mean that in Ghana the merits of customary law can be combined with the certainty and enforceability of state court dispute settlement? Based primarily on survey and interview data, the research analyses how litigants in three selected state courts perceived the experience of taking their land cases to court. It was found that, in spite of the problems and delays associated with the state courts, there was a very strong demand for authoritative and enforceable remedies which only the state could provide. It was also found that the justice offered by the state courts was not as alien or inappropriate as commonly supposed. Particularly in the Magistrates Court, judges were well respected and their procedures seen as sufficiently flexible and user-friendly. Moreover, the extreme reluctance to entertain out-of- court settlements casts doubt on the notion that proposals to move to more use of ADRs will be successful if they fail to offer equivalent authority, fairness and enforceability.


Vascular occlusion of a retinal artery or vein is a common cause of retinal vascular pathology with potential life-changing complications.1 ,2 Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) may differentiate itself from retinal artery occlusion (RAO) in terms of its aetiology and pathology, but both contribute to sight loss or even blindness.

The pathogenesis of RAO is generally accepted to be directly related to atherosclerotic thromboembolism (80%) and cardiac embolism, rarely vasculitis, or thrombophilic states. Importantly, the pathogenesis of RAO and strokes or arterial thromboembolism has many similarities. Indeed, retinal emboli are commonly associated with hypertension, atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, increased plasma lipoprotein, and smoking,3 thus we are dealing with a systemic condition, not something simply isolated to the eye.

In contrast, the pathogenesis of RVO has more diverse precipitating factors of ocular or systemic causes. The central retinal artery and central retinal vein share a common adventitial sheath and are naturally compressed when crossing through the lamina cribrosa behind the eye. Increased intra-ocular pressure, deformation of the lamina, and compression by an atherosclerotic central retinal artery are suggested mechanisms of central retinal vein obstruction (CRVO). Hypercoagulable states, thrombophilia or vasculitis become more important in younger patients.1

With regard of branch retinal vein obstruction (BRVO), venous flow is usually interrupted at a retinal arteriovenous crossing site as a retinal artery crosses over a retinal vein. Systemic vascular risk factors of …


This document defines a Structure of Management Information Version 2
(SMIv2) Management Information Base (MIB) module for configuring the
security policy database of a device implementing the IPsec protocol.
The policy-based packet filtering and the corresponding execution of
actions described in this document are of a more general nature than
for IPsec configuration alone, such as for configuration of a
firewall. This MIB module is designed to be extensible with other
enterprise or standards-based defined packet filters and actions.
[STANDARDS-TRACK]


Benzimidazole derivatives play important role in medical field with many important properties. The potency of these clinically useful drugs in the treatment of bacterial infections and other activities encouraged the development of some more potent and significant compounds. This research article is summarized to know about the chemistry of different derivatives of substituted benzimidazoles along with their pharmacological activities. In the present research the new benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized. The reaction was carried out by condensing o-phenylene diamine with carboxylic acid by using Phillip's condensation. The free N-H group in benzimidazole was allowed for acetylation. The acetylated product was made to react with different aromatic aldehydes in the presence of alkali to give different chalcones (III A-III F) by aldol condensation. The compounds were synthesized in good yield and their structures were confirmed by M.P, TLC and spectral data. All the synthesized compounds were screened for their antibacterial activity.


Mouse delta-like 3 (Dll3), a novel vertebrate homologue of the Drosophila gene Delta was isolated by a subtracted library screen. In Drosphila, the Delta/Notch signalling pathway functions in many situations in both embryonic and adult life where cell fate specification occurs. In addition, a patterning role has been described in the establishment of the dorsoventral compartment boundary in the wing imaginal disc. Dll3 is the most divergent Delta homologue identified to date. We confirm that Dll3 can inhibit primary neurogenesis when ectopically expressed in Xenopus, suggesting that it can activate the Notch receptor and therefore is a functional Delta homologue. An extensive expression study during gastrulation and early organogenesis in the mouse reveals a diverse and dynamic pattern of expression. The three major sites of expression implicate Dll3 in somitogenesis and neurogenesis and in the production of tissue from the primitive streak and tailbud. A careful comparison of Dll3 and Dll1 expression by double RNA in situ hybridisation demonstrates that these genes have distinct patterns of expression, but implies that together they operate in many of the same processes. We postulate that during somitogenesis Dll3 and Dll1 coordinate in establishing the intersomitic boundaries. We confirm that, during neurogenesis in the spinal cord, Dll1 and Dll3 are expressed by postmitotic cells and suggest that expression is sequential such that cells express Dll1 first followed by Dll3. We hypothesise that Dll1 is involved in the release of cells from the precursor population and that Dll3 is required later to divert neurons along a specific differentiation pathway.


Abstract This paper empirically analyzes how markets value personal data related innovation in four prominent domains, in which firms' potential to exploit value from data is identified to be considerable: finance, health, location-based services and artificial intelligence. We link the innovation economics literature to psychology-grounded financial economics theories of investor attention and salience theory. Our data from 117 large technology companies active in the ICT sector from the years 2007–2014 suggest that firms' personal data related innovations and knowledge stocks in technology domains of location-based services and artificial intelligence contributed substantially to firm value. The premiums gained from personal data related innovation were particularly significant for data giants holding knowledge stocks in the location-based service domain. Our empirical results indicate that a strong positive relationship between personal data related knowledge stocks of the location-based services domain and firm value relates primarily to investor attention intensified during periods of media hype. Our data provide new insights into the market valuation of intangible assets: investors seem to overweight more salient right tails of firms' knowledge stocks of emerging technologies while neglecting salient left tails.


Cancer is a complex disease because it makes complex cellular changes. Therefore, microarrays have become a powerful way to analyse cancer and identify what changes are produced within a cell. Through DNA microarrays, it has become possible to look at the expression of thousands of genes in one sample and this is called gene expression profiling. Gene expression profiling is important to capture a set of expressed genes that determines a cell phenotype. However, analysing microarray data is challenged by the high-dimensionality of the data compared with the number of samples. The aim of this study was to enhance the diagnostic accuracy of Breast Cancer Computer Aided Diagnostic Systems (CADs) that use gene expression profiling of peripheral blood cells, by introducing a novel feature selection method called Bi-biological filter that was further refined by Best First Search with Support Vector Machines SVM (BFS-SVM) to select a small set of the most effective genes predictive of breast cancer. From each patient's gene expression profiles, a gene co-expression network was built and divided into functional groups or clusters using Topological Overlap Matrix (TOM) and Spectral Clustering (SC) in the design of the Bi-Biological filter to obtain the preliminary set of gene markers. BFS- SVM was used to further filter a smaller set of best gene markers, and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), SVM and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were used to assess their classification performance. The study used 121 samples - 67 malignant and 54 benign cases as input to for the system. The Bi-biological filter selected 415 genes as mRNA biomarkers and BFS-SVM was able to select just 13 out of 415 genes for classification of breast cancer. ANN was found to be the superior classifier with 93.4% classification accuracy which was a 14% improvement over the past best CAD system developed by Aaroe et al. (2010).


Developing software and managing projects according to a defined process model is widely accepted to minimize dangers of project-failures. Our experience shows that many processes are hardly accepted and often ignored. Managers and developers have different views on a project, with negative impacts on project-performance due to communication lacks that lead to misunderstandings and quality issues. Introducing processes using accepted workingand tool-environments may increase the acceptance of a process by providing a common platform for project operation supporting all the roles that participate in a project. This paper presents a concept for generating such tool-environments directly from a process description. We focus on process elements that can be used to provide additional project management assistance e.g. cockpit-like controlling mechanisms. We discuss our concept using samples from a case study that used the formal structured German V-ModellXT as a source and Microsoft SharePoint 2007 Services and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server as target environments.


When an ice storm killed an estimated 2,000 sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) in Nebraska on 24 March 1996, we retrieved the fresh carcasses of 118 adults to test for a decline in the condition of spring-staging cranes from that date in 1978 and 1979. We first conducted a principle component analysis on 3 morphological variables (tarsus, exposed culmen, and wing chord [flattened]) and used the first principal component (PC1) as an index of body size. Then, to account for variation in body mass due to size, we regressed body mass on PC1 and computed an adjusted body mass using the residuals from this regression. For a sample of lesser sandhill cranes (G. c. canadensis) (n = 147) collected in 1978-79 and 1996, PC1 explained 63% of the total variation in body size and for greater sandhill cranes (G. c. tabida) (n = 75), 72% of variation. For both subspecies in 1978-79, the relationship between adjusted body mass and date depended on sex (P 0.8). For 24 March (the date of the ice storm in 1996), no significant differences in adjusted body mass were detected between 1978 and 1979 or between males and females for either subspecies. For lessers, the mean adjusted body masses for 1996 were 69-152 g less than the mean adjusted body masses predicted for 24 March 1978 and 1979; significant differences were detected only for males between 1996 and 1979 (difference = -152.5, SE = 75.9). For greaters, mean adjusted body masses for 24 March 1996 were 175415 g less than the mean adjusted body masses predicted for 24 March 1978 and 1979; significant differences were detected only for females between 1996 and 1979 (difference = -415.1, SE = 126.5). In 1978 and 1979, adjusted body mass was correlated with total body fat. These results are not conclusive but do support the hypothesis that at least part of the sandhill crane population was carrying less fat on 24 March 1996 than on the same date in 1978 and 1979. Further studies are needed to gain greater insight into how fat storage patterns have been affected by declining waste corn in the CPRV and significance of this change to the midcontinental sandhill crane population. PROCEEDINGS NORTH AMERICAN CRANE WORKSHOP 9:179-184


In Aotearoa New Zealand, the largest growing cohort of Mäori engaging in tertiary education at degree level is mature Mäori women. For most Mäori beginning university there are considerable challenges to achieving a universitylevel education and qualification. This paper reports on a study that used Kaupapa Mäori and Mana Wähine research approaches to give voice to five mature Mäori women who shared aspects of their first year at university, highlighting the cultural dissonance they experienced and how they overcame the challenges they faced as students. Attitudes to education as the result of the colonising effects of assimilation and educational policies contributed to the lives of these wähine as children and also later in life as tertiary students. This paper contributes to the understanding of tertiary education experiences from mature Mäori women's worldviews and explores the role cultural dissonance plays in educational engagement.


As electronic commerce becomes a reality, additional services related to electronic commerce will also emerge. The current paper proposes the provision of electronic strongboxes as an integrated part of the wider electronic commerce. The strongbox concept is introduced as an electronic counterpart of physical strongboxes typically found in large traditional financial institutions, such as banks, having secure vaults or other secure physical storage. The work identifies some requirements of electronic strongboxes both from the functionality perspective and from the security point of view. A simple framework for an electronic strongbox system is also presented. Disciplines Physical Sciences and Mathematics Publication Details Hardjono T and Seberry J, Strong boxes for electronic commerce, Proceedings of the 1996 USENIX Workshop on Electronic Commerce. Oakland, California, USA, November, 1996, 135-145. This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/infopapers/1135 Strongboxes for Electronic Commerce


Works on the quality of democracy propose standards for evaluating politics beyond those encompassed by a minimal definition of democracy. Yet, what is the quality of democracy? This article first reconstructs and assesses current conceptualizations of the quality of democracy. Thereafter, it reconceptualizes the quality of democracy by equating it with democracy pure and simple, positing that democracy is a synthesis of political freedom and political equality, and spelling out the implications of this substantive assumption. The proposal is to broaden the concept of democracy to address two additional spheres: government decision-making – political institutions are democratic inasmuch as a majority of citizens can change the status quo – and the social environment of politics – the social context cannot turn the principles of political freedom and equality into mere formalities. Alternative specifications of democratic standards are considered and reasons for discarding them are provided.


Seguro Popular (SP) was introduced in 2002 to provide health insurance to the 50 million Mexicans without Social Security. This paper tests whether the program has had unintended consequences, distorting workers' incentives to operate in the informal sector. The analysis examines the impact of SP on disaggregated labor market decisions, taking into account that program coverage depends not only on the individual's employment status, but also on that of other household members. The identification strategy relies on the variation in SP's rollout across municipalities and time, with the difference-in-difference estimation controlling for household fixed effects. The paper finds that SP lowers formality by 0.4-0.7 percentage points, with adjustments largely occurring within a few years of the program's introduction. Rather than encouraging exit from the formal sector, SP is associated with a 3.1 percentage point reduction (a 20 percent decline) in the inflow of workers into formality. Income effects are also apparent, with significantly decreased flows out of unemployment and lower labor force participation. The impact is larger for those with less education, in larger households, and with somebody else in the household guaranteeing Social Security coverage. However, workers pay for part of these benefits with lower wages in the informal sector.


The strong-and increasing-interest in microbial biofilms, and the special properties connected with this life form, is related, in part, to their importance in medical and industrial contexts and, in part, to the unexpected complexity of the processes that apparently lie behind their development; the three-dimensional structures of many biofilms indicate organized buildup programs, which challenge one's previous understanding of bacterial capabilities. This chapter talks about a series of investigations carried out under standardized conditions in flow chambers. Specific interactions are monitored through the application of molecular reporters, and confocal microscopy has been used to localize specific features and events in the structured communities developing in the flow-chamber biofilms. The purpose of these experiments has been to document how bacterial populations use their chemosensory repertoire to record and react to the presence of other populations. Despite the simplicity of these defined mixed-species model biofilm consortia, the obtained results turned out to be complex eye-openers for ecological and evolutionary aspects of "life on surfaces. Interactions between such phenotypically distinct subpopulations may be commensal, competitive, or antagonistic, just as we know from mixed-species communities, and it is likely that discussions and conclusions about microbial interactions based on nutrient acquisition are also relevant for phenotypically distinct single-species populations.


Abstract This article considers telling differences that have emerged in participation rates in languages other than English study in the States of Victoria and New South Wales since the introduction and completion of the NALSAS program. It explores the role that language planning, policy and funding, both at a State and Federal level, have played in this outcome. The prominent focus of the paper is the Government education systems in Victoria and NSW, but findings from the Catholic and Independent systems are also utilised. The article argues that Federal language planning and policy must take into account the complex and varying local linguistic ecologies of each State and Territory in Australia, while language-in-education planning and policy at the State level must be seriously challenged to provide adequate support and funding for language programs. Key Words Language policy and planning, languages other than English, second language education, NALSAS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Introduction Explicit language policy at the Federal level in Australia has moved through a number of distinctive stages, reflecting the varying needs of Australia's language demography, as well as the often competing agendas of Governments and lobby groups. In 1987, the National Policy on Languages (Lo Bianco, 1987) attempted to establish a range of principles that could address the needs of Australians with and without an English speaking background, across a range of social, educational and home contexts. However, the subsequent policy, Australia "s Language--The Australian Language and Literacy Policy (Dawkins, 1992) was reductionist in nature, drawing a greater focus to the (English) literacy needs of Australians (see Moore, 1995) and was followed by a series of literacy focused papers and policies, such as Literacy for Aft: The challenge for Australian schools (DEETYA, 1998). Throughout this period of policy development, Asian lobbyists were also pushing strongly for the specific support of Asian languages and studies in schools (Slaughter, 2008, pp. 35-43) and finally succeeded in their efforts when the National Asian Languages and Studies Strategy in Australia Schools (NALSAS) program was introduced into the Australian education system in 1994. The program provided more than $200 million in funding over the course of eight years and aimed to, and achieved, an increase in the participation rate in the study of Asian languages and Asian studies across all States and Territories in Australia (Wyatt, Manefield, Carbines, & Robb, 2002a, 2002b). The NALSAS program, ambitious and longterm in comparison to many other Federal initiatives, was unprecedented. Mackenzie (2001) considers the NALSAS policy as one of entrepreneurial policymaking (see also Henderson, 2003). While for supporters of Asian languages and studies it signalled the coming to fruition of many years of lobbying, from a language learning perspective, the NALSAS program was widely criticised for a number of reasons, including, * economic rationalism as a basis for policy * the lack of support for other languages * an inadequate teacher supply * the lack of reference to Asian language communities in Australia * the belief that foreign and domestic cultural interests can be separated and the sidelining of social and cultural arguments * the lack of public consultation behind the policy (see, for example, Clyne, 1997; Hill T Liddicoat, 1996; Lo Bianco, 2000, 2002; Milner, 1999; Orton, 1995; Reeves, 1992; Williamson-Fien, 1994). Although the policy was both criticised and welcomed within language and education disciplines, the NALSAS program has undoubtedly provided a much-needed financial and image-related boost for Asian languages study. It is imperative that we now consider the effectiveness of the NALSAS program as a policy and its impact on language study more broadly. …


This issue provides another diverse collection of articles that advance our understanding of educational technology. Five of the articles included are concerned with applications of technology to teaching and learning. Two articles focus on language learning, while three papers in this issue are concerned with the challenges of technology integration by school teachers. This issue also includes two future-oriented articles; one presents the findings of a large scale survey of Australian university students' use and expectations of technology for work, social and study purposes across three institutions and the other is an exploration of the space between policy and practice in relation to the introduction of the National Broadband Network in Australia.


Background: Hospital wastes are considered as a serious threat for public health. Hospital waste management may help to control disease transmission and have remarkable economic advantages. The purpose of this study was to assess the hospitals' waste management in Isfahan, Iran in 2014. Methods: Data of this descriptive and cross-sectional study were collected through a check list for surveying hospital waste management. Validity of checklist was confirmed by analysis of face validity and field experts' opinions. Cronbach's alpha of 0.80 was calculated. Data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics in Excel software. Results: In the studied hospitals "Elimination" dimension was inappropriate while the "Human resources involved in waste management" dimension was estimated relatively appropriate. Other dimensions were estimated as appropriate. Infectious wastes consisted of about 10.89 % of the total wastes in hospitals and the average of waste generation for each bed was 3.67 kg per day. There was no environmental unit in the studied hospitals and only one of them did not have waste management unit. Conclusion: Despite the fact that waste management status in hospitals under study was relatively appropriate, but given the importance of the issue, it is essential to improve the current situation especially in some aspects of waste management.


Background and Purpose: Hand hygiene is a low-cost، convenient measure recommended to all health care providers to prevent nosocomial infections. Health care staff commonly neglect the importance of hand washing at workplace. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of involuntary motivational factors on hand hygiene compliance byhealth care providers. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was conducted on 153 health care providers. selected via simple random sampling.Data were collected using questionnaires designed based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Data analysis was performed in SPSS, using descriptive and inferential statistics, Pearson's correlation-coefficient and T-test. Results: In 80.40% of cases, participants reported that they washed their hands after contact with patients or hospital equipment. Moreover, participants had a positive attitude towards the consequences of hand washing (6.11±0.8) and considered this behavior as a norm (6.12±1.2). Correlations observed between most variables of study were significant (P≤0.001). However, controlling factors had a less significant effect on hand hygiene intention compared to other variables, such as outcome evaluation, subjective beliefs and normative beliefs of participants (P≤0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, health care providers have a positive attitude towards hand hygiene compliance. However, due to the impact of involuntary motivational factors on this behavior, it is necessary that medical authorities identify major strategies for behavioral change of health care staff through predicting these underlying factors.


The amorphous formation mechanism was studied from the viewpoint of the crystallography. The experimental results showed that the heterogeneity atoms with chemical bonds had a higher capability of forming into compounds than that of congener atoms. It was proposed that the banded structure was induced by the variation of active atoms with a proper thickness, alternated depletion and enrichment of anions in the diffusion layer due to generation and evolution of hydrogen gas. The chemical force plays an important part in the formation. The factors working on chemical reaction affect the formation in the same. A number of steady motes are in a high speed movement, and collide with each other in all probability. The formation of amorphous alloys is the result of massive nucleus appearance, which was proposed from the crystallography in this paper. The cause of the chaotic distribution is of the suppression of each nucleus growth. The short-range order atomic structure is of the atomic nucleus growth orientation. And the long-range disorder structure is of the massive nucleus suppression growth.


Harness the Power of Social Networking to Promote Innovation and Drive Growth A treasure trove of strategic and tactical insights for the business leader Provides relevant experience from a host of powerful case studies and compelling business scenarios Secrets for avoiding costly mistakes that can cripple a social networking initiative Millions of people use social networking sites, and companies are increasingly turning to social networking to build relationships with customers. But companies routinely miss the best opportunities to create value and promote innovationby using social networking to build thriving communities of employees, partners, and customers. Business leaders and strategists can drive immense value from social networking inside the firewall. Drawing on her unsurpassed experience deploying innovative social networking systems within IBM and for customers, Maria Azua demonstrates how to establish social networking communities, and then leverage those communities to drive extraordinary levels of innovation. Azua offers specific techniques for promoting mass collaboration in the enterprise and strategies to monetize social networking to generate new business opportunities. Whatever your industry, youll learn how to choose and implement the right social networking solutions for your unique challenges...how to avoid false starts and wasted time...and how to evaluate and make the most of todays most promising social technologiesfrom wikis and blogs to knowledge clouds.


Historical interpretations of the Anglo-Pequot War have oscillated between ethnographic and conspiratorial explanations, arguing that it resulted either from cultural differences and misunderstandings or from scheming and provocation. But seventeenth-century accounts of the conflict demonstrate the interconnectedness of the ethnographic and conspiratorial frameworks, going as far as to suggest that the Pequots, one of the first Native American groups referred to by name, conspiratorially used their "Indianness" as a weapon. Tracing this connection, from the narratives of Philip Vincent and John Mason to those of John Underhill and Lion Gardiner, helps us better appreciate the racial origins of seventeenth-century conspiracy thought.


This work reports on the development of a bacteria-based inhibition biosensor array for detection of different types of pollutions, i.e. heavy metal ions (Zn 2+ ), pesticides (DDVP) and petro-chemicals (pentane), in water.  The biosensor chip for preliminary identification of the above water pollutants is based on three types of bacteria ( Escherichia coli , Shewanella oneidensis and Methylosinus trichosporium ) immobilized on screen-printed gold electrode surface via poly L-lysine which provides strong adhesion of bacterial monolayer to the electrode without losses of biological function. A series of optical measurements and DC electrochemical measurements were carried out on these three types of bacteria species immobilized on modified screen printed gold electrodes as well as on the bacteria in solution samples. The principle of electrochemical detection of pollutants is based on the facts that live bacteria adsorbed (or immobilized) on the electrode surface appeared to be insulating and thus reducing the electrochemical current, while the bacteria damaged by pollutants are less insulating. The results obtained demonstrated different effects of the three different types of analytes studied, e.g. Zn 2+ , DDVP, and pentane, on the three bacteria used. The findings are encouraging for application of a pattern recognition approach for identification pollutants which may lead to development of a novel, simple, and cost-effective bio-sensing array for preliminary detection of environmental pollutants in water.


Trisomy18 (Edwards's syndrome) is the second commonest trisomy. While most affected foetuses either die in-utero or terminated following antenatal diagnosis, postnatally diagnosed cases create a major ethical dilemma. We reviewed five postnatally diagnosed Trisomy 18 cases over last 4 years. Two were antenatally suspected to have dysmorphic features but parents declined diagnostic testing. All were born by emergency section for foetal distress needing resuscitation (3 at 33–36 weeks & 1 term). Echocardiogram confirmed heart defects in all (three Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD) and one Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)). Although senior doctors counselled parents about this possibility with clinical suspicion, it was difficult to come to agreement until chromosomal confirmation. In two babies needing ventilation, intensive care was subsequently withdrawn after parents agreement, Baby1 (Large VSD) died in hospital and Baby2 (HLHS in whom prostaglandin stopped) died after going home. It was difficult to decide whether to stop oxygen/CPAP or to consider diuretics for Baby3 (Large VSD). Baby4 who underwent repair of oesophageal atresia after parents wanted full treatment is still alive aged 2 years (small VSD closed spontaneously). Palliative care after confirmation of Trisomy18 is not straightforward. This depends primarily on parental views. Severity of cardiac defects and ventilatory dependency at confirmation also play crucial roles. More severe cardiac defects are easier to counsel as we believe that invasive cardiac surgery is totally unethical. Court is also likely to support this even if it is against parents' wishes. While nasogastric feeds are thought to be a part of palliation, no-one is clear about others that prolong poor quality of life such as diuretics or oxygen. It may be argued that each case should be individualised and parent's decision should be final for non-invasive treatment. However when looking at baby's best interest, this poses a real challenge to neonatologists.


For background information, definitions, and basic facts, consult the following encyclopedias, dictionaries, and sourcebooks located in the Reference section on the first floor of the MacPhaidin Library.


Introduction: In order to make a hole on the bone cortex, especially, in the tumors of body in order to do biopsy and curettage creating a hole circularly is routinely recommended. In evaluating resources and references for obtaining documentation based on prioritizing circular holes in bending load and pressure, no positive evidence was observed. For this purpose, two methods of software analysis and force test experiments were used. Material and Methods: Different forms of holes with an equal amount of area were created on 40 femur rabbit bones under the pressure and bending forces of a hydraulic system in laboratory. The required bending force was calculated by the computer. At the same time, the software analysis of the simulation experiment under the ANSYS system were conducted by the University of Biomechanical Research Team. Results: The results of the software analysis under the ANSYS system revealed that in pressure and bending load, there was no significant difference in the amount of strength remained in the bone in the presence of a circular hole and other shapes of holes, such as Trapezoid. Conclusion: The amount of decreased strength in a circular hole did not have a significant difference with regard to none-circular shapes such as trapezoidal. It can be said that other factors such as the type of loading were more effective in decreasing the strength.


This article examines strategic public shaming, a novel form of regulatory tactic employed by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) during its enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law. Based on analysis of media coverage and interview findings, the study finds that the way the NDRC disclosed its investigation is highly strategic depending on the firm's co-operative attitude toward the investigation. Event studies further show that the NDRC's proactive disclosure resulted in significantly negative abnormal returns of the stock prices of firms subject to the disclosure. For instance, Biostime, an infant-formula manufacturer investigated in 2013, experienced -22% cumulative abnormal return in a three-day event window, resulting in a loss of market capitalization that is 27 times the ultimate antitrust fine it received. The NDRC's strategic public shaming could therefore result in severe market sanction that deters firms from defying the agency.


Language proficiency requires the mastery of four language skills such as listening reading, speaking and writing, but in addition to these language skills, vocabulary holds a distinct place in attaining communicative competence. The purpose of the presents study is to investigate the reflection of the fourth year Pre-service English Teachers' word knowledge on their academic writing. The study was conducted at the Department of English Language Teacher Education of a state university in Turkey. The participants are 10 pre-service teachers whose essay papers were randomly chosen among fourth –year Pre-service English teachers. In order to measure word knowledge of the participants in their academic writing VocabProfile (Laufer&Nation, 1995) which enables the data obtained to evaluate quantitatively was used. The analyses showed that the students mostly used different words (word range) and lexical density varies between 45% and 55%. Moreover, it is also observed that preservice English teachers mostly used words in the first 1,000 band (K1). The percentages range from 80 % and 89 %. It is seen that the students included in the study showed the similar results. However, when it comes to the using words that are included in 10012000 bands, only a few used them in their writings. Academic vocabulary is another dimension which was evaluated in this study. According to the results, seven out of ten students used nearly 10 % of the words from off-list words (out of 2,000 words).


Juusola, Katariina Mercury beats Minerva? Essays on the accelerating impact of market logic permeating higher education Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2015, 270 p. (Jyväskylä Studies in Business and Economics ISSN 1457-1986; 155) ISBN 978-951-39-6053-7 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6054-4 (PDF) This study examines the relationship between two major institutional logics in higher education, the academic logic (Minerva) and market logic (Mercury), which have shaped the development of universities over the past century. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to our understanding of how and why the market logic emerged and gained influence in higher education. The main argument of this study is that the increasing influence of market logic involves two processes; first, the market forces that have shaped higher education have in turn legitimized market logic, and second, the functional background of business schools enabled the introduction of Mercury to Minerva when these schools became part of universities. Since this initial encounter, the relationship between Mercury and Minerva has become increasingly peculiar. This study suggests that although the academic and market logics can function as plural logics, significant challenges inevitably emerge from this uneasy truce because many of the characteristics of these institutional logics conflict. This study contributes to an improved understanding of the emergence and institutionalization of the market logic, which was enabled by the business school link between academia and business. This thesis consists of three parts: I) an introductory essay, II) original research articles and III) conclusions and discussion. Part I explains how the market logic emerged, permeated and became institutionalized in higher education. To do so, institutional theory has been framed to understand universities' institutional logics. Part II consists of four qualitative research articles, each of which has a unique focus and utilizes different methods and data. Finally, Part III brings together the findings of the introductory essay and interprets the findings of the research articles through more specific research tasks.


In this preterm cohort study, we investigate the relationship between early macronutrient intake and brain macro- and microstructural growth, the influence of neonatal morbidity, and subsequent neurodevelopment. BACKGROUND: Optimizing early nutritional intake in preterm neonates may promote brain health and neurodevelopment through enhanced brain maturation. Our objectives were (1) to determine the association of energy and macronutrient intake in the first 2 weeks of life with regional and total brain growth and white matter (WM) maturation, assessed by 3 serial MRI scans in preterm neonates; (2) to examine how critical illness modifies this association; and (3) to investigate the relationship with neurodevelopmental outcomes. METHODS: Forty-nine preterm neonates (21 boys, median [interquartile range] gestational age: 27.6 [2.3] weeks) were scanned serially at the following median postmenstrual weeks: 29.4, 31.7, and 41. The total brain, basal nuclei, and cerebellum were semiautomatically segmented. Fractional anisotropy was extracted from diffusion tensor imaging data. Nutritional intake from day of life 1 to 14 was monitored and clinical factors were collected. RESULTS: Greater energy and lipid intake predicted increased total brain and basal nuclei volumes over the course of neonatal care to term-equivalent age. Similarly, energy and lipid intake were significantly associated with fractional anisotropy values in selected WM tracts. The association of ventilation duration with smaller brain volumes was attenuated by higher energy intake. Brain growth predicted psychomotor outcome at 18 months' corrected age. CONCLUSIONS: In preterm neonates, greater energy and enteral feeding during the first 2 weeks of life predicted more robust brain growth and accelerated WM maturation. The long-lasting effect of early nutrition on neurodevelopment may be mediated by enhanced brain growth. Optimizing nutrition in preterm neonates may represent a potential avenue to mitigate the adverse brain health consequences of critical illness.


Collective cell migration is a key process in tissue repair, and in drawing parallels from complex multi-cellular events such as tumor morphogenesis and embryogenesis. Mechanisms of wound healing have been studied extensively in vitro. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is required to support cell migration and ensure rapid coverage of the wound area. The main challenge in designing biomaterials for tissue repair is to provide cells with the appropriate biological and mechanical cues. Hence, understanding key cell-ECM interactions during wound healing is necessary for effective biomaterial design. Genetic engineering provides a convenient avenue to customize materials for any given application. The artificial protein-based biomaterials discussed in this work were derived from fibronectin and elastin. These proteins have a modular design, and have material properties that can be fine-tuned according to specific applications. The artificial extracellular matrix (aECM) proteins prepared by previous members of our laboratory have been shown to promote attachment of endothelial cells. In this work, we studied extensively epithelial and fibroblast wound healing behavior on these aECM biomaterials. Crosslinked aECM protein films of varying RGD densities have been prepared by mixing aECM proteins with the RGD cell binding domain with aECM proteins containing the scrambled RDG sequence. Corneal epithelial wound healing was observed on aECM films with 100% RGD but not on aECM films with 2.5% RGD. Surprisingly, we found a five fold difference between the wound closure rates between these surfaces, but individual cell speeds did not increase significantly. We proposed that the five fold increase in wound closure rate was determined by the rate of crossing the boundary between the wound area and the area underneath the cell sheet. Both simulation and experimental data verified that the rate of boundary-crossing was sufficient to account for five-fold difference in wound closure rates between 100% RGD and 2.5% RGD surfaces. Full-length fibronectin domains have also been incorporated to improve the overall cell binding properties of the aECM proteins. The aECM proteins containing full-length fibronectin domains were shown to facilitate rapid spreading of Rat-1 fibroblasts. The aECM protein containing both fibronectin domains 9 and 10 exhibited an increased binding affinity to the α5β1 integrin. More importantly, these aECM proteins also promoted rapid wound closure, which was comparable to that on fibronectin. We showed that aECM proteins containing full-length fibronectin domains also promoted higher phosphorylated levels of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), consistent with the faster cell migration and proliferation observed. To try to understand how cells select wound healing mechanisms, wound healing of Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells were examined in vitro. On surfaces containing the aECM protein bearing the fibronectin domain 10, characteristic healing patterns were observed in MDCK wound healing. These patterns are defined by the formation of leader cells at regular intervals of actomyosin purse strings. The spacing between consecutive leader cell groups was also found to be independent of the wound diameter. This spacing however, was found to decrease with increasing myosin II inhibition. These observations could be explained using a simple force transmission mechanical model. Consistent with the model predictions, we demonstrated that wounds with a zigzag geometry biased the selection of the wound healing mechanism along the wound edge. These zigzag wounds also healed nearly eight fold faster than wounds with straight edges.


The year 2001 has been the most turbulent year in international global-warming policy since the tumultuous final round of negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. US President George W. Bush's decision in March to withdraw from further talks on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol may seem to be a potentially fatal blow to current international efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions. However, as the year draws to a close, the outlook for real progress is actually more mixed. The outlook is in many ways even more positive than it was in the final years of President Clinton's administration, which never mounted a serious campaign internationally or domestically after retreating from its public commitment to aggressive action on global warming within 24 hours of the successful conclusion of the Kyoto talks in December 1997. The morning after the Kyoto agreement, Republican congressional leaders held a news conference declaring the Protocol "dead on arrival" in the US Senate, arguing that the document's failure to set binding emissions-reduction targets for China, India, and other major developing countries would economically disadvantage the United States. In response, the Clinton administration chose not to defend the Protocol's basic premise: industrialized nations, whose fossil fuel-based economic growth in the 20th century is largely responsible for today's increased level of greenhouse gas concentrations, should act first to curb their emissions growth. Instead, the White House announced that it would not send the agreement to the Senate for ratification without obtaining emissions-reduction commitments from key developing countries--a posture that directly contradicted the international negotiating position it had maintained for more than two years. As it emerged from Kyoto, the Protocol was only a barebones framework of reduction targets and a hazy statement of the principles for meeting them. It would require several years of additional negotiations to build an international agreement on actual reduction mechanisms. But having trapped itself in a conflict between its international and domestic positions, the Clinton administration put the Kyoto process on a political back burner. Progress at home also was slow in the wake of the Kyoto negotiations. While it was readily apparent that the debate over carbon dioxide emissions-reduction measures must begin quickly if the United States was to have any chance of meeting the targets it accepted at Kyoto, the Clinton administration never advanced a serious legislative proposal to begin the process. In August 1998, Vice President Al Gore summarily rejected a request from environmental organizations that the Clinton administration mount a fight in the US Congress to reduce emissions from electric utilities, which account for nearly 40 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, Clinton repeatedly signed into law Republican-sponsored riders to appropriations bills that barred the promulgation of new automobile fuel-efficiency standards. To be fair, the Clinton White House faced a difficult domestic political situation. Control of both the House and Senate by Republicans closely allied with the oil, coal, utility, and automobile industries made domestic action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions difficult. This difficulty was compounded by alliances between a significant number of congressional Democrats and mining and autoworkers' unions. Achieving rapid ratification of an international global-warming agreement requiring a two-thirds Senate majority was clearly impossible under the circumstances. Breaking this complex knot of opposition over several years would have required a sustained commitment from the highest levels of the administration to spend a substantial amount of political capital on the issue. That level of commitment, of course, was not forthcoming. Throughout 1998, scandal and impeachment absorbed much of the White House's energy. …


The text is accompanied by a detailed introduction, a pronunciation and explanation key for the novel's main characters, and greatly revised and expanded explanatory annotations. "Contexts" presents a wealth of background and source materials relating to The Brothers Karamazov, to Dostoevsky's own experiences, to current events, and to observations on a changing society. Included are the correspondence of influential literary and social critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinksy and the author's letters spanning three decades as well as a selection from Dostoevsky's Diary of a Writer in which readers may trace the origins of this novel. "Criticism" offers a wide range of scholarly commentary on The Brothers Karamazov from American, Russian, and European authors, eleven of them new to the Second Edition and two of them appearing in English for the first time. Contributors include Ralph Matlaw, Valentina Vetlovskaia, Seamas O'Driscoll, William Mills Todd, Vladimir Kantor, Edward Wasiolek, Nathan Rosen, Roger B. Anderson, Robin Feuer Miller, Horst-Jurgen Gerigk, Vladimir Golstein, Robert L. Belknap, Ulrich Schmid, and Gary Saul Morson. A Chronology of Dostoevsky's life and work and a Selected Bibliography are also included.


This essay is a follow-up to a previous article by the author, "Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise," published in Common Knowledge 13, nos. 2–3 (2007): 250–80. Its central claim was that relativism and absolutism should be understood as categories that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive; the two categories form a dichotomy, and thus the rejection of absolutism is a necessary and sufficient condition for the embrace of relativism and vice versa. Daniel Paksi, in a essay titled "Relativism or Absolutism? David Bloor and the Snares of an Unfortunate Dichotomy," claims that it is possible to adopt a position, a "third way," that is neither relativist nor absolutist. He proposes that the "emergentism" of Michael Polanyi is such a third way. In response, David Bloor argues that Paksi's proposed third way is beset by profound and well-known problems of obscurity—specifically, by what is sometimes called the two-worlds problem. Bloor claims that the dichotomy of relativism and absolutism is more intelligible and more defensible than the emergentism that Paksi defends and concludes that the only ism between relativism and absolutism is obscurantism.


Carcass and eating quality characteristics of crossbred wether and female lambs sired by Charollais (C), Suffolk (S) and Texel (T) rams out of Mule ewes (Bluefaced Leicester ♂ × Scottish Blackface ♀ or Swaledale ♀) were evaluated in a study carried out over a 3-year period in an upland flock. A total of 10 unrelated rams of each breed were used as sires. Lambs (no. = 280) were selected for slaughter at the same estimated subcutaneous fat level on four occasions within each year (i.e. at weaning in July and at approx. monthly intervals thereafter). Following slaughter, the left side of each carcass was physically dissected. A loin joint from lambs slaughtered in the 2nd and 3rd years of the study (no. = 184) was used to evaluate eating quality. Suffolk-sired lambs were heavier at slaughter (S: 42.2; C: 41.0; T: 40.7 (s.e. 0.35) kg) but had similar killing-out proportions compared with the other two breeds (S: 444; C: 450; T: 452 (s.e. 26) g/kg). Texel-sired lambs had higher lean proportion (S: 543; C: 550; T: 567 (s.e. 4.4) g/kg) and lower total carcass fat proportion (S: 240; C: 242; T: 233 (s.e. 5.3) g/kg) compared with S and C sired lambs. Bone proportion was similar for C and T lambs but was higher for S (S: 199; C: 191; T: 191 (s.e. 2.1) g/kg). Lean : bone (S: 2.75; C: 2.90; T: 2.99 (s.e. 0.037)) and lean :fat (S: 2.38; C: 2.40; T: 2.54 (s.e. 0.034)) ratios were higher for T-sired lambs. Female lambs were lighter (40.4 v. 42.2 (s.e. 0.24) kg), and had proportionately more intermuscular fat than wethers (122 v.118 (s.e. 1.3) g/kg) but the sex differences for other tissue proportions were small Carcass weights and total carcass fat proportions increased and lean proportions decreased across the four slaughter dates. There were no effects of breed or sex on eating quality. However, samples from lambs slaughtered at weaning were judged to be more tender than those slaughtered later in the season.


The literature on robustness towards common corruptions shows no consensus on whether adversarial training can improve the performance in this setting. First, we show that, when used with an appropriately selected perturbation radius, $\ell_p$ adversarial training can serve as a strong baseline against common corruptions improving both accuracy and calibration. Then we explain why adversarial training performs better than data augmentation with simple Gaussian noise which has been observed to be a meaningful baseline on common corruptions. Related to this, we identify the $\sigma$-overfitting phenomenon when Gaussian augmentation overfits to a particular standard deviation used for training which has a significant detrimental effect on common corruption accuracy. We discuss how to alleviate this problem and then how to further enhance $\ell_p$ adversarial training by introducing an efficient relaxation of adversarial training with learned perceptual image patch similarity as the distance metric. Through experiments on CIFAR-10 and ImageNet-100, we show that our approach does not only improve the $\ell_p$ adversarial training baseline but also has cumulative gains with data augmentation methods such as AugMix, DeepAugment, ANT, and SIN, leading to state-of-the-art performance on common corruptions. The code of our experiments is publicly available at https://github.com/tml-epfl/adv-training-corruptions.


In Polish, as in some other Slavic and Germanic languages, word‐final obstruents are devoiced. Three monolingual speakers in Krakow recorded a sample of ine minimal pairs containing final /p,t,k,b,d,g/ preceded by each of the vowels /i,a,u/ in a meaningful carrier sentences. Each word was followed by a voiceless obstruent, in one case, and by a vowel in another. The speakers had also recorded some of the same words in the same environments in a narrative passage. Three durations were measured: Of the preceding vowel, of the stop closure, and of glottal pulsing into the closure. For all three speakers and all environments, the durations of the preceding vowel and of the stop closure did not differ significantly between underlyingly voiced and underlyingly voiceless stops. However, for all three speakers and all three places of articulation, glottal pulsing into the closure was significantly longer for underlyingly voiced stops than for their underlyingly voiceless counterparts. This outcome held for the words in the narrative passage as well as those in the carrier sentences. These results contrast with those obtained by Slowiaczek and Dinnsen [J. Phon. 13, 325–341 (1985)].


We present a novel approach for contextual classification of image patches in complex visual scenes, based on the use of histograms of quantized features and probabilistic aspect models. Our approach uses context in two ways: (1) by using the fact that specific learned aspects correlate with the semantic classes, which resolves some cases of visual polysemy often present in patch-based representations, and (2) by formalizing the notion that scene context is image-specific—what an individual patch represents depends on what the rest of the patches in the same image are. We demonstrate the validity of our approach on a man-made versus natural patch classification problem. Experiments on an image collection of complex scenes show that the proposed approach improves region discrimination, producing satisfactory results and outperforming two noncontextual methods. Furthermore, we also show that co-occurrence and traditional (Markov random field) spatial contextual information can be conveniently integrated for further improved patch classification.


The aim of this study was to assess preservation practices at the Records and Archives Management Department (RAMD) in Tanzania and to make recommendations aimed at ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of archives held at RAMD. The population of the study consisted of the Director of RAMD, two Assistant Directors, ten Senior Records Officers, two Records Officers, three Senior Records Management Assistants, three Principal Records Management Assistants and one Records Management Assistant. The data collection instruments included questionnaires, interviews, observation and content analysis. Qualitative data analysis was used to gain a better understanding of the issues under investigation. The findings indicated that legislation relating to the preservation of archives in Tanzania is not comprehensive enough and that RAMD lacks a preservation policy; preserves only paper-based materials; experiences a shortage of storage equipment; holds records under poor environmental conditions; lacks proper archival handling; carries out inadequate housekeeping practices; lacks adequate security and disaster preparedness measures; has inadequate conservation and restoration facilities; is underfunded; and lacks trained and experienced conservators. The study recommends amendments to the Records and Archives Management Act No. 3 of 2002; the formulation of a conservation policy; improvements in housekeeping practices and handling practices; and effective monitoring of temperature and relative humidity.


Background and Objectives : Adolescents are the main audiences of video games. Attractive technologies of these games make virtual faces seem real characters to their audiences. There is a high tendency to show violent and deadly scenes. The present study was done with the purpose of determining the predictors of the amount of aggression in the adolescent users of violent video games in Qom city. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 100 adolescent users of violent video game referring to game-nets of Qom city were selected by random sampling method and filled out the questionnaires of demographic information, aggression scale, and attitude toward violence scale )ATVS). The data were analyzed using correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and regression analysis tests. The significance level was considered p<0.05. Results : The mean age of adolescents was 14.2±1.6 years. The results showed that three variables of attitudes toward violence, number of hours of playing per week, and the average grade of the last educational level have been able to predict 34% of variance of aggression among the adolescent users of violent video games (r 2 =0.43, f=6.6, p<0.0001). Conclusion : According to the results of this study, Media educational programs should more focus on changing positive attitudes toward violence and reducing the number of playing hours per week. Also, applying encouraging strategies in order to academic achievement can reduce hours of play with this media.


Around the country, state and local bar associations, access to justice commissions, and local advocacy groups are working to expand the right to counsel in their jurisdictions. The passage of three statutes in the past three years is tangible evidence of their efforts. Many civil right to counsel advocates take as their mandate a resolution passed unanimously by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates two years ago, calling on the government to provide counsel in cases in which "basic human needs are at stake." This Article describes efforts underway in eleven states to expand the right to counsel, as well as national efforts, and concludes that these efforts promise to result in increased access to the courts for low-income people.


To assess the efficacy of Covid-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on infectious disease containment in Europe, we first use weekly 2015-20 data on the spread of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to compare the 2019-20 season of these diseases with the previous five. Although the magnitude of results differs between countries, we document much stronger end-of-season declines in infections in the most recent outbreak than in the earlier ones, implying that they may be driven by NPIs implemented in 2020 to combat Covid-19. To test this conjecture, we use detailed country-specific weekly information on Covid-19 NPIs to estimate several panel models that relate NPI implementation to disease incidence across countries. Not only do certain measures significantly reduce the spread of Covid-19, they also curtail the spread of influenza and RSV. Nonetheless, although we identify workplace closures as a particularly effective measure, we find no evidence for the efficacy of other NPIs such as travel restrictions.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate sensitivity of microbial culture of pooled fecal samples for detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) in large dairy herds and assess the use of the method for estimation of MAP prevalence.

ANIMALS
1,740 lactating cows from 29 dairy herds in California.

PROCEDURE
Serum from each cow was tested by use of a commercial ELISA kit. Individual fecal samples were cultured and used to create pooled fecal samples (10 randomly selected fecal samples/pool; 6 pooled samples/herd). Sensitivity of MAP detection was compared between Herrold's egg yolk (HEY) agar and a new liquid culture method. Bayesian methods were used to estimate true prevalence of MAP-infected cows and herd sensitivity.

RESULTS
Estimated sensitivity for pooled fecal samples among all herds was 0.69 (25 culture-positive pools/36 pools that were MAP positive). Sensitivity increased as the number of culture-positive samples in a pool increased. The HEY agar method detected more infected cows than the liquid culture method but had lower sensitivity for pooled fecal samples. Prevalence of MAP-infected cows was estimated to be 4% (95% probability interval, 2% to 6%) on the basis of culture of pooled fecal samples. Herd-level sensitivity estimate ranged from 90% to 100% and was dependent on prevalence in the population and the sensitivity for culture of pooled fecal samples.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Use of pooled fecal samples from 10 cows was a cost-effective tool for herd screening and may provide a good estimate of the percentage of MAP-infected cows in dairy herds with a low prevalence of MAP.


Of the diseases affecting the cecal appendix, mucinous neoplasms, although rare, are the most common epithelial tumor. They are often asymptomatic and diagnosed by anatomopathological exams of sections, collected during appendectomies due to acute appendicitis. These tumors have the potential to become malignant, and their early surgical handling are the most important prognostic factor. So, clinical, image, operatory and histologic spectral aspects should always take into account. The present study reports a case of mucinous neoplasm of the appendix that manifested with intestinal partial obstruction and suggests the need for a comprehensive and uniform classification, which could address the best disease first approach. The information was obtained through a patient records review, photographic documentation of the diagnostic tests and histologic study of operative specimen. In addition, the manuscript opens a discussion about the approach of choice of this complex neoplasia, since great variability persists in clinical and pathological records, due to variations in classifications and definitions. This variability in disease nomenclature may significantly impact the treatment and prognosis.


I have investigated systems for on-line, cumulative learning of compositional hierarchies embedded within predictive probabilistic models. The hierarchies are learned unsupervised from unsegmented data streams. Such learning is critical for long-lived intelligent agents in complex worlds. Learned patterns enable prediction of unseen data and serve as building blocks for higher-level knowledge representation. These systems are examples of a rare combination—unsupervised, on-line structure learning (specifically structure growth). The system described here embeds a compositional hierarchy within an undirected graphical model based directly on Boltzmann machines, extended to handle categorical variables. A novel on-line chunking rule creates new nodes corresponding to frequently occurring patterns that are combinations of existing known patterns. This work can be viewed as a direct (and long overdue) attempt to explain how the hierarchical composi-tional structure of classic models such as McClelland and Rumelhart's Interactive Activation model of context effects in letter perception can be learned automatically.


A renewed focus on studies of masculinity in Africa has so far failed to account for the growing importance of nonproselytizing Faith-Based Organisations ( FBO s) in the gendering process. This article seeks to address this issue through a case study of the Gambian branch of the Young Men's Christian Association ( YMCA ). YMCA leaders generate a culture of dynamic leadership that equates to a form of 'hegemonic masculinity' based on love, self-sacrifice, and obligation. This article shows how this process is implicated in a series of tensions between the young men and their peers, families, elders, and leaders. While many young men want to 'have swagger', they are called 'stubborn' and urged to 'get serious'. Through an ethnographic portrait, the author uses these tensions to explore how YMCA ideals of manhood may be superimposing forms of Euro-American, Christian masculinity onto Muslim Gambian men, replicating colonial modes of control, inequality, and oppression.


The Ginzburg–Landau equation (GLE) is in general not integrable by the inverse scattering method and supports solitary-wave solution, typically called Pereira–Stenflo (PS)-type dissipative soliton (DS). We numerically demonstrate that, in an active dissipative system, the DS can radiate dispersive waves (DWs) when third-order dispersion (TOD) is present. We propose a silicon-based active waveguide that excites PS solitons. In the presence of TOD the stable DSs are perturbed and energy can be transferred to linear DWs when a resonance condition is achieved. The dynamics of the DS is governed by the complex GLE, which we solve numerically for different operational parameters. Numerical solution of the perturbed GLE exhibits multiple radiations, when the DS is allowed to propagate through a large distance. We theoretically derive a special phase-matching relation that can predict the frequencies of these multiple radiations, which are found numerically. The energy of the radiated wave is also calculated semi-analytically by adopting the plane wave superposition technique. In our theoretical and numerical calculations we include the role of free carriers, which appear inside semiconductor waveguides as a consequence of two-photon absorption (TPA). We demonstrate that apart from TOD, TPA and gain dispersion are two additional parameters that can control the energy and frequency of the radiation emitted by DSs. The DS-mediated radiation inside an active dissipative system is characteristically different from ordinary Kerr-soliton-mediated radiation and demands an insightful understanding. In this work we try to provide detailed insights of this fascinating phenomenon by adopting elaborate analytical and numerical calculations.


This study analyzes the research activities of India in biomedicine during 2012–2016, based on the total publica-tion output, its growth rate, quality of papers published and rank of India in the global context. Patterns of international collaborative research output and the major partner institu-tions of India are also discussed. This study also evaluates the research performance of different types of Indian biomedical and research foundations and the characteristics of published literature in Indian and foreign journals. It also analyzes the medical research output by disease and organs. Materials and Methods: The publication data on biomedicine has been re-trieved by using Web of Science (WoS) database. Results: total number of 2712 publications as indexed in web of science da-tabase during 2012-2016. The results show that there insignifi-cant growth in Biomedicine literature published from India. It may be researcher, institutions or India's collaboration with other countries, in all aspects considerable growth can be ob-served Conclusion: High quality research in India is grossly inadequate and requires strategic planning, investment and resource support. There is also a need to improve the existing biomedical education system, which should foster research culture.


Probiotics are live microbial feed additions that improve human or animal health. Their activities are towards improving the composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota in a manner that reduces the risk of disorder. In some cases, probiotics are also used therapeutically. Most probiotics use lactobacilli or bifidobacteria as the main constituents. These produce lactic acid as well as other anti-pathogenic attributes. Traditionally, probiotics are incorporated in dairy products (yoghurts or fermented drinks) or in lyophilised form. Because of stability and viability factors, heated products are not usually a target for probiotic use. This is because they are temperature sensitive. However, a spore-forming genus would have the ability to overcome this limitation. Here, we discuss evidence for the spore-forming Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus coagulans as a probiotic.


During the Quaternary, extreme floods along the Durack River, in the Kimberley, northern Australia, dislodged, transported, and stacked massive meter-sized boulders from the underlying bedrock channel floor. Field evidence identified a population of the boulders to have been overturned after detachment. We measured in situ cosmogenic 10 Be and 26 Al concentrations in six imbricated boulders to constrain the timing of flood events. We present a simple numerical model that simultaneously solves the expressions for the predicted nuclide concentrations from the exposed and hidden surfaces of a flipped boulder to calculate the time since it was overturned. The ability of the model to unequivocally discern whether a boulder was overturned depends on boulder thickness and the site-specific steady-state erosion rate. Of the six boulders sampled, our model successfully determined four finite flip ages, whereas the other two boulders indicated steady state and were either not flipped or flipped sufficiently long ago for the nuclide profile to have returned to steady state. While the two older model ages (ca. 150 ka and ca. 260 ka) are strongly sensitive to assumptions made for the local erosion rate correction, the two younger flip ages, 5.6 ± 1.0 ka and 10.3 ± 1.9 ka, are robust against such corrections. Early to mid-Holocene major floods have been recorded in other parts of northern Australia. We suggest that similar Holocene floods occurred in the Kimberley and that such extreme events may have been widespread in northern Australia in the late Quaternary. Our boulder-flip model can be applicable to similar deposits associated with other extreme events such as paleo-tsunamis.


With the commercial availability of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO), there is significant scope for athletes, especially those competing in endurance sports, to illicitly enhance their performance by increasing their aerobic capacity through enhanced erythrocyte production and hence oxygen transport. While such abuse has been confirmed in a number of human sports, there is also the possibility that rHuEPO can be abused in animal based sports such as thoroughbred horseracing. The direct detection of rHuEPO abuse, using either urine or blood samples, is challenging as the recombinant glycoprotein is similar to that produced endogenously and typically can only be measured above background levels within 4 days of administration. However, it is known that an immune response occurs when horses are doped with rHuEPO. The production of a specific antibody in response to doping with rHuEPO provides a target analyte that is not only different to endogenous species but one which resides in the body for considerably longer than the glycoprotein itself, significantly extending the measurement window. Here we have developed a glycoprotein microarray which exploits the antibody–antigen interaction to provide a means of detecting rHuEPO abuse in animals through the measurement of erythropoietin (EPO) antibodies (anti-HuEPO antibodies). Three commercially available isoforms of rHuEPO (Eprex®, Aranesp® and NeoRecormon®) were arrayed onto the planar surface of a nitrocellulose-coated microarray slide to act as the capture molecule in the assay. The assay was achieved by incubation of the microarray with solutions containing the anti-HuEPO antibody, followed by incubation with a fluorescently tagged secondary antibody. This 'sandwich' based assay enabled the fluorescent based detection of anti-HuEPO antibodies using an array-scanner. The EPO glycoprotein microarray was shown to be specific for anti-HuEPO antibodies. To detect anti-HuEPO antibodies in spiked serum samples an optimal dilution of the serum with buffer of 1 : 4 was established. Using Eprex®-10,000 IU as the capture molecule, the lowest concentration of anti-HuEPO antibody which was detected using the microarray was 148 pM, suggesting that the developed microarray platform could be used as a screen of EPO abuse.


COPD is characterised by neutrophilic inflammation in the majority of patients [1–3]. Neutrophils represent a key second line of defence against infection and are rapidly recruited to the airway if pathogens are able to evade first line defences, which include mucociliary clearance and resident immune cells such as macrophages [3]. Neutrophils typically clear infection through ingestion of invading microbes (phagocytosis) and through the internal generation of reactive oxygen species, serine proteases such as neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and proteinase-3, and antimicrobial proteins [4]. These processes aim to clear infection without damage to host tissues, but in COPD there is a failure of these normal antimicrobial processes. Mucociliary clearance is impaired, macrophage phagocytosis is less effective, and pro-inflammatory cytokines signal recruitment and survival of neutrophils which fail to effectively kill bacteria, leading to chronic neutrophilic inflammation and chronic infection [3–6]. Recent data suggests that a distinct form of neutrophil behaviour in which neutrophils release a DNA scaffold decorated with granule proteins (such as proteases) and termed neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation is associated with worse symptoms, frequent exacerbations and lung infections in a subset of patients [7–9]. The precise drivers and implications of NETosis in COPD are, however, unclear. Haemophilus infection in COPD induces neutrophil extracellular traps which amplify inflammation through multiple mechanisms, including NET mediated IL-6 trans-signalling https://bit.ly/3yFI2b7


The geometry and electronic structure of copper-based p-type delafossite transparent conducting oxides, CuMO2 (M = In, Ga, Sc), are studied using the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) corrected for on-site Coulomb interactions (GGA + U). The bonding and valence band compositions of these materials are investigated, and the origins of changes in the valence band features between group 3 and group 13 cations are discussed. Analysis of the effective masses at the valence and conduction band edge explains the experimentally reported conductivity trends.


Line narrowing has been traditionally achieved in solid-state H-1 NMR spectroscopy by applying pulse sequences that combine multiple-pulse operations with magic-angle spinning (MAS), to effectively average out the dipoledipole homonuclear Hamiltonian. The present study explores a new alternative that departs from the usual concept of directly acting on the strongly coupled spins with radiofrequency pulses; instead, we seek to achieve a net homonuclear dipolar decoupling in solids by exploring the reintroduction of MAS-averaged heteronuclear dipolar couplings between the H-1 nuclei and directly bonded C-13 or N-15 nuclei. This recouplinganti-recoupling (RaR) scheme thus relies on the recoupling of the dipolar interaction with heteronuclear spins, which, under fast MAS, will exceed the strength and will not commute with the homonuclear (HH)-H-1-H-1 coupling one is intending to average out. Subsequent removal (antiRecoupling) of these heteronuclear interactions can lead to narrowed H-1 resonances, without ever pulsing on the aforementioned channel. The line-narrowing properties of RaR are illustrated with numerical simulations and with experiments on model organic solids.


Abstract Trauma is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world, accounting for millions of deaths per year. One of the most frequent causes of death in trauma patients is hemorrhage. The presence of a coagulopathy in trauma patients more than doubles the expected mortality. Coagulation management is a key aspect of care for bleeding trauma patients and has been investigated in many studies. However, it is unclear whether a particular approach to coagulation management is associated with a reduction in mortality. Treatment may be guided (e.g., viscoelastic test-guided administration of coagulation factor concentrates) or nonguided (e.g., treatment with a fixed ratio of plasma:red blood cells). This review aimed to assess the published literature regarding coagulation management technique and mortality rate. From the 41 articles obtained in the literature search, there appeared to be a trend toward lower mortality in studies utilizing a guided approach, despite a higher injury severity score in these patients. There were many methodological variations across studies including coagulation management approaches, inclusion criteria, time and type of measurements, use of early fast coagulation monitoring and damage control surgery principles, additional products to those under study, and potential regional differences. It is essential that controlled trials are performed to ascertain optimal transfusion approaches in trauma patients.


Under many conditions below the Nyquist limit, a drifting grating briefly displayed on a CRT is consistently perceived as moving in the opposite direction. Taking into account the sample-and-hold operation of CRT's, we have derived the temporal-frequency spectra of the displayed gratings and found that they have a broad range of components moving in either direction. We have measured the perceived direction of motion of over 150 different short-duration stimuli, and we have studied the relation that performance bears to narrow-band power imbalance—the normalized difference between power in the positive- and negative-frequency half-lines within a specific band. Perceived direction of motion is highly related to power imbalance in 1-Hz-wide bands centered between 10 and 15 Hz, but none of these bands alone can account for more than 84–91% of the variance of the data, and each band ostensibly fails to explain data from a subset of the stimuli. When broadband power imbalance is determined by weighting the spectrum with an inverted-U-shaped function peaking at ∼12 Hz, the explained variance increases to 91–97%. Our results suggest that the imputation of direction of motion to stimuli with complex spectra is based on broadband power imbalance determined after weighting the temporal-frequency spectrum with an inverted-U-shaped function.


The last phase of the Byzantine Empire, the Palaiologan era (1261-1453), is generally described in literature as a period of 'decline' primarily because of its major financial problems. Still, Palaiologan art offers some of the most stunning monumental examples. How did 'decline' facilitate the arts? The paper addresses this question by comparing well-known Palaiologan monumental art with little-known wall paintings from regional Crete. By the time the Palaiologans became rulers, the island was under Venetian domination; nevertheless the religious character of monumental Cretan art remained predominantly Byzantine. How do the donors who sponsored these edifices compare with their famous counterparts? Is size, quality and expense the ultimate measure of success or it is time that we re-evaluate decline from the lower and middle classes' perspective that the turbulent Palaiologan times placed at history's front line?


The parameters of yield response functions can vary by year. Past studies usually assume yield functions are nonstochastic or "limited" stochastic. In this study, we estimate rye–ryegrass yield functions in which all parameters are random. The three functional forms considered are the linear response plateau, the quadratic, and the Spillman-Mitscherlich. Nonstochastic yield models are rejected in favor of stochastic parameter models. Quadratic functional forms fit the data poorly. Optimal nitrogen application recommendations are calculated for the linear response plateau and Spillman-Mitscherlich. The stochastic models lead to smaller recommended levels of nitrogen, but the economic benefits of using fully stochastic crop yield functions are small because expected profit functions are relatively flat for the stochastic yield functions. Stochastic crop yield functions provide a way of incorporating production, uncertainty into input decisions.


Discounted utilitarianism and the Ramsey equation prevail in the debate on the discount rate on consumption. The utility discount rate is assumed to be constant and to reflect either the uncertainty about the existence of future generations or a pure preference for the present. The authors question the unique status of discounted utilitarianism and discuss the implications of alternative criteria addressing the key issues of equity in risky situations and variable population. To do so, they introduce a class of intertemporal social objectives, named Expected Prioritarian Equally Distributed Equivalent (EPEDE) criteria. The class is more flexible than discounted utilitarianism in terms of population ethics and it disentangles risk aversion and inequality aversion. The authors show that these social objectives imply interesting modifications of the Ramsey formula, and shed new light on Weitzman's "dismal theorem". JEL D63


A morbillivirus has been isolated and added to an increasing list of emerging viral diseases. This virus caused an outbreak of fatal respiratory disease in horses and humans. Genetic analyses show it to be only distantly related to the classic morbilliviruses rinderpest, measles, and canine distemper. When seen by electron microscopy, viruses had 10- and 18-nanometer surface projections that gave them a "double-fringed" appearance. The virus induced syncytia that developed in the endothelium of blood vessels, particularly the lungs.


This paper investigates the work experiences, perceptions of security and risk of platform economy drivers in Bengaluru, India from a sociological perspective. The article presents these experiences and perceptions through rich ethnographic detail from in-depth, qualitative interviews with forty-five platform economy drivers driving on Uber or Ola cabs platforms. Drivers' narratives are used to bring out compelling shifts in informal economy employment experiences in Indian cities. These shifts are used to examine the diversity of lived experiences present in the Indian urban informal economy and to distinguish Indian platform economy drivers from their global counterparts. The conceptual tool of temporality is employed in reading through drivers' perceptions of risk, security and their management of these. The central finding of this article is that platform economy companies have given drivers a stable, mid-term period of time to accumulate wealth, which in turn has allowed them to stabilize and take short-term decisions by making large investments in their work, and to bear the risks of flexible working conditions in the short-term with more confidence.


The biotransformation of taxol by human liver was investigated in vitro with microsomes isolated from adult and developing human tissues. In vitro, no metabolism was detected with kidney microsomes, whereas two metabolites were generated by liver microsomes. The most prominent metabolite, termed M5, corresponded to an hydroxylation at the C6 position on the taxane ring, while the other metabolite, termed M4, corresponded to an hydroxylation at the para-posifion on the phenyi ring at the C3'-position of the C13 side chain. These two taxol derivatives have been shown to be the major metabolites recovered in bile from a patient infused with taxol. Several approaches have been used to identify the cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes involved in these reactions. No positive correlation was observed between the in vitro synthesis of these two metabolites, suggesting that two cytochrome P450 isozymes could be involved, although they could not be distinguished by their apparent affinities (Kin 15 pM). The formation of metabolite M4 was substantially reduced both by antibody directed against CYP3A and by the addition of CYP3A substrates such as orphenadrine, erythromycin, troleandomycin, and testosterone. Conversely, the formation of metabolite M5 remained unaffected by antibodies against CYP3A and by CYP3A substrates but was sensitive to diazepam inhibition, a preferential substrate of CYP2C. Correlation between CYP2C content or diazepam demethylation and the synthesis of metabolite M5 was highly positive. The formation of metabolite M4 developed during the early postnatal period. In contrast, the synthesis of metabolite M5 rose only after 3 months of age. These data clearly implicate CYP3A in the formation of metabolite M4 and CYP2C in the synthesis of metabolite M5. Microsomes from patients treated with barbiturates and benzodiazepines increased the formation of metabolite M4 to the level of metabolite M5, demonstrating that drug interactions could modify the human metabolism of taxol.


OBJECTIVE To estimate the levels of use of preventive care and to identify correlates of such care among people with diabetes in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted using a sample of 2,118 adults, age ≥18 years, with self-reported diabetes in 22 states that participated in the 1994 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Most subjects were age ≥45 years (83%), women (51%), and white (75%) and were diagnosed at ages ≥30 years (83%), had type 2 diabetes (89%), and were not using insulin (66%). RESULTS Among all people with diabetes, 78% practiced self-monitoring of blood glucose, and 25% were aware of the term "glycosylated hemoglobin" or "hemoglobin A one C" (HbA1c). In the last year, 72% of the subjects visited a health care provider for diabetes care at least once, 61% had their feet inspected at least once, and 61% received a dilated eye examination. Controlled for age and sex, the odds ratios (ORs) for insulin use were for self-monitoring (OR [95% CI]; 4.0 [2.6–6.1]); having heard of HbA1c or receipt of a dilated eye examination (1.9 [1.4–2.5]); at least one visit to a provider (3.4 [1.9–7.2]); and feet inspected at least once (2.1 [1.5–2.9]). In addition, people <45 years, those who did not complete high school, and those without insurance coverage were high-risk groups for underuse of preventive care. Only 3% of insulin users and 1% of nonusers met all five of the American Diabetes Association standards in the previous year. CONCLUSIONS Underuse of recommended preventive care practices is common among people with diabetes.


Social Networking Sites (SNS) are one of the most popular business models on the Internet at the moment. At the same time, Social Networking is increasingly interesting as a topic of research in Information Systems. Drawing on existing research in the field, in this paper we propose to distinguish ISN (Internet Social Networking) as a phenomenon from its concrete manifestations in the various SNSs in the marketplace. On the basis of this distinction we take to the classification of SNSs grounded in real-life marketplace variety. In doing so, we identify seven different classes of SNSs. We argue that a typology of SNSs is useful for shaping our understanding of the diverse nature of ISN as existing in concrete manifestations. Most importantly, our classification makes accessible existing research for conceptually sound meta-analysis research. In order to fully grasp the phenomenon of ISN we also propose to include in the definition web sites that feature only certain aspects of ISN, while networking is not their core feature. Using our classification we discuss future research directions.


The study is focused on what parameters determine the area of scour hole around bridge piers. An analytical study based on momentum principle has been used to reveal the variables involved and dimensional analysis is followed to show the parameters. Experimental work is conducted in a 20 m length, 0.6 m width and 0.8 m depth recirculating rectangular flume. Three kinds of sand with median particle diameter 0.97 mm, 0.43 mm, 0.19 mm were used to combine with various flow conditions and angles of attack from an aligned piers. Four cylindrical piers and five bluntnosed piers with five different length to width ratios were arranged for the test. The study shows that the area of scour hole around the bridge pier is a function of pier Fround number, pier dimension and bed material. An empirical formula based on experimental data is obtained to express the area of scour hole around the bridge pier.


Summary
The response of aerosolized viruses to relative humidity depended greatly on the composition of the fluid from which the viruses were sprayed. For example, the removal of salts from the spray fluid diminished the loss of infectivity of Langat virus (a group B arbovirus) at intermediate relative humidities. Salts were less toxic towards aerosolized Semliki Forest virus (a group A arbovirus) but did cause some loss of infectivity at higher relative humidities after prolonged storage of the aerosol. Polyhydroxy-compounds reversed the virucidal effects of salts on arboviruses. The removal of protein from the spray suspensions of arboviruses caused rapid loss of infectivity in the aerosol at very high relative humidities but had no detrimental effect at lower relative humidities. Poliovirus and T coliphage, which possess no structural lipid, retained high levels of infectivity following aerosolization at relative humidites of 70% or above; at lower relative humidities they were inactivated rapidly. This rapid inactivation was increased further at lower solute concentrations of the spray fluid.
The infectivities of aerosolized polioviruses and coliphages depended on the mode of rehydration during collection of the aerosols, but the infectivities of arboviruses in aerosols were unaffected by this. Atmospheric oxygen was not toxic to viruses in the aerosol state.


Background: The temporal relationship between arterial stiffness and blood pressure (BP) may vary depending on age and other clinical and demographic factors. Since both BP and arterial stiffness are also affected by inflammatory processes, we examined the temporal arterial stiffness-BP relationship in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with either methotrexate (MTX), an anti-rheumatic agent shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in meta-analyses, or other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Methods: Measurements of clinic and 24-h peripheral and central systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP), and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were assessed in RA patients on stable treatment with either MTX ± other DMARDs (MTX group, n = 41, age 61 ± 14 years, 73% females) or other DMARDs (non-MTX group, n = 18, age 65 ± 13 years, 89% females). Measurements were performed at baseline and after 8 months. The temporal relationships were examined using cross-lagged path analysis with models that included age, sex, body mass index, prednisolone, and folic acid use and 28-joint disease activity score. Results: There were significant differences in the temporal arterial stiffness-BP relationships between those in the MTX and DMARD groups. A higher PWV at baseline caused a significant increase in 6 out of 8 different measures of SBP at 8 months amongst those treated with DMARDs (standardized β, range = 0.54–0.66, p < 0.003 for each) and 3 out of 8 different measures of DBP (standardized β, range = 0.52–0.61, p < 0.003 for each) but was not associated with either SBP or DBP at 8 months amongst those treated with MTX. The difference in the effect of baseline PWV on 8-month BP between the 2 groups was also significant (p < 0.003) for 4 measures including clinic peripheral SBP (β = 7.0, 95% CI = 2.8–11.1 mmHg per 1 m/s higher baseline PWV; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Higher arterial stiffness preceded increases in BP in subjects with RA treated with DMARDs, but these effects did not occur amongst those treated with MTX. The different effects were seen mostly in measures of SBP but were also present in some measures of DBP. Our findings suggest MTX may confer a protective effect against stiffness mediated increases in BP in patients with RA.


A semiclassical theory of single and multimode lasing is derived for open complex or random media using a self-consistent linear response formulation. Unlike standard approaches which use closed cavity solutions to describe the lasing modes, we introduce an appropriate discrete basis of functions which describe also the intensity and angular emission pattern outside the cavity. This constant flux CF basis is dictated by the Green function which arises when formulating the steady state Maxwell-Bloch equations as a self-consistent linear response problem. This basis is similar to the quasibound state basis which is familiar in resonator theory and it obeys biorthogonality relations with a set of dual functions. Within a single-pole approximation for the Green function the lasing modes are proportional to these CF states and their intensities and lasing frequencies are determined by a set of nonlinear equations. When a near threshold approximation is made to these equations a generalized version of the Haken-Sauermann equations for multimode lasing is obtained, appropriate for open cavities. Illustrative results from these equations are given for single and few mode lasing states, for the case of dielectric cavity lasers. The standard near threshold approximation is found to be unreliable. Applications to wave-chaotic cavities and random lasers are discussed.