The greatest sports stars characterise their times. They also help to tell us who we are. John McEnroe, at his best and worst, encapsulated the story of the eighties. His improvised quest for tennis perfection, and his inability to find a way to grow up, dramatised the volatile self-absorption of a generation. His matches were open therapy sessions, and they allowed us all to be armchair shrinks. Tim Adams sets out to explore what it might have meant to be John McEnroe during those times, and in his subsequent lives, and to define exactly what it is we want from our sporting heroes: how we require them to play out our own dramas; how the best of them provide an intensity that we can measure our own lives by. Talking to McEnroe, his friends and rivals, and drawing on a range of reference, he presents a book that is both a fan's-eye portrait of the most vivid player ever to pick up a racket, and an original study of the idea of sporting obsession.


Landscape connectivity is an important component of systematic conservation planning. Step‐selection functions (SSFs) is a highly promising method for connectivity modeling. However, differences in movement behavior across individuals and seasons are usually not considered in current SSF‐based analyses, potentially leading to imprecise connectivity models. Here, our objective was to use SSFs to build functional connectivity models for African elephants Loxodonta africana in a seasonal environment to illustrate the temporal variability of functional landscape connectivity. We provide a methodological framework for integrating detected inter‐individual variability into resistance surface modeling, for assessing how landscape connectivity changes across seasons, and for evaluating how seasonal connectivity differences affect predictions of movement corridors. Using radio‐tracking data from elephants in the Borderland area between Kenya and Tanzania, we applied SSFs to create seasonal landscape resistance surfaces. Based on seasonal models, we predicted movement corridors connecting major protected areas (PAs) using circuit theory and least‐cost path analysis. Our findings demonstrate that individual variability and seasonality lead to substantial changes in landscape connectivity and predicted movement corridors. Specifically, we show that the models disregarding seasonal resource fluctuations underestimate connectivity for the wet and transitional seasons, and overestimate connectivity for the dry season. Based on our seasonal models, we predicted a connectivity network between large PAs and highlight seasonal and consistent patterns that are most important for effective management planning. Our findings reveal that elephant movements in the borderland between Kenya and Tanzania are essential for maintaining connectivity in the dry season, and that existing corridors do not protect these movements in full extent.


Wellbore instability while drilling mechanically weak, unstable or vugular formations has been a problem for decades. The cost of wellbore instability is a major challenge in achieving safe and economical drilling operations. As drilling operations moved into challenging formations in Kuwait, the operator sought to drill the Burgan shale and Shuaiba limestone formations in one section as opposed to the traditional two sections required to isolate each formation separately. This paper focuses on a class of technology additives used to mitigate the challenges of drilling weak and unstable formations.
 One approach for drilling micro-fractured shale and weak sands with vugular limestone is to mitigate the invasion of drilling fluids into the formation. Other approaches include: stabilizing the reactive shale by preventing hydration and swelling, improving the filtercake texture and strength, and sealing natural micro-fractures. Drilling fluid invasion can change the pore pressure, which may trigger wellbore instability problems. Thus, using ultra-low invasion drilling fluids, sealing micro-fractures and maximizing shale inhibition are key components for mitigating wellbore instability. Field data for the wells using the ultra-low invasion additives and shale stabilizers is presented and compared with previous wells drilled across Burgan and Shuaiba formations in Kuwait.
 The field data demonstrates the successful application of these additives to meet challenging key performance indicators (KPI) when drilling the Burgan shale and the vugular Shuaiba limestone in the same hole section. Using the ultra-low invasion additives along with shale inhibitors and borehole stabilizers, resulted in successful drilling operations with no differential sticking, torque-and-drag issues, sloughing, or tight hole problems as compared with usual incidences of differential sticking, pack-offs, and tight hole in other wells within the area. Using those additives also eliminated the need for a higher density fluid to control micro-fractured and tectonically stressed shales. The addition of the additive combination did not affect the rheological profile of the drilling fluid. Meeting these goals through the use of chemical additives in the drilling fluid reduced both non-productive time and formation damage in a cost-effective manner.
 Data from this paper specifically addresses a chemical solution for drilling the Burgan shale formation together with vugular Shuaiba limestone in a major Middle East producing field. However, the technique of mitigating wellbore instability by using this combination of chemical additives is fundamental to safe and economical drilling operations for any depleted, weak or micro-fractured formations globally.


Abstract. Interactions between aerosols and liquid water clouds were studied during autumns 2010–2011 at a semiurban measurement station on Puijo tower in Kuopio, Finland. Cloud interstitial and total aerosol size distributions, particle chemical composition and hygroscopicity and cloud droplet size distribution were measured, with a focus on comparing clean air masses with those affected by local sources. On average, the polluted air contained more particles than the clean air masses, and generally the concentrations decreased during cloud events. Cloud processing was found to take place, especially in the clean air masses, and to a lesser extent in the polluted air. Some, mostly minor, differences in the average particle chemical composition between the air masses were observed. The average size and number concentration of activating particles were quite similar for both air masses, producing average droplet populations with only minor distinctions. As a case study, a long cloud event was analyzed in detail, with a special focus on the emissions from local sources, including a paper mill and a heating plant. This revealed larger variations in particle and cloud properties than the analysis of the whole data set. Clear differences in the total (between 214 and 2200 cm−3) and accumulation mode particle concentrations (between 62 and 169 cm−3) were observed. Particle chemical composition, especially the concentrations of organics (between 0.42 and 1.28 μg m−3) and sulfate (between 0.16 and 4.43 μg m−3), varied considerably. This affected the hygroscopic growth factor: for example, for 100 nm particles the range was from 1.21 to 1.45 at 90% relative humidity. Particularly, large particles, high hygroscopicities and elevated amounts of inorganics were linked with the pollutant plumes. Moreover, the particle hygroscopicity distributions in the polluted air were clearly bimodal, indicating externally mixed aerosol. The variable conditions also had an impact on cloud droplet formation, with the droplet concentration varying between 138 and 240 cm−3 and mean diameter between 9.2 and 12.4 μm.


The Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model version 4 (PSU/NCAR MM4) system shows that the simplified bucket method pioneered by Manabe (1969) to parameterize surface evapotranspiration (ET) has an apparent tendency to overestimate surface ET during nighttime and daytime due to (1) the inappropriate as signment of a parameter called moisture availability (M) in the method, and (2) the use of the saturation mixing ratio at the skin temperature as the surface mixing ratio when the long-term observational data from the At mospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program are used for verifica tion. It is also noted that the degree of overestimating latent heat fluxes decreases with the forecasting time. This is the so-called 'spinup problem' that is common in many numerical models owing to the inadequate assign ment of the initial skin temperature and the associated saturation surface mixing ratio. A Penman-Monteith (PM) method of estimating potential ET is imple mented into the modeling system and is shown to lead to a more reasonable estimation (less overestimation) of ET. The degree of overestimating or underestimating latent heat flux by the PM method is mainly controlled by the se.tting of stomatal resistance given a fixed M. Less surface evaporative cooling, as implied by the PM method, leads to a warmer skin temperature and, consequently, a stronger estimation of daytime sensible heat flux by the model. Compared with the bucket method, the PM method leads to a lower moisture supply from the model's ground surface; thus, there is less probability of low-level cloud formation. A more reasonable estimation of net radiation at the ground surface is then proven to be associated with the use of the PM method. This method restricts the moisture supply from the ground surface and enables the model to make a prediction of the amount and tendency of the mixing ratio at the lowest model level (about 40 meters 1 Meteorological Satellite Center, Central Weather Bureau, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 2 School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA 481 482 TAO, Vol. 8, No. 4, December 1997 above ground level), which is in more agreement with the corresponding observations. (


Self-esteem is a critical factor in online impression management strategies and could play a crucial role in explaining women's selfie-posting behaviours. Previous works examining relationships between self-esteem and self-presentation on social media have yielded controversial results.

 This study was performed to clarify the relationship between self-esteem and the frequency of taking and posting own, group and partner selfies on Social Networking Sites (SNS).

 A sample of 692 Italian young women (18-28 years old) completed questionnaires on self-esteem, satisfaction with life, body satisfaction and selfie posting bahaviours. The low self-esteem group was compared with the high self-esteem group.

 Results showed that women with low self-esteem are more dissatisfied with their body image and life and significantly they post fewer types of selfies compared to women with high self-esteem.

 Findings from this study provide new insights into the relation between self-esteem and selfie impression management strategies.


In this paper we describe our current efforts towards building a framework that extends the functionality of an Open Access Repository by implementing processes to incorporate the ongoing trends in social media into the context of a digital collection. We refer to these processes collectively as the Social Media Engine. The purpose of our framework is twofold: first, we propose to challenge some of the preconceived notions of digital libraries by making repositories more dynamic; and second, by challenging this notion we want to promote public engagement and open scholarship. As a work in progress, we believe that a real challenge lies in investigating the implications that these two points introduce within the context of the humanities.


Background and objective: The quality of spinal anaesthesia, often used for Caesarean section, can be improved by adding an opioid to the local anaesthetic. This study compared the quality of anaesthesia, postoperative analgesia, and adverse effects on mother and neonate when either sufentanil 5 μg or morphine 0.2 mg was added to intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine for Caesarean section. Methods: This prospective, randomized and double‐blind study encompassed 54 females undergoing Caesarean section. Spinal anaesthesia was obtained with 2 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine supplemented with either 0.2 mg morphine or 5 μg sufentanil. Characteristics of spinal block, intraoperative analgesia, maternal and neonatal side‐effects and the time to first request for analgesics were assessed. Results: There were no differences in the onset time of sensory block, time to sensory block to T10, time to highest sensory block, highest sensory block level, time to regression of sensory block to T10 level and time to resolution of motor blockade. Perioperative haemodynamic parameters, neonatal Apgar scores, neurological and adaptive capacity scores, umbilical blood gas values, sedation scores, nausea–vomiting and pruritus incidences were similar in both groups. The time to the first request for an analgesic was significantly longer (19.5 ± 4.7 h vs. 6.3 ± 5.2 h) in patients given morphine (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The addition of 5 μg sufentanil or 0.2 mg morphine to hyperbaric bupivacaine for Caesarean section both provided safe and effective anaesthesia. Morphine increased the duration of postoperative analgesia compared with sufentanil without increasing maternal or neonatal side‐effects.


TO START THE ACADEMIC YEAR, THE PRESIDENT OF OUR UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED SEVERAL COMMITTEES TO - ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. We are a public institution that receives minimal state support. i was asked to be on the emerging technologies Commiteee.it has been fascinating to examine emerging technologies within the larger context of higher education. the committee was provided with several articles, blogs, and videos to reflect upon before meeting. Despite my long experience with online teaching, i must admit i was surprised when the president started the conversation with Mo°Cs, defined by educause as "a model for delivering learning content online to virtually any person - and as many of them - who wants to take the course" (www.educause.edu/library/resources/ 7-things-you-should-know-about-moocs).Mo°Cs can involve thousands of students. the structure tends to be asynchronous and flexible to accommodate the varying levels of participation. anyone can participate for free in any or all of the course's learning activities (e.g., discussions, blogs, video lectures, other social media tools). While there may not be feedback from the instructor, chances are there will lots of discussion from all open participants.the "so what" of Mo°Cs, according to educause, is a dynamic learning model that offers collaborative and social engagement opportunities for learners to construct knowledge. Mo°Cs are a great mechanism for lifelong learning. the downsides include variability across and within courses and the lack of completion rates. Mo°Cs are not for all students, especially those who like structure, but "Digital Storytelling" and "introduction to artificial intelligence," offered by two Stanford University professors, exceeded 100,000 learners.educause noted that George Siemens and Steven Downes offered the first Mo°C, "Connectivism and Connective knowledge." it turns out that Siemens and Downes were doing a Mo°C titled "Current/Future State of Higher education," which started on october 8, and i decided to participate. (the course is housed on the learning management system Desire2Learn; for more information, visit http://edfuture.net/.) i logged on and found an introduction to the course, the content being covered over the six weeks of the course, a list of readings, and access to the discussion group.Module 1 is focused on higher education around the world with weekly topics, including Change Pressures: What is influencing Higher education; net Pedagogies: new Models of teaching and Learning; entrepreneurship and Commercial activity; and big Data and analytics. For the first weekly topic, i chose to examine a few of the readings (see Sidebar) and looked at the learning activities, which included discussions about the readings, sharing resources on www.diigo.com, engaging in a twitter conversation, and creating and sharing a concept map of the change drivers. an update arrives every day. needless to say, i was quickly overwhelmed.But the nice thing about Mo°Cs is, you can pick and choose as a lurker or as an active participant. Here is how the instructors describe the distributive nature of Mo°C conversations: "there is no single space where you'll track the discussion. Conversations will happen on twitter, Facebook, Desire2Learn, etc. the course is an activity stream rather than a particular destination. You may find this structure disorienting at first. From our experience, once acclimated to the distributed format, owning your own spaces of learning is valuable and (dare i say it) empowering."I am definitely a lurker in the course, one who scans the discussions and checks the resource websites. From reading the blogs, i have found it fascinating how different people have approached the course. one blog that caught my interest, titled "Lifelong Learner: Claudia's Personal Learning Portfolio and Journal," provided a mindmap for the six weeks of the course and listed the changing pressures influencing higher education ( h t t p : / / c l a u d i a s c h o l z . …


A research project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies (Honours) to the University of Namibia. faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Information and Communication Studies


People often wonder why economists analyse models whose assumptions are known to be false, while economists feel that they learn a lot from such exercises. We suggest that part of the knowledge generated by academic economists is case-based rather than rule-based. That is, instead of offering general rules or theories that should be contrasted with data, economists often analyse models that are "theoretical cases", which help understand economic problems by drawing analogies between the model and the problem. Thus, economic models, empirical data, experimental results and other sources of knowledge are all on equal footing, that is, they all provide cases to which a given problem can be compared. We offer complexity arguments that explain why case-based reasoning may sometimes be the method of choice and why economists prefer simple cases.


Objectives: In human heart left atrioventricular orifice is guarded by mitral valve, which lies at the junction
of the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart controlling and directing unidirectional blood flow during
ventricular diastole. Irrepairable damage to the mitral valve calls for its replacement using either a valve made
up of biological tissue or metal, pyrolytic carbon, vulcanised silicon rubber and similar materials. Prostheses
of these synthetic valve needs detailed knowledge of mitral orifice and valve dimensions. In the present study
an attempt was made to study the dimensions of mitral orifice and mitral valve in formalin fixed adult human
heart specimens. Methods: Mitral orifice was cut opened in these specimens and photographed with a scale.
This image was used for Scion image analysis for measurement of (i) Length of free margin and area of each
leaflet, (ii). Inner circumference of the mitral valve and (iii) Surface area of the mitral valve leaflets. Results: It
was found that circumference of annulus of mitral valve was 8-10 cm, length of free margin of anterior leaflet
was 5-7 cm, length of free margin of posterior leaflet was 7-9 cm, area of anterior leaflet was 1-3 cm2, and
area of posterior leaflet was 2-4 cm2. Conclusion: These data may be useful in designing the prosthetic valves.


Previous studies demonstrated that L-Fabp KO mice are more susceptible to lithogenic diet (LD)-induced gallstones because of altered hepatic cholesterol metabolism and increased canalicular cholesterol secretion. Other studies demonstrated that liver-specific deletion of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (Mttp-LKO) reduced LD-induced gallstone formation by increasing biliary phospholipid secretion. Here we show that mice with combined deletion (i.e., DKO mice) are protected from LD-induced gallstone formation. Following 2 weeks of LD feeding, 73% of WT and 100% of L-Fabp KO mice developed gallstones versus 18% of Mttp-LKO and 23% of DKO mice. This phenotype was recapitulated in both WT and L-Fabp KO mice treated with an Mttp antisense oligonucleotide (M-ASO). Biliary cholesterol secretion was increased in LD-fed L-Fabp KO mice and decreased in DKO mice. However, phospholipid secretion was unchanged in LD-fed Mttp-LKO and DKO mice as well as in M-ASO-treated mice. Expression of the canalicular export pump ABCG5/G8 was reduced in LD-fed DKO mice and in M-ASO-treated L-Fabp KO mice. We conclude that liver-specific Mttp deletion not only eliminates apical lipoprotein secretion from hepatocytes but also attenuates canalicular cholesterol secretion, which in turn decreases LD-induced gallstone susceptibility.


The circumstance, that the text of Imre Lakatos' doctoral thesis from the University of Debrecen did not survive, makes the evaluation of his career in Hungary and the research of aspects of continuity of his lifework difficult. My paper tries to reconstruct these newer aspects of continuity, introducing the influence of László Kalmár the mathematician and his fellow student, and Sándor Karácsony the philosopher and his mentor on Lakatos' work. The connection between the understanding of the empirical basis of exact ideas—which is a common feature in the papers of the members of the Karácsony-circle—and Lakatos' way of thinking regarding mathematics is more direct and can be documented through his connection to Kalmár. The central element of Lakatos' philosophy of mathematics is criticism of formalism and his tendency is to use the empirical view. Discussions at the 1965 International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science in London were very helpful in clarifying the quasi-empirical conception. Kalmár's lecture in London, based on one of his papers published by Karácsony in 1942, emphasized the empirical character of mathematics. After this colloquium some elements of the heritage of the Karácsony-circle were integrated again in the development of Lakatos' way of thinking. First I will analyze the Kalmár lecture of 1965 at the Colloquium of Philosophy of Science and Lakatos's reflections on the problem [End Page 263] of the foundation of mathematics. Then I will present their common Hungarian background, their education and the beginning of their career, which have many important common features; third I draw attention to the network of contacts of Karácsony-disciples.


Positive psychology has reclaimed character and virtue as legitimate topics of investigation for social science. Over the past several years a classification of character strengths has been put forward (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) which includes 24 widely recognized character strengths organized under six ubiquous virtues, namely wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. The construction of the Values in Action inventory of strengths (VIA-IS, Peterson & Seligman, 2004) allows testing an old insight from philosophy, namely that character is the inner determinant of the good life. Park, Peterson and Seligman (2004) provided first evidence that the "good character" is predictive of life satisfaction in American samples. In an attempt to replicate these findings outside the USA the VIA-IS and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS, Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) were administered via the Internet to 4419 research participants from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Results show that overall similar strengths were predictive of life satisfaction in the three countries. Life satisfaction seemed to be higher in Switzerland than in Austria and Germany, but in all three countries degree of life satisfaction increased with degree of development of the good character (i.e., the total score of all strengths). There seems to be an indication for a slight quadratic trend as well saying that the relationship is steeper for individuals lower in overall virtuousness and flatter for those above the mean. While the current results do not imply causality, the study provides evidence that life satisfaction builds upon a well-cultivated character.


This paper presents a re-formulated version of a canonical sticky-price model that has been extended to account for variations over time in the central bank's inflation target. We derive a closed-form solution for the model, and analyze its properties under various parameter values. The model is used to explore topics relating to the effects of disinflationary monetary policies and inflation persistence. In particular, we employ the model to illustrate and assess the critique that standard sticky-price models generate counterfactual predictions for the effects of monetary policy.


Consider a symmetric quantum state on an n-fold product space, that is, the state is invariant under permutations of the n subsystems. We show that, conditioned on the outcomes of an informationally complete measurement applied to a number of subsystems, the state in the remaining subsystems is close to having product form. This immediately generalizes the so-called de Finetti representation to the case of finite symmetric quantum states.


The value-added tax (VAT) is a broad-based tax on business designed to measure net dollar value generated in a country. The usual VAT is a general sales tax on all goods and services. It is levied at each stage of production and accumulates so that it is equivalent to a tax on all final household consumption. The VAT is designed to raise large amounts of revenue (typically 5 to 10% of gross domestic product) without creating economic distortions. It has become the most popular sales tax in the world.


During development, neurons extend axons that migrate in response to chemoattractant and chemorepulsive cues. Netrin-1 is one chemoattractant secreted by the floor plate and periventricular zone of the neural tube that attracts commissural axons of the spinal cord to the midline. However, netrin-1-deficient mice show limited proper migration of commissural axons, which suggests that another chemoattractant may be secreted by the floor plate. Charron et al. show that sonic hedgehog (Shh), a known morphogen (a secreted signal that forms gradients controlling cellular differentiation), is also a chemoattractant secreted by the floor plate for commissural axons. Embryos of mice lacking a floor plate (by loss of a gene essential for its formation) show a more severe loss of proper commissural axon projection than that seen in embryos lacking just netrin-1 alone. Netrin-1 and Shh stimulated axon turning in isolated explants of embryonic rat spinal cord. However, only netrin-1 stimulated axon outgrowth. Shh-stimulated axon turning was inhibited by application of cyclopamine, an inhibitor of the Shh receptor smoothened (Smo). Analysis of markers for neuronal differentiation indicated that Shh was not causing re-patterning of the embryonic spinal cord at embryonic day 11, the time in which Shh was tested for chemoattractant activity. Finally, conditional knockout of the Smo (in a wild-type netrin-1 background) in commissural neurons showed that loss of Shh signaling resulted in highly defasciculated projection patterns and incomplete projection to the midline. Thus, Shh appears to be both a morphogen and a chemoattractant. F. Charron, E. Stein, J. Jeong, A. P. McMahon, M. Tessier-Lavigne, The morphogen Sonic hedgehog is an axonal chemoattractant that collaborates with Netrin-1 in midline axon guidance. Cell 113, 11-23 (2003). [Online Journal]


This article was written as stating and commenting on the American law of remedies in the tort law of privacy. It will appear in a book edited by Jason Varuhas and Nicole Moreham to be published in 2018 by Hart Publishing (UK). After examining the theoretical basis of American remedies law with its differences from, and similarities to, the theoretical foundations in other common law and civil law jurisdictions, the paper probes the remedies as shaped by the substantive interests of protection of property and the autonomy enhancing purposes of privacy protection. Each of the traditional categories of the tortious protection of privacy as fashioned by William Prosser touch free speech interests. To the extent that privacy protections trench on those free speech interests, as realized in the US Supreme Court's aggressive first amendment jurisprudence, the remedies are thus quite idiosyncratic compared with remedies elsewhere. For example injunctive relief is crimped and damages are constricted. The remedial law must be understood against the first amendment to which every other interest bends its knees.


Recent spherical harmonic representations of the gravity field of Mars have sufficient resolution to examine the regional crustal and lithospheric structure of the Valles Marineris and are used as constraints for rift modeling. While gravity signatures of individual troughs are not evident, a broad 190–260 mgal low indicates that the central chasmata as a whole are compensated at a depth of 30–80 km, representing the thickness of crust surrounding the troughs. Furthermore, at the time large-scale relief was established, the effective thickness of the elastic lithosphere was 20 m W m−2. The calculated range of crustal thickness and heat flow can be used to test two semianalytic models of rift formation. In the first model, the distinction between single ("narrow rift") and multiple ("wide rift") troughs is determined by the wavelength of necking instabilities. In the second model, narrow-versus-wide morphology is controlled by the evolution of lithospheric strength during rifting. The large-scale, parallel, multiple troughs of the central Valles Marineris are morphologically similar to terrestrial wide rifts, but a lack of distinct faulting in some of the chasmata could imply that the faulted troughs may have formed as isolated narrow rifts. Our results are only marginally consistent with necking leading to a wide rift; allowable combinations of crustal thickness and heat flow lead to decoupling within the lithosphere resulting in a second principal necking wavelength that is smaller than the main trough spacing, for which evidence is equivocal. At high heat flow (>40 m W m−2), however, necking of the strong upper crust alone can yield a shorter wavelength characteristic of a single trough, allowing narrow-rift origins of faulted chasmata. In contrast, the inferred range of crustal thickness and heat flow poorly match the narrow-rift regime of the strength-evolution model but are in good agreement with its predictions for wide rifting. Furthermore, the distinction between wide rift and core complex in this model places an upper bound on heat flow of 70 m W m−2.


From Walter Benjamin and Dziga Vertov to Instagram and machine vision: new strategies of seeing and representation in modern and software societies constantly emerge and reshape our field of phenomenological, affective, and discursive vision. Social media's use of images and representations of the body, within the highly securitized and militarized networks and landscapes that we traverse, focuses attention on the body as a site of contested political control and capitalist consumerism. This study of a virtual body politic provides a close reading of two data visualizations from Twitter conversations on Egypt in 2011 and Gaza in 2014 in order to analyze the mobilization of information patterns over time. These visualizations of Internet data are not about claims about material bodies or the intentions of communicators, but traces of an embodied moment of intentional use of digital media. Every data point has an embodied analogue at some moment. And tweets have a very particular (historically specific, geo-specific) moment of origin that is exceedingly tangled with materials bodies. My aim here is to determine what the emerging patterns tell us about a virtual body politic.


Background There is conflicting evidence on the immunologic benefit of treating helminth co-infections ("deworming") in HIV-infected individuals. Several studies have documented reduced viral load and increased CD4 count in antiretroviral therapy (ART) naïve individuals after deworming. However, there are a lack of data on the effect of deworming therapy on CD4 count recovery among HIV-infected persons taking ART. Methodology/Principal Findings To estimate the association between empiric deworming therapy and CD4 count after ART initiation, we performed a retrospective observational study among HIV-infected adults on ART at a publicly operated HIV clinic in southwestern Uganda. Subjects were assigned as having received deworming if prescribed an anti-helminthic agent between 7 and 90 days before a CD4 test. To estimate the association between deworming and CD4 count, we fit multivariable regression models and analyzed predictors of CD4 count, using a time-by-interaction term with receipt or non-receipt of deworming. From 1998 to 2009, 5,379 subjects on ART attended 21,933 clinic visits at which a CD4 count was measured. Subjects received deworming prior to 668 (3%) visits. Overall, deworming was not associated with a significant difference in CD4 count in either the first year on ART (β = 42.8; 95% CI, −2.1 to 87.7) or after the first year of ART (β = −9.9; 95% CI, −24.1 to 4.4). However, in a sub-analysis by gender, during the first year of ART deworming was associated with a significantly greater rise in CD4 count (β = 63.0; 95% CI, 6.0 to 120.1) in females. Conclusions/Significance Empiric deworming of HIV-infected individuals on ART conferred no significant generalized benefit on subsequent CD4 count recovery. A significant association was observed exclusively in females and during the initial year on ART. Our findings are consistent with recent studies that failed to demonstrate an immunologic advantage to empirically deworming ART-naïve individuals, but suggest that certain sub-populations may benefit.


We present a novel representation of solid models for shape design. Like Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), the solid shape is constructed from a set of halfspaces without the need for an explicit boundary structure. Instead of using Boolean expressions as in CSG, the shape is defined by sparsely placed samples on the boundary of each halfspace. This representation, called Boundary-Sampled Halfspaces (BSH), affords greater agility and expressiveness than CSG while simplifying the reverse engineering process. We discuss theoretical properties of the representation and present practical algorithms for boundary extraction and conversion from other representations. Our algorithms are demonstrated on both 2D and 3D examples.


William Burroughs' work was dedicated to an assault upon language, traditional values and all agents of control. Produced at a time when he was at his most extreme and messianic, "The Job" lays out his abrasive, incisive, paranoiac, maddened and maddening worldview in interviews interspersed with stories and other writing. On the Beat movement, the importance of the cut-up technique, the press, Scientology, capital punishment, drugs, good and evil, the destruction of nations, Deadly Orgone Radiation and whether violence just in words is violence enough - Burroughs' insights show why he was one of the most influential writers and one of the sharpest, most startling and strangest minds of his generation.


ABSTRACT The ability of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) to establish latent infections in cells has received renewed attention owing to the failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy to eradicate HIV-1 in vivo. Despite much study, the molecular bases of HIV-1 latency and reactivation are incompletely understood. Research on HIV-1 latency would benefit from a model system that is amenable to rapid and efficient analysis and through which compounds capable of regulating HIV-1 reactivation may be conveniently screened. We describe a novel reporter system that has several advantages over existing in vitro systems, which require elaborate, expensive, and time-consuming techniques to measure virus production. Two HIV-1 molecular clones (NL4-3 and 89.6) were engineered to express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the viral long terminal repeat without removing any viral sequences. By using these replication-competent viruses, latently infected T-cell (Jurkat) and monocyte/macrophage (THP-1) lines in which EGFP fluorescence and virus expression are tightly coupled were generated. Following reactivation with agents such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, virus expression and EGFP fluorescence peaked after 4 days and over the next 3 weeks each declined in a synchronized manner, recapitulating the establishment of latency. Using fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, or plate-based fluorometry, this system allows immediate, direct, and quantitative real-time analysis of these processes within single cells or in bulk populations of cells. Exploiting the single-cell analysis abilities of this system, we demonstrate that cellular activation and virus reactivation following stimulation with proinflammatory cytokines can be uncoupled.


Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) is a common disease of cattle and buffaloes,
particularly in Asia. In Malaysia, PasteureIIa muItocida 6:B is most commonly
isolated from outbreaks of haemorrhagic septicaemia. Thus, many antigenic
components of P. multocida have been studied such as the lipopolysaccharides
(LPS), outer membrane proteins (OW) and the capsule. However, the fimbriae,
which is involved in the attachment to the cell surface of the host and usually
correlated with virulence of the organism has not been studied. Thus, studies on
fimbrial gene and protein may be essential in the production of vaccine against
haemorrhagic septicaemia.
In this study, fimbriae gene of P. muItocida type 6:B was amplified, cloned and
subjected for sequencing and expression in Pseudomonus ueruginosa and
Eshericheriu coli. All isolates produced a single product approximately at 450 bp.
Analysis of the fimbrial subunit gene sequence of type 6:B strain was compared with
those of type A:l and A:3 strains of P. rnultocida. The sequence of strains A:3 and
6:B showed complete homology while the sequence of strains A:l and 6:B showed 81.8% amino acid similarity. Although the P. multocida and other species shared that
mean showed the conserved same mature fimbriae, both showed different signal
peptides, even though they were within the same groupltype.
Pasteurella multocida fimbrial subunit gene was cloned in the expression vectors,
pUCpKS/SK and pCRT7-TOP0 in order to construct a recombinant plasmid. In
SDS-PAGE gel, it was seen that the recombinant P. aeruginosa cells failed to
produce fimbriae using a specific surface fimbriae method. On Western blot analysis
using anti-P. aeruginosa fimbrial antiserum, reaction was observed in both the wild
type P. aeruginosa and the whole cells of recombinant P. aeruginosa cells. However,
only the wild type P. aeruginosa showed cross-reaction when probed with anti-P.
multocida fimbrial antiserum. This indicated that the wild type P. aeruginosa shared
the same epitope with P. multicoda and that the fimbriae proteins of P. multocida
was not expressed in P. aeruginosa.
In E. coli cells, the recombinant protein was expressed as a soluble protein but at a
relatively low level despite optimization. In the Western blot analysis using anti-P.
multocida fimbrial polyclonal antibody, the recombinant protein was identified as the
protein band that have a molecular weight of approximately 18 kDa. However, it was
uncertain whether the endogeneous fimbriae was not expressed or the protein was
expressed but was not exported out of the cell. Thus, hrther analysis to identify the
other candidate genes and to try with other suitable hosts are required


Employee retention is of paramount importance today. Organizations face a tough time in developing their human resources as they treat employees only as means of production and that is why employee retention strategies are essential to practice because employees are more than just a mean of production. When an employee does not get the proper treatment, evaluation and satisfaction from job, they decide to leave which make huge losses when the employees have been working for a long time. This study outlines the suggestions provided by employees. The purpose is identifying the retention strategies they want to see implemented. One hundred faculty members were chosen as the respondent group from five private universities in Dhaka city at Dhanmondi area. They were asked to provide one employee retention strategy that they want to see implemented by their respective organizations. The suggested strategies have been described. Aligning skills with jobs, a mind reader boss, valuing experience were some highly mentioned suggestions respondents opted


The extractability of heavy metals with exchangeable bases is of particular importance for two reasons: (i) Ca, Mg, K, and Na form the predominant electropositive elements in the soil solution (on molar basis) and can interact with adsorbed fractions of heavy metals; and (ii) single extractions aimed at ascertaining soil mobile or bioavailable fractions of heavy metals in the soils are for a major part based on these interactions. This article assesses metal extractability by Ca(NO3)2, Mg(NO3)2, KNO3, and NaNO3, and competitiveness for adsorption to the soil matrix between the exchangeable bases and the metals Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb. To this end, experiments were performed in which a moderately contaminated soil was extracted with varying doses of extractant: 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 M of NaNO3, 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 M of KNO3, 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 M of Ca(NO3)2, and 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 M of Mg(NO3)2. In addition, differences in metal extractability between 0.01 M of Ca(NO3)2 and 0.01 M of CaCl2 and between 1 M of MgCl2 and 1 M of Mg(NO3)2 were evaluated in six soils with varying soil composition and pollution level to assess the effect of the counter ion (Cl− vs. NO3−). Finally, in a third experiment, heavy metal desorption in the presence of increasing concentrations of Ca(NO3)2 (0-0.1 M) was evaluated in four polluted soils. Total soil content of a given metal does not suffice to assess its environmental impact and bioavailability. Therefore, the study of metal exchangeability with Ca2+ is proposed to grant additional and complementary insight for soil metal analysis. Extraction with sufficiently high ionic strength, such as 0.1 M of Ca(NO3)2, can be used to give an estimate of the total exchangeable pool, whereas weaker extractions at around the ionic strength of the soil solution (∼0.01 M of CaCl2) allow for the estimation of the quantitative "responsiveness" of metal release as a function of increasing Ca2+ in the extractant solution at around relevant soil solution conditions.


A general approach for anomaly detection or novelty detection consists in estimating high density regions or Minimum Volume (MV) sets. The One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM) is a state-of-the-art algorithm for estimating such regions from high dimensional data. Yet it suffers from practical limitations. When applied to a limited number of samples it can lead to poor performance even when picking the best hyperparameters. Moreover the solution of OCSVM is very sensitive to the selection of hyperparameters which makes it hard to optimize in an unsupervised setting. We present a new approach to estimate MV sets using the OCSVM with a different choice of the parameter controlling the proportion of outliers. The solution function of the OCSVM is learnt on a training set and the desired probability mass is obtained by adjusting the offset on a test set to prevent overfitting. Models learnt on different train/test splits are then aggregated to reduce the variance induced by such random splits. Our approach makes it possible to tune the hyperparameters automatically and obtain nested set estimates. Experimental results show that our approach outperforms the standard OCSVM formulation while suffering less from the curse of dimensionality than kernel density estimates. Results on actual data sets are also presented.


Background: Family is one of the early systems of human societies. Inappropriate performance of family in taking care of children, especially nutritional care, leads to irreparable damages to their development and growth.  Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the nutrition care of children under the age of six in Abadan. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on 406 families with children under the age of six in Abadan city. The families were selected using the cluster sampling method. The data collection tools were a researcher-made questionnaire and direct interview.   Furthermore, descriptive and analytical tests such as single sample t-test were used using the SPSS. Results: The results of this study showed that 60 percent of children under one year of age and 32.7 percent of 1-3 year old children were breastfed. Conclusion: The family care function was not satisfactory in regarding the nutrition status of 1-3 year old children. This suggests the necessity of education on breastfeeding by the end of the 2-year period.


Post Conflict Futures is an ongoing project, where displaced Syrian academics meet in Visioning Labs and a global scenario group to jointly reflect on possible future developments and to look for actionable leverage points to work proactively for sustainable transitions. The collective visioning aims to identify aspects that may be critical in strategies for sustainable post conflict reconstruction, notably in the socio-technical implications of different infrastructure options. A crisis such as that in Syria creates shocks to infrastructure and people. These shocks generate emergencies and responses. But the collapse of existing structures can also open opportunities for a paradigm shift. In several cases, infrastructure shocks have opened opportunities that enable higher order learning with the potential to catalyse a transition towards sustainable and resilient structures (Broto et al., 2014). This has implications to the design of processes and practices to rebuild communities. Importantly, and considering the complexity of the challenges, holistic reflection is supported by the compression that results from fitting highly complex issues into an ongoing conversation in a small group of people, with diverse backgrounds. The format makes it possible to draw on tacit and cultural knowledge, as well as the differing professional experiences of participants.


The sensitivity of Arctic ozone loss to polar stratospheric cloud volume (VPSC) and chlorine and bromine loading is explored using chemistry and transport models (CTMs). One simulation uses multi‐decadal winds and temperatures from a general circulation model (GCM). Winter polar ozone loss depends on both equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC) and polar vortex characteristics (temperatures, descent, isolation, polar stratospheric cloud amount). The simulation reproduces a linear relationship between ozone loss and VPSC in agreement with that derived from observations for 1992–2003. The relationship holds for EESC within ∼85% of its maximum (∼1990–2020). For lower EESC the ozone loss varies linearly with EESC unless VPSC ∼ 0. A second simulation recycles a single year's winds and temperatures from the GCM so that polar ozone loss depends only on changes in EESC. This simulation shows that ozone loss varies linearly with EESC for the entire EESC range for constant, high VPSC.


The purpose was to describe the patient characteristics, the prescribing trends and habits among the public health care optometrists who perform low vision rehabilitation in Norway. Datawere collected using a questionnaire to gather background details of the optometrist, and a practice registration form to register patient characteristics and information about the low vision device(s) prescribed. Both forms were distributed to 44 public health care optometrists. A total of 30 questionnaires and 20 practice registration forms were returned. This included data for 147 patients with visual impairment. Moderate to severe visual impairment according to TheWorld Health Organization (WHO)'s definition (visual acuity ≤ 6/18) was present in 82 (59%) of the patients. Three out of four (75%) patients did not have sufficient vision for reading. Distance visual acuity was improved with best optical correction in 39 (28%) of the patients compared to the presenting visual acuity. The most frequently prescribed optical devices for near and distance vision were hand magnifiers and filters/tinted lenses respectively. Optometrists play an important role in vision rehabilitation of older people attending the low vision services. A number of the patients seen in low vision services are referred from non-eye care professionals and achieve improved vision with appropriate optical correction. Others are only mildly visually impaired with adequate optical correction alone. This indicates a potential to use general optometric practice as the first step for vision rehabilitation, as a number of people are only mildly visually impaired with adequate optical correction.


Research was conducted to investigate how energy balance of bark mulch and turf surfaces influence gas exchange and growth of recently transplanted trees. On several occasions over a 3-year period, stomatal conductance and leaf temperature were measured throughout the day on 'Emerald Queen' Norway maple (Acer platanoides L.) and 'Greenspire' littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata Mill.) trees growing over each surface. Tree water loss was estimated using a general transport flux equation applied to the tree crown apportioned between sunlit and shade layers. Microclimate variables were measured over each surface with a permanent weather station. Tree growth data were collected at the end of each growing season. Soil heat flux data revealed that a greater portion of incoming radiation was prevented from entering the soil below mulch than below turf. Due to this insulating effect, and consequent lack of evaporative cooling, mulch surface temperature was greater, and emitted more longwave radiation, than turf. Leaves over mulch intercepted more longwave radiation, had greater leaf temperature, and greater leaf-to-air vapor pressure difference than leaves over turf. As a result, leaves over mulch had greater stomatal closure than leaves over turf. Estimated tree water loss varied between surface treatments and with climatic conditions. Trees over turf had greater shoot elongation and leaf area than trees over mulch. These data suggest that gas exchange and growth of recently transplanted trees in an arid climate may be reduced if planted over nonvegetative, urban surfaces.


The New Zealand Labour Party (NZLP) and the Australian labour Party (ALP) share many similarities in terms of their ideology, support base and electoral performance. Labour and ideas travelled regularly between New Zealand and Australia. Australian influence was evident in the early NZLP leadership, and New Zealand influenced ALP policy regarding arbitration and age pensions. Subsequently, the NZLP and ALP have enjoyed similar national electoral records and followed broadly similar policies. However, there were always important divergences, particularly in terms of the timing of consolidation and formation of government, the impact of different state structures, the degree of support from farmers, and racial policy. This article surveys the parameters of the shared experience through examining the two parties' political and social environments, their support bases and their ideology and policy.


This thesis analyzes the interrelation between market structure and price formation in credit derivatives markets. Traditionally, credit derivatives are traded in relatively opaque over-the-counter markets in which trading is segmented and subject to many imperfections from which illiquidity may arise. Recent regulatory reforms have brought transparency to some credit derivatives markets without affecting their segmented structures. The first chapter, which is joint work with Anders B. Trolle, analyzes whether liquidity risk is priced in the cross section of returns on credit default swaps (CDSs). The analysis is based on a factor pricing model and a tradable liquidity factor that is constructed from returns on index arbitrage strategies. The underlying presumption is that violations of simple no-arbitrage relations between different CDS contracts reflect constraints on the risk-bearing capacity of CDS market intermediaries and, in broad terms, CDS market illiquidity. The analysis reveals priced liquidity risk in that credit protection sellers earn higher expected excess returns on CDS contracts with higher liquidity exposures. The liquidity risk premium is significant and accounts for 24% of CDS spreads, on average. CDS risk premia correlate negatively with proxies for the risk-bearing capacity of CDS market intermediaries, which is consistent with intermediary frictions affecting the pricing of CDSs. The second chapter, which is joint work with Pierre Collin-Dufresne and Anders B. Trolle, analyzes transaction costs in the dealer-to-customer (D2C) and dealer-to-dealer (D2D) segments of the post-Dodd-Frank index CDS market. Dodd-Frank regulations that made all-to-all trading possible had the potential to break up the market's segmented structure but failed to do so. This led to a controversy with some market participants arguing that the segmented structure is optimal and other market participants arguing that dealers maintain the segmented structure in order to limit competition by alternative liquidity providers. The analysis reveals that D2C trades indeed have larger transaction costs than D2D trades but that the differences in transaction costs reflect differences in price impacts rather than differences in profits from liquidity provision. D2C trades are even competitive relative to executable bids and offers in the D2D segment, suggesting that the market structure delivers favorable prices for customers who value immediacy. The third chapter documents a decline of transaction costs and profits from liquidity provision in the index CDS market over a two-and-a-half-year period during which Dodd-Frank regulations were implemented. Transaction costs and profits from liquidity provision declined around the introduction of so-called swap execution facilities (SEFs); i.e., regulated trading platforms that offer pre-trade transparent methods of trade execution. Trades that are executed on SEFs have lower transaction costs and are less profitable from a liquidity provider's perspective in comparison to bilaterally negotiated trades, which is consistent with better comparison shopping and stronger price competition on SEFs. Dodd-Frank regulations mandating on-SEF trade execution that were implemented after the introduction of SEFs did not affect transaction costs and profits from liquidity provision, suggesting that there is no incremental effect associated with mandatory pre-trade transparency.


— This article examines the role of working memory, attention shifting, and inhibitory control executive cognitive functions in the development of mathematics knowledge and ability in children. It suggests that an examination of the executive cognitive demand of mathematical thinking can complement procedural and conceptual knowledge-based approaches to understanding the ways in which children become proficient in mathematics. Task analysis indicates that executive cognitive functions likely operate in concert with procedural and conceptual knowledge and in some instances might act as a unique influence on mathematics problem-solving ability. It is concluded that consideration of the executive cognitive demand of mathematics can contribute to research on best practices in mathematics education.


The Lapwing Vanellus vanellus has experienced population declines and contractions in range in the UK over the past three decades. Nest monitoring data from the period 1962-99 were analysed to see if the decline could be explained by changes in aspects of reproductive performance described by clutch size, clutch failure rate and lay date. Mean clutch size increased significantly between 1962 and 1999. There was no significant trend in lay date. Clutch failure rates were lowest in the mid-1970s, but have increased since. These measures of reproductive performance were analysed in relation to four regions: arable, pastoral, marginal upland and upland. Marginal upland had the lowest overall reproductive performance (low clutch sizes and high clutch failure rates) and arable the highest. There were no significant differences in reproductive performance between different nesting habitats (e.g. crop types, unimproved and rough grazing) at a local scale, but grazed grass had higher failure rates and lower clutch sizes than ungrazed grass. Failure rates peaked in the early 1980s in marginal upland regions. Nest destruction as a cause of nest failure was highest during this period. The most common cause of recent nest failure was predation. These results suggest that recent changes in population size may have been influenced by changes in clutch failure rates. This may have been mediated via an increase in grazing intensity in marginal uplands and increased predation rates, possibly associated with habitat change.


This essay coins and conceptualizes the term "publicwashing." In educational systems and organizations, publicwashing is a symbolic communication that emphasizes organizational publicness for the purpose of a superficial repair of reputation. The essay defines publicwashing and describes its motives and manifestations. Additionally, it illustrates publicwashing by discussing the concept in the context of the U.S. charter school reform. Adopting the lens of symbolic communication in the charter school case illustrates how the discrepancy between the "public" label and private characteristics of charter schools is managed through public relations. Future studies of publicwashing in education can further apply the symbolic communication approach to various cases, contexts, and deceptive strategies.


Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) is utilized clinically in conjunction with anatomical MRI to assess the presence and extent of brain tumors and evaluate treatment response. Unfortunately, the clinical utility of MRSI is limited by significant variability of in vivo spectra. Spectral profiles show increased variability due to partial coverage of large voxel volumes, infiltration of normal brain tissue by tumors, innate tumor heterogeneity and measurement noise. This study investigates spectral separation as a novel quantification tool, addressing these problems directly by quantifying the abundance (i.e. volume fraction) within a voxel for each tissue type instead of the conventional estimation of metabolite concentrations from spectral resonance peaks. Present results on 20 clinical cases of brain tumors show reduced cross-subject variability. This reduced variability leads to improved discrimination between high and low-grade gliomas, confirming the physiological relevance of the extracted spectra. Further validation on phantom data demonstrates the accuracy of the estimated abundances. These results show that the proposed spectral analysis method can improve the effectiveness of MRSI as a diagnostic tool.


Goals: We aimed to investigate significant factors influencing the long-term prognosis of patients who survived acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Background: The mortality of ACLF is predominantly affected by the organ failure severity. However, long-term outcomes of patients who survive ACLF are not known. Study: A cohort of 1084 cirrhotic patients who survived for more than 3 months following acute deterioration of liver function was prospectively followed. ACLF was defined by the European Association for the Study of the Liver Chronic Liver Failure Consortium definition. Results: The mean follow-up duration was 19.4±9.9 months. In the subgroup of patients without previous acute decompensation (AD), ACLF occurrence did not affect long-term outcomes. However, in patients with previous AD, ACLF negatively affected long-term transplant-free survival even after overcoming ACLF (hazard ratio, 2.00, P=0.012). Previous AD was the significant predictive factor of long-term mortality and was independent of the Model for End-stage Liver Disease score in these ACLF-surviving patients. Organ failure severity did not affect transplant-free survival in patients who survived an ACLF episode. Conclusions: A prior history of AD is the most important factor affecting long-term outcomes following an ACLF episode regardless of Model for End-stage Liver Disease score. Prevention of a first AD episode may improve the long-term transplant-free survival of liver cirrhosis patients.


Actor-critic (AC) methods are ubiquitous in reinforcement learning. Although it is understood that AC methods are closely related to policy gradient (PG), their precise connection has not been fully characterized previously. In this paper, we explain the gap between AC and PG methods by identifying the exact adjustment to the AC objective/gradient that recovers the true policy gradient of the cumulative reward objective (PG). Furthermore, by viewing the AC method as a two-player Stackelberg game between the actor and critic, we show that the Stackelberg policy gradient can be recovered as a special case of our more general analysis. Based on these results, we develop practical algorithms, Residual Actor-Critic and Stackelberg Actor-Critic, for estimating the correction between AC and PG and use these to modify the standard AC algorithm. Experiments on popular tabular and continuous environments show the proposed corrections can improve both the sample efficiency and final performance of existing AC methods.


Objective: To study gender differences in older adults according to practice, knowledge and attitudes regarding food habits and meal patterns. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Two urban districts of Gothenburg, Sweden. Participants: A total of 297 individuals were included, 102 men and 195 women. They were 80 years or older and living in ordinary housing without being dependent upon the municipal home help services or help from another person in Activities of Daily Life, and cognitively intact, defined as having a score of 25 or higher in the Mini Mental State Examination. Measurements: Telephone interviews regarding food habits and meal patterns were conducted. Results: Almost all participants (99%) ate their main meal at home and men preferred company at meals more often (p<0.001). Women had the sole responsibility to shop for food more often (p<0.000), and generally regarded cooking as a routine or something they just had to do. Among men, few (13%) took a great interest in cooking and 36 % of the men stated that cooking was something they were not capable of performing (p<0.000). Men had company at meals every day more often (71% vs 40%). Respondents stated that loneliness took away the enjoyment of cooking and changed their habits when becoming a widow or widower. Conclusion: Women take greater responsibility for the household than men, regardless of marital status. A large proportion of the men thought cooking was something they were not able to do. The findings in this study may indicate a possible gender difference in the need for societal support.


Electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus, basal ganglia or pedunculopontine nucleus in decorticate animals results in locomotion and a cardiorespiratory response resembling that seen during exercise. This has led to the hypothesis that parallel activation of cardiorespiratory and locomotor systems from the midbrain could form part of the 'central command' mechanism of exercise. However, the degree to which subcortical structures play a role in cardiovascular activation in awake humans has not been established. We studied the effects on heart rate (HR) and mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of electrically stimulating the thalamus and basal ganglia in awake humans undergoing neurosurgery for movement disorders (n= 13 Parkinson's disease, n= 1 myoclonic dystonia, n= 1 spasmodic torticollis). HR and MAP increased during high frequency (> 90 Hz) electrical stimulation of the thalamus (HR 5 ± 3 beats min−1, P = 0.002, MAP 4 ± 3 mmHg, P = 0.05, n= 9), subthalamic nucleus (HR 5 ± 3 beats min−1, P = 0.002, MAP 5 ± 3 mmHg, P = 0.006, n= 8) or substantia nigra (HR 6 ± 3 beats min−1, P = 0.001, MAP 5 ± 2 mmHg, P = 0.005, n= 8). This was accompanied by the facilitation of movement, but without the movement itself. Stimulation of the internal globus pallidus did not increase cardiovascular variables but did facilitate movement. Low frequency (< 20 Hz) stimulation of any site did not affect cardiovascular variables or movement. Electrical stimulation of the midbrain in awake humans can cause a modest increase in cardiovascular variables that is not dependent on movement feedback from exercising muscles. The relationship between this type of response and that occurring during actual exercise is unclear, but it indicates that subcortical command could be involved in 'parallel activation' of the locomotor and cardiovascular systems and thus contribute to the neurocircuitry of 'central command'.


What Teachers Need to Know about Spelling bridges the gap between knowledge accumulated from research on spelling acquisition and the practicalities of teaching spelling more effectively in schools. Current trends are examined, alongside community views on spelling standards because this is the context in which change is beginning to occur. Spelling contains practical suggestions on methods and activities applicable to all students, supplemented by specific advice on assessment, and links to additional resources.


What do all healthcare educators have in common: what do they believe, know and do? This monograph reports on a national research project known as the Healthcare Educators' Values and Activities Study (HEVAS). The aim of the project was to establish the shared values of, and key activities undertaken by, educators of healthcare professionals.


Microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) belongs to the superfamily of alpha/beta-hydrolase fold enzymes. A catalytic triad in the active centre of the enzyme hydrolyses the substrate molecules in a two-step reaction via the intermediate formation of an enzyme-substrate ester. Here we show that the mEH catalytic triad is composed of Asp226, Glu404 and His431. Replacing either of these residues with non-functional amino acids results in a complete loss of activity of the enzyme recombinantly expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. For Glu404 and His431 mutants, their structural integrity was demonstrated by their retained ability to form the substrate ester intermediate, indicating that the lack of enzymic activity is due to an indispensable function of either residue in the hydrolytic step of the enzymic reaction. The role of Asp226 as the catalytic nucleophile driving the formation of the ester intermediate was substantiated by the isolation of a peptide fraction carrying the 14C-labelled substrate after cleavage of the ester intermediate with cyanogen bromide. Sequence analysis revealed that one of the two peptides within this sample harboured Asp226. Surprisingly, the replacement of Glu404 with Asp greatly increased the Vmax of the enzyme with styrene 7,8-oxide (23-fold) and 9, 10-epoxystearic acid (39-fold). The increase in Vmax was paralleled by an increase in Km with both substrates, in line with a selective enhancement of the second, rate-limiting step of the enzymic reaction. Owing to its enhanced catalytic properties, the Glu404-->Asp mutant might represent a versatile tool for the enantioselective bio-organic synthesis of chiral fine chemicals. The question of why all native mEHs analysed so far have a Glu in place of the acidic charge relay residue is discussed.


Background: Breast Cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related mortality in women, both in Qatar and the world. Despite the available treatments the incidence of breast cancer is increasing. This highlights the need for new approaches for cancer. One of the fields that is gaining attention nowadays is herbal medicine. Herbs are known to have bioactive compounds that affect many diseases one of which is cancer. Origanum syriacum is an herb that is frequently used in Mediterranean region. Recently, it has been established that O. syriacum possess anti-proliferative activity in non-invasive breast cancer. Although it has some medicinal values, it remains poorly investigated. Here we tested the anti-tumor activity of O. syriacum extract (OSE) on the aggressive human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. Methods: The extract was prepared by dissolving the leaves of Origanum syriacum in water and drying it using rotarvapor. MDA-MB-231 cell viability was tested by MTT assay as well as trypan blue exclusion in the presence or absence of increasing concentrations of OSE. Scratch assay as well as Boyden-chamber were used to determine effect of OSE on migratory capacity. Furthermore, the ability of MDA-MB-231 to adhere to fibronectin was investigated using adhesion assay. Phosphorylated ERK1/2 was measured using Western blotting. Results: OSE reduced proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in a concentration and time dependent manner. The optimum concentration was determined according to the significance of decrease in viability. Also, in the presence of OSE, there was a decrease in migration of cells. Furthermore, a dose-dependent inhibition of adhesion was seen in MDA when treated with OSE. Moreover, preliminary results indicate that OSE decreased ERK1/2 phosphorylation in MDA-MB-231 cells. Conclusion: O. syriacum may be considered a supplementary drug for patients with malignant breast cancer. Further studies should be conducted to elucidate the molecular mechanism of the anti-cancer property exerted by OSE.


This book examines how national law is treated in WTO law, both in the WTO treaty and dispute settlement cases. The WTO treaty contains a set of far-reaching obligations establishing a systemic and constitutional framework of interaction between WTO law and national law. WTO dispute settlement operates as an international layer of judicial review of national laws and administrative, judicial or quasi-judicial measures. Consequently, much of the WTO dispute settlement decisions and rulings relate in different ways to Members' national laws. Yet, up until the publication of this book, there was no systematic analysis of this vastly important subject. This book provides a thorough map of an increasingly complex field. In doing so, it extends the enquiry beyond well-known formulas and combines practical analysis with principled discussion of how the treatment of national law in international law can and should ensure effectiveness of international rules and promote good governance within nation-states.


THE MENNONITE QUARTERLY REVIEW regrets to announce the death of John Andrew Hostetler of Goshen, IN, leading scholar of Amish and Hutterite societies. He died on August 28, 2001 at the age of 82. Born on October 29, 1918 in an Amish family in Big Valley (Mifflin County) PA, Hostetler was the fifth of seven children of Joseph and Nancy (Hostetler) Hostetler. At the age of eleven, his parents moved to Iowa. As a youth he supervised his father's turkey operation, took courses on poultry raising, and received a poultry judging license from the American Poultry Association. He discovered however that he enjoyed reading more than raising turkeys and feeding hogs. At the age of 16, his essay "Some Effects of Alcohol and Tobacco," was published by the Mennonite youth paper, The Words of Cheer. Never baptized in the Amish church, in 1935 Hostetler joined the Mennonite Church. He attended Hesston College in 1941 but was soon drafted and served with Civilian Public Service in several locations. He graduated from Goshen College in 1949 with a degree in sociology. While at Goshen he assisted dean Harold S. Bender by writing articles on the Amish and similar groups for the four volume Mennonite Encyclopedia which Bender was editing. Thus began a productive and prolific academic career. After marrying Hazel Schrock in June 1949, the Hostetlers moved to State College, Pennsylvania where John began graduate studies in rural sociology at the Pennsylvania State University. In 1951, his wife and a daughter died in childbirth, the same year that Hostetler's Annotated Bibliography on the Amish won the University of Chicago's annual Folklore Prize. In 1953 Hostetler married Beulah Stauffer Hostetler, a book editor at Herald Press. They had three daughters together, and their marriage marked the beginning of a 48-year collaboration on many projects. Dismayed by inaccurate popular essays on the Amish, Hostetler published Amish Life (Herald Press, 1952) and The Amish (Herald Press, 1995), books still in print whose combined sales now approaches 850,000 copies. He received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in 1953 for a dissertation on The Sociology of Mennonite Evangelism which was subsequently published by Herald Press. During a five year stint at the Mennonite Publishing House, he served as book editor and also wrote a history of the press, God Uses Ink (1958). Beginning in 1959 he held faculty teaching appointments at the University of Alberta, Penn State (Ogontz Campus) and Temple University where he retired in 1985. He lectured widely at colleges and universities and held several visiting professorships including five years (1986-1990) as a Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the Young Center for the Study of Anabaptist and Pietist Groups at Elizabethtown College (PA) where his wife also held a teaching appointment. Hostetler's scholarship and publications included at least twenty articles in church periodicals, nearly that number in The Mennonite Quarterly Review and The Mennonite Historical Bulletin as well as some twenty additional articles in other scholarly journals including the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the American Journal of Medical Genetics. …


The necrotrophic fungus Ciborinia camelliae Kohn causes a disease known as camellia petal blight that has been disfiguring camellia flowers (Fig. 1) since it was first found in New Zealand in 1993. This blight has severally impacted the camellia seed oil industry, floriculture industry, and has been a great frustration to keen camellia growers over the last 25 years but no viable control methods for camellia petal blight have been discovered so far. The Camellia Memorial Trust has helped fund a research team at Massey University to study the interaction between
camellia plants and this pathogen. Hannah McCarthy, recipient of the 2017/2018 New Zealand Plant Protection Society Research Scholarship, is part of this team. Ciborinia camellia is host and tissue specific, which restricts its infection capability to flowers of the Camellia genus. This disease spreads by ascospores, which after landing on a susceptible Camellia spp. bloom, germinate to grow hyphae and cause necrosis and death of the petal tissues. The flower then falls prematurely to the ground, where the fungus survives as hardened sclerotium until the next flowering season.
Most plant pathogens utilise a range of proteins to promote infection using mechanisms that include the suppression of plant immunity, degradation of cell walls, or the manipulation of the host's immunity to their own advantage. These proteins are known as 'effectors' and identification of these complex molecules has led to a better understanding of disease and new disease-control strategies for other plants. The aim of Hannah's MSc research is to identify effectors in Ciborinia camelliae, and she has been focusing on a protein family that shares characteristics (such as high cysteine content and the size of protein sequences) with known effectors from other fungi. This protein family is called Ciborinia camelliae-like small secreted proteins (CCL-SSPs). There are 73 unique protein sequences in Ciborinia camelliae but of the ten tested for necrotic ability by recombinant expression and infiltration into camellia petals, none were found to induce cell death. However, a protein found in the closely related fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, was found to induce very rapid cell death, which was visible just two hours after infiltration. This protein from Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has high sequence similarity to CCL- SSPs. To identify the function of this protein family, Hannah is performing region swaps between the S. sclerotiorum protein and a Ciborinia camelliae CCL-SSP. By the end of
this project, the research team hopes to have: (a) identified the region of the S. sclerotiorum protein responsible for its necrotic activity; (b) compared this region with sequences of Ciborinia camelliae CCL-SSPs; and (c) deduced the likely function of this protein family, and its role in camellia petal blight.


Land-based macroplastic is considered one of the major sources of marine plastic debris. However, estimations of plastic emission from rivers into the oceans remain scarce and uncertain, mainly due to a severe lack of standardized observations. To properly assess global plastic fluxes, detailed information on spatiotemporal variation in river plastic quantities and composition are urgently needed. In this paper, we present a new methodology to characterize riverine macroplastic dynamics. The proposed methodology was applied to estimate the plastic emission from the Saigon River, Vietnam. During a two-week period, hourly cross-sectional profiles of plastic transport were made across the river width. Simultaneously, sub-hourly samples were taken to determine the weight, size and composition of riverine macroplastics (>5cm). Finally, extrapolation of the observations based on available hydrological data yielded new estimates of daily, monthly and annual macroplastic emission into the ocean. Our results suggest that plastic emissions from the Saigon River are up to 4 times higher than previously estimated. Importantly, our flexible methodology can be adapted to local hydrological circumstances and data availability, thus enabling a consistent characterization of macroplastic dynamics in rivers worldwide. Such data will provide crucial knowledge for the optimization of future mediation and recycling efforts.


MORAL IMAGINATION AND ADORNO: BEFORE AND AFTER AUSCHWITZ Catlyn Origitano, B.A., M.A Marquette University, 2016 In the aftermath of national or international tragedies, appeals for action such as, "Never Forget" or "Never Again" are ubiquitous. Theodor Adorno makes a similar call in the wake of the Holocaust, proclaiming that all education should be focused on the prevention of another genocide. While most would agree with such a statement, practically how do we respond to such a call, specifically in light of Adorno's work? Answering this question is at the heart of this project and I argue that imaginative memorials can fulfill Adorno's criteria for post-Auschwitz education. I first present a theory of moral imagination by relying on contemporary accounts of the theory and then show how it complements Adorno's work, specifically by offering an explanatory foundation to a number of his claims. I reveal that many of Adorno's observations about the world are supported by recent advancements in the understanding of imagination and I argue that the combination of contemporary accounts of moral imagination and Adorno's thought are mutually beneficial. After the two theories have been sufficiently discussed and integrated, I focus on Adorno's arguments regarding education following Auschwitz. Adorno argues that we should investigate how such a horror could occur, and the people who committed the acts of genocide. Such information will be helpful for the prevention of another Auschwitz because we can attempt to overcome the values and ideas of those who perpetrated genocide. This dissertation is unique and of philosophical importance because it fleshes out Adorno's discussion of the characteristics that led to the Holocaust and argues for a specific form of education that meets all of the criteria of Adorno's post-Auschwitz education: memorials that stimulate the visitor's imagination. In order to make this point, I highlight specific Holocaust memorials that are imaginative and argue for their efficacy. My goal for the project is to actualize Adorno's post-Auschwitz education initiative through imaginative memorials.


Influenza type A is associated with most severe complications to humans and is historically recognized to cause pandemics. If a new subtype replicates well in humans it might upsurge in a new pandemic strain, one such example is the Influenza A (A/H1N1). The A/H1N1 pandemic in 2009/2010 was not as severe in Sweden as expected. Criticism has targeted the fact that authorities having misjudged the need for vaccination, concerns have been raised regarding the effect of the campaign on people's willingness to be vaccinated in the future. This study aims to investigate if there are significant differences in attitudes towards the vaccination of A/H1N1 among different population groups in Stockholm, Sweden. The main groups explored are risk groups and non- risk groups, defined by objective definitions. A quantitative method was approached using questionnaires. The result indicates that people in a risk group and vaccinated had more favorable attitudes towards the vaccine compared to other groups. They also expressed less troubled concerns regarding vaccine safety and were more likely to immunize referring to inadequate health. It is evident that people at risk also define themselves as more vulnerable, in which vaccination is more acceptable. The expressed attitudes are in such dependent on risk-perceptions and vaccine status.


The nutritional suitability and cost effectiveness of rice polish and mustard oil cake as protein sources in the diet of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were studied. This study introduced rice polish as a plant protein source for Nile tilapia and three diets were formulated using rice polish (0, 10 and 20%) and mustard oil cake (10.0, 17.6 and 22.0%) for a feeding trail of eight weeks to observe the growth performance and feed utilization. The result was indicated that growth performance tended to decrease with increase in inclusion level of rice polish and mustard oil cake. The control diet (FM35) recorded the highest body weight gain (BWG) (363.79±59.32%) and the least (330.24±32.32%) was in diet FM25. Specific growth rate (SGR) was followed the same trend and no significant differences of SGR was observed among the diets (P>0.05). Feed intake (FI) of different diets was ranged between 30.33 g and 35.08 g per fish at the end of this experiment. Feed intake was also declined with the increase in inclusion level of rice polish, though the feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) were not significantly different (P>0.05) among the diets. The results of this study revealed that partial replacement of fish meal by rice polish and mustard oil cake would be cost effective without any significant change in growth performance.


The lacrimal gland (LG) is an exocrine gland important for secretion of the tear film. The kinase p38 has important signal transduction functions, e.g. in gene transcription, but has previously not been known to modulate exocrine secretion. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of p38 in carbachol (Cch)-induced LG secretion in LG acinar cells in vitro. Western blotting was used to determine the phosphorylation status of p38 and p42/44 and determine expression of p38 isoforms. To determine the effect of p38 inhibition on LG secretion, PD 169316, a general p38 inhibitor, and SB 239063, an inhibitor of p38α and β, were added to the cells prior to secretion measurements. The results revealed activation of p38 mediated by Cch stimulation and inhibition of Cch-induced secretion as a result of p38 inhibition. The inhibition was observed with PD 169316 isoforms, but not with SB 239063. The p38δ isoform was shown to have robust expression both by Western blotting of acinar cells and immunofluorescence of the whole gland. In conclusion, p38 activation mediates secretion in cholinergic stimulation of rabbit LG cells.


Abstract This paper reports an empirical study of the use of simulated clients to assess (facilitate the learning of) interviewing skills and communicative competence of law students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) from February 2013 to April 2014. In this period, about 400 HKU Postgraduate Certificate in Laws students participated in interviewing exercises with simulated clients, who are lay persons trained to portray clients in a realistic manner and to assess communicative competence by standardized rubrics designed in Scotland since 2006. HKU Faculty of Law is the first law school in Asia to adopt this standardized client program to assess law students' interviewing skills. The paper will present the data analysis of assessment results of the students and their evaluation of this experiential learning program. Our analysis confirms the reliability and validity of using standardized clients as assessors of interviewing skills. It also reveals the necessity of modification of the original design of standardized client program, particularly in relation to the assessment aspect of it, according to specific cultural and commercial needs in an Asian business city like Hong Kong.


While the South African legislation is an enabler for equity, inclusiveness, social justice and the advancement of women for academic leadership roles, institutional cultures and structures are often debilitating. This paper presents the development trajectory of a Black woman as an academic development leader in a South African University of Technology. It examines structural and cultural factors acting as enablers or constraints to leadership development and career advancement for Black women. It analyses dominant structural frames and undertakings of different University stakeholders (agents), which cause stagnation and resistance to morphogenesis and government's transformation agenda. Using Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI), I narrate personal experiences and insights as a participant researcher. I interrogate the experiences, observations and influence of various structural and cultural modalities within Margaret Archer's (1995) social realist framework of structure, culture and agency. I highlight the implications of these for development of a Black female academic development leader.


Caribbean economies face high and rising debt-to-GDP ratios that jeopardize prospects for medium-term debt sustainability and growth. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction in the Caribbean. It examines the problem of high debt in the region and discusses policy options for improving debt sustainability, including fiscal consolidation, robust growth, and structural reforms. The book also examines empirically the factors underlying global large debt reduction episodes to draw important policy lessons for the Caribbean. It also reviews the literature on successful fiscal consolidation experiences and provides an overview of past and current consolidation efforts in the Caribbean. The book concludes that the region needs a broad and sustained package of reforms to reduce debt ratios to more manageable levels and strengthen economic resilience.


Individual differences in sentence understanding exist in terms of speed, strategy and interpretation. In psycholinguistics experiments, these -sometimes small- differences are often treated as "noise" and considered meaningless. This dissertation focuses on such variation across individuals in the use of syntactic and semantic information in sentence understanding. Two hypotheses explaining individual differences are put forward in a model of language processing that distinguishes a syntactic processing stream and a semantic processing stream: The Dominant Stream Hypothesis (DSH) states that the relative dominance of the two processing streams differs between individuals: in some individuals the semantic processing stream is relatively stronger while in others the syntactic processing stream is relatively stronger. The Individual Variation in the Status of Animacy (IVSA) – hypothesis states that some individuals process animacy information only in the semantic stream, while other individuals process animacy in both streams. The two hypotheses are tested in several experiments making use of self-paced reading, auditory and visual violation detection, and speed-accuracy-tradeoff paradigms. Results show that the specific patterns of performance predicted by the two hypotheses are only found to a limited extent. The data support the idea underlying the DSH that the strength of processing streams differs across individuals, but not that strengths of processing streams within an individual are related. Support for the IVSA hypothesis was found, though only in a small number of participants. The specific characteristics of experimental paradigms are of major importance, and the dissertation includes an in-depth discussion of methodological considerations in various experimental paradigms.


Cores from the Eocene Alba Field of the Outer Moray Firth, UKCS contain sandstone injections and bedding-parallel fibrous 'beef' veins. Both of these features are associated with high fluid pressure and the process of hydraulic fracturing. The orientation of the hydraulic fractures (along which sand injection occurred, or calcite precipitated) was controlled by the interplay of the stress field and the intrinsic anisotropy of the sediments. Seismic sections indicate that sand injection occurred on a larger scale than is apparent from the cores. Interpreted dykes (400 m long by 30 m wide) emanate from the margins of the Alba channel sandstone along fault planes. An analogy is drawn between these dykes, and the peripheral dykes formed at the margins of laccoliths as a result of the flexing and subsequent fracturing of the overlying strata. 'Decompacting' of ptygmatically folded dykes suggests that the process of hydraulic fracturing and sandstone intrusion initiated between burial depths of 40 to 400 m below seabed.


We determined cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes through screening with a computer-assisted algorithm and an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay using in vitro-reactivated polyclonal Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific CD8(+) T cells as responders. In addition, to confirm that the epitopes were generated after endogenous processing and presentation of the EBV proteins, a novel T-cell receptor (TCR) down-regulation assay was introduced, in which a fluorescent tetrameric major histocompatibility complex (MHC)/peptide complex was employed for detecting TCR down-regulation after stimulation with the epitope presented on antigen-presenting cells. Through such screening, 3 HLA A*2402-restricted epitopes were identified: IYVLVMLVL, TYPVLEEMF, and DYNFVKQLF, derived from LMP2, BRLF1, and BMLF1 proteins, respectively. TCR down-regulation assays disclosed that, in contrast to the other 2 epitopes, IYVLVMLVL was not presented on HLA A24-positive fibroblast cells infected with recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing LMP2. Furthermore, ELISPOT assays with an epitope-specific CTL clone demonstrated that the presentation was partially restored by pretreatment of the fibroblast cells with interferon-gamma. The epitope was presented on transporters associated with antigen processing (TAP)-negative T2 cells transfected with plasmids encoding HLA A*2402 and the minimal epitope, indicating that the presentation is TAP independent. In conclusion, the 3 epitopes thus defined could be useful for studying EBV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses among populations positive for HLA A*2402.


A disease resembling brown ring (Waitea) patch was observed on a 'Dominant Extreme' creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) green on a golf course in Maricopa County, Arizona in February 2010. The green was 17 months old and built with 95% sand and 5% peat moss. The superintendent reported seeing yellow rings, 12 to 16 cm in diameter, on several greens as early as 3 months postinstallation; the yellow rings developed into brown, necrotic rings. Symptoms started in the cool, cloudy, and moist conditions of December (5.0 to 6.7°C) and became persistent into the spring. Symptoms on the samples appeared to be yellowing of leaves and stems with the development of a dark, water-soaked appearance of the whole plant on older affected portions. The samples were incubated in a moist chamber at 22 to 25°C for 24 h. Foliar mycelium developed on the symptomatic leaves, and upon microscopic examination, the mycelium appeared to have the characteristics of Rhizoctonia spp.; i.e., a right-angled branching pattern, constriction of the hyphal branch near its point of origin, and the presence of a septum near the point of origin. The pathogen was recovered from chlorotic tissue by plating the symptomatic tissue on one-quarter-strength acidified potato dextrose agar (9.90 g of PDA and 11.26 g of granulated agar [Fisher, Lenexa, KS] and 600 ml of lactic acid [Sigma, St. Louis, MO] per liter of water) and incubating at ~27°C in light. A Rhizoctonia-like pathogen emerged from the tissue within 48 h and was tentatively identified as Waitea circinata var. circinata based on colony and bulbil morphology after 10 days of incubation (3). The recovered isolate was used for DNA extraction and subsequent amplification and sequencing of the rDNA internally transcribed spacer (ITS) region using ITS1F and ITS4 primers (2). The recovered sequence (HM807352) was compared with the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) nucleic acid database and was found to show 100% similarity to W. circinata var. circinata (FJ755879). To confirm pathogenicity, the isolate was used to fulfill Koch's postulates. The isolate was grown on autoclaved sand and corn meal (250 g of sand and 50 g of corn meal) for 4 weeks to produce inoculum. Eight grams of colonized sand and corn meal was broadcast on 4-week-old creeping bentgrass seedlings ('Penncross') planted in a 90:10 peat moss/sand mixture in 10-cm-diameter pots. There were three replications and the experiment was repeated twice. Negative controls consisted of plants inoculated with sand and corn meal only. Pots were maintained at 28 to 33°C in the greenhouse with ambient light. Within 4 days of inoculation, the plants showed chlorosis and necrosis, while noninoculated plants showed no symptoms. The pathogen was successfully reisolated from several plants from each replication using the method described above. This pathogen has been known to cause disease on annual and rough bluegrass (1,2) in the United States, but not confirmed as a pathogen on creeping bentgrass here. To our knowledge, this is the first report of brown ring patch on creeping bentgrass in Arizona. References: (1) C. M. Chen et al. Plant Dis. 91:1687, 2007. (2) K. de la Cerda et al. Plant Dis. 91:791, 2007. (3) T. Toda et al. Plant Dis. 89:536, 2005.


Objective To assess the prevalence and isotypes of anti-nodal/paranodal antibodies to nodal/paranodal proteins in a large chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) cohort, compare clinical features in seronegative vs seropositive patients, and gather evidence of their isotype-specific pathogenic role. Methods Antibodies to neurofascin-155 (Nfasc155), neurofascin-140/186 (Nfasc140/186), contactin-1 (CNTN1), and contactin-associated protein 1 (Caspr1) were detected with ELISA and/or cell-based assay. Antibody pathogenicity was tested by immunohistochemistry on skin biopsy, intraneural injection, and cell aggregation assay. Results Of 342 patients with CIDP, 19 (5.5%) had antibodies against Nfasc155 (n = 9), Nfasc140/186 and Nfasc155 (n = 1), CNTN1 (n = 3), and Caspr1 (n = 6). Antibodies were absent from healthy and disease controls, including neuropathies of different causes, and were mostly detected in patients with European Federation of Neurological Societies/Peripheral Nerve Society (EFNS/PNS) definite CIDP (n = 18). Predominant antibody isotypes were immunoglobulin G (IgG)4 (n = 13), IgG3 (n = 2), IgG1 (n = 2), or undetectable (n = 2). IgG4 antibody-associated phenotypes included onset before 30 years, severe neuropathy, subacute onset, tremor, sensory ataxia, and poor response to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Immunosuppressive treatments, including rituximab, cyclophosphamide, and methotrexate, proved effective if started early in IVIG-resistant IgG4-seropositive cases. Five patients with an IgG1, IgG3, or undetectable isotype showed clinical features indistinguishable from seronegative patients, including good response to IVIG. IgG4 autoantibodies were associated with morphological changes at paranodes in patients' skin biopsies. We also provided preliminary evidence from a single patient about the pathogenicity of anti-Caspr1 IgG4, showing their ability to penetrate paranodal regions and disrupt the integrity of the Nfasc155/CNTN1/Caspr1 complex. Conclusions Our findings confirm previous data on the tight clinico-serological correlation between antibodies to nodal/paranodal proteins and CIDP. Despite the low prevalence, testing for their presence and isotype could ultimately be part of the diagnostic workup in suspected inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy to improve diagnostic accuracy and guide treatment. Classification of evidence This study provides Class III evidence that antibodies to nodal/paranodal proteins identify patients with CIDP (sensitivity 6%, specificity 100%).