Abstract. The incidence and intensity of hypoxic waters in coastal aquatic ecosystems has been expanding in recent decades coincident with eutrophication of the coastal zone. Worldwide, there is strong interest in reducing the size and duration of hypoxia in coastal waters, because hypoxia causes negative effects for many organisms and ecosystem processes. Although strategies to reduce hypoxia by decreasing nutrient loading are predicated on the assumption that this action would reverse eutrophication, recent analyses of historical data from European and North American coastal systems suggest little evidence for simple linear response trajectories. We review published parallel time-series data on hypoxia and loading rates for inorganic nutrients and labile organic matter to analyze trajectories of oxygen (O2) response to nutrient loading. We also assess existing knowledge of physical and ecological factors regulating O2 in coastal marine waters to facilitate analysis of hypoxia responses to reductions in nutrient (and/or organic matter) inputs. Of the 24 systems identified where concurrent time series of loading and O2 were available, half displayed relatively clear and direct recoveries following remediation. We explored in detail 5 well-studied systems that have exhibited complex, non-linear responses to variations in loading, including apparent "regime shifts". A summary of these analyses suggests that O2 conditions improved rapidly and linearly in systems where remediation focused on organic inputs from sewage treatment plants, which were the primary drivers of hypoxia. In larger more open systems where diffuse nutrient loads are more important in fueling O2 depletion and where climatic influences are pronounced, responses to remediation tended to follow non-linear trends that may include hysteresis and time-lags. Improved understanding of hypoxia remediation requires that future studies use comparative approaches and consider multiple regulating factors. These analyses should consider: (1) the dominant temporal scales of the hypoxia, (2) the relative contributions of inorganic and organic nutrients, (3) the influence of shifts in climatic and oceanographic processes, and (4) the roles of feedback interactions whereby O2-sensitive biogeochemistry, trophic interactions, and habitat conditions influence the nutrient and algal dynamics that regulate O2 levels.


Scientific research is published in journals so that the research community is able to share knowledge and results, verify hypotheses, contribute evidence-based opinions and promote discussion. However, it is hard to fully understand, let alone reproduce, the results if the complex data manipulation that was undertaken to obtain the results are not clearly explained and/or the final data used is not available. Furthermore, the scale of research data assets has now exponentially increased to the point that even when available, it can be difficult to store and use these data assets. In this paper, we describe the solution we have implemented at the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) whereby researchers can capture workflows, using a standards-based provenance representation. This provenance information, combined with access to the original dataset and other related information systems, allow datasets to be regenerated as needed which simultaneously addresses both result reproducibility and storage issues.


Background and Aims: Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block has been shown to provide postoperative pain relief following various abdominal and inguinal surgeries, but few studies have evaluated its analgesic efficacy for intraoperative analgesia. We evaluated the efficacy of TAP block in providing effective perioperative analgesia in total abdominal hysterectomy in a randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial. Materials and Methods: A total of 90 adult female patients American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II were randomized to Group B (n = 45) receiving TAP block with 0.25% bupivacaine and Group N (n = 45) with normal saline followed by general anesthesia. Hemodynamic responses to surgical incision and intraoperative fentanyl consumption were noted. Visual analog scale (VAS) scores were assessed on the emergence, at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 24 h. Time to first rescue analgesic (when VAS ≥4 cm or on demand), duration of postoperative analgesia, incidence of postoperative nausea-vomiting were also noted. Results: Pulse rate (95.9 ± 11.2 bpm vs. 102.9 ± 8.8 bpm, P = 0.001) systolic and diastolic BP were significantly higher in Group N. Median intraoperative fentanyl requirement was significantly higher in Group N (81 mcg vs. 114 mcg, P = 0.000). VAS scores on emergence at rest (median VAS 3 mm vs 27 mm), with activity (median 8 mm vs. 35 mm) were significantly lower in Group B. Median duration of analgesia was significantly higher in Group B (290 min vs. 16 min, P = 0.000). No complication or opioid related side effect attributed to TAP block were noted in any patient. Conclusion: Preincisional TAP block decreases intraoperative fentanyl requirements, prevents hemodynamic responses to surgical stimuli and provides effective postoperative analgesia.


On 18 October 1929, John Sankey, England's reform-minded Lord Chancellor, ruled in the Persons case that women were eligible for appointment to Canada's Senate. Initiated by Edmonton judge Emily Murphy and four other activist women, the Persons case challenged the exclusion of women from Canada's upper house and the idea that the meaning of the constitution could not change with time. The Persons Case considers the case in its political and social context and examines the lives of the key players: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, and the other members of the "famous five," the politicians who opposed the appointment of women, the lawyers who argued the case, and the judges who decided it. Robert J. Sharpe and Patricia I. McMahon examine the Persons case as a pivotal moment in the struggle for women's rights and as one of the most important constitutional decisions in Canadian history. Lord Sankey's decision overruled the Supreme Court of Canada's judgment that the courts could not depart from the original intent of the framers of Canada's constitution in 1867. Describing the constitution as a "living tree," the decision led to a reassessment of the nature of the constitution itself. After the Persons case, it could no longer be viewed as fixed and unalterable, but had to be treated as a document that, in the words of Sankey, was in "a continuous process of evolution." The Persons Case is a comprehensive study of this important event, examining the case itself, the ruling of the Privy Council, and the profound affect that it had on women's rights and the constitutional history of Canada.


Six of I6 meningiomas tested in early subcultures by indirect immunofluorescence showed SV4o T-antigen. Two different antisera specific for T-antigen were used. One serum gave a positive reaction with six tumours and the other with only two. In one T-antigen positive meningioma, the typical nuclear fluorescence changed, beginning with the second subculture, into an unusual brilliant granular pattern irregularly distributed over the nuclei. In six meningiomas, a specific chromosome aberration (monosomy G 22) was established. However, up to now, no clear correlation between karyotype and T-antigen expression could be found: cells from three meningiomas with positive reactions had normal karyotypes, whereas those from three tumours with typical chromosome loss showed no T-antigen.


This document describes the applicability of Remote Direct Memory
Access Protocol (RDMAP) and the Direct Data Placement Protocol (DDP).
It compares and contrasts the different transport options over IP that
DDP can use, provides guidance to ULP developers on choosing between
available transports and/or how to be indifferent to the specific
transport layer used, compares use of DDP with direct use of the
supporting transports, and compares DDP over IP transports with non-IP
transports that support RDMA functionality. This memo provides
information for the Internet community.


As part of an unwritten 'social contract,' nonprofit hospitals receive exemptions from federal and state property taxes in return for providing uncompensated care to community members who would otherwise be unable to afford the medical costs. However, literature has long debated the question of whether or not the tax exemptions are justified. In 2009, the federal government passed legislation mandating the public reporting of community benefit activities, instantly improving the standardization and transparency of reporting measures. Using IRS Form 990 Schedule H data from 212 hospitals across 18 states, this study uses a multivariate panel data model to assess for the impact of state-level regulations on nonprofit hospital community benefit behavior. Three dependent variables (charity care, total charity care and total benefits) and four types of regulations were examined. Results suggest that policies can influence community benefit provision, but the level of efficacy varies by regulation.


Measurement of physiological signals reveals valuable information on the physiological state of a patient. In this thesis, new and unobtrusive ways to measure physiological force and pressure variables with film-type sensor materials are explored. The measured variables are divided into two application areas; the first is related to cardiopulmonary variables while the second one is concentrated on plantar pressure mapping. In the area of cardiopulmonary variables, the measurement of heart and respiration rates and heart sounds are studied. Pressure mapping, instead, provides information on the interface pressure distribution between a person and the surface the person is on. Here the plantar pressure distribution between a foot and ground or shoe is measured to find out regions of the plantar area where the pressure has high values. The high pressure values are linked with pressure ulcers. Two film-type sensor materials are used here; polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) and ElectroMechanical Film (EMFi). The semicrystalline PVDF material has solid structure whereas the structure of the EMFi material is cellular. However, both materials generate a charge when they are mechanically deformed and thus, in principle, operate similarly. With normal measurement arrangement, PVDF and EMFi are not suitable for static measurements and only the change of an external force can be measured. Hence, the sensors made of these materials are useful especially in the measurements of physiological pulsatile signals. The sensors used in this thesis are constructed manually from commercial film materials. The entire measurement process is considered; from the design and construction of the sensors and measurement devices to the analysis of the measured data with Matlab® software. In the measurements of cardiopulmonary variables, the sensor attachments are minimized and the measurement systems are designed to be unobtrusive and comfortable for the user. The sensors utilizing the PVDF and/or EMFi materials can be integrated into clothing or into daily life objects (e.g. a chair or a bed) to measure vital signals. This thesis suggests that the both sensor materials are suitable for such measurements even though some differences between the results obtained with the materials were found. In the area of the plantar pressure measurements, instead, a new sensor prototype for pressure measurements during gait is introduced. The developed sensor utilizes commercial PVDF material with silver ink metallization and it simultaneously measures both normal and shear stresses. Also, a sensor based on unmetallized PVDF material with printed electrodes is tested. Based on the promising results obtained with these sensor prototypes, the aim is to further develop a matrix version of the sensor for on-floor and also in-shoe plantar pressure measurements.


In ?Deep Survival?, Laurence Gonzalez combines hard science and powerful storytelling to illustrate the mysteries of survival, whether in the wilderness or in meeting any of life's great challenges. This gripping narrative, the first book to describe the art and science of survival, will change the way you see the world. Everyone has a mountain to climb. Everyone has a wilderness inside.


Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, host to striking levels of human diversity, regional patterns of admixture, and varying degrees of introgression from both Neanderthals and Denisovans. However, it has been largely excluded from the human genomics sequencing boom of the last decade. To serve as a benchmark dataset of molecular phenotypes across the region, we generated genome-wide CpG methylation and gene expression measurements in over 100 individuals from three locations that capture the major genomic and geographical axes of diversity across the Indonesian archipelago. Investigating between- and within-island differences, we find up to 10% of tested genes are differentially expressed between the islands of Mentawai (Sumatra) and New Guinea. Variation in gene expression is closely associated with DNA methylation, with expression levels of 9.7% of genes strongly correlating with nearby CpG methylation, and many of these genes being differentially expressed between islands. Genes identified in our differential expression and methylation analyses are enriched in pathways involved in immunity, highlighting Indonesia tropical role as a source of infectious disease diversity and the strong selective pressures these diseases have exerted on humans. Finally, we identify robust within-island variation in DNA methylation and gene expression, likely driven by very local environmental differences across sampling sites. Together, these results strongly suggest complex relationships between DNA methylation, transcription, archaic hominin introgression and immunity, all jointly shaped by the environment. This has implications for the application of genomic medicine, both in critically understudied Indonesia and globally, and will allow a better understanding of the interacting roles of genomic and environmental factors shaping molecular and complex phenotypes.


Introduction: Primary osteoarthritis is a very common progressive disease which usually ends up in deformities and morbidity. Osteoarthritis usually presents with joint pain, tenderness, limitation of movement, crepitus. BMAC can be useful in reducing pain and improve functional outcome with also in progressive of disease.
Materials and Methods: This is an observational study conducted during the period of April 2015 to June 2017 on 30 samples. The descriptive statistical analysis was performed. The surgical procedure of Bone marrow aspirate concentration was carried out. Evaluation of Pre-Operative and Post-Operative functional outcome.
Results: In this 19 (63.3%) patient presented with left knee osteoarthritis and 11 (36%) patients right knee osteoarthritis. 19 patients presented with grade 2 osteoarthritis and 11 patients presented with grade 3 osteoarthritis. VAS pain score 86.6% were in score range of 3-4 preoperatively which decreased to score range of 0-2 100% of the patients after BMAC Injection postoperatively at 6 months follow up.
Conclusion: The use of Bone marrow concentrate injection (BMAC) in Osteoarthritis of knee was found to be more efficacious with good clinical and functional outcome.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, BMAC, WOMAC score, Knee society score.


The performance, combustion, and emission parameters of a thermal barrier coated (TBC) compression ignition (CI) engine were experimentally examined using biohythane (biohydrogen+biomethane) as leading fuel and diesel as secondary fuel. The mixture of supplied fuel was blended with 85-95% biomethane and 5-15% biohydrogen, mixed with the inlet air, and supplied through the intake manifold for both coated and uncoated conditions. Yttria-stabilized zirconia with a thickness of 0.4 mm was used as top coat on the valves and piston crown over 0.1 mm thickness NiCrAlY bond coat using plasma spray method. Baseline data were obtained by running the engine with conventional diesel fuel, and the same was compared with dual-fuel operation at constant engine speed and variable loading conditions. Results indicated that 15% biohydrogen enrichment with TBC operation improved the engine BTE by 6% compared to diesel-only mode. Further, peak cylinder pressure and heat release rate were improved up to 16.5-20% with TBC and biohythane under dual-fuel mode compared to diesel-only mode. Moreover, the emission characteristics such as HC, CO, and smoke were reduced up to 16.2, 29.1, and 62.6 %, respectively, with TBC and biohythane compared to the base diesel operation owing to low carbon concentration and improved combustion characteristics.


An algorithm for solving the power system multi-stage dynamic economic dispatch (MDED) problem in real-time is presented. The MDED problem is formulated by formally adding ramp rate constraints to the extended security constrained economic dispatch (ESCED) problem for all stages beyond the first stage. The MDED problem is then solved using the ESCED algorithm with ramp rate constraint sensitivity coefficients. A new two-component method of observing regulating margin constraints is also introduced and test results are presented comparing the one and two-stage dynamic EDC results.


Zinc oxide is a popular wide bandgap semiconductor material with versatile electrical and optical properties. In its wurtzite crystal form, this semiconductor is piezoelectric, and has material properties that make it an attractive candidate for fabricating high frequency ultrasound transducers. This thesis describes the development of an RF sputtering process for creating zinc oxide films with thicknesses ranging from 3μm to 10μm, aiming for transducer frequencies of 300MHz to 1 GHz. Sputtering parameters are optimized to meet the dual requirements of a c-axis film orientation while maintaining a high deposition rate. These constraints and the dimensional characteristics of the utilized sputtering system, such as the short substrate-to-target distance, introduce high levels of strain in the deposited zinc oxide films. Various anneal procedures are developed to reduce film strain and optimize the resulting microstructure. It is found that annealing temperatures > 600°C eliminate the inherent film strain, but simultaneously result in the dewetting of the bottom metal contact, making this thermal treatment unsuitable for device processing. As an alternative to traditional metal contacts used in ultrasound transducers, the use of highly doped zinc oxide contacts is then investigated. It is shown that aluminium doped zinc oxide contacts provide an improved seed layer for device growth while eliminating the dewetting problems associated with metal contacts at high anneal temperatures. In addition, the use of such transparent conductive oxide contacts can lead to novel ultrasound applications, which benefit from the integration of optical and acoustic imaging in a single lens. A proof of concept all-zinc oxide single element ultrasound transducer structure is finally fabricated, to highlight the potential of an integrated optical-acoustic lens design.


Proper names in Bininj Kunwok are one of a number of unmarked referring expressions in contexts of high social familiarity. In most other contexts and especially where culturally motivated circumspection is required, names are avoided in favour of a range of other referring expressions. The traditional philosophy of language view is that proper names allow speakers to avoid having to state circumlocutory identity details each time reference to an individual is made. In Bininj Kunwok however, cultural restrictions on the use of proper names in many contexts mean that speakers often use alternative expressions which frequently rely heavily on shared common ground to achieve recognition. The kind of shared cultural knowledge that is indexed for recognition of referents is spelt out in the analysis of data from a telephone conversation.


Job burnouts have been associated with reduced employee satisfaction and performance. Establishing the causes of job burnout and its effect on staff members of the King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was the intention of the present investigation. Three dimensions of burnout were assessed: exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. It was hypothesized that each of the three had direct impacts on workplace satisfaction and performance. The research assumed a quantitative approach using a descriptive design. Data from 500 individuals who work at the institution were randomly sampled and analyzed; and information obtained through questionnaires. The mean exhaustion level of the sample was 2.95 (std, dev. = 0.77) while that for depersonalization and personal accomplishment were 2.09 (std, dev. = 0.77) and 3.83 (std, dev. = 0.53) respectively. The average staff performance was 3.36 (std, dev. = 0.60). Significant associations were established between performance and each of the dimensions.


The regulation of blood red cell production by the hormone erythropoietin (Epo) provides a paradigm for control of gene expression by oxygen. Analysis of this pathway has revealed a widespread system of gene regulation based on a transcriptional complex termed hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). Hydroxylation of specific prolyl and asparinyl residues in the α subunit of HIF by a series of non-haem iron-dependent dioxygenases has been defined as a novel mechanism of protein modification that transduces the oxygen-sensitive signal.


21st century engineering graduates should be proficient in engaging their conceptual thinking and analytical capabilities to proffer solutions to societal problems. Various literatures dwelling on problem-solving skills indicate that fresh engineering undergraduates are not adept at conceptualising solutions to design problems. However, the process of conceptualising solutions to design problems has not been well developed, understood and managed in many engineering curricula. In order to illuminate our understanding in regards to how engineering students conceptualise solutions to design problems at various stages of their educational programme, ten fresh engineering undergraduate and ten engineering postgraduate students were interviewed with a view to exploring: (i) what approaches they employ in identifying design problems? (ii) how they determine the relevance of the identified design problems to the needs of their community? (iii) how they conceptualise design solutions to the identified problems? and (iv) how they organise information when conceptualising solutions to design problems? Subsequent analysis of the responses reveals the existence of variation in the design conceptualisation process of fresh undergraduates and postgraduates. It was established that postgraduate students tend to use broader and more complex strategies in conceptualising solutions to design problems as compared to fresh undergraduates. Furthermore, postgraduate students employed experience, information sources, and prior knowledge acquired from various subject domains to conceptualise solutions to design problems whereas fresh engineering students could only employ previous experience and information sources to identify design problems relevant to their community needs but lack the capability to engage their prior knowledge to conceptualise solutions to design problems. Finally, these findings are expected to assist engineering educators to further understand how to develop an introduction to engineering curriculum to equip students with relevant and core engineering analytical skills for conceptualising solutions to design problems. Keywords— conceptual thinking, engineering design, engineering students, engineering curriculum, problem solving.


Miospore assemblages are described from basal Dinantian argillaceous strata lying below and above the Cockermouth Lavas, and within the Seventh Limestone in the area to the north east of Cockermouth, West Cumbria. The strata enclosing the Lavas are assigned to the Schopfites claviger-Auroraspora macra miospore zone, indicating the Ivorian stage (Tournaisian, Tn3). The Lavas are thus shown to be of similar age to the Solway Plateau Lavas to the north which represent an early stage in the formation of the Solway Basin. Shales from below the Seventh Limestone are assigned to the Lycospora pusilla miospore zone and from this and other fossil evidence are presumed to be of Chadian or early Arundian age. Shales from within the Seventh Limestone are assigned to the Perotrilites tessellatus – Schulzospora campyloptera miospore zone (Asbian stage) It is concluded that the Ivorian-Asbian sequence in this area is greatly attenuated compared with its development on the northern margin of the Solway Basin.


Online businesses are often engaged in web metrics to gauge the performance of their eCommerce website. This study examines the relationships between web metrics and the financial performance. The key purpose of the present paper is to learn whether metrics measures have an impact on profitability in eCommerce website. An online survey was used to gather data from companies that have eCommerce website. The results from this study indicate that companies with perceived successful financial performance have also enjoyed perceived success in the customer behaviour on their website. Furthermore, the study explores the role of five contingency variables,the markets it operates in, the effort of the company to make the website visible, the involvement of the owners, the percentage of the online business and the age of the website, on this relationship. The results indicate that these variables moderate the relationship between metrics measures and the performance of the website so that a positive association occurs under older website, higher percentage of online, and higher level of owner's involvement with the website. The findings prompt the owners to carefully monitor their website traffic for a possible downturn and remedy the situation prior to its occurrence.


BACKGROUND
Many systematic reviews exist on interventions to improve safe and effective medicines use by consumers, but research is distributed across diseases, populations and settings. The scope and focus of such reviews also vary widely, creating challenges for decision-makers seeking to inform decisions by using the evidence on consumers' medicines use.This is an update of a 2011 overview of systematic reviews, which synthesises the evidence, irrespective of disease, medicine type, population or setting, on the effectiveness of interventions to improve consumers' medicines use.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of interventions which target healthcare consumers to promote safe and effective medicines use, by synthesising review-level evidence.

METHODS

SEARCH METHODS
We included systematic reviews published on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects. We identified relevant reviews by handsearching databases from their start dates to March 2012.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We screened and ranked reviews based on relevance to consumers' medicines use, using criteria developed for this overview.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We used standardised forms to extract data, and assessed reviews for methodological quality using the AMSTAR tool. We used standardised language to summarise results within and across reviews; and gave bottom-line statements about intervention effectiveness. Two review authors screened and selected reviews, and extracted and analysed data. We used a taxonomy of interventions to categorise reviews and guide syntheses.

MAIN RESULTS
We included 75 systematic reviews of varied methodological quality. Reviews assessed interventions with diverse aims including support for behaviour change, risk minimisation and skills acquisition. No reviews aimed to promote systems-level consumer participation in medicines-related activities. Medicines adherence was the most frequently-reported outcome, but others such as knowledge, clinical and service-use outcomes were also reported. Adverse events were less commonly identified, while those associated with the interventions themselves, or costs, were rarely reported.Looking across reviews, for most outcomes, medicines self-monitoring and self-management programmes appear generally effective to improve medicines use, adherence, adverse events and clinical outcomes; and to reduce mortality in people self-managing antithrombotic therapy. However, some participants were unable to complete these interventions, suggesting they may not be suitable for everyone.Other promising interventions to improve adherence and other key medicines-use outcomes, which require further investigation to be more certain of their effects, include:· simplified dosing regimens: with positive effects on adherence;· interventions involving pharmacists in medicines management, such as medicines reviews (with positive effects on adherence and use, medicines problems and clinical outcomes) and pharmaceutical care services (consultation between pharmacist and patient to resolve medicines problems, develop a care plan and provide follow-up; with positive effects on adherence and knowledge).Several other strategies showed some positive effects, particularly relating to adherence, and other outcomes, but their effects were less consistent overall and so need further study. These included:· delayed antibiotic prescriptions: effective to decrease antibiotic use but with mixed effects on clinical outcomes, adverse effects and satisfaction;· practical strategies like reminders, cues and/or organisers, reminder packaging and material incentives: with positive, although somewhat mixed effects on adherence;· education delivered with self-management skills training, counselling, support, training or enhanced follow-up; information and counselling delivered together; or education/information as part of pharmacist-delivered packages of care: with positive effects on adherence, medicines use, clinical outcomes and knowledge, but with mixed effects in some studies;· financial incentives: with positive, but mixed, effects on adherence.Several strategies also showed promise in promoting immunisation uptake, but require further study to be more certain of their effects. These included organisational interventions; reminders and recall; financial incentives; home visits; free vaccination; lay health worker interventions; and facilitators working with physicians to promote immunisation uptake. Education and/or information strategies also showed some positive but even less consistent effects on immunisation uptake, and need further assessment of effectiveness and investigation of heterogeneity.There are many different potential pathways through which consumers' use of medicines could be targeted to improve outcomes, and simple interventions may be as effective as complex strategies. However, no single intervention assessed was effective to improve all medicines-use outcomes across all diseases, medicines, populations or settings.Even where interventions showed promise, the assembled evidence often only provided part of the picture: for example, simplified dosing regimens seem effective for improving adherence, but there is not yet sufficient information to identify an optimal regimen.In some instances interventions appear ineffective: for example, the evidence suggests that directly observed therapy may be generally ineffective for improving treatment completion, adherence or clinical outcomes.In other cases, interventions may have variable effects across outcomes. As an example, strategies providing information or education as single interventions appear ineffective to improve medicines adherence or clinical outcomes, but may be effective to improve knowledge; an important outcome for promoting consumers' informed medicines choices.Despite a doubling in the number of reviews included in this updated overview, uncertainty still exists about the effectiveness of many interventions, and the evidence on what works remains sparse for several populations, including children and young people, carers, and people with multimorbidity.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
This overview presents evidence from 75 reviews that have synthesised trials and other studies evaluating the effects of interventions to improve consumers' medicines use.Systematically assembling the evidence across reviews allows identification of effective or promising interventions to improve consumers' medicines use, as well as those for which the evidence indicates ineffectiveness or uncertainty.Decision makers faced with implementing interventions to improve consumers' medicines use can use this overview to inform decisions about which interventions may be most promising to improve particular outcomes. The intervention taxonomy may also assist people to consider the strategies available in relation to specific purposes, for example, gaining skills or being involved in decision making. Researchers and funders can use this overview to identify where more research is needed and assess its priority. The limitations of the available literature due to the lack of evidence for important outcomes and important populations, such as people with multimorbidity, should also be considered in practice and policy decisions.


Abstract Recent advances in parallel software development for solving three-dimensional (3-D) neutron transport problems using the characteristics method are presented. The characteristics method solves the transport equation by collecting local angular fluxes along neutron paths. In order to be able to solve large 3-D transport problems in a reasonable time frame, the characteristics solver needs to be accelerated. After applying adequate numerical acceleration techniques, the only issue is to parallelize the solver. The parallelization of this solver is based on distributing a group of tracks, generated by a ray-tracing procedure, on several processors. Different distributing schemes and load-balancing techniques based on a calculation load model are presented. A message-passing model is used to communicate the local solutions between processes participating in solving a problem. Both analytical models of this parallel algorithm and performance analysis are presented and illustrated by several examples.


BACKGROUND
Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) solutions compromise blood coagulation. Low molecular weight, low-substituted HES products, and electrolyte-balanced solutions might reduce this effect. We compared the effects of in vitro haemodilution on blood coagulation with a balanced 6% HES 130/0.42 solution (HES(BAL)), a saline-based 6% HES 130/0.4 solution (HES(SAL)), a balanced lactated Ringer's solution (RL) and a saline-based 4% gelatin solution (GEL).

METHODS
Blood was obtained from 10 healthy male volunteers and diluted with the test solutions by 33% and 66%. Quality of clot formation was measured using two viscoelastic coagulation tests: SONOCLOT and activated rotation thromboelastometry ROTEM.

RESULTS
Of 16 parameters measured by the viscoelastic devices, we found three statistically significant differences compared with baseline for RL, but 11 for GEL, 10 for HES(SAL), and 11 for HES(BAL) in the 33% haemodilution group (P=0.01). Comparing the different solutions, we observed a significant difference between crystalloids and colloids but none between GEL and HES. In the 66% dilution group, effects on blood coagulation were increased when compared with the 33% dilution group. We found no differences in coagulation impairment between balanced and non-balanced HES products and no differences in the detection of impaired blood coagulation due to haemodilution between the two viscoelastic coagulation tests.

CONCLUSIONS
Both ROTEM and SONOCLOT are sensitive tests for the detection of impaired blood coagulation due to haemodilution. There are fewer effects on blood coagulation using crystalloids compared with colloids. The effects of GEL and HES are similar. There is no difference between balanced HES 130/0.42 and non-balanced HES 130/0.4.


Background Relatively little is known about the risk factors associated with osteoarthritis (OA) in Olympic athletes. As the first step towards prevention, knowledge of preventative/modifiable risk factors are needed. Objective To examine injury patterns, prevalence, and risk factors for OA in Great Britain's Olympians, aged 40 years and older. Design Cross-sectional study design, with an internal nested-case control. Setting Athletes who had represented Great Britain at the Summer and/or Winter Olympic Games from 1932 to 2012. Participants Great Britain's Olympians were invited to complete and return a web-based or paper questionnaire. The response rate was 32%, with 605 returns achieved (40–97 years), between the 22nd May 2014 and the 31st January 2015. Assessment of Risk Factors Potential risk factors for OA included age, body mass index, gender, previous injury, lower limb mal-alignment, hypermobility (self-reported Beighton>4/9), comorbidities, index ring finger ratio, Heberden's and Bouchard's nodes, and having competed in either impact or weight-bearing loading sports. Main Outcome Measurements The primary outcome measure was self-reported physician-diagnosed OA, whereby Great Britain's Olympians confirmed that a physician had previously diagnosed them with the condition. The most severe limb was selected as the index joint for data analysis, if bilateral. Results Knee (14%), hip (11%), and the lumbar spine (5%) are most likely affected by OA. Injury appeared the strongest modifiable risk factor for knee [aOR 4.89; 95% CI, 2.64–9.06] and hip OA [aOR 10.46; 95% CI, 3.67–29.83]. Hypermobility appeared a risk factor for knee OA only [aOR 2.26; 95% CI, 1.08–4.74]. Intra-articular injuries through participation in weight-bearing loading sports were consistently reported in those with peripheral joint OA. Conclusions As one of the few modifiable risk factors, joint injury prevention should be part of the future initiatives to reduce the risk of OA.


This article suggests a diagnostic framework of public communication intended to capture new communication strategies used by Armed Forces across Europe to legitimize new tasks and recruit new personnel. Three distinct communicative models that impact differently on democratic values and public support are suggested: an Old Public Administration (OPA) model influenced by bureaucratic values, a New Public Management (NPM) model fuelled by market values and a deliberative model labelled 'New Public Service' (NPS) that is largely influenced by proponents of 'e-democracy'. A case study of the communication of the Swedish Armed Forces identifies a lingering bureaucratic (OPA) ideal. The market ideal (NPM) however clearly dominates. The article concludes that communication along market purposes, principles and practices risks distancing Armed Forces further from society. Yet, an embryonic deliberative ideal (NPS)—much fuelled by the use of social media such as blogs—was also identified. This growing ideal holds the potential of infusing deliberative vigor into the organization and presumably facilitates the bridging of the gap to society. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The Oxford Shakespeare offers authoritative texts from leading scholars in editions designed to interpret and illuminate the plays for modern readers - a new, modern-spelling text, based on the Quarto text of 1608 - on-page commentary and notes explain meaning, staging, allusions and much else - detailed introduction considers composition, sources, performances and changing critical attitudes to the play - illustrated with production photographs and related art - includes 'The Ballad of King Lear' and related offshoots - full index to introduction and commentary - durable sewn binding for lasting use 'not simply a better text but a new conception of Shakespeare. This is a major achievement of twentieth-century scholarship.' Times Literary Supplement ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


Globally, anthropogenic disturbances are occurring at unprecedented rates and over extensive spatial and temporal scales. Human activities also affect natural disturbances, prompting shifts in their timing and intensities. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to disturbance. In this study, we investigated whether there are general determinants of community response to disturbance across different community types, locations, and disturbance events. We compiled 14 case studies of community response to disturbance from four continents, twelve aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem types, and eight different types of disturbance. We used community compositional differences and species richness to indicate community response. We used mixed-effects modeling to test the relationship between each of these response metrics and four potential explanatory factors: regional species pool size, isolation, number of generations passed, and relative disturbance intensity. We found that compositional similarity was higher between pre- and post-disturbance communities when the disturbed community was connected to adjacent undisturbed habitat. The number of generations that had passed since the disturbance event was a significant, but weak, predictor of community compositional change; two communities were responsible for the observed relationship. We found no significant relationships between the factors we tested and changes in species richness. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to search for general drivers of community resilience from a diverse set of case studies. The strength of the relationship between compositional change and isolation suggests that it may be informative in resilience research and biodiversity management.


With its rich semantic texture and evocative imagery Sunny Singh's short story A Cup Full of Jasmine Oil invites various readings. The story tells how a young girl is both attracted and confused when her grandmother's neighbor, who lives in a lesbian relationship, massages her skull and oils her curly hair. When the grandmother at one point forbids the oiling sessions, the girl suddenly becomes aware of hidden meanings and intuitions associated with this practice. The essay juxtaposes a reading of the story from a more conventional western perspective with an interpretation from the point of the Indian system of aesthetics based on rasa. From this double perspective, it discusses various stylistic and thematic aspects of the story. Diverging interpretations are presented of the role of the characters, the functionality of their characterization, and the use of description and suggestion to evoke the semantic framework of the story. The juxtaposition of two readings was prompted by a discussion with the author during a conference panel on rebellion in modern Indian literature and film. To prevent the impression of imposing a "scholarly" reading on a more "intuitive" reading, the essay continues the dialogue with the author and invites her to react to the reading and discuss the notion of an "Indian" aesthetic model, its relevance for her writing, and current critical approaches to modern Indian fiction. In her response, Sunny Singh explains how the theme of the story was prompted by her perception of the sharing of knowledge of sexuality and intimacy in a tightly-knit Indian social context. The discussion with the author extends beyond the specific story, and she presents her views on how her scholarly knowledge of modern Indian culture stimulates her in her creative work. Thereby, it aptly frames the exploration of a reading of A Cup Full of Jasmine Oil from the perspective of Indian literary aesthetics.


My aim in this article is to examine two types of discourse features, through a semantic analysis of the occurrences of the word university in the Preamble to the Magna Charta Universitatum of Bologna. I will firstly look at extra-linguistic phenomena, in particular the discursive elaboration of the identity of European society, and then focus on linguistic elements, which involve rebuilding the lexical meaning in and by discursive mechanisms.This last aspect is examined through an argumentative approach, namely the Semantics of Argumentative Potentials (SAP). The form of SAP proposed is a holistic, associative and encyclopedic approach to lexical meaning capable of explaining both the "perceived" and "modeled" representations of the world created by language and the discursive potential of words (i.e. the argumentative sequences that they authorize). This approach can also be used to explain the "stable" and evolutionary parts of meaning (stereotypes).


BACKGROUND
Couples seeking infertility treatment are generally hungry for information about available therapeutic options and how to help themselves achieve pregnancy. This study examined couples' perceptions of the information available from various sources in the context of achieved pregnancy or continuing treatment.

METHODS
A 3 year prospective interview study started in April 2004, following couples undergoing infertility treatment at a tertiary fertility clinic at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. Fifty-four couples were invited to participate. Up to three semi-structured interviews took place, and were analysed thematically using a variation of grounded theory.

RESULTS
Twenty-seven couples agreed to participate and of the 25 couples followed up, 11 were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. The age range of the women was 22-41 years. All hoped to be given information on helping themselves to achieve pregnancy, spontaneous or assisted, and 19 of the 25 couples became pregnant. Most couples were dissatisfied with the written and verbal information routinely provided by the fertility clinic because it suggested lifestyle changes they had already attempted to adopt. They sought additional information from the internet, books and magazines. Those who became pregnant were generally empowered by the experience and thought that it had helped them to conceive. Women who were still undergoing treatment however, sometimes became distressed, blaming themselves for failing to follow the lifestyle advice provided.

CONCLUSIONS
Couples, especially those diagnosed with unexplained infertility, seek information to help themselves conceive, but only those who succeed find it an empowering experience.


In DNA-templated synthesis, reactants are attached to DNA strands and complementary DNA strands are used to control the reaction towards a goal compound. This very general, simple, and still efficient approach has proven to be successful for the design of complex one-pot synthesis for a large variety of compounds. For a given goal compound many different synthesis plans may exist, and all of them can potentially be implemented with many different DNA-templated programs. This raises the issue of how to automatically infer optimal low-level programs based on a high-level synthesis plan or a goal compound only. In this paper we will introduce a computational approach for DNA-templated synthesis based on graph rewriting approaches and the systematic exploration of chemical spaces. We will use them for verification of correctness of real-world synthesis plans as well as to illustrate the non-triviality of finding an optimal DNA assembler program.


Plantlet is a lightweight stream cipher designed by Mikhalev, Armknecht and Müller in IACR ToSC 2017. It has a Grain-like structure with two state registers of size 40 and 61 bits. In spite of this, the cipher does not seem to lose in security against generic Time-Memory-Data Tradeoff attacks due to the novelty of its design. The cipher uses a 80-bit secret key and a 90-bit IV. In this paper, we first present a key recovery attack on Plantlet that requires around 276.26 Plantlet encryptions. The attack leverages the fact that two internal states of Plantlet that differ in the 43rd LFSR location are guaranteed to produce keystream that are either equal or unequal in 45 locations with probability 1. Thus an attacker can with some probability guess that when 2 segments of keystream blocks possess the 45 bit difference just mentioned, they have been produced by two internal states that differ only in the 43rd LFSR location. Thereafter by solving a system of polynomial equations representing the keystream bits, the attacker can find the secret key if his guess was indeed correct, or reach some kind of contradiction if his guess was incorrect. In the latter event, he would repeat the procedure for other keystream blocks with the given difference. We show that the process when repeated a finite number of times, does indeed yield the value of the secret key. In the second part of the paper, we observe that the previous attack was limited to internal state differences that occurred at time instances that were congruent to 0 mod 80. We further observe that by generalizing the attack to include internal state differences that are congruent to all equivalence classed modulo 80, we lower the total number of keystream bits required to perform the attack and in the process reduce the attack complexity to 269.98 Plantlet encryptions.


We describe a quantum algorithm for computing the intersection of two sets and its application to associative memory. The algorithm is based on a modification of Grover's quantum search algorithm (Grover, 1996). We present algorithms for pattern retrieval, pattern completion, and pattern correction. We show that the quantum associative memory can store an exponential number of memories and retrieve them in sub-exponential time. We prove that this model has advantages over known classical associative memories as well as previously proposed quantum models.


Sea urchins exhibit a very different life history from humans and short-lived model animals and therefore provide the opportunity to gain new insight into the complex process of aging. Sea urchins grow indeterminately, regenerate damaged appendages, and reproduce throughout their lifespan. Some species show no increase in mortality rate at advanced ages. Nevertheless, different species of sea urchins have very different reported lifespans ranging from 4 to more than 100 years, thus providing a unique model to investigate the molecular, cellular, and physiological mechanisms underlying both lifespan determination and negligible senescence. Studies to date have demonstrated maintenance of telomeres, maintenance of antioxidant and proteasome enzyme activities, and little accumulation of oxidative cellular damage with age in tissues of sea urchin species with different lifespans. Gene expression studies indicate that key cellular pathways involved in energy metabolism, protein homeostasis, and tissue regeneration are maintained with age. Taken together, these studies suggest that long-term maintenance of mechanisms that sustain tissue homeostasis and regenerative capacity is essential for indeterminate growth and negligible senescence, and a better understanding of these processes may suggest effective strategies to mitigate the degenerative decline in human tissues with age.


Safety and security are highly related concepts [1] [2] [3]. Both deal with the protection of valuable assets from harm, and both do this by avoiding, detecting, and responding to incidents that can cause such harm. In both cases, the dangers (hazards and threats respectively) that can cause or enable such incidents to occur are identified and the associated risks are analyzed in order to ensure that these risks are mitigated to acceptable levels. Safety engineering is typically concerned less with requirements than with its downstream activities (e.g., architecting, design, coding, testing) because much of hazard analysis is based on the existence of an architecture, the components of which can cause accidents if they fail. Yet one central safety engineering technique is to categorize the system requirements based on their safety significance and use this categorization to determine the associated level of development processes necessary to assure a corresponding acceptable level of safety risk. Based on the similarity between safety and security, this position paper advocates using a similar process to categorize the security significance of non-security requirements and use this information to ensure that an adequate development process is used to assure an acceptable level of security risk.


Effects of Reynolds number (Re), nondimensional drive frequency (Srp) and amplitude of yoscillations in the flow on the heat transfer coefficient and its frequency response characteristics for oscillatory flows over a micro wire are presented here. Time-averaged Nusselt numbers (Nu) at the stagnation point and averaged over the cylinder are calculated for Re = 10, 30 and 50, .001 < Srp < 1., and oscillation amplitudes, Vp, of 0.1 and 0.2 (for Re = 50). We used a formulation that allows decomposition of the flow into mean and periodic components, and used finite-element simulations to solve for the mean flow over the cylinder. Periodic component of the flow contributes to an artificial body force in the Navier-Stokes equation. According to our simulations, time-averaged Nusselt numbers are not strongly affected by oscillations. Largest increase in the time-averaged average Nu is only 3% larger than its unforced value. Nusselt oscillations have multiple modes and we used Fourier Transform to identify each mode and calculate its corresponding amplitude. The mode for which the frequency is twice as much as the driving frequency is the dominant mode for Srp up to 0.1 for all Reynolds numbers studied here. For larger drive frequencies, the second mode dies off; for Re = 30 and 50 amplitude of the first mode at the drive frequency takes over. For large drive frequencies (Srp~1) all modes tend to diminish.


The molecular ligand pyrphyrin, a tetradentate bipyridine based macrocycle, represents an interesting but widely unexplored class of molecules. It resembles the well-known porphyrin, but consists of pyridyl subunits instead of pyrroles. Metal complexes based on pyrphyrin ligands have recently shown promise as water reduction catalysts in homogeneous photochemical water splitting reactions. In this study, the adsorption and metalation of pyrphyrin on a single crystalline Au(111) surface is investigated in an ultrahigh vacuum by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory. Pyrphyrin coverages of approximately one monolayer and less are obtained by sublimation of the molecules on the substrate kept at room temperature. The molecules self-assemble in two distinct phases of long-range molecular ordering depending on the surface coverage. The deposition of cobalt metal and subsequent annealing lead to the formation of Co-ligated pyrphyrin molecules accompanied by a pronounced change of the molecular self-assembly. Electronic structure calculations taking the herringbone reconstruction of Au(111) into account show that the molecules are physisorbed, but preferred adsorption sites are identified where Co and the N atoms of the two terminal cyano groups are optimally coordinated to the surface Au atoms. An intermediate state of the metalation reaction is observed and the reaction steps for the Co metalation of pyrphyrin molecules on Au(111) are established in a joint experimental and computational effort.


BACKGROUND
Elevated plasma homocysteine concentrations are considered to be a risk factor for vascular disease and fetal malformations such as neural tube defects. Recent studies have shown that plasma homocysteine can be lowered by folic acid in amounts corresponding to 1-2 times the recommended dietary allowance. Preliminary evidence indicates that vitamin B-12 may be beneficial when included in supplements or in a food-fortification regimen together with folic acid.

OBJECTIVE
We aimed to compare the homocysteine-lowering potential of a folic acid supplement with that of 2 supplements containing different doses of vitamin B-12 in addition to folic acid.

DESIGN
Female volunteers of childbearing age (n = 150) received a placebo for 4 wk followed by a 4-wk treatment with either 400 microg folic acid, 400 microg folic acid + 6 microg vitamin B-12, or 400 microg folic acid + 400 microg vitamin B-12.

RESULTS
Significant reductions (P < 0.001) in plasma homocysteine were observed in all groups receiving vitamin treatment. The effect observed with the combination of folic acid + 400 microg vitamin B-12 (total homocysteine, -18%) was significantly larger than that with a supplement containing folic acid alone (total homocysteine, -11%) (P < 0.05). Folic acid in combination with a low vitamin B-12 dose (6 microg) affected homocysteine as well (-15%).

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the addition of vitamin B-12 to folic acid supplements or enriched foods maximizes the reduction of homocysteine and may thus increase the benefits of the proposed measures in the prevention of vascular disease and neural tube defects.


The Macaronesian endemic flora has traditionally been interpreted as a relict of a subtropical element that spanned across Europe in the Tertiary. This hypothesis is revisited in the moss subfamily Helicodontioideae based on molecular divergence estimates derived from two independent calibration techniques either employing fossil evidence or using an Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) to sample absolute rates of nucleotide substitution from a prior distribution encompassing a wide range of rates documented across land plants. Both analyses suggest that the monotypic Madeiran endemic genus Hedenasiastrum diverged of other Helicodontioideae about 40 million years, that is, well before Macaronesian archipelagos actually emerged, in agreement with the relict hypothesis. Hedenasiastrum is characterized by a plesiomorphic morphology, which is suggestive of a complete morphological stasis over 40 million years. Macaronesian endemic Rhynchostegiella species, whose polyphyletic origin involves multiple colonization events, evolved much more recently, and yet accumulated many more morphological novelties than H. percurrens. The Macaronesian moss flora thus appears as a complex mix of ancient relicts and more recently dispersed, fast-evolving taxa.


A hybrid method based on the combination of generalized forward backward method (GFBM) and Green's function for the grounded dielectric slab together with the acceleration of the combination via a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) based algorithm is developed for the efficient and accurate analysis of electromagnetic radiation/scattering from electrically large, irregularly contoured two-dimensional arrays consisting of finite number of probe-fed microstrip patches. In this method, unknown current coefficients corresponding to a single patch are first solved by a conventional Galerkin type hybrid method of moments (MoM)/Green's function technique that uses the grounded dielectric slab's Green's function. Because the current distribution on the microstrip patch can be expanded using an arbitrary number of subsectional basis functions, the patch can have any shape. The solution for the array currents is then found through GFBM, where it sweeps the current computation element by element. The computational complexity of this method, which is originally ( being the total number of unknowns) for each iteration, is reduced to using a DFT based acceleration algorithm making use of the fact that array elements are identical and the array is periodic. Numerical results in the form of array current distribution are given for various sized arrays of probe-fed microstrip patches with elliptical and/or circular boundaries, and are compared with the conventional MoM results to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method.


Economic environments have an effect on both the growth and lapsation of life insurance business. This thesis is undertaken in order to seek evidence of the significance of and relationship between specific macroeconomic and demographic factors and the demand for and lapsation of life insurance in the context of Malaysia and the United States (US). A dynamic, general-to-specific (Gets) approach is adopted in order to analyse the data. The general model (GUM) is formulated as an ADL(l,l) model to be subject to simplification. PcGets, a computer automated software for econometric model selection, which is capable of implementing the reduction subject to retaining congruence, is used to facilitate the analysis. The major findings show that, for Malaysia, the demographic factor, the change in total fertility rate in the previous period (i.e. positive and significant), is a vitally important factor in connection with life insurance demand (measured by number, by amount and by premium). Income and stock market return are important factors affecting the consumers' ability to purchase life insurance (in terms of amount and premium). The savings deposit rate is found to be related significantly to new life insurance business (by amount and by premium) but savings deposits seem not to be a competing savings instrument to life insurance. The inflation rate appears not to be an important factor affecting new life insurance business (by amount and by premium) but a high insurance cost tends to discourage the purchasing of life insurance (by number, by amount and by premium). Meanwhile, for lapsation of life insurance, both the forfeiture and surrender rates appear to be affected by the emergency fund effect with respect to the performance of the stock market in the previous period. Only fixed deposit rate is found to have the intended (positive) interest rate effect on surrender rate. The policyholders tend to surrender their life policies in favour of other investments that promise a better value for money in order to preserve their purchasing power in an environment of rising inflation rate. When the costs of obtaining insurance protection become more expensive, the forfeiture rate tends to be lower. The demographic factors tend to have a lagged influence on both the forfeiture and surrender rates. On the other hand, for the comparative study of Malaysia and the US, broadly speaking, the inflation rate, crude death rate and total fertility rate are the three factors that appear to be associated significantly with life insurance business in force (measured by number and by amount) in both Malaysia and the US. The surrender rates in Malaysia and the US are affected by a completely different set of factors. The theSiS concludes with some suggestions for useful areas for future research.


Background/Aims: A growing body of evidence has suggested that thiazolidinediones (TZDs) potentially reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TZDs on CRC risk in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients and Methods: A systematic search of electronic databases was performed for studies evaluating the exposure to TZDs and reporting CRC risk in diabetic patients. Pooled estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using fixed or random effects models. Results: A total of 10 observational studies reporting more than 18,972 CRC cases in 2,470,768 DM patients were included. Meta-analysis showed a 9% reduction in CRC risk associated with TZDs use in all studies [relative risk (RR) =0.91, 95% CI = 0.84–0.99, P = 0.03] and cohort studies (RR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.80–0.99, P = 0.04), respectively. However, such effect was not shown in case–control studies. In subgroup analyses, lower CRC risk was found in Asian population (RR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.29–0.53, P = 0.00), and a trend toward lower CRC risk was observed in US population (RR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.88–1.01, P = 0.08). CRC risk was significantly modified with non-pioglitazone TZD use (RR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.82–0.95, P = 0.00), but not with pioglitazone use (RR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.89–1.01, P = 0.11). No significant difference was observed with cancer site (colon or rectum). There was considerable inherent heterogeneity across studies, partly explained by study location. Conclusions: This meta-analysis supports a protective association between TZDs use and CRC risk in patients with DM. Future well-designed prospective studies with larger cohorts would be needed to understand this association better.


This study examines the phonetics, phonology and pragmatic function of uptalk, utterance-final rising pitch movements, as used in Southern Californian English. Twelve female and eleven male speakers were recorded in a variety of tasks. Instances of uptalk were coded for discourse function (statement, question, confirmation request, floor holding) based on context. The excursion of the pitch rise and the distance of the rise start from the onset of the utterance's last stressed vowel were also measured. Confirmation requests and floor holding showed variable realization. Questions, on the other hand, showed a rise that typically started within the stressed vowel and had a large pitch excursion, while uptalk used with statements exhibited both a smaller pitch excursion and a later rise that often started after vowel offset. This pattern suggests that statements have a L* L-H% melody while questions have L* H-H%. Gender differences were also found: female speakers used uptalk more often than males, and showe...


Theta oscillations in the local field potential of neural ensembles are considered key mediators of human working memory. Theoretical accounts arising from animal hippocampal recordings propose that the phase of theta oscillations serves to instantiate sequential neuronal firing to form discrete representations of items held online. Human evidence of phase relationships in visual working memory has enhanced this theory, implicating long theta cycles in supporting greater memory capacity. Here we use human magnetoencephalographic recordings to examine a novel, alternative principle of theta functionality. The principle we hypothesize is derived from information theory and predicts that rather than long (low frequency) theta cycles, short (high frequency) theta cycles are best suited to support high information capacity. From oscillatory activity recorded during the maintenance period of a visual working memory task we show that a network of brain regions displays an increase in peak 4–12 Hz frequency with increasing memory load. Source localization techniques reveal that this network comprises bilateral prefrontal and right parietal cortices. Further, the peak of oscillation along this theta–alpha frequency axis is significantly higher in high capacity individuals compared to low capacity individuals. Importantly while we observe the adherence of cortical neuronal oscillations to our novel principle of theta functioning, we also observe the traditional inverse effect of low frequency theta maintaining high loads, where critically this was located in medial temporal regions suggesting parallel, dissociable hippocampal-centric, and prefrontal-centric theta mechanisms.


Migrant Literatures: Concept from an Excentric Literary Field. This article focuses on the concept of migrant literatures as it was developed by literary studies in Quebec at the beginning of the 1980s. It examines the conditions that led to the emergence of the notion, such as the historical evolution, immigration policies and linguistic specificity, and compares it with the situation in France, where such a concept was not considered by literary theory until recently and still meets with a certain resistance to multiculturalism. Hybridity is a key term to define migrant literatures, a term that emerged alongside postmodernism, and contributes to reconsidering the traditional boundaries of national literatures, often based on a uniform vision of history and a territorial perspective of space. On a literary level, the emergence of migrant literatures can be attributed to the tendency, in Quebec literature, towards exile, as it represents itself in an excentric perspective. As such, it fosters a close relationship with alterity and welcomes multiple identities. Quebec literature has also been described as adventureless, mostly representing an idyll sheltered from the outer world. This paper suggests that this also can promote a fertile ground for migrant writers, whether they need a refuge from a difficult experience or can offer the adventure missing from the general trend of works.


Flesh Blood Tech Art
Bodies and technology, aggression and trauma, the corporeal and the digital, Linda Dement will discuss a range of her work from the photographic to electronic.

Linda Dement is a Sydney based artist who has worked in arts computing since the late '80s, with a background in photography, film, and video. She works with issues of disturbance, commingling psycho sexual violent corporeality with the digital and electronic.
Her interactive and still image work has been widely exhibited internationally and locally, including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, Ars Electronica in Austria, the International Symposia of Electronic Art in Sydney and Montreal and the Impakt Media Arts Festival in Europe. She is twice winner of the Australian National Digital Art Award (the Harries), has been awarded a New Media Arts Fellowship by the Australia Council for the Arts.

"Dement's gift is to turn polymorphous perversity to aesthetic ends, let it run free and enjoy itself. The sacred and the savage, sexuality and abuse, are her private square of opposition." – George Alexander


The compendium presents good practices of the community based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) approach implemented under a Disaster Preparedness project in the North and East of Sri Lanka, supported by the Disaster Preparedness ECHO (DIPECHO). Learning drawn from the project can be replicated and built into future interventions. The compendium also highlights the post-conflict scenario, and how CBDRR approach can be a gateway to strengthen women's leadership, governance, sustainable livelihood and agricultural practices.


This article summarizes the basic principles of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-modulat-ed DSC (TMDSC) as well as the application of these techniques to polymeric materials or rubbers (elastomers). The determination of glass transition temperature T g and the heat capacity difference Δ C p at T g is crucial to elucidate the amorphous structure of polymers and polymer blends when using thermal analysis. In addition, enthalpy relaxation and thermal history must be considered in order to determine these thermal properties. In particular, TMDSC is a powerful technique to obtain highly sensitive and valuable information about the amorphous structure of polymers. The volume V α of the cooperatively rearranging region of chloroprene rubbers was determined as a function of crystal-linity using TMDSC. Based on the findings that the V α decreases with increasing crystallinity, the amorphous region of chloroprene rubbers is suggested to be restrained by the cross-link of the crystal.


The mainstream of embedded software development as of today is dominated by C programming. To aid the development, hardware abstractions, libraries, kernels and lightweight operating systems are commonplace. Such kernels and operating systems typically impose a thread based abstraction to concurrency. However, in general thread based programming is hard, plagued by race conditions and dead-locks. For this paper we take an alternative outset in terms of a language abstraction, RTFM-core, where the system is modelled directly in terms of tasks and resources. In compliance to the Stack Resource Policy (SRP) model, the language enforces (well-formed) LIFO nesting of claimed resources, thus SRP based analysis and scheduling can be readily applied. For the execution onto bare-metal single core architectures, the rtfm-core compiler performs SRP analysis on the model and render an executable that is deadlock free and (through RTFM-kernel primitives) exploits the underlying interrupt hardware for efficient scheduling. The RTFM-core language embeds C-code and links to C-object files and libraries, and is thus applicable to the mainstream of embedded development. However, while the language enforces well-formed resource management, control flow in the embedded C-code may violate the LIFO nesting requirement. In this paper we address this issue by lifting a subset of C into the RTFM-core language allowing arbitrary control flow at the model level. In this way well-formed LIFO nesting can be enforced, and models ensured to be correct by construction. We demonstrate the feasibility by means of a prototype implementation in the rtfm-core compiler. Additionally, we develop a set of running examples and show in detail how control flow is handled at compile time and during run-time execution.


This work reports the development and experimental validation of a reconstruction algorithm for three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear tomography problems. Many optical tomography problems encountered in practice are nonlinear, for example, due to significant absorption, multiple-scattering, or radiation trapping. Past research efforts have predominately focused on reconstruction algorithms for linear problems, and these algorithms are not readily extendable to nonlinear problems due to several challenges. These challenges include the computational cost caused by the nonlinearity (which was compounded by the large scale of the problems when they are 3D), the limited view angles available in many practical applications, and the measurement uncertainty. A new algorithm was therefore developed to overcome these challenges. The algorithm was validated both numerically and experimentally, and was demonstrated to be able to solve a range of nonlinear tomography problems with significantly enhanced efficiency and accuracy compared to existing algorithms.


From Mexico to the Bahamas, Mauritania to Lebanon, Turkey to Saudi Arabia, South Africa to Indonesia, Malaysia to Thailand, immigration-related detention has become an established policy apparatus that counts on dedicated facilities and burgeoning institutional bureaucracies. Until relatively recently, however, detention appears to have been largely an ad hoc tool, employed mainly by wealthy states in exigent circumstances. This paper uses concepts from diffusion theory to detail the history of key policy events in several important immigration destination countries that led to the spreading of detention practices during the last 30 years and assesses some of the motives that appear to have encouraged this phenomenon. The paper also endeavors to place the United States at the center of this story because its policy decisions appear to have played an important role in encouraging the process of policy innovation, imitation, and imposition that has helped give rise to today's global immigration detention phenomenon. Nevertheless, many US offshore practices have not received nearly the same attention as those of other important destination countries. More broadly, in telling this story, this paper seeks to flesh out some of the larger policy implications of the externalization of immigration control regimes. Just as offshore interdiction and detention schemes raise important questions about custody, accountability, and sovereignty, they should also spur questions over where responsibility for the wellbeing of migrants begins and ends.


From 1983 to 1991, iron caused over 30% of the deaths from accidental ingestion of drug products by children. An evidence-based expert consensus process was used to create this guideline. Relevant articles were abstracted by a trained physician researcher. The first draft of the guideline was created by the primary author. The entire panel discussed and refined the guideline before its distribution to secondary reviewers for comment. The panel then made changes in response to comments received. The objective of this guideline is to assist poison center personnel in the appropriate out-of-hospital triage and initial management of patients with suspected ingestions of iron by 1) describing the manner in which an ingestion of iron might be managed, 2) identifying the key decision elements in managing cases of iron ingestion, 3) providing clear and practical recommendations that reflect the current state of knowledge, and 4) identifying needs for research. This guideline applies to ingestion of iron alone and is based on an assessment of current scientific and clinical information. The expert consensus panel recognizes that specific patient care decisions may be at variance with this guideline and are the prerogative of the patient and the health professionals providing care, considering all of the circumstances involved. The panel's recommendations follow; the grade of recommendation is in parentheses. 1) Patients with stated or suspected self-harm or who are victims of malicious administration of an iron product should be referred to an acute care medical facility immediately. This activity should be guided by local poison center procedures. In general, this should occur regardless of the amount ingested (Grade D). 2) Pediatric or adult patients with a known ingestion of 40 mg/kg or greater of elemental iron in the form of adult ferrous salt formulations or who have severe or persistent symptoms related to iron ingestion should be referred to a healthcare facility for medical evaluation. Patients who have ingested less than 40 mg/kg of elemental iron and who are having mild symptoms can be observed at home. Mild symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea occur frequently. These mild symptoms should not necessarily prompt referral to a healthcare facility. Patients with more serious symptoms, such as persistent vomiting and diarrhea, alterations in level of consciousness, hematemesis, and bloody diarrhea require referral. The same dose threshold should be used for pregnant women, however, when calculating the mg/kg dose ingested, the pre-pregnancy weight of the woman should be used (Grade C). 3) Patients with ingestions of children's chewable vitamins plus iron should be observed at home with appropriate follow-up. The presence of diarrhea should not be the sole indicator for referral as these products are often sweetened with sorbitol. Children may need referral for the management of dehydration if vomiting or diarrhea is severe or prolonged (Grade C). 4) Patients with unintentional ingestions of carbonyl iron or polysaccharide-iron complex formulations should be observed at home with appropriate follow-up (Grade C). 5) Ipecac syrup, activated charcoal, cathartics, or oral complexing agents, such as bicarbonate or phosphate solutions, should not be used in the out-of-hospital management of iron ingestions (Grade C). 6) Asymptomatic patients are unlikely to develop symptoms if the interval between ingestion and the call to the poison center is greater than 6 hours. These patients should not need referral or prolonged observation. Depending on the specific circumstances, follow-up calls might be indicated (Grade C).


Objective:Patients who require tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation have poor outcomes and high costs of care. However, recent longitudinal trends relevant to these patients and their care have not been described. We aimed to describe trends in the annual incidence and timing of tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation, as well as prolonged mechanical ventilation patient resource utilization and overall in-hospital mortality. Design and Setting:Retrospective review of the North Carolina Hospital Discharge Database, a comprehensive record of all state nonfederal, nonpsychiatric hospital discharges between 1993 and 2002. Patients:Patients were 9,794 medical and surgical patients ≥18 yrs of age with International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 96.72 (mechanical ventilation for >96 hrs) and Diagnosis Related Group code 483 (tracheostomy except for face, neck, and mouth diagnoses). Interventions:None. Measurements:Incidence rates adjusted for annual population growth, mechanical ventilation days until tracheostomy placement, length of stay, and hospital charges and payments adjusted by the medical component of the Consumer Price Index. Main results:Between 1993 and 2002, the incidence of tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation increased across all age groups from 8.3 of 100,000 to 24.2 of 100,000 (p < .001), although most significantly among patients <55 yrs of age. During this period, a decrease was seen in mortality (from 39% to 25%), median mechanical ventilation days to tracheostomy placement (from 12 to 10 days), and median length of stay (from 47 to 33 days). By 2002, patients were almost three times less likely to be discharged to home independently although twice as likely to be sent to a skilled nursing facility. Although prolonged mechanical ventilation patients with tracheostomies represented only 7% of all who required mechanical ventilation, their total charges during the study period were $1.74 billion—22% of all mechanical ventilation patient charges. Conclusion:The incidence of tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation increased by nearly 200% during the past decade in North Carolina, exceeding changes in the overall incidence of respiratory failure three-fold. Although in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and charges per patient fell over time, the overall resource utilization of prolonged mechanical ventilation patients increased dramatically.


In this thesis I have assessed the links between accent, dialect and identity, positing the conceit that 'we wear our cultural identity on our tongues'. I assess and demonstrate how language (dialect) and intonation (accent) can be indicative of an identity. This thesis is presented in two parts: the creative component (a play) and the critical component (its exegesis). The creative component is a site-specific play to be performed in a room of an actual pub and written almost entirely in Lancashire dialect. The play deals with themes of identity, insularity and fear of the outside world. The play uses expectations of identity though speech and seeks to both subvert and reaffirm these expectations. Further to this, the play highlights the issue of how the local pub and its loss affects local society, as the pub used to be the hub of the community. The play will illustrate 'pub behaviour' and the differences between the rules of the pub and the rules of the outside world. The play demonstrates the human condition and uses the setting as a microcosm to be indicative of the intolerance of contemporary British society. Though a comedy, the play makes a serious comment on the state of the nation. By utilising realism the play represents pub and insular life, as I have witnessed it first-hand. In my accompanying exegesis I critically assess my final play, the writing process and the ongoing nature of creative art. It demonstrates how accent, dialect and speech are indicative of one's identity and the implications of that. I conclude that accent is not a reliable indicator of identity anymore, except in certain closed or insular communities, groups and locations such as the local pub, where accent and dialect can often operate as an exclusive and secret language


An outbreak of dengue fever in Madeira island was reported in 2012. Clinical and laboratory findings of the first two laboratory-confirmed autochthonous cases are reported. Both cases had fever (≥38 °C) and petechial rash. Symptoms also included myalgia, asthenia, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diffuse abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. The two cases were confirmed by serology and one tested positive for a dengue viral sequence. Dengue virus serotype DEN-1 was identified with probable Central or South American origin.


It is estimated that approximately 34% of clients will consult massage and other natural medicine practitioners for treatment of a condition that has not been previously assessed by a medical practitioner. Consequently all natural medicine practitioners have a responsibility to be able to determine whether their client is a suitable candidate for their treatment or whether they need to be seen by a medical or other health practitioner first. Taking a comprehensive case history from a client is usually the first step in massage therapy consultations and the best way to understand the reason for their client's visit. A system of coloured flags has been developed over the past two decades to help practitioners identify cues in the information gathered from clients that may indicate referral or other guidance for safe and effective treatment.


We investigate the role of information frictions in the US labor market using a new nationally representative panel dataset on individuals' labor market expectations and real- izations. We find that expectations about future job offers are, on average, highly predictive of actual outcomes. Despite their predictive power, however, deviations of ex post realizations from ex ante expectations are often sizable. The panel aspect of the data allows us to study how individuals update their labor market expectations in response to such shocks. We find a strong response: an individual who receives a job offer one dollar above her expectation subsequently adjusts her expectations upward by $0.47. The updating patterns we document are, on the whole, inconsistent with Bayesian updating. We embed the empirical evidence on expectations and learning into a model of search on- and off- the job with learning, and show that it is far better able to fit the data on reservation wages relative to a model that assumes complete information. The estimated model indicates that workers would have lower employment transition responses to changes in the value of unemployment through higher unemployment benefits than in a complete information model, suggesting that assuming workers have complete information can bias estimates of the predictions of government interventions. We use the framework to gauge the welfare costs of information frictions which arise because individuals make uninformed job acceptance decisions and find that the costs due to information frictions are sizable, but are largely mitigated by the presence of learning.


Purpose: To improve the effective spatial resolution of small field IMRT QA with 2D‐array device. Methods: When small field IMRT QA is measured with 2D‐array device, the spatial resolution (5–10mm) may beconsidered too sparse to accurately verify dose over high gradient area. Reducing the incident angle can improve spatial resolution along the transverse direction of the beam eye view (BEV). Rotating collimator can improve resolution along the other direction. However, detector angular dependency and electron scattering may potentially degrade measurement accuracy when the incident angle becomes too small. In this study, a Scandidos Delta4 device was used for IMRT QA measurements. It has two orthogonal dose planes with 5mm spatial resolution in central 6×6 cm. We measuredIMRT plans with two settings: one with 40 and 50 incident angles and the other with 15 and 75 incident angles. The measured 2D dose planes were compared with the ones calculated by TPS. 3D doses were estimated by interpolating two measurement points along beamlets based on the PDD curve and compared with the one from TPS. Results: Calculation showed that for single detector plane, the spatial resolution along the transverse irection of the BEV is improved from 3.21 mm (for the 40 degree) to 1.29 mm (for the 15 degree). When both orthogonal planes were considered, the spatial resolution was improve from 1.75 mm to 1.02 mm. The QAmeasurements showed that the average passing rate with 2% dose deviation criterion was 74 % for 15‐degree incident angle, only slightly lower than the passing rate of 80% for the 40‐degree incident angle. On the other side, the 15/75 setting reconstructed 3D dose in high gradient region more accurately than the 40/50 setting due to higher spatial resolution.Conclusions: A moderately small incident angle can improve effective spatial resolution without significant accuracy loss.


PURPOSE
The sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for breast cancer screening exceeds that of mammography. If MRI screening reduces mortality in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, it is expected that the incidence of advanced-stage breast cancers should be reduced in women undergoing MRI screening compared with those undergoing conventional screening.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We followed 1,275 women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation for a mean of 3.2 years. In total, 445 women were enrolled in an MRI screening trial in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and 830 were in the comparison group. The cumulative incidences of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), early-stage, and late-stage breast cancers were estimated at 6 years in the cohorts.

RESULTS
There were 41 cases of breast cancer in the MRI-screened cohort (9.2%) and 76 cases in the comparison group (9.2%). The cumulative incidence of DCIS or stage I breast cancer at 6 years was 13.8% (95% CI, 9.1% to 18.5%) in the MRI-screened cohort and 7.2% (95% CI, 4.5% to 9.9%) in the comparison group (P = .01). The cumulative incidence of stages II to IV breast cancers was 1.9% (95% CI, 0.2% to 3.7%) in the MRI-screened cohort and 6.6% (95% CI, 3.8% to 9.3%) in the comparison group (P = .02). The adjusted hazard ratio for the development of stages II to IV breast cancer associated with MRI screening was 0.30 (95% CI, 0.12 to 0.72; P = .008).

CONCLUSION
Annual surveillance with MRI is associated with a significant reduction in the incidence of advanced-stage breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers.


Organisational learning capabilities (OLC) can be defined as the organisational and managerial characteristics of factors that encourage learning process or facilitate an organisation to learn while knowledge performance can be explained as the ability of
individual, group and organisation to understand what they have learned. Various works and research have dealt with the analysis of this construct from different views and perspectives. However, research has shown that there were lack of studies that explored the perceptions and relationships between organisational learning
capabilities' (OLC) dimensions and knowledge performance in academic libraries. This study was set out to capture the perceptions of organisational learning capabilities among librarians and knowledge performance in academic libraries in
Malaysia. A research survey method using questionnaire was distributed to 240 librarians in selected university libraries in Malaysia which reflected the study objectives. From the feedback, only 186 (78%) of the questionnaires were returned and usable for further analysis. Quantitative approach was adopted for this study. The statistical analyses included descriptive and inferential statistics. Parametric tests were used to analyse the data. For parametric analysis, independent samples Mest, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson's correlation of coefficient and multiple regression analyses were used. From the findings, the OLC's dimensions on information communication and technology (ICT) was ranked as the highest (mean = 5.65) indicating that it was the most preferred response as perceived by the
respondents. Using ANOVA test, the results showed that there were significant differences on shared vision and mission, systems thinking, organisational culture and leadership among respondents with different years of working experience. In terms of work department, the results showed that there were significant differences on transfer of knowledge, organisational culture, leadership and ICT among respective respondents. Results of the findings also revealed that there were significant positive
relationship between OLC dimensions and knowledge performance in academic libraries which scored moderately correlated. From multiple regression analysis using stepwise method, dimensions on employees9 skills and competencies, information communication technology, shared vision and mission and transfer of knowledge were found to be the most significant predictor of knowledge performance. Meanwhile, the dimensions on organisational culture, systems thinking, leadership and teamwork cooperation were not significant in predicting the knowledge performance as they were excluded from the model. The outcome of the study is expected to assist the librarians and academic libraries for improving the skills of acquiring knowledge and learning capabilities towards enhancing the knowledge performance.


This paper seeks to explore the moral accounts of young people's own interpretation of their choice of parenthood, the new meanings in their lives brought about by the responsibility of parenthood, and the transformative experience that this responsibility generated. Drawing on a study of young parents in South West London this paper considers how the participants' moral understanding is fundamentally shaped by the social construction of the 'good' parent. This study employs an interpretative methodology with in-depth interviews and focused on their choice to become a parent at a young age. Fifteen young people were interviewed aged 16-19; of these six were young mothers, five young fathers, and four currently pregnant. A narrative method to analyse the data was employed because moral sense-making and self-interpretation take a narrative form. In the worlds in which these young parents live they negotiated their own narratives of the child and adult divide; and they positioned themselves as moral agents by accounting for their parenthood choices and through the exercise of moral autonomy. They affirmed their moral adult identity through making themselves accountable for the imperative of becoming responsible adults. The empirical findings in this study may be corrective to public discourses about teenaged parents.


Iranian garden is one of the frequent and popular subject matters in Iranian paintings and carpets. The various types of Iranian art in Islamic period widely focused on displaying gardens. The present study aimed at examining Iranian garden and the process of building gardens in Safavid period in two visual fields of painting and scarpets. Therefore, this researchtries to study the composition and viewing angles of on garden carpets and Iranian paintings of the Safavid period and their mutual relationship. soSo that it could reach a comprehensive structure of designing gardens and spectator's visual imagination in this two visual fields. The study was in a type of descriptive analytic approach and data analysis was carried out inductively. The study was a qualitative research with a comparative approach. The main part of this study is based on library obtained data. The purpose was to investigate the main structure of garden in carpets and Iranian paintings of the Safavid period, to find out existing similarities and differences between these two visual fields. The main research question here is that what kind of the structural linkage is there between the form of garden in paintings and carpets of Safavid period? The hypothesis is that the two artistic forms of garden carpets and paintings have mutual effects and intertextual linkage.Therefore, and based on carried out investigations in Safavid period, we selected 20 carpets and 46 paintings,and finally we randomly selected 5 samples out of each group for analysis then we tried to confirm the hypothesis having structuralistic and intertextuasl orientation. . The results showed that the composition of Persian gardens in the Safavid paintings and garden carpets was derived from the Chahar Bagh pattern with the emphasis on the centrality of dock, water distribution network, symmetry, naturalism, harmony of elements of the garden and the separation of spaces. existingExisting viewing angels varied according to the spectator's position.


Foodborne disease has been associated with microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. Most commonly, the outbreaks take place due to the ingestion of pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella Typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholera, Campylobacter jejuni, and Listeria monocytogenes. The disease usually happens as a result of toxin secretion of the microorganisms in the intestinal tract of the infected person. Usually, the level of hygiene in the food premises reflect the quality of the food item, hence restaurant or stall with poor sanitary condition is said to be the contributor to food poisoning outbreak. In Malaysia, food poisoning cases are not rare because the hot and humid climate of this country is very suitable for the growth of the foodborne bacteria. The government is also implementing strict rules to ensure workers and owners of food premises prioritize the cleanliness of their working area. Training programme for food handlers can also help them to implement hygiene as a routine in a daily basis. A lot of studies have been done to reduce foodborne diseases. The results can give information about the types of microorganisms, and other components that affect their growth. The result is crucial to determine how the spread of foodborne bacteria can be controlled safely and the outbreak can be reduced.


Intracellular zinc is thought to be available in a cytosolic pool of free or loosely bound Zn(II) ions in the micromolar to picomolar range. To test this, we determined the mechanism of zinc sensors that control metal uptake or export in Escherichia coli and calibrated their response against the thermodynamically defined free zinc concentration. Whereas the cellular zinc quota is millimolar, free Zn(II) concentrations that trigger transcription of zinc uptake or efflux machinery are femtomolar, or six orders of magnitude less than one atom per cell. This is not consistent with a cytosolic pool of free Zn(II) and suggests an extraordinary intracellular zinc-binding capacity. Thus, cells exert tight control over cytosolic metal concentrations, even for relatively low-toxicity metals such as zinc.