This study investigates the impact on the economy of the Italian region of the Sardinia generated by a new biomass power plant that will be fed with locally cultivated cardoon. The cardoon will also serve the production of biopolymers. The impact is assessed at an economy-wide level using a multiregional mixed-variable closed I-O model that allows taking into account the whole supply chain activated and the cross-regional effects generated by trade across local industries. The effects are computed under alternative scenarios simulating different degrees of substitution of existing agricultural productions with the new activity (the cardoon). Results show how the overall impact may be substantially influenced and even reversed according to the level of substitution.


It is widely believed that persistence in most endeavors is essential to their success. By its very nature, persistence enhances both the quality of an outcome and its probability of success because people are willing to endure failures before achieving a desired goal. To test this hypothesis on a massive scale, we studied the production histories and success dynamics of 10 million videos uploaded to a popular video Web site. Our results reveal that while the average quality of submissions does increase with the number of uploads, the more frequently an individual uploads content the less likely it is that it will reach a popularity threshold. These paradoxical findings, which hold both at the aggregate and individual levels, throw light on the act of production in the attention economy.


Due to the increasing relevance of analyzing water consumption along product life cycles, the water accounting and vulnerability evaluation model (WAVE) has been updated and methodologically enhanced. Recent data from the atmospheric moisture tracking model WAM2-layers is used to update the basin internal evaporation recycling (BIER) ratio, which denotes atmospheric moisture recycling within drainage basins. Potential local impacts resulting from water consumption are quantified by means of the water deprivation index (WDI). Based on the hydrological model WaterGAP3, WDI is updated and methodologically refined to express a basin's vulnerability to freshwater deprivation resulting from the relative scarcity and absolute shortage of water. Compared to the predecessor version, BIER and WDI are provided on an increased spatial and temporal (monthly) resolution. Differences compared to annual averages are relevant in semiarid and arid basins characterized by a high seasonal variation of water consumption and availability. In order to support applicability in water footprinting and life cycle assessment, BIER and WDI are combined to an integrated WAVE+ factor, which is provided on different temporal and spatial resolutions. The applicability of the WAVE+ method is proven in a case study on sugar cane, and results are compared to those obtained by other impact assessment methods.


An awesome festival of sporting excellence and competition, the Olympic Games have now evolved into a major international event with great cultural, political, economic and social importance. The Olympic Games Explained is an introductory guide to the history and meaning of the four-yearly phenomenon that is the modern Olympic Games. The book provides a comprehensive overview of 'Olympism' from its Ancient Greek origins through the beginnings of the International Olympic Committee to the global Olympic Movement in the twenty-first century. Each chapter offers a range of study tasks and review questions to help students develop their understanding of key concepts in Olympic studies.


OBJECTIVE
The Caribbean including Jamaica is undergoing rapid population ageing with implications for health service planning and delivery. Such planning should take into account gender differentials. This study describes and analyses the health status and health-seeking behaviour of men 55 years and over in Jamaica.

METHOD
A quantitative cross-sectional survey employing cluster sampling techniques was utilized to recruit 2000 men, 55 years and older in the parish of St Catherine, Jamaica. A 126-item questionnaire was administered and standard instruments utilized to assess functional status.

RESULTS
Respondents (74%) rated their health status as excellent/good. Few men were highly dependent with regard to Activities of Daily Living with incontinence being a major concern. Medication management and shopping were the major Instrumental Activities of Daily Living domains where assistance was needed. Depression was associated with non-involvement in community/social organizations and not being in physical contact with their children. Major health conditions reported were cancers (16%), kidney/bladder conditions (12.7%), hypertension (9.2%) diabetes (6.5%) and prostate problems (7.3%). Most men (67.6%) had not visited a health provider in the year prior to the survey; 17.1% had been hospitalized after age 55 years. Only 35% of men ever had a prostate check/examination and 8.2% of men eligible for drug benefits under the Jamaica Drugs for the Elderly Programme registered for that programme.

CONCLUSION
There is need to focus on older men's health and ensure that primary prevention and early interventions reach middle-aged and older men while improving health literacy. Taking programmes to 'where men are" is suggested--the bars, race track and sports events. Gender and age-specific research should reduce gender disparities in health among older persons in Jamaica.


During 1991-2010, 456 persons from 62 countries were provided financial support to attend the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Winners came from 17 African, 16 Asia-Pacific, 14 Latin American and Caribbean, and 13 European and Middle Eastern countries, and from Canada and the United States. Virtually equal numbers of awards were offered to women and men. Winners were selected from U.S. academic centers (30%), foreign universities (26%), international centers, institutes or research units (30%), and approximately 5% from U.S. government agencies. Almost all winners (73 of 76, 96%) had scientific publications subsequent to receiving the travel award. Less than 10% of award winners continued their membership in the Society after their one-year complementary membership. Winners indicated that the travel awards program facilitated international exchange and fostered collaborations between Society members and international scientists.


This thesis explores the international adjustment and networking of international students at NHH in light of cultural distance. According to the available literature it is easier to adjust to a country where the cultural distance to the home country is small, compared to when the cultural distance towards the home country is larger. The process of international adjustment is often explained by the culture shock cycle where greater cultural distance is expected to result in a deeper culture shock and a longer adjustment period. The international adjustment is seen in the aspect of adjustment to the general environment, adjustment to interacting with host nationals, and adjustment to work. The second aspect of this thesis is to explore the networking patterns of international students and the possible effects it poses on international adjustment. Theory predicts a positive relationship between adjustment and interaction with host nationals. However, it is also predicted that networks tend to be formed with a preference towards likeminded conationals. The respondents selected to explore the subject were eight international students at NHH divided into two equal groups based on expected cultural distance; one group of Western Europeans and one group of Asians. The adjustment process fit the culture shock cycle for some of the respondents and for some not. Cultural distance could not explain whether the culture shock cycle was accurate for the adjustment or not as there was an equal spread between the eastern and western group. However, culture shock was more frequently experienced within the eastern group. Anticipatory adjustment and language skills were found to play an important role in explaining the adjustment of the international students. Moreover the networking pattern of the respondents proved to coincide quite well with the presented literature.


Many therapeutic agents are manufactured and administered in prodrug forms. In this paper, a new classification system for prodrugs is proposed to provide useful information about where in the body a prodrug is converted to the active drug. In this system, prodrugs are classified into Type I or Type II and the respective Subtypes IA, IB, IIA, IIB or IIC based on their sites of conversion into the final active drug form. For Type I prodrugs, conversion occurs intracellularly (e.g., antiviral nucleoside analogs, lipid-lowering statins), whereas conversion of Type II prodrugs occurs extracellularly, for examples in digestive fluids, systemic circulation or other extracellular body fluids (e.g., etoposide phosphate, valganciclovir, fosamprenavir). Type IA prodrugs refer to those that are converted at the cellular targets of therapeutic actions, whereas Type IB prodrugs' conversion occurs in the primary metabolic tissues such as liver, gut, or lung. For Type II prodrugs, the conversion process could either take place extracellularly in the milieu of gastrointestinal fluids (Type IIA), in the systemic circulation and/or other systemic extracellular fluid compartments (Type IIB), or near therapeutical target cells (Type IIC). A prodrug may belong to multiple categories and be recognized as a Mixed-Type prodrug. For example a prodrug may be converted both in target cells and metabolic tissues such as liver (i.e., named as a Type IA/IB prodrug), or one converted in both GI fluids and systemic circulations (i.e., named as a Type IIA/IIB prodrug). The Mixed-Type compound can be further distinguished as a Parallel Mixed-Type or Sequential Mixed-Type prodrug depending on the conversion processes that proceed with, either in concurrent or in sequential steps. Because traditional analysis of drug actions has always been focused on the site of action and mode of action, the proposed classification of prodrugs based on cellular locations of conversion is in line with current thought processes of regulatory review and risk assessment of both prodrug and active drug. By gaining insights regarding the site of action through prodrug nomenclature, risk benefit evaluation can be made more efficiently because both information on kinetics and impact of tissues involved are adequately revealed through prodrug subtype designated. In conclusion, the new system of classification will add to existing knowledge of prodrug classifications, and will provide improved insight into the contributory roles of both prodrug and active drug in the product's efficacy and safety, and their risk-benefit assessment.


The removal of transition metal ions is crucial for improving the efficiency of subsequent peroxide bleaching. Acid-washing and chelation have been proposed for such a purpose. However, their influences on the Mg(OH)2-based peroxide bleaching of hardwood pulps at a high consistency have not been well documented in the literature. In this work, we studied the influence of acid-washing using sulfuric acid or chelation using diethylenetriaminepentaacetic (DTPA) on the Mg(OH)2- or NaOH-based hydrogen peroxide bleaching efficiency, effluent properties of bleaching filtrates, and paper properties. The results showed that for Mg(OH)2-based peroxide bleaching, the pulp yield and water retention value of acid-washed pulp were higher than those of the chelated pulp; the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity of the bleaching filtrates for the acid-washed pulp were lower than those of the chelated pulp. The bleached acid-washed pulp had lower strength properties than bleached chelated pulp did. Additionally, at a high pulp consistency (25%), the Mg(OH)2-based process had a higher bleaching efficiency and superior bleaching effluent properties, but a lower strength properties, in comparison with the NaOH-based process.


ABSTRACTIncense burning in temples is a common and popular ritual in India and other Asian countries. This study aims at assessing the quantity and size segregated distribution of particulate matter in temples of Kanpur city, India. Active air sampling was performed in three temples using the Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI). PM10 mass concentrations as high as 2184 µg m–3 were recorded inside the temples. Mass concentration values for all samples exceeded the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 100 µg m–3. Particle counts were high, and more than 99% of the numbers of particles generated were PM2.5. Particle coagulation is an active mechanism leading to formation of polydispersed particles. Most abundant particles occur in the accumulation mode (dp < 1 µm). Ventilation conditions and amount of incense burned are major factors affecting particle size distribution. Exposure through inhalation, to critically high concentrations of fine particulate matter generated via incense smoke especially for worshippers who frequent the temple and temple workers, raises health concerns. The results clearly indicate that incense smoke is a major source of particulate matter in the temple microenvironment and their chemical characteristics need further examination.


The Warm Arctic–cold Siberia surface temperature pattern during recent boreal winter is suggested to be triggered by the ongoing decrease of Arctic autumn sea ice concentration and has been observed together with an increase in mid-latitude extreme events and a meridionalization of tropospheric circulation. However, the exact mechanism behind this dipole temperature pattern is still under debate, since model experiments with reduced sea ice show conflicting results. We use the early twentieth-century Arctic warming (ETCAW) as a case study to investigate the link between September sea ice in the Barents–Kara Sea (BKS) and the Siberian temperature evolution. Analyzing a variety of long-term climate reanalyses, we find that the overall winter temperature and heat flux trend occurs with the reduction of September BKS sea ice. Tropospheric conditions show a strengthened atmospheric blocking over the BKS, strengthening the advection of cold air from the Arctic to central Siberia on its eastern flank, together with a reduction of warm air advection by the westerlies. This setup is valid for both the ETCAW and the current Arctic warming period.


The Grevillea deposit is a newly discovered Pb-Zn-Ag stratabound sediment-hosted
deposit in the Lawn Hill Region of NNW Queensland. It lies in part of the Mount Isa
Inlier which has been described as one of the richest mineral provinces in the world.
The study undertook varied geochemical analyses for determining element variations and
the relationships, and elemental partitions in the regolith units. It was found that TI, Pb, Si,
Fe are surface indicators of mineralisation for the Grevillea deposit. Two types of rock
units dominated the regolith, which overlies the massive pyrite zone: the jarosite limonites
and the hematite limonites, and both act as sponges for metals derived from the ore. The
jarosite types in the area are likely plumbojarosite and argentojarosite.
Textures were also studied in outcrop, on a handspecimen scale, and on microscopic scales
to search for evidence of primary sulfides. Sections of ore sample were studied and some
links were made to surface textures. These included sedimentary features, bladed and
platey hematite, and framboidal structures. Light rare earth minerals (monazites) in the
core were an unexpected unusual find as they are not normally associated with sedex style
deposits. The monazites may have useful application in dating the deposit or gossan
formation.


Welfare agencies are involved in a complex process of transformation and working to overcome the past unjust system of racial and social discrimination in welfare. Many new policies have been developed as instruments of transformation and reform. There has been a shift in welfare policy from a residual model of welfare to a developmental focus. This requires radical changes by those involved in the welfare sector. This study assesses the level of transformation in service delivery in welfare agencies in KwaZulu-Natal: the link between policy and implementation. The White Paper of Social Welfare (1997) and subsequent policies will form the criteria from which transformation will be evaluated. Child Welfare agencies in KwaZulu-Natal formed the sample in the study. A survey method was used. Management members and social workers the agencies were interviewed. Senior officials and staff being policy-makers of the National Council of Child Welfare were also interviewed. It is argued that welfare agencies are grappling with the process of transformation and that delivery of services is far removed from that which the policies intend. Change, it is argued, has to be handled holistically, by combing policy, organisational change, re-ciirecting of energy and social energy. The results of study illustrates that what appears to have occurred thus far has been limited, incremental and piecemeal. The global economy and the macro. economic policy of GEAR has constrained achievement of the goals of developmental social Yl9lfare in that there has been minimal increases in social spending. Past policies have put a brake on the implementation of a relevant welfare system. It is unlikely that agencies have the capacity to deal with the intensity of policy change, organisational development and new client bases. Overall , it can be argued that change has been haphazard, too rapid and poorly managed. A proposed model towards transformation is recommended. There has to be a partnership in the public-civic interface based on synergy and co-production if welfare services are to be relevant and meet the needs of the majority of people of South Africa.


Objective: To evaluate the analgesic, anti-infllammatory and invitro cytotoxic effects of the ethanolic extract of Andrographis paniculata wall ex Nees. Materials and methods: The analgesic activity of the ethanolic extract of leaves of Andrographis paniculata (EAP) wall.ex Nees were reported to have analgesic activity but the activity has still not reported in stem. The analgesic activity ofAndrographis paniculata was studied in mice by hot plate method, tail clip method and acetic acid induced writhing method. The anti-inflammatory activity of the EAP was studied in rats by carrageenan induced paw edema method. Two different doses of EAP extract (200mg/kg of 400mg/kg bodyweight) of animals were tested. Result: The EAP (400mg/kg) has revealed significant analgesic activity using all the three methods whereas 200mg/ kg extract of AP has shown significant activity only using acetic acid induced writhing method. The EAP extract also revealed significant anti-inflammatory activity. EAP was found to be cytotoxic in the vitro model. The invitro cytotoxicity study showed the IC50 of EAP to be 62µg/ml. Conclusion: The results suggest that the enthanolic extract ofAP possesses analgesic, anti-inflammatory and found to be cytotoxic in the invitro model.


We use classical lattice simulations in 3+1 dimensions to study the interplay between the resonant production of particles during preheating and the subsequent decay of these into a set of secondary species. We choose to work in a simplified version of Higgs inflation in which the Higgs field non-minimally coupled to gravity plays the role of the inflaton. Our numerical results extend the analytical estimates in the literature beyond the linear regime and shed some light on the limitations of the analytical techniques. The inclusion of fast and inefficient decays postpones the onset of parametric resonance by depleting the particles produced at the bottom of the potential. In spite of this delay, fermions are shown to play an important role on the destruction of the inflaton field. The limitations of our approach and its applications to a realistic Higgs inflation scenario are also discussed.


The present study addresses the phenomenon of online nonprofessional translation of manga in the context of Iran from the perspective of agency. It focuses on the people involved in decision-making in nonprofessional translation production, the non-professional translators' motivations for their free immaterial labor as well as the factors that can constrain or increase their willingness or ability to translate manga into Persian. These questions were answered based on the activities of AnimWorld, the largest Iranian community of non-professional translators. The results suggest that non-professional translations differ from professional translations in terms of decision-making processes, motivations of the individuals involved as well as the contexts where they practice.


Gene coexpression is a common feature employed in predicting buffering relationships that explain genetic interactions, which constitute an important mechanism behind the robustness of cells to genetic perturbations. The complete removal of such buffering connections impacts the entire molecular circuitry, ultimately leading to cellular death. Coexpression is commonly measured through Pearson correlation coefficients. However, Pearson correlation values are sensitive to indirect effects and often partial correlations are used instead. Yet, partial correlation values convey no information on the (linear) influence of the association within the entire multivariate system or, in other words, of the represented edge within the entire network. Jones and West (2005) showed that covariance can be decomposed into the weights of the paths that connect two variables within the corresponding undirected network. Here we provide a precise interpretation of path weights and show that, in the particular case of single-edge paths, this interpretation leads to a quantity we call networked partial correlation whose value depends on both the partial correlation between the intervening variables and their association with the rest of the multivariate system. We show that this new quantity correlates better with quantitative genetic interactions in yeast than classical coexpression measures.


Received for review January 30 th , 2012, accepted September 25 th , 2012, final version October, 19 th , 2012 ABSTRACT: Forest fires contribute to deforestation and have been considered a significant source of CO 2 emissions. There are global maps that estimate the area affected by a fire using the reflectance variation of the surface. In this study, we evaluated the reliability and the causes of error of the MCD45 Burned Area Product, by applying the confusion matrix method to the Orinoco River Basin. This basin is located in the northern zone of South America, and consists mainly of savanna ecosystems. For the evaluation, we used as reference data five pairs of Landsat images, covering 165,000 km 2 . The Burned Area Product estimated a burned area of 7,576.43 km 2 , which is lower than the area of 12,100.16 km 2 found with Landsat images, leading to an overall underestimation. The causes of error are associated to the spatial resolution of the map, and to some structures of the algorithm that generates the map.


A hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin-film transistor (a-Si:H TFT) source driver for e-paper was designed with a latch and bootstrap selection circuit. The source driver was optimized by simulation and verified with measurements after circuit fabrication. The output waveforms of the conventional and proposed a-Si:H source drivers were compared. The proposed a-Si:H TFT source driver provided a shorter rise time and higher output voltages than the conventional one.


This paper investigates the potential of multi-temporal C- and L-band SAR data, acquired within a short revisiting time (1-2 weeks), to map temporal changes of surface soil moisture content (mv) underneath agricultural crops. The analysed data consist of a new ground and SAR data set acquired on a weekly basis from late April to early August 2006 over the DEMMIN (Durable Environmental Multidisciplinary Monitoring Information Network) agricultural site (Northern Germany) during the European Space Agency 2006 AgriSAR campaign. The paper firstly investigates the main scattering mechanisms characterizing the interaction between the SAR signal and crops, such as winter wheat and rape. Then, the relationship between backscatter and soil moisture content temporal changes as a function of different SAR bands and polarizations is studied. Observations indicate that rationing of the multi-temporal radar backscatter can be a simple and effective way to decouple the effect of vegetation and surface roughness from the effect of soil moisture changes, when volume scattering is not dominant. The study also assesses to which extent changes in the incidence angle between subsequent radar acquisitions may affect the radar sensitivity to soil moisture content. Finally, an algorithm based on the change detection technique retrieving superficial soil moisture content is proposed and assessed both on simulated and experimental data. Results indicate that for crops relatively insensitive to volume scattering in the vegetation canopy (as for instance winter wheat at C-band or winter rape and winter wheat at L-band), mv can be retrieved during the whole growing season, with accuracies ranging between 5% and 6% [m3/m3]. We also show that low incidence angles (e.g., 20-35 ) and HH polarization are generally better suited to mv retrieval than VV polarization and higher incidence angles.


Remotely sensed canopy temperature from infrared thermometer (IRT) sensors is an effective tool for detecting plant water stress. Deficit irrigation, where the plants receive less than full irrigations and come under water stress at certain growth stages, can be used to help alleviate water shortage in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Thus, new irrigation scheduling procedures need to be developed. A field study was conducted from 2009 to 2011 to evaluate the performance of using midday infrared canopy to air temperature difference (ΔT) to manage postharvest deficit irrigation of early season peach trees. Threshold values of ΔT were selected, based on previous years' stem water potential and ΔT measurements, for four irrigation treatments: Furrow and surface drip irrigation with or without postharvest water stress. A wired network of 12 IRT sensors was installed above the orchard for canopy temperature measurement. Soil water content and stem water potential were also monitored weekly for each treatment. In both growing seasons (2009–2010 and 2010–2011), the measured ΔT values showed consistent differences among treatments, which correlated to both soil water content (R2 ≈ 0.47–0.53) and stem water potential readings (R2 ≈ 0.46–0.65). The relationship between fruit mass and postharvest irrigation amount indicated that up to 53% water savings could be achieved without impacting fruit size. The study demonstrated that infrared canopy temperature measured from above the tree top can potentially be used for managing deficit irrigation in peach and possibly other tree crops. Additional research is needed to further validate this approach.


To exploit the benefits of concurrent engineering and avoid the usual problems associated with nonconforming materials, an Air Force program for creating an aircraft transparency design engineering workstation, ADP2 (Analytical Design Package), was structured around a materials data server (M/VISION coupled with PATRAN). The data server at the core of the system is used to integrate a variety of applications and databanks, both commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and special purpose items developed by the Air Force and the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI). It provides the focal point for loading, processing, cataloging and transferring of data between the various applications. As a part of the frameless transparency program (FTP), ADP2 is a design tool consisting of existing analysis codes and computer aided engineering (CAE) software. The objective of ADP2 is to develop an integrated design methodology for frameless transparencies, aircraft interfaces, and their corresponding tooling. The scope goes all the way from materials testing through design and analysis to manufacturing and full life cycle maintenance. Several categories of materials data are handled, including raw test data, manufacturer's product data, evaluated property and specification data (such as from Military Handbooks), synthesized or simulated properties data, as well as data on service history. The functional environment requires multiple iterations through the design process with evolving materials properties and processing parameters for various testing, manufacturing, and analysis environments. The basic features of the ADP2 system and the development process are described. Insight into how the system is used is given by virtue of an example involving the materials data integration module. The incorporation of technology and concepts from evolving standards like ISO/STEP and ASTM Committee E49 on Computerization of Material and Chemical Property Data proved very beneficial.


Lymphedema of the arm is a complication that occurs in about 10-20% of women treated for breast cancer. Breast cancer treatment can damage or disrupt normal lymphatic pathways, causing fluid to accumulate in the arm. This condition is called lymphedema. Swelling of the arm can be painful and disfiguring, negatively impacting the quality of life of afflicted individuals. Lymphedema is a progressive disorder that requires prompt diagnosis and treatment to prevent the occurrence of more serious complications, such as infection or severe disability of the arm. Past research have attempted to identify risk factors that influenced the development of lymphedema, however conflicting results were observed between studies. Therefore, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify studies that examined the effect of prognostic and/or personal factors on lymphedema. In the meta-analyses, results from each independent study were abstracted and pooled with other studies using the random-effects model. In an effort to examine additional factors that were not widely studied, a retrospective cohort study was conducted on women diagnosed with breast cancer in Iowa during 2004. A questionnaire was developed to collect information on arm activities, comorbidity, and lymphedema-related symptoms. Eligible women were identified from the State Health Registry of Iowa and data were collected through computer-assisted telephone interviews. At the end of the interview, each woman was asked to measure the circumference of her right and left arm one hand width above and below the elbow crease. The meta-analysis found that mastectomy (as opposed to a lumpectomy), axillary dissection (as opposed to sentinel node biopsy), radiation therapy, presence of positive nodes, obesity (body mass index >30), low education (less than high school), presence of any co-morbidity, injury and infection increased the risk of developing lymphedema. The


Two-hybrid systems are powerful tools to study protein-protein interactions in biological systems. The role of protein-protein interactions involved in pathogenesis of bacterial and viral infections were defined by using yeast or bacterial two-hybrid screens. Examples are given to highlight the specificity of interactions in signaling pathways, in regulation, secretion and structure-function relationships of virulence factors and their cellular targets. Two-hybrid systems were also used to establish large-scale protein interaction maps of viral and bacterial pathogens, that might be useful to identify targets for new drugs or vaccines.


Dispersal is a crucial process for population exchange and expansion, and traits that facilitate dispersal may be positively selected during biological invasions. Here, we performed a basic study on differences in behavior between the slug Arion lusitanicus auct. non Mabille, 1868 (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), which is considered to be one of the 100 worst invasive species in Europe, and native gastropods. We assumed that the species is more active and less sensitive to otherwise aversive stimuli, and thus more likely to utilize novel environments. We quantified field densities and performed pitfall trap studies in 15 differently-structured habitats (urban, grassland, succession, riverine forest) in the floodplain of the LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) site 'Rhine-Main-Observatory' in Hesse, Germany. Here, A. lusitanicus was naturalized and scored 15 in terms of abundance rank, but was the dominant species in terms of trappability with the acidic Renner solution. A more detailed approach with a set of different baits showed that individuals of the invader were attracted to the acidic Renner solution, mustard oil, and garlic extract, all of which the native snails and slugs avoided. The results support the hypothesis that the invasive slug differs from other gastropods in its behavioral response to unusual, novel stimuli that may indicate some potential threat to other gastropod species. Future studies are needed to show if this behavior is related to personality traits such as exploration, boldness and risk-taking, and if it may have been positively selected in the context of the slug being passively spread in severely-transformed habitats such as gardens and greenhouses.


The Voting Rights Act of 1965 revolutionized access to the voting booth. Rather than responding to claims of voter suppression through litigation against individual states or counties, the Voting Rights Act introduced a coverage formula that preemptively regulated a large number of localities across the country. In doing so, the Voting Rights Act replaced reactive, piecemeal litigation with a proactive structure of continual federal oversight. As the most successful civil rights law in the nation's history, the Voting Rights Act provides a blueprint for responding to one of the most pressing civil rights problems the country faces today: police misconduct. As with voter suppression in the mid-twentieth century, abusive police conduct against minority citizens is a national problem perpetrated by thousands of localities. Federal efforts to cure the problem through litigation against individual police departments have failed to produce widespread reform. This Article applies the lessons of the Voting Rights Act in proposing the use of a coverage formula to identify and regulate local police departments engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional misconduct. While this proposal would significantly enhance federal power over police departments, such a change is both necessary to curb police misconduct and constitutionally permissible.


The Arctic is a sentinel of global change. This region is influenced by multiple physical and socio-economic drivers and feedbacks, impacting both the natural and human environment. Air pollution is one such driver that impacts Arctic climate change, ecosystems and health but significant uncertainties still surround quantification of these effects. Arctic air pollution includes harmful trace gases (e.g. tropospheric ozone) and particles (e.g. black carbon, sulphate) and toxic substances (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that can be transported to the Arctic from emission sources located far outside the region, or emitted within the Arctic from activities including shipping, power production, and other industrial activities. This paper qualitatively summarizes the complex science issues motivating the creation of a new international initiative, PACES (air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate, Environment and Societies). Approaches for coordinated, international and interdisciplinary research on this topic are described with the goal to improve predictive capability via new understanding about sources, processes, feedbacks and impacts of Arctic air pollution. Overarching research actions are outlined, in which we describe our recommendations for 1) the development of trans-disciplinary approaches combining social and economic research with investigation of the chemical and physical aspects of Arctic air pollution; 2) increasing the quality and quantity of observations in the Arctic using long-term monitoring and intensive field studies, both at the surface and throughout the troposphere; and 3) developing improved predictive capability across a range of spatial and temporal scales.


A number of recent studies have shown that hybridized antiphase dipolar plasmons, qualitatively similar to
magnetic dipole resonances, can be excited in metal–dielectric–metal structures over a wide frequency range.
Here, we study how structural asymmetry in plasmonic nanosandwiches, composed of two Au disks separated
by a thin SiO2 layer, affects their near- and far-field optical properties using point-dipole analysis, electrodynamics
simulations, and optical spectroscopy. We find that the strength of the antiphase resonant mode can be
increased significantly compared to a symmetrical sandwich if the diameters or thicknesses of the nanodisks in
the sandwich are made to differ. Such asymmetrical nanosandwiches also exhibit a generally stronger magnetic
response, as characterized by the magnetic near-field enhancement in the region between the disks. However,
symmetry breaking also leads to pronounced directionality effects in the magnetic near-field, i.e., the enhancement
depends on which side of the sandwich that is first illuminated.


Essential oils are natural substances extracted from various organs of multiple plant species, such as buds, flowers, leaves, stems, branches, roots, seeds, fruits, wood, and bark. The oils are used as a raw material for food flavoring, and as food additives and additives to cosmetics and perfumes. In this study, we investigated the composition of essential oils extracted from the branches and leaves of Torreya nucifera and their cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity against oral bacteria. Hydro-distilled T. nucifera essential oils (TNEs) were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 16 components were identified, with dl-limonene (43.95%), α-pinene (14.76%), δ-3 carene (8.94%), and δ-cadinene (5.42%) representing the main components. Antimicrobial activity tests were carried out using MIC, MBC and time kill assays against the oral bacteria, Streptococcus mutans (KCOM 1054) and Streptococcus sobrinus (KCOM 1157). TNEs showed bactericidal effect at 2X MIC against the oral bacteria. In vitro time kill assays were performed at 0.5, 1, and 2X MICs. Cytotoxicity was confirmed using MTT assay by analyzing the amount of formazan crystals via ELISA. Based on these results, we confirm the feasibility of TNEs as a natural antimicrobial agent for oral microorganisms.


Abstract. Atmospheric aerosol distributions from 2000 to 2007 are simulated with the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model to attribute light absorption by aerosol to its composition and sources from pollution, dust, and biomass burning. The 8-year, global averaged total aerosol optical depth (τ), absorption optical depth (τa), and single scattering albedo (ω) at 550 nm are estimated at 0.14, 0.0086, and 0.95, respectively, with sulfate making the largest fraction of τ (37%), followed by dust (30%), sea salt (16%), organic matter (OM) (13%), and black carbon (BC) (4%). BC and dust account for 43% and 53% of τa, respectively. From a model experiment with "tagged" sources, natural aerosols are estimated to be 58% of τ and 53% of τa, with pollution and biomass burning aerosols to share the rest. Comparing with data from the surface sunphotometer network AERONET, the model tends to reproduce much better the AERONET direct measured data of τ and the Angstrom exponent (α) than its retrieved quantities of ω and τa. Relatively small in its systematic bias of τ for pollution and dust regions, the model tends to underestimate τ for biomass burning aerosols by 30–40%. The modeled α is 0.2–0.3 too low (particle too large) for pollution and dust aerosols but 0.2–0.3 too high (particle too small) for the biomass burning aerosols, indicating errors in particle size distributions in the model. Still, the model estimated ω is lower in dust regions and shows a much stronger wavelength dependence for biomass burning aerosols but a weaker one for pollution aerosols than those quantities from AERONET. These comparisons necessitate model improvements on aerosol size distributions, the refractive indices of dust and black carbon aerosols, and biomass burning emissions in order to better quantify the aerosol absorption in the atmosphere.


In this paper we introduce a synthetic notion of Riemannian Ricci bounds from below for metric measure spaces (X,d,m) which is stable under measured Gromov-Hausdorff convergence and rules out Finsler geometries. It can be given in terms of an enforcement of the Lott, Sturm and Villani geodesic convexity condition for the entropy coupled with the linearity of the heat flow. Besides stability, it enjoys the same tensorization, global-to-local and local-to-global properties. In these spaces, that we call RCD(K,\infty) spaces, we prove that the heat flow (which can be equivalently characterized either as the flow associated to the Dirichlet form, or as the Wasserstein gradient flow of the entropy) satisfies Wasserstein contraction estimates and several regularity properties, in particular Bakry-Emery estimates and the L^\infty-Lip Feller regularization. We also prove that the distance induced by the Dirichlet form coincides with d, that the local energy measure has density given by the square of Cheeger's relaxed slope and, as a consequence, that the underlying Brownian motion has continuous paths. All these results are obtained independently of Poincar\'e and doubling assumptions on the metric measure structure and therefore apply also to spaces which are not locally compact, as the infinite-dimensional ones


Objective To determine the effectiveness of early physiotherapy in reducing the risk of secondary lymphoedema after surgery for breast cancer. Design Randomised, single blinded, clinical trial. Setting University hospital in Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Participants 120 women who had breast surgery involving dissection of axillary lymph nodes between May 2005 and June 2007. Intervention The early physiotherapy group was treated by a physiotherapist with a physiotherapy programme including manual lymph drainage, massage of scar tissue, and progressive active and action assisted shoulder exercises. This group also received an educational strategy. The control group received the educational strategy only. Main outcome measure Incidence of clinically significant secondary lymphoedema (>2 cm increase in arm circumference measured at two adjacent points compared with the non-affected arm). Results 116 women completed the one year follow-up. Of these, 18 developed secondary lymphoedema (16%): 14 in the control group (25%) and four in the intervention group (7%). The difference was significant (P=0.01); risk ratio 0.28 (95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.79). A survival analysis showed a significant difference, with secondary lymphoedema being diagnosed four times earlier in the control group than in the intervention group (intervention/control, hazard ratio 0.26, 95% confidence interval 0.09 to 0.79). Conclusion Early physiotherapy could be an effective intervention in the prevention of secondary lymphoedema in women for at least one year after surgery for breast cancer involving dissection of axillary lymph nodes. Trial registration Current controlled trials ISRCTN95870846.


Payment by Results (PbR) is increasingly popular. £15B-worth of schemes in the UK
public sector had a PbR element (National Audit Office 2015) and Payment by
Results is widely used in the United States and Australia (Webster 2015). Despite
this, there is no framework for target achievement in PbR to guide principals, agents
and other stakeholders. In my experience at a local level, this omission means that
Payment by Results does not automatically lead to success.
The research project explored how to develop a practical framework, rooted in
business and management literature, for the effective implementation of PbR
programmes in the public sector. The three research objectives of a better
understanding of the National Troubled Families Initiative's geographic and socioeconomic
context and target cohort and how success can be achieved both in the
programme and in Payment by Results provision contributed to this.
The key Payment by Results literature was reviewed with the theoretical framework
of Stakeholder Theory and Agency Theory. The case study methodology then
reviewed the National Troubled Families Initiative – an eight-year Payment by
Results programme launched in England as a response to the 2011 English
disturbances - to identify the gaps in the PbR literature and successful provision from
the UK and US was then presented as a benchmark of good practice.
In order to provide empirical content and support to the framework, I used a
pragmatic research philosophy, which was further along the continuum of
interpretivism than positivism. Mixed methods mainly influenced by qualitative data
analysis led to the ethical qualitative analysis of Phase One secondary quantitative
data from the Department of Communities and Local Government – the 'Troubled
Families' principal – and one agent from the North-East of England to identify key
themes and relationships. These were then explored further by ethically gathering
primary qualitative data from key stakeholders from another Northeast city, a
Southeast county and a Northwest consortium of authorities. This data was then
analysed using thematic narrative analysis and thematic analysis.
8
The research findings expanded upon the guidelines for principals considering
commissioning Payment by Results provision (National Audit Office 2015) and the
six elements of an effective outcome (Webster 2016). They provided a new, sevenstage
practical framework for achieving targets in Payment by Results provision.
This incorporated best practice guidelines for stakeholder analysis, principal
identification, agent identification and the establishment of an Expert Body and
incorporated a practical process for successful strategy and operations
implementation, delivery, data collection and analysis, and findings and action. The
framework can be applied to all types of PbR provision across the public sector. This
is something, which renders the research project extremely commercially attractive.
The PbR framework will better use scant resources, reduce wastage, generate
efficiencies, create additional jobs, return work from the private to the public sector
and provide the public sector with a model, which they can market and sell to other
providers. It therefore creates a win-win situation for key stakeholders including the
principal, the agent, the service users and the taxpayer. Recommendations were
also provided to achieve the requisite performance in Phase Two of the National
Troubled Families Initiative in Local Authority One and across England.


This article seeks to analyze the evolution of the regulation of liberal medicine in France from the theoretical framework of the economics of convention. The recent introduction by the state of multiple management devices aimed at quantifying and evaluating the performance of physicians could be interpreted as a process of rationalization of medical practices. However, we propose to analyze the transformations in the regulation of liberal medicine as the transition from an inspired/domestic convention of healthcare quality to an industrial convention of healthcare quality. What is at stake is not improving the quality of care, but changing the conception of quality. Do doctors treat sick people or illnesses? This induces significant changes not only in the entire healthcare system but also in medical ethics. While the profession has historically been built against the market, it seems that the industrialization of healthcare opens the door to its commodification.


"The best way of handling the question of how much to give the poor, politicians have discovered, is to avoid doing anything about it at all," note Paul Peterson and Mark Rom. The issue of the minimum people need in order to live decently is so difficult that Congress has left this crucial question to the states --even though the federal government foots three-fourths of the bill for about 15 million Americans who receive cash and food stamp benefits.The states differ widely in their assessment of what a family needs to meet a reasonable standard of living, and the interstate differences in welfare benefits cannot be explained by variations in wage levels or costs of living. The states with higher welfare benefits act as magnets by attracting or retaining poor people. In the competition to avoid becoming welfare havens, states have cut welfare benefits in real dollars by more than one-third since 1970. The authors propose the establishment of a minimum federal welfare standard, which would both reduce the interstate variation in welfare benefits and stem their overall decline.Peterson and Rom develop their argument in four steps. First they show how the politics of welfare magnets works in a case study of policymaking in Wisconsin. Second, they present their analysis of the overall magnet effect in American state politics, finding evidence that states with high welfare benefits experiencing disproportionate growth in their poverty rates make deeper welfare cuts. Third, they describe the process by which the current system came into being, identifying the reform efforts and political crises that have contributed to the centralization of welfare policy as well as the regional, partisan, and group interests that have resisted these changes. Finally, the authors propose a practical step that can go a long way toward achieving a national welfare standard; then assess it's cost, benefits, and political feasibility.


A condition monitoring technique is developed for engines and similar machines whereby only external response measurements are used to determine the condition of the machine. The method assumes the response signal is composed of components due to an event of interest and other events which are not of interest. The response due to the events of no interest are treated as deterministic noise. An identification process is used to identify the noise and the frequency response function between the event of interest and the response. This identification procedure uses operating conditions which span the faults of interest. This model is used in an inverse filter process to determine the excitation during operation. Signal filtering and time gating are used to enhance the procedure. The method is verified for combustion faults on a diesel engine. [See NOISE‐CON Proceedings for full paper.]


The prospects for the development of Russia in the direction of implementing the ideas of the green economy are determined by the fact that Russia is a country with rich natural resources. Today, both the weak and strong sides of the country in terms of the prospects for the development of the green economy can be defined. The transition to the green economy, the environmentally sustainable development of Russia implies a transition from an extensive raw materials export model of economic development to modernization. The main indicators are indicators of sustainable development, including indicators of nature and energy intensity, adjusted net savings, and human development indices. Coordination of national activities with international organizations, in particular within the framework of the WTO, and the integration of the principles of international agreements into the legal framework and practice of economic decisions are of great importance for Russia.


Bioaffinity separation has a unique and powerful role as a support tool in the removal of toxic substances from human plasma. Magnetic beads have advantages as supports in comparison to conventional nonmagnetic beads because of low pressure drop, high mass transfer rates, and good Fluid-solid contact. In addition, they eliminate internal diffusion limitations. Human serum albumin (HSA) immobilised onto magnetic poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (mPHEMA) beads were investigated as an adsorbent for the selective bilirubin removal from human plasma. The mPHEMA beads were prepared by a modified suspension polymerisation. HSA was covalently coupled to the mPHEMA beads. Bilirubin adsorption was investigated from hyperbilirubinemic human plasma on the mPHEMA beads containing different amounts of immobilised HSA, (between 11-100 mg/g). The nonspecific bilirubin adsorption on the unmodified mPHEMA beads was 0.47 mg/g. Higher bilirubin adsorption capacities, up to 64.7 mg/g, were obtained with the HSA-inonoobilised magnetic beads. Bilirubin adsorption increased with increasing temperature.


How do producers that export their goods directly differ from those that export through trade intermediaries? We take a standard model of trade with heterogeneous firms and add heterogeneity in quality to the usual heterogeneity in productivity. Modeling trade intermediaries as increasing marginal costs but decreasing fixed costs of exporting, we find that only firms with the highest quality†adjusted productivity levels choose to export directly. Under certain parameter restrictions, the model shows that direct exporters tend to be larger and charge higher prices for their goods. In contrast to the literature, using Chinese customs data, we confirm that direct exporters do charge higher prices for their goods.


Foucault and Social Dialogue; Beyond Fragmentation is a compelling yet extremely clear investigation of these options and offers a new way forward. Christopher Falzon argues that the proper alternative to foundationalism is not fragmentation but dialogue and that such a dialogical picture can be found in the work of Michel Foucault. Such a reading of Foucault allows us to see, for the first time, the ethical and political position implicit in Foucault's work and how his work contributes to the larger debate concerning the death of man.


Primary cilia are important sensory organelles. They exist in a wide variety of lengths, which could reflect different cell-specific functions. How cilium length is regulated is unclear, but it probably involves intraflagellar transport (IFT), which transports protein complexes along the ciliary axoneme. Studies in various organisms have identified the small, conserved family of ros-cross hybridizing kinases (RCK) as regulators of cilium length. Here we show that Intestinal Cell Kinase (ICK) and MAPK/MAK/MRK overlapping kinase (MOK), two members of this family, localize to cilia of mouse renal epithelial (IMCD-3) cells and negatively regulate cilium length. To analyze the effects of ICK and MOK on the IFT machinery, we set up live imaging of five fluorescently tagged IFT proteins: KIF3B, a subunit of kinesin-II, the main anterograde IFT motor, complex A protein IFT43, complex B protein IFT20, BBSome protein BBS8 and homodimeric kinesin KIF17, whose function in mammalian cilia is unclear. Interestingly, all five proteins moved at ∼0.45 µm/s in anterograde and retrograde direction, suggesting they are all transported by the same machinery. Moreover, GFP tagged ICK and MOK moved at similar velocities as the IFT proteins, suggesting they are part of, or transported by the IFT machinery. Indeed, loss- or gain-of-function of ICK affected IFT speeds: knockdown increased anterograde velocities, whereas overexpression reduced retrograde speed. In contrast, MOK knockdown or overexpression did not affect IFT speeds. Finally, we found that the effects of ICK or MOK knockdown on cilium length and IFT are suppressed by rapamycin treatment, suggesting that these effects require the mTORC1 pathway. Our results confirm the importance of RCK kinases as regulators of cilium length and IFT. However, whereas some of our results suggest a direct correlation between cilium length and IFT speed, other results indicate that cilium length can be modulated independent of IFT speed.


The Minority Stress Model posits gender and sexual minorities experience stigma-related stressors, that increase their risk for poor mental and physical health. Historically, these groups have been considered one "community" (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer: LGBTQ), with similar experiences including: shared social groups and deviation from gender norms (e.g. gender roles and expression, and relationships). As research into the experiences of LGBTQ individuals increases, evidence supports people with different sexual orientations (e.g. lesbian/gay vs. bisexual) and gender experiences (e.g. cisgender vs. transgender) within the community are diverse, and should not be researched as one population. By researching each gender and sexual orientation individually, we can capture the diversity of experiences and uncover specific public health needs for each subgroup. As this perspective expands, our understanding of health needs for lesbian and gay individuals continues to develop. However, less represented LGBTQ subgroups (e.g. bisexual and transgender) remain understudied. This dissertation consisted of three manuscripts investigating minority stress and health behaviors across trans and nontrans genders among LGBTQ identified individuals. Transgender (N=460) and cisgender (nontransgender) LGBQ (N=523) individuals were recruited from trans and LGBT-related social networks. All three manuscripts utilized the same data. The first manuscript examined the measurement invariance of the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) and the Discrimination-Related Vigilance Scale (DRVS) across transgender and cisgender gender identities. Partial metric invariance was found across trans and cis, and across gender within trans respondents for the EDS. Full scalar invariance was found across trans and cis for the DRVS, but partial metric invariance across gender within trans individuals. In general, transgender individuals reported more perceived discrimination and vigilance. The second manuscript compared the rates of health behaviors across LGBTQ genders to investigate the distinct health risks for each group. After accounting for age, most differences across gender identity and trans status were small. The largest differences were found in vegetable consumption and psychological distress. Cisgender women reported more vegetable consumption than all other groups. On average, transgender men, women, and nonbinary-identified individuals reported more depression and anxiety than cisgender men and women. The third manuscript examined subtypes of physical activity across transgender and cisgender groups with replicated cluster analyses. The same five cluster subtypes were found across 2 subsamples of transgender and 2 subsamples of cisgender respondents: (1) Overall Active, (2) Vigorous Active, (3) Moderate Active, (4) Walkers, and (5) Inactive. On average, individuals in the overall active and vigorous active subtypes rated their overall health higher than people in the other subtypes.


The objective of our study was to measure the impact of transportation-related noise and total environmental noise on sleep disturbance for the residents of Montreal, Canada. A telephone-based survey on noise-related sleep disturbance among 4336 persons aged 18 years and over was conducted. LNight for each study participant was estimated using a land use regression (LUR) model. Distance of the respondent's residence to the nearest transportation noise source was also used as an indicator of noise exposure. The proportion of the population whose sleep was disturbed by outdoor environmental noise in the past 4 weeks was 12.4%. The proportion of those affected by road traffic, airplane and railway noise was 4.2%, 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively. We observed an increased prevalence in sleep disturbance for those exposed to both rail and road noise when compared for those exposed to road only. We did not observe an increased prevalence in sleep disturbance for those that were both exposed to road and planes when compared to those exposed to road or planes only. We developed regression models to assess the marginal proportion of sleep disturbance as a function of estimated LNight and distance to transportation noise sources. In our models, sleep disturbance increased with proximity to transportation noise sources (railway, airplane and road traffic) and with increasing LNight values. Our study provides a quantitative estimate of the association between total environmental noise levels estimated using an LUR model and sleep disturbance from transportation noise.


This volume represents the proceedings of the Second International Conference on Sustainability in Energy and Buildings, SEB'10, held in the City of Brighton and Hove in the United Kingdom, and organised by KES International.
Organised by the KES International organisation, SEB'10 formed a welcome opportunity for researchers in subjects related to sustainability, renewable energy technology, and applications in the built environment to mix with other scientists, industrialists and stakeholders in the field.
SEB'10 attracted papers on a range of renewable energy and sustainability related topics and in addition the conference explored two innovative themes:-
· The application of intelligent sensing, control, optimisation and modelling techniques to sustainability

and

· The technology of sustainable buildings.

These techniques could ultimately be applied to the intelligent building
SEB'10 attracted about 100 submissions from around the world. These were subjected to a two-stage blind peer-review process. With the objective of producing a high quality conference, the best 30% of these were selected for presentation at the conference and publication in this volume of proceedings.
The papers in this volume are grouped into the five themes under which they were presented: Building Sustainability, Sustainable Power Generation, Sustainable Energy Policy and Strategy, Energy Monitoring and Management and Solar Energy Technology.
These proceedings form an interesting and informative collection of papers, useful as a resource for further research, and a valuable source of information for those interested in the subject.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
The purpose of this Third Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable (SRRR3) was to develop consensus recommendations to address outstanding barriers for the translation of preclinical and clinical research using the non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and provide a roadmap for the integration of these techniques into clinical practice.

METHODS
International NIBS and stroke recovery experts (N = 18) contributed to the consensus process. Using a nominal group technique, recommendations were reached via a five-stage process, involving a thematic survey, two priority ranking surveys, a literature review and an in-person meeting.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Results of our consensus process yielded five key evidence-based and feasibility barriers for the translation of preclinical and clinical NIBS research, which were formulated into five core consensus recommendations. Recommendations highlight an urgent need for (1) increased understanding of NIBS mechanisms, (2) improved methodological rigor in both preclinical and clinical NIBS studies, (3) standardization of outcome measures, (4) increased clinical relevance in preclinical animal models, and (5) greater optimization and individualization of NIBS protocols. To facilitate the implementation of these recommendations, the expert panel developed a new SRRR3 Unified NIBS Research Checklist. These recommendations represent a translational pathway for the use of NIBS in stroke rehabilitation research and practice.


An analysis of the function of a spatial domain filter employed in recent optical syntheses of molecular images from electron holograms is presented. The device is effective in ridding the primary image region of the naturally arising background intensity which, unless filtered, can severely obscure the image. The filter also introduces artifacts, however, which may confuse the interpretation of images, and excessive filtering reduces resolving power. It is shown how to calculate the effect of the filter variables in order to secure a reasonable compromise between resolution, background noise, and spurious rings.


Introduction Increasing numbers of adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) are undergoing redo or primary surgical procedures. There is little available data relating to post-operative mortality and morbidity in this group. Methods We examined 99 consecutive ACHD patients who underwent cardiac surgery in our institution over twelve months from April 2015. Data collected included age, body mass index (BMI), type of procedure, whether the procedure was a primary procedure or a redo, length of stay and the occurrence of any complications. Complications were classified as requiring intervention or self-limiting. Whether complications had permanent long term sequelae or not was assessed. Results Patients were aged between 16 and 69 years. 41 patients underwent a primary procedure, and there were 58 redo operations. 19 different primary procedures were performed, and 20 patients underwent a multi-faceted procedure. 56% of patients had a BMI above the normal range. Median length of stay was 8 days, IQR 7–10, range 3–42. 68 complications occurred in 46 patients. There were 2 deaths. There were 54 complications requiring intervention, and 14 self-limiting complications. 28 patients had 1 complication, 14 patients had 2 complications and 4 patients had 3 complications. The most common complications requiring intervention were post-operative chest infection requiring oral or IV antibiotics (n=19), atrial arrhythmia requiring anti-arrhythmic therapy or cardioversion (n=7), post-operative wound infection requiring IV or oral antibiotics (n=7), and pericardial effusion requiring drainage (n=5). Self-limiting complications included 1 patient with nodal rhythm with pauses, 2 patients with an acute confusional state, 1 patient with a groin haematoma (following fem-fem bypass), 1 patient with a residual VSD following resection of double chambered right ventricle and 1 patient with gastroenteritis. Apart from the 2 deaths, there were 4 patients who had long term sequelae from their complication. 1 patient in their 60's suffered a peri-operative cerebellar stroke, 1 patient required a permanent pacemaker, and 2 patients had vocal cord palsy leading to hoarse voice. Post-operative complications increased in incidence with both increasing age and increasing BMI. (Figs 1&2)Abstract 85 Figure 1 The incidence of post-operative complications according to patient age.Abstract 85 Figure 2 The incidence of post-operative complications according to patient BMI. Conclusions Increasing numbers of cardiac surgical procedures are being performed in ACHD patients because of their increasing numbers and complexity. This study demonstrates that even complex surgery can be undertaken at low mortality risk. Just under 50% of patients experience one or more peri-operative complications but the vast majority are successfully treated with no long term adverse consequences. Complications appear to increase with advancing age and BMI.


The objective of this study was to determine comprehensive chemical components in PM2.5 from March 2011 till February 2012 in Seoul, South Korea, and their contributions to light extinction. Major chemical components in the aerosol were: ammonium sulfate, 30.3%; ammonium nitrate, 25.2%; organic matter, 21.3%; crustal mass, 16.9%; element carbon, 6.1%; and trace metals, 0.2%. PM2.5 mass concentrations and light extinction were mostly correlated in their diurnal and monthly variations, which indicates that the aerosol mass is the key variable in light extinction in Seoul. However, the aerosol size and composition (of PM2.5) also played significant roles in light extinction. We applied the IMPROVE algorithm to quantify the contributions of observed chemical components to light extinction. It was found that the IMPROVE formula tended to underestimate light extinction by up to 30% in urban conditions where large sources of organic matter (OM) and element carbon (EC) existed unless some revision was made before the light extinction calculations. The IMPROVE algorithm was further optimized for the observed light extinction for OM and EC. The revised light extinction efficiencies of OM and EC in Seoul increased by about 1.5–3 times of those in the original IMPROVE algorithm. The optimized IMPROVE scheme in this study reproduced the observed light extinction more accurately in Seoul. Overall, 41% of the contribution from OM and EC to light extinction in Seoul was close to 50% of the contribution from nitrate and sulfate, although the mass of the former contribution was only half of the latter.


Most of the research aimed at counterterrorism, fraud detection, or other forensic applications assumes that this is a specialized application domain for mainstream knowledge discovery. Unfortunately, knowledge discovery changes completely when the datasets being used have been manipulated in order to conceal some underlying activity. Knowledge Discovery for Counterterrorism and Law Enforcement operates from the premise that detection algorithms must be rethought to be effective in this domain, and presents a new approach based on cutting-edge analysis for use in adversarial settings. Reveals How Criminals Conceal Information This volume focuses on four main forms of knowledge discovery: prediction, clustering, relationship discovery, and textual analysis. For each of these application areas, the author discusses opportunities for concealment that are available to criminals and reveals some of the tactics that can aid in detecting them. He reviews what is known about the different technologies for each area and evaluates their effectiveness. The book also supplies a preview of technologies currently under development and describes how they will fit in to existing approaches to knowledge discovery. Provides Proactive Formulas for Staying One Step Ahead of Adversaries While all knowledge-discovery systems are susceptible to manipulation, designers and users of algorithmic systems who are armed with the knowledge of these subversive tactics are better able to create systems to avoid these vulnerabilities. This book delineates an effective process for integrating knowledge-discovery tools, provides a unique understanding of the limits of the technology, and contains a clear presentation of the upsides and pitfalls of data collection. It is a powerful weapon in the arsenal of anyone confronting the increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by lawbreakers and other unsavory individuals.


"Playwrights who go to Hollywood for any length of time seldom come back without a fatal streptococcus septicus" said George Jean Nathan in a 1937 article in Scribner's Magatane. "The potential of mauve motor cars, marble dunking pools, English buders, and seven-dollar neckties" in Nathan's analysis leads writers to disregard their independence and integrity: "Hollywood harlotry," he calls it (66). Nathan articulates a commonly held assumption: Hollywood is often seen as pillaging the American theatre of its talent and its scripts, of turning great directors and actors into journey-men, most of all of seducing the dedicated men and women of the theatre with the promise of untold wealth. Fine refers to this as the "Hollywood-as-destroyer" legend: Novelists and playwrights of acute sensibility and talent, so the legend goes, were lured to Hollywood by offers of huge amounts of money and the promise of challenging assignments; once in the studios they were set to work on mundane, hackneyed scripts; they were treated without respect by the mandarins who ruled the studios; and they were subject to petty interferences by their intellectual inferiors. In the process, they were destroyed as artists. (3) For Fine, the secret to avoiding artistic destruction in Hollywood "lay in drawing a distinct line between movie work and serious writing." Playwrights - "Eastern writers," Fine calls them - "became, in a sense, literary schizophrenics, acting out one identity when working on what mattered to them and another when in the studios" (156). An "Eastern writer" who had a long professional association with Hollywood was Lillian Hellman. Hellman represents a challenge to Fine's "Hollywood-as-destroyer" legend and particularly his view that Hollywood writers were compelled to become "schizophrenic." Robert Kirsch argues that some writers "found in Hollywood and in die movies material and techniques which enhanced dieir work" (qtd. in Fine 9). This was certainly the case with Lillian Hellman. This essay will consider Hellman's appropriation of elements of the film technique of her Hollywood collaborators, Gregg Toland and William Wyler, for theatrical purposes. It will do so by comparing a play by Hellman from before her first serious professional contact with Hollywood (The Children's Hour) to a play written after she had spent some time working in the film industry (The Little Foxes). The essay will show thus that not all contact between playwrights and Hollywood was destructive. Furthermore, it will show that a refusal to separate "serious writing" and work for the movies brought creative dividends for at least one American playwright. Following the success of her first play, The Children's Hour (1934), Lillian Hellman came to Hollywood to work as a scriptwriter for Samuel Goldwyn. Other writers of the Goldwyn stable included Elmer Rice, Sidney Howard, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArdiur, and Robert Sherwood, but Hellman became "a prize of Goldwyn's collection" (Wright 105). Goldwyn and Hellman would work together on several films: The Dark Angel (\935), an adaptation by Hellman of a silent film of the same name by Frances Marion, from an original play by Guy Bolton; These Three, an adaptation of The Children's Hour (1936); Dead End, a version of Sidney Kingsle/s play (1937); The Little Foxes, an adaptation of Hellman's own hit play (1941); and The North Star, an original screenplay by Hellman (1943). Two other screenplays by Hellman were also produced in Hollywood, the William theterle directed The Searching Wind (1946) from her play, and Arthur Perm's The Chase (1966). Hellman contributed to several other screenplays, including the adaptations of her plays Watch on the Rhine (1943), to which she is credited as providing "Additional Scenes and Dialogue," and the 1962 version of The Children's Hour (see Dick). These Three, Dead End, and the film of The Little Foxes were directed by William Wyler (who later also would direct the 1962 version of The Children's Hour) and photographed by Gregg Toland, a frequent collaborator with Wyler. …


Within WTO agricultural negotiations, this paper deals with alternative criteria for the selection of sensitive products. Existing methodologies mostly rely on the analysis of tariffs and trade flows. On the contrary, assessments of the economic impacts on specific groups of stakeholders, namely the domestic agricultural sector, are missing or conducted at a high level of product aggregation. We hence develop a methodology that considers the effects of the selection of sensitive products on domestic agricultural prices. Our model, TRIMAG (Tariff Reduction Impact Model for Agriculture), defined at the 8-digit level, optimizes the domestic agricultural value added subject to a maximum number of sensitive tariff lines. The existing methodologies are applied to the Swiss tariff schedule and results compared with those of TRIMAG. Findings confirm the importance of developing sound economic criteria for the exante impact assessment of policy flexibilities. Furthermore, TRIMAG can be considered as a tariff aggregation tool that can be linked to agricultural simulation models that operate at a higher level of aggregation.


A procedure is described where the mask dimensions of superconducting components are used in SPICE simulations to predict the performance of a device. Thickness tolerances of the fabrication process, as well as mask bias offsets and mask tolerances are included in the component models. This makes it possible to predict circuit yield by Monte Carlo analyses, which are based on the fabrication process design rules. Model descriptions of all the components used in a standard superconductor multilayer process are given, and the accuracy of the models are verified. The superconducting components that are modeled include microstrip transmission lines, coupled transmission lines, resistors and Josephson junctions. The usefulness of this procedure is demonstrated by simulation results of a stack amplifier, where the yield of the circuit is calculated for the lumped element model and the proposed model, which includes parasitic elements.


Dementia with over 46 million people suffering from it has become an illness which cannot be ignored. The confusion regarding whether dementia is a neurological or a psychiatric illness has been existing for a long. Conventionally, dementia has been viewed as a neurological illness with the organicity of the same being given utmost importance. However, we cannot ignore the vast contribution of psychiatry in the discovery of dementia. Furthermore, the new concept regarding psychiatric and neurological illnesses has challenged the fact that dementia is a completely neurological illness, especially considering the vast similarities between psychiatric disorders and dementia. This confusion regarding whether it is a neurological or a psychiatric illness has created difficulty in the management of these patients. The similarities between dementia and psychiatric disorders are visible at the level of localization of lesions, the symptoms, especially the behavioral and the psychotic symptoms, the methods of diagnosis, and the treatment strategies, especially the nonpharmacological ones, which are in fact more effective than the pharmacological strategies. The nonpharmacological aspects include not only behavioral strategies but also focus on breaking the bad news and addressing the caregiver burden and the legal aspects. All this puts a psychiatrist at an advantage in treating these patients, when compared to other specialists, given our expertise with history taking, mental status examination, pharmacological management of the behavioral issues, and especially nonpharmacological aspects.


The effect of long-term treatment with inhaled corticosteroid on exercise-induced asthma (EIA) was studied in 55 children, aged 7-18 yrs (mean 12 yrs). We also compared the time course of stabilization of EIA to that of other indicators of airway responsiveness, such as peak expiratory flow (PEF) variation and the provocation dose of histamine causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). All children participated in an ongoing multicentre study to compare the effects of long-term treatment either with the beta 2-agonist salbutamol (600 micrograms.day-1) plus the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide (600 micrograms.day-1) (BA+CS), or salbutamol plus placebo (BA+PL), on airway calibre, airway responsiveness and symptoms. After a median follow-up of 22 months, the study design had to be changed, because of the high number of drop-outs on BA+PL. At that time, the treatment regimen of all children who had not withdrawn was changed into BA+CS. At the moment of change, and after 2 and 8 months of treatment, a treadmill exercise test was performed in two centres. Eighteen of the 22 children (82%) who were treated with BA+PL from the beginning had EIA, compared to 18 of the 33 children (55%) who were treated with BA-CS (p < 0.05). After 2 and 8 months of treatment with BA+CS in the patients previously on BA+PL this percentage decreased to 59 and 55%, respectively, and was not significantly different between both groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Innovation ambidexterity is especially complex for young technology-based firms because they are resource-challenged and knowledge deficient in strategic terms; but they possess considerable scope for entrepreneurship. Strategic entrepreneurship may provide a solution. Incubators emerged as a policy solution precisely due to this dilemma. We conceptualise that strategic entrepreneurship, as a synthesis of opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking behaviours of young technology-based firms, can affect both explorative and exploitative innovation activities in these firms and expect that subsequent innovation ambidexterity affects profitability. Our empirical analyses reveal complex and competing interrelationships that both ease and exacerbate the tensions associated with innovation ambidexterity. We contribute to theory by testing strategic entrepreneurship as it applies to innovation ambidexterity and evidence behaviours that contribute to its foundations. To entrepreneurs and managers, we offer a set of prescriptions for innovation ambidexterity in young firms that accounts for the complementarities between complex and theoretically opposing constructs.


In this study, short-term fluctuations in bivalve larvae were compared with some triggering factors for a period of sixteen months. Data on the abundance of planktonic larvae, collected two to three times a week were related to water temperature, salinity, wind velocity, tidal amplitude and chlorophyll a. Higher densities of planktonic bivalve larvae were caught between May and August, but intense fluctuations in abundance were observed. Planktonic bivalve larvae of eighteen taxa were identified. Larvae of Mytilus galloprovincialis, Cerastoderma edule, Ruditapes decussates and Venerupis spp. were the most abundant. The seasonal fluctuations of bivalve abundance seem to be controlled by temperature, the major factor in the timing of the reproduction of bivalves. Nevertheless, advection may be also a key factor during the planktonic life of bivalve species in coastal systems, such as the Ria Formosa.


This paper identifies enabling practices that create spaces where needs at the 'bottom-of-the-pyramid' are unearthed, articulated, represented and translated into 'market making practices'. Exploring multiple, contested and reframed needs generates insights into the efforts (and practices) that shape orders of worth in economic life. Despite their best efforts, Governments and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) such as Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Save the Children have failed to alleviate poverty. Many commentators argue that it is "trade not aid" that will lift people living at the bottom-of-the-pyramid, out of poverty (Cox and Gelder 2010; Smith 2009). The 'bottom-of-the-pyramid' is a term coined by Prahalad and Hammond (2002) to describe the large numbers of people living in subsistence conditions. These people typically earn less than $2 per day, lack adequate access to basics such as food and education, have limited literacy and numeracy skills, lack access to transportation and consequently have limited consumption choices. Many of these people live in 'emerging markets' (Sridharan and Viswanathan 2008); the fast growing, underdeveloped markets, including a group of countries know as the BRICs - Brazil, Russia, India, China. Yet despite the recognition of the need to support trade locally in these markets, our understanding of how to do this limited (Karnani 2007). How trade might be imagined, fostered and supported in ways that develops local economies that are constrained by minimum resources, is poorly understood.


Biases can influence important decisions in social, political, and economic environments, but little is empirically known about whether and how individuals try to exploit others' biases in strategic interactions. For instance, people must often decide between giving others choice sets with positive or certain options (likely influencing them toward safer options) versus negative or risky options (likely influencing them toward riskier options). In this paper, we study nudge strategies, strategic decisions about how to exploit others' biases. We show that individuals' nudge strategies are distorted towards presenting choice sets with positive or certain options, across nine experiments involving diverse samples (including business executives, law students, business students, medical students, and online adults) and multiple important contexts (including public policy, business, and medicine). In many cases, this distortion actually causes a majority of people to use a nudge strategy that backfires. Surprisingly, people's predictions about the directional effects of nudge strategies are generally correct. Thus, simply prompting people to consider their own predictions can improve nudge strategies that would otherwise be suboptimal. The evidence is consistent with meta-prospect theory, in which properties familiar from prospect theory generate distortions in nudge strategies; for example, loss aversion generates a distortion towards presenting gain frames over presenting loss frames. Overall, our results suggest that improving well-intentioned but suboptimal nudge strategies is a feasible objective which could lead to substantial benefits for both individuals and society.


The goal of this special TICL issue is to stake out a territory for instructional approaches that leverage the theories, findings, and methods of expertise research in order to systematically train expertise in developing learners. The disciplinary perspective of this issue is instructional design, as reflected by the term training in the title of the special issue. Consistent with the ethos of TICL, however, the special issue draws upon the other areas of learning sciences to inform the design of instruction. Indeed, most of the other authors represented in this special issue would not claim instructional design as their disciplinary home. However, the instructional design perspective should provide an interesting viewpoint even for those readers who identify with other aspects of technology, instruction, cognition, and learning.


Due to the intermittent and fluctuating nature of wind and other renewable energy sources, their integration into electricity systems requires large-scale and flexible storage systems to ensure uninterrupted power supply and to reduce the percentage of produced energy that is discarded or curtailed. Storage of large quantities of electricity in the form of dynamic energy of water masses by means of coupled reservoirs has been globally recognized as a mature, competitive and reliable technology; it is particularly useful in countries with mountainous terrain, such as Greece. Its application may increase the total energy output (and profit) of coupled wind-hydroelectric systems, without affecting the availability of water resources. Optimization of such renewable energy systems is a very complex, multi-dimensional, non-linear, multi modal, nonconvex and dynamic problem, as the reservoirs, besides hydroelectric power generation, serve many other objectives such as water supply, irrigation and flood mitigation. Moreover, their function should observe constraints such as environmental flow. In this paper we developed a combined simulation and optimization model to maximize the total benefits by integrating wind energy production into a pumped-storage multi-reservoir system, operating either in closed-loop or in open-loop mode. In this process, we have used genetic algorithms as the optimization tool. Our results show that when the operation of the reservoir system is coordinated with the wind farm, the hydroelectricity generation decreases drastically, but the total economical revenue of the system increases by 7.02% when operating in closed-loop and by 7.16% when operating in open-loop mode. We conclude that the hydro-wind coordination can achieve high wind energy penetration to the electricity grid, resulting in increase of the total benefits of the system. Moreover, the open-loop pumped-storage multi-reservoir system seems to have better performance, ability and flexibility to absorb the wind energy decreasing to a lesser extent the hydroelectricity generation, than the closed-loop.


Energetic feedback from the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) of the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) is required to prevent catastrophic cooling of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) in galaxy clusters. Evidence for this is seen through the inflation of cavities in the ICM by AGN-launched, radio-emitting jets, and understanding this process is an active area of research. Radio observations play an integral role in this, as they trace the active stages of the feedback cycle. Understanding the radio properties of BCGs is therefore paramount for understanding both galaxy clusters and AGN feedback processes globally.

Within this thesis, the BCGs in a large ($>$700) sample of X-ray selected clusters are studied. We observe these BCGs with a wide variety of facilities, building a census of their radio properties across a range of frequencies, timescales and angular resolutions. Radio spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are built for over 200 BCGs, and then decomposed into two components; a core, attributable to ongoing nuclear activity, and a non-core, attributable to historical accretion. Both components are not only more common, but also significantly more powerful in cool-core (CC) clusters than non-cool core (NCC) clusters. However, it is the presence of an {\em active} core that shows BCGs in CC clusters are constantly `on' - explaining how they regulate their environments over gigayear timescales.

We observe 35 currently active BCGs at high (15~--~353~GHz) radio frequencies, and monitor their variability. Self-absorbed, active components are found to be common at high frequency. Little variability is seen on $<$year timescales, although longer term variation of $\approx$10\% annually over few-decade timescales is observed. Evidence is presented for a hitherto unseen component in BCG spectra that may be attributable to a naked Advection Dominated Accretion Flow (ADAF). The milli-arcsecond scale radio properties of 59 sources are studied, with a large range of morphologies recovered although no evidence is found for dual AGN being common in BCGs.

Finally, we present a study that has more than doubled the number of HI absorption systems known in BCGs. We show that both the detection rate and column densities observed are strongly affected by the multi-scale properties of the radio continuum. All our clear detections are redshifted or at the systemic velocity. Most HI appears to be located in a clumpy torus that is replenished by residual material cooling from the ICM, linking the environment to the central engine and completing the feedback cycle.


Premise of research. In the future, ecosystems will have to deal with climate warming in combination with increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events such as drought. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity enables plants to respond to environmental variability and is likely to buffer impacts of climate change. Therefore, factors that influence the phenotypic plasticity of plant populations must be identified to assess climate change outcomes and support conservation measures. Genetic diversity in many temperate plant species is known to vary among regions and populations, largely as a result of their phylogeographic history during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Here, we argue that high (neutral) genetic diversity of populations might represent increased probability of possessing alleles or allele combinations that are advantageous or more capable in terms of average response capacities to environmental change. Methodology. We test this idea for European beech (Fagus sylvatica) by investigating response patterns of plant growth and leaf phenology to drought and warming treatments in a common-garden experiment with seedlings of six populations from Bulgaria and Germany. Phenotypic plasticity of populations was assessed and correlated with allozyme diversity. Populations differed in their plasticity to warming with respect to timing of leaf unfolding and senescence as well as in their drought plasticity in terms of height increment (marginally not significant), with some populations showing consistently high plasticity among traits. Pivotal results. Measures of genetic diversity showed an interregional structure according to known phylogeographic patterns. Height increment plasticity showed a significant positive correlation with genetic variation (allelic diversity) at the population level. Conclusions. Our results suggest general differences in phenotypic plasticity among populations and a potential influence of genetic diversity on the average plasticity. Besides its evolutionary value, genetic diversity might thus be an important property of plant populations for their short-term response capability against adverse effects of climate change.


Diabetes mellitus has been linked with an increased risk for oral diseases, especially periodontal diseases (Oliver & Tervonen 1994, Yalda et al. 1994). Further investigations have, however, shown that this risk is not equal in all patients with diabetes. These studies explored the relationship between the diabetic status and periodontal diseases, dental caries and salivary factors. In a group of diabetic adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, dental caries and gingivitis were shown to associate with poor metabolic control of diabetes. An increase of caries prevalence and the severity of gingivitis was evident in alarmingly poorly controlled patients with glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1) values of 13% or higher. The hyperglycaemia-associated increase of gingivitis was confirmed in a group of newly diagnosed diabetic children and adolescents, whose gingival inflammation decreased during a follow-up after the correction of hyperglycaemia by initiation of insulin treatment. Decreased salivary flow rates and elevated salivary glucose levels were observed during the hyperglycaemic state of children and adolescents with newly diagnosed diabetes. Higher salivary microbial counts, especially yeast counts, were related to the lower salivary flow rates and higher salivary glucose levels. In adult patients with type 1 diabetes, the complex diabetic status was assessed by means of the level of metabolic control and/or the presence and severity of diabetic complications. Adult diabetic patients with poor metabolic control and/or complications exhibited more deepened pockets and clinical attachment loss, and after periodontal treatment, the recurrence of deepened pockets was faster in these patients compared to the other diabetic patients or the controls. The high-risk subjects among adults with type 1 diabetes were categorised as follows: subjects with long-term HbA1 values over 10%, independently of whether the patient has diabetic complications or not; subjects with advanced diabetic complications, such as preproliferative or proliferative retinopathy, nephropathy, limb amputations or recurrent infections; and subjects with multiple diabetic complications, irrespective of the level of metabolic control. In conclusion, dental professionals should be aware of the level of glycaemic control in their patients with type 1 diabetes, and the prevention and intensified treatment should be focused on those with a poor metabolic control (HbA1c values around or over 10%). In the case of adult patients, more comprehensive knowledge about the diabetic status of the patients is needed in order to be able to identify the subjects at high risk for periodontitis and in need of regular maintenance care at least twice a year. The medical and nursing personnel should also be aware of periodontitis as a complication of diabetes, and especially in the case of adult diabetic patients, they should refer their patients to dental treatment when necessary.


GANEVA, D., 2011. Characteristics and basic traits connected with the seed-productivity in the fruit of F 1 tomato hybrids. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 17: 429-436 Variability has been studied and a comparative evaluation has been made of the basic traits connected with the seed-productivity in the fruit of intravarietal hybrids of tomatoes and their parental lines. The research was conducted at the Maritsa VCRI, Plovdiv during the period of 2005-2008. The variance of the indicators average weight, average number of seeds in one fruit and the absolute weight of seeds of the large-fruit parental varieties is higher than the small-fruit ones. The hybrid combinations of tomatoes hardly vary from their parental forms as referring to the variance of average number of seeds in the fruit, number of seeds in 1g of fruit and absolute weight of seeds. The average number of seeds in 75% of hybrid combinations is bigger than those of the parental line, and in 25% it is smaller than the parental forms with greater number of seeds but it is not smaller than the female one. The number of seeds in 1g of fruit in F1 hybrid combinations of tomatoes is significantly larger than those of the parental forms. Only in two of the hybrid combinations Bela x Roma and Venera x Roma the absolute weight of the seeds is smaller both compared to the female and the male lines. The achieved results give us a reason to conduct a successful breeding in accordance with these traits in order to create hybrids with lower seed-productivity by a precise choice of parental couples.