Biocentrism is a highly multidimensional phenomenon whose scope extends beyond aesthetics, anthropology, ecology, ethnography, linguistics, politics, philosophy, psychology, semiology, and sociology. It began with philosophy and deep ecology but quickly expanded to become eco-centric as well as anthropocentric and linguistic. "Biocentrism is a life-centered outlook that rejects the view that humanity alone matters in ethics and accepts the moral standing of (at least) all living creatures" (Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy 97). While Arne Nases intended his version of biocentrism to be a sort of 'radical egalitarianism', John Rodman's viewpoint of biocentricity is 'ecological sensibility, and Paul Taylor argues 'respect for Nature' is one of the prevailing forms of biocentrism. This study proposes a biocentric interpretation of Mowat's A Whale for the Killing, which depicts life and death in an inconceivable catastrophe involving a voiceless giant species.


The excellent review article by Costa and Duyckaerts on oligodendroglial and neuronal inclusions in multiple system atrophy (MSA) which appears in this section prompted this commentator to discuss the current controversy that exists over these rather overlapping and ill-defined groups of neurodegenerative diseases [1]. When Graham and Oppenheimer [2] coined the rubric of MSA in 1969 for a case of idiopathic orthostatic hypotension, they perhaps did not expect the term to be so popularized as to encompass many other complex neurodegenerative diseases such as pontocerebellar atrophy, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, Shy-Drager syndrome, Parkinsonism-amyotrophy syndrome, striatonigral degeneration, and more recently pure autonomic failure. Notable is a distinctive tendency for all of them to involve lower motor neurons. If the oligodendroglial inclusions, as purported in this review, are diagnostic hallmarks for MSA then elucidation of this inclusion may lead us to understand the common pathologic ground involved in this constellation of diseases. The controversy over whether Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (WHD) should belong to MSA rather than lower motor neuron disease has long existed, because pathologically WHD involves heterogeneous neuronal groups other than the motor neuron system [3–5]. A recent prospective clinical study claimed that all three types of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have variable onset, life span, and may be without loss of muscle function, casting doubt on the time-honored classification scheme currently used for SMA [6].


High rates of high-risk pregnancies, neonatal deaths and developmental disorders are health problems that must be prevented. Special stimulation and touch fetal stimulation is a natural way that can be done to prevent death and prevent fetal development. This action secretes receptors and the central nervous system to secrete endorphins and increase circulation for increased movement and heart rate for the dynamic balance of the pacemaker. The aim of the study was to prove the difference between speech stimulation, touch and combination in increasing fetal heart rate and movement. The study design was a quasi experimental pre-test and post-test with three intervention groups, namely the stimulation group of speech, touch and combination with 10 respondents in each group. The analysis was done by one way ANOVA. The results of one method showed no significant difference in effectiveness between the three types of stimulation. The conclusion of the study is that stimulation of speech, touch and combination are equally effective in increasing fetal heart rate and movement. This study discusses the stimulation of conversation, touch and combination that is carried out as an independent intervention of normal pregnant women and high risk in maintaining and improving fetal well-being.


"The purpose of this article is to review the literature in housing demography with emphasis on its geographic aspects." The differences among developed countries concerning patterns of home ownership are noted. "After a short discussion of households as the point of articulation between population and housing, I will examine interurban differentials in housing demography, review various population-oriented and housing-oriented approaches to intraurban housing demography, and finally, discuss the problems of and challenges for geographic research in this field."


Objectives A study designed to assess the public perception of the response of government and its institutions to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Setting Self-selecting participants throughout Nigeria completed a self-administered questionnaire through an online cross-sectional survey. Participants 495. Results The majority of respondents were married (76.6%), were males (61.8%), had tertiary level education (91.0%), were public servants (36.8%), Christians (82.6%), and resident either in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) (49.1%) or in the South-East Region of Nigeria (36.6%). Over 95% of the respondents had heard of COVID-19 (98.8%) and knew it is a viral disease (95.4%). The government and its institutions response to the pandemic were rated as poor, with the largest rating as poor for Federal President's Office (57.5%). Communication (50.0%) and prevention messages (43.7%) received the highest perception good rating. Female respondents and those less than 40 years generally rated the governmental responses as poor. Conclusions/recommendations It is recommended that as a public–private partnership approached was efficiently used to more effectively disseminate public health communication and prevention messages, the Nigerian Government should expand this collaboration to improve the quality of services provided in other areas of COVID-19 outbreak management.


Published : November 30, 2020 ABSTRACT  Background: People with HIV / AIDS need support from the surrounding community, but in reality the opposite is the community's stigma of people with HIV / AIDS is still negative, this has the effect of being isolated from the surrounding community so that the quality of life of people with HIV / AIDS is not optimal. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors that affect the quality of life of people with HIV / AIDS. Methodhs: The design of this study was analytic with cross sectional approach, the population was 427 respondents, the sample size was calculated using the Slovin formula as many as 78 respondents, the type of sampling used was side probabilities with systematic random sampling technique. Results: The results of this study were tested using an ordinal regression test, and the results showed that the significance value of the effect of adherence to ARV consumption on the quality of life of PLWHA was 0.223, nutritional status significance value 0.498 and social support significance value 0.000. So of the three independent variables studied, the effect was only the social support variable because the significance value was below 0.05. Conclusion : factors that affect the quality of life of PLWHA are social support factors.


This paper advocates for holistic Shariah adaptation of the modus operandi (operational model) of the Islamic interbank money market. It presents the reasons for the need for the substitution of the conventional methods of 'tendering', 'auction' and brokerage procedures in the market with the Shariah compliant methods of 'al-Munaqasah,' 'al-Muzayadah' and 'al-Samsarah' which are known and rooted in the Islamic law of transaction. It concluded that the adaptation of such procedures will lend more credence to the Islamic financial system that continues to receive criticism from various quarters. The study is a qualitative Shariah legal research. It is restricted to the jurisprudential analysis of the modus operandi of the market vis-a-vis the underpinning contracts of its procedure, in both the primary and the secondary stages of the markets.


This article is an effort to explore conceptual relations of national integration as an endeavor toward nation-building and issues related to human rights promotion. Aspects of national integration which might impede effort of human rights protection are examined. These include area of issues as broad as territory, socio-cultural, and world view in the nation-building endeavor. Questions on what kind of preconditions and criteria should be established in the settlement of territory of a nation-state, what kind of socio-cultural conditions should be developed in order to unite a nation-state, and what kind of paradigm should be founded to create and develop shared beliefs, ideas and views of a nation-state are among the one shall be addressed in the article. Finally, it is also inevitable to look at the arrangement of normative logics in world order system, if we are to explore human rights promotion in the wake of (nation-) state sovereignty.


Abstract: The purpose of this mixed-methodology study was to investigate linguistic and affective outcomes of summer study abroad (SA) participation by 25 college French students. This investigation sought to determine if significant changes occurred in two linguistic factors, oral and listening French skills, and two affective factors, integrative motivation and language anxiety after SA. This research also examined whether pre-SA affective differences existed for SA participants versus non-SA peers. Results demonstrated that French linguistic skills improved significantly and that classroom and nonclassroom language anxiety after SA decreased significantly. Integrative motivation of the SA group was unchanged after the experience. Pre-SA affective differences did not exist between SA participants and non-SA peers. Analysis of interviews and program evaluations suggested that participants faced two sources of language anxiety while abroad: linguistic insecurity and cultural differences. Implications of this study include (1) the continued endorsement of summer SA programs to enhance communication skills, (2) the need for greater pre-SA emphasis on "nonacademic" factors to reduce foreign language anxiety, and (3) the importance of SA programs including contact with native speakers in class and during informal learning, in order to stimulate attitudinal changes as well as linguistic gains.


We have determined a convenient method for the bulk synthesis of high-purity ferric heme-nitrosyl complexes ({FeNO}6 in the Enemark-Feltham notation); this method is based on the chemical or electrochemical oxidation of corresponding {FeNO}7 precursors. We used this method to obtain the five- and six-coordinate complexes [Fe(TPP)(NO)]+ (TPP2- = tetraphenylporphyrin dianion) and [Fe(TPP)(NO)(MI)]+ (MI = 1-methylimidazole) and demonstrate that these complexes are stable in solution in the absence of excess NO gas. This is in stark contrast to the often-cited instability of such {FeNO}6 model complexes in the literature, which is likely due to the common presence of halide impurities (although other impurities could certainly also play a role). This is avoided in our approach for the synthesis of {FeNO}6 complexes via oxidation of pure {FeNO}7 precursors. On the basis of these results, {FeNO}6 complexes in proteins do not show an increased stability toward NO loss compared to model complexes. We also prepared the halide-coordinated complexes [Fe(TPP)(NO)(X)] (X = Cl-, Br-), which correspond to the elusive, key reactive intermediate in the so-called autoreduction reaction, which is frequently used to prepare {FeNO}7 complexes from ferric precursors. All of the complexes were characterized using X-ray crystallography, UV-vis, IR, and nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS). On the basis of the vibrational data, further insight into the electronic structure of these {FeNO}6 complexes, in particular with respect to the role of the axial ligand trans to NO, is obtained.


Abstract : In July 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began operations as the primary international institution for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide or international crimes. During the 1990s, the United Nations Security Council authorized international war crimes tribunals for conflicts in the Balkans and in Rwanda. Despite the important developments that these institutions made in international criminal law, these courts have not contributed to the long-term capacity of post-conflict states to operate under the rule of law. In the late 1990s the United Nations started to use new types of hybrid tribunals designed to prosecute international crimes in post-conflict states that combined the power and expertise of the international community with the indigenous law and legal community. This thesis will use case studies to make a detailed evaluation of the institutions and the options facing the individual states and the international community when designing policies or authorizing a tribunal to try international crimes in a post-conflict environment.


Cdc42-interacting protein-4 (CIP4) is an F-BAR (Fer/CIP4 and Bin, amphiphysin, Rvs) family member that regulates membrane deformation and endocytosis, playing a key role in extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and invasion of cancer cells. These processes are analogous to those observed during the initial epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of renal tubular epithelial cells. The role of CIP4 in renal tubular EMT and renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis was investigated over the course of the current study, demonstrating that the expression of CIP4 increased in the tubular epithelia of 5/6-nephrectomized rats and TGF-β1 treated HK-2 cells. Endogenous CIP4 evidenced punctate localization throughout the cytosol, with elevated levels observed in the perinuclear region of HK-2 cells. Subsequent to TGF-β1 treatment, CIP4 expression increased, forming clusters at the cell periphery that gradually redistributed into the cytoplasm. Simultaneously, EMT induction in cells was confirmed by the prevalence of morphological changes, loss of E-cadherin, increase in α-SMA expression, and secretion of fibronectin. Overexpression of CIP4 promoted characteristics similar to those commonly observed in EMT, and small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules capable of CIP4 knockdown were used to demonstrate reversed EMT. Cumulatively, results of the current study suggest that CIP4 promotes TGF-β1-induced EMT in tubular epithelial cells. Through this mechanism, CIP4 is capable of inducing ECM deposition and exacerbating progressive fibrosis in chronic renal failure.


Introduction: Kidneys are affected by the aging process, usually suffering a progressive glomerular filtration rate (GFR) reduction of around 1 ml/year as of 30 years of age. Nevertheless, few older subjects show a stable GFR over time. This phenomenon has not been exhaustively studied, and even less in the Southern Cone. Aim: The aim was to estimate the prevalence of preserved GFR in a representative sample of older adults and explore the association between cardiovascular risk factors and preserved GFR in older individuals.
Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 1571 participants aged 65–74 years from 4 cities of the Southern Cone. We describe the prevalence of eGFR ?80 ml/min/1.73 m2 and sociodemographic, biological, behavioral risk factors and medication use.  Backward stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to study the effect of cardiovascular risk factors on eGFR ?80 ml/min.
Results: In this a study 962 had an eGFR >80 ml/min/1.73 m2 and 154 were healthy adults (Prevalence= 17.01 % [95%CI 14.5%; 19.9%]). The median eGFR in the full sample was 85.53 ml/min/1.73 m² (IQR: 73.12-91.26). The prevalence of eGFR >80 ml/min/1.73 m2 was higher among men. Overall, older adults with no cardiovascular risk factors and eGFR >80 ml/min/1.73 m2 were predominantly men and showed a lower prevalence of dyslipidemia.
Conclusion: In the present study was documented that there was 17% of healthy older individuals who have preserved glomerular filtration rate (eGFR > 80 ml/min/1.73 m 2) despite their advanced age.


. Based on observations of the chlorofluorocarbons CFC-13 (chlorotrifluoromethane), (cid:54) CFC-114 (com-bined measurement of both isomers of dichlorotetrafluo-roethane), and CFC-115 (chloropentafluoroethane) in atmospheric and firn samples, we reconstruct records of their tropospheric histories spanning nearly 8 decades. These compounds were measured in polar firn air samples, in ambient air archived in canisters, and in situ at the AGAGE (Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment) network and affiliated sites. Global emissions to the atmosphere are derived from these observations using an inversion based on a 12-box atmospheric transport model. For CFC-13, we provide the first comprehensive global analysis. This compound increased monotonically from its first appearance in the atmosphere in the late 1950s to a mean global abundance of 3.18 ppt (dry-air mole fraction in parts per trillion, pmolmol − 1 ) in 2016. Its growth rate has decreased since the mid-1980s but has remained


This study examines correlates of 4 archetypal survivor responses to organizational restructuring and downsizing proposed by Mishra and Spreitzer: hopeful, obliging, cynical, and fearful. Data were collected from 744 long-term nursing staff survivors of hospital restructuring and downsizing using questionnaires. Three types of correlates were considered: work outcomes, indicators of psychologic well-being, and perceptions of hospital functioning. Greater endorsement of cynical and fearful restructuring responses was associated with more negative work outcomes and lower psychologic well-being. Greater endorsement of both cynical and fearful responses was also found to be associated with more negative perceptions of hospital functioning and effectiveness.


A multidirectional pin-on-plate reciprocating machine was used to compare the wear performance of UHMWPE sliding against cast cobalt chrome (CoCr) plates that were either untreated or coated with Amorphous Diamond Like Carbon (ADLC). The test conditions were based on a 1/5 scale model representative of in vivo motion at the tibial counterfaces of unconstrained mobile bearing knees. The average +/- STERR wear rates were 13.78+/-1.06 mm3/Mcycles for the ADLC counterfaces and 0.504+/-0.12 mm3/Mcycles for the control CoCr counterfaces. All of the pins run on the ADLC counterfaces exhibited the same patterns of blistering along the central axis, and severe abrasion elsewhere to the extent that all of the original machining marks were removed after just one week of testing. The average value of friction coefficient was 0.24 for the ADLC counterfaces and 0.073 for the control CoCr counterfaces. The factor of 3.5 increase was statistically significant at p < 0.05. In the tribological evaluation of ADLC coatings for tibial trays in mobile bearing knees, this study shows that this specific Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) ADLC showed significantly poorer frictional and wear performance than uncoated surfaces which was sufficient to negate any potential benefits of improved resistance to third body damage.


In general, leaf, flower, and fruit of plants contain organic compounds which and metal salts to nanosize metals, or nanoparticles (NPs). The extract of snake fruit (Salacca zallaca) has been used to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using green-one pot method. Some reaction variables ie. incubation time, Salacca zallacca extract concentration, and pH of the mixture of AgNO3 and the extract have been set-up and controlled. The AgNPs were characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, and TEM methods. Testing the antibacterial activity of AgNPs was undertaken using the disk diffusion method by measuring the inhibition zones of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi bacteria. The AgNPs can be prepared by reducing Ag+ using Salacca zalacca extract as reducing agent. The formation of AgNPs are affected by the incubation time, extract concentration, and pH of the solution. The AgNPs indicate SPR peak absorption at 400-530 nm, and face centered cubic (fcc) structures with a particle size of 10 nm. The AgNPs show antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi bacteria.


Immunotherapy is one of the most recent approaches for controlling and curing malignant tumors. In this paper, we consider a mathematical model of periodically pulsed immunotherapy using CD4+ T cells and an antitumor cytokine. Mathematical analyses are performed to determine the threshold of a successful treatment. The interindividual variability is explored by one-, two-, and three-parameter bifurcation diagrams for a nontreatment case. Numerical simulation conducted in this paper shows that (i) the tumor can be regulated by administering CD4+ T cells alone in a patient with a strong immune system or who has been diagnosed at an early stage, (ii) immunotherapy with a large amount of an antitumor cytokine can boost the immune system to remit or even to suppress tumor cells completely, and (iii) through polytherapy the tumor can be kept at a smaller size with reduced dosages.


This paper presents the design of a resilience mechanism for supporting investment decision-making processes performed by artificial autonomous systems. In the field of Psychology, resilience is understood as the capacity of people to overcome adversity. Resilience has been determined to be a permanent necessary element for the life of an individual. In addition, different levels of intelligence, analysis capacities, and degrees of autonomy have been progressively incorporated within information systems that are oriented to support decision-making processes, such as those for stock markets. Particularly, the inclusion of affective criteria or variables within decision-making systems represents a promising line of action. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no proposals that suggest the inclusion of a psychological approach to resilience within an autonomous decision-making system for stock markets. Specifically, the incorporation of a psychological approach to resilience allows the autonomous system to face special difficult investment scenarios (e.g., an economic shock) and prevent the system from achieving a permanent negative performance. Thus, psychological resilience can enable an artificial autonomous system to adapt its decision-making processes according to uncertain investment environments. Our proposal conducts experiments using official data from the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. The results are promising and are based on a second-order autoregressive model. The test results suggest that the use of a resilience mechanism within an artificial autonomous system can contain and recover the affective dimensions of the system when it faces adverse decision scenarios.


In this paper,I put forward the issue about"scholarly physical educationteachers"so as to correct the bias about PE teachers that many people hold,and discuss the concept of scholarly PE teachers.Then l discuss the physical characteristics of scholarly PE teachers and the measures and means that we should use to nurture scholarly PE teachers.The objective of this paper is to promote the growth of the PE teachers of China,as well as supply some theories about the education of scholarly PE teachers.


The existence of diseases common to humans and animals has been known since the beginning of history. The disease transmission from animals to people was first observed on rabies ("the mother of all zoonoses") and later on in occupational diseases (anthrax, glanders, "mange"); in time, also certain food-borne infections were included in this category. The microbiological era has first brought along the concept of infection, then that of zoonoses, which has extended and now numbers some 200 infections. The World Health Organization has been interested in zoonoses since its foundation. Zoonoses represent an important issue for public health, fundamental in veterinary public health, whose functions are here listed. This discipline is concerned with all health problems associated with direct and indirect relationships between humans and animals, including also non-communicable ones. It has been proposed, therefore, to extend the term zoonoses as follows: "Any detriment to the health and/or quality of human life deriving from direct or indirect relationships with (other) vertebrate, or edible or toxic invertebrate animals". Contributors (e.g. Blancou) suggest to remove "edible or toxic "from the definition. Examples of zoonoses are provided according to the extended concept.


Summary
Overt hepatosplenic schistosomiasis developed in mice after their exposure to cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni. After 8, 11, 33, and 52 weeks of infection, livers of the mice were prepared for light and electron-microscopic study. At all intervals, randomly observed and periportal parenchymal cells exhibited ultrastructural integrity. In the early phase of the disease, paragranuloma hepatocytes displayed subcellular alterations indicative of hepatocellular injury, but, at the late intervals, paragranuloma hepatocytes revealed no major ultrastructural abnormality.
These observations provided further evidence that toxic factors from adult schistosome worms do not adversely affect the hepatic parenchyma. Rather, the ultrastructural data corroborated previous evidence, indicating that the schistosome ovum is the primary factor in the pathogenesis of overt hepatosplenic schistosomiasis mansoni.
The electron-microscopic study revealed the schistosome pigment as comprised of intensely osmiophilic, very dense, ovoid and doughnut-shaped structures, which were confined in phagosomes. In this form, the pigment was observed in Kupffer's cells along the hepatic sinusoids and in the phagocytic cells of the hepatic granulomata.


Supplemental digital content is available in the text. ABSTRACT Objective Optimism is modifiable and may be associated with healthy aging. We aim to investigate whether dispositional optimism is associated with all-cause mortality in adults 70 years and older. Methods Between 2010 and 2014, older adults free of serious cardiovascular disease and dementia were recruited through primary care physicians and enrolled in the Aspirin Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) clinical trial. Australian ASPREE participants were invited to participate in the ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons (ALSOP) that was running in parallel to ASPREE. Optimism was assessed at baseline using the Life Orientation Test—Revised. The association between optimism, divided into quartiles, and all-cause mortality was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models. Results A total of 11,701 participants (mean [standard deviation] age = 75.1 [4.24] years; 46.6% men) returned the ALSOP Social questionnaire and completed the Life Orientation Test—Revised. During a median follow-up of 4.7 years, 469 deaths occurred. The fully adjusted model was not significant (hazard ratio = 0.78, 95% confidence interval = 0.58–1.06). There was evidence that age was an effect modifier of the association between optimism and longevity. Higher optimism was associated with lower mortality risk in the oldest individuals only (77+ years; hazard ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.39–0.96). Conclusions We observed no independent relationship between optimism and all-cause mortality in the total sample, although optimism seemed to be associated with lower risk among the oldest old (adults 77 years and older).


Objectives: This study examined the relative effect of positive and negative autobiographical aspects in later life as a function of the traumatic experience of the Holocaust and age. Method: Old (age ≤80) and old-old (age >80) participants who were identified as Holocaust survivors (n = 225), and comparison of pre-war (n = 103) and post-war (n = 254) European-descent immigrants referred to their past in a biographical interview. The participants depicted personally perceived outstanding life periods defined as anchor periods (Shmotkin, D. (2005). Happiness in face of adversity: Reformulating the dynamic and modular bases of subjective well-being. Review of General Psychology, 9, 291–325). They rated their happiness and suffering during major anchor periods ('the happiest period' and 'the most miserable period') as well as their life satisfaction. Results: The findings suggest that even after massive trauma and under accelerating decline associated with old-old age, the past can keep life pleasant, as indicated by the stronger association of past happiness, compared to that of past suffering, with life satisfaction. Nevertheless, past suffering was associated with life satisfaction among the Holocaust survivors and manifested a stronger effect among most of the old-old participants. Conclusion: Holocaust survivors demonstrated a greater difficulty to compensate for age-related losses while the comparison groups showed a greater optimization of satisfaction through narrative means in old-old age.


In her article "Another Time, Another Space: Virtual Worlds, Myths and Imagination" Beatrice Bittarello performs a reappraisal of the issue of Virtual Worlds using an interdisciplinary approach. She argues that Virtual Worlds existed before the introduction of the Internet. To back up her argument she outlines a history of literary and visual pre-Internet Virtual Worlds, all of which represent an alternative, mythical, and (often) religious space. She goes on to argue that finding a way of "reaching" Virtual Worlds is the key to the re-conception of (online) Virtual Worlds today. Many elements of literary Virtual Worlds can thus also be linked to contemporary examples of Virtual Worlds on the Internet. She stresses the importance of visual aspects, even though the imagination and the mythopoeic activity of the players play a key (and integral) role in Virtual Worlds on the Internet.


BACKGROUND
Follicular fluid (FF) contains compounds that can modulate NADP(+)-dependent oxidation of cortisol by type 1 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11betaHSD). The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between levels of the ovarian modulators of type 1 11betaHSD, intra-follicular cortisol:cortisone ratios and the clinical outcome of IVF cycles.

METHODS
A single random sample of FF was aspirated from each of 132 patients undergoing gonadotrophin-stimulated IVF. Components of FF, resolved using C18 column chromatography, were evaluated for effects on NADP(+)-dependent cortisol oxidation in rat kidney homogenates. Intra- follicular steroid concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassays. Clinical pregnancies were confirmed by ultrasonography at 6 weeks post-embryo transfer.

RESULTS
Levels of the hydrophilic ovarian 11betaHSD stimuli were significantly lower (P<0.0001) and levels of the hydrophobic ovarian 11betaHSD inhibitors were significantly higher (P<0.002) in conception versus non-conception cycles. Intra-follicular cortisol:cortisone ratios increased with the degree of inhibition of 11betaHSD by the hydrophobic FF fractions. FF obtained from conception cycles had significantly higher cortisol:cortisone ratios than samples from non-conception cycles (12.9+/-0.3 versus 8.5+/-0.2, respectively; P<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
Conception by IVF is associated with elevated intra-follicular cortisol:cortisone ratios, which reflect low levels of ovarian stimuli and/or high levels of ovarian inhibitors of type 1 11betaHSD.


This study analyzes Two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) data while summer 2011-2012 in Daegu region and compares with Marshall and Palmer (MP) distribution to find out statistical characteristics and characteristics variability about drop size distribution (DSD) of Daegu region. As the characterize DSD of Daegu region, this study uses single moment parameters such as rainfall intensity (R), reflectivity factor (Z) and double moment parameters such as generalized characteristics number concentration (N0') and generalized characteristics diameter (Dm'). Also, this study makes an assumption that DSD function can be expressed as general gamma distribution. The results of analysis show that DSD of Daegu region has log10N0' =2.37, Dm' =1.04 mm, and c =2.37, μ =0.39 on average. When the assumption of MP distribution is used, these figures then end up with the different characteristics; log10N0' =2.27, Dm' =0.9 mm, c =1, μ =1 on average. The differences indicate liquid water content (LWC) of Daegu distribution is generally larger than MP distribution at equal Z. Second, DSD shape of Daegu distribution is concave upward. Other important facts are the characteristics of Daegu distribution change when Z changes. DSD shape of Daegu region changes concave downward (c =2.05~2.55, μ =0.33~0.77) to cubic function-like shape (c =3.0, μ = −0.13~ −0.33) at Z > 45 dBZ. 35 dBZ ≤ Z > 45 dBZ group of Daegu distribution has characteristics similar to maritime cluster of diverse climate DSD study. However, Z > 45 dBZ group of Daegu distribution has a difference from the cluster.


Aging populations are gradually creating financial distress for governments, and Thailand is no exception. Effective policies for improving elderly welfare must be formulated since the population shift to older age is moving at a faster pace than economic growth. Older people prefer to live actively and independently in order to be less burdensome to their family members and are actively engaged in activities, either voluntarily or because of necessity, even after retirement age. The Thai government initiated a microcredit scheme for eligible older people in order to overcome the difficulty of gaining access to credit. The objective of this research is to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of the Older Persons Fund (OPF) organized by the Thai government to provide seed money for loans to promote active aging in Thailand. Data were collected nationwide using stratified sampling in urban and rural districts from members affiliated with the Older Persons Fund. Structured interviews were conducted with 578 loan recipients. The methodology includes inferential statistics and the multinomial logit choice probabilities model to determine the factors for successful active aging of the loan recipients. The results indicate that the purpose of the loan is a significant factor for a successful outcome. The results also imply that older people provide input into the economy and are not a burden on government expenditure in the long run by promoting active aging projects through microcredit schemes in Thailand.


Twenty years ago the bedroom door was opened by the famous Kinsey Report (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, 1948), an analysis of data collected by the Institute for Sex Research at the University of Indiana. The acceptance of this pioneer study led to the undertaking, in 1956, of first-hand research into the actual physiology of sexual relations, by the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation in St. Louis (Human Sexual Response, 1966). These books were written by professionally trained sociologists, reported on specific studies and were strictly scientific in approach. In The Sexual Wilderness, written for the general public, the approach is less rigid, the field of interest wider, the writing more readable. Even so, the author owes a great deal to the earlier books: for background material, for research methods, for the very fact that their publication made possible his more generalized treatment.


Abstract : Success in war is dependent on the collection of accurate and actionable intelligence. Although there are myriad intelligence disciplines, Human Intelligence (HUMINT) is one of the most inexpensive and effective means of intelligence collection. HUMINT collectors are an integral part of the collection process, which spans from the tactical to the national level, which sometimes answers national level collection requirements. What the HUMINT professional lacks with technology, he or she makes up for with training and innate skills. Currently, the United States Army is not effectively recruiting or retaining quality overt HUMINT Soldiers. This paper will explore methods used by the Department of Defense (DoD) HUMINT Enterprise and service components to identify, select, and retain talent within HUMINT. Recommendations in this paper will address current procedures to assess talent in HUMINT and identify ways to improve upon current selection and retention procedures within the United States Army.


Nowadays, there is tremendous growth in in-car interfaces for driver safety and comfort, but controlling these devices while driving requires the driver's attention. One of the solutions to reduce the number of glances at these interfaces is to design an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). A vision-based touch-less hand gesture recognition system is proposed here for in-car human-machine interfaces (HMI). The performance of such systems is unreliable under ambient illumination conditions, which change during the course of the day. Thus, the main focus of this work was to design a system that is robust towards changing lighting conditions. For this purpose, a homomorphic filter with adaptive thresholding binarization is used. Also, gray-level edge-based segmentation ensures that it is generalized for users of different skin tones and background colors. This work was validated on selected gestures from the Cambridge Hand Gesture Database captured in five sets of non-uniform illumination conditions that closely resemble in-car illumination conditions, yielding an overall system accuracy of 91%, an average frame-by-frame accuracy of 81.38%, and a latency of 3.78 milliseconds. A prototype of the proposed system was implemented on a Raspberry Pi 3 interface together with an Android application, which demonstrated its suitability for non-critical in-car interfaces like infotainment systems.


A new definition of almost global input-to-state stability for systems on differentiable manifolds is discussed. Some of its properties are investigated and specific examples are shown which can be treated by means of dual Lyapunov techniques.


Effects of a high bromide intake in lactating rats on the
performance of the dams and on the prosperity of the young were
studied. Very high intake of bromide in the dams in the course
of the lactation period caused a marked decrease in the body
weight increments in the sucklings. Bromide ions easily
penetrated into the rat milk and via mother's milk were
transferred in a large extent to the sucklings. In the dams,
there were two striking consequences undoubtedly caused by high
bromide intake: stagnation in the extent of diet and water
consumption in the course of the nursing period, and a drop in
the production rate of mother's milk.


type="main" xml:id="twec12119-abs-0001"> We consider whether a free trade policy is superior to tariff policies in the presence of a time lag between production and trade decisions. We show that the preferable choice between a free trade policy and a time-consistent tariff policy depends on the market size of the importing country. However, because a free trade policy itself is not necessarily credible in the presence of a time lag, the importing country requires an international organisation such as GATT/WTO as a commitment device. Accordingly, employing a non-cooperative game approach, we analyse under what conditions becoming a member of such an international organisation is a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium and show that free trade under the GATT/WTO regime is Pareto improving for the importing and exporting countries.


This paper proposes that traditional approaches to system development point to a conception of design that is flawed. One that leads to the design of static information systems that are then asked to work a dynamic world. This is articulated as the failure to treat design as an ongoing principle. In examining the case for ongoing design, component-based development is examined as a candidate approach.


Abstract Background. Docetaxel is a highly effective treatment of a wide range of malignancies but is often associated with peripheral neuropathy. The genetic variability of genes involved in the transportation or metabolism of docetaxel may be responsible for the variation in docetaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (DIPN). The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of genetic variants in GSTP1 and ABCB1 on DIPN. Material and methods. DNA was extracted from whole blood from 150 patients with early-stage breast cancer who had received adjuvant docetaxel from February 2011 to May 2012. Two polymorphisms in GSTP1 and three in ABCB1 were selected for the primary analysis, and a host of other candidate genes was explored and compared between 75 patients with clinician-reported DIPN grade ≥ 2 and 75 patients without DIPN. Results. Patients with the genetic variants GSTP1 rs1138272 C/T or T/T (114Ala/114Val or 114Val/114Val) genotype had an adjusted odds ratio of 3.82; 95% confidence interval 1.34–11.09 of developing DIPN. This result was confirmed in both analysis of cumulated docetaxel dose and haplotype analysis. None of the explorative genes investigated were significantly correlated with DIPN. Patients with a BMI ≥ 30 were five-fold more likely to have DIPN than patients with BMI < 25. Conclusion. We found that GSTP1 Ala114Val polymorphism is associated with occurrence of DIPN. This supports the theory that oxidative stress is involved in DIPN pathophysiology. If confirmed, this may be helpful in the risk assessment of DIPN and perhaps help to achieve better management of neurotoxicity.


Maintenance practices are considered as the means of providing safety and security to environment and quality service, and despite increasing the costs for companies with certain increments, they contribute to their reputation and reliability. Maintenance planning of ships consists of setting priorities and planning the efficient use of the sources. One of the main objectives of this study is to bring up more profits from commercial activities by optimizing the availability of vessels. Operational capacity is ensured by adopting a systematic and proper maintenance policy that increases effectiveness and efficiency by reducing downtime. To reach at such a target, recent failure data is analyzed and through this analysis certain procedures are developed for spare parts availability and these procedures are utilized in maintenance applications. This study aims to provide an additional feature for predictive maintenance software for the analysis of the upcoming conditions of the main engine systems. In this study, the history of failure in the critical nine main engine related subsystems have been analyzed by artificial neural network method, which is consistent with condition-based maintenance applications and subsequently helps to bring out the potential breakdowns in the recorded history of failure.


BACKGROUND
Before the introduction of the Trent online educational database there was no central resource that potential purchasers could use to access information on clinically relevant courses and programmes of professional development. The online database enables cancer centres, cancer units, and education and training confederations to identify current provision of cancer education and training courses in Trent.

CONCLUSION
The electronic online evaluation identified that the majority of users felt the information they found was relevant and that they would recommend the database to colleagues. They also felt that it was easy to find the information they required and the information was presented in a useful and appropriate format.


The advent of cell reprogramming technologies has widely disclosed the possibility to have direct access to human neurons for experimental and biomedical applications. Human pluripotent stem cells can be instructed in vitro to generate specific neuronal cell types as well as different glial cells. Moreover, new approaches of direct neuronal cell reprogramming can strongly accelerate the generation of different neuronal lineages. However, genetic heterogeneity, reprogramming fidelity, and time in culture of the starting cells can still significantly bias their differentiation efficiency and quality of the neuronal progenies. In addition, reprogrammed human neurons exhibit a very slow pace in gaining a full spectrum of functional properties including physiological levels of membrane excitability, sustained and prolonged action potential firing, mature synaptic currents and synaptic plasticity. This delay poses serious limitations for their significance as biological experimental model and screening platform. We will discuss new approaches of neuronal cell differentiation and reprogramming as well as methods to accelerate the maturation and functional activity of the converted human neurons.


Abstract Magnetic Drug Targeting is a new approach in cancer therapy, where magnetic nanoparticles are used as carriers for cancer drugs. Commonly, external magnets are employed for steering the particles inside the blood vessels towards a desired direction. However, an unwanted side effect of the steering is the accumulation of the particles underneath the steering magnet. Many researchers address the number of accumulated particles, but, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the retroaction of the accumulation profile on the generated magnetic field and, therefore, on the magnetic steering force, has not been investigated so far. Thus, in the proposed study, the influence of the accumulation profile on the magnetic force was numerically investigated. Therefore, a 2D model of a blood vessel with particles assumed as an accumulation profile and a nearby magnet was examined. Moreover, the length, thickness, and effective susceptibility of the approximated accumulation profile and the magnet size were varied. The results reveal that the field distribution is significantly affected, especially for high effective susceptibilities. The initially applied profile amplified the magnetic force; however, when the profile accumulated, it reduced the force up to 50 %. Overall, the results reveal that the retroaction of the particle distribution on the magnetic field must be considered in a simulation model.


Vaccination coverage levels among 2-year-old children for each of three routinely recommended vaccines--diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis (DTP), oral poliovirus (OPV), and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)--are lower than the national Childhood Immunization Initiative (CII) goal of 90% coverage for these vaccines (1.2). During 1991-1992, CDC awarded contracts to four universities (in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Rochester, New York) to conduct evaluations to identify causes of undervaccination, characterize and quantify missed opportunities (MOs) to vaccinate, and assess their programmatic importance. The evaluations targeted high-risk racial/ethnic minority children in inner-city settings in the four urban sites. This report summarizes selected findings* from these studies.


Red ginseng (RG) and black ginseng (BG, CJ EnerG) were prepared from fresh ginseng using one and nine cycles of steaming and drying, respectively. This process reduces the molecular weight (MW) of ginsenoside-active compounds in ginseng by removing sugar moieties from their dammaranes. We compared the pharmacokinetic characteristics of ginsenosides between BG comprising mainly low-MW ginsenosides (Rg3, Rg5, Rk1, and Rh1) and RG that predominantly contains high-MW ginsenosides (Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, and Rg1). The safety profiles and tolerability were also studied using a randomized, double-blind, single-dose, crossover clinical trial. A combination of Rb1, Rg1, and Rg3, well-known representative and functional RG components, exhibited a 1 h faster absorption rate (Tmax) and 58% higher exposure (24 h area under the concentration–time curve, AUC24) in BG than in RG. Furthermore, the combination of Rg3, Rg5, and Rk1, the major and most efficient components in BG, displayed 824% higher absorption (AUC24) in BG than in RG. The total ginsenoside showed a 5 h rapid intestinal absorption (Tmax) and 79% greater systemic exposure (AUC24) in BG than in RG. No clinically significant findings were observed in terms of safety or tolerability. Thus, BG extract was more effective than RG extract.


This thesis examines how Australian firms that designed and manufactured workplace plant addressed occupational health and safety (OHS), and the factors shaping their responses to OHS. Little scholarly attention has been paid to these issues despite the serious OHS risks posed by unsafe plant, the OHS legal obligations of plant designers and manufacturers, a national OHS policy commitment to safe design, and OHS professional pressures for designers and manufacturers to make plant and other items as safe as possible in the first instance.

The thesis explores OHS in plant design and manufacture through three interlinked studies. These are: a review and analysis of the most important OHS legal obligations applicable to plant design and manufacture; an empirical investigation of the Victorian and South Australian OHS regulators' inspection and enforcement with plant designers and manufacturers; and an empirical investigation, in the same two states, of responses to OHS by firms that designed and manufactured plant (plant designer-manufacturers).

The thesis contributes to understanding Australian plant designer-manufacturers' responses to OHS, including their compliance with OHS legal obligations. It also contributes to understanding the role and influence of Australian OHS law, inspection and enforcement of the law, and other OHS legal obligations on firms' responses to OHS. The thesis provides empirical evidence of the mixed but often mediocre performance of firms for assessment of plant risks and achievement of substantive OHS outcomes. It shows that only a small minority of firms comprehensively recognised the hazards for their plant, eliminated hazards or effectively minimised risks, and provided informative, user-friendly plant safety information. Only these firms that performed well for all OHS outcomes substantively complied with the prevention goals of their OHS legal obligations.

The central argument in this thesis is that plant designer-manufacturers' responses to OHS were shaped by contextualised OHS knowledge and motivational factors. In turn, OHS knowledge and motivational factors were constituted in the operations of firms and their interactions with external actors, and through the personal histories, values and attitudes of key decision makers in firms. Australian OHS law, OHS regulators and other OHS legal obligations contributed to OHS knowledge and motivations in some firms but, even when they had some influence, they had to compete with other constituents of OHS knowledge and motivations. As a consequence, plant designer-manufacturers' action on OHS was idiosyncratic, and often insufficient to ensure good performance for substantive OHS outcomes and compliance with OHS legal obligations.

The thesis concludes by identifying some important implications of the research for Australian OHS regulators, OHS policy makers, and industry and professional stakeholders, and proposes some strategic directions to address these implications. The implications relate to the design of Australian OHS law, inspection and enforcement policy and practice, and building the capacity of plant designers and manufacturers to address OHS effectively.


We report on the synthesis and operation of new soft colloidal probes (SCPs) as sensors for adhesion energy measurements. The measurements involve determination of the thermodynamic work of adhesion using the Johnson–Kendall–Roberts (JKR) approach. To maximize the sensitivity as well as the specificity of adhesion measurements in aqueous media we use highly compliant poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) microparticles as SCPs. The chemical inertness of PEG offers advantages as probe material, but at the same time complicates the integration of functional groups. Consequently, we focus on the development of a straightforward yet variable surface modification procedure involving radical surface chemistry using benzophenone as the photoinitiator. With this highly versatile method we are able to introduce various functionalities like carboxy or amine groups directly to the PEG network. These functionalized SCPs can then be further modified with more complex structures such as dendritic oligo(amidoamines). With a first set of SCPs, adhesion energies were measured on model surfaces revealing the contributions due to acid–base, electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions in water. We successfully showed that the developed PEG probes allow for the study of contact behaviour without expensive instrumentation and with high sensitivity suitable to detect very weak (biological) interactions.


A recommender system for E-commerce site receives information from customers about which products they are interested in, and recommends products that are likely to fit their needs. In this paper, we investigate several methods for large-scale product purchase data for the purpose of producing useful recommendations to customers. We apply the traditional data mining techniques of cluster analysis and collaborative filtering(CF), and CF with reduction of product-dimensionality by use of latent semantic indexing(LSI). If reduced product-dimensionality obtained from LSI shows a similar latent trend of customers for buying products to that based on original customer-product purchase data, we expect less computational effort for obtaining the nearest-neighbor for target customer may improve the efficiency of recommendation performance. From simulation experiments on synthetic customer-product purchase data, CF-based method with reduction of product-dimensionality presents a better performance than the traditional CF methods with respect to the recall, precision and F1 measure. In general, the recommendation quality increases as the size of the neighborhood increases. However, our simulation results shows that, after a certain point, the improvement gain diminish. Also we find, as a number of products of recommendation increases, the precision becomes worse, but the improvement gain of recall is relatively small after a certain point. We consider these informations may be useful in applying recommender system.


Summary Participation has been encouraged for many years in health development work, as a means to involve populations in improving the appropriateness and quality of their local health services. This article is an attempt to highlight a new approach to participation which moves away from a purely community focused activity and seeks to engage a broader partnership between health service providers, managers and users for a more accountable and sustainable end product. It takes inspiration from the Client Oriented Provider Efficient process (COPE) which has been proved an effective tool to improve the quality of reproductive health services. Mixing some of its core components with Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods we have developed a new model of participatory planning and training. Preliminary results show that including all stakeholders in the process can work as long as the exercises are accessible to all. This accessibility is achieved through a range of visualisation methods. As with any tool for Human Resource Development the crucial issue continues to be the need for effective follow up which can maintain levels of enthusiasm and quality in resource‐poor settings.


Introduction A body shape index (ABSI) is independently associated with mortality in general population, but studies on the predictability of ABSI in the risk of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are limited. We aimed to examine the independent and joint association of ABSI, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and body roundness index (BRI) with mortality in patients with T2D. Research design and methods The study included 11 872 patients (46.5% women) aged 30 years and older and who took part in diabetes care management program of a medical center in Taiwan. Body indices were evaluated by anthropometric measurements at baseline between 2001 and 2016, and their death status was followed up through 2021. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to assess the effect of body indices on mortality. Results During a mean follow-up of 10.2 years, 560 cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths and 3043 deaths were recorded. For ABSI, WC, WHR, WHtR and BRI, all-cause mortality rates were statistically significantly greater in Q4 versus Q2. For BMI and WHtR, all-cause mortality rates were also statistically significantly greater in Q1 versus Q2. The combination of BMI and ABSI exhibited a superiority in identifying risks of all-cause mortality and CVD mortality (HRs: 1.45 and 1.37, both p<0.01). Conclusions Combined use of ABSI and BMI can contribute to the significant explanation of the variation in death risk in comparison with the independent use of BMI or other indices.


Inspired by recent success of analytical placers that use a logarithm-sum-exponential (LSE) to smooth half-perimeter wirelength (HPWL), the authors consider in this paper two alternative smoothing methods for HPWL by recursive extension of two-variable max functions. A limited memory quasi-Newton solver is applied to solve the objective function combining both the smoothing function of HPWL and the penalty function that arises from cell density constraints. Experimental results show that our flow using these two smoothing functions and the solver produces placements with comparable HPWL compared to LSE smoothing-based methods. The placement flow also produces placements with comparable routability and routed wirelength but with shorter runtime


Osteolysis is defined as the process of progressive destruction of periprosthetic bony tissue, characterized on serial radiographs as progressive radiolucent lines and/or cavitation at the implant-bone or cement-bone interface. Without proper treatment, osteolysis may progress to aseptic loosening and catastrophic failure of the implant. Osteolysis is a multifactorial process stemming from host, prosthesis, and surgical factors. Billions of submicron wear particles are generated at material interfaces that cause osteolysis. Wear particles are dispersed along the effective joint space, into bone, and throughout the adjacent soft tissues. Initially, patients may have no clinical symptoms despite radiographic evidence of osteolysis and can remain completely asymptomatic, even in the presence of substantial bone loss. Symptoms usually do not occur until the bone loss has reached the point of causing implant loosening, implant failure (fracture), or periprosthetic fracture. Radiographic images and standard examination provide limited information and almost always underestimate the amount of bone loss. Three-dimensional computed tomography is more sensitive and can monitor the volume of the lesion, however the trade-offs are its high cost and radiation exposure. The timing for treatment of periprosthetic osteolysis is controversial and the medical decision-making is debatable. Medical treatment seems to be attractive but there is no proven or approved drug therapy to prevent or inhibit periprosthetic osteolysis. We reviewed the medical and surgical options that are available for treatment of periprosthetic osteolysis.


IgG anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) have been described in sera from patients with vasculitis and other immune disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Presence of AECA may be relevant to the hypothesis that Crohn's disease (CD) is a form of intestinal vasculitis. The aim of this study was to search for IgG AECA among 141 patients with CD, 94 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 71 healthy blood donors and to assess the relationship between AECA and demographic or disease data. The cut-off point was defined from the mean OD values + 2 SD obtained from healthy blood donors. Seventeen percent of sera from patients with CD were positive for IgG AECA, whereas 24.5% of sera from patients with UC were positive. Among disease data, only a significant relationship between presence of IgG AECA and CD activity was noticed. These results might reinforce the hypothesis that intestinal vascular injury may be an important event in CD. However, detection of AECA in an almost similar percentage of patients with UC is more suggestive of an immune response to hidden endothelial self-antigen exposed after endothelial cell damage or a further marker of disturbed immunoregulation in inflammatory bowel disease.


AP-1 and Gga adaptors participate in clathrin-mediated protein transport between the trans-Golgi network and endosomes. Both adaptors contain homologous domains that act to recruit accessory proteins involved in clathrin-coated vesicle formation, but the spectrum of known adaptor-binding partners is limited. This study describes an evolutionarily conserved protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Laa1p (Yjl207cp), that interacts and functions specifically with AP-1. Deletion of LAA1, when combined with a conditional mutation in clathrin heavy chain or deletion of GGA genes, accentuated growth defects and increased disruption of clathrin-dependent alpha-factor maturation and transport of carboxypeptidase Y to the vacuole. In contrast, such genetic interactions were not observed between deletions of LAA1 and AP-1 subunit genes. Laa1p preferentially interacted with AP-1 compared with Gga proteins by glutathione S-transferase-fusion affinity binding and coimmunoprecipitations. Localization of AP-1 and Laa1p, but not Gga proteins, was highly sensitive to brefeldin A, an inhibitor of ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) activation. Importantly, deletion of LAA1 caused mislocalization of AP-1, especially in cells at high density (postdiauxic shift), but it did not affect Gga protein distribution. Our results identify Laa1p as a new determinant of AP-1 localization, suggesting a model in which Laa1p and Arf cooperate to direct stable association of AP-1 with appropriate intracellular membranes.


: The book Currency Wars authored by Song Hongbing, has been of China's best sellers related to contemporary politics and economics. The book invents a relationship between the "Rothschild family," and American politics to allege that the world economy is controlled by the Rothschilds. This exaggeration of the influence of Americans and Europeans, consortia, and even individuals on the world has as its main intention the creation of a belief in "Western hostile forces" working against China, thus inflaming "pop-nationalism". This paper argues that, Currency Wars caters to fears of Western influence common in Chinese history and which reflects a traditional group psychology; second, the spread and acceptance of this book reflects a pop-nationalism based around fears of globalization similar to those which inspired the "Boxer Rebellion" over a century ago. To overcome refuge in these sorts of ideas, China must find positive ways to communicate with the world and assume its international responsibilities as it continues to reform and open up.


[Purpose] To evaluate the electrical activity of the pelvic floor muscle in women during the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle and its correlation with estradiol and total testosterone levels. [Subjects and Methods] This cross-sectional study involved 30 women with ovulatory menstrual cycles. Total testosterone and estradiol levels were measured and the muscle tone and maximum voluntary contraction of the pelvic floor muscles were evaluated using surface electromyography. [Results] Muscle tone was significantly lower during the follicular (21.1±3.3 μV) and ovulatory (27.1±5.9 μV) phases than the luteal phase (30.4±4.1 μV). The maximum voluntary contraction was not different across phases. The estradiol level on the 7th day of the menstrual cycle showed a strong positive correlation with muscle tone and maximum voluntary contraction, and the testosterone level was positively correlated with muscle tone on the 21st day. [Conclusion] Women have better muscle tone during the luteal phase. The muscle tone and maximum voluntary contraction were strongly correlated with the estradiol level on the 7th day, and the muscle tone was correlated with the testosterone level on the 21st day of the menstrual cycle. These findings suggest that hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle alter pelvic floor muscle activity.


A definition of quasi-local momentum is given. It is shown that, in the absence of matter, the leading term is determined by the Bel-Robinson tensor.


Objectives
Proximal femur fractures (PFF) usually occur in ge-riatric patients and lead to high mortality and disability. This study aims to analyze the mortality rate at 30 days in over-65 -years hospitalized patients with proximal femur fractures, comparing the data collected from three public hospitals in Lazio Region, focusing on early surgery outcomes.

Materials and Methods
They were gathered data from the Regional Program for the Evaluation of the Outcomes of Health Interventions (P.Re.Val.E.) dated 2019, managed by the Department of Epidemiology of the Regional Health Service of Lazio (DEP), concerning femur fractures' treatment and outcome in elderly patients. Three hospitals were selected (called A, B, or C), belonging to a specific Local He-alth Authority in Rome, and for each of them were identified some indicators (total number of hospitalizations, origin of the admissions, destination of patients, surgery within 48 hours or two days, 30-day mortality, number of hospitalizations).

Results
In Hospital A, the mortality rate at 30 days (305 registe-red patients) was 2.6%, the lowest among the hospitals considered. In Hospital B, the total mortality at 30 days (254 registered patients) was 7.48%, above the regional average of 5.95%. In Hospital C, the mortality rate at 30 days (71 registered patients) was 4.23%, below the regional average.

Conclusions
P.Re.Val.E. represents a fundamental tool to evaluate the work of the Local Health Authorities and the structures that are part of it. In particular, about proximal femoral fractures in over-65-years patients, the results of surgical treatment in 48 hours and the morta-lity rate at 30 days represent a reproducible index of quality of the healthcare system. However, other variables need to be considered in future studies, taking into account different features of various hospitals, even if they belong to the same Local Health Authority. v.


Precise measurements of the spectra of secondary and primary cosmic rays are crucial for understanding the origin and propagation of those energetic particles. The High Energy Cosmic-radiation Detection (HERD) facility on board China's Space Station, which is expected to operate in 2027, will push the direct and precise measurements of cosmic-ray fluxes up to PeV energies. In this work, we investigate the potential of HERD for studying the propagation of cosmic rays using measurements of boron, carbon, and oxygen spectra. We find that, compared with the current results, the new HERD measurements can improve the accuracy of the propagation parameters by 8%–40%. The constraints on the injection spectra at high energies will also be improved.


Recently data traffic has experienced explosive increase with the proliferation of wireless devices and the popularity of media-based free services. The academic and industry of mobile communications have predicted an estimated $1000$x increase in traffic volume for the forthcoming 5G networks. This traffic explosion stimulates the deployment of heterogeneous networks (HetNets) with small cells (SCs) underlying in the traditional macrocells, which has been considered as a promising technique to contribute to the $1000$x traffic capacity gain. Initially, licensed spectrum bands are expected to be used in SCs, thus the SC deployment introduces the cross-tier interference between SCs and macrocells, which degrades the downlink signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of user equipments (UEs) severely, especially for the edge UEs in a ultra-densely deployed scenario. To alleviate this cross-tier interference between SCs and macrocells, unlicensed spectrum bands are advocated to be used in SCs. Specifically, with the aid of carrier aggregation, the $5$ gigahertz (GHz) unlicensed band has become an option for SCs in the Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Unlicensed (LTE-U) scheme, but the $5$ Ghz unlicensed band has already been used by WiFi networks. Thus downlink cross-tier interference also occurs between LTE-U and WiFi networks. Accordingly, downlink cross-tier interference is inevitable no matter licensed or unlicensed spectrum band (i.e., 5 GHz) is used in SCs, and interference coordination schemes, such as further enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (FeICIC) for macrocells and SCs, and Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) for WiFi networks and LTE-U networks, have been proposed to mitigate these cross-tier interferences. In this dissertation, we mainly focus on the modelling and performance analysis of HetNets with the aforementioned two interference coordination schemes (i.e., FeICIC and LTE-LAA) under the stochastic geometry framework.

Firstly, as the configuration of reduced power subframe (RPS)-related parameters was not well investigated in a two-tier HetNet adopting RPSs and cell range expansion (CRE), we derive the analytical expressions of the downlink coverage probability and rate coverage probability in such a HetNet. The optimal settings for the area of macrocell center regions, the area of SC range expansion regions, and the transmit power of RPSs for maximizing the rate coverage probability are analysed. As compared with the rate coverage probability in the two-tier HetNet with almost blank subframes (ABSs), which is proposed in the previous version of FeICIC, i.e., the enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC), the results show that ABSs outperform RPSs in terms of the rate coverage probability in the two-tier HetNet with the optimal range expansion bias, but lead to a heavier burden on the SC backhaul. However, with static typical range expansion biases, RPSs provide better rate coverage probability than ABSs in the two-tier HetNet.

Secondly, the conventional FeICIC scheme ignores the potential of RPSs being adopted in both tiers of a two-tier HetNet without CRE, which is envisioned to improve the SINR level of edge UEs in both tiers. Accordingly, we study the downlink coverage probability and rate coverage probability of a two-tier HetNet applying with our proposed scheme. The results reveal that adopting RPSs in both tiers not only improves the coverage probabilities of edge UEs, but also increases the rate coverage probability of the whole two-tier HetNet.

Thirdly, in both previous works, strict subframe alignment (SA) was assumed throughout the whole network, which is difficult to maintain between neighbouring cells in reality. Consequently, we propose a novel subframe misalignment (SM) model for a two-tier HetNet adopting RPSs with SM offsets restricted within a subframe duration, and analyse the coverage probability under the effects of RPSs and SM. The numerical results indicate that the strict SA requirement can be relaxed by up to $20\%$ of the subframe duration with a loss of below $5\%$ in terms of the downlink coverage probability.

Lastly, since stochastic-geometry-based analysis of the coexisting LTE-LAA and WiFi networks, which adopt the carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) as the medium access control (MAC) scheme and share multiple unlicensed channels (UCs), was missing, we analyse the downlink throughput and spectral efficiency (SE) of the coexisting LTE-LAA and WiFi networks versus the network density and the number of UCs based on the Matern hard core process. The throughput and SE are obtained as functions of the downlink successful transmission probability (STP), of which analytical expressions are derived for both LTE-LAA and WiFi UEs. The results show that the throughput and SE of the whole coexisting LTE-LAA and WiFi networks can be improved significantly with an increasing number of accessible UCs. Based on the numerical results, insights into the trade-off between the throughput and SE against the number of accessible UCs are provided.

All the derived results have been validated by Monte Carlo simulation in Matlab, and the conclusions observed from the results can provide guidelines for the future deployments of the FeICIC and LTE-LAA interference coordination schemes in HetNets.


The article presents the definition and prevalence of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction in patients with various disorders of the biliary system. It describes the characteristics of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction with due account of its anatomical structure. Based on Rome IV Criteria (2016), the authors provide modern approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Special attention is paid to the diagnostic criteria for sphincter of Oddi dysfunction depending on its type. There are two basic types of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction: biliary dysfunction and pancreatitis. The paper presents the algorithms for the examination and treatment of patients with sphincter of Oddi dysfunction depending on the severity level of the disease and objective findings of laboratory and instrumental tests. The article presents a clinical history of a patient with sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. Depending on the characteristics of a clinical course of dysfunction, it was proposed that the patient was treated with a selective antispasmodic drug and a choleretic drug.


BACKGROUND
The present study was aimed to identify how age-related changes in some physiological and biochemical systems are related to changes in the life span of rats with long-term pineal gland hypo- and hyperfunction induced by constant light and constant darkness, respectively.

METHODS
At the age of 25 days the rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: standard light/dark regimen (LD), constant light (LL) and constant darkness (DD). Age-related Antioxidant System (AOS) changes in liver tissues, alteration of immunoreactivity in blood smears were investigated, pubescence and lifespan of the animals were determined.

RESULTS
Modification of the level of melatonin synthesis induced by constant light results in interrelated rearrangements in the functioning of the investigated physiological systems. Elevated activity of the antioxidant system extends the lifespan, while at the same time slowing down pubescence and altering the morpho-functional properties of leukocytes in blood.

CONCLUSION
The absence of light/dark alternation (constant light and constant darkness) affects only those physiological indices that follow the organism's circadian rhythms (Activity of Antioxidant Enzymes (AOE), levels of individual immune system cell types), whereas changes in the parameters not governed by circadian fluctuations (vitamin concentrations, pubescence, and aging) depend on the level of melatonin produced by the pineal gland.


This is a highly illustrated how-to-do-it book. There are very few such books specifically covering non-precious material techniques, but there has been a recent increase in the creative use of non-precious materials in jewellery-making. Using a step-by-step approach, this book is an easy and accessible, but thorough, introduction to non-precious materials and techniques. Examples of appropriate techniques for each material are featured as making sequences, alongside showcased pieces from contemporary jewellers in different materials. Throughout are suggestions for taking the techniques further and developing original designs, and there is a final section of design briefs, which will show you how to complete a project. Materials covered include: rubber, resin, polypropylene, acrylic, cellulose acetate, nylon, wood, fibre, felt, cloth, paper, stone, titanium, steel, aluminium, tin, copper, leather, brass and bone. Techniques to be covered include: cutting/piercing, laser cutting, joining/fixing, gluing, drilling, colouring/dyeing, heat forming, casting, scoring and bending, laminating, vacuum forming, electroplating, finished, knitting/knotting, blocking and shaping, origami, flocking, beading and embossing. Projects will include necklaces, bangles, brooches and earrings.


What is the impact of socialism on social hierarchies? What kind of inequities disappear, what kinds remain, and what new forms of inequality emerge? Growing out of a research project conducted by scholars from seven socialist countries, this volume compares conditions in Poland and Hungary. Theoretical considerations and previous research are first reviewed, and then social distinctions in each country are compared along four dimensions: social mobility, working conditions, living standards, and cultural levels. Each of these is regarded as an aspect of socio-occupational status, seen as the main variable in socialist societies. Several differences in the development of the social structure in Hungary and Poland are observed, most important being the condition of the peasantry in each, and the social effects of Hungary's marked programme of economic reform. The complex process of the impact of socialist programmes on society is traced; a wealth of information on conditions in both countries is provided by these exhaustively researched, conceptually sophisticated studies.


Extensively purified DNA gyrase from Escherichia coli is inhibited by nalidixic acid and by novobiocin. The enzyme is composed of two subunits, A and B, which were purified as separate components. Subunit A is the product of the gene controlling sensitivity to nalidixic acid (nalA) because: (i) the electrophoretic mobility of subunit A in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate is identical to that of the 105,000-dalton nalA gene product; (ii) mutants that are resistant to nalidixic acid (nalA(r)) produce a drug-resistant subunit A; and (iii) wild-type subunit A confers drug sensitivity to in vitro synthesis of varphiX174 DNA directed by nalA(r) mutants. Subunit B contains a 95,000-dalton polypeptide and is controlled by the gene specifying sensitivity to novobiocin (cou) because cou(r) mutants produce a novobiocin-resistant subunit B and novobiocin-resitant gyrase is made drug sensitive by wild-type subunit B. Subunits A and B associate, so that gyrase was also purified as a complex containing 105,000- and 95,000-dalton polypeptides. This enzyme and gyrase reconstructed from subunits have the same drug sensitivity, K(m) for ATP, and catalytic properties. The same ratio of subunits gives efficient reconstitution of the reactions intrinsic to DNA gyrase, including catalysis of supercoiling of closed duplex DNA, relaxation of supercoiled DNA in the absence of ATP, and site-specific cleavage of DNA induced by sodium dodecyl sulfate.


Philipp Bozzini was born the 25 of May of 1773 in Mainz, Germany. The 12 of June of 1797 obtain the title of medicine doctor. From 1804 it is practically dedicated of complete to the development of its instrument, this have the approximated form of one metallic vase of 35 cm height, had in leather. In its previous face it has a circular opening that is divided vertically by a partition. In left half is the luminance source (a wax candle) and behind is a mirror, that it projects the light produced towards the interior of the corporal cavity to explore. By other half, the observer receives the reflected light and the image of the explored organ. In the later face they adapt according to the cavity diverse specula's, this allow to inspect ear, urethra, feminine bladder, rectum, uterine neck, nasal or wounds. Philipp Bozzini, profit with modest means available at the beginning of XIX century, to demonstrate to the medical world the way of endoscopes. It was with its instrument and ideas, 3/4 of century advanced to the technical and scientific possibilities of the moment. The historians are in agreement, in which this instrument, with artificial light, diverse mirrors and specula's war the beginning of a numerous family of endoscopies.


Abstract : This work examines the nature of triggering events culminating in state failure, and analyzes characteristics in an attempt to determine tendencies and linkages between triggering events and types of conflict. Terms like state, state failure, and trigger are defined for use within the project scope. Existing analytical models are summarized to situate the requirement for a comprehensive model accommodating a consideration of triggers. Conclusions and recommendations provide summations of the project findings and identify options for a way ahead. A more time-sensitive predictive tool for state failure requires incorporation of proximate causes as a precursor to triggering events. This work provides an analysis of the triggers to state failure since 1955 using data from the Political Instability Task Force (PITF), with a specific focus on post-1990 events as a contribution to development of DRDC's predictive model for state failure. This work is not a manual or authoritative guide. It presents an initial analysis of how structural factors, proximate causes and triggering events could be sewn into a single iterative model for the prediction of state instability and state failure and characterization of triggering events. The overwhelming focus is on the latter.


Garbage is a consequence of human activities. As the population increases and economic growth nowadays, most municipal waste management still creates problems that are difficult to control. To reduce the volume of waste and make the waste produce rupiah value, it must be managed by the community through a waste bank program. With the existence of a waste bank, it is expected to increase income for the academic community of STIEAD Jakarta and the surrounding community.
Data analysis methods include qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis. Qualitative analysis is carried out descriptively. Financial analysis processes data using financial feasibility criteria, namely NPV, IRR, Net B/C and Payback Period. While non-financial analysis includes technical aspects of market aspects, management aspects, economic aspects, social and environmental aspects. The data processing is carried out based on the framework of thought that has been compiled. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was also conducted to look at the sensitivity of waste management businesses in the face of possible changes.The business of establishing a Waste Bank in the STIEAD Jakarta environment is feasible based on market aspects, technical aspects, legal and institutional aspects and environmental, economic and social aspects. The business of establishing a waste bank based on financial aspects is feasible to be carried out in the calculation of Nett Present Value (NPV) of 2,638,774> 0, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 9,089> 9, Net Benefit Cost Ratio (Net B / C) of 1,095 > 1 and Payback Period (PBP) for 8 years and 6 months

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An explicit formula expressing the number of classes of primitive hyperbolic elements in the congruence subgroup Γ0(N) (the number of closed geodesics) in terms of the number of equivalence classes of indefinite binary quadratic forms is obtained. The well-known formulae for the numbers of classes of elliptic and parabolic elements in Γ0(N) are special cases of this formula. Bibliography: 11 titles.


Abstract This paper proposes a cognitive model for processing humor in puns written in kanji (logographs) and kana (phonographs) in kyoka. Kyoka is a genre of playful Japanese poetry, and it characteristically employs puns for language play and humor. This study shows how kyoka poets manipulate the use of kanji and kana orthography to trick their readers in different ways, directing readers to different processing routes of kanji and kana puns. Kanji puns offer direct access to one particular meaning, and the discovery of another hidden meaning is a surprise. Kana puns, on the other hand, produce semantic ambiguity, and the discovery of the two meanings results from an appreciation of their incompatibility. This study adds a visual aspect to the sound aspect of puns, and demonstrates ways in which cultural resources affect their processing.


The immune-mediated foreign body response to biomaterial implants can trigger the formation of insulating fibrotic capsules that can compromise implant function. To address this challenge, we leverage the intrinsic bioactivity of the mucin biopolymer, a heavily glycosylated protein that forms the protective mucus gel covering mucosal epithelia. By using a bioorthogonal inverse electron demand Diels-Alder reaction, we crosslink mucins into implantable hydrogels. We show that mucin hydrogels (Muc-gels) modulate the immune response driving biomaterial-induced fibrosis. Muc-gels did not elicit fibrosis 21 days after implantation in the peritoneal cavity of C57Bl/6 mice, whereas medical-grade alginate hydrogels (Alg-gels) were covered by fibrous tissues. Further, Muc-gels dampened the recruitment of innate and adaptive immune cells to the gel and triggered a pattern of very mild activation marked by a noticeably low expression of the fibrosis-stimulating TGF-β1 cytokine. With this advance in mucin materials, we provide an essential tool to better understand mucin bioactivities and to initiate the development of new mucin-based and mucin-inspired 'immune-informed' materials for implantable devices subject to fibrotic encapsulation.


We report on a patient with severe renovascular hypertension associated with massive spontaneous mediastinal hemorrhage. Differentiation of this entity from aortic dissection, as well as establishing the cause of the severe hypertension, was possible only through the aid of angiography. Following exploratory thoracotomy, renal artery revascularization was carried out, with resolution of the hypertension. To our knowledge, this complication of renovascular hypertension has not been reported. Prompt recognition and appropriate therapy were possible only after angiographic evaluation.


Spore germination is the first step for fungal pathogens to infect host plants. The pH value, as one of the most important environmental parameters, has critical influence on spore germination. In this study, effects of ambient pH on spore germination were determined by culturing spores of Penicillium expansum in medium with pH values at 2.0, 5.0 and 8.0, and involved mechanisms were further investigated through methods of comparative proteomics. The results demonstrated that spore germination of P. expansum was obviously inhibited at pH 2.0 and 8.0. Using quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer, 34 proteins with significant changes in abundance were identified. Among them, 17 proteins were related to protein synthesis and folding, and most of them were down-regulated at pH 2.0 and 8.0. Accordingly, lower content of total soluble proteins and higher ratio of aggregated proteins were observed in spores at pH 2.0 and 8.0. In addition, it was found that ambient pH could affect intracellular pH and ATP level of P. expansum spores. These findings indicated that ambient pH might affect spore germination of P. expansum by changing intracellular pH and regulating protein expression. Further, impairing synthesis and folding of proteins might be one of the main reasons.


Frequent spontaneous facial self-touches, predominantly during outbreaks, have the theoretical potential to be a mechanism of contracting and transmitting diseases. Despite the recent advent of vaccines, behavioral approaches remain an integral part of reducing the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. The aim of this study was to utilize the functionality and the spread of smartwatches to develop a smartwatch application to identify motion signatures that are mapped accurately to face touching. Participants (n = 10, five women, aged 20–83) performed 10 physical activities classified into face touching (FT) and non-face touching (NFT) categories in a standardized laboratory setting. We developed a smartwatch application on Samsung Galaxy Watch to collect raw accelerometer data from participants. Data features were extracted from consecutive non-overlapping windows varying from 2 to 16 s. We examined the performance of state-of-the-art machine learning methods on face-touching movement recognition (FT vs. NFT) and individual activity recognition (IAR): logistic regression, support vector machine, decision trees, and random forest. While all machine learning models were accurate in recognizing FT categories, logistic regression achieved the best performance across all metrics (accuracy: 0.93 ± 0.08, recall: 0.89 ± 0.16, precision: 0.93 ± 0.08, F1-score: 0.90 ± 0.11, AUC: 0.95 ± 0.07) at the window size of 5 s. IAR models resulted in lower performance, where the random forest classifier achieved the best performance across all metrics (accuracy: 0.70 ± 0.14, recall: 0.70 ± 0.14, precision: 0.70 ± 0.16, F1-score: 0.67 ± 0.15) at the window size of 9 s. In conclusion, wearable devices, powered by machine learning, are effective in detecting facial touches. This is highly significant during respiratory infection outbreaks as it has the potential to limit face touching as a transmission vector.


Based on the integration of sedimentological, geomorphic and topography data with flexural modeling of the subsidence of marginal basins we suggest that regional geomorphic features along the eastern Brazil coastal zone are related to the flexural deformation of the lithosphere due to the sedimentary loads placed on the continental margin. The extensional stresses resulting from this flexural deformation can exert its influence continentwards to a distance of 100 km from the shoreline. These stresses have a magnitude great enough to cause reactivation of ancient faults generated during the separation of South America and Africa, as well as generation of new ones, thus inducing a neotectonic control in the configuration and evolution of the shoreline and the coastal zone. This mechanism although modeled for just two profiles should be valid for the entire continental margin, with variations due to differences in distribution of sedimentary loads along that margin.


Phenolic acids and flavonoids are large groups of secondary metabolites ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. They are currently in the spotlight due to the numerous health benefits associated with their consumption, as well as for their vital roles in plant biological processes and in plant-environment interaction. Tomato, eggplant and pepper are in the top ten most consumed vegetables in the world, and their fruit accumulation profiles have been extensively characterized, showing substantial differences. A broad array of genetic and genomic tools has helped to identify QTLs and candidate genes associated with the fruit biosynthesis of phenolic acids and flavonoids. The aim of this review was to synthesize the available information making it easily available for researchers and breeders. The phenylpropanoid pathway is tightly regulated by structural genes, which are conserved across species, along with a complex network of regulatory elements like transcription factors, especially of MYB family, and cellular transporters. Moreover, phenolic compounds accumulate in tissue-specific and developmental-dependent ways, as different paths of the metabolic pathway are activated/deactivated along with fruit development. We retrieved 104 annotated putative orthologues encoding for key enzymes of the phenylpropanoid pathway in tomato (37), eggplant (29) and pepper (38) and compiled 267 QTLs (217 for tomato, 16 for eggplant and 34 for pepper) linked to fruit phenolic acids, flavonoids and total phenolics content. Combining molecular tools and genetic variability, through both conventional and genetic engineering strategies, is a feasible approach to improve phenolics content in tomato, eggplant and pepper. Finally, although the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway has been well-studied in the Solanaceae, more research is needed on the identification of the candidate genes behind many QTLs, as well as their interactions with other QTLs and genes.


. We discuss methods for using the Weil polynomial of an isogeny class of abelian varieties over a finite field to determine properties of the curves (if any) whose Jacobians lie in the isogeny class. Some methods are strong enough to show that there are no curves with the given Weil polynomial, while other methods can sometimes be used to show that a curve with the given Weil polynomial must have nontrivial automorphisms, or must come provided with a map of known degree to an elliptic curve with known trace. Such properties can sometimes lead to efficient methods for searching for curves with the given Weil polynomial. Many of the techniques we discuss were inspired by methods that Serre used in his 1985 Harvard class on rational points on curves over finite fields. The recent publication of the notes for this course gives an incentive for reviewing the developments in the field that have occurred over the intervening years.


The Classical Guitar Companion is an anthology of exercises, études, and pieces organized according to technique or musical texture. Students are encouraged to work in multiple chapters, simultaneously depending on advice from a teacher or their own assessment of what they need. The author's dual perspective, as an active performing artist and as a teacher who has trained hundreds of guitarists, results in a combination of pedagogical thoroughness and artistic insight. The book opens with a large section devoted to establishing a thorough knowledge of the guitar fingerboard through a systematic and rigorous study of scales and fingerboard harmony, which will lead to ease and fluency in sight-reading and reduce the time needed to learn a repertoire piece. The chapters cover scales exercises and studies, repeated notes, slurs, harmony, arpeggios, melody with accompaniment, counterpoint, and florid/virtuoso studies. Each section contains text and examples that connect material to fingering practices of composers and practice strategies to open a path to interpretive freedom in performance. Exploring advice found in the standard pedagogical literature for guitar that effectively places constraints on a student's long-term development, the book offers information designed to help students recognize and overcome these constraints. When the book presents the simple version of a technique, it does so through consideration of the technique's advanced version. Many guitar composers are represented but there are also transcriptions of relevant lute music that expand the scope of the book. The book is designed to serve as a companion for years of guitar study.


This paper uses results of a questionnaire survey to look at how central bankers in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia view various criteria of central bank independence and compares their responses with central bankers in industrial countries. Central bankers from both groups agree very strongly on the importance of two pillars of central bank independence: goal independence and freedom to implement these goals, together with a system of how credit is granted by a central bank to a government that gives the central bank powers to determine terms and limits the extent of such credit. Based on the responses, the paper also identifies some weaknesses of the most frequently used indices of central bank independence and makes recommendations on how to improve them. Copyright Scottish Economic Society 2003


Economists often model the delicate relationship between production, innovation, and economic growth as a production function that exhibits increasing returns to scale (IRS). The existence of "knowledge spillovers" or "learning by doing" often implies conclusions about the optimal use of protectionist trade and industrial policies that increase national welfare by artificially reallocating productive resources in order to exploit IRS. We argue this often fails to capture the institutions that govern entrepreneurial production choices. By clarifying the nature and economic relationships of information, and the limitations of existing models of production, we contribute a new understanding of research with applications to innovation, economic growth, and trade policy.


Gene amplification, which is generally considered to occur late in tumor development, is a common feature of high grade glioma. Up until now, there have been no reports on amplification in astrocytoma grade I. In this study, we report cloning and sequencing of a cDNA termed glioma-amplified sequence (GAS41) which was identified recently in a glioblastoma cell line by microdissection-mediated cDNA capture. This technique is tailored to isolate amplified genes from human tumors. An increased copy number of GAS41 was found in glioblastoma multiforme and astrocytoma III, and at a high frequency in astrocytoma grades I and II. Sequence comparison indicates a high homology between the GAS41 protein, the yeast and human AF-9 and the human ENL proteins. Both AF-9 and ENL belong to a new class of transcription factors, indicating that GAS41 might also represent a transcription factor. With GAS41 being the first gene found with increased copy number in low grade glioma, this study provides the first evidence that gene amplification can occur in early tumor development.


ABSTRACT This study examined factors at the structural and individual levels that can facilitate discussion of sexual matters between physicians and older patients. Fifteen physicians from differing medical specialties, who are also certified sexologists or qualified in human sexuality, were interviewed for the study. Open-coding analysis was employed, consisting of comparisons within and across interviews. Three major themes emerged: (1) increase the visibility and importance of older adults' sexuality, as the first step in facilitating discussion on sexual matters in later life by raising awareness of sexuality in older adults in a non-stigmatized way, (2) increase knowledge of medical students and physicians and provide accurate, up-to-date knowledge to older adults, and (3) display more openness to discussing elderly sexuality in clinical encounters, by creating an accepting atmosphere in which older patients feel comfortable discussing their sexual needs. The findings highlight that the communication between physicians and older patients needs to extend beyond practical guidance, and that ageist beliefs that assume older adults are not interested in sex should be challenged. After acknowledging older people as sexual beings, increasing the knowledge of later-life sexuality is essential, and practical guidelines for open discussions can be developed.