The Paddock to Reef Modelling (P2R) and Monitoring Program reports on progress towards meeting the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (Reef Plan) targets. The targets set out in the Reef Plan are designed to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) through improving land management practices. Catchment modelling is being used as one line of evidence to report on progress towards Reef Plan targets resulting from investment in improved management practices. The eWater Source Integrated Modelling System (Source IMS) was chosen as the preferred modelling platform for undertaking GBR water quality modelling. The main reason for choosing eWater source was its flexible architecture that enables users to write customised plug-ins to meet specific modelling requirements. After a review of currently available modelling platforms, it was determined that there was no "off the shelf" software that could meet all of the modelling requirements. SedNet alone could not provide the finer resolution time stepping required, and Source IMS cannot inherently represent many variations of a spatially varying practice like cropping, to the level of detail required to allow subtle changes in management system to have a recognisable effect on model outputs. To address these issues, and answer the questions being posed by policy makers, customised plug-ins for Source IMS were developed. These plug-ins allowed us to integrate the best available data sources and landscape process understanding into the catchment model. Purpose built routines enabling representations of processes such as the effects of temporally and spatially variable ground cover on soil erosion, aggregation of deterministic crop model outputs directly into the catchment model and the incorporation of SedNet gully and stream bank erosion algorithms were developed. Additional reporting tools were also written to enable rapid interrogation of model outputs. For example, reporting of pollutant loads by subcatchment, landuse, process (gully, streambank, hillslope) for any time period from daily to average annual. The development of the GBR Source Catchments models demonstrates the highly flexible nature of the Source IMS framework. With flexibility also comes a tendency towards ever increasing complexity. As more involved questions are posed, it is tempting to keep adding to the functionality of the model. Although the modelling framework is capable of supporting complex algorithms it is essential that these are also supported by observed data and understanding derived from experimentation.


ABSTRACT In this review, I introduce the historical context and methods of optical neuroimaging, leading to the modern use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) to study human brain function. In its most frequent application, optical neuroimaging measures a haemodynamically-mediated signal indirectly related to neural processing, similar to that captured by fMRI. Compared to other approaches to measuring human brain function, optical imaging has many advantages: it is noninvasive, frequently portable, acoustically silent, robust to motion and muscle movement, and appropriate in many situations in which fMRI is not possible (for example, due to implanted medical devices). Challenges include producing a full-brain field of view, homogenous spatial resolution, and accurate source localisation. Experimentally, optical neuroimaging has been used to study phoneme, word, and sentence processing in a variety of paradigms. With continuing technical and methodological improvements, the future of optical neuroimaging is increasingly bright.


As populations in contemporary Western societies grow more diverse, the need for teachers to better understand and work with difference productively becomes increasingly critical (Allard & Santoro, 2006; D'Cruz, 2007). However, the literature on teacher education shows that historically, teacher education programs have aimed to address diversity with add‐on or piecemeal approaches, with little success (McDonald, 2005). Moreover, some authors (e.g. Lortie, 1975) have argued that "the predispositions teacher education students bring to teaching are a much more powerful socializing influence than either pre‐service education or later socialization in the workplace" (Johnson, 2002, p. 154). This article explores research and scholarship in this area and argues that we must move beyond the fragmented and superficial treatment of diversity if we are to encourage dispositions in all pre‐service teachers that are more closely aligned with a recognitive view of social justice.


The issue of governance has become an essential and a critical issue for the public sector especially in Malaysia. The Prime Minister of Malaysia has stressed and given more focused on the issues of governance which required public sector to operate within a system of check and balance. Further, the Right Honorable urged to emulate a value system that emphasis more on the issue of ethics, openness, accountability, transparency,and integrity in the public sector. This issue need to be addressed accordingly as it gives bearing on the performance of an organization.
This study seeks to examine on the relationship of good public sector governance and the performance of organization, namely, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA). The
objectives of this study are: i) to determined and measure the level of good public sector governance score in MARA, Credit Control Department, ii) to examine the possible
relationship between good public sector governance and the performance of MARA,Credit Control Department, iii) to identify the significant element of good public sector
governance that contributes to the variation of the performance in MARA, Credit Control Department, and iv) to identify the relative problems in collecting the educational loans faced by the Credit Control Department, MARA.In this study, the good public sector governance practices, as independent variables, is assessed by using the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) Good Public Sector Governance framework which consists of leadership, stakeholder relationship, risk management, accountability, planning and performance monitoring,information and decision support and review and evaluation. The dependent variable,perceived public sector performance, is being represented by the efficiency and effectiveness, productivity and cost and customer satisfaction. A research framework was developed and eight main hypotheses were posited and tested. The study utilized survey research design and was a cross-sectional in nature. The study adopted the nonprobability sampling and it is a purposive in nature. The survey was carried out in the Credit Control Department, MARA headquarters, and 82 respondents participated in the study. The data were collected using structured interview aided by questionnaires and as well as collection of information through observation and examination of files, records and office documents. The study hypotheses were tested using descriptive, correlation,
and regression analyses. The result supported all the hypotheses posited for the study.The results of correlation analyses revealed that, good public sector governance and its dimensions are associated positively with the department performance. Further, the results from regression analyses also revealed that good public sector governance as a whole has a significant effect on the public sector performance. Meanwhile, the element
of risk management and monitoring is statistically significant to the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation in the Credit Control Department. Performance monitoring contributes to the productivity and cost of recovery action in collecting the educational loan, and none of the variables tested was found to be statistically significant to the customer satisfaction iii In conclusion, this study provided insight and further understanding of the
relationship between good public sector governance and organization performance. It allows practitioners and academia to gain in depth knowledge about the implementation
of good public sector governance in relation with the performance in an organization.


Jatropha curcas , a plant with great biodiesel potential is also used to reduce the population of whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci on cassava fields when planted as a hedge. We therefore, investigated the transmission of African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) by the whitefly vector from cassava to seedlings of 10 accessions of J. curcas as part of a wider investigation on the possible role of J. curcas as an alternative host of ACMV. Transmission tests were conducted in insect-proof cages using adult B. tabaci collected from ACMV-infected cassava in the field, at a rate of three adult whiteflies per J. curcas seedling and a transmission feeding period of four days. Twenty one (21) days after the infestation, leaf samples from individual plants of the 10 J. curcas accessions were tested for the presence of ACMV by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA), using the monoclonal antibodies SCRI 33. DAS-ELISA detected ACMV in five out of the ten J. curcas accessions while PCR detected it in eight of the 10 accessions. Furthermore, 18 out of the 35 Nicotiana benthamiana indicator plants mechanically inoculated with sap from symptomatic J. curcas seedlings produced symptoms typical of ACMV infection. This indicates that J. curcas is a likely host of ACMV and it may in turn, be able to infect cassava, and presumably other ACMV-susceptible hosts, in the presence of the vector. Keywords : Jatropha curcas accessions, controlled transmission, mechanical inoculation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV)-susceptible hosts. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4465-4472


The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America's libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. In order to do this, DPLA has had to build elements of the national digital platform to connect to those institutions and to serve their digitized materials to audiences. In this article, we detail the construction of two critical elements of our work: the decentralized national network of "hubs," which operate in states across the country; and a version of the Hydra repository software that is tailored to the needs of our community. This technology and the organizations that make use of it serve as the foundation of the future of DPLA and other projects that seek to take advantage of the national digital platform.


In all animals, the successful orchestration of motor programs hinges on appropriate coupling between components of the system, from neural circuit dynamics, through muscles and body properties to the physical environment. We study this coupling in undulatory locomotion, with a view to better understanding the relative roles of central and reflex-driven control. We ask how the coupling between neural control and body mechanics is affected by sensory inputs during undulatory locomotion in C. elegans. To address this question, we use a biomechanical simulation framework, within which we separately model feed forward and feedback controlled undulations. We characterize neuromechanical phase lag and locomotion speed using body stiffness as a control parameter. We show that sensory entrainment can suppress neuromechanical phase lag, that would otherwise emerge under centrally generated feed forward control.


BACKGROUND
The validity of using pretreatment Periodontal Screening and Recording (PSR) index sextant scores to estimate periodontal access surgery needs is evaluated in patients with chronic periodontitis before and after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy.

METHODS
In 110 adults, pretreatment probing data identified 486 sextants with PSR scores of 4 and 125 sextants with PSR scores of 3. Periodontal access surgery needs for all sextants were determined prior to treatment and after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy for 213 sextants in 38 patients by two experienced periodontist examiners.

RESULTS
PSR scores of 4 identified untreated sextants with periodontal access surgery needs significantly better than PSR scores of 3 (odds ratio = 27.8; P <0.001) in multilevel, mixed-effects, logistic regression modeling analysis. However, only 37.6% of sextants with both pretreatment PSR scores of 4 and a pretreatment periodontal access surgery need continued to have surgical access needs after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy. A higher percentage of sextants with PSR scores of 4 or 3 revealed periodontal access surgical needs when Class II or III furcation involvements and/or Grade II or III tooth mobility were also detected in the sextant than when these parameters were not detected.

CONCLUSIONS
Pretreatment PSR index scores of 4 were a strong indicator of periodontal access surgery needs in untreated dentition sextants but markedly overestimated surgical access needs remaining after completion of non-surgical periodontal therapy. These findings raise questions about the usefulness of pretreatment PSR evaluations for estimating potential periodontal access surgery needs in patients to be initially treated with non-surgical periodontal therapy.


In recent years, thanks to the progress of electronics and computing, it is possible to process a large volume of clinical data. As a result of this scenario, real world data (RWD) are gaining enormous relevance. RWD are the data, whose origin is the usual clinical practice, used to make medical decisions about drugs or medical practice. This research is aimed to study the current situation of RWD in Spain. To achieve this objective, we have assessed the data sources on which these are fed. We have also analyzed the main publications based on RWD. Our findings are: firstly, both records and databases as well as medical histories have a high level of computerization and have also a great deal of information to be used for research; and secondly, the scientific studies carried out are of a great quality, but society is not aware of the importance RWD have and there is discoordination between the Autonomies and the Government. Keywords: RWD, clinical data, medical decisions, practical decisions, medical histories


A loss of subchannel orthogonality due to time variant multipath channels in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems leads to interchannel interference (ICI) which increases the error floor in proportion to the Doppler frequency. This paper proposes a simple precoding and detection scheme which can compensate for the effect of ICI in multipath fading channel. In this scheme, the data symbols modulated in frequency domain are divided into several groups, and the precoding is performed by inserting several redundancy carriers at both sides of each data group. Then the simplified ICI cancelation can be achieved at the receiver through inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) of grouped data symbols followed by traditional detection method, such as minimum mean-square error (MMSE) and zero forcing (ZF). The proposed scheme has the robust performance and low complexity. More important it does not require any channel state information. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme keeps good performance in high speed scenario even when the vehicle velocity is over 500km/h.


Resource metering in distributed environments is notoriously difficult. In clouds, the metering technology has to be distributed by design. This paper shows that the technology used for (financial) micropayments fulfills several objectives of the new metering process once the concept of money is replaced with the concept of a resource. Like in micropayments, resource metering in clouds is often a 3-party relationship like that among cloud provider, service provider and customer. The technology proposed in this paper can be viewed both as a better alternative to traditional micropayments as well as a new way to meter resource usage in clouds.


The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector plays a significant role in advancing Indonesia's economic development, which is founded on the idea of people's economic development. Even for tiny organizations, financial management analysis can have a significant impact on overall business success. However, the majority of small firms lack expertise of financial management, particularly financial management, and do not recognize the value of bookkeeping and documentation for maintaining business continuity. MSME entrepreneurs think that really putting financial management into practice is more crucial. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate the financial management practices used by SMEs. This study employs descriptive qualitative research techniques to conduct a field survey. The small and medium-sized businesses in Jambi City's Alam Barajo District are the focus of this study. ways for gathering data, including documentation, interviews, and observation. According to the survey's findings, there is still a lack of knowledge among MSME actors in Jambi City's Alam Barajo District regarding financial management. The actors in MSME organizations' ignorance is playing a bigger role in the implementation of this financial management. When it comes to financial management, MSME players are seen using financial management. The four theoretical indicators of financial management are control, recording, reporting, and budget use. The most typical method employed by MSME actors is budget tracking. Reporting and management metrics are infrequently employed by MSME owners.


The article is devoted to Circle covering problem for a bounded set in a two-dimensional metric space with a given amount of circles. Here we focus on a more complex problem of constructing reserve and multiply coverings. Besides that, we consider the case where covering set is a multiply-connected domain. The numerical algorithms based on fundamental physical principles, established by Fermat and Huygens, are suggested and implemented. This allows us to solve the problems for the cases of non-convex sets and non-Euclidean metrics. Preliminary results of numerical experiments are presented and discussed. Calculations show the applicability of the proposed approach.


This chapter advocates the good scientific practice of systematic research syntheses in Management and Organizational Science (MOS). A research synthesis is the systematic accumulation, analysis and reflective interpretation of the full body of relevant empirical evidence related to a question. It is the critical first step in effective use of scientific evidence. Synthesis is not a conventional literature review. Literature reviews are often position papers, cherry-picking studies to advocate a point of view. Instead, syntheses systematically identify where research findings are clear (and where they aren't), a key first step to establishing the conclusions science supports. Syntheses are also important for identifying contested findings and productive lines for future research. Uses of MOS evidence, that is, the motives for undertaking a research synthesis include scientific discovery and explanation, improved management practice guidelines, and formulating public policy. We identify six criteria for establishing the evidentiary value of a body of primary studies in MOS. We then pinpoint the stumbling blocks currently keeping the field from making effective use of its ever-expanding base of empirical studies. Finally, this chapter outlines a) an approach to research synthesis suitable to the domain of MOS and b) supporting practices to make synthesis a collective MOS project.


Spoken language corpora— as used in conversation analytic research, language acquisition studies and dialectology— pose a number of challenges that are rarely addressed by corpus linguistic methodology and technology. This paper starts by giving an overview of the most important methodological issues distinguishing spoken language corpus workfrom the work with written data. It then shows what technological challenges these methodological issues entail and demonstrates how they are dealt with in the architecture and tools of the EXMARaLDA system.


The sport industry, which has evolved into a multi-billion rand industry, offers an increased number of complex and varied job opportunities. University Sport Management graduates are thus likely to face greater job demands in a highly competitive work environment. Rotations in Sport Management internships have been identified as an approach to prepare students for the job market. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of Sport Management interns of rotations in internship. A qualitative case study research approach was used in the study. Eight semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with Sport Management interns who completed their internship. The results of the study indicated that the positive experiences associated with the internship outweighed the negative experiences. Participants reported many benefits of rotations in internship. Among these were their experiences of different aspects of a sport organisation, exposure to different leadership styles, opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in the workplace, social issues in the workplace and development of different competencies. The findings also identified areas in which the internship experience could be strengthened. Given the great satisfaction experienced by interns, rotations in interns appear to be an ideal replacement to the traditional implementation of internship.


During 12 recent months of periodic influenza virus surveillance at 9 live poultry markets in Wuxi City China, we identified multiple highly pathogenic H5N6, H5N8, H5N2, and H5N1 avian influenza viruses. The variety of potentially pandemic viruses in this low-risk area is disconcerting and portends an increased pandemic threat.


Companies that see technological innovations as privileged instruments for their strategy should get prepared to create and manage ideas on systematic bases. An important source of ideas is the workforce since there is a system enough to stimulate creation of ideas. The suggestion systems created for that end turned into important tools for the quality movement and for that reason they became strongly related with incremental innovation. Thus, such systems were hardly forgotten by the dominant literature on technological innovation. Few people have analyzed them as a means of creating an environment favorable to all sorts of innovations and as knowledge management instruments. Firstly this paper presents a briefing bibliographic review about suggestion systems, highlight the main challenges of creating and managing ideas in quantity and quality compatible with an innovation-based strategies. After, the paper presents a case study on a Brazilian company that has attained an average of 34,3 ideas per employee per year. It is a very expressive number under any criterion, close to the current average of corporate leaders in Japan, according to the National Association of Suggestion System. The study draws attention to the importance of point out the management of the suggestion systems, the fitness to overall organization management system and the outputs reached.


The comprehensive and coordinated efforts of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) identified the somatic genomic alterations occurring in a broad panel of human cancers. The challenge ahead is to understand the functions of these somatically altered genes.Genome editing tools like the CRISPR/Cas9 system represent a transformative technology that allows the precise engineering of cells harboring specific (point) mutations found in specific tumor subtypes, enabling the investigation of the role of a candidate cancer gene in a stringently defined genetic context. Once recruited to its DNA target sequence in cells, Cas9 induces a DNA double strand break (DSB), which is either repaired by the non-homologous end-joining pathway (NHEJ), or by homology-directed repair (HDR). The HDR pathway allows for a precise site-specific knock-in and thus functional analysis of cancer-associated sequence variants. However, HDR activity is restricted to the late S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, while the NHEJ pathway dominates DNA repair throughout the cell cycle. Thus, the error-prone NHEJ pathway out-competes the HDR pathway, which reduces the likelihood for precise insertions, deletions or base substitutions at the DSB. Here, we devised a strategy to increase HDR by directly synchronizing the expression of Cas9 with cell cycle progression. Fusion of Cas9 to the N-terminal region of human Geminin converted this gene-editing protein into a substrate for the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex APC/Cdh1 resulting in a cell cycle tailored expression with low levels in G1, but high expression in S/G2/M. Importantly, Cas9-hGem(1/110) increased the relative rate of HDR by up to 87% at a single-copy reporter locus, and up to 42% at the endogenous MALAT1 locus compared to wild-type Cas9. In summary, our regulatory concept takes advantage of cell-autonomous pathways to enable fluctuation of Cas9 protein levels coupled to cell cycle dynamics. This resulted in higher site-specific integration events without sophisticated manipulation of cells by small molecules or additional gene targeting reagents. Future methodological developments may enable high-resolution expression of Cas9 and alternative genome engineering proteins like Cpf1 by combining cell cycle phase-specific transcriptional and post-translational regulatory elements. This might enhance HDR efficiencies even further, and will help to make sense of cancer genomic data. Citation Format: Tony Gutschner, Monika Hammerle, Giannicola Genovese, Giulio F. Draetta, Lynda Chin. Cas9 protein engineering for cell cycle-specific genome editing to enhance homology directed repair. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 71.


Over the past 30 years, in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, classical music has come to function as a sonic weapon. It is used a means of dispelling and deterring 'loiterers' by making particular public and privately owned public spaces – such as shopping malls, bus stations, shop fronts and car parks – undesirable to occupy. In this article, I present weaponized classical music as a 'revanchist', audio-affective deterrent. Drawing upon Neil Smith's description of the revanchist city, I examine how weaponized classical music works to affectively police neoliberal 'public' space. While credited with the capacity to 'soothe away' deviant behaviour through its calming influence, weaponized classical music ultimately aims to 'remove' the figure of the threatening and menacing 'loiterer' insofar as it is heard as repellent. Although affect has often been understood in contradistinction to social determinisms, weaponized classical music exemplifies the capacity of musical affects to function as a technology of social reproduction.


As a natural consequence of the phenomenal advances of the past thirty or forty years in our understanding of disease processes and in what may be termed therapeusis by means of biologic products — advances largely the result of laboratory and more especially immunologic research — medical consciousness, if we may so regard the literature, has rather wholly centered about ideas of specificity, and, taking its cue from the laboratory, has regarded with considerable skepticism and frank disapproval any reference to observations, especially if clinical, at variance with the current trend of thought. And yet one finds a not inconsiderable accumulation of evidence, both from the laboratory and from the clinic, forming in a measure an undercurrent, definitely indicating a much larger share of certain nonspecific and as yet ill defined factors in recovery from disease. While the emphasis placed on certain phases of immunology and specificity, more especially the


We report two cases of bladder leiomyosarcoma diagnosed by histology. Total segmental cystectomy was performed in both cases because of the scant progressive nature of the disease. A follow up of 11 and 6 years, respectively, revealed no tumor recurrence or metastasis. The choice of performing a conservative or radical surgical procedure in the treatment of this tumor type should depend on the endoscopic findings as well as tumor grade and stage.


An approximate equation for bioelectrocatalitic current was applied to an inhibition reaction analysis of bilirubin oxidase by anion (Cl^−, SCN^−, and F^−) in order to assess the possibility of the electrochemical method for the analysis of enzymatic inhibition reactions. The approximate equation can be transformed into the Michaelis-Menten form, so that the bioelectrocatalitic current can be analyzed by the usual graphical manner, that is, Lineweaver-Burk, Hanes-Woolf, Dixon and Cornish-Bowden plots, if the rate of inhibition reaction is described as a simple Michaelis-Menten form. From the electrochemical assay, it was found that the inhibitor of Cl^− and SCN^− anions exhibit non-competitive inhibition while that of F^− exhibits competitive inhibition, and their inhibition constants were 220, 45, and 22 mM, respectively. The results were essentially similar to those obtained from the conventional spectrophotometric assay.


Emerging text-intensive enterprise applications such as social analytics and semantic search pose new challenges of scalability and usability to Information Extraction (IE) systems. This paper presents SystemT, a declarative IE system that addresses these challenges and has been deployed in a wide range of enterprise applications. SystemT facilitates the development of high quality complex annotators by providing a highly expressive language and an advanced development environment. It also includes a cost-based optimizer and a high-performance, flexible runtime with minimum memory footprint. We present SystemT as a useful resource that is freely available, and as an opportunity to promote research in building scalable and usable IE systems.


The aim of this study was to identify which factors have an influence on customer dropouts in fitness and wellness centres in Spain based on the opinion of the agents involved in their management (managers, employees and customers). For that purpose, an interview was designed for each of the key agents to analyse aspects related to the economic situation of the sports centres, their experience, satisfaction and dropout management strategies. A total of 111 interviews were conducted in 37 sports centres (37 managers, 37 employees and 37 customers). The results show the necessity of implementing management strategies oriented towards clients to prevent their dropout. Strategies to build customers' loyalty focused on providing individual services and creating emotional links are essential to prevent high rates of customer dropouts, which will result in a competitive advantage. Keywords : Customer; Employee; Fitness centres; Manager; Satisfaction.


A self-consistent mode-coupling calculation of the critical viscosity exponent z(eta) for classical fluids is performed by including the memory effect and the vertex corrections. The incorporation of the memory effect is through a self-consistency procedure that evaluates the order parameter and shear momentum relaxation rates at nonzero frequencies, thereby taking their frequency dependence into account. This approach offers considerable simplification and efficiency in the calculation. The vertex corrections are also demonstrated to have significant effects on the numerical value for the critical viscosity exponent, in contrast to some previous theoretical work which indicated that the vertex corrections tend to cancel out from the final result. By carrying out all of the integrations analytically, we have succeeded in tracing the origin of this discrepancy to an error in earlier work. We provide a thorough treatment of the two-term epsilon expansion, as well as a complete three-dimensional analysis of the fluctuating order-parameter and transverse hydrodynamic modes. The study of the interactions of these modes is carried out to high order so as to arrive at z(eta) = 0.0679+/-0.0007 for comparison with the experimentally observed value, 0.0690+/-0.0006 .


Mimicking nature is always beneficial for improving the performance of artificial systems. Artificial photosynthesis for hydrogen production is one of the examples, where we can derive significant inspiration from nature. In this study, polymer dots (Pdots) prepared using photoactive polymer PFODTBT and amphiphilic co-polymer under ultra-sonication exhibited a hollow structure mimicking a photosynthetic bacterial, which was highly beneficial for hydrogen evolution. A systematic study of this structure showed that the polymer shell acts as a biological membrane that maintains a slightly higher pH inside the cavity (DpH 0.4) compared to the bulk solution. More importantly, a fast proton diffusion across the porous polymer shell was detected. The photocatalytic activity of hollow nanostructure shows 50 times enhancement of initial hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rate as compared to solid nanoparticles. Further optimization of the photocatalytic performance was achieved by verifying the decrease in Pdots size from 90 nm to 50 nm, showing a significant increase in the photocatalytic performance of the system. This study reveals nature-mimicking hollow Pdots with porous shells as can be a type of promising photocatalysts in the application of solar energy conversion and storage.


requiring neither treatment of tissue preceded the orcein staining by an culture cells nor centrifuging of specimens. oxidative step. According to Sipponen,2 Briefly, specimens in 0 25 ml of transthey have not only demonstrated sulport medium' are inoculated onto circular phomucins but also sulphonic acid coverslips in flat-bottomed tubes, 30 to 60 residues resulting from the oxidation of minutes after each tube has been seeded at disulphide groups. This would explain the room temperature with 1 ml of suspension unexpected positive results in small of McCoy cells, 200 000 per tube, in intestine and intestinal metaplasia of the Eagles' MEM (Hanks based) containing stomach. Only when orcein is not preceded 10% fetal calf serum, 0.5 % glucose, 100 by an oxidative step can one expect a mcg of vancomycin and 50 mcg of streppattern of staining comparable to the HID tomycin per ml. At the time of inoculation method. It would be interesting to know if most cells have adhered to the coverslip orcein can be combined effectively with and can be seen easily withan invertedmicalcian blue for the separation of sulphated roscope; tubes are rejected if this is not so. and non-sulphated acid mucins. After 2-3 days incubation in 5% carbon JR JASS dioxideat37°CthenowmonolayeredcoverDepartment of Histopathology, slips are examined by immunofluorescence Central Middlesex Hospital, technique for Chlamydial inclusions. Acton Lane, London NWIO 7NS Suspensions of cells prepared by orthodox methods for seeding tubes may be kept at 4°C for up to 24 hours before being used. References We have now examined 91 urethral ,Shousha , Boxer GM. Orcein as a mucin specimens from males attending a sexually stain for gastrointestinal tissue sections. transmitted diseases clinic; 45 have yielded Clin Pathol 1981 ;34:1063-4. Chlamydia. This is an acceptable isolation 2 Sipponen P. Histochemical reactions of rate. Isolates may be passed repeatedly in gastrointestinal mucosubstances with plastic flasks using this technique, and orcein, high iron diamine and alcian blue numerous inclusions can be produced after prior oxidation of tissue sections. making such a technique encouraging as a Histochemistry 1979;59:199-206. basis for high antigen-yielding systems. IA HARPER Drs Shousha and Boxer reply as follows: L JOHNSON We agree with Dr Jass that according to RG THOMPN Sipponin' the method we used demonPublic Health Laboratory strates both acidic sulphated mucin and New Cross Hospital, acidic mucins "with presumed sulphonic Wolverhampton WVJO OQP residues" as evidenced by the reaction


In the early 1990s, hospital survival among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and respiratory failure was poor, approximately 20%. We examined ICU use and outcomes for patients with acute respiratory failure from PCP from 1995 to 1997. We conducted a retrospective medical record review using a random sample of 71 hospitals in seven regions of the United States. Among 1,660 patients with confirmed or presumed PCP, 155 (9%) received mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure. Factors that predicted use of mechanical ventilation, independent of severity of illness on hospital admission, included African-American ethnicity and geographic location (p </= 0.002). Hospital survival for patients receiving mechanical ventilation was 38% (95% CI 30, 46). Controlling for severity of illness, patients who were on PCP prophylaxis prior to developing PCP were less likely to survive to hospital discharge (p </= 0.02). There were no significant differences in hospital survival regardless of whether patients had received less than or more than 5 d of PCP treatment prior to respiratory failure (39 versus 29%; p = 0.5). In conclusion, from 1995 to 1997, hospital survival after PCP requiring mechanical ventilation was approximately 40%. Physicians caring for patients with severe HIV-related PCP should be aware of the improvements in outcomes for this disease before making recommendations about withholding or withdrawing ventilatory support for respiratory failure.


Few studies have examined the perceptions of health professionals towards spiritual care in the UK despite recent policies from the National Health Service (NHS) surrounding spiritual care provision. To the authors' knowledge, no studies have examined the perceptions of physiotherapists either in the UK or worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the perceptions of Scottish physiotherapists in relation to spirituality and spiritual care in health care, including the role of spirituality in health, barriers to spiritual care provision, and training. Questionnaires were sent to Physiotherapy Departments in all 14 NHS Trusts in Scotland in order to achieve a representative random sample from across Scotland. There was participation from all 14 Trusts with participants self-selecting to complete the questionnaire. A 30% response rate (274/916) was achieved. All returned questionnaires were completed with minimal or no omissions. The majority of physiotherapists agreed that spirituality is an important aspect of health care and that some level of spiritual care is appropriate to physiotherapy. Lack of training and confusion over the role of physiotherapists in spiritual care provision were also highlighted. The main barriers identified by the sample were lack of training or experience, uncertainty over managing spiritual issues, and lack of time. The study concludes that physiotherapists need guidance over their expected role in spiritual care provision, and adequate training in order to fulfil this role. Referral pathways to specialist spiritual care services need to be made clearer and more accessible.


ABSTRACT Modeling and in silico simulations are of major conceptual and applicative interest in studying the cell cycle and proliferation in eukaryotic cells. In this paper, we present a cell cycle checkpoint-oriented simulator that uses agent-based simulation modeling to reproduce the dynamics of a cancer cell population in exponential growth. Our in silico simulations were successfully validated by experimental in vitro supporting data obtained with HCT116 colon cancer cells. We demonstrated that this model can simulate cell confluence and the associated elongation of the G1 phase. Using nocodazole to synchronize cancer cells at mitosis, we confirmed the model predictivity and provided evidence of an additional and unexpected effect of nocodazole on the overall cell cycle progression. We anticipate that this cell cycle simulator will be a potential source of new insights and research perspectives. Graphical abstract This figure describes the input biological data (doubling time and cell cycle distribution) and the two main outputs of the simulator. The simulator offers several tools to analyze cell cycle progression/distribution and provides a virtual dynamic view of the cell cycle parameters. Moreover, the simulator allows testing hypotheses, such as challenging the cell cycle checkpoints.


Universally agriculture is perceived to be synonymous with risk and uncertainty. Agricultural insurance is one of the risk management strategies to overcome risk to the greater extent. It helps in stabilization of farm production and income of the farming community. Crop insurance will not only helps the farmers to withstand the shock from uncertain situations but also acts as incentive to use the resources efficiently and achieve higher level of productivity. The study was conducted in Karnataka State during the year 2017-18 by using the "Ex-post- facto" research design. Belgavi, Dharwad, Haveri and Vijayapura districts were selected purposively based on more number of insured farmers. Further, two taluks from each district and from each taluk three villages (i.e. total 24 villages) were selected randomly. The sample size for the study was 240. The findings of the study revealed that fifty-one per cent (51.67%) of the insured farmers had low level of satisfaction with respect to crop insurance schemes followed by medium (32.92%) and high (15.41%). The variables such as education, land holding, annual income, extension contact and mass media exposure exhibited positive significant relationship at five per cent level of probability with the satisfaction level of insured farmers. The coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.450 which indicated that 45.00 per cent of the variation in satisfaction level of insured farmers was together explained by all the independent variables. In the present study farmers satisfaction was found to be low. Thus, concerned officers should conduct awareness programmes, inform the farmers on or before conducting the Crop Cutting Experiment, make the loss assessment procedure flexible and hassle free and disperse the claim before starting of the next season.


This study examines how satisfied experience enhance continuance intention of travel and navigation mobile application through the perceived value. It is proposed that user satisfaction stems from both utilitarian and hedonic value. Using a sample of 241 respondents and structural equation modeling, this study confirms that all aspect of perceived quality (information, system, service) enhances the perceived functionality of the app, while the sociability is the main determinant of the enjoyment perception. Both utilitarian and hedonic value are crucial in driving satisfaction, and eventually continuance intention of the apps. The findings are translated into practical implications and revenues for future research.


The article reviews loyalty rebates, target rebates, exclusive dealing, and bundling, and argues that these are analogous practices that deserve similar competitive analyses and rules. In particular, in the case of all of these practices, at least some marginal units are typically sold below cost. The article shows that the analyses and rules that should apply to all of these practices ought not to depend on their labels, but rather on the monopoly power of the supplier engaged in the practice; whether, in the particular case, exclusion is costless or almost costless; the size of the sanction that the buyer suffers from being disloyal to the monopolist, and whether the sanction makes it impossible for the monopolist's as efficient rivals to compete for the buyer; the degree of market foreclosure, including its effective duration; the presence or absence of any efficiency justifications, and whether the discount is expected to be passed on to consumers. The analysis further highlights how exclusion may well be costless, or almost costless and can be achieved when the monopolist has non-price means of coercing buyers to be loyal. Further, intermediate cases are explored, in which exclusion, though not entirely costless, is nevertheless cheaper to the monopolist than ordinary predatory pricing.


Elastic constants of superlattices and their surface acoustic waves are theoretically studied. An exact expression to calculate the surface acoustic wave velocity dispersions is derived for superlattices of finite thickness consisting of two kinds of layers rigidly stacked upon each other. The formulations are performed for both free superlattice plates and substrated superlattices. Numerical calculations for Cu/Al and Cu/Ag systems are compared with those obtained using the effective elastic constant (EEC) model (Grimsditch M 1985 Phys. Rev. B 31 6818). A comparison clarifies the applicability of the EEC model.


Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common Mendelian kidney disease, affecting approximately one in 1,000 births and accounting for 5% of end-stage kidney disease in developed countries. The pathophysiology of ADPKD is strongly linked to metabolic dysregulation, which may be secondary to defective polycystin function. Overweight and obesity are highly prevalent in patients with ADPKD and constitute an independent risk factor for progression. Recent studies have highlighted reduced AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity, increased mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling, and mitochondrial dysfunction as shared pathobiology between ADPKD and overweight/obesity. Notably, mTOR and AMPK are two diametrically opposed sensors of energy metabolism that regulate cell growth and proliferation. However, treatment with the current generation of mTOR inhibitors is poorly tolerated due to their toxicity, making clinical translation difficult. By contrast, multiple preclinical and clinical studies have shown that pharmacological activation of AMPK provides a promising approach to treat ADPKD. In this narrative review, we summarize the pleiotropic functions of AMPK as a regulator of cellular proliferation, macromolecule metabolism, and mitochondrial biogenesis, and discuss the potential for pharmacological activation of AMPK to treat ADPKD and obesity-related kidney disease.


Parents' ratings of conduct and school problems were evaluated in 79 subjects with palatal clefts. Subjects were divided into four groups consisting of: (1) unilateral complete clefts of the lip and palate (UC Group); (2) unilateral complete clefts of the lip and palate with associated congenital malformations (UC-C Group); (3) cleft palate only (CPO Group); and (4) cleft palate only with associated congenital malformations (CPO-C Group). Comparisons between groups suggested that subjects with associated congenital malformations, whether or not they had UC or CPO, tended to have more serious school and conduct problems when compared to children with clefts and no associated congenital malformations. The association of congenital malformations with a cleft lip and palate increased the risk of reported conduct problems at home and behavioral and learning problems at school.


The phenomenon of avalanche-gain variations over time, particularly in Micro Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGD) incorporating insulator materials, have been generally attributed to electric-field modifications resulting from "charging-up" effects of the insulator. A robust methodology for characterization of gain-transients in such detectors is presented. It comprises three guidelines: detector initialization, long gain-stabilization monitoring and imposing transients by applying abrupt changes in operation conditions. Using THWELL and RPWELL detectors, we validated the proposed methodology by assessing a charging-up/charging-down model describing the governing processes of gain stabilization. The results provide a deeper insight into these processes, reflected by different transients upon abrupt variations of detector gain or the irradiation rate. This methodology provides a handle for future investigations of the involved physics phenomena in MPGD detectors comprising insulating components.


This article analyses representations of childhood in the Chilean press between the years 1973–1980. Both the newspapers «La Tercera» and «El Mercurio» displayed political, economic and symbolical precedents that fostered the application of a subsidiary policy in which the state itself created a market for child protection institutions. The proposition is that the representations of childhood in the public sphere at that time provided ideological support for the political process of remodelling this institutionalism of childhood, since it facilitated the construction of a new rhetoric of privatization of the responsibilities for children and justified its merchandization. Finally, we examine the way in which the distinction between childhood and youth concepts allowed Pinochet´s dictatorship to build an institutionalized structure in which there was ideological control of children and families through scholarly institutions, and of disadvantaged minors through the creation of publicly financed private residential and child protection institutions.


The process of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in biological membranes of cells is carried out by free radical mechanism, a feature of which is the interaction of radicals with other molecules. In this work we investigated the antioxidant activity of cationic whey protein isolate, obtained by the cation-exchange chromatography on KM-cellulose from raw cow's milk, in vitro and in vivo. In biological liquids, which are milk, blood serum, fetal fluids, contains a complex of biologically active substances with a unique multifunctional properties, and which are carrying out a protective, antimicrobial, regenerating, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, regulatory and others functions. Contents of the isolate were determined electrophoretically and by its biological activity. Cationic whey protein isolate included lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, pancreatic RNase, lysozyme and angeogenin. The given isolate significantly has an antioxidant effect in model experimental systems in vitro and therefore may be considered as a factor that can adjust the intensity of lipid oxidation. In model solutions products of lipid oxidation were obtained by oxidation of phosphatidylcholine by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a source of iron. The composition of the reaction mixture: 0,4 mM H2O2; 50 mcM of hemin; 2 mg/ml L-alpha-phosphatidylcholine from soybean (Sigma, German). Lipid peroxidation products were formed during the incubation of the reaction mixture for two hours at 37 degrees C. In our studies rats in the adaptation period immediately after isolation from the nest obtained from food given orally native cationic whey protein isolate at the concentration three times higher than in fresh cow's milk. On the manifestation of the antioxidant activity of cationic whey protein isolate in vivo evidence decrease of lipid peroxidation products concentration in the blood of rats from the experimental group receipt whey protein isolate in dos 0,6 mg/g for more than 20% (p<0,05) with oral feeding. Thus, significantly cationic whey protein isolate has an antioxidant effect in model experimental systems, and so can be considered as a factor that can regulate the intensity of lipid oxidation.


The authors consider the problem of combining the use of points and lines in a sequence of images to recover the 3D structure and motion. They determine the configurations that yield a resolvable system of equations, treating the cases of two and three views in more detail. For the case of two views, they show that lines are not needed, as they do not contribute to the obtaining of a resolvable system of equations. For the case of three views, the authors list the few interesting resolvable configurations. They also indicate how to obtain rigidity-based equations using structural invariance. Finally, they show why combining points and lines can be particularly useful when occultation occurs.<<ETX>>


Using a biblical worldview, this article develops a philosophical discussion about what comprises an individual's personhood. The author contends for the perspective of a person as a human being created in the image of God based on who he or she is, not on the basis of how well he or she functions. Understanding the biblical concept of personhood allows the establishment of meaningful relationships with people with dementia, resulting in compassionate, quality care.


Abstract This research focuses on the microstructural characterization of nickel matrix composites reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The nanocomposites were produced by a conventional powder metallurgy process and the dispersion of CNTs and mixture with nickel powders was performed in a single step by ultrasonication. Microstructural characterization of Ni–CNT nanocomposites was performed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and fast Fourier transform analyses. This characterization revealed CNTs embedded in the nickel grains and mainly presented as clusters at the grain boundaries. CNTs hinder recrystallization during sintering, and dislocation cells and subgrains form as a result of the recovery process.


The paper addresses the question of how, in a research-intensive university, choices should be made to determine strategies that are appropriate for ambitious and creative institutions committed to both teaching and research at a high level. The paper calls for accountable real leadership at the university level and at lower levels. It also calls for organizational flexibility and flexibility in the allocation of material and immaterial resources.


This review provides a selective overview of scholarship on gender and families over the past decade. First, we discuss four characteristics of feminist perspectives to theoretical and methodological issues in social science. Then we describe briefly how feminist sensibility has been reflected in family scholarship over the past decade. We conclude with brief observations on the disjuncture between academic work on gender and the feminist backlash apparent in the contemporary culture.


[1] Nonlinear processes identification techniques based on multi-input nonlinear autoregressive moving average with exogenous inputs model has been applied to four-point Cluster measurements in order to study nonlinear processes that take place in the terrestrial foreshock. It is shown that both quadratic and cubic processes are involved in the evolution of shocklets in particular in the steepening of their leading edge and generation of whistler precursor. Nonlinear processes do not play an essential role in the dynamics and propagation of small-amplitude whistler packets. However, for large-amplitude wave packets, cubic processes lead to the considerable modification of apparent propagation velocity.


Mobile Ad Hoc Networking (MANET)  is an excellent Technology which is taking its importance because of the wide range of  wireless portable devices exploiting this facility . Mobile ad hoc networks are highly vulnerable to attacks due to the open medium, dynamically changing network topology, cooperative algorithms, lack of centralized monitoring and management point. The traditional way of protecting networks with firewalls and encryption software is no longer sufficient and effective for handling the threats associated. Now, a day many applications are constructed with help of proactive routing protocol in MANETs using OLSR protocol. These applications are useful for disaster relief, emergency operations, and military service and so on.
In this research a improved routing protocol for Ad hoc networks named as SMP-OLSR developed from OLSR, incorporating multi-path strategy, source routing control scheme and security to mitigate a specific type of denial-of-service (DOS) attack called node isolation attack is proposed and tested . The proposed Secured Multi-Path OLSR for MANETs is based on link quality and reputation based technique to secure the OLSR nodes against the attack. The technique is capable of finding whether a node is advertising correct topology information or not by verifying its Hello packets, thus detecting node isolation attacks. The protocol is able to achieve routing security mechanism by increasing throughput, frequency and control overhead.
OLSR , guides PDU's to all end devices within the network  with help of  the routes available via the standard routing table, can be useful for some systems and network applications as there is no route discovery delay associated with finding a new route.
Since hardware resources are limited, it is difficult to implement the research in the real environment. Therefore, Simulation in NS2 environment is used to analyze the different scenarios and test the performance of the modified SMP-OLSR.
The expected outcome of this research is to achieve routing security against node isolation attack with improvement in packet delivery ratio, and also to reduce in packet loss rate


Pregnancy in kangaroos and wallabies (macropodid marsupials) induces multiple unilateral responses in the reproductive system that override those related to proximity to the single corpus luteum on one ovary or to the follicle on the contralateral ovary. This situation is in contrast to most other non-macropodid marsupials, in which the responses are dependent on the corpus luteum. There is now good evidence that these unilateral responses in macropodids are controlled by the feto-placental unit acting locally to stimulate the endometrium and myometrium. Pregnancy also influences the duration of the oestrous cycle and maternal behaviour. The stimuli responsible for these effects probably include paracrine, endocrine and mechanical stimuli resulting from uterine stretch. Taken together, these unilateral responses demonstrate that there is a refined maternal recognition of pregnancy in at least the macropodid marsupials.


Abstract Aims Delay of progression from paroxysmal to persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important measure of long-term success of AF treatment. However, published data on the impact of catheter ablation on AF progression are limited. This study evaluates whether radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation delays the progression of AF compared with antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) treatment using current AF management guidelines. Methods This prospective, randomized, controlled, two-arm, open-label trial was conducted at 29 hospitals and medical centres across 13 countries. Patients were randomized 1 : 1 to RF ablation or AAD treatment. The primary endpoint was the rate of persistent AF/atrial tachycardia (AT) at 3 years. Results After early study termination following slow enrolment, 255 (79%) of the planned 322 patients were enrolled (RF ablation, n = 128, AAD, n = 127); 36% of patients in the RF ablation group and 41% in the AAD group completed 3 years of follow-up. For the primary endpoint, the Kaplan–Meier estimate of the rate of persistent AF/AT at 3 years was significantly lower with RF ablation [2.4% (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.6–9.4%)] than with AAD therapy [17.5% (95% CI, 10.7–27.9%); one-sided P = 0.0009]. Patients ≥65 years were ∼4 times more likely to progress to persistent AF/AT than patients <65 years, suggesting RF ablation can delay disease progression [hazard ratio: 3.87 (95% CI, 0.88–17.00); P = 0.0727]. Primary adverse events were reported for eight patients in the RF ablation group. Conclusions Radiofrequency ablation is superior to guideline-directed AAD therapy in delaying the progression from paroxysmal to persistent AF.


Interaction studies of nucleus and cytoplasm in alloplasmic hybrids involving one or two chromosomes of cytoplasm donor, Aegilops comosa (2n = 14), and genomes of seven varieties of common wheat, Triticum aestivum (2n = 42), were made. The plants normally exhibited delayed heading, reduced vigour, complete male sterility and partial or complete male fertility. On the contrary, however, some of the 43- and 44-chromosome plants showed considerable restoration of male fertility with normal or increased vigour and set normal seeds after selfing. Meiotic analysis showed two critical comosa chromosomes involved in interaction for fertility restoration which were identified to be median or submedian and satellite (nucleolus organizing) chromosomes. In addition, some undesirable side effects on the morphology of some plants were also observed which need rectification.


N-Methylprotoporphyrin IX strongly inhibits synthesis of phycocyanobilin, but not chlorophyll a, in the dark. In the light, both phycocyanin and chlorophyll a synthesis are inhibited in parallel. These results are consistent with the intermediacy of haem in algal bilin synthesis and suggest a control mechanism for chlorophyll a synthesis, previously unknown.


Sustainable development indicators for urban water systems Ulrika Palme Environmental Systems Analysis Chalmers University of Technology The thesis investigates the Swedish urban water systems from a sustainable development perspective. It further analyses the combined findings from a case study on the construction of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) at a Swedish water company, and a literature survey on different applications of SDIs within companies in general. The investigation of the Swedish urban water systems need to be further developed in the direction of increased sustainability, especially as concerns environmental sustainability. On the other hand, it is concluded that regarding environmental and sustainability awareness as well as accustomedness to the usage of indicators in these areas, Swedish water companies appear to be comparatively well-developed. The thesis identifies a number of complicating aspects regarding sustainable development. It is concluded that many of the most urgent problems from a sustainability perspective cannot be handled solely at the level of urban water systems. Furthermore, sustainable development is complicated by its demand for far-reaching responsibilities and its non-compatibility with the prevalent individual short-term perspective. SDIs appear to have a potential in helping to realise sustainable development in general. To make SDIs effective and efficient though, weaknesses identified in their present use concerning accommodation of stakeholder interests, credibility, benchmarking and future-orientation need to be addressed. The thesis ends with some thoughts on future research, which will include case studies of water companies, and focus on information need.


Data from four closely related Line 1 Hereford herds were used to estimate variance components and predict EPD for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), and postweaning gain (PWG). Herds were located in diverse environments and differed in level of phenotypic performance. Within-herd BWT analyses considered effects of inbreeding of calf and dam, sex, age of dam (AOD), and contemporary group as fixed and direct and maternal additive genetic effects and permanent environmental effects due to dam as random. The model for WWT included these effects and age of calf. The model for PWG included inbreeding of calf, contemporary group, and direct additive genetic effects. Across-herd analyses were conducted with additional models. The first considered herd-specific inbreeding, sex, and AOD effects. A second model pooled these effects across herds, and a third included pooled sex and AOD effects but ignored inbreeding. Across-herd EPD, including and ignoring inbreeding, were predicted for WWT preadjusted with standard adjustments for Hereford cattle. Within-herd analyses indicated potential for heterogenous genetic and environmental variances across herds. Across-herd variance component estimates were consistent, regardless of the model. Estimates of genetic trends indicated potential for bias in genetic evaluations resulting from choice of model. Differences in magnitude of fixed effects between herds were observed. Genetic evaluations were different when pooled or herd-specific fixed effects were used. Allowance for individual herd differences in fixed effects in across-herd evaluations is suggested.


The transshipment location–allocation problem consists of locating transshipment facilities (e.g., intermodal hubs) of a transportation network and allocating freight flows through them, from several origins to several destinations, to satisfy demand and supply constraints. The objective is to maximize the total net transportation utility given by the total shipping utility minus the total cost to locate the facilities. Moreover, flow synchronization at the facilities must also be ensured. Unfortunately, the flow synchronization depends on a broad set of unknown events, which could cause both unexpected reductions of the facility capacity and uncertain utility of handling operations. In this paper, we first want to evaluate how uncertainty on facility capacity and handling operations utility affects the transshipment location–allocation problem in terms of complexity, net gain, and optimal solutions. Moreover, we extend the problem from a single to a multi‐period setting to have a wider view of future scenarios realizations and consequently synchronize the flows by using different facilities on different periods. We propose a two‐stage stochastic programming formulation with recourse and analyze, over a ground set of instances, some well‐known economic indicators to derive managerial insights on the importance of addressing uncertainty for the problem. Finally, given the computational burden of solving the deterministic equivalent problem, we propose several heuristics based on progressive hedging and test their performance.


The increase in plastic pollution is advancing micro level pollution and the total weight of microplastics (<0.33mm-1.00 mm) in the ocean column. The amount of plastic in the North Pacific is estimated as 21 x 108 tons and in the North Atlantic as 10.4 x 108 tons. The plastic in marine environment will eventually degrade and it will be promptly colonized by bacteria releasing surfactants. Such surfactants will have the effect of damping the capillary and small gravitational waves on the ocean surface. Since SAR is sensitive to roughness induced by capillary waves, it may be exploited to detect bacterial activities related to plastic pollution.

In this work we used Sentinel-1A and COSMO SkyMed radar images acquired in the Atlantic and Pacific gyres to detect surfactants that may be associated to plastic pollution. We are using SAR, because the damping properties of surfactants produce dark areas in images. Since area of low backscattering in SAR images could also be produced by other oceanographic/meteorological event, we exploited geophysical remote sensing products associated to time and locations synchronised to SAR acquisitions. Among other products we considered sea surface temperature, surface wind, chlorophyll, surface reflectance, turbidity and wave heights. Additionally we made sure that the areas were not within busy shipping routes. The result of the analysis is that, including effects due to colocation errors of SAR and meteorological data, we could identify a large amount of linear slicks in SAR images that were not directly related to apparent meteorological conditions. Such slicks in the gyres have the appearance of oil slicks, however in some areas they are in large amount and they are not connected to large ship traffic. At the moment these slicks seems to only be visible when the wind conditions are moderate (e.g. 6m/s) as it happen for ordinary oil slicks.
Besides the work on radar data, we are making controlled experiments with micro-plastic pollution in sea water, to understand the amount and type of surfactants produced by microbes colonising plastics.

The conclusion of our study is that radar remote sensing has the potential to detect plastic pollution areas under sorter meteorological conditions.


Plasma membrane structure and intramembrane particle (IMP) distribution in ruffle-ended (RA) and smooth-ended (SA) maturation ameloblasts were investigated by means of freeze-fracture replication of the rat incisor enamel organ. On the plasma membranes of both the lateral and distal cell surfaces, mean values of IMPs per 1 micron2 obtained from the SAs were lower than that from the RAs. This does not exclude the ameloblast modulation phenomenon but rather supports a radical shift of functional activity between RA and SA and argues in favour of the possible existence of two definite groups of maturation ameloblasts. In the distal plasma membranes of these ameloblasts, there were also some morphologic evidence of endocytic activity (resorptive functions).


e.g. lately by G. Alfoldy, Konsulat und Senatorenstand (1977), p. 234. Yet as two further governors are attested in 160 and 161, and at least one other governor could be placed after 155, there is serious congestion. The answer is surely to restore [Catulli] no et {Apro et Po] ntian. [et Rufin] o cos., giving the consuls of 130 and 131 and a date of 155 or 156 for Justus. Thomasson, characteristically, though he puts Justus under 159, with an arrow to 158, not only prints the name in italics (for 'aetas incerta') but adds a mark of interrogation.


Prior to the invention of the telescope many astronomers worked out models of the motion of the Moon to predict the position of the Moon in the sky. These geometrical models implied a certain range of distances of the Moon from Earth. Ptolemy's most quoted model predicted that the Moon was nearly twice as far away at apogee than at perigee. Measurements of the angular size of the Moon were within the capabilities of pretelescopic astronomers. Such measurements could have helped refine the models of the motion of the Moon, but hardly anyone seems to have made any measurements that have come down to us. We use a piece of cardboard with a small hole in it which slides up and down a yardstick to show that it is possible to determine the eccentricity ϵ≈0.039±0.006 of the Moon's orbit. A typical measurement uncertainty of the Moon's angular size is ±0.8 arc min. Because the Moon's angular size ranges from 29.4 to 33.5 arc min, carefully taken naked eye data are accurate enough to demonstrate periodic variations...


In this paper, we present a new analytical method to evaluate the temperature dependence of the thermal line shift and thermal line width of spectral lines in the Raman process using a simple approximation for the Debye functions. The proposed formulae guarantee the accurate and fast calculation of the thermal line shift and thermal line width. As an example of application, the analytical expression obtained is used to calculate the line shift and line width of the 2 E → 4 A2 transitions in V2+ :MgO at temperatures from 0 K up to 500 K. This analytical evaluation shows that our results are satisfactory for the wide range temperature variations.


Although reading outcomes for children with hearing loss are improving, too many of these children continue to display persistent reading difficulties. Because of these difficulties, there is an ongoing need to understand the nature of the relationships among decoding abilities, language skills, and reading achievement in this population more fully. Coincidentally, there has also been an emerging literature on the subjective fatigue in children with hearing loss, which could be directly or indirectly linked to reading ability. The purpose of this study was to examine associations among language abilities, reading skills, and subjective fatigue in 56 children with mild to moderate hearing loss (CMMHL). The results indicated that both phonological awareness and receptive language ability predicted reading achievement in CMMHL, which replicates findings for children without hearing loss. The results also indicated that CMMHL who had poor reading skills reported significantly higher levels of subjective fatigue relative to the other children with mild to moderate hearing loss in the sample.


The purpose of this study was to quantify the change in distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) level upon ear canal pressurization. DPOAEs were measured on 12 normal-hearing human subjects for ear canal static pressures between -200 and +200 daPa in (50 ± 5) daPa steps. A clear dependence of DPOAE levels on the pressure was observed, with levels being highest at the maximum compliance of the middle ear, and decreasing on average by 2.3 dB per 50 daPa for lower and higher pressures. Ear canal pressurization can serve as a tool for improving the detectability of DPOAEs in the case of middle-ear dysfunction.


This paper examines the different ways that individuals' interests have recently been represented in inter-state dispute settlement proceedings. In the past, the rights of individuals have most commonly been asserted through the state's right of diplomatic protection. The role of individuals in inter-state litigation merits reconsideration in view of the adoption in 2006 of the ILC's articles on Diplomatic Protection, which advocate a human rights perspective being brought to bear on states' decisions as to when to take up the claim of one of its nationals. What influence will this perspective have on states' decisions to initiate litigation or on how a court decides cases brought under the banner of diplomatic protection for the promotion of human rights? Individuals have also been found individually responsible for international crimes, and this approach has now been entrenched through the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The recognition of individual responsibility for certain international crimes now raises issues as to the intersection of individual responsibility with state responsibility. Will the actions of individuals in some way exculpate the state from a finding of responsibility, as was arguably the case in the recent Genocide judgement issued by the ICJ? The experience of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission further brings to light the connections that exist between state and individual responsibility for international crimes, such as rape. The overall question to be considered is to what extent individuals will benefit from these developments in inter-state litigation or potentially become scapegoats and hence blameworthy for international law violations. This paper was presented at the South African Branch of the International Law Association Regional Conference in August, 2007.


We present in this article a simple method to estimate an IPM view from an embedded camera. The method is based on the tracking of the road markers assuming that the road is locally planar. Our aim is the development of a free-space estimator which can be implemented in an Autonomous Guided Vehicle to allow a safe path planning. Opposite to most of the obstacle detection methods which make assumptions on the shape or height of the obstacles, all the scene elements above the road plane (particularly kerbs and poles) have to be detected as obstacles. Combined with the IPM tranformation, this obstacle detection stage can be viewed as the first stage of a free-space estimator dedicated to AGV in the complex urban environments.


Petroleum consumption of vehicles is always a concern of many prospective car buyers, yet many seem clueless about its determinants. This paper determined the main predictors of petroleum use of vehicles from six predictor variables, and also developed a statistical model for predicting petroleum consumption. Data was gathered from seven automobile companies in Accra, Ghana on 121 common vehicles in the country. Statistical analyses used included Pearson's correlation and Best Subsets Regression, where the Mallow's C p and adjusted R-square helped to determine the most adequate and plausible regression model. Key findings showed that weight, width, and horsepower were significantly negatively correlated with petroleum use of vehicles. However, the best regression model for prediction involved only weight and horsepower of a vehicle. The study bears implications for prospective vehicle buyers, sellers and Government.


1. Three azo-dye-binding proteins were identified in the soluble cell supernatant fraction from livers of rats that had received 4-dimethylaminoazobenzene by intraperitoneal injection. 2. One is basic and was highly purified. It has an isoelectric point of pH8.4 in barbital-sodium chloride buffer, I0.1, an S(20,w) value of 3.5s and a molecular weight determined by Sephadex chromatography of 45000. 3. It does not have N-terminal amino acids with free alpha-amino groups. 4. Digestion with Pronase gives rise to a single azo-dye-bound peptide, which on hydrolysis is shown to contain glycine, alanine, serine, threonine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid. The amino acid that binds the azo-dye was not identified. 5. On starch-gel electrophoresis the basic protein separates into a double band, indicating microheterogeneity. 6. The other two proteins were partially purified and occur in a fraction together. They have isoelectric points near neutrality and a molecular weight as determined by Sephadex chromatography of 13800. 7. The absorption spectra in formic acid of both the basic and the low-molecular-weight proteins are similar. The azonium ion has an absorption maximum at 518mmu and another adsorbed chromogen is present with an absorption maximum at 395mmu.


To characterize the proteins P91Ap and P198p, of which mutants generate the tum− antigens P91A and P198, respectively, rabbit antisera were raised with ovalbumin‐coupled synthetic peptides that correspond to their respective C terminus. In immunoadsorption tests using immobilized protein A the antisera recognized the translation products synthesized by rabbit reticulocyte lysates programmed with the SP6 polymerase transcripts of the P91A and P198 cDNA. The presence of the two proteins was demonstrated by SDS‐PAGE and immunoblotting in all the mouse cells and organs examined. P91Ap is a constituent of the cytosol; despite a remarkable homology to the Drosophila diphenol oxidase DOX‐A2, it separates from murine catechol oxidase activity in rate zonal sedimentation analysis. P198p is a ribosomal constituent, or a factor firmly linked to both the free and membrane‐bound ribosomes. These subcellular localizations strengthen other evidence that the antigens presented to T lymphocytes by class I products of the major histocompatibility complex derive from proteins of the cytosol, or in direct contact with it.


We report the X-ray analysis of a sample of candidate high-redshift (1 < z < 2) Fanaroff– Riley type I (FR I) sources from the sample of Chiaberge et al., observed in the Chandra COSMOS field (C-COSMOS). Our main goals are to study their nuclear properties by means of unresolved X-ray emission, and to constrain the presence of clusters surrounding the FR I sources from the diffuse X-ray emission by the associated hot plasma. Among 19 FR I candidates, six have an X-ray-unresolved counterpart in the C-COSMOS catalogue. Two additional sources are not present in the C-COSMOS catalogue but are clearly detected in the Chandra images. X-ray spectral analysis, when possible, or hardness ratio of the stacked emission from X-ray-detected sources, suggests that some of them have significant intrinsic absorption ( N H (cid:2) 10 22 cm − 2 ), and high X-ray luminosities with respect to local FR Is. From the stacking analysis of the 11 non-detected sources, however, we find evidence for unresolved soft X-ray emission and no detected hard emission, suggesting an unabsorbed spectrum. Therefore, the X-ray properties vary significantly from source to source among these FR I candidates. From the analysis of the stacked images of all 19 FR I candidates we can rule out the presence of virialized haloes with temperatures larger than 2–3 keV; however, the upper limit on the average extended emission is still consistent with the presence of ∼ 1–2 keV hot gas.


Scleroderma is a rare disease that commonly involves the lungs in a variety of ways. These include interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular disease and bronchiolitis. Pulmonary hypertension is the leading cause of mortality in scleroderma. The treatment of scleroderma, generally, and its associated lung diseases, specifically, have not been well defined by controlled trials. However, the results of uncontrolled studies and an understanding of the pathological basis of scleroderma allow a rational choice of therapeutic options. With our current limited knowledge, a reasonable approach is to treat progressive interstitial lung disease with immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclophosphamide and prednisone. Pulmonary vascular disease has a poor prognosis and therapy is currently limited, although new treatment strategies are on the horizon. Most promising is the recent development of locally administered therapies. These may overcome the frequent and excessive adverse effects that limit the use of potent systemically administered drugs.


(1) Background: to date, a clear description of the impact of specific enzymes on the enzyme-modified cheese (EMC) flavor is lacking. Moreover, comparative studies on the aroma compounds' intensity of EMC have been rarely investigated. Therefore, this study was done to determine the influence of incubating substrates with proteases and different lipases on cheese ripening index and aroma compounds. (2) Methods: two-stage processing was adopted; proteolysis followed by lipolysis. (3) Results: results showed that the usage of Flavourzyme may improve the value of pH 4.6-WSN/TN%. Butanoic acid and hexanoic acid have a significant influence on the overall flavor of EMCs. In particular, the ethenyl acetate compound was detected in all products and was perceived as a fruity and sweet aroma, which has not been reported in previous literature. The concentration of short-chain fatty acids of EMCs made by Lipase MER was higher than EMCs made by Palatase, while the total content of medium and long-chain fatty acids of EMCs made by Lipase MER was lower than EMCs made by Palatase. The percentage of esters compounds in EMCs made by Lipase AY 30G was higher than the other two lipases, except EMC1. (4) Conclusions: Flavourzyme may be used to speed up the ripening of cheeses that need extensive proteolysis. The ability of Lipase MER to hydrolyze short-chain fatty acids was stronger than that of Palatase, while the ability of Lipase MER to hydrolyze medium and long-chain fatty acids was weaker than that of Palatase. The use of Lipase AY 30G was accompanied by the production of some other flavor esters, which made the final hydrolysates more fragrant and may be a good choice to produce fruity cheese flavor EMC. While Lipase MER may barely contain ester activity. This study may provide a reference for the selection of incubated enzymes for specific flavor EMC.


Market capitalization weighted indices have historically been the most widely used strategies to achieve a passive exposure to equities markets, or capture equities beta. However, we have seen a surge of strategies called alternative betas (or sometimes "smart betas") that, using different index construction methodologies, aim to provide a passive exposure to alternative sources of equity returns, or equity factors. This paper begins by reviewing the existing index construction methodologies used to achieve equity market beta exposure, and then turns to analyzing alternative beta strategies that aim to provide exposure to Value, Momentum, Low Volatility, and Quality as alternative sources of equity risk premia in a passive, index-like way.


Ground is an open-source data context service , a system to manage all the information that informs the use of data. Data usage has changed both philosophically and practically in the last decade, creating an opportunity for new data context services to foster further innovation. In this paper we frame the challenges of managing data context with basic ABCs: Applications , Behavior , and Change . We provide motivation and design guidelines, present our initial design of a common metamodel and API, and explore the current state of the storage solutions that could serve the needs of a data context service. Along the way we highlight opportunities for new research and engineering solutions.


This paper reviews a 3-year research project targetted towards processing and interpretation methodologies for borehole EM methods in the search for weak electrical conductors. Weak conductors are best energised by current-channelling methods, which include both MMR, and inductive loops off-set from the hole collar. The following results have been achieved: Recognition of the importance of using current-channelling energisation of weak conductors; a sphalerite-rich conductor is frequently too poor a conductor to support an inductive EM response of vortex currents, but any conductor showing a conductivity contrast relative to host rock, can produce an EM response from currents channelled through the conductor from the conducting host rock. Recognition of the equivalence of MMR and long-offset TEM data, in terms of information and interpretation of current-channelling energisation of conductors. Comparison of numerical modelling techniques for inductive and current-channelling responses in TEM surveys using state-of-art software (MARCO and LEROI); identification of instabilities in multiple-plate modelling in LEROI. Development of an algorithm for modelling the three-component MMR or current-channelling EM response of multiple 3D conductors. Recognition of the importance of correct modelling of the MMR response of a layered earth as a precursor to stripping background and modelling of residual MMR anomalies. Development of a software package for processing three-component MMR field data (calibration, stripping of wire field and layered-earth background field) and for modelling the data in 3 components, and with multiple 3D conductive bodies. Development of a 3D rotatable screen viewer for an arbitrary number of boreholes, transmitters and dipping tabular conductors (incorporated in the above software package). Numerical modelling of an MMR phase response. A comparison of noise characteristics of different receivers and borehole EM probes.


The goal of the trace reconstruction problem is to recover a string $x\in\{0,1\}^n$ given many independent {\em traces} of $x$, where a trace is a subsequence obtained from deleting bits of $x$ independently with some given probability $p\in [0,1).$ A recent result of Chase (STOC 2021) shows how $x$ can be determined (in exponential time) from $\exp(\widetilde{O}(n^{1/5}))$ traces. This is the state-of-the-art result on the sample complexity of trace reconstruction. In this paper we consider two kinds of algorithms for the trace reconstruction problem. Our first, and technically more involved, result shows that any $k$-mer-based algorithm for trace reconstruction must use $\exp(\Omega(n^{1/5}))$ traces, under the assumption that the estimator requires $poly(2^k, 1/\varepsilon)$ traces, thus establishing the optimality of this number of traces. The analysis of this result also shows that the analysis technique used by Chase (STOC 2021) is essentially tight, and hence new techniques are needed in order to improve the worst-case upper bound. Our second, simple, result considers the performance of the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE), which specifically picks the source string that has the maximum likelihood to generate the samples (traces). We show that the MLE algorithm uses a nearly optimal number of traces, \ie, up to a factor of $n$ in the number of samples needed for an optimal algorithm, and show that this factor of $n$ loss may be necessary under general ``model estimation'' settings.


AIMS
Cardiac local renin-angiotensin system plays an important role in the development of heart failure and left ventricular (LV) remodeling. We previously reported that hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an endogenous gaseous mediator, regulates renin synthesis and release in juxtaglomerular cells. The present study was designed to investigate whether H2S can protect against isoproterenol (ISO)-induced heart failure via inhibition of local renin activity in rat hearts.

RESULTS
In the present study, we found that an injection of ISO (150 mg/kg) significantly increased plasma lactate dehydrogenase level and hypertrophy index and impaired LV end diastolic pressure. Treatment with NaHS (an H2S donor, 0.056 mg/kg, daily) 3 days before and 2 weeks after the ISO injection attenuated the development of heart failure. Histological staining showed that NaHS decreased ISO-induced collagen deposition. Moreover, NaHS treatment reversed ISO-induced renin elevation in both plasma and LVs. Immunostaining analysis indicated that renin expression co-localized with mast cells in the ventricular tissues. Mast cell counts showed that NaHS treatment decreased the number of degranulated mast cells in cardiac tissue due to down-regulation of leukotriene A4 hydrolase protein expression and leukotriene B4 level. In addition, NaHS treatment also inhibited forskolin-induced renin degranulation from HMC-1.1 mast cells by lowering intracellular cAMP level.

INNOVATION
This study provides evidence for a new pathway in H2S-induced cardioprotection against heart failure development.

CONCLUSIONS
For the first time, we demonstrated that H2S might protect heart during heart failure by suppression of local renin level through inhibition of both mast cell infiltration and renin degranulation.


This first issue of 2007 presents an eclectic collection of papers that draw our attention to the way nursing management and leadership impacts on the lives of nurses providing a service to their clients. It demonstrates the diversity of aspects that make up nurses lives at work, and which go beyond the overt aspects of the provision of care. These aspects impact on the quality of nurses lives, both at work and in their personal time, and contribute to the stability and maintenance of the workforce. In many ways, this multiplicity of issues is indicative of the messages promoted in the Chief Nursing Officer's Directorate paper Modernising Nursing Careers – setting the direction published in September 2006. The authors of the report, which include the four chief nursing officers of the UK, nurse managers and leaders, and nurse educationists, recognize that:


In this paper we present stability and convergence results for Dynamic Programming-based reinforcement learning applied to Linear Quadratic Regulation (LQR). The specific algorithm we analyze is based on Q-learning and it is proven to converge to the optimal controller provided that the underlying system is controllable and a particular signal vector is persistently excited. This is the first convergence result for DP-based reinforcement learning algorithms €or a continuous problem.


The phrase 'swan song' refers to a belief dating from ancient Greece that the swan is completely silent during its lifetime until the moment just before death, when it sings one beautiful song. This incorrect belief has been frequently reiterated in poetry and art. 'Swan song' is generally used as a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort or performance given just before death or retirement. As my role in the SAMJ draws to a close, it seems appropriate to provide a 'swannish' song as it is possible that I and my editor colleague, Dan Ncayiyana, may in future still figure on these pages, though in much lesser roles. But firstly I (we) wish our successor, the new editor, all of the best for the future in this role!


HYPOTHESIS
Hyaluronate sodium in the form of a bioresorbant membrane reduces the development of intra-abdominal adhesions frequently found after implantation of synthetic mesh in the context of surgical hernia repair.

DESIGN
The effect of hyaluronate on the formation of adhesions was evaluated when applied laparoscopically as a bioresorbant membrane to protect the peritoneal surface of a synthetic mesh.

SETTING
Experimental animal model.

INTERVENTIONS
A peritoneal defect 5 cm in diameter was bilaterally created in the abdominal wall of each of 9 pigs by laparoscopy. A polypropylene mesh was fixed with clips onto these defects on both sides. In each of the animals, only on one side, the synthetic mesh was also covered by a hyaluronate membrane.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The incidence and severity of adhesions (grade 0-4, where 0 indicates no adhesion; 1, filmy avascular adhesions; 2, vascular adhesions; 3, cordlike fibrous adhesions; and 4, plain fibrous adhesions) were determined after 45 days, comparing treated and untreated sides by autopsy results and histological features.

RESULTS
Adhesions, mainly grades 3 and 4, occurred in 7 of the 9 animals in those meshes not covered by hyaluronate; 2 untreated animals did not develop adhesions. On the other hand, only 1 of the 9 animals developed adhesions (grade 2) at the mesh concealed by the hyaluronate membrane.

CONCLUSIONS
The bioresorbant hyaluronate membrane significantly reduced the formation of peritoneal adhesions (1-sided sign test, P<.05) induced by the insertion of a polypropylene mesh, when compared with the contralateral implants not protected by hyaluronate. Thus, hyaluronate membranes are efficient for reducing the incidence of peritoneal adhesions.


Background: Technology in nursing has been shown to reduce redundancy and improve efficiency of work. Information Communication and technology (ICT) incorporation in nursing at Kenyatta national Hospital (KNH) has been ongoing for some years yet the uptake seemingly is slow. Challenges that could be associated with the slow incorporation of technology into nursing practice have not been studied. Objective: To identifying the challenges faced by nurses as a result of technology trends in nursing practice and to establish ways in which nurses are coping with the challenges. Design: Cross-sectional descriptive Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital Participants: Nurses in medical and surgical wards. Interventions: Simple random sampling was used to select 91 participants after applying fishers' formula. Purposive sampling was used to select 5 nurse managers as key informants. Data on challenges of technological trends in nursing and coping strategies by nurses was collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine Association between challenges faced and Electronic health records (EHR) usage levels, also between technological skills and challenges faced at confidence level of 95% at a p-value of 0.05. Results: Majority of the nurses (62.6%, n = 57) reported experiencing challenges related to technology developments in their departments. The study established that less technological skills among nurses led to more challenges experienced with technology (Chi= 7.2, DF=1, P=0.007). The study also found that reports on more challenges experienced was significantly related to decreased level of use of EHR (Chi= 16.8, DF=3, P=0.001) and (Chi=11.8, DF=3, P=0.008). Conclusion: Nurses are facing many challenges as a result of technological trends in nursing. Special attention should be paid towards tackling the challenges by including comprehensive training on technological skills and formulating policies on proper handling of the challenges to enhance integration of ICT in nursing.


ABSTRACT Climate change and land-use practices can enhance lake eutrophication and browning, which influence phytoplankton composition by decreasing the availability of food high in nutritional quality (algae) and increasing the abundance of low-quality food (terrestrial detritus, bacteria) for herbivorous zooplankton. Nutritionally valuable algae for zooplankton are rich in essential biomolecules such as amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), sterols, and phosphorus. We performed laboratory experiments and showed a stronger positive relationship between zooplankton (Daphnia) cumulative offspring number and availability of high-quality algae (Cryptophytes: Rhodomonas/Cryptomonas; and Chrysophytes: Mallomonas) than with intermediate-quality (Chlorophytes: Acutodesmus) or poor-quality (Dinoflagellates: Peridinium) algae. The higher cumulative offspring number of Daphnia was a result of higher amounts of total ω-3 and ω-6 PUFA, proteins, sterols, and amino acids in the algal diets. The experiments also showed that even a small addition of high-quality algae (Rhodomonas) to intermediate-quality (Acutodesmus) or low-quality (bacteria, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, or terrestrial organic matter) diets can enhance the Daphnia cumulative offspring production. Our carbon mass balance calculation for a eutrophic clearwater lake and an oligotrophic polyhumic lake showed that the abundance of high-quality phytoplankton (cryptophytes, chrysophytes, diatoms) among total particulate organic carbon was minor (8.7% [SD 2.4%] and 6.5% [7.0%]). We modeled Daphnia diets (i.e., resource assimilation) using a fatty acid mixing model. Our analyses showed that Daphnia were able to locate high-quality algae (cryptophytes, chrysophytes, and diatoms) more effectively during cyanobacteria blooms in a eutrophic lake (55% [SD 12%]) than in a polyhumic lake (25% [10%]). Nevertheless, our results show that intense eutrophication and browning diminish assimilation of high quality algae, limiting Daphnia biomass production.


alpha 2-Macroglobulin (alpha 2M) is one of the major cadmium-binding proteins of human plasma. As determined with equilibrium dialysis, alpha 2M bound 4.6 (+/- 0.7) mol Cd2+ per mol protein with an apparent dissociation constant of (9.6 (+/- 5.0] X 10(-7) M. Methylamine-modified alpha 2M (alpha 2M-Me) had a similar affinity for Cd2+ (Kd,app = 5.3 X 10(-7) M), but fewer binding sites. Cadmium produced a small increase in the amidolytic activity of trypsin in the presence of alpha 2M and soybean trypsin inhibitor. Using the binding parameters determined from the equilibrium dialysis studies, the Cd2+ concentration which produced a half-maximal increase in amidolytic activity corresponded to saturation of all Cd2+-binding sites in one-half of the alpha 2M molecules. From these results, a model is proposed in which one Cd2+-binding site is present in each of the four polypeptide chains which compose alpha 2M.