Abstract Literary texts are core material in Cultural Studies, especially as taught in German universities. This paper shows how the analysis of literature can be fruitfully enhanced by a linguistic analysis. Recourse is made to what is called New Historical Stylistics, which is first explained in its complexity and then applied to the analysis of embedded discourse presentation in 19th-century narrative fiction. The functions of embedded speech, writing and thought presentation will be explained via recourse to a cognitive stylistic framework drawing on Text World Theory (Werth 1999) and blending theory (Fauconnier / Turner 2002)


The literature data on polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC), mainly non-stoichiometric PEC (N-PEC), are analysed. Interpolyelectrolyte reactions, leading to the formation of N-PEC as well as the methods of synthesis of these macromolecular compounds are examined. The structure of water-soluble N-PEC, which constitute a new class of complex water-soluble polymers, is discussed. A special section is devoted to the behaviour of N-PEC in aqueous salt media and to the description of the characteristics of the phase separation in such systems. The prospects for the development of the research into and the possible applications of this new class of polyelectrolytes are discussed. The bibliography includes 64 references.


Introduction Ineffective oesophageal motility (IOM) is considered as a minor oesophageal motility disorder without clear relevance to significant oesophageal diseases. IOM incorporates a composite of failed, weak and segmented peristalsis during water swallows. In this study we hypothesise that severe IOM has significant impact on patients' health. Method Patients diagnosed with IOM based on Chicago Classification (CC)(version 3)1 between July 2017 to December 2017 were selected. All patients underwent high-resolution manometry (HRM) and 24 hour impedance-pH monitoring. Patients were classified into 2 groups based on distal contractile integral (DCI) outcome of swallows: group I with failed peristalsis >50% (DCI <100 Hgscm) and group II with weak peristalsis >50% (DCI ≥100–450 mmHgscm). Statistical t-test, χ2 test and odd ratio (OR) were used to compare reflux parameters and HRM findings between groups I and II. Results 259 patients were found having reflux monitoring: group I (F:M≥59:32, age 20–83 years) and group II (F:M≥116:52, age 18–79 years). The acid exposure time was significantly higher in group I in the daytime (p≥0.037) and nocturnal periods (p≥0.006). The total pathological acid exposure was also significantly higher (p≥0.036, OR ≥1.75). The mean acid clearance time was significantly higher demonstrating poor clearance in group I (p≥0.011). The DeMeester score was significantly elevated in the group I (p≥0.009) and showed higher prevalence of abnormal DeMeester score (p≥0.01, OR ≥1.9). RDQ score between groups I and II were not statistically significant (2.2 vs 2.0, p≥0.190). Other findings of interest from HRM, in the total of 364 IOM patients, 65.9% patients dominantly had failed peristalsis (group I) and notably 69.2% IOM patients were female. Group I showed significantly higher prevalence of hypotensive LOS compared to group II (p<0.001, OR ≥2.11). There were no statistical differences in the incidence of hiatus hernia between the groups (OR ≥0.8, p≥0.415) nor in the hiatus hernia size (p≥0.118). Conclusion Two subset reflux pathology states exists in IOM and patients with dominantly failed peristalsis (group I) have greater prevalence of pathological reflux exposure and having incompetent antireflux barrier. Based on this study, a great number of patients with IOM should not be considered as having a minor oesophageal disease and this needs to be reflected on the clinical management. Further investigation is required to investigate whether patients with dominantly failed peristalsis are at greater risk of developing oesophagitis and precancerous Barrett's oesophagus. Reference Kahrilas PJ, et al. Neurogastroenterol Motil2015;27(2):160–174


There is a substantial theoretical literature arguing that African American families, more than other ethnic groups, push their children towards sports. However, there is a dearth of generalizable empirical research examining whether African American families do in fact encourage their children to participate in sport more than families of other ethnic groups do, or whether families encourage their youth more than non-kin, such as teachers, coaches and peers. Using a nationally representative US sample of 2185 third- through twelfth-graders, this study compares African American youths' perceptions of encouragement for sports participation relative to other groups. Results indicate that relative to White, Hispanic and Asian youth, African American youth are more likely to receive encouragement for sports participation from all sources (total encouragement scores). While African Americans are also more likely to obtain encouragement from family members and non-kin than other ethnic groups are, African Americans receive equal amounts of encouragement from family and non-kin sources. The results of this study suggest that both African Americans and the larger community emphasize sport more for African American youth than for other youth.


In contrast to the classical notion of an increasing biodiversity from the poles to the equator, a number of studies concluded that the diversity of marine species is highest at the middle latitudes, and decreases at the equator. Using a worldwide database critically compiled from 72 surveys (307 species, 4,807 water column and surface sediment samples), we analyzed the latitudinal gradients in species richness (LGSR) of a highly diversified group of marine holoplanktonic protists, the polycystine Radiolaria. Species richness values were corrected for uneven sample coverage and sample size, and contrasted with gradients in 11 environmental variables. Radiolarian species richness decreases from the equator to the poles both in the water column and in the surface sediments and is tightly coupled with temperature throughout the entire thermal range of marine waters. In the tropical Pacific Ocean, a conspicuous east-west gradient in diversity is also associated with temperature. Globally, diversity is negatively correlated with mean annual concentrations of nutrients (N, P, Si) and chlorophyll a. Disagreements with results reported for many other oceanic plankton may stem from the reduction of 3D distributional patterns onto 2D or 1D spaces, to the intermittent mixing of Subtropical and Subpolar species at the middle latitudes, and to a Mid-Domain Effect. The fact that radiolarian LGSR do not show this drop at the equator is partly due to methodological and database-related differences, and probably also in part a reflection of taxon-specific traits.


Abstract: The current study seeks to uncover the relationship between modernity and otherness and to explore how the processes of modernization are construed as processes of dealing with otherness in seminal literary works from Bulgaria and Korea. For countries such as these, modernity is associated with the necessity to import foreign (Western European) modes of social life, that causes societies to encounter all-encompassing otherness with which they need to deal over shorter periods of time. While regarding the societies that were under the direct colonial power of the West, modernization has been predominantly analysed in the context of postcolonial studies, modernisation processes in societies outside the colonial space have mainly been studied from the viewpoint of social development and desire for progress motivated from within the society. Inquiring into well-established theoretical explorations of modernity and otherness, the current study makes the point that the latter type of societies, to which Bulgaria and Korea belong, has not been spared from the influence of colonial discourse, which has become a reason for othering the traditional in relation to the modern in the process of modernization. The construction of the local and the traditional as otherness, or self-otherisation, is illustrated through the analysis of two works of literature from the period of modernization, that are fundamentally important in the literary canons of Bulgaria and Korea – Aleko Konstantinov's "Bai Ganyo: Incredible Tales of a Modern Bulgarian" and Yi Kwangsu's "Mujeong". Key words: otherness, self-othering, modernity, modernization, Bulgarian literature, Korean literature, postcolonial theory.


Abstract A fast, precise and selective diode array HPLC method is presented for the extraction and analysis of soy isoflavonoids from foods and from human urine, plasma, and breast milk in support of mechanistic and epidemiologic studies assessing the potential cancer protective role of soya or isoflavones. Solid phase or solvent extraction was chosen for isolation, and enzymatic or acid hydrolysis procedures were used for aglycone production depending on the matrix to be analyzed. C-18 reversed-phase HPLC was applied to selectively separate and quantitate daidzein (1), 2 glycitein (3), 2 and genistein (4), 2 including their malonyl (a) 2 and acetyl (b) 2 esters, and their mammalian metabolites equol (6) 2 and Odesmethylangolensin (7), 2 as well as formononetin (2), 2 biochanin-A (5), 2 and coumestrol (8) 2 using a gradient elution system. UV absorbance scans and authentic standards were applied for identification purposes, additional to fluorometric monitoring, electrochemical detection, and GC/MS analysis after trimethyl silylation. Detection limits of 20-μl injections were found to be 1.09, 0.53, 3.28, and 1.00 pmoles for daidzein, genistein, equol, and Odesmethylangolensin (DMA), respectively, by monitoring at the individual compound's absorption maximum. The proposed method was applied to monitor isoflavone levels in soy foods and in human plasma, urine and breast milk after challenge with roasted soybeans. Implications of the presented results on the potential activity of isoflavones to prevent cancer by exposing newborn infants to these agents are discussed.


[1] The Advanced Regional Prediction System is utilized to examine the evolution of the nocturnal boundary layer observed within Arizona's Meteor Crater, a small enclosed basin, on quiescent nights during the 2006 Meteor Crater Experiment field campaign. Two aspects of the observed basin atmosphere are investigated: a quasi steady-state three-layer temperature structure, including an isothermal layer away from the basin floor, and the intrusion of a regional-scale cold air drainage flow into the basin. In general, the two-dimensional numerical simulations are able to reproduce the salient features of the nocturnal boundary layer inside Meteor Crater. A combination of increasingly cold air intruding into the basin and pooling near the basin floor and compensating adiabatic ascent yield an isothermal layer over a large depth of the basin atmosphere. A series of experiments are then conducted in order to examine the sensitivity of basin thermal structure to upstream terrain slope, basin width, and the presence of a rim surrounding the basin. In the case of a large basin of O(10 km) in diameter, the cold air intrusion process remains, but the larger basin volume yields greater dilution of the cold air intruding into the basin, and a weak inversion develops inside the basin away from the floor. In the case of a small basin with the same dimensions as Meteor Crater but with flat upstream terrain, the influence of the surrounding terrain on basin cooling is negligible. Last, the presence of a rim surrounding the basin is found to not be necessary for isothermal layer development.


Abstract. Computer vision algorithms have played a vital role in video surveillance systems to detect surveillance events for public safety and security. Even so, a common demerit among these systems is their unfitness to handle divers crowded scenes. In this paper, we have developed algorithms which accommodate some of the challenges encountered in videos of crowded environments to a certain degree. Unlike many approaches that use optical flow, that estimates motion vectors only from two successive frames, we made our descriptor over long-range motion trajectories which is named short trajectorys in the paper. This paper presents a novel video descriptor, referred to as Histogram of Short trajectorys, for detecting abnormal conditions in crowded scenes. Specifically, we extract 2-d histogram from magnitude and orientation matrixes which describe the motion patterns expected in each cubid. We classify frames as normal and abnormal by using machine learning methods.


Background: To evaluate the efficacy of topical mitomycin C (MMC) for the treatment of conjunctival tumor in a prospective design. Methods: Nine patients (nine eyes) with conjunctival tumor were studied. The patients received topical MMC 0.04% four times daily by one to six courses. Each course consisted of medication for consecutive 7 days followed by 1 week without medication. Follow-up was conducted on patients for control of disease, and side effects. Results: In 7 patients, the tumor completely disappeared during the mean follow-up period of 24.57 ± 5.94 months (range 18–35 months) with no recurrence. In 1 patient, there was no regression of the tumor, and in 1 patient cessation of the treatment was needed because of an adverse effect of the drug. Conclusion: Topical MMC is effective for the treatment of conjunctival tumor. Longer follow-up and large series are needed to assess the duration of tumor control.


Daily injection of lean Zucker rats with a beta 2-adrenergic agonist (clenbuterol, 1 mg/kg) for 22 day increased weight gained by 38 per cent; there were significant increases in carcass protein and water, but fat content was unaltered. Clenbuterol did not affect energy intake or expenditure, the acute thermogenic response to food, or brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity (assessed from mitochondrial purine nucleotide (GDP) binding). In obese Zucker rats, clenbuterol significantly depressed energetic efficiency and increased the thermogenic response to food and BAT activity in these mutants. Body weight gain was not significantly affected by clenbuterol in obese Zucker rats but this was because of a 19 per cent reduction in fat content accompanied by a simultaneous 13 per cent increase in protein content. The ratio of protein/fat gained during the study was increased by 50 and 173 per cent by clenbuterol in lean and obese rats, respectively. Thus, clenbuterol exhibits potent anabolic effects on lean body mass in genetically obese as well as lean rats, but also increases thermogenesis and reduces body fat content in the obese mutants.


The wakes of bluff objects and in particular of circular cylinders are known to undergo a 'fast' transition, from a laminar two-dimensional state at Reynolds number 200 to a turbulent state at Reynolds number 400. The process has been documented in several experimental investigations, but the underlying physical mechanisms have remained largely unknown so far. In this paper, the transition process is investigated numerically, through direct simulation of the Navier—Stokes equations at representative Reynolds numbers, up to 500. A high-order time-accurate, mixed spectral/spectral element technique is used. It is shown that the wake first becomes three-dimensional, as a result of a secondary instability of the two-dimensional vortex street. This secondary instability appears at a Reynolds number close to 200. For slightly supercritical Reynolds numbers, a harmonic state develops, in which the flow oscillates at its fundamental frequency (Strouhal number) around a spanwise modulated time-average flow. In the near wake the modulation wavelength of the time-average flow is half of the spanwise wavelength of the perturbation flow, consistently with linear instability theory. The vortex filaments have a spanwise wavy shape in the near wake, and form rib-like structures further downstream. At higher Reynolds numbers the three-dimensional flow oscillation undergoes a period-doubling bifurcation, in which the flow alternates between two different states. Phase-space analysis of the flow shows that the basic limit cycle has branched into two connected limit cycles. In physical space the period doubling appears as the shedding of two distinct types of vortex filaments. Further increases of the Reynolds number result in a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations, which create a chaotic state in the flow at a Reynolds number of about 500. The flow is characterized by broadband power spectra, and the appearance of intermittent phenomena. It is concluded that the wake undergoes transition to turbulence following the period-doubling route.


SUMMARY PF1 (SDPNFLRFamide) is a FMRFamide-like peptide extracted from the free-living nematode Panagrellus redivivus. Here we show that this peptide causes a hyperpolarization of somatic muscle cells of the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum and a relaxation of the somatic muscle strip preparation. We have assessed whether or not the relaxation of Ascaris dorsal muscle strip by PF1 is due to (i) inhibition of the release of the excitatory neuromuscular junction transmitter acetylcholine (ACh), (ii) potentiation of the release of the inhibitory neuromuscular junction transmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) or (iii) a direct inhibitory action of the peptide on the muscle cells. Under the experimental conditions described here, tonic ACh release does not seem to be involved in determining the resting membrane potential or resting tone of the Ascaris dorsal muscle strip and thus inhibition of tonic ACh release is unlikely to explain the relaxation elicited by the peptide. Furthermore, PF1 (100 nM–1 μM) inhibited the contraction of the muscle strip elicited by bath application of ACh, suggesting either a direct inhibitory action of the peptide on the muscle cells or a potentiation of GABA release. In electrophysiological experiments, the reversal potential for the PF1 hyperpolarization was not the same as that for GABA. Thus, PF1 hyperpolarizes Ascaris muscle by a mechanism that does not involve stimulation of GABA release from inhibitory pre-synaptic terminals.


ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a prophylactic intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) in high-risk patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. MethodsMEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL/CCTR, SciELO, LILACS, Google Scholar, and reference lists of relevant articles were searched. We included only randomized controlled trials. Assessments for eligibility, relevance, and study validity and data extraction were performed in duplicate using prespecified criteria. Meta-analysis was carried out using fixed-effect and random-effect models. ResultsSeven publications fulfilled our eligibility criteria. There was no important statistical heterogeneity or publication bias among included studies. In total, 177 patients received prophylactic IABP and 168 did not. Overall relative risk (RR) for hospital mortality in patients treated with prophylactic IABP was 0.255 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.122–0.533; P<0.001; same results for both effect models]. Pooled RR for postoperative low cardiac output syndrome was 0.206 (95% CI, 0.109–0.389; P<0.001) for the fixed-effect model and 0.219 (95% CI, 0.095–0.504; P<0.001) for the random-effect model. Patients treated with prophylactic IABP presented an overall difference in means for length of intensive care unit stay and hospital stay, which was lower than that in the control group (P<0.001 for both effect models). Only 7.4% (13/177) of patients who received prophylactic IABP developed complications at an insertion site, with no IABP-related death. ConclusionThis meta-analysis supports the use of prophylactic IABP in high-risk patients to reduce hospital mortality.


Coastal marshes provide valuable ecosystem functions, but some are facing increasing risks of vegetation loss due to sea level rise and other stressors. A key question is how tidal flow and sedimentation patterns are affected by the spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation loss, as sediment accretion with sea level rise largely affects the potential for marsh recovery. Here, we performed a field study in a macrotidal reed marsh and simulated typical spatiotemporal patterns of vegetation loss by consecutive mowing. For each mowing pattern, the spatial patterns of flow velocities and sedimentation rates were recorded. Our results indicate that initial vegetation loss in inner marsh portions, with an intact vegetation belt alongside channel edges, has limited effect on tidal flows over the marsh. However, subsequent creation of unvegetated corridors connecting the bare inner marsh and the channels increases flow velocities in these corridors but not in remaining vegetation patches. Finally, when all vegetation is removed, sheet flow occurs over the whole marsh instead of concentrated channel flow. Effects on spatial sedimentation patterns are complex and not significant on all measuring locations. Nevertheless, our study indicates that complete vegetation removal results in redistributed sedimentation patterns, with a general tendency of locally reduced sedimentation rates close (< 15 m) to channels and increased sediment supply to inner marshes 15–50 m from channels. Our results highlight that feedbacks between spatial patterns of vegetation loss, tidal sediment transport, and deposition are key to understanding and mitigating risks of marsh loss in face of sea level rise.


Skin stretch is a novel haptic feedback method that can provide a human operator with information about the magnitude and direction of an applied force. To evaluate the potential for skin stretch feedback to be used as a sensory substitute for kinesthetic (force) feedback in robotic teleoperation systems, a study was conducted to measure the ability of users to discriminate environment stiffness using varying levels of fingerpad skin stretch instead of force feedback. A new, high-fidelity skin stretch feedback device was developed that imposes tangential fingerpad skin stretch in proportion to the intended level of force feedback. In psychophysical experiments, users received skin stretch feedback with magnitude proportional to the users' penetration depth into a virtual wall. Users' stiffness discrimination capability using skin stretch was comparable to that of using force feedback. Furthermore, larger skin stretch cues were perceived by users as portraying greater stiffness without any advance training, which indicates that skin stretch feedback would be an intuitive sensory substitute for force feedback. Thus, skin stretch feedback is a promising method for conveying kinesthetic force information in applications such as robot-assisted surgery, where high levels of force feedback may not be desirable due to stability or safety concerns.


Gastroparesis is a condition characterized with clinical symptoms resulting from neurological and hormonal disturbances leading to failure in normal gastric motility. Most often these abnormalities are caused by long lasting uncontrolled hyperglycemia. In gastoparesis, symptoms from upper intestinal tract, as well as weight loss and hypoglycemic episodes of unknown origin may occur. Diagnostic problems are usually the consequence of a broad spectrum of symptoms and necessity to exclude other conditions in differential diagnosis. Therapeutic approach in patients with diabetic gastroparesis is a challenge and require cooperation of many specialists, as also a good relation with patient. The aim of this review is to provide a practical guidelines of diagnostic and therapeutic approach in clinical practice.


Once discovered and established as therapeuti c agent, the drug substance is used for pharmacotherapy of various diseases. The drug substance itself has unique properties, which in certain cases do not allow for effective therapy. This is the area, where pharmaceutical technology allows to improve drug substance original characteristics by optimization of pharmaceutica l formulation. The latter is a complicated process involving many variables concerning formulation qualitative and quantitative composition as well as technology parameters. This chapter will be de dicated to the computer systems based on artificial neural networks allowing for guided pharmaceutical formulation optimization.


Abstract No clear method of identifying species in the zoanthid genus Zoanthus has been established, due in part to the morphological plasticity of this genus (e.g., in polyp and colony form, oral disk color, tentacle number). Previous research utilizing the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) as a phylogenetic marker indicated that Zoanthus spp. in Japan may consist of only one or two species, despite a bewildering variety of observed morphotypes. Here we have utilized not only COI but also mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (mt 16S rDNA) in order to clarify the extent of Zoanthus species diversity in southern Japan. Our molecular genetic results clearly show the presence of three monophyletic Zoanthus species groups with varying levels of morphological plasticity, including the new species Z. gigantus n. sp. and Z. kuroshio n. sp. We describe all three species found in this study, and identify potential morphological characters (coenenchyme and polyp structure as well as polyp external surface pigmentation patterns) useful in Zoanthus species identification. A morphological dichotomous key is provided to assist in field species identification.


The main objective of this study would be that if serum lipocalin-2 and Vaspin levels may be utilized as indicators for chronic in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. T2DM treatment is to maintain a healthy glycemic level. If this goal is not met, diabetes consequences, both acute and chronic, may emerge, one of which is obesity. As a result, researchers have investigated the levels of Lipocalin-2 and Vaspin, as well as their connection to obesity and insulin resistance. In this study, we included 60 T2DM (ages 35 to 65 years) and 30 healthy controls. After an overnight fast, blood serum samples were collected, and routine biochemical parameters such as lipocalin-2, Vaspin, and glucose were measured in all samples. At a P <0.05 level, the data were declared significant. Using an ELISA kit, the levels of serum Lipocalin-2 and Vaspin were measured. The results have shown that patients with T2DM had substantially greater blood serum levels of Lipocalin-2 and Vaspin than normal controls (P <0.001 for all comparisons). Also, results revealed Lipocalin-2 and Vaspin have a high positive correlation with each of BMI and Homeostasis Model Assessment for insulin resistance HOMA-IR and moderate positive correlation between Vaspin and Fasting blood glucose.


ZnSe nanoparticles have been synthesized by microwave assisted method by using zinc chloride, selenium powder, ethylenediamine and magnesium chloride. The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized structurally by FT-IR and XRD as well as morphological characterization was done by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The crystallite size after synthesis was obtained around 30 nm for pure ZnSe nanocrystallites. However, from SEM micrograph, agglomerated ZnSe nanoparticles of irregular shapes were observed. The as-synthesized ZnSe nanoparticles at different contents (1 to 5% w/w w.r.t SPI) were incorporated into soy protein isolate (SPI) to produce reinforced SPI films by solution casting method.  The ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI suspensions were subjected to molecular mass and specific conductivity studies. Neat and ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI films were structurally and mechanically characterized by FT-IR and tensile properties, respectively. Transmittance and water uptake studies were also carried out for ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI films. The tensile strength and modulus increased from 5.80 MPa to 10.06 MPa and 18.84 MPa to 94.70 MPa with the increase in the contents of ZnSe nanoparticles from 0 to 5%. Moreover, the results also revealed a good antibacterial effect in ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated SPI film.


It is known that the anticholinergic drug causes acute psychosis and memory disturbance, which may be due to cholinergic dysfunction. But it has not been well described that the anticholinergic drug causes chronic dementia after long administration. We describe six cases of chronic dementia, which is thought to be induced by anticholinergic drug. We conducted detailed neuropsychological and neuroradiological examination in these six cases. All of them were Parkinson's disease, and had used anticholinergic drug for more than six months without any side effect, and then their initial symptom of dementia appeared, followed by chronic dementia. All cases recovered reversibly from dementia within a few weeks after stoppage of taking anticholinergic drug. And any of our cases had no possibility in the cause of chronic dementia other than the side effect of anticholinergic drug. Detailed neuropsychological examinations (WAIS, WMSR, and so on) were conducted in all cases, SPECT was in two cases, and PET was in one case, before and after stoppage of the anticholinergic drug. And in all cases, brain MRI was conducted. The indices of attention, verbal memory, visual memory, and delayed recall were significantly elevated after stoppage of drug. And both verbal IQ and performance IQ were increased after stoppage of drug, too. SPECT and PET revealed significant improvement, which showed diffuse and generalized change, not localized change.


An ergonomics approach to the design of an industrial workstation attempts to achieve an appropriate balance between worker's capabilities and work requirements to optimize workers' productivity and the total system, as well as provide workers' physical and mental well-being, job satisfaction and safety. Over the years many theories, principles, methods and data relevant to the workstation design have been generated through research in ergonomics. Much of this knowledge is integrated in the software computer package ERGOPlan. The paper presents an optimal ergonomically and economically designed workstation of a cutter which was built with the use of two ERGO modules, ERGOMas (workstation design) and ERGOMan (simulation of workers' movements). To incorporate economic aspect of the workstation design, we parametrically described the key dimensions of the workstation. This action enabled optimal workstation design with consideration of both aspects.


The Plynlimon catchments are the UK's most intensively studied long-term research basins, with 40 years of hydrological and hydrochemical observations. Used to study the impacts of land cover, their establishment, progress and achievements is a complex story of scientific advances in response to national needs, set against a background of academic controversy and competing stakeholder pressures, that remains relevant today. Established to answer the important practical question 'Do forests use more water than grassland in our climate?', these research basins helped to revolutionise our fundamental understanding of forest hydrology in Britain, and became a multi-disciplinary 'outdoor laboratory' encompassing floods and droughts, acidification and water chemistry, process studies and climate change used by many universities and research organisations. The findings of the studies there have been widely published, with over 500 papers in refereed journals, and the measurements shared with the international research community. Nevertheless, many data users remain unaware of how and why the catchments were established, the challenges that were overcome, and the ways in which the research programme evolved to meet changing needs. As the study enters its fifth decade, this paper takes the opportunity to look back at its establishment, assess the outputs and offer guidance to other researchers wishing to embark on new catchment or observatory studies.


DDH is a debilitating condition characterized by incomplete formation of the acetabulum leading to dislocation of the hip, suboptimal joint function and accelerated wear of the articular cartilage resulting in early onset crippling arthritis of the hip in 20–40 year olds. Current diagnostic tests in newborns using physical manipulation of the femur or ultrasound either under or over‐diagnose this condition. Developing an accurate, cost effective diagnostic test is a goal of this study. To better understand the biologic pathways involved in acetabular development, DNA from severely affected individuals in a four generation family that showed inter‐generational transmission of the disorder was isolated and whole exome sequenced. A novel A to C transversion at position 183721398 on human chromosome four was found to co‐segregate with the affected phenotype in this family. This mutation encodes a glutamine to proline change at position 2665 in the Teneurin 3 (TENM3) gene and was judged damaging by four prediction programs. Eight week old knock‐in mutant mice show delayed development of the left acetabulum and the left glenoid fossa as shown by the presence of more Alcian blue staining on the socket rims of both the hip and the shoulder. We hypothesize that mutated TENM3 will slow chondrogenesis. MMP13 has been shown to impair extracellular matrix remodeling and suppress differentiation. Bone marrow cells from the knock‐in mouse were found to overexpress MMP13 with or without BMP2 stimulation. This variant may elucidate pathways responsible for normal hip development and become part of an accurate test for DDH. © 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res


245 We have previously demonstrated an up-regulation of lysyl oxidase (LOX) gene expression in invasive/metastatic breast cancer cell lines, compared to their poorly invasive/non-metastatic counterparts. In addition, inactivation of enzymatic LOX activity (treatment with βAPN; an irreversible inhibitor of LOX) or knock down of gene expression (LOX-specific antisense oligonucleotides) in invasive/metastatic breast cancer cells inhibited their ability to invade a collagen IV/laminin/gelatin matrix in vitro. Here we further demonstrate that LOX specifically facilitates breast cancer cell motility/migration. Invasive/metastatic breast cancer cell lines treated with βAPN had significantly reduced random migration through a 10 μM pore polycarbonate filter, as well as haptokinetic motility on a collagen or fibronectin matrix. Furthermore, an increase in LOX expression, and a corresponding increase in cellular invasiveness, was induced in poorly invasive/non-metastatic breast cancer cell lines under hypoxic culture conditions. Conversely, a decrease in LOX expression, and a corresponding decrease in cellular motility, was observed in highly invasive/metastatic breast cancer cells with the introduction of the tumor suppressor gene maspin. These results demonstrate that LOX facilitates breast cancer cell motility and that LOX expression and cellular motility are regulated by exogenous and endogenous stimuli, hypoxia and maspin, respectively. Supported in part by DAMD17-99-1-9225 and Eisenberg Scholar Research Award (DAK), and NIH/NCI CA59702 and Order of the Eastern Star Breast Cancer Research Fund (MJCH).


The weld line is an inevitable defect in the most injection molded components. It is a zone with reduced mechanical properties negatively influencing on the molding behavior in exploitation. The effect of: melt temperature, holding pressure and time, injection velocity and cooling time on the weld line tensile strength is analyzed in this paper. The material of the moldings was high density polyethylene (HDPE). The results showed that the holding pressure, injection velocity, melt temperature and cooling time have significant influence on tensile strength.


This paper surveys the current state of the Chinese debt capital markets. As judged by its size and sophistication of its infrastructure the Chinese bond market it is already a leading market globally. China is unusual in that non-financial corporate issues account for a large fraction of the market as compared to financial and sovereign issues. Despite the fact that a large part of the market is made up of information sensitive securities, domestic ratings and other forms of information disclosure are relatively underdeveloped. The structure of the corporate bond market is shaped by three alternative channels that regulate security issuance and by different regimes governing alternative issuer types. These features are by-products of China's gradualist approach to enterprise reform which has allowed central and local state owned enterprises to slowly shrink in importance relative to the private economy. In addition, large scale infrastructure investments undertaken by local SOE's account for a large proportion of non-financial bond issues. Comparing bond values by issuer type and issue type reveals strong signs of market segmentation which may reflect varying degrees of implicit state guarantees.


This article raises questions about how best to assess the performance of radical left parties participating in coalition governments. Drawing in part on interviews (see Appendix 1), it covers parties that have participated in coalition government (Cyprus, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway), or have acted as 'support parties' (Denmark, Sweden), or are debating the 'pros and cons' of coalition participation (Netherlands). It undertakes a comparative analysis of how radical left parties themselves evaluate the measure of their achievements and failings in coalition government — a critical exercise for such parties that can influence their tactical and strategic decisions about future government participation, as well as the ability of the parties to survive political and electoral setbacks. The approach we adopt is one that takes the policy, office and votes triad developed by political scientists seriously, but also factors in the principles, political outlook and goals of the parties themselves. It concludes that the experience of coalition government for radical left parties is far from encouraging to date. Their few achievements have to be set against many potential pitfalls. Whilst there may be no alternative to government participation if these parties wish to be taken seriously as actors, a more strategic and cautious approach to coalition formation seems advisable in many instances.


Fibrillarin (FBL), an rRNA 2′-O-methyltransferase, has long been recognized as the enzymatic unit of the C/D box small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein (snoRNP) involved in the first step of pre-rRNA processing. It is not until recently that the link between FBL and cancers has been unveiled. As a direct regulatory target of Myc and p53, FBL is frequently upregulated in breast cancers and prostate cancers. High expression of FBL has also been shown to be associated with poor survival in patients with breast cancer. Our recent study found that FBL overexpression contributes to tumorigenesis and confers cellular resistance to chemodrugs. However, the underlying mechanism of chemoresistance elicited by FBL upregulation is still elusive. Here, we studied the molecular roles of FBL on p53 response. The p53 pathway in response to etoposide and actinomycin D were examined in a variety cell lines including U-2OS, MCF7, H1299, ZR75-1, A549 and an FBL inducible cell line. Western blotting and immunofluorescent staining were employed to examine protein level and their cellular localization. We found that ectopic expression of FBL enhanced the protein level of MDM2, resulting in decreased p53 accumulation and activity in response to chemodrugs. Interestingly, MDM2 was partially recruited to the nucleoli under stimuli. FBL depletion abrogated the nucleolar recruitment of MDM2 and subsequently dampened p53 activation. In conclusion, physiological level of FBL sequesters and stabilizes MDM2 in the nucleoli, therefore inhibits p53 degradation. When upregulated in cancers, FBL stabilizes nucleus MDM2 and promotes the degradation of p53 Citation Format: Teng Xu, Suthakar Ganapathy, Meijun Long, Chul Ha, Zhi-Min Yuan, Hang Su. Elevated level of Fibrillarin induces chemoresistance by interfering p53 pathway in cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5458. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5458


Policy learning designates the relatively enduring alterations of policymakers' beliefs and preferences regarding policies, following new information and experience. Policy leaning being a crucial factor of policy change, the study of its factors is central. The objective of this paper is to assess the influence of policymakers' interests on the evolution of their policy preferences. Personal interests and organizational interests are examined separately. In accordance with existing results, the paper shows that policymakers' preferences actually evolve according to the perceived impacts (relevance) of policies on their interests. Beyond this, the valence characterizes the emotional quality of an idea that makes it more or less attractive. The valence of interests is high for people who attach a lot of importance to their material well-being in their daily life. Contrary to the hypothesis, the connection between the relevance of policies and the evolution of policymakers' preferences is not significantly stronger among those policymakers who give much importance (valence) to their interests. The results, however, show that the policy preferences of the policymakers giving much importance to their personal interests evolved more negatively than the preferences of the other policymakers. Following prospect theory, this tendency could be interpreted as the result of a heuristic-based mode of reasoning, in which policymakers who are more attentive to their interests, to protect these interests, perceive policy changes and impacts more negatively. To demonstrate these results, 413 policymakers were surveyed about their attitude with regard to the liberalization policy process in two Belgian network industries: the railways and the electricity sector. They were asked to compare their beliefs regarding the European liberalization policy at the beginning of the process with their current beliefs. Their personal interests and their organizational interests were then considered. The influence of interests on belief and preference changes has never been explicitly addressed by the literature on policy learning. The paper also contributes to the literature on political attitudes by considering the influence of interests on attitudinal change and by introducing the concept of valence. It also improves the measurement of interests by adopting a subjective approach: rather than an indirect measure of interests deduced by the researcher from the standing of the respondent, the study is based on the subjective answers of the respondents about the impacts of the liberalization policy on their interests (relevance), as well as about the importance they give to their interests (valence).


Abstract Although pleurodires have been considered significantly less diverse than their sister group, the cryptodires, current discoveries show that pleurodires had a more complex and extensive evolutionary history than had been realized. Previously unknown radiations, particularly in the near-shore marine realm, are revealed by taxa with diverse cranial morphology, indicating many different feeding and sensory strategies. The pleurodire group that is changed the most by the new discoveries is its largest group, the hyperfamily Pelomedusoides. The hyperfamily Pelomedusoides now consists of the families Pelomedusidae, Podocnemididae, Bothremydidae, Araripemydidae, and Euraxemydidae, new family. The families Bothremydidae, Araripemydidae, and Euraxemydidae, new family, are documented with descriptions of skulls, lower jaws, and shells. The relationships of the family Podocnemididae to its sister taxa Hamadachelys and Brasilemys are recognized by placing them in the epifamily Podocnemidinura. The epifamily Podocnemidinura is the sister group to the family Bothremydidae, and together they form the superfamily Podocnemidoidea. The family Araripemydidae consists of one taxon, Araripemys barretoi, from the Aptian-Albian of Brazil. Description of new cranial material suggests that it is the sister group to all other Pelomedusoides or the sister group to the Pelomedusidae, but these relationships are only weakly supported. There is strong support for a multichotomy of Araripemys, Pelomedusidae, and remaining Pelomedusoides. Araripemys is characterized by very thin triturating surfaces and by a shell that lacks mesoplastra and has the first costals reaching the shell margin. The new family Euraxemydidae consists of two new genera: Euraxemys essweini, n. gen. et sp., from the Albian Santana Formation of Brazil, and Dirqadim schaefferi, n. gen. et sp., from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco. Members of the Euraxemydidae are united by the unique possession of a medial process of the quadrate partially covering the prootic and narrowly contacting a ventral process of the exoccipital, in contrast to all other pleurodires, which have either complete exposure or complete covering of the prootic ventrally. Furthermore, members have a ventral process of the exoccipital that is exposed at the lateral margin of the basioccipital in an elongate foot. The Euraxemydidae is hypothesized as the sister group to the superfamily Podocnemidoidea. The family Bothremydidae and the epifamily Podocnemidinura (consisting of the family Podocnemididae, Hamadachelys, and Brasilemys) are united as the superfamily Podocnemidoidea based on the possession of a quadrate-basioccipital contact, the complete or nearly complete ventral covering of the prootic, and the extension of the pectoral scales onto the entoplastron. The family Bothremydidae is a large and diverse group extending from the Albian to the Eocene in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and India. Its monophyly is supported by the presence of a wide exoccipital-quadrate contact, a eustachian tube separated from the incisura columellae auris usually by bone to form a bony canal for the stapes, absence of a fossa precolumellaris, a supraoccipital-quadrate contact (except in the tribe Taphrosphyini), and a posterior enlargement of the fossa orbitalis. Although there is a diversity of triturating surfaces within the family, primitively bothremydids have a posteriorly wide triturating surface with a significant palatine contribution in the upper jaw. The family Bothremydidae consists of four newly recognized, monophyletic groups: the tribes Kurmademydini, Cearachelyini, Bothremydini, and Taphrosphyini. The tribe Kurmademydini consists of two taxa: Kurmademys kallamedensis, from the Maastrichtian Kallamedu Formation of India, and Sankuchemys sethnai, from the Maastrichtian Intertrappean beds of India. The tribe Kurmademydini is characterized by extensive temporal and cheek emargination, a large fossa precolumellaris, and a small, anterior exposure of the prootic on the ventral surface. The tribe Kurmademydini is the sister group to the subfamily Bothremydinae (consisting of the tribes Cearachelyini, Bothremydini, and Taphrosphyini). Members of the subfamily Bothremydinae all possess a foramen stapedio-temporale that faces anteriorly. The tribe Cearachelyini consists of Cearachelys placidoi, from the Albian Santana Formation of Brazil, and Galianemys emringeri and Galianemys whitei, both from the Cenomanian Kem Kem beds of Morocco. The tribe Cearachelyini is characterized by a jugal retracted from the orbital margin and a fenestra postotica formed into a short slit. The tribe Cearachelyini is the sister group to the infrafamily Bothremydodda (consisting of the tribes Bothremydini and Taphrosphyini). The infrafamily Bothremydodda is characterized by a quadrate shelf formed below the cavum tympani, a foramen stapedio-temporale and foramen nervi trigemini that are very close together on the anterior face of the otic chamber, and a condylus occipitalis and occipital neck that are formed only by the exoccipitals. The tribe Bothremydini consists of Foxemys mechinorum, from the Campanian-Maastrichtian of France; Polysternon provinciale, from the Campanian of Europe; Zolhafah bella, from the Maastrichtian Dakla Formation of Egypt; Rosasia soutoi, from the Campanian-Maastrichtian of Portugal; Araiochelys hirayamai, n. gen. et sp., from the Danian phosphates of Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Bothremys cooki, from the Maastrichtian Navesink Formation of New Jersey; Bothremys maghrebiana, n. sp., from the Danian phosphates of Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Bothremys kellyi, n. sp., from the Ypresian phosphates of Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Bothremys arabicus, from the Santonian of Jordan; Chedighaii hutchisoni, n. gen. et sp., from the Campanian Kirtland Formation of New Mexico; and Chedighaii barberi, n. gen., from the Campanian of Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and New Jersey. The tribe Bothremydini is the sister group to the tribe Taphrosphyini. The tribe Taphrosphyini is characterized by the presence of a jugal-quadrate contact, the absence of a maxilla-quadratojugal contact, and the absence of a supraoccipital-quadrate contact. Members of the tribe Taphrosphyini have a considerable variety of triturating surfaces but they lack the wide, triangular surfaces typical of the other bothremydids. The tribe Taphrosphyini consists of Taphrosphys sulcatus, from the Danian Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey; Taphrosphys congolensis, from the Paleocene of Cabinda, west Africa; Taphrosphys ippolitoi, n. sp., from the Danian phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Labrostochelys galkini, n. gen. et sp., from the Danian phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Phosphatochelys tedfordi, from the Ypresian phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin Morocco; Ummulisani rutgersensis, n. gen. et sp., from the Ypresian phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Rhothonemys brinkmani, n. gen. et sp., from the Paleogene phosphates of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco; Azabbaremys moragjonesi, from the Paleocene Teberemt Formation of Mali; Nigeremys gigantea, from the Maastrichtian of Niger; and Arenila krebsi, from the Maastrichtian Dakla Formation of Egypt. Among the Bothremydidae, the Taphrosphyini is the most diverse morphologically. The triturating surfaces show a wide range of variation. The long, narrow skull of Labrostochelys differs significantly from the very short skull of Phosphatochelys. Other genera, such as Azabbaremys and Arenila, have large and massive skulls, but without broadly expanded triturating surfaces, while Ummulisani has very narrow and deep labial ridges. The nasal regions of Taphrosphyini also show wide diversity. Rhothonemys has nasal openings and cavities more than twice the size of the orbits, but the nasal openings in Labrostochelys are smaller than the relatively small orbits. This diversity of Taphrosphyini skull morphology is mostly evident in the Paleogene of North Africa. A phylogenetic analysis of the core dataset of 41 taxa, 122 cranial characters, and 52 postcranial characters relies on comparative descriptions of these taxa. The analysis using PAUP results in one most parsimonious cladogram of 382 steps with a consistency index of 0.6. A Bremer decay analysis shows that the family Bothremydidae is strongly supported at five steps: the tribes Kurmademydini and Cearachelyini have an index of 2, and the tribe Taphrosphyini has an index of 3. The tribe Bothremydini becomes unresolved at one step and is the most weakly supported of these groups. The addition of selected shell-only taxa with low missing data values to the core dataset results in one equally parsimonious cladogram that is resolved as: (Proterochersis (Platychelyidae (Dortoka (Chelidae (Pelomedusidae + Araripemys) (Euraxemydidae (Teneremys (Podocnemididae + Hamadachelys + Brasilemys (Bothremydidae)))))))). A partitioned dataset consisting only of cranial characters (excluding all shell-only taxa) results in one equally parsimonious cladogram identical to the most parsimonious cladogram resulting from the whole dataset; however, a partitioned dataset consisting only of postcranial characters (excluding all skull-only taxa) resulted in 2704 trees, the consensus of which lacks resolution for nearly all Pelomedusoides, but which does resolve more basal pleurodires. When the skull morphology of the Bothremydidae is placed in the context of all other turtles, it becomes apparent that this family has the greatest range of skull forms of any turtle family yet known. In fact, the skull morphologies of many turtle families seem remarkably uniform in comparison (e.g., Testudinidae, Kinosternidae, Pelomedusidae, Trionychidae, Carettochelyidae). There are other turtle families with bizarre skull morphologies (e.g., Nanhsiungchelyidae; Meiolaniidae) but these are not taxonomically diverse, at least as they are now known. In


Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is the procedure of choice in patients with epiphora due to primary acquired nasolacrimal duct obstruction. The evolution of surgical tools, fiber-optic endoscopes, effective anesthesia techniques, and the adjunct use of antimetabolites intraoperatively; namely mitomycin-C (MMC) have significantly contributed to the advancement of DCR surgery. MMC is a systemic chemotherapeutic agent derived from Streptomyces caespitosus that inhibits the synthesis of DNA, cellular RNA, and protein by inhibiting the synthesis of collagen by fibroblasts. Even the cellular changes in the human nasal mucosal fibroblasts induced by MMC at an ultrastructural level have been documented. There, however, seems to be a lack of consensus regarding MMC: The dosage, the route of delivery/application, the time of exposure and subsequently what role each of these variables plays in the final outcome of the surgery. In this review, an attempt is made to objectively examine all the evidence regarding the role of MMC in DCR. MMC appears to improve the success rate of DCR.


Outcrop samples of Ordovician K-bentonite from northeast Georgia were studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) using different cation saturations to look for possible redistribution in layer charge. It was noted that XRD patterns of the samples responded uniquely to each cation treatment. The purpose of this note is to demonstrate a refinement to the method of Środoń (1980) for the precise identification of mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S) and to note the importance of using several homoionic saturations in the interpretation of the XRD patterns.


In the current debate on climate protection, agricultural production has become a focal point of interest. This study introduces the climate effectiveness of agricultural management of peat-soils. Agriculture on peatland demands a water-level drawdown that causes aerobe degradation of the soils. The resulting trace-gas emissions have a negative impact on the greenhouse-gas balance. In Germany more than 80% of peatland is used agriculturally; the resulting emissions account for 2.3 – 4.5% of Germany's overall emission. Climate-friendly peatland management strategies, however, demand enhanced groundwater tables and decreased land-use intensity. With regard to agricultural income, severe economic consequences are to be expected. Against this background we analyse opportunities to reorganise agricultural use of peatland. As it is assumed that the potential to reduce land-use intensity greatly depends on local socio-economic conditions which are likely to vary across different regions, six representative sample regions are surveyed. To analyse microeconomic effects with simultaneous consideration of local diversity, stakeholder workshops and extensive farm surveys were undertaken in all regions. First results indicate that a reorganisation of peatland use causes severe loss of agricultural income and necessitates financial compensation for farmers. However the results also show that the potential of rearrangement varies significantly according to regional conditions.


We report the details of a technique for the production of proton beams with very low energy spread exploiting the short soft X-rays obtained by laser ablation. These beams have been generated by the dissociation and ionization of an hydrogen buffer gas induced by the laser-plasma X-rays and then accelerated by means of an electrostatic accelerator. Their properties have been analyzed through the time-of-flight method applying different accelerating voltages. The resulting energetic spread ranges between 6 and 11%, as a function of the applied voltage. Such a system could be extremely useful for producing quasi-monoenergetic proton beams.


Given any integer $N>1$ prime to $3$, we denote by $C_N$ the elliptic curve $x^3+y^3=N$. We first study the $3$-adic valuation of the algebraic part of the value of the Hasse-Weil $L$-function $L(C_N,s)$ of $C_N$ over $\mathbb{Q}$ at $s=1$, and we exhibit a relation between the $3$-part of its Tate-Shafarevich group and the number of distinct prime divisors of $N$ which are inert in the imaginary quadratic field $K=\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-3})$. In the case where $L(C_N,1)\neq 0$ and $N$ is a product of split primes in $K$, we show that the order of the Tate-Shafarevich group as predicted by the conjecture of Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer is a perfect square.


The focus of this thesis is on channel estimation in wireless communication systems that employ multiple antennas.
The thesis is divided into two parts, whereof the first part addresses the
problem of parameter estimation of distributed sources. Due to, e.g., local
scattering around the transmitter, the source (as seen from the receiver)
appears spatially distributed. A characterization of the spatial channel, in
particular mean direction of arrival and spatial spread, is of interest for optimization
and performance prediction of future communication systems. Nonparametric
beamforming-based estimators are derived and analyzed for the
localization of distributed sources, and it is found that they provide good
estimation performance. Parametric generalized beamformers are also presented
and analyzed. It is found that they also yield competitive performance
compared to existing algorithms.
The second part of the thesis deals with Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
(MIMO) and Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) channel estimation. A simple
and straightforward way of estimating the unknown channel is to transmit
known training/pilot sequences. In the recent past, a number of publications
have suggested Superimposed Pilots (SIP) for channel estimation in communication
systems. However, the performance gain achieved by SIP compared
to conventional (time-multiplexed) training is still questionable. To evaluate
the performance of the various training-based schemes, a lower bound on the mutual information of a general training-based scheme applied to block-wise fading MIMO and SISO channels is derived and maximized. It is found that in certain scenarios it is beneficial to also transmit data during the training mode (i.e., use SIP). The main conclusion though, is that the general SIP-scheme quite often reduces to the conventional time-multiplexed scheme, and, hence, renders the same performance. The theory is also extended to the case when detected data symbols are used as additional training symbols, which significantly improves the channel estimation performance. An improved channel estimate leads to an improvement in the effective Signa-lto-Noise Ratio (SNR), and, thus, a higher coding rate may successfully be applied. The extended scheme shows a performance close to the fundamental capacity of the noncoherent MIMO channel.


This article treats modern international institutions as means of regulating the lateral pressure generated by the industrial system. The linking roles played by post-war international institutions in decolonization and development should be thought of as part of a transnational political system regulating conflict in the vast international economic region that was formed among the industrialized states with market economies and their Third World dependencies. This political system grew out of civil society, the voluntary political realm identified by Antonio Gramsci as the social sphere in which aspirations develop and political identities form. Within the Third World the involvement of international institutions in decolonization and development helped both to create, and constantly to reinforce, civil society at the national level. As a result, the recent crises in international institutions and those in much of the Third World are intimately linked.


OBJECTIVE
It has been well established that college students engage in heavy drinking during specific social events; however, within the general population, evidence of event-specific drinking has been largely indirect. The present study therefore aimed to investigate the temporal variability in daily alcohol consumption in the winter holiday months among residents of a large metropolitan area.

METHOD
A random-digit-dialing telephone survey was conducted of residents who drank alcohol at least once per month. During a 5-week period beginning December 1, 2009, the number of drinks consumed on each day within the past week was collected for 578 participants.

RESULTS
Weekly variation in alcohol consumption peaked on Fridays and Saturdays and was particularly high on Christmas and New Year's Eve. Mean drink consumption was significantly higher on Christmas and New Year's Eve compared with most weekends within the sampling period.

CONCLUSIONS
The present findings provide the first direct evidence, with temporal specificity, that alcohol consumption within the general population is highly event specific. Targeted intervention strategies similar to those used within college student samples may be appropriate for reducing or preventing alcohol-related harmful events on a population level.


This report presents a new boundary condition estimation framework for transportation networks in which the state is modeled by a first order scalar conservation law. Using an equivalent formulation based on a Hamilton-Jacobi equation, the authors pose the problem of estimating the boundary conditions of the system on a network, as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP). The authors show that this framework can handle various types of traffic flow measurements, including floating car data or flow measurements. To regularize the solutions, the authors propose a compressed sensing approach in which the objective is to minimize the variations over time (in the L₁ norm sense) of the boundary flows of the network. The authors show that this additional requirement can be integrated in the original MILP formulation, and can be solved efficiently for small to medium scale problems.


The modern electricity market is in the process of transformation generated by the influx of technological innovations and social mood in society. The article considers the features of using renewable energy sources in the world and in Russia, their importance and economic potential for sustainable development. Significant problems that arise when using renewable energy sources are identified, and ways to overcome them and prospects for further use are considered.


Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) operate on the basic underlying assumption that all participating nodes fully collaborate in self-organizing functions. However, performing network functions consumes energy and other resources. Therefore, some network nodes may decide against cooperating with others. Providing these selfish nodes, also termed misbehaving nodes, with an incentive to cooperate has been an active research area recently. In this paper, we propose two network-layer acknowledgment-based schemes, termed the TWOACK and the S-TWOACK schemes, which can be simply added-on to any source routing protocol. The TWOACK scheme detects such misbehaving nodes, and then seeks to alleviate the problem by notifying the routing protocol to avoid them in future routes. Details of the two schemes and our evaluation results based on simulations are presented in this paper. We have found that, in a network where up to 40% of the nodes may be misbehaving, the TWOACK scheme results in 20% improvement in packet delivery ratio, with a reasonable additional routing overhead.


Despite considerable evidence verifying that millisecond pulsars are spun up through sustained accretion in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), it has proven surprisingly difficult to actually detect millisecond X-ray pulsars in LMXBs. There are only 5 accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsars known among more than 80 LMXBs containing neutron stars, but there are another 11 "nuclear powered" millisecond pulsars which reveal their spin only during brief, thermonuclear X-ray bursts. In addition, 2 of the accretion-powered pulsars also exhibit X-ray burst oscillations, and their unusual properties, along with the absence of persistent pulsations in most LMXBs, suggest that the magnetic fields in many LMXBs may be hidden by accreted material. Interestingly, the nuclear-powered pulsars offer a statistically unbiased probe of the spin distribution of recycled pulsars and show that this distribution cuts off sharply above 730 Hz, well below the breakup spin rate for most neutron star equations of state. This indicates that some mechanism acts to halt or balance spin-up due to accretion and that submillisecond pulsars must be very rare (and are possibly nonexistent). It is unclear what provides the necessary angular momentum sink, although gravitational radiation is an attractive possibility.


Cholera toxin (ChT) inhibits signals generated by multiple growth factors in human lung cancer cells, resulting in cell growth inhibition. We now report that ChT triggers apoptosis as shown by DNA fragmentation and activation of caspases cleaving poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and lamin B. Apoptosis induced by ChT in a small cell lung cancer cell line is not affected by manipulations of intracellular cAMP through preincubation with isobutylmethylxanthine but can be modestly increased through inhibition of protein kinase C with chelerythrine. Thus, apoptosis is actively suppressed in lung cancer cells by a ChT-sensitive-growth regulatory pathway, and these observations may have significant implications in the development of novel strategies for lung cancer treatment.


Chlorpromazine, which was discovered in 1952, has an exhaustively characterized efficacy/safety profile comprising serious limitations: effectiveness in the field failing to match efficacy in trials, residual symptoms in 50% of patients, a 20% relapse rate in compliant patients, and worrisome extrapyramidal side effects, including tardive dyskinesia in 5% per year. Second-generation "atypical" antipsychotics bypass these effects by having less affinity for the dopamine D2 receptor and affinities for other neuroreceptors. Clozapine, the lead atypical antipsychotic, was followed in the mid 1990s by risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine, which now account for over half of new antipsychotic prescriptions in North America, The debate over their relative efficacy involves the potential well-being of millions of schizophrenics and billions of dollars. Atypical antipsychotics are considerably more expensive; evidence for their superiority is highly variable and often inadequate, largely confined to short-term regulatory studies. Their effects on long-term outcome (particularly negative symptoms), relapse prevention, social and vocational functioning, suicide prevention and quality of life, and family and caregiver burden are largely unknown. The National institute of Mental Health's Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) project is a combined efficacy-effectiveness trial that aims to answer these questions in a broad range of patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease.


The effects of recainam (Wy 42,362) on transmembrane action potentials were examined in isolated rabbit right ventricular papillary muscles. Recainam (3 x 10(-5) to 3 x 10(-4) M) caused a concentration-dependent decrease in the Vmax of the action potential. At 3 x 10(-4) M, there was a slight decrease in the amplitude of the action potential. The resting potential and the action potential duration were not affected. Use-dependent block of Vmax was tested over a wide range of pacing frequencies (from 0.1 to 3.0 Hz). At 1.0 Hz, recainam 10(-4) M produced exponential decreases in Vmax with a rate constant of 0.17 per action potential and 39.8% reduction at steady state. This use-dependent block was augmented at the higher stimulation frequencies. The time constant for the recovery of Vmax from use-dependent block (offset) was 17.2 s. In papillary muscles depolarized with 10 mM [K+]0, the use-dependent block was augmented but tonic block and the rates of onset and offset of the use-dependent block were similar to those in normally polarized preparations in 4 mM [K+]0. The curves relating membrane potential and Vmax in preparations stimulated at a low frequency (0.01 Hz) were not shifted by 10(-4) M recainam. These findings suggest that recainam is a specific sodium-channel blocker and has kinetically slow but potent affinity for the channel during action potentials. This selective binding during action potential was further augmented by depolarization and is likely to play a significant role in the control of ventricular arrhythmias by the drug.


It is shown that Binder's cumulant U = 1- M4/ 3 M22 is very useful in the study of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition of two-dimensional XY systems. It is possible to calculate the critical exponent without knowledge of the critical temperature, and to exclude the possibility of a power law behaviour.


We present the concept of a nanoelectromechanical device capable of controlling the position of DNA inside a nanopore with a single nucleotide accuracy. The device utilizes the interaction of discrete charges along the backbone of a DNA molecule with the electric field inside the nanopore. In analogy to solid state transistors in which a small voltage controls the current between two electrodes, a voltage strategically located inside the nanopore can control the translocation of a single DNA molecule between a cis and a trans reservoirs. We propose an immediate application of the device as a replacement of capillary electrophoresis in DNA sequencing.


The introduction of personal services besides conventional broadcasting in DAB/DVB networks imposes new demands on the network architecture. The term ``per sonal service'' means that some portion of the digital broad casting bandwidth is reserved for transmitting information that is intended to only a limited number of users, or to only a single receiver. Examples for such services are the distribution of electronic multimedia newspapers to its sub scribers or the premium quality mobile Internet access, where DAB/DVB network is used as a shared broadband downlink channel. The total capacity demand of the user population and its spatial distribution have to be taken into account when planning the radio coverage for DAB/DVB networks. In this paper we formulate the network planning problem with this additional requirement as an optimization problem, where the objective is to minimize the network cost while satisfying both the capacity and the signal quality constraints. We also propose an efficient heuristic algorithm that uses linear programming steps to iteratively build the network. We demonstrate that such a simple algorithm can provide solutions in affordable time for DAB/DVB planning problems of practically interesting complexity.


BACKGROUND
The exposure to Cd has been linked to many disease and liver is the major target organ of Cd toxicity following acute or chronic exposure.No study has ever evaluated the association between liver function tests and exposure to Cd present in urban air in outdoor workers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In order to assess the relationship between the exposure to urban Cd and the associated changes in liver functionality markers, we conducted a study on 110 municipal policemen divided into 2 groups according to their tasks: 60 traffic policemen and 50 drivers, underwent tests for the determination of the urinary values of Cd correlated with the blood levels of transaminases and ?-GT. Moreover we investigated the exposure to Cd in the air through a personal dosimetry on a subgroup of 40 subjects (20 traffic policemen 20 police drivers).

RESULTS
The results showed that the average personal exposure to air Cd was significantly higher in traffic policemen than drivers. Furthermore, in the subset of 40 subjects and in the total sample of 110 subjects, the mean values of urinary Cd were significantly higher in traffic policemen rather than in the police drivers. No significant difference was observed in the mean values of liver functionality in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Due to the few studies on the effects of the exposure to Cd in big cities, the results of the present study offers useful information about occupational exposure to Cd on the road and in the car and the lack of effects on liver function.


Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have the potential to accomplish a major contribution to road safety. This is valid for minor crashes to very severe accidents with personal injuries. The Allianz Centre for Technology attends the development of new driver assistance systems by carrying out accident analysis and estimating the efficiency of new ADAS. In this context new ADAS from different car manufactures will be presented and current results of the efficiency of dedicated systems will be discussed. Language: en


Network-on-Chip (NoC) is proposed as a scalable and reusable communication platform for future embedded systems. The performance of NoC largely depends on the underlying deadlock-free and efficient routing algorithm. In this paper a novel fully adaptive routing algorithm for avoiding congested areas using a fuzzy-based routing decision is proposed. The objective of the proposed routing algorithm is to choose a channel that has more free-slots input buffer and lower power consumption. The routing path is established by minimizing a cost which is calculated by a fuzzy controller which considers the power consumption and free slots input buffer of cores. The performances evaluation is carried out by using a flit-accurate simulator under different traffic scenarios. Experiment results show that the routing algorithm can effectively improves the average delay and power distribution to meet the power balance requirement and avoid hotspots with low hardware overhead.


This experience report is derived from a work of extension with the goal of providing technical advice and skilled to solidarity economic enterprise "Padaria Artesanal Comunitaria Maos de Fibra" located in rural area of Vicosa-MG. The Bakery has the characteristic of being predominantly made up by rural women. These have been developing the production and sale of homemade breads. Much of the production revenue recovers the tradition of their ancestors. From this perspective, this diversity of food production resulted in the creation of a new service, called "lanchao", equivalent to "coffee breaks" served at events. Among the specific objectives, actions are directed towards the formalization of the enterprise in an association and aggregation of value to the handcraft and agribusiness products already marketed in order to qualify for inclusion of the group in specialized markets. Among the results, it is perceived that there were improvements in the community since the formalization of the enterprise "Associacao dos Agricultores Familiares Maos de Fibra", because it allowed the realization of a formal organizational structure and self-sustaining, enabling provide decent working conditions, increase production and optimize the economic and social outcomes. Thus, by providing capacitation to the members of the association, the extension project qualified the possibilities of the families to become active agents of the local development process, also contributing to socioeconomic sustainability and creating conditions for the participants to provide better income and quality of life.


This article outlines the non-product-related process and production method (NPR-PPM) controversy, focusing on the current interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body and panels as background for an analysis of the EU ETS in aviation. In order to assess the possible application of the TBT Agreement to the EU ETS in aviation, the measures laid down in Directive 2008/101/EC, as well as in the recently adopted amending Regulation, are qualified as measures affecting trade in goods. Such a finding leads us to consider whether they fall under the definition of 'technical regulation' laid down in Annex 1.1 of the TBT Agreement. To that effect, the three-tier test in EC-Asbestos and EC-Sardines is applied in light of the recent findings in EU-Seals. Finally, practical implications can be drawn in both senses. Should it be deemed inapplicable, GATT would continue to apply. Should it be considered to come within the scope of the TBT Agreement by virtue of Annex 1.1, an assessment of compatibility with Articles 2.1 and 2.2 of the TBT Agreement would be required.


The frontal region of the embryonic chick was studied to determine whether epithelial influences are necessary for frontal bone development. The frontal bone is a membrane bone, of neural crest and head mesodermal origin, which develops within mesenchyme sandwiched between two epithelia, neural ectoderm and epidermis. Rudiments were treated enzymatically to separate epithelial and mesenchymal tissues. Frontal mesenchyme then was grown as chorioallantoic membrane grafts either in the presence or absence of neural ectoderm and/or epidermis. The results indicate that neural ectoderm, though required during early stages of development to induce frontal bone development (Schowing, 1968), is not required during later stages (HH 22–30, the stages tested in this study) for osteogenesis. Epidermis, however, was shown to be required for frontal bone development during the stages tested. Frontal mesenchyme formed bone when epidermis was present on the outer aspect of the mesenchyme, and did not form bone when the epidermis had been removed prior to grafting, whether or not neural ectoderm was present. This dependence upon epidermis continues beyond the onset of meningeal differentiation. Once the outer ectomeninx‐dermis is distinguishable from the inner endomeninx, osteogenic capabilities are confined to the ectomeninx‐dermis layer. Furthermore, the ectomeninx‐dermis layer attached to epidermis is able to form membrane bone in the absence of the endomeninx and neural ectoderm. The endomeninx, though normally nonchondrogenic, was shown to be capable of forming cartilage when the neural ectoderm is removed. Neural ectoderm, therefore, may have an inhibitory effect on chondrogenesis in the endomeninx.


[EMBARGOED UNTIL 8/1/2023] This research was designed to explore the human-machine user/consumer experience when customers use retail mobile applications under the omnichannel context. Customer reviews from retail mobile application were crawled and investigated by text-mining methods, including textual data pre-processing, LDA topic modeling, sentimental analysis, word co-occurrence network. This is the first attempt to quantify fashion retailing data using text-mining methods to thoroughly investigate the user/consumer experience in omnichannel shopping. Based on the customer value theory and components of the user experience model, the study findings were expected to provide further evidence of the importance of the user experience in human-machine interfaces when adopting omnichannel strategy. The findings would also help to optimize the performance of the retail mobile applications and improve user experience to achieve a seamless omnichannel shopping experience. Meanwhile, the findings help retailers to develop practical strategies to convey consistent customer value via mobile applications, based on their positioning and business features.


OBJECT
Atypical meningioma often recurs even after resection. As a salvage modality, radiotherapy or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is attempted for this aggressive tumor. This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of SRS that involved Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) for atypical meningioma.

METHODS
The authors reviewed records from 22 patients with histologically proven atypical meningioma who underwent GKS for 28 lesions at the authors' institute. The median patient age was 70 years (range 24-91 years), and the median tumor volume for each procedure was 6.0 cm3 (range 1.6-38.7 cm3). The margin dose ranged from 14 to 20 Gy (median 18 Gy). Follow-up periods ranged from 3 months to 98 months (median 23.5 months).

RESULTS
In total, 39 GKS procedures were performed for 28 lesions. The local control rates at 1, 2, and 5 years were 74%, 39%, and 16%, respectively. Volume less than 6 cm3 (p = 0.01), a margin dose higher than 18 Gy (p = 0.02), and a Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) score of 90 or more (p = 0.02) were factors associated with a longer duration of tumor control in the univariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
Atypical meningioma could be more successfully controlled when a higher margin dose was used to treat patients with a good performance (KPS score of ≥ 90) status and smaller tumor volumes. It would be desired if patients are treated with a relatively higher margin dose, ideally as high as the dose applied for malignant tumor. A boost SRS after fractionated radiotherapy may be effective to achieve better local control.


A method of the remote upgrade proposed in this paper because of the problem of software upgrades and maintenance difficulty in wireless network optimization monitoring system base on the Flash memory of LPC2138. And details of hardware and software realization are proposed in this paper. It not only supports the function of software upgrades and resuming broken downloads, but also supports the function of switching software versions in old and new. Experiments show the validity of this method and the applicability for practical projects.


A hypothesis for the control of eukaryotic DNA replication at the chromosomal level is proposed. The specific regulatory problem arises from the subdivision of the genome into thousands of individually replicating units, each of which must be duplicated a single time during S-phase. The hypothesis is based on the finding of direct repeats at replication origins. Such repeats can adopt, beyond the full-length double helical structure, another configuration exposing two single-stranded loops that provide suitable templates for the initiation of DNA replication. Any further initiation at the same origin is excluded as the single strandedness is eliminated by the replication process. Restoration of the initiable loop structure is proposed to occur by DNA-protein rearrangements involved in chromosome condensation and duplication of the chromosomal protein backbone during mitosis. A possible role of the maturation promoting factor (MPF) is suggested.


This study aims at assessing the impact of organic pollution on plankton communities of the Ouémé River using a Plankton Index of Biotic Integrity (P-IBI) as a tool for ecological heath assessment. Plankton and other environmental data were collected monthly from October 2014 to September 2015. An Organic Pollution Index (OPI) was calculated to classify the sampling sites, and 18 plankton candidate metrics were used to discriminate among the observed organic pollution levels. From this analysis, seven significant metrics were selected for setting up biotic integrity indices. An indicative value (IndVal) was calculated for each plankton species to identify indicator species characteristic of observed ecological statuses. The OPI shows significant organic pollution at sites, such as Kaboua, Vossa and Atchakpa-rejet, and less organic pollution at Kpassa. The plankton Index of Biotic Integrity (P-IBI) value shows significant correlation (r > 0.75) with organic pollution. Three ecological states were identified: Kaboua and Vossa were in fair condition; Kpassa, Toué, Atchérigbé and Affon in very good condition; and all other sites in good condition. Three phytoplankton and four zooplankton species were significantly associated with good conditions, whereas 108 phytoplankton species and 40 zooplankton species were significantly associated with fair conditions within the River basin.


Padang Besar has been well known with its shopping activities since the establishment of several shopping venues at the town. However, the development and shopping facilities offered to the visitors seem insufficient. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the border shopping scenario at Padang Besar, in terms of its development, activities and
facilities. Grounded theory qualitative data analysis strategy was employed as an attempt to understand the border shopping scenario from the tourism supply chains perspective. The data was gathered through an initial interview followed by a final interview, and observation. Open coding, selective coding and theoretical coding were identified and categorized based on the data collected, the destination supply factors, and the retails factors at Padang Besar. Each coding was analyzed using constant comparative method to present the final conceptual mapping of shopping scenario at Padang Besar. The relationship between border shopping development, border shopping activities and border shopping facilities were also introduced in this study as a new theory of study in border shopping. The result of the study reveal that Padang Besar
Business Arcade Complex (PBAC) is the anchor for shopping activities and represent what is perceived to be the main attraction at Padang Besar. Cheap imitation goods offered are the main reasons visitors shop at PBAC. The study concludes that shopping activities and trading activities at PBAC are the main reasons behind the infrastructure development at Padang Besar. The findings also indicate the tourism supply chains in Padang Besar have failed to cooperate with each other and thus had resulted in improper planning and development of the town. The town of Padang Besar does have a potential to be developed into a border shopping tourism destination since the town itself is associated mainly with border shopping activities.
Nevertheless, it requires a concrete support from the govenment, private investors and the tourism destination supply chain in supporting the border shopping venues at Padang Besar with adequate and proper development of shopping infrastructure, facilities and amenities to the
visitors.


We studied the influence of erythrocyte microvesicles, isolated after 4 weeks incubation the washed and the unwashed erythrocytes healthy donors from preservative, on spontaneous (flow-induced) aggregation of platelets. It was found out that microvesicles of the unwashed erythrocytes enhanced the spontaneous aggregation of platelets and also formation of fibrin. Microvesicles from the washed erythrocytes reduce the platelet aggregation. Possible mechanisms of the effect of erythrocyte microvesicles on platelet aggregation were investigated.


Twenty‐six persistent diarrhoea patients aged 4 to 18 months were treated with a diet prepared with rice powder, soya oil, glucose, egg white and water. Absorption of macronutrients was estimated in a 72 h balance study and clinical response was examined during one week of dietary treatment. Nutrient absorption was compared with that of 25 healthy age‐matched controls treated with the same diet. Twenty‐one patients (81%) recovered from diarrhoea within seven days. Absorption of nutrients was significantly reduced among the persistent diarrhoea patients. More malnourished patients had a significantly reduced absorption of nutrients except carbohydrate and an increased severity and longer duration of diarrhoea. Total gut transit time had significant association with nutrient absorption in the persistent diarrhoea patients. The period of recovery negatively correlated with coefficient of absorption and positively with initial stool weight. Failure to recover was associated with severity of diarrhoea and systemic infection. The study indicates that nutrient absorption is significantly reduced in patients with persistent diarrhoea and nutritional status, and that initial purging rate and intestinal hurry are significantly related to the prognosis and nutrient absorption.


In holometabolous insects, life-history characteristics can vary in response to diet. The main aim of this contribution was to examine which diet best promotes larval development and survival of the aquatic saprophagous hoverfly Eristalis tenax L. (Diptera: Syrphidae). This study was motivated by a need to optimize techniques for rearing these insects in captivity. We studied how adding yeast to several rearing media based on animal droppings or decaying plant material affected development and survival in captive larvae, and whether these effects could be optimized depending on the amount of yeast and the rearing medium. In addition, premature exit of larvae was examined in two medium volumes to investigate differences in pupation. Larvae in yeast supplemented rabbit growth medium pupated and emerged faster than those in horse and antelope growth media. A high number of adult females emerged when compared to males, and both seemed to have a shorter developmental period in yeast supplemented growth media. Pupal survival was significantly greater in a mixture of droppings and plant organic matter, and a high medium volume of 140 ml (p < 0.05). Between 10% and 17% of larvae prematurely exited the aquatic medium in high (140) and low (70 ml) medium volumes, respectively. These results provide additional information that may be crucial for the successful mass rearing of E. tenax in captivity, and suggest that apart from the addition of yeast, growth medium quality and volume may be limiting factors for the production of large colonies of adults.


Halomonas variabilis and phylogenetically related organisms were isolated from various habitats such as Antarctic terrain and saline ponds, deep-sea sediment, deep-sea waters affected by hydrothermal plumes, and hydrothermal vent fluids. Ten strains were selected for physiological and phylogenetic characterization in detail. All of those strains were found to be piezotolerant and psychrotolerant, as well as euryhaline halophilic or halotolerant. Their stress tolerance may facilitate their wide occurrence, even in so-called extreme environments. The 16S rDNA-based phylogenetic relationship was complemented by analyses of the DNA gyrase subunit B gene (gyrB) and genes involved in the synthesis of the major compatible solute, ectoine: diaminobutyric acid aminotransferase gene (ectB) and ectoine synthase gene (ectC). The phylogenetic relationships of H. variabilis and related organisms were very similar in terms of 16S rDNA, gyrB, and ectB. The ectC-based tree was inconsistent with the other phylogenetic trees. For that reason, ectC was inferred to derive from horizontal transfer.


Non-Autoregressive generation is a sequence generation paradigm, which removes the dependency between target tokens. It could efficiently reduce the text generation latency with parallel decoding in place of token-by-token sequential decoding. However, due to the known multi-modality problem, Non-Autoregressive (NAR) models significantly under-perform Auto-regressive (AR) models on various language generation tasks. Among the NAR models, BANG is the first large-scale pre-training model on English un-labeled raw text corpus. It considers different generation paradigms as its pre-training tasks including Auto-regressive (AR), Non-Autoregressive (NAR), and semi-Non-Autoregressive (semi-NAR) information flow with multi-stream strategy. It achieves state-of-the-art performance without any distillation techniques. However, AR distillation has been shown to be a very effective solution for improving NAR performance. In this paper, we propose a novel self-paced mixed distillation method to further improve the generation quality of BANG. Firstly, we propose the mixed distillation strategy based on the AR stream knowledge. Secondly, we encourage the model to focus on the samples with the same modality by self-paced learning. The proposed self-paced mixed distillation algorithm improves the generation quality and has no influence on the inference latency. We carry out extensive experiments on summarization and question generation tasks to validate the effectiveness. To further illustrate the commercial value of our approach, we conduct experiments on three generation tasks in real-world advertisements applications. Experimental results on commercial data show the effectiveness of the proposed model. Compared with BANG, it achieves significant BLEU score improvement. On the other hand, compared with auto-regressive generation method, it achieves more than 7x speedup.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the application of participatory methodology in the prison setting for the determination of the most appropiate contents and methods of a HIV/AIDS prevention program.

METHODS
Community study in the Centro de Cumplimiento del Establecimiento Penitenciario in Valencia (1250 inmates) in Spain. The study was carried out in two phases: identification of key informants and collection of information. In the second phase, a community forum composed of the center's male and female inmates was created, personal interviews with convicted female prisoners were carried out and a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the center's health professionals and management as well as to health promotion experts.

RESULTS
Community forum. The following proposals for HIV/AIDS prevention were made by the male and female prisoners: a) those directed at the prisoners themselves: increasing preventive mesures in material used in injection and in sexual relationships; b) those directed at the prison management: increased distribution of condoms, safety razors and bleach and the introduction of sterile injection material. In the personal interviews, agreement on a future prevention program was high among the female inmates and the other key informants. Preferred measures were the acquisition of information on the mechanisms of HIV transmission and prevention and on the differences between HIV carriers and those suffering from AIDS and the acquisition of skills for disinfecting material used for drug injection and in negotiating the use of condoms with partners. The preferred methodology was based on groups that would allow for an interchange of experience and would deal with the difficulties of putting preventive measures into practice.

CONCLUSIONS
The participation of the prison's inmates and staff supplied information that facilitated the design (choice of aims, measures, methods and resources) of an HIV prevention program adapted to the needs and preferences of all the interested parties.


Importance Little is known regarding the association between level of blood pressure (BP) in young adulthood and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events by middle age. Objective To assess whether young adults who developed hypertension, defined by the 2017 American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) BP guideline, before age 40 years have higher risk for CVD events compared with those who maintained normal BP. Design, Setting, and Participants Analyses were conducted in the prospective cohort Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, started in March 1985. CARDIA enrolled 5115 African American and white participants aged 18 to 30 years from 4 US field centers (Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Oakland, California). Outcomes were available through August 2015. Exposures Using the highest BP measured from the first examination to the examination closest to, but not after, age 40 years, each participant was categorized as having normal BP (untreated systolic BP [SBP] <120 mm Hg and diastolic BP [DBP] <80 mm Hg; n = 2574); elevated BP (untreated SBP 120-129 mm Hg and DBP <80 mm Hg; n = 445); stage 1 hypertension (untreated SBP 130-139 mm Hg or DBP 80-89 mm Hg; n = 1194); or stage 2 hypertension (SBP ≥140 mm Hg, DBP ≥90 mm Hg, or taking antihypertensive medication; n = 638). Main Outcomes and Measures CVD events: fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure, stroke, transient ischemic attack, or intervention for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Results The final cohort included 4851 adults (mean age when follow-up for outcomes began, 35.7 years [SD, 3.6]; 2657 women [55%]; 2441 African American [50%]; 206 taking antihypertensive medication [4%]). Over a median follow-up of 18.8 years, 228 incident CVD events occurred (CHD, 109; stroke, 63; heart failure, 48; PAD, 8). CVD incidence rates for normal BP, elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension were 1.37 (95% CI, 1.07-1.75), 2.74 (95% CI, 1.78-4.20), 3.15 (95% CI, 2.47-4.02), and 8.04 (95% CI, 6.45-10.03) per 1000 person-years, respectively. After multivariable adjustment, hazard ratios for CVD events for elevated BP, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension vs normal BP were 1.67 (95% CI, 1.01-2.77), 1.75 (95% CI, 1.22-2.53), and 3.49 (95% CI, 2.42-5.05), respectively. Conclusions and Relevance Among young adults, those with elevated blood pressure, stage 1 hypertension, and stage 2 hypertension before age 40 years, as defined by the blood pressure classification in the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines, had significantly higher risk for subsequent cardiovascular disease events compared with those with normal blood pressure before age 40 years. The ACC/AHA blood pressure classification system may help identify young adults at higher risk for cardiovascular disease events.


The paper describes the structure of a process‐plant contract and distinguishes it from other forms of design‐and‐construct contracts. The various tests used in process‐plant contracts are highlighted, including performance tests relating to process guarantees and the remedies for failure to achieve such guarantees, with particular reference to the water industry. The differences between price‐based and cost‐based contracts are reviewed, together with three significant areas of contractor's liabilities for design, defects, and overall contract liability. The paper also briefly introduces the development of operation and maintenance contracts and design‐build‐finance‐operate contracts.