Child sexual abuse is a social and health issue that affects citizens across the globe. It has a number of physical, psychological and emotional consequences. Children are reluctant to talk about their involvement in sexual abuse owing to various reasons. Therefore, forensic interviewers need to understand the process of disclosure when conducting forensic assessments. They also need to be watchful of various dynamics that are likely to have an impact on the disclosure rate. The aim of this study was to describe the dynamics during forensic assessments in the context of the black South African child when disclosing child sexual abuse. A descriptive design using stratified random, purposive and convenient sampling techniques to select the participants was employed, resulting in 14 participants (13 were females and only one was male). The data were collected by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews and were thematically analysed using the Nvivo program. The findings reveal that personal characteristics of the child and the interviewer, their communication abilities, blind assessments and informed allegation interviews have an impact on forensic assessments of black South African children. It is concluded that the dynamics of disclosing child sexual abuse during forensic assessments in terms of the variables of the study are not unique, except in terms of sociocultural value systems, beliefs and customs. As a result, it is recommended that the forensic interviewers come to the developmental level of the child, speak his/her language or use translators for him/her to understand, and to follow blind assessments interviews as opposed to informed allegation interviews. However, informed allegations interviews are recommended when assessing very young children.


The Declaration of Independence famously asserted that "all men are created equal," but this assertion did not become an American constitutional reality until the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. The Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause — intended to overturn the infamous U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott (1857) case — states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Traditionally, the clause has been interpreted to confer U.S. citizenship on anyone born within the United States whose parents are subject to U.S. civil and criminal laws — which has historically meant that only babies born in the United States to diplomats, invading armies, or within certain sovereign Native American tribes have been excluded from birthright American citizenship. Alarmed by the thought that unauthorized immigrants, wealthy tourists, and temporary workers are giving birth to thousands of U.S. citizens, some want to change the long-standing rule by reinterpreting or amending the Citizenship Clause. But will this proposed change be good for America? Will it benefit America to reduce substantially the number of birthright U.S. citizens — and put in place more complex rules that would provide that U.S.-born babies are not created equal?


DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that modulates gene expression in mammalian cells including T cells. Memory T cells are heterogeneous populations. Human effector memory (EM) CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood contain two cell subsets with distinct traits that express low and high levels of the IL-7Rα. However, epigenetic mechanisms involved in defining such cellular traits are largely unknown. In this study, we use genome-wide DNA methylation and individual gene expression to show the possible role of DNA methylation in conferring distinct traits of chemotaxis and inflammatory responses in human IL-7Rαlow and IL-7Rαhigh EM CD8+ T cells. In particular, IL-7Rαlow EM CD8+ T cells had increased expression of CX3CR1 along with decreased DNA methylation in the CX3CR1 gene promoter compared with IL-7Rαhigh EM CD8+ T cells. Altering the DNA methylation status of the CX3CR1 gene promoter changed its activity and gene expression. IL-7Rαlow EM CD8+ T cells had an increased migratory capacity to the CX3CR1 ligand fractalkine compared with IL-7Rαhigh EM CD8+ T cells, suggesting an important biological outcome of the differential expression of CX3CR1. Moreover, IL-7Rαlow EM CD8+ T cells induced fractalkine expression on endothelial cells by producing IFN-γ and TNF-α, forming an autocrine amplification loop. Overall, our study shows the role of DNA methylation in generating unique cellular traits in human IL-7Rαlow and IL-7Rαhigh EM CD8+ T cells, including differential expression of CX3CR1, as well as potential biological implications of this differential expression.


In this Book Review Essay, Professor Horsburgh responds to Professors Farber and Sherry that radical critique of merit - the contention that standards are biased and reflect the interests of the powerful - leads to anti-Semitism and racism because statistics indicate that Jews and Asian Americans benefit the most from the existing criteria and that their family income exceeds the average income of all other social groups. Professor Horsburgh suggests that these authors are influenced by the myth of a model minority, a utopianesque narrative in which an ethnic group serves as living proof of the neutrality of meritocratic norms and a condemnation of those who blame the system, instead of themselves, for their failure to achieve success.


For safety-critical black-box optimization tasks, observations of the constraints and the objective are often noisy and available only for the feasible points. We propose an approach based on log barriers to find a local solution of a non-convex non-smooth black-box optimization problem $\min f^0(x)$ subject to $f^i(x)\leq 0,~ i = 1,\ldots, m$, at the same time, guaranteeing constraint satisfaction while learning an optimal solution with high probability. Our proposed algorithm exploits noisy observations to iteratively improve on an initial safe point until convergence. We derive the convergence rate and prove safety of our algorithm. We demonstrate its performance in an application to an iterative control design problem.


We investigated the impact of landscape structure on landscape connectivity using a combination of simulation and empirical experiments. In a previous study we documented the movement behaviour of a specialized goldenrod beetle (Trirhabda borealis Blake) in three kinds of patches: habitat (goldenrod) patches and two types of matrix patch (cut vegetation and cut vegetation containing camouflage netting as an impediment to movement). In the current study, we used this information to construct simulation and experimental landscapes consisting of mosaics of these three patch types, to study the effect of landscape structure on landscape connectivity, using the T. borealis beetle as a model system. In the simulation studies, landscape connectivity was based on movements of individual beetles, and was measured in six different ways. The simulations revealed that the six measures of landscape connectivity were influenced by different aspects of landscape structure, suggesting that: (1) landscape connectivity is a poorly defined concept, and (2) the same landscape may have different landscape connectivity values when different measures of landscape connectivity are used. There were two general predictions that held over all measures of landscape connectivity: (1) increasing interpatch distance significantly decreased landscape connectivity and (2) the influence of matrix elements on landscape connectivity was small in comparison to the influence of habitat elements. Empirical mark-release-resight experiments using Trirhabda beetles in experimental landscapes supported the simulation results.


Myeloid leukaemic blasts can be converted into leukaemia derived dendritic cells (DCleu) with blastmodulatory Kit-I and Kit-M, which have the competence to regularly activate T and immunoreactive cells to gain anti-leukaemic activity or rather cytotoxicity. As innate and adaptive immune responses are notably promoted by the cytokine interferon gamma (IFNy), we hypothesised that the IFNy secretion could be a suitable parameter to display DC/DCleu mediated immunologic activity and even anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity.DC/DCleu were generated from leukaemic WB with Kit-I (GM-CSF + OK-432) and Kit-M (GM-CSF + PGE1) and used to stimulate T cell enriched immunoreactive cells. Initiated anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity was investigated with a cytotoxicity fluorolysis assay (CTX). Initiated IFNy secretion of innate and adaptive immune cells (T cells, TCD4+ cells, TCD8+ cells, NKCD56+ cells, NKCD161+ cells, CIKCD56+ cells, CIKCD161+ cells and iNKT) was investigated with a cytokine secretion assay (CSA). In some cases IFNy production was additionally evaluated with an intracellular cytokine assay (ICA). Conclusively, the IFNy secretion of immunoreactive cells was correlated with the anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity.Significant amounts of DC and DCleu as well as migratory DC and DCleu could be generated with Kit-I and Kit-M without induction of blast proliferation. T cell enriched immunoreactive cells stimulated with DC/DCleu showed an increased anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity and an increased IFNy secretion of T, NK and CIK cells compared to control. Both the CSA and ICA yielded comparable amounts of IFNy positive innate and adaptive immune cells. The correlation between the IFNy secretion of immunoreactive cells and the anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity showed a positive relationship in T cells, TCD4+ cells, TCD8+ cells and NKCD56+ cells.We found blastmodulatory Kit-I and Kit-M competent to generate DC/DCleu from leukaemic WB. Stimulation of T cell enriched immunoreactive cells with DC/DCleu regularly resulted in an increased anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity and an increased IFNy dependent immunological activity of T, NK and CIK cells compared to control. Moreover the anti-leukaemic cytotoxicity positively correlated with the IFNy secretion in T cells, TCD4+ cells, TCD8+ cells, NKCD56+ cells. We therefore consider the IFNy secretion of innate and adaptive immune cells to be a suitable parameter to assess the efficacy of in vitro and potentially in vivo AML immunotherapy. The CSA in this regard proved to be a convenient and reproducible technique to detect and phenotypically characterise IFNy secreting cells of the innate and adaptive immune system.L.K. Klauer: None. O. Schutti: None. S. Ugur: None. F. Doraneh-Gard: None. N. Rogers: None. M. Weinmann: None. D. Krämer: None. A. Rank: None. C. Schmid: None. B. Eiz-Vesper: None. H.M. Schmetzer: None.


K-means clustering is one of the most widely-used partitioning algorithm in cluster analysis due to its simplicity and computational efficiency, but it may not provide ideal clustering results when applying to data with non-spherically shaped clusters. By considering the asymmetrically weighted distance, We propose the K-expectile clustering and search the clusters via a greedy algorithm that minimizes the within cluster τ -variance. We provide algorithms based on two schemes: the fixed τ clustering, and the adaptive τ clustering. Validated by simulation results, our method has enhanced performance on data with asymmetric shaped clusters or clusters with a complicated structure. Applications of our method show that the fixed τ clustering can bring some flexibility on segmentation with a decent accuracy, while the adaptive τ clustering may yield better performance. All calculation can be redone via quantlet.com.


This paper argues that it can give good results to use bad and good design examples when teaching Human-Computer Interaction provided that the examples are elaborated by the teacher in a manner that enables a changed (shaken) mind-set in the students. In the paper examples from lectures, exercises and larger assignments using concrete material as a base are discussed from the perspective of general theories of education. The key issue in the teaching process in order to reach this level is the proper elaboration of the used examples and exercises, leaving the reflection on the problem to the students to a large extent. One conclusion is that it is possible to use elaboration to support the students' learning so that he or she is enabled to understand the general problem and create new solutions to given problems. Elaboration of concrete examples can in this way support even a creative level of learning.


A 33-year-old man with autosynnoia presented at our clinic after an alleged sexual assault during which foreign bodies had been inserted into his rectum. He presented with abdominal pain which had lasted for 12 hours. Abdominal radiographs showed a spray can and a flashlight in the abdomen (Fig. 1, 2). Inspection of the perianal area did not reveal any signs of trauma and no anal sphincteric abnormality was noted. Emergency surgery revealed perforation of the sigmoid colon. A flashlight and a spray can, consistent with the preoperative X-ray, were found. These objects were removed successfully following a partial sigmoidectomy. Munchausen syndrome was suspected. Endoscopic removal of ingested foreign bodies is considered safe treatment for some colonic foreign bodies to avoid perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Colorectal foreign bodies can also be introduced transanally. A similar case reported a patient suspected of Munchausen syndrome had inserted a spirit bottle into his rectum. This was, however, successfully removed using a Foley catheter passed through a rigid sigmoidoscope. In this case, an initial endoscopic attempt to remove the foreign bodies was abandoned as the objects were too large. In a review of 93 cases of transanally-introduced retained colorectal foreign bodies, bedside extraction was successful in 74% of cases. The remaining 26% required management in the operating theatre. Two-thirds of the procedures were examinations under anesthesia and one-third were exploratory laparotomies. Of the 8 patients who underwent laparotomy, only one case allowed successfully delivery of the foreign body into the rectum for transanal extraction. The remaining cases required repair of the perforated bowel or extraction via colostomy. Retained foreign bodies in the sigmoid colon are more likely to require operative intervention than foreign bodies in the rectum (55% [6/11] versus 24% [17/70], P = 0.04). This case illustrated an example of multiple large foreign bodies in the sigmoid colon resulting in colonic perforation which required surgical management.


BACKGROUND: Duodenal switch (DS) operation combines both restrictive and malabsorptive components and has become an accepted operation in selected patients with morbid obesity. Complications develop in some patients, which are refractory to dietary supplementation. We report a series of 33 patients who required partial revision of the DS. STUDY DESIGN: During the 10-year period after September 1992, 701 patients had DS operation performed; of these, 33 (5 men and 28 women) patients required revision. Revision was performed by side to side enteroenterostomy 100 cm proximal to the original anastamosis. Outcomes measures reviewed include postoperative complications, nutritional parameters, and weight change. RESULTS: Revision was performed a median of 17 (range 7 to 63) months after DS. Indications for revision included protein malnutrition (n 20), diarrhea (n 9), metabolic abnormalities (n 5), abdominal pain (n 3), liver disease (n 2), emesis (n 2), and gastrointestinal bleed (n 1). Median body mass index at the time of revision was 28. Median serum albumin was 3.6 g/dL and improved to 4.0 g/dL postoperatively (p 0.01). Complications occurred in 5 of 32 patients (15%) and included wound infection (n 2), respiratory failure (n 1), gastrointestinal bleed (n 1), and small bowel obstruction (n 1). There was no perioperative mortality. During a median followup period after revision of 39 months, the median weight gain was 18 pounds. Three patients requested repeat operation because of weight regain. CONCLUSIONS: Patients requiring revision of DS for malnutrition can be corrected by a technically simple procedure, but they are at considerable risk for complications. Although many patients are anxious about regaining their weight after reversal, they can be reassured that substantial weight gain is unlikely. ( J Am Coll Surg 2007;204:603–608. © 2007 by the American College of Surgeons)


This paper reports a numerical study on the force convection heat transfer and flow characteristics of a nanofluid containing water with various volume fractions of TiO2 (0.002<φ<0.02). The heat transfer coefficient (Nusselt number) and pressure drop of the nanofluid in a horizontal copper tube, under turbulent flow conditions (8000<Re<51000) with a single phase approach were investigated. The Nusselt number was enhanced with increasing the Reynolds number and nanoparticles volume fractions. Besides, with improving the heat transfer coefficient, the pressure drop was increased by using nanofluid. Modeling outcomes were compared with the experimental data. This comparison showed good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated results. In addition, two equations were developed to estimate Nusselt number and friction factor based on the dimensionless numbers. doi: 10.5829/idosi.ije.2014.27.02b.04


Globalization has long since found its way into software engineering. Companies transfer part of their development activities to low wage countries in order to achieve a better cost position, get access to local markets and react to the prevailing lack of specialized workforce. However, Global Software Engineering (GSE) has also brought new challenges: Geographic separation, different time zones, and culture and language barriers make the collaboration of team members more difficult and often lead to quality problems, project delays, and cost overruns. Project management metrics to monitor cost, time, and quality characteristics of a development project, are state of the practice today. However, these metrics often reveal problems in GSE projects too late, since they measure the symptoms – exceeded cost, missed milestones or poor quality – rather than the root causes of the problems. In this paper, we report on a study of new project management metrics based on measurement of communication and collaboration, which provide project managers with an early warning system. We introduce a collaboration-based measurement model – a set of "GSE metrics" – and describe case studies of its application in multiple projects. In the observed projects, the GSE metrics were helpful to identify and resolve collaboration problems. Despite the subjective nature of the metrics, the results showed the GSE metrics to be useful and to accurately reflect the reality. The effort for the application of the GSE metrics turned out to be a "low investment" with a high "return on invest".


None of the established prognostic factors in breast cancer (BC) is able to determine the final outcome with certainity. Tumor biological factors involved in tumor invasion and metastasis, such as cathepsins and proteins of u-PA system, have been put forward in the recent literature as strong novel prognostic factors in BC. We therefore evaluated prognostic and predictive value of cathepsin-D (CD) and cathepsin-L (CL) in 715 operable BC patients. CD and CL were determined in tumor extracts using immunoradiometric and ELISA assays, respectively. During follow-up (median 37 months), 151 (21%) patients relapsed. In a multivariate analysis of disease-free survival (DFS), CL (p=0.04), nodal status (p<0.001) and hormone receptor status (p<0.001) were the only independent significant prognostic factors. CL thus provided independent prognostic information on DFS and could also predict a response to adjuvant chemotherapy (ChT), while CD had no significant prognostic and predictive impact.


During the covid-19 outbreak in Iraq, the higher education sector faced many obstacles, and this research examined how remote learning and other relevant technologies, platforms, and other internet ramifications helped to keep this vital sector going during the new standard era. Students and lecturers will also be given a look at ways to overcome the drawbacks of using these technologies in this paper. The Corona pandemic (COVID-19) had a significant impact on Iraqi education, which was transformed through the implementation of e-learning in an effort to reduce the risk of the coronavirus infecting students. Remote learning and its associated technologies, platforms, and other online consequences helped sustain Iraq's vital higher education industry during the covid-19 pandemic while also providing insight into the issues encountered by the sector during the new normal era. This paper will also address the difficulties, benefits, and drawbacks of educators and students using these technologies, as well as possible solutions.


There exist many success stories about the introduction of logics designed for the formal verification of computer systems. Obviously, the introduction of temporal logics to computer science has been a major step in the development of model-checking techniques. More recently, separation logics extend Hoare logic for reasoning about programs with dynamic data structures, leading to many contributions on theory, tools and applications. In this talk, we illustrate how several features of separation logics, for instance the key concept of separation, are related to similar notions in temporal logics. We provide formal correspondences (when possible) and present an overview of related works from the literature. This is also the opportunity to present bridges between well-known temporal logics and more recent separation logics.


Force enhancement during lengthening of an active muscle, a condition that normally occurs during locomotion in vivo, is attributed to recruitment of myosin heads that exhibit fast attachment to and detachment from actin in a cycle that does not imply ATP splitting. We investigated the kinetic and mechanical features of this cycle in Ca2+ activated single skinned fibres from human skeletal muscles containing different myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms, identified with single‐fibre gel electrophoresis. Fibres were activated by using a new set‐up that allows development of most of the tension following a temperature jump from 0–1°C to the test temperature (∼12°C). In this way we could prevent the development of sarcomere non‐uniformity and record sarcomere length changes with a striation follower in any phase of the mechanical protocol. We found that: (i) fibres with fast MHC isoforms develop 40–70% larger isometric forces than those with slow isoforms, as a result of both a larger fraction of force‐generating myosin heads and a higher force per head; (ii) in both slow and fast fibres, force enhancement by stretch is due to recruitment of myosin head attachments, without increase in strain per head above the value generated by the isometric heads; and (iii) the extent of recruitment is larger in slow fibres than in fast fibres, so that the steady force and power output elicited by lengthening become similar, indicating that mechanical and kinetic properties of the actin–myosin interactions under stretch become independent of the MHC isoform.


The structure of (0001) oriented ZnO single crystal surfaces is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. Depending on the preparation conditions, faceting of the crystals into large areas of {101¯4} surface orientation occurs. This restructuring of the surface is shown to be a consequence of dipole compensation and charge neutralization. A new stabilization mechanism of polar oxide surfaces is found which is based on the formation of vicinal surfaces with special electronic and structural properties.


We experimentally study the generation and storage of double slow light pulses in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. Under electromagnetically induced transparency, a single signal pulse is stored in the spin coherence of the crystal. By simultaneously switching on two control fields to recall the stored information, the spin coherence is converted into two slow light pulses with distinct frequencies. Furthermore, the storage and controlled retrieval of double slow light pulses are obtained by manipulating the control fields. This study of double slow light pulses may have practical applications in information processing and all-optical networks.


Objective To conduct a meta-analysis assessing the efficacy and safety of cyclosporine-based combinations for primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Methods Randomized controlled clinical trials were collected by systematically searching databases (PubMed®, MEDLINE®, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure) from inception to June 2022. All studies included patients with ITP who received cyclosporine-based regimens. We performed comprehensive analyses of the overall response rate (ORR), complete response (CR) rate, partial response (PR) rate, relapse rate, platelet count, and adverse drug reaction (ADR) rate. Results Seven studies (n = 418) were ultimately included. According to a fixed-effects model, cyclosporine-based combinations improved the ORR and CR rate and reduced the relapse rate. The ADR rate was not increased in the cyclosporine-based combination group. Cyclosporine-based regimens effectively increased the platelet count. Subgroup analysis illustrated that cyclosporine-based combinations were linked to higher ORRs in both children (odds ratio [OR] = 5.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.79–18.41) and adults (OR = 5.46, 95% CI = 2.48–12.02) and a higher CR rate in adults (OR = 2.97, 95% CI = 1.56–5.63). Conclusion Cyclosporine exhibited efficacy in the treatment of ITP without increasing the risk of ADRs.


Using thermoluminescence spectrometer, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the chemical compositions of four types of kidney stones were investigated. They are calcium oxalate, uric acid, calcium phosphate and magnesium ammonium phosphate calculi (struvite). Experimental results showed that in the 305 cases of stones, calculi oxalate stones were found to account for 63%, uric acid stones 22%, calcium phosphate stones 8%, struvite 5%, and the stones with other compositions 2%. There were significant differences in the thermoluminescence spectra among the 4 types of urinary stones, which can provide an important basis for the clinic diagnosis of urinary stone types.


It is well known that the discrete Fourier transformation (DFT) of a real-valued sequence contains some redundancies. More precisely, approximately half of the DFT coefficients suffice to completely determine the DFT. In this paper, it is shown that the choice of the set of (nonredundant) DFT coefficients to be calculated affects the efficiency of the resulting algorithm. One especially interesting choice is discussed in detail for the case of mixed radix-(2, 3) DFT algorithms. Algorithms for the DFT calculation of both one and more dimensional real-valued arrays are discussed.


This paper argues that the bibliometric methods that should be used to evaluate social science research differ from those that are used to evaluate scientific research. The argument is based on a review of several decades of research into the quantitative characteristics of the social science literature. Unfortunately, evaluation of social science research if done properly is more complex and expensive than evaluation of science. This is because social scientists publish in a broader range of literature and build their work on a broader base both topically and over a longer period of time than do scientists. A thorough understanding of the nature of social science literature will enable sound evaluations to be designed.


Abstract The high sensitivity of the satellite-transition (ST) MAS NMR technique was exploited to obtain high-resolution 17O MAS NMR spectra of the three polymorphs of Mg2SiO4: forsterite (α-Mg2SiO4), wadsleyite (β-Mg2SiO4), and ringwoodite (γ-Mg2SiO4). High NMR sensitivity was important in this application because 17O-enriched, Fe-free materials are required for 17O NMR and high-pressure syntheses of the dense β and γ polymorphs result in a only a few milligrams of these solids. In all, eight distinct O species were identified and assigned: three in forsterite, four in wadsleyite, and one in ringwoodite, in agreement with the number of O sites in their crystal structures. The isotropic chemical shifts extracted are in excellent agreement with a previously published correlation with Si-O bond length. However, unexpectedly large quadrupolar coupling constants were found for the non-bridging O species in the dense polymorphs wadsleyite and ringwoodite.


Form factors for electron elastic scattering are calculated for a number of nuclei using a semi-phenomenological algebraic form for the nuclear densities. Remarkable agreement with the experiment is obtained. As a sample the results for 28Si, 90Zr, 116Sn and 208Pb are presented. This semi-phenomenological form is so designed that it incorporates correctly the 1) asymptotic behaviour and 2) behaviour near the centre of the nuclear densities and yields explicitly both proton and neutron densities in nuclei with almost one free parameter.


Novocainein 2 percent, solution in normal saline with the addition of adrenalin. Lately I have used 1 per cent, cocaine. The mucous membrane and soft structures are injected and the injection should be carried down to the bone. In nervous patients a hypodermic injection of morphia, omnopon, or some such drug is sometimes given an hour or half an hour before, but it has been noticed that it tends to cause sickness during or after the operation. Even when it is decided to use general anaesthesia I am in the habit of treating the nose and antral cavity in the way just described, though I refrain from the injection in the canine region. We are all in the hab'it of combining the local application of cocaine and adrenalin to the nasal mucous membrane with general anaesthesia, so that there does not appear to be more danger in injecting them into the antrum, which is only a local application. Injection under the mucous membrane is in another category and is probably not without danger when combined with general anaesthesia.


Background Rights-based approaches for conducting research with children and young people are now widely accepted by those working in the field. Such approaches focus on the voice of the child and are underpinned by a firm recognition that children are experts on their own lives. However, children and young people with disabilities are less likely to take part in research. Aim To draw on doctoral research conducted with children and young people with disabilities to explore the ethical issues that arose concerning access, recruitment, consent, anonymity, confidentiality and sensitive issues, as well as what mitigated these issues. Discussion Research with children and young people with disabilities can pose additional ethical challenges. There is a growing body of literature about this area, but it needs further development. Conclusion Additional planning and preparation are vital in ensuring that children and young people with disabilities can participate in research in a meaningful way and that researchers conduct studies ethically. Implications for practice This paper has clear implications for research and nursing practice in terms of communicating with children and young people with disabilities, enabling them to express their views and participate in decisions about their lives.


Social intelligence is a favorable condition for career decision-making and development. The social intelligence indices of Portuguese students in school years prior to a career transition are characterized and intra and interindividual differences are analyzed. Participants were 1095 students (552, 50.4% women) with a mean age of 14.78 years (SD = 1.86), in the 8th (542, 49.5%), 10th (295, 26.9%) and 11th (258, 23.6%) grades. The Cognitive Test of Social Intelligence (PCIS) was administered at two moments, six months apart. Results indicate that the 8th grade obtained higher average scores in Problem Solving, Motivation and Self-confidence (time 1), while the 10th grade obtained better results in Problem Solving, Motivation and Familiarity (time 2). Between the assessment moments, all school years register an increase in Problem Solving and Self-confidence in social situations. These results constitute favorable psychological conditions for the promotion of ethical questioning in career guidance interventions.


To further investigate the usefulness of 3 purported measures of executive function (EF) in head injured children, we administered the Twenty Questions Test (TQT), Tower of London (TOL), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) to 151 children who had sustained a closed head injury (CHI) of varying severity about 3 years earlier. In addition, we tested 89 normal controls. Fifty-seven of the patients were included in a longitudinal study that compared performance at 3 months and 36 months. All of the head injured children underwent magnetic resonance imaging for investigational purposes. Severity of CHI, as defined by the lowest Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, affected performance on all 3 EF measures. Focal lesion volume incremented prediction of performance on TOL and WCST, but not TQT. Moderate intercorrelations of the test variables were obtained. Although all three EF measures depicted changes in performance over 3 years, a ceiling effect detracted from the sensitivity of the TOL to the impact of CHI on development. Implications of the findings for clinical applications are discussed. (JINS, 1997, 3, 598–607.)


The main clinical and pathomorphological changes in Aeromonas hydrophila infection in carp provoked by different field strains of this bacterium were studied. The strongest histopathological damages were seen in the functional epithelium of liver and kidneys, followed by intestine and hearth damages in addition to various haemorrhages in interstitial tissues of visceral organs and some skin haemorrhages on the ventral surface of the body and the anal region . As a whole, pathological damages consisted of degenerative changes as cloudy swelling, granular and/or hyaline droplet degeneration or vacuolation in functional epithelium in the respective internal organs in addition to some target vascular disturbances, which appeared to be good biomarkers for field assessment of that disease. Pathological damages in internal organs and haemorrhages were stronger in experimental fishes exposed to higher levels of the respective pathogens, especially those isolated from dead anaconda or the referent strain, and less pronounced damages were seen in fishes infected with of Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from a silver carp with marked signs of septicaemia.


To test whether endotoxin decreases blood pressure acutely in rats by activating the plasma kinin-forming system, plasma kallikrein activity was determined in different experimental settings of endotoxemia. Conscious normotensive rats were infused for 45 min with endotoxin (LPS E. coli 0111:B4) at a dose (0.01 mg/min) which had no effect on blood pressure. Additional rats were infused with the vehicle of endotoxin. Plasma prekallikrein activity was measured at the end of the 45 min infusions. In other rats, a bolus intravenous injection of endotoxin (2 mg) was administered following the 45 min infusion of endotoxin or its vehicle. In these two latter groups of rats, plasma prekallikrein activity was determined 15 min after administration of the bolus dose of endotoxin. In rats pretreated with the endotoxin infusion, the bolus dose of endotoxin had no significant effect on blood pressure, whereas rats infused with the vehicle became and remained hypotensive up to the end of the experiment. There was however no significant difference in plasma prekallikrein activity within the different groups of rats. In another group of rats, dextran sulfate (0.25 mg i.v.), which activates factor XII and thereby the conversion of prekallikrein to kallikrein, induced a short-lasting fall in blood pressure. 15 min after administration of dextran sulfate, plasma prekallikrein activity was almost completely suppressed. These results obtained in unanesthetized rats strongly suggest that the blood pressure fall induced by E. coli endotoxin is not due to activation of prekallikrein and consequently of the kinin-forming system.


Objectives: HRA (Health Risk Assessment) is an important tool for measuring the health impacts of air pollution. HRA is already being used widely as an important reference for crafting air pollution policies. However, the absence of a domestic CRF (Concentration Response Function) standard, which is a main component for HRA, could cause confusion amongst policy-makers. The purpose of this study is to tabulate a domestic CRF standard for a PM (Particulate Matter)-related HRA. Methods: This study suggested a domestic CRF standard for HRA thorough a literature review. The literature review for meta-analysis was limited to the English language for epidemiological studies published from January 1980 to March 2016. This meta-analysis was conducted by assuming both fixed- and random-effects of CRF. In addition, studies that reported HRA of air pollution for WHO (World Health Organization), the EC (European Commission), and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) were reviewed to compare the CRFs of South Korea to the recommended CRFs of WHO, the EC, or the EPA. Additionally, a domestic CRF standard was supplemented by these. Results: Nineteen studies were selected for the CRF for South Korea. Fifty-three CRFs were derived for meta-analysis. CRFs with a standard for PM-related HRA were divided according to the following four criteria: air pollution, exposure characteristics, type of health impact, and age group. Finally, a domestic CRF standard was created comprised of 21 CRFs. Among these, six CRFs were derived from the results of foreign HRA studies. Conclusions: This study is important in that a domestic CRF standard is first suggested. In addition, this study suggests a further area of study for using HRA as a policy tool and a direction of epidemiological study.


Clinically distinct renal disease is said to be rare in sarcoidosis, but autopsy reveals an incidence of renal involvement is 23 or 26% in Japanese studies. There are three categories of renal disease in sarcoidosis: 1) renal changes by abnormal calcium metabolism, 2) interstitial nephritis or granulomatous nephritis and 3) glomerulonephritis. Some investigators add renal angiitis to the three categories. In some patients without clinical renal disorders, renal involvement is discovered by chance at the time of autopsy or renal biopsy. Renal disease may develop during the course of sarcoidosis, preceding the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, or may be found simultaneously with extrarenal involvements at the time of diagnosis. Renal involvement should always be considered for exact diagnosis and appropriate treatment.


Although Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 (Shiga) toxin was discovered more than 80 years ago (18) and has long been recognized as one of the most potent bacterial toxins (18, 116), early efforts to characterize its structure, biologic activity, genetics, role in pathogenesis, and other properties were hindered by difficulties in preparing pure toxin, obtaining appropriate immunologic reagents, and conducting genetic studies with S. dysenteriae 1. The enterotoxicity of Shiga toxin was first reported in 1972 (59). Other important advances that have been made during the past decade include the following: (i) purification of Shiga toxin to homogeneity (7, 21, 81, 87, 120); (ii) identification of cell surface receptors for toxin (8, 45; A. A. Lindberg, J. E. Brown, N. Stromberg, M. Westling-Ryd, J. E. Schultz, and K. A. Karlson, J. Bliol. Chem., in press; A. A. Lindberg, J. E. Schultz, M. Westling, J. E. Brown, S. W. Rothman, K. A. Karlsson, and N. Stromberg, Proc. FEMS Meet. Mol. Biol. Pathogenic Microorganisms, in press); (iii) demonstration that the intracellular action of toxin causes an inhibition of protein synthesis (7, 8a, 97, 111; T. G. Obrig, T. P. Moran, and J. E. Brown, J. Biol. Chem., in press); (iv) recognition


We found previously that fear conditioning by combined stimulation of a row B facial vibrissae (conditioned stimulus, CS) with a tail shock (unconditioned stimulus, UCS) leads to expansion of the cortical representation of the "trained" row, labeled with 2-deoxyglucose (2DG), in the layer IIIb/IV of the adult mouse the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) 24 h later. We have observed that these learning-dependent plastic changes are manifested by increased expression of somatostatin, cholecystokinin (SST+, CCK+) but not parvalbumin (PV+) immunopositive interneurons We have expanded this research and quantified a numerical value of CB1-expressing and PV-expressing GABAergic axon terminals (CB1+ and PV+ immunopositive puncta) that innervate different segments of postsynaptic cells in the barrel hollows of S1 cortex. We used 3D microscopy to identify the CB+ and PV+ puncta in the barrel cortex "trained" and the control hemispheres CS+UCS group and in controls: Pseudoconditioned, CS-only, UCS-only, and naive animals. We have identified that (i) the association between whisker-shock "trained" barrel B hollows and CB1+, but not PV+ puncta expression remained significant after Bonferroni correction, (ii) CS+UCS has had a significant increasing effect on expression of CB1+ but not PV+ puncta in barrel cortex "trained" hemisphere, and (iii) the pseudoconditioning had a significant decreasing effect on expression of CB1+, but not on PV+ puncta in barrel cortex, both trained and untrained hemispheres. It is correlated to disturbing behaviors. The results suggest that CB1+ puncta regulation is specifically linked with mechanisms leading to learning-dependent plasticity in S1 cortex.


In this age of exponential technological development and relentless globalization, innovation has become the prime driver of economic return.This is relevant to corporates seeking to expand market share,targeting emerging markets while experimenting with saturated niches.It is critical to focus on end-user preferences to achieve these objectives.At the same instance innovation should be prioritised to ensure relevance in the long run. Usability is a critical factor in product and service differentiation. Usability defines the actual performance of intended task by a particular product (Davis Fred,2007). It directly translates to the differentiation of the levels of end user satisfaction and retention.This is governed by a plethora of factors such as age,profession or culture. For various corporations in mobile telephony, there manifests fierce rivalry for existing and potential clients.More insight on the importance of usability in the book.


The automotive power system is being increasingly expanded by adding high-dynamic power electronics. These components can potentially cause malfunction or failure of safety-relevant low-voltage components. The susceptibility to disturbances is often reduced by usage of oversized passive input electronics. This paper introduces an alternative means of disturbance suppression by the introduction of system integrated adaptive passive filters. A proposed methodology is presented for examining the suitability of potential access points within complex networks. An algorithmic procedure for the parametrization of several switchable bandpass filter stages is explained. The in-vehicle measurement demonstrates the effectiveness of the dimensioned filter being able to reduce disturbances at 70 kHz by more than 75 %.


Abstract Gastrotrichs are meiobenthic invertebrates of obscure origin and unclear phylogenetic alliances. Uncertainties also plague the intra-group relationship with major contrasts between the evolutionary scenarios inferred from morphology or molecules. In this study we analysed partial sequences of the 18S rDNA gene of 18 taxa (14 new and 4 published) to test morphological estimates of gastrotrich phylogeny and to verify whether controversial interrelationships from previous molecular data are due to poor sampling. Data were analysed using both maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood. MP topology was then forced to reflect published morphological estimates and the most parsimonious solutions from each constraint analysis was statistically compared against the unconstrained solution. MP analysis yielded a single tree with few nodes well supported by bootstrap resampling. These included the monophyly of the Chaetonotidae and the internal relationships of the members of this family, with Aspidiophorus appearing as the most basal member. The monophyly of the Turbanellidae was also well supported with some suggestion that its sister group might be Mesodasys . Lepidodasyidae was found to be an unnatural taxon with Lepidodasys forming a separated clade but unrelated also to the Thaumastodermatidae. With the exception of genera Lepidodasys and Neodasys , the Macrodasyida appeared to be resolved separately from the Chaetonotida, and Dactylopodola was resolved as the most basal macrodasyid. ML analysis yielded a tree not too dissimilar from MP, although Dactylopodola and Xenodasys were resolved as a clade. Statistics indicate that the output from our MP analysis is compatible with the classical view placing representatives of the two orders within two distinct evolutionary lines. Most of the constrained solutions, except the shortest, corroborate the monophyly of the two orders, whereas all five constrained solutions support also the notion that sees Neodasys as an early divergent clade along the Chaetonotida branch. Thus, results are generally compatible with the hypothesised evolutionary scenario based on morphological data, but are in contrast with previous findings from molecules. Future research should consider using the complete SSU rDNA gene sequence in their analysis and additional genes for deeper resolution.


The trypsin inhibitor (WTI-1) purified from winged bean seeds is a Kunitz type protease inhibitor having a molecular weight of 19,200. WTI-1 inhibits bovine trypsin stoichiometrically, but not bovine alpha-chymotrypsin. The approximate Ki value for the trypsin-inhibitor complex is 2.5 X 10(-9) M. The complete amino acid sequence of WTI-1 was determined by conventional methods. Comparison of the sequence with that of soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) indicated that the sequence of WTI-1 had 50% homology with that of STI. WTI-1 was separated into 2 homologous inhibitors, WTI-1A and WTI-1B, by isoelectric focusing. The isoelectric points of WTI-1A and WTI-1B were 8.5 and 9.4, respectively, and their sequences were presumed from their amino acid compositions.


Particularly interesting objects in algebraic geometry are K3 surfaces, which are special complex algebraic surfaces. The easiest example of such a surface is the zero set of a homogeneous polynomial of degree four in the three dimensional complex projective space. The name was given by André Weil in 1958 in honor of three famous mathematicians : Kummer, Kähler and Kodaira and in honor of the K2 mountain at Cachemire. Their symmetry group is an important tool to understand their geometry. I will first show some remarkable properties of K3 surfaces and in particular the important role of lattice theory, then I will show some classic and recent results on their symmetry groups. MARIE ALBENQUE École Polytechnique Scaling limit of random planar maps. Abstract : In the sixties, Tutte introduced planar maps, that is the embedding of a planar graph in the sphere. He enumerated several families of maps and found beautiful and strikingly simple formulas. Forty years later, Schaeffer (following some previous work by Cori and Vauquelin) built some bijections to explain the simplicity of these formulas. Thanks to this bijection, Chassaing and Schaeffer started studying random planar maps in 2004. Since this initial work, random planar maps have become a very active topic of research at the crossroads between probability theory, combinatorics and theoretical physics. In 2013, Miermont and Le Gall proved independently that the scaling limit of random quadrangulations is the so-called Brownian map. In my talk, I'll present and explain the result of Miermont and Le Gall and will time some intuitions of the construction of the Brownian map by relying mostly on the combinatorial construction In the sixties, Tutte introduced planar maps, that is the embedding of a planar graph in the sphere. He enumerated several families of maps and found beautiful and strikingly simple formulas. Forty years later, Schaeffer (following some previous work by Cori and Vauquelin) built some bijections to explain the simplicity of these formulas. Thanks to this bijection, Chassaing and Schaeffer started studying random planar maps in 2004. Since this initial work, random planar maps have become a very active topic of research at the crossroads between probability theory, combinatorics and theoretical physics. In 2013, Miermont and Le Gall proved independently that the scaling limit of random quadrangulations is the so-called Brownian map. In my talk, I'll present and explain the result of Miermont and Le Gall and will time some intuitions of the construction of the Brownian map by relying mostly on the combinatorial construction


In vitro in vivo correlations (IVIVC) play a key role in the drug development and optimization of formulation which is certainly a time consuming and expensive process. Formulation optimization requires alteration in formulation, composition, equipments, batch sizes and manufacturing process. If such types of one or more changes are applied to the formulation, the in vivo bioequivalence studies in human may required to be done to prove the similarity of the new formulation which will not only increase the burden of carrying out a number of bioequivalence studies but eventually increase the cost of the optimization process and ultimately marketing of the new formulation. To overcome these problems it is desirable to develop in vitro tests that reflect can bioavailability data. IVIVC can be used in the development of new pharmaceuticals to reduce the number of human studies during the formulation development. Thus, the main objective of an IVIVC is to serve as a surrogate for in vivo bioavailability and to support biowaivers.


Nonlinear optical properties in low dimensional materials, especially semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs), have attracted much attention due to their potential application in optoelectronic and phtotonic devices. Recently, the development of nano-fabrication has made it possible to combine metal nano-particles (MNPs) and SQDs into complexes. The study of the novel plasmon-exciton interaction in the MNPs-SQDs complexes has become one of the hot spots of experimental and theoretical interests [1]. Herein, the nonlinear properties in the Au nano-particles and CdTe quantum dots (QDs) systems have been studied by the Z-scan measurement. It is observed that the optical nonlinearity the CdTe-Au nanoparticle assemblies can be enhanced by choosing proper radii of Au nano-particles and CdTe QDs.


Magnesium constitutes fourth most abundant cation in human body. It plays important role in the electrical stability of the conduction system of the heart. Measure of total serum magnesium correlates with ionized and intracellular levels of magnesium in human cells. Both low and high levels of magnesium are associated with cardiac disorders especially in older people. The hypomagnesemia contributes to atherosclerosis which in turn is a risk factor for Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The magnesium in diet is often not sufficient to meet the daily needs in older people hence they are prone for developing complication of cardiovascular events. This review relooks at the role of magnesium in causing cardiovascular diseases and its complications.

Keywords: Magnesium, Elderly, Heart Disease.


This paper presents ejection of high viscosity fluids with magnetostrictive inkjet printhead(Magjet), which is not common with any other printhead. The MagJet uses a magnetostrictive material, Terfenol-D rod with 10-mm in diameter and 50-mm in length, as an actuation mechanism. It has been known that high viscosity is often an obstacle in ejecting small and mono-disperse droplets. We calculated required pressure with fluidic inertia (Bernoulli equation) and viscous loss (Hagen Poiseuille equation). The required pressure for ejecting a droplet is 1300kPa. The generated force and displacement with Terfenol-D rod are estimated to be 480N (2600kPa) and 28µm, respectively. It was enough that Magjet eject high viscosity fluid (Max 1000cP). The experiments are performed to eject the high viscosity fluid with Magjet. The ejection of high viscosity fluids is successful with the aid of Terfenol-D's high performance.


Conjugates comprising a semiconducting dye (Thiophene-diketopyrrolopyrrole, TDPP-dye) attached to a self-assembling peptide (HEFISTAH) assemble into long nanofibers. Well-ordered Langmuir-Blodgett films of these materials can be prepared. Networks of these nanofibres can be deposited to bridge electrodes. Although similar systems have been proposed as organic semiconductors, in this case, no electronic conductivity was observed. Instead, the fibres behaved as ionic (probably proton) conductors as a consequence of adsorbed water. A strong dependence of electrical conductivity on relative humidity and fibre network density was demonstrated. The system of nanofibers bridging gold electrodes behaved as an electrolytic cell, with oxygen reduction as a limiting electrode reaction.


We report on the dry etch process parameters and the associated etch rates for target and mask materials, as well as surface roughness in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for the (AlGaIn)(AsSb)-compounds. The essential chemistry is based on Cl2 with the addition of N2 for sidewall passivation. The optimized ICP etch process is capable of producing high aspect ratio structures with smooth sidewalls. In situ reflectance monitoring with a 670-nm-wavelength laser was used to enable stop-etching at a material interface with high accuracy. Given the additional need for highly selective wet chemical etchants in the fabrication of GaSb based electronic and optoelectronic devices, an extensive investigation was also performed to examine numerous etch solutions. These etchants were listed with etch rates, selectivities, and surface roughness in order to validate their suitability for intended applications. Despite the frequent use of GaSb or InAsSb materials for etch stop layers against each other, devices where their unique type-II broken bandgap alignment is undesired require new selective wet etchants between GaSb and AlGaAsSb with good selectivity. All of the wet chemical and dry etching processes described here were optimized using an n-type GaSb substrate.


Over the past twenty or so years, the focus of urban regeneration in the UK has changed from being based on outcomes that primarily involved property redevelopment – by either the public or private sectors – to a broader mix of issues and a far greater emphasis on the process of urban regeneration and the partnership ideal. The evaluation undertaken here takes a critical stance towards the ways in which the partnership principle has been adopted and the policy guidance that requires it as a near-compulsory model. It is argued that, to date, there is little interest in the managerial effectiveness of partnerships and the broader implications of this for regeneration policy. A survey of the contemporary regeneration literature is undertaken to highlight the partial and inconclusive nature of most existing evaluations of partnerships, particularly given the emphasis on the role of local community leaders in the formulation and implementation of partnership projects. Then, some wider issues of the 'political economy' of urban policy are considered in the context of the partnership approach. This is followed by a juxtaposition of trends in property development in general with urban regeneration partnership management processes. Finally, it is concluded that the partnership ideal is a useful policy device but that it has to be thought through more clearly and applied in specific contexts, rather than seen as the best and universally applicable model of urban regeneration.


AIMS
Idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF) with early repolarization (ER) has recently been reported; however, ER is a common finding in healthy subjects and is also found sporadically in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical significance of ER in patients with WPW syndrome.

METHODS AND RESULTS
One hundred and eleven patients with WPW syndrome were studied retrospectively. Early repolarization was defined as QRS slurring or notching with J-point elevation ≥ 1 mm. The prevalence of ER was determined before and after successful catheter ablation. Before ablation, ER was found in 35 of 75 patients with a left free wall, 6 of 23 with a right free wall, and 7 of 13 with a septal accessory pathway (48 of 111, 43% as a whole). Early repolarization was always observed in leads with positive deflection of the initial part of the delta wave. After successful ablation of accessory pathways, ER was preserved in 28 (25%), disappeared in 20 (18%), and newly developed in 8 (7%) patients. In the remaining 55 (50%) patients, ER was not observed either before or after ablation. In patients with persistent ER, the amplitude and width of ER were significantly decreased 3-7 days after the ablation (1.7 ± 0.7 vs. 1.4 ± 0.6 mm, P < 0.005 and 42 ± 11 vs. 34 ± 9 ms, P < 0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSION
In patients with WPW syndrome, ER could be partly related to early depolarization through the accessory pathway. However, persistent ER and new ER appearing after the ablation were frequently found. Therefore, in these patients, mechanisms other than early depolarization may be involved in the genesis of ER.


In June 2015, legal frameworks of the Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank were signed by its 57 founding members. Proposed and initiated by China, this multilateral development bank is considered to be an Asian counterpart to break the monopoly of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In October 2015, China's Central Bank announced a benchmark interest rate cut to combat the economic slowdown. The easing policy coincides with the European Central Bank's announcement of doubts over US Fed's commitment to raise interest rates. Global stock markets responded positively to China's move, with the exception of the indexes from Wall Street (Bland, 2015; Elliott, 2015). In the meantime, China's 'One Belt, One Road' (or New Silk Road Economic Belt) became atopic of discourse in relation to its growing global economy, as China pledged $40 billion to trade and infrastructure projects (Bermingham, 2015). The foreign policy aims to reinforce the economic belt from western China through Central Asia towards Europe, as well as to construct maritime trading routes from coastal China through the South China Sea (Summers, 2015).

In 2012, The Economist launched a new China section, to reveal the complexity of the'meteoric rise' of China. John Micklethwait, who was then the chief editor of the magazine, said that China's emergence as a global power justified giving it a section of its own(Roush, 2012). In July 2015, Hu Shuli, the former chief editor of Caijing, announced the launch of a think tank and financial data service division called Caixin Insight Group, which encompasses the new Caixin China Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Incooperation with with Markit Group, a principal global provider of PMI, the index soon became a widely cited economic indicator. One anecdote from November's Caixin shows how much has changed: in a high-profile dialogue between Hu Shuli and Kevin Rudd, Hu insisted on asking questions in English; interestingly, the former Prime Minister of Australia insisted on replying in Chinese.

These recent developments point to one thing: the economic ascent of China and its increasing influence on the power play between economics and politics in world markets. China has begun to take a more active role in rule making and enforcement under neoliberal frameworks. However, due to the country's size and the scale of its economy in comparison to other countries, China's version of globalisation has unique characteristics. The 'Capitalist-socialist' paradox is vital to China's market-oriented transformation. In order to comprehend how such unique features are articulated and understood, there are several questions worth investigating in the realms of media and communication studies,such as how China's neoliberal restructuring is portrayed and perceived by different types of interested parties, and how these portrayals are de-contextualised and re-contextualised
in global or Anglo-American narratives.

Therefore, based on a combination of the themes of globalisation, financial media and China's economic integration, this thesis attempts to explore how financial media construct the narratives of China's economic globalisation through the deployment of comparative and multi-disciplinary approaches. Two outstanding elite financial magazines, Britain's The Economist, which has a global readership and influence, and Caijing, China's leading financial magazine, are chosen as case studies to exemplify differing media discourses, representing, respectively, Anglo-American and Chinese socio-economic and political backgrounds, as well as their own journalistic cultures. This thesis tries to answer the questions of how and why China's neoliberal restructuring is constructed from a globally-oriented perspective. The construction primarily involves people who are influential in business and policymaking. Hence, the analysis falls into the paradigm of elite-elite communication, which is an important but relatively less developed perspective in studying China and its globalisation.

The comparing of characteristics of narrative construction are the result of the textual analysis of articles published over a ten-year period (mid-1998 to mid-2008). The corpus of samples come from the two media outlets' coverage of three selected events:China
becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, its outward direct investment, and the listing of stocks of Chinese companies in overseas exchanges, which are mutually exclusive in sample collection and collectively exhaustive in the inclusion of articles regarding China's economic globalisation. The findings help to understand that, despite language, socio-economic and political differences, elite financial media with globally-oriented readerships share similar methods of and approaches to agenda setting, the evaluation of news prominence, the selection of frame, and the advocacy of deeply rooted neoliberal ideas. The comparison of their distinctive features reflects the different phases of building up the sense of identity in their readers as global elites, as well as the different economic interests that are aligned with the corresponding readerships. However, textual analysis is only relevant in terms of exploring how the narratives are constructed and the elements they include; textual analysis alone prevents us from seeing the obstacles and the constrains of the journalistic practices of construction. Therefore, this thesis provides a brief discussion of interviews with practitioners from the two media, in order to understand how similar or different narratives are manifested and perceived, how the concept of neoliberalism deviates from and is justified in the Chinese context, and how and for what purpose deviations arise from Western to Chinese contexts.

The thesis also contributes to defining financial media in the domain of elite communication. The relevant and closely interlocking concepts of globalisation, elitism
and neoliberalism are discussed, and are used as a theoretical bedrock in the analysis of texts and contexts. It is important to address the agenda-setting and ideological role of elite financial media, because of its narrative formula of infusing business facts with opinions,which is important in constructing the global elite identity as well as influencing neoliberal
policy-making. On the other hand, 'journalistic professionalism' has been redefined, in that the elite identity is shared by the content producer, reader and the actors in the news stories emerging from the much-compressed news cycle. The professionalism of elite financial media requires a dual definition, that of being professional in the understanding of business
facts and statistics, and that of being professional in the making sense of stories by
deploying economic logic.


We introduce a reinforcement learning environment based on Heroic - Magic Duel, a 1 v 1 action strategy game. This domain is non-trivial for several reasons: it is a real-time game, the state space is large, the information given to the player before and at each step of a match is imperfect, and distribution of actions is dynamic. Our main contribution is a deep reinforcement learning agent playing the game at a competitive level that we trained using PPO and self-play with multiple competing agents, employing only a simple reward of $\pm 1$ depending on the outcome of a single match. Our best self-play agent, obtains around $65\%$ win rate against the existing AI and over $50\%$ win rate against a top human player.


Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy is a progressive, hereditary myopathy in which the levator palpebrae and the pharyngeal muscles are selectively involved. Progressive, usually symmetric blepharoptosis with or without dysphagia appears in the fifth decade. The high prevalence of this myopathy in Quebec stems from the immigration of a single couple from France in 1634, whose numerous descendants manifest its autosomal dominant heredity. We review our experience in 91 cases over 20 years. The ptosis was moderate in 83% of the cases at the time of surgery, and the average age was 65 years. Beard's surgical guidelines for correction of ptosis based on the degree of ptosis and residual levator function were applied directly in cases of primary intervention, with consistently satisfactory results. This is in contrast to other types of hereditary myopathic ptosis, in which the guidelines must be modified. The rate of recurrence of ptosis among patients followed for at least 9 years was 13%.


This article expounds the current positive relationship between brain science and sports in many aspects. Proper aerobic training can optimize the brain structure, improve the brain function, and enhance the concentration and execution ability of the students, and ultimately to promote the development of the learning ability of the brain. Based on the rope skipping exercise experiment, this paper verifies the contralateral control of the brain to limb movement, and probes into the importance of the simultaneous participation of the left and right brain in sports to improve the coordinated development of the students. To a certain extent, the research results of this paper provide evidence for the positive relationship between brain science and limb movement, and emphasize the importance of the coordination of the right and left limbs in sports training for the coordinated development of


Reproductive development was examined in wild house mice who had either unlimited or severely restricted access to food. The degree of food restriction was set at a level that allowed no body growth after 24 days of age. This treatment completely blocked reproductive development in females. In contrast, it had only minor effects on the reproductive development of males. Despite their stunted condition, food-restricted males developed normal numbers of sperm in their testes and vasa deferentia. They developed almost normal accessory tissues, and 8 of 10 inseminated test females when challenged at 8 wk of age. These results are considered primarily in relation to the opportunistic reproductive strategy of this species.


In this study, Physico-chemical analysis of 21 brands of sachet water packaged within Zaria metropolis was evaluated to compare their compliance with World Health Organisation (WHO) and Nigerian Industrial Standard (NIS) threshold limits using standard analytical methods. The parameters evaluated include: colour, taste, odour, pH, chloride, potassium, calcium, electric conductivity, oxygen demand (OD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total dissolve solid (TDS) while coliform counts were only determined for sixteen brands using standard methods. The results from the laboratory analysis showed that all samples were tasteless, colourless and odourless; most of the physico-chemical parameters conform with WHO and NIS permissible limits except coliform count in which 100% of the sachet did not conform to the WHO threshold limits. Only 25% of sachet water did not conform to NIS threshold limits. The t-test result reveals that there is no significant difference between the sachet water properties with the WHO and NIS standard.  The results of this study indicate that sachet drinking water produced or sold in Zaria is relatively of good quality for human consumption but there is need to improve the biological treatment to perfect its portability.

 Key words: Sachet water, analysis, Zaria, Kaduna State.


Let {Z n } n≥0 be a random walk with a negative drift and independent and identically distributed increments with heavy-tailed distribution, and let M = sup n≥0 Z n be its supremum. Asmussen and Klüppelberg (1996) considered the behavior of the random walk given that M > x for large x, and obtained a limit theorem, as x → ∞, for the distribution of the quadruple that includes the time τ = τ(x) to exceed level x, position Z τ at this time, position Z τ-1 at the prior time, and the trajectory up to it (similar results were obtained for the Cramér-Lundberg insurance risk process). We obtain here several extensions of this result to various regenerative-type models and, in particular, to the case of a random walk with dependent increments. Particular attention is given to describing the limiting conditional behavior of τ. The class of models includes Markov-modulated models as particular cases. We also study fluid models, the Björk-Grandell risk process, give examples where the order of τ is genuinely different from the random walk case, and discuss which growth rates are possible. Our proofs are purely probabilistic and are based on results and ideas from Asmussen, Schmidli and Schmidt (1999), Foss and Zachary (2002), and Foss, Konstantopoulos and Zachary (2007).


– The works devoted to the study of Spanish arbitrismo, developed between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, have been traditionally influenced by a negative perspective, inherited from the use given to the adjective arbitrista in the past, when it was used almost as an insult. Instead of emphasising this negative view, it would perhaps be convenient to analyse such as what they really were, at least to a certain extent; that is, collective opinions seeking to influence the king and his most trusted circle. While Castilian arbitrismo of financial nature has been more widely studied, the arbitrismo developed in the colonial world is less known, especially that for the possessions in Atlantic Africa. These texts were written by merchants, soldiers, and clerics with great experience in the service of these territories. As a crucial "remedy" to solve the problems of these difficult times of monarchical "decline", these texts propound an encouragement of territorial conquest and defensive fortresses, as well as a reorganisation of the main resources and of trade that would enable them to put an end to fraud and abuse. "the arbitristas as a group remain too little known." John H. Elliott (1977)


We introduce two-stage stochastic semidefinite programs with recourse and present a Benders decomposition based linearly convergent interior point algorithms to solve them. This extends the results in Zhao [16] wherein it was shown that the logarithmic barrier associated with the recourse function of two-stage stochastic linear programs with recourse behaves as a strongly self-concordant barrier on the first stage solutions. In this paper we develop the necessary theory. A companion paper [8] addresses implementation issues for the theoretical algorithms of this paper.


Background: There are significant concerns about emerging antibiotic resistance that are largely due to the inappropriate use of antibacterial agents for viral respiratory infections. We explored clinicians' attitude on antibiotic prescription for patients with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) using survey. Methods: A random, stratified sample of physicians in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon was surveyed with a mailed questionnaire, and 353 clinicians completed information. A total of 344 were included in the final dataset after excluding incomplete data with missing information (response rate 34.4%). Results: Among 344 physicians, those who would prescribe antibiotics in scenario patient were 39.2%, wait and prescribe 30.5% and not prescribe antibiotics 30.2%. Those who believed antibiotics would help treatment of acute sinusitis were 83.7%, acute pharyngitis 36%, acute tonsillitis 86.3%, acute bronchitis 64% and acute lower respiratory diseases 66.9%. In logistic regression analysis, those who were located in Gyeonggi region and those who believed antibiotics help treatment of tonsillitis and suppurative otitis media would prescribe antibiotics in scenario patient significantly more, whereas those who believe antibiotics help treatment of acute pharyngitis and lower respiratory disease prescribe antibiotics less. Conclusions: Physicians' attitude to antibiotics in respiratory disease has a significant effect on antibiotic prescription for RTIs. Interventions such as practice guidelines and patient education to optimize antibiotic prescription should take this effect into account. Korean J Health Promot 2013;13(3):99-106


Inter-agency guidelines recommend that survivors of intimate partner violence in humanitarian settings receive multisectoral services consistent with a survivor-centered approach. Providing integrated services across sectors is challenging, and aspirations often fall short in practice. In this study, we explore factors that influence the implementation of a multisectoral, integrated intervention intended to reduce psychological distress and intimate partner violence in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania. We analyzed data from a desk review of donor, legal, and policy documents; a gender-based violence services mapping conducted through 15 interviews and 6 focus group discussions; and a qualitative process evaluation with 29 stakeholders involved in the implementation of the integrated psychosocial program. We identified the challenges of implementing a multisectoral, integrated intervention for refugee survivors of intimate partner violence at the structural, inter-institutional, intra-institutional, and in social and interpersonal levels. Key determinants of successful implementation included the legal context, financing, inter-agency coordination, engagement and ownership, and the ability to manage competing priorities. Implementing a multisectoral, integrated response for survivors of intimate partner violence is complex and influenced by interrelated factors from policy and financing to institutional and stakeholder engagement. Further investment in identifying strategies to overcome the existing challenges of implementing multisectoral approaches that align with global guidelines is needed to effectively address the burden of intimate partner violence in humanitarian settings.


A cost of reproduction may not be observable in the presence of environmental or individual heterogeneity because they affect the resources available to individuals. Individual space use is critical in determining both the resources available to individuals and the exposure to factors that mediate the value of these resources (e.g. competition and parasitism). Despite this, there has, to our knowledge, been little research to understand how between‐individual differences in resource acquisition, caused by variation in space use, interact with environmental variation occurring at the population scale to influence estimates of the cost of reproduction in natural populations. We used long‐term data from the St. Kilda Soay sheep population to understand how differences in age, relative home range quality, and average adult body mass, interacted with annual variation in population density and winter North Atlantic Oscillation index to influence over‐winter survival and reproduction in the subsequent year, for females that had invested into reproduction to varying degrees. Our results suggest that Soay sheep females experience costs both in terms of future survival and future reproduction. However, we found little evidence that estimated costs of reproduction vary depending on relative home range quality. There are several possible causes for the lack of a relationship between relative home range quality and our estimate of the costs experienced by females. These include the potential for a correlation between relative home range quality and reproductive allocation to mask a relationship between home range quality and reproductive costs, as well as the potential for the benefit of higher quality home ranges being offset by higher densities. Nevertheless, our results raise questions regarding the presence or context‐dependence of relationships between resource access and the estimated cost of reproduction.


This article demonstrates the interaction between literary representations of the police officer, the criminal suspect, and their respective relationships with society, and the development of the exclusionary rule as a prophylactic remedy for Fourth Amendment violations. In English and American literature the criminal moved from the role of dangerous outsider he occupied at the Founding, to victim of society during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to, eventually, sometimes-pop cultural hero during the 1960's. Meanwhile the literary police officer did not exist until the development of the professional police force in the late nineteenth century; afterwards he was most frequently represented as an incompetent, socially-marginalized blunderer, and eventually as an oppressor of the weak. I argue that these twin evolutions in representation correlate with and give credibility to an exclusionary doctrine, developed in the mid-twentieth century, which depended on the image of the policeman as a threat to, rather than protector of, the interests of the individual citizen, and susceptible to "punishment" through the release of a criminal. Specifically, narrative strategies and imagery appearing in the court opinions applying the exclusionary rule in the mid-twentieth century parallel and interact with the devices used to dramatize police searches in the literature of the time: both contributed to the development of a cultural mythology of the police officer's interaction with the citizen which has become foundational to Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. The incorporation of a greater range of narratives involving police officer and criminal — beyond the unified monomyth developed during the mid-twentieth century which continues to undergird even the conservative Fourth Amendment opinions of the last two decades — could nuance the debate over the exclusionary doctrine.


One of the most critical aspects in the development of a society is education. From the Quranic perspective, man and women do not come to this world accidentally without any mission and purpose in their life as the Qur'ān says: "Did you think that we had created you in play (without any purpose), any that you would not be brought back to Us?" (Al-Mu'minun, 23:115). Thus, Islām has put a greater emphasize and rights on education, not specifically towards men but also women. Both men and women are equally encouraged to acquire knowledge as what was being said in the Prophetic tradition, "Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave". However, what are the unique critical roles of Muslim women in the development of modern education? To examine this issue, it is important to know the position of Islam in relation to education and women's education. Generally, education can be in a formal as well as non-formal setting. Thus, it is important to identify the type of curriculums that should be provided to the Muslim women in developing their roles towards the ummah. By applying a purely qualitative methods, this paper will examine the critical roles of Muslim women in education as well as the issues and challenges faced by them in carrying out their roles in the development of the modern education system.


In oncology practice, despite advances in methods for early detection, surgery, radiotherapy, laser therapy, targeted therapy, etc., chemotherapy is unlikely to lose its relevance in the near future. In this context, the development of new antitumor drugs is one of the urgent problems of modern conservative oncology. Despite the importance of the search for new compounds with antitumor activity, the clinical potential of the «old» agents does not yet seem to be exhausted. The transport of antitumor agents can give them a «second life» in the clinic. When developing the targeted transport for chemotherapeutic drugs, the changes in their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are of great importance. A pharmacokinetic model of targeted transport of drug substances has been described in this paper. There have been described conditions under which it is worth to search for facility of transport for the initial active agent. Primary screening of antitumor agents have been undertaken to modify them for the targeted transport based on underlying assumptions of the model.


New structure low intensity x-ray image system is mainly made of plane plate mode x-ray intensifier of single proximity focus and CCD data acquisition and processing system. The paper explains the noise source and characteristic of the low intensity x-ray image system. By the system composition, the image noise source of low x-ray imaging system is constituted with quantum noise, particulate noise and dark noise of CCD. Then the compound methods of the "multi-frame mean + morphological transform filter" is submitted which deals with the imaging noise. Firstly, some frame images is superimposed, then mean image is calculated from those images, which is under the principle of noise non-correlation. Secondly, distinguishing with the conventional ways of morphological transformation filtering algorithm, the differential image information is referred to de-noising. Under the multi-scale morphological thought, the differential image which is obtained from the source image includes noise and some image details. After the noise of the differential image is cut off by the wavelet translation, the differential image is added to the last filtered image by the multi-scale morphological filter, then the clean image is achieved which has no noise but keeps the image details.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the perception of parents/caregivers regarding the financial impact of oral health problems on the families of preschool children. A preschool-based, cross-sectional study was conducted with 834 preschool children in Campina Grande, Brazil. Parents/caregivers answered the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale. "Financial impact" was the dependent variable. Questionnaires addressing socio-demographic variables, history of toothache and health perceptions were administered. Clinical exams were performed by three dentists previously calibrated (Kappa: 0.85-0.90). Descriptive statistics were performed, followed by logistic regression for complex samples (α = 5%). The frequency of financial impact due to oral health problems in preschool children was 7.7%. The following variables were significantly associated with financial impact: parental perception of child's oral health as poor, the interaction between history of toothache and absence of dental caries and the interaction between history of toothache and presence of dental caries. It is concluded that often parents/caregivers reported experiencing a financial impact due to seeking treatment late, mainly by the presence of toothache and complications of the clinical condition.


"Transparent network" and "all-optical network" are not synonyms. Indeed, the optical transparency has to be sacrificed in optical logic elements, signal processing, packet switching, etc. As a consequence, the traditional "electronic opacity" meets its "optical" equivalent in all-optical packet switched network. The paper presents the author's original view on future (all) optical packet-switched network which is based on a clear distinction within the dual nature of optical signals: analogue and transparent features of the signal in optical frequency domain from one side, and the digital characteristics of temporal signals and opaque solutions for all-optical logic from the other one. The imminence of breakdown of the "transparency paradigm" in the all-optical packet switched network for a variety of networking functions is pointed out.


Open tension-free inguinal mesh repair is a new operative procedure in Denmark. During 1993 the author performed 20 procedures in 19 men with inguinal hernias, of which seven were direct and 13 indirect. Five of the hernias were recurrent and one patient had bilateral hernias. The median operation time was 30 minutes from skin incision to closure. The recovery time was short and the complications were few and insignificant. No infections occurred. One patient operated for an indirect hernia complained of recurrency. Reoperation was performed laparoscopically and a femoral hernia, obviously overlooked at the primary operation, was found. There were no other recurrencies. Thus, tension-free open inguinal hernial repair seems to be a safe and easy procedure with few complications and no early recurrency.


A 41-year-old female patient with muscle dystrophy, hepatosplenomegaly and tendinous xanthoma showed mild hypertriglyceridemia. The lipoprotein profile in blood showed increases in triglycerides in VLDL and LDL, and a marked decrease of cholesterol in HDL. Chylomicronemia was found, but was not severe. Both lipoprotein lipase and hepatic triglyceride lipase activities were reduced to a level that was only a few percent of the control. Immunoblotting study revealed that the IgG autoantibody in her serum was apparently reactable with hepatic triglyceride lipase and weakly with lipoprotein lipase. Hypertriglyceridemia in this patient is suggested to be due to the autoantibody to these lipases.


Salt stress severely damages the growth and yield of crops. Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) were demonstrated to regulate various biological processes and responses to environmental stresses. However, the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) response to salt stress are still poorly understood. Here, we observed that a lncRNA, trans acting of BGLU24 by lncRNA (TRABA), was highly expressed while GhBGLU24-A was weakly expressed in a salt-tolerant cotton accession (DM37) compared to a salt-sensitive accession (TM-1). Using TRABA as an effector and proGhBGLU24-A-driven GUS as a reporter, we showed that TRABA suppressed GhBGLU24-A promoter activity in double transgenic Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), which explained why GhBGLU24-A was weakly expressed in the salt-tolerant accession compared to the salt-sensitive accession. GhBGLU24-A encodes an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized β-glucosidase that responds to salt stress. Further investigation revealed that GhBGLU24-A interacted with RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase (GhRUBL). Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) and transgenic Arabidopsis studies revealed that both GhBGLU24-A and GhRUBL diminish plant tolerance to salt stress and ER stress. Based on its substantial effect on ER-related degradation (ERAD)-associated gene expression, GhBGLU24-A mediates ER stress likely through the ERAD pathway. These findings provide insights into the regulatory role of the lncRNA TRABA in modulating salt and ER stresses in cotton and have potential implications for developing more resilient crops.


The paper describes a semianalytic slope delay model for CMOS switch-level timing verification. It is characterised by classification of the effects of the input slope, internal size and load capacitance of a logic gate on delay time, and then the use of a series of carefully chosen analytic functions to estimate delay times under different circumstances. In the field of VLSI analysis, this model achieves improvements in speed and accuracy compared with conventional approaches to transistor-level and switch-level simulation.


Abstract The problem of a piezoelectric screw dislocation, line force and line charge around a permeable crack in a finite piezoelectric cylinder is dealt with in this paper. Utilizing the complex function and conformal mapping methods, the closed form solutions of the stress fields and the electric displacement fields are derived. The stress intensity factor and the image force are discussed in detail. The results show that the stress fields are in direct proportion to the line force, but independent of the line charge. The shielding effect produced by the dislocation increases with the increasing of the radius of the piezoelectric cylinder. Moreover, the unstable equilibrium point and the image force are also severely affected by the radius of the piezoelectric cylinder.


A 70-years of age, male patient with underlying type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia and ischemic heart disease had undergone continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD)for 3 years without any episodes of peritonitis. He was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis and later developed peritonitis after receiving a laceration from an aquatic injury suffered during the flood disaster of 2011. The blood culture, necrotic tissue and the clear dialysate collected upon admission had shown Aeromonas sobria. The route of peritonitis may be from the hematogenous spread of A. sobria resulting in necrotizing fasciitis. A. sobria should be considered as the pathogen of peritonitis in PD patients who have history of wounds from contaminated water. We suggest that the PD patients who present with septicemia and did not meet the criteria for peritonitis, the initial dialysate effluent should be sent for culture. The benefit of this is to allow early recognition and treatment of peritonitis.


Abstract Pre-contact avifaunal extinctions in Hawai`i generally have been attributed to human predation and/or landscape alteration by colonizing Polynesians. However, until recently there have been insufficient data for evaluating most of the important variables involved in this issue. This situation has changed with recent archaeological, paleontological, and wetland coring research conducted on O`ahu's `Ewa Plain, a hot, dry emerged limestone reef characterized by numerous sinkholes. The main evidence obtained from this research includes (1) wetland coring data that stratigraphically demonstrate forest decline before any burning, (2) radiocarbon dating of bones of rats and extinct birds that provides a time frame for their occurrence unavailable from stratified deposits, and (3) the radiocarbon-based history of human settlement of the `Ewa Plain. Based on this evidence the argument is made that (1) at least some major avian extinctions occurred within the period immediately following Polynesian colonization, (2) these extinctions were due primarily to the rapid decline of their native lowland forest habitat, (3) human settlement of the `Ewa Plain occurred after native forest collapse, not coincident with it, and (4) the main source of destruction of the native forests was the introduced Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, not Hawaiian agricultural clearing and burning. This model also explains the absence of large quantities of bird bone in early sites (in contrast to other places in Polynesia and Micronesia), and the absence in early middens of many plants (notably Kanaloa kahoolawensis) that were common in the native forest. Introduction The cause of Holocene avifaunal extinctions in Hawai`i has been a topic of intense interest since the first detailed investigation of subfossil paleontological remains almost two decades ago demonstrated that Hawai`i once had a much richer species inventory of birds than previously suspected (Olson and James, 1982, 1991; James and Olson, 1991). Recent interdisciplinary investigations on the `Ewa Plain of southwest O`ahu (Fig. 1) provide new insights into the process of extinction and environmental change in the Hawaiian lowlands (Athens et al., 1999). The new data 1) document the unexpected rapidity of vegetation change, 2) provide detailed information on the chronology of human settlement on the `Ewa Plain, and 3) provide detailed paleontological evidence, particularly as concerns the chronology of avian remains and vegetation change. These data indicate that avian extinctions and extirpations were the result of habitat destruction in the form of lowland forest decline. However, there is strong evidence that forest decline followed Polynesian colonization of Hawai`i but preceded dispersal, suggesting that direct human activity such as burning or gardening had nothing to do with the general decline. We propose that the main cause of forest decline was the Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, brought by early colonists. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Problem of avifaunal extinctions and extirpations Some 35 to 57 extinct avian species have been identified from subfossil remains in Hawai`i, the number depending upon classification (James, 1995). Considering that historically known avifauna numbered from 40 to 55 endemic species, then about 100 avian species were present in Hawai`i prior to the archipelago's settlement by Polynesians (James and Olson, 1991), which occurred between about AD 700-800. (1) Chronological data from a stratified assemblage of avian subfossils on Maui (James et al., 1987) indicate a strong association of a major extinction event with the period of Polynesian settlement. Other studies of subfossil birds in the tropical Pacific follow a similar pattern, indicating that long periods passed with few extinctions despite major climatic oscillations with the last ice age (Steadman, 1995). …


In experimental psychology and neuroscience, computerized image stimuli are typically used as artificial proxies for real-world objects to understand brain and behavior. Here, in a series of five experiments (n = 165), we studied human memory for objects presented as tangible solids versus computerized images. We found that recall for solids was superior to images, both immediately after learning, and after a 24-hr delay. A "realness advantage" was also evident relative to three-dimensional (3-D) stereoscopic images, and when solids were viewed monocularly, arguing against explanations based on the presence of binocular depth cues in the stimulus. Critically, memory for solids was modulated by physical distance, with superior recall for objects positioned within versus outside of observers' reach, whereas recall for images was unaffected by distance. We conclude that solids are processed quantitatively and qualitatively differently in episodic memory than are images, suggesting caution in assuming that artifice can always substitute for reality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).


Objective To study the effects of Cordyceps militaris extract on the promoting motion fatigue recover on human by determining serum testosterone,cortisol,lactic acid and urea nitrogen contents. Methods Separately forty-eight man and thirty-five women were divided into two groups,including matched group and administration experimental drug group. Serum testoster-one and cortisol contents were determined by radioimmunoassay kit( RIA kit) . Lactic acid and urea nitrogen contents were determined by YSI1500 Lacte Analyzers and Diacetyl Monoxime method. Results Serum testosterone and cortisol content in blood experimental drug group were( 863. 54 ± 231. 57) fmol/L and ( 20. 20 ± 2. 66) nmol/L,( 680. 02 ± 157. 12) fmol/L and ( 26. 38 ± 6. 42) nmol/L in male of matched group. Serum testosterone content in experimental drug group was obviously than that of matched group ,cortisol content was lower than that of matched group,and there was statistical significance ( P 0. 01) between the drug groups. The levels of serum testostenme experimental group and watched group were( 21. 04 ± 3. 71) nmol/L,and( 26. 84 ± 5. 06) nmol/L in female respectively,cortisol content was lower than that of matched group,and there was statistical significance ( P 0. 05) as compared with matched group. The contents of lacic aevle and area lltrogea in experimental drug group and watches group were( 0. 93 ± 0. 23) and( 10. 27 ± 1. 89) mmol/L,( 1. 88 ± 0. 33) and( 14. 77 ± 1. 21) mmol/L in male respectively,lactic acid and urea nitrogen was obviously lower than those of matched group,and there was statistical significance ( P 0. 05) compared with matched group. Conclusion The Cordyceps Militaris extract has anti-fatigue effect and bioactivity of promoting motion fatigue recover in human.