The major scientific objective of the AMSOC project is to obtain samples of the upper part of the earth's mantle and to determine the nature of the Moho discontinuity. Boisse's analogy of 1850 suggesting that meteorites were a fair approximation of the composition of the earth's interior was a brilliant idea for its day, but is too inexact for present purposes. Above the discontinuity is a layer commonly called the "crust" and generally considered to be basalt. It is extraordinarily uniform in thickness suggesting that its base represents a phase transition and that the Moho under the oceans might represent the level of some isotherm, or past isotherm, at which a reaction took place. Above the "crust" is a layer of variable thickness and seismic velocity thought to be consolidated sedimentary or volcanic rocks. Finally one comes to the unconsolidated sediments of the ocean floor which are a few hundred meters thick and no doubt resemble the material obtained from shallow cores. In these last two layers one might hope to find fossils going far back in the history of the oceans and to derive from this record information of extraordinary scientific importance. The following predictions are made. (1) The mantle will be peridotite resembling the olivine nodules found in basaltic volcanoes and St. Paul's rock. (2) The "basalt crust" will be serpentinized peridotite, hydrated mantle material. (3) The Moho discontinuity represents a past isotherm above which serpentine was a stable phase. (4) The sedimentary column will be very incomplete and have many great hiatuses. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1250------------


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To perform a review of the current evidence regarding the use of a remotely controlled mandibular positioner (RCMP) and to analyze the efficacy of RCMP as a predictive selection tool in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with oral appliances that protrude the mandible (OAm), exclusively relying on single-night RCMP titration.

METHODS
An extensive literature search is performed through PubMed.com, Thecochranelibrary.com (CENTRAL only), Embase.com, and recent conference meeting abstracts in the field.

RESULTS
A total of 254 OSA patients from four full-text articles and 5 conference meeting abstracts contribute data to the review. Criteria for successful RCMP test and success with OAm differed between studies. Study populations were not fully comparable due to range-difference in baseline apneahypopnea index (AHI). However, in all studies elimination of airway obstruction events during sleep by RCMP titration predicted OAm therapy success by the determination of the most effective target protrusive position (ETPP). A statistically significant association is found between mean AHI predicted outcome with RCMP and treatment outcome with OAm on polysomnographic or portable sleep monitoring evaluation (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The existing evidence regarding the use of RCMP in patients with OSA indicates that it might be possible to protrude the mandible progressively during sleep under poly(somno)graphic observation by RCMP until respiratory events are eliminated without disturbing sleep or arousing the patient. ETPP as measured by the use of RCMP was significantly associated with success of OAm therapy in the reported studies. RCMP might be a promising instrument for predicting OAm treatment outcome and targeting the degree of mandibular advancement needed.


One explanation of the results of the UK EU Referendum and the US Presidential Election in 2016 has been as a triumph of citizens of ' somewhere ' — localised and rooted — over the cosmopolitan and spatially mobile citizens of ' anywhere ' , placing residential mobility and its effects on political attitudes at the heart of debates about the causes of populist voting. This paper contributes to these debates by using Understanding Society 1 to examine how residential mobility shaped Referendum voting intentions with a particular focus on the differential impacts of short- and long-distance moves. It also explores how the effects of migration vary by age. It finds that for an all-age sample, those respondents who made at least one address change of 50 km or more were less likely plan to vote ' Leave ' relative to those who did not move at all. Restricting the analysis to those aged 25 or older, residential mobility became statistically insignificant; Brexit voting could be explained without reference to residential mobility. However, analysing only 16 – 24 year olds, long-distance residential mobility was again statistically significant even in the fully specified model. It is concluded that residential mobility is most important and formative for the attitudes of younger people but has little or no impact on older sections of the population.


An improved design of a sense-amplifier-based flip-flop is presented. The new design overcomes the problems of floating nodes, which is a weakness of previously reported solutions. This is achieved by systematic derivation of flip-flop equations and rearranging the resulting network. The resulting flip-flop outperforms earlier published structures, exhibiting T CQ of 190ps when driving 100fF load in a 0.18µm CMOS technology.


We present in this paper a fast method to find a translation between a pair of astronomical images. Being able to match stars very precisely is necessary in numerous problems in astronomy. The method we describe here can be used to get a first estimate with a precision of a few pixels. It can be used to initiate a second method to achieve the desired sub-pixel accuracy. Implementation on a massively parallel computer has been made, showing that real-time is feasible, and the development of a specific hardware looks promising.


Autonomous Learning Scale (Macaskill & Taylor, 2010) was developed to measure learner autonomy in students after revealing that there was a lack of comprehensive measures of autonomous learning despite its significance. In the light of the need for valid measures for evaluating the learner autonomy, we adapted the ALS and conducted a psychometric validation with students. The results of confirmatory factor analysis described that the 12 items loaded two factors and the two dimensional model was well fit (x2=207.03, df= 53, RMSEA=.062, GFI=.96, CFI=.96, IFI=.96, AGFI= 0.94, RFI=.93, NNFI=.95, NFI=.94, and SRMR=.044). The internal consistency coefficient was .80 for the overall scale. The item-total correlations of ALS ranged from .29 to .59. Overall findings of the ALS Turkish version demonstrated expected reliability and validity with adaptive abilities. Thus, this study indicates that the adapted ALS is a valid instrument for measuring students' learner autonomy in Turkey.


In The Ethiopian story of Heliodorus reference is made to a dispute between the Persians and the Ethiopians over control of the emerald mines to the south of Egypt. This disagreement leads to war between these two nations and sets the action of the plot of the novel in motion. When taken together with the similar manner in which precious stones are viewed in The Ethiopian story and in the pseudo- Orphic Lithica — a poem about the magical properties of stones dated to the fourth century of our era — the argument over possession of the mines can convincingly be placed in the context of the political and religious changes taking place at this time in Ethiopia, as documented by Epiphanius of Cyprus in his sermon On the gems. Under Constantine and his successor Constantius II embassies were exchanged with the Ethiopians, specifically with the people of Axum (who appear to have displaced the people of Meroe from power at about 350), the Blemmyes, and the Indians. The fact that embassies involving these peoples feature prominently in The Ethiopian story also provides yet more circumstantial evidence to suggest that the novel belongs to a similar fourth-century milieu to other texts from the same period, especially the anonymous Lithica and the Πeρὶ Καταρχῶν (On Beginnings) of Maximus of Ephesus.


Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of fused three-dimensional T2 sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions (3D-SPACE) and three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D-TOF-MRA) sequences for detecting neurovascular compression (NVC) in patients presenting with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Methods A prospective study was carried in 33 consecutive patients (m/f: 17/16; mean age, 56.3 ± 10.4 years) with unilateral TN confirmed NVC and consensus by two experienced radiologists on fused 3D-SPACE and 3D-TOF-MRA sequences of 3-tesla (3-T) MRI. All patients underwent microvascular decompression (MVD), using photos and video in surgery as documents compared with MRI. Both the MRI and MVD were reported for three grades (contact, compression, distortion), vessel types (artery or vein), identification of offending vessel, site (juxtapontine, cisternal, and juxtapetrous), and location (cranial, caudal, medial, lateral). Agreement between preoperative MRI visualization and surgical findings was assessed using the kappa (K) statistic. Results The k-values for the agreement were excellent for the grade of NVC (k=0.82), vessel types (k=0.78), and location of conflict (k=0.74), and good for identification of the offending vessel (0.65) and the site-affected vessel (k=0.69). Conclusion The fused D3-SPACE and 3D-TOF-MRA images are highly effective tools for the evaluation and treatment planning of NVC in TN patients.


Human umbilical cord blood has become a very valuable source for hematopoietic transplantation. Our group was able to show that CB contains non-hematopoietic stem cells, which were called unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs) with a multipotent differentiation potential. These cells have the potential to differentiate into different germ layers (Kogler et al. 2004, Kogler et al. 2005, Kogler et al. 2006, Sensken et al. 2007, Greschat et al . 2008, Ghodsizad A et al. 2008, Trapp et al. 2008). Some studies have now reported a presumably embryonic like nature of cord blood cells. However, Nanog and Oct 4 harbours potential pitfalls for data misinterpretation due to pseudogenes and alternative spliced variants (Liedtke et al. 2007, Liedtke et al. 2008). The related data based on the stem cell markers Nanog and Oct4 concerning these results remain questionable. Therefore, we evaluated the embryonic-like nature of MNCs (n=7), USSC (n=7), CD34+ cells (n=7) derived from cord blood, MNCs from peripheral blood (n=3), MNCs (n=7) and MSCs (n=3) from bone marrow. Using RT-PCR, quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, we studied the expression of the pluripotency markers Oct4, Nanog, Sox2 as well as the transcription factors Klf4 and cMyc utilized for the induction of pluripotent stem cells from adult human fibroblasts. The expression level of the transcription factors Klf4 and cMyc was nearly equal in all USSC cell lines and BM MSCs. We neither detected expression of Oct4, Nanog and Sox2 in all tested USSC cell lines nor in MNCs and CD34 + cells from cord blood nor in MSCs, MNCs and CD34+ cells from bone marrow. To increase the sensitivity of our method we performed quantitative Oct4 PCRs. This method revealed that USSCs reach the same Oct4 expression level as human dermal fibroblasts. These results are also supported by the inactive status of the telomerase. As a positive control we used the embryonic carcinoma cell line nTERA-2 showing a high expression of Oct4, Nanog and Sox2. In addition we were able to show that the markers SSEA1, SSEA3 and SSEA4 cannot be used as markers of an embryonic-like phenotype. SSEA-1 recognizes the CD15 epitope, SSEA-4 cross-reacts with an adult MSC subpopulation and SSEA3 was always negative applying the correct isotype controls. However, cord blood does not have to contain embryonic like cells, but it contains neonatal cells as USSC expressing Sox17. For hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) it had already been shown that the transcription factor Sox 17 is required to maintain fetal and neonatal HSC and distinguishes their transcriptional regulation from adult HSCs (Kim et al. 2007). Our results indicate that USSCs and cord blood are neonatal cells without expression of typical embryonic stem cell markers. In more than 10.000 unrelated Cord blood transplants performed so far, no tumor formation associated with an Oct4 positive cell/teratoma formation was observed. Therefore the embryonic-like nature of cord blood cells must be reconsidered.


Turing Machines are universal computing machines in theory. It has been a long debate whether Turing Machines can simulate the consciousness mind behaviors in the materialistic universe. Three different hypotheses come out of such debate, in short:(A) Can; (B) Cannot; (C) Super-Turing machines can. Because Turing Machines or other kinds of theoretical computing models are abstract objects while behaviors are real observables, this debate involves at least three distinct fields of science and technology: physics, computer engineering, and experimental neuroscience. However, the languages used in these different fields are highly heterogeneous and not easily interpretable for each other, making it very difficult to reach partial agreements regarding this debate, Therefore, the main goal of this manuscript is to establish a proper language that can translate among those different fields. First, I propose a theoretical model for analyzing how theoretical computing machines would physically run in physical time. This model, termed as the xInf, is at first place Turing-complete in theory, and depending on the properties of physical time, it can be either Turing-equivalent or Super-Turing in the physical universe. The xInf Model is demonstrated to be a suitable universal language to translate among physics, computer engineering, and neuroscience. Finally, I propose a conjecture that there exists a Minimal Complete Set of rules in the xInf Model that enables the construction of a physical machine using inorganic materials that can pass the Turing Test in physical time. I cannot demonstrate whether such a conjecture to be testified or falsified on paper using finite-order logic, my only solution is physical time itself, i.e. an evolutionary competition will eventually tell the conclusion.


The quantitative detector of driver fatigue presents appropriate warnings and helps to prevent traffic accidents.The aim of this study was to quantifiably evaluate driver mental fatigue using the power spectral analysis of the blood pressure variability (BPV) and subjective evaluation. In this experiment twenty healthy male subjects were required to perform a driving simulator task for 3-hours. The physiological variables for evaluating driver mental fatigue were spectral values of blood pressure variability (BPV)including very low frequency (VLF), low frequency (LF),high frequency (HF). As a result, LF, HF and LF/HF showed high correlations with driver mental fatigue but not found in VLF. The findings represent a possible utility of BPV spectral analysis in quantitatively evaluating driver mental fatigue.


Thirty, nine-banded armadillos weighing between 3 and 5 kilograms trapped from an area endemic for armadillo leprosy were collected at random; killed, autopsied and examined histopathologically. Also, one of the right inguinal lymph nodes was removed under sterile precautions and examined using PCR, direct smear examination, mouse footpad study, culture in laboratory media and histopathology with a view to detecting Mycobacterium leprae. Blood was collected at death and tested for IgM antibodies to PGL-1. According to the PCR study of the inguinal lymph nodes 16 of 30 armadillos (53.3%) had evidence of M. leprae. Significant levels of IgM antibodies to PGL-1 and identifiable lepromatous granuloma in inguinal lymph nodes were found in 2 animals (6.7%) with advanced disseminated disease. The prevalence of generalized leprosy according to autopsy study was 13.3% and according to histopathological examination of ear tissue 3.3%. The presence of M. leprae in the tissues evoked no special tissue reaction in the early stages. The pattern of spread of the disease in 2 animals closely resembled that found in experimental animals infected intracutaneously. Initiation of infection by inoculation of M. leprae through thorn pricks remains a distinct possibility.


Generating inferences from a gene regulatory network is important to understand the fundamental cellular processes, involving gene functions, and their relations. The availability of time-series gene expression data makes it possible to investigate the gene activities of the whole genomes. Under this framework, gene interaction is explained through a connection weight matrix. Based on the fact that the measured time points are limited and the assumption that the genetic networks are usually sparsely connected, we present an ABC-based search algorithm to unveil potential genetic network constructions that fit well with the time-series data and explore possible gene interactions. A cost function is designed, the minimization of which yields the solution to the problem. Computer simulation of the proposed algorithm reveals that it is able to predict the signs of all the existing weights accurately.


. Geothermal heat flow is an important boundary condition for ice sheet, affecting for example basal melt rates, but for ice covered regions we only have sparse heat flow observations with partly high uncertainty. In this study, we first investigate the agreement between such point-wise heat flow observations and Solid Earth models, applying a 1D steady state approach to perform a statistical analysis for the entire Arctic region. We find that most of the continental heat flow observations have a high reliability and agreement to Solid Earth models, except a few data points, as for example the NGRIP point in Central 5 Greenland. For further testing, we perform a conditional simulation with focus on Greenland, in which the local characteristics of heat flow structures can be considered. Simple kriging shows that including or excluding the less reliable NGRIP point has a large influence on the surrounding heat flow. The geostatistical analysis with the conditional simulation supports the assumption that NGRIP might not only be problematic for representing a regional feature but likely is an outlier. Basal melt estimates show that 10 such a local spot of high heat flow results in local high basal melt rates, but leads to less variation than existing geophysical models.


To the Editor:

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is characterized by fibrous swelling of affected organs, elevations in serum IgG4 concentrations, and responsiveness to glucocorticoid treatment1. Affected tissues display similar histological features: diffuse lymphoplasmacytic infiltration by numerous IgG4-positive plasma cells, occasional eosinophils, storiform fibrosis, and obliterative phlebitis2. IgG4-related hypertrophic pachymeningitis (IgG4-HP) has been identified as a characteristic central nervous system (CNS) manifestation of IgG4-RD, but comprehensive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses are substantially lacking3,4. Recently, we demonstrated an intrathecal IgG and IgG4 synthesis in the CSF of a patient with IgG4-HP and suggested IgG4 Indices as safe potential diagnostic tools for IgG4-HP5. Here, we describe 2 new cases of IgG4-HP with CSF evaluation at diagnosis and in response to treatment.

In case 1, March 2007, a 56-year-old man was admitted with a 1-year history of right frontal headache. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed right frontal pachymeningitis. Granulomatous meningeal inflammation was suspected and oral prednisone (1 mg/kg body weight/day) was started with clinical and radiological improvement. Prednisone was discontinued after 8 months, but in July 2008 the headache recurred. Blood and CSF analyses are shown in Table 1. MRI evidenced a right frontotemporal progression of the pachymeningitis (Figure 1A). A meningeal biopsy …

Address correspondence to Dr. E. Della-Torre, Department of Medicine and Clinical Immunology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy. E-mail: dellatorre.emanuel{at}hsr.it


Peroxynitrite is a potent oxidant and nitrating species proposed as a direct effector of myocardial damage in a wide range of cardiac diseases. Whether peroxynitrite also acts indirectly, by modulating cell signal transduction pathways in the myocardium, has not been investigated. Here, we examined the ability of peroxynitrite to activate extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), a MAP kinase which has been linked with hypertrophic and anti-apoptotic responses in the heart, in cultured H9C2 cardiomyocytes. Peroxynitrite elicited a concentration-and time-dependent activation of ERK, secondary to the upstream activation of MEK 1 (ERK kinase). Activation of MEK-ERK by peroxynitrite was related to the upstream activation of Raf-1 kinase, as ERK and MEK phosphorylation were prevented by the Raf-1 inhibitor BAY43–9006. These effects of peroxynitrite were not associated with the activation of p21 Ras , known as a common signaling target of cellular oxidative stress. In contrast to ERK activation mediated by the epidermal growth factor (EGF), ERK activation by peroxynitrite was not prevented by AG1478 (EGF receptor inhibitor). Peroxynitrite acted through oxidative, but not nitrative chemistry, as ERK remained activated while nitration was prevented by the flavanol epicatechin. In addition to ERK, peroxynitrite also potently activated two additional members of the MAP kinase family of signaling proteins, JNK and p38. Thus, peroxynitrite activates ERK in cardiomyocytes through an unusual signaling cascade involving Raf-1 and MEK 1, independently from EGFR and P21 Ras , and also acts as a potent activator of JNK and p38. These results provide the novel concept that peroxynitrite may represent a previously unrecognized signaling molecule in various cardiac pathologies.


Computer Aided Detection (CAD) and diagnostic technologies and their application have emerged in the last decade. CAD applications have concentrated on identification of the region of interest, for example nodules in the lung in the images, and analysis of the characteristics of objects. CAD technologies take advantages of computer systems as well as image processing and analysis techniques to overcome perceptual and interpretive errors caused by radiologists in the process of image observation and interpretation. This fact is inevitable in the context of medical practice since experience of image readers may vary and each observer (such as a radiologist) has a unique visual search on an image. Furthermore, there are always inter and intra observer variability for interpretation of an image. To overcome these difficulties, different CAD systems are developed for medical image analysis. This paper presents a systematic review on different CAD systems for lung cancer classification using computed tomography images.


It is increasingly recognised by scholars that the work of the prison officer has become more complex, and that one key task is the balancing of an emphasis on the maintenance of security within the prison with the challenge of improving rehabilitation objectives among prisoners. As a consequence, prison officers in the Republic of Ireland now undertake a two-year higher certificate programme in custodial care (HCCC). The programme is a mixture of vocational training and academic theory, and seeks to foster and develop an increasingly professional prison officer. This paper outlines the structure and content of the HCCC programme. It will explore the experiences of two tutors who work for the Institute of Technology, Sligo and who are involved in teaching on the HCCC. One tutor teaches on the Equality and Diversity module and the other delivers the Custodial Care Policy and Practice class. Both modules are delivered in year two of the programme. The paper describes the 'blended-learning' approach taken on these modules, with a Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) supporting face-to-face tutorials. A range of innovative pedagogical initiatives are employed, including problem-based and work-based learning, online learning through discussion forums, online tutorials, twitter, experiential learning and role plays. Theoretical underpinnings will be provided on the choice of these approaches. The views of students regarding their use of the VLE and on their educational experience will also be detailed under the broad heading of 'building online learning communities.' Through an analysis of our research findings, the authors will present recommendations for improving future educational delivery practice to this cohort of students. It is understood that these recommendations will be applicable to other student cohorts involved in similar educational approaches.


Objective: The appearance of resistant bacteria reduces the efficiency of antimicrobial therapies, thereby increasing the need for more efficient drugs for infections treatment. Many studies have shown an enhance in antimicrobial activity after the interaction of many agents with metal ions. Complexes of the metal ions with ligands which are polydentate have been the theme of demanding research as they have interesting spectral, magnetic properties and a miscellaneous spectrum of biological activities. Methods: New isoniazid based compounds and their transition metal complexes (cobalt (II), copper (II), nickel (II) and zinc (II)) were produced using microwave synthesis technique. The All compounds which were synthesized (free ligand and their metal complexes) were fully characterized by many spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR spectra, UV/visible electronic spectra, mass spectra and 13C NMR and 1H NMR spectra). In addition, CHN, XRFA, AAS merged with other spectroscopic data were utilized to allocate the precise ligand to metal ratio and geometry. The synthesized ligands and their complexes were tested for in vitro antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans (ATCC 10231), Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) by using agar-well diffusion.
Results: Based on analytical and spectroscopic findings, the ligands proceed as a coordinate and monoanionic tridentate throughout phenolic oxygen, azomethine nitrogen, and carbonyl oxygen. New complexes of nisonicotinamido- 2-hydroxy-5-methoxy benzalaldimine with Cu(II), Co(II) and Zn(II), having a formula of the type [M (L) 2].nH2O, (M = Co(II), n = 1.5; Zn(II), n = 0; Cu(II), n = 6) and with Ni(II), featuring a formula of the type [M (L) (H2O)] (ac).nH2O, (M = Ni(II), n = 0, ac = CH3COO¯) were obtained. Accordingly, octahedral geometries were determined to Zinc(II), Cobalt(II) and Copper(II) complexes and geometry of the tetrahedral was allocate to the Ni(II) complex. Conclusion: Biological findings indicate that complexation may increase or decrease the antimicrobial activity of some complexes. This could be endorsed to an increase of complexes lipophilicity in comparison to the parent ligand.


Sixty-seven cases of chemodectoma in dogs (fifty-nine aortic body, two glomus pulmonale, and six carotid body) were studied. The epidemiology, biological behaviour, and association with other tumours of canine and human chemodectoma were compared. The large number of sites of origin of human chemodectomas was not observed in the dog. The canine chemo-dectomas occurred as multiple tumours in 16% of the cases and were biologically similar to the human tumours. As with human chemodectomas, an association with endocrine tumours (such as phaeochromocyto-mas and thyroid neoplasms) was observed.

The aortic body tumours were the most common and occurred more frequently in males. A higher rate of metastasis (22%) and a higher frequency of multiple endocrine tumours in association with chemodectomas, not observed in the dog before, were seen. In contrast to the high frequency of interstitial cell tumours and a low frequency of Sertoli cell tumours noted in previous studies, a low frequency of interstitial cell tumours and a high frequency of Sertoli cell tumours were seen in this study. Similarly, a previously reported high frequency of haemangio-sarcoma was not observed in this series.

A significantly higher frequency of chemodectomas was seen in the brachiocephalic dogs (Boxers and Boston terriers). Chemodectomas in man have shown familial predispositions. However, in brachiocephalic dogs the high frequency of chemodectomas may be caused by their partially obstructed air passages, rather than by a genetic factor only.

A higher incidence of chemoreceptor-cell hyperplasia and chemo-


A dynamic profit maximization model with adjustment costs of capital is implemented to study US outward processing trade in apparel and to examine the effects of preferential trade policies in the long and short runs. The model is used to determine the role of foreign investment and to simulate outcomes due to the introduction of the Trade and Development Act of 2000 and the elimination of Multi-Fiber Agreement quotas in selected Caribbean countries. The transitional dynamics as well as long-run costs and benefits of these trade policy changes are evaluated. While outward processing trade expands with preferences under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, policies typically require five years to be fully effective, and competition in freer markets could reverse the benefits realized under preferential trade.


Rocks as natural materials are inhomogeneous and anisotropic with the implication that their physical properties are never the same but rather vary in depth, time and space. A good understanding of rock parameters at deep and challenging settings helps improve the interpretation of essential explo-ration data. Vital to this improved knowledge is the need to establish a threshold of normal and standard rock property behaviours in target areas in order to detect abnormal trends that could be critical to exploration success. Analyses of rock property trends in a normally pressured reservoir in Offshore Niger Delta have been carried out using wireline log data such as sonic, density, resistivity and gamma ray logs. The petrophysical workflow involved the generation and interpretation of cross-plots of density – Vp, and Poisson's ratio - Vp; and depth trends of Vp, Vs, density, acoustic impedance and Poisson's ratio for sands and shales. A predictable linear relationship exist in these plots; it is normal for velocity, density and acoustic impedance trends to increase with depth due to progressive mechanical compaction while Poisson's ratio decreases with depth.


Spatial solitons are generated in nematic liquid crystals taking advantage of their reorientational response with increase in refractive index. Such response is saturable and can therefore prevent filamentation even in the fully three-dimensional case. To sustain a soliton, a linearly polarized optical field exerts a torque on the (pre-aligned) induced molecular dipoles of a positive uniaxial liquid crystal, orienting them towards the beam polarization vector. This is obtained at low powers by introducing a pre-tilt to the molecules in a planarly-anchored nematic, as to form an angle close to /spl pi//4 between them and the optical field. Since the liquid crystal has a noninstantaneous response, it averages out rapid intensity variations and allows to employ light with reduced spatio-temporal coherence. When properly polarized, the spatially incoherent beam forms an "incoherent" spatial soliton, which can also guide a weaker copolarized and collinear signal of different wavelength. Coherent/incoherent solitons and their use in signal rerouting and multiplexing are discussed.


BACKGROUND
Papillary solid cystic neoplasm (PSCN) of the pancreas is a tumor of low malignant potential and has an excellent prognosis. Although the cytologic features are well documented, it can pose a diagnostic problem when it presents as an extrapancreatic mass.

CASE
A young woman presented with a retroperitoneal mass. Sonography and computed tomography (CT) showed a partially cystic mass touching the spleen and pancreas but distinct from both organs. The CT-guided aspiration cytologic diagnosis was paraganglioma. At surgery the mass was attached to the tail of the pancreas by a pedicle. The histologic diagnosis was PSCN of the pancreas.

CONCLUSION
The cytologic findings in paraganglioma and PSCN may be strikingly similar, with both showing a perivascular pattern, acinar formations, cells with a moderate amount of ill-defined cytoplasm with red granularity on May-Grünwald Giemsa stain and a uniform chromatin pattern. This may be a source of diagnostic error, particularly in a patient presenting with a retroperitoneal, extrapancreatic mass.


This paper presents the influence of different sizes of carbonyl iron particles on the reflectivity measurements of Radar Absorbing Material (RAM). The electromagnetic characterization was performed with a vector network analyzer and a rectangular waveguide in the frequency range of 12.4 to 18GHz (Ku Band). The influence of different parameters such as thicknesses, particle sizes and concentration of carbonyl iron were evaluated. Reflectivity results showed the influence of these parameters on the performance of the RAM. The best reflectivity values (~ -18 dB) were obtained for samples with 60 wt% concentration and 5 mm thickness. We provide information about significantly reflection loss improvement by simply controlling carbonyl iron particulate size.


Although empirical research is lacking, it has been argued that "if a teacher is motivated to teach, there is a good chance [the] students will be motivated to learn" (Dornyei and Ushioda, 2011, p. 158). If this assumption is correct, motivated teachers are obviously needed. However, within the field of language teacher cognition, teacher motivation is under-researched (Kubanyiova, 2006). Indeed, on 27 April 2014 I conducted a small-scale survey (with the help of Google Advanced Scholar), investigating the number of times the term "teacher motivation" has appeared in four leading journals in the twenty-first century. The results are as follows: ELT Journal (3), Language Teaching Research (3), System (5), and TESOL Quarterly (0). The 11 hits, however, include those from book reviews and a conference announcement. Only one article (Gao & Xu, 2013) refers to teacher motivation in its title; the article itself focuses on what motivates teachers to join the profession. Another of these recent studies (Guilloteaux, 2013) focuses on the motivational strategies that teachers could be modelling to help their learners but (in a Korean context) do not seem to be. This may be "because [these teachers] are themselves experiencing ebbs and flows in their job motivation" (p. 12). None of these articles directly addresses the question: what exactly is a 'motivated' teacher?


The multidisciplinary study of planktic and benthic foraminifera, alkenone SST, and O and C stable isotope records allowed reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental history of the central Adriatic basin over the last 360 ka B.P. In general, the main paleoclimatic changes documented in the central Adriatic appear in phase with climate change in the North Atlantic realm, except for intervals which correspond to the deposition of sapropel levels in the eastern Mediterranean. In particular, the interval between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7.5 and MIS 5 appears to be strongly influenced by the monsoonal regime. The comparison with other Mediterranean records also suggests that the Adriatic Basin was affected by very low sea surface temperature (SST) (down to 2°C for MIS 2) during glacial intervals, which is uncommon for the Mediterranean Basin. In addition, the SST record indicates that this basin was unable to maintain warm interglacial/interstadial conditions for durations similar to the western Mediterranean. This fact can be explained by the landlocked position and shallow depth of this basin, which make it particularly exposed to atmospheric forcing (e.g., Siberian High) and to the strong influence of the nearby landmass during glacial intervals, producing a lag in the demise of glacial intervals. Moreover, the progressively higher values of the δ18O records of glacial intervals, alongside the SST record and the foraminifera assemblage, imply an increasing impact of the formation of cold and dense water since the penultimate glacial.


Introduction: Spinal radiculopathy is the most common cause of back pain and pain of upper or lower limb. Radiography (MRI or X-ray) and electrodiagnostic measures, including EMG-NCV, can be employed for diagnosis of radiculopathy. Each of the mentioned diagnostic methods has its own limitations. Thus, a comparative study between these methods is essential for accurate diagnosis of patients with clinical symptoms of radiculopathy.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 96 patients with radicular back pain who had visited neurology clinic in Ardabil Hospital were enrolled. All the patients had MRI, EMG, and NCV results in their files so the present study did not impose any excessive costs on the patients. MRI was used as the diagnostic gold standard and other tests were compared with it. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were estimated for each test.
Findings: The results of this study indicated a relatively high diagnostic value of lumbar radiculopathy for EMG test and it had a relatively high compatibility with the results of MRI test. Unlike EMG, NCV test did not show any significant agreement with MRI results. Also it was recommended that EMG for back be done with high obsession when necessary.
Conclusions: Doing EMG test in patients with radicular pain can be a helpful diagnostic test for spinal radiculopathies and NCV test is not worth doing for diagnosis of radiculopathy of the spine.


Abstract Atorvastatin calcium (ATV) is a well-known anti-hyperlipidemic drug currently being recognized for possessing an anti-inflammatory effect. Introducing it as a novel remedy for periodontitis treatment necessitates developing a syringeable modified delivery system capable of targeting inflammation within the periodontal pockets. Thus, a 33 Box-Behnken design was used to generate eugenol enriched PEGylated cubosomes. Based on the desirability function, the optimized formulation (OEEPC) was selected exhibiting a solubilization efficiency (SE%) of 97.71 ± 0.49%, particle size (PS) of 135.20 ± 1.11 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.09 ± 0.006, zeta potential (ZP) of −28.30 ± 1.84 mV and showing a sustained drug release over 12 h. It displayed a cubic structure under the transmission electron microscope, furthermore, it was stable upon storage for up to 30 days. Hence, it was loaded into an optimum syringeable in-situ gel (ISG) which displayed the desired periodontal gelation temperature (34 ± 0.70 °C) and an adequate gelation time (46 ± 2.82 sec), it also released approximately 75% of the drug within 72 h. Clinical evaluation of the ISG showed a promising percentage reduction of about 58.33% in probing depth, 90% in the bleeding index, 81.81% in the plaque index, and 70.21% in gingival levels of transforming growth factor–β1. This proved that the formulated syringeable intra-pocket delivery system of ATV is an efficient candidate for diminishing inflammation in periodontitis.


Overdistraction and derotation of the scoliotic spine during surgery represent potential complications that could lead to spinal cord dysfunction and paralysis. Neuronal loss and, consequently, the inability to regain function may be attributable to primary damage (eg, mechanical), secondary cell death (eg, such as that produced by ischemia) or a combination of both. Beyond intraoperative recognition and removal of the rods, effective strategies to prevent this neuronal loss have yet to be developed. This emphasizes the need for a clearer understanding of the molecular events that contribute to neuronal injury in the central nervous system. Considerable evidence has indicated that the excitatory transmitter L-glutamate and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) excitatory amino acid receptor may contribute to the secondary neuronal death observed in a wide variety of neurological insults, including ischemia. The current investigation was undertaken to elucidate the potential role of the NMDA receptor in spinal cord pathology. Isolated rat spinal cords were exposed to anoxic physiologic solutions in the presence and absence of Ca++, NMDA receptor agonists, and a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist. The extent of neuronal damage was assessed by quantitating the degradation of the cytoskeletal neurofilament protein. A substantial increase in the loss of neurofilament protein was observed in spinal cords exposed to anoxic conditions in the presence of Ca++ as compared with the absence of Ca++. Exposure to excitatory amino acid agonists (L-glutamate or NMDA) further potentiated the degradation of the neurofilament protein; an effect that was reversed by a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist. The results support the concept of excitotoxic mediated spinal cord damage and may provide insight into the design of new rational strategies for treating spinal cord injury.


A design methodology based on simulation of dynamical behavior is presented in this paper. The particularity of our method is that it exploits the set-membership simulation. Indeed, this method allows one to consider an interval of values for each parameter of the dynamical model. Finding the parameters validating the requirements is then a filter, based on a Branch and Prune algorithm. We prefer an approach of appropriate design that is a design which validates the physical constraints coming from requirements, to an optimal design which does not lead to satisfy imperative requirements. Our method is described and applied on the complex problem of design of an hovercraft under dynamic requirements.


Massively parallel computers are increasingly being used to solve large, I/O intensive applications in many different fields. For such applications, the I/O requirements quite often present a significant obstacle in the way of achieving good performance, and an important area of current research is the development of techniques by which these costs can be reduced. One such approach is collective I/O, where the processors cooperatively develop an I/O strategy that reduces the number, and increases the size, of I/O requests, making a much better use of the I/O subsystem. Collective I/O has been shown to significantly reduce the cost of performing I/O in many large, parallel applications, and for this reason serves as an important base upon which we can explore other mechanisms which can further reduce these costs. One promising approach is to use threads to perform the collective I/O in the background while the main thread continues with other computation in the foreground. In this paper we explore the issues associated with implementing collective I/O in the background using threads. The most natural approach is to simple, spawn off an I/O thread to perform the collective I/O in the background while the main thread continues with other computation. However our research demonstrates that this approach is frequently the worst implementation option, often performing much more poorly than just executing collective I/O completely in the foreground. To improve the performance of thread-based collective I/O, we developed an alternate approach where part of the collective I/O operation is performed in the background, and part is performed in the foreground. We demonstrate that this new technique can significantly improve the performance of thread-based collective I/O, providing up to an 80% improvement over sequential collective I/O (where there is no attempt to overlap computation with I/O). Also, we discuss one very important application of this research which is the implementation of the split-collective parallel I/O operations defined in MPI 2.0.


Cognitive radio networks deal with opportunistic spectrum access leading to greater utilization of the spectrum. The extent of utilization depends on the primary user's traffic and also on the way the spectrum is accessed by the primary and secondary users. In this paper Continuous-time Markov chains are used to model the spectrum access. The proposed three-dimensional model represents a more accurate cognitive system than the existing models with increased spectrum utilization and than the random and reservation based spectrum access. A non-random access method is proposed to remove the forced termination states. In addition, call dropping and blocking probabilities are reduced. It is further shown that channel utilization is higher than random access and reservation based access.


The core structure of the cell-wall lipooligosaccharide (LOS) fraction of an Antarctic Gram-negative bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC 125 strain, was determined to be deacetylated alditols. These were obtained from native LOS fraction by O-deacylation, dephosphorylation, reduction and finally N-deacylation. Two novel structures were detected, the more highly represented molecule consisting of the following hexasaccharide chain: alpha-D-ManpNH(2)-(1-->3)-beta-D-Galp-(1-->4)-alpha-L-glycero-D-manno-Hepp-(1-->5)-alpha-D-Kdo-(2-->6)-beta-D-GlcpNH(2)-(1-->6)-D-GlcNH(2)(ol) while the corresponding pentasaccharide, lacking the ManpNH(2) residue, was less abundant. To the best of our knowledge, the structural investigation presented here, mainly performed by NMR and MS methods, is the first report of the lipopolysaccharide fraction of a psychrophilic bacterium.


An exhaustive structural investigation of a Y-doped ceria (Ce1–xYxO2–x/2) system over different length scales was performed by combining Rietveld and Pair Distribution Function analyses of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data. For low doping amounts, which are the most interesting for application, the local structure of Y-doped ceria can be envisaged as a set of distorted CeO2- and Y2O3-like droplets. By considering interatomic distances on a larger scale, the above droplets average out into domains resembling the crystallographic structure of Y2O3. The increasing spread and amount of the domains with doping forces them to interact with each other, leading to the formation of antiphase boundaries. Single phase systems are observed at the average ensemble level.


Highly branched, poly(caprolactone) (PCL) containing segmented poly(ester urethane)s were synthesized via polymerization of A2 and oligomeric B3 type monomers. An isocyanate functional butanediol-based A2 hard segment was synthesized and immediately reacted with a poly(caprolactone)-based trifunctional (B3) soft segment. Characterization of thermal properties using DMA and DSC analysis demonstrated that the PCL segment remained amorphous in branched poly(ester urethane)s. Conversely, the crystallinity of PCL segment was retained to some extent in a linear analogue with equivalent soft segment molecular weight. Tensile testing revealed a slight decrease in Young's modulus and tensile strength for the highly branched polymers compared with a linear analogue. However, highly branched poly(ester urethane)s demonstrated lower hysteresis. In addition to synthesis of highly branched polymers, poly(ester urethane) networks were synthesized from a highly branched hydroxyl-terminated precursor and a low molar mass diisocyanate as the crosslinking agent. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6285–6295, 2008


Two of the most significant threats to coral reefs worldwide are bleaching and disease. However, there has been a scarcity of research on coral disease in South-East Asia, despite the high biodiversity and the strong dependence of local communities on the reefs in the region. This study provides baseline data on coral disease frequencies within three national parks in Sabah, Borneo, which exhibit different levels of human impacts and management histories. High mean coral cover (55%) and variable disease frequency (mean 0.25 diseased colonies m−2) were found across the three sites. Highest disease frequency (0.44 diseased colonies per m2) was seen at the site closest to coastal population centres. Bleaching and pigmentation responses were actually higher at Sipadan, the more remote, offshore site, whereas none of the other coral diseases detected in the other two parks were detected in Sipadan. Results of this study offer a baseline dataset of disease in these parks and indicate the need for continued monitoring, and suggest that coral colonies in parks under higher anthropogenic stressors and with lower coral cover may be more susceptible to contracting disease.


AIM
To identify and, where possible, measure and value the private costs related to HIV/AIDS, that is, those costs that fall on the person with HIV/AIDS and the family/household/informal caregivers.

METHOD
Twenty-five people living with HIV - ranging from asymptomatic seropositive people, to people with AIDS - were followed prospectively to obtain information concerning the private costs (broadly defined) incurred. The participants resided in the Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch areas.

RESULTS
Private direct costs rise steeply as the illness progresses, from around $100 per month for asymptomatic people to around $400 per month for people with AIDS. Both indirect costs (foregone income) and intangibles (measured by a range of indicators) were also considerable.

CONCLUSION
The private costs of HIV/AIDS, defined in terms of direct, indirect and intangible costs, are significant and burdensome. Costing studies which ignore them will conceal, confuse and mislead.


This nationwide survey investigated the actual practices for supporting and confirming the decision‐making involved in related living‐organ donations in Japan, focusing on organ type and program size differences. Answers to a questionnaire survey were collected from 89 of the 126 (71%) kidney and 30 of the 35 (86%) liver transplantation programs in Japan that were involved in living‐donor transplantations in 2013. In 70% of the kidney and 90% of the liver transplantation programs, all donors underwent "third‐party" interviews to confirm their voluntariness. The most common third parties were psychiatrists (90% and 83%, respectively). Many programs engaged in practices to support decision‐making by donor candidates, including guaranteeing the right to withdraw consent to donate (70% and 100%, respectively) and prescribing a set "cooling‐off period" (88% and 100%, respectively). Most donors were offered care by mental health specialists (86% and 93%, respectively). Third parties were designated by more of the larger kidney transplant programs compared with the smaller programs. In conclusion, the actual practices supporting and confirming the decision to donate a living organ varied depending on the organ concerned and the number of patients in the program.


This research aims to answer the question how the study of the implementation of the policy of relocating street vendors Krian Station areas and factors that affect the implementation of the policy carried out by the local government district of Sidoarjo. The background behind this research, based on the fact during 2007 and Sidoarjo district has been regulate street vendors who utilize around the station as the location of krian areas of effort. The action doesn t give you the right solution over the problem of street vendors in Sidoarjo in particular PKL Krian Station areas. After a sweeping, street vendors do the action which then push the Government to implement this policy.To answer this question researchers used a method of the qualitative study with type research explorative.The selection of informants done purposively of sampling and next will grow by using snowball.Data is collected through the process of observation and in-depth interviews, as well as utilizing the document data and the tracing data online.The validity of the data tested through triangulation data so that the data being presented represents data that invalid.The analysis and interpretation data was undertaken with review all data that are available either obtained through in-depth interviews as well as the utilization of the document data then a grid, combined and grouped or are categorized and determining a series   of entanglement the data.The results obtained from this conclusion show that the policies the relocation street vendors in arrangement place of business and guidance street vendors krian terminal has not run well. This result can be seen on the basis of the stages in the implementation of policies adhere to the local regulation no .07 1990 that still encounters many obstacles .In this research also looking at about a factor of factors affect the implementation of policy .Factors bureaucratic structure and  resources are considered to be a contributing factor that impedes the implementation of a policy in the meantime , the support a group of a target that is positive is one factor that encourages the implementation of a policy


When subcutaneously administered to mice, soluble agonists of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) such as CpG oligo DNA and poly-I:C RNA activate antigen-presenting cells in the draining lymph node (DLN) within 24 hours. It suggests that vaccine antigen also should exist in the DLN at this phase, to maximize combinatorial effect of vaccine and adjuvant. Using CHP nanogel, a delivery system consisting of polysaccharide-based nanoparticle with an ability to modify in vivo distribution of cargo, we studied a relation among the spatiotemporal dynamics of antigen and adjuvant, immunogenicity and anti-tumor potency. We prepared around 40 amino acids of synthetic long peptides containing both CD8+ and CD4+ T cell epitopes for mouse T cells, derived from tumor antigen such as human MAGE-A4 or a mutated form of mouse ERK2. Each long peptide was complexed with CHP nanogel, and subcutaneously administered to BALB/c mice as vaccine. Long peptide admixed with incomplete Fruend9s adjuvant (IFA) that is known to have a depot effect at the injection site was also tested for comparison. Induction of the peptide-specific CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses was then measured, and in the absence of adjuvant, it was marginal in the mice with either long peptide/CHP nanogel or long peptide/IFA. However, when the vaccines were co-administered with TLR agonists, T cell response was enhanced, and it was remarkably more prominent in the mice with long peptide/CHP nanogel than those with long peptide/IFA. The employment of CHP nanogel also augmented the inhibitory effect of long peptide vaccine on in vivo growth of tumors expressing specific antigen. We then evaluated the capability of CHP nanogel and IFA to transport long peptide to the DLN after subcutaneous injection. Incorporation of the fluorescently labeled long peptide into antigen-presenting cells in the DLN was analyzed using flow cytometry. As a result, when complexed with CHP nanogel, long peptide was promptly incorporated to a significant proportion (approx. 10 to 55%) of CD11c+ dendritic cells and CD11b+ macrophages in the DLN, at the phase similar to when soluble agonists of TLRs act on the DLN, while the long peptides with IFA were not. A tracking analysis of the long peptide/CHP nanogel injected to the back of mice at the different sites but draining to same lymph node suggested a cell-independent mechanism underlying the CHP nanogel-mediated rapid antigen transportation to the DLN. Consistently, the modifications of CHP nanogel (e.g. cationic or larger particle size) that were expected to cause its retention at the injection site, resulted in the reduced incorporation of cargo long peptide to the DLN and decrease in the CD8+ T cell response even in the presence of adjuvant. These results indicate that appropriate control of the in vivo spatiotemporal dynamics of antigen and adjuvant is highly important to optimize the immunogenicity and efficacy of cancer vaccines, and our CHP nanogel is an ideal delivery system for such purpose. Citation Format: Daisuke Muraoka, Naozumi Harada, Tae Hayashi, Shin-ichi Sawada, Kazunari Akiyoshi, Hiroshi Shiku. Control of in vivo spatiotemporal dynamics of antigen and adjuvant by a delivery system CHP nanogel markedly improves the immunogenicity and antitumor efficacy of long peptide cancer vaccine. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology: Multidisciplinary Science Driving Basic and Clinical Advances; Dec 2-5, 2012; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(1 Suppl):Abstract nr B11.


In an earlier report we showed that incubation of α-crystallin with oxidized glutathione results in significant loss of its chaperone-like activity. In the present study, we determined the effect of protein-glutathione mixed disulfides (PSSG), formed at Cys-131 in bovine αA-crystallin, and Cys-131 and Cys-142 in human αA-crystallin, on the function of α-crystallin as a molecular chaperone. After incubation of calf and young human αL-crystallin fractions with oxidized glutathione, levels of PSSG were determined by performic acid oxidation of the mixed disulfides followed by reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography separation of phenylisothiocyanate-derivatized glutathione sulfonic acid. Levels of PSSG increased from 0.01 to 0.14 nmol/nmol (20 kDa) in bovine αL-crystallin and from 0.022 to 0.25 nmol/nmol in human αL-crystallin. The presence of glutathione adducts at Cys-131 and Cys-142 were confirmed by mass spectral analysis. The chaperone-like activity was determined by the heat denaturation assay using βL-crystallin as the target protein. To examine the reversibility of the effect of mixed disulfides on chaperone activity, studies were done before and after reduction with the glutathione reductase system. Increased levels of PSSG resulted in lower chaperone activities. Treatment with the glutathione reductase system led to 80% reduction in PSSG levels with a concomitant recovery of the chaperone activity. These results suggest that cysteine(s) in the αA-crystallin subunit play an important role in the function of α-crystallin as a molecular chaperone.


Fast chemical shift imaging of two-line materials is described using a modified spin-echo sequence. The method resolves the two chemical shift images into real and imaginary components representing the reconstructed image. The measuring time is reduced to half of that for the conventional method proposed by Dixon et al. (see Radiol., vol.153, p.189, 1984) and quantitative evaluation of the images becomes possible. Reference material with a single resonant line is used to eliminate the phase error caused by static field inhomogeneity and the inherent apparatus offset phase. Experiments are conducted using acetone and benzene with a medium-bore superconductive magnet operating at 0.5 T. From these experiments, two chemical shift images are obtained. These images are then superimposed to produce a conventional density image.


The deformation mechanisms of various kinds of single crystals and bicrystals during the process of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) have been paid more attention world wide. This paper reviews the recent progresses in the understanding of the deformation mechanisms of single crystals and bicrystals subjected to one-pass ECAP, and discusses the effect of initial crystallographic orientation and grain boundary on the microstructural evolution of these crystals. Based on those experimental results and analysis, it is suggested that in addition to the shear deformation along the intersection plane (IP) of ECAP die, the shear along the normal of IP also plays an important role in affecting the microstructural evolution and deformation mechanisms of these single crystals and bicrystals.


In a previous publication 1 it was shown that the decomposition of hexamethylenamin in the living normal organism takes place only in acid urine and gastric juice, that it depends on the excess hydrogen ion [H + ] concentration 2 of the fluid, and that in those body fluids which are neutral or truly alkaline (possessing [H + ] concentrations of 7.0 or less), no liberation of formaldehyd from hexamethylenamin takes place. It is conceivable, however, that the reactions of certain pathologic fluids may be truly acid. This might be true of those fluids which exhibit pronounced degrees of stasis, putrefaction or those of clinical "acidoses." With this in view, we have investigated the distribution of hexamethylenamin and free formaldehyd, and the reaction of these fluids, according to the methods described in our previous paper. Through the courtesy of the various staffs of the Lakeside, City and Charity hospitals of Cleveland, the following pathologic


Numerous crinoid-fenestrate bryozoan banks are developed within the Mississippian Chappel Formation, located in the Hardeman basin, Hardeman and Wilbarger Counties, Texas. The banks are oval in shape and range in size from 2 to 12 mi (3 to 19 km) in diameter. Stratigraphic, hydrocarbon entrapment in the banks has resulted in cumulative production exceeding 6 million bbl of oil plus 13 bcf of gas. The Chappel Formation is a shallow-water limestone, overlain End_Page 414------------------------------ by the oolitic grainstones of the Mississippian St. Louis Formation. Three distinct Chappel facies can be identified: the bank core, flank, and interbank facies. The bank core is composed of crinoid-fenestrate bryozoan mudstones and wackestones; the flank consists of crinoid-bryozoan grainstones and packstones; and the interbank consists of argillaceous sponge spicule mudstones with minor crinoid and bryozoan debris. Chert is a major constituent of the interbank facies but decreases in amount toward the bank core. Bank growth began in a low-energy environment with the mechanical accumulation of lime mud which was baffled and trapped by crinoids and fenestrate bryozoan. Once the bank core reached wave-base, the crinoid-bryozoan mudstones and wackestones were reworked and redeposited as the crinoid-bryozoan grainstones and packstones of the flank facies. The extensive development of the flank facies, compared with bank core development, indicates that the top of the bank remained at or near wave-base for an extended period of time. Porosity development in the Chappel banks is secondary and results from dolomitization of the micritic bank core, fracturing and leaching. Although the crinoid-bryozoan grainstones of the flank facies were originally porous, primary intergranular porosity is now absent because of epitaxial cementation. The Chappel banks can be located in the subsurface by using isopach maps which help identify interval thickening within the Chappel. In addition, thinning, shown by the isopach intervals on horizons immediately overlying the Chappel Formation, can also be used to delineate the presence of these bank deposits. In subsurface exploration, the bank facies can be differentiated from the interbank facies by petrographic analysis and by noting the more "massive" and also lower gamma ray log response. The lower gamma ray log response is caused by a lack of argillaceous material in the bank facies. End_of_Article - Last_Page 415------------


Analytic performance models are being increasingly used to support system runtime optimization. This paper considers the modelling features needed to predict the response time behaviour of an industrial enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, SAP ERP. A number of studies have reported modelling success with the application of basic product-form Queueing Network Models (QNMs) to multi-tier systems. Such QNMs are often preferred in the context of optimization studies due to the low computational costs of their solution. However, we show that these simple models do not support many important features required to accurately characterize industrial applications such as ERP systems. Specifically, our results indicate that software threading levels, asynchronous database calls, priority scheduling, multiple phases of processing, and the parallelism offered by multi-core processors all have a significant impact on response time that cannot be neglected.

Starting from these observations, the paper shows that Layered Queueing Models (LQMs) are a robust alternative to basic QNMs, while still enjoying analytical solution algorithms that facilitate their integration in optimization studies. A case study for a sales and distribution workload demonstrates that many of the features supported by LQMs are critical for achieving good prediction accuracy. Results show that, remarkably, all of the features we considered that are not captured by basic product-form QNMs are needed to predict mean response times to within 15% of measured values for a wide range of load levels. If any key feature is absent, the mean response time estimates could differ by 36% to 117% compared to the measured values, thus making the case that such non-product-form modelling features are needed for complex real-world applications.


Cell proliferation and angiogenesis are of utmost importance for healing to take place. The KI67 and EGFR proteins are markers of cell proliferation, while CD31 and factor VIII are markers of angiogenesis. To elucidate the mechanism responsible for delayed healing of the gastric injury in old age, we analyzed the expression of these markers in rats of different months during the healing of an acetic acid-induced gastric ulcer. Male Wistar rats (aged 3, 6, 12, and 18 months) divided into four groups, according to their ages, formed the experimental animals. Stomach tissue samples were collected on days 3, 7, 14, and 21 after induction for assessment of ulcer healing. The area of gastric mucosa healed was inversely proportional to age. The expression of markers of proliferation (KI67 and EGFR) and angiogenesis (factor VIII and CD31) decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in older rats when compared with younger ones (3 months > six months > 12 months > 18 months) on days 7, 14, and 21 after induction of gastric ulcer. This study revealed that the slower gastric ulcer healing rate in older rats might be due to reduced epithelial cell proliferation and angiogenic activities.


In the recent past, the chameleon-like nature of zwitterionic micelles has been utilized for performing electrophilic, nucleophilic, base, and acid catalyzed reactions. But the use of simple salts to induce the zwitterionic character limits the variation to inorganic cations and anions only. To overcome this problem, we have used room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), which can be tailored according to need. More precisely, we have shown the effect of added RTILs on the nature of water molecules in the palisade layer of a zwitterionic (N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonio-1-propanesulfonate (SB-16)) micelle using solvation and rotational relaxation studies of C-153 dye. We have carried out a comparative study of changes in the solvent and rotational relaxation parameters of C-153 in an aqueous solution of SB-16 upon addition of three different ionic liquids (ILs): 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate [C(2)mim][C(2)SO(4)], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium n-butyl sulfate [C(2)mim][C(4)SO(4)], and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium n-hexyl sulfate [C(2)mim][C(6)SO(4)]. It has been observed that in the presence of added RTILs the solvation dynamics become faster and the change in solvation dynamics is more pronounced in the case of [C(2)mim][C(6)SO(4)] compared to that for [C(2)mim][C(4)SO(4)] and [C(2)mim][C(2)SO(4)]. This can be accounted for by considering the increased water penetration (increased microfluidity) with the addition of ILs. In accordance with solvation dynamics results, fluorescence anisotropy studies also indicate an increase in microfluidity of the palisade layer of the SB-16 micelle with the added RTILs. The average rotational relaxation time in 28 mM SB-16 was found to be 1.12 ns. With the addition of 800 mM [C(2)mim][C(2)SO(4)], the average rotational relaxation time remains the same (1.12 ns), whereas with the addition of 800 mM [C(2)mim][C(6)SO(4)] it decreases to 0.40 ns. This observation is in agreement with our earlier report on the microfluidity of SB-16 solution with the addition of [C(2)mim][C(2)SO(4)] and [C(2)mim][C(6)SO(4)] (Rao, V. G.; Ghatak, C.; Ghosh, S.; Mandal, S.; Sarkar, N. Chem. Phys. Chem. DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201100866).


Overlay networks stretch a Layer 2 network and increase mobility of virtual machines. VXLAN (Virtual eXtensible LAN) is one of Layer 2 overlay schemes over a Layer 3 net- work proposed in IETF and its definition covers 16M overlay networks or segments which solves 4K limitation of VLANs. However VXLAN uses IP multicast for the isolation of net- work traffic by tenant in the shared network infrastructure. IP multicast requires great amount of resources such as IP multicast table and CPU therefore the scalability is to be limited by handling of IP multicast. We propose to manage IP multicast in overlay networks using OpenFlow instead of using dynamic registration protocol such as IGMP. We describe our implementations of VXLAN controller, edge switch with VXLAN gateway and OpenFlow switch. Our method using OpenFlow eliminates periodical Join/Leave messages and achieves more than 4k tenants in our Layer 2 network at server edges, which was not possible before.


BACKGROUND
Currently there is limited information to guide health professionals regarding the optimal time frame to initiate safe and effective oral feedings to preterm infants. The study aims to revise and validate a streamlined version of the "Traditional Chinese-Preterm Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale", the TC-POFRAS®, and evaluate its construct validity in the clinical decisions regarding feeding readiness of preterm infants.

METHODS
Eighty-one clinically stable preterm infants were assessed using the TC-POFRAS for oral feeding readiness. Item-total correlation analysis was used to check if any item was inconsistent with the averaged TC-POFRAS scores. Cronbach's α coefficient was used to evaluate the inter-item consistency. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the coherence of variables to reorganize assessment domains. The revised version of TC-POFRAS (TC-POFRAS®) was developed and a new cut-off score based on discriminant accuracy was established.

RESULTS
Based on the results from statistical analysis, five items ("lips posture," "tongue posture," "biting reflex," "gag reflex," and "tongue cupping") were deleted from the original TC-POFRAS to form the TC-POFRAS®. The TC-POFRAS®'s global accuracy was 92.1%. The cut-off value of 19 was the one that presented the most optimization of sensitivity based on specificity. The TC-POFRAS® was reconstructed into corrected gestational age and five behavioral domains.

CONCLUSIONS
The TC-POFRAS® is considered a valid, safe, and accurate objective instrument to assist health professionals to initiate oral feeding of the preterm infants.


Corporate retail stores are today the focal points for purchasing decisions of middle and high-income groups in urban India. However, each corporate retail store has its own model of retailing. Storing different varieties of products at same locality, location advantage, self-servicing outlets, window shopping, large scale discount, specialty stores are some of the models retailing stores adopted, but all these retail models are not being   popular among the consumers. Consumer's preferences and choices are varying across different retail models. In this context the present study wants to explore significant difference among corporate retail stores in Vijayawada in consumer preference and choices.


Background Previous research has shown associations between source memory errors and hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia. We bring together here findings from a broad memory investigation to specify better the type of source memory failure that is associated with auditory and visual hallucinations. Method Forty-one patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy participants underwent a memory task involving recall and recognition of lists of words, recognition of pictures, memory for temporal and spatial context of presentation of the stimuli, and remembering whether target items were presented as words or pictures. Results False recognition of words and pictures was associated with hallucination scores. The extra-list intrusions in free recall were associated with verbal hallucinations whereas the intra-list intrusions were associated with a global hallucination score. Errors in discriminating the temporal context of word presentation and the spatial context of picture presentation were associated with auditory hallucinations. The tendency to remember verbal labels of items as pictures of these items was associated with visual hallucinations. Several memory errors were also inversely associated with affective flattening and anhedonia. Conclusions Verbal and visual hallucinations are associated with confusion between internal verbal thoughts or internal visual images and perception. In addition, auditory hallucinations are associated with failure to process or remember the context of presentation of the events. Certain negative symptoms have an opposite effect on memory errors.


Background An important consideration in determining the ability of fortified food-aid commodities to meet the nutritional needs of beneficiaries is the manner in which commodities are utilized and prepared and the degree to which micronutrient losses occur during handling and cooking by the beneficiaries. Objective A field study was conducted in Uganda, Malawi, and Guatemala to obtain data on storage, preparation, and usage of fortified blended foods provided by the US Agency for International Development. Methods Interview and observational data on the use of corn-soy blend, cornmeal, soy-fortified cornmeal, soy-fortified bulgur, and fortified vegetable oil were collected from more than 100 households and two wet-feeding sites (where food is prepared and served by staff on-site) in 32 villages. Results Storage practices by beneficiaries appeared to be appropriate, and all commodities observed were free from off-flavors and odors. Cooking water was typically obtained from boreholes or open wells with a pH range of 4.7 to 7.7. Food preparation usually took place in covered areas with the use of an aluminum or clay pot over a wood-fueled fire. Thin or thick porridges were the most common dishes prepared from cereal-based products, with concentration ranges of 10% to 31% (wt/wt) in water. Cooking times for porridges ranged from 5 to 53 minutes, with a mean of 26 minutes. Tortillas and beverages were other preparations commonly observed in Guatemala. Vegetable oil was typically used for pan frying. Conclusions Cooking fuel could be saved and nutritional quality probably improved if relief agencies emphasized shorter cooking times. These data can be used to simulate preparation methods in the laboratory for assessment of the nutritional impact of cooking.


Crop production in open fields is increasingly limited by weather extremes and water shortages, in addition to pests and soil-borne diseases. In order to increase crop yield, quality, and productivity, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) can play an important role as an alternative and supplemental production system to conventional open field production. CEA is any agricultural technology that enables growers to manipulate the growing environment for improved yield and quality. CEA production systems include high tunnels, greenhouses, and indoor vertical farming, as well as hydroponics and aquaponics. Currently, 'low-tech' CEA techniques such as high tunnels (plastic greenhouses with minimum or no cooling and heating) are primarily utilized in developing countries where labor costs are relatively low, and China has by far the largest area covered by high tunnels or 'Chinese-style' solar greenhouses. The most control-intensive 'high-tech' CEA approach, namely indoor vertical farming, has gained tremendous attention in the past decade by researchers and entrepreneurs around the world, owing to advancements in lighting technology, including use of light emitting diodes (LEDs), and increasing urbanization with new market opportunities. This special issue covers some of the CEA topics such as LED lighting, substrate, and hydroponics.


This study conducted with juveniles who were given a counseling service, who were pushed to crime and with their families. The aim of the study is investigation of the effects of the family and other factors (school, economic / working status, friend, social environment, media and internet) on the inclining of the juvenile to the crime. Qualitative research methods used in this study. Indepth interviews were conducted with twenty girls and boys who have different socio-cultural characteristics, who were pushed to crime whose given a counseling servic and with their families. Answers obtained from the questions were translated from voice record to text. Then the collected data were analyzed using "MAXQDA 18", one of the qualitative data analysis programs. In this study, it is seen that social factors rather than individual causes are effective in pushing children to crime. Although the most important factor in pushing children to crime is problematic relations within the family members, the other factors which dragging children to crime can be written as friends/peers, school, social environment (kinship, neighborhood, place of residence), media, economic factors, and drug addiction. It was seen that children defined the concept of crime in general by referring to their own actions.


In this paper, a simple and accurate characterization method of the thermal impedance of silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is proposed. This method relies on low-frequency S-parameter measurements in the 100 Hz-3 GHz frequency range. It is shown that feedback hybrid parameter h12 provides an image of the thermal impedance in the frequency domain, which is independent of the size of the transistor. Very short thermal time constants involved in SiGe HBTs are accurately determined by this method, as well as the temperature dependence of the thermal impedance in a truly simple way as electrical measurements can be performed in dc conditions either on a wafer or on an attached die. Finally, a nonlinear electrical equivalent circuit model is extracted, which can be readily implemented in computer-aided design software for nonlinear simulation of any SiGe HBT circuit.


The emergence of citrus huanglongbing (HLB) has been a constraint for worldwide citrus growers. HLB disease is associated to species of the biothrophic bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter spp. (CaL). In this study, we assessed the transcriptional status of salicylic acid (SA) genes and associated defenses between two contrasting citrus genotypes during challenge with Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus or Ca. Liberibacter americanus. Citrus sinensis exhibited the most evident alterations in gene expression of evaluated genes, when compared with Poncirus trifoliata. Upstream pathway SA genes showed a slight upward regulation in C. sinensis. Salicylic acid biosynthesis and accumulation might be impaired as we observed a low expression level of SA biosynthesis related genes. Moreover, genes associated to SA metabolism showed a slight induction. These results may account for the absence of significant downstream defense response related to salicylic acid. Leaf anatomical analysis revealed callose accumulation in both HLB infected, C. sinensis and P. trifoliata sieve tube elements (STE), although only C. sinensis exhibited collapsed STE. Our data corroborate other studies and suggest that the SA biosynthesis and metabolism related genes might be involved in the contrasting response to CaL in different citrus genotypes. Additionally, we suggest that collapsed STE might have a prominent implication in symptomatology of highly susceptible plants.


Using a Voitenko accelerator [1-3], a series of experiments were performed with the goal of attaining shock velocities in gases approaching 90 km/s. Typically, the basic apparatus comprises a hemispherical bowl filled with a gas at atmospheric pressure; a metal piston across its diameter; and a small bore evacuated shock tube at its apex, Fig. 1. The evacuated shock tube is separated from the gas bowl by a thin diaphragm. A combination of a plane wave explosive lens and a high explosive pad accelerates the piston to a velocity of the order of 4 km/s and subsequently compresses the gas in the bowl. The thin diaphragm at the other end of the bowl then ruptures and the high pressure (shock compressed) gas escapes into the shock tube.


Purpose: To investigate dose escalation for brain metastases (BM) subvolumes with low cerebral blood flow (CBF) using dose-painting technology based on MR 3D arterial spin labeling (3D-ASL) images.Methods: A total of 50 patients with single BM were selected for this study. CT and MR simulation images, including contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (T1W) images and CBF images, were obtained. The gross tumor volume (GTV) was determined by fusion of contrast-enhanced CT and T1W images, and this volume was divided into high- and low-perfusion areas according to the difference in CBF. Sub-volume with less than 25% of the maximum CBF was defined as hypoxic region GTVH which was settled for dose escalation. The planning target volume (PTV) and PTVH were calculated from the GTV and the GTVH, respectively. The PTVN was calculated by subtracting the PTVH from the PTV. Plan 1 was defined as the conventional plan with a prescription dose of 60 Gy for the PTV. Plan 2 and Plan 3, respectively, escalated the prescription dose for the PTVH to 72 Gy with and without the maximum dose constrained based on Plan 1. Dosimetric indices were compared among the three plans.Results: On average, the GTV volume was 34.53 cm3, and the GTVH volume was 16.95 cm3, accounting for 49.09% of the GTV. Compared to Plan 1, the D2%, D98% and Dmean values of the PTVH escalated by 20.50%, 19.32%, and 19.60%, respectively, in Plan 2 and by 24.05%, 6.77%, and 17.00%, respectively, in Plan 3 (all P<0.05). The doses administered in Plans 2 and 3 were 73.67±0.34 Gy and 72.37±0.61 Gy, respectively (both P<0.05). In Plans 2 and 3, respectively, the conformity index of PTVH was increased by 45.45% and 63.64%; meanwhile, the homogeneity index was sacrificed, increasing from 0.04 to 0.05 and 0.11 (all P<0.05). Plan 2 achieved better values of D98% and Dmean, as well as a smaller increase in the homogeneity index, than Plan 3. The doses received by organs at risk (OARs) did not significantly differ between the conventional plans and the boost plans (all P >0.05).Conclusions: Targeted dose escalation guided by the 3D-ASL-based CBF differences in BM effectively escalated the dose delivered to low-CBF subvolumes without increasing the dose to OARs.


The authors have used high depth-resolution SIMS profiling to investigate the broadening of delta-doped planes of Be and (Be+Si) in GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy. They have confirmed that concentration-dependent diffusion is the dominant broadening process for Be at growth temperatures <or=600 degrees C, and by incorporating Si atoms on the same plane, they have shown that this broadening can be completely inhibited. This suggests that the rapid diffusion process may be the result of mutual repulsion between the BeGa- ions, and is prevented by the reverse field due to the SiGa+ ions, or by the formation of low-mobility SiGa+-BeGa- complexes. The rapid diffusion of Si as SiGa-SiAs pairs is also reduced, and they believe this is a Fermi-level effect, the compensation by Be reducing the probability of SiAs formation. The surface segregation of Si is not affected, whereas that of Be is reduced, indicating that surface fields during growth contribute to this effect for Be, but not for Si.


Plants have been explored extensively all over the globe in quest of a novel bioactive compound that could a good therapeutic candidate treating infectious diseases especially against drug resistant microbes. Qualitative phytochemical analyses of Carica papaya leaf extract reveal that except steroids and tannins all the possible ph ytochemical constituents including carbohydrates, proteins, anthraquinones, flavonoids , saponins, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids were present. Two ways of Carica papaya leaf extract preparations i.e crushed and boiled were tested for their antifungal act ivity against 6 saprophytic fungi Penicillium sp, Aspergilus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium sp, Rhizopus and Helminthosporum , 5 dermatophytic fungi Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum, Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton tonsurans and 6 yeasts including Candida albicans , Candida albicans ATCC 0383, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Candida galbrata, Candida tropicalis, Candida kruzei. The activity was found against majority of fungi but was much better in case of crushed leaf ext ract.


This study purpose to determine Activity Based Costing (ABC) toward hospitalization costing in Dumai General Hospital. Hospital is a service company whose orientation is non-profit; therefore the accuracy of management is required in taking decision especially in determination of hospitalization cost. The problem of this study is how to determine hospitalization cost in Dumai General Hospital by using ABC methods. The data used in this study were primary data from interview result and secondary data from the hospital's financial report related to this study. Data collection techniques were done by collecting the documents from financial reports as well as data related to the object of research and conducted interview with leader and employees asociated with necessary data in this study. ABC methods assessed can provide more accuracy than with traditional methods in calculating the hospitalization cost that can assist management in determining hospitalization cost according to the facilities in each class of hospitalization. In this study, cost driver used in the calculation of hospitalization costing consisted of the number of day hospitalization, number of patients, power consumption and space of hospitalization room. Result of the calculation using ABC method in Dumai General Hospital for hospitalization cost showed that the cost charged by activities that occurred in each room according to the facilities given by hospital at standard level of hospitalization. Keywords: Analyze, Costing, Hospitalization, and Rates


CD133 is considered as a stem-like cell marker in some cancers including gastric cancers, and Notch1 signaling is known to play an important role in the maintenance and differentiation of stem-like cells. We aimed to investigate whether Notch1 signaling contributes to the carcinogenesis of gastric cancers and CD133 induction. CD133 expression was detected in 51.4% of diffuse type gastric cancers while it was not detected in intestinal type gastric cancers. Similarly, only poorly-differentiated gastric cancer cell lines expressed CD133 and activated-Notch1. Inhibiting Notch1 signaling resulted in decreased CD133 expression, side population cells, cell proliferation and anchorage independent cell growth. Chromatin immunoprecipitation suggested that this Notch1 dependent regulation of CD133 was caused by direct binding of activated-Notch1 to the RBP-Jκ binding site in the 5′ promoter region of CD133 gene. In addition, knocking down RBP-Jκ reduced CD133 induction in activated-Notch1 transfected cells. These findings suggested that Notch1 signaling plays an important role in the maintenance of the cancer stem-like phenotype in diffuse type gastric cancer through an RBP-Jκ dependent pathway and that inhibiting Notch1 signaling could be an effective therapy against CD133 positive diffuse type gastric cancers.


Most of us handle issues instinctively, almost accidentally. Or, we wait until they become crises. This issues-driven public relations process is not about crisis. It is summarized by one word: anticipation. Issues-driven public relations is analogous to establishing a radar system to help management anticipate and prepare for issues--any condition or pressure that if continued will significantly impact the mission of an organization. Trends or events merit the same attention. The ideal is to get involved with an issue early, before others affected have staked out a position; before the topic becomes fodder for discussion by legislators and regulators. Early involvement provides practitioners with the opportunity to help shape how an issue develops. Consequently, the odds that an issue will develop in a mutually beneficial way are significantly enhanced. In fact, the earlier an organization gets involved in analyzing and handling an issue, the more plentiful the options are for: * accelerating the development of issues presenting opportunities to the organization; * redirecting likely threats to more mutually beneficial ground and/or; * making recommendations for internal adjustments to adapt to a changing world. The dairy industry, for example, identified an emerging concern in health circles about iodine in the food supply. Dairy foods were targeted as a main culprit. University research was commissioned to determine how much iodine was actually in milk and how it got there. A few months later, the industry discovered a major medical organization was preparing a position paper on the issue with plans for publication in its prestigious journal. Iodine, an additive to livestock feed, was removed and researchers were sent back into the field. Findings showing 50% less iodine in dairy foods were shared with the medical association. The association did not publish a position on the issue. A five-step plan If you're ready to set up an issue management system for your organization, follow this five-step process: 1) Anticipate issues and establish priorities: The first step in anticipating issues can take many forms, from the most basic set of assumptions to the most elaborate issue anticipation system. Internal cross-departmental task forces can be organized to capitalize on specialty areas of expertise and to help track periodicals, media, meetings and networks of opinion leaders. Quarterly meetings allow participants to review priorities, discuss emerging issues, and draw conclusions about the direction these issues are taking. If a formal system isn't in the cards, identifying issues can be as simple as holding brainstorming sessions covering assumptions about issues. Look at issues in terms of forecasts about economics, social trends, the government and political arena, technology and the competition. Ask these questions: * What changes do we project in each category in the next three to five years? * What trends are likely to affect the organization? * What special events are likely to take place and have an impact on the organization? Once key issues are identified, set priorities to determine how much time and resources will be allotted to dealing with each of them. An organization shouldn't try to take on more than three or four priority issues at a time. Priorities are typically determined by which issues are most likely to affect the mission of the organization, likely to occur in the next three to five years and likely to be successful. 2) Analyze issues: Once priorities are set, develop a formal situational analysis or issue brief. Prepare a brief focus statement describing the potential threat or opportunity. The statement should paint a picture of how the issue may unfold if the organization takes no action. Follow this with an assessment of stakeholders likely to be affected: their perceptions, potential positions on the issue and their behavioral inclinations. …


Neurosarcoidosis is rare appearance of sarcoidosis with involvement of neural tissue. Neurosarcoidosis may damage any neural tissue, but the most often involved places are cerebral nerves, meninges and hypothalamus. Hydrecephalus is very rare manifestation of neurosarcoidosis. There is presented the young man case with intense symptomatic hydrocephalus. Magnetic rezonanse tomography revealed multiple focal damage disseminated in the cerebral fissures and near the meninges causing hydrocephalus. Endoscopic III ventriculocisternostomy rapidly improved patient's state. Open biopsy of pathological foci from brain fissure revealed granulomatous changes typical for sarcoidosis. Pulmonary CT revealed enlarged peribroncheal and mediastinal lymphatic nodes. Prednisolone was prescribed for long time and patient's state improved to premorbid level. The literature rewiew about neurosarcoidosis manifestation, diagnostics, treatment possibilities and prognosis is presented. doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2013.078


This book explores how a modern English literary identity was forged by its notions of other traditions and histories, in particular those of China. The theorizing and writing of English literary modernity took place in the midst of the famous quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns. Eun Kyung Min argues that this quarrel was in part a debate about the value of Chinese culture and that a complex cultural awareness of China shaped the development of a 'national' literature in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England by pushing to new limits questions of comparative cultural value and identity. Writers including Defoe, Addison, Goldsmith, and Percy wrote China into genres such as the novel, the periodical paper, the pseudo-letter in the newspaper, and anthologized collections of 'antique' English poetry, inventing new formal strategies to engage in this wide-ranging debate about what defined modern English identity.


This paper argues that religious affiliation (and not just gender) influences the hierarchy of rights attainable through Personal Status Legislation. While the context of this study is Egypt, the issue is relevant to all Arab countries in which sharia is a guiding framework for Personal Status legislation. The paper examines the way in which there has been a dichotomization of engaging with Personal Status issues for Muslims and non-Muslims with implications on the "othering" of the non-Muslim vis-a-vis Muslim Personal Status legislation. This is followed by an examination of legal cases involving Muslims and non-Muslims. The conceptual and theoretical implications of a failure to take these cases into account are explored, and in the final part of the paper, there is an analysis of the jurisprudence bases for legitimizing such a hierarchy of rights.


The translational energy release distribution for dissociation of benzene-Ar has been measured and, in combination with the 6(1)(0) rotational contour of the benzene product observed in emission, used to determine the rotational J,K distribution of 0(0) benzene products formed during dissociation from 6(1). Significant angular momentum is transferred to benzene on dissociation. The 0(0) rotational distribution peaks at J=31 and is skewed to low K:Javerage=27, (K)average=10.3. The average angle between the total angular momentum vector and the unique rotational axis is determined to be 68 degrees. This indicates that benzene is formed tumbling about in-plane axes rather than in a frisbeelike motion, consistent with Ar "pushing off" benzene from an off-center position above or below the plane. The J distribution is very well reproduced by angular momentum model calculations based on an equivalent rotor approach [A. J. McCaffery, M. A. Osborne, R. J. Marsh, W. D. Lawrance, and E. R. Waclawik, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 1694 (2004)], indicating that angular momentum constraints control the partitioning of energy between translation and rotation. Calculations for p-difluorobenzene-Ar suggest that the equivalent rotor model can provide a reasonable prediction of both J and K distributions in prolate (or near prolate) tops when dissociation leads to excitation about the unique, in-plane axis. Calculations for s-tetrazine-Ar require a small maximum impact parameter to reproduce the comparatively low J values seen for the s-tetrazine product. The three sets of calculations show that the maximum impact parameter is not necessarily equal to the bond length of the equivalent rotor and must be treated as a variable parameter. The success of the equivalent rotor calculations argues that angular momentum constraints control the partitioning between rotation and translation of the products.


How does saving lives affect the force of mortality and life table statistics? How can the progress being made in reducing the force of mortality be interpreted in terms of lifesaving? How many times can a person expect to have his or her life saved as a result of this progress? We develop a model to answer these questions and illustrate the results by using mortality rates for the United States in 1900 and 1980 and as projected for 2050.


To evaluate arterial (PaCO2), end-tidal (PETCO2) and carbon dioxide tension difference during mechanical ventilation with extratracheal airways, 60 patients ASA physical status I-II, receiving general anaesthesia for minor extra-abdominal procedures were randomly allocated to receive either a cuffed oropharyngeal airway (group COPA, n = 30) or a laryngeal mask (group LMA, n = 30). The lungs were mechanically ventilated by IPPV using a 60% nitrous oxide and 1-1.5% isoflurane in oxygen mixture (VT = 8 mL kg-1; RR = 12 b min-1; l/E = 1/2). After PETCO2 had been stable for at least 10 min after airway placement, haemodynamic variables and PETCO2 were recorded and an arterial blood sample was obtained for measurement of PaCO2. No differences in anthropometric parameters, smoking habit, haemodynamic variables and incidence of untoward events were observed between the two groups. Airway manipulation, to maintain adequate ventilation, was required in only nine patients in the cuffed oropharyngeal airway group (30%) (P < 0.0005); however, in no case was it necessary to remove the designated extratracheal airway due to unsuccessful mechanical ventilation. The mean difference between arterial and end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure was 0.4 +/- 0.3 KPa in the laryngeal mask group (95% confidence intervals: 0.3-0.5 KPa) and 0.3 +/- 0.26 KPa in the cuffed oropharyngeal airway group (95% confidence intervals: 0.24-0.4 KPa) (P = NS). We conclude that in healthy adults who are mechanically ventilated via the cuffed oropharyngeal airway, the end-tidal carbon dioxide determination is as accurate an indicator of PaCO2 as that measured via the laryngeal mask, allowing capnometry to be reliably used to evaluate the adequacy of ventilation.