Hospitals have always manage their supplies used during their operational activities. However, hospitals still have difficulties in raising performance of supply management to optimum standards. This occurs because hospitals still implement a manual supply recording system therefore causing supply information needed to analyse supply management to be inaccurate, time consuming, and thus bigger costs.The purpose of this study is to conduct analysis of the the current hospital inventory system and design an inventory information system. Methods used are bibliography study, analysis method and design method. Analysis method is used to formulate the hospital's problems. Design method is used to design a new system to solve the said problems in the hospital. The aims to be achieved are reports corresponding with inventory management and medicine transaction and interface that can be used to manage the inventory and medicine transaction. Conclusion is that the new system is expected to facilitate the related party in managing inventory and medicine transaction, and also producing accurate reports. Keywords: design, inventory, pharmacy, hospital information systems


The aim of the thesis is to develop a numerical model based on first principles for the simulation of change of size of soil pores during drying of soft soil. This model is suitable for the type of soil consisting of clay with layered structure, such as Montmorillonite. In this study, the geometry of the soil pore is idealized by a triangle consisting of three sand grains and clay fabrics connecting the sand grains. The simplified structure is named as unit cell in this thesis. The change of size of soil pore results from deformation of clay fabrics, and the clay fabric deforms due to the variation of water content. The length of clay fabric is related to the chemical potential of water by applying the Diffuse Double Layer theory as well as geometrical considerations. The soil mass is modelled by combining unit cells of different original pore sizes, which is randomly generated. The model is built by Matlab. The inputs include soil properties (porosity, clay fraction, lamellar properties, etc) and distribution factors; the outputs are total volume of soil and volume of wate, further derivation gives the Water Retention Curve and Soil Shrinkage Curve. In conclusion, the model is able to provide reasonable prediction of change of soil pore size. The shrinkage of pore due to drying of soil is observed. It is found that the multiple unit cells model provides more reasonable results compared with the single unit cell model. This is a preliminary study, the author recommends to validate the model by experiment; in addition, more comprehensive multi-dimensional parameter analysis is needed.


A wide band patch antenna fed by an L-probe can be designed for dual- and multi-band applications by cutting U-slots on the patch. The half wavelength long U-slot resonates and introduces a band-notch. Multiple band-notches could be introduced by cutting several U-slots on the patch. Simulation and measurement results are presented to illustrate this design. Stable broadside radiation patterns are maintained across the bands.


Ruthenium nitrosyl complexes are fascinating versatile photoactive molecules that can either undergo NO linkage photoisomerization or NO photorelease. The photochromic response of three ruthenium mononitrosyl complexes, trans-[RuCl(NO)(py)4]2+, trans-[RuBr(NO)(py)4]2+, and trans-(Cl,Cl)[RuCl2(NO)(tpy)]+, has been investigated using density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory. The N to O photoisomerization pathways and absorption properties of the various stable and metastable species have been computed, providing a simple rationalization of the photoconversion trend in this series of complexes. The dramatic decrease of the N to O photoisomerization efficiency going from the first to the last complex is mainly attributed to an increase of the photoproduct absorption at the irradiation wavelength, rather than a change in the photoisomerization pathways.


Unlike the Hungarians, who had agreed on a programme of economic reform two years before it was implemented, China's economic reforms evolved in the midst of bitter debates and controversies. Typically, unfavourable developments in the economy would trigger off opposition to the economic reform, expressed in theoretical disagreements; meanwhile the reform programme would have to mark time to await theoretical clearance. It was not until October 1984, six years after the reforms first began, that the Chinese leaders finally formulated a model or programme of economic reform in a formal decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).1 There are three reasons for this extraordinarily long gestation period. First, the reforms began as a series of localised experiments which were later adopted by central authorities. There was no direct relationship between the local experiments in Sichuan where Zhao Ziyang, now Premier, was at the time First Secretary of the provincial Party and the national reform programme.2 The Sichuan initiatives placed overwhelming emphasis on enterprises rather than on unified planning control, whereas in the national discussion those economists and central leaders in charge of research and propaganda still dealt with reform of the planning system in terms of pre-Cultural Revolution thinking. Second, the economic reforms were initiated at a time when the national economy was in a state of macro-economic and structural imbalance. This called for economic readjustment (retrenchment) and cast doubt on the immediate relevance of the economic reform. The ensuing debate on whether economic readjustment should


Antifolate resistance in Plasmodium vivax is caused by point mutations in genes encoding dihydrofolate reductase (pvdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (pvdhps). In this study, we used direct sequencing to survey pvdhfr and pvdhps mutations in 122 clinical P. vivax isolates from a central and a southern province of China. For pvdhfr, 36.9% were wild-type, whereas mutations were detected at four codons (57, 58, 61, and 117). The S117N/T mutation was the most prevalent (48.4%), followed by the T61M mutation (18.9%). Six pvdhfr mutant alleles were found, ranging from 37.7% to 0.8%. The dramatically different pvdhfr allele frequencies between the two P. vivax populations might be caused by different drug histories or intrinsic difference between temperate and subtropical strains. In contrast, except polymorphisms within a repeat region, no resistance-conferring mutations were detected in pvdhps. Our result suggests that P. vivax populations in China may be relatively susceptible to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine.


Infection with B. anthracis can result in systemic disease with large numbers of the bacterium in multiple tissues. We found that branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) synthesis is insufficient for the robust growth of B. anthracis; access to BCAAs is necessary for the proliferation of the pathogen during culture and during infection in a murine model for anthrax. B. anthracis produces an unusually large repertoire of BCAA-related transporters. ABSTRACT Bacillus anthracis, the anthrax agent, exhibits robust proliferation in diverse niches of mammalian hosts. The metabolic attributes of B. anthracis that permit rapid growth in multiple mammalian tissues have not been established. We posit that branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) (isoleucine, leucine, and valine) metabolism is key to B. anthracis pathogenesis. Increasing evidence indicates the relationships between B. anthracis virulence and the expression of BCAA-related genes. The expression of some BCAA-related genes is altered during culture in bovine blood in vitro, and the bacterium exhibits valine auxotrophy in a blood serum mimic medium. Transcriptome analyses have revealed that the virulence regulator AtxA, which positively affects the expression of the anthrax toxin and capsule genes, negatively regulates genes predicted to be associated with BCAA biosynthesis and transport. Here, we show that B. anthracis growth in defined medium is severely restricted in the absence of exogenous BCAAs, indicating that BCAA transport is required for optimal growth in vitro. We demonstrate functional redundancy among multiple BrnQ-type BCAA transporters. Three transporters are associated with isoleucine and valine transport, and the deletion of one, BrnQ3, attenuates virulence in a murine model for anthrax. Interestingly, an ilvD-null mutant lacking dihydroxy acid dehydratase, an enzyme essential for BCAA synthesis, exhibits unperturbed growth when cultured in medium containing BCAAs but is highly attenuated in the murine model. Finally, our data show that BCAAs enhance AtxA activity in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting a model in which BCAAs serve as a signal for virulence gene expression. IMPORTANCE Infection with B. anthracis can result in systemic disease with large numbers of the bacterium in multiple tissues. We found that branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) synthesis is insufficient for the robust growth of B. anthracis; access to BCAAs is necessary for the proliferation of the pathogen during culture and during infection in a murine model for anthrax. B. anthracis produces an unusually large repertoire of BCAA-related transporters. We identified three isoleucine/valine transporters with partial functional redundancy during culture. The deletion of one of these transporters, BrnQ3, resulted in attenuated virulence. Interestingly, a BCAA biosynthesis mutant grew well in medium containing BCAAs but, like BrnQ3, was attenuated for virulence. These results suggest that BCAAs are limiting in multiple niches during infection and further our understanding of the nutritional requirements of this important pathogen.


【Objective】A new rice bacterial blight resistance germplasm (Y238) was identified from the wild rice species Oryza rufipogon and the resistance locus was transferred to the cultivated rice to breed near-isogenic line. Molecular mapping of the resistance gene was carried out to put it into practical use in the future. 【Method】The resistance gene Xa30(t) in Y238 has been introduced into JG30 by cross, backcrosses and selfing. A BC6F2 population was used for molecular mapping of Xa30(t), and Bulked Segregant Analysis (BSA) was adopted to survey SSR, EST and STS molecular markers. 【Result】Four markers, RM1341, V88, C189 and 03STS displayed polymorphism between the susceptible-pool and resistant-pool. By analyzing the 303 individuals of the BC6F2 population with the mentioned four markers together with their resistance phenotypes, the gene Xa30(t) was mapped on the long arm of rice chromosome 11. Linkage analysis revealed that RM1341, V88, C189 and 03STS located on the same side of Xa30(t), with genetic distances of 11.4 cM, 11.4 cM , 4.4 cM and 2.0 cM respectively. 【Conclusion】The near-isogenic line CBB30 harboring a new rice bacterial blight resistance gene Xa30(t) was developed. Four molecular markers RM1341, V88, C189 and 03STS that link gene Xa30(t) were detected, and Xa30(t) was mapped on the long arm of chromosome 11.


It is a common place in the phraseodidactic research that collocational fluency is a significant factor of language fluency. Nevertheless, formulaic language is not focused systematically in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and in learning materials for German as a foreign language. The lack of transparency and fragmentary treatment of set phrases have a negative impact over the development of collocational fluency. The present paper focuses on the extent that students of German Language and Literature at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens master high-frequency and common set phrases of German based on a questionnaire survey conducted. The results of the survey are discussed in terms of the deficiencies of institutional guidelines and learning materials. In line with this, proposals are formulated for the improvement of the institutional framework and the teaching of set phrases.


Using three-body wave functions for 11Li, electric-dipole sum rules are calculated and discussed. Energies of the soft dipole mode are found to agree with experimental ones. Both for light and heavy targets, the electric process accounts for an important part of the break-up cross-section.


Aims: Salinity is one of the major abiotic stress that negatively affects plant growth in germination and early seedling stages. Salinity has becoming a serious problem as most of the parts of worldwide lands were affected by high salt concentration. Therefore, the effects of salinity ranging from 0 mM, 25 mM, 50 mM and 75 mM Sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations on germination and early seedling growth of water spinach and their salt tolerance mechanism.
Study Design: Completely Randomized Design (CRD).
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at Tissue Culture Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science in University Putra Malaysia (UPM) from June to August, 2018.
Methodology: In order to study the effects of salinity on water spinach, several parameters have been taken into account for measurement which include water uptake percentage, germination percentage, germination index, mean germination time, relative injury rate, seed vigor, seedling height reduction, hypocotyl and radicle length, seedling biomass, salt tolerance, total phenolic content and total flavonoids contents.
Results: The results obtained showed that salinity adversely reduced water uptake efficiency, seed vigor, hypocotyl and radicle length, total phenolic content and total flavonoids content of water spinach. The seedling height reduction of water spinach increased significantly in relative to increasing salinity. However, seeds treated in mild salt concentration at 25 mM of NaCl showed an increment of germination percentage and germination index.
Conclusion: Salt tolerance of water spinach increased as the response towards increasing salinity.


Mineral nitrogen (nitrate-N+ammonium-N) and its distribution in soil profiles to 60 cm depth at sowing in 3 growing seasons, 1990-1992, were assessed for 123 field experimental sites in South Australia. The sites were used to test N fertiliser responses with cereal crops following different land uses. More than 90% of the variation in mineral N at cereal sowing was attributable to nitrate-N in the 60-cm soil profiles. Coefficients of variation (CV) for nitrate-N ranged from 37 to 45%, less than half of the CV values (88-113%) for ammonium-N. More than 70% of mineral N in soil to 60 cm depth was accounted for by mineral N in the top 20 cm of soil, and 49% by mineral N in the top 10 cm of soil. The amounts of mineral N in the 60-cm soil profiles at sowing ranged from 24 to 180 kg N/ha (median 75) at sites following pastures, and from 22 to 113 kg N/ha (median 69) following grain legumes, significantly higher than 17 to 116 kg N/ha (median 47) following cereals. Only 26% of the variation in mineral N of soils (0-60 cm depth) could be predicted by soil total N, mineralisable N assessed by the aerobic incubation method, and previous land use. Ammonium-N extracted by phosphate-borate buffer from soils sampled at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths was directly related to soil total N and N mineralised after soil incubation, but not to mineral N accumulating at sowing in the soil profiles to 60 cm depth. Utilisation of a soil containing 15N-labelled organic residues, and sampled to 100 cm depth at sowing in 5 successive growing seasons, revealed a positive relationship between the 15N atom% enrichments of soil profile mineral N, mineralisable N from soil incubations, and plant N. Enrichments of soil profile mineral N and plant N were almost identical. However, the enrichment of buffer-extractable ammonium-N was comparatively low and unresponsive to the time of soil sampling, and unrelated to the other soil and plant N pools. Thus, buffer-extractable N was unrepresentative of plant-available N.


Rationale It is essential for drugs in monotherapy and combination products to have comparable in vitro aerodynamic profiles, such that adherence to the combination rule can be effectively tested in clinical trials. Here, we demonstrate the successful use of engineered porous particles in a co-suspension metered dose inhaler (MDI) platform to enable efficient delivery of highly potent actives for mono and combination therapies, with no in vitro coformulation effect. Methods MDIs containing micronized glycopyrrolate, formoterol fumarate, and/or mometasone furoate were prepared by co-suspending micronized drug crystals and spray dried phospholipid microparticles in HFA-134a. In vitro aerodynamic particle size distributions (aPSD) were assessed with the Next Generation Impactor (NGI). Fine particle mass (FPM) was calculated as sum of stages 3 to the micro-orifice collector of the NGI. Results Both FPM and aPSD remained consistent for each of the three drugs whether the drug was formulated in a mono, dual or triple combination product, indicating no in vitro coformulation effect. For two of the three drugs tested, the Pearl co-suspension MDIs show higher delivery efficiency (65% vs 45% fine particle fraction) and lower USP throat deposition (25% vs 40%), compared to marketed products such as Dulera. This may translate to higher lung deposition with lower oropharyngeal deposition. Conclusions Lack of in vitro coformulation effect in dual and triple therapies has been demonstrated with Pearl9s cosuspension MDI platform. Superior in vitro performance was seen compared to marketed products. The cosuspension-based MDI platform enables the rapid advancement of drugs from concept to clinic.


Sediment samples from a major Manaus stream (Igarape do Quarenta – IQ40) were collected from nine sites in the Manaus Industrial District (AM-Brazil) in order to be submitted to a sequential chemical extraction for the partitioning of heavy metals (Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, Pb and Ni). The samples were treated with solutions of several different pH, and the contents of the metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Findings show Fe, Cu and Zn to be associated to sulfides, carbonates and organic fractions. DOI: 2446941601022015055


Ectodermal dysplasia is a hereditary disease characterized by a congenital dysplasia of one or more ectodermal structure and their accessory appendeges. The main feature is hypohidrosis, hypotrichosis and hypodontia. Ectodermal dysplasia appear to be ingeritaed as an x-linked recessive trait. Common manifestations include frontal bossing with prominent supraorbital ridges, nasal bridge depression, protuberant lips and defective hair follicles and eyebrows. Intraorally, common findings are hypodontia or anodontia and conical teeth. The treatment is to improve the appearance and oral function included a removable prosthesis. A 5-year-old and 9-year-old male in the same family, described in the case report of ectodermal dysplasia with removable partial dentures


Global software development efforts have increased in recent years. One force fueling these efforts is the worldwide availability of a rich and talented knowledge pool that can be effectively and efficiently mobilized, increasing the prominence of outsourcing initiatives. Outsourcing projects have moved from mundane software maintenance tasks to more complex and significant engagements such as innovative product development, complex system development, and large-scale R+D projects


There have been many researches about aging. Our study suggests a new research method using RTEL (Regulator of Telomere Elongation Helicase). Telomere is the very-end part of chromatid to preserve the terminal information which can be lost during DNA replication. We have compared the RTEL DNA sequence among mammals whose lifespan is all different so that we can see how RTEL DNA sequence influence lifespan and aging. Also, all of these studies were proved by apriori and decision tree. Furthermore, we can continue this experiment to Cancer. In fact, telomere is under the spotlight for the clue of cancer because a cancer cell has telomerase so that it can divide for limitlessly. So, our results could be used as background knowledge for the research of Cancer by specifying the relations between telomere and aging in mammals.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the prognostic value of cytoplasmic (−C) and nuclear epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR-N) expression in rectal cancer patients following neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). A total of 172 newly diagnosed rectal cancer patients post-neoadjuvant CCRT and curative surgery, treated between January 1998 to December 2008, were included. Pathological tissues used for evaluation were biopsy specimens obtained prior to CCRT, and specimens collected at surgery. EGFR expression in the nucleus and cytoplasm was assessed by immunohistochemistry tests. An intensity of 3+ EGFR reactivity in the cytoplasm (and/or membrane) of tumor cells was defined as overexpression of EGFR-C. The cutoff percentage of immunoreactive tumor cells for EGFR-N overexpression was 50%. Expression levels of EGFR-C and EGFR-N were further analyzed by clinicopathological features for 5-year survival disease-specific survival (DSS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and metastasis-free survival (MeFS). The results revealed that 20.9 and 23.3% of the cohort had high EGFR-N and EGFR-C expression, respectively. EGFR-N overexpression was significantly associated with advanced pre-treatment tumor stage (T3 and 4; P=0.017) and post-treatment tumor stage (T3 and 4; P<0.001). In univariate analysis, EGFR-N overexpression was significantly associated with poorer DSS (P=0.0005), MeFS (P=0.0182), and LRFS (P=0.0014). Furthermore, it remained an independent prognosticator of worse DSS [P=0.007, hazard ratio (HR)=2.755] and LRFS (P=0.0164, HR=3.026) in multivariate analysis. Overexpression of EGFR-N, and not EGFR-C, may help identify rectal cancer patients who have an increased risk of local recurrence and poor survival following neoadjuvant CCRT.


The present study explores the functions of code-switching and the factors which motivate speakers to use it in the context of informal conversations among educated, multilingual Sindhi women at four colleges in Hyderabad and Kotri, Pakistan. Following on from such scholars as Blom and Gumperz (1972), Gumperz (1982), Myers-Scotton (1993a), Poplack (1980), this study uses a qualitative methodology consisting of audio recordings of informal interactions, the questionnaires filled in by the participants, which reveal their demographic information and observation notes by the researcher during the audio recordings. The data is then analysed using an interpretive approach.

The findings provide evidence that code-switching is employed as a language strategy to achieve particular social goals. Multilingual code-switching into Sindhi, Urdu and English and a few instances of Arabic and other local languages provide sufficient evidence of participants' linguistic competence. The majority of participants use Sindhi as their L1 and English as their preferred language for code-switching. However, some participants who are Sindhi by ethnicity but acquired Urdu (their academic language) as their L1 predominantly use Urdu.

The findings suggest that the participants use code switching to achieve particular social goals, such as to construct multiple identities, to express anger and humour, to discuss taboo issues and for specific textual functions such as recycling, self-repair, quotation, and idiomatic expressions. In the current study, the motivational extra-linguistic factors for the use of code-switching are historical-socio-economic factors, participants' social networks, conversational topics, and the social status of their interlocutor(s). The intra-linguistic factors consist of speakers' expression of their emotions and their linguistic competence. The most significant factor involved in the presence and absence of the use of codeswitching is the socioeconomic status of the participants. The results show the use of a huge number of English loanwords to fill lexical gaps which exist in Sindhi and Urdu. However, some instances of core borrowing (widespread borrowing in presence of equivalent in native language) from English are also used.


The 'one-day-shopping' concept that we experience today in a modern mega mall changed the propensity to consume compared to the past. The idea of a mega mall originated in the U.S. and the first suburban shopping malls as we know them today were built in the 1950s. The convenience of these malls had a great impact not only on consumers but also on the retail industry in general and the new mega mall idea has since spread around the world, with the largest ones located in China and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Korea had the fastest-growing economy during the last three decades and with that boom the compositional structure of domestic retail facilities became extremely diverse. Today, there are 36 new mega mall development plans to be completed before 2016, which represent a rapid and dynamic change in consumerism lifestyle in Korea. In this regard, this study will re-evaluate the first mega mall in Korea, the COEX Mall, and identify initial errors regarding its circulation plan and provide an ideal design strategy for future commercial mega malls based on literature review and comparison analysis.


A set of graphical aids to drug dosage adjustment is presented, consisting of 1) a nomogram for evaluation of the dosage adjustment factor, 2) a nomogram for estimation of the creatinine clearance from the serum creatinine level, 3) decision tables for selection of a clinically acceptable adjustment of the dosing regimen. The set is accompanied by a list of percentage fractions excreted unchanged in urine for selected drugs and requiring adjustment of the dosing regimen in renal insufficiency. An example of the utilization of the set is demonstrated in comparison with the usual procedures of dosing regimen adjustment.


Here is a controversial health care pricing approach that its author believes offers incentives to encourage providers to find the most efficient and effective ways to manage patient care across the entire episode of illness.


The rare earth element distribution patterns of magnesite and dolomite samples from the magnesite mineralizations of Tux-Lanersbach (Innsbruck quartz phyllite), Entachen Alm, Spiessngel, and Hochfilzen (graywacke zone) have been determined by neutron activation spectrometry. The finely dispersed magnesite in the dolomitic country rock shows rather flat rare earth element patterns. The magnesite and dolomite from veins exhibit extremely low light rare earth element contents. This feature is attributed to long-range mobilization of magnesite.The tectonic structure of the graywacke zone and of the Innsbruck quartz phyllite suggests that a maior perturbation of the regional geothermal gradient was produced by overthrusting. Owing to the irregular form of the geothermal gradient, low temperature Mg (super +2) ion-rich solutions, generated by dehydration reactions and equilibrated with calcite and dolomite, penetrated dolomite-bearing sheets at higher temperatures during their ascent. The dolomite of the higher tectonic units was thereby metasomatically altered to magnesite. Such a regional metamorphism is displayed by the positive Eu anomalies in the rare earth element distribution patterns of the Spiessngel dolomites. This Eu anomaly indicates that the dolomite from this locality crystallized from solutions involved in the decomposition of feldspars. The rare earth element contents of the magnesites and huntites from lacustrine basins of Bela Stena and of Aiani-Kozani are lower than those of the sparry magnesites. This reflects the different sources of the Mg (super +2) -bearing solutions and depositional environments.


The purpose and scope of the study: This study aimed to develop and validate a Traditional Chinese reading chart for students with low vision in Taiwan. The method used: The Traditional Chinese reading chart for students with low vision in Taiwan was developed regarding the two principles. The main design concept was the principle of continuous text, however some unrelated words were used to avoided semantic and syntactic context. Sighted subjects (n=10) ages range between 23 - 29 years old (M= 25.8±1.7), visual acuity 0.0 logMAR (SPH: -2.30±1.37D; CYL: -0.68±0.56D). The subjects were recruited from Taiwanese students who study in University of Tsukuba, Japan. The reading performance investigated on 14 differences in characters size (0.0 logMAR – 1.3 logMAR) and 20 reading items were measured. A summary of results: one way ANOVA analysis result demonstrated that the reading speed in 0.0 logMAR and 0.1 logMAR were significantly slower than other character sizes (F (13,126) = 25.389, p < .01), and reading item No. 4 was significantly slower, item No. 6 and No. 11 were significantly faster than other reading items (F (19,180) = 1.571, 0.05 < p < 0.1). Therefore, the character size in 0.0 logMAR and 0.1 logMAR, and 3 reading items namely No. 4, 6, 11 were removed. (4) Conclusions: We developed and validated a Traditional Chinese reading chart in 12 characters size and 17 reading items for investigation reading performance in Traditional Chinese with reading ability.


The relevance of the subject matter lies in the fact that inheritance is one of the most common grounds for acquiring property by individuals. Considering the fact that the heirs are often relatives of the testator, to avoid disputes between them, the law should contain an effective mechanism for resolving relations between heirs over the redistribution of inheritance or change of the order of inheritance, and a mechanism to protect the rights and interests of heirs in case of disputes. The purpose of this study is to identify gaps and inconsistencies in civil legislation and case law in the study of the main ways to protect the rights of heirs in hereditary relations, and ways to resolve them. It is noted that in the presence of disputes between the heirs, it is not the protection of property rights that is carried out, because the heirs have not yet acquired the right of ownership, but the protection of the right to inheritance, according to which they will be able to acquire ownership of the inherited property. There is a lack of a particular list of ways to protect the rights of heirs in the legislation of Ukraine, which has a negative impact on judicial practice, as they often use inappropriate methods of protection. The study analyses the case law of hereditary disputes and identifies the main mistakes that courts make in resolving such cases. Particular attention is focused on the study of such methods of protection as the recognition of the certificate of inheritance as invalid, the hereditary recognition of the property that belonged to the deceased, but was not part of the inheritance. The study investigates the moment of ownership of the hereditary property of the heirs and a critical analysis of the provisions of Article 1268 of the Civil Code, which determine the moment from which the inheritance belongs to the heir – namely from the moment of opening the inheritance. There is a conflict between the rules of Article 1268 and Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine "On state registration of real rights to immovable property and their encumbrances" in terms of establishing the moment of ownership of immovable property by inheritance


The production, the commerce and the use of drugs and other substances are ruled by several conventions of international law, that, at first, have had as object the production and the commerce of drugs for lawful purposes, and the measures required to prevent and to repress, at certain conditions, abuses and unlawful traffics. Just more recently, following some solicitations noticed by the International Community, and according to the concept of "well-balanced approach" described in the text, the measures introduced in this way were supported by a more incisive international movement, fit for the repression of unlawful traffics of drugs and to the adoption of suitable measures of prevention, also to avoid, at national level, sanitary, social and economical implications of the criminal phenomenon.


Abstract Innovation in learning and teaching is an everyday requirement in contemporary higher education (HE), especially in challenging subjects such as mathematics. Teaching mathematics to students with limited experience of formal mathematical instruction is a good example of a demanding pedagogical undertaking where innovatory practice can help HE teachers rise to the challenge. This paper presents an innovative game-based learning approach to the teaching of basic mathematics in HE through the example of a first-year mathematics module of the BSc Computer Science course offered by the Aberystwyth University (UK). Excellent examination results and positive student feedback concerning the learning experience point to the value-addedness of this approach in HE and it is, therefore, offered here as an example of good teaching practice to be disseminated more widely in the sector.


1. Most of the carbon which was injected into the joint cavity was phagocytized by macrophages and leucocytes, and by the tenth day after the injection the greater part of it had been carried out of the joint cavity by these cells.

2. Small amounts of free carbon passed through the intact synovial surface.

3. The synovial lining cells took up small amounts of carbon and tended to hold the ingested carbon indefinitely.

4. A variable amount of carbon was held in fibrin clots which became attached to the synovial membrane and were invaded by cells which formed a new synovial membrane on the free surface of the clot.

5. A small amount of the free carbon was carried from the subsynovial tissues to the popliteal lymph node.

6. Most of the carbon remained in the loose tissues around the joint, and much of it was repeatedly phagocytized and moved about by succeeding generations of macrophages.

7. Living leucocytes were seen to expel ingested carbon but the macrophages apparently retained the material until the cell died and degenerated.

8. The various types of connective tissue and bone cells took up small amounts of carbon and tended to hold it indefinitely.

9. Some of the carbon which was injected into the joint was eventually transported into the femur, tibia, patella, and sesamoid bones.

10. The extracellular carbon in the subsynovial tissues was slowly absorbed as colloidal carbon and was carried by the blood stream to the reticulo-endothelial system.


Cells exposed to densely ionizing radiation (high-LET) experience more severe biological damage than do cells exposed to sparsely ionizing radiation (low-LET). The prevailing hypothesis is that high-LET radiations induce DNA double strand-breaks (DSB) that are more complex and clustered, and are thereby more challenging to repair. Here, we present experimental data obtained by atomic force microscopy imaging, DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity determination, DNA ligation assays, and genomic studies to suggest that short DNA fragments are important products of radiation-induced DNA lesions, and that the lengths of DNA fragments may be significant in the cellular responses to ionizing radiation. We propose the presence of a subset of short DNA fragments that may affect cell survival and genetic stability following exposure to ionizing radiation, and that the enhanced biological effects of high-LET radiation may be explained, in part, by the production of increased quantities of short DNA fragments.


ABSTRACT The LINC complex is a multifunctional protein complex that is involved in various processes at the nuclear envelope, such as nuclear migration, mechanotransduction and chromatin tethering in the meiotic phase. However, it remains unknown how these functions are regulated in different cell contexts. An inner nuclear membrane component of the LINC complex, SUN1, is ubiquitously expressed. The human SUN1 gene produces over 10 variants by alternative splicing. Although functions of SUN1 are relatively well characterized, functional differences among SUN1 splice variants are poorly characterized. LINC complex components are associated with a wide range of human diseases; therefore, it is important to understand the functional diversity among SUN1 splice variants. Here, we identified a novel human SUN1 splice variant, SUN1_888. overexpression of the SUN1 splice variants, SUN1_888 or SUN1_785, but not the predominant isoform, SUN1_916, activated directional cell migration. Knockdown of SUN1_888 suppressed cell migration; in contrast depletion of SUN1_916 activated cell migration. In addition, all of investigated SUN1 splicing variants rescued cell migration in SUN1 knock out cell. These results indicate that redundant and non-redundant functions of SUN1 splice variant in directional cell migration and suggest that variable LINC complexes with distinct task may exit. Furthermore, in contrast to previous studies, we showed association between SUN1 and B-type lamins. Interestingly, B-type lamin preferentially interacts with SUN1 but not SUN2. These results suggest that tissue-specific SUN1 variants variably interact with nucleoplasmic partners and allow variable assembly of LINC complexes that can be assigned to distinct tasks.


Radiotelemetry was used to examine the behavioural responses of fish to dynamic environmental and operating conditions in a fossil-generating power station discharge canal on Lake Erie. A series of seven underwater antennas continuously monitored the movements of 10 common carp, Cyprinus carpio L., and 10 channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), in the 550-m discharge canal between 23 December 1997 and 1 May 1998. Common carp residency values were higher (47.71'8.51%) than those of channel catfish (10.15'2.82%). While resident in the discharge canal, channel catfish spent more time in the upper reaches and were more active than carp. Carp spent more time in the lower reaches of the channel, and made more frequent movements between the canal and Lake Erie. Overall residency decreased significantly during the study period. Aside from significant negative correlations between common carp residency and daily mean influent temperature (r = -0.53), daily discharge mean (r = -0.30) and minimum water temperature (r = -0.47), and positive correlations to daily mean cooling water flow (r = 0.38), the activity and residency of tagged individuals were independent of environmental and operating conditions. There was no relationship between the total length of each fish, and any of the residency or activity indices. The implications of extended fish residency in heated discharges and the utility of radiotelemetry as a monitoring procedure are discussed.


Three sources of confusion in the literature on quartz crystals have recently been pointed out:1the distinction between right and left quartz, the conventions respecting the positive directions of the crystal axes, and conventions respecting the signs of angles when the axial system is rotated. After further consideration of this subject in the present paper, it is recommended that writers employ only that definition of right and left quartz which is now generally accepted, and that uniform conventions be agreed upon for axial directions and rotations. Voigt's usage in the main is advocated with this important exception: it is proposed that a right-handed system of axes be used for right quartz, left-handed for left quartz. This arrangement may appropriately be called the Right-Left axial system. The advantages are that all elastic and piezoelectric constants then retain the same sign for both types of crystal, and that all equations having to do with rotated axes apply equally to both types. No heed need be given to the distinction between right and left quartz except when angles are to be laid off on an actual specimen, and then the difference lies only in the reversal of the x axis for left quartz. A table showing the conventions used by various authors is included


Background Up to one-third of the patients suffering from eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) present a refractory form, as defined by nonresponsiveness in clinical, endoscopic, or histological assessment after first-line therapy. Several studies recently investigated which factors can influence the development of this disease, but very few analyzed the factors underlying refractory EoE. Methods Medical charts of patients affected by EoE were retrospectively evaluated. Phenotyping of patients was conducted according to demographic, clinical, histological, and treatment variables. Then, patients were divided into responder and nonresponder to therapy and distinguished among children and adults. Results Forty-five children and 35 adult EoE patients were included. In the pediatric population, female sex (p < 0.05) and a higher score of visual analogue scale (VAS) at the follow-up visit (p = 0.02) were significantly associated to the risk of refractory EoE. Among adults, statistical significance was reached for years of follow-up (p = 0.001), diagnostic delay (p = 0.03), use of antibiotics during infancy (p = 0.01), and food allergy (p = 0.04). Conclusions Our study highlighted female sex and a higher VAS score at the time of follow-up visits as risk factors for refractory EoE in children, while the risk factors in adults were identified as fewer years of follow-up, greater diagnostic delay, use of antibiotics during infancy, and food allergy.


A reduction of parasitic resistance is presented with incorporation of preamorphization implantation (PAI) and self-aligned Cu3Ge in the source/drain region for germanium p-MOSFETs. Full activation of boron in the amorphous layer can be obtained during solid-phase epitaxial growth, and a concentration as high as 4 x 1020/cm3 is achieved. This nonthermal equilibrium concentration is maintained during the subsequent Cu3Ge formation. Cu3Ge is adopted as a contact metal in germanium p-MOSFETs for the first time, due to its superior electrical properties (6.8 muOmegaldrcm for resistivity and ~1 x 10-7 Omega cm2 on p-type germanium for specific contact resistance). The fabricated p+/n diode yields a five order of magnitude between forward and reverse currents, which can be attributed to the reduction in parasitic resistance. The low reverse current mitigates concerns of possible deep-level traps introduced by copper. It also confirms the nonexistence of extended defects created by PAI as a result of the unique role of vacancies in germanium. With high dopant concentrations achieved by PAI and low resistance of Cu3Ge, excellent MOSFET characteristics are demonstrated in self-aligned Cu3Ge p-MOSFETs. A 15% mobility enhancement over Si universal mobility and a 60% parasitic resistance reduction are achieved.


Objective:Understanding ICU workflow and how it is impacted by ICU strain is necessary for implementing effective improvements. This study aimed to quantify how ICU physicians spend time and to examine the impact of ICU strain on workflow. Design:Prospective, observational time-motion study. Setting:Five ICUs in two hospitals at an academic medical center. Subjects:Thirty attending and resident physicians. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:In 137 hours of field observations, the most time—84 hours (62% of total observation time)—was spent on professional communication. Reviewing patient data and documentation occupied a combined 52 hours (38%), whereas direct patient care and education occupied 24 hours (17%) and 13 hours (9%), respectively. The most frequently used tool was the computer, used in tasks that occupied 51 hours (37%). Severity of illness of the ICU on day of observation was the only strain factor that significantly impacted work patterns. In a linear regression model, increase in average ICU Sequential Organ Failure Assessment was associated with more time spent on direct patient care (&bgr; = 4.3; 95% CI, 0.9–7.7) and education (&bgr; = 3.2; 95% CI, 0.7–5.8), and less time spent on documentation (&bgr; = –7.4; 95% CI, –11.6 to –3.2) and on tasks using the computer (&bgr; = –7.8; 95% CI, –14.1 to –1.6). These results were more pronounced with a combined strain score that took into account unit census and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score. After accounting for ICU type (medical vs surgical) and staffing structure (resident staffed vs physician assistant staffed), results changed minimally. Conclusion:Clinicians spend the bulk of their time in the ICU on professional communication and tasks involving computers. With the strain of high severity of illness and a full unit, clinicians reallocate time from documentation to patient care and education. Further efforts are needed to examine system-related aspects of care to understand the impact of workflow and strain on patient care.


Discrimination of hand gestures based on the decoding of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals is a well-establish approach for controlling prosthetic devices and for Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI). However, despite the promising results achieved by this approach in well-controlled experimental conditions, its deployment in long-term real-world application scenarios is still hindered by several challenges. One of the most critical challenges is maintaining high EMG data classification performance across multiple days without retraining the decoding system. The drop in performance is mostly due to the high EMG variability caused by electrodes shift, muscle artifacts, fatigue, user adaptation, or skinelectrode interfacing issues. Here we propose a novel statistical method based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA) that stabilizes EMG classification performance across multiple days for long-term control of prosthetic devices. We show how CCA can dramatically decrease the performance drop of standard classifiers observed across days, by maximizing the correlation among multiple-day acquisition data sets. Our results show how the performance of a classifier trained on EMG data acquired only of the first day of the experiment maintains 90% relative accuracy across multiple days, compensating for the EMG data variability that occurs over long-term periods, using the CCA transformation on data obtained from a small number of gestures. This approach eliminates the need for large data sets and multiple or periodic training sessions, which currently hamper the usability of conventional pattern recognition based approaches.


BACKGROUND
Research studies involving human tissue are increasingly common. However, patients' attitudes toward research biopsies are not well characterized, particularly when the biopsies are carried out outside the context of therapeutic trials.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred sixty patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) from two academic (n = 80) and two community (n = 80) hospitals completed a 29-item self-administered survey to evaluate their willingness to consider providing research purposes only biopsies (RPOBs) (as a stand-alone procedure) and additional biopsies (ABs) (additional needle passes at the time of a clinically indicated biopsy).

RESULTS
Eighty-two (51%) of 160 patients would consider having RPOBs, of which 42 (53%) and 40 (50%) patients were from academic and community hospitals, respectively. Patients who had more prior biopsies were less likely to consider RPOBs (RR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.4-1.0, P = 0.03). Of 160 patients, 115 (72%) patients would consider having ABs. Of these, 64 (80%) and 51 (64%) patients from academic and community hospitals, respectively, would consider ABs (RR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.0-1.5, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS
Many patients with MBC in both academic and community settings report willingness to consider undergoing biopsies for research. Further research is needed to understand ethical, logistical and provider-based barriers to broader participation in such studies.


The goal of this project is to characterize the role of chlorine in coal on the high temperature corrosion processes which can occur in coal combustion and conversion processes. The experiments include laboratory tests performed in well-controlled high temperature environments and field tests in industrial coal fired boilers. Evaluation of samples of boiler tubes which have been recovered from boilers which used both high and low chlorine coals does not indicate that the higher chlorine levels are associated with accelerated corrosion of either water wall tubes or superheater tubes in pulverized coal boilers. Laboratory testing of metal coupons in combustion gas environments produced from low sulfur, high chlorine coal IBC-109 and high sulfur-low chlorine coal IBC-101 has been performed at 700 and 800{degrees}C. Initial results indicate that more corrosion is produced in the high sulfur environment than in the high chlorine environment. Further testing at other temperatures and gas compositions is in progress.


We present a design guideline for ultrafast wavelength conversion using a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) composed of a dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF). By using the guideline, the wavelength allocation, the loop length, and the signal peak pourer are optimized for given values of the nonlinear coefficient and dispersion slope of the DSF. We actually construct a NOLM wavelength converter composed of a 50-m-long highly nonlinear DSF, and demonstrate 26-nm wavelength conversion of 500-fs pulse trains with a relatively low peak power of 4 W.


PRL and T3 are involved in antagonistic regulations during various developmental processes in vertebrate species. We have studied cross-talk between transcription factors activated by these signaling pathways, i.e. signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (Stat5) and thyroid hormone receptor beta1 (TRbeta1). Liganded TRbeta1 in the presence of its heterodimeric partner, retinoid X receptor gamma (RXRgamma), inhibited the PRL-induced Stat5a- and Stat5b-dependent reporter gene expression by up to 60%. This T3-inhibitory effect studied on Stat5 activity was partly reversed by overexpression of a TRbeta1 dominant negative variant mutated within its nuclear localization signal (TR2A). We next showed that TRbeta1 and TR2A in the presence of RXRgamma increased and decreased, respectively, Stat5 localization into the nucleus regardless of hormonal stimulation. Thus, our data suggest that TRbeta1 can be associated with Stat5 in the cytoplasm and may be involved in Stat5 nuclear translocation. In PRL-treated cells overexpressing TRbeta1/RXRgamma, both Stat5 and TRbeta1 were coimmunoprecipitated, indicating physical association of the two transcription factors. In these cells, addition of T3 with ovine (o)PRL decreased the amounts of total and tyrosine-phosphorylated Stat5 in the cytoplasm compared with oPRL-treated cells. In the nucleus, no clear difference was observed on Stat5 DNA-binding after treatment with PRL and T3 vs. PRL alone in TRbeta1/RXRgamma transfected cells. However, antibodies directed against TRbeta1 lowered Stat5-DNA binding and addition of the deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) relieved T3 inhibition on Stat5 transcriptional activity. Thus, we postulated that the negative cross-talk between TR and Stat5 on target genes could involve histone deacetylase recruitment by liganded TRbeta1.


The number of patients with heart failure is increasing despite a general decline in the manifestations of ischaemic heart disease, the most important aetiologic factor today.1 The increasing prevalence is mainly because of the growing number of elderly heart failure patients who are often hospitalised and frequently readmitted owing to exacerbation; at least 30% are readmitted within one year and many within 30 days.2 Hospitalisation for heart failure is a major economic burden on health care.

Most heart failure patients are treated by primary care physicians. This requires special considerations in relation to the implementation of diagnostic and treatment guidelines issued by the European Society of Cardiology.3 The diagnosis and treatment of heart failure requires objective analysis of ventricular function, usually by echocardiography, which is not routinely used in primary care.4 5 Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are recommended as first line treatment for heart failure patients with reduced systolic function; however, this is difficult to achieve if cardiac function is not assessed. Consequently, patients with heart failure are not being managed in accordance with evidence-based medicine. Neither diagnosis nor treatment is optimal—how can this situation be improved?

Heart failure clinics are staffed by physicians and nurses with special expertise who exclusively manage patients with heart failure, which may significantly improve outcomes.6 7 The clinics are easily accessible, integrated units providing inpatient beds, daycare facilities, outpatient clinics, and diagnostic and monitoring facilities. The aims of these clinics are not only to provide …


The structure and interactions of water species in hydrated Nafion membranes as a function of water content were investigated on the basis of medium-infrared spectral analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The spectral decomposition of the FT-IR data in the stretching OH region was performed on different levels of hydration of the sulfate functional groups (lambdaH2O/RSO3- = 2-22). Quantum mechanical calculations of two model systems [perfluoroethanesulfonic acid/(H2O)6 cluster] and a [perfluorobutanesulfonic acid/(H2O)6 crystal] were carried out in order to account for the band assignments of Nafion in the stretching OH region (2500-4000 cm-1). Our findings indicated that the secondary structure of water species in Nafion can be accurately explained in terms of our reactive force field for water. The distinction between "surface" and "bulk" water contributions in Nafion membrane pores is proposed along with a quantitative estimate of the different types of OH groups present in the system. The average pore size was calculated and supported by the spectral results.


Transabdominal laser colpotomy was performed on 26 women for the removal of sizable pathologic specimens obtained through extensive operative laparoscopy. We used CO2 lasers operated at 10-30 W with a continuous wave. The colpotomy incision was cut across ring forceps that were then used to retrieve and remove the specimens vaginally under laparoscopic control. Colpotomy was found to be safe and not to increase morbidity in extensive laparoscopy.


The growth of water trees in polyethylene has been measured by detecting the penetration of ions from solution using instrumental neutron activation analysis. The method can accurately quantify water tree growth, something hitherto lacking in the study of polymer insulated power cables.


Estimating the distances of the shortest path between given pairs of nodes in a graph is a basic operation in a wide variety of applications including social network analysis, web retrieval, etc. Such applications require a response on the order of a few milliseconds, but exact algorithms to compute the distance of the shortest path exactly do not work on real-world large-scale networks, because of their infeasible time complexities. The landmark-based methods approximate distances by using a few nodes as landmarks, and can accurately estimate shortest-path distances with feasible time complexities. However, they fail at estimating small distances, as it is difficult for a few selected landmarks to cover the shortest paths of many close node pairs. To tackle this problem, we present a novel method EigenSP, that estimates the shortest-path distance by using an adjacency matrix approximated by a few eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The average relative error rate of EigenSP is lower than that of the landmark-based methods on large graphs with many short distances. Empirical results suggest that EigenSP estimates small distances better than the landmark-based methods.


Objective: We have studied to verify indication of the combined therapy with intraperitoneal lavage and intraduodenal infusion of Korean rhubarb extract and oxil mixture for severe acute pancreatitis and reduce rate of operation for acute pancreatitis. Methods: We have studied palliative treatment of severe pancreatitis with intraperitoneal lavage and intraduodenal infusion of Korean rhubarb extract and oxil mixture instead of operative therapy. Results: According to efficacy of our combined therapy, 83 cases (92.2%) had treated perfectly, but 7 cases (7.8%) had operation therapies due to non-efficacy on our combined therapy. Average duration of hospitalization and recovery of working ability were 21.6 ± 13.6 and 34.6 ± 10.5 respectively in study group, which were shorter than 49.8 ± 19.0, 66.5 ± 17.9 in control group. Conclusion: We applied intraperitoneal lavage and intraduodenal infusion of Korean rhubarb extract and oxil mixture for severe acute pancreatitis that needed surgical therapy in the past. Thus, the incubus of therapy was induced so recovery after operation, hospital stay and recovery of working ability was reduced than those of surgical therapy for severe acute pancreatitis.


Persistently active neurons during mnemonic periods have been regarded as the mechanism underlying working memory maintenance. Alternatively, neuronal networks could instead store memories in fast synaptic changes, thus avoiding the biological cost of maintaining an active code through persistent neuronal firing. Such 'activity-silent' codes have been proposed for specific conditions in which memories are maintained in a non-prioritized state, as for unattended but still relevant short-term memories. A hallmark of this 'activity-silent' code is that these memories can be reactivated from silent, synaptic traces. Evidence for 'activity-silent' working memory storage has come from human electroencephalography, in particular from the emergence of decodability (EEG reactivations) induced by visual impulses (termed pinging) during otherwise "silent" periods. Here, we re-analyze EEG data from such pinging studies. We find that the originally reported absence of memory decoding reflects weak statistical power, as decoding is possible based on more powered analyses or reanalysis using alpha power instead of raw voltage. This reveals that visual pinging EEG 'reactivations' occur in the presence of an electrically active, not silent, code for unattended memories in these data. This crucial change in the evidence provided by this dataset prompts a reinterpretation of the mechanisms of EEG reactivations. We provide two possible explanations backed by computational models, and we discuss the relationship with TMS-induced EEG reactivations.


Purpose: Pelvic floor reconstructive surgery has grown significantly in recent years. A wide variety of available types of meshes exist but the safety and success has not been adequately proven. We sought to evaluate the effects on dynamic biomechanical properties of tissue after long-term implantation of synthetic and biological grafts. Methods: A total of 96 New Zealand white female rabbits (approximately 3 kg) were used, 72 of which were surgically implanted with acellular, collagen mesh (n = 36) or nonabsorbable monofilament polypropylene mesh (n = 36). There was a no mesh-rupture of fascia group (n = 12) and a second, no-mesh, no-fascia rupture control group (n = 12). In the 59 rabbits, of 72 (13 died) tissue was harvested 3 months (n = 24), 6 months (n = 23) and 9 months (n = 12) later, while in the fascia rupture group, tissue was harvested 6 months later. Tissue samples (2 × 2 cm) underwent dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) testing during which the dynamic rigidity and tissue damping capacities were measured. The statistical analysis was performed with General Linear Model with Tukeys post hoc testing (sPss v.17.0). Results: With respect to mesh type, the rabbit tissue in which polypropylene mesh was used showed the greatest dynamic rigidity. Those with biological mesh delivered the lowest rigidity results, while the two other groups had almost similar behavior. The meshes exhibited their highest relative dynamic tissue stiffening effect at 9 months. Conclusions: Biological mesh causes lower tissue rigidity, resulting in inferior mechanical response and thus seems to be inferior to polypropylene.


In previous papers, I have considered various phases of neurologic surgery. In this paper I shall discuss my series of brain tumors, which number eighty-five. These unquestionably present the most difficult and varied problems which the neurologic surgeon encounters. In a recent paper read before the Clinical Congress of Surgeons, Cushing said that the time had passed when there is any purpose in speaking of the mortality in brain tumor cases any more than there is in speaking of the mortality in abdominal tumor cases. That such a generalization leads nowhere is also apparent in a study of my cases, and would be most discouraging were we to content ourselves with the bald statement that of the eighty-five patients, we lost twenty-nine, or 35.5 per cent. But when we study these cases from other angles, we find that eighteen of these twenty-nine deaths were in patients suffering with glioma, and


This research aims at describing the conditions of eLearning acceptance, understanding the role of context and communication factors and providing a set of parameters to be considered when an eLearning activity is planned and proposed to eLearners.
A blend of qualitative and quantitative methods has been chosen to achieve the research goals and build an eLearning Readiness Index. A first list of key factors has been identified through a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the acceptance issue; theories and models are presented focusing on phases, components and variables of the acceptance process and highlighting the importance of contextual factors. A general framework of analysis for the implementation of eLearning activities in organisations is built and presented in the Map of eLearning Acceptance (MeLA).
The second part of the research zooms on MeLA considering only organizational context variables that affect the preparation phase of the eLearning acceptance process. The list of variables obtained in the literature review has been refined, assessed and organized through nine case studies and two surveys in order to define a Corporate eLearning Readiness Index.
The main research output is a step forward in the comprehension and solution of the problem of eLearning acceptance and dropout. In particular, the Map of eLearning Acceptance and the Corporate eLearning Readiness Index (CeLeRI) offer two original tools to be further researched by eLearning researchers and to enter the eLearning practitionersâ?? toolbox.


Launch Interface Ring roles as connection department of satellite and launcher for to deliver all structure loads that occur from the satellite, and one of the most intensive load received parts. Especially COMS, the first Korean developing GEO satellite, needs Launch Interface Ring with Tank Support Beam because of dissymmetry fuel tanks. The purpose of this study is the suitable form decision of Launch Interface Ring at preliminary design of COMS. In this study, launch mass and design constraints are investigated. Moreover, optimization algorithm and simplification technique are used. At the beginning of this study, three types of launch interface ring were presented and finally model 3 was the lightest design for resistance of launch environment. Nevertheless, model 1 can be suggested for application to COMS because of the satellite gravity center control and ease of fabrication.


Instant messaging with Internet-based software is a ubiquitous form of communication in industrialized nations. In fact, many educators are observing that students engage with instant messaging while simultaneously engaged in academic activity. Though this type of multitasking is pervasive, educational researchers have not examined how the practice of instant messaging impacts learning outcomes. This dissertation describes the background, empirical and theoretical foundations, methods and results of a study examining the impact of instant messaging activity on learning, where instant messaging and learning are simultaneous activities. The question posed is grounded in the related areas of instant messaging practices, the Generation M profile, Cognitive Load Theory, and integration of instant messaging in K-16 classrooms. This work presents empirical evidence pointing out the necessity of conducting empirical study regarding how instant messaging activity might impact learning. Quantitative methods used to conduct the study are presented including data collection instruments. The results of the study are discussed in broad terms related to Generation M and Cognitive Load Theory. Methodological limitations related to practice opportunities for the research sample as well as the performance measure used are detailed. In addition, implications of the results in relationship to those teaching members of Generation M in K-16 classrooms as well as those designing instruction for this population are discussed. The discussion concludes with recommendations for further research in this area.


We present an approach for adaptive scheduling of soft real-time legacy applications (for which no timing information is exposed to the system). Our strategy is based on the combination of two techniques: 1) a real-time monitor that observes the sequence of events generated by the application to infer its activation period, 2) a feedback mechanism that adapts the scheduling parameters to ensure a timely execution of the application. By a thorough experimental evaluation of an implementation of our approach, we show its performance and its efficiency.


The heat affected zones (HAZ) of two Dual Phase steels spot welds, DP450 and DP980, were investigated experimentally with a Gleeble 3500 thermomechanical simulator. The thermal cycles experienced locally were identified by finite element analysis of the resistance spot welding process and their evolution with an increasing sheet thickness was highlighted within a usual range of [1.0–3.0] mm. The cooling rates are significantly lower in the case of thick sheets and this promotes the occurrence of diffusional phase transformations. HAZ microstructures and constitutive behaviours could be characterized with the Gleeble specimens. Experimental simulations were run in the subcritical and the coarse grain temperature ranges (700°C and 1200°C respectively) in order to address the main transformations for both steels. DP450 shows little sensitivity to the subcritical thermal cycles while DP980 exhibits significant softening. This is in accordance with their respective base metal martensite content and the occurrence of martensite tempering. On the contrary, DP450 microstructures and mechanical properties are strongly sensitive to the investigated range of coarse grained HAZ thermal cycles while the evolution is less pronounced in the case of DP980, which is related to their respective hardenability.


Topological insulators (TIs) are a new class of quantum materials that exhibit a current-induced spin polarization due to spin-momentum locking of massless Dirac Fermions in their surface states. This helical spin polarization in three-dimensional (3D) TIs has been observed using photoemission spectroscopy up to room temperatures. Recently, spin polarized surface currents in 3D TIs were detected electrically by potentiometric measurements using ferromagnetic detector contacts. However, these electric measurements are so far limited to cryogenic temperatures. Here we report the room temperature electrical detection of the spin polarization on the surface of Bi2Se3 by employing spin sensitive ferromagnetic tunnel contacts. The current-induced spin polarization on the Bi2Se3 surface is probed by measuring the magnetoresistance while switching the magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic detector. A spin resistance of up to 70 mΩ is measured at room temperature, which increases linearly with current bias, reverses sign with current direction, and decreases with higher TI thickness. The magnitude of the spin signal, its sign, and control experiments, using different measurement geometries and interface conditions, rule out other known physical effects. These findings provide further information about the electrical detection of current-induced spin polarizations in 3D TIs at ambient temperatures and could lead to innovative spin-based technologies.


Currently, GPS is by far the most popular global localization method. However, it is not always reliable or accurate in all environments. SLAM methods enable local state estimation but provide no means of registering the local map to a global one, which can be important for inter-robot collaboration or human interaction. In this work, we present a real-time method for utilizing semantics to globally localize a robot using only egocentric 3D semantically labelled LiDAR and IMU as well as top-down RGB images obtained from satellites or aerial robots. Additionally, as it runs, our method builds a globally registered, semantic map of the environment. We validate our method on KITTI as well as our own challenging datasets, and show better than 10 m accuracy, a high degree of robustness, and the ability to estimate the scale of a top-down map on the fly if it is initially unknown.


The paper deals with the emotionalisation of contemporary media discourse, which is one of its important characteristics. It suggests that regular appeal to all sorts of threats (terrorist threat, military threat, ecological threat, Russian threat, Chinese threat, etc.), observed in media, evidences the emergence of a discourse of threat, which has an emotional impact on the audience, causes fear and anxiety in society. The study is limited to the notion of Russian threat. It explores the functioning of the word threat, its derivatives and synonyms in textual contexts with the focus on their pragma-discursive characteristics and functions. The material for the study was taken from newspaper articles, published in quality British and American newspapers in the period 2018-2019, which were analysed drawing on critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2001; Weiss & Wodak 2003, van Dijk 2006), medialinguistics (Bryant & Zillman 2002, Richardson 2007, Dobrosklonskaya 2008, Klushina 2014; Kopytowska 2009, 2015). The study argues that the frequent use of the collocation Russian threat as well as the obsessive discussion of this topic in the Western media is aimed at creating a negative image of Russia and influencing public opinion. The paper evidences that emotional impact has become more aggressive and should be considered as a strategy of manipulation widely used by contemporary media, as it suppresses the ability of rational perception of information and helps to introduce certain ideas into people's minds without critical thinking. We suggest that in a broad sense the discourse of threat itself may be considered as a strategy of manipulation


The purpose of the present study was to empirically test the suggestion that experiential avoidance in an emotion regulation context is best understood as an emotion regulatory function of topographically distinct strategies. To do this we examined whether a measure of experiential avoidance could statistically account for the effects of emotion regulation strategies intervening at different points of the emotion-generative process as conceptualized by Gross' (1998) process model of emotion regulation. The strategies under examination were behavioral avoidance, cognitive reappraisal, and response suppression. The specific hypotheses to be tested were (1) that behavioral avoidance, cognitive reappraisal, and response suppression would statistically mediate the differences in measures of psychological well-being between a clinical and nonclinical sample, but that (2) these indirect effects would be reduced to nonsignificant levels when controlling for differences in experiential avoidance. The results provide clear support for the first hypothesis with regard to all the studied strategies. In contrast to the second hypothesis, the results showed the predicted outcome pattern only for the response-focused strategy "response suppression" and not for cognitive reappraisal or behavioral avoidance. The results are interpreted and discussed in relation to theories on experiential avoidance and emotion regulation.


Background: Schools, afterschool programs (ASPs), and outdoor environment have been identified as ideal settings to increase physical activity (PA) levels and improve academic performance of children. The purpose of this review study is to assess the effectiveness of the Active Science program in promoting PA and science learning in a variety of settings including in school, afterschool, and the outdoors. Methods: Active Science encompasses PA within exploratory-type educational experiences to create "active education" environments. This approach of using PA as a component of academics is not unique to Active Science , and others have successfully demonstrated beneficial effects on activity and academics. This study reviewed the results of the Active Science program in three different settings, in school, afterschool, and an outdoor education environment. Results: Regardless of the setting, the results supported that children had significantly higher PA levels and improved science scores when they participated in Active Science. Conclusion: The Active Science approach is one way to get students physically active while promoting science learning during the school day, ASPs, and outdoor education environments.


The presence of MBD4, a member of the methyl binding domain family, was investigated in both murine and bovine oocytes and pre-implantation embryos. MBD4 is the only MBD family member that is involved in DNA repair but not active in transcriptional repression or in the formation of complexes with histone deacetylase complexes (HDACs). It contains a mismatch-specific glycosylase domain that acts to repair G:T mismatches within a CpG context. Bovine cumulus oocyte complexes were collected from abattoir-derived ovaries, matured in vitro and used for IVF as described previously (Ruddock et al. 2004 Biol. Reprod. 70, 1131–1135). Samples were analyzed at all steps in this process. Murine oocytes were collected from superovulated mice (C57BL6 × CBA) and subjected to conventional IVF. A polyclonal antibody derived in the rabbit against human peptides from specific regions of MBD4 (Imgenex, San Diego, CA, USA) was used to localize MBD4 protein. This antibody was tested at a variety of concentrations against both human HL60 leukemia cells and bovine embryos. Staining of HL60 cells was optimum at 32–64 μg/mL and embryos at 64 μg/mL. Briefly, the staining protocol consisted of fixing cells and zona-free oocytes or embryos in 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 min, followed by 15 min in 0.1% Triton X-100. Primary antibody incubation was performed overnight at 4°C. Embryos were then washed in blocking buffer for 1 hr prior to incubation at 4°C in mouse anti-rabbit IgG conjugated to FITC in blocking buffer for 30 min in the dark. Lastly, embryos were incubated in 10 μg/L Hoescht 33342 for 15 min, and then washed and mounted with Vectashield (Vector Labs, Burlingame, CA, USA). Negative controls contained no primary antibody. Mounted cells/embryos were viewed by epifluorescence microscopy. MBD4 was found to be expressed in both murine and bovine oocytes and pre-implantation embryos. In the cow, faint nuclear expression was detected at the 2-cell stage, followed by exclusion of the protein from the nucleus until the blastocyst stage of development. At this stage, staining was primarily nuclear and quite intense. In the mouse, staining was cytoplasmic at the 2 pronuclear stage, but was then concentrated in the nucleus from the 2-cell stage onward. It will be interesting to determine if this is due to the different timing of embryonic genome activation between the two species, hence implying a role for MBD4 in this important biological process. Further investigations are underway to compare the subcellular localization of the other MBD proteins in both species during preimplantation development and to identify a role for MBD4 in embryonic genome activation.


Cirrhosis of the liver is no longer a hopeless, incurable disease destined to progress until death intervenes. Recent reports 1 are rapidly accumulating evidence which shows that many patients with hepatic cirrhosis can improve, or recover as judged by clinical observations and laboratory tests, after treatment by the Patek regimen, 1a, b with choline or with choline and cystine. 1i I have reported elsewhere a detailed analysis of the results of treatment in cirrhosis of the liver in a series of 62 patients studied at two year intervals 1j over an eight year period of time. In this present paper the results and basis for the treatment of choice in cirrhosis are described and offered for trial by others. METHODS OF TREATMENT The treatment which I have adopted consists in the administration of methionine, 2 Gm. daily; choline chloride, 2 Gm. daily, a special liver extract prepared by the filtration and


We describe the desire for a black box approach to pattern classification: a generic Autonomous Pattern Recognizer, which is capable of self-adapting to specific alphabets without human intervention. The CellNet software system is introduced, an evolutionary system that optimizes a set of pattern-recognizing agents relative to a provided set of features and a given pattern database. CellNet utilizes a new genetic operator designed to facilitate a canalization of development: Merger. CellNet utilizes our own set of arbitrarily chosen features, and is applied to the CEDAR Database of hand-written Latin characters, as well as to a database of hand-written Indian digits provided by CENPARMI. CellNet's cooperative co-evolutionary approach shows significant improvement over a more standard Genetic Algorithm, both in terms of efficiency and in nearly eliminating over-fitting (to the training set). Additionally, the binary classifiers autonomously evolved by CellNet return validation accuracies approaching 98% for both Latin and Indian digits, with no global changes to the system between the two trials.


Fifteen patients, 13 women and 2 men (mean age 60 years) with osteoporosis of different types have been under treatment with 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and calcium. The responses were observed clinically and by the use of roentgen morphometry, photon absorptiometry and by blood and urine chemical analyses. The treatment had beneficial clinical effect in all but 3 patients. The intestinal calcium absorption rate increased significantly. Slight hypercalcemia and a significant hypercalciuria occurred during treatment. Serum and urine phosphate levels, alkaline phosphatase and parathyroid hormone values were within normal ranges. The bone mineral content increased significantly during treatment. 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 and calcium was well tolerated by the patients. Three patients had coincidental acute attacks of spinal pain and 2 had further vertebral crush fractures. A period of time longer than one year is necessary to further evaluate the effects of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 therapy on the clinical course of severe osteoporosis.


A 76-year-old lady was referred for resection of a large (50 mm) sigmoidal sessile adenoma (Paris classification IIb, JNET2a, Figure A). After submucosal injection with diluted indigo carmine and adrenaline, the lesion was resected using cold snare piece-meal technique (Captivator 10 mm cold single use snare, Boston). Because of a zone with presumably residual polyp tissue, an additional resection of submucosa was performed (Figure B, arrow). This resection turned out to cut deeper than expected and reached as far as the circular muscles (Figure B, arrowhead). No preventive clips were placed. No complications occurred, there were no immediate or late bleedings.

https://www.ageb.be/Articles/Volume 85 (2022)/Fasc4/18-Van Overbeke.pdf


School dropout has both individual and economic implications. Current statistics reveal higher dropout rates among boys. Schools have a unique position to address youth development. Research from the US on positive youth development shows positive relationships between developmental assets (e.g. support at school) and academic achievement. The present paper examined these relationships among 591 Norwegian high school students (55% girls), aged 15-19 (mean = 16.70) with data from a cross-sectional study. Results indicated that girls reported more assets than boys did. Furthermore, while positive correlations occurred among assets and academic achievement, some assets (i.e. commitment to learning, support and positive identity) were better predictors of academic achievement in regression analysis. Schools can play a significant role in nurturing developmental assets that will promote academic achievement in both genders, as well as have implications for youth and consequently economic development.


Abstract Recent studies suggest that the environmental effects of volcanic gas emissions in the lower troposphere have been underestimated. This chapter first briefly summarizes the techniques available for characterizing tropospheric volcanic gas plumes, including the composition and fluxes of emitted gases and aerosols, as well as their atmospheric dispersion. The second part documents the contribution of gas emissions from degassing craters to the composition of the atmosphere, including effects from dry and wet deposition chemistry. The third section deals with the detrimental impacts on vegetation, soils, and groundwater in relation to passive degassing activity. Improved understanding of the impacts of volcanic degassing on the atmospheric and terrestrial environment will require: (1) systematic two-dimensional and three-dimensional measurements of tropospheric volcanic plumes, (2) development of general physical and chemical models to describe the fate of volcanic gases and aerosols during transport in the troposphere, and (3) investigation of the response of diverse ecosystems to volcanogenic air pollution.


In this study we tested for differences in physical activity (PA), physical self-concept, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between the least and most biologically mature adolescent females within their respective chronological and academic year groups. A total of 222 British female adolescents aged 10 to 14 years ( X ¯ age = 12.7 years; SD = .8) completed a series of instruments assessing PA, physical self-concept, and HRQoL. Percentage of predicted adult stature was used as an index of biological maturation. A series of univariate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for chronological age, revealed that the most mature girls within the chronological and academic year groups generally reported lower levels of physical self-concept and, to a lesser extent, PA and HRQoL when compared to the least mature girls. The findings provide partial support toward the contention that maturity-associated variance in health-related outcomes is accentuated at the extreme ends of the biological maturity continuum.


With the current trend of miniaturisation of electronic devices, piezoelectric fans have attracted increasing interest as a means of inducing forced convection cooling, instead of traditional rotary solutions. Although there exists an abundance of research on various piezo-actuated flapping fans in the literature, the geometries of these fans all consist of a smooth rectangular cross section with thicknesses typically of the order of 100 μm. The focus of these studies has primarily been on variables such as frequency, amplitude and, in some cases, resonance mode. It is generally noted that the induced flow dynamics are a direct consequence of the pressure differential at the fan tip as well as the pressure driven 'over the top' vortices generated at the upper and lower edges of the fan. Rough surfaces such as golf ball dimples or vortex generators on an aircraft wing have proven to be beneficial by tripping the boundary layer and energising the adjacent airflow. This paper aims to examine the influence of surface roughness on the airflow generation of a flapping fan, and to determine if the induced wake can be manipulated or enhanced by energising the airflow around the fan tip. Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) is carried out on mechanically oscillated rigid fans with surfaces consisting of protruding pillars and dimples. A smooth rigid fan surface is also investigated as a control. No significant difference was noted between the smooth and roughened fans through observation of the induced flow fields. Both fans produced results that were largely consistent with the existing literature on oscillating cantilevers. The results of this paper may be used to inform the design of piezoelectric fans and to aid in understanding the complex aerodynamics inherent in flapping wing flight.


More than 5,000 m (16,404 ft) of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary nonmarine rocks have accumulated in the northern Green River basin. At depths below 3,000 m (9,842 ft), they contain large reserves of natural gas in low-permeability, overpressured sandstones and siltstones. Isotopic, petrographic, and mineralogic studies of cores from seven wells reveal that an intricate sequence of diagenetic events has acted upon mineralogically immature sediments to produce the observed low permeabilities. In large portions of the basin, this low permeability impedes the leakage of pore fluids, including gas. Gas accumulates in sandstones because it is generated from humic matter at a rate that exceeds its ability to escape. Gas entrapment due to low permeability is demonstrated by overpr ssuring. The overpressuring results from a combination of overburden removal and generation of fluids by organic matter maturation. In the central part of the basin, normal hydrostatic pressures exist down to about 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Sandstone porosities in this zone range from 10 to 15% and permeabilities usually exceed 10 md. Below this depth, sandstones have greatly reduced porosities and permeabilities and become increasingly overpressured. At depths of about 3,500 m (11,483 ft), overpressuring and gas accumulation are associated with sandstones that have average porosities of about 7% and in-situ permeabilities of approximately 0.005 md. This transition is not marked by a depositional boundary. Porosity reduction, which is assumed to be paralleled by permeability loss, proceeds by some combination of three principal processes: (1) precipitation of calcite or silica cements early in the burial history; (2) porosity loss through grain deformation and compaction; and (3) the filling and coating of residual and secondary pores by illite, chlorite, microcrystalline quartz, or ferroan carbonates. A wide range of porosities is present in each depth interval, but maximum sandstone porosity follows a relentless course of destruction with depth. Only locally has the magnitude of grain and cement dissolution been great enough to reverse the porosity-depth trend. Zones of conventional reservoir porosity and permeability have not been recognized in areas of overpressuring and gas accumulation, nor are they to be expected. Because the gas is diagenetically entrapped, the search for economic accumulations should, paradoxically, be limited to sandstones of low porosity and permeability. End_of_Article - Last_Page 450------------


Phase change materials can be switched rapidly and repeatedly between amorphous and crystalline phases, which differ distinctly in their optical and electrical properties. This combination of properties is utilized to store information in rewritable optical storage media and in emerging phase change memory technology. This article describes the physical properties of phase change materials such as Ge2 Sb2 Te5 and relates these properties to specific structural and bonding characteristics. Electrical conduction and switching, which are relevant for phase change memory operation, are explained from a physical perspective. Phase change memory device integration and technology development are discussed, including aspects of access device selection and integration.


Voice synthesis systems are popular in different applications, such as personal assistants, GPS applications, screen readers and accessibility tools.Voice provides a natural way for human-computer interaction. However, not all languages are on the same level when in terms of resources and systems for voice synthesis. This work consists of the creation of publicly available resources for Brazilian Portuguese in the form of a dataset and deep learning models for end-to-end voice synthesis. The dataset has 10.5 hours from a single speaker. We investigated three different architectures to perform end-to-end speech synthesis: Tacotron 1, DCTTS and Mozilla TTS. We also analysed the performance of models according to different vocoders (RTISI-LA, WaveRNN and Universal WaveRNN), phonetic transcriptions usage, transfer learning (from English) and denoising. In the proposed scenario, a model based on Mozilla TTS and RTISI-LA vocoder presented the best performance, achieving a 4.03 MOS value. We also verified that transfer learning, phonetic transcriptions and denoising are useful to train the models over the presented dataset. The obtained results are comparable to related works covering English, even while using a smaller dataset


Previous research efforts on OFDMA resource allocation have typically assumed the availability of perfect channel state information (CSI). Unfortunately, this is unrealistic, primarily due to channel estimation errors, and more importantly, channel feedback delay. In this paper, we develop optimal resource allocation algorithms for the OFDMA downlink assuming the availability of only partial (imperfect) CSI. We consider both continuous and discrete ergodic weighted sum rate maximization subject to total power constraints, and average bit error rate constraints for the discrete rate case. We approach these problems using a dual optimization framework, allowing us to solve these problems with O(MK) complexity per symbol for an OFDMA system with K used subcarriers and M active users, while achieving relative optimality gaps of less than 10-5 for continuous rates and less than 10-3 for discrete rates in simulations based on realistic parameters.


The interactions between amine local anesthetic dibucaine and pig erythrocyte membranes have been studied by proton and phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (1H- and 31P-NMR) spectroscopy. It was found that dibucaine, bound to the membranes, increases the mobility of the hydrophobic acyl chains of the phospholipids, but that it decreases the mobility and/or changes the structure of the polar headgroups. The interactions with peripheral membrane proteins, i.e., spectrin and actin, were found to be weak. These observations indicate that the dibucaine locates across the polar and hydrophobic areas of the lipid phase of the membranes by both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. It is assumed that the changes in the mobility and/or the conformation of the phospholipids residing around the Na channel protein are essential in causing anesthesia.


THE SOCIOECOLOGICAL LIVES OF SMALL-SCALE ORGANIC FARMERS AND FARMS: AN EXPLORATION OF DIFFERENCE Alyssa Hubert Advisors: Professor Adam Sneyd University of Guelph, 2013 Professor Alice Hovorka Organic farming has often been described as a single unified entity. Further, this unified praxis is often discussed as an alternative approach to agriculture and as a particular social and environmental movement. There has been increasing acknowledgement in academia that there are many different organics, or versions, or knowledges of organic, but what this means to individual farmers and farms remains to be explored. This is the point of departure for this work. This is an interdisciplinary project situated at the intersection of human geography, cultural anthropology, and political science, informed by and engaged with actor-network theory and visual methodologies. My methods include ethnographic participant observation, interviews, and photovoice. For this project I visited 17 small-scale organic farms in southern British Columbia. My findings indicate that different ideas, opinions, and narratives of organic abound, but most importantly that reconciling difference and nostalgia amid vast change was an overwhelming theme for the farmers and farms in this project.


In the past twenty years, the CDU's perspective on gender issues has changed radically. Although the CDU has not become a feminist party, it has significantly modified its former stances on gender issues mostly in a progressive direction. The presence of female party chair and Chancellor Angela Merkel is the most obvious change, but the party has shifted its position in many other areas as well. The CDU adopted a gender 'quorum' in the mid-1990s, which has been partially successful at increasing women's representation within the party. Under the Grand Coalition the CDU-led government backed reforms to the parental leave law, linking payments to prior salary and explicitly encouraging fathers to take time off. The Grand Coalition also significantly increased child care for children under 3. Merkel did not initiate the party's modernisation, and in many cases these changes date back to the 1980s. Merkel has accelerated the pace of change, however. The CDU's reforms in gendered issue areas are quite popular with female voters and the party is gaining ground with women of all age groups.


The China Lobby in the United States attracted much scholarly attention after 1945, yet it found its footing in the late 1930s and played a critical role in re-shaping American public opinion prior to World War II . Historians have devoted relatively little time to investigating this earlier period. The overwhelming majority of China's lobbyists during these early years were American missionaries who the Chinese government often funded and managed. This article examines the role of two of those missionaries—Frank and Harry Price—and their American Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression. It relies on research in Taiwan, China, and in archives across the United States. The author also has interviewed members of the Price family, as well as former associates of Frank Price in the United States, Taiwan, and China. The evidence this article presents demonstrates that while difficult to quantify, the Price brothers played a crucial role in helping to re-shape American public opinion about China between 1938 and 1941.