In 2014, Russia rolled into Crimea, orchestrated a swift and one-sided referendum, and annexed the Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian government as well as Western countries were blindsided by the attack and slow to provide any response. Due to the comprehensive and cross-sectoral Russian effort, it become obvious that Russia had prepared the Crimea operation for years. This paper examines some characteristics of the Russian hybrid influencing operations – the methods and tools used in Ukraine from the local perspective. The purpose of the study is to gain insights on how the local population felt this influence and further, how they reacted to these actions namely before the annexation of Crimea. The study is based on document review and empirical data collected in Ukraine during May 2019, comprising of 18 interviews, which were analysed by using content-driven analysis. Warden Five Ring Model was adapted to formulate the interview questions, and the Russian influencing operations are perceived as being part of Russian hybrid warfare towards Ukraine. The results of the study suggests that Russia had started employing non-military means, against Ukraine years before the armed aggressions started. Among others, it engaged in a propaganda war against Ukraine, meddled in Ukrainian elections, supported pro-Russian political forces in Ukraine, established political and military influence, and introduced treaties and bilateral agreements beneficial to Russia. However, the results of the study indicated that the above-mentioned activities were not perceived as hostile or abnormal, as Russia was considered as a friendly or even brother-like country. The dominance of information space until 2014 allowed Russia to target and exploit Ukrainian protest potential and create and fuel tensions between Russian and Ukrainian speaking population. The use of cyber domain was an important factor in the achievement of Russian victory in the Crimea operation. Russian influencing operations already prior to annexation of Crimea demonstrated how cyber operations are used not only to disrupt technical systems, but also how they can be used to psychologically influence audiences.


Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic abdominal pain with the change of defecation. The present study aimed to compare the effects of standard medical treatment plus stress management treatment and standard medical treatment alone in IBS symptoms and quality of life. An experimental study has been carried out among participants with Rome-III diagnostic criteria. Participants randomly assigned into two groups. The case group received the standard medical treatment plus stress management treatment, n= 15, while, the control group received the standard medical treatment alone, n= 15. The training programs were contain 8 domains of relaxation, cognation reproduce, contrast skills training, express trains and problem solving, anger management training and social supports. Data were collected using demographic, ROME III, Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Score and Quality of Life- IBS. Overall, 30 male participants were evaluated. The age range of participants was 25-55 years. The stress management training could decrease the ROME-II scores. Also the stress management training has a significant effect on quality of life and the HSE.Therefore, it is necessary that IBS suffering referred to psychologists for psychotherapy while they are under medical treatment


Core networks are increasingly supporting overlay networks on top of an IP-WDM network. As network reliability is a growing concern, a major challenge in the survivable layered network design is the crosslayer survivable mapping problem that deals with QoS parameters such as availability, lightpath length, and many others. This work directly studies this problem and proposes matrix formulations of the NP-hard mapping problem, giving a detailed insight into the structure of the layered network as well as relationships between and among links, and some potential mapping extensions. Numerical experiments show availability gains at no expense, occasionally, to the routing cost.


We consider a theoretical problem of the upper critical magnetic field parallel to a conducting axis of a quasi-one-dimensional layered superconductor. We show that the orbital effects against superconductivity in a magnetic field are capable of destroying the superconducting phase at low temperatures if the interplane distance is less than the corresponding coherence length. Applications of our results to the recent experiments, performed in the superconductor Li$_{0.9}$Mo$_6$O$_{17}$ [J.-F. Mercure et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 108}, 187003 (2012)], provide strong arguments in favor of a triplet superconducting pairing in this quasi-one-dimensional layered conductor.


Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis is a systemic vasculitis. It could affect respiratory system, kidney, and central nervous system frequently; however, all body organs could be involved. Asthma and eosinophilic pneumonia are predominant manifestations in respiratory system. Bronchoalveolar lavage or lung biopsy may be used for diagnosis, but endobronchial lesion is not considered as a manifestation of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis. Here we present a case of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis with unusual endobronchial lesion which was confirmed by endobronchial biopsy.


Patients with hamartomatous polyposis syndromes have increased risk for colorectal cancer (CRC). Although progression of polyps to carcinoma is observed, pathogenic mechanisms remain unknown. The authors examined whether familial hamartomatous polyps harbor defects in DNA mismatch repair (MMR), and assayed for somatic mutation of PTEN, a gene inactivated in the germline of some hamartomatous polyposis syndrome patients.


The endocannabinoid system (ECS) participates in regulating whole body energy balance. Overactivation of the ECS has been associated with the negative consequence of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Since activators of the ECS rely on lipid-derived ligands, an investigation was conducted to determine whether dietary PUFA could influence the ECS to affect glucose clearance by measuring metabolites of macronutrient metabolism. C57/blk6 mice were fed a control or DHA-enriched semi-purified diet for a period of 112 d. Plasma, skeletal muscle, and liver were collected after 56 d and 112 d of feeding the diets for metabolomics analysis. Key findings characterized a shift in glucose metabolism and greater catabolism of fatty acids in mice fed the DHA diet. Glucose use and promotion of fatty acids as substrate were found based on levels of metabolic pathway intermediates and altered metabolic changes related to pathway flux with DHA feeding. Greater levels of DHA-derived glycerol lipids were found subsequently leading to the decrease of arachidonate-derived endocannabinoids (eCB). Levels of 1- and 2-arachidonylglcerol eCB in muscle and liver were lower in the DHA diet group compared to controls. These findings demonstrate that DHA feeding in mice alters macronutrient metabolism and may restore ECS tone by lowering arachidonic acid derived eCB.


The boundary between a thick carbonate layer and its substrata is often a well-defined reflector due to the presence of shaly and clayey layers beneath the carbonates. This reflector and other underlying reflectors result in a velocity pull-up effect because the seismic velocities within the carbonates are higher than that of the surrounding sediments. The geometry of velocity pull-up beneath the carbonate body is related to the geometry of the structure and the thickness of the carbonate body the seismic wave travels through.
 In B9 area of Mumbai Offshore basin, the reservoir facies are largely represented by clastics deposited along tidal deltaic lobes. Wells drilled though Daman formation have encountered good quality pay sands within the Daman formation. This pay has produced commercial quantities of hydrocarbons in the vicinity making the area attractive for further exploration and exploitation. The overlying Bombay formation consists mainly of shale with occasional bands of limestone and claystone. The development of thick isolated carbonates bodies within Bombay formation is observed in "C" structure on which "Well-C" is placed. This is seen to significantly constrain the structural configuration in the "C" area. There is a possibility of substantial extension of the "C" structure towards south if the impact of velocity pull up due to carbonate build up can be successfully mitigated. The ultimate challenge is to image the Daman reservoirs, mitigating overburden lateral velocity variations.
 In addition to a layered cake depth conversion approach for depth conversion of the time map, a more robust approach, PSDM followed by depth conversion was carried out. This paper highlights the merit of different methods.


Paper membranes made from vulcanized cellulose were used for the pervaporation (PV) of aqueous solutions containing methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol. It was noted that the vulcanized cellulose paper membranes (VCPM) could effectively separate alcohol and water from the mixture solutions. To observe the effect of the separation of alcohol aqueous mixtures, the permeation behavior of water and alcohol was examined by means of the separation factor and the permeation flux. The values of the permeation flux in the ethanol/water mixtures were found to vary from 6.2 kg/m2h to 2.1 kg/m2h, as the concentration of ethanol increased from 8 to 87 wt %, and the separation factor (α) changed from α = 2.6 to 6.6, respectively. This showed that the VCPM enhanced the separation of water and alcohol. The highest value observed for the permeation flux was 11 kg/m2h at 87 wt % of methanol concentration and the separation factor at this condition was 4.1. It was shown also that an efficient separation was obtained in the isopropanol/water mixture with a separation factor of 16.6. The contact angles of alcohol/water droplets on the VCPM were measured as well as the wettability of the membrane. There was a tendency of decrease for the contact angle, as the alcohol concentration decreased. This suggested that the solvent wettability decreased in high alcohol concentrations. It was concluded that a high permeabilitty of water through the VCPM resulted in the separation of alcohols and water in the PV process. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


BACKGROUND
The role of opportunistic infections in accelerating disease progression in HIV-positive individuals, leading to quick death, is still receiving serious attention. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Isospora belli infections in HIV-positive patients in Edo State, Nigeria between August 2007 and March 2008.

METHODS
A total of 268 samples from HIV-positive patients and 20 samples from HIV-negative patients were processed using the modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique to microscopically identify the presence of I. belli oocysts.

RESULTS
The overall prevalence of the coccidian was 3.1%. Gender and age had no correlation with the prevalence of the parasite (P > 0.05). There was a significant relationship between isosporiasis and CD4+ T cell counts in HIV-positive patients (OR=11.388, 95% CI= 2.797-46.371, P=0.0004).

CONCLUSIONS
Routine investigation of I. belli in HIV-positive subjects is advocated in tertiary health institutions.


Thirty-three patients were subjected to transbronchial needle aspiration during the routine diagnostic bronchoscopy. Of the 17 patients with submucosal diseases, Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) had a yield of 88.2% as against 81.2% for bronchial biopsies, 54.5% for bronchial brush smears and 41.1% for bronchial aspirates. TBNA also had a good yield in endobronchially visible growths. Nine patients had mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes as evident in contrast enhanced CT scans. TBNA was attempted from eight lymph node sites in six patients with bronchogenic carcinoma and was positive for malignant cells from four of these sites, while normal lymphoid cells were obtained from the other four sites. TBNA could also diagnose the disease from the left hilar lymph node in one patient with sarcoidosis, an extra tracheal bronchogenic carcinoma in another patient and an extra bronchial metastasis in yet another patient where conventional bronchoscopic techniques failed. TBNA was found to be a safe, cost effective and valuable diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases.


To the Editors: We have read the recent article by Chuang et al. (2012) with great interest. They studied the effects of long-term antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy on vascular risk factors and atherosclerosis. They proved that treatment with carbamazepine (CBZ), phenytoin, or valproic acid (VPA) is significantly associated with acceleration of atherosclerosis in patients with epilepsy. Their findings were significantly associated with the duration of AED treatment. Authors concluded that this information offers a guide for the choice of drug in patients with epilepsy who require long-term AED therapy, particularly in aged and high-risk individuals. They have discussed different underlying mechanisms, including dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, oxidative stress, and hyperhomocysteinemia. However, the authors failed to note the role of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)—an endogenous nitric oxide synthase inhibitor—on the vascular system. ADMA has been suggested to be a risk factor for endothelial dysfunction in humans (Bçger et al., 1998), and a predictor of acute coronary events (Valkonen et al., 2001). ADMA has been also suggested to be a potentially useful new biomarker of subclinical vascular brain injury, which is an important correlate of vascular cognitive impairment and risk of stroke (Pikula et al., 2009). Elevated ADMA levels were first demonstrated in AED-treated patients with epilepsy in 2009 by Oz et al. (2009). In this study, the authors investigated the effect of VPA and CBZ monotherapy on plasma levels of ADMA and homocysteine and serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy. They demonstrated that ADMA levels were significantly increased after treatment in both VPA and CBZ groups. They concluded that elevated ADMA levels may be responsible for the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with epilepsy who are receiving AED therapy. In our opinion, the lack of discussion of the results of this study may leave readers with an incomplete understanding of the changes in the vascular system. We must consider elevated ADMA level as a potential underlying factor in vascular risk and atherosclerosis in patients with epilepsy who are receiving AED treatment.


The development of semisolid formulations, gels in particular, has raised the attention of scientists more and more over the last decades. Because of their biocompatibility, hydrophilic nature, and capacity of absorbing large quantities of water, hydrogels are still one of the most promising pharmaceutical formulations in the pharmaceutical industry. The purpose of this study is to develop an optimal formulation capable of incorporating a water-poorly soluble active ingredient such as miconazole used in the treatment of fungal infections with Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis. A D-optimal design was applied to study the relationship between the formulation parameter and the gel characteristics. The independent parameters used in this study were the Carbopol 940 concentration (the polymer used to obtain the gel matrix), the sodium hydroxide amount, and the presence/absence of miconazole. Ten different dependent parameters (Y1–Y10) were evaluated (penetrometry, spreadability, viscosity, and tangential tension at 1 and 11 levels of speed whilst destructuring and during the reorganization of the gel matrix). The consistency of the gels ranged from 23.2 mm (GO2) to 29.6 mm (GM5). The least spreadable gel was GO7 (1384 mm2), whilst the gel that presented the best spreadability was GO1 (3525 mm2). The viscosity and the tangential stress at the selected levels (1 and 11) varied due to the different compositions of the proposed gels. The gels were also tested for drug content and antifungal activity. All determinations had satisfying results; the drug content was within limits accepted by Ph. Eur. 10 and all formulations containing miconazole exhibited antifungal activity. An optimal formulation with miconazole was attained, consisting of 0.84% Carbopol 940 and 0.32% sodium hydroxide.


The extrapolation of nucleon axial charge gA is investigated within the framework of heavy baryon chiral effective field theory. The intermediate octet and decuplet baryons are included in the one loop calculation. Finite range regularization is applied to improve the convergence in the quark-mass expansion. The lattice data from three different groups are used for the extrapolation. At physical pion mass, the extrapolated gA are all smaller than the experimental value.


ABSTRACT The sharing economy has gained a lot of attention in recent years. Despite the substantial growth in shared services, its impact overall on transport is unclear. This paper analyses the literature on sharing in transport and includes government and consultant reports, websites and academic journals. The drivers of ride-sharing, car-sharing, car-pooling and freight-sharing are largely economic and convenience related for participants. Trust, technology platforms and the trend to avoid ownership of assets are facilitating factors in its growth. Over-regulation, inconsistent quality of service and the need for recommendation are potential barriers. The transport journals in particular are relatively slow to research this topic with more focusing on bike-sharing than other modes of vehicle sharing. The paper discusses the impact of sharing on transport suggesting it is likely to be part of a solution to transport problems and congestion perhaps in combination with other developments such as driverless vehicles. It also warns of the dangers of over-regulation and under-regulation. The future will require holistic transport strategies that consider sharing options and will require government departments to work cooperatively.


In many real-world reinforcement learning (RL) problems, in addition to maximizing the objective, the learning agent has to maintain some necessary safety constraints. We formulate the problem of learning a safe policy as an infinite-horizon discounted Constrained Markov Decision Process (CMDP) with an unknown transition probability matrix, where the safety requirements are modeled as constraints on expected cumulative costs. We propose two model-based constrained reinforcement learning (CRL) algorithms for learning a safe policy, namely, (i) GM-CRL algorithm, where the algorithm has access to a generative model, and (ii) UC-CRL algorithm, where the algorithm learns the model using an upper confidence style online exploration method. We characterize the sample complexity of these algorithms, i.e., the the number of samples needed to ensure a desired level of accuracy with high probability, both with respect to objective maximization and constraint satisfaction.


As of July 27, 2020, COVID‐19 has caused 640,000 deaths worldwide and has had a major impact on people's productivity and lives. Analyzing the spatial distribution characteristics of COVID‐19 cases and their relationships with meteorological and environmental factors might help enrich our knowledge of virus transmission and formulate reasonable epidemic prevention strategies. Taking the cumulative confirmed cases in Hubei province from January 23, 2020, to April 8, 2020, as an example, this study analyzed the spatial evolution characteristics of confirmed COVID‐19 cases in Hubei province using exploratory spatial data analysis and explored the spatial relationship between the main environmental and meteorological factors and confirmed COVID‐19 cases using a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. Results show that there was no obvious spatial clustering of confirmed COVID‐19 cases in Hubei province, while the decline and end of the newly confirmed cases revealed relatively obvious negative spatial correlations. Due to the lockdown in Hubei province, the main air quality indexes (e.g., AQI and PM2.5) decreased significantly and environmental quality was better than historical contemporaneous levels. Meanwhile, the results of the GWR model suggest that the impacts of environmental and meteorological factors on the development of COVID‐19 were not significant. These findings indicate that measures such as social distancing and isolation played the primary role in controlling the development of the COVID‐19 epidemic.


The authors review spontaneous manipulation and spatial problem solving by capuchin monkeys to illuminate the nature of relational reasoning (wherein two or more elements of a problem or situation are considered together to arrive at a course of action) that these monkeys use in goal-directed activity. Capuchin monkeys master problems with one, two, or three spatial relations, and if more than one relation, at least two relations may be managed concurrently. They can master static and dynamic relations and, with sufficient practice, can produce specific spatial relations through both direct and distal action. Examining capuchins' spatial problem-solving behavior with objects in the framework of a spatial relational reasoning model leads to new interpretations of previous studies with these monkeys and other nonhuman animals. The model produces a variety of testable predictions concerning the contribution of relational properties to spatial reasoning. It also provides conceptual linkages with neurological processes and cognitive analyses of physical reasoning. Understanding relational spatial reasoning, including tool use, in a wider view is vital to informed, principled comparison of problem solving and the use of technology across species, across ages within species, and across eras in human prehistory.


By analyzing difficulties in Shell coal gasification technology engineering, discussing SCGP in An'qing engineering process design and manufacturing, construction, commissioning and operation exposed the problem, bringing forward suggestions and solutions.


Abstract Interference competition is frequently observed in sexually mature adults as they defend breeding territories. However, it remains unclear in many taxa whether juveniles respond aggressively to other juveniles or if they defend resources. To test whether postmetamorphic juveniles of a pond-breeding amphibian were aggressive towards other juveniles or were defending resources, we staged terrestrial encounters between three species of sympatric Ambystoma salamanders. We observed biting and other aggressive behaviors by juvenile Spotted (Ambystoma maculatum) and Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum). However, we did not observe aggressive behaviors by Ringed Salamanders (Ambystoma annulatum). In addition to species-level variations in aggression, these three species also differed in whether aggression was targeted primarily intra- or interspecifically. This study suggests that juveniles of pond-breeding amphibians of some species may defend essential habitat with agonistic behavior.


Measurements of the difference in total field ΔF(t) have been made over a 16km N-S path near Boulder. The behavior observed is quite different from that for an E-W path. The present accuracy of the narrow line rubidium magnetometers used is about 0.01γ. The N-S variations appear to correlate mainly with variations in H rather than D, and may be associated with either gradients of external fields or currents in shallow conductivity anomalies. More recently three magnetometers have been set up on a straight E-W line so that the 'second difference' can be measured, and a transfer function from field component variation to the second difference can be determined. A generalization of this approach will be used for analyzing USGS tectonomagnetic data from California.


In this paper, we propose a smart assisted living (SAIL) System and design a hierarchical hidden Markov model (HHMM) based algorithm for human intention recognition. We focus on the problem of classifying hand gestures by using a single inertial sensor worn on a finger of the subject. The variation of context information, which is modeled by an HMM is used to improve the accuracy of hand gesture recognition in our previous work. The obtained results prove the effectiveness of our method.


&NA; A revised model of psychological hardiness suggests that transformational coping, positive health behaviors, and activistic social support may be qualitative indicators of hardiness and an expression of the synergistic presence of commitment, control, and challenge. Hardiness indicators correlate with health rather than illness, and have an indirect effect on the stress‐illness relationship through health. Stress and illness also correlate with health. A secondary qualitative analysis of the transcripts of eight women with paraplegia revealed three major themes related to spinal cord injury (SCI): physiological aspects of SCI, associated with the traumatic event and its consequences; psychological aspects of SCI, associated with problem‐solving, choices, and challenges; and social aspects of SCI, associated with personal and professional relationships.


BACKGROUND
Harboring a high mortality, the incidence of sepsis is increasing; thus detection, identification and susceptibility tests of the involved microorganisms become urgent.

METHODS
We reviewed the records from January 2013 until July 2014 of a total of 4110 blood culture bottles taken from adult patients in a private tertiary hospital.

RESULTS
Growth of microorganisms was observed in 559 bottles (12.6%). We emphasize that 2648 blood cultures (60%) were taken in two paired aerobic and anaerobic bottles drawn at the same time (1324 pairs); from these, growth was observed in 182 inoculated bottles drawn from two different sites at the same time from 135 patients (13.7%). In 86 pairs of bottles with samples from 54 patients (40%), growth occurred only in the aerobic blood culture bottles. Also, growth of microorganisms was observed only in anaerobic bottles in 24 pairs (13.19%), corresponding to 21 patients (15.5%, p<0.05%). In blood cultures from 32 out of 60 patients with growth in both media (53%), microbial growth was detected first in the anaerobic bottle.

CONCLUSIONS
The usefulness of blood cultures for anaerobes for the identification of obligate anaerobic bacteremia which rarely occur is low (2.2% of patients with bacteremia); however, in 15.55% of the patients the risk of completely overlook bacteremia was present, and in 53% of patients with positive cultures, bacteremia was established earlier, and thus permitted earlier and accurate decision making.


The histone group added to a gene sequence must be released during mitosis to halt transcription during the DNA replication stage of the cell cycle. However, the detailed mechanism of this transcription regulation remains unclear. In particular, it is not realistic to reconstruct all appropriate histone modifications throughout the genome from scratch after mitosis. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that there might be a type of "bookmark" that retains the positions of histone modifications, which can be readily restored after mitosis. We developed a novel computational approach comprising tensor decomposition (TD)-based unsupervised feature extraction (FE) to identify transcription factors (TFs) that bind to genes associated with reactivated histone modifications as candidate histone bookmarks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of TD-based unsupervised FE to the cell division context and phases pertaining to the cell cycle in general. The candidate TFs identified with this approach were functionally related to cell division, suggesting the suitability of this method and the potential of the identified TFs as bookmarks for histone modification during mitosis.


The intermolecular reductive radical coupling of aldehydes with nonactivated alkenes, employing metal hydride atom transfer (MHAT) catalysis with a combination of FeII and FeIII salts, is described. This constitutes the first use of aldehydes as viable acceptor groups in MHAT reactions. The insights gained in this study led to the reexamination of the previously reported intramolecular version of the reaction, and the addition of FeII salts allowed the development of a more efficient second-generation approach.


Base oil is a main component of engine oil that enables smooth operation of an internal combustion engine. There are two types of base oils, such as mineral oil and synthetic oil. In this study, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) were used to characterize the base oils. One difficulty in analyzing base oils using MS is that the ionization of alkanes can be problematic due to low ionization efficiencies and the predominance of fragmentation. Despite these limitations, the combination of GC–MS and FT-ICR MS data can provide qualitative insights into the composition differences for these various sample types. The distinctive total ion chromatogram obtained by GC–MS of the different base oils allowed the classification of mineral oil from synthetic oil. The additional structural characteristics of paraffinic compounds were also inferred by GC–MS. FT-ICR MS coupled to two different ionization methods, atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), was tested for the analysis of base oils. It was determined that APPI was suitable for the analysis of aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds, where APPI minimizes the decomposition of hydrocarbon compounds compared to atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. Using APPI FT-ICR MS, the components of the oils were characterized, including not only paraffinic compounds but also cyclic compounds. In addition, the alpha olefin monomer of the synthetic oil was determined, and the homogeneity of the branched compound of the synthetic base oil was confirmed using GC–MS and FT-ICR MS results.


The incorporation of lomustine, a hydrophobic anticancer drug into PLGA nanoparticles by interfacial deposition method was optimized. Based on the optimal parameters, it was found that lomustine-PLGA nanoparticles with acceptable properties could be obtained. Optimization of formulation variables to control the size and drug entrapment efficiency of the prepared nanoparticles seems to be based on the same scientific principles as drug-loaded nanoparticles prepared by nanoprecipitation, solvent evaporation method. The process was the most important factor to control the particle size, while both the drug-polymer interaction and the partition of drug in organic and aqueous phases were the crucial factors to govern the drug entrapment efficiency. PLGA concentration at lower level (100 mg), 1:5 organic phase: aqueous ratio, 1%w/v PVA concentration, 3%w/v pluronic F68 achieved smaller particle size. Additionally, L:G ratio of PLGA 75:25, lower volume of organic solvent (1:10 organic phase: aqueous phase), higher initial drug content (10mg) enhanced the drug entrapment efficiency and maintained lomustine concentration in blood for an extended time period, elevated lomustine concentration in lungs and slowed the elimination of lomustine. The biodistribution profiles of prepared nanoparticles in albino mice showed higher plasma drug concentration for longer period of time, elevated drug concentration in lungs and slow elimination from kidney. No toxic effects of prepared nanoparticles were observed in histopathological examination of lungs and kidney. The systematic investigation reported here promises the development of PLGA nanoparticles loaded with lomustine when tested in Lung Cancer cell line L132 and toxicological/ histopathological studies in albino mice.


ASTROBIOLOGYMOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA-- Researchers are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Astrobiology Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center here next month. NASA is betting that a series of startling discoveries in recent years, such as the possible fossil microbes found in a martian meteorite and evidence of an ocean beneath the ice on the jovian moon Europa, will provide a rich payoff both for Ames and for humanity's understanding of its place in the cosmos. The center's ambitious agenda includes creating a new field of science.


Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of BMI and reproductive histories (age, age at menarche, the number of parities, reproductive years and years since menopause, and serum levels of estradiol, testosterone and SHBG) on bone densitometry of spine and femur in healthy postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, 190 healthy postmenopausal women, aged 40-64, who did not have a history of co-existing diseases, diseases affecting the quality of life, bone diseases, and using drugs affecting the bone metabolism, were randomly selected. Bone densitometry, T score, Z score, and bone marrow density (BMD) were determined by dual energy Xray absorptiometry (DXA) at lumbar spine and femur. Correlation co-efficients were, then, measured for the relationship between bone density and the intended factors. Results: BMI presented significant positive relationships with T score and BMD of spine and BMD, T score, and Z score of femur, whereas age, the number of years since menopause, and the serum level of testosterone had negative relationships with T score and BMD of spine. The serum level of testosterone showed a negative relationship with Z score reduction in spine. The number of years since menopause had a positive relationship with reductions in Z score and BMD of femur. In addition, significant positive relationships were observed between the number of reproductive years and T score and BMD of spine. Conclusion: Bone loss in postmenopausal women is intensified with increases in age, the number of years since menopause, and the serum level of testosterone, whereas BMI has a boneprotective effect.


Climate change and fossil fuel depletion have pushed many countries to seek and invest in alternative clean energy sources, such as wind energy. By converting kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical or electrical energy, wind farms in California, for example, power nearly 850,000 households each year, while producing negligible green house gases and contributing little to water pollution (see Fig. 1). Nevertheless, several ecological and environmental concerns remain. High levels of infrasound and low frequency sounds generated by wind turbines pose a potentially serious threat to communities near wind farms. Wind energy companies remain largely dismissive, claiming that wind turbine noise is subaudible, undetectable by humans, and therefore presents minimal risk to human health. However, various cochlear microphonic, distortion product otoacoustic emission, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have demonstrated the detection of infrasound by the human inner ear and auditory cortex. Additional psychosomatic stress and disorders, including the "wind turbine syndrome" and paranormal experiences, are also linked to infrasound exposures. With wind turbines generating substantial levels of infrasound and low frequency sound, modifications and regulations to wind farm engineering plans and geographical placements are necessary to minimize community exposure and potential human health risks.


It is the vital significance for the strong and smart grid that big data analytics technologies apply in the power system. The multi-source and heterogeneous data integration technology based on big data platform is one of the indispensable content. As there are the problems of data heterogeneity and data islands in the dispatching and control system, a multi-source and heterogeneous data integration model is proposed for big data analytics. This model exists the data integration layer in the platform of big data analytics. The model can improve the Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) process in the big data platform according to the extracting rules and transform rules, which are made by uniform data model in the panoramic dispatching and control system. Research shows that the integrating model developed here is efficient to establish panoramic data and can adapt to various data sources by building uniform data model in the power dispatching and control system. With the development of big data technology, it is expected that the data integration model will be improved and used in more electric power applications.


Background Premature cardiovascular events had been observed in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients, [1] but the reason for this accelerated process is still debatable. [2] One of the most important conditions, is a proatherogenic lipid profile. [3] In SLE mexicans we do not have enough data about it. Objectives To establish the differences in the lipid profiles between Mexican SLE patients and general population. Methods Observational, transversal, descriptive and comparative study, between SLE patients and age-sex- matched healthy volunteers. Ethical approved (MI09-007). Full lipid profile (by spectrophotometry) after 14 hours- fast were performed. Total value of cholesterol (LDL, HDL) and triglycerides were analyzed. We also, realized, a sub-analysis, with proaterogenic values of cholesterol (Total cholesterol >200 mg/dl, triglycerides >150 mg/dl, HDL-cholesterol < 45 mg/dl and LDL-cholesterol >100 mg/dl). Results were analyzed by the statistical package SPSS v.17. Results 138 full lipid profiles of different subjects were analyzed; 69 with diagnosis of SLE and 69 age-sex healthy volunteers. The main demographic characteristics are detailed in Table 1. We found statistically significant differences between the mean of total cholesterol and LDL. In a posterior sub-analysis did not found significant differences. We detailed the biochemical parameters in Table 2. Conclusions We did not found statistical differences in the lipid profiles explaining an increased cardiovascular morbi-mortality in SLE patients compared to healthy volunteers. References Thomas GN, Tam LS, Tomlinson B, Li EK. Accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a review of the causes and possible prevention. Hong Kong Med J. 2002 Feb;8(1):26-32. Bruce IN.'Not only…but also': factors that contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis and premature coronary heart disease in systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatology (Oxford).2005 Dec;44(12):1492-502. Leong KH, Koh ET, Feng PH, Boey ML. Lipid profiles in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol 1994; 21(7): 1264-7 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Abstract Objective This study aimed to review the surgical outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of total vaginal (TVH) and single-port total laparoscopic hysterectomy (SP-TLH) for uterine benign diseases. Study design This study included 121 patients who had undergone TVH or SP-TLH for uterine benign diseases between April 2011 and July 2012. Surgical outcomes, complications, and HRQOL were reviewed in the two groups. Preoperative and postoperative HRQOL data from the 36-item Short Form questionnaire (SF-36) were recorded for all patients. Results TVH was performed more often for the patients who had fewer previous operations (p = 0.32). In the TVH, there were fewer combined surgical procedures (p < 0.01), shorter operation times (p < 0.01), shorter vaginal stump suture times (p = 0.03) and lower complication rates (p < 0.01) than in SP-TLH. Overall, all SF-36 scales improved after surgery, except for the Social Functioning scale. There was no significant difference in any of the scales between the two groups. Conclusions TVH has equivalent effects on HRQOL as SP-TLH. SP-TLH is preferred for the cases with complicated and combined procedures.


Proximal restorations in primary molars were assessed according to surface, teeth affected, and the need for subsequent follow up. All primary molars demonstrated a similar incidence of proximal surface restorative intervention, but the distal surface of the first primary molar and the mesial surface of the second primary molar showed the highest incidence of proximal restorations. The patient's age at initial restorative intervention did not appear to influence the need for subsequent endodontic treatment in restored teeth, indicating that early diagnosis and treatment of the carious lesion was critical for long-term pulpal health.


With the advent of independence, Pakistan almost immediately became embroiled in the hegemonic struggle of the cold war. Courted by the United States for its strategic North-West Frontier, Pakistan quickly became a Western ally. Fears of tribal unrest in the region and conflicting Pakistani and Afghan claims to the frontier, however, soon complicated the United States' broader strategic vision. As Afghanistan continued to call for the establishment of an autonomous 'Pakhtunistan' comprising the North-West Frontier settled districts and tribal zone - and threatened to turn to the Soviet Union if US policy-makers did not support the Afghan position - US officials were torn between their official alliance with Pakistan and their desire to prevent a Soviet–Afghan understanding. Mirroring circumstances elsewhere in the Third World, local conflicts on the North-West Frontier mired US strategists' wider plans for spreading Western influence. Officials ultimately opted for a flawed neutral position, angering the Pakistan government and alienating the Afghans. The US position towards the North-West Frontier - or lack thereof - eventually resulted in failure and a continued impasse in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.


Recent developments in wireless Local Area Networks made usage of wireless technology efficiently. The availability of portable, light weight, hand held computing devices and high speed wireless local area network enabled users to remain connected while moving in indoor or outdoor environment. Wireless local area network has a wide range of utilization while moving from one location to another location. When a user is moving from one location to another, how the other user knows about the required station inside the WLAN. For that we designed and implemented a system to locate a mobile user inside the wireless local area network with the help of RSSI. We designed four different architectures and used statistical mapping. These architectures are based on statistical or we can say manual configuration of radio maps of indoor and outdoor location with the help of available Sniffer based and cluster based techniques. We were also found a better location of a mobile user in WLAN with the help of Pamvotis WLAN simulator. We tested this work in indoor and outdoor environment with different locations.


Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are diseases in the human muscular tissue system in the back, wrist, knees and shoulders caused by incorrect postur during work activities. This study was conducted to determine the level of risk MSDs on operator work activities at the cast house work station. Activities under study are activities; surface repair tap hole, checking temperature iron, and take iron sample. These activities are carried out repeatedly, incorrect work posture and the presence of  heat from work environment factors that affect the whole body. This makes the operator complain of pain in parts of the body at risk of developing musculoskeletal complaints. This study was an observational study using the Rapid Entire Body Assessment method and the Nordic Body Map instrumen. The result of the Nordic Body Map instrumen for 20 operators at the cast house work station showed that there were 21 complaints against operator. Based on the measurement of cast house operators the surface repair activity of tap holes has a "high" risk value for MSDs (REBA Score 9), checking temperature iron activities have a "low" risk value for MSDs. Proposed improvement to prevent is to improve the procedur in the surface repair activities of tap holes, where when the process of sticking the dough is done in front of the tap hole is changed by attaching it to the mud gun nozzle tip. After the proposed improvement, the result of the Nordic Body Map instrumen showed no complaints and the measurement of the tap hole had a "low" risk value for the occurrence of MSDs (REBA Score 3).


Present study is concerned with an experimental study on the cooling characteristics of heat-generating components arranged in channels which are made by printed circuit boards. To estimate the thermal performance of the heat-generating components arranged by 5×11 in channel flow, three variables are used: the inlet velocity, the height of channel, and row number of the component. The cooling characteristics of the heat-generating components such as the surface temperature rise, the adiabatic temperature rise, the adiabatic heat transfer coefficient, and the effect of thermal wake are compared with the result of the experiment and the numerical analysis. The experimental result is in a good agreement with the numerical analysis. The heat transfer coefficient increases as the Reynolds number increases, while the thermal wake function calculated for each row decreases as the Reynolds number increases. In addition, it is found that Nu-Re correlation equation is identical to the previous studies, and the empirical correlation equation between the thermal wake function and Re is presented.


The semnificative growth of the number of vehicles around the world can conduct to a condensation of the highway traffic. Therefore, the research to find optimal solutions for a higher vehicle flow on highways in a shorter time and with less accidents is ongoing. The organization of vehicles in platoons represents an appropriate method for increasing the roads' capacities. This type of organization permits the decreasing of the distances between vehicles using an electronic coupling made by suitable devices. This functionality allows the simultaneous acceleration or deceleration of all vehicles in the platoon. Moreover, the intelligent vehicles are capable to automatically join or leave the platoon. Another advantage of this system is the decreasing of the fuel consumption and implicitly of the pollution. In this paper, a design approach for cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) of vehicle platooning is presented together with a performance evaluation through simulations. The proposed CACC system is based only on the communication with the directly preceding vehicle and consists of a cruise control system for the leader vehicle and a combination of feedback and feed-forward control systems for the followers. An ACC feedback controller is used to keep the desired inter-vehicle distance and a feed-forward one to reduce the effect of measurable disturbances.


Periprosthetic infections are one of the most serious complications in orthopedic surgeries, and those caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) are particularly hard to treat due to their tendency to form biofilms on implants and their notorious ability to invade the surrounding bones. The existing prophylactic local antibiotic deliveries involve excessive drug loading doses that could risk the development of drug resistance strains. Utilizing an oligonucleotide linker sensitive to micrococcal nuclease (MN) cleavage, we previously developed an implant coating capable of releasing covalently tethered vancomycin, triggered by S. aureus-secreted MN, to prevent periprosthetic infections in the mouse intramedullary (IM) canal. To further engineer this exciting platform to meet broader clinical needs, here, we chemically modified the oligonucleotide linker by a combination of 2'-O-methylation and phosphorothioate modification to achieve additional modulation of its stability/sensitivity to MN and the kinetics of MN-triggered on-demand release. We found that when all phosphodiester bonds within the oligonucleotide linker 5'-carboxy-mCmGTTmCmG-3-acrydite, except for the one between TT, were replaced by phosphorothioate, the oligonucleotide (6PS) stability significantly increased and enabled the most sustained release of tethered vancomycin from the coating. By contrast, when only the peripheral phosphodiester bonds at the 5'- and 3'-ends were replaced by phosphorothioate, the resulting oligonucleotide (2PS) linker was cleaved by MN more rapidly than that without any PS modifications (0PS). Using a rat femoral canal periprosthetic infection model where 1000 CFU S. aureus was inoculated at the time of IM pin insertion, we showed that the prophylactic implant coating containing either 0PS- or 2PS-modified oligonucleotide linker effectively eradicated the bacteria by enabling the rapid on-demand release of vancomycin. No bacteria were detected from the explanted pins, and no signs of cortical bone changes were detected in these treatment groups throughout the 3 month follow-ups. With an antibiotic tethering dose significantly lower than conventional antibiotic-bearing bone cements, these coatings also exhibited excellent biocompatibility. These chemically modified oligonucleotides could help tailor prophylactic anti-infective coating strategies to meet a range of clinical challenges where the risks for S. aureus prosthetic infections range from transient to long-lasting.


This study consists of three papers in the area of international market analysis, as listed in Chapter 1, 2, and 3. Each paper has its own issue and application, but the main theme behind these papers is to figure out interactions of international firms' real decisions with respect to changes in financial variables or structure attributing to the firms' behaviors. The papers focus especially on a risk-averse international firm's decision model with respect to fluctuations in exchange rates;The first two papers relate the international firm's ex-ante real decision to the portfolio theory in correspondence to recent importance of managing risk. Chapter 1 deals with interactions between diversification strategy and currency hedging by futures contracts when a competitive & risk-averse importing agent chooses optimal import quantities and hedging levels under dual uncertainties of price and exchange rate. The resulting total import level under the scheme depends significantly on the degree of correlation among relevant currencies; that is because the currency hedging virtually determines the covariance effect of portfolio variance. Chapter 2 introduces another risk-diversification model in determining the input mixture within a framework of the capital-asset-price-model. The Chinese wheat import market is empirically analyzed to justify this portfolio approach and to explain potential conflicts between the buyer's risk diversification efforts and suppliers' market power. While concentrating on the risk reduction effect, these papers support hedging roles of currency futures contracts among the advanced markets in Chapter 1 and of diversification strategy in importing non-homogenous products in Chapter 2;As an illustration of the market structure related to demand functions, Chapter 3 deals with the topic of pass-through in terms of the oligopoly pricing conduct in the market. To find out the nature of demand convexity, this study draws several testable implications and also evaluates an empirical example of the import beer pricing in the US. Given the open debate on the stability of the level of pass-through, a Kalman filter estimation is adapted in the empirical application.


In recent years, the search of efficient and non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of diseases has grown among the scientific community. One of the explored areas for that purpose is the analysis of the pupillary response to light stimulus, obtaining results in areas such Diabetes, Alzheimer, Neurological Disorders, Melancholia and other different physiological states. However, each of those investigations are focused on a concrete pathology or case of study and the data is analyzed in different ways, according the pathology that is searched. For that reason, we proposed a first scope to, through clustering techniques, find a model to be able to detect different groups of individuals with characteristics in common using the pupillary response time. The experiment was done over data coming from 32 healthy individuals and a characterization of their pupillary response, then a clustering algorithm was employed to group the data and finally an analysis of the clusters was performed. The result gives four clusters of which two of them have a high percentage of individuals with overweight. Thus it concludes that is possible to identify groups of people with characteristics in common using the pupillary response time as principal indicator and as future work is proposed a deep study using individuals with specific diagnosed pathologies and healthy individuals.


Indialite/cordierite glass-ceramics demonstrate excellent microwave dielectric properties such as a low dielectric constant of 4.7 and an extremely high quality factor Qf of more than 200 × 10 GHz when crystallized at 1300°C/20 h, which are essential criteria for application to 5G/6G mobile communication systems. The glass-ceramics applied to dielectric resonators, low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates, and direct casting glass substrates are reviewed in this paper. The glass-ceramics are fabricated by the crystallization of glass with cordierite composition melted at 1550°C. The dielectric resonators are composed of crystallized glass pellets made from glass rods cast in a graphite mold. The LTCC substrates are made from indialite glassceramic powder crystallized at a low temperature of 1000°C/1 h, and the direct casting glass-ceramic substrates are composed of crystallized glass plates cast on a graphite plate. All these materials exhibit excellent microwave dielectric properties.


Background The COVID-19 pandemic required doctors to quickly adapt to new infection-control policies, rota restructuring and pathway changes. There was uncertainty on how the pandemic would affect paediatrics, as well as anxiety of the personal COVID-19 effects, frustration with media reporting and potential isolation with social-distancing measures. Our department recognised that both junior and senior doctors needed a platform to come together to address these feelings and reflect on them, ensuring a supportive team at work during this challenging period. Objectives To implement a supportive debrief session within the paediatric unit's teaching programme to improve team morale and reduce anxiety on the uncertainties of the pandemic. Methods During the first wave of the pandemic (April 2020- August 2020) we ran a weekly 'debrief hour' scheduled within the departmental teaching programme. Co-led by the college tutor, clinical director and trainee representatives, it was open to paediatric junior doctors and consultants. These sessions were held face-to-face and virtually. During the second wave (October 2020-February 2021) these sessions were held fortnightly and were focused on wellbeing. One week prior to each session questionnaires were completed anonymously by junior doctors to collate issues they wished to reflect on. Postdebrief surveys were completed by participants. Results We ran a total of 30 sessions. During the first wave 18 junior doctors and 5 consultants on average attended each debrief. Topics of discussion varied from difficult clinical cases and the emotional challenges of the pandemic to learning about individual approaches to mindfulness. Anecdotally junior doctors appreciated this dedicated time to 'offload' in a safe space. It helped forge bonds and personal connections within the team. Overall doctors were grateful their wellbeing was prioritised by these sessions. We took this initiative forward into the second wave where sessions became fortnightly. Our post-debrief surveys revealed that 96% (N=19) of junior doctors valued this time for team reflection and connection. 92% (N=19) found them useful. 94% (N=19) would like to see these sessions continue after the pandemic. Feedback included junior doctors 'feeling supported', 'paediatrics being the best team' and 'bonding during a worrying time'. From March 2021 these sessions will be led by the department's clinical psychologist. Conclusions • We advocate scheduling a supportive debrief session within departmental teaching programmes, especially in times of uncertainty and potential anxiety (such as global pandemics). This encourages team bonding. • Embedding debrief sessions within the teaching programme sends a clear message to junior doctors that the department prioritises and promotes the wellbeing of doctors, seeing it as an important part of their working lives. • Supportive debrief sessions allow doctors a safe space to 'offload' with their peers in a reflective, relaxed environment, thus helping create a sense of community at work and improving morale. • The department will continue to hold scheduled team debriefs, which will carry on after the pandemic. The Trust recognises the importance of championing wellbeing;moving forward time has been allocated for a clinical psychologist to lead these sessions. • We strongly recommend that budget planning includes provision for trainee wellbeing support services.


Nowadays, fire-doors optimization is approached by using consolidated design guidelines and traditional materials, such as rock wool. Then, selected solution is directly tested in a mandatory fire-test. Unfortunately, few pieces of information could be retrieved either if the test succeeds or fails, which makes both improvements in the design and use of innovative materials difficult. Thus, in this work, a self-consistent finite element method (FEM) analysis is developed and assessed against experimental fire-test results, highlighting the critical parameters affecting the numerical simulations. Using this tool, a new fiberglass-containing foam, with improved acoustic and mechanical properties, as compared to the rock-wool, is studied as a potential insulating material for on-board fire-doors. The assessment of the performance of the new material demonstrates that, contrary to common believe, the effective thermal insulation capacity is not necessarily the critical factor in determining the fire-resistance of a fire-door. Using the validated FEM analysis, it has been proven that the reduction of the thermal bridges originated at the door edges allows, firstly, for the attainment of a fire-door 37% thinner and 61% lighter with respect to a traditional one, and, secondly, the use of new material as insulator in fire-doors that, even if less thermally capable, could improve other properties of the door, as an example its soundproofing.


Mobile communications carriers are providing GPSbased, location-dependent advertisement delivery services as supplementary services. As the number of mobile terminal types and the number of mobile users increase, the need is rising for a network that can handle location-dependent traffic within a locality efficiently. This paper presents an ad hoc network for location-oriented advertisement delivery, with an advertising node installed in each shop in a busy shopping area. Specifically, it describes a way to express the user's preference, such as their hobbies, based on a Bloom Filter, and a way to dynamically determine the nodes that hold advertisements suitable for the preference of the target user. In addition, the paper also presents a routing method based on area division, which can reduce the number of relay nodes. It has been confirmed, by using simulation, that the proposed method reduces the number of relay nodes by about 70% compared with a case where messages are unicast to collect suitable advertisements. Keywords-location-dependent advertisement delivery; ad hoc network; user's preference; bloom filter; routing.


To observe the flux or deposition of ozone above a maize crop, experiments were carried out during the growing season of maize in 1988. The flux of ozone was determined using meteorological techniques. The measurements used in the present study were carried out under atmospheric conditions in which the vertical divergence of the flux of ozone was the dominant term in the mass conservation equation of ozone. That is, under such conditions, the flux measured at a certain height served as a good estimate of the flux at the surface. This was demonstrated in chapter 2 by a scaling exercise of the mass conservation equation and the time dependency of the flux of ozone in order to reveal the importance of the various terms in the equations. The second important term in this scaling is the chemical reactions which produce and destroy ozone (section 2.1.1). However, an accurate estimate of this influence could not be given at first hand. More accurate estimates were made with a model which describes the vertical divergence of the flux of ozone and nitrogen oxides. By scaling the equation of the local time derivative of the flux of ozone (section 2.1.3) it was found that the gradient production and pressure fluctuation term were much larger than the chemical reaction term. From this scaling and the model calculations it was concluded that the chemical reactions did not severely influence the flux of ozone. Three meteorological techniques were used to assess the flux of ozone: the eddy correlation technique, the profile technique and the modified Bowen ratio technique. The theoretical background to these techniques was given in chapter 2. Chapter 3 and 4 presented the experimental outline and the accuracy of the measurements, respectively. It was found that the accuracies of the fluxes were strongly determined by the errors in the differential measurements or the profiles of the variables. The accuracy of the flux of ozone measured with the profile technique was 20-53%. For the modified Bowen ratio technique this was 13-58%. The accuracy of the eddy correlation fluxes was about 20%. 'Ibis was mainly caused by the intermittency of the flux in the 30 min time interval over which they were averaged. A comparison between the three techniques was made for nine days. The profile technique gave systematically lower values for the flux of ozone than the eddy correlation and modified Bowen ratio techniques. A reduction of about 40% of the flux of ozone was found, calculated from the ozone concentration at 6 z om + d and 30 z om + d, during near-neutral and unstable atmospheric conditions. This was caused by a) an inadequate use of the profile technique close to the roughness elements and b) an uncertertainty in the displacement height for ozone. The flux of ozone determined with the modified Bowen ratio technique was moderately consistent with that determined with the eddy correlation technique and no systematic deviations were found. This indicates that: a) the modified Bowen ratio technique is applicable close to the surface, b) sensible and latent heat (water vapour) are transported in. roughly the same way and c) chemical reactions did not cause large systematic deviations, i.e. no large flux divergence between the two techniques existed though the fluxes were measured at different heights. The time integrals over the day of the fluxes of ozone derived with the modified Bowen ratio and the eddy correlation techniques agreed very well. This means that a reliable estimate of the daytime deposition of ozone (accuracy ±10%) was obtained using these techniques. The accuracy of the 30 min values, however, is much smaller (20-50%). In chapter 5 a resistance model was used to deduce the ability of the surface to destroy ozone, expressed in the surface resistance, from the flux measurements. This was done for bare soil as well as the crop - soil system as a whole when the soil was entirely covered by the crop. The resistance of the soil to ozone was dependent on the soil water content, i.e. the soil surface resistance increased with increasing soil water content. In the evaluation of the magnitude of the different parallel sinks of ozone such as the stomata and the soil surface, the conductances of the surface and the crop to ozone were used. An estimate on the crop conductance to ozone i.e. the stomatal uptake of ozone, was made using the analogy to the transpiration of the crop. The surface conductance to ozone was mainly determined by the uptake of ozone by the stomata, the destruction at the soil surface and the transport towards the soil. When the soil surface is wet (i.e. rainfall occurred a few hours prior to the measurements) the surface conductance and the crop conductance to ozone coincided. The conductance of the remaining plant parts (mainly the cuticle) to ozone was small compared to the stomatal or soil conductance to ozone. The exchange of ozone with the soil was mainly determined by the turbulent mixing (expressed by the friction velocity), the stability of the air above the crop and the leaf area density. When the soil surface is not wet (i.e. no rainfall a day before the measurements), the flux of ozone towards the soil can be 25-50% of the total flux of ozone. In such circumstances the flux of ozone should be modelled using a surface resistance in which the soil resistance to ozone, as well as an in- crop aerodynamic resistance are incorporated. This in-crop aerodynamic resistance depends among others on the turbulent mixing above the crop and the leaf area density. A more quantitative analysis of the exchange of ozone with the crop and the underlying soil can be made by using more complex canopy flow models such as those by Meyers and Hicks (1988), Li et al., (1985). In such models the non-local transport of momentum and scalars are described. With these models a more detailed sink distribution of ozone in the crop can also be made using, for instance, measured profiles of ozone in the crop (Raupach, 1989). Another outcome of these models can be a parameterization of the in-crop aerodynamic resistance for use in air pollution dispersion models. In chapter 6 an overview of the deposition of ozone and the governing factors during the growing season of maize were presented. The total deposition of ozone calculated as the time integral of the flux over the entire day, varied from 5-50 mg m -2 , with an average of 19.0 mg m -2 . The daytime deposition accounted for on average 83% of the total deposition. The deposition during night-time was small compared to the total deposition (17%). The total deposition showed a seasonal pattern. This pattern is largely caused by the seasonal pattern of the concentration of ozone. This is illustrated by the findings that the daytime deposition of ozone can be well estimated by the average concentration of ozone. A better estimate is obtained if the time period is included over which the flux is calculated i.e. the dose of ozone. The main reason for this good estimate is the relatively small fluctuations in the mean daytime surface conductance to ozone. The best estimate of the daytime deposition of ozone is obtained by using the average values of the concentration, the deposition velocity and the time period. This value gives a small underestimate (10%) of the daytime deposition due to some loss in correlation between the deposition velocity and the concentration. The uptake by the crop varied from 2.8 - 25.2 mg m -2 , with an average of 12.8 mg m -2 . This uptake was 50-100% of the daytime deposition of ozone, with an average of 86%. This uptake can be reasonably estimated with the dose of ozone. To reveal a seasonal trend in the uptake of ozone by the crop, a data series of at least several growing seasons is necessary to obtain full coverage on all wind directions and environmental situations in which the crop was grown. It is especially the coupling of these data to the effects on plants such as a reduction in crop yield that requires very long data series, since the climatic 'noise' on these data is very large. Therefore a more appropriate approach would be to evaluate all available measurements in this field by means of coupled flow - crop growth models. This data set can be used, for example, to verify such models in which the exchange of air pollutants with the crop and the soil is described.


Hardy's uncertainty principle states that it is impossible for a function and its Fourier transform to be simultaneously very rapidly decreasing. In this paper we prove versions of this principle for the Jacobi transform and for the Fourier transform on real hyperbolic spaces.


This studio-based project seeks to challenge the picturesque conventions governing the
depiction of ruins in the past and to find a new set of visual strategies more appropriate
to the contemporary experience of ruins in urban settings.

Pivotal to the project has been the case study of a unique, local urban ruin site, the Myer
site (2007-2014). It has been used as an example of the distinctive characteristics of a
contemporary unscenic ruin in order to establish a structural framework for the
development of visual strategies that take account of the physical and spatial limitations
of a specific site.

These strategies pose challenges and establish visual alternatives to the picturesque
aesthetic, and demonstrate its inadequacy for dealing with both the imaging and
imagining of the experiential, compromised condition of contemporaneous ruins.

The depiction of this site has wider implications for the field of ruin scholarship and the
research considers this challenge by posing two questions:

1. How is picturesque space changed when its panoramic scope is compromised by the
enclosed and impeded physical and visual reality of contemporary urban ruin sites?

2. How do the visual strategies of destabilisation and fragmentation generate new visual
outcomes when imaging and imagining contemporary ruins?

The research examines the Western artistic tradition of the representation of ruins,
identifying two categories of ruin: 1) the scenic ruin, which encompasses the Romantic
tradition of the picturesque, ruin gazing and ruin lust; and 2) the unscenic ruin, which
includes three sub-types – the anxious, the catastrophic and the prosaic ruin.

The scenic ruin tradition is analysed through artworks by Giovanni Battista Piranesi,
J.W.M. Turner, John Constable, Caspar David Friedrich and its contemporary iteration,
ruin porn, while discussion of the unscenic ruin is outlined through an analysis of
artwork by Anselm Kiefer, Joel Meyerowitz and Ed Ruscha's reworking of The Course
of Empire series by Thomas D. Cole. It is in relation to the latter category of ruin, in
particular, that the prosaic ruin of this project is situated.

Theoretically, the project is supported by the concepts of 'unscenic nature' as outlined
by Yuriko Saito, and 'terrain vague' formulated by Ignasi de Sola Morales, which best
describe the conditional state of unscenic sites as well as highlighting aesthetic
alternatives to picturesque spatial formula.

The visual strategies that have been employed include patterns of visual disturbance,
which impede clear perception, and fragmentation achieved through collage as
imagined through the state of collapse. These strategies have resulted in two distinct
bodies of artwork across two media: colour wood cut prints and monochrome graphite,
charcoal and pencil drawings.

Identifying that the current field of ruin representation is largely silent on the picturing
of ruins in urban settings, this research establishes two significant and innovative
alternatives that are appropriate to the experience of the contemporary ruin.


Coronary disease is a frequent outcome of hypertension. Although clinical trials with conventional antihypertensive agents have shown that the incidence of other complications of hypertension, such as stroke or congestive heart failure, is reduced as predicted, they have failed to show the expected reductions in coronary events. A partial explanation may lie in the fact that hypertension typically consists of a syndrome of inherited metabolic and cardiovascular abnormalities, and treatment that focuses primarily on blood pressure control without taking into account other factors that contribute to atherosclerotic disease can have only limited protective effects. The coronary hypothesis in hypertension extends this reasoning into three separate components. First is an intrinsic tendency to excessive proliferative and hypertrophic activity within vascular tissue, presumably reflecting growth-promoting activity stimulated by increased endocrine and local paracrine effects; next is the impact of the commonly encountered concomitant risk factors, including high blood pressure, that exaggerate and accelerate development of underlying atherosclerotic lesions; and finally hemodynamic factors, including increased variability and sustained elevations of blood pressure, that can destabilize vascular lesions and precipitate acute events. Treatment of these hemodynamic factors in elderly patients whose underlying vascular changes are already well advanced is likely to reduce vascular endpoints effectively, but a broader-based therapeutic approach is required for younger patients, in whom the ongoing proliferative and risk factor aspects of their potential coronary disease must also be targeted.


SIR, Harman & Matthews (1974) report a case of painful piezogenic pedal papules and present a histological photomicrograph showing a nodule of fat protruding into the dermis. They noted no fat necrosis, fibrous or vascular changes, and stated that their presentation appeared to be the first histological vindication of the theory of Shelley & Rawnsley (1968). Schlappner et al. (1972), however, have previously presented a detailed histological study of both painful and non-painful piezogenic pedal papules. They found that in two patients with painful papules the normal anatomical relationships of fat, fibrous tissue and skin were disturbed. The painful papules exhibited (i) thickening of the dermis with a few irregular islands of adipose cells, (2) loss of compartmentalization of the small fat lobules in the deeper dermis and at the dermal-subcutaneous junction, and (3) loss or thinning of the trabeculae of the subcutaneous tissue. They noted that on gross sectioning there were circular holes in the lower portion of the dermis through which subcutaneous fat could be made to protrude on pressure. Histological sections showed a globule of fatty tissue protruding into the lower dermis. A detailed pathological description summarizing the findings in ten cases of non-painful pedal papules was also presented.


Criteria of patient-physician relationship are reported and give interesting results, so far to our knowledge not published in pediatric literature. Intrafamilial needs are registered out of a talk between doctor and visiting patients in a doctor's office. General functions of the pediatrician for his patients are analysed and found to exceed organic problems, a trend to increase in future. The role of the pediatrician is seen to include psychohygienic and psychosomatic knowledge in order to fulfill the patients needs in the face of social medicine and increasing psychological knowledge of childrens development.


Five glutathione transferase (GST) forms were purified from human uterus by glutathione-affinity chromatography followed by chromatofocusing, and their structural, kinetic and immunological properties were investigated. Upon SDS/polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis all forms resulted composed of two subunits of identical molecular size. GST V (pI 4.5) is a dimer of 23-kDa subunits. GST I (pI 6.8) and GST IV (pI 4.9) are dimers of 24-kDa subunits whereas GST II (pI 6.1) and GST III (pI 5.5) are dimers of 26.5-kDa subunits. GST V accounts for about 85-90% of the activity whereas the other isoenzymes are present in trace quantities. On the basis of the molecular mass of the subunits, amino acid composition, substrate specificities, sensitivities to inhibitors, CD spectra and immunological studies, GST V appeared very similar to transferase pi. Structural and immunological studies provide evidence that GST IV is closely related to the less 'basic' transferase (GST pI 8.5) of human skin. Extensive similarities have been found between GST II and GST III. The comparison includes amino acid compositions, subunits molecular size and immunological properties. The two enzymes, however, are kinetically distinguishable. The data presented also indicate that GST II and GST III are related to transferase mu and to transferase psi of human liver. Even though GST I has a subunit molecular mass identical to GST IV, several lines of evidence, including catalytic and immunological properties, indicate that they are different from each other. GST I seems not to be related to any of known human transferases, suggesting that it may be specific for the uterus.


Abstract 3517 Poster Board III-454 BACKGROUND Eltrombopag (PROMACTA ® ; GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, PA, USA) is an oral, small molecule (565 Da), thrombopoietin receptor agonist that has been approved in the United States for the treatment of patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). It is also being studied in thrombocytopenic patients with chronic liver disease, hepatitis C, myelodysplastic syndromes, and cancer. Withdrawal of treatments that stimulate platelet production may theoretically result in recurrent thrombocytopenia below pretreatment levels (below baseline). OBJECTIVE: To determine whether worsening of thrombocytopenia (ie, platelet count decrease below baseline) occurs after discontinuation of eltrombopag in patients with chronic ITP. METHODS: The lowest median platelet counts during the first 4 weeks posttherapy were compared with median baseline platelet counts. Data from 369 patients treated in 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies were analyzed: TRA100773A and TRA100773B were 6-week studies, and RAISE was a 6-month study. For all 3 studies, a baseline platelet count N Eng J Med 2006). RESULTS: Using pooled data from the 3 studies, no decreases below baseline median platelet counts (placebo, 16,300/μL; eltrombopag, 16,000/μL) were observed compared to the lowest median platelet counts within the first 4 weeks posttherapy (placebo, 14,000/μL; eltrombopag, 17,000/μL). Across the pooled studies, a total of 10/128 (8%) of placebo-treated patients and 20/241 (8%) of eltrombopag-treated patients had a transient decrease in platelet counts in the 4 weeks following discontinuation or interruption of treatment. None of the 10 placebo-treated patients had bleeding events associated with posttreatment platelet nadirs. Three of the 20 eltrombopag-treated patients had bleeding events and/or rescue treatment associated with the platelet nadir in the 4-week posttreatment period. One patient discontinued eltrombopag after achieving platelet counts >200,000/μL following on-therapy rescue medication (corticosteroid 0.5 mg/kg/day); 9 days after discontinuing study medication, the patient had grade 1 gum bleeding and resumed daily corticosteroids at an increased dose. The second patient had grade 3 menorrhagia and was administered vincristine (patient had a history of similar symptoms). The third patient had Henoch-Schoenlein purpura, interrupted eltrombopag due to platelet counts >400,000/μL, and 7 days after holding eltrombopag had a platelet count of 2000/μL, experienced grade 1 mouth hemorrhage and grade 2 petechiae, and did not require rescue medication. The patient continued in the study for the full 6 months and following permanent discontinuation of eltrombopag, this patient did not experience a transient decrease in platelet counts or any bleeding. CONCLUSION: Across 3 placebo-controlled studies, the incidence of transient decreases in platelet counts following discontinuation or interruption of study medication was similar in patients receiving eltrombopag or placebo. Therefore, these decreases may be unrelated to study medication and may represent normal fluctuations in platelet counts in patients with chronic ITP. Transient platelet count decreases were generally not associated with bleeding events. Disclosures: Cheng: GlaxoSmithKline: Research Funding. Tarantino: GlaxoSmithKline: Speakers Bureau; Lundbeck: Speakers Bureau; Baxter: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Gernsheimer: GlaxoSmithKline: Honoraria, Research Funding; Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding. Meyer: GlaxoSmithKline: Consultancy, Honoraria. Brainsky: GlaxoSmithKline: Employment. Stone: GlaxoSmithKline: Employment.


The Lower Cretaceous Mowry and Skull Creek Shales and their equivalents are among the major source rocks in the northern Rocky Mountains-Great Plains region. They are the major End_Page 434------------------------------ source of hydrocarbons in the Lower Cretaceous Muddy Sandstone of the Powder River basin. This sandstone has a geographic distribution similar to that of the Mowry and much of the Skull Creek. Illite/smectite mixed-layer clay in the Mowry and Skull Creek Shales of eastern Montana and western North Dakota is unaltered. No significant amounts of hydrocarbons have ever been found in the Muddy Sandstone of this area. Hydrocarbons in the Muddy Sandstone occur within or immediately adjacent to areas in which the smectite component of the illite/smectite in the Mowry and Skull Creek Shales has undergone alteration to illite during burial diagenesis. Anomalous decreases in the total organic carbon content of the Mowry and Skull Creek Shales lie within areas of illite/smectite alteration and coincide with the deeper parts of structural basins which developed after deposition of the Mowry and Skull Creek. These regional variations in illite/smectite alteration and total organic carbo content reflect thermal maturation and are not provenance controlled. They are useful indicators of areas where the potential source rocks have been subjected to temperatures adequate to generate hydrocarbons. The degree of illite/smectite diagenesis in the Mowry and Skull Creek of the northern Rocky Mountains-Great Plains region is thus of exploration significance in the search of hydrocarbons in this area. End_of_Article - Last_Page 435------------


Objectives Foreign body–related pediatric trauma has a high incidence, but studies with large data sets are rare and typically stem from Western settings. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of foreign body–related trauma in children treated at our trauma unit in South Africa. Methods In this retrospective study, we analyzed all foreign body–related trauma admissions from 1991 to 2009. We collected detailed data including age, sex, type of foreign body, injury severity, and anatomical location of the foreign body. Results We analysed 8149 cases. Marginally more boys (54.9%) than girls were involved. The overall median age was 3 years (interquartile range, 2-6 years); 78.8% were younger than 7 years. The predominant anatomical sites were the respiratory tract and the gastrointestinal tract (39.1%); ears (23.9%); nose (19.4%); and extremities (8.8%). The commonest objects were coins (20.8 %), (parts of) jewelry (9.5%), and food (8.7%). Three quarters (74.5%) of patients presented between 1 and 2 hours after the injury (median, 1 hour). A total of 164 cases (2.0%) were marked as possible child abuse; 17 cases were filed as confirmed child abuse. Conclusions Preventive parent education programs targeting foreign body–related injury should mainly focus on both sexes younger than 7 years. Parents should be taught to keep small objects out of reach of young children, especially coins, because these most often result in a trauma unit visit.


This article analyzes interviews related to the 1916�19 Sharifian siege of Medina that were published in a collection on the city's history by Saudi Arabian historian Ahmad Murshid. These oral histories narrate how Fakhri Pasha (Turkish: Fahreddin), the Ottoman military commander stationed in Medina during the siege, expelled residents from their homes, strictly controlled the supply of food in the city, and managed military operations out of the Holy Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. The article seeks to explore the perspective of ordinary civilians who experienced the siege, a perspective largely missing from the literature on the subject. The interviews are positioned here as a valuable historical source for understanding the impact of the siege on these individuals and on their families, communities, and identities. Their memories underscore the interviewees� deep attachment to their city, as well as to their identity as madani-s and as legitimate narrators of Medina's history.


Ligand metathesis of Pd(II) complexes is mechanistically essential for cross-coupling. We present a study of halide→OH anion metathesis of (Ar)PdII complexes using vinylBPin as a bifunctional chemical probe with Pd(II)-dependent cross-coupling pathways. We identify the variables that profoundly impact this event and allow control to be leveraged. This then allows control of cross-coupling pathways via promotion or inhibition of organoboron transmetalation, leading to either Suzuki-Miyaura or Mizoroki-Heck products. We show how this transmetalation switch can be used to synthetic gain in a cascade cross-coupling/Diels-Alder reaction, delivering borylated or non-borylated carbocycles, including steroid-like scaffolds.


Background
Studies in the adjuvant setting suggest that the timing of breast cancer diagnosis, surgery, and chemotherapy might affect outcomes. In the neoadjuvant setting, data exploring whether expeditious neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nac) after diagnosis improves the rate of pathologic complete response (pcr) in breast cancer are limited.

Methods
Patients who received nac and completed treatment between May 2012 and December 2018 were identified from a prospectively collected database at BC Cancer. Time from diagnosis to start of nac was calculated. Patients were grouped into those who did and did not experience a pcr, and those who started nac within 28 days or after 28 days [time to nac (ttn)]. The association between pcr and ttn was tested using logistic regression.

Results
In the time period studied, 482 patients who received nac were identified. After exclusions, 421 patients met the eligibility criteria. Median time from biopsy to chemotherapy was 33 days (range: 7-140 days). In 149 patients (35.4%), nac was received within 28 days of diagnosis (range: 7-28 days); in 272 patients (64.6%), it was received after more than 28 days (range: 29-140 days). The overall pcr rate was 31.8%. A trend toward a higher pcr rate, although not statistically significant, was observed in the group that initiated chemotherapy within 28 days (34.2% vs. 30.5%, p = 0.43). In the logistic regression model, rates of pcr were associated with receptor status, but not age, stage, or ttn.

Conclusions
In the neoadjuvant setting, we observed no difference in the rate of pcr in patients who started nac within 28 days or after 28 days.


We have proposed a planar lightwave circuit that integrates one AWG and arrays of thermooptic phase shifters to construct a programmable spectral encoder/decoder for the application of optical CDMA communications. High extinction spectral bit patterns, bit weight equalization control, and programmable coding capability can be readily achieved on one monolithically integrated device. The compactness of the proposed device also promises the feasibility of mass-production for the telecommunication industry.


Spectral clustering is arguably one of the most important algorithms in data mining and machine intelligence; however, its computational complexity makes it a challenge to use it for large scale data analysis. Recently, several approximation algorithms for spectral clustering have been developed in order to alleviate the relevant costs, but theoretical results are lacking. In this paper, we present a novel approximation algorithm for spectral clustering with strong theoretical evidence of its performance. Our algorithm is based on approximating the eigenvectors of the Laplacian matrix using a randomized subspace iteration process, which might be of independent interest.


OBJECTIVES
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease in which possible interstitial lung disease (ILD) is an extra-articular manifestation that carries significant morbidity and mortality. Rheumatoid Factors (RF) and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) are included in the RA classification criteria but prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers for disease endotyping and RA-ILD are lacking. Anti-protein arginine deiminase antibodies (anti-PAD) are a novel class of autoantibodies identified in RA. This study aimed to assess clinical features, ACPA, and anti-PAD antibodies in RA patients with articular involvement and ILD.

METHODS
We retrospectively collected joint erosions, space narrowing, clinical features, and lung involvement of a cohort of seventy-one patients fulfilling the 2010 ACR/EULAR RA classification criteria. Serum samples from these patients were tested for ACPA IgG (QUANTA Flash CCP3), and anti-PAD3 and anti-PAD4 IgG, measured with novel assays based on a particle-based multi-analyte technology (PMAT).

RESULTS
Anti-PAD4 antibodies were significantly associated with radiographic injury (p= 0.027) and erosions (p= 0.02). Similarly, ACPA levels were associated with erosive disease (p= 0.014). Anti-PAD3/4 double positive patients displayed more joint erosions than patients with anti-PAD4 antibodies only or negative for both (p= 0.014 and p= 0.037, respectively). RA-ILD (15.5%, 11/71 patients) was associated with older age (p< 0.001), shorter disease duration (p= 0.045) and less erosive disease (p= 0.0063). ACPA were elevated in RA-ILD, while anti-PAD4 were negatively associated (p= 0.043).

CONCLUSION
Anti-PAD4 and anti-PAD3 antibodies identify RA-patient with higher radiographic injury and bone erosions. In our cohort, ILD is associated with lower radiographic and erosive damage, as well as low levels of anti-PAD4 antibodies.


The Kyoto Protocol provides a framework for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations. These reduction targets will have economic impacts that will affect not only those industrialized countries but also other developing countries around the world. In this context, the following document analyzes the economic implications of the reduction of carbon emissions from industrialized countries (Annex I countries under the Kyoto Protocol) and the participation of developing countries, including those in Latin America, under different carbon trading scenarios. The document utilizes the GTAP-E general equilibrium model, which accounts for capitalenergy substitution and carbon emissions associated with intra-industrial consumption, to analyze the economic and welfare impacts of carbon emissions trading. The results show that the participation of developing countries such as China and India lowers the costs of emissions trading for Annex I and non-Annex I countries. For Latin America, the impacts vary depending on whether a country is energy exporting (negative) or energy importing (positive) and whether the United States reduces emissions. For energy exporting countries, the impacts on welfare are negative mostly due to a deterioration of the terms of trade from crude oil, gas and petroleum products, brought about by a decreased demand from the Unites States and other Annex I countries.


Abstract Lazdinis, M. 2004. Connecting social and ecological systems: towards an integrated toolbox for assessment of forest policy implementation . Doctor's dissertation. ISSN 1401-6230, ISBN 91-576-6549-4. The role of forests and forestry is changing in the contemporary society. For a long time forestry and forest sciences were able to establish and maintain an own identity as a professional guild. However, in present days, communication and co-ordination of activities with other sectors and interests have become a prerequisite in many parts of densely populated Europe, and this trend is spreading. To accommodate and address this change in forestry/forest research, tools from both the natural and social sciences are needed and should be used to: (i) evaluate the needs of society in particular landscape in order to be able to develop applications of conventional forest science knowledge base; and (ii) communicate to the society, policymakers and decision-makers the key issues of importance for the forest sector. In this study, an attempt is made to combine ecological and social (institutional) aspects of biodiversity conservation in the forest policy process. The methods, experiences and general knowledge from the relevant fields are combined in designing and applying a simple-to-use toolbox for facilitating the process of biodiversity conservation in the context of forest policy implementation. Forested landscapes in Sweden, Lithuania and Komi Republic in Russia served as study area for this dissertation. The integrated toolbox developed in this dissertation provides an example of and a framework for evaluation and facilitation of biodiversity conservation in the context of forest policy processes. This set of tools explicitly recognizes the connectedness, complexity, and ideological differences of ecological and social systems, and employs individual features relevant to these systems in an integrated manner to the benefit of facilitating policy implementation. With the use of "two-dimensional gap analyses", the needs of society in particular landscape can be evaluated in order to ensure the provision of ecological, economic and social functions of forest in an optimal way.


We work with 1450 concordances of 29 English verbs (50 concordances per lemma) and their corresponding entries in the Pattern Dictionary of English Verbs (PDEV). Three human annotators working independently but in parallel judged how well each lexical unit of the corresponding PDEV entry illustrates the given concordance. Thereafter they selected one best-fitting lexical unit for each concordance – while the former setup allowed for ties (equally good matches), the latter did not. We measure the interannotator agreement/correlation in both setups and show that our results are not worse (in fact, slightly better) than in an already published graded-decision annotation performed on a traditional dictionary. We also manually examine the cases where several PDEV lexical units were classified as good matches and how this fact affected the interannotator agreement in the bestfit setup. The main causes of overlap between lexical units include semantic coercion and regular polysemy, as well as occasionally insufficient abstraction from regular syntactic alternations, and eventually also arguments defined as optional and scattered across different lexical units despite not being mutually exclusive.


Yakovlev describes the prevalence of degenerative lesions in the anterior convolutions of the frontal lobes and in the outer segments of the globus pallidus as the anatomico-pathological cause of this state. He is careful to add, however, that more than anatomical changes must be considered. The importance of the ends served by anatomico-physiological functions cannot be forgotten. As long as the ends remain valid, so may the physiological integrity of the organism reInain. This, I suggest, is the state of affairs in senile incontinence. Although her bladder is maimed and inefficient (from predominantly neurological causes) the old lady maintains control of it as long as the end it serves remains valid. When this end is assailed-as the result of pneumonia or other illness, or by an enforced bedfast state in which requests for bed-pans are ignored and she is pushed back into bed if she tries to get up to the toilet in the night-so the physiological efficiency which she may have clung on to at some considerable effort breaks down and she becomes incontinent. The aim of our rehabilitation is to restore independence, and thus the relevance of bladder control. Bladder stretching, under cystometrographic control, was described by Wilson5 and not by me. The two most helpful measures I know of in treating incontinence at this stage are (a) two-hourly " potting " with a note made on each occasion by the nurse on a chart at the bedside as to whether the patient was wet or dry, and (b) atropine in water, by mouth. The former was introduced as an investigational procedure and found to have a striking therapeutic effect (for obvious reasons). The latter increases bladder capacity by diminishing tension and the incidence of uninhibited contractions. No treatment of incontinence can have any success unless backed by the full understanding and co-operation of ward nurses. For this reason it is important that they should appreciate the physical changes present in the incontinent bladder as well as the psychological implications of hospital admission which Dr. Newman has so vividly described.-I am, etc.,


We developed a parallel optical interconnecting module so as to eliminate transmission bottlenecks in a memory test sys- tem. This parallel optical module capable of transmitting from DC to a maximum rate of 34.1 Gbps (4.267 Gbps × 8 ch) has been developed. A data transmission throughput density per unit volume of 19 Gbps/cm 3 is achieved. A random jitter of less than 3 ps root mean square is also achieved. Moreover, in the worst crosstalk case, an eye opening of better than 90 ps at a BER of 10 -19 is achieved. This module is assembled by a passive alignment.


This research attempted to explore the language patterns of teachers of varying linguistic backgrounds teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young learners. In particular it examined the teachers' use of the students' first language (L1). The sample included six teachers teaching EFL to young learners in Hebrew and Arabic medium schools. Results reveal diverse use patterns, some of which differ from those previously found in older learner populations, and can be attributed to the teachers' personal pedagogical beliefs and assumptions regarding the goals of young learner programs and the role of L1 use.


Long-term growth and developmental data are presented for the smallest and third smallest surviving newborns in the world literature to 5 and 20 years of age, respectively. Both patients exhibited normal motor and language development. Although head circumference for both newborns demonstrated catchup growth, significant differences in height and weight growth velocities persisted.