Purpose
Projects are an inherent part of implementing strategies. Still, the challenge is to connect a long-term strategy for larger ecosystem development to the individual projects being undertaken. The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of seven project management office (PMO) roles to achieve strategic planning in large society development public organisations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach
The questionnaire survey that was employed for data collected from 450 project members in 19 project-based public organisations having PMO unit had a response rate of 60 per cent. The received data analysed quantitatively by using multiple regression.

Findings
The survey data revealed that PMO enhanced the achievement of the strategic plan for better development of the business ecosystem. The analysis outputs, as expected, have indicated that 95 per cent of the targeted organisations established their own PMO for developing business ecosystem.

Research limitations/implications
Despite there are PMOs hosted by private organisations, the study is limited to the PMO within the context of the government and semi-government organisations in the UAE.

Practical implications
These findings further utilised in developing the conceptual PMO model that would be flexible to be applied to similar project management methodology in various business settings, as well as pave the way for further scholarly investigations.

Originality/value
This work is both exploratory and causal study, which concentrates on investigating the effectiveness of seven proposed PMO roles (as independent variables) in carrying out the strategic plan (as the dependent variable) of the public-sector organisations in the UAE for the development of business ecosystem.


The purpose of this research is to develop a successful aging scale specific to Turkey. This research was carried out on two different study groups for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis studies. The study group formed for exploratory factor analysis consists of 521, and the group for confirmatory factor analysis consists of 243 elderly individuals.By the analyzes carried out, the KMO value of the Successful Aging Scale was found to be .97; validity and reliability analyzes were continued. It was observed that the 19-item SAS with item loads varying between .74 and .84 explained 61.42% of the total variance. After the exploratory factor analysis studies of the SAS, the confirmatory factor analysis studies were started and after the two modifications, the model fit indices were found at an acceptable level (χ2 / df = 2.24, RMSEA = .069, CFI = .922, TLI = .911, SRMR =. .067). In order to determine the criterion-based validity of the SAS, Successful Aging Scale and the Aging In-Situ Scale were used. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the SAS showed a moderate meaningful relationship with both scales. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient of the total score of the SAS was calculated as .96 in the first study group and .90 in the second study group.


Objectives Evaluation for a potentially life-threatening cardiac event in the emergency department (ED) is a stressful experience that can result in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which are associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality in patients. No study has tested whether good clinician–patient communication in the ED is associated with better psychological outcomes in these individuals and whether it can mitigate other risk factors for post-traumatic stress symptoms (PSS) such as perception of life threat and vulnerability in the ED. Methods Data were analysed from 474 participants in the Reactions to Acute Care and Hospitalization (REACH) study, an observational cohort study of ED predictors of medical and psychological outcomes after evaluation for suspected acute coronary syndrome. Participants were recruited from November 2013 to January 2015 at a single-site academic medical centre (New York-Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center). Participants reported threat perceptions in the ED and provided information on their perceptions of clinician–patient communication using the Interpersonal Process of Care Survey. PSS were assessed using the Acute Stress Disorder Scale during follow-up. Results 474 subjects were enrolled in the study. Median length of follow-up was 3 days after ED presentation, range 0–30 days, 80% within 8 days. Perceptions of good clinician–patient communication in the ED were associated with lower PSS, whereas increased threat perception was associated with higher PSS. A significant interaction between clinician–patient communication and threat perception on PSS suggested that patients with higher threat perception benefited most from good clinician–patient communication. Conclusion Our study found an association between good clinician–patient communication in the ED during evaluation of potentially life-threatening cardiac events and decreased subsequent post-traumatic stress reactions. This association is particularly marked for patients who perceive the greatest degree of life threat and vulnerability during evaluation.


The number of infants born prematurely has been increasing over the past few years; their survival rate has also been increasing because of the multiple advances in health care. The premature infants usually have a number of medical problems, asphyxia, ROP, NEC, HMD, BPD, deficient drug metabolism, IVH, hematologic derangements, temperature dysregulation, and they present often to surgery. The different medical problems associated with prematurity can be challenging for the anesthesiologist. Preterm infants require adequate anesthesia since they are capable of mounting a stress response otherwise. Preoperative evaluation of the medical problems of the infant is essential. Data on anesthetic requirements of premature is that few prematures require less anesthesia than mature newborns. Anesthesia can be induced with inhaled anesthetic agents but these cause hypotension. Thiopental or fentanyl given intravascular can be used instead. Fentanyl can be also used for maintenance. Ventilation should be manipulated during the operation to accommodate for the change in compliance and resistance due to retractors and packs. Fluid losses should be well estimated and replaced. Emergence is as dangerous as induction and involves the risk of apnea.


This article explores the implications of the Supreme Court's June 2005 decisions involving the public display of the Ten Commandments. The article first explains that the decisions will do little to alleviate the confusion that currently exists about the constitutionality of the public display of religious symbols. The article then focuses on a major problem with the Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence — viz., that the Court is unwilling to acknowledge the special value of religion. The article closes with some observations about the opinions of Justices Scalia and Thomas and suggests that their opinions offer the prospect of a much-needed reorientation of the Court's approach to the Establishment Clause.


Three-dimensional geological modeling (3DGM) is a complicated project in the research of the three-dimensional geographic information system, and there have many data model for the geological modeling by now. The thesis introduces a kind of object-oriented data model: the Component-based Topological Data Model (CTDM). Based on the modeling principles analysis, the author discusses and gives out the modeling steps, especially on the spatial section location, coordinates conversion, Component definition and the geological volume representation from this data model. In the end of the paper, an example was completed by the primal system for geological modeling, which was accomplished by using the CTDM.


Abstract Questions: How do climate conditions and the site's ecohydrological properties affect the age and size structure of natural Pinus sylvestris stands on pristine boreal mires? How do the long-term stand dynamics on mires proceed as stands age? Do the mire stands reach a balanced, old-growth stage? Location: Boreal mire forests in southern and northern Finland. Methods: Tree age and diameter distributions were analysed in 52 stands in two climate areas and in two mire site types with different ecohydrological properties. Temporal stand dynamics were examined by (1) comparing the graphs of the stands' mean tree ages by diameter at breast height (1.3 m) classes and (2) describing the changes in stand characteristics and stand age and size structures as a function of stand dominant age in a chronosequence. Results: In the south, the DBH distributions were mostly unimodal and bell-shaped in both site type groups. Age distributions were multimodal and flat in fully-stocked sites but more uneven in sparsely forested composite sites. In the north, both the age and size distributions were clearly uneven in both site type groups. Tree age and size variation increased with stand age, but levelled out in the long term. Particularly in the south, the abundance of small trees decreased as stand age increased. Conclusions: The pine stands on pristine boreal mires are more dynamic than anticipated and are generally not characterised by a balanced, self-perpetuating structure. Their dynamics reflect differences in climate and ecohydrology: on stocked sites in favourable boreal conditions, the stands showed structures typically resultant of inter-tree competition processes that control tree growth and regeneration, whereas in harsh boreal climates, the tree regeneration process is ongoing diversifying the stand structure.


In this paper, we extend the super junction concept to SiC high voltage devices and further expand the SiC theoretical limit. It is shown that the super-junction concept can reduce the theoretical specific on-resistance by several times to several orders of magnitude for both silicon and SiC. The unique merit of SiC super-junction devices is that the required P and N pillars have a much smaller aspect ratio and may be easier to form than their silicon counterparts. Furthermore, SiC super-junction devices are much less sensitive to charge imbalance issue than silicon SJ devices.


Objective: This study examined the hypothesis that individuals
with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I),
show both executive function (EF) deficits and non-EF deficits. Method: A group with ADHD-I (n = 16)
and a paired control group (n = 21) completed a battery of tasks covering the
major domains of EF (planning, working memory, flexibility and inhibition) and
non-EF (alertness, divided
attention, flexibility, sustained attention, visual field and visual scanning). Results: EF impairments in planning, spatial working memory,
flexibility, and inhibition as well as non-EF impairments in divided attention,
flexibility, sustained attention and visual scanning were observed in the
ADHD-I group. Conclusion: Our results do not support the traditional model of
ADHD. Given that neither EF nor non-EF tests typically distinguish ADHD-I from
ADHD-C, alternative methodologies are required to confirm the validity of ADHD subtypes in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.


Pyrolysis is one of the most widely utilized protocols for the preparation of nanoconfined metal species for heterogeneous catalysis, whereas still suffers from the uncontrollable composition evolution process with undesired metal sintering and porous structure collapse. Herein, a novel and versatile molten salt assisted pyrolysis strategy is demonstrated for the preparation of ultrasmall transition-metal nanoparticles embedded in hollow hierarchical carbon skeletons. The preparation only involves the fabrication of metal-organic framework (MOF) templates and subsequent pyrolysis with the addition of KCl-KBr molten salt, which played a crucial role in pore size extending and metal sintering inhibiting. Benefitting from the encapsulation effect, the as-synthesized Cu@HHC materials exhibited remarkable catalytic performance and recycling stability in the selectivity oxidation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5-diformylfuran under mild reaction conditions.


Human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) commonly reactivates after umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) and is associated with delayed engraftment, fever, rash, and central nervous system dysfunction. Recently, CD134 (OX40) has been implicated as a potential viral entry receptor. We evaluated CD4+CD134+/neg-lo and CD8+CD134+/neg-lo cells at day 28 after UCBT in 20 subjects with previously documented HHV-6 reactivation and persistent viremia. Analysis of CD4+CD134+ cells as compared to CD4+CD134neg-lo cells showed 0.308 versus 0.129 copies of HHV-6B/cell (P = .0002). CD8+CD134+/neg-lo cells contained little to no HHV-6B copies. Following UCBT, CD4+CD134+ cells harbor significantly increased levels of HHV-6B, suggesting that CD134 (OX40) may facilitate viral entry.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. avium subsp. avium and M. intracellulare, Mycobacterium contamination and to explore the aerosol transmission of mycobacteria in public buildings in China.

METHODS
A total of 552 environmental samples, namely 165 aerosol, 199 water, 70 air duct dust, and 118 soil samples, were collected from 39 public buildings and analysed using nested polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
The positivity rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. avium subsp. avium and M. intracellulare in air samples were 0.6% and 1.8%, respectively. There was significant difference in the positivity rate of Mycobacterium aerosol among the three types of public building (χ2 = 6.108, p = 0.047). No positive results of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and M. avium and M. intracellulare were obtained from cooling, tap, shower, or fountain water. The positivity rate of Mycobacterium for water samples was 31.7% (63/199). The positivity rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. avium subsp. avium and M. intracellulare, Mycobacterium in soil samples were 1.1%, 34.6% and 43.6%, respectively. There was significant difference in the positivity rate of M. avium and M. intracellulare (χ2 = 47.219, p < 0.001) and Mycobacterium (χ2 = 33.535, p < 0.001) in the different origins of soil samples.

CONCLUSIONS
Mycobacteria are widespread in public buildings. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, M. avium and M. intracellulare were simultaneously present in the air ducts of central air conditioning systems and indoor air in public buildings, which indicates that aerosol transmission is a potential route.


Single heat treatment and high-pressure microfluidization and their combination were used to process egg white in order to study the effects of different processing approaches on the antigenicity of egg white ovalbumin. The results indicated that the antigenicity of heat-treated ovalbumin decreased by up to 68% with increasing temperature. The critical temperature for a steep decrease of ovalbumin antigenicity was 80 ℃. The change in antigenicity of high-pressure-treated ovalbumin exhibited an initial decrease,followed by a rebound increase. During single heat treatment and combination of heat treatment and high-pressure microfludization,the antigenicity of egg white ovalbumin had a similar changing trend,but the change extent during combination of heat treatment and high-pressure microfludization was comparatively less,up to only 52.5%. Thus,heat treatment had more effect on ovalbumin antigenicity than high-pressure microfluidization. This conclusion is helpful for the development of hypoallergenic or non-allergenic egg products.


Objective: A non-immediate hypertensive response short after COVID-19 vaccination has been reported. Mild to moderate elevated arterial blood pressure (BP) levels have been documented few days after a single or two-doses vaccine. This study sought to investigate this observation as a potential side effect in patients with known hypertension and healthy controls. Design and method: A total of 100 vaccinated patients between the age of 50 to 70 years old were studied. They were randomly assigned to one of the approved and available vaccines (Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson). Half of them were hypertensives under medical treatment and half of them were not. All participants had systolic BP < 140mmHg and diastolic BP < 90mmHg before vaccination and volunteered for standard daily home BP measurements (HBPM) and ambulatory BP measurements (ABPM) between the 1st and the 21st day after considered fully COVID-19 vaccinated. Results: All patients, hypertensives or not, had at some point a recorded hypertensive response for both systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP after considered fully vaccinated. Hypertensives were older and with higher body mass index (BMI). Some of the hypertensive patients received additional medication whereas some of the non-hypertensive patients started life modification changes and systematic BP measurements for a possible diagnosis of hypertension. Conclusions: Vaccination for COVID-19 seems to be related with a short period of hypertensive response. This phenomenon was partial and mostly observed in older overweight hypertensives.


in an improvement that raises the quantitative intellectual responses of some children suffering from speech handicaps. Skeels and Fillmore report a retarding effect on mental development of poor homes that provide a minimum of mental stimulation. Crissey, studying children in different types of institutions, concluded that "the average [mental level of the environment] tends to set the 'stimulation level'


The significant proportion of the Russian population are active online social media users. Changes in alcohol consumption in this target group during the COVID-19 pandemic remain understudied. The aim of this survey was to investigate changes in alcohol consumption and factors associated with the increase in alcohol use among online social media users in Russia during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted among 1,518 users of online social networking services popular in Russia from June to September 2020. The survey revealed that 35.4% of men and 25.6% of women started drinking more frequently during the first months of the pandemic; 24.9% of men and 17.7% of women increased their usual consumption (volume) of alcohol on a typical drinking occasion, whereas 28.5% of men and 27.9% of women increased the frequency of heavy episodic drinking. Adjusted binary logistic regression analysis revealed a positive association between the increase in the frequency of alcohol consumption and the following factors: age from 18 to 29 years (OR: 1.710; 95% CI: 1.002–2.917), severe restrictions in everyday private life (OR: 3.127; 95% CI: 1.011–9.675) and severe negative professional or financial consequences due to the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (OR: 2.247; 95% CI: 1.131–4.465). The odds of an increase in the frequency of heavy episodic drinking were more than twice higher (OR: 2.329; 95% CI: 1.001–5.428) among those who had experienced severe negative consequences of the pandemic to their professional and financial situation. Higher typical frequency and usual consumption (volume) of alcohol on a typical drinking occasion and higher typical frequency of heavy episodic drinking before the pandemic were positively significantly associated with the increase in these parameters of alcohol consumption during the first months of the pandemic. In times of large-scale epidemics and public health crises, it is advisable to consider the possibility of implementing screening and brief interventions, including via online social media, to prevent problems associated with alcohol use.


Growth conditions are important for the expression of resistance to methicillin among staphylococci. Consequently a phenotypic susceptibility test has to be chosen carefully to avoid false susceptible results. In this study we wanted to devise rapid and simple phenotypic tests whose results completely correlate with the presence of the methicillin resistance gene, mecA. A simplified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method not needing separate DNA extraction from the tested bacteria was used to amplify a 449 bp region of the mecA gene. One hundred and ten strains of S. epidermidis were tested. The results were in complete agreement with those from a broth tube breakpoint test, known to identify more strains as resistant than does the method recommended by NCCLS. In disc diffusion tests it was possible to clearly distinguish resistant from susceptible strains by using discs containing oxacillin, cephalexin and cephradine. A 5 pg cephradine disc was further analysed by testing another 441 consecutive clinical isolates of staphylococci. All resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci grew out to the edge of this disc, whereas susceptible strains showed an inhibition zone at least 10 mm in diameter. The 5 pg cephradine disc is recommended for routine work. The PCR method and broth tube breakpoint test are both reliable reference methods.


Engeletin is the main active component in the engelhardia leaf that promotes
circulation and removes stasis, and has hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, and anti-inflammatory actions.
The aim of this study was to develop an ultra-performance liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry
method to detect engeletin in plasma and tissues and investigate its absorption, distribution,
and mechanism in mice, which could provide very useful information for its pharmacological effect in
vivo.

Twenty-five mice were intraperitoneally injected with 20 mg/kg engeletin, and
five mice were sacrificed using 4% chloral hydrate 0.25, 0.5, 2, 4, and 6 h later. The tissues (brain, kidney,
heart, liver, spleen, and lung) and blood were collected. Acetonitrile precipitation was applied to
remove protein and further process the mouse plasma and tissue homogenate samples. Multiple reactions
monitoring mode in negative mode was used to quantify the engeletin.

Linearity of engeletin in plasma and tissues was good (R2 > 0.995), within the
range of 2-2,000 ng/mL in plasma and 2-2,000 ng/g in tissues, and the lower limit of quantitation was 2
ng/mL in plasma and 2 ng/g in tissues. Inter-day precision of engeletin in plasma or tissues (brain, kidney,
heart, liver, spleen, and lung) was < 14%, and intra-day precision was < 15%. After the mice were
intraperitoneally injected with engeletin (20 mg/kg), the distribution in kidney and liver was the highest,
followed by blood, spleen, lung, heart, and brain. Engeletin concentration in the brain was low, suggesting
that engeletin can penetrate through the blood brain barrier, which could also help with engeletin
investigations of the brain.


The Burning Index (BI) is part of the U.S. National Fire Danger Rating System and is widely used as a tool for fire management and hazard assessment. While the usage of such indices is widespread, assessment of these indices in their respective regions of application is rare. We evaluate the effectiveness of the BI for predicting wildfire occurrences in Los Angeles County, California using space-time point process models. The models are based on an additive decomposition of the conditional intensity, with separate terms to describe spatial and seasonal variability as well as contributions from the BI. The models are fit to wildfire and BI data from the years 1976–2000 using a combination of nonparametric kernel smoothing methods and parametric maximum likelihood. In addition to using AIC to compare competing models, new multi-dimensional residual methods based on approximate random thinning are employed to detect departures from the models and to ascertain the precise contribution of the BI to predicting wildfire occurrence. We find that while the BI appears to have a positive impact on wildfire prediction, the contribution is relatively small after taking into account natural seasonal and spatial variation. In particular, the BI does not appear to take into account increased activity during the years 1979–1981 and can overpredict during the early months of the year.


It has been reported that all four immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclasses present in human serum are also present in chimpanzee serum, as detected with antibodies specific for the human IgG subclasses. We used monoclonal antibodies (mAb) specific for human IgG subclasses to measure concentrations of the four subclasses in the chimpanzee sera. Initial ELISA studies indicated that epitopes for all four human subclasses are present in chimpanzee sera. The concentrations of IgG1, IgG2 and IgG3 were similar in human and chimpanzee sera, but the registered concentrations of IgG4 were different. Absorption of IgG2-reactive material from chimpanzee serum with IgG2 mAb resulted in removal of IgG4-reactive material as well. Conversely, absorption of IgG4-reactive material removed IgG2-reactive material. IgG2-reactive material, isolated from chimpanzee serum using solid-phase anti-IgG2 mAb, reacted with anti-IgG4 mAb, and isolated IgG4-reactive material reacted with anti-IgG2 mAb. Three anti-IgG2 mAb and five anti-IgG4 mAb, each of which react with separate epitopes on their respective human isotype, were used in these studies. We conclude that chimpanzee serum contains only three IgG isotypes related to those of humans, one of which contains determinants related to both human IgG2 and IgG4.


Educational curricula in African countries are predominantly influenced by Western cultural assumptions and methods, and take insufficient account of each African country's unique social and cultural contexts. Professional and more affluent people in African countries are also often educated in Europe and America, further superimposing the assumptions, norms and beliefs of Western cultures upon the African cultural beliefs of their childhood. This mixed cultural background can create internal psychological conflict in terms of identity, and many Africans find themselves "between cultures". It is argued that this personal experience of the" two worlds", and the challenge of establishing an individual identity which encompasses very different cultural belief systems, exactly mirrors the socio-cultural processes taking place in emerging African nations. This paper explores some psychological perspectives on identity and loss as means of understanding the impact of cultural change on cultural identity, from both individual and societal perspectives. It is suggested that these psychological perspectives on cultural identity be considered essential components of the leadership initiatives now being developed in many African countries. Some suggested practical contributions to such initiatives are proposed and discussed.


In recent years, participation of children in virtual worlds has grown and children are also the largest number of users of virtual worlds (KZero, 2009a). This growth in participation in virtual worlds has brought out discussion about their effects on children's lives. In this article, we consider opportunities of virtual worlds to engage and educate children about their civic life. The aim of this paper is to establish a framework for participation in virtual worlds and to test the framework by looking at current participatory practices in virtual worlds. In this paper we present a framework for children's participation in virtual worlds which is based on research review. Our framework sees children in virtual worlds as social actors, learners of civic participation and as citizens. Results of a survey conducted to find the participatory practices of children in virtual worlds are also presented. The results indicate that children are highly interested in socializing with friends and engaging in avatar related activities. It was also found that traditional forms of civic participation are not very common in virtual worlds. Thus, there is a need to promote traditional forms of civic participation and at the same time look at new opportunities presented by virtual worlds for civic participation.


As familiar as clinical governance has become to the senior hospital doctor, its true meaning is still shrouded in mystery to the house officer. For the most junior of doctors, risk management isjust another 1S-minute slot on a hectic hospital induction day, slipped in between a monologue on filling out haematology forms and the buffet lunch. Despite being the most inexperienced of their 'firm', junior doctors are often the hospital's front line in treating and communicating with patients. Indeed, it is not until the time comes to apply for jobs and prepare for interviews that many take the time to find out exactly what clinical governance really means both to them and their patients. The tragedy of this is that Trusts are missing out on a great untapped resource. Pro-active Trusts are increasingly encouraging their junior staff to get involved in clinical audit, with some excellent results. The senior doctors at Northwick Park Hospital's neonatal unit are one example of this. They encouraged senior house officers to follow up their interest in the suggestion that the vitamin K jab given to all newborn babies could be linked to childhood cancer. The jab is given to prevent Haernorrhagic disease of the newborn, but a case control study in Bristol in 1992 showed a link with later malignancy. Attempts to refute this link using larger studies were hampered by the lack of documentation in neonatal notes recording the administration of vitamin K. At Northwick Park Hospital, the junior doctors used clinical audit to show that administration of this drug on their unit was correctly recorded in only 21% of cases, and thus provided the momentum for new guidelines and a positive change. Some Trusts have introduced a clinical audit prize for their doctors and many hospitals now ask specific questions about involvement in audit and understanding of clinical governance in their job application forms. Although it would be cynical to suggest that only the promise of CV points can get the juniors' enthusiasm going, it is important to remember that most juniors have_ exam commitments as well as a heavy clinical workload. There is also the added handicap of moving hospitals every six months. This makes closing the audit loop by an individual difficult logistically. If hospitals provide the spark by incentive or otherwise juniors will learn from their experiences and contribute more. This will benefit the Trust, the patient and, of course, that consultant-in-the-making.


Introduction In no area of ecology is the role of space more fundamental than in the study of plant communities (Hutchings 1986; Crawley and May 1987). Individual plants are rooted in one place and their ability to move and occupy space is restricted to growth (Eriksson 1986). A plant cannot relocate from an unfavorable location to a more favorable one. Rather, it grows as well as possible where it finds itself or it dies. Basic plant biology suggests that plant–plant interactions are inherently local in nature. For example, individual plants do not experience global population density per se , but only interact with neighbors over restricted distances. The mobility of animals makes their spatial behavior potentially far more complex than that of plants, but, ironically, this ability to move can make the modeling of space for animal populations unnecessary in many cases. For example, because animals can "diffuse" in space from areas of higher density to areas of lower density, models based on mean spatial behavior or overall density may often be sufficient. Because a plant's ability to move is quite restricted (except during dispersal), local conditions are of much greater significance to plants than to animals. When feeding fish in a tank, it does not matter where on the water surface one places the food, because the fish will come to it. But when watering or fertilizing the garden one must make sure that the resource comes close to the plant – if one waters only half the garden the other half will not obtain sufficient water.


A minimal estimate suggests 300,000 Samoans reside outside the Samoan archipelago in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. Anthropological studies of Samoan migration provide a broader perspective that emphasizes the deep connections among individuals and families residing in and outside the Samoas, and the adaptive nature of these connections. A review of the published socioeconomic, demographic, public health, and medical literatures indicates that Samoans residing outside the Samoas may be at high risk for poor levels of population health because of poverty, low health literacy, and sociocultural influences on health care knowledge, attitude, and access. There is little systematic information on Samoans in the United States and Australia. Based on trends from smaller studies and the national data from New Zealand, we recommend more population-based health research among Samoans. Studies of representative samples will provide more accurate assessments of the spectrum of social and economic characteristics, acculturative processes, the returns and costs of connectedness to the families and villages in the Samoas, and population health characteristics. Studies should emphasize not only the negative costs to health and well-being of migration but the processes of adjustment, accommodation, and adaptation that produce the varieties of ways of life among Samoans outside the Samoas.


We construct an infinite-dimensional symplectic 2-groupoid as the integration of an exact Courant algebroid. We show that every integrable Dirac structure integrates to a "Lagrangian" sub-2-groupoid of this symplectic 2-groupoid. As a corollary, we recover a result of Bursztyn-CrainicWeinstein-Zhu that every integrable Dirac structure integrates to a presymplectic groupoid.


A novel strategy of "structural similarity based consensus modeling" (SSCM) based on "model distance and guided model selection" (MD‐QGMS) submodel set was proposed. The SSCM strategy is built upon a hypothesis, that is, similar compounds are most probably predicted more accurately by a same submodel among a model population, which can be concluded from the fact that models employing a different set of descriptors can predict compounds with specific structures more accurately. It is proved that the proposed SSCM strategy can remarkably improve the external prediction ability of QSAR models by employing two different datasets. In future, the proposed SSCM strategy may provide a new direction to develop more accurate predictive models.


PURPOSE
To examine: (a) frequency and focus of APN-physician collaborations in a clinical trial in which half of physician prenatal care for women with high-risk pregnancies was substituted with APN prenatal care delivered in women's homes; and (b) characteristics of women requiring greater numbers of collaborations.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Descriptive study with secondary analysis of data from 83 of the original trial's 85 intervention participants followed by APNs prenatally through 8 weeks postpartum. APN practices, recorded in logs, included APN interactions with the women and the physician, and type of APN contact (e.g., home visit, telephone call). Each APN-physician collaboration was coded for type, timing, and focus.

FINDINGS
Total number of APN-physician collaboration contacts was 351, with a mean of 4.5 and a range of 1 to 16 per woman. Focus of collaborations was: status updates (59%), new physical findings (21%), change in treatment (8%), patient concerns (7%) and medication adjustment (5%). No significant differences in numbers of collaborations were found according to age, primary diagnosis, marital status, type of health insurance, race, or income. Women with high school education received more collaborations than did those not completing high school or those with some postsecondary education. Prenatally, women with a first pregnancy required more collaborations than did multipara participants.

CONCLUSIONS
Most APN-physician collaborative contacts were focused on monitoring women's physical and emotional status and discussing new physical findings. These collaborations were important in the original trial's successful pregnancy and infant outcomes and savings in health care dollars.


This paper proposes a new paradigm for code-switching event detection based on latent language space models (LLSMs) and the delta-Bayesian information criterion (ΔBIC). A phone-based Mandarin-English speech recognizer was first employed for obtaining the senone sequence of a speech utterance. For each senone, acoustic features and the posterior probability of the articulatory features (AFs) were extracted and applied to an eigenspace transformation, based on principal component analysis (PCA). Latent semantic analysis (LSA) was then adopted for constructing a matrix to model the importance of each principal component in the eigenspace for the senones and AFs in each language. The spatial relationships among the senones (or AFs) represented by the PCA-transformed eigenvalues in the LSA-based matrix were employed to construct an LLSM for characterizing a language. In code-switching event detection, the language likelihood between the input speech LLSM and each of the language-dependent LLSMs was estimated. The Euclidian-distance-based similarities and cosine-angle-distance-based similarities were adopted for estimating the language likelihood for senones and AFs. The ΔBIC was then used for estimating the language transition score for each hypothesized code-switching event. Finally, the dynamic programming algorithm was employed for obtaining the most likely code-switching language sequence. The proposed approach was evaluated using a Mandarin-English code-switching speech database and outperformed other conventional methods. A duration accuracy of 72.45% can be obtained from the proposed system with optimized parameters.


The gradual transition from a radiative to a reactive regime is studied for leaky modes supported by planar waveguiding structures such as those used in Fabry-Perot cavity leaky-wave antennas (FPC-LWAs). These are typically studied above the so-called leaky cutoff, i.e., the frequency for which the leaky phase constant β equals the leaky attenuation constant α. However, an FPC-LWA can efficiently radiate even below the leaky cutoff, the condition for minimizing the beamwdith at broadside occurring for β < α. Nevertheless, well below the leaky cutoff, reactive phenomena may dominate radiative phenomena. These aspects are investigated here, providing a criterion to determine whether the relevant leaky waves are responsible for radiation rather than reactive phenomena. It is seen that the minimum-beamwidth condition occurs in a region where reactive effects can prevail over radiative effects. It is concluded that, although directivity is maximized, the gain may be adversely affected by impedance matching issues. These results are useful for the efficient design of LWAs.


The hydrated nitrates of chromium(III), cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II) dissolved in molten calcium nitrate tetrahydrate at 43°C to form clear coloured solutions. Their spectra, between 30000 and 11000 cm-1, showed maxima closely similar in wavenumber to those of the corresponding aqueous solutions, and indicated similar octahedral coordination by oxygen from the ligands. However, slightly higher molar absorption coefficients of the metal cations in the molten solutions than those of the aqueous solutions suggested the possibility of mixed coordination by both aqua and nitrato groups. Nickel(II) complexes were rapidly solvolysed in the melt but cobalt(III) displayed more varied behaviour, intriguingly different from those of their aqueous solutions.


Innovation is a central driver of our country's economic prosperity. Industry sees innovation as the key to sustainable growth. Building on these ideas, a motto of the University of WisconsinStout is "Inspiring Innovation." To support innovation on campus at UW-Stout, a one credit, on-line, self-paced course has been developed to teach innovation management basics to a wide variety of students. The only prerequisite is that the student comes to the course with a product idea, either from a class project or from extra-curricular ideas. In the course, students will learn intellectual property, market assessment, prototype development, and basic business plans. The class assignments relate these four topics to their product idea. As part of the polytechnic focus of the university, students come from a wide variety of majors, including Engineering, Technology, Business, and Art and Design. Faculty and lab support from all of these areas are also available in all these disciplines. One end result of the course is for students to decide to stop their product because in some way it is not commercially viable. This is not seen as a failure, but as a first-time learning experience. If a student wishes to pursue commercialization, one route is continued development at Stout through a variety of other class projects. Another route is direct commercialization to a manufacturer. Finally, continued development of larger and more innovative products could be supported through Manufacturing Extension Partners, the state of Wisconsin or other new business support organizations. Future work is to expand and refine the routes forward by piloting the linkages with other classes and outside agencies. Successful products will be promoted to help grow the course enrollment.


Dreaming, an illusory paradise that reveals the sensory tale of the unconscious mind, a place where raw creativity can be unleashed. It provides a means of accessing the inner workings of the human mind and has the potential to disclose deep desires, fears, and aspirations.
However, in architecture, a materialised human desire bears the weight of human creativity development; the phenomenon of creativity within dreams has only reached the level of inspiration, and a gap exists in understanding the potential of using dreams in the field.
This research centres on the question of whether dreams can be utilised as a generative design tool for architecture. The objective is highly intriguing, with numerous challenges due to its inherently complex nature. This study examines the relationship between dreams and architecture through the lens of surrealism to discover the revolutionary possibility for the architectural expression of dreaming. It adopts a novel and realistic approach by incorporating a Human-Computer Interface (HCI) to generate an immersive dream-like architectural experience in a virtual environment, focusing on meaningful and influential interactions through unconscious emotions emanating from the dreaming brain.
The research method employs the conglomeration of the following software and hardware.
1. Consensys (Data analysis application)2. SideFX Houdini (Procedural design application)3. Unreal Engine 5 (VR creation tool)4. One-channel Shimmer3 GSR+ Unit (Electrodermal Activity EDA, An emotional intensity detector)5. High-end Computer (powerful processor & VR-enable graphics card)6. HTC Vive Virtual Reality HeadsetThis study utilised the researcher's dream as a source of inspiration and created an architectural prototype using Houdini, a powerful procedural design tool. The emotional state of the researcher during the dream state is quantitatively measured via the electrodermal activity (EDA) method, through electrical potential between two skin contact points. The raw emotional data obtained through this method is subsequently translated into a numerical format using the Consensys software. The data is then utilised as inputs in the design process, specifically through the manipulation and adjustment of data and attributes within Houdini, through a procedural data workflow. The resulting simulations express the symbolic meaning of key dream elements that have been identified in this research, which are generation (the creativity), time and emotion. This ultimately yields an architectural prototype that is influenced by the researcher's dreaming mind, the unconscious creativity revealed through emotional states. To enhance the dream-like experience, virtual reality is employed to enable a fully immersive and interactive exploration of the design.
The research outcome exceeded the aim and objectives by utilising cutting-edge technology to develop an architectural bridge to the gap between the unconscious and physical realm. However, this experiment encountered a number of technical limitations that suggest potential areas for future research, which will be mentioned in the discussion section of this inquiry. This study has successfully established a comprehensive understanding and a systematic framework for this innovative approach; it is a precursor research in generating architecture from the human raw unconscious creativity derived from the dream.


INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic plasma exchange with infusion of FFP (TPE/FFP) is a standard therapy for TTP. However TPE requires insertion of central lines and is associated with increased morbidity such as line-related infections and sepsis. Danazol has two relevant properties: immune modulation and enzyme induction. The former was exploited in autoimmune diseases such as ITP and the latter in disorders of enzyme deficiencies such as hereditary angioneurotic edema. TTP is an autoimmune disorder with deficiency of the enzyme, ADAMTS13. We investigated danazol therapy in patients with TTP and measured ADAMTS13 activities prior to and post danazol.

METHODS: We studied 7 patients (pts) with diagnosis of TTP, and 10 non-TTP pts (4 ITP, 2 thrombocytopenias of other cause, 2 autoimmune hemolytic anemia, 2 lympho- or myeloproliferative disorders). Both TTP and non-TTP patients were treated with danazol. All 7 TTP patients were female with mean age of 42. Four of the TTP patients (Group A) failed or had complications with TPE/FFP, requiring over 2 wks of hospitalization prior to starting danazol. The new regimen includes (1) administration of danazol at 200 mg 2–4 times daily, (2) removal of central lines and discontinuation of TPE when platelet counts stabilized, (3) infusion of FFP through peripheral vein. While monitoring platelet counts and LDH, FFP infusion was gradually tapered and stopped and danazol was continued for an additional 8–20 wks. In the remaining pts with TTP (Group B), danazol was started on admission along with TPE in two pts and FFP alone in one. ADAMTS13 was assayed by the FRETS-vWF73 method [Brit J Haem 2005; 129:93] before and after 2–5 wks of danazol. Parameters evaluated were clinical and laboratory improvement, complications, requirement for TPE and FFP, and levels of ADAMTS13 activity.

RESULTS: All 4 pts in Group A, who failed or had complications with TPE/FFP, responded well to the regimen, requiring fewer TPE and FFP infusions. The mean number of TPE was reduced by 88% post-danazol and mean number of FFP reduced by 79%. Their hospital stays were shorter. The 3 pts (Group B) who received danazol on admission also responded well. Patient B#1, with 20 yr history of TTP and numerous recurrences, required 1–2 weeks of hospitalizations with the new regimen, compared to 3–8 wks in her previous admissions. Patient B#3 who had FFP infusion alone had an excellent response but danazol had to be stopped because of abnormal liver function; she then relapsed necessitating TPE/FFP. ADAMTS13 activities were measured in 5 TTP pts: mean activity rose from 25.2% pre-danazol to 80.2% post (p=0.007). In the 10 non-TTP pts, the mean activity increased from 61.1% to 75.0% (p=0.03) pre-/post-danazol.

CONCLUSION . Danazol with FFP infusion was effective in all TTP pts. Danazol significantly reduced requirement of TPE and infusion of FFP and increased ADAMTS13 activity in both TTP and non-TTP patients. Use of danazol with FFP infusion through peripheral veins avoided complications of central lines required for TPE and reduced hospital stays. We suggest that early addition of danazol and early switching from TPE/FFP to the new regimen would benefit patients with TTP. However, a larger-scale randomized prospective study is needed to rigorously evaluate the efficacy and indications for this regimen.


The phylogenetic position of the Tasmanian endemic genus Cameronia Kantvilas is studied using partial sequences of nuclear LSU and mitochondrial SSU ribosomal DNA. Monophyly of the genus is supported, as is its placement in Ostropomycetidae, although its position within this subclass remains uncertain. Given the lack of close relatives to Cameronia and its morphological differences compared to other families with perithecioid ascomata in Ostropomycetidae, the new family Cameroniaceae Kantvilas & Lumbsch is proposed.


A clinical case of excimer laser correction performed by sub-Bowman femtosecond keratomileusis at the peak of botulinum toxin A effect in a patient with high congenital anisometropic myopia and horizontal nystagmus is presented. Keratorefractive surgery improved functional visual performance and the parameters of nystagmus.


to offer critiques of big business and big science. Rogers is especially interested in whether an artist engaged in credible scientific procedures might still be called an artist, or if a scientist might themselves be considered an artist based on their engagement of the public imagination. In Chapter 6, Rogers discusses her own curatorial project, Art's Work in the Age of Biotechnology. She explains how her intention was to establish public dialogue with, and participation in, scientific processes and knowledge-making procedures, not to fill a perceived knowledge deficit. It seems clear that Rogers's ASTS project has stemmed from this kind of curatorial work. As a curator, she forms links between works to create new material assemblages through which knowledge may be produced. Similarly, the vision of art-science that Rogers outlines involves artists re-skilling, speculatively designing, or otherwise imaginatively engaging scientific protocols, to render novel assemblages of materials, people, and technologies that problematize art and science boundary concepts. One area that might be interesting to unpack further is the division of art and science processes into either "material" or "rhetorical" categories. Although Rogers acknowledges that these terms are imperfect, there perhaps remains a risk that, by describing everything in terms of material/ rhetorical agency, her analysis establishes new categories of division, even as she breaks down art/science dualisms. The rhetorical associations of a system cannot be changed without changing the materials assembled therein, and conversely, as the materials networked change, so too do the rhetorical positions through which they speak. That said, I sympathize with Rogers' position: She is both a theorist aiming for a systematic analysis of art-science and a member of the art-science community. Adopting accessible, albeit imperfect, terms is arguably more impactful as a form of advocacy than would be a purist theoretical project with a correspondingly more limited audience. I think Rogers's approach is commendable for this practical stance. It is clear how her theories can be applied, and so her work moves beyond the purely critical into the practically useful, which, if the intention is to build more equitable, aesthetically inclusive systems of knowledge, is an essential criterion for success. In this respect, Rogers comes across as sharing much with her case studies, such as the Blaschkas, whose scientific models she describes as "cutting-edge heuristic apparatuses" (p. 222); this definition could equally well be applied to Rogers's own theoretical project.


To achieve long-term viral remission in HIV-infected children, novel strategies beyond early anti-retroviral therapy (ART) will be necessary. Identifying clinical predictors of time to viral rebound upon ART interruption will streamline the development of novel therapeutic strategies and accelerate their evaluation in clinical trials. However, identification of these biomarkers is logistically challenging in infants, due to sampling limitations and potential risks of treatment interruption. To facilitate identification of biomarkers predicting viral rebound, we have developed an infant rhesus macaque (RM) model of oral SHIV.CH505.375H.dCT challenge and analytical treatment interruption (ATI) after short-term ART. We used this model to characterize SHIV replication kinetics and virus-specific immune responses during short-term ART or post-ATI and demonstrated plasma viral rebound in 5 out of 6 (83%) infants. We observed a decline in humoral immune responses and partial dampening of systemic immune activation upon initiation of ART in these infants. Furthermore, we documented that infant and adult macaques have similar SHIV replication and rebound kinetics and equally potent virus-specific humoral immune responses. Finally, we validated our models by confirming a well-established correlate of time to viral rebound, namely pre-ART plasma viral load, as well as identified additional potential humoral immune correlates. Thus, this model of infant ART and viral rebound can be used and further optimized to define biomarkers of viral rebound following long-term ART as well as to pre-clinically assess novel therapies to achieve a pediatric HIV functional cure. IMPORTANCE Novel interventions that do not rely on daily adherence to ART are needed to achieve sustained viral remission for perinatally infected children who currently rely on lifelong ART. Considering the risks and expense associated with ART-interruption trials, identification of biomarkers of viral rebound will prioritize promising therapeutic intervention strategies, including anti-HIV Env protein therapeutics. However, comprehensive studies to identify those biomarkers are logistically challenging in human infants, demanding the need for relevant non-human primate models of HIV rebound. In this study, we developed an infant RM model of oral Simian/Human Immunodeficiency virus infection expressing clade C HIV Env, and short-term ART followed by ATI, longitudinally characterizing immune responses to viral infection during ART and post-ATI. Additionally, we compared this infant RM model to an analogous adult RM rebound model and identified virologic and immunologic correlates of time to viral rebound post-ATI.


Several reports have confirmed the therapeutic usefulness of cyclosporin A for the treatment of psoriasis. After almost 15 years of experience, there are many data available as concerns administration, prevention and management of side effects. Considering both these premises and the common use in clinical practice, cyclosporin may be regarded as a first-line approach to psoriasis in eligible patients with severe forms of psoriasis. There is also an increasing trend towards the use of cyclosporine A in less severe forms of psoriasis, which are resistant to topical treatments and deteriorate significantly the quality of life. In these forms a low-dosage intermittent treatment should be preferable, even associated with topical agents if necessary. The use of intermittent treatment regimens offer many advantages, including cost reduction better compliance and better tolerability. Nevertheless, treatment with cyclosporin should be adapted to the single patient and can be influenced by many factors. On the whole, treatment with cyclosporin A is well-tolerated, if the generic recommendations and guidelines are observed. Side effects are commonly of mild intensity and can be controlled by dose adjustment. They fade away after treatment discontinuation. In this work, practical guidelines for use of cyclosporine A will be provided in accordance with recent literature reports and our personal experience, with particular emphasis on patient selection, therapeutic schemes, monitoring and management of side effects.


This article is a report of a culminated research which focused on the interactions between university students of Michoacan (Mexico), and, on their socialization, negotiation and education skills between peers, through the virtual environment on Facebook. The purpose was to investigate whether these young people are able to promote educational events related to citizenship construction on the civil, social and political dimensions among peers through technology. The social context during the investigation process was marked by a high political activity, through elections, and conditions of constant violence in the environment. The methodology used for monitoring the interactions was qualitative, and it was based on the netnography method, also, some tools of speech analysis were incorporated for studying the recorded conversations, which were reconstructed through the collection, and systematization, of the messages that had been exchanged in a specific group of Facebook. Among other results, there is evidence that young people under observation usually socializes, trough the virtual environment of Facebook, several problems related to the construction of citizenship, especially those problems that are related to their concerns of the society. Despite of the last, there were just a few interactions that promoted an educational act between peers which could promote transformation of meanings.


The reaction mechanism of photochemical ring opening and closing transformation was investigated for diarylethene (DAE), which works as a molecular switch and photodevice. Spin-flip time-dependent density functional theory is employed to map the potential energy surfaces and to elucidate the photochemical mechanism of three isomers (normal, inverse, and mixed types) of 1,2-dithienylethene, a model DAE. The potential energy characteristics including the minimum-energy conical intersection reveals the origin of different product preferences of the three isomers. For the normal type, the excited state from either closed or open form reaches the same conical intersection that gives preferentially the closed product. The inverse type preferentially gives the closed product. The mixed type has two pathways that are easily convertible, and both open and closed reactants give both open and closed products.


Biomolecular condensates are important contributors to the internal organization of the cell material. While initially described as liquid-like droplets, the term biomolecular condensates is now used to describe a diversity of condensed phase assemblies with material properties extending from low to high viscous liquids, gels, and even glasses. Because the material properties of condensates are determined by the intrinsic behaviour of their molecules, characterising such properties is integral to rationalising the molecular mechanisms that dictate their functions and roles in health and disease. Here, we apply and compare three distinct computational methods to measure the viscoelasticity of biomolecular condensates in molecular simulations. These methods are the shear stress relaxation modulus integration (SSRMI), the oscillatory shear (OS) technique, and the bead tracking (BT) method. We find that, although all of these methods provide consistent results for the viscosity of the condensates, the SSRMI and OS techniques outperform the BT method in terms of computational efficiency and statistical uncertainty. We, thus, apply the SSRMI and OS techniques for a set of 12 different protein/RNA systems using a sequence-dependent high-resolution coarse-grained model. Our results reveal a strong correlation between condensate viscosity and density, as well as with protein/RNA length and the number of stickers vs. spacers in the amino-acid protein sequence. Moreover, we couple the SSRMI and the OS technique to nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations that mimic the progressive liquid-to-gel transition of protein condensates due to the accumulation of inter-protein β-sheets. We compare the behaviour of three different protein condensates—i.e., those formed by either hnRNPA1, FUS, or TDP-43 proteins—whose liquid-to-gel transitions are associated with the onset of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. We find that both SSRMI and OS techniques successfully predict the transition from functional liquid-like behaviour to kinetically arrested states once the network of inter-protein β-sheets has percolated through the condensates. Overall, our work provides a comparison of different modelling rheological techniques to assess the viscosity of biomolecular condensates, a critical magnitude that provides information on the behaviour of biomolecules inside condensates.


Objective
To investigate the effectiveness of Vesselplasty and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in treatment of Kümmell disease.

Methods
Between January 2015 and December 2018, 63 patients with Kümmell disease were treated. Among them, 28 cases were treated with Vesselplasty (Vesselplasty group) and 35 cases were treated with PKP (PKP group). There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease duration, bone mineral density (T value), fracture distribution, and preoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle between the two groups ( P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, the leakage rate of bone cement, the diffusion area ratio of bone cement, and the complications of the two groups were recorded. VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle were compared between the two groups before operation and at 1 day after operation and last follow-up.

Results
All patients of the two groups were followed up 12-36 months, with an average of 24.2 months. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, and diffusion area ratio of bone cement were significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group than in the PKP group ( P<0.05). The leakage rate of bone cement was significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) than in the PKP group (34.29%) ( χ 2=5.153, P=0.023). At 1 day after operation and last follow-up, the VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle of the two groups were superior to those before operation ( P<0.05), and no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). During the follow-up, there was no re-collapse of vertebrae, and the adjacent vertebrae fracture occurred in 2 cases of the Vesselplasty group and 5 cases of PKP group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adjacent vertebrae fracture between the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) and the PKP group (14.29%) ( χ 2=0.243, P=0.622).

Conclusion
Vesselplasty and PKP have similar effectiveness in the treatment of Kümmell disease. They can effectively relieve the pain symptoms, improve the quality of life, partially restore the height of injured vertebrae, and correct kyphosis. But the Vesselplasty has the advantages of shorter operation time, less intraoperative fluoroscopy time, and less bone cement leakage.


There are three prevailing theories of mortgage default: strategic default (driven by negative equity), cash flow default (driven by negative life events), and double-trigger default (where both negative triggers are necessary). It has been difficult to compare these theories in part because negative life events are measured with error. We address this measurement error using a comparison group of borrowers with no strategic-default motive. Our central finding is that only 6% of underwater defaults are caused exclusively by negative equity, an order of magnitude lower than previously thought. We then analyze the remaining defaults. We find that 70% are driven solely by negative life events (i.e., cash flow defaults), while 24% are driven by the interaction between negative life events and negative equity (i.e., double-trigger defaults). Together, the results provide a full decomposition of the theories underlying borrower default and suggest that negative life events play a central role. JEL Codes: G21, G51, G41.


Little Jumbo is baffled by his dad's insistence on adding raisins to breakfast and his forgetting that Little Jumbo doesn't like the brown overalls, and the little guy is further unclear as to why his then shooting the aforementioned raisins at the ceiling or running around the neighborhood sans pants causes Dad to be upset. After some thought about Dad's "bad day," Little Jumbo decides that taking his dad to play catch and share an ice cream cone will be a great solution—and it is, carrying the duo for the rest of the day until a bedtime snuggle. This spices up familiar father-and-son narratives with its reversal, giving kids a new slant on familiar experiences. The text's understated comicality ("Little Jumbo suggested that Dad needed a time-out") is matched with smartly designed illustrations in digitally assembled pencil and pen. Setting sturdily but scratchily outlined elephants against crisp white pages gives the book a dashing design that's enhanced by chic architecture and interiors, as well as by primary color accents that pop against the elephants' grey skins and drab overalls. Little Jumbo and Dad are comically drawn with rotund middles but boxy appendages, and Koehler uses all of the potential of the characters' trunks, ears, and great big smiles to cover the full range of pachyderm expression. With its sparkle that's accessible to both parents and kids, this is poised to join the ranks of Steptoe's In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall (BCCB 2/98), Mayer's Just Me and My Dad, and Durand's Mitchell's License (BCCB 5/11) as a stellar book for father-and-son sharing. TA


Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has observed as a powerful instrument for benchmarking the performance of various organisations when multiple variables are taken into account. The advantage of such an analysis is its competency to measure the efficiency of the firm in multifarious dimensions. Currently, rapid developments are occurring in telecom service sector. In such a milieu, an attempt for comparing and benchmarking various telecom service providers is of extreme relevance. This paper starts with a conceptual DEA model followed by efficiency estimation. 'Assets' and 'expenses' are considered as inputs. 'Profit after tax' and 'income' are taken as outputs. Four efficiencies named technical efficiency (TE), scale efficiency (SE), cost efficiency (CE), and allocative efficiency (AE) have been estimated. The results are supported by managerial implications and the scope for future research followed by the limitations of the study.


The association of hyperhomocysteinemia with thrombosis has provoked debate in the medical literature. Although studies have found associations between moderate homocysteine elevations and thrombotic events, others dispute this relationship. We present herein the case of a 24-year-old male who presented with unprovoked bilateral submassive pulmonary emboli. Extensive hypercoagulability workup was notable for an elevated homocysteine level, in addition to low vitamin B12 and folate levels. Of note, the patient had a history of small bowel resection after trauma, which may have contributed to the aforementioned metabolic derangements, potentially increasing his risk for thrombosis and interfering with the efficacy of his anticoagulation.


Ovarian cancer (OC) is the third most common gynecological malignancy with the highest mortality worldwide. OC is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the standard treatment is surgery combined with platinum or paclitaxel chemotherapy. However, chemoresistance inevitably appears coupled with the easy recurrence and poor prognosis. Thus, early diagnosis, predicting prognosis, and reducing chemoresistance are of great significance for controlling the progression and improving treatment effects of OC. Recently, much insight has been gained into the non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that is employed for RNAs but does not encode a protein, and many types of ncRNAs have been characterized including long-chain non-coding RNAs, microRNAs, and circular RNAs. Accumulating evidence indicates these ncRNAs play very active roles in OC progression and metastasis. In this review, we briefly discuss the ncRNAs as biomarkers for OC prognosis. We focus on the recent advances of ncRNAs as therapeutic targets in preventing OC metastasis, chemoresistance, immune escape, and metabolism. The novel strategies for ncRNAs-targeted therapy are also exploited for improving the survival of OC patients.


If treatment planning is done using the CT scanner's computer immediately the images are produced and before the patient's position is changed, then what is required is a mechanism to transfer back to the patient the resulting beam positioning information. A system that does this is described. The system consists of a central processing unit (PDP-LSI-11), main memories, peripheral memories (DISK and MT), and an image display unit.


Aim: to analyze an adherence to treatment, factors affecting it, and the quality of life of patients with cardiovascular diseases at the outpatient stage of medical care. study The Moriski-green compliance scale was used to analyze patients' adherence to treatment, and the EuroQol EQ-5D-5L international questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life of patients. Statistical data processing was performed using the program STATISTICA 10.0. Results. The percentage of committed to treating patients who sought outpatient care was 59%. The main reason for poor adherence was forgetfulness – 25,27 %. It is patient's opinion, in 73.8% of cases, communication with a doctor plays an important role in improving their compliance. The total index of quality of life (QOL) of patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) was 0.712 ± 0.165. In estimating the relationship between quality of life and adherence to treatment, a positive correlation was found: the more compliant the patient, the higher their quality of life, and vice versa (r=0.2, p=0.013). The relationship between high adherence to treatment and quality of life was confirmed in the group of men (p=0.01), while the statistical significance of differences was not achieved in women (p=0.2). In examining the aspect of a disease of chronic heart failure (CHF), the worsening of NYHA functional class (from I to II) was accompanied by a sharp decrease in self-esteem of health for both sexes (p=0.01). Conclusion. Almost every second patient is against of the rules of the medication regimen. Better adherence to treatment can be facilitated by more careful attention from the attending physician with a detailed explanation of the causes and the aspect of the disease, treatment methods, as well as ways to self-control the symptoms of the disease. The degree of treatment adherence is correlated with the level of quality of life on the EQ-5D-5L scale, mainly in the male population.


abstract Nine Element Occurrences (EOs) of Appalachian Jacob's-ladder Polemonium van-bruntiae in Vermont were recognized in 2002. Presently there are 15 EOs comprising 79 Sub-Element Occurrences (subEOs). The author monitored all 79 subEOs at least once and 31 of them twice between 2004 and 2017. The total number of sexually reproductive stems was 32,300, averaging 2153 per EO and 409 per subEO. Six subEOs had fewer than 10 plants each. More than half the subEOs occurred in wooded seeps; the remainder occurred in wet meadows, alder thickets, northern white cedar swamps or human-altered patchy habitats that mimic seeps. In Vermont the species is currently known only from southeast Addison County. The species is now more populous but only slightly more widely distributed in Vermont than in Deller's account. Increase in numbers is due to discovery of new EOs and subEOs, as well as to population growth of the EOs known since 2002. It remains at risk to the same variety of threats that it was believed subject to in 2002.


In this study we employed self-designed PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA (PLEL) thermosensitive hydrogel to blend with norcantharidin (NCTD), a hydrophilic chemotherapeutic drug possessing curative effect on primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and adverse effects, then utilized the composite in HCC interstitial chemotherapy. PLEL copolymer was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization, NCTD-loaded PLEL hydrogel was prepared in a simple and reasonable way. The addition of NCTD had no significant effect on the temperature-dependent rheological properties of PLEL hydrogel. The pH values of NCTD-loaded gel solutions (13 wt%) and free NCTD solutions with three drug concentrations of 0.4 mg/mL, 0.8 mg/mL and 1.2 mg/mL under different storage conditions met the pH requirement of small-volume injection. There was no significant difference among the drug release behaviors of NCTD-loaded gels with drug concentrations of 0.4 mg/mL, 0.8 mg/mL and 1.2 mg/mL, they fitted first-order dynamics, exhibited significantly slower drug release than free drug solutions and the release was mainly based on drug diffusion. Drug-loaded gel solution (13 wt%) could evenly distribute throughout tumor tissue before converting into gel after being intratumorally injected and was able to significantly prolong retention time of the drug in tumor compared to free drug solution. The sustained-release performance of NCTD-loaded gel (13 wt%) was confirmed from the perspective of pharmacodynamics in vitro. The in vivo evaluation demonstrated that intratumoral injection of NCTD-loaded PLEL gel (13 wt%) was capable of improving curative effect of the drug and reducing its toxicity.


An unusual case of very-late-onset metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) with dementia was studied. The patient was a 41-year-old male who presented with mild dementia and a single generalized tonic clonic seizure. Neuropsychological assessment demonstrated mild amnesia, visuospatial dysfunction and attention deficits with a slow psychomotor speed. MR brain imaging displayed confluent hyperintensities of periventricular and subcortical white matter. Low levels of arylsulfatase A confirmed the diagnosis. Impaired cortical glucose metabolism especially of the medial temporal and frontal cortices was observed using positron emission tomography and fluor-18-labeled fluorodesoxyglucose. The neuropsychological deficits are related to the location of deficits in glucose metabolism.


The work presents the results of the study of naked oat samples from the world collection of The N.I. Vavilov All Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources and locally bred varieties for resistance to smut diseases. The research was carried out in 2008-2018 in the fi eld experiment against an artifi cial infection background. It was noted that during the growing season meteorological factors affected the extent of lesion of naked oats with the disease. A higher degree of lesion was observed in years with suffi cient and excessive moisture supply alongside increased air temperatures, whereas less damage was discovered under dry conditions. The results of phytopathological analysis of 230 collection samples of hulless oats in 2008–2011 revealed that mid-ripening specimens are more susceptible to damage by smut fungi (27.2% on average in the group). With an increase in the length of the growing season, susceptibility to the pathogen decreases. The degree of lesion in midlate samples was 26.5%, on average in the group, in late-ripening – 25.4%, in very late-ripening – 20.0%. During further study (2012–2018) of 35 resistant samples of this collection, a decrease in resistance to the pathogen was noted. Immune samples characterized by high panicle structure, large size of grain and lodging resistance were selected and included in the cross-breeding program to produce high-yielding genotypes resistant to local populations of smut fungi. As a result, a new variety of naked oats Ofenya was created, surpassing the standard recognized variety in terms of yield, technological, biochemical parameters, as well as resistant to lodging and smut.


This document provides an overview of baseline setting for greenhouse gas (GHG) crediting mechanisms. The first section briefly explains the general purpose and objectives of setting a crediting mechanism baseline. The second section summarizes key policy considerations in defining and setting baselines. The final section covers important technical elements of baselines and provides an overview of various methods that can be used to estimate baseline emissions. The main purpose of this technical note is to examine key issues for baseline setting in the context of scaled-up crediting mechanisms. Many of the technical and policy considerations presented here, however, are relevant to existing project-based crediting mechanisms as well, and the discussion takes into account concepts developed and experience gained under these mechanisms. In addition, most of the concepts and examples presented here are relevant to setting baselines in the energy and industry sectors. Where relevant, however, examples from other sectors, including forestry and land-use, are used to illustrate important ideas.


Station batteries used as a backup source to supply station direct-current (DC) power to relays, etc., present a source of personnel exposure to DC arc flash. DC arc flash is less understood compared with the arc flash phenomena that occur in alternating-current (AC) systems. Some models exist to quantify the potential hazards posed by DC electrical systems; however., there is little empirical data available. Additionally., the lower-voltage and/or lower-capacity station batteries are even less researched. As a result., a series of arc flash tests were performed at Dolan Technology Center of American Electric Power (AEP) utilizing two 125 Vdcbatteries with rated capacities of 100 Ah and 150 Ah. For these tests, working distance and gap width were used as independent variables. Upon the conclusion of testing, various relationships were analyzed to generate a predictive model for incident energy. This model serves as a compilation of the empirical data collected during testing and will contribute to future research efforts to better understand DC arc flash incidents from station batteries.


According to the feature inheritance hypothesis, functional heads inherit grammatical features from higher phase heads. Finite tense T, for example, inherits phi-features and/or the topic feature from C, while V inherits features from v*. Here we argue, based on new observations concerning the Finnish CP, relative clauses in particular, that feature inheritance applies also one step higher. Specifically, we argue that the lower Focus/operator head inherits features from the higher Force-head within the CP-layer. A new analysis of the structure of the Finnish CP is presented. The proposal is then positioned within a cross-linguistic theory of the CP-cartography. An analysis is presented where Finnish utilizes overt morphology and relatively few syntactic positions to express linguistic notions that in several other languages (e.g. Italian) are expressed by means of projecting distinct syntactic positions.


This article considers some educational implications of resilient rurality in Nova Scotia, a province in eastern Canada. By Statistics Canada definitions, the province contains more than double the national percentage of rural residents, a figure that has not changed very much since the 1950s when rural school consolidation and other "modernization" schemes began in earnest. This resilient rurality is typically constructed in a metrocentric deficit perspective as a marker of underdevelopment and inevitable population decline and decay. I argue that subsequent educational reform initiatives have generally supported the closure of rural schools and have not significantly considered their effectiveness and potential to support strength-based rural development policy and social justice.

Keywords: rural education, history of education, development, Nova Scotia


Parliamentary elections are due to be held in Italy on 24-25 February. As part of EUROPP's series of articles previewing the election, Gianluca Passarelli assesses the prospects of one of Italy's most controversial parties: Lega Nord. He notes that the party, which advocates regional autonomy for much of Northern Italy, has experienced a substantial increase in support over the last three years, but that infighting and leadership disputes have threatened to undermine its electoral gains.


Thanks to their 3D structure, the Silicon Capacitors offer drastic improvements in terms of performances compared to the commonly used ceramic and tantalum capacitors. They are also a smart way to reduce the application volume and increase the IP protection level. With the increasing complexity in the die and package designs and ever increasing cost pressure in today's microelectronic industry, IPDIA is offering for a large range of products, customized or standard components, a low cost packaging solution: the Wafer Level Chip Scale Packaging. While wire-bond interface may remain the preference for many applications, face-down direct chip attachment has gained wide acceptance. More than interacting on electrical functionality, WLCSP is interacting on mechanical and thermo mechanical properties with a higher miniaturization and a transfer directly on printed circuit boards without additional packaging steps. This paper presents the main characteristics of the 3D-IPD advanced technology emphasizing on its ...


This research aims to analyse the results obtained from the combination of lean manufacturing, Six Sigma and theory of constraints in the wooden furniture industry in Peru. The research presents that there is increase in productivity of the SMEs by reducing the production time and costs without effecting the quality of the products. Based on a recent literature review, the authors, through the experience and study of Peruvian furniture companies, were able to identify an integrated model based on the five TOC steps, and the lean Six Sigma methods. A value chain of processes is proposed; highlighting elements that allow the elimination of activities that do not add value and control the variability of the critical process. Arena simulation was an important tool to validate proposals. This paper allows manufacturing managers to evaluate operating systems, in order to use integrated methodologies, and obtain the increase of Six Sigma levels by 50% and improve operational results by 6% in furniture manufacturing companies.


From many years the construct of competence entered in the italian school as an educational target to achieve and around which rethink the teaching/learning paths.1 It is a complicated challenge that required and requires to the teachers of the schools of all levels a considerable commitement in terms of restructuring of consolidated practice in education and revision of the way of working in the classroom. The paper proposes a reflection on the teacher's professional figure with particular reference to the methodological skills to be acquired in relation to this important paradigmatic change and to the importance of in service training for the improvement of those skills. In the first part we focus on the analysis of the teacher's professional figure and about the set of knowledge and skills that qualify him as such, with particular reference to the methodological skills required to meet the challenge of competence. In the second part we describe what is the challenge of competence and how this challenge is transposed by the legislature in the text of the National Guidelines for the curriculum in kindergarten and in the first cycle of education (September 2012). In the third part we describe an experience of in-service training for teachers of kindergarten and primary school which took place in the Comprehensive Institute of San Marzano sul Sarno with the aim to improve the expertise in the didactic planning. In closing it tell about some products of this experience that have been developed by working groups during lab training hours.


Objective of this study was conducted to determine the proper transplanting distance for turf cultivation in the bare land. For investigating the proper transplanting distance of turf cultivation, it were measured the growth characteristics as plant height, root length, number of branching, number of nodule and length of stolon, and yield properties such as fresh weight and dry matter. In 30×30㎝ of transplanting distance plot, plant height, root length, number of branching, number of nodule and length of stolon were 14.1㎝, 22.0㎝, 7.0, 31 and 77.5㎝, and also the fresh weight and dry matter were 16.1 and 11.0g/plant, respectively. It was observed that growth characteristics and yield properties were highest at 30×30㎝ of transplanting distance, respectively. Therefore, it considered that the proper transplanting distance was 30×30㎝ for turf cultivation in the bare soil.


Abstract

Objective – To make recommendations for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the factors to consider when choosing databases and search techniques when producing systematic reviews to support public health guidance development.

Methods – Retrospective analysis of how the publications included in systematic reviews commissioned by NICE on obesity, spatial planning, and tuberculosis were retrieved. The

included publications were checked to see if they were found from searching MEDLINE, another database or through other search techniques.

Results – MEDLINE contributed 24.2% of the publications included in the obesity review, none of the publications in the spatial planning review and 72% of those in the tuberculosis review. Other databases accounted for 9.1% of included publications in obesity, 20% in spatial planning and 4% in tuberculosis. Non-database methods provided 42.4% of the included publications in the obesity review, compared to 5% in the spatial planning review and 24% in the tuberculosis review. It was not possible to establish retrospectively how 24.2% of the publications in the obesity review and 75% in the spatial planning review were found.

Conclusions – Topic-specific databases and non-database search techniques were useful for tailoring the resources to the review questions. The value of MEDLINE in these reviews was affected by the degree of overlap with clinical topics, the domain of public health, and the need to find grey literature. The factors that NICE considers when planning a systematic search are the multidisciplinary nature of public health and the different types of evidence required.


This study tested the sensitivity of an arterial spin labeling MRI method to image changes in retinal and choroidal blood flow (BF) and anatomical thickness of the retina in the rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. High‐resolution (42 × 42 μm) MRI was performed on rd10 mice and age‐matched controls at 25, 35, and 60 days of age (n = 6 each group) on a 7‐T scanner. Anatomical MRI was acquired, and quantitative BF was imaged using arterial spin labeling MRI with a separate cardiac labeling coil. Histology was obtained to confirm thickness changes in the retina. In control mice, the retinal and choroidal vascular layers were quantitatively resolved. In rd10 mice, retinal BF decreased progressively over time, while choroidal BF was unchanged. The rd10 retina became progressively thinner at later time points compared with age‐matched controls by anatomical MRI and histology (P < 0.01). BF and anatomical MRI were capable of detecting decreased BF and thickness in the rd10 mouse retina. Because BF is tightly coupled to metabolic function, BF MRI has the potential to noninvasively assess retinal diseases in which metabolism and function are perturbed and to evaluate novel treatments, complementing existing retinal imaging techniques. Magn Reson Med, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


This paper presents a new on-the-fly (OTF) method in order to evaluate the effective threshold voltage (VT) shift without relaxation effects during negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) stresses on pMOSFETs. This method, called OTF_CIV, for on-the-fly with correction of initial values, allows us also to estimate the initial current at stress voltage, which is impossible to measure with an Agilent 4156 parameter analyzer due to the minimum measurement time.


There is growing evidence that serotonin (5-hydroxtryptamine, 5-HT) has major influences on brain development in mammals. Genetic and pharmacological disruption of 5-HT signaling during early postnatal development in rodents causes neuroanatomical cortical abnormalities, including malformations in the somatosensory cortex. Possible functional consequences of this developmental perturbation by 5-HT are not yet understood. We have examined the effects of deletion of the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) gene on somatosensory responses to sensory stimulation in mice. Local cerebral glucose utilization (lCMR(glc)) was measured by the quantitative 2-deoxy[(14)C]glucose method during unilateral whisker stimulation in awake adult mice. lCMR(glc) was increased by stimulation but to a markedly lesser extent in 5-HTT(-/-) mice than in 5-HTT(+/+) controls in each of four major stations in the whisker-to-barrel cortex pathway (the spinal and principal sensory trigeminal nuclei, the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus, and the barrel region of the somatosensory cortex). Lowering brain 5-HT levels by administration of the selective tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine on postnatal days 0 and 1 restored the metabolic responses to functional activation in the whisker-to-barrel cortex pathway in adult 5-HTT(-/-) mice. These results indicate that functional deficits in this pathway in 5-HTT(-/-) mice may be due to excessive postnatal 5-HT activity. With or without postnatal p-chlorophenylalanine treatment, 5-HTT(-/-) mice exhibited lower resting (unstimulated) lCMR(glc) than did 5-HTT(+/+) controls in the whisker-to-barrel cortex pathway and throughout the brain. These findings have implications for understanding the potential long-term consequences of genetic and pharmacological disruption of 5-HT neurotransmission on cerebral functions during critical periods of postnatal development.


Abstract The argument in this article is that the basic conceptual model used in construction of services to older people served well in years past but is now inadequate, descriptively or analytically. An alternative approach to the construction of community-based services is proposed and then examples from the practice of the author and from other communities are described.


Since the 1970s, the Phoenix Active Management Area has experienced rapid urbanization, mostly through land conversions from agricultural lands to urban land use. Rapid urban expansion and population growth have placed unprecedented pressure on agricultural production in this region. Agricultural intensification, in particular double cropping, has been observed globally as an important response to the growing pressure on land. However, the intensification has a number of negative impacts on water quality, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycles. Thus, quantifying the spatial pattern of cropping intensity is important for natural resource management. In this study, we developed an adaptive threshold approach to map cropping intensity using time series Landsat data and examined the spatiotemporal patterns of cropping intensity in the Phoenix Active Management Area from 1995 to 2010 at 5-year intervals. To map cropping intensity accurately, the adaptive threshold algorithm was designed specifically to address several issues caused by the complex cropping patterns in the study area. The adaptive threshold method has abilities to (1) distinguish true crop cycles from multiple false phenological peaks, (2) minimize errors caused by data noise and missing data, (3) identify alfalfa and interyear crops and to distinguish alfalfa from double crops, and (4) adapt to temporal profiles with different numbers of observations. The adaptive threshold algorithm is effective in characterizing cropping intensity with overall accuracies exceeding 97%. Results show that there is a dramatic decline in the area of total croplands (46.1%), single crops (46.3%), and double crops (43.4%) during the study period. There was a small conversion (1.9%) from single to double crop from 1995 to 2000, whereas a reverse conversion (1.3%) was observed from 2005 to 2010. Updated and accurate information on the spatial distribution of cropping intensity provide important implications on effective and sustainable cropping practices. In addition, joint investigation on cropping patterns and irrigation water use can shed light on future agricultural water demand, which is of paramount importance in this rapidly expanding arid region.


Considering the popularity of the Internet, an automatic interactive feedback system for e-learning websites is becoming increasingly desirable. However, there are still some problems for computers to understand the natural language, especially the Chinese language. First, because the Chinese language has no space to segment the lexical entry, its segmentation method is more difficult than that of English. Second, the lack of complete grammar for Chinese language makes parsing more difficult and complicated. Building an automatic Chinese feedback system for special application domains could solve these problems. In this paper, an interactive mechanism is proposed to parse, understand and response to a Chinese sentence. This mechanism utilizes a specific lexical database according to the particular application. In this way, a Chinese interactive feedback e-learning website is built for a special application domain that will choose the proper response in a user friendly, accurate and timely manner.


Abstract The ultrafast photofragmentation of acetyl-benzoyl peroxide (ABPO) and 2-naphthoyl-benzoyl peroxide (NBPO) after UV excitation at 266 nm is studied by mid-infrared transient absorption spectroscopy. 13C-isotopic labelling is employed to unravel the primary fragmentation paths. For NBPO it appears that excitation of the benzoyloxy part causes decarboxylation exclusively at that site. In ABPO the acetyloxy part completely decarboxylates upon 266 nm excitation while only 80% – 85% of the benzoyloxyl radicals formed decarboxylate. The remaining radicals either combine with methyl radicals to methylbenzoate within about 30 ps or survive on the time scale of the experiment (1.5 ns). Photofragmentation of ABPO occurs from the S1-state whose lifetime is about 200 fs. All fragmentation products including CO2 also appear on this time scale.


To the Editor.— Holoprosencephaly is the term applied to the failure of the telencephalon to divide into two hemispheres.1The spectrum of severity of the defect ranges from the failure of the olfactory system to develop (arrhinencephaly) to failure of evagination and cleavage of the prosencephalon (cyclops).1 Chromosomal analysis has been reported in some cases of cyclops, but only a few have been studied by the trypsin-Giemsa banding technique.2We report a case of cyclopia associated with holoprosencephaly and trisomy 13 (47 XX, 13+) identified by the banding pattern analysis. Report of a Case.— The proposita was the outcome of the third pregnancy of a 36-year-old woman who had two other normal children. The age of the husband was not stated, but there was no evidence of a consanguineous relationship. After 34 weeks of an uncomplicated pregnancy for the mother, a live, female infant (2,750 g) with the


Changes in uterine wet weight and estrogen receptor levels were studied in aging female ovariectomized ICR mice. A marked increase in uterine wet weight was observed in 18-month-old mice after injection of estradiol-17 beta (E2), from 67.6 +/- 3.1 mg (control, no injection) to 98.2 +/- 14.8 mg (1 h after injection of 1.0 microgram E2) and to 125.2 +/- 15.8 mg (4 h after injection of 1.0 microgram E2). The response to E2 in old mice was greater than that in young. This observation suggests that the uteri of old mice are still sensitive to gonadal steroids up to the post-reproductive age of 18 months. A 2.7-fold age-related increase in uterine estrogen receptor content was also noted in aging ovariectomized female mice, from 0.38 pmol/uterus in young mice to 1.01 pmol/uterus in old mice (1 h after injection of E2). Both cytoplasmic estrogen receptor content and receptor concentration (expressed as estrogen binding sites/cell) increased with advancing age. In contrast, no age-related change in the dissociation constant of estrogen receptors was detected (Kd = 1.0 +/- 0.5 x 10(-9) mol/L). The progesterone receptor content also increased with advancing age. This study demonstrates a marked increase of uterine estrogen receptor content in aging mice, suggesting that the uterus is not responsible for the increased incidence of pregnancy failure in old mice.


The impact of emotion on memory performance is widely debated in the scientific literature. In the present paper, the relation between emotion and memory was addressed in three experiments using the Slideshow Procedure. In the first experiment, 128 participants' memory was tested for one of two versions of the Procedure (arousal or neutral) through free recall. In the second experiment, 75 participants were asked to recall the information of the arousal version immediately after or one week after watching it. In the third experiment, 75 participants watched the arousal version and answered either a free recall or a recognition test one week after. The results suggested that memory for arousal events is better when tested immediately after the stimuli using free recall.