Abstract Together, the Lau, Manus and Mariana basins encompass a broad range of conditions of back-arc basin development. Marine surveys have determined the tectonic setting and reconnaissance-scale geophysical and geochemical properties of the extension axes in these basins. We review these data to examine crustal accretion characteristics in the back-arc setting. In each basin magmatism is enhanced in spreading centres near the arc volcanic front, but decreases becoming 'deficient' in axes further from the arc. In the Lau and Manus basins the axes extend far behind the arc and develop typical mid-ocean ridge (MOR)-like characteristics. We propose that these variations are controlled by the subducting slab, which shapes composition and flow within the mantle wedge: water released from the slab lowers the mantle solidus and increases in concentration toward the volcanic arc. Spreading centres near the arc advect the hydrated mantle material, enhancing melt production. Slab-induced flow carries melt-depleted mantle material back beneath the basin where it mixes with ambient mantle. Spreading centres further from the arc advect this mantle mixture and produce thinner than normal crust. Far from the arc, spreading centres advect essentially mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-source mantle and their characteristics are MOR-like. Thus, in addition to spreading-rate effects on mantle melting that predominate at MORs, in back-arc basins the subducting slab introduces additional systematic effects.


Abstract The sharing economy phenomenon is expected to expand and grow steadily in the coming years. Yet, this sector lacks solid regulation, which raises concerns about its potential risks. However, users continue to engage in sharing economy practices, as opportunities appear to outweigh the perceived risks. This article argues that it is important to look beyond regulatory frameworks, and unravel the social embeddedness of sharing practices in order to provide complementary approaches to risk analysis. In particular, the focus of this article will be placed on the opportunities for building and deploying social capital in the sharing economy and its fundamental role in the development of new sharing economy practices.


The aim of this paper is to reflect on the social role of European journalists as they cover the issue of terrorism, which is a potential threat to European society itself. For this purpose, the paper presents the results of a qualitative media content analysis related to the news coverage of the aftermath of three major terrorist attacks. Specifically, the research focuses on the values involved in the coverage of the event rather than on the strict report of what happened. The authors observe that both liberal/'trustee' and polarized pluralist/'advocacy' models engender a double paradox concerning the interest of citizens in being informed or being protected by news media. Nonetheless, the liberal value of responsibility emerges as fundamental, in order to face and resolve this paradox.


This is a preliminary research on problem solving on English verbal sentence formation for university students. Specifically, the problem is on the usage of auxiliary verbs in making sentences. This problem is met up with a new paradigm (pattern) in which the pattern is mapped out with keywords. Keywords are purposed to ease the students in applying auxiliary verbs when they are making English sentences. The new pattern is tested by a test before and after the introduction of the new pattern and by interviewing ten students to know their opinion about the benefit of the new pattern. The result shows that there is a significant decrease of errors made by the students after the introduction of the new pattern. The decrease achieves 49%. Furthermore, the whole interviewees' responses show that the new pattern really helps them in making English sentence properly.


Moving boat acoustic Doppler current profiling (ADCP) is increasingly used to measure discharge in large rivers. We investigate whether useful information about bed shear stress can be recovered from such data. Alternative ways to estimate local bed shear stress using the logarithmic law of the wall and spatial averaging are tested using ADCP transects across lower Fraser River, Canada. Repeatability is assessed by comparing estimates from outward and return boat tracks. The most precise method uses the vertically averaged mean velocity and a zero‐velocity height based on bed grain size information. The accuracy of the assumed zero‐velocity height can be judged by consistency between estimates using mean velocity and near‐bed velocity. Shear stress estimates from unconstrained log‐law fits are less repeatable and tend to overpredict, and mean shear stress estimates using the depth‐slope product are unreliable in this river because of nonuniform flow.


education domain offers a fertile ground for many interesting and challenging data mining applications. These applications can help both educators and students, and improve the quality of education. In this paper, we present a real-life application for the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) of the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore. The application involves many data mining tasks. This paper focuses only on one task, namely, selecting students for remedial classes. Traditionally, a cut-off mark for each subject is used to select the weak students. That is, those students whose scores in a subject fall below the cut-off mark for the subject are advised to take further classes in the subject. In this paper, we show that this traditional method requires too many students to take part in the remedial classes. This not only increases the teaching load of the teachers, but also gives unnecessary burdens to students, which is particularly undesirable in our case because the GEP students are generally taking more subjects than non-GEP students, and the GEP students are encouraged to have more time to explore advanced topics. With the help of data mining, we are able to select the targeted students much more precisely.


A molecular-marker linkage map has been constructed for perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) using a one-way pseudo-testcross population based on the mating of a multiple heterozygous individual with a doubled haploid genotype. RFLP, AFLP, isoenzyme, and EST data from four collaborating laboratories within the International Lolium Genome Initiative were combined to produce an integrated genetic map containing 240 loci covering 811 cM on seven linkage groups. The map contained 124 codominant markers, of which 109 were heterologous anchor RFLP probes from wheat, barley, oat, and rice, allowing comparative relationships between perennial ryegrass and other Poaceae species to be inferred. The genetic maps of perennial ryegrass and the Triticeae cereals are highly conserved in terms of synteny and colinearity. This observation was supported by the general agreement of the syntenic relationships between perennial ryegrass, oat, and rice and those between the Triticeae and these species. A lower level of synteny and colinearity was observed between perennial ryegrass and oat compared with the Triticeae, despite the closer taxonomic affinity between these species. It is proposed that the linkage groups of perennial ryegrass be numbered in accordance with these syntenic relationships, to correspond to the homoeologous groups of the Triticeae cereals.


Abstract The type species of Helminthocladia, Helminthocladia calvadosii, and two species known from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, H. agardhiana and H.reyesii O'Dwyer & Afonso-Carrillo sp. nov., are described in detail. The species are mainly distinguishable by their habit, the morphology of the cortical fascicles, and the type of carposporangium (undivided single terminal, quadripartite single terminal, and undivided in short chains). The previously controversial reproductive morphology in H. calvadosii has been clarified from observations of plants from northern Spain. In H. calvadosii, simultaneously with gonimoblast development, sterile postfertilization filaments are produced from the suprasupporting cell and some other cortical cells adjacent to the carpogonial branch. The development of these sterile filaments is highly variable within the same area of the plant. Sterile filaments can be absent, presenting an entirely naked carpogonial branch below the mature carposporophyte. H. reyesii, known so far only from the Canary Islands, has a unique feature: the elaboration from the suprasupporting cells of sterile moniliform postfertilization filaments that partially or completely surround the carpogonial branch. Additionally, H. reyesii differs from other Helminthocladia species by a unique combination of significant attributes. We analyse the features used at present to delineate the genus Helminthocladia in the Liagoraceae and give a comparative table of the morphological attributes of the species currently accepted in Helminthocladia.


This research used a case study based approach to test Abts' CBS Functional Density Rule of Thumb (Abts, 2002; 2004) and to identify the factors influencing the costs of COTS-based systems by means of statistical analysis of a large component dataset from IBM, Grounded Theory analysis of a series of interviews with software architects and project managers and an extended literature review.
Whilst the use of Glaser's (1978) Grounded Theory approach provided support for Abts' theory the statistical analysis provided no support for the theory that maximising the amount of system functionality provided by COTS components reduced system development costs.
This has led to the identification of a weakness in the Grounded Theory method in that it is unable to move beyond the preconceptions of the interviewees if the interview data collection method is used in isolation of other data collection methods.
However, overall this research has provided a deeper understanding of the issues affecting COTS-based design. By combining the outcomes of the Grounded Theory analysis and literature review a series of forces influencing the costs of building COTS-based systems have been identified, together with a set of principles, which when used in combination can enable software practitioners to make informed decisions about the impact on costs of using components.


Readers are exposed to the latest information relating to this important discipline, one which can result in considerable time and cost savings, as well as increasing a product's useful life. Development and quality assurance tests are defined in detail and topics covered include testing fundamentals, plans and models, and equipment and methods most commonly used in accelerated testing.


Background: In clinical practice, it is important to quickly and effectively treat manic episodes in patients with bipolar I disorder. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate an effective therapeutic protocol combining two or more drugs in order to rapidly alleviate symptoms within a short time frame (1 week). In this clinical trial protocol, the antipsychotics quetiapine, olanzapine and ziprasidone and the mood stabilizers valproate, oxcarbazepine and lithium will be used to treat manic episodes to investigate the efficacy and safety of these two types of drugs when used alone or in combination. Methods/Design: This trial will be performed at Guangzhou Brain Hospital, China. A total of 120 patients with bipolar I disorder, exhibiting manic or mixed episodes, will undergo two phases of medication. In the first phase, patients will be randomly assigned to receive oral valproate, oxcarbazepine, lithium, quetiapine, olanzapine or ziprasidone. In the second phase, combination drug treatment will be given, i.e., each patient will receive a combination of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Treatment will be given for a total of 6 weeks. Primary outcome measures will include changes in the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores and dropout rates. Secondary outcome measures will include disease progression and the efficacy of treatment as evaluated with the Clinical Global Impression Scale, symptom severity as evaluated with the Global Assessment Scale, and anxiety and depression symptoms as evaluated with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale and the Hamilton Depression Scale, respectively. Discussion: This trial will provide preliminary evidence on the comparative efficacy and effectiveness of the commonly prescribed drugs, with attempts at optimizing pharmacological treatments of manic and mixed episodes. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01893229; registered on 2 July 2013.


In the badminton season 1983/1984, a prospective injury registration was done in 375 randomly chosen elite and recreational badminton players, of whom 81% could be followed. We found 257 injuries: an incidence of 2.9 injuries/player/1000 badminton hours. Men were more frequently injured than women. The prevalence was 0.3 injury per player. It was highest in men, and there was no difference between elite and recreational badminton players; 92% of the injured were playing with their injury. The pathophysiology was overuse in 74% (169/229), strains in 12% (28/229), sprains in 11% (26/229), and fractures in 1.5% (3/229). Possibilities for reducing the number of injuries and their severity are increased injury information to players and trainers and the introduction of stretching all involved muscle groups.


The present study reviews the findings of the studies on reading comprehension of ESL/EFL learners chronologically. The results were divided into two groups as follows: the first group of studies reported that there was difference between the effects of textual glosses on reading comprehension and the second group of studies confirmed that there was no difference between the effects of different glosses on reading comprehension. This study reviewed previous studies from a new perspective that can be used as a fundamental review research for future studies on the effects of glossing on reading comprehension of ESL/EFL learners.


Accurate energy consumption prediction can provide insights to make better informed decisions on energy purchase and generation. It also can prevent overloading and make it possible to store energy more efficiently. In this work, we propose a new deep learning model to predict the household energy consumption. In the new model, we employ differential evolution (DE) algorithm to automatically determine the optimal architecture of the deep neural network. The energy prediction results are presented and analyzed to show the effectiveness of the deep neuroevolution model constructed.


Dear Editor: I was interested to read the article "Mitral Valve Diseases in Williams Syndrome—Case Report and Review of the Literature," by Bajracharya et al.1 in the issue of Echocardiography in September 2011. Mitral valve disease is an often-overlooked facet of patients with Williams syndrome (WS), and the authors are to be commended for reviewing their experience. There were some aspects in the article that would benefit from clarification. First, the authors state that the congenital heart disease in WS "typically involves supravalve aortic and supravalve pulmonic stenosis." In our large review of WS patients, supravalvar aortic stenosis (SVAS) was the most common cardiovascular lesion, occurring in 45% of patients. Supravalvar pulmonary stenosis (SVPS) was diagnosed in only 12% of patients with WS.2 In subgroup analysis, in those patients presenting in the first year of life, SVAS was present in 57% and SVPS in 20%.3 Branch pulmonary artery stenosis (BPS), however, was the second most common cardiovascular lesion seen in our WS patients, occurring in approximately 37% of patients,2 while in those presenting in the first year of life, BPS was the most common lesion, found in 62% of patients.3 Second, in their review of the literature, Bajracharya et al. neglected to reference the largest published series of cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with WS. In 2010, we published our experience in 270 patients with WS.2 In that study, mitral valve involvement was present in 20% of patients (53 of 270), a finding similar to the degree of involvement in those presenting in the first year of life (19%).3 Mitral valve prolapse was present in 15% (40/270). In most patients, mitral valve prolapse was mild (85%), with moderate mitral valve prolapse in only three patients and severe in one. Mitral regurgitation of at least mild severity was also present in 15%; these were not, however, all the same patients in whom mitral valve prolapse was noted. Most mitral regurgitation was mild (80%), with moderate mitral regurgitation in seven and severe mitral regurgitation in one. No patient with WS underwent mitral valve intervention in 8.9 years (range 0–56.9 years) of follow-up. The data from our review are important because they not only provide a larger experience from which the frequency of mitral involvement might be determined, but also provide insight into the severity and outcomes of mitral valve involvement in patients with WS.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs, which are important in the development of multidrug resistance in cancer by regulating gene expression at the post‑transcriptional level. The present study investigated the functional effects of miR‑522 in chemoresistant colon cancer cells. The results demonstrated that miR‑522 was significantly downregulated in doxorubicin (DOX) resistant colon cell line, HT29/DOX, compared with the parental HT29 colon cancer cell line. Overexpression of miR‑522 in the HT29/DOX cells partially restored DOX sensitivity. miRNA target prediction algorithms suggested that ABCB5 was a target gene for miR‑522. A fluorescent reporter assay confirmed that miR‑522 was able to specifically bind to the predicted site of the ABCB5 mRNA 3'‑untranslated region. When miR‑522 was overexpressed in the HT29/DOX cells, the protein expression levels of ABCB5 were downregulated. Furthermore, knockdown of ABCB5 significantly increased the growth inhibition rate of the HT29/DOX cells, compared with the control group. These results suggested that miR‑522 may affect the sensitivity of colon cancer cell lines to DOX treatment by targeting ABCB5.


We respond to a comment by Allmon WD (2016), who attempted to demonstrate that species are biologically 'real' as justification for retaining the terms 'anagenesis' and 'cladogenesis', which we argue are not necessary for the study of evolutionary biology (Vaux F, Trewick SA & Morgan-Richards M, 2016). Here, we summarize a wealth of literature demonstrating that supposedly separate species introgress frequently, and we clarify that evolutionary lineage-splitting with genotypic and phenotypic divergence (speciation) is not the same as taxonomic classification. The usefulness of the terms anagenesis and cladogenesis requires agreement on their meaning, and this debate reflects a wider dilemma in academic communication: whether to use imprecisely defined jargon or longer sentences with simple words. We favour the latter, because biological evolution operates under straightforward and generalizable principles that should not require complicated descriptions, especially when its study requires collaboration among many disciplines.


Eleanor Davies was one of the most prolific women writing in early seventeenth-century England. This volume includes 38 of the sixty-odd tracts that she published. Inspired to prophecy by a visionary experience in 1625, the year of Charles I's accession to the throne, she devoted herself to warning her contemporaries that the Day of Judgment was imminent. Her zeal and her intricately constructed tracts confounded contemporaries who called her mad. She experienced repeated imprisonment and also confinement to Bedlam, London's mental hospital. The tracts tell her own story as woman and prophet. They offer an opportunity to study her experiences as wife, mother, and widow; they also exhibit her extraordinary intellect, extensive education, and fascination with words. In showing how England's history was fulfilling the biblical prophecies in the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, she commented about the political and religious controversies of the turbulent period preceding and during the English Civil War and Revolution.


Thin tourmaline-rich layers closely associated with strata-bound tungsten mineralization occur in layered amphibolites and metasediments of the Archaean Malene supracrustals in West Greenland. Locally, tourmaline is intergrown with scheelite. Microprobe analyses showed that the tourmaline is of intermediate composition, between schorl and dravite, with small variations in composition in different layers. The tourmaline is interpreted as being of submarine exhalative origin.


We report on the field and temperature dependence of the critical transport current density Jc, the angular dependence of the transport current at various external magnetic fields and the irreversibility fields in YBa2Cu3O7?? (Y-123) thick films prepared by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE). A comparison of the irreversible properties between specimens produced with and without silver additions to the melt is also presented. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was employed to obtain information on the correlation between the transport properties and the microstructure. The samples were deposited either directly on NdGaO3 (NGO) or on seeded (100) MgO substrates, where a 200 nm thin YBCO film deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) acts as seed layer for the LPE process. The final thickness of the Y-123 layer is of the order of 1 ?m for the NGO and between 2 and 10 ?m for the MgO samples. The critical current densities reach 3 ? 109 A m?2 at zero field and 77 K in the best case.


Neutrophils are the most abundant leucocytes in human blood, promptly recruited to the site of tissue injury, where they orchestrate inflammation and tissue repair. The multifaceted functions of neutrophils have been more appreciated during the recent decade, and these cells are now recognized as sophisticated and essential players in infection, cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases. Consequently, our understanding of the role of neutrophils in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), their immune responses and their ability to shape adaptive immunity in the gut have been recognized. Here, current knowledge on neutrophil responses in IBD and their capacity to influence T cells are summarized with an emphasis on the role of these cells in human disease.


Abstract The process of globalization has an important impact on national tax policies. Most of the literature does not focus directly on the political decision-making process and assumes that the desired tax policy is responding to objective underlying tradeoffs. Based on an original survey of members of the German national parliament (Bundestag) in 2006/07, we document a strong ideological bias among policy-makers with respect to the perceived mobility of international tax bases (real capital and paper profits). Ideology also influences, directly and indirectly, the perceived national autonomy in tax setting and preferences for a European Union minimum tax for companies. There seems little consensus as to what the efficiency costs of capital taxation in open economies are, even though our survey falls in a period of extensive debate about, and actual adoption of, a company tax reform bill in Germany.


Several type series of unusual and poorly known genera of Syllidae have been examined. New diagnoses for the following genera and re-descriptions of their type species are provided: Anguillosyllis, Clavisyllis, Lamellisyllis and Nuchalosyllis; Brachysyllis, previously synonymized with Dioplosyllis, is herein considered to be a valid taxon. The species Brachysyllis infuscata is also re-described. Three genera are considered to be non-valid taxa: Braniella, synonymous with Anguillosyllis; Alluaudella, synonymous with Odontosyllis; and Exogonella, synonymous with Parexogone. Their type species herein are re-described and assigned to their corresponding valid genus. Finally, Exogonoides is considered nomina dubia since its relationships with other syllids could not be established. Keys to species of Anguillosyllis and Brachysyllis are also included.


This paper details a systematic literature review identifying problems in extant research relating to teachers' attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse and offers a model for new attitude scale development and testing. Scale development comprised a five-phase process grounded in contemporary attitude theories, including (a) developing the initial item pool, (b) conducting a panel review, (c) refining the scale via an expert focus group, (d) building content validity through cognitive interviews, and (e) assessing internal consistency via field testing. The resulting 21-item scale displayed construct validity in preliminary testing. The scale may prove useful as a research tool, given the theoretical supposition that attitudes may be changed with time, context, experience, and education. Further investigation with a larger sample is warranted.


BACKGROUND
To fulfill the increasing demand of service quality improvement in recent years, it is imperative to develop a proper instrument to evaluate patient satisfaction with perioperative anesthetic care for many institutes in Taiwan.

METHODS
We used a six-factor 32-item pilot questionnaire developed in our previous study as our starting point in this study. Exploratory factor analysis of the pilot questionnaire for factor structure generation was performed in general anesthesia patients (group 1, n = 320) and resulted in the generation of the Patient Satisfaction with Perioperative Anesthetic Care questionnaire (PSPACq). Confirmatory factor analysis of the PSPACq in general anesthesia (group 2, n = 565) and regional anesthesia (group 3, n = 225) patients was performed for validation and cross-validation of the PSPACq model, respectively. The confounding variables and the patient loyalty effects on PSPACq scores were analyzed to evaluate the nomological validity of the PSPACq.

RESULT
Exploratory factor analysis of the pilot questionnaire in group 1 resulted in the development of the PSPACq (a seven-factor 30-item model). The standardized coefficients and indexes for the assessment of fit of the PSPACq model in group 2 (validation) and group 3 (cross-validation) patients revealed a well-fitting model. The results of the loyalty scores and confounding variables support the nomological validity of the PSPACq.

CONCLUSIONS
A valid and reliable questionnaire (PSPACq) with Taiwanese culture characteristics was developed and is suitable for testing of patient satisfaction with perioperative anesthesia care for patients receiving general or regional anesthesia for their surgery.


The problem under study here is the minimax design of linear-phase lowpass FIR filters having variable passband width and implemented through a Farrow structure. We have two main contributions. The first is the design of adjustable FIR filters without discretization, using 2D positive trigonometric polynomials, an approach leading to semidefinite programming (SDP) formulation of the design problem. The second is to modify the design problem by a special choice for the passband and stopband edges of the variable FIR filter. The advantage is a lower implementation complexity. The new problem is solved using positive hybrid real-trigonometric polynomials and their SDP parameterization. Design examples prove the viability of our methods.


A four-layer model of the upper 150 km of the Earth is used to calculate the viscous response of continental crust and the underlying mantle to tectonic denudation. The model comprises a strong upper crustal layer, a weak lower crustal layer, a very strong mantle lithosphere layer, and a weak mantle asthenosphere layer, which is in accord with experimental constraints on strength-depth profiles for continental lithosphere. The strength of each layer is represented by its effective viscosity. Flow in the crust and mantle is driven by buoyancy forces, which arise from the unloading of an allochthon along a detachment fault by a series of instantaneous displacements (earthquakes or rapid creep events). Numerical solutions, obtained by using a finite element technique, predict footwall uplift, Moho deflection, and surface topography that are consistent with observations from the Basin and Range province of the western United States. The calculated curvature of the footwall uplift is also similar to that observed and is sensitive to the geometry of the detachment fault. Such bending need not be elastically controlled; hence the curvatures of footwall domes do not clearly place limits on the effective elastic thickness of the extending crust. The upward deflection of the Moho and the surface topography are sensitive to the viscosity structure and enable us to bound the range of the various viscosities. By matching observations from the Basin and Range province, which indicate no Moho deflection and low magnitude of surface topography (≤3–5 km), we estimate the upper crustal, lower crustal, and mantle lithospheric viscosities in the ranges 1021–1023 Pa s, 1019–1021 Pa s, and 1021–1023 Pa s, respectively.


elimination with a half-life of seven hours. Examination of the eight theophylline estimations that were performed, with back extrapolation of the log-concentration curve, suggested that the peak level may have occurred at between 15 and 20 hours after the ingestion of the drug. This case illustrates some important points with regard to intoxication with slow-release theophylline. First, an early estimation of the theophylline level may be very misleading, and fail to indicate the severity of the intoxication. In this case, the level rose from 219 umol/L at three hours to 650 umol/L at 15 hours after ingestion of the drug. Thus, a case that appeared from the initial plasma concentration and clinical signs to be not very severe became a severe intoxication. Secondly, the indications for haemoperfusion have been cited as a plasma theophylline concentration of 166-333 umol/L (30-60 ug/ml.) in the presence of risk factors such as age of over 60 years, liver disease or cardiac disease, or a drug half-life of greater than 24 hours,' Haemoperfusion has the potential problems of hypotension, hypocalcaemia and thrombocytopenia, and is not always available. Its use has not been shown to reduce morbidity or mortality. Patients with plasma theophylline concentrations of 1128 umol/L and 1666 urnol/L have recovered without haemoperfusion .2 Thirdly, plasma levels do not alwayscorrelate well with the clinical severity or outcome. ZwilIich reported four fatal cases of theophylline overdose with plasma concentrations of 139-34411mol/L, and eight patients with convulsions with plasma concentrations of 294 ± 26.7 umol/L.' However, Buckley reported eight cases with plasma concentrations of 361-894 umol/L (65-161 mg/L), who were managed without haemoperfusion, who did not suffer convulsions and who survived without complications.' It is suggested that with good monitoring of the patient's condition, the correction of hypokalaemia, sedation with diazepam, and control of tachyarrhythmias, most patients will make an uneventful recovery. Haemoperfusion should be reserved for patients with convulsions; severe cardiovascular disturbances that are resistant to treatment; intractable vomiting; or concomitant hepatic, renal or cardiac disease. The need for prolonged monitoring and awareness of the possibility of delayed toxicity cannot be overemphasized. D. Clayton, FFARCS Senior Registrar in Intensive Care F. Bochner, MD Professor of Clinical Pharmacology Royal Adelaide Hospital North Terrace. Adelaide. SA 5000 I. Park GO. Spector R. Roberts RJ. et al. Use of hemoperfusion for treatment of theophylline intoxication. Am J Med 1983; 74: 961-966. 2. Greenberg A, Piraino BH, Kroboth PO, Weiss J. Severe theophylline toxicity; role of conservative measures, antiarrhythmic agents and charcoal hemoperfusion. Am J Med 1984; 76: 854-860. 3. Zwillich CW, Sutton FD, Neff TA, et al. Theophylline induced seizures in adults: correlation with serum concentration. Ann Intern Med 1975; 82; 784-787. 4. Buckley BH, Braithwaite RA, Vale JA. Theophylline poisoning. Lancet 1983; 2; 618. Clinical haematology To the Editor: Since I wrote on this subject in 19681 and 19692 haematology has, as with most other medical sciences, advanced and become more complicated, To expect a doctor to be an expert in all aspects of laboratory and clinical haematology is too much. In the United Kingdom. the Conference of Postgraduate Deans has suggested that the separation of haematology intoclinical and laboratory specialties should be reconsidered, I argued against this previously and still believe a mix of laboratory and clinical work is better; however, in practice schisms are occurring. Pathologists will not accept as laboratory workers those who have not passed their college examination and, more importantly, clinicians will generally accept only those with an FRACP; even the MRCP (UK) is apparently not good enough. The training for the double qualification (FRCPA and FRACP) is arduous, overlong and very expensive (especially for those from Western Australia). Perhaps haematologists should take another look at themselves and, with the silver jubilee of the Haematology Society looming, again consider forming a college of their own. A shorter course, with more relevance to the subject and less to extraneous expertise (which is usually available by consultation anyway) might result. It is indeed a pity that at present physicianorientated haematologists appear to be lacking experience of "on call" bench work, whereas those with the FRCPA only are denied beds. If a college could be established it might develop sufficient "clout" to award the one and only qualification for haematologists and thus to prevent much expense and heartburn for future trainees. The future in haematology lies not in the division of the laboratory from the bed-side, but in specialization in subject areas such as bleeding disorders and the haematological malignancies. As in biochemistry, many haematologists are now respected non-medical scientists and the proposed college would benefit from their membership. Control of departments and clinical work would naturally be retained by those on a medical register. H.J. Woodliff, FRCPA 97 Hardy Street Nedlands, WA 6009 I. Woodliff H1. Haematology at home and abroad. Med J Aust 1968; I: 971. 2. Woodliff HJ. Clinical haematology. Lancet 1969; I: 834.


Background Adherence to osteoporosis (OP) treatment and prevention is not optimal in many patients. Those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of OP due to steroid use and systemic inflammation. Ideally patients with RA should be screened for OP. Objectives To assess whether the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) score in patients with RA correlates with likelihood of osteoporosis (OP) prescription including drug treatment, calcium and vitamin D. Methods Charts of serial RA outpatients (age>40 with a calculable BMI) were reviewed to determine the 10-year risk of major osteoporotic fracture with the FRAX. Data were extracted on whether a bone mineral density test (BMD) had been performed, use of calcium, vitamin D, and OP treatment. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to determine if FRAX score increased the likelihood of OP prescribing. Results Of the 737 patients included; mean age was 62 (SD 11) years, 78% females, with a mean BMI of 28.2 (SD 6), 19% were smokers, 37% were ever received prednisone, 10% had a family history of OP, 2.8% had an OP fracture; 56% had a BMD performed but only half of those were recorded on the chart. Patients did not have a FRAX score calculated in their records. 235 had taken ≥5mg of daily prednisone for ≥3 months. Of the 137 currently taking prednisone, 44.5% were prescribed a bisphosphonate. The 10-year fracture risk was low in the majority of patients (58%) medium risk occurred in 29% and 12.5% were in the high risk group. Calcium was used in 1/3 of low risk, half of medium risk and 2/3 in high risk groups and vitamin D was taken in 41% of low, 68% of medium and 70% of high risk patients. Steroid (ever use) was reported in 24% of low, 50% in medium and 67% in high risk patients. Bisphosphonates were used in 8% of low risk, 1/3 of medium risk and 58% of high risk patients. Compared to those in the lowest risk group, patients identified as high risk were highly significantly more likely to receive OP treatment, calcium and vitamin D and have a BMD performed. In the lowest risk group, those taking ≥5mg prednisone daily for ≥3 months were more likely to be prescribed a bisphosphonate (OR 2.0, p<0.0486). Table: OR compared to low risk group. Conclusions Patients at higher risk of osteoporotic fractures are more likely to have a BMD and receive pharmacological treatment. Many patients were not taking calcium supplements although their dietary calcium may have been adequate as this could not be calculated from the chart review. However, there is a gap in vitamin D supplementation, and 42% of high risk patients were not currently taking bisphosphonates. There could have been a prescription that was not filled or patient refusal of treatment in addition to lack of suggested treatment. A clear dose response of BMD investigations and treatment is seen along the 10-year fracture risk from low to medium to high risk groups. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Agricultural conservation easements have positive externalities but few studies examine the supply-side. This paper explores whether easements may also overcome a credit-market failure, as banks may not be lending based on the full developed value of land. Original survey data test our research hypotheses and show profitable owners and nonoperators to be using easement payments to extract capital from their land by using the preservation programs as a bank. The results also show that the unprofitable owners and operators are reinvesting in their agricultural enterprises. Both results are consistent with an underlying credit-market failure, and the latter suggests that easements may provide indirect efficiency enhancement. The results suggest an integration of policies on agricultural finance and land preservation might lead to improved efficiency.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Background: Programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) is a key protein involved in protein synthesis, and thus, it controls cell growth and proliferation. Evidence indicates that PDCD4 is often downregulated in breast cancer and is associated with disease progression and metastasis. Resveratrol (RSV), a natural polyphenolic compound present in grapes and red wine, is a well known anti-oxidant capable of modulating various signaling pathways, leading to suppression of cell proliferation and increased apoptosis. However, it remains unclear regarding the effect of RSV on PDCD4. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the effect of RSV on PDCD4 in human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Methods: Cell growth was measured by MTT assays, and cell invasion was determined by matrigel chamber assays. Soft agar assays were used to determine anchorage independent growth. Protein levels from treated cells were analyzed by western blot. Real time RT-PCR was used to determine relative expression of genes. Phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) was also determined by immunohistochemistry in RSV-treated MDA-MB-231 cells. To determine whether microRNAs are involved in the RSV-mediated induction of PDCD4, we cloned PDCD4 3′-UTR into the downstream of the luciferase gene as a reporter. The effect of RSV on luciferase activity was tested in MCF-7 cells. PDCD4 was stably knocked down by RNAi in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Results: We showed that ectopic expression of PDCD4 suppressed anchorage independent tumor cell growth as well as invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells. By contrast, downregulation of PDCD4 by RNAi significantly increased cell invasion. Of interest, cell invasion was suppressed by RSV; at the same time, PDCD4 was induced significantly by RSV in MDA-MB-231 cells, which was associated with suppression of pAkt. Furthermore, we showed that both phosphorylated mTOR and S6K were suppressed by RSV in a dose dependent manner. Since PDCD4 is a downstream effector of Akt and mTOR, this may suggest that up-regulation by RSV is through the Akt-mTOR pathway in MDA-MB-231. On the other hand, PDCD4 was reduced by RSV in estrogen receptor-positive (ERα+) MCF-7 cells. To determine the mechanism of RSV-mediated PDCD4 expression in these two cell lines, we measured the levels of miR-21 which has been previously shown to directly target PDCD4. Strikingly, expression of miR-21 was also regulated differentially. For example, miR-21 was up-regulated in MCF-7 cells while it was slightly suppressed by RSV in MDA-MB-231 cells. In particular, we found that RSV suppressed PDCD4 by transcriptional regulation of miR-21 possibly through interacting with ERα in MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: Together, these results suggest that, as a tumor suppressor gene, PDCD4 expression is dependent on cellular contents in response to RSV, and thus, a better understanding of this RSV-mediated PDCD4 expression will provide new insight into the clinical implication of RSV for breast cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4142. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4142


The authors present a novel distributed naming mechanism (DNM) that is fit for network file system design. With the help of DNM, we build a new distributed file system paradigm: cluster file system. In our system, DNM not only offers the desired features of high availability, high scalability and I/O load balancing, but also spans a single volume on multiple servers to construct a "real" distributed file system. We propose the DNM structure which relies on a global replicated table and a local information database. To improve the performance of name translation, a tree-based name cache is introduced. A prototype of the name mechanism has been implemented in our cluster file system.


'Franzo« sische Ouverture und 'Stile francese' in Bachs Werken fu« r Tasteninstrumente' (French Overture and 'Stile francese' in Bach's Works for Keyboard Instruments), in which he considers seven keyboard works invoking the French overture directly or through 'character and rhythmic features' (p. 103). As a useful table including Bach's French overtures in all scorings shows, these works mostly date from the Leipzig years. Breig offers brief analytical and source-critical commentaries on all seven of them, occasionally offering some original insights. For example, the brief fughetta on 'Wir glauben all an einen Gott', BWV 681, from Clavieru« bung III suggests the opening section of the French overture through its dotted rhythms (though Bach might just as easily have been invoking the entre¤ e grave). This reference to the 'pretentious French style' (p. 116) compensates, in Breig's view, for the brevity imposed on the work by the practicalities of publication. Some of his most penetrating commentary focuses on Contrapunctus 6 ('in Stylo Francese') from The Art of Fugue, the compositional history of which suggests to him that Bach added 'French' rhythms as an afterthought. If some of the contributions to this volume tend to betray their origins as conference papers, and if none ultimately alters our view of Bach and his music in significant ways, most nevertheless reflect a welcome concern with viewing Bach as a product of his culture. Thus he emerges as much more than the sum of the surviving documentary and musical evidence. STEVEN ZOHN doi:10.1093/ml/gcl088


ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify factors that contribute to bilingual children's decontextualized language production and investigate how schooling experience and bilingualism affect the development of this skill. The word definition skills of seventy Korean–English bilingual children whose first language was Korean, yet who had been schooled in English, were analyzed. The findings indicate that contrary to the results from previous studies, the participants' decontextualized language production was much better in their home language than in their school language, when considering both the formal linguistic structure and the communicative adequacy of their word definitions. In addition, limited cross-language transfer across tasks was present and cross-language contribution was observed only in the children's ability to achieve communicative adequacy, but not in their ability to construct conventional definition syntax. The results are discussed in terms of the linguistic and typological distance between the two languages and the potential effects of language-learning contexts.


This is an account of everyday life in a single village (Humberston in Lincolnshire) in the century after 1750. However, this study is more than a local history, for it uses the experience of Humberston to examine and test some major issues of historical debate. In this respect, the thesis is an exercise in 'microhistory', where the local becomes the site for consideration of much wider issues.
Humberston was transformed from an open parish into an estate village in the period between 1700 and 1750 and fell into the hands of absentee owners after 1750. The first three chapters of this thesis examine how power and authority were exercised in such a 'closed' parish, focusing in turn on the relationships between landlord and tenant, farmer and farmworker, squire and parson. The following chapter considers how this tightly-controlled village responded to the potentially disruptive challenge of Methodism. The closing chapters examine the condition of those furthest down the social hierarchy, the Cottagers who had access to pasture and kept a cow and those who were, at various points in their lives, dependent on the parish for poor relief.
A conclusion considers how this exercise in microhistory adds to our overall knowledge of the period. It suggests that the 'open-close' model of English villages may require further refinement to better reflect the nature of power and authority in closed parishes with non-resident landlords. It argues that the effects of enclosure may – in some places and for some people – have been less destructive of cottagers' livelihoods than is sometimes supposed. And it maintains that the relatively benign welfare culture of the south and east of England may have extended further north than previously thought. Finally, it reflects on the relatively slow pace of change in parts of rural England in the century after 1750.


Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's long-running Neurobiology of Drosophila course has trained a generation of neuroscientists, many of whom have become leaders in the field. Drosophila Neurobiology: A Laboratory Manual offers the detailed protocols and background material developed by the course instructors to all researchers interested in using Drosophila as an experimental model for investigating the nervous system. The manual covers three approaches to the field: Studying Neural Development in Drosophila melanogaster, Recording and Imaging in the Drosophila Nervous System, and Studying Behavior in Drosophila. Techniques described include molecular, genetic, electrophysiological, imaging, behavioral and developmental methods. Written by leading experts from the community, Drosophila Neurobiology: A Laboratory Manual is an essential guide for researchers at all levels, from the beginning graduate student through the established primary investigator.


The measurement of soil hydraulic properties is tedious, time-consuming, and costly. An alternative approach is to formulate models that utilize the physical and chemical properties of the soil as input variables to predict soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). However, the previous studies have not paid attention to the calcium carbonate content in their models; it can lead to reducing the size and number of the pores in the soil which, in turn, can lead to reduction Ks . Here we evaluated the ability of the Soil, Plant, Atmosphere, and Water (SPAW) model to predict Ks under different states of compaction for calcareous soils with wide-ranging textures sampled along a precipitation gradient in northwestern Iraqi Kurdistan. The results revealed that the best match occurred under loose to normal state of compaction for these soils. Among the soil properties, sand content was high significantly correlated with Ks followed by CaCO3, clay, organic matter content, silt and Electrical conductivity. A pedotransfer function (PTF) was proposed using these data and its results were compared to these from the SPAW model. Root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of variation (CV) for the comparison between measured Ks values and those predicted by the SPAW model were very high 2.7×10-4 cm s−1 and 166% respectively, that due to the values of Ks predicted by the SPAW model are overestimated for calcareous soils, for these reasons the accuracy of the SPAW model was improved via calibration. The RMSE and CV of the calibrated SPAW model were dropped to 9.8×10-5 cm s−1 and 61.2%, respectively. Additionally, the accuracy of our best PTF that constructed from sand, clay, and CaCO3 was slightly higher than the calibrated SPAW model. Therefore, it is recommended to use the calibrated SPAW model for predicting Ks in calcareous soils.


Understanding why the prices of commodities, like copper, increase or decrease is one of the many pieces of the puzzle that we as policymakers try to fit together to help us figure out how the economy and inflation will perform in the future. Inflation is what the Federal Reserve can control - not the price of oil or copper or any other commodity. By anchoring the inflation expectations of households and businesses, we will help sustain the prosperity that generations of Americans have come to enjoy. And as we learn more about how inflation expectations are formed, we can do our job as monetary policymakers even better.


Summary Antibiotic resistance of the resident cutaneous bacterial flora is a well recognized consequence of systemic antibiotic therapy. In this study, we followed the development of antibiotic resistance of coagulase‐negative staphylococci (CNS), the most numerous aerobic bacteria found on the skin surface, during treatment with three topical antimicrobial agents used to treat acne vulgaris. Groups of 20 subjects received either topical erythromycin, benzoyl peroxide or a combination of the two for 16 weeks. After 12 weeks of treatment with erythromycin, the aerobic flora was dominated by S. epidermidis which was completely resistant to erythromycin. In addition there was an increase in resistance to clindamycin and tetracycline. Treatment with benzoyl peroxide and the combination of erythromycin and benzoyl peroxide resulted in a significant reduction in the number of aerobic bacteria without any change in the resistance pattern to erythromycin or other antibiotics.


Mycoplasma gallisepticum membrane proteins were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. We found no evidence for the presence of a membrane glycoprotein.


Based on resistance selection, the life tables of abameetin-resistant (AbR), fenpropathrin-resistant (FeR), and susceptible (S) strains of Tetranychus cinnabarinus at 15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 C, 28 degrees C, 31 degrees C, 34 degrees C, and 36 degrees C were constructed, and the development duration, fertility, and intrinsic rate of increase (r(m)) of the strains were compared, aimed to understand the relative fitness of T. cinnabarinus resistant strains at different temperatures. The results indicated that compared with S strain, AbR and FeR strains had longer development duration at 15 degrees C but lower fertility at 20 degrees C-28 degrees C, and their relative fitness (represented by r(m)) was smaller at 15 degrees C but similar at 20 degrees C - 31 degrees C. For AbR and FeR strains, the fitness cost was moderate at 15 degrees C but lower at 20 degrees C - 31 degrees C. However, at high temperatures ( > or =34 degrees C), FeR strain possessed remarkable fitness cost while AbR strain showed better fitness.


A recently proposed strategy to quantify the role of the charm quark mass in the ∆I = 1/2 rule is reviewed. Results for the low-energy couplings of the ∆S = 1 chiral effective Hamiltonian in a theory with a light charm quark (GIM limit) are obtained through a matching of three-point correlation functions computed in Chiral Perturbation Theory and in quenched lattice QCD. We observe a large ∆I = 1/2 enhancement, which is not large enough to explain the experimental result, but suggests significant long-distance contributions to the physical ∆I = 1/2 which are unrelated to penguin contractions or operators.


While philosophy of science is the study of problems of knowledge concerning science in general, there also exists - or should exist - a '' philosophy in science'' directed at finding out in what ways our actual scientific knowledge may validly contribute to the basic philosophical quest. Contrary to philosophy of science, which is a subject for philosophers, philosophy in science calls on the services of physicists. When, in its spirit, quantum theory and Bell's theorem are used as touchstones, the two main traditional philosophical approaches, realism and idealism, are found wanting. A more suitable conception seems to be an intermediate one, in which the mere postulated existence of a holistic and hardly knowable Mind-Independent Reality is found to have an explaining power. Some corrections to comments by Schins of a previous work on the same subject are incorporated.


Autoimmune thyroid diseases are highly prevalent, and many affected individuals may, at some point, require thyroid hormone replacement. Although most patients achieve normal thyroid levels by taking regular doses of levothyroxine, that is not the case in some patients, despite high doses. In many cases, poor adherence to treatment and misuse of medications are main causes of inadequate control. On the other hand, other autoimmune disorders, such as celiac disease and atrophic gastritis, are highly prevalent in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. Those diseases can interfere in the treatment with thyroid hormone, and lead to inadequate thyroid hormone levels, despite full adherence to therapy. The objective of this paper is to discuss the major disorders of the gastrointestinal tract that affect patients with autoimmune thyroid disease, and its treatment with thyroid hormone.


In support of natural resource and ecosystem service policy, monetary value estimates are often presented to decision makers along with other types of information. There is some evidence that, presented with such 'mixed' information, people prioritise monetary over non-monetary information. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among New Zealand decision makers in which we manipulate the information presented to participants. We find that providing explicit monetary information strengthens the pursuit of economic benefits as well as the avoidance of environmental damage. Cultural impacts, of which we provided only qualitative descriptions, did not affect respondents' choices. Our study provides further evidence that concerns regarding the use of monetary information in decisions with complex, multi-value impacts are valid. Further research is needed to validate our results and find ways to reduce any bias in monetary and non-market information.


Abstract Perceptions of the importance of the role of psychological trauma in the origins of psychiatric problems have oscillated throughout the history of psychiatry. However, since the conception of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), western societies have witnessed a marked expansion of the discourse of trauma in the interpretation of devastating human experiences like catastrophes, genocides, disasters, and epidemics. Through an integrative literature review, this article analyzes some of the historical and epistemological determinants behind the emergence of traumatic memory and the establishment of trauma as a semantic field that orients clinical responses and political strategies in the field of the humanities and the health sciences.


The Real Plan of stabilization brought about great transformations in the financial sector of the country and paved the way for the development of alternative forms of resource applications. The funds characterized as variable income and multimarket have been analyzed in several academic studies, but there is still a lack of concern with the Real Estate Investment Funds (FII), which are backed by civil construction assets. This article aims at partially remedying this gap by analyzing the performance of FII in a period of economic downturn. The sample includes forty-four funds registered at Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) that presented daily quotations from August 2013 to September 2016. The approach is quantitative, using economic and financial indicators (Sharpe and Sortino indexes), regression analysis (Alfa de Jensen) and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) optimization model. The results were not favorable to the FIIs as an attractive alternative to the application of resources in the analyzed period. Taking into account the risk and return, few funds were able to surpass the market benchmark. The methodological procedures made also possible to verify the relative efficiency of each fund leading to the conclusion that there was a loss of efficiency in a significant part of the industry; 28 became less efficient, 12 did not present changes worthy of mention, and only 4 increased their levels of efficiency. In addition, the results obtained with the use of the various models bring about different possibilities of analysis and can contribute to the decision-making by portfolio managers and investors in the capital market.


Introduction: Neuropathic pain can be very difficult to treat and it is one of the important medical challenging about pain treatments. Muscimol as a new agonist of gamma-Aminobutyric acid receptor type A (GABAA) have been introduced for pain management. Thus, the present study was performed to evaluate the pain alleviating effect of intrathecal injection of different doses of muscimol as GABAA receptor agonist in spinal cord injury (SCI) model of neuropathic pain. Methods: In the present experimental study, male Wistar rats were treated by muscimol 0.01, 0.1 or 1 µg/10ul, intrathecally (i.t.) three weeks after induction of spinal cord injury using compression injury model. Neuropathic pain symptoms were assessed at before treatment, 15 minutes, one hour and three hours after muscimol administration. The time of peak effect and optimum dosage was assessed by repeated measures analysis of variance and analysis of covariance, respectively. Results: Muscimol with the dose of 0.01 µg in 15 minutes caused to improve the thermal hyperalgesia (df: 24, 5; F= 6.6; p<0.001), mechanical hyperalgesia (df: 24, 5; F= 7.8; p<0.001), cold allodynia (df: 24, 5; F= 6.96; p<0.001), and mechanical allodynia (df: 24, 5; F= 15.7; p<0.001). The effect of doses of 0.1 µg and 1 µg were also significant. In addition, the efficacy of different doses of muscimol did not have difference on thermal hyperalgesia (df: 24, 5; F= 1.52; p= 0.24), mechanical hyperalgesia (df: 24, 5; F= 0.3; p= -0.75), cold allodynia (df: 24, 5; F= 0.8; p= -0.56), and mechanical allodynia (df: 24, 5; F= 1.75; p= 0.86). Conclusion: The finding of the present study revealed that using muscimol with doses of 0.01µg, 0.1µg, and 1 µg reduces the symptoms of neuropathic pain. In addition, the effect of GABAA agonist is short term and its effectiveness gradually decreases by time.


Abstract This paper presents an analysis of grammatical gender and agreement in Durop, a language of the Upper Cross subgroup of Cross River. The data used are drawn from Kastelein (Kastelein, Bianca. 1994. A phonological and grammatical sketch of DuRop. Leiden: University of Leiden Scriptie), whose analysis treats gender as the singular – plural pairings of nouns different from the present approach. Kastelein identifies eight concord classes (agreement classes); these form the basis of gender in Durop in the present analysis; as many as 24 agreement classes are identified here. The various systems comprising nominal classification, agreement and gender in Durop are compared and discussed. The agreement system comprises three subsystems of differing numbers of agreement classes.


This note guides students or Executive Education participants through an exercise to help identify growth opportunities for their business units. The Customer-Focused Growth Project consists of 10 steps that lead to a vetted growth strategy based on an analysis of the company, a customer (or customer segment), and competitors. Readers work through the first five steps to identify three potential growth ideas. They then follow the remaining five steps to develop one specific Big Idea for growth. This exercise is a condensed guide to the process described in Grow by Focusing on What Matters: Strategy in Three Circles, by Urbany and Davis. Excerpt UVA-M-0798 Rev. Jun. 11, 2014 THE CUSTOMER-FOCUSED GROWTH PROJECT Overview This document guides you through a customer-focused exercise to help you identify a growth opportunity for your business unit. The 3-Circle Project is adapted from the "3-Circle" framework developed by Professors Joel E. Urbany and James H. Davis of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. The process works as well for professional or volunteer organizations as it does for for-profit B2C and B2B organizations. The Customer-Focused Growth Project framework consists of 10 steps that lead to a vetted growth strategy. In Part I of this exercise, Conversations with a Customer and a Colleague about Your Company and a Competitor, you will work through five steps that will help you identify three potential growth ideas. In Part II, Capability Analysis and Action Recommendations, you will work through the remaining steps to develop one specific Big Idea for growth. . . .


The topic of fast load transfer sub-cycle transfer switches (STSs) at distribution medium-voltage (MV) level for power quality improvement is considered. Static switches for the MV level are available today, and there is the necessary industrial experience for practical application. The main actual difficulty for an effective fast load transfer is given by the availability of two MV sources, as independent as possible. A general criterion for the evaluation of the bus independence in an electrical net is proposed. The method is suitable for selection or planning of proper alternate sources for effective STS operation.


This Perspective adapts the ViolEx Model, a framework validated in several clinical conditions, to better understand the role of expectations in the recovery and/or maintenance of musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. Here, particular attention is given to the condition in which dysfunctional expectations are maintained despite no longer being supported by confirmatory evidence (i.e., belief—lifting the arm leads to permanent tendon damage; evidence—after the patient lifts the arm no tendon damage occurs). While the ViolEx Model suggests that cognitive immunization strategies are responsible for the maintenance of dysfunctional expectations, we suggest that such phenomenon can also be understood from a Bayesian Brain perspective, according to which the level of precision of the priors (i.e., expectations) is the determinant factor accounting for the extent of priors' updating (i.e., we merge the two frameworks, suggesting that highly precise prior can lead to cognitive immunization responses). Importantly, this Perspective translates the theory behind these two frameworks into clinical suggestions. Precisely, it is argued that different strategies should be implemented when treating MSK pain patients, depending on the nature of their expectations (i.e., positive or negative and the level of their precision).


Biology has rapidly become a data-rich, information-hungry science because of recent massive data generation technologies. Our biological colleagues are designing more clever and informative experiments because of recent advances in molecular science. These experiments and data hold the key to the deepest secrets of biology and medicine, but we cannot fully analyze this data due to the wealth and complexity of the information available. The result is a great need for intelligent systems in biology. There are many opportunities for intelligent systems to help produce knowledge in biology and medicine. Intelligent systems probably helped design the last drug your doctor prescribed, and they were probably involved in some aspect of the last medical care you received. Intelligent computational analysis of the human genome will drive medicine for at least the next half-century. Intelligent systems are working on gene expression data to help understand genetic regulation and ultimately the regulated control of all life processes including cancer, regeneration, and aging. Knowledge bases of metabolic pathways and other biological networks make inferences in systems biology that, for example, let a pharmaceutical program target a pathogen pathway that does not exist in humans, resulting in fewer side effects to patients. Modern intelligent analysis of biological sequences produces the most accurate picture of evolution ever achieved. Knowledge-based empirical approaches currently are the most successful method known for general protein structure prediction. Intelligent literature-access systems exploit a knowledge flow exceeding half a million biomedical articles per year. Machine learning systems exploit heterogenous online databases whose exponential growth mimics Moore's law.


An infection of the spinal epidural space, spinal epidural abscess (SEA) is a potentially devastating entity that is rising in incidence. Its insidious presentation, variable progression, and potential for precipitous neurologic decline make diagnosis and management of SEA challenging. Prompt diagnosis is key because treatment delay can lead to paralysis or death. Owing to the nonspecific symptoms and signs of SEA, misdiagnosis is alarmingly common. Risk factor assessment to determine the need for definitive MRI reduces diagnostic delays compared with relying on clinical or laboratory findings alone. Although decompression has long been considered the benchmark for SEA, considerable risk associated with spinal surgery is noted in an older cohort with multiple comorbidities. Nonoperative management may represent an alternative in select cases. Failure of nonoperative management is a feared outcome associated with motor deterioration and poor clinical outcomes. Recent studies have identified independent predictors of failure and residual neurologic dysfunction, recurrence, and mortality. Importantly, these studies provide tools that generate probabilities of these outcomes. Future directions of investigation should include external validation of existing algorithms through multi-institutional collaboration, prospective trials, and incorporation of powerful predictive statistics such as machine learning methods.


The study was aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of different thalidomide regimens in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM), and to explore the relationship between efficacy of thalidomide and serum level of TNF-alpha in MM patients. The 85 patients with MM were divided into 5 groups according to different combinations of thalidomide. These 5 groups were following: group with the high dose (HD-T), group with thalidomide+VAD chemotherapy (T-VAD), group with thalidomide+MP chemotherapy (T-MP), group with thalidomide plus dexamethasone (TD), and group with low dose of thalidomide (LD-T). Except 5 groups mentioned above, the group with conventional VAD chemotherapy was served as the control. Clinical effects, adverse reactions, treatment-related mortality were observed. At the same time, serum levels of TNF-alpha in 30 cases of MM treated with thalidomide (15 cases effective and 15 cases ineffective) before and after treatment were detected by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and were compared with the clinical efficacy. The results showed that the efficient rate of HD-T, T-VAD, T-MP, TD, LD-T groups were 25.0%, 80.0%, 71.4%, 33.3%, 27.3% respectively; the efficacy of T-VAD, T-MP groups were significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of other groups and conventional VAD chemotherapy group. The incidence of significant adverse reactions (peripheral neuropathy, fatigue, abdominal distension and constipation, rash, edema, leukocyte and platelet decrease) in 5 groups were 75.0%, 30.0%, 28.6%, 14.3%, 9.1% respectively, no IV grade toxicity and deep vein thrombosis were found. The treatment-related mortality was 0%. At the same time, it was found that the serum levels of TNF-alpha in ineffective group treated with thalidomide were 44.7+/-5.7 pg/ml and 46.3+/-4.0 pg/ml before and after thalidomide treatment, and there was no significant difference (p>0.05). The serum levels of TNF-alpha (27.3+/-6.4) pg/ml in the effective group after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment (49.2+/-7.3) pg/ml (p<0.05). It is concluded that compared with conventional chemotherapy, thalidomide is a effective drug for treating MM patients. Thalidomide in combination with chemotherapy (T-VAD, T-MP) may be one better therapeutic regimen with high efficiency and milder adverse reactions. Serum level of TNF-alpha is an indicator for finding effects of thalidomide, and plays a role in the pathogenesis of MM.


In this paper, an original approach of derivation of equivalent electrical models for multilayer composite materials is presented. The purpose of the modeling is to approximate a given composite material by an equivalent dielectric slab or by a medium consisting from several dielectric layers. For each layer, an equivalent complex permittivity is set up by an optimization procedure in order to achieve the same values of reflection and transmission coefficients as are the measured values of reflection and transmission coefficients of the original composite material.


The growing interest in the military potential of high-power microwaves is discussed. The effect of such radiation on hardware is examined. Limits on beam intensity are identified, and methods for generating the beam are described. Biological effects of microwaves and the potential use against troops are discussed. The practicality of microwave-based weapons is assessed with regard to cost and military effectiveness.<<ETX>>


Large-scale circuit simulation poses a challenge to most simulation tools because of its high computational complexity. This paper presents an efficient method, which decouples the circuit topology and components'characteristics in computation so as to make it suitable for large-scale circuit simulation. The proposed method is based on a circuit lemma, which indicates the relationship of branch voltages and currents. The proving process of this lemma is provided in this paper. The working principle of the proposed method is elaborated and its numerical stability is also analyzed. This method achieves nearly linear computational complexity and is very suitable for hierarchical and zonal computation. The proposed method is verified by real- time application on the more electric aircraft microgrid. Hardware-in-the-loop testing of this study case on Xilinx Virtex Ultrascale+ field programmable gate array (FPGA) board is achieved and the results are compared with PSCAD/EMTDC. The resulting waveforms from these two simulation tools show very good agreement on both normal and fault operation test scenarios, which demonstrates that the proposed method has very good performance on computational accuracy and efficiency.


Abstract Calcite-graphite carbon isotope thermometry results are presented for 150 new marble samples across the western Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB) of the Ontario segment of the Grenville Province. The results show a gradual increase in peak metamorphic temperature from under 500 °C in the Tudor Township area in the east to over 700 °C along the western margin of the CMB. Modestly elevated d13C values above 3‰ across all terranes in the study area suggest a common temporal, and perhaps depositional origin, for the ~1.3 Ma limestone protoliths. The preserved thermal gradient is consistent with variations in marble mineralogy and character. Based on published geochronology, we argue that these temperatures correspond to peak metamorphism during the 1090–1020 Ma Ottawan orogeny, with the exception of preserved contact aureoles most notably associated with the Tudor gabbro and the Cheddar granite. The lack of significant thermal discontinuities at terrane boundaries and other shear zones, including the Bancroft shear zone and the CMB boundary zone, indicate that the entire region including the adjacent Central Gneiss Belt remained largely intact during and after the Ottawan peak metamorphic event. Variations in deformation style of pre-existing igneous complexes appear to correspond to the Ottawan thermal conditions, which include crystalline thrust sheets at high temperature, and mildly foliated domes to undeformed plutons at decreasing temperatures. In light of the peak temperatures and smooth thermal gradient we show to be superimposed on the established Grenvillian architecture, much of the western CMB should be considered part of the allochthonous medium pressure belt, and separate from the Ottawan orogenic lid that defines the eastern CMB.


A location and tracking method utilizing extended Kalman filter (EKF) using single base station in cellular networks is proposed in this paper. The location method utilizing the AOA and the variance ratio of AOA is introduced. The paper also compares EKF and linear Kalman filter. The simulation result is illustrated to explain the location and tracking efficiency of the proposed method.


The objective of this study was to examine the acid-base status in blood obtained at cordocentesis in growth-retarded fetuses with absent end-diastolic velocity in the umbilical artery and divided according to the presence or absence of pulsations in the umbilical vein. Twenty-six growth-retarded fetuses free from structural and chromosomal abnormalities were considered for this study. All the fetuses had absent end-diastolic velocity in the umbilical artery associated in 11 cases (42.3%) with pulsations in the umbilical vein. Gas analysis of fetal blood obtained by cordocentesis was performed immediately after the Doppler recordings. Hypoxemia, acidemia and hypercapnia were defined respectively as the presence of pH or pO2 values 2 standard deviations below the normal mean for gestation and of pCO2 values 2 standard deviations above the normal mean for gestation. Fetuses with umbilical vein pulsations had lower values of pH (p < or = 0.001) and pO2 (p < or = 0.05) and higher values of pCO2 (p < or = 0.001) when compared to those without pulsations. All fetuses with pulsations were hypoxemic and hypercapnic and the incidence of acidemia was 90.9%. Fetuses with continuous blood flow in the umbilical vein, although frequently hypoxemic (80%), have pCO2 and pH values within the normal range in 40 and 52.3% of the cases, respectively. In conclusion, in fetuses with absent end-diastolic velocity in the umbilical artery the presence of umbilical vein pulsations identifies a subgroup of fetuses with a more severe compromise of acid-base status. This may be useful in the selection of the timing of delivery of such fetuses.


This paper attempts to analyse how important the cybernetic governance is to higher education institutions in Malaysia. Cybernetic governance is a structure, process of a system to empower greater decision making, autonomy, leadership, and greater accountability. Thus, cybernetic approach is heavily depending on information, utilise information for decision making, policy making and feedback to respond effectively. The concept also relevant with co-production strategy, whereby public services offered at the institution would focus on making use of resources through community building, collaboration, and resource sharing. In this context, "governance" refers to the role of multi-stakeholders involved in decision making, autonomy, leadership, and accountability. The effectiveness and success of this cybernetic governance depends on the institution community; the board, Vice-Chancellor, university management committee, Deans and Directors involved. The main idea is to analyse cybernetic governance as a model for processing information and a platform for co-production on governance empowerment at higher education institutions in Malaysia. Hence literatures are reviewed to apply the concepts to this research. An expected outcome of this research would be the evidence to improve policy performance in governance arrangements. Therefore, cybernetic governance contribution is the practice of good governance for intelligent institutions.


In high performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the electron transport layer (ETL) has overwhelmingly been dominated by compact titanium oxide (TiO2), which typically requires sintering at around 500 °C. Such a high-temperature sintering procedure prevents TiO2-based PSCs from matching well with plastic substrates and low-cost manufacturing. Here we report cerium oxide (CeOx, x = 1.87), that was prepared facilely through a simple sol–gel method at low temperature (∼150 °C), as an alternative to high-temperature sintering processed TiO2 in the regular architecture of PSCs. With a PCE of 14.32% from the involvement of an optimized CeOx ETL through adjusting the precursor solution, and a higher PCE of 17.04% through introducing a [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) interfacial layer between the CeOx ETL and the perovskite layer, the present work about CeOx-based PSCs renders low-temperature solution-processed CeOx an excellent ETL for high performance perovskite solar cells with improved stability.


At present, wireless local area networks (WLANs) supporting broadband multimedia communication are being developed and standardized in the 5 GHz band. Two such standards are HIPERLAN/2, defined by ETSI BRAN, and the IEEE 802.11a. This paper presents the throughput performances of the two standards based on link simulations with real and statistical channels. Physical layer performance results are presented for real channel measurements and the impact of sectorised antennas at the access point is given for HIPERLAN/2.


T his patient has undergone coronary artery bypass surgery through midline sternotomy. The lower part of the scar is seen in the photograph. Note that the keloid formation involves the scar in its entirety. However, the lower part of the scar below the lesion has no keloid. Marjolin ulcers usually occur in chronic burns scar ulceration, but such occurrences have also been reported in breasts. However, in this patient, the midline scar had healed well with no ulceration. Squamous and basal cell carcinomas have been reported in midline sternotomy scars. Basal cell carcinomas are typically slow growing and burrowing, and they would rarely if ever spread to nodes. On the other hand, the poor vascularity and elasticity of scar tissue may render the area more susceptible to carcinogens. On close observation of the computed tomographic scan, the lesion is more evident on the right side involving the breast tissue. In addition, the confirmatory evidence would be the histopathology. Note the early glandular formation in Figure 2A. This led to further studies with immunohistochemistry. Positive staining for CK7 and CK20 indicated epithelial origin. However, immunostaining with gross cystic disease fluid protein confirmed the diagnosis of breast cancer. Mammaglobin is a more sensitive marker than gross cystic disease fluid protein, while the latter is more specific. In addition, the tumor was positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors and negative for HER2/neu. Breast cancer developing in a preexisting scar is rare and reports are anecdotal. There are reports of breast cancer arising from surgical site scars occurring as a result of breast biopsies, lumpectomies, and abscess drainages. In addition, there are reports of breast cancer arising in thoracotomy scars if it were to traverse through the breast. This should be considered a midline breast cancer developing from the previous sternotomy scar, which would then explain the central location and bilateral nodal disease. In this case, the possibility of breast cancer arising from 1 side (probably right) and crossing midline is less likely because the scar tissue would act as a barrier, at least temporarily. However, this could be considered a less likely but alternative possibility wherein the disease developing in the medial part of the breast near the midline has become locally advanced. The patient was scheduled to undergo neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and radiation. Accepted for Publication: July 11, 2011. Correspondence: K. Harish, MS, MCh, Department of Surgical Oncology, Curie Centre of Oncology, M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, New Bel Rd, Gokula, Bangalore 560010, India (email@example.com). Author Contributions: Study concept and design: Harish. Acquisition of data: Madhu. Analysis and interpretation of data: Harish. Drafting of the manuscript: Madhu. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Harish. Administrative, technical, and material support: Harish and Madhu. Study supervision: Harish. Financial Disclosure: None reported.


In a NK model with two types of rational agents, savers and capitalists, and nonmaximizing banks, financial shocks do affect the macroeconomic dynamics depending on banks'behaviour as for their leverage ratio. We first show that the level of banks' leverage which may be imposed by banks regulation affects the steady state level of output, employment and consumption, as might be expected in a non-ModiglianiMiller world. Different banks' behaviour after a shock has widely different effects on the macroeconomic dynamics: passive leverage results to be shock absorbing and capable of neutralizing an initial financial shock, whilst procyclical behaviour implies higher and more persistent instability and distributive effects than the constant leverage behaviour. Finally, we show that the interaction of procyclical leverage with hysteresis in output and employment stregthens the persistence of financial shocks. JEL: E32; E44; E70; G01.


The SEARCH, TODAY, and HEALTHY studies, and NASN's SCOPE intervention, illustrate that collaboration between schools, school nurses, clinicians, students, and families can help treat and prevent diabetes and obesity in youth. Findings will help identify the prevalence of diabetes in young people, the best ways to treat youth with new-onset type 2 diabetes, and healthful practices that can reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Findings about diabetes prevention in the school setting can guide school nurses and school leadership to incorporate effective changes into food and physical activity offerings to students. Finally, school nurses can communicate with primary care providers and provide culturally sensitive letters to parents and guardians regarding the BMI results for the child.


This anthology examines national systems of technical innovation. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the principal topics in current discussion of industrial and technology policy. Innovation is defined as the processes by which firms master and put into practice product designs and manufacturing processes that are new to them. A wide range of factors, organizations, and policies influence the capabilities of a nation's firms to innovate. Technology and pure science are distinguished, and the social institutions that play a role in innovation are examined. These include industrial and government research laboratories, research universities, and industrial policy agencies. These institutions provide the core for the analyses of national innovation systems. Individual chapters are devoted to six large high-income countries (France, Italy, Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and West Germany), four smaller high-income countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Sweden), and five lower income countries (Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Korea, and Taiwan). Each chapter is a detailed description of each country's structure and behavior in the development of product and process technologies, and catalogues the innovation strategies of each country, covering topics including historical analysis of technological development, breakdown of industries, and investigation of these institutions in terms of R&D expenditures and their influence. Differences in the innovative patterns include size and resource endowments, national security considerations, and historical and social beliefs. Factors leading to effective innovative performance include strong core competencies, high-quality education and training, and stable and facilitative economic and trade policies. A final retrospective chapter compares and contrasts the various innovation systems. It assesses whether identifying an innovation system is useful, considers whether national institutions matter when commerce and technology are becoming transnational, and reflects on the future of national systems in such a world. (TNM)


Atrial arrhythmia is a relatively common complication post coronary bypass grafting. A retrospective study of 400 patients who had undergone coronary arterial bypass grafting over a period from June 1989 to December 1990 were studied to determine the incidence of atrial arrhythmias in an Asian population. The incidence of atrial arrhythmias post coronary artery bypass grafting was 14.25% (57 out of 400 patients). The commonest type of atrial arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation (82.5%), followed by supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (14.0%) and atrial flutter (3.5%). The preoperative state of the myocardium, intra-operative ischaemia to the myocardium and hypokalemia were found to be the possible contributory factors to the development of atrial arrhythmias.


We introduce a computationally efficient approach to the generation of Digital Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs) needed to perform three dimensional to two dimensional medical image registration and apply this algorithm to virtual surgery. The DRR generation process is the bottleneck of any three dimensional to two dimensional registration system, since its computational complexity scales with the number of voxels in the Computed Tomography Data, which can be of the order of tens to hundreds of millions. Our approach originates from the segmentation of the volumetric data into multiple regions, which allows a compact representation via Octree Data Structures. This, in turn, yields efficient storage and access of the attenuation indexes of the volumetric cells, required in the projection procedure that generates the DRR. A functional based on Mutual Information is then maximized to obtain the alignment of the DRR with the two dimensional X-ray fluoroscopy scans acquired during the operation. Promising experimental results on real data are presented.


To report our experience with unroofing of ipsilateral lower pole kidney cysts in five patients with adult-type polycystic kidneys [ADPKD] when free implantation of kidney allograft interfered with lower pole native kidney cysts. In all of these patients, the native kidneys extended to the ipsilateral pelvis and bilateral ADPKD caused enlargement of the abdomen on gross examination. Unroofing of lower pole kidney cysts was performed during the same session of allograft transplantation. The decision to unroof lower pole cysts of the ipsilateral kidney was made after observing interference of lower pole cysts with free implantation of the allograft. In patient A, bilateral native nephrectomy was performed 6 weeks after kidney transplantation after consultation with the patient, when there was evidence of the good function of the allograft and the recipient was on a low dose of immunosuppressive medications. In other patients, no need for native nephrectomy observed. This experience suggests the possibility that when large ipsilateral kidney cysts interfere with safe implantation of the allograft, there is an option of performing cyst unroofing at the same session and proceeding with allograft implantation.  In many patients, there would be no need for native nephrectomy and of deemed necessary, it will be performed later, when there is evidence of the good function of the allograft and the patient is on good kidney function with a low dose of immunosuppressive medications and a less risk profile for the operation. To our best knowledge, there is no prior such report in the literature.


The events of climate extreme that increase the crop yield uncertainty causing financial loss of farmers. To ensure economic profitability, farmers need to tailor their cropping pattern to the climate forecast. The study was conducted in Ciparay and Bojongsoang sub-District, the central crop production of Bandung District from March to August 2005. Research aimed to analyze climate information value based on farming system strategy for accruing farmer income. Farming system in climate extreme events was determined by maximizing expected utility of wealth. Farming system in two sub-District was assessed by Rapid Rural Appraisal. Climate information value was the difference between income with conventional farming and income using farming system strategy. Result of the survey indicated that dominant cropping pattern in the study area was rice-rice-fallow. The second rice was vulnerable to drought particularly in extreme years. Further analysis suggested that extreme climate events were mostly associated with ENSO (El-Nino Southern Oscillation) events. From farming system simulation model, it was found that in El-Nino years, to maximize income, farmers should planted all farm with maize. Planting non-rice crops can be done after April (early May), to get maximist income, they should plant all farm with soybean. Risk averter farmers might diversify their crops, i.e. by fallowing part of their lands and planting the remaining lands with maize and soybean. The use of climate information in El-Nino years will give higher economic benefit to farmers than in La-Nina years. The difference in economic benefit was determined by the proportion of land allocated for rice and nonrice crops. In El-Nino years, farmers who plant all their lands for second planting with rice crop will get loss due to significant decrease in rice yield, while those who plant part or all of their land with non-rice crops will gain benefit as they will get yield. Therefore, farmers who are willing to take risks by planting part or all of their land with non-rice crops in years which were forecasted to be El-Nino years will get higher income than farmers who are not willing to change their rice crops.


The concrete characteristics and special needs of provincial weather forecast system which took Doppler radar data as key source, combined with multi-kind data, based on operational network and forecast environment were discussed. Result shows that multi-type source, huge amount of data, short running cycle, and high flexibility to enhance are basic features of weather forecast system. The keys to software project management such as operational demand investigation, primary features of developers and developing measures were analyzed at provincial meteorological agency.


This month sees another swingeing increase in the fees for overseas students attending British institutions of further and higher education: an increase of nearly one‐third. Of this, a rise of 9% is attributable to the last Government, which had decided to keep fees at the same real value as in the last academic year. The rest is the responsibility of the present Government. I suppose it could be argued that part of their increase too was occasioned by the need to keep fees in line with general levels of inflation, since they have themselves deliberately and sharply increased price levels by their taxation policies, their demands upon the nationalised industries, and the abolition of the Price Commission. But unhappily overseas students do not benefit from the commensurate reduction in British direct taxation; few fall into that happy little group who used to pay tax at 83% and will now enjoy the blessed relief of a 60% maximum rate. But most of the additional increase is in any event designed to be straightforward profit‐taking, an activity with which the members of Her Majesty's present Government are very familiar.


In this study, the structural properties and the phase behaviour of mixed composition neutral liposomes containing a functionalized steroid are reported. With the aim to design neutral liposomes able to coordinate cations and to complex DNA, we synthesized cholesteryl-2-(picolinamido)-phenylcarbamate (CHOLp) containing an N-aryl picolinamide group as chelating agent linked to the steroid structure via a carbamate moiety. The phase behaviour of mixtures of the functionalized cholesterol (CHOLp) and dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DOPC) was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction. Simultaneously, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of DOPC/CHOLp bilayers as a function of CHOLp molar fractions were carried out to investigate the specific effects of the polar steroid on the structural and dynamic properties of these zwitterionic bilayers. The molecular modelling studies have been performed both in absence and in presence of bivalent cations salts in order to assess the CHOLp ability to coordinate metal ions. The results show good stability of the resulting DOPC/CHOLp bilayers which is improved by the presence of salt. This is particularly evident at low amount of CHOLp where a high order of the lipid tails can be observed, suggesting stabilization of the corresponding DOPC liposomes. This feature can be ascribed to the polar nature and structural properties of the ligand. In fact, due to the presence of the aromatic moieties, CHOLp combines two different behaviours, namely a propensity to realize both intermolecular π-stacking interactions and cation–π bonding mainly evident in CaCl2. The last feature confirms for CHOLp a role as a cation-mediated complexation agent for DNA. The X-ray diffraction data on the capability of DOPC/CHOLp liposomes to complex DNA was also reported.


Purpose

This study aimed at analyzing the factors that induce the intention of contribution by participants in crowdsourcing initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is an explanatory investigation using a quantitative approach. In the second stage, an exploratory study was carried out. Data were obtained through online questionnaires available to the contributors of two platforms, and results were obtained from a regression analysis.

Findings

The results revealed a greater importance given by participants to intrinsic motivational factors (learning, fun and satisfaction) compared with the extrinsic motivational factor (acknowledgment). Monetary rewards proved irrelevant in this process, whereas attitude and self-efficacy proved good predictors of the intention of contribution in crowdsourcing initiatives.

Originality/value

No study, as far as the authors' knowledge extends, has been undertaken to understand what motivations are more relevant in the context of crowdsourcing platforms using multiple theories.


Many animals emit vocalizations in a repetitive series, but are all the calls within a series structurally the same? To answer this question, we recorded the barks of adult female Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni (Baird, 1855)) during 5 min experimental presentations of several terrestrial stimuli. We measured eight variables (primarily pitch and duration measures) of the first, middle, and last barks in each bout of barking produced by each of 24 females, as well as the duration of inter-bout intervals, the number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout. We found that first barks were significantly longer and higher pitched than middle or last barks. Some of these differences were affected by the number of barks in a bout. Regardless of bark position, barks became longer and lower pitched in later bouts, and inter-bout intervals, number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout all declined in later bouts. Our results show that bark structure can vary even within a single context and within a short period of time. Thus, variation due to call position within and across bouts of calling is a potentially important confound for studies examining other sources of acoustic variation.


The ecological and economic problems arising from the organization of crop rotations in agricultural enterprises, formed during the period of land relations reform in rural territories, are analyzed. Large agroholdings neglect the crop rotation factor in an effort to maximize the economic impact by growing highly profitable market-oriented crops in large areas. Their attempt to replace crop rotation by increasing the use of synthetic mineral fertilizers and pesticides can lead to environmental and socio-economic problems in the future. Farmers cannot organize crop rotations to the full extend due to the short land lease term. It is shown that the scientifically substantiated crop rotation can harmonize the economic interests of agricultural producers (high and sustainable crop yields, accompanied by the minimum use of material and energy resources) and the environmental safety (preserving the quality of the soil cover and the environment). In order to organize crop rotations in a changing market and climatic environment, it is suggested to use methodological approaches. These approaches are based on short-term rotation of crops, on dynamics of their placement depending on ecological and economic factors, on formation of homogeneous (by quality indicators) lands (fields), on choice of crops on the basis of evaluation of land prior to its cultivation, on compulsory environmental assessment of projected crop rotations using balance calculations.