Background: Hormonal imbalance, obesity, altered food habits, chemicals in cosmetics, and sedentary life have been the main causes of early onset of menarche. There has been a secular trend in the age of menarche of females at the rate of decrease of 1 month per decade since 1995.

Aims and Objectives: The objective of the study is to find out the trend of age of the onset of menarche in females of rural and urban areas in the past 5 years, from 2014 to 2018.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 378 females (196 rural and 182 urban) of the age group of 7–15 years in the rural and urban population of Kanchipuram district. After obtaining written consent, a questionnaire was administered to know their current age and age of menarche and noted.

Results: Majority of the females had the age of menarche between 12 and 13 years in the rural and urban population, but the number of females who attained menarche at 13 years was comparatively more in the rural population (n = 96) when compared with the urban (n = 37), though there was no statistical difference between the both. Furthermore, we observed that the early age of onset starts in early 2015 in the urban population, compared with the trend establishing in the rural population in the recent 2017 and 2018.

Conclusion: There is a trend of early age of menarche among the females of the urban population when compared with the rural population.


Abstract A cover-grammar of a finite language is a context-free grammar that accepts all words in the language and possibly other words that are longer than any word in the language. In this paper, we describe an efficient algorithm aided by Ant Colony System that, for a given finite language, synthesizes (constructs) a small cover-grammar of the language. We also check its ability to solve a grammatical inference task through the series of experiments.


In Reply.— We also are in favor of motherhood, family, and an empirically based classification of disease. However, we do not agree with our colleague, Dr Taylor, about what has been accomplished by the development of DSM-III and DSM-III-R and, more importantly, what steps should be taken to develop a significantly better DSM-IV . Dissatisfaction With the Conceptual Framework of DSM-III and DSM-IIIR.—No one, including us, is entirely happy with our current nosologic system. Although Dr Taylor denigrates the little progress that has been made since Kraepelin, it is significant that he offers no alternative system or conceptual framework to replace the largely descriptive classification that is embodied in DSM-III and DSM-IIIR . The problem of an imperfect classification is not unique to psychiatry: Feinstein, 1 a noted medical nosologist, has recently discussed the sad scientific status of the classification of clinical medicine as embodied in the International Classification of Diseases . His most


Background Partner's smoking status is an important predictor of maternal smoking in pregnancy; however there are few UK-wide surveys which look at these effects. We investigated partnership smoking, quitting and cutting down during pregnancy in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study. Methods We used multinomial logistic and linear regression to investigate retrospective self-reported smoking status and reductions in cigarettes smoked of mothers and their partners. All analyses were weighted for the complex sampling design and non-response, both unadjusted and adjusted for socio-demographic status. Results Seventy-six percent of women had respondent partners, 22% were couples who both smoked around the time of the pregnancy (unweighted N=2,954). Of these smoking couples, 37% of women quit during their pregnancy, 41% cut down, and 23% smoked the same amount (persistent smokers), respective percentages for partners were 16%, 25% and 56%. Compared to women who quit, women who cut down were more likely to have a partner who was a persistent smoker (RRR 7.6, 95% CI 4.9 to 11.7), or a cut-down smoker (5.7, 3.8 to 8.5). Compared to persistent smokers, those who cut down were slightly heavier smokers (women mean difference 1.1 cigarettes/day, partners 2.0). Women who cut down reduced average consumption to 6.3 a day (mean reduction 9.3, 95% CI 9.0 to 9.8) and partners to 10.1 (8.7, 8.1 to 9.3). There was no difference in the effect of partners' persistent smoking on the risk of women cutting down or persistent smoking (P=0.38), but partner cutting down was a significantly larger predictor of women cutting down compared to women continuing to smoke (P=0.02). After reduction, women whose partners cut down smoked an average of 2.2 more cigarettes more than those whose partners quit (P=0.043). There was no evidence of variation in reduction for those who had partners who quit and those who were persistent smokers (d=0.87, P=0.42). Results were robust to adjustment for socio-demographics; fully adjusted results will be presented. Conclusion Most women cut down and this was associated with partner cutdown, however this strategy was limited as partners were more likely to be persistent smokers. Significant reductions in the maternal number smoked were achieved, but the influence of partner smoking (whether persistent or cut down) may limit reduction. Cutting down as a strategy has questionable impact on in-utero exposure and may put at infants at risk for environmental tobacco smoke exposure postpartum. For maximum effect, partner and targeted couples interventions are warranted.


The purpose of this article is to identify modern aspects and problem areas in the field of digitalization of the innovation process. Digital technologies are becoming an increasingly important component of the various functional areas of the organization, and in some situations, the success of a business project. Digital technologies open great prospects for the conduct of various kinds of business, allow organizing international cooperation with minimal costs, thus accelerating globalization, stimulating development and expanding the boundaries of the world economic space. The wide use of digital technologies allows for the networking between the participants in the innovation process, ensures the formation of competitive advantages, optimizes the use of economic and other types of resources, and also enhances coordination and communication. Unfortunately, in Russia the level of application of digital organizations, in comparison with foreign organizations of developed countries, remains at a low level. In our country, the need for the use of information technology has matured long ago, but only since May 2017 the relevant regulatory documents have been issued that encourage organizations to actively digitize all areas and functional areas of their activities. Modern information technologies are characterized by high computing power, they take control of the organization, production, creation of innovations to a fundamentally different quality level. Currently, the success of competition is determined by the ability of organizations to quickly implement and commercialize innovations and obtain superprofits, in this regard it seems relevant to explore the possibilities of digital solutions and technologies for the effective management and management of innovation. The article analyzes the current state of the information technology industry and the information and communication technologies industry, on the basis of which the problems of the industry development have been identified, and proposals have been developed to use digital products to stimulate the innovation process.


Abstract
Sholikhah, Ilmiatus, 2018. Pengaruh kualitas produk dan harga terhadap
keputusan pembelian produk kosmetik wardah studi kasus pada konsumen
wardah di toko subur Mojosari.Skripsi/tugas akhir, Program StudiManajemen
Pemasaran, Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Islam Majapahit (UNIM).
Advisor I : Eny Setyariningsih, SE.MM
Advisor II : Rika Dwi Harsasi, SE.M.MM

In the area of increasingly fierce competition, one way to get loyal
customers is to satisfy consumers need consistently from time to time, product
quality and price are expected to be able to increase consumer purchasing
decisions in order to achieve the goals of the company.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of product quality
and price on purchasing decisions on cosmetic products in the Mojosari fertile
shop. This research variable uses two variables, namely the independent variable
and the dependent variable. Independent variables (X) include: product quality
(X1) and price (X2), the dependent variable is the purchase decision (Y). This
research was conducted at the Mojosari fertile shop. The population in this study
is that consumers make purchases at Mojosari fertile stores. The technique used
in sampling was purposive sampling and obtained a sample of 110 respondents.
This research uses instrument test (validity and reliability test), hypothesis test
(multiple linear regression test), R2 test, T test and F test, classic assumption
(multicollinearity test, normality test, heteroscedasticity test). As for data
processing using the SPSS for Windows Realease 22 program.
 Based on the results of this study the product quality and price variables
on the T test results are variables that have a significant partial effect on the
decision to purchase cosmetic products. The results of the F test can be
concluded that there is a significant influence simultaneously between the
variables of product quality and price on purchasing decisions. The results
obtained by the coefficient of determination or R2 of 53.4% means that the quality
of products and prices together or simultaneously affect the decision of
purchasing cosmetic products ward, while the remaining 46.6% is influenced by
other variables.

Keywords: Product Quality, Price, Purchase Decision


Transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a diagnostic tool with widespread utilization. Due to its unique potential in improving cardiological diagnosis, the procedure is increasingly applied in small hospitals, private practice, and new settings such as the emergency room. In spite of its frequent usage, there is no generally accepted standard protocol of the examination procedure, which is distinctly different from transthoracic echocardiography. Indeed, this procedure involves patient discomfort, carries a minute risk to the patient, and hence is not easily repeated. This paper represents an effort by the Subgroup on Transesophageal Echocardiography and Valvular Heart Disease of the Working Group Echocardiography of the European Society of Cardiology to state succinctly the essential points of the typical TEE exam in adults. The recommendations have been worded from 'desirable' to 'mandatory' according to the individual strength that the authors felt they carry. The wealth of potential indications, pathological findings, and variations in examination technique preclude a comprehensive review, which is available in textbooks and review articles. Similarly, it was not the purpose to write an educational text but rather to briefly describe the minimal requirements for a complete TEE examination. Similar efforts have been undertaken for intraoperative echocardiography by the American Society of Echocardiography.


Pheochromocytoma is complicated with catecholamine cardiomyopathy, and preoperative care becomes considerably more difficult We report anesthetic management for an 48-year-old man brought to our hospital by ambulance and immediately hospitalized due to pheochromocytoma crisis complicated with catechol- amine cardiomyopathy presenting inverted-takotsubo pattern asynergy. Before surgery, α and β blocking drugs were used to control hypertension and tachycardia, and continuous hemodiafiltration was initiated and the patient was intubated for severe pulmonary edema. Seven days later, he underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Total intravenous anesthesia was achieved with propofol, remifentanil, fentanyl, and rocuronium. During the operation, continuous infusion of landiolol, phentolamine, and nitroglycerin, and addi- tional bolus injections of landiolol were given to control hypertension. After severing the right adrenal vein, noradrenaline (0.15 μg · kg⁻¹ · min⁻¹), and dopamine (4μg · kg⁻¹ · min⁻¹) were started and the patient was placed in the intensive care unit Inverted-takotsubo pattern asynergy is not very common, and treatment consists of supportive care, as in the usual takotsubo. Preoperative CHDF (continuous hemodiafiltration) may be useful when it is difficult to control hypertension or tachycardia with medications.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been reported as one of the aetiological factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCA). This study reports the prevalence of HCCA in patients with and without HBV in Northeast Nigeria over a period of five years. A total of 114 patients consecutively diagnosed with HCCA and tested for Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), between January 1996 and December 2000, were studied. There were 81 males and 33 females, ranging in age between 9 months and above 60 years. Of the 114 patients with HCCA, 86.8% were positive for HBsAg of which males accounted for a higher prevalence of 63.1%, while females accounted for 23.7% (2.7:1). HCCA patients from the fouth decade of life and above were observed with a higher prevalence of HBV infection. Among the HBsAg-negative patients with HCCA, no significant gender difference was observed (p > 0.05). However, 13.2% of patients with HCCA were negative for HBsAg. Viral and non-viral aetiologic factors may play a role in developing HCCA in Maiduguri.

 Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis B virus.


According to case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a Member State is not obliged to enact most favoured nation treatment if a tax treaty prescribes a certain type of tax treatment (bilateral most favoured nation treatment). In this article, the author discusses whether EU law does oblige a Member State to enact most favoured nation treatment if national law prescribes a certain type of tax treatment (unilateral most favoured nation treatment). The conclusions reached by the author are based on her analysis of the relevant CJEU case law on this issue.


Background: Our hospital became a referral center for COVID-19-positive obstetric patients from 1 May 2020. The aim of our study is to illustrate our management protocols for COVID-19-positive obstetric patients, to maintain safety standards for patients and healthcare workers. Methods: Women who underwent vaginal or operative delivery and induced or spontaneous abortion with a SARS-CoV-2-positive nasopharyngeal swab using real-time PCR (RT-PCR) were included in the study. Severity and onset of new symptoms were carefully monitored in the postoperative period. All the healthcare workers received a nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR serially every five days. Results: We included 152 parturients with COVID-19 infection. None of the included women had general anesthesia, an increase of severe symptoms or onset of new symptoms. The RT-PCR test was "negative" for the healthcare workers. Conclusions: In our study, neuraxial anesthesia for parturients' management with SARS-CoV-2 infection has been proven to be safe for patients and healthcare workers. Neuraxial anesthesia decreases aerosolization during preoxygenation, face-mask ventilation, endotracheal intubation, oral or tracheal suctioning and extubation. This anesthesia management protocol can be generalizable.


Sensitivity of glucose transport to stimulation by insulin has been shown to occur concomitant with activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in skeletal muscle, suggesting a role of AMPK in regulation of insulin action. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a possible role of AMPK in potentiation of insulin action in muscle cells. The experimental model involved insulin-responsive C2C12 myotubes that exhibit a twofold increase in glucose transport in the presence of insulin. Treatment of myotubes with the AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR), followed by a 2-h recovery, augmented the ability of insulin to stimulate glucose transport. Similarly, incubation in hyperosmotic medium, another AMPK-activating treatment, acted synergistically with insulin to stimulate glucose transport. Furthermore, the increase in insulin action caused by hyperosmotic stress was prevented by inclusion of compound C, an AMPK inhibitor, in hyperosmotic medium. In addition, iodotubercidin, a general kinase inhibitor that is effective against AMPK, also prevented the combined effects of insulin and hyperosmotic stress on glucose transport. The new information provided by these data is that previously reported AICAR effects on insulin action are generalizable to myotubes, hyperosmotic stress and insulin synergistically increase glucose transport, and AMPK appears to mediate potentiation of insulin action.


In the past few decades, there has been a growing demand for low-cost disposable sensors to be utilized in hazardous and toxic environments such as high temperature and chemically aggressive environments, which can lead to irreversible damage to the sensor. Moreover, by cost reduction, they become more attractive for utilization in developing countries, where the research of new biomedical technologies has been restricted due to a decentralized healthcare system, lack of infrastructure and shortage of investment. This research focuses on developing a low-cost, disposable and easy to use mass sensor utilizing diamagnetic levitation. Diamagnetic levitation is the only stable form of levitation at room temperature and does not require external sources of energy, feedback loops or cooling for stable levitation. It is a low cost, easy to use, disposable sensor that makes it suitable for potential point-of-care applications. The sensor consists of a pyrolytic graphite plate that levitates above a checkerboard arrangement of permanent magnets with alternating magnetization. The system is actuated using electromagnetic excitation and the material properties of the sample are extracted by conducting a multimodal analysis of the resonance frequencies and mode shapes; measured using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). An optoelectronic phase lock loop utilizing the LDV is used to bring the levitating pyrolytic graphite into sustained mechanical oscillation controlled by a PID controller. The experimental mass sensitivity is measured by analysing the frequency shift associated with the placement of glass beads. The frequency stability is measured by computing the Allan deviation and the experimental precision of mass sensor is then computed. The results show that the precision of a diamagnetically levitated resonant mass sensors decreases with the decrease of the size of the levitating oscillator. The precision of a levitating oscillator of side length 2 mm and thickness 0.08 mm is found to be 14.4 pg at a gate time of 0.1 s for an instantaneous change in frequency. Master of Science Thesis Nimit Kothari


We executed an action program to protect riverbanks from erosion for two years in a village in Bangladesh under the JSRDE (Joint Study on Rural Development Experiment) project funded by JICA. This paper describes the physical damage of riverbank erosion and its impact on the villagers, and discusses protection methods derived from existing local technology. We constructed palisades, in the river to protect the riverbank. On the advice of the villagers and other relevant individuals, the palisades were four-sided fences constructed out of bamboo tied vertically and horizontally in a checker pattern and iron boards made from stretched out oil drums. The program of using palisades for two years was successful because palisades were effective not only in protecting the riverbank from erosion but they also accelerated soil sedimentation along the riverside. Moreover, planting vegetation on the riverside to protect from erosion, which is a local technique, was also confirmed to be effective. We emphasize the importance of learning about and positively evaluating existing local technology for rural development programs in developing countries like Bangladesh.


The aging of the population is a demographic problem of a structural character which affects in a large or small measure all members of the European Union. In Spain, this problem will enlarge within the next 10 years with the retirement of former baby boom generation, which has put in doubt the viability of the social security economic distribution, designed in the years between 1963-1966, when the state of affairs of Spain and their protective needs were very distinct to the current existing ones.
Furthermore, with transitory character, Spain has been immersed in an economic crisis since 2006, due to the effects of the economic globalization in the financial field especially by the fall in the real estate sector caused by the disproportionate rise in the prices of this secondary sector. This fact has provoked a decline in contributors which has raised a necessary awareness in political parties that requires a sustainable modification in respect to public pension payments. From the year 2011 reforms have been introduced in relation to public pensions, so the delay in retirement age, the active aging, the regulation of the sustainability factor, the revaluation indicator and recommendation towards private social pension plans as a complement of public pensions, are aiming to secure the constitutional principle of economic sufficiency for citizens.


Magnetic moment M of c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7−δ films of thickness d ∼ 4 × 10−5 cm in a perpendicular field was measured at elevated temperatures close to Tc to clarify the field dependence jc(B) while the magnetic flux vortices were widely separated. A similarity of hysteretic magnetization curves at different temperatures was observed showing that the critical current at zero field jc0 determined also the scale Bc of the magnetic field dependence M(B)/M(0) = F(B/Bc), while the zero field value M(0) ∝ jc0 varied over two orders of magnitude, and the intervortex distance a at B = Bc reached the values a ≃ 10d. This result was related to the long-range vortex interaction suggested by the Pearl solution for thin films. The deviations from the dependence Bc ∝ jc0d in the region (Tc − T) < 1 K were observed and discussed in comparison with edge effects, where at large penetration depths λ > d the thickness of the sample should be replaced by the Pearl's two-dimensional screening length λeff = 2λ2/d.


This report is one of five research reports published as part of the Vulnerable Groups Research Programme. The central focus of the programme was to investigate patterns of drug use among groups of vulnerable young people and their access to services. Each project focuses on a different group of vulnerable young people, who tend not to be included in the general population surveys. The project reported on here concentrates on homeless young people. The four others examine: young people involved in sex work, care leavers and runaways, young drug users who are in contact with drugs services and young people in contact with youth offending teams. Many of the young people across these projects are likely to have had similar backgrounds and vulnerabilities. A number of the studies explore this area and the degree to which the young people are in fact the same population caught at different points in their lives and via different services. The main aim of this study is to provide a detailed account of homeless young peopleâ?Ts substance use to inform future prevention and treatment work with this group. The consensus from a small number of previous research studies suggests that levels of substance use amongst homeless young people are considerably higher than that of the general population. A number of recent policy documents also identify homeless young people as a particularly vulnerable group and suggest that drug misuse contributes to and exacerbates their homeless situation. Such findings highlight the importance of strong links between drugs services and homelessness agencies.


Basically in laser engraving the laser beam burns the top layer of the surface to be engraved. The burnt area is left uncoloured which makes it appear different from the surrounding surface. While in laser cutting laser beam has to penetrate through the surface. This can be achieved by prolonging the beam on a particular area for a long period of time, duration being decided on the strength of material to be cut. We are still collecting data from different resources to know this topic more in depth. In our project we have decided to develop working model of laser cutting and engraving machine. This machine is very useful in our department since it's a kind of rapid prototyping machine. It can cut out paper patterns and thermoplastic sheets to produce desired shape and patterns. Till now we have collected information on laser cutting, laser and what engraving is. Laser cutting is different from laser engraving, in case of engraving very low intensity laser torch is used as compared to laser cutting. We got a brief introduction on laser, how it works, what are its properties, how to generate it and how to control its intensity. The machine is made using a ~200mW red laser. It might nut cut through chunks of wood but surely burn the top layer. Simulation analyses are performed in CAD software 'CATIA V6' in order to simulate each part of the machine. It was helpful for remodelling the moving bed or the job holder, if any errors found during the simulation. Additionally, experiments are performed for the develop laser cutting engraving machine


The Ras converting enzyme (Rce1p) is an endoprotease that is involved in the post-translational processing of the Ras GTPases and other isoprenylated proteins. Its role in Ras biosynthesis marks Rce1p as an anticancer target. By assessing the chemical accessibility of cysteine residues substituted throughout the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rce1p sequence, we have determined that yeast Rce1p has eight segments that are protected from chemical modification. Notably, the three residues that are essential for yeast Rce1p function (E156, H194, and H248) are all chemically inaccessible and associated with separate protected segments. By specifically assessing the chemical reactivity and glycosylation potential of the NH2 and COOH termini of Rce1p, we further demonstrate that Rce1p has an odd number of transmembrane spans. Substantial evidence that the most NH2-terminal segment functions as a transmembrane segment with the extreme NH2 terminus projecting into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen is presented. Because each of the remaining seven segments is too short to contain two spans and is flanked by chemically reactive positions, we infer that these segments are not transmembrane segments but rather represent compact structural features and/or hydrophobic loops that penetrate but do not fully span the bilayer (i.e., re-entrant helices). We thus propose a topological model in which yeast Rce1p contains a single transmembrane helix localized at its extreme NH2 terminus and one or more re-entrant helices and/or compact structural domains that populate the cytosolic face of the ER membrane. Lastly, we demonstrate that the natural cysteine residues of Rce1p are chemically inaccessible and fully dispensable for in vivo enzyme activity, formally eliminating the possibility of a cysteine-based enzymatic mechanism for this protease.


Abstract. The use of a TIMERITE® spring spray to control redlegged earth mite (RLEM), Halotydeus destructor (Tucker) (Acari: Penthaleidae), in annual pastures was evaluated on farms across Australia. RLEM populations in autumn in the treatments sprayed in spring 1998 and 1999 were 97% lower in 1999 and 97% in 2000 in the western region (Western Australia), and 93% lower in 1999 and 93% in 2000 in the eastern region (Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia). At sites in the west, control of RLEM resulted in significant increases in subterranean clover seed yield in 1999 and in clover seedling numbers in autumn 1999 and 2000. Penthaleus major (blue oat mite) populations in autumn were 60% lower in sprayed treatments, but Sminthurus viridis (lucerne flea) populations were not affected. Differences in weather between the west (where there is a hot, dry summer) and the east (where temperature and rainfall regimes are more variable in spring and early summer) seem to cause greater RLEM control and greater benefits in subterranean clover seed yield and seedling numbers with a spring spray in the west.


The relevance of the study is due to the necessity to develop approaches and algorithms to combat the threat of global pandemics in order to prevent catastrophic consequences in the fields of public health and the economy. The purpose of this study is to identify priority areas of the criminological policy during quarantine activities related to COVID-19, as well as to develop a set of strategic approaches to victimological security during quarantine activities. The study used a dialectical method, as well as methods of modelling and systematic analysis of data, which allowed analysing the current challenges facing the Ukrainian legal system in defining a set of legal requirements and government decisions aimed at identifying and eliminating the causes and conditions of crime, ensuring public safety during quarantine activities related to COVID-19. The results of the study suggest that a strategic document could be an effective political and legal tool in combating and overcoming the consequences of the spread of existing and future viral diseases. Such a document should provide a clear algorithm of actions and measures to ensure the safety of citizens in crises and prevent the commission of crimes caused by the threat of pandemics. In this regard, a set of political and legal decisions of strategic importance to counter the spread of the global pandemic at the national level and the direction of the formation of criminological policy in the implementation of anti-epidemic measures. In practical terms, the results of the study can be used to develop the legislative initiative of Ukraine and other countries, comprehensive documents and strategies to regulate public relations in the face of legal restrictions related to epidemiological threats


This paper deals with expletives that are inserted into clauses for structural reasons. We will
focus on the Germanic languages Danish, German, and Yiddish. In Danish and Yiddish expletives are
inserted in preverbal position in certain wh-clauses: In Danish such an insertion is
observed when the subject is locally extracted from an SVO configuration in non-assertive
clauses. In Yiddish wh-clauses are formed from a wh-phrase and a V2 clause. If no
element would be fronted in the embedded V2 clause, an expletive is inserted in non-assertive
clauses in order to meet the V3 requirement for embedded clauses. In
addition to embedded wh-clauses,
declarative V2 clauses also allow the insertion of an expletive. In Danish the expletive fills the
subject position and is not necessarily fronted. In German and Yiddish the expletive has to occur in
fronted position. In contrast to Danish and Yiddish, German does not
insert expletives into embedded wh-clauses. They are
inserted only into declarative V2 clauses in order to fulfill the V2 requirement without having to
front another constituent. In this paper we try to provide an account that captures the
commonalities between the three languages while being able to account for the differences.


This thesis is an investigation into the effects of Ketosis in epileptic patients. For hundreds of years it had been known that fasting had a beneficial influence on epileptics, reducing the number of convulsions and ameliorating the mental depression and anguish. This effect of fasting was attributed to so many things that not till recent years was a careful enquiry made. In 1921 wilder (1) maintained that the ketosis invariably associated with fasting was the factor responsible for the good results in epilepsy. However, since many diseases are favourably influenced by fasting much more was needed than a mere statement to prove that the ketosis was responsible. This led to patients being treated theapeutically in order to produce an artificial ketosis, a ketosis not dependent on the amount of food consumed. Consequently workers in the Mayo Clinic started a system of dieting in epileptic adults that had the production of ketosis as its object. The results were indifferent but in 1922 Helmholtz (2) treated children in this manner and found that 31% were free from attacks and 23% benefited. The remaining 46% were not improved. Later on, in 1924, the Mayo Clinic again started the treatment of selected cases in adults with more encouraging results than the first trial.The present investigation is on twenty cases of idiopathic epilepsy, that is, epilepsy in which there is no apparent organic lesion. The patients have not been selected because of preconceived ideas of their likelihood to react well, but vith the view of testing the diet on all types of major epilepsy. Care has been taken to have representative cases. Thus some have many fits, others few, some are bright and cheery, others are dull and demented. Many of the cases have violent bouts of excitement.


Chronic empyema has always been a clinical challenge for physicians. There is no standard procedure or treatment to deal with the situation, and multi-modality approach is often necessary. Surgical intervention plays a very crucial role in the treatment of chronic empyema. Since bronchopleural fistula is often seen in chronic empyema patients, therefore it should also be mentioned. In this chapter, the focus will be on the different treatment options, various surgical approaches, and the rationale behind every single modality. Certain specific entity will be included as well, such as tuberculosis infection, post lung resection empyema, and intrathoracic vacuum assisted closure system application. Even with the advancement of technology and techniques, chronic empyema management is still evolving, and we look forward to less traumatic ways of approach with better outcome in the future.


The reconstruction of land use practices in hyper arid Saharan Africa is often hampered by the accuracy of the available tools and by unconscious biases that see these areas as marginal and inhospitable. Considered for a long time the living space of pastoral mobile communities, new research is showing of agriculture might have been more important in these areas than previously thought. In this paper, after a review of present-day land use strategies in Saharan Africa, we show how ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological data can offer us a different point of view and help in better defining land use and food production strategies in this area. Ultimately, these insights can be integrated into the ongoing effort of reconstructing past land use globally.


Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem in Bangladesh. The present study focused on identifying TB risk determinants in Bangladesh. An age-sex matched casecontrol study was conducted with each stratum consisting of one case and two controls. This study covered six divisions of Bangladesh including both the rural and urban areas. TB cases were randomly selected from BRAC TB Control Programme. For each case, two age-sex matched controls were chosen from the community where the case belonged, and in total 360 cases and 720 controls were selected for the study. Information was collected from the selected case and controls via face-to-face interviews. We divided potential risk factors into three categories, which were demographic, socio-economic, and personal health or lifestyle. A conditional logistic regression model was used to determine important risk factors for TB. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of primary education was 0.8 (95% CI: 0.52-1.2), secondary and higher level of education was 0.5 (0.32-0.78), compared to zero level of education. The aOR of living in a building was 2.54 (1.44-4.52) compared to living in an improper house/semi-building. The aOR of having previous TB history was 2.04 (1.05-3.94) compared to no history of TB. The aOR of past smokers was 5.27 (2.82-9.86) compared to nonsmokers. In this study, low level of education, type of household, low socio-economic status, previous TB history, and smoking habits were identified as risk factors for TB in Bangladesh. The findings can be used to strengthen the National TB Control Programme by developing social protection interventions and raising awareness about health hazard caused by smoking cigarettes or using tobacco.


Renal glomerular changes are a well recognised complication of cirrhosis and are frequently characterised by mesangial IgA deposition. We report a patient with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension who developed IgA nephropathy and a nephrotic syndrome with renal histological changes classically associated with cirrhosis. Splenectomy with resection of a splenic artery aneurysm resulted in remission of the nephrotic syndrome. This case illustrates the factors which contribute to the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy in liver disease.


We investigated presence and prevalence of antibiotic-resistances and other biological characters in enterococci isolated from faeces of healthy dogs and cats because these microorganisms represent important human and veterinary pathogens/opportunists, and a significant burden for healthcare systems. In all samples (n=115) we detected enterococci, with a predominance of Enterococcus faecium (42; 36.5%) and Enterococcus faecalis (36; 31.3%) species, endowed with virulence traits and multidrug-resistance. The two predominant resistance patterns (erythromycin, tetracycline) were examined by polymerase chain reaction for tet and erm genes. Only tetM for tetracycline, and ermA and ermB for erythromycin were detected. PCR for gelatinase gene (gelE) was positive in 62.6% of isolates, but only 26.1% produce gelatinase suggesting the existence of silent genes. efaAfs and efaAfm genes were found in E. faecalis and E. faecium respectively. 89.6% of isolates produced bacteriocin-like substances with a prevailing action against Listeria genus and, among these, 33.9% were positive for the bacteriocin structural genes entA, entL50 or entP. According to our study, pet animals can be considered a reservoir of potentially pathogenic enterococci and we cannot exclude that those microorganisms may be responsible for opportunistic infections in high-risk pet owners.


We investigated the phenomenon of photoinduced nematic-isotropic (N-I) transition for different concentrations of a long-chain alkane, viz., octadecane (OD), and a host liquid crystalline material having a small quantity (4.5 mol %) of a photoactive azo compound. As expected, the N-I transition temperature diminishes with increasing concentration of OD. Data of time-resolved measurements of the dielectric constant through both the UV-activated trans-cis transformation and the thermal back relaxation process are presented. With increasing concentration of OD, although the response time for the former process increases slightly by less than a factor of 2, the thermal back relaxation shows a greater increase by more than an order of magnitude. As a possible explanation for this surprising result, we discuss an argument based on the structural incompatibility of the constituents of the system investigated.


Even if the foundation, rise and eventual demise of Carthage and its overseas territories in the West Mediterranean occurred in much the same space and time as the glory days of Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Greece and Rome, there is no doubt that the Phoenicians and their Punic successors (to use the conventional terms) have rarely been regarded as fully signed-up members of the ancient world. Reduced to walk-on cameos as skilled silversmiths, agricultural experts, shrewd traders or military strategists, Phoenician and Punic representations tend to be rather stereotypical (Prag 2010, with earlier bibliography), which perhaps should not come as a surprise, as nearly all these portraits have been sketched by outsiders; they certainly do not add up to a coherent ethnographic or political description.


We observed that oleuropein, the main constituent of the leaves and unprocessed olive drupes of Olea europaea, protected mice from high-fat diet-induced adiposity by up-regulation of genes involved in Wnt10b-mediated signaling in adipose tissue. The activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway is also well established to positively regulate the anagen phase of hair growth cycle in mice skin. Methodology and Principal Findings Oleuropein promoted cultured human follicle dermal papilla cell proliferation and induced LEF1 and Cyc-D1 mRNA expression and β-catenin protein expression in dermal papilla cells. Nuclear accumulation of β-catenin in dermal papilla cells was observed after oleuropein treatment. Topical application of oleuropein (0.4 mg/mouse/day) to C57BL/6N mice accelerated the hair-growth induction and increased the size of hair follicles in telogenic mouse skin. The oleuropein-treated mouse skin showed substantial upregulation of Wnt10b, FZDR1, LRP5, LEF1, Cyc-D1, IGF-1, KGF, HGF, and VEGF mRNA expression and β-catenin protein expression. Conclusions and Significance These results demonstrate that topical oleuroepin administration induced anagenic hair growth in telogenic C57BL/6N mouse skin. The hair-growth promoting effect of oleuropein in mice appeared to be associated with the stimulation of the Wnt10b/β-catenin signaling pathway and the upregulation of IGF-1, KGF, HGF, and VEGF gene expression in mouse skin tissue.


Community education curriculum is the key link to achieve the goal of community education; it is an educational activity that uses the educational and cultural resources of the community and faces all residents in the community; promoting the innovation of community education curriculum is the new mission of the development of contemporary community education, in order to explore the development path of community education curriculum from Marx's perspective under big data and study its educational value and development path. By comparing the development paths of community education in different environments, this paper makes a comprehensive analysis and evaluation and analyzes the value of coupling degree. It can be seen that the use of big data technology has a positive impact on the development of new education models, the development of community education and platform management, and the learning motivation of residents. We should make breakthroughs and innovations on the basis of the traditional education model, realize the value concept of lifelong education, and follow Marx's socialist development concept; it can better promote the development of residents and communities in the community and provide more effective data value and data support for the development path of community education in the future.


Islam is a complete code of life that provides guidelines for every walk of human life. All its injunctions and commands contain wisdom and benefits for mankind. While defining the broader framework for various aspects, Islam does provide room for flexibility within the defined margins and limits. This commendable aspect of Islam makes it very easy to follow the religion. However, it is due to excessive use of our own intellect that we make things difficult and complex for us; this often results in the true spirit of Islamic rulings getting lost. Many a time, scholars get lost in the minor details and miss the broader essence behind the rulings. One of such issues that confuse many common people is the ruling regarding permissibility or impermissibility for males to wear the red dress or clothing; several different rulings exist about this matter. In this paper, we have endeavoured to go through the hadith literature and collect all the relevant ahadith that we were able to gather through our extensive review of hadith literature. The collected ahadith have been coded under various themes and analysed holistically. We have also compiled opinions of scholars from various schools of thought and provided possible reasons for their opinions in the light of hadith literature and principles of jurisprudence. Though the paper seems to deal with one specific issue, it can also be used to formulate a research model for studies in hadith literature.


In order to make environmentally friendly products, everyone involved in the product developing process has to take the environmental aspects into consideration. Along with other aspects such as function, economics, quality etc. the environmental issue has to be implemented throughout the entire process. It is important to help the designers to make decisions that eventually lead to environmentally sound products. Many companies in Sweden have formulated their environmental policies, and try to integrate this issue in the daily work of the product developers. In order to find out how the environmental policy of a company actually affects the designers, a series of interviews with product developers has been made. The main object of these interviews is to answer the following questions: In what way do environmental aspects affect product developers in different stages of the product development process today? Is there a need for further information, guidelines, time etc. to make a more environmentally adapted design possible? What attitude do the designers have concerning the environmental issues? Environmental aspects have now been generally incorporated in the product development process. However designers often have to give priority to economy, function and quality, limiting severely the possibility to integrate the environmental aspects. The goal of the present series of interviews is therefore to study the situation of the designer in industrial product development.


Objective: Low salt intake or infusion with the mineralocorticoid hormone aldosterone increases the abundance of proteolytically activated gamma ENaC in rat kidney. Prostasin is a serine proteinase GPI-anchored to the apical membrane of renal principal cells. It was hypothesized that the aldosterone- mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) pathway maintains prostasin abundance in human kidney. Design and method: Urine and plasma prostasin was measured by ELISA in urine and plasma from a cohort of type-2 diabetes patients (n = 112) with treatment resistant hypertension before and after intervention with placebo or the mineralocorticoid antagonist spironolactone. Western immunoblotting of creatinine-normalized urine samples was performed from placebo and spironolactone treated patients with and without albuminuria. Tissue prostasin was measured in membranes from human nephrectomy recieving either ACE-i/ANGII or no antihypertensive treatment prior to operation. Urine and tissue prostasin was measured in puromycin-induced nephrotic syndrome rats. Results: Plasma prostasin concentration increased significantly with spironolactone but was not changed with placebo. Urine prostasin concentration was below detection limit and in concentrated urine samples no difference was detected between placebo and spironolactone group by ELISA while western immunoblotting showed correlation of urine prostasin with albumin and a reduction in both with spironolactone. Patients with proteinuria displayed elevated u-prostasin compared to control. Puromycin-induced nephrotic syndrome in rats was associated with significant increase in u-prostasin while kidney tissue prostasin protein abundance was not changed. Prostasin protein abundance was similar in membranes from human nephrectomy homogenate from patients treated preoperatively with ACE-i/ANGII receptor blocker compared to patients given no medication; in kidney membranes from adrenalectomized rats compared to control and in kidney and colon membranes from aldosterone synthase-/- mice compared to wild type littermates. Conclusions: Kidney tissue prostasin is not regulated by aldosterone whereas in conditions with glomerular filtration barrier injury, there is aberrant filtration of prostasin that is sensitive to aldosterone antagonists. Prostasin is not a relevant direct target for aldosterone antagonists.


An relevance vector machine (RVM) method is proposed to diagnose the fault of the quadruped robot's hydraulic systems, which is based on information entropy (IE) and cuckoo search algorithm of Gaussian disturbances (GCS). Firstly, information entropy is utilized to preprocess the hydraulic system's raw data, to remove the redundant information and to reduce the data dimension; subsequently, GCS algorithm is utilized to optimize the kernel parameter of RVM; lastly, the RVM multiple classifiers is set up. The vitality of the Bird's Nest Changes is increased by adding gaussian disturbances to Cuckoo search algorithm, which is based on the simulation of cuckoo's parasitic breeding strategy. The experimental results show that, compared with other fault diagnosis methods, the proposed method can reduce training time and increase fault classification accuracy.


Plasma based technologies are one of the largest commercial industries in the world today. To understand the behaviour and properties of such chemically active plasma detailed quantitative information is required for the most important collisional and radiative processes taking place, both in the gas phase and on the surfaces, requiring an enormously detailed database. In this brief review I examine the current status of the current database and identify the most important data needs in future plasma research.


The cultural characteristics of a population may affect the relevant importance of the various factors involved in suicidal attempts. This study investigated the factors which led Greek adolescents to such attempts. Family disruption was significantly greater in the attempters than in the control subjects. However, parental restriction of the youngsters' personal freedom emerged as the major factor resulting in suicidal attempts. It was reported by 55% of the attempters and only by 17% of the control subjects. In 48% of the attempters, restriction of freedom was the reason for quarrels and strained relationship between them and their parents. Psychiatric disorders were significantly more frequent in the attempters (57%) than in the control subjects (3%). Youngsters with multiple attempts (41% of the cases) were more frequently associated with psychiatric disorders than youngsters with one attempt. The findings indicate that suppression of personal freedom by the parents is a major risk factor for suicidal attempts in Greek adolescent girls.


Pharmacotherapy is considered the first line therapy in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many patients also choose complementary medicine such as dietary supplements. Omega-3 has shown some efficacy for improving ADHD symptoms in several studies. The goal of this review is to integrate the previous research findings on omega-3 and understand the issues worth considering in the treatment of ADHD. The terms "attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity", "omega-3", and "dietary supplements" were searched on PubMed, Cochrane, and Google scholar. The search was further limited to clinical trials, reviews, and meta-analyses. Trials that examined treatments for ADHD, used randomized design, and placebo-controlled trials were included. Eighteen clinical trials with a total of 1,141 participants were included in this review. Fifteen trials had parallel designs, comparing an omega-3/6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) or a combination of both to a placebo and three compared omega-3/6 PUFAs to a placebo and psycho-stimulants. Seven of the included trials showed significant improvements in groups receiving omega-3/6 PUFAs compared to placebo groups, however, 11 trials showed no significant differences. Evidence that PUFAs supplementation provides benefits for ADHD was yet limited. Mixed results were due to selection variability criteria, variability of supplementation, and short follow-up intervals.


We propose a bootstrapping framework to enhance human optical flow and pose. We show that, for videos involving humans in scenes, we can improve both the optical flow and the pose estimation quality of humans by considering the two tasks at the same time. We enhance optical flow estimates by fine-tuning them to fit the human pose estimates and vice versa. In more detail, we optimize the pose and optical flow networks to, at inference time, agree with each other. We show that this results in state-of-the-art results on the Human 3.6M and 3D Poses in the Wild datasets, as well as a human-related subset of the Sintel dataset, both in terms of pose estimation accuracy and the optical flow accuracy at human joint locations. Code available at https://github.com/ubc-vision/bootstrapping-human-optical-flow-and-pose


In order to realize a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) gel protocol with portable Raman instrumentation, this contribution oversees the optimization of a removable SERS active methylcellulose gel and the applicability of an innovative gelatin substrate. Analytical evaluations by non-invasive portable nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) profilometry with regards to methylcellulose and gelatin film penetration and removal from an unvarnished painted surface and commercial dyed paper substrates have been carried out, respectively, following successful SERS measurements. Both gels have been specifically prepared in accordance to the substrate under exam so as to simultaneously permit sufficient surface interaction for Raman enhancements to be recorded with limited penetration into or subsequent damage on removal of the matrix under study. This work continues to bridge the gap towards non-invasive SERS measurements and in-situ SERS measurements. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The ever-increasing use of mouse models in preclinical neuroscience research calls for an improvement in the methods used to translate findings between mouse and human brains. Using openly accessible brain-wide transcriptomic data sets, we evaluated the similarity of mouse and human brain regions on the basis of ho-mologous gene expression. Our results suggest that mouse-human homologous genes capture broad patterns of neuroanatomical organization, but that the resolution of cross-species correspondences can be improved using a novel supervised machine learning approach. Using this method, we demonstrate that sensorimotor subdivisions of the neocortex exhibit greater similarity between species, compared with supramodal sub-divisions, and that mouse isocortical regions separate into sensorimotor and supramodal clusters based on their similarity to human cortical regions. We also find that mouse and human striatal regions are strongly conserved, with the mouse caudoputamen exhibiting an equal degree of similarity to both the human caudate and putamen.


Crosswell seismic tomography is used to determine the variation of elastic wave velocity or attenuation between two boreholes and, if possible, boreholes and the surface from which they are drilled. In a transmission tomographic survey, traveltimes or amplitudes are measured for many raypaths between the boreholes and the surface. The data are inverted for velocity and attenuation, respectively. In this paper we only discuss traveltimes, but the methods are equally applicable to amplitude inversions.


The paper describes a particular application of the Underworld model. Underworld2 is an open-source, particle-in-cell finite element code tuned for large-scale geodynamics simulations, which allows for the tracking of history information through the high-strain deformation associated with fluid flow. In this paper, Underworld is applied to large-scale ice flow and compared to known solutions given by other full-Stokes model following the benchmark experiments given in Pattyn et al. (2008). The authors demonstrate that the results of their model is in overall agreement with results for other full-Stokes models, which shouldn't be surprising. The major differences are related to different numerical approaches that are imbedded in Underworld and the authors show what numerical approach is more appropriate for this particular application.


The following article looks at a contemporary children's time travel story, The Dog Who Saved the World by Ross Welford, written and published just at the very outset of the COVID-19 epidemic. The novel is itself about an even more potentially dangerous epidemic which might have serious consequences in the near future for the whole of humanity. The author skilfully uses the narrative in order to include the child reader by replicating the mood and atmosphere of the current pandemic, thus, effectively empowering them against it. To achieve this, the author foregrounds what he considers to be "good" as opposed to "bad" technology and enables the child to comfortably deal with its complexities along with the complexity of time travel through scientific initialisms and other forms of abbreviation which children are highly familiar with (texting friends on smartphones or using the social media).


Commentary and analysis of the problem of retroactive application of federal court jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). Congress enacted CAFA in 2005 to create new federal diversity jurisdiction especially for class actions. In order to gain access to federal court, the proponents of a class action must demonstrate diversity of citizenship between the class claimants and the defendants, that there are at least 100 members in the class, and that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d). To satisfy these requirements, the proponents needs only to show minimal diversity among the parties, and may aggregate the claimants' damages to reach the $5 million amount-in-controversy threshold. In addition, the CAFA statutory scheme created new removal jurisdiction for class actions filed in state courts. 28 U.S.C. § 1453. This article discusses the problem created by class actions that plaintiffs filed before enactment of CAFA in 2005, but pending class certification or subsequently amended. The issue centers on the question whether a post-CAFA amendment of a class action complaint commences a new lawsuit which then brings the action within the scope of CAFA's provisions, rather than pre-existing class action principles in place before 2005.


The concept of a 'health care realm' is introduced. The healthcare realms considered were those patients who have only Physical Health Problems (PH), patients with neither physical nor mental health issues and who are seeking advice to remain healthy (HP), patients only with Mental Health Problems (MH), patients with both Physical Health and Mental Health Problems (PH&MH) and patients with Psychosomatic Health conditions (PS). Described is how patients' minds and bodies interact and its relevance to rheumatology practice. Presented is the culmination of 34 years of the author's experience of rheumatological disorders based in Family Medicine in a United Kingdom General Practice. Also presented are 2 small studies supplementing the main conclusions. The first small study counted the main consultation content of 246 patients, as considered by the principals in the practice. Of these 73.5% were for physical health conditions, 13.3% for health promotion, 11.5% for mental health conditions and 1.8% for psychosomatic conditions. The second small study was a survey of experienced GPs, Physicians and Psychiatrists, asking about their opinions on how well the patients in different health care realms were being managed across the healthcare system. Of the 5 realms, the collective view was that it was the patients in the PH realm who was clearly received the best care. The least good care was being given to patients in the PS realm and only marginally better were patients in the MH Realm. This paper argues that clinicians need a different thinking approach when meeting patients from different healthcare realms. It is known that when doctors treat PH patients, they consider the patient's symptoms against templates of knowledge for the conditions in the differential diagnosis. Furthermore, HP patients are assessed by comparing the patient's bio-measurements against known markers of good health When being consulted by patients in the MH or PS realms, it is advocated, not to follow the approach of PH patients. For patients in the MH realm it is best to address the patient's life as a whole and to consider, how did the person arrive to the situation he is in and what needs to be done to restore the patient's life back on track. For patients in the PS realm, ideally the aim is to help the patient make the link between the physical symptom and its psychological aetiology. A step towards this is to describe how the body physically mediates the symptom.


We determine the effective complex permittivity of a two-dimensional composite, consisting of an arbitrary doubly periodic array of identical circular cylinders in a homogeneous matrix, and whose dielectric properties are complex-valued. Efficient formulas are provided to determine the effective complex permittivity tensor which are in excellent agreement with numerical calculations. We also show that in contrast to the real-valued case, the real and imaginary parts of the effective complex-valued tensor can exhibit non-monotonic behavior as functions of volume fraction of cylinders, and can be either greater or less than that of the constituents.


We collected questionnaires from 128 stockpersons on 31 Czech dairy farms with the aim to examine three questions: (i) whether the stockpersons' personality profiles, their attitudes and beliefs about cows, and their age/experience were related to farm performance indicators such as milk yield per standardised lactation, culling of cows or costs of veterinary treatments; (ii) whether stockpersons' personalities and attitudes were related to their age, gender and duration of their experience with cattle; and, (iii) how the personality traits of stockpersons differed from the same traits in the general Czech population. The NEO Big Five Personality Inventory questionnaires were used to describe the personalities of the stockpersons in five dimensions: neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The attitudes towards cows were examined using a custom-made questionnaire. Attitudes towards cows, as measured by our questionnaire, were unrelated to farm performance. Farms with more neurotic stockpersons had lower milk yields per standardised lactation (rS = –0.38, P < 0.05, n = 31) and higher veterinary costs (rS = 0.40, P < 0.05, n = 30) and farms with more conscientious staff had lower veterinary costs (rS = –0.37, P < 0.05, n = 30). Farms with older stockpersons had higher milk sale prices (rS = 0.53, P < 0.01, n = 31) and lower veterinary expenses (rS = –0.43, P < 0.05, n = 30). On the level of individual stockpersons, longer history of working with dairy cattle was related to lower neuroticism (rS = –0.25, P < 0.01, n = 128). Female stockpersons were more neurotic (P < 0.05) and more agreeable (P < 0.01) than male stockpersons. Stockpersons were substantially less extroverted (P < 0.001), substantially less open to experience (P < 0.001), somewhat less agreeable (P < 0.05) and somewhat more conscientious (P < 0.05) than the average of the Czech population. In conclusion, this study suggests that stockpersons differ in their personalities from the general population and that their personality profiles (but not attitudes towards the animals) might affect dairy farm performance.


Telenomus sp. as a biological agent, can be used to control a new pest, namely Spodoptera frugiperda which attacks maize in Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to count the number of eggs of S. frugiperda parasitized by Telenomus sp. and to calculate the level of parasitization of the parasitoid Telenomus sp. against S. frugiperda in the laboratory. Research method that used in this research were searching for S. frugiperda caterpillars and preparation of Telenomus sp. The data analysis used in this research was inferential analysis. The results of this study were tested using the normality test, as well as the homogeneity test, and continued with the Kruskal Wallis test. The results showed that parasite level of parasitoid in tube I, tube II, tube III, and tube IV, namely 0%, 23.5%, 18.3%, 11.3%, and the calculation of sex ratio on Telenomus sp. were 2 females and 1 male were found. This study concludes that the number of parasitoids Telenomus sp. affects the level of egg parasitization.©2020 JNSMR UIN Walisongo. All rights reserved.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

One general characteristic of fast-growing solid tumors including breast cancer is the development of intratumoral hypoxia. The activation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) by intratumoral hypoxia stimulates a group of downstream genes including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) that are responsible for tumor malignant progression. Loss of p16 expression occurs in many cancers including breast cancer. Our studies showed that, by ectopic expression via adenoviral-mediated gene transfer, p16 downregulates VEGF gene expression by neutralizing the transactivation of HIF-1α, and suppresses breast cancer angiogenesis and metastasis. To investigate whether p16 directly affects one or more aspects of the metastatic cascade, MDA-MB-231 cells infected with lentivirus expressing Tet-on inducible p16 were used to study the p16 effects on growth, adhesion and migration of the breast cancer cells. We found that p16 inhibits MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation (45.6% inhibition) and hypoxia-induced cell migration (36% inhibition), but has no apparent effect on cell adhesion. The p16-mediated inhibition of hypoxia-induced cell migration parallels with p16's inhibition of HIF-1α transactivation activity. These results indicate that p16's ability to suppress breast tumor metastasis may result from a combined p16-mediated actions including inhibition of cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. This study suggests that p16 gene therapy may have clinical potentials to treat breast cancer due to p16's multiple-level anti-cancer capabilities: inhibiting proliferation, inducing apoptosis, blocking tumor angiogenesis, inhibiting cell migration and suppressing metastasis.

Citation Format: Yi Lu. Blocking hypoxia-induced tumor cell migration by p16/INK4A. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3864. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3864


This study provides the first observations of Plutogenic ions and their unique interaction with the solar wind. We find ~20% solar wind slowing that maps to a point only ~4.5 RP upstream of Pluto and a bow shock most likely produced by comet‐like mass loading. The Pluto obstacle is a region of dense heavy ions bounded by a "Plutopause" where the solar wind is largely excluded and which extends back >100 RP into a heavy ion tail. The upstream standoff distance is at only ~2.5 RP. The heavy ion tail contains considerable structure, may still be partially threaded by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and is surrounded by a light ion sheath. The heavy ions (presumably CH4+) have average speed, density, and temperature of ~90 km s−1, ~0.009 cm−3, and ~7 × 105 K, with significant variability, slightly increasing speed/temperature with distance, and are N‐S asymmetric. Density and temperature are roughly anticorrelated yielding a pressure ~2 × 10−2 pPa, roughly in balance with the interstellar pickup ions at ~33 AU. We set an upper bound of <30 nT surface field at Pluto and argue that the obstacle is largely produced by atmospheric thermal pressure like Venus and Mars; we also show that the loss rate down the tail (~5 × 1023 s−1) is only ~1% of the expected total CH4 loss rate from Pluto. Finally, we observe a burst of heavy ions upstream from the bow shock as they are becoming picked up and tentatively identify an IMF outward sector at the time of the NH flyby.


Carbon nanotube (CNT)-cellulose pellicle was developed to create a conductive CNT network on 20 μm nanostructured cellulose film. The flexible and electrically conductive film was prepared by the modification of bacterial nanocellulose pellicle with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The composite film was further modified with redox enzymes including pyroquinoline quinone glucose dehydrogenase (PQQ-GDH) and bilirubin oxidase (BODx) functioning as the anodic and cathodic catalyst, respectively with glucose as the biofuel source. The enzyme functionalized MWCNT-cellulose based glucose/O2 biofuel cell system harnessed the biochemical energy of glucose via the oxidation of glucose and reduction of molecular oxygen to generate electrical power in the microwatt range. The biofuel cell system exhibited an open circuit voltage and power density of 470 mV and 46.25 μW/cm2, respectively, with a current density of 381 μA/cm2 in the presence of 25 mM glucose. At physiological glucose concentration, the biofuel cell exhibited an open circuit voltage and power density of 418 mV and 24.975 μW/cm2 respectively, with a current density of 293.75μA/cm2. As a result, we expect that this facile strategy to prepare flexible conductive bioelectrodes for the development of glucose biofuel cell system using synthesized bacterial nanocellulose crosslinked with MWCNTs and enzyme can be readily extended to diverse applications in enzymatic biofuel cell and biosensor technology.


In order to improve the accuracy and consistency of control phytomedicine preparations worldwide, regulatory authorities are requesting research into new analytical methods for the stricter standardisation of phytomedicines. Such methods have to be both objective and robust, and should address the reproducibility of the content of the chemical profiles. NMR-based metabolomics, which combines high-resolution (1)H-NMR spectroscopy with chemometric analysis, has been employed as an innovative way to meet those demands. In this paper, chamomile flowers from three different geographical regions, namely, Egypt, Hungary and Slovakia were characterised using 1H-NMR spectroscopy followed by principal component analysis. It was found that the origin, purity and preparation methods contributed to the differences observed in prepared chamomile extracts. In addition, this method also enabled the elucidation of the molecular information embedded in the spectra responsible for the observed variability. The metabolomic strategy employed in the current study should provide an efficient tool for the quality control and authentication of phytomedicines.


Considering the access authentication for mobile terminals in the 3G-WLAN heterogeneous networks, a new WAPI secure access authentication scheme based on the identity-based cryptograph was designed. And its security attributes was formally proofed with Protocol Composition Logic. By the security proof and comprehensive analysis, it is showed that the proposed scheme not only has session authentication and key confidentiality, but also can defend man-in-the-middle attack, provide the mutual authentication between UE and 3G networks.


ABSTRACT We examined the variation in the date of the onset of egg laying and clutch size in three peripheral populations of the Afrocanarian Blue Tits Cyanistes teneriffae ultramarinus at the edge of the species and subspecies geographic range. This study was carried out in three study sites, 130–290 km apart, in similar geographic conditions of the South Border Range of the Saharan Atlas in Algeria. Mean altitudes of nesting territories were between 1327 and 1437 m a.s.l. Habitats of the study sites were covered by the secondary, human-modified vegetation, ranging from a maquis shrubland, with the Holm oak Quercus ilex shrubs to woodlands dominated by the Atlas cedar Cedrus atlantica or by the Aleppo pine Pinus halepensis. 169 wooden nest-boxes were monitored for breeding parameters (laying dates and clutch sizes) during the breeding seasons 2007–2009 and 2011–2013. The timing of egg laying was relatively late for the latitude of the study sites, with overall mean laying dates varying between the study sites from 4 to 13 May. The laying date was influenced by the altitude of nesting sites, with the dates being delayed with increasing altitude. Overall mean clutch size differed between the study sites from 5.91 at Djelfa to 8.43 at Aflou. Clutch size tended to decrease with the advance of the breeding season. Because the study populations inhabit areas of similar physical conditions (climate and altitude), the main inter-population source of variation in the breeding parameters studied was probably variation in habitat quality.


SUMMARY:  Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a serious complication of chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD). In contrast to the adult population, there are few studies regarding EPS in paediatric CPD patients, and the majority of reported patients are from Japan. The aim of the present report is to define the incidence of EPS in our paediatric CPD patients and to describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics. A total of 104 paediatric patients were followed from November 1989 to November 2003 and two were diagnosed as EPS (1.9%). The dialysis periods of these patients were 45 and 53 months with 6 and 8 peritonitis episodes, respectively. Clinical signs of EPS developed 7 and 14 days after the removal of the dialysis catheter, and CPD was replaced by haemodialysis because of persistent peritonitis. One patient was well after surgical management but died 6 months later. The second patient who was treated with prednisolone remained well at 16 months. In conclusion, EPS is a rare but important complication of CPD. We recommend that all patients on CPD who develop ultrafiltration failure be evaluated radiologically for the occurence of EPS. Management should be tailored to the individual patient.


Motivated by recent work on the derivation of labelled transitions and bisimulation congruences from unlabelled reaction rules, we show how to solve this problem in the DPO (double-pushout) approach to graph rewriting. Unlike in
previous approaches, we consider graphs as objects, instead of arrows, of the
category under consideration. This allows us to present a very simple way of
deriving labelled transitions (called rewriting steps with borrowed context) which smoothly integrates with the DPO approach, has a very constructive
natureand requires only a minimum of category theory. The core part of this
paper is the proof sketch that the bisimilarity based on rewriting with borrowed
contexts is a congruence relation.


Despite of 10 years vaccination of all children within 1st year in Slovakia against H. influenzae, this severe infection still occurs. Among 201 cases of community acquired bacterial meningitis, 14 (7%) were caused by H. influenzae serotype B. Outcome however, after early institution of treatment was fortunately positive - only 1 patient died (7.1% mortality) and in 2 other neurologic sequellae occurred (14.3%), which were transient and mild.


A simple rugged and user-friendly and cost effective method to quantify formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in the drug substance, Rasagline by derivatizing it with 2, 4-Dinitrophenyl hydrazine (2, 4-DNPH) is presented using High Pressure Chromatography (HPLC). By employing HPLC-UV, the cost of analysis is reduced dramatically as compared to the traditional methods. Additionally, the use of 2, 4-DNPH ensures that all the probable carbonyl compounds in the drug substance, can be monitored using the same method. The separation were accomplished on an Ascentis Express C18 (100 mm x 4.6 mm x 2.7µ) using Water: Acetonitrile (70: 30 v/v) with a flow rate of 2.0 ml /min. The Method was validated for the analytical parameters viz., Specificity, Limit of Detection (LOD), Limit of Quantitation (LOQ), Linearity and Range, Precision – System, Method and Spiked and Accuracy. The limit of detection and quantitation was found to be 10 PPM and 30 PPM for formaldehyde w.r.t sample concentration 10 mg/ ml. The limit of detection and quantitation was found to be 20 PPM and 60 PPM for acetaldehyde w.r.t sample concentration 10 mg/ ml.


In recent years, the problem of the future of democracy in the EU has attracted a special attention both in academia and in the political arena. One of the main ideas about new forms of governance is a wider involvement of civil society, which was promised in the European Commission White Paper on European Governance (2001). The Paper emphasizes the role of wide consultation of civil society organisations, as well as open and structured dialogue between the Commission and interest groups. The main objective of this paper is to define the characterstics of Lithuanian interest groups ISSN 1392–0561. INFORMACIJOS MOKSLAI. 2005 35


In general, populations of Anolis lizards on West Indian islands face few predators, are at high density and are thought to be limited by food. This paper describes how the foraging ecology of Anolis oculatus, a solitary species confined to the island of Dominica, Lesser Antilles, varies with habitat and season in relation to the quantity and quality of available food.

Availability of invertebrate food (determined using pitfall traps and sticky traps) was greater in a dry scrub woodland site, Cabrits National Park (CNP), compared with a montane rainforest site, Palmiste Ridge. In the former, there were general increases in abundance, volumes of softbodied prey and sizes of invertebrates from dry season to wet season. Concomitant dietary changes, as determined principally by stomach flushing, included an increase (by volume) in the proportion of soft-bodied prey. Dietary analyses confirmed the importance of ants (Formicidae) in the diet of A. oculatus, although for large individuals (mainly adult males) at the rainforest site, soft-bodied prey such as Oligochaeta and Orthoptera were, in volumetric terms, more important. Prey capture observations showed that large A. oculatus fed mainly above ground. Anolis oculatus at the montane rainforest site used higher perch heights than those in dry scrub woodland, although in both habitats, small individuals (mainly juveniles) fed mainly at ground level on ants. In the dry season in CNP, the diet (in volumetric terms) of smaller Anolis was dominated by hardbodied prey such as ants, springtails (Collembola), barklice (Psocoptera) and beetles (Coleoptera). large Anolis used springtails and barklice to a lesser extent, resulting in relatively low food niche overlap values between size classes and a reduced potential for intraspecific competition compared with the wet season.


The van der Waals volume is a widely used descriptor in modeling physicochemical properties. However, the calculation of the van der Waals volume (V(vdW)) is rather time-consuming, from Bondi group contributions, for a large data set. A new method for calculating van der Waals volume has been developed, based on Bondi radii. The method, termed Atomic and Bond Contributions of van der Waals volume (VABC), is very simple and fast. The only information needed for calculating VABC is atomic contributions and the number of atoms, bonds, and rings. Then, the van der Waals volume (A(3)/molecule) can be calculated from the following formula: V(vdW) = summation operator all atom contributions - 5.92N(B) - 14.7R(A) - 3.8R(NR) (N(B) is the number of bonds, R(A) is the number of aromatic rings, and R(NA) is the number of nonaromatic rings). The number of bonds present (N(B)) can be simply calculated by N(B) = N - 1 + R(A) + R(NA) (where N is the total number of atoms). A simple Excel spread sheet has been made to calculate van der Waals volumes for a wide range of 677 organic compounds, including 237 drug compounds. The results show that the van der Waals volumes calculated from VABC are equivalent to the computer-calculated van der Waals volumes for organic compounds.


A patient with Klinefelter's syndrome and breast carcinoma with multiple metastases, positive for both estrogen and progesterone receptors, showed documented regression of a lung and bone lesion after chemotherapy and a trial of tamoxifen therapy.


We introduce two kinds of generalized -convex functions on real linear fractal sets . And similar to the class situation, we also study the properties of these two kinds of generalized -convex functions and discuss the relationship between them. Furthermore, some applications are given.


The historical importance of childcare centers originated with the entry of women to the labor market, since the Industrial Revolution, to allow those who were mothers, participate of the production process. In its early days, childcare centers used to do the basic care for child survival. Currently this concept expanded, and favors child development in many aspects - cognitive, psychomotor, affective and psychosocial. So we elaborated an exploratory case study with a sample of parents whose children are enrolled on a government childcare center of Salvador city in order to investigate what they expect from this institution to their kids, correlating this with the government's proposals for early childhood education. Characterizing the family profile and mapping their reasons to choice a childcare center for their children, we analyzed the relation between these two environments - intersection that serves as context in the perspective of this study, for child development. As methods for data collect we applied questionnaires and proceeded document analysis conducted with qualitative and quantitative study of their results. For this study we used as theoretical frameworks, the historical references from children  education field and the  origin and establishment of childcare centers, beyond the bioecological systemic approach - a psychology of human development field, discussing the binomial family – childcare center. The study founded that the parents expectations, considering the childcare center target, followed the government's proposals direction for this level of early childhood education. It also allowed the mapping of important aspects from the relationship between the two environments.


Objective: To investigate the efficacy of diethylstilboestrol (DES) in patients with advanced prostate cancer refractory to androgen suppression. Methods: This retrospective study comprises 194 patients with prostate cancer treated with DES (1 mg daily) between 1976 and 2010. Study outcome parameters included demographic data, tumour characteristics, treatment history, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) responses, radiologic studies, adverse events and overall survival. Results: At initiation of oestrogen therapy the mean patient age was 69 years (range: 48-89) and the median PSA was 96 ng/ml (range: 1.9-9,500). The median duration of prior prostate cancer treatment was 29 months (range: 1-365). DES was the second-line treatment in 58 patients and the third/fourth-line therapy in 136 men. A formal (≥50%) PSA response was observed in 95 patients (48.9%) and the median time to progression (TTP) was 250 days (95% CI, 180-360) for this group. An additional 62 patients (31.9%) had a partial PSA response with a median TTP of 150 days (95% CI, 92-180). Thirty-seven patients (19.1%) did not have a PSA response and the median TTP was 90 days (95% CI, 90-97). The median overall survival from the start of oestrogen therapy for the entire cohort was 576 days (95% CI, 482-690). The median overall survival of patients who had a formal (≥50%), partial (<50%) and no PSA response was 756 (95% CI, 670-1,429), 428 (95% CI, 340-630) and 329 (95% CI, 287-510) days, respectively. Thirty-nine patients (20.1%) were still alive at the end of the study. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Conclusions: In the age of chemotherapy this study highlights the efficacy of oestrogen therapy in castration-refractory prostate cancer. The optimal point in the therapeutic pathway at which DES should be prescribed remains to be established.


A bounding box commonly serves as the proxy for 2D object detection. However, extending this practice to 3D detection raises sensitivity to localization error. This problem is acute on flat objects since small localization error may lead to low overlaps between the prediction and ground truth. To address this problem, this paper proposes Sphere Region Proposal Network (SphereRPN) which detects objects by learning spheres as opposed to bounding boxes. We demonstrate that spherical proposals are more robust to localization error compared to bounding boxes. The proposed SphereRPN is not only accurate but also fast. Experiment results on the standard ScanNet dataset show that the proposed SphereRPN outperforms the previous state-of-the-art methods by a large margin while being $2 \times$ to $7 \times$ faster. The code will be made publicly available.


Public health programming efforts have traditionally focused on either an individualistic or population approach, neglecting the family as a setting for or partner in health promotion efforts. Due to the multi-faceted influence of families on individual health, family-focused, and family-friendly public health interventions are important to making lasting changes for individual and community health. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which health promotion programs in a state in the US Intermountain West involve and support families across four family impact principles: family engagement, family stability, family responsibility, and family diversity. A survey was completed by 67 health promotion administrators and practitioners from 12 out of 13 county health departments with additional responses from public health practitioners at the State Health Department. The results of the survey indicated that health promotion efforts were best at supporting family responsibility and a diverse group of families but were weaker in family engagement and family stability. Applying a more family-centered and family-focused approach to health promotion efforts can be achieved by employing interdisciplinary efforts and by taking advantage of tools like the Public Health Family Impact Checklist to intentionally engage and support families in programs and interventions.


In 1 out of 56 patients, orchiectomized in the course of treatment for prostatic carcinoma, metastatic growth in the testis was found. This uncommon metastatic spread is a sign of advanced disease. Dr.


25587-7 The only complete guide to designing state-of-the-art PCS applications. PCS represents a revolution in communications. It will support extraordinary new applications--but engineers must learn entirely new techniques to take full advantage of it. Personal Communications Systems Applications is the first comprehensive engineer's guide to PCS technology and applications. It presents essential, up-to-date research on a broad range of fundamental PCS design and implementation issues for both licensed and unlicensed PCS frequencies, including: * Design techniques that most effectively respond to PCS' inherent characteristics * Spectral efficiency issues and how to manage them in both TDMA and CDMA systems * Microcell design issues--with especially detailed coverage of handoff problems * Speech encoding, antenna and power issues, and more The book also provides detailed case studies of a wide variety of new PCS-related applications, including wireless LANs, adaptive mobile networks, PCS in maritime environments, mobile systems based on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, and much more. Learn how UPS is using hand-held PCS devices to register customers's signatures and transmit data back to a central computer virtually instantaneously. See how Wal-Mart is using PCS to streamline inventory and restocking. Through case studies like these, you'll develop an in-depth understanding of both the business and technical issues surrounding leading-edge PCS implementations. If you're involved in PCS application design and development--or if you plan to be--Personal Communications Systems Applications will be your most essential sourcebook


Objective: to assess awareness of senior community in the Belawa distric, Wajo, South Sulawesi, Indonesia regarding their oral soft tissue abnormality specifically regard to Oral potentially malignant disorders, and to assess community ability to descript any pain or uncomfortably origin from their oral cavity.
Methods: A self-made questionnaire written in Indonesia language was given to the old aged-adult based on WHO criteria with age range between 45 to 75 years old, who was willing to participate in this study. The questioner   consists some picture representing oral mucosal cavity with clinical feature of some ulcers, clinical feature of candida infection, and some clinical appearances of oral potentially malignant disorders.
Results: In term of oral mucosal diseases questions, 22 (55%) participants had history of ulceration, however only 5 (45%) participants could specifically point out its previous ulcer location. However, history of pain only stated by 11 (28%) participants, 24 (60%) did not experienced any pain, and 5 (12%) did not answer the questions.
Conclusion: knowledge and awareness regarding oral health lesion, especially the associated-potentially malignant lesion was far from ideal in the Belawa Community.


SUMMARY. To produce more-stable, live attenuated vaccines for infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV), deletion of genes related to virulence has been extensively pursued. Although its function remains unknown, the open reading frame C (ORF C) is among the genes potentially associated with viral virulence that is nonessential for replication in vitro. Earlier results indicated that the ILT virus with deletion of the ORF C gene (BΔORFC) was suitable and safe for eye drop administration but was not sufficiently attenuated for in ovo administration. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and protection efficacy of a cell line–adapted, gene-deleted strain (BΔORFC) of ILTV when administered in ovo and/or spray (SP) by itself, or in combination with the recombinant HVT-LT (rHVT-LT) vaccine. Results indicated that vaccination with the BΔORFC strain, either by itself or in combination with an rHVT-LT vaccine, did not affect hatchability, and only marginal signs of respiratory distress were recorded for groups of chickens that received the BΔORFC strain via SP. The replication and seroconversion induced by the BΔORFC strain after in ovo and SP administration was very limited, whereas the replication of the rHVT-LT vaccine was delayed when combined with the BΔORFC strain in ovo. Compared to rHVT-LT or BΔORFC when administered alone, dual vaccination with rHVT-LT + BΔORFC was more effective in mitigating clinical signs of the disease and reducing challenge virus load in the trachea. To our knowledge, this study provides the first proof of concept that ILTV strains can be sufficiently attenuated for early vaccination in ovo or at hatch; also, this study documented the benefits of using a dual (recombinant and live attenuated) hatchery vaccination strategy for ILTV.


The rates of pyruvate utilization and lactate formation were measured in lymphocytes from young (newly weaned), adult (3-month old) and aged (15-month old) rats. Lymphocytes obtained from mesenteric lymph nodes were incubated at 37 degrees C for 1 h. The conversion of pyruvate to lactate accounted for 92.5% of the total pyruvate utilized by lymphocytes from young rats and was 34.2% and 44.5% for adult and aged rats, respectively. When lymphocytes were stimulated with concanavalin A there was an increase of 65.6% and 37.1% in the rates of pyruvate utilization by lymphocytes from young and adult rats, respectively. No changes in pyruvate utilization were observed in response to concanavalin A in lymphocytes from aged rats.


Academia, and economics in particular, faces increased scrutiny because of gender imbalance. This paper studies the job market for entry-level faculty positions. We employ machine learning methods to analyze gendered patterns in the text of 12,000 reference letters written in support of over 3,700 candidates. Using both supervised and unsupervised techniques, we document widespread differences in the attributes emphasized. Women are systematically more likely to be described using 'grindstone' terms and at times less likely to be praised for their ability. Using information on initial placement we highlight the implications of these gendered descriptors for the quality of academic placement.


This study investigated values change as an outcome of assessing feelings elicited by contemplating the actualization of the same values. The subjects were divided into an experimental and a control group. They completed three tests in a single session. In the pretest, all subjects were asked to rate the importance of 20 values items on a 4-point scale. Subjects in the experimental group were then asked to rate the degree of pleasure they would feel in actualizing each of the values, while those in the control group rated the degree of inequality they considered women suffer in the actualization of each of the values. The post-test consisted of the same items as the pretest. The subjects in the experimental group completed a second post-test 3 months later. It was found that the experimental procedure produced significant change in the ratings of 15 values at the post-test, whereas the control procedure produced change in only five. The results suggest that rating one's emotional response to a value-related situation can change one's cognition of that value. At the post-test 3 months later, only 3-value ratings remained changed.


This paper examines the phenomenon of humorous Internet memes within the context of news and political culture, sometimes referred to as LOLitics. LOLitics are a category of digital texts created by ordinary individuals that, like most political humour, are usually responses to news events or gaffes committed by political figures. The analysis situates LOLitics as popular culture products that exist within the intersection between pleasure-driven 'play' and (arguably) genuine political discourse. LOLitics are prominent due to their spreadability and replicability, and the amount of texts being produced has visibly risen over the last election cycle. Internet memes have become one of the default ways to respond to particular situations online, and this certainly reflects the reaction towards news and political culture. The 2012 US Presidential election is applied as a case study in examining the significance of these Internet memes to everyday citizen discourse, and the relationships between ordinary citizens, the mainstream media, and politics. The results argue that humorous viral texts, both visual and verbal, reveal the potential power that ordinary people have in setting the agenda for newsmakers, and to communicate political criticism through popular culture.


THE fundamental error in acne is seborrhcea. Theretis at present a lack of knowledge as to the causation of seborrhoea, but it is known that it is common in adolescence, in disorders of the alimentary tract, and is apparently an inborn peculiarity in some individuals. The symptoms of acne vulgaris are, as we may say, built up on seborrhoea as a basis, and comprise, first, the production of a .horny plug in the pilo-sebaceous follicle, the so-called blackhead or comedo; secondly, suppuration around the comedo; and, thirdly, the production of persistent granulomatous nodes, or, in some cases, of cyst-abscesses. The bacteriology of the condition has been studied for many years by several investigators, and the views held by the various workers are divergent. Unna and Hodara found a small bacillus present, which they did not cuiltivate, and came to the conclusion that it was the cause of the suppuration. Sabouraud also found the same bacillus and cultivated it, and believed that it was the cause of the seborrhcea and the comedo, but not the cause of the suppuration, which he considered was due to the pyogenic staphylococci. Gilchrist believed that the bacillus was the cause of the symptoms of acne, and named the bacillus the Bacillus acnes. Some years ago I investigated the question and came to the conclusion that the seborrheea was not bacterial in origin, that the comedo was caused by the small bacillus, which, following Sabouraud, I shall refer to as the microbacillus, and that the suppuration was caused by Staphylococcus pyogenes albus. Recently Fleming worked at the subject and came to the conclusion that the suppuration was in most cases caused by the microbacillus, and urged in proof of his contention its invariable presence in the lesions, its power when rubbed into the arm of producing suppuration in some people, the variable opsonic index in acne patients, and the beneficial effect of inoculation. The appearance of Fleming's work stimulated me to renew my investigations, especially because of the very considerable proportion of acne pustules in which he was unable to demonstrate staphylococci. I therefore examined pus from unopened pustules in my next twenty cases, and in nineteen of these I


The purpose of this study was to explore female varsity athletes' perceptions of how they developed high levels of dispositional optimism in sport. Eighty-three female varsity athletes completed a domain-specific version of the Life Orientation Test (LOT: Scheier & Carver, 1985). Nine participants (M age = 19.33 years, SD = 1.5) who had high dispositional optimism in sport then completed individual semistructured interviews. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis methodology was used. Results showed that during childhood, participants perceived that their parents were supportive, provided feedback, and allowed them to have choice over the sports they played. During adolescence, coaches began to play an important role and participants were also able to learn about being optimistic through the positive and negative experiences they encountered. During early adulthood, participants developed personal narratives about the ways in which they approached sport with optimism.