This essay is written in response and extension to the thoughts offered by danah boyd and Kate Crawford on whether Big Data change how we define knowledge. I suggest that they do not, but they do reinforce and reproduce a form of communicating knowledge that I have been referring to as a digital orality. Online networked platforms, supportive of Big Data and a variety of similar analytical formulations, blend interpersonal and mass storytelling practices variably, offering a reconciliation of primary and secondary orality tendencies and tensions. Literacy, in the form of asking questions about the origins, the textures, and the implications of Big Data, paves the path toward rendering data, small or large, into new modalities of storytelling that a digital orality affords, mastering this orality, and turning these stories into meaningful forms of situated knowledge.


The past decade has occasioned a dramatic increase in research on relationships between school size and a variety of outcomes, including measured achievement, high school completion rates, and postsecondary


Sourcing water for hydraulic fracturing and disposing of produced water are well-known constraints and significant cost items in the development of shale formations in the Permian Basin. Utilizing a water life-cycle approach, some of the produced water can be treated and reused. However, there is usually more produced water than needed and some must be disposed, typically by injection into a disposal well. Whether the water is to be reused or disposaed, it must be treated to some extent. Given the volumes of water involved, treatment technology must be robust and inexpensive. This suggests that the selected technology should be tailored to the characteristics of the water and the quality requirements of the final purpose (reuse or disposal).
 This paper starts with characterization of produced water from a few Permian shale fields and proceeds to the selection of appropriate conventional, robust and low cost treatment systems. Using this approach, fit-for-purpose treatment systems have been implemented in the field. Impairment problems with reuse and disposal of this treated produced water have decreased.


Monte Carlo simulations play an important role in developing and evaluating the performance of radiation detection systems. To accurately model a reflector in an optical Monte Carlo simulation, the reflector's spectral response has to be known. We have measured the reflection coefficient for many commonly used reflectors for wavelengths from 250 nm to 800 nm. The reflectors were also screened for fluorescence and angular distribution changes with wavelength. The reflectors examined in this work include several polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) reflectors, Spectralon, GORE diffuse reflector, titanium dioxide paint, magnesium oxide, nitrocellulose filter paper, Tyvek paper, Lumirror, Melinex, ESR films, and aluminum foil. All PTFE films exhibited decreasing reflectivity with longer wavelengths due to transmission. To achieve >;0.95 reflectivity in the 380 to 500 nm range, the PTFE films have to be at least 0.5 mm thick-nitrocellulose is a good alternative if a thin diffuse reflector is needed. Several of the reflectors have sharp declines in reflectivity below a cut-off wavelength, including TiO2 (420 nm), ESR film (395 nm), nitrocellulose (330 nm), Lumirror (325 nm), and Melinex (325 nm). PTFE-like reflectors were the only examined reflectors that had reflectivity above 0.90 for wavelengths below 300 nm. Lumirror, Melinex, and ESR film exhibited fluorescence. Lumirror and Melinex are excited by wavelengths between 320 and 420 nm and have their emission peaks located at 440 nm, while ESR film is excited by wavelengths below 400 nm and the emission peak is located at 430 nm. Lumirror and Melinex also exhibited changing angular distributions with wavelength.


Cell counting and tracking approaches are widely used in microscopy image processing. Cells may be of different shapes and may be very crowded or relatively close together. In both cases, the correct identification of each cell requires the detection and tracking of its contour. But, this is not always possible due to noise, image blurring from signal degradation during the acquisition process and staining problems. Generally, cell segmentation approaches use filtering techniques, Hough transform, combined with morphological operators to address this problem. However, usually, not all contours can be closed. Therefore, heuristic contour closing techniques have been employed to achieve better results. Despite being necessary, no comparative studies on this type of methods were found in the literature. For that reason, this paper compares three approaches to contour tracking and closing. Two of them use one end of a contour as a starting point and trace a path along the edge of the cell seeking to find another endpoint of the cell. This is done using the first or second ring of neighboring pixels around the starting point. The heuristics used are based on region growing taking the information from the first or second ring of neighboring pixels and keeping the direction along the plotted path. The third method employs a modification of Dijkstra's algorithm. This approach employs two seed points located at each possible end of the contour. This paper presents a description of these techniques and evaluates the results in microscopy images.


Abstract This essay examines the new forms of civic and political engagement that the increasing accessibility of internet-based media has precipitated in the Bulgarian context. It discusses the results of three case studies which focus respectively on online forum discussions of a significant political event; a campaign of eco-protests; and the activism emerging from a website and forum dedicated to motherhood. The essay argues that new media have brought civic and political issues and the possibility to deliberate and act on them into the everyday lives of Bulgarians. As a result, the voice of Bulgarian civil society has grown stronger and has been able to penetrate the sphere of formal politics, sometimes with important consequences.


In this article, we are going to study the stability and bifurcation of a two-dimensional discrete time vocal fold model. The existence and local stability of the unique fixed point of the model is investigated. It is shown that a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation occurs and an invariant circle will appear. We give sufficient conditions for this system to be chaotic in the sense of Marotto. Numerically it is shown that our model has positive Lyapunov exponent and is sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Some numerical simulations are presented to illustrate our theoretical results.


Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of delivering health-related short text messages to parents with the goal of reducing obesity risk among their children aged 3–5 years. Design: Quasi-experimental design involving one experimental group of 17 parents. Setting: Rural American Indian reservation. Methods: During the 5-week intervention period, parents received 3 topic-related text messages each week for a total of 15 messages. The topics focused on included nutrition, physical activity (PA), sleep, consumption of sugary beverages, TV viewing and screen time. Outcomes included assessments of feasibility including retention rates; delivery, receipt and response to text messages; and programme satisfaction. Pre- to posttest changes in parent knowledge of health behaviours associated with childhood obesity and parent report of these health behaviours in their child were also assessed. Results: A total of 100% (17/17) of the participants completed the study and final assessments. All texts (n = 289) sent to participants were successfully delivered. Of the 85 texts that requested a response, parents responded to 91% (78/85) by answering the question. All participants reported they found the texts easy to understand. A total of 94% (16/17) of participants reported enjoying the frequency with which they received messages. At the end of the study, parents reported improved overall child health behaviours that approached statistical significance (p = .051) and parents reported significantly improved behaviours related to PA and sleep (p = .046). No significant differences were found for changes in parent knowledge. Conclusion: Findings suggest it is feasible to deliver a text messaging-based childhood obesity prevention intervention to parents of young children living on a rural American Indian reservation. Text messages were appreciated by parents and may influence child health behaviours associated with childhood obesity.


Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have gained an important place in the management of diabetes management because of their exceptional glucose-lowering, weight lowering and cardiovascular (CV) benefits. Despite recommendations by various clinical practice guidelines and benefits, their usage in clinical practice was limited because of being injectable in nature. Oral semaglutide is a novel GLP-1RA with 94% homology to human GLP-1 which is co-formulated with absorption enhancer sodium N-(8-[2-hydroxybenzoyl] amino) caprylate (SNAC), that overcomes the challenges of peptide absorption in the acidic conditions of the stomach. Oral semaglutide has been evaluated in an extensive phase 3 clinical trial programme named Peptide Innovation for Early Diabetes Treatment (PIONEER) which demonstrated its robust glucose and weight lowering effects against other comparators. The evolution of the GLP-1RA class to include an oral pill will facilitate the use of this class of agents much earlier in the diabetes treatment cascade owing to wider acceptance from patients and clinicians alike. The current review discusses the various aspects of oral semaglutide and its place in clinical practice.


There is reason to think that a familiar and frequently used epistemic closure principle is false. Given this, the relevant instance of that principle should be removed from a familiar skeptical argument, and replaced with an instance of a more plausible epistemic closure principle. Once this has been done, however, we see that even if the resulting skeptical argument is unsound, we need deny neither closure nor the claim that we know the things we ordinarily take ourselves to know. Nothing that the skeptic can do, at least with an argument that makes use of an epistemic closure principle, can ever force us to relinquish closure or the utterly vast stretches of knowledge that we ordinarily take ourselves to have.


An examination of high-resolution simulations of nonlinear baroclinic wave evolution, based upon the nonhydrostatic anelastic equations, has revealed the occurrence of frontal instabilities following cutoff of the primary wave occlusion. The frontal waves are shallow and have horizontal scales of approximately 700 km. They derive their energy from both baroclinic and barotropic energy conversions and it is suggested that they may owe their existence to the instability of a strip of anomalously large potential vorticity that develops along the surface front. The issue of the fundamental mechanism is complicated somewhat because such secondary cyclogenesis events occur at the frontal cusp, a location in which the flow is highly nonparallel. 28 refs., 9 figs.


That gout and its varied complications are due to toxemia, possibly to uric acid or to other substances which vary in the blood as it does, is generally admitted. Interstitial nephritis, the common renal complication of gout, is so well understood that I need not dwell upon it in this discussion. There are a few points, however, in the course of development of the lesion to which I wish to call attention, for in most text-books and monographs sufficient emphasis is not placed upon them. It is, of all renal diseases, the most insidious in onset, and it is intermittent in progress. The kidneys are attacked now and again by uric acid or the toxic agent of gout in microscopic areas, which produce active lesions of almost microscopic size. It is true when we examine a kidney which illustrates interstitial nephritis that we find almost the whole parenchyma involved to


Percutaneous trans-mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) using an Accura balloon is an effective procedure for the mana- gement of patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis. It is not infrequent to encounter an aneurysmal left atrium (LA), especially in the developing world where patients often present very late. This is a technically challenging procedure as the septum often bulges into the right atrial side, making the puncture often difficult. Furthermore, it bulges anteriorly and inferiorly so it becomes even more challenging. Because of the vertical lie of the septum, the needle often dissects the septum rather than puncturing it.
Here, we describe the case of a 17 year-old boy with severe mitral stenosis with a giant, aneurysmal left atrium (LA — 13.5 × 16 cm) where an inter-atrial septal puncture was achieved by probing the fossa ovalis to enter the left atrium instead of a conventional transseptal puncture. PTMC was successfully done, increasing the mitral valve area from 0.8 cm2 to 1.9 cm2.


At the inception of the Information Society program by the G7 countries and the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) initiative, national terrestrial (fiber optic cable) networks seem to have no choice but to be interconnected by communication satellites. The NASA ACTS (Advanced Communication Technology Satellite), with its high powered Ka band, near giga-bit speed, and flexible steerable antenna capabilities, is increasingly recognized as playing a critical role in the GII initiative, due to its success in technological demonstration of network integration potential. Hawaii made an early decision and investment in ACTS-related satellite communication technology by acquiring the High Data Rate (HDR) earth station to provide the necessary, on-demand, long-haul link for this remote but strategic mid-Pacific location. Experiments with applications in medical image sharing, supercomputing and graphics networking, remote astronomical observation, and coordinated disaster management, demonstrate not only that high data rate satellite communication is a necessity for remote cooperative image-based applications but also highlight the unique advantages of Hawaii's central location and its potential for providing an essential link in the GII.


INTRODUCTION: Clavicular fractures are common injuries, accounting for 2.6% of all fractures. Fractures of the middle third (or midshaft) account for approximately
80% of all clavicular fractures. The traditional view that the vast majority of clavicular fractures heal with good functional outcomes following non-operative treatment is no longer valid. Recent studies have identified a higher rate of nonunion and specific deficits
of shoulder function in subgroups of patients with this injuries.
These fractures should therefore be viewed in the spectrum of injuries with
diverse functional outcomes, each requiring careful assessment and individualized
treatment and when indicated these fractures should be treated by primary
operative fixation.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
The aim of the study is to "prospectively analyse the functional outcome of clavicle fractures treated by Plate Osteosynthesis" in terms of complications and functional outcome
in indicated cases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Study is conducted in Madurai Medical College and Government Rajaji
Hospital on 20 patients with displaced/comminuted midshaft clavicle fractures
from May 2010 to Dec 2011. All the patients were treated by open reduction and
internal fixation with 3.5 reconstruction plate and screws.
Inclusion Criteria -
Patients were included in the study if they had (1) a completely displaced
(>2cms) mid shaft fracture of the clavicle (derived by clinical measurement), (2) a
comminuted middle third fracture of the clavicle with inferior cortical defect, (3) a
clavicle fracture associated with scapular neck fracture (floating shoulder), (4)
painful non-union, (5) an age between sixteen and sixty years, (6) no medical
contraindications to general anesthesia, and (7) informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria -
Patients were excluded from the study if they had (1) an age of less than
sixteen years or greater than sixty years, (2) a fracture in the proximal or distal
third of the clavicle, (3) Pathological fractures, (4) Undisplaced or minimally
displaced clavicle fractures. A sling was used for comfort for seven to ten days, and then active range-ofmotion
exercises were allowed. When fracture union (defined as radiographic
union with no pain or motion with manual stressing of the fracture) was evident,
typically at six weeks, overhead abduction and strengthening were allowed, with a
return to full activities at three months.
RESULTS: Of the twenty patients (19 male and 1 female and most of them aged below 30 years) studied between May 2010 and Dec 2011, all had primary plate
fixation except the one with painful non-union for whom plate osteosynthesis with
bone grafting was done. Three patients were lost to follow-up and remaining 17
patients had a mean of 15.5 months follow-up.
All seventeen patients had fracture union in a mean of 16 weeks. Most of the
patients (82%) had constant shoulder score above 90 with an excellent grade
except for three patients. Of these, two of them had wound infection and function
improved after implant removal; and one patient was a 60 year old lady who
developed shoulder stiffness due to improper follow-up and physiotherapy.
CONCLUSION: The traditional view that the vast majority of clavicular fractures heal with good functional outcomes following nonoperative treatment is no longer valid. Recent studies have identified a higher rate of non-union, late neurovascular
compromise and specific deficits of shoulder function in subgroups of patients with
these injuries who are treated by conservative means. Internal fixation by plate
osteosynthesis has the advantage of early pain resolution, early return of shoulder
function and potentially early return to work. The encountered complications in
our study were similar to other recent studies. Clavicle fractures should therefore
be viewed as a spectrum of injuries with diverse functional outcomes, each
requiring careful assessment and individualized treatment, and plate osteosynthesis
should be preferred for the treatment of indicated middle-third clavicle fractures
in active individuals.


The brain consists of thousands of different neuronal types that are generated through multiple divisions of neuronal stem cells. These stem cells have the capacity to generate different neuronal types at different stages of their development. In Drosophila, this temporal patterning is driven by the successive expression of temporal transcription factors (tTFs). While a number of tTFs are known in different animals and across various parts of the nervous system, these have been mostly identified by informed guesses and antibody availability. We used single-cell mRNA sequencing to identify the complete series of tTFs that specify most Drosophila medulla neurons in the optic lobe. We tested the genetic interactions among these tTFs. While we verify the general principle that tTFs regulate the progression of the series by activating the next tTFs in the series and repressing the previous ones, we also identify more complex regulations. Two of the tTFs, Eyeless and Dichaete, act as hubs integrating the input of several upstream tTFs before allowing the series to progress and in turn regulating the expression of several downstream tTFs. Moreover, we show that tTFs not only specify neuronal identity by controlling the expression of cell type-specific genes. Finally, we describe the very first steps of neuronal differentiation and find that terminal differentiation genes, such as neurotransmitter-related genes, are present as transcripts, but not as proteins, in immature larval neurons days before they are being used in functioning neurons; we show that these mechanisms are conserved in humans. Our results offer a comprehensive description of a temporal series of tTFs in a neuronal system, offering mechanistic insights into the regulation of the progression of the series and the regulation of neuronal diversity. This represents a proof-of-principle for the use of single-cell mRNA sequencing for the comparison of temporal patterning across phyla that can lead to an understanding of how the human brain develops and how it has evolved.


In 2009, Tsai proposed an efficient convertible multi-authenticated encryption (CMAE) scheme. However, the author shows that his scheme is distinguishable under adaptive chosen-message attack, and that the designated verifier can generate the signature of the same message for other verifiers. Since no formal model of CMAE has been presented in the literature, the author presents the first complete formal model of CMAE. Then, a new scheme is proposed. The proposed scheme is provably secure in the random oracle model.


Octadecylamine (ODA) was used to intercalate a fine-grained and a coarse-grained fraction of natural Mg-vermiculite (VER) using a low-temperature melting procedure. Mixtures of Mg-vermiculite fractions and powdered ODA in the molar ratios of 2:1, 1:1, 1:2 and 1:6 were homogenized and heated for 1, 3, 15 and 30 h at 80°C to prepare intercalated samples. X-ray powder diffraction analysis of intercalated samples was combined with molecular modeling to investigate their interlayer structure. Significant amounts of non-intercalated vermiculite and diffuse peaks with very low intensity and basal spacings close to 29 Å were identified when the lowest concentration (molar ratio VER:ODA = 2:1) was used. According to molecular modeling, this indicates the initial stage of a one-layer arrangement of distorted ODA molecules in the interlayer. If the concentration of ODA molecules and treatment time were increased, a two-layer arrangement of ODA molecules with a different ODA chain-disorder and interlayer-space saturation was identified. Interlayer ODA molecules were inclined to the vermiculite basal plane with an inclination angle for two-layer arrangements that ranged from 76 to 95°. Experimental basal spacings with these two-layer arrangements varied from 52 to 58 Å and were in agreement with molecular modeling results. A fully-saturated 58 Å two-layer ODA arrangement was identified when higher ODA concentrations (VER:ODA = 1:2 and 1:6) and 15 and 30 h treatment times were used. There was no significant difference between ODA-intercalated samples prepared using fine-grained and coarse-grained Mg-vermiculite fractions. A grafted ODA-chain nano-layer with a 49.6(2.1) Å average height was observed on the surface of thin ODA-intercalated micro-flakes using atomic force microscopy. Grafted ODA chains not only created an homogeneous surface nano-layer, but also variable-width channels between the ODA molecules.


Abstract Lower-limb amputees typically require some form of prosthetic limb to ride a bicycle for recreation or when competing. At elite-level racing speeds, aerodynamic drag can represent the majority of the resistance acting against a cyclists' forward motion. As a result, the reduction of such resistance is beneficial to an amputee whereby the form and function of the prosthetic limb can be optimized through engineering. To measure the performance of such limbs, field testing provides a cost-effective and context-specific method of aerodynamic drag measurement. However, few methods have been formally validated and none have been applied to amputees with lower-limb amputations. In this paper, an elite level para-cyclist wore two different prosthetic limb designs and had their total aerodynamic drag of a wind tunnel reference method statistically correlated against a velodrome-based virtual elevation field test method. The calculated coefficient of variation was in the range of 0.7–0.9% for the wind tunnel method and 2–3% for the virtual elevation method. A 0.03 m2 difference was identified in the absolute values recorded between the two methods. Ultimately, both methods exhibited high levels of precision, yet relative results to each other. The virtual elevation method is proposed as a suitable technique to assess the aerodynamic drag of amputee para-cyclists. Implications for rehabilitation This assessment method will provide practitioners a reliable means of assessing the impact of changes made to prosthetics design for cyclists with limb absence. The proposed method offers a low cost and geographically accessible solution compared to others proposed in the past. This assessment method has significant potential for impact among prosthetic limb users looking to improve their cycling performance whereas previous attention in this field has been extremely limited.


Introduction: Smartphone applications (apps) are equivalent to programs run on personal computers. The interest in smartphones has brought the field of mobile health (mHealth). Despite the big number of women with endometriosis and the severity of their symptoms, mHealth apps within this field have not been reviewed to date. The aim of this study is to assess the status of contemporary apps targeted at endometriosis and women with chronic pelvic pain. Material and methods: Smartphone mHealth apps specifically relating to endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain were identified by searching the largest app stores (Apple iTunes, Google Play, BlackBerry World). Only apps in the English language were included. Results: 26 app were included in the study for further analysis. Nine (34.6%) are clinical guidelines. Seven (27%) are social networking, allowing users to share their stories. Eight apps (31%) used as patient's diary. Twelve out of 26 apps (46%) had documented evidence base practice. Eleven (42%) had Medical Professional involvement in their development. Discussion: As technology portability, ubiquity, accessibility at point of care delivery and processing power of smartphones offers huge potential in the healthcare context. Implications for practice and/or policy: This is the first study to review apps targeted on endometriosis and is a valuable reference for clinicians, app designers, and policy makers with an interest in the area. Conclusions: Endometriosis is a chronic disease with a huge impact in women life. As healthcare providers, we need to take advantage of the technology to improve our patient's life.


This paper presents the performance of a smart antenna receiver for the uplink of a Wideband Codc Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system in the Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode. The beam-forming is implemented with a Lagrange multiplier based algorithm using Q channel. The results show that the smart antenna offers significant performance enhancement over a single antenna in a 3G environment (i.e., with mixed traffic).


The one-dimensional (1D) power law velocity distribution, commonly used for computing velocities in open channel flow, has been derived empirically. However, a multitude of problems, such as scour around bridge piers, cutoffs and diversions, pollutant dispersion, and so on, require the velocity distribution in two dimensions. This paper employs the Shannon entropy theory for deriving the power law velocity distribution in two-dimensions (2D). The development encompasses the rectangular domain, but can be extended to any arbitrary domain, including a trapezoidal domain. The derived methodology requires only a few parameters and the good agreement is confirmed by comparing the velocity values calculated using the proposed methodology with values derived from both the 1D power law model and a logarithmic velocity distribution available in the literature.


The 12- and 13-kDa FK506 binding proteins (FKBP12 and FKBP13) are cis-trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerases that bind the macrolides FK506 (Tacrolimus) and rapamycin (Sirolimus). The FKBP12•FK506 complex is immunosuppressive, acting as an inhibitor of the protein phosphatase calcineurin. We have examined the role of the key surface residues of FKBP12 and FKBP13 in calcineurin interactions by generating substitutions at these residues by site-directed mutagenesis. All mutants are active catalysts of the prolyl isomerase reaction, and bind FK506 or rapamycin with high affinity. Mutations at FKBP12 residues Asp-37, Arg-42, His-87, and Ile-90 decrease calcineurin affinity of the mutant FKBP12•FK506 complex by as much as 2600-fold in the case of I90K. Replacement of three FKBP13 surface residues (Gln-50, Ala-95, and Lys-98) with the corresponding homologous FKBP12 residues (Arg-42, His-87, and Ile-90) generates an FKBP13 variant that is equivalent to FKBP12 in its affinity for FK506, rapamycin, and calcineurin. These results confirm the role of two loop regions of FKBP12 (residues 40-44 and 84-91) as part of the effector face that interacts with calcineurin.


Optimal organization of the asset base in a software product line (SPL) depends on how the assets are used to produce products. It has been assumed that collecting an appropriate set of assets would automatically lead to economically produced products. However, industry experience suggests that simply having the right assets is not sufficient to allow easy assembly of products. One problem is the difficulty of finding and selecting the desired asset during product derivation. We evaluate the effect that organizing the asset base in different ways has on the ability to find a desired asset during product derivation. We evaluate asset organization based on: key domain abstractions, architecture, and features. We evaluate these organizations against the criteria of: natural division, easy to find, generally applicable, reasonably sized groups, and similarly sized groups


In this talk presented at the TAU92 workshop, Colombus, OH, Sept. 92, we summarize results presented in more detail in a recent paper by S. Abel, M. Dittmar and the author where we gave a general proof that Bell's inequality can not be tested at a collider experiment. In particular, a measurement of correlated tau-spins at LEP does not constitute a test of local realistic theories via Bell's inequality. The central point of the argument is that such tests, where the spins of two particles are inferred from a scattering distribution, can always be described by a local hidden variable theory. In response to questions at the workshop we go beyond the paper and show that an old experiment involving the measurement of the correlated spins of the two photons emitted in positronium decay via Compton-scattering is also not a viable test of Bell's inequality.


Continuous biosensors provide real-time information about biochemical processes occurring in the environment of interest and are therefore highly desirable in research, diagnostics and industrial settings. Although remarkable progress has been made in the field of biosensing, most biosensors still rely on batch processes and, thus, are not suited to perform continuous measurements. Recently, however, it has been shown that by combining affinity-based nanoswitches with state-dependent readout platforms, the necessity for batch processes can be overcome and affinity-based continuous biosensing can be achieved. In this review, we first provide an overview of affinity-based continuous biosensing and discuss the required components to achieve this goal. More specifically, we summarize the strategies that have been applied to develop and tune both protein and nucleic acid-based switches, as well as readout strategies that can be applied in combination with the former. Afterwards, biosensors in which both elements were already integrated and hence enabled continuous measurements are reviewed. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with each approach and therefore believe this review can help to encourage and guide future research towards continuous biosensing.


In order to provide a theoretical basis for the selection of indicators for evaluating the quality of apple fruits, 22 quality parameters of 52 mid-early ripening apple cultivars were determined and analyzed by principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis. Results revealed either relative independence or close correspondence among the characteristic indicators of fruit quality. The cumulative variance contribution ratio of the first seven principal components of PCA was up to 72.8%. The 52 apple cultivars were classified as 8 major groups by HCA on the basis of the measured parameters. Eight factors were suitable for a comprehensive system for the evaluation of apple quality, including the content of total soluble solids, sugar/acid ratio, browning degree, the content of magnesium, fruit firmness, fruit shape index, single fruit weight and pulp cell size.


ABSTRACT The proinflammatory effect of Afa/Dr diffusely adhering Escherichia coli (Afa/Dr DAEC) strains have been recently demonstrated in vitro by showing that polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) transepithelial migration is induced after bacterial colonization of apical intestinal monolayers. The effect of Afa/Dr DAEC-PMN interaction on PMN behavior has been not investigated. Because of the putative virulence mechanism of PMN apoptosis during infectious diseases and taking into account the high level of expression of the decay-accelerating factor (DAF, or CD55), the receptor of Afa/Dr DAEC on PMNs, we sought to determine whether infection of PMNs by Afa/Dr DAEC strains could promote cell apoptosis. We looked at the behavior of PMNs incubated with Afa/Dr DAEC strains once they had transmigrated across polarized monolayers of intestinal (T84) cells. Infection of PMNs by Afa/Dr DAEC strains induced PMN apoptosis characterized by morphological nuclear changes, DNA fragmentation, caspase activation, and a high level of annexin V expression. However, transmigrated and nontransmigrated PMNs incubated with Afa/Dr DAEC strains showed similar elevated global caspase activities. PMN apoptosis depended on their agglutination, induced by Afa/Dr DAEC, and was still observed after preincubation of PMNs with anti-CD55 and/or anti-CD66 antibodies. Low levels of phagocytosis of Afa/Dr DAEC strains were observed both in nontransmigrated and in transmigrated PMNs compared to that observed with the control E. coli DH5α strain. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that interaction of Afa/Dr DAEC with PMNs may increase the bacterial virulence both by inducing PMN apoptosis through an agglutination process and by diminishing their phagocytic capacity.


The gene encoding a novel chitosanase from Bacillus sp. strain K17 was cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence of the gene contained an open reading frame corresponded to a protein of 453 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of the K17 chitosanase exhibited the highest homology to those of family 8 glycanases, suggesting that the enzyme belonged to family 8.


Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in a young athlete commonly brings to the forefront the many gaps in knowledge regarding how to predict and prevent these rare tragic events.1–3 Although the number of athletic sudden deaths is relatively small, with ≈100 to 150 competitive deaths during sports in the United States annually, they represent an important and emotionally charged public health issue, perhaps out of proportion to the relative risks of other pediatric deaths (Figure 1).1–5 Despite identification of the cardiovascular conditions that predispose to these events, much remains unknown regarding many fundamental issues related to athletic sudden death. The precise frequency with which these events occur in the United States remains unclear because of the absence of athletic death registries (and indeed any SCD registry) with mandatory reporting requirements.1–8 In fact, whether these events are more common in athletes is not at all certain. Additionally, significant gaps in evidence exist related to effectiveness of preventing sudden death in the athlete with preparticipation screening strategies. There are many limitations to the available evidence supporting the notion that athletic restriction improves outcomes. The effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator (AED) programs, evident in casinos and airports, has not necessarily been shown in athletes.9 The ongoing debates related to prediction and prevention of athletic sudden death persists because the standards of evidence-based medicine have not been fulfilled with appropriately designed randomized controlled trials.

Figure 1.
Causes of death in the US population aged 1 to 21 years. Injury, homicide, and suicide dwarf the number of sudden deaths in athletes. SCD indicates sudden cardiac death. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html).

On average, every 3 days in the United States a competitive athlete experiences a SCD, and many …


The death of Libby Zion, a New York City college student, in 1984 was blamed in part on fatigued and under-supervised residents. Her death brought about a grand jury investigation and eventually prompted the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) to create and enforce multiple duty hour regulations for residents throughout the United States since that time. The ACGME last made changes to its duty hour regulations on July 1, 2011. These changes were more stringent than previous regulations and may affect patient safety. Little research exists concerning the new regulations' effects on patient safety, and hardly any research focuses on residents' perceptions of duty hour regulations and patient safety. While internal medicine and other medical residents have been studied, plastic surgery residents have largely been ignored. Therefore, the purpose of this ethnographic study was to describe plastic surgery residents' perceptions of the ACGME's 2011 duty hour regulations' effects on patient safety. Ten plastic surgery residents were interviewed to determine their perceptions of the 2011 duty hour changes and patient safety. Fourteen questions were used to guide each interview. Interviews were transcribed, and transcripts were checked for accuracy. Open and axial coding was used to separate and organize data into themes. Five themes emerged regarding patient safety, which were resident fatigue, resident inexperience, patient hand-offs, at-home call, and night float. Information gained from this study may aid the medical community when considering future changes for resident duty hour regulations.


AIM
Increased levels of acute phase proteins, e.g., fibrinogen, are related to a poor outcome in unstable coronary artery disease, but the cause of inflammation is unknown. We therefore investigated the prevalence of persistent Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, and its relationship to inflammation in this condition.

METHODS AND RESULTS
In 256 patients participating in the FRISC trial, evaluating the effects of dalteparin (a low molecular weight heparin) in unstable angina or non-Q wave myocardial infarction, Chlamydia pneumoniae IgA antibody titres and levels of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein and troponin T were determined at inclusion. Increased C. pneumoniae IgA antibody titres were significantly more common in the patients (36%) than in a reference population of similar age (19%); P < 0.001. Raised titres were associated with male gender, increasing age, smoking, and elevated concentrations of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein and troponin T. The association between persistent C. pneumoniae infection and increased fibrinogen levels was independent of other risk factors evaluated in multivariate analysis (P = 0.009).

CONCLUSION
Persistent C. pneumoniae infection is common in unstable coronary artery disease. The independent association between increased C. pneumoniae IgA antibody titres and fibrinogen levels indicates that chronic infection could be of importance for disease activity.


This article describes the change of hand value of chitosan crosslinked cotton fabrics. The chitosan crosslinked cotton fabrics were manufactured by mercerizing process using epichlorohydrin(ECH) as crosslinkins agent, 2% aqueous acetic acid as a solvent of chitosan and ECH, and 20% aqueous sodium hydroxide as a mercerizing agent and crosslinking catalyst. Cotton fabrics were dipped in the mixed solution of chitosan and ECH, picked up by mangle, mercerized and crosslinked in NaOH solution, and finally wash and dry. Mechanical and physical properties of the chitosan crosslinked fabric were investigated using Kawabata Evaluation System(KES) and other instruments. Tensile energy and tensile strain were decreased with the increase of the concentration of chitosan. Tensile resilience, compression resilience bending rigidity, bending hysteresis, shear stiffness, shear hysteresis, coefficient of friction, geometrical roughness, compression linearity, compressional energy, and thickness were increased with the increase of the concentration of chitosan. On the other hand, bending rigidity, bending hysteresis, coefficient of friction, geometrical roughness, compressional resilience, and thickness were increased with the increase of the concentration of crosslinking agent(epichlorohydrin).


Patients undergoing radiation therapy for the head and neck are susceptible to a significant and often abrupt deterioration in their oral health. The oral morbidities of radiation therapy include but are not limited to an increased susceptibility to dental caries and periodontal disease. They also include profound and often permanent functional and sensory changes involving the oral soft tissue. These changes range from oral mucositis experienced during and soon after treatment, mucosal opportunistic infections, neurosensory disorders, and tissue fibrosis. Many of the oral soft tissue changes following radiation therapy are difficult challenges to the patients and their caregivers and require life‐long strategies to alleviate their deleterious effect on basic life functions and on the quality of life. We discuss the presentation, prognosis, and management strategies of the dental structure and oral soft tissue morbidities resulting from the administration of therapeutic radiation in head and neck patient. A case for a collaborative and integrated multidisciplinary approach to the management of these patients is made, with specific recommendation to include knowledgeable and experienced oral health care professionals in the treatment team.


Deep speaker embeddings have become the leading method for encoding speaker identity in speaker recognition tasks. The embedding space should ideally capture the variations between all possible speakers, encoding the multiple aspects that make up speaker identity. In this work, utilizing speaker age as an auxiliary variable in US Supreme Court recordings and speaker nationality with VoxCeleb, we show that by leveraging additional speaker attribute information in a multi task learning setting, deep speaker embedding performance can be increased for verification and diarization tasks, achieving a relative improvement of 17.8% in DER and 8.9% in EER for Supreme Court audio compared to omitting the auxiliary task. Experimental code has been made publicly available.


The paper outlines the process of the modernisation and improvement of the general administrative procedure in FYR Macedonia. Besides a review of the key novelties and accompanying critical remarks, the paper presents the standards and guidelines for the functioning of the administration which served as a basis for the preparation of the Macedonian Administrative Procedure Act (GAPA), along with various theoretical perspectives on their sources, applicability, and value in use. The purpose of this research


Using canonical method the Liouville theory has been obtained as a grav-itational Wess-Zumino action of the Polyakov string. From this approach it is clear that the form of the Liouville action is the consequence of the bosonic representation of the Virasoro algebra, and that the coefficient in front of the action is proportional to the central charge and measures the quantum braking of the classical symmetrie.


Power system operation and control relies heavily on models for decision making. Topology is a critical part of producing these models and maintaining up-to-date topologies of electrical distribution networks is a resource consuming and challenging task. This paper proposes a methodology and system architecture for inference of electrical topology using process and model data from IEC 61850 compliant substation automation devices. A system of autonomous intelligent agents communicating via an overlay network is proposed where agents are capable of communicating on the IEC 61850 station bus. An algorithm for topology inference using structured exchange and comparison of process and model information is developed. The capabilities of structured information exchange and interfacing of substation automation devices enables plug-and-play operation of the topology inference requiring minimal prior knowledge of electrical network structure. Decentralized topology inference forms the basis for future work in operation and management of active distribution networks.


THE PROBLEM of recurrent cancer in the upper gastrointestinal and biliary tracts has not created the surgical unrest that equally malignant lesions on the surface of the body or in the musculoskeletal system have evoked. The defeatist attitude regarding the prognosis following the reresection of gastric cancer has been manifest in cancer producing biliary obstruction, and most surgeons do not feel justified in performing an operation in either area for recurrence offering a major risk of morbidity or mortality. It is an incontrovertible fact that the radical operation for neoplastic biliary obstruction is attended by a high mortality rate and a discouraging salvage. As previously stated in regard to the problem of resection in the face of recurrence of gastric cancer, 1 secondary resections of locally recurring lesions afford patients greater comfort with a more extended span of life than other surgical and nonsurgical methods of palliation and in an


Human understanding of narrative is mainly driven by reasoning about causal relations between events and thus recognizing them is a key capability for computational models of language understanding. Computational work in this area has approached this via two different routes: by focusing on acquiring a knowledge base of common causal relations between events, or by attempting to understand a particular story or macro-event, along with its storyline. In this position paper, we focus on knowledge acquisition approach and claim that newswire is a relatively poor source for learning fine-grained causal relations between everyday events. We describe experiments using an unsupervised method to learn causal relations between events in the narrative genres of first-person narratives and film scene descriptions. We show that our method learns fine-grained causal relations, judged by humans as likely to be causal over 80% of the time. We also demonstrate that the learned event pairs do not exist in publicly available event-pair datasets extracted from newswire.


Retroperitoneal bronchogenic cysts (RBCs) are regarded as a rare type of congenital dysplasia disease that stems from the primitive foregut. Thus far, the exact pathogenesis of RBCs remains unknown. Due to an atypical clinical manifestation, RBCs are often incidentally detected and diagnosed by imaging modalities, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. However, they are easily misdiagnosed due to their non-specific imaging features. Additionally, the most appropriate treatment strategy for an RBC is considered to be surgical resection. The present study reports the rare case of a 36-year-old female with a large RBC containing fatty fluid that was previously misdiagnosed as liposarcoma or cystic teratoma. Following a complex surgical resection, pathological findings confirmed a diagnosis of RBC. The follow-up examination showed that the patient was in good health at 16 months post-surgery, with no evidence of recurrence. Although rare, bronchogenic cysts must be considered in the differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal teratoma, and surgical resection should be pursued for symptom resolution and to establish a definitive histology.


This is one of a series of articles written by eminent clinicians for the purpose of extending information concerning the official medicines. The twenty-four articles in this series have been planned and developed through the cooperation of the U. S. Pharmacopeial Committee of Revision andThe Journal of the American Medical Association.—Ed. In syphilis there is an active, motile organism which requires moisture and tissue for its further spread and vitality. It is well known that Spirochaeta pallida dies within one-half hour if exposed on a dry surface; e. g., a glass slide. On the other hand, if anywhere on the body the organism gains entrance into the skin, through a bruise, a cut or a crack, an infection will probably occur. Of this there is not absolute surety, for it is possible that certain individuals may have some resistance to the disease, perhaps enough at least to word off an


A modus is defined as a qualification or obligation added to a gift or testamentary disposition whereby the person benefited is required to devote the property he receives, or the value thereof, in whole or in part to a specific purpose. Writers and commentators seem to have neglected research of the concept as the last in-depth discussion of the modus was published in 1968. As a result of a lack of discussion on the topic, the enforceability of the modus caused many problems and led to various opinions on its enforceability, especially where the modus for an impersonal purpose is concerned. Traditionally this type of modus was seen as being practically impossible to enforce and the term 'unenforceable' came to be generally used whenever there is no-one available to see to the enforcement of the modus. In modern South African law, with the revival of class actions and an action akin to the actio popularis, this position has changed. The conclusion to be made is that there is definitely an enforceable modus under modern law which did not previously exist, namely the modus for an impersonal purpose involving constitutional rights. The Supreme Court of Appeal has also recognised enforcement of rights other than constitutional rights by means of class actions and the Constitutional Court has even broadened the scope of application of these actions to include any action in the interests of justice. A modus for an impersonal purpose is therefore capable of being enforced by any member of a group if such enforcement would be in the interests of justice. On the other hand, it may still be impossible to enforce a modus which may only affect the beneficiary or no-one at all if not fulfilled.


Objective: To review the published in vitro, in vivo, and clinical data and FDA background documents that led to the approval of voriconazole. Data Sources: Articles were identified by the referenced package insert and by a MEDLINE search (1966–October 2002) using the terms voriconazole, azole antifungal, aspergillosis, and UK-109, 496. Additionally, journal Web sites and abstracts from major infectious disease meetings were researched to obtain newly published data. Study Selection: All animal and human data published in journals, abstracts, and FDA background documentation were used. The only in vitro susceptibility testing studies used were those that incorporated a large number of fungal isolates. Data Synthesis: Voriconazole is a novel monotriazole antifungal agent that inhibits the fungal cytochrome P450–mediated 14 α-lanosterol demethylation. In vitro susceptibility studies, in vivo clinical trials, and case reports have shown potent activity against various Aspergillus spp., Scedosporium, and Fusarium. Additionally, voriconazole has shown in vitro activity against dimorphic fungi and yeast, including Candida spp. and Cryptococcus neoformans. The efficacy of voriconazole has been evaluated in 4 clinical trials. The clinical studies indicate that it is at least as effective as amphotericin B for the treatment of acute invasive aspergillus infection. The most common adverse effects in clinical trials included visual disturbances, rash, and elevated liver function tests. Voriconazole is metabolized by CYP2C19, CYP2C9, and CYP3A4 and thus causes multiple serious drug–drug interactions. Conclusions: Voriconazole provides an advance in therapy for the treatment of acute invasive aspergillus infection.


T and B cells mediate specific protective immunity. NK cells can also mediate a memory response to murine cytomegalovirus in T and B cell deficient rag2−/− mice. T and B cell deficient rag1−/− mutant zebrafish mediate protective immunity to intracellular bacteria. NK cells have not been characterized in zebrafish due to a lack of tools to target specific markers. The aim of this study was to evaluate NK cell tissue distribution and transcript response to TLR ligands in rag1−/− mutant zebrafish. We accomplished this by determining the level of expression of ifnγ, t-bet, nitr9, and NK lysin (nkl) a, b, c and d transcripts following exposure to β glucan, Poly I:C, R-848 and VTX-2337. Expression levels were normalized to the basal level of expression and the fold changes were compared to that of endotoxin free PBS (carrier control) injected group. R848 and VTX-2337 exposure changed the gene expression profile in a tissue specific manner. Nitr9 protein expression was analyzed by western blot and detectable levels were found in the liver. Nitr9 expression correlated with the expression of ifnγ in liver and kidney. In another experiment, fish were injected with TLR ligand when vaccinated, were only vaccinated, or not vaccinated. After bacteria challenge, fish that received β glucan or R848 when vaccinated had the highest survival. This suggests the TLR ligands have an adjuvant activity on NK cell protective responses. Our results of NK cell stimulation indirectly demonstrate the presence of NK cells in zebrafish and suggest a possible means of enhancing NK cell based immunity. These findings demonstrate the clinical significance of the rag1−/− mutant zebrafish model.


The alpha element to iron peak element ratio, for example [Mg/Fe], is a commonly applied indicator of the galaxy star formation timescale (SFT) since the two groups of elements are mainly produced by different types of supernovae that explode over different timescales. However, it is insufficient to consider only [Mg/Fe] when estimating the SFT. The [Mg/Fe] yield of a stellar population depends on its metallicity. Therefore, it is possible for galaxies with different SFTs and at the same time different total metallicity to have the same [Mg/Fe]. This effect has not been properly taken into consideration in previous studies. In this study, we assume the galaxy-wide stellar initial mass function (gwIMF) to be canonical and invariant. We demonstrate that our computation code reproduces the SFT estimations of previous studies, where only the [Mg/Fe] observational constraint is applied. We then demonstrate that once both metallicity and [Mg/Fe] observations are considered, a more severe "downsizing relation" is required. This means that either low-mass ellipticals have longer SFTs (>4 Gyr for galaxies with mass below 1010 M ) or massive ellipticals have shorter SFTs (≈200 Myr for galaxies more massive than 1011 M ) than previously thought. This modification increases the difficulty in reconciling such SFTs with other observational constraints. We show that applying different stellar yield modifications does not relieve this formation timescale problem. The quite unrealistically short SFT required by [Mg/Fe] and total metallicity would be prolonged if a variable stellar gwIMF were assumed. Since a systematically varying gwIMF has been suggested by various observations this could present a natural solution to this problem.


From the review of the achievements and advantages in the development of biotechnology (BT) and bioindustry in China, it is clear that the bioeconomy would provide a tremendous opportunity for China to develop sustainably or even surpass a few developed countries. A long‐term vision has been made to guide the research and development and industrialization of BT in China. This review detailed the strategies, targets, priorities, and key technologies in each stage. Furthermore, the reviewers expatiated on the establishment of the favorable policies, the foundation of the professional groups, the establishment of the advanced laboratories or centers, the investment mechanisms, the development and evaluation of biosafety, the encouragement and suppor7 for the international collaborations and exchanges, and the establishment of the general organizational structure.


© 2018 Copyright held by the author(s). Published by AIJR Publisher in Abstracts of International Conference on Scholarly Communication, Open-access Publishing and Ethics (SCOPE-2018), October 25-26, 2018. Organised by School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, India. This is an open access article under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original work is properly cited. ISBN: 978-81-936820-3-6, DOI: 10.21467/proceedings.3 Series: AIJR Proceedings, 3 Mapping the Impact of Research and Role of the Librarian


A study on water quailty and sanitation is conducted in an urban poor district in Panglao Island, Bohol Province, Philippines. Groundwater is the main domestic water source in the resort Island, where open dug wells and piped-water from deep wells supply the domestic needs of most households. But municipal reports show that from 2000-2003, diarrhea was among the top 10 leading causes of morbidity in the municipality. Household surveys, focused group discussions, infrastructure inspection, and initial field tests showed water quality concerns in the area which include saltwater intrusion and fecal contamination, among others. The aquifer is found to have high level of chlorides (i.e., 990 to 8,550 mg/L and 387 to 8,337 mg/L during wet and dry seasons, respectively) which exceeds WHO threshold value of 250 mg/L. Water sources (wells) in the island are also contaminated in both seasons where 24 out of 26 wells are positive for fecal Coliform. Thus, long term solutions for Panglao Island are necessary to safeguard the health of water users in the island resort. One option is water connection to Bohol mainland and installing a sewerage network with centralized treatment.


Achyranthes aspera Linn. (Amaranthaceae) commonly known as Prickly Chaff flower (English) is traditionally used for treating a number of ailments. Different parts of the plant are used in treating wounds and ringworm in East Africa and elsewhere for a number of ailments. In this study, leaf extracts of A. aspera collected from two different geographical locations (Ciaat, Eritrea and Ukulinga, South Africa) were evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmintic activities and the plant characterized for functional phenolic acids as well as protein binding capacity. The pathogens used in the tests were, two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae), two Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus), a filamentus yeast-like fungus (Candida albicans) and a free-living nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans). The water and acetone extracts of the samples collected from Ciaat exhibited good antibacterial, antifungal and anthelmintic activity (MIC < 1 mg/ml) except the water extract against E. coli which showed moderate activity. In contrast, the extracts collected from Ukulinga exhibited moderate to weak activities except for the acetone (aq.) extracts which had good activity against some of the tested organisms. UHPLC-MS/MS revealed variation in the levels of some functional phenolic compounds, with rutin, chlorogenic acid and genistein not being detected in the extracts from Ukulinga. The variation was also observed in the protein binding capacity, which could offer a predictive wound healing model. All extracts from plant samples collected at Ciaat expressed significant dominant potency compared to similar extracts from Ukulinga.


Vascular calcification is common in cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis, and is associated with an increased risk of pathological events and mortality. Some semaphorin family members play an important role in atherosclerosis. In the present study, we show that Semaphorin 4D/Sema4D and its Plexin-B1 receptor were significantly upregulated in calcified aorta of a rat chronic kidney disease model. Significantly higher Sema4D and Plexin-B1 expression was also observed during inorganic phosphate-induced calcification of vascular smooth muscle cells. Knockdown of Sema4D or Plexin-B1 genes attenuated both the phosphate-induced osteogenic phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells, through regulation of SMAD1/5 signaling, as well as apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells, through modulation of the Gas6/Axl/Akt survival pathway. Taken together, our results offer new insights on the role of Sema4D and Plexin-B1 as potential therapeutic targets against vascular calcification.


Automated Planning addresses the problem of finding a sequence of actions, a plan, transforming the environment from its initial state to some goal state. In real-world environments, exogenous events might occur and might modify the environment without agent's consent. Besides disrupting agent's plan, events might hinder agent's pursuit towards its goals and even cause damage (e.g. destroying the robot).In this paper, we leverage the notion of Safe States in dynamic environments under presence of non-deterministic exogenous events that might eventually cause dead-ends (e.g. "damage" the agent) if the agent is not careful while executing its plan. We introduce a technique for generating plans that constrains the number of consecutive "unsafe" actions in a plan and a technique for generating "robust" plans that effectively evade event effects. Combination of both approaches plans and executes robust plans between safe states. We empirically show that such an approach effectively navigates the agent towards its goals in spite of presence of dead-ends.


Molecular dynamics simulations of the water–isooctane interface are performed to sort out the effect of temperature on the properties of liquid–liquid interfaces. Reliable interaction potential models are applied to describe the interactions, including the treatment of long-range electrostatic forces. It is shown that the increase in temperature has little effect on the basic structural features of the interface, i.e. its sharpness and corrugation. Other interfacial properties, such as the density profile, specific solvent orientations or hydrogen-bonding characteristics are nearly identical for the range of temperatures considered (from 277 to 323 K). However, the liquid–liquid interfacial tension of the water/isooctane system has a non-monotonic behaviour, presenting a maximum at a specific temperature, in contrast to the monotonic decay found for the liquid–vapour case. This behaviour is similar to the one observed for binary mixtures of partially miscible Lennard–Jones fluids.


The importance of FDI for the economic development of a transition economy is especially pronounced. However, it is necessary to say that the importance of FDI for the Western Balkan countries have the crucial importance especially for the continuation and completion of the initiated reforms. Continuation and completion of structural economic reforms is also one of the key conditions for the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. So, the central question is what are the key factors that determine the level of FDI flows into the Western Balkan countries in the near future. The notable FDI performance of Central Eastern European countries during their preparation for the EU accession in the last decade and the experience of earlier EU enlargements demonstrate that economic integration can increase FDI inflows. The Western Balkans follows a specific process of economic integration. On the one hand, intra-regional integration aims at normalizing the economic relations after the period of disintegration during the nineties and helps to create a common market. On the other hand, the regions aspire to accede into the EU, as it has been demonstrated by the EU membership application of Croatia. This paper aims to analyze how political stability or instability may affect FDI inflows by creating an index of performance on this variable for each Western Balkan country and relates it to a measure of FDI performance for a particular country. Also, the paper analyzes the impact of the EU accession process on the value of FDI inflows. The integration of the Western Balkan countries with the aim of liberalizing interregional trade represents (such as a CEFTA agreement) a chance for improving their mutual cooperation and it provides the basis for a more intensive trade with the European Union countries. Based on the analysis of the current political situation in the Western Balkans, as well as the current position in the negotiations with the EU, paper indicates the factors which determine the likely direction of potential FDI flows into the Western Balkan countries with the specific recommendations for the economic policy makers.


—One of the biggest challenges in nonparametric regression is the curse of dimensionality. Additive models are known to overcome this problem by estimating only the individual additive effects of each covariate. However, if the model is misspecified, the accuracy of the estimator compared to the fully nonparametric one is unknown. In this work the efficiency of completely nonparametric regression estimators such as the Loess is compared to the estimators that assume additivity in several situations, including additive and non-additive regression scenarios. The comparison is done by computing the oracle mean square error of the estimators with regards to the true nonparametric regression function. Then, a backward elimination selection procedure based on the Akaike Information Criteria is proposed, which is computed from either the additive or the nonparametric model. Simulations show that if the additive model is misspecified, the percentage of time it fails to select important variables can be higher than that of the fully nonparametric approach. A dimension reduction step is included when nonparametric estimator cannot be computed due to the curse of dimensionality. Finally, the Boston housing dataset is analyzed using the proposed backward elimination procedure and the selected variables are identified.


We give several bounds for in- and out-cluster susceptibilities in site-dependent percolation on directed and undirected graphs. We also discuss the transition associated with proliferation of self-avoiding cycles and relate it with the transition where the number of percolating clusters becomes infinite. The bounds are formulated in terms of the spectral radius and norms of an appropriately weighted adjacency matrix and non-backtracking (Hashimoto) matrix associated with the graph.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the training effectiveness and behavior towards the elderly of 180 caregiver trainees. Methods: Data were collected from five caregiver training institutions located in G city. All subjects were surveyed about the training effectiveness and behavior towards the elderly by using the Training Effectiveness Scale and the Behavior towards the Elderly Scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. Results: The study subjects gained a training effectiveness score of 3.84 out of 5 points and a behavior towards the elderly score 3.40 out of 4 points. The training effectiveness differed significantly depending on subject's characteristics, intention to work as a caregiver, and hours of training. There were significant differences in behavior towards the elderly depending on their age and hours of training. The training effectiveness was significantly correlated with the level of behavior towards the elderly. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the necessity of developing a level of educational training that will help improve caregiver trainees' care by positively changing their behavior towards the elderly.


A recent editorial 1 inThe Journalentitled "Vitamins for Gray Hair" reviewed the experimental evidence relating to the use of pantothenic acid and para-aminobenzoic acid to prevent and correct nutritional achromotrichia. Controlled clinical evidence to substantiate the view that pantothenic acid will restore color to hair in human beings is not available in the scientific literature. Two articles appearing in a monthly magazine directed to the interests of women in running a household refer to the value of pantothenic acid in this respect. Irrespective of the lack of controlled clinical evidence, calcium pantothenate has been offered to the public as an effective agent for restoring color to gray hair. It is interesting to note that in the labelings of products containing calcium pantothenate the representations for the substance are directed to all persons who desire to restore "the original color to the hair." Dissemination of information concerning this alleged


Abstract The sequential separation technique of U, Th, Pb, and the lanthanides with a single anion-exchange column was applied to analysis of the geochemical reference sample, JB-1. The separation technique was previously developed by the authors and reported. The sample was digested and dissolved in nitric acid. Five solutions of different volume containing 0.1–1 mg of the JB-1 were loaded on the separate columns, and the elements of interest in the solution were sequentially separated. The concentrations of the elements were measured with an ICP-MS. The elements were successfully separated and alkaline metals and alkaline earth metals were effectively eliminated from the elements. The elemental concentrations were concordant with the literature values within the deviation except for that of Th. The elemental concentrations were accurately determined in ≥500 μg of the JB-1 without subtraction of processing blanks.


Islamic law as national law in Indonesia growing and developing normative values of islamic law has been applied to full conciousness by Islam society. Different from the judicial islamic law has not been any material including islamic criminal law is formulated through the legislative process in the form of legislation or other regulatory laws. The reality Indonesia is not law state or sekularism state, then fighting islamic with values integration approach seems more promising approach especially islamic crimanal law. Therefore, a serious effort is needed to exploreas much as possible and socialization of noble values embodied in islamic law.


This paper begins with a brief analysis of some typical processes which affect in a dramatic way the present and the future resources of world development. Sustainability is one of the key-concepts on which a solution of these negative processes could be based. The abstract idea of sustainability can get a more substantial practical support in connection with the concept of triple bottom line, proposed by J. Elkington. The triple bottom line views the industrial performances of a corporation, considering in a synthetic perspective its environmental, economic, and social effects. But Elkington's model has its flaws, and we suggest a new way to rebuild his triple bottom line. In the end, we argue the relevance of the triple bottom line for business ethics, searching for a better conceptual frame in Archie Carroll's Four-Part Social Responsibility Model.


Research grounded in role theory and occupational socialization theory point to the potential consequences of occupying the roles of physical education teacher and athletic coach concurrently. Specifically, time constraints and inconsistencies in role requirements, organization, rewards, and modes of accountability in teaching and coaching create challenges and may force some teacher/coaches to choose one role as primary to the detriment of the other role. However, most of this research has diminished or altogether neglected the impact of individual identity and social context on the experience of role conflict. The purpose of this paper is to review research related to role conflict in the dual role of teacher/coaches and to propose a conceptual model for viewing teacher/coaches role conflict from a multidimensional perspective. Finally, a case is made for a revitalization of teacher/coaches role conflict research in physical education.


Abstract Background Non-communicable diseases, including hypertension, are increasing rapidly in resource-poor, developing countries amongst populations transitioning from traditional to westernised lifestyles; and are associated with excess weight. Aim To investigate the relationship between hypertension and various indices of body adiposity in a transitioning, urban, black population. Setting Three hundred and thirty-nine adults (25–64 years) from a larger cross-sectional study (Assuring Health for All in the Free State) conducted in Mangaung, South Africa, were included. Methods Standard techniques were used to determine blood pressure, HIV status, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and body adiposity index (BAI). Results Approximately 40% of the sample was HIV-positive and 63.4% hypertensive, with the greatest risk of hypertension being amongst older men. Based on BMI, 23.0% were overweight and 32.1% obese. Waist-to-height ratio showed that 58.6% had increased cardiovascular risk. Mean BAI was 34.1%, whilst 76.3% had a body fat percentage in the overweight/obese category. Waist circumference representing increased cardiovascular risk was found in 44.3% of women and 3.9% of men. Significant positive correlations between mean arterial blood pressure and BMI (r = 0.261; p < 0.001), WHtR (r = 0.357; p < 0.001) and BAI (r = 0.245; p < 0.001) were found. WHtR was a stronger predictor of mean arterial pressure than BMI or BAI. HIV status showed an inverse correlation with all adiposity indices (p < 0.001). Conclusion Our findings promote WHtR as a practical screening tool for increased hypertension risk in populations undergoing westernisation, and support weight loss as a first-line intervention for the prevention and management of hypertension.


Direct photo‐electrochemical (PEC) water splitting is of great practical interest for developing a sustainable energy systems, but remains a big challenge owing to sluggish charge separation, low efficiency, and poor stability. Herein, a 3D porous In2O3/In2S3 pyramid heterostructure array on a fluorine‐doped tin oxide substrate is fabricated by an ion exchange–induced synthesis strategy. Based on the synergistic structural and electronic modulations from density functional theory calculations and experimental observations, 3D porous In2O3/In2S3 photoanode by the protective layer delivers a low onset potential of ≈0.02 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), the highest photocurrent density of 8.2 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V versus RHE among all the In2S3 photoanodes reported to date, an incident photon‐to‐current efficiency of 76% at 400 nm, and high stability over 20 h for PEC water splitting are reported. This work provides an alternative promising prototype for the design and construction of novel heterostructures in robust PEC water splitting applications.


"This edited volume will make a major contribution to our appreciation of the importance of classical literature and learning in medieval Ireland, and particularly to our understanding of its role in shaping the content, structure and transmission of medieval Irish narrative." Dr Kevin Murray, Department of Early and Medieval Irish, University College Cork. From the tenth century onwards, Irish scholars adapted Latin epics and legendary histories into the Irish language, including the Imtheachta Aeniasa, the earliest known adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid into any European vernacular; Togail Troi, a grand epic reworking of the decidedly prosaic history of the fall of Troy attributed to Dares Phrygius; and, at the other extreme, the remarkable Merugud Uilixis meic Leirtis, a fable-like retelling of Ulysses's homecoming boiled down to a few hundred lines of lapidary prose. Both the Latin originals and their Irish adaptations had a profound impact on the ways in which Irish authors wrote narratives about their own legendary past, notably the great saga Tain Bo Cuailnge (The Cattle-Raid of Cooley). The essays in this book explore the ways in which these Latin texts and techniques were used. They are unified by a conviction that classical learning and literature were central to the culture of medieval Irish storytelling, but precisely how this relationship played out is a matter of ongoing debate. As a result, they engage in dialogue with each other, using methods drawn from a wide range of disciplines (philology, classical studies, comparative literature, translation studies, and folkloristics). Ralph O'Connor is Professor in the Literature and Culture of Britain, Ireland and Iceland at the University of Aberdeen.BR> Contributors: Abigail Burnyeat, Michael Clarke, Robert Crampton, Helen Fulton, Barbara Hillers, Maire Ni Mhaonaigh, Ralph O'Connor, Erich Poppe.


Introduction Indian is in a state of epidemiological transition with changes in urbanisation and risk factor profiles. In this context, our objective was to study the epidemiology of alcohol use among urban and rural populations. Methods The study was conducted in Ballabgarh block, India, during January–October 2006 using the WHO-STEPs approach. Participants were selected using multi-stage sampling for rural and urban stratum (sub-divided across town and slum). We targeted enrolling 250 male and female participants each in 10 year age-groups across 25–65 years and enrolled 5005 participants. In a 20% sub-sample, information was collected about the exposure to health communication messages regarding alcohol. Results One rural female reported current alcohol use. The prevalence of current consumption of alcohol, defined as consumption within preceding 12 months, was highest among urban males (26.2%; 95% CI 20.8 to 32.1) followed by urban slums (25.6%; 95% CI 19.2 to 32.4) and rural (23.2%; 95% CI 18.2 to 28.9). Among alcohol consumers 15.3% urban, 7.3% slum and 15.3% rural males reported reduction in alcohol use in preceding 1 year. 7.2% urban, 10.9% slum and 7.2% rural respondents who were current alcohol users reported intermittent cessation of alcohol consumption in preceding 1 year. 59.2%(n=603) urban, 27.2%(n=185) urban-slum and 39.5%(n=646) rural respondents reported receiving information (IEC) on health effects of alcohol with Mass media as the most common source of information. Conclusion Alcohol is a public health problem among males in Ballabgarh area. Interventions should focus on alcohol cessation services and improved IEC. Urbanisation does not appear to be associated with alcohol use in this community.


The automation of both, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and lamella preparation using focused ion beam (FIB) has gathered an enormous momentum in last few years, especially in the semiconductor industry. The process development of current and future microprocessors requires a precise control on the patterning of a multitude of ultrafine layers, several of which are in the order of nanometers. The statistical accuracy and reliability of TEM based metrology and failure analysis of such complex and refined structures across the wafer needs a large-scale sampling, which is feasible only with an automation. An inherent requirement of automating TEM sample preparation entails a need of a robust and repeatable methodology that provides both, a good thickness control and an accurate targeting, on the intended feature in the ultra-thin lamella. In this work, key factors that impact both these aspects of a TEM lamella preparation will be discussed. In addition, steps needed to ensure that FIB toolsets consistently and reliably produce high quality samples, will be highlighted.


Background Velopharyngeal structure augmentation methods are used as alternatives to pharyngeal flap operations. Recently, we investigated the sites of velopharyngeal structure augmentation in dogs and reported that the most effective injection location is the soft palate. However, there have been no reports regarding the optimal materials for implantation or injection. In this study, we aimed to investigate the injectable materials used in soft palate augmentation in dogs to ameliorate velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). Methods Endoscopic soft palate augmentation (ESPA) was performed in dogs using purified sodium hyaluronate, atelocollagen, or autogenic fat tissue. ESPA is an original technique developed by our group, and this is the first report of its performance. Moreover, we assessed the amount of nasal air leakage during inspiration at rest and during expiration under the rebreathing system at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 months after injection of these materials. Results The amount of nasal air leakage during expiration under the rebreathing system was significantly decreased in all dogs injected with the ESPA materials, but neither apnea nor hypopnea was observed. Conclusions We investigated the optimal materials for use in ESPA, such as purified sodium hyaluronate, atelocollagen, or autogenic fat tissue. We found that all of them reduced nasal air leakage and only autogenic fat tissue showed significant histologic differences in dogs at 6 months. This technique may also be useful for the treatment of patients with VPI.


Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a hormone secreted predominantly by the distal small intestine and colon and released in response to enteral nutrient exposure. GLP-1-based therapies are now used widely in the management of type 2 diabetes and have the potential to be effective antiobesity agents. Although widely known as an incretin hormone, there is a growing body of evidence that GLP-1 also acts as an enterogastrone, with profound effects on the gastrointestinal motor system. Moreover, the effects of GLP-1 on gastrointestinal motility appear to be pivotal to its effect of reducing postprandial glycaemic excursions and may, potentially, represent the dominant mechanism. This review summarizes current knowledge of the enterogastrone properties of GLP-1, focusing on its effects on gut motility at physiological and pharmacological concentrations, and the motor actions of incretin-based therapies. While of potential importance, the inhibitory action of GLP-1 on gastric acid secretion is beyond the scope of this paper.


Quality Control (QC) is one of the most important components in the manufacturing process. The aim is to determine whether a product is feasible to market. One aspect of QC is the size / dimension of the object to be made. If the size is still within the range of tolerance, then it has passed the QC in terms of size, but if not then it includes a failed product. The problem encountered is that it takes a long time to take measurements, especially objects in the third dimension where each part is different as microdrill, zipper etc. To overcome this weakness, a CCD camera is used as a sensor to record images and then use LabVIEW software to analyze the size of the recorded image. This is a preliminary study so that it is only done for objects with two dimensions with square and circular shapes. From the research that has been done, the measurement with the camera gives results that are almost the same as the use of calipers where the standard deviation fluctuates from 0.3 to 23.8 for circles and 0.54 to 32.05 for squares. Furthermore, the time needed to do one measurement process with the camera ranges from 201 ms to 338 ms whereas using the calipers takes 3 to 5s


An isotope dilution method using [U-13C]glucose and a glucose clamp approach were applied to determine the effects of supplemental chromium (Cr) and heat exposure on blood glucose metabolism and tissue responsiveness and sensitivity to insulin in sheep. The sheep consumed diets with either 0 or 1 mg of Cr/kg (Control and +Cr diet, respectively) from high-Cr-yeast, and were exposed from a thermoneutral environment (20 °C) to a hot environment (30 °C) for 5 days. Blood glucose turnover rate did not differ between the diets, and was lower (P < 0·05) during heat exposure than in the thermoneutral environment. The maximal glucose infusion rate (tissue responsiveness to insulin) tended to be lower (P = 0·06) for the +Cr diet than for the Control diet, but did not change with heat exposure. The plasma insulin concentration at half maximal glucose infusion rate (tissue sensitivity to insulin) did not differ between the diets, and was greater (P < 0·05) during heat exposure than in the thermoneutral environment. No significant diet × environment interactions were observed. There was no significant evidence that Cr supplementation moderated heat stress in sheep from the measures of blood glucose metabolism and insulin action.


ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the daily life and social relationships of pre-school children globally. While many studies have examined the impact of the pandemic on children, few have compared the home environment and children's social skills before and after the pandemic. To address this research gap, we used data from the Japan Child Care Cohort study, which included questions on home environment answered by parents (1748 in 2019 and 1349 in 2020) of children aged 0–6 years using self-reported questionnaires and data on the social skills of children aged 1–6 years (1917 in 2019 and 1989 in 2020) that were evaluated by childcare professionals in childcare centres. Using the Chi-square test, home environments and social skills were compared. We found that frequencies of family meals, no punishment, and a positive attitude toward children's mistakes were higher in 2020. In contrast, frequencies of shopping together, visiting children's friends and relatives, and having social support from others were lower in 2020. Additionally, children's social skills in 2019 were better than in 2020. Childcare institutions can consider these differences and create a support plan to ensure quality child-rearing practices and healthy child development.


Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain etiology (CKDu) is a fatal disease that causes death from kidney failure due to unknown risk factors and has already affected more than 400,000 people in the rural agricultural landscape (dry zone) of Sri Lanka. The major drinking source in Sri Lanka is groundwater and it is suspected that the pollution of groundwater sources due to agricultural means has a major impact on CKDu. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether rainwater can be used as an alternative safe drinking water source in Girandurukotte area, Sri Lanka, which is known to be an area endemic for CKDu. The physical, chemical, and biological analyses were performed to compare the water quality parameters of three water sources (groundwater, surface water, and rainwater) for Girandurukotte area. The most common storage tanks in polyethylene (PE) and ferrocement (FC) were compared to assess the influence of the material of rainwater tank on water quality. The results showed that there is a significant difference in rainwater in terms of water quality compared to groundwater and surface water. Rainwater in FC and PE tanks showed significant differences (p< 0.05) for some parameters however, they were still within accepted potable drinking water standards.


Abstract The Neoproterozoic Florianópolis batholith provides the major clue for unraveling the pre- Brasiliano Cycle evolution of Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, because it contains septa of basement units such as the Camboriú and Águas Mornas complexes reactivated during the younger Brasiliano orogeny at about 600 Ma. We establish precise U-Pb zircon SHRIMP ages and Nd isotopic evolution of four key samples from the septa. The zircon population displays complex internal structures in three of the four dated samples. The complex crystals have well-preserved magmatic cores and altered rim domains. The core populations were dated at about 2180 Ma (Águas Mornas complex), about 2160 Ma (Camboriú complex amphibolite xenolith), and 2000 Ma (Camboriú complex orthogneiss), whereas the ages of the measured rims and altered domains are about 590 Ma in all three samples. On the other hand, the Presidente Nereu tonalite has a simpler zircon population without core/rim separation, and yields magmatic ages about 2200 Ma. The Nd isotopic analyses of the three samples emphasize the polycyclic evolution of the batholith, which is much more complex than previously realized. The evolution is marked by two successive Paleoproterozoic accretionary orogenic events at about 2200-2175 Ma and by a crustal melting event at about 2000 Ma, which had an Archaean source (Sm-Nd depleted mantle model age, TDM = 2860 Ma). These orogenic events were followed 1.4 billion years later by a Neoproterozoic hydrothermal/ metamorphic overprint at about 590 Ma. This time gap permits us to identify a long intracratonic period-the Atlantica supercontinent. The unraveling of the Proterozoic evolution and the precise characterization of the basement remnants show that the Paleoproterozoic was a crustbuilding, orogenic interval and was the major source of the much later Neoproterozoic granites. The integrated use of back-scattered electron and cathodoluminescence imaging with SHRIMP spot dating and Nd isotopes provide a clear understanding of the timing of crustal generation and deformation in southern Brazil, including strong evidence for a long-lasting supercontinent cycle.


The signatures of turbulence in atmospheric laser propagation are examined, with a particular focus on the effects of non-Kolmogorov turbulence on laser scintillation and phase fluctuations. Non-Kolmogorov properties of the atmospheric index-of-refraction spectrum are outlined, and it is shown that it may be possible to reproduce these features through broadband power-law forcing of the velocity and temperature fields in turbulent flows. Numerical simulations of homogeneous isotropic turbulence subjected to power-law forcing are used to motivate a spectral model for the kinetic energy, which is then extended to address power-law forcing of passive scalars such as the temperature. A modeled non-Kolmogorov index-of-refraction spectrum for power-law forced turbulence is proposed, where the model spectrum consists of standard Kolmogorov and forcing-dominated contributions. This form could reproduce the experimentally observed signatures of atmospheric turbulence on laser propagation and it may provide insights into the origins of non-Kolmogorov turbulence in the atmosphere.


During photoautotrophic growth under CO2-limited conditions, cells of Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 excreted into the medium about 30% of the nitrite produced by reduction of nitrate. No nitrite was excreted under CO2-sufficient conditions. After transfer of high-CO2-grown cells to CO2-limited conditions, nitrite reductase activity started to decline within 0.5 h and decreased to 50% of the initial level in 3 h, whereas nitrate reductase activity was virtually unchanged. Nitrite started to accumulate in the medium about 3 h after the transfer of the cells to CO2-limited conditions and reached a concentration of <0.4 mM at 17 h. These findings suggested that the nitrite excretion was due to an imbalance of the activities of nitrite reductase and nitrate reductase. Since ammonium, the product of nitrite reduction, was not detected in the medium, it was concluded that the step of nitrite reduction limits the rate of nitrate assimilation under CO2-limited conditions. The extent of decrease in nitrite reductase activity under CO2-limited conditions was much larger than that caused by rifampicin (an inhibitor of RNA synthesis) treatment under high-CO2 conditions. Addition of CO2, in the form of sodium bicarbonate, to the CO2-limited culture increased the nitrite reductase activity, but rifampicin inhibited this increase. These findings suggested the presence of a mechanism that irreversibly inactivates nitrite reductase under CO2-limited conditions.


Pulse current sensors are widely used to extract partial discharge (PD) signals from transformers for on-line PD measurement, and excellent pulse current sensors can help the measuring system to enhance the anti-interference ability for on-line monitoring. Authors did experiments on three kinds of current sensors with their inner diameter 450 mm in order to detect pulse signals of transformer bushings. The sensors' cores are individually air-core plastic pipe, ferrite bar and ferrite powder. Parameters of the sensors, including sensitivity and frequency band, are provided and analyzed in laboratory conditions. Finally, the large-scale current sensors of ferrite bar have been applied in a power transformer.


This paper describes a methodology for the structured development of manufacturing information systems based on a collaborative action research project. The methodology starts from the premise that a company has an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in place. It can then be used to determine the optimal method for achieving a particular business requirement. The methodology has seven decision points, each of which relates to a different outcome. The methodology is supported by a series of questions to assist users in making appropriate decisions. The paper also describes a series of structured interviews with practitioners from industry. These were undertaken in order to verify the usefulness of the methodology. These interviews show that there is a requirement for tools to assist in the ongoing development of information systems in manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the interviews suggest that the methodology is a useful tool, particularly for relatively inexperienced manufacturing information system practitioners.


The number of single-child families has been rising steadily in recent years, resulting in a childhood absent of sibling relationships. Being an only child has been shown to have a negative impact on physical fitness, somatic fitness, and motor development. In this study, we aimed to understand how living with and without siblings can impact the motor competence of children. One hundred and sixty-one children (87 boys, 74 girls) from 3.0 to 6.0 years of age (34 only children, 125 siblings) and with no known motor or cognitive disability were assessed using the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA). Their standardized results on the three MCA subscales (stability, locomotor, and manipulative) and total MCA were used to group them into high, average, and low motor competence groups. Motor competence percentile distribution of the sibling and only child group condition was compared using chi-square tests. Results showed a significative and positive association between the sibling condition and the distribution between the three MC groups (chi-square = 6.29; p = 0.043), showing that children in a household with siblings, independent of their age and sex, show a clear tendency for developing better motor competence.


Using the flow data between the three states of employment, unemployment and not-in-the-labor-force, I undertook a detailed examination of factors contributing to changes in Japans unemployment rate. The results of the analysis provide the following explanations for Japans rising unemployment rate since 1991. First, the transition probability from employment to unemployment has risen, and at the same time the transition rate from unemployment to employment has declined significantly. Second, the transition probability from unemployment to not-in-the-labor-force has declined for both men and women, resulting in the accumulation of unemployment. Third, the results point to the possibility that the unemployment rate was also pushed up by the flow of workers from not-in-the-labor force to unemployment. Parallel to a decline in the transition probability from not-in-the-labor-force to employment, an increased inflow of men from not-in-the-labor-force to unemployment began in the mid-1990s. The same trend is observable for women beginning between the end of the 1990s and 2000. Next, I estimated the Phillips curve using the flow data as a source of additional information for forecasting price trends. The results indicate that the forecasting performance of the Phillips curve can in fact be improved by using flow data between employment and unemployment that are sensitive to trends in price levels and business conditions.


The revival of transfer reaction studies benefited from the construction of the new generation large solid angle spectrometers, coupled to large γ arrays. The recent results of γ-particle coincident measurements in Ca+Zr and Ar+Pb reactions demonstrate a strong interplay between single-particle and collective degrees of freedom that is pertinent to the reaction dynamics. The development of collectivity has been followed in odd Ar isotopes populated in the Ar+Pb reaction through the excitation of the 11/2− states, understood as the coupling of single particle degrees of freedom to nuclear vibration quanta. Pair transfer modes is another important degree of freedom which is presently being studied with Prisma in inverse kinematics at energies far below the Coulomb barrier. First results from the Zr+Ca reaction elucidate the role played by nucleon–nucleon correlation.