This paper builds on existing research investigating the root causes of terrorism by considering youth unemployment as a measure of economic deprivation. In particular, the study focuses on terrorism in Middle Eastern and North African (MENAP) countries and features terrorism incident count data for the period 1998–2012 using negative binomial regression models. In our exogenous model, we find that while youth unemployment tends to increase domestic terrorism, it does not have any significant effect on transnational terrorism. Given concerns about endogeneity of youth unemployment in these models, we use two kinds of corrections-instrumental variables and lagged variables. We control for endogeneity by using military expenditure, under-five mortality rate and foreign direct investment as instruments. We are not able to reject the null hypothesis that youth unemployment is exogenous. Using lagged variables, we find a similar result as noted in the exogenous specifications with regard to the effect of youth unemployment on domestic and transnational terrorism. We also find evidence that domestic terrorism tends to have a positive relationship with press freedom, religious and linguistic fractionalization, and area of the country. Transnational terrorism has a positive association with the quality of democracy and a negative association with political stability and regulatory quality. The amount of natural resources tends to be negatively associated with domestic terrorism and positively associated with transnational terrorism.


Ever since the military junta rule in Athens in the late 1960s – early 1970s and especially following the Turkish invasion of part of Cyprus in 1974, Greece has shown strong signs of anti-Americanism. A phenomenon that is well-embedded in the Greek society, even if Greece is a member of the West (NATO but more importantly the European Union). This paper focuses on Greece's anti-Americanism in the aftermath of the 11th September 2001 mega-terrorist attacks. Why was Greece's reaction to that seminal event so different from other European countries? It also shows how deep anti-Americanism is by considering previous events, such as Greek reactions to the 1999 Kosovo War. The paper also stresses that nowadays there is no major difference between Right and Left in Greece's anti-American view. Moreover, if anything, anti- Americanism has strengthened since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Finally, it highlights a growing discrepancy between what Greek elites say and what, in particular, governmental elites do. Therefore, the paper calls for more systematic research on both subjects: of course on anti-Americanism but as importantly on the growing gap between government rhetoric and reality.


Over the useful life of a LAN, network downtimes will have a negative impact on organizational productivity not included in current Network Topological Design (NTD) problems. We propose a new approach to LAN topological design that includes the impact of these productivity losses into the network design, minimizing not only the CAPEX but also the expected cost of unproductiveness attributable to network downtimes over a certain period of network operation.


We demonstrate that the nuclear modification factor R^Upsilon_dAu measured at RHIC can only be reproduced once two supplemental Cold Nuclear Matter effects are taken into account. At backward rapidities, the visible suppression of R^Upsilon_dAu hints at the presence of a gluon EMC effect, analogous to the quark EMC effect -- but likely stronger. At forward and mid rapidities, the data can only be accounted for by a fractional energy loss, recently revived in the literature. Our conclusions do not depend on the detail of the nuclear parton distributions. We thus argue that this may be the first observation of a gluon EMC effect stronger than the quark one.


A 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS gate array family with high speed modules is discussed. Measured access time of the 8 Kbit 2-port metallized RAM is 6.3 ns. Simulated access time of the 16 Kbit diffused RAM is 5.5 ns. Propagation delay time of the 2-input NAND is 200 ps at a standard load. Use of high performance internal logic circuits, high speed compiled RAM, improved GTL (Gunning Transceiver Logic), and PLL (Phase Locked Loop) realizes operation of over 100 MHz at 3.3 V. This 3F (Flexible, Fast, and Friendly) ASIC family can be applied to high speed processors in workstations and graphics equipment.<<ETX>>


This study explored the effects of quantity and quality of input on bilingual children's acquisition of complex plural morphology in Welsh. Study 1 explored the quality of adult input and revealed target-like marking of plural forms in naturalistic adult speech. Study 2 presented eighty-eight 7-11-year-old children, across three bilingual language groups (L1 Welsh, 2L1, and L2 Welsh), with a plural production task. Results revealed performances approaching L1 adult norms among L1 Welsh-speaking bilinguals, but delayed progression among 2L1 and L2 Welsh bilinguals, although analyses of errors revealed various levels of structural knowledge. Forms requiring the addition of a plural suffix were less difficult to acquire than those involving alterations to the root, with each type acquired with greater levels of accuracy with increasing levels of exposure to the language. The implications of these findings for our understanding of bilingual acquisition of complex structures under minority language conditions are discussed.


By means of an overview of certain aspects of article structures in printed dictionaries and with reference to some examples from e-dictionaries a number of features of article structures in e-dictionaries are discussed. Reference is made to the positioning of articles in article stretches and functional partial article stretches. Different structural components of articles, i.e. text segments, comments and search zones are distinguished. The increased role of data-identifying entries as a type of non-typographical structural indicator in e-dictionaries receives attention as well as the fact that the traditional division of an article in two comments, typically a comment on form and a comment on semantics, cannot merely be maintained. The value of the cohesion resulting from the use of comments in printed dictionaries is much more restricted in e-dictionaries. The use of search zones and rapid access to these zones have a much more important role in the article structure of edictionaries. In the planning of e-dictionaries provision needs to be made for a multi-layered article structure with screenshots that display the data in a variety of search zones. Access to these search zones goes via structural indicators in an opening or further screenshot. Provision needs to be made for one lemma to occur in a comprehensive article but also in a number of restricted articles that can be retrieved from the same database. Users should also have the opportunity to design their own user profile that will allow them to consult dictionary articles structured according to their specific needs.


Introduction: Topical clotrimazole and sertaconazole may be effective in the treatment of erythrasma, a superficial skin infection developed by a group of aerobic microorganisms. This study aimed to compare the effect of clotrimazole and sertaconazole on erythrasma. Methods: In this double-blinded randomized controlled trial, 40 age-matched patients with confirmed erythrasma diagnosis were divided into two equal groups; one treated with topical 2% sertaconazole and the other with topical 1% clotrimazole. The clinical features of erythrasma were monitored for two weeks (baseline, day 7, and day 14) and compared. Data were analyzed using SPSS v16 software. Results: On day 7, in clotrimazole group, reduction in erythema and pigmentation were more prominent in comparison to the sertaconazole group (P=0.02 and P=0.005, respectively), but there was no difference considering scaling reduction between groups. On day 14, in terms of erythema reduction, the clotrimazole group performed better compared to the sertaconazole group (P=0.04). Both groups had a significant reduction in erythrasma symptoms during their treatment period (P<0.001). Conclusions: Regarding the results, both clotrimazole and sertaconazole are effective medications for erythrasma treatment. Still, clotrimazole has a faster recovery process in comparison to sertaconazole, but no significant difference is observed in outcomes after two weeks of treatment.


Abstract: Objective: The search for various phytotherapeutic compounds is on rise due to a complex multifactorial phenomenon called drug resistance. The present study investigates the cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antiproliferative potential of methanolic extracts of Clitorea ternatea, Averrhoa bilimbi, Phyllanthus acidus, Tecoma stans , Curcuma aromatica, Anethum graveolens, Adhatoda vasica, Markhamia lutea, Spathodea companulata and Adenanthera pavonina . Methods: The plant parts were extracted with methanol and screened for DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging abilities. The cytotoxic activity of the extracts was investigated on HeLa and HCT116 cells through MTT assay and cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry to determine the antiproliferative activity of the extracts. The stem extract of A. pavonina was further subjected to GC-MS analysis for purification of the compounds of interest. A two way ANOVA was done to estimate the effect of the extract between samples remembered at p<0.05 level. Results: Among all the studied samples, the extract of A. pavonina (stem) showed significant scavenging activity of 70.23% and 76.32% of scavenging compared to 74.58 % and 81.13% of that of reference standard in ABTS and DPPH assay respectively. GC-MS analysis of the extract revealed the presence of 17 phytocompounds. MTT assay revealed that this extract (SB19) had promising cytotoxic activity against the two cancer cell lines, HCT116 and HeLa with IC 50 values of 25.86±0.21µg/ml and 39.89±0.11µg/ml respectively. The extract treatment caused significant arrest in G2M phase of cell cycle. Conclusion: A. pavonina (stem) extract displayed significant antioxidant and antiproliferative activity and can be considered as a potential candidate drug for anticancer studies. Keywords: Antioxidants, MTT assay, Antiproliferative, GC-MS, Adenanthera pavonina


Myeloid cells are the most abundant hematopoietic cells in the human body and play a crucial role in tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Here we found that deletion of the gene encoding TGFβ receptor 2 (Tgfbr2) specifically in myeloid cells reduced the level of platelet factor-4 (PF4) in the myeloid cells of 4T1 tumor bearing mice. This is accompanied by decreased lung metastasis of 4T1 mammary carcinoma. Interestingly, deletion of Cxcr3, encoding the receptor for PF4, significantly decreased the lung metastasis of 4T1 mammary carcinoma. The decreased metastasis may attribute to augmented anti-immunity. First, myeloid cells with Cxcr3 deletion showed decreased expression of IL-10, IL-4, iNOs, and arginase. In addition, there was an increased number of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell in Cxcr3-/- mice compared to the wilt type controls. Our results suggest that TGFβ regulation of PF4 may modulate cancer metastasis through suppressing host anti-tumor immunity. Citation Format: Yanli Pang, Guiquan Zhu, Li Yang. Myeloid TGF-β signaling regulates Platelet factor 4 expression that is important in host immune suppression and tumor metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1435. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1435


Two smut fungi infecting species of Anemone L. in southern South America are described, illustrated and discussed. Tuburcinia antucensis Liro on Anemone antucensis Poepp. in Chile is re-evaluated taxonomically and transferred to the genus Urocystis Rabenh. ex Fuckel. A collection of Urocystis anemones (Pers.) G. Winter infecting Anemone decapetala Ard. in Chile is taxonomically re-assessed. Urocystis antucensis (Liro) M. Piątek is an endemic smut confi ned to Chile, while U. anemones is a widespread smut fungus in the Holarctic, but in South America known only from Chile so far.


【Given the evolving nature of the family unit, a large number of children are being left unsupervised after school. The purpose of this study is to understand the adaptation ability and emotional capacity of these children. To achieve this objective, we investigated the different characteristics of 708 middle-school students in Seoul, dividing them into two categories adult-care children, for whom adults provide care after school, and self-care children for whom no adult supervision was present. In particular, we examined children's adaptation to the school environment and possible self-consciousness difference between self-care and adult-care children, in consideration of their family characteristic; divorced, separated, widowed parent, remarried parents, ordinary families. The results showed that self-care children tend to have a higher rate of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness compared to adult-care children. Furthermore, self-care children exhibited lower school adaptation rate than adult-care children. There was no significant difference in schoolmate relationships between the two groups. In relation to specific family structures, children from reorganized families showed no significant differences in school adaptation and self-conscious, while self-care children from ordinary families revealed low school adaptation and high self-conscious characteristics. The results of this study are critical in the effective analysis and understanding of children's adaptive and emotional behaviors arising from changes in their family structure.】


Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are unstable. Link errors, which are considered as an exception in fixed-wired networks must be assumed to be the default case in MANETs. Hence designing fault tolerant systems efficiently offering transactional guarantees in these unstable environments is considerably more complex. The efficient support for such guarantees is essential for business applications, e.g. for the exchange of electronic goods. This class of applications demands for transactional properties such as money and goods atomicity. Within this technical report we present an architecture, which allows for fair and atomic transaction processing in MANETs, together with an associated application that enables exchange of electronic tokens.


The identification of organic pollutants in the soil and the subsurface is a goal of primary importance in the management of contaminated sites. However, only a few non-invasive techniques can be useful towards this goal. One such technique is spectral induced polarization. In this study, we investigate the spectral induced polarization effect of changing fluid saturation in a well-characterized porous medium, analysing the difference between air and hydrocarbons, at different degrees of water saturation. The experiments were conducted on fine eolic sand samples coming from an experimental site near Turin, Italy. Octanol and benzene were used as non-aqueous phase liquids. Samples were initially saturated with water having controlled electrical conductivity and subsequently de-saturated stepwise with injection
of air at known pressure. The eolic sand samples were then re-saturated with the same water contaminated
with hydrocarbons and then a non-aqueous phase liquid phase (either octanol or benzene) was injected in volumetric steps, in order to compare the effects of air and non-aqueous phase liquid invasion. At each saturation step, spectral induced polarization measurements were conducted in the 0.01 Hz to 1 kHz range using the ZEL-SIP04 impedance meter developed at the Forschungszentrum Juelich. The measurement setup guaranteed a 1 mrad phase precision for the entire frequency measurement
range. Measurements were conducted under temperature controlled conditions at 20 (±0.5)° C. All spectral induced polarization curves show a peak in the range 0.01–1 Hz that changes in intensity and frequency with varying saturation and a high-frequency phase shift increase dominated by capacitive
coupling effects of the measuring system. A multiple Cole-Cole model was fitted to the data. The effects of de-saturation on the low-frequency Cole-Cole parameters are that a) resistivity increases with decreasing water saturation but increases less with non-aqueous phase liquid than with the same volume of air; b) chargeability increases with decreasing water saturation but in presence of non-aqueous phase liquids its value is sometimes lower, sometimes higher and sometimes similar to the one observed in presence of air; c) the time constant τ increases with decreasing water saturation and is consistently larger with non-aqueous phase liquid than with air. These differences between air and non-aqueous phase liquid injection can be explained in terms of differences in non-aqueous phase distribution within the porous medium, as observed by X-ray micro-CT: while air is homogeneously distributed, non-aqueous phase liquids segregate under density effects. In summary, all spectral induced polarization
effects of air and non-aqueous phase liquid injection in the considered porous medium are volumetric,
i.e., are not due to interaction with grain surfaces or other electrical-chemical effects but are caused by pore obstruction by the electrically non-conductive phase.


E. L. Doctorow's novel City of God is constructed around a crisis of faith experienced by an Episcopalian minister who eventually converts to Judaism. Within and around this personal story unfolds a fascinating array of moral and spiritual dilemmas which raise provocative questions about the role of religion in modern society and its relationship to secular ethical thought. It is argued here that the novel can be understood as an appeal for reconciliation in a number of different but related ways. The 'religious' characters strive to preserve the relevance of religion by emphasizing the pre-eminence of ethical commitments to love and justice and to the open interpretation of scriptural messages rather than to rigorous adherence to doctrine. The novel tests the possibilities of reconciliation to the limit by revisiting the Holocaust and touching on other horrors, but implicitly it conveys a faith in the oneness of humanity which may yet prevail through a renewal of ethical dialog.


Background: Open-heart surgery is a stressful, life-threatening experience inducing fear and anxiety in many patients and their families. Objectives: The present study was conducted to design an inventory assessing the stressors in open-heart surgery patients and evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: This study was accomplished in two phases. The first phase involved a qualitative study during which in-depth interviews were carried out with 21 therapists and patients with a history of heart surgery. In addition, the primary items of the inventory were extracted by reviewing the literature and available questionnaires through a qualitative approach. In the second phase, the face, content, and construct validities of the inventory were investigated using the exploratory factor analysis with 360 participants. In addition, the reliability of the developed instrument was examined using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Based on the findings obtained in the first phase, a pool of items was prepared. The findings of the exploratory factor analysis revealed a five-factor structure that explained 50.45% of the structural variance with a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of 0.921 (P < 0.001). The first (12 items), second (13 items), third (seven items), fourth (eight items), and fifth (10 items) factors were named as "stressors in the intensive care unit", "stressors related to the fear of uncertain future", "internal stressors", "stressors related to treatment team and facilities", and "preoperative stressors", respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the final version of the inventory, entailing 50 items, was obtained as 0.87. In addition, the ICC between the test and retest scores was estimated at 0.94. Conclusions: Given the fact that the meaning, concept, and factors associated with any phenomenon are influenced by sociocultural context and they vary from country to country, it is necessary to use a questionnaire designed based on the experiences and concepts expressed by the individuals living in the same context. According to the findings, the developed 50-item Cardiac Surgery Stressor Inventory is a simple, valid, and reliable tool for the measurement of stressors in open-heart surgery patients.


The Pacific coastal plain in Central America forms the subaerial part of an arc-trench gap that is terminated as much as 60 km inland from the Pacific shoreline by the steep slopes of a row of active Quaternary volcanoes. The Samala fluvial-deltaic system, which heads inland from the volcanic arc, displays a combination of all of the Holocene features (frequently shifting braided channel, flanking elongate dendritically branched lakes, and a high-destructive wave-dominated arcuate delta) that characterize the coastal plain in southwestern Guatemala. Historical records indicate that the catastrophic eruption of Santa Maria Volcano in 1902 dramatically increased the amount of sediment supplied to the Samala River. Within a few years, deposition of sand and gravel raised the river bed 10 to 15 m, blocking the drainage of the river's tributaries to produce flanking lakes and allowing the river to easily shift its channel. Frequently, the braided system was diverted laterally into a flanking lake, interrupting deposition of organic-rich muds and locally filling the lake with prograding deltaic deposits. Continued channel shifting and aggradation of sand and gravel on the lower 25 km of the coastal plain have contributed to the growth of an elongate alluvial fan that probably originated during the Pleistocene.

Contemporaneous with aggradation of the fluvial system, an elongate deltaic platform prograded about 7 km seaward, between 1902 and 1922, in response to the deposition of approximately 4 km3 of deltaic sediments. However, with waning sediment supply, the delta entered a destructive phase, and sands were redistributed laterally to prograding shoreface and beach environments, developing the present arcuate shoreline. The position of the arcuate shoreline has remained essentially unchanged since sometime before 1947; the volume of sediment derived from the active Santiaguito–Santa Maria volcanic complex and contributed to the shore zone by the Samala River has been sufficient, since that time, to prevent further shoreline retreat. A new constructive phase of deltation would begin in the event of another great eruption.

Fluvial-deltaic sedimentation in arc-trench geologic settings, under conditions of torrential rainfall, differs significantly from fluvial-deltaic sedimentation in other geologic settings. This difference may be attributed to periodic catastrophic volcanic eruptions, which locally produce high-relief unvegetated slopes and allow extremely high local rates of erosion and subsequent fluvial-deltaic sedimentation.


The construction industry's use of simulation has greatly evolved since its introduction in the mid-70s. Aside from its use in day-to-day activities, it has been shown to be a vital tool for the transfer of specialized construction management knowledge and skills to students, which would otherwise have been acquired through a lengthy, risky, and expensive learning process on the jobsite. The construction industry has experienced considerable changes and development with respect to public & client expectations, project size, and complexity, necessitating the delivery of graduates who are already proficient in managing construction projects. This paper presents details on how simulation is used to teach a construction analysis and design course at the University of Alberta, using Simphony.NET, simulation software developed by the third author. The paper introduces Simphony.NET along with the functionality of its various modeling elements and discusses the various aspects of simulation taught in the course. Two case studies which are also covered in the course, a paving and a building operation, are then presented, as well as an exploration of other issues which arise when using a simulationbased approach to teaching a course in construction engineering.


In a single-blind study the lipid-lowering drug gemfibrozil was compared at fixed dosage of 1600 mg daily with placebo and other drugs (mainly clofibrate) over a nine month period in 33 patients with hyperlipidaemia. Two patients were withdrawn from the study because of gastrointestinal symptoms attributable to gemfibrozil. The drug significantly lowered plasma cholesterol and triglycerides compared to the placebo. The drug also significantly lowered plasma cholesterol and triglycerides compared to the placebo. The drug also significantly lowered very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglycerides and raised high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels but a previously significant inverse relationship between VLDL triglyceride and HDL cholesterol on placebo disappeared with gemfibrozil treatment.


Introduction: Traditionally, the scientific literature on urban and transportation dynamics addresses many topics, but the security-related outcomes of users remain a pending issue, especially in emerging countries and their cities. Nevertheless, recent evidence suggests that, especially in developing countries, security issues may influence people's decision-making in the choice of transport means, daily urban-trip patterns and road behaviors of users. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between the perceived security (in both urban environments and public transport systems) and the daily-travel behavior and trip patterns of the Dominican Republic population. Methods: This cross-sectional study, performed in 2019, analyzed data collected from 1,026 inhabitants from different cities of the Dominican Republic (54% females and 46% males), who completed a survey on security issues, travel behaviors and transportation-related habits. Results: The results of this research suggest that demographic factors, such as age, education, and city/town size, and the safety perceived in the urban environment play a significant role in the choice of transportation modes, as well as in the participants' experience as victims of crime-related incidents (either witnessing or suffering crime episodes on public transport or city streets) during urban trips performed over the last 5 years. Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study suggest that perceived safety, in both urban environments and public transport systems, is a relevant issue affecting the daily transport-related patterns and behavioral choices of the Dominican Republic's population. The results of this research might contribute to the strengthening of transport security planning, considering factors that are not traditionally kept in mind for policymaking in transportation dynamics.


Negotiations represent a formative element in professional life. The development and continuous expansion of practical negotiation skills is therefore an important task within the framework of individual competence development. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this article therefore focuses on the central elements of professional negotiation: analysis, strategies and tools in the context of communication. A good negotiation result is regularly characterized by the fact that the assertiveness of one's own interests goes hand in hand with empathy for the interests of the negotiating partner. In an interplay of integrative and distributive negotiation, value is jointly created and individually claimed. The more a negotiation result is based on objective decision-making principles and at the same time unfolds the power of a creative solution, the greater the chance of an agreement between the negotiating parties.


A general formulation is obtained which relates the relative change of reflectance observed in a normal-incidence modulated-reflectance experiment to the dielectric properties of the system for laminar configurations consisting of a substrate, ambient, and possible surface dielectric overlayers. The two general types of modulation interactions, perturbation-induced changes of the substrate dielectric function or of the thickness of one of the dielectric layers, are discussed as limiting cases. The modulated-substrate expressions are evaluated numerically for the case of optically thick Ni and Ni–Al203 films on a Ge substrate, typical examples of Schottky-barrier and MOS electroreflectance configurations. It is shown in the latter case that the intrinsic sensitivity obtainable with shot-noise-limited measurement systems is neither enhanced nor impaired for modulation measurements performed in the vicinity of the reflectance minima characteristic of these field-effect configurations, although operation near these minima should be avoided for other reasons. The line-shape evolution observed in reflectance measurements of the exciton polariton is shown to follow naturally from the interference effect of the small dielectric discontinuity within the sample. The approximate integral expression describing the effect of inhomogeneous perturbations is also related to the more-general laminar solution. It is shown that, for small modulations, the integral formulation is equivalent to treating the substrate as being uniform with respect to propagation, but producing a net reflected component of the field, obtained by summing the values at the surface of the reflected components generated at the small dielectric discontinuities between the hypothetical laminations in the limit that the lamination thickness approaches zero.


In order to obtain amplification over a wide band of frequencies, a tube having high transconductance and low input and output capacitance is required. A grid-controlled inductive-output tube having these attributes and giving 10 watts output at 500 megacycles is described. A high ratio of transconductance to input capacitance is attained by close cathode-grid spacing and large grid-screen spacing, the latter made possible by use of a very high screen voltage. A low output capacitance is obtained by the use of an inductive-output arrangement which requires no power dissipation by the output electrodes. The design of the output circuit for low inherent capacitance is facilitated by the use of magnetic lenses to focus the electron beam. These lenses can be energized by a permanent magnet. Loading caused by secondary electron emission from the current collector is eliminated. The performance of the tube as a wide-band amplifier is described.


Background and importance Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic disorder marked by the appearance of recurrent eruptions of fluid filled pustules or blisters on the hands and feet. Its aetiology is unknown and its relationship with psoriasis continues to be controversial. No standardised guidelines are available for treatment. Firstline therapeutic options for PPP include topical corticosteroids, an oral retinoid and photochemotherapy. Patients who do not respond sufficiently to firstline treatment may benefit from combination therapy with an oral retinoid and PUVA or from immunosuppressive therapy. In severe recalcitrant disease, there is some evidence that biologic antitumour necrosis factor drugs can be effective in treating PPP, but this evidence is based on open label trials and non-randomised studies and, therefore, actual efficacy is unknown. Aim and objectives Our aim was to review the safety and efficacy of the biologic medication, adalimumab, in the treatment of PPP in a patient without response to specific treatments. Material and methods An observational retrospective study was conducted in a 69-year-old woman who presented with a 9 year history of recurrent and painful eruptions of pustules on her palms and the soles of her feet. Prior treatment with triamcinolone cream, oral methotrexate and oral acitretin had not improved her skin lesions. She started adalimumab 40 mg per week×2 doses, followed by 40 mg every other week in our hospital over 15 months (2017–2018). Valuable data were collected from review of the medical history and dispensation registers. Clinical features were assessed using scales which measured the number of lesions and the state of the disease. Results Symptoms improved in the patient after the initial dose, decreasing the size and number of lesions. Three occasional exacerbations resolved without increasing the dose of adalimumab with the support of topical calcipotriol/betamethasone and tazarotene. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion and relevance In our case, treatment with adalimumab was safe and effective. Adalimumab could be a useful alternative in the treatment of severe recalcitrant disease or when there are contraindications to traditional systemic agents, such as pregnancy, a history of liver/kidney disease or uncontrolled hypertension. In order to assess the efficacy and safety of biologic medications, larger controlled studies are needed. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Cloud computing has opened a new door for both corporate and Government sectors. This new era of Information technology is similar to the invention of electrification in industrial age. Government sectors can also adopt this cutting edge technology as e-Governance to smoothen its working process. But this new technology needs to be matured in context of security, scalability, availability etc. In this regard, this manuscript has emphasized on security aspect of cloud computing and its subsequent impact on e-Governance as cloud-Governance. Here, an effective frame work for cloud-Governance has been proposed and then Hadamard matrix concept has been used for the development of encryption and decryption algorithms in order to enhance the security mechanism for cloud-Governance. Further, an experimental set up and results have been presented in order to lay bare the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.


Purpose
This paper aims to deal with direct torque controller when the five-phase induction motor drive in faulty operation. Precisely, open-phase fault condition is contemplated. Also, the DTC is combined with a speed-adaptive variable-structure observer based on sliding mode observer.

Design methodology/approach
Two novel features are presented. First, the concept of the virtual voltage vector is presented, which eliminates low-frequency harmonic currents and simplifies analysis. Second, speed information is introduced into the selection of the inverter states.

Findings
Direct torque control (DTC) is largely used in traditional three-phase drives as a backup to rotor-stator flux-oriented methods. The classic DTC strategy was primarily designed on the base of hysteresis controllers to control two independent variables (speed, torque and flux). Due to the additional degrees of freedom offered by multiphase machine, extensive works have been extended on the ensemble five-phase drives in healthy operation. In addition, the ability to continue the operation in faulty conditions is considering one of the main advantages of multiphase machines. One can find in the literature different approaches treating this subject. The applicability of DTC after the appearing of a fault has not been enclosed in the literature.

Originality/value
Theoretical development is presented in details followed by simulation results using Matlab/Simulink to analyze the performance of the drive, comparing with the behavior during healthy situation.


We present the first experimental results on the evaporation of liquid CH4 under simulated Titan surface conditions similar to those observed at the Huygens landing site. An average evaporation rate of (3.1 ± 0.6) × 10−4 kg s−1 m−2 at 94 K and 1.5 bar was measured. While our results are generally higher than previous models based on energy balance, they show an excellent match with a theoretical mass transfer approach. Indeed, we find that evaporation in the Titan environmental chamber is predominantly diffusion driven and affected by the buoyancy of lighter CH4 in the heavier N2 atmosphere. After correcting for the difference in gravity of Earth and Titan, the resulting evaporation rate is (1.6 ± 0.3) × 10−4 kg s−1m−2 (or 1.13 ± 0.3 mm hr−1). Using our experimental evaporation rates, we determine that the low‐latitude storm recently observed by Cassini ISS would have resulted in a maximum evaporated mass of (5.4 ± 1.2) × 1010 kg of CH4 equivalent to a 2.4 ± 0.5 m thick layer over 80 days. Based on our results, a sufficient amount of CH4 can accumulate in the otherwise arid equatorial regions to produce transient ponds and liquid flows.


Digital multiplier circuits are used in computers. A multiplier is an electronic circuit used in digital electronics to multiply two binary numbers. Multiplier circuits are used in ALU for binary multiplication of signed and unsigned numbers. The delay, area and power consumption are the 3 most important design specifications a chip designer has to consider. Delay of the circuit is directly proportional to the delay of a multiplier. Increased delay in the multiplier leads to higher delay in the circuit. Therefore research is carried out as to how to reduce the delay of the multiplier block so as to reduce the delay of whole circuit. The main purpose is to deal with high speed and lower power consumption even after decreasing the silicon area. This makes them well-suited for numerous complex and convenient VLSI circuit implementations. The fact however, remains that area and speed are two contradictory performance restrictions. Hence, increase in speed always results in the use of more and complex hardware. Different arithmetic techniques can be used to implement different multiplier circuits. The focus of this paper is to implement various multiplier circuit and compare them. The timing signals can be observed using software such as Modelsim and Xilinx.


This paper explores definitions of luxury foods and considers the role of luxuries in marking social distinction. It is proposed that luxury foods are those foods that offer a refinement in texture, taste, fat content or other quality (such as stimulant or inebriant) and offer distinction, because of either their quantity or quality. Ethnographic research has revealed that an emphasis on quantity of food and elaboration of common staples is found mostly in societies without strong social stratification, while an emphasis on quality and style is characteristic of societies with institutionalized forms of social ranking. In the former context the consumption of luxury foods is used primarily to create or enhance social bonds, in the latter to create or enhance exclusivity and distance. The archaeological recognition of luxury foods is reviewed to demonstrate how archaeology is well placed to add regional breadth and chronological depth to the study of the changing role and meaning of luxury foods.


A possible role of the c-myc oncogene in the neoplastic transformation of the human thyroid has been investigated. The structure, the methylation status, and the copy number of this oncogene have been analyzed in normal and in tumor thyroid DNAs by Southern blotting technique and dot blot hybridization. Among six carcinomas, four presented abnormal c-myc DNA structure: Three cases showed a mutation in the 5' flanking region of the gene, originating a new EcoRI site; the other case showed a deletion of 5 kb involving the first exon of the gene. This deletion was also observed in the white blood cells of the same individual. In addition, in three carcinomas a double dose of the oncogene has been demonstrated. In all the carcinomas examined, undermethylation of the c-myc oncogene has been observed. These findings suggest that c-myc oncogene alterations might be involved in the malignant transformation of the human thyroids and can be considered as tumor markers.


Three hundred and ninety-three samples of dairy products (124 samples of white cheese, 61 samples of cream cheese, 76 samples of Kashar cheese, and 132 samples of butter), 91 samples of cashew nut and 97 macademia nut marketed in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia during September 2010-September 2011, were analyzed for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), total aflatoxin and AFB1 by microtitre plate enzyme linked immunosorband assay (ELISA) The incidence of AFM1 contamination in dairy products analyzed was 82%. Total aflatoxin contamination was determined in 84 (92.3%) of 91 cashew nut and in 88 (90.7%) of 97 macademia nut whereas total aflatoxin contamination was not detected in 3 (3.2%) of 91 cashew nut samples and in 12 of 97 macademia nut samples. AFB1 was found in 84 (92.3%) of 91 cashew nut and in 83 (85.5%) of 97 samples of macademia nut samples. AFM1 levels in 3 (2.4%) white cheese, 4 (3.0%) of butter, 2 (3.2%) in cream cheese and 5 (6.5%) of Kashar cheese samples were found higher than the maximum acceptable levels as set by European Union.Continuous surveillance program may be warranted to monitor regularly the occurrence of aflatoxins in foodstuffs.


This paper goes beyond orthodox considerations of direct payment effects on agricultural output, by highlighting the role of subsidies in affecting individual producers' ability to cover fixed costs, and in distorting the volume of aggregate production and net trade by implicitly discouraging exits. The theoretical model considers both taxpayer and consumer financed decoupled direct payment schemes and compares them to a coupled production subsidy. In terms of possible producer responses to direct payments, the paper proposes an analytical framework of production decision-making in the presence of a stochastic distribution of fixed costs across representative farms. The paper shows that decoupled payments in theory can have a larger effect on output than coupled payments. The model explicitly recognizes three consequences of domestic support: (a) induce exit or entry; (b) bias production incentives to domestic markets; and (c) cross-subsidize export in global markets. An empirical model of the U.S. wheat sector is developed to illustrate the relative potential impacts of coupled versus decoupled payments on output through the effects on a farmer's ability to cover fixed costs and hence exit decisions.


Multiwavelength observations indicate that some starburst galaxies show a dominant nonthermal contribution from their central region. These active galactic nuclei (AGN)-starburst composites are of special interest, as both phenomena on their own are potential sources of highly energetic cosmic rays and associated γ-ray and neutrino emission. In this work, a homogeneous, steady-state two-zone multimessenger model of the nonthermal emission from the AGN corona as well as the circumnuclear starburst region is developed and subsequently applied to the case of NGC 1068, which has recently shown some first indications of high-energy neutrino emission. Here, we show that the entire spectrum of multimessenger data—from radio to γ-rays including the neutrino constraint—can be described very well if both, starburst and AGN corona, are taken into account. Using only a single emission region is not sufficient.


This research paper looks into the main ideologies conveyed by linguistics features, mainly metaphors, in the two Nicholas Sparks' novels The Notebook and A Walk to Remember. Corpus techniques were adopted to get an overview of the data. The qualitative method was applied with Fairclough's (2015) three-dimensional framework to analyze the data. A software called Antconc was integrated into this study to achieve the most accurate statistics. The results showed a list of twenty most frequently used keywords, in which "time" is the noun with the highest frequency. Using Fairclough's three-dimensional model, 40 metaphors with the word "time" based on Lakoff's (2003) theory were analysed thoroughly. Three main ideologies embedded in those metaphors were then detected. It was found that in Nicholas Sparks' point of view, time is a valuable commodity, time is an immense invisible power, and time is a non-renewable resource.


This paper presents a technique to evaluate nodal reliability in a hybrid power market. Reliability models for the power pool and bilateral suppliers have been developed using reliability network equivalents. The impact of customer response on nodal reliabilities is included in the technique. Optimal power flow is used to replace AC power flow to minimize total system cost in each contingency state. The IEEE RTS has been analyzed to illustrate the technique.


The lymphocytic transformation in vitro has been studied in 2 cases of ataxia-telangiectasia and compared to that of 2 controls. Significant difference was found between the two groups in the behavior of lymphocytes for two different times of culture. After 48 hrs culturing, important individual variability in RNA synthesis and lower per cent of cells in mitosis was found in the first group. After 120 hrs culturing less important DNA synthesis was found in the first group and about the same per cent of cells in mitosis. After 48 hrs cultures, cellular damage was found in the first group and after 120 hrs cultures, chromosome anomalies were found in the first group.


Purpose
Rural farmers' access to farm credit in Nigeria has been very low, which affects farm performance, and credit providers have blamed for the problem in the sector. While this general perception persists the fact may be the case of credit demand, rather than just the risk-averse attitudes of credit providers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate significant factors influencing farmers' credit demand to ensure efficient credit provision.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted mixed methods for an in-depth investigation into the problem. There were 216 research participants split into equal halves of men and women from six local government areas of Nasarawa State. Data collection methods employed structured interviews, focus group discussions, close/open-ended and key informant interviews. Analytical tools involved descriptive statistics, the logit and multinomial logit models to determine participants' socio-economic characteristics, sources of credit, access, factors influencing credit demand generally and from the various sources of credit identified.

Findings
Findings reveal only 47.6 per cent of the participants accessed credit, with fewer women accessing than men. The most accessed forms of credit are from the semi-formal sources, with more men accessing from formal sources and more women from non-formal sources. Factors having significant influence on credit demand generally are education, group membership and household size. And from formal, semi-formal and non-formal credit sources are education, information on sources of credit, deposits, household size and marital status; education, deposits, group membership, household size, flock size; and education, group membership, and gender from the non-formal credit providers, respectively.

Research limitations/implications
Due to time constraint, this study data were collected concurrently with both quantitative and qualitative methods and did not allow for the interrogation of findings from one method with the other. In addition, the research categorised the agency of women based on marital status only as single or married and did not interrogate the agency of women further, this may be a limitation as some of the female participants are from polygamous homes.

Originality/value
Unlike the current concentration of Nigerian research of this kind with quantitative methods alone, this research contributes particularly to Nigerian research output and experience by triangulating both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore farmers sources of credit, access and factors determining access to credit in the study area.


It is widely asserted that we are not a spiritually concerned culture and that there is no body of uniquely Australian religious art. But is this really the case? Australian culture is more complex than the standard interpretations of 'Australians' suggest, and characterisations of 'Australians' as an 'irreligious' people may be misleading. Moreover, as Richard Ely in Historical Studies (1980-81) notes, Australian historians may have been too quick to accept that during the last century and a half, European Australia has 'undergone almost total institutional secularisation'. While recent revisionist history reveals that popular forms of religious activity in Australian life and art have been ignored, one could say that many of the unusual, spiritual aspects have been generally edited out of representations of our culture.


We analyze with four compartments a deterministic nonlinear mathematical model of typhoid fever transmission dynamics. Using the Lipchitz condition, we verified the existence and uniqueness of the model solutions to establish the validity of the model and derive the equilibria states of the model, i.e. disease-free equilibrium (DFE) and endemic equilibrium (EE). The computed basic reproductive number R0 was used to establish that the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable when its numerical values are less than one while the endemic equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable when its values are greater than one. In addition, the Lyapunov function was applied to investigate the stability property for the (DFE). The model was numerically simulated to validate the results of the analysis.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether or nor iron affects the depolarizing activity of a circulating shock protein that appears in plasma after hemorrhage.

DESIGN
Randomized design.

SETTING
University laboratory.

ANIMALS
Healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 300 to 400 g with femoral artery and vein cannulas placed 4 days before hemorrhage.

INTERVENTION
A 20-mL/kg hemorrhage and plasma collection.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Depolarizing activity was measured as the increased fluorescence of an oxonol dye in the presence of Fe3+, Fe2+, or the iron chelator deferoxamine mesylate and was titrated against increasing concentrations of circulating shock protein or iron. Circulating shock protein was derived from plasma and was purified in two steps: stepwise ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by denaturing ion-exchange chromatography and refolding.

RESULTS
At physiologic concentrations, Fe3+ but not Fe2+ potentiated the depolarizing activity of plasma after ammonium sulfate. Addition of deferoxamine abolished activity. Denaturing chromatography removed nearly all the depolarizing activity; however, Fe3+ restored activity to this fraction. Fe3+ increased total activity and decreased the concentration at which 50% activity was observed.

CONCLUSION
These data indicate that physiologic concentrations of Fe3+ may act to modulate the depolarizing activity of circulating shock protein that in turn mediates the intracellular accumulation of salt and water in shock.


Abandoned of housing projects amid construction is a primary issue that the housing sector in Malaysia has been encountering since 1980s. Elements relating to projects be
abandonment can be categorize into many factors such as financial management, economic, mismanagement, developer, social and etc for the causes in different LA. From the factors that contribute to abandoned project, the impact of the causes also will get such as in term of economic and social. This research aims to analyze
management on abandoned projects by different local authority (LA) in Selangor, Malaysia with several objective which are first is to identify the causes and impact of
abandoned projects in different LA, second is to identify the problems faced by different LA in managing the abandoned projects and lastly is to identify the methods
use by different LA on managing the abandoned projects in Selangor, Malaysia. Ten of different LA in Selangor, Malaysia is involved in this research for data collection
through structured interview at each of the LA. This research also will clearly explain about what are problems faced and the methods used by different LA on managing the abandoned project. In view of the fact that, people are many different opinions may arise from time to time. All the problems mentioned has the solutions on how to deal
with it. As the researcher they are several methods to reduce the problem that occurrences to accomplish the aim of this research which to reduce the abandoned
project in construction industry. In a nutshell, hopefully in the future, the contractor in our industry can be more effective toward the completing the project in date line.


the efficiencies of the individual group members, and its application by Restle to awaitingtime model for deriving the number of stages in the problem's solution. Both models will need to take account of the social interactions present before they agree well with experimental results. Foa has an interesting application of facet theory to husband-wife pairs, picking out three facets and showing a circular structure of the eight relationships, considered as elementary components of behaviour. The role of individual members in determining group standards or decisions is discussed in various ways by Anderson, Cohen, Moore and Anderson, Smoke and Zajonc, and Roby, whilst the influence of one group member upon another is the main interest of both Coleman and Karlsson, the latter giving a mathematical characterisation of the reward or punishment potential of the stimulus. Of the model-makers, Atkinson introduces a "strength of conditioning" factor to adapt previous models which he found defective, but Estes prefers to keep to the learning axioms and adopts a "scanning model" where the subjects choose the response that maximises the expected reward. Bush contributes a very thoughtful paper reaching pessimistic conclusions on the future of stochastic models, and insisting on the development of new experimental techniques before model-building can have any chance of success. P. R. FREEMAN.


This paper introduces the way to optimize the rocker-slider mechanism for lifting platform based on genetic algorithm of excessive objects, aimed at the minimum compression height, the maximum lifting height and the largest cylinder's axial force. And combined with MATLAB's graph management and interface development function, we have produced a motion simulation for the rocker-slider mechanism for lifting platform. The optimization result indicates that this method has overcome the shortcoming of traditional ones, and it has great advantages on the process of solution and intuitional representation.


Maternal factors localized in the posterior-vegetal cytoplasm of an ascidian egg are essential for cell specification and pattern formation of the embryo. The molecular identification of the localized factors and the elucidation of the machinery associated with the localization are therefore key research subjects. I report here the isolation and characterization of a novel maternally expressed gene, posterior end mark 3 (pem-3). The pem-3 cDNA was obtained from a cDNA library of fertilized egg mRNAs subtracted with gastrula mRNAs of Ciona savignyi. As in the case of pem (Yoshida et al., 1996, Development 122, 2005-2012), the pem-3 maternal transcript was gradually concentrated after fertilization in the posterior-vegetal cytoplasm of the egg, and it later marked the posterior end of developing embryos. The PEM-3 protein was also detected in the posterior end of early embryos. The nucleotide sequence predicted that pem-3 encodes a probable RNA-binding protein with two KH domains that have an extensive similarity with those of Caenorhabditis elegans MEX-3. MEX-3 is also localized in nematode embryos (Draper et al., 1996, Cell 87, 205-216), suggesting that PEM-3 is a candidate homologue of MEX-3. In addition to maternal expression, a zygotic transcript of pem-3 and its gene product were detected in cells of the neural plate, mesenchyme, and epidermis of embryos after the neural-plate stage. Inhibition of zygotic expression using an antisense oligonucleotide resulted in the development of abnormal larvae without sensory pigment cells, suggesting that the zygotic PEM-3 plays a role in the differentiation of the brain of the ascidian larva.


The dependence of the interface quality on growth temperature in 57Fe/V (001) single-crystal multilayers was investigated using conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and X-ray diffraction (xrd). The samples, with 7 atomic layers (AL) of isotope-enriched Fe and 5 AL of V, were grown by dc magnetron sputtering onto MgO (001) substrates at temperatures Tg in the range 230–430°C. The xrd results confirmed the previous findings on optimum temperature for sharp interfaces (Tg = 300–330°C), whereas the CEMS data suggested that the short-range order was similar in all samples with Tg ≤ 330°C. The film grown at 430°C was significantly different, with clear signs of alloying throughout the Fe layers. Additional magneto-optical measurements showed the expected ferromagnetic behaviour.


We examine whether heterogeneous mergers effects predominantly stem from technological or product market heterogeneities. Using detailed firmand product-specific information, we employ a heterogeneous merger effects model. Our results show that merging firms realize substantial heterogeneous post-merger effects on competitive outcomes such as production or prices. Merger effects vary substantially across merging firms, depending on the firms' pre-merger efficiency levels, price elasticities, and innovative activities. Firms' efficiency level and price elasticities prior to merging determine large post-merger heterogeneities. The results show that product market attributes (differences in inefficiencies and price elasticities) cause larger postmerger heterogeneities compared with technology market attributes.


The absolute abundance of the mature portion of a stock is loosely referred to here in a variety of ways, 1 including: population size, stock biomass, stock size, spawning stock size, spawning biomass, spawning output; i.e., the language used in this document is sometimes inconsistent and/or imprecise. However, the best fundamental measure of population abundance to use in establishing a relationship with recruitment is spawning output, defined as the total annual output of eggs (or larvae in the case of live-bearing species). Although spawning biomass is often used as a surrogate measure of spawning output, for a variety of reasons a non-linear relationship often exists between these two quantities (Rothschild and Fogarty 1989; Marshall et al. 1998). Spawning output should, therefore, be used to measure the size of the mature stock when possible.


This article explores recent theories of listening, perception and embodiment, including those by Mark Grimshaw and Tom Garner, Salomé Voegelin, and Eric Clarke, as well as consequences and possibilities arising from them in relation to field recording and soundscape art practice. These theories of listening propose auditory perception as an embodied process of engaging with and understanding lived environment. Such phenomenological listening is understood as a relational engagement with the world in motion, as movement and change, which grants access to the listener's emerging presence, agency and place in the world. Such ideas on listening have developed concurrently with new approaches to making and presenting field recordings, with a focus on developing phonographic methods for capturing and presenting the recordist's embodied auditory perspective. In the present study, 'first-person' field recording is defined as both method and culturally significant material whereby a single recordist carries, wears or remains present with a microphone, consciously and reflexively documenting their personal listening encounters. This article examines the practice of first-person field recording and considers its specific applications in a range of sound art and soundscape art examples, including work by Gabi Losoncy, Graham Lambkin, Christopher Delaurenti and Klaysstarr (the author). In the examination of these methods and works, first-person field recording is considered as a means of capturing the proximate auditory space of the recordist as a mediated 'point of ear', which may be embodied, inhabited, and listened through by a subsequent listener. The article concludes with a brief summary of the discussion before some closing thoughts on recording, listening and the field, on field recording as practice-research and on potential connections with other fields in which the production of virtual environments is a key focus.


Investigating the value added by inflation-linked bonds in investment portfolios in emerging markets, the author found that the inclusion of inflation-linked bonds improved the risk–return characteristics of investment portfolios in many of the emerging markets. He also found that inflation-linked bond returns correlate more positively with realized inflation than do nominal bonds, even in the short run. Thus, investors should consider adding emerging market inflation-linked bonds to their investment portfolios.


The magnetic susceptibility of neutron matter, interacting through the Reid (1968) soft-core potential, is calculated within the framework of the lowest-order constrained variational technique of Owen, Bishop and Irvine (1977). The magnetic susceptibility predicted by the LOCV calculation is considerably larger than that obtained in Brueckner calculations by Haensel. It is further increased when the N*(1234) degree of freedom is allowed for explicitly. Despite these increases in susceptibility there is no evidence for a ferromagnetic phase transition.


In the present paper, the case of nonlinear behaviour of the material that constitutes the shield is considered. Considering a thin layer of thickness s, having electrical conductivity s and first magnetisation or hysteretic curve B=sigmav(H), and introducing the Fixed Point technique, the values of the magnetic field inside the shield thickness can be written as a function of the values on the two faces of the shell (respectively sides (a) and (b)), plus a residual term to be iteratively computed. In Eqn. (1) [D] and [E] are constant column vectors, while [F] is a column vector including the residual nonlinearities to be updated during the iterative process.


Trimerization of a mixture containing a mono- and difunctional cyanate ester is investigated under the nanoporous confinement of silanized hydrophobic controlled pore glass using differential scanning calorimetry. The trimerization reaction of the nanoconfined monomer mixture is accelerated relative to the bulk by as much as 12 times in 8 nm pores, but this acceleration is less than half that observed for nanoconfinement of the individual monomers. The absolute reaction rate of the monomer mixture lies between those of the individual species, being slower than the monocyanate ester and faster than the dicyanate ester. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the reaction acceleration is due to monomer ordering or layering at the pore surface, leading to a local concentration of reactive groups higher than in the bulk. In addition to the influence of nanoconfinement on trimerization kinetics, the molecular weight and glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polycyanurate formed in the nanopores ...


. In the field of structural dynamics is common to predict the behaviour of a structure regarding structural modifications. In this context, the frequency based substructuring method is well-known to perform structural modifications based on the coupling of structures. This process gives the possibility to perform the study of a structure at the level of its components and then assess the response of the coupled system. In practice, it is impossible to attain an experimental complete response model, although one can simulate all the responses of a structure using numerical models. Hence, the substructuring process can be enhanced by the combined use of experimental and numerical responses, as it was demonstrated using numerically obtained frequency response functions. This work presents the enhancement of the frequency based substructuring method using a method to expand experimental frequency response functions over the entire set of degrees of freedom in a finite element model. This expansion process, known as modified Kidder's method, considers that if one can only measure translations due to exciting force, it is possible to obtain the complete response model, including the rotational frequency response functions due to exciting moments. The combined use of the frequency based substructuring and the modified Kidder's methods has several advantages, as it avoids modal identification or residual compensation. To evaluate the performance of the proposed procedure a numerical example of a beam structure is presented, and its results are discussed.


Land use regression (LUR) has been widely adopted as a method of describing spatial variation in air pollutants; however, traditional LUR methods are not suitable for characterizing short-term or time-variable exposures. Our aim was to develop and validate a spatiotemporal LUR model for use in epidemiological studies examining health effects attributable to time-variable air pollution exposures. A network of 42 NO(2) passive samplers was deployed for 12 two week periods over three years. A mixed effects model was tested using a combination of spatial predictors, and readings from fixed site continuous monitors, in order to predict NO(2) values for any two week period over three years in the defined study area. The final model, including terms based on traffic density at 50 and 150 m, population density within 500 m, commercial land use area within 750 m, and NO(2) concentrations at a central fixed site monitor, explained over 80% of the overall variation in NO(2) concentrations. We suggest that such a model can be used to study the association between variable air pollutant exposures and health effects in epidemiological studies.


A randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled cross-over trial was carried out to evaluate whether ubiquinone supplementation (180 mg daily) corrects impaired defence against initiation of oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) related to effective (60 mg daily) lovastatin treatment. Nineteen men with coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia received lovastatin with or without ubiquinone during 6-week periods after wash-out. The depletion times for LDL ubiquinol and reduced alpha-tocopherol were determined during oxidation induced by 2,2-azobis(2,4-dimethylvaleronitrile) (AMVN). Copper-mediated oxidation of LDL isolated by rapid density-gradient ultracentrifugation was used to measure the lag time to the propagation phase of conjugated diene formation. Compared to mere lovastatin therapy, ubiquinone supplementation lead to a 4.4-fold concentration of LDL ubiquinol (P < 0.0001). In spite of the 49% lengthening in depletion time (P < 0.0001) of LDL ubiquinol, the lag time in copper-mediated oxidation increased only by 5% (P = 0.02). Ubiquinone loading had no statistically significant effect on LDL alpha-tocopherol redox kinetics during high radical flux ex vivo. The faster depletion of LDL ubiquinol and shortened lag time in conjugated diene formation during high-dose lovastatin therapy may, at least partially, be restored with ubiquinone supplementation. However, the observed improvement in LDL antioxidative capacity was scarce, and the clinical relevance of ubiquinone supplementation during statin therapy remains open.


In recent years, understanding the decision-making process of black-box models has become not only a legal requirement but also an additional way to assess their performance. However, the state of the art post-hoc interpretation approaches rely on synthetic data generation. This introduces uncertainty and can hurt the reliability of the interpretations. Furthermore, they tend to produce explanations that apply to only very few data points. This makes the explanations brittle and limited in scope. Finally, they provide scores that have no direct verifiable meaning. In this paper, we present BELLA, a deterministic model-agnostic post-hoc approach for explaining the individual predictions of regression black-box models. BELLA provides explanations in the form of a linear model trained in the feature space. Thus, its coefficients can be used directly to compute the predicted value from the feature values. Furthermore, BELLA maximizes the size of the neighborhood to which the linear model applies, so that the explanations are accurate, simple, general, and robust. BELLA can produce both factual and counterfactual explanations. Our user study confirms the importance of the desiderata we optimize, and our experiments show that BELLA outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches on these desiderata.


The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India is an autonomous public body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA). The NHRC is the national human rights institution, responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the Act as "rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants".


The NRC masers H-3 and H-4 have been operating since June 1993 with cavity servo control. These low-flux active H masers are showing stabilities of about 10(exp -15) from 1 hour to several days. Stability results are presented, and the current and planned uses of the masers are discussed. A cesium fountain primary frequency standard project has been started at NRC. Trapping and launching experiments with the goal of 7 m/s launches are beginning. We discuss our plans for a local oscillator and servo that exploit the pulsed aspect of cesium fountain standards, and meet the challenge of 10(exp -14) tau(exp -1/2) stability without requiring masers. At best, we expect to run this frequency standard initially for periods of hours each working day rather than continuously for years, and so frequency transfer to outside laboratories has been carefully considered. We conclude that masers (or other even better secondary clocks) are required to exploit this potential accuracy of the cesium fountain. We present and discuss our conclusion that it is feasible to transfer frequency in this way with a transfer-induced uncertainty of less than 10(exp -15), even in the presence of maser frequency drift and random walk noise.


Particle-in-cell simulations are performed to analyze the efficiency, output power and leakage currents in a 12-Cavity, 12-Cathode rising-sun magnetron with diffraction output (MDO). The central goal is to conduct a parameter study of a rising-sun magnetron that comprehensively incorporates performance enhancing features such as transparent cathodes, axial extraction, the use of endcaps, and cathode extensions. Our optimum results demonstrate peak output power of about 2.1 GW, with efficiencies of ∼70% and low leakage currents at a magnetic field of 0.45 Tesla, a 400 kV bias with a single endcap, for a range of cathode extensions between 3 and 6 centimeters.


The value of any operation must be judged not merely by the results, however brilliant, secured with that procedure in the hands of one man, perhaps the originator of that special operation, but also, if not chiefly, by the results obtained by a large number of different surgeons. For that reason it may be worth while to record my experience, though small, with preliminary capsulotomy, the so-called "Homer Smith" operation, in the extraction of immature cataract. It is not my intention to enter on any discussion of the relative merits of this procedure and the intracapsular extraction, now so much in vogue, as a result of the work and teachings of Colonel Smith of India. The very fact that so many operators are not as yet using the latter method is evidence that they are still seeking some other technic which to them, at least, appears not to be attended


Brodifacoum is a 4-hydroxycoumarin anticoagulant rodenticide of Rodents. This denotes a high possibility that contaminated the diet of man and his farm animals this fact alarmed some scientists to study their biological influence. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) has been used as an antioxidant and preventing agent against numbers of diseases. The study deals with effects of brodifacoum on the chromosome and on the liver and testis of male mice as well as and the protective effects of ginger extract. 130 Adult albino male mice were used in this study. Group (G1) served as control. Groups (G2&3) was received ginger extract doses 1.5% and 3%. Groups (G4&5) received single dose (1/10 LD50) of brodifacoum for group (G4) and (1/20 LD50) for group (G5). Groups (G6, 7, 8 & 9) received brodifacoum then ginger extract. Groups (G10, 11, 12&13) received ginger extract then brodifacoum. Animals from all the groups were sacrificed and their bone marrow cells were analyzed for chromosomal damage. Liver and testis samples are collected for histopathological examination. The animals of the groups that treated with brodifacoum showed significant increase of chromosomal aberrations and the value of mitotic index were reduced. Treated male mice with brodifacoum induced various histological changes in liver and testis. Treated animals with brodifacoum and ginger lead to reduction in chromosomal aberrations, significant increase in mitotic index and slight improvement in the histological change in liver and testis. Results obtained from this study demonstrated that brodifacoum has a mutagenic effect on chromosome and histopathological change in different organ (liver and testis) and the use of ginger may be a potent protective against the toxicity of brodifacoum anticoagulant rodenticide.


This paper reports physicochemical studies in fungal infected galls of Pongamia pinnata. The parameters assayed were Total ash, acid insolubility and water solubility values and extractive values (Alcohol, water and petroleum ether). Fungal infected galls showed significantly higher value of ash, acid insolubility and low water solubility and high extractive values (petroleum ether and water) when compared to normal galls


A putative chorismate mutase (CM) gene, Ma-cm-1, was isolated from the nematode Meloidogyne arenaria. The predicted protein (named MA-CM-1) with amino-terminal signal peptides was significantly similar to CMs in M. javanica, M. incognita, Globodera pallida and bacteria. Secondary structure prediction of MA-CM-1 indicated that it also had the three conserved alpha-helix domains present in Escherichia coli CMs. RT-PCR analysis showed that Ma-cm-1 was transcribed in both the preparasitic second stage and early postinfection juveniles. In situ mRNA hybridization revealed that the transcripts of Ma-cm-1 accumulated specifically in the two subventral oesophageal gland cells of M. arenaria. The widespread existence of CMs in the sedentary endoparasitic nematodes indicates that this enzyme is a key element in the host-parasite interaction.


Marine and coastal ecosystems are of high importance owing to the mankind dependence on the goods and services provided. As water quality is one perspective of healthy marine and coastal ecosystems, the aim of this study is to review as more as possible surveys conducted worldwide and in Greece. Due to the lack of an official market to valuate non-marketed goods and services, contingent valuation is applied intensively in order to provide the policy makers and the society generally with the specific values derived by a developed hypothetical market. In addition, this study reviews the crucial but debatable notion of value, the theoretical framework in accordance with the existing statistical models to estimate the welfare measures and the numerous disadvantages that have to be taken into account in order to implement a reliable contingent valuation survey.


Eleven self-identified gay/lesbian individuals were interviewed about the age at which they became aware of their gender and sexual identity and whether they recalled specific life events associated with that awareness. Thematic analyses focused on individuals who recalled a specific age and event in early childhood in which they became aware of their gender and sexual identity versus individuals who did not recall a specific age tied to their awareness of their sexual and gender identities. Results showed that five participants gave non-specific ages (e.g., "always" and "at an early age") when their gender identity became particularly salient, the remaining 6 participants reported a specific age and typically a specific event when their gender identity became particularly salient. Findings are discussed in the context of intersectionality, gender and sexual identity development, and the coming out process. Findings suggest that experiences related to gender identity and expression and sexual orientation are non-linear processes that vary widely, and that there is no one "master narrative". Implications for mental health and the need for ongoing support services are also highlighted.


In recent years, the number of construction projects carried out to repair and reinforce newly built structures and facilities has been on the rise compared to the number of new construction projects, accounting for more than 90 percents of all construction projects carried out by specialty construction companies. However, as some of the ordering parties fill out the required tasks incorrectly, the wrong information on construction bids is announced, and the specialty construction companies that hold a license and technology are unable to get the job at the right time. As such, it is critical to prevent unnecessary time and expense related to the correction of incorrect bid announcements by providing accurate information and definitions, because the tasks of each specialty construction work stipulated in the framework act of construction industry are vague. Therefore, the causes and problems were analyzed based on the correction cases of bid information, and a plan that can address the problem will be proposed. The result of this study can be utilized as fundamental data to achieve an institutional improvement in the bidding service for the specialty construction companies.


Alfven modes are excited by energetic ions in TFTR during intense minority ICRF heating. There is a clear threshold in rf power above which the modes are distabilized. The net effect of these modes is the increase of the fast ion losses, with an associated saturation of the ion tail energy and of the efficiency of the heating. Typically, several modes are excited with progressive n-numbers, with frequencies in the neighborhood of 200 kHz. Results suggest that Energetic Particle Modes (EPM), mostly unseen by the Mirnov coils, are generated near the center and are responsible for the ion losses. Stronger global TAE modes, which are destabilized by the stream of displaced fast ions, appear responsible only for minor losses.


Fatal malignant hyperthermia occurred in a patient who was taking tranylcypromine (Parnate) and ingested wine and cheese. The case findings are presented along with a review of the literature concerning adverse interactions between monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and certain foods and beverages. Hyperthermia and its possible causative mechanisms and treatments are discussed. The facts suggest that the complicated dietary restrictions attending the use of MAO inhibitors and the possibility of severe and even catastrophic reactions resulting from violations of these restrictions make the use of these drugs fraught with danger and therefore not a first choice for the treatment of depression.


ABSTRACT This study examined engagement in leisure activities among older adults, specifically focusing on how life transition factors in later life, including retirement and marital status, are associated with leisure activity engagement using a national sample of older American men and women. We conducted multiple regression analyses with a sample of 5,405 individuals (2,318 men; 3,087 women) from the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey, a supplementary sample of the Health and Retirement Study. We analysed activity engagement in each of four domains of leisure activities: mental, physical, social and religious. Retirement status was categorised into three groups: working (referent), completely retired and partly retired. Marital status was categorised into four groups: married (referent), divorced or separated, widowed and never married. We found an overall trend of a positive relationship between retirement and leisure activity engagement, which suggests that retirement provides a chance for older adults to participate in leisure activities after withdrawal from the labour force. The overall trend of a negative relationship between non-married status and leisure activity engagement suggests that the loss or absence of a spouse may serve as a barrier to participate in leisure activities. Nevertheless, variation among retirees and non-married individuals suggests future studies should compare completely and partly retired individuals or those who are widowed, divorced or separated, or never married to elucidate distinguishable leisure activity profiles.


The business sector produces products and services for profit. Information technology describes any technology used to create, process and disseminate information that is critical to business performance. Information technology is important to the business sector as a management tool to optimize the processing of information to produce goods and services for profit. No matter the size of your enterprise, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that will help you make money and produce the results your customers demand. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency and relationships of a business. It also affects the security of confidential information and trade advantages. The information revolution is sweeping through economy. No company can escape its effects. Dramatic reductions in the cost of obtaining, processing, and transmitting information are changing the way we do business.


This study proposes the design of a family of controllers based on sector non-linear functions for first-order dynamical systems. Three new controllers that incorporate these types of functions are presented and analysed to validate the authors' premise. The proposed nominal controllers and an augmented version with integral action are presented. Asymptotic stability is proven under the Lyapunov theory and the controllers' performance is compared against a traditional proportional controller. An empirically tuned relation depending on a constant bound value and an operation range is proposed; this is used to compute the gains of each controller. Simulation results with all of the controllers under saturation bounds are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the method at solving the output regulation and the tracking control problems, under practical physical assumptions. The numerical comparison utilises the L 2 and L ∞ norms over the output error, and over the control variable, applying the same saturation bounds for each controller.


treatment of tumours in animals. These two chapters emphasize that there are many factors which may influence the growth of tumours other than the tumour cells per se. In summary this book contains a wealth of information which is indicated by the number of references given at the ends of each chapter amounting to more than 2,300. It should be particularly useful to those starting in the field of radiotherapy and a valuable teaching aid in medical schools.


First the classification of bound states in the relativistic two-fermion problem is discussed. A comparison with the KDP-inspired two-body coupled equations recently obtained by Kaelberman (1986) is given.


The Mexican Mountain Component (MMC) includes six biogeographical provinces. In this manuscript, we propose to use endemic taxa as surrogates to prioritize for conservation areas of the MMC. We use the distribution of 24 endemic mammals to prioritize conservation sites in the MMC and to evaluate the current Mexican system of protected natural areas (PNA). We used species distribution models and the software ConsNet 2.0 to prioritize areas for conservation, evaluating two algorithms (the representation maximization problem, and the area minimization problem) and two different representation targets (10 % and 25 %) of the distributional area of endemic taxa. In addition, we considered the effects of including existing PNA and/or excluding areas with altered vegetation. The representation maximization problem including current PNA was ineffective for reaching conservation targets. Meanwhile, all area minimization problems allowed us to prioritize areas reaching the targets of surrogates. In particular, a strategy that considers area minimization problem using a target of 10 % of the distribution of surrogates, including PNA and excluding the altered vegetation, was the most favorable for maintaining the distributional patterns of the endemic mammals. This solution proposes the protection of a total of 37,460 km2, covering areas with altitude above 2,400 m located mainly in the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Transmexican Volcanic Belt, and provinces of the Sierra Madre del Sur. A prioritization strategy based on the distribution of endemic mammals as surrogates can help to maintain the distributional patterns of endemism of the Mexican biota. Key words: conservation biogeography; endemicity; mammals; Mexico; surrogates; sympatry.


Multimedia guides are an increasingly common feature within museums and galleries where they provide enhanced levels of interpretation and engagement. Their potential is well recognised in the literature and ongoing technological advances will ensure that their capabilities continue to expand. A key issue for many museums and galleries is to understand the practical realities of developing and operating a multimedia guide to truly realise its potential. In this article, we discuss our experiences developing the mi-Guide multimedia visitor guide at the Museum of Science and Industry (Manchester, UK) and share our experiences of the technical, digital design, content authorship and non-technical, people-related issues that need to be understood and addressed.


Abstract Ferrite (δ)-austenite (γ) transformations in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of a gas tungsten arc weld in 2205 duplex stainless steel are observed in real time using spatially resolved X-ray diffraction (SRXRD) with high intensity synchrotron radiation. A map showing the locations of the δ and γ phases with respect to the calculated weld pool dimensions has been constructed from a series of SRXRD scans. Regions of liquid, completely transformed γ, a combination of partially transformed γ with untransformed δ, and untransformed γ + δ are identified. Analysis of each SRXRD pattern provides a semiquantitative definition of both the δ/γ phase balance and the extent of annealing, which are mapped for the first time with respect to the calculated weld pool size and shape. A combination of these analyses provides a unique real time description of the progression of phase transformations in the HAZ. Results show that during heating, δ and γ both show signs of annealing as temperatures approach 550 ° C. The δ phase then starts to transform to γ as temperatures approach 700 ° C. Although supported by thermodynamic calculations, this δ → γ transformation during heating has not been directly observed until now. Following this reaction, the HAZ microstructure evolves in three different ways. For peak temperatures less than approximately 1100 ° C, δ retransforms, reverting to its original base metal fraction on cooling. When peak temperatures exceed approximately 1375 ° C, the microstructure completely transforms to δ before retransforming to a mixture of δ and γ during weld cooling. For peak temperatures between 1100 and 1375 ° C, γ is only partially transformed during both heating and cooling. Using these real time observations, important kinetic information about the transformations occurring in duplex stainless steels during both non-isothermal heating and cooling of welding can be determined.


The present study attempted to investigate the military foodservice operation by conducting survey to foodservice managers. Surveys for managers of military foodservice operations were conducted in November, 2008 by visiting Consolidated Army Logistics School located in Daejeon during the time of training. Surveys for military foodservice officers and dietitian were sent by mail. The questionnaire was composed of the questions asking the general operation of military canteen, the self-concious specialty of military foodservice, and the needs assigning dietitian to each military unit. From the results of this study, it came up with the needs to draw up the plan to improve the foodservice specialty of canteen managers. One of the solution would assign dietitian to each military foodservice unit. Also, the facilities need to be equipped for various way of cooking to improve the satisfaction of soldiers. The results of this study would provide the data for making policy as well as arose academic interest to military foodservice.


With the proliferation of mobile devices we witness an increasing demand for supporting collaboration among users working in the field and in the office. A key component for collaboration in this domain is sharing and manipulation of information using very different display capabilities on the diverse devices. We present a system based on a distributed repository of shared data objects and a client-server based infrastructure. The system is robust to intermittent connections, and a mixture of slow and fast links. To preserve bandwidth, application-specific data distribution agents decide what data to send to the clients. We also present a framework for building collaborative applications for clients with different display and processing capabilities. We describe example applications implemented both as Java applets to run in Web browsers and as Java spotlets to run on Palm OS based handheld computers. Using these applications we evaluated the framework and the results show that the framework is scaleable, offers good performance and has a high degree of code reusability.


Fingerprint identification systems are vulnerable to attempted authentication fraud by creating fake fingerprints that mimic the live. This paper proposes method to detect whether a fingerprint is live fingerprint or fake fingerprint using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). We construct a features database of distances among minutiaes of fingerprints, where the distance calculation is based-on Euclidean Distance. Furthermore, the distance features database that has been constructed is classified using the CNN. CNN is a deep learning method designed for machine learning processes so that computers recognize objects in an image and this method has capability classifying an object. The numerical results have shown that the best accuracy achieves 99.38% when the learning rate is 0.001 with the epoch of 100.


Most models of investment decisions utilised in macroeconomic models take free or perfect competition as explicit or implicit assumption. However, the oligopolistic structure of most real markets lead to corporate strategic behaviours that can produce very different results. Strategic decisions, connected with agency problems, can play a major role in producing financialisation and timing the rhythms of real investment. The paper deals with both mainstream and heterodox contributions that analyse the effects of corporate governance and strategic behaviours on portfolio management and investment decisions in big corporations, seeking to determine how these effects might play a major role in producing growing liquidity holdings and financialisation. The main objective is to understand whether these models can explain the tendency to place growing shares of social surplus in speculative financial channels, thereby contributing to long-term real stagnation.


In addition to direct fire cues such as heat, smoke and charred wood, the passage of fire leads indirectly to changes in environmental conditions which may be able to break physical dormancy in hard-coated seeds. After a fire, the open canopy and the burnt material lying on the surface alter the thermal properties of the soil, resulting in elevated soil temperatures for long periods of time. We simulated daily temperature regimes experienced at different depths of soil profile after a summer fire. Our aim was to determine whether these temperature regimes and the duration of exposure (5, 15 and 30 days) play an important role breaking physical seed dormancy in six legumes from south-eastern Australia. Our results showed that simulated temperature regimes break seed dormancy. This effect is specially pronounced at temperatures that are expected to occur near the soil surface (0–2 cm depth). The duration of exposure interacts with temperature to break dormancy, with the highest germination rates reached after the longest duration and highest temperatures. However, the germination response varied among species. Therefore, this indirect post-fire cue could play a role in the regeneration of plant communities, and could stimulate seedling emergence independent of direct fire cues as well as in interaction with direct cues.


Refractive optical elements are widely used in millimeter and sub-millimeter (sub-mm) astronomical telescopes. High-resistivity silicon is an excellent material for dielectric lenses given its low loss tangent, high thermal conductivity, and high index of refraction. The high index of refraction of silicon causes a large Fresnel reflectance at the vacuum-silicon interface (up to 30%), which can be reduced with an anti-reflection (AR) coating. In this work, we report techniques for efficiently AR coating silicon at sub-mm wavelengths using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and bonding the coated silicon to another silicon optic. Silicon wafers of 100 mm diameter (1 mm thick) were coated and bonded using the silicon direct bonding technique at high temperature (1100°C). No glue is used in this process. Optical tests using a Fourier transform spectrometer show sub-percent reflections for a single-layer DRIE AR coating designed for use at 320 μm on a single wafer. Cryogenic (10 K) measurements of a bonded pair of AR-coated wafers also reached sub-percent reflections. A prototype two-layer DRIE AR coating to reduce reflections and increase bandwidth is presented, and plans for extending this approach are discussed.


This paper deals with the usage of Virtual Reality and Scenario Languages in the field of teleoperation: how to enable a group of teleoperators to control, in a collaborative way, groups of real robots, in turn collaborating with each other to achieve complex tasks; such tasks include inspecting a dangerous area or exploring a partially unknown environment. The main goal is to obtain efficient, natural and innovative interactions in such a context.We first present the usage of Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVE) to obtain a unified, simplified,virtual abstraction of distributed, complex, real robots. We show how this virtual environment offers a peculiar ability: to free teleoperators from space and time constraints. Then we present our original usage of Scenario Languages to describe complex and collaborative tasks in a natural and flexible way. Finally, we validate the proposed framework through our Teleoperation platform ViRAT.


Retinal bipolar cells show heterogeneous expression of voltage-dependent Na+ and K+ currents. We used whole-cell patch-clamp recordings to investigate the possible roles of these currents in the response properties of bipolar cells in rats. Isolated bipolar cells showed robust spontaneous regenerative activity, but the regenerative potential of rod bipolar cells reached a more depolarized level than that of cone bipolar cells. In both isolated cells and cells in retinal slices, the membrane depolarization evoked by current injection was apparently capped. The evoked membrane potential was again more depolarized in rod bipolar cells than in cone bipolar cells. Application of tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine shifted the spontaneous regenerative potential as well as the evoked potential to a more depolarized level. In addition, a subclass of cone bipolar cells showed a prominent spike in the initial phase of the voltage response when the cells were depolarized from a relatively negative membrane potential. The spike was mediated mainly by tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ current. The presence of the spike sped up the response kinetics and enhanced the peak membrane potential. Results of this study raise the possibility that voltage-dependent K+ currents may play a role in defining different membrane operating ranges of rod and cone bipolar cells and that voltage-dependent Na+ currents may enhance the response kinetics and amplitude of certain cone bipolar cells.


The circannual rhythm of plasma thyrotropin (TSH) was evaluated in 8,310 euthyroid, serially independent, young, middle-aged and old men and women. A statistically significant circannual rhythm of plasma TSH was validated, by the mean group-cosinor method, in the middle-aged and old men and women (p less than 0.05), with acrophase in December, whereas the young subjects did not show any rhythm. No significant correlation was found between TSH plasma levels and free thyroxine (fT4) or ambient temperature in any group. Moreover, plasma fT4 did not show seasonal variations.