I have personally witnessed processing advance from desk calculators and mainframes, through timesharing and PCs, to supercomputers and cloud computing. I have also witnessed resources grow from too little data into almost too much data, and from theory dominating data into data beginning to dominate theory while needing new theory. Finally, I have witnessed problems advance from simple in a lone discipline into becoming almost too complex in multiple disciplines, as well as approaches evolve from analysis driving solutions into solutions by data mining beginning to drive the analysis itself. How we do all of this has transitioned from competition overcoming collaboration into collaboration starting to overcome competition, as well as what is done being more important than how it is done has transitioned into how it is done becoming as important as what is done. In addition, what or how we do it being more important than what or how we should actually do it has shifted into what or how we should do it becoming just as important as what or how we do it, if not more so. Although we have come a long way in both our methodology and technology, are they sufficient for our current or future complex and multidisciplinary problems with their massive databases? Since the apparent answer is not a resounding yes, we are presented with tremendous challenges and opportunities. This personal perspective adapts my background and experience to be appropriate for biopharmaceuticals. In these times of exploding change, informed perspectives on what challenges should be explored with accompanying guidance may be even more valuable than the far more typical literature reviews in conferences and journals of what has already been accomplished without challenges or guidance. Would we believe that an architect who designs a skyscraper determines the skyscraper's exact exterior, interior and furnishings or only general characteristics? Why not increase dependability of conclusions in genetics and translational medicine by enriching genetic determinism with uncertainty? Uncertainty is our friend if exploited or potential enemy if ignored. Genes design proteins, but they cannot operationally determine all protein characteristics: they begin a long chain of complex events occurring many times via intricate feedbacks plus interactions which are not all determined. Genes influence proteins and diseases by just determining their probability distributions, not by determining them. From any sample of diseased people, we may more successfully infer gene probability distributions than genes themselves, and it poses an issue to resolve. My position is supported by 2–3 articles a week in ScienceDaily, 2011.


Objective C5L2, a G protein-coupled 7-transmembrane domain complement, has been demonstrated to be a functional receptor of acylation-stimulating protein (ASP), which is a stimulator of triglyceride synthesis or glucose transport. In this study, we will investingate the variations in the coding region of the C5L2 gene (C698T and G901A) and their association with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods We identified novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), (C698T and G901A) in exon 2 using a polymerase chain reaction direct-sequencing method. We examined the role of this SNP for CAD using two independent case-control studies: one was in the Han population (492 CAD patients and 577 control subjects) and the other was in the Uygur population (319 CAD patients and 554 control subjects). Results Using a polymerase chain reaction direct-sequencing method. We identified novel SNPs, 698C > T (P233L), and G901A (A300H) in exon 2. Heterozygote carriers of the 698CT genotype were more frequent among CAD patients than among controls not only in the Han population (7.3% versus 1.7%) but also in the Uygur population (4.7% versus 1.6%). The odds ratio (OR) for carriers of the 698CT genotype for CAD was 4.484 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.197–9.174) in the Han group and 2.989 (95% CI: 1.292–6.909) in the Uygur population. After adjustment of confounding factors such as sex, age, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes, as well as serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, the difference remained significant in the Han group (OR = 6.604, 95% CI: 2.776–15.711, P < 0.001) and in the Uygur group (OR = 2.602, 95% CI: 1.015–6.671, P = 0.047). Heterozygote carriers of the 901GA genotype were more frequent among controls than among CAD patients not only in the Han population (8.6% versus 1.8%) but also in the Uygur population (5.2% versus 0.9%). The OR for carriers of the 901GA genotype for CAD in the Han population was 0.205 and 0.172 in the Uygur population. After adjustment of confounding factors, the difference remained significant in the Han group (OR = 0.143, 95% CI: 0.068–0.302, P < 0.001) and in the Uygur group (OR = 0.246, 95% CI: 0.072–0.837, P < 0.001).Two haplotypes in the Han population in the result analysis, which the C-G haplotype frequencies in the CHD group was significantly lower than the control subjects (χ2 = 22.713, P < 0.001), the T-G haplotype distribution in the the CHD group was significantly higher (χ2 = 19.022, P < 0.001). In Uighur population, analysis of the T-G haplotypes frequency in case group and the control group was (0.025 vs 0.008, P = 0.004); C-A haplotypefrequency in CAD group and the control group (0.026 vs 0.005, P = 0.001). Conclusions (1) C698T and the G901A in Han and Uygur population are association with coronary heart disease; (2) The 698CT and 901GA genotype of C5L2 may be a genetic maker of CAD in the Han and Uygur population in western China.


In this article, we propose SpongeCake: A layered BSDF model where each layer is a volumetric scattering medium, defined using microflake or other phase functions. We omit any reflecting and refracting interfaces between the layers. The first advantage of this formulation is that an exact and analytic solution for single scattering, regardless of the number of volumetric layers, can be derived. We propose to approximate multiple scattering by an additional single-scattering lobe with modified parameters and a Lambertian lobe. We use a parameter mapping neural network to find the parameters of the newly added lobes to closely approximate the multiple scattering effect. Despite the absence of layer interfaces, we demonstrate that many common material effects can be achieved with layers of SGGX microflake and other volumes with appropriate parameters. A normal mapping effect can also be achieved through mapping of microflake orientations, which avoids artifacts common in standard normal maps. Thanks to the analytical formulation, our model is very fast to evaluate and sample. Through various parameter settings, our model is able to handle many types of materials, like plastics, wood, cloth, and so on, opening a number of practical applications.


Amira-Avizo 3D Software Visualize | Analyze | Understand Amira and Avizo are the leading high-performance 3D visualization and analysis software for scientific and industrial data. Wherever three-dimensional imaging data sets need to be processed, in life sciences, materials science, natural sciences o


Objectives:Hospital case volume has been shown to be a predictor of patient mortality for treatment for various cancers. The influence of hospital case volume on malignant melanoma survival and treatment utilization is unknown. Methods:We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked databases to identify patients aged 65 years or older diagnosed with metastatic melanoma between 2000 and 2009. We analyzed claims data to ascertain cancer treatment variation by hospital case volume. Overall survival was evaluated using propensity score methods. Results:Among 1438 patients, 612 (42.6%) were treated in low-volume hospitals (⩽5 patients) after receiving their diagnosis, 479 (33.3%) were treated in intermediate-volume hospitals (6 to 10 patients), and 347 (24.1%) were treated in high-volume hospitals (>10 patients). In Cox proportional hazards models, treatment in a high-volume hospital after propensity score adjustment was associated with a significant improvement in survival when adjusting for other characteristics (intermediate volume: hazard ratio [HR]=0.70, P=0.0007; high volume: HR=0.63, P<0.0001). Patients treated in high-volume hospitals were less likely to receive chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation therapy after a metastatic melanoma diagnosis. Conclusions:For patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, being treated in a high-volume hospital was associated with an improvement in survival and lower utilization of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy.


To meet the demands on a comfortable screening, or even diagnostic, equipment without interfering with the sleep, this study develops a level IV portable system, equipped with two tri-axial accelerometers (TAA) measuring the thoracic and abdominal respiratory efforts, and one oximeter measuring the oxygen saturation (SpO2), to identify obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), central sleep apnea (CSA), and hypopnea (HYP) events. The prototype integrates all the hardware and software for physiological information extraction. In addition, an automatic event detection algorithm is proposed to reduce the labor-intensive work on scoring the events. Based on 63 subjects, with 80% data for training and 20% for validation, the classification accuracy of the apnea hypopnea-index (AHI) is 84.13%. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm has great potential to classify the severity of patients in clinical examinations for both the screening and the homecare purposes.


The digital era provides new opportunities for taxonomists, as well as for everyone that studies biodiversity. Many herbaria have been able to digitize their collections, a process that started with the typing of label data, moving more recently towards the digitization of each sample with the simultaneous acquisition of high-resolution images. Here we discuss some of the challenges we faced in digitizing samples and provide a series of suggestions to avoid common mistakes for herbaria that have yet to start the process. We used a professional camera, database management software, and a barcode scanner to digitize the collections of herbaria CRI, ECT, FURB, LUSC, and UFRN. Pre-revision of samples with prior restoration when needed, barcode fixation, and a good database allowed faster digitization of samples. Good database software and the formation of a network among small herbaria accelerated digitization and increased the number of images available of Brazilian biodiversity. Thus far, our joint efforts made 118,000 specimen images available online with the purpose of accelerating botanical research.


Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) can cause depression and anxiety for patients with urolithiasis. We evaluated the frequency of anxiety and depression in patients of urolithiasis undergoing ESWL. Thirty patients scheduled for ESWL were enrolled in Diyarbakir State Hospital, Turkey. VAS-A, APAIS, BDS and BAS scores were recorded. The patients comprised 23 males and 7 females (M/F: 3.3/1 with a mean age of 31.03 } 10.84 years. The mean VAS-A were 5.46 } 1.71. The pre-procedural anxiety were 100% (VAS-A>0) and depression of 56.6% of patients. The statistically significant difference was observed in total APAIS scores betweeen male and females. (p=0.41) There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of gender and marital status (p< 0.05), Positive and statistically significant correlation was found between anxiety level (APAISa) and requirement of knowledge (APAISk) (p< 0.05). We found that depression and anxiety rates were high in patients with ESWL procedure.


"On October 20th, 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was murdered by police officer Jason Van Dyke in the city of Chicago, Illinois. An autopsy report found traces of Phenycyclidine or PCP in his blood stream. In 1986, Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men was launched to critical acclaim and is among the top 10 best selling men's fragrances worldwide. Since 2007, after studying the results of Pat Thomas who discovered fragrances can be used to keep zoo animals curious, Rony Garcia has been using Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men along with heat and motion technology to determine the size and rituals of jaguars in Guatemala. Biopower, the way in which technology is used to monitor and navigate bodies both animal and human, if there is a distinction, is an effective trap that gets us every time we are high." -- Publisher's website.


This dissertation examines the films Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) to see if they support or challenge typically portrayed gender roles of US science fiction. For this the lead protagonist Ellen Ripley is primarily focused on. During the 1970s to 1980s America went though a great change in national ideologies and this dissertation examines the correlation between women's role in society and Ripley's role within the narrative. For this I have looked at employment statistics, political and social commentators of the time, and academic works on both films to get a deeper understanding of American society in the '70s and '80s and of the films themselves. For Alien I primarily focus on the rise of Second Wave Feminism in the 1970s and woman's increased presence within the workplace. For Aliens I examine Reaganist conservatism of the 1980s and the reinforcement of both the nuclear family and of more traditionalist gender roles. This dissertation argues that it is these social aspects that shape the character of Ripley; transforming her from the career woman of the 1970s to the working mother of the 1980s. Primarily it establishes that Ripley's character becomes less of a "feminist hero" (Nichols, 2005) as the films progresses thus conforming her to previously established gender roles.


Type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) causes impairments within the skeletal muscle microvasculature. Both regular exercise and prazosin have been shown to improve skeletal muscle capillarization and metabolism in healthy rats through distinct angiogenic mechanisms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the independent and additive effects of voluntary exercise and prazosin treatment on capillary-to-fiber ratio (C:F) in streptozotocin (STZ)-treated diabetic rats. STZ (65 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 36) to induce diabetes, with healthy, nondiabetic, sedentary rats (n = 10) as controls. The STZ-treated rats were then divided into sedentary (SED) or exercising (EX; 24-h access to running wheels) groups and then further subdivided into prazosin (Praz) or water (H2O) treatment groups: nondiabetic-SED-H2O, STZ-SED-H2O, STZ-EX-H2O, STZ-SED-Praz, and STZ-EX-Praz. After 3 wk, untreated diabetes significantly reduced the C:F in tibialis anterior (TA) and soleus muscles in the STZ-SED-H2O animals (both P < 0.05). Voluntary exercise and prazosin treatment independently resulted in a normalization of C:F within the TA (1.86 ± 0.12 and 2.04 ± 0.03 vs 1.71 ± 0.09, P < 0.05) and the soleus (2.36 ± 0.07 and 2.68 ± 0.14 vs 2.13 ± 0.12, P < 0.05). The combined STZ-EX-Praz group resulted in the highest C:F within the TA (2.26 ± 0.07, P < 0.05). Voluntary exercise volume was negatively correlated with fed blood glucose levels (r2 = -0.7015, P < 0.01) and, when combined with prazosin, caused further enhanced nonfasted glucose (P < 0.01). Exercise and prazosin reduced circulating nonesterified fatty acids more than either stimulus alone (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the distinct stimulation of angiogenesis, with both regular exercise and prazosin treatment, causes a cooperative improvement in the microvascular complications associated with T1D.NEW & NOTEWORTHY It is currently well established that poorly controlled diabetes reduces both skeletal muscle mass and muscle capillarization. These muscle-specific features of diabetes may, in turn, compromise insulin sensitivity and glucose control. Using a model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, we show the vascular complications linked with disease and how chronic exposure to exercise and prazosin (an α1-adrenergic antagonist) can reduce these complications and improve glycemic control.


Summary. Facial palsy is treated by many different operative procedures. In addition, factors such as the varying degree of paralysis, make postoperative comparisons difficult. The limited number of patients treated by free muscle transplantation at any one center also complicates evaluation of alternative treatments. This limitation has been overcome by development of an International Muscle Transplant Registry for collection, storage and analysis of data from different centers. As of June 1, 1988, 137 patients from 6 countries have been entered into the Registry. Significantly more USA/European patients had a congenital deficit and significantly more Japanese patients had a deficit resulting from surgery. According to a modification of the paresis scoring system proposed by Stennert et al. [3], USA/European patients also had a higher degree of nonsurgical facial paresis than Japanese patients. The most frequent preoperative treatment used in Japan was electrostimulation in 24% of cases, only 6% of European and American patients received this treatment. Evaluation of surgical procedures performed by the 2 groups of surgeons showed similar dimensions of muscle grafts used in the face, with a length of about 8.5 cm and a width of 3.4 cm. The extensor digitorum brevis muscle was the most popular, being used in 58% of European and American cases, whereas the Japanese choice was the gracilis muscle in 94% of cases. The length of the nerve graft used by Japanese surgeons was 6 cm, longer than that used by European and American surgeons. At this time, these preliminary data suggest evidence for paresis improvement in 79% of patients overall. Ultimately, the Registry should permit evaluation of the efficacy of different operative techniques and should influence experimental research and clinical application of muscle transplantation.


The effects of non-idealities including clock jitter, rise/fall-time mismatch of a pulse, and pulse-amplitude-level non-linearity on conventional delta-sigma-only and Manchester/delta-sigma-modulated microwave signals are studied. According to the experimental and simulation results, the Manchester/delta-sigma scheme is more vulnerable to jitter than the conventional delta-sigma scheme due to the higher number of pulse transitions by Manchester codes. It is found that, however, because of the repetitive (or multi-pulse) nature, the Manchester/delta-sigma system shows better signal quality performance against a rise and fall time asymmetry. This is mainly because the Manchester pulse waveform is more similar to a return-to-zero format where every encoded bit has both rising and falling edges and is therefore immune to the waveform asymmetry.


A new approach based on a periodic structure model is developed for full-wave electromagnetic analysis of shielded, passive microstrip components on multilayered substrate. The spectral domain integral equation approach is employed in conjunction with the Method of Moments and the Galerkin testing procedure. General planar and certain three dimensional structures such as vias and air bridges are analyzed using the presented technique. This novel approach is based on the formulation for periodic structures and its application to include shielded and radiation phenomena is demonstrated. The technique also results in a speed up factor of about three compared to the method presented in [1]. Both direct and iterative techniques are employed to solve the resultant operator equations. Scattering parameters for microstrip discontinuities are compared for shielded and unshielded configurations.


In our industry organisations still experience Strategy and Enterprise Architecture as impractical, mythical and misunderstood mechanisms of Business. The research theory, tools and other mechanisms exist to substantiate the relevance of these and prove the benefit to be reaped from these. Yet organisations fail dismally in their attempts. Often organisations also fail to establish and reap the benefit from the required relationships between Strategy, Enterprise Architecture and Programmes and Projects that deliver change. Organisations fail to establish a real process thread between these. In too many organisations Strategy is formulated without method, simply through expensive Exco consulting exercises that end up in slide shows that never get implemented. Strategies are misunderstood and misinterpreted by the organisation's members who did not participate in the facilitated construction thereof. In most cases Enterprise Architecture is a pet initiative of innovative CIOs, that have political backing in the organisation from an Exco member, but never delivers. In virtually all cases there are chasms between the three business mechanisms of Strategy, Enterprise Architecture and the EPMO.


Abstract Germany's Social Market Economy has been in the limelight recently as a variant of modern capitalism, different from the Anglo-American model. Starting from this debate this article goes back to the ideas of the Freiburg School of Economics in the immediate post-1945 period whose representatives, Walter Eucken prominently among them, emerged from the Nazi period with concepts of how to organise a modern industrial economy that they called 'ordoliberal'. Their writings are then connected, but also contrasted, with the policies of Ludwig Erhard, West Germany's first economics minister, who, being under many domestic and foreign pressures, adapted the principles of economic management of the Freiburg School to the realities of the 1950s and 1960s. The article is written in the hope of stimulating debate on Germany's Social Market Economy, past and present. Keywords: Americanisation, decartelisation, Ludwig Erhard, Walter Eucken, ordoliberalism, social market economy ----- Bibliography: Berghahn, Volker R.: Ordoliberalism, Ludwig Erhard, and West Germany's "Economic Basic Law", ERIS, 3-2015, pp. 37-47. https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v2i3.23447


Expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and its receptor (R) subunits was evaluated in normal human liver and in cirrhotic liver tissue by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. In normal liver, PDGF and PDGF-R subunit expression was limited to a few mesenchymal cells of the portal tract stroma and vessels. In cirrhotic liver, PDGF-A and -B chain mRNA expression was markedly increased and was co-distributed with immunoreactivity for PDGF-AA and -BB in infiltrating inflammatory cells and along vascular structures within fibrous septa. These aspects were paralleled by a marked overexpression of PDGF-R alpha- and beta-subunit mRNAs and of the relative immunoreactivities in a wide range of mesenchymal cells in fibrous septa and in perisinusoidal alpha-smooth-muscle-actin-positive cells. In general expression and distribution of PDGF-R subunits appeared to be related to the activation of different mesenchymal cell types involved in the fibroproliferative process. Therefore, we evaluated the expression of PDGF-R subunits in liver tissue specimens with increasing degrees of necroinflammatory activity. The results of this additional study confirmed that expression of PDGF-R subunits is highly correlated with the severity of histological lesions and collagen deposition. Our results, providing evidence for a functional involvement of PDGF/PDGF-R in liver fibrogenesis, greatly support the results of previous in vitro studies and direct attention toward pharmacological strategies able to affect the series of signaling events arising from the autophosphorylation of PDGF-R subunits.


An open-ended, everted gut-sac technique was used to measure in vitro duodenal transfer of calcium in magnesium-deficient and pair-fed control animals with and without parathyroid glands. In contrast to previous studies employing the closed gut-sac technique in calcium-deprived animals, we were unable to demonstrate an effect of parathyroidectomy on the in vitro transport of calcium across the duodenum. Magnesium deficiency resulted in enhanced intestinal transport of calcium. These data confirm our previous studies and demonstrate that this effect of magnesium deficiency is linear over 2 hr of incubation. This enhancing effect of magnesium deficiency on gastrointestinal calcium transport was blocked by parathyroidectomy. The results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that magnesium deficiency increases calcium transfer of the isolated everted gut-sac of rats by stimulating the secretion of parathyroid hormone.


A bianisotropic matrix technique is presented for the development of a homogenized surface susceptibility model of metasurfaces with arbitrary uniaxially mono-anisotropic scatterers, illuminated by obliquely incident TE waves. Based on the sole assumption that the scatterers can be described by point-dipoles, the proposed formulation establishes a simple relation between the homogenized metasurface susceptibility matrix and the scatterer polarizability matrix. For this purpose, the exact interaction coefficients, associating the metasurface local field vectors with the dipole moment vectors, are extracted in terms of rapidly convergent series. The resulting analytical expressions for the interaction coefficients are applicable to both near- and far-field problems. Moreover, the derived formula for the surface susceptibility matrix reveals the existence of off-diagonal terms, corresponding to a magnetoelectric coupling effect at the lattice level. The accuracy of the method is verified via comparisons with full-wave-simulation results for several metasurfaces of planar resonators and magnetodielectric spheres. It is observed that the efficiency of the model is contingent upon the electrical size of the scatterers rather than the lattice periodicity, since the former determines the validity of the point-dipole approximation, which is the only assumption throughout the analysis.


Defenders of the Kal ā m Cosmological Argument appeal to the so-called Hilbert's Hotel Argument to establish the finitude of the past based on the impossibility of actual infinites. Some of their opponents argue that this proves too much because if the universe cannot be beginningless due to the impossibility of actual infinites, then, for the same reason, it cannot be endless either. Discussing four different senses of the existence of an actual infinite, I criticize both sides of the debate by showing, on the one hand, that the Hilbert's Hotel Argument is not powerful enough to rule out the possibility of the infinitude of the past and, on the other hand, that the soundness of the argument for the finitude of the past from the impossibility of actual infinites does not establish the soundness of the parallel argument for the finitude of the future.


This research aims to explain current high levels of political disaffection among Chilean youth, to understand why youths in Chile are particularly more disaffected than other groups, and to comprehend the apparent new way of doing politics that would be emerging among this group. Since the return to democracy in 1990 Chile has experienced good levels of economic development and political stability. However, with the pass of years, Chilean citizens, and particularly young people, have increased their levels of political disaffection. Moreover, lately these feelings have begun to be expressed through strong social movements. This thesis argues that this phenomenon can be principally explained by a large disconnection between the political class and common citizens in Chile, which would be founded on both several institutional and socio-economic legacies of the dictatorship and the way the political transition was made. The relationship between youths and the political system in Chile is analyzed through both quantitative and qualitative analyses. This is done first through the direct analysis of the association between indicators of political disaffection and perceptions about the way of functioning of the Chilean Political system. Moreover, several case studies that express these feelings of disaffection are also analyzed in order to deepen the argument. First, an analysis of the lack of a youth public policy is done in order to describe a specific case that shows that the political system is particularly more disconnected regarding young people. Additionally, the success among youths of the independent presidential candidature of Marco Enriquez-Ominami in 2009 and the educational movements of 2006 and 2011-2012 are also analyzed. This is done also to more deeply comprehend the engenderment of feelings of disaffection but also in order to examine an apparent new way of doing politics that may be emerging among young people.


This paper deals with a small area of Bulsa prosody. End-rhymes, alliteration and tonal patterns are examined in Bulsa proverbs, songs and other genres of Bulsa oral literature, whose creators do not respect strict prosodic patterns, but make use of rhymes for embellishment and for contrast with everyday speech. Although some rhymes may be chance products of the poetry process, they are nevertheless accepted as welcome embellishments. It has, however, been proved that some poets create rhymes and other poetic patterns consciously and on purpose, even if, as a form of poetical licence, the mode of expression offends the standard use of correct everyday speech. Apart from rhymes proper, other types of poetic pattern are analysed in the paper, e.g. chiasmus, parallelism, symmetry and the use of consonants and vowels to produce euphony. Moreover, it has been regarded necessary to analyse the contents of some poems for a better understanding of the Buli oral literature discussed. Resume Cet article aborde un aspect mineur de la prosodie Bulsa. Les rimes, les  illiterations et les modeles de tonalite des proverbes, chants et d'autres genres de la litterature orale Bulsa sont soumis a l'analyse. Les createurs de ces oeuvres n'observent pas un stricte respect des modeles prosodiques, privilegiant plutot l'usage des rimes a des fins esthetiques, et par souci de contraste par rapport a au parle quotidien. Outre les rimes proprement dites, d'autres categories de modeles  poetiques comme les chiasmes, les parallelismes, la symetrie et l'usage des consonnes et des voyelles a des fins euphoniques sont analysees dans l'article. En plus, il a ete juge necessaire de soumettre le contenu de certains poemes a l'analyse pour une meilleure appreciation de la litterature orale buli en question.


Rationale Genistein is a dietary isoflavone and a broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor contained in soy products. An epidemiologic study of asthma revealed that subjects with high consumption of dietary soy isoflavones had better lung function than those with lower intake. In a guinea pig model of allergic asthma, genistein reduced methacholine-induced bronchoconstriction. To explore the mechanisms underlying these observations, we tested genistein's ability to block lung myofibroblast differentiation, a key phenotypic change in asthmatic airway remodeling. Methods Human fetal lung fibroblasts (IMR-90) were grown to subconfluence in DMEM containing 10% FBS, serum-deprived for 24 hours, and treated with genistein (10 μM) for an additional 24 hurs. Cells were then stimulated with TGF-b1 (2 ng/mL) for 24 hours, and a-smooth muscle actin (aSMA) expression, a marker of the myofibroblast phenotype, was assessed by both immunoblot and immunofluorescence microscopy. To determine the intracellular mechanism of inhibitory actions by genistein, we also assessed phosphorylation of Smad2 by immunoblot in the presence and absence of genistein after 30-minute stimulation with TGF-b1. Results Treatment with genistein resulted in 54.9 ± 17.1% reduction in TGF-b1 induced expression of aSMA. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed a decrease in aSMA staining intensity and stress fiber formation in genistein-treated cells. In addition, Smad2 phosphorylation was inhibited by 71.1 ± 16.7% in genistein-treated cells. Conclusions These results demonstrate that genistein interferes with TGF-b1-stimulated myofibroblast differentiation and suggest that tyrosine kinase inhibition may have a role in modulation of asthmatic airway remodeling. Funded by NIH RO1HL072891, T32HL076139, The CHEST Foundation-GSK Clinical Research Trainee Award.


Objective The preoperative MRI scans of meningiomas were analyzed based on the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) Central Nervous System (CNS) Guidelines, and the efficacy of MRI features in diagnosing WHO grades and brain invasion was analyzed. Materials and methods The data of 675 patients with meningioma who underwent MRI in our hospital from 2006 to 2022, including 108 with brain invasion, were retrospectively analyzed. Referring to the WHO Guidelines for the Classification of Central Nervous System Tumors (Fifth Edition 2021), 17 features were analyzed, with age, sex and meningioma MRI features as risk factors for evaluating WHO grade and brain invasion. The risk factors were identified through multivariable logistic regression analysis, and their receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for predicting WHO grades and brain invasion were generated, and the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Results Univariate analysis showed that sex, tumor size, lobulated sign, peritumoral edema, vascular flow void, bone invasion, tumor-brain interface, finger-like protrusion and mushroom sign were significant for diagnosing meningioma WHO grades, while these features and ADC value were significant for predicting brain invasion (P < 0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the lobulated sign, tumor-brain interface, finger-like protrusion, mushroom sign and bone invasion were independent risk factors for diagnosing meningioma WHO grades, while the above features, tumor size and ADC value were independent risk factors for diagnosing brain invasion (P < 0.05). The tumor-brain interface had the highest efficacy in evaluating WHO grade and brain invasion, with AUCs of 0.779 and 0.860, respectively. Combined, the variables had AUCs of 0.834 and 0.935 for determining WHO grade and brain invasion, respectively. Conclusion Preoperative MRI has excellent performance in diagnosing meningioma WHO grade and brain invasion, while the tumor-brain interface serves as a key factor. The preoperative MRI characteristics of meningioma can help predict WHO grade and brain invasion, thus facilitating complete lesion resection and improving patient prognosis.


We isolated a UL13 gene-deleted mutant of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) strain VR3 (VRDelta13) and its revertant virus (VRDelta13R). This deletion mutant still had virus host shutoff (vhs) activity, although a previous report had suggested the possibility of a functional relation between the UL13 product, that is protein kinase (PK), and vhs activity. We compared the in vivo growth of these viruses in BALB/c mice. VRDelta13 was cleared in the early period of intraperitoneal infection. VRDelta13 had a higher sensitivity to the mouse type I interferon (IFN) and showed a higher level of IFN induction in the study period of infection than did VR3 and VRDelta13R. These results suggest that a nonspecific antiviral response (i.e., the IFN system) may contribute to this rapid inhibition of viral replication in vivo.


Objective: Superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) describes the presence of a defect in the superior bone coverage of the membranous SSC. The etiology of the defect is not known and its reported CT prevalence is variable. This study primarily aimed to report MDCT prevalences of SSCD and thin bone coverage over SSC among different age groups. A secondary aim was to assess for any association between SSCD and the thickness of contralateral bone coverage over SSC.
Materials and Methods: Temporal bone MDCTs were retrospectively evaluated for SSCD and the thickness bone coverage over SSC. The prevalences of SSCD and thin bone coverage over SSC among different age groups, and the thickness of bone over SCC in SSCD and non-SSCD subjects were analyzed.
Results: 509 subjects were included in the study. Age-adjusted models did not demonstrate a significant association between the age groups and the prevalence of SSCD (p=0.63) or between the age groups and the prevalence of thin bone coverage over SSC (p=0,81). Unilateral SSC roof thickness of ≤ 0.5 mm was significantly associated with increased prevalence of contralateral SSCD (p=0.05 and p=0.04). In subjects without radiological evidence of SSCD, right-or left-sided thin bone coverage over SSC was significantly associated with contralateral thin bone coverage (p


During the past two decades social scientists have come to model dynamic socioeconomic systems of growing size and and complexity. Despite a heavy reliance on ever more sophisticated high-speed digital computers, however, computer capacity for handling such systems has not kept pace with the growing demands for more detailed information. Consequently, it is becoming ever more important to identify those aspects of a system which permit one to deal with parts of it independently from the rest or to treat relationships among particular subsystems as though they were independent of the relationships within those subsystems. These questions are, respectively, those of aggregation and decomposition, and their application toward "shrinking" large-scale population projection models is the focus of this paper.


I establish new facts and explanations on the heterogeneous paths of structural transformation across countries. First, many countries exhibit flat-manufacturing profiles without noticeable signs of deindustrialization, which differ from the conventional steep-manufacturing hump-shaped profiles in advanced economies. Second, substantial heterogeneity exists in the labor allocation within services sector as flat-manufacturing countries tend to allocate substantially more labor into low-skilled services compared to steep-manufacturing countries. Third, heterogeneous structural transformation paths are prevalent among both earlier and later developers and not subject to the timing of development. Using a standard model of structural transformation, I find that observed differences in sectoral productivity growth are not quantitatively sufficient to generate the heterogeneous paths of structural transformation across countries. Instead, differences in relative productivity levels between manufacturing and low-skilled services account for the majority of the heterogeneity, suggesting that country-specific factors are key. I show that the observed heterogeneous paths of structural transformation contribute substantially to economic growth outcomes across countries. JEL classification: E1, E24, O11, O13, O14, O41, O50.


The efficiency of different isolated of ectomycorrhiz al fungi was estimated to evaluated the pinus seedlings production, in sandy soil. The treatment were: not inoculated, inoculated with isolated fungi Rh 117; Pt Silv.1; FSE – RS (native) and F1- RS (native). The work was developed in greenhouse, in sandy soil collected in Sao Francisco de Assis – RS. It was determined the fresh mass of aerial part and root, dry mass of aerial part, seedlings height, length and root specific superficial area, micorrhizae colonisation and level of N, P and K. The fungi F1 – RS and Pt Silv.1 provided beneficial grown in the pinus seedlings in relation to fresh root especific superficial area. The micorrhizae association in this work did not improve nutrient uptake of N, P and K and the pinus seedlings aerial part development.


New tendencies envisage multi-core as a promising solution for real-time application. And the key challenge is how to improve the communication efficiency. In this paper, we propose a new multi-core architecture, which adopts the hybrid interconnection composed of both bus-based and NoC architecture, and we also introduce several technologies to improve its communication efficiency. Adopting the new architecture, we design a multi-core prototype chip which integrates 12 ARM compatible cores. Further, we design a real-time fade-in-fade-out video demo system base on the prototype chip and evaluate the communication performance. The hybrid multi-core prototype chip runs at 90MHZ, and can accomplish real-time fade-in-fade-out processing of 4 lane video (320×240, 30fps).


The effect of academic self-regulation and prior knowledge on students' formative assessment is investigated among nine schools in the Philippines that offer the Open High School Program (OHSP). It is hypothesized in the study that the use of self-regulated learning strategies indicates school readiness together with students' prior knowledge (previous achievement) facilitates students' progress in formative assessment results. Interclass correlations were conducted across nine schools offering the OHSP. The multiple correlation coefficients were used to compute for the effect size of academic self-regulation and prior knowledge on students' performance on the formative assessment. The results showed that consistent large effect sizes were obtained across all learning areas, English (d=3.06), science (d=4.40), math (d=3.47), Filipino (d=1.96), and social studies (d=2.20).


1. Pacts newly established.--A spider9s line does not consist of many strands fused or woven together, but ordinarily of two or four distinct threads. The framework and the radii of circular snares are supplied by the Ampullaceal glands. The Acinate and Piriform glands are those mainly employed in binding up captured prey. The "trailing line" consists primarily of Ampullaceal threads, sometimes strengthened by contributions from the Acinate and Piriform glands. The ground-line of the spiral is double only, and the two strands are bound together merely by the viscid matter which envelops them. 2. Corroborative of Apstein.--The "attachment discs" are furnished by the Piriform glands. The Tubuliform glands supply the silk for the egg-cocoon. The viscid matter of the spiral is probably the product of the Aggregate glands. Finally, the origin of the spiral ground-line is uncertain, but it may proceed from the Tubuliform orifices on the intermediate spinnerets.


Background:  Hepatocellular carcinoma is the one of the commonest tumour worldwide.  A detailed clinical profile including its etiology and vast presentation is not available in Eastern India. Methods:  Retrospective chart review of 90 patients with HCCwas done. Total 90 patients (male 81, female9)  fulfillingdiagnostic criteria for HCC adopted by Barcelona-2000 EASL conferencewere analyzed for clinical, etiological, biochemical and radiological profile. Results:  Underlying cirrhosis was seen in 60% cases with Hepatitis B virus being the most common (33.3%) etiologic agent followed by Alcoholism (26.6%) in cirrhotic range. In 76.7% of HCC patients have AFP level more than 500 unit and practically diagnostic of HCC. Almost all patients presented with advanced disease (96.7%). Only 3.3% of HCC patients presented with mild disease. Conclusions:  The characteristics of HCC in eastern India are somewhat different from the rest of worlds. Alcohol and HBV infection are the two most important etiology prevailing here.  Keywords: HCC (Hepatocellular carcinoma), AFP (Alpha fetoprotein), HBV (Hepatitis B virus), HCV (Hepatitis C virus)


To win emulation, Health Centre have to be able give satisfaction to all client. A Health Centre successful, the client is a goal and capital which must be defended by its existence. The Quality of Health Services more related at officer comments dimension in fulfilling requirement of patient. The Aim of research is to know describe the patient satisfaction to health services at Health Centre in Padang Regency in 2006. Design of research is qualitative descriptive. Population in this research is the client who come to health centre in Padang Regency, with the amount of sample is 400 people. Primary data in collecting by direct interview to responder by use questioner instrument, Secondary data taking away from Health Centre and Health Office in Padang. Analysis data done with univariat analysis, Importance and Performance analysis and it's processing by manual and computerize. The result of research found that most responder express important to give service, attribute found on priority kwadran A is health officer quickly listen carefully, action quickly at the time of client require, officer quickly listen carefully to sign of client, polite and friendly officer service and officer give special attention. to client. Importance Performance between Priority and satisfaction around 76,84% - 83,96%, Where attribute owning storey 80% have been told to satisfy, while attribute which is storey more than 80% expressed by less satisfied where the attribute is timely service schedule, officer health quickly listen carefully in handling sigh of client, action quickly at the time of client require, officer quickly listen carefully to sigh of client, polite and friendly officer service and officer give special attention to client.For that have to be more pay attention things lionized by responder, have to be more improve employees discipline to on schedule in fulfilling health service, and room freshment, and also look after equipment, readiness and hygiene of appliance in giving health service.


Access to the EU Single Market has always been a key concern of Swiss financial market policy. However, in the aftermath of the crisis, the EU has considerably tightened its third country regime by requiring a demonstration of «equivalent regulatory and supervisory frameworks». Given that the EU has recently implemented tougher sanctions throughout its Single Rulebook, obtaining favorable «equivalence decisions» securing market access for the Swiss financial services industry has become another steep hurdle for Swiss government in its efforts to improve bilateral relations with the EU.


Public authorities have been designing and developing several initiatives for more than ten years in the attempt to guarantee an easy access and a wide offer of on-line services to citizens. Moreover, public authorities should guarantee a common heritage of data, accessible for any person at the same conditions. Despite of these initiatives, public bodies are still often dependent on software vendors. The European project OASIS aims to place the user at the center of a sustainable ecosystem where data, described by an open format, are shared among interoperable and reusable services. This approach allows public authorities to reduce costs, citizens to benefit of a wide range of high quality services and service providers to access to linked data for the development of new applications. Providers can also be part of the OASIS ecosystem, thus benefiting of an open a sustainable economic model. This manuscript describes in the details motivations behind the OASIS project and the portal Ozwillo, presents the platform architecture and discusses preliminary results. Keywords-breaking vertical data silos; opening and reusing services; deploying new architectures; implementing large scale


A regeneration system was studied in Fraxinus excelsior from the juvenile and mature plant material. Different explants were used for the in vitro establishment. Plant material was cultured on full-strength Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 0.5 mg L-1 N6-(3-hydroxybenzyl)adenine (meta-topolin) when mature explants (stems) were used or without plant growth regulators when juvenile explants (seeds and embryos) were considered. The best regeneration rate was observed for zygotic embryos where 98.5% embryos developed into seedlings. Extraction of embryos from seeds significantly decreased contamination rate and increased development rate compared to complete seeds. When stem explants were used, differences in contamination and regeneration among various types of explants were recorded. Apical segments with one tip and excised apical tips with leaf primordia appeared 50% free from fungal and bacterial contaminations. All intact apical segments were lost by 100% contamination. Proliferation was higher in apical segments with one tip compared to excised apical tips. The presence of antibiotic solution in medium had mostly no significant effect on reduction of explant contamination and on shoot proliferation compared to the treatment without antibiotics. The only exception was the initial culture established from the Novosedlo locality where antibiotics had negative effect.


To determine the prevalence of sequelae of traumata of temporary teeth in group of institutionalized children and to identify the causes and places of more frequent occurrence a cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted in children from the nursing home of the Playa municipality. Sample selection was performed by Multistage Stratified Sampling. In each stratus the 25 % of nursing homes was choose for a total of 10. These were selected by randomized simple sampling. The sample was determined taking into account that the traumatic lesions appearance frequency according to the studies conducted fluctuate about the 30 %. Children aged 2 to 5 were included institutionalized over 10 years in nursing homes presenting with sequelae of teeth traumatic lesions without Stomatology treatment; 1 250 children were examined. The sequelae prevalence was of the 18.56 % where the more frequent ones were the loss of coronary tissue in 9.44 % of study children, followed by the color changes with a 5.92 %. The more prevalent sex was the male one with an 11.2 % of total. The more involved ages were those of 3 and 5 years for a 4.96 % and a 5.68 %, respectively. Most of lesions occurred due to falls in a 9.84 % where the 7.76 % were at home. A high percentage of teeth with trauma sequelae and a need of treatment no registered in conventional examinations performed at schools.


To address the increasing need for improved tissue substitutes, tissue engineering seeks to create synthetic, three-dimensional scaffolds made from polymeric materials able to incorporate cells and drugs. The interpretation of transport phenomena is a key step, but comprehensive theoretical data is still missing and many issues related to these systems are still unsolved. In particular, the contribution of solute-solute interactions is not yet completely understood. Here, we investigate a promising agar-carbomer (AC) hydrogel loaded with sodium fluorescein (SF), a commonly used drug mimetic. The self-diffusion coefficient of SF in AC formulations was measured by using high resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy (HR-MAS NMR). Starting from experimental data, a complete overview on SF transport properties is provided, in particular a mathematical model that describes and rationalizes the differences between gel and water environments is developed and presented. The hydrogel molecular environment is able to prevent SF aggregation, owing to the adsorption mechanism that reduces the number of monomers available for oligomer formation at low solute concentration. Then, when all adsorption sites are saturated free SF molecules are able to aggregate and form oligomers. The model predictions satisfactorily match with experimental data obtained in water and the gel environment, thus indicating that the model presented here, despite its simplicity, is able to describe the key phenomena governing device behavior and could be used to rationalize experimental activity.


In this follow-up to the A case (UVA-BP-0330), in which Jackie Woods is faced with a dilemma as to whether to go on her planned family vacation to Europe or to participate in a key task force at work, Jackie goes on vacation and is named president of Ohio Bell, only the second woman to receive such a promotion. Videos "Jackie Woods--Co-Workers' Views" (UVA-BP-0330V1), "Jackie Woods--Family Views and Schedule" (UVA-BP-0330V2), and "Jackie Woods--Personal Views" (UVA-BP-0330V3) are designed for use with this case.


Mindfulness-based programs are becoming increasingly common in workplace settings as a means to manage worker stress and enhance resilience. The healthcare sector has been an early-adopter of mindfulness as a means to mitigate workers' exposure to trauma and high levels of stress, which can result in fatigue, burnout and sub-optimal patient care. In spite of the avalanche of new empirical and theoretical studies of mindfulness programs published over the past ten years, there remains a relative dearth of high-quality qualitative research describing the process and outcomes of programs from the perspective of participants, including their longitudinal impacts. This paper describes qualitative findings of an evaluation of two workplace mindfulness programs involving over 190 healthcare workers, using pre- and post-intervention qualitative surveys as well as focus groups. The study explores participant experiences, described in their own words, and the impact of these programs one year after completion. We draw on the stories gathered from participants to craft an inductive model of mindfulness and its impacts on the lives of novice practitioners. Using metaphor as a method to elucidate this model, we describe the transformative impacts of mindfulness for workers, including impacts on stress, resilience, insight and well-being. We also discuss how qualitative research methods can inform efforts to enhance the quality and evaluate the impact of mindfulness programs in the workplace.


The present paper is aimed to introduce a quantitative and qualitative simulation algorithm developed by its authors for observing and calculation of the velocity and the taking-off distance. It is well-known that there have been exiting or hard-nuts or troubles in risk-recognition and control in the takeoff stage of the airliners,which in turn may lead to disastrous accidents. In hoping to work out an approach to more efficiently recognize the hazards on the high-speed running,we have done a lot of qualitative and quantitative testing and measurements so as to develop a method which is in a position to demonstrate the safety conditions and the likely-to-be-recognized errors beyond the control power of the pilots. In proceeding with our research,we have taken a specific event as one of our case studies. As a matter of fact in aviation practice,the safety margin is related with the time and the speed. As is known,the traditional time requirement for evacuation is 90 seconds,which means the extreme urgency and narrow escape possibility if anything disastrous would happen. The simulated results of ours reveal that the margin of aborted takeoff is higher than the machine crash-down,which may lead less harm to their passengers. Since there may exist exit-neglect for the real or highly probable accidents in the conventional regulation for the rejected takeoff when a high-speed running accident takes place,it is of great necessity for the pilot to promptly recognize the abnormal conditions. Detailed comparison made between the 90 seconds requirement for evacuation and the regulations for the aborted taking-off lead us to the discovery that the 90 second requirement for evacuation has the higher order than the V1 limitation,which implies first of all the realistic danger likely for the pilot and the passengers to be confronted with. On the other hand,the given quantitative and qualitative simulation algorithm can naturally be taken to serve as a guide for the flight training and decision-making in the urgent case with some dilemma.


Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surfaces, (commercial PMMA (PMMAc), spin coated PMMA (PMMAsc) and a 90% methylmethacrylate/10% 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane random copolymer (P(MMA-co-gMPS)) were used to determine the effect of surface properties on conidia biofouling. The contact angles of the substrates demonstrated that the PMMAsc and the P(MMA-co-gMPS) polymer (62.8°) were more wettable than the PMMAc surface (71.0°). The PMMAsc had the greatest roughness value (32.0 nm) followed by the PMMAc (3.0 nm), then P(MMA-co-gMPS) (1 nm). Aspergillus niger 1957 conidia were spherical, smooth and hydrophobic (12.1%). Aspergillus niger 1988 conidia were spherical with spikes and hydrophobic (17.1%). Aureobasidium pullulans was elliptical with longitudinal ridges and hydrophilic (79.9%). Following attachment assays, cPMMA attached the greatest numbers of conidia. Following the adhesion and retention assays (washing step included in the protocol), A. niger 1957 and A. niger 1988 were least adhered to the P(MMA-co-gMPS) surface, whilst A. pulluans was least adhered to the PMMAsc surface. This work demonstrated that in the absence of a washing step, only the surface properties influenced the conidia attachment, whilst in the presence of a washing step, both the properties of the surfaces and the conidia affected conidia adhesion and retention. Hence, the methodology used (with or without a washing step) should reflect the environment in which the surface is to be applied.


We present a maximum entropy method that allows the simultaneous analysis of different types of experimental data in order to obtain conformational information on flexible molecules in solution. We consider various NMR observables (dipolar, quadrupolar, J-couplings, nuclear Overhauser enhancements), and dielectric and neutron scattering techniques, and we express them using a common formalism in terms of orientational–conformational order parameters. We then show how these observables can be inverted in structural information allowing for continuous or discrete internal degrees of freedom and for any available prior information. We demonstrate the potentialities of the method on simulated 1HNMR, 2HNMR and dielectric data for some terminally halogenated alkyl chains and show the improvement in conformational analysis obtained by simultaneously analyzing different and complementary data sets.


The paper reviewed the ongoing international forest policy deliberation on finance issues, and specifically a proposal to establish an international forest fund. The paper includes annexes from the report of the final sessions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests. Justifications given for Global Forests Fund include the need to pay for international public goods produced by forests and for the cost of making the transition to sustainable forest management practices. Opponents of the Global Forest Fund advocate better use of the existing funds before calling for a new mechanism. This paper provide a basis for further discussion by the Oslo Workshop of issues left unresolved.


Polygenic risk scores (PRS) can enhance risk stratification and are useful for precision medicine interventions. Here we show that African American Genome-wide Association Study (GWAS) derived PRS enhance prediction of lipid traits in Sub-Saharan Africans. Our PRS prediction varied greatly between South African Zulus (LDL-C, R2 = 8.49%) and Ugandans (LDL-C, R2= 0.043%), potentially attributable to environmental factors. Moreover, the PRS shown here had a higher discriminatory ability (AUC = 74.6%) than conventional risk factors (AUC= 67.8%) to identify extreme phenotypes. This work highlights the utility of PRS derived from relevant ethnic groups for identifying high-risk cases missed by conventional clinical factors.


Understanding the kinetics of phase transitions, including decomposition from reactants to products under extreme condition events is challenging. Capturing these processes require: 1) diagnostics that probe on the timescales and at energies capable of interacting with the dynamically evolving products, penetrating the opaqueness of the changing system; and 2) detectors sensitive enough to observe these events. Synchrotrons and free electron lasers provide ke-V-energy x-ray beams capable of penetrating the optical-opaqueness of the temporally evolving products. At the Dynamic Compression Sector at the Advanced Photon Source, the x-ray beam is coupled to single and two-stage gas guns capable of producing planar shocks at a range of projectile velocities while capturing in situ x-ray diffraction/scattering of the evolving material under dynamic compression. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of this approach in measuring the evolution of crystalline domains in shocked high-density polyethylene to P = 7.45 GPa, and have observed the compression and orientation of the polymer chains in real time.


This paper addresses a problem called "conditional manifold learning", which aims to learn a low-dimensional manifold embedding of high-dimensional data, conditioning on auxiliary manifold information. This auxiliary manifold information is from controllable or measurable conditions, which are ubiquitous in many science and engineering applications. A broad class of solutions for this problem, conditional multidimensional scaling (including a conditional ISOMAP variant), is proposed. A conditional version of the SMACOF algorithm is introduced to optimize the objective function of conditional multidimensional scaling.


Anthony Bianco's "Ghosts of 42nd Street is the dramatic and definitive story of this legendary strip, told through the people involved in its founding and its current renaissance -- from the bosses of the world's top media companies to premier property developers to the city's powerful political interests to the small-business proprietors, drug dealers, pimps, pornographers, and slumlords who have all called it home. Larger-than-life characters such as Oscar Hammerstein I, Florenz Ziegfeld, Billy Minsky, and other show business stars bring the street's history to life. But at the heart of this fast-paced urban adventure is 42nd Street itself and its ten theaters: • the Apollo • the Lyric • the Harris • the New Victory • the New Amsterdam • the Times Square • the Selwyn • the Liberty • the Empire • the Rialto Beginning in 1899, a burst of construction on the mid-Manhattan block of West 42nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue created the greatest concentration of theaters America had ever seen, giving birth to today's Broadway theater district. When the New York Times built a slender twenty-five-story tower on an odd, triangular site formed by the convergence of 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue, the city named the square facing the tower Times Square, which quickly became New York's gathering place for all important civic events. In its heyday, 42nd Street was excessive, expensive, unpredictable, loud, fun, and, at times, dangerous. Forty-second Street's Golden Age of entertainment ended by 1930 and the street quickly devolved from the nation's first show business capital into its firstretail porn center, becoming even more infamous for its squalor. Its denizens rechristened 42nd Street as "Forty Deuce" or simply "the Deuce." This downward trend continued into recent decades, when 42nd Street was largely demolished and rebuilt in the largest urban renewal project in New York history, creating the Times Square we know today -- still known far and wide as the "Crossroads of the World." Part urban history, part cultural analysis, part business study, "Ghosts of 42nd Street shows how this tiny, magical patch of midtown Manhattan looms large in the popular imagination as America's most culturally important thoroughfare.


In this paper, using the integral bifurcation method, a nonlinear dispersion equation with compact structures is studied. Under different parametric conditions, many travelling wave solutions such as solitary wave, cusp wave, loop soliton, periodic wave and periodic solutions are obtained.


Very little is known about the effects on adult health of environmental conditions in developing countries. Most studies have focused on child health and few have included environmental factors. The shortcomings are associated with difficulties in measuring health status for adults and the limited availability of data on environmental conditions in developing countries. Schultz and Tansel conclude their study stating "the next step in this field of research is to distinguish what variations in public policies or natural variations in environmental conditions combine to explain existing variation in adult morbidity among wage earners." According to UNICEF, over half the population of Brazil live in an unsanitary environment. Worldwide, nearly three billion people do not have access to even a minimally sanitary toilet. This study assesses the effects of demographic factors and key environmental conditions on adult health in Brazil. The research focuses on morbidity among wage earners and the impact of specific environmental conditions. The analysis is based on a household model developed by Schultz and Tansel and treats work absence due to health problems as a measure of adult health status. The data used are from the 1989 Brazilian National Health and Nutrition Survey and 1989 National Basic Sanitation Condition Survey. The first is a household survey that measured individual health and nutrition. The second survey provides data on basic environmental and sanitary conditions at the municipality level.


Precision object handling and manipulation require the accurate positioning of industrial robots. A common practice for performing end effector positioning is to read joint angles and use industrial robot forward kinematics (FKs). However, industrial robot FKs rely on the robot Denavit–Hartenberg (DH) parameter values, which include uncertainties. Sources of uncertainty associated with industrial robot FKs include mechanical wear, manufacturing and assembly tolerances, and robot calibration errors. It is therefore necessary to increase the accuracy of DH parameter values to reduce the impact of uncertainties on industrial robot FKs. In this paper, we use differential evolution, particle swarm optimization, an artificial bee colony, and a gravitational search algorithm to calibrate industrial robot DH parameters. A laser tracker system, Leica AT960-MR, is utilized to register accurate positional measurements. The nominal accuracy of this non-contact metrology equipment is less than 3 μm/m. Metaheuristic optimization approaches such as differential evolution, particle swarm optimization, an artificial bee colony and a gravitational search algorithm are used as optimization methods to perform the calibration using laser tracker position data. It is observed that, using the proposed approach with an artificial bee colony optimization algorithm, the accuracy of industrial robot FKs in terms of mean absolute errors of static and near-static motion over all three dimensions for the test data decreases from its measured value of 75.4 μm to 60.1 μm (a 20.3% improvement).


Our intensive search for knowledge, basic and applied, must be accompanied by a corresponding search for the principles underlying the management of research and development. An attempt has been made here to seek out the factors of major importance and to organize them into a meaningful whole. Basic to this analysis have been the views of product value and cost as streams in time, and of managerial capabilities as probabilities of project completion, also varying in time. A simple model based on these concepts has been developed for a business in which the products are characterized by great complexity and by rapid change. The model is simply a tool to understanding-a way of looking at a business. Rational procedures have been derived for making certain the major project decisions.


We report low-temperature, high-field magnetotransport measurements of SrTiO(3) gated by an ionic gel electrolyte. A saturating resistance upturn and negative magnetoresistance that signal the emergence of the Kondo effect appear for higher applied gate voltages. This observation, enabled by the wide tunability of the ionic gel-applied electric field, promotes the interpretation of the electric field-effect-induced 2D electron system in SrTiO(3) as an admixture of magnetic Ti(3+) ions, i.e., localized and unpaired electrons, and delocalized electrons that partially fill the Ti 3d conduction band.


Automated clustering of threads within and across web forums will greatly benefit both users and forum administrators in efficiently seeking, managing, and integrating the huge volume of content being generated. While clustering has been studied for other types of data, little work has been done on clustering forum threads; the informal nature and special structure of forum data make it interesting to study how to effectively cluster forum threads. In this paper, we apply three state of the art clustering methods (i.e., hierarchical agglomerative clustering, k-Means, and probabilistic latent semantic analysis) to cluster forum threads and study how to leverage the structure of threads to improve clustering accuracy. We propose three different methods for assigning weights to the posts in a forum thread to achieve more accurate representation of a thread. We evaluate all the methods on data collected from three different Linux forums for both within-forum and across-forum clustering. Our results show that the state of the art methods perform reasonably well for this task, but the performance can be further improved by exploiting thread structures. In particular, a parabolic weighting method that assigns higher weights for both beginning posts and end posts of a thread is shown to consistently outperform a standard clustering method.


Website for ACT: www.acceptanceandcommitmenttherapy.com. Website for Relational Frame Theory (also contains ACT info): www.relationalframetheory.com Both are now subsumed under the ACBS site: www.contextualpsychology.com We have an email list serve for ACT and one for RFT. Go to Yahoo then groups then search on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Relational Frame Theory and follow the instructions to join. The websites above also have links. Upcoming workshop are always posted there plus people talk about various issues, ask questions of each other, and so on. It is a world-wide conversation. There are about 900 participants on the ACT list and 400 on the RFT list. Books (contextual philosophy; relational frame theory, acceptance methods, treatment manuals): See the list maintained at www.contextualpsychology.com. Also check out Context Press (775) 746-2013 or (888) 4CP-BOOK or www.contextpress.com. New Harbinger is coming on very strong lately in the ACT area: www.newharbinger.com Workshops: Regularly at AABT, ABA, UNR. 2 1⁄2 day workshops at Tahoe once or twice a year. Registration materials are on the websites. We have trainers all around the world. A list of trainers is posted on the ACT website, along with the values statement ensuring that this whole process is not money focused or centrally controlled. Next big ACT meeting: The World Conference on ACT, RFT, and Functional Contextual Psychology, London, England. July 21-28. Details are on www.contextualpsychology.com


People with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have deficits in decision making under ambiguity, also known as probabilistic reward-based learning (RBL). In these tasks participants are not aware about the target probabilities of each option and need to use trial-by-trial feedback to learn these probabilities during the task in order to improve their performance. An open question from the previous literature is why OCD participants present this specific deficit. The review of the limitations of previous RBL studies with OCD patients and the use of a new task paradigm allowed us to explore new directions in this research field. Firstly, previous studies had the following limitations: sometimes they did not control for the use of medication, for the presence of common comorbidities associated with OCD, or for differences between distinct OCD subtypes. In addition, previous tasks usually manipulated several factors at the same time, such as feedback direction (positive vs. negative feedback) and feedback magnitude (e.g. less vs. more positive feedback), for instance. Therefore, it is not possible to know which factor affected the RBL performance in OCD patients. Furthermore, previous studies did not consider the effect of symptom-related feedback on RBL. Secondly, task performance was only measured with accuracy, even though RBL involves the use of previous trials to make predictions for the current decision. Finally, while it is reported that participants do use distinct previous trials to perform these tasks, sequential effects were not previously investigated in OCD patients, neither for random-sequences nor for patterns sequences.
Based on this, the presented PhD thesis addressed some of these gaps in the literature. The investigation was restricted to subclinical checkers which is the most common OCD subtype. A binary decision making task was designed that allowed us to separately manipulate feedback direction and feedback magnitude. In addition, the study compared probabilistic RBL performances between checkers and non-checkers for random and pattern sequences. New analyses techniques were employed to investigate the use of previous trial information for the current decision making, e.g. win-shift, lose-shift, and cross-correlations.
Studies 2 and 3 examined the effect of feedback direction (positive vs. negative feedback) on decision making in subclinical checkers. Results showed that subclinical checkers were more biased towards exploitation when using negative feedback. Studies 4 and 5 examined the effect of the feedback magnitude for both the positive and the negative feedback direction. Results showed that subclinical checkers were able to change their bias towards exploitation within the positive direction experiments depending on the feedback magnitude of the experiment. They were more biased towards exploitation in the positive task presenting a higher error magnitude. In addition, checkers were always biased towards exploitation within the negative direction experiments, irrespectively of the feedback magnitude. Study 6 examined the effect of the manipulation of feedback magnitude when a symptom related feedback was added as an increment of the negative feedback.
Results showed that subclinical checkers were not affected by the presence of the symptom-related feedback and, in terms of feedback magnitude, they continued to present a bias towards exploitation. The findings show that checkers were able to adapt towards exploitation in the positive experiments when higher feedback magnitudes are given. This strategic shift might be related to the higher error magnitude associated with the absence of reward, when the incorrect option was chosen. In contrast, checkers were not able to adapt their exploitation behaviour within the negative experiments when enhancing the feedback magnitude. In this way, this indicates that subclinical checkers present a deficit that bias their responses towards exploitation, when the magnitude associated with the error in the task surpasses a certain value of negative magnitude. This bias could reflect deficits regarding negative prediction errors in OCD or a hyperactivation of brain areas related with exploitation. Both explanations could be linked with a hyperactive dopaminergic system in OCD, so these results could encourage new research about the role of dopamine and prediction errors deficits associated with OCD. Additionally, heightened emotions and reward magnitudes might reduce treatment success because of the enhanced exploitation behaviour, so one crucial aspect of future therapies might be to carefully study the employment of stimuli with such higher error magnitudes.


At the meeting points of different cultures, a unique quality is born. That is what we can experience when sacred round dance, dance therapy, and talent development meet and overlap.The study aims to present a project operated by the Budapest 10th district Educational Consultant Team with the support of the Hungarian National Talent Program. The program, named Square-Dance-Theatre-Scene, was started as an experiment, integrating 12–14-year-old students, including psychologists, drama experts, art therapists, dance therapists, and dance teachers. In the paper, a sacred dance therapeutic workshop is described and analyzed, which was a part of this broader talent management program. The workshop was preceded by an outline of the underlying tripartite theoretical background: The sacred dance workshop'sgroup dynamics are analyzed with dance and movement therapy methods. The archaic roots of sacred dance related to the therapeutic approach are also displayed. Finally, a SWOT-type summary of the work process is given, including both the project's strengths and weaknesses.


Omar Yaghi, a chemistry professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is the recipient of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences. Yaghi is being honored for his pioneering work in synthesizing new crystalline materials, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks of major impact in science and engineering. His research has numerous applications, including capturing and storing carbon dioxide and converting water molecules in the air into water for drinking. The €400,000 prize is given out by the science-promoting arm of BBVA, which is a banking group in Spain.


The paper presents new estimates of the price and income elasticities for residential land which overcome serious econometric problems associated with earlier analyses. Our estimates are based on a unique data set spanning 28 years of home sales which provides repeated observations on the Montgomery County, PA, housing market. The data allow us to employ the two-stage least squares techniques recommended by Bartik (1987) and Epple (1987) to overcome the central problem associated with estimating demand functions for bundled goods—namely, that consumers simultaneously choose both the price and quantity of the bundled good. Our results suggest that the price elasticity of demand for residential land is around -1 and the income elasticity is near 1.5. Our findings further suggest that ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates are substantially upwardly biased. The importance of these estimates for understanding the impacts of public policy on the pattern of development is illustrated by examining the potential effects of the U.S. tax treatment of housing on the demand for residential land. Given the price elasticity estimate and tax code-related subsidies to user costs in the 15-percent range, calculations using the assumptions of a traditional monocentric city model suggest that the radius of the occupied area can be as much as seven-percent longer than in the absence of the subsidy.


Metastasis is the most frequent cause of death in cancer patients. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the process in which cells lose epithelial integrity and become motile, a critical step for cancer cell invasion, drug resistance and immune evasion. The transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling pathway is a major driver of EMT. Increasing evidence demonstrates that metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer and extensive metabolic changes are observed during EMT. The aim of this review is to summarize and interconnect recent findings that illustrate how changes in glycolysis, mitochondrial, lipid and choline metabolism coincide and functionally contribute to TGFβ-induced EMT. We describe TGFβ signaling is involved in stimulating both glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration. Interestingly, the subsequent metabolic consequences for the redox state and lipid metabolism in cancer cells are found to be in favor of EMT as well. Combined we illustrate that a better understanding of the mechanistic links between TGFβ signaling, cancer metabolism and EMT holds promising strategies for cancer therapy, some of which are already actively being explored in the clinic.


This is an introduction to the special issue of California Management Review on Design Thinking (DT). This special issue joins the growing body of work exploring the idea of DT and whether DT makes a difference in terms enhancing or augmenting the impact of technology—and, as a result, innovation—in a positive way. We have chosen an interesting, relevant, and useful array of papers that provide different approaches, views, and interpretations of applied design thinking. These articles provide both management and scholarly readers with insights in how DT is used, as well as its impact and usefulness in a variety of contexts.


Augmented reality learning tools can give significant contributions to the development of anthropological practices. The steps to acquire a professional vision in a specific research field can be supported and enhanced by ITC applications creating content for students and practitioners. Digital tools can be created and supported by versatile cross-medial Content Management Systems, allowing for the creation of networked and collaborative knowledge ecosystems that can extend the reach of digital communication onto physical artifacts, geographic locations, architectures and even bodies. Here users/researchers/students are able to stratify layers of information in ways that are directly accessible from the physical objects/places/spaces of research/study, and that allow achieving a state of continuous correlation of data, information and points of view that are extremely effective and usable: users can behave as publishers of their own impressions and experiences, or as designers building their own tools needed for their fields of activities. Innovation in education seems possible even in Humanities and specifically in fields such as etnography research, where the practices of scientific enquiring and methodology depend strongly on how they are reproduced and transmitted. The adoption of augmented reality learning tools can be helpful for education in Cultural Anthropology and opens itself up to new transdisciplinary horizons of research for Information Science and Anthropology. In this case study, Minkisi, power figures from Congo, are used to create a materialized learning and knowledge sharing environment, implemented using advanced augmented reality techniques. The design encloses the choice of objects, their encoding as learning facilities, the representation of possible usage scenarios of the platform, and the definition of the scope of the AR experiences, from the point of view of the acquisition of professional skills. The case study covers an end to end process in which the description of cultural processes and insights is used from the beginning as a basic tool both in the specific case (describing the salient characteristics of the NKISI) and as a methodological scenario that allows apprentices and students to describe and to add their experiences of the cultural meaning of these ethnic representations. Learning by doing seems not always possible and the access to virtual representation of foreign cultures can be a good compromise between a static picture on a book and the learning experience with a real ethnical artifact. Only through a testing activity in a real learning environment can a new tool can be shaped according to users' needs and can be compared to how professional vision is gained by training and experience in other ways and by other educational means.


A 29 year old woman underwent a planned Caesarean delivery. She denied any pre-existing medical conditions. 72-hours later she developed multiple generalised tonic-clonic seizures requiring sedation and intubation. Brain imaging revealed long standing enlargement of the ventricles. Urinary protein and blood pressure were normal. She continued to have frequent seizures confirmed on EEG despite treatment with multiple anti-epileptics. Collateral history from family revealed seizures as an infant but none since aged 6 months and that she was not taking anticonvulsants. Further inquiries confirmed a regular prescription for Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) which she had stopped during pregnancy. In the context of refractory seizures and the imaging findings, the possibility of Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy was raised. Pyridoxine 100 mg twice daily was started. After the first dose, the patient's seizures stopped and she was extubated, anticonvulsants were stopped and she had no further seizures. Pyridoxine dependent epilepsy is an autosomal recessive condition. Clinical features include refractory seizures in the first few months of life. It is caused by mutations in the ALDH7A1 gene which codes for α-aminoadipic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (α-AASA, Antiquitin), an enzyme involved in the breakdown of lysine within the brain resulting in raised levels. Diagnosis involves genetic testing and elevated plasma and urine levels of α-AASA. Treatment is lifelong daily pyridoxine supplementation. Pabrinex containing Pyridoxine should be considered in all patients who have ongoing seizures not responding to multiple anti-epileptic medication.


This study identifies the quickest recovery between consecutive anaerobic tests to maintain power output (PO) on the repeated test. Sixteen male cyclists finished three sessions of max rpm initial and repeated 45-s cycling tests at 53.9 N. Tests were separated by 6, 9, or 12 min of recovery cycling (80 rpm, 9.8 N). Results showed no significant differences in PO between initial tests (M = 578.5 +/- 50 watts). PO was significantly less on the 6-min repeated test (M = 551.2 +/- 51) compared to the 9- (M = 575.1 +/- 53) and 12-min tests (M = 581.7 +/- 49.9) (p > 0.05). Net blood lactate [HLa] (repeated test-recovery) was significantly related to net PO (repeated test-initial test) on the 9- (r = 0.60, p < 0.05) and 12-min (r = 0.64, p < 0.001) trials, but not on the 6-min trial (r = 0.35, p = 0.19). In summary, at least 9 min of recovery cycling maintains PO on a repeated 45-s cycling test. Elevated [HLa] at the onset of high-intensity sprint exercise is moderately associated with PO on repeated cycle ergometer tests.


City-region theory - fuzzy as the boundaries of such a theory may be - centres on the claim that the territorial basis and organizational architecture of the global economy is now a mosaic of globally connected city-regions rather than nations. Despite some intuitive appeal, there is a growing body of critique which targets specific frailties arising from the theoretical reliance in such arguments on a global capitalist-logic and, relatedly, the focus on global exchange relations. In exploring the limits of these theoretical tendencies, this paper provides a critical account of the processual and practical formation of Sydney (NSW, Australia) as a city-regional space of governance. It pays particular attention to the contingent emergence of Sydney's metropolitan policy regionalism through political mediations of the particular and complex politics elicited by the spatial distributional consequences of city-region development. Its concluding argument is that city-region formation must be understood as an ongoing and multiscalar process without autonomy from the national political economy or from its territory. Copyright (c) 2007 The Author. Journal Compilation (c) 2007 Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd..


Natural disasters can bring considerable damages to households in terms of casualties of household members, destruction of houses, and loss of physical assets. We examine the impact of an earthquake in Indonesia on children's school and work activities and how the effect differs by access to credit. We find that the earthquake decreases education and increases child labor, but the effect is stronger for households with access to credit. Our finding indicates the complementary effect between credit and child labor and suggests the need for policies to increase educational investment when providing credits to households recovering from a shock.


Background High-flow humidified oxygen (HFHO) therapy has demonstrated benefit in infants with bronchiolitis. Objectives To investigate the efficacy of HFHO in infants with moderate to severe viral bronchiolitis, when used outside the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), in a hospital with limited PICU resources. Methods A randomised controlled trial, which enrolled 28 infants between 1 month and 2 years of age, with a clinical diagnosis of acute viral bronchiolitis and moderate to severe respiratory distress. Participants were randomised to receive HFHO 2L/kg/min or oxygen by nasal cannula/ face mask. Respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturations, and modified TAL (M-TAL) score were measured at baseline, 60 - 90 minutes after starting therapy and at 6- and 12-hourly intervals. The primary outcome evaluated was the improvement in respiratory distress (M-TAL score). The secondary outcome assessed was the need for intubation and ventilation. Results There was a significant improvement in respiratory distress (M-TAL score), in infants who received HFHO therapy. Additionally, there was also a reduction in heart rate in the HFHO group as well as a trend to lower intubation rates. Conclusion HFHO is a beneficial therapy for infants with moderate-severe viral bronchiolitis. It can be safely used outside the PICU and could potentially reduce the need for intubation and admission to PICU in resource-limited settings. Contributions of the study High-flow humidified oxygen (HFHO) is effective in infants with moderate to severe bronchiolitis, and not only in those with milder forms of the disease. It can be safely used outside the paediatric intensive care unit, where adequate respiratory monitoring is available. This is important in low-resource areas where there may be insufficient critical care resources to manage these patients.


The aim of this work is to present a new georeferenced geological map of an area in the Ligurian Western Alps (Lavagnina Lakes area) that includes both a unique geodiversity and great biodiversity, a peculiar geological heritage, and cultural features. The study area is located in the northern part of the Capanne di Marcarolo Regional Natural Park, occurring in the southern Piedmont Region (Alessandria, NW Italy) and close to the suburbs of Genoa. This area has been studied by multi-disciplinary scientific researchers who, so far, have focused their attention on the occurrence of alkaline springs and investigation of different endemic floral species. Moreover, in the past, the Lavagnina Lakes area has been exploited due to the presence of gold mineralization, and several mining records are still visible. We performed detailed geological mapping at a 1:10,000 scale, and collected data that were later integrated into a digital GIS map. The database associated with the map contains information that may be interesting from different points of view: (i) scientific research; (ii) outreach and dissemination activities; and (iii) geotourism (i.e., trail networks and panoramic viewpoints). The area represents a section of the Jurassic Piedmont Ligurian oceanic lithosphere, showing several geologic processes on different scales, such as the serpentinization process and intense and widespread carbonation of ultramafic rocks; the area is, moreover, characterized by fault systems showing paleoseismic structures. Beyond scientific research activities (i.e., geology, geoarchaeology, and mining archaeology), the area can also be promoted for geotourism, outreach and dissemination activities, field trips for schools, and gold panning activities. Hence, our new digital map and our 3D model could be a useful tool to illustrate the main characteristics of the area, leading a non-expert public to explore different geological features in a relatively "small" area. In this way, our map could help to improve geotourism, be used as a tool for educational activities, and, finally, could also help the Capanne di Marcarolo Regional Natural Park to be recognized as a geopark.


Subject
 Economics implications of US student debt.

 Significance
 Student loan debt is the largest category of outstanding US consumer debt after mortgages, totaling almost 1.5 trillion dollars -- nearly twice the amount of credit card debt -- and it weighs on the minds and bank accounts of many US citizens. Anecdotal evidence abounds that hefty student debts are crushing the millennial generation (born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s) by preventing them from accumulating wealth and causing them to delay milestones including marriage and home ownership.

 Impacts
 Student debt repayments do not seem to crowd out consumption but may encourage indebtedness if people take on more debt to sustain spending.
 As well as delaying household formation, student debt may delay young adults' saving for retirement, signposting problems decades ahead.
 Lifelong learning is key to tech and ageing trends, but older students may drop out or default on debt more, multiplying the challenges.


The crystallized mullite composite has
been synthesized via sol-gel technique in the presence of transition metal ions
such as iron and copper. The electrical resistivity and activation energy of
the composites have been measured and their variation with concentration of the
metal ion has been investigated. The resistivity of doped mullite decreases
rapidly in the shorter temperature range and sharply in the higher temperature
range. The decreasing resistivity is due to the 3d orbital electrons and the
concentration of metal ions present. X-ray analysis confirms the presence of
metal ions in mullite, which entered in the octahedral site. The Fe2+ and Cu2+ ions will substitute Al3+ ion in the octahedral
site of mullite structure and most probably will be responsible for reducing
the resistivity as well as the activation energy. Transition metal ion doped
mullite-based ceramic can be considered as promising material as a substrate in
the electronic industry, because of its reasonable atom density, its low
activation characteristics, low thermal expansion coefficient and high mechanical
strength. The present material we have developed has an activation energy of
resistivity/band gap energy, Eg, 1.11 eV at 0.04 M concentration for Cu2+ ion.


From 1920, Li Ting'an started to pay attention to military medicine. At the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Ting'an compiled books of military medicine, restored the health office, participated in the compilation of first aid measures, rehabilitation outlines, and methods of protection practice, and preparing the establishment of hospitals for wounded soldiers in order to support the Anti-Japanese War. At that time, he was appointed as the anti-epidemic commissioner of South China to organize and conduct the epidemic prevention works in the War. During the stalemate period, he kept an eye on the long-term War and devoted himself to the research of national diet and soldier's nutrition. At the same time, Li also recognized the public health at an advanced level so as to save the country.


Gitelman syndrome is a condition caused by a mutation of the thiazide sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter gene on the distal convoluted tubule. It results in a variety of clinical features, including hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalciuria, and metabolic alkalosis. It is often diagnosed in asymptomatic adults presented with unexplained hypokalemia; however, it is sometimes associated with muscular cramps, numbness, fatigue, weakness, or paralysis. We experienced a case of rheumatoid arthritis accompanied by Gitelman syndrome, presented with hand tremor. We diagnosed her using renal clearance study and genetic analysis. Here, we report our experiences regarding this case along with a literature review.


SUMMARY Political and economic transformations in many parts of the world have threatened the existence of forests and the sustainability of forestry. Industry, agriculture, energy and land settlement policies inflict damage on forests and other natural assets. This kind of damage, tantamount to deforestation, is the result of government policies that consider forests as a source of revenue, not as an asset to be protected. This study evaluated the success of forestry policies and practices under the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) over a period of 13 years. The previous 13 years were then taken as a control group and compared to them in order to evaluate the success of the AK Party. Overall 26 years of forestry policies and practices in Turkey (1989–2015) were examined. According to the official records, Turkey's forests areas are growing. This growth, however, is not caused by the afforestation but by the effects of immigration from the countryside to cities. Also increased demand for wood is intensifying the pressure on forests. Although the use of forests for non-forestry purposes fragments the forest ecosystems and reduces forested areas, these losses have not been recorded by official statistics. Protected areas are being transformed into recreational areas and their management is not following the wishes of the people. The reason for this is that the government prioritises economic growth over environmental concerns.