ABSTRACT Anand, P.; Anubhav, C.A., and Albert, P.I., 2020. Observation and modeling of low saline water flow through Gulf of Mannar during December 2016. In: Sheela Nair, L.; Prakash, T.N.; Padmalal, D., and Kumar Seelam, J. (eds.), Oceanic and Coastal Processes of the Indian Seas. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 89, pp. 20-25. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Indian Ocean is unique as it features the reversal of currents in relation to the monsoonal winds. During the north-east monsoon season (November-February), the East Indian Coastal Current (EICC) is known to flow round Srilanka into the South Eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS) which transports low saline waters from the Bay of Bengal (BoB). Till now, due to lack of observational data along the Gulf of Mannar (GoM), it is not evident, whether part of the water that flows from BoB is passing through the Palk Strait/Bay and GoM to reach SEAS. There are two schools of thought existing, one is that, the flow exists through this passage. Efforts have been made to prove this using simulation studies. The second thought is that the Pamban Pass as well as the Adam's Bridge act as barriers for this passage of water. To study the subject in detail, CTD observations during December 2016 along GoM and west coast of India are utilized. Analysis shows that, the surface waters along transect of GoM is lower in salinity (33 psu) than that of SEAS (34 psu) with the lowest surface salinity along the easternmost transect. Different case studies, carried out using high resolution (10 km) Princeton Ocean Model (POM), suggested that the flow exists through the GoM. The signature of low saline water (33.2 psu) in this region is also well matched with that of the observations. The study concludes that, the flow through the Palk Bay/Strait and GoM have a distinct role in bringing the water from the Bay to SEAS.


Pine bark cation exchange capacity (CEC) (by Ba/Mg exchange on four particle size fractions) increased regularly from 38 to 98 meq/100 g between pH 4 and 7. Decreasing particle size from <2.38 to <0.05 mm did not result in the expected large increases in bark CEC. The Ba/Mg CEC of unsieved bark samples was less than that determined by the weighted average of component size fractions. Monovalent/monovalent-determined CEC was higher than Ba/Mg, indicating that a number of differing charge-specific sites are involved. The pH-dependent CEC increase between pH 4 and 7 was greater for divalent exchange than for monovalent. Ammonium/K CEC was higher than K/NH4 CEC, probably due to enhanced NH4 adsorption by carboxyl groups. Infrared analysis of pine bark revealed that surface functional group composition is similar to soil organic matter. The accurate measurement of CEC in pine bark is complicated by solution pH and ionic strength, as well as by the cations employed for exchange.


This paper presents a new three-level topology based on the neutral-point (NP)-clamped converter. An additional leg is added to the basic topology. The main purpose of this leg is to provide the converter with fault-tolerant capabilities. In addition, during normal operation mode, the fourth leg can be used to balance the NP voltage. In this way, the low-frequency voltage oscillations that appear in the NP under some operating conditions are cancelled out effectively. As a result, the modulation strategy of the three main legs of the converter does not have to take care of the voltage balance and can focus on other aspects such as, for instance, minimizing the switching losses of the converter. However, the inclusion of the fourth leg produces some additional losses. A resonant topology is proposed to minimize the switching losses of this leg. Three different fault-tolerant solutions based on the fourth-leg topology are presented. A comparison of these topologies showing their respective advantages and drawbacks is made. Experimental results are presented to show the viability of this approach.


The present knowledge about heavy quark systems is applied to the top system - both toponium and open top. Properties of these systems are predicted. What can be learned from toponium about quarkonium physics under realistic experimental conditions is also discussed. The spectrum of toponium states is discussed: the expected excitation spectrum, the implications for probing the heavy quark potential, and an estimate of the fine and hyperfine splittings. Production and decay properties are discussed, particularly emphasizing the growing importance of electroweak effects on the decays of toponium states. The properties of low-lying open top mesons are also dicussed. Some more exotic possibilities are considered, particularly: (1) the influence of light charged or neutral Higgs-like scalars on toponium decays, (2) possible direct production of J = 1 (t anti t) P-states via the axial vector coupling of the Z/sup 0/ to (t anti t), and (3) toponium - Z/sup 0/ interference effects which would result if the mass difference between some toponium resonance and the Z/sup 0/ were less than the width of the Z/sup 0/. The present situation of the nonrelativistic potential between heavy quarks is discussed. 53 refs., 29 figs., (LEW)


This article examines whether the poor South is coming closer to the rich North in the process of evolution of the world economy since 1950 - whether the Veblen (1915)-Gerschenkron (1952) convergence/catching up hypothesis holds good along with the convergence implication of the neoclassical growth theory.The sample of 38 poor countries (called the South) studied here experienced a lower rate of growth in their average real income per capita (RGDPT) than what is experienced by the sample of 26 rich countries (called the North). Hence the gap in the standards of living between the two groups has been widening over the period of our study,1950-92. Between 1950 and 1992, the RGDPT of the South increased almost threefold - from $1087 in 1950 to $3027. During the same period, the RGDPT of the North increased almost fourfold - from $3548 in 1950, to $13047. There is some diversity in individual country experiences. But there is one experience shared by most of the southern countries in the decade 1970s which was marked by the rise of OPEC and the optimism of the new international economic order. This was a temporary relief from the trend of divergence from the better standard of living of the North. Some countries even experienced a significant tendency towards convergence/catching up. So the overall picture of the 1970s is one of a catching up trend. Another notable thing in individual country cases is the steady catching up experience of Korea and Thailand since the 1970s and of Taiwan since the 1960s. These countries belong to the category, 'major exporters of manufactures' (of the South). This experience is not shared by other countries belonging to the same category, such as Brazil, Mexico and Turkey. Countries of the North experienced convergence among themselves. Bottom 16 countries of the North (RGDPT $5,000). In 1950, the average RGDPT of the top nine was more than double the RGDPT of the bottom 16. From $2,662 in 1950, the average RGDPT of the bottom 16 increased more than fourfold to reach the figure $12,204 in 1992 while the average RGDPT of top nine grew less than three times from $6,193 in 1950 $14,814 in 1992. Thus the standards of living of the two sub-groups of the North came much closer. While Portugal, the poorest of the northern countries in 1950, had been coming closer to the average standard of living of the top nine of the North during the period of study, the southern countries richer than Portugal in 1950, did not share this experience. Rather, these southern countries came closer to the poorer South. While the gap in the standards of living of the North and the South had been widening during the period of our study, there is some evidence of deceleration in the pace of divergence. Hence there is some hope that the gap will not widen indefinitely. At the same time, the pace of bridging the gap between the top nine and bottom 16 of the north showed some sign of deceleration. If this trend continues, the process of convergence may come to a halt and some gap will remain.


Relay Network is considered as a capable kind of a future network where in addition to BSs and SSs, Relay Stations (RS) also exists. A RS forwards messages between a source and destination. Relay Stations (RSs) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) have become promising domain for the future generation of wireless systems due to its inherent resistance to frequency selective multi-path fading and its flexibility in resource allocations. In recent times, resource allocation in OFDM has been attracting several researches in the field of wireless networking. It has been observed recently that the integration of OFDM and relay networks is providing considerable performance. In this paper, comparative analysis is carried out by comparing the performance of the two nature inspired metaheuristic optimization techniques such as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). The performance of both the approaches is compared in terms of Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF), bit error rate, convergence behaviour and delay rate. It is observed from the results that ABC performs better than the ACO. [S.Nagarani. Nature Inspired Metaheuristics Techniques based Dynamic Subcarrier, Bit and Power Allocation for OFDMA-Based Relay Networks. Life Sci J 2013:10(1):3241-3251]. (ISSN: 1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 409


About 15% of the diagnosed breast cancers have an amplicon in the 17q12-21 region leading to over-expression of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). HER2 activates two main downstream pathways, the PI3K/Akt and the MAPK pathways, that are involved in survival, cell growth and proliferation. HER2 positive (HER2+) breast cancers are treated with trastuzumab or lapatinib, which inhibit HER2 by different molecular mechanisms. However, many patients develop resistance or do not respond to the treatment. Therefore, identification of alternative compounds that could replace the current treatment strategies in the patients who have developed resistance is vital. Thirteen HER2+ breast cancer cell lines were screened with 22 compounds targeting the EGFR family pathways, or other key players in the HER2+ breast cancers. The compounds were printed in seven concentrations in two replicates and all screens were performed twice. Cell viability was used as an endpoint. In addition, gene expression profiles, copy number changes and PIK3CA mutation status, as well as PTEN protein expression levels were analyzed for the same cell lines. Thirteen compounds induced more than 50% growth inhibition with the highest concentration for two or more cell lines and were selected for further analyses. All EGFR-family targeting inhibitors were more effective in the trastuzumab-responsive than in the non-responsive cell lines. In addition, several other drugs also inhibited cell growth more efficiently than trastuzumab. The cell lines were divided into three groups based on their response to trastuzumab: responsive, intermediate, and non-responsive. Similarly, three response groups were seen for lapatinib, but they did, however, not have a complete overlap with the trastuzumab response groups. These groups were used to find drugs that are effective in the resistant cell lines. Interestingly, two mTOR inhibitors, everolimus and temsirolimus, were most effective in trastuzumab-resistant cell lines. In addition, two trastuzumab-resistant cell lines were more sensitive to an Akt inhibitor than the rest of the cell lines. These findings will be further validated by comparing gene expression and mutation statuses of these cell lines to others. In conclusion, compound screening revealed several inhibitors that efficiently decreased cell viability in HER2+ cell lines. Interestingly, Akt and mTOR inhibitors decreased cell growth in cell lines that did not respond to the inhibitors currently used in the clinic. To understand the molecular mechanisms of the drug actions, further studies at the genomic levels are needed. Citation Format: Sandra Nyberg, Vesa Hongisto, Dagim Shiferaw Tadele, Henrik Edgren, Suvi-Katri Leivonen, Olli Kallioniemi, Gunhild Mari Maelandsmo, Merja Perala, Anne-Lise Borresen-Dale, Kristine Kleivi Sahlberg. Identification of alternative compounds by drug screening of HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2107. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2107


Virtual Reality leads Digital Product Development technology to a more effective and convenient way by presenting the product model in an immersive real 3D environment. Distributed VR even gives the possibility for partners to discuss the design of the product independent of their locations. This paper introduces the ongoing work with a Digital Product Development System with Virtually Cooperating Teams Using Optical Networks -- ProVit, which aims at building up immersive telepresence systems for design review running over high-bandwidth networks. Video and audio streams are integrated in the virtual environment to support teleconference aspects of the distributed design review sessions. A network management system has been developed for the supervision, maintenance and processing of distributed setups, and network security.


Primary retroperitoneal teratomas are rare non-seminomatous germ cell tumors that arise from embryonal tissues. They form only 5%-10% of all retroperitoneal tumors. These are usually asymptomatic or present as lump or mass with compressive symptoms. Most of the patients are diagnosed by characteristic computed tomography findings. The chances of malignant transformation are rare. Complete surgical resection is the definitive treatment for most patients. We had a 19 years old young man, presented with pain abdomen and awareness of a lump in the right upper abdomen. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) of the abdomen revealed a heterogeneous soft tissue mass in the retroperitoneum with calcification. He was successfully treated with en-bloc complete surgical resection. Histopathology confirmed benign mature teratoma including all three germ layers. The patient is doing fine at nine months of follow-up and planned for CECT abdomen. Primary mature teratomas arise in the retroperitoneum due to failure of germ cells migration to their normal location. Germ cells undergo differentiation into various germ layers. Teratomas can be classified as mature, immature, or non-dermal based on their histopathological characteristics. Although complete surgical excision is the mainstay of treatment, malignant teratomas frequently recur. So, annual follow-up is recommended with imaging. A classic mature teratoma requires careful examination and interpretation of the imaging. The amount of immature components determines outcome and recurrence in these patients so en-bloc surgical resection is the treatment of choice.


An account is given of the origins, in the molecular electronic properties and crystal structure, of the large quadratic optical nonlinearities found in some organic crystals. Particular cases, in which powerful second-harmonic generation or large Pockels effects have been found, chosen to illustrate the influence of different aspects of molecular or crystal structure, are introduced. Three of these, MBANP, NMBA and DAN are described in greater detail in the light of recent experimental and theoretical work.


Young-Sik Kim ․ Eun-Kee Park ․ Yeh-Chan Ahn ․ Chung-Mu Park ․ Byeong-Hwan Jeon. Changes of Muscle Insulin-like Growth Factor-I and Concentrations of Inflammatory Cytokines in Rat Skeletal Muscle Following Denervation and Diabetes-in-duced Atrophy. KINESIOLOGY, 2016, 18(2): 93-103 . [PURPOSE] Muscle atrophy is the result of several diseases and conditions. In systemic disease, many factors contribute to muscle atrophy. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a local and systemic hormone that contributes to muscle growth. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in muscle protein synthesis bio-markers and pro-inflammatory factors associated with muscle atrophy in systemic disease. [METHODS] Local muscle tissue damage was observed and compared in both streptozotocin (STZ) -induced diabetic and denervated rats. In these animal models, we measured the expression of muscle-specific IGF-1 (mIGF-1) in by real-time PCR and serum concentrations of inflammatory cytokines by ELISA. In addition, muscle mass and blood glucose levels were observed for six weeks. [RESULTS] The results showed that muscle mass was significantly lower in both experimental groups compared to the control group from week two. Over the six week period, muscle mass gradually increased in the control group, dramatically decreased in the denervated group, but interestingly, showed no significant changes in the diabetes group. Inflammatory factors including tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly higher in diabetic rats than in the control group. The level of TNF- α was increased at week four; however, IL-6 levels did not change in denervated rats. The expression of mIGF-1 mRNA did not change significantly in the two experimental groups. [CONCLUSIONS] In conclusion, mIGF-1 for the proliferation of muscle cells did not have an effect on muscle atrophy among the groups. However the increase in systemic inflammatory factors may be involved in the process of muscle atrophy in diabetic rats.


: A variation of the components of media used by Lassen for the identification of clinically significant gram-negative bacilli is performed in pursuit of an economically accessible method that can be introduced in daily laboratory work.


A 49-year-old female with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy underwent surgery for implantation of an artificial cochlear device. She had some characteristic clinical features, including muscle weakness, deafness and dementia. Anesthesia was induced with 5 mg.kg-1 of propofol, and the trachea was intubated without a muscle relaxant. The patient was mechanically ventilated also without a relaxant, and anesthesia was maintained with a continuous infusion of 4-8 mg.kg-1.hr-1 of propofol, a bolus injection of 50-100 micrograms of fentanyl, and nitrous oxide (66%) in oxygen (33%). Bispectral index (BIS) was monitored and maintained at approximately 40. No cardiovascular instabilities or increase in plasma lactate concentration were observed during surgery. The patient had a smooth recovery from the propofol anesthesia, and the BIS value returned to the pre-anesthetic level 10 min after completion of the anesthesia, suggesting that the use of propofol is a safe means for inducing and maintaining anesthesia in patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy.


Life of human being and animals depend on the environment which is surrounded by plants. Like human beings, plants also suffer from lot of diseases. Plant gets affected by completely including leaf, stem, root, fruit and flower; this affects the normal growth of the plant. Manual identification and diagnosis of plant diseases is very difficult. This method is costly as well as time-consuming so it is inefficient to be highly specific. Plant pathology deals with the progress in developing classification of plant diseases and their identification. This work clarifies the identification of plant diseases using leaf images caused by bacteria, viruses and fungus. By this method it can be identified and control the diseases. To identify the plant leaf disease Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) was proposed. The proposed method shows more refined results than the existing works.


Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is frequently associated, often from the earliest phases, with a life-threatening coagulation/bleeding syndrome; disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is described in majority of patients. We report a case of 49-year-old male, without cardiovascular risk factors, who suddenly developed ischemic stroke and splenic infarction as presenting symptoms of APL and related DIC. The patient was immediately treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and the alterations of hemocoagulation parameters promptly returned in normal range. The coagulation/bleeding syndrome of the onset of APL is associated with high mortality; both diagnostic and therapeutic approaches require special and timely consideration of this condition. Treatment with ATRA is essential.


Allocating nodes in a concurrent computer system depends on the topology of the system. In this work, we present a number of processor allocation strategies for Hypercycle based concurrent systems. Hypercycles is a class of multidimensional interconnection networks which includes such widely used networks as the binary n-cubes, k-ary n-cubes, generalized hypercubes etc. The allocation strategies presented include a statically optimal first-fit allocation, a suboptimal-first fit, and strategies with extended search space through the inclusion of additional search lists formed by permuting the base through which a hypercycle is defined. For all these strategies, we examine their optimality and present simulation results characterizing their performance relative to each other. >


Conditions on An The first obvious condition is that the (An)n∈N is a sequence of non-negative matrices such that Ai, Ai+1 have the correct size to be multiplied together. Secondly, as we calculate angles between column vector in our proof, no column of An should be zero. The angle between a zero vector and any other vector is undefined. Finally, the size of An should not increase infinitely, i.e. an upper bound on the size of the Ai's exists such that Ai ∈ Rm×l where m, l ≤ L for some L ∈ N. Definition 1. We say limn→∞An exists, if for allm, l ∈ N the subsequencesAnk(m,l) ∈ Rm×l that consist of all terms that have size m× l converge elementwise. Note that even if there only finitely many, say AN is the last term with An ∈ Rm×l, we say limk→∞Ank(l,m) = AN . Theorem 1. Let A1, A2, A3 . . . be a sequence of non-negative matrices as described above such that limn→∞An exists. We exclude the cases where one column of limn→∞An is the zero vector or two columns are orthogonal to each other. Then the product of all terms of the sequence converges to a rank-1 matrix C̄:


The synthesis and characterization of some novel isoxazoles derivatives have been presented. Acylation of resorcinol followed by nuclear prenylation with isoprene gives Chroman. Chroman on treatment with p-substituted benzaldehydes affords substituted chalcones. Isoxazoles have been prepared from chalcones by treating with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The structure of isoxazoles has been characterized by spectral analysis.


Abstract: Habitat fragmentation may lead to spatial genetic structuring of plant populations, but the magnitude of this effect differs among species. In this study, the effects of fragmentation on spatial genetic structure of Manilkara maxima, an ecologically important tree species endemic to the Atlantic forest of southern Bahia, Brazil, were examined. To address this issue, 222 individuals were sampled across two large-forest sites (200 and 400 ha) and one site comprising eight small fragments (5, 10 and 25 ha) roughly 35 y old. Five microsatellite loci were used. In general, M. maxima exhibited limited genetic structuring within and across the sites examined. At the landscape scale, genetic structure was not shaped by isolation by distance. Within individual sites, weak to moderate genetic structure was observed for both adults and saplings, which represented pre- and post-fragmentation, respectively. Sapling genetic structure did not clearly vary among the study sites, suggesting fragmentation has not affected spatial genetic structure. High levels of migration were observed, which would help maintain genetic connectivity. Taken together, these results suggest M. maxima, a long-lived tree that naturally occurs in low densities, may have limited spatial genetic structuring both within and across forest patches.


To assess the prevalence of COVID-19 in people living with HIV (PLWHIV), we performed an epidemiological survey from 1 April through 1 August 2020 in an HIV reference center in Northern France. PLWHIV completed a questionnaire about risk exposures and symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and performed a SARS-CoV-2 serology. Among the 600 PLWHIV included, 16 have been infected with SARS-CoV-2. Symptoms consistent with COVID-19 were frequent both in SARS-CoV-2 positive and negative patients (67% vs. 32%, p = 0.02). Among SARS-CoV-2 infected patients, one (6%) has been hospitalized and five (31%) have been asymptomatic. Close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case was the only factor associated with COVID-19 acquisition (40% vs. 13%, p = 0.01). The prevalence of COVID-19 in PLWHIV was 2.5%, half of the overall population estimate after the first wave of the pandemic in France. In conclusion, proportion of asymptomatic COVID-19 was high in PLWHIV. The prevalence of COVID-19 in PLWHIV was two times lower than in the general population.


FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, INNOVATION, AND PRODUCTIVITY Joseph Raymond Advisor: University of Guelph, 2019 Dr. Getu Hailu This thesis examines the relationships between financial constraints, innovation, and labour productivity among firms in eastern Europe and central Asia. To analyse the impact of financial constraint on firm-level innovation, this thesis follows the theoretical framework laid out by Gorodnichenko and Schnitzer (2013). Furthermore, using a multivariate probit model, financial constraints were found to decrease the likelihood of a firm introducing product, process, and production license innovations. The results also suggest that product, process, organizational, and production license innovation are complementary to each other (i.e., firms tend to introduce them together). The existence of complementarity among innovations may make it more difficult for financially constrained firms to successfully innovate. Findings also suggest that organizational and product innovations are at least positively correlated with firm labour


In this paper, we introduce a stochastic predator-pray system with Markov switching. We establish the necessary conditions of near-optimal control for this system. The proof of the main results are based on Ito's formula, Ekeland's variational principle and some estimates on the state and the adjoint process with respect to the control variable.


Purpose : The brightness of a product color plays an important role in consumers preferences. As far as children are concerned, color is an essential perceptual attribute to choose a product. Based on these two facts, this work aims at highlighting the impact of color brightness on children's behavior towards a food product and underlining its role as a source of worry for young consumers. Design : The chosen methodology lies on an experience based on 80 children and relies on four visuals of syrup packaging presenting two colors (red/green) and two variations (bright/dull). Findings :The key result shows that brightness of the color has an impact on the feeling of worrying translated by the product. This work also underlines the role of involvement as a moderating variable in the children's assessment. Limits : this research focuses on two flavors (grenadine and mint) and has to be replicated according to other modes (fruit flavor/non fruit flavor). It has to be deepening in order to appreciate the way color can contribute to children's wellbeing thanks to positive feelings instead of negative ones towards the product. Practical implications : this works addresses the subject of wellbeing as a potential positioning for brands. Social implications: it suggests new leads to be explored to use the brightness of a packaging as a potential element to wake up positive sensations which generate well-being for children even when the product does not get their preferences. Originality : this works initiates a creative thinking on the impact of product color brightness towards consuming children


. Understanding drivers of disturbances across scales is critical as environmental constraints change in a warming climate. Outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are key natural disturbances that shape the structure and function of conifer forests across the northern hemisphere. While drivers of bark beetle outbreaks have been studied extensively at spatial scales ranging from stands to con-tinents, within-stand processes governing individual tree mortality in an outbreak are less well under-stood. Here, we use a spatially explicit long-term monitoring dataset of a lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia ) forest ( > 9000 individually mapped trees in three 2-ha plots) impacted by a severe mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae ) outbreak to explore interactions among fi ne scale drivers of beetle-caused tree mortality. Using a Bayesian spatial modeling approach, we evaluated how tree scale and tree neighborhood scale characteristics interact with tree size to mediate host tree susceptibility to mountain pine beetle outbreak in the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA). We found evidence that both tree growth rate preceding the outbreak and neighborhood structure (within a 10 meter radius of the host tree) mediate the effect of tree size, and that the direction and magnitude of these mediating effects vary with tree size. Tree scale mortality probability increased with pre-outbreak growth rate for small to medium sized host trees ( ~ 10 – 25 cm diameter), but that same effect was not detected for large trees. Conversely, tree scale mortality probability increased with greater neighborhood density, with the most pronounced effects for medium to large sized host trees ( ~ 15 – 30 cm diameter). Within-stand topographic variability was not an important predictor of mortality probability; among stands, however, the stand in the driest topographic position experienced the greatest overall mortality. By explicitly considering how within-stand heterogeneity mediates individual tree scale susceptibility to bark beetle outbreak, our fi ndings bridge an important gap in understanding multi-scale drivers of disturbance dynamics.


The paper is devoted to a comparison of Radio Occultation (RO) observations from newly launched CSES satellite to analogist COSMIC RO observations. The observations demonstrate an excellent coincidence for NmF2 and hmF2 and this may be considered as an important result. The main scientific objective is declared to monitor earthquake related disturbances in the ionosphere. Keeping in mind good results of the undertaken comparison the authors have concluded that the CSES RO data are applicable for most ionospheric-related studies. There are no objections concerning the comparison itself and a good coincidence with COSMIC observations indicate that CSES provides reliable observations at the level of COSMIC. This may be considered as the main result of the paper. However whether RO observations provide real Ne(h) profiles which may be used for ionospheric studies and applications is a question. The


BACKGROUND
Several trials have demonstrated that the response proportions to microtubule agents in patients with prostate cancer are increased by the addition of estramustine phosphate (EMP). The epothilone B analog BMS-247550 is a novel microtubule agent that has shown activity in taxane-resistant tumors. We conducted a dose-escalation study to determine a safe dose of BMS-247550 to combine with EMP in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Chemotherapy-naive patients with castrate-metastatic prostate cancer were treated with intravenous BMS-247550 and oral EMP (280 mg three times daily for 5 days) every 3 weeks.

RESULTS
Thirteen patients were treated at two dose levels (35 and 40 mg/m(2)). Three of six patients treated at 40 mg/m(2) developed grade 4 neutropenia, establishing 35 mg/m(2) as the maximum-tolerated dose. Significant peripheral neuropathy (grade >/= 2) was related to dose level and infusion rate. A decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) of >/= 50% was seen in 11 of 12 evaluable patients (92%) (95% confidence interval 76% to 100%). There were objective responses in soft tissue (57%) and bone metastasis (40%).

CONCLUSIONS
The phase II dose of BMS-247550 combined with EMP is 35 mg/m(2) over 3 h every 3 weeks. This combination is safe and >/= 50% post-therapy declines in PSA were seen in 11 of 12 patients (92%).


Aspect-based sentiment analysis involves the recognition of so called opinion target expressions (OTEs). To automatically extract OTEs, supervised learning algorithms are usually employed which are trained on manually annotated corpora. The creation of these corpora is labor-intensive and sufficiently large datasets are therefore usually only available for a very narrow selection of languages and domains. In this work, we address the lack of available annotated data for specific languages by proposing a zero-shot cross-lingual approach for the extraction of opinion target expressions. We leverage multilingual word embeddings that share a common vector space across various languages and incorporate these into a convolutional neural network architecture for OTE extraction. Our experiments with 5 languages give promising results: We can successfully train a model on annotated data of a source language and perform accurate prediction on a target language without ever using any annotated samples in that target language. Depending on the source and target language pairs, we reach performances in a zero-shot regime of up to 77% of a model trained on target language data. Furthermore, we can increase this performance up to 87% of a baseline model trained on target language data by performing cross-lingual learning from multiple source languages.


The last decade has seen the rise of data capture culture. This culture has been most visible, and widely analysed, within the realm of social media; but it is not unique to that form. This article reconceptualises video games as apparatuses for data capture. We situate games within a broader economic and cultural shift towards a new 'accelerated' form of neoliberalism where individual choice and agency are pre-filtered and personalised by algorithms based on user data history. Through a survey of the changing role of data in video gaming, this article critically maps a new paradigm for a reimagined games industry driven by a logic of data capture. Gaming promises a unique opportunity for data capture capitalists to mine and commodify player preferences, behaviours and instinctual responses. Arguing that play is a process of uncovering hidden logics, we offer a framework for resisting the data capture hegemony. This is not simply a discussion of gaming, rather this is an attempt to outline the conditions of possibility for a critique of globalised digital culture in which populations are profiled, processed and punished by hidden algorithms of the market that are optimised to construct and reward accelerated performances of neoliberal subjectivity.


As a promising standard of television, Internet protocol television (IPTV) gains increasing popularity with its on-demand services. However, supporting scalable on-demand IPTV services remains to be an important challenge. Existing IPTV architecture dedicates a regional station to serve subscribers in the respective region regardless of temporal and spatial dynamics in service demand. This may cause significant imbalance of resource utilization and service provisioning delay among stations, especially with increasing subscribers and service catalog. In this paper, we propose CiTV, a collaborative Internet TV service platform that achieves efficient and scalable IPTV service delivery through interstation collaboration. First, CiTV employs a novel request dispatching algorithm that enables stations to autonomously dispatch requests among themselves and achieves low per-view cost and load variance at the same time. Second, CiTV also leverages a distributed content placement algorithm to globally optimize content utilization at multistation level, which is important for deployment scalability. Last but not the least, CiTV also ensures service delivery quality and efficiency through fine-grained collaboration scope control. We perform both theoretical and empirical analysis of CiTV. Our experiment results suggest that CiTV significantly improves the scalability of on-demand IPTV services for the existing IPTV architecture.


The hydration kinetics of Portland cement with and without nano-SiO2 (NS) were evaluated via isothermal calorimetry and investigated based on the mathematic method of the Krstulovic-Dabic model in this paper. NS was used to substitute Portland cement at 0, 1 and 3 wt. % by mass. The test results obtained in this study indicated that the hydration process of Portland cement was dramatically promoted in terms of increasing the heat released and the heat release rate when NS was added. From the Krstulovic-Dabic model, the dynamics process of Portland cement was controlled by nucleation and crystal growth (NG), phase boundary interactions (I) and the diffusion (D) process, it does not matter whether there was NS or not, but the transformation of the controlling process occurred at a lower hydration degree for the NS-added pastes. Moreover, the increase in NS content increased the values of the kinetics parameters KNG and KI, but decreased KD and the reaction exponent to a different degree.


Tropical dry forests (TDFs) host a large diversity of tree species but little is known of potential mechanisms that contribute to its maintenance. Given the paramount importance of water availability in such forests, tree species would be expected to show nonrandom patterns along water availability gradients, as well as differential individual species responses. In this work we explored whether that was true for 50 dominant tree species. Within a total area of 5.2 ha, divided into 26 transects each with ten 20 × 10 m plots, we registered presence–absence of these tree species with diameter at breast height ≥5 cm. We assessed the response of trees to four environmental variables differentially related to water availability in three steps: (1) identifying the shape of the response to individual environmental variables, (2) testing for artifacts in previous patterns due to spatial autocorrelation of presence–absence, and (3) identifying the environmental variable or combination of variables that best explained the pattern. We then classified the species with respect to their probability of occurrence along the gradient, and explored which components of the water cycle were likely to be driving the observed patterns. We found that 14 species were generalists, 16 drought tolerant, 9 intermediate, 3 water demanding and 8 showed mixed responses. Lateral flow and access to ground water most likely underlie such patterns. Our results confirm the key role played by water availability in tree species distribution. Water‐related niche differentiation seems to be crucial for maintaining the high diversity of this TDF.


Although very different in terms of culture and ethnicity, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand share some common features. They are the three largest economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was established in 1967 to promote cooperation amongst its members, and is now on the brink of realizing the goal of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), established on December 31, 2015. Thus, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand collaborate with one another as part of ASEAN, and there are flows of labor amongst them, especially between Indonesia and Malaysia. Their collaboration can be seen in the establishment of a regional growth triangle—the 1993 Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT)—to encourage tripartite economic cooperation amongst the southern part of Thailand, the northern part of Malaysia, and Indonesia's Sumatra Island. The aim of the IMT-GT is to maximize the utilization of resources and emphasize the development of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, forestry, agro-food processing, and tourism amongst the three countries. Additionally, the countries compete with one another in the production and export of palm oil and rubber products and in the tourism industry, as well as in the export of lower skilled manufactured goods and in auto parts.


Gizzerosine, which was originally found in fish meal, is a compound that causes gizzard erosion and ulceration in chicks. The action of gizzerosine on the isolated cells of chicken proventriculus was studied in the present investigations. Gizzerosine increased intracellular cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) levels, reaching a plateau within 30 min. Similar maxima of cAMP level were observed in the presence of histamine or gizzerosine. However, the potency of gizzerosine was approximately 1,000-fold higher than that of histamine. The action of gizzerosine was depressed by cimetidine, a histamine H2-receptor antagonist, but not by pyrilamine, a histamine H1-receptor antagonist, indicating that gizzerosine is a very strong histamine H2-receptor agonist. The mucosal cells isolated from the proventriculus by the present procedure had both histamine H1 and H2-receptors. Gizzerosine showed a higher affinity to the cell surface histamine receptor than histamine. These results partly explain the potent activity of gizzerosine in inducing gastric acid secretion and causing gizzard erosion and ulceration in chickens.


Expanding protected area networks and enhancing their capacities is currently one avenue at the forefront of efforts to conserve and restore global biodiversity. Climate and habitat loss resulting from land use interact synergistically to undermine the potential benefits of protected areas (PAs). Targeting conservation, adaptation and mitigation efforts requires an understanding of patterns of climate and land-use change within the current arrangement of PAs, and how these might change in the future. In this paper, we provide this understanding using predicted rates of temporal and spatial displacement of future climate and land use globally and within PAs. We show that ~ 47% of the world's PAs—10.6% of which are under restrictive management—are located in regions that will likely experience both climate stress and land-use instability by 2050. The vast majority of these PAs are also distributed across moist biomes and in high conservation value regions, and fall into less-restrictive management categories. The differential impacts of combined land use and climate velocity across protected biomes indicate that climate and land-use change may have fundamentally different ecological and management consequences at multiple scales. Taken together, our findings can inform spatially adaptive natural resource management and actions to achieve sustainable development and biodiversity goals.


Assessment can be seen as the engine that drives student course activity, online or off. It is particularly important in encouraging and shaping collaborative activity online. This paper discusses three sorts of online collaborative activity—collaborative discussion, small group collaboration, and collaborative exams. In each of these areas, it provides both theoretical grounding and practical advice for assessing, and so encouraging, collaboration in online courses.


A new millimeter-wave dual-mode ring resonator bandpass Alter is proposed. This filter has a IS % bandwidth at 58 GHz with 3.4 dB insertion loss. Input/output lines and ring resonator are directly connected to obtain tight coupling, and an open-end stub is inserted for dual-mode operation. This filter is fabricated on a GaAs wafer by using micromachining technology and can be applied for the millimeter-wave SoC.


Routing delays dominate other delays in current FPGA designs. We have proposed a novel Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) FPGA architecture called the GAPLA to deal with this problem. In the GAPLA architecture, The FPGA area is divided into locally synchronous blocks and the communications between them arc through asynchronous I/O interfaces. An automatic design flow is developed for the GAPLA architecture. Starting from behavioral description, a design is partitioned into smaller modules and fit to GAPLA synchronous blocks. The asynchronous communications between modules are then synthesized. The CAD flow is parameterized in modeling the GAPLA architecture. By manipulating the parameters, we could study different factors of the designed GAPLA architecture. Our experimental results show an average of 20% performance improvement could be achieved by the GAPLA architecture


ABSTRACT Within the growing scholarly attention, in the field of Italian Studies, devoted to contemporary travel writing, on the one hand, and to writers coming from the geo-historical 'margins' of the peninsula, on the other, Paolo Rumiz's works have sparked critical interest in recent years. In contrast with the prevailing reading of Rumiz's work as mostly concerned with Eastern Europe, in this essay I assess the centrality of the Mediterranean in the author's narrative imaginary, as it emerges in Il Ciclope (2015). Drawing on geocritical and ecocritical theories, I show how Rumiz's Mediterranean island – where the real and imaginary travel of Il Ciclope takes place – narratively reveals itself as a space that comprises land and sea at the same time; a space that, while being localised, can also address global concerns, and that, from its supposedly marginal position in the global world, can become a centre of critical thinking.


The design, simulation, fabrication and characterization of 3-D modulable micro-optical system based on poly-dimethilsiloxane (PDMS) are presented in this paper. This system consists on two uncoupled PDMS lenses with different diameter (2 and 10 microm). Under stretching conditions, the dimensions of the small lens are not modified, whereas the geometry of the bigger lens is shifted from spherical to elliptical. A combination of different technologies is used to fabricate this microsystem: silicon, polymer and soft-lithography microfabrication techniques. This combination allows obtaining structures with a simple and mass production technology. Experimental results confirm the predicted numerical simulations, showing that, when the structure is under stretching conditions, the first focus is virtually invariable whereas the second focus becomes a Sturm zone.


European integration theories help us understand the actors and mechanisms that drive European integration. Traditionally, European integration scholars used grand theories of integration to explain why integration progresses or stands still. Born out of assumptions that are prevalent in realist international relations theories, intergovernmentalism was first developed as a theory in opposition to neofunctionalism. In a nutshell, intergovernmentalism argues that states (i.e., national governments or state leaders), based on national interests, determine the outcome of integration. Intergovernmentalism was seen as a plausible explanatory perspective during the 1970s and 1980s, when the integration process seemed to have stalled. Despite the fact that it could not explain many of the gradual incremental changes or informal politics, intergovernmentalism—as did various other approaches—gained renewed popularity in the 1990s, following the launch of liberal intergovernmentalism. During that decade, the study of European integration was burgeoning, triggered in part by the aim to complete the single market and the signing of the Maastricht Treaty that launched the European Union (EU). Intergovernmentalism also often received considerable pushback from researchers who were unconvinced by its core predictions. Attempts to relaunch intergovernmentalism were made in the 2010s, in response to the observation that EU member states played a prominent role in dealing with the various crises that the EU was confronted with at that time, such as the financial crisis and the migration crisis. Although intergovernmentalism is unable —and is not suited—to explain all aspects of European integration, scholars revert to intergovernmentalism as a theoretical approach in particular when examining the role of member states in European politics. Outside the EU, in the international arena (such as the United Nations), intergovernmentalism is also observed when studying various forums in which member states come together to bargain over particular collective outcomes in an intergovernmental setting.


In this comparative study with a control group of prisoners, psychiatric morbidity was measured in two groups of sentenced prisoners, each group completing the GHQ-30 and 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Group 1 consisted of 40 segregated HIV-positive prisoners and group 2 a matched control group in the main prison who had no history of HIV seropositivity. All members of group 1 had a history of intravenous drug abuse. The mean GHQ-30 and BDI scores were significantly higher in group 1, and 90% of group 1 were psychiatric 'cases' compared with just over 42% of group 2. Levels of psychiatric morbidity present in a third group, consisting of HIV-positive prisoners who had not been segregated (prison authorities were unaware of their seropositivity) are an interesting pointer for further research.


Hybrid nanostructures containing neodymium-doped nanoparticles and infrared-emitting quantum dots constitute highly sensitive luminescent thermometers operating in the second biological window. They demonstrate that accurate subtissue fluorescence thermal sensing is possible.


A 22-year-old man presented with a subluxation of the metacarpophalangeal joint of his left thumb. Correct anatomical position was obtained with manual reposition. The hand was immobilised for 2 weeks and was thereafter actively mobilised. After 1 month he was free of pain and the function of his thumb had completely recovered.


Abstract
This study examines different types of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices across the industries in Pakistan along with their effectiveness. The main aim of this study is to research the CSR practices and growing trends of CSR in developing countries like Pakistan. Companies adopting CSR as a vital part of their company have frequently been encouraged across the industry and by the governments of their respective countries. A total of 120 individuals from public and private sector institutions participated in this research. The findings suggest that CSR is very effective across the industry. Furthermore, the practices of CSR will result in better social welfare of society. CSR practices have worked a great deal in increasing a company's goodwill and raising its brand name. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings have been discussed in this chapter. Lastly, this research concludes with details of top effective practices adopted by different companies within same industry as well as across different industries.


This paper explores the effects of adding steel fibres to high-strength reinforced concrete columns and in particular only to the cover of the columns. An experimental program was conducted where seven circular reinforced concrete columns were tested with varying fibre content – one contained no fibres, three contained fibres throughout the cross-section and three contained fibres only in the outer concrete. The other column properties were kept the same for all the seven columns. All seven columns were tested by the application of a concentric, axial compression force. It was found that although only minor improvements were noticeable for a fibre content of 1%, the addition of 1.5% and 2% steel fibres increased the load at which cover spalling took place. It was also found that the columns containing both FHSC (fibrous high strength concrete) in the outer concrete and HSC in the core exhibited higher levels of ductility than the columns containing FHSC throughout the entire cross-section.


Increasing the axle load causes track deterioration and permanent settlement of the ballast layer. In the ballasted railway tracks, due to the inevitability of unequal settlements in the ballast layer, part of the rail due to high flexural rigidity will become suspended, which causes the formation of the track with unsupported and partially supported sleepers. This situation increases rail vertical displacement and reactions on adjacent sleepers. Several models have been presented to study the effect of unsupported sleepers on dynamic responses of train-track interaction. In this paper, by applying mathematical model, unsupported and partially supported sleepers have been modeled and equations of motions for train-track interaction were written by assuming nonlinear behavior of rail and wheel contact. Following by solving the equations via numerical integration in the time domain, the effect of axle load and pad stiffness on rail vertical displacement were investigated. Results of the analysis suggested that through increasing the axle load rail displacement increased by 13 % in the unsupported sleeper and from 5 to 10 % in the partially supported sleeper. Also, by increasing the pad stiffness rail displacement decreased from 2 to 13 % in the unsupported sleeper and from 1 to 6 % in the partially supported sleeper.


are only 10 cases of primary neuroendocrine breast cancer reported. Case report: A 71years old woman consulted with a palpable irregular mass in the upperinner quadrant of the left breast. There were no lymph nodes palpable. Mammography confirmed this lesions, however on MRI a multicentric malign process was seen. A true cut biopsy showed an invasive ductal carcinoma. Staging was negative for metastatic disease. A mastectomy with axillaire clearance was performed. Definitive histopathology showed a neuroendocrine carcinoma with a diameter of 3 cm and a mitotic activity index of 3 and a second similar lesion of 1,1 cm, 4 cm from the first. All lymph nodes were negative for metastasis. Oestrogenand progesteronreceptor were positive and C-erb2 was negative. Further additional investigations (CT thorax, CT abdomen, octriotide scan and NSE in blood) were negative. The adjuvant therapy consisted of radiotherapy and tamoxifen. Discussion and Conclusion: There was a discrepancy between the histology of the true cut and mastectomy specimen. This remained after a review off all the slides. For these types of tumours additional investigations are necessary to see whether this lesions is a primary or metastatic one. Due to their rarity there is no standard treatment established PNET of the breast. The general treatment is equivalent to the guidelines of an invasive adenocarcinoma of the breast.


The Semi-arid Southwest part of the Punjab has intense agricultural and industrial activity and this part is affected by groundwater salinity problems. To identify the groundwater salinity using isotopes (δ18O) and ion chemistry 22 random samples were collected from semi-arid region of South West Punjab i.e. Bhatinda district. The hydro-chemical analysis shows that the southern and western parts have high values of EC. Some areas in the district especially in north, central and small patches in south-western and eastern parts showing high values of fluoride exceeding the permissible limit of 1.5 mgL-1 for drinking water standards. The water belongs to the category of very hard water. The Na% in groundwater indicates that from 17 groundwater water sampling locations water can be used for irrigation leaving only 5 sampling locations which is found unsuitable for irrigation. The enriched δ18O values are found in the eastern and western parts of the district, while southern and northern parts are showing highly depleted values. The enriched values found between the canals Bhatinda branch and Kotla branch may be attributed to evaporation from shallow water table areas. The enriched δ18O values of groundwater are indicator of salinity. There is an increase in EC and enrichment in isotopic composition as observed in some samples due to the evaporation effect and in some samples the increase is EC is found but the isotopic composition remains constant indicating the increase in EC due to geogenic reasons. Therefore, the integrated data of ion chemistry and isotope is useful for identifying the salinity in semi-arid region.


"Our healthcare system is broken," says Mark Frazer, a primary care physician in a small private practice in Middletown, a city of about 50 000 in southwestern Ohio. He has embraced the patient centered medical home (PCMH) as a model that is "improving healthcare delivery, patient health, and potentially has the ability to lower costs."

The transition hasn't been easy for Frazer, who is now in his second year participating in a demonstration project. He shared that experience and his thoughts on the medical home concept with Capitol Hill staffers at a briefing on 30 May, which was organized by the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform.1

The PCMH, coupled with a move away from fee for service reimbursement, are cornerstones of healthcare reform in the US.

Kaiser Permanente, the Geisinger Health System, and other integrated healthcare systems have embodied this approach for decades. They score well in terms of patient health outcomes and satisfaction, while their costs are at or below those of other providers in the same market.

But much of healthcare remains fragmented. Those stakeholders have been scurrying to integrate delivery of care in anticipation of changes in reimbursement by government and private health insurers.

The chief method has been through acquisition. Consolidation among hospitals has been under way for some time and in the past few years that wave has expanded to include purchase of medical specialty and primary care practices. Voluntary coordination of care between independent providers and hospitals has been attempted less frequently.

The principles of a PCMH are clear: "delivering team-based care in a coordinated way that is connected with the community," is how Amy Gibson, who leads the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (www.pcpcc.org), describes it. That can take a variety of forms, as can the journey from the current fragmentation to a more …


In this paper, tribological tests for Ti3SiC2 sliding against low carbon steel were made on a block-on-disc type friction tester, with the normal pressures from 0.1 to 0.8 MPa and the sliding speed of 30 to 50 m/s. The surface state was observed and analyzed by SEM and XRD. A definite tribo-glazing layer was found over the worn surface of the Ti3SiC2 block, which seems to be primary reason for Ti3SiC2 to have comparatively lower friction coefficient and wear rate, because the tribo-glazing layer would be fusible under high frictional temperature. The tribo-glazing layer was the results of tribo-chemical oxidation reaction and the cause forming it could be the high frictional temperature and the mechanical catabolism in the surface of Ti3SiC2 during sliding friction. Due to the tribo-oxidation reaction is un-reversible and self-adaptive, the tribo-glazing layer in area and thickness are function of normal pressures and sliding speed.


The study was undertaken to investigate the medical waste categories and its management practices in five different hospitals as representative health care institutions in Port Harcourt city, Nigeria. Sampling was conducted by grouping the representative hospitals into large, medium and small categories based on bed space, average bed occupancy rate, ward units, staff strength and patients. Data were obtained by administering questionnaire to hospital staff. Results obtained showed that the average waste types generated in the three categories of hospitals for both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes were in the order of 17.66, 7.89 and 2.36 kg/day for large, medium and small hospitals respectively. The percentage waste generation for the large hospitals show that 41% of the waste type are hazardous, 33% are non hazardous while in the medium size hospitals, 35% of the waste generated are hazardous and non hazardous had 35% and the small scale hospitals had combined waste types as the dominant waste type with 51% followed by non hazardous with 31% and hazardous had the least with 18% of waste types. Solid waste disposal method adopted by the health institutions showed that open dumpsites are most preferred to other disposal methods while liquid wastes are mostly disposed of by flushing through drains/sinks. However, disposal of solid waste by incineration is recommended except for the environmental problems which have a tendency to pollute the sub-soil and groundwater due to their leaching as well as the health risks it pose to the general public.


The image analysis of 49 cases of salivary tumors showed that the cellular DNA content of most tumors (42/49) was diploidy and near diploidy. The heteroploidy rate was only 14.29% (7/49), which may be related to such clinical behaviors of salivary tumors as slow growth, relative low invasivity and metastatic ability. Among these morphologic parameters, nuclear perim and form PE were closely correlated with the malignancy of salivary tumors, the former was positive and the latter was negative. The insignificant nuclear heteromorphous appearance of adenoid cystic carcinoma and its relatively high cellular DNA content may be related to strong invasivity and metastatic ability. In conclusion, these parameters of DNA content and nuclear morphology supplied by image analysis are of value in the diagnosis of salivary tumors.


Antiarrhythmic effects of a new beta 1 selective adrenoceptor blocker, betaxolol, were examined in comparison with those of atenolol using two canine ventricular arrhythmia models (adrenaline arrhythmia and digitalis arrhythmia). Both betaxolol and atenolol suppressed adrenaline arrhythmia, and the minimum effective plasma concentration of betaxolol for this arrhythmia model was determined to be less than 10 ng/ml. However, on digitalis arrhythmia, both beta blockers were ineffective, even though the high doses used in these experiments, 3 mg/kg for betaxolol and 5 mg/kg for atenolol, showed significant hypotensive effects. The present results suggest that betaxolol and atenolol may be expected to be clinically effective on arrhythmias related to increased sympathetic tone.


Today I am going to talk about some of the key risks around the outlook for the Australian economy. I will draw on the material published last week in the August Statement on Monetary Policy. On the global side, I will discuss some of the implications of the trade and technology disputes between the US and China. On the domestic side, the key risk for some time has been the outlook for consumption. I will highlight some of the main uncertainties that are likely to affect that outlook. Beyond the near-term risks for the economy, climate poses a material risk for the economy and financial markets over a longer horizon. Finally, given the audience, I will remind you of an actuality, not a risk, that you need to be prepared for; namely the cessation of LIBOR, the key interest rate benchmark in financial markets.


In recent decades, the New Institutional Economics has brought about the "return of institutions" to the economic mainstream, and institutional theory and analysis have been developed from Ronald Coase's notion of transaction costs and Douglass North's view on institutions. The Nobel Prize award in Economics to Oliver Williamson and Elinor Ostrom in 2009 has pointed out the relevance of the new institutional approach. Natural Resource Economics has included the institutional determinants of the management of natural resources into its research agenda. In this sense, the advances of the New Institutional Economics allows the development of institutional analysis in the field of the Economics of Natural Resources, such as Elinor Ostrom's work has shown. This paper presents an integral and updated perspective of the foundations of the New Institutional Economics that constitute a set of theoretical inputs for the analysis of institutions and governance in the management of natural resources.


Abnormal longitudinal magnetoresistance (LMR) in self-doped silver telluride films at low temperature is investigated. In the Ag 2.1 Te films, we observe the large negative LMR and the multipeaks in magnetic resistivity ρand LMR that strongly depend on doping concentration and temperature. The abnormal MR behavior, which might result from the complex structure and texture of the films, is explained by means of Toyozawa model.


Since their serendipitous discovery, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have garnered a great deal of attention from both observers and theorists. A new class of radio telescopes with wide fields of view have enabled a rapid accumulation of FRB observations, confirming that FRBs originate from cosmological distances. The high occurrence rate of FRBs and the development of new instruments to observe them create opportunities for FRBs to be utilized for a host of astrophysical and cosmological studies. We focus on the rare, and as yet undetected, subset of FRBs that undergo repeated bursts and are strongly gravitationally lensed by intervening structure. An extremely precise timing of burst arrival times is possible for strongly lensed repeating FRBs, and we show how this timing precision enables the search for long wavelength gravitational waves, including those sourced by supermassive black hole binary systems. The timing of burst arrival for strongly lensed repeating FRBs is sensitive to gravitational wave sources near the FRB host galaxy, which may lie at cosmological distances and would therefore be extremely challenging to detect by other means. Timing of strongly lensed FRBs can also be combined with pulsar timing array data to search for correlated time delays characteristic of gravitational waves passing through the Earth.


On the basis of the analyzing existing grid resource discovery mechanism and combining the advantages of P2P resource discovery algorithm, the grid IP multicast (GIM) model and GIM resource discovery algorithm is put forwarded GIM model improves the IP multicast resource discovery mechanism through adding the resource information in IP multicast process, as the use of IP multicast mechanism, nodes linked only to find the resources requested, so it can reduce the consumption of network bandwidth effectively. the GIM model is qualitative analyzed from systempsilas cost, dynamic, flexibility and resource discovery efficiency, and so on, and the results show that this model is adapt to grid resource characteristic, can obtain higher efficiency of resource discovery with smaller system cost. Finally the simulation experiment of GIM resource discovery algorithm is carried out and the results verify the availability of the GIM model.


This thesis examines the relation between the changing demographic composition of the population and its economic, political and international consequences from an economic-theoretical point of view. The ample current interest in this subject needs little comment. In the OECD-countries, virtually no political or economic debate is safeguarded from ageing anxiety. The study consists of three parts. Part I, Beliefs and Fertility, presents some explanations for the decline in fertility in the second half of the twentieth century. Moreover, we will demonstrate that cranking up he birth rates offers a possibility to reform the existing public pension plans. Part II, Political Economy, demonstrates that a reform of the current public pension system may be politically feasible. Furthermore, we provide an alternative explanation for the generosity of the existing old-age social-security arrangements and the declining labour-force participation of elderly workers from a public-choice perspective. Finally, we will demonstrate that economic growth may not resolve the problems of population ageing. Part III, International Aspects, analyses the international spillovers of population ageing. In attempting to answer the question whether immigration provides a solution to the ageing problem, we will focus on the redistributive impact of migration. Moreover, we will demonstrate that migrants may be reluctant to migrate into regions with an ageing population.


This study explores accurate conceptualization of the adaptation construct in families of children with developmental delay aged 3 to 8 years. Parents' self-reported measures of adaptation and observed dyadic relationship variables were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis and longitudinal growth modeling were used to evaluate the nature of adaptational processes. Results indicate that adaptational processes vary across adaptation index, child developmental level, and parent gender. Adaptation indices did not load onto a single construct at any time point. Several adaptational processes remained stable across time, although others showed linear or quadratic change. The findings of the current study indicate that it is time for a change in how adaptation is conceived for families of children with developmental delay.


Surface X-ray scattering (SXS) technique is ideal to determine the three-dimensional structure at the solid / liquid interfaces with a high spatial resolution. When elements with an atomic number next to each other exist at the interface, however, the interfacial structure cannot be precisely determined from the normal SXS meausrements, because the values of the atomic scattering parameters of each element are too near. Using the anomalous scattering effect, the resonance SXS (RSXS) method was proposed and carried out under ultra high vacuum (UHV). We applied this RSXS method to the solid / liquid interface, i. e., electrochemically deposited Pt layer on Au(111) surface in the electrolyte solution, and demonstrated that the anomalous scattering parameter effect is utilized at the solid / liquid interfaces.


This paper describes the necessary functions and the basic structure of a tele-micro-surgery system. In particular, the system is comprised of a vision system which is focused at the end of a surgical tool and a slave manipulator, the rotational axes of which intersect at the same focal point. These mechanisms realize high positionability that is independent of the approach angle from the microscope and the manipulator to the small object that is being operated on. The system also incorporates the transformation of multi-axis force information to sounds that can be easily interpreted by the operator to indicate the contact state between the tool and the object. Furthermore, an inter-world tele-micro-handling experiment has been executed successfully from a remote site using the Internet and two artificial satellites.


The CSI Effect posits that exposure to television programs that portray forensic science (e.g., CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) can change the way jurors evaluate forensic evidence. The most commonly researched hypothesis under the CSI Effect suggests that shows like CSI depict an unrealistically high standard of forensic science and thus unreasonably inflate the expectations of jurors. Jurors are thus more likely to vote to acquit, and prosecutors face higher burden of proof. We review (1) the theory behind the CSI Effect, (2) the perception of the effect among legal actors, (3) the academic treatment of the effect, and (4) how courts have dealt with the effect. We demonstrate that while legal actors do see the CSI Effect as a serious issue, there is virtually no empirical evidence suggesting it is a real phenomenon. Moreover, many of the remedies employed by courts may do no more than introduce bias into juror decision making or even trigger the CSI Effect when it would not normally occur (i.e., the self-fulfilling prophesy). We end with suggestions for the proper treatment of the CSI Effect in courts, and directions for future scholarly work.


3D shape reconstruction from 2D images is an inverse problem, and is therefore mathematically ill-posed. In most of the previous research no quantitative measures of quality of 3D reconstruction have been used. Instead visual and indirect measures such as recognition results are used as the measure of quality of 3D reconstruction. This paper presents an analysis by synthesis method for solving 3D face reconstruction problems using anatomical landmarks and intensity from 2D frontal face images. For evaluating the quality of 3D shape reconstruction two objective measures 3D shape error and 2D shape error are proposed. In order to improve the quality of 3D shape reconstruction a number of steps are proposed. Firstly, the 3D shape model is constructed by establishing a dense correspondence using rigid and non rigid surface registration. Secondly shape estimation is made robust by incorporating simulated annealing into the multidimensional amoeba optimization used for recovering shape parameters.


The prevalence of intermittent claudication (IC) in middle-aged men (45-69 years old) and metabolic risk factors for this disease was studied in a Swedish community. All 15 253 middle-aged male residents in Linkoping community, were screened for symptoms of IC using a postal questionnaire, which included detailed questions about smoking habits and presence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus.The overall response rate was 86.6% (n=l3 209). The prevalence of walking-related pain was 9.3% (n=l232), and 4.2%(n=552) had symptoms consistent with peripheral atherosclerotic disease (PAD). All men with leg symptoms according to the classical Rose criteria for IC (1.2%, n=156), and a sample of subjects (0.6%, n=84) with symptoms indicating PAD, but not fully complying with the Rose c.riteria, were invited for further examination.Subjects with IC were compared with randomly selected sex- and age-matched controls from the same population. One control group was matched for smoking habits (n=157), and one control group consisted of never-smokers (n=143). Both claudicants and healthy controls underwent objective examination of the peripheral circulation with segmental blood pressure measurements and a short treadmill exercise test.IC could objectively be verified in 1.7% (n=219) of all middle-aged men. The prevalence of IC was highly age-dependent and objectively verified IC increased from 0.2% in males 45-49 years old to 3.4% in those 65-69 years old. The prevalence of Rose IC was 0.5% for 45-49 year-old males and 2.0% for 65-69 year-old males. Thus the Rose criteria underestimated the prevalence ofiC in the older age group and overestimated it in the youngest age group. The estimated true average prevalence ofiC was at least 2.8%.More than half (57%) of all claudicants had ischaemic heart disease, and 21% had experienced a TIA or stroke.The metabolic studies investigated the role of dyslipidaemia and various metabolic abnormalities as risk factors for IC. Claudicants had multiple minor and moderate lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities, the strongest association being with elevated plasma levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol and low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, after multivariate adjustment for other major risk factors, i.e. hypertension, diabetes mellitus and smoking, and other factors that influence lipid levels. Ve1y-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) triglycerides had a high univariate association, but did not contribute to risk for IC after multivariate adjustment for the above factors.Plasma lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] showed a strong association with risk for IC, which in part could be explained by a significant overrepresentation of small apo(a) isoforms, genetically associated with higher Lp(a) concentrations.Plasma a- and ~-carotene, Iycopene and retinol, but not a- or y-tocophcrol (vitamin E), showed a multivariate significant association with risk for IC in men. However, when dietary data had been accounted for, only the significance of plasma retinol remained. Lower plasma levels of lipid-soluble antioxidants after adjustment for lipid concentrations may be secondary to the atherosclerotic disease. Moderately elevated levels of plasma homocyst(e)ine, a su\fbydryl-containing amino acid with a known atherogenic potential, were significantly associated with risk of IC after adjustment for other risk factors in multivariate analyses.In conclusion, the risk for IC amongst middle-aged males was significantly associated with presence of both major traditional risk factors such as smoking (96%), hypertension (49%), diabetes mellitus (18%) and additional metabol~c risk factors such as dyslipidaemia, hypcrhomocyst(e)inaemia and elevated Lp(a) levels. Plasma levels of tocophero!s (vitamin E) were not associated with risk for IC. Carotenoids do not seem to contribute, whereas the role of plasma retinol remains unclear.


Summary form only given as follows. Development of fuel cell power plants for utility applications has been the major thrust of this technology over the years. Phosphoric acid fuel cell power plants have been the first to be placed in field demonstrations and to be offered as commercial products. Molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cell power plants have been under development and are approaching the field demonstration phase. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, until now, have not been considered for these utility applications. The main objection was that this technology was developed for aerospace use and was considered to be too costly for utilities. In addition, PEM fuel cells do not provide high grade heat that could be used for cogeneration. However, in the early 1980s, PEM fuel cell technology was selected as the primary fuel cell candidate for transportation applications. Efforts under transportation programs were directed toward cost reduction and improved performance. Advances achieved in these programs prompted Ballard Power Systems to reevaluate the application of PEM fuel cells for utility power plants. This evaluation indicated that PEM power plants could be competitive with phosphoric acid systems in multikilowatt power plants. The PEM power plants would also be significantly smaller and lighter. (Recent reports on phosphoric acid power plant test and evaluation in Europe and Japan have stated that a smaller and lighter power plant in the multikilowatt range is highly desirable and is a development goal.) Therefore, in 1991, Ballard began the first phase of a program to develop a natural gas fuelled PEM fuel cell stationary system and its constituent components. This paper will discuss the goals and status of this program.<<ETX>>


This paper describes mass production system of micro-tubes for microbial culture in an open environment. Microbes are used in many fields, such as food, medicine, environmental and energy. We proposed a microbe culture system using hydrogel micro-tubes, which can protect the target microbes inside from competitive microbes outside of the tubes while allow oxygen and nutrition to diffuse through. The hydrogel micro-tubes can be produced by a microfluidic device, which can precisely control the flow and therefore, the tube geometry. For practical applications of the micro-tube-based microbial culture, one of the biggest challenges is the scale-up of the micro-tube-based culture system, or mass production of the tubes. We developed a fluidic system that can produce multiple micro-tubes in parallel. We characterized the mass-produced micro channels and verified the effectiveness of the system.


The paper is to examine determines of imported apples consumer behaviors, and to interpretate comparative advantages between domestic and imported apples in China. It employs Structural Equation Model to estimate the effects of consumer perception on consumer behaviors, including imported apple price perception, attributes perception, advertising perception, quality perception and nutrition perception, using 400 survey data of imported apple consumers in China. The results indicate that consumer price perception plays negative roles on consumer behaviors, whereas consumer perception on attributes and quality, and consumer purchase evaluation, positively affect consumer behaviors.


The propagation and coupling characteristics of the inset dielectric guide coupler are theoretically considered in this paper. Rigorous solutions for the dispersion relation and the coupling coefficient are presented in a rapidly convergent series. Numerical computations illustrate the behaviors of dispersion, coupling, and field distribution in terms of frequency and coupler geometry.


The nearshore wave characteristics and variations in littoral drift (longshore sediment transport; LST) are estimated based on different approaches for four years along the Vengurla coast, with comparable wind-sea and swell energy assessed. The waverider buoy-measured data at 15 m water depth is utilized as the input wave parameters along with the reanalysis model data, and the numerical wave model Delft-3D is used for estimating the nearshore wave parameters. The relative contribution of wind-seas and swells on LST rates are specifically examined. The clear prevalence of west-southwest waves implies the prevalence of south to north longshore sediment transport with net transport varying from 0.19–0.37 × 105 m3/yr. LST is strongly dependent on the breaker angle and a small change in the wave direction substantially alters the LST, and hence reanalysis/model data with coarse resolutions produce large errors (~38%) in the LST estimate. The annual gross LST rate based on integral wave parameters is only 58% considering the wind-seas and swells separately, since the wind-sea energy is comparable to swell energy, and the direction of these two systems differs significantly.


Abstract The water level in a sump of a 6.1 m diameter floating lysimeter tank is measured by a linear-variable differential transformer. The transducer output representing weight changes of the floating tank is recorded continuously on a strip-chart recorder. An automatic-range switching device enables the system to have a sensitivity of 0.025 mm of water level through a range of 9.15 cm. Floating lysimeter evapotranspiration totals measured by this system agree well with the weight records of a scale-type weighing lysimeter of dimensions operating close by.


Purpose Although transferrin is the principal source of iron in mammalian cells, recently, ferritin was proposed as a new iron transporter protein. Serum ferritin is composed mostly, but not exclusively, of L-ferritin, and in the presence of even a single H-ferritin chain, up to 4500 atoms of iron can be incorporated into one ferritin molecule. As each transferrin molecule only binds to two iron atoms, serum ferritin can be regarded as a potential deliverer of a considerable large amount of iron to tissues. Iron implication in oxidative damage has become clear, and it is well known that iron accumulation is associated in the retina with several retinopathies.

Methods Scara5 and L-ferritin expression in the retina were studied by means of laser confocal microscopy, rt-PCR and Western Blotting in ICR adult mice and in a murine model of retinopathy. Horse spleen ferritin was intravenously injected in healthy ICR adult mice and alteration in iron handling proteins expression was analyzed.

Results Scara5 receptors, that specifically bind to L-ferritin, were found in retinal endothelial and perivascular cells. Intravenous injected ferritin crossed the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), through Scara5 receptor binding, and accumulated in these cells, suggesting that serum ferritin, mostly composed by L-ferritin, can be transported across the BRB into the retinal parenchyma. During retinopathy, alterations in L-ferritin levels and Scara5 expression were evaluated.

Conclusion Serum ferritin uptake could represent a new pathway of iron delivery to the retina and points out perivascular cells as a key element in retinal iron traffic and during retinal iron accumulation associated with some retinopathies.


This paper focuses on the chains of relations and interactions that develop through the process of permit allocation to Palestinian workers employed inside Israel since the beginning of the 1990s. It has two main objectives. First, I intend to identify the multiple actors that, within and outside of the State of Israel, are directly taking part into the allocation of permits to Palestinian workers. This will allow me to better stress the heterogeneity of this control regime as well as its informal dimensions. Second, I wish to stress how the constitution of these formal and informal networks deeply affects the ways Palestinians relate to space and the location of borders in Israel-Palestine. I contend that the emergence of formal and informal networks around the allocation of movement permits fosters the duplicating of borders from the actual Israeli and Palestinians territories to reticular spaces.


Lots of work has been conducted to explore and explain inter-organizational relations between supply chain partners. However, we have noticed that there is no accurate agreement between authors. Therefore, to better understand this disparity, the authors have studied supply chain inter-organizational relationship dynamics in different industries to bring out an analytical framework that allows a better understanding of such an issue. Further, the framework is subjected to expert's opinion and ranked using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach. These case studies instruct professionals and researchers so that they bring up their level of abstraction that remains appropriate to catch this dynamic in order to guide decision-making and future research and studies.


Peanut hull residues were considered for the manufacturing of particleboards. Various concentrations of two types of adhesive—polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and urea-formaldehyde (UF)—were separately combined with four types of peanut hull particles (fine, mixed, coarse particles, and peanut hull powder) to manufacture particleboards with a certain target density. The confidence level of the effect of the selected production parameters on the physical and mechanical properties of the panels was evaluated. The results showed that increasing the adhesive mass percentage significantly improved the dimensional stability of the boards. A better mechanical performance was achieved for the MDI-bonded boards compared with the UF-bonded boards. Superior bonding between the MDI adhesive and the peanut hulls with different particle geometries was also observed; the peanut hull powder and coarse particles were unsuitable for the manufacturing of panels, due to the risk of an internal blowout. The water resistance of the panels was poor, whereas the mechanical strength of the peanut hull particleboard met the class M-1 requirement of the ANSI A208.1 (2009) standard for wood particleboard.


This study was conducted with the purpose to determine the effectiveness of video assisted teaching programme regarding postnatal exercises among postnatal mothers at selected hospital. This study was based on quantitative research approach. The method used for this study was true experimental and pre test post test control group only research design. Depending on the objectives & hypothesis the data were analyzed by using various statistical tests. A structured knowledge questionnaire was prepared to assess the knowledge score and checklist was prepared to assess the practice level. The pre test was taken. Then video assisted teaching programme was administered to all subjects. The post test was taken after structured knowledge questionnaire. The findings are discussed on the basis of demographic characteristics and objectives. The study concluded that the video assisted teaching programme on postnatal exercises was effective on the postnatal mothers. Hence it proves that, the significance post test knowledge score was higher as compared to the pre test knowledge score. The significance post test practice level was higher as compared to the pre test practice level.


Carbon nanotube transistor (CNT) is promising to be the technology of choice for nanoscale integration. In this work, we develop the first compact model of CNT, with the objective to explore the optimal process and design space for robust low-power applications. Based on the concept of the surface potential, the new model accurately predicts the characteristics of a CNT device under various process and design conditions, such as diameter, chirality, gate dielectrics, and bias voltages. With the physical modeling of the contact, this model covers both the Schottky-barrier CNT (SB-CNT) and MOS-type CNT. The proposed model does not require any iteration and thus, significantly enhances the simulation efficiency to support large-scale design research. Using this model, we benchmark the performance of a FO4 inverter with CNT and 22nm CMOS technology. The following key insights are extracted: (1) even with the SB-CNT and realistic layout parasitics, the circuit speed can be more than 10X that of 22nm CMOS; (2) The diameter range of 1-1.5nm exhibits the maximum tolerance to contact materials and process variations; (3) a CNT circuit allows better scaling of the supply voltage (Vdd) for power reduction. For a fixed energy consumption and Vdd, the CNT speed is 4X that of 22nm CMOS. Overall, the new model enables efficient design research with CNT, revealing tremendous opportunities for both high-speed and low-power applications.


In The Dew Breaker (2004), Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat continues her engagement with the troubled history of her homeland, investigating how this history affects the Haitian people both in Haiti and in diaspora. This short story cycle focuses on the aftermath of the brutal reign of dictator Frangois "Papa Doe" Duvalier, which lasted from 1957 to 1971. The fragmented form of the text mirrors the fragmented and scarred Haitian people, whose nation has been fraught with political instability and violence nearly since its founding in 1804. However, Danticat writes beyond Haiti's historical victimization to model alternative ways of responding to the nation's troubled past. "The Book of the Dead," the opening story of this work, offers a metaphor for the crisis in Haiti's historical representation. A father, exiled from Haiti, uses a traditional proverb to confess to his American-born daughter, Ka, that he was not a victim of Duvalier's state-sponsored violence, but was a perpetrator, a Tonton Macoute (1): "We have a proverb.... One day for the hunter, one day for the prey. Ka, your father was the hunter, he was not the prey" (21). This proverb articulates a dichotomy between those with the power to inflict harm and those vulnerable to receive it. The father indicates with remorse that he once aligned himself with the predatory Duvalier regime in opposition to his people. Nevertheless, underlying this proverb is the possibility that one day the oppressed may have the upper hand. (2) Although the father may see that day of reversal as a day of reprisal for his past actions, this interpretation of the proverb suggests a fluidity in the dichotomy, causing Ka to wonder if her father's "past offered more choices than being either hunter or prey" (24). While the full text of The Dew Breaker presents the enduring impact of one man's violent career on the lives of his victims, three stories focused on the Bienaime family--the former Macoute, his wife Anne, and his daughter Ka--explore how the reformed torturer and those closest to him work through and develop alternative means of addressing their traumatic history. "The Book of the Dead" opens in the present moment of the larger text on the day of Ka's father's confession. The fourth story, "The Book of Miracles," depicts the family in the recent past and explores the challenges and cost of keeping the father's secrets. The text ends with the eponymous story "The Dew Breaker," which gathers the fragments of Ka's parents' past to create a textual body that coheres and re-members the family's traumatic history from their origins in Haiti to the day of the father's confession. The story cycle ends where it begins, but between these terminal points, it reveals how Bienaime and his wife create twin narratives to hide their experiences from their daughter. It further demonstrates how crucial their willingness to narrate and bear witness to their traumatic experiences is to healing the wounds of the past and making meaningful connections to their daughter. When Ka, a child of postmemory who suffers the trauma of being raised by traumatized parents, finally hears her father's confession about his history in Haiti, her life-long quest to understand and represent her father's tortured past is renewed and possibly redirected. The text ends with a representation of that troubled past that goes beyond the dichotomy between hunter and prey to reveal a third option, a model of righteous resistance to oppression that reimagines Haiti's history of victimization. Ka's relationship to her parents' traumas is best understood as postmemory, a concept Marianne Hirsch conceived to explain the experience of people like herself: those raised by Holocaust survivors whose lives have not been touched literally by that trauma but have nevertheless been dominated by it due to their intimate connection to parents who pass residual traumas on to their children through verbal and nonverbal means. …


The immunological responses to commercially available polyvalent vaccines in dogs were examined. There was a tendency in decreased lymphocyte counts on day 7 in the puppy and adult dogs. There was a significant increase in the blastogenesis of lymphocytes on day 7 and 21 in puppies, whereas no significant changes were seen in the adult dogs. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and canine parvo-virus (CPV) vaccine monitored 0, 3, 8 weeks after vaccination produced strong reactions, in particular those to CPV vaccine rose significantly after vaccination and maintained the higher responses for at least 2 months. Therefore, it is considered that vaccination is immunomodulative rather than immunosuppressive and that DTH responses to PHA and CPV vaccine are helpful to monitor non-specific and specific immune functions in vivo.


BACKGROUND
An important controversy on the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) after an isolated episode of optic neuritis (ON) exists. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the method of election in order to detect demyelinated lesions in MS. The current study was designed to determine the prevalence of brain abnormalities on MRI and to asses the further development of MS after an isolated idiopathic ON in our population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
From 1991 to 1995, 60 patients with decrease of visual acuity were studied, 35 (28 women, half age 31 +/- 10 years) completed criteria of idiopathic ON. A brain MRI was performed in all patients after the diagnosis of idiopathic ON and they subsequently were followed in the outpatient clinic from our center for a mean time of 29 +/- 16 months. 24 out of the 35 patients were treated with corticosteroids in different ways.

RESULTS
It has been found 43% of the patients with idiopathic ON to have brain lesions by MRI. During the follow-up 14% of the patients developed a clinically definite MS; all of them had a pathological brain MRI at the basal evaluation (p = 0.009). None of the patients that were treated with high-dose of intravenously corticosteroids developed MS.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of silent cerebral lesions in the MRI after an idiopathic ON is elevated in our population although further development of MS is lower possibly due to the short follow-up carried out. The presence of lesions in the MRI confers a high risk for developing MS after an idiopathic ON.


Inclusion is a social process in school aims to change attitudes and to build a position to cover everyone without distinction. Thus, the objective was to analyze the representations of deaf students on their inclusion in physical education classes. It is qualitative, descriptive and analytical, attended eight deaf students from 2 public schools in a city in the countryside of Bahia. For data production, it was used a semi -structured interview, through the aid of an interpreter of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), at the same time, it was translated by the interpreter and transcribed by the researchers. Data analysis used the technique of categorical content analysis. The inclusion of deaf people in physical education classes still failed to materialize and in fact, even having found some teachers with pedagogical actions that proved to be inclusive, yet they still leave many gaps, regarding satisfactory learning of students because they simply just integrate deaf students in the classroom. It is necessary that the school and the teacher ensure that the curriculum is accessible to them, so that they can contribute to the construction of citizenship, motor development, cognitive and social-emotional student.