Yelena Vishlenkova, Ph.D. in History, Professor in the Subdepartment of Social History, Faculty of History, National Research University - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Kira Ilyina, Ph.D. in History, junior researcher at Poletayev Institute for Theoretical and Historical Studies in the Humanities, National Research University - Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Using archival and legislative sources, the authors reconstruct template documents, rate of document flow and features of document management in Russian universities of the first half of the 19th century. Document management is regarded as an administrative practice allowing the Ministry to inculcate bureaucratic values and an ethos of serving the government in professor, making them renounce their administrative autonomy.Being engaged in bureaucratic re-arrangement of reality, Russian professors very soon embarked on paperwork, which boosted the document flow in universities. The large scale of this behavior model indicates that a new type of university culture was born. Bureaucratic management of universities in the Russian Empire was different from that in Western countries in that it aimed to make the document flow uniform with other public institutions and to develop uniform rules and formal language. As a result, professors gradually lost the opportunity to express their own opinions and to take initiative in communicating with the government. The authors emphasize the subordinate nature of activities performed by professors to satisfy relevant governmental demands, which suggested that professors assisted in opening new schools, controlled existing ones, eradicated prejudice, obtained primary data on imperial regions and resources (topographic, meteorological, ethnographic, and economic data), and disseminated Western scientific ideas and knowledge in regional culture. An analysis of document management in Russian universities of the first half of the 19th century has shown that they were part of the administrative structure at that time, which diminished their status significantly, as compared to Western universities.


Genome-wide association studies in Asian population for the first time identified common variants in the KCNQ1 gene to be associated with type 2 diabetes in Japanese populations, recently. This result has been replied in some other East Asian population but, still now, there is no any report about this subject in Iranian population. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of KCNQ1 variants in type 2 diabetes in East Azerbaijan population, northwest of Iran. A total of 75 T2D and 90 normal East Azerbaijan subjects were entered the study. A demographic date was recorded for all subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood, and the KCNQ1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2237892 were genotyped with PCR-RFLP technique. The results of the study indicated an increased level of FBS and HbA1C among T2D cases ( P <0/0001), as expected. Screening for KCNQ1 rs237892 among T2D case group revealed that the genotype frequencies of CC, CT and TT were 87.0% (67/77), 10.4% (8/77) and 2.6% (2/77), respectively. The allelic frequencies of C and T in case subjects were 92.21% (142/154) and 7.79% (12/154), respectively. Analysis of the normal control subjects showed the genotype frequencies of CC, CT and TT were 94.4% (85/90), 3.3% (3/90) 2/2% (2/90), respectively. The allelic frequencies of C and T among controls were 96.11% (173/180) and 3.89% (7/180), respectively. In conclusion, the results of our study indicated that there are no any significant differences in frequency of KCNQ1 rs237892 alleles between T2D and control subjects.


This article summarizes and systematizes key trends in the development of non-state pension funds (NPFs) in the exercise of the functions of trust management of pension savings of citizens for the period from 2005 to 2017. The participation of non-state pension funds in the compulsory pension insurance system has led to their emergence as the largest insurer, so starting from 2016, the NPF, as a large institutional investor, began to concentrate more than half of all pension savings funds transferred to management. A quantitative analysis of the institutional structure of the Russian system of trust management of the pension system means allows determining the main directions of its transformation; there is a clear tendency to a reduction: the total number of NPFs operating in the OPS system. The article defines the strategy of investing APFs in various classes of assets during the study period, it has been revealed that of the total amount of invested pension savings in corporate securities, 2/3 of them fall on NPF investments. Over the last analyzed period, there has been a sharp increase in the investment of pension savings of NPFs in government securities, which is largely due to the tightening of regulatory requirements for the risk level of portfolio investment. Important areas of research are evaluating the effectiveness of the functioning of APFs in the system of compulsory pension insurance from the position of comparing the accumulated return on the NPF portfolio with accumulated inflation for the period analyzed, and also according to the criterion of actually accumulated investment income with indexed income on inflation.


Timing-based side-channel attacks are a particularly tricky class of attacks to deal with because the very thing you're often striving for can give you away. There are always more creative new instances of attacks to be found, so you need a principled way of thinking about defenses that address the class, not just a particular instantiation. That's what Ge et al. give us in "Time Protection, the Missing OS Abstraction." Just as operating systems prevent spatial inference through memory protection, so future operating systems will need to prevent temporal inference through time protection. It's going to be a long road to get there. The second paper chosen for this edition comes from NDSS'19 (Network and Distributed System Security Symposium) and studies the physiological and social implications of the ever-improving abilities of voice-imitation software. It seems people may be especially vulnerable to being fooled by fake voices. "The crux of voice (in)security: a brain study of speaker legitimacy detection," by Neupane et al., is a fascinating study with implications far beyond just the technology.


Patient-prosthesis mismatch is usually accepted to be associated with poor outcomes in patients with aortic valve replacement (AVR). This study aims to evaluate prevalence, sensitivity and specificity of mismatch measured with in vivo and in vitro methods, look for a relationship between mismatch and obesity, and investigate the effect of mismatch on left ventricle mass index (LVMI) regression and mortality. A total of 72 consecutive patients who underwent mechanical AVR between December 2011 and May 2013, were prospectively evaluated. EOA was measured with echocardiography in all patients on the 6th postoperative month and an Indexed Effective Orifice Area (EOA) ≤0.85cm2/m2 was accepted as mismatch with the in vivo measurement method. For the in vitro measurement method, charts provided by the valve manufacturers were used for EOA prediction. LVMI was also evaluated on the 6th and 12th postoperative months. Postoperative follow-up is 100% complete with 68.5±14.4 months. In vivo and in vitro mismatch prevalences were 43.5% and 25.0% with slight concordance (kappa=0.172). Sensitivity of in vitro measurements was poor (35.7%), but specificity was 80.5%. LVMI regressions were significant with both mismatch methods (p0.05 in both). In vitro EOA measurements have a poor sensitivity to predict mismatch preoperatively. Left ventricular mass regressions were significant in all groups with no difference in early and late mortality.


Snoring is seldom discussed outside of the household. Unfortunately, snoring can be a sign of a life-threatening disease called obstructive sleep apnea, or, OSA. This article helps dentists detect OSA early by paying attention to subtle findings during routine oral exams, asking pertinent questions and, finally, making a referral to specialists who are trained and experienced in treating these cases. The article also delineates a range of treatment modalities, including laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty and its modification.


Near field ( ˜ 1 m) electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensing, from 10's of Hz up to 100's of kHz, has been successful in detecting subsurface metallic targets. However, the discrimination of buried unexploded ordinance (UXO) from innocuous objects still remains a challenging problem. The problem b more complicated in real field survey, when data are highly contaminated with noise and clutter. In EMI data the noise and clutter are generated from a sensor, surrounding media, sensor operation (motion and rotation) etc. Understanding and taking into account noises associated with the sensor motion and rotation are particularly important for identification and discrimination of actual UXO. To address these critical issues and to enhance of UXO identification, this paper investigates EMI scattering from a highly permeable and conducting objects subject to the state of the art of sensors using user friendly and freely available electromagnetic induction code based on the method of auxiliary sources [1]. At the end several numerical results are shown and analyzed to demonstrate the sensors rotation and shifting effects on EMI signals.


Purpose: To evaluate the demographic, epidemiological and etiological features of cases with fungal keratitis seen at a tertiary eye care center in Southern Anatolia.Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of all culture-proven fungal keratitis seen from May 2017 to May 2019 was evaluated. The demographic characteristics of the patients, epidemiological factors and etiological factors of the cases were noted.Results: The mean age of 15 cases with fungal keratitis was 46±7 years (ranging 19-77 years) with a male-to- female ratio of 4:1. The majority of the occupation of the cases were mostly agricultural workers or farmers (73%). The etiology was predominantly trauma mostly with an enviroment origin (93.3%). Fungal growth was detected in 15 eyes (38.5%) in a total of 39 microbial positive corneal cultures. Filamentous fungi were responsible for all cases, including Fusarium sp. in 8 eyes (53.3%) and Aspergillus sp. in 7 eyes (46.7%). Species of Fusarium were determined in 4 eyes, namely F. Aquaeductus, F. Chlamydosporum, F. oxysporum and F. solani; whereas species of Aspergillus were determined in 3 eyes, namely A. niger and A. flavus. Bacterial and fungal coinfection was shown in two eyes (Aspergillus sp. with Gram (+) beta hemolytic streptococcus; Fusarium sp. with Pseudomonas orzyihabitans). Conclusion: Agricultural activity and associated eye trauma were shown to be the main causes of fungal keratitis in which filamentous fungi were isolated in all cases. The identified etiological factors may be useful in the selection of early empirical treatment of fungal keratitis cases encountered in Southern Anatolia.


We developed a novel method for immunoaffinity purification of yaminobutyric acid (GABAB) receptor from bovine cerebral cortex using a monoclonal antibody, which specifically recognizes an 80-kDa GABAbinding protein (Nakayasu, H., Mizutani, H., Hanai, K., Kimura, H., and Kuriyama, K. (1992) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 182, 722-726). The GABA binding activity in the solubilized synaptic membrane preparation was adsorbed on the antibody-conjugated beads and was eluted as a single protein band of 80 kDa by an acidic buffer, pH 2.5. The purified preparation mimicked the GABAB receptor in its binding activity for GABA, baclofen (GABAB receptor agonist) and 2-hydroxysaclofen (a GABAB receptor antagonist). The purified preparation was reconstituted with partially purified GTP-binding protein and an adenylylcyclase preparation on a phospholipid membrane. On addition of  GABA or baclofen to the reconstituted membrane, the adenylylcyclase activity was inhibited, and this inhibition was antagonized by 2-hydroxysaclofen. Moreover, this inhibition by GABA was not observed in a system reconstituted system without either the 80-kDa GABA-binding protein or the GTPbinding protein. These results are strong evidence that the 80-kDa antigenic protein is the GABAB receptor. This is the first report of the nearly complete purification of the GABAB receptor.


The purpose of this article is to investigate the effects of time delays for wide-area damping control design when signals from dominant inter-area oscillation paths are used as feedback inputs for damping controllers. The analysis is carried out using a two-area study system. Frequency and time-domain responses of a generator's terminal voltage when the PSS uses PMU signals subject to time delays will be compared and assessed. The analysis reveals that while modal observability of the dominant path signals corresponds to the gain of the open-loop system at the inter-area frequency, these properties are inversely proportional to their corresponding delay margins.


We describe a connectionist model which learns to parse single sentences from sequential word input. A parse in the connectionist network contains information about role assignment, prepositional attachment, relative clause structure, and subordinate clause structure. The trained network displays several interesting types of behavior. These include predictive ability, tolerance to certain corruptions of input word sequences, and some generalization capability. We report on experiments in which a small number of sentence types have been successfully learned by a network. Work is in progress on a larger database. Application of this type of connectionist model to the area of spoken language processing is discussed.


Palladium(0) nanoparticle has been used as efficient catalyst for (a) the stereoselective synthesis of (E)- and (Z)-2-alkene-4-ynoates and —nitriles by a simple reaction of vic-diiodo-(E)-alkenes with acrylic esters and nitriles and (b) for the allylation of active methylene compounds by allylacetate and its derivatives. Copper(0) nanoparticle catalyzes aryl-sulfur bond formation very efficiently. All these reactions are ligand-free.


The use of N fertilizers can contribute to seedling production in native species, such as Alibertia sessilis (Vell.) K. Schum, a fruit plant of the Cerrado ecoregion. Considering that there are few studies on mineral nutrition for this species, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of N on the growth and photosynthesis photochemical of A. sessilis. The experiment was carried out in plastic pots in a greenhouse with five N (urea) concentrations: 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mg kg -1 . The experimental design used was a randomized block design with four repetitions. At day 180 after transplantation, morphometric and photochemical characteristics, including biomass and seedling quality, were evaluated. Seedling survival, the stem diameter of the harvest, and the height/diameter ratio were not influenced by N. The maximum height was 14.38 cm with 54.2 kg -1 N. The greatest number of leaves and value of the chlorophyll index were found in seedlings produced with maximum doses of N. The photochemical characteristics of photosynthesis, except initial fluorescence, were positively influenced with N concentrations between 60-85 mg kg -1 N. The largest fresh leaf and stem biomass was 2.391 and 0.257 g plant -1 with 54.0 and 33.0 mg kg -1 of N, respectively. The multivariate analysis of the major components explained 79.81% of the remaining data variability. The seedlings of A. sessilis responded positively during the initial growth phase, reflected in their biomass, with N concentrations close to 50.0 mg kg -1 .


We describe here a third region of variability in human fibronectin (FN) due to alternative RNA splicing. Two other positions of alternative splicing have been reported previously (ED and IIICS). The third region involves a 273-nucleotide exon encoding exactly one 91-amino acid repeat of type III homology, located between the DNA- and the cell-binding domains of FN, which is either included in or excluded from FN mRNA. The two mRNA variants arising by an exon-skipping mechanism are present in cells known to synthesize the cellular form of FN. However, liver cells, which are the source of plasma FN, produce only messengers without the extra type III sequence. Therefore, the region described here resembles, both structurally and functionally, the previously described ED (for extra domain) region, located toward the C terminus of the molecule, between the cell- and heparin- (hep 2) binding domains. We conclude that both the extra type III repeat (named EDII) and ED represent sequences restricted to cellular FN. Combination of all the possible patterns of splicing in the three regions described to date may generate up to 20 distinct FN polypeptides from a single gene.


Air pollutants in the Arctic have impacts on climate change, ecosystems, regional air quality, and human health. Rapid changes to and complex interactions within the Arctic environment due to global warming and socio-economic drivers mean that there is an urgent requirement to improve understanding of sources of Arctic air pollutants. Changes in atmospheric aerosol particles and tropospheric ozone have likely contributed substantially to rapid warming of the Arctic over recent decades. Increased accessibility due to reducing sea-ice is leading to increased local pollutant emissions from activities such as oil and gas extraction or shipping. Local Arctic communities are already being affected by sources of air pollution, which may continue to grow as economic and industrial development continues in the region. It is crucial to improve quantification of the relative contributions of different pollutant sources to provide a sound scientific basis for sustainable solutions and adaptive strategies. Deficiencies in predictive capability and a lack of observations at high latitudes present major challenges to advancing this understanding, and to making credible near- and long-term projections of Arctic environmental change.
This poster will describe a new international initiative - air Pollution in the Arctic: Climate Environment and Societies (PACES) (see www.igacprojects.org/PACES), focused on building capacity for future research on Arctic air pollution. We will present the key scientific motivating factors behind the establishment of PACES, and our plans for addressing current uncertainties and deficiencies in our understanding of sources, processing and fate of air pollutants in the Arctic, and their impacts on human health, ecosystems and climate. These plans include development of strategies for targeted field observations addressing key processes, improving predictive capability, improving observational capacity in the Arctic, particularly in Russia, and in the vertical, and via establishment of collaborations between physical scientists, social scientists and local residents.


This paper describes Postfix-GP system, postfix notation based Genetic Programming (GP), for solving symbolic regression problems. It presents an object-oriented architecture of Postfix-GP framework. It assists the user in understanding of the implementation details of various components of Postfix-GP. Postfix-GP provides graphical user interface which allows user to configure the experiment, to visualize evolved solutions, to analyze GP run, and to perform out-of-sample predictions. The use of Postfix-GP is demonstrated by solving the benchmark symbolic regression problem. Finally, features of Postfix-GP framework are compared with that of other GP systems.


Molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the influence of water on model ionic liquids. Several models, where the ions vary in size, and in the location of the charge with respect to the center of mass, are considered. Particular attention is focused on the variation in transport properties (diffusion coefficients, shear viscosity, and electrical conductivity) with water concentration. An effort is made to identify the underlying physical reasons for water's influence. The results for our model ionic liquids fall loosely into two categories, depending on the molecular characteristics of the constituent ions. If the ion size disparity is not too large (cation:anion diameter ratio < or approximately 2:1), and if the ion charge location is such that directional ion pair bonds are relatively weak, then we find that the ionic diffusion coefficients and the electrical conductivity increase, and the viscosity decreases with increasing water concentration. This agrees with what is commonly observed experimentally for room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). For these systems, we do not find changes in the equilibrium structure that can account for the strong influence of water on the transport properties. Rather, by varying the molecular mass of water in our simulations, we demonstrate that the dominant effect of water can be dynamical in origin. In RTIL-water mixtures, the molecular mass of water is generally much less than that of the ions it replaces. These lighter water molecules tend to displace much heavier counterions from the ion coordination shells. This reduces caging and increases the diffusivity, which leads to higher conductivities and lower viscosities. For models with a larger ion size disparity (3:1), or in charge-off-center systems, where strong directional ion pairs are important in the pure ionic liquid, the behavior can be quite different. In these systems, the diffusion coefficients and electrical conductivity can still display conventional behavior and increase when water is added even though the reasons for this can be more complex than in the simpler cases noted above. However, in these systems the viscosity can increase, sometimes quite steeply, with increasing water concentration. We trace this unusual behavior to the formation of associated structures, extended anion-water chains that can weave among the cations in the size disparate case, and strongly bound cation-water-anion clusters in the charge-off-center systems.


The thresholds for self-focusing (filamentation) of a laser beam in a laser-produced plasma have been computed for propagation of nanosecond duration pulses in short (<or=180 mu m thick), high-density (0.05-0.9 Ncr where Ncr is the critical density) multiply ionised absorbing plasmas. The authors also report results of an experimental study where they have observed filamentary structures in the X-ray emission from aluminium plasmas accompanied by an increase in the divergence of the light transmitted through them. Both observations indicate self-focusing has occurred at an intensity near to that predicted by the computer code, this being approximately=1013-1014 W cm-2 for nanosecond duration pulses in plasmas formed by irradiating light solids (Z<or=13).


Noticing that unsupervised clustering may produce clusters that are irrelevant to the research hypotheses and interests, we generalize traditional unsupervised clustering into semi-supervised clustering based on our previously proposed message passing clustering (MPC). In the semi-supervised MPC, prior knowledge such as instance-level and attribute-level constraints are used to guide the clustering process towards better and interpretable partitions. We applied the unsupervised MPC (null background) to phylogenetic analysis of Mycobacterium and the semi-supervised MPC to colon cancer microarray data analysis. The results show that MPC is superior to the widely accepted neighbor-joining and hierarchical clustering methods, and the semi-supervised MPC is even more powerful in biological data analysis such as gene selection and cancer diagnosis using microarray.


A differential charge pump with reduced charge sharing effect is presented. The current-steering topology is adopted for fast switching. A replica charge pump is added to provide a current path for the complementary branch of the master charge pump in the current switching. Through the replica charge pump, the voltage at the complementary node of the master charge pump keeps stable during switching, and the dynamic charge sharing effect is avoided. Apply the charge pump to a 4.8GHz band integer-N PLL, the measured reference spur is -49.7dBc with a 4-MHz reference frequency.


Abstract The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalus) is important to the economy of several countries, especially in Asia and South America. Little is known regarding the impact of coccidiosis in buffaloes. Cattle and buffaloes are considered to have common species of Eimeria, but critical cross-transmissions have not been made because it is difficult to raise these hosts coccidian free. Clinical coccidiosis was confirmed post mortem in a 22-day-old buffalo calf that died after a 3- to 4-day illness. Oocysts morphologically identical to Eimeria bareillyi were found in the feces and in sections of small intestine. Oocysts were often pyriform, sometimes with asymmetrical sides. The shorter end was flattened and approximately 5–6 μm wide. Unsporulated oocysts in feces were 23.2–29.5 × 16.5–22 μm, with an average of 27.2 × 19.3 μm. Schizonts, gamonts, and oocysts were identified in sections of small intestine where they were located in enterocytes of the jejunum and ileum. No coccidian stages were seen in sections of colon. This is one of the first confirmed cases of clinical coccidiosis in water buffalo.


This study is conducted mainly to analyse the effect of water and sanitation on childhood mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa region. The empirical approach uses longitudinal data sourced from the World Development Indicators (World Bank) for the period 2000-2015. Infant and under-five mortality rates were used as indicators for childhood mortality. To diminish the possible confounding influence of water and sanitation in the child mortality regressions, we use an instrumental variable approach based on Dynamic Panel estimators or the General Method of Moment (GMM). The study finds that in Sub-Saharan Africa region, water and sanitation has a strong impact on reducing both infant and under-five mortality rates. Furthermore, the study finds that public health expenditure and aid all work together to reduce the possibility of infant and under-five deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. These findings call for policymakers to pay a great deal of attention to increase investment in water and sanitation, improving official development assistance(ODA) along with increased public spending on health as these are all important factors that can help to decrease infant and under-five deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa.


The nonhomogeneity of bovine colostrum leads to strong scattering effects for electromagnetic waves, which affects the application of electromagnetic spectroscopy in detecting colostrum. This work aimed to compare the performance of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and dielectric spectroscopy (DS) in quantitatively predicting the content of mature milk as an adulterant in colostrum. The near-infrared spectra in the range of 833 to 2,500 nm and the dielectric spectra in the range of 20 to 4,500 MHz of 150 adulterated colostrum samples containing 0 to 50% mature milk were analyzed. The different proportions of mature milk in colostrum significantly changed near-infrared and dielectric spectra. The principal component analysis score plot showed that both NIRS and DS could identify the proportion of mature milk in colostrum, but the 2 methods had different characteristics. Linear partial least squares regression and nonlinear least squares support vector machine (LSSVM) models based on near-infrared and dielectric spectra were established to identify doping proportions. The results showed that DS had better identification performance with a root-mean-square error of prediction of 4.9% and a residual prediction deviation of 3.441 by successive projection algorithm LSSVM, whereas NIRS was relatively weak with a root-mean-square error of prediction of 7.3% and a residual prediction deviation of 2.301 by full-spectra LSSVM. This work provides important insights for the quantitative prediction of nonhomogeneous liquid food by DS.


Crime Prevention Studies is an international book series dedicated to research on situational crime prevention and other initiatives to reduce opportunities for crime. Most volumes center on particular topics chosen by expert guest editors. The editors of each volume, in consultation with the series editor, commission the papers to be published and select peer reviewers. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.


A close partnership between people and partially autonomous machines has enabled decades of space exploration. But to further expand our horizons, our systems must become more capable. Increasing the nature and degree of autonomy - allowing our systems to make and act on their own decisions as directed by mission teams - enables new science capabilities and enhances science return. The 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey (PSDS) and on-going pre-Decadal mission studies have identified increased autonomy as a core technology required for future missions. However, even as scientific discovery has necessitated the development of autonomous systems and past flight demonstrations have been successful, institutional barriers have limited its maturation and infusion on existing planetary missions. Consequently, the authors and endorsers of this paper recommend that new programmatic pathways be developed to infuse autonomy, infrastructure for support autonomous systems be invested in, new practices be adopted, and the cost-saving value of autonomy for operations be studied.


Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has been used effectively to protect nonspecifically against bacterial infections and neoplasms, probably by enhancement of cell-mediated immunity. It has been suggested that cell-mediated immunity plays a role in the host defense against certain viral infections. In recent in vitro studies, macrophages from animals sensitized by BCG were more effective in lowering the titer of influenza virus than were macrophages from control animals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vivo effectiveness of nonspecific immune stimulation with BCG on influenza virus infection in mice. Immunization with BCG resulted in significant protection of mice. Also, the local (nasal) route of immunization was more effective than the systemic (intraperitoneal) route against the intranasal inoculum of virus, a finding which suggests that important role of local immunity, i.e., either earlier stimulation of secretory antibody or nonspecific cell-mediated immunity. The time course of the resistance ot infection suggests that interferon was not the protective mechanism.


Short and long-term effects of a treatment for dyslexia are evaluated. The treatment is based on psycholinguistic theory and assumes that dyslexia is due to poor lexico-phonological processing of words. The treatment is computer-based and focuses on learning to recognise and to make use of the phonological and morphological structure of Dutch words. The results of the treatment were clear improvements in reading words, reading text and spelling. Effect sizes of standardised treatment gains were large (Cohen's d>0.80 for all variables). Following the treatment, participants attained an average level of text-reading and spelling. The attained level of reading words and reading text was found to be stable over a four-year follow-up period. Spelling showed a slight decline one year after the treatment, but remained stable thereafter.1


Women can become infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) after the heterosexual transmission of virus from an infected male partner. To understand the events that result in transmission of HIV-1 across the female reproductive tract, we characterized the life-cycle events of HIV-1 in primary cultures of human uterine epithelial cells and stromal fibroblasts. Epithelial cells and stromal fibroblasts released virus particles after exposure to either X4- or R5-tropic strains of HIV-1. Virus released by these cells was able to infect CD4(+) T cells. When exposed to an X4-tropic strain of HIV-1, these cells supported HIV-1 reverse transcription, integration, and viral DNA transcription. When exposed to an R5-tropic strain, however, these cells released unmodified virus. These data suggest that uterine cells are targets for productive infection with X4-tropic strains and release unmodified R5-tropic viruses that would then be able to infect submucosal target cells, including T cells and macrophages.


We study implications of the weak gravity conjecture in the AdS/CFT correspondence. Unlike in Minkowski spacetime, AdS spacetime has a physical length scale, so that the conjecture must be generalized with an additional parameter. We discuss possible generalizations and translate them into the language of dual CFTs, which take the form of inequalities involving the dimension and charge of an operator as well as the current and energy-momentum tensor central charges. We then test these inequalities against various CFTs to see if they are universally obeyed by all the CFTs. We find that certain CFTs, such as supersymmetric QCDs, do not satisfy them even in the large N limit. This does not contradict the conjecture in AdS spacetime because the theories violating them are either unlikely or unclear to have weakly coupled gravitational descriptions, but it suggests that the CFT inequalities obtained here by naive translations do not apply beyond the regime in which weakly coupled gravitational descriptions are available.


A novel CMOS low-voltage current feedback operational amplifier (CFOA) is presented. The proposed CFOA based on a new positive second-generation current conveyor (CCII+). The new circuit allows almost a rail-to-rail input and output operation; also, it reduces the offset voltage and provides high driving current capabilities. The CFOA is operating at supply voltages of plusmn0.75 V with a total standby current of 338 muA. The circuit exhibits better than 10 MHz bandwidth and plusmn1mA current drive capability. PSpice simulation results are given using 0.35mum technology for the proposed CFOA.


The new ways of thinking about literature offered by Cognitive Literary Studies and Cognitive Poetics offer detailed means of understanding pre-modern mentalities and fresh perspectives on the literary products of remote cultures. When applied to Anglo-Saxon literature, these methodologies, which bring cognitive science and linguistics to bear on literary studies, focus on the psychology of interpretation and seek to discover the mental causes of the rhetorical effects in literature. They base literary study on an understanding of mental processing, and inform analyses of literary structures with knowledge of mental schemas. A better understanding of the landscape and significance of literary mentalities can only enhance our grasp on both the artistry and logistics of literary meaning.


Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) recognizes double-stranded RNA, which is a molecular signature of viruses, and plays a pivotal role in host defense against viral invasion. Polymorphisms in the human TLR3 gene have been shown to affect the receptor function and to be associated with a variety of diseases, suggesting correlations between TLR3 polymorphisms and the disease resistance/susceptibility in pigs. In this study, 5 known non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding sequences of the porcine TLR3 gene - c.800C>T (p.T267M), c.933A>G (p.I311M), c.1116A>T (p.K372N), c.2129C>G (p.T710S), and c.2160T>G (p.I720M) - were analyzed for their effect on receptor function in transiently transfected PK-15 cells by using a luciferase reporter assay. In addition, the distribution of SNP c.933A>G was analyzed among pig populations. SNP c.933A>G significantly decreased the response to poly(I:C) (P < 0.05), as represented by the weaker induction of firefly luciferase relative to that achieved by wild-type TLR3. SNP c.933A>G results in the alteration of conserved amino acids in the highly conserved segment of the 12th leucine repeat region and is conserved among TLR3 orthologs from fishes to primates. Moreover, together with the results of previous studies, the results of the present study revealed that SNP c.933A>G is found solely in local Chinese pig breeds. These results suggested that SNP c.933A>G plays a role in porcine disease resistance/susceptibility.


Separation of the E and B components of a microwave background polarization map or a weak lensing map is an essential step in extracting science from it, but when the map covers only part of the sky and/or is pixelized, this decomposition cannot be done perfectly. We present a method for decomposing an arbitrary sky map into a sum of three orthogonal components that we term "pure E", "pure B" and "ambiguous". The fluctuations in the pure E and B maps are due only to the the E and B power spectra, respectively, whereas the source of those in the ambiguous map is completely indeterminate. This method is useful both for providing intuition for experimental design and for analyzing data sets in practice. We show how to find orthonormal bases for all three components in terms of bilaplacian eigenfunctions, thus providing a type of polarized signal-to-noise eigenmodes that simultaneously separate both angular scale and polarization type. The number of pure and ambiguous modes probing a characteristic angular scale θ scales as the map area over θ and as the map boundary length over θ, respectively. This implies that fairly round maps (with short perimeters for a given area) will yield the most efficient E/B-decomposition and also that the fraction of the information lost to ambiguous modes grows towards larger angular scales. For real-world data analysis, we present a simple matrix eigenvalue method for calculating nearly pure E and B modes in pixelized maps. We find that the dominant source of leakage between E and B is aliasing of small-scale power caused by the pixelization, essentially since derivatives are involved. This problem can be eliminated by heavily oversampling the map, but is exacerbated by the fact that the E power spectrum is expected to be much larger than the B power spectrum and by the extremely blue power spectrum that CMB polarization is expected to have. We found that a factor of 2 to 3 more pixels are needed in a polarization map to achieve the same level of contamination by aliased power than in a temperature map. Oversampling is therefore much more important for the polarized case than for the unpolarized case, which should be reflected in experimental design.


The use of phonological features (PFs) potentially allows language-specific phones to remain linked in training, which is highly desirable for information sharing for multilingual and crosslingual speech recognition methods for low-resourced languages. A drawback suffered by previous methods in using phonological features is that the acoustic-to-PF extraction in a bottom-up way is itself difficult. In this paper, we propose to join phonology driven phone embedding (top-down) and deep neural network (DNN) based acoustic feature extraction (bottom-up) to calculate phone probabilities. The new method is called JoinAP (Joining of Acoustics and Phonology). Remarkably, no inversion from acoustics to phonological features is required for speech recognition. For each phone in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) table, we encode its phonological features to a phonological-vector, and then apply linear or nonlinear transformation of the phonological-vector to obtain the phone embedding. A series of multilingual and crosslingual (both zero-shot and few-shot) speech recognition experiments are conducted on the CommonVoice dataset (German, French, Spanish and Italian) and the AISHLL-1 dataset (Mandarin), and demonstrate the superiority of JoinAP with nonlinear phone embeddings over both JoinAP with linear phone embeddings and the traditional method with flat phone embeddings.


Side effect of aceto-orcein as a dye of chromosome structures remains some risks. This dye may remain tissue damage on eyes mucous membrane, burnt by skin contact, severe irritation of respiratory by spray mist. Exploration of natural dye is an alternative solution. Betacyanine of red dragon fruits Hylocereus polyrhizus pulp might have a potential role to stain chromosome. Aim of this study is to extract dragon fruit pulp to stain chromosomes of mitotic cells of red onion Allium ascalonicum. The method used in this research is qualitative description of application squash method with aceto-orcein as synthetic dye and two ratio of extract ratio of red dragon fruits pulps as natural dye to mitotic cells of red onion roots. The result revealed that 2:1 ratio of red dragon fruits and distilled water could stain chromosomes of red onion somatic cells. Further specific solvent is required to further investigation to get best betacyanine extract of red dragon fruits pulps.


ABSTRACT The plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus) is an acoustically communicative teleost fish. Here, we evaluated auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in reproductive female midshipman exposed to tones at or near dominant frequencies of the male midshipman advertisement call. An initial series of experiments characterized AEPs at behaviorally relevant suprathreshold sound levels (130–140 dB SPL re. 1 µPa). AEPs decreased in magnitude with increasing stimulus frequency and featured a stereotyped component at twice the stimulus frequency. Recording electrode position was varied systematically and found to affect AEP magnitude and phase characteristics. Later experiments employed stimuli of a single frequency to evaluate contributions of the saccule to the AEP, with particular attention to the effects of sound source azimuth on AEP amplitude. Unilateral excision of saccular otoliths (sagittae) decreased AEP amplitude; unexpectedly, decreases differed for right versus left otolith excision. A final set of experiments manipulated the sound pressure-responsive swim bladder. Swim bladder excision further reduced the magnitude of AEP responses, effectively eliminating responses at the standard test intensity (130 dB SPL) in some animals. Higher-intensity stimulation yielded response minima at forward azimuths ipsilateral to the excised sagitta, but average cross-azimuth modulation generally remained slight. Collectively, the data underscore that electrode position is an essential variable to control in fish AEP studies and suggest that in female midshipman: (1) the saccule contributes to the AEP, but its directionality as indexed by the AEP is limited, (2) a left–right auditory asymmetry may exist and (3) the swim bladder provides gain in auditory sensitivity that may be important for advertisement call detection and phonotaxis. Summary: Auditory evoked responses in reproductively active female midshipman fish are modulated by manipulations of both the saccule and the swim bladder, with implications for mate detection and localization.


Guatemala and Kenya are both countries that have recently experienced political violence in the context of long histories of colonialization, oppression and poverty. The current study examines focus group responses of indigenous faith-based relief providers in Guatemala and Kenya describing how they utilized religion to cope with their own experience of political violence as well as to cope with stress related to providing relief services to others. In an effort to study both emic and etic dimensions of religious coping, the study also analyzes these responses within the framework of Pargament and colleagues' (1998; 2000) religious coping constructs to determine responses that are consistent with findings across other cultures (etic) and to identify and describe responses that are culturally specific to Guatemala and Kenya (emic). Guatemalan and Kenyan themes consistent with North American literature were: Religious Helping, Seeking Spiritual Support, Benevolent Religious Reappraisal, Spiritual Connections and Collaborative Religious Coping. Themes unique to Guatemala and Kenya included Acceptance and Engagement of Suffering, Cosmic Balance, Living Better, Prayer, Human Responsibility, Communal Spiritual Traditions, and Finding Solidarity Through Shared Experience. Finally, this article examines emic and etic responses within the context of literature on African and Central American theologies.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006

4894

In the present study, we treated 5 week old female Apc Min/+ mice for 8 weeks, with either control (AIN-93G) diet, control diet with 0.08% EGCG (in the drinking fluid), control diet with 0.08% ECG (in the drinking fluid), control diet with 0.12% PPE (a standardized green tea catechin mixture containing 65% EGCG) in the drinking fluid, or control diet supplemented with 0.12% PPE in the diet. We found that PPE administered in the diet inhibited total intestinal tumor multiplicity by 70.5% in comparison to the control group. This decrease in tumor multiplicity was greater than the decrease observed in the group administered with PPE in the drinking fluid (by 24.5%) or 0.08% EGCG (51%). ECG (0.08%) had no significant effect on tumor multiplicity. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that in comparison to the adenomas in the control group, treatment with PPE and EGCG decreased cell proliferation index (based on Ki-67 expression), increased apoptotic index (cleaved caspase-3), decreased β-catenin nuclear expression and decreased phospho-Akt. To investigate the improved efficacy of the PPE in the diet relative to the PPE in the drinking fluid, we examine the small intestinal levels of the catechins. HPLC analysis revealed that mice treated with PPE in the diet had higher levels of EGCG (1.6 - 3.3-fold increase), EGC (1.2 - 2.3-fold increase), and EC (1.8 - 4.1-fold increase) than mice treated with PPE in the drinking fluid. This increase in catechin levels, at comparable doses of PPE, may be due to the relatively slower gastrointestinal transit of food compared to fluid. The results suggest that both EGCG and PPE exert cancer prevention activity by inhibiting cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis, modulating Wnt signaling and Akt pathway. Additionally, formulation of PPE in the diet results in higher local concentrations of catechins than formulation in the drinking fluid and may represent a better means of delivering cancer preventive compounds to the gastrointestinal tract. (Supported by NIH grant CA88961). *Both authors contributed equally to this abstract


Introduction: Bag-mask ventilation does not always guarantee 100% seal around airway opening and hence delivered fraction of oxygen (FDO2) may vary. Aim: To determine the FDO2 via a standard neonatal selfinflating bag with and without application of leak, without a reservoir bag with flow rates of 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1, 2, 4 and 6 L/min. Method: A test lung with a three way rotator to produce 0%, 30%, 50% and 75% leak was connected to a 3.5 mm ID endotracheal tube (ETT) connected to a VBM standard preterm self-inflating bag of 250 mL without a reservoir. The ETT was connected to ENVENTEC oxygen analyser and the bag inlet to a 100% oxygen source. Ventilation was done to a peak pressure of 15-20 cm H2O, at 40 bpm. FDO2 was recorded every 30 s, until the difference between two consecutive values was ≤1%. Result: The change in FDO2 was maximum when compared between 0.1 L/min and 6 L/min. For all leak percentages, the delivered oxygen showed an increasing trend from 0.1 to 0.6 L/min, a plateau from 0.6 to 1 L/min after which it increased. The change in FDO2 was different for different flow rates among various leak percentages. The highest delivered oxygen without leak was 56.15 ± 3.45% with 4 L/min flow. The oxygen delivered with 70% leak was considerably lower when compared to values with different leaks with respective flow rates. Conclusion: FDO2 increases with oxygen flow rates greater than 1 L/min. Leak around the mask has no effect of FDO2. Equilibration of FDO2 is achieved with in 60-90 s.


Most percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) might present hazards for patients, procedure operators, and the laboratory staff [1-3]. Due to complex nature of lesions and procedures, both patients and laboratory team may be subjected to exposure of longer procedural duration and radiation [3]. The long hours of standing for operators while wearing a lead apron commonly leads to exhaustion and injuries that frequently results in reduced performance and sub optimal clinical results [1]. A remote-control, robotic-assisted angioplasty system was developed to address some of the procedural challenges and occupational hazards associated with traditional PCI in addition to enhancing the degree of precision and control for the interventional procedure. A remote- control, robotic-assisted angioplasty system is used to address some of the procedural challenges and occupational hazards associated with traditional PCI. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and feasibility of the operating robotic system in patients undergoing elective PCI. This review summarises the safety and feasibility of a robotic angioplasty system in delivery and manipulation of coronary guidewires, balloons, and stents in patients undergoing PCI. Patients with coronary artery disease and clinical indication for elective PCI were enrolled. The coronary angioplasty procedure was performed with the CorPath 200 robotic system (Corindus, Inc.) The operating system consists of a remote interventional cockpit and a multicomponent bedside unit that contains advance, retract, and rotate guidewires within rapid exchange catheters. The primary endpoint was device clinical success (30% residual stenosis) with- out in-hospital major adverse cardiac events. The procedural success was defined as the ability of the system to complete all the planned angioplasty steps based on procedural segments.30 days follow up after angioplasty procedure was done. A total of 47 patients were enrolled in the study. Primary endpoint had been achieved in all patients. The success of the robotic system was 98.1% in completing 48 of 49 planned steps. No device or procedure-related complications were reported and no in-hospital or 30-day major adverse cardiac events were observed. We rated the robotic system performances as equal to as or better than manual procedures in 97.7% of the cases. Cardiologist's radiation exposure was 97% lower than found at the standard table position. Our procedure results demonstrated better safety, feasibility and procedural effectiveness than manual operation. Besides, total operator exposure to radiation was quite low. However, a larger study is warranted to confirm the safety and effectiveness of robotic-assisted percutaneous coronary intervention.


This study was done to determine toxicity of certified reference sediment to be used for quality assurance in sediment toxicity testing program. Certified Reference Harbor Sediment (HS-4B for PAHs) and Estuarine Sediment (LGC-6137 for Trace Metals) were procured commercially from LGC Company, UK, and repeatedly analyzed against solid phase Microtox toxicity assay to determine EC50 values. Both PAHs rich and trace metals rich sediments were very toxic to Microtox with EC50 405 mg L-1 and 554 mg L-1 respectively. Solvent extraction resulted in a drastic decrease in the toxicity of PAHs rich reference sediment sample but in trace metal rich sediment the decrease in the toxicity was marginal. The certified reference sediments with the availability of toxicity data can be incorporated for quality assurance as controls in Microtox toxicity determination of field samples of unknown toxicity.


Ordination (DCA), direct gradient analysis, and stand structural analysis were used to identify compositional and structural patterns in 35 ecotonal red firmountain hemlock stands in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. Mountain hemlock-dominated sites were high in altitude, mesic, and soils were coarse textured and low in nutrients. Red fir dominated xeric sites at all altitudes but was more abundant on lower sites. Red fir also preferred more nutrient rich soils. Size structures of red fir and mountain hemlock populations were highly variable but stands contained seedlings, saplings, small stems and large stems of both species. Ecotonal red firmountain hemlock forests appear to be compositionally stable. Seedlings and saplings of both species were most abundant on lower altitude mesic sites and in stands with more open canopies. Stumps, snapped trees, logs, standing dead boles, charcoal and fire scars were present in 80% of the stands. Natural disturbances frequently produce canopy openings that m...


The paper addresses technology which aims at designing systems which are intelligent or show life like behaviour. The author views 'intelligence' and 'life' as concepts which are constructed and attributed by humans: a) in a certain context by the process of interaction and understanding, or b) between humans in processes of agreement and the social construction of conventions. Cognitive technology can be an opportunity to study the processes of how new forms of interactions can emerge at the human tool interface. These new kinds of interaction need not mimic 'natural' ones, they can be qualitatively new forms of 'interactive intelligence' which are more than the sum of their parts. The relevance of artificial life (AL) to the field of cognitive technology is discussed. The Embodied AL (EAL) direction is interpreted in terms of concepts which stress the individual, embodied and social nature of humans as designers and users of technology. 'Believability', 'stories', 'autobiography', 'social understanding', and the coupling of an individual's internal and external dynamics to its environment are central concepts of this approach. The potential contribution of EAL to the field of cognitive technology is summarised in a list of ten CT guidelines.


The essay focuses on two points: First, Eley and Nield's emphasis on micropolitics, discourse, and diverse forms of affinity is stimulating and essential but inadequate to the task of understanding when and how the category of working class is useful. Such a task also requires nuanced analysis of interactions on a large scale and at long distance, of control of material resources, and of centralizing institutions. Second, their identity-centered vision of politics is too constraining to make clear the multiple forms of political imagination, connection, and mobilization or to figure out the extent as well as the limits of power.


tor Jack D. Ives received two distinguished awards from the American Association of Geographers (AAG), a scientific and educational association founded in 1904. AAG has 6500 members who share a common interest in the theory, methods, and practice of geography. The Association holds well-attended annual meetings, publishes two scholarly journals (the Annals of the Association of American Geographers and The Professional Geographer) and a monthly Newsletter, and organizes activities through its nine regional divisions and 53 specialty groups. AAG also carries out educational and research projects to advance its interests and its programs. The first award was bestowed by AAG's Mountain Geography Specialty Group. This group attempts to "foster communication, promote basic and applied research, enhance education, and encourage service related to mountain peoples and mountain environments and their interactions." The "Distinguished Career Award" given to Jack by the Mountain Geography Specialty Group cited him as a person "whose leadership and enthusiasm for geographic inquiry in mountain regions have fostered, encouraged, achieved and enriched nearly half a century of geographical research in mountains." The second award was bestowed by AAG's Geomorphology Specialty Group, whose aim is to "foster better communication among those working in the geomorphic sciences, especially in geography." Jack received the Group's "Melvin G. Marcus Distinguished Career Award" for his "extraordinary contributions to geomorphology in geography as field researcher, institute director, mentor, author, editor, challenger of conventional wisdom, and promoter of collaborative efforts to better understand high latitude and high altitude environments." The late Melvin Marcus, for whom the award is named, died several years ago while doing winter fieldwork in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. Marcus was a close friend of Jack's and a long-time supporter of IMS/MRD. Mountain Research and Development is particularly proud that its founding editor has been honored with these two distinguished awards. Both awards testify to the quality of Jack's work, the wide range of methods he has explored, and the scientific vision that he has exemplified through many decades of dedicated involvement in multidisciplinary approaches to mountain geography. 282


The effects of different levels of bud loading on the yield and some leaf and fruit characteristics in Hayward cultivar (A. deliciosa) in the province of Ordu, Turkey were examined during two growing seasons in 2000–2001. Six years old kiwifruit vines were pruned to carry the loads of 120, 180, 240 or 300 buds/vine on the canes with 12 buds. The study determined probable total leaf area (PTLA), probable total leaf number (PTLN), probable total leaf weight (PTLW) and yield per vine. Mean fruit weight (MFW) and soluble solid contents (SSC, %) of fruits were expressed. In addition, unit leaf area/100 g fruit weight (ULA/FW) was calculated. Leaf characteristics were examined in 3 periods of the growing season. Correlations between yield, leaf and fruit characteristics and treatments were determined. The result of the experiment, namely mean leaf area (MLA), mean leaf weight (MLW), PTLA, PTLN, PTLW ranged between 185.51–194.17 cm2, 7.98–8.67 g, 21.047–58.61 m2/vine, 1,129.6–3,035.3 number/vine, 9.04–25.68 kg/vine, respectively. The mean yields of vines loaded with 120 and 300 buds were 34.84 and 100.96 kg/vine (12.19 and 35.34 ton/ha), respectively. Mean leaf area and mean leaf weight increased with increasing levels of bud loading, whereas MFW and ULA/FW decreased. There was a negative relationship between MFW, SSC and yield, and a positive relationship between MLA, PTLA and yield. ULA/FW ratio was between 581.88–611.54 cm2 according to the bud loading level. Fruit size diminished as a consequence of dense canopies in both levels of bud loading (120 and 300 buds/vine). Unit leaf area per fruit weight ranged between 581.88–611.54 cm2/100 g, with respect to the bud loading applications. Increasing levels of bud loading resulted in reduced ULA/FW ratio and affected yield and some leaf and fruit characteristics.


Visual representations of prisons and their inmates are common in the news and social media, with stories about riots, squalor, drugs, self-harm and suicide hitting the headlines. Prisoners' families are left to worry about the implications of such events on their kin, while those incarcerated and less able to understand social cues, norms and rules, are vulnerable to deteriorating mental health at best, to death at worst. As part of the life-story method in my research with offenders who are on the autism spectrum, have mental health problems and/or have learning difficulties, and prisoner's mothers, I asked participants to take photographs, reflecting upon their experiences. Photographs, in this case, were primarily used to help respondents consider and articulate their feelings in follow-up interviews. Notably, seeing (and imagining) is often how we make a connection to something (object or feeling), or someone (relationships), such that images in fiction, news/social media, drama, art, film and photographs can shape the way people think and behave – indeed feel about things and people. Images and representations ought to be taken seriously in researching social life, as how we interpret photographs, paintings, stories and television shows is based on our own imaginings, biography, culture and history. Therefore, we look at and process an image before words escape, by 'seeing' and imagining. How my participants and I 'collaborate' in doing visual methods and then how we make meaning of the photographs in storying their feelings, is insightful. As it is, I wanted to enable my participants to make and create their own stories via their photographs and narratives, while connecting to them, along with my own interpretation and subjectivities.


Abstract There is a positive correlation between the use of high-involvement management practices and firm productivity. However, this correlation does not mean that adoption of such practices would improve productivity. The positive correlation is mostly due to more productive firms adopting high-involvement management practices.


AIM
Resin infiltration of proximal lesions is a new approach to stopping caries progression. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate four-year efficacy of proximal infiltrates in adolescents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In ten adolescents, a total of 21 proximal infiltrates (ICON® (DMG, Germany) were applied to initial proximal lesions of permanent incisors and premolars according to the manufacturer's instruction. The clinical quality of resin infiltration was assessed at 1 week, 1, 2, 3 and 4 years after the treatment and the evaluation of the therapeutic effect was analyzed by radiographs.

RESULTS
Ten patients were followed up clinically for four years. The majority of the infiltrated lesions were located on permanent incisors. Teeth which were proximally infiltrated did not exhibit dental plaque and gingival bleeding in most cases. At annual recalls, plaque scores remained constant. The gingival status remained steady and no differences in tooth shape and contour were detected. Discoloration was detected in four teeth (19%) in 1st year recall and was constant at annual intervals. The radiographic evaluation of the bitewing radiographs showed no progression in 21 lesions (100%) from baseline to the 4-year recall. Overall oral hygiene of the patients was satisfactory.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, proximal infiltration is an effective prophylactic measure in adolescents.


In this paper, we propose and analyze SQuARM-SGD, a communication-efficient algorithm for decentralized training of large-scale machine learning models over a network. In SQuARM-SGD, each node performs a fixed number of local SGD steps using Nesterov's momentum and then sends sparsified and quantized updates to its neighbors regulated by a locally computable triggering criterion. We provide convergence guarantees of our algorithm for general (non-convex) and convex smooth objectives, which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first theoretical analysis for compressed decentralized SGD with momentum updates. We show that the convergence rate of SQuARM-SGD matches that of vanilla SGD. We empirically show that including momentum updates in SQuARM-SGD can lead to better test performance than the current state-of-the-art which does not consider momentum updates.


Single-crystal X-ray analysis (R 1 = 0.030, R 2 = 0.031) in space group Cc. On a statistical basis, the M(1) site (mean M(1)-O = 2.14Aa) contains 0.55 Li and 0.45 vacancy, whereas the M(2) and M(3) sites (mean M(2)-O, = 1.902,M(3)-O = 1.903Aa) are fully occupied by Al. In the tetrahedral sites, the ordering of Al,Be relative to Si is nearly complete (mean T-O: 1.723, 1.721, 1.632, 1.628Aa) with a similar pattern to that found in margarite.--Modified journal abstract.


This sweeping recasting of American naval history is a bold departure from the conventional "sea power" approach. Volume Two of HISTORY OF THE U.S. NAVY shows how the Navy in World War II helped to upset the traditional balance in Europe and Asia. Days after Pearl Harbor, Admiral Ernest J. King took command of a navy overwhelmed by the demands of a two-ocean war. King devised grand strategies to defeat the Axis and promoted a cadre of fighting admirals - Halsey, Spruance, Hewitt, Kincaid, and Turner - who waved naval and amphibious warfare on a scale unprecedented in complexity and violence. New sources provide an entirely fresh look at the Battle of the Atlantic, the invasion of Europe, and the great naval campaigns in the Pacific.


When mass fatality incidents (MFIs) occur, they can quickly overwhelm local, state, and government agencies, resources, and personnel. It is important to have a rapid and effective response with skilled, multidisciplinary victim identification teams since specific skill sets are necessary to participate in mass fatality preparedness and response. The aims of this study were to determine the extent of formal education related to mass fatality preparedness and response training in U.S. dental hygiene programs and to assess program directors' perceptions of the need for such training. A 23-item cross-sectional survey was emailed to 319 U.S. dental hygiene programs in 2015. Survey questions addressed if the program offered mass fatality preparedness and response training to its students and how much training was given, as well as collecting respondents' demographics and opinions regarding education and training. An overall response rate of 36% was obtained, with 111 program chairs completing the survey. The results showed that only a small percentage of responding programs incorporated coursework related to mass fatality and preparedness in their curricula. Of the responding programs, 84% had no formal instruction on the role of a dental hygienist in MFIs; however, 53 of 69 program directors agreed or strongly agreed that the role of dental hygienists in MFIs should be covered in dental hygiene curricula. The top three barriers to incorporating such training reported by respondents were time requirements, lack of faculty expertise, and lack of equipment. Future research is needed to establish standardized competencies for mass fatality preparedness and response in dental hygiene education.


15 Sechura Bay in Northern Peru represents the most important location to produce the Peruvian bay scallop 16 (Argopecten purpuratus) – not only on national but also international level. This business emerged from 17 the initiative of a hand full of small-scale entrepreneurial dive fishers finding ideal culture conditions in 18 the large bay of Sechura, and is by now an important sector of the Peruvian economy, producing these 19 molluscs mainly for the highly competitive export market. In Sechura, it started as an informal, open 20 access activity, where, as business rose, exclusive extraction and later territorial use rights have been 21 granted formally under Peruvian law to small-scale fisher associations. While scallop culture is highly 22 profitable under "normal" (environmental) conditions in Sechura Bay, it is, however, investment intensive 23 and a financially extremely risky business, for example when El Niño related dynamics cause scallop die24 offs. After a de facto privatisation into the hands of those with the financial means, ability to take the risk, 25 and other capabilities, the latest law has paved the way for large-scale investors to hold all important 26 property rights and to take control of all strategic steps of the production process. This qualitative case 27 study tells the story of the privatisation of the scallop business in Sechura Bay, using the Institutional and 28 Development Framework and various theories around institutional change. The story told is, on the one 29 hand, conventional in the sense that a typical process of grabbing was observed: weak actors having to 30 leave or being pushed out of a particular place or business. On the other hand, this process of grabbing 31 took several turns: first, weak actors, small-scale fishers, could secure their rights by achieving 32 formalization and hence recognition from the Peruvian state, to then lose them succinctly due to a whole 33 panoply of reasons to powerful newly entering players, powerful investors. 34


1. The results of non-linear optimization studies on the mechanism of reaction of solid-state fully reduced membrane-bound cytochrome oxidase with CO over the 178--203 K range are presented. The analysis is carried out on data obtained by dual-wavelength multichannel spectroscopy at three wavelength pairs (444--463 nm, 590--630 nm and 608--630 nm), which yield three distinct progress curves. The only model that satisfies the triple requirement of a standard deviation within the standard error of the data, a random distribution of residuals and good determination of the optimized parameters is a two-species sequential mechanism: flash photolysis yields unliganded cytochrome oxidase and free CO, which then recombine to form species Ic; Ic is then converted into species IIc, which is identical with the cytochrome oxidase-CO complex existing before flash photolysis. All the thermodynamic parameters describing this model are calculated. 2. On the basis of the data obtained from this paper, together with data from potentiometric studies, magnetic susceptibility measurements and i.r. spectroscopy, the chemical identity of the species is suggested.


This paper introduces a new Bayesian fusion algorithm to combine more than one trust component (data trust and communication trust) to infer the overall trust between nodes. This research work proposes that one trust component is not enough when deciding on whether or not to trust a specific node in a wireless sensor network. This paper discusses and analyses the results from the communication trust component (binary) and the data trust component (continuous) and proves that either component by itself, can mislead the network and eventually cause a total breakdown of the network. As a result of this, new algorithms are needed to combine more than one trust component to infer the overall trust. The proposed algorithm is simple and generic as it allows trust components to be added and deleted easily. Simulation results demonstrate that a node is highly trustworthy provided that both trust components simultaneously confirm its trustworthiness and conversely, a node is highly untrustworthy if its untrustworthiness is asserted by both components.


Background: Calcaneal osteotomies are often required in the correction of hindfoot deformities. The traditional open techniques, which include a lateral or oblique incision, are occasionally associated with wound healing problems and neurovascular injury. Methods: A total of 122 consecutive patients who underwent a calcaneal osteotomy for hindfoot realignment treatment were included. Fifty-eight patients were operated using an open incision technique and 64 patients (66 feet) using a percutaneous technique. Clinical and radiologic assessments were performed preoperatively, at 6 weeks, and 1 year postoperatively. Results: The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society scale scores and visual analog scale pain scores improved in both groups postoperatively. The difference between the groups was not significant. The results of the radiologic measurements pre- and postoperatively were not significantly different. No pseudarthrosis occurred in either group. The comparison of both groups showed a significantly lower risk for wound healing problems in the percutaneous group. The hospitalization time was significantly shorter in the percutaneous group. Conclusion: Because of the excellent results with the percutaneous calcaneal osteotomy, the authors feel encouraged to establish this procedure as a standard technique for calcaneus osteotomy, especially patients at high risk for wound healing problems. Level of Evidence: Level III, comparative series.


The multi-scale defect detection for solar cell electroluminescence (EL) images is a challenging task, due to the feature vanishing as network deepens. To address this problem, a novel Bidirectional Attention Feature Pyramid Network (BAFPN) is designed by combining the novel multi-head cosine non-local attention module with top-down and bottom-up feature pyramid networks through bidirectional cross-scale connections, which can make all layers of the pyramid share similar semantic features. In multi-head cosine non-local attention module, cosine function is applied to compute the similarity matrix of the input features. Furthermore, a novel object detector is proposed, called BAF-Detector, which embeds BAFPN into Region Proposal Network (RPN) in Faster RCNN+FPN to improve the detection effect of multi-scale defects in solar cell EL images. Finally, some experimental results on a large-scale EL dataset including 3629 images, 2129 of which are defective, show that the proposed method performs much better than other methods in terms of multi-scale defects classification and detection results in raw solar cell EL images.


The role of the central 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neuron system in cerebral microcirculation of the rat was examined by immunohistochemical and hydrogen clearance methods. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated 5-HT-immunoreactive nerve fibers along intraparenchymal blood vessels (arterioles, capillaries, and venules). Ultrastructural observation revealed that 5-HT-immunoreactive terminal boutons (0.3 to 1.0 micron in diameter) made contact with the basement membrane of the capillaries. After an intracerebral injection of 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT), a neurotoxin to the 5-HT neuron system, no 5-HT-immunoreactive nerve fibers were found around the injection site with immunohistochemical techniques. With the hydrogen clearance method, the 5,7-DHT-injected cortex showed no significant change in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the presence of normocapnia, but a significant increase in rCBF with hypercapnia, compared with the untreated cortex. These facts strongly suggest that the central 5-HT neuron system has an important role in carbon dioxide reactivity of the cerebral blood vessels.


A novel Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, non-motile and acid-fast actinomycete strain, designated CFH S0067T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from Heshun old town in Tengchong, Yunnan province, in south-west PR China. The taxonomic position of strain CFH S0067T was studied in detail using a polyphasic approach. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, revealed that strain CFH S0067T belongs to the genus Nocardia and is closely related to Nocardia concava JCM 12351T (99.3 % similarity), forming a separated branch with this type strain. However, the strain shared 96.0 % gyrB gene sequence similarity with N. concava JCM 12351T. Furthermore, DNA-DNA hybridization showed 56.5±0.6 % DNA relatedness between the novel strain and N. concava JCM 12351T. The whole-cell hydrolysates contained meso-diaminopimelic acid (type IV) and arabinose, galactose, fructose and mannose. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannoside and one unidentified lipid. Strain CFH S0067T contained MK-8 (H4ω-cycl) as the predominant menaquinone. C16 : 0, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c), C18 : 1ω9c and C18 : 0 10-methyl (TBSA) were the major cellular fatty acids. Mycolic acids were also detected. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was determined to be 66.9 mol%. A combination of the low DNA-DNA hybridization values and phenotypic properties demonstrated that strain CFH S0067Tis clearly distinguishable from its most closely related strain, N. concava JCM 12351T. On the basis of this polyphasic study, it is concluded that strain CFH S0067T should be considered to represent a novel species of the genus Nocardia, for which the name Nocardia heshunensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CFH S0067T (=DSM 46764T=JCM 30085T).


Edited by Gianluca Passarelli, new collection The Presidentialization of Political Parties: Organizations, Institutions and Leaders, explores why the level of party presidentialisation varies between countries, arguing that this is linked to both constitutional design and the genetic features of political parties. Although he finds that some of the country case studies provide stronger evidence for the book's central argument than others, Raul Aldaz appraises this book as a valuable contribution to the field that will be of particular use to scholars of comparative politics.


Transparent conducting tin (IV) oxide thin films have been studies and developed for the electrode materials of solar cell substrate. Fabrication of tin oxide thin films by sol-gel method is process development of lower cost photovoltaic solar cell system. The research is focused on the establishment of process condition and development of precursor. The precursor solution was made of tin isopropoxide dissolved in isopropyl alcohol. The hydrolysis rate was controlled by addition of triethanolamine. Dip and spin coating technique were applied to coat tin oxide on borosilicate glass. The resistivity of the thin film was lower than 0.1Ω-cm and the transmittance is higher than 90% in a visible range.


ABSTRACT Purpose: Postgraduate clinical training (PCT) has been available to PAs since the 1970s and to NPs since at least 2007. Some programs now enroll PAs and NPs. Although this new training model appears to be expanding, little data about integrated PA/NP programs are available. Methods: This study examined the PA/NP PCT landscape in the United States. Programs were identified from membership rosters of the Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs and the Association of Post Graduate APRN Programs. Data (program name, sponsoring institution, location, specialty, accreditation status) were identified from programs' websites. Results: We identified 106 programs at 42 sponsoring institutions. Various specialties, most commonly in emergency medicine, critical care, and surgery, were represented. Few were accredited. Conclusions: PA/NP PCT is now common, with about half of the programs accepting PAs and NPs. These programs represent a unique form of interprofessional education involving full integration of two professions in the same program and are worthy of further investigation.


Biogas production from lignocellulosic biomass can be used as an alternative fuel to replace fossil fuels. Lignocellulose can be obtained from agricultural crop residues, such as rice straw. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of F/I ratio, total solid content, and physical pretreatment on biogas production by solid-state anaerobic digestion. The kinetics of biogas production were also examined in this study. The results showed that the biogas yield decreased by the increasing of F/I ratio. Meanwhile, the increase TS content of 22% to 24% also decreased the biogas yield. Physical pretreatment had no a significant effect on biogas yield (p > 0.05). The highest biogas yield of 248.4 L/kg VS was obtained at an F/I ratio of 2, TS content of 22%, and particle size of 2 mm. The kinetics of biogas production from rice straw followed the first-order kinetic model with the highest rate constant (k) of 0.0861 day−1.


Taking the output power, thermal efficiency, and thermo-economic performance as the optimization objectives, we optimize the operation parameters of a thermodynamic system with combined endoreversible Carnot heat engines in this paper. The applicabilities of the entropy generation minimization and entransy theory to the optimizations are discussed. For the discussed cases, only the entransy loss coefficient is always agreeable to the optimization of thermal efficiency. The applicabilities of the other discussed concepts to the optimizations are conditional. Different concepts and principles are needed for different optimization objectives, and the optimization principles have their application preconditions. When the preconditions are not satisfied, the principles may be not applicable.


We propose a novel system that analyzes the components of rigidity in Parkinson's disease (PD) usually perceived by physicians, in a very simple and systematic way for routine clinical practice. Our system is composed of two compact force sensors, a gyroscope, and EMG surface electrodes. Muscle tone was assessed in 24 healthy elderly subjects and 27 PD patients by passive extension and flexion of the elbow joint with ramp‐and‐hold trajectory. Torque and angle data in the dynamic phase were used to calculate "elastic coefficients" in extension and flexion, and the mean value of torque in each dynamic phase at each joint angle (defined as "Bias") was also calculated. The muscle activity index in the static phase (EMG Index) was obtained for both biceps brachii (BB) and triceps brachii (TB) muscles. "Elastic coefficients," sum of the "difference of Bias" and "EMG Index" for BB all correlated well with UPDRS score. Based on our results, Parkinsonian rigidity consists of both an "elastic" component and a "difference of Bias" component, and neurologists may assess greater rigidity when either one or both components are high in value. The EMG index was useful for differentiating PD patients with slight rigidity from healthy elderly adults. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society


AIM:To observe the changes in erythrocyte membrane ATPases and plasma lipid peroxides (LPO) patients with in abdominal surgery under intravenous procainebalanced anesthesia.METHODS:By determining the ATPase activities of erythrocyte membrane, effects of upper abdominal surgery under intravenous procaine-balanced anesthesia on the function of erythrocytes were observed in 15 patients undergoing cholecystectomy and gastrectomy (5 males and 10 females, aged 45.9 ± 10.20 years and weighed 60.60kg ± 11.93kg). All patients were free from severe renal,hepatic, pulmonary, cardiac, metabolic and endocrinological diseases and acute infection for at least 2 weeks before surgery. Patients receiving any drug known to affect carbohydrate metabolism prior to anesthesia were excluded from the study.RESULTS:Erythrocyte membrane Na(+), K(+)-ATPase, Mg(2+)-ATPase, Ca(2+), Mg(2+)-ATPase activities were not significantly changed 60min-90min after incision as compared with 30min before anesthesia, but were decreased markedly 10min and 24 hours after completion of operation (P < 0.01). Plasma lipid peroxides (LPO) were increased significantly 24 hours after surgery (P < 0.01) following an initially marked but transient reduction. Plasma LPO changes were not correlated with erythrocyte membrane ATPase activities, r =-0.0396, -0.0097 and 0.4383, respectively (P > 0.05).CONCLUSION:Abdominal surgical trauma under intravenous procaine-balanced anesthesia may be associated with the decreased ATPase activities of erythrocyte membrane and increased LPO in plasma.


Subgingival crown-root fractures often present clinical problems when a restorative coverage of the fracture line conflicts with the biological width. Accepted treatment options include the extrusion of the remaining root with a conventional orthodontic appliance, surgical crown lengthening of the root, or root extraction with prosthetic tooth replacement. After considering esthetics and function, orthodontic extrusion with magnets might also be a viable alternative. In this report, a simplified method of orthodontic extrusion with magnets is presented.


Sea urchin coelomocytes were examined during their morphological transformation from petaloid to filopodial forms by scanning electron microscopy and ciné film analysis, Petaloid coelomocytes have a variable morphology but, in general, consist of numerous thin sheets of cytoplasm, the petals, arranged in three dimensions around a central nuclear region. The transition to the filopodial form can occur in either substrate-attached or suspended cells and begins with the formation of several microspikes at the edge of each petal. These become more apparent as the cytoplasm between each microspike/filopodium is retracted centripetally. Concomitantly, the diameter of the flattened cell is increased by as much as twofold as the filopodia actively lengthen at a uniform, average rate of 0.5 microns/minute. The transformation process requires ca 15 minutes and is complete when the cell diameter no longer increases. These filopodia are functionally distinct from the passively produced retraction fibers observed in cultured mammalian cells. The formation of filopodia is biphasic and includes both a cytoplasmic retraction phase and an active extension phase.


The heating rate of the core layer of plywood during hot-pressing is of great importance to the final quality of the plywood and is affected by many factors, such as the hot-pressing temperature (THP), hot-pressing pressure (PHP), hot-pressing time (tHP), veneer layers, and moisture content. In this study, multi-plywood using modified soy protein (MSP) adhesives prepared to investigate the effects of THP, tHP, and veneer layers on the core layer temperature during hot-pressing. The results indicated that all the core layer temperature curves were divided into four stages. The first constant temperature stage and the slow warming stage were decisive with respect to the time needed for the core layer to reach the THP. The time of moisture vaporization was approximately 400 s in the 3-layer plywood and approximately 900 s in the 5-layer plywood. In order to get an ideal strength the tHP should greater than the time of moisture vaporization; therefore in theory, the optimum parameters of the 3-layer plywood production were tHP of 600 to 720 s and THP of 120 to 125 °C. The research provides a theoretical basis for optimizing the hot-pressing of plywood.


Security problems are the critic factors that hinder the development of Mobile Agent system.This article tries to put forward a new protocol named MASTP(Mobile Agent Secure Transfer Protocol)as a kind of solution to these security problems facing the Mobile Agent system on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of them and the current research findings in this aspect.The application of MASTP protocol on the platform of aglets is demonstrated at the end of the article.


The parents of 84 school-age children with cerebral palsy were interviewed about their early experiences of dealing with health professionals. Seventy per cent of families expressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of their contact with the health services during the initial period of diagnosis and referral. Lack of explanation, either about the child's condition or the reasons for follow-up, was the commonest complaint (58%), followed by having their worries dismissed by doctors and the need to make repeated visits before their child's problem was recognized (51%). Twenty per cent complained about the manner in which they had been told about their child's disability and 5% were critical of the lack of understanding on the part of doctors of the practical difficulties they faced. A high level of dissatisfaction was found among parents of children who had recognized perinatal problems but dissatisfaction was not found to be proportional to the severity of the child's handicap. Ways in which the quality and delivery of services could be improved are discussed.


Gene classification based on orthologous relations is an important problem to understand species-universal or species-specific conservation of genes in genomes associated with phenotype in species. In the present study, we proposed a classification system of genes based on configuration of networks concerning bidirectional best-hit relations (called orthologous relation group), which makes it possible to compare multiple genomes. We have applied this method to five Bacillus species (B. subtilis, B. anthracis, B. cereus, B. halodurans, andB. thuringiensis). With regards to the the five species, 4, 776 orthologous relation groups have been obtained, and those are classified into 113 isomorphic groups. An isomorphic group may contain only orthologs or a combination of orthologs and paralogs. Gene functions and the conservativeness are discussed in view of configuration of orthologous relation groups.


Summary The paper defines three major zones of deformation across the Nimadric (Tertiary freshwater) geosyncline between the foreland and the autochthonous folded belt in the North-West Himalaya:— (1) A zone of open folding, affected to a varying degree by fold-faulting. (2) A fault zone, displaying a number of reversed faults of steep northerly hade and great lateral extent with open folds between them in the west and, in places, gently dipping monoclines in the east. (3) A zone with closely spaced strike-faults and severely compressed folds, referred to in the Potwar area as the isoclinal zone, terminating at the main boundary fault which forms the general northern limit of Nimadric rocks. This succession of structural zones has a superficial resemblance to progressive deformation of the Jura type towards the nappe zone, and previous workers have regarded the tectonic pattern as reflecting tangential pressures from the north. The author seeks to demonstrate that such an interpretation is denied by the evidence of the structures themselves. Two areas are chosen to illustrate in adequate detail the tectonics of all three zones, and in particular the crucial fault zone. In the west, the Jhamat-Khushalgar area of western Potwar typifies the fault zone of the area between the Indus and the Jhelum rivers. In this area there is clear evidence of the steep hade of the great strike-faults at the surface, and also important evidence of their continued steep hade in depth from the results of boreholes drilled by the Attock Oil Company. Analysis of the relationship of the faults to the fold structures leads to the conclusion that the faults have no genetic relationship to the fold axes. They are considered to be fractures due to shearing stresses principally with a vertical orientation, whilst the folding reflects the subsidiary compressive force. The Nadaun Dun area of Kangra district is some 200 miles to the southeast of the Potwar area, but lies across similar structural zones and typifies the relationships of the anticlinal zone and the fault zone in the region east of the Jhelum River. In this area the Gumber fault is seen to present all the features of the great strike-faults of the fault zone in the Potwar and is an upthrust structure produced by quasi-vertical movement. A feature not present in the Potwar is the marked contrast between the gently dipping monocline to the north of the fault and the strongly folded country to the south, providing a clearer distinction between the influence of tangential and vertical forces. It appears that the fault movement provided a block-line against which tangential forces from the south were directed. Important evidence of tangential pressure from the south is provided by the Barsa fault, which typifies the most common form of fold-fault in the anticlinal zone throughout the region. Gravity collapse structures are recorded in the form of severely overturned " flaps " of sandstone on the south side of the Sola Singhi ridge.


The paper describes the most infrequent case of cryptococcal granuloma of the midbrain in a HIV-negative female patient aged 41 years. The patient with midbrain lesion without signs of meningitis was found to have a bulky midbrain opercular formation that was regarded as a nodal glioma. The diagnosis of cryptococcal granuloma was established after removal of the formation (via occipito-transtentorial access with dissection of the lamina tecti) and pathomorphological examination. Microbiological studies verified the diagnosis. Despite the initiation of specific treatment with amphotericin B, the patient died on day 12 following surgery for cryptococcal meningoencephalitis.


The new marine policy of the European Union (Marine Strategy Directive and the Integrated Maritime Policy) respond to the introduction of the concept of Sustainable Development into the management of the marine environment. The understanding and commitment of the application of such a concept to Europe's Seas is critical for the future and requires new guidelines and tools to assist their implementation. International agreement has recognised the need to establish the management of oceans and coasts based on the Ecosystem approach and its associated principles. To reach this objective, we are proposing a structured system of procedures and tools, here called Ecosystem-Based Management System (EBMS), aimed at implementing the Ecosystem approach at different spatial and administrative scales. This managerial system should be implemented within effective governance structures designed to uphold the modern principles of environmental management.


The significance of collateral ligament desmitis of the tarsocrural joint is often clinically underestimated, because it is an uncommon injury with a guarded prognosis for athletic soundness. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome of 12 horses with collateral ligament desmitis, along with tarsocrural joint synovitis secondary to hemarthrosis. Criteria for inclusion in this study included clinical signs of tarsocrural joint synovitis and sonographic evidence of collateral ligament desmitis. This retrospective study evaluated horses over an 8-year period. Median follow-up after treatment was 5.5 years. Four horses in the study returned to their previous level of performance, 6 horses remained lame due to pain in the tarsus, 1 was euthanized, and 1 is in convalescence. This study highlights the importance of collateral ligament desmitis, and emphasizes the need for early, aggressive treatment to prevent the development of osteoarthritis.


Regular physical training has been shown to affect bone development. It has been shown in Caucasians that athletes participated in sports involving long-term unilateral mechanical loading showed significantly larger dominant-to-nondominant differences in BMC and BMD in humerus and radius than those in sedentary subjects. However, racial differences do exits in bone metabolism and no information was available regarding the effect of unilateral mechanical loading on bone development in teenage Asian females. The differences in bone mineral content (BMC), mineral density (BMD), and cross section area of distal radius and ulna between dominant and non-dominant limbs were investigated in teenage female volleyball players. Thirty-nine volleyball players (VOL group) from junior national team and a high school and thirty gender-, height-, weight- and age-matched sedentary subjects (CON group) were recruited. The bone parameters were measured with a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry bone densitometer. In VOL group, dominant radius BMC and ulna BMC and cross-sectional area were significantly higher than those of non-dominant hand. In CON group, dominant ulna BMC and cross-sectional area were significantly higher than those of non-dominant hand. All bone parameters measured were significantly higher in VOL group than those in the respective sites in CON group. The percent side-to-side differences were not significantly different in any parameters measured between the 2 groups. This study suggested that long-term regular volleyball training did not result in more significant bilateral difference in BMC, BMD, and cross-sectional area in radius and ulna in Taiwanese teenage females. (Biol.Sport 25:69-76, 2008)


Conventional theories of power within organisations focus on the extent to which one party can impose their will on others through social influence. Discussion of the way that same-sex and opposite-sex attraction impacts on the workplace is rarely theorised either because it is considered uncivilised or taboo. Investigations are also hampered by resistance amongst research participants even when care is taken to establish mixed groups from different organisations. As a result, holistic theories of management control that take account of sexual behaviour remain rare. This paper examines empirical data from an 18-month critical ethnography to present new theory on interpersonal dynamics, socialisation and identification. A grounded theory is developed that suggests social decisions are closely linked to the psychology of giving and getting attention and
assistance. As relationships develop, patterns of giving and receiving create economic and social dependencies that evolve into the tacit rules of social life and affect the bonds between people. Sharp conflicts occur when one party wants to change the relationship and the other party resists. The process of renegotiation affects the stability of directly and indirectly affected relationships and
can change patterns of influence and bases of social power. Individuals' commitment and health can be affected. Decision-making and impacts are affected by the state of other relationships, past
experiences, social and economic dependency and the aspirations of both parties. Findings are reviewed against existing theories of power to offer a radical perspective that power has two-faces, the ability to influence and the ability to resist influence. Authoritarian behaviours can be activated by perceptions of powerlessness rather than a sense of power. The implications for handling conflicts and harassment claims are discussed, together with comment on gender theory and its relationship to corporate governance.


This study attempts a comparative and contrastive analysis of the subsystems of the prepositions in Arabic and English, in terms of their uses, function and meanings in order to find the major similarities and differences between Arabic and English and to account for any possible deviations that may characterize the performance of Arabic learners. The result showed that there are similarities and differences between these two subsystems of the prepositions in Arabic and English. The similarities between them facilitate the development process of learning a foreign language (positive transfer), whereas differences make learning process of a foreign language difficult and Arabic learners make many mistakes (negative transfer or interference).This study has pedagogical implications for teaching prepositions in English and to help teachers and motivate them to describe and analyse the learners' errors and also to prepare remedial exercises to eliminate the errors their students make in the use of prepositions.