We examined the expression of MHC class I and II in the arterial endothelium of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma, GKO) and IFN-gamma-R (IFN-gamma-R, GRKO) gene knockout mice in comparison with mice with intact IFN-gamma and IFN-gamma-R genes, BALB/c and 129Sv/J wild-type, respectively. The GKO and GRKO were produced by gene targeting. MHC class I and II expression was assessed by mAb binding to frozen tissue (kidney, spleen, heart, liver) sections by immunoperoxidase staining in the basal state and after various stimuli: allogeneic cells, oxazolone skin sensitization, LPS, and rIFN-gamma. As controls, we also examined the expression of two other IFN-gamma inducible genes present in the endothelium, Ly-6 and ICAM-1. We found that basal class I expression was present in the small arteries and arterioles of BALB/c and 129Sv/J wild-type mice but absent from arterial endothelium of GKO and GRKO mice. Class I was induced in the endothelium of BALB/c and 129Sv/J wild-type mice by three in vivo stimuli: allogeneic, LPS, and oxazolone, whereas class II was only induced after allogeneic stimulus. Administration of rIFN-gamma induced class I in the endothelium of GKO and BALB/c wild-type mice. The basal expression of Ly-6 and ICAM-1 was similar in the arteries of GKO and BALB/c wild-type mice, indicating that, the basal expression of these proteins in endothelium is IFN-gamma independent, unlike class I. In summary, basal class I expression in arterial endothelium is not constitutive as previously believed, but is dependent on basal IFN-gamma production. IFN-gamma has an essential role in the induction of class I and II expression in arterial endothelium. The fact that MHC class I is induced in endothelium may be useful therapeutically for reduction of immune recognition in transplantation.


Pasteurella multocida infections can be caused by scratches or bites of many animals including pets. An unrecognized infection can lead to severe complications such as arthritis, osteomyelitis, respiratory infections and even meningitis or endocarditis. We present the case of a woman affected by soft tissue infection caused by Pasteurella multocida complicated by bacteremia and pneumonia.


Fifty-three children under 18 years of age with sonogram-proved intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) were seen between July 1993 and June 1996 at the Department of Pediatrics of the Mackay Memorial Hospital, then were studied retrospectively. Following a course of conservative treatment and follow-up with serial sonographic studies, 42 (79.3%) patients responded favourably to antibiotics treatment without drainage procedure. The other 11 patients' condition deteriorated, and surgical intervention was performed. The gradual shrinkage and completely resolved periods of the abscesses averaged 27.9 days. The average duration of antibiotic treatment was 23.6 days, intravenously for average 12.2 days followed by oral treatment until the abscess was completely resolved (average 11.4 days). The intra-abdominal abscess recurred in 3 (5.7%) patients. The experience demonstrates that pediatric patients with an intra-abdominal abscess must be followed closely by sonography, and they can be managed successfully with appropriate antibiotics alone. Surgical intervention is still needed if symptoms and signs persist or deteriorate.


Optimal eye care for the growing South African population is dependent on the teamwork of ophthalmologists, ophthalmic medical officers, optometrists, orthoptists, general practitioners, school health workers and ophthalmic nurses. General practitioners are often reluctant to manage eye-related pathology. This may be the result of insufficient exposure to the subject during undergraduate training, which leaves the doctor with no confidence to treat his / her patients.


Our research focuses specifically on the methodology to be applied to improve the relevance of the multiples-based valuation method regarding the identification of the most relevant multiples (i.e., that reduce the relative absolute valuation error within any industry-based peer group). In line with prior empirical studies, our results confirm that Enterprise Value multiples based on EBIT and EBITDA perform better, compared to Sales and Capital Employed, and that multiples based on forward-looking EBIT and EBITDA are more relevant compared to corresponding actual earnings. In the absence of forward-looking earnings, available at the date of valuation, our study shows that EBITDA multiples provide better estimates than EBIT multiples do. Beyond these general results, the approach implemented in our research can be easily reproduced by practitioners (e.g., financial analysts, M&A advisors, independent appraisers) to identify case-by-case the multiples that are the most relevant within any industry-based peer group.


Plasmonics is a fast developing research area with a great potential for practical applications. However, the implementation of plasmonic devices requires low cost methodologies for the fabrication of organized metallic nanostructures that covers a relative large area (∼1 cm2). Here the patterning of periodic arrays of nanoholes (PANHs) in gold films by using a combination of interference lithography, metal deposition, and lift off is reported. The setup allows the fabrication of periodic nanostructures with hole diameters ranging from 110 to 1000 nm, for 450 and 1800 nm of periodicity, respectively. The large areas plasmonic substrates consist of 2 cm × 2 cm gold films homogeneously covered by nanoholes and gold films patterned with a regular microarray of 200 μm diameter circular patches of PANHs. The microarray format is used for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging and its potential for applications in multiplex biosensing is demonstrated. The gold films homogeneously covered by nanoholes are useful as electrodes in a thin layer organic photovoltaic. This is first example of a large area plasmonic solar cell with organized nanostructures. The fabrication approach reported here is a good candidate for the industrial‐scale production of metallic substrates for plasmonic applications in photovoltaics and biosensing.


The fashion system in New Zealand has strong ties to its northern hemispheric roots, largely due to its colonial past. As a result, local understandings of fashion and design have been derived from predominant British influences in terms of garment design, aesthetics, construction and manufacturing systems. This paper examines the appropriateness of continuing to follow these traditional systems as opposed to exploring more dynamic methods suited to the local environment and culture. Through a discussion of critical and theoretical contexts including Deleuze's theory of the 'production of difference' (Deleuze 1994), a global fashion economy and the disconnection of design from geography in the virtual marketplace, the authors proposed that there is a significant refocus which needs to happen for New Zealand fashion to reinvent itself as a dynamic and international industry. The rethinking of traditional methods of manufacturing and the way we use existing technology offer the best opportunity to drive innovative design both in terms of process and aesthetics. Knitwear design in New Zealand is used as a case study to explore the differences and similarities between local design and manufacturing models compared to those in the United Kingdom. The argument is that adhering to traditional methods of manufacturing is connected to the on-going reproduction of a particular design aesthetic and has prevented more experimental use of new technology: in this case, the use of the seamless knitwear, whole garment machine in the local knitwear industry in anything other than a traditional mode. Similarly, the continued focus of traditional methods of garment construction could be limiting the development of more innovative fashion design. New Zealand does not need to manufacture more clothing but instead should focus on producing high end, distinctive product for an international niche market, a strategy that has proven successful for other New Zealand industries, particularly the premium wine and tourism industries.


Aim: This study was to histologically assess the therapeutic effect of aqueous fruit extract of Phoenix dactylifera (AFEPD) on lead acetate-induced cerebellar damage in Wistar rats.

 Methods: Twenty four rats were grouped into six (I–VI; n=4). Group I (control) received distilled water (1 ml/kg). Group II received lead acetate (LA, 120mg/kg) only. Groups III and IV received LA (120mg/kg) followed by AFEPD (1000mg/kg and 1500mg/kg, respectively). Groups V and VI received AFEPD (1000mg/kg and 1500mg/kg, respectively). All administrations were by oral route. Treatment lasted 28 days; LA was administered from day 1 to day 14, while AFEPD was administered from day 15 to day 28 of the experimental period. Therapeutic activity of AFEPD was assessed by histological examination of the cerebellar cortex with H and E stain.

 Results: Findings revealed neurodegenerative changes in the cerebellar cortex like perineuronal vacoulations and cytoplasmic shrinkage in molecular layer cells and Purkinje cells in LA-intoxicated group. The administration of AFEPD remarkably ameliorated LA–induced cerebellar damage dose dependently. Normal cerebellar histoarchitecture was observed with administration of AFEPD only.

 Conclusion: Results suggest that AFEPD has therapeutic potentials against lead acetate-induced cerebellar damage in Wistar rats.

 Key words: Cerebellum, Lead acetate, Phoenix dactylifera


&NA; Feather pecking is still a behavioral problem in laying hen flocks, resulting in impaired welfare and economic losses. Environment enrichment, e.g., providing access to litter, to increase foraging behavior in laying hens has been shown to decrease feather pecking. This study investigated the effect of spreading crushed mussel shells (particle size 10 to 20 mm) in the litter area as an environment enrichment and source of calcium for layers receiving a commercial feed and for layers given a feed with 40% less calcium. These treatments were compared with a control involving hens given the commercial feed, but no mussel shells in the litter. The study included 900 Dekalb White layers housed in a single‐tier floor system during a production cycle (20 to 72 wk of age). The mussel shells were consumed to a lower extent than predicted, resulting in calcium deficiency in hens fed the low‐calcium diet. This in turn was evident as increased degree of keel bone deviations and lower eggshell breaking strength. Daily addition of crushed mussel shells to the litter for laying hens on a balanced or calcium‐deficient diets did not generate any positive effects on bird feather cover, eggshell quality, production performance, or fearfulness. Hence, with the particle size of mussel shells used in this study, there was no indication of improved welfare due to environment enrichment.


Digital public displays are evolving towards becoming more ubiquitous, but also towards alternative media publication paradigms that challenge prevailing assumptions. In our work, we are particularly interested in the concept of place-based displays, which are managed independently by a local display owner to serve the communications goals of a specific place. We analysed usage and content data from 35 place-based displays to understand how their specific properties can affect the respective media publication practices and the situatedness of the content. The results show that publication practices tend to be less formal and much more situated than what is now common in most display networks. These display owners seem to have perceived the need to balance between the values of immediate and spontaneous communication and the values of branding and media planning. This might confirm the expectation that future display systems may evolve towards becoming a medium that is more open to new forms of self-expression, appropriation and Human connectedness.


The complex interplay by tunneling and scattering in quantum cascade lasers is analyzed with nonequilibrium Green's functions. Data for a recently proposed simple structure based on only two wells per period is presented. This simple structure allows to visualize the relevance of the tunneling resonance very clearly. It is argued that a QCL design needs at least three levels per period, thus further simplifications of the design are not likely to occur for THz lasers. Finally the similarities and differences between quantum cascade lasers and superlattices are addressed.


The purpose of this study is to knowing: (1) can the application of inquiry learning methods increases learning motivation of measuring tool; and (2) can the application of inquiry learning methods increases learning achievement of measuring tool of Light Vehicle Engineering of Al-Mujahidin NW Kumbung East Lombok. This study included a Classroom Action Research. Subject of This research is Light Vehicle Engineering in 10th class of SMK Al-Mujahidin NW Kumbung which amounts to 18 students. While the object of this research is motivation of learning and achievement of measuring tool subjects. Data collection technique in this study uses the technique of questionnaires and tests. The Istrumen in this study uses the syllabus, lesson plans, questionnaires, tests and observation sheet. And than the data analysis technique uses descriptive and quantitative analysis to determine the percentage of student achievement. The results of this research showed that: (1) the application of inquiry learning methods on measuring tool subject can increases learning motivation, indicated with an average of Students learning motivation in 1st cycle 61.22, on the 2nd cycle 76.33, and on the 3rd cycle 90.17; And (2) the application of inquiry learning methods can increases student learning achievement on measuring tool subjects. this research showed that an increase in the average value of 49.44 in 1st cycle into 78.88 in the 2nd cycle and into 85.55 on the 3rd cycle before the action.


A multi-relay scheme is developed for networks with multiple sources. By this scheme, each source is sent to its destination nodes via a multi-relay route, and the multiple multi-relay routes from the multiple sources can operate at the same time even if they intersect with each other, in the same spirit of the code-division multiple-access (CDMA). It is found that in the generalization to multiple sources, the backward decoding achieves higher rates than the sliding-window decoding. The corresponding achievable rate region is characterized. Potential applications of this scheme to sensor networks are discussed, where capacity results in certain scenarios are established


Abstract Mental illness is increasingly recognized as both a significant cost to society and a significant area of opportunity for biological breakthrough. As -omics and imaging technologies enable researchers to probe molecular and physiological underpinnings of multiple diseases, opportunities arise to explore the biological basis for behavioral health and disease. From individual investigators to large international consortia, researchers have generated rich data sets in the area of mental health, including genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, proteomic, clinical and imaging resources. General data repositories such as the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) and mental health (MH)-specific initiatives, such as the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, MH Research Network and PsychENCODE represent a wealth of information yet to be gleaned. At the same time, novel approaches to integrate and analyze data sets are enabling important discoveries in the area of mental and behavioral health. This review will discuss and catalog into an organizing framework the increasingly diverse set of MH data resources available, using schizophrenia as a focus area, and will describe novel and integrative approaches to molecular biomarker discovery that make use of mental health data.


One of the most promising trends in modern developmental and cell biology, recently defined as <<cyto>>, or <<morphomechanics>>, is directed towards revealing the role of mechanical stresses, chemomechanical transduction and active stress responses of cells antissues of developing embryos. We review here the results obtained in this field by our research group and compare them with those from other labs. Our studies relate to the buds of hydroid polypes and to amphibian embryos. We describe the space-temporal patterns of mechanical stresses in these species, analyze their morphogenetical role and the tissue responses to the experimental modulations of stress patterns. In hydroid polypes we explore also the molecular events involved in mechanochemical coupling. A model, linking the passive mechanical stresses with the active stress-responses of embryonic tissues is suggested. We consider these investigations as a first approach to a developing embryo as to an <<active solid body>>.


Background: Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) is currently used for liver transplantation (LT) allocation, however, it is not a sufficient criterion. Objective: This current study aims to perform a hybrid neural network analysis of different data, make a decision tree and finally design a decision support system for improving LT prioritization. Material and Methods: In this cohort follow-up-based study, baseline characteristics of 1947 adult patients, who were candidates for LT in Shiraz Organ Transplant Center, Iran, were assessed and followed for two years and those who died before LT due to the end-stage liver disease were considered as dead cases, while others considered as alive cases. A well-organized checklist was filled for each patient. Analysis of the data was performed using artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector machines (SVM). Finally, a decision tree was illustrated and a user friendly decision support system was designed to assist physicians in LT prioritization. Results: Between all MELD types, MELD-Na was a stronger determinant of LT candidates' survival. Both ANN and SVM showed that besides MELD-Na, age and ALP (alkaline phosphatase) are the most important factors, resulting in death in LT candidates. It was cleared that MELD-Na <23, age <53 and ALP <257 IU/L were the best predictors of survival in LT candidates. An applicable decision support system was designed in this study using the above three factors. Conclusion: Therefore, Meld-Na, age and ALP should be used for LT allocation. The presented decision support system in this study will be helpful in LT prioritization by LT allocators.


Hyperspectral unmixing estimates the proportions of materials represented within a spectral signature. The overwhelming majority of hyperspectral unmixing algorithms are based entirely on the spectral signatures of each individual pixel and do not incorporate the spatial information found in a hyperspectral data cube. In this work, a spectral unmixing algorithm, the Local Information Proportion estimation (LIP) algorithm, is presented. The proposed LIP algorithm incorporates spatial information while determining the proportions of materials found within a spectral signature. Spatial information is incorporated through the addition of a spatial term that regularizes proportion value estimates based on the weighted proportion values of neighboring pixels. Results are shown in the AVIRIS Indian Pines hyperspectral data set.


The growth of polymeric insulator applications has shown a sharp upward trend thanks to the advantages of these insulators over the traditional porcelain and glass models. One of their most important features is their hydrophobicity, which allows water to be retained on their surface, preventing them from undergoing high current leakage. The present paper therefore aims to classify the degrees of hydrophobicity of castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis) derived polyurethane resins, which display special dielectric properties for the manufacture of polymeric insulators. The goniometric measurement technique was used through image processing. The main reason for using this technique was its guaranteed repeatability and the solution it offers for the problem of human subjectivity to which the visual inspection technique is prone.


The synthesis of calix[4]arene derivatives, 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl[25,27-bis(hydroxy)-26,28-bis(ethylthioethoxy)]-calix[4]arene, L3, and 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl[25,27-bis(ethylethanoate)oxy-26,28-bis(ethylthioethoxy)]-calix[4]arene, L4, are reported. These ligands are structurally (1H, 13C NMR and X-ray crystallography) and thermodynamically (solubility, calorimetry) characterised. In addition to L3 and L4, 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl[25,26,27,28-tetrakis(ethylethanoate)- calix[4]arene, L1 and 5,11,17,23-tetra-tert-butyl[25,26,27,28-tetrakis(methylketonemethoxy)-calix[4]arene, L2, are included in this study. Therefore, ligands L1, L2, L3 and L4 were investigated by 1H NMR technique to obtain information regarding their conformation in solution and the active sites of interaction with metal cations in different deuterated solvents at 298 K. Conductance measurements were performed to establish the composition of the metal-ion complexes with L1, L3 and L4 in acetonitrile, methanol, N,N-dimethylformamide and propylene carbonate at 298.15 K. Weak or non-existing interaction was observed in the latter solvent. However, complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry are formed in all cases. Potentiometric and calorimetric measurements were carried out to establish the thermodynamic parameters of complexation of these ligands in acetonitrile, methanol, and N,N-dimethylformamide at 298.15 K. L1 and L2 behaved in a parallel fashion in acetonitrile, with a peak selectivity for Ca2+ relative to other bivalent metal cations investigated. Complexation was absent in other media. On the other hand, L4 showed higher discrimination ability towards metal cations relative to L1 in acetonitrile, methanol and N,N-dunethylformamide. In moving to L3, the selectivity of the ligand was improved with respect to L1 and L4 to recognize only Ag+ and Hg2+. The ligand and the medium effects on the complexation process are quantitatively assessed. Solution and transfer thermodynamic parameters for the reactants and the product involved in the complexation of Ag+, Hg2+ with L3 and L4 in acetonitrile (as a reference solvent), methanol and N,N-dimethylformamide (as receiving solvents) are discussed. The complexation and solution data for the reactants and the product were used to calculate the standard enthalpies of coordination as a means of checking the reliability of the data. Extraction affinity of L3 for Ag+ was investigated in the water-dichloromethane saturated system. Crystals of several ligands and their metal-ion complexes were isolated and characterized by X-ray diffraction studies. Conclusions and suggestions for further work in this area are given.


The goal of this article is to compare the regulation of the hours of retail alcohol sales in the First (1918–1940) and Second Republic of Lithuania (1990-2012). The research is based on document analysis. The regulation of the hours of alcohol sale in the First Republic of Lithuania is divided chronologically into three stages. Starting from 1922, sales were prohibited on certain state and religious (6) holidays and allowed on Sundays, but only after the church services, i.e. after 1 p.m. From 1925 until 1934, the most severe restrictions were in effect: alcohol sales were completely prohibited on Sundays and on 13 religious and 2 state holidays, and the hours of alcohol sales were shortened on Saturdays and on other religious holidays. In 1934, alcohol sales became strongly liberalized: the number of the religious holidays prohibiting them dropped significantly (only Christmas and Easter remained), Sunday sales were liberalized (allowed after the church services) and the sale hours were slightly prolonged. However, alcohol sales remained prohibited on days of the Seimas elections and mobilization throughout the entire period of the First Republic of Lithuania. Restrictions varied in alcohol shops and various public catering establishments (restaurants, pubs, cafes) where alcohol is sold on premise. In the latter, the sale hours were slightly longer than in shops. Furthermore, regulation of sale hours differed in regional centers (larger cities) and the smaller towns. The regulation of alcohol sales is clearly linked to the ruling parties of the time. The strongest restrictions on alcohol sale hours were imposed by the second Seimas, during the ruling of the Christian Democrats, and were liberalized during the period of ruling by Antanas Smetona. The sale hours in the Second Republic of Lithuania, twenty years after the passing of the Law on Alcohol Control, are very liberal compared to that of the First republic. Over the period since 2006, sales were prohibited only on the 1st of September (on premise sales have been allowed at public catering establishments since 2008). Even though the Main Law on Alcohol Control was passed at the time of the sixth Seimas, whose majority was composed of the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, the hours of alcohol sales were quite long, because both on premise and off-premise sales were possible after double payment. The eighth Seimas, where the Social-Democratic Coalition was the majority, cancelled all restrictions on sale hours. Only the tenth Seimas, which had the majority of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, prohibited off-premise alcohol sales from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m. in 2012, but it was still possible to buy alcohol at night at public catering establishments that had night sale license and consume it on premise or buy it in an open container. It was determined that the regulation of alcohol sale hours was more varied and much more restricted during the period of the First Republic of Lithuania than that of the Second. The liberal regulation of alcohol sale hours in the First Republic in 1934 was much stricter than the restrictions imposed on alcohol sale hours in 2012 that are still in effect today. In order to ensure public safety and prevent binge drinking we recommend restricting alcohol sales regulation in contemporary Lithuania. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.14.1.11408


Section 4 of the Pakistan Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, dramatically altered the law of succession applicable to Muslims by granting to the orphaned grandchild(ren) the share that their deceased parent would have taken had s/he survived the propositus. The principle of representation incorporated in the Pakistani solution contrasts with the compulsory bequest relied upon by several Middle Eastern countries to deal with the same problem, although arguably representation more closely reflects the experience and expectations of the people of Pakistan. Nearly two decades later, the Federal Shariat Court was established and endowed with jurisdiction to declare a law contrary to "the Injunctions of Islam" and thus void. Some laws, however, were specifically exempted from the Court's jurisdiction; falling within this category is "Muslim Personal Law." A 1981 decision of the appellate Court (the Shariat Bench of the Supreme Court) held that the provisions of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance were included within the phrase "Muslim Personal Law," and were thus outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Shariat Court. This position was reversed by another decision of the appellate Court in 1993, and the provisions of the Ordinance were immediately challenged on the basis of their alleged divergence from the "Injunctions of Islam." This essay reviews the provisions of section 4 of the Ordinance and examines the decision of the Shariat Court as regards this particular provision.


The Cueva Mayor karst system of Atapuerca, in Northern Spain, hosts a highly significant record of human occupation from the Pleistocene. The climatic context of the human activities during the Pleistocene-Holocene for this inland site has not been well constrained, since existing records of the palaeoclimatic evolution of the Northern Iberian Peninsula are from more distal coastal and high-elevation sites. In this study, we interpret the palaeoenvironmental information recorded on the petrography of a stalagmite and the pollen spectra of the Sierra de Atapuerca karst system during the last 20 kyr. The integration of both types of records has allowed us to define four palaeoenvironmental stages. During the Upper Pleistocene and until 12.8 kyr BP, the climate was cold and dry, toward the end of the interval evolving to wetter and warmer conditions. From 12.8 to 7.7 kyr BP, during the Mesolithic-Neolithic, a major erosion event in both records marks the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Around 5.9 kyr BP, the Late Neolithic, environmental conditions indicate a climatic optimum with a marked seasonality. The environmental conditions became drier from 4.2 kyr BP until the present, with a decrease in the woodlands. This aridity signal might be amplified by the impact of a more intense human agricultural activity after 3.1 kyr BP, during the Bronze Age.


The main purpose of this paper was to specify the impact of ISO 9001 on financial and non-financial performance. For this aim, a comprehensive literature review was carried out on the scholarly published studies, which investigated empirically the effects of ISO 9001 standard on the organization's performance in different sectors. Subsequently, the ISO 9001 studies identified and selected carefully that were relevant to the objectives and criteria of the study with the aim of achieving the results and making conclusions. The analysis of the results of the empirical studies uncovered that ISO 9001 significantly affected production process (internal business process), while this standard was not correlated with the indicators of innovation and learning perspective at significant level. Furthermore, the systematic review of the existing literature provided enough evidence that the effectiveness of ISO 9001 on customer's results and financial performance were unclear and contradictory.


Overall, The Art of Evolution, though directed mainly to historians of science and art, also has something to teach social scientists and practising artists. Darwin and the artistic productions his work inspired are fundamental elements of our intellectual inheritance. In every one of these chapters, authors connect domains that too many of us previously considered discrete. To that extent, this book enriches our understanding of visual phenomena. It also makes a significant contribution to the sociology of knowledge.


The use of genome-wide methylation arrays has proved very informative to investigate both clinical and biological questions in human epigenomics. The use of clustering methods either for exploration of these data or to compare to an a priori grouping, e.g., normal versus disease allows assessment of groupings of data without user bias. However no consensus on the methods to use for clustering of methylation array approaches has been reached. To determine the most appropriate clustering method for analysis of illumina array methylation data, a collection of data sets was simulated and used to compare clustering methods. Both hierarchical clustering and non-hierarchical clustering methods (k-means, k-medoids, and fuzzy clustering algorithms) were compared using a range of distance and linkage methods. As no single method consistently outperformed others across different simulations, we propose a method to capture the best clustering outcome based on an additional measure, the silhouette width. This approach produced a consistently higher cluster accuracy compared to using any one method in isolation.


Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) occur frequently in children and women. Intracellular bacterial communities (IBCs) and biofilm formation by Escherichia coli are risk factors for recurrence. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different antibiotics on biofilms by E. coli strains isolated from children with UTI and to correlate virulence factors and IBCs with biofilm formation. A total of 116 E. coli strains were tested for biofilm formation using the crystal violet microplate technique. 58.6% of the strains did not produce biofilm, while 16.4%, 18.1% and 6.8% formed weak, moderate and strong biofilms, respectively. No correlation was found between the ability to form biofilms and the presence of IBCs. Biofilm formation was significantly associated with pili P codifying genes, whereas other virulence factors were not statistically associated. Antibiotics, including ampicillin, cephalothin, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, amikacin and ciprofloxacin, were evaluated at different concentrations after 48 h of biofilm formation. Except ampicillin, the other antibiotics tested induced a significant reduction of biofilm biomass. In the case of recurrent UTIs potentially associated with the presence of biofilm, the use of third-generation cephalosporin, fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides could be recommended. These antibiotics demonstrated to reduce biofilm biomass produced even by resistant strains.


Dental anxiety in children is related to the oral health of adults. A descriptive, cross-sectional study with a mixed approach was carried out during January to December 2016. We worked with the entire population, consisting of children under five years of age, of both sexes (20 individuals) during the period of study went to the stomatological attention consultations in the Medical-Dental Dispensary of Marcopamba, in the province of Bolivar, Ecuador. Through informed consent, parental approval was obtained for their children to participate in the study. A data collection form was created, which allowed to explore the frequency of assistance to the dentist, the reasons for consultations and the realization of the tooth brushing technique. To determine the presence of dental anxiety and fear, the Modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale was used, which validates Cronbach's alpha reliability index of 0.86 and a certain validity as acceptable. Attendance to dental consultation predominated due to the presence of dental pain. The entire study population reported not doing tooth brushing four times a day. The clinical classification of very anxious and restless was predominant among the participating individuals, which suggests the need to establish strategies for the promotion of oral health and prevention of oral diseases, to reduce factors that cause fear and fear to the dentist.


Majorana fermion representations of the algebra associated with spin, charge, and flavour currents have been used to transform the two-channel Kondo Hamiltonian. Using a path integral formulation, we derive a reduced effective action with long-range impurity spin-spin interactions at different imaginary times. In the semiclassical limit, it is equivalent to a one-dimensional Heisenberg spin chain with two-spin, three-spin, etc, long-range interactions, as a generalization of the inverse-square long-range Haldane-Shastry model. In this representation the elementary excitations are `semions', and the non-Fermi liquid low energy properties of the two-channel Kondo model are recovered.


Part III of the book focusses on Zvërnec, a small village located in the southern part of the Lagoon of Nartë, on a promontory over a small gulf (Gjiri i Vogël), which looks like a miniature of the 'great' Gulf of Vlorë (Gjiri i Vlorës). Zvërnec is part of the Protected Landscape Vjosë-Nartë and is well-known for the suggestive island which hosts the Byzantine church of the Dormition of Mary (Category I Cultural Monument), which every year attracts many faithful and tourists alike, both Albanian and foreign. In the first chapters, the importance of the intangible heritage is stressed. In Zvërnec the cultural traditions in the lagoon area play a pivotal role, especially the fishing tradition together with the culinary tradition connected to sea products. In the following chapters, the multiple aspects of the tangible heritage are analysed. The protected landscape of Vjosë-Nartë requested a special attention. It includes a number of habitats, which constitute one of the most significant assets in terms of biodiversity at a national level. Unfortunately, both active and dismantled industrial sites present in the area as well as questionable development policies, threaten the fragile and delicate lagoon landscape. As far as the built heritage is concerned, the Church of the Dormition of Mary, traditional dwellings and the abandoned military heritage were thoroughly analysed. For each of the aforementioned issues, the theoretical and historical analysis are closely bound to an evaluation of those features of the cultural heritage that could be enhanced to guarantee a sustainable tourism development of the area. Each chapter ends with a consistent set of specific intervention strategies. They are substantive tools for action aimed at public and private local actors.


Palladium-catalyzed C-H bond arylation of imidazoles has been applied to pharmaceuticals such as Bifonazole, Climbazole and Prochloraz. In the presence of phosphine-free Pd(OAc)2 catalyst, aryl bromides are efficiently coupled at the C5 position of the imidazole units which are widely decorated. Under these conditions, only C-H bond arylation reaction occurred without affecting the integrity of chemical structure of the imidazole-based pharmaceuticals. Moreover, with Bifonazole Pd-catalyzed C-H bond diarylation at C2 and C5 positions of imidazole unit has also been performed.


Integration in decision making at different organizational and time levels has important implications for increasing the profitability of organizations. Among the important issues of medium-term decision-making in factories, are production planning problems that seek to determine the quantities of products produced in the medium term and the allocation of corporate resources. Furthermore, at short-term, jobs scheduling and timely delivery of orders is one of the vital decision-making issues in each workshop. In this paper, the production planning and scheduling problem in a factory in the north of Iran is considered as a case study. The factory produces cans and bins in different types with ten production lines. Therefore, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is presented for the integrated production planning and scheduling problem to maximize profit. The proposed model is implemented in the GAMS software with the collected data from the real environment, and the optimal scheduling and production planning for the system is presented.


We present relative astrometry and differential photometry measurements for a sample of nearby southern orbital binaries making use of the technique of Adaptive Optics. The observations were made in December 2000, with the ADONIS camera mounted at the 3.6-m ESO telescope from La Silla Observatory, equipped with the broad-band near-infrared filters (J -, H -, K -passbands). Our sample contains stars which do not fit very well the empirical mean mass-luminosity relation (according to our previous study), but for which accurate parallaxes (determined by the Hipparcos satellite) and high-quality orbits were available thanks to many previous efforts. We derived accurate positions and J, H, K magnitudes of the individual components of those binaries. The individual stellar components have near-infrared colour indices well grouped in those plots and are comparable to standard single stars. The data reduction procedure used for deriving those results is described in detail. It is based on a least-squares fit of Moffat-Lorentz profiles in direct imaging for well-resolved systems and on Fourier analysis for very close pairs. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


We report for the first time an all-fiber laser system that generates tunable Watt-level femtosecond pulses at around 2 microm without an external pulse compressor. The system is based on amplification of a Raman shifted Er-doped fiber laser in a Tm-doped 25-microm-core fiber. We obtain 108-fs pulses at 1980 nm with an average power of 3.1 W and a pulse energy of 31 nJ. The peak power at the output of the amplifier is estimated as ~230 kW, which to the best of our knowledge is the highest peak power obtained from a femtosecond or a few-picosecond amplifier based on any doped fiber. The amplified output is frequency-doubled to produce 78-fs pulses at 990 nm with an average power of 1.5 W and a pulse energy of 15 nJ. We demonstrate broad wavelength tunability around 2 microm as well as around 1 microm.


FSANZ is preparing a proposal to consider potential changes to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) that introduce requirements to use plain English allergen labelling (PEAL). As part of this proposal, consideration has been given to the clinical significance of mollusc allergy in Australia and New Zealand, which tree nuts are important in food allergy, and whether all cereals that contain gluten are also of concern for food allergy.


Abstract: At the outset, I write to state I donot vouchsafe for the originality of this abstract. This paper deals with almost all subjects like economics, sociology, quantum mechanics, philosophy, quantum computation, psychology and others. This is the point at which a human being realizes that there is nothing. Absolutely nothing. It is at this point internal topological space comes in contact with the external and transcendental being and man , a connoisseur , rancouter, cognoscenti, standing on the threshold of infinity tries to ponder what lies beyond the veil which separates the seen from unseen. Discrimination jurisprudence, concept formulation, phenomenological methodological formulations', former characterizations, differential contiguities, presuppositioal resemblances, all merge in to one interrogation of nothingness. And interrogation such as this, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially is the shadow of the problem projected or rather reconstructed on the basis of empirical proposition. Problem of existence itself is the reality of the genetic element, the cosmic one which all of us are endowed, but remain ignoramuses until there is evolution of the individual consciousness to cosmic consciousness; it is a complex theme which does not allow itself to be reduced to any propositional thesis or basis. It is at this point all dualities and contradictions disappear. There just is nothing absolutely nothing. Neither father, mother nor wife, children, neither world, nor the God; neither the God nor the human. Only I exist. I have become Brahman. Nothing encompasses me and I encompass everything. It is at this point philosophy merges with ontology; ontology merges with univocity of being; analogy has always a theological vision; not a philosophical vision; one becomes adapted to the forms of god; self and world; the univocity of being does not mean that there is one and the same being; on the contrary, beings are multiple and different they are always produced by disjunctive synthesis; and they themselves are disintegrated and disjoint and divergent; membra disjuncta.the univocity of being signifies that that being is a voice that is said and it is said in one and the same "consciousness". Everything about which consciousness is spoken about. being is the same for everything for which it is said like gravity; it occurs therefore as an unique event for everything; for everything for which it happens; even tum tan tum; it is the ultimate form for all of the forms; and all these forms are disjointed; it brings about resonance and ramification of its disjunction; the univocity of being merges with the positive use of the disjunctive synthesis, and this is the highest affirmation of its univocity like gravity; it is the eternal resurrection or a return itself, the affirmation of all chance in a single moment, the unique cast for all throws; a simple rejoinder for Einstein's god does not play dice; one being, one consciousness, for all forms and all times. a single instance for all that exists, a single phantom for all the living; a single voice for very hum of voises; or a single silence for all the silences; a single vacuum for all the vaccuum es; consciousness should not be said without occurring; if consciousness is one unique event in which all the events communicate with each other; univocity refers both to what occurs to what it is said. This is attributable to all states of bodies and states of affairs and the expressible of every proposition. So univocity of consciousness means the identity of the noematic attribute and that which is expressed linguistically and usefulness. Univocity means that it does not allow consciousness to be subsisting in a quasi state and but expresses in all pervading reality (Wikipedia, Deleuze, Ken Wilber, Hawking and Penrose, Parsons et al.). Albeit some derivations are with respect to US economy, instructions and injunctions for the rest of the world is seminal. www.iiste.org/PDFshare/APTA-PAGENO-56325-63815.pdf


Objective. Adropin is a newly identified regulatory protein encoded by the Enho gene and is critically involved in energy homeostasis and insulin sensitivity. This study aims to determine the correlation of serum adropin concentrations with diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods. This study consisted of 245 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 81 healthy subjects. Then T2DM patients were divided into normoalbuminuria, microalbuminuria, and macroalbuminuria subgroups based on urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR). Results. T2DM patients showed significantly lower serum adropin concentrations than those in the controls. T2DM patients with macroalbuminuria had significantly decreased serum adropin concentrations compared with the other three groups. In addition, T2DM patients with microalbuminuria showed lower serum adropin concentrations than those in patients with normoalbuminuria. Logistic regression analysis showed that serum adropin was correlated with decreased risk of developing T2DM and DN. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that serum adropin was negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI), blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and ACR and positively correlated with glomerular filtration rate. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis showed that BMI and ACR were negatively correlated with serum adropin levels. Conclusion. Serum adropin concentrations are negatively associated with renal function. Adropin may be implicated in the pathogenesis of DN development.


Objective: Insulin resistance (IR) is based on chronic inflammation in part through the activation of adipose tissue macrophages (Mϕ). Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is accepted to be strongly associated with IR. Mϕ in adipose tissue and liver have been reported to proliferate, but the pathophysiological significance of tissue Mϕ proliferation remains unclear. We examined the effects of Mϕ proliferation on IR and tissue inflammation using high-fat fed mice whose Mϕ proliferation was specifically inhibited. Methods and Results: Mϕ specific inhibition of proliferation in mice was achieved by transgenic expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (p27kip) under the regulation of scavenger receptor promoter/enhancer. After 10-week high-fat diet load in control and Tg mice, glucose tolerance and IR were assessed, and liver and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) were collected. Significant improvement of IR was showed in Tg mice in ipGTT, ipITT, ipPTT, and tissue Akt phosphorylation after insulin injection. Increased peripheral insulin sensitivity and reduced hepatic glucose production in Tg mice were confirmed by glucose clump. In Immunohistochemistry, proliferation of Mϕ was suppressed in liver and eWAT from Tg mice. Liver triglyceride content decreased in Tg mice. The mRNA expression of M1 Mϕ markers were decreased, and that of M2 Mϕ markers were increased in liver and eWAT of Tg mice. Crown-like structure formation was less observed in Tg eWAT. The mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines was suppressed, and that of M2 Mϕ marker was increased in Tg eWAT. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed decreased M1/M2 ratio in liver and eWAT Mϕ from Tg mice. Conclusions: Proliferation of Mϕ is involved in the development of IR in liver and adipose tissue, and the progression of hepatic steatosis. Inhibition of Mϕ proliferation ameliorates tissue inflammation, therefore could potentially be the therapeutic target for IR and type 2 diabetes. Disclosure T. Wada: None. T. Senokuchi: None. S. Yamada: None. Y. Morita: None. H. Motoshima: None. T. Matsumura: None. E. Araki: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott. Speaker's Bureau; Self; ARKRAY, Astellas Pharma Inc., AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Merck & Co., Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc., WebMD LLC. Other Relationship; Self; Kowa Company, Ltd., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Novartis Pharma K.K., Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited.


Abstract Field studies were conducted near College Station, TX, in 2006 and 2007 to evaluate the economic impact of common sunflower interference in field corn. A density of one common sunflower per 6 m of crop row caused a yield loss of 293 kg ha−1. Estimated losses at a net corn price of $0.08 kg−1 was $92 ha−1 for infestation levels of four common sunflower plants per 6 m of row. Corn yield was increased by 32 kg ha−1 by each 1,000 plant ha−1 increase in corn planting density. Corn planting densities of 49,400 and 59,300 plants ha−1 provided the greatest net returns with or without the presence of common sunflower competition. Corn yields were reduced by extended duration of sunflower competition, with losses exceeding 1,500 kg ha−1 per week and increasing in magnitude at a decreasing rate throughout the growing season. Herbicide treatments provided net returns of $600 to $1,300 ha−1 above no weed control in both 2006 and 2007. Net returns of $609 and $653 ha−1 were obtained without the use of any herbicide for sunflower control. Determining the economic impact of common sunflower interference in field corn allows producers to estimate the overall net return on the basis of duration of common sunflower interference and density, while considering varying net corn prices, crop planting density, and herbicide application costs. Nomenclature: Common sunflower, Helianthus annuus HELAN; corn, Zea mays L. 'DLP 69-71'.


Withania somnifera is an important aromatic medicinal plant and possesses wide array of pharmacological properties. In the present investigation, an improved version of hairy root culture system was developed by optimizing various transformation parameters such as type of explant, concentration of acetosyringone, Agrobacterium types and co-cultivation period. Between the leaf and cotyledon explants and two Agrobacterium rhizgenes strains (R1000 and A4) tested, leaf explants infected with R1000 and cocultured for five days on MS basal half strength medium in the presence of acetosyringone (100 µM) attained a higher frequency (88%) of hairy root induction. By adopting this protocol, we could utilize the hairy root culture for industrial scale production of withanolides. Keywords: Leaf explant, Agrobacterium rhizogenes , Withania somnifera, co-cultivation period, acetosyringone. African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(43) 4141-4147


The ATLS concept is a strategy for the treatment of the injured patient and a teaching method. ATLS originates from the USA and it was introduced in the French speaking part of Switzerland two years ago. This article describes the principles that made ATLS successful, as well as its objectives and impact on the treatment of injured patients. As a consequence, a trend is now emerging towards a standardisation of care of the trauma patient.


The aims of this study are (1) to describe the translation method adopted by the translator in translating the exposition text, (2) to formulate the translation techniques applied in translating the expository text in the order of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences into Indonesian from English by applying translation procedures according to Molina and Albir (2002). This research uses a descriptive – qualitative approach with a case study design that is oriented towards the translation product. The data sources in this study are the document and exposition text "When Being Overweight Is a Health Problem" which was reviewed by Mary L. Gavin, MD and reviewed in 2018 as the object of the study, and the results of the translation from English which are summarized in this research data are in the form of words, phrases, clauses and sentences of expository texts and their translations. Research data was collected by document analysis and analyzed by interactive analysis method. The research findings are as follows, first, seven translation methods are applied in translating expository texts, namely the word-for-word method, the faithful method, the semantic method, the adaptation method, the independent method, the idiomatic method, and the communicative method. Second, eight translation techniques are applied in translating expository texts, namely literal techniques, pure borrowing, natural borrowing, calque, transposition, modulation, omission and addition. Based on the frequency of use, the literal technique ranks first, followed by natural borrowing, pure borrowing, transposition, calque, modulation, omission, and addition techniques. Theoretically, literal, pure borrowing, natural borrowing, and calque techniques are oriented to the source language while transposition, modulation, omission, and addition techniques are oriented to the target language.
Keywords: translation technique, translation method, exposition text


In a two-stage sequential investment problem, a principal can use either a single agent or two separate agents to execute the project. The final outcome of the project depends upon both the agent's investments and the first-stage outcome. The principal wishes to stop the project when the first stage is a failure; however, she may not know the first-stage outcome, so that she has to pay the agent a rent to extract that information. Furthermore, the first-stage agent can transmit his know-how to the second-stage agent. Although there is a transmission cost under separate agency while there is no cost under single agency, single agency is not always optimal. This is because the transmission cost can reduce the agent's incentive to continue the project so that the information rent can be lower under separate agency. Hence, the principal may prefer separate agency more even when the transmission cost becomes larger.


A fully functional Braille display terminal developed for visually handicapped people to access and work with IBM personal computers is described. The hardware and software design required for the fabrication of control circuitry, the Braille character conversion modules, and the Braille display terminal are described. The Braille display system consists of a control unit, a display terminal and a keypad. To minimize the number of devices to be accessed, the special keypad required to issue commands to the display control unit is integrated with the normal PC keypad. The electromechanical components of the BDT comprise (a) a 40-Braille cell unit which displays 40 characters at a time and (b) two separate cells to display the two-digit cursor line number. An 80-character computer screen line is displayed by dividing it into two 40-character lines. The first 40 characters and the line number are displayed first. The subsequent characters are displayed on the user request. The line break is identified by means of a special character. The computer Braille codes as specified by the Singapore Society for the Blind are adopted in the design of the Braille cells. >


The surgical technique of isolation of the blood supply of the gracilis muscle of the dog has been developed for analysis of the oxygen consumption during reactive hyperemia. The time course of the blood flow, A-V oxygen difference and the oxygen consumption follow the same pattern. Immediately after the release of the arterial occlusion, there is an increase in all three values which decay and go below the control level that existed just prior to the occlusion. The increased oxygen consumption during reactive hyperemia is possible primarily by the increased blood flow, although the A-V oxygen difference is increased also. A theoretical oxygen deficit is overpaid by the oxygen consumption during the period of increased blood flow but essentially repaid if the period of decreased blood flow is included.


From 1924–1928, Gertrude Caton-Thompson and Elinor Gardner surveyed and excavated Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic sites across the Fayum north shore in Egypt, publishing a volume entitled The Desert Fayum (1934). Since then, a number of researchers have worked in the Fayum (e.g. Wendorf & Schild 1976; Hassan 1986; Wenke et al. 1988; Kozłowski & Ginter 1989), and most recently the UCLA/RUG/UOA Fayum Project. The long history of research in the area means that the Fayum is a testament to changing archaeological approaches, particularly regarding the Neolithic. Caton-Thompson and Gardner's study is recognised as one of the most progressive works on Egyptian prehistory, and their research provided the foundation for many subsequent studies in the region (e.g. Wendrich & Cappers 2005; Holdaway et al. 2010, 2016; Shirai 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016a; Emmitt 2011; Emmitt et al. 2017; Holdaway & Wendrich 2017). A recent article in Antiquity, however, uses Caton-Thompson and Gardner's preliminary interpretations of their excavations at a stratified deposit in the Fayum, Kom W, to generate a series of speculative statements concerning agricultural origins in the region (Shirai 2016b). The majority of these statements are very similar to conclusions initially made by Caton-Thompson and Gardner in the first half of the twentieth century, and new data and theory needed to reassess earlier conclusions are not considered. Recently published studies concerning the Fayum north shore and adjacent regions provide a different view of the state of research in this region and the Egyptian Neolithic in general. Here we acquaint Antiquity readers with current archaeological approaches to the Fayum north shore Neolithic, with the intent of stimulating academic debate.


ABSTRACT A survey has been made of 300 habitual consumers of the eight species of wild mushrooms most often consumed in the south of Spain. The eight species selected constitute over 95% of the intake of this food in the samples studied. The mean consumption per capita of mushrooms in Spain is of 10.4 kg/year, 8.6 kg of which are consumed during the season, which lasts from between 1 and 3 months. Male pickers from the Huelva province were those who presented the largest intake, their age group being highly influenced by the species. The consumption of each mushroom studied and the total intake were adjusted/fitted to exponential distributions. These distributions could be an effective tool for toxicological or nutritional studies since they permit the evaluation of exposure that makes it possible to calculate the probabilistic risk analysis and the contribution to the reference dietary intake, respectively, for this population group. Graphical Abstract


South Norfolk Council's latest Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) event will be held on Wednesday 29 October at Ketts Park Community Centre, Harts Farm Road, Wymondham.


The purpose of introducing combined cycle with gas turbine in power plants is to reduce losses of energy. Their main role lies in the utilization of waste heat that may be found in exhaust gases from the gas turbine or at some other points of the process to produce additional electricity. The efficiency of the plant increases reaching over 50%, while the traditional steam turbine plants is approximately 35%/spl ap/40% or so. Up to date, the PID controller has been used to operate under such systems, but since the gain of PID controller manually has to be tuned by trial and error procedures. Getting an optimal PID gains is very difficult to tune manually without control design experience. In this paper, we studied an acquiring of transfer function from operating data of Gun-san gas turbine in Korea and a new 2-DOF PID controller tuning by NFS is designed for the optimum control to Guns-san gas turbine's variables variety. Since the shape of a membership function in the NFS vary on the characteristics of plant. ANFIS based control method is effective for plant that their variables vary. Its results are compared to the conventional PID, 2-DOF PID controller and represents satisfactory response. We expect this method will be used for another process because it is studied on the real operating data.


In this letter, we derive a multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) and a novel MSDD-based decision-feedback differential detection (MS-DFDD) receiver for differential space-time modulation transmitted over spatially correlated multiple-input multiple-output fading channels. We show that MS-DFDD outperforms previously proposed DFDD schemes that are based on scalar and vector prediction (SP-DFDD and VP-DFDD). In addition, we prove that at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) VP-DFDD is equivalent to SP-DFDD and thus fails to properly exploit the spatial fading correlations.


Many European languages contain an indefinite construction that consists of 'I don't know' and an interrogative pronoun, of the type pour je ne sais combien d'années 'for I-don't-know-how-many years' in French. Of the Spanish equivalent, no sé cuánto 'I don't know how many', a superlative no sé cuantísimo 'I don't know how very much/many', 'an awful lot', has been derived in the twentieth century. In this paper, I give examples of its usage from Spanish text corpora, discuss the formal variants of the construction, and argue that no sé cuantísimo has been grammaticalized as a marker of large indefinite quantity. The historical origin of the superlative cuantísimo lies in an analogy with tantísimo 'so very many', attested in Spanish since the 17th century.


Colon cancer is one of the three most common cancers in both men and women in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Approximately one-quarter of colon cancer patients have a metastasis at the time of diagnosis, and systemic therapy is used in many of them as a first line therapy. In addition to existing cytotoxic drugs, target therapy has been introduced in colon cancer and immunotherapy has shown clinical benefits in the treatment of metastatic colon cancer. The purpose of this review was to briefly summarize the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for systemic therapy in colon cancer with special reference to targeted agents and novel agents.


BACKGROUND The incidence of colon cancer (CC) is currently high, and is mainly treated with chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin (L-OHP) is a commonly used drug in chemotherapy; however, long-term use can induce drug resistance and seriously affect the prognosis of patients. Therefore, this study investigated the mechanism of Opa-interacting protein 5 antisense RNA 1 (OIP5-AS1) on L-OHP resistance by determining the expression of OIP5-AS1 and microRNA-137 (miR-137) in CC cells and the effects on L-OHP resistance, with the goal of identifying new targets for the treatment of CC. AIM To study the effects of long non-coding RNA OIP5-AS1 on L-OHP resistance in CC cell lines and its regulation of miR-137. METHODS A total of 114 CC patients admitted to China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University were enrolled, and the expression of miR-137 and OIP5-AS1 in tumor tissues and corresponding normal tumor-adjacent tissues was determined. The influence of OIP5-AS1 and miR-137 on the biological behavior of CC cells was evaluated. Resistance to L-OHP was induced in CC cells, and their activity was determined and evaluated using cell counting kit-8. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptosis rate, Western blot to determine the levels of apoptosis-related proteins, and dual luciferase reporter assay combined with RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation to analyze the relationship between OIP5-AS1 and miR-137. RESULTS OIP5-AS1 was up-regulated in CC tissues and cells, while miR-137 was down-regulated in CC tissues and cells. OIP5-AS1 was inversely correlated with miR-137 (P < 0.001). Silencing OIP5-AS1 expression significantly hindered the proliferation, invasion and migration abilities of CC cells and markedly increased the apoptosis rate. Up-regulation of miR-137 expression also suppressed these abilities in CC cells and increased the apoptosis rate. Moreover, silencing OIP5-AS1 and up-regulating miR-137 expression significantly intensified growth inhibition of drug-resistant CC cells and improved the sensitivity of CC cells to L-OHP. OIP5-AS1 targetedly inhibited miR-137 expression, and silencing OIP5-AS1 reversed the resistance of CC cells to L-OHP by promoting the expression of miR-137. CONCLUSION Highly expressed in CC, OIP5-AS1 can affect the biological behavior of CC cells, and can also regulate the resistance of CC cells to L-OHP by mediating miR-137 expression.


Many Nigerian folk heritages including that of the Igbo race are going extinct. The oral nature of folklore is largely responsible for this gradual extinction. One way of preserving such heritage is by making folk stories accessible to the very young because generational transfer of folk heritage ensures that cultures do not die out. Therefore, a paradigm for transmitting culture to the children must be developed and deployed. Beyond entertainment, Igbo folktales are a veritable means of transmitting pristine traditional values that distinguish the race and transfer race memory encoded in symbols, idioms, allegory and other mechanisms of ancient non-literary cultures. This makes it imperative that these heritages be properly transmitted to the young for the purposes of continuity, entertainment, and storing of knowledge. Yet, there seems to be a weak interface between the children and the adults regarding the transmission of folk heritage. Traditional grandmothers that had the duty of telling didactic stories to children hardly play that role in present societies and communities due to urbanization and atomization of families, among other factors.  This problem was investigated through personal observation and bibliothecal inquiry which indicated that Igbo children prefer new-fangled 'gizmo' and new media as channel and forms of entertainment.  This paper investigates the bleak future of Igbo folk heritage under the circumstances. It notes that writers have stored these race memories in books, but recommends that for their dynamic propagation through children, the electronic platforms must be adopted through the adaptation of Igbo folktales to drama, developmental theatre, video and television formats of cartoon animation and video games. This paradigm shift should bring the benefits of the Igbo folktale to the children of today, thereby propagating and sustaining it.

 Key words: Culture, language, video format, values, heritage.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the influence of swim intensity on acute responses to dynamic apnoea. 9 swimmers performed one 50 m front crawl trial in four different conditions: at 400 m velocity (V400) with normal breathing (NB), at V400 in complete apnoea (Ap), at maximal velocity (Vmax) with NB and at Vmax in Ap. Peak heart rate (HRpeak), blood lactate concentration after exercise (Lacpost ex) and Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured. Arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) was monitored with a pulse oximeter at forehead level during and after exercise. In Ap, swimming at V400 induced a significantly lower HRpeak and Lacpost ex than swimming at Vmax whilst RPE and the kinetics of SpO2 were not different at V400 and at Vmax. The minimal value of SpO2 in Ap was reached 10 to 11 s after the end of V400 and Vmax (81.7 ± 10.1% and 84.4 ± 10.6%, respectively). Swimming a 50 m front crawl in Ap resulted in a large decrease in SpO2 which occurred only after the cessation of exercise. The higher duration of apnoea during submaximal exercise could explain why SpO2 and RPE reached the same values as for maximal exercise.


The Electronic Throttle Valve (ETV) is the core part of automotive engines which are recently used in control-by-wire cars. The estimation of its states and uncertainty is instructive for control applications. This study presents the design of Extended State Observer (ESO) for estimating the states and uncertainties of Electronic Throttle Valve (ETV). Two versions of ESOs have been proposed for estimation: Linear ESO (LESO) and Nonlinear ESO (NESO). The model of ETV is firstly developed and extended in state variable form such that the extended state stands for the uncertainty in system parameters. The design of both structures of ESOs are developed and a comparison study has been conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed observers. Numerical simulation has been conducted to assess the performance of observers in estimating the states and uncertainties of ETV. The simulated results showed that both full order and reduced order models of ETV have the same transient characteristics. Moreover, the effectiveness of two versions of observers has been examined based on Root Mean Square of Error (RMSE) indicator. The results showed that the NESO has less estimation errors for both states and uncertainties than LESO.


Scene classification of high spatial resolution (HSR) images can provide data support for many practical applications, such as land planning and utilization, and it has been a crucial research topic in the remote sensing (RS) community. Recently, deep learning methods driven by massive data show the impressive ability of feature learning in the field of HSR scene classification, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Although traditional CNNs achieve good classification results, it is difficult for them to effectively capture potential context relationships. The graphs have powerful capacity to represent the relevance of data, and graph-based deep learning methods can spontaneously learn intrinsic attributes contained in RS images. Inspired by the abovementioned facts, we develop a deep feature aggregation framework driven by graph convolutional network (DFAGCN) for the HSR scene classification. First, the off-the-shelf CNN pretrained on ImageNet is employed to obtain multilayer features. Second, a graph convolutional network-based model is introduced to effectively reveal patch-to-patch correlations of convolutional feature maps, and more refined features can be harvested. Finally, a weighted concatenation method is adopted to integrate multiple features (i.e., multilayer convolutional features and fully connected features) by introducing three weighting coefficients, and then a linear classifier is employed to predict semantic classes of query images. Experimental results performed on the UCM, AID, RSSCN7, and NWPU-RESISC45 data sets demonstrate that the proposed DFAGCN framework obtains more competitive performance than some state-of-the-art methods of scene classification in terms of OAs.


The prevalence of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) serologically positive animals in 18 dairy herds with clinical and pathological lesions suggestive of BVD infection, the post-vaccinal seroconversion rates in negative animals vaccinated twice with an inactivated BVD vaccine, and the control measures taken, are described. The pathological and histopathological findings in 6 necropsies performed on animals that died in 5 separate herds closely resembled published descriptions. Positive immunohistochemistry results in 3 cases confirmed the diagnosis in those animals. In 1 herd the prevalence of prevaccinal BVD antibodies was only 36.8%, while the prevalence varied from 79.85 to 100% in the remainder. Control measures taken included immunoprophylaxis with an inactivated vaccine, culling animals that were serologically negative after vaccination that were regarded as probably persistently infected (PI) and the implementation of additional biosecurity measures. The prevalence of serologically negative PI animals in 10 herds varied from 0.38 to 4.04%, with 8 herds less than 1% and 2 herds at 2.79% and 4.04%, respectively. Methods based on vaccinating the herd, followed by serological testing and culling cattle that did not develop an antibody titre, are not reliable. The identification of PI animals should be confirmed by isolation of the virus or identification of the antigen.


Foam lamellae are the smallest structural elements in foam. Such lamellae can experimentally be studied by analysis of thin liquid films in glass cells. These thin liquid films usually have to be stabilized against rupture by surface active substances, such as proteins or low molecular weight surfactants. However, horizontal thin liquid films of pure water with a radius of 100 μm also show remarkable stability when created in closed Sheludko cells. To understand thin film stability of surfactant-free films, the drainage behavior and rupture times of films of water and NaCl solutions were determined. The drainage was modeled with an extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) model, which combines DLVO and hydrophobic contributions. Good correspondence between experiment and theory is observed, when hydrophobic interactions are included, with fitted values for surface potential (ψ(0,water)) of -60 ± 5 mV, hydrophobic strength (B(hb,water)) of 0.22 ± 0.02 mJ/m(2), and a range of the hydrophobic interaction (λ(hb, water)) of 15 ± 1 nm in thin liquid films. In addition, Vrij's rupture criterion was successfully applied to model the stability regions and rupture times of the films. The films of pure water are stable over long time scales (hours) and drain to a final thickness >40 nm if the concentration of electrolytes is low (resistivity 18.2 MQ). With increasing amounts of ions (NaCl) the thin films drain to <40 nm thickness and the rupture stability of the films is reduced from hours to seconds.


Considers the question of inverting the finitely sampled one-dimensional magnetotelluric problem. It is shown that any finitely sampled data set (pure or noisy) will have a minimum achievable error among one-dimensional models, and that the best fit can be approached arbitrarily closely using models terminating in a half-space of any prechosen conductivity. Parker (1980) has demonstrated the existence of a region inaccessible to magnetotellurics using techniques requiring delta comb conductivity models terminating in a perfect conducting layer at the basement interface. The author extends that result using only bounded conductivity functions further supporting Parker's suggestion that the application of Backus-Gilbert and other linearised techniques to the magnetotelluric problem may be inappropriate.


The gene coding for bovine prolactin was shown to exist as a single copy per haploid genome. Three restriction fragment polymorphisms were detected in the prolactin gene by Southern blot analysis of DNA obtained from the semen of pedigreed bulls representing eight breeds. The organization of the bovine prolactin gene was determined by restriction mapping of a clone isolated from a genomic library and by genomic blots. The 5'-flanking region and two exons were sequenced and the transcription start site mapped by primer extension. Comparison of the bovine prolactin sequence reported here with the published sequence of the rat prolactin gene revealed extensive homology (79%), extending 360 nucleotides upstream from the cap site, after which the sequences diverge. The homology exceeds that of the coding regions. A possible alternate intron-exon splice site was noted within the sequence coding for the signal peptide.


This paper presents a multi-purpose function-based Parliamentary Optimization, community detection methods. Initially, the population of Parliamentary Optimization Algorithm was created in a Python environment for the data used. The population formed was divided into a certain number of groups, and the power values of each group were calculated. While strong groups show joining according to the determined combination probability value, the vulnerable groups are eliminated from the population according to the determined deletion probability. The result for the problem has been approached. The program steps continued until all groups were combined and the termination condition of the algorithm was met; the individual with the highest eligibility values among the remaining data in the last stage was accepted as the solution to the overlapping community discovery problem of the proposed algorithm. Subsequently, performs a proposed work evaluated over one artificial and four real network-based social media data sets. The comparison of feature evaluation is carried out to identify the influence of Single and Multi-Purpose functions on community detection performance. Finally, this paper gives a comparative analysis of proposed MPPOA algorithm worth three heuristic overlap community detection algorithm over six real social media data set.


In a historical review the situation in obstetrics was shown in the last 3 decades. Compound-scans and "real-time-scan" were the fundamental instruments for the first sonographical diagnosis and changes in clinical practice. The demonstration of the foetal body and organs allows numerous measurements of length, areas, and volumes. Signs of foetal vital functions were studied in different aspects. Doppler-flow-measurements in different parts of the foetal circulatory system had brought to light new information. In future especially colour-coded flow measurement will show signs of foetal life such as drinking, vomiting, and urinating and will enable us to study these functions of foetal life.


Perioperative complications are more frequent in younger children, especially under the age of 3 years and in infants. The anatomy and physiology of children cause more respiratory adverse events compared to adult patients. Respiratory adverse events account for 60% of all anesthetic complications. Main risk factors for respiratory adverse events are upper respiratory tract infections. Keeping the airway management as noninvasive as possible helps prevent major complications.Perioperative hypotension can compromise cerebral oxygenation, especially when hypocapnia and anemia are present. Congenital heart disease leads to a higher cardiovascular adverse event rate and should be diagnosed preoperatively whenever possible.Venous and arterial cannulation is more challenging in children and complications are more frequent even for experienced practitioners. Ultrasound is an essential tool for peripheral venous access as well as for central venous catheterization.Medication errors are more common in pediatric than in adult patients. Charts and electronic calculation of dosing can increase safety of prescriptions. Standardized storage of medications at all workplaces, avoiding look-alike medications in the same compartment and storing high-risk medications separately help prevent substitution errors.Emergence delirium and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are the most frequent postoperative adverse events. For diagnosing emergence delirium, the PAED scale is a helpful tool. Prevention of emergence delirium by pharmacological and general measures plays a key role for patient outcome. Routine prophylaxis of PONV above the age of 3 years is recommended.Frequency and severity of perioperative adverse events in pediatric anesthesia can be reduced by using algorithms and defined processes to allow for structured actions. Efficient communication and organization are mainstays for utilizing all medical options to reduce the risk of complications.


This paper gives a non-destructive and non-contact inspection way based on image processing which is introduced to detect bridge cracks. System architecture is also introduced and key algorithms in crack image processing is studied. These key algorithms are: image gray scaling, image enhancement, image strengthing, gap survey and so on. In the end such method is used to measure actual gap and the reliability of such method on bridge inspection has been verified with the results.


Purpose
Societal changes and technological development have brought about drastic lifestyle change in the past decades. This drastic change is evident when comparing the lifestyle and general characteristics of generations who have been born immersed in this technological context to those of other generations. The objective of this paper is to analyze brand image (BI) as determinant of brand attitude (AB), and the moderating effect of brand equity (BE), in the use of online information among millennial shoppers from Colombia. In general, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to existing literature related to the importance of generational membership in classifying individuals regarding brand perception (BI, AB and BE) and association with the use of shopping channels between different generations.

Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical regression model is estimated with a sample of university students in Colombia who are considered potential coffee consumers, and who were classified as millennials based on their age.

Findings
The results support that BE effect has a greater impact on AB when consumers have a good BI. Millennials also use more online communication sources to create brand perceptions.

Originality/value
Nevertheless, few studies have concurrently analyzed the characteristics of brand building and types of sources of information (online vs offline). This paper attempts to analyze the behavior of millennial consumers and the use of information channels online vs offline to manage brand and analyze BI, AB and BE.


Teams must adapt and coordinate in high-stress environments in response to challenging situations. Communication is vital to coordination and can provide insights into effective team adaptation. We analyzed communication speaker data, consisting of a physician, nurse, and respiratory therapist, from a critical care simulation. We analyzed speaker flow data and quantified continuous reorganization of team communication states using entropy, which measures variety, and determinism, which measures repeatability of patterns. Using Ashby's law of requisite variety, we hypothesized that higher performance would be correlated with greater variety: higher entropy and lower determinism. We further hypothesized that relationships would be stronger during times containing perturbations than during times without perturbations. Results supported the first hypothesis, effectiveness was correlated with greater communication variety. The correlation was numerically larger for perturbation segments, but the difference from non-perturbation segments was not statistically significant. We discuss potential applications and implications for dynamic measures of team effectiveness.


The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of Aegle marmelos leaf extract (AME) on hyperalgesia in alloxan-diabetic rats. Alloxan (150 mg/kg; i.p.) was injected to induce diabetes in wistar rats (150-200 g). The diabetic animals were treated with vehicle (diabetic control), varying doses of AME (25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg kg-1), fluoxetine (20 mg kg-1), propanolol (30 mg kg-1) followed by AME (100 mg kg-1) and yohimbine (2 mg kg-1) followed by AME (100 mg kg-1) from 3rd to 14th days of induction of diabetes. AME was found to increase the paw licking and tail flicking latency (p < 0.05) as compared to the vehicle treated diabetic controls. The effect of AME was found to be dose dependent with maximum dose dependent increase observed at a dose of 100mg kg-1


Two cases of malignant lymphoma are reported and the clinical features of a further 6 cases collected over a 10‐year period are presented. The literature is reviewed and the treatment, prognosis and relationship to Hashimoto's disease are discussed. It is suggested that lymph node biopsy at the time of operation is important in confirming the diagnosis and that the prognosis may be more hopeful than has previously been suggested.


Followed 78 adult workers for 1 week with the experience sampling method. (This method randomly samples self-reports throughout the day.) The main question was whether the quality of experience was more influenced by whether a person was at work or at leisure or more influenced by whether a person was in flow (i.e., in a condition of high challenges and skills). Results showed that all the variables measuring the quality of experience, except for relaxation and motivation, are more affected by flow than by whether the respondent is working or in leisure. Moreover, the great majority of flow experiences are reported when working, not when in leisure. Regardless of the quality of experience, however, respondents are more motivated in leisure than in work. But individuals more motivated in flow than in apathy reported more positive experiences in work. Results suggest implications for improving the quality of everyday life.


Yeast Atg8 and mammalian microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) are landmark proteins essential for autophagy. Here the lepidopteran Atg8, a homolog of LC3, is characterized. Sequence analysis reveals that Atg8 proteins are highly conserved in lepidopteran species. The abundance of endogeous Atg8 and the ratios of Atg8 conjugation to phosphatidylethanolamine (Atg8-PE)/Atg8 are different among several lepidopteran cell lines and different tissues of Helicoverpa armigera larvae. Both the density of fluorescent pre-autophagosomal structures with GFP-Ha Atg8 and the abundance of Atg6 are positively correlated with levels of Atg8-PE in different cell lines. The mutant GFP-Atg8(G116A) has lost the function in punctual formation, suggesting that G116 is important for autophagy. Exogenous factors have significant influences on the conversion of Atg8 in lepidopteran cells. Bacillus thuringiensis enhances the degradation of Atg8 in Spodoptera litura Sl-HP cells. Atg8-PE degrades gradually with extension of amino acid starvation, and bafilomycin A1 can block the decrease through the inhibition of autophagosome fusion with lysosome. Interestingly, high pH is more effective than amino acid starvation in Bombyx mori Bme cells to induce the conversion of BmAtg8 to BmAgt8-PE. Change of the quality of fetal bovine serum in the culture medium results in alteration of the ratio of Atg8-PE/Atg8 in some lepidopteran cell lines.


CONTEXT
To improve selective infraspinatus muscle strength and endurance, researchers have recommended selective shoulder external-rotation exercise during rehabilitation or athletic conditioning programs. Although selective strengthening of the infraspinatus muscle is recommended for therapy and training, limited information is available to help clinicians design a selective strengthening program.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the most effective of 4 shoulder external-rotation exercises for selectively stimulating infraspinatus muscle activity while minimizing the use of the middle trapezius and posterior deltoid muscles.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
University research laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS
A total of 30 healthy participants (24 men, 6 women; age = 22.6 ± 1.7 years, height = 176.2 ± 4.5 cm, mass = 65.6 ± 7.4 kg) from a university population.

INTERVENTION(S)
The participants were instructed to perform 4 exercises: (1) prone horizontal abduction with external rotation (PER), (2) side-lying wiper exercise (SWE), (3) side-lying external rotation (SER), and (4) standing external-rotation exercise (STER).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Surface electromyography signals were recorded from the infraspinatus, middle trapezius, and posterior deltoid muscles. Differences among the exercise positions were tested using a 1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni adjustment.

RESULTS
The infraspinatus muscle activity was greater in the SWE (55.98% ± 18.79%) than in the PER (46.14% ± 15.65%), SER (43.38% ± 22.26%), and STER (26.11% ± 15.00%) (F3,87 = 19.97, P < .001). Furthermore, the SWE elicited the least amount of activity in the middle trapezius muscle (F3,87 = 20.15, P < .001). Posterior deltoid muscle activity was similar in the SWE and SER but less than that measured in the PER and STER (F3,87 = 25.10, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS
The SWE was superior to the PER, SER, and STER in maximizing infraspinatus activity with the least amount of middle trapezius and posterior deltoid activity. These findings may help clinicians design effective exercise programs.


The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-Ray Observatory surveys the very high-energy sky in the 300 GeV to >100 TeV energy range. HAWC has detected two blazars above 11σ, Markarian 421 (Mrk 421) and Markarian 501 (Mrk 501). The observations are comprised of data taken in the period between 2015 June and 2018 July, resulting in ∼1038 days of exposure. In this work, we report the time-averaged spectral analyses for both sources, above 0.5 TeV. Taking into account the flux attenuation due to the extragalactic background light, the intrinsic spectrum of Mrk 421 is described by a power law with an exponential energy cutoff with index α=2.26±0.12stat−0.2+0.17sys and energy cutoff Ec=5.1±1.6stat−2.5+1.4sys TeV, while the intrinsic spectrum of Mrk 501 is better described by a simple power law with index α=2.61±0.11stat−0.07+0.01sys . The maximum energies at which the Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 signals are detected are 9 and 12 TeV, respectively. This makes these some of the highest energy detections to date for spectra averaged over years-long timescales. Since the observation of gamma radiation from blazars provides information about the physical processes that take place in their relativistic jets, it is important to study the broadband spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these objects. For this purpose, contemporaneous data in the gamma-ray band to the X-ray range, and literature data in the radio to UV range, were used to build time-averaged SEDs that were modeled within a synchrotron-self Compton leptonic scenario.


Background: Obligate outcrossing species (such as dioecious species) are more vulnerable to habitat fragmentation than self-compatible hermaphrodite trees.
Questions: What is the effect of restoration intervention in the populations of dioecious, monoecious, and hermaphrodite tree species in permanent agricultural landscapes?
Study site and dates: 8-year-old restoration settings in the seasonally dry tropical forest in Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve, Morelos, Mexico.
Methods: We measure richness and density of dioecious, monoecious, and hermaphrodite tree species with Diameter at Breast Height ≥ 2.5 cm in perturbed, 8-year-old restoration settings (plantings and natural succession) and conserved habitats.
Results: Overall habitats, 2,042 trees from 46 species in 18 families were identified; the highest percentage of species and trees were hermaphrodites (63 % of species and 78 % of trees), the lowest percentage of species were monoecious (9 %) and the lowest percentage of trees (10 %) were dioecious. In the plantings were registered the largest number of species (37 species) and in the conserved habitat the largest number of trees (852 trees). Density and richness of dioecious, monoecious, and hermaphrodite species did not differ by habitat, contrary to our predictions. For dioecious trees, the restored and conserved habitats showed similar composition heterogeneity. Composition of hermaphrodites in agricultural landscapes differed the most with the conserved habitat.
Conclusions: Dioecious and monoecious species are favored in agricultural landscapes due to their use value. Selection of species for restoration plantings should consider sexual systems of trees to recover not only forest structure but also ecosystem function.


Context. Imaging surveys of dust emission at (sub)millimetre wavelengths provide a powerful tool for studying molecular clouds and the early stages of star formation. Aims. Through submm dust continuum mapping, we attempt to search for genuine infrared-dark clouds (IRDCs) and precursors to massive stars and stellar clusters in the Galactic plane, and to determine their basic physical properties. Methods. We have mapped four selected fields of about 0. 5 × 0. ◦ 5 that contain Spitzer 8-μm dark regions with LABOCA at 870 μm. Selected positions in the fields were observed in C 17 O(2−1) to obtain kinematic information. The obtained LABOCA maps are used in conjunction with the Spitzer IR images. Results. The total number of clumps identified in this survey is 91, out of which 40 (44%) appear dark at 8 and 24 μm. The remaining clumps are associated with mid-IR emission. Seven clumps associated with extended 4.5 μm emission are candidate extended green objects (EGOs). Filamentary dust "ridges" were found towards the Spitzer bubbles N10/11 in one of our fields. The relative number of IR-dark and IR-bright clumps suggests that the duration of the former stage is about 1.6 × 10 5 yr. The mass distribution of the total sample of clumps, and that separately constructed for the IR-dark and IR-bright clumps, could be fitted at the high-mass end with the power-law function dN/dlog M ∝ M −Γ ,w hereΓ � 0.7 ... 0.8. The C 17 O observation positions appear to be dominated by non-thermal motions, and the data also revealed some potential sites of strong CO depletion. In G11.36+0.80, which is the best example of a filamentary IRDC in our sample, the clumps appear to be gravitationally bound. The fragmentation of the filament can be understood in terms of a sausage-type fluid instability, in agreement with the results for other IRDCs. The fragmentation and the CO depletion timescales in G11.36 appear to be very similar to each other. Conclusions. Many of the identified clumps are massive enough to allow high-mass star formation, and some of them already show clear signposts of that. In the N10/11 bubble environment, the morphology of the detected dust emission conforms to the triggered high-mass star formation in the system. The clump mass distributions are similar to those found for diffuse CO clumps, and can be explained by the action of supersonic turbulence. The formation of filamentary IRDCs might be caused by converging turbulent flows, and the same process may play a role in exciting the fluid perturbations responsible for the fragmentation of the clouds into clumps.


For the last fifteen years, in France, one has seen a clear tendancy toward prospective studies that are meant for planners. Those studies may be classified into three categories: sectorial, "transversal" and general. Because of the fact that these types of works are of different nature it seems interesting to consider them separately for discussion purpose.


The question of (multiple) citizenship of national minorities has been omnipresent in the intellectual and public discourse of the Republic of Croatia since the very beginnings of its independence in the course of early 90s of the 20th century. The transition period of the post-socialism era marked the effort of political elites to establish a balance among the democratic and nationalist concepts of the Croatian statehood, whereat the repercussions of this clash reflected on both the definition of citizenship and the fate of national minorities. With its ethnocentric approach, the Croatian citizenship regime comes out of standard frameworks which define citizenship as a legal bond between the state and an individual, also adding a cultural and political dimension to the nexus in which citizenship frequently becomes an instrument of self-identification with ethnic Croats. The paper aims to shed light on the positioning of national minorities in such social constellations, accentuating the issue of their access to (multiple) citizenship and challenges they face thereof, as well as the inconsistent and selective nature of the Croatian citizenship policy towards different parts of its multi-ethnic corpus. This is primarily done through a concise analysis and interpretation of the Law on Croatian Citizenship – its evolution, core provisions and socio-political circumstances surrounding it. In that vein, the fundamental method used for scientific inquiry is legal dogmatic. The focus of the interest refers to the question to what extent the norms on multiple citizenship accommodate the needs of national minorities, help them preserve their peculiar identities and encourage their wider integration into the Croatian post-transitional society. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n22p184


Currently, nurses are under great pressure to demonstrate effective, evidence-based patient care. In this article a single case study will be used to demonstrate that care can be based on recent research within a palliative care setting to produce effective outcomes. Research-based interventions, which were used to provide care for a patient who will be referred to as Maria, will be discussed and evaluated to illustrate the contribution that evidence-based practice made to her nursing care. Although it is a single case study and the findings cannot be generalized, it is suggested that this article can be used to demonstrate the need for accurate interpretation of assessment data, illustrate the use of research to support nursing interventions in pain management, constipation and skin pressure damage, and show that empirical evidence alone may not be a sufficient basis for care and that moral issues must be taken into account.


Given a stochastic nonlinear system controlled over a possibly noisy communication channel, the article studies the largest class of channels for which there exist coding and control policies so that the closed-loop system is stochastically stable. The stability criterion considered is asymptotic mean stationarity (AMS). In this article, we develop a general method based on ergodic theory and probability to derive fundamental bounds on information transmission requirements leading to stabilization. Through this method, we develop a new notion of entropy which is tailored to derive lower bounds for AMS for both noise-free and noisy channels. The bounds obtained through probabilistic and ergodic-theoretic analysis are more refined in comparison with the bounds obtained earlier via information-theoretic methods. Moreover, our approach is more versatile in view of the models considered and allows for finer lower bounds when the AMS measure is known to admit further properties, such as moment bounds.