Broadly neutralizing antibodies and appropriate immunogens are critical for preexposure prophylaxis and therapeutic HIV vaccines. In this study, we aimed to explore effective antibodies against the genetically diverse HIV-1 strains by investigating the roles of human CD4 D1D2 domain and nonvariable immugens. The human CD4 D1D2 domain and the chimeric protein of mouse D1 domain/human D2 domain were expressed in Sf9 insect cells and purified by gel-filtration chromatography. The human CD4 D1D2 domain potently inhibited the infection of 77.8% HIV-1 pseudoviruses, including the clades AE, B' and BC, with less than 20 μg/mL of IC50. pcDNA3.1-mhD1D2m and pcDNA3.1-mhD2m plasmids were used for the production of mouse anti-human CD4 polyclonal antibodies. The neutralizing activities of the polyclonal antibodies were determined by using pseudotyped HIV-1 viruses. The antibodies induced by plasmids containing human CD4 D1D2 domain were able to potently inhibit all pseudotyped HIV-1 strains. The antibodies from mhD1D2m-immunized mice also showed strong binding capacity to CD4 expressed on the surface of TZM-bl cells. The potent and broad inhibitory activity of antibodies against the human CD4 D1D2 domain may be used to develop effective passive immunization agent to control the spread of HIV infection.


We solubilized bovine lung endothelin receptors in a nonaggregated state and identified 34- and 52-kDa species of endothelin receptor by affinity labeling. The ratio of 34-kDa species to 52-kDa species varied widely from sample to sample, suggesting that the 34-kDa species is a proteolytic product; we therefore examined the effect of various proteinase inhibitors and found that EDTA (greater than 50 mM) was very effective in preventing the conversion. These results indicate that the lower Mr species arose from the 52-kDa receptor as a result of limited proteolysis by metal proteinase(s). The resulting 34-kDa species had endothelin-binding activity, was very stable, and was not processed further even in the absence of proteinase inhibitors. We therefore first tried to purify the 34-kDa species by affinity chromatography. Bovine lung extracts were mixed with biotinylated endothelin and the ligand-receptor complexes formed were isolated with avidin-agarose. Starting from 3.5 kg of bovine lung, approximately 200 micrograms of the pure receptor was obtained. Microsequencing of two well-separated tryptic fragments yielded the following partial amino acid sequences: Ala-Asn-Asp-His-Gly-Tyr-Asp-Asn-Phe and Ser-Gly-Met-Gln-Ile-Ala-Leu-Asn-Asp-His-Leu-Lys.


This paper confers the tools and methodology used in developing a Nepali Text to Speech Synthesis System using FreeTTS and is entirely developed in Java and uses FreeTTS synthesize1: Vocalized form of human communication is Speech. Here the Nepali Language is Synthetized based on formant approach and the use of one of the popular generic frameworks FreeTTS that is available in public domain for the development of a TTS system. The Text To Speech Architecture has been developed putting more emphasis on the Natural Language Processing (NLP) component rather than Digital Signal Processing (DSP) component. Nepali language being mostly used language in Nepal and some parts of India and abroad, a text-to-speech (TTS} synthesizer for this language will prove to be a convenient tool and communication technology (JCT) based system to aid to those  majorities of people who are illiterate and also to those who are physical impairments like visually handicapped and vocally disabled persons. This ability to convert text to voice may reduce the dependency, frustration, and sense of helplessness of these people. The system can be extended to include more features such as emotions, improved tokenization, interactive options and the use of minimal database.


In this paper, we present a system for object representation and recognition from dense range maps. The system addresses three problems, namely (i) object representation from single view dense range map, (ii) integrating data or descriptions from multiple views for model construction, and (iii) matching descriptions from a single unknown view to models. Although the main goal of this paper is to develop an algorithm for solving the problem (iii) stated above, to give a complete overview of our system, we will briefly outline our solution techniques with the aid of examples, for problems (i) and (ii) as well. The objects and models are represented by regions that are a collection of surface patches homogeneous in certain intrinsic surface properties. The recognition scheme is based on matching object surface descriptions with model surface descriptions. The recognition task includes both locating the overall object and identifying its features. Location is achieved by finding a geometrical registration function that correctly superimposes an arbitrary instance of the known model and the model. A localization technique is presented which requires that correspondence be established exactly, between one point on the object surface and one on the model surface. Once the single point correspondence is specified, closed-form solutions are given for determining the attitude of the unknown view of the object in 3 space with respect to the model.


In this paper we evaluate the ethical aspects of a public-private partnership (PPP) for the production and distribution of electricity in a particular context, i.e., in a developing country characterized by a high corruption rate. In general, multinational enterprises (MNE) are considered suspect in developing countries by their own populations and by others, especially in those countries perceived as corrupt. A second source of suspicion concerns the privatization of utilities: utilities such as electricity and clean water play an essential role in people's lives, thus, leaving their production and distribution in the hands of for-profit companies may seem imprudent, particularly with respect to the poorest people. On the basis of a questionnaire submitted to managers of a privatized utility company in Cameroon, this case study suggests that the combination of these two sources of suspicion does not automatically lead to negative outcomes.


Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the outcome of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) in healthy children. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 314 children aged 3-36 months in the paediatric outpatient clinic and emergency department with symptoms of URTI (fever, cough, rhinorrhoea) for ≤5 days. Patient's demographics, clinical features, laboratory data and outcome were recorded. Follow up phone calls were made to parents on day 7 (response 93.6%) and day 14 (response 94.6%) to record outcome. Results: A total of 314 children with URTIs were included. Majority (57.6%) were males and <1year of age (40%). Common manifestations of URTI were fever (89%), cough (79%), rhinorrhoea (62%), pharyngitis (79%) and conjunctivitis (46%). More than half (53%) had history of contact with URTI in a family member. Mean duration of symptoms was 2.7±1.3 days. Majority (93%) of children were given supportive treatment and only 6.7% received antibiotics initially. Most of children (76%) recovered within one week and 91.8% within two weeks with supportive care only. Only 4% children were hospitalized and 12% required follow up visit of which 16% needed oral antibiotics. Complications or deaths did not occur. Conclusions: Majority of URTIs in healthy children resolved with supportive treatment and do not require antibiotics. Antibiotic stewardship in simple URTIs should be practiced using awareness and advocacy campaigns.


Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators are high technology devices used for the treatment of bradyarrhythmias and/or tachyarrhythmias. These devices can be affected by some surgical equipment. Endoscopic sphicterotomy is one of the therapeutic endoscopic procedure that produce electromagnetic interference which can potentially produce unwanted affects for these groups of patients. Awareness of these interferences is of crucial importance. We presented three patients with pacemakers who were performed ES and reviewed the literature for therapeutic endoscopic procedures in patients with implanted cardiac devices.


In this document the author considers the performance of a long pulse spallation source for those neutron scattering experiments that are usually performed with a monochromatic beam at a continuous wave (CW) source such as a nuclear reactor. The first conclusion drawn is that comparison of the performance of neutron scattering spectrometers at CW and pulsed sources is simpler for long-pulsed sources than it is for the short-pulse variety. Even though detailed instrument design and assessment will require Monte Carlo simulations (which have already been performed at Los Alamos for SANS and reflectometry), simple arguments are sufficient to assess the approximate performance of spectrometers at an LPSS and to support the contention that a 1 MW long-pulse source can provide attractive performance, especially for instrumentation designed for soft-condensed-matter science. Because coupled moderators can be exploited at such a source, its time average cold flux is equivalent to that of a research reactor with a power of about 15 MW, so only a factor of 4 gain from source pulsing is necessary to obtain performance that is comparable with the ILL. In favorable cases, the gain from pulsing can be even more than this, approaching the limit set by the peak flux, giving about 4 times the performance of the ILL. Because of its low duty factor, an LPSS provides the greatest performance gains for relatively low resolution experiments with cold neutrons. It should thus be considered complementary to short pulse sources which are most effective for high resolution experiments using thermal or epithermal neutrons.


Monitored clinical studies conducted in 1133 patients, involving 3928 patient years of experience with probucol, have shown that it is an effective cholesterol lowering agent and is well tolerated during long term administration (some patients treated for as long as nine years). The incidence of morbidity and mortality in patients treated with probucol is in the expected range. Although a possibly protective action is suggestive against certain endpoints, the lack of long term parallel placebo groups does not allow for a statistical contrast of the results. Therefore, it is preferable to limit conclusions to observing that no excess of cardiac deaths, sudden deaths or cardiac morbidity occurred in probucol treated men with or without ischemic heart disease compared with men not receiving probucol.


PURPOSE
To determine the prevalence of refractive errors in the young and middle-aged adult population in Norway.

METHODS
Refractive errors were measured in a population-based sample of young (20-25 years) and middle-aged (40-45 years) adults participating in the Helseundersøkelse i Nord Trøndelag (HUNT) Health Study, conducted in the County of Nord-Trøndelag in Norway.

RESULTS
A total of 3137 persons (1248 young and 1889 middle-aged adults) with corrected visual acuity > or = 0.5 (in either eye) were included in the study. The prevalence of myopia was 35.0% in the young adult group and 30.3% in the middle-aged group. Myopia was significantly higher in women aged 20-25 years (36.4%) than in men aged 40-45 years (28.1%). Prevalence of hyperopia increased with age from 13.2% (20-25 years) to 17.4% (40-45 years). The highest rate of hyperopia (20.1%) was encountered in middle-aged women.

CONCLUSION
The results show a slightly higher prevalence of myopia in the general population of Norway than previously estimated.


A 20% diazinon formulation was evaluated for control efficacy against the horn fly, Haematobia irritans (L.), in the Morgan Recharger (Morgan International Products, College Grove, Tenn.). The Morgan Recharger releases insecticide with a wicking system from an insecticide reservoir and can be attached to an animal's ear or tail. This device was most effective against the horn fly when used as an ear tag with two per head; horn fly counts did not exceed five flies per side through 8 wk. The diazinon formulation tested was released from the Morgan Recharger at a decreasing rate. The problems and potential of the Morgan Recharger as an effective horn fly control device are discussed.


The properties of hyperspherical representation where the one-body orbitals are expressed in terms of the square root of the electron density, p(r) and the angle functions {θi(r)}i=1 . N-1 , (R.F. Nalewajski, P.M. Kozlowski, Acta Phys. Pol. Α74, 287 (1988)) are discussed, and the expression for the kinetic energy density functional is analyzed. This expression contains the Weizsacker term plus a correction determined by the angle functions: Taking into account both the limit of only one occupied level and the slowly varying electron density with large N, it is shown that the kinetic energy density functional interpolates correctly between the known results. Finally, an example of a linear harmonic oscillator is given and the relation between the usual orbital pictures is discussed.


The aim of this work is to increase the efficiency of the business process of checking clients of financial organizations by using solutions in the field of robotics. These technologies are considered as an alternative to the classic manual routine check of borrowers, which is carried out both at the initial request of clients to the Bank, and on a periodic basis, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation. The article contains a detailed analysis of the "robotic process automation" method for credit organizations in the framework of organizing the process of financial monitoring of borrowers. This technology allows you to automate standard employee actions performed in a standard graphical user interface (GUI). The article discusses the problems that arise when implementing RPA technologies in banks, the main reasons for their occurrence, as well as methods for solving them. The possible software implementation of the proposed methods using the Automation Anywhere software product and integration of the results into the MS Dynamics AX system are shown. The cost estimation of the effectiveness of this method is made, and positive non-economic effects are considered. In conclusion, we describe the main prospects for the development of RPA technology in the banking sector, possible integration with other software solutions used in credit institutions.


In this commentary, we identify a phonics-first ideology and its polemical distortions of research and science to promote legislation that constrains and diminishes the teaching of reading. We affirm our own, and a majority of reading professionals', commitment to teaching phonics. However, we argue that phonics instruction is more effective when embedded in a more comprehensive program of literacy instruction that accommodates students' individual needs and multiple approaches to teaching phonics—a view supported by substantial research. After summarizing the politicization of phonics in the United States, we critique a legislated training course for teachers in Tennessee as representative of how a phonics-first ideology is expressed polemically for political purposes. We contrast it with a more collaboratively developed, balanced, nonlegislative approach in the previous governor's administration. Specifically, the training course (a) makes an unfounded claim that there is a national reading crisis that can be traced to insufficient or inappropriate phonics instruction; (b) distorts, misrepresents, or omits relevant research findings and recommendations, most prominently from the report of the National Reading Panel; (c) inaccurately suggests that "balanced literacy instruction" is "whole language" instruction in disguise; and (d) wrongly claims that its views of phonics are based on a settled science of reading.


Workplace discrimination in managerial and leadership roles is commonplace in early 21st Century United States. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 2008 data, the underrepresentation is manifested by the figures that women make up 29 % of Executive/Senior Level Officials and Managers and about 38 % of First/Mid Level Officials and Managers in private sector companies (EEOC, 2009). The figures are as sobering in collegiate athletics leadership, as the coaching profession mirrors this inadequate representation of female leaders. Women represent 21% of the total head coaches in intercollegiate sports and 19 % of athletic directors, a figure that trails the aforementioned corporate workforce records for comparable positions. In addition, approximately 43 % of women's teams are coached by women head coaches, while 57 % of women's teams are headed by male coaches (Acosta and Carpenter, 2010). Men serve as head coaches for women's team but women coaching men's teams is almost a nonexistent occurrence. This data displays the power dynamic that exists in athletic organizations which mirrors the culture of male dominance in most work organizations.The lack of women coaches has been attributed, in part, to cultural perceptions that men are more suited to lead and therefore are more qualified to lead as coaches. Beliefs about gender roles, male hegemony in sport organizations, and hegemonic masculinity inform these social views about the gender appropriateness for sport coaches. Gender roles show that women have experienced less opportunity and unequal treatment in the workplace, especially in sport organizations stemming from the previously mentioned social views (Cunningham, Fink, and Kenix, 2008). There are negative biases and perceptions about leadership abilities of women (Eagly and Karau, 2002). Conversely, men are perceived as leaders and it is part of manhood to coach, regardless of the sex of the players. It is accepted by society that men have a birthright to authority. Therefore, asserting their power in positions of leadership and occupying the majority of coaching positions is the norm (Whisenant, Pedersen, and Obenour, 2002).Previous literature focusing on women coaching men's sports has found that women rarely filled coaching positions for male sports in both high school and college, as a result of homologous reproduction (Kane and Stangi, 1991; Staurowsky, 1990). Greenhill, Auld and Cuskelly (2009) recognized that coaching attributes, environment, and networking affect women's ability to develop coaching careers. Women have difficulty overcoming the organizational cultures and human resource decisions made by male leaders, and therefore have trouble breaking into leadership roles themselves. Although homologous reproduction remains an adequate explanation for gender inequities, these systemic barriers may also be explained by hegemonic analyses.Extensions of Marxist theories of hegemony have been used to show the gender inequities that exist in the workplace. Cultural hegemony was identified by the works of Gramsci (1971), and serves as a primary explanation for why men are primarily in these leadership roles, and retain social power. The concept of hegemony focuses on class domination, one group enjoys power over the secondary group. Ruling class hegemonic masculinity asserts the belief that women are non-factors as decision makers in important matters and "can be dealt with by jocular patronage in little matters" (Donaldson, 1993, p. 654). The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of hegemonic masculinity on societal perceptions of women coaching in men's college basketball. In the subsequent sections we will analyze cultural perceptions that exist in men's college basketball that hinder women's opportunities to coach men's sports.Gender Roles in the WorkplaceHistorically, women have faced unfair and unequal treatment in the workplace (Cleveland, Stockdale, and Murphy, 2000; Cunningham, Fink, and Kenix, 2008). …


The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) is involved in the research, development, and transition of ocean models from exploratory/advanced research to operations. The SURA Coastal and Ocean Modeling Testbed (COMT) program uses the science of collaboration to apply advances made by the coastal ocean modeling research community to improve operational ocean products and services. The long-range vision of the program is to increase the accuracy, reliability, and scope of operational coastal and ocean forecasting products. Accurately modeling surface gravity waves in the coastal ocean is especially important to help protect property and to save lives. This paper highlights recent advances in wave modeling by principal investigators that have supported the COMT program [1]. The four pillars of COMT are basic and applied research, technology transition, archival of discoverable information, and dissemination of data standards and software tools.


The aesthetism of advertisement in FEMINA magazine is a representation of socio-cultural life of the society at the level of sensation culture. Its brings within it the values of the ideological system of capitalism and possesses great potential of power to construct consciousness. Advertisement has become an infrastructure of commodification which meanings tend to be destructive and bring concerns to the people. This destructive potential comes from the tendency of the advertisement to be manipulative and dehumanizing. At present the discourse on the importance of deconstruction for revitalizing ads towards the better should be considered by all related parties


We propose a theory of preferences for acquiring or avoiding information and for exposure to uncertainty (i.e., risk or ambiguity) which is based on thoughts and feelings about information as well as information gaps, that is, specific questions that the decision maker recognizes and is aware of. In our theoretical framework utility depends not just on material payoffs but also on beliefs and the attention devoted to them. We specify assumptions regarding the determinants of attention to information gaps, characterize a specific utility function that describes feelings about information gaps, and show with examples that our theory can make sense both of the acquisition of noninstrumental information and of the avoidance of possibly useful information, as well as source-specific risk and ambiguity aversion and seeking.


In the PUSPATI TRIGA reactor (RTP), many variables and instruments need to be monitored to make sure it is functioning and running accordingly. The late detection of faults may result in accidents and affect workers' safety and health. Therefore, an intelligent fault detection system is needed to detect faults in the process plant and alert for any safe point breach. This work was carried out to discover the use of an artificial neural network (ANN) to model and develop a fault detection programme in the RTP cooling system. Using actual data from the reactor to train the multilayer network model with backpropagation algorithm. Referring to the real data from the reactor, the simulation results demonstrate a good correlation between the proposed model using ANN and the real plants with a residual mean of below 1%. The preliminary results for fault detection show that ANN was able to predict the value of failure in residual factor by comparing the normal state and fault state of the plant. The proposed model using ANN method proofed that it could quickly diagnose the single fault and perform for any given failure. The research outcome could contribute to the improvement in frontier technologies and advanced manufacturing in Malaysia.


The aim of the article is thermal and structural analysis of new two-component binders for foundry moulding sands. The previous research showed the possibility of using biodegradable materials as binders or parts of binders' compositions for foundry moulding and core sands. This paper is concentrated on estimating the influence of PCL on phenol-furfuryl resin thermal destruction (measured by derivatographic research) and its structure (measured by FTiR technology). The research proved that addition of new biodegradable additive PCL in the amount of 5-15% to the phenol-furfuryl resin doesn't change the resin thermal destruction course but it results in appearance of a new band in two-component binder structure. What's more there has been noticed a growth of intensity for band at wavenumber 1730 cm –1 (C = O) with the increasing addition of PCL.


A potential energy surface (PES) for describing the interactions among the atoms in Ag nanoparticles was derived using the feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) method. Based on the preliminary success of constructing ANN PESs using a small number of data sets for Pt, Au, and Ag clusters/nanoparticles, we studied here the accuracy of the ANN method to build the PES for Ag nanoparticles to be employed in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations by including more data sets obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In this work, more neurons were used to improve the fitting accuracy. The results demonstrated that the new fitting provides a more balanced result in terms of accuracy in training and testing with respect to the previously fitting, however, more asymptotic DFT data sets are required to construct a global ANN PES suitable for MD simulations on the formation of Ag nanoparticles.


This paper reviews the anatomical and physiological factors of importance for nasal drug delivery and discusses in particular the influence of the nasal mucociliary clearance mechanism on the nasal absorption of drugs. The effect of nasal pathological conditions on the mucociliary clearance mechanism and the possible effect of such disease states on nasal drug transport are also discussed. Strategies for the exploitation of bioadhesive drug delivery systems and especially nasal absorption enhancers for the improvement of nasal drug delivery are evaluated to include considerations of the mechanism of action and correlation between the degree of bioadhesion and absorption enhancement and transport of drugs across the nasal membrane. A range of studies involving bioadhesive/absorption enhancer systems are detailed. A selected bioadhesive material, chitosan, which has been shown to have excellent absorption enhancer properties for a variety of drugs is discussed in some detail.


This paper attempts to interpret the short story How I Taught My Grandmother To Read(2004) by famous social worker and author Sudha Murthy as an appreciation of the latest scenarioof female literacy and education in India. Post 1950 female discourse in India has found freshergrounds with writers such as Sudha Murthy and Triveni (Anusuya Shankar), the author of KashiYatre, referred to in the text. The former fashions characters which the Indian female readershipconfined to the conditioning of patriarchy and tradition can look up to. The latter however makesa bolder stand in delineating lifelike characters in her novels that become one with the sufferinglot of home makers bound to their chores and religion. The paper presents a polychromatic readingof the short story in question, with respect to female literacy and education along with its scopefor emancipation of women from their commoditized state of existence, in India. Sudha Murthyeffectively hints at the possibility and fulfillment of female education as a social tool to eliminatefemale alienation and exploitation at various layers of existence. The plot unravels the idea ofdoing away with age old superstitions and beliefs which might hinder personal, intellectual andspiritual growth of an individual, with the help of the more rational tenets of the very sametradition. It brings home the realization of tradition as an evolutionary process, free from thegrammarian's chains and shackles. It moves on along the path of addition and deletion. Thoughthis is subtly presented, the overall effect gains much radicalism.


When is a widely-known fairy tale more than a story? Poh Sim Plowright recently went to South Thailand and North Malaysia to examine the relevance of the 'birdwoman' folk tale to the lives of the villagers1 in those two regions. Here the local people still participate in a ritual dramatization of a story which for them represents a crucial renewal of life in their yearly calendar – a celebration of the roots of feminine magical power which goes back to the ancient historical south-east Asian practice by which a victorious ruler would carry back as booty to his kingdom the wives and dancers of the vanquished. Since most of the members of these royal harems were mediums gifted with special powers of healing and communicating with spirits, they were seen as valuable additions to a ruler's aura of divinity – and consequently to his terrestrial power. More importantly, the theatrical art form known as Manora, which enshrines the 'birdwoman' tale, is said to have been founded by two royal female trance mediums, regarded as primal healers and guardians of a life-renewing elixir: thus, each performance also serves as a shamanic and healing ritual. The performances here described by Poh Sim Plowright also have links with drama in China and Japan, and at the end of her article she explores the powerful connection with W. B. Yeats's celebrated 'birdwoman' play, At the Hawk's Well, which features a 'Hawk' Woman guarding a 'well of miraculous water' against male intrusion. Poh Sim Plowright is Director of the Centre for the Study of Noh Drama and Lecturer in Oriental Drama at Royal Holloway College, University of London.


Improvements in the productivity of established mammalian cell lines used for biopharmaceutical production are desirable to increase product yields. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the workhorse used for more than 60% of industrial therapeutic antibody production. Glycoprotein secretion by CHO cells requires intracellular processes including transcription, translation, glycosylation, and secretion. Within these intracellular steps, post-translational processes are rate limiting for production in high-producer cell lines. This review focuses on unfolded protein response-based engineering of CHO cells and details our recent progress in using overexpression of activating transcription factor 4 to promote recombinant protein production.


— this article reveals the root causes of the issues of social-ecological systems in Central Fragile Zone of Sri Lanka. Understanding of the causes should use to develop a sustainable development framework for environmentally sensitive areas, three villages of in Sabaragamuwa Province (SP), Sri Lanka. By examining relationship between social systems and ecological systems that existed in the study area for the last 100 years, the existing social-ecological system in environmental sensitive areas of SP in Sri Lanka has been conceptualized. The study clarifies the issues, which are being faced by the permanent settlers in the region and attempts to forecast the situation that may occur in the immediate future, finally suggests the possible solutions for the issues. Mainly this study depends on political ecological perspective to understand the exiting political ecological problems in the communities, two main theses of political ecology, called the degradation and marginalization thesis and the conservation and control thesis, applied. This study depends on both secondary and primary data with qualitative approach.


Chronophin is a phosphatase responsible for the dephosphorylation of cofilin, which regulates the rearrangement of actin cytoskeleton. It is also known as a phosphatase for pyrodoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), an active form of vitamin B?, and maintains the level of PLP in the cytoplasm. Since this phosphatase belongs to a HAD subfamily containing a cap domain, it is expected to undergo a conformational change for the binding of a substrate. However, the crystal structure of chronophin has a disulfide bridge between the cap and core domains preventing a movement of the cap domain against the core domain. It is possible that the disulfide bond between C91 and C221 was formed by an oxidation during the crystallization. Here, we obtained chronophin crystals under a reduced condition and determined the crystal structure. This reduced chronophin does not contain a disulfide bridge and shows a closed conformation like the oxidized form. It implies that an active chronophin binds its substrate under the closed conformation without the disulfide bond and shows a high substrate specificity in the cell.


ABSTRACT Opportunities to interrogate praxis through professional learning and reflection is common for school teachers but is not straightforward or as frequently practised by tertiary educators, particularly from across different universities. In this article, the authors who are arts educators from various universities explore a framework that focuses on 'quality' visual art education. The aim was to ascertain if an ontology could be enacted to inform our collective knowledges about quality in arts education across our different contexts. Through collaborative self-study and the application of practice architectures common issues in higher education teaching are discussed. Cases are shared from critical examinations of our practices, that also foreground, interrogate and enrich our collective understandings in the practice field. A proposed model is provided illustrating how the intersection of dialogic discourse with art educational ontology, can promote insightful praxis, which is applicable to not only art education, but a range of disciplines.


This paper presents the results of an evaluation of Energy Trust of Oregon's Strategic Energy Management (SEM) initiative. Commercial SEM is designed to deliver comprehensive energy services to large, typically multi-site, customers through behavioral and operational changes, while also identifying potential capital projects. This paper addresses both process findings and an analysis of savings estimation techniques. The evaluation sought to ensure that the initiative was achieving claimed savings at a reasonable cost and to provide feedback on program design and implementation. This meant both investigating the methods used to calculate savings and understanding how participants had incorporated energy saving policies and practices into their standard operating procedures. Key operational findings included: SEM takes time if organizational changes are to be implemented. A cohort approach, using multiple workshops with representatives from 5-10 organizations, appears to be effective in engaging participants and encouraging behavioral and operational change. Findings relating to the savings methodology included: Standardized regression analysis techniques are an acceptable means to determine savings. When regression analyses are used, savings should be calculated using a baseline of the operation immediately preceding program participation, whenever possible. Regression analyses should be clearly organized and link operational changes to reduced energy use. Linear extrapolation from limited data to project annual savings often induces significant error. Therefore, savings claims should be limited to observed savings to improve accuracy. If savings claims must be extrapolated based on limited data, these analyses can be supplemented with heating or cooling models to improve accuracy.


Multipath transport allows the simultaneous use of diverse paths on mobile devices to maximize mobile resource usage. Over the years, we have witnessed several mobile multipath deployment examples by network operators and mobile app providers. However, existing deployment methods require modifications to either the network infrastructure or both endpoints. To lower the bar of the deployment, we present Fleety, a mobile system service that provides the multipath transport capability with client-only modification. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to carry out a large-scale mobile multipath deployment that can support hundreds of mobile applications in the cross-ISP setting. This paper is a retrospective of our experience in building and deploying multipath transport for mobile applications. We reveal several practical deployment challenges and share our experience in dealing with them.


PURPOSE
To verify the dose accuracy of photon MLC delivered electron fields for implementing energy-intensity modulated electron radiotherapy (MERT) on an Artiste linac.

METHODS
It was proposed to deliver MERT on an Artiste linac at a short SSD (60 cm) to reduce beam penumbra caused by electron scatters. An in-house developed Monte Carlo (MC)-based dose calculation/optimization planning code was used for treatment planning. Our previous study showed that the measured dose distribution of a breast plan showed good agreement with the calculations in low-medium dose regions while the differences in high dose regions were outstanding. A continuous work found that the discrepancy is mainly caused by improper modeling in MC for the single focused MLC in the Artiste which was simplified as double focused in the previous MC simulations. With this remodeled MLC in the calculations, an energy-intensity modulated electron plan using 6, 9, 12 and 15 MeV was generated for a breast treatment on a breast phantom at a 60 cm SSD and recalculated regarding a solid water phantom. For a test study, four of MLC segments (each with a different energy) generated in the plan were delivered to the phantom and a film measurement was performed at the depth of 2 cm. The measured 2D dose distribution was then compared with calculations.

RESULTS
For composite doses of the four segments, measured 2D dose distributions overall agree well with the calculations (3mm/3%) in most area. The separate measurement for a single MLC segment for each of energies also showed the consistence with the calculations.

CONCLUSION
After remodeling MLC in the MC calculations, the measured dose distribution for a subset of MLC segments from a MERT plan showed good agreement. Further detailed verification for the full plan will be the work in the next step.


Heavy metal sulfides form a substantial part of the scale solids depositing from high-temperature, high-saline geothermal brines. An assessment has been made of the prospects for controlling this deposition by chemical modification of the brine. An outline is given of the types of reactions influencing sulfide precipitation. It is suggested that two factors affecting sulfide solubility and that are amenable to chemical modification of the brine are oxidation state and pH. A partial oxidation process can be used to convert aqueous sulfide species to free sulfur, a process favored by thermodynamics and kinetics. Some oxidizing agents are suggested for this purpose. A discussion is given of the possibilities of precipitating other solid phases after extensive oxidation. It is concluded on the basis of the available data that this possibility exists, but that uncertainties in reaction kinetics, unavailable data, and solution complexity make an exact analysis difficult. The usefulness of a field evaluation of chemical modification processes is indicated. (auth)


The author, a consultant psychotherapist who works with dying patients in a National Health Service (NHS) hospital, argues that the moral issue is not simply whether or not to tell cancer patients the truth, but more importantly how to do so. Lies and the bald unprepared-for truth may both be damaging. Time and trouble is needed to understand patients and help them understand their situation. Dr Goldie warns that putting oneself into the patient's shoes, as doctors so often do, is the best way of not knowing what another feels. Such misunderstanding may lead to medical decisions based on `nothing more than fantasies - uninspired guesses about what other people think and feel. It is the equivalent of prescribing for patients without examination'.


Provided are multichannel architectures, systems, methods, and computer program products for distributed teleconferencing using one or more master devices and/or a centralized conferencing switch. Multichannels enhance functionality of a master device in distributed teleconferencing and allow for compatibility with 3D capable teleconferencing. Multichannel distributed teleconferencing involves multichannel, monophonic, and/or a fixed number of uplink and downlink channels. A multichannel distributed teleconferencing system may perform active talker detection of near-end participants and communicate an ID signal on an uplink channel identifying the active near-end participants. A multichannel distributed teleconferencing system may also receive an ID signal on a downlink channel identifying the active far-end participants. A multichannel distributed teleconferencing system may perform various uplink and downlink processing. Uplink processing may involve multimixing and spatialization. Multimixing may be used to separate speech signals of near-end participants. Spatialization, also used in downlink processing, introduces spatial separation of active participants.


could be one of the reasons for the difference between the US and Swiss incidences of severe cutaneous reactions. A recent report from Mozambique revealed an incidence of one in 7000 cases after single-dose sulphadoxine therapy.' This differs significantly from the US data, in which no cases of severe cutaneous reactions were seen in travellers who were taking single-dose sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine. Also, the fatality rate after one dose of sulphadoxine in Mozambique (one in 50 000 users) differed from that in a report from Morocco where no deaths were seen in 36 673 patients who were given a single dose of the drug.' These differences may indicate that genetic factors may determine the predispostion to severe cutaneous reactions. Our data also do not provide any evidence that the simultaneous use of chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine predisposes to an increased incidence of severe cutaneous adverse reactions. Except for hospital users of the agent, the rest (770/0) of our patients used chloroquine and sulphadoxinepyrimethamine simultaneously, either as single or repeated doses. This is because, in practice, antimalarial treatment and prophylaxis are almost always prescribed "blind" outside hospital to cover for both falciparum and vivax malaria. This is further supported by the fact that the usage of chloroquine in this area is almost five times that of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine.


To examine whether intersectional bias can be observed in language generation, we examine \emph{GPT-2} and \emph{GPT-NEO} models, ranging in size from 124 million to ~2.7 billion parameters. We conduct an experiment combining up to three social categories - gender, religion and disability - into unconditional or zero-shot prompts used to generate sentences that are then analysed for sentiment. Our results confirm earlier tests conducted with auto-regressive causal models, including the \emph{GPT} family of models. We also illustrate why bias may be resistant to techniques that target single categories (e.g. gender, religion and race), as it can also manifest, in often subtle ways, in texts prompted by concatenated social categories. To address these difficulties, we suggest technical and community-based approaches need to combine to acknowledge and address complex and intersectional language model bias.


ABSTRACT Although travel influencers (TIs) are viewed as a marketing tool in tourism, little research has been conducted to identify the relationships in the influence mechanism processes. To fill this gap, stimulus-organism-response theory has been applied to investigate the effects of TIs on visit intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data collected from social media users in Turkey. The findings of the study suggest that dimensions of TI affect cognitive response and trust differently, which in turn influences visit intention. Second, the expertise and attractiveness of the indirect effect of content on visit intention have been determined, mediated by cognitive response and trust. Third, COVID-19 fear has been found to moderate the relationship between trust and visit intention. However, confidence in vaccine has not been found to moderate the association between cognitive response with trust, and visit intention. The study helps the tourism industry and influencer agencies to create marketing communication strategies to attract more tourists via social media.


Neuropsychological expertise is an important field of activity of clinical neuropsychologists and it requires specific competence. The qualification for neuropsychological consultants encompasses a sound knowledge of neuropsychological assessment and of the basic legal conditions relating to the question addressed. Furthermore, specific know-how of the time course of neuropsychological impairments and of their implications on quality of life and social participation is needed. The explanatory power of neuropsychological expert opinion as well as typical questions addressed to the consultant depending on the ordering party are explained. The presentation of the course of an expert examination and of the functions relevant for such an assessment as well as the final evaluation of the examination results provide an insight into the field of activity of neuropsychological consultants. Furthermore, the problem of aggravation and simulation is addressed in detail.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the characteristics of liver dysfunction pre-transplant and during conditioning period and its impacts on transplantation related hepatic complication, overall survival (OS) and transplant-related mortality (TRM).

METHODS
A total of 196 patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) at Peking University First Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Liver function test for each patient was examined pre-transplant and during the period of conditioning. The correlation of liver dysfunction with hepatic complications, OS and TRM rates were analyzed.

RESULTS
Liver dysfunction before transplantation was found in 38 (19.8%, 38/192) patients, while damage of liver function during conditioning was found in 159(81.1%) patients, 28 of whom developed grade 3 hepatic dysfunction. There was no life-threatening impairment of liver function. No matter pre-transplant or during conditioning, liver dysfunction did not suggest apparent influence on the engraftment of neutrophil or platelet or the incidence of hepatic complications including hepatic veno occlusive disease (HVOD), acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) and chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD). Univariate analysis revealed that factors affecting OS rate included age (P = 0.022), high risk stage (P = 0.003), AST and TBil elevation before transplantation (P = 0.019 and 0.015 respectively), III-IV hepatic aGVHD (P = 0.000) and HVOD(P = 0.000). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that high risk stage (P = 0.002) and III-IV hepatic aGVHD (P = 0.000) were independent prognostic risk factors affecting both OS rate and TRM rate, while liver dysfunction before transplantation or during conditioning period had no apparent influence on OS rate or TRM rate.

CONCLUSION
Allo-HSCT would be administrated for the patients with mild impairment of liver function grade 1 and 2.


This study was to investigate high school male students' game addiction tendency and to examine the effects of group cognitive behavioral therapy for high risk students with internet game addiction. In experimental study, of high risk 27 students of internet game addiction, 13 students agreed to participate in group cognitive behavioral therapy program and 14 students were participated in sport program as comparative group. The instrument used for evaluating the treatment efficacy were internet game addiction test, self-control scale, and Beck Depression Inventory-Korean version which were administered before and after the treatment. The results of this study were as followings: in cognitive behavioral program group, self-control was


The assessment of capacity to consent to treatment is key to shared practitioner-patient decision-making. It is the responsibility of the person closest to the decision being made to carry out the assessment. The aim was to examine the factors that influence mental capacity assessments in home health care settings and identify the facilitators and inhibitors to the conduct and process of assessments as perceived and experienced by non-medical health practitioners providing generalist community services. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of community nurses, community physiotherapists and community occupational therapists in one NHS Trust in London. Data were analysed thematically. The main themes were issues relating to: intrinsic patient factors and behaviours; recognising, managing and utilising the influence of the family; practitioner motivation and competence; working together as a team to optimise shared decision making, and; the importance of place. While some issues appear germane to both hospital and home health care settings, others are unique to - or manifest very differently in - home health care settings. The findings suggest that the influence of family members, long-term practitioner-patient relationships and physical distance from co-workers make the conduct and process of mental capacity assessments in home health care settings an inherently complex endeavour.


A series of picolyl-substituted NHC-bridged triangular complexes of Ag(I) and Cu(I) were synthesized upon reaction of the corresponding ligand precursors, [Him(CH(2)py)(2)]BF(4) (1a), [Him(CH(2)py-3,4-(OMe)(2))(2)]BF(4) (1b), [Him(CH(2)py-3,5-Me(2)-4-OMe)(2)]BF(4) (1c), [Him(CH(2)py-6-COOMe)(2)]BF(4) (1d), and [H(S)im(CH(2)py)(2)]BF(4) (1e), with Ag(2)O and Cu(2)O, respectively. Complexes [Cu(3)(im(CH(2)py)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3) (2a), [Cu(3)(im(CH(2)py-3,4-(OMe)(2))(2))(3)](BF(4))(3) (2b), [Cu(3)(im(CH(2)py-3,5-Me(2)-4-OMe)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3), (2c), [Ag(3)(im(CH(2)py-3,4-(OMe)(2))(2))(3)](BF(4))(3), (3b), [Ag(3)(im(CH(2)py-3,5-Me(2)-4-OMe)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3) (3c), [Ag(3)(im(CH(2)py-6-COOMe)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3) (3d), and [Ag(3)((S)im(CH(2)py)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3) (3e) were easily prepared by this method. Complex 2e, [Cu(3)((S)im(CH(2)py)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3), was synthesized by a carbene-transfer reaction of 3e, [Ag(3)((S)im(CH(2)py)(2))(3)](BF(4))(3), with CuCl in acetonitrile. The ligand precursor 1d did not react with Cu(2)O. All complexes were fully characterized by NMR, UV-vis, and luminescence spectroscopies and high-resolution mass spectrometry. Complexes 2a-2c, 2e, and 3b-3e were additionally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Each metal complex contains a nearly equilateral triangular M(3) core wrapped by three bridging NHC ligands. In 2a-2c and 2e, the Cu-Cu separations are short and range from 2.4907 to 2.5150 Å. In the corresponding Ag(I) system, the metal-metal separations range from 2.7226 to 2.8624 Å. The Cu(I)-containing species are intensely blue photoluminescent at room temperature both in solution and in the solid state. Upon UV excitation in CH(3)CN, complexes 2a-2c and 2e emit at 459, 427, 429, and 441 nm, whereas in the solid state, these bands move to 433, 429, 432, and 440 nm, respectively. As demonstrated by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, complexes 3b-3e are dynamic in solution and undergo a ligand dissociation process. Complexes 3b-3e are weakly photoemissive in the solid state.


This paper presents EnergyAnalyzer, a code-level static analysis tool for estimating the energy consumption of embedded software based on statically predictable hardware events. The tool utilises techniques usually used for worst-case execution time (WCET) analysis together with bespoke energy models developed for two predictable architectures - the ARM Cortex-M0 and the Gaisler LEON3 - to perform energy usage analysis. EnergyAnalyzer has been applied in various use cases, such as selecting candidates for an optimised convolutional neural network, analysing the energy consumption of a camera pill prototype, and analysing the energy consumption of satellite communications software. The tool was developed as part of a larger project called TeamPlay, which aimed to provide a toolchain for developing embedded applications where energy properties are first-class citizens, allowing the developer to reflect directly on these properties at the source code level. The analysis capabilities of EnergyAnalyzer are validated across a large number of benchmarks for the two target architectures and the results show that the statically estimated energy consumption has, with a few exceptions, less than 1% difference compared to the underlying empirical energy models which have been validated on real hardware.


Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities of thirty commercial Chinese style soy-paste were determined. All the aqueous sample extracts exhibited ACE inhibitory activities. Nine samples produced in Guangdong Province showed significantly higher ACE inhibitory activities than other samples (p ‹ 0.0001) and the strongest activity was detected with an extraordinarily low IC50 value of 0.012 mg/mL. Furthermore, these nine samples contained significantly lower peptide contents in line with the slighter proteolysis degrees and showed significantly lighter colors as evidenced by the higher L* (lightness) values than other samples (p ‹ 0.0001). It was indicated that special processing techniques depending on production regions might, to a large extent, affect the ACE inhibitory activities of Chinese soypaste. The findings in this work would be useful in exploring ACE inhibitors derived from Chinese style soypaste and designing functional products with potential antihypertensive effects.


A method was developed and tested for in vivo assay of acetolactate synthase (ALS). The method used foliar application of 1,1-cyclopropanedicarboxylic acid (CPCA) to inhibit ketol-acid reductoisomerase, the enzyme immediately following ALS in biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids, thereby causing accumulation of acetolactate. Since the amount of acetolactate accumulation is a function of carbon flux through ALS, quantification of acetolactate accumulation determined ALS activity. Accumulation of acetolactate in soybean leaves resulted from CPCA rates as low as 15 g/ha and occurred within 1.5 h. Accumulation rates in soybean leaflets declined with leaf age from 84 μg/h/g tissue at 3 d to 17 μg/h/g tissue at 7 d. Foliar application of CPCA also caused acetolactate accumulation in corn, grain sorghum, velvetleaf, common cocklebur, and smooth pigweed. The ability of the in vivo assay to quantify the reduction in ALS activity following applications of ALS-inhibiting herbicides was validated by comparing ALS activity following thifensulfuron application to 'Williams 82' soybean, which has a sulfonylurea-sensitive ALS, and 'Asgrow 3200' soybean, which has a sulfonylurea-insensitive ALS. Thifensulfuron reduced ALS activity in Williams 82 soybean to 0, 0.8, 3.3, and 15.6% of the CPCA control at 6, 12, 24, and 48 HAT, but ALS activity in Asgrow 3200 soybean was reduced only to 34, 40, 57, and 88% of the CPCA control.


The effects of molecular weight on mechanical properties of the thermoplastic polyimide are investigated. The specimens which have 4 different molecular weights (MW) ranging from 2.5×104 g/mol to 3.8×104 g/mol are prepared. Young's modulus, tensile strength and Poisson's ratio are determined by the tensile tests. To obtain the fracture toughness. JIC the multiple specimen method is applied since the crack propagation occurs in a stable manner. Although Young's modulus, tensile strength and Poisson's ratio are almost constant over the range of MW tested, the JIC increases with the increase of molecular weight. The rib-like pattern and the river-like pattern are observed on the fracture surfaces of lower and higher MW specimen, respectively. These observations indicate that the crazes significantly grow for the specimens with higher MW. This is considered to be the reason for the increase of fracture toughness. The relationship between the fracture toughness and molecular weight is obtained based on Kusy and Turner.


BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of the once-daily tacrolimus formulation (QD form) in relation to polymorphisms of the donor cytochrome P450 family 3 sub-family A polypeptide 5 (CYP3A5) gene and recipient adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette sub-family B member 1 (ABCB1) gene. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 80 consecutive living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients were started on the QD form of tacrolimus (day 1), and 60 patients were completely followed for 7 days early after liver transplantation in order to evaluate the pharmacokinetics. RESULTS The concentration/dose (C/D) ratio in recipients with the donor CYP3A5 *1 allele was significantly lower throughout the observation period compared with those with the CYP3A5 genotype *3/*3 (p<0.001), while no effect of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCB1 was observed. The administered doses required to achieve the target trough level were significantly higher on day 7 than on day 1 among all groups, regardless of the differences in the SNPs, especially among those with donor CYP3A5 *1 allele. The tacrolimus concentration was kept within the targeted level all through the study regardless of SNPs. CONCLUSIONS The donor CYP3A5 *1 allele correlated with the lower C/D ratio after administration of the QD form, and higher doses of QD-form tacrolimus and careful monitoring for the trough level should be considered, especially in recipients with the donor CYP3A5 *1 allele.


The future implementation of the European Higher Education Area requires thorough reflection on how to design and develop teacher training courses. In this reflection, it is important to reconsider, among other issues, (a) the role of prospective teachers in their own learning process and (b) the professional competencies that they must develop in the course of their higher education. Since 2003, the University of Granada has undertaken the development of pilot experiences to adapt some degree programs to this new framework. One of these degrees is Teacher in Primary Education degree, which includes several courses that focus on promoting prospective teachersO development of mathematical and pedagogical knowledge. In this paper how to organize future teachersO learning through practical activities in one of these courses is described. Firstly, the general process of adapting the course is analysed. Secondly, its theoretical and practical structure, with some examples of practical activities, are described. Finally, some results of the implementation are discussed.


The climatology of (severe) thunderstorm days is investigated on a pan-European scale for the period of 1979–2017. For this purpose, sounding measurements, surface observations, lightning data from ZEUS (a European-wide lightning detection system) and European Cooperation for Lightning Detection (EUCLID), ERA-Interim, and severe weather reports are compared and their respective strengths and weaknesses are discussed. The research focuses on the annual cycles in thunderstorm activity and their spatial variability. According to all datasets thunderstorms are the most frequent in the central Mediterranean, the Alps, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Carpathians. Proxies for severe thunderstorm environments show similar patterns, but severe weather reports instead have their highest frequency over central Europe. Annual peak thunderstorm activity is in July and August over northern, eastern, and central Europe, contrasting with peaks in May and June over western and southeastern Europe. The Mediterranean, driven by the warm waters, has predominant activity in the fall (western part) and winter (eastern part) while the nearby Iberian Peninsula and eastern Turkey have peaks in April and May. Trend analysis of the mean annual number of days with thunderstorms since 1979 indicates an increase over the Alps and central, southeastern, and eastern Europe with a decrease over the southwest. Multiannual changes refer also to changes in the pattern of the annual cycle. Comparison of different data sources revealed that although lightning data provide the most objective sampling of thunderstorm activity, short operating periods and areas devoid of sensors limit their utility. In contrast, reanalysis complements these disadvantages to provide a longer climatology, but is prone to errors related to modeling thunderstorm occurrence and the numerical simulation itself.


In previous decades, cyber-attacks have not been considered a threat to critical infrastructure. However, as the Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) domains converge, the vulnerability of OT infrastructure is being exploited. Nation-states, cyber criminals and hacktivists are moving to benefit from economic and political gains. The OT network, i.e. Industrial Control System (ICS) is referred to within OT infrastructure as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). SCADA systems were introduced primarily to optimise the data transfer within OT network infrastructure. The introduction of SCADA can be traced back to the 1960's, a time where cyber-attacks were not considered. Hence SCADA networks and associated systems are highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks which can ultimately result in catastrophic events. Historically, when deployed, intrusion detection systems in converged IT/OT networks are deployed and monitor the IT side of the network. While academic research into OT specific intrusion detection is not a new direction, application to real systems are few and lack the contextual information required to make intrusion detection systems actionable. This paper provides an overview of cyber security in OT SCADA networks. Through evaluating the historical development of OT systems and protocols, a range of current issues caused by the IT/OT convergence is presented. A number of publicly disclosed SCADA vulnerabilities are outlined, in addition to approaches for detecting attacks in OT networks. The paper concludes with a discussion of what the future of interconnected OT systems should entail, and the potential risks of continuing with an insecure design philosophy.


The Tertiary Yabus and Samaa Formations occur within the Melut Rift basin of interior Sudan which is regionally linked to the central and west African rift system. Yabus and Samaa Formations in Agordeed oil field are ones of the most productive oil reservoirs in Melut basin and are composed of sandstones and mudstones lithofacies that differ in size and length along and across the basin. The reservoir sandstone, which occurs at shallow burial depth, deposited within fluvial/lacustrine environments. This work aims to describe and characterize the reservoir heterogeneity and to investigate their impact on reservoir quality and architecture. This study employed a multidisciplinary and integrated approach that investigated and synthesized stratigraphic, sedimentological, cores, logs, petrographical, petrophysical and seismic data from Agordeed oil field. The stratigraphic and lithofacies analysis indicated that Yabus and Samaa formations vary systematically in their facies, sequences and stacking patterns within the basin. Reservoir heterogeneity exists at multiple scales, where reservoir sandstones macro- and micro scale heterogeneity shows vertical and lateral variations along and across the basin. These variations reflect the tectonic, depositional and post depositional controls within the proximal to distal fluvial, prodelta and lacustrine environments. The porosity and permeability distributions are controlled by the heterogeneities within the reservoir formation, such as stratigraphic layering, facies, diagenetic processes, and fracturing. Porosity is enhanced by extensive fracturing and grain dissolution creating intergranular, intragranular and moldic porosity. In addition, permeability is also increased by fractures connecting separated the buildups, that affect directly the reservoir quality. Assessing the different scales of heterogeneity is important to understand their impact on reservoir quality and architecture in Agordeed Field.


cT84.66 is a human/murine IgGlwith high affinity and specificity for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). An earlier Phase I trial defined the maximum tolerated dose for 9Oy. diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA)-cT84.66 at 22 mCi/m 2. Dose-limiting toxicities were reversible leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. The purpose of this Phase I trial was to evaluate the feasibility and toxicities of administering higher activities of 9~ with stem cell support in patients with CEA-producing breast cancer. Patients with CEA-producing breast cancer refractory to standard therapies underwent peripheral stem ceil collection followed by infusion of lllindium-DTPA-cT84.66. Those patients demonstrating tumor targeting received a single therapy dose of 9~ followed by Ca-DTPA infusion for 72 h posttherapy. Stem cells were reinfused following a divided schedule. To date, seven patients have been accrued to this trial. Each patient received an imaging dose of 111IncT84.66. Six patients demonstrated tumor imaging and received a single cycle of 9~ at 15 mCi/m 2 (three patients) and 22.5 mCi/m z (three patients). One patient did not demonstrate tumor imaging and was not treated. At 1 Presented at the "Seventh Conference on Radioimmunodetection and Radioimmunotherapy of Cancer," October 15-17, 1998, Princeton, NJ. Supported by NIH Grant PO1 43904 and NIH Cancer Center Core Grant 33527. 2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at the Division of Radiation Oncology and Radiation Research; City of Hope National Medical Center; 1500 East Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010. Phone: 626-301-8247; Fax: 626-930-5334. these administered activities, 9~ was well tolerated. No dose-limiting toxicities have been observed. All patients demonstrated hematopoietic recovery after stem cell infusion. One patient demonstrated stable disease for 4 months; one patient had stable disease and reduction of bone pain for 3 months; and a third patient experienced >50% reduction of an ovarian metastasis, resolution of malignant pleural effusion, stable pleural metastases, and stable bone scan for 14 months. Preliminary results from this ongoing Phase I trial are promising and demonstrate the feasibility and potential for antitumor effects of stem cell supported 9~ therapy in patients with CEAproducing breast cancers.


An influential strand of the finance literature focuses on the nature and extent of shareholder rights vis-a-vis employees. Most of the extant literature on the subject relies on a limited number of case studies and/or broad macroeconomic data, whereas this article draws on evidence from a large scale survey of organizations to test the predictions of the theories on the relative strength of workers and managers across the different governance regimes. This evidence highlights the complex relationship between societal institutions, legal traditions, political parties and electoral systems, on corporate governance regimes and the relative strength of unions and collective representation at workplace level, highlighting the limitations of the mainstream finance and economics rational-incentive based literature, and the value of alternative socio-economic approaches.


Aim. To compare the possibilities of using blood hyaluronic acid (HA), de Ritis coefficient and vasculoendothelial growth factor (VEGF) determination for diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis and hepatic cirrhosis. Materials and methods. Blood serum HA, aspartic transaminase/ alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) ratio, VEGF were determined in 100 patients with chronic hepatits C and 50 patients with hepatic cirrhosis at the outcome of hepatitis C. The control group included 34 persons. Results. While carrying out correlation analysis, reliable correlations between both direct fibrosis marker – HA and indirect test – de Ritis coefficient and VEGF were revealed. The sensitivity of HA determination for diagnosis of cirrhosis with the concentration higher than 100 ng/ml is 100%, specificity – 80%, negative prognostic value for exclusion of HC – 1,0. The AST/ALT ratio demonstrates 96% sensitivity with the point of division 1,5, specificity – 69%, negative prognostic value – 0,76. The test sensitivity of VEGF determination for differential diagnosis of cirrhosis and hepatitis with the point of division 312,3 pg/ml is 90%, specificity – 80%, efficiency – 84%, negative prognostic value for exclusion of HC – 0,89. Conclusion. Determination of VEGF concentration can be used for differential diagnosis of hepatic cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis as an indirect hepatic fibrosis marker since efficiency of this test somewhat yields to HA and exceeds AST/ALT ratio.


Expression of sugar residues and the nature of oligosaccharide linkage during keratinocyte maturation in the epidermis of the Breton dog were studied with the use of lectin histochemistry. Thirteen lectins were used. Labelling was not observed with GSA I-B4, GSA II, UEA-I, and LTA. The cytoplasm of keratinocytes reacted with PNA, HPA, Con A, and WGA from the basal layer to the granular layer. PNA and Con A showed highest reactivity in the granular cell layer. The cell surface showed increased reactivity with PNA, HPA, and WGA with maturation of keratinocytes. KOH-neuraminidase treatment (KOH-Neu) increased PNA and RCA120 staining during keratinocyte differentiation thus indicating an increase in oligosaccharides terminating with sialic acid-Galbeta(1,3)GalNAc and sialic acid-Galbeta(1,4)GlcNAc, respectively. Labelling of the glycocalyx of basal and spinous keratinocytes with SNA and MAA revealed terminal Neu5acalpha(2,6)Gal/GalNAc and Neu5acalpha(2,3)Galbeta(1,4)GlcNAc. KOH-Neu-DBA showed oligosaccharides terminating with sialic acid-GalNAcalpha(1,3)GalNAc in the spinous and granular layers. A selective glycocalyx labelling of granular keratinocytes was observed with DBA and SBA. Reactions with MAA, PNA, DBA, RCA120, SBA, HPA, and WGA disappeared after the beta-elimination reaction. Our findings indicate that Breton dog epidermis contains more O-linked than N-linked oligosaccharides and confirm that different subpopulations of keratinocytes can be distinguished by lectin histochemistry.


During 1999 a research project was undertaken under the auspices of the Pan South African Language Board, in collaboration with a large financial institution, to investigate the use and attitudes with regard to the nine indigenous African languages in a call centre environment. The financial institution concerned makes extensive use of advisors in the call centre to facilitate electronic telephonic banking transactions. In this environment the choice of code as well as the linguistic structure and content of the discourse are critical factors in the client/advisor interaction. The research was based on the hypothesis that in the South African call centre environment, the use of the primary language of the client would be perceived to enhance the quality of the interaction between client and service provider. It was further hypothesised that the use of clients' primary languages is a function of advisors' multilingual skills. This paper will focus on three qualitative aspects of the study: a Face to face interviews were held with sixteen call centre advisors to obtain insight into their use and attitudes towards the use of the nine African languages in interaction with clients. b Fifty telephonic interviews were held with African clients of the institution to determine: • clients' experience of the language in which they were served; • clients' attitudes regarding the role of language in financial services. c In depth interviews were held with representatives of senior management of direct financial services. From these interviews it became clear that clients responded overwhelmingly positively to service in their respective primary languages. The reasons for the positive responses, however, varied. As researchers, we are of the opinion that these results could impact on language choices that financial institutions make in the future. We have also found that cost objections to the formal introduction of the African languages are largely irrelevant since the staff contingent of call centres already have the necessary language proficiency skills available.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supranutritional level of selected B vitamins in different types of diet on broiler performance. Two experiments were conducted using male and female one-day-old chicks (n=288 each; initial body weights in experiment I and II was, respectively, 47.57 ± 0.43, and 47.98 ± 0.31) reared in batteries up to 18 days. In experiment I, the chicks were fed a corn and soybean meal-based diet and, in experiment II, a diet containing oxidized animal by-product meals and soybean oil was used. Both experiments followed a completely randomized design in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangement, consisting of the factors: i) supplementation levels of selected B vitamins (control, 3or 6-times control of the vitamins riboflavin, pantothenic acid, niacin, folic acid and vitamin B12); ii) dietary nutritional density (low or high), totaling 6 treatments and 8 replicates of 6 birds each (3 males and 3 females). As result of this study, in Exp. I, chicks showed higher weight gain (741.1 g vs. 697.3 g) and feed intake (920.2 vs. 878.5 g) when fed low-nutritional density diet with supra-nutritional vitamin level 6-times higher than the control. However, this effect was not found in the performance of chickens fed high-nutritional density diet. Despite the poor quality of the ingredients used in Exp. II, no statistical effect was shown of the use of vitamin super-dose in rations with different dietary nutrient density. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly improved for chickens fed high-nutritional density diet (1.191 vs. 1.246 in experiment I, 1.244 vs. 1.275 in experiment II, p<0.01). We conclude that birds fed a vegetable diet formulated with low-dietary density improved body weight (BW) and feed intake (FI) when receiving supra-nutritional levels of vitamins 6-times higher than the control.


There is compelling evidence that early school intervention programs enhance children's development of life skills, with a positive knock-on effect on their behaviors and academic outcomes. To date, most universal interventions have displayed gains in children's social-emotional competencies with a limited reduction in problem behaviors. This may depend on programs' curricula focused to a greater extent on preschoolers' social-emotional competencies rather than problem behaviors. Promoting Mental Health at Schools (PROMEHS) is a European, school-based, universal mental health program explicitly focused on both promoting students' mental health and preventing negative conduct by adopting a whole-school approach. In this study, we set out to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for Italian and Portuguese preschoolers. We recruited 784 children (age range = 4–5 years), assigning them to either an experimental group (six months' participation in the PROMEHS program under the guidance of their teachers, who had received ad hoc training) or a waiting list group (no intervention). We found that PROMEHS improved preschoolers' social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies, prosocial behavior, and academic outcomes. The more practical activities were carried out at school, the more children's SEL competencies increased, and the more their internalizing and externalizing behaviors decreased. Furthermore, marginalized and disadvantaged children were those who benefited most from the program, displaying both greater improvements in SEL and more marked decreases in internalizing problems compared to the rest of the sample.


Blended Learning in Tertiary ELT: A Survey of Students & Instructors' Attitudes at Hebron University-Palestine attempts to explore perceptions and attitudes of English major students & English instructors towards the Blended Learning Approach (BLA) in EFL context. It aims to present precise account of the theoretical foundations and principles of BLA in ELT particularly at tertiary level, and offers an analysis model of attitudes towards this system which combines online learning experiences and in person face-to-face classroom traditional practices. BL is currently gaining developing momentum in education and in English language teaching as technology infusion in teaching/learning has become a necessity in a world of globalization and multi-media. This study has one readership in mind: the applied linguists who are concerned with studying how beneficial and challenging varied instructional strategies can be employed for better English language learning and teaching.


Utilizing infrared spectroscopy, we studied the charge dynamics of the topological superconductor candidate Sr$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$. The frequency dependent reflectivity $R(\omega$) demonstrates metallic feature and the scattering rate of the free carriers decreases with temperature decreasing. The plasma edge shows a slight blue shift upon cooling, similar to the behavior of Cu$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$. As the carrier concentration $n$ obtained by Hall resistivity increases slightly with the decrease of temperature, the effective mass is proved to increase as well, which is in contrast with that of Cu$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$. We also performed ultrafast pump-probe study on the Sr$_{0.2}$Bi$_2$Se$_3$ compounds. Resembling its parent compound Bi$_2$Se$_3$, three distinct relaxation processes are found to contribute to the transient reflectivity. However, the deduced relaxation times are quite different. In addition, the electron-optical-phonon coupling constant is identified to be $\lambda$ = 0.88.


Introduction: Women are smart and savvy. Striving to live up to their potentials, they are curious about the world they live in and want to make a difference. But adolescent is a period they struggle with the issues of menstruation. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise on Premenstrual Syndrome among adolescent girls. Design: A quantitative approach using quasi experimental pre-test post-test design with control group. Participants: 300 adolescent girls with mild to moderate premenstrual syndrome was selected using Non probability purposive sampling technique in KPM Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Coimbatore. Intervention: Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise was given for a period of 15-20 minutes once a day for 30 days. Tool: Self administered modified Stainer and Wilkins PMS diagnostic criteria were used to assess the level of PMS. Results: Analysis using Paired 't' test found significant. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study revealed that Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation Exercise helps in decreasing premenstrual syndrome among adolescent girls.


We have studied hydrodynamic dispersion in single–phase incompressible liquid flow through a fixed bed made of spherical, permeable (porous) particles. The observed behaviour was contrasted with the corresponding fluid dynamics in a random packing of impermeable (non–porous) spheres with an interparticle void fraction of 0.37. Experimental data were obtained in the laminar flow regime by pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance and were complemented by numerical simulations employing a hierarchical transport model with a discrete (lattice Boltzmann) interparticle flow field. Finite–size effects in the simulation associated with the spatial discretization of support particles or dimension and boundaries of the bed were minimized and the simulation results are in reasonable agreement with experiment.


Acetylation of α-tubulin at conserved lysine 40 (K40) amino acid residue regulates microtubule dynamics and controls a wide range of cellular activities. Dysregulated microtubule dynamics characterised by differential α-tubulin acetylation is a hallmark of cancer, neurodegeneration and other complex disorders. Hence, accurate quantitation of α-tubulin acetylation is required in human disease and animal model studies. We developed a novel antibody-free proteomics assay to measure α-tubulin acetylation targeting protease AspN-generated peptides harbouring K40 site. Using the synthetic unmodified and acetylated stable isotope labelled peptides DKTIGGG and DKTIGGGD, we demonstrate assay linearity across 4 log magnitude and reproducibility of <10% coefficient of variation. The assay accuracy was validated by titration of 10% to 80% mixture of acetylated/non-acetylated α-tubulin peptides in the background of human olfactory neurosphere-derived stem (ONS) cell matrix. Furthermore, in agreement with antibody-based high content microscopy analysis, the targeted proteomics assay reported an induction of α-tubulin K40 acetylation upon Trichostatin A stimulation of ONS cells. Independently, we found 35.99% and 16.11% α-tubulin acetylation for mouse spinal cord and brain homogenate tissue, respectively, as measured by our assay. In conclusion, this simple, antibody-free proteomics assay enables quantitation of α-tubulin acetylation, and is applicable across various fields of biology and medicine.


Some Developing countries are facing severe problems now days which are hindering their speed of development and future prospects, Unrest in citizens or pubic institution due to corruption, less accountability and transparency government process. One of the burning problems is conventional Inefficient Public Distribution System and Ineffective Public Policy Implementation due to absence or ineffective feedback mechanism. Conventional PDS mechanism is viewed as linear transmission systems of benefits delivery. These PDS are top-down and hence struggle with quickly adapting to market dynamics and globalization. In this paper Prospect for social innovation with ICT emerges at the dynamic intersection of informal and conventional PDS and top down approach of services and goods delivery of the systems in the developing world. With the demographic changes developing countries are experiencing so it is time to utilize the ICT tools and mechanism to improve conventional PDS systems with model which is free from the severe loopholes like, leakage, unaccountability, transparency and feedback from bottom to top in timely manner and enhancing coverage of benefits in lower level of the population. New solutions needs to utilize Potential of ICT education in three ways: to increase ease of access and relevance of material through its integration into the PDS , leakage and introduce a feedback loop that enables players at all levels of the PDS and System itself to actively contribute to the design of the system. In this paper we are proposing ICT enabled Public distribution system model which can be implemented with the already existing PDS. Two Models on platform of ICT are proposed or developing countries ready having ICT enabled Identification of citizens and countries not having unique identification platform based on ICT. With the help of models, Paper is providing very effective way of benefit transfer and feedback mechanism to the problem of PDS in developing countries. This can be easily implemented if country is having exposure in ICT countries like India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.


This was another stimulating and enjoyable conference of the Groupe des Cartothecaires held in the impressive gravity-defying new extension to the Kongelige Bibliotek. The papers and issues discussed ranged from the everyday and practical to the abstract and theoretical, from historical cartography to future digital glints in the eye, and this report is inevitably a personal and simplified account of the meeting. The intention is to summarize the main issues of the various papers, highlight general trends and provide a briefer introduction to papers, to which readers are referred for more information.


Background
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is widely used in patients with potentially reversible acute cardiac and/or pulmonary failure who are unresponsive to conventional treatment. Patients with profound left ventricular (LV) dysfunction under venous-arterial (V-A) ECMO may experience LV distention, pulmonary edema, and thrombus formation. It is critical to unload the left ventricle to prevent such complications. The aim of this study was to identify the risks, timing and methods of LV decompression in pediatric peripheral ECMO.

Methods
Between August 2006 and November 2017, 51 patients received peripheral ECMO support in our pediatric intensive care unit. All of them were less than 18 years of age and non-cardiotomy surgery-related. We retrospectively reviewed the patients' clinical presentations, decompression methods and outcomes.

Results
The overall success rate of ECMO removal was 76.5% (39/51), and the survival rate after discharge was 62.7% (32/51). The myocarditis group had the most favorable outcomes among the ECMO patients (100% survival). LV decompression was needed in 12 patients who had profound LV dysfunction under V-A ECMO. Five patients received medical treatment successfully, and the other 7 patients underwent intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) procedures. In the IABP group, 1 patient still needed further pigtail-decompression. All of our decompression patients survived with good neurological outcomes (Glasgow Outcome Scale 5).

Conclusions
The patients with profound LV dysfunction under peripheral VA ECMO were at risk of thromboembolic events and LV decompress was needed. If medical decompression fails, IABP is a feasible approach for LV decompression in pediatric peripheral ECMO.


The aim of this article is to review the current evidence for a genetic component of susceptibility to anorexia nervosa. We discuss the historical data that gave rise to the theory of a genetic component underlying susceptibility to anorexia nervosa and discuss the relative importance of the assumptions made. We illustrate through reference to more recent studies the type of approach that will be required to determine the genes involved in this underlying genetic susceptibility and summarise the story so far. There is now supporting data consistent with the theory that a genetic component is involved in the susceptibility to anorexia nervosa. However, it is clear that further studies involving larger numbers of subjects are required in order to clarify these recent findings. The current case–control association studies may go some way towards describing the genetic component of anorexia nervosa. However, it is important to accept that replication in independent study cohorts will be required before the rest of the scientific world will accept the current evidence. A world-wide study is currently under way. It allows patient cohorts from different countries to be compared. We hope that it will enable us to understand more clearly the genetics of this complex disorder. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and Eating Disorders Association.


Noncontact and remote NDE systems and methods are highly desired in a broad range of engineering applications such as material property characterization. This paper aims to develop such a noncontact/remote NDE system based on laser ultrasonic guided waves and establish its fundamental capability for material thickness evaluation. The noncontact system employs pulsed laser (PL) for guided wave actuation and scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) for guided wave wavefield sensing. A cylindrical planoconvex lens is adopted to focus the pulsed laser beam to a line source in order to excite broad band signals in the target plate. Aluminum plates with different thicknesses are evaluated through SLDV line scans and 2D time-space wavefields are acquired. Frequency-wavenumber (f-k) spectra are obtained through 2D Fourier transform, and the A0 dispersion curve for each plate is extracted. Through Comparing the extracted A0 curve with the theoretical A0 dispersion curves, the thicknesses of the tested plates are identified. Reflective tape effect on the plates are also studied: the reflective tape attached for SLDV enhancement affects the guided waves in the target plate significantly when the plate is relatively thin.


The primary aim of this paper is to discuss how designing third-party policing responses to cyber-fraud – which is facilitated through telecommunications corporations – can better protect consumers and prevent crime. We discuss the prevalence and cost of frauds enabled by cyber environments, we briefly discuss comparative international third-party liability systems and we conclude by questioning the efficacy of the present Australia's approach to prevent cybercrime.


The authors characterize the conditions under which efficient portfolios put small weights on individual assets. These conditions bound mean returns with measures of average absolute covariability between assets. The bounds clarify the relationship between linear asset pricing models and well-diversified efficient portfolios. The authors argue that the extreme weightings in sample efficient portfolios are due to the dominance of a single factor in equity returns. This makes it easy to diversify on subsets to reduce residual risk, while weighing the subsets to reduce factor risk simultaneously. The latter involves taking extreme positions. This behavior seems unlikely to be attributable to sampling error. Copyright 1992 by American Finance Association.


Wheel-to-rail adhesion is fundamental to the operation of a railroad. The potentially high tractive effort of modern diesel-electric and electric locomotives has focused attention more sharply on conditions which limit adhesion. Train stalls, rail burns, flat wheels, and damaged electric traction equipment all point to the importance of the problem. Extensive tests have yielded much information on the causes of low adhesion and methods of improving it. The results indicate that running adhesions in excess of 26 per cent can be maintained by the application of certain materials to locomotive drivers or to the rail.


ABSTRACT The financial crises in emerging economies during the 1990s and 2000s propelled academia and multilateral institutions to investigate whether the promised benefits of capital account liberalization were being delivered or not. In the course of empirical studies on the subject, many ex ante theoretical assumptions on financial globalization were demystified, and previously unknown risks and dysfunctions began to be evidenced. This article analyzes the main empirical studies on the effects of financial globalization published in the last two decades and shows that the main conventional assumptions that were built to theoretically base the capital account liberalization processes that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s were wrong.


Objective To test the feasibility and utility of instituting centralized echocardiographic quality control during a multicenter study of regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension. Design and methods The LIVE (Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: Indapamide Versus Enalapril) study is an ongoing multicenter, double-blind, controlled study of regression of echocardiographic left ventricular mass index in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (left ventricular mass indexes >100 g/m2 for women and >120 g/m2 for men) treated for 1 year with 1.5 mg indapamide sustained-release coated tablets versus 20 mg enalapril. A centralized evaluation committee has validated a prestudy sample echocardiogram from each center, and is now reviewing all videotapes recorded during this study for quality control; final results will be based on a further randomized blinded analysis by this centralized evaluation committee. Results Since December 1994, 878 patients have been preselected (videoechocardiographic recordings sent for assessment), 645 selected (videoechocardiographic recordings validated), and 576 randomly allocated to treatment. After preliminary quality control, 27% (233) of baseline echocardiograms were rejected by our centralized evaluation committee, and 22% (142) of postinclusion echocardiographic measurements had to be repeated, mainly because they were of poor echogenic quality. Analysis of approved baseline echocardiograms for the first 274 randomly allocated patients with digitized data showed that there was a significant correlation between centralized evaluation committee and investigator calculations of left ventricular mass index (r = 0.76, P < 0.001), with consistently higher values for investigator calculations, independently of level of left ventricular mass index (correlation between difference and mean of investigator and centralized evaluation committee measurements, r = 0.08, P = 0.28). The mean difference was 8 ± 20 g/m2 (P < 0.001). Conclusion Early results of the LIVE study quality control showed that real-time 'live', centralized echocardiographic reading was not only feasible, but also useful for avoiding unquantifiable echocardiograms and overestimation of left ventricular mass index. Thus, real-time, centralized echocardiographic quality control should be recommended for multicenter studies of regression of left ventricular hypertrophy.


Species loss is often associated with a decline in ecosystem functions. Globally, digging mammals (or ecosystem engineers) are functionally important, altering soil processes at local scales. However, their effects on the process of decomposition are poorly understood, particularly at larger scales, where the environment may moderate the magnitude of effects. We tested the landscape‐scale effects of reintroducing ecologically extinct digging mammals on two aspects of nutrient cycling over a large environmental gradient in Australia, where many digging mammals became extinct or ecologically extinct following the arrival of Europeans. We measured the impacts of digging mammals on soil organic matter content and plant litter decomposition over a 3,000 km transect, where annual average rainfall varied between 166 and 877 mm. We set up paired study plots (n = 8–10) inside and outside five reintroduction reserves. We took soil samples to assess soil organic matter content and set up litter bags to measure plant litter decomposition over 4 and 12 months. We used macroinvertebrate exclusion and macroinvertebrate access treatments to determine the relative importance of macroinvertebrates in decomposition with and without digging mammals. Soil organic matter was greater in reintroduction areas, but the magnitude of the effect was driven by productivity (average annual rainfall as a proxy), with little effect of digging activity at the wettest sites. Short‐term plant matter decomposition was greater in the presence of digging mammals, and their effect was dependent on the amount of rain that fell during the study period. Long‐term litter decomposition increased with annual rainfall, independent of digging mammals. Unexpectedly, macroinvertebrate exclusion increased decomposition rates over 12 months. Reintroduction of digging mammals substantially alters soil processes and organic matter decomposition, but impacts are rainfall‐dependent. Restoring native digging mammals to their historical distribution is likely to reverse degradation of ecosystem processes, but the magnitude of this effect depends on the environment. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.


Starch structures and physicochemical properties of C-trim30, a β-glucan-enriched oat product (32% βglucan), with or without supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SCD) were studied to evaluate suitability for commercial applications and potential to degrade starch to increase β-glucan concentration. Scanning electron micrographs showed C-trim30 was composed of 200-300 μm long, porous particles. HPSEC equipped with MALLS and RI detectors showed C-trim30 had three peaks, corresponding to amylopectin with weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 1.0x108, breakdown amylopectin product (Mw 1.1x107) and amylose (Mw 1.7x106). β-glucans were not observed due to HPSEC column absorption. C-trim30 amylopectin Mw and gyration radii increased after SCD suggesting aggregation of molecules occurred. No thermal transitions were observed for C-trim30 heated 0-150°C. C-trim30 pasting properties, measured using Rapid ViscoAnalyser, showed high peak viscosity (291 RVU) at 30°C, high breakdown (200 RVU), final (273 RVU) and setback (183 RVU) viscosity after heated to 95°C while stirred. SCD increased peak (423 RVU) and breakdown (318 RVU) viscosity. C-trim30 heated from 15 to 110°C showed higher water-holding capacity occurred without SCD. SCD oil fatty acid composition of 82% unsaturated was apposite for healthfood applications. Study suggests C-trim30 with and without SCD could function as fat substitutes.


The research methodology used in this article was analytical and descriptive in nature, liberalism and Marxism are two schools of thought which have left deep imprints in political, sociological and economic theory. Both have been very fruitful in illuminating a wide range of common issues across these fields and yet are usually perceived as opposite, rival approaches contradicting each other in general. The article is composed of three sections — a presentation of how the problem of democracy historically arose between liberalism and Marxism; the proposal of a beginning synthesis of the Marxist and liberal views via the creation of a joint index of democracy which incorporates insights from both camps; and an initial application of this index to the transition countries.