The DNA of functional cis-regulatory modules displays extensive sequence conservation in comparisons of genomes from modestly distant species. Patches of sequence that are several hundred base pairs in length within these modules are often seen to be 80-95% identical, although the flanking sequence cannot even be aligned. However, it is unlikely that base pairs located between the transcription factor target sites of cis-regulatory modules have sequence-dependent function, and the mechanism that constrains evolutionary change within cis-regulatory modules is incompletely understood. We chose five functionally characterized cis-regulatory modules from the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (sea urchin) genome and obtained orthologous regulatory and flanking sequences from a bacterial artificial chromosome genome library of a congener, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus. As expected, single-nucleotide substitutions and small indels occur freely at many positions within the regulatory modules of these two species, as they do outside the regulatory modules. However, large indels (>20 bp) are statistically almost absent within the regulatory modules, although they are common in flanking intergenic or intronic sequence. The result helps to explain the patterns of evolutionary sequence divergence characteristic of cis-regulatory DNA.


In this paper we present a mathematical programming formulation of the integer time budgeting problem for directed acyclic graphs. In particular, we formally prove that our constraint matrix has a special property that enables a polynomial-time algorithm to solve the problem optimally with a guaranteed integral solution. Our theory can be directly applied to solving a scheduling problem in behavioral synthesis with the objective of minimizing the system power consumption. Given a set of scheduling constraints and a collection of convex power-delay tradeoff curves for each type of operation, our scheduler can intelligently schedule the operations to appropriate clock cycles and simultaneously select the module implementations that lead to low-power solutions. Experiments demonstrate that our proposed technique can produce near-optimal results (within 6% of the optimum by the ILP formulation), with 40x+ speedup.


The authors examined ankle clonus in four spastic subjects to determine whether this oscillatory behavior has the properties of a limit cycle, and whether it is driven by peripheral sensory input or by a spinal generator. Using Floquet Theory and Poincare sections to assess reflex stability, the authors found that cycle-to-cycle variability was small, such that the Floquet multipliers were always less than unity. Furthermore, the steady-state periodic orbit was not dependent on the initial position of the ankle. Both of these findings, coupled with strong correlations between the size of the applied load and the frequency of ankle movements and electromyogram burst frequency suggests that clonus behaves as a locally stable limit cycle driven from peripheral receptors. To better understand how nonlinear elements might produce stable oscillatory motion, the authors simulated the ankle stretch reflex response. They found that delays in the pathway caused the reflex to come on during the shortening phase of movement, so the additional reflex torque required to sustain oscillatory ankle movements was quite small. Furthermore, because the resistance to stretch is largely due to passive mechanics whose properties are quite stationary, the system is robust to small perturbations within the reflex pathway.


A formerly undescribed virus has been isolated from the gills of farmed Atlantic salmon post-smolts in Norway suffering from gill disease. Cytopathic effects appeared in RTgill-W1 cells 9 weeks post-inoculation with gill tissue material. Virus production continued for an extended period thereafter. Light and electron microscopic examination revealed inclusions and replication in the cytoplasm. The viral nucleocapsid consisted of approximately 17 nm thick filaments in a herringbone pattern. Certain areas of the plasma membrane were thickened by the alignment of nucleocapsids on the internal surface and projections of 10 nm long viral glycoprotein spikes on the external surface. Virus assembly and release was achieved by budding through the modified plasma membrane. Negatively stained virions were spherical and partly pleomorphic with a diameter of 150-300 nm as seen by electron microscopy. The virus was sensitive to chloroform, heat and low and high pH, and replication was not inhibited by Br-dU or IdU indicating an RNA genome. Both haemagglutination and receptor-destroying enzyme activity were associated with the virions and the formation of syncytia in infected cultures indicated fusion activity. The receptor-destroying enzyme was identified as neuraminidase. The virus contained five major structural polypeptides with estimated molecular masses of 70, 62, 60, 48 and 37 kDa. Its buoyant density was 1.18-1.19 g ml(-1) in CsCl gradients. From the observed properties we conclude that this new virus belongs to the Paramyxoviridae and suggest the name Atlantic salmon paramyxovirus (ASPV). Furthermore, replication occurred at 6-21 degrees C, suggesting a host range confined to cold-blooded animals.


There are some reasons that studying foreign languages such as English language is essential for university students. Since English language becomes a foreign language in Indonesia, it causes more challenges for language learners to learn and do practicing the English language. Zheng (2008) states that learning English as a second language is also associated with the foreign language anxiety. When the foreign language learners faced some difficulties in using target language, language anxiety might happen.
The purposes of this study are to find out the types of anxiety experienced by the 3rd student of English Language Education in learning "speaking" subject, the factors which cause their anxiety, and the ways to cope with their anxiety in learning "speaking" subject. The researcher focused on analyzing the types of anxiety experienced, the factors which cause anxiety, and the ways to cope with their anxiety in learning "speaking" subject.
Furthermore, the research subject was the students in 3rd semester who finished accomplishing "speaking' subject. By using qualitative descriptive research, this study was intended to identify and describe the focus of research questions mentioned above. Also, the observation field notes and interview guide were used as the instruments to collect the data.
The results found that there were two types of anxiety experienced by the 3rd semester student of English Language Education in learning "speaking" subject. First type was state anxiety and the second one was situation-specific anxiety. The factors which cause their anxiety were found as follow: (1) lack of confident, (2) communication apprehension, (3) afraid of making mistakes, (4) afraid of foreign teachers and fear of negative evaluation. Finally, the ways the students cope with their anxiety were learning how to relax, knowing what to say, and being familiar with the audiences.


This publication is the author's attempt to present to the academic community the objective problems related to a prosecutor's participation in a criminal trial in the form of the private prosecution, and possible ways and means to resolve them. In particular, the author offers her own approaches towards application by the prosecutor of their function of supporting public prosecution as an activity of exclusively public nature, which allows for the prosecutor's participation in a criminal trial in the form of the private prosecution; prosecutor's involvement being inherent to both forms of public- private and public procedural activities.
The article provides arguments supporting the following conclusions:
-    as the prosecutor supports private prosecution as well, the functions of supporting public prosecution, as an activity of exclusively public nature, include the prosecutor's participation in criminal trial of private prosecution;
-    in the existing legal framework, both forms of proceedings (private (or, more precisely, public-private) and public) include the prosecutor's procedural activities, which is proving indictment in the court to secure criminal responsibility of the individual who committed a criminal offence (state prosecution);
-    prosecutor's participation in a criminal trial of private prosecution is mandatory. At that, one should keep in mind the prosecutor's exceptional powers described in Article 340 of the Criminal Code of Process of Ukraine.
Attorney involvement in the prosecution of private prosecution is mandatory. At the same time, it should be remembered for its exclusive powers under Article 340 of the CPC of Ukraine.
The prosecution's performance of a procedural obligation to conduct a pretrial investigation of a criminal offense in private prosecution and to support a state prosecution in court is a guarantee of the realization of the principles of equality, competitiveness of the parties and freedom in presenting their evidence to the court and proving their conviction, Article 22 of the CPC of Ukraine.


Electron microscopic analysis of intravitreal strands produced by the injection of autogenous fibroblasts showed thin, immature collagen after two weeks and the mature banded variety after four weeks. With the use of this intravitreal strand model, it was found that highly purified bacterial collagenase caused extensive digestion of scar tissue after incubation periods of 10, 15, and 30 minutes. There was no morphologic damage to cicatricial cellular elements or to the inner limiting membrane of the retina. A 45-minute exposure of retinas previously injured by photocoagulation to collagenase also did not result in morphologic evidence of damage. The use of collagenase as an adjunct to vitrectomy in cases of extreme vitreal scarring or retinal traction may decrease the complication rate of a procedure that is still extremely hazardous.


Objective: Companies have various organizational structures and individuals without very strong ethical orientation may succumb to the unethical practices which causes fraud in such workplaces. The aim of this study is to investigate the environmental, philosophical, and religious factors of accountant's ethical evaluation of fraudin accounting profession.
Methods: In this study, religiosity in three dimensions of personal, social life, and morality has been investigated. Additionally, environmental conditions in two aspects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors and philosophical views of machiavellianism and utilitarianism have been chosenand their effects on ethical evaluation of fraud in four dimensions have been examined.The research data to test hypotheses is collected from 300 questionnaires filled by accountants in spring of 2020and analyzed by structural equation modeling using LISREL software.
Results: The findings show inverse effect of religiosity in morality on fraudin companies, while religiosity in social andpersonal life have no significant effect. Besides that, machiavellianism and utilitarianism views have positive and significant effects on ethical evaluation of fraud in accounting, moreover, intrinsicand extrinsic grounds of accountants 'ethical evaluation have no significant effect.
Conclusion: The evidence confirms that religiosity in morality and philosophical bases have positive effects on ethical evaluation of fraud while intrinsicand extrinsic grounds have no significant effect, so it can be concluded that to reduce and prevent fraud, factors affecting the individuality of accountants such asreligiosity in morality and philosophy are very important and should be considered.


Concerns exist that selection for increased clean fleece weight (CFW) is expected to reduce body fatness. Such an effect is likely to impact on reproduction; however, all previous studies have examined non-reproductive yearlings or hoggets. The present study, using adult reproductive dams examined the impact of phenotype [based on high or low phenotypic CFW and bodyweight (BWT) performance], stocking rate (high or low) and litter size on body composition and wool traits. High CFW dams were heavier (P < 0.01) with lower fat depth (P < 0.01) and muscle depth (P < 0.05). The high CFW twin-weaning dams had a lower fat score from lamb marking to pre-joining (P < 0.05), but tended to replete fat reserves faster (P < 0.1) between weaning and pre-joining. At these times of repletion these animals grew longer wool staples (P < 0.05). High BWT ewes had reduced staple length (P < 0.01), and when adjusted for maternal liveweight also reduced fat depth (P < 0.001) and muscle depth (P < 0.05). We conclude that the CFW phenotype impacts on fat reserves but that management of dams in groups according to their CFW performance is not warranted.


1. Chronic tuberculous osseous lesions were induced consistently in eight- to ten-week-old unvaccinated guinea-pigs by the insertion of Gelfoam impregnated with mycobacterium tuberculosis into the metaphysial region through a drill hole in the distal part of the femur. Typical tuberculous lesions developed by three weeks and many of them were followed for twelve weeks or more. 2. This experimental model establishes a reliable method of producing a localised lesion at a predetermined site without early death of the animal. The model is sufficiently similar to the human lesion, and may offer a reliable system for further investigations. 3. It was observed that streptomycin penetrates readily into tuberculous osseous lesions. The concentration of streptomycin found in the tuberculous lesion after a single intramuscular injection was much higher than the concentration considered sufficient to have an inhibitory effect on the human type of mycobacterium tuberculosis.


There is a recent large and growing interest in generative adversarial networks (GANs), which offer powerful features for generative modeling, density estimation, and energy function learning. GANs are difficult to train and evaluate but are capable of creating amazingly realistic, though synthetic, image data. Ideas stemming from GANs such as adversarial losses are creating research opportunities for other challenges such as domain adaptation. In this paper, we look at the field of GANs with emphasis on these areas of emerging research. To provide background for adversarial techniques, we survey the field of GANs, looking at the original formulation, training variants, evaluation methods, and extensions. Then we survey recent work on transfer learning, focusing on comparing different adversarial domain adaptation methods. Finally, we take a look forward to identify open research directions for GANs and domain adaptation, including some promising applications such as sensor-based human behavior modeling.


An infant with urinary sodium wasting is described. The plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone concentration were distinctly raised. Administering DOCA was without effect. The condition pseudohypoaldosteronism is due to renal tubular unresponsiveness to endogenous aldosterone and can be adequately treated by salt replacement.


Vascular Roentgenology: Arteriography, Phlebography, Lymphography. Edited by Robert A. Schobinger and Francis F. Ruzicka, Jr. 747 pp, with illus. $35. The Macmillan Co., 60 Fifth Ave, New York 11, 1964 Progress in Angiography very neatly conveys the atmosphere of the refresher course which it records. The text is divided into sections on technique, angiocardiography, coronary arteriography, renal angiography, abdominal angiography, neuroangiography, venography, and lymphangioadenography. Each section has several subspecialist authors and each concludes with a refreshing panel discussion in which experts and audience both participate. It is here that the practical questions are answered and the valleys between the superspecialized heights of the formal presentations are filled with a leveling amount of clinical application to routine problems. Since the scope of angiography is so wide, a selected bibliography by each expert enables us to utilize this text as a complete reference book. The reproductions, mainly demonstrating pathological states commonly encountered,


Background Choosing to replace or maintain an existing cancer staging system is a difficult task. The system plays a critical role in patient counselling and treatment decision making because the staging system conveys prognosis. Methods Many issues may be considered when deciding the preferred system (i.e. old or new), such as the level of evidence for one or more factors included in the system or the general opinions of expert clinicians. However, given the major objective of estimating prognosis on an ordinal scale, we argue that the rival staging system candidates should be compared on their ability to predict outcome. We sought to outline an algorithm that would compare two rival ordinal systems on their predictive ability. Results We devised an algorithm based largely on the concordance index, which is appropriate for comparing two models in their ability to rank observations. We demonstrate our algorithm with a prostate cancer staging system example. Conclusion We have provided an algorithm for selecting the preferred staging system based on prognostic accuracy. It appears to be useful for the purpose of selecting between two ordinal prediction models.


There are many factors that can contribute to improving the learning experiences of students. Those that are of interest here include: formative evaluation and various methods of providing feedback. Long-standing theory and research suggest the critical role that formative evaluation can play in student learning. With roots in Tyler's curriculum rationale (1949) Skinner's behaviorism and programmed instruction (1953, 1960) Glaser' s seminal work in criterion referenced instruction and testing (Glaser, 1963) Bloom's concept of Mastery Learning (Bloom, Hastings & Madaus, 1971) Ramaprasad (1983) and Sadler's (1989) works, the use of evaluation in guiding instruction has long been advocated. Classroom evaluation that supports student learning, or formative evaluation, is strongly favored in current educational literature. Formative evaluation has been championed by evaluation specialists (e.g., McTighe & O'Connor, 2005; Stiggins & Chappuis, 2005) and it is increasingly endorsed by professional organizations (e.g., Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 2003; Miller, 2005).According to Scriven (1991) formative evaluation at its most basic, is an assessment of efforts prior to their completion for the purpose of improving the efforts. It is a technique that has become well developed in the education and training evaluation literature. Several recent definitions detail the characteristics and elements of formative evaluation (Assessment Reform Group, 2002; Cowie & Bell, 1999, Center for Educational Research & Evaluation, 2005; Crooks, 2001; Leahy, Lyon, Thompson & Wiliam, 2005; Shepard, 2005; Torrance & Pryor, 2001). In synthesizing these, formative evaluation is described as a composite practice, involving: a) clearly communicated learning goals and evaluative criteria, b) varied approaches to elicit information about learning, including questioning and observation, c) balanced and descriptive feedback in varied forms, d) the adjustment of teaching and learning as a result of the evaluation, and e) the active involvement of students. The element of feedback to students is central to the concept. There is considerable focus on giving feedback to students. Various methods of feedback are discussed, such as comment-only marking by teachers (Wiliam, Lee, Harrison & Black, 2004) oral feedback offered informally and responsively during classroom activities (Bell & Cowie, 2001) written and computer generated feedback that is tailored to specific errors (Thissen-Roe, Hunt, & Minstrell, 2004). While these studies do not give indication of the relative merits of these different methods of feedback, positive consequences are generally seen.Feedback is described as an effective means of scaffolding learning (Hodgen & Marshall, 2006), and encouraging greater student autonomy (Kirkwood, 2000). However, feedback is rarely considered in isolation from other elements of formative evaluation, and only one study attributes increased student achievement specifically to feedback. Hickey and Zuicker (2005) encouraged greater use of feedback by students and pointed out that "the improved learning outcomes over time appear to be mostly due to continued enhancement of participation in the feedback conversations" (p.298). Improving length and quality of the feedback and the successful outcome of the teaching can, therefore, be associated with the teachers' pedagogical skill. Several studies conclude that teachers need guidance in this area. For example, Yung (2001) argues that teachers in Hong Kong should be provided with professional development on the use of feedback to motivate students and support learning. Stokking, Van der Schaff, Jaspers, and Erkens (2004) in their survey of evaluation practices in the Netherlands, noted a wide range in the type, form, and quality of feedback, and they observed that some of the reported practices were less than ideal, especially for learning purposes. …


This study was initiated as a result of a concern that the philosophy and practice of facilitative interpersonal relating espoused in pre-registration nurse education was not transferring with ease into educational interactive teaching and learning processes nor to the practice of nursing, particularly between nurses themselves. Working from one of the premises of humanistic education which is that people will integrate professional and personal learning so that they can be 'enabling' for others in professional practice, and combining this with the definition of nursing which nurses themselves gave in this study, which centred on the quality of their interpersonal relationships with patients, this research focused on:a) what constituted interpersonal relationships for the nurses studied, b) how the education of nurses addressed interpersonal relationships in teaching and nursing practice, c) how the development of interpersonal relationships as therapeutic enabling behaviour was practised among nurses themselves in educational and hospital ward practice. A Grounded Theory approach (after Glaser and Strauss 1967) was used to discover what were the sociopsychological processes guiding how nurses related to each other. A total of 176 nurses were sampled in this research. There was an initial purposive sample of 31 nurses from student nurses to tutors in the School of Nursing and trained nurses on some of the wards of a general hospital engaged in the study. This was followed by theoretical sampling with those same nurses and with other nurses outside the research site. The main method used was unstructured intensive interviews, many informal interviews, group discussions with some non-participant observations and use of curriculum documents. The main findings were that nurses felt emotionally and behaviourally ill equipped to form enabling (socio-psychological) relationships with each other, and for the most part unwilling to be 'enabling' to each other. In nurse education socio-psychological training was given, little priority over the 'clinical' curriculum and most tutors felt unable to teach the interpersonal curriculum experientially. Students recognised the need to develop interpersonal "enabling" skills; however, most did not demonstrate an investment in learning 'how to be enabling' in experiential education. The possible reasons for the lack of ability or lack of investment in developing "enabling" interpersonal relating were identified as core processes of personal vulnerability and fear of intimacy. These fears were shielded by the basic sociopsychological process of With-holding Self as a Strategy for Selfmanagement in which nurses seemed to be engaged. This was 'a holding back' from intimacy; that is being honest, spontaneous and creative as defined by Berne (1972) (Appendix H) Aligned with the 'With-holding' and in some cases a manifestation of 'with-holding' was the other basic sociopsychological process identified, which was: the 'Professional shield' as a self-protective sociopsychological mechanism protecting against personal rejection, (real or imagined) and its auxiliary category: 'Conformity to try to belong to the ward team' as a strategy to counteract the perceived overuse of hierarchical power and control mainly within the ward team. Fear of rejection and fear of intimacy were core categories which gave rise to the defensive strategies which nurses used in their interpersonal relationships with each other. As a result of these findings, some more definite questions could be asked which would form the bases of further research. One question addressing the sociopsychological relationships among nurses could be: What is the investment for nurses (as a profession) in maintaining unsatisfactory interpersonal relations which maintain a state of dis-empowerment? There is a recommendation for nurse educators generally to work within an educational psychological learning contracting for interpersonal skills training, and that such training be called psychosocial education to give it more prominence and status in the curriculum.


Many opinions on teaching and teacher-student relations are published. In some of these pronouncements all changes and innovations in procedures, texts, and presentations are considered good. The following observations on a small segment of the overall teaching problem are offered, and results of one experiment presented, as still another input which-as many others-needs further study for verification.


The current study proposes to analyze the positive effects that Content-and¬Language-Integrated-Learning (CLIL) instruction can have on the development of negotiation strategies, which are an essential part of interaction. Thus, in order to see whether CLIL instruction furthers any linguistic development in this respect, we are going to examine which negotiation moves (e.g. clarification requests, confirmation and comprehension checks, among others) are employed both by CLIL and mainstream (or non-CLIL students) while performing an extemporaneous role-play in pairs. The results indicate that CLIL students make use of a higher number of instances and of a wider range of negotiation moves (e.g. self-repairs, reformulations, and clarification requests) while interacting than their non- CLIL counterparts.


Astrocytes and microglia play an orchestrated role following spinal cord injury; however, the molecular mechanisms through which microglia regulate astrocytes after spinal cord injury are not yet fully understood. Herein, microglia were pharmacologically depleted and the effects on the astrocytic response were examined. We further explored the potential mechanisms involving the signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway. For in vivo experiments, we constructed a contusion spinal cord injury model in C57BL/6 mice. To deplete microglia, all mice were treated with colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor PLX3397, starting 2 weeks prior to surgery until they were sacrificed. Cell proliferation was examined by 5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine (EdU) and three pivotal inflammatory cytokines were detected by a specific Bio-Plex ProTM Reagent Kit. Locomotor function, neuroinflammation, astrocyte activation and phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3, a maker of activation of STAT3 signaling) levels were determined. For in vitro experiments, a microglia and astrocyte coculture system was established, and the small molecule STA21, which blocks STAT3 activation, was applied to investigate whether STAT3 signaling is involved in mediating astrocyte proliferation induced by microglia. PLX3397 administration disrupted glial scar formation, increased inflammatory spillover, induced diffuse tissue damage and impaired functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Microglial depletion markedly reduced EdU+ proliferating cells, especially proliferating astrocytes at 7 days after spinal cord injury. RNA sequencing analysis showed that the JAK/STAT3 pathway was downregulated in mice treated with PLX3397. Double immunofluorescence staining confirmed that PLX3397 significantly decreased STAT3 expression in astrocytes. Importantly, in vitro coculture of astrocytes and microglia showed that microglia-induced astrocyte proliferation was abolished by STA21 administration. These findings suggest that microglial depletion impaired astrocyte proliferation and astrocytic scar formation, and induced inflammatory diffusion partly by inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation in astrocytes following spinal cord injury.


The sphericity of graphite gradually disappears after the exposure of the liquid cast iron in the ladle during casting. This process was previously investigated and the influencing factors such as magnesium content, exposure time and temperature were determined. The complete disappearance of the graphite sphericity was also observed after ductile cast iron re-melting. The aim of this work was to study the kinetics of graphite shape transformation in ductile iron treated with FeSiMg-7 alloy during the arc re-melting process. The effect of heat treatment exposure on the shape of graphite inclusions was determined.


In our experience the use of OKT3 as prophylaxis in renal transplantation has been associated with an increased incidence of both delayed graft function and thromboses of graft vessels. OKT3 nephrotoxicity might have been favored by restriction of perioperative fluid infusion to prevent pulmonary edema and by the use of very high dose (30 mg/kg) of methylprednisolone (mPDS) before the first OKT3 injection to reduce the release of cytokines. This led us to modify our perioperative management in three ways: (1) hydration status was optimalized; (2) the calcium-channel blocker diltiazem, considered beneficial for recovery of graft function, was administered on the day of transplantation; and (3) the dose of mPDS given before the first OKT3 injection was fixed at 8 mg/kg. Comparison of two consecutive series of patients (group 1, control patients, N = 172; group 2, managed as described above, N = 173) showed that: (1) the incidence of delayed graft function fell from 52% in group 1 to 22% in group 2 (P < 0.0001): (2) the incidence of pulmonary edema was not significantly increased in group 2 (3.5% vs. 1.7% in group 1, P = 0.5); and (3) the frequency of intragraft thrombosis fell from 7.6% in group 1 to 1.2% in group 2 (P = 0.0034). Multivariate analysis showed that the volemia/diltiazem program and avoidance of high mPDS dose were the most important factors responsible for the reduced occurrence of delayed graft function and graft vessels thrombosis, respectively. We conclude that a combined strategy of appropriate dosage of steroids before the first OKT3 injection, administration of a calcium-channel blocker and optimalization of volemia is safe and efficiently prevents against OKT3 nephrotoxic effects.


The rise of non-deterministic understandings of nature, with their emphasis on intensive difference and non-linear processes, has occurred in conjunction with the neoliberalization of environmental governance, which at once emphasizes and financializes the inherent productivity of nature. This paper accepts the position that there is a link between the two, but argues that if we are to maintain a crucial ontological distinction between capital and non-capital, this link must be understood as contingent rather than necessary. Drawing upon Deleuze and Guattari's concept of "universal history", I argue that the neoliberalization of nature must be understood, in part, as the strategic containment of the critical energies of new materialist thought, and that the role of critical historiography is to recognize within processes of containment the contents and qualities of more radical possibilities. If such critical efforts are to succeed they must continually distinguish between nature's innovative force and the mechanisms that seek to capture this force in the service of capital and state. In turn, if we are to remember the radical potential of these ideas, the neoliberalization of nature must be understood as a response to these critical energies, and not their origin.


Event cameras trigger events asynchronously and independently upon a sufficient change of the logarithmic brightness level. The neuromorphic sensor has several advantages over standard cameras including low latency, absence of motion blur, and high dynamic range. Event cameras are particularly well suited to sense motion dynamics in agile scenarios. We propose the continuous event-line constraint, which relies on a constant-velocity motion assumption as well as trifocal tensor geometry in order to express a relationship between line observations given by event clusters as well as first-order camera dynamics. Our core result is a closed-form solver for up-to-scale linear camera velocity {with known angular velocity}. Nonlinear optimization is adopted to improve the performance of the algorithm. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through a careful analysis on both simulated and real data.


The real analogues of many results about complex monodromies of singularities can be formulated and proved in terms of partial orderings on A'Campo-Gusein-Zade diagrams, the real versions of Coxeter-Dynkin diagrams of singularities. In this paper it is proved that the only diagrams among the A'Campo-Gusein-Zade diagrams of singularities that determine partially ordered sets of finite type (in the sense of representations of a quiver) are the diagrams of simple singularities. To encode the real decompositions of a singularity the analogue of Vasilev invariants turn out to be surjections of a partially ordered set onto a chain. Formulae are proved for Arnold (mod 2)-invariants of plane curves in terms of the corresponding A'Campo-Gusein-Zade diagrams. We define, in the context of higher Bruhat orders, higher partially ordered sets and we describe their connection with the higher M-Morsifications An. We also consider certain previously known results about real singularities from the point of view of partially ordered sets.


A shortage of organs is the key factor limiting transplantation in children. In the Netherlands, the Dutch Organ Donation Act allows voluntary registration. Citizens aged 12 years and older may register as organ donors of their own free will. This results in a 40 percent registration of all Dutch citizens, and may partly explain the overall shortage, which also affects parents and children with end-stage organ failure. Alternatives such as living-related donor programs have been established as well as recruitment of child donors. A recent study evaluates the procurement of organs and tissues in pediatric intensive care units. This commentary questions this practice in light of voluntary registration and the resulting shortage of donor organs in general.


The assumption that the poor constitute a subsociety with a homogeneous subculture is examined empirically in an urban poverty sample. The existence of subcultural differences in the sample was tested by using a number of criteria that have been suggested for classifying cultural systems. The data indicate that for the sample studied there are two subcultures–one Black and one White. A hypothesis for the development and persistence of subcultural variations is proposed. The research which is reported and that which is suggested is seen as a necessity for providing an objective basis for the structuring of domestic social change programs.


Dynamic reconfiguration provides interesting features offering hardware flexibility and adaptability. Unfortunately, the lack of programming tools to manage it has limited its use in current SoCs. This paper presents a method to abstract, at design-time, dynamic reconfiguration management. Dynamic hardware multiplexing is a generic principle based on a scheduler dedicated to reconfigurable resources management at run-time. Formal background, implementation, simulation results and validations are exposed to illustrate the contribution of this study


Electroplating experiments on uranium foil have been conducted in order to develop low-enriched uranium composite targets suitable for the production of {sup 99}Mo. Preparation of the foil surface prior to plating was found to play a key role in the quality of the resultant coating. A surface preparation procedure was developed that produces both zinc and nickel coatings with the desired level of coating adherence and coverage. Modifications of the existing plating processes now need investigation to improve to uniformity of the plating thickness, especially at the foil perimeter.


Preface. (B.J. Avolio, W.L. Gardner, F.O. Walumbwa). Advancements to Authentic Leadership Development Theory. Veritable Authentic Leadership: Emergence, Functioning and Impacts. (A. Chan, S.T. Hannah, W.L. Gardner). Moral Leadership: Explicating the Moral Component of Authentic Leadership. (S.T. Hannah, P.B. Lester, G.R.Vogelgesang). Developing Transparent Relationships through Humor in the Authentic Leader-Follower Relationship. (L. Hughes). The Differential Effects of Socialized and Personalized Leadership on Group Social Capital. (P. Varella, M. Javidan, D. Waldman). Leader Political Skill and Authentic Leadership. (C. Douglas, G.R. Ferris, P.L. Perrewe). The Internal Theatre of the Authentic Leader: Integrating Cognitive, Affective, Conative and Spiritual Facets of Authentic Leadership. (K. Klenke). In Search of Authenticity: Spiritual Leadership Theory as a Source for Future Theory, Research, and Practice on Authentic Leadership. (L.W. (Jody) Fry, J.L. Whittington). Leadership Intervention Research. Where are We? The Status of Leadership Intervention Research: A Meta-analytic Summary. (R.J. Reichard, B.J. Avolio). Measuring Authentic Leadership. Authentic Leadership Measurement and Development: Challenges and Suggestions. (A. Chan). Perceptions of Authentic Leadership: Exploratory Studies. Leader Authenticity Markers: Findings from a Study of Perceptions of African-American Political Leaders. (T.L. Pittinsky, C.J. Tyson). Follower Emotional Reactions to Authentic and Inauthentic Leadership Influence. (M.T. Dasborough, N.M. Ashkanasy). Moving Forward. Resiliency Development of Organizations, Leaders and Employees: Multi-Level Theory Building for Sustained Performance. (C.M. Youssef, F. Luthans). Authentic Leadership in In Extremis Settings: A Concept for Extraordinary Leaders in Exceptional Situations. (T.A. Kolditz, D.M. Brazil). Authentic Development: Leadership Development Level and Executive Effectiveness. (K.M. Eigel, K.W. Kuhnert). Authentic Leadership Development: Emergent Themes and Future Directions. (W.L. Gardner, B.J. Avolio, F.O. Walumbwa).


: This paper is a research proposal that aims to critically apply two influential curriculum theories, Tyler's Objective Model and Stenhouse's Process Model, to primary English curriculum design themed on Chinese Cuisine Culture.


The idea for this massive work (3 vols. [Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988], xv + 492, 414, and 692 pp.) originated in a course on Renaissance humanism at Barnard College and Columbia University in the spring semester of 1979, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and taught by the editor of the work, Professor Albert Rabil, Jr., with Professor Maristella Lorch. They agreed that recent scholarship concerned with Renaissance humanism made a new "synthesis" desirable, but that the sheer quantity of this new work put such a project beyond the competence of any individual scholar. The three volumes under review consist, therefore, of forty-one essays, mostly written specifically for them, by almost the same number of specialists. These essays were then organized into three volumes entitled, respectively, Humanism in Italy, humanism beyond Italy, and Humanism and the Disciplines.


ABSTRACT Supercritical extraction with n-pentane was used to separate asphalt into distinct fractions having different physical and compositional properties. A pilot-scale supercritical unit capable of processing thirty kilograms of asphalt per day was designed and fabricated specifically for asphalt fractionation. The operation and design of the unit is similar to the ROSE (Residuum Oil Supercritical Extraction) process of Keer-McGee. This unit was used to separate asphalt into five different fractions ranging from soft greases to asphaltene-like solids. Supplemental room-temperature solvent fractionation of the hardest of these five using binary pentane/cyclohexane mixtures produces, a total of eight fractions. A variety of analyses provide chemical and physical ctauracterization of the fractions. These include: (1) Corbett Fractionation, (2) FT-IR spectroscopy, (3) size exclusion chromatography, (4) nickel and vanadium atomic absorption, and (5) viscosity


Aim. To study in healthy individuals the gender and age characteristics of left ventricular (LV) myocardial work indicators, their correlations with global LV deformity indicators and echocardiographic parameters characterizing LV systolic and diastolic functions.Materials and methods. 70 Healthy individuals (n=70; 34 men and 36 women; aged 39.3±8.9 years) were included in the study. The echocardiographic examination determined the standard parameters and indicators of myocardial work: global work efficiency (GWE), global constructive work (GCW), global wasted work (GWW), global myocardial work index (GWI); as well as the myocardium deformation characteristics: global longitudinal deformation (GLS), global radial deformation (GRS) and global circular deformation (GCS). Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between parameters. A correlation was considered weak at r≤0.3, moderate at 0.3<r<0.7, and strong at r≥0.7.Results. The average value of global work efficiency (GWE) in men was 97% (96; 98), in women – 98% (97; 98). Global constructive work (GCW) in men was 2343.8±350.4 mm Hg%, in women – 2362.2±343.8 mm Hg%. The average value of global wasted work (GWW) in men was 46 mm Hg% (27; 75), in women – 44 mm Hg% (33; 55.5). The global myocardial work index (GWI) in men was 2069.9±356.4 mm Hg%, in women – 2055.7±339.9 mm Hg%. No significant differences were found in the comparative analysis of performance indicators. The analysis of correlations found that the myocardial work indicators didn't have significant correlations with age. Ejection fraction was moderately correlated with GWI (r=0.45) and GCW (r=0.49). Global longitudinal strain was strongly correlated with GWI (r=0.77) and GCW (r=0.77). Global radial strain correlated moderately directly with GWI (r=0.4) and GCW (r=0.4). Global circular strain was moderately correlated with GCW (r=0.35). A strong negative correlation was found between the GWE indicator and the post systolic contraction index (PSI) (r=-0.85). At the same time, PSI and GWW had a strong positive correlation (r=0.85).Conclusion. Indicators of LV myocardial work in healthy individuals do not have gender differences. The efficiency of the work of the myocardium depends primarily on the deformation of the LV, while the constructive work is determined by the volume characteristics. The wasted work indicator depends on the number of segments that peak in the post-systolic period.


Coherent optical frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) is one of the promising pathways toward future ultrahigh capacity transparent optical networks. In this paper, numerical simulation is carried out to investigate the feasibility of 1 Tb/s per channel CO-OFDM transmission. We find that, for 1 Tb/s CO-OFDM signal, the performance difference between single channel and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission is small. The maximum Q is 13.8 and 13.2 dB respectively for single channel and WDM transmission. We also investigate the CO-OFDM performance on the upgrade of 10-Gb/s to 100-Gb/s based DWDM systems with 50-GHz channel spacing to 100-Gb/s systems. It is shown that due to the high spectral efficiency and resilience to dispersion, for 100-Gb/s CO-OFDM signals, only 1.3 dB Q penalty is observed for 10 GHz laser frequency detuning. A comparison of CO-OFDM system performance under different data rate of 10.7 Gb/s, 42.8 Gb/s, 107 Gb/s and 1.07 Tb/s with and without the impact of dispersion compensation fiber is also presented. We find that the optimum fiber launch power increases almost linearly with the increase of data rate. 7 dB optimum launch power difference is observed between 107 Gb/s and 1.07 Tb/s CO-OFDM systems.


Background: Lisfranc complex consists of bony and ligamentous elements which contribute to provide structural support to the transverse arch. Lisfranc injuries often result from direct or indirect and high or low velocity impacts. In a nondiabetic patient, high velocity indirect impacts cause axial loading or rotation on a plantar-flexed foot. Historically these types of injury are extremely rare, with a reported incidence of one per 55,000 cases annually and contribute to approximately 0.2% of all fractures. Diagnosis relies on radiographic imaging that demonstrates diastasis of the first and second metatarsal with avulsion. Treatment depends on the severity of the condition, however most reliable for this particular case was the use of K-wires and open-reduction and internal-fixation.
Case presentation: A 20-year-old African American woman presented to the community hospital with left foot pain, described as severe and throbbing, hours after going on a waterslide at an amusement park. Her left food showed decreased range of motion and weak pulses compared to the right foot. There was tenderness to palpation without signs of infection or inflammation. Radiographic CT imaging showed an oblique and communited fracture of the respective first and second metatarsal joints. An operative repair was subsequently scheduled for a placement of two screws and two K-wires to stabilize the joints. Post-operatively, no complications were observed, and the patient was advised to follow up in the clinic and schedule physical therapy to regain normal activities.
Conclusion: A high-index suspicion for tarso-metatarsal injuries is recommended for patients with signs of edema, forefoot tenderness and plantar ecchymosis. Standard radiographs, which include CT, X-ray, and MRI, should be obtained to include three views of the foot. However, there is a lack of consensus in the literature regarding surgical treatment, complications, functional outcomes of Lisfranc injuries. More studies are needed to clarify a definitive treatment for patients with ligamentous injuries.


The purpose of this study was to investigate health status and health promoting behaviors of female elderly, and their needs for health-related services in an urban-rural combined city. The data were collected from the subjects registered in senior welfare center and senior citizens' clubs. A total of 119 women were participated in the survey. The results of the study are as follows; 1. The subjects perceived their health status relatively unhealthy. Their health promotion behavior score was 10.82 (range 0-17), and more than of them performed well in smoking and drinking control, regular meal. taking breakfast, and maintaining good relationship with others. 2. The most needed service was health screening followed by health risk assessment, disease diagnosis and treatment. 3. The most demanded education was on dementia prevention, followed by exercise, balanced diet, and maintenance of memorial and mental capability. 4. As the health interest and the health responsibility increased, the need for health service increased as well. Likewise, the health education needs increased as the health interest, health responsibility, and health promotion behavior increased. The results show that the health promotion programs for female elderly need to be focused, primarily, on health screening, health risk assessment, medical services for disease diagnosis and treatment, and health consulting and education. And health consulting and education programs should be designed to promote health interest and health responsibility of female elderly, change positively their attitude to aging, and include education on dementia prevention, exercise and nutrition management. Recommendations are discussed.


The AGM theory of belief revision has become an important paradigm for investigating rational belief changes. Unfortunately, researchers working in this paradigm have restricted much of their attention to rather simple representations of belief states, namely logically closed sets of propositional sentences. In our opinion, this has resulted in a too abstract categorisation of belief change operations: expansion, revision, or contraction. Occasionally, in the AGM paradigm, also probabilistic belief changes have been considered, and it is widely accepted that the probabilistic version of expansion is conditioning. However, we argue that it may be more correct to view conditioning and expansion as two essentially different kinds of belief change, and that what we call constraining is a better candidate for being considered probabilistic expansion.


Although in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM) schizophrenia is listed as a psychotic disorder, DSM criteria include negative symptoms and psychomotor abnormalities as well as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganization. In recent years, the concept that cognitive impairment—problems in memory, attention, executive function, etc—is also inherent to schizophrenia is gaining acceptance, and cognitive markers are now used as endophenotypes to explore the genetics of schizophrenia.

If the concept of schizophrenia extends beyond psychosis and negative symptoms, how far should it go? What are the boundaries of schizophrenia?

In this theme issue, the authors explore that issue. Three of the articles review neuropsychiatric problems other than psychosis and negative symptoms. Dickinson and Harvey1 argue that within schizophrenia, cognitive impairment is not confined to a few functions; rather, there is a generalized impairment. They also argue that the severity of this impairment may be related to physiological abnormalities, such as inflammation, that are found outside of the brain. Whitty et al2 present the evidence that abnormal movements and neurological signs are not only intrinsic to the disease but also have an increased prevalence in the families of people with schizophrenia. Buckley et al3 review other comorbid neuropsychiatric syndromes that have a high prevalence in schizophrenia, such as anxiety disorders and serious depression; some of these also appear to have a familial relationship to schizophrenia. A fourth article focuses on abnormalities outside of the brain. Compton and Walker4 review the evidence on minor physical anomalies, which have also been found to have an increased prevalence in the relatives of people with schizophrenia.

There are important limitations to the evidence in each of these areas. Nonetheless, these reviews make a larger point: the boundaries of the heritable schizophrenia spectrum, and the boundaries of schizophrenia itself, are not certain, and may include problems other than psychosis and psychotic-like experiences, negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment.

New evidence that is not reviewed in these articles raises other questions about the boundaries of schizophrenia. Some5–8 but not all9 studies have found that compared with matched controls, newly diagnosed, antipsychotic-naive patients with nonaffective psychosis have an increased prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes, or increased insulin resistance. This conclusion is far uncertain because some of these studies were weakened by problems in matching or possible confounding by hypercortisolemia. Another problem that may muddy these waters is that abnormal glucose tolerance in patients who are newly diagnosed, antipsychotic naive—and, consequently, usually relatively young—may be apparent only in the face of the physiological challenge of a glucose tolerance test. Another recent study found an increased prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes in patients compared with controls: there was no difference in fasting glucose, but a robust difference was found in the results of a glucose tolerance test.10 In that study, the 2 groups were matched for age, ethnicity, gender, smoking, body mass index, socioeconomic status of the family of origin, aerobic conditioning as measured by resting heart rate, and neighborhood of residence; moreover, the patients did not have increased cortisol concentrations compared with the control group. Inflammation10—a risk factor for diabetes—and abnormal immune function11–14 may also be associated with schizophrenia and not solely because of confounding factors. No doubt medication side effects, poor health habits, poor access to health care, poverty, drug abuse, and other problems increase the risk of diabetes and other medical disorders within schizophrenia. However, the existence of these problems does not exclude the possibility that schizophrenia itself is associated with an increased risk of medical conditions. Findings in schizophrenia of low birth weight, a low body mass index in childhood and adolescence, and short stature15 support the plausibility of the hypothesis that abnormalities in the periphery cannot be fully explained by confounding factors.

If the boundaries of schizophrenia are broader than we usually think, why would it matter? Abnormal movements, physical anomalies, diabetes,16–18 and neuropsychiatric disorders other than psychosis, negative symptoms, or cognitive impairment all may have an increased prevalence in the families of probands with schizophrenia. Should this familial association be confirmed, these disorders might be useful supplementary endophenotypes in genetic studies. There would also be implications for studies of pathophysiology and animal models.

The issue of the boundaries of schizophrenia is also important with regard to clinical care. The concept a clinician has of a disease dictates assessment, and assessment dictates the treatments patients are offered. An exclusive focus on psychotic and negative symptoms shortchanges patients because many people with schizophrenia have significant impairment in their function despite good control of psychotic symptoms. Many of the disorders reviewed in this theme issue are associated with poorer function within schizophrenia, and schizophrenia is associated with a striking increase in mortality rate.19 Sensitivity to the importance of both the medical conditions and the neuropsychiatric disorders other than psychosis, negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment that have an increased prevalence within schizophrenia makes it more likely that patients will be offered appropriate treatments.


A 51-year-old Malawian woman presented with persistent mouth ulceration and an eight-month history of non-specific respiratory symptoms. Histoplasma capsulatum was diagnosed on gum, gastric and lymph node biopsies. Identification of H. capsulatum prompted HIV testing and the patient tested positive with a CD4 count of 40 cells/mm3. The diagnosis of histoplasmosis was delayed due to its unusual presentation.


This paper reviews the performance of quantum well heterostructure lasers and discusses the theor etical basis for these performance characteristics. Recent advances in processing of these structures are detailed and potential applications discussed.


Mitchell Green's conception of the thesis of Literary Cognitivism states that literary fiction can be a source of knowledge that depends crucially on its being fictional. By a modal argument the authors show that the criterion of fictionality cannot be crucial to the epistemic value of literary fiction. Rather, it lays in a certain kind of distance, e.g. a temporal, cultural, or interpersonal one. This will be motivated by drawing parallels to Gadamer's hermeneutics, especially his conception of fusion of horizons. In doing so, we agree with Green's characterisation of knowledge that can be gained from engaging with literary fiction, but present a different approach to the source of this knowledge. At the same time, this approach enables us to extend the epistemic value of literary fiction both quantitatively and qualitatively.


There are a number of natural remedies against cancer. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has been proven to be a natural remedy against cancer, due to the cyanogenic compounds such as linamarin. A rapid and simple liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) method was developed to identify and quantify linamarin in Cassava. The method was developed using various Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) extracts. Developed application is not limited to Cassava, but can be extended to other types of linamarin containing plant materials as well. Linamarin was quantified by the LC-MS system, with the mobile phase being H2O:CH3CN, 8:2, and a reverse phase C18 column. This method was utilized to determine the concentration of linamarin in leaf and tuber of M. esculenta. Linamarin concentrations from different types of extraction methods such as acidified water, acidified methanol, cryocooling and hot water were studied. The acidified methanol extract yielded significantly high amounts of linamarin in its intact form and therefore determined as the most suitable sample preparation method to determine linamarin concentrations in Cassava. This LC-MS based linamarin detection system was shown to be sensitive, efficient, cost effective, and highly reproducible.


Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), a short-season summer annual with excellent water-use efficiency, is well adapted to crop production systems in semi-arid environments. It is used as an emergency crop or as a rotation crop in a three-year rotation with winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Row spacing and cultivar may impact the success of proso millet in the semi-arid Great Plains. Six row spacings; 15, 19, 23, 30, 38, and 46 cm, were compared in three environments; conventional tillage irrigated, conventional tillage dryland, and no-tillage dryland. These plots were evaluated at two different weed density levels: weedy (allowed all weeds to grow in the plots during the growing period) and weed-free (did not allow any weeds during the growing period). These trials were conducted in 1995 at the High Plains Agriculture Lab, Sidney, Nebraska (latitude 41°16′ North and longitude 103° 00′ West) at an elevation of 1250 m. Proso millet responded to changes in row spacing. Grain yield, tiller number, and straw weight decreased as row spacing increased while seed weight and plant height increased with row spacing. Seed weight increased with row spacing at all row spacings in the irrigated treatment while in the dryland sites, the increase was only at the narrower row spacing. The relatively light weed pressure in all but the no-till treatment reduced the effect of weeds in the response of grain yield to row spacing. Even in the no-till treatment, row spacing had little influence on weed weight. Narrow rows were superior for grain yield and weed control. In areas of limited moisture, however, 15 cm appears to be too narrow. Thus, 19 cm would appear to be a better choice of row spacing for areas where drought is likely. *Contribution of the Nebraska Agric. Exp. Stn. Journal no. 12892. Received Jan. 20, 2000.


Fiber-optic beam delivery is commonly used on industrial laser systems. This article examines the conditions for the optimal propagation of high power beams through optical fibers. Beam quality effects by step and gradient index fibers of different lengths are considered. The differences between the diverging beam from a fiber and the beam at focus and on the fiber face are illustrated. Estimates are provided of the worst-case beam quality to be expected from fibers. Guidelines are also provided for the selection of beam delivery components based on the limitations of the optical system and the tasks to be performed.


Susan B. Anthony once famously stated, "I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work for or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman." The racism of many early suffragettes has been well documented and discussed; Black suffragettes and other suffragettes of color were, at best, relegated to the margins of the movement and, at worst, scorned and turned away by white suffragettes. Moreover, part of white suffragettes' strategy for passage of the Nineteenth Amendment was based on racist appeals to white men; white suffragettes claimed that passage of the Nineteenth Amendment would help keep white voters in the majority and, ultimately, would help uphold white supremacy. Against this backdrop, Black women—and much of the Black community more generally—still supported and fought for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Recent legal and historical scholars have been dedicated to studying the often-overlooked and instrumental role that Black women played in the Suffrage Movement and Black enfranchisement. This Article seeks to look at the coverage by Black—largely male—journalists at the Chicago Defender in the ten years preceding and proceeding the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. In doing so, this Article hopes to better understand the ways that some Black community members understood and viewed the Nineteenth Amendment and how that perception changed. Although in hindsight we understand that the Nineteenth Amendment was not the liberating feat for Black women that it was for white women, what does Black journalistic coverage in the period immediately before and after its passage tell us about the perception of the Nineteenth Amendment and Black women's enfranchisement at the time?

The methodology of this research differs from those used in other historical research regarding Black women's suffrage. Many historians have focused on understanding Black women's suffrage through studying individual women's stories: In her groundbreaking and well-received book Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All, legal historian Martha Jones says that "by recounting the lives of some of the many Black women who engaged in political fights, the picture of a whole comes into view." These histories rely on a large variety of historical documents left behind by, and about, individual suffragists and events to gain an understanding of "the picture of a whole." This Article takes a different approach: it looks deeply at only one set of primary documents—articles printed in the Chicago Defender— to better understand the changes and patterns in community perception revealed through journalistic coverage. This is not counter to the important work of these other historians, who have helped recover the overlooked stories of suffragists of color. Instead, this Article seeks to further our understanding of these stories through a different medium.


This PhD project aimed to examine the anticancer potential of a natural compound, cinobufagin (CBF), and the signal transduction pathways involved in CBF-induced cell death, especially pro-apoptotic pathways. CBF is a major component of the traditional Chinese medicine Chansu, which is extracted from parotoid glands of Chinese toads. Chansu has been widely used in the treatment for inflammation in China for centuries. The role of Chansu in anti-neoplasm has recently been revealed and it leads to a new area of research.
In this study, CBF was initially found to have a potent capacity for anti-proliferation in a variety of cancer cell lines. Our result from cytotoxicity assays showed a particular high sensitivity of CBF in human colon cancer cell lines. Thus, HCT116 and HT29 cell lines were selected for the further investigations. To clarify whether the cell death induced by CBF is apoptosis or necrosis, Annexin V staining was carried out and showed a consequence of CBF-induced apoptosis in both cell lines. The subsequent detection of mitochondrial potential changes post CBF exposure was discovered in the two cell lines. However, the apoptotic pathways elicited by CBF were different in HCT116 and HT29 cells. CBF activated Caspase-3 in HCT116 cells, but the activity of Caspase-3 in treated HT29 cells was inhibited. The translocation of mitochondrial apoptosis inducing factor (AIF), a crucial protein for Caspase-3-independent apoptosis, was also detected but only in HCT116 cells. The nuclear import of AIF was untraceable in the process of HT29 cell death during CBF treatment. Altogether, we concluded that CBF-induced apoptosis in HCT116 is through both Caspase-3 dependent and
independent pathways, while the apoptotic signalling pathways in treated HT29 cells are still undiscovered.


NASA became overconfident with consecutive successful flights with no major failures leading up to Flight 25 of the Space Shuttle Challenger and failed to correctly apply quality assurance to reanalyze the possibilities of failure when extreme cold weather was present for what would become the last Challenger launch. System Hazard Analysis applied correctly to analyze the failure rate patterns of the NASA Space Shuttle Challenger Solid Rocket Booster field joints may have prevented the launch of the tragic Flight 25, where there was a total loss of aircraft and seven astronauts were killed in the accident. The steps of System Hazard Analysis will be explained that if followed may have provided the data necessary for NASA to correct the field joint error prior to instead of after the Challenger explosion.


Emotion regulation plays a significant role on the emotions and behavior of
adolescents. According to the role of attachment and efficacy of coping styles in development of
emotion regulation skills, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between
attachment styles and coping styles with emotion Dysregulation in adolescents.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 200 students that were selected from
5291 male and female students of second and third grade of high schools in Talesh city. All
participants were asked to fill Emotion Dysregulation Scale (DERS), Parents and Peers Adolescent
attachment to Inventory (IPPA-R) and Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). The data were analyzed
using mean standard deviation, Pearson correlation and step by step regression.
Results: The result of step by step regression analysis revealed that there was a negative and
significant relationship between emotional dysregulation with attachment to mother, attachment to
father and peers. Also, the relationship of emotional dysregulation was negatively associated with
task-oriented coping style but had a positive and significant relationship with Emotion-oriented coping
strategies. According of step by step regression analysis, mother and peer attachment and emotionoriented
coping could predict 24 percent of emotional dysregulation variance.
Conclusion: The making attachment to parents and peers and coping styles efficiently are important
factors that are involved in emotion dysregulation in adolescences


Treatment of Cushing's disease (CD) is one of the most challenging tasks in endocrinology. The first-line treatment, transsphenoidal pituitary surgery, is associated with a high failure rate and a high prevalence of recurrence. Re-operation is associated with an even higher rate of a failure and recurrence. There are three main second-line treatments for CD - pituitary radiation therapy (RT), bilateral adrenalectomy and chronic cortisol-lowering medical treatment. All these treatments have their limitations. While bilateral adrenalectomy provides permanent cure of the hypercortisolism in all patients, the unavoidable chronic adrenal insufficiency and the risk of development of Nelson syndrome are of concern. Chronic cortisol-lowering medical treatment is not efficient in all patients and side effects are often a limiting factor. RT is efficient for approximately two-thirds of all patients with CD. However, the high prevalence of pituitary insufficiency is of concern as well as potential optic nerve damage, development of cerebrovascular disease and secondary brain tumours. Thus, when it comes to decide appropriate treatment for patients with CD, who have either failed to achieve remission with pituitary surgery, or patients with recurrence, the pros and cons of all second-line treatment options must be considered.


Pumping tests are one of the most commonly used in situ testing techniques for assessing aquifer hydraulic properties. Numerous researches have been conducted to predict the effects of aquifer heterogeneity on the groundwater levels during pumping tests. The objectives of the present work were as follows: (1) to predict drawdown conditions and to estimate aquifer properties during pumping tests undertaken in radially symmetric heterogeneous aquifers, and (2) to identify a method for assessing the transmissivity field along the radial coordinate in radially symmetric and fully heterogeneous transmissivity fields. The first objective was achieved by expanding an existing analytical drawdown formulation that was valid for a radially symmetric confined aquifer with two concentric zones around the pumping well to an N concentric zone confined aquifer having a constant transmissivity value within each zone. The formulation was evaluated for aquifers with three and four concentric zones to assess the effects of the transmissivity field on the drawdown conditions. The specific conditions under which aquifer properties could be identified using traditional methods of analysis were also evaluated. The second objective was achieved by implementing the inverse solution algorithm (ISA), which was developed for petroleum reservoirs to groundwater aquifer settings. The results showed that the drawdown values are influenced by a volumetric integral of a weighting function and the transmissivity field within the cone of depression. The weighting function migrates in tandem with the expanding cone of depression. The ability of the ISA to predict radially symmetric and log‐normally distributed transmissivity fields was assessed against analytical and numerical benchmarks. The results of this investigation indicated that the ISA method is a viable technique for evaluating the radial transmissivity variations of heterogeneous aquifer settings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The major goal of information integration is to provide efficient and easy-to-use access to multiple heterogeneous data sources with a single query. At the same time, one of the current trends is to use standard technologies for implementing solutions to complex software problems. In this dissertation, I used XML and XQuery as the standard technologies and have developed an extended projection algorithm to provide a solution to the information integration problem. In order to demonstrate my solution, I implemented a prototype mediation system called Omphalos based on XML related technologies. The dissertation describes the architecture of the system, its metadata, and the process it uses to answer queries. The system uses XQuery expressions (termed metaqueries) to capture complex mappings between global schemas and data source schemas. The system then applies these metaqueries in order to rewrite a user query on a virtual global database (representing the integrated view of the heterogeneous data sources) to a query (termed an outsourced query) on the real data sources. An extended XML document projection algorithm was developed to increase the efficiency of selecting the relevant subset of data from an individual data source to answer the user query. The system applies the projection algorithm to decompose an outsourced query into atomic queries which are each executed on a single data source. I also developed an algorithm to generate integrating queries, which the system uses to compose the answers from the atomic queries into a single answer to the original user query. I present a proof of both the extended XML document projection algorithm and the query integration algorithm. An analysis of the efficiency of the new extended algorithm is also presented. Finally I describe a collaborative schema-matching tool that was implemented to facilitate maintaining metadata.


Visualizations designed to make readers compassionate with the persons whose data is represented have been called anthropographics and are commonly employed by practitioners. Empirical studies have recently examined whether anthropographics indeed promote empathy, compassion, or the likelihood of prosocial behavior, but findings have been inconclusive so far. This work contributes a detailed overview of past experiments, and two new experiments that use large samples and a combination of design strategies to maximize the possibility of finding an effect. We tested an information-rich anthropographic against a simple bar chart, asking participants to allocate hypothetical money in a crowdsourcing study. We found that the anthropographic had, at best, a small effect on money allocation. Such a small effect may be relevant for large-scale donation campaigns, but the large sample sizes required to observe an effect and the noise involved in measuring it make it very difficult to study in more depth. Data and code are available at https://osf.io/xqae2/.


Introduction: The aim of this research is to identify the magnitude of self-reported insomnia in medical student in Rehman Medical College, Peshawar; to characterize sleeping habits of medical students; to identify the basic causes of insomnia and to determine how subjective sleep quality affects their day to day activities.     Material & Methods: It was a cross sectional survey conducted at Rehman Medical College Peshawar. A total number of 200 students from both 1 st year and 2 nd year MBBS were enrolled. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire. The variables of questionnaire were derived from National Sleep Foundation (USA). Data were entered in MS Excel and Data analysis was done on SPSS version 15 for descriptive statistics. Results: Response rate was 81.5%, amongst them 65.0% were day scholars while 35.0% were boarders; 22 students were found insomniac according to the National Sleep Foundation (USA) criteria for adult sleep, of these 13 insomniacs were Day scholars and 9 were boarders. Major causes for decreased sleep among the insomniac students were, Stress 14 (73.68%), Studies 14 (73.68%), Exams 13 (68.42%), load shedding 11 (57.89%), and disturbing events around them 6 (31.57%). A sizable number of students, 17 (80.95%) believed that their performance was affected because of the sleep disturbance; also 17 (80.95%) students got irritated due to lack of sleep, 15 (71.42%) students thought that their concentration and retention of lessons in classrooms was greatly affected, 14 (66.67%) students thought that their studies and diet got affected due to less sleep, 13 (61.90%) felt that their personal appearance got affected, 12 (57.14%) students observed that their punctuality was affected by decreased sleep, whereas 7 (33.33%) mentioned that their relationship with friends and family got affected due to decreased sleep. Conclusion: Insomnia is fairly common among medical students in Rehman Medical College and is associated with stress, exam tension, load shedding, and medical studies. The preliminary data on insomnia categorizes student sleep disturbance as day scholars and borderline. The study provides data on causes and effect of insomnia, which may be used to guide sleep hygiene promotion and intervention among college students. Key Words: Insomnia; medical students; sleep quality; stress.


What is the historical and social context that shapes our attitudes towards organ and tissue donation? How do the bereavement experiences of organ donor families differ from other types of bereavement? How can health and social care professionals support bereaved families leading up to, during and after organ and tissue donation? This ground-breaking book is a valuable addition to the end-of-life, palliative and bereavement care literature. Using original research findings relating to the social and psychological issues surrounding organ donation, this book provides a strong evidence-base and brings together contemporary research carried out in the developed world. The book is internationally applicable, especially in countries with Westernised healthcare systems and where organ donation takes place using similar practices to the UK. Key areas covered include: examination of the historical development of human dissection and how it created a context for legislation; analysis of how human organ and tissue donation is currently understood; and, the social theories that help explain the donation event and families' and health professionals' experiences of it. "Organ and Tissue Donation: An Evidence Base for Practice" is essential reading for transplant coordinators and qualified clinical practitioners working in intensive care, accident and emergency departments, operating theatres, palliative care units and bereavement support and counselling services. It is also a core text for specialist postgraduate programmes and a useful reference book for national organisations concerned with donation and transplant services.


Motion-compensated lifting schemes have become a reference for the temporal filtering of video data. However, block-based motion estimation and compensation produce annoying blocking artifacts around the moving objects and near the borders of the images. In this paper, we propose a new lifted temporal filtering method, based on joint segmentation and motion estimation. This method consists in attributing locally the motion information to content-adapted regions instead of blocks. We first present our "Puzzle filtering" algorithm and we state the conditions for its invertibility. Then, we propose a method to extract regions of occlusion from the motion and segmentation information. The obtained regions are finally exploited within the proposed Puzzle filtering. First experimental results show that the blocking artifacts are completely removed and that the occlusions are successfully managed, which results in an important subband entropy decrease.


This paper describes the dynamics of the exploitation of natural resources exploitation activities, especially the extractive industries of coal mines that have been going on since tens of years ago. South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia is known as one of the areas that has the potential of coal resources, but so far not directly proportional to the social welfare and economic community in general and especially for local communities located in the mining location. The massive mining industry only provides benefits and benefits to a handful of people, especially local authorities, rulers, or people within the circle of local rulers as business cronies. In addition, the mining economy is also enjoyed only by people who have business networks with mining entrepreneurs, such as security forces such as soldiers and police, political parties, and other interest groups. In the meantime, in general, the community, especially the local people only gets a complex impact, such as environmental damage, pollution, and loss of economic resources, destruction of social values and poverty of local communities. Of the policies and regulations of the mining policy that are impartial to the public interest and only benefit mining predators of the chaos of the mining policy becomes the arena of the occasion of conspiracy between local authorities, local elites with mining entrepreneurs. This fact has reflected as the tragedy of the commons as explained by Garrett Hardin and Jeffrey Sachs in some of his work on the exploitation of natural resources curse.


We combine neural rendering with multi-modal image and text representations to synthesize diverse 3D objects solely from natural language descriptions. Our method, Dream Fields, can generate the geometry and color of a wide range of objects without 3D supervision. Due to the scarcity of diverse, captioned 3D data, prior methods only generate objectsfrom a handful of categories, such as ShapeNet. Instead, we guide generation with image-text models pre-trained on large datasets of captioned images from the web. Our method optimizes a Neural Radiance Field from many camera views so that rendered images score highly with a target caption according to a pre-trained CLIP model. To improve fidelity and visual quality, we introduce simple geometric priors, including sparsity-inducing transmittance regularization, scene bounds, and new MLP architectures. In experiments, Dream Fields produce realistic, multi-view consistent object geometry and color from a variety of natural language captions.


The opportunities offered to scientific research by living mammal collections are generally overlooked in Italy. This paper presents a short historical overview of the scientific investigations done on captive mammals from Italian zoos, especially those concerning taxonomic research. A glimpse of the opportunities offered by zoo specimens for scientific research is presented utilising examples from the National Museums Scotland. The importance of increasing care in the identification of individual animals by studbook and ISIS numbers is also highlighted. We argue that a stronger collaboration between zoos, museums and universities is needed to maximise the scientific and conservation value of Italian mammal collections.


Groundwater is an essential source of freshwater for the severely water-deprived country of Jordan. Thus, understanding abstracted amounts of the ground water is essential for sustaining this resource. More than 50% of the annual abstracted groundwater is used for irrigation, indicating the need to correctly estimate this usage and minimize the uncertainties. Thus, this study aims to assess actual groundwater abstraction in North Jordan by implementing a new geographic information system–remote sensing multi-method approach. The results are promising and show that the announced GW abstraction volumes provided by the Water Authority of Jordan and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation are not particularly accurate, especially for areas where extensive agricultural practices are present. This fact may explain the discrepancies between official reports on declining groundwater levels and the results of several studies that assessed North Jordan groundwater abstraction. This study showed that irrigation is a crucial factor that affects this discrepancy and that the crop water requirements are generally higher than what is reported by the governmental sector. The results showed a 31 MCM discrepancy between the official recorded groundwater abstraction volumes and the actual (crop-based) water consumption. Increasing the irrigation efficiency by 20% will aid in sustaining the groundwater in the study area, maintaining the current groundwater wells and save the farmers money.


Abstract The β subunits of the two pituitary gonadotropins LH and FSH and of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were cloned from Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) pituitary glands. These three glycoprotein hormone β subunits possess the main characteristics common to their counterparts in other vertebrates. Taking advantage of the phylogenetic position of the lungfish, close to the root of tetrapods, a maximum parsimony tree was inferred from these new sequences and sequences from representatives of the diversity of vertebrates. The topology of the tree was imposed so that it reflected as closely as possible the real evolutionary history of the subunits. This tree was used to estimate the relative evolution rate of the three subunits in vertebrates. Cumulated amino acid substitutions from the basal subunit node (ancestral subunit sequence) to the species node were calculated and compared. It showed that a burst in evolutionary rate occurred for the LHβ subunit in the tetrapod lineage sometime after the emergence of amphibians. The rate of evolution of the LHβ subunit was particularly high throughout the radiation of mammals while FSH and TSHβ subunits kept quite stable in this lineage. A burst in evolutionary rate was also observed for the FSHβ subunit in the lineage leading to teleosts sometime after the emergence of chondrosteans and the dynamic of evolution was high throughout the radiation of teleosts. These results were consistent with data obtained from pairwise comparisons.


This Special Issue aims to contribute to the current knowledge in the field and promote the practical application of photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) biotechnology [...].


We examine whether Covid-19, which is widely believed to have originated in China, negatively affected the environment for Chinese people in London leading to an increase in hate crimes toward this group relative to others. With data from the Metropolitan Police for the whole of the Metropolitan area of London, we use a difference-in-differences approach to examine what happened to hate crimes against Chinese people in London in the months before (October to December 2019) and the months after the Covid-19 pandemic (January to March 2020) relative to other ethnic groups, to other crimes, and to other time periods. Our methodology utilizes the fact that Covid-19 came as an unexpected shock, which very quickly changed the environment for crime, and did so differentially across ethnicities. We argue that this shock is likely to negatively affect attitudes and behaviors toward Chinese people, but has no effect on other ethnicities. Our results show that in the months after Covid-19, there was an increase in hate crimes against Chinese people, but this increase was not seen among the other ethnic groups, other non hate crimes, or in any other time period. This leads us to conclude that Covid-19 led to an increase in hate crimes against Chinese people in London. That Covid-19 changed behavior toward Chinese people highlights an intrinsic link between Covid-19 and racism. Unfortunately, the rise in hate crime that we identify adds to a growing list of ways in which ethnic minority groups disproportionately suffered, and continue to do so, during the pandemic.


Jishou university is located in the border region of Xiang, Er, Yu, Qian, whichi is a comprehensive university. Sports and science college of Jishou university was founded in 1978. It has two undergraduate programs physical education major, martial arts and traditional sports major, the level 1 discipline of sports science award authority, the sports specialized master's degree award authority, etc.. The school-running characteristics of college and traditional advantages are obvious. Through a series of effective measures, it has cultivated many excellent talents, and summarized some successful experience. The teaching effect is outstanding, which well meet the needs of school physical education and nationwide fitness programs in west national regions.


Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institutions provide a variety of benefits to visitors. However, one area that has received little study is the direct human health benefits from zoo and aquarium visits. With the increase in stress related non-infectious diseases in industrialized countries, understanding the extent of these benefits is important. We studied the effects on visitor stress of an experience at a touch tank exhibit featuring stingrays, sharks, and horseshoe crabs. Stress was measured by physiological and psychological parameters. Heart rate was recorded before, during, and after interacting with the animals, and mood was assessed before and after the experience using a psychological instrument. Multilevel models of heart rate show a quadratic trend, with heart rate elevated (b = -3.01, t = 26.4, P < 0.001) and less variable (b = 3.60, t = 15.9, P < 0.001) while touching the animals compared to before or after. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests on mood data suggest that most visitors felt happier (V = 174.5, P < 0.001), more energized (V = 743.5, P < 0.001), and less tense (V = 5618, P < 0.001) after the experience. This suggests that interacting with animals led to a physiological response during interactions reminiscent of a theme park experience along with a decrease in mental stress. The effects of confounding variables such as crowd size are also discussed. Further studies should be conducted to help deepen our understanding of the health benefits of experiences at AZA institutions.


We discuss two recently proposed adaptations of the well-known Stahel–Donoho estimator of multivariate location and scatter for high-dimensional data. The first adaptation adjusts the calculation of the outlyingness of the observations while the second adaptation allows to give separate weights to each of the components of an observation. Both adaptations address the possibility that in higher dimensions most observations can be contaminated in at least one of its components. We then combine the two approaches in a new method and investigate its performance in comparison to the previously proposed methods.


The book offers an overview of the religious history, generic background, and folklore influences on Robert Eggers' film The Witch (2015). In addition, it provides close readings of the film and the individual characters which argues for the film as a critique of patriarchal family structures. The religious background of the film's Puritan context is explored, including a discussion of some of the documents which Eggers used for his screenplay. The film is placed in the context of 21st century horror cinema, with an argument for its place in the context of the current wave of folk horror.


TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC) is a congestion control mechanism that is proposed to be used together with the new DCCP protocol. This paper provides an overview of the issues surrounding the use of TFRC for interactive media applications. Most issues are related to speci_c TFRC mechanisms, and to the use of smaller-than-MSS packets. An analytical examination of TFRCs behavior in the presence of wireless bit errors is also presented. The results show that DCCP's builtin loss differentiation can potentially be disabled for resourceconstrained devices in order to reduce overhead


A novel strain-rate jump method was developed for the plane-strain bulge test and used to investigate the time-dependent deformation behavior of gold thin films in the thickness range 100–400 nm. The experimental method is based on an abrupt variation of the pressurization rate. The evaluated strain-rate sensitivity was found to be five times higher for films in freestanding condition ( m = 0.094) than for films tested on a SiN_x substrate ( m = 0.020). Bulge creep tests confirmed this increased time-dependence. The observation of the surface of the freestanding films after the creep tests provided evidence of apparent grain boundary sliding taking place next to intragranular plastic deformation. The out-of-plane deformation was presumably favored by the columnar microstructure of the samples, with grains extending between both free surfaces. In the case of SiN_x-supported films, grain boundary sliding was prevented by the good adhesion of gold to the SiN_x substrate.


Objective To determine the diagnostic yield of a 'high' N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with suspected heart failure (HF) referred from primary to secondary care. Methods In this retrospective study, cardiac diagnoses were quantified in consecutive patients with an NT-proBNP>400 ng/L referred from primary care centres to a specialist HF service. Results Among 654 consecutive patients (age: 78.5±9.72 years; 45.9% men; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): 55.4±12.5% (mean±SD)), the primary diagnoses were: valvular disease (39.4%), HF (29.2%; 13.3% with LVEF<40%) and atrial fibrillation (AF; 17.3%). In terms of primary or secondary diagnoses, 68% of patients had valve disease, 46.9% had AF and 29.2% had HF. A cardiac diagnosis was made in 85.9%. In multivariable analyses, NT-proBNP predicted HF with LVEF<40% (OR: 10.2, 95% CI: 5.63 to 18.3) and HF with any LVEF (OR: 6.13, 95% CI: 3.79 to 9.93). In canonical linear discriminant analyses, NT-proBNP correctly identified 54.5% of patients with HF. The remainder were misclassified as valvular disease, AF or no cardiac diagnosis. Conclusion Among patients with an NT-proBNP>400 ng/L referred through a primary care HF pathway, most patients had valve disease or AF rather than HF. NT-proBNP cannot discriminate among HF, valve disease and AF. On this basis, NT-proBNP may be best employed in detecting cardiac disease in general rather than HF per se.


Water based glycol (polyol) muds are becoming increasingly popular, and are now replacing oil based muds in many drilling operations. Apart from exceptional shale inhibition, other benefits include environmental friendliness, ease of handling, robustness and good lubricity. This paper explores the mechanisms of shale stabilization by glycol muds. Experimental data show shale dispersion, swelling and hardness behaviors for a model reactive shale (London Clay). The data suggest the high level of inhibition obtained is mainly due to a shale hardening effect--the shale actually becomes harder than in its original state. Measurements with a range of salt types show that salt (eg KCl) plays a major role in the inhibiting mechanism. Adsorption measurements indicate that the glycol displaces water from the shale, resulting in a change in pore fluid composition. In effect, the glycol acts as a penetrating glue which, it is believed through hydrogen bonding effects, strengthens the shale. This mechanism contrasts with other water based mud additives (eg PHPA or polyamines) which form a protective or encapsulating layer on the surface of the shale.


The 2019 Infectious Diseases Society of America community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) guidelines recommend anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) therapy in patients with CAP based on previously identified risk factors for MRSA with an emphasis on local epidemiology and institutional validation of risk. Thus, we sought to assess the ability of guideline-recognized risk factors to predict MRSA CAP at our institution.

 This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study from January 2016 to March 2020. Patients were included if they were >18 years old, diagnosed with CAP, and had a MRSA nasal screen and a respiratory culture obtained on admission. Patients were excluded if CAP diagnosis was not met, respiratory cultures were not obtained within 48 hours of antibiotic initiation, or they had cystic fibrosis. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and likelihood ratios (LR) were calculated using Vassar Stats 2019. Pre/post-test odds and pre/post-test probabilities were calculated using Microsoft Excel 2019.

 Of 705 screened patients, 221 were included. MRSA prevalence in CAP patients at our institution was 3.6%. History of MRSA isolated from a respiratory specimen had high specificity (98%), high positive LR of 20 (95% CI 5.3 – 74.8), and high post-test probability of 42.8%. Receipt of IV antibiotics during hospitalization within the past 90 days had a positive LR of 1.9 (95% CI 0.74 – 4.84). A positive MRSA nasal screen on admission had a positive LR of 6.9 (95% CI 4.0 – 12.1), negative LR 0.28 (95% CI 0.08 – 0.93), positive post-test probability of 20.7%, and negative post-test probability of 1.04%.

 Our study utilized institutional data to validate guideline-recognized risk factors for MRSA CAP specifically at our institution. Risk factors including history of MRSA isolated from a respiratory specimen, and positive post-admission MRSA nasal screen were validated as significant risk factors; receipt of IV antibiotics during hospitalization within the past 90 days was not shown to be a risk factor for MRSA CAP based on our institutional data. Validated risk factors may help providers discern which patients with CAP at our institution would benefit most from empiric MRSA treatment.

 Jeffrey Steele, PharMD, Paratek Pharmaceuticals (Advisor or Review Panel member) Wesley D. Kufel, PharmD, Melinta (Research Grant or Support)Merck (Research Grant or Support)Theratechnologies, Inc. (Advisor or Review Panel member)


Understanding the physical, chemical and biological system is an indispensable precondition to addressing groundwater management. This understanding is based on Conceptual Hydrogeological Models, which contain different interpretations and their validity is checked through the application of specific research techniques (numerical modelling, hydrochemistry, isotope hydrology,process evaluation and biological functions). This paper describes the experience carried out by an academic team that, together with entities responsible for the protection of waterresources, established strategic alliances to improve the knowledge of the hydrogeological system,providing new elements for governance. This study was carried out in the Uraba antioqueno zone, located north-west of Colombia. A complex aquifer system is located in the region,characterized by a series of permeable, semi-permeable and impermeable layers. In such alayered aquifer the determination of the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the layers and their management are a challenge for researchers because groundwater represents a strategic resource for supplying the population and developing economic activities. Starting from the conceptual hydrogeological model, multiscale numerical modelling exercises have been carried out, enabling the characterization of local, intermediate and regional flow systems. In addition,by determining the natural background level, the concentration ranges of chemical compounds from natural sources were obtained, in order to detect future changes in water quality. It was also possible to examine the stygofauna, which allowed the recognition of different types of organisms (stygobits, stygophiles and stygoxens) associated with underground ecosystems.These scientific elements serve as a support for the management instruments such as the groundwater management plan that is important for water governance, ensuring its future sustainability.