Lonza says it will carve out its Lonza Specialty Ingredients division into a separate entity with independent management by mid-2020. LSI makes intermediates for applications including agricultural ingredients, cosmetics, and coatings. Lonza aims to "improve business efficiency" at LSI by cutting 130 of its staff, including 50 from Switzerland and 35 from the US. The measures will enable LSI to become a world leader in substances for microbial control, Lonza CEO Marc Funk says.


Abstract. Top-down emissions estimates provide valuable up-to-date information on pollution sources; however, the computational effort involved with developing these emissions often requires them to be estimated at resolutions that are much coarser than is necessary for regional air-quality forecasting. This work thus introduces several approaches to downscaling coarse-resolution (2° × 2.5°) posterior SO2 and NOx emissions (derived through inverse modeling in Part I of this study) for improving air quality assessment and forecasts over China in October 2013. The SO2 and NOx emission inverse modeling was conducted at the 2° × 2.5° resolution in Part I to save computational time. The prior emission inventory (MIX) as well as the posterior GEOS-Chem simulations of surface SO2 and NO2 concentrations at this resolution underestimate observed hot spots, which is called the Coarse-Grid Smearing (CGS) effect. To mitigate the CGS effect, four methods are developed: (a) downscale 2° × 2.5° GEOS-Chem surface SO2 and NO2 concentrations to the resolution of 0.25° × 0.3125° through a Dynamic Downscaling Concentration (MIX-DDC) approach, which assumes that the 0.25° × 0.3125° simulation using the prior MIX emissions has the correct spatial distribution of SO2 and NO2 concentrations but a systematic bias; (b) downscale surface NO2 simulations at 2° × 2.5° to 0.05° × 0.05° according to the spatial distribution of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nighttime Light observations (e.g., NL-DC approach) based on correlation between VIIRS NL intensity with TROPOMI NO2 observations; (c) Downscale posterior Emissions (DE) of SO2 and NOx to 0.25° × 0.3125° with the assumption that the prior fine-resolution MIX inventory has the correct spatial distribution (e.g., MIX-DE approach); and (d) downscale posterior NOx emissions using VIIRS NL observations (e.g., NL-DE approach). Numerical experiments reveal that: (a) using the MIX-DDC approach, posterior SO2 and NO2 simulations improve compared to the corresponding MIX prior simulations with normalized centered root mean square error (NCRMSE) decreases of 63.7 % and 30.2 %, respectively; (b) the NO2 simulation has an NCRMSE that is 17.9 % smaller than the prior NO2 simulation when they are both downscaled through NL_DC, and NL_DC is able to better mitigate the CGS effect than MIX-DDC; (c) the simulation at 0.25° × 0.3125° using the MIX-DE approach has NCRMSEs that are 58.8 % and 14.7 % smaller than the prior 0.25° × 0.3125° MIX simulation for surface SO2 and NO2 concentrations, respectively, but the RMSE from the MIX-DE posterior simulation is slightly larger than that from the MIX-DDC posterior simulation for both SO2 and NO2; (d) the NL-DE posterior NO2 simulation also improves on the prior MIX simulation at 0.25° × 0.3125°, but it is worse than the MIX-DE posterior simulation; (e) in terms of evaluating the downscaled SO2 and NO2 simulations simultaneously, using the posterior SO2 and NOx emissions from joint inverse modeling of both species is better than only using one (SO2 or NOx) emissions from corresponding single-species inverse modeling and is similar to using the posterior emissions for both SO2 and inventories from single-species inverse modeling. Forecasts of surface concentrations for November 2013 using the posterior emissions obtained by applying the posterior MIX-DE emissions for October 2013 with the monthly variation information derived from the prior MIX emission inventory show (a) the improvements of forecasting surface SO2 concentrations through MIX-DE and MIX-DDC are comparable; (b) for NO2 forecast, MIX-DE show larger improvement than NL-DE and MIX-DDC; (c) NL-DC is able to better decrease the CGS effect than MIX-DE, but shows larger NCRMSE. Overall, for practical forecasting of air quality, it is recommended to use satellite-based observation already available from the last month to jointly constrain SO2 and NO2 emissions at coarser resolution and then downscale these posterior emissions at finer spatial resolution suitable for regional air quality model for the present month.


The invasion of ecological systems by nonindigenous species is now recognized as a growing global problem that imposes significant economic and ecological damages. In the United States alone, the total costs of nonindigenous species have been estimated to be at least $137 billion per year (Pimentel et al.). Approximately one-fourth of the value of the country's agricultural output is lost to nonindigenous plant pests or to the costs of controlling them (Simberloff). The economic damages from a single invasive species can be enormous. The costs of controlling the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Great Lakes were estimated to reach $5 billion in 2001 (U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)) while the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) caused an estimated $600 million (1991$) in crop damages between 1987 and 1989 (Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)). Invasive species also cause significant ecological harm. They can alter ecosystem processes, act as vectors of disease, and reduce biodiversity (Vitousek et al.). Worldwide, out of 256 vertebrate extinctions with an identifiable cause, 109 are known to be due to biological invaders. In comparison, seventy such extinctions are known to be caused by human exploitation (Cox). The potential for a single invasive species to cause irreparable ecological damage is manifest in the extinction of twelve of Guam's native bird species following the invasion of the island by the brown tree snake, Boiga irregularis, in the mid-twentieth century (Savidge).


We study MinMax solution methods for a general class of optimization problems related to (and including) optimal transport. Theoretically, the focus is on fitting a large class of problems into a single MinMax framework and generalizing regularization techniques known from classical optimal transport. We show that regularization techniques justify the utilization of neural networks to solve such problems by proving approximation theorems and illustrating fundamental issues if no regularization is used. We further study the relation to the literature on generative adversarial nets, and analyze which algorithmic techniques used therein are particularly suitable to the class of problems studied in this paper. Several numerical experiments showcase the generality of the setting and highlight which theoretical insights are most beneficial in practice.


A low-density parity-check (LDPC) code is a linear block code described by a sparse parity-check matrix, which can be efficiently represented by a bipartite Tanner graph. The standard iterative decoding algorithm, known as belief propagation, passes messages along the edges of this Tanner graph. Density evolution is an efficient method to analyze the performance of the belief propagation decoding algorithm for a particular LDPC code ensemble, enabling the determination of a decoding threshold. The basic problem addressed in this work is how to optimize the Tanner graph so that the decoding threshold is as large as possible. We introduce a new code optimization technique which involves the search space range which can be thought of as minimizing randomness in differential evolution or limiting the search range in exhaustive search. This technique is applied to the design of good irregular LDPC codes and multi-edge type LDPC codes.


Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a chronic, occlusive cerebrovascular disease characterized by progressive stenosis at the terminal portion of the internal carotid artery and an abnormal vascular network at the base of the brain. Although its etiology remains unknown, recent genetic studies identified RNF213 in the 17q25-ter region as an important susceptibility gene of MMD among East Asian populations. Possibly because of genetic differences, MMD is relatively common in people living in East Asian countries such as Korea and Japan, compared to those in the Western Hemisphere. The prevalence of MMD appears to be slightly lower among Chinese, compared to Koreans or Japanese. There are two peaks of incidence with different clinical presentations, at around 10 years and 30-40 years. The peak appears to occur later in women than men. In children, ischemic symptoms, especially transient ischemic attacks, are predominant. Intellectual decline, seizures, and involuntary movements are also more common in this age group. In contrast, adult patients present with intracranial hemorrhage more often than pediatric patients. In patients with MMD, intracerebral hemorrhage is more often accompanied by intraventricular hemorrhage than in patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. These different age peaks and different clinical presentations in each age group are also observed in MMD patients in the USA. Catheter angiography is the diagnostic method of choice. Magnetic resonance (MR) angiography and computed tomographic angiography are noninvasive diagnostic methods. High-resolution vessel wall MR imaging also helps diagnose MMD by revealing concentric vessel wall narrowing with basal collaterals.


Strategies for the control of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the oil industry involve the use of high concentrations of biocides, but these may induce bacterial resistance and/or be harmful to public health and the environment. Essential oils (EO) produced by plants inhibit the growth of different microorganisms and are a possible alternative for controlling SRB. We aimed to characterize the bacterial community of produced water obtained from a Brazilian petroleum facility using molecular methods, as well as to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of EO from different plants and their major components against Desulfovibrio alaskensis NCIMB 13491 and against SRB growth directly in the produced water. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed the presence of the genera Pelobacter and Marinobacterium, Geotoga petraea, and the SRB Desulfoplanes formicivorans in our produced water samples. Sequencing of dsrA insert-containing clones confirmed the presence of sequences related to D. formicivorans. EO obtained from Citrus aurantifolia, Lippia alba LA44 and Cymbopogon citratus, as well as citral, linalool, eugenol and geraniol, greatly inhibited (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) = 78 µg/mL) the growth of D. alaskensis in a liquid medium. The same MIC was obtained directly in the produced water with EO from L. alba LA44 (containing 82% citral) and with pure citral. These findings may help to control detrimental bacteria in the oil industry.


Background: Patients with incurable illness are increasingly being cared for in their homes with the help of palliative home care. However, in this system family caregivers also play an important role and often take a great responsibility for the patient's care. Family caregivers often lack preparedness for the situation, which could have negative consequences on their health and wellbeing. Methods: The overall aim of this thesis was to develop and test a psycho-educational intervention for family caregivers in specialised palliative home care and to study processes and effects of the intervention. The psycho-educational intervention was developed based on the theoretical framework of Andershed and Ternestedt with focus on family caregivers' need for education and practical and emotional support. The intervention was delivered by health professionals and tested as a randomised controlled trial (RCT) at 10 specialised palliative home care settings, including an intervention arm and a control arm with standard support. The thesis includes four studies of which two (I, II) had a qualitative design and focused on processes involved in or considered relevant for the intervention. Two studies (III, IV) had a quantitative approach and focused on the effects of the intervention. The overall aim of the intervention was to improve family caregivers' feelings of preparedness for caregiving. In total, 194 family caregivers participated in the RCT with 96 family caregivers in the control arm and 98 in the intervention arm Aim and results of studies: The aim of Study I was to study how family caregivers' experienced their preparedness for caregiving in palliative care. The results showed that preparing for caregiving was viewed as an ongoing process by family caregivers and that it was related to the process of preparing for the patient's death. The aim of Study II was to explore the experiences of delivering and participating in the intervention from the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers. The intervention was generally perceived as a positive experience and both groups highlighted that it could be used a tool to support family caregivers to become better prepared. The aim of Study III was to investigate the effects of the intervention compared to standard support in shortterm and long-term. The results showed that the intervention had significantly improved family caregivers' feelings of preparedness for caregiving both in short-term and long-term. The aim of Study IV was to investigate the characteristics of family caregivers who did not benefit from the intervention. The results indicated that family caregivers who did not benefit were significantly less vulnerable at baseline than those who did. Hence, they might not have had the same need for the intervention to become better prepared. Conclusion: In conclusion of the four studies, the psycho-educational intervention could be valuable as a part of the health professional work to support family caregivers and increase their chances to become better prepared for caregiving. For the development of future interventions, it is important that family caregivers who are perceived as vulnerable are not excluded from participating, because they could be in most need of them.


A general class of cosmological models driven by a nonlocal scalar field inspired by string field theory is studied. Using the fact that the considering linear nonlocal model is equivalent to an infinite number of local models we have found an exact special solution of the nonlocal Friedmann equations. This solution describes a monotonically increasing universe with the phantom dark energy.


With the advance of sensor enabled smart phones simple context awareness has become a mainstream feature. Commercial apps routinely use location knowledge for the delivery of customized information or fostering social interaction. There are also scores of apps that analyse modes of locomotion for purposes such as calories calorie expenditure assessment or exercise support. On the other hand, more detailed recognition of human activities and complex situations has so far had very little impact on real-life applications. That talk will look at factors that prevent wide spread use of complex activity recognition and discuss research that works to mitigate those factors. Topics will include working with dynamic, opportunistic sensor configurations, collaborative recognition and new sensing modalities.


Efficient usage of in-device storage and computation capabilities are key solutions to support data-intensive applications such as immersive digital experiences. This paper proposes a location-dependent multi-antenna coded caching -based content delivery scheme tailored specifically for wireless immersive viewing applications. First, a novel memory allocation process incentivizes the content relevant to the identified wireless bottleneck areas. This enables a trade-off between local and global caching gains and results in unequal fractions of location-dependent multimedia content cached by each user. Then, a novel packet generation process is carried out during the subsequent delivery phase, given the asymmetric cache placement. During this phase, the number of packets transmitted to each user is the same, while the sizes of the packets are proportional to the corresponding location-dependent cache ratios. In this regard, each user is served with location-specific content using joint multicast beamforming and a multi-rate modulation scheme that simultaneously benefits from global caching and spatial multiplexing gains. Numerical experiments and mathematical analysis demonstrate significant performance gains compared to the state-of-the-art.


New technologies such as Ultra Long Haul transmission (ULH) and Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (R-OADMs) seem set to transform the economics of optical core network architectures as they become commercially available. Together, they allow an important first step towards optical transparency by allowing transit traffic to pass without regeneration along chains of nodes. This paper looks in detail at how cost savings are achieved through this process, and analyses some of the key network, traffic, and cost parameters influencing the benefits on national-scale networks.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the bone tunnel impaction technique performed by dilators could dwindle the tibial tunnel enlargement after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with hamstring tendon using both extracortical suspensory fixation devices at femoral and tibial site. Thirty-one consecutive patients undergoing primary ACL reconstruction with the hamstring autograft were enrolled in this research. Patients were randomly allotted to group A (bone tunnel impaction technique using dilators) or group B (regular extraction bone tunnel drilling). Results The average follow-up was 16.2 months. The mean femoral tunnel widening was 1.05 mm and 1.02 mm respectively in group A and B. The mean tibial tunnel widening was 0.61 mm and 1.08 mm respectively in group A and B. There was no statistical difference for tunnel enlargement between the two groups at the femoral site (P = 0.62) but significant difference at the tibial site (P < 0.0001). Conclusion Bone tunnel impaction technique leaded to a reduction of tibial bone tunnel enlargement after ACL reconstruction with hamstring tendon using both extracortical suspensory fixation devices at femoral and tibial site.


Forest and urban fires have been and still are serious problem for many countries in the world. Currently, there are many different solutions to fight forest fires. These solutions mainly aim to mitigate the damage caused by the fires, using methods for their early detection. In this paper, we discuss a new approach for fire detection and control, in which modern technologies are used. In particular, we propose a platform that uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which constantly patrol over potentially threatened by fire areas. The UAVs also utilize the benefits from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and are equipped with on-board processing capabilities. This allows them to use computer vision methods for recognition and detection of smoke or fire, based on the still images or the video input from the drone cameras. Several different scenarios for the possible use of the UAVs for forest fire detection are presented and analyse in the paper, including a solution with the use of a combination between a fixed and rotary-wing drones.


OBJECTIVES: Manual record review is a crucial step for electronic health record (EHR)-based research, but it has poor workflows and is error prone. We sought to build a tool that provides a unified environment for data review and chart abstraction data entry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ReviewR is an open-source R Shiny application that can be deployed on a single machine or made available to multiple users. It supports multiple data models and database systems, and integrates with the REDCap API for storing abstraction results. RESULTS: We describe two real-world uses and extensions of ReviewR. Since its release in April 2021 as a package on CRAN it has been downloaded 2,204 times. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: ReviewR provides an easily accessible review interface for clinical data warehouses. Its modular, extensible, and open source nature afford future expansion by other researchers.


In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), timers have been widely used to maintain routing (state) information. The use of fixed-interval timers is simple to implement but, in practise, may be difficult to configure in dynamic operational environments, and so may give reduced performance in the presence of frequent topology changes. This paper proposes a self-tuning timer approach within a simple control system for MANET routing protocols with the aim of allowing dynamic, autonomic, re-calibration of routing update frequencies. A novel dynamic timer algorithm is presented to automatically tune routing performance by adapting timer intervals to network conditions. Our simulation results have shown that, compared to the default fixed timer approach, the proposed algorithm could effectively improve routing throughput without manual configuration.


We nd a critical exponent for global existence of positive solutions of the Laplace equation on a half-space with a dynamical boundary condition.


Communication over a quantum channel that depends on a quantum state is considered, when the encoder has channel side information (CSI) and is required to mask information on the quantum channel state from the decoder. A full characterization is established for the entanglement-assisted masking equivocation region, and a regularized formula is given for the quantum capacity-leakage function without assistance. For Hadamard channels without assistance, we derive single-letter inner and outer bounds, which coincide in the standard case of a channel that does not depend on a state.


Objectives Molecular classification of endometrial carcinoma (EC) enables consistent classification of tumours and provides valuable prognostic and predictive information. Herein we describe molecular subtype distribution and histomorphologic correlates in recently diagnosed (2016) ECs from across Canada. Methods Molecular classification was performed on representative tumour specimens from participating centres. Clinicopathologic, management and outcome data were collected (REDCap). Results 1453 ECs from 30 centres have been identified. Complete molecular (ProMisE) and outcome data is reportable for 862 patients. Histologic and clinicopathologic parameters associated with molecular subtype and are summarised in table 1. Amongst participating centres, routine testing of MMR and p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed in only 23.5% (range 3.5–80.0% per centre) and 15% (2.2–45.7%) of cases respectively. We found p53 abn ECs across a range of histotypes, including low grade endometrioid EC. Subclonal p53 staining was observed in 3.9% of cases and significantly associated with the presence of pathogenic POLE mutations (p≤0.001). Subclonal MMR IHC expression was seen in 3.5% of cases and has previously been shown to occur predominantly in the context of MLH1 hypermethylation. MMRd was significantly associated with LVI (p Conclusions Observation of unusual or unexpected p53 and MMR IHC staining patterns and associated clinical implications highlight the importance of routine testing of these parameters in ECs.


When a 28-year-old man with suspected recurrent right forearm cellulitis did not respond to anti-microbial therapy, a dermatological consultation with cutaneous biopsy was obtained. Histopathology along with correlation of his clinical course confirmed a diagnosis of Well's syndrome (eosinophilic cellulitis) and he was successfully treated with oral anti-histamines and topical corticosteroids. This case emphasizes the importance of consideration for non-infectious etiologies of recurrent cellulitic lesions that do not respond to typical anti-microbial therapy. J Med Cases. 2016;7(11):506-507 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc2680w


Directional tests to compare incomplete undirected graphs are developed in the general context of covariance selection for Gaussian graphical models. The exactness of the underlying saddlepoint approximation leads to exceptional accuracy of the proposed approach. This is verified by simulation experiments with high-dimensional parameters of interest, where inference via standard asymptotic approximations to the likelihood ratio test and some of its higher-order modifications fails. The directional p-value is used to illustrate the assessment of Markovian dependencies in a dataset from a veterinary trial on cattle. A second example with microarray data shows how to select the graph structure related to genetic anomalies due to acute lymphocytic leukemia.


Abstract Informed consent underpins all medical decisions, including the decision to undergo electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Written informed consent remains the standard before the initiation of ECT and requires the inclusion of several components to be considered valid. Prospective patients must be aware of risks and benefits of ECT as well as risks and benefits of alternate, and potentially less effective, interventions. Patients must also possess adequate decision-making capacity to make an informed choice about treatment. Consent for ECT may present unique issues, such as the interplay between potential cognitive adverse effects and informed consent. Options to address this concern include thorough explanation of this topic before the initiation of ECT, continued reassessment of consent during ECT, or some combination of approaches.


Common sense tells us that sound recording — that is, records and cassettes - is a mass medium just newspapers, films or television. In industrialised countries, listening to records is just as much part of everyday life as reading the newspaper or listening to the radio. A Swedish survey made in 1976 (Anon. 1979, pp. 85–8) indicates that, on average, Swedish adults spent thirty-five minutes daily reading newspapers, thirty-three minutes listening to records or cassettes and one minute watching films. Watching films on television was not included, but neither was listening to records on the radio.


We examined the general hedging problem faced by a global portfolio manager or a pure exporting multinational firm. Most hedging models assume that these economic agents hold only a single asset in the spot market and are exposed only to a single source of price–quantity uncertainty. Such models are less relevant to many financial and exporting firms that face multiple sources of risk. In this study, we developed a general hedging model that explicitly recognizes that these hedgers are faced with multiple price and quantity uncertainties. Our model takes advantage of the full correlation structure of changes in spot prices, quantities, and forward prices. We performed simulations of the hedging model for a firm with two pairs of price and quantity exposures to demonstrate potential gains in hedging efficiency and effectiveness. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:145–172, 2001


Background The introduction of biological therapies has significantly improved the treatment of chronic rheumatic diseases. In our routine clinical management of patients, varying ideas and fears are expressed by patients concerning the risks associated to the use of these agents. Objectives We aimed to evaluate what patients think about these treatments and what are they afraid of. Methods Sixty-two patients (45 rheumatoid arthritis and 17 ankylosing spondylitis), in whom a biologic agent has been recently indicated, were consecutively included at El Ayachi Hospital-University Hospital of Rabat-sale, Morocco. For all patients, we specified the indication for which the biologic agent was prescribed. All patients have given informed consent to answer a self-questionnaire: Have you been well informed about the treatment by your rheumatologist? Have you done research on the internet or consulted the media? Have you requested any information from your physician, family, friends or other patients who have received biologics? What do you expect from this treatment in terms of efficacy? What side effects you fear most? All patients were assessed at baseline before the introduction of the biologic agent. Results In our data, 41 patients (66.1%) received CD20 antagonist, 17 (27.4%) received TNF blockers and 4 (6.4%) received IL6 antagonist. Among our patients, 33 (53.2%) have already heard about biologic agents from the media or from their physician; 39 (62.9%) were satisfied with the information given by their rheumatologist; 35 (56.4%) have been given adequate time to discuss and ask their rheumatologist; 20 (32.2%) have done research on the internet after the biologic agent was indicated; 5 patients (8.1%) have consulted another physician before receiving treatment; 2 patients (3.2%) have asked an allied health professional and 4 patients (6.4%) have asked other patients already treated with biologic agents. Forty-eight patients (77.4%) were convicted with the efficacy of the treatment and expected total remission. Six patients expected the improvement of their pain and 2 patients didn't know what they did really expect. Six patients (all women) (9.6%) were afraid of becoming blind; and 9 patients (14.5%) were afraid of having a heart attack; 6 patients (9.6%) were afraid of death; 2 patients (3.2%) were afraid of paralysis and 1 male patient was afraid of becoming sterile. Conclusions It seems that there are many beliefs and fears about biologic agents in our patients. Only 2/3 of our patients were well informed by their physician and approximately 1/3 of patients looked for information from other sources (Internet, media and entourage). An objective and targeted information about biologics should be given to patients. Besides the role of rheumatologist, the role of media and society should be highlighted in patients' information in order to clarify adverse events to alleviate fear of the unknown. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Suicide has remained the 10th leading cause of death in the United States since 2008, with deaths due to firearms, suffocation (including hangings), and poisoning representing the leading methods of suicide (1,2). There are known differences in suicide rates by sex and geographic distribution (3). This report uses final mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System to present trends in suicide mortality from 2000 through 2018 among all ages by urban-rural classification of the decedent's county of residence and sex for the leading methods of suicide-firearms, suffocation, and poisoning.


Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effect of water extract from Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb on plasma lipid and glucose in rats fed high fat diet. Methods: Experimental groups were divided into control diet group(C), high fat diet group(HF), high fat diet and 5% water extracts from Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb group(HFEⅠ), high fat diet and 10% water extract from Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb group(HFE Ⅱ). Weight gain, food intake, food efficiency, plasma lipid concentration and glucose were determined for 10 weeks during high fat diet. Results: In this experiment, body weight and food efficiency were significantly increase in high fat diet. High fat diet group showed elevated levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and free fatty acid. Consumption of 10% water extract Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb lowers level of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and free fatty acid. But levels of plasma triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and glucose did not affect by high fat diet and water extract Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb Conclusions: In these results, water extract Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb in high fat diet group decreased plasma total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and free fatty acid. Thus the Paeonia Lactiflora Pasll. with medicinal herb might be useful in the treatment of hyperlipemia.


The chemical shrinkage and the autogenous shrinkage have been determined experimentally for cement pastes incorporating different W Ie ratio and different amount of the following addition: silica fume, fly ash and sand. The measurement method of the chemical shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage both were the volumetric technique. The silica fume has a effect of increasing the autogenous shrinkage while have a minor effect on the chemical shrinkage. The addition of fly-ash and sand both decreased the amount of chemical shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage.


A core requirement for many ecosystem modeling approaches is surface weather fields, including temperature, precipitation, humidity, and incident solar radiation. Carbon dynamics and flux estimates from process models depend strongly on daily and subdaily weather conditions. One common obstacle to model implementation over continental scale regions is the difficulty of obtaining the relevant surface weather observations from in situ networks, and producing spatially interpolated (gridded) surfaces of the necessary weather fields at the appropriate spatial and temporal resolution. One approach that has been developed to overcome this obstacle is Daymet, a numerical method for producing gridded surfaces of subdaily temperature (daily maximum and minimum temperature), and daily precipitation, humidity, and radiation over large regions of complex terrain, using daily surface weather observations and an accurate elevation grid as input. We are providing a high-quality gridded surface weather product over North America for input to NACP process modeling studies by expanding on the conterminous U.S. Daymet domain to include Canada (south of 52N) and Mexico. Download Daymet Data: http://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1219. Input data requirements for the conterminous US, Mexico, and Canada for 1980 - 2008 have been used to produce the Daymet product for these areas; the data will be released in Fallmore » 2010. MAST-DC is developing several ways to select and distribute the Daymet data: ftp download, single-pixel extraction, and access through THREDDS (Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services) Data Server (TDS). Periodic updates to the continental data set will be implemented as new years of surface observations become available.« less


Laser-produced tungsten plasmas were investigated with respect to their suitability as radiometric transfer standard sources in the range between 7 nm and 100 nm. For plasma generation a Nd:YAG/glass laser system with λ = 1.064 μm, a pulse length of 17 ns and pulse energies between 100 mJ and 800 mJ was used in connection with a focusing system of 85 mm focal length. The spectral concentration of radiant intensity time-integrated over one plasma radiation pulse was measured with a relative uncertainty of 8% using the electron storage ring BESSY as a primary standard. Within this uncertainty the radiant emission was reproducible during several months, if one applied specific procedures that had been developed for setting the laser parameters and the focusing conditions. The maximum of emission was found at 16.5 nm. At this wavelength a 800 mJ laser pulse generates 3.5 × 1014 photons nm-1 sr-1. The results of this study let us expect that a small transportable radiation standard is practical, which is based on a low-cost, single-stage, Nd-laser system.


offer young people the opportunity to increase their sociocultural awareness, critical thinking abilities, and sense of agency within a collaborative group experience. Thus far, however, such projects have been primarily the province of educators and social psychologists, and not substantively explored as a basis for school counseling interventions. This article suggests the initiation of such exploration within the framework of existing ecological and social justice models for school counseling practice, and presents an overview of a year-long, school-based YPAR project to exemplify this idea.


Twin pregnancy with a complete hydatidiform mole and coexisting fetus (CHMCF) is an exceedingly rare condition with an incidence of about 1 in 20,000–100,000 pregnancies. It can be detected by prenatal ultrasonography and an elevated maternal serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (BhCG) level. Herein, the author reports a case of CHMCF which was incidentally diagnosed through pathologic examination without preoperative knowledge. The 41-year-old woman, transferred due to preterm labor, delivered a female baby by cesarean section at 28 + 5 weeks of gestation. Clinically, the surgeon suspected placenta accreta on the surgical field, and the placental specimen was sent to the pathology department. On gross examination, focal vesicular and cystic lesions were identified separately from the normal-looking placental tissue. The pathologic diagnosis was CHMCF and considering the fact that placenta accreta was originally suspected, invasive hydatidiform mole was not ruled out. After radiologic work-up, metastatic lung lesions were detected, and methotrexate was administered in six cycles at intervals of every two weeks. The author presents the clinicopathological features of this unexpected CHMCF case accompanied by pulmonary metastasis, compares to literature review findings, and emphasizes the meticulous pathologic examination.


Chemotherapy treatment used for childhood cancer can cause irreversible infertility in many cancer survivors. Also, it has been known that epididymal fat is necessary for spermatogenesis. In this study, spermatogenesis development was evaluated after grafting of fresh and frozen-thawed neonatal mice testicular tissue fragments to epididymal fat of bilaterally castrated adult mice. Neonatal male mice as the donor and adult male mice as the recipient were used. After bilateral castration of recipient's mice, fresh or frozen-thawed neonatal testis tissue fragments were grafted into recipient epididymal fat. Eight weeks after implantation, grafted testicular tissue were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining, real time PCR, immunofluorescence staining and Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL). The blood of the recipient mice was collected to measure Testosterone, FSH and LH levels. Eight weeks after implantation, a gradient of different types of germ cells from spermatogonia up to the elongated spermatids were seen. The meiotic and post-meiotic genes and proteins were upregulated in both fresh and frozen grafted groups and they confirmed the meiosis and post-meiotic progression in grafted tissues. The expression of apoptosis and necrosis genes showed no significant differences between the grafted and non-grafted control groups. There were no significant differences in hormonal assessments between control and experimental groups. Epididymal fat is an area with optimal hormonal and temperature conditions, which could support spermatogenesis in grafted immature testicular tissue. This method of grafting may pave a way for fertility preservation in childhood cancer survivors.


In this paper, we propose two ad-hoc, yet efficient, power allocation strategies for a decentralized distributed space-time block coding (Dis-STBC) system where knowledge about the channel state information (CSI) is not available at the transmitter(s). The first is an open-loop strategy which requires no control signaling; the second is a feedback-assisted strategy which requires some control signaling, but which can achieve better power-efficiency. Focusing on a particular decentralized Dis-STBC scheme (m-group), the asymptotic outage probability is derived and the power-efficiency advantages of the proposed strategies over a uniform-power strategy are illustrated by evaluating the outage and link failure probabilities.


A one-dimensional fluid model for a dielectric barrier discharge in methane, used as a chemical reactor for gas conversion, is developed. The model describes the gas phase chemistry governing the conversion process of methane to higher hydrocarbons. The spatially averaged densities of the various plasma species as a function of time are discussed. Besides, the conversion of methane and the yields of the reaction products as a function of the residence time in the reactor are shown and compared with experimental data. Higher hydrocarbons (C2Hy and C3Hy) and hydrogen gas are typically found to be important reaction products. Furthermore, the main underlying reaction pathways are determined.


Torus/mesh-based machines have received increasing attention. It is natural to identify the maximum healthy submeshes in a faulty torus/mesh so as to lower potential performance degradation, because the time for executing a parallel algorithm tends to depend on the size of the assigned submesh. This paper proposes an efficient approach for identifying all the maximum healthy submeshes present in a faulty torus/mesh. The proposed approach is based on manipulating set expressions, with the search space reduced considerably by taking advantage of the interesting properties of a faulty torus/mesh.


Identifying acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in family medicine settings can be challenging, partly because it is uncommon in office practice and partly because symptoms can be atypical. Initial evaluation includes review of the patient's symptoms, an assessment of risk factors, and an electrocardiogram (ECG). When symptoms are typical, such as chest pain and diaphoresis, patients should be transported rapidly by emergency medical services (EMS) to the nearest emergency department. If not contraindicated, aspirin and nitroglycerin should be administered before transport. Oxygen should be administered if hypoxemia is present. Patients with atypical symptoms and ECG results consistent with ACS also should be transported by EMS. When patients have atypical symptoms and nondiagnostic ECG results, consider risk factors for ACS. These include older age; female sex; nonwhite race; and history of heart failure, stroke, diabetes, or hypertension. If any of these risk factors is present and there is concern about ACS, the patient should be transported to an emergency department. Family practices in remote or rural areas are not always able to easily transport patients to emergency departments. These remote or rural practices should have ECG capabilities and consider acquiring the ability to obtain point-of-care troponin assays.


Purpose
The argument that work engagement enhances job performance has gained wide acceptance among practitioners and human resources management literature. There is consensus in management literature that job crafting can affect work engagement. The concept of callings from theology has been resurrected in job behavior and continues to garner growing attention from practitioners in recent years. However, few studies examine how and why living a calling influence job crafting and work engagement. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between living a calling, job crafting and work engagement for knowledgeable employees through questionnaires.

Design/methodology/approach
The part-time MBA students were asked to reflect on present jobs. In total, 390 effective questionnaires were collected from part-time MBA students of four universities in Chongqing, China for finance, administration, manufacturing, service, technology, medication, education and others. Results were analyzed using SPSS and Amos. The measurement scale is given in Appendix.

Findings
First, the author explicitly proposes and validates the direct relationship between living a calling and job crafting. Second, this study confirms that crafting challenging job demands are significant to vigor subdimension and dedication subdimension of work engagement, whereas crafting challenging job demands not significant to absorption subdimension of work engagement. Third, this study indicates that crafting hindering job demands are nonsignificant to vigor, dedication and absorption about three subdimensions of work engagement. Fourth, this study showed living a calling can enhance work engagement for employees. Fifth, this study finds three groups (eight items) of mediation effect between living a calling, job crafting and work engagement.

Practical implications
These insights may help managers to focus on living a calling and encourage beneficial job crafting behaviors in China. The sample is original and has the potential to contribute to debate on work life balance and particularly the meaning of work/careers in China.

Social implications
This study is an interesting revisit to the old workplace sociology and organizational psychology which has become somewhat neglected these days.

Originality/value
This study has provided insight in the relationships between living a calling, job crafting and work engagement.


Peers are an important part of social integration and, consequently, of the inclusion of pupils with dyslexia in primary schools. However, children are often not well informed about this specific learning disability, which can lead to negative opinions, not accepting children with dyslexia, and poor interrelationships. This is precisely why the awareness of strengths, difficulties, and possible assistance methods for pupils with dyslexia is so important. For this purpose, experiential workshops on raising awareness on dyslexia were carried out. Experiential workshops enable pupils to learn about dyslexia in an easy-to-follow manner, give them first-hand experience through different activities about the difficulties these pupils face in school, and help them discover different methods of helping their peers. The theoretical background of this master's thesis encompasses the definition of inclusion and a description of methods on successful social integration of pupils with dyslexia in school. At the same time, the importance of raising awareness and different methods to achieve it are emphasized. The main goal of this master's thesis is the development and evaluation of experiential workshops on dyslexia. At first, 133 pupils were included in the survey, however, the final sample included 93 pupils attending the 7th and the 8th grade of a nine year programme. Within this research, 4 meetings were carried out with each grade. These meetings included workshops and two questionnaires, one before the beginning of these workshops and another afterwards, in order to compare the pupils' pre-existing and acquired knowledge on dyslexia. The questionnaire distributed before the workshops was intended to check the pupils' knowledge on dyslexia and at the same time, it helped verify the level of obtained knowledge through a comparison of these results with the results of a questionnaire that pupils filled out approximately one month after completing the workshops. For a better retention of information, a leaflet on dyslexia was printed and distributed among pupils. For this thesis, the findings on pupils' knowledge and understanding of dyslexia were very important, as well as the significance and the need for raising awareness on dyslexia among pupils. The most important findings that are a result of this thesis are the differences that can be observed in pupils' understanding of the difficulties and the strengths of their dyslexic peers before and after the workshops. The difference in knowing various methods and strategies for helping pupils with dyslexia before and after the workshops is also statistically important. This master's thesis helps encourage the organization of different awareness raising methods on general and specific learning disabilities and at the same time offers ready-made workshops and other chosen methods for carrying out talks on dyslexia and learning disabilities in general. By using these, schools can contribute to a broader inclusivity and acceptance.


The starting point for the project is a framework for compositional program verification based on program flow graphs, an abstraction of program control flow giving rise to an over-approximation of the source code behavior. Flow graph extraction for modular verification should allow the independent extraction of flow graphs of subsystems or modules. Furthermore, the composition of the flow graphs of the modules should give a safe approximation of the complete program flow graph. The existing tools for flow graph extraction are not flexible enough for modular purposes, since they typically assume that they are given a complete program.The goal of this study is the formal definition and implementation of modular flow graph extraction. In this project a formal translation from Java programs to target flow graph is specified. Then based on an operational semantics for the source language and for flow graphs, the correctness of the translation is proved. Flow graph extraction has to respect the modularity of programs, which is the main contribution of the work. Finally, a tool is developed based on specification of the translation.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

We have previously developed a bacterial cancer therapy strategy using the genetically-engineered strain, Salmonella typhimurium A1-R (A1-R). A1-R has been shown to be effective against metastatic human prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancer cell lines as well as osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and glioma cell lines in nude mouse models. In the current study, we have evaluated Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (Huang Zi, Mai Men Dong, Mu Dan Pi, Sheng Di Huang) in combination with A1-R bacterial therapy in a syngeneic orthotropic model of 4T1 mouse breast cancer. TCM treatment improved the host's ability to clear bacteria from the liver and spleen and prevent body weight loss after bacterial infection. Fur discoloration and reduced activity was also observed in mice treated with A1-R only, but ameliorated when bacterial treatment was combined with TCM. The combination of TCM and A1-R enabled S. typhimurium to be safely administered at a dose of 1×107 CFU once a week i.v. for a long period of time in immunocompetent mice. Efficacy and survival were increased by combination treatment compared to monotherapy with A1-R (1 × 107CFU) . The results of the present study suggest that TCM potentiates A1-R cancer therapy.

Citation Format: Yong Zhang, Nan Zhang, Shibing Su, Robert M. Hoffman, Ming Zhao. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) enhances efficacy and reduces toxicity of tumor-targeting S. typhimurium A1-R in a syngeneic breast cancer metastatic mouse model. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3306. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3306


Abstract– Neon was measured in 39 individual olivine (or olivine‐rich) grains separated from individual chondrules from Dhajala, Bjurböle, Chainpur, Murchison, and Parsa chondrites with spallation‐produced 21Ne the result of interaction of energetic particle irradiation. The apparent 21Ne cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of most grains are similar to those of the matrix with the exception of three grains from Dhajala and single grains from Bjurböle and Chainpur, which show excesses, reflecting exposure to energetic particles prior to final compaction of the object. Among these five grains, one from chondrule BJ2A5 of Bjurböle shows an apparent excess exposure age of approximately 20 Ma and the other four from Dhajala and Chainpur have apparent excesses, described as an "age," from 2 to 17 Ma. The precompaction irradiation effects of grains from chondrules do not appear to be different from the effects seen in olivine grains extracted from the matrix of CM chondrites. As was the case for the matrix grains, there appears to be insufficient time for this precompaction irradiation by the contemporary particle sources. The apparent variations within single chondrules appear to constrain precompaction irradiation effects to irradiation by lower energy solar particles, rather than galactic cosmic rays, supporting the conclusion derived from the precompaction irradiation effects in CM matrix grains, but for totally different reasons. This observation is consistent with Chandra X‐Ray Observatory data for young low‐mass stars, which suggest that our own Sun may have been 105 times more active in an early naked T‐Tauri phase ( Feigelson et al. 2002 ).


In an era of rapidly evolving technology, changing government policy and increased client expectations – and despite predictions of their demise university libraries have continued to adapt and even thrive. Building on the changes that resulted from a major restructure at La Trobe University in 2014, La Trobe University Library is focusing on developing and sustaining an agile workforce that is able to respond quickly and innovatively to emerging trends and changing client needs. To continue to remain relevant to our institution, we recognise that we will need to be agile and responsive to change and to leverage the skills and expertise of library staff in new ways. We are promoting the adoption of a 'beta mindset', acknowledging that we will need to constantly evolve. While we will ensure that our services are of a high quality, we will not aim for perfection but instead will refine our services over time as we gain insights and new ideas for improvements and further development. We are fostering a culture that views change and adaptation as an ongoing opportunity and accepts a level of risk, with the possibility of failure, acknowledging that the learning that takes place is as important as the outcome. Using a 'stop/start/continue' methodology, services and processes are regularly reviewed to ensure they are relevant and meet client needs. Library staff are encouraged to look beyond the Library's traditional services to identify new opportunities and experiment with new collaborations which enable the library to take a leadership role across the university. This paper will explore the challenges of changing the library's culture, embedding a 'beta mindset' in the organization and identifying indicators of success for this cultural change.


Ambipolar diffusion is a process occurring in partially ionised astrophysical systems that imparts a complicated mathematical and physical nature to Ohm's law. The numerical codes that solve the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations have to be able to deal with the singularities that are naturally created in the system by the ambipolar diffusion term. The global aim is to calculate a set of theoretical self-similar solutions to the nonlinear diffusion equation with cylindrical symmetry that can be used as tests for MHD codes which include the ambipolar diffusion term. First, following the general methods developed in the applied mathematics literature, we obtained the theoretical solutions as eigenfunctions of a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. Phase-plane techniques were used to integrate through the singularities at the locations of the nulls, which correspond to infinitely sharp current sheets. In the second half of the paper, we consider the use of these solutions as tests for MHD codes. To that end, we used the Bifrost code, thereby testing the capabilities of these solutions as tests as well as (inversely) the accuracy of Bifrost's recently developed ambipolar diffusion module. The obtained solutions are shown to constitute a demanding, but nonetheless viable, test for MHD codes that incorporate ambipolar diffusion. The Bifrost code is able to reproduce the theoretical solutions with sufficient accuracy up to very advanced diffusive times. Using the code, we also explored the asymptotic properties of our theoretical solutions in time when initially perturbed with either small or finite perturbations. The functions obtained in this paper are relevant as physical solutions and also as tests for general MHD codes. They provide a more stringent and general test than the simple Zeldovich-Kompaneets-Barenblatt-Pattle solution.


Author(s): Weinstein, Sara Beth | Advisor(s): Kuris, Armand M; Lafferty, Kevin D | Abstract: Emerging infections in both humans and wildlife can often be traced back to human mediated changes in host densities, host communities, and the environment. In Chapter 1, I reviewed how humans affect wildlife nematodes. Nematode responses to human actions vary, thus knowing host and parasite natural history, and the mechanisms underlying disease dynamics are critical for predicting parasite responses and managing disease.Among wildlife nematodes, raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) is infamous for its ability to cause fatal disease in both humans and wildlife. This parasite infects millions of raccoons in North America. Although adult worms cause little pathology in raccoons, larval worms undergo extensive tissue migrations in other hosts, often causing neurological damage. Disease risk is driven by environmental egg contamination, which increases with raccoon density, worm intensity, and worm prevalence. In Chapter 2, I examined 189 raccoons from southern California to investigate how host age and season affect parasite abundance, demography, and fecundity. Roundworm infected 90% of Santa Barbara County raccoons, juveniles hosted more worms than adults, and more heavily infected raccoons released more eggs.In Chapter 3, I investigated whether animals can avoid raccoon roundworm contaminated sites, and if such avoidance balances disease costs and foraging preferences. Using wildlife cameras, I monitored animal behavior at raccoon latrines — sites that concentrate both seeds and pathogenic parasite eggs, and found that latrine contact rates reflected background activity, diet preferences and disease risk. Disease-tolerant raccoons and rats displayed significant site attraction, while susceptible birds and small mammals avoided these high-risk sites.The introduced black rat, Rattus rattus, occurs throughout the native range of the raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, and frequently forages in latrines. In Chapter 4, I examined the role of these rats and other California rodents in B. procyonis transmission. I surveyed wild rodents for B. procyonis and found that B. procyonis infected R. rattus at intensities more than 100 times greater than loads in co-occurring native Reithrodotomys megalotis and Peromyscus maniculatus. I also conducted scavenger trials using motion activated cameras and found that rodent carcasses were scavenged by opossums, skunks and raccoons, suggesting that these infected rodents, particularly R. rattus, contribute to B. procyonis transmission in this coastal California ecosystem.Raccoon roundworm infects both rodents and raccoons in southern California, but we know little about infection risk for other species. In Chapter 5, I used information on animal time allocation and behavior to build a model for predicting community-wide exposure risk for raccoon roundworm. This model suggests that larval worms are likely widespread in the animal community and provides a novel non-invasive method for identifying "at-risk" species.Raccoon roundworm infection can cause devastating pathology in humans, but there is growing evidence that subclinical cases also occur. As there is limited information on the frequency of these subclinical human infections, in Chapter 6 I surveyed 150 adults from California for B. procyonis antibodies. Eleven participants were seropositive suggesting that subclinical infection does occur and that previously undetectable infections warrant further study.


It is now well known that using a long and complicated error correcting code (ECC) designed for the worst-case error probability requirement wastes excessive total system energy (transmit + circuit energy) when the error probability requirement is much higher than the worst case. We propose a novel adaptive polar coding strategy that adjusts the decoder circuit to consume minimal decoding circuit energy at each given target error requirement. By combining Thompson's VLSI theory and scaling analysis of polar codes, we provide upper bounds on energy, area, and time complexity of polar decoding circuits in terms of target block error probability. The upper bounds are derived from an explicit construction of decoder circuit based on mesh-network structure. Our comparison shows that the proposed energy-adaptive coding strategy has a scaling-sense gain in decoding energy with little circuit area overhead when there is a large gap between the worst-case and typical target error rate requirements.


Description of the applications of radiology to portal hypertension, mainly of the 2 most common conditions, the secondary prehepatic block and the intra-hepatic block in cirrhosis of the liver. In prehepatic block the veins in the splanchnic area which will have to be anastomosed to relieve pressure must be shown. This can be done with direct and indirect spleno-portography and by contrasting the proximal and, possibly, the distal mesenteric veins. For intrahepatic postsinusoidal block of cirrhosis of the liver the portal vein and its major contributaries must be shown. In addition, circulation and pressure in the liver and its surroundings have to be elucidated. For this, catheterisation of the umbilical vein and the veins of the liver are suitable. In addition splenoportography and mesentericography have to be used, when transumbilical portohepatography cannot be done.


Cutaneous electrogastrography (EGG) is used in clinical and physiological fields to noninvasively measure the electrical activity of the stomach and intestines. Dipole models that mathematically express the electrical field characteristics generated by the stomach and intestines have been developed to investigate the relationship between the electrical control activity (ECA) (slow waves) shown in EGG and the internal gastric electrical activity. However, these models require a mathematical description of the movement of an annular band of dipoles, which limits the shape that can be modeled. In this study, we propose a novel polygonally meshed dipole model to conveniently reproduce ECA based on the movement of the annular band in complex shapes, such as the shape of the stomach and intestines, constructed in three-dimensional (3D) space. We show that the proposed model can reproduce ECA simulation results similar to those obtained using conventional models. Moreover, we show that the proposed model can reproduce the ECA produced by a complex geometrical shape, such as the shape of the intestines. The study results indicate that ECA simulations can be conducted based on structures that more closely resemble real organs than those used in conventional dipole models, with which, because of their intrinsic construction, it would be difficult to include realistic complex shapes, using the mathematical description of the movement of an annular band of dipoles. Our findings provide a powerful new approach for computer simulations based on the electric dipole model.


Abstract:This article looks at the production Shank's Mare, a collaboration between North American puppeteer Tom Lee and Nishikawa Koryu V, master of the Japanese kuruma ningyō or cart puppetry traditions and shows how the production and creative process blended different models of puppet performance, while also contributing to Nishikawa's greater project of finding new ways to invigorate and preserve his traditional art. It offers a brief history and understanding of kuruma ningyō, a puppetry form less well-known nationally and internationally than Japan's bunraku tradition, and an account of Shank's Mare's creation process and international tour to New York and two venues in Japan. It invites consideration of a tree as a model for understanding traditional forms and how they might maintain a recognizable core while also drawing from various roots and giving birth to new works.


OF THE PAPER OF Robert G. Born for the degree of Master of Forestry in Forest Engineering presented June 26, 1995. Title: Production and Cost Analysis of a Helicopter Thinning Operation in the Oregon Coast Range and Comparison to HELIPACE Production Estimates Abstract Approved: Loren D. KelloggApproved: Loren D. Kellogg With increasing environmental concerns, short harvesting seasons, salvage logging needs, and limited road access, helicopter yarding is becoming attractive to many land managers. Most helicopter yarding has occurred on clearcut or evenaged management areas containing large, valuable timber. Very little helicopter yarding has occurred in stands of smaller, less valuable timber which are often inaccessible or have other limiting factors which preclude logging by conventional methods. There has been little research on the use of small to medium-lift helicopters in harvesting of first thinnings of small diameter timber. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of small to medium-lift helicopters can be an economical alternative for commercial thinning ofyoung timber stands in steep, mountainous terrain, and whether the HELIPACE software program accurately estimates production of a helicopter yarding system. The study area consists of several stands of second-growth Douglas-fir requiring an initial thinning. The stands were thinned using a Sikorsky S-58T helicopter (with an external lift of 5000 pounds) to yard a total of 457 MBF over a period of four weeks. The average yarding distance was 775 feet and the average slope was about 30%. The diameter of the trees removed averaged 11.3 inches, and the average piece size was approximately 40 board feet (net). A detailed time study was conducted and the results are used to estimate yarding production and costs for the Wildcat Thin sale for comparison to HELIPACE computer program estimates and cable estimates from a concurrent study on the same sale. Regression equations were developed and used to predict total turn time and evaluate the effects of yarding distance and weight per board foot on yarding cost. The detailed time study data was also used in comparing the actual turn times (and production) from 13 individual study areas to predicted turn times from the HELIPACE program. The results of the study indicate that there was no significant difference between HELIPACE estimates of turn times and actual turn times observed. The average difference in turn time was approximately 6%. The results also indicate that using the Sikorsky S-58T can apparently be an economically feasible alternative for commercial thinning. An average yarding cost of $258.32 per thousand board feet was estimated for the helicopter operation, while HELIPACE estimated $242.85 per MBF for yarding. Average total logging costs for the helicopter operation were estimated to be $354.35 per MBF; total logging costs estimated by HELIPACE were $339.08 per MBF; and the total cable logging costs from the concurrent study on the same sale were $23494 per MBF. The cable cost estimates were significantly lower than for the helicopter but at current timber values, helicopter yarding can be profitable. Helicopters should be considered when there are other concerns than strictly economics, such as environmental concerns, time constraints, limited access, and physical limitations of other systems.


The purpose of this study was to estimate natural dyeing properties of Korean traditional paper (Hanji). We dyed the Korean traditional paper with dyestuff which extracted from wood meal of Cotinus coggygria Scop (smoke tree) using hot-water, ethanol and K₂CO₃ solution. As mordants, 0.5% of AlK(SO₄)₂, FeCl₂, and CuCH₃(COO)₂ solution were used respectively. The color of dyed Hanji mainly depended on not the methods of extraction but the kinds of mordant. The dyed Hanji mordant with AlK(SO₄)₂ colored vivid yellow, FeCl2 colored dark olive, and CuCH₃(COO)₂ colored brown and/or orange. The dyed Hanji with hot-water extractive had the highest K/S value and ethanol and K₂CO₃ solution extractives were followed. The K/S value of dyed Hanji mordant with AlK(SO₄)₂ was higher than that of FeCl₂ and CuCH₃(COO)₂. The dyeing effectiveness of after-mordanting method was superior to the others but sim-mordanting method was the worst.


Rural development has been the core focus of the Bangladesh economic policies since her independence. The rural sector is pivotal to the country"s economic, social and political development. This paper examines the Bangladesh rural development policies, strategies and programs since Independence in 1971. Secondary data were used and collected from various sources especially from BBS and HIES. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as mean and percentage to reach the objectives. Results of this study show that the share of agricultural sector in the country"s GDP has declined which is an indicator of a country"s progress from an agriculture-based to an export-oriented economy. The success of the agricultural and rural programs in Bangladesh is reflected in the reduction in the poverty incidence in the rural sector from almost 54 percent in the 1983-84 to about 35 percent in 2009-10. Development efforts of Bangladesh are governed by the twin objectives of achieving growth with equity and reducing poverty. The government policy has to some extent achieved the intended results but poverty and inequality are still significant and apparent. Hence, rural development continues to be an important agenda to the country"s development effort.


Introduction: Odontogenic fibroma (OF) is a rare benign tumor of mesenchymal odontogenic tissue with variable global incidence. Two variants comprising extraosseous /peripheral (POF) and intraosseous /central (COF) have been identified based on the anatomical origin of the tumor. OF isslow growing, and often asymptomatic with characteristic radiographic appearance of a unilocular or multilocular cyst frequently associated with unerupted or displaced teeth while histologically, varying amount of inactive odontogenic epithelium embedded in a mature relatively dense collagenous stroma is diagnostic. The absence of odontogenic epithelium does not exclude the diagnosis of odontogenic fibroma.
Case report: A 15 months old female presented with 3 months history of left lower jaw swelling which showed aggressive growth following incisional biopsy. Parents said lesion was noticed for the first time as pinpoint on the submandibular area and was too small to warrant any worries. Initial radiograph revealed absence of bony involvement but the second showed evidence of bony involvement. An impression of soft tissue sarcoma was made and incisional biopsy was sent for pathological diagnosis which revealed peripheral odontogenic fibroma. The rapidity of growth following incisional biopsy bellied a benign lesion.
Conclusion: An aggressive odontogenic fibroma with multifocal points in a 15months old girl.
Keywords: Aggressive; Central; Odontogenic fibroma; Peripheral.


This Conference on Genomics, Healthcare and Public Policy, organised by the Office of Health Economics in collaboration with the School of Public Policy, University College London, and Pharmaceutical Partners for Better Healthcare, examined the status and likely consequences of healthcare applications of genetics. Advances in genetics will open up opportunities for universities and industry, they will induce changes in the practice of medicine, and lead to alterations in the structure and organization of health services in many countries. Genomics is the study of the genome as a whole - the sequence of DNA nucleotides in the cell and how this provides the information for the cell to function and reproduce itself. An important extension of this is the concept of population genomics, the study of how the genetic constitution of a population is related to health and disease in that population. Genetics is the study of individual genes and their roles in cell functioning and reproduction. Mutations in specific genes often produce, or contribute to, diseases, thus defining the disease as a' genetic disease'. Therefore, genetic research can be considered a category (perhaps the most critical category) of genomic research. Genomics offers great potential benefits, but current reimbursement strategies may be inadequate to encourage appropriate development of long-lived and more specific gene therapies, which are two of the most immediate potential advantageous uses of genomics. Reimbursement needs to be approached much more flexibly in terms of breaking down the silo approach to the drug budget versus other services, thinking in terms of the longer-term benefits and being willing to pay the expected value of future, as well as present-day, benefits.


Tuberous sclerosis (TS) is a congenital anomaly in the development of the embryo which is transmitted through the autosomal dominant gene. It has various forms of clinical expression. It is classified as one of what are known as Phacomatoses (phakos stain and oma tumour), which are development anomalies that can originate tumours and/or hamartomas in the nervous system. Lesions in the nervous system are nearly always accompanied by cutaneous anomalies. In this study we introduce the case of a woman patient aged 55, diagnosed several years earlier with Tuberous Sclerosis, who attended for intraoral lesions which were clinically compatible with fibromata. These lesions of fibrous appearance occurred above all on the lower lip and in both cheeks' mucous membranes, little mentioned in the literature as a site for such a manifestation of TS. The pathological anatomy suggested lesions compatible with Angiomyolipoma. In addition, the data referring to TS are reviewed; its implications for the mouth are described; and histopathological results are used to examine the significance of the word Angiomyolipoma.


Health and happiness of a society can only be achieved if the women of the society are healthy and happy. Vaginal discharge also known as leucorrhea is one of the most common complaints of the females of all age groups who are attending the outpatient department. There are several factors affecting the vaginal discharges, which could be; according to age (pre-pubertal, pubertal, and perimenopausal), according to physiological condition (pre-menstrual, ovulation, postmenstrual, and postpartum), pathological condition (pelvic inflammatory disease, fungal infections, cervicitis, anemia, diabetes, etc.), and personal hygiene. Shweta Pradara is a symptom and not a disease; hence, etiopathogenesis of the principal disease would be the etiopathogenesis of Shweta Pradar also, considering the clinical feature of Shweta Pradar, it can be said that it is a kaphaj disorder in the region of apana vayu. Shweta Pradara causes mental stress, problems of sexual anxiety, and even failure to conceive. Apart from this, it also causes local inconvenience, discomfort, general debility, lower backache-like symptoms, and thereby causing a decline in the quality of the life of the affected person.


Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Recently, much attention has been given to nutraceuticals. They are being investigated for prevention and treatment of cancer. It has been shown that they have antitumoral properties without secondary effects, and could be used as a complement to conventional therapy for CRC. Orexin-A (OXA) is a hypothalamic neuropeptide with various functions in central nervous system and peripheral tissues. Orexin receptor 1 (OX1R) is expressed in CRC tissues. Activation of OX1R by OXA in CRC cell lines triggers apoptosis and was proposed as a new alternative for therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate different nutraceuticals that could decrease survival and increase apoptosis of CRC cells lines in synergism with OXA. Material and Methods: Two CRC cell lines were obtained from ATCC: Caco2 and SW480. Cell lines were treated with Honokiol (HK) or Indol-3-carbinol (I3C) for 24h at different doses with or without 100nM OXA. Cell viability was determined using CellTiter Kit (Promega). Caspase 3/7 mediated apoptosis activity was assessed using ApoOne Kit (Promega). Real-time qPCR was performed to determine the effect of nutraceuticals on OX1R expression. Results: In this study, HK decreases cellular viability on average of 47% in Caco2 and 80% SW480 cells lines, at 25uM, 50uM or 100uM. In Caco2 cell line an increase in caspase 3/7 mediated apoptosis of 60% and 76% was observed at 25uM and 50uM, respectively, unlike what was observed in SW480 in which there was an inhibition of 80% at the different doses used. The combined treatment of 50uM HK with 100nM OXA does not produce a synergistic effect in cell viability or apoptosis compared to use of HK alone in both cell lines. HK produces an inhibition in the OX1R expression that explains the lack of synergism with OXA. I3C produces a decrease of 25% to 95% of cell viability according to doses used with an increase in apoptosis of 6 % to 38% in Caco2 cell lines. The combined effect of 500uM I3C with 100nM OxA produces a synergistic effect of 95% decrease on cell viability, with an increase of OX1R expression, which is not explained by an increase in apoptosis mediated by caspase 3/7. Conclusions: We found that HK and I3C can inhibit viability and induce apoptosis in Caco2 and SW480 cells. In Caco2 cell line this can be explained by an increase in 3/7 caspase-mediated apoptosis, unlike that observed for SW480 treated with HK. Only 13C has a synergistic effect with OXA on cell viability in Caco2 cell lines but was independent of caspase 3/7 mediated apoptosis at doses and times used. Treatments using new doses and times are necessary to improve response. In our results, I3C might be a better therapeutic agent than HK for CRC. In vivo studies and clinical trials are further required to evaluate physiologic efficacies of the combination treatment. Fondecyt 1140012. Citation Format: Ana Maria Wielandt, Cyntia Villarroel, Elea Gros, Mauricio Moreno, Claudia Hurtado, Udo Kronberg, Francisco Lopez-Kostner. Effect of Honokiol and Indol-3-carbinol in viability and apoptosis of colorectal cancer cell lines treated with Orexin-A [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2337.


In 2002, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a decision "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss." Comprehensive assessment of the progress toward this "significant reduction" is rare at the national level. We therefore developed national indicators and time-series data sets to evaluate whether China had made progress toward the 2010 biodiversity target, and found that considerable progress has been made: Forest resources have increased stably since 1989, the integrity of marine ecosystems has improved since 1997, water quality has remained stable, and desertified land is less extensive than it used to be as a result of various conservation initiatives. However, trends toward the loss of grasslands, threatened species, and genetic resources were not effectively checked. It is imperative that China undertake a more active and integrated strategy for biodiversity conservation to stem projected increases in wastewater discharges, nutrient loading, invasive alien species, and climate change.


Peptic ulcer disease (PUD), which affects 4 million people worldwide annually, has a perforation rate of between 2% to 14%. Perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) carries a substantial morbidity and mortality. Surgical repair remains the treatment of choice for a PPU. This literature review includes the latest updates in laparoscopic repair techniques for a PPU and also focuses on its causation, clinical features, diagnostic workup, laparoscopic and open surgical techniques, outcomes, and future perspectives. An extensive review of the literature was performed, and the most recent meta-analyses and reviews concerning the topic were considered. No substantial differences were found in postoperative mortality between the open and laparoscopic approaches for patients with a PPU. Furthermore, a laparoscopic repair lead to statistically significantly less postoperative pain and carried a lower risk of wound infection. Hence, a laparoscopic repair is justified, where situationally appropriate, as the treatment of choice.


This study used a survey method and plot trial method. The biophysical data of land consisted of land use, climate, topography, and land quality. The hydrological data of land comprised erosion, sedimentation, run-off, and run-off coefficient. The hydrological data of watershed (DAS) included the ratio of the maximum and minimum discharge. The objectives of the study were: 1) to analyze the impact of land use changes in the Wanggu watershed on the decrease in the forested area, land quality and the hydrological condition of the watershed; 2) to find out agro-technology applied by farmers in the upstream part of the Wanggu watershed and drainage system in the city of Kendari; and 3) to formulate land use to prevent floods in the city of Kendari. The research was conducted from January 2014 to July 2014. The results of this study showed that: 1) there was a decrease in the forested area by 10,908.7 ha (24.0%) of the watershed, so that the remaining forested area was 19.1 30, indicating that the Wanggu watershed was in a critical condition; 5) the implementation of agro-technology by farmers was not in accordance with the ability and suitability of the land; 6) the technology of soil and water conservation was not implemented by farmers as shown by the farm erosion by 48.3 tons / ha / yr > TSL 16.7 tons / ha / yr and residential area by 26.0 tons / ha / yr > TSL 9.1 tonnes / ha / yr, leading to land degradation; 7) the rob flood in the city of Kendari was as high as 2-5 m for 3-6 days due to 24.4% decrease in the forest area of the Wanggu watershed and land degradation affecting the hydrological condition of the Wanggu watershed, residential wastes, drainage systems and poor environmental sanitation, the loss of marshes in Kendari bay area, high rainfall of 2.7391 mm / yr and high tide levels exceeding highway; 8) the study tried to formulate flood prevention in the city of Kendari with land use of a minimum forest size of 30% (13,613.3 ha) and agroforesty 37.3% (16,938.3 ha); 9) there was an efforts to apply the technology of agronomic and vegetative soil conservation; 10) there was an increase in the quantity and quality of the drainage system in the city of Kendari of the Wanggu watershed.


Describes research undertaken to evaluate the appropriateness of strategic performance measurement (PM) system development processes for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). An evaluation is undertaken of ten PM approaches found in the literature. To facilitate this evaluation a typology is presented which synthesises current theory. This evaluation resulted in the identification of a process, based on its congruency to the theoretical model, which is used for an empirical investigation. Empirical data from SMEs is collected and analysed using the typology. This indicates a discontinuity between current theory and the requirements of practitioners in small companies. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations to facilitate the development of appropriate PM processes for SMEs.


The evolution within the area of management of telecommunications networks has developed rapidly. Management functions and interfaces have been standardized by standardization bodies. However, most of that work has been towards management of the transmission and switching network element. The development of energy network elements does still lack when it concerns functions and interfaces. It is costly to implement Q3 interfaces and adapters for the energy equipment mostly due to the complex hierarchy of the CMIP protocol stack. As the telecommunication network and computer networks tend to grow together a "new" interface has been discovered, the SNMP interface. This paper deals with the functional and implementation aspects of using the SNMP interface for management of energy networks. The details in this paper cover: the system architecture of an SNMP based energy management system; management functions by using SNMP interfaces; the modelling of a management information base for an energy network; and SNMP versus CMIP.<<ETX>>


A system for calculating the cost of clinical audits in terms of money and staff time has been in operation at Brighton Health Care trust since 1995. The information has proved useful in cost-benefit analysis. At th e end of each audit an action plan is agreed with the lead clinician over required changes. Making the cost of audits explicit increases the likelihood of recommendations being implemented.


Rapidly advancing technology has resulted in the generation of the genomic sequences of several human tumors. These studies have revealed that tumors are heterogeneous and contain many mutations, supporting the mutator phenotype hypothesis of human cancer. Drivers of carcinogenesis are thought to be mutated genes that occur at high frequencies in large numbers of human tumors. However, functional characterization of many of the somatic mutations is lacking. We have identified several mutations of the DNA polymerase beta (POLB) gene in human colorectal cancer. Pol beta is the main polymerase involved in the base excision repair (BER) pathway and aberrant expression of Pol beta has been linked to a cancerous phenotype. In this study, we characterized the homozygous G231D mutation that was identified in a Stage 3 colorectal tumor. We have demonstrated that its expression in epithelial cells induced cellular transformation and increased the rate of proliferation. The transformed phenotype persisted in the cells even once the expression of G231D was extinguished. These data indicated that the expression of G231D caused an inheritable change; this change is most likely due to an increase in genomic instability caused by unfilled gaps proceeding through replication. Expression of G231D was insufficient to rescue Pol beta-deficient cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents suggesting that these agents may be effectively used to treat tumors harboring this mutation. Biochemical analysis of G231D revealed that it was 100-fold slower than WT Pol beta as determined by pre-steady state kinetics. The slow rate was a result of the decreased binding affinity of nucleotides by G231D. Residue 231 of Pol beta lies in close proximity to the template strand of the DNA. Molecular modeling showed that the change from a glycine to a negatively charged amino acid caused a repulsion between the template and residue 231 leading to the disruption of the dNTP binding pocket. Together, these data indicate that a person harboring the G231D Pol beta mutation may have an increased risk of cancer. Moreover, the altered sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs in cells carrying the G231D variant may have further implications in how to better improve the therapeutic outcome in patients with this mutation and supports the need for personalized cancer therapies. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Second AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research; 2011 Sep 14-18; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(18 Suppl):Abstract nr B37.


The study examines the changes in Transylvanian children's literature from the regime change up until today. In the past nearly thirty years the two separate literary periods were differentiated by the so called "new middle generation", the literary period that emerged in the end of the first decade of the 21st century and which period saw the "the boom of children's literature". Although the continuous presence of the outstanding representatives - who started their work before the regime change - in the Transylvanian children's literary common knowledge significantly join the two periods, yet those new plot, formal and linguistic characteristics that contributed to the renewal of children's literature in the past two decades are demonstrable.


Purpose In acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion, collateral vessels provide retrograde supply to the occluded territory. We hypothesized that such collateral flow reduces perfusion of the non-occluded donor region (steal effect). Materials and Methods Patients with an MCA occlusion with opacification of both ipsi- and contralateral anterior cerebral arteries (ACA) on angiography prior to endovascular treatment were selected. Arteriovenous transit time (AVTT) for both ACA territories was compared for different grades of collateral supply to the MCA territory. In addition, the influence of diabetes and hypertension was analyzed. After successful revascularization, AVTT was re-assessed to determine reversibility. Results Forty-one patients were analyzed. An AVTT of 8.6 seconds (standard deviation [SD] 2.4 seconds) was seen in the ACA territory of the affected hemisphere in comparison to 6.6 seconds (SD 2.1 seconds) for the contralateral side (P<0.001). A more prolonged (but not significant) AVTT was seen in cases with a higher collateral grade. No difference in AVTT was seen in patients with diabetes or hypertension. After successful MCA revascularization, AVTT delay was 7.4 seconds (SD 2.1 seconds). Conclusion A cerebral steal effect occurs in patients with an acute MCA occlusion, probably related to augmented flow to the penumbra area.


Phase-contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used to measure blood flow distribution and identify plaque growth in the abdominal aorta of two different mouse strains. We present a method to compute wall shear stress (WSS) distribution along a cross section of the abdominal aorta as a function of an azimuthal variable. We track WSS in both a transgenic mouse (TG) and wild type (WT) mouse over one cardiac cycle. Comparison of WSS shows that the TG mouse has a lower WSS than the WT mouse. With further refinement, this technique can enhance understanding of the relationship between structure of the vascular wall and resultant function.


There is a definitive association between valproate therapy and acute pancreatitis. More than 50 cases have been reported. Most of the reported cases were mild yet there were a few more cases with higher morbidity and mortality. The risk is higher in patients under 20 years of age, during the first year of therapy, on the patient having encephalopathy or chronic renal failure and on patients with anti-epileptic drug polytherapy. The treatment of pancreatitis is supportive, laparotomy should be avoided. Re-challenge is hazardous and should be avoided.


INTRODUCTION
The integration of reactive oxygen species is strongly associated with important pathophysiological mechanisms that mediate myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) damage. Pyruvate is an efficacious scavenger of reactive oxygen species and a previous study has shown that ethyl pyruvate (EP) has a myocardial protective effect against regional I/R damage in an in vivo rat model. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the myocardial protective effect of EP is associated with anti-apoptosis.

METHODS
Rats were allocated to receive EP dissolved in lactated Ringer's solution or lactated Ringer's solution alone, via intraperitoneal infusion one hour before ischaemia. They were exposed to 30 minutes of ischaemia followed by reperfusion of the left coronary artery territory over two hours. Anti-apoptotic effects were checked using several biochemical parameters after two hours of reperfusion. Apoptosis was analysed using measured caspase-3 activity, Western blotting of B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) family protein cleaved by caspase-3, and assessment of DNA laddering patterns and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) staining test.

RESULTS
In ischaemic myocardium, EP increased Bcl-2 expression, but reduced Bcl-2-associated X protein and cleaved caspase-3 expressions. EP reduced the expression of DNA laddering and the number of myocardial I/R-damaged TUNEL-positive cells.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrated that EP has an anti-apoptotic effect after regional I/R damage in an in vivo rat heart model. The myocardial protective effect of EP may be related to its anti-apoptotic effect.


Inquiry learning is a concept familiar to Brazilian librarians, who have been expressing concern about their contribution in innovating the learning process. It is therefore necessary that future librarians experience this learning strategy during their education. This study aimed to investigate: 1) how library students exposed repeatedly to strategies of inquiry learning react; 2) the difficulties they encounter in the process; 3) and what types of learning they acquire. Data were collected through in depth interviews with undergraduate library students taking an Information Literacy Course. Data analysis was based on Kuhlthau's ISP model (2004) and in the five types of learning (Kuhlthau; Maniotes & Caspari, 2012) Results, that cannot be generalized, show that students reacted positively to the strategy, although they reported several difficulties. In conclusion the repetition of the inquiry learning process became important for students to feel more secure and confident and for their difficulties to be minimized. On the whole the acquisition of the five types of learning was observed.


In 1660, the Quaker Anne Gilman encouraged the Stuart ruler Charles II to govern judiciously, warning: 'harden not thy heart'. Monarchy's ability to inexorably remove power from 'the people' was concerning; so too were the ruler's bawdy predilections. The pamphlets explored in this chapter (c 1660-1665) spotlight a group of women who endeavour to remind the ruler that he is accountable not only to the populace, but to God. Pamphleteering of this kind expresses a combination of moral, theological and political commitments, as writers pointedly seek to inspire in Charles a thoroughgoing reformation. The tendency of some writers, it is argued, is theologically Antinomian. In surveying this writing, this chapter offers a new approach to how women's political critique combines with theological principle in the Restoration period. Keywords: Petition, Pamphlet, Stuart Monarchy, Quakerism, Restoration, Women, Quaker Theology.


Due to the great demand for buffalo milk by-products the interest in technical-scientific information about this species is increasing. Our objective was to propose selection criteria for milk yield in buffaloes based on total milk yield, 305-day milk yield (M305), and test-day milk yield. A total of 3,888 lactations from 1,630 Murrah (Bubalus bubalis) cows recorded between 1987 and 2001, from 10 herds in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were analyzed. Covariance components were obtained using the restricted maximum likelihood method applied to a bivariate animal model. Additive genetic and permanent environmental effects were considered as random, and contemporary group and lactation order as fixed effects. The heritability estimates were 0.22 for total milk yield and 0.19 for M305. For test-day yields, the heritability estimates ranged from 0.12 to 0.30, with the highest values being observed up to the third test month, followed by a decline until the end of lactation. The present results show that test-day milk yield, mainly during the first six months of lactation, could be adopted as a selection criterion to increase total milk yield.


Abstract We performed postmortem examination on four South American sea lions (Otaria byronia) from an urban colony in Valdivia, Chile. Chronic leptospirosis and suspected morbillivirus-like infection were diagnosed in one individual. Antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii and the zoonotic helminthes Contracaecum sp., Pseudoterranova sp., and Diphyllobothrium sp. were also detected.