1. Life-history theory predicts a trade-off between the resources allocated to reproduction and those allocated to survival. Early maturation of eggs (pro-ovigeny) is correlated with small body size and low adult longevity in interspecific comparisons among parasitoids, demonstrating this trade-off. The handful of studies that have tested for similar correlations within species produced conflicting results. 2. Egg maturation patterns and related life-history traits were studied in the polyembryonic parasitoid wasp, Copidosoma koehleri (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Although the genus Copidosoma was previously reported to be fully pro-ovigenic, mean egg loads of host-deprived females almost doubled within their first 6 days of adulthood. 3. The initial egg-loads of newly emerged females were determined and age-specific realised fecundity curves were constructed for their clone-mate twins. The females' initial egg loads increased with body size, but neither body size nor initial egg load was correlated with longevity and fecundity. 4. The variation in initial egg loads was lowest among clone-mates, intermediate among non-clone sisters and highest among non-sister females. The within-clone variability indicates environmental influences on egg maturation, while the between-clone variation may be genetically based. 5. Ovaries of host-deprived females contained fewer eggs at death (at∼29 days) than on day 6. Their egg loads at death were negatively correlated with life span, consistent with reduced egg production and/or egg resorption. Host deprivation prolonged the wasps' life span, suggesting a survival cost to egg maturation and oviposition. 6. It is concluded that adult fecundity and longevity were not traded off with pre-adult egg maturation.


This article investigates the leader–follower formation control problem for the multiple underactuated autonomous underwater vehicles with model uncertainties and external disturbances. Sliding mode control, multilayer neural network, and adaptive robust techniques are employed to design a formation controller for underwater vehicles. After that, a Lyapunov-based stability analysis is proposed to guarantee that all variables are uniformly ultimately bounded in the closed-loop control system. The following advantages of this approach are highlighted: 1) the proposed control strategy only depends on the measurements of line-of-sight and angle sensors; no other information about the leader vehicle is required; 2) a continuous function is designed to replace the signum term in the control system, which greatly reduces the inherent chattering of sliding mode controller; 3) the proposed controller does not rely on any prior knowledge about hydrodynamic damping and external disturbances, which is easily implemented in practice. Finally, the numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.


THE PRESENT study is the outgrowth of attempts to produce a form of portal hypertension in the dog which is consistent with that seen in man. It was observed that chronic occlusion of the portal vein in the dog did not result in a consistent elevation of the portal venous pressure. These initial studies were made in unanesthetized animals with pressures taken through a No. 19 needle inserted via a previously placed London cannula. It was found that nearly complete occlusion was required before a significant elevation of portal pressure could be produced in the acute preparation. Gradual occlusion over a two- to three-week period stimulated sufficient collateral circulation to allow complete occlusion without death of the animal. These studies were confirmed in the report before this meeting last year by Douglass, Mehn, Lounsbury, Swigert, and Tanturi. 1 They have recently been again confirmed by Morris and Miller. 2 Since


The jasmonate family of phytohormones plays central roles in plant development and stress acclimation. However, the architecture of their signaling circuits remains largely unknown. Here we describe a jasmonate family binding protein, cyclophilin 20-3 (CYP20-3), which regulates stress-responsive cellular redox homeostasis. (+)-12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) binding promotes CYP20-3 to form a complex with serine acetyltransferase 1, which triggers the formation of a hetero-oligomeric cysteine synthase complex with O-acetylserine(thiol)lyase B in chloroplasts. The cysteine synthase complex formation then activates sulfur assimilation that leads to increased levels of thiol metabolites and the buildup of cellular reduction potential. The enhanced redox capacity in turn coordinates the expression of a subset of OPDA-responsive genes. Thus, we conclude that CYP20-3 is a key effector protein that links OPDA signaling to amino acid biosynthesis and cellular redox homeostasis in stress responses.


Two quality control methods of nuxvomica were established for mutual. By selecting the appropriate measuring wavelength or wavelength range, the contents of strychnine and brucine in nuxvomica were determined without any preliminary separation by a new rapid spectrophotometry and a multi-wavelength linear regression spectrophotometry and with a computer program. The linear range of strychnine measured was 8.0-30.0 microg x mL(-1) (r = 0.999 9); The linear range of brucine measured was 7.0-31.2 microg x mL(-1) (r = 0.999 4). The average recoveries and relative standard deviations of strychnine and brucine were 98.18%-99.82%, 0.56%-1.54% and 100.5%-100.6%, 0.57%-0.62%, respectively. The methods are simple, rapid and reproducible, the interference of two components with each other may be eliminated and the methods are appropriate for quality control of nuxvomica.


The most limiting disease in the eastern plains of Colombia is bud rot (BR) which affects it compromising the yield in tons of fresh fruit bunches. Using the scale of recuperation established for this pathological complex in the zone of Bajo Upia, bunch analyses were performed in six different treatments. The findings show statistical differences for the majority of its components including the oil extraction rate and the percentage of free fatty acids. These show the negative effect of the disease in the weight of the bunch and in the quantity of oil and its quality deterioration.


An antialiased digital model of the wavefolding circuit inside the Buchla 259 Complex Waveform Generator is presented. Wavefolding is a type of nonlinear waveshaping used to generate complex harmonically-rich sounds from simple periodic waveforms. Unlike other analog wavefolder designs, Buchla's design features five op-amp-based folding stages arranged in parallel alongside a direct signal path. The nonlinear behavior of the system is accurately modeled in the digital domain using memoryless mappings of the input–output voltage relationships inside the circuit. We pay special attention to suppressing the aliasing introduced by the nonlinear frequency-expanding behavior of the wavefolder. For this, we propose using the bandlimited ramp (BLAMP) method with eight times oversampling. Results obtained are validated against SPICE simulations and a highly oversampled digital model. The proposed virtual analog wavefolder retains the salient features of the original circuit and is applicable to digital sound synthesis.


Multicultural issue in the present context is a global issue of socialization. It has not yet been materialized into the education system in Nepal. The education system of a country should prepare students to function in today's diverse society. There are issues emerging in the effectiveness of the multicultural education and the concerns how to better shape the multicultural classroom in Nepal. This paper focuses on issues such as curriculum design, classroom management, and role of teachers and students in the multicultural classroom context. It also discusses the context, and recommends measures that can bring the multicultural education into the right track. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jer.v2i0.7618 Journal of Education and Research Vol. 2, 2010 p.17-25


The dynamical evolution of triple stellar systems could give rise to the formation of compact binaries and induce binary mergers. Common envelope (CE) evolution, which plays a major role in the evolution of compact binary systems, can similarly play a key role in the evolution of triples. Here we use hydrodynamical simulations coupled with few-body dynamics to provide the first detailed models of triple common envelope (TCE) evolution. We focus on the circumstellar case, where the envelope of an evolved giant engulfs a compact binary orbiting the giant (inner-binary), which then in-spirals into the core of the evolved star. Through our exploratory modeling we find several possible outcomes of such TCE: (1) The merger of the binary inside the third star's envelope; (2) The binary disruption of the in-spiraling binary following its plunge, leading to a chaotic triple dynamics of the stellar-core and the two components of the former disrupted binary. The chaotic evolution typically leads to the in-spiral and merger of at least one of the former binary components with the core, and sometimes to the ejection of the second, or alternatively its further now-binary common-envelope evolution. The in-spiral in TCE leads to overall slower in-spiral, larger mass ejection and the production of more aspherical remnant, compared with a corresponding binary case of similar masses, due to the energy/momentum extraction from the inner-binary. We expect TCE to play a key role in producing various types of stellar-mergers and unique compact binary systems, and potentially induce transient electromagnetic and gravitational-wave sources.


ABSTRACT. How can one manage wildlife under a suite of competing values? In isolation, the ecological economics of native wildlife harvest, threatened species conservation and control of exotic species are all well established sub‐disciplines of wildlife management. However, the wild banteng (Bos javanicus) population of northern Australia represents an interesting combination of these aspirations. A native bovid of Southeast Asia now 'endangered' in its native range, banteng were introduced into northern Australia in 1849. Today, a population of 8,000–10,000 resides on one small, isolated peninsula in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory and is harvested by both recreational (trophy) and aboriginal subsistence hunters. Indigenous, industry and conservationist stakeholders differ in their requirements for population management. Here we analyze the ecological and economic costs/benefits of a series of potential harvest management options for Australia's banteng population, with the aim being either to: (1) maximize sustainable yield (MSY); (2) maximize harvest of trophy males; (3) maximize indigenous off‐take; (4) suppress density or completely eradicate the population; (5) minimize risk of extinction whilst limiting range expansion; (6) scenarios incorporating two or more of options 1–5. The modeling framework employed stochastic, density‐regulated matrix population models with life‐history parameters derived from (i) allometric relationships (for estimating rmax, generation length, fecundity and densities for a banteng‐sized mammal) and (ii) measured vital rates for wild and captive banteng and other Bos spp. For each management option, we present a simple economic analysis that incorporates estimated costs of management implementation and associated profits projected. Results demonstrate that revenue of >Ä$200,000 is possible from meat production and safari hunting without compromising long‐term population stability or the conservation status of this endangered bovid.


Carrier dynamics at energy level anticrossings in biased semiconductor superlattices was studied in the time domain by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The resonant nature of interminiband Rabi oscillations has been explicitly demonstrated to arise from the interference of intrawell and Bloch oscillations. We also report a simulation of direct Rabi oscillations across three minibands, in the high-field regime, due to interaction between three strongly coupled minibands.


With 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses, the human brain is not just the most complex organ in the human body, but has also been described as "the most complex thing in the universe." The limited availability of human living brain tissue for the study of neurogenesis, neural processes and neurological disorders has resulted in more than a century-long strive from researchers worldwide to model the central nervous system (CNS) and dissect both its striking physiology and enigmatic pathophysiology. The invaluable knowledge gained with the use of animal models and post mortem human tissue remains limited to cross-species similarities and structural features, respectively. The advent of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) and 3-D organoid technologies has revolutionised the approach to the study of human brain and CNS in vitro, presenting great potential for disease modelling and translational adoption in drug screening and regenerative medicine, also contributing beneficially to clinical research. We have surveyed more than 100 years of research in CNS modelling and provide in this review an historical excursus of its evolution, from early neural tissue explants and organotypic cultures, to 2-D patient-derived cell monolayers, to the latest development of 3-D cerebral organoids. We have generated a comprehensive summary of CNS modelling techniques and approaches, protocol refinements throughout the course of decades and developments in the study of specific neuropathologies. Current limitations and caveats such as clonal variation, developmental stage, validation of pluripotency and chromosomal stability, functional assessment, reproducibility, accuracy and scalability of these models are also discussed.


Objective: To identify and prevent the vulnerable prediabetic population becoming diabetic patients in the future using the Indian Diabetic Risk Score (IDRS) and to evaluate the performance of the IDRS questionnaire for detecting prediabetes and predicting the risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Chidambaram rural Indian population.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among patients attending a master health check-up of RMMCH hospital located at Chidambaram. The IDRS was calculated by using four simple measures of age, family history of diabetes, physical activity, and waist measurement. The relevant blood test, like Fasting plasma glucose (FBS), Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) test, were observed for identifying prediabetes. Subjects were classified as Normoglycemic, prediabetics, and diabetics based on the questionnaire and diagnostic criteria of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.
Results: In the study, sensitivity and specificity of IDRS score were found to be 84.21% and 63.4% respectively for detecting prediabetes in community with the positive predictive value of 51.6% and negative predictive value of 89.6% and prevalence of prediabetes in the Chidambaram rural population is 31.6% among the 60 participants.
Conclusion: The Indian diabetic risk score questionnaire designed by Madras diabetic research federation is a useful screening tool to identify unknown type 2 diabetes mellitus. The questionnaire is a reliable, valuable, and easy to use screening tool which can be used in a primary care setup.


We introduce a class of rooted infinite self-similar graphs containing the well known Fibonacci graph and graphs associated with Pisot numbers. We consider directed random walks on these graphs and study their entropy and their limit measures. We prove that every infinite self-similar graph has a random walk of full entropy and that the limit measures of this random walks are absolutely continuous.


The advantages, challenges, and future possibilities for combining synchrotron-based X-ray techniques with vibrational spectroscopies are considered in this critical review. Particular emphasis is given to (1) quantifying structure and structural change--on a wide range of length scales--in working heterogeneous catalytic systems; (2) relating that change to chemical speciation occurring at the surface of the catalyst; and (3) determining how such change relates to the overall function of the catalyst material. We will consider those resources that exist today and suggest some possible future directions yet to be ventured into or demonstrated. Lastly, we will consider how the catalysis community interacts with, and uses the resources offered by, modern synchrotron radiation facilities and whether this current relationship provides the best and most inclusive means for the exploitation of these resources in this field of research (83 references).


We present the O 2 binding properties of recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA) mutants complexed with an iron(ll) protoporphyrin IX as a prosthetic heme group. Iron(lll) protoporphyrin IX (hemin) is bound within subdomain IB of HSA with weak axial coordination by Tyr-161. In order to confer O 2 binding capability to this naturally occurring hemoprotein: (i) a proximal histidine was introduced into position lle-i42; and (ii) the coordinated Tyr-161 was replaced with hydrophobic Leu using site-directed mutagenesis. It provided a recombinant HSA double-mutant [rHSA(l142H/ Y161L) = rHSA(HL)]. The rHSA(HL)-heme formed a ferrous five-coordinate high-spin complex with axial ligation of His-142 under an Ar atmosphere. This artificial hemoprotein binds O 2 at room temperature. Laser flash photolysis experiments demonstrated that O 2 rebinidng to rHSA(HL)-heme displays monophasic kinetics, whereas the CO recombination process obeyed a double-exponential pattern. This might be attributable to the two different geometries of the axial imidazole coordination arising from the two orientations of the porphyrin plane in the heme pocket. The O 2 binding affinity of rHSA(HL)-heme was considerably lower than those of R-state hemoglobin (Hb) and myoglobin (Mb), principally because of the high O 2 dissociation rate constant. The third mutations have been introduced into the distal side of the heme (at position Leu-185 or Arg-186) to increase the O 2 binidng affinity. The rHSA(HL/Li85N)-heme showed high O 2 binding affinity (P O2 : 1 Torr), which is 18-fold greater than that of the original double mutant rHSA(HL)-heme and which is rather close to those of Hb (R-state) and Mb. Furthermore, replacement of polar Arg-186 with Leu or Phe adjusted the O 2 binding affinity (P O2 ) to 10 Torr, which is almost equivalent to value for human red blood cells.


In this article is presented the application of a contingent valuation method in a developing country to compare parametric and non-parametric welfare estimates associated with the use of a water resource. The statistical comparison uses the confident intervals for the individual's welfare measures and verifies whether these intervals overlap each other. Unlike the non-parametric case where there exist standard procedures to create confident intervals, in the parametric case a simulation is needed. This simulation procedure takes advantages of the asymptotically normal distribution of the parameters of the model. The results suggest that there is not a significant difference between parametric and non-parametric welfare measures. This can be explained by the effort spent on the design of the survey, since it is well known that the distinction between parametric and non-parametric estimates is less important when the assumption about the distribution function of the willingness to pay is close to the true distribution.


Abstract Objectives An efficient pharmacological response to MTX treatment in RA patients relies on the retention and accumulation of intracellular MTX-polyglutamates catalysed by the enzyme folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS). We recently identified a partial retention of FPGS intron 8 (8PR) as a prominent splice variant conferring FPGS dysfunction and decreased MTX polyglutamylation in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Here, we explored the association between FPGS 8PR levels and lack of MTX responsiveness in RA patients. Methods Thirty-six patients undergoing MTX treatment were enrolled from the Combinatie behandeling Reumatoide Artritis (COBRA)-light trial. RNA was isolated from blood samples at baseline, 13 weeks and 26 weeks of therapy, from patients in either COBRA-light (n = 21) or COBRA (n = 15) treatment arms. RT-qPCR analysis was used to assess RNA levels of FPGS 8PR over wild-type FPGS (8WT). Results In the COBRA-light treatment arm, higher baseline ratios of 8PR/8WT were significantly associated with higher 44-joint disease activity score (DAS44) at 13 and 26 weeks. Higher baseline ratios of 8PR/8WT also trended towards not obtaining low disease activity (DAS <1.6) and becoming a EULAR non-responder at 13 and 26 weeks. In the COBRA-treatment arm, a significant association was observed between high baseline 8PR/8WT ratios and higher DAS44 score at 26 weeks. Higher 8PR/8WT ratios were associated with non-response at week 26 based on both low disease activity and EULAR criteria. Conclusion This study is the first to associate alterations in FPGS pre-mRNA splicing levels with reduced responsiveness to MTX treatment in RA patients. Trial registration ISRCTN55552928.


Novel compounds of the general formula (I), the use of these compounds as pharmaceutical compositions, pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds and methods of treatment employing these compounds and compositions. The present compounds are activators of PPAR´ and should be useful for treating conditions mediated by the same.


Diabetes mellitus is getting an epidemic worldwide and Pakistan stands at position 3 rd with the 17% prevalence of diabetic adults. Diabetes develops several clinical complications and dyslipidemia is one among these complications. Dyslipidemia is marked as derangements in lipid metabolism and is one of the risk factors to develop cardiovascular diseases. The genetic predisposition in association with environmental and lifestyle modifications can play a central role in the progression of diabetic dyslipidemia. A cross-sectional study was designed to detect pathogenic genetic variants in APOA1 and ABCG1 genes associated with dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetic patients. A total of ninety subjects of both genders, aged between 30-70 years were randomly selected and further divided into a diabetic dyslipidemia group, a diabetic group and a healthy group. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and subjected to the polymerase chain reaction using primers of the APOA1 gene and ABCG1 gene. The amplicons were subjected to Sanger sequencing on Automated DNA Genetic Analyzer. The sequence data was analyzed on BioEdit7.2 biological software and Basic Local Alignment Search Tool against the human genome database to find any genetic variation. It has been found that ABCG1 gene


Protein kinase C eta (nPKC eta) is a member of the protein kinase C family with a unique tissue distribution in skin and lung. We analyzed nPKC eta expression in normal murine lung and in 36 lung tumors induced by urethane in AC3 F1 and F2 mice. The nPKC eta-related transcript was present at fivefold to tenfold lower levels in tumors than in normal lung controls. We mapped two distinct loci for nPKC eta on murine chromosome 12, using linkage analysis in an interspecific test cross. The results indicate that the mouse Pkcn-rs1 and Pkcn-rs2 loci were about 30 cM from the centromere and about 2 cM from each other.


Some subtypes of Listeria monocytogenes can persist in the food-processing industry, but the reasons for such persistence are not known. In the present study, 10 strains of L. monocytogenes representing known persistent randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) types from fish processing plants were compared to eight strains of different RAPD type and origin (clinical, food, and animal). All 18 strains of L. monocytogenes had similar growth patterns at different temperatures (5 or 37 degrees C) or different salinities (0.5 or 5% NaCl), and all strains formed a thin layer of adhered cells on a plastic surface when cultured in tryptone soya broth (TSB) with a total of 1% glucose. Many ready-to-eat foods, such as cold-smoked fish, contain NaCl at concentrations of 2 to 5%, and NaCl is present in the processing environment. Adding NaCl to TSB changed the adhesion patterns of all strains, and all adhered better when NaCl was added. Also, the addition of NaCl caused a marked aggregation of 13 of the strains; however, 5 of the 18 strains did not aggregate in the presence of up to 5% NaCl. The aggregates stuck to the plastic surface, and this occurred in all but one of the persistent RAPD types. Four strains represented one particular RAPD type that has been isolated as a persistent RAPD type in several fish processing plants for up to 10 years. Because this RAPD type often can contaminate fish products, it is important to address its potential virulence. The 18 strains differed markedly in their ability to invade Caco-2 cells, and the four strains representing the universal persistent RAPD type were the least invasive (10(2) to 10(3) CFU/ml), whereas other strains invaded Caco-2 cells at levels of 10(4) to 10(5) CFU/ml. Five of the 18 strains belonged to the genetic lineage 1 and were the most invasive. Although the most commonly isolated persistent RAPD type was low invasive, it is important to understand why moderate salinity facilitates aggregation and biofilm formation, for this understanding can be beneficial in developing procedures to reduce processing plant contamination.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) abnormalities and their reversibility in neonates with birth asphyxia.

DESIGN
Prospective case control study.

SETTING
Tertiary care teaching hospital.

METHODS
30 term Neonates with 5-min Apgar < 6 and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) underwent BAER testing with follow up at 3 months. An equal number of normal term neonates served as controls.

RESULTS
13 out of 30 (43.3%) neonates with birth asphyxia showed some abnormality in BAER wave form. The commonest type of BAER abnormalities seen were transient prolongation of latencies of various waves (69.2%) and prolonged interside latency difference (69.2%). Other abnormalities observed were prolonged interwave interval (23.1%) and prolonged interside interval difference (7.7%). Abnormalities in BAER were significantly associated with stages of HIE and duration of neurological abnormalities more than 5 days. On follow up of 16 cases at 3 months of age, BAER abnormalities reverted back to normal in all the neonates. The Denver Developmental Screening Test (DENVER II) was suspect in 4 cases but the BAER was normal.

CONCLUSION
BAER abnormalities in asphyxic neonates are transient and revert back to normal at 3 months of age. BAER does not appear to be a useful tool for early detection of neurological handicaps.


The accumulation of organic matter has been suggested to be one of the causes of soil acidification. We examined the effect of applying clover shoots, clover roots, and lupin leaves which differed in concentrations of N and excess cations/ash alkalinity on the pH of 2 acidic soils from Western Australia over a 28-day incubation period. Addition of the legume residues at rates of 1·54 and 3·08 g/kg soil increased soil pH by up to 0·6 units at Day 0 and 0·7 units at Day 28 after incubation. The increase in soil pH was the greatest with addition of lupin leaves, followed by clover shoots, and the least with clover roots. The increase in pH correlated well with the amounts of ash alkalinity added as plant materials. Ammonium concentrations were generally increased by addition of the plant materials, but with time the concentrations decreased in the Kojonup soil and increased in the Moora soil. Nitrate concentrations were similar between the treatments, and increased with time. Addition of legume residues slightly increased the pH buffer capacity of both soils at Day 0 but not at Day 28. After 28 days, 37–51% of clover shoots and 36–51% of lupin leaf had decomposed compared with 22-38% of clover roots. The results suggest that rapid changes in soil pH following application of plant materials are related to the concentration of excess cations and decomposition of the material and that the application of legume shoot residues, which usually have high concentrations of excess cations, is not the likely cause of soil acidification.


Background It is estimated that every 40 seconds, one person commits suicide somewhere in the world, and most who do so are young people. Globally, suicide is the second leading cause of death in the 15–29 age group1. Beyond the statistics of completed suicide, there is a concern since it`s reported that there are 20 suicide attempts, for each one achieved. These young people require integral care for the physical and psychological consequences to avoid future attempts as well as poor development. The objective of our study consisted in analyzing experiences of adolescent to attempted suicide (AS). Method We conducted a qualitative study in six states of Mexico. We contacted with the local authorities of Mental Health Program of the Secretary of Health to identify adolescents among 10 at 19 years old, that they had tried to commit suicide in the last year. We design a semi-structured interview to know their experience previous to attempted suicide, the explored areas were: family relationship, relationship with peers, personal, family, school and social stressors; characteristics of suicidal ideation-planning and attempted suicide; attention received in the health services for the suicide attempt. Results We analyzed 49 interviews in five states of Mexico, 10–19 years old. We identified factors in common: early experiences of abandon, cutting, child sexual abuse and family violence. Bullying is common and social hopelessness. They do not identify a future worth living. Conclusions At the end of the study, we will get guidelines to design specific policies to help in prevention of suicide in adolescents.


Electrophysiological recordings (electroencephalograms, somatosensory-evoked potentials, cognitive-evoked potentials) were made in five patients during acupuncture-induced analgesia for removal of a thyroid tumor. The electrophysiological measures were unchanged during the operation. Acupuncture's modes of action in producing analgesia are not revealed in this study.


Author(s): Hovhannisyan, Marianna | Abstract: This paper presents a case study that illustrates how porous the bond is between two different epistemological regimes: the emphasis that is placed on visuality in art historical collections, and the act of labeling by the archive. I will touch upon collections representing two sculptors, Malvina Hoffman (1885–1966) and Sergey Merkurov (1881–1952), who both passed through the studio of Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). In this case the slippage is the assigning of an incorrect or at least misleading keyword or 'tag' of one portrait in Hoffman's archives at the Special Collections of the Getty Research Institute. Intended as part of The Races of Mankind project, in the archive the portrait is titled "Armenian Jew." That initial title, as well as the current archival description and the lineage invoked through the title, have all been left open and in dispute. As such, the unresolved status of this portrait emerges as an anomaly in Hoffman's archive that tests the limits of her logic of physiognomy and facial character. My research shows that due to this mistag, the portrait has a direct reference to a completely different work of Hoffman. This invites in turn another reading that sees a provocative physiognomic resemblance with Merkurov's first death mask.


Hyperproperties are correctness conditions for labelled transition systems that are more expressive than traditional trace properties, with particular relevance to security. Recently, Attiya and Enea studied a notion of strong observational refinement that preserves all hyperproperties. They analyse the correspondence between forward simulation and strong observational refinement in a setting with only finite traces. We study this correspondence in a setting with both finite and infinite traces. In particular, we show that forward simulation does not preserve hyperliveness properties in this setting. We extend the forward simulation proof obligation with a (weak) progress condition, and prove that this weak progressive forward simulation is equivalent to strong observational refinement. Classification of computation → Semantics and reasoning; of computation →


Background During tetrapod limb development, the HOXA13 and HOXD13 transcription factors are critical for the emergence and organization of the autopod, the most distal aspect where digits will develop. Since previous work had suggested that the Dbx2 gene is a target of these factors, we set up to analyze in detail this potential regulatory interaction. Results We show that HOX13 proteins bind to eutherian-specific sequences at the vicinity of the Dbx2 locus that have enhancer activity in developing digits. However, the functional inactivation of the DBX2 protein did not elicit any particular phenotype related to Hox genes inactivation in digits, suggesting either redundant or compensatory mechanisms. We report that the neighboring Nell2 and Ano6 genes are also expressed in distal limb buds and are, in part, controlled by the same Dbx2 enhancers despite being localized into two different topologically associating domains (TADs) flanking the Dbx2 locus. Conclusions We conclude that Hoxa13 and Hoxd genes cooperatively activate Dbx2 expression in developing digits through binding to eutherian specific regulators elements in the Dbx2 neighborhood. Furthermore, these enhancers can overcome TAD boundaries in either direction to co-regulate a set of genes located in distinct chromatin domains. Bullet points Hoxa13 and Hoxd genes cooperatively regulate Dbx2 expression in developing digits via eutherian specific enhancers. Dbx2 is expressed in different digit joint precursors but its function there is not essential. Dbx2 enhancers also control the expression of the Nell2 and Ano6 genes, which are located in different TADs, thus overcoming the boundary effect. Dbx2 chromatin architecture and enhancers evolved in the mammalian lineage. Grant Sponsor and Number Swiss National Research Foundation #310030B_138662. European Research Council grants RegulHox #588029


Valid measurement of youth physical activity is important and self-report methods provide convenient assessments at the population level. There is evidence that the validity of physical activity self-report varies by weight category. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the 3-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR), separately between normal weight and overweight/obese Australian youth. Accelerometer-derived physical activity variables were compared with 3DPAR variables in 155 (77 females) 11- to 14-year-olds from Adelaide, South Australia. In the whole sample, validity coefficients for self-reported moderate and moderate to vigorous physical activity were modest (rs = 0.12-0.31) and similar across gender and weight status categories. Validity coefficients for self-reported vigorous physical activity were much stronger (rs = 0.59-0.73) among overweight/obese than among normal weight participants. The validity of the 3DPAR in this study was low in the whole sample but varied according to physical activity intensity and the weight status of the child. Specifically, the 3DPAR may be appropriate for describing vigorous intensity physical activity among overweight and obese youth.


OBJECTIVE
GnRH antagonists have recently been introduced for the prevention of premature LH surges during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). We have here investigated whether the GnRH antagonists cetrorelix and ganirelix exert effects on ovarian steroidogenesis. Since there is some controversy about the action of GnRH agonists in the human ovary we also tested the effect of triptorelin on steroid production in cultured human granulosa lutein cells.

METHODS
Cells were obtained from patients treated with different protocols of COH. In addition to gonadotropins they received triptorelin, cetrorelix, ganirelix or no GnRH analogue.

RESULTS
Such in vivo treatment did not result in significant effects of triptorelin or the two GnRH antagonists on spontaneous or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-stimulated steroidogenesis. To exclude the possibility that the in vivo treatment might not affect in vitro steroid production because of low or absent peptide activity, we performed in vitro treatments with triptorelin, cetrorelix and ganirelix for up to 96 h. However, these treatment paradigms did not influence basal or hCG-stimulated steroid production.

CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that GnRH antagonists do not exert any significant effects on ovarian steroidogenesis in vitro and therefore their introduction into protocols of COH is unlikely to impair ovarian function.


Single and multiwalled nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes were grown by chemical vapor deposition varying the feedstock composition between pure acetonitrile and ethanol/acetonitrile mixtures. The advantage of using CN sources that develop close vapor pressure values has been used in order to elucidate the effects of the reaction atmosphere in the synthesis of N-doped nanotubes. Our findings show that the morphology of the nanotube material depends strongly on the composition of the reaction atmosphere. When carrying out the experiments in an atmosphere solely determined by the vapor pressure of the feedstock components, improved homogeneity is achieved with pure CN sources or low concentration of the foreign solute. Under these conditions the temperature has strong influence in the diameter distribution.


Following the model introduced by Aguech et al. (Probab Eng Inf Sci 21:133–141, 2007), the weighted depth of a node in a labelled rooted tree is the sum of all labels on the path connecting the node to the root.We analyse weighted depths of nodes with given labels, the last inserted node, nodes ordered as visited by the depth first search process, the weighted path length and the weighted Wiener index in a random binary search tree. We establish three regimes of nodes depending on whether the second-order behaviour of their weighted depths follows from fluctuations of the keys on the path, the depth of the nodes or both. Finally, we investigate a random distribution function on the unit interval arising as scaling limit for weighted depths of nodes with at most one child.


This paper proposes a wavelet-based technique for monitoring nonstationary variations in order to distinguish between transformer inrush currents and transformer internal faults. The proposed technique utilizes a small set of coefficients of the local maxima that represent most of the signal's energy: only one coefficient at each resolution level is utilized to measure the magnitude of the variation in the signal. The data is processed while sliding through a Kaiser window and the technique has been applied in the laboratory as well as with simulated data, producing excellent results.


These published proceedings draw from the various and impressive contributions to the III Interactive Film and Media Conference in August 2021. They are organized into five sections according to theme. In the first two sections, the papers concentrate on social engagement. The first set of papers focuses on racism in the time of COVID-19, indigenous identity and incarceration. The second involves interactive responses to social issues such as migration, sexual harassment, and refugees. Sections three and four foreground debates about the levels of interactivity experienced in films and games. In the third set of papers, the authors focus on the medium's capacities to involve the player or the user in interactivity, while papers comprising the fourth set question the process of immersion and explore levels of interactivity more fully. Finally, in the fifth and final section, the papers focus on the environment of digital art, literature, and media, challenging our understanding of what is an "art" and "literature," and what is "human" in a digital world.  Here we invite you to explore the published papers in the proceedings from the #IFM2021 Virtual Conference.


I develop a model of conspicuous consumption to empirically measure the importance of peer beliefs to Americans and Chinese. In the model, a consumer cares not only about the direct utility she receives from consumption, but also about the way her consumption pattern affects her peer group's belief about her well-being. I estimate the model on household budget surveys. According to model estimates, a Chinese consumer cares 20% more than an American consumer about peer beliefs. The absolute size of the conspicuous consumption motive in both countries is relatively small. I use the estimated model to evaluate the welfare effect of the 1990-2002 American luxury tax on automobiles. The luxury tax benefited nearly all Americans a small amount, but hurt the small fraction of consumers who love automobiles the most.


This report briefly discusses some aspects of autonomic cardiovascular dysfunction as related to changes in orthostatic function in patients, bed rest subjects, and astronauts. This relationship is described in normal individuals to provide the basis for discussion of parameters that may be altered in patients, bed rest subjects, and astronauts. The relationships between disease states, age, periods of weightlessness during space flight, and autonomic dysfunction, and their contribution to changes in orthostatic tolerance are presented. The physiologic effects of lower body negative pressure are illustrated by presenting data obtained in bed rest subjects and in astronauts. Finally, the usefulness of lower body negative pressure to counter symptoms of orthostatic intolerance in patients, bed rest subjects, and astronauts is discussed.


Multi-object tracking (MOT) has been dominated by the use of track by detection approaches due to the success of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on detection in the last decade. As the datasets and bench-marking sites are published, research direction has shifted towards yielding best accuracy on generic scenarios including re-identification (reID) of objects while tracking. In this study, we narrow the scope of MOT for surveillance by providing a dedicated dataset of pedestrians and focus on in-depth analyses of well performing multi-object trackers to observe the weak and strong sides of state-of-the-art (SOTA) techniques for real-world applications. For this purpose, we introduce SOMPT22 dataset; a new set for multi person tracking with annotated short videos captured from static cameras located on poles with 6-8 meters in height positioned for city surveillance. This provides a more focused and specific benchmarking of MOT for outdoor surveillance compared to public MOT datasets. We analyze MOT trackers classified as one-shot and two-stage with respect to the way of use of detection and reID networks on this new dataset. The experimental results of our new dataset indicate that SOTA is still far from high efficiency, and single-shot trackers are good candidates to unify fast execution and accuracy with competitive performance. The dataset will be available at: sompt22.github.io


A systematic investigation was undertaken of the kinetics of polymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate in bulk as well as in solutions of benzene, toluene, methyl ethyl ketone and ethyl acetate and of methyl acrylate in ethyl acetate with methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP) as initiator at 65–80°C. The decomposition of MEKP in ethyl acetate at 70 and 80°C. was studied and the specific rate constants for spontaneous as well as induced decomposition have been evaluated. Transfer coefficients for the monomer, catalyst, and solvent with their respective activation energies have been determined. The rates of initiation have been evaluated by measuring rates and the degree of polymerization for the monomers under study. The catalyst efficiencies in the polymerization of the monomers have been evaluated from the rates of initiation and the rate of decomposition of the catalyst. It is found that the initiator MEKP is comparable to Bz 2 O 2 and azobisisobutyronitrile in its catalyst efficiency, while its capacity for chain transfer is found to be intermediate between the nontransferring initiators like azobisisobutyronitrile and the highly transferring initiators such as cumene hydroperoxide. That the effect of solvents on the various rate constants such as termination and initiation appears to be of no inconsiderable importance has been inferred.


A novel approach of employing a dual-porous metal organic framework (MOF) in CO2 fixation at room temperature was demonstrated using a micro–mesoporous MOF, UMCM-1-NH2, in the synthesis of various five-membered cyclic carbonates under solventless conditions. Mesopores allow easy guest diffusion and molecular accessibility, while micropores are predominantly helpful in regulating the catalytic interactions in active centres; thus outperforming the properties of pure microporous or pure mesoporous MOFs in cycloaddition. Structural features, acid–base characteristics and physical properties were studied in detail for carrying out a systematic investigation on the cooperative influences of porosity, functionalization and synergism with quaternary ammonium salts in the cycloaddition reaction of CO2 with propylene oxide, so as to arrive at the underlying mechanism. The catalyst was totally recyclable up to five times without compromising the activity and the extent of heterogeneity was also studied. The effects of various reaction parameters like catalyst–cocatalyst ratio, reaction time and reaction temperature have been investigated.


Since the early 1980s, when Ostrander demonstrated in a practical setting how amplitudes could change with offset on gathers due to the presence of gas, the industry has strived to understand, define, redefine, and improve the technololgy we call amplitude variation with offset (AVO). We have known for decades that AVO is controlled by the various rock physics parameters of the earth as we transmit and receive acoustic signals. However, it has only been in the last few years—due to improved aquisition, processing, and interpretation techniques—that we have been able to derive and better understand some of these rock physics parameters.

Rutherford and Williams in 1989 defined three classes of AVO (Castagna and Swan adding another class a few years later) and the industry now routinely discusses AVO in terms of these classes 1, 2, 3, and 4. AVO interpretation has evolved from just comparing modeled gathers to real gathers, to include approaches such as AVO inversion, elastic impedance, AVO attribute crossplots, lambda-mu-rho analysis, and …


Recent progress in the development of lanthanide and actinide relativistic energy-consistent ab initio pseudopotentials is reported. Lanthanide 4f-in-core and actinide 5f-in-core pseudopotentials form an efficient tool for quantum chemical ab initio and first-principles calculations on larger systems, whenever the detailed electronic structure of the f shell is not of primary interest. The reliability of the 4f-in-core approximation is demonstrated for molecular lanthanide trihalides by comparison of calculated structural data with recommended experimental values. Due to the scarceness of experimental reference data the calibration of the 5f-in-core approximation is performed with respect to results from other more rigorous calculations. Lanthanide 4f-in-valence and actinide 5f-in-valence pseudopotentials allow the study of individual electronic states arising from a given f occupancy in a system. Recent progress to develop highly accurate small-core pseudopotentials which model all-electron calculations ...


We report a novel single-frequency fibre ring laser using self-injection locking with a distributed-feedback (DFB) fibre laser at 1550 nm. The operating wavelength is controlled by a saturable absorber and a DFB fibre laser in the ring cavity the saturable absorber acts as a narrow band-pass filter. In the primary experiment, the laser output exceeds 100mW with the linewidth less than 2kHz. The laser is stable, and no mode-hopping is observed within eight hours. Compared with other cavity designs using spatial hole-burning, our laser shows high controllability.


This paper seeks to clarify the difference between two markers of future time reference in the Cree language. The preverbal particles ta- (~ ka-) and wî- have both generally been treated as future tense markers. While future tense is found to be sufficient characterization for ta-, wî- requires further consideration, resulting in the conclusion that, rather than simple tense, it marks prospective aspect. The characterization of wî- in this way ties together a number of alternate interpretations as secondary semantic and/or pragmatic offshoots of the basic category of the prospective. Though data are presented in the Plains Cree dialect, native‐speaker judgments confirm the arguments for all the major western dialects, Plains, Woods, and Swampy Cree, as spoken in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.


The wealth of new data on neutrinos is easily incorporated in the Electroweak Theory. In this "ν-Standard Model", lepton mixings are distinguished from quark mixings by a unitary matrix coming from the Seesaw. We catalog models in terms of the number of large angles (one or two) in that matrix. Pati-Salam unification implies Cabibbo effects in lepton mixings (MNS). Without such small mixings, the Solar and Atmospheric angles may well be the same, and the CHOOZ angle could vanish: in a wide class of flavor-symmetric models, it is of 𝒪(λ/√2). We discuss a new approximate chiral family symmetry that preserves Froggat-Nielsen, and relates the 5-bar of the second and third families, but not the particles in the 10's. If exact, the electron and down quark are both massless and the atmospheric angle is maximal. We conclude by discussing possible Wolfenstein parametrizations of the MNS matrix, assuming various types of "Cabibbo Flops".


Recent work have addressed the generation of human poses represented by 2D/3D coordinates of human joints for sign language. We use the state of the art in Deep Learning for motion transfer and evaluate them on How2Sign, an American Sign Language dataset, to generate videos of signers performing sign language given a 2D pose skeleton. We evaluate the generated videos quantitatively and qualitatively showing that the current models are not enough to generated adequate videos for Sign Language due to lack of detail in hands.


ACCESSIBILITY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ON PUBLIC FACILITIES IN SURAKARTA The existence of Surakarta regulation number 2 year 2008 about difable equality, then shows that the Government of Surakarta has already committed to pay attention to persons with disabilities . In fact, however, it's seen from the results of previous research that there still many public facilities that are not in accordance with the accessibility standard that is their right. The question is : how the success / failure from accessibility policy for persons with disabilities towards the provision of public facilities in Surakarta? What standard of success / failure about the accessibility policy in Surakarta? The purpose of this research is to explain the success / failure of the persons with disabilities accessibility policy to public facilities, and to explain couse of the success / failure of the persons with disabilities accessibility policy to public facilities. The research was conducted using the theory of public service, persons with disabilities as citizens, accessibility as citizen's right, and implementation of public policy. The method used in this research is qualitative method, data collecting method by using observation, interview, and documentation. In testing the validity and accuracy of data using triangulation technique of source and theory. The result showed from regulation aspect, Government of Surakarta deserves to be appreciated to tried to fulfill the rights of people with disabilities as citizens by providing equality disabilities regulation. However, from implementation aspect, there needs an improvements because the accessibility for persons with disabilities runs optimally can be seens through public facilities condition in Surakarta. The existing of public facilities in Surakarta do not completely ignoring the accessibility guidance which means that there are public facilities that are good enough but more are not optimal due to lack of knowledge and understanding of state organizer as policy maker to the reference of accessibilities persons with disabilities. The lack of persons with disabilities understanding as citizen have more effect to their needs are neglecated. The low of their existance from the political side as a citizen to affect the regulation and even affecting the number during elections so that their involvement is ignorance by policy maker, the involvement of many parties lead to ineffectiveness in policy implementation. The existance of a non-specific budget causes unoptimal construction of public facilities, and the lack of coordination in the form of advocacy conducted by the Social Service with other agencies. Key words : Policy, Accessibility, People With Disabilities.


The evaluation of the scientific activity is an essential element for all the programs of research, technology and development implemented in a society. Scientometrics has contributed to the development of indicators that constitute key tools in the management of scientific and technological policies, and in the processes of strategic decision-making. The current paper is an analysis of the different approaches to the research evaluation from the scientometric perspective. Topics related to the determination of the research quality, the qualitative value of citation analysis, the use of scientometrics indicators in evaluative assessments, the collaboration networks as patterns of scientific development, and the domain analysis as theoretical support to scientometric studies for science evaluation are dealt with. In the XXI century, the strategies were directed to the search of alternatives that allowed the perception of the qualitative dimension inherent in science communication processes, through the use of relative indicators and information visualization techniques, and starting from the implicit recognition of the social and economic conditions where the scientific activity was developed. It is necessary the revision of the scientometric indicators used, as well as the creation of strong information systems to register and process the national scientific production, with the aim to develop evaluative tools that accelerate its growth and improve its visibility and position in the context of the world scientific activity.


MicroRNAs are involved in many cellular and molecular activities and played important roles in many biological and pathological processes, such as tissue formation, cancer development, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, it has been reported that microRNAs can modulate the differentiation and activities of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the key cells that are involved in bone remodeling process. Meanwhile, the results from our and other research groups showed that the expression profiles of microRNAs in the serum and bone tissues are significantly different in postmenopausal women with or without fractures compared to the control. Therefore, it can be postulated that microRNAs might play important roles in bone remodeling and that they are very likely to be involved in the pathological process of postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this review, we will present the updated research on the regulatory roles of microRNAs in osteoblasts and osteoclasts and the expression profiles of microRNAs in osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture patients. The perspective of serum microRNAs as novel biomarkers in bone loss disorders such as osteoporosis has also been discussed.


Menstruation is the discharge of blood from the uterus caused by the release of the endometrium, the output consists of endometrial and stirmal cells. The old blood cells and other gland secretions averaged about 5 days. At the beginning of menstrual levels of extrogen and progesterone, LH decreases or is in the lowest levels during the cycle and the levels of FSH (Foullicle stimulating hoemone) just begin to increase. Sometimes menstruation with pain is termed dismonorrhea. Dismonorrhea is a painful menstrual period, dismonorrhea is usually isolated or is part of menstrual syndrome that is related during menstruation caused by uterine muscle spasms and cause pain at the time of menstruation. This study was conducted to identify the level of anxiety and the level of knowledge of young teenagers about dismonorrhoea in the Yayasan Parulian 4 Porsea of Toba Samosir Regency. By using descriptive design, 46 samples were collected using cluster sampling, data collection was conducted on May-June 2018. After analyzing the data, it is found that the respondents have good knowledge (n = 41: 89,1%) from the good knowledge expected to be the basis for the application of nursing care and improvement and health degree. Anxiety assessment categories are mild, moderate, and severe anxiety. After the research, it was found that the respondents had mild anxiety (n = 42: 91.3%). With mild anxiety is expected to reduce anxiety, worry in the face of dismonorrhoea.


In this letter, we report on the first active coupler developed with the plastic optical fiber technology. The device constructed combines the characteristics of the most important devices arising from this technology, which are switches and couplers. The solution adopted is based on the structure of a passive contact coupler and on the switching properties of a nonquiral nematic liquid crystal. The device designed yields an experimental coupling of 4.5 dB with excess losses under 2.5 dB if the device acts as a coupler; and a dynamic range of 3 dB and switching times of 2 ms if the device acts as a switch.


We consider QCD corrections to Higgs boson production through gluon-gluon fusion in hadron collisions. We compute the cross section, performing the all-order resummation of multiple soft-gluon emission at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic level. Known fixed-order results (up to next-to-next-to-leading order) are consistently included in our calculation. We give phenomenological predictions for Higgs boson production at the Tevatron and at the LHC. We estimate the residual theoretical uncertainty from perturbative QCD contributions. We also quantify the differences obtained by using the presently available sets of parton distributions.


Soil has been a source of wealth for humans for infinite years and it continues so at present. Both mineral and organic amendments have been applied to soil to slow down its progressive impoverishment. Biological activity, mainly microbial activity, plays a key role in the stability and fertility as well as in biogeochemical cycles. Effect of potentially toxic elements on soil microbial activity, the composition of soil microbial community, soil enzyme activities, and soil physiochemical properties have been reviewed in this work.


Although the molecular processes that generate genome diversity at the sequence level have been described in great detail, the underlying causes of genome expansion, degradation, rearrangement, and transfer of genes are less well understood. In this article, we describe the algorithms most frequently used to infer evolutionary relationships based on nucleotide sequence data. We also discuss novel phylogenetic schemes where the gene in the genome, rather than the nucleotide in the gene, represents the basic unit of comparison.


From the functional standpoint, the genome may be considered a collection of three types of sequences: protein encoding, RNA encoding, and non-expressing. Based on the standard sequencing and annotation work, it is now well accepted that a small proportion of the genome has been allocated the job of encoding proteins, while most of the genome encodes RNA, and some DNA sequences are not used for expression. The exact ratio among these three types of sequences varies based on the organism. We asked: Is it possible to artificially encode protein and peptide sequences from naturally non-expressing (dark genome) sequences? This led to proof of the concept of making functional proteins from the intergenic sequences of E.coli (Dhar et al 2009). This study is an extension of the original concept and has been organized around antisense DNA sequences. The full-length antisense gene equivalents in forward and reverse orientations were computationally studied for their structural, cellular location, and functional properties, leading to many interesting observations. The current study points to a huge untapped genomic space that needs to be examined from cell physiology, evolutionary, and application perspectives.


Does conscious perception occur during initial sensory processing, or does it arise later in a supra modal fashion? If conscious access truly depends on supra modal processes, we may be able to induce "asensory perception", where only the semantic features of a meaningful stimulus are accessed, untied to its sensory attributes. Here we tested this prediction by degrading the low-level sensory representations of visual words in the brain using pattern masking, and subsequently presenting audio words that were either semantically related to the masked word or not. We hypothesized these retrospective semantic cues would reactivate the remaining traces of the masked word in the brain, and induce awareness of any information that was not disrupted by masking. In three separate experiments we show that, when presented with retrospective cues that are semantically related to the masked word, participants are better at detecting the presence of the preceding masked word and naming it, while at the same time being unable to report its visual features. In other words, participants could consciously detect and recognize the preceding masked word, without knowing what it looked like. These findings suggest that non-sensory information can be consciously accessed in relative independence from the build-up of sensory representations.


ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, justification for orders to shelter in place have emphasized the vulnerability of older people. Although other at-risk groups were sometimes mentioned, the emphasis on older people could have effects on attitudes about aging and older people for decades to come. This essay provides a comprehensive biopsychosocial description of ageism and discusses the pandemic as a "focusing event" that exemplifies the extreme social consequence of ageism for the entire older population. It suggests revisions to the Elder Justice Act and utilization of programs such as the Reframing Aging, Age-Friendly University, and Ageism First Aid initiatives to reduce ageism in the wake of the pandemic.


Spatio,temporal distribution of Synodontis scha!l in Asa lake was studied for 24 months (March 1991 to February 1993). Distribution of individual was: 28.40 % (surface), 35.60 % (shore), and 36.0 % (bottom). Catches wilhin lhe habitat were nOl significantly differen!. Similarly catches within lhe habitats during the periods of wet (May lO October) and dry (November lO April) seasons were nOl significanlly differen!. There was seasonal occurrence of lhe fish al the bottom because the catches from lhis habitat in October (4.80 to 9.10%) and November (0.00 lO 8.70%), corresponding with the period of fiood and high water levels, were relatiyely low due lO feeding and reproductive phenomena. Although catch was inversely proportional to lhe water levels, this was not significant in this experimental gil! net catches. Synodontis schall was caught throughout lhe sam, pling period indicating its successful adaptation wilhin lhe environment due to low predation and its diverse feeding habits


The texts of Luigi Pirandello, one of the literary giants of this century, have been subject to widely different readings by successive generations of critics. These essays present an up-to-date re-evaluation of Pirandello's works, which include poetry, novels, short stories, plays, essays, letters, and memoirs. Arranged in four sections - Introduction, Structures, Meanings, and Innovations - the volume presents a variety of provocative viewpoints and offers an accurate picture of the network of issues inhabiting the author's oeuvre. In the introductory section the editors provide an informative overview of the status of Pirandellian studies today. The book examines the recent upsurge of interest in Pirandello and offers outstanding material for courses in Italian studies, comparative studies, theatre, and the humanities.


The 1938 British Empire Exhibition held in Glasgow was the last of its kind, a spectacular event that celebrated the British Empire and sought to bring global attention to Scotland. The exhibition was a celebration of empire at a time when anti-imperial movements were growing in strength across the globe, and a hopeful expression of peaceful world unity at a time when war seemed increasingly inevitable. This essay considers the ambivalences at the heart of this exhibition through readings of various literary responses to it in contemporary journals, the popular press, and ephemera. It argues for the particular significance of the location for the exhibition, positing the 1938 British Empire Exhibition as a cultural event that suggests Scotland's complex negotiation of various international networks and identities as well as its ambivalent place in Britain, Europe. Glasgow, 1938 becomes a significant place and time to view the emergence of modern Britain.


Determination of prayer times in al-Durus al-Falakiyyah uses a list of logarithms with 5 decimals. The existence of this logarithmic list is now very difficult to find, and what is circulating today is a list of logarithms with 4 decimal places and 3 decimal places. If the list of logarithms is used, it will certainly bring up the difference from the original calculation. This study attempts to answer the question whether the list of decimal 4 and 3 decimal places is appropriate for the reckoning of prayer in al-Durus al-Falakiyyah as a substitute for a list of 5 decimal logarithms. An assessment of its feasibility can be seen from whether or not the difference arising from the original calculation can be ignored or not. The results showed that the use of a list of 4 decimal logarithms raises a very small difference, which is an average of 1.12 seconds, so that the difference can be ignored when rounded. But to use a logarithmic decimal 3 list, the difference that is raised can reach 52 seconds. The difference cannot be ignored when rounded and can change the results of the original calculation.


Abstract Disturbance by biomass removal is a crucial mechanism maintaining the diversity of Palaearctic grasslands, which are unique biodiversity hotspots. The century-long traditional land use of mowing, grazing and burning, has been fundamentally changed in many parts of the Palaearctic. Due to socio-economic changes, large areas of former pastures and meadows have been abandoned, leading to a succession towards secondary scrublands or forest and the encroachment of competitor grass species, all leading to a decrease in biodiversity. Here we report the causes and consequences of the cessation of traditional grassland management regimes, provide strategies for reducing the impact of abandonment and consider these from the perspective of sustainability. We consider the possibilities for initiating sustainable management regimes in the contemporary socio-economic environment, and discuss the prospects and limitation of alternative management regimes in the conservation of grassland biodiversity. These themes are also the core topics of this Special Feature, edited by the EDGG. We hope that this Special Feature will encourage steps towards more sustainable strategies for the conservation of Palaearctic grasslands and the integration of the sustainability perspective into their conservation.


In this study, we propose a novel CLAHE-based nighttime image contrast enhancement approach for vehicle detection under nighttime conditions, which improves the contrast of low-quality nighttime images while preventing over-enhancement by employing the image dehazing technique. To implement and evaluate our proposed contrast enhancement method on nighttime images, we consider a scenario of using a camera-based Internet of Things (IoT)-edge computing device for traffic and road surveillance. Edge-computing and IoT technology enable significant amounts of novel studies to advance traffic system monitoring, sensing, control, and management. Considering multiple metrics of image enhancement quality, the proposed nighttime image contrast enhancement method outperforms some existing well-performing CLAHE-based methods. To provide accurate vehicle detection under nighttime conditions and different challenges, including vehicle overlapping, low-light conditions, camera vibrations, and image distortion, must be addressed. For this purpose, a deep neural network based on YOLOv5 architecture has been designed and trained using our custom-labeled dataset. The developed neural network is proven to be effective in the detection of different vehicles under low-light ambient conditions using video captured from a stationary camera. Experiments on our dataset show that the proposed contrast enhancement method greatly improves the detection performance of the trained YOLOv5 model under low-environment-light conditions compared with the model trained using unenhanced images. The model trained with enhanced images can provide an improvement of 5.7% on F1 score, 6.3% on mAP0.5, and 3.4% on mAP0.5:0.95 under specific conditions.


A ColE1 plasmid from the Clarke and Carbon collection [Clarke, L. & Carbon, J. (1976) Cell 9, 91-99] that contains a 14.4-kilobase Escherichia coli DNA insert complements the rnc-105 mutation, which destroys the activity of the RNA-processing enzyme RNase III. This insert and smaller restriction endonuclease fragments derived from it were cloned into the plasmid pBR329. A number of these recombinant plasmids complemented the rnc-105 mutation in a recA genetic background. The smallest cloned fragment that compensated for the rnc-105 mutation was 1.3 kilobase in size. This fragment led to the synthesis of two polypeptides. One of these polypeptides was 25,300 daltons and corresponded in size to the subunit of RNase III. Fragments cloned in opposite orientations led to synthesis of RNase III, indicating that the cloned fragments contained an endogenous promoter. Extracts of an rnc+ E. coli strain containing an rnc+ plasmid had at least 10 times more RNase III activity than did an analogous strain containing the pBR329 plasmid.


Rat kidney cells infected with a temperature-sensitive mutant of Kirsten sarcoma virus (Ki-MSV ts 371) expressed Ki-Ras at 37 degrees C but not at 42 degrees C. This expression of the oncogene was accompanied by an increase in the activity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and the accumulation of putrescine. Elevation of cellular polyamine content triggered the transcription of c-myc and c-fos. alpha-Difluoromethylornithine, a specific inhibitor of ODC, prevented the transcription of c-myc in cells grown at 37 degrees C. Putrescine, at physiological concentrations, triggered the transcription of c-myc and c-fos in cells grown at 42 degrees C, when Ki-ras was not expressed. It has been suggested that polyamines participate in a cascade of events leading to the communication between membrane-bound and nuclear oncogene products. These findings may attribute a new function to the naturally occurring polyamines.


The East-West dichotomy is a conceptual framework which has historically been used as the basis for analysing cultural differences and interaction. It is also a deeply flawed conceptual framework, on both a theoretical and practical level. This thesis seeks to establish and analyse its presence in the study of Japanese Shakespeare productions by looking at the Western reception of Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.
Following a basic introduction, the first chapter establishes the concept of the East-West dichotomy and its flaws. The second chapter offers a brief introduction to Throne of Blood. The third chapter analyses the treatment of Throne of Blood by Tetsuo Kishi and Graham Bradshaw in their book Shakespeare in Japan. The fourth chapter analyses Paula von Loewenfeldt's article "Weaving the spider's web: interpretation of character in Kurosawa Akira's Throne of Blood (Kumonosu-jo)". The fifth chapter analyses Lei Jin's article "Silence and Sound in Kurosawa's Throne of Blood".
This thesis concludes that the East-West dichotomy has indeed been present in the Western reception of Throne of Blood, and that its presence has been deeply problematic. It also concludes that some of the most recent critics have successfully avoided using the East-West dichotomy in their analyses. It ends on the note that though the East-West dichotomy may be disappearing, care should be taken to avoid its return.


The influence of low density lipoproteins (LDL)-cholesterol (1.69 +/- 0.08 mg/ml) and of high density lipoproteins (HDL)-cholesterol (0.62 +/- 0.09 mg/ml), respectively, on the levels of 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha and TXB2 in the perfusates of rat aortas perfused under pulsatile pressure was studied. After passage through the aortas the concentration of LDL-cholesterol was significantly decreased in the perfusates, whereas the HDL-cholesterol level was unchanged. In comparison to controls, perfused with lipoprotein free solution, the concentration of 6-oxo-PGF1 alpha was significantly decreased more than 50% by LDL and the TXB2 level was enhanced significantly by approximately 50%. This results in a significant rise of the TXB2/6-oxo-PGF1 alpha ratio in the perfusates. HDL did not significantly change the ratio of these eicosanoids in the perfusates. These results suggest that this concentration of LDL enhanced the formation of the proaggregatory TXA2 and decreased the formation of the antiaggregatory PGI2 in rat aortas perfused under pulsatile pressure. The proaggregatory action of an elevated level of LDL during the development of atherosclerosis in men may be also mediated by changes in the metabolism of eicosanoids of the vessel wall.


As Australia's population ages, the demand for housing in the private rental sector is expected to increase. Yet, private renting continues to be a problematic tenure that has proved difficult to regulate. Households subsisting on income support payments – Newstart Allowance, Age Pension and Disability Support Pension – are particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of the tenure. Empirical research has drawn attention to the fragile housing circumstances of women who are ageing in the private rental sector and it is claimed that this distinct group are at risk of experiencing first-time homelessness.
This thesis contributes to the nascent research by exploring how older women who are renting achieve housing security and experience 'home'. Pierre Bourdieu's (1990a) 'theory of practice' is used as a heuristic framework for understanding how women renters embody the tenured dwelling (space) to the experience of 'home' (place) and for exploring their socialised subjectivities.
Analysis of interviews undertaken establishes how 'home' is best understood as a feature of the 'field' (the Australian housing system). I argue that the women strive to affect housing security and positive experiences of 'home' by negotiating the possibilities and constraints of their position as long-term renters. I claim that the women's capacities for influencing 'home' (the embodied place), social identities (as long-term renters), privacy (in the tenured dwelling) and choice (to affect future housing circumstances) determines their achievement of housing security. The conclusion is that the capacities of older women renters to affect their housing pathways are shaped by the interplay between broader structural conditions and the 'habitus' of a social milieu.


Background: Distraction histiogenesis is known to enhance vascularity and stimulate new tissue formation. Its use in Kienbock's disease is not reported in the literature, so we proposed to study the outcome after distraction histiogenesis in treating this condition. Materials and Methods: This prospective study comprised of six patients (two male and four female) with mean age 18.16 years (range 21-35 years) with clinicoradiologically diagnosed Lichtman stage II (n = 3) and stage III (n = 3) Kienbock's disease with a mean duration of symptoms 6.67 months. The ulnar variance was neutral in two and was negative in four patients treated with the application of Joshi external stabilization system (JESS) across the wrist. The gradual distraction was done at a rate of 0.5 mm/day. After the distraction of 5-7 mm, the distractors were kept static for 3 weeks. The wrist was mobilized by using hinged distractors for next 3 weeks. Later short cockup splint was used for further 4 weeks. At the end of minimum 2 years, an assessment was done on the basis of relief of symptoms, ability to perform activities of daily living, range of movement at wrist, grip strength, and on radiology (change in the density of bone and C:MC ratio i.e ratio of carpal height to third metacarpal height). Results: The mean follow-up was of 4.5 years (range 2-8 years). The average duration of treatment was 5.3 months (range 4.5-6 months), and the duration of distraction (both static and hinged) was 8 weeks. Clinically all the patients were relieved of the symptoms with an increase in the range of wrist movement (ulnar deviation increased from 20.8° to 29.5°, radial deviation from 17.5° to 21°, dorsiflexion from 37.5° to 52.5°, and palmer flexion from 38.3° to 47.5°). At the last follow-up, activities of daily living were not affected, and all the patients were on their previous jobs without any fresh complaints. The average grip strength increased to 73-86% of normal. Radiologically the C:MC ratio (ratio of carpal height to third metacarpal height) did not show any significant improvement, but the density of lunate decreased. Conclusion: Distraction histiogenesis when used in Lichtman stage II and III with negative or neutral ulnar variance gives good symptomatic relief, allowing return to normal activities. This study has also shown that reparative process is possible in avascular bone by distraction. The authors recommend further research in this modality of treatment.


A modified radiometric procedure is developed for estimation of amine oxidase activity. The method avoids withdrawal of samples in order to measure the radioactivity of reaction products. The enzymatic reaction, extraction of the products and measurement of the radioactivity were carried out in the same scintillation vials. Although the experimental error was shown to be higher as compared with the conventional procedure it did not interfere in the practical use of the modified procedure up to 0.1 microCi concentration of substrate per a sample. The modified procedure exhibited high efficiency in estimation of the amine oxidase activity in soluble fraction of human placenta. The variation coefficient of the method was 5.6%.


In this work we develop a spatial model to explain local megers and acquisitions (M&As) in European retail banking systems as strategic reactions to changes in regulation and economic integration. We show that local banking concentration increases market power and contributes to build new barriers to entry. Local M&As yield positive social results in the ...rst economic integration stages, but could damage welfare in more advenced stages in cases where they serve to safeguard price agreements in front of foreign competition. Our results seem to conform to experiences of most European banking markets during the last two decades.


The American People and South Africa is the second collection of essays to result from a joint research project of the South African Institute of International Affairs of Johannesburg and the World Peace Foundation of Boston. Where the first volume, Conflict and Compromise in South Africa (D.C. Heath 1980), added to the massive literature on political dynamics within South Africa, The American People and South Africa focuses on the process by which U.S. policy toward South Africa is made.


Multihop data delivery in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) suffers from the fact that vehicles are highly mobile and inter-vehicle links are frequently disconnected. In such networks, for efficient multihop routing of road safety information (e.g. road accident and emergency message) to the area of interest, reliable communication and fast delivery with minimum delay are mandatory. In this paper, we propose a multihop vehicle-to-infrastructure routing protocol named Vertex-Based Predictive Greedy Routing (VPGR), which predicts a sequence of valid vertices (or junctions) from a source vehicle to fixed infrastructure (or a roadside unit) in the area of interest and, then, forwards data to the fixed infrastructure through the sequence of vertices in urban environments. The well known predictive directional greedy routing mechanism is used for data forwarding phase in VPGR. The proposed VPGR leverages the geographic position, velocity, direction and acceleration of vehicles for both the calculation of a sequence of valid vertices and the predictive directional greedy routing. Simulation results show significant performance improvement compared to conventional routing protocols in terms of packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay and routing overhead.


Background: Skin tags (STs) are common benign lesions composed of loose fibrous tissue and occur mainly on the neck and flexures as small, soft protrusions. They are common and are merely considered as a cosmetic problem. However, they have been associated with various clinical conditions and that with metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been a matter of special concern. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of MetS in patients with STs and healthy controls. Materials and Methods: We performed a hospital-based case-control study on 30 adult patients with STs and 30 controls. MetS was diagnosed by the presence of 3 or more of the South Asian Modified National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Panel III criteria. Results: MetS was significantly more common in STs patients than in controls (70% vs. 30%, P = 0.0019). Psoriatic patients also had a higher frequency of triglyceridemia and abdominal obesity (P < 0.05) There was no significant difference in the fasting blood sugar, high density lipoprotein levels, and presence of hypertension among patients with psoriasis and controls. Conclusion: STs could be considered as a warning sign for MetS and their presence may help in the early detection of at-risk patients for cardiovascular morbidities.


The United Nations-led process of updating the 1998 international guidelines related to infant feeding and the prevention of maternal-to-child-transmission (pMTCT) of HIV called for a review of recent programmatic experience in addition to a review of the new scientific and medical evidence. This document represents an attempt to compile and synthesise reports on a wide variety of relevant programmes conducted since the 1998 guidelines were issued. The programmes presented here range in scale from small community research projects to national programmes. This document is the product of a one-year collaboration between the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Quality Assurance Project (QAP) managed by University Research Co. LLC (URC). Valuable technical inputs were also received from the World Health Organization (WHO) and many individuals and organisations directly involved in HIV and infant feeding programmes. This review brings together in one document a number of important experiences and provides insights that were useful to those involved in updating international guidelines and those involved in adapting them to local settings. It should also serve as a valuable resource to those involved in developing or scaling-up pMTCT-related programmes in the future. (excerpt)


The purpose of this paper is to find an innovative, high efficiency, practical and low cost control system structure with an optimized control strategy for small-scale grid-connected wind turbine with direct-driven permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG). This research adopts the sensorless vector control strategy based on phase-locked loop (PLL) for PMSG control, and the grid-side inverter control strategy is based on the single-phase PLL. The simulation demonstrates that the sensorless control strategy and single-phase grid-side inverter control strategy are practical solutions for grid-connected PMSG wind turbines, and they can provide both generator speed control for optimized wind power tracking and good power quality control for electricity delivered to the grid. The designed system offers many unique advantages, including simple topology, optimized control strategy, cost-effective and fast respond to grid failures.


The time-resolved microwave reflection technique is widely used for process control in the photovoltaic community. We demonstrate how to optimize the sensitivity and the reliability of carrier lifetime measurements with this method. Our approach is based on a dielectric multilayer model that allows us to calculate microwave reflection transients from excess carrier decay after pulsed laser excitation. We find that the reflected microwave power mirrors the carrier decay only if the reflector is positioned appropriately.


In the first half of this paper, we solve the problem of how many different sepak takraw ball patterns can be made from six polypropylene bands of different colors. An important point here is chirality. In the paper' ss econd half, we adopt a mathematical point of view to discuss the positions of the 60 carbon atoms and single an dd ouble bonds in C60 fullerene, whic hh as the shape of a truncated icosahedron.


For at least a generation, medicine was dominated by the great pathological school. During this era, American students flocked to the German universities, especially to Vienna, where the emperor had decreed that everyone dying in the General Hospital should have an autopsy, a great advantage over the American hospitals, where permission from the family of the deceased was required, and often refused. Osier, the leader of this school in the United States, was so successful in academic medicine that his type of training, that of a gross pathologist, was widely copied. When I was a student, every professor of medicine occupying an important chair in America had had extensive autopsy experience. In those days, the autopsy room was the center of the hospital's research activities, and the privilege of doing the autopsies was much sought after. The chiefs gathered there, and the clinicopathological conference was considered the last word in


Finding optimal structures for neural networks is remains an open problem, despite the rich array of literature on the application of neural networks in different areas of science and engineering. The stochastic nature of operations common in complex systems makes point prediction performance of neural network metamodels an additional challenge. We propose a method for selecting the best structure of a neural network metamodel. For selecting the network structure, the new method uses interval prediction capability of neural networks and chooses a topology that yields the narrowest prediction band for targets. This is an improvement on traditional criteria, such as mean square error or mean absolute percentage error. As a case study, the interval prediction method is applied to a metamodel of a complex system composed of many inextricably interconnected entities and stochastic processes. The demonstrated results expressly show that selecting the network structure based on the proposed method yields more reliable estimates.


: In indoor wireless environments such as warehouses and facto-ries, since radio propagation occurs in complicated ways and there are large moving objects like Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), from the perspective of network management, maintaining wireless communication quality is challenging. Because the failures in wireless communications may lead to undesirable delay or even stop in the manufacturing processes, it is desirable not only to detect degradations in link quality, but also to estimate the cause of the frame losses, to recover from the link failures as quick as possible. In this paper, we propose a sensing system that allows comprehensive analysis between physical and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer information, and allows estimation of the cause of the frame losses due to signal attenuation or interference. We implemented a prototype sensor node using an FPGA board and conducted an experiment to investigate the accuracy of the estimation. From the experiment, we con fi rmed that the prototype sensor node can determine whether the cause is due to attenuation or interference with high accuracy.


Terpersie Castle appears to be the earliest dated example of the characteristic Scottish "three-stepped" or Z-type of castle, which is specially common in the regions north of the Mounth. The ruins are described and illustrated. The ruins of Towie Castle are also briefly considered.


With the explosive increase of User Generated Content (UGC), UGC video quality assessment (VQA) becomes more and more important for improving users' Quality of Experience (QoE). However, most existing UGC VQA studies only focus on the visual distortions of videos, ignoring that the user's QoE also depends on the accompanying audio signals. In this paper, we conduct the first study to address the problem of UGC audio and video quality assessment (AVQA). Specifically, we construct the first UGC AVQA database named the SJTU-UAV database, which includes 520 in-the-wild UGC audio and video (A/V) sequences, and conduct a user study to obtain the mean opinion scores of the A/V sequences. The content of the SJTU-UAV database is then analyzed from both the audio and video aspects to show the database characteristics. We also design a family of AVQA models, which fuse the popular VQA methods and audio features via support vector regressor (SVR). We validate the effectiveness of the proposed models on the three databases. The experimental results show that with the help of audio signals, the VQA models can evaluate the perceptual quality more accurately. The database will be released to facilitate further research.


A new representation of Lagrangians of 4D nonlinear electrodynamics is considered. In this new formulation, in parallel with the standard Maxwell field strength F, an auxiliary bispinor (tensor) field V is introduced. The gauge field strength appears only in bilinear terms of the full Lagrangian, while the interaction Lagrangian E depends on the auxiliary fields, E = E(V). Two types of self-duality inherent in the nonlinear electrodynamics models admit a simple characterization in terms of the function E. The continuous SO(2) duality symmetry between nonlinear equations of motion and Bianchi identities amounts to requiring E to be a function of the SO(2) invariant quartic combination |V|^4. The discrete self-duality (or self-duality under Legendre transformation) amounts to a weaker condition E(V)= E(iV). This approach can be generalized to a system of n Abelian gauge fields exhibiting U(n) duality. The corresponding interaction Lagrangian should be U(n) invariant function of n bispinor auxiliary fields.


The integration of mediation in court practices, on the one hand intended to avoid the accumulation of cases, but on the other hand increase the burden of the judges. For that reason, it is understandable if the success rate is very small mediation divorce case. Paramediator limited time availability, lack of skills/skill mediator, lack of motivation and persistence finish the case, the absence of a mediator from outside the court registered a problematic instrument relating to the judge mediator. This condition presupposes the involvement of non-judge mediators, who have local knowledge base to engage in mediation cases. In fact, the regulations will it also looked very normative-procedural. In addition, this type of divorce case is rather complicated, especially if motivated by domestic violence, disharmony, the presence of third parties into its own problematic when mediated. But the most decisive is the parties who appeared since the beginning has been shut down to peace, making its implementation more complicated problems of mediation in Gorontalo Religious Court and Limboto Religious Court.


OBJECTIVE
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT), most frequently used with dogs, is being used increasingly as an adjunctive alternative treatment for psychiatric patients. AAT with larger animals, such as horses, may have unique benefits. In this randomized controlled study, equine and canine forms of AAT were compared with standard treatments for hospitalized psychiatric patients to determine AAT effects on violent behavior and related measures.

METHODS
The study included 90 patients with recent in-hospital violent behavior or highly regressed behavior. Hospitalization at the 500-bed state psychiatric hospital was two months or longer (mean 5.4 years). Participants were randomly selected to receive ten weekly group therapy sessions of standardized equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), canine-assisted psychotherapy (CAP), enhanced social skills psychotherapy, or regular hospital care. Participants' mean age was 44, 37% were female, 76% had diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and 56% had been committed involuntarily for civil or forensic reasons. Violence-related incident reports filed by staff in the three months after study intake were compared with reports two months preintake.

RESULTS
Interventions were well tolerated. Analyses revealed an intervention group effect (F=3.00, df=3 and 86, p=.035); post hoc tests showed specific benefits of EAP (p<.05). Similar AAT effects were found for the incidence of 1:1 clinical observation (F=2.70, df=3 and 86, p=.051); post hoc tests suggested benefits of CAP (p=.058) as well as EAP (p=.082). Covariance analyses indicated that staff can predict which patients are likely to benefit from EAP (p=.01).

CONCLUSIONS
AAT, and perhaps EAP uniquely, may be an effective therapeutic modality for long-term psychiatric patients at risk of violence.


Background Ankylosing spondylitis causes progressive postural deformities [1]. Objectives We aimed to assess the impact of postural deformities on balance. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 29 AS patients and 21 healthy controls were included. For assessing exercise capacity and dynamic balance, timed up-and-go test, 5 times sit-to-stand test, gait speed and six-minute walk test were performed. Romberg tests were used to assess static balance and proprioception, while Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), Functional Gait Assessment (FGA), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Activity Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and functional reach test were used to assess dynamic balance and risk of falling. Using Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) scores, AS patients with scores 0-4 were assigned to subgroup AS1, while those with scores 5-10 were assigned to subgroup AS2. Results In the whole group of AS patients, 5 times sit-to-stand test, tandem Romberg test with eyes closed, BDI, BBS and ABC scores were significantly worse than the healthy controls (p<0.05). In the AS2 subgroup, five additional parameters including timed up and go test, 6 minute walk test, functional reach test, FGA and DHI scores were also significantly worse than the healthy controls (p<0.05). Only BBS scores were significantly worse in AS2 subgroup compared to AS1 subgroup. Conclusions Patients with AS have poorer static and dynamic balance compared to healthy subjects [2-4]. Although significantly worse BBS scores in the AS2 subgroup, compared to AS1 subgroup may suggest the presence of more severe dynamic balance problems in advanced disease, future studies including larger number of patients are necessary to confirm this assumption. References Khan MA, (2002) Ankylosing spondylitis: introductory comments on its diagnosis and treatment. Ann Rheum Dis 61 Suppl 3: p. iii3-7. doi:10.1136/ard.61.suppl_3.iii3 Aydog E, Depedibi R, Bal A,Eksioglu E, Unlu E,Cakci A, Dynamic postural balance in ankylosing spondylitis patients. Rheumatology (Oxford), 45(4): p. 445-8. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kei192 Durmus B, Altay Z, Ersoy Y, Baysal O,Dogan E, (2010) Postural stability in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Disabil Rehabil, 2010. 32(14): p. 1156-62. doi: 10.3109/0963828090342831 Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.1087


A highly efficient hydroesterification of alkynes employing aryl formates has been developed without the use of external carbon monoxide and at ambient pressure. The reaction in the presence of a palladium-xantphos catalyst system selectively affords α,β-unsaturated esters in good to high yields. Use of an aryl formate is crucial and alkyl formates did not react at all. The hydroesterification of norbornene and terminal alkenes also readily proceeded under similar reaction conditions. A mechanistic study showed that conversion of aryl formates to carbon monoxide and phenol derivatives occurred in the hydroesterification. Xantphos is highly effective as a ligand both in the conversion of aryl formates and the hydroesterification reactions.