The aim of the article is to research one of the segments of modern historiographical situation. The use of methods of historiographical analysis allows to identify the state of development of the issue and to offer methodological recommendations for determining the prospects of historiographical synthesis. It is determined that the traditions of studying social and intellectual history in Ukrainian historiography began to develop in the second half of the 19th century. However, the evolution of these areas in the world humanities had a very superficial impact on it. Historiographic inertia still rather rigidly outlines the disciplinary fields. Thus, the key research object for intellectual history is still the history of political thought, for social history – the history of large social groups. Historians are still interested in socio-political currents, social and economic processes and phenomenon in frames established by Soviet and nationally-oriented historiography. Personological and ideological canons, formed in the early 20th century, with minor changes survived up to the 21st century as a set of ideas and figures responsible predominantly for the Ukrainian national revival. Insufficient basis on empirical material and superficial fascination with theoretical constructions did not allow reaching a more adequate level of understanding of past reality. Some attempts to overcome the disciplinary distinction and research inertia did not cause fundamental changes. The scientific novelty is connected with comprehension of practical experience and observations of the historiographical process, which led to the belief that the time of hermetic approaches has passed. Despite some doubts about potential of interdisciplinarity, that have emerged recently, we think that the unity of social and intellectual history may demonstrate a new quality in comprehension of the native past. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the interaction of these areas under the label of еру social history of ideas dictates the expansion of sources, personalities and methodological approaches, which allows neutralizing the beliefs that precede research and analytical categories to be born from empirical data. It turned out that the synthesis of mental and social-economic can be quite productive. It can essentially change the notions on both socio-economic peculiarities and intellectual situation in Ukrainian regions of the Russian empire. Type of article: theoretical and methodological.


This paper will explore the ethical impacts of the use of affective computing by engineers and roboticists who program their machines to mimic and manipulate human emotions in order to evoke loving or amorous reactions from their human users. We will see that it does seem plausible that some people might buy a love machine if it were created, but it is argued here that principles from machine ethics have a role to play in the design of these machines. This is best achieved by applying what is known about the philosophy of love, the ethics of loving relationships, and the philosophical value of the erotic in the early design stage of building robust artificial companions. The paper concludes by proposing certain ethical limits on the manipulation of human psychology when it comes to building sex robots and in the simulation of love in such machines. In addition, the paper argues that the attainment of erotic wisdom is an ethically sound goal and that it provides more to loving relationships than only satisfying physical desire. This fact may limit the possibility of creating a machine that can fulfill all that one should want out of erotic love unless a machine can be built that would help its user attain this kind of love.


Design research is generative, intuitive, experiential, and tactical. Documenting the design research process helps to communicate these decisions, judgements, and values that are embodied in design products. Yet, practices for documenting design research are underreported in the CHI community, particularly for immersive design research field studies. We contribute the "Debrief O'Clock" fieldnote practice for documenting design research field studies, comprising collaborative discussion sessions and the production of written research accounts. We show how the Debrief O'Clock practice emerged in the context of a Digital Community Noticeboard project with a very remote Australian Aboriginal community, and explain three key purposes of Debrief O'Clock as: 1) an early stage data recording and analysis process; 2) a tactical manoeuvre in responsive project planning; and 3) a mechanism for personal debriefing and reflexivity. We conclude with a series of open practical, ethical, and methodological questions to advance the discussion of design research documentation practices.


We introduce a set of iterative equations that exactly solves the size distribution of components on small arbitrary graphs after the random removal of edges. We also demonstrate how these equations can be used to predict the distribution of the node partitions (i.e., the constrained distribution of the size of each component) in undirected graphs. Besides opening the way to the theoretical prediction of percolation on arbitrary graphs of large but finite size, we show how our results find application in graph theory, epidemiology, percolation and fragmentation theory.


An immunology-based in vivo screening regime was used to assess the potential pathogenicity of biotechnology-related microbes. Strains of Bacillus cereus (Bc), Bacillus subtilis (Bs), Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), and Bt commercial products (CPs) were tested. Balb/c mice were endotracheally instilled with purified spores, diluted CP, or vegetative cells (VC) (live or dead). Exposed mice were evaluated for changes in behavioral and physical symptoms, bacterial clearance, pulmonary granulocytes, and pulmonary and circulatory pyrogenic cytokines (interleukins (IL)-1β, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α), as well as acute phase biomarkers (fibrinogen and serum amyloid A). Except for some differences in clearance rates, no marked effects were observed in mice exposed to any spore at 106 or 107 colony forming units (cfu). In contrast, live Bc or Bt VCs (105 or 106 cfu) produced shock-like symptoms (lethargy, hunched appearance, ruffled fur, and respiratory distress), and 11–200-fold elevations in pyrogenic cytokines at 2-h post-exposure. In the study, 4-h effects included increased lethargy, ocular discharge, and 1.5–4-fold rise in circulatory acute phase markers, but no indications of recovery. Bs VC did not produce any changes in symptoms or biomarkers. After 2 or 4 h of exposure to dead VC, increases of only plasma IL-1β and TNF-α (4.6- and 12.4-fold, respectively) were observed. These findings demonstrate that purified spores produced no marked effects in mice compared to that of metabolically active bacteria. This early screening regime was successful in distinguishing the pathogenicity of the different Bacillus species, and might be useful for assessing the relative hazard potential of other biotechnology-related candidate strains.


In this paper, we consider wireless positioning using Received Signal Strength (RSS) fingerprinting. To obtain good accuracy, this technique requires a database containing a high density of up-to-date fingerprints. However, as acquiring fingerprints through training is labor intensive and the indoor topology is subject to changes, a high density fingerprint database cannot always be obtained. On the other hand, the time to retrieve data from a database with high density can be too high for real-time positioning. To tackle these issues, we introduce the Hierarchical Positioning Algorithm (HPA). In this algorithm, we divide the database into a number of sub-databases with different densities, each containing a sufficiently small number of fingerprints to reduce the data retrieval time. The algorithm starts with a coarse estimate at the highest level, and gradually improves the accuracy in going to the lowest level. This HPA technique requires the construction of sub-databases containing fingerprints that are properly selected to obtain the wanted level of accuracy. This paper considers two algorithms to construct the database: the Minimum Distance Algorithm (MDA) to select the reference points, and the Local Gaussian Process (LGP) algorithm to determine the RSS values at the selected reference points. Simulation results show that the hierarchical algorithm, combined with MDA and LGP to construct the sub-databases, is a fast algorithm that can achieve high accuracy, even with a database having a variable density of fingerprints.


The results of analysis of the state, the dynamics and problems of tourist development in Russia, Rostov and Krasnodar regions are notated, trends and prospects of tourist development are defined, and the recommendations of overcoming accumulated problems and contradictions are established


This paper analyzes the effect of ±800 kV Yun-Guang ultra HVDC transmission system, which operates respectively in the interconnection and island modes, on the voltage profile of the receiving-end Guangdong Power Grid during normal operation and after single-polar/bipolar blocked faults. Countermeasures are presented in terms of normal voltage control, coordination of three lines of defense and collocation of dynamic reactive-power compensation and so on. Also, some suggestions of reinforcing demand side management are proposed to solve the problem of under voltage load tripping (UVLT). This work is important for Guangdong Power Grid's receiving power from Yun-Guang ultra HVDC transmission system safely and the successful implementation of the Chinese west-to-east power transmission policy.


analytically oriented ones, tell little to those familiar with the AngloAmerican literature, but I found those based on the actual psychotherapy of offenders informative, notably the chapters by Dr. St3rup (Herstedvester, Denmark), Dr. Roosenburg (van der Hoever-Kliniek, Utrecht, Holland), Dr. Engell (T3bingen, Germany), Dr. G. Mauch (Hohenasperg) and R. M. Mauch (Heidelberg, Germany) and Dr. Sluga and Dr. Griinberger (Vienna). Most of these authors describe treatment approaches and actual experiences in concrete terms, adducing case histories. The Reverend M. Skambraks (Rockenburg, Germany), a psychologically oriented prison chaplain working in juvenile institutions, quotes interesting case material.


This study considers instances of voice quality settings under a sound-symbolic and synesthetic perspective, focusing on the auditory impressions these settings might have on listeners' attributions of meaning effects and associations between vocal and visual features related to emotional expression. Three perceptual experiments are carried out. The first experiment examined the impressionistic effects of eight voice quality settings characterized by differences in pitch. The second experiment examined the impressionistic effects of seven voice quality settings characterized by productions with the presence or absence of turbulent airflow, irregularity, and tenseness. The third experiment investigated associations between facial expressions of basic emotions and voice quality characteristics. Data are considered in terms of acoustic (fundamental frequency values), articulatory (reduced or expanded length of the vocal tract), perceptual impressions of size (big/small), strength (strong/weak), brightness (dark, clear), and distinctiveness (muffled/distinct), and visual features (facial expressions of the basic emotions sadness, happiness, anger, disgust, fear, and neutrality). The results provide corroborating evidence of existing links between sound and meaning and are discussed in relation to the frequency, production, sirenic biological codes, phonetic metaphors, and the vocal and facial gestures involved in emotional expression.


It is not allowable for the economic policy to be uncoordinated
that means to allow monetary and fiscal policies to aim at
different targets or to aim at the given target in principally
different and incompatible ways. Monetary policy should be
determined with regard to fiscal policy objectives and on the
other hand, fiscal policy should allow for the fact that a
given measure will provoke a corresponding response of monetary
policy. Uncoordinated implementation of each policy will
probably make the situation worse. It will lead to overloading
one policy and to replacing one imbalance by another. In better
case the imbalance will be successfully eliminated, but with
higher social costs than in case of a co-ordinated course of
action. Problems of mutual co-ordination of monetary and fiscal
policies will depend on two basic facts: (i) on the
legislatively enshrined relationship between the government and
the central bank (i.e. the degree of central-bank independence)
and (ii) on setting macroeconomic targets, i.e. understanding
the concept of macroeconomic balance or, as the case may be,
quantification of the imbalance, which is still acceptable.
Economic policy will obtain the best results, if monetary and
fiscal policy measures (i.e. governments and central bank
activities) will be mutually co-ordinated not at random, but
according to the set rule, i.e. contracted central banks
independence. It is also related with public setting and
quantification of macroeconomic targets, position of the
central bank with respect to the government, i.e. the degree of
its independence and efficient public control.


This paper proposes a hybrid system for text detection in video frames. The system consists of two main stages. In the first stage text regions are detected based on the edge map of the image leading in a high recall rate with minimum computation requirements. In the sequel, a refinement stage uses an SVM classifier trained on features obtained by a new local binary pattern based operator which results in diminishing false alarms. Experimental results show the overall performance of the system that proves the discriminating ability of the proposed feature set.


Background. Spirulina is categorized as so-called super foods, the properties of which are supposed to have a beneficial effect on the human body, and is used as a natural food coloring additive. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antioxidant and osmotic properties of beverages prepared using various forms of commercially available spirulina and coconut water as a natural isotonic solvent. Based on the determined absorption spectra and antioxidant properties of spirulina extracts (three batches of green and two batches of blue spirulina), samples with the highest activity were selected for the next stage of the study. Beverages were made using coconut water (control sample) and green or blue spirulina with increasing additions of 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 % w/v (seven beverages in total). The polyphenol content, antioxidant (DPPH•) and osmotic properties of the produced beverages were compared. Results and conclusion. It was shown that drinks based on blue spirulina had higher protein, polyphenol content as well as antioxidant activity, proportional to the share of additive used, than drinks with green spirulina. The osmolality of all drinks ranged from 315 to 336 mOsm/kg H2O, which meets the requirements for isotonic drinks. Drinks based on blue spirulina were characterized by an intense blue color and better organoleptic characteristics compared to green spirulina and coconut water, however, the addition of 0.5% adversely affected the organoleptic qualities of the drink. The beverages produced can be categorized as functional beverages, well hydrating the body and additionally enriched with valuable nutrients.


Traditional herbal medicine (THM) has been used since the ancient times and continues to play a great role in healthcare of many communities in Kenya especially the Samburu community. The species diversity of medicinal plants and access to traditional herbal medicine has little been evaluated in Kenya and among the Samburu people in particular. This study investigated species diversity of medicinal plants and access to THM among the Samburu people. It sought to identify the species richness, characteristics and abundance of the plants commonly used as THM and the influence of various factors like human activities, status of traditional medicinal knowledge (TMK) and perceptions, culture and spiritual beliefs on access to THM. The study used a descriptive survey design. In this study questionnaire, interviews, transect walks and Focus Group Discussions were used as the main research instruments to collect data. Data collected was coded and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The Pearson correlation was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The findings of this research were 19 medicinal plant species, out of which 46% were threatened, 23% were found to be presently safe, 15% were sporadic, 8% were vulnerable and 8% were not known. From the study, 56% of the household heads indicated that fire incidences highly affected access to THM, 50% were of the view that grazing of livestock moderately affected access, 46% said that building and construction activities moderately affected access, while 43% reported that firewood collection affected access, and 40% said that growing of crops affected access. From the study, 54% of the respondents reported that disappearance of TMK reduced access to THM, while 46% reported that protection of TMK promotes access to THM. Using the Pearson correlation, there was no significant relationship between human activities and access to THM at 5% level of significance; there was no significant relationship between protected status of traditional medicinal knowledge and access to traditional herbal medicine, since p=0.283; while there was a significant relationship between disappearing status and access to THM, since p=0.042; there was also no significant relationship between perceptions, culture and spiritual beliefs and access to traditional herbal medicine, since p=0.138 is significant at 5% level of significance. The study concluded that, the study area comprised of a variety of species richness, abundance and characteristics, a large number (46%) of whose existence were threatened by various human activities. The study also concluded that the protected status of TMK and perceptions, culture and spiritual beliefs promoted access to THM. The study recommended that, the youth groups should fence medicinal plants in their natural habitat to ensure they are protected; the locals through the community elders should be encouraged to document the TMK. In order to promote access to THM, the locals through the community elders should inform responsible bodies /authorities of any illegal logging or bush fires. The locals through the traditional herbalists should be encouraged to practice ex situ conservation by cultivation of some medicinal plants as live fence and in nurseries, while the younger generation through their parents should learn to embrace some of the cultures and spiritual beliefs related to the use of THM.


Background and objectives The Alexander Technique (AT) is a self-care method usually taught in one-to-one lessons. AT lessons have been shown to be helpful in managing long-term health-related conditions (Int J Clin Pract 2012;66:98−112). This systematic review aims to draw together evidence of the effectiveness of AT lessons in managing musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, with empirically based evidence of physiological changes following AT training, to provide a putative theoretical explanation for the observed benefits of Alexander lessons. Methods and results Systematic searches of a range of databases were undertaken to identify prospective studies evaluating AT instruction for any musculoskeletal condition, using PICO criteria, and for studies assessing the physiological effects of AT training. Citations (N=332) were assessed and seven MSK intervention studies were included for further analysis. In two large well-designed randomised controlled trials, AT lessons led to significant long-term (1 year) reductions in pain and incapacity caused by chronic back or neck pain (usual GP-led care comparator). Three smaller RCTs in chronic back and neck pain, respectively, and a pain clinic service evaluation broadly supported these findings. A pilot study reported preliminary evidence for pain reduction in knee osteoarthritis patients. Further studies showed significant improvements in general coordination, walking gait, motor control and balance, possibly resulting from improved postural muscle tone regulation and adaptability, in people with extensive AT training. Conclusion Available evidence supports the effectiveness of AT lessons for people with chronic back or neck pain. Studies suggest some of the observed benefit may be due to improvements in movement coordination, balance and postural tone. Conflicts of interest: None. Authors are practising Alexander Technique teachers. Funding: None


The effect of well-established homeotropically and homogeneously aligning polyimides, developed for calamitic liquid crystals, on the alignment of the nematic phases of bent-core mesogens was investigated using polarizing optical microscopy and conoscopy. Two polyimides, the homogeneously aligning SE7792 and the homeotropically aligning S659, were used to align three bent-core mesogens. Two of the mesogens, with an azo group in one of their arms, are found to align in a manner similar to the calamitic mesogens, while a fluorenone core based mesogen counter-intuitively aligns homogeneously on S659 coated surface and homeotropically on SE7792. Attractive interactions between unidirectionally oriented polyimide side-chains and the alkyl chains of mesogens determine the direction of alignment of the nematic director.


Nick Zangwill has argued that we have a moral duty to eat meat. His argument applies to the flesh of those domesticated animals who (a) would not have existed had it not been for the practice of killing and eating them; and (b) have lives that contain more good than bad—and thus, on his view, have "lives worth living." In my reply, I point to various features of his argument that are unclear. I seek to render explicit the various premises and inferences of his argument. I argue that there are problems with at least some of the premises. I also argue that his argument as a whole is liable to a reductio ad absurdum, which he considers, but to which he responds inadequately. I conclude that we ought to reject his argument.


As students transition into higher education, their experience can be quite new and foreign to them. This experience, while an individual one, consists of many concerns that are shared amongst these transitioning students. Partly as a result of these concerns, retention rates of first year Computer Science students suffer. Members of this panel have been involved in multi-year studies across Scotland [2, 5] as well as an international study [3] looking at the student experience as they transition into undergraduate Computer Science. This panel hopes to discuss the transition into CS1 and implications for Computer Science retention rates from varied international perspectives as well as through the lens of online learning. It further hopes to discuss new ways that we might be able to better support first year CS student retention in light of collected transition data, as well as the current state of any implemented recommendations in previous work (you may want to rephrase this).


Evidence from the earliest-known crinoids (Tremadocian, Early Ordovician), called protocrinoids, is used to hypothesize initial steps by which elements of the calyx evolved. Protocrinoid calyces are composed of extraxial primary and surrounding secondary plates (both of which have epispires along their sutures) that are unlike those of more crownward fossil and extant crinoids in which equivalent calycinal plating is strongly organized. These reductions inspired several schemes by which to name the plates in these calyces. However, the primary-secondary systems seen in protocrinoids first appeared among Cambrian stem radial echinoderms, with primaries representing centers around which secondaries were sequentially added during ontogeny. Therefore, the protocrinoid calyx represents an intermediate condition between earliest echinoderms and crownward crinoids. Position and ontogeny indicate certain primaries remained as loss of secondaries occurred, resulting in abutting of primaries into the conjoined alternating circlets characteristic of crinoids. This transformative event included suppression of secondary plating and modification or, more commonly, elimination of respiratory structures. These data indicate subradial calyx plate terminology does not correspond with most common usage, but rather, supports an alternative redefinition of these traditional expressions. Extension and adoral growth of fixed rays during calyx ontogeny preceded conjoined primaries in earliest crinoids. Restriction with modification or elimination of calyx respiratory structures also accompanied this modification. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support crinoid origination from early pentaradiate echinoderms, separate from blastozoans. Accordingly, all Tremadocian crinoids express a distinctive aggregate of plesiomorphic and apomorphic commonalities; all branch early within the crinoid clade, separate from traditional subclass-level clades. Nevertheless, each taxon within this assemblage expresses at least one diagnostic apomorphy of camerate, cladid, or disparid clades.


The present study discusses, in the light of the comparatively restricted data in the speciality literature, two cases of anorectal melanoma emphasizing the histologic diagnostic difficulties linked to appraisal of the limits of the benign naevus formations, predominance of the achromatous zones, alternation of the benign and sarcomatous fascicular proliferations and those of the anaplastic carcinoma type. Stress is laid on the importance for the diagnosis of the histologic examination and of serial sections, in all pedunculate formations in the anorectal region as well as of the tests applied for detecting melanin.


The synthesis of many chemicals needs high temperature and pressure. Many chemicals like ethanol, amino acids, citric acids, nitrates, nitrites, fine chemicals, essential compounds can be synthesized by biological pathways. Enzyme catalyzed reactions provide huge boost to the efforts concentrated on cost effective and environment friendly technology. Immobilization of enzyme has advantages such as high thermal and operational stability, improved pH stability. Various investigators have carried out investigations to study effect of immobilization on enzyme activities. The current review summarizes research and studies on enzyme immobilization.


Nerve growth factor (NGF) was discovered and characterized for its role on the growth, differentiation and maintenance of specific neurons of the peripheral nervous system. Subsequent studies revealed that NGF is synthesized and released within the central nervous system and exerts a trophic and functional role on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons; it is involved in a protective role following brain insults induced by an epileptic status, seizure, as well as surgical and chemical lesions.More recently our collaborative studies provided evidence that NGF is implicated in neurobehavioral response including cerebral alterations associated with psychiatric disorders. In this brief review, ongoing and emerging data are presented and discussed.


Super resolution-based spectral unmixing (SRSU) is a recently developed method for spectral unmixing of remotely sensed imagery, but it is too complex to implement for common users who are interested in land cover mapping. This study makes use of spatial interpolation as an alternative approach to achieve super resolution reconstruction in SRSU. An ASTER image with three spectral bands was used as the test data. The algorithm is evaluated using root mean square error (RMSE) compared with linear spectral unmixing and hard classification. The result shows that the proposed algorithm has higher unmixing accuracy than those of the other comparative algorithms, and it is proved as an efficient and convenient spectral unmixing tool of remotely sensed imagery.


Background : In developed countries the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis increases with age, it appears even more in subjects living in institution. In Algeria, the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in 2010 is 24.8/100.000 and patients older than 65 years represent 5.4% of the population.

Aims : to compare the clinical features and clinical course of pulmonary tuberculosis occurring in older and younger patients, in order to identify a profile of this pathology in the elderly.

Methods : A retrospective and comparative study about 163 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis recruited by our department over a period of three years (2011, 2012 and 2013). Two groups were compared, the first called G1 (< 65 years), including 131 patients, the second called G2 (≥ 65 years) comprising the 32 others.

Results : The age of patients ranges between 16 and 92 years and thirty-two of them (19.6%) were 65 years and more. Sex ratio was 1.13 in G2 versus 1.73 in G1. Older patients presented more frequent comorbidities (68% vs 15%), dominated by diabetes, COPD and lung cancer. They had more dyspnea (23% vs 16%), alveolar opacities (46% vs 18%) and involvement of the lower lobes (54% vs 29%). Positive sputum smears were less common in elderly patients (64% vs 77%) in contrast to those in culture (27% vs 6%). All older subjects were anergic to tuberculin. Death was reported in three senior patients.

Conclusion : Tuberculosis in the elderly remains special by its difficult and late diagnosis due to nonspecific clinical and radiological presentations, which should prompt the clinician to be more vigilant in countries where tuberculosis still endemic.


Recognition of ligamentous injuries of the knee in the acute phase is essential for optimum treatment and prognosis. A multitraumatized patient with a fractured femur and occult knee ligament damage presents a difficult diagnostic challenge. This paper retrospectively reviews 52 patients with 54 mid- shaft femoral fractures. The high incidence (48%) of ipsilateral knee ligament damage, particularly of a severe nature (30%) evident at followup (mean 24.5 months) is alarming. In the 26 cases of knee ligament damage, the mean time from injury to documentation of instability is 12.8 months. Motor vehicle and athletic injuries and falls account for all of the injuries. The majority are dashboard impacts treated in balanced traction with subsequent case bracing. The anterior cruciate ligament (50%) is most often injured followed by the medial collateral ligament (31%), lateral collateral ligament (13%), and posterior cruciate ligament (6%). A Lachman test, aspiration of the effusions, examinations under anesthesia including stress films, and arthroscopy are recommended as diagnostic procedures. Acute ipsilateral knee instability is a strong relative indica tion for primary rigid immobilization of the fracture femur to allow early ligamentous repair.


In the paper, the effect of transverse cracks on the corrosion length of steel bars in concrete under the dry-wet circulation environment has been studied. Specimens of reinforced concrete with different width of transverse cracks were used in the drywet circulation environment test. After a certain number of cycles, carry out the study on the state of reinforcement corrosion in concrete. Main results are as follows: the steel corrosion length in the specimens soaked in chloride solution was much longer than the steel corrosion length of those specimens soaked in water. Besides, the corrosion length of steel bars increased along with the increase of crack width. When the crack width was more than 0.3mm, the reinforced steel showed the sustained corrosion mechanism; but when the crack width was less than 0.3mm, the reinforced steel showed the crack sealing mechanism. The phenomenon illustrated that the corrosion rate was fast at the early stage, and slowed down or even stopped later. The relationship between steel corrosion length and the period of dry-wet circulation applied to the linear relationship. In the paper, the prediction model of steel corrosion length has been built after the relationship between steel bars corrosion length and the dry-wet cycles has been analyzed.


On December 2021, a new camera box for two-colour simultaneous visible photometry was successfully installed on the ASTEP telescope at the Concordia station in Antarctica. The new focal box offers increased capabilities for the ASTEP+ project. The opto-mechanical design of the camera was described in a previous paper.1 Here, we focus on the laboratory tests of each of the two cameras, the low-temperature behaviour of the focal box in a thermal chamber, the on-site installation and alignment of the new focal box on the telescope, the measurement of the turbulence in the tube and the operation of the telescope equipped with the new focal box. We also describe the data acquisition and the telescope guiding procedure and provide a first assessment of the performances reached during the first part of the 2022 observation campaign. Observations of the WASP19 field, already observed previously with ASTEP, demonstrates an improvement of the SNR by a factor 1.7, coherent with an increased number of photon by a factor of 3. The throughput of the two cameras is assessed both by calculation of the characteristics of the optics and quantum efficiency of the cameras, and by direct observations on the sky. We find that the ASTEP+ two-colour transmission curves (with a dichroic separating the fluxes at 690nm) are similar to those of GAIA in the blue and red channels, but with a lower transmission in the ASTEP+ red channel leading to a 1.5 magnitude higher B-R value compared to the GAIA B-R value. With this new setting, the ASTEP+ telescope will ensure the follow-up and the characterization of a large number of exoplanetary transits in the coming years in view of the future space missions JWST and Ariel.


This work begins with a brief overview of heterogeneous, characterization techniques, and current hypotheses about gold mechanisms. This is followed by the initial characterization of custom two-phase-method gold nanoparticles provided by the Interfacial Phenomena and Polymeric Materials research group at USF, the anatase TiO2 support and reference Au/TiO2 catalyst provided by the World Gold Council. In order to verify the ability of the two-phase-method GNP catalyst provided to oxidize CO in excess hydrogen, it was necessary to develop an effluent testing protocol. The first experiments involved 24 hour runs to observe catalyst deactivation. Concerns over cycling effects observed in the absorbance integral calculations lead to the introduction of a reference gas. Corrections were made to the carbon monoxide absorbance integral calculations which allowed the direct comparison of results. These corrections included baseline adjustments for each species and N2 purging to eliminate background CO2 and H2O contamination. After these improvements, the two phase method GNP catalyst CO oxidation ability was investigated. Unfortunately, the supplied two phase method gold catalyst has been unresponsive for CO oxidation applications. One hypothesis for the problems is that the surfactants used to keep the gold nanoparticles from aggregating are preventing carbon monoxide transport to the surface of the particle. Another theory is that the gold may not be adhering to the surface of the TiO2 creating a cohesive metal/support interaction.


Two types of coacervation-inducing agents (EVA, PIB) and three cooling rates (0.01998, 0.03482 and 0.06725 degrees C/min) affecting the preparation, micromeritic and drug release properties of bleomycin hydrochloride microcapsules were investigated. Particle size distribution of microcapsules induced by EVA significantly depended on the cooling rate, but that induced by PIB was independent of the cooling rate. Higher viscosity of PIB led to a smaller particle size of microcapsules than when EVA was used. The surface topography of the microcapsules for both types of coacervation-inducing agents was obviously different. We found that the release behaviour of bleomycin hydrochloride from the microcapsules also depended on the type of coacervation-inducing agent and the cooling rate. In general, the slower the cooling rate the more prolonged the release of the drug. Higuchi matrix model was followed for bleomycin hydrochloride released from the microcapsules. T50 of both types of microcapsules decreased with the increase of the cooling rate. To simulate the absorption behaviour of the GI tract, the continuous flow dialysis method was modified for drug release from the microcapsules. The data indicate that the diffusion of the dissolution medium and dissolved drug through the ethylcellulose wall of the microcapsules is the rate-limiting step before dialysis. This also implies that the release rate of the drug from dosage form significantly determined the absorption in the GI tract.


The article outlines the history of Swedish-Estonian lexicography and discusses some problems that came up against the compilers of a Swedish-Estoinian dictionary published in Tallinn before Christmas 2004.The first Swedish-Estonian distionary was published in Tartu, Estonia, in 1939. Several new editions, shortened or otherwise more or less revised, came out in Sweden after the war (the major ones in 1945 and 1976, in order to meet the great demand for such a dictionary among the Estonian refugees in Sweden. A separate Swedish-Estonian dictionary was issued in Soviet Estonia in 1979. These medium size dictionaries were the precursors of the new dictionary. Containing about 100,000 headwords, the new work is the most comprehensive Swedish-Estonian dictionary ever published.When the compilers set about writing the new dictionary, they did not only sort out obsoletisms and add neologisms (especially a rich selection of more recent words in technical and specialist language) from the precursors, but also made a complete refvision of the vocabulary with regard to the totally new political, economical, social and cultural situation characteristic of Estonia since 1991.


We present a theoretical model and 2D numerical simulation of cascaded four-wave mixing of femtosecond pulses in bulk chi((3)) media, evidencing the importance of 2D interaction geometries in the efficient generation of frequency-converted pulses. Octave-spanning spectra and pulse synthesis down to the sub-two-cycle regime is demonstrated without the need for complex amplitude or phase control, in agreement with experimental measurements.


Some of the diversity of lacustrine cichlid fishes has been ascribed to sympatric divergence, whereas diversification in rivers is generally driven by vicariance and geographic isolation. In the riverine Pseudocrenilabrus philander species complex, several morphologically highly distinct populations are restricted to particular river systems, sinkholes and springs in southern Africa. One of these populations consists of a prevalent yellow morph in sympatry with a less frequent blue morph, and no individuals bear intermediate phenotypes. Genetic variation in microsatellites and AFLP markers was very low in both morphs and one single mtDNA haplotype was fixed in all samples, indicating a very young evolutionary age and small effective population size. Nevertheless, the nuclear markers detected low but significant differentiation between the two morphs. The data suggest recent and perhaps sympatric divergence in the riverine habitat.


Heregulin (HRG) is the cognate ligand of the ErbB3 receptor and has been identified as a potent driver of a distinct tumor cell phenotype characterized by enhanced survival that appears to be inherently more resistant to standard of care therapies. Seribantumab (MM-121) is a fully human monoclonal antibody designed to block HRG from binding to ErbB3 and to prevent the establishment of HRG-driven cancer cell survival in response to cytotoxic therapies. Clinical evidence from randomized studies suggests that patients who receive standard therapy have shorter progression-free survival (PFS) when their tumors are positive for HRG RNA expression compared to patients receiving standard therapy with HRG-negative tumors. The addition of seribantumab was able to enhance the anti-tumor effect of these respective standard therapies and prolong PFS in patients with HRG-positive tumors. Profiling data indicates that positive HRG expression can be found in more than a third of most solid tumors identifying a high unmet medical need. In order to identify HRG-driven tumors with a more difficult-to-treat phenotype, an RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) diagnostic assay has been developed. Details will be presented illustrating the benefits of RNA ISH over alternate detection methods for HRG. This includes the visualization of tumor cell HRG expression with high sensitivity and specificity in small tissue specimens such as fine needle aspirates and core needle biopsies. This assay is currently being used to select patients for inclusion into diagnostic-driven clinical studies. Citation Format: Sara Mathews, Gregory Finn, Arthur J. Kudla, Victoria Rimkunas, Peter Laivins, Gavin MacBeath, Akos Czibere, Jason Baum. Identification of Heregulin (HRG) expression as a driver of a difficult-to-treat cancer phenotype and development of a companion diagnostic for the HRG-ErbB3 targeting drug seribantumab. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Targeting the Vulnerabilities of Cancer; May 16-19, 2016; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2017;23(1_Suppl):Abstract nr A19.


Abstract The Venturi-type bubble generator proposed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory is used to produce micro-sized bubbles. In this paper, a numerical simulation is carried out to study the process of the bubble formation and detachment from a wall orifice of a Venturi-type bubble generator in a cross-flowing liquid. The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method is applied to track the two-phase interface and study the evolution of the bubble formation. The result of the computation provides a visual three-dimensional bubble and shows the process of bubble formation and detachment. Three stages are identified during bubble formation (the expansion stage, the rising stage, and the collapse stage). Because of the compressibility of the gas, a fluctuation of the pressure and the mass flow rate in the gas chamber is observed, which is considered a significant effect on the bubble formation and detachment. The mechanism of the bubble detachment is clarified with the help of the mass flow rate fluctuation. The equivalent diameter is compared with that predicted by a previous model. A Coupled Level Set Volume-of-Fluid (CLSVOF) simulation is compared with the VOF simulation; the three stages and the fluctuation are also observed in the CLSVOF simulation.


One of the most hotly debated topics in intellectual property rights is the patentability of genes. Since the Supreme Court's 1980 decision in Diamond v. Chakrabarty,1 patenting DNA sequences has become common; today there are about 50,000 such patents. A 2009 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against Myriad Genetics threatens to undo the significant history behind the patent eligibility of gene sequences.


ABSTRACT Yamada, F., Tateyama, R., Tsujimoto, G., Suenaga, S., Long, B. and Pilot, C. 2013. Dynamic monitoring of physical models beach morphology and sediment transport using X-ray CT scanning technique A medical X-ray CT scanner was applied to dynamic measurements of beach profile changes, sedimentary structures, and sediment transport processes during wave actions in the laboratory experiments. An acrylic flume 7 m long and with an inner rectangular cross-section of 0.3 m × 0.3 m passes through the mobile gantry of a medical X-ray CT-scanner. The experiments were conducted at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) at the University of Quebec from August 18 to October 16, 2011. The flume was filled with Ottawa sand (d50 = 0.147 mm) with uniform slope of 1/15. The water depth over a horizontal bed is 0.2 m. Regular waves were used with wave height of 4.0 cm and wave period of 0.7 s. In order to measure the cross-shore evolutions both of beach profiles and sediment transport process, the CT-scanner moves automatically along the flume. Therefore, the core samplings were not needed and the continuous measurements of beach profiles and sediment transport process in cross-shore directions can be conducted with non-destructive and non-contact conditions. By reconstructing three-dimensional images using Hounsfield units, the evolution of beach morphology was examined. Because medical X-ray computed tomography has the advantage of a data acquisition time of 1.0 seconds for sediment transport processes during wave action, the obtained data, such as that of the suspended and bed load, are useful for clarifying the mechanism of profile change and validating numerical models.


This study investigates nonlinear effects of the shear deformation on the free vibration of concrete plates with laminated composite face plates. In this paper, the mixed finite element method using Lagrangian and Hermite interpolation functions is adopted and a nonlinear high-order plate theory is used to skew concrete plates. The theory accounts for parabolic distribution of the transverse shear stress and requires no shear correction factors supposed in the first-order plate theory. The results in this study are compared with those of available literatures for the conventional and first-order plate theory. Sample studies are carried out for various layup configurations, skew angles, and geometric shapes of plates. The significance of the nonlinear shear deformation effects in analyzing complex skew concrete structures with laminated facings is enunciated in this paper.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of emotions and parents' coping strategies in conflicts to generating the youth's aggressive coping strategy in social conflict situations. The research involved 893 adolescents (468 girls and 425 boys) aged 13–15. Analysis of the collected research material enabled us to conclude that aggression is a form of coping with anger and anxiety felt in social conflict situations. It was found out that the mother and the father who employ a strategy based on aggression contribute to the modelling of a strategy involving aggressive behaviour applied in social conflict situations by the youth. Keywords: junior high school adolescent, emotional reactions, modelling behaviour, aggressive coping strategy, social conflict situations. How to cite: Borecka-Biernat, D. (2016). An aggressive coping strategy og gymnasium students in social conflict situations: Emotional and family determinants. Ugdymo psichologija, 27 , 35–53.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/up.2016.01


Select the proper feature of protein sequence is a crucial step in protein structural class prediction. In this paper we intend to propose a novel hybrid feature to describe the protein. This hybrid feature is composed of two parts, one is physicochemical composition (PCC), and another is the recurrence quantification analysis (RQA). A new classifier is constructed with the Error Correcting Output Coding (ECOC) which incorporates three binary Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifiers. We select 1189 data set to verify the efficiency of classify. The accuracy of our method on this data set is 57.3%, higher than some other methods on the same datasets. Furthermore only 33 parameters are used in our method, lower than many other methods. This indicates that the hybrid feature we proposed here is promising to the prediction of protein structural classes.


We developed functional synthetic lubricant for internal combustion engine oil, which would improve engine oil performance for internal combustion engine and extend engine life. We made base oil by synthesizing nonanoic acid, 1.1.1-trimethylol propane (which has good bio-degradability) and pentaerythrytol ester. We synthesized catalyst using p-toluene sulfonic acid 0.15 wt% and coloring-prevention agent hypo-phosphorus acid 0.18 wt% at 180-190℃. Reaction temperature was increased at the rate of 10℃ for every 1 hour. When acid value reached below 3, reaction was completed. After cooling and deoxidization, we washed it by distilled water two times. After dehydration and filtering, we obtained trimethylol propane tripelargonate (TMTP) and pentaerythrytol tetrapelargonate (PETP) at yields of 96% and 98% respectively.


The module is the smallest unit of teaching and learning programs that students learn individually or or learners to themselves.This study aims to develop a module based on the science, environment, technology and society (SETS) approach to the material of the respiratory system and digestive system in humans that is suitable for use in learning biology. This development research method refers to the 4D model which has four stages, namely: 1) define ( definition ), 2) design (planning or design), 3) development (development ), 4) disseminate (deployment). The stages used in the development of this module are limited to only 3 stages, namely define, design and development. The results of the validation of the first material expert, the percentage was 86%, the second percentage was greater than the first, which was 96%, with very valid criteria. And for the results of the first validation, the media expert got a percentage of 89 %, the second by media experts was greater than the first validation of 94% with very feasible criteria, so it can be concluded that the development of modules based on the science, environment, technology and society (SETS) approach to the material The validity level of the respiratory system and digestive system in humans is seen to be very feasible and can be used in learning.


Cell-cell communication through chemical messengers is a fundamental event required for the differentiation of embryonal cells. Interference with this process by xenobiotics may disrupt embryogenesis. Chinese hamster cells (V79) which display a specific form of cell-cell communication called metabolic cooperation were cultured in the presence of structurally diverse chemical teratogens. Among them were 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA), diphenylhydantoin (DPH), warfarin, and a series of monoalkyl ethers of ethylene glycol with alcohol chain lengths from methyl to butyl. Sodium saccharin and ascorbic acid were examined to represent two chemicals which have been thoroughly tested for teratogenic effects in laboratory animals and cause no birth defects. Recovery of 100 6-thioguanine-resistant V79 (6-TGr) cells in coculture with 400,000 6-thio-guanine-sensitive V79 (6-TGs) cells in the presence of 6-thioguanine (6-TG) and the chemical agent was measured. In amounts that neither interfered with colony forming ability nor caused cytostasis when 100 6-TGr cells were plated alone, all of the substances except for saccharin and vitamin C increased the number of surviving 6-TGr cells in a concentration-related manner. The recovery was increased by the presence of TPA (to 100% by 4 ng/ml), DPH (from 26% at 91 microM to 43% at 274 microM), warfarin (from 15.5% at 162 microM to 44.5% at 487 microM) and to variable extents by all five glycol ethers. The most efficacious in the latter group of compounds was the isopropyl ether which raised 6-TGr recovery from 8% at 0.017 M to 66% at 0.087 M. Based on the evidence accumulated by previous studies involving TPA, we postulate that the teratogens employed inhibited metabolic cooperation. These observations suggest that V79 cells may be suitable to study inhibition of cell-cell communication as a mechanism of teratogenesis.


In the far south of Italy, olive trees are falling victim to the devastating bacterium Xylella fastidiosa . In spite of control efforts, the disease is spreading north, ringing alarms across Europe. In January, the European Food Safety Authority warned of yield losses and rising costs from control measures. Italy declared its first national emergency for a plant disease. Workers are clearing sick trees and host plants such as oleander. This month, they will begin spraying insecticides to control the primary vector of the disease, the spittlebug Philaenus spumarius . These insects are common across Europe and abundant in olive groves. Genetic markers suggest the pathogen arrived in ornamental coffee plants and oleander exported from Costa Rica to Europe. Last week, an E.U. advisory committee recommended that the European Commission ban imports of ornamental coffee plants from Costa Rica and Honduras.


ABSTRACT The paper introduces the concept of book usage and puts Slovenian book usage into the context of the European Union. It stresses the limits of European book statistics, due to them the measurements of book usage in various European societies is almost impossible. In this context, we will show that due to available data, Slovenia paradoxically belongs to the countries with high book usage and average reading habits. In the second part of the paper, we will look at the correlations between reading habits and efficiency of education systems. On this basis, we will ask some new questions and develop a set of hypotheses that need to be verified by the further research.


Background and Aim: The high salinity of drinking water has been a significant problem of the Mekong Rivers Delta. Animals drinking high salinity water altered feed and water intake (WI), urinary electrolytes excretion, and productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of high salinity in drinking water on drinking and eating behaviors and kidney function in crossbred goats. Materials and Methods: The experiment was completely randomized with two treatments: freshwater (0%, seawater [SW0]) and water high in salinity (1.5%, SW1.5) from diluted SW, with five replicates (five animals per treatment). This experiment lasted 3 weeks: the 1st week for the pre-treatment period and the 2nd-3rd weeks for the post-treatment. Dry matter intake (DMI) and WI were recorded every day, while urine volume (UV) was determined from day 8 to day 21. Blood and urinary samples were collected on days 6, 14, and 21 of the study for electrolytes and creatinine analysis. Results: The results demonstrated that both DMI and WI were affected by SW1.5 (p<0.05). Goats drinking from SW1.5 had lower DMI during D19–21, and the ratio of DMI/WI was significantly different during D16–21 (p<0.05). Interestingly, the UV from SW1.5 was higher than that from SW0 during D13–21 (p<0.05). Although the body weights (BW) of both groups were similar (p>0.05), the weight gain observed in the SW1.5 group tended to decrease (p=0.056) at the 2nd week. The concentration of electrolytes in blood did not differ between the groups (p>0.05). In contrast, the concentration and excretion of Na+ and Cl- in urine increased in SW1.5 goats at D14 (p<0.05), while creatinine levels in the blood remained normal (p>0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that crossbred male goats can tolerate 1.5% saline water from diluted SW for 2 weeks. The high salinity in water influences drinking and eating behavior in growing goats. However, the adaptive mechanism by increasing urine output and reducing the reabsorption of Na+ and Cl- in the kidney is the key function and works faster than behavioral responses. The kidney apparently drives drinking behavior during high salinity water consumption.


AN OUTBREAK of an unusual form of pulmonary disease occurred at Camp Gruber, Okla., in March, 1944.* The illness affected 27 men and was characterized by sudden onset and severe and prolonged clinical course with slow recovery. Most patients showed diffuse infiltration of the lungs. The etiology of the disease was not known. All the men involved had spent some time 10 days previously in a storm cellar on the military reservation. In 1952, Histoplasma capsulatum was isolated from the soil in the storm cellar. 3 In 1951 and 1952, skin tests were performed on 22 of the men who were involved in the pneumonitis outbreak; all reacted to histoplasmin, whereas only 6 reacted to tuberculin, 3 to blastomycin, and 1 to coccidioidin. 3 Disseminated pulmonary calcification was observed by x-ray examination in 16 of 22 men who had pneumonitis at Camp Gruber. On the contrary, such calcifications could not


Service-Oriented Architecture(SOA) define the interaction method between two computing entities that one entity performs a unit task instead of another entity. This, unit task, is called "Service" and interaction of these services should have independency and loosely coupled task. The effect of SOA's main functions such as loosely coupled task and independent interoperability with influence the possibility of flexible message communication between different way and different users. In this article, we analyzed the performance about system stabilization between general web service and SOA based application that implemented through WCF based messaging framework using .NET Framework and integrated data presentation method. As the result of test, we confirmed that SOA environment using WCF have more advantages.


This paper introduces a novel image-based rendering method which uses inputs from unstructured cameras and synthesizes free-viewpoint images of high quality. Our method uses a set of depth layers in order to deal with scenes with large depth ranges. To each pixel on the synthesized image, the optimal depth layer is assigned automatically based on the on-the-fly focus measurement algorithm that we propose. We implemented this method efficiently on a PC and achieved nearly interactive frame-rates.


A placental type of membrane-bound arylamidase (Shiba isoenzyme) was found in the tissue of adenocarcinoma of the lung. Cancerous lung membrane-bound arylamidase had the same electrophoretic mobility, isoelectric point (pH 4.2), and susceptibility to SDS inactivation as placental membrane-bound arylamidase. Cancerous lung membrane-bound arylamidase had molecular weight and kinetic properties similar to normal lung membrane-bound arylamidase, but differed from the normal lung membrane-bound arylamidase with respect to electrophoretic mobility, isoelectric point, heat stability and inactivation by SDS.


Objective: To evaluate the involvement of alterations of the central autonomic nervous system, particularly of the brainstem and cerebellum, in a wide set of victims of sudden and unexplained perinatal and infant death. Material and Methods: The study population consisted of 63 stillbirths, 28 neonatal deaths and 140 suspected SIDS. The victims were subjected to in-depth anatomopathological examination following appropriate guidelines. The protocol included, in particular, the histological evaluation on serial sections of the cardiorespiratory autonomic nervous system. Results: A diagnosis of "unexplained death" was established for 217 of the 231 victims (59 stillbirths, 28 newborns and 130 SIDS). In a very high percentage of these deaths (84%) we observed one or more anomalies of the nuclei and/or structures of the brainstem and cerebellum related to vital functions. Conclusion: Unexpected perinatal loss should not be regarded as a separate entity from SIDS, given the common neuropathological substrates.


The use of personas is an interactive design technique with considerable potential for product and content development. However, personas have typically been viewed as fairly static. In this research, we implement an approach for creating personas in real time, based on automated analysis of actual social media data, integrating data from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels for a large commercial organization. From Twitter, we gather user insights representing interests and viewpoints, leveraging approximately 195,000 follower profiles. From YouTube, we gather demographic data and topical interests, leveraging more than 188,000 subscriber profiles and millions of user interactions. From Facebook, we collect instances of hundreds of thousands of link sharing by more than 54,000 social media followers, specifically examining the domains these users share. We integrate the social media data from all three platforms in order to demonstrating that this data can be used to develop personas in real-time. The research results provide insights into competitive marketing, topical interests, and preferred system features for the users of the online news medium. Research implications are that personas can be generated in real-time, instead of being the result of a laborious, time-consuming development process.


The length of the reference period used in surveys of subjective oral health may have a marked influence on the responses obtained. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a 1-month (RP-1) vs. a 12-month (RP-12) reference period in the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. Using a randomized cross-over design, RP-1 and RP-12 OHIP-14 questionnaires were administered, 1 month apart, to two samples of Finnish adults, namely people awaiting orthognathic surgery (n = 104) and non-patient workers (n = 111). The effect of the reference period was computed by subtracting RP-1 OHIP-14 severity scores from RP-12 OHIP-14 severity scores (DeltaRP). Potential order effects were assessed by comparing DeltaRP between groups completing the RP-1 vs. the RP-12 questionnaire first. Mean OHIP-14 severity scores were slightly higher when the RP-12 questionnaire was administered first, but mean DeltaRP values were below the value of 2.5 considered clinically meaningful, and all 95% confidence intervals for DeltaRP included zero. No order effects in the OHIP-14 severity scores were observed. Therefore, although a standardized reference period of 12 months is recommended, in population surveys the use of a shorter reference period does not appear to influence responses.


Teenage pregnancy is a social menace and common public health problem. It is detrimental to both mother and child because teenage mother is not physically, psychologically and economically ready to bear a child. This phenomenon has multiple adverse consequences on maternal health, child health and overall wellbeing of the society. This study investigated the perception and attitudes of parents towards teenage pregnancy in a rural community in Akpabuyo Local Government Area. The objectives included: to determine parents' perception on teenage pregnancy and to determine parents' attitudes towards teenage pregnancy. A null hypothesis was stated to test the association between demographic characteristics of parents and their attitude towards teenage pregnancy. Descriptive survey was used and data were collected through self administered questionnaire to a sample of 309 respondents selected through purposive sampling. SPSS version 21.0 was utilized for data analysis. The findings included that 93% of parents claimed that a pregnant teenager outside wedlock is a social deviant and 85.8% said teenage pregnancy is a sign of parental failure. Their attitudinal behaviour showed that the affected girl would be sent away from the family (32.7%),  parents would stop her education (49.8%) and that the girl would be abandoned to the man/boy responsible for the pregnancy. Sociodemographic characteristics of parents depicted by gender, education and religion were significantly associated with the attitudes of parents towards teenage pregnancy. Conclusion was made that gaps exist in parental perception and attitudes towards teenage pregnant girls. Therefore, it is recommended that parents should reappraise and strengthen their obligations towards their adolescent/teenage daughters to enable them achieve their full potentials through prevention of teenage pregnancies.


Abstract The authors compared postural changes produced in 20 Caucasian female children treated with the Frankel Functional Regulator appliance (FR-2) (Frankel Industries, Morangis Cedex, France) using cephalometric tracings and comparing the tracings to 20 untreated Class II controls from the University of Chieti. Each patient in the study group was treated for exactly two years by the same operator using the FR-2 appliance and a standardized design and clinical technique, including prefunctional orthodontics where indicated. The average starting age was 8.4 yrs. (SD±2.1). At the end of the therapy, the average age was 10.3 yrs. (SD±2.4). Two teleradiographs were made of each patient: the first one at the beginning of treatment and the second one after six months. The radiographs were taken with the subjects standing in the ortho-position with no ear rods in the cephalostat; mirror position was carried out. In order to detect errors due to landmark identification, duplicate measurements were made using ten radiographs, and the error variance was calculated using Dahlberg's formula. Thirty-seven variables were studied. The cervical lordosis angle (CVT/EVT) was significantly higher in the study group as compared to the control group (p<0.05) at the end of treatment, probably due to a significant backward inclination of the upper segment of the cervical column (OPT/Ver and CVT/Ver) in the treated group (p<0.001 and p<0.01) from pre- to posttreatment. There was no significant change in the lower segment of the cervical column inclination (EVT/Ver). The changes resulted in a weak association in the multiple regression model to an increasing of maxillary base length and mandibular protrusion (R2=0.272; p<0.05). Other variables in the multiple regression were not significant.


Infective endocarditis (IE) is often accompanied with renal disease. Recently it is thought that immune complex is formed by infecting agent of IE deposit to glomerulus and this contributes to glomerulonephritis. The case was 59-year-old man. He admitted with symptoms of proteinuria, hematuria and fever and diagnosed aortic regurgitation with vegetative change of aortic valve with echocardiogram. After admission he had stroke. Renal function was poor and circulating immune complex (CIC) value was high. Str. viridans was defined by blood culture examination. Aortic valve replacement was done because of no normalization of infective response and of renal function. Bacteria was not detected from the vegetation of valve but detected in the vegetation of transitional zone to mitral valve. Postoperative course was uneventful and renal function became normal with normalization of infective response. Anti C3d antibody value became normal and he discharged 50th postoperative day. In case of ineffective medical treatment the early removal of infected valve will make a successful result.


The Journal of Midwifery &Women's Health (JMWH) has a rigorous peer review process. The contributions of peer reviewers are an essential component of the JMWH publication process, yet the role and responsibilities of reviewers are often not fully understood. This editorial provides an overview of the JMWH peer review process and recognizes the Journal's 2010 peer reviewers. Peer reviewers assist the editors in identifying the submissions that are appropriate for publication in JMWH. The specific purposes of peer review are to 1) advise the editors whether the manuscript content is important and appropriate for JMWH; 2) evaluate the quality of the manuscript, including adequacy and accuracy of the content; and 3) provide a constructive critique and specific recommendations that can help the author improve themanuscript. To use a clinical analogy, peer review is a quality assurance and improvement program for scholarly journals. JMWH uses a closed peer review system in which author and reviewer identities are blinded, which is intended to minimize the possibility of biased reviews. The identity of the author is not revealed to the reviewers, and the identity of each reviewer is not revealed to the author or other reviewers. The editor selects reviewers for each manuscript based on the manuscript type and content and reviewers' expertise, which is partly determined by keywords peer reviewers auto-select to describe their areas of expertise. The goal is to select a combination of reviewers who can view the manuscript from varying perspectives. For example, reviewers for a study would include an individual with expertise in the research methodology used as well as an individual with expertise in the content area. Peer review for JMWH is conducted via our online manuscript submission and peer review system, ScholarOne Manuscripts. Reviewers are invited via e-mail and have 3 weeks to complete their reviews. After reading themanuscript, reviewers complete an online review form that includes a set of questions about the manuscript, their recommendations for whether or not to accept the manuscript for publication, a narrative review for the author, and any confidential comments for the editors. After the peer reviewers complete their reviews, the final decision about acceptance versus rejection ismade by the editor responsible for the manuscript. The letter that is sent to the author includes copies of the blinded reviews. When the letter is sent to the author, the reviewers receive an e-mail with the comments of the editor and the blinded reviews. This allows each reviewer to see the other reviews and how her or his review was incorporated into the final decision. Reading the editor's and other reviewers' comments is helpful in improving one's skills as a peer reviewer. Peer review is a gift to authors and editors. Why do reviewers choose to generously give their time and expertise? Reasons include the opportunity to learn something new, contributing to the profession, upholding the integrity of the profession's journal, and, for those who are authors, reciprocating the courtesy that has been shown to them by reviewers. The editors are always seeking new reviewers. If you are interested in becoming a peer reviewer for JMWH, please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com and attach a copy of your curriculum vitae. In 2010, more than 120 individuals reviewed manuscripts for JMWH. Their names are listed in Box 1. Thank you to all of our JMWH peer reviewers for their invaluable service to our authors, readers, and editors.


Analyzing third-party software such as malware or firmware is a crucial task for security analysts. Although various approaches for automatic analysis exist and are the subject of ongoing research, analysts often have to resort to manual static analysis to get a deep understanding of a given binary sample. Since the source code of encountered samples is rarely available, analysts regularly employ decompilers for easier and faster comprehension than analyzing a binary's disassembly. In this paper, we introduce our decompilation approach dewolf. We developed a variety of improvements over the previous academic state-of-the-art decompiler and some novel algorithms to enhance readability and comprehension, focusing on manual analysis. To evaluate our approach and to obtain a better insight into the analysts' needs, we conducted three user surveys. The results indicate that dewolf is suitable for malware comprehension and that its output quality noticeably exceeds Ghidra and Hex-Rays in certain aspects. Furthermore, our results imply that decompilers aiming at manual analysis should be highly configurable to respect individual user preferences. Additionally, future decompilers should not necessarily follow the unwritten rule to stick to the code-structure dictated by the assembly in order to produce readable output. In fact, the few cases where dewolf already cracks this rule lead to its results considerably exceeding other decompilers. We publish a prototype implementation of dewolf and all survey results on GitHub.


Background: There is evidence of an association between circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and vascular complications in thalassemic patients.
Objectives: To quantify CECs and its activated fraction (AECs) in Egyptian s-thalassemic patients and to investigate their association with incidence of vascular complications.
Subjects and Methods: Eighty pediatric patients and 30 healthy pediatric volunteers were studied for the proportion of CECs and AECs using cellular expression of endothelial adhesion receptors: CD146 and CD106 by flow cytometry.
Results: CECs, AECs were higher in patients' group than control group (p=0.001). AECs, serum ferritin, total leucocyte count (TLC), platelet (PLT) count were higher in patients with vascular complications and splenectomized patients (p=0.001for all). Percent of AECs was positively correlated to each of serum iron (p=0.001) and serum ferritin (p=0.001). No correlation was found between AECs (percent/absolute count) or MFI of CD106 and serum ferritin neither in group with vascular complications nor in splenectomized group (p>0.05). Also, no correlation was found between red blood cell (RBC) and PLT counts neither in group with vascular complication and who underwent splenectomy, nor in those without vascular complications and did not undergo splenectomy or those who underwent splenectomy but has no vascular complications (p=0.05). Size of the AEC compartment, intensity of CD106 expression were positively correlated to each of TLC, PLT count (p=0.001 for all). Risk of vascular complications was identified if percent of ACEs was ≥58.3% of CECs, absolute count of AECs was ≥0.059 x 103 /µl, MFI of CD106 was ≥7.9, with an effectiveness of 95%, 91.3%, 95% respectively.
Conclusion: Measurement of AECs presents an effective quantitative method for assessment of risk of vascular complications in thalassemia.


Abstraction is a powerful technique in search and planning. A fundamental problem of abstraction is that it can create spurious paths, i.e., abstract paths that do not correspond to valid concrete paths. In this paper, we define spurious paths as a generalization of spurious states. We show that spurious paths can be categorized into two types: state-independent spurious paths and state-specific spurious paths. We present a practical method that eliminates state-independent spurious paths, as well as state-specific spurious paths when integrated with mutex detection methods. We provide syntactical conditions under which our method can remove state-independent spurious paths completely. We demonstrate that eliminating spurious paths can improve a heuristic substantially, even in abstract spaces that are free of spurious states.


As a scholar and translator, Andrei Egunov (1895-1968) was focused on antiquity and its reception in Russian culture. However, there are two documents in his archive that attest to his interest in German literature: a translation of Friedrich Holderlin's Griechenland (Greece) and the article Literary Reminiscences in "The Torrents of Spring" that summarizes the results of his studies of Ivan Turgenev. The present article investigates the biographical and literary background of Egunov's German studies and seeks to reveal the context of these works and their involvement with the issue of personal and cultural memory beyond the scope of his usual translation and literary studies. Egunov's translation of Holderlin's poem, his only poetic translation, may have stemmed not merely from his general interest in German literature or his experience living in Germany were as a Gastarbeiter during WWII. First and foremost, it was an address to his colleagues and friends in the ABDEM circle, an expression of nostalgia not so much for Ancient Greece as for the times when the members of ABDEM were translating and studying the classical legacy together in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In his article about the German reminiscences in Turgenev, Egunov touches upon specific features of his own poetics - perhaps, in a way as a reminiscence, too. We know of three literary works written by Egunov under the pseudonym "A.Nikolev": the novel Po tu storonu Tuly [Beyond Tula], the collection of poems Eliseiskie radosti [Elysian Pleasures] and the poem Bespredmetnaia iunost' [Subjectless Youth], all distinguished by their deep intertextuality. Egunov's observations of similar phenomena in Turgenev and his distinction between literary allusions and "inadvertent" reminiscences lead us to a deeper understanding of the nature of A. Nikolev's poetic world through the prism of A. Egunov's literary studies.


Hook-like surface structures, observed in some plant species, play an important role in the process of plant growth and seed dispersal. In this study, we developed an elastic model and further used it to investigate the mechanical behaviour of fruit hooks in four plant species, previously measured in an experimental study. Based on Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, the force–displacement relationship is derived, and its Young's modulus is obtained. The result agrees well with the experimental data. The model aids in understanding the mechanics of hooks, and could be used in the development of new bioinspired Velcro-like materials.


Nucleoside analogue prodrugs are dependent on efficient intracellular stepwise phosphorylation to their triphosphate form to become therapeutically active. In many cases it is this activation pathway that largely determines the efficacy of the drug. To gain further understanding of the determinants for efficient conversion by the enzyme thymidylate kinase (TMPK) of clinically important thymidine monophosphate analogues to the corresponding diphosphates, we solved the crystal structures of the enzyme, with either ADP or the ATP analogue AppNHp at the phosphoryl donor site, in complex with TMP, AZTMP (previous work), NH2TMP, d4TMP, ddTMP, and FLTMP (this work) at the phosphoryl acceptor site. In conjunction with steady-state kinetic data, our structures shed light on the effect of 3'-substitutions in the nucleoside monophosphate (NMP) sugar moiety on the catalytic rate. We observe a direct correlation between the rate of phosphorylation of an NMP and its ability to induce a closing of the enzyme's phosphate-binding loop (P-loop). Our results show the drastic effects that slight modifications of the substrates exert on the enzyme's conformation and, hence, activity and suggest the type of substitutions that are compatible with efficient phosphorylation by TMPK.


A near-complete 4 year data set of 10 min average 80 m wind speeds is used to examine the impact of missing data on monthly and yearly estimates of mean wind speed and energy production from a generic wind turbine. Missing data is a source of uncertainty in wind energy resource assessment studies. Quantifying that uncertainty can improve the reliability of P90 and related wind farm energy production estimates. An empirical relationship between missing data percentage and relative uncertainty in monthly mean wind speed is derived. Relationships between uncertainties in monthly average wind speed and uncertainties in monthly energy production are also explored. In many cases with monthly data losses of 10% or less the contribution to the overall uncertainty in annual energy production will be small (<1%), but with substantial losses in cold winters, typically caused by icing; the uncertainties can become more significant. The data set is also used to indicate uncertainties associated with short data periods. Annual average wind speed estimates based on less than a complete year's data also add significant uncertainty to wind resource assessments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract In this work the results on the first use of an activated composite membrane (ACM) containing Cyanex 923 for the extraction and transport of phenol are presented. A new dense layer-ACM configuration constituted by piperazine showed better stability than that prepared with 1,3-phenylenediamine. The effects of several parameters on the transport of phenol such as feed phase pH, carrier concentration and stripping phase composition were evaluated. The performance of the membrane was also evaluated during continuous additions of phenol and for a long period of time, observing the same rate of extraction and reextraction. Moreover, phenol transport was evaluated starting from synthetic wastewater of resin production plants type. The results exhibit the potential use of ACMs in the elimination and transport of organic species, even when analyte is initially found in complex solutions.


Abstract:  Genomewide linkage analyses since the early 1990s suggested over 20 genomic intervals that may contain susceptibility genes for type 1 diabetes. However, the identification of the specific genes in these intervals presents a formidable challenge due to a number of difficulties associated with genetic mapping and cloning of genes implicated in complex diseases. One of the difficulties is due to the presence of many weak and different susceptibility genes in different patients and populations, a phenomenon known as genetic heterogeneity. In 2004, we reported the cloning of a novel small ubiquitin‐like modifier (SUMO) gene, SUMO4, in the IDDM5 interval on chromosome 6q25, and presented strong genetic and functional evidence suggesting that SUMO4 is a susceptibility gene for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). In this article, we will summarize genetic association data suggesting that SUMO4 is consistently associated with T1DM in the Asian populations while the association is more heterogeneous in the Caucasian populations. We will also discuss the possible molecular pathways through which sumoylation may regulate T1DM and autoimmunity.


The health of any democratic system depends on political ambition to generate a steady supply of quality candidates for office. Because most models of candidate entry assume ambition rather than model it, previous research fails to understand its roots in individual and institutional characteristics. We develop a two-stage model of progressive behavior that distinguishes between the formation of ambition for higher office and the decision to enter a particular race. Using data from a survey of state legislators, we demonstrate that the intrinsic costs and benefits associated with running for and holding higher office shape ambitions but do not influence the decision to run. For progressively ambitious legislators, the second-stage decision is a strategic choice about when to run rather than whether to run. Our research highlights how institutional characteristics that foster progressive ambition also increase the likelihood that national or local political conditions will be translated into meaningful choices at the ballot box.


Braking performance is one of the vital factors in governing vehicle safety, be it frictional or electrical. In Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), the ability to recover significant amount of energy is an added advantage. A good braking system must control two important vehicular demands namely emergency braking within a stipulated distance and vehicle directional control. In order to achieve best of both worlds, both friction and electrical braking must coexist. This paper emphasizes on braking system design and vital design considerations with an example.


In recent years, malaria is located in southeastern Anatolia of Turkey. Because of no information is available about sporozoite rates in the mosquitoes in Turkey, Anopheles (An.) sacharovi were collected in Sanliurfa province and examined by the VecTestTM Malaria Antigen Panel Assay , a rapid immunochromatographic assay intended for the qualitative determination of three Plasmodium circumsporozoite antigens (P. falciparum, P. vivax 210, P. vivax 247) in infected Anopheline mosquitoes. Anopheles sacharovi specimens were collected using CDC light traps in 5 villages belonging to Sanliurfa province in July 2004. The pools containing 10 mosquitoes were prepared and totally 390 Anopheles sacharovi females were used for the Vectest. Test was performed in the field conditions just after collection. The positivity was observed only in one pool and P.vivax 247 antigen line. Infection rate was detected as 0.25% in mosquitoes. The detection of P.vivax 247 antigen in An. sacharovi is an important natural evidence of vector capacity of this species for P. vivax variant 247 in Turkey. Results were suggestive of most likely involvement of An. sacharovi in malaria transmission in Sanliurfa province.


When a compressed-gas-insulated (CGI) bus section is subjected to a temperature gradient, the gas molecules tend to concentrate in the cold portion of the bus, creating a local reduction in the gas density in the warm portion, and thus affecting the dielectric strength of the overall bus, The effect is even greater when the outdoor temperature reaches the point of gas liquefaction: a) it causes the gas liquefaction in the cold portion to occur at a slightly higher temperature; b) it intensifies the reduction of the gas density in the warm portion with a corresponding deterioration of the dielectric strength of the bus.


This study examined relations between behavioral inhibition in toddlerhood and social, school, and psychological adjustment in late adolescence in China. Data on behavioral inhibition were collected from a sample of 2-year-olds (initial N = 247). Follow-up data were collected at 7 years for peer relationships and 19 years for adjustment across domains. The results showed that early inhibition positively predicted later social competence and school adjustment. Peer relationships in middle childhood served as a protective factor in the development of depression of inhibited children. The results indicate the distinct functional meaning of behavioral inhibition in the Chinese context from a developmental perspective.


The M31 galaxy in Andromeda is the nearest large galaxy after the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. It is a giant galaxy, roughly 2 times as large as our Milky Way, and has its own halo. As pointed by some of us [1, 2] and independantly by A. Crotts [3], M31 provides a rich field of stars to search for MACHO's in galactic halos by gravitational microlensing [4]. M31 is a target complementary to the Magellanic Clouds used by the current experiments [5, 6]. It is complementary in that it allows to probe the halo of our galaxy in a direction very different from that of the LMC. Moreover, the fact that M31 has its own halo and is tilted with respect to the line of sight provides a very interesting signature [3] : assuming an approximately spherical halo for M31, the far side of the disk lies behind a larger amount of M31 dark matter, therefore more microlensing events are expected on the far side of the disk. Such an asymmetry could not be faked by variable stars. In other words, M31 seems very appropriate to detect brown dwarfs through microlensing. However, as very few stars of M31 are resolved, we had to develop a new approach to look for microlensing by monitoring the pixels of a CCD, rather than individual stars [1, 2]. The AGAPE collaboration has set out to implement this idea.


Existing studies on the relationship international trade and manufacturing employment often use a mean regression approach and focus mainly on developed countries. Few studies have applied a quantile regression approach to examine this relationship in developing countries. To fill the gap, this study considers, for the first time, the impact of rising international trade on employment in a developing country, Vietnam. Using an unbalanced panel dataset for the 2010~2015 period, we find a positive linkage between international trade and firm employment when ordinary least square is used. However, by using a fixed-effect quantile approach, we find that international trade is negatively linked with employment for firms in the low employment percentile but positively related with firms in the high employment percentile. Our results also show that previous studies at the national or industry level may have produced biased results by not controlling for the heterogeneity of firm characteristics.


In this contribution, an aspect of the research of one of the more distinct voices in South African theology, Jaco Gericke, is contextualised and outlined. Although Old Testament Theology is an oft-enough reflected on topic by South African Bible scholars, such a theology is never written by South African scholars. However, Gericke's work tends in this direction. His work on God-talk, theo-logy, is the more important for our time, because it often relates to the kind of ideas popularly related to for instance God as creator in the Genesis texts. Gericke's work is however also attractive to intellectuals who work from the precepts of modernism or who are engaged in interdisciplinary research or who for purposes of decoloniality explore alternatives to Western scholarship. However, it is initially not easy for many readers to understand Gericke's contribution in combining philosophy and Old Testament studies, both practised on high levels. To this end, three instances of Gericke's argumentation are related as examples, with explanatory and interpretative comments made to demonstrate the high heuristic value of his contributions. Contribution: Jaco Gericke's work can be characterised as theo-logy, in that he takes seriously the implications of modernism for 'God-talk'. He combines Philosophy and Old Testament Exegesis as academic enterprises, the intellectual productivity of which is demonstrable by means of examples.


News headlines are key elements in spreading news. They are unique texts written in a special language which enables readers understand the overall nature and importance of the topic. However, this special language causes difficulty for readers in understanding the headline. To illuminate this difficulty, it is argued that a pragmatic analysis from a speech act theory perspective is a plausible tool for a headline analysis. The main objective of the study is to pragmatically analyze the most frequently employed types of speech acts in the news headlines covering COVID-19 in Aljazeera English website. To this end, Bach and Harnish's (1979) Taxonomy of Speech Acts has been adopted to analyze the data. Thirty headlines have been collected from Aljazeera English news website. The findings have shown that constatives and directives occur more frequently than commissives. Other types, like acknowledgments, effectives and verdictives are not employed. The study has concluded that to pay a special emphasis on COVID-19 as an issue that preoccupied and endangered the world, headline writers of Aljazeera website uses specific speech acts, constatives and directives, more frequently than others. This makes it clear that using specific speech acts in writing headlines is an effective way for inspiring readers to easily understand the intended message.


Heating of Tokamaks by Alfven waves is examined for a hot multiple ion-component plasma. The majority ions determine the dispersive properties of the waves while the minority ions and the electrons determine the damping. Ion heating can exceed electron heating for only a few per cent minority-ion concentration if the Alfven resonance is near the centre of the plasma. The result is of interest for deuterium-majority tritium-minority reactors.


A dual-polarized hybrid eight-antenna array operating in the 2.6-GHz band (2550-2650 MHz) for 5G communication multi-input multi-output (MIMO) operation in the smartphone is presented. The proposed hybrid antenna array elements are symmetrically placed along the long edges of the smartphone, and they are composed of two different four-antenna array types (C-shaped coupled-fed and L-shaped monopole slot) that exhibit orthogonal polarization. Therefore, coupling between the two antenna array types can be reduced, and the MIMO system performances are enhanced. A prototype of the proposed eight-antenna array is manufactured and measured. A good impedance matching (10 dB return loss or better), desirable cross-polarization discrimination (better than 15 dB), and an acceptable isolation (better than 12.5 dB) are obtained. Envelope correlation coefficient and channel capacity are also calculated to evaluate the MIMO performances of the proposed antenna array.


Purpose: Due to the limited application of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in patients with renal insufficiency and the lack of advanced mapping technique, non-invasively discriminating left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)-preserved light-chain amyloidosis (AL) from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) with similar left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy was challenging. The aims of this study were to evaluate left atrial (LA) morphology and function in LVEF-preserved AL patients using CMR cine images and to investigate the ability of CMR-derived LA parameters in discriminating LVEF-preserved AL from HCM.Methods and results: Thirty-eight confirmed LVEF-preserved AL patients and 38 HCM patients as well as 20 healthy controls were enrolled in this retrospective study. Morphological and functional parameters of LA and LV were measured in multi-plane cine images. Receiver operator characteristics curves were generated to estimate the discriminative ability of parameters. The LA active contractile function of AL and HCM patients were both significantly impaired compared to the control, and the impairment of AL patients was severer than that of HCM (all P < 0.05). In morphological aspect, thickened maximum atrial septal thickness (ASHmax) was found in AL group with regard to HCM and control. Combining ASHmax and LA functional parameters had excellent discriminative ability between AL and HCM (area under the curve [AUC] > 0.9).Conclusions: The combination of ASHmax and LA function was able to perform accurately non-invasive differentiating diagnosis between AL and HCM patients in limited clinical condition, and it could helpfully complemented and extended the current AL diagnostic strategies.


The local spin density approximation (LSDA) with the Hubbard model correction is adopted to describe the electronic structures of O-codoped Er?Si systems. The electrons in the 4f orbitals of Er atoms are taken as localized electrons in the framework of an all-electron treatment. The total density of states (DOS) and the partial densities of states for Si(3s, 3p), Er(4f), Er(5d), Er(6s), O(2s), and O(2p) in this ErSiO system are calculated. It is found that the inclusion of the Hubbard U greatly influences the partial DOS of the Er 4f electrons. The separation between the spin-up and the spin-down states of the highly localized 4f orbitals is larger than that of the LSDA results obtained without considering the Hubbard U-parameter. The calculation results provide possible explanations of the experimentally observed erbium-induced impurity energy levels in Si detected by deep-level transient spectroscopy.


Credibility is the extent to which the recipient sees the source as having appropriate knowledge, skills and experience and believe it as the transferor impartial, objective information. Source perceived as credible in addition to having a proficiency in a specific area, is more convincing than something less knowledgeable. However it must also be more robust - honest, ethical and trustworthy. Research clearly support the hypothesis that sources with the specific knowledge and / or reliability are increasingly more appealing and efficient than those with less knowledge or less reliability. Harrison-Walker (2001) and Mazzarol, Sweeney, and Soutar (2007) treat WOM as the process, under which the discussion is held, around an organisation and its offerings, and during these discussions recommendations may appear. The participants of the WOM process may act as the source (sender/originator) of the message, its recipient, and also the intermediary; they can take an active or passive role in the process. Most consumers, when are looking for the best available offer on the market, are interested in opinions of other customers and their past experiences. Source credibility in the process of word-of mouth may depend on its characteristics - similarities and professionalism (Wangenheim, Bayon 2003). The aim of the article is to verify the hypothesis by which a consumer engaged in a particular product category will be more likely to use the expert's opinion rather than the opinion of a person like himself in the product decision making process. Verification of the hypothesis will be based on the analysis of the results of research conducted on sample of 1,000 Polish consumers, chosen at random. The study was carried out by CAWI method. The involvement in the product category and the propensity to use expert's opinion rather than the opinion of consumers similar to the respondents were investigated in 15 product categories. The project was funded by the National Science Centre on the basis of the decision DEC-2012/07/D/HS4/01761.


Two new species of the spongicolid shrimp genus Microprosthema Stimpson, 1860 are described and illustrated on the basis of material collected recently in Australia and Japan. Type specimens of Microprosthema ningaloo sp. nov. were collected on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, whereas type specimens of Microprosthema pallidum sp. nov. were collected on a coral reef off Ishigaki Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, southern Japan. Microprosthema ningaloo sp. nov. and M. pallidum sp. nov. differ from all other species of the genus by a combination of morphological characters, including the gill-exopod formulae, and by their diagnostic colour patterns. This study increases the total number of species described in the genus Microprosthema to 16, nine of them in the Indo-West Pacific. In addition, new records are provided for M. lubricum Saito & Okuno, 2011 (Guam), M. plumicorne (Richters, 1880) (Red Sea, Mariana and Marshall Islands, French Polynesia), M. scabricaudatum (Richters, 1880) (Red Sea, Glorieuses and Tuamotu Islands), and M. validum Stimpson, 1860 (Red Sea, Madagascar, Singapore, French Polynesia), significantly extending their previously known distribution ranges.