Multi-objective optimization is a powerful tool that has been successfully applied to many fields but has seen minimal use in the design and development of nuclear power plant systems. When applied to design, multi-objective optimization involves the manipulation of key design parameters in order to develop optimal designs. These design parameters include continuous and/or discrete variables and represent the physical design specifications. They are modified across a specific design space to accomplish a number of set objective functions, representing the goals for both system design and performance, which conflict and cannot be combined into a single objective function. In this paper, a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) and parallel processing in Python 3 were used to optimize the design of the passive endothermic reaction cooling system (PERCS) model developed in RELAP5/MOD 3.3. This system has been proposed as a retrofit to currently-operating light water reactors (LWR) and is designed to remove decay heat from the reactor core via the endothermic decomposition of magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) and natural circulation of the reactor coolant. The PERCS design is currently a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, with the coolant flowing through the tube side and MgCO3 on the shell side. During a station blackout (SBO), the PERCS initially keeps the reactor core outlet temperature from exceeding 635 K and then reduces it to below 620 K for 30 days. The optimization of the PERCS was performed with three different objectives: (1) minimization of equipment costs, (2) minimization of deviation of the core outlet temperature during a SBO from its normal operation steady-state value, and (3) minimization of fractional consumption of MgCO3, a metric that is measurable and directly related to the operating time of the PERCS. The manipulated parameters of the optimization include the radius of the PERCS shell, the pitch, hydraulic diameter, thickness and length of the PERCS tubes, and the elevation of the PERCS with respect to the reactor core. The NSGA methodology works by creating a population of PERCS options with varying design parameters. Using the evolutionary concepts of selection, reproduction, mutation, and survival of the fittest, the NSGA method repeatedly generates new PERCS options and gets rid of less fit ones. In the end, the result was a Pareto front of PERCS designs, each thermodynamically viable and optimal with respect to the three objectives. The Pareto front of options as a whole represents the optimized trade-off between the objectives.


ABSTRACT Climate change, in the form of global warming, is a current concern and because farming systems, livestock parasites and their hosts are influenced by the weather, it is possible to predict (albeit with some uncertainty) changes in these in some broadly descriptive fashion, as climate changes. This review examines the on- and off-host responses to potential changes in temperature and humidity of a representative selection of arthropod ectoparasites (sheep chewing louse, Bovicola ovis; sheep blowflies, Lucilla spp., Calliphora stygia, and Chrysomya rufifacies; cattle tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis; scrotal mange mite, Chorioptes bovis; cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis; and dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis) that occur in New Zealand and in many other countries, and how these environmental factors can be perturbed by host manipulation. The bioclimatic preferences of the parasites are examined in relation to future broad climate parameters and how parasite life cycles, seasonality and population dynamics may be influenced. Likely adaptations of farming systems to meet climate change imperatives are briefly discussed. Collectively it is estimated that regions of New Zealand faced with warmer, wetter conditions under climate change may see an increase in flystrike and cattle tick prevalence, and perhaps an increase in the biting louse, but fewer chorioptic mange and flea infestations. In contrast, drier, warmer regions will possibly experience fewer ectoparasites of all types with the exception of flea infestations. Economic effects of increases in ectoparasite prevalence, using approximate dipping costs as a model are examined, and risks posed to New Zealand by some exotic arthropod parasites with the potential to invade under climate change, are briefly outlined.


Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly malignant cancers in women, and BIRC5 has been found to be overexpressed in a variety of human tumors. Its expression is associated with the prognosis of many cancers. However, whether BIRC5 mRNA could be used as an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer remains inconsistent in previous studies.Methods: Altered BIRC5 expression in normal tissue relative to various tumor tissue and in breast cancer patients with different molecular subtypes, clinical outcomes and chemotherapy responses were examined using the Oncomine, GOBO and Kaplan-Meier plotter datasets.Results: We found that many breast cancers had increased BIRC5 mRNA expression, and GOBO analysis showed that triple-negative cell lines displayed highest BIRC5 mRNA expression levels in the breast cancer cell line panel. Moreover, BIRC5 high mRNA expression was significantly associated with longer relapse-free survival (RFS) in all breast cancer patients. In particular, sub analysis revealed that high mRNA expression of BIRC5 was significantly associated with better survival in ER positive (HR = 2.05, p = 1e-16), but not in ER negative breast cancer (HR = 1.24, p = 0.1), furthermore, the results also demonstrated that BIRC5 high expression was significantly associated with longer RFS in luminal A (HR = 1.51, p = 3.1e-06) and luminal B (HR = 1.28, p = 0.026).Conclusions: In conclusion, BIRC5 is involved in the development and progression of breast cancer and may be a suitable prognostic marker for human breast cancer.


Cognitive dysfunction has long been recognised as a cardinal feature of schizophrenia, dating back to Kraepelin's description of dementia praecox (1919). Cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is seen early in the illness and is initially mild, increasing in severity in some chronic patients. It is recognised as a primary and pervasive deficit that is independent of positive symptoms in that it persists after resolution of acute symptoms. It is not restricted to a subgroup and is seen to a greater or lesser extent in almost all patients suffering from schizophrenia (Goldberg et aI, 1990).


ABSTRACT

This research studies and answer the problem concerning the criteria that judex facti perhaps has made a mistake in applying the law as the foundation of appeal case examination by the Supreme Court's judge in the Mandiri Bank corruption crime case with the accused E.C.W Neloe and the assessment whether there is or not the error law application by judex facti as the foundation of appeal case examination by the Supreme Court's judge in the Mandiri Bank corruption crime case with the accused E.C.W Neloe.
This study belonged to a normative law research that was descriptive in nature. The research data employed was secondary one consisting of law materials (primary, secondary, tertiary). The type of study in this law research was what the judge decided in concerto and is systemized as the judges through, judicial process. The study employed a case approach. Technique of collecting data employed was documentary study or literary study. Technique of analyzing data used was content analysis.
The basis of appeal case examination on the freedom verdict in the Mandiri Bank corruption crime case with the accused E.C.W Neloe and friends include: firstly, the impure liberation reason that is misinterpretation on the criminal action element in the accusation letter, the inclusion of non-juridical element, beyond the authority; secondly, the reason of appeal on Article 253 clause (1) KUPHAP and Article 30 clause (1) of Act No. 5 of 2004 about the Amendment of Act No. 14 of 1985 about the Supreme Court in which the law regulation is not applied or applied improperly or breaking the prevailing law that is to state that the accused's action belongs to the civil case but it is decided as free, the accusation is proved but is freed, is decided as free but is required to pay any case charge, the trial method is not implemented according to the Law that indicates the conviction that the accused is not guilty in the trial, beyond the authority limit that is the absolute authority because the material test is conducted to the word "can" in Act No. 31 of 1999 jo. Act No. 2000 of 2001 about the Eradication of Corruption Crimes, negligent in fulfilling the obligatory condition according to the legislation that threats such negligence with the cancellation of pertained verdict that only considers the witness a de charge proposed by the accused's lawyer and does not consider the letter evidence. There is law error implementation by judexfacti based on the Supreme Court judge's deliberation that judex facti makes the law error application, exceeds his authority, conducts material test, and makes the law verification implementation error.


A deterministic model with variable human population for the transmission dynamics of malaria disease, which allows transmission by the recovered humans, is first developed and rigorously analyzed. The model reveals the presence of the phenomenon of backward bifurcation, where a stable disease-free equilibrium coexists with one or more stable endemic equilibria when the associated reproduction number is less than unity. This phenomenon may arise due to the reinfection of host individuals who recovered from the disease. The model in an asymptotical constant population is also investigated. This results in a model with mass action incidence. A complete global analysis of the model with mass action incidence is given, which reveals that the global dynamics of malaria disease with reinfection is completely determined by the associated reproduction number. Moreover, it is shown that the phenomenon of backward bifurcation can be removed by replacing the standard incidence function with a mass action incidence. Graphical representations are provided to study the effect of reinfection rate and to qualitatively support the analytical results on the transmission dynamics of malaria.


This article analyzes the effects of legislation and judicial decisions on tort liability in consumption relations. In consumer protection, if there is a failure to enforce penalties on producers, manufacturers may neglect proper care in preventing defects in products and services provided to society. After reviewing the Brazilian consumer protection legislation and literature, this paper presents an economic model, which shows that higher effective punishments induce producers to choose higher levels of precaution in the production process; however, higher punishments also reduce overall production. The trade-off between punishment, precaution and growth is an important element that should be taken into consideration in designing consumer's protection public policy.


Abstract This paper provides the first assessment of China's twenty-year experiment with food hygiene barometer rating systems, originally developed in the West for publicly communicating the grades awarded by food safety inspectors to individual businesses. This approach to regulating through disclosure is often celebrated for efficiently 'nudging' improved business compliance by empowering consumers to make 'better' decisions, but little is known about disclosure-based regulation in China or other low- and middle-income countries. Combining policy document and quantitative social media analysis with key informant interviews (n = 35), we show that barometers have failed to improve hygiene in China's rapidly expanding private food sector: more than 75% of restaurants in four diverse case-study localities remain merely 'Adequate' with many of those unable in practice to meet basic safety standards. This is because regulatory implementation has been hesitant and unreliable; consumers ignore or distrust barometers; and food businesses lack the capacity and competitive incentive to improve. That failure to empower consumer sovereignty and leverage business behaviour change, however, also reflects how barometers – despite their liberal individualist conceit - were adapted to China's revolutionary 'mass line' traditions of societal supervision of government regulators as much as food businesses. We conclude that barometers – far from being a 'light-touch' alternative to command-and-control regulation- require significant governance capacity, which may be lacking in low- and middle-income countries that struggle to conduct even basic regulatory oversight. Disclosure-based regulation also requires high levels of economic development, formalisation and trust to inculcate consumer and business responsiveness to information disclosures. Finally, our paper contributes to debates about risk communication and regulation by drawing the novel conclusion that the conceits underpinning seemingly universal tools of regulating through disclosure, get adapted to national state traditions and norms in ways that are far removed from their origins.


The continual need to increase food production necessitates the development and application of novel biotechnologies to enable the provision of improved crop varieties in a timely and cost-effective way. Plants and herbivores have been co-evolving for thousands of years, and as a result, plants have defence mechanisms that offer protection against many herbivores/predators. Plant proteinase inhibitors (PIs), which play a potent defensive role against predators and pathogens, are natural, defense-related proteins often present in seeds and induced in certain plant tissues by herbivory or wounding. This review describes the main classes of proteinase inhibitors and proteinases, their distribution and localization, general properties, and their main functions. Possible applications utilities for the PI and proteolytic enzymes in plant biotechnology have been reviewed.


The manuscript presents an overview of the erosion and deposition data in the inner and outer JET divertor observed during the first three ITER-like wall campaigns (JET-ILW1, JET-ILW2, JET-ILW3). Erosion and deposition were studied using core samples cut out from divertor tiles. For the studied samples a similar general deposition pattern was observed in all three campaigns: More than 60% of the total deposition occurred in the upper region of the inner divertor on tiles 0 and 1, where Be was transported and deposited from the scrape-off layer. High erosion was observed only on tile 5. In JET-ILW2 and 3, erosion together with high power fluxes was observed in the outer divertor at the bottom of tile 7. Additionally, deposition peaks were observed on the sloping parts of tiles 4 and 6, which were more pronounced in JET-ILW2 and 3 due to placing the strike point more often on these tiles. The deposits consisted primarily of Be, with some additional D and C. Deposition rates were observed to decrease from campaign to campaign, with the C deposition rate decreasing the most, more than 2 times from JET-ILW1 to JET-ILW3. D retention up to levels of ∼1 at% was observed up to large depths in the W protective coatings in all campaigns.


Objectives : The purpose of this study is to summarize the historical aspects of parabolic reflector moxa and to suggest the applications of light moxibustion in Korean medicine. Results : Getting a fire by parabolic reflector(concave mirror) is well known because of the Olympic torch lighted with a solar reflector in Greece. From anecdotes or myths for Diocles and Archimedes(third century B.C.) a long history has been chronicled in books and films in western culture. However, it has another history in Asian countries since 2,000 years ago. Some reflectors had a tiny size with 6.5 to 10 cm in diameter, 4 mm to 1 cm thickness, and these mobile handheld devices could make us guess that they have been used for multiple purposes. Bronze reflectors were described in Dongeui-bogam, and excavated from the ancient remains of the Shilla and Koryo dynasties. This common firing device was used as a moxibustion device, one of the acupuncture and moxibustion modalities in traditional Korean medicine. Conclusions : Reflector moxa has been used as a light moxibustion to deliver heat energy to acupuncture points, muscles, and skin along meridians. We present a plausible proposal to improve other phototherapy modalities including reflector moxa in Korean medicine practice.


Recently acquired sidescan sonar images reveal, for the first time, the landscape pattern and the detailed geomorphology of the North Atlantic shelf-slope break off the United States and other areas extending from the edge of the continental shelf to the upper slope. Long-range (GLORIA II) images that have swath widths of as much as 40 km show small-scale regional features; midrange images that have swath widths of as much as 5 km show features as small as 3 m across. The midrange images show that the outer edge of the shelf, deeply embayed by submarine canyons, outlines a nearly flat surface marked by complex ripple patterns. In places, the slopes converging toward adjacent canyons are also complexly rippled; this feature suggests that the shelf surface and the upper canyon slopes are mutually stable under common End_Page 966------------------------------ y10hydrodynamic conditions. In general, canyons in the upper slope have relatively broad flat thalwegs distinguished by relatively bright surfaces; tonal gradations indicate that the thalweg surfaces lap smoothly onto sharply etched border terrane. Terrane bordering the canyons typically has a simple gully and ridge trellis pattern; one or both sides of this bordering terrane may be spectacularly etched and extended. Individual gullies typically extend up to faceted back slopes. The extent and pattern of etched terrane, as shown in the midrange images, varies considerably from canyon to canyon suggesting the influence of multiple erosional events involving different mechanisms, and a substratum of varied erosional resistance. End_of_Article - Last_Page 967------------


Selection source of financing is an important decision that should be considered by company. One of the sources financing that can be chosen is long-term debt. In deciding the policy of long-term debt, the company should consider it appropriately. In 2011 food and beverage company listed on the Stock Exchange, increase the use of long-term debt. Related with the theory of capital structure, it is necessary to study the effect of profitability, asset structure and asset growth towards long-term debt policy. This study aims to identify and analyze the effect of profitability, asset structure and asset growth towards long-term debt policy on food and beverage company listed on the Stock Exchange over period 2008-2011. The population amounts to 12 companies . The samples used in this study is the entire population. The method of analysis used in this study is multiple linear regression analysis. The analysis begins with the classical assumption that consist of autocorrelation test, normality test, multicollinearity test, and heteroscedasticity test. After that, the F-test to determine the effect of simultaneous, t-test to determine the effect of partial and dominant test to determine the dominant variable . The results of the F test analysis showed that simultaneously the profitability, asset structure and assets growth influence long-term debt policy. T test analysis showed that the profitability has significant effect and negative relationship with long-term debt. While the asset structure of and asset growth have significant effect and positive relationship with long-term debt. The dominant test results show that the profitability dominant influence the of long-term debt policy. Keywords: long-term debt policy, profitability, asset structure , asset growth


This article intends to give a historic and synthetic overview of the principal ideas endorsed in various Declarations and Conferences of the European Ministries of Higher Education with respect to the achievement of Higher Education in Europe. This started with the signing of a Magna Carta by European Universities in Bologna in 1988 and ended with the most recent report from the Ministers Conference in Berlin in 2003.


We study the incorporation of the support vector machine (SVM) into the (hierarchical) mixture of experts model to form a support vector mixture. We show that, in both classification and regression problems, the use of a support vector mixture leads to quadratic programming (QP) problems that are very similar to those for a SVM, with no increase in the dimensionality of the QP problems. Moreover, a support vector mixture, besides allowing for the use of different experts in different regions of the input space, also supports easy combination of different architectures such as polynomial networks and radial basis function networks.


Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is rapidly becoming a technique that can be utilized with intravenous microbubbles to detect myocardial perfusion abnormalities during stress echocardiography. Real-time techniques with low mechanical index pulse sequence schemes have been developed that allow for the simultaneous detection of wall motion and perfusion during pharmacologic stress echocardiography. MCE is also very helpful in determining the viability of the dysfunctional myocardium in the setting of acute myocardial infarction, and in the setting of chronic coronary artery disease. Microbubbles normally pass freely through the large and small vessels, but do adhere to the endothelium in the setting of endothelial dysfunction. This may be one method of concentrating the delivery of drugs or genes bound to microbubbles to selective areas of endothelial dysfunction. Ultrasound-mediated destruction of microbubbles may also be useful for targeted drug delivery and enhancing intravascular thrombolysis.


A difference in attitudes between young Australian and British nationals towards participation in sport with particular reference to swimming. This dissertation is to identify Australian and British sports person's characteristics and assess the differences that lead to their successes and failures within the sporting world. Firstly, attitudes to sport in the UK and Australia are identified and compared with particular reference to the promotion of sport and physical activities to young people. Motivation is analysed as a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, with research into the early work and participation motivations for sport. The historical development of the sport of swimming is discussed. The origins of swimming, swimming clubs and attempts and successes at larger scale swimming challenges such as channel swimming are also researched and discussed. The development of sport in Australia is investigated, followed lastly by research into the participation of women's role in sport from the Ancient Olympic Games through to the Modern Day Olympics. This dissertation identifies the power of motivation and the desire to succeed as factors contributing to the successes and failures of swimming teams in both Australia and the UK and identifies key national differences in factors driving participation and continuance in sport at different levels.


This article argues that Statius Siluae 1.6 may be understood as an enactment of the politics of freedom in Flavian Rome. In describing Saturnalia and praising the emperor simultaneously, the poem engages with two different types of rhetoric and employs figurative language in an attempt to reconcile the two. Nevertheless, the literal meanings of these figures of speech come into play in the poem. In several instances analyzed here, the various ways of understanding libertas come into conflict. This literary conflict of figurative language reenacts the political contestation over the meaning of libertas at Rome.


Alternative reproductive tactics are widespread in fishes, increasing the potential for sperm competition. Sperm competition has enormous impact on both variation in sperm numbers and sperm size. In cichlids, the sperm competition risk is very divergent and longer sperm are usually interpreted as adaptation to sperm competition. Here we examined whether sneaking tactics exist in Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a socially monogamous cichlid with biparental brood care from West Africa. The small testis indicates low gonadal investment which is typical for genetically monogamous species. In contrast, sperm length with up to 85 μm is extraordinarily long. We examined the reproductive behaviour of ten groups with a male-biased sex ratio under semi-natural conditions via continuous video recording. We recorded spawning site preferences and correlates of reproductive success and conducted paternity tests using microsatellites. Safe breeding sites that could be successfully defended were preferred. All offspring could be assigned to their parents and no multiple paternities were detected. Body size of spawning pairs predicted their spawning probability and offspring hatching rate suggesting benefits from mating with large individuals. Our study suggests low risk of sperm competition under the given conditions in P. taeniatus and thus first evidence for genetic monogamy in a substrate breeding cichlid.


116 patients with clinically suspected obstructive jaundice were subjected to primary sonographic examination by means of the "real-time" method to differentiate between intrahepatic (internal) and extrahepatic (surgical) cholestasis. Diagnosis was finally confirmed by observing the clinical course, by further examinations, and in 63 cases by surgery or PM. Sonographic examination revealed the direct cause of the extrahepatic obstruction in 82 of 87 patients (94.3%) with extrahepatic cholestasis; in case of dilatation of the bile duct, the approximate site of the obstruction could be determined. In about 75% of the cases, the cause of biliary obstruction was correctly identified. Intrahepatic tumours or metastases were present in 10 of 27 patients with intrahepatic cholestasis; sonographic identification was effected in all cases and histologically or cytologically confirmed with aspiration material from fine-needle biopsies. The high accuracy and uncomplicated technique avoiding discomfort or harm to the patient, make sonography a useful method in differential diagnosis of cholestasis.


Synaptic pathology has attained increasing attention as being central in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). To address the question whether synaptic pathology in AD involves the whole synapse, or is limited to specific components thereof, we studied three different synaptic vesicle proteins (rab3a, synaptotagmin, synaptophysin) and also the presynaptic membrane protein GAP-43 and the postsynaptic protein neurogranin. The material included post-mortem brain tissue (frontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum) from 8 patients with early-onset AD (EAD), 11 patients with late-onset AD (LAD), 6 patients with vascular dementia (VAD), and 9 control subjects. A reduction of all synaptic proteins was found in AD, more pronounced in EAD than in LAD, in both the frontal cortex (EAD 30% to 70% vs. LAD 82% to 88% of control value) and hippocampus (EAD 22% to 82% vs. LAD 76% to 89% of control value), whereas only minor changes were found in VAD. The finding that all synaptic proteins were reduced in AD suggests a degeneration and loss of whole synaptic elements that are more pronounced in EAD than in LAD.


To study the mechanism of brush-type electrical tree growing in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), the electrical treeing experiments in XLPE samples were made. The whole process of electrical treeing from initiation to breakdown was recorded by the real-time microscopic observation system. The microstructures of electrical trees were observed by scanning electron microscope. The energy spectrum of the electrical tree channel was analyzed. The relationship between electrical trees growing characteristics and microstructure was analyzed by establishing simulation models of electrical trees at different stages during treeing. The research shows that the process of electrical treeing in XLPE can be divided into four stages, which are incubation, growth, stagnation and breakdown.


The Beevers-Lipson procedure was developed as an economical evaluation of Fourier maps in two- and three-dimensional space. Straightforward generalization of this procedure towards a transformation in n-dimensional space would lead to n nested loops over the n coordinates, respectively, and different computer code is required for each dimension. An algorithm is proposed based on the generalization of the Beevers-Lipson procedure towards transforms in n-dimensional space that contains the dimension as a variable and that results in a single piece of computer code for arbitrary dimensions. The computational complexity is found to scale as N log(N), where N is the number of pixels in the map, and it is independent of the dimension of the transform. This procedure will find applications in the evaluation of Fourier maps of quasicrystals and other aperiodic crystals, and in the maximum-entropy method for aperiodic crystals.


This paper puts forward an alternative view on sustainable development, arguing that the separation between the economy, the environment and the social in the Brundtland model obscures the societal character of the economy, the economic bases of the social, and the fact that the environment is a societal product. We differentiate between strong and weak sustainability, arguing that the threat of environmental degradation can only be addressed at the level of the relations of production, consumption and political relations. Building on this perspective, we advocate a form of transformative environmental education which engages learners and teachers in a process of self‐reflective transformation. We illustrate this through two examples: action competence and Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a bacterial molecule that induces nitric oxide (NO) production and triggers defense systems in plant-pathogen interactions. NO production is induced in the roots of Lotus japonicus after inoculation of the roots with its microsymbiont Mesorhizobium loti. However, the rhizobial molecule that induces NO production has not yet been identified. We investigated NO production in the roots of L. japonicus by treatment with LPS of M. loti. LPS was prepared by phenol-hot water extraction and separated into several fractions: polysaccharide, lipooligosaccharide, oligosaccharide and lipid A. In the roots of L. japonicus, NO production was observed with an NO-specific fluorescent dye 4, 10 and 24 h after treatment with each fraction of LPS. NO production was detected 4 h after treatment with all fractions. NO production was also detectable 24 h after treatment, except after treatment with the polysaccharide and oligosaccharide fractions. Expression of a class 1 hemoglobin gene and application of an NO scavenger showed that the treatment with LPS and LOS induced a similar response to inoculation with M. loti. These data suggest that LPS of M. loti induces NO production after inoculation with M. loti.


This paper discusses some of the factors affecting the density vs. stability relationships of compacted clays and some of the limitations of the concept that the stability of a compacted soil increases with an increase in density. A series of tests performed on silty clay, in which stability was measured by triaxial compression tests, are described. It is shown that the relationship between density and stability of a soil depends on the criterion used to define stability; the greater the permissible strain before a sample is considered unstable, the greater is the possibility that an increase in density will cause an increase in stability. For the silty clay, when the stability is defined as the load required to cause 10 percent strain or less, an increase in density at a given water content caused an increase or decrease in stability depending upon the water content and the range of densities involved; at constant degrees of saturation, however, an increase in density always caused an increase in stability. The effect of compaction method on the density vs. stability relationship is illustrated. Test data are presented for two soils, a silty clay and a sandy clay, comparing the stabilities, at various water contents and densities, of partially saturated samples compacted by impact methods, static pressure and kneading action. It is shown that, at equal water contents and densities, samples compacted by static pressures exhibit higher stabilities than samples compacted by impact or kneading methods; also, that the stabilities of samples at equal densities and water contents, compacted by impact and kneading methods, are very similar, with kneading compaction producing somewhat higher stabilities at lower degrees of saturation, and impact compaction producing slightly higher stabilities at higher degrees of saturation. For static compaction, both soils showed an increase of stability with increase in density at all water contents, while for samples compacted by impact and kneading methods, an increase in density at a given water content did not necessarily lead to an increase in stability. The effect of saturation on the stability of compacted clays is shown and the influence of water content at compaction on the stability of saturated samples having the same density and water content is illustrated. Finally, a comparison is made of the stability and swell pressures developed at various densities of samples of the sandy clay compacted by kneading action and static pressure and subsequently saturated by exudation of moisture from the samples under static loads. It is shown that very much higher swell pressures and stabilities are exhibited by the statically compacted samples than by the samples prepared by kneading action.


Australia's mammal fauna has suffered a dramatic decline over the last 200 years, with 30 species becoming extinct since European colonisation and many more threatened. The island of Tasmania, 250 km south-east of continental Australia, has historically acted as a refuge for several mammals that have become either extinct or threatened on the mainland. Anthropogenic pressures including habitat loss and fragmentation and climate change are among the major threats to many mammal species, and a clear understanding of their impacts is required for effective conservation. Genetic research can contribute valuable data to inform conservation efforts at range-wide and finer spatial scales.

The goal of my PhD was to support conservation efforts for two marsupials, the eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi) and spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), in Tasmania through genetic research at multiple spatial scales. For each species, I investigated patterns and causes of genetic variation across their range in Tasmania, and then identified potential factors affecting genetic connectivity within smaller-scale landscapes. In particular, by investigating landscape factors affecting gene flow, I aimed to provide data to inform an ongoing habitat restoration program in the Midlands region of Tasmania. The Midlands is an important part of both species' ranges that has experienced extensive habitat loss and fragmentation due to agricultural intensification in the last 200 years. To facilitate this aim, in Chapter 2, I reviewed tools from the fields of population and landscape genetics that can be used to assess connectivity and identified novel ways to apply these to the planning and evaluation of ecological restoration projects.

The eastern bettong is a medium-sized marsupial with a climatically restricted, patchy distribution in Tasmania, being limited to the relatively dry and warm eastern half of the island. As a woodland-dependent species, it is potentially highly susceptible to the effects of loss and fragmentation of woodland habitat, which has been extensive in the Midlands and other agricultural regions. Thus, my goals were first to test the effect of climatic factors on genetic structure across the species' range, and then to investigate how loss of connectivity of woodland patches affects localised gene flow, and hence genetic structure at the landscape scale.

In Chapter 3, I investigated the effects of short-term climate variability (i.e. weather) on genetic diversity in bettongs. I quantified population genetic structure and diversity by surveying ~2900 putatively neutral single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and the mitochondrial control region in 294 bettongs from 18 localities range-wide. I then assessed whether genetic diversity in this species could be predicted by a weather-based species distribution model (SDM), which is an emerging technique that uses short-term weather variables, rather than multi-decadal climatic averages, to create dynamic models of weather suitability over time. I found substantial genetic structure and variation in genetic diversity between populations. Weather stability was a strong predictor of population genetic diversity in eastern bettongs, which is likely due its influence on patterns of local extinction and recolonisation. This is the first evidence that weather-based SDMs could be a novel and important tool for predicting the impacts of current and future climate change on genetic diversity in weather-sensitive species.

In Chapter 4, I tested the effects of habitat fragmentation on gene flow among bettong populations in the Midlands. I quantified genetic differentiation among 9 populations based on SNP genotypes, and measured key fragmentation variables within least-cost transects between each population. I then used maximum likelihood population-effects (MLPE) models to compare the effects of different fragmentation variables on genetic structure. I found strong effects of habitat fragmentation on genetic connectivity between populations. In particular, connectivity was affected by least-cost path length, maximum distance of open habitat crossed, and the proportion of the transect comprised of closed habitat. Amount of habitat edge and size of patches did not strongly predict connectivity, suggesting that it is the amount of closed habitat and distances between patches, not patch size or edge effects, that particularly influence connectivity in bettongs.

In contrast to the eastern bettong, the spotted-tailed quoll is a generalist and wide-ranging carnivore, found at low densities across Tasmania. It has substantial dispersal capabilities across a range of habitat types, and thus range-wide and smaller-scale genetic patterns are likely to be affected primarily by the intrinsic dispersal capabilities of the species, and potentially by major historical or contemporary barriers to movement. For this species, my goals were first to quantify the extent of gene flow Tasmania-wide and identify any major barriers, and then to investigate whether climatic variables, habitat loss or other anthropogenic pressures act as barriers to gene flow at a smaller landscape scale.

In Chapter 5, I investigated broad-scale historical and contemporary genetic structure in 502 spotted-tailed quolls sampled from across the species' range in Tasmania, using 13 microsatellite loci and the mitochondrial DNA control region. A Bayesian clustering analysis and spatial principal components analysis identified a gradual genetic transition from western to eastern Tasmania, consistent with an isolation-by-distance pattern. I did not find evidence of either contemporary or phylogeographic barriers to gene flow. I found significant positive spatial autocorrelation over distances up to 116 km for females and 133 km for males, confirming that contemporary gene flow in this species is substantial, relative to the size of its Tasmanian range.

In Chapter 6, I assessed the effects of bioclimatic variables, anthropogenic land use change and geographic distance on gene flow in spotted-tailed quolls at smaller scales, in three contrasting 15 km x 45 km landscapes in Tasmania. I parameterised resistance surfaces reflecting hypotheses on the effects of landscape variables on gene flow, and tested the relationship between genetic distances and resistance distances in an MLPE framework. I did not find consistent effects of any variable in all three landscapes, and in two of the landscapes, there were only weak relationships between genetic structure and environmental variables. In the third landscape, the northern Midlands, which is more marginal for this species, environmental variables had stronger effects, although these may have been amplified by sampling limitations.

My research provides guidance for the conservation of these contrasting species at range-wide and finer landscape scales. For the spotted-tailed quoll, with strong inherent dispersal abilities and gene flow occurring over large scales, climatic variables and landscape change do not currently appear to be creating barriers to gene flow. Thus, for this species, conservation efforts should focus on ensuring that sufficient habitat and resources are available to support the largest population densities possible given land use, which may be at carrying capacity in intact habitat and at lower but sustainable densities in fragmented agricultural landscapes. Conservation measures would include appropriate land conservation across Tasmania, and restoration and expansion of habitat in the Midlands. For the eastern bettong, a species with more restricted dispersal and specialist habitat requirements, targeted conservation actions are needed to protect genetic diversity and connectivity. At the range-wide scale, weather-based SDMs can be used to identify and prioritise areas of potentially high genetic diversity for conservation of bettongs and other weather-sensitive species. Within the Midlands, restoration practitioners should focus particularly on increasing the amount of habitat in the landscape and reducing large gaps between patches to improve connectivity, but my results suggest that the size and shape of these patches are less important. These findings may also be useful for guiding conservation and restoration efforts for other Tasmanian animals with similar dispersal capabilities and habitat requirements to bettongs and quolls.


Considered the problems of communication with peers of orphans, differing by level of deprivation. Established crucial of communication as a factor of formation of personality. Mental deprivation seen as unmet needs resulting from distancing people from relevant sources to meet them, first of all - in families, and leading to the destruction of the emotional bonds of orphans with their surrounding social environment. Identified criteria for diagnosing mental level of deprivation in terms of psychomotor development. The results of comparative empirical studies of the communication with peers in orphans with different levels of deprivation and preschool children who are brought up in families.


The antidiuretic and urinary cyclic AMP response to supramaximal vasopressin infusion was studied in normal rats and in rats with lithium-polyuria. The animals were anaesthetized and then infused with a solution designed to produce excessive water diuresis and to lower basal cyclic AMP excretion. In 6 control animals not infused with vasopressin (1) urinary cyclic AMP excretion decreased during the infusion period. Vasopressin infusion (300 muU/min.) consistantly induced antidiuresis in all of 13 control rats (II); but the urinary cyclic AMP response varied individually from a significant increase in 6 animals to either no change or to a decrease in the remaining animals. The antidiuretic response to vasopressin was inhibited by 85% in 10 animals with marked polyuria induced by lithium administration (III). None of the animals in this group showed a significant increase of cyclic AMP excretion in response to vasopressin. The average rate of cyclic AMP excretion, which was equal in the two groups before vasopressin, was signifimantly lower in group III than in group II during vasopressin infusion. It is suggested that the increase in cyclic AMP excretion during vasopressin antidiuresis, although not consistant, most likely reflects hormone-induced changes of intracellular cyclic AMP levels in the renal medulla. Thus, the data suggest that the nephrogenic diabetes insipidus syndrome produced by lithium is associated with a defect in the renal formation of cyclic AMP in response to vasopressin.


The performance of the manager, is partly related with decision-making competence. Making decisions properly at the right time and in the best period has the potential to increase the overall success of the manager. Decision-making which means comprehending, thinking, evalua-ting the alternatives and choosing one of the alternatives is a factor that affects manager's performance directly and provides a competitive advantage for organisations. In this research, the relationships between decision-making competence and managerial performance were discus-sed. The main thesis of this research is that the managers who have high decision-making competence will have high managerial performance. The research was carried out with a population of 424 managers, subordinates, executives and customers/farmers. The evaluation of mana-gerial performance was conducted by taking the factors of subordinates, executives and customers into consideration. The research scales compiled from the literature review and measurement tools developed by the researcher were used in the research. The test of hypothesis was examined by the method of linear regression analysis. The results of this research provided that there was a statistically significant relationship between the decision-making competence of the managers and managerial performance. However, this preliminary study needs to be tested in other businesses and sectors because the data of this study were gathered from a single institution of business.


An outer bound to the capacity region of the two-receiver discrete memoryless broadcast channel is given. The outer bound is tight for all cases where the capacity region is known. When specialized to the case of no common information, this outer bound is shown to be contained in the Korner-Marton outer bound. This containment is shown to be strict for the binary skew-symmetric broadcast channel. Thus, this outer bound is in general tighter than all other known outer bounds on the discrete memoryless broadcast channel


Protein kinase D is a family of novel serine/threonine kinases that act as major mediators of several signaling pathways related to cancer development. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that specific PKD isoforms are deregulated in human cancers and that PKD plays an active role in cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Here, we present evidence on the development of a PC3 tetracycline-inducible PKD3 knockdown prostate cancer cell line and its application in both the study of PKD3 function in cells and the validation of PKD3 as a therapeutic target in vivo. We show that tetracycline treatment results in >50% knockdown of endogenous PKD3 expression in two distinct clones expressing PKD3 shRNA (shPKD3-C7 and shPKD3-C26), but has no effect on cells expressing scrambled shRNA (shSCR). Furthermore, endogenous PKD1 or PKD2 expression levels are not altered in PKD3 knockdown cells treated with tetracycline, supporting the specific targeting of the shRNA to the PKD3 isoform. Phenotypic analysis revealed that, similar to studies utilizing PKD siRNAs or novel PKD inhibitors, tetracycline-induced silencing of PKD3 causes potent arrest in cell growth and motility. Additionally, we found that conditioned media collected from tetracycline-treated shPKD3-C7 cells causes a reduction in PC3 cell migration, and we observed increased secretion of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) protein, which has important anti-angiogenic functions, from tetracycline-treated shPKD3-C7 cells. Western blotting revealed that both siRNA-mediated transient knockdown of PKD2 or PKD3 or treatment with novel PKD inhibitors led to decreased levels of the matrix metalloproteinases MMP-9, MMP-11, and MMP-14 in PC3 cells. Finally, we found that reduction of PKD3 expression by tetracycline-inducible shRNA significantly retarded both tumor growth in a subcutaneous xenograft model as well as tumor growth and metastasis in an orthotopic prostate cancer xenograft model. Taken together, these data suggest that PKD is a critical signaling protein that modulates prostate cancer cell growth and motility through a pathway involving multiple secreted factors, and that PKD3 is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of prostate cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3829. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3829


BACKGROUND
This research investigated the representation of alcohol in radio output. The study was prompted by concerns that media output might be part of a developing culture of excessive drinking among young people.

METHODS
Alcohol comments were examined across six radio stations in England. 1200 h of weekend output was screened and the sampling frame included periods when references to alcohol would be expected, such as the Christmas period. Statistical analysis identified the volume and proportion of comments, whereas qualitative analysis explored these in more depth, focusing on the themes and discourses surrounding alcohol talk.

RESULTS
Of 703 alcohol comments identified, 244 involved presenters. The volume of comments about alcohol varied between stations, being lower on BBC than on commercial stations and being influenced by music genre. Seventy-three percent of comments initiated by presenters, compared with 45% of comments from all sources, encouraged drinking. The majority of comments by presenters support drinking in relation to partying and socializing. Alcohol comments seem to create identity for programmes and forge connections between presenters and audiences, although some presenters achieve this without mentioning drinking. The assumption that alcohol is necessary to have a good time is seldom directly challenged.

CONCLUSIONS
While it may be unsurprising that much of this content reflected themes of weekend drinking and partying, the study suggests that alcohol comments play a particular role in marketing and branding of radio output. Comments about alcohol are shaped by broadcasting conventions that make it difficult to challenge discourses surrounding excessive drinking. Further research is needed on the influence that radio output may have on drinking behaviour among young people.


AbstractT helper (Th) 17 cells were reported to have the property of proinflammation and profibrosis. We first investigate the levels of Th17 cells in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients, and then explore their distribution and fibrotic role in the disease.We compared the circulating Th17 and hepatic interleukin (IL)-17-positive cells between patients and healthy controls (HCs) at different disease stages by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The levels of chemokine (c-c motif) ligand (CCL) 20 were then measured. For exploration of the reason why Th17 cells increased, CD4+CD161+ populations were sorted and cultured with IL-23 and IL-1&bgr; to analyze their proliferation and IL-17 secretions. The serum IL-23 and IL-1&bgr; were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The proliferation and expressions of &agr;-smooth muscle actin and IL-8 of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were identified after stimulated by different concentrations of IL-17.Circulating and hepatic Th17 cells were elevated in PBC patients compared with HCs. Early PBC patients presented with more Th17 cells in periphery blood and less in the liver than advanced PBC patients. Accordingly, the levels of both serum and hepatic CCL20 for Th17 cells were higher, especially in those with advanced disease. The progenitor of Th17, CD4+CD161+ cell was increased in PBC. Moreover, the percentage of Th17 cells was positively related with CD4+CD161+ cell. After stimulation with IL-23 and IL-1&bgr; which were improved in PBC patients, CD4+CD161+ cells from PBC patients expressed more IL-17, although their proliferation were not different between 2 groups. IL-17 can promote the proliferation of HSCs at a dose-dependent method, and also increase the IL-8 expression in a dose/time-dependent way. Anti-IL-17 can neutralize the above reactions.CD4+CD161+ cells are a source of increased Th17 in PBC patients. With disease progression, Th17 population decreased in the circulation, accompanied by greater accumulation in the liver, which is regulated by CCL20 in advanced patients. IL-17 may be involved in the process of PBC fibrosis.


ABSTRACT Gossip is an everyday part of organizational life and has been increasingly researched. However, some gossip has a particular character, whereby it is to some degree secret. Drawing on studies of both gossip and secrecy, in this paper we explore this 'confidential gossip' via a participant observation case study. This was based on an internship with Quinza, a British media company, and had a covert element which is discussed and justified. Specifically, we show how the boundaries around confidential gossip are marked in organizational interactions. The paper contributes to existing knowledge about organizational gossip by showing the particular significance of secrecy which makes confidential gossip a more potent source of group inclusion and exclusion.


Purpose: Tritan color deficiency has been identified as an early sign of glaucoma and other eye diseases. While most color tests are designed to disclose hereditary red-green deficiency, few offer metrics to quantify sensitivity of the blue (S) cone pathway. Our purpose was to assess the efficacy of the Moreland Anomaloscope (MA) and S cone contrast test (SCCT) for detection of acquired tritan deficiency in glaucoma. Methods: The MA (Oculus HMC and Interzeag) presents a split circular field with a mixture of deep blue & blue-green on one side which are mixed in proportion to appear perceptually matched to an adjacent intermediate blue. Tritan deficiency is revealed by a need for increased deep blue light to achieve the Moreland match, with match midpoint and range indicative of the severity of the deficiency. The computer-based CCT presents a series of red, green and violet letters visible only to L, M or S cones in decreasing steps of cone contrast to determine L, M and S cone letter recognition thresholds. Retrospective analysis of USAF aircrew diagnosed with glaucoma or ocular hypertension, based on glaucomatous visual field and optic nerve defect(s) and/or two separate IOPs > 21mmHg, was conducted to compare MA and SCCT scores obtained during vision exams. Exclusion criteria included other ocular pathology, pseudophakia, history of eye trauma or surgery, or other disease. Mean scores were obtained from visually normal observers (MA n=94; SCCT n=1,397) and subjects were considered outside normal limits if >2SD from the mean. Results: MA and SCCT scores were obtained from 211 eyes of 111 subjects. MA matching midpoints shifted significantly (>2SD) in the blue (tritan) direction and/or expanded matching ranges were detected in 19 of 211 eyes (9%). SCCT scores >2SD below normal were detected in 31 of 211 eyes (15%). Agreement between MA and SCCT for detection of tritan deficiency was low with only 3% of eyes showing a tritan defect on both tests. Average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in subjects who failed the SCCT (86.6 u) was less than the RNFL in subjects who passed (94.1u; p<0.05); while RNFL in subjects who failed the MA (93.9u) vs. subjects who passed (92.9u) were not significantly different (p>0.8). Conclusions: Both the MA and SCCT quantify sensitivity of the S cone pathway but differ in type of task; the MA uses suprathreshold color matching while the SCCT uses cone specific letter recognition. The threshold nature of the SCCT may offer greater sensitivity for detection of acquired color loss in glaucoma and other diseases.


Political and social change in South Africa has been crucially shaped by large-scale strikes that have often taken a violent form. In spite of South Africa establishing a constitutional democracy in 1994 – and a new vision of industrial relations – violence has become so entangled in institutional life that South Africa has been described as a "violent democracy". The massacre of thirty-four striking workers by heavily-armed police at Marikana in August 2012 was a culmination of this trajectory. The article explores the possibility of a nonviolent resolution of industrial disputes. This would require the capability of unions to recognise and strategically use the four dimensions of union power: structural, institutional, associational and societal. Without such capabilities, power resources may go unutilised, or be strategically ineffective. The article argues that in post-apartheid South Africa, associational power has become disconnected from institutional power. Instead of a vital interaction between the two, the institutions created by the new labour regime have become disconnected from the organisations that created them.


Introduction: In Venezuela, the heart diseases are the leading cause of decease and it is frequent admission from infarction in the "Simon Bolivar" popular clinic. To date there are not studies on the course of this entity in the "Barrio Adentro" mission. Objective: To characterize the patients diagnosed with myocardial acute infarction treated in the above mentioned clinic. Methods: A descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study was conducted from January to September, 2006 in "Simon Bolivar" popular clinic from Diego Ibarra municipality, Carabobo, Venezuela in 52 patients presenting with myocardial acute infarction seen there. Results: The 63,5% of patients with infarction were men, intervals of 60-69 years old represented the 40,4%, the 71,1% of patients suffered arterial hypertension, Killip infarction was present in the 80,8% of cases, and the 13,5% becomes complicated with a left ventricle failure. Conclusions: There was predominance of male sex aged between 60 and 69, major risk factors were: arterial hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus and smoking. Most had a Killip I myocardial infarction and the intrahospital complications included a left ventricle failure, arrhythmias and the recurrent infarction.


Real-Time Systems place large demands on the languages used to implement them. The current, processor based implementation methods do not allow accurate timing analysis due to the complexity of modern processors. FPGAs provide a means to implement a real-time system in a way that allows accurate timing analysis. Existing implementations of programming languages in hardware do not support the needs of a real time system. This paper presents a hardware implementation of SPARK Ada that allows accurate timing analysis.


In Zimbabwe, the process of restructuring of public enterprises has encompassed a number of strategies such as commercialization, privatization, downsizing, management contracts and joint ventures. Despite these efforts, no significant improvement in performance of these enterprises has been observed. Recent studies elsewhere seem to suggest that culture is an important tool in organizational performance. The purpose of this research was to determine whether organizational culture can be used to create leverage for the performance of these public enterprises. A descriptive survey research design was used to collect data from restructured Public Enterprises using the culture assessment instruments. Results show that organizational culture is critical in improving performance of these entities. There is need for government to encourage a clan culture in which there is continual dialogue between all stakeholders of the system.


New Zealand's Local Government Act 2002 ushered in a new phase in local government, a phase that is best characterised by the term 'empowerment'. Not only were councils empowered to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being, in contrast with previous more prescriptive legislation, but citizens were empowered to engage in community-led strategic planning. In many respects the new statute reflected contemporary international public management trends in which governance is increasingly being conducted via networks of public and private actors. However, with the change of government from a centre-left Labour-led coalition to a centre-right National-led government following the November 2008 general election, it is less certain that local government and communities will continue to experience a strengthening of the pluralisation of governance that has been a feature of the past decade. This article argues that the potential disempowerment of local government, and possible attenuation of community-led strategic planning in New Zealand, comes at a time when the momentum for devolution to local government and other communities is increasing elsewhere.


The calcaneus is a rare location for the occurrence and development of primary tumour types. Clinicians are unfamiliar with calcaneal tumour types, which may result in a delay in diagnosis or a missed diagnosis, resulting in unnecessary morbidity and amputation. Heel pain and localized swelling of the ankle are the most common symptoms. X-ray is the first choice for a tentative diagnosis of a calcaneal tumour. The final diagnosis depends on a histological examination. The treatment of calcaneal tumour types varies depending on the Enneking system. The majority of patients with benign tumours heal, except for a few with a palindromia. For malignant tumours, the prognosis is comparatively poor, resulting in disability and a high rate of metastasis. This review describes the spectrum of calcaneal tumour types and specifically illustrates the epidemiology, symptomatology, imagology, histopathology and treatment options that may facilitate diagnosis and improve prognosis.


Background: Neuropathic pain (NP) is the main form of chronic pain, caused by damage to the nervous system and dysfunction. Here, we aimed at exploring the key molecules involved in NP pathogenesis via the identification of its regulatory lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network.Methods: We downloaded NP-related data from public databases and identified differentially expressed long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs) and mRNAs through differential gene expression analysis. The lncRNA and miRNA target predictions were performed and an integration of the three datasets was used for construction of the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network. Subsequently, functional enrichment analysis and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis were performed to explore the role and the interactions of the mRNAs. The drug prediction was performed based on the mRNAs in the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network. Results: A total of 8,251 differentially expressed mRNAs (4,193 upregulated and 4,058 downregulated), 959 differentially expressed miRNAs (455 upregulated and 504 downregulated), 2,848 differentially expressed lncRNAs (1,324 upregulated and 1,524 downregulated) were identified by integrating the results of the three microarray datasets. We found that differentially expressed mRNAs were mainly enriched in blood circulation, metal ion transmembrane transporter activity, and synaptic membrane. The most significant pathway of mRNAs in lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA network were GTPase, cell cycle, and platelet activation. A total of 1,200 drugs were predicted as potential therapeutics for NP based on the regulatory genes.Conclusion: Our study predicted drugs that may be effective for NP based on the NP regulatory network. This information will help further reveal the pathological mechanism of NP and provide more treatment options for NP patients.


BACKGROUND Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant condition characterized by abnormal levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood. FH is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. The relationship between the paraoxonase 1 (PON1) gene, atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease has not been studied in Saudi patients. OBJECTIVE To investigate the genetic associations of the Q192R polymorphism in the PON1 gene with FH in Saudi patients. DESIGN Case-control study. SETTING Tertiary care center, Riyadh. METHODS Two hundred Saudi patients were enrolled in this study, including 100 patients with FH and 100 healthy controls, during the period from January 2012 to March 2013. Serum was separated from coagulated blood (3 mL) and used for analysis of lipid profiles. Genomic DNA was isolated from anticoagulant-treated blood (2 mL). Genotyping for the Q192R polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, followed by 3% agarose gel electrophoresis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The strength of association between the Q192R polymorphism and FH in the Saudi population. RESULTS We confirmed that QR versus QQ (odds ratio [OR]: 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05–3.43; P=.03), QR+RR versus QQ (OR: 1.98; 95% CI: 1.13–3.49; P=.01), and R versus Q (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.09–2.59; P=.01) in the Q192R polymorphism were associated with FH in the Saudi population. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the Q192R polymorphism in the PON1 gene is associated with FH in the Saudi population. Our results confirmed that the R allele, QR, and dominant model genotypes were associated with FH. LIMITATION Only a single variant (Q192R) was analyzed, and the medical and family histories of the patients were not known.


Various types of insulin secretion can be distinguished in diabetics by means of radioimmunological serum insulin determination: Overweight, subclinical diabetics with increased insulin response in the test, adult diabetics with evident insulin response and diabetics with absent insulin response following stimulation. The stimulation or load tests described are an oral glucose tolerance test followed by a sulphonyl urea load test, a "maximum" stimulation test and a glibenclamide-glucose load test. The serum insulin response in these tests is of both diagnostic and prognostic importance to the treatment. By means of serum insulin determination the treatment of diabetes can be set on a rational biochemical basis, and decisions on possibly envisaged modifications of treatment can be facilitated and safeguarded.


The design and analysis of checkerboard patterned surface for radar cross-section reduction in the X-band is presented. The checkerboard surface consists of two alternating electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures. A wide-band reduction in RCS is achieved by adopting the methodology of designing the two EBG structures to have the property of an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC), i.e., to have a reflection phase of 0° at separate frequencies, suitably chosen to achieve reduction in RCS in the desired frequency band. The two EBG structures thus designed, have the difference in their reflection phases to be around 180° within the X-band. This property results in effective phase cancellation in the backscatter direction under normal incidence, when the two EBG structures are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Both the EBG structures are based on the same FR-4 substrate with thickness 2mm, leading to the realization of the checkerboard surface using simple two-layered printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication technique. The reduction in the monostatic RCS for normal incidence in the X-band is demonstrated and validated using both simulations and measurements. Effect of the finite size of the EBG structure, compared to the theoretical design based on the infinitely periodic EBG is investigated by varying the size of both the underlying EBG structures, while maintaining the overall size of the checkerboard surface fixed at 96mm × 96mm. The change in the bistatic RCS of the checkerboard surface compared to a PEC plate, which eventually leads to the reduction in backscattered RCS, is investigated as the size of the finite EBG is varied. Finally, we investigate the phase of the monostatic RCS of the finite individual EBG structures that can be useful to find the number of unit cells required in the finite EBG to realize such checkerboard patterned surfaces with wide-band RCS reduction capabilities.


The article deals with the problem of the local and global significance of Lithuanian philosophy. We discuss questions related to the meaning of the very concept of Lithuanian philosophy and evaluation of its scope. A controversy whether to cover all philosophical works written in the territories of historical Lithuania or to include only the works of ethnic Lithuanians (or at least the works written in Lithuanian) is talked over. The problem of the priorities in determining the relevant sources of the history of philosophy in Lithuania is described by pointing to the complexity of an assessment as the importance of the text for the development of Lithuanian self-awareness or its social significance scarcely coincide with its impact on global philosophy. The question of the priority of the texts written in the national language versus the translations of the main heritage of Western philosophy is addressed. We proceed further with a description of the works and the authors related to Lithuania and at the same time relevant to the philosophy of Europe, or at least neighbouring countries. The characteristics of the creative opposition between Protestant and Counter-Reformation thinkers is given. Martinus Smiglecius book on Logics and the main figures in the reception of German classical philosophy are discussed. Finally, the philosophical aspects of Litvak Judaism and their research are referred to.


: The coronavirus illness 2019 (COVID-19) episode is the significant danger to individuals. Lung injury has been accounted for as the significant result of COVID-19 disease. Be that as it may, liver harm has likewise been considered to happen in extreme cases. Our current research was conducted at Lahore General Hospital, from April 2019 to March 2020. The current meta-examination of review contemplates remained accomplished to sum up accessible discoveries on the association among liver injury also, seriousness of COVID-19 contamination. Online databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were looked to distinguish important distributions up to 3 March 2020, utilizing important watchwords. To pool information, a fixed-or arbitrary impacts model was utilized relying upon the heterogeneity among contemplates. Besides, distribution predisposition test and affectability investigation were additionally applied. Altogether, 20 review concentrates with 3435 COVID-19 contaminated cases (extreme patients, n =1457; mellow cases, n =1977), remained remembered for this meta-analysis. Higher serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (weighted mean contrast, 9.85 U/L; 96% certainty span [CI] 6.98 to 12.72; P <0.002), alanine aminotransferase (weighted mean contrast, 8.36 U/L; 96% CI, 5.78 to 8.94; P <0.002), all out bilirubin (weighted mean contrast, 3.31 mmol/L; 96% CI, 2.25 to 4.37; P <0.002), in addition lower serum levels of egg whites (weighted mean contrast, 6.25 g/L; 96% CI, 8.23 to 4.28; P <0.002) remained related with a noteworthy increment in seriousness of COVID-19 contamination. The rate of liver damage, as evaluated by serum analysis (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, complete bilirubin, in addition egg whites levels), is by all accounts higher in cases through extreme COVID-19 contamination.


This paper presents theoretical and experimental research works on the effect of aluminium heat sink and heat dissipation in a portable thermoelectric (TE) cooling system. In this study, three units of TE modules were utilized with an inputs of 3 A and 8 V. The aluminium heat sink was used to spread the heat generated by TE modules through its fins and surface area. The cold temperature was spread through by an aluminium cold sink with direct blow to the cooling space. The air flow rate was accelerated by the use of centrifugal blower on both sides of the heat dissipation system. The temperature of the cooling space caused was examined. The performance of TE module with the utilization of hot and cold sinks has shown that a greater heat dissipation rate was achieved.


An increasing number of studies suggest the importance of antibodies in the pathogenesis of most systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases, although there is considerable controversy over the precise role of the autoantibodies involved. In humans, a major obstacle to progress is the identification and cloning of the relevant autoantibodies and autoantigens. Here, an approach based on the sequential use of antibody phage display and antigen expression libraries is developed and applied to a donor suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), splenomegaly, and peripheral destruction of neutrophils leading to neutropenia (Felty's syndrome). An antibody phage display library was constructed from bone marrow from the donor and a high-affinity human mAb, ANA15, selected by panning against fresh neutrophils and independently by panning against a fixed cell line. The antibody showed strong staining of neutrophils and a number of cell lines. Probing of a lambdagt11 expression library from an induced myelomonocytic cell line with the mAb ANA15 identified the eukaryotic elongation factor 1A-1 (eEF1A-1) as a novel autoantigen. The specificity of ANA15 was confirmed by reactivity with both purified and recombinant eEF1A-1. Screening of a large panel of sera revealed that 66% of patients with Felty's syndrome had elevated levels of anti-eEF1A-1 antibodies. The cloning of this antibody-antigen pair should permit rational evaluation of any pathogenicity resulting from the interaction and its significance in neutropenia.


Lung cancer is the leading global cause of cancer-related deaths. Although smoking cessation is the best prevention, 50% of lung cancer diagnoses occur in people who have quit smoking. Research into treatment options for high-risk patients has been constrained to rodent models, which are time-consuming, expensive, and require large cohorts. Embedding precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) within an engineered hydrogel and exposing this tissue to vinyl carbamate, a carcinogen from cigarette smoke, creates an in vitro model of lung cancer premalignancy. Hydrogel formulations are selected to promote early lung cancer cellular phenotypes and extend PCLS viability to six weeks. Hydrogel-embedded PCLS are exposed to vinyl carbamate, which induces adenocarcinoma in mice. Analysis of proliferation, gene expression, histology, tissue stiffness, and cellular content after six weeks reveal that vinyl carbamate induces premalignant lesions with a mixed adenoma/squamous phenotype. Putative chemoprevention agents diffuse through the hydrogel and induce tissue-level changes. The design parameters selected using murine tissue are validated with hydrogel-embedded human PCLS and results show increased proliferation and premalignant lesion gene expression patterns. This tissue-engineered model of human lung cancer premalignancy is the foundation for more sophisticated ex vivo models that enable study of carcinogenesis and chemoprevention strategies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The degradation of bituminous materials as a result of ageing has a significant effect on asphalt pavement performance. In this study, one porous asphalt (PA) section and one stone mastic asphalt (SMA) asphalt pavement section were designed and constructed in 2014 and exposed to the actual environmental condition. To study the change in the pavement's mechanical properties, asphalt cores were collected from both test sections annually. The change in stiffness modulus was determined via cyclic indirect tensile tests. To investigate the ageing behavior across the pavement depth, the bitumen was extracted and recovered from 13 mm slices along the depths of the cores. The chemical composition and rheological properties of the field-recovered bitumen, and that of original bitumen aged in standard short- and long-term ageing protocols, were investigated by means of the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and Dynamic Shear Rheometer. The results show that the effect of mineral aggregate packing, and therefore of air-void distribution and connectivity, on the ageing sensitivity of the pavements with time was significant, as the changes in the stiffness of the PA mixture were greater than that of SMA mixture. In addition, the results of field-recovered bitumen show that there is an ageing gradient inside the porous asphalt layer, however, the ageing of SMA mainly happens on the surface of the layer. Finally, the field-recovered and laboratory-aged bitumen results demonstrate a weak relation between field and standard laboratory ageing protocols.


A rotary kiln-type coal dry-distillation device (120) that: rotatably supports an inner tube (112) inside an outer tube (113); supplies heating gas (17) to the interior of the outer tube (113); moves dried coal (2) from one end side of the inner tube (112) to the other end side, and agitates and dry-distills the dried coal (2) under heat by supplying the dried coal (2) from the one end side of the inner tube (112) to the interior, and rotating the inner tube (112); sends out dry-distilled coal (3) and dry-distilled gas (14) from the other end side of the inner tube (112); and has provided therein a pulverized coal supply device (170) that supplies pulverized coal (4a) having a particle diameter of no more than 100 µm to the interior of the inner tube (112), such that the volume of the pulverized coal is 1-10 wt% relative to the amount of dry-distilled coal (3) sent from the other end side of the inner tube (112).


Home of the Karakorum, Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains, Central Asia has a serious avalanche hazard. A single 2012 avalanche cycle resulted in over 100 fatalities. In response to this tragedy, Focus Humanitarian Assistance (an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network) developed a strategy to reduce fatalities in these remote areas. First, they conducted a hazard, risk, and vulnerability inventory in FOCUS' area of operation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan, revealing 571 villages with a high avalanche risk. They followed this up by training their field staff, publishing an avalanche manual (2014), and equipping and offering annual training to local Snow and Avalanche Rescue Teams. For the 2015-16 season, FOCUS established 82 manual Weather Monitoring Posts to aid in avalanche forecasting for the highest-risk villages. Observers record daily weather and avalanche activity and post this information centrally online so a US-based forecaster can advise field units about current avalanche potential. This system allows FOCUS to determine when avalanche danger is rising, when a village should be evacuated, and when people can return to their village. Since the program has been implemented, villages have been evacuated hours before getting hit by massive avalanches, thereby saving lives. The people in these remote villages have experiences that are almost unimaginable to westerners, such as being blown to safety across rivers by the air blast of an approaching avalanche or knowing that herds of goats walking in starting zones early season (much like boot packing) is a good thing. This entire community-based program relies on simple, low cost solutions: manual weather stations, rules of thumb and basic avalanche awareness training at the local level.


India is the largest consumer of gold in the world and largest importer after crude oil.Gold is a major vehicle of saving for large number of low and middle income households in rural and urban areas. India is the most rare country in the world, who do trade of export as well as import of gold at a high level. There has been an almost sustained rise in the international gold prices since 2002, with just one deep correction in 2008 and 2013. As gold is an integral part of savings of a large number of investors, this has raised apprehensions whether any correction in gold  prices will have destabilizing implications on the financial markets. As the domestic production of these precious metals is negligible compared to their rising consumption, India has been importing hundreds of tons of gold every year. India is stepping up import of Gold this fiscal due to rising demand for the noble metal. Huge gold imports have put pressure on current account deficit (CAD)which in turn affecting the value of rupee. And in such a situation even Finance Minister recently made request to Indians that they should resist the temptation to buy gold for a year at least as rupee has become very weak against dollar. In this backdrop, the paper makes an attempt to analyze the trend of import of gold by India from various countries like U.K.,U.S.A, China, U.A.E, Afghanistan. The present research is secondary data based and five years data were taken to comprehend the trend of import of gold from various countries.


The PROtotype Biomass and Evaporation (PROBE) model was developed for simulation of daily plant growth and evaporation (£) rates in natural, vegetated ecosystems (Maas et al., 1992). The inputs to the model are basic meteorological information and periodic (weekly or bi-weekly) measure ments of green leaf area index (GLAI) and E. The model uses an interactive approach with two submodels a vegetation growth (VG) submodel and soil water balance (SWB) submodel where the estimate of GLAI from the VG submodel is used in the SWB submodel to calculate E. In turn, the estimate of E is used in a rerun of the VG submodel to refine the estimate of GLAI. This model was tested based on mete orological data and measurements of GLAI and E acquired in a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) field in central Arizona. Overall, the modelled and measured values of GLAI and E corresponded well. Results showed that the time and precision of input data were very important to obtaining accurate estimates of GLAI and E. The model showed promise for use in scheduling crop irrigations.


A natural method to evaluate the effectiveness of a testing technique is to measure the defect detection rate when applying the created test cases. Here, real or artificial software defects can be injected into the source code of software. For a more extensive evaluation, injection of artificial defects is usually needed and can be performed via mutation testing using code mutation operators. However, to simulate complex defects arising from a misunderstanding of design specifications, mutation testing might reach its limit in some cases. In this paper, we present an open-source benchmark testbed application that employs a complement method of artificial defect injection. The application is compiled after artificial defects are injected into its source code from predefined building blocks. The majority of the functions and user interface elements are covered by creating front-end-based automated test cases that can be used in experiments.


Inequality has received renewed attention in the public as well as in the academic debate. According to one theory, the development of redistribution and inequality reflects the institutional design of the social insurances. Countries with social insurance institutions that target the poor and low-income earners arrive, over time, in smaller redistributive budgets and higher levels of poverty than countries with social insurance institutions with lower levels of low-income-targeting. This result has been explained by the fact that inequality, and poverty rates, are more dependent on the total size of the redistributive budget than to the extent that the institutions target the poor. There is a paradox of redistribution. In this paper, the paradox of redistribution is translated to system dynamics and the coherence of the theory is analyzed by a system dynamics model. The system dynamics translation results in a model that reproduces the reference modes. The result suggests that system dynamics ought to have a profound role in the discussions on inequality, both as a tool that may be used to explain and discuss concepts and in suggesting structural explanations with an endogenous point of view.


Defending peers who have been bullied is often thought to put defenders at risk of becoming victimized themselves. The study investigated the concurrent and prospective associations between defending and (peer- and self-reported) victimization, and examined popularity and classroom norms as potential moderators. Participants included 4085 Finnish youth (43.9% boys; Mage  = 14.56, SD = .75; 97% born in Finland). Concurrently, defending was positively associated with self-reported victimization in classrooms with high bullying-popularity norms (b = .28, SE = .16). Defending was negatively associated with peer-reported victimization in classrooms with high defending-popularity norms (b = -.07, SE = .03). Defending was not significantly associated with future victimization, suggesting that it is generally not a risk factor for victimization.


With the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors into clinical practice, various autoimmune toxicities have been described. Antibodies targeting the receptor:ligand pairing of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) and its cognate ligand programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in rare reports have been associated with autoimmune diabetes mellitus. We report 2 cases of rapid-onset, insulin-dependent, type 1 diabetes mellitus in the setting of administration of nivolumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody to PD-1, and atezolizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody to PD-L1. This appears to be the first report of autoimmune diabetes mellitus associated with atezolizumab. In addition, we provide a brief review of similar cases reported in the literature and a discussion of potential mechanisms for this phenomenon and propose a diagnostic and treatment algorithm.


Notch signaling is known to be a survival pathway for tumor-initiating cells. In this report, we demonstrate that the γ-secretase inhibitor PF-03084014 significantly enhances the antitumor activity of docetaxel in multiple xenograft models of triple-negative breast cancer. Mechanistic evaluation revealed that PF-03084014 perturbs the Notch signaling pathway and suppresses the function of tumor initiating cells (TIC). In MDA-MB-231Luc model, treatment of docetaxel led to a significant increase of CD133+/CD44+ and ALDH+ subpopulations by FACS analysis. In combination with PF-03084014, these two unique cell subpopulations were significantly diminished. Correspondingly, the functional analyses by tumor re-implant and mammosphere-forming efficiency assays revealed that docetaxel-therapy promoted the tumor initiating capability of the remaining cells, in which an increased stem cell property and Notch pathway activation were observed through gene signature changes. In contrast, PF-03084014 co-treatment with docetaxel substantially hampered the self-renewal ability of these cells. Notch target gene analysis demonstrated the biological relevance of PF-03084014-induced activity. To characterize the function of CD133+/CD44+ subpopulation, MDA-MB-231Luc tumors were de-bulked by the treatment with docetaxel. Subsequently, the CD133+/CD44+ and CD133-/CD44- subpopulatons were isolated and re-implanted in SCID-bg mice using a limiting dilution approach. The results showed that CD133+/CD44+ cells gave rise to tumors with a 100 % take rate (10/10), whereas CD133-/CD44- cells were not tumorgenic (0/10). In addition, CD133+/CD44+ cells exhibited much higher tumorigenicity compared with the respective adherent parental cell line. PF-03084014 treatment caused a significant delay of CD133+/CD44+ tumor growth. The ability of PF-03084014 to suppress TICs was also observed in other breast cancer xenografts, including patient derived models. This data suggests that anti-TIC is one of the contributing mechanisms for the synergistic activities of PF-03084014 in combination with docetaxel. Our work provides potential therapeutic opportunities for PF-03084014 to improve conventional cytotoxic therapy by inhibiting Notch signaling in tumor-initiating cells and other bulk tumor cells. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3492. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3492


A new smart card system, Vitesse, is outlined in design detail to meet many needs stemming from the current ability to manipulate information over the network medium. A new smart card operating system, object oriented in nature, is described in terms of a client/server architecture where clients (desktop computers) run front end applications and interact with information servers running in the background. Vitesse servers, designed to be portable - ranging in size from a credit card to a small computer - perform dedicated information processing with typical applications such as telecommunications, stockbroking and interactive entertainment. A design simulator is used to model the abstract design of Vitesse, allowing for prototyping of ideas and demonstration of design models.


Philip Rieff, the author of Freud: The Mind of the Moralist, The Triumph of the Therapeutic and Fellow Teachers, is a consequential and important American social theorist whose emphasis on moral structures and cultural limits has become - and to a great degree, always was - out of fashion. This article and the four that follow attempt to demonstrate the significance of the writings of Philip Rieff for contemporary social theory. Our contention is that Rieff's scholarly reputation has unjustly suffered because his distinctive voice has been wrongly thought to be irrelevant for contemporary theoretical and political concerns. By contrast, we argue that Rieff continues to hold an important place in current political and social theory because he diagnosed a chronic moral sickness and proposed a course of treatment based on the virtues of repression and guilt. From Rieff's vantage point, the relativism of his era is both a symptom of and a false solution to moral dilemmas. His `fellow teachers' in the university have often passively resisted his moral condemnations by allowing his energetic texts to drift into obscurity.


Is journal editing a profession? If so, it is not – and should not be – a traditional one, like law or medicine. Rather, it should be a profession open to innovation and talent and transparent to those who interact with it as authors, subscribers, and readers. This article, which began as the keynote address at the 2006 meeting of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals, examines the characteristics of the professions, the ways they are – and are not – appropriate to journal editing, and some possibilities for increasing professionalism without encumbering ourselves with its less desirable features.


The article analyzes Marge Piercy's cyborg novel, He, She and It (1991). Resonating with contemporary concerns about autism, men and masculinity, He, She and It is a feminist narrative that appropriates the popular science fiction trope of the autistic male human machine in order to critique patriarchal culture in late capitalist society. However, in her novel, Piercy's representation of disability is problematic because it perpetuates stereotypes of autism in order to portray men as damaged by patriarchy. Furthermore, in opposition to the damaging effects of patriarchy, Piercy draws upon the feminist science fiction trope of the male human machine/robot lover in order to propose the benefice of female intervention into men, masculinity, and patriarchal technology, in which men are rehabilitated and made amenable through an imagined alternate human machine personhood. The article critically evaluates the representation of disability in Piercy's cyborg narrative, arguing that although Piercy rather tantali...


This chapter takes as its point of departure the Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Plagiarism Project (http://leeds. bates.edu/cbb), which sought to approach the problem of undergraduate plagiarism as a pedagogical challenge. By revisiting the decision to publish the project's content by means of a weblog, the article considers the ways in which weblogs provide a reflective tool and medium for engaging plagiarism. It considers weblog practice and use and offers examples that attest to the instructional value of weblogs, especially their ability to foster learning communities and to promote the appropriate use of information and intellectual property.


Based on the active defense model of the network data transmission, a method of security measurement of the network data transmission is proposed. Deceptive packets are used in the active defense model to trap attacks. In addition, statistical quantification is used to measure and evaluate the security of the network data transmission according to network status parameters. This method not only helps make the policy of network data transmission accurately and efficiently, but also guarantees the security of the network data transmission.


Cucullanus pinnai and Spinitectus jamundensis are cited parasitizing three freshwater fish species: Pimelodus albicans, Leporinus obtusidens and Prochilodus lineatus, captured in Termas de Río Hondo pond, province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, in 1992 and 1995. The three fish species were parasited by S. jamundensis, but C. pinnai was found only in P. albicans and L. obtusidens. Morphologic and morphometric parasitological studies were carried out. The specimens described were drawned. In addition, the following parasitic infection indexes were calculated: prevalence, mean and maximum intensity. The two nematode species identified are described for the first time in Argentina and increased the host range cited for the parasite species studied in this work.


Using data from a 1966–1967 probability sample of West Malaysian married women 15–44 years of age, this paper analyzes the characteristics of women who were active in diffusing information about family planning. The woman's age and her parity, her educational attainment, her race, her present residence (urban-rural), and whether or not she wanted more children were significantly related to opinion leadership in bivariate tables. However, these relationships appeared to be substantial mainly because these social and demographic characteristics were highly related to whether the woman participated in discussions about family planning with other women. Among women who did participate in such discussions, the social and demographic variables were not substantially related to opinion leadership. In fact, the critical variables for opinion leadership appeared to be participation in the discussions, greater knowledge of family planning, and a higher level of family planning use. An attempt is also made to assess the effect of interpersonal communication on the adoption of family planning among women in the sample.


In this paper, we determine the critical particle size and conductivity range that leads to pronounced eddy current effects on magnetization reversal of magnetic nanostructures. An extended finite-element micromagnetic solver which includes eddy currents is used to calculate the magnetization behavior of a permalloy nanocube of 27 nm side under the influence of an applied field. It is shown that for high-conductivity /spl sigma/>10/sup 6/ (/spl Omega/ m)/sup -1/ in the intermediate state of reversal it takes the magnetization longer to fully align in the direction of the applied field.


Softwood from conifers constitutes one of the main terrestrial renewable resources for the production of bio-based materials and platform chemicals. Lignocellulose from softwoods has a distinct molecular composition compared to other plant biomass sources, where acetylated galactoglucomannan is the main hemicellulose with minor amounts of arabinoglucuronoxylan. Here, we reveal the presence of mannan and xylan populations in spruce softwoods with distinct molecular features based on their extractability using sequential hydrothermal treatment by subcritical water without previous delignification. An accessible acetylated mannan population has been identified with simple profiles of glucosyl and galactosyl motifs and without the existence of a regular acetylation pattern. The xylan populations are extracted at intermediate times, and they exhibit the presence of major and minor regular intramolecular domains with different relative abundances based on extractability. Finally, a recalcitrant mannan population with complex glucosylation and galactosylation profiles was identified at longer extraction times. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the presence of consecutive mannose units in the backbone prevents the tight association with cellulose surfaces, which may explain the different extractabilities of the two isolated mannan populations. The combination of sequential hydrothermal treatment, comprehensive carbohydrate sequencing and molecular dynamics simulations offers new insights into the distinct features of the mannan and xylan populations in softwoods, and their putative organization in the lignocellulosic matrix.


The minimum-jerk model predicts the smoothest trajectory for a class of human movements and so provides us with a kinematic measurement of skilled motor performance. To establish the limits of the model's validity, the predicted and experimentally defined movement trajectories and the joint coordination were compared in two-joint arm movements, bringing the hand from the initial position to the final position through a specified point (a via-point). Kinematic data of the movements were obtained through the SELSPOT system. The movement path, tangential velocity, and coordinated change in positions of the shoulder and elbow joints evidently deviated from those predicted by the model. These results suggest that the minimum-jerk model is not valid for movements under extreme conditions which are highly dependent on musculoskeletal dynamics.