Understanding how physicochemical properties of materials affect the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has enormous scientific and technological implications for the OER electrocatalyst design. We present our investigation on the role of strain on the surface−oxygen interaction and the OER on well-defined single-termination SrIrO3 films. Our approach employs a combination of molecular-beam epitaxy, electrochemical characterizations, ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT). We find that inplane compressive strain weakens the surface oxygen binding strength on SrIrO3; however, it has a negligible effect on the surface oxygen electroadsorption and the OER. We explain this observation, which goes against a commonly held intuition that a change in the surface oxygen binding strength should influence surface oxygen electroadsorption and OER by recognizing that the trend in surface oxygen adsorption measured in the gas phase does not account for the presence of water in the surface oxygen electroadsorption. Inclusions of surface water molecules allow DFT to qualitatively reproduce the electroadsorption trend, highlighting the importance of surface water in the surface−oxygen interaction. Our finding suggests that a commonly held assumption between surface oxygen binding strength (in vacuum, no water) and electroadsorption (requiring water) is not always a simple one-to-one description and calls for a more in-depth investigation on the structure of water at electrochemical interfaces.


We cultivated hundreds of sediment, soil, and manure samples taken from rivers and farms in a medium containing ethynylestradiol (EE2) as the sole source of carbon, so that microorganisms in the samples would acclimatize to the presence of EE2. Finally, we isolated an EE2-degrading microorganism, designated as strain HNS-1, from a cowshed sample. Based on its partial nucleotide sequence (563 bp) of the 28S rRNA gene, strain HNS-1 was identified as Fusarium proliferatum. Over 15 days, F. proliferatum strain HNS-1 removed 97% of EE2 at an initial concentration of 25 mg.L-1, with a first-order rate constant of 0.6 d-1. Unknown products of EE2 degradation, which may be more polar compounds that have a phenolic group, remained in the culture medium.


Increasing evidence suggests that the postprandial state is a contributing factor to the development of atherosclerosis. To evaluate the effects of acute hyperglycemia on the oxidative stress, concentrations of serum-oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL), paraoxonase 1 (PON1), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were measured in subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) (n=35), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) (n=25), and diabetic glucose tolerance (DGT) (n=20). In NGT group, the 2 hours' TBARS and oxLDL levels were not statistically different when compared to baseline, and 2 hours' PON1 activities were higher when compared to baseline (p<0.01). Subjects with IGT and DGT have higher 2 hours' serum TBARS and oxLDL levels than their baseline levels (p<0.01, for each). Baseline oxLDL levels of both IGT and DGT groups were higher than NGT group (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). While there were not any significant differences in 2 hours' versus baseline PON1 activities in the IGT group, the 2 hours' versus baseline PON1 activities in the DGT group were significantly lower (p<0.01). The postchallenge 2 hours' PON1 activities of both IGT and DGT groups were lower than NGT group (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). Baseline oxLDL was positively correlated with 2 hours' glucose (r=0.613, p<0.01) in IGT and DGT groups. PON1 activities were correlated with HDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose (r=0.680, r=0.698 and r=0.431, respectively, for each p<0.01) in NGT. In conclusion, oxidative stress occurs at an early stage in diabetes, and protective effects of HDL against atherosclerosis may be dependent on the PON1 activities.


In substance use treatment, total intervention is necessary. One of the
interventions associated with medical treatment is the training cognitive emotion regulation strategies
that have received less attention. The main objective of this study is to check the effectiveness of
cognitive emotion regulation strategies on increasing the quality of men's life treated with methadone
in Urmia.
Materials & Methods: In an experimental design with pre-test/post-test with control group paradigm,
a sample of 32 patient with hypertension were selected by available sampling method and randomly
were assigned to two experimental (n=16) and one control groups (n=16). The measurement tool was
World Health Organization-Quality of life (SF-36) Short term Questionnaire. Each group was in drug
therapy but the experimental group participated in 12 sessions of training cognitive emotion regulation
strategies while the control group did not receive any treatment. The mean scores of the two groups
were compared through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
Results: Based on the findings of this research, it was clear that in subscales of life's quality, including
interpersonal relationships, physical health and essentials of life, the scores of experimental group
were significantly higher than the control groups.
Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that the difficulties in emotional regulations is one of
the problems in addict people, and learning how to express emotions regulation correctly and
cognitively can be effective in reducing problems and improving the quality of life


ABSTRACT A small number of closely related strains of Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b, designated epidemic clone I (ECI), have been implicated in numerous outbreaks of food-borne listeriosis described during the past two decades in Europe and North America. In 1998 to 1999, a multistate outbreak traced to contaminated hot dogs involved a different strain type of serotype 4b, with genetic fingerprints rarely encountered before. In spite of the profound economic and public health impact of this outbreak, the implicated bacteria (designated epidemic clone II [ECII]) have remained poorly characterized genetically, and nucleotide sequences specific for these strains have not been reported. Using genome sequence information, PCR, and Southern blots, we identified DNA fragments which appeared to be either absent or markedly divergent in the hot dog outbreak strains but conserved among other serotype 4b strains. PCR with primers derived from these fragments as well as Southern blots with the amplicons as probes readily differentiated ECII from other serotype 4b strains. The serotype 4b-specific region harboring these fragments was adjacent to inlA, which encodes a well-characterized virulence determinant. The findings suggest that ECII strains have undergone divergence in portions of a serotype-specific region that is conserved in other serotype 4b strains. Although the mechanisms that drive this divergence remain to be identified, DNA-based tools from this region can facilitate the detection and further characterization of strains belonging to this lineage.


Classical game-theoretic approaches for multi-agent systems in both the forward policy design problem and the inverse reward learning problem often make strong rationality assumptions: agents perfectly maximize expected utilities under uncertainties. Such assumptions, however, substantially mismatch with observed human behaviors such as satisficing with sub-optimal, risk-seeking, and loss-aversion decisions. Drawing on iterative reasoning models and cumulative prospect theory, we propose a new game-theoretic framework, bounded risk-sensitive Markov Game (BRSMG), that captures two aspects of realistic human behaviors: bounded intelligence and risk-sensitivity. General solutions to both the forward policy design problem and the inverse reward learning problem are provided with theoretical analysis and simulation verification. We validate the proposed forward policy design algorithm and the inverse reward learning algorithm in a two-player navigation scenario. The results show that agents demonstrate bounded-intelligence, risk-averse and risk-seeking behaviors in our framework. Moreover, in the inverse reward learning task, the proposed bounded risk-sensitive inverse learning algorithm outperforms a baseline risk-neutral inverse learning algorithm by effectively learning not only more accurate reward values but also the intelligence levels and the risk-measure parameters of agents from demonstrations.


ABSTRACT This paper presents a culturally based discussion of the role English as a foreign language (EFL) plays in shaping the ideological positions of those involved in teaching, learning, and planning English in Israel. The English curriculum is uniform for speakers of Hebrew (the majority) and speakers of Arabic (the minority). Furthermore, the English curriculum states that EFL pedagogy should take a global rather than an Anglo-centric approach. This situation constitutes the paper's main assumption regarding the cultural content of EFL materials being ideologically oriented toward: (1) reproducing and perpetuating dominant Western hegemonic ideologies; (2) maintaining social misrepresentations and inequalities regarding the Other. By employing critical discourse analysis (CDA) to uncover Westcentric cultural biases in EFL discourse and cultural discourse studies (CDS) to reconstruct the role of Eastern and local Arab discourses in EFL pedagogies, I examine a new culturally critical way of observing EFL discourse and linking it with social change. I suggest a holistic, ecological EFL pedagogy that constructs EFL discourse as cultural practice. Promoting an EFL 'ecological discourse' prioritizes narratives emphasizing positive multicultural values, respect, and acceptance of the Other and encourages learners to consider cultural differences as the source for reading EFL texts about the Other.


Tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) are considered a critical component of the desmoplastic response, a variable host-tumor response and an ongoing research focus. Research and experimental plans have increased in complexity to better characterize the interactions and biological roles of the components of desmoplasia as a 'response or a niche'. Histopathology markers of tumor microinvasion and frank invasion via basement membrane (collagen IV) highlight loss of specific staining (Vimentin). More recently, evidence of direct communication / protein gradients between tumor and stromal cells can direct and predict metastasis to include subsets of mesenchymal derived cells even before standard methods of tumor detection. Here we examine the macrophage components that contribute to this process in parallel with the invasive phenotype of collagen turnover in fibroblasts and macrophages. Early work at our institution identified gene expression changes caused by TGF-β; induced EMT in pancreatic cancer cell lines and were validated on tissue microarrays (TMA). The tissue based studies highlighted the significant role of the TME components of macrophages (stained CD68), cancer associated fibroblasts related to hypoxia (Hif 1α) and developmental marker (Sonic Hedgehog). Here we validate Mannose receptor C-type 2 (MRC2), found to be one of the top changes from the expression profiling data. MRC2 is normally present on certain fibroblasts and macrophages and involved in the matrix reorganization process with specific domains for binding glycosylated ligands and leading to altered glycosylation. MRC2 expression has been analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) on 179 Whipple resections for suspected pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDAC) with distributions of staining intensity 0 to 4 calculated for normal (including chronic pancreatitis), PDAC and metastatic PDAC [0.7, 1.0 and 1.1) Secondly, we performed an IHC study to better determine functional expression and the role of MRC2 in the stromal macrophage populations of M1 macrophages stained for CD68 and as M2 macrophages for CD163. These antibodies are commercially available and will be used to evaluate the tumor surveillance / immunity function of M1 macrophages and / or the tumor suppressive function of M2 macrophages. Single and dual labeled IHC strategies will be utilized to highlight the macrophage context of observed variation in MRC2 intensity. Increased stromal MRC2 staining intensity is associated with poor prognosis; however, significant variation is noted in the pancreatic tumor tissues. In addition, though patients with diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis are generally much lower in expression, several tissues showed marked staining and could portend a worst prognosis. Citation Format: Galen Hostetter, Arkadeep Sinha, Brian Haab. Characterizing macrophage adaptive function in tumor stroma. [abstract]. In: Abstracts: AACR Special Conference on Cellular Heterogeneity in the Tumor Microenvironment; 2014 Feb 26-Mar 1; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A34. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.CHTME14-A34


For certain major rivers and wetlands, hydrological information can often be difficult to obtain due to the inaccessibility of the region, the sparse distribution of gauge stations, or the slow dissemination of data. Satellite radar altimeters have the potential to monitor height variations over inland waters. Here, it is shown that the NASA radar altimeter (NRA), currently operating on board the TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite, can successfully track both large wetlands and rivers of >1 km width. The coverage, performance, and limitations of the NRA altimeter are discussed with relevance to these regions, and the merits of utilizing the geophysical data records (GDRs) and the sensor data records (SDRs) are explored. Time series of relative water level variations, for the first ∼3.7 years of the mission, have been obtained for a selection of the world's largest rivers, and for major wetlands of international importance. Validation shows the results can be accurate to ∼11 cm rms, offering the potential to observe these regions as part of a long‐term hydrological monitoring program.


Dr Rosenthal has gathered in facsimile of their original the scattered fruits of thirty-five years' research. Biblical exegesis throughout the ages is the main theme of Vol. I. The reprint of the substantial Jiidische Antwort (from Kirche und Synagoge, reviewed previously in these columns) elicits the author's comment in the Introduction: 'when organised religion is fighting for its very life it may be possible to come together on the ethical plane, eschewing doctrinal differences.' Rosenthal adheres thus to the liberal hope of finding a common denominator, even though he admits that in the acute crisis of Faith success is not on the side of logic and rationality. But Rosenthal sees this problem not so much as an empiricist but rather through the controversial experience of Maimonides who had to defend the great religious ideas in a dialectic of reason and revelation. Readers of this journal will be particularly glad to find again the author's article on Avicenna's influence on Jewish thought. Maimonides always adapted the current speculations to his own system within the tradition ofHalakhah and Haggadah. The shadows of the enigmatic Philo, al-Farabi, and Avicenna lurk behind the discussions on the soul, which is created with the body but does not perish with it, on God, in whom existence and essence are identical. If the light of Aristotle illumines all these thinkers in their complex world one cannot speak of simple borrowing. Rosenthal detects cultural affinities and evidently approves of an influence which does not lead to a loss of identity. In his reflections on Muslim thinkers and political thought in Vol. II Rosenthal writes on topics connected with Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Bajja, Ibn Rushd, Al-Farabi, and Ibn Jaldun. The article on the concept of Eudaimonia in medieval Islamic and Jewish philosophy is of a tantalising brevity and only whets one's appetite for a deeper evaluation of the syncretistic blending of ideas and nuances. But a collection, such as this, can take the reader only to the brink of problematics. The Role of Islam in the modern state of 1962 must now bear a very dated look, which may be interesting in a future, when Soviet and Chinese penetration and other disturbances have had their climax. The virtue of Rosenthal's thought lies in its independence of actual and fashionable happenings.


The purpose of the study was to reveal the features of the influence of neurotensin injected into the nucleus accumbens on behaviour of rats after systemic administration of reserpine in the dose of 2 mg/kg. Reprodution of passive avoidance conditioned reactions, painful stimulation aftereffects on locomotor activity in the "open field", and behavior in the elevated plus-maze were studied. It was shown that reserpine administration impaired the reproduction of passive avoidance reactions and weakened the oppressing aftereffect of painful stimulation, which can be due to a decrease in anxiety in rats. Neurotensin prevented disorders in the defensive behavior evoked by reserpine and intensified the state of anxiety in the elevated plus-maze. The positive influence ofneurotensin on the reproduction of passive avoidance can be associated with the recovery of the anxiogenic effect of painful stimulation destroyed by reserpine. Thus, neurotensin injected into the nucleus accumbens could normalize the balance of brain monoaminergic systems.


We use Vector Spectromagnetograph (VSM) chromospheric fulldisk magnetograms, from the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) project, to study the distribution of magnetic field flux concentrations within the polar caps. We find that magnetic flux elements preferentially appear toward lower latitudes within the polar caps away from the poles. This has implications on numerous solar phenomena such as the formation and evolution of fine polar coronal structures (i.e., polar plumes). Our results also have implications for the processes carrying the magnetic flux from low to high latitudes (e.g., meridional circulation).


Generative modeling is a fundamental problem in machine learning with many potential applications. Efficient learning of generative models requires available prior knowledge to be exploited as much as possible. In this paper, we propose a method to exploit prior knowledge of relative dependence between features for learning generative models. Such knowledge is available, for example, when side-information on features is present. We incorporate the prior knowledge by forcing marginals of the learned generative model to follow a prescribed relative feature dependence. To this end, we formulate a regularization term using a kernel-based dependence criterion. The proposed method can be incorporated straightforwardly into many optimization-based learning schemes of generative models, including variational autoencoders and generative adversarial networks. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method in experiments with multiple types of datasets and models.


Intratumoral recruitment of immune cells following innate immune activation is critical for anti-tumor immunity and involves cytosolic dsDNA sensing by the cGAS/STING pathway. We have previously shown that KRAS-LKB1 (KL) mutant lung cancer, which is resistant to PD-1 blockade, exhibits silencing of STING, impaired tumor cell production of immune chemoattractants, and T cell exclusion. Since the vasculature is also a critical gatekeeper of immune cell infiltration into tumors, we developed a novel microfluidic model to study KL tumor-vascular interactions. Notably, dsDNA priming of LKB1-reconstituted tumor cells activates the microvasculature, even when tumor cell STING is deleted. cGAS-driven extracellular export of 2′3′ cGAMP by cancer cells activates STING signaling in endothelial cells and cooperates with type 1 interferon to increase vascular permeability and expression of E selectin, VCAM-1, and ICAM-1 and T cell adhesion to the endothelium. Thus, tumor cell cGAS-STING signaling not only produces T cell chemoattractants, but also primes tumor vasculature for immune cell escape.


Flexible membrane fixture is new technology which can adapt to the workpiece shape and size change, such as automobile door-trim parts manufacturing. Due to the use of flexible membrane fixture, significantly reducing manufacturing cost and replacing fixture time. In this paper, the design of the flexible membrane fixture is generated, and the application is showed in a case. Natural rubber sheet used as a flexible membrane. The membrane inflation model generated by ANSYS using Mooney-Rivlin method and its simulation result compared with the experiment result. The door-trim model developed by AUTODESK INVENTOR modelling software. This 3-D geometric model was imported to using ANSYS Workbench 18.2. The Finite element analysis was done after assigning loading and boundary conditions. The applied load considered for this analysis is the pressure applied to the membrane while the door-trim clamped by side clamps. The result shows that Flexible membrane fixture has higher flexibility and fixtured door-trim has smaller deformation value than company requirement. Through comparing the design results, it is found that flexible membrane fixture has higher elastic behaviour.


This article recasts our understanding of the forms autonomy may take. Rather than emphasizing a rigid set of definitions, the article argues that autonomy forms can be characterized by the aggregate number of issues controlled by the local community (scope), the level of local control over any given issue (depth) and the territorial insularity of the autonomous community. So characterized, autonomies run the gambit from personal to cultural to functional to administrative to legislative. Of course, there are grey areas between these types of autonomy and some agreements may fall somewhere in between. The article also further breaks legislative autonomy into strong and weak forms.


Abstract An experiment is described in which a standing internal wave is forced at the lower boundary of an annulus of salt-stratified water. At sufficiently large forcing amplitudes, the wave motion generates a strong mean azimuthal circulation which itself exhibits a long-period oscillation. Theoretical calculations, based on the wave-driven theory of the quasi-biennial oscillation of the tropical stratosphere (with suitable modifications), are performed and compared with the experimental results. Agreement is good and the study thus provides substantial confirmation of the fundamental principles of the theory.


Sphingolipids are a distinct class of lipid molecules widely found in nature, principally as cell membrane constituents. After initial uncertainty about their function, sphingolipids have been increasingly recognised to be metabolically active entities involved in many biological processes, including the control of inflammation. Their role as mediators of inflammation may have significant implications for a range of lung diseases in which inflammation is a central element of pathogenesis. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a highly prevalent and morbid condition predominantly affecting cigarette smokers, is a prime example of a respiratory illness with an inflammatory component. Understandably, sphingolipids have received growing attention for their increasingly demonstrated role in the pathophysiology of COPD. The present review aims to be among the first to focus exclusively on the connection between sphingolipids and lung inflammation in COPD, providing the reader with a clinically oriented synopsis of this intriguing association. Sphingolipids have been hypothesised to play a role in the pathogenesis of COPD. Progress in the understanding of sphingolipid pathobiology in COPD has identified putative therapeutic targets. http://bit.ly/2KVwbj4


In the paper, an extremely compact multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna is proposed for portable wireless ultrawideband (UWB) applications. The proposed prototype consists of four monopole antenna elements, which are placed perpendicularly to achieve polarization diversity. In addition, the mutual coupling between antenna elements is suppressed by designing the gap between the radiation element and the ground plane. Moreover, a matching stub has been connected to the feedline to ensure impedance matching in high frequency. Both simulated and measured results indicate that the proposed antenna has a bandwidth of 3–20 GHz, with a high isolation better than 17 dB. In addition, the designed MIMO antenna offers excellent radiation characteristics and stable gain over the whole working band. The envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) is less than 0.1, which shows that the antenna can meet the polarization diversity characteristics well.


Abstract Background Classical homocystinuria (HCU) is an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism, which is caused by the cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS: encoded by CBS) deficiency. Symptoms of untreated classical HCU patients include intellectual disability (ID), ectopia lentis and long limbs, along with elevated plasma methionine, and homocysteine. Methods A total of 429 ID patients (age range: 1.6–23 years) were sampled from Northern areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Biochemical and genetic analyses were performed to find classical HCU disease in ID patients. Results Biochemically, nine patients from seven unrelated families were identified with high levels of plasma methionine and homocysteine. Targeted exonic analysis of CBS confirmed seven causative homozygous mutations; of which three were novel missense mutations (c.451G>T; p.Gly151Trp, c.975G>C; p.Lys325Asn and c.1039 + 1G>T splicing), and four were recurrent variants (c.451 + 1G>A; IVS4 + 1 splicing, c.770C>T; p.Thr257Met, c.808_810del GAG; p.Glu270del and c.752T>C; p.Leu251Pro). Treatment of patients was initiated without further delay with pyridoxine, folic acid, cobalamin, and betaine as well as dietary protein restriction. The immediate impact was noticed in behavioral improvement, decreased irritability, improved black hair color, and socialization. Overall, health outcomes in this disorder depend on the age and symptomatology at the time of treatment initiation. Conclusions With personalized treatment and care, such patients can reach their full potential of living as healthy a life as possible. This screening study is one of the pioneering initiatives in Pakistan which would help to minimize the burden of such treatable inborn errors of metabolism in the intellectually disabled patients.


Effect of the prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, indomethacin (indo) were studied on renal PAH transport (a) in renal cortical slices in vitro and (b) in anaesthetized dogs with various levels of plasma PAH concentrations (b1:PPAH less than 3 mg/dl and b2:PPAH V greater than 20 mg/dl] in vivo. It was found that: (a) indomethacin in concentrations of 0.4 and 4.0 micrograms/ml failed to influence PAH accumulation (S/M) and K or Na contents in renal cortical slices, whereas in a concentration of 40 micrograms/ml it potently decreased PAH accumulation (S/Mcontrol: 4.62 +/- 0.76, S/Mindo: 2.38 +/- 0.41; p less than 0.001). The oxygen uptake by tissue slices remained unaltered in the presence of indomethacin. (b1) Indomethacin in a dose of 4 mg/kg produced a pronounced antidiuresis and antinatriuresis with no change in GFR. PAH secretion was slightly reduced (TPAH control: 3.97 +/- 1.21; TPAH indo: 3.21 +/- 1.55 mg/min/100 g; p less than 0.01). (b2) Indomethacin appreciably decreased the secretory maximum of tubules (TmPAH control: 10.0 +/- 4.39; TmPAH indo: 4.95 +/-3.83 mg/min/100 g; p less than 0.001). Based on these results it is concluded that indomethacin, even when applied in the usual concentration, might partially block certain enzymes in the kidney.


In the sound systems of human languages remarkable universals are found. These universals can be explained by innate mechanisms, or by their function in human speech. This paper presents a functional explanation of certain universals of vowel systems using Alife-techniques. It is based on language-like interactions between members of a population of individual agents. The agents start out empty, but have a "drive" to make (vowel) sounds to each other and to imitate these sounds. Through repeated "imitation games" and through modifications of their own sound system, based on the outcome of the imitation games, the agents reach coherence. The sound systems that arise have properties that are similar to those of human vowel systems.


Herein, an extension to the object query language (OQL) for incorporating binary relational expressions is investigated. The extended query language is suitable for query submissions to an object oriented database, whose functionality is based upon the algebra of binary relations. Algebraic expressions, consisting of simple and multiple merged chains of binary relations, are stated in SQL syntax-based object queries, which are utilized by a multiwavefront algorithm mapped on a multi-directional multi-functional engine(M2FE), for object oriented parallel query processing. The proposed extension also attempts to solve other object oriented database issues, such as inheritance, relationships between objects and literals, and recursive queries.


From the development history of Marxism, I think that the opinion of scientific practising put forward and emphasized in Marxian Outline of Feuerbach is the symbol to the birth of his new world. Currently there are different excavations of the intrinsic quality of Marx's philosophy owing to different understanding of Marx's opinion of practice. The passage is trying to explain the essence of Marx's notion of the new world in personal angle of view.


Specially designed machines, which the authors call rehabilitators, could automate some of the repetitive aspects of physical and occupational therapy. Rehabilitators might also improve therapy by responding to the patient more quickly and precisely than a human therapist and by quantitatively measuring patient progress. The authors envision developing a family of inexpensive machines, each designed to retrain coordination in a specific activity of daily living, which could be used by physical and occupational therapists. To this end, the authors have built a rehabilitator for assisting hemiplegic stroke patients in bimanual lifting. In this task, subjects lift an object off a table with two hands, support it, then replace it on the table. If the disabled hand is unable to contribute to the task, the rehabilitator substitutes for it. The rehabilitator can substitute for the disabled hand well enough to lift a cafeteria tray with a cup of coffee on it without spilling it. If the disabled hand has fully recovered, the rehabilitator does not intervene. >


The paired-stimuli paradigms were used to study cross-modal neural interactions between the visual and auditory systems in human. It was found that the primary visual cortex was actively involved in the 'illusory double-flash' phenomenon. The similar paradigms were used to study the influence of MR scanner noise on human visual activities from the perspective of neural interaction. The results reveal that the gradient acoustic noise does interfere with the neural behavior in human visual cortex


Over the last decade of Indonesia's fiscal decentralization era, the amount of intergovernmental fiscal transfers has increased substantially. The increase of intergovernmental fiscal transfers is expected to reduce the burden of local economy without sacrificing the quality of public service. This study aims to investigate whether the block grant transfer affect the spending behavior of local government. Using Pool Least Square method and taking East Kalimantan Province as case study, this study found the existance of flypaper effect. This finding emphasize the view of any increase in block grant of transfer will only induce higher spending. Therefore, in order to achieve the independency of local government as the objective of decentralization, some efforts should be taken to minimize the impact of flypaper effect.


Roquin is an E3 ligase that regulates mRNA stability. Mice with a mutation in the Rc3h1 gene and Roquin protein, referred to as Roquinsan/san or sanroque mice, develop extensive chronic inflammation and autoimmune pathologies. Our laboratory recently reported that beginning at 8 weeks of age sanroque mice also develop inflammation that is localized to the small intestine but is rare in the colon. Here, we demonstrate that small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) are present in the epithelium of sanroque mice, but that cell recoverability is low using standard extraction techniques even though lamina propria lymphocytes (LPLs) can be recovered in normal numbers. In characterizing T cell costimulatory markers and activation molecules on LPLs in sanroque mice, we identified Ly6C and 4-1BB (CD137) as being expressed at elevated levels on small intestinal LPLs, and we show that both subsets, in conjunction with cells expressing the KLRG1 T cell activation molecule, are sources of the IL-17A, IFN-γ, and TNFα proinflammatory cytokines. TNFα was primarily produced by 4-1BB+, KLRG1− cells, but was also made by some 4-1BB−, KLRG1− cells, and 4-1BB−, KLRG1+ cells. These findings collectively suggest that the small intestinal inflammatory response in sanroque mice is driven, at least in part, by LPL activation through Ly6C, 4-1BB, and KLRG1 signaling, and they provide further evidence demonstrating the utility of using the sanroque mouse as an animal model of chronic inflammation in the small intestine.


This multicountry study empirically explores the institutional determinants of macro–level entrepreneurship. Findings suggest that a society's normative, cultural–cognitive, and regulative institutions are related to entrepreneurial activity. Normative and cultural–cognitive institutions' descriptive power in explaining entrepreneurial activity is higher than regulative institutions' or per capita gross domestic product. This suggests that differences in values, beliefs, and abilities may play a greater role than purely economic considerations of opportunity and transaction costs. Specific attention is given to opportunity– and necessity–motivated entrepreneurship due to their relationship to economic development.


Identity politics, understood as the analysis of the ways in which social roles are inscribed on the body, affects and behaviour, and in which collective experiences of oppression also produce resistant practices, informed German feminisms and performances during the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, major feminist playwrights have shifted into literary production, or abandoned gender as their central critical concern in view of other urgent issues that arose after reunification, including historical revisionism, economic restructuring, rising racism and xenophobia, and globalization fears. Younger white artists playfully unbundled gender and sex and supported the postfeminist consensus that feminist identity politics had become obsolete. The work of Bridge Markland, which can be found on YouTube, emblematizes a burgeoning transgender and drag culture that was transnationalized through film, video, photography exhibitions and workshops. In this critical vacuum, immigrant and minority women were saddled with intensifying, ever more essentialist discourses of gender and ethnic difference, and continued to grapple with them through deconstructive and historicizing, as well as essentializing, deployments of identity.


In a recent paper, [see ibid., vol. 42, p. 1437-42, 1994], Bialkowski and Jellett discussed the design of a broadband 3-dB quadrature hybrid. This hybrid is comprised of 4-port microstrip disc. It appears that the authors were able to increase the operational bandwidth of the circular disc 4-dB quadrature coupler to about 20%. Open and short-circuited stubs were introduced to the periphery of the coupler in order to realize a broader bandwidth. This technique was applied previously by Riblet [1980] and Ohta [1989] on planar components and broader operational bandwidth was realized. In addition to listing a few corrections, the author responds to some inaccurate statements made in the original article by offering some comments. The original authors reply to these comments. >


Self-similarity is often an indicator of highly aesthetic paintings; a key aspect is what feature to use for evaluating self-similarity. Previous works use low-level features such as the gradient orientation to show that artworks and natural scenes share a similar degree of self-similarity. In this study, we take advantage of the AlexNet model to evaluate the changes of self-similarity at different convolutional layers in a CNN model. Compared to previous measures, our approach takes into account low, mid, and high level features. Different behaviors with regards to self-similarity at different layers is observed in paintings. The results confirm previous findings that artworks and natural scenes share similar degrees of self-similarity. For paintings and photographs with similar subject matters, while different degrees of self-similarity are observed at the first layer, other layers show closer values. Finally, the proposed measure of self-similarity is able to better differentiate between images which belong to a similar category but different datasets of images.


Postural changes impair the ability of the cerebrovasculature to buffer against dynamic pressure fluctuations, but the mechanisms underlying this impairment have not been elucidated. We hypothesized that autoregulatory impairment may reflect the impact of static central volume shifts on hemodynamic factors other than arterial pressure (AP). In 14 young volunteers, we assessed the relation of fluctuations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) to those in AP, cardiac output, and CO2, during oscillatory lower body pressure (LBP) (±20 mmHg at 0.01 and 0.06 Hz) at three static levels (-20, 0, and +20 mmHg). Static and dynamic changes in AP, cardiac output, and CO2 explained over 70% of the variation in CBF fluctuations. However, their contributions were different across frequencies and levels: dynamic AP changes explained a substantial proportion of the variation in faster CBF fluctuations (partial R2 = 0.75, standardized β = 0.83, P < 0.01), whereas those in CO2 explained the largest portion of the variation in slow fluctuations (partial R2 = 0.43, β = 0.51, P < 0.01). There was, however, a major contribution of slow dynamic AP changes during negative (β = 0.43) but not neutral (β = 0.05) or positive (β = -0.07) LBP. This highlights the differences in contributions of systemic variables to dynamic and static autoregulation and has important implications for understanding orthostatic intolerance. NEW & NOTEWORTHY While fluctuations in blood pressure drive faster fluctuations in cerebral blood flow, overall level of CO2 and the magnitude of its fluctuations, along with cardiac output, determine the magnitude of slow ones. The effect of slow blood pressure fluctuations on cerebrovascular responses becomes apparent only during pronounced central volume shifts (such as when standing). This underlines distinct but interacting contributions of static and dynamic changes in systemic hemodynamic variables to the cerebrovascular regulation.


In many synchronous digital systems especially those used in mobile applications, the system is exposed to sever shaking that may lead to a failure in the clock generator. In this paper we present an effective method to tolerate the faults on the clock signal that are due to defects in external oscillators. Our technique utilizes no Phase-Lock Loops (PLL), no Delay-Locked Loops (DLL) and no high frequency oscillators because of their drawbacks so that it needs neither more effort to meet Electro- Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) and requirements nor extra hardware to implement DLLs. We have formally evaluated the meta-stability of our technique. This evaluation shows that our technique reliably meets the timing requirements. Furthermore, our simulation-based fault injection experiments show that our technique can tolerate all single faults on clock sources that lead to permanent stuck-at fault and masks almost 49 percents of intermittent faults.


Community schools are quickly increasing in number, but there is no evidence whether they are more effective than traditional schools. No study has empirically compared community schools to other schools. This study reviews the literature on the effectiveness of community schools. We focus on their three main components: cooperation with external organizations, parental involvement, and extracurricular activities. This review indicates that involving external organizations seems valuable in terms of social cohesion in neighborhoods. Parental involvement is particularly important for the educational development of lower socio-economic status families. Extracurricular activities positively relate to students? development in academic and social terms.


We examine the relationship between market structure and the persistence of U.S. dollar-based sectoral real exchange rates for fourteen OECD countries. Our empirical results based on disaggregated data suggest that differences in market structure significantly determine the rates at which deviations from sectoral purchasing power parity decay. Specifically, industries with a larger price-cost margin are found to exhibit slower parity reversion of their sectoral real exchange rates. Further, as the degree of intra-industry trade activity increases, sectoral real exchange rate persistence becomes more pronounced. These findings imply that an imperfectly competitive market structure contributes to the well-documented persistence in real exchange rates.


Over the last decades many experimental methods have been developed and improved to measure thermophysical properties of matter. This publication gives an overview over the most common techniques to obtain thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity a of solid and liquid samples at high temperatures. These methods can be divided into steady state and transient methods. The steady state methods are all those, which allow a direct measurement of thermal conductivity or thermal diffusivity at constant temperatures. Transient methods usually offer a simple set up and are not as time consuming as steady state ones. At the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz, University of Technology, an ohmic pulse-heating apparatus has been set up in the 1980s and has been further improved over the years, which allows the investigation of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity for the end of the solid phase and especially for the liquid phase of metals and alloys. This apparatus will be described here in more detail. Wire shaped metal samples are resistively volume heated as part of a fast capacitor discharge circuit. Time resolved measurements with sub-μs resolution of current through the specimen are made with a pearson probe, voltage drop across the specimen is determined with knife-edge contacts and ohmic voltage dividers. Radiance temperature of the sample is measured with a pyrometer and volume expansion of the wire with a fast acting CCD-camera. To determine thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity with the ohmic pulse-heating method, the Wiedemann-Franz law is used. There are electronic as well as lattice contributions to thermal conductivity. As the materials examined at Graz, University of Technology are mostly in the liquid phase, the lattice contribution to thermal conductivity is negligible small in most cases.


ABSTRACT Choropleth representation has been the most widely applied method to represent rates in disease maps due to its consistency in depicting relative data. However polygons in a choropleth map may give the erroneous notion of homogenous distribution over area in cases where the mapped quantity varies in its spatial distribution. In the case of population maps, choropleth maps suggest uniform distribution of people within large peri-urban administrative areas where population is known to be unevenly distributed within the administrative units. Dasymetric mapping can provide a more accurate and detailed distribution of population data by using ancillary information to spatially disaggregate population within administrative units. We have developed a procedure to use more detailed fiscal cadastre blocks to disaggregate census data within less detailed enumeration and sample areas. Here we explain the procedure and provide simple examples of this dasymetric representation as applied to population density, socioeconomic and health indicators. This approach may help to identify fine-scale risk patterns of infectious and chronic diseases and associated socioeconomic or environmental risk factors. It is hoped that better visualization through this approach will help specialists in planning to reduce social injustice in complex urban environments.


The purpose of this paper is to rethink market orientation (MO) through learning practices. Organisational learning scholars prefer to categorise learning into modes, levels, and behaviours (Crossan and Berdrow, 2003; Fiol and Lyles, 1985; Miller, 1996), which focuses research towards the type of management practices required for organisational success. Learning behaviour however is not the basis of market orientation. This research provides greater clarity about the role of learning in market orientation.


We compared the cardiovascular effect of FR34235, a new dihydropyridine derivative, with the effects of nifedipine, nicardipine, and diltiazem on the dog using in vitro and in vivo preparations. FR34235 reduced the amplitude of coronary arterial contraction induced by K+ more so than that induced by norepinephrine in in vitro preparations. The ID50 values of FR34235 for various arterial strips contracted by K+ were smaller (1/5–1/426) than those of nifedipine and diltiazem, and almost the same as those of nicardipine. There was a greater increase in both the coronary and vertebral blood flow than in the other peripheral arterial flow in anesthetized dogs administered FR34235 (0.32–100 μg/kg i.v.), and the duration of effect was about two to three times longer than that of the other drugs. To obtain a vasodilating effect by the intraduodenal route, 10–30 times the intravenous dose of FR34235 was required, far lower than that required of nicardipine. In atrioventricular (AV) and sinoatrial node preparations, FR34235 was weaker in impairing AV conduction than nifedipine, in spite of their similar potencies in increasing coronary flow and decreasing sinus rate. FR34235 was more potent than diltiazem in increasing coronary flow, in spite of their similar potencies on AV conduction. It is concluded that FR34235 has: (a) potent vasodilating activity, probably due to inhibition of Ca2+ influx into the cells; (b) selective and long-lasting effects on the coronary and cerebral arteries in vivo; (c) a wide difference between doses that cause vasodilation and an impairing effect on AV conducting tissues; and (d) therapeutic effects after absorption from the intestinal tract.


In this article we focus upon the ways that "migrants" in Melbourne have used David Bowie to story and make sense of their arrival to Australia, often as refugees or as people looking for a better life. In relation to identity and belonging, some recent work on music fandom (Groene and Hettinger 2015; Lowe 2003), has imposed a meta-frame on the empirical method, substituting voices for a top-down analysis and interpretation. Our approach is to instead draw both upon auto-ethnography and to allow our fellow fans to "story" their own responses, in an attempt to get beneath the modes of feeling that music fandom ignites – situated within the narratives that people construct as they talk these stories. We argue that Bowie's alternative and outsider status resonates keenly with people who find themselves "strangers" in a new land.

Keywords: David Bowie, popular music, stardom and celebrity, music fandom, media cultures, audience and reception studies


The aim of this study was to analyze the role of the five-factor model (FFM) of personality and self-efficacy as predictors of business performance in nascent entrepreneurs in cultural and creative industries (n = 81). The study was prospective and longitudinal – the assessment of personality preceded the start of a self-owned business by the participants – and an assessment of business performance was conducted twice: seven months and abouta year after starting the business. The results showed that the participants wereless neurotic, more extraverted, more open to experience, and more conscientious and had a stronger sense of general self-efficacy in comparison to the general population. The FFM traits were weak but significant predictors of business performance; the strongest predictive traits were extraversion, neuroticism, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Some analyses including neuroticism and extraversion supported the hypothesized mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between personality traits and some indices of business performance. The results are discussed in the context of previous studies, including meta-analyses.


BACKGROUND
This study compared the accuracy and precision of five blood glucose (BG) meters.

METHODS
Diabetes patients undergoing venipuncture for glucose testing were randomized to one of two groups consisting of three meters: FreeStyle Flash (Abbott Diabetes Care, Alameda, CA), Accu-Chek Advantage (Roche Diagnostics Corp., Indianapolis, IN), and Accu-Chek Compact Plus (Roche Diagnostics) or FreeStyle Flash, Ascensia Contour (Bayer Healthcare, Diagnostic Division, Tarrytown, NY), and BD Logic (BD Diabetes Care, Franklin Lake, NJ). Within 5 min following venipuncture, duplicate finger BG measurements from three ipsilateral fingers were taken. Finger glucose measurements were compared with laboratory reference values. Accuracy was assessed by a Clarke error grid analysis (EGA) and within 10% of the laboratory value criteria. Meter precision was determined by calculating the absolute mean differences in glucose values between duplicate samples.

RESULTS
Finger sticks were obtained from 202 patients. Mean venipuncture BG was 148 mg/dL (SD +/- mg/64 dL; range 25-439 mg/dL). Accuracy by Clarke EGA (Zone A results) was demonstrated in 69% of Advantage samples, 75% of Compact Plus, and 96% of the first group of Flash versus 88% of the Contour, 67% of the Logic, and 91% of the second Flash samples (P < 0.05 for both Flash and Contour). Meter accuracy using the 10% criteria was demonstrated in 30%, 38%, 70%, 46%, 48%, and 68% of the samples, respectively (P < 0.05 for both Flash groups compared to each of the other meters). There were no differences in meter precision.

CONCLUSIONS
No statistically significant differences in accuracy were evident using the Clarke EGA criteria (pooled results of Zone A and B), though the more strict 20% accuracy criteria (Zone A results only) found the Flash and Contour to have significantly greater accuracy compared to the Advantage, Compact Plus, and the Logic. Using the 10% accuracy criteria found the Flash to have significantly greater accuracy than each of the other four meters. All five meters demonstrated similar precision.


Bone grafts and bone substitute biomaterial implemented in guided tissue regeneration should undergo the process of biological decomposition in the recipient's system. The aim of this work is the presentation of current views concerning the issue of Bio-Oss bovine bone bioresorption and their juxtaposition with the results of the author's own research. The work presents histopathological and immunohistochemical tests of the xenogeneic Bio-Oss preparation from biopsies carried out 30 months after implantation. It was observed that the preparations contained correct bone neighbouring remnant particles of Bio-Oss, intratrabecular fibromatosis around the implant, abundant vascularisation, absence of osteoid and of active inflammatory process. A small number of T and B lymphocytes was detected. The results obtained in the above-described case testify to the descending character of the inflammatory infiltration 30 months after the implementation of Bio-Oss and efficient restoration of the bone. The prevalent view in literature is that Bio-Oss is resorbable biomaterial. However, there are also reports questioning this view as remnants of Bio-Oss have been detected even 44 months after implantation into the bone defect. In the author's own cases, Bio-Oss remnants could be observed 30 months after implanting. It seems that although the creation of new bone structure is indisputable, the process of biological decomposition of Bio-Oss should be described as slow bioresorption.


Line intercept sampling was used to determine if boundaries between desert scrub vegetation stands corresponded with boundaries between regions in an image derived from a segmentation algorithm applied to Thematic Mapper (TM) data for the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California. An image segmentation algorithm developed by Woodcock and Harward (1992) was applied to images comprising TM bands 3, 4, and 5, from April 1987, principal components images based on April 1987 and June 1990 imagery, and each with texture added. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to determine coordinates of both physiographic (land-form) and vegetation boundaries in the field as they intersected line transects. These boundary locations were then registered to the segmented images. Image region boundaries that fell within E tolerances (spatial error bounds) of surveyed boundaries were considered accurate. Image region boundaries showed less than 10 percent omission error but about 50 percent commission error when compared with the true locations of vegetation and physiographic boundaries. The use of image principal components and texture in the segmenfations did not produce anticipated increases in the correspondence between field-mapped and image-region vegetation boundaries, although there is some suggestion that multidate principal components may be sensitive to vegetation boundaries, and texture to physiographic boundaries.


Staining of the cornea and conjunctiva, with precipitation of dark brown pigment granules within these tissues, is recognized as an industrial hazard for workers engaged in the manufacture of hydroquinone. In a previous report, submitted as a candidate's thesis to the American Ophthalmological Society, in 1946, one of us (B. A.) described certain characteristic lesions of the cornea and conjunctiva which had developed among a group of workers engaged in the manufacture of this chemical.1These studies indicated that the severity of involvement was proportional to the length of exposure and was conditioned by the cleanliness, and possibly to some extent by the age, of the individual worker. Although there are now a constant awareness of the possibility of seriously disabling exposure and strict supervision of plant and personnel, the development of ocular lesions among workers in this industry remains a problem. One of the preventative measures adopted as


We demonstrate the high potential of an optical integrated sensor which monitors the changes of the effective refractive index of the resonant optical modes induced by variations of the refractive index of the surrounding material. The detection system is a CMOS compatible structure based on a visible light emitting Si-rich Si3N4 μ-disk coupled to a passive Si3N4 waveguide placed underneath. We present a complete optical characterization of the active material in the isolated (μ-disk) and combined (plus coupled waveguide) photonic systems. The material has been optimized to obtain bright cavities with high quality factors. As a final result, we demonstrate that the sensor can achieve a sensitivity of 36 nm/RIU for small refractive index changes (Δ n = 0.002) and a minimum detection limit of 1.6 ×10-3 RIU. This structure can be used as a building block for detection systems with increased complexity, in which demultiplexing and detection could be readily integrated on the same chip.


Two new statistical models based on Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) have been developed to score peptide matches in shotgun proteomic data and incorporated in a database search program, MassMatrix (www.massmatrix.net). The first model evaluates peptide matches based on the total abundance of matched peaks in the experimental spectra. The second model evaluates amino acid residue tags within MS/MS spectra. The two models provide complementary scores for peptide matches that result in higher confidence in peptide identification when significant scores are returned from both models. The MCS-based models use a variance reduction technique that improves estimation precision. Due to the high computational expense of MCS-based models, peptide matches were prefiltered by other statistical models before further evaluation by the MCS-based models. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of the data sets confirmed that MCS-based models improved the overall performance of the MassMatrix search software, especially for low-mass accuracy data sets.


We investigate zero mean curvature surfaces in the Minkowski space  such that their first fundamental quadratic form changes signature. Part of such a surface is space-like and part is time-like. We obtain complete information about the structure of the set of points where the surface changes type and prove the related existence and uniqueness theorems.


ABSTRACT Purpose To describe the management and outcome of two extremely rare and painful cases of Mooren's ulcer, an idiopathic peripheral autoimmune-associated ulcerative corneal disease. Methods Case report with literature review on the management of ocular inflammation in Mooren's ulcer. Results A 47-year-old female and a 76-year-old female presented with progressive bilateral Mooren's ulcer that were refractory to conventional immunosuppressive therapy. Following treatment with infliximab, an anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha, a significant improvement in disease progression was observed, with no corneal thinning or perforation at follow-ups. Conclusion This case report highlights how infliximab can be effective in cases with Mooren's ulcer refractory to conventional therapies.


Introduction: Oncolytic virotherapy can have a potentially high impact in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as there are documented preclinical activities and target specificity. Oncolytic viruses have unique advantages over small molecular drugs, such as their ability to replicate, spread, and carry anti-tumoral therapeutic genes; however, their challenges include concerns over systemic toxicity, requiring intratumoral administration and restricting its applicability. This highlights the clinical significance of tumor microenvironment in oncolytic virotherapy. Although studies have shown significant stromal effects on carcinogenesis, the effects of the tumor microenvironment on viral susceptibility have been largely unstudied. Microscale 3D co-culture assays were recently developed and validated by our laboratory for studies on tumor invasion, and we have used them here to manipulate, control, and examine cell-cell interactions. Here we developed an in vitro microfluidic model to examine tumor-stromal interaction on oncolytic virotherapy. Methods: To determine the effect of tumor microenvironment on oncolytic virotherapy, we examined VSV infection in 3D microfluidic cultures of representative NSCLC cell lines (A549 lung adenocarcinoma, H226 squamous cell carcinoma) in vitro, either as a monoculture, a co-culture in combination with normal lung fibroblasts WI38, or a monoculture in WI38-conditioned media. The infection of VSV-GFP1, a recombinant virus that expresses green fluorescent protein as a byproduct of infection, in lung cancer cells was investigated using a novel microfluidic-based method. As GFP is only produced during viral replication, GFP fluorescence serves as a surrogate for viral infection. Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy of a single VSV-GFP plaque on a lung cancer cell monolayer in 3D microfluidic cultures was conducted over a 30-hour period post infection. Viral production was quantified using conventional plaque assays. Statistical analysis was based on the two-sample Student9s t-test at a two-tailed level of 0.05. Results: Up to 37% infection in 3D microfluidic monocultures of A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells compared to 12% infection in co-cultures with WI38 fibroblasts was observed over 30 hours post infection. The rate of VSV infection in A549 decreased significantly in the presence of WI38 lung fibroblasts (2% vs. 0.6% cells/hour; P=0.01). Up to 12% infection in 3D microfluidic monocultures of A549 in WI38-conditioned media was observed over 30 hours post infection; the rate of its VSV infection was equivalent to that in co-cultures with WI38 fibroblasts (0.6% cells/hour). VSV production decreased by 100 folds in A549 monocultures in WI38-conditioned media compared to that in conventional media. Conclusions: VSV spread and production in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells decreased significantly in the presence of WI38 lung fibroblasts or WI38-conditioned media. As WI38-conditioned media have the same inhibitory effects on viral infection as do WI38 fibroblasts, secreted soluble factors appear to be more important than direct cell-cell contact in causing this phenomenon. Future studies on stroma-targeted therapy may alleviate the inhibitory effects of tumor microenvironment on virotherapy and increase the bioavailability of oncolytic viruses to the tumors systemically. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr C236.


Nowadays, there are so many huge, complex and chaotic production/control/management systems in this world, compared with the situation of several years ago, waiting to be managed intelligently in order to behave as they are expected. But it is quite hard even to find a method for describing such systems clearly and precisely, because they consist of many parts with the parts having many common and differentiating factors while exhibiting characteristics of dependence as well as independence with added complications of having to deal with a changing environment and the consequent changes in their spatial and temporal arrangements. This makes it the most difficult to represent those using conventional techniques of description. As a consequence, the systems do not easily lend themselves to be described with conventional controls, Fuzzy, Neural, Artificial Intelligence (AI), soft-computing and other new methods in engineering fields, referring to Anderson, Elman and Bloom et al. This paper introduces a new i...


In Reply. —We are pleased to acknowledge the special attention given to our report by Drs Dandona and Quigley as well as the accompanying editorial by Dr Spaeth.1In our study, of great concern to us was the possibility of type 2 error; that is, the optic disc cup reversal and its correlation with intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction, even if present, might not be great enough to be demonstrable because of the expected variability2associated with the computerized measurements with the Rodenstock optic nerve head analyzer (RONA) (G. Rodenstock Instrumente GMBH, Munich, West Germany). We were able to reject the null hypothesis. Thus, the cup reversal following IOP reduction and its correlation with percent IOP reduction must have been great enough to be demonstrable despite the variability associated with the measurements. Furthermore, according to the nature of the relationship between the reversal of each optic disc parameter and the


Accelerators are used to speed up demanding computational applications. However, designers find integrating hardware and software communications interface being a challenge. In this paper, the integration methods for computing in reconfigurable embedded systems are explored. Through integration linker, hardware net-list files, tasks, and initial file will be combined into one execution file, which can execute in the proposed reconfigurable platforms. Tasks and hardware functions are segregated by program segment prefixes, designed to record interaction information of hardware and software resources. When the executor operates on the target embedded environment, the implicit hardwire-function call will be used to invoke hardware functions by hardware management unit bridging in the task codes. The integrating methodology has been implemented in the co-design platform, and this work verifies communication effectiveness between hardware and software through video compression applications.


This paper presents the analysis and design of a new low-loss auxiliary circuit for three-level pulsewidth-modulation single-phase full-bridge inverters which achieve soft switching at all semiconductor devices. The active auxiliary commutation circuit (AACC) is composed of an LC circuit and two bidirectional switches, where one auxiliary switch commutates under zero-voltage switching condition and the other under zero-current switching condition. The AACC dispenses with the use of auxiliary voltage sources. Low reactive energy is added to the converter, resulting in low RMS current stresses at the main switches and, consequently, higher efficiency is achieved. Auxiliary circuit design procedures and experimental results are presented to prove the operation principle.


Agrometerology. Principles and Applications of Climatic Studies in Agriculture. Harpal S. Mavi and Graeme J. Tupper. 2004. Food Products Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. xii + 364 pp. (hardcover). US$ 59.95. ISBN 1-56022-972-1. Botanical Watercolors from the National Herbarium Nederland. J. J. White and L. B. Bruno. 2004. Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Catalogo Preliminar Comentado de la Flora del Medio Caquetfi/Commented Catalogue on the Middle Caqueta Flora. Mauricio S~nchez S~ienz. 1997. Programa Tropenbos--Colombia, Carrera 21 No. 39-35, A.A. 036062, Santaf6 de Bogotfi, D.C., Colombia. 557 pp. (paperback). £30.00 ISBN 9589365-04-3 . . . A list of plants on ca. 35 of the 1 300 000 hectares in the middle of Rio Caquet~i, Colombia. The geographical setting is outlined and followed by a synopsis of the people living there, both indigenous and settlers. There is an alphabetical list of the 2419 species known from 777 genera and 178 families. This is followed by two indices, one of the technical names, and another of the common names in Andoque, Huitoto, Makuna, Matapf, Mirafia, Muiane, Tukano, and Yukuna as well as Spanish. Where available, indigenous uses of plants are noted. Catalogue of New World Grasses (Poaeeae): I lL Subfamilies Panicoideae, Aristoideae, Arundinoideae, and Danthonioideae. Fernando O. Zuloaga, Morrone, Osvaldo, Davidse, Gerrit, Filgueiras, Tarciso S., Peterson, Paul M., Soreng, Robert J., and Judziewicz, Emmet J. 2003. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 46:1662, Washington, DC. 20013-7012 . . . This paperback continues the series that has been forthcoming from the agrostologists of the world. As with the others, this is a most useful compendium. It would be wonderful if our insane society would support similar compilations for all plant groups. Instead our world leaders are trying to eliminate them from the face of the earth for the short-term gain of a select few at the expense of the many. Concise Encyclopedia of Bioresouree Technology. Ashok Pandey, ed. 2004. Food Products Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street,


Cattle diseases remain a major constraint to increasing dairy productivity in Tanzania, by killing or keeping them sick and under-producing. Recent studies report overall mortality between 12 and 14% in smallholder dairy cattle across different regions of Tanzania. Many of these diseases can also be transmitted to people, causing illness and/or even death. Existing information on the diseases affecting dairy cattle in Tanzania and their relative importance is limited and relies either on passive reporting by poorly resourced veterinary services or on localised surveys focused on a specific well known diseases. The causes of cattle diseases remain often unknown and differential diagnosis is not conducted leading to mistreatment or ineffective treatment. Addressing this concerns a survey was conducted among cattle farmers in two regions in Tanzania using participatory techniques to collect information on disease importance supported by laboratory investigations on commonly expected cattle pathogens but also those seldom looked for but known to be important in other regions. For this purpose blood samples were collected from cattle (n=402) reported by farmers to be sick and subjected to a range of tests (ELISA) including tick borne diseases, selected zoonoses (brucellosis, Q Fever), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhea (BVR) and bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) among other pathogens. Biological sampling was aligned with data collection on farm and diseases management. Results indicate that diseases are common for the region. Among those most prominent were East Cost fever and Anaplasmosis (32% each). Also important zoonoses were found (e.g. Brucellosis, 11%). High numbers of positive tested sera were also reported for pathogens commonly not tested for (e.g. IBRV). Preliminary results suggest discrepancies between laboratory results (tested positive sera) and farmer's perceptions on specific diseases. While for East Cost Fever farmer's perception on disease importance confirmed laboratory results (37% versus 32%) we found a discrepancy for brucellosis (1% versus 11%), a neglected zoonoses with the potential of causing chronic, long lasting diseases in humans. Implications of farming management practices on the presence/absence of certain pathogens are currently developed and part of ongoing dissemination efforts.


This paper summarizes the computational models that Technicolor proposes to predict interestingness of images and videos within the MediaEval 2017 PredictingMedia Interestingness Task. Our systems are based on deep learning architectures and exploit the use of both semantic and multimodal features. Based on the obtained results, we discuss our findings and obtain some scientific perspectives for the task.


Enzyme IIImtl is part of the mannitol phosphotransferase system of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus carnosus and is phosphorylated by phosphoenolpyruvate in a reaction sequence requiring enzyme I (phosphoenolpyruvate-protein phosphotransferase) and the histidine-containing protein HPr. In this paper, we report the isolation of IIImtl from both S. aureus and S. carnosus and the characterization of the active center. After phosphorylation of IIImtl with [32P]PEP, enzyme I, and HPr, the phosphorylated protein was cleaved with endoproteinase Glu(C). The amino acid sequence of the S. aureus peptide carrying the phosphoryl group was found to be Gln-Val-Val-Ser-Thr-Phe-Met-Gly-Asn-Gly-Leu-Ala-Ile-Pro-His-Gly-Thr-Asp- Asp. The corresponding peptide from S. carnosus shows an equal sequence except that the first residue is Ala instead of Gln. These peptides both contain a single histidyl residue which we assume to carry the phosphoryl group. All proteins of the PTS so far investigated indeed carry the phosphoryl group attached to a histidyl residue. According to sodium dodecyl sulfate gels, the molecular weight of the IIImtl proteins was found to be 15,000. We have also determined the N-terminal sequence of both proteins. Comparison of the IIImtl peptide sequences and the C-terminal part of the enzyme IImtl of Escherichia coli reveals considerable sequence homology, which supports the suggestion that IImtl of E. coli is a fusion protein of a soluble III protein with a membrane-bound enzyme II. In particular, the homology of the active-center peptide of IIImtl of S. aureus and S. carnosus with the enzyme IImtl of E. coli allows one to predict the N-3 histidine phosphorylation site within the E. coli enzyme.


Telescopes are critical elements of NASA's space program. Very high resolution telescopes are needed to study planets of neighboring stellar systems and life beyond earth. Telescope resolution is limited by aperture diameter but current technology limits telescope apertures to about 10- meters in diameter. The Earth's atmosphere refracts sunlight such that the sun's image appears about a half degree above its real position during sunset. If we could build a space telescope using the Earth's atmosphere as an objective lens the aperture of such space telescope would be the diameter of the earth. Telescope resolution could be enhanced by up to seven orders of magnitude and would enable detailed images of planets in far away stellar systems.


It is well known that the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux is modulated by corotating interaction regions (CIR) in the vicinity of Earth. When Ulysses first explored high latitude regions in 1996, it was found that the flux of GCRs was still modulated on the time scale of one solar rotation, although neither the solar wind nor the interplanetary magnetic field at these latitudes showed the characteristics of CIRs. This finding led to the modification of our understanding of either the heliospheric magnetic field (HMF, Fisk field) or the transport of particles perpendicular to the HMF. Now, 12 years later, Ulysses explored these high latitude regions again. From September 2007 to September 2008, the GCR flux at Earth showed a clear 27 day solar-rotation modulation. In this contribution, we show that the intensities of GCRs and Jovian electrons at the location of Earth are well modulated with the expected time periods of 27 and 26 days, respectively.


Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) is a widely used treatment option for acoustic schwannomas, 3 cm in diameter or less. Between May 1990 and February 1998, 102 acoustic tumors in 101 patients were treated with GKRS. There are 77 patients with a follow-up period of more than six months (mean 55, range 7 to 90 months). Seventy (91%) of these tumors have remained unchanged or reduced in volume. After GKRS there was an increase in volume in seven cases. In four the volume increase affected solid tumour. Among these, three patients were in stable condition and are being observed. One of these patients developed brain stem compression symptoms and was operated. In another three cases, cysts with multiple septa developed medial to the tumor and compressed the brain stem and fourth ventricle, thus necessitating post-GKRS surgery. In these three patients, MRI had shown loss of central contrast enhancement followed by its return. Histological findings at surgery before and after GKRS were compared for these four tumours. In spite of the MRI changes, there were no definite histological findings after GKRS which could be attributed to radiation induced changes. The development of cysts occurred after the treatment of larger tumors.


Abstract A clinical practice guideline on total knee arthroplasty was developed by an American Physical Therapy (APTA) volunteer guideline development group that consisted of physical therapists, an orthopedic surgeon, a nurse, and a consumer. The guideline was based on systematic reviews of current scientific and clinical information and accepted approaches to management of total knee arthroplasty.


With the progress of transmission technology and fast growing demand for ubiquitous high speed wireless services, it is clear that the pressure towards more flexibility in usage of limited spectrum will increase. With concept of spectrum sharing, in this paper, we study potentials and limits of secondary spectrum usage of a television broadcasting band by CDMA base stations. To ensure the performance of primary receivers, we examine transmit power, coverage, and user admissibility of secondary transmit as limits of secondary spectrum usage. By analytical and numerical results, we also describe potentials of secondary spectrum usage concerning with primary exclusive region where the primary users should be protected.


A number of real estate derivatives are available worldwide. The authors discuss the issues related to the pricing of these instruments and to the managing of hedging instruments over time. The property derivatives are classified by the type of real estate risk they hedge: 1) housing price risk, 2) commercial property price risk, and 3) mortgage loan portfolio amortizing risk. Given the special characteristics of the real estate asset class—an incomplete market, difficult to hedge, and reversion to a long-term trend—the authors emphasize the main points that should be taken into account when pricing property derivatives.


OBJECTIVES
We aimed to quantify children's levels of pain and fear during needle puncture procedures in a context where intravenous sedation-analgesia seems to be effective for pain and anxiety relief. The relevance of a nonpharmacological intervention in the pharmacological regimen was evaluated.

DESIGN
Fear and pain were assessed by children, parents and physicians, on a visual analog scale (VAS, 0-10 cm), before and during puncture procedures. Higher scores represented more intense pain/fear.

RESULTS
During 4 consecutive months, 18 children were recruited, but four were excluded from analyses because they did not receive the full sedation regimen (midazolam/ketamine) (N = 14, mean age +/- SD: 9.9 +/- 3.4 years). Parents self-reported their own anxiety before the procedure (4.69 +/- 3.17), but no correlation was found with their children's self-reported fear. Before procedures, the children's fear was self-reported on a VAS by children (2.93 +/- 2.93), parents (4.45 +/- 2.87), and physicians (3.67 +/- 2.48). During procedures under sedation, the children's pain (1.71 +/- 2.74) did not correlate with the parents' (4.01 +/- 3.23) and physicians' (1.83 +/- 2.32) ratings. Children anticipating high levels of pain and fear on the VAS experienced higher levels of pain (r = 0.65, P < 0.05) and fear (r = 0.59, P < 0.05) during the procedures. Sixteen parents (16/18) agreed to participate with their children if a study evaluating hypnosis for pain and anxiety was conducted.

CONCLUSIONS
Sedation is effective in lowering levels of fear and pain in children during procedures, but they still anticipate fear before the procedures. Parents are anxious for their children. Future hypnotic intervention could be helpful for children as well as parents to cope with anxiety during procedures.


Examining cartoons published between 1960 and 1979, Morris shows how the artists dealt with particular aspects of Quebec's political experience. He looks at Berthio's drawings on Queen Elizabeth's visit and Dupras's on President de Gaulle's; Girerd's and Berthio's on Quebec-Ottawa relations; Girerd's on the referendum campaign; and Girerd's and Aislin's on the English minority in Quebec. He points out recurring tensions, oppositions, and associations and analyses them from a sociological perspective. One of Morris's major objectives is to better understand the framework through which ideas presented in cartoons are filtered to their audience, focusing on the metaphors that underlie the frame, message, content, and form of the cartoons. Morris argues that the carnivalization of political figures and events, whereby the social structure is mockingly inverted and society's values and taboos are exaggerated until they become ridiculous, is a central metaphor governing Quebec cartoons of this period. He also explores the metaphor of the family, with England and France as grandparents, Canada and Quebec as parents, and the official-language minorities as children.


In this work, we provide a Genetic-based algorithm that is used to quickly find a placement for a set of objects within a given layout such that access to these objects is optimized. The given layout describes the free locations of the objects and the object handles and the access is done through a corpus of object requests. The proposed algorithm optimizes the placement of the objects by searching through a small fraction of the search space. As a case study, we use the algorithm to find a better placement for the keyboard characters than QWERTY and Dvorak Simplified characters placements. The algorithm finds a placement that is better than both QWERTY and Dvorak Simplified by 32.68% and 15.79% respectively on the training set, and 32.71% and 15.84% respectively on the testing set. This result is achieved after searching through only 500K possible solutions, which is about 1.23 × 10−19percent only of the total search space. Both training and testing sets are extracted randomly from TED2013 v1.1 English corpus. Moreover, we release the dataset, code and experimental results on our GitHub repository.


We present results for high-resolution small-angle single-crystal X-ray diffraction of hard-sphere silica colloidal crystals. Our results indicate that the stacking probability α of finding an fcc stacking sequence in a strongly compressed sample can only have two discrete values of either 0.5 (for rhcp) or 1 (for fcc) in contrast to previous observations on more dilute systems that metastable hard-sphere rhcp crystals may have various values of α. This suggests that, in a concentrated sample, the transition from rhcp to fcc does not go by a smooth variation of α, but through a rearrangement mechanism via melting, which leads to the formation of perfect fcc crystallites. These crystallites do not possess a single stacking fault as evidenced by the absence of twin fcc reflections.


The first and still the only film about Andranik Ozanian (1865–1927)  was  shot  during  the  summer  of  1928  in  Bulgaria.  Who  financed  and created the movie, why did the director Archavir Chakhatouny (1882–1957) choose Bulgaria for the scenes in the open, why wasn't the film shown in Soviet Armenia and how did it get to Yerevan – those are part of the questions the paper will try to answer. To that end the author searched for the archival documents in  the  archives  and  museums  of  Armenia  and  Bulgaria.  The  richest  source  is the  personal  fund  of  the  Armenian  emigrant  in  Paris  Arshavir  Shakhatuni (1882–1957). After his death, the documents were transferred to the Yeghishe Charents Museum of Literature and Arts in Yerevan. Among them, a special place is occupied by biographical documents, documents about theatrical roles and roles in cinema, which he performed, materials about early cinema and the history of the creation of the film "Andranik". The National Archives of Armenia keeps the documents which detail the participation of Chakhatouny in the First World War and in the government of  the  First  Armenian  Republic  (1918–1920)  as  the  commandant  and  chief of  police  of  Yerevan.  The  most  valuable  source  is  the  film  "Andranik"  which was received by the State Archives of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) in 1972. During the period, the name of Andranik was banned until the end of the 80s of the 20th century. There was censorship and contradicting assessments of Andranik by Armenians and Azerbaijanis ("hero" or "enemy") were "concealed". For this reason, the film might have got into Armenia through the Armenian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, founded by the resolution of the Communist Party of the ASSR. The official activity of the Society was related to the cultural events abroad but in fact it was used to gather information about the political emigrants. In the Bulgarian archives one may find the archive "traces" of Chakhatouny's performances  on  the  Bulgarian  theatrical  scenes  and  also  his  correspondence with  the  actor  Georgi  Stamatov  (1893–1965),  that  documents  contain  the valuable data on the history of the film creation. Thanks to the archives, the film 'Andranik' can be seen and the story of its creation and distribution in the past century can be reproduced.


This paper presents the outcomes of an experimental investigation on the effect of sintering schedule, i.e., holding time and temperature to the final properties of FeCrAl powder compacts prepared through uniaxial die compaction process at above room temperature. The feedstock was prepared by mechanically mixing iron powder ASC 100.29 with chromium (22 wt%) and aluminium (11 wt%) for 30 min at room temperature. A cylindrical shape die was filled with the powder mass and heated for one hour for uniform heating of the die assembly together with the powder mass. Once the temperature reached to the setup temperature, i.e., 150°C, the powder mass was formed by applying an axial pressure of 425 MPa simultaneously from upward and downward directions. The as-pressed green compacts were then cooled to room temperature and subsequently sintered in argon gas fired furnace at a rate of 5°C/min for three different holding times, i.e., 30, 60, and 90 min at three different sintering temperatures, i.e., 800, 900, and 1000°C. The sintered samples were characterized for their density, electrical resistivity, bending strength, and microstructure. The results revealed that the sample sintered at 1000°C for 90 min achieved the better characteristics.


Variable merozoite surface antigens of Babesia bovis are exposed glycoproteins having a role in erythrocyte invasion. Members of this gene family include msa‐1 and msa‐2 (msa‐2c, msa‐2a1, msa‐2a2, and msa‐2b). Small subunit ribosomal (ssr)RNA gene is subject to evolutive pressure and has been used in phylogenetic studies. To determine the phylogenetic relationship among B. bovis Mexican isolates using different genetic markers, PCR amplicons, corresponding to msa‐1, msa‐2c, msa‐2b, and ssrRNA genes, were cloned and plasmids carrying the corresponding inserts were sequenced. Comparative analysis of nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences revealed distinct degrees of variability and identity among the coding gene sequences obtained from 12 geographically different B. bovis isolates and a reference strain. Overall sequence identities of 47.7%, 72.3%, 87.7%, and 94% were determined for msa‐1, msa‐2b, msa‐2c, and ssrRNA, respectively. A robust phylogenetic tree was obtained with msa‐2b sequences. The phylogenetic analysis suggests that Mexican B. bovis isolates group in clades not concordant with the Mexican geography. However, the Mexican isolates group together in an American clade separated from the Australian clade. Sequence heterogeneity in msa‐1, msa‐2b, and msa‐2c coding regions of Mexican B. bovis isolates present in different geographical regions can be a result of either differential evolutive pressure or cattle movement from commercial trade.


Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of percutaneous ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure under solely guidance of echocardiography and fluoroscopy. Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at Fuwai Hospital, between February 2014 and February 2015. The patients were divided into two groups. VSD closure was conducted in 42 patients under solely guidance of echocardiography, and 100 patients who were treated with percutaneous catheter closure under fluoroscopy guidance were selected as a control group. The baseline characteristics, procedural time and complications were recorded and assessed. Results: There were no significant differences in terms of age, gender and pre-operative echocardiographic characteristics (all P>0.05). Percutaneous VSD closure under traditional fluoroscopy guidance was successful in 95 patients (95%). The procedural time was (54.7±12.5) minutes. The symmetrical occluders diameter was (6.9±1.8) mm. Four patients had postoperative residual shunt, one patient developed left bundle branch block, and 6 patients developed new tricuspid regurgitation. Percutaneous VSD closure under only transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) guidance was successful in 39 patients (93%). Because of delivery catheter passage failure through the defect, one case required conversion to perventricular closure via a small transthoracic incision under transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance. The other two cases underwent surgical repair because of residual shunt with more than 2 mm after closure. The procedural time was (40.3±13.2) minutes. The symmetrical occluders diameter was (6.5±1.2) mm. Four patients had postoperative residual shunt that disappeared after 1 month follow-up, and one patient developed right bundle branch block which disappeared 3 days later. During (9.3±3.6) months follow-up, there were no other complications, such as pericardial effusion, occluder malposition, atrioventricular block, aortic valve regurgitation, and aggravating tricuspid regurgitation in each group. However, the total operation time, diameter of VSD occluder, total mild complications, and the equipment cost in the study group were less than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Percutaneous VSD closure can be successfully performed under sole guidance of echocardiography with outcomes similar to those achieved with fluoroscopy guidance.


Mentalization refers to the ability to understand the mental states of oneself and those of others that motivate action and behavior. Mentalization has generally been linked to adaptive development and healthy functioning whereas diminished mentalization has been associated with maladaptive development and psychopathology. The vast majority of research on mentalization and developmental trajectories, however, is based on Western countries. The overall aim of this study was therefore to examine mentalizing abilities in a novel sample of 153 typically developing and atypically developing Iranian children (Mage = 9.41, SDage = 1.10, Range = 8–11, 54.2% females) recruited from a primary school and health clinic in Tehran. The children completed semi-structured interviews that were later transcribed and coded for mentalization. The parents provided reports on internalizing and externalizing symptoms, demographic information, and all formal diagnoses of the children. The results pointed at general age and sex differences across the two groups. Older children showed more adaptive mentalization compared to the younger children; boys and girls used different mentalizing strategies when facing difficult situations. The typically developing children were better at mentalizing than the atypically developing children. Finally, more adaptive mentalization was associated with lower externalizing and internalizing symptoms among all children. The findings of this study contributes with expanding mentalization research to also encompass non-Western populations and the results hold crucial educational and therapeutic implications.


Accountants (both chartered accountants (registeraccountants) and accounting-consultants (accountants-administratieconsulenten)), lawyers (advocaten) and doctors (artsen) all have their own disciplinary norms and procedures. These three professional groups have more in common than one may think. The first element that binds these professionals is that they are all so-called 'trusted professions' (vertrouwensberoepen). These trusted professions share a few important characteristics. The second element they have in common is that the disciplinary law for each of these professions is based on statutory legislation. The acts on these professions intend to protect and ensure the quality of the performance of professionals and to remove professionals that are unable (or unwilling) to meet the standard. The legislator has recognised that each of these professions serve heavy-weighing general interests that cannot be secured in another, leaner way. The research question of this study is whether common norms for trusted professions can be derived from the assessment frameworks used by the disciplinary boards for accountants, lawyers and doctors when assessing complaints against these professionals. This question is inspired by the observation that the different disciplinary boards deal with the same legal questions. For example: When does an intimate relationship with the client harm the independence of the professional? Under what circumstances can a professional be held responsible for mistakes made by employees? On the basis of the similarities in the assessment frameworks, I have identified five common norms for trusted professions: professional autonomy and professional judgment, the careful handling of the client's interests, technical quality, confidentiality and careful handling of confidential information, and professional conduct.


The 6 th century of Islam witnessed the first emergence of the new class of 'ulama that tended to "close" the gate of ijtihad. By the closure of the gate of ijtihad I do not mean that the gate of ijtihad can indeed be closed. At some point of its development, the legal system of various schools of thought of Islam has finally been established, the resultant consequence of which being that some 'ulama felt that ijtihad can only be done on elaborating further the views of the previous 'ulama and not on proposing original views on particular legal issue of Islam. Al-Suyuti emerged during the era where legal system of Islam has already been established. He claims interestingly, that he is a mujtahid mutlaq, that is, some one who has the absolute and independent authority to do ijtihad and to extrapolate rules from the legal sources of Islam. This comes as a sharp contrast to the general belief at the time that no mujtahid mutlaq may any longer emerge. Al- Suyuti wrote al-Radd to legitimize his claim; a claim that inevitably prompted a strong objection from his fellow legalists. Although his claim was not received with enthusiasm from the public, al-Suyuti has nonetheless made a valuable contribution in the field of the study of ijtihad. His works are applauded as a great evaluation on the subject. On various occasions, al-Suyuti wrote that the Muslim intellectuals should not be satisfied with the views of the previous 'ulama (taqlid) and that they should instead exercise their intellectual acumen via ijtihad.


Background and objective Mucous fistula refeeding (MFR) aims to maximise bowel function when an ostomy is active after abdominal surgery, by introducing the proximal ostomy effluent into the distal mucous fistula to maintain intestinal physiology. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness and complications of MFR in neonates following abdominal surgery. Design, setting and interventions Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and CINAHL were searched until June 2022 for studies including neonates with ostomy receiving MFR compared with neonates with ostomy without MFR. Outcomes The primary outcome was duration of parenteral nutrition. Secondary outcomes were time to full enteral feeds, rates of cholestasis, peak total serum bilirubin, sepsis, time to reanastomosis and length of hospital stay. Results A total of 16 observational studies were included (n=623). Compared with comparator group, neonates who received MFR had fewer days of parenteral nutrition (mean difference 37.17 days, 95% CI −63.91 to −10.4, n=244, 5 studies, GRADE: low). In addition, neonates who received MFR had lower rates of cholestasis, shorter time to reach full feeds and shorter hospital stay. Conclusion Low certainty of evidence suggests that MFR is associated with shorter duration of parenteral nutrition in neonates following abdominal surgery and stoma creation. Results of ongoing and future randomised trials may help to corroborate these findings.


School of Pharmacy, Portsmouth Polytechnic, Park Road, Portsmouth, PO1 2QQ, U.K. A method was developed which related sensory impressions of spreadability of ointments and creams to instrumental rheological analysis. The method may be used in routine industrial control procedures, and as a spreadability screening test for laboratory use prior to field trials in innovative work. The mean temperature of the skin of the inner surfaces of the forearms of a test panel was approximately 34". Instrumental rheograms for a series of test materials were determined at 34" using a Ferranti Shirley viscometer; two methods, modifications of that due to Wood (1 968), were employed. Panel members were asked to compare test samples with Newtonian silicone oils by spreading them on the skin, and to select the Newtonian material most similar to the test sample. The intersection of the rheograms of the test sample and the selected Newtonian oil indicated the approximate rheological conditions during spreading on the skin. A Master Curve of the approximate rheological conditions operative during spreading was determined for a series of lipophilic materials ranging from stiff semisolids to mobile fluids. Rates of shear varied approximately from 400 to 2500 s-l, shear stresses varied approximately from 40 to 6000 Nm.-2 The panel members assessed the test samples using Ordinal, Preference and Ratio scaling procedures (Torgerson, 1965). Logarithmic and double logarithmic plots of mean panel score against apparent viscosity or shear stress (at the rate of shear indicated by the Master Curve) were linear with one exception. The Preference test data, in conjunction with the Master Curve, were employed to determine the rheological conditions which yielded maximum consumer acceptance of the spreadability of a product. The preferred region of the Master Curve was bounded approximately by 400 to 700 s-l and 200 to 700 Nm?. The panel was asked to spread Newtonian silicone oils of known viscosity between marks 10 cm apart on the skin of the forearm. An estimate was made of the number of strokes per unit time. The relative viscosity, V cm s-l, between the skin surfaces was thus determined approximately. The rate of shear, -9 s-l, during spreading of each oil was determined by reference to the Master Curve. Using the equation for plane laminar flow between parallel plates y = V/d where d is the plate separation in cm, the approximate thickness of the oil film on the skin was calculated. The data indicated a dynamic relation between y , V and d, which may explain former difficulties and variation in results obtained in the evaluation of the shear conditions operative during spreading of topical applications (Langenbucher & Lange, 1970). B. W. BARRY AND A. J. GRACE