The rootless, aquatic Utricularia species belong to the largest and most cosmopolitan carnivorous plant genus. Populations of Utricularia plants are an important component of many standing, nutrient-poor, and humic waters. Carbon (C) allocation is an aspect of Utricularia's ecophysiology that has not been studied previously and there is considerable uncertainty about the functional and ecological benefit of the trap-associated microbial community and the potential role played by C exudation in enhancing plant-microbe interactions. A 13C-labelling experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions to determine the C allocation between plant tissues of increasing age and trap fluid in two Utricularia species. Both species allocated a majority of the newly fixed C into the fast growing shoot apex (46.1+/-8.6% in U. vulgaris and 56.1% in U. australis). Carbon allocation rapidly decreased with increasing age of the shoot, constituting only 8.0+/-4.0% and 6.7% of the total newly fixed C in the oldest analysed segments in U. vulgaris and U. australis, respectively. In the trap-bearing shoot segments, the ratio of C exuded into the trap fluid to that in plant tissues increased markedly with age--in the oldest analysed segments twice as much newly fixed C was allocated into the trap fluid than the plant tissue. Overall, a significant amount of the newly fixed C, approximately 25% (U. vulgaris) and 20% (U. australis), was allocated to the trap fluid. The importance of C exudation for the development of the microbial community associated with the traps as well as for the growth and ecology of aquatic Utricularia is discussed.


ABSTRACT This paper reports on the numerical insignificance of fee‐paying schools in Wales, suggesting that they are even fewer and smaller than they appear in official records. The report has two implications for educational research. Firstly it provides a further example of difference between the education systems of England and Wales, and secondly, it shows that the movement of a long‐established educational market, when under threat, is towards similarity of provision.


Measurements of the particulate volume scattering function, βp(ψ), at light wavelength of 532 nm, particle size distribution, PSD, and several metrics of particulate concentration and composition were made on eight contrasting seawater samples from nearshore and coastal oceanic environments including river estuary and offshore locations. Both βp(ψ) and PSDs were measured on original (unfiltered) samples and particle size‐fractionated samples obtained through filtration using mesh filters with pore sizes of 5 and 20 μm. We present results based on direct size‐fractionated measurements and data adjusted for imperfect fractionation, which provide insights into the roles played by particle size and composition in angle‐resolved light scattering produced by highly variable natural assemblages of aquatic particles. Despite intricate interplay between the effects of particle size and composition, small particles (< 5 μm in size) consistently produced a major or dominant contribution (~ 50–80%) to the particulate backscattering coefficient, bbp, in organic, either phytoplankton or nonalgal, dominated samples regardless of significant variations in PSD between these samples. The notable exception was a sample dominated by large‐celled diatoms from microphytoplankton size range, which exemplifies a scenario when large particles (> 20 μm) can produce a considerable contribution (~ 40%) to bbp. We also observed a trend for inorganic‐dominated samples exhibiting consistently lower contributions (~ 30–40%) of small particles to bbp. The particle size‐based budget for the particulate scattering coefficient, bp, indicates a significant decrease in the role of small particles accompanied by an increase in the role of larger particles compared to the bbp budget.


INTRODUCTION
Recreational scuba diving is a popular activity in Australia, especially around the Great Barrier Reef. Despite efforts by the industry and various governments to reduce the risk, there remains substantial morbidity and mortality as a result of diving. The aim of this study was to estimate the historical and current risk of death and decompression illness associated with scuba diving in Australia.

METHOD
Data were collected through comprehensive internet searches of various journals and electronic databases using appropriate general and medical search engines, hand searches of relevant journals, searches of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality and decompression illness databases, and consultation with various recompression facilities, and diver certification agencies and dive industry bodies.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
There were 566 diving fatalities reported between 1972 and 2006, of which 290 divers were using scuba. In addition, a total of 3,558 divers were treated for decompression illness in Australian chambers during 1995-2007 financial years. Using recent surveys of scuba diving activity, it can be estimated that there were in excess of 1.75 million scuba dives conducted in Australia in 2006. On the basis of the available data, the mortality rate in scuba divers in Australia can be estimated to be 0.57 per 100,000 dives during 2002-2006. Similarly, the incidence of decompression illness during that period in Australia was 10.74 per 100,000 dives or lower. There has been no significant increase in the annual number of scuba diving fatalities from 1972 to 2006.


We hypothesized that combined salbutamol and external positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEPe) may present additive benefits in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. In 10 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and bronchodilator-responsive COPD patients exhibiting moderate intrinsic PEEP (PEEPi), we assessed respiratory system (rs) mechanics, hemodynamics, and gas exchange at (a) baseline (zero PEEPe [ZEEPe]), (b) 30 min after 5 mg of nebulized salbutamol administration (ZEEPe-S), (c) 30 min after setting PEEPe at baseline PEEPi level (PEEPe), and (d) 30 min after 5 mg of nebulized salbutamol administration with PEEPe maintained unchanged (PEEPe-S). Return of determined variable values to baseline values was confirmed before PEEPe application. Relative to ZEEPe, (a) at ZEEP-S, PEEPi (4.8 ± 0.7 versus 7.0 ± 1.1 cm H2O), functional residual capacity change (115.6 ± 23.1 versus 202.1 ± 46.0 mL), minimal rs (airway) resistance (9.3 ± 1.4 versus 11.8 ± 2.2 cm H2O·L−1·s−1), and additional rs resistance (5.2 ± 1.4 versus 7.2 ± 1.3 cm H2O·L−1·s−1) were reduced (P < 0.01), and hemodynamics were improved; (b) at PEEPe, PEEPi (3.7 ± 1.3 cm H2O) was reduced (P < 0.01), and gas exchange was improved; and (c) at PEEPe-S, PEEPi (2.0 ± 1.2 cm H2O) was minimized, and rs mechanics (static rs elastance included), hemodynamics, and gas exchange were improved. Conclusively, in carefully preselected COPD patients, bronchodilation/PEEPe exhibits additive benefits.


Microwell arrays are amongst the most commonly used platforms for biochemical assays. However, the coalescence of droplets that constitute the dispersed phase of suspensions housed within microwells has not received much attention to date. Herein, we study the coalescence of droplets in a two-phase system in a microwell driven by surface acoustic waves (SAWs). The microwell structure, together with symmetric exposure to SAW irradiation, coupled from beneath the microwell via a piezoelectric substrate, gives rise to the formation of a pair of counter-rotating vortices that enable droplet transport, trapping, and coalescence. We elucidate the physics of the coalescence phenomenon using a scaling analysis of the relevant forces, namely, the acoustic streaming-induced drag force, the capillary and viscous forces associated with the drainage of the thin continuous phase film between the droplets and the van der Waals attraction force. We confirm that droplet-droplet interface contact is established through the formation of a liquid bridge, whose neck radius grows linearly in time in the preceding viscous regime and proportionally with the square root of time in the subsequent inertial regime. Further, we investigate the influence of the input SAW power and droplet size on the film drainage time and demarcate the coalescence and non-coalescence regimes to derive a criterion for the onset of coalescence. The distinct deformation patterns observed for a pair of contacting droplets in both the regimes are elucidated and the possibility for driving concurrent coalescence of multiple droplets is demonstrated. We expect the study will find relevance in the demulsification of immiscible phases and the mixing of samples/reagents within microwells for a variety of biochemical applications.


The sanctions debate is, once again, in full bloom. Thanks to Iran's budding nuclear program and the intransigence of Tehran thus far, policymakers and pundits are again pondering the utility of sanctions. Amid a flurry of sanctions activity at the U.S. Department of Treasury, in Congress, at the UN, and overseas, the question persists: ''Do sanctions work?'' This question is hardly new. In the 1990s, the end of the Cold War and the rise of U.S. dominance led to a sharp increase in the use of sanctions, as Congress felt less inhibited in encroaching on the president in foreign policy, and as the United States tried to use its economic might to advance international goals. State sponsors of terror, suspected proliferators, weapons traders, human rights abusers, coup enactors, human traffickers, civil war instigators nearly every foreign policy challenge seemed to call for sanctions. By the end of that decade, however, many foreign policy stalwarts lamented the poor record of these tools, calling them ''chicken soup diplomacy'' or ''feel good'' foreign policy. Many concluded that imposing sanctions did little more than satisfy the U.S. desire to take action and inoculate the United States against accusations of indifference in the face of situations that were intolerable, but whose strategic import did not warrant a more robust response.


Our community is facing major challenges in the next decade: power, performance, resilience, and productivity. Emerging HPC systems have novel new features, like tightly-integrated heterogeneous computing and nonvolatile memory, that help solve one problem but at the cost of introducing considerable new complexity into the system design. Simply put, we see more complexity and uncertainty in emerging architectures than we have in the last two decades. Given this open design space, architects, applications scientists, and software designers need tools to estimate performance and resource requirements, while taking into account end-to-end design principles. In this paper, we demonstrate how our Aspen performance modeling language can be used to explore important properties of these application design spaces and inform the development of future architectures. We include examples from various applications, and show results from Aspen for idealized concurrency, memory capacity, computational intensity, and others.


Objectives: Socioeconomic status plays an important role in health care and disease prevention. This study aimed to examine the association between socioeconomic status, measured by education levels and household income, and gastric cancer screening. Methods: A total of 21,220 community-dwelling adults aged 40 to 69 years within a defined geographic area participated in a community health survey in 2009 and 2010. The survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire by trained investigators who visited the subjects` households directly. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between self-reported participation in gastric cancer screening and socioeconomic variables (education and household income). Results: The gastric cancer screening rate was 52.1% for subjects in their forties, 63.7% for those in their fifties, and 67.3% for those in their sixties. In multivariate analysis, higher education and income levels were associated with higher rates of gastric cancer screening (high school vs. elementary school: odds ratio [OR] 1.41, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.26-1.58; highest income quartile vs. lowest income quartile: OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.44-1.84). The gradient between income and screening rate was more pronounced in the population aged 40 to 49 years than in the other age groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that lower socioeconomic status is associated with decreased participation in gastric cancer screening. Our findings suggest that the screening program should be focused on low-income and less-educated populations, especially among younger adults, to reduce health disparities.


Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is one of the most useful geophysical methods that rapidly and efficiently provide high-resolution subsurface images depending on antenna frequencies and target depth. Recently, to enrich the interpretation of GPR sections, multifrequency sections have been combined at deeper and shallower levels in a profile. In this context, the techniques of combination and image quality improving processes of GPR data also have gained importance. For this, simple summation (SS) and time-shifted balanced summation (TSBS) techniques, frequency-domain local mean notch filter (FDLMNF), frequency-space ( f- x) filter, and automatic gain control (AGC) processes are sequentially applied within a workflow. Although the FDLMNF is used to effectively remove single-frequency spike-like noises without distortion around the notch frequency, the f- x filter is applied to suppress the random noise and improve the lateral traceability of the section, and AGC provides a statistically based gain recovery. In the proposed workflow, after generating synthetic and field GPR data with 100 and 250 MHz frequencies, data were combined using SS and TSBS techniques. Finally, FDLMNF, f- x, and AGC were applied to increase the image quality of this combined section. The result sections were evaluated and compared using the Fourier average amplitude and f- k spectra. According to the spectra, the TSBS technique provides good spectral balancing and offers wider spectral content. At the same time, it was observed that the image quality of the combined GPR sections increased significantly after applying FDLMNF, f- x, and AGC processes. As a result, when the sections resulting from SS and TSBS techniques are examined, the image enhancement processes that protect and strengthen the spectral bandwidth of the data are successful. Thus, the temporal resolution and spatial continuity of GPR sections also will be increased, and a better quality interpretation will be provided.


Neuroevolution commonly uses speciation strategies to better explore the search space of neural network architectures. One such speciation strategy is through the use of islands, which are also popular in improving performance and convergence of distributed evolutionary algorithms. However, in this approach some islands can become stagnant and not find new best solutions. In this paper, we propose utilizing extinction events and island repopulation to avoid premature convergence. We explore this with the Evolutionary eXploration of Augmenting Memory Models (EXAMM) neuro-evolution algorithm. In this strategy, all members of the worst performing island are killed of periodically and repopulated with mutated versions of the global best genome. This island based strategy is additionally compared to NEAT's (NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies) speciation strategy. Experiments were performed using two different real world time series datasets (coal-fired power plant and aviation flight data). The results show that with statistical significance, this island extinction and repopulation strategy evolves better global best genomes than both EXAMM's original island based strategy and NEAT's speciation strategy.


This multistudy paper reports the development and initial validation of an inventory for the Characteristics of Resilience in Sports Teams (CREST). In 4 related studies, 1,225 athletes from Belgium and the United Kingdom were sampled. The first study provided content validity for an initial item set. The second study explored the factor structure of the CREST, yielding initial evidence but no conclusive results. In contrast, the third and fourth study provided evidence for a 2-factor measure, reflecting (a) the team's ability to display resilient characteristics and (b) the vulnerabilities being displayed under pressure. Overall, the CREST was shown to be reliable at the between-players and the between-teams level, as well as over time. Moreover, its concurrent validity was verified by linking the characteristics of team resilience with various relevant team processes. Its discriminant validity was established by comparing the CREST measures with individual athletes' resilient traits. In conclusion, the CREST was argued to be a usable state-like measure of team-level resilient characteristics and vulnerabilities. To gain further understanding of team resilience as a process, this measurement could be used in future process-oriented research examining adverse events and sports team's pre- and postadversity functioning.


The development of sensor technology has led to applications ranging from academic to military. These tiny sensors are deployed in environments where security for data or hardware cannot be guaranteed. Unfortunately due to the resource constraints, traditional security schemes cannot be directly applied. In this paper, an efficient way of detecting an intrusion using ant colony is proposed. The architecture strategically enables ant agents to detect and track the intruders threatening the network. The proposed framework is evaluated based on accuracy and speed of intrusion detection before the network is compromised. This process of detecting the intrusion earlier helps learn future attacks, but also a defensive countermeasure.


Heavy metal zinc is one of the trace elements necessary to the growth of vegetable, but Zn excessiveness also could cause damage. In this research, four vegetables were planted by soil culture method under different Zn2+ concentration controlled by the exogenous Zn2+ addition; their growth characteristics were analyzed to find the sensitive growth indexes to Zn and compare their tolerance to Zn pollution. Results show that: low concentration of Zn2+ (< 100 mg/kg) can promote significantly the plant height and the root length growth of all the four vegetables, while, as the exogenous Zn2+ increased to the concentration of 150 mg/ kg, the number of leaves, the above-ground dry biomass and the underground dry biomass were suppressed significantly; in this experiment, the four vegetables appeared different sensitivity to Zn stress, Lactuca sativa var. longifoliaf appeared highest tolerance and Brassica chinensis appeared less sensitivity to Zn stress.


Online measurement of diameters and concentricities of optical fibre layers, and the coating layer in particular, is one of the challenges in fibre manufacturing. Currently available instruments can measure concentricity and diameter of layers offline, and are not suitable for precise monitoring or control of the manufacturing process in real time. In this work, we use two laser beams, positioned orthogonally to illuminate the fibre from two sides, and calculate deviations from the expected geometry by analysing the scattering pattern. To measure the diffraction pattern we use two 8K linear array detectors, with the scattered light incident directly on the sensors. Each detector is capturing approximately 90° angular range directly behind the fibre. The two measurement channels are positioned at different heights. The scattered pattern is modelled mathematically with finite-element and Fourier-modal methods, with various diameter and concentricity deviations. The sensitivities of the changes in the scattering pattern are identified in respect to these deviations. Since calculations are computationally intensive, the sensitivities are pre-calculated in advance, and the realtime measurement is based on pattern recognition. The symmetry of the pattern is used to differentiate between diameter and concentricity variations. We performed online measurements with the prototype instrument in production conditions, and show that this method is sensitive enough to measure deviations of under 1 µm in diameter and concentricity of the coating layer.


Study Design A biomechanical study. Objective To evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of cement-augmented cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw fixation. Methods Forty-nine CBT screws were inserted into lumbar vertebrae guided by three-dimensionally printed templates, and then injected with 0, .5, or 1.0 mL of polymethylmethacrylate. The screw placement accuracy, cement dispersion, and cement leakage rate were evaluated radiologically. Biomechanical tests were performed to measure the axial pull-out strength and torque value. Results Overall, 83.67% of the screws were inserted without pedicle perforation. In the 1.0 mL group, cement dispersed into the pedicle zone and formed a concentrated mass more often than in the .5 mL group, but not significantly more often (P > .05). The total cement leakage rate was 18.75%. Compared with the control group, the torque value was slightly higher in the .5 mL group (P = .735) and significantly higher in the 1.0 mL group (P = .026). However, there was no significant difference between the .5 and 1.0 mL groups (P = .431). The maximal pull-out force (Fmax) was increased by 52.85% and 72.73% in the .5 and 1.0 mL groups, respectively, compared with the control group (P < .05). However, the difference was not significant between the 2 cemented groups (P = .985). Conclusions Cement augmentation is a useful method for increasing CBT screw stability in osteoporotic spines. The cement injection volume is recommended to be 1 mL for each screw, and the cement should disperse into the vertebral body than the pedicle zones.


One new maximum lifetime communication model of wireless sensor network is proposed in this thesis and the model is based on conditions of base station with multiple sources and multiple links and the data generated from the source node can be transmitted to several base stations through multiple links. In this chapter, energy limitation and data stream conservation principles of a wireless sensor network are used to establish a linear planning model, and attaining the maximum lifetime of the network is the optimal objective to establish a model with multiple restrictions restricted by energy and bandwidth. The basic element influencing the lifetime of a wireless sensor network is the data forwarding rate. The lifetime of nodes will become longer with the decrease of node data. In this thesis, the data size of network nodes is taken as sub-optimization objective and the distributed heuristic algorithm will be used to solve the linear planning model. In the end, a simulation experiment is conducted to verify yhe performance of the communication model and indicate that the proposed model can effectively increase network lifetime.


Software architecture is important for large systems in which it is the main means for among other things, controlling complexity. Current ideas on software architectures were not available more than ten years ago. Software developed at that time has been deteriorating from an architectural point of view over the years, as a result of adaptations made in the software because of changing system requirements. Parts of the old software are nevertheless still being used in new product lines. To make changes in that software, like adding features, it is imperative to first adapt the software to accommodate those changes. Architecture improvement of existing software is therefore becoming more and more important. The paper describes a two-phase process for software architecture improvement, which is the synthesis of two research areas: the architecture visualisation and analysis area of Philips Research, and the transformation engines and renovation factories area of the University of Amsterdam. Software architecture transformation plays an important role, and is to our knowledge a new research topic. Phase one of the process is based on Relation Partition Algebra (RPA). By lifting the information to higher levels of abstraction and calculating metrics over the system, all kinds of quality aspects can be investigated. Phase two is based on formal transformation techniques on abstract syntax trees. The software architecture improvement process allows for a fast feedback loop on results, without the need to deal with the complete software and without any interference with the normal development process.


A CMOS built-in current sensor dedicated to power supply current monitoring is proposed, which takes advantage of the parasitic resistor attached to an interconnection layer. Simulation results highlight the behaviour of the sensor in terms of speed, linearity and noise. Process dependencies are taken into account.


Current WDM Systems in optical networks are commonly operated at 2.5 and 10 Gbit/s per wavelength. First transmission systems, offering the possibility of using 40 Gbit/s/λ transponders, are now commercially available. Transaction of various field trials over the last years indicates remarkable interest for this systems among the network operators. Potential further stages of systems at higher channel data rates e.g. 80, 100 or 160 Gbit/s/λ thus attracted more and more attention in the R&D community. Existing concepts like broadband dispersion compensation, distributed Raman amplification, bandwidth efficient and impairment tolerant modulation formats have been applied, but also new circumstances and physical impairments have to be considered, which are negligible at lower data rates. For data rates above 40 Gbit/s chromatic dispersion causes pulses to broaden extremely rapidly, so that transmission behaviour can be regarded as "quasi-linear". We will present a comprehensive overview to what extend system reach limits can be stressed for 160 Gbit/s/λ data rates when different parameters such as fiber type (standard single-mode fiber SMF and non-zero dispersion fiber NZDSF), modulation format (return to zero RZ, carrier suppressed return to zero CS-RZ, intensity modulated differential phase shift keying IM DPSK), different dispersion compensation schemes and signal power levels are optimized. Further, the benefit from using balanced instead of single ended receiver is investigated for IM DPSK.


This article introduces a framework to study parental investments in the presence of birth order preferences and/or human capital cost differentials across children. The framework yields canonical models as special cases and delivers sharp testable predictions concerning how parental investments respond to an exogenous change in family size in the presence of birth order effects. These predictions characterize a generalised quantity–quality trade-off. Danish administrative data confirm our theory's predictions. We find that for any given parity, the human capital profile of children in smaller families dominates that of large families, and that the average child's education decreases as family size increases, even after taking birth order effects into consideration.


Process parameters, especially in the thermal stabilization of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers, play a critical role in controlling the cost and properties of the resultant carbon fibers. This study aimed to efficiently handle the energy expense areas during carbon fiber manufacturing without reducing the quality of carbon fibers. We introduced a new parameter (recirculation fan frequency) in the stabilization stage and studied its influence on the evolution of the structure and properties of fibers. Initially, the progress of the cyclization reaction in the fiber cross-sections with respect to fan frequencies (35, 45, and 60 Hz) during stabilization was analyzed using the Australian Synchrotron-high resolution infrared imaging technique. A parabolic trend in the evolution of cyclic structures was observed in the fiber cross-sections during the initial stages of stabilization; however, it was transformed to a uniform trend at the end of stabilization for all fan frequencies. Simultaneously, the microstructure and property variations at each stage of manufacturing were assessed. We identified nominal structural variations with respect to fan frequencies in the intermediate stages of thermal stabilization, which were reduced during the carbonization process. No statistically significant variations were observed between the tensile properties of fibers. These observations suggested that, when using a lower fan frequency (35 Hz), it was possible to manufacture carbon fibers with a similar performance to those produced using a higher fan frequency (60 Hz). As a result, this study provided an opportunity to reduce the energy consumption during carbon fiber manufacturing.


Catalogue to accompany an exhibition consisting of three photo-based series by Conde and Beveridge. Robertson considers the strategies employed in the artists' tableau photographs based on the collapse of the cod fishery, strikes by union workers and activism by students, teachers, etc. He situates the artists' work within the sphere of labour and community arts, while drawing attention to how their works reflect the struggle for social/economic justice and the rights of the working class. Includes a brief text by C. MacLeod on her collaboration with the artists, and their involvement with the labour movement. List of projects by Conde/Beveridge created between 1975-1998. Biographical notes on artists and authors. 55 bibl. ref.


Owing to the special tubular structural characteristics of highway tunnels, drivers typically experience a significant change in visual luminance when entering tunnels, which seriously impacts driving safety. This paper proposes a lighting scheme based on optical fiber technology to introduce natural light into the tunnel portal section. First, an on-demand lighting scheme based on the use of daylight is designed by developing an optical fiber lighting system, lighting demand algorithm, and an on-demand lighting control scheme. Furthermore, the scheme is applied to a physical tunnel, and the safety and energy-saving potential of the scheme are analyzed based on the obtained data. The results indicate that the average luminance and luminance uniformity in the tunnel portal section appear to improve with the application of the proposed scheme; the luminance uniformity is particularly increased by 0.18. The correlative color temperature (CCT) of the environment inside the cave changes in real time with the CCT value of the phase pair outside the cave. Compared with the explicit use of electrical lighting, the lighting energy consumption during daytime can be reduced by 34.7% with the application of the proposed scheme, and the highest reduction of 79.8% can be achieved at 13:00.


Dystonia is a syndrome which is characterized by sustained muscle contractions, producing twisting, repetitive, and patterned movements, or abnormal postures. According to genetic basis, dystonia is classified into 13 subtypes. We mainly discussed two subtypes, DYT1 and DYT5, in this review. Early-onset primary dystonia is caused by the mutation of DYT1 gene, which leads to TORSINA abnormal. GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GTPCH1)-deficient DRD (DYT5) is caused by the mutations of GCH1 gene. By genetic testing, we can confirm clinical diagnosis of each subtype and develop prenatal diagnosis for it.


We present LESSLEX, a novel multilingual lexical resource. Different from the vast majority of existing approaches, we ground our embeddings on a sense inventory made available from the BabelNet semantic network. In this setting, multilingual access is governed by the mapping of terms onto their underlying sense descriptions, such that all vectors co-exist in the same semantic space. As a result, for each term we have thus the "blended" terminological vector along with those describing all senses associated to that term. LESSLEX has been tested on three tasks relevant to lexical semantics: conceptual similarity, contextual similarity, and semantic text similarity. We experimented over the principal data sets for such tasks in their multilingual and crosslingual variants, improving on or closely approaching state-of-the-art results. We conclude by arguing that LESSLEX vectors may be relevant for practical applications and for research on conceptual and lexical access and competence.


Inspired by the widely antiphytopathogenic application of diversified derivatives from natural sources, cryptolepine and its derivatives were subsequently designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their antifungal activities against four agriculturally important fungi Rhizoctonia solani, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium graminearum, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results obtained from in vitro assay indicated that compounds a1-a24 showed great fungicidal property against B. cinerea (EC50 < 4 μg/mL); especially, a3 presented significantly prominent inhibitory activity with an EC50 of 0.027 μg/mL. In the pursuit of further expanding the antifungal spectrum of cryptolepine, ring-opened compound f1 produced better activity with an EC50 of 3.632 μg/mL against R. solani and an EC50 of 5.599 μg/mL against F. graminearum. Furthermore, a3 was selected to be a candidate to investigate its preliminary antifungal mechanism to B. cinerea, revealing that not only spore germination was effectively inhibited and the normal physiological structure of mycelium was severely undermined but also detrimental reactive oxygen was obviously accumulated and the normal function of the nucleus was fairly disordered. Besides, in vivo curative experiment against B. cinerea found that the therapeutic action of a3 was comparable to that of the positive control azoxystrobin. These results suggested that compound a3 could be regarded as a novel and promising agent against B. cinerea for its valuable potency.


In case of lung cancer, evaluation of the extension disease is mandatory. Mediastinal nodes must also be evaluated: if a controlateral to the tumor node is metastatic (N3), surgery is no more indicated. As specificity of PET-CT scan is not satisfaying (78%), cytology or histology of a suspect node is necessary. Even if PT-CT scan is negative, node micrometastasis are not excluded. To investigate a mediastinal adenopathy, mediastinoscopy or mediastinotomy are gold standard. Cytoponction guided by ultrasonography (EBUS-TBNA) is a new method which has been proved to be efficient and safe, but necessating some expertise and regular practice. It could be a valuable alternative to mediastinoscopy.


2022. Abstract This paper shows a study about nonattendance to medical appointments in the Colombian health system to determine which strategies have the greatest effect on the response variable (nonattendance) of scheduled medical appointments. Three factors were considered (calling the patient, reconfirming on the eve of the appointment, confirming understanding of the procedure), each with two or three levels randomly selected from a population. Two replicates were taken for each combination of treatments. The experimental runs were done randomly to guarantee the absence of bias in data collection. With the above, a total of 180 experimental runs were carried out. This study aims to determine the factors that influence the population when they do not attend their medical appointments to propose a strategy that reduces this phenomenon. A design of experiments (DoE) was performed, specifically a completely randomized design (CRD) and a 3k factorial


Sediment yield of the Yellow River is mainly originated from the drainage area between Hekouzhen and Longmen area(Helong Section).Spatio-temporal variations of vegetation cover in this area during 1981--2007 were investigated using GIMMS and SPOT VGT NDVI data.The authors also analyzed the interannual variations of vegetation cover,annual runoff and sediment yield,which were resulted from precipitation changes and the Project of Conversion of Cropland to Forestland(PCCF).The results showed that vegetation cover of Helong area had experienced an increasing trend during 1981--2007.The northwestern Helong,where the flat sandy land was covered by grass,was the mostly significant increasing region.The region where vegetation cover showing a decreasing trend mainly appeared in southern and southeastern Helong area,which was gullied hilly area or forested area.During 1999--2007,although precipitation was relatively low,vegetation cover showed a significant increasing trend in the Helong area due to the implementation of PCCF.During 1999--2007,the most significant improvement of vegetation cover mainly appeared on the loess gullied hilly area,such as the drainage basins of the Kuye River,Tuwei River and the middle and lower reaches of Wuding River and Yanhe River.Comparison of the average annual maximum NDVI between the earlier(1998--2002)stage and the later stage(2003--2007)of PCCF indicated that,the areas with increases of 10% and 20% in NDVI accounted for 72.5% and 36.4% of the total area,respectively.Interannual variability of annual runoff and sediment yield showed a decreasing trend,especially since the 1980s,the decreasing trend was very obvious.Compared with 1950--1969,the average runoff and sediment yield of 1980--2007 decreased by 34.8×108 m3 and 6.4×108 t,accounting for 49.4% and 64.9% to those of 1950--1969,respectively.There was a positive correlation between the annual maximum NDVI and annual runoff as well as sediment yield.But the positive correlation had been reversed after the implementation of PCCF since 1999,i.e.an increasing NDVI trend of the Helong area was associated with the decreased runoff and sediment yield.Although less precipitation was an important driving factor for the decreasing runoff and sediment yield during 1999--2007,the restoration and improvement of vegetation cover might exacerbate this decreasing trend by enhancing evapotranspiration and alleviating soil erosion.


This paper presents the results of the investigations of the fish aggregating device which served as fisheries enhancement techniques for the improvement of the productivity of the Lekki Lagoon between March 2006 and February 2008. The performance of the floating Island (Iken fishery) depends on the size and the thickness. Chrysichythys nigrodigitatus contributed 25.51, 23.42 and 25.19% of the total weight of fish from floating Island with water hyacinth, Vossia sp and Cyperus sp dominant plant respectively. Tilapia guineensis contributed 17.0, 21.55 and 23.18% for water hyacinth, Vossia sp and Cyperus sp as dominant plant respectively. The fishing with acoustic yielded the highest catch by weight (47.22%) followed by fishing without acoustics (33.33%) with the least recorded in the open lagoon (19.44%). Management measures to maintain optimal production from Iken fishery should include the use of luxuriant water hyacinth which will reduce deforestation and erosion of the mangrove belt. The community managed resource enhancement should evolve from the existing traditional practices to meet both economic and social objectives as a major management strategy.


The aim of this study was to develop a 3D mathematical model of the human body to simulate responses of pedestrians in car impacts with emphasis on the lower extremities and the head. The model, implemented by using MADYMO-GEBOD program, consists of fifteen body segments connected by fourteen joints, including two human-like knee joints and two breakable leg segments which allow to simulate the knee responses associated with leg fracture. The model was verified by using published sled impact tests with cadavers in terms of kinematics of the pedestrian substitutes, accelerations of the body segments, and failure description from anatomical investigations of the pedestrian substitutes. The sensitivity of the model to input variables was studied at impact speeds of 15 and 40 km/h with the following parameters: bumper height, bumper stiffness, bumper lead distance, height of hood-edge, hood-edge stiffness, and impact speed. The validated model demonstrated its capability in simulations of car-pedestrian impacts to predict risk of pedestrian injuries and to develop safety countermeasures for pedestrian protection.


Murine gammaherpesvirus-68(MHV-68),a close homologue of Epstein-Barr virus and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus,can infect many cell lines efficiently and is able to infect laboratory mice,and has emerged as an excellent model for studying its human counterparts.The replication and transcriptional activator(RTA),mainly encoded by open read frame 50(ORF50),is a conserved immediate-early protein in gammaherpesviruses.RTA initiates the viral lytic cycle by activating the expression of downstream viral lytic genes.Therefore,it is important to investigate the mechanism by which RTA regulates downstream gene expression.Two RTA dependent promoters of MHV-68 had previously been reported,however,the mechanism of the interaction between RTA and the promoters was not characterized.Our group has previously identified a new RTA responsive element(named RRE-B) in MHV-68 and characterized in detail the mechanisms involved.In the study,we first analyzed the MHV-68 genome and identified a sequence homologous to RRE-B in the promoter region of OFR9,and designated it as ORF9p-RRE.Dual luciferase reporter assay showed that RTA could activate the ORF9 promoter and this activation was dependent on ORF9p-RRE.Electrophoretic mobility shift assay(EMSA) and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay(ChIP) further demonstrated that RTA bound to ORF9p-RRE in vitro and in vivo.In summary,we showed here that the promoter of MHV-68 ORF9 is responsive to RTA activation through ORF9p-RRE.The study provides support to further investigate and understand the role of RTA in regulating viral gene expression and viral life cycle.


Introduction and aim: AOBP monitors allow measuring of blood
pressure (BP) in ambulant setting without presence of medical
staff with the accuracy near to 24h ambulatory blood pressure
monitoring. The recommended cut-off point for defining
hypertension using AOBP is the same as for awake ambulatory BP
or home BP. Arterial stiffness is one of the markers of
cardiovascular health and reflects subclinical target organ
damage. Our aim was to compare the automated and manual BP
values with measured equivalent of arterial stiffness. Methods:
During 11 months we investigated 1101 people (47% male) aged
25-65 years (47.3 ± 11.4). We measured BP using
sphygmomanometer according to the guidelines (10 minutes rest,
average of 2nd and 3rd measurement), measurement was performed
by a trained nurse. Then the volunteer was sent to a separate
quiet room, where after 10 minutes of sitting, BP was measured
automatically 5 times in 1 minute interval by AOBP monitor,
during the measurement, the volunteer was resting alone on a
chair. Equivalent of arterial stiffness (cardio-ankle vascular
index) was measured using vascular screening system. Results:
According to AOBP, resp. to MOBP there was 14.7 %, resp. 12.4 %
hypertensive volunteers (BP>135/85 mmHg, resp. BP>140/90 mmHg).
There was a significant difference between AOBP and MOBP
(p<0.001). AOBP was lower than MOBP in the majority of people.
Arterial stiffness correlated with systolic blood pressure in
both AOBP and MOBP (R=0.415, p<0.001 resp. R=0.306, p<0.001),
the relationship with diastolic blood pressure was weak
(R=0.280, p<0.001, resp. R=0.217 p<0.001). Discussion and
conclusion: There was a significant difference between AOBP and
MOBP, which confirms, that any interaction with medical staff
makes the volunteer`s BP higher, known as the white coat
effect. CAVI correlates slightly stronger with AOBP then with
MOBP, suggesting that AOBP is better predictor of arterial
stiffness.


 Abstract — As smartphones are equipped with various sensors, there have been many studies focused on using these sensors to create valuable applications. Human activity recognition is one such application motivated by various welfare applications, such as the support for the elderly, measurement of calorie consumption, lifestyle and exercise patterns analyses, and so on. One of the challenges one faces when using smartphone sensors for activity recognition is that the number of sensors should be minimized to save battery power. In this paper, we show that a fairly accurate classifier can be built that can distinguish ten different activities by using only a single sensor data, i.e., the smartphone accelerometer data. The approach that we adopt to deal with this twelve-class problem uses various methods. The features used for classifying these activities include not only the magnitude of acceleration vector at each time point, but also the maximum, the minimum, and the standard deviation of vector magnitude within a time window. The experiments compared the performance of four kinds of basic multi-class classifiers and the performance of four kinds of ensemble learning methods based on three kinds of basic multi-class classifiers. The results show that while the method with the highest accuracy is ECOC based on Random


During the 1990s Botswana broadcasting underwent major, politically significant changes which will soon enable it to play a greater role in the democratization of politics and society. External and domestic influences on the government's decision to abandon its broadcasting monopoly are examined. The politics of broadcast deregulation and reform are analyzed. Special attention is devoted to processes leading to the introduction of commercial broadcasting and a national television service. It is argued that for media to play democracy-nurturing roles, workers must be empowered with adequate resources, training, experience, and professionalism.


Gluten-sensitive enteropathy (Celiac Disease)--is an autoimmune inflammatory disease, with hyper Regenerative atrophy of the mucous membrane of the small intestine, that is precipitated by the ingestion of gluten, a component of wheat rye, barley, protein. Exclusion of dietary gluten results in healing of the mucosa of the small intestine. The main method of treatment and prevention of complications of celiac disease is strict lifelong adherence to gluten-free diet (AGD), which reduces the quality of life of patients. The labeling of all foods and greater variety of gluten-free products, reducing their cost, psychological support doctors and nutritionists will improve their quality of life.


VNx/MgO(001) films, ∼300 nm thick, with x ranging from 1.00 (stoichiometric) to 0.80 are grown by magnetically-unbalanced reactive magnetron sputter deposition in mixed N2/Ar atmospheres. The combination of lattice-resolution cross-sectional electron microscopy with X-ray diffraction ω − 2θ, φ-scans, pole figures, and high resolution reciprocal space maps show that VNx layers are epitaxial single crystals which grow cube-on-cube with respect to their substrates: (001)VNx∥(001)MgO and [100]VNx∥[100]MgO. VNx(001) relaxed lattice parameters a0(x) decrease linearly from 0.4134 (x = 1.00) to 0.4098 nm (x = 0.80), in agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Near-stoichiometric VNx layers (0.95 ≲ x ≤ 1.0) are fully relaxed during growth, while films with lower x values are partially strained as a result of increased anion vacancies impeding dislocation glide. VNx complex dielectric functions e(ℏω) are determined between 0.7 and 4.5 eV using variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and valence states are probed via ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) in concert with DFT calculations. VN(001) UPS spectra exhibit a feature at binding energies ranging from the Fermi level to 3 eV, together with two peaks deeper in the valence band. These results are consistent with electronic densities of states computed by scaling Kohn–Sham electronic eigenvalues to account for many-body interactions. Imaginary VN(001) dielectric functions e(ℏω) determined by ellipsometry also agree with theoretical values obtained within the random-phase approximation using scaled eigenvalues. Analyses of optical matrix element calculations reveal that VNx dielectric responses are controlled by the phase space for interband transitions; band-structure analyses indicate that e2(ℏω) spectral features in the infrared-visible range arise primarily from the combination of intraband and d–d transitions, while features at higher energies result primarily from p–d interband transitions. The combined nanostructural and spectroscopic analyses establish that, surprisingly, N vacancies are essentially non-interacting in high-quality epitaxial VNx containing vacancy concentrations up to ∼1022 cm−3 (x = 0.80).


Analysis of informative contents and sentiments of social users has been attempted quite intensively in the recent past. Most of the systems are usable only for monolingual data and fails or gives poor results when used on data with code-mixing property. To gather attention and encourage researchers to work on this crisis, we prepared gold standard Bengali-English code-mixed data with language and polarity tag for sentiment analysis purposes. In this paper, we discuss the systems we prepared to collect and filter raw Twitter data. In order to reduce manual work while annotation, hybrid systems combining rule based and supervised models were developed for both language and sentiment tagging. The final corpus was annotated by a group of annotators following a few guidelines. The gold standard corpus thus obtained has impressive inter-annotator agreement obtained in terms of Kappa values. Various metrics like Code-Mixed Index (CMI), Code-Mixed Factor (CF) along with various aspects (language and emotion) also qualitatively polled the code-mixed and sentiment properties of the corpus.


This paper demonstrates the development of a mobile robot for patrol. We fuse differential GPS, angle sensor and odometry data using the framework of extended Kalman filter to localize a mobile robot in outdoor environments. An important feature of road environment is the existence of curbs. So, we also propose an algorithm to find out the position of curbs from laser range finder data using Hough transform. The mobile robot builds the map of the curbs of roads and the map is used fur tracking and localization. The patrol robot system consists of a mobile robot and a control station. The mobile robot sends the image data from a camera to the control station. The remote control station receives and displays the image data. Also, the patrol robot system can be used in two modes, teleoperated or autonomous. In teleoperated mode, the teleoperator commands the mobile robot based on the image data. On the other hand, in autonomous mode, the mobile robot has to autonomously track the predefined waypoints. So, we have designed a path tracking controller to track the path. We have been able to confirm that the proposed algorithms show proper performances in outdoor environment through experiments in the road.


Background: Contamination and carry-over by active drug components is a major issue, especially in pharmacokinetic studies carried out with aerosolized substances. Measures to avoid contamination and carry-over in blood samples remain poorly standardized and validated. Objective: To investigate the space- and time-related distribution pattern of budesonide aerosolized via MDI. Methods: A matrix of crystallization dishes was set up in a measurement chamber. One puff of budesonide MDI (184 μg emitted dose, 200 μg nominal dose) was aerosolized and aerosol was allowed to sediment for 0.25 to 6.5 hours. Recovery of budesonide in the crystallization dishes was measured via HPLC and correlated to time course and spatial matrix. Results: In 1 m distance of actuating the MDI, a mean recovery of budesonide of 0.688 μg after 0.25 hours and 1.423 μg after 6.5 hours was observed. The surface concentration in 1 m distance was 9.7 ng/cm 2 after 0.25 hours and 20.1 ng/cm 2 after 6.5 hours. Conclusion: This study is a valid basis for risk assessment of carry-over effects in clinical trials with aerosolized drugs. Regarding surface concentrations in the nanogram range as shown in our study compared to serum drug concentrations in the picogram range as determined in pharmacokinetic trials, carry-over effects via aerosols seem probable. Further studies to determine the extent and origin of these effects will therefore be performed.


Each essay in this doctoral dissertation relates to a recent feature of sovereign finance in emerging market economies. In each article, I extend a quantitative macroeconomic model of sovereign debt and default to answer a particular question. In the first chapter, I investigate whether it is better for emerging countries to issue external debt denominated in local or foreign currency using a model with real exchange rates and inflation. I show how the welfare comparisons between the two options of debt denomination depend on the credibility of the monetary policy. In the next essay, I analyze the joint accumulation of sovereign debt and international reserves by emerging countries' governments. In this theoretical framework, international reserves are a form of precautionary savings that can be used to smooth consumption even after a sovereign default. Statistics calculated with simulated data from a model with partial sovereign default indicate that the combined acquisition of assets and liabilities is an optimal policy in this type of model. In the last chapter, I examine whether low international risk-free interest rates, as observed in developed countries since the most recent global financial crisis, lead to a search for yield – identified via lower spreads even under higher default risk – in emerging markets sovereign bonds. I find that the inclusion of loss averse foreign lenders, a trait highlighted by the behavioral finance literature, in a standard model of sovereign default generates this result.


In this paper, a new heuristic technique is presented. This method, inspired from chemical analysis processes, is developed especially for solving nonlinear, multi-variable, complex problems in the area of business and engineering. The matters, whose structures are unknown in the chemical analysis and content is examined, are described as the variables in the optimization problems. Each variable is considered as a matter whose structure is not known exactly and this paper aims to decide about the structures of the matters.


Basalt fiber has the advantages of non-pollution and omnipotence, and expected to be widely used in the 21st Century. Therefore, more and more attention is paid on experimental research of the basalt fiber in the world. Firstly, according to the type selection principles and requirements of the fibers used in the hydraulic concrete, the contrast testing of the plastic shrinkage between fiber cement mortar and pure mortar is made. The experimental results showed that basalt fiber, polypropylene fiber and polyacrylonitrile fiber can be preliminarily chosen as reinforced fibers in high performance hydraulic concrete. Secondly, the impacts of the suggested three sorts of fibers on the interfacial shear stress of the fiber concrete are analyzed by numerical simulation,which showed that maximum interfacial shear stress of the basalt fiber concrete is minimum. So, the bond strength between basalt fiber and concrete is the best. Finally, taking both characteristics of basalt fiber and the increase of concrete costs into account, it can be concluded that top priority should be given to the basalt fiber rather than to other fibers for high performance hydraulic concrete.


Many uranium geological studies demonstrate the reduction environment induced by hydrocarbon microseepage is one of the key metallogenetic factors for the sandstone-type uranium mineralization, so utilizing hyperspectral and multispectral remote sensing technology to detect hydrocarbon- induced diagenetic alterations, such as clay mineral alteration, carbonates alteration, pyrite anomaly, bleached red beds and geothermal anomaly, we can acquire lots of useful geological and remote sensing information to evaluate uranium mineralizing process and look for new prospect area of uranium deposits. Based on the genetic association between sandstone-type uranium mineralization and hydrocarbon microseepage, this paper uses field spectral measurements (ASD FR PRO spectrometer), MODIS and ETM image to extract diagenetic alterations anomaly information of hydrocarbon microseepage. Research shows some diagnosable absorption spectra of Fe2+(1-1.5 um), OH-1(2.2 um), CO32-(2.34 um) and geothermal anomaly related to oil and gas microseepage are developed in the study site, and the anomalous area has been located in terms of field spectral measurement, spectral index approaches of MODIS and ETM, and thermal infrared image of ETM. Finally, the better results have been achieved in the practical application.


The rapidly growing literature studying the returns to firm- and government-sponsored training has made a striking observation. Returns to firm-sponsored training are positive and large while returns to government-sponsored training are low or even negative, especially in the short run. This has sparked considerable research interest in studying why government-sponsored training is so ineffective. In this paper we re-evaluate the motivating evidence. We show that there is a clear selection issue overlooked by the existing literature. In particular, a large fraction of the participants in government-sponsored training are occupation switchers, while most of the participants in firm-sponsored training are occupation stayers. Since a switch of an occupation involves a substantial destruction of human capital, the associated decline in wages needs to be accounted for. Once we do this, we find large positive impact of training on workers' human capital. The magnitude of this effect is similar for training sponsored by the firm and the government.


According to Gye (1) the cause of all malignant new growths of man and the lower animals is a filterable but cultivatable microbe which, however, is unable to produce tumors unless the resistance of the tissues of the host is first specifically reduced by a second cellular product or "chemical stimulant" called the "specific factor." The latter has been so designated because it and not the microbe is held to determine the kind and species specificity of tumors. For example, the same microbe is believed by Gye to cause cancer of man, sarcoma of chickens and both cancer and sarcoma of mice and rats. But according to his hypothesis, the microbe can produce sarcoma of the chicken only when inoculated into Plymouth Rocks along with a "specific factor" prepared from this tumor; if the mixture is injected into mice or rats tumors do not result. Or if a "culture" of the sarcoma is injected into these chickens along with a "specific factor" extract of some other tumor like a cancer of man or mouse, tumors are not produced. To produce a cancer in a mouse the "culture" of microbe may be from any tumor but the "specific factor" must be prepared of mouse cancer tissue and the mixture must be injected into mice. In other words the very strict species specificity of malignant growths is not due according to Gye to a specificity on the part of the microbe but rather to the tumor extract or so-called "specific factor" which has the power of breaking down the resistance to infection by the malignant tumor microbe of the tissues of only those animals belonging to the same species from which the tumor was taken. Furthermore, while the microbe of cancer and sarcoma are held to be identical, the kind of tumor produced depends upon whether the "specific factor" was prepared of a sarcoma or carcinoma.


The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is now well established as an important determinant in the progression of renal damage. The level of plasma angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is genetically determined and this gene effect is associated with insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism in intron 16 of ACE gene. It has been reported that DD genotype of ACE gene is associated with a poor outcome in patients with IgA nephropathy and trend to develop renal damage in diabetic mellitus. In this study, the correlation between ACE gene I/D polymorphism and the clinical features of lupus nephritis (LN) was determined in 144 LN patients and 150 normal controls by PCR. 72 LN patients were followed up for more than two years. It was found that the DD genotype was significantly higher in LN patients than in normal controls (P < 0.01), while the II genotype was much less in LN (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in DI genotype frequency between LN patients and normal control (P > 0.05). Patients with hematuria, type IV LN, activation of LN, crescentic formation and severe tubulo-interstitial lesions showed an excess of the DI genotype. However, the DD genotype was not associated with the clinical and pathological characteristics of LN. To assess whether ACE genotype influence the progression of LN, we compared the clinical and pathological findings in patients of different genotype subgroups. There was no significant difference in blood pressure, proteinuria, serum creatinine, active index of disease and crescentic formation at presentation among these groups. However, as patients were divided into two groups according to their rate of decline in renal function. We found that patients with progressive renal function damage had a higher frequency of DI genotype than those with stable renal function (P < 0.01). It is conclude that patients with LN the DI genotype was associated with the severity and the poor prognosis in patients with LN.


The stochastic asymptotic stable and robust H∞ control for stochastic system by delay feedback controls are studied in this paper. The idea of the controller design is different from the traditional state feedback controller design. A Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is constructed at first, and by linear matrix inequality(LMI) techniques, the delay-dependent sufficient conditions which provide the feasibility of the H∞ controller is given. The numerical example with simulation is given to show the feasibility of the designed controller.


Background: Although Latinas have lower breast cancer rates compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), breast cancer is the top cancer killer of Latinas. There are many reasons for this, some involve biology, types of breast cancer found in Latinas, metabolic increases thought to be due to adoption of western diets, and lack of screening for early detection. In a large breast cancer program examining such cancers in Latinas, we overcame a number of challenges in each of four studies examining the fore-named factors. Methods: Four projects and four cores made up our Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD). Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) model, we recruited Latinas to participate in studies investigating the various factors related to breast cancer. Projects used robust methodologies to assess the relationship between elevated risks of triple negative breast cancers; the effects of a typical US diet compared to a traditional Mexican diet; the role of genetic ancestry on breast cancer in Latinas; and the effectiveness of a lay health worker intervention to increase breast cancer screening. As part of the program, we asked investigators to identify challenges encountered and how they were resolved. Results: All four projects were completed on time. Overall results of each project will be presented. Challenges in each project will be described as well as how the challenges were overcome. The role of the Community Advisory Board will be described and how its suggestions for sending results back to participants were adopted and incorporated in the program. Discussion: Embarking on a large transdisciplinary program to understand Latinas9 breast cancer risks and to translate those risks to the population of interest has been stimulating and thought-provoking. Addressing challenges as they emerged and finding solutions required a team effort. By obtaining perspectives from a variety of disciplines, we were able to solve the challenges. This team approach is recommended for similar studies. Citation Format: Beti Thompson, Shirley AA Beresford, Gloria D. Coronado, Marian Neuhouser, Christopher I. Li, Linda S. Cook, Peggy Porter. Understanding and preventing breast cancer disparities in Latinas. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr IA13.


Most otologists are cautioned at some point in their training that if bone dust is allowed to enter the middle ear while the mastoid is being drilled, there may be adverse consequences. Two cases of ossicular fixation and conductive hearing loss after retrolabyrinthine vestibular nerve section prompted us to examine the issue of bone dust in the middle ear. In a study of 13 temporal bones that had undergone neurotologic surgery, we found 11 that showed evidence of viable bone dust in the middle ear, and three that had ossicular fixation. Viable bone dust was always encased In a mucous membrane lining. These findings suggest that bone dust that enters the middle ear may indeed remain viable and cause ossicular fixation. The surgeon should therefore take every precaution to prevent bone dust from entering the middle ear during neurotologic procedures in which conservation of hearing is attempted.


The blueshifted broad absorption lines (BAL) or troughs are observed in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) when our line of sight is intercepted by a high-speed outflow (wind), likely originating in the accretion disc. The outflow or wind can shed light on the internal structure obscured by the AGN torus. Recently, it has been shown that this outflow is rotating in the BAL quasar PG 1700+518, further supporting the accretion disc origin of the wind. With the purpose of giving independent constraints on the wind geometry, we performed high-resolution European very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) Network (EVN) observations at 1.6 GHz in 2010. Combining the results with the Very Large Array (VLA) archival data at 8.4 GHz, we present its jet structure on scales of parsec (pc) to kiloparsec (kpc) for the first time. The source shows two distinct jet features in east-west direction with a separation of around 4 kpc. The eastern feature, which has so far been assumed to hide the core, is a kpc-scale hotspot, which is completely resolved out in the EVN image. In the western jet feature, we find a compact jet component, which pinpoints the position of the central black hole in the galaxy. Jet components on both sides of the core are additionally detected in the north-west-south-east direction, and they show a symmetric morphology on scale of < 1 kpc. This two-sided jet feature is not common in the known BAL quasars and indicates that the jet axis is far away from the line of sight. Furthermore, it is nearly parallel to the scattering plane revealed earlier by optical polarimetry. By analogy to polar-scattered Seyfert 1 galaxies, we conclude that the jet likely has a viewing angle around 45 degrees. The analogy is further supported by the recent report of significant cold absorption in the soft X-rays, a nearly unique feature to polar-scattered Seyfert galaxies. Finally, our observations have confirmed the earlier finding that the majority of radio emission in this galaxy arises from AGN activity rather than star formation.


[1] The morphology of the drainage system of Unteraargletscher, Switzerland, and the diurnal variability of drainage conditions were investigated by conducting a series of tracer tests over a number of discharge cycles during the ablation season 2000. Dye injections into a moulin were repeated at intervals of a few hours and were accompanied by simultaneous measurements of discharge of supraglacial meltwater draining into the moulin and bulk runoff in the proglacial stream. Fast transit velocities in conjunction with low dispersion values suggest that the tracer was routed through a hydraulically efficient, channelized drainage system. However, detailed analyses reveal a large diurnal variability in terms of transit velocity and dispersion coefficient. This finding underlines the difficulty of detecting a possible drainage system evolution based on single tracer tests conducted at coarse temporal intervals. Furthermore, the obtained velocity-discharge relationships display pronounced hysteresis. We suggest that the evolution of the cross-sectional area of an ice-walled conduit and the modulation of inflow at the junction of a tributary moulin to a main subglacial channel are responsible for the observed behavior.


Due to Internet, people prefer using emails instead of traditional post mails, because of its simple and easy to use. Meanwhile unsolicited emails (spam) become a serious problem, as sending bulk emails are almost cost free in terms of time and money. Spam not only reduces system performance of mail servers but also annoys mail receivers. Nowadays attacks from Internet usually have strong links with embedding malicious codes/links in spam mails. In this research study, we collected a large number of spam to observe and analyze spam sending behavior. For each spam, we gathered source IPs, the URLs in the spam, and web pages of the URL. Basing on the collected spam, we studied the spam sending behavior.


Signal integrity in the far-field radiation from pulse-train excited array antennas is studied via full timedomain instruments. The disturbance in the received signal is related to the fidelity factor. At any point in our analysis, the disturbance is evaluated based on a reduced, well defined set of parameters: pulse parameters and pulse repetition rate – temporal dependence, and elementary radiator location – spatial dependence. Their effect is examined by means of illustrative numerical experiments. These results are expedient for enhancing the detectability of the signals radiated by pulse-train excited array antennas, as needed in wireless digital transfer.


Patients in this study identified needs they considered important. Perceived need priorities of adrenalectomy patients need to be identified and met both pre- and postoperatively by health team members. Patient-centered nursing and medical conferences should be arranged to provide comprehensive patient care. Establishment of guidelines, based on need priorities perceived by the patient, will provide a master care plan which can assist nurses and physicians in meeting patient needs. These guidelines are important since patients need not only an immediate care plan, but also a long-term plan of care designed to meet individual needs and ever-changing problems of the long-term illness. The study findings show that patients, nurses, and physicians differ in their perception of need priorities of adrenalectomy patients. Nurses and physicians must take heed of patient concerns. Nurses, especially, must realize the needs of the patient in order to provide support, counseling, and education. The necessity for total awareness of patients' needs and perceptions is illustrated by one cancer patient's comments: "Although the disease was diagnosed early and responded successfully to treatment, there was a numbness and fear, the cold chills that accompanied the awareness of the diagnosis and later the altered perception of life, of friends and associates that grew out of the realization that death was never far away. "A human organism with a malignant neoplasm is more than a body with a disease. It is also a reacting individual who has feelings about his illness, and these feelings influence the way he perceives his medical personnel and utilizes his advice and care." It is important that all members of the health team acquire a better understanding of the various need theories and the importance of perceiving the needs of patients as the patient perceives them. In addition, it is essential for health team members to continually refer to the relevant literature concerning needs to improve the quality of total patient-family care.


the last thing he saw/ Tears fell from his unblinking eyes/ I cradled him just like a mother/ I held him all night long"). Extensive endnotes discuss the inspiration and factual referents for each poem, offer attributions for the epigraphs used throughout the book, and, when applicable, describe the poetic forms. Newman's informative preface and afterword and the appended list of resources make this an ideal choice to pair with Nelson's similarly elegiac A Wreath for Emmett Till (BCCB 4/05) for a provocative and heart-wrenching exploration of the human cost of hatred. CG


Software developers often face steep learning curves in using a new framework, library, or new versions of frameworks for developing their piece of software. In large organizations, developers learn and explore use of frameworks, rarely realizing, several peers may have already explored the same. A tool that helps locate samples of code, demonstrating use of frameworks or libraries would provide benefits of reuse, improved code quality and faster development. This paper describes an approach for locating common samples of source code from a repository by providing extensions to an information retrieval system. The approach improves the existing approaches in two ways. First, it provides the scalability of an information retrieval system, supporting search over thousands of source code files of an organization. Second, it provides more specific search on source code by preprocessing source code files and understanding elements of the code as opposed to considering code as plain text.


Unusual products were isolated from reactions of [60]fullerene with cyclopentenyl or cyclohexenyl pyrrolidine and piperidine. The structures of products were characterized by spectroscopic means. A possible thermoinduced electron-transfer mechanism for the new reaction was proposed.


Family cohesion in birds is often explained as a product of limitations on breeding opportunities leading to delayed dispersal among the offspring. Yet, it is not independent reproduction but floating (queuing outside the natal territory for a breeding opportunity) that is the alternative to delaying dispersal. In contrast to a strong phylogenetic bias in cooperative breeding that has been taken to indicate a hard-wired behaviour maintained by evolutionary inertia, offspring behaviour is plastic and facultative in group living in the short term, indicating that family cohesion is under selection. Non-breeding offspring could gain inclusive fitness that would promote family cohesion from delaying dispersal and providing alloparental care to subsequent broods to boost group productivity. This holds in particular for offspring hatched from early broods in multi-brooded species that have the opportunity to gain inclusive fitness from help in rearing siblings hatched from later broods in the same season. Yet, seasonality will circumscribe the potential for alloparenting to be the immediate factor selecting for family cohesion. The option of gaining inclusive fitness from providing alloparental care is not open to the offspring among single-brooded species until after they have survived a non-breeding season, rather indicating kin cooperation returning enhanced survival prospects from general group living effects as a more immediate factor selecting for family cohesion. Indeed, a variety of family groups maintained in the absence of alloparental care underlines the capacity of general group living enhancing survival as a primary agent selecting for family cohesion. These seasonal constraints on fitness components selecting for family cohesion may contribute to the large scale geographical pattern with a relative paucity of family cohesions among bird species in the northern hemisphere.


The current state of the science in the fields of patient safety and palliative and end-of-life care have many issues in common. This article synthesizes recent systematic reviews and additional research on improving patient safety and end-of-life care and compares each field's perspective on common issues, both in traditional patient safety frameworks and in other areas, and how current approaches in each field can inform the other. The article then applies these overlapping concepts to a key example area: improving documentation of patient preferences for life-sustaining treatment. The synthesis demonstrates how end-of-life issues should be incorporated into patient safety initiatives. In addition, evaluating overlap and comparable issues between patient safety and end-of-life care and comparing different perspectives and improvement strategies can benefit both fields.


The appearance, distribution in serum fractions, and specificity of cytophilic and cytotoxic antibodies in rabbits after skin allotransplantation were investigated. The sera were obtained from rabbits receiving three subsequent skin allografts across the RL-A barrier. The direct cytophilic test and the microcytotoxic test using the graft recipients sera and lymphocytes from the donor rabbits, as well as lymphocytes from other rabbits were performed. In all the sera under investigation both cytophilic and cytotoxic antibodies were found. The specificity of cytotoxic antibodies was directed against rabbit histocompatibility antigens (RL-A), in contrary to cytophilic antibodies, which were strongly active with the donor lymphocytes, and to a somewhat lesser degree with other lymphocytes, regardless their RL-A constitution. Posttransplantation cytophilic and cytotoxic antibodies were present in the gamma1 and gamma2 classes of immunoglobulins and absent from the IgM immunoglobulins. It is concluded, that allografted rabbits develop, besides the known cytotoxic antibodies, also cytophilic antibodies, not connected with the strong histocompatibility antigen system.


For students pursuing engineering degrees, training in ethics, social responsibility, and allied topics is advocated by a variety of stakeholders, mandated in ABET accreditation requirements, and largely presumed by professional associations and licensing bodies. As a consequence, almost all engineering students have at least some exposure to engineering ethics training. Additionally, many formal courses and programs have been created to promote ethical integrity and professional responsibility among engineering graduates, while a variety of other interventions (e.g., service learning programs) have been developed to more broadly challenge engineering students to see themselves as socially engaged citizens and professionals. Nonetheless, there has been a surprising lack of research on development of social and ethical responsibility among undergraduate engineering students. Few studies have systematically examined levels of ethical knowledge, decision-making capabilities, and commitments to social responsibility among large numbers of engineering students, much less examined how such indicators change over time and are impacted (or not) by specific kinds of learning experiences. As a result, faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders have little evidence to guide creation of high-impact courses and programs. Still other recent research suggests that such impacts may be blunted by a "culture of disengagement" that pervades many engineering schools. This paper reports on an National Science Foundation (NSF) supported CCE STEM research project that aims to address some of these gaps. Our study addresses two main questions: • RQ1: What do engineering students perceive as responsible (and irresponsible) professional conduct, and what do they perceive as socially just (and unjust) technical practices?, and • RQ2: How do foundational measures and understandings of social and ethical responsibility change during a four-year engineering degree program, both in general and in relation to specific kinds of learning experiences? This paper offers an overview of the longitudinal mixed-methods study design we are using to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data from undergraduate engineering students at four universities. These schools represent a variety of institution types, and each has students in programs of particular interest, e.g., those involving service-learning or intensified ethics instruction. Our data collection efforts were initiated in early Fall 2015, with survey responses collected from 757 first-semester engineering students at four schools. The survey includes items and measures related to engineering ethics knowledge, justice beliefs, political and social involvement, macro-ethical considerations, moral attentiveness, moral disengagement, ethical climate, and extensive demographics. Repeat measures will be collected from as many of the original respondents as possible during their fifth and eighth academic semesters. To more deeply probe constructs and themes of interest, we will also conduct semi-structured interviews with more than 10% of survey respondents during their first and eighth academic semesters. In addition to describing our study design, this paper reports preliminary insights from the first phase of our study. We especially focus on some highlights from our initial analysis of the survey data, as well as how select survey results are being used to stratify the interview sample and tune the interview protocol to focus on some observed patterns in the survey data. We expect this paper will be of interest to scholars involved with teaching and/or conducting research on ethics, social responsibility, and related topics.


The application of biofuels has become more important in the whole world since the last decades. Intensive research has been started for the production of biofuels which can be applied in Diesel engines and has different chemical composition from the previously used ones. Among these fuels the most important one is biogasoil (normal and iso-paraffins) produced from triglycerides with catalytic hydrotreating (special hydrocracking). The aim of present study was to investigate the applicability of commercial NiMo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst for conversion of specially pretreated Hungarian sunflower oil to produce motor fuel components. The change in the hydrotreating activity of applied catalyst, the pathways of hydrodeoxigenation reactions and the effect of process parameters (T=300–360 °C, p=20–60 bar, LHSV=0.5–2.0 h-1, H2/sunflower oil volume ratio: 400 Nm3/m3) on the yield and composition of the products were also investigated. It was concluded that on the investigated NiMo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst products with relatively high (>50%) paraffin content (T=360–380 °C, p=60 bar, LHSV=0.5–1.0 h-1) could be produced. The yield of the produced target fraction was 50.7–54.5% at these advantageous process parameters. So it is necessary to separate and recirculate the heavy fraction. In case of every investigated process parameter C18-, C17-, C16- and C15 normal paraffins were formed, i.e. both the HDO and the decarboxylation/ decarbonylation reactions took place. The cetane number of the target fractions, are very high (>80, EN standard: ≥51), but the cold flow properties of this fraction are disadvantageous. To improve this disadvantageous property it is necessary to carry out selective isomerization of the target fraction.


While agent host-range and strain properties convinced early researchers of a viral etiology, the once unorthodox postulate that prion transmission occurs by conformational corruption of host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrPC) by a pathogenic isoform (PrPSc) is now widely accepted. Indeed, conformational templating is increasingly understood to be a general mechanism of protein-mediated information transfer and pathogenesis. The high infectivity of prions, their capacity to cause neurodegeneration in genetically tractable animal models, as well as the ability to culture prions in cells, or under cell-free conditions using defined components, provide finely controlled experimental settings in which to elucidate general mechanisms for all diseases involving protein conformational templating, and thus to develop integrated therapeutic approaches.


Student nurses are confronted by many ethical challenges in clinical practice. The aim of the study was to explore Malawian students' experiences of ethical problems during their clinical placement. A phenomenological hermeneutic design comprising interviews and qualitative content analysis was used. Ten students were interviewed. Three main themes emerged: 1) Conflict between patient rights and the guardians' presence in the hospital; 2) Conflict between violation of professional values and patient rights caused by unethical behaviour; and 3) Conflict between moral awareness and the ideal course of action. The students had difficulties ensuring patient rights and acting in accordance with western norms and values which are not always appropriate in the Malawian context. The students require role models who demonstrate professional attitudes towards patients' rights and values. There is a need to create pedagogical strategies in which a caring attitude and ethical reflection can be learned and cultivated in clinical practice.


Timer-based protocol mechanisms are developed for reliable and efficient transmission of both single-message and message-stream traffic. That is, correct data delivery is assured in the face of lost, damaged, duplicate, and out-ofsequence packets. The protocol mechanisms seem particularly useful in a high-speed local network environment. Current reliable protocol design approaches are not well suited for single-message modes of communication appropriate, for example, to distributed network operating systems. The timer intervals that must be maintained for sender and receiver are developed along with the rules for timer operation, packet acceptance, and connection opening and closing. The underlying assumptions about network characteristics required for the timer-based approach to work correctly are discussed, particularly that maximum packet lifetime can be bounded. The timer-based mechanisms are compared with mechanisms designed to deal with the same problems using the exchange of multiple messages to open and close logical connections or virtual circuits.


A 45-year-old HIV positive patient presented with a generalized erythematous rash developed on day 12 of treatment of retinal toxoplasmosis with sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine. Physical examination revealed a generalized morbilliform rash, preserving several areas around eight flesh umbilicated papules on the upper thorax (Fig. 1). Three biopsies were performed. Skin biopsy from the erythematous exanthema showed superficial perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate with focal vacuolar changes in the dermo-epidermal junction (Fig. 2A). Biopsy from umbilicated papules showed presence of Henderson-Patterson bodies (Fig. 3). Biopsy of clear areas showed no inflammatory infiltrate (Fig. 2B). The patient was diagnosed of CDR preserving skin areas around molluscum contagiosum virus (reverse isotopic phenomenon).


The essence of the digital and intelligent era is a round of economic and social changes driven by digital information technology. Human beings have moved from the traditional industrial economy era to the platform economy and intelligent algorithm society. Digital intelligence enterprises(Internet platform enterprises and artificial intelligence enterprises)driven by digital information technology have become micro organizations leading the new economic form to evolve continuously. Driven by artificial intelligence technology, products and services based on algorithm embedding have become important application scenarios of intelligent production and intelligent decision-making. Based on machine learning, intelligent data mining, and algorithm distribution, intelligent technology provides technical and organizational support for automatic production, automatic decision-making and automatic sales of all kinds of organizations. "Intelligent robot" has become a new "behavior subject", which is different from the traditional moral subject and legal subject. The supervision and control of "intelligent robot" with independent analysis, reasoning and decision-making is becoming extremely urgent. However, the digital and intelligent technology in the digital society has not only reshaped the production efficiency and social productivity, but also caused a series of prominent social problems. The prominent problems are the lack and alienation of social responsibility of platform enterprises in the digital economy, the leakage of individual privacy caused by the application of intelligent algorithm, the ambiguity of the subject of enterprise ethics and responsibility, and the intensification of social inequality and social contradictions derived from data monopoly and algorithm discrimination. A series of new social problems need to be paid attention to in the digital and intelligent era. We believe that in the digital and intelligent era, corporate social responsibility faces all-round innovation, which is reflected in the fact that "intelligent robot" has become the new subject of CSR management and practice, platform enterprises and artificial intelligence enterprises(digital and intelligent enterprises)have become the new organizational carrier of CSR practice, platform business ecosystem has become the practice paradigm of corporate social responsibility, and algorithm governance has become the new focus of corporate social responsibility governance. Furthermore, based on the fact that algorithmic governance has become the key content of corporate social responsibility governance in the digital and intelligent era, this paper further studies three basic paradigms of algorithmic governance from the perspective of corporate social responsibility governance, namely, individual empowerment governance based on algorithm design and developers, traction governance based on digital and intelligent platform enterprises, and collaborative governance based on stakeholders(government, AI Association and application algorithm enterprises), which reshape the new logic of algorithmic governance, and realize the sustainable and comprehensive value in the digital and intelligent era.


The present study investigates the nature of job involvement and its impact on executive's satisfaction level in providing motivation finally leading to organizational commitment. A model has been developed which examines the relationship between the measurable constructs. The model explores the relationship between the executive's job involvement level and their outcome with satisfaction level, motivation and organizational Commitment (named ISMC Model). The results indicate there is a goodness-of-fit for the research model, which has been verified with different measures of goodness-of-fit. The path coefficients explained a significant amount of variation along with the identification that job involvement is a significant attribute in the present model. The study examines executive's perceptions and the significance of job involvement. Management specialists will recognize the dynamics of job involvement and its linkage with job satisfaction, motivation and organizational commitment in an organization.


Motivated by an example, due to Voisin, of a smooth simply-connected projective variety with trivial canonical class and cyclic Picard group, admitting a meromorphic endomorphism of high degree, we study meromorphic fibrations on certain varieties with trivial canonical class. We show (theorem 2.1) that any nontrivial meromorphic fibration of a variety with trivial canonical class and cyclic Picard group is in varieties of general type. Therefore, Voisin's endomorphism cannot preserve a fibration, at least in the generic case. As this example is symplectic, we study meromorphic fibrations on symplectic varieties. In dimension 4 (and in all dimensions modulo minimal model program) we get some results similar to Matsushita's. The main result here is theorem 3.6. We also study the relations between meromorphic endomorphisms and meromorphic fibrations. In particular, we prove that if an endomorphism does not preserve a fibration, then its general iterated orbit is Zariski-dense. We show that some power of an endomorphism preserves the"core"(a natural fibration constructed by the second author), and ask the similar question about the Iitaka fibration.


Abstract—F2- Isoprostanes are generated from a cyclooxygenase-independent oxidative modification of arachidonic acid. They are present in atherosclerotic plaques and are platelet activators as well as potent vasoconstrictors. Polymorphonuclear neutrophils are major players in ischemia/reperfusion injury and in restenosis after PTCA. The effects of 8-isoprostaglandin (PG) F2&agr; on very rapid &bgr;2-integrin–dependent adhesion was evaluated in human neutrophils in vitro by use of purified integrin as ligand. 8-Iso-PGF2&agr; (1 nmol/L to 20 &mgr;mol/L) triggers a dose-dependent, very rapid neutrophil adhesion to human fibrinogen but not to the endothelial ligand intercellular adhesion molecule-1. Pretreatment with anti–&bgr;2-integrin subtypes showed activation of CD11b/CD18 and CD11c/CD18. Adhesion triggering was completely prevented by pertussis toxin. SQ29,548, a specific antagonist of thromboxane A2 receptor, also dose-dependently prevented 8-iso-PGF2&agr;–triggered neutrophil adhesion. 8-Iso-PGF2&agr; did not trigger adhesion in human monocytes and lymphocytes and did not induce neutrophil chemotaxis or activation of the oxygen free-radical–forming enzyme NADPH-oxidase. These data highlight the role of 8-iso-PGF2&agr; as a specific activator of rapid neutrophil adhesion and suggest its involvement in the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion injury and in restenosis after PTCA. The effect is transduced via activation of the receptor for thromboxane A2.


Postoperative fistula involving upper gastrointestinal tract surgery is a rare but troublesome occurrence. Reoperation on these patients is challenging and needs to be individualised. Various methods are described including primary closure, bypass procedures, serosal patch repair and Roux-en-Y repair. We present a new technique of repair using afferent loop that provided a vascularized bowel segment, which used in an anatomical fashion for closure of fistula.


This study assessed the long-term efficacy of adding self-treatment guidelines to a self-management programme for adults with asthma. In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 245 patients with stable, moderate to severe asthma were included. They were randomized into a self-treatment group (group S) and a control group (group C). Both groups received self-management education. Additionally, group S received self-treatment guidelines based on peak expiratory flow (PEF) and symptoms. Outcome parameters included: asthma symptoms, quality of life, pulmonary function, and exacerbation rate. The 2-yr study was completed by 174 patients. Both groups showed an improvement in the quality of life of 7%. PEF variability decreased by 32% and 29%, and the number of outpatient visits by 25% and 18% in groups S and C, respectively. No significant differences in these parameters were found between the two groups. After 1 yr, patients in both groups perceived better control of asthma and had more self-confidence regarding their asthma. The latter improvements were significantly greater in group S as compared to group C. There were no other differences in outcome parameters between the groups. Individual self-treatment guidelines for exacerbations on top of a general self-management programme does not seem to be of additional benefit in terms of improvements in the clinical outcome of asthma. However, patients in the self-treatment group had better scores in subjective outcome measures such as perceived control of asthma and self-confidence than patients in the control group.


Calandrinia polyandra Benth. (Montiaceae), an annual succulent herb endemic to Australia, is an exemplary facultative crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant as demonstrated by continuous whole-plant lifetime CO2 exchange measurements under controlled conditions in the laboratory. Reduced soil water availability induced a shift from solely daytime CO2 fixation to dark CO2 fixation. The shift from C3 photosynthesis to CAM was reversible either upon rewatering alone, or upon a combination of rewatering and addition of nutrients. These observations highlight the role of edaphic conditions in controlling CAM expression in a plant that has the option of fixing CO2 either during the day or during the night, providing further evidence that this extreme form of photosynthetic plasticity is primarily controlled by the environment rather than plant ontogeny. The stimulating effect of soil nutrients on CO2 fixation in the light and its negative effect on dark CO2 fixation have not been described previously and deserve further attention. In the most widely used CAM model system, the halophytic Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., CAM is typically induced by high salinity, and some metabolic responses may be CAM-unrelated and related to salt stress per se. C. polyandra could be an excellent complementary system for studying the biochemical and molecular foundations of CAM because drought stress elicits a complete C3 to CAM transition.


Previous studies on the appearance in pathological human sera of antibodies to an antigen of normal mammalian organs were continued. In gel precipitation reactions, antibodies combining with saline extracts of mammalian organs were found in 20 of 63 cancer sera and in 4 of 15 syphilis sera, but only in 3 of 56 other pathological sera. Furthermore, an identical antigen was demonstrated in 5 of 58 pathological sera. The antigen under study did not belong to any group of known heterophile antigens and it was devoid of organ and tissue specificity.