Eight apiculate strains isolated from Tibet, PR China, were identified as Hanseniaspora taiwanica and a novel species of Hanseniaspora based on the sequence analysis of the ITS region, the D1/D2 domains of the LSU rRNA and the translation elongation factor 1-a (TEF1) gene. Among them, four strains with identical sequences of D1/D2 and ITS formed a separate branch from the known Hanseniaspora species in the phylogenetic trees, and differed from the known species by at least 17 (3 %) nucleotide (nt) substitutions in the D1/D2 domains and more than 6 % substitutions and inserts/deletes in the ITS region. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that those four strains represent a novel species of Hanseniaspora, for which the names Hanseniaspora terricola sp. nov. (holotype CGMCC 2.6175T; MycoBank MB 834591) is proposed. The other four strains belonging to H. taiwanica produce spherical, void or fusiform ascospores, which differ from the original description that ascospores are absent.


The purpose of this study is to examine if there is any difference due to the general characteristics of middle school students who are beneficiaries of educational welfare services and a special quality of use about educational welfare services. Additionally, the examination has been performed to understand the relationship that exists between the satisfaction about educational welfare services, and adaptation to school life and self-respect of middle school students who are beneficiaries of educational welfare services. The results of the study showed meaningful higher scores by male students than female students only in the environmental adaptation area among lower areas in school life adaptation due to sex. Due to school year, third-year students showed meaningful high scores in school life adaptation. The satisfaction about programs in each area of educational welfare services of middle school students who are beneficiaries of educational welfare services showed a meaningful static relationship with school life adaptation. The inspection of the relationship between satisfaction about educational welfare services and 5 lower areas of school life adaptation showed statistically meaningful results in the order of adaptation to the teacher, adaptation to the environment and adaptation to the class, which are lower areas. The examination on the relationship between self-respect and adaptation to school life showed that self-respect has a static relationship with all lower areas of school life and overall school life adaptation. However, no meaningful relationship was shown between the satisfaction about educational welfare services and self-respect. Also, it was found that the factors of grade, self- respect, the number of service utilization have an effect on school life adaptation. This study has some limitations. But in this study, which is different from other studies which dealt with students who had used partial areas of educational welfare services, students who were using all 4 areas of educational welfare services were selected as subjects. In addition, this study is significant in that basic data has been offered for establishment of a policy on educational welfare services in middle schools in the future.


To address the overwhelming bandwidth increase in premise backbones, an attractive alternative for selective mode excitation in multimode fiber (MMF) using solid-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is presented. The power coupling efficiency, differential mode delay, and bit-error rate performance of several structural designs of solid-core PCF waveguides are investigated for the selective excitation of mode LP01 in a MMF. The achieved coupling efficiency into mode LP01 is above 90% for PCF profiles with seven rings.


Though sociologists have long focused on the role of race as a dynamic in romantic and sexual relationships, there is currently limited research on the experiences of mixed-race people and the ways their racial identities may be influencing how people navigate race and/or ethnicity as part of these intimate relationships. Due to the increase in the number of Americans—in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships—reporting partners of a different race or ethnic background between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, race, and intimacy remain at the forefront of mainstream social concerns. However, research exploring how multiracial people—a rapidly growing population—fit in these trends is underrepresented. In this review, I discuss the existing research on race, dating, and marriage, particularly the meanings attached to interracial relationships in an online era. I also assess how recent research has begun to discuss the impact of mixed-race identity on intimate relationships both online and offline.


Abstract The present contribution will concentrate on the central issue discussed by Bessarion in one of his major works, the De natura et arte (written in 1458 and published in 1469 as the sixth book of Bessarion's In calumniatorem Platonis), i. e. the concept of deliberation and the relationship between nature, purposiveness and deliberation. In De natura et arte Bessarion responds to an attack by George of Trebizond, who had demonstrated, against Bessarion, not only that nature does not deliberate, but also that deliberation cannot be attributed to God who guides nature either, since deliberation implies doubt and ignorance. In this contribution I will examine the strategies Bessarion uses in order to reaffirm the possibility of attributing deliberation even to God and the arguments through which he succeeds in stressing the fundamental agreement on this subject not only between Plato and Aristotle, but also and more importantly between Plato and Christian theology.


Abstract Preeclampsia is a potentially life threatening disorder of pregnancy which presents with raised blood pressure and proteinuria after twentieth week of gestation. It is one of the leading and mystical causes of maternal and fetal mortality worldwide. Abnormal placentation is suggested to be possibly the key feature of this disorder. Preeclampsia has been attributed to the presence of a circulating 'toxin' soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) in maternal blood. sFlt-1 is normally produced and secreted by the placenta, however the presence, nature and effects of this toxin on trophoblast cells are not clearly understood. The binding of sFlt-1 with free Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in maternal circulation and the subsequent effects of this on trophoblast cell proliferation are not fully known. OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to estimate the levels of both VEGF and sFlt-1 in preeclamptic sera and also to investigate if the impaired or altered VEGF/sFlt-1 interaction of the two could affect trophoblast cell proliferation/viability. STUDY DESIGN: Methods: The serum levels of VEGF and sFlt-1in forty preeclamptic pregnant women and forty normotensive, nonproteinuric pregnant women (control) were analyzed by ELISA. The effect of preeclamptic sera on trophoblast cell proliferation was studied by treating trophoblast cell lines (JAR cells) with (i) preeclamptic sera, (ii) control sera, (iii) preeclamptic sera with recombinant VEGF and (iv) control sera with recombinant sFlt-1. Cell proliferation was determined by the Cell Titer 96 Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation assay. RESULTS: The levels of free VEGF were significantly lower (mean 170.53+36.56 pg/ml Vs 254.61+47.39 pg/ml, p<0.0001) and the levels of sFlt-1 were significantly higher (median 11295.25 pg/ml Vs 2936.2 pg/ml, p<0.0001) in the sera of preeclamptic women compared to the sera of control women respectively. A significant reduction in trophoblast cell proliferation was found in JAR cells treated with preeclamptic sera whereas the cell proliferation was enhanced when cells were treated with preeclamptic sera and recombinant VEGF. In contrast, the cell proliferation was enhanced in control sera treated JAR cells and this effect was reversed by the treatment with control sera and recombinant sFlt-1. CONCLUSIONS: Preeclampsia is associated with low serum levels of pro-angiogenic factor such as VEGF and high levels of anti-angiogenic factor i.e sFlt-1 and the imbalance of the two factors in the preeclamptic sera resulted in increased cytotoxicity of trophoblast cells (JAR cells) whereas cell proliferation was more in control sera treated JAR cells. This effect appears to be related to the changes in trophoblast sensitivity to sFlt-1 suggesting that circulating sFlt- 1 may have a role in the pathogenesis of the disease.


We read with interest the article by Harrison et al.1 on the use of Orlistat in overweight patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Their prospective randomized trial of 41 patients concluded that improvement in liver histology was not significantly different after 36 weeks of treatment with Orlistat/vitamin E compared to vitamin E alone. The mean weight loss between the two groups was higher in the Orlistat group but did not reach statistical significance (8.3% versus 6.0%). The authors therefore reanalyzed the data to compare those who lost or 5% body weight or or 9% body weight, respectively. Using these stratifications, they demonstrated that weight loss of 5% was associated with improvement in steatosis but not NAFLD activity score (NAS), whereas weight loss of 9% was also associated with an improvement in NAS. Regarding design, there are no power calculations presented in the methods section, so there is no way of assessing if the trial was adequately powered to detect differences between the treatment groups. Also, three primary endpoints are listed; does this imply the study was powered for all three primary outcomes? We estimate that to detect a 10% reduction in weight could require up to 60 patients per group and question whether the study presented was adequately powered. The authors' data demonstrates greater loss of weight in the Orlistat group, but this did not reach statistical significance and could be due to power. With respect to the subgroup analysis, this does not appear to have been powered at the outset, and as such, descriptive statistics only should be presented. Regarding analysis, it would be helpful if the authors could clarify why the percent weight loss is categorized into two further analyses: 5%, 5% and 9%, 9% and if these were preplanned or data-driven cutpoints. As a continuous measure, the percent weight loss should be analyzed as a continuous variable since loss of information and bias are introduced by dichotomizing variables. The statistical analyses presented use a mix of parametric and nonparametric approaches; given the small size of the study, then nonparametric statistics are more appropriate (Spearman's correlation, Mann-Whitney tests). No significant difference was observed in the histological improvements seen between the two groups at 36 weeks; however, a detailed histopathological description was only provided for liver biopsies at the start of the study. We would be interested to see a more detailed description of the histopathological changes at follow-up of the two treatment groups. We know that the degree of weight loss achieved with Orlistat is variable. Orlistat may provide additional histological improvement compared with a similar degree of diet-induced weight loss, but only in the subset of patients who achieve 5%-10% weight loss. Indeed, previous studies have suggested that Orlistat can improve hepatic steatosis beyond its effect on weight reduction,2 and exerts additional beneficial effects on inflammation and fibrosis.3 We feel it may be premature at this stage to discount a role for Orlistat in NASH. Given the magnitude of NASH in the West, there remains a pressing need for larger studies which are powered to detect differences in weight loss/NAS score.


: Synaesthesia seems to have a genetic basis and runs in families, the genetic predisposition play a important role in determining synesthesia, but it doesn't mean that the gene is the only factor to determine synesthesia. Current studies have showed that the development of synaesthesia in different age groups, and its development follows the inverted U shape curve. A related question with developmental aspects of synesthesia is: synesthesia can be learned? Some researches have been carried out the paired-association training to non-synesthetes, but there are no direct or strong evidences that the paired-association obtained from training is a kind of synesthesia. On the contrary, more and more evidences indicate that non-syne-sthetes after the paired-association training can not become a true synesthetes.


Using a side-chain mesogenic polymer stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal display (PS-FLCD) cell together with a two-dimensional array of red, green and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a modulated back light unit, we constructed a field sequential fullcolor (FSC) LCD. The PS-FLCD used in this research exhibits a high contrast ratio (230:1) with thresholdless monostability, grayscale capability, and a fast response speed (τ=40 µs). In the present research it is taken the advantages of the favorable characteristics of the PS-FLCD for implementing a FSC-LCD that has an 8×8 matrix format. The fabricated FSC-LCD, which is operated at the frame rate of 330 Hz, is shown to exhibit an excellent color gamut, color grayscale, and smearless moving color bars.


Modern human children take about twice as long as their closest biological relative, the chimpanzee, to mature. One standard explanation for the evolution of "delayed maturation" at an early stage of human evolution is that it provided the time necessary for immature individuals to learn complex skills, most notably those relating to tool-making abilities. However, after comparing dental maturational profiles of early hominids from South Africa (who apparently did make and use stone tools) (Susman [1994] Science 265:1570-1573) to those of extant humans and chimpanzees, we find no evidence to document an association between "delayed maturation" and tool-making abilities in the early stages of human evolution. This also suggests that the assumed association between prolonged childhood dependency and other behaviors often associated with the advent of tool-making such as cooperative hunting, food sharing, home bases, sexual division of labor, etc., is also suspect. Instead, we must look for other, or additional, selective pressures for the evolution of "delayed maturation," which may postdate the australopithecine radiation.


Abstract. Multi-angle polarimetric (MAP) measurements can enable detailed characterization of aerosol microphysical and optical properties and improve atmospheric correction in ocean color remote sensing. Advanced retrieval algorithms have been developed to obtain multiple geophysical parameters in the atmosphere–ocean system. Theoretical pixel-wise retrieval uncertainties based on error propagation have been used to quantify retrieval performance and determine the quality of data products. However, standard error propagation techniques in high-dimensional retrievals may not always represent true retrieval errors well due to issues such as local minima and the nonlinear dependence of the forward model on the retrieved parameters near the solution. In this work, we analyze these theoretical uncertainty estimates and validate them using a flexible Monte Carlo approach. The Fast Multi-Angular Polarimetric Ocean coLor (FastMAPOL) retrieval algorithm, based on efficient neural network forward models, is used to conduct the retrievals and uncertainty quantification on both synthetic HARP2 (Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter 2) and AirHARP (airborne version of HARP2) datasets. In addition, for practical application of the uncertainty evaluation technique in operational data processing, we use the automatic differentiation method to calculate derivatives analytically based on the neural network models. Both the speed and accuracy associated with uncertainty quantification for MAP retrievals are addressed in this study. Pixel-wise retrieval uncertainties are further evaluated for the real AirHARP field campaign data. The uncertainty quantification methods and results can be used to evaluate the quality of data products, as well as guide MAP algorithm development for current and future satellite systems such as NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission.


Objective: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is one of the serious complications of radiotherapy. We have recently demonstrated that nicaraven can effectively mitigate RILI in healthy mice. Here, we further tried to optimize the dose and time of nicaraven administration for alleviating the side effects of radiotherapy in tumor-bearing mice. Methods and results: A subcutaneous tumor model was established in the back of the chest in C57BL/6N mice by injecting Lewis lung cancer cells. Therapeutic thoracic irradiations were done, and placebo or different doses of nicaraven (20, 50, 100 mg/kg) were administrated intraperitoneally pre-irradiation (at almost 5–10 min before irradiation) or post-irradiation (within 5 min after irradiation). Mice that received radiotherapy and nicaraven were sacrificed on the 30th day, but control mice were sacrificed on the 15th day. Serum and lung tissues were collected for evaluation. Nicaraven significantly decreased the level of CCL8, but did not clearly change the levels of 8-OHdG, TGF-β, IL-1β, and IL-6 in serum. Besides these, nicaraven effectively decreased the levels of TGF-β, IL-1β, and SOD2 in the lungs, especially by post-irradiation administration with the dose of 20 mg/kg. Although there was no significant difference, the expression of SOD1, 53BP1, and caspase 3 was detected lower in the lungs of mice received nicaraven post-irradiation than that of pre-irradiation. Conclusion: According to our data, the administration of nicaraven at a relatively low dose soon after radiotherapy will be recommended for attenuating the side effects of radiotherapy.


We examined the phylogeographic patterns of Paracalliope fluviatilis (Amphipoda) over its entire range and the prevalence of mate discrimination in laboratory mate choice tests using genetically distinct populations. We predicted that mate discrimination would increase as the level of genetic divergence increased between populations. Thirty different haplotypes were found with pairwise sequence divergences in the range 1–23.5% between locations. Individuals were selected from seven genetically distinct populations and males were presented with 'local' (same population) or 'foreign' (genetically divergent) females. Males were more likely to pair with local than foreign females but there was no evidence of a gradual increase in discrimination. Discrimination became most prominent (approximately 5 : 1 local : foreign) when genetic divergences exceeded approximately 20%; matings between divergent individuals also resulted in significantly fewer females producing eggs. We suggest that: (1) this abrupt shift in discrimination occurs because individuals from different, but similarly divergent, clades rely on different recognition cues (e.g. moulting pheromones with disparate chemical signatures) that trigger recognition and subsequent discrimination of incompatible mates; (2) geological history associated with sea level changes and a series of isolation events may be responsible for the patterns of discrimination that we observed; and (3) amphipods may be more genetically variable relative to other invertebrate taxa. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 196–205. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: Arthropoda – biodiversity – cryptic – mate choice – mate guarding – outbreeding – recognition.


Alkaline pH favors the assembly of microtubules (MTs) in marine egg extracts [Suprenant and Marsh, 1987: J. Cell Sci. 184:167-180; Suprenant, 1989: Exp. Cell Res. 184:167-180; 1991: Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 19:207-220] and mammalian brain extracts [Tiwari and Suprenant, 1993: Anal. Biochem. 215:96-103], even though the assembly of purified microtubule protein (MTP) from both of these sources is favored at slightly acidic pH. The present investigation examines whether alkaline pH has a direct or indirect effect on MT nucleation and growth in soluble brain extracts. Cell-free extracts were prepared from bovine cerebral cortex, and a nucleated assembly assay was used to demonstrate that MT assembly in brain extracts is favored at slightly acidic pH. The increase in MT mass found at alkaline pH is due to an increase in the solubility of tubulin not an increase in the extent of assembly. On average, 47.7 +/- 11.3% of the total tubulin is soluble at pH 7.2, while only 30.9 +/- 8.9% of the tubulin is soluble at pH 6.8. A model is proposed that indicates how microtubule proteins from both mammalian brain and marine eggs may be associated with pH-dependent factors.


A non-linear Schrodinger equation is derived by employing analogies to classical hydrodynamics. An approximate form of it is used to compute d sigma /d Omega in elastic scattering of heavy ions. The results support the model proposed, which in the end should also allow a determination of the compressibility of nuclear matter.


Continuous carbon fibre reinforced composites (CFRP) are recognized as having a significant lightweight construction potential for a wide variety of industrial applications. However, a today's barrier for a comprehensive dissemination of CFRP structures is the lack of economic, quick and reliable manufacture processes, e.g. the cutting and trimming steps.In this paper, the influence on the thermal effect caused by high-power fibre-laser machining with respect to cutting edge characteristics and resulting static strength properties of continuous carbon fibre reinforced composites is discussed. The experiments were performed using CFRP organic sheets based on a thermoplastic polyphenylene sulfide matrix (CF-PPS). Within the frame of the investigations, static tensile as well as interlaminar shear strength measurements were performed. An analytical model was developed which is used for a correlation between the resulting heat affected zone at the cutting edge and the corresponding mechanical properties. A reduced load bearing area of laser processed CF-PPS specimens compared to milled reference samples is presented as essential factor, which determines the achievable tensile and interlaminar shear strength. The results indicate that high-power fibre-laser machining does only marginal influence the maximum strengths of CFRP structures and is consequently a suitable tool for the automotive and aircraft industry.Continuous carbon fibre reinforced composites (CFRP) are recognized as having a significant lightweight construction potential for a wide variety of industrial applications. However, a today's barrier for a comprehensive dissemination of CFRP structures is the lack of economic, quick and reliable manufacture processes, e.g. the cutting and trimming steps.In this paper, the influence on the thermal effect caused by high-power fibre-laser machining with respect to cutting edge characteristics and resulting static strength properties of continuous carbon fibre reinforced composites is discussed. The experiments were performed using CFRP organic sheets based on a thermoplastic polyphenylene sulfide matrix (CF-PPS). Within the frame of the investigations, static tensile as well as interlaminar shear strength measurements were performed. An analytical model was developed which is used for a correlation between the resulting heat affected zone at the cutting edge and the corresponding mechanical properties. A re...


This article focuses on the relationship between the categories of memory, history, and the literary text in order to ask how and why Eco's La misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana might be involved in the project of forgetting fascism. It draws on recent historiographical scholarship concerning the relationship between history and memory—especially that strand focusing on collective memory and national identity—and suggests that the memories reconstructed in this literary text are shaped by the political realities of present-day Italy. The author argues that, contrary to what one might think, Eco's narrative positions the reader to forget fascism more than to remember it or come to terms with its memory. She shows how the erasure of the memory operates through the narrative trope of schizophrenia, and argues that the so-called 'critical reader' may discern the trace of the memory of fascism that remains. On a larger scale, the article presents the idea that this literary text participates in a series of problematic yet culturally dominant narratives about fascism that presently are and historically have been utilized by both the political right and left in Italy, although to differing ends.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the oral health and treatment need of schoolchildren in Trinidad and Tobago.

DESIGN AND METHOD
Cross-sectional survey using stratified cluster sampling. Participants were children in primary (aged 6-8 years) and secondary school (aged 12 and 15 years). Main outcome measures were DMFT/dmft, treatment need, and fluorosis.

RESULTS
Examinations were completed on 1064 children. The dmft of the 6-8-year-olds was 2.54 (95% CI = 2.32, 2.76). For 12-year-olds, the DMFT was 0.61 (95% CI = 0.51, 0.71), whereas for 15-year-olds, the DMFT was 1.06 (95% CI = 0.87, 1.25). Most of the caries experience in 6-8-year-olds was from decayed teeth. Sixty-seven per cent of the sample (95% CI = 64%, 69%) had some type of treatment need. Most frequently occurring need was for fillings at 42% (95% CI = 40%, 44%) with 28% (95% CI = 26%, 31%) of the total sample needing two or more surface fillings, followed by fissure sealants at 33% (95% CI = 30%, 36%) and caries-arresting care at 12% (95% CI = 10%, 14%). Extraction of one or more teeth was needed in 13% (95% CI = 11%, 15%) of children. Rates of fluorosis were negligible.

CONCLUSION
The caries experience of 12- and 15-year-old children were low but was high for schoolchildren aged 6-8 years, in terms of prevalence and severity. Effective oral health promotion strategies need to be implemented to improve the oral health of primary schoolchildren in Trinidad and Tobago.


The premise of this article is that the major conceptual approach to mental health in the 21st century is grounded in molecular biology. We introduce and discuss three aspects of molecular biology: the concept of neuroplasticity with attention to kindling and the sensitization effect, the effects of life events on brain and behavior, and the interaction of genes and the environment. Subsequent to each of these sections we include a discussion of the implications that these ideas have to nursing practice. In view of the implications that molecular biology has for psychiatric nursing research and practice, we conclude with a call for a re-conceptualization of the psychiatric mental health nursing enterprise and the need for a conceptual model that is comprehensive, integrative, and dynamic.


For decades, organizations have been intending
to employ more women in top positions,
but with little success. An important cause for
this lack of organizational learning is that the
problem is still framed as a 'glass ceiling', and
that measures only concentrate on helping
women to break through it. This means that
women get training and mentors to change
them. Organizations do not change and the
organizational processes that produce gender
inequalities remain intact. A more complex
view on gender in organizations sheds new
light on those processes. Organizations are
characterized by dynamic social processes,
and gender is such a process. The behaviour
that people display when they enter and maintain
networks also (re)produces distinctions
between femininity and masculinity and between
women and men. By studying the micropolitics
of gender in networks, it becomes visible
how power works in daily social practices.


As computational capabilities continue to improve and the costs associated with test programs continue to increase, certification of future rotorcraft will rely more on computational tools along with strategic testing of critical components. Today, military standards (MIL-STD 1290A (AV), 1988) encourage designers of rotary wing vehicles to demonstrate compliance with the certification requirements for impact velocity and volume loss by analysis. Reliance on computational tools, however, will only come after rigorous demonstration of the predictive capabilities of existing computational tools. NASA, under the Subsonic Rotary Wing Program, is sponsoring the development and validation of such tools. Jackson (2006) discussed detailed requirements and challenges associated with certification by analysis. Fundamental to the certification effort is the demonstration of verification, validation, calibration, and algorithms for this class of problems. Work in this chapter deals with model calibration of systems undergoing impact loads. The process of model calibration, which follows the verification and validation phases, involves reconciling differences between test and analysis. Most calibration efforts combine both heuristics and quantitative methods to assess model deficiencies, to consider uncertainty, to evaluate parameter importance, and to compute required model changes. Calibration of rotorcraft structural models presents particular challenges because the computational time, often measured in hours, limits the number of solutions obtainable in a timely manner. Oftentimes, efforts are focused on predicting responses at critical locations as opposed to assessing the overall adequacy of the model. For example (Kamat, 1976) conducted a survey, which at the time, studied the most popular finite element analysis codes and validation efforts by comparing impact responses from a UH-1H helicopter drop test. Similarly, (Wittlin and Gamon, 1975) used the KRASH analysis program for data correlation of the UH-1H helicopter. Another excellent example of a rotary wing calibration effort is that of (Cronkhite and Mazza, 1988) comparing results from a U.S. Army composite helicopter with simulation data from the KRASH analysis program. Recently, (Tabiei, Lawrence, and Fasanella, 2009) reported on a validation effort using anthropomorphic test dummy data from crash tests to validate an LS-DYNA (Hallquist, 2006) finite element model. Common to all these calibration efforts is the use of scalar deterministic metrics. One complication with calibration efforts of nonlinear models is the lack of universally accepted metrics to judge model adequacy. Work by (Oberkampf et al., 2006) and later (Schwer et al., 2007) are two noteworthy efforts that provide users with metrics to evaluate nonlinear time histories. Unfortunately, seldom does one see them used to assess model


There is an ongoing debate in the literature about the costs and benefits of conforming book and taxable income. Proponents argue that increased book-tax conformity will reduce aggressive financial reporting: managing earnings up increases taxes and will curtail abusive tax shelters because managing taxes down decreases earnings reported to shareholders. We use a panel of 139,536 firm-year observations across 34 countries over the period 1996–2007 to test whether high levels of book-tax conformity are associated with less earnings management. We find that higher book-tax conformity is associated with significantly more, not less, earnings management. We conclude that one of the primary claimed benefits of increasing book-tax conformity, more truthful financial reporting with less earnings management, is unlikely to be as large as previously thought.


Of Megabytes and Men: the private use exception under the judicial lens and lessons for state aid claims* On 19 June 2015, the High Court allowed a claim for judicial review against the decision…


Elevational diversity patterns can reflect the responses of biodiversity to climate change spatially. We investigate the species diversity patterns of green lacewings (an important predatory group of insects) along the gradient of elevation from the Shaluli Mountains (Mts. Shaluli), which belong to the Hengduan Mountains in southwestern China, one of the important hotspots of global biodiversity. We combined multiple approaches, including Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning analysis (ASAP), General Mixed Yule Coalescent (GMYC), Poisson tree processes (bPTP), multi-rate Poisson tree processes (mPTP), to delimit the green lacewings species based on the standard barcoding region of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). The α-diversity and β-diversity patterns of green lacewings from the Mts. Shaluli along the gradient of elevation were analyzed, with further exploration on how the temperature effect elevational-diversity pattern on broad-scale (county scale) elevational gradients. The DNA barcoding reference library consisted of 40 green lacewing species from the Mts. Shaluli. The α-diversity of green lacewings decreased with the increasing elevation. The temperature was found to have a significant effect on the abundance and Shannon-Wiener diversity index but not on the species richness. Nestedness replaced turnover as the main component of Sørensen's dissimilarity with the increasing elevation, and greater nestedness occurred at low temperature areas. The combination of a reliable DNA barcoding database could improve the accuracy and efficiency to investigate the species diversity patterns of green lacewings. Temperature, resource, and resultant interspecific competitions may have important roles in explaining the species diversity patterns of green lacewings from the Mts. Shaluli. Priority of conservation should be given to the species at low elevation, middle elevation, and relatively high temperature regions under the background of global climate warming.


A note interonset interval (IOI) increment in mechanically timed music is more difficult to detect where expressive lengthening typically occurs in artistic performance. Experiment 1 showed this in an excerpt from a Chopin etude and extended the task to IOI decrement detection. A simple measure of variation in perceptual bias was derived that correlated highly with the average timing pattern of pianists' performances, more so than with acoustic surface properties of the music. Similar results, but decreasing correlations, were obtained in each of four subsequent experiments in which the music was simplified in stages. Although local psychoacoustic effects on time perception cannot be ruled out completely, the results suggest that musical structure (melodic-rhythmic grouping in particular) has temporal implications that are reflected not only in musicians' motor behavior but also in listeners' time-keeping abilities.


The formations of the Fredericksburg and lower Washita Groups in Uvalde and Real Counties, Texas, were deposited on a broad platform behind the Stuart City reef trend. Nine distinct lithofacies and corresponding depositional environments occur within this lower Cretaceous depositional regime: (1) nodular and burrowed mollusk lime wackestone lithofacies representing an open-marine platform, low wave-energy environment; (2) rudist, shell fragment, miliolid wackestone to packstone lithofacies representing a partially restricted to open-marine platform, low to moderate wave- and current-energy environment; (3) rudist, shell fragment, miliolid, grainstone to wackestone lithofacies representing an open-marine platform and bank, moderate to high wave- and current-energy environm nt; (4) evaporite collapse breccia lithofacies representing a hypersaline platform interior environment; (5) miliolid, shell fragment wackestone and Texigryphaea bed lithofacies representing a platform interior, shallow subtidal to intertidal transitional environment; (6) alternating thin evaporite collapse breccia with laminated mudstone and pellet packstone lithofacies representing an evaporite-dominated tidal mud flat environment; (7) carbonaceous lime mudstone lithofacies representing a platform interior euxenic lagoonal environment; (8) pellet intraclast lime wackestone to packstone lithofacies representing a restricted platform interior environment; and (9) pelagic lime mudstone to wackestone lithofacies representing a deep, open to slightly restricted platform interior environment The Fredericksburg-early Washita depositional history is characterized by 2 distinct cycles of deposition. The first cycle is interpreted as an initial marine transgression over the partially eroded Glen Rose tidal flat deposits, followed by a period of regional shoaling, culminating with the deposition of the Kirschberg Evaporite within the Devils River formation and northward, and deposition of the lower McKnight evaporite-dominated tidal mud flat sediments to the south. The second cycle of deposition is interpreted as a gradual marine transgression culminating in the deposition of open-marine platform rudist bank facies (upper Devils River) and partially restricted to open deep platform interior deposits (Salmon Peak) prior to middle Washita emergence and erosion forming the pre-De Rio unconformity. End_of_Article - Last_Page 508------------


Both recuperated and bottomed closed cycle gas turbine systems in electric power plants were studied. All systems used a pressurizing gas turbine coupled with a pressurized furnace to heat the helium for the closed cycle gas turbine. Steam and organic vapors are used as Rankine bottoming fluids. Although plant efficiencies of over 40% are calculated for some plants, the resultant cost of electricity was found to be 8.75 mills/MJ (31.5 mills/kWh). These plants do not appear practical for coal or oil fired plants.


The influenced of respiration to dentocraniofacial growth and development is still controversial. The accurate radiologic examination is important factor for proper diagnosis. Deviation of upper airway (i.e. nasopharynx, oropharymx and nasal cavity) could be evaluated by lateral and anteroposterior cephalometric projection technique. This paper explains several methods to evaluate upper respiratory tract by lateral radiograph.


Network virtualization has emerged as a powerful technique to deploy novel services and experimental protocols over shared network infrastructures. Although recent research has highlighted field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) as attractive platforms for high performance network virtualization, these devices remain inaccessible to the larger networking research community due to the absence of user-friendly programming models. A programming model that can abstract the intricacies of the hardware platform while being aware of the underlying resource constraints is highly desirable. In this paper, we present ReClick, a framework to efficiently design and deploy reconfigurable data planes for FPGA-based network virtualization systems. A hardware-agnostic programming model is described that allows developers to focus on the virtual data plane semantics rather than the implementation details. The framework exposes interfaces similar to the popular software router development framework, Click, and promotes design reuse. Optimization strategies are included in ReClick which use similarities between virtual data plane configurations to implement multiple planes in an area-efficient manner. Data planes exhibiting up to 1 Gbps data rate have been automatically compiled and tested in hardware in a Net FPGA platform.


BACKGROUND/AIMS In search of a way to prevent postoperative adhesion after strabismus surgery, an animal study was performed to assess the effect of a gel consisting of a polyglycan ester in a gelatin matrix (ADCON-L). METHODS Bilateral recessions of superior rectus muscle (SR) were performed on 16 rabbits. ADCON-L was applied beneath and over the SR in the right eyes of all rabbits, while the operative fields in the left eyes were irrigated with a balanced salt solution (BSS). The adjustment was performed on each SR at 4 and 7 days postoperatively on the same eye. The length and force of the adjustment and the degree of adhesion were recorded. At 3 weeks postoperatively, disinsertional force was measured in several of the eyes, and the other eyes were enucleated. RESULTS The length of the adjustment was longer and the force of the adjustment was less in the ADCON-L group than in the BSS treated group at 4 and 7 days postoperatively (p=0.00). A significant reduction (p=0.00) in the degree of adhesion was noted in eyes treated with ADCON-L. There was no significant difference in disinsertional force between the two groups. Histopathological evaluation of the muscle revealed decreased fibrosis of perimuscular connective tissue in eyes treated with ADCON-L at 3 weeks postoperatively. CONCLUSION This study suggests that ADCON-L helps to prevent postoperative adhesion in rabbits and enables adjustment twice within 7 days postoperatively without complications.


This article conducts a systematic review having as objective to identify and to discuss prejudices against adoption and homoparenthood in Brazil, using as methodological assumption the quantitative and qualitative approach. This review focuses on articles published on SciELO and PePSIC of database from 2006 to 2015 through combining descriptors: After using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 19 articles were selected to produce the corpus of the analysis made on this review. The findings reveal that, at the year of 2015, there was an extension on empirical studies about homoparenthood, showing, although, few adoptions homoparental. After analyzing the data, it is safe to consider that the publications are scarce and limited, showing the need for promoting more scientific research and discussions on this subject.


It is proposed that the evolution of complex animals required repressive genetic mechanisms for controlling the transcriptional and proliferative potency of cells. Unicellular organisms are transcriptionally potent, able to express their full genetic complement as the need arises through their life cycle, whereas differentiated cells of multicellular organisms can only express a fraction of their genomic potential. Likewise, whereas cell proliferation in unicellular organisms is primarily limited by nutrient availability, cell proliferation in multicellular organisms is developmentally regulated. Repressive genetic controls limiting the potency of cells at the end of ontogeny would have stabilized the gene expression states of differentiated cells and prevented disruptive proliferation, allowing the emergence of diverse cell types and functional shapes. We propose that distal cis‐regulatory elements represent the primary innovations that set the stage for the evolution of developmental gene regulatory networks and the repressive control of key multipotency and cell‐cycle control genes. The testable prediction of this model is that the genomes of extant animals, unlike those of our unicellular relatives, encode gene regulatory circuits dedicated to the developmental control of transcriptional and proliferative potency. Developmental Dynamics 244:1193–1201, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Recently we have developed a precise quantitative phase-contrast microscope by in-line phase- shifting digital holography. The phase resolution of the system is 1.30 with blank image and which is better than those obtained with off-axis systems. The three-dimensional shape of a living fibroblast cell is measured with this system.


Shear stress due to blood flow on endothelial cells elicits numerous responses including G-protein coupled receptor activation and integrin-mediated signaling. Shear-induced change in membrane fluidity has been suggested to be one of the earliest mechanosensing mechanism involved in these processes [1, 2]. Alternatively, it has been suggested that shear forces are transduced through glycocalyx directly to transmembrane proteins and cytoskeleton [3], with very little shear force sensed by the membrane. It is not yet clear whether physiological tensions can alter membrane fluidity significantly.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Zinc is essential for vertebrate development; its deficiency results in multiple congenital malformations. Knowledge of the zinc biochemistry that underlies embryologic development is very limited. This has led us to investigate the zinc, iron, and copper contents of Xenopus laevis oocytes and embryos. Stage 1–6 oocytes, isolated from ovaries, and stage 1–40 embryos, obtained by in vitro fertilization techniques, were washed in metalfree water prior to digestion by 70% ultrapure HNO3. The metal content of the digests was analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry. Stage 6 oocytes contain 65.8 4, 31.1 ± 3, and 0.68 ± 0.2 ng of zinc, iron and copper, respectively. The corresponding concentrations are 1, 0.5, and 0.01 mM in 1 μl eggs. The metal content varies as a function of egg maturation. The zinc content increases from 3–7 to >60 ng by stages 3 and 6, respectively. A similar pattern is noted for iron, which increases from 2–5 to 30 ng at analogous stages. In contrast, the copper content remains virtually unchanged in oocytes undergoing maturation. Importantly, the total of all three metals does not vary throughout the first 50 stages of development, when all tadpole organs are forming. Hence, the full complement of zinc, iron, and copper needed for incorporation into apoproteins during development is already present at a time when oocyte maturation is completed. The specific metalloproteins that store, donate, and accept these metals during induction and organogenesis and the alterations caused by metal deficiency can now be identified. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Differences in soil microenvironment affect the availability of N in small areas of large turfgrass stands. Optical sensing may provide a method for assessing plant N needs among these small areas and could help improve turfgrass uniformity. The purpose of this study was to determine if optical sensing was useful for measuring turfgrass re- sponses stimulated by N fertilization. Areas of 'U3' bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.), 'Midfi eld' bermudagrass (C. dactylon (L.) Pers. x C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy), and 'SR1020' creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) were divided into random- ized complete blocks and fertilized with different N rates. A spectrometer was used to measure energy refl ected from the turfgrass within the experimental units at 350 to1100 nm wavelengths. This spectral information was used to calculate normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI). These spectral indices were regressed with tissue N and chlorophyll content determined from turfgrass clippings collected immediately following optical sensing. The coeffi cients of determination for NDVI and GNDVI regressed with tissue N averaged r 2 = 0.76 and r 2 = 0.81, respectively. The coeffi cients of determination for NDVI and GNDVI regressed with chlorophyll averaged r 2 = 0.70 and r 2 = 0.75, respectively. Optical sensing was equally effective for estimating turfgrass responses to N fertilization as more commonly used evaluations such as shoot growth rate (SGR regressed with tissue N; r 2 = 0.81) and visual color evaluation (color regressed with chlorophyll; r 2 = 0.64).


This book analyzes major Chinese governmental publications that deal with sexuality in 1950, when the new Marriage Law was enacted, and 1980, with the Second Marriage Law. Evans (Chinese, Univ. of Westminster) is well grounded in both feminist and Chinese studies, which allows her to deepen her analysis with references to China's present-day pop culture and conversations she has had with Chinese colleagues. Her major finding is that Chinese discourses consistently use medical and/or scientific explanations of gender differences to, essentially, denigrate women. Evans's analysis is consistent with much that has been written on China's political system?that it cannot survive without maintaining order and stability. However, she assumes that the audience is fluent in postmodernist language.>


Nanocrystalline Gd2O2NCN (P3 m1, crystallite size 30-40 nm) was synthesized upon ammonolysis of bis[[(N-carboxymethyl,N-carboxy-κO-methyl)amino-κN]-ethyl]-glycinato(3-)-κN,κO]gadolinium-(III) (diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid gadolinium (III) dihydrogen salt or gadopentetic acid, Gd-H2DTPA hereafter) at 900 °C. The conversion of Gd-H2DTPA into Gd2O2NCN takes place in several steps, probably via transient formation of iminodiacetate-, glycinate- and carbamate-containing complexes of Gd. Thermal treatment in air of Gd-H2DTPA at 750 and 1300 °C delivers nanocrystalline bixbyite-type Gd2O3 (Ia3 , crystallite size 30-70 nm); in Ar or N2 atmosphere the formation of monoclinic Gd2O3 (C2/m) was observed at 1300 °C. The synthesized Gd2O2NCN converts upon thermal treatment in air, nitrogen or argon atmosphere into monoclinic Gd2O3 (C2/m). In ammonia atmosphere, Gd2O2NCN seems to be stable against decomposition, even upon prolonged exposure to 1000 °C. This study indicates that Gd-H2DTPA may be a robust, low-cost and flexible precursor for nanoscaled Gd-based nanopowders. Moreover, precursor approaches based on metal complexes using H5DTPA as a ligand are suggested as promising access pathways towards nanocrystalline materials in the M/O/C/N system.


A metal-free tandem reaction, initiated by the generation of a diazonium cation and followed by cycloetherification, was developed. Acid-promoted de-tert-butylation of N-nitroso N-tert-butylamine was used to generate a diazonium cation in situ, demonstrating a new application of nitroso chemistry. This reaction was employed in the synthesis of substituted benzofuran-3(2H)-ones and dihydrobenzo[d][1,3]oxaphosphole 3-oxides.


The delay-and-sum (DAS) beamformer, utilized in current state of the art ultrasound imaging systems, applies time delays on each receive channel to focus the returning echoes and weights the focused RF data on each receive channel prior to beamsummation. Apodization functions like the Hamming and Nuttall windows reduce the sidelobe levels the DAS beamformer's point spread function (PSF). As a result, apodization greatly impacts the contrast and resolution of the final output image. We propose a beamformer architecture for broadband imaging systems that uses unique finite impulse response (FIR) filters on each receive channel The filter weights are constructed to maximize the contrast resolution of the system's spatial response. We present simulation results showing that FIR filters of modest tap lengths (3-7) can yield marked improvement in image contrast and point resolution. This increase in contrast resolution comes at the expense of a decrease in beamformer sensitivity. We investigate the effects of magnitude and phase aberration on the FIR beamformer by simulating near field thin phase screen aberrators. Specifically we examine the performance of the FIR beamformer in the presence of magnitude aberration characterized by an a priori root-mean- square (RMS) strength of 5 dB and a full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) correlation length of 2.1 mm as well as in the presence of phase aberration characterized by an a priori RMS strength of 28 ns and a FWHM correlation length of 3.6 mm. Contrast resolution results show that the aberrated FIR beamformer outperforms the unaberrated DAS beamformer by almost 10 dB. We believe that our array pattern synthesis technique and beamformer architecture have the potential to significantly improve the contrast resolution performance of broadband imaging systems.


Background There is a paucity of robust epidemiological data on snakebite, and data available from hospitals and localized or time-limited surveys have major limitations. No study has investigated the incidence of snakebite across a whole country. We undertook a community-based national survey and model based geostatistics to determine incidence, envenoming, mortality and geographical pattern of snakebite in Sri Lanka. Methodology/Principal Findings The survey was designed to sample a population distributed equally among the nine provinces of the country. The number of data collection clusters was divided among districts in proportion to their population. Within districts clusters were randomly selected. Population based incidence of snakebite and significant envenoming were estimated. Model-based geostatistics was used to develop snakebite risk maps for Sri Lanka. 1118 of the total of 14022 GN divisions with a population of 165665 (0.8%of the country's population) were surveyed. The crude overall community incidence of snakebite, envenoming and mortality were 398 (95% CI: 356–441), 151 (130–173) and 2.3 (0.2–4.4) per 100000 population, respectively. Risk maps showed wide variation in incidence within the country, and snakebite hotspots and cold spots were determined by considering the probability of exceeding the national incidence. Conclusions/Significance This study provides community based incidence rates of snakebite and envenoming for Sri Lanka. The within-country spatial variation of bites can inform healthcare decision making and highlights the limitations associated with estimates of incidence from hospital data or localized surveys. Our methods are replicable, and these models can be adapted to other geographic regions after re-estimating spatial covariance parameters for the particular region.


The Library of America inaugurates its Elmore Leonard edition with four funny, street-smart early masterpieces, gathered in one volume for the first time: Blending gritty toughness and unpredictable violence with wild humor and an uncanny ear for the rhythms of ordinary speech, Elmore Leonard (1925 2013) was the most widely and enthusiastically admired crime novelist of his time. His genius for scene and dialogue led "Time" magazine to describe him as a Dickens of Detroit, and "Newsweek" called him the best American writer of crime alive, possibly the best we ve ever had. Now The Library of America inaugurates a three-volume edition of Leonard s greatest work, prepared in consultation with the author shortly before his death and edited by his long-time researcher Gregg Sutter. The four novels collected in this first volume re-invented the American crime novel and cemented Leonard s reputation. All are set in his hometown Detroit, a hard-working shot and a beer kind of place whose lawless underside becomes a stage for an unforgettable cast of rogues, con artists, and psychopaths. "Fifty-Two Pickup" (1974), fast and sharply written, is an insidiously brutal book about an adulterous businessman who runs afoul of a crew of murderous blackmailers. "Swag "(1976) finds Leonard moving for the first time into the more comic mode that would become his signature, as he charts the small-time criminal careers of an amiable ex-con and an ambitious car salesman who share a bachelor pad and pursue their hedonistic dream of the good life through a string of armed robberies. "Unknown Man No. 23 "(1977) spins a complex web of crisscrossing rip-offs and con games, with process server Jack Ryan, a typically laid-back Leonard protagonist, caught in the middle. In "The Switch" (1978), one of Leonard s funniest books, Mickey Dawson, a discontented housewife held for ransom, manages to turn the tables on her kidnappers while exacting overdue revenge on her scheming husband. This volume also contains a newly researched chronology of Elmore Leonard s life, drawing on materials in his personal archive, and detailed annotations, which include as a special bonus a scene from the typescript for Swag that did not appear in the published book."


We propose to use social networking data to validate mobility models for pervasive mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and delay tolerant networks (DTNs). The Random Waypoint (RWP) and Erdos-Renyi (ER) models have been a popular choice among researchers for generating mobility traces of nodes and relationships between them. Not only RWP and ER are useful in evaluating networking protocols in a simulation environment, but they are also used for theoretical analysis of such dynamic networks. However, it has been observed that neither relationships among people nor their movements are random. Instead, human movements frequently contain repeated patterns and friendship is bounded by distance. We used social networking site Go Walla to collect, create and validate models of human mobility and relationships for analysis and evaluations of applications in opportunistic networks such as sensor networks and transportation models in civil engineering. In doing so, we hope to provide more human-like movements and social relationship models to researchers to study problems in complex and mobile networks.


This work presents the analytic and experimental research of de-icing method with piezoelectric transducer as actuators. For the reason of flight conditions like altitude, high and humidity. To meet the requirements for flight, deicing measures must be taken in consideration. There are lots of existing deicing methods, but the main problem is that the loss of power with them is very big increasing the consumption of fuel and decreasing the efficiency of the flight. With the development of piezoelectric ceramic technology, shear vibration deicing is more concerned for their low power consumption. Shear stress between surface and ice is generated by the forced vibration which is driven by piezoelectric. The device achieves the deicing purpose activating resonant frequencies of a structure using piezoelectric ceramic actuators to generate enough shear stress at the interface, between the surface and ice, to break the adhesion stress between them. In this study, we study the effect of shear stress generated for different distances between ceramic piezoelectric, and then analyze the relations of the shear stress and frequency. First, a numerical method was validated to assist the design of such systems. Numerical simulations were performed for the case of a flat plate testing the natural modes and harmonic response by the software ANSYS, which proves the feasibility to remove ice by piezoelectric ceramic actuator in theory. And then, validated experimentally. The model was then used to study important design parameters such as actuator positioning and the distance between them.


Drought is a serious threat to the farming community, biasing the crop productivity in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Drought adversely affects seed germination, plant growth, and development via non-normal physiological processes. Plants generally acclimatize to drought stress through various tolerance mechanisms, but the changes in global climate and modern agricultural systems have further worsened the crop productivity. In order to increase the production and productivity, several strategies such as the breeding of tolerant varieties and exogenous application of growth regulators, osmoprotectants, and plant mineral nutrients are followed to mitigate the effects of drought stress. Nevertheless, the complex nature of drought stress makes these strategies ineffective in benefiting the farming community. Seed priming is an alternative, low-cost, and feasible technique, which can improve drought stress tolerance through enhanced and advanced seed germination. Primed seeds can retain the memory of previous stress and enable protection against oxidative stress through earlier activation of the cellular defense mechanism, reduced imbibition time, upsurge of germination promoters, and osmotic regulation. However, a better understanding of the metabolic events during the priming treatment is needed to use this technology in a more efficient way. Interestingly, the review highlights the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses of seed priming for enhancing the drought tolerance in crop plants. Furthermore, the challenges and opportunities associated with various priming methods are also addressed side-by-side to enable the use of this simple and cost-efficient technique in a more efficient manner.


The presented paper focuses on the impact of intervention with the application of the SMARTS program on students' metacognitive abilities. The metacognitive program SMARTS, which is a product of RILD1 (Research Institute for Learning and Development, Lexington, Massachusetts, the author Lynn Meltzer), was translated, adapted, and pilot-tested in the Slovak educational context conditions. In the form of qualitative intervention case studies, the paper analyses (1) the diagnostic potential of SMARTS revealing deficits in students' metacognitive abilities (organisationorganization and prioritisationprioritization), (2) an intervention to improve a student's specific metacognitive ability, (3) outcome (stagnation/progress/regression) of the intervention. The results obtained by direct participatory observation applied in the intervention point to a possible positive impact of the SMARTS program on the observed metacognitive abilities of students.


The overall objective of the Maputo Urban Poverty and Inclusive Growth Study is to inform the municipal governments of Maputo and Matola in the Greater Maputo Area (GMA) on how to better target and finance urban poverty reduction programs by building critical knowledge on urban poverty and land-based municipal revenue enhancement. The study carried out an in-depth poverty and vulnerability mapping and analysis in order to better understand the spatial distribution of poverty in the GMA. It showed that poverty has significantly reduced in most of the neighborhoods in GMA from 1997 to 2007. The study also showed a strong correlation between poverty reduction and access to basic services and urban infrastructure, though it was not possible to identify a correlation between poverty incidence of natural hazards based on availability data. The study also carried out for the first time in the GMA a comprehensive housing market assessment in order to collect primary data on real estate market value, which was used as basis for estimating the net present value of different policy options to increase property tax. It suggested that municipal revenue for property taxation could significantly increase if municipalities would improve tax compliance, increase tax rate from actual 0.4 to 1.0 percentage, and use market value to assess property tax. In this case, Maputo City Council would generate Mt 44 billion and Matola Mt 29 billion in NPV terms. Finally, study provided specific policy and institutional development recommendations at national and municipal levels with the ultimate objective to increased urban infrastructure finance, and better target pro-poor interventions not only in GMA, but also benefiting other cities in Mozambique.


Abstract Drawing from a recent study highlighting ways in which translators' personalities could be guiding the process of translation and the creation of patterns of behaviour that positively and negatively affected their target texts, that article presents some findings from the study and their implications for interdisciplinary research in translation studies. This article will demonstrate how the application of a methodology drawn from psychology to a corpus of 20 translators has permitted the suggestion that the presence of traits could influence their performance in translation, and become perceptible to potential target readers. Although context-bound, the study highlights correlations between a number of personality traits and translation quality, a finding which could have important implications for translator training. This article considers the argument that translation studies can benefit from importing concepts and methodologies from the field of personality psychology, but also that novice translators need to become more acutely aware of the different and individual ways in which they impact on target texts, and the resulting target readers' perceptions of their work.


Smart Wires is a family of three Distributed FACTS (D-FACTS) technologies able to realize low-cost transmission line monitoring and power flow control in meshed networks. Smart Wires will allow utilities to increase power transfers in meshed networks by increasing average line utilization. The technology is projected to have significantly lower cost and lead time than alternatives, namely new line construction, reconductoring, or conventional FACTS technology. This paper overviews the work done to date to demonstrate the feasibility and impact of the technology, including prototype development and system simulations.


German free relative constructions allow for case requirement mismatches under two types of circumstances. The first is when the case required in the embedded clause is more complex (nom < acc < gen < dat) than the case required in the main clause, and the relative pronoun takes the form of the embedded clause case. The second type of circumstance is when the form that corresponds to the two required cases is syncretic. I propose an analysis that combines Caha's (2009) case hierarchy in Nanosyntax with Van Riemsdijk's (2006a) concept of Grafting. By placing case features as separate heads in the syntax, a less complex case can be Grafted into a different clause, explaining the first type of circumstance. The second type makes reference to the fact that syncretic forms are inserted via the same lexical entry (Superset Principle). A cross-linguistic comparison shows that it is language-specific whether a more complex case requirement in the main or embedded clause causes non-matching non-syncretic free relatives to be grammatical. For all languages it holds that the relative pronoun appears in the most complex case required, which provides additional evidence for case being complex and more complex cases being able to license less complex cases.


Viewers of TV shows are increasingly taking to online sites like Facebook and Twitter to comment about the shows they watch as well as to contribute content about their daily lives. We present a novel recommendation system (RS) based on the user-generated content (UGC) contributed by TV viewers via the social networking site Twitter. In our approach, a TV show is represented by all of the tweets of its viewers who follow the show on Twitter. These tweets, in aggregate, enable us to reliably calculate the affinity between TV shows and to describe how and why certain shows are similar in terms of their audiences in a privacy friendly way. This paper's two main contributions are: 1) a new methodology for collecting data from social media – including information about product networks (or how shows are connected through users on a social network), geographic location, and user-contributed text comments – which can be used to generate affinity networks and test them; and 2) a new privacy friendly UGC-based RS that relies on all publicly-available text contributed by viewers, as opposed to only preselected keywords extracted from the UGC associated with the shows, a specific ontology or taxonomy, which makes our approach more flexible and generalizable than those used in any prior research. We show that our approach predicts remarkably well the TV shows that Twitter users follow. We also explain why the approach works so well: First, we show that the UGC reflects the demographics, geographic location, and psychographics of viewers, and coin the term talkographics to refer to descriptions of a TV show's viewers – or in general any product's audience – that are revealed by the words used in text messages sent by Twitter-using TV viewers; second, we show that Twitter text can represent many complex nuanced combinations of the demographic, geographic, and psychographic features of the audience; third, we show that we can use talkographic profiles to first calculate similarities between TV shows, then use these similarities reliably in RSs; we also show that our approach can be combined with a product association network approach to achieve even better recommendations; finally, we show that our text-based approach performs best for shows for which there is a demographic bias to the viewing audience compared to those that do not have a demographic bias. To demonstrate that our RS is generalizable, we apply the same approach to followers of clothing retailers.


In a world increasingly governed by data-analytics and algorithms and with the continued development and sophistication of machine-to-machine technologies and communication, the very significance of human labor and human praxis is today being questioned and tested in radically new ways. Decentered and displaced from his previous position as the main gatherer and interpreter of information, man´s hitherto exclusive role in the monitoring and administration of his environment is emphatically challenged by automation and ubiquitous computation. While these technological developments undoubtedly provide still greater precision and efficiency, they also prompt a series of less instrumental and more existential questions: What happens to human self-perception and self-valorization as machines take over the channels of communication? Where does man situate himself in an environment increasingly beyond his grasp and outside his possibilities of apprehension? On the threshold to tomorrow´s big data-land these are among the questions that arise with still greater pertinence and urgency.


Cryosurgery combined with a routine "second look" biopsy is a promising modality of treating giant-cell tumors of bone. Clearly malignant tumors are not considered suitable for this treatment. While complications such as infection, fracture, and delayed union occurred, it was possible to eradicate tumors while preserving joint motion and avoiding amputations in a far greater percentage of cases than has been possible with former methods.


Background : Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is considered as one of the current public health problem, associated with increased mortality rates. People with CKD have a greater chance of having a decreased function and quality of life (QoL). It's important to keep one active and healthy at the same time encourage and incorporate exercises and physical activity.Methods: The objectives are to evaluate the adherence to exercise programme by patients diagnosed with CKD undergoing dialysis and to identify potential barriers to patient adherence to exercise program. The observational study was carried out in a tertiary hospital at dialysis unit. Total 42 patients undergoing dialysis as outpatients in a tertiary hospital completed the study. The baseline outcome measures of joint range of motion and maximum repetition rate (MRR) testing selected muscles were checked. Strengthening exercises for using resistance band were carried out during haemodialysis and a home exercise program (HEP) was taught to the patients to be followed on the remaining five days of the week. At the end of three months, adherence to the exercise was evaluated through questionnaire.Results: At the end of 12 weeks 52% adhered to exercises during dialysis and 48% at Home Exercise Program (HEP)Conclusions: Adherence to strengthening exercise programme in patients undergoing haemodialysis as out-patients in a tertiary hospital is average. It is clinically essential to take the adherence in to consideration while prescribing exercise program in patients undergoing dialysis.


BACKGROUND
There is a paucity of data on the validity of self-report of periodontal disease in African Americans. The Black Women's Health Study (BWHS), a United States national cohort study of 59,000 black women followed via mailed questionnaires since 1995, offered the opportunity to clinically validate self-reported periodontitis among a sample of participants.

METHODS
Oral health questionnaires were sent to study participants residing in Massachusetts. Respondents living in the Boston metro area were invited for clinical examination. Self-reports were compared with clinical data obtained from the 77 women (mean age: 59 years) who were examined. The authors examined the predictive ability of individual and combined questionnaire items with respect to clinical periodontal disease severity. Validation parameters were calculated for each question, and receiver operating characteristic statistics were generated to compare questionnaire items.

RESULTS
Periodontitis prevalence in the validation sample was 24% for severe periodontitis and 61% for moderate disease. Performance of individual questionnaire items with respect to predicting periodontitis was better for severe compared with moderate disease. Combinations of questionnaire items improved the predictive ability with respect to severe disease beyond that of individual questionnaire items.

CONCLUSIONS
Prevalence of severe periodontitis was similar to other age-comparable populations, without regard for race or sex, whereas prevalence of total periodontitis (moderate and severe) among women of similar age and/or race was much higher. Predictive ability of questionnaire items assessed in the BWHS was similar to that in other studies.


Structured pruning compresses neural networks by reducing channels (filters) for fast inference and low footprint at run-time. To restore accuracy after pruning, fine-tuning is usually applied to pruned networks. However, too few remaining parameters in pruned networks inevitably bring a great challenge to fine-tuning to restore accuracy. To address this challenge, we propose a novel method that first linearly over-parameterizes the compact layers in pruned networks to enlarge the number of fine-tuning parameters and then re-parameterizes them to the original layers after fine-tuning. Specifically, we equivalently expand the convolution/linear layer with several consecutive convolution/linear layers that do not alter the current output feature maps. Furthermore, we utilize similarity-preserving knowledge distillation that encourages the over-parameterized block to learn the immediate data-to-data similarities of the corresponding dense layer to maintain its feature learning ability. The proposed method is comprehensively evaluated on CIFAR-10 and ImageNet which significantly outperforms the vanilla fine-tuning strategy, especially for large pruning ratio.


Abstract Since good ventilation of the middle ear is a pre-requisite for successful myringoplasty, it was our policy to investigate the tubal function in dry central perforation of the eardrum and to correlate the manometric and endoscopic findings. Nasal endoscopy proved to be indispensable in diagnosing mechanical tubal obstruction and in localizing and even treating 'hidden' lesions in key areas, with probable normalization of the tubal function. The correction of the mechanical tubal obstruction must precede ear surgery. Whenever tubal obstruction is diagnosed as functional or idiopathic, the ventilation of the middle ear should be guaranteed during ear surgery by addition of a tympanostomy tube to the graft or drum remnant, and a guarded prognosis given.


The authors carried out an assessment of social support networks with a sample of 884 Spanish adolescents aged 12 to 17. The main goal was to analyze the development of the figures of parents and peers as providers of social support in the two basic dimensions of emotional and instrumental support. In peers, they distinguished between the contexts from which they came (school, associations, and friends from the community) to observe whether there were different tendencies. The results of the MANOVA indicate significant effects on both dimensions for the factors age, provider, and interaction between the two. The authors conclude that the tendencies for decline in the provision of support from parents and the corresponding increase in support from peers during adolescence are different for each dimension, and also for the different types of friends, according to context. Parents maintain a good level of instrumental support, but not of emotional support. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Household preferences should influence adoption of environmental health-improving technologies, but there has been limited empirical research to isolate their importance, perhaps due to challenges of measurement and attribution. This paper explores heterogeneity in household preferences for different features of improved cookstoves (ICS) and assesses the degree to which these preferences are associated with actual adoption of electric and biomass-burning cookstoves during a randomized stove promotion campaign in northern India. Latent class analysis of data from a discrete choice experiment conducted in baseline surveys of 1,060 households identified three preference types: disinterested (54%), low demand but primarily interested in reduced smoke emissions (27%), and high demand with interest in most features of the ICS (20%). The ICS intervention, which was stratified according to communities' prior history of interactions with the NGO marketing the stoves, was then randomized to 762 of these households. The main findings are that households in the disinterested class are less likely to purchase an ICS, that preference class is more strongly related to stove purchase than common sociodemographic drivers of technology adoption identified in the literature, and that distaste for smoke emissions appears to be a particularly strong driver for adoption of an electric ICS.


The effect of external friction on an elastic rod is considered for the case of a sudden application of force to one end. The interesting result obtained is that the maximum distance which the wave propagates down the rod is independent of the material properties land depends only on the applied force at the end and on the friction force.


In this study, we will propose a new method of robust design, which is formulated by using fuzzy numbers as design variables and parameters. In the past robust design methodologies, especially by considering usage of optimization, their basic formulations have been done by using orthogonal arry and stochastic optimization. In those cases, they cannot handle the deviation in design variables of both sides of shape or their index for their width, because they are mainly based on normal distirbution. In this study, we will compare the formulation of fuzzy optimization and the conventional robust design methodologies and cralify the characteristics of the proposed method mainly from differences between formulations. Through those comparisons, we explain the benefit and suitability to robust design of the proposed method for settings of objective functions, treatments of constraints and benefit of design variables which can treat both sides of index for their imprecision. We demonstrate the effectiveness through a simple numerical example and compare the results with those they have done in stochastic optimization.


Studies have been conducted on the Alaskan Railbelt System to examine the hydrothermal power system response after the hydroelectric power units at Bradley Lake are installed. The models and data for the generating units for the initial studies were not complete. Typical models were used, but their response appeared to be faster than judged by operating experience. A testing program was felt to be necessary so that accurate models could be obtained for the dynamic simulation studies. The testing method used for the combustion turbine governors, the models derived from tests, and comparison of those models with typical models are discussed. Simulation results revealed that the typical models were more optimistic. >


Misconceptions are the "the old, the bad, and the ugly" prior knowledge, ideas or conceptions that the learners have that hinder their further learning in science. Several types of misconceptions that undergraduate students hold about reaction coordinate diagrams (from here on we use the term "reaction coordinate diagrams" and "energy diagrams" interchangeably) are described herein. The rationale of 223 students were coded based on their responses to a multiple-choice question on the topic, and interviews (n = 10) were used to delve deeper into the students' knowledge structures. The results of the open coding of the rationale and the interviews were used in developing an instrument which was administered to 57 students. In this paper, we present the assessment instrument and the alternate conceptions that students have regarding energy diagrams that have not been reported in the literature yet. Implications for instructional approaches particular to the energy diagram topic are discussed.


A calculation system has been developed to determine the optimum dimensions of asymmetric I-beams for minimum shrinkage. The objective function is the minimum mass; the unknowns are the I-beam dimensions; the constraints are the stress, local buckling, and deflection. Different steel grades have been considered (235, 355, 460 (MPa) yield stress) and other aluminum alloys (90, 155, 230 (MPa) yield stress). The material, the span length, the loading, and the applied heat input have been changed. It is shown, that using optimum design; the welding shrinkage can be reduced with prebending and can save material cost as well.


Objectives: Hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers are aggressive and usually diagnosed at advanced stage with esophagus invasion. Total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy with gastric pull-up reconstruction has been a common surgery for these cancers but long-term outcomes are still questionable. This study aimed to investigate short-term and long-term outcomes of patients who underwent this surgery. Methods: Patients with hypopharyngeal or laryngeal cancer invading cervical esophagus who underwent total pharyngolaryngoesphagectomy with gastric pull-up between 2012 and 2016 was included and followed up until 2021. Short-term outcomes were complications and long-term outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results: Fifty patients were included with a mean age of 60.3 years and 94% were male. Pyriform fossa was the most common primary site of tumor (50%), followed by posterior hypopharyngeal wall (18%) and postcricoid region (18%). Mean operating time, postoperative oral intake and hospital stay was 363.1 ± 43.6 minutes, 8.8 ± 3.6 days and 14.2 ± 3.0 days respectively. Complications occurred in 15 patients (30%) without any in-hospital death. During the follow-up period, 17 patients had recurrence and 35 patients died. Median (95% confidence interval [CI]) OS and DFS time were 30 (21-37) and 30 (19-36) months. Five-year OS and DFS probability (95% CI) were 22.6% (12.8-39.7) and 22.7% (12.9-39.8). Conclusions: Total pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy with gastric pull-up is feasible and safe. However, even with curative surgery and multimodal treatment, advanced pharyngeal or laryngeal cancer with cervical esophagus invasion still has poor survival outcome.


The Levinson-type algorithms have not been applied to the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) estimation of parameters of an autoregressive system with exogenous inputs (ARX system) because the Yule-Walker equation in such a case is not a block-Toeplitz system, but is composed of block-Toeplitz submatrices. A new algorithm called the order-recursive algorithm (ORA) is developed to solve such systems, and it is applied to other LMMSE estimation problems of ARX systems. The resulting algorithm operates efficiently and recursively in the order of either the lagged output part or the exogenous input part. Meanwhile, it generates a set of LMMSE ARX models of different order as by-products. As a result, the ORA can be useful in many fields, including linear filtering of ARX and ARMA (autoregressive moving average) processes, system identification, model reduction, and adaptive control.<<ETX>>


Basin‐scale outcrop analyses of fluvial architecture in the Palaeogene San Juan Basin, New Mexico, document lateral and vertical trends in channel, floodplain and palaeosol characteristics. Herein, the uppermost part of the Palaeocene Nacimiento Formation and lower Eocene Cuba Mesa and Regina Members of the San Jose Formation are identified as deposits of large fluvial fans based on trends observed across the basin. Stratigraphic trends suggest two packages originated by fluvial fan progradation. Progradation of the lower fan system provides a new explanation for the transitional nature of a disconformity at the Nacimiento–San Jose Formation contact, previously thought to be a low‐angle unconformity. The two fan systems are separated by a retrogradational interval that culminates in a depositional hiatus at the contact between the Cuba Mesa and Regina Members. This, combined with poor age constraints, indicates that the duration of the disconformity at the base of the Cuba Mesa Member may have been overestimated. Furthermore, the succession is interpreted as deposits of variable‐discharge rivers, based on the combined abundance of upper flow regime and high deposition rate sedimentary structures indicative of intense flooding events, preservation of in‐channel bioturbation and paedogenic modification indicating periods of prolonged dryness, lack of identifiable bar strata and alternations of poorly drained and well‐drained floodplain deposits with pedofacies indicating alternating wet–dry cycles. This dataset adds to a growing body of evidence linking the formation of large fluvial fans to discharge variability and thus to hydroclimates with significant inter‐ and intra‐annual precipitation variability and intense rainfall. A long‐term stratigraphic shift from poorly drained to well‐drained floodplain deposits across two progradational fan successions indicates that a predictive model suggesting downstream decreases in soil drainage conditions is not encompassing of all large fan systems, and instead suggests a transition to a more arid climate across the Palaeocene–Eocene boundary.


Passive optical networks: have shown to be much more attractive than access networks. In this paper, we study the problem of transmitting multimedia video traffic on a passive wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical network served as an access network. We explore the possibility of providing an integrated service directly at the WDM optical layer while taking into consideration the unique QoS requirement from multimedia video traffic stream. We introduce a novel multimedia video traffic scheduling framework to use in a passive optical access network. The results show that the proposed mechanism is capable of providing QoS guarantee for MPEG video applications while achieving high overall throughput


The ARC-funded Smart Communities research project in Western Australia was designed to investigate and provide directions 'for improvement in the life choices available to children and young people at risk in remote, rural and urban areas of Western Australia'. Part of the project involved examining the life stories of 21 at-risk students, including recent African refugees, immigrants, Aborigines and 'established' Australians. This paper considers students' hopes and aspirations, family and community connections, the contribution of cultural influences toward their welfare and the degree of optimism felt by the youngsters.


Digital micro fluidic (DMF) biochips are now being extensively used to automate several biochemical laboratory protocols such as clinical analysis, point-of-care diagnostics, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In many biological assays, e.g., in bacterial susceptibility tests, samples and reagents are required in multiple concentration (or dilution) factors, satisfying certain "gradient" patterns such as linear, exponential, or parabolic. Dilution gradients are usually prepared with continuous-flowmicrofluidic devices, however, they suffer from inflexibility, non-programmability, and from large requirement of costly stock solutions. DMF biochips, on the other hand, are shown to produce, more efficiently, a set of random dilution factors. However, all existing algorithms fail to optimize cost or performance when a certain gradient pattern is required. In this work, we present an algorithm to generate any arbitrary linear gradient, on-chip, with minimum wastage, while satisfying a required accuracy in concentration factors. We present new theoretical results on the number of mix-split operations and waste computation, and prove an upper bound on storage requirement. The corresponding layout design of the biochip is also proposed. Simulation results on different linear gradients show a significant improvement in sample cost over three earlier algorithms used for the generation of multiple concentrations.


This paper provides a detailed description of sedimentary facies including pollen and diatom analyses, and 14C ages obtained from a hand-excavated outcrop in the central part of the Bengal Lowland. Based on this examination, seven sedimentary facies were recognized in relation to relative sea-level (RSL) changes since the mid Holocene. With the help of a standard reference datum, the required Mean Sea Level (MSL) has been calculated at the surface of the outcrop. The top of the outcrop was about 1.9 m above MSL and the base is 4.1 m below the MSL. The lowermost bioturbated sand flat facies, 3.75 m below the present MSL, contains mangrove pollen and represents an intertidal coastal-plain and estuarine-channel deposits that were dominated by tidal current. A 14C age of 7570-7430 cal BP was obtained for this unit. The evidence supports a transgressive mode in the Bay of Bengal during the middle-Holocene epoch. A subsequent regression interval was found in a salt marsh facies before 6670-6410 cal BP. The salt marsh facies has a sharp contact with an underlying (lower) mud flat facies, shaped by downcutting of the upper bed, indicating a regression. In response to this regression, the environment changed gradually from a mud flat to a salt marsh. The salt-marsh deposits contain abundant mangrove pollens and marine- and brackish-water diatoms, providing support for inflow of shallow-marine water into a supratidal, brackish-water mangal environment. The bioturbated mud flat facies indicates that the succession was dominated by tidal current, and the relative sea-level started to rise again after a small rebound. Hence, the transgressive conditions prevailed during the deposition of this mud flat facies in an intertidal coastal-plain environment. The underlying bluish-black medium-bedded peat layer contains grass pollen. This indicates that after the mid-Holocene the environment around the site changed gradually from mangrove to fresh-water swamp vegetation, in response to regression of the bay between 4080-4030 cal BP.  The above evidence suggests that the central part of the Bengal Lowland represented as an intertidal to supratidal coastal-plain estuarine environment that experienced with mid-Holocene relative sea-level changes between 7570-7430 and 4080-4030 cal BP.


Abstract Bulgarian viticulture is an export-oriented branch of Bulgarian agriculture. In 2003 the surface covered with vines was 130,000 ha. The European Union decided to grant a quota of 154,000 ha for vines to Bulgaria when the country becomes a full member of the EU. The following indicators have been estimated for determining the specialization of vine-growing in regions and districts: structure and amount of commodity production in vine-growing, vineyards area compared to cultivable land and perennial plants area; the average amount of cultivable vineyards in a farm.


Understanding variables that influence accessibility and health-seeking patterns of pregnant mothers is necessary for possible intervention of behavioural change. The research was conducted in District 1 of LA Union, City of San Fernando, Philippines to ascertain accessibility and utilization of maternal health services by pregnant mothers in Philippines' weak maternal health services delivery. The major purpose of the study was to determine the maternal access/utilization of pregnant mothers in Bacnotan district hospital regarding facilitating/hindering factors in accessing pregnancy related services. Descriptive method of research with the questionnaire was the main data gathering tools employed. Weighted mean were utilized to treat the data. The analysis of the gathered data indicate that the some pregnant mothers do not availed services at their convenient time due to understaffing of the health facility, some could not receive support from their husbands and spouse/relatives, while Some of them encountered barriers along traditional beliefs held by them and their spouse/partners. Based on the findings, Insight into facilitators and barriers to accessing/utilization of health services in this population revealed tools for enhancing engagement in health promotion programs addressing healthy lifestyle and the need for the management to employ more staff, design modality for outreach advocacy to the community members regarding support to the mothers and address other health related issues including barrier along traditional beliefs. Key words: Community, Maternal & Child Health, Nurses & Midwifery Services, Accessibility and utilization, Health care


Fredric Jameson's essay, "Third-World Literature in an Era of Multinational Capitalism," declares that unlike the literatures of the First World, Third World literatures are necessarily national allegories. A dark depiction of transitional tremors in post-apartheid South Africa and the idea of the nation and the national consciousness that seeps into the lives of private individuals is the crux of J.M Coetzee's Disgrace. The paper attempts an analysis of Disgrace and the inextricability of the categories of race, gender and class in the ruins of a colonial apartheid state. The novel explores the life of a 52 year old adjunct professor David Lurie who loses his job because of his sexual predatory nature. He sets off to live with his Lesbian daughter Lucy and the rest of the novel traces the aftermath of the sexual violation of Lucy and its implications. The paper will explore along the lines of the national allegory and what David Attwell and Barbara Harlow had called the "the refashioning of identities caught between the stasis and the change" and also how the feminine body becomes the site of contention of power in the novel. The novel demonstrates that rape, be it Melanie's or Lucy's, is not basically a gendered crime, it is also complicated by considerations of race or class and "a deeply discursive phenomenon whose material consequences are constituted by the profoundly racialized and class-based discourses that give it meaning"(Mardorossian). Keywords: allegory, apartheid, Coetzee, nation, violence


This article empirically analyses the state of inequality in South Africa. International comparisons show South Africa to be among the most unequal countries in the world. The levels of income inequality and earnings inequality are analysed with a range of measures and methods. The results quantify the extremely high level of inequality in South Africa. Earnings inequality appears to be falling in recent years, with relative losses in the upper-middle parts of the earnings distribution. Decomposing income inequality by factor source reveals the importance of earnings in accounting for overall income inequality. The article concludes by observing that, internationally, significant sustained decreases in inequality rarely come about without policies aimed at achieving that, and suggests that strong policy interventions would be needed to reduce inequality in South Africa to levels that are in the range typically found internationally.


Highly selective semi-hydrogenation of alkynes to alkenes is a highly important reaction for catalytic industry. Developing non-noble metal based catalysts with platinum group metal-like activity and selectivity is extremely crucial yet challenging. Metastable phase catalysts provide a potential candidate to realize high activity, yet the control of selectivity remains an open question. Here, we first report a metastable phase core-shell: face-centered cubic (fcc) phase Ag (10 at%) core-metastable hexagonal closest packed (hcp) phase Ni (90 at%) shell catalyst, which represents high conversion rate, high selectivity and remarkable universality for the semi-hydrogenation of phenylacetylene and its derivatives. More impressively, a TOF value of 8241.8 h-1 is achieved, much higher than those of stable phase catalysts and reported platinum group metal based catalysts. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the surface of hcp Ni becomes more oxidized due to electron transfer from hcp Ni shell to fcc Ag core, which decreases the adsorption capacity of styrene on the metastable phase Ni surface, thus preventing full hydrogenation. This work has gained crucial research significance for the design of high performance metastable phase catalysts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Background— Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia to occur after cardiac surgery, with an incidence of 20% to 40%. AF is associated with postoperative complications, including increased risk of stroke and need of additional treatment, as well as prolonged hospital stay and increased costs. It has been shown that prophylactic oral administration of β-blocker therapy reduces the incidence of postoperative AF after cardiac surgery. However, it is possible that absorption of drugs is impaired after cardiopulmonary perfusion associated with cardiac surgery. The purpose of this prospective, controlled, randomized trial was to study compare intravenous and per oral metoprolol administration in the prevention of AF after cardiac surgery. Methods and Results— 240 consecutive patients who were scheduled to undergo their first on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), aortic valve replacement, or combined aortic valve replacement and CABG were randomized to receive 48-hour infusion of metoprolol or oral metoprolol starting on the first postoperative morning. Patients were excluded if they had contraindications for β-blocker or had to stay >1 day in the intensive care unit. Dosage of metoprolol was adjusted according to heart rate. The dosage was 1 to 3 mg/h in the intravenous group and from 25 mg twice per day to 50 mg 3 times per day in the oral group. The incidence of postoperative AF was significantly lower in the intravenous group than in the oral group (16.8% versus 28.1%, P=0.036). No serious adverse effects were associated with intravenous metoprolol therapy. Conclusions— Our study suggests that intravenous metoprolol is well-tolerated and more effective than oral metoprolol in the prevention of AF after cardiac surgery.