Corrosion-induced deterioration of steel rebar is one of the main reasons for repair and rehabilitation programs for conventional steel-reinforced concrete bridge decks. According to the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), of all bridges in the United States, over 50 percent are constructed of conventional steel-reinforced or prestressed concrete, and one in three bridges is considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete due to corrosion of steel reinforcement. NACE has estimated the annual cost of corrosion-related maintenance of highway bridges in the United States at $8.3 billion. To overcome corrosion-induced structural issues, researchers have introduced and applied fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars, over the past couple of decades, as a corrosion-resistant candidate for either conventional reinforcing steel or prestressing strands. High strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and accelerated construction due to ease of placement of the bars and implementation are the special characteristics that make these bars an appealing alternative for either steel-reinforcing bars or prestressing strands. This report presents the experimental and analytical investigations of structural performance of a full-scale American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) I-girder Type I, reinforced and prestressed with aramid-fiber-reinforced polymer (AFRP) bars, where the bridge girder is composite with a topping deck. The major objectives of this research included evaluating (1) the constructability, (2) the load and deformation capacities under either flexure or shear tests, and (3) the structural performance per AASHTO load and resistance factor design (LRFD) criteria. The results of this research confirm the adequate strength and deformation capacities of the composite girder, satisfying the AASHTO LRFD criteria. The flexural capacity of the composite girder was about 1582 kNm (1167 kft.), which is 20 percent greater than the maximum factored load, 1326 kNm (978 kft.), per AASHTO LRFD. Under the flexure test, the failure mode of the girder was recognized as the tendon rupture in the bottom flange, where the maximum compressive strain in the topping deck did not reach a failure value equal to −0.003. Such a failure mode was expected because it is not practical to fit too many FRP bars within the bottom flange of the girder to over-reinforce the section and change the failure mode from tendon rupture to concrete crushing in the top fiber of the section.


[reaction: see text] A series of bay position difluoro- or tetrafluoro-substituted perylene bisimides have been synthesized by nucleophilic halogen exchange reaction of the corresponding dibromo- and tetrachloro-substituted perylene bisimides, respectively, with potassium fluoride. Compared to the parent unsubstituted perylene bisimides, these compounds display hypsochromically shifted absorption and fluorescence spectra with fluorescence quantum yields up to unity enabling bright yellow emission. Their electrochemical properties and crystal structures of two perylene bisimides are also reported.


Critics such as Michael Parker and Neil Roberts have drawn attention to the influence of Eastern European poetry as a whole on Ted Hughes's work, and in this article I focus on Hughes's attraction to Janos Pilinszky's verse in particular. Initially, this may seem odd, given Pilinszky's pervasive Christian iconography, and the fact that—as I illustrate—the Hungarian poet vacillated between victimhood and complicity during the war. However, Pilinszky's ruminations about trauma and memory strike a particular chord with the Yorkshire poet. Susan Bassnett, amongst others, has commented briefly on the affinity between the two writers, but in this article I explore the precise impact of Pilinszky on Hughes's writing. Hughes was working on Pilinszky's poetry with Janos Csokits in the early 1970s, until the publication of their translations in 1976: at the same time, he was writing two of his own collections that contain similar stylistics; Cave Birds, which he started in 1974, and Gaudete, which he worked on intensively in 1975. This synchronicity results in two collections that often read as if they were translations. Rather than fulfilling Harold Bloom's magniloquent conception of the anxiety of influence as a violent "family romance"—in which the ephebe vanquishes the predecessor poet in order to survive—the relationship between Hughes and Pilinszky is that of fellow travellers who draw on aspects of each other's work in order to refine previous convictions, rather than subvert the precursor's aesthetics. I analyse Pilinszky poems such as 'Unfinished Past' and 'You Have Had to Suffer Wind and Cold', and extracts from Hughes's Cave Birds and Gaudete sequences, in order to demonstrate the dialectic of influence between the two writers in the early 1970s, when, some critics argue, Hughes produced his best work.


Abstract All living organisms are normally undergoing aging. Dietary habits constitute the main environmental factor that may accelerate or decelerate this process. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are constituents of dietary products that are consumed daily, such as bread and milk. Although AGEs have been widely regarded as toxic agents, recent studies seem to contradict this view: they either find no adverse effects of AGEs or even attribute beneficial properties to them. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of sugar-derived AGEs on organismal lifespan using as a model the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Exposure to sugar-derived AGEs prolonged the lifespan of wild type animals; this lifespan extension was accompanied by an enhanced pharyngeal pumping rate. We demonstrate that elevation of the pharyngeal pumping rate depends on W06A7.4 and eat-4 expression, as well as on daf-16, which encodes a FOXO family transcription factor. Our results suggest that sugar-derived AGEs modulate the lifespan of C. elegans at least in part through transcriptional regulation of pharyngeal pumping throughout the animals' lifespan.


The objectives of this study were to review antenatal syphilis screening and to assess antenatal care providers' practices and opinions in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. A cross-sectional study on antenatal syphilis screening was conducted. The study settings were all 16 antenatal care clinics, and a random selection of 30 family units from six districts in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Interviews were conducted with 150 antenatal care providers and 27 antenatal care heads/leaders. Antenatal syphilis screening in Ulaanbaatar was complex. Most pregnant women had antenatal care at family units or antenatal clinics, but syphilis blood testing could be performed only in some district general hospitals. Syphilis positive-screening cases were referred to the venereologists for confirmation of results, appropriate treatment, contact tracing, and follow-up. The providers agreed with the need for syphilis screening in pregnant women but identified as constraints the limited time for performing the screening due to late antenatal visit, women's lack of knowledge, poverty, and geographic barriers. The practice of providers varied, and the opinion on a one-stop service was positive. The main conclusions concerning the failure of universal antenatal syphilis screening were limited accessibility and feasibility of the service, and the ignorance of both women and providers on the importance of screening. It was agreed that decentralization of antenatal syphilis screening would improve the system.


Abstract Motivated by the long-standing debate on rationality in behavioral economics and the potential of theory-driven predictive analytics, this paper examines the link between service quality and B2B churn. Using longitudinal B2B transactional data with service quality indicators provided by a large company, we present evidence that both rationality and bounded-rationality assumptions play significant roles in predicting organizational decisions on churn. Specifically, variables that relate to the assumed rationality of organizations appear to provide accurate predictions while, at the same time, variables that capture boundedly rational decision rules appear to play a role through "somatic states" that make organizations more sensitive to the rational variables. In addition to presenting a novel approach for predicting organizational decisions on churn, this paper offers theoretical and managerial insights as well as opportunities for future research at the intersection of behavioral economics and predictive analytics for decision-making.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to identify rheumatology practice care gaps in evaluating for vitamin D deficiency in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as well as adherence to vitamin D replacement in SLE patients currently on corticosteroid therapy. Data for this study were collected from the Southern California Lupus Registry in addition to data extraction from medical health records. Evaluation of serum vitamin D level within 6 months of patient encounter, current or prior use of systemic corticosteroids, and vitamin D replacement in patients receiving corticosteroid therapy were noted. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25(OH)D3 less than 30 ng/ml. Of 182 patients in the cohort, data were available for 176. Evaluation of vitamin D deficiency was noted in 49 patients (28%), 27 (55%) of whom had abnormal values. Current corticosteroid use was noted in 56 (32%) patients and prior use in 73 (41%). Vitamin D replacement was prescribed to 30 (54%) patients with current corticosteroid use. In an academic rheumatology clinic, we have identified underevaluation for vitamin D deficiency in SLE patients despite increasing awareness of its contribution to disease activity. Further, routine supplementation of vitamin D is particularly lacking in individuals receiving systemic corticosteroids. This presents a practical opportunity for improvement in SLE clinical care.


Analysis of the anomalous X-diffraction data reported by Ferreira et al. (PDB entry 1S5L) for crystals of photosystem II isolated from Thermosynechococcus elongatus indicates that a calcium ion is bound to the PsbO protein. The Ca2+-binding site is located close to the lumenal exit of a putative proton channel leading from the water splitting site.


The paper presents a compile-time scheme for partitioning non-rectangular loop nests which consist of inner loops whose bounds depend on the index of the outermost, parallel loop. The minimisation of load imbalance, on the basis of symbolic cost estimates, is considered the main objective; however options which may increase other sources of overhead are avoided. Experimental results on a virtual shared memory computer are also presented.


Despite being able to approximate the outputs of a wide class of (weakly) nonlinear dynamical systems, the finite-memory discrete-time Volterra models known as Volterra filters (VF) are notoriously too heavy from a computational point of view, due to the often huge number of parameters needed to fully describe their kernels. This shortcoming has prompted the development of alternative, low-complexity approximate models, among which low-rank tensor-based approaches figure prominently. In this work, we argue that for bilinear (or more generally, linear-analytic) systems, the Volterra kernels in the so-called regular form are naturally structured in the form of a tensor-train decomposition, a property that can be easily exploited for achieving complexity reduction. We compare this proposed approach with other existing tensor-based ones in the case where state-space equations are known but typically hard and/or too costly to realize in discrete-time, which motivates the use of low-complexity discrete-time nonlinear filters. Our numerical results illustrate the benefits of our proposal in an example involving a nonlinear loudspeaker of known state-space equations.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Induction of the antioxidant and cytoprotective phase 2 enzymes via the Keap1/Nrf2/antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway is an accepted strategy for cancer prevention. Recent studies have identified inhibition of inflammatory response as a consistent attribute of chemicals with phase 2 enzymes-inducing properties. As chronic inflammation has been associated with the pathogenesis of cancer, compounds eliciting both phase 2 enzymes-inducing and anti-inflammatory properties may serve as potential candidates for cancer chemoprevention. In our previous study, we had found that trans-cinnamaldehyde (CA) and its analog 2-benzoyloxycinnamaldehyde (BCA) were able to induce phase 2 enzymes via the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway. In this study, we investigated the chemopreventive and anti-inflammatory properties of CA, BCA, and a novel series of "supercinnamaldehydes". In the ARE-luciferase reporter gene assay, compounds were screened for their chemopreventive potencies by determining their ability to induce ARE-mediated gene expression in human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293). All supercinnamaldehydes induced ARE transcriptional activity, with one compound showing an induction of almost nine fold at 20 µM as compared to that of around six fold induction for 40 µM CA. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties of supercinnamaldehydes, we induced inflammatory conditions in mouse macrophage-like cells (RAW264.7) with lipopolysachharide (LPS) and measured nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in presence of the compounds. Compounds with good ARE-fold induction also exhibited low IC50 values for NO generation. The most potent compound inhibited NO production with an IC50 of 4.63 µM, significantly lower than the IC50 (34.45 µM) for CA. We focused our subsequent studies on CA, BCA, and two supercinnamaldehydes with highest ARE-fold induction and lowest IC50 values for NO release. The selected compounds showed marked induction of Nrf2 and phase 2 enzyme levels in HEK293 cells and wild-type mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) as observed by immunoblotting. In contrast, little induction was observed in Keap1-knockout MEFs, suggesting that the compounds could, at least in part, be targeting Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway for phase 2 enzyme induction. Immunoblotting also revealed that these compounds inhibited the LPS-induced up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). A suppressive effect on the NFκB signaling pathway was also observed. In conclusion, we hereby introduce a new class of compounds with superior phase 2 enzyme inducing and anti-inflammatory properties than the naturally occurring CA, which may be potentially efficacious in cancer prevention.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1639. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1639


The earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are characterized by deficits in memory and cognition indicating hippocampal pathology. While it is now recognized that synapse dysfunction precedes the hallmark pathological findings of AD, it is unclear if specific hippocampal synapses are particularly vulnerable. Since the mossy fiber (MF) synapse between dentate gyrus (DG) and CA3 regions underlies critical functions disrupted in AD, we utilized serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM) to analyze MF microcircuitry in a mouse model of familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). FAD mutant MF terminal complexes were severely disrupted compared to control – they were smaller, contacted fewer postsynaptic spines and had greater numbers of presynaptic filopodial processes. Multi-headed CA3 dendritic spines in the FAD mutant condition were reduced in complexity and had significantly smaller sites of synaptic contact. Significantly, there was no change in the volume of classical dendritic spines at neighboring inputs to CA3 neurons suggesting input-specific defects in the early course of AD related pathology. These data indicate a specific vulnerability of the DG-CA3 network in AD pathogenesis and demonstrate the utility of SBEM to assess circuit specific alterations in mouse models of human disease.


We present results from a deep mid-infrared survey of the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) region performed at 6.7 and 15 μm with the ISOCAM instrument on board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). The final map in each band was constructed by the co-addition of four independent rasters, registered using bright sources securely detected in all rasters, with the absolute astrometry being defined by a radio source detected at both 6.7 and 15 μm. We sought detections of bright sources in a circular region of radius 2.5 arcmin at the centre of each map, in a manner that simulations indicated would produce highly reliable and complete source catalogues using simple selection criteria. Merging source lists in the two bands yielded a catalogue of 35 distinct sources, which we calibrated photometrically using photospheric models of late-type stars detected in our data. We present extragalactic source count results in both bands, and discuss the constraints that they impose on models of galaxy evolution, given the volume of space sampled by this galaxy population.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Cellular growth in the vascular wall, including endothelial and smooth-muscle cell proliferation, is recognized as a component of the obstructive vasculopathy observed in the small vessels of the lungs in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We hypothesized that angiogenic growth factors may have a role in the molecular mechanisms underlying this cellular proliferation.

DESIGN
Case-control study.

SETTING
Multicenter, tertiary care hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS
We studied 117 patients with PAH and 60 control subjects.

MEASUREMENTS
We measured levels of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the blood and urine of these subjects using an enzyme-linked immunoassay.

RESULTS
Median levels of urinary and plasma bFGF were significantly higher in patients with PAH compared to normal control subjects. There was a difference in levels of urine and plasma bFGF according to etiology of pulmonary hypertension, with the highest levels seen in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension. Levels of urine or plasma VEGF were not significantly different between patients and control subjects.

CONCLUSION
Patients with PAH have substantial alterations in urine and plasma levels of bFGF. This molecule may have a role as a mitogenic factor in the endothelial and smooth-muscle cell proliferation seen in PAH.


In marketing management, brand image and customer loyalty are leading important concepts. In general definition, brand image is image in customers' minds about a product or a service, and different from brand identity, it is based on physical or visual components. Although there have been researches on relation between brand image perceiving and customer loyalty, there have been still a need for these researches at marketing management. For this reason, it is aimed in this research to examine relationship between brand image perceiving and customer loyalty levels in the perspective of marketing management. In the research, total 432 university students from Bosnia Herzegovina Travnic University at 2016-2017 academic year at different departments and using a definite sport brand product were subjected to survey, and relationship between their brand image perceiving and brand loyalty were examined. According to results of the study, brand image perceiving levels showed statistically significant difference based on gender among demographic properties (p<0,05), whereas there were not statistically significant differences based on age, class and family types (p>0,05). Emotional brand loyalty showed statistically significant differences between age and class parameters (p<0,05), whereas the differences were not statistically significant based on gender and family types (p>0,05). Correlation analysis results showed that there was not a statistically significant correlation between brand image perceiving and emotional brand loyalty (p>0,05).


A rate splitting based scheme is proposed to operate a broadcast setting with two antennas at the transmit side and two single-antenna receiving terminals. The transmitter knows the magnitude of the channel coefficients, and it is oblivious to the phase information. Each transmit antenna, with a power constraint, sends a private message and a common message to be decoded by both receivers. An achievable rate region is obtained, which enlarges the capacity region of the vector broadcast channel with vector channel magnitude feedback by means of superposition coding.


We introduce a new technique for constructing contact structures compatible with fibered Seifert multilinks in homology 3-spheres and fibered multilinks with cabling structures in any 3-manifolds. The contact structure constructed in this paper is so well-organized that we can easily see if it is tight or overtwisted in most cases. As an application, we classify the tightness of contact structures compatible with fibered Seifert links in S. We also give an application to the fibrations of real analytic germs of the form fḡ.


We analytically computed the optical spectra and numerically evaluated the ripple impacts on the performance of an optical DQPSK signal generated by only one MZM. We confirmed the necessity of a pulse carver to this kind of signal. The tolerances to the timing mismatch between the data and the pulse carver were analyzed among different duty-cycles. The conventional DQPSK signal generated by two parallel DPSK modulators were also analyzed for comparisons. We also provided some experimental results to demonstrate the possibility of the one-MZM scheme and the necessity of a pulse carver in terms of the clearly opened demodulated eyes.


Abstract Maintenance intervention is necessary for the equipment, such as aircraft structures and systems, to maintain their operational performance status during their lifetime. Generally maintenance costs make a significant contribution to overall operating costs. Accordingly, developing an optimal maintenance strategy to minimize maintenance costs and total lifetime operating cost (TLOC) is a critical task. This article proposes a methodology for the optimization of a reliability-centred maintenance strategy based on maintenance-free operating period (MFOP) philosophy by considering the TLOC. The method can be used to evaluate the TLOC of alternative maintenance strategies and determine the optimal maintenance interval while meeting the proposed reliability requirements. The method is also suitable for evaluating and optimizing the MFOP-based reliability design of the products. An example based on line replaceable unit replacement strategy is introduced to illustrate the proposed maintenance strategy optimization approach. And a sensitivity analysis on the TLOC index for each of the two reliability requirement parameters is also performed.


Introduction By 1988, our group had completed several studies on young students' understanding of particular concepts before, during and after instruction. These experiences led us to conduct two small scale and several informal teaching experiments based on the idea that the teacher should pose problems to students for which they do not yet have a routine solution method available, and that learning would take place while the students were grappling with the problems. The outcomes of these experiments helped us to develop the following tentative model for learning and teaching mathematics:


Neuronal plasticity of the inner retina has been observed in response to photoreceptor degeneration. Typically, this phenomenon has been considered maladaptive and may preclude vision restoration in the blind. However, several recent studies utilizing triggered photoreceptor ablation have shown adaptive responses in bipolar cell dendrites expected to support normal vision. Whether such homeostatic plasticity occurs during progressive photoreceptor degenerative disease to help maintain normal visual behavior is unknown. We addressed these issues in an established mouse model of Retinitis Pigmentosa caused by the P23H mutation in rhodopsin. We show robust modulation of the retinal transcriptomic network reminiscent of the neurodevelopmental state as well as potentiation of rod – rod bipolar cell signaling following rod photoreceptor degeneration. Additionally, we found highly sensitive night vision in P23H mice even when more than half of the rod photoreceptors were lost. The results implicate retinal adaptation leading to persistent visual function during photoreceptor degenerative disease.


Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust. However, it is not essential for life. Owing to its specific chemical properties, aluminum inhibits more than 200 biologically important functions and causes various adverse effects. It is suggested that the exposure to aluminum has a relationship with neurodegenerative diseases including dialysis encephalopathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinsonism dementia in the Kii Peninsula and Guam, and Alzheimer's disease. However, these relationships still remain elusive. Furthermore, the complexity of bioavailability has difficulty in evaluation of aluminum toxicity. In this paper, we review the detailed characteristics of aluminum neurotoxicity and bioavailability based on the recent literatures, and discuss its biological fate and effects to human health. Considering its long half-life in the body, unnecessary exposure to aluminum should be avoided for human health.


As an additive manufacturing process, material jetting techniques allow to selectively deposit droplets of materials in liquid or powder form through a small-diameter aperture, such as a nozzle of a print head. For the fabrication of printed electronics, a variety of inks and dispersions of functional materials can be deposited by drop-on-demand printing on rigid and flexible substrates. In this work, zero-dimensional multi-layer shell-structured fullerene material, also known as carbon nano-onion (CNO) or onion-like carbon, is printed on polyethylene terephthalate substrates using drop-on-demand inkjet printing. CNOs are produced using a low-cost flame synthesis technique and characterized by electron microscopy, Raman, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and specific surface area and pore size measurements. The produced CNO material has an average diameter of ∼33 nm, pore diameter in the range ∼2–40 nm and a specific surface area of 160 m2.g−1. The CNO dispersions in ethanol have a reduced viscosity (∼1.2 mPa.s) and are compatible with commercial piezoelectric inkjet heads. The jetting parameters are optimized to avoid satellite drops and to obtain a reduced drop volume (52 pL), resulting in optimal resolution (220 μm) and line continuity. A multi-step process is implemented without inter-layer curing and a fine control over the CNO layer thickness is achieved (∼180 nm thick layer after 10 printing passes). The printed CNO structures show an electrical resistivity of ∼600 Ω.m, a high negative temperature coefficient of resistance (−4.35 × 10−2 °C−1) and a marked dependency on relative humidity (−1.29 × 10−2 RH% −1). The high sensitivity to temperature and humidity, combined to the large specific area of the CNOs, make this material and the corresponding ink a viable prospect for inkjet-printed technologies, such as environmental and gas sensors.


Loop detectors are the most common sensors used to collect freeway management data. There has been considerable research to screen the quality of loop detector data, but some significant detector errors have not received much attention because of the difficulty of identifying their occurrence. This study examines one such error, pulse breakup, in which what should be a single pulse from a vehicle breaks up into two or more pulses because the detector momentarily drops out. An algorithm is developed to identify the presence of individual pulse-breakup events. The algorithm is based on the nature of pulse breakup revealed from individual vehicle actuations with concurrent video ground truth. The algorithm begins with the comparison of the on-times from the two successive pulses bounding a given short off-time. To differentiate between pulse breakup and tailgating, the algorithm includes several comparisons of the adjacent on-times with respect to the ambient traffic conditions. Six steps are included in the algorithm. If two successive pulses satisfy all steps, these pulses are a suspected pulse breakup. Otherwise, these pulses are considered to arise from non-pulse-breakup events. The process is repeated over all pulses at each detector. The results can be used to correct for the suspected pulse-breakup events, and the rate of suspected pulse-breakup events provides an indication of the detector's health. The algorithm was tested over 68,281 actuations with concurrent video ground truth, in both free-flow and congested conditions, from 15 detector stations (22 directional stations). As presented here, the algorithm demonstrated good performance.


Sensors and actuators are essential components of cyber-physical systems. They establish the bridge between cyber systems and the real world, enabling these systems to appropriately react to external stimuli. Among the various types of sensors, active sensors are particularly well suited to remote sensing applications, and are widely adopted for many safety critical systems such as automobiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and medical devices. However, active sensors are vulnerable to spoofing attacks, despite their critical role in such systems. They cannot adopt conventional challenge-response authentication procedures with the object of measurement, because they cannot determine the response signal in advance, and their emitted signal is transparently delivered to the attacker as well.

Recently, PyCRA, a physical challenge-response authentication scheme for active sensor spoofing detection has been proposed. Although it is claimed to be both robust and generalizable, we discovered a fundamental vulnerability that allows an attacker to circumvent detection. In this paper, we show that PyCRA can be completely bypassed, both by theoretical analysis and by real-world experiment. For the experiment, we implemented authentication mechanism of PyCRA on a real-world medical drop counter, and successfully bypassed it, with only a low-cost microcontroller and a couple of crude electrical components. This shows that there is currently no effective robust and generalizable defense scheme against active sensor spoofing attacks.


For the last six years, Measurement Science and Technology has awarded a Best Paper prize. The Editorial Board of the journal believes that awarding such a prize is an opportunity to say `thank you' to authors for submitting their best material, and serves as a focus for their on-going quality review. The working party, composed of R J Dewhurst, P P L Regtien and M A Player, considered a large number of papers recommended by Board Members. We would like to thank Board Members for their responses that formed an important part of the assessment process. We drew up a short-list of nine papers from the Board Member responses we received. We re-examined these papers, with a view to finding an original contributed paper that described new and significant work, and that was presented in a clear and rigorous way. We also considered the referee-assigned quality ratings of the papers, and the number of accesses made to the papers in the Electronic Journal. We specifically excluded review papers, or papers appearing in special issues or special features that were of a review nature. After lengthy discussions, we present the 1999 Best Paper Award to the following paper: J Krupka, K Derzakowski, M Tobar, J Hartnett and R G Geyer Complex permittivity of some ultralow loss dielectric crystals at cryogenic temperatures 10 387-92 (published May 1999) The award, comprising a cash honorarium and plaque, will be presented to the author at a suitable venue in the near future. The paper describes the measurement science and technology required to conduct measurements of permittivity and the dielectric loss tangent in low-loss crystals down to 4 K. It provides a clear description of the techniques used. The quality of the data, together with comparison of values from previous published work, vindicates their measurement claims. The results presented establish a very accurate (with 0.1% tolerance) permittivity versus temperature database for a number of low-loss crystals, e.g. sapphire, YAG, quartz and SrLaAlO4, in the 10-20 GHz region. Tan δ measurements down to 10-8 are presented. In addition, the paper contains a solid set of references and draws together a concise set of conclusions as a summary. We also short-listed a further three papers for the award: T Schmitz and J Ziegert A new sensor for the micrometer-level measurement of three-dimensional, dynamic contours 10 51-62 (published February 1999) M Hobel and K Haffner An on-line monitoring system for oil-film, pressure and temperature distributions in large-scale hydro-generator bearings 10 393-402 (published May 1999) S Yokoyama, J Ohnishi, S Iwasaki, K Seta, H Matsumoto and N Suzuki Real-time and high-resolution absolute-distance measurement using a two-wavelength superheterodyne interferometer 10 1233-9 (published December 1999)


Phakoemulsification through a pars plana incision has been performed on 30 patients, as the initial portion of a combined lensectomy-vitrectomy operation. The technical ease of accomplishing lens removal and the reduced stress on the cornea and irido-ciliary area are described.


As the almost 200-year palaeontological research revealed, the geographical distribution of various fossil mollusk faunas in deposits of the late Neogene Lake Pannon displays a regular pattern. The lake basin was filled by lateral accretion of sediments, resulting in condensed sedimentary successions in the distal parts of the basin and successively younger shallow-water deposits from the margins towards the basin center. Exposed intra-basin basement highs, however, broke this strict pattern when they acted as sediment sources during the lake's lifetime. The Mecsek Mts in southern Hungary was such an island in Lake Pannon during the early late Miocene. Deposition of the 200 m thick Sarmatian–Pannonian sedimentary succession in Pécs-Danitzpuszta at the foot of the Mecsek Mts was thus controlled by local tectonic and sedimentary processes, resulting in a unique succession of facies and mollusk faunas. A typical, restricted marine Sarmatian fauna is followed by a distinct freshwater or oligohaline interval, which, according to micropalaeontological evidence, still belongs to the Sarmatian. Although poor preservation of fossils does not allow firm conclusions, it seems that freshwater Sarmatian snails were the ancestors of the brackish-water-adapted early Pannonian pulmonate snail taxa. The successive "Sarmatian-type" dwarfed cockle fauna is similar to those widely reported from the Sarmatian–Pannonian boundary in various parts of the Pannonian Basin; however, a thorough taxonomic study of its species is still lacking. The bulk of the sedimentary succession corresponds to the sublittoral to profundal "white marls," which are widespread in the southern Pannonian Basin. In Croatia and Serbia, they are divided into the Lymnocardium praeponticum or Radix croatica Zone (11.6–11.4 Ma) below, and the Congeria banatica Zone (11.4–9.7 Ma) above; this division can be applied to the Pécs-Danitzpuszta succession as well. Sedimentation of the calcareous marl, however, ceased at Pécs-Danitzpuszta at about 10.5–10.2 Ma ago (during the younger part of the Lymnocardium schedelianum Chron), when silt was deposited with a diverse sublittoral mollusk fauna. Similar faunas are known from the Vienna Basin, southern Banat, and other marginal parts of the Pannonian Basin System, but not from Croatia and Serbia, where deposition of the deep-water white marls continued during this time. Finally, the Pécs-Danitzpuszta succession was capped with a thick, coarse-grained sand series that contains mollusk molds and casts representing a typical littoral assemblage. This littoral fauna is well-known from easternmost Austria, northern Serbia, and northwestern Romania, but never directly from above the sublittoral L. schedelianum Zone. The fauna is characteristic for the upper part of the Lymnocardium conjungens Zone and has an inferred age of ca. 10.2–10.0 Ma. The Pécs-Danitzpuszta succession thus allows to establish the chronostratigraphic relationship between mollusk faunas that have not been observed in one succession nor in close proximity to each other in other parts of the Pannonian Basin.


Stereo matching is a powerful method of image segmentation for applications such as moving objects tracking. The result of a stereo matching algorithm is a disparity image which shows the difference of the object location in the images produced by the left and right camera. In this paper, we present a tracking algorithm which is based on the CAMSHIFT (Continuously Adaptive Mean Shift) algorithm. Our algorithm operates on the stereo images, and the disparity image. Extending the CAMSHIFT algorithm with the scene depth information from the disparity image we are able to increase the tracking quality with acceptable losses in the execution time. The algorithm is implemented and evaluated in a people tracking system, where the experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms the conventional CAMSHIFT algorithm in tracking accuracy.


Background: Differences in quality of clinical education and support to students occur and there are demands for a unification of higher education in Europe. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe the nursing students' experiences of their first clinical education period in relation to learning and professional development. Methods: The sample consisted of 139 nursing students from Finland and Sweden. The data was collected by questionnaire and analyzed statistically. Findings: Students' experiences of clinical competence were examined from four perspectives: clinical preception, learning, learning objectives and reflection. Overall, students rated highly, however there were statistically significant differences among the students concerning nationality and length of clinical education. Students did not always get a clear picture of what was expected of them in clinical education and there were deficits in continuing feedback. Students' clinical learning was associated with the length of clinical education. Conclusions: Clinical preceptoring as a catalyst in student's understanding and learning is central. Students rated learning of tasks and skills higher than abilities that require more reflection and consideration, which may indicate a more task-centered preception. A conscious didactic approach would help students to reflect and develop into professionals in nursing and caring science.


The influence of supplements of cotton seed cake (CSC) on the voluntary intake and utilization of sorghum glume (SG) by the goat. was studied in a 4 x 4 Latin Square digestibility trial. The study involved a total of 12 West African dwarf goats made up of 8 dry, non-pregnant does and 4 bucks aged between 14 and 20 months with av. live weight of 13.7kg. There were four diets in all, made up of 3 experimental diets in which cotton seed cake replaced, in each case, 25, 50 and 75% of the sorghum glume. The control diet was the unsupplemented sorghum glume. The goats were fed dry matter at 4% of body weight and water and mineral salt lick were provided ad libitum . The dry matter intake (DMI) increased (P 0.05). Weight gains in all treatments were positive being highest (6334 ± 12.7 g/d) with the 50% CSC supplementation of the sorghum glume and lowest (11.67±10.85 g/d) with the (control) unsupplemented sorghum glume. Increases in the oil seed cake supplementation of the sorghum glume resulted in increases (P < 0.05) in nitrogen intake across the treatments. Increases in the feed digestibility, nitrogen retention, digested feed energy and organic matter were significant (P < 0.05) up to 50% cotton seed supplementation of the sorghum glume. The performances of the goats on the 50% CSC and 75% CSC supplementation of sorghum glume are comparable (P < 0.05) in respect of feed intake, nitrogen retention and nutrients digestibilities. A juidicious use of the protein concentrate for optimum feed intake and feed utilization makes the 50% CSC supplementation more desireable. A 50% cotton seed cake supplementation of the sorghum glume is recommended as suitable in the dry season feeding of the goat. Key words: Goat, sorghum glume, crop residue, nitrogen supplementation.


The clinic, laboratorial, intraoperative, and morphologic findings of 482 patients with acute gangrenous cholecystitis have been studied. There were 162 men (33.6%) and 320 (67.4%) women at the age of 15-91 years, with average 55.3±6.5 years old. 218 patients were operated by laparoscopic method, traditional access was provided in 264 patients. Conversion was performed in 17 from 218 cases (7.8%). Postoperative complications made 8.3% and 13.6% in both groups respectively. Intraoperative complication during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (common bile duct injury) occurred in 1 (0.46%) patient operated at the fifth day since the commencement of disease. Conversions and complications reduction was provided by the offered technical improvements of laparoscopic cholecystectomy such as a change of the points of trocars injection, using the modified instruments for the tissues dissection, gallbladder mobilization and hemostasis. АBDUKHAKIM KHADJIBAEV, SHUKHRAT АTAJANOV, FARKHOD KHADJIBAEV, KHIKMAT ANVAROV


Effects of chemical agents upon the eye have long been favored as a means of analyzing the electrical phenomena in response to illumination and of studying the organization of retinal function. In this study the electroretinogram (ERG) serves as a detector of effects which epinephrine (Adrenalin) might exert upon the mammalian retina. Our interest in the substance epinephrine stems from the chemical relationship of epinephrine to the precursor of melanin (as found in the pigment epithelium). Apparently both are manufactured from a basic amino acid, tyrosine. Recent experimental evidence would indicate that the slow waves of the electroretinogram depend upon membrane functions of the pigment epithelium. The electroretinogram therefore would enable us to test whether epinephrine affects specifically the retinal pigment cells. There are several other facts which point to the possibility of a relationship between epinephrine and pigment epithelium. First, epinephrine readily produces changes in the distribution of the


Space calling Earth, on the quantum line A successful quantum communication network will rely on the ability to distribute entangled photons over large distances between receiver stations. So far, free-space demonstrations have been limited to line-of-sight links across cities or between mountaintops. Scattering and coherence decay have limited the link separations to around 100 km. Yin et al. used the Micius satellite, which was launched last year and is equipped with CHEMICAL ENGINEERING


Ant colony optimization algorithm is a good way to solve complex multi-stage decision problems. But the construction graph and computation steps for an ant to construct a solution in the construction graph will be exponentially increased, if the stage number and decision variable dimension of complex multi-stage decision problem are increasing. It will cause the ant colony optimization algorithm can not be computed by a single PC. Therefore, a parallel ant colony optimization algorithm based on the construction graph decomposition is presented to solve this problem. The parallel ant colony optimization algorithm decomposes the construction graph into some parts and each part is placed on different PC. The whole computation task is accomplished by mutual cooperation in the PCs which join in the computation. Experiment has verified that it can solve this problem and improve the computation efficiency


Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a particular class of evolutionary algorithms that use techniques inspired by evolutionary biology. These are widely used in different areas of bioinformatics. In immunoinformatics, a common optimization problem is the search of optimal vaccination schedules. The problem of defining optimal schedules is particularly acute in cancer immunopreventive approaches, which requires a sequence of vaccine administrations to keep a high level of protective immunity. This paper presents a formalization of the optimization problem and show how a GA search on a model-based approach can be used to deal with the problem.


The N8S Fri cke-Oosimetry Service (advertised in HBS Special Publication 250, 1986-1988 and earlier editions) is described in detail. After a brief historical introduction and description of the service, the theoretical basis (including what quantities are measured, how, and why) and the philosophy of internal quality checks are discussed in some detail. This is followed by a description of the physical setup and of the step-by-step operating and reporting procedures. Throughout this section, there is reference to sample records of past performance, in order to facilitate continuity of operation in the case of personnel changes. The document concludes with a discussion of the uncertainties involved in this measurement quality assurance service, safety considerations, and an appendix containing samples of all form letters and of the final report mailed to the participants.


Abstract. Habitat use is the most common dimension along which sympatric species partition resources to reduce competition. We conducted faecal pellet counts at Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, to examine habitat use by an assemblage of mammalian herbivores with disparate evolutionary histories and varying body size: introduced European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and hog deer (Axis porcinus), and native eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) and common wombat (Vombatus ursinus). Overlap in habitat use was low between four pairs of species, suggesting spatial partitioning of resources to reduce the potential for interspecific competition. More generally, however, overlap in habitat use was high, particularly between native and introduced grazers. These results indicate the potential for competition if resources were limiting and suggest that assemblages of species with independent evolutionary histories have inherently less resource partitioning to facilitate coexistence than assemblages of species with common evolutionary histories. Despite evidence of high overlap in habitat use between native and introduced species at a broad scale, and variation in the competitive ability of species, coexistence was likely facilitated by niche complementarity, including temporal and fine-scale partitioning of spatial resources. There was no relationship between body size and the diversity of habitats used. In contemporary assemblages of native and introduced species, evolutionary history is likely to have a strong influence on resource partitioning.


Background: Growth hormone (GH) stimulates the production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in most tissues and together GH and IGF-1 profoundly impact adipose tissue deposition, glucose metabolism and cardiovascular function. A low serum IGF-I level has been reported as being associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and might be one of the mechanisms underlying cardio-metabolic risk in OSA patients. Methods: In a multicenter national study, 817 patients consulting for suspicion of OSA (OSA confirmed for 567 patients) underwent serum IGF-1 measurements. We analyzed the association between an IGF-1 level below the median value of the population and variables related to cardio-metabolic risk: body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, apnea hypopnea index (AHI), cholesterol and triglycerides (expressed as median and divided into quartiles for continuous variables). Results: After adjustment for age and gender, low IGF-1 levels were associated with increased BMI and AHI (Odds ratios (OR) = 2.83; p < 0.0001 and OR = 3.03, p < 0.0001 for Quartile 4 vs. Quartile1, respectively), with elevated cholesterol levels (OR = 1.36, p = 0.0444), and elevated triglyceride levels (OR = 1.36; p = 0.0008). Conclusions: Both adiposity and sleep apnea synergistically predict low levels of IGF-1 and thus could together contribute toward cardio-metabolic risk. Further work are needed to confirm whether IGF-1 levels allow grading severity and predicting response to treatments to aim at a personalized medicine for patients suffering from OSA.


In pipelines, solid compounds including gas hydrates and asphaltenes may form/precipitate and accumulate on the pipe surface, leading to a gradual stenosis of the flowline. As a result, production may become increasingly difficult or possibly interrupted if mitigation efforts are not enacted. Typically, injected chemicals will either inhibit nucleation or dissolve already-formed deposits to restore original flow conditions back to the system; however, this can be a costly option. More recently, management strategies have been proposed where solids are handled in a controlled fashion rather than completely avoided. One such proposed management strategy as suggested for wall deposit formation is the use of coatings. Here, coatings can provide a low surface energy layer on the pipe wall, which restricts liquid and solid accumulation, allowing for a stable slurry flow through a system.
 This study utilized two material formulations within several experimental setups to probe their interactions with water, gas hydrate, asphaltene, and crude oil. The results serve as part of an ongoing investigation into a surface treatment formulation that can be tested on larger-scale, fully flowing systems, which could be ultimately implemented into real-world production scenarios. The first surface treatment is a water-based polymeric surface that displays repellency to both oil and water phases (omniphobic). Testing of this material consisted of water contact angle measurements and static asphaltene/crude oil deposition quantification at atmospheric conditions, as well as visual confirmation of hydrate deposition prevention at high pressures. Additionally, an experimental superomniphobic surface treatment, which displays elevated resiliency to both water and hydrocarbons, was also examined within the asphaltene/crude oil test as a comparison to the omniphobic surface treatment.
 Static contact angle results showed that the omniphobic surface treatment had reduced surface interaction with water droplets in air, increasing the low contact angles of corroded surfaces (0-31°) to slightly hydrophobic conditions of 91.5°. Additionally, rocking cells tests indicated that these omniphobic surface treatments may prevent gas hydrate deposition under high-pressure, semi-flowing conditions. Multiple tests found that formed hydrate agglomerants did not deposit for at least 48 and 72 hours. Finally, static deposition tests conducted in crude oil with forced asphaltene precipitation suggested that the omniphobic surface treatment displayed a resistance to both asphaltenes and crude oil when compared to untreated and superomniphobic surfaces.


Objectives
To evaluate the effect of consuming ¾ cup/day of mixed dried fruits versus a calorie- and carbohydrate-matched snack, on vascular health in adults at risk for cardiometabolic disease.

Methods
Men and women (n = 55) with overweight or obesity and at least one additional risk factor for cardiometabolic disease were enrolled in a 2-period single-blind randomized crossover trial. Participants received the following treatments for 4 weeks (separated by a 2-4 week washout): 1) ¾ cup mixed unsweetened dried fruits (equal parts raisins, dried plums, figs, and dates); 2) a calorie- and carbohydrate-matched processed snack. Endpoints were assessed at baseline, and the end of each treatment. Participants were advised to consume 1 serving/day of fresh fruit and incorporate study foods into their usual diets. The SphygmoCor XCEL was used to evaluate brachial and central blood pressure (BP), augmentation index, and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV).

Results
At baseline, participants (47% female) had a mean BMI of 28.5 ± 2.7 kg/m2 and mean BP was 111 ± 9/77 ± 8 mmHg. More than half the subjects (56%) had a normal BP (<120/<80 mmHg) at baseline. End-of-treatment mean body weights were not different (P = 0.57). There was no difference in end-of-treatment mean values for brachial and central BP, augmentation index, augmentation pressure, or PWV (all P > 0.05). There was a significant difference in mean central pulse pressure (PP) following the dried fruit treatment versus control (1.6 ± 0.8 mmHg, P = 0.048). This was likely driven by a trend toward lower central diastolic BP (-1.2 ± 0.7 mmHg; P = 0.12) after the fruit, versus control.

Conclusions
Daily consumption of 1.5 cup-equivalents of mixed dried fruits for 4 weeks did not affect systolic BP or measures of arterial stiffness versus an isocaloric carbohydrate-matched snack in adults at increased risk of cardiometabolic disease. A significant difference in end-of-treatment mean central PP merits further study.

Funding Sources
International Nut & Dried Fruit Council; the California Dried Plum Board; National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH.


Abstract:The French language and culture of New England have historically received relatively little attention in pedagogy and research, despite the region's rich Francophone heritage. This article argues for greater inclusion of New England French language and culture in teaching and research by providing the historical context of Francophone New England, the status of French today, and its potential for transmission to future generations. Particular attention is paid to northern Maine, where French language and culture is still part of daily life and where efforts to promote the culture and language have been active for several decades.


Using a simple model of tokamak-edge-plasma turbulence in the form of a spatially periodic and time-independent electrostatic potential, we have found recently a new type of anomalous impurity diffusion in this regime. In the present contribution, we estimate this diffusion in the test-particle approach for a real turbulent potential obtained in an experiment. A significant difference in the impurity dynamics between the Hamiltonian and drift approaches is observed. As an interesting consequence of these dynamics, the possibility of radial-electric-field generation in the turbulence regimes appears. This effect can be of importance in scenarios related to transport barriers.


Highly selective adhesion can be achieved between surfaces by patterning them with ripples. Materials with such surfaces are fabricated by successive molding of an elastomer, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), against a master with a surface rippled by instability of a residually stressed surface thin film. Adhesion of interfaces between both complementary and non‐complementary rippled surfaces was measured. Complementary surfaces showed significantly enhanced interfacial adhesion with increasing ripple amplitude. In contrast, interfaces with mismatched amplitudes had nearly negligible adhesion. Rate‐dependence of adhesion in these surfaces was also studied. For complementary surfaces with low amplitudes we found a multiplicative coupling between the structure and rate enhancement of adhesion. A quantitative model developed for adhesion between complementary surfaces explains these observations.


March, p 986), as our cases all responded to manipulation of the lower cervical or upper thoracic spine. Although x-ray examination may indicate some osteoarthritic changes, we hesitate to claim the reduction of a prolapsed intervertebral disc. We find the "facet syndrome" a relatively common diagnosis in practice, and therefore distinguishing and treating it, especially in patients with concomitant ischaemic heart disease, is important and relieves these patients of much anxiety and cures their pain. A D J WATr R G TuRNE


The frequency and severity of major incidents occurring worldwide is increasing.
Whilst the psychosocial impacts of being involved in a major incident are well
documented, there is insufficient evidence of the effectiveness of immediate and
medium-term post-disaster interventions. Psychosocial support programmes are
being implemented by humanitarian aid agencies such as the British Red Cross
and international guidelines for responding to disasters have been published.
However, little research has been conducted looking at people's experiences of
the help that they received following being involved in a major incident.
Nine British nationals who had been involved in a major incident abroad were
interviewed about their experience of the service they received from the British
Red Cross' Psychosocial Support Team, who forms part of the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office's Rapid Deployment Teams. A grounded theory analysis
resulted in the construction of a model which illustrated their experiences. The
model consisted of three main categories: 'Experiences Related to the Event',
The Response' and 'Consequences', which specify the elements that
participants most valued in the service they received, as well as the co-ordination
between the needs of the participants, the response and the consequences.
Participants reported positive experiences of their involvement with the
Psychosocial Support Team. Of particular benefit was having somebody there,
the holistic approach that was taken, feeling supported, being followed up and the
individualised, needs led approach to the support that was provided.
Recommendations for improvements were also suggested and the findings were
compared to existing literature, frameworks and guidelines. It is hoped that the
study's findings and having insight into people's experiences of the support they
received, will inform practice and contribute to the development of the services
that are offered to people following being involved in a major incident abroad.


Woodland sage (Salvia nemorosa) is an important native medicinal plant in Iran and is considered as a rich source of phenolic and flavonoids compounds. The present research was conducted with respect to the optimization of medium for biomass accumulation and secondary metabolite production in cell suspension culture of S. nemorosa. In this research the effects of total nitrogen content (0, 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 mM) and NH4+/NO3- ratio (0:60, 10:50, 20:40, 30:30, 40:20, 50:10, and 60:0) were studied in the Murashige and Skoog Medium on biomass growth, total phenolic, flavonoid and rosmarinic acid contents. The maximum accumulation of fresh biomass (294.80 g/l) and total phenolic content (76.61 mg GAE/g DW) was obtained in the medium supplemented with 90 mM nitrogen. The highest rosmarinic acid content (16.41 and 16.16 mg/g DW) was recorded in the medium containing 30 and 60 mM nitrogen. Increasing total nitrogen above 30 mM resulted in a decline in rosmarinic acid production. The ammonium to nitrate ratio also affected the biomass growth and secondary products accumulation. The highest fresh biomass accumulation (296.52 g/l), total phenolic content (87.30 mg GAE/g DW) and Rosmarinic acid content (18.43 mg/ DW) were recorded in 10:50 ratio of NH4+/NO3-. Increasing the NH4+ level or complete elimination of it from culture medium reduced the rosmarinic acid and total phenolic content of S. nemorosa. Our findings revealed that Woodland sage cell suspension needs both nitrogen forms, but ammonium is required at low concentration and nitrate at high levels. The results of the current study are beneficial for medium optimization for the establishment of large scale and bioreactor assisted cell culture of woodland sage for the production of phenolic acids.


An image caption generator is essential for social media enthusiasts or visually impaired individuals. It can be used as a plugin in popular social media platforms to recommend suitable captions or to assist visually impaired people in comprehending the image content on the web, thereby eliminating ambiguity in image meaning and ensuring accurate knowledge acquisition. This research describes an image caption generator that utilizes a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to generate natural language descriptions of images. The CNN was employed to extract features from the input image, which were then fed into the LSTM to generate the corresponding caption. The model is trained on a large dataset of image-caption pairs, using a combination of supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. The model's performance is evaluated using several metrics, and the results demonstrate that the proposed CNN LSTM model outperforms existing state-of-the-art approaches in generating accurate and diverse image captions. This model has the potential to be used in various applications, including image retrieval, content-based image search, and assisting visually impaired individuals to understanding their surroundings. It also discusses about the structure and functions of the various neural networks involved.


Background ATP1A3-related disorders include rapid-onset dystonia–parkinsonism (RDP or DYT12), alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), and CAPOS syndrome (Cerebellar ataxia, Areflexia, Pes cavus, Optic atrophy, and Sensorineural hearing loss). Case Report We report two cases with intermediate forms between RDP and AHC. Patient 1 initially presented with the AHC phenotype, but the RDP phenotype emerged at age 14 years. The second patient presented with levodopa-responsive paroxysmal oculogyria, a finding never before reported in ATP1A3-related disorders. Genetic testing confirmed heterozygous changes in the ATP1A3 gene in both patients, one of them novel. Discussion Intermediate phenotypes of RDP and AHC support the concept that these two disorders are part of a spectrum. We add our cases to the phenotype–genotype correlations of ATP1A3-related disorders.


Primary and secondary inclusions in Si/Mn and Si/Mn/Ti deoxidized structural steels subjected to different thermal histories were investigated in view of evolution of size, composition, and morphology. Primary inclusions quenched from 1 600°C contained very low levels of sulfur, and hence MnS precipitation on them was hardly found. The mean diameter of secondary inclusions lied in the range of 1-3 μm depending on the cooling rate and chemical compositions of steels. Both MnO and MnS content were higher in smaller secondary inclusions. MnS which precipitated on manganese silicate inclusions in Si/Mn deoxidized steels mostly grew into the inclusions. As inclusion size increased, the number of MnS precipitates on each inclusion was also increased. Titanium in steel had a tendency to reduce SiO 2 content in inclusions and to associate with MnO in the inclusions to form a stoichiometric relationship of Mn/Ti ratio in the inclusions. If Ti content in Si/Mn/Ti deoxidized steels was low, the secondary inclusions were found to form with multiple phases; viz., manganese silicate phase, Mn-Ti oxide phase, and MnS phase. The MnS phase always precipitated in the manganese silicate phase. The proportion of manganese silicate phase in each inclusion decreased with a corresponding increase in Ti content in the steel, and eventually disappeared completely when the Ti content exceeded a certain level (70 ppm in the present steel compositions). In this case MnS was found to precipitate outside Mn-Ti oxide inclusions and grew into the steel matrix. In order to interpret and predict the behavior of inclusion precipitation and growth, a model has been developed which incorporates both thermodynamic and kinetic considerations.


This paper deals with a study of the secretion of protein material by the submaxillary gland of the cat in response to electrical stimulation of the chorda tympani nerve. In the attempt to make a more generous use of certain advantages offered by physical methods in research on the digestive glands, the submaxillary gland was chosen for the initial investigation because of the relative ease of physiological experimentation. The study is characterized by (1) the use of quantitative spectroscopic methods of analysis which permit an extension in the range of the investigation over that possible with a purely chemical procedure, and (2) the application of mathematical analysis in the interpretation of the results. The work of previous investigators (Heidenhain 1868, 1878, 1883; Werther 1886; Langley and Fletcher 1890; Gregerson and Ingalls 1931) has shown that with increasing intensity of the stimulus the para-sympathetic submaxillary saliva becomes more concentrated in (1) inorganic salts which are presumably derived from the tissue fluids and ultimately from the blood, and (2) organic material, provided that the stores in the gland are not too much depleted by previous stimulation. The concentration changes in the former group of substances are presumably connected with phenomena occurring at the glandular membranes; those in the latter group obviously cannot be accounted for by a simple washing out of stored material from the gland, but must result from the operation of a more complicated secretion mechanism. In the attempt to gain a better understanding of the fundamental nature of the secretion processes, we have determined spectroscopically the relative concentrations of protein material, and the Na and K concentrations in samples of saliva obtained in response to various intensities of stimulation of the chorda tympani nerve. Many of the samples were also analysed chemically for protein and non-protein nitrogen, chlorides, and acid-combining power. These substances, along with water, are the main constituents of the submaxillary saliva as obtained in our experiments. A long series of relatively small samples of secretion was taken from each animal; this feature of the experimental technique is considered to be important, viz. under such conditions one may best determine the changes in composition resulting from the variation of one factor only—the intensity of the stimulus—since changes in other factors which are not directly controlled are small from sample to sample.


Makerspaces are gaining more ground in universities and other educational institutions as a novel approach to boost creativity, innovation, and provide more opportunities for experiential and hands-on learning experience. Albeit being multidisciplinary, and open spaces in nature, Makerspaces still lack integration to the curricula of engineering schools. With increasingly competitive markets, there is a need to educate future engineers with necessary skills to be more creative and to be able to compete in today's global market. A twophase study was developed to study the integration of the Makerspace concept in engineering schools. The first phase was based on interviews with five North American University Makerspaces that vary in size, objective, business model, and management structure to identify best Makerspace practices in preparation of the establishment of the University of Ottawa's Richard L'Abbe Makerspace. The second phase was a survey administered to engineering students who have used the Richard L'Abbe Makerspace since its opening in the fall of 2014 to assess its impact on their engineering competencies, in particular design skills, problem analysis, communication and team work skills, investigation skills, and entrepreneurial skills. This paper aims at studying best practices of Makerspaces on campus and their impacts on engineering education and on the development ofdesired skills and competencies for engineering students.


Recently, steel plate shear wall (SPSW) systems have attracted a lot of attention to be used as reliable lateral load resisting systems in areas of high seismicity. The main problem associated with the analysis and design of SPWS systems, particularly in high-rise buildings, is that the structural model cannot be numerically converged due to the effects of geometric nonlinearity using thin-walled webs while experiencing significant membrane actions in shell elements. The present study examines whether neglecting the geometric nonlinearity on the numerical modeling of SPSW system affects the accuracy of the models. This study confirms that neglecting the geometric nonlinearity in the numerical models can significantly overestimate the seismic capacity of SPSW systems between 10% and 17% depending on the height of the building considered. This modeling issue can be proved extremely critical in modeling tall buildings equipped with SPSW systems while the geometric nonlinearity is ignored in order to help the large model to converge.


Phase change in solidification and melting can be described with the aid of discontinuous functions. The aim of this project is to establish effective methodologies for the solution of discontinuous phase-change problems. The classic capacitance method, which distributes the effect of any discontinuity present over a finite region (typically an element), can suffer from inaccurate energy transport. Improvement is possible with the application of the classic non-physical enthalpy method. However, this approach is known to suffer with the imposition of material velocity, which gives rise to negative thermal capacitance providing a source of error and instability. In order to improve on the performance of the capacitance method and the classic non-physical enthalpy method, this research introduces a series of new non-physical variables. Firstly, a new non-physical enthalpy is defined via the weak form of the energy transport equation. The classical non-physical enthalpy was defined using a temporal integral term. In the new definition, the non-physical enthalpy involves both a temporal and an advection term, which is shown to avoid the generation of negative capacitance and improve the stability of advection heat transfer in numerical methods. Secondly, control volume analysis is performed on weighted and unweighted forms of the governing energy equation involving non-physical enthalpy. The analysis is shown to reveal non-physical source terms that facilitate the removal of phase-change discontinuities. Thirdly, it is demonstrated in the thesis how a non-physical heat source must be introduced into the governing non-physical transport equation to remove discontinuities arising from non-physical terms related to advection. To demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the new method, it is implemented in the finite element method for both one-dimensional linear rod elements and two dimensional triangular elements. Update techniques and root finding methods, such as the predictor-corrector method, the secant method and the homotopy method, are applied to solve the non-linear system of equations, which are constructed with the new theory. Results returned from the one-dimensional numerical experiments are compared with exact solutions, which show reasonable accuracy. Numerical experiments for isothermal solidification with advection-diffusion in both one and two dimensions demonstrate the feasibility of the new methodology.


| In an extensive rearing system, immediately after birth, the calf follows the mother to graze on pasture. This condition certainly affects nutrient digestibility because the digestive system is not yet fully developed. The study aims to reveal nutrient digestibility of preweaning calves fed flushing diets under extensive grazing. The study used a completely randomized factorial design with two factors and five replicates. The first factor is gender and the second one is diet treatment. The total number of calves used in this study was 30, consisting of 15 males and 15 female preweaning Pasundan calves. The dietary treatment included: (1) calves are allowed to graze without feeding flushing diet, (2) calves are allowed to graze and fed a flushing diet without urea-impregnated zeolite (flushing-1), (3) calves are allowed to graze and fed a flushing diets with urea-impregnated zeolite inclusion (flushing-2). The measured variables consisted of feed intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients. The collected data were analyzed by a general linear model univariate analysis. The results showed that compared to the control diet, supplementation of flushing diets increased (P<0.05) dry matter digestibility up to 29.01% (53.89 ± 4.85% in grazing calves vs. 80.94 ± 1.65% in flushing-1 calves or 82.90 ± 1.47% in flushing-2 calves), crude protein digestibility up to 5.71% (86.17 ± 2.91% in grazing calves vs. 90.61 ± 1.65% in flushing-1 calves or 91.88 ± 0.79% in flushing-2 calves), ether extract digestibility up to 12.12% (80.06 ± 7.39% in grazing calves vs. 92.18 ± 1.57% in flushing-1 calves or 90.09 ± 1.20% in flushing-2 calves), neutral detergent fiber up to 28.81% (54.58 ± 4.01% in grazing calves vs. 81.13 ± 3.41% in flushing-1 calves or 83.39 ± 1.75% in flushing-2 calves), acid detergent fiber by up to 24.27% (54.23 ± 4.69% in grazing calves vs. 72.41 ± 6.78% in flushing-1 calves or 78.50 ± 3.49% in flushing-2 calves), and cellulose by up to 22.79% (61.01 ± 5.15% in grazing calves vs. 82.03 ± 6.04% in flushing-1 calves or 83.80 ± 1.92% in flushing-2 calves). In conclusion, supplementing flushing diet to preweaning Pasundan calves under extensive grazing improved most nutrient digestibility parameters (dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, and fiber).


Tailoring charge extraction interfaces in perovskite solar cells (PeSCs) critically determines the photovoltaic performance of PeSCs. Here, we investigated the decoupling of two major determinants of the efficient charge extraction, the charge transport and interfacial charge transfer properties at hole transport layers (HTLs). A simple physical tuning of a representative polymeric HTL, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate), provided a wide range of charge conductivities from 10(-4) to 10(3) S cm(-1) without significant modulations in their energy levels, thereby enabling the decoupling of charge transport and transfer properties at HTLs. The transient photovoltaic response measurement revealed that the facilitation of hole transport through the highly conductive HTL promoted the elongation of charge carrier lifetimes within the PeSCs up to 3 times, leading to enhanced photocurrent extraction and finally 25% higher power conversion efficiency.


A knot in the 3-sphere is called an L-space knot if it admits a nontrivial Dehn surgery yielding an L-space, i.e. a rational homology 3-sphere with the smallest possible Heegaard Floer homology. Given a knot K, take an unknotted circle c and twist K n times along c to obtain a twist family { K_n }. We give a sufficient condition for { K_n } to contain infinitely many L-space knots. As an application we show that for each torus knot and each hyperbolic Berge knot K, we can take c so that the twist family { K_n } contains infinitely many hyperbolic L-space knots. We also demonstrate that there is a twist family of hyperbolic L-space knots each member of which has tunnel number greater than one.


AlAhsa oasis in Saudi Arabia is one of the largest oases in the world. Algae, from this region have been under-explored in the past decades. A study was conducted with Chlorococcum strain to produce biofuel alongside the seaweed Hormophysa cuneiformis. Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry of fatty acid composition showed that the biodiesel obtained had limited number of unsaturated fatty acids as compared to the number of saturated fatty acids present, which indicates the stability of the produced biodiesel. Thereby the use of algal biomass for the production of biofuel is feasible. Moreover, the biomass may serve other different biotechnological applications. To further test this hypothesis, the aqueous extract of two different algae; one derived from the blue green alga (cyanobacterium) Phormidium sp. and the other from brown alga Hormophysa cuneiformis was used as liquid biofertiliser at concentrations of 50 and 10% of both algae. Sterilized Vigna seeds were soaked in the extracts for two days. Seeds were sown in sterilized soil and the germination percentage as well as shoot and root lengths were recorded for developing seedlings. The results showed that there was a significant increase in seed germination rate compared to control. Similarly, there was a significant increment in the length of root and root system compared to control with the 50% aqueous extract concentration being highest in growth parameters for brown alga followed by blue-green alga possibly due to the presence of growth stimulants in these extracts.


Purpose

Branching is not the only way for foreign banks to enter a national market, and it is impractical when there are informational and cultural barriers and asymmetries among countries. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of cross-border branching in the Latin American banking sector, a region with regulatory disparity and political and economic instability, offering elements to a grounded strategic decision.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from six Latin American countries. To account for the preponderance of zero counts, classes of zero-inflated models are applied (Poisson, negative binomial, and mixed). Model fit indicators obtained from differences between observed and estimated counts are used for comparisons, considering branches in each region established by banks from every other foreign region of the sample.

Findings

Branching by foreign banks is positively correlated with the population, GDP per capita, household disposable income, and economic freedom score of the host country. The opposite holds for the unemployment rate and entry regulations of the host country.

Originality/value

Few paper address cross-border banking in emerging economies. This paper analyzes cross-border branching in Latin America in the context of the current financial integration and bank strategy. Econometrically, its pioneering design allows modeling of inflation of zeros, over-dispersion, and the multilevel data structure. This design allowed testing of a novel country-level variable: the host country's economic freedom score.


As with any other wireless technology, 5G is not immune to jamming. To achieve consistent performance, network resource scheduling must be optimized in a way that reacts to jamming in the NR channel environment. This paper presents a cognitive system for real-time Channel Awareness and Radio Access Network (RAN) Scheduling (CARS) optimization based on multi-dimensional temporal machine learning models. Our system automatically detects and classifies jamming in the channel environment and optimizes scheduling based on classification results and collected link parameters. Based on over-the-air (OTA) experiments, detection and classification time is less than 0.8 seconds, which enables real-time optimization. The system is evaluated and verified for OTA experimentation through integration to our end-to-end NR system. An Automated Jamming Module (AJM) is designed and implemented. Connecting the AJM to our NR system enables a comprehensive evaluation environment for our Jamming Detection and Classification Model (JDCM) and Modulation and Coding Scheme optimization model. The improvement in connection resiliency against Control Resource Set jamming is proof of the CARS concept for real-time channel awareness and scheduling optimization. Depending on channel conditions, CARS achieves a 30% or higher improvement in NR system throughput.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Purpose. Aberrant activation of the Notch pathway contributes to tumor initiation and/or progression. RO4929097 (RO) is an orally bioavailable, small-molecule inhibitor of γ-secretase, which inhibits Notch signaling in tumor cells. RO is being evaluated in phase I/II clinical trials as monotherapy or in combination with other anticancer agents (e.g., Hedgehog inhibitor GDC-0449). RO exhibits large inter-individual pharmacokinetic (PK) variability, which may contribute to difference in treatment outcome. Unbound drug plasma concentration is believed to be more relevant to pharmacological and toxicological effects than total drug. Thus, it is desirable to determine RO binding in plasma and factors influencing this process. The objective of this study was to investigate RO binding to plasma proteins and blood cells, and to examine the influence of GDC-0449 on RO plasma protein binding and PK in cancer patients.

Method. An equilibrium dialysis method using 96-well microdialysis plates was optimized and validated for determining RO fraction unbound (fu) in human plasma. RO binding in plasma from four different species and in isolated plasma protein solutions, as well as drug partitioning in human blood cells were investigated. The PK of total and unbound RO was evaluated in 5 cancer patients who received daily oral RO 20 mg alone or in combination with daily oral GDC-0449 150 mg.

Results. RO4929097 was extensively bound in human, dog, rat, and mouse plasma, with a mean fu value of 4.7%, 2.1%, 10.6%, and 1.5%, respectively. In human whole blood, the blood-to-plasma concentration ratio was 0.73. In isolated protein solutions, ∼ 88% and 95% of RO4929097 was bound to human serum albumin (HSA, 40 mg/ml) and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AAG, 1.4 mg/ml), with a binding constant of 1.8 × 104 M−1 and 1.0 × 106 M−1, respectively. The presence of 25 μM of GDC-0449 increased RO fu by 8.4 and 1.1 folds in AAG (1.4 mg/ml) and HSA (40 mg/ml) solution, respectively. In cancer patients, RO fu exhibited a large intra- and inter-individual variability (range, 0.2 – 3.0%; mean, 1.0 ± 0.7%); co-administration of GDC-0449 increased RO fu by 3.7 to 8.5 folds. Co-administration of GDC-0449 significantly decreased the plasma exposure to total RO, but did not have apparent influence on the unbound RO exposure.

Conclusion. RO is highly bound to plasma proteins (mainly to AAG), with a large inter-species and inter-individual variability. Consideration of protein binding is important in the scale-up of RO PK and pharmacodynamic parameters from animal models to humans. Changes in protein binding caused by drug-drug interactions (such as by GDC-0449) or disease states (e.g., increased AAG concentration in cancer patients) can influence the plasma exposure to the total but not unbound RO. Measurement of unbound RO plasma concentration is recommended to avoid misleading conclusions or unadvisedly adjusting RO dose based on total plasma levels.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5466. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5466


Oxidative stress is the major cause of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. This cross-sectional study is aimed at determining if parallel serum markers of oxidative stress are related to carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). We enrolled 134 participants with varied metabolic syndrome (Met-S) scores (zero, n = 21; one, n = 19; two, n = 27; three, n = 26; four, n = 25; five, n = 16). Biochemical profiles and potential oxidative stress biomarkers malondialdehyde (MDA) and uric acid were measured in fasting plasma. We found that carotid IMT positively correlated with both MDA and uric acid levels. Multivariate analysis revealed that both MDA (p < 0.05) and uric acid (p < 0.01) levels were significantly associated with carotid IMT in participants whose Met-S scores were ≥1 or ≥2. However, only uric acid (p < 0.01) levels were positively associated with carotid IMT in patients with metabolic syndrome. Linear regression model analysis revealed that the prediction accuracies for carotid IMT from MDA combined with uric acid and from a combination of MDA, uric acid, and Met-S score were 0.176 and 0.237, respectively. These were better than the predication accuracies from MDA (r2 = 0.075) and uric acid (r2 = 0.148) individually. These results suggest that measuring uric acid levels along with MDA biomarkers and Met-S scores may be a promising step in the development of an effective model for monitoring the severity of carotid IMT and atherosclerosis in the patients with metabolic syndrome.


A number of distributed applications require communication services with quality of service (QoS) guarantees. For this purpose, resource management is required both in the end system and inside the network. To date several approaches have been proposed, dealing either with end system issues or with those more strictly related to the network, but no unified view exists. Furthermore, while network QoS provisioning has reached a good level of standardization, no standard proposals exist for the end systems. We argue that a single architectural model is needed, taking into account a more exhaustive concept of "resource management", where quality of service is defined at the level of user perception. We propose an architectural model that enhances the IETF Diffserv framework in order to provide service differentiation even inside network end-points. We also present a prototype implementation of such architecture along with experimental results validating the proposed solution.


Abstract We analyze how the cost-effectiveness of R&D influences the incentives for governments to impose export subsidies. Governments first impose an export subsidy, or a tax. After observing export policy, firms invest in cost reducing R&D and subsequently compete in the market. Governments subsidize exports under Cournot competition. Under Bertrand competition and for linear demands and constant marginal costs, export subsidies are positive whenever R&D is sufficiently cost-effective at reducing marginal costs, and negative otherwise. The trade policy reversal found in models without endogenous sunk costs disappears if R&D is sufficiently cost-effective. Thus, output subsidies seem more robust than implied by the recent literature.


This essay charts a history of black liberation and complicity in the struggle for economic advancement at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Joining scholars who have explored commercial aviation as a site of black mobility and immobility as well as those who have theorized Black Power's intersections with municipal policymaking, labor organizing, business and community development projects, and affirmative action programs, I examine the spheres of airport employment and entrepreneurialism to show how struggles to overcome social and spatial confinement in the Bay Area were often shaped by the entanglements of heterogeneous actors and systems. Indeed, such efforts at SFO responded to and were made possible by shifting interfaces of public and private capital investment; government action and inaction; the work of local and national networks of business elites, labor organizers, and activists; the efforts of individual black people to make their lives better; and a concomitant symbolic economy regarding the black presence in the Bay Area. As this story concludes in the 1980s, it demonstrates that despite some successes, such struggles had advanced in the Bay Area only so far as offering a precarious and patchy inclusion: a kind of holding pattern characterized by piecemeal professional integration and the more widespread consignment of black men and women to low-wage, low-skilled work, intermittent employment, and unemployment.


The central contention of this essay is that a just cause for war is a wrong that is of a type that can make those responsible for it morally liable to military attack as a means of preventing or rectifying it. This claim has many implications that conflict with assumptions of the currently orthodox theory of the just war. Among the implications explored in the text are that the requirement of just cause is logically and morally prior to all the other requirements of a just war, that this requirement governs all phases of a war and not just the resort to war, that it is thus impermissible to continue to fight a war once the just cause or causes have been achieved, that it is impermissible to fight at all in a war that lacks a just cause, that just cause is a restriction on the type of aim that may be pursued by means of war and is not a matter of scale, that a war that lacks a just cause may be morally justified even if it is not just, and that a belligerent can pursue both just and unjust causes in the same war, which may then have elements or phases that are just and other elements or phases that are unjust.


The importance of energy-saving and correct design is obvious for energy efficiency. Correct design means that before construction considerable things, such as orientation or isolation decisions, need to be made. This study gives a mathematical model of the nonstationary energy consumption calculation problems. The model is well-posedness in Holder spaces of the mixed one-dimensional parabolic problem with Robin boundary conditions. In this study, an effective numerical method is also developed for energy consumption calculation which is related to this mathematical model. The three case problems are taken to test this numerical method. The dynamic model results have been compared with the previous finite-difference or steady-state solutions. The study also aims to develop a mathematical model in which the result can be found at any time.


First- and last-mile trips are becoming increasingly expensive and detrimental to the environment, especially within dense cities. Thus, new micro-mobility transportation modes such as e-scooter sharing systems have been introduced to fill the gaps in the transportation network. Furthermore, some recent studies examined e-scooters as a green option from the standpoint of environmental sustainability. Currently, e-scooter charging is conducted by competitive freelancers who do not consider the negative environmental impact resulting from not optimizing the fuel efficiency of their charging trips. Several disputes have been recorded among freelance chargers, especially when simultaneously arriving at an e-scooters location. The paper aims to find the optimal tours for all chargers to pick up e-scooters in the form of routes, such that each route contains one charger, and each e-scooter is visited only once by the set of routes, which are typically called an E-Scooter-Chargers Allocation (ESCA) solution. This study develops a mathematical model for the assignment of e-scooters to freelance chargers and adapts a simulated annealing metaheuristic to determine a near-optimal solution. We evaluated the proposed approach using real-world instances and a benchmark-simulated dataset. Moreover, we compare the proposed model benchmark dataset to the baseline (i.e., state-of-practice). The results show a reduction of approximately 61–79% in the total distance traveled, leading to shorter charging trips.


Abstract Background Animals can play an important role in preparing tissues for human through the development of xenotransplantation protocols. The most common problem with liver transplantation like any other organ transplantation is organ supply shortage. Objective To evaluate the in utero xenotransplantation of mouse bone marrow-derived stromal/stem cells (BMSCs) to the liver of rat fetus to produce mouse liver tissue. Materials and Methods BMSCs were isolated and confirmed from enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP)-genetic labeled mice. Using a microinjection protocol, mice BMSCs were injected into the liver of rat fetuses in utero on day 14 of pregnancy. After birth, livers were collected and the presence of mice eGFP-positive cells in rat livers was evaluated through polymerase chain reaction. Results The eGFP mRNA was detected in the liver of injected infant rats. BMSCs of adult mice were capable to remain functional probably as hepatocyte-like cells in liver of infant rats after in utero xenotransplantation. Conclusion BMSCs have the potential for intrauterine xenotransplantation for the treatment of liver dysfunction before birth. This method can also be used for xenoproduction of liver tissue for transplantation.


Against its moral appeal as a framework for protection of civilians from humanitarian catastrophe, the responsibility to protect (RtoP) seems not to have escaped a wider political context. Thus, questions of why, when and how force should be applied have incessantly trailed several intervention operations NATO's intervention in Libya. While the political misgivings of the Libyan regime under Gaddafi were conspicuous, this study argues that the Libyan intervention was however executed without recourse to certain procedural implications; Resultantly, the Libyan debacle has not only contributed to global insecurity, but has equally hampered international consensus building, weakened regional bodies and heightened suspicion amongst world powers, which partly explains the current stalemate on the Syrian crisis. Hence, this study recommends that there is an urgent need to rethink NATO's strategy in conflict management in Africa, and the imperative of institutional synergy between the United Nations and the Africa Union so as to bridge the institutional gaps, engender political will, and by extension the growth


Although stress is suspected to play a role in the development of diabetes mellitus, no direct experimental evidence for involvement of the adrenal medullae in onset of the disease has yet been found. We recently observed that, in comparison with sham-operated rats, fewer adrenodemedullated rats become diabetic after an i.v. injection of streptozotocin (STZ); thus, the present study examined the role of the adrenal medullae in the development of experimental diabetes. Male Wistar rats were surgically adrenodemedullated (ADM) or sham-operated (SHAM). After a 3-week recovery period, they were injected with 40 mg STZ/kg freshly dissolved in citrate buffer or buffer alone. A 1-mL arterial blood sample was withdrawn 12 days later in previously cannulated animals; then the rats were killed and their pancreas was removed. The plasma glucose levels were lower in ADM rats injected with buffer alone than in their SHAM counterparts (7.7 +/- 0.1 vs. 8.5 +/- 0.1 mmol/L; p < 0.05). The glucose levels were higher (p < 0.001) in both groups of STZ-treated rats, with values 28% lower in ADM than in SHAM rats (14.7 +/- 1.6 vs. 18.8 +/- 1.2 mmol/L; p < 0.03). Whereas plasma insulin levels did not differ between ADM and SHAM rats injected with buffer alone (431 +/- 38 vs. 428 +/- 35 pmol/L; p > 0.05), they were diminished in SHAM animals injected with STZ (292 +/- 37 vs. 428 +/- 35 pmol/L; p < 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Groundwater is increasingly used for water supply and irrigation. For several decades, aquifers have been intensively developed and notable changes have occurred to recharge, groundwater flow, discharge and water quality conditions. These changes have inevitably accompanied technological developments that have allowed individuals, small groups and whole communities to solve their water problems affordably and, in impoverished areas, to diminish poverty and improve health conditions. The measurable benefits from intensive groundwater development may also come with detrimental hydrogeological and environmental consequences, which are additional direct and indirect costs. To ensure a rational and sustainable use of the groundwater resource, there must be an understanding of the physical structure and characteristics of the aquifer system and extraction must be managed in the context of the basin-wide water resources. Effective groundwater management necessitates empowerment of the appropriate institution to conduct the management activities and participatory stakeholder involvement in the development and implementation of the groundwater management programme. This includes establishing environmental goals and a monitoring plan tailored to the history of local groundwater abstraction, projected water demands, issues of concern (e.g. water quality protection and preservation of water-dependent wetlands) and the available water supplies within the basin. A series of considerations on technical, economic and social aspects are proposed, in agreement with the far-reaching nature of the issue.


The concept of Asian Pacific panethnicity is examined in the light of the growing numbers and diversity of the population in the 1990s. The term "Asian American" originated in the civil rights period of the 1960s to help unify Asian groups in the common struggle against negative stereotypes and discrimination. Revised immigration laws, new immigrant groups and continued hostility have brought new challenges, and it is argued that Asian Pacific Americans as a group can provide important leadership for the U.S.'s transformation to a more truly multicultural society.