This paper uses a clinical study that suggests that exploration versus exploitation strategies have a mechanistic aspect that can be dysfunctional when managing large automotive and IS projects in highly turbulent cyclical environments. The clinical research demonstrates that the results of the strategies tuned to mechanical systems and ERP sustained systems were short-sighted and were suitable only for simple automotive projects (Bernard, 2013). In the current complex landscape, the management should adopt a cyclical view of their complex project landscape that recognizes that IS projects can be improvised and then switch to a mechanical system (Qiu, Gopal & Hann 2017). 20 years after the start of the study, the main result is that the timing of the switch between exploration and exploitation of the IS projects and automotive project is a key success factor (Azan, 2003). 20 years later, the simple PAUTs are successful and the complex PAUTS stopped. This contribution explains the role played by the IS.


Dr. Marianna Patrauchan is a professor at Oklahoma State University in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She obtained her PhD in Microbiology at the Institute of Microbiology and Virology, National Academy of Sciences in 1995. For the last twenty years, Dr. Patrauchan has dedicated her life to research in the field of microbiology. Dr. Patrauchan is currently researching the role that calcium (Ca 2+ ) plays in causing diseases associated with bacterial infections.


Magnetite-filled micelles capture fac-[M(OH(2))(3)(CO)(3)](+) complexes (M = (99m)Tc, Re), creating versatile self-assembled constructs for multimodal SPECT/MR/optical imaging and radiopharmaceutical guided delivery.


Vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) differentiation and proliferation are two important physiological processes during vascular development. The phenotypic alteration from differentiated to proliferative VSMC contributes to the development of several major cardiovascular diseases including atherosclerosis, hypertension, restenosis after angioplasty or bypass, diabetic vascular complications, and transplantation arteriopathy. Since the VSMC phenotype in these pathological conditions resembles that of developing VSMC during embryonic development, understanding of the molecular mechanisms that control VSMC differentiation will provide fundamental insights into the pathological processes of these cardiovascular diseases. Although VSMC differentiation is usually accompanied by an irreversible cell cycle exit, VSMC proliferation and differentiation occur concurrently during embryonic development. The molecular mechanisms simultaneously regulating these two processes, however, remain largely unknown. Our recent study demonstrates that cell division cycle 7, a key regulator of cell cycle, promotes both VSMC differentiation and proliferation through different mechanisms during the initial phase of VSMC differentiation. Conversely, Krüppel-like factor 4 appears to be a repressor for both VSMC differentiation and proliferation. This review attempts to highlight the novel role of cell division cycle 7 in TGF-β-induced VSMC differentiation and proliferation. The role of Krüppel-like factor 4 in suppressing these two processes will also be discussed.


A new mutant rat strain with movement disorders has arisen spontaneously in a closed colony of Albino–Swiss rats at the Department of Anatomy, Glasgow University. The animals possess a progressive locomotor disorder which is first apparent at around post‐natal day 10. We here report that tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry demonstrates that these mutants have profound depletions in dopaminergic systems in the substantia nigra and corresponding areas of neostriatum.


This paper proposes and analyzes the incorporation of graphene to integrated waveguides and circuits for application to the field of microwave photonics (MWP). We discuss the main optical and electronic properties of graphene in connection to its operation in the optical region of the spectrum, including their tunability by electrical means. We use numerical techniques to evaluate the impact of graphene on the effective index and absorption of the propagating modes in several waveguide designs and use these results to design several fundamental building components that are instrumental in the implementation of several key MWP functionalities including tunable phase-shifters, true time delay lines and Bragg grating filters. Our results suggest that the incorporation of graphene to silicon waveguides can bring important potential benefits, especially in terms of modest power consumption, high tuning speed with respect to other techniques used for current tuneable MWP devices and increased operation bandwidth.


Quantum chemical investigation of bimolecular hydrogen transfer involving alkylperoxy radicals, a key reaction family in the free-radical oxidation of hydrocarbons, was performed to establish structure-reactivity relationships. Eight different reactions were investigated featuring four different alkane substrates (methane, ethane, propane and isobutane) and two different alkylperoxy radicals (methylperoxy and iso-propylperoxy). Including forward and reverse pairs, sixteen different activation energies and enthalpies of reaction were used to formulate structure-reactivity relationships to describe this chemistry. We observed that the enthalpy of formation of loosely bound intermediate states has a strong inverse correlation with the overall heat of reaction and that this results in unique contra-thermodynamic behavior such that more exothermic reactions have higher activation barriers. A new structure-reactivity relationship was proposed that fits the calculated data extremely well: E(A)=E(o)+alphaDeltaH(rxn) where alpha=-0.10 for DeltaH(rxn)<0, and alpha=1.10 for DeltaH(rxn)>0 and E(o)=3.05 kcal mol(-1).


Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has been suggested to regulate lymphocyte entry into lymph nodes because autotaxin (ATX), the enzyme that generates LPA, is constitutively expressed by lymph node high endothelial venules. However very little is known about the effects of LPA on T cell migration and homing. We studied the effects of LPA (16:0 and 18:1, 1-10 µM) on naïve mouse CD4+ T cells. Using chemotaxis assays, we found that LPA induces CD4+ T cell chemorepulsion (1.5±0.5 fold migration away from 1 µM LPA, n=26, p <0.0001) but not chemotaxis. In addition, we found that LPA increases the quality of naïve CD4+ T cell migration on ICAM-1/CCL21 coated plates as shown by increased track length, displacement, and velocity of cells in the presence of LPA (p<0.001). We next investigated the expression of LPA receptor mRNA on resting and anti-CD3/CD28 activated CD4+ T cells using qRT-PCR. We found that LPA2, LPA5, and LPA6 are highly expressed on naïve CD4+ T cells, and the expression of these decreases over the course of cell activation. In preliminary adoptive transfer experiments using gene-targeted mouse models, we found that LPA2 deficiency does not inhibit the recovery of transferred CD4+ cells from recipient lymph nodes after 42 hours, whereas fewer wild-type CD4+ cells were recovered from autotaxin-deficient mice (ATX+/-) compared to wild-type controls. Our results have uncovered previously unsuspected roles for LPA and autotaxin in regulating T cell migration and homing.


The design steps which lead to a collimator which meets the four main requirements of the clinical user are outlined. These requirements are: production of the minimum penumbra, display of the clinically effective radiation field at all times, a beam-defining light field equal to the radiation field and trimmed penumbra such that for all positions of the trimmer block the system remains consistent with the second and third requirements.


This article extends the analysis of employment relations in New Zealand agriculture, begun in this journal in 1987, with a look backwards into how employment had developed from colonisation in the nineteenth century. That was extended by a further article in 1995, which considered the changes in employment relations that had followed the profound restructuring of the agricultural industries from 1984. Since 1995 there have been further profound changes but this time in New Zealand's parliamentary arrangements, following the introduction of the German proportional representation system of voting for the 1996 General Election. Subsequently governments have been coalitions and legislation has had to be less extreme. The Employment Contracts Act, 1991 has been replaced by the Employment Relations Act, 2000. High unemployment has been replaced by the lowest levels experienced in 30 years. The largest changes to affect the industries' employment relations, it is argued, are those brought about by the globalisation of agricultural supply chains and the changed labour market. Supermarket chains require not only quality-assured produce to avoid risks to customers' health and safety, but also that food contracted is produced by properly trained, rewarded and satisfied staff. Thus, by a strange quirk, supermarkets in the vanguard of food capitalism may achieve more for improvements in agricultural employment than successive government policies have struggled to do.


With large volumes of data available from LHC, it has become possible to study the multiplicity distributions for the various possible behaviours of the multiparticle production in collisions of relativistic heavy ion collisions, where a system of dense and hot partons has been created. In this context it is important and interesting as well to check how well the Monte Carlo generators can describe the properties or the behaviour of multiparticle production processes. One such possible behaviour is the self-similarity in the particle production, which can be studied with the intermittency studies and further with chaoticity/erraticity, in the heavy ion collisions. We analyse the behaviour of erraticity index in central Pb-Pb collisions at centre of mass energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon using the AMPT monte carlo event generator, following the recent proposal by R.C. Hwa and C.B. Yang, concerning the local multiplicity fluctuation study as a signature of critical hadronization in heavy-ion collisions. We report the values of erraticity index for the two versions of the model with default settings and their dependence on the size of the phase space region. Results presented here may serve as a reference sample for the experimental data from heavy ion collisions at these energies.


Exploration of quantum dots (QDs) as energy acceptors revolutionizes the current chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET), since QDs possess large Stokes shifts and high luminescence efficiency. However, the strong and high concentration of oxidant (typically H2O2) needed for luminol chemiluminescence (CL) reaction could cause oxidative quenching to QDs, thereby decreasing the CRET performance. Here we proposed the use of bienzyme-QDs bioconjugate as the energy acceptor for improved CRET sensing. Two enzymes, one for H2O2 generation (oxidase) and another for H2O2 consumption (horseradish peroxidase, HRP), were bioconjugated onto the surface of QDs. The bienzyme allowed fast in situ cascaded H2O2 generation and consumption, thus alleviating fluorescence quenching of QDs. The nanosized QDs accommodate the two enzymes in a nanometric range, and the CL reaction was confined on the surface of QDs accordingly, thereby amplifying the CL reaction rate and improving CRET efficiency. As a result, CRET efficiency of 30-38% was obtained; the highest CRET efficiency by far was obtained using QDs as the energy acceptor. The proposed CRET system could be explored for ultrasensitive sensing of various oxidase substrates (here exemplified with cholesterol, glucose, and benzylamine), allowing for quantitative measurement of a spectrum of metabolites with high sensitivity and specificity. Limits of detection (LOD, 3σ) for cholesterol, glucose, and benzylamine were found to be 0.8, 3.4, and 10 nM, respectively. Furthermore, multiparametric blood analysis (glucose and cholesterol) is demonstrated.


Abstract : The purpose of the project is to evaluate the restoration of bladder and bowel function using electrical stimulation and block after spinal cord injury in human subjects. Regulatory compliance has been maintained from the Institutional Review Board and the Human Research Protection Organization. Investigational Device Exemption has been obtained from the Food and Drug Administration. Participant recruitment and screening has continued and six subjects have been enrolled and undergone urodynamic evaluation. Four of these have undergone neuromodulation by electrical stimulation via skin surface electrodes. Implantable Vocare stimulators for Stage 1 of the clinical trial have been obtained from the manufacturer.


This article is one in a series in which contributing authors discuss how the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are linked to everyday clinical issues; national public health emergencies; and other nursing issues, such as leadership, shared governance, and advocacy. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a 15-year plan of action to achieve the goals, was unanimously adopted by all UN member states in September 2015 and took effect on January 1, 2016. The Agenda consists of 17 SDGs addressing social, economic, and environmental determinants of health and 169 associated targets focused on five themes: people, planet, peace, prosperity, and partnership. The SDGs build on the work of the UN Millennium Development Goals, which were in effect from 2000 to 2015. The current article describes the interdependent relationship between SDGs 3 and 10. In addition, the authors focus on nurses' varied and increasingly essential roles in addressing health care inequities through such practices as care coordination and preventive care and education-work which will indirectly play a role in supporting other SDGs related to social and financial equity. For information on all 17 SDGs, go to https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs.


This paper will discuss the so-called 'other stone industry'
from Tell Arbid Abyad (Upper Khabur Basin, north east Syria).
It concerns the excavations of a Czech project under the
direction of Inna Mateiciucova, which is joined to the Syrian-
Polish Archaeological Expedition working at Tell Arbid. The
excavation found Late Neolithic settlement activity from the
beginning of the 6th millennium BC. No natural sources of
compact rocks exist on the site and in its neighbourhood. Every
find of stone from archaeological contexts therefore had to be
imported to the site. The prevalent limestones (72.3 %) are
represented by angular chips and pebbles. They are present as
0.14 % of the total recognised artefacts. Basalts (21.9 %) are
the dominant material within the recognized artefacts (82.69
%). We have supposed the limestone chips originate from an
alluvial fan because, according to the geomorphological map,
its southern margin is roughly 10 km to the north of the
archaeological site. The limestone raw material can therefore
be classified as local. Four potential sources for the basalt
artefacts are possible: the Hemma plateau and Kawkab volcano to
the south and west, a projection from the Karacadag in the
north west and another basalt plateau near the Tigrid in the
east. According to chemical analyses of the basalt sources, the
rocks are classified as alkali basalts, trachybasalt and
foidites. Our analysed basalt artefacts most correspond to
alkaline basalt from the Hemma plateau.


Most video coding standards use the discrete cosine transform, known to be near optimal for original images, to transform prediction errors. Since the statistical characteristics of prediction errors are quite different from those of original images, a more suitable transform for prediction errors has to be devised. In this letter, we introduce a novel statistical model for inter-frame prediction error and propose an adaptive transform based on the model. In addition, in order to reduce the computation time, a fast and efficient algorithm is developed. Experiments on well-known image sequences confirm that our proposed transform can improve the performance of transform coding significantly.


Abstract In post-colonial Africa many rulers relied on so called 'divide-and-rule' politics to survive in office. The concept of divide-and-rule describes a strategy for rulers to sustain power by exploiting coordination problems among potential rivals. Rulers can break up rival concentrations of power by making discriminatory offers/sanctions or simply destroying communication channels among potential rivals. In this paper I will study the consequences of 'divide-and-rule' politics using original data on cabinet changes. In the empirical analysis I focus on the question whether cabinet shuffles affect the probability that a ruler is deposed in a coup d'etat and the probability of a coup attempt respectively. The analysis reveals that the incidence of a cabinet shuffle decreases the probability of a successful coup. This result proved to be robust even when accounting for endogeneity using an instrumental variable approach. The results also showed that if rulers excessively reshuffle their ministers they risk a higher probability of coup attempts. Cabinet volatility, measured as the frequency of cabinet shuffles within six month is positively related to the probability of a coup attempt.


A long-lived quantum memory was developed based on light-compensated cold {sup 87}Rb atoms in a dipole trap. The lifetime of the quantum memory was improved by 40 folds, from 0.67 to 28 ms with the help of a compensation laser beam. Oscillations of the memory efficiency due to the transverse mode breathing of the singly excited spin wave have been clearly observed and clarified with a Monte Carlo simulation procedure. With detailed analysis of the decoherence processes of the spin wave in cold atomic ensembles, this experiment provides a benchmark for the further development of high-quality quantum memories.


Sevin (1-naphthyl N-methylcarbamate), when metabolized by rat liver microsomes and insects, yielded at least five carbamate metabolites involving modification of both the methyl group and ring. Certain of these metabolites appeared in milk when Sevin was fed to a goat. The metabolism of o-isopropoxyphenyl N-methylcarbamate by liver microsomes, insects, and plants was compared to that of Sevin.


We consider an idealized synchronous single-carrier single-cell uplink communication where K users equipped with multiple antennas transmit their data to a base station also equipped with multiple antennas. Users have no (or very limited) channel state information. They employ space-time trellis codes to improve the reliability of their transmission link. Transmission occurs on fading multipath channels. Prior to transmission, users' spacetime codewords are interleaved in order to break channel memory. The multiuser joint decoding at the base station (assuming perfect channel state information) is reformulated as the computation of marginal probabilities on dense layered factor graphs with loops. This computation is done by means of the sum-product algorithm. We derive several instances of the sum-product algorithm by modifying the topology of the loopy graph and the definition of the corresponding exchanged messages and show through simulations that those variations can substantially impact the final delivered marginals.


Giardia is a protozoan parasite of the small intestine, and a leading cause of diarrheal diseases worldwide in a variety of animals, as well as humans. Despite the decrease, Giardiasis remains the most commonly reported intestinal parasitic infection principally in the Southwestern region of the United States. The parasite is typically transmitted by fecal-oral route and may be transmitted by direct intake or indirectly from contaminated food or water. Symptomatic Giardiasis is often treated to reduce the duration of symptoms, to prevent future complications, and to minimize transmission of the parasite to other hosts. The clinical image of Giardiasis is mixed, with high variability in severity of clinical disease which can become chronic or be followed by post-infectious sequelae. At present, treatment options include nitroimidazoles derivatives; especially metronidazole, which has been the mainstay of treatment for decades and is still widely used. The Navajo Nation located in the Southwestern region of the United States has suffered from the scarcity of water expediting Navajo populations to use water resources such as underground water, river streams, lakes and surface water as their main source of accessibility. The lack of adequate domestic and municipal water has led several Navajo families to become ill with waterborne infectious diseases like Giardiasis. More recently, molecular methods have become amateur in diagnosis for testing patient samples as well as water samples for Giardiasis. Through direct immunofluorescent staining and other methods that detect intact organisms have improved the detection of Giardia trophozoites or cysts. An understanding of clinical and molecular variability of organisms is important for effective treatment and the response of remedies that are commonly used. The molecular classification of bacteria and viruses isolated from Indigenous patients might have their own specification that can be correlated with isolates from water samples collected from the same localities. This correlation could help us in source tracking and finding solutions for the communities who are already at risk due to the lack of infrastructure and resources. In this review of literature, the causes and preventive measures of Giardiasis are covered to potentially help understand the importance behind this parasitic disease, more specifically on the Navajo Nation of the Southwest of the US.


A preview of this inaugural issue of The South Asianist was unveiled during a special event honouring public health practitioner and human rights defender Dr. Binayak Sen on 14th June, 2012 at the School of Social and Political Science at Edinburgh University. Dr. Jeevan Sharma, a member of the journal's Advisory Board sat down to interview Dr. Sen following the reception to discuss human rights and public health in India, and more specifically his own work, struggles, and accomplishments as one of the leading human rights advocates and activists in South Asia.


The apparent success of Chile's pension reform catalyzed a number of subsequent reforms in sister Latin American nations, and the "Chilean model" has now captivated the attention of polin'makers and researchers in the GECD as well. In this paper we identify six critical elements of old-age pension reform, and examine how these six elements differ across the Chilean reform, and several other Latin nations that followed in Chile's footsteps. We emphasize how these other Latin American nations adopted different mechanisms to restructure their old-pension systems, and we highlight available evidence on system performance in each case.


The significant expansion of intermittent renewable energy sources can compromise the stability of energy grids due to the mismatch between instantaneous energy use and production. Buildings have a large potential for energy storage and demand-side management, which can offer energy flexibility to a Smart Grid system. Smart control of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems is a great solution for improving flexible energy use, load shifting and power peak shaving. This numerical study compares the energy flexibility potential of three different heating and cooling systems implemented in a nearly zero-energy office building. The energy flexibility strategy consists in the modulation of heating / cooling indoor temperature set points according to an energy price signal. The energy flexibility assessment was performed based on the energy shifting ability, indoor thermal comfort level and economic benefits. This article establishes a better understanding of the flexibility potential of common and innovative heating / cooling technologies. Lindab Solus system has the highest load shifting ability with a flexibility index of 67.41%, followed by the radiator heating system, scoring a 59.92%, and the underfloor heating system with 56.65%. It is clear that the selection between different heating/ cooling systems can have a great impact on the energy flexibility of the grid system.


Rising numbers of mobile devices and wireless access technologies motivate network operators to leverage spectrum across multiple radio access networks, in order to significantly enhance quality of service as well as network capacity. However, there is a substantial need to develop innovative network selection mechanisms that consider energy efficiency while meeting application quality requirements. In this context, this paper proposes an efficient network selection mechanism over heterogeneous wireless networks. We consider different performance aspects, as well as network characteristics and application requirements, so as to obtain an efficient solution that grasps the conflicting nature of the various objectives and addresses this ultimate tradeoff. The proposed methodology advocates a user-centric approach toward the utilization of heterogeneous wireless networks to enhance system performance and support reliable connectivity.


This thesis forms part of the criteria for the qualification of the Doctorate in Forensic Psychology Practice (ForenPsyD). Its overall aim is to examine the prevalence of mental disorders and unmet needs among offenders managed by the Probation Service, because the understanding of this has very important implications for epidemiology, health service planning and future offending.

The first chapter of this thesis presents a general introduction to the topic.

Chapter two is a single case study, which describes work undertaken in relation to risk assessment and development of a care plan with a client managed by the Probation Service. A number of previously researched risk factors for offending have been identified in this case, these included: high numbers of previous convictions, presence of mental disorders, substance misuse, poor educational and vocational skills, poor cognitive and interpersonal skills, and limited social support. This study also demonstrated the practical utility of the Structured Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS; Moran et al., 2003), a brief screening measure for personality disorder case identification.

The Structured Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS; Moran et al., 2003) is discussed and evaluated in chapter three. Presented evidence suggests that this measure can rapidly identify individuals at high risk of personality disorder with a good level of psychometric properties. Based on the above and developing evidence supporting its validity and reliability with forensic populations the SAPAS has been chosen to screen for case identification in the empirical study.

Chapter four presents findings from the literature review on the prevalence of mental disorders in offenders on probation using a systematic approach. A total of 18 studies published between 1993 and 2013 were reviewed, suggesting significant lack of research in this area. The little research that exists demonstrates mixed findings as the prevalence of mental disorders reported varies making a comparison between the papers difficult. Despite the above, where possible weighted average prevalence rates were calculated. The estimated overall prevalence of PD was 19%, any current mental disorder 6%, alcohol misuse 62%, drug abuse 54, anxiety 13% and depression 10%.

The findings from previous chapters were considered and informed more in depth, empirical research on the prevalence of mental disorders amongst offenders on probation presented in chapter five. The present study estimated that 61% of the probationers suffer from a current mental disorder according to Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI; Sheehan et al., 1998), and found that a significant proportion experience difficulties with regards to social needs such as financial and housing difficulties, which have been previously identified as significant risk factors for reoffending.

Finally, chapter six presents overall findings discusses its implications, explores limitations and provides direction for future research. Several wider implications can be drawn from this thesis, which shows that high numbers of probationers suffer from a variety of Axis I disorders, likely personality disorders, substance misuse and have a number of social needs. Based on these findings, it is possible to conclude that there is a need for the mental health substance misuse and social needs of offenders to be given a higher priority in terms of service delivery, education and research.


Outcomes research is topical in discussions about health-related research. Its emphasis on effectiveness creates an important opportunity for nurse researchers to strengthen the linkages between theory, outcomes research and nursing practice but, before care can be more effective, it is logical to establish patients' desired outcomes. A thorough review of the implications of this requirement for the care of hospice patients is needed, but is lacking in the literature. Therefore, the literature on a 'good death' is reviewed as a step towards assisting hospice patients to achieve what they regard as an acceptable death. The starting point is to define more clearly what it means to die a good death. The relationship between hospice care and achieving a good death is then examined.


A specific metallopeptidase called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as the modulating receptor on the surface of the endothelium and other human cells infected by the new coronavirus causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) and Human Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID -19). This modulation of the expression of ACE2 in human cells may be responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory response with the development of the state of the systemic response of the inflammatory system, hypercoagulability/stasis also an increased risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Therefore, like ACE2, despite being present in almost all human organs, its expression is variable and probably dependent on epigenetic polymorphism, then this is still to be better understood. However, this highlights the importance to understand its pathogenesis and open the doors for the development of future treatment strategies aimed at various diseases related to ACE2, mainly cerebral vascular diseases, and perhaps COVID-19 itself.


The principal role of the auditory interface on civil aircraft is to inform pilots of dangerous or potentially dangerous system states. Efficient alerts provide information that is uniquely identifiable with one aspect of the aircraft's behavior and do not form a nuisance by being too intrusive and overly persistent. It is known that excessive auditory alert intensity can impair human performance; however, simply lowering alert intensity is not sufficient because there is a need to ensure detection and safety are not compromised. In an attempt to address this problem, an automated alert system, the Intelligent Alert Presentation system, was constructed. The system analyzes flight deck noise in real time, and alerts are then presented at a fixed ratio above the noise (+10 dBA). The system has alert muting capabilities that can be activated following detection. The intensity is attenuated to −5 dBA below the noise level, where the signal is partially masked but remains detectable and comprehensive, according to the findings of 2 experiments reported here. It is suggested that this would provide the pilot with a more suitable environment for carrying out higher order cognitive, more demanding tasks.


The present study aimed to examine the effects of fermented soy isoflavones on the poultry feed towards the quality
of eggs. A total of 100 Isa Brown chickens aged 32 weeks were divided into 4 groups and 5 replicates, including T0
(control feed without the provision of fermented soy isoflavones), T1 (feed with 4% of fermented soy isoflavones),
T2 (feed with 8% of fermented soy isoflavones), and T3 (feed with 12% of fermented soy isoflavones). The
treatments were given for 10 weeks. The observed chemical qualities of eggs included HDL, LDL, isoflavones in egg
yolks, physical quality (e.g., their weight and eggshell thickness). All the data were analyzed by using analysis of
variance. The results showed that the administration of fermented soy isoflavones in poultry feed had no significant effect on egg weight and eggshell thickness (p>0.05), but had a significant effect on HDL, LDL, and isoflavones in egg yolk (p<0.01). Based on the results, it can be concluded that 80 mg/100 g of the fermented soy isoflavones (equivalent to the addition of 12%) in laying hens' feed would increase the content of isoflavones and egg yolks' HDL, reduce egg yolks' LDL, and lead to no significant change in the weight and thickness of eggshells.


Abstract Background Standard ontologies are critical for interoperability and multisite analyses of health data. Nevertheless, mapping concepts to ontologies is often done with generic tools and is labor-intensive. Contextualizing candidate concepts within source data is also done in an ad hoc manner. Methods and Results We present AnnoDash, a flexible dashboard to support annotation of concepts with terms from a given ontology. Text-based similarity is used to identify likely matches, and large language models are used to improve ontology ranking. A convenient interface is provided to visualize observations associated with a concept, supporting the disambiguation of vague concept descriptions. Time-series plots contrast the concept with known clinical measurements. We evaluated the dashboard qualitatively against several ontologies (SNOMED CT, LOINC, etc.) by using MIMIC-IV measurements. The dashboard is web-based and step-by-step instructions for deployment are provided, simplifying usage for nontechnical audiences. The modular code structure enables users to extend upon components, including improving similarity scoring, constructing new plots, or configuring new ontologies. Conclusion AnnoDash, an improved clinical terminology annotation tool, can facilitate data harmonizing by promoting mapping of clinical data. AnnoDash is freely available at https://github.com/justin13601/AnnoDash (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8043943).


We investigated emotional conflict in an educational context with an emotional body–word Stroop paradigm, examining whether the N450 (a late fronto-central phasic negative event-related potential signature) and slow potential (SP) effects could be evoked in trainee teachers. The
 N450 effect is characterized by topography and negative polarity of an incongruent minus congruent difference potential, and the SP effect has positive polarity (incongruent minus congruent difference potential). Positive and negative body language examples were obtained from pupils in an
 actual school context, and emotional words were selected. Compound stimuli were presented, each comprising a congruent or incongruent word displayed across a body image. Event-related potentials were recorded while participants judged body expression valence. Reaction times were longer and
 accuracies were lower for the incongruent compared to the congruent condition. The N450 component amplitude in the incongruent condition was more negative than in the congruent condition. Results showed a behavioral interference effect and an N450 effect for trainee teachers in this context,
 thus indicating that the body–word task was efficient in assessing emotional conflict in an educational context, and trainee teachers' perception of body expressions of students could be influenced by emotional signals. The findings further the understanding of emotional conflict in
 an educational context.


Three new carbonaceous chondrites (GRV 020025, 021579 and 022459) collected from the Grove Mountains(GRV), Antarctica, have been classified as the CM2, CO3 and CV3 chondrites, respectively. A total of 27 Ca- and Al-rich inclusions have been found in the three meteorites, which are the earliest assemblages formed in the solar nebula. Most of the inclusions are intensively altered, with abundant phyllosilicates in the inclusions from GRV 020025 and FeO enrichment of spinel in those from GRV 022459. Except for one spinel-spherule in each of GRV 020025 and 021579, all the inclusions can be classified as Type A-like or spinel-pyroxene-rich inclusions, and they probably represent the continuum of solar nebular condensation. In addition, most of the inclusions in these meteorites share much similarity in both petrography and mineral chemistry, suggesting a similar origin of Ca-Al-rich inclusions in various chondrites.


This article considers the potential and problems for women seeking to combine breastfeeding with wage labor outside the home through the use of breast pumps. After locating the breast pump within cultural, historical and legislative contexts of shifting views about infant nutrition on the one hand and trends in women's participation in the wage work force on the other, we unpack how this technology has re-shaped the landscape of choices about infant feeding in the United States. Using disciplinary lenses of science and technology studies, feminist geography and women's studies, we examine how the breast pump has reshaped workplace experiences after childbirth. Based on interviews and survey data with respondents in Albany, New York across a range of class and racial backgrounds, we submit that while the breast pump does allow some women to combine breastfeeding and wage work outside the home, the advantages of breast pumps are constrained both by cultural attitudes about pumping as an activity, the lack of a sufficient legislative framework, as well as by the way workplaces themselves are designed.


A smart device such as a television, tablet, and smartphone, often displays a compound image consisting of various types of sub-images, including texts and pictures. A text image displayed on a smart device is composed of red, green, and blue (RGB) sub-pixels having strong correlation among them. This paper proposes a new compression algorithm, called sub-pixel gradient compression (SPGC), that makes use of the correlation in a text in order to improve its compression efficiency. The initial step of the proposed algorithm converts a text into a de-colorized image in which RGB sub-pixels vary gradually. The de-colorization is a necessary step to further enhance the correlation among RGB sub-pixels, and thereby improving the compression efficiency. From the de-colorized text, the next step estimates the slopes of the gradual variations among sub-pixels and then encodes the slopes and their associated information as a bitstream. SPGC is a relatively simple algorithm because its main operation is the estimation of sub-pixel gradients and the precise estimation of the gradients makes it possible to reduce a degradation of the quality of the texts. Experimental results show that SPGC maintains lower complexity and a higher compression ratio than the compression standards including JPEG, JPEG-2000, H.264, or HEVC.


The purpose of this paper is to review the performance of fisheries sector in Bangladesh and the challenges it is facing. Data and information were sourced from the primary & secondary data, publication of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and related nonpublished grey literature. Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian economy and is naturally endowed with a huge sweet water resources and the world's longest continuous sea beach. With the world's largest flooded wetland, the third largest aquatic biodiversity in Asia behind only to China and India, Bangladesh is considered as one the most suitable region for aquaculture and fisheries in the world. The country has an inland water area of about 45,000 km2 and about 710 km long coastal belt. Given this extensive water resource, it is evident that fisheries play an important role in the economy and the diet of the population. Fish and fish products supply 60 percent of animal protein and around three percents of total export earnings. In recent years, however, the fisheries sector is confronted with challenges posed by numerous natural and anthropogenic causes such as climate change, natural disasters, unbalanced urbanization and industrialization, overfishing and environmental pollution. The combined effect of these factors is posing significant threat to the income and food security of the population and urges for immediate actions by government and policymakers.


Although cloud computing is generally recognized as a technology which will has a significant impact on IT in the future. However, Cloud computing is still in its infancy, many crucial problems need to be solved for the realization of the fine scenery which theoretically depicted by cloud computing. Load balancing is one of these problems; it plays a very important role in the realization of Open Cloud Computing Federation. We proposal a load balancing mechanism based on ant colony and complex network theory in open cloud computing federation in this paper, it improves many aspects of the related Ant Colony algorithms which proposed to realize load balancing in distributed system, Furthermore, this mechanism take the characteristic of Complex Network into consideration. Finally, the performance of this mechanism is qualitatively analyzed, and a prototype is developed to enable the quantitative analysis, simulation results manifest the analysis.


Abstract Controlling the delivery of multi-terawatt and petawatt laser pulses to final focus, both in position and angle, is critical to many laser applications such as optical guiding, laser–plasma acceleration, and laser-produced secondary radiation. We present an online, non-destructive laser diagnostic, capable of measuring the transverse position and pointing angle at focus. The diagnostic is based on a unique double-surface-coated wedged-mirror design for the final steering optic in the laser line, producing a witness beam highly correlated with the main beam. By propagating low-power kilohertz pulses to focus, we observed spectra of focus position and pointing angle fluctuations dominated by frequencies below 70 Hz. The setup was also used to characterize the excellent position and pointing angle correlation of the 1 Hz high-power laser pulses to this low-power kilohertz pulse train, opening a promising path to fast non-perturbative feedback concepts even on few-hertz-class high-power laser systems.


The objective of study was to protect seabird breeding site and vegetation restoration of Chilbal and Sokugul island in Shinan county Jeonnam province, April and December 2011. We analyzed the soil properties according to the dominant communities and environmental gradient. As a result, It was highly analyzed to moisture content, organic matter, salinity, total nitrogen in Commelina communis community and low analyzed in Achyranthes japonica community. Carex boottiana community which mainly used as a seabird habitat has a wide range and Achyranthes japonica and Artemisia princeps community was narrowed to soil properties. Soil pH of Carex boottiana community in Sogugul island was the lowest on 3.14 and Peucedanum japonicum community was the highest. Soil moisture content and organic matter was analyzed by the high value in Peucedanum japonicum community. In contrast, Achyranthes japonica was the low value and Carex boottiana community was analyzed the highest on the salinity and total nitrogen. On the soil environmental characteristics according to the environmental gradient, The higher altitude, moisture content, organic matter, salinity and total nitrogen was the lower in Chilbal island. In the case of Sokugul island, the altitude difference did not show the characteristics of soil environmental factors for small area and low altitude. But moisture content is similar to soil property of Chilbal island. Soil property was strongly acid soil because of seabird dropping. This results will be helpful to manage the invasive plants.


A sero-epidemiological survey of EDS '76 antibodies was carried out in chickens, guinea fowls, ducks and pigeons in various locations in Nigeria with the haemagglutination-inhibition test. Infection rates of 67.43, 79.68, 73.91 and 86.66% were obtained for chickens, guinea fowls, ducks and pigeons respectively. The high prevalence rates observed in these non-chicken species suggest that they should be considered as important in the epidemiology of EDS '76 in poultry in Nigeria. An extensive survey is recommended together with vaccination.


To the Editor.— I found the proclamation by Schatzkin et al 1 that "The Dietary Fat—Breast Cancer Hypothesis is Alive" amusing. This idea has been tossed about for years, but little attention has been given to the presence of residual estrogen in the fat consumed. Cattle and hog breeders give beef and pork animals on the hoof high doses of diethylstilbestrol or other potent estrogens to increase the weight gain on the feed lot and thus increase marbling of select cuts. In their paragraph discussing biologic plausibility, several alternative mechanisms are proposed. Until the beef and pork fat sources are assayed for residual quantities of potent estrogens (given by hog and cattle breeders to improve the return on their feed), I will find it hard to regard these studies seriously. Perhaps Schatzkin and colleagues can direct me to the definitive study that allows them to set aside this rather


Paleoindians first arrived in Texas more than eleven thousand years ago, although relatively few sites of such early peoples have been discovered. Texas has a substantial post-Paleoindian record, however, and there are more than fifty thousand prehistoric archaeological sites identified across the state. This comprehensive volume explores in detail the varied experience of native peoples who lived on this land in prehistoric times. Chapters on each of the regions offer cutting-edge research, the culmination of years of work by dozens of the most knowledgeable experts. Based on the archaeological record, the discussion of the earliest inhabitants includes a reclassification of all known Paleoindian projectile point types and establishes a chronology for the various occupations. The archaeological data from across the state of Texas also allow authors to trace technological changes over time, the development of intensive fishing and shellfish collecting, funerary customs and the belief systems they represented, long-term changes in settlement mobility and character, landscape use, and the eventual development of agricultural societies. The studies bring the prehistory of Texas Indians all the way up through the Late Prehistoric period (ca. A.D. 700-1600). The extensively illustrated chapters are broadly cultural-historical in nature but stay strongly focused on important current research problems. Taken together, they present careful and exhaustive considerations of the full archaeological (and paleoenvironmental) record of Texas.


AIM
We investigated the involvement of the autophagy protein 7 (Atg7) in physiology and pathogenic potential of Cryptococcus neoformans.

MATERIALS & METHODS
The C. neoformans gene encoding Atg7 was deleted by biolistic transformation for characterization of autophagy mechanisms, pigment formation, cell dimensions, interaction with phagocytes and pathogenic potential in vivo.

RESULTS & CONCLUSION
ATG7 deletion resulted in defective autophagy mechanisms, enhanced pigmentation and increased cellular size both in vitro and in vivo. The atg7Δ mutant had decreased survival in the lung of infected mice, higher susceptibility to the killing machinery of different host phagocytes and reduced ability to kill an invertebrate host. These results connect Atg7 with mechanisms of pathogenicity in the C. neoformans model.


The exact shape of the superconducting dome in the Bi-cuprates depends on the proper determination of the hole content in the CuO2 layers. Single crystals of Bi(Pb)-2201 were studied over a wide doping range from the overdoped to the heavily underdoped regime by x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in order to determine the hole content of the compounds. By analysing the Cu-LIII edge this technique proved to be successful for polycrystalline oxide-based high-Tc superconductors, while for single crystals an unexpected variation of the absorption intensity within the ab-plane on a scale of 10–15% with respect to the angle of the incoming linearly polarized light was observed. Due to it, the procedure of hole content determination on polycrystals cannot be adopted straight forward to single crystals. We will show that this technique also works for single crystals, but is in need of higher experimental effort due to the polarization effects.


Abstract Previous work with the cryptic sister species pair of field crickets, Gryllus texensis Cade & Otte and Gryllus rubens Scudder, has implicated sexual selection in the speciation process. That study examined reproductive character displacement (RCD) in male song and female preference for song in G. texensis. No evidence of RCD was found. Here, we provide a similar analysis of RCD in G. rubens song and examine the songs of both species from areas of sympatry in an effort to document the species-specificity of song in sympatry and to look for individuals with songs indicative of F1 hybrid status. We 1) find no evidence for RCD in G. rubens song, 2) demonstrate the distinctness of song in sympatry, and 3) document the rarity of songs typical of F1 hybrids.


In this work, we present a three-stage multiobjective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) for the optimal expansion planning and operation of isolated multienergy microgrids in remote areas. By selecting the optimal distributed generators (DGs) and energy storage systems (ESSs) mix selection, siting, sizing, and scheduling in the remote microgrid, the proposed model is targeted to minimize the annualized total cost of microgrids while enhancing the performance of the system, i.e., minimizing the voltage deviations and line power loss. To represent the electricity and heat flow between generation resources and various electrical, heating, and cooling loads in the isolated microgrid, linearized power flow, and heat flow constraints are employed in the proposed optimization model. The available capacity of DGs and ESSs are modeled as discrete constants instead of continuous variables for practical purpose. Numerical simulation results on a remote microgrid consisting of DGs, ESSs, and various loads validate the proposed method.


This paper examines the controllability of a group of first order agents, adopting a weighted consensus-type coordination protocol over a circulant network. Specifically, it is shown that a circulant network with Laplacian eigenvalues of maximum algebraic multiplicity q is controllable from q nodes. Our approach leverages on the Cauchy-Binet formula, which in conjunction with the Popov-Belevitch-Hautus test, leads to new insights on structural aspects of network controllability.


The crystal structures of Gd5Rh4 and GdRh have been studied by powder and single crystal x-ray diffraction. The results show that Gd5Rh4 is isotypic with Pu5Rh4 and the bond length of the short Rh-Rh dimer is 2.943(4) A. According to heat capacity measurements in zero magnetic field, the magnetic ordering temperature of Gd5Rh4 is 13 K, in agreement with magnetization measurements. Both the heat capacity peak shape and the positive slope of the Arrott plots at Curie temperature (TC) indicate the second-order nature of the magnetic transition. The temperature dependence of magnetization of Gd5Rh4 measured in 1 kOe applied field indicates noncollinear magnetic ordering that may change into nearly collinear ferromagnetic ordering by increasing the magnetic field. GdRh is ferromagnetic below TC = 22 K. Moderate magnetocaloric effects and relatively high refrigerant capacities are observed in Gd5Rh4 and GdRh.


A formula of the Josephson current in the presence of microwave and static magnetic field, taking finite wave-number effect into account, is derived. Finite wavenumber effect on ac Josephson current is discussed according to this formula. It can be used to explain such anomalous phenomena as missing of some rf-induced steps in the I-V curve, asymmetry of the I-V curves.


Itaconic acid production by Aspergillus terreus (A. terreus) was investigated using the undetoxified enzymatic hydrolysate of steam-exploded corn stover as the sole carbon source. The fermentation conditions for A. terreus were optimized based on glucose as the carbon source. Unfortunately, wild-type A. terreus did not grow in the undetoxified enzymatic hydrolysate. Therefore, atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis was applied to obtain A. terreus mutant AT-90. A. terreus mutant AT-90 grew and secreted itaconic acid in the undetoxified enzymatic hydrolysate. The highest itaconic acid concentration (19.30 g/L) with a yield of 36.01% was obtained from the undetoxified enzymatic hydrolysate of 10% (w/v) steam-exploded corn stover. This work demonstrated that the A. terreus mutant generated by ARTP efficiently improved itaconic acid production from lignocellulose-based carbon source.


A one-parameter model for species flux through pores in a crystalline monolayer or multilayer film is developed. The model is based on surface diffusion of the species on the upstream surface of the monolayer and one-directional diffusion of the species into the pores of the monolayer. It is found that the Fickian diffusivity depends on the concentration of adsorbed species on surface sites and on the pore coverage. The model contains an important parameter, the rate constant of activation, which is function of the diffusing species and film surface properties. The model is compared with experimental data on ion and gas flux through single and multilayer films. Good agreement between theory and experiment is found with all sets of the data with the rate constant as a sole adjustable parameter. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.


In the reactive approach, system components are not supposed to execute at their own rate, but are instead driven by a logical common clock, defining global instants. The reactive object model introduced in this paper, is an object based formalism matching the reactive paradigm. In this model, methods can be invoked using instantaneous non-blocking send orders, which are immediately processed (that is, processed during the current instant) ; moreover, a method cannot execute more than once at each instant. The reactive object model is described and compared to the actor model, then a prototype language based on this model is introduced ; the semantics in π-calculus is given ; finally its expressive power is shown on the example of a broadcast communication mechanism.


Objectives: Unpredictable variation in placebo response within and among clinical trials can substantially affect conclusions about the efficacy of new antipsychotic medications. Developing a robust placebo model accounting for factors like dropouts, disease progression and trial design is crucial in order to facilitate better quantification of drug effect. The objectives of this study were i) to develop a model for placebo response in schizophrenia as measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) under varying clinical trial conditions, accounting for dropout and other relevant predictors of the placebo response, ii) to compare different Time to Event (TTE) modeling approaches used to describe the dropout patterns following placebo treatment in schizophrenia. Methods: Pooled PANSS data from 15 clinical trials (n=1338), which included both acute and chronic schizophrenic patients with different study periods (6, 8, 12 and 54 weeks), were used to describe the time course of PANSS using NONMEM VI. Several placebo models with determinants of placebo response were tested [1]. Influence of dropouts was investigated by exploring three TTE hazard models in conjunction with the best performing placebo models. Different patterns of dropping out were examined by exploring Missing Completely At Random (MCAR), where dropout does not depend on PANSS; Missing At Random (MAR), where dropout depends on last observed PANSS; Missing Not At Random (MNAR), where dropout depends on predicted PANSS [2]. Results: The Weibull model and an indirect response model (IRM) with exponential infusion type of kinetic-PD function described the PANSS data well compared to other placebo models. Proportional, Weibull and Gompertz hazard models (GHM) performed equally well for short-term trials, while for long-term trials and for the entire pooled dataset, GHM was shown to be superior. Preliminary covariate analysis indicated that females, subjects in long-term studies and chronic patients had lower probability of dropping out from trials compared to males, subjects of short-term studies and acute schizophrenic patients. Conclusions: Placebo-associated change in PANSS was well described by Weibull and the IRM model. Results of simultaneous modeling of dropout model with placebo model indicated that the probability of patients dropping out from a clinical trial is associated with both the last observed PANSS measurement and unobserved PANSS score as predicted by the placebo model. References: [1] Friberg LE, de Greef R, Kerbusch T, Karlsson MO. Modeling and simulation of the time course of asenapine exposure response and dropout patterns in acute schizophrenia. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 2009;86:84-91 [2] Hu C, Sale M. A joint model for nonlinear longitudinal data with informative dropout. J. Pharmacokinet. Pharmacodyn. 2003;30:82-103


Objective: This study examined the efficacy of Hands-On Parent Empowerment-20 (HOPE-20) program. Methods: Eligible participants were parents residing in Hong Kong with target children aged 2 years attending nursery schools. Cluster randomized control trial was adopted, with 10 schools (110 participants) assigned to intervention group and 8 schools (63 participants) to control group using random number table, without blinding of participants. Intervention group attended 20 parent training sessions based on social learning theory. Children were individually assessed on preschool concepts and language skills. Parents completed child behavior and parental stress questionnaires. Results: Intention-to-treat analysis (173 participants and 18 schools) indicated improvement in primary outcomes: child preschool concepts (d = 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.38, 1.01]) and child behavior problems (d = 0.67, 95% CI: [0.35, 0.99]), together with language skills (d = 0.98, 95% CI: [0.65, 1.30]), and parental stress (d = 0.71, 95% CI: [0.39, 1.02]). Conclusions: The results suggested that HOPE-20 program was beneficial to Chinese families.


The more complex instructional design (ID) projects grow, the more a design language can support the success of the projects, and the continuing process of integration of technologies in education makes this issue even more relevant. The Handbook of Visual Languages for Instructional Design: Theories & Practices serves as a practical guide for the integration of ID languages and notation systems into the practice of ID by presenting recent languages and notation systems for ID; exploring the connection between the use of ID languages and the integration of technologies in education, and assessing the benefits and drawbacks of the use of ID languages in specific project settings.


A polycrystalline-silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistor (TFT) deposited at low temperature on Corning 7059 glass is reported. It has practical applications for low-cost thin-film display and imaging electronics manufacturing. All the process steps used to fabricate the poly-Si device take place at temperatures of 550 degrees C or less. The poly-Si films exhibit crystallite grain sizes on the order of 5000 AA, and the fabricated devices show field-effect mobilities of 10-20 cm/sup 2//V-s and threshold voltages around zero. A plasma process to form the source and drain contacts has also been developed.<<ETX>>


A 65-year-old male was admitted for bladder and rectal dysfunction with lower-limb sensory disturbance. Although no abnormalities were detected on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spinal cord, an elevation in the serum anti-cytomegalovirus (CMV) -IgM level and pneumonia suggest viral meningomyelitis. However, steroid pulse and anti-CMV treatments did not resolve the patients' symptoms. Lung and skin biopsies revealed an invasion of atypical lymphoid cells into small vessels, consistent with intravascular large B-cell lymphoma (IVLBCL). Chemotherapy comprising R-CHOP and intrathecal administration of methotrexate resolved neurological complications quickly, and the patient remains in complete remission after 2 years. Notably, IVLBCL with cauda equina syndrome is highly rare.


textabstractA short history of ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology is given. So far there is no
evidence that diagnostic ultrasound is harmful to the human fetus. However, it is known
that ultrasound energy is partly absorbed by tissue and bony structures. As a result,
temperature warming can be expected if during a considerable time the ultrasound beam
is aimed at one particular spot. Modern ultrasound scanners are equipped with
temperature index monitoring upon which the user may decide to use lower machine
output settings or limit examination time to minimize any possible risk. The combination
of the Doppler principle and two-dimensional ultrasound imaging enables blood flow
velocity measurement in fetal blood vessels. This modality of ultrasound contributed to a
better understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of the fetal cardiovascular
system. The aim of this Ph.D. study was to further improve our knowledge of the fetal
and utero-placental circulation. To this purpose, fetal hemodynamic parameters were
assessed and tested on spectral- and color Doppler derived data.


Eutrophication has become a global aquatic environmental problem because of its ecological consequences, such as frequent outbreaks of algal blooms threatening the reliable supply of drinking water. Eutrophication increases biological oxygen demand (BOD) of water, release toxic gases, encourage profuse growth of aquatic weeds and all these have adverse effects on fish growth, fish spawning, domestic use and even navigation. Eutrophic water favours the growth of disease causing agents of health hazards. The enhancing rate of deposition of silt and organic debris in the eutrophic water body makes the water body slowly becomes shallower and shallower and as a result the water body slowly transforms into a wetland and finally converts into a dry land which ultimately leads to water crisis of the environment. As eutrophication is a global aquatic environmental problem, so currently our attention at the global level is how to minimize eutrophication through sustainable management of conservation of water resource. Minimization of eutrophication requires holistic efforts of some parameters such as physico-chemical factors of water should be analysed regularly, developing phosphate-free detergents for domestic use, removal of algal bloom by dredging, reducing the excessive use of fertilizers in the agricultural practices, mechanical aeration, effective waste water treatment etc. Recent research shows that climatic factors have profound impact on eutrophication. When the nutrient load is reaching a constant level in water bodies, increasing temperature, precipitation, wind speed and solar radiation from sunlight are generally expected to increase the risk of water eutrophication. Therefore, it infers that even if the external sources of nutrients are controlled by implementing governance measures, such as the control of waste discharges and non-point pollution, under climate change water could still become eutrophic due to the release of nutrient loading from internal sources.


Objectives In type 2 diabetes (T2DM), low dose Aspirin has been established for secondary cardiovascular prevention, but as yet there is no definitive data showing primary cardiovascular prevention. We hypothesized that a double dose of ASA would further reduce platelet reactivity and, given the increased platelet turnover, may be most effective when given in divided doses twice-daily. Methods This 3-period, 3-treatment, crossover study randomized 24 adults (51 ± 7 years old, BMI 31.4 ± 7.2 kg/m2, HbA1c 47 ± 7 mmol/mol) with T2DM and no prior cardiovascular disease to 2-week treatment periods with single (100 mg once-daily), double (200 mg once-daily) or split (100 mg twice-daily) ASA doses, with intervening 2 week washout periods. A generalized linear mixed model with random subject effect was used to estimate the dose response of platelet reactivity using Verify Now ASA™ as the primary outcome. Results ASA at all doses significantly reduced platelet reactivity measured by all platelet function tests except PFA-100 CADP. Verify Now ASA™ was decreased significantly from baseline 650.0 ± 19.4 aspirin reaction units (ARU) to 447.6 ± 68.1 ARU with single dose (p<0.0001), 430.1 ± 64.6 ARU with double dose (p<0.0001), and 416.4 ± 38.5 ARU with split dose (p<0.0001) aspirin. After fitting the model, Verify Now ASA™ was reduced to a greater extent with split dose compared with single dose ASA (p = 0.043), but did not differ significantly for single versus double dose (p = 0.20) or double versus split dose (p = 0.44). Split dose was also more effective compared to single dose, as measured by PFA-100™ CEPI (p = 0.031) and urinary thromboxane (p = 0.048) with a trend toward reduced reactivity measured by serum thromboxane (p = 0.055). Both high (p = 0.0043) and split (p<0.0001) doses were more effective than low dose ASA at reducing AA-induced Multiplate™ aggregation. No significant differences between ASA doses were seen for LTA (AA and ADP) or PFA-100™ CADP. Conclusions ASA 100 mg given twice-daily was numerically the most effective regimen for reducing platelet reactivity as measured by platelet function tests, but future clinical outcome trials are required to confirm whether ASA 100 mg twice-daily will reduce the risk of primary cardiovascular events in patients with T2DM. Clinical Trial Registration: 2011-003123-35 (need to list URL for EUDRACT website)


Maxillary and mandibular traumatic injuries are inevitable in our society. Dental implants can be considered for the replacement of teeth lost as a result of trauma, even in complicated cases where associated injuries, such as jaw fractures and bone loss, have occurred. Reimbursement for dental services by insurance companies in the case of traumatic injuries to the teeth and supporting structures is discussed. (Implant Dent 1993;2:191–193)


Objective To explore the effect of endocrine therapy in breast cancer patients whose estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor(PR) was preoperatively negative and turned positive after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods The clinical experimental study was carried out in 97 cases of breast cancer which were divided into endocrine treatment group and control group. The follow-up time ranged from 15 to 60 months. Results In endocrine treatment group, 3 and 5-year disease-free survival were respectively 74.5% (38/51), 60.7% (31/51), and 3 and 5-year overall survival were respectively 80%(41/51), 74. 5% (38/51). In control group, 3 and 5-year disease-free survival were respectively 54.2% (26/46), 41.7%(20/46), and 3 and 5-year overall survival were 60.9%(28/46),50%(23/46),respectively. The corresponding values were significantly higher in endocrine treatment group than in control group(P<0.05).Conclusions Remedy endocrine therapy improves the disease-free and overall survival rate in breast cancer patients with the expression of ER and PR turning positive after initial neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Key words:
Breast neoplasms;  Antineoplastic combined chemotherapy protocols;  Receptors,estrogen;  Receptors,progesterone;  Endocrine therapy


Quadricuspid aortic valve is an uncommon congenital valve disease mostly occurring as isolated lesion or sometimes in association with truncal anomalies. Approximately 50% of patients with quadricuspid aortic valve have aortic regurgitation. Before the advent of echocardiography most cases were diagnosed at the time of surgery or at post-mortem examination. We describe 2 cases of patients with quadricuspid aortic valve diagnosed by echocardiography. The first case, a quadricuspid aortic valve with four equal-sized cusps (type A, according to the classification of Hurwitz and Roberts), was identified in a 26-year-old man undergoing echocardiography because of a heart murmur. The second case, a quadricuspid aortic valve with three relatively equal cusps and one smaller cusp (type B, according to the classification of Hurwitz and Roberts), was identified in a 47-year-old man with a history of murmur. The identification and periodical non-invasive evaluation of a quadricuspid aortic valve is important, because such valves are more vulnerable to infection and need adequate prophylaxis against endocarditis.


Presents results from cross-section and conditional logit models estimating the probability of participation by married women. One version of each specification uses potential experience and the other a measure of the number of years worked in the market since the age of 18. A series of cross-section logit models, representing a threshold analysis of the decision to work in the market, appears to be inappropriate, when unmeasured characteristics influence the probability of participation. Hence, reports results from a conditional logit model controlling for fixed effects. These results confirm the cross-section findings regarding the limitation of potential experience. The results suggest that potential experience reflects the negative effects of ageing on the probability of participation rather than the positive impact of training or tastes for market work.


The Alan oilfield consists of three domes western, middle and eastern. Well Alan-1 and Well Alan-2 are drilled in the middle and western domes respectively. Oil fills the lower part of the Kurra Chine Formation (Late Triassic) in the middle dome while it occupies the upper part of the formation from the western dome; also, the gas and condensate fill the lower part of the formation in the western dome. Alan field consists of the lower and upper reservoirs of the Kurra Chine Formation separate by 220 m of anhydrite cap rocks. Alan structure develops at the end of Pliocene at the northwest ridge of the Mosul High. Source rocks of Triassic sequence, especially northwest Iraq, are matured and generate hydrocarbon that migrates laterally up-dip toward Alan structure. The folding plays an important role to trap the hydrocarbon in the lower reservoir. Western dome fills by gas and condensate completely until gas-oil contact reaches to the spill point between the western and middle domes. The oil is pushed toward the middle dome because it beyond and higher than the western dome. Another factor affected the hydrocarbon distribution in the lower reservoir was the erosion of about 800 m from overburden of Miocene sequence upward which was led to increase the void volume of porosity for the reservoir carbonate rocks. This increase allows to release of gas and push the oil to the middle dome. Two scenarios of hydrocarbon entrapment in the lower reservoir, the first one depends on the concepts of Gussow′s fill and spill, in which the source rock enters maturity levels after or within the formation of the structure. The second scenario is in which the development of structure after charge of hydrocarbons. The latter is the most widely accepted in the Alan field case.


In the present work, a series of experiments have been performed on electro-hydrodynamic atomization of non-conducting liquid using a charge injection type nozzle. Effects of liquid flow rate, input voltage, and distance between the needle and the ground electrode (nozzle-embedded metal plate) have been examined. For fixed electrode distances, total and spray currents increase with the increase of liquid flow rate and input voltage. When the distance between the needle tip and the ground electrode becomes closer, the total, leakage and spray currents increase, while the onset voltage for the dielectric breakdown decreases. When the electric field strength of the liquid jet exceeds that for the air breakdown, a portion of the electric charges in the liquid jet is dissipated into the ambient air, and the charge density shows a limiting value. Atomization quality can be improved by increasing the liquid flow rate due to the higher charge density and the enhanced aerodynamic effect.


The authors describe the multifragmentation data of p+Xe and p+Kr reactions with proton energy 80 to 350 GeV obtained in the Purdue-Fermilab experiment in a statistical model. The fragment cross sections, the isotopic mass yield and kinetic energy spectra are calculated in this model, which compare favourably with the experiment. The statistical model used here is based on purely phase space considerations. Hence this description of the data raises questions regarding the liquid-gas phase transition mechanism of multifragmentation phenomena.


Mitochondrial function declines with age, leading to a variety of age-related diseases (metabolic, central nervous system-related, cancer, etc.) and medication usage increases with age due to the increase in diseases. Drug-induced mitochondrial toxicity has been described for many different drug classes and can lead to liver, muscle, kidney and central nervous system injury and, in rare cases, to death. Many of the most prescribed medications in the geriatric population carry mitochondrial liabilities. We have demonstrated that, over the past decade, each class of drugs that demonstrated mitochondrial toxicity contained drugs with both more and less adverse effects on mitochondria. As patient treatment is often essential, we suggest using medication(s) with the best safety profile and the avoidance of concurrent usage of multiple medications that carry mitochondrial liabilities. In addition, we also recommend lifestyle changes to further improve one's mitochondrial function, such as weight loss, exercise and nutrition.


This action research paper explores using authentic video material in our EFL classrooms and the advantages of using video materials in our teaching. Nowadays videos are considered an important educational tool for the classroom. The rationale for this action research is to examine the benefits of using authentic audio-visual material in teaching and learning the English language. Literature suggests that teachers can expand students' interests in the activities, and consequently their motivation, through the use of appropriate video materials. This action research paper was started due to a problem we were facing while teaching military personnel at the Air Force School in Lebanon. We decided to solve this problem through using TED Talks, and we gathered data through classroom observations, analysis of student work, surveys, and interviews. The results showed that our students felt they became better in retaining information and were able to focus more on the task given since the videos were appropriate for their age. It was also revealed that their English listening comprehension skills increased after learning with authentic videos and that they had a positive attitude toward using such videos. Sandy El Haj Hasan, Zeinab Haj Hasan VIDEOS FOR MOTIVATION University of Oregon 2018 13


The original thesis project was designed to follow up the observation by Natalia Meier that
Cdk9 was part of the Ldb1 complex in erythroid cells and that its knock‐down in zebrafish led
to a hematopoietic phenotype (Meier et al. 2006). The Ldb1 complex was thought to be
involved in the long range interactions between regulatory regions and target genes and it
was therefore very interesting that one of its interaction components was the kinase Cdk9,
which phosphorylates the initiated RNA polymerase II. This is one of the major control steps
of transcription after pausing of the initiated RNAPII in the promoter‐proximal region. It is
therefore important to understand how Cdk9 is recruited to gene promoters and what factors
are involved in the recruitment process. The latter is an essential part of our studies to
understand how transcription is organized in the nuclear space. This is still an area of much
controversy and lack of knowledge with basically two opposing views. One view supports the
classical model whereby transcription of genes occurs individually. The other view holds that
transcription of different genes takes place in shared sites of transcription, called
"transcription factories".


Numerous services are developed using cloud computing technology. It is possible to use service from remote location, not in place of local computer. Accordingly, the research groups predict that the scale of cloud service also will be grown. One of cloud computing's advantage is scalability. It can extend its service scale and range using collaboration between cloud service providers. To make it possible, however, interoperability is required in that environment. Cross-Layered SLA architecture is the cloud service environment that supports interoperability. In this paper, we propose aggregation functions and quality model for QoE metrics and newly generating Service Level Agreement in cross-layered SLA architecture. We expect that this aggregation function and quality model will solve the possible problems in the cloud service area.


Phosphorus is one of the major essential macronutrients limiting plant growth owing to its low bioavailability in soils. Fertilizer phosphorus tends to be fixed soon after application and becomes mostly unavailable, low recovery by crops and a considerable phosphorus accumulation in soils. Several processes of the phosphorus cycle in soils remain obscure, despite large research efforts devoted to increasing the phosphorus availability to plants. The biofertilizer effect of phosphate solublizing bacteria on growth, yield and nutrient uptake of Oryza sativa was studied in a field experiment. Positive effect on plant growth, nutrient uptake, grain yield and yield components in O. sativa plants was recorded in the treatment inoculation of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB). The PSB inoculated with O. sativa, increased significantly the average root length by 32.95%, average shoot length by 11.00%, numbers of roots by 38.46%, shoot biomass by 90.48%, root biomass by 3.77% as compared to control. The pigments increased the level of total chlorophyll by 68.70%, chlorophyll-a by 53.50%, chlorophyll-b by 80.47% and carotenoids by 45.83%, as compared to control and they also increase the level of carbohydrate by 33.33%, protein by 41.21% and amino acids by 30.23% as compared to control. Thus PSB is beneficial in raising vigorous of O. sativa under nursery and field conditions.


This study establishes the relationship among three concepts (attachment, love, and engagement) that have attracted the interest of both practitioners and researchers lately. Based on the consumer–brand relationship literature, a theoretical model is proposed. Using data obtained from a survey to 320 consumers from Madrid (Spain), the results show that only two constructs actually exist: attachment and active engagement, with love being part of attachment (passion) or engagement (long-term relationship). Thus, emotional attachment must be based on emotions that generate captivation. This admiration activates engagement, turning the consumer into the best brand promoter.


The study of Near Earth Objects has gathered significant scientific interest over the past few decades. Although the primary drive for this research is the need to discover and quantify potential threats to Earth, we have also gained substantial information about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, regarding both dynamical and physical processes.
One such process, by which asteroids that approach very close to the Sun are disintegrated, has been proposed by the most recent population models of NEOs to match the observational data. Our aim is to understand these physical processes therefore we are building an experimental apparatus which will enable us to simulate the extreme conditions of the Solar neighborhood.
The experimental setup will consist of a vacuum chamber, wherein asteroid simulant samples will be placed. To simulate the Solar radiation we will make use of a high power Xenon lamp able to deliver a beam of about 50 W/cm2 of maximum power on the sample. To expand the parameter space we will use a periodic shutter to emulate the rotation of the asteroid, and a power attenuator to probe different heliocentric distances. The process will be monitored by regular and high-speed cameras in order to record and study the production and velocities of ejecta. Thermocouples will also be used to log the temperature changes of the samples, and a mass spectrometer fitted on the chamber will enable us to determine the composition of the reaction products.
Apart from our main goal, which is to study the disruption of NEOs close to the Sun, we believe that the capabilities of our experimental setup extend beyond that. We believe it could offer an opportunity for a number of different experiments, such as tests of spacecraft composites or alloys, and we welcome collaborations to work on new ideas.


Background: Breastfeeding expectations predict breastfeeding duration. The extent to which expectations for duration are met remains unknown. Objectives: To evaluate prospective measures of expected breastfeeding duration, changes in expectations over time, and factors associated with meeting expectations. Methods: The Infant Feeding Practices Study II followed women from late pregnancy to 1 year postpartum. Expected breastfeeding duration was assessed 5 times. Logistic regression identified factors associated with met prenatal expectations. Subgroup analysis compared met prenatal expectations to satisfaction with breastfeeding duration. Results: One-year postpartum, 34.7% of 1802 participants had met prenatal expected breastfeeding duration, and 23.9% were still breastfeeding. Fifty-eight percent of women met expectations stated at 7 months postpartum. Modifiable risk factors associated with meeting prenatal expectations included early regular breast pump use (odds ratio [OR], 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-2.07). Return to work was negatively associated with met expectations (return by 6 weeks postpartum: OR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.33-0.71; later return: OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.56-0.95). Among those who reported on satisfaction with duration (n = 1226), 40.4% were satisfied. Satisfaction was associated with meeting expectations (OR, 10.56; 95% CI, 7.67-14.55), but expectation and satisfaction measures were not equivalent. Elevated body mass index and depressive symptoms at 2 months postpartum were negatively associated with both measures. Conclusion: Most participants did not meet prenatal or postnatal expectations for breastfeeding duration and were unsatisfied with duration. However, at 12 months, more participants felt they had met their expectations and were satisfied with their breastfeeding duration than were actually breastfeeding. Therefore, women may perceive greater breastfeeding progress than suggested by Healthy People 2020 benchmarks.


OBJECTIVEAnterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plating is a common procedure performed for cervical spondylosis by spine surgeons. However, data on procedures involving 4 disc spaces are lacking. We report the outcomes of patients who underwent 4-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plating at a single institution. METHODSBetween 1997 and 2006, 34 patients (19 females, 15 males; mean age, 58 years; age range, 38–83 years) underwent 4-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plating based on a surgical database search. Only patients undergoing surgery at 4 contiguous disc levels were included. Data were collected in a retrospective fashion. Patients' demographics, symptoms, neurologic findings, and radiographic findings at admission were recorded. Long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes at last follow-up were analyzed. RESULTSTwenty-nine patients (85%) underwent anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plating at C3–C7. Sixteen patients presented with neurologic deficits, of which 14 (88%) improved. None worsened after surgery. Minor complications occurred in 26 patients, including transient dysphagia in 18 (53%) and hoarseness in 3 (9%). Radiographic outcomes were available in 27 patients (median follow-up, 15 months; range, 4–71 months). The overall fusion rate was 92.6%. Stable fibrous nonunions were present in 2 patients; the chance of nonunion was 1.9% per level and 7% per patient. Adjacent-level disease occurred in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONIn carefully selected patients, 4-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with plating can be associated with high rates of fusion. The technique is safe and effective for managing multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy and may obviate the need for circumferential procedures.


The Athabasca Valley Erratics Train contains a variety of low- to medium- grade metamorphic rocks, the most abundant of which is talcose schist, with lesser amounts of garnet schist and biotite–quartz schist. This erratics train occurs in and west of the Athabasca Valley west of Edson, Alberta. It is probably a late stage deposit of the same glacier that carried and deposited the Erratics Train, Foothills of Alberta. The metamorphic erratics were incorporated into a glacier that originated in the northern part of the Monashee Mountains and Premier Range of British Columbia. This ice movement is also recorded by numerous U-shaped valleys, which extend across the Continental Divide. Thus, during a brief period in late(?) Wisconsin time, the Cordilleran ice in the Rocky Mountains of the Jasper National Park area was partly derived from west of the Continental Divide and the Rocky Mountain Trench. These data agree with the inferred ice movements shown on the 1958 Glacial Map of Canada.


Lymphocytes, obtained from the intestinal lymph of rats and labeled with radiochromium or radiophosphate, were injected intravenously into rats. Both autogenous and homologous lymphocytes which were motile at the time of injection were used. No appreciable radioactivity became evident in the intestinal lymph until 4 hours after injection, but as much as half of the injected material was recovered in the lymph of the subsequent 24 hours. All the radioactivity disappeared from the blood within a half-hour, and began to reappear within 4 hours to reach maximal activity at about 24 hours. Tissue distribution determined at intervals indicated that 73% of the injected material was in the spleen at one-half hour, and that there was a gradual decrease to 7% by 72 hours. The content in bone marrow decreased from 4.5 to 1.3% at the same time. The thymus gland, lymph nodes, liver and small intestine showed increases over this same period. An active migratory process of lymphocytes is clearly indicated.


The Act of Uniformity of 1662 had a much greater impact on the lives of Baptists in England and Wales than is indicated by the number of about 22 ejected from livings, since the Act was the symbolic focus of an attempt to impose religious uniformity more widely in society than merely in the practice of the clergy of the state church. Even before the Conventicle Act of 1664 (replaced by the second Conventicle Act of 1670), the 1662 Act encouraged revival and application of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity of 1559, reinforced by the Religion Act of 1592, resulting in fines, imprisonment, threat of transportation and deaths in the unhealthy conditions of prison. The purpose of this article is not, however, to chronicle in detail the miseries caused by the series of Acts commonly called the 'Clarendon Code', but to explore the theological reasons why Baptists resisted the uniformity that was being attempted, drawing on two Baptist Confessions of faith written in the period. Uniformity is considered with regard to resistance to the Prayer Book, the requirement for reception of the Anglican eucharist as qualification for public office, and episcopacy. It is argued that the central theological reason for refusal of conformity in all these areas was an honouring of the rule of Christ in the congregation. Comparison is made in each of these areas with the life of the church today and especially with the ecumenical situation. The speculative suggestion is thus made that, had obedience to the rule of Christ been seen to be satisfied, Baptists could in principle have been drawn with other Nonconformists into a comprehensive national church. Less speculatively, it is urged that there are implications for ecumenical relations today.


Dopamine (DA) receptor agonists ensure stimulation of DA receptors in the brain, by compensating for dopaminergic deficiency in Parkinson's disease (PD). Since 1996, pramipexole has been used to treat early and extensive PD stages; its clinical efficacy has been proven in many double-blind randomized placebo-controlled and open-labeled trials. Since 2009 the European countries and the USA has used extendedrelease pramipexole (ERP) that is given once daily. Its benefits are stabilized plasma drug concentrations, 24-hour action, which provides continuous dopaminergic stimulation ofpostsynaptic receptors for the prevention and therapy of already existing motor fluctuations and drug-induced dyskinesias. Once-daily dosing of ERP increases the adherence of a patient with PD to regular treatment. Two (extended- and immediate-release) formulations of pramipexole differ only in the release rate for the active ingredient from the contents of a tablet. Both formulations contain the same active ingredient, have the similar profile of interacting with DA receptors, and show pharmacotherapeutic efficacy.


Background: Astrocytic tumors are the most common primary tumors of the central nervous system. Several grading systems are used to grade astrocytomas. The most widely used system is the World Health Organization (WHO) classification (1979, 1993, 2000, and 2007) that grades astrocytomas (I-IV) based on cytological atypia, mitotic activity, vascular proliferation, and necrosis: pilocytic astrocytoma (grade I), diffuse astrocytoma (grade II), anaplastic astrocytoma (grade III), and glioblastoma (grade IV).Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate p53 over expression , Ki-67 expression in astrocytomas and Correlate these two markers with histologic grade of astrocytomas.Methods: Formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks from 40 patients with brain astrocytoma included in this retrospective study. LSAB (Labeled Strept-Avidin, Biotin) method was employed for immunohistochemical detection of Ki – 67 and P53.Results: P53 was detected in (25%) of the cases and was significantly positively correlated with grade IV. Ki-67 labeling index was (>5%) in (50%) of the cases. Both biomarkers were positively correlated with each other, and the grade of astrocytoma; however, Ki67 is a better marker for differentiating (diagnostic marker) between the grades of astrocytoma than p53.Conclusion: P53 overexpression and ki-67 expression plays an important role in pathogenesis of astrocytoma evolution, as they positively associated with higher tumor grade.


Deep-sea corals and sponges (DSCS) inhabit the world's oceans and are often associated with high fish abundance. However, the precise nature and extent of any association is difficult to quantify and remains poorly understood. We investigated associations between DSCS and demersal fish using data from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center's bottom trawl survey (2003-2015). General linear mixed models showed that average species density of groundfish was slightly higher and groundfish biomass slightly lower in tows with DSCS. Multivariate analyses were used to examine relationships among fish community structure, DSCS biomass, and environmental parameters (depth, latitude, bottom temperature). No strong correlations occurred between the community structure of groundfish and DSCS biomass; instead, bottom temperature and depth were the primary drivers of community composition. However, indicator species analysis also showed various species-specific associations with DSCS. Specifically, some flatfish species exhibited relationships with coral and sea pen biomass, whereas some rockfishes were associated with high sponge biomass. Our results provide information on the broad-scale associations among DSCS and demersal fishes that may be useful for developing studies focused on the functional value of DSCS as essential fish habitat and the role they play in groundfish life history and ecology.


The challenge of securing large amounts of electronic medical records stored in a variety of forms and in many locations, while still making it available to authorized users, is huge. Pressure to maintain privacy and protection of personal information is a strong motivating force in the development of security policies. It is essential for health care organizations to analyze, assess and ensure security policies to meet these challenges and to develop the necessary policies to ensure the security of medical information.


I have used occurrence of macroscopic charcoal particles, pollen analyses and radiocarbon datings to examine local forest fire abundance in southern and- central Norway. Peat cores, covering the last 1000 to 6000 yr, were sampled from 20 bog margin and swamp forest sites, and the charcoal records documented local fire occurrence in 10 of the sites. Forest fires have not occurred in the sites located in central Norway, whereas the fire occurrence in southern Norway showed large variation among the sites. However, forest fires ceased prior to the establishment of Norway spruce Picea abies in seven of the sites, whereas the establishment of spruce preceded the fire decline in three of the sites. Odds ratio calculations indicated that it is several hundred times more likely that fires occurred prior to, than after, the spruce establishment. Although time spans between fire decline and spruce establishment showed some variation, they did not increase along a gradient from east to west in Norway, suggesting that the establishment of spruce might have initiated a change from fire-prone to fire-free ecosystems.


We studied the behavior and mating success of a natural population of painted reed frogs, Hyperolius marmoratus, over 28 consecutive nights at the height of the breeding season. The operational sex ratio (OSR) was strongly biased towards males on every night. Larger choruses
were characterized by a greater absolute number of females than small choruses. However, no relationship was found between chorus size and the OSR. Males showed a high degree of site fidelity both within and between nights. However, high male turnover between nights resulted in distributions that were largely independent from night to night. There was a strong positive relationship between the spatial location of males and females over the 28 nights so that most matings occurred
where male density was highest. Male body size did not influence mating success over the 28 nights, within nights, or within local groups of males (males within 3 m of a pair). The mating success of
males within nightly choruses was not influenced by nearest neighbor distance or the density of males in the immediate vicinity of amplexing pairs (local male density). Mating success of individual
males was best predicted by chorus attendance. Male size did not influence chorus attendance, site fidelity, or the number of consecutive nights that males were present at the breeding site. Males
that mated on one night had a significantly higher probability of mating the following night than males that did not mate the previous night. There was no evidence of positive assortative mating.


Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, with a landmass of 226,739 square miles - over twice the size of the British Isles. Until 65 million years ago, it was part of continental Africa, but broke free and drifted into the Indian Ocean, gradually isolating its flora and fauna. This illustrated study of the extraordinary wildlife of the island covers the lone evolution of many of the species of plant and animal where all of the mammals, 225 of the 257 species of reptile and almost 80% of its plants are unique to Madagascar.


Subsurface activities, such as reservoir gas production, geothermal heat extraction, ground water extraction, phreatic groundwater level lowering, storage of natural gas and CO2, potentially lead to geomechanical risks. The two most critical instances of these risks are anthropogenically-induced seismicity and subsidence. A combination of geological interpretations with seismic campaigns and flow modeling often provides a relatively rich pre-existing knowledge of the underground around anthropogenic subsurface activities. However, our understanding of the driving mechanisms for induced seismicity and subsidence is still poor and our modelling forecasts still very uncertain. In our companion paper [Candela et al., 2021] the focus is on induced seismicity; here the focus is on subsidence induced by natural gas extraction. The translation of reservoir pressure depletion to ground surface displacements involves multiple types of poorly constrained physics-based models. Deploying a data assimilation procedure based on ensemble smoother algorithms, we demonstrate that (i) the reservoir compaction process driving subsidence can be effectively constrained and (ii) our subsidence forecasts can be well aligned with the geodetic observations. The identification of the physical process at work is crucial to build confidence in our subsidence forecasts. The performance is achieved by honoring uncertainties at each step of the workflow from reservoir depletion to ground surface displacement and by assimilating not only vertical displacements (that is the subsidence) but also horizontal displacements. The predictive power of the procedure is demonstrated with an ensemble of synthetic but complex reservoir flow simulations mimicking all the characteristics and uncertainties representative for real gas fields in the north of the Netherlands.