Proteins are dynamic molecules that can transition between a potentially wide range of structures comprising their conformational ensemble. The nature of these conformations and their relative probabilities are described by a high-dimensional free energy landscape. While computer simulation techniques such as molecular dynamics simulations allow characterisation of the metastable conformational states and the transitions between them, and thus free energy landscapes, to be characterised, the barriers between states can be high, precluding efficient sampling without substantial computational resources. Over the past decades, a dizzying array of methods have emerged for enhancing conformational sampling, and for projecting the free energy landscape onto a reduced set of dimensions that allow conformational states to be distinguished, known as collective variables (CVs), along which sampling may be directed. Here, a brief description of what biomolecular simulation entails is followed by a more detailed exposition of the nature of CVs and methods for determining these, and, lastly, an overview of the myriad different approaches for enhancing conformational sampling, most of which rely upon CVs, including new advances in both CV determination and conformational sampling due to machine learning.


The purpose of this paper is to identify assignable causes of the problem in the service process and eliminating them using Statistical Process Control (SPC) to achieve some improvement in the process quality. Closed-ended questionnaire is utilized to find out the vital causes that may lead to customer ́s dissatisfaction, to do that 110 target customers asked through a questionnaire to choose one of the five options that expected may produce customer dissatisfaction then analyzed all the collected data by using some improvement tools such as, data collection, histogram, Pareto chart, cause and effect diagram, and control chart. Systematically review the literature and using the SPC tools it is concluded that SPC is a versatile tool which can help to measure customer dissatisfactions and service process improvement.


Cell swelling and elevated intracellular Ca2+ increase K+ permeability in lymphocytes. Experiments were performed to test whether these effects can also be elicited in isolated plasma membrane vesicles. Rabbit thymocytes, used as a source of membrane vesicles, were found to regain their volume after swelling in hypotonic, low‐K+ media. This regulatory volume decrease (RVD) was inhibited by quinine and trifluoperazine, but not affected by ouabain. Both efflux and uptake of K+ (86Rb) were stimulated by hypotonicity. Addition of A23187 plus Ca2+ also increased 86Rb fluxes. Ca2+ ‐ and volume‐induced 86Rb fluxes were also studied in isolated membranes. A plasma membrane‐rich vesicle fraction, enriched over 11‐fold in 5′‐nucleotidase, was isolated from thymocytes. The vesicles were about 35% inside‐out and trapped 86Rb in an osmotically active compartment of ∼1.3 μl/mg protein. Equilibrium exchange fluxes of 86Rb in the vesicles were unaffected by Ca2+ with or without A23187. Calmodulin had no effect on 86Rb permeability but stimulated ATP‐dependent Ca2+ accumulation. Hypotonic swelling increased both uptake and efflux of 86Rb from vesicles. However, this increase was not blocked by either quinine or trifluoperazine, was not specific for K+ (86Rb), and is probably unrelated to RVD. It is concluded that components essential for the volume‐ and Ca2+‐induced changes in K+ permeability are lost or inactivated during membrane isolation. An intact cytoarchitecture may be required for RVD.


Introduction: There is always some risk of complications during or immediately after cataract surgery so regular collection of data helps to identify high-risk patients and to confirm that they are being managed appropriately. Monitoring of cataract surgical outcomes is associated with a reduction in the incidence of surgical complications. Materials and methods: After obtaining ethics committee clearance, this cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in 500 patients having visually significant cataract those underwent planned extracapsular cataract extraction by phacoemulsification with PCIOL implantation method to evaluate the posterior segment complications of cataract surgery between October 2015 and September 2016. Results and discussion: Complications evaluated were cystoid macular edema, nucleus drop, expulsive and delayed suprachoroidal hemorrhage, infectious post-operative endophthalmitis, retinal detachment following cataract extraction and any other complication which involving posterior segment of eye. Out of 500 patients, 6 had postoperative complications in the form of CME (1.2%). No incidence of any other posterior segment complications occurred in present study. Conclusion: Cataract surgery is a safe procedure with a high patient satisfaction rate. The occurrence of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema after cataract surgery is a well known complication. As in our study CME incidence was 1.2%.


Pollen development, pollen grain germination and pollen tube elongation are crucial biological processes in angiosperm plants that need precise regulation to deliver sperm cells to fertilize ovules. Pollen grains undergo two major developmental switches: dehydration characterized by metabolic quiescent state, and rehydration upon pollination that leads to extraordinary metabolic and membrane trafficking activity, resulting in germination and rapid tip growth of pollen tubes. To sustain these processes, many plant housekeeping genes evolved their pollen-specific paralogs. Highly polarized secretion at a growing pollen tube tip requires the exocyst tethering complex responsible for specific targeting of secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane. Here, we describe that EXO70A2 (At5g52340) is the main exocyst EXO70 isoform in Arabidopsis pollen, which governs the conventional secretory function of the exocyst, analogically to EXO70A1 (At5g03540) in the sporophyte. Our analysis of a CRISPR-generated exo70a2 mutant revealed that EXO70A2 is essential for efficient pollen maturation, pollen grain germination and pollen tube growth. GFP:EXO70A2 was localized similarly to other exocyst subunits to the apical domain in growing pollen tube tips characterized by intensive exocytosis. Moreover, EXO70A2 could substitute for the EXO70A1 function in the sporophyte, indicating functional redundancy of these two closely related isoforms. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the ancient duplication of EXO70A to two (or more) paralogs, one of which is highly expressed in pollen, occurred independently in monocots and dicots. In summary, EXO70A2 is a crucial component of the exocyst complex in the Arabidopsis pollen required for efficient plant sexual reproduction.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanical properties of fiber nano-modified rubber concrete in high temperature. In this study, ordinary C30 concrete was used as the test benchmark, and 10% by volume of five kinds of rubber particles were used to replace fine aggregate to prepare rubber concrete (RC). On this basis, steel fibers with a volume ratio of 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% were added to make fully mixed steel fiber rubber concrete (SFRRC), according to the completely mixed steel fiber rubber concrete (SFRRC) Compression test, split tensile test, 4-point bending test, and fatigue test of steel fiber rubber concrete (SFRRC) with three stress levels, studied the fully mixed steel fiber rubber concrete (SFRRC) machinery of various steel fiber mixed materials Properties and the effects on the fatigue life, fatigue probability distribution law and damage progression law of steel fiber rubber concrete. The test results show that the combination of steel fiber and nano-silica can increase the crack resistance of 600-degree high-temperature concrete to 57.19% and the maximum separation tensile strength to 269.09%.


Lesions in pig skin were induced by direct current, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, and the morphology of the lesions was compared in order to establish the influence of electrolysis in the electrical lesions. Both light microscopically and electron microscopically a pronounced similarity was found between cathode lesions and base-induced lesions including the presence of vesicular nuclei in both kinds of lesions. Some features were also common to anode lesions and acid induced lesions, but dissimilarities were present as well. From the results it is concluded that electrolysis in the tissue with the subsequent shift of pH, especially towards the alkaline side, is responsible for the formation of the vesicular nuclei which we repeatedly have found to be characteristic of electrical skin lesions. The shift of pH also induces the cytoplasmic feature called "white necrosis" which therefore is found more regularly in electrical lesions than in heat lesions.


The electrical grid is designed to meet peak loads, which may occur for only a few hours each year. Consequently, there are significant economic gains from a reduction in the peak load. Air conditioner (AC) load from residential buildings forms a significant portion of peak summer loads. The existing `peaksaver' program in Ontario attempts to reduce AC loads by setting thermostats a few degrees higher in volunteer households on hot summer days. This has had only a limited success. To address this issue, we propose a scheme that provides monetary incentive for participation. We describe the operation of this `temperature market' and demonstrate its effectiveness with a heterogeneous population of potential participants. We find that even a payment of $2 per hour of setback can reduce grid operating costs by $688 million over a period of 20 years.


Individual specimens of Anisakis, Pseudoterranova, and Contracaecum collected from marine mammals inhabiting northern Pacific waters were used for comparative diagnostic and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Forty-eight new sequences were obtained for this study of 14 Anisakis taxa, 8 Pseudoterranova taxa, 4 Contracaecum taxa, and 4 outgroup species. Partial 28S (LSU) and complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1, 5.8S, ITS-2) ribosomal DNA was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Sequences of ITS indicated that Pseudoterranova specimens from Zalophus californianus (California sea lion), Mirounga angustirostris (northern elephant seal), Phoca vitulina (harbor seal), Enhydra lutris (sea otter), and Eumetopias jubatus (Steller's sea lion) exactly matched P. decipiens s. str., extending the host and geographic range of this species. Anisakis from northern Pacific marine mammals were most closely related to members of the A. simplex species complex. Comparison of Anisakis ITS sequences diagnosed the presence of A. simplex C in 2 M. angustirostris hosts, which is a new host record. Anisakis specimens from Phocoena phocoena (harbor porpoise), Lissodelphis borealis (Pacific rightwhale porpoise), and E. jubatus included 3 ITS sequences that did not match any known species. Contracaecum adults obtained from Z. californianus were most closely related to C. ogmorhini s.l. and C. rudolphii, but ITS sequences of these Contracaecum specimens did not match C. ogmorhini s. str. or C. margolisi. These novel Anisakis and Contracaecum ITS sequences may represent previously uncharacterized species. Phylogenetic analysis of LSU sequences revealed strong support for the monophyly of Anisakinae, Contracaecum plus Phocascaris, Pseudoterranova, and Anisakis. Phylogenetic trees inferred from ITS sequences yielded robustly supported relationships for Pseudoterranova and Anisakis species that are primarily consistent with previously published phenograms based on multilocus electrophoretic data.


Background: Health research in sub-Saharan Africa takes place against a lengthy history of exploitation and unfair collaboration. This has involved the export of samples and data from the continent for the benefit of institutions and researchers elsewhere. In this paper, we report the perspectives of people involved in conducting genomics research in Zambia and the capacity of the Health Research Act (HRA) of 2013 in regulating genomics research. Methods : We approached 14 purposively selected stakeholders involved in the development or implementation of the HRA in Zambia for in-depth interviews. These were members of research ethics committees, genomics researchers, Ministry of Health policy makers and institutional lawyers. Results : Participants reported that there are benefits in genomics research for Zambia such as diagnosing and treatment of diseases. Participants also expressed concerns, most of which were ethical in nature. Prominent concerns were on consent. Participants' main concern was the possible misuse of samples in the future. These concerns resonated with the HRA, which prohibits the use of broad consent for the collection of samples and data for future unspecified research. The implications of this is that Zambians may not participate in any kind of health research for which the storage, sharing and re-use of data or samples is envisaged. The restrictive nature of HRA means that genomics research may be excluded from future health research collaborations, thus isolating the country from potentially beneficial health research. Some policy makers also worried the samples and data that comes from such research may be difficult to access by local scientists. Conclusion : In this article, we describe the views of Zambian policymakers on genomics research and the capacity of HRA in regulating genomics research. Our findings are relevant for the Zambian audience, and other African countries that are aiming to regulate health research, especially genomics research.


This paper describes the software fault tolerance scheme, t/(n-1)-variant programming (t/(n-1)-VP), which is based on a particular system diagnosis technique used in hardware and thereby has some spectral advantages involving a simplified adjudication mechanism and enhanced capability of tolerating faults. The dependability of the t/(n-1)-VP architecture is evaluated and then compared with two similar schemes: N-version programming (NVP) and N self-checking programming (NSCP). The comparison shows that t/(n-1)-VP is a viable addition or alternative to present techniques. Much of the classical dependability-analysis of software fault tolerance approaches has focused on the simplest architectural examples that tolerate only single software faults, without considering tolerance to multiple and/or related faults. The results obtained from such analyses are thus restricted. The dependability evaluation in this paper deals with more-complicated and general software redundancy: various architectures tolerating two or more faults. It is no surprise that we came to new conclusions: both t/(n-1)-VP and the NVP scheme have the ability to tolerate some related faults between software variants; in general, t/(n-1)-VP has higher reliability, whereas NVP is better from the safety viewpoint.


Aims Aspirin, a widely used antiplatelet agent, irreversibly inhibits platelet cyclooxygenase-1 and reduce thromboxane-mediated platelet activation. Although it has been proved that aspirin played an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, its efficacy varies. The aim of our studywas to investigate the relationship betweenurinary 11-dehydro-thromboxane B2 (11dhTxB2) and clinical outcome in aged patients with coronaryartery disease (CAD). Methods 108 aged CAD patients on 100 mg/d aspirin administration at least 12 month were enrolled in this study. Aspirin response was assessed using urinary11-DehydrothromboxaneB2 (11dhTxB2) measurement. Urinary11dhTxB2 >1500 pg/mg was defined as Aspirin Resistance (AR). The measured clinical outcomes were defined as the occurrence of cardiovascular events and death. Results The mean age of all enrolled patients was 83.3 ± 10.5 years old. Baseline and post-treatment urinary 11-dhTXB2 levels are 3463 ± 2465 pg/mg and 1386 ± 1895 pg/mg, respectively. Prevalence of AR was 27.7% according to the defined criterion Urinary11dhTxB2 >1500 pg/mg. Within a mean follow-up time of 12 months, the outcomesoccurred more frequently in AR group as compared with no-AR patients (p < 0.05). After adjustment for the conventional risk factors for CAD, there still exists a significant association between AR based on urinary 11dhTxB2 level and clinical outcome (p < 0.05). Conclusion Our research showed that 27.7% enrolled CAD patients meet the criterion of AR using urinary 11dhTxB2measurement. It's noteworthy that AR status was significantly associated with higher incidence of cardiovascular events and death than no-AR patients (p < 0.05).


Women's reproductive cessation is the earliest sign of human aging and is caused by decreasing oocyte quality. Similarly, C. elegans' reproduction declines with age and is caused by oocyte quality decline. Aberrant mitochondrial dynamics are a hallmark of age-related dysfunction, but the role of mitochondrial morphology in reproductive aging is largely unknown. We examined the requirements for mitochondrial fusion and fission in oocytes of both wild-type worms and the long-lived, long-reproducing insulin-like receptor mutant daf-2. We find that normal reproduction requires both fusion and fission. By contrast, daf-2 mutants require fission, but not fusion, for reproductive span extension. daf-2 mutant oocytes' mitochondria are punctate (fissioned) and may be primed for mitophagy, as loss of the mitophagy regulator PINK-1 shortens daf-2's reproductive span. Our data suggest that daf-2 maintain oocyte mitochondria quality with age via a shift toward punctate mitochondrial morphology and mitophagy to extend reproductive longevity.


A high efficiency charge pump circuit is designed and realized. The charge transfer switch is biased by the additional capacitor and transistor to eliminate the influence of the threshold voltage. Moreover, the bulk of the switch transistor is dynamically biased so that the threshold voltage gets lower when it is turned on during charge transfer and gets higher when it is turned off. As a result, the efficiency of the charge pump circuit can be improved. A test chip has been implemented in a 0.18 μm 3.3 V standard CMOS process. The measured output voltage of the eight-pumping-stage charge pump is 9.8 V with each pumping capacitor of 0.5 pF at an output current of 0.18 μA, when the clock frequency is 780 kHz and the supply voltage is 2 V. The charge pump and the clock driver consume a total current of 2.9 μA from the power supply. This circuit is suitable for low power applications.


Summary form only given. Controlled interruption of short circuit currents in medium and high voltage systems by means of point-on-wave control has not been feasible so far for technical reasons. The determination of the optimal tripping moment to achieve minimal contact wear should not take more time than the protection relay takes to indicate the fault, which makes it a difficult problem. As a solution, a so-called safe-point algorithm was developed, which overcomes the problem by an approximation of sufficient accuracy and with a time request of not much more than half a cycle of the power frequency. Computer simulations demonstrate that the mean I/sup 2/t can be reduced significantly. The method provides the foundation for implementing controlled switching of fault currents.


The induction of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells of rats exposed to chronic gamma-irradiation and subsequently to acute gamma-irradiation was studied. Adult male rats were exposed ot 3-40 cGy (2.9 cGy/day) of chronic gamma-irradiation (adaptive dose) and subsequently to 4 or 6 Gy of gamma-rays (47 cGy/min, challenge dose). The yield of chromosome aberrations in marrow cells induced by adaptive and challenge dose was lower than the sum of the yields separately induced by chronic and acute gamma-irradiation. The most effective dose for induction of the adaptive response was 0.4 Gy.


The Swiss Constitution was amended by referendum in 1992 to include two unique provisions: Article 119, which imposes strict limits on genetic and reproductive technologies in humans in order to protect 'human dignity', and Article 120, which commits the Swiss federal government to limiting genetic technologies in non-human species on the basis of the 'dignity of the creature'. This article analyzes the role of 'dignity' as a limit on biotechnologies in the Swiss constitutional order. It concludes that the understanding of dignity the constitution embraces codifies a contestable metaphysical theory of value at the constitutional level. Specifically, the Swiss constitutional concept of dignity embraces the normative theory that the natural order is a source of moral value. Because this theory speaks directly to contested questions of the good life, Switzerland's adoption of it as a constitutional principle is analogous to the adoption of a religious theory in a constitution. The concept of dignity as understood in the Swiss constitutional order is contrary to the commitment to epistemic humility characteristic of liberal constitutions.


The photochemistry of molecules constrained within a confining environment on surfaces has been studied. Orientation of methyl bromide could be controlled methyl down or up by varying the pre-adsorbed oxygen coverage due to electrostatic interactions on Ru(001) under UHV conditions. Irradiation of the coadsorption system at 193 nm has shown that the resulting photochemical activity is sensitive to the molecular orientation. Photodesorption and dissociation cross sections were 1.0.10 - 1 9 cm - 2 for methyl-down and 3.0.10 - 1 9 cm - 2 for the methyl-up configurations. This observation represents the first report of the steric effect in electron-molecule interaction due to the dissociative electron attachment mechanism of photochemical processes on surfaces. A second system of CO 2 molecules caged within ice has also been studied. Here the trapped carbon dioxide molecules cannot leave the surface at their normal desorption temperature near 100 K, but are explosively desorbing at the onset of ice evaporation near 165 K. Upon UV irradiation, enhanced dissociation to adsorbed CO and oxygen is recorded. In addition, a new reactivity channel is observed to form H 2 CO, tentatively identified as formaldehyde. The relevance of photochemistry of caged molecules within ice to interstellar hydrocarbon formation as a possible route for the origin of life is discussed.


The new full-metal ITER-like wall (ILW) at JET was found to have a profound impact on the physics of disruptions. The main difference is a significantly lower fraction (by up to a factor of 5) of energy radiated during the disruption process, yielding higher plasma temperatures after the thermal quench and thus longer current quench times. Thus, a larger fraction of the total energy was conducted to the wall resulting in larger heat loads. Active mitigation by means of massive gas injection became a necessity to avoid beryllium melting already at moderate levels of thermal and magnetic energy (i.e. already at plasma currents of 2 MA). A slower current quench, however, reduced the risk of runaway generation. Another beneficial effect of the ILW is that disruptions have a negligible impact on the formation and performance of the subsequent discharge.


Background : acute myocardial infarction is currently worrying the scientific community due to the high numbers of morbidity and mortality that have been reported. Objective : to characterize patients with acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation treated at the Abel Santamaria Cuadrado General Teaching Hospital from 2015 to 2017. Methodology : a descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study was carried out with 714 patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation, treated at the aforementioned institution and during the period herein declared. The following variables were assessed: age, sex, presence of coronary risk factors, topographic location of the lesion, degree of cardiac sufficiency, hospital stay, complications, thrombolytic therapy, time of beginning of treatment, status at discharge and causes that prevented thrombolysis. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. Results : there was a prevalence of the male sex (63,7 %), the 60 to 79 age group (52,07 %), arterial hypertension (70,31 %) as the main associated risk factor, and lesions with inferior topographic location (41,7 %). 70,45 % had a stay lower than 10 days, predominating the left bundle branch block as a complication (11,06 %). 90,9 % of the sample remained alive at discharge, out of which 64,57 % received thrombolytic treatment, with the prolonged wait as the main cause of non-thrombolysis. Conclusions : the studied patients with acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation were characterized, highlighting hypertension as the associated risk factor and a high survival at discharge.


Homoharringtonine (HHT) has long and widely been used in China for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the clinical therapeutic effect is significant but the working mechanism is poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to screen the possible target for HHT with virtual screening and verify the findings by cell experiments. Software including Autodock, Python, and MGL tools were used, with HHT being the ligand and proteins from PI3K-Akt pathway, Jak-stat pathway, TGF-β pathway and NK-κB pathway as the receptors. Human AML cell lines including U937, KG-1, THP-1 were cultured and used as the experiment cell lines. MTT assay was used for proliferation detection, flowcytometry was used to detect apoptosis and cell cycle arrest upon HHT functioning, western blotting was used to detect the protein level changes, viral shRNA transfection was used to suppress the expression level of the target protein candidate, and viral mRNA transfection was used for over-expression. Virtual screening revealed that smad3 from TGF-β pathway might be the candidate for HHT binding. In AML cell line U937 and KG-1, HHT can induce the Ser423/425 phosphorylation of smad3, and this phosphorylation can subsequently activate the TGF-β pathway, causing cell cycle arrest at G1 phase in U937 cells and apoptosis in KG-1 cells, knockdown of smad3 can impair the sensitivity of U937 cell to HHT, and over-expression of smad3 can re-establish the sensitivity in both cell lines. We conclude that smad3 is the probable target protein of HHT and plays an important role in the functioning mechanism of HHT.


Introduction The Masquelet induced membrane technique is effective in the management of acquired heterogeneous long bone defects and pseudarthrosis. The combination of the Masquelet technology and Ilizarov non-free bone grafting seems promising and reduces the risks of recurrence at long-term in patients with congenital pseudarthrosis. Purpose Presentation of new technological solutions that allow combining the advantages of the Ilizarov bone transport and Masquelet bone grafting in patients with acquired bone defects. Materials and methods Retrospective assessment of the results of bone reconstruction in 10 patients who were treated by a combination of Ilizarov and Masquelet bone grafting technologies to repair long bone defects after failures of previous treatment. Fragments of the biomembrane formed around the cement spacer temporarily replacing the tibial gap after resection bone defect or pseudarthrosis were examined in all patients. The studies were carried out using a Reichard sledge microtome, an AxioScope stereomicroscope and an AxioCam ICc 5 digital camera, a JSM- 840 scanning electron microscope and an INCA-200 Energy X-ray electron probe microanalyzer. Results and discussion The combined Masquelet technique and Ilizarov non-free bone plasty provide the conditions that are favorable for reparative processes of the transported fragments. After removal of the spacer, there is a tunnel formed in the interfragmental gap, the walls of which are made of the induced membrane. Bone transport is carried out without technical problems through the compromised tissues which are debrided at the time of distraction initiation, outside the scars. At the same time, there are low risks of inflammation around the transosseous elements; there is no danger of cutting and perforation of soft tissues by transported fragments. Conclusions Complete organotypic rearrangement of the distraction regenerate with the use of Ilizarov non-free bone plasty and the Masquelet technique excludes the possibility of deformities or fractures at the level of newly formed bone areas. Active distraction histogenesis ensures the closure of soft tissue defects without additional reconstructive plastic interventions. The revealed dependence of the induced membrane blood supply on the method of treatment previously used might be a criterion for predicting the treatment outcome in patients with acquired bone defects and pseudarthrosis.


ABSTRACT This paper intends to examine the evolution of healthcare interpreting studies published in SSCI and A&HCI journals between 2007 and 2017. A total of 40 journal articles have been selected from 23 SSCI or A&HCI journals, covering journals on translation and interpreting, linguistics and communication as well as healthcare studies. Thematically, articles selected fall in such four major types as socio-political background, healthcare interpreting practice, and education and training. Methodologically, based on an existing framework of classification, articles selected are grouped into four categories, namely, pure empirical research, pro-empirical research, pro-non-empirical research, and pure non-empirical research. Built on such a characterization of past studies on healthcare interpreting, this paper serves as a general map of relevant studies of this sub-field in the past decade and attempts to provide recommendations on research directions in the future. Such directions include the integration and alignment between the T & I community and the healthcare research community in the study of healthcare interpreting, the development of inter-disciplinary perspectives on the socio-political background of healthcare interpreting, and the expansion of research that is specialty-based, informed and driven.


This paper attempts a survey of the existing literature on the direct market impacts of climate change on urban centers. In the first chapter, the argument for the importance of cities as case studies for research on the impacts of climate change is established using current population data and future projections. In the second chapter, a brief overview of how we can go from the global level to the regional level, when we consider the impacts of climate change, is given. In the third chapter, we examine the models and their estimates for the sea level rise impacts on cities. In the fourth chapter, we summarize the impacts of increasing temperature. In the last two chapters, we elaborate on the current limitations and we present some conclusions.


This article provides a spatial analytical framework for using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in housing and mortgage market research. It discusses the nature of neighborhood effects and their influence in residential market behavior and outcomes. It then discusses how GIS can aid with empirical research investigations. GIS, coupled with spatial analytical tools, offers an ideal research environment for processing, analyzing, and modeling housing and mortgage data sets. GIS offers powerful data mapping and visualization functionality to facilitate spatial explorations of the data. It also allows data from multiple sources and disparate formats to be integrated. Its powerful spatial querying and overlay capabilities greatly facilitate the organization and management of data sets to fit research needs. Finally, GIS is especially significant for constructing spatial variables.


Spontaneous edible plants have an old history of use in popular traditions all around the world, and the rediscovery of these species could also be useful for the search of new drugs. Chenopodium album L. (Amaranthaceae) and Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. (Brassicaceae) are two annual plants traditionally used both as food and herbal remedies against inflammatory disorders. In this work, the potential anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic activities of these plant species have been investigated, together with their antioxidant potential. The phytochemical composition was assessed as well by means of gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The antioxidant properties were assessed using the DPPH and β-carotene bleaching test. The ability of extracts to protect against lipid peroxidation was also examined in rat-liver microsomal membranes. All the samples showed a preservation of antioxidant activity up to 60 min. A significant inhibitory activity on the production of the pro-inflammatory mediator nitric oxide was induced in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells by the dichloromethane fraction of C. album extract, with an IC50 value equal to 81.7 ± 0.9 μg/mL. The same sample showed also a concentration-dependent anti-denaturation effect on heat-treated bovine serum albumin (IC50 = 975.6 ± 5.5 μg/mL), even if the best in vitro anti-arthritic activity was observed for the dichloromethane fraction of S. officinale extract, with an IC50 value of 680.9 ± 13.2 μg/mL.


Intense solar activity during the period August-December 1989 gave rise to several major energetic-particle events, which were accompanied by greatly enhanced ionization rates and NO{sub y} production in the polar regions of both hemispheres. A two-dimensional model of the chemistry and dynamics of the middle atmosphere has been used to calculate the production and subsequent fate of the NO{sub y} and its effect on ozone concentrations and temperatures. In the sunlit southern polar cap, NO increases as large as a factor of 20 are estimated near 60 km altitude, with column density enhancements of 55%. Corresponding peak ozone depletions of about 20% are calculated near 40 km in late October 1989, with predicted temperature decreases of about 3-3.5 K. Effects in the northern polar regions are considerably smaller, due to the lack of sunlight during the peak phase of the events.


Lip carcinoma has been treated for years with low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy, achieving local control greater than 90%. Comparison between LDR and high-dose-rate (HDR) showed that they are equivalently efficient in local control, but HDR results in fewer complications. Interstitial implant of rigid needles or plastic tubes (interventional radiotherapy) is the current standard. Lip carcinomas are usually exophytic, and rigid parallel needles allow for a better dose distribution with more homogeneity, by adding needles placed outside the tissue to cover protruding lesions. Treatment is administered in 5 days, B.I.D. 4.5-5 Gy × 9 fractions. This pictorial essay illustrates the technique of implanting rigid needles in post-operative cases of early and advanced carcinomas of the lip. This technique is straightforward to learn, and is practical and safe with appropriate training. It should be considered in selected patients with lip carcinoma as the first therapeutic option. Departments with HDR brachytherapy units and experienced in interventional radiotherapy should be offering such treatment, as it greatly benefits patients with lip cancer diagnosis.


Acute burns of the oesophago-gastro-duodenal tract require an immediate diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Early endoscopy has been shown to assist greatly in determining the further treatment of corrosive injury. The main task of radiology is to detect perforations. While first degree burns cause hardly any therapeutic problems, second and third degree burns require intensive care right from the start. Later, possible stricture formation warrants chief attention. Early corticosteroid treatment seems to be effective in preventing stricture development in second degree burns.


The study was done to describe the gender sensitive teaching at Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University (DHVTSU) as a basis for the enhancement of the Gender and Development Program.Descriptive research was employed. The Deans, faculty members, and students of the university answered the questionnaire and interview as guided by various GAD Handbooks. Gender sensitive teaching is commonly noted as equality. Moreover, gender sensitive teaching was fully applied and fully observed in the areas of curriculum, learning objectives, learning content, learning experiences, textual materials, and learning assessment. However, issues on integration and proper application of gender sensitive teaching was raised among technical, technology, sciences, and mathematical courses With such conditions, continuous monitoring and trainings should be done so that the full application and full observance of gender sensitive teaching can be sustained. Also, a creation of module on how to concretely become gender neuter in all aspects of the educative process should be initiated.


Red palm weevil (RPW) is a harmful pest that has wiped out many palm plantations worldwide. Early detection of RPW is difficult, especially on large plantations. Here, we report on combining fiber–optic distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and machine learning to detect weevil larvae less than three weeks old, in a controlled environment. In particular, we use the temporal and spectral data provided by a fiber–optic DAS system to train a convolutional neural network (CNN), which distinguishes "healthy" and "infested" signals with a classification accuracy higher than 97%. Additionally, a rigorous machine learning classification approach is introduced to improve the false alarm performance metric by >20%.


This paper studies nine memorial Safaitic inscriptions from the town of Deir al-Kahf in Northern Badiyah, northeast of Jordan, along the Baghdad Highway road. The first seven are found to the east of the town, the other two are from the far north end. It seems that these inscriptions show the sadness and grief over an important person called Bnctm. The paper deals with the verbs and names semantically and syntactically, also considering their parallels in other Semitic languages.


We examine the divergence of the baryon self-energy due to the pion-quark interaction in the chiral bag model and the cloudy bag model. For the pion-quark coupling only the lowest nonvanishing (i.e_, the second) order is considered but the sum over virtual excitations of the quark is carried out_ We point out that there are two types of divergence involved. One is the ultraviolet divergence that is common to local interactions, and the other is peculiar to the bag with a sharp surface. Unlike the former, the latter remains divergent even if the finite size of the pion is taken into account. If the bag surface is smeared and the finite size of the pion is incorporated, the self-energy becomes finite_ As far as the question of divergence/ convergence of the self-energy is concerned there is no significant difference between the chiral bag and cloudy bag_


This paper presents two Lagrangean relaxation approaches for the {\em NP}-hard multiple-depot vehicle scheduling problem in public mass transit and reports on computational investigations. Our Lagrangean relaxation approaches can be applied to generate very tight lower bounds and to compute feasible solutions efficiently. A further application is to use the Lagrangean relaxations as new pricing strategies for a delayed column generation of a branch-and-cut approach. The computational investigations are based on real-world test sets from the cities of Berlin and Hamburg having up to 25 thousand timetabled trips and 70 million dead-head trips.


Organic matter is one of the most important and fundamental constituent in soil, which usually present in transported sediments. Therefore a wide spectrum of physically and chemically different organic matter can be expected in alluvial type sedimentary gem deposits. Composition of soil organic matter is very important, because it is tightly link with environmental issues such as mine gas poisoning, carbon budget and bioavailability of toxic elements in the soils. This study was conducted to identify the composition, distribution and impacts of the soil organic matter in the sedimentary profile of an alluvial gem deposit in Pelmadulla, Sri Lanka. Seventy seven soil samples were collected along the sedimentary profile in three different locations using auger drilling method. Chemical bonding structure of the each soil sample was analyzed in the mid IR region of FTIR spectroscopy. Total organic matter (TOM) and the total organic carbon (TOC) contents of the of each soil sample were measured using loss on ignition and the Walkley-Black wet oxidation methods respectively. In addition, selected basic physical and chemical parameters of the soil such as pH, oxidation-reduction potential, moisture content, and elution conductivity were also tested. Results indicate pH is in slightly acidic in nature and soil elution conductivity is higher in the peat layer of the bottom alluvial deposit. FTIR spectroscopic analysis proved the presence of several organic functional groups/bonds such as saturated aliphatic (2950-2970 cm-1, 2860-2880 cm-1), unsaturated aliphatic (2915-2935 cm-1, 2845-2865 cm-1), alcoholic (3200-3645 cm-1), carbonyl (1680-1820 cm-1), aryl (1450-1615 cm-1), disulfides (570-705 cm-1) and ether (2815-2850 cm-1). Some of those functional groups such as carbonyl and disulfide in organic matter may cause for the poisonous gas emissions. The ratio of TOC/TOM is slightly higher in the top and the bottom of the alluvial deposit. This indicates the high-carbon organic matters are present in the top and the bottom most layers. Conversely, carbon content of the middle layers in the deposit is less due to the intermediate level of organic matter degradation. In addition, middle region of the alluvial deposit is consisting of sandy nature, which reflects the dry climatic formation in the past thus the organic matter content is low. High soil elution conductivity in the bottom of the deposit indicates that the soluble ions were leached to the bottom and accumulate in the peat layer. Keywords: FTIR spectroscopy, Soil organic matter, Alluvial gem deposits, Geochemistry


Telecommunication industry is characterized by a sharp fall in unit price which highly benefits to consumers. This article aims to identify the main parameters that lead to such a fall. Using a 13-countries wireless market dataset, it shows that investment actually drives the exponential growth of traffic. As the growth of revenues are much lower, the price of MByte decreases sharply.Telecom operators need some margin to invest. The increased margin increases subscription price, however, in the same time, it also increases investment. The paper shows that the impact on investment highly outweighs the impact on subscription price. As a result, the overall impact of increased margin is the fall of Mbyte price.


The endless campaign between spammers and antispammers has been proceeding since the early 1990s. However to date, spam has still steadily grown and anti-spam techniques have continuously encountered various disguise and evading of spammers. To reduce the incentive for spammers to send out high volumes of unsolicited email indiscriminately, this paper proposes a service-oriented spam filtering system using shared fingerprints. The spam filtering system, relying on collaboration of multi-recipients and shared spam knowledge, set up on SOA and virtualization, possesses good performance and application prospect.


The objective of the study was to examine the procedures used to set up the subsidy
prices and evaluate the prices and quantity allocations given to distributors in order
to measure their impact on the financial performances of the distributors. Two
fertilizer trading companies, MIs Tanzania Fertilizer Company Ltd and MIs Premium
Agro Chern Ltd were taken as case studies. The data were analysed qualitatively and
quantitatively using tables, ratios and trend analysis. Excel computer program was
used to analyse the data and illustrating them by using figures and graphs. The
findings indicated that the distributors' businesses will not realise profits and attain
growth unless the subsidy prices set by the government are equal or higher than their
commercial prices, and that the quantities allocated to them are equal to their
budgeted sales volumes or are above their break-even volumes. The researcher
recommends a review of the current price setting procedures and quantity allocation
criteria to improve the distributors' financial performances and to achieve the
government objective of the scheme. The researcher also recommends a country
importation schedule, standards for subsidy fertilizer distributors and having own
fertilizer plant. While the policy of subsidizing fertilizers to our farmers is good for
the country's food security programmes and increase in foreign exchange earnings,
the recommended measures would streamline the administration of the scheme,
ensure reliability in fertilizer supplies, provide feedback and facilitate policy
analysis.


To control the vector S. damnosum s.l., the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) uses larvicides which are sprayed mainly by air. Despite the more or less reversible resistance of some species of the S. damnosum complex to the organophosphorus compounds (temephos and chlorphoxim), the Programme has succeeded in finding effective replacement insecticides. These larvicides, which are used in rotation, taking into account the river discharges, blackfly species present, and their susceptibility to the different insecticides, have made it possible to maintain the good results obtained by the Programme. Through vector control alone, OCP has been able to bring the disease under control in more than 90% of the initial area. Resettlement is taking place on the fertile lands which were formerly deserted because of onchocerciasis and many socioeconomic development projects are currently being carried out. The extensions made towards the western and the southern parts of the Programme area and the use of ivermectin, a microfilaricide, will enable these results to be improved further.


ABSTRACT RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription through chromatin is accompanied by formation of small intranucleosomal DNA loops. Pol II captured within a small loop drives accumulation of DNA supercoiling, facilitating further transcription. DNA breaks relieve supercoiling and induce Pol II arrest, allowing detection of DNA damage hidden in chromatin structure.


A field experiment was conducted during 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 growing seasons to determine, the effects of Rhizobium inoculation and different levels of nitrogen on the yield and growth of field pea (Pisum sativum sp. Arvense L.). Nitrogen application had significant effect on the plant height, number of branches, root and shoot dry weight, number of nodules, seed yield, biomass yield, harvest index, number of pods, as well as crude protein rate of seeds in both years. Plant height, number of pods, harvest index, number of nodules, crude protein rate and root dry weight were higher with application of 20 kg N haG while seed yield, 1 shoot dry weight and number of branches were higher with application of 60 kg N haG , in the 2 seasons. The 1 lowest values related to these parameters were obtained from the control treatment. Inoculation treatment had also significant effect on the all parameters investigated in both years. The highest values regarding these parameters were obtained from inoculated plants, whereas the lowest values were obtained from the uninoculated plants. Interactions of nitrogen and inoculation had significant effects on the all parameters investigated, except for number of nodules in 2005-2006 and crude protein rate of seeds in both years. The highest seed yield was obtained under treatment 20 kg N haG + inoculation with 1654.3 and 1625.0 kg haG in 1 1 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively.


A diverse array of semiconductor-based composite materials have been prepared, characterized, and utilized in many applications ranging from photocatalysis, photovoltaic cells, photoelectrochromic displays, and light-emitting devices to sensors. The composite architectures (nanoarchitectures in many cases) are equally diverse. In this review, we highlight the advances that have been made and identify some of the gaps in our current knowledge of these materials. Size quantization effects and semiconductor quantum dots are also discussed.


IntroductionGene expression profiling of invasive breast cancer has resulted in highlighting three main categories of breast cancer [luminal, basal, HER2] with very specific features. It has been shown that these subtypes differ in their response to neaoadjuvant systemic treatment, axillary lymph node involvement, metastasis pattern and time to metastasis. The aim of this study was to focus on gene-expression profile analysis of HER2 positive breast carcinoma to assess how the molecular subtype classification applies to the HER2+ve samples; whether subgroups of patients that have different prognosis can be identified and how subgroups can be identified that differ with respect to the likelihood to achieve pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant systemic treatment?Materials and MethodWe selected breast carcinomas reported to have a HER2+ve status (IHC and CISH) from patients treated between January 1990 and December 2006 at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. 113 tumor samples were hybridized on the Human Genome Oligo Set Version 3.0 arrays. We identified 205 HER2+ve samples from 4 public microarrays datasets and 33 HER2+ve samples from one public neoadjuvant systemic treatment microarrays dataset.ResultsWe applied the molecular subtype classification to the whole datasets and found major classification instability. 43.3% of the HER2+ve samples were classified as "HER2 subtype", 26% as "basal-like subtype", and 21.9% as "luminal-like subtype". The molecular subtype classification was not correlated to prognosis. Of the prognostic variables tested, only ER status was to the development of distant metastasis (IHC, HR=0.53 [0.36-0.77], p=0.0009). We identified a set of 109 ReporterID9s highly enriched in gene ontology annotations link to the Immune Response and correlated to the prognosis of HER2+ve breast carcinoma (Inactivated Immune Module, HR=4.21 [1.94-9.17], logrank pvalue=8.1E-05). The Immune Module Signature was associated with prognosis of the HER2+ve samples in both ER positive and ER negative breast cancer. We validated this Immune Module signature combined with ER status on 205 independent samples.We applied the same classification tree to 33 samples from patients who were assessed for response to neo-adjuvant systemic chemotherapy (Anthracyclin-based) and showed an association between the Immune Module Signature combined with ER status and pCR rate (ER+ve Inactivated Immune Module 12.5% pCR, ER-ve Activated Immune Module 70% pCR, pvalue=0.1).ConclusionWe have shown that HER2+ve breast cancer samples often are not classified as HER2-like by gene expression profiling and that ER (IHC) status determines two major subgroups. We provide new evidence that an immune response relate gene expression classifier has prognostic impact in HER2+ve breast cancer; and that this classifier is potentially correlated to the pCR rate after neoadjuvant systemic treatment in HER2+ve breast cancer. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 4037.


We revisit the adiabatic conversion between the QCD axion and axion-like particle (ALP) at level crossing, which can occur in the early universe as a result of the existence of a hypothetical mass mixing. This is similar to the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect in neutrino oscillations. After refining the conditions for the adiabatic conversion to occur, we focus on a scenario where the ALP produced by the adiabatic conversion of the QCD axion explains the observed dark matter abundance. Interestingly, we find that the ALP decay constant can be much smaller than the ordinary case in which the ALP is produced by the realignment mechanism. As a consequence, the ALP-photon coupling is enhanced by a few orders of magnitude, which is advantageous for the future ALP and axion-search experiments using the ALP-photon coupling.


Quality of survival was studied in 69 surgically treated bronchial carcinoma patients (25% of a total 273 patients in an unselected epidemiological sample). The Carlens vitagram index was used. The quality of survival in patients cured by pulmonary resection was excellent. It was poor in patients who underwent resection and subsequently died, and especially in patients who had non-resectional thoracotomies. The patients who were operated on and later died did not have a better quality of survival than non-surgically treated patients in the same stage. Thus pulmonary resection has no palliative effect in bronchial carcinoma patients who are not cured. The possible benefit of "removing the tumour burden" in patients treated with operation alone can, therefore, be dismissed. The only aim of the operation at present must be to cure.


One potential use for neutral particle beam (NPB) technology is as an active orbital probe to investigate the composition of selected locations on the lunar surface. Because the beam is narrow and can be precisely directed, the NPB probe offers possibilities for high resolution experiments that cannot be accomplished using passive techniques. Rather, the combination of both passive and active techniques can be used to provide both full-coverage mapping (passively) at low resolution (tens of kilometers) and high-resolution information for discrete locations of special interest. A preliminary study of NPB applicability for this dual-use application was recently conducted. The study was completed in Feb. 1993. A novel feature was the consideration of the use of a Russian launch vehicle (e.g., the Proton). The use of other Russian space hardware and capabilities was also encouraged. This paper describes the lunar prospector system design. Other researchers discuss the issues and opportunities involving lunar scientific experimentation using an NPB. The NPB lunar prospector utilizes a modified design of the Far Field Optics Experiment (FOX). Like the Earth-orbiting FOX, the core capability of the NPB lunar prospector will be a pulsed RF LINAC that produces a 5-MeV proton beam that is projected to the target with a 30-micro-r beam divergence and a 10-micro-r beam-pointing accuracy. Upon striking the lunar surface, the proton beam will excite characteristic radiation (e.g., X-rays) that can be sensed by one or more detectors on the NPB platform or on a separate detector satellite.


. Recent years have been extremely challenging for the tourism industry in terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sharp decline in tourist flows has led to a crisis in the tourism industry. The so-called conditions of the new normality acted as a catalyst for the formation of increased requirements for the safety of tourist services. At present, the concept of the quality of tourist services has practically become synonymous with their safety. To restore international and national tourism, huge efforts are needed to ensure the safety of the provided tourist services and improve their quality. In this regard, tools to improve the quality of tourist services in the new normal (reality) are of particular relevance. With the restoration and further development of tourism, the main problem is the development of mechanisms to improve the quality of tourism products and services provided. In the course of the study, a systematic approach was used and it was shown that the high quality and safety of tourist products and services should be ensured at all levels of tourism management. The article identifies and develops key tools that can act as a driver for improving the quality of tourism services in the new normal. A scheme of the organizational and economic mechanism for improving the quality of tourist services was de-veloped and substantiated, taking into account the specific conditions of the new normal, and its functions are described in detail. The proposed organizational and economic mechanism will help improve the quality of tourism services and restore the tourism industry.


The production of Υ ( 1 S) , Υ ( 2 S) and Υ ( 3 S) mesons in proton-proton collisions at the centre-of-mass energy of √ s = 7 TeV is studied with the LHCb detector. The analysis is based on a data sample of 25 pb − 1 collected at the Large Hadron Collider. The Υ mesons are reconstructed in the decay mode Υ → μ + μ − and the signal yields are extracted from a fit to the μ + μ − invariant mass dis-tributions. The differential production cross-sections times dimuon branching fractions are measured as a function of the Υ transverse momentum p T and rapidity y , over the range p T < 15 GeV/c and 2 . 0 < y < 4 . 5. The cross-sections times branching fractions, integrated over these kinematic ranges, are measured to be


The conventional economic indicators suggest that the Czech republic has been an extremely successful case of economic integration. However, the gap of relative economic performance between the Czech republic and Germany hasn't closed to any significant degree. This work suggest that there are some usually omitted indicators that explain this fact. Most important among these is the unusually massive profit outflow (compared to other OECD members) from the Czech economy. We argue that there are quite substantial potential economic gains to be made from nationalistic economic policies but that these policies are dangerous in respect to the Czech political stading among other EU member countries.


The Republic of Korea was ranked 11th globally, in 2018, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, of which the transportation sector contribution was estimated to be 14 % in 2017. Many policies have been drawn to enhance transport sustainability and reduce its emissions. According to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), the policies and actions of South Korea to achieve the goal set in the Paris Agreement, are highly insufficient. Also, the environmental community in Korea has claimed the weakness of the 2017 emissions strategy. To increase policies' efficiency an investigation of the drivers behind greenhouse gases needs to be considered. This paper is decomposing both overall greenhouse gases and transport sector greenhouse gases, to analyse the effect of economic growth, energy intensity, energy mix, technology, urbanization, R&D expenditure, and population. The LMDI results showed that GDP, R&D expenditure, and energy consumption have a strong effect on increasing carbon emissions. While population and urbanization factors have a weak effect for the analysis period 2003-2016, due to the stable urbanization and population rate within the period. The significant contribution of R&D expenditure in increasing GHG emissions showed an urgent need to revise the R&D investment to boost non-carbon transportation research. Additionally, the energy structure effect was not significant, as the reliance on fossil fuel is high despite the efforts to reduce it. This revealed that the adopted fuel policies need strengthening measures and continuous improvement. The study deduced the vital need to raise the use of renewable and non-carbon energy, to strengthen sustainable transportation policies and investments, with a focus on public transportation modes, and finally to establish a good environment for a vigorous system for the implementation and enhancement of active modes.


The literature of financial economics documents a causal relationship between the level of information asymmetry in the firm and its dividend policy. The agency theory and the pecking order theory show that the problem of cash over-retention inside the firm exacerbates in the presence of high asymmetric information. At the same time, when managers increase dividend payments, the level of asymmetric information decreases. This reverse causality between information asymmetry and dividend policy has been a challenge for financial economists. To overcome this econometric issue, we employ the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in the US in 2002 as a source of an exogenous variation in the level of information asymmetry to study the potential effect that this variation might have on the dividend policy. In doing so, we utilize a difference-in-differences research design, in which the treatment group is US publicly traded firms that were exposed to the policy and the control group is publicly traded companies in the UK where SOX was not enacted. Both countries have similar institutional settings and enforcement of laws, which makes them comparable in our research context. Our findings show that, compared to UK companies, US firms increase their dividend payments following a reduction in asymmetric information as a result of the SOX enactment. Our study contributes to the literature of financial economics by showing that policy makers can mitigate agency conflicts and protect shareholders by improving the corporate information environment and reducing asymmetric information.


This paper will point out the reasons for the great popular success of Katharine Cornell as an actress. This paper will examine the background of Miss Cornell to determine the influences that helped shape her career, and the theatre training that brought her to her first Broadway "hit." Special attention will be given to Miss Cornell's philosophy of acting as she expressed it in her autobiography and in interviews. Further, this paper will take each role played by Miss Cornell during her career and through the reviews of the dramatic critics determine the artistic merit of each role. Finally, the roles selected to be of artistic merit will again be subjected to the reviews of the drama critics to determine whether or not Miss Cornell achieved artistic excellence in her portrayal of them.


Section 1 INTRODUCTION: DONEGAL: DYNAMICS OF THE HUMAN LANDSCAPE Jim Mac Laughlin and Sean Beattie Section 2 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE AND CLIMATE The Geological Evolution of County Donegal Paul J. Gibson The Glacial History of Donegal Paul Dunlop The Donegal Coastline Andrew Cooper The Climate and Weather of County Donegal Kieran Hickey Donegal Natural History, Wildlife Habitats and the Living Landscape Jim Mac Laughlin Plants, Moths and Butterflies of Donegal Ralph Sheppard Whales and Dolphins in Offshore Waters of Donegal Michael Mc Laughlin Donegal The Diversity of Bird life Jim Mac Laughlin The Golden Eagles of Donegal Lorcan O'Toole Section 3 PREHISTORY AND THE PRE-COLONIAL PERIOD Prehistoric Archaeology of Donegal: c. 7000 BC to c. AD 500 Brian Lacey The Political Geography of Donegal, AD 500 - 800 Brian Lacey Beltany Mary Harte Dynastic Conflict in Medieval Donegal, AD 800 - 1400 Tomas G. O Canainn Social and Economic Change in Coastal Donegal, 900 - 1650 Jim Mac Laughlin The Principality of Tir Chonaill in the early Sixteenth Century Darren MacEiteagain Spanish Armada Wrecks off the Donegal Coastline Caoimhinn Barr Section 4 DISLOCATION AND TRANSFORMATION From Gaelic Outpost to Colonial Society Donegal and the Plantation of Ulster Annaleigh Margey The Flight of the Earls Sean Beattie Donegal's Presbyterians: The Ulster Scots Connection Carol Baraniuk and Frank Ferguson Rundale and Social Revolution in Nineteenth Century Donegal James Anderson Social and Economic Links between Derry and Donegal in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Robert Gavin Donegal The History of Coastal and Sea Fisheries Jim Mac Laughlin Social Conditions, Gweedore in the 1830s and 1840s George Hill Social Change in Glencolumbkille in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Vincent Tucker South Donegal on the eve of the Great Famine Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall Memorial of Patrick M'Kye, Gweedore, to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1837 The Great Famine in Donegal Sean Beattie The Trail of Tears: Donegal Involvement in the Demise of the American Indian Donal Campbell A Famine Diary from Fanad Peninsula Hugh Dorian The Estate System of Landholding in County Donegal Martina O'Donnell Testimonies Given at the Devon Commission, July, 1844 on landholding and the state of agriculture in County Donegal The Hiring Fair System in Donegal Sean Beattie A Letter from New York Donegal: The Emigrant Nursery and the Global Economy Jim Mac Laughlin Migration in Donegal History, 1607 - 2007 Patrick Fitzgerald John Doherty - Social Reformer, Trade Unionist, and Working Class Journalist, 1798 - 1854 Jim Mac Laughlin The Migration Story of Mici Mac Gabhann, 1865 - 1948 Brian Lambkin Letters from Reverend J.L. McHenry, Church of Ireland Curate of Culdaff to his Mother, Mrs. Margaret McHenry, Draperstown, County Derry Inishtrahull: 'The Isle of Ships' Sean Beattie Donegal Poitin Aiden Manning Section 5 THE MAKING OF MODERN DONEGAL Conservative Nationalist Rule in Donegal, 1880 - 1921 Jim Mac Laughlin Donegal and the War of Independence Liam O'Duibhir Donegal and the Civil War Liam O'Duibhir Perceptions of a Northern County Donegal, 1550 - 1900 Jim Mac Laughlin A Donegal Chaplain's Account of Conditions at the Frontline During World War I Canon Padraig Mac Giolla Cheara Donegal: The Scottish Connection Joe Bradley The Arranmore Disaster Peadar O'Donnell The Donegal Corridor Anthony Begley Historical Aspects of Farming in Donegal Jonathan Bell and Mervyn Watson Donegal Division and Change in Modern Agriculture Tony Varley Towns and Villages in Donegal Jim Mac Laughlin Donegal Women in History Helen Meehan Harry Percival Swan Sean Beattie Donegal Railways Frank Sweeney A Life on the Rocks Donal O'Sullivan Section 6 CULTURAL TRADITIONS, MUSIC AND SPORT The Lace Schools of County Donegal, 1880 - 1920 Sean Beattie The Irish Language and Population Change in Donegal in the Nineteenth Century Roise Ni Bhaoill The Hills of Donegal The Vernacular Boats of County Donegal Donal Mac Polin Donegal: Makers, Songs and Singers Lillis O Laoire Trathnona Beag Areir 'Maire' The Traditional Music of Donegal Caoimhin Mac Aodh History of Food and Diet in Donegal Sean Beattie The Development of the GAA and Soccer in County Donegal Conor Curran Rory Gallagher (1948 - 1995) Jim Mac Laughlin and Marcus Connaughton Daniel O'Donnell Singer and Performer Ellen Barr Section 7 ART, LITERATURE AND ARCHITECTURE Carndonagh Frank Mc Guinness In a Town of Five Thousand People Frank Mc Guinness Derek Hill: The Donegal Connection Denise Ferran Donegal: A Painter's Retreat Brian Ferran Laochra Litriochta Rann Na Feirste Nollaig Mac Congail Charles Macklin, (c.1690 - 1797), Playwright and Actor Nuala McAllister Hart Patrick Mac Gill (1890 - 1963): Working Class Novelist and Poet Jim Mac Laughlin Sense of Place in the Life and Works of Peadar O'Donnell Donal O'Drisceoil Anseo ag Staisiun Chaiseal na gCorr Cathal O Searcaigh 'Nil Contae Nios Deise - ' The Sense of Place in the Work of Donegal Writers (1893 - 1986) Sean McMahon Glenties Abu! Brian Friel's Donegal Frank Shovlin Hope and Heritage: County Donegal Historical Society Sean Beattie The Dynamic World of Donegal Newspapers Sean Feeney The Architecture of Liam McCormick in County Donegal Paul Larmour St. Eunan's Cathedral, Letterkenny Rev. Padraig O Baoighill Modern Architecture in County Donegal Marianne O'Kane Boal Donegal: Planning and the Planned Environment Brendan O'Sullivan


Expression of miR-409-5p in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its relationship with insulin resistance were explore. One hundred and forty-nine pregnant women who underwent antenatal examination in Taizhou First People's Hospital were divided into a GDM group and a control group according to whether they had GDM or not. Serum miR-409-5p expression of the two groups was detected, and the levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) and other GDM-related biochemical indicators were measured. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was determined by glucose oxidase method, fasting insulin (FINS) was detected by radioimmunoassay, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. The relationship between miR-409-5p and other biochemical indicators and insulin resistance was analyzed, and logistic multivariate regression was employed to analyze the risk factors of GDM. miR-409-5p was highly expressed in the serum of GDM patients. HbAlc, FPG, FINS, and HOMA-IR in pregnant women in the GDM group were markedly higher than those in the control group. The serum miR-409-5p in GDM pregnant women showed a positive correlation with HbAlc, FPG, FINS, and HOMA-IR (P<0.05). The insulin resistance group presented remarkably higher serum miR-409-5p level than the non-insulin resistance group. Moreover, it was found that elevated miR-409-5p, FINS, and HOMA-IR were all independent risk factors for the onset of GDM. miR-409-5p is highly expressed in the serum of patients with GDM, and it is positively correlated with insulin resistance index of GDM patients, which may be a potential target for clinical diagnosis and treatment of GDM.


During 1985 at Sabbatsberg Hospital in Stockholm, carpal tunnel decompression was done for 50 men (58 hands) with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). In 1988 2.5 to 3 years after the operations, a questionnaire about their present health was answered by 43 men (50 hands). In 10/17 (59%) hands exposed to vibrations and 26/33 (79%) not exposed, carpal tunnel decompression had resulted in no recurrence of neurological symptoms at follow up. Preoperative signs of neurophysiological dysfunction of the ulnar nerve, which might indicate a more widespread neuropathy, did not correlate with poor postoperative function of the median nerve. We recommend that patients with carpal tunnel syndrome should be operated on, whether or not they have been exposed to vibration.


The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, it seeks to fill a gap in the literature on interjections by suggesting that 'laughter interjections' (words such English haha or hehe) make up an important type of interjections that has so far not been accounted for in cross-linguistic work on interjections. Secondly, it argues that laughter interjections are thick with cultural meaning, and that they can play an important role for an "emic turn" in humour studies. Third, it develops a case study on "Danish funniness" with a point of departure in the Danish paradigm of laughter interjections. The paper explores humourous discourse from the perspective of these culturally specific expressive words, and provides high definition analysis of two Danish laughter interjections tøhø and hæhæ, using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage technique of explication. The general framework of the study is Lexical Anthropology, an approach to meaning analysis that combines insights from lexical semantics and linguistic anthropology.


Multiview video coding is an emerging application where, in addition to classical temporal prediction, an efficient disparity prediction should be performed in order to achieve the best compression performance. A popular coder is the multiview video coding (MVC) extension of H.264/AVC, which uses a block-based disparity estimation (just like temporal prediction in H.264/AVC). In this paper, we propose to improve the MVC extension by using a dense estimation method that generates a smooth disparity map with ideally infinite precision. The obtained disparity is then segmented and efficiently encoded by using a rate-distortion optimization technique. Experimental results show that significant gains can be obtained compared to the block-based disparity estimation technique used in the MVC extension.


The practise of making quantitative measurements on the individual units of radio receivers is quite general, but seldom are such measurements made on receivers as a whole because of certain difficulties encountered in this type of measurement. This paper describes apparatus developed to overcome these difficulties and to make possible a study of the performance of receivers as such. The over-all characteristics of receivers are classified and described, the method of tests for obtaining measurements on them explained, with some curves shown to illustrate the results obtained from these tests.


Objective: This research aims to investigate validity and reliability of Borderline Personality Features-Children (BPFS-C) in Turkish adolescent sample. Methods: The population sample consists of 267 students between the ages of 12 and 18 who study in two different schools. The clinical sample consists of 15 patients without a person-ality disorder and 13 patients with borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Features-Children, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used as data collection tools. In the clinical sample, semi-structured interviews were conducted with SCID-II. The test-retest method and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used to evaluate the reliability of the scale. The construct validity of the scale was evaluated by using confirmatory factor analysis, and the cut-off score of the scale was tested by ROC analysis. Results: The scale's internal reliability was shown to be good (Cronbach α=0.83). In item analysis, five items were problematic; we decided to keep two items after additional analyzes. When the original factor structure of the scale (affect instability, identity problems, negative relationships, self-harm) was evaluated as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, goodness of fit indices was not acceptable. It was observed that the scale items with sufficient fit indexes in the bifactor (a general factor and four specific factors) model mostly contributed to the general factor. When the scale's clinical validity was evaluated, population sample and patients with Borderline Personality Disorder were distinguished by the total scores of BPFS-C with a statistical significance and a large effect size (d=3.16). As a result of the ROC analysis, the cutoff score was determined as 69. Conclusion: Overall, the results revealed that the Turkish version of the BPFS-C is a valid and reliable tool and provided evidence for a unidimensional structure for children and adolescents with borderline personality disorder.


SPECIFIC SERUM TREATMENT OF LOBAR PNEUMONIA IN ADULTS SIR,-I have read with interest the contribution of my frienid Dr. R. A. O'Brien to the discussion on the treat,nent of lobar pneumonia at a recent meeting of the Medical Society of London, as reported in the Journal of March 14th. The summary of his comments on the present position of the specific serum treatment of pneumonia makes it appear that he is not satisfied with the clinical evidence whiclh has been presented in its favour, and that he cannot find justification for the use of the serum from experimental work oIn the subject. The sketch he has drawvn of the unstable foundations of the specific treatment of the disease is so deeply overshadowed with sceoticisin that physicianis whose interest has been aroused by recent accounts of the trial of antipneumococcus serum in this country may-imagine that there is no rational basis for the serum therapy of pneumonia.. I cannot accept -this view, andshould like to modify -the impression whichDr. -O'Brien's statement must have made by trying. to show that there are many encouraging signs, not only.-in the clinical records, but in those which give an account of experimental researches into the-mode of-action of the serum and the methods of titrating it. The clinical work in the United States has been conducted with notable thoroughness by groups of experienced clinicians, some of whom have added valuable knowledge from their experimental work on pneumococcal infections. In the hospital of the Rockefeller Institute, Cole has tested the serum therapy of pneumonia in a considerable number of cases, and is so convinced of its value that he finds it repugnant to his conscience to withhold the serum from patients whom he thinks it may benefit; he is thus unable to make acomparison with a control series of untreated patients. The lack of statistical proof that the serum is effective does not deprive his experience of evidential value, for the clinical-instinct of trained observers deserves due consideration when assessing the efficacy of a therapeutic agent. Both Park and Cecil and their colleagues have made contrQlled observations in the hospitals in New York on a scale which renders their data suitable for analysis by statistical methods. The results of analyses of this kind indicate that the difference in the mortality rate in favour of the serum-treated cases is a significant one when 'rype I pneumonia alone is considered; there is general agreement that only Type I infections, and to a lesser degree Type II infections, are influenced by a specific serum. When we reflect that in Great Britain and America strains of the pneumococcus belonging to Tvpes I and II have" been found in about 55 per cent. of cases of lobar pneumonia in adults it is apparent that there is no lack of opportunity for testing the therapeutic value of an appropriate serum preparation. Those of us who shrink from the intricacies of statistical analysis will find evidence in the clinical accounts that the treatment mitigates the symptoms. The Anmerican observers agree that the serum often lessens the severity of the symptoms so that even within twentyfour hours the temperature, the pulse rate, and the respiratory rate are reducedor have become normal. According to Cecil and Pluminer, there is no more striking clinical effect in the wvhole field of specific therapy than that which frequently follows the early administration of the serum. The temperature falls rapidly, so as to simullate the natural crisis, and the toxaemic symptoms often dlisappear withinl twenty-four hours. -Moreover, after one or two injections of the serum, pneumococci, when present in moderate numbers in the blood stream, quickly vanish. Dr. O'Brien is reported to have professed himself dissatisfied with the evTidence which relates to the action of the serum in experimental infections; yet it is well known' that a specific serum can protect a mouse so that it shows no signs of illness when it is inoculated with a quantity of a fully virulent culture of a Type I pneumococcus which represents, for example, ten million lethal doses. This serum is one of the group of antibacterial serums, and vields more convincing experimental proof of its efficacy than any other serum of its kind with which I am acquainted. Moreover, the researches of Griffith and of the workers in the Rockefeller Institute on virulent and avirulent variants of the pneumococcus (the "rough " and " smooth " variants of Arkwright), and those of Avery and Heidelberger on the type-specific polysaccharides and their relation to the antigenic properties of the pneumococcus, have illuminated the mechanism of infection and the mode of action of type-specific pneumococcal serums to an extent which has no parallel in immunology at the present time. It is true that there are difficulties in the titration of Type I and Type II serums which have not yet been' overcome, but Dr. O'Brien's colleagues have' furnished evidence that it is possible to test serums of this kind with a fair degree of accuracy, and work that has been carried out in this laboratory has brought us to the same conclusion. There is no reason to doubt that in due course a satisfactory method of titration will be discovered, and that it will become a routine procedure in serum laboratories. Time is a powerful solvent of technical difficulties, and since most of the important work on the serum therapy of pneumonia has been accomplished during the past decade, it is natural to believe that progress will continue to be made, both in the laboratory and in the hospitals. The conclusion seems to be juisfified that the specific serum therapy of lobar pneumonia rests upon a structure of carefully controlled clinical evidence which is strongly supported on the experimental side, and that physicians who use the serum may do so with some assurance that they are employing a logical method of treatment.I am, etc.,


To elucidate the molecular mechanism of glomerular events in lupus nephritis, we performed genome-wide mRNA expression analysis of glomeruli microdissected from lupus mice. MRL/lpr mice (12-week-old) were orally given vehicle or prednisolone (10 mg/kg per day) for 4 weeks. Renal histology of MRL/lpr mice revealed mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis with cellular infiltration of macrophages, T cells, and neutrophils. We identified 567 up-regulated genes in MRL/lpr glomeruli compared to control congenic mice. Those included complement components, adhesion molecules, chemokines and their receptors, and molecules related to antigen presentation. Over 130 genes were considered preferentially or exclusively expressed in hematopoietic cell lineages possibly reflecting leukocytes accumulation. Of note is the finding that chemokines and chemokine receptors (CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL16, CCR5, CXCR3, and CXCR6) that are related to T helper 1 (Th1) cells accumulation were up-regulated concomitantly with increased expression of Ebi3, a subunit of IL-27 that plays a role in Th1 predominance. These changes were accompanied by increased mRNA expression of many genes that were inducible by Th1 cytokine interferon-gamma. Prednisolone markedly attenuated glomerular lesion and leukocyte influx parallel with the reduction of enhanced gene expression. The present study shows additional evidence supporting glomerular Th1 cells accumulation and their role. Our data also provide an important resource in seeking new therapeutic targets to lupus nephritis. Supplemental table: available only at http://dx.doi.org/10.1254/jphs.FP0071337.


Availability of a complex system with four subsystems A, B, C, D, in series, has been evaluated. A has 2 i.i.d. units. B, C have several units (not necessarily s-identical). Unit failure rates are constant. Repair (hazard) rate need not be constant. Sensor/switch is imperfect. System fails i.i.f. an A or C unit fails. A failure in B degrades the efficiency of the system but does not cause it to fail. Supplementary variable technique has been used to make the system Markovian. Laplace transform of various time dependent probabilities have been obtained. The time independent numerical computations to evaluate the effect of imperfect/sensor/switch and shelf-life of standby unit on various probability states of the system have been carried out. Derivations are in a separately available Supplement.


We extend research on informal economic activity and investigate why organizations adopt informal rules when formal ones exist and how and why patterns of defiance vary across organizations. We build on data from an in-depth study of four organizations operating in the Nigerian movie industry. We identify ambiguity of formal institutions as a major source of organizational defiance. We also find that the organization's domain of embeddedness mediates the relationship between institutional ambiguity and organizational defiance. According to our analysis, the rationale for organizing propelled by the dominant domain of embeddedness affects whether organizations consistently or selectively defy ambiguous formal rules. Our findings highlight the importance of the interplay between institutional and organizational dynamics in understanding informality within an economy. Copyright © 2014 Strategic Management Society.


CONTEXT
Hyperperfusion therapy, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) > 85 mmHg, is a recommended treatment of blunt traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). We hypothesized the first 24 h of MAP augmentation would be most influential on neurological outcomes.

DESIGN
This retrospective study from a level 1 urban trauma center dating 1/2017 to 12/2019 included all blunt traumatic spinal cord injured patients receiving hyperperfusion therapy. Patients were grouped as "No improvement" vs "Improvement" measured by change in American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) score during their hospitalization. MAP values for the first 12, first 24 and last 72 h were compared between the two groups; P < 0.05 was significant.

RESULTS
After exclusions, 96 patients underwent hyperperfusion therapy for blunt traumatic SCI, 82 in the No Improvement and 14 in the Improvement group. Groups had similar treatment durations (95.6 and 96.7 h, P = 0.66) and ISS (20.5 and 23, P = 0.45). The area under the curve, calculation, to account for time less than goal and MAP difference from goal, in the No Improvement group was significantly higher (lower and more time below MAP goal) compared to the Improvement group for the first 12 h (40.3 v. 26.1 P = 0.03) with similar findings in the subsequent 12 h of treatment (13-24 h; 62.2 vs 43, P = 0.09). There was no difference between the groups in the subsequent 72 h (25-96 h; 156.4 vs 136.6, P = 0.57).

CONCLUSIONS
Hyperperfusion to the spinal cord in the first 12 h correlated significantly with improved neurological outcome in SCI patients.


Many biological processes are affected by electromagnetic fields. Hence incremental internal fields generated by external magnetic fields can be expected to affect that biology. With some exceptions, most of the present interest in the effects of exogenous static and low-frequency magnetic fields centres on three intensity regions. (1) There are concerns that 50-60 Hz power distribution fields as small as 0.2 µT, may affect the health of populations. (2) ac fields that are larger than 1 mT (and usually smaller than 100 mT) with frequencies of a few kHz or less may have therapeutic value with respect to the healing of bone fractures and soft-tissue injuries. (3) The very large slowly varying fields of the order of 2 T used in magnetic resonance imaging might affect the physiology of the patients. Magnetic fields interact with biological systems through forces on the electrical currents associated with physiological functions and through the torques exerted on the magnetic moments of biologically important molecules and the electrons that play a role in the binding of geminate radicals. The torques that the Earth's magnetic field applies to the ferrimagnetic domains of biologically formed magnetite affects the biology of species in several different phyla and may have consequences in humans. Low-frequency magnetic fields also induce electric fields through the Faraday effect that may have biological consequences. For either the direct magnetic fields or the magnetically induced electric fields to affect the biology of living systems, the interactions with such systems must generally be larger then the interactions with endogenous physiological and thermal noise. This constraint seems to exclude the possibility that the environmental fields less than 1 µT from the electric power distribution system affect health and places important constraints on the minimal fields that can be expected to have therapeutic value.


Personality traits, such as the propensity to cooperate, are often inherited from parents to offspring, but the pathway of inheritance is unclear. Traits could be inherited via genetic or parental effects, or culturally via social learning from role models. However, these pathways are difficult to disentangle in natural systems as parents are usually the source of all of these effects. Here, we exploit natural 'cross fostering' in wild banded mongooses to investigate the inheritance of cooperative behaviour. Our analysis of 800 adult helpers over 21 years showed low but significant genetic heritability of cooperative personalities in males but not females. Cross fostering revealed little evidence of cultural heritability: offspring reared by particularly cooperative helpers did not become more cooperative themselves. Our results demonstrate that cooperative personalities are not always highly heritable in wild, and that the basis of behavioural traits can vary within a species (here, by sex).


This study was designed so that three sensitive and widely-used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods for the detection of TT virus or Torque Teno virus (TTV) would be simultaneously applied to a large number of subjects to evaluate performances of the various PCR protocols with different genotype sensitivities. Sera were collected from 92 children admitted to Hacettepe University Ihsan Doğramaci Children's Hospital Pediatric Gastroenterology Unit (17 cryptogenic chronic hepatitis, 17 asymptomatic HBs carriers, 18 chronic HBV patients and 40 healthy children). TTV DNA was detected via nested N22, nested 3'-UTR and 5'-UTR PCRs for all samples. Differences in TTV D N A detection prevalences were n o t statistically significantbetween the study groups with all TTV DNA and liver enzyme levels. A significant agreement between PCR methods that target UTR was observed. TTV detection rate increased with age, suggesting a non-parenteral, environmental exposure to the virus for the study population.


The commercialization and lowering costs of consumer grade Virtual Reality (VR) devices has made the technology increasingly accessible to users around the world. The usage of VR technology is often accompanied by an undesirable side effect called cybersickness. Cyber-sickness is the feeling of discomfort that occurs during VR experiences, producing symptoms similar to those of motion sickness. It continues to remain one of the biggest hurdles to the widespread adoption of VR, making it increasingly important to explore and understand the factors that influence its onset. In this work, we investigated the influence of the presence/absence of motion control on the onset and severity of cybersickness in an HMD based VR driving simulation employing steering as a travel metaphor. Towards this end, we conducted a between subjects study manipulating the presence of control between three experimental conditions, two of which (Driving condition and Yoked Pair condition) formed a yoked control design where every pair of drivers and their yoked pairs were exposed to identical vehicular motion stimuli created by participants in the driving condition. In the other condition (Autonomous Car condition), participants experienced a program driven autonomous vehicle simulation. Results indicated that participants in the Driving condition experienced higher levels of cybersickness than participants in the Yoked Pair condition. While these results don't conform to findings from previous research which suggests that having control over motion reduces cybersickness, it seems to point towards the importance of the fidelity of the control metaphor's feedback response in alleviating cybersickness. Simply allowing one control their motion may not readily alleviate cybersickness but could instead increase it in such HMD based VR driving simulations. It may hence be important to consider how well the control metaphor and its feedback matches users' expectations if we want to successfully mitigate cybersickness.


A detailed biostratigraphy is established, using the high foraminiferal abundance and diversity at Trowbarrow Quarry, which is also proposed as a stratotype section for the late Asbian (late Visean), a substage not previously formally subdivided. The foraminiferal assemblages suggest that the early Asbian has to be revised, which has implications for the chronostratigraphy of many late Visean outcrops in Britain, which are probably erroneously interpreted. From the upper part of the Park Limestone Formation at Trowbarrow Quarry, near the base of the section, the transition between foraminifers assigned to the early and late Asbian (Cf6α–β to Cf6γ subzones) is identified. The Urswick Limestone Formation contains excellent biostratigraphic records of many important taxa, enabling the subdivision of the formation into five foraminiferal assemblage zones for the late Asbian, namely Cf6γ1a, Cf6γ1b, Cf6γ2a, Cf6γ2b and Cf6γ2c. The last assemblage is currently recognized only in the North Pennines and at Trowbarrow. These assemblages enable revision of the stratigraphic range of many taxa used as biostratigraphic markers in Britain and Ireland. Owing to its excellent foraminiferal record, the late Asbian subdivisions will significantly facilitate the reinterpretation of other well‐known Asbian platform carbonate successions in Britain. Although there are some faunal differences, the base of the late Asbian can be confidently correlated to other European zonal schemes, with its base being equivalent to the base of the former V3bγ or more recent MFZ14 foraminiferal zones of Belgium, and the base of the Mikhailovian Substage in Russia.


We report the genome sequence of Frankia sp. strain CH37, a filamentous nitrogen-fixing soil-dwelling Gram-positive bacterium and hyper-producer of metal-complexing organic ligands (metallophores) isolated from the sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). The 9.7-Mbp sequence, obtained using PacBio technology, harbors 7,766 predicted coding sequences, including gene clusters for metallophore production. ABSTRACT We report the genome sequence of Frankia sp. strain CH37, a filamentous nitrogen-fixing soil-dwelling Gram-positive bacterium and hyperproducer of metal-complexing organic ligands (metallophores) isolated from the sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). The 9.7-Mbp sequence, obtained using PacBio technology, harbors 7,766 predicted coding sequences, including gene clusters for metallophore production.


Defines dumping as the sale of goods onto the market of an importing country at less than their normal value on the domestic market, and explains the economic rationale behind dumping. Reviews the origin of anti‐dumping laws, and the objectives of applying anti‐dumping duty legislation to non‐market economy countries, with reference to European Union (EU) anti‐dumping measures against China; the latter is still viewed as a non‐market economy. Indicates the impact of the EU anti‐dumping campaign on Chinese industries and legal strategies for challenging the EU anti‐dumping campaign. Concludes that the campaign is unfair and should now recognise the progress of economic reform in China, which since 2001 is a member of the World Trade Organization.


Abstract - This study involved an investigation of the effectiveness of the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) approach in developing mathematical communication and problem-solving skills of six children diagnosed with autism but classified as high - functioning. This research-based instructional pedagogy based upon real life experiences was implemented over the course of two months. The A-B-A Single-Subject research design was employed using the principles of discrete trial training to mark the students' progress. Two data sets were analyzed - the first data consisted of pre and posttest performance of the students evaluated using a rubric. The second data consisted of baseline, intervention and post –intervention performance of the students collected through recorded video clips and classroom observation forms. The six subjects were observed under the baseline condition until the dependent variable stabilized. Then the experimental treatment, three lessons using RME approach, were introduced by the teacher participants and the subjects were again observed to determine whether a change occurred in the mathematics communication skills and the problem-solving skills of the children after the implementation of the approach. The study showed that the training of teachers and the exposure of the students to the RME approach led to an improvement of the students' ability to communicate mathematically and solve problems meaningfully. Keywords - RME Approach, High-Functioning Autism, Mathematical Communication, Problem-Solving Skills.


"The Budgeting and Calculation Code for Power Grid Construction Projects(the Code)" is the primary standard for technical economic evaluation of power grid construction projects.Compiled under certain technological and economical conditions,it has its temporal limitations and is subject to amendment in response to changing conditions.Owing to huge work loads and long cycles of amendment,the Code is often found lagging behind the actual project practice.To address these problems,a tracing and analysis system is developed for the application of the Code based on large quantities of project settlement data.Three categories of typical project costs under the name of "Other Costs" in the Code are selected as examples and used to judge the applicability of the corresponding standard in the Code in order to provide useful reference for timely amendment of the Code.


In this letter, we study the effect of channel estimation errors on the reception reliability of two-way relaying. For a network with two users that exchange information with each other through multiple amplify-and-forward relays, we investigate a single-relay selection scheme. Since the communication is two-way, the selection scheme aims at optimizing the worse performance of the two communication tasks between the pair of users. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the users' nodes of the relaying network is formulated and upper bounded. Then, the probability density function (PDF) of the upper bounded SNRs are determined. Subsequently, expressions for the error probabilities are obtained. Furthermore, an approximate PDF of the output instantaneous SNRs are derived, based on which simple and general asymptotic expressions for the error probabilities are presented and discussed. Numerical and simulation results are provided to verify the analysis and compare the performance of the two-way relaying network for different operating conditions and scenarios.


Part I: Theory and Tools. Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: Stocks. Chapter 3: Futures and Related Instruments. Chapter 4: Money Markets. Chapter 5: Aggregate Indicators: Stock Indices. Part II: Financial Valuation and Risk Analysis. Chapter 6: Valuations. Chapter 7: Risk Analysis. Part III: Common Arbitrage Situations. Chapter 8: Index Arbitrage. Chapter 9: Risk Arbitrage. Chapter 10: Pair Trading and Technical Trading.