This paper studies the motives behind private equity acquisitions of publicly listed firms in continental Europe. As corporate control and ownership in continental Europe tend to be highly concentrated, we argue that it is important to take into account the incentives of the incumbent large shareholder to monitor the management and the private benefits of control the latter may derive from the firm when measuring the likelihood of the firm being taken over by a private equity investor. We find strong and consistent evidence that both have a significant impact on the likelihood of a private equity acquisition.


World Wide Web (WWW) searches are the primary source of information for many people for which different search engines are available. Depending on the search query, which might be ambiguous, search engines can return thousands of results to the user potentially causing frustration and a dislike towards the search engine. In this study, using a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) we investigated the Long-Term Excitement, Short-Term Excitement, Engagement, Meditation and Frustration of study participants while they were performing ambiguous searches using Google, Yahoo! and Bing. The captured emotional data as well as pre-test and post-test questionnaire data suggest that the different search engines and search terms had an influence on the emotions of a participant during searches with ambiguous search queries.


Malnutrition is among the leading cause of deaths in children below age five in the developing countries. For MDG goal to be met, under-five malnutrition is to be reduced to the barest minimum if not eradicated. This is aim at assessing the nutritional status among under -five children in Evbuotubu Community Egor Local Government Area, Edo State. A descriptive cross sectional survey design was used in a sample size of 272 mothers with 544 under-five children. Questionnaire, observational checklist and instrument for anthropometric measurement were used to collect data using convenient sampling technique. Data collected were analyse using descriptive statistics, hypothesis were tested using chi-square at 0.05 significant level. Result show that 196(36.1%) of the children were underweight with 250(46.0%) of them been stunted and 138(25.4%) wasted, out of 36.1% underweight children, 112(20.6%) were boys and 84(15.4%) girls. In addition, of the 25.4% wasted 72 (13.2%) boys and 66(12.1%) were girls. Also mother's level of education was a significant predictor for weightfor-age (p=0.042 AOR: 2.300, 95% CI: 1.032 – 5.127), and mother's age for being a strong predictor for child wasting with p= 0.012 AOR: 3.462, 95% CI: 1.313 – 9.131). To improve nutritional status of under-five children, education of the mothers/care givers should be made compulsory. Information on good nutritional practices should be provided by health worker at all level of health care. Government should provide at least one square meal which is fortified with adequate nutrient for all under-five children.


Recent increases in concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in lakes and rivers over large regions have been related to both changes in the climate and in atmospheric deposition chemistry. Using a data set of 1041 boreal lakes along a 13° latitudinal gradient, sampled in 1995, 2000, and 2005, and an additional data set of 90 lakes along a 1000‐m altitudinal gradient at 68°N, we show that DOC concentrations increase in a nonlinear way along a latitudinal and altitudinal temperature gradient. The nonlinear relation of DOC to increasing temperatures was consistent over space and time. Out of 14 meteorological, catchment, morphometric, and atmospheric deposition variables tested, the variable best explaining this kind of nonlinear pattern was the number of days when air temperatures exceeded 0°C, i.e., the duration of the main growing and runoff season (DT>0). Using DT>0 as an input variable, we were able to predict the nonlinear temperature response of DOC concentrations, both spatially (R2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001) and temporally (R2 = 0.90, p < 0.0001). DT>0 has an advantage over other variables because it includes the time factor, which is decisive for the duration that biogeochemical processes can take place. We suggest that DOC concentrations in lakes are influenced by climate change and that present temperature increases over Sweden result in an accelerated DOC increase toward warmer geographical regions.


Deep-water ecosystems are characterized by relatively low carbonate concentration values and, due to ocean acidification (OA), these habitats might be among the first to be exposed to undersaturated conditions in the forthcoming years. However, until now, very few studies have been conducted to test how cold-water coral (CWC) species react to such changes in the seawater chemistry. The present work aims to investigate the mid-term effect of decreased pH on calcification of the two branching CWC species most widely distributed in the Mediterranean, Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata. No significant effects were observed in the skeletal growth rate, microdensity and porosity of both species after 6 months of exposure. However, while the calcification rate of M. oculata was similar for all colony fragments, a heterogeneous skeletal growth pattern was observed in L. pertusa, the younger nubbins showing higher growth rates than the older ones. A higher energy demand is expected in these young, fast-growing fragments and, therefore, a reduction in calcification might be noticed earlier during long-term exposure to acidified conditions.


Abstract: Small GTPases are key signal transducers from extracellular stimuli to the nucleus that regulate a variety of cellular responses, including changes in gene expression and cell adhesion and migration. Accumulating data have demonstrated that abnormal activation of these small GTPases plays a critical role in the atherosclerosis characterized by vascular abnormalities, especially endothelial dysfunction and inflammation. Here, we discuss the linkage between small GTPases, inflammation, and atherogenesis. First, small GTPases affect gene expression of inflammatory cytokines through proinflammatory signaling pathways, such as nuclear factor-&kgr;B, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, interlukin-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Then, these molecules regulate the vascular inflammation through cell adhesion and migration. In turn, small GTPases are also regulated by extracellular stimuli, such as L-selectin, thrombin, oxidized phospholipids, and interleukins. Thus, these inflammatory cytokines generate a vicious cycle for small GTPases and inflammatory responses in the atherogenesis.


Abstract Background Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Salmonella has been observed in the Philippines. We aimed to characterise the population and AMR mechanisms of Salmonella with whole genome sequencing (WGS) and compare it with laboratory surveillance methods. Methods The serotype, multilocus sequence type, AMR genes and relatedness between isolates were determined from the genomes of 148 Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) and 65 non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) collected by the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program during 2013–2014. Genotypic serotypes and AMR prediction were compared with phenotypic data. Results AMR rates in S. Typhi were low, with sparse acquisition of mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones or extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) genes. By contrast, 75% of NTS isolates were insusceptible to at least one antimicrobial, with more than half carrying mutations and/or genes linked to fluoroquinolone resistance. ESBL genes were detected in five genomes, which also carried other AMR determinants. The population of S. Typhi was dominated by likely endemic genotype 3.0, which caused a putative local outbreak. The main NTS clades were global epidemic S. Enteritidis ST11 and S. Typhimurium monophasic variant (I,4,[5],12: i: -) ST34. Conclusion We provide the first genomic characterisation of Salmonella from the Philippines and evidence of WGS utility for ongoing surveillance.


Objective This study aimed to compare microfracture and application of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) by local adherent technique enhanced by platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to provide a new approach for the repair of cartilage defect. Design Full-thickness cylindrical defects were created in the medial femoral condyle in 9 New Zealand White rabbits (5 months old, 4.65 ± 0.20 kg). Two groups of rabbits (n = 3) were either treated with ADSCs (Group 1) or the microfracture technique (Group 2) following intraarticular injection of PRP 3 times in weekly intervals. Rabbits in control group (n = 3) remained untreated. The outcome was assessed macroscopically, histologically, and immunohistochemically. Results At the end of week 12, Group 1 showed better defect filling compared with Group 2. Specimens treated with the combination of ADSCs and PRP exhibited significant differences from the other groups in all criteria of International Cartilage Repair Society macroscopic scoring system. Conclusions Intraarticular injection of autologous PRP in combination with transplantation of autologous ADSCs by local adherent technique enhances the quality of cartilage defect repair with better results in comparison with microfracture surgery in a rabbit model.


The paper presents the state of knowledge and technology on the concrete-polymer composites (C-PC) and the prospects of their development. We can formulate a general thesis: the future of C-PC lies not only in technology, but also in ability to manage it. New arrangement of the research facts-new understanding of the nature of the material and the thrust for further development in application and theory are the present expectations. There are many old questions about material selection, its usability, compatibility and durability. The new questions are about material model. It is difficult to expect completely new material concept in C-PC domain in the nearest future. It would be rather better using of polymers -more economical and in more synergetic way. It also means more sophisticated formulation and way of preparation. There are various findings in other disciplines, which would affect the development of the concrete-polymer composites. Some of them as well as a creation of such ideas are discussed in the paper.


Communicable and non-communicable diseases present stimultaneously but not with equal frequency. In most developing countries communicable diseases receive greater attention, to the neglect of such non-communicable diseases as genetic disorders, particularly those affecting children. Accordingly, such diseases are less definitively diagnosed. Nevertheless, the burden of these disorders is heavy on both parents and clinicians. It has been estimated that genetic and congenital malformations have an incidence of six to seven pc. of which 0,5 pc. are due to chromosomal disorders. Apart from sickle cell disease, perhaps the most easily diagnosed genetic abnormalities are the chromosomal disorders. Their clinical index of suspicion is always high but confirmation is usually necessary. Information on prevalence of Edwards syndrome among black Africans is scanty or is not well-documented. In this paper, we report three cases of Edwards syndrome confirmed by chromosome analysis. Their features are compared with those cited in the literature.


This paper focuses on the notions of "national imaginary" and "imagined communities" bequeathed to us by Benedict Anderson, and their impingements upon South Korean cinema of the past decade, namely Park Chan Uk's Joint Security Area, Kang Je Gyu's Swiri, and Kim Hyeon‐Jeong's Comrade. These three films are starting points for understanding how South Korean cinema re‐configures the idea of a collective "Korea"—neither South nor North Korea, but simply "Korea" the undivided Fatherland—in relation to questions of violence and its possible dystopic or utopic functions within the Korea peninsula, splintered and marred by opposing ideologies. With plots in which a traumatic history of violence is portrayed as a result of individuals blindly identifying with an ideology of nationalism, these three films urge us to rethink nationalism's claims as a justifiable form of ideology.


This small, nicely printed book appears as volumb one of the Collected Works of Father Florovsky. The title correctly describes the subject matter of the seven articles reprinted in it: "The Lost Scriptural Mind" (1951), "Revelation and Interpretation" (1951), "The Catholicity of the Church" (1934), "The Church: Her Nature and Task" (1948), "The Function of Tradition in the Ancient Church" (1963), "The Authority of the Ancient Councils and the Tradition of the Fathers" (1967), "St. Gregory Palamas and the Tradition of the Fathers" (1959).


Eco-friendly methods and strategies for nematode management have been recommended due to their non hazardous impact on environment. In this current study, experiment was conducted to control Meloidogyne incognita in tomato cv. 'K25' by using organic amendment as dip or soil-additive. The root-dip treatment ofJusticia adhatoda L. inhibited larval penetration in roots of tomato more than the root-dip of Lantana camara L. The standard concentration (s) proved to be more effective as compared to diluted concentrations. In another treatment, mixing organic residue of both test plants with soil at 0.5, 1.0 and 3.0% (w / w) 5 days prior to tomato transplanting, improved plant growth response and reduced root-knot development in roots at a 6 and 12% moisture levels. The 3% (w / w) of residue mix of J. adhatoda L. had phytotoxic effects on tomato. The 3% (w / w) of organic residue dosage of J. adhatoda L. at 12% moisture level caused minimum root-knot development in the roots of tomato. Therefore, the availability of these plant materials in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, especially developing countries will provide an economic and feasible means of controlling nematodes in vegetable crops.

 Key words: Organic amendments, nematicidal properties, root-knot nematode, management.


The aim of this seminar is to examine and explore evaluative practices in Higher Education (HE) through examples from a number of European countries with a view to improving the understanding of the role of evaluation at different levels and to encourage dialogue between the actors involved. By 'evaluative practice' we mean any activities associated with the way value or worth is attributed to what Higher Education does. This can range from the regulation of national and institutional systems of HE to small scale developmental reflection within small groups of teachers and learners.

This focus is pertinent and topical in that a range of new challenges and issues confront the sector within Europe including the Bologna reform in HE; HE responding to changes in and demands from society; changes in perspectives on learning throughout life – shift in balance between initial training and on-going training and learning; evolution in the approach to evaluation including changes in attitude to learner evaluation, certification programmes and institutional accountability.
The meeting will be structured around four sessions with an introductory talk to present the ideas behind the meeting. The four themes correspond to a model of HE evaluative practice which identifies four dimensions or 'sites' for evaluation within a social policy area; theses are:

- Systemic evaluative practice: system level evaluation practice related to regulatory issues (in particular in relation to how society sees HE and how HE responds to those demands (research excellence, teaching quality etc);
- Programmatic evaluative practice: evaluation of specific programmes or interventions to effect change in HE (e.g. in the UK the initiation of Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning)
- Institutional evaluative practice: associated with the routine evaluation of internal processes and mechanisms (e.g. quality programmes, reviews, appraisals, internal monitoring, evaluation of teaching, …);
- Self and participative evaluative activities: the creation of a climate to encourage such continuous reflective practices, (e.g. teaching portfolio, self-evaluation,…).

Each of these four themes will be presented through a critical analysis of concrete examples followed by a discussion with participants.


One of the main ways that humans learn is by interacting with peers, in context. When we don't know which bus to take, how to prepare plantains, or how to use a certain app, we ask a nearby peer. If the right peer is not around, we can use a mobile device to connect to a remote peer. To get the desired answer, though, we need to find the right person, and have the right affordances to send and receive the relevant information. In this paper, we define a class of micro-presence systems for just-in-time micro-interactions with remote companions, and explore dimensions of the design space. Informed by theories of contextual memory and situated learning, we present TagAlong, a micro-presence system conceived for learning a second language in context with help from a remote native speaker. TagAlong uses a connected head-mounted camera and head-up display device to share images of the wearer's visual context with remote peers. The remote companion can convey knowledge using these images as a point of reference-- images are sampled, annotated and then sent back to the wearer in real time. We report on a quantitative experiment to determine the effectiveness of using visual cues that involve spatial and photographic elements as a means of "pointing" at things to draw the wearer's attention to them.


One of the most important problems that can arise in the development of a pharmaceutical crystallization process is the control of polymorphism, in which there exist different crystal forms for the same chemical compound. Different polymorphs can have very different properties, such as bioavailability, which motivates the design of controlled processes to ensure consistent production of the desired polymorph to produce reliable therapeutic benefits upon delivery. The optimal batch control of the polymorphic transformation of L-glutamic acid from the metastable α-form to the stable β-form is studied, with the goal of optimizing batch productivity, while providing robustness to variations in the physicochemical parameters that can occur in practice due to variations in contaminant profiles in the feedstocks. A nonlinear state feedback controller designed to follow an optimal setpoint trajectory defined in the crystallization phase diagram simultaneously provided high-batch productivity and robustness, in contrast to optimal temperature control strategies that were either nonrobust or resulted in long-batch times. The results motivate the incorporation of the proposed approach into the design of operating procedures for polymorphic batch crystallizations. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2007


Objective:In septic patients, decreased renal perfusion is considered to play a major role in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury. However, the accurate measurement of renal blood flow in such patients is problematic and invasive. We sought to overcome such obstacles by measuring renal blood flow in septic patients with acute kidney injury using cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging. Design:Pilot observational study. Setting:University-affiliated general adult intensive care unit. Patients:Ten adult patients with established septic acute kidney injury and 11 normal volunteers. Interventions:Cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging measurement of renal blood flow and cardiac output. Measurements and Main Results:The median age of the study patients was 62.5 yrs and eight were male. At the time of magnetic resonance imaging, eight patients were mechanically ventilated, nine were on continuous hemofiltration, and five required vasopressors. Cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging examinations were carried out without complication. Median renal blood flow was 482 mL/min (range 335–1137) in septic acute kidney injury and 1260 mL/min (range 791–1750) in healthy controls (p = .003). Renal blood flow indexed to body surface area was 244 mL/min/m2 (range 165–662) in septic acute kidney injury and 525 mL/min/m2(range 438–869) in controls (p = .004). In patients with septic acute kidney injury, median cardiac index was 3.5 L/min/m2 (range 1.6–8.7), and median renal fraction of cardiac output was only 7.1% (range 4.4–10.8). There was no rank correlation between renal blood flow index and creatinine clearance in patients with septic acute kidney injury (r = .26, p = .45). Conclusions:Cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging can be used to noninvasively and safely assess renal perfusion during critical illness in man. Near-simultaneous accurate measurement of cardiac output enables organ blood flow to be assessed in the context of the global circulation. Renal blood flow seems consistently reduced as a fraction of cardiac output in established septic acute kidney injury. Cine phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging may be a valuable tool to further investigate renal blood flow and the effects of therapies on renal blood flow in critical illness.


This project delivers to the scholar and performer a critical edition of a little-known horn concerto by Antonio Rosetti. Standing in contrast to performance or practical editions, critical editions demand that the editor exerts a non-trivial measure of authority over the state of the text. Performers often find this fact to be uncomfortable given the normal tendency to revere the perceived intent of the composers based upon the text that they set down. When engaging with sources, it is rarely clear what that intent is, or which of the available sources most closely represents that intent. Those available sources often disagree with one another, even those in the composer's own hand. It is vital for the editor to know, as precisely as is possible, who created the source material, when they created these sources, and why they created these sources. At that point the editor must decide which sources will best fit his or her framework for the creation of the critical edition. At that point the editor will grapple with numerous inconsistencies and ambiguities within those sources, and then use his or her own authority to fix the text of the composer's work into a single version for today's use. The Horn Concerto in E-flat Major (C41) by Rosetti presents a unique case to the editor, scholar, and performer, in that it exists in two versions that carry substantial differences in the solo part. These differences are so great that it is often difficult to consider them as representative of the same work. This edition presents both versions, as each have different original purposes, and edits them in parallel so that the performer may determine which usage is most appropriate for his or her needs.


The Statistics Expert Group was convened at the request of the Infected Blood Inquiry to provide estimates of the number of infections and deaths from bloodborne infections including hepatitis B virus; human immunodeficiency virus; hepatitis C virus and variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, as a direct result of contaminated blood and blood products administered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). In the absence of databases of HCV infections and related deaths for all nations of the UK, a statistical model was required to estimate the number of infections and subsequent deaths from HCV acquired from blood transfusions throughout January 1970-August 1991. We present this statistical model in detail alongside the results of its application to each of the four nations in the UK. We estimated that 26,800 people (95% uncertainty interval 21,300-38,800) throughout the UK were chronically infected with HCV because of contaminated blood transfusions between January 1970 and August 1991. The number of deaths up to the end of 2019 that occurred as a result of this chronic infection is estimated to be 1,820 (95% uncertainty interval 650-3,320).


We report that complexes of giant DNA molecules with histone H1 proteins form a pearl necklace-like structure when the complexes are prepared by natural dilution from a high-salt solution (2 M NaCl) to a low-salt solution (0.2 M and 50 mM NaCl). We performed real-time observations on the conformational changes of individual T4 phage DNA (166 kb) molecules in bulk solution by fluorescence microscopy. To identify H1-binding regions on individual DNA molecules, we also performed immunofluorescence microscopic observations on the DNA-H1 complex spread on a glass surface. It was found that histone H1 binds DNA in a highly co-operative manner and is accompanied by local folding of the DNA. On the basis of the experimental observations and a theoretical simulation, we propose a self-assembling mechanism for the pearling structure.


The aim of this study is to record the length-weight relationship, relative condition factor (Krel) and relative weight (Wr) for three fish species in Iranian coastal waters of the Caspian Sea. Fish sampling was carried out in the beach seine fishing grounds in autumn and winter seasons for two years (2007 and 2009). 14104 specimens were measured and weighed. The values of the exponent b in the lengthweight relationships (LWRs) were 2.8449 for Cyprinus carpio, 2.8844 for Liza aurata and 2.9077 for Rutilus frisii kutum. Relative condition factor (Krel) values were ranged from 1.017±0.002 to 1.071±0.002. In addition, Relative weight (Wr) ranged from 0.929±0.002 to 1.740±0.004.


Mutations in human mitochondrial tRNA genes cause a number of multisystemic disorders. A G-to-A transition at position 8313 (G8313A) transition in the mitochondrial tRNALys gene has been associated with a childhood syndrome characterized by gastrointestinal-system involvement and encephaloneuropathy. We have used transmitochondrial cybrid clones harbouring patient-derived mitochondrial DNA with the G8313A mutation for the study of the molecular pathogenesis. Our results showed that mutant mitochondrial cybrids respired poorly, and had severely defective mitochondrial protein synthesis and respiratory-chain-enzyme activity. Mutant cybrids also showed a marked decrease in tRNALys steady-state levels and aminoacylation, suggesting that these molecular abnormalities may underlie the pathogenesis of the mitochondrial G8313A mutation.


Service restoration of a distribution system is investigated by using artificial intelligence. The purpose is to reach a proper restoration plan for the unfaulted zone after a fault has been identified and isolated. To reduce the outage period and improve service reliability, the restoration plan must be devised in a very short period. In the paper, two approaches using artificial intelligence, i.e. the artificial neural network (ANN) approach and the pattern recognition method, are developed to determine the restoration plan in a very efficient manner. The effectiveness of the proposed approaches is demonstrated by the restoration of electricity service following a fault in a distribution system in Taipei, Taiwan. It is concluded from the example that a proper restoration plan can be reached very efficiently using the proposed approaches. Therefore, it can be used by distribution system operators to reach a restoration plan.


Few investigations have examined the referral of minority adolescents to community mental health clinics. This issue is especially critical in light of the increased attention given to mental health services for children and adolescents in recent years. The present study uses mental health clinic data from a large metropolitan area to explore whether African Americans and Mexican Americans entering mental health care do so through referrals that are more coercive than those made for Whites. The total sample consists of 2,460 adolescents aged 13-17; the results indicate that African-American adolescents are more likely than Whites to be referred by an external agency. When types of external agencies are considered, African Americans enter community mental health care more often than Whites through referrals from social agencies; Mexican Americans enter more often than Whites through school referrals. This paper suggests that African-American adolescents' overrepresentation in community mental health clinics may in part be due to their disproportionate contact with social and legal agencies and the propensity of these agencies to rely more often on the mental health system than on families or schools. Among all variables considered in the analyses for this paper, poverty status demonstrated the most consistent and powerful association with coercive referrals.


Therapeutic management of osteoid osteomas may vary from conservative medical treatment to more aggressive, though effective, surgery. Based on observations in 4 cases in children, we demonstrate the importance of localizing the lesion on the CT-scan before percutaneous resection of the osteoid osteoma involving small bones since this method is the most conservative surgical procedure.


Background: Due to the absence of ER, PR and HER2, targeted therapy is currently unavailable for patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Although TNBC lack overexpression of HER2, HER1, or EGFR, signaling is active in at least a subset of these cancers. Activation of EGFR is initiated by ADAM17-mediated release of ligands such as EGF, TGFa and HB-EGF. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that inhibition of ADAM17 is a novel approach for the treatment of TNBC. Methods: Gene expression data sets were analyzed for ADAM17 expression (3,519 samples across 21 datasets incorporating 10 different microarrays). We used the ADAM17 specific inhibitor, WAY-180022 (WAY: Pfizer), the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib and 5-fluorouracil (5FU) (Sigma Aldrich) to determine their effects on the growth of 7 TNBC cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, SUM159PT, HCC1937, BT20, Hs578t, Hs578i) and 6 non-TNBC cell lines (MCF7, T47D, BT474, JIMT-1, SKBR3, MDA-MB-453). Growth inhibitory effects were determined by cell counts and by MTT cell viability assay (Roche), following 5 days post treatment. Levels of TGF alpha were measured by ELISA in conditioned media from cells treated with 1μM WAY for 24 hours. Levels of pEGFR were also measured by ELISA. Results: We analyzed expression of ADAM17 across molecular subtypes for breast cancer. Levels of ADAM17 mRNA were significantly elevated in the basal like subtype (most of which were TNBC) compared to luminal A, luminal B or HER2 positive breast cancers. In vitro, treatment with WAY-180022 alone resulted in growth inhibitory effects ranging from 15 −49 %in TNBC cells as determined by cell counts. By MTT viability assay, treatment with 1 μM WAY resulted in a significant reduction in cell proliferation compared to vehicle control in MDA-MB-231 (p = 0.007) cells. Addition of WAY to gefitinib resulted in a significant reduction in proliferation in MDA-MB-231 cells compared to either gefitinib or WAY alone (p = 0.017 and p = 0.003, respectively). Similarly, addition of WAY to 5FU resulted in a significant inhibitory effect compared to 5FU alone in MDA-MB-468 (p = 0.007) cells. Investigating the functional effects of ADAM17 inhibition on breast cancer cells, we found that levels of pEGFR were reduced by between 26–57.6% in 5 of 6 lines examined. pEGFR levels were significantly reduced in MDA-MB-468 (p = 0.01) and MDA-MB-231 (p = 0.01) cells. In addition, levels of TGFα were significantly reduced following treatment with 1 μM WAY (MDA-MB-468, p = 0.008; MDA-MB-231, p = 0.012; HCC1143, p = 0.033; Hs578i8, p = 0.036). Conclusion: Based on our findings, inhibition of ADAM17 with WAY-180022 is a potential treatment for patients with TNBC. Acknowledgement: The authors wish to thank Science Foundation Ireland, Strategic Research Cluster award (08/SRC/B1410) to Molecular Therapeutics for Cancer Ireland and the Health Research Board Clinician Scientist Award (CSA/2007/11) for funding this work. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-17-03.


ABS TRACT Objective: This cross-sectional study was carried out in order to determine the selfrated health (SRH) status, and factors affecting the SRH of people aged 15 years and over in the city centre of Kayseri. Material and Methods: This study was performed on a stratified random sampling method selected population of 1304 people aged 15 years and over living in 501 dwellings. A questionnaire was applied to subjects including measurements of the presence of chronic diseases, health services utilization, and socio-demographic, economic and psychosocial factors. SRH was measured in terms of responses to the question: "How is your health in general?" Responses were categorised into two groups: good (positive) and poor (negative). Results: The overall prevalence of poor SRH was found to be 44% (CI 0.40-0.45, p<0.001) among the study group. The presence of chronic disease (OR 3.55, 2.65-4.76), health services utilization (OR 1.91, 1.41-2.59), living with in a large family (OR 1.49, 1.16-1.93), compared with single being married (OR 1.66, 1.20-2.30) and widowed/ divorced (OR 1.93, 1.10-3.30) were the most significant determinants that decreased SRH status. Education, family income and closeness to the nearest health institution were inversely related to poor SRH. Having primary school education and above (OR 0.66, 0.44-0.99), favorable income (OR 0.53, 0.32-0.88), in those living in places within 500-1000 metres from the nearest health institution (OR 0.72, 0.53-0.99) were the significant protective variables against poor SRH status. Conclusion: Presence of chronic disease, health services utilization, being married and widowed/divorced, and living in a large family were the main determinants of poor SRH among the general population aged 15 years and over.


The present invention relates to a non-contact charging system using, in particular inductively coupled relates to a charging device of a portable electronic device. Charging solid state system of the present invention a second charge unit that includes a first charging unit, the primary coil and magnetic secondary coil and wireless transmission module is coupled to the including a primary coil and a wireless receiving module and the Article made of a battery that receives a charging voltage from the second charging unit. In particular, including the first charge unit is a commercial unit, which as the AC power is applied to generate an AC power pulse than the commercial frequency, and by applying them to the primary coil induces a high-frequency AC voltage pulse to the secondary coil; Wherein the second charging unit further includes means for transmitting charging status information of the battery by an alternating current idle time between the pulse of the voltage pulse induced by the secondary coil with the first charging unit. Thus, the communication signal between the primary and the secondary of the power between the signal and the radio transmission module and the wireless receiving module can no longer be temporal overlap. Non-contact charging, time division, the feedback control


Objective: To determine the prevalence and timing of onset of gaze-modulated tinnitus and increased sensitivity to noise in patients who had undergone translabyrinthine excision of a vestibular schwannoma. Study Design: Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting: University hospital departments of audiology and neurotology. Patients: A cohort of 359 patients who had undergone translabyrinthine excision of a vestibular schwannoma in the period 1997 to 2003. Intervention: Translabyrinthine excision of a unilateral sporadic vestibular schwannoma. Main Outcome Measures: Patient reports and visual analogue scale measures of the timing of onset of gaze-modulated tinnitus and the presence, timing of onset, and persistence of increased sensitivity to noise after surgery. Results: Completed questionnaires were returned by 275 patients (77%), of whom 132 (48%) were men and 143 (52%) were women. Preoperative tinnitus was reported in 150 patients (55%). In 124 of these 150 (83%) the tinnitus persisted, and in 26 of 150 (17%) it abated. Of the 125 patients without preoperative tinnitus, 43 (34%) developed it postoperatively. In 167 (61%) patients of the total group of 275, postoperative tinnitus was reported. Gaze-modulated tinnitus was reported in 53 patients (19%). Somatic-evoked or -modulated tinnitus was reported in 38 patients (14%). In response to the question, "Did you notice being extra sensitive to noise after your operation?," 138 patients (50%) replied that they did. In 111 patients, this persisted. The onset of the modulation of tinnitus was distributed throughout the postoperative period, whereas the onset of increased sensitivity to noise was overwhelmingly in the first 2 months after surgery. Conclusion: Gaze modulation of tinnitus after vestibular schwannoma removal was identified in 19% of patients in this series. The onset data did not convincingly argue for any specific mechanism. The prevalence of increased sensitivity to noise is surprising and may represent central hyperacusis in response to unilateral deafferentation of the auditory system.


A simple method has been proposed for the preparation of magnesium phosphate conversion coating on a magnesium alloy (AZ31) to achieve protection against fast degradation in an implant environment. The conversion coating consists of an interior layer of dense newberyite and an outer layer of struvite and newberyite. Polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were employed to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the coatings in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. The corrosion resistance of the magnesium phosphate coated AZ31 magnesium alloy increased about 20 times compared with that of the AZ31 magnesium alloy.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the normal anatomy of the forearm of the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and ultrasonography (US) and then compare the results with the results of a gross anatomy dissection of the forearm. The results of the US examination of the musculoskeletal system of the tamarin forearm were not satisfactory. US imaging enabled observation of the shape of the soft tissue and the size of muscle groups; however, we distinguished more muscles by traditional methods. In addition, in the dissection study, the assessment of the muscles was easier. Examination of the forearm bones using micro-CT provided a complete picture of the bones in this part of the body and was less time-consuming than traditional methods. Imaging allows the anatomy to be represented as a 3D image. However, some methods are not accurate; as in our study, US did not allow a complete assessment of the forearm musculature.


SUMMARY From January 1980 to December1982, there were 222 MEDEVAC patients admitted to Mid Hospital, out of whom 206 had their case notes available for this study. The median ageof the 206 patients MEDEVAC was 24.5 years and the male to female ratio was 1.2 : 1. The Kenyah, Iban, Punans, Kelabit, Kayan andMurut ethnic groups contributed most of the cases. There was some seasonal variation in the number of MEDEVAC done, the highmonths being July and December and the low periods in May/June and October/November. Most of the MEDEVAC were requested by ground staff at the remote rural clinics and also district hospitals. The median duration of stay of the patients was 9.7 days. The top five causesforMEDEVACwere: broncho pneumonia; accidental falls; gastroenteritis; peptic ulcers; and appendicitis. 7.8% of the MEDEVAC died in hospital. The managementof cases ranged from conservative management to blood transfu sions to surgical interventions. Based on the criteria set, 63.6% of the MEDEVAC were considered justified.


Accident and casualty databases are an indispensable tool to allow for objective assessment
of the transport safety problem, the identification of priority areas for action and for
monitoring the effectiveness of countermeasures.
Such databases at European Union level are needed to describe the current state of
transport safety across the EU, to help define target levels of safety for each of the transport
modes and to facilitate a data-led systems approach in defining strategies.
The process of creating a range of common data sources necessary for the development
and monitoring of the Common Transport Policy began in 1993. Progress has been
achieved, especially for road transport, but for other modes basic kinds of data are lacking at
EU-level. In order to allow meaningful analyses within each mode and comparison across
the modes, further progress is needed.
The purpose of this report is to review the progress made in the development of databases
on accidents, casualties and exposure measures for each transport mode and, where gaps
exist, to try to identify various options for EU action.


Allowing emissions permits to be banked and borrowed over time can yield efficiency gains. I develop a model to demonstrate that banking and borrowing can also be allowed for a price policy. I compare expected welfare between price and quantity policies, with and without banking, under several different scenarios regarding uncertainty. A bankable policy can provide an efficiency improvement by allowing for smoothing of costs, though it does not necessarily dominate a policy that does not allow banking. The ranking of prices vs. quantities and of bankability vs. non-bankability depends on both the slopes of marginal costs and benefits and on the specification of uncertainty.


The glomerular (visceral) layer of Bowman's capsule is comprised of a unique population of cells which have been termed "podocytes." Arising from these cells are large major processes and numerous smaller foot processes which completely surround underlying glomerular capillary loops. Podocyte foot processes interdigitate with each other and are separated by spaces (filtration slits) which are designed to facilitate flow of a large amount of filtrate across the glomerular wall. Podocytes exhibit dramatic morphological changes in response to the nephrotic syndrome and some forms of acute renal failure and may play an important role in the pathophysiology of these conditions. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that a reduction in the sialic acid component of a thick anionic surface coat plays a major role in the morphological changes that these cells exhibit in the nephrotic syndrome. Also, it has been shown that filamentous actin concentrated mainly within podocyte foot processes are the contractile elements responsible for altering the shapes of these processes. There is evidence to suggest that by altering the shapes of their foot processes, podocytes in the normal kidney are able to alter the number of fully patent filtration slits and thereby actively regulate the rate of solute efflux across the glomerular wall. In vitro and in vivo studies have indicated that cytoplasmic microtubules are probably not involved in alterations of the podocyte foot processes but do appear important in maintaining the morphological integrity of podocyte cell bodies and their major processes. In the present paper, the morphological changes which glomerular podocytes exhibit in response to the nephrotic syndrome, various forms of acute renal failure, and during in vitro incubation are discussed along with studies of the possible roles of cytoplasmic microtubules, microtubules, and the glomerular anionic surface coat in these changes.


With the continued aging of the population, many researchers search for answers for aging with quality of life. All agree that living longer is not enough, it is necessary to live well. One of the main concern is with the medicine that aims to prepare the body and the mind for a happier third age. In this article we want to highlight the contribution of the communication processes for a healthy aging, correlating Communication, health, and the Third age. We also want to call the attention of the journalism student for this subject that is progressively more present, that is the demographic aging, aiming also to contribute with the overcoming of potential conflict between generations resulting from the population aging.


Ceramic brick based on interlayer clay and lime flour is obtained without using natural traditional materials. The process of drying ceramic bricks should be carried out according to the optimal mode, which means a combination of its possibly short duration, minimum expenses of energy and quality semi-finished product ─ lack of buckling, Cracks and hidden stresses, which contribute to the formation of cracks in the burning When making ceramic brick only from interlayer clay, Used as clay binder, without the use of repellents, there is a sharp drop in the limit shear stress in the temperature range of 20-80 °C, obviously due to the appearance of cracks and deformation curves. The use of lime flour in ceramic masses in the production of ceramic brick slows down the drop of the limit shear stress in the temperature range 20-80 °C. Researches showed that for improvement of drying properties of ceramic weight the "limy flour  interslate clay water" system is more uniform, in relation to the "interslate clay water" system. Analysis of the shear stress limit under hot molding conditions has shown that the function of plastic strength versus molding humidity Pm = f (W, t) is of particular importance in this case than the function of plastic strength versus temperature Pm = f (t).


As a student teacher, I was often asked to reflect on my teaching, and now, as a teacher trainer, I find myself asking my own student teachers to do the same. However, it wasn't until recently that I really started to think more deeply about the reflection process and the rationale behind it. In particular, I wondered what student teachers reflect upon, whether what they reflect on changes over the course of their practicum, and more generally whether student teachers, particularly weaker student teachers, are given enough guidance on reflection in order to go beyond superficial surface-level reflections. With reference to a group of Malaysian student teachers who undertook a 12-week practicum in the final year of their B.Ed. TESL programme, and who were expected to do a great deal of reflection during the practicum, this paper addresses the issues raised above, and highlights, among other things, the need for greater levels of guidance before and during the reflection process, and for the process itself to be clearly structured.


Photoreceptors are the light sensitive neurons in the retina that are critical for vision. Retinal dystrophies leading to photoreceptor cell loss are a major cause of blindness and there are currently no effective treatments to restore vision. Specifically, cone photoreceptor cell death has the greatest impact on sight as these cells are essential for colour vision and visual acuity. microRNAs (miRNAs) have been associated with the aetiology of common retinal diseases and whilst increasing evidence indicates they could be acting as agents of degeneration, their role in photoreceptor cell death remains poorly understood. This thesis aims to better understand how miRNAs are involved in the mechanisms leading to cone photoreceptor cell loss. The Chrnb4-GFP reporter mouse line was characterised and its expression in developing immature cones was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and validated by RNA sequencing. Successful isolation and RNA sequencing of Chrnb4-GFP+ve cones and CD73+ve rods was achieved from the same pool of retinas, allowing for a direct comparison of the transcriptome of cones and rods, and thus identifying potential novel cone markers. To assess the role of miRNAs in cone degeneration, Chrnb4-cre driven recombination of Dicer was carried out in developing cone photoreceptors. Chrnb4-cre; Dicer flox/flox conditional knockout mice displayed an early-onset progressive cone photoreceptor degeneration, characterised by an initial segment impairment and a progressive cone cell loss. While cone morphology and survival was affected by Dicer depletion, rod photoreceptors remained unaffected. These data indicate that miRNA dysregulation can lead to a model of cone dystrophy and suggests miRNAs may be major contributors in photoreceptor degenerations. This study shows for the first time that Dicer processing in developing cones is essential for their survival, and emphasises the need of identifying the specific miRNAs that promote cone survival with the goal of developing miRNA based therapies to tackle sight loss.


Currently, Albania, our homeland, is involved in the integration processes for membership in the European Union. European integration processes should first of all be understood as processes: achieving standards, adaptation and legal, structural, curricular improvements, etc. The Albanian education system is also part of these processes. The education system, especially in recent years, has been and continues to be part of programs and political, academic, scientific and educational programs and projects of the dominant actors of Albanian society for its reform and adaptation to the education systems of European societies, within Albania's ambitions for integration and membership.The teacher is the main actor of the educational process. It is necessary for the teacher to redefine his position in this constantly changing and integrating society, to empower and acquire new competencies.I think it is very interesting to discuss and research on re-dimensioning the position of teachers regarding the competencies of educating democratic citizens that they should gain in this period of reforms and European integration. The idea of the study is: Today's children can learn better if teachers focus more on activating their strengths than on identifying their weaknesses. Students should be evaluated not only on the basis of the results achieved, but, above all, on the basis of the capacity to fully address life situations.


In this paper, a new multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) modulation scheme termed as fully-quadrature spatial modulation (F-QSM) is proposed. The F-QSM is a class of space modulation techniques (SMTs) that harness the spatial positions of the transmit antennas in the transmit antenna array to fulfill high data rates. However, the data rates of most of SMTs are restricted to be logarithmically proportional to the number of transmit antennas. This logarithmic proportion is considered a pivotal crisis of most of SMTs, as it bottlenecks the enhancement in their data rates with the increment in the number of transmit antennas. Accordingly, the proposed F-QSM vanquishes this crisis by using a novel transmission mechanism to acquire a linear proportion between the achievable data rate and number of transmit antennas. This linear proportion, enables the proposed F-QSM to achieve a higher data rate than the conventional SMTs and by using a lower number of transmit antennas. In this paper, a mathematical framework for assessing the average bit error rate (ABER) performance of the proposed F-QSM is investigated thoroughly. Moreover, the receiver computational complexity of the proposed F-QSM is evaluated and tested reference to the computational complexity of the conventional SMTs at different number of transmit antennas. Simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the analytical analysis and corroborate the surpass of the proposed F-QSM in terms of ABER performance and achievable data rate at the expense of increasing receiver computational complexity compared to the conventional SMTs.


Cell death can be divided into the anti-inflammatory apoptosis and the pro-inflammatory necrosis. Necrosis as apoptosis, is a regulated form of cell death, and Poly-(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and Receptor-Interacting Protein (RIP)1 are two of the mediators. We previously showed that absence or inhibition of PARP-1 protects mice from immune mediated nephritis. Surprisingly, this protection showed a sex-bias, with only male mice being protected. Several studies have shown that the response of males and females to stress differs, although the basis for this sexual dimorphism remains to be determined. We hypothesized that these differences may be due to an inherent difference in the cell death program between the two sexes. We show here that in an immune mediated nephritis model, females show increased apoptosis compared to males. Treatment of males with estrogens inhibited necrosis but induced apoptosis to levels similar to those observed in females. Although PARP-1 was activated in both males and females, absence or inhibition of PARP-1 reduced necrosis only in males. Inhibition of RIP1 with Necrostatin-1 did not show sex bias. We demonstrate here that males and females are prone to different types of cell death. Our data also suggest that estrogens and PARP-1 are two of the mediators of sex-bias in cell death. We therefore propose that clinical targeting of cell death should differ based on sex and could lead to better treatments for each gender.


Fiber-optic evanescent wave sensor was designed and fabricated to detect mouse immunoglobulin G(IgG) with decladed optical fiber on which anti-mouse IgG was immobilized. A sensitivity obtained by any direct or competitive method was lower than 1 ㎍/㎖. Anti-mouse IgG was immobilized on 93.9% of core surface of optical fiber by simple adsoption method. The effect of postcoating using bovine serum albumin to remove non-specific binding was not observed. As the ratio of fluorescein to mouse IgG increased, the fluorescence signal increased, but that increase showed no linear relationship. Our fiber--optic sensor system could be used as immunosensor by measuring evanescent fluorescence in antigen-antibody reaction with good sensitivity below lug/mP level.


OBJECTIVES
In this study, we evaluated the continuous and state anxiety levels of mothers with children with language delay.

METHODS
The study group consisted of the mothers of 18 children with language delay. The control group consisted of the mothers of 29 healthy children without language delay. To gain data about mothers, a personal information form and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) form were applied to determine continuous and state-trait anxiety levels.

RESULTS
State anxiety levels in the study group were significantly higher (by Student t-test) than that of the control group. For continuous anxiety level, no statistically significant difference was determined between two groups. In the study group, higher education levels of mothers and their husbands were associated with lower levels of both continuous and state anxiety.

CONCLUSION
In the majority of the group of mothers with language delayed children and even mothers of children with normal language development, there were high levels concern. Mothers' concerns and anxiety levels may decrease with increasing levels of their education levels. We recommend providing detailed information regarding language development to the families at all stages of the childs' training programme.


We measured the visible to near-infrared (IR) spectra of 176 synthetic and natural samples of Fe oxides, oxyhydroxides and an oxyhydroxysulfate (here collectively called "Fe oxides"), and of 56 soil samples ranging widely in goethite/hematite and goethite/lepidocrocite ratios. The positions of the second-derivative minima, corresponding to crystal-field bands, varied substantially within each group of the Fe oxide minerals. Because of overlapping band positions, goethite, maghemite and schwertmannite could not be discriminated. Using the positions of the 4T1←6A1, 4T2←6A1, (4E;4A1)←6A1 and the electron pair transition (4T1+4T1)←(6A1+6A1), at least 80% of the pure akaganeite, feroxyhite, ferrihydrite, hematite and lepidocrocite samples could be correctly classified by discriminant functions. In soils containing mixtures of Fe oxides, however, only hematite and magnetite could be unequivocally discriminated from other Fe oxides. The characteristic features of hematite are the lower wavelengths of the 4T1 transition (848–906 nm) and the higher wavelengths of the electron pair transition (521–565 nm) as compared to the other Fe oxides (909–1022 nm and 479–499 nm, resp.). Magnetite could be identified by a unique band at 1500 nm due to Fe(II) to Fe(III) intervalence charge transfer. As the bands of goethite and hematite are well separated, the goethite/hematite ratio of soils not containing other Fe oxides could be reasonably predicted from the amplitude of the second-derivative bands. The detection limit of these 2 minerals in soils was below 5 g kg−1, which is about 1 order of magnitude lower than the detection limit for routine X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. This low detection limit, and the little time and effort involved in the measurements, make second-derivative diffuse reflectance spectroscopy a practical means of routinely determining goethite and hematite contents in soils. The identification of other accessory Fe oxide minerals in soils is, however, very restricted.


The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate nonprofit organizations' satisfaction with volunteer retention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 74 nonprofit organizations' leaders who participated in the online survey. The response rate was 10.6%. We found that the overall mean score for satisfaction with organizational retention of volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic was 3.50 (SD = .98), and the importance of volunteer management practices was 3.52 (SD = .96). Most nonprofit organizations were proactive (38.8%) and reacted promptly (52.2%) while addressing the organizations' response to the pandemic. Approximately 10.3% of the variation in satisfaction with organizational retention of volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic could be explained by the importance of volunteer management practices and organizational response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, within the final model, only one factor was a significant predictor of satisfaction with organizational retention of volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely, organizational response to the COVID-19 pandemic (β = -.304; p = .014). Recommendations for future research discussed. Implications for volunteer management and leadership studies faculty, University Extension educators, human resources practitioners, and local nonprofit organizations' leaders are also presented.


The genus Lindbergia is subdivided into 3 groups basing on morphological and molecular characters, and all these groups are represented in Russia. Lindbergia brachyptera is excluded from the Russian moss flora, it likely occurs only in North America; Russian plants referred to it belong to a closely related L. grandiretis. Specimens reported from the Russian Far East as Lindbergia duthiei and L. japonica are re-identified as L. sinensis. Mamillariella, a monospecific genus, is the closest relative to L. sinensis and is transferred to Lindbergia. Lindbergia dagestanica Ignatova & Ignatov sp. n. is described from the East Caucasus; this species is closely related to the American L. mexicana and African L. patentifolia. Plants of the latter group have never been reported from Eurasia before.


In the workhorse model of international real business cycles, financial integration exacerbates the cycle asymmetry created by country-specific supply shocks. The prediction is identical in response to purely common shocks in the same model augmented with simple country heterogeneity (e.g., where depreciation rates or factor shares are different across countries). This happens because common shocks have heterogeneous consequences on the marginal products of capital across countries, which triggers international investment. In the data, filtering out common shocks requires therefore allowing for country-specific loadings. We show that finance and synchronization correlate negatively in response to such common shocks, consistent with previous findings. But finance and synchronization correlate non-negatively, almost always positively, in response to purely country-specific shocks.


Local government responsibility to create and sustain conditions for economic growth requires rational management of assets and responsible financial policy. Thus, the government's capacity to achieve its objectives hinges on its ability to maintain a sound financial condition. Main aim of the article was to evaluate financial condition of Wielkopolska province rural communes and identify relationships between that evaluation and the level and structure of the communes' income as well as some external determinants. The study drew on data from Central Statistical Office, its branch in Poznan, and the Ministry of Finance. Financial condition of 15% of all Wielkopolska province rural communes was found strong, and of 10% – weak. Different classes of financial condition showed marked differences in the level and the structure of income sources. Rural communes of strong condition had 2.5 higher ratio of own income in total income sources than the communes of weak condition, four times higher level of real estate income, and three times higher level of personal tax share.


Five inbred backcross lines (IBL) were selected for higher relative expression of insecticidal acyl sugars (rank average) from an inbred backcross population derived from the cross Lycopersicon esculentum cultivar 'Peto 84'×Lycopersicon pennellii accession LA716. These five BC2S5 IBLs were crossed in a partial diallel design (Method II), and their self and F1 progeny and three control cultivars were tested at two California field locations in 1996. Counts of potato aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas, on leaves, as a measure of plant infestation, revealed significant general combining ability (GCA) for lower aphid numbers with IBL44 and IBL59; the F1 hybrid IBL44 × IBL59 had significantly fewer aphids per leaflet than the susceptible cultivar 'Alta'. GCA for acyl sugars was associated with IBL59 only. Of all the IBL and IBL × IBL F1 hybrids, only IBL59 produced significant levels of acyl sugars. Significant within IBL59 variation for acyl sugars was observed, but not for aphid resistance. Our results suggest that factors other than acyl sugars contributed to L. pennellii-derived aphid resistance in IBL × IBL F1 hybrids and IBL that do not produce significant amounts of acyl sugars. IBL59 and IBL44 may be useful for breeding for aphid resistance in cultivated tomato.


The aim in this study was to systematically survey the use of various theoretical approaches by OD practitioners. To this end, members of the International Registry of Organization Development Professionals were surveyed. The results were based on questionnaire data from 58 OD consultants with an average of 17.3 years' experience. The theoretical approaches of Schein, Lewin, Weisbord, Argyris, and Maslow were, in rank order, the most frequently endorsed. The findings indicate that OD practitioners are largely eclectic in orientation and stress both micro and macro theoretical viewpoints in their consulting work. The implications and limitations of this investigation are discussed.


This paper examined the effect of health insurance ownership on hospitalization within the context of Malaysia. The study utilized the data from Malaysia National Health and Morbidity Survey III (2006) and 14,234 respondents were selected for this purpose. Malaysia provides new evidence from an emerging market where voluntary purchase of private health insurance co-exists with almost free public health care. We used the standard and two-part Poisson models in determining the effect of insurance ownership on utilization. Based on two selection criteria, two-part Poisson model was found to be superior to the standard specification. Insurance ownership was found to be significant in determining access while it has no significant effect on frequency of hospitalization. Other significant variables that determine access were age, marital status, household size, health status and income while health status is the sole factor that affects frequency.


The word 'modernism' raises two immediate problems. It usually refers not to modern literary consciousness at large but to the more specific and selfconscious avant-garde movements associated with such writers as Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis and Virginia Woolf. Furthermore, even these writers had different, sometimes competing, conceptions which are still a matter of controversy. Yet there is a distinctive set of cultural and artistic concerns shared by these writers and Lawrence stands in a peculiarly significant relation to them. He is usually seen as being at best marginal to the modernism which these figures came largely to define, and they were almost uniformly hostile or condescending to him. But once it is properly understood, his apparently marginal position becomes critically central. For Lawrence provided then, and still provides, one of the most significant critiques of modernism arising from the same historical context and concerns.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of seizures following deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrode implantation and to evaluate factors associated with postoperative seizures.

METHODS
The authors performed a single-center retrospective case-control study. The outcome of interest was seizure associated with DBS implantation. Univariate analyses were performed using the Student t-test for parametric continuous outcomes. The authors used the Kruskal-Wallis test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for nonparametric continuous outcomes, chi-square statistics for categorical outcomes, and multivariate logistic regression for binomial variables.

RESULTS
A total of 814 DBS electrode implantations were performed in 645 patients (478 [58.7%] in men and 520 [63.9%] in patients with Parkinson's disease). In total, 22 (3.4%) patients who had undergone 23 (2.8%) placements experienced seizure. Of the 23 DBS implantation-related seizures, 21 were new-onset seizures (3.3% of 645 patients) and 2 were recurrence or worsening of a prior seizure disorder. Among the 23 cases with postimplantation-related seizure, epilepsy developed in 4 (17.4%) postoperatively; the risk of DBS-associated epilepsy was 0.50% per DBS electrode placement and 0.63% per patient. Nine (39.1%) implantation-related seizures had associated postoperative radiographic abnormalities. Multivariate analyses suggested that age at surgery conferred a modest increased risk for postoperative seizures (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.10). Sex, primary diagnosis, electrode location and sidedness, and the number of trajectories were not significantly associated with seizures after DBS surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
Seizures associated with DBS electrode placement are uncommon, typically occur early within the postoperative period, and seldom lead to epilepsy. This study suggests that patient characteristics, such as age, may play a greater role than perioperative variables in determining seizure risk. Multiinstitutional studies may help better define and mitigate the risk of seizures after DBS surgery.


Abstract This paper is concerned with the evaluation of the performance of the normality tests to ensure the validity of the t-statistics used for assessing significance of regressors in a regression model. For this purpose, we have explored 40 distributions to find the most damaging distribution on the t-statistic. Power comparisons are conducted to find the best performing test against these distributions. It is found that Anderson-Darling statistic is the best option among the five normality tests, Jarque-Bera, Shapiro-Francia, D'Agostino & Pearson, Anderson-Darling & Lilliefors.


As a business, you strive for acquiring and retaining happy customers. However, many businesses do not realize that the process starts with their employees and their job satisfaction with the company. This is one of the most undervalued aspects of developing a durable customer base. The employees want to feel thesame way as their customers in their relationship with the company as everyone wants to feel appreciated. One of the negative impacts of modern technology is that many goods and services are turned into commodities. The quality of the service your employees provide is of paramount importance and this happens when  employees are fully engaged. Connected employees are the employees who provide great customer service and a unique experience. Such cumulative experiences have progressively become the predominant motivation for customers to buy. Customers need to receive excellent products and services in order to spend their hard earned bucks. Of course yes, it is employees who will provide them this exceptional product or service. If the employees are miserable in their jobs this affects morale, innovation, and customer relationships and which does not translate into a great product and/or service. This is the connection between employees and customers


Since 1992, the United Kingdom has used a new type of public-private partnership for the delivery of public services: the Private Finance Initiative. In the design of PFI projects, the assessment of risk, and who is best able to manage it, needs to be carefully considered.


In this paper, some problems of the late Quaternary geohistory of the Japanese Islands were discussed, basing upon the following results of marine investigation with topographical and sedimentological data on the straits of the Japanese Islands.1. Charts show that wherever sizeable inland sea are separated from the ocean by narrow straits, deep hole (sea caldron) exists either in the narrows or directly adjacent them. The Korean strait (Fig. 5) is a part of the shelf, although there is a relatively deep hole (to -220m) along the west side of Tsushima Island. The depth of this deep hole attains 100m below the surrounding relict wave cut terrace (-120 to -130m). In this case, the depth of the relict wave cut terrace may reflect the sea level (about -110m) at the time of the Korean strait formation.2. From the detailed survey of the submarine topography in the Tsugaru strait (Fig. 6), six submarine terraces were found on the sill. It is noteworthy that the depth of those terrace on both areas of the Cape Shirakami and Tappi is nearly the same (Fig. 9). This fact suggests that there has been no distinct crustal movement after the building of those terraces on the sill of the strait.Among the submarine valleys developed on the continental shelf, one of which continued to a valley on land can be detected on the eastern part of the Cape Shirakami (Fig. 7). From these circumstances of submerged terraces and valley about 80m depression of sea-level at the maximum Wurm is deduced.3. The breadth to depth ratio of the straits around the Japanese Islands (Fig. 10) seems to reflect each still standing sea-level stage, such as; -100±10, -80±5 and -45±5m, after the formation of these straits.4. According to radiocarbon ages of shallow-water shells and peat obtained from the continental shelf and coastal plain around the Japanese islands (Fig. 12), sea-level at the maximum Wurm (17, 000 to 20, 000 y.B.P) was about 80m below the present level. Therefore, those results agree with the evidence from the topography of the straits around the Japanese Islands. Fig. 11 shows the coastal geography of the Japanese Islands during the low sealevel time of 80m below the present level.5. In most of Pleistocence, the Japanese islands was connected with the Korean Peninsula and present major islands themselves were tied to each other. It is sure that large mammals such as elephants migrated into the Japanese islands through land bridges. In the early Shimosueyoshi transgression when the sea-level was about -100m (Riss -Wurm interglacial period), the Japan Sea connected with the Pacific through narrow passages located in the Korean and Tsugaru straits. At the time of maximum Wurm when the sea-level was depressed to about -80m, the land bridges between Honshu and other lands were never formed. It is now believed by us that it might have been perhaps 12, 000 years ago when the sea-level rose to about -45m. This was the final stage of the land bridge in the Soya strait between Sakhalin and Hokkaido.


The possibility of fixing velocities of fluid motion in model porous medium (glass beads) by measuring the transverse relaxation time T2 by spin echo method is shown. The magnetic field gradient arising due to the difference in the magnetic permeability of the fluid and the porous medium causes a decrease in the average time T2, with makes it possible to fix the fluid motion in the absence of an external magnetic field gradient. The addition of magnetic nanoparticles to the fluid under study increases the dependence of T2 on fluid velocity and increases the sensitivity in determining the permeability of porous medium by NMR-relaxometry.

V.V.Maikov, S.V.Zhakov, I.V.Byzov, A.A.Mysik


Bacterial infection is a major threat to human health. However, many antibacterial agents currently used are severely limited due to drug-resistance, and the development of side effects. Herein, we have developed a non-antibiotic nanocomposite consisting of chitosan (ChS) coated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and graphene nanoribbon (GNR)-based nanowires for light-triggered eradication of bacteria. The presence of AgNP/ChS significantly enhanced the interactions of the GNR nanowires with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a clinically common Gram-negative bacterium. Which enables the highly effective photothermal eradication of bacteria by GNR upon near-infrared light irradiation. The nanocomposite was shown to be applicable for the light-triggered eradication of bacterial biofilms and the inhibition of bacterial growth on medical patches used for abdominal-wall hernia surgery.


The article considers the colour terms present in the New Testament in the Macedonian and Albanian languages. The characteristic features of the translation are determined by both the cultural unity and the lexical systems of the Balkan languages under consideration. Among the few contexts using colour terms, most are translated equally. This can be explained by both objective reasons (natural colour of objects) and general connotations attributed to the main colours of the spectrum. The attention of this study is focused primarily on the places in the text where different translation decisions have been made. However, it is impossible not to mention the most characteristic general features of colour term use in the New Testament in the Macedonian and Albanian languages. The study indicates the thoroughness of the work done by translators, who, considering the peculiarities of the colour term vocabulary of their language, sought to maximize the use of the lexical system in order to extremely accurately and easily convey the meaning of the original text. The connotations of the colour terms found in the text are mostly the same in the cultures and target languages under discussion. However, there are cases of using different lexemes in the same context in different places in the book. The similarities and differences in translations into Macedonian and Albanian help to understand how similar Balkan cultures see the New Testament and what they highlight as the most significant.


This chapter describes the linearization of power amplifiers (PAs) used in radio frequency (RF) transmitters. An overview of wireless communications is provided to establish the context of how the transmitter is used and the importance of the PA. Measures and models of the PA nonlinearity are reviewed, after which the core topic of PA linearization is presented. Selected techniques for PA linearization are discussed. The most popular is digital predistortion (DPD), where the correction signal is applied in the digital domain prior to the PA. Also covered are adaptive methods used to estimate the DPD coefficients that optimize the system. Feedforward compensation is presented as an analog technique for linearization, where the correction is applied in the RF domain after the PA. The chapter is concluded with a section on more detailed discussions of selected topics. Topics include the use of both odd and even polynomial terms in the modeling of PA nonlinearity and predistortion, the effect of PA saturation on the estimation of DPD coefficients, modifications used to make descent-based estimators more robust, batch processing for coefficient estimation, and the recursive least squares (LS) (RLS) estimator.


An achievable rate region based on Shannon's inner bound is given for the two-way relay channel. The relaying scheme operates on noisy received signals and generates new analog values to be transmitted to a destination. The scheme is therefore referred to as noisy analog network coding. The achievable rates are then optimized for a Gaussian two-way relay channel, when the relay is memoryless (this type of relaying is also known as instantaneous relaying). For one particular instance of the channel when the received signal at the relay is noiseless, it is shown that instantaneous noisy analog network coding can be optimal. For the noisy case, a numerical optimization algorithm is presented in order to optimize the instantaneous coding strategy. The optimized analog mapping turns out to be nonlinear and periodic. Finally, it is demonstrated that the achievable rates associated with optimized mappings can outperform those achieved by linear relaying, compress-and-forward, and can operate close to the recently proposed noisy network coding scheme.


Dear readers, We almost overlooked this date – the 10th anniversary of the publication of the first issue. We are so used to its half-yearly publication that we simply forgot to count. But the fact is that on December 03, 2008 the first issue of Acta medico-biotechnica was published. Slowly we have taken it as our own, it has become a part of us. The majority of you are naming it just Acta. We have stopped thinking about whether the next issue number will be released or not. In between there were years that we survived with more difficulty, there were even doubts about it continuing, but we have endured and succeeded so that we can now light 10 candles on the cake. Of course, we will, upon this jubilee, also blow them out and at that express wishes to the journal for many further successful years.


Attempts to suppress the publication of material by the media commonly raise tensions between freedom of expression and other fundamental rights or values. Under the Australian legal system, such tensions are often resolved by a technical search for an applicable cause of action rather than by reference to constitutional norms. The recent High Court decision in ABC v Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd [2001] HCA 63, illustrates how the search for a remedy may inhibit the development of consistent rules for resolving tensions between fundamental rights and values, as well as distorting the doctrinal basis of technical causes of action. Part I of this article explains the approaches taken by the High Court to the award of an interlocutory injunction to restrain publication of material obtained by means of trespass. This part of the article suggests that the decision is an example of the failure of the Australian legal system to address the policy issue of the extent to which the law should protect private material that is neither confidential nor defamatory. Part II of the article will explain the implications of the decision for the future development of the action for breach of confidence, and for the protection of privacy interests and freedom of expression, under Australian law.


In October 1986 the London Stock Exchange underwent what was termed the Big Bang. This consisted of the removal of fixed commissions on UK securities transactions, the abolition of the single capacity system, and the removal of barriers to entry to UK securities markets. The author considers five prudential issues raised by this event: monopoly power and foreign dominance, international supervisory harmonisation, capital adequacy and managerial competence, the management of 'fall out' (exit from the industry), and conflicts of interest. Three further factors are considered in detail; the regulator's approach to conflicts of interest, the regulation of financial conglomerates, and the implications of the Financial Services Act.


Perivascular cells in the pericytic microvasculature, pericytes and CD34+ stromal cells/telocytes (CD34+SCs/TCs), have an important role in angiogenesis. We compare the behavior of these cells depending on whether the growth of endothelial cells (ECs) from the pre-existing microvasculature is toward the interstitium with vascular bud and neovessel formation (sprouting angiogenesis) or toward the vascular lumen with intravascular pillar development and vessel division (intussusceptive angiogenesis). Detachment from the vascular wall, mobilization, proliferation, recruitment, and differentiation of pericytes and CD34+SCs/TCs, as well as associated changes in vessel permeability and functionality, and modifications of the extracellular matrix are more intense, longer lasting over time, and with a greater energy cost in sprouting angiogenesis than in intussusceptive angiogenesis, in which some of the aforementioned events do not occur or are compensated for by others (e.g., sparse EC and pericyte proliferation by cell elongation and thinning). The governing mechanisms involve cell–cell contacts (e.g., peg-and-socket junctions between pericytes and ECs), multiple autocrine and paracrine signaling molecules and pathways (e.g., vascular endothelial growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, angiopoietins, transforming growth factor B, ephrins, semaphorins, and metalloproteinases), and other factors (e.g., hypoxia, vascular patency, and blood flow). Pericytes participate in vessel development, stabilization, maturation and regression in sprouting angiogenesis, and in interstitial tissue structure formation of the pillar core in intussusceptive angiogenesis. In sprouting angiogenesis, proliferating perivascular CD34+SCs/TCs are an important source of stromal cells during repair through granulation tissue formation and of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in tumors. Conversely, CD34+SCs/TCs have less participation as precursor cells in intussusceptive angiogenesis. The dysfunction of these mechanisms is involved in several diseases, including neoplasms, with therapeutic implications.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) receptor inhibitor SD-208 on human hypertrophic scar and its mechanisms.

METHODS
Scar fibroblasts were isolated from deprecated human hypertrophic scar tissue and then sub-cultured. Cells of the fifth passage were used in the following experiments. (1) Cells were divided into blank control group (BC) and 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 μmol/L SD-208 groups according to the random number table (the same grouping method below), with 6 wells in each group. Cells in group BC were added with 1 μL phosphate buffer solution, while cells in the latter four groups were added with 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 μmol/L SD-208, respectively. After being cultured for 12 hours, the proliferation activity of cells was detected by cell counting kit 8 and microplate reader (denoted as absorbance value). Suitable amount of substance concentration of SD-208 according to the results of proliferation activity of cells was chosen for the following experiments. (2) Another batch of cells were divided into group BC and 1, 3 μmol/L SD-208 groups and treated as in (1), with 8 wells in each group. The number of migration cells was detected by transwell method. (3) Another batch of cells were grouped and treated as in (2), and the microfilament morphology of cells was observed by rhodamine-phalloidin staining. (4) Another batch of cells were grouped and treated as in (2), and the protein expression of TGF-β1 was assessed with Western blotting. (5) Forty-eight BALB/c nude mice were divided into normal saline group (NS) and 1 μmol/L SD-208 group, and one longitudinal incision with length of 1 cm was made on their back. Then human hypertrophic scar tissue was embedded into the incision. On post injury day 7, multipoint injection of NS in a volume of 0.05 mL was performed in wounds of rats in group NS, while rats in 1 μmol/L SD-208 group were given 0.05 mL 1 μmol/L SD-208, once a day. On the day 0 (the same day), 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 post first time of injection, the weight of 8 nude mice was weighed by electronic scale, and scar area was measured by vernier caliper and the ratio of rest scar area was calculated. (6) In week 1, 2, and 3 post first time of injection, the protein expression of TGF-β1 of human hypertrophic scar tissue was assessed with Western blotting. Data were processed with one-way analysis of variance and two independent-sample t test.

RESULTS
(1) The proliferation activity of cells in group BC, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 μmol/L SD-208 groups was respectively 1.00±0.03, 0.90±0.08, 0.68±0.11, 0.54±0.04, and 0.42±0.09, and the proliferation activity of cells in 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, and 5.0 μmol/L SD-208 groups was significantly lower than that in group BC (with t values from 2.9 to 22.1, P<0.05 or P<0.01). (2) The number of migration cells in 1, 3 μmol/L SD-208 groups was significantly less than that in group BC (with t values respectively 6.5 and 6.4, P values below 0.01). (3) Compared with that in group BC, fluorescence intensity of microfilaments of cells in 1, 3 μmol/L SD-208 groups was attenuated, and the pseudopod extended less. (4) The protein expressions of TGF-β1 of cells in group BC and 1, 3 μmol/L SD-208 groups were respectively 1.00±0.08, 0.80±0.08, and 0.61±0.05, and the protein expressions of TGF-β1 of cells in 1, 3 μmol/L SD-208 groups were significantly lower than those in group BC (with t values respectively 4.0 and 9.2, P values below 0.01). (5) The weights of nude mice in group NS and 1 μmol/L SD-208 group were similar on each time day (with t values from 0.2 to 1.1, P values above 0.05). The ratios of rest scar area of nude mice in two groups were decreased along with the injection time, and the ratios of rest scar area of nude mice in 1 μmol/L SD-208 group were significantly less than those in group NS from the day 6 to 20 post first time of injection (with t values from 1.8 to 15.9, P<0.05 or P<0.01). In week 1, 2, and 3 post first time of injection, the protein expressions of TGF-β1 of human hypertrophic scar tissue in nude mice in two groups showed a tendency of decrease, and the protein expressions of TGF-β1 of human hypertrophic scar tissue in nude mice in 1 μmol/L SD-208 group were significantly lower than those in group NS (with t values from 6.2 to 19.1, P values below 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
SD-208 has significant inhibition effect on human hypertrophic scars, and the mechanism is correlated to the inhibition of protein expression of endogenous TGF-β1.


This paper sought to investigate the relationship between service innovation, firm location and pricing orientation of the SMEs automobile service sector Ghana. Participants were selected from the SMEs automobile service firms. Data were collected from 272 firms based on willingness to participate. ANOVA was conducted to measure the entire hypothesized path; between service innovations, firm location and pricing orientation. The study found a statistically significant relationship between service innovation and pricing orientation and firm location and pricing orientation. Firm location did not have moderating significance in the relationship. This study has provided grounds of the relevance of innovations in the context of designing effective pricing orientations for SMEs service firm's operational outcomes.


The Turkish labour market, like that of many developing economies, is characterised by widespread recourse to informal jobs. Several measures have recently been taken by the Turkish authorities to limit the extent of this tendency. These are in keeping with the dynamic process of accession to the EU to wich Turkey has been commited since the opening of negotiations in October 2005. From Household Labour Force surveys conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institue, the study presented here depicts a panorama of informal employment in Turkey before the implementation of these measures. It responds to the need expressed by the Council of the European Union to hve an analysis of underclared work. From a desciptive analysis of the main features of informal jobs and from the estimation of the probability of informal employment, it brings out a number of lessons on how to target policies to combat informal employment in Turkey and on the people who encounter the greatest difficulties in accessing or participating in the market.


: The literature on the oestrous cycle in the bitch is briefly reviewed. 283 bitches were studied in order to develop a procedure by which to determine the time of ovulation, i.e., the optimum time for mating or insemination. Examination of vaginal smears, clinical observations of the bitch and sugar tests of the vaginal discharge showed that the sugar test is the most satisfactory method in dog-breeding and, particularly, that it is simple to use. The mean conception rate of the bitches which were inseminated was 71 per cent.


Food nanotechnology is a relatively recent area which has opened up a whole universe of new applications infood industry. Some of these applications include; improved taste, flavor, color, texture and consistency offoodstuffs, increased absorption and bioavailability of nutraceuticals and health supplements, development offood antimicrobials, new food packaging materials with improved mechanical barrier and antimicrobialproperties, nanosensors for traceability and monitoring the condition of food during transport and storage,encapsulation of food components or additives. Smart delivery of nutrients, bioseparation of proteins, rapidsampling of biological and chemical contaminants and nanoencapsulation of nutraceuticals are few moreemerging areas of nanotechnology for food industry. Nanotechnology holds great promise to provide benefitsnot just within food products but also around food products. There is an urgent need for regulatory systemscapable of managing any risks associated with nanofoods and the use of nanotechnology in food industry. Inthis review, applications of nanotechnology in functional food with special attention to related regulatory issuesare discussed.


It would seem that there are enormous differences between strict hylomorphism and Cartesianism on form and matter: (i) for a strict hylomorphist, matter and form cannot be separated, but for a Cartesian, matter and form are really distinct ; (ii) for a strict hylomorphist, form is the principle of being and matter the principle of individuation, but for a Cartesian, the mind-a form-is the principle of individuation for persons, if anything is. However, these breaks are not as severe as might have been thought, if seventeenth century scholastics are taken into account. For a variety of reasons, the late Aristotelians broke with Aristotle and accepted the reality of matter without form, form without matter, and form as the principle of individuation. In addition, the intellectual landscape of seventeenth century philosophy was not limited to the properly scholastic ; there were anti-Aristotelian options (some corpuscularian, others not) available before Descartes. Given that the gulf between the schoolmen and novatores like Descartes was not so great, the way was open for certain compromises. These were sought in a variety of scholastic restatements of Cartesianism from more or less Cartesian positions. Thus, it can be said that some varieties of Aristotelianism in the seventeenth century prepared the ground for the acceptance of Cartesianism and the eventual attempts at their reunification.


A general theory of signal detectability, constructed after the model provided by decision theory, is applied to the performance of the human observer faced with the problem of choosing among multiple signal alternatives on the basis of a fixed, finite observation interval. An extension of the theory, previously reported, of deciding among two alternatives, is developed in detail, permitting the treatment of the two simple cases involving multiple alternatives that are studied experimentally. In both cases, a priori probabilities are assigned to the occurrence of the relevant signal alternatives, and values are assigned to the possible decision outcomes. This assignment permits definition of the expected value of a decision, and specifies as the optimum decision criteria those that maximize expected value. The experiments are primarily concerned with determining the ability of the human observer to successively establish optimum decision criteria in accordance with changes in the a priori probabilities and risk functions. The experimental results are portrayed in the form of comparisons of the payoff obtained by the observer and the theoretically maximum payoff attainable, and comparisons of the response-frequency tables generated by the theory and by the observer. The results indicate that a highly simplified theory is adequate for prediction of the obtained payoff and response-frequency tables to within a few percent. They also indicate the fairly large extent to which intelligence may influence a sensory process usually assumed to involve fixed parameters.


Under cosmic irradiation, the interstellar water ice mantles evolve towards a compact amorphous state. Crystalline ice amorphisation was previously monitored mainly in the keV to hundreds of keV ion energies. We experimentally investigate heavy ion irradiation amorphisation of crystalline ice, at high energies closer to true cosmic rays, and explore the water-ice sputtering yield. We irradiated thin crystalline ice films with MeV to GeV swift ion beams, produced at the GANIL accelerator. The ice infrared spectral evolution as a function of fluence is monitored with in-situ infrared spectroscopy (induced amorphisation of the initial crystalline state into a compact amorphous phase). The crystalline ice amorphisation cross-section is measured in the high electronic stopping-power range for different temperatures. At large fluence, the ice sputtering is measured on the infrared spectra, and the fitted sputtering-yield dependence, combined with previous measurements, is quadratic over three decades of electronic stopping power. The final state of cosmic ray irradiation for porous amorphous and crystalline ice, as monitored by infrared spectroscopy, is the same, but with a large difference in cross-section, hence in time scale in an astrophysical context. The cosmic ray water-ice sputtering rates compete with the UV photodesorption yields reported in the literature. The prevalence of direct cosmic ray sputtering over cosmic-ray induced photons photodesorption may be particularly true for ices strongly bonded to the ice mantles surfaces, such as hydrogen-bonded ice structures or more generally the so-called polar ices.


To exploit the high intensity of laser radiation, we propose to select frequencies at which single-photon absorption is of too low energy and two or more photons are needed to produce states of an atom that can undergo interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) with its neighbors. For Ne(2) it is explicitly demonstrated that the proposed multiphoton absorption scheme is much more efficient than schemes used until now, which rely on single-photon absorption. Extensive calculations on Ne(2) show how the low-energy ICD electrons and Ne(+) pairs are produced for different laser intensities and pulse durations. At higher intensities the production of Ne(+) pairs by successive ionization of the two atoms becomes competitive and the respective emitted electrons interfere with the ICD electrons. It is also shown that a measurement after a time delay can be used to determine the contribution of ICD even at high laser intensity.


Recently a nose plaster (NP, Breathe-Right) has been increasingly used in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and snoring. Hence, we examined the use of the NP as a treatment of both OSA and snoring without OSA. The NP has a elastic spine that increases the diameter of the nostril and is thought to reduce the degree of OSA and snoring. According to the polysomnographic data two groups were differentiated: Group A (30 patients with OSA, apnoea index > 10/h, 26 men) and Group B (20 snorers, without OSA, 13 men). After the diagnostic polysomnography the efficacy of the NP was measured with a cardiorespiratory polygraph on the 2 following nights. In the group A the polygraphic data (apnoea index, time of apneas, desaturation index, time of desaturations, mean and nadir SaO2) were studied; in group B the snoring index (snoring events/hour) was measured. A questionnaire scored quality of sleeping, daytime condition and the quality of nose breathing. In neither group were the recorded polygraphic findings different with the NP although with the NP an improved nose breathing was scored in both groups. In group A 90% of the patients scored the daytime sleepiness unchanged and 10 of 30 patients described an improved quality of sleep. In group B there was no change in the frequency of snoring events with the NP. Neither the degree of OSA nor of snoring without OSA were changed by the NP, which can therefore not be considered a treatment of these conditions. However, the majority of the study population were impressed by the symptomatic improvement in nose breathing.