One of the main unsolved problems, and one which produces divergent results in clinical psychopharmacology, is that concerning the selection of patients and their diagnostic definition. An automated diagnostic procedure (PDA) was set up in order to classify each patient into one nosographic category on the basis of a cross-sectional examination of his mental state. Such diagnostic procedure appears particularly suitable for multicenter drug trials, since it gives a profile and a diagnostic definition of patients, assessed by investigators from different areas and with different cultural, and clinical backgrounds. In a multicenter trial (sulpiride versus haloperidol) PDA offered a chance to re-examine and analyze the characteristics of each patient and therefore to control the criteria followed for the sample selection in the various experimental settings. The agreement between clinician and computer diagnosis was 78.9%; this agreement rises to 85.5% if the computerlabelled schizo-affective syndromes are considered within the schizophrenic group. Moreover, and attempt has been made to relate psychopathological patterns to drug responses.


A 62-year-old Caucasian woman presented with a slowly growing, asymptomatic, red plaque on her back that was first noted a year ago. Her family physician treated her with a topical antifungal and subsequently a topical steroid without success. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is generally defined as a locally invasive, slowly spreading tumor that rarely metastasizes, arising in the epidermis or hair follicles and in which, in particular, the peripheral cells usually simulate the basal cells of the epidermis. BCCs are a heterogeneous group of tumors that based on their clinical morphology can be classified most commonly into the following subtypes: nodular BCC, superficial BCC, sclerosing BCC, infiltrative BCC, micronodular BCC, and pigmented BCC. Superficial BCC is the second most common subtype, accounting for 9 to 17.5% of all cases. Unlike other BCC subtypes, it tends to have an earlier age of onset and a female predominance. It is the least aggressive subtype. Typically, the lesion presents as a solitary, well-defined, slowly growing, erythematous or pinkish, scaly patch or plaque that has a thin pearly border. The size varies from a few millimeters to several centimeters in diameter. The condition is usually asymptomatic. Occasionally, the lesion may be pigmented or ulcerated. Sites of predilection include the trunk, shoulders, and extremities. Diagnosis is often delayed as it is often mistaken for a dermatitis or tinea infection. For lesions occurring at a low-risk anatomic site (e.g., trunk and extremities) with distinct clinical borders and sizes less than 2 centimeters in diameter, treatment options include surgical excision, electrodessication with curettage, liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, topical immunotherapy (e.g. imiquimod), topical 5-fluorouracil, and photodynamic therapy. Patients should have regular follow-up at least yearly following diagnosis to monitor for local recurrence or the development of new BCCs or other skin cancers at other sites.


This paper seeks to examine the smuggling of tea during the long eighteenth century through several facets. In order to understand why smuggling occurred throughout the eighteenth century, one must take into consideration the laws which necessitated the need for smuggling, as well as the economic environment of Britain throughout the century. In addressing the widescale phenomena of ritualized tea drinking, one can comprehend why tea, specifically, was selected to be smuggled, admittedly among a myriad of other valuable commodities. It is also critical to explore the materiality of tea ritual, as well as the smuggling process, as objects are a crucial element to the narrative and development of tea and its associated illicit activities. Bringing these components of examination together, one may begin to understand why tea was smuggled during the eighteenth century, and how the British government consequently worked to end smuggling altogether.


Pleuropulmonary blastoma is a rare and aggressive primary intrathoracic neoplasm of children. The prognosis is extremely poor with frequent metastasis to the brain and bone. A 4-year-old boy successfully treated with multimodal therapy despite unfavorable prognostic factors is presented. The authors support the use of aggressive treatment of pleuropulmonary blastoma with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.


: Twenty patients suffering from Meniere's disease or Lermoyez syndrome were studied with respect to the time course of their hearing loss. Careful history-taking as well as repeated audiometry over long time spans (5-20 years) resulted in a longitudinal study of hearing loss at the standard audiometric frequencies. From these time series, correlation coefficients were computed between the changes in both ears at identical frequencies, and for changes in the same ear at different frequencies. Correlations between changes in hearing loss in both ears were more obvious in bilateral Meniere's disease than in unilateral disease. Correlations between changes in hearing loss at different frequencies were also more pronounced in Meniere's disease ears than in normal ears. If was found that recovery of hearing loss after an attack was nearly identical each time it occurred in the same ear, but differed between ears and patients. This deterministic finding in the otherwise random course of the hearing loss as a function of time may be important in deciding what mechanisms cause fluctuating hearing loss in Meniere's disease.


Deep learning algorithms are rapidly changing the way in which audiovisual media can be produced. Synthetic audiovisual media generated with deep learning – often subsumed colloquially under the label "deepfakes" – have a number of impressive characteristics; they are increasingly trivial to produce, and can be indistinguishable from real sounds and images recorded with a sensor. Much attention has been dedicated to ethical concerns raised by this technological development. Here, I focus instead on a set of issues related to the notion of synthetic audiovisual media, its place within a broader taxonomy of audiovisual media, and how deep learning techniques differ from more traditional approaches to media synthesis. After reviewing important etiological features of deep learning pipelines for media manipulation and generation, I argue that "deepfakes" and related synthetic media produced with such pipelines do not merely offer incremental improvements over previous methods, but challenge traditional taxonomical distinctions, and pave the way for genuinely novel kinds of audiovisual media.


The Internet of Things (IoT) is gradually becoming a reality, supported by an assortment of heterogeneous devices, varying from resource- starved wireless sensors to embedded devices and resource-rich backend systems, which are supplemented by a range of networking technologies and protocols. Nevertheless, this diverse ecosystem of platforms and protocols, along with the inherent limitations in processing power, energy, memory and communications bandwidth for some of the involved devices, render secure and interoperable interactions a primary concern, and an important obstacle to the introduction of novel applications, and the adoption of IoT in general. Motivated by the above, this work presents SeMIBIoT, a Secure Multi-protocol Integration Bridge for the IoT. Acting as a gateway, SeMIBIoT is able to provide hop-by-hop or end-to-end secure communications between an array of heterogeneous nodes and standardized IoT protocols, guaranteeing seamless interactions and thus alleviating security and interoperability concerns. Using a realistic testbed featuring a number of diverse platforms, the bridge is evaluated in a variety of scenarios, validating the feasibility of the proposed approach.


Some time-domain methods available for the solution of 3-D Maxwell's equations, including explicit methods such as the Yee-FDTD method, the Symplectic-FDTD method and the Turkel-FDTD method, and implicit methods such as the ADI-FDTD method, can be derived through different approximation schemes of the Exponential Evolution Operator (EEO) in Maxwell's equations. In addition, another new unconditionally stable LOD-FDTD method is recently proposed. In this paper, the analysis shows that this LOD-FDTD method can also be derived out from the approximation of the EEO. The stability and numerical dispersion analysis of this new LOD-FDTD method is done in this paper.


Partnerships and external knowledge acquisition have become important means for gaining access to the increasing number of technologies needed for the development of more advanced products especially in emerging and dynamic industries. A good example is the fast expanding computer software industry where linkages are many and important. This is an empirical study of linkages and their relative importance in different stages of the software development process. The amount of new knowledge generated though different sources and differences between different types of software, such as packaged and customised software, are analysed. The analysis draws on case studies of 92 mostly European software projects, and a pilot study of four projects. It shows the length, type, and relative importance of 718 linkages in the software development process. The data collected shows that there are important differences between tangible hardware and software projects when it comes to the importance of the various linkages and the knowledge acquired


Most paleoenvironmental assessments of fossil salt-marsh foraminiferal faunas are based on modern analogue samples from the surface 1–2 cm. Usually no account is taken of the faunal modifications that result from the 60–90% of the fauna that live at greater infaunal depths or from the patchy loss of agglutinated tests that mostly occurs in the oxic and taphonomically active zone (TAZ, upper 10–15 cm). Here we provide examples of the highly variable foraminiferal test distribution in New Zealand salt marsh cores and surface transects. Using these, we suggest two simple adjustments that could be made to quantitative estimates of paleoelevation derived from fossil salt marsh faunas based on modern surface analogues: 1) Determine a minimum dead specimen density (8 per cm3 in this study) below which all fossil faunas are considered to have suffered significant taphonomic loss (in the TAZ) and their paleoelevation estimates are deemed suspect and may be applied tentatively to core depths ~15+ cm above. 2) Move the core depths of all acceptable paleoelevation estimates upwards by the mean infaunal depth of the dominant species (2.5–8 cm in this study).

We applied these adjustments to two late Holocene cores located 5 m apart in salt marsh in tidal Big Lagoon, Marlborough, New Zealand. Fifty percent (18) of the fossil faunas have unacceptably low specimen densities (<8 per cm3). A 15 cm thick fine pebbly sand bed contains a mix of calcareous tests derived from subtidally offshore and from intertidally within the adjacent sheltered lagoon, and agglutinated tests of salt marsh taxa inferred to be displaced and/or infaunally in-situ. These faunas provide strong evidence for sand deposition on top of the high salt marsh by the outgoing surge of a tsunami. The upper 7 and 13 cm of the sand lacks calcareous tests, which are inferred to have been dissolved by acidic pore waters following colonisation by salt marsh vegetation. Our taphonomically- and infaunally-adjusted paleoelevation estimates, generated by modern analogue technique using a training set of 1017 modern New Zealand faunas, provide near-identical elevational histories for both cores. Both core sequences (70 and 85 cm thick) were deposited within a 50 cm-wide elevational envelope in middle- and high-tidal salt marsh. Both record an inferred 0.5 m co-seismic subsidence event coincident with emplacement of the tsunami sand (~840 cal yrs BP) and a second smaller, ~0.3 m, presumably co-seismic, subsidence event coincident with a sharp peat-mud contact in one core (~500 cal yrs BP).


Introduction: Agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) have been examined as chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. The aim was to investigate the cytotoxicity and action mechanisms of 15-deoxy-Δ 12,14 -prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2), one of endogenous ligands for PPARγ, in terms of PPARγ-dependency and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and Akt pathway in three human renal cell carcinoma (RCC)-derived cell lines. Methods: 786-O, Caki-2 and ACHN cells were used as human RCC-derived cell lines. Cell viability and caspase-3 activity was detected by fluorescent reagents, and chroma- tin-condensation was observed with a brightfield fluorescent microscope after staining cells with Hoechst33342. The expression levels of proteins were detected by Western blot analysis. Results: 15d-PGJ2 showed cytotoxicity in dose-dependent manner. 15d-PGJ2 induced chromatin-condensation and elevated caspase-3 activity, and the cell viability was restored by co-treatment with a pan-caspase inhibitor, Z-VAD-FMK, indicating the involvement of caspase-dependent apoptosis. The cytotoxicity was not impaired by a PPARγ inhibitor, GW9662, suggesting that 15d-PGJ2 exerted the cytotoxicity in a PPARγ-independent manner. Some antioxidants rescued cells from cell death induced by 15d-PGJ2, but some did not, suggesting that reactive oxygen species (ROS) did not contribute to the apoptosis. 15d-PGJ2 also increased the expression levels of phospho-c-Jun N terminal kinase (JNK) in Caki-2 cells, and decreased those of phospho-Akt in 786-O cells, indicating that the JNK MAPK and the Akt pathways participated in the anticancer effects of 15d-PGJ2 in some cell lines. Conclusion: 15d-PGJ2 exerted cytotoxic effects accompanying caspase-dependent apopto- sis, and this effect was elicited in a PPARγ-independent manner in three cell lines. In addition, the JNK MAPK and Akt pathway was involved in the cytotoxicity of 15d-PGJ2 to some extent in some cell line. Therefore, our study showed the 15d-PGJ2 to potentially be an interesting approach for RCC treatment.


Learning analytics is a significant area of technology-enhanced learning that has emerged during the last decade. This review of the field begins with an examination of the technological, educational and political factors that have driven the development of analytics in educational settings. It goes on to chart the emergence of learning analytics, including their origins in the 20th century, the development of data-driven analytics, the rise of learningfocused perspectives and the influence of national economic concerns. It next focuses on the relationships between learning analytics, educational data mining and academic analytics. Finally, it examines developing areas of learning analytics research, and identifies a series of future challenges.


It has been hypothesized that the frequent lack of halos in observations of cirrus and contrails and laboratory measurements is caused by small ice crystal sizes that put the particles outside the geometrical optics domain of size parameters. We test this hypothesis by exploiting a strong similarity of ray tracing phase functions for finite hexagonal and circular ice cylinders and using T-matrix computations of electromagnetic scattering by circular cylinders with size parameters up to 180 in the visible. We conclude that well-defined halos should be observable for ice crystal size parameters of the order of 100 and larger and discuss remote-sensing implications of this result.


A recent survey of health education teachers in New York State by Capiello and Troyer' revealed that only six of the 209 educators surveyed include consumer aspects in their courses on death and dying.
Even though most of the teachers surveyed did not include consumer aspects of death and dying in their courses, coverage of this content area is considered a key goal of death education by many professionals.
Because the outcomes of death education are in the form of altered feelings, emotional satisfaction, and an improved mental approach to death, as opposed to overt behavior change, teaching strategies should reflect a strong affective component.


The household is a ubiquitous unit of analysis across the social sciences. In policy,
research and practice, households are often considered a link between individuals and the
structures that they interact with on a daily basis. Yet, researchers often take the household for
granted as something that means the same thing to everyone across contexts. As the household
has never truly been a static unit of analysis, we need to revisit the household to ensure that
we are still capturing what it means to be part of a household – especially if we are engaging
in research where we aim to compare households across time and space. We analyse how the
concept of the household has been used over time and identify areas, such as migration and
urbanisation, where we need to ensure conceptual clarity. We use our field notes and ethnographic
interviews to show the challenges of such an analysis.


OBJECTIVE
Recovery from adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) after transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) has not been well discussed because of the lack of examinations including pituitary provocation tests (PPTs) before and after the procedure. This study aimed to evaluate the growth hormone (GH) axis function of patients with nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) via pre- and postoperative PPTs. Moreover, the predictive factors for recovery from AGHD after TSS were validated to facilitate surgery for AGHD in patients with NFPA.

METHODS
In total, 276 patients (median age 60.0 years) who underwent TSS for NFPA were included in this study. PPTs were performed before and 3 months after TSS. Then, the relationships between recovery from AGHD after TSS and clinical, surgical, and hormonal factors, including peak GH level based on PPTs, were evaluated statistically.

RESULTS
In this study, 114 patients were diagnosed with preoperative AGHD. Approximately 25.4% recovered from AGHD after TSS. In contrast, among the 162 patients without preoperative AGHD, 13 (8.0%) had newly developed postoperative AGHD. The predictive factors for recovery from AGHD were younger age, female sex, initial TSS, and high peak GH level based on preoperative PPT. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, patients who were aged ≤ 62.2 years and had a peak GH level of ≥ 0.74 μg/L based on preoperative PPT were likely to recover from AGHD (sensitivity: 82.8%, specificity: 72.9%, and area under the curve: 0.8229).

CONCLUSIONS
AGHD caused by NFPA can improve after initial TSS among young patients with certain peak GH levels assessed by preoperative PPT. Whether TSS for NFPA can promote recovery from AGHD is worth considering in some patients.


This faculty quickstart guide for getting started with Moodle includes information about course settings, adding resources, setting up and conducting activities, and user profiles.


Microgrid is a combination of distributed generators, storage systems, and controllable loads connected to low-voltage network that can operate either in grid-connected or in island mode. High penetration of power at distribution level creates such multiple microgrids. This paper proposes a two-level architecture for distributed-energy-resource management for multiple microgrids using multiagent systems. In order to match the buyers and sellers in the energy market, symmetrical assignment problem based on naíve auction algorithm is used. The developed mechanism allows the pool members such as generation agents, load agents, auction agents, grid agents, and storage agents to participate in market. Three different scenarios are identified based on the supply-demand mismatch among the participating microgrids. At the end of this paper, two case studies are presented with two and four interconnected microgrids participating in the market. Simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based management is effective in resource management among multiple microgrids economically and profitably.


The NIMH Genetics Initiative is a multi-site collaborative study designed to create a national resource for genetic studies of complex neuropsychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia pedigrees have been collected at three sites: Washington University, Columbia University, and Harvard University. This article-one in a series that describes the results of a genome-wide scan with 459 short-tandem repeat (STR) markers for susceptibility loci in the NIMH Genetics Initiative schizophrenia sample-presents results for African-American pedigrees. The African-American sample comprises 30 nuclear families and 98 subjects. Seventy-nine of the family members were considered affected by virtue of having received a DSMIII-R diagnosis of schizophrenia (n = 71) or schizoaffective disorder, depressed (n = 8). The families contained a total of 42 independent sib pairs. While no region demonstrated evidence of significant linkage using the criteria suggested by Lander and Kruglyak, several regions, including chromosomes 6q16-6q24, 8pter-8q12, 9q32-9q34, and 15p13-15q12, showed evidence consistent with linkage (P = 0.01-0.05), providing independent support of findings reported in other studies. Moreover, the fact that different genetic loci were identified in this and in the European-American samples, lends credence to the notion that these genetic differences together with differences in environmental exposures may contribute to the reported differences in disease prevalence, severity, comorbidity, and course that has been observed in different racial groups in the United States and elsewhere.


Background Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the most common malignant diseases of the female reproductive system worldwide. Evidence has shown that microRNAs are involved in the development of ovarian cancer. miR-144, one of these microRNAs, has been found have upregulated expression in various human malignancies. The present study aimed to investigate the role miR-144 in ovarian cancer cell lines and to elucidate the mechanism involved. Material/Methods Human ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3/OVCAR3) and a normal ovarian cell line (IOSE80) were used to identify the miR-144 expression though qRT-PCR method. SKOV3/OVCAR3 cells were transfected with miR-144 mimics by Lipofectamine, and the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of these cells were detected by MTT assay, wound healing assay, and Transwell assays, respectively. MMP2 and MMP9 expression were detected at mRNA and protein levels. The results of dual luciferase reporter assay confirmed that miR-144 could down-regulate RUNX1 expression level. Finally, the expression of runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) was examined using qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Results Our results demonstrate that the expression level of miR-144 was downregulated in SKOV3/OVCAR3 compared to IOSE80, and we found that miR-144 suppresses the proliferation and migration of ovarian cancer cells. Moreover, RUNX1 was predicted and confirmed to be a target of miRNA-144. Additionally, after 48-h transfection with miR-144 mimics, the expression of RUNX1 was downregulated in OC cells. Conclusions miR-144 mimics can inhibit the proliferation and migration of ovarian cancer cells though regulating the expression of RUNX1.


Panel Discussion with Heather Roberts, RNCM Archive and Gail Heath, Pankhurst Centre

David Smith contribution:
At Heritage Quay we have supported a range of history and heritage organisations to help them take better care of their collections. One of the areas I'll be talking about is training; who should it be targeted at, who delivers it and what level of training is appropriate? Can training also feed into community building and including external groups in decision making to create something greater? I'll be talking about some of the ways that we have tried to do this, the learning to take forward for the sector and looking to have conversations about issues of power, control and the remit of professional repositories in this context.


There are concerns that there may be areas of low toughness in the seam welds of submerged are welded linepipe. These areas are typically associated with the Coarse Grained Heat Affected Zone and manifest themselves through low values obtained in Charpy impact and crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) tests. Although it is possible to locate areas of low toughness in linepipe seam welds, it is not clear if these are structurally significant. If it can be shown that low toughness areas in the seam weld HAZ do not affect the fitness for service of the pipe as a structure, these could be accepted for use. Under funding from PRCI, a study has been carried out to investigate this problem quantitatively. Experience in the offshore structural field, where the similar problem of local brittle zones in weld HAZs has received considerable attention, was reviewed. A constraint based fracture mechanics analysis was developed using the T-stress approach. Cracked body finite element analyses were used to obtain the T-stress for a range of surface breaking and buried defects in typical linepipe geometries. The results from these models were used to develop a constraint modified Failure Assessment Diagram for a fracture analysis. Fracture analyses showed that the structural constraint is low and failure will occur by plastic collapse for practical seam weld defect sizes. This shows that even when the seam weld toughness is very low, the dominant failure mode for the structure will be plastic collapse. Hence the low toughness values obtained in fracture mechanics tests are not structurally significant for practical defect sizes likely to occur in linepipe.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Our goal was to devise a bridge between shock determinations of asteroid regolith grains by standard light optical petrography, synchrotron X‐ray diffraction (SXRD), and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). We determined the optimal conditions under which to measure the shock stage of olivine crystals in astromaterial grains by EBSD. We applied this EBSD procedure to the shock stage determination of four regolith grains from asteroid Itokawa, returned to earth by the Hayabusa spacecraft. Interpretation of these data required a parallel examination of three ordinary chondrite standards that exhibited shock histories ranging from stage 2 to stage 4, using all three techniques. Standard light optical petrography indicated shock stage of S2/3 for the 24 Itokawa grains analyzed. SXRD results for seven Itokawa grains indicate a shock stage of S2. EBSD maps of four Itokawa grains indicate shock stage S3. Thus, the different techniques indicate slightly different shock stages, probably due to small sampling populations for EBSD and SXRD. We therefore recommend that significantly more than seven regolith grains should be separately analyzed by any shock determination technique, probably between 10 and 20. In any case, Itokawa regolith grains have been shocked to stage S2/3, or approximately 5–10 GPa. Finally, we investigated the crystallinity of one Itokawa olivine by SXRD, determining that the 5–10 GPa shock it had experienced did not appreciably alter the size of the unit cell, contrary to some previous suggestions.


Indonesian migrants in Taiwan have been dominated by low skilled workers who are labelled uneducated sojourners, consumptive, the misplacement of future orientation, and a minority group struggling to survive. Several individuals concern about the migrant condition, and they are so-called migrant social entrepreneurs. Through social-religious activities and interrelations with the migrant worker community, the Indonesian entrepreneurs have created solidarity for migrant workers' to generate living conditions that are more favourable and improve their livelihoods. Three important factors shape this condition: the marginal position of second-class migrant workers-immigrants, the virtuous value of religion, and social apprehension. Thorough analysing the religious experiences of entrepreneurs and social-religious activities, this paper shows the positive effects of the relationship between business activities and religious value application, which establish the immigrant self-identity, solidarity, leadership, and collective work formation of the Indonesian migrant community in Taiwan. The primary data is based on the observation of participants' daily business activities and in-depth interviews with Indonesian entrepreneurs from June to December 2014. The ethnographic research method is applied as a means to explore the effect that migrant-entrepreneur social relations have on the mode of entrepreneurship practices.


Background: There is evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in clinical trial participation in oncology, but the studies reporting disparities tend to be small and specific to certain cancers. We aimed to use the experience of a large cancer center to investigate diverse participation in oncology research. Methods: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of all adult patients seen at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) from 2005-2015. We examined if enrollment, defined as consent and registration to a research study, varied by race/ethnicity, a variable derived from the combination of self-reported values at MSK, gender, age, cancer type, and preferred language. Cancer type was determined by site and histology and designated as either common or rare, based on NCI criteria. Language preference was dichotomized to English and non-English. Descriptive and chi-square analyses examined bivariate associations between race/ethnicity and other characteristics, and research protocol enrollment. Due to large numbers of participants, associations were also assessed for clinical importance using standardized, chi-square residuals. Results: A total of 233,599 patients were available for analysis. 93,276 (39.9%) were enrolled in a research protocol. The mean + SD age of the enrolled observations was 57.7+13.7 and for those not enrolled, was 58.9+14.6 (Mann-Whitney U Test, p Conclusion: Patients who reported "other" race/ethnicity, whose preferred language was English, or who had common cancer diagnoses were more likely to be enrolled into a research protocol. Differences in enrollment on research protocols due to the additional race/ethnicity categories or gender were minimal. Further research is needed to understand the impact of these findings on diversity in oncology research protocols and to design interventions to reduce disparities in oncology trial enrollment. Citation Format: Ogochukwu Marietta Ezeoke, Gary Brooks, Michael A. Postow, Shrujal Baxi, Lisa Diamond. Associations Between race/ethnicity and enrollment in cancer research protocols [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr C26.


While overall Erasmus participation rates are increasing, the number of UK students taking part is falling, and the particularity of the 'British case' is one that merits investigation. This thesis is concerned with notions of identity as understood by English Erasmus students specifically, and investigates how such students understand European identity and British identity, both in relation to each other and to their year abroad experience. While studies into the effects of doing a year abroad on European identity have been carried out, none has attempted to unpick what 'European identity' actually means for students. This thesis seeks not to prove whether an Erasmus year does or does not have an effect, but instead to understand how English students frame European and British identity. It also sets out to address deficiencies in research conducted thus far by using a new methodology of qualitative interviews and discourse analysis. By comparing students' opinions and views on British and European identity to main scholarly understandings of the concepts, I consider which discourses are being reproduced and which ones challenged by English Erasmus students, as well as how their different identities interact. (Less)


Fractured aquifers are a relatively under-studied area of groundwater science particularly because of the heterogeneities present in fractures which make it difficult to understand and predict the transport and retention of contaminants. This research was designed to elucidate some of the factors that contribute to particle transport and retention in fractures using solute and particle tracers in a natural rock fracture and a transparent epoxy replica of that same fracture. Significantly less attachment was observed from the tracer experiments conducted in the replica fracture illustrating the large effect that matrix properties have on transport and retention of particles in fractures. The E. coli RS2-GFP tracer experiments conducted in the replica fracture show that increasing specific discharge results in increasing recovery; however, there is a critical specific discharge at which particle recovery seems to steady or slightly decrease. Images were collected of the E. coli RS2-GFP transport through the epoxy replica fracture, which capture for the first time the preferential pathways of E. coli in fractures, and also demonstrate a slight broadening of the dominant preferential pathway under increasing flow conditions. These results are instructive to the development and improvement of predictive models for particle transport in fractured aquifers.


Despite rhetoric supporting the advancement of women on corporate boards, meager evidence supports significant progress over the past decade in the United States. The authors examine archival board data (for more than 3,000 U.S. publicly traded firms) from 2002 to 2011 and find that a female is most likely to be appointed to a corporate board when a woman has just exited the position. A similar propensity occurs to reappoint a male when a man leaves, although the effect is smaller than for women. The authors argue that this "gender-matching heuristic" can impede progress in attaining gender diversity, regardless of intention, because it emphasizes the replacement of existing women rather than changing board composition. The authors replicate this effect in follow-up laboratory studies and show that "what works" to increase the representation of women on boards, irrespective of gender matching, is to increase the number of women in the candidate pool.


Invariably, new technologies introduce new vulnerabilities which often enable new attacks by increasingly potent adversaries. Yet new systems are more adept at handling well-known attacks by old adversaries than anticipating new ones. Our adversary models seem to be perpetually out of date: often they do not capture adversary attacks and sometimes they address attacks rendered impractical by new technologies. In this panel presentation, I provide a brief overview of adversary models beginning with those required by program and data sharing technologies ('60-'70s), continuing with those required by computer communication and networking technologies ('70s-'90s), and ending with those required by and sensor network technologies ('00s ->). I argue that sensor, ad-hoc, and mesh networks require new models, that are able to account for physical node capture by adversaries. Protecting device secrets (e.g., cryptographic keys) via physical security mechanisms will continue to require network security measures, despite advances in physical security measures and devices. I argue that "good-enough" measures in the face of node capture by adversaries can be obtained by using emergent properties. Intuitively, these are properties that cannot be provided by individual network nodes--no matter how well-endowed nodes might bebut instead result from interaction and collaboration among multiple nodes. Such properties can be used to detect, often probabilistically, the presence of an adversary within a network and to pinpoint with reasonable accuracy the affected network area (e.g., identify a specific captured node, a particular property of captured nodes). However, all such measures require periodic network monitoring in normal mode to detect a somewhat rare event (i.e., node capture, replica insertion) and hence their cost can be high. I illustrate a new simple probabilistic protocol that avoids the effects of node capture by detecting adversaries attempts to access a node's internal state, and discuss various design trade-offs that will characterize much of the future research in this area.


Ventricular fibrillation (VF) is the main immediate cause of sudden, unexpected cardiac death. It appears in the electrocardiogram (ECG) as an aperiodic, irregular rhythm, giving the impression that electrical activation of the ventricles is highly complex and disordered. Unfortunately, despite many years of research and speculation, it has still not been possible to confirm or reject that idea, and therefore, the mechanism underlying VF continues to be a highly debated subject. During the second half of the 20th century, the predominant hypothesis to explain both VF and atrial fibrillation (AF) was based on multiple wavefronts that propagated in a random and disorganized manner.1 In 1994, Authur T. Winfree2 introduced in the Western literature a new alternative theory involving "threedimensional electrical rotors" that would become unstable when the thickness of the ventricular wall exceeded a critical value. Winfree believed that in some cases various rotors could be "anchored" in the ventricles to collectively maintain activity similar to fibrillation, even when recording electrodes revealed apparently periodic electrical activity. That hypothesis was consistent with experimental findings showing that the heart could sustain reentrant activity around a functional obstacle,3 and led to the suggestion that rotors could be the organizing centers for VF. Since then, a large number of studies have addressed the involvement of rotors and spiral waves, either stable or unstable, in VF.4-6 This has led to the development of new analytic techniques that allow quantification of Time, Space, and Frequency in Ventricular Fibrillation


Defines the term citizen science and provides links to citizen science directories and other resources related to citizen science. Focuses primarily on biological sciences projects in the U.S.


Background: Hypertensive disorders are a common cause of maternal morbidity and mortality complicating 3 to 10% of pregnancies. Eclampsia is a major complication of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly in developing countries, resulting in poor foeto-maternal outcomes. In some cases of eclampsia use of the gold standard i.e. magnesium sulphate, is restricted and is sometimes ineffective when used as monotherapy. Levetiracetam is an anti-epileptic drug that is relatively safe in pregnancy, does not require intensive monitoring and has potential use in eclampsia. The primary aim of this study was to establish the incidence of eclampsia and its maternal and perinatal outcomes. It also aimed at studying the utility of levetiracetam in the treatment of eclampsia.
Methods: It is a retrospective, observational study conducted at Seth G. S. Medical College and K.E.M Hospital, Mumbai (a tertiary care centre). Data of a period of one year was collected from hospital records. The eclamptic patients' demographic profile, maternal and perinatal outcomes and the use of levetiracetam were noted.
Results: The incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy was 7.53% while that of eclampsia was 0.737%. The maternal and perinatal case fatality rates were 18% and 26% respectively. 50% of the cases had other concurrent maternal complications. 44.11% of the live births required neonatal intensive care unit admission. 55% of the cases who were treated with levetiracetam, either as monotherapy or in combination with magnesium sulphate, made a complete recovery.
Conclusions: The significant number of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy complicated by eclampsia and its associated co-morbidities indicate the need for early detection of hypertension in pregnancy and timely intervention.


This work presents a CMOS X-band I/Q upconverter for a FMCW radar system. The use of passive current mixers allows to address the main drawbacks of CMOS technology, namely flicker noise and reduced linearity due to low supply voltage, paving the way to monolithic integration with digital intensive baseband circuitry. Prototypes were built in a 65 nm digital technology, showing a peak output power of -3.4 dBm at 10.6 GHz with a corresponding HD3 lower than -40 dBc and an image rejection greater than 41 dB across the 9.5-12 GHz LO band, while adding negligible phase noise to the output signal. The circuit occupies an area of 0.91 mm2 and consumes 192 mW.


The cytoprotective function of p53 recently has been exploited as a therapeutic advantage for cancer prevention; agents activating the prosurvival activity of p53 are shown to prevent UV-induced damages. To explore the mechanisms of p53-mediated protection from UV-induced apoptosis, we have established stable clones of H1299 lung carcinoma cells expressing a temperature-sensitive p53 mutant, tsp53. At the permissive temperature of 32°C, the tsp53-expressing cells were arrested in G1 phase without the occurrence of apoptosis; consistent with this is the preferential induction of genes related to growth arrest and DNA damage repair. Previous expression of functional tsp53 for >18 hours inhibited the release of proapoptotic molecules from mitochondria and protected the cells from UV-induced apoptosis; moreover, it suppressed the activation of c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling and relieved the effect of UV on p53 target gene activation. p53 associated with JNK and inhibited its kinase activity. Using the p53-null H1299 cells, we showed that inhibition of JNK blocked the UV-elicited mitochondrial death signaling and caspase activation. Our results suggest that the ability of p53 to bind and inactivate JNK, together with the activation of the p53 target genes related to cell cycle arrest and DNA damage repair, is responsible for its protection of cells against UV-induced apoptosis.


A plenty of studies have contributed to the body of knowledge on the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs). Many of them have attempted to examine the inter-temporal relationship between REITs and property stocks using time domain techniques such as regression, cross-correlation, causality and co-integration techniques. Yet, almost all these studies focus on private real estate. In December 2005, the first REIT comprising commercial real estate (retail facilities and car parking spaces) from the public domain came up to the market in Hong Kong. This public REIT, the Link, forms the subject of this study which is aimed to investigate the performance of public REIT. It is anticipated that public REIT performs more or less the same as other stocks of utility companies because both are heavily reliant of income generation rather than capital gains, which are subject to certain institutional constraints regarding their investment strategy. Overall, the findings from this paper are supportive of the proposition that public REIT return index are linked strongly with utility stock return index, although weak link is also found between REIT return and property stock return. However, the public REIT has just been launched for less than 2 years, when more information about the performance of public REIT is available as the market of REITs becomes more and more mature, the REIT-utility-property linkage may change.


The structure of IP-10 was solved by NMR spectroscopy and represents the first structure from the class of agonists toward the receptor CXCR3. CXCR3 binding chemokines are unique in their ability to bind receptors from both the CC and CXC classes of chemokine receptors. An unusual structural feature of IP-10 was identified that may provide the basis for the ability of IP-10 to bind both CXCR3 and CCR3. The surface of IP-10 that interacts with the N-terminus of CXCR3 was defined by monitoring changes in the NMR spectrum of IP-10 upon addition of a CXCR3 N-terminal peptide. These studies indicated that the interaction involves a hydrophobic cleft, formed by the N-loop and 40s-loop region of IP-10, similar to the interaction surface observed for other chemokines such as IL-8. An additional region of interaction was observed that consists of a hydrophobic cleft formed by the N-terminus of IP-10 and 30s-loop of IP-10.


carried out in the strengthened sense. The schema (3) is chosen for the illustration, since a simple treatment of this schema (previously remarked) had not been published, and since the schema includes the non-primitive recursion used in Skolem V 34. The result and Skolem's show that the more general schemata of induction introduced in Hilbert-Bernays are superfluous in recursive number theory even under restriction to the simplest schema of recursive definition. Cf. Peter's review of Skolem. S. C. KLEENB


This thesis aims at investigating the behaviour of airlines in recently liberalised markets, by making use of the Brazilian air transportation as a case study. In order to accomplish this objective, the following three essays were developed: a study of low cost carrier entry behaviour, an analysis of the pricing behaviour of the major incumbents in the industry, and, finally, an assessment of airline conduct in the most important market in the country. All essays contain empirical investigation performed by making use of data supplied by Brazil's Department of Civil Aviation, DAC.

In the first essay, the entry of Gol Airlines on several Brazilian domestic routes, in 2001 and 2002, is analysed in order to draw inference on the competition between a discounter in rapid expansion and the full-service carriers. A route-choice model is estimated by making use of a flexible post-entry equilibrium profits equation and accounting for endogeneity of the main variables.

The second essay aims at empirically investigating the pricing behaviour of the legacy carriers in Brazil, with special focus on reactions to the entry of Gol, in 2001. A study of localised competitive advantage regarding the determinants of pricing power is performed along with the analysis of the pattern of price reactions by the incumbents. A single econometric framework is designed and estimated with panel data controlling for city-specific effects.

And finally, the third essay aims at assessing the impacts of economic liberalisation on the route Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo. By making use of both a two-stages budgeting representation of the demand system, and a competition model with product heterogeneity among rivals, and based on the framework of the New Empirical Industrial Organisation, it was possible to examine the existence of a structural change on airlines' conduct parameters due to the regulatory reform.


Data gathering systems are an important class of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). As the goals of such systems are long lifetime, high reliability, and unattended operation, efficient use of limited energy is crucial. This paper presents Bailigh, a low power cross-layer protocol designed for low rate periodic data collection. Bailigh schedules the network to wake up at regular intervals for brief periods of data collection. To achieve this Bailigh integrates synchronous low power listening and network level scheduling. The proposed synchronous low power listening technique mitigates clock drift with low overhead and reduces unnecessary radio usage. Integrated scheduling enables staggered communication, which effectively reduces collisions and increases delivery rate. We use simulations to compare the proposed approach with a non cross-layer approach. Results show an average duty cycle of 0.1% and delivery rate of 95%. With duty cycle 8.7 times lower than LPL, Bailigh offers network lifetime of 5.8 years.


Background: We aimed to explore the prevalence of prolonged symptoms, pulmonary impairments and residual disease on chest tomography (CT) in COVID-19 patients at 6 months after acute illness. Methods: In this prospective, single-center study, hospitalized patients with radiologically and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were included. Results: A high proportion of the 116 patients reported persistent symptoms (n = 54; 46.6%). On follow-up CT, 33 patients (28.4%) demonstrated residual disease. Multivariate analyses revealed that only neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was an independent predictor for residual disease. Conclusion: Hospitalized patients with mild/moderate COVID-19 still had persistent symptoms and were prone to develop long-term pulmonary sequelae on chest CT. However, it did not have a significant effect on long-term pulmonary functions.


In this study, modelling of gas turbine engine performance is carried out using thermodynamics relations. The model reveals that the influence of operation parameters such as compression ratio, turbine inlet temperature and ambient temperature has significant effect on the performance of gas turbine engine. Energy and exergy analyses were conducted to evaluate the performance of the selected power plant and to assess the effect of operation parameters on energy loss and exergy destruction in the plant. Energy analysis shows that the turbine has the highest proportion of energy loss (31.98%) in the plant. The exergy analysis results reveal that the combustion chamber is the most exergy destructive component compared to other cycle components. Thermal efficiency of the plant is as low as 36.68% while the total efficiency defect and overall exergetic efficiency of the power plant are 40.46 and 19.06%, respectively.


A dual-labeled probe for monitoring caspase activity was designed and synthesized based on a tetraphenylethene (TPE) fluorogen with aggregation-induced emission characteristics and a caspase-specific Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVD) peptide. Two stereoisomers were furnished and successfully separated by HPLC. We demonstrated for the first time the effect of isomerization on the reaction kinetics between the probes and caspase. It was revealed that caspase can produce a much higher light-up ratio for the Z-TPE-2DEVD probe, while its kinetics favor E-TPE-2DEVD due to enhanced probability of optimal binding between the two. Understanding the stereoisomers and their biological functions will open new opportunities for bioprobe design with optimized performance.


Ralph Miliband stood as a beacon on the international Left. He epitomized what it meant to be a creative and independent socialist intellectual, and he provided consistent leadership in defining the issues for critical engagement. He ranks among those most directly associated with the emergence of the British New Left after 1956, and for the flourishing Marxist scholarship it spawned in the following decades. As with Edward Thompson in the field of social history, or Raymond Williams in cultural studies, Ralph Miliband took the lead in political studies, clearing the ground and establishing the foundations for, as he once put it, 'what has so long been lacking, namely a radically-oriented, critical and demystifying discipline of political studies'. For those of us nurtured in the fertile and open Marxism that Miliband, like Thompson and Williams, practised, the contemporary spate of charges that economism, determinism or totalitarianism are inherently inscribed in Marxist ideas and practice can only appear as but a reversion to the shabbiest of stereotypes, the crudest of caricatures.


Paratrophurus burszfer (Loof, 1960) is reported from many sites in Germany, several localities in the Slovak Republic and a place in Bulgaria. The species is almost exclusively found in woodland and along river banks with trees; it prefers wet soils, with soil types ranging from sandy to loamy. Specimens from Germany and Slovakia agree in morphology with previous descriptions of the species. The present diagnosis of the genus Paratrophurus is considered as imprecise and partially incorrect, and P. burszfer is returned to the genus Tylenchorhynchus as Tylenchorhynchus burszfer Loof, 1960.


China's rapid urbanisation has created a special form of urban built environment known as 'village in the city' (ViC). Various governance approaches have been applied to redevelop ViCs, which are prevalent in big cities. However, owing to the specific conditions of ViCs and the diverse contexts of urban development within and across cities, those approaches remain largely case-specific and are hampered by a lack of guiding principles. This article presents a framework on modes of governance to understand the choice of and the differences between modes of governance as well as their positive and negative consequences for the regeneration of ViCs. Case studies of various types of ViC regeneration practices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are used to illustrate the framework's application. The article concludes that new modes of governance that are interactive, inclusive and collaborative are called for to achieve the sustainable regeneration of ViCs.


What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

Ureteric obstruction resulted in a differential change in the electrical activity in the proximal and distal ureter with the proximal ureter having an immediate increase in the frequency of electrical impulses whereas in the distal ureter, the antegrade impulse gradually disappeared and, instead, there were more retrograde impulses or no activity at all.

In this manuscript, a high resolution technique was used to investigate in detail the electrophysiological characteristics of the normal and obstructed ureter in vivo.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the propagation of the electrical impulses in a unilateral ureteric obstruction model using a high-resolution technique in vivo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In Wistar rats (n= 15), the left mid-ureter was occluded and the electrical activity was recorded from the proximal and distal part of the obstructed ureter and from the right ureter at different times up to 2 weeks post-obstruction using 64 extracellular electrodes.

RESULTS

In the left ureter, impulses propagated in an antegrade direction at a frequency of 15.5 ± 1.3/min and a velocity of 1.6 ± 0.1 cm/s. Immediately post-obstruction, the proximal part showed an increase in frequency (19.1 ± 2.5/min; P < 0.05) followed by a gradual decrease (at 2 weeks: 2.5 ± 1.2/min; P < 0.001). The velocity of these impulses decreased gradually (at 2 weeks: 0.5 ± 0.1 cm/s; P < 0.05). Distally, the antegrade propagations gradually disappeared and, at 1 week, 33% of ureters showed retrograde impulses and 67% displayed no electrical activity. The frequency of both antegrade and retrograde impulses distal to the obstruction dropped immediately after obstruction so that, at 1 day, it was 1.0 ± 0.3 and 1.5 ± 0.2/min, respectively (P < 0.01 for both). The velocity of these antegrade and retrograde impulses showed a significant rise throughout the post-obstruction period. The right ureter showed only a transient increase in frequency from 18.7 ± 2.7 to 30.3 ± 6.1/min (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Using this high-resolution technique, it is concluded that, after ureteric obstruction, there were immediate and significant changes in the propagation of electrical impulses in the proximal and distal left ureter and in the right ureter, all of which behaved differently. This data may provide a better insight into the electrophysiological function of the normal and obstructed ureter.


This paper investigates a development of single machine batch scheduling for multi items with dependent processing time. The batch scheduling problem is to determine simultaneously number of batch (N), which item and its size allocated for each batch, and processing sequences of resulting batches. We use total actual flow time as the objective of schedule performance. The multi item batch scheduling problem could be formulated into a biner-integer nonlinear programming model because the number of batch should be in integer value, the allocation of items to resulting batch need binary values, and also there are some non-linearity on objective function and constraint due to the dependent processing time. By applying relaxation on the decision variable of number of batch (N) as parameter, a heuristic procedure could be applied to find solution of the single machine batch scheduling problem for multi items.


We present an experimental study of the current-driven polarization modulation properties of VCSELs. In some VCSELs, abrupt polarization switching (PS) between two polarization modes is observed at a particular value of the pump current. We investigate the dynamics and the associated dominating time scales of PS as these features are strongly linked with the underlying physical mechanism causing the PS. To this end, we measure both for gain- and index-guided VCSELs the critical modulation amplitude necessary to steadily force PS back and forth across the PS point as a function of the modulation frequency. This yields the current-driven polarization modulation frequency response, which we compare with the thermal frequency response of the studied devices. The dynamic behavior turns out to be strikingly different for the different VCSEL types. Thermal effects only play a minor role in the PS in our index-guided VCSELs, while they really seem to lie at the origin of PS in the gain-guided VCSELs. By implementing this in a rate-equation based theoretical model, we are able to explain the peculiarities of the measured response curves and to reproduce the experimental findings.


Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of nails that is widespread and difficult to treat because of the impermeable nature of human nails. Topically applied anti-fungal agents cannot penetrate this structure, and treatment regimens often resort to systemic antifungals with concomitant side effects. One recent clinical study suggested that mechanical fenestration of the nail using an intelligent nail drill might be a possible solution to this problem. In this work, an in vitro model of the transungual delivery of antifungal agents is presented, which utilizes real nail tissue and an inline flow system. This system was deployed to measure transungual delivery of ciclopirox and determined that nail fenestration improved drug delivery by 3–4-fold after 42 days. This study bolsters the argument that nail fenestration should be accepted as a pretreatment for onychomycosis and offers a way of evaluating new drugs or formulations designed to combat this condition.


A physical, chemical, biological or allergenic substance associated with a food commodity from harvesting to the consumer's hand could contaminate food processing. Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) ensures product protection. Though many manufacturers obtain a HACCP certificate easily, they may not apply the systematic food screening programs during all stages of the process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the HACCP implementation for the roll bread production line and determine the education level of food safety and legal requirements in Samsun, Turkey. Verification procedures, record keeping and workflow in the roll bread manufacturing plant was screened and hence the HACCP chart was revised, by the HACCP team. The critical control points (CCPs) were determined by going through the decision tree of the method specified in ISO 22000:2005. The level of awareness of staff for good hygiene practices and food safety was determined via face-to-face method questionnaire. Within all stages of the process, cooling (stage 10) was considered as CCP in the manufacturing plant. The control and preventive activities created including pre-requisite programmes for the other processing steps. In addition, label information of the product was re-evaluated according to the present production conditions and was revised. Regarding the education level of the food hygiene practices and quality control applications was determined to be inadequate; personnel need to be informed and technical support is required to ensure internal control.


Climate plays an important role in human health and it is well established that climate change can have very significant impacts in this regard. In partnership with The Lancet and the MJA, we present the inaugural Australian Countdown assessment of progress on climate change and health. This comprehensive assessment examines 41 indicators across five broad sections: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. These indicators and the methods used for each are largely consistent with those of the Lancet Countdown global assessment published in October 2017, but with an Australian focus. Significant developments include the addition of a new indicator on mental health. Overall, we find that Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In a number of respects, Australia has gone backwards and now lags behind other high income countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Examples include the persistence of a very high carbon‐intensive energy system in Australia, and its slow transition to renewables and low carbon electricity generation. However, we also find some examples of good progress, such as heatwave response planning. Given the overall poor state of progress on climate change and health in Australia, this country now has an enormous opportunity to take action and protect human health and lives. Australia has the technical knowhow and intellect to do this, and our annual updates of this assessment will track Australia's engagement with and progress on this vitally important issue.


Abstract. Bank filtration has been of great importance to the drinking water supply in Germany for many decades. The water quality of pumped raw water from bank filtration sites depends to a high degree on the water quality of the infiltrating surface water and the landside groundwater, the mixed portion of both, as well as the flow and transport conditions in the aquifer. Following the improvement of river water quality and a drastic decrease in water demand during the last 20 years in Germany, the influence of landside groundwater quality has become more important for the raw water quality of waterworks relying on bank filtration. The hydrogeologic analysis of three bank filtration sites in Saxony and the management of abstraction rates and well operation in response to fluctuating water demand are discussed.


Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are prominent crop pollinators and are, thus, important for effective food production. The honey bee gut microbiota is mainly host specific, with only a few species being shared with other insects. It currently remains unclear how environmental/dietary conditions affect the microbiota within a honey bee population over time. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize the composition of the midgut/pyloric microbiota of a honey bee apiary throughout a season. The rationale for investigating the midgut/pyloric microbiota is its dynamic nature. Monthly sampling of a demographic homogenous population of bees was performed between May and October, with concordant recording of the honey bee diet. Mixed Sanger-and Illumina 16S rRNA gene sequencing in combination with a quantitative PCR analysis were used to determine the bacterial composition. A marked increase in α-diversity was detected between May and June. Furthermore, we found that four distinct phylotypes belonging to the Proteobacteria dominated the microbiota, and these displayed major shifts throughout the season. Gilliamella apicola dominated the composition early on, and Snodgrassella alvi began to dominate when the other bacteria declined to an absolute low in October. In vitro co-culturing revealed that G. apicola suppressed S. alvi. No shift was detected in the composition of the microbiota under stable environment/dietary conditions between November and February. Therefore, environmental/dietary changes may trigger the shifts observed in the honey bee midgut/pyloric microbiota throughout a season.


INTRODUCTION
Mouth rinses have been popularly used as a supplementary oral hygiene aid. A lot of commercially available mouth rinses possess few adverse effects, which has necessitated the search for alternative and herbal mouth rinses.

AIM
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of rinsing with green coffee bean extract in comparison with chlorhexidine mouthwash and sterile water on salivary Streptococcus mutans count.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A randomized parallel controlled clinical trial was planned and 45 subjects aged between 18-22 years were selected. The subjects were divided into three groups (n=15 in each group): Group A: Study group: 2% Green coffee bean extract, Group B: Positive control: 0.2% Chlorhexidine (CHX), Group C: Negative control: Sterile water. Group A subjects rinsed mouth with 5 ml of 2% Green coffee bean extract for one minute. Group B subjects rinsed mouth with 5 ml 0.2% CHX mouthwash for one minute. Group C subjects rinsed mouth with 5 ml of Sterile water for one minute twice daily for two weeks. Baseline samples (Pre rinse) were collected on day 1 and post rinsing saliva samples were collected after 14 days. The samples were cultured using Mitis Salivarius Agar enriched with Bacitracin and colonies were counted using a hand held digital colony counter. The statistical analysis was done using paired t-test, One-way variance ANOVA and Post-Hoc tests.

RESULTS
The Green coffee bean extract group showed a statistical significant reduction in Streptococcus mutans colony count before and after intervention which was comparable with CHX group.

CONCLUSION
Green coffee bean extract as a mouthwash can be explored as a safe and effective alternative to CHX mouthwash.


An ageing demographic in Western societies as well as globally has made public health issues, such as dementias, subject to hyperbolic metaphor such as "tsunami" and "time bomb." This chapter reviews the state of knowledge regarding language, sexualities, ageing, and chronic illness. In particular, we focus on discursive research from across the social sciences that furthers understandings of older people's lives and experiences. We highlight research that has focused on ageism and chronic conditions impacting older people (specifically, dementia and type 2 diabetes), including empirical research on these conditions, and on manifestations of heterosexism and heteronormativity in these contexts. Using illustrative examples that emphasize the intersection of discourse and issues that relate to ageing, we foreground this area as an important element of language and sexuality scholarship. Last, we indicate future directions for the development of research focusing on these topics.


Active boundary layer flow control and boundary layer manipulation in the channel flow that was based on low temperature plasma were studied by means of a lattice Boltzmann method. Two plasma actuators were placed in a row to obtain the influence rule of their separation distance on the velocity profile at three locations and maximum velocity in the flow field. Two plasma actuators were placed symmetrically inside a channel to examine the effect of channel height and voltage on the velocity profile and flow rate. It was found that the channel height controls the distribution of flow velocity, which affected the flow rate and its direction. Increasing plasma voltage had a negative effect on the flow rate due to the generation of a larger and stronger flow vortex.


Kinematic reliability is an essential index that assesses the performance of the mechanism associating with uncertainties. This study proposes a novel approach to kinematic reliability analysis for planar parallel manipulators based on error propagation on plane motion groups and clipped Gaussian in terms of joint clearance, input uncertainty, and manufacturing imperfection. First, the linear relationship between the local pose distortion coming from the passive joint and that caused by other error sources, which are all represented by the exponential coordinate, are established by means of the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula. Then, the second-order nonparametric formulas of error propagation on independent and dependent plane motion groups are derived in closed form for analytically determining the mean and covariance of the pose error distribution of the end-effector. On this basis, the kinematic reliability, i.e., the probability of the pose error within the specified safe region, is evaluated by a fast algorithm. Compared to the previous methods, the proposed approach has a significantly high precision for both cases with small and large errors under small and large safe bounds, which is also very efficient. Additionally, it is available for arbitrarily distributed errors and can analyze the kinematic reliability only regarding either position or orientation as well. Finally, the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed approach are verified by comparing with the Monte Carlo simulation method.


Nigeria imports large quantities of activated carbon annually for local use. In this study the development of low cost and effective adsorbent from the palm kernel shell for the treatment of waste water is examined.Palm kernel shells were used to produce activated carbon by carbonization at different temperatures (500 -10000C) and by chemical activation using 1M citric acid and saturated ammonium chloride as activated agents. The optimum temperature of carbonisation was found to be 950oC, the activated carbons produced were characterized. The measured characteristics: yield, pH, bulk density, surface area, porosity, resistance to mechanical abrasion and total surface charge of the activated carbon prepared from palm kernel shell were 18.6%, 7.8, 0.636g/ml, 112.09mgl2/gC, 19.23%, 2.36molH+/gC respectively, for citric acid activated carbon . For ammonium chloride activated carbon they were determined to be 17.50%, 8.55, 0.716g/ml, 109.69mgl2/gC, 19.76% and 2.06, 2.36molH+/gC respectively. The experimental results showed the possibility for the production of activated carbon with well developed pore structure, surface, and bulk density high mechanical abrasion and reasonable total surface charge.


Variations in Cavendish bananas susceptibility to crown rot disease have been observed (Lassois et al., 2010a), but the molecular mechanisms underlying these quantitative host-pathogen relationships were still unknown. The present study was designed to compare gene expression between bananas (Musa acuminata, AAA, 'Grande-Naine') showing a high post-harvest susceptibility (S+) and bananas showing a low post-harvest susceptibility (S-) to crown rot disease. This comparison was performed between crowns (S+ and S-) collected one hour before standardized artificial inoculations with Colletotrichum musae. Fruit susceptibility was evaluated through lesion size on the crown 13 days later. Gene expression comparisons were performed with the cDNA-AFLP technique (Lassois et al., 2009). This revealed that a gene showing a strong homology with a dopamine-beta-monooxygenase (DoH) is differently expressed between S+ and S (Lassois et al., 2011). Furthermore, semi-quantitative real-time RT-PCR analyses between S+ and S- were applied to confirm the differential expression results for DoH obtained by cDNA-AFLP. Two biological replicates were tested. These semi-quantitative analyses were performed not only on tissues collected one hour before C. musae inoculation but also on crown tissues collected 13 days after inoculation. The real-time RT-PCR confirmed that DoH was upregulated in the S tissues collected at harvest, just before C. musae inoculation. This gene was also highly upregulated in the S- tissues collected 13 days after crown inoculation. Similar results were obtained for both biological replicates. Our results suggest that catecholamine's could play a role in banana defense mechanisms to crown rot disease.


Germinability of two, halfsib seed sources of Cercidiphyllum japonicum Sieb. & Zucc. and one seed source of Cercidiphyllum magnificum (Nakai) Nakai was determined after not stratifying or stratifying seeds at 3.5 ± 0.5 °C (38.3 ± 0.9 °F) for 8 days followed by germination for 21 days at 25 °C (77 °F) in darkness or under a 15-hour photoperiod. Stratification was not required for germination, but increased germination percentage, peak value, and germination value for both species. Stratification increased germination of C. japonicum from 42% to 75%, and germination of C. magnificum from 12% to 24%. Light enhanced germination of nonstratified seeds of one source of C. japonicum and of C. magnificum from 34% to 52% and from 8% to 15%, respectively. Stratification improved germinability of both species and obviated any preexisting light requirements the seeds may have had.


Introduction of a novel approach to the classification of
vegetation data (species by plot matrices). This approach copes
with a large amount of noise, groups irregularly shaped in
attribute space and species turnover within groups. Method The
proposed algorithm (Isopam) is based on the classification of
ordination scores from isometric feature mapping. Ordination
and classification are repeated in a search for either high
overall fidelity of species to groups of sites, or high
quantity and quality of indicator species for groups of sites.
The classification is performed either as a hierarchical,
divisive method or as non-hierarchical partitioning. In
divisive clustering, resulting groups are subdivided until a
stopping criterion is met. Isopam was tested on 20 real-world
data sets. The resulting classifications were compared with
solutions from eight widely used clustering algorithms. Results
When looking at the significance of species fidelities to
groups of sites, and at quantity and quality of indicator
species, Isopam often achieved high ranks as compared with
other algorithms.


Summary The effect of different levels of zinc intake on tumor growth was studied by implanting Walker 256 carcinosarcoma into weanling Sprague-Dawley rats maintained on laboratory chow or on a zinc-deficient synthetic diet. Three experimental groups receiving this synthetic diet were given 0, 50, or 500 parts per million, respectively, of zinc ion in the drinking water. The latter 2 groups were pair fed the amount eaten by the unsupplemented group. The survival of rats receiving the zinc-deficient intake was significantly increased compared with the other 2 groups on synthetic diets or the group on laboratory chow. Tumor growth was markedly decreased in the zinc-deficient group and slightly decreased in the zincsupplemented groups compared with control rats on laboratory chow. The reduced tumor growth in the zinc-deficient group was highly significant in a test for specificity of tumor inhibition. Since dietary zinc deficiency inhibited tumor growth, this study demonstrates the importance of zinc for neoplasms. Further investigation is needed on the role of zinc, as well as other essential metals, for malignant proliferation.


Objectively recognizing postoperative pain in mice is challenging, making it difficult to determine an appropriate postoperativeanalgesic regimen. Adult male mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations after exposure to adult female urine (FiUSV). To determine if FiUSV can be used as a indicator of postoperative pain, FiUSV produced by male C57BL/6J mice were assessed for 5 d before and after vasectomy or sham surgery with or without sustained-release buprenorphine. Postoperative pain was assessed by monitoring vocalization using an ultrasonic microphone and by evaluating orbital tightness, posture, and piloerection at postoperative time points. Before vasectomy or sham surgery, 25 of 38 male mice produced FiUSV on 4 of 5 d(143 ± 93 FiUSV). Vasectomized mice without postoperative analgesia produced significantly fewer FiUSV (59 ± 26 FiUSV) compared with baseline (212 ± 102 FiUSV) at 4 h postoperatively, but returned to baseline by 28 h. Vasectomized mice treated with buprenorphine and sham-surgery mice had no change in FiUSV from baseline at any time point after surgery. Activity was decreased compared with baseline in vasectomized mice, regardless of receiving postoperative analgesia or not, but only at the 4-h time point. There were no differences in behavior scores between vasectomized mice and sham-surgery mice at any time point. These results show that FiUSV can be used to detect postoperative pain in male C57BL/6J mice after vasectomy.


The main idea of this paper to exhibit study which illuminate set of characteristics among statistics and mean filters rely on additive and multiplicative in addition salt and pepper noise with compare among them using difference type analysis methods and blur metric . We selected one filter form statistics filters and another one from means filters. Finally, we get perfect results tell as what is the best filter and affect them on noises (3).


Dipentene (a solvent derived from radiata pine) and toluene were investigated as alternatives to the ozone-depleting methyl chloroform used in bitumen content determinations of asphalt. Toluene was also considered as an alternative to trichloroethene used in the determination of bitumen solubility, as specified in Transit New Zealand Specification M/1. It was established that dipentene cannot be used as a substitute for methyl chloroform, but that toluene could be, and without making any changes to the experimental procedure given in ASTM D2172 or the commonly used 'Auckland method'. Toluene is less environmentally harmful, approximately the same price, and slightly less toxic than methyl chloroform. However, toluene is highly flammable and suitable precautions must be followed when large quantities are being handled in bitumen content determinations. Toluene can also replace trichloroethene in the measurement of bitumen solubility. Although the specification limits given in Transit New Zealand M/1 do not need alteration, a small change is needed in the experimental procedure, in which case the method given in Transit New Zealand M/1 needs to be changed from ASTM D2042 to the Australian Standard Method AS 2341.8. (a)


We study a model of tax competition between two countries when both skilled and unskilled workers make their migration decisions simultaneously and wages are endogenously determined. If both factors of production are allowed to migrate freely and when the demand for skilled labor is not so elastic, the problem typically predicted in the literature of tax competition that increased mobility of production factors will pose a severe threat to redistribution possibility is less acute than it might first appear. The equilibrium tax rate can be not only positive but also increasing in the degree of mobility of unskilled workers. This is mainly because an initial change in migration flows induced by an increase in the tax rate brings about a higher wage for skilled workers and a lower wage for unskilled workers, which offsets the initial adverse effect. We also show that in contrast to the conventional wisdom in the literature of tax competition decreasing the tax rate invites not only skilled workers but also unskilled workers; unskilled workers always chase skilled workers at the equilibrium. JEL Categories: D50, F21, H30


This paper proposes an architecture of the wireless endoscopy system for the diagnoses of whole human digestive tract and real-time endoscopic image monitoring. The low-power digital IC design inside the wireless endoscopic capsule is discussed in detail. A very large scale integration (VLSI) architecture of three-stage clock management is applied, which can save 46% power inside the capsule compared with the design without such a low-power design. A stoppable ring crystal oscillator with minimal overhead is used in the sleep mode, which results in about 60-muW system power dissipation in sleep mode. A new image compression algorithm based on Bayer image format and its corresponding VLSI architecture are both proposed for low-power, high-data volume. Thus, 8 frames per second with 320*288 pixels can be transmitted with 2 Mb/s. The digital IC design also assures that the capsule has many flexible and useful functions for clinical application. The digital circuits were verified on field-programmable gate arrays and have been implemented in 0.18-mum CMOS process with 6.2 mW


The palolo ( Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus , Quatrefages 1865) is a Polychaeta-Nereidae, living in muddy bottom of brackish water in estuaries coastal area. They are mainly captured during breeding. This type of the palolo Polychaeta is a favourite seafood, having highly nutrient value. Under large season. Demand for commercial food, together with overuse of pesticide for intensive agriculture and the destruction of the habitat, their population has over explored, leading to serious reduction of captured production. However, up to date, there is very little or almost no scientific information of the life cycle of this species. Knowledge in ecological characteristics such as tidal, weather change accompany with environmental parameters trigger induce spawning will help plan for conservation of the  palolo Polychaete in the future. This study result for the palolo was conducted in Hai Phong from 10/2007 to 6/2008. It has shown that breeding season is during two periods, May - June and October - November in accordance with full moon, critical to starting tidal and weather change (little raining, winter win….) Determination of environment during breeding times has indicated that temperature 26.57°C (water) and 26.070C (air), secchi disk at 29.5 cm, pH value 7.52, DO 5.79 mg/l and salinity 1.5‰ were the critical parameters for the spawning. Investigation of morphology has shown that Dtr = 166, Dk = 61; Ltr = 10.60 cm, Lk = 4.812 cm; Rtr = 2.31 mm, Rk = 5.64 mm; Ptr = 0.442 gr; Pk = 0.532 gr. Sex ratio determined through color and thereby found that during the time of spawning, the ratio between male and female was 1/1.9. Interestingly, unlike the previous thought that the Worm was more likely asexual. The result in this study strongly proved that it is sexually reproductive. Acknowledgment Many thanks is forwards to prof. Dr. Dang Ngoc Thanh, Institute of Science and Technology of Vietnam who has advise the study and give comments to all materials in the paper. Great thanks to prof. Dr. Thai Tran Bai for lab. Work, Ms. Phan Thi Van, Mr. Mai Van Tai and Mr. Vo Van Binh (CEDMA) for all study facilities. Field study has been supported from Mr. Tran Dinh Tuat in Tan Thang village, Chen Thang commune, An Lao district, who gave useful information contributing to the study.


We have demonstrated experimentally a new scheme for mutually pumped phase conjugation with two incoherent beams, using a 0.93-mm-thick plate-formed BaTiO3:Ce crystal. The highest phase was reflectivities obtained in our experiments are 30.5% (in the case of equal incident powers) and 71.6% (in the case of unequal incident powers). The variations of the phase-conjugate reflectivity with incident angles and is intensity ratio have been determined, as has the power-dependent response time.


Dollo's law posits that evolutionary losses are irreversible, thereby narrowing the potential paths of evolutionary change. While phenotypic reversals to ancestral states have been observed, little is known about their underlying genetic causes. The genomes of budding yeasts have been shaped by extensive reductive evolution, such as reduced genome sizes and the losses of metabolic capabilities. However, the extent and mechanisms of trait reacquisition after gene loss in yeasts have not been thoroughly studied. Here, through phylogenomic analyses, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of the yeast galactose utilization pathway and observed widespread and repeated losses of the ability to utilize galactose, which occurred concurrently with the losses of GALactose (GAL) utilization genes. Unexpectedly, we detected three galactose-utilizing lineages that were deeply embedded within clades that underwent ancient losses of galactose utilization. We show that at least two, and possibly three, lineages reacquired the GAL pathway via yeast-to-yeast horizontal gene transfer. Our results show how trait reacquisition can occur tens of millions of years after an initial loss via horizontal gene transfer from distant relatives. These findings demonstrate that the losses of complex traits and even whole pathways are not always evolutionary dead-ends, highlighting how reversals to ancestral states can occur.


Within a Kubo formalism, we study dc transport and ac optical properties of 3D Dirac and Weyl semimetals. Emphasis is placed on the approach to charge neutrality and on the differences between Dirac and Weyl materials. At charge neutrality, the zero-temperature limit of the dc conductivity is not universal and also depends on the residual scattering model employed. However, the Lorenz number L retains its usual value L_0. With increasing temperature, the Wiedemann-Franz law is violated. At high temperatures, L exhibits a new plateau at a value dependent on the details of the scattering rate. Such details can also appear in the optical conductivity, both in the Drude response and interband background. In the clean limit, the interband background is linear in photon energy and always extrapolates to the origin. This background can be shifted to the right through the introduction of a massless gap. In this case, the extrapolation can cut the axis at a finite photon energy as is observed in some experiments. It is also of interest to differentiate between the two types of Weyl semimetals: those with broken time-reversal symmetry and those with broken spatial-inversion symmetry. We show that, while the former will follow the same behaviour as the 3D Dirac semimetals, for the zero magnetic field properties discussed here, the latter type will show a double step in the optical conductivity at finite doping and a single absorption edge at charge neutrality. The Drude conductivity is always finite in this case, even at charge neutrality.


This paper provides information about what job characteristics promote or inhibit maintaining employment while caring. Using a nationally representative longitudinal data set - the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey - the paper traces the effects of the onset of care on labour force participation. This study used multivariate techniques to analyse five clusters of influences that might affect carer employment: the intensity of care responsibilities; the employees' own characteristics; the characteristics of their employment; their workplace arrangements; and the employee's rating of the stress, satisfaction and security associated with their job. The results showed that moderate to intensive caring responsibilities militate against maintaining labour force participation in the face of caring responsibility. Working as a casual employee, in a job without supervisory responsibilities, in smaller firms, with poor leave arrangements, no flexibility in hours and low job security all decrease the probability that carers remain in employment.


The paper provides estimates of productivity growth in the 4-digit SIC food and beverages manufacturing industries in the US for the period 1986-96 using Balk's (2001) decomposition of the Malmquist productivity index (MPI). The empirical results suggest that for the overwhelming majority of industries productivity changes we driven primarily by technical change and technical efficiency change. A comparison between the Divisia index estimates provided by the US NBER and the MPI estimates shows that they had different distributions and the former were systematically lower than the latter.


The purpose of the work was to study the dependencies between the defrayed investment outlays in the pre-accession and following the accession period of Poland to the European Union and the changes in the land and farms production property's resources. Moreover, applying the recourse methods, the impact of investment outlays on the property of farms in 2004-2011 was determined. From the conducted studies it results, that there occurs big differentiation of the studied farms from the point of view of the volume of investment outlays both before Poland's accession to the EU, as well as following the year 2004. Following Poland's accession to the EU, farmers invested more than three times as much. From the analysis of interrelations with the application of the recourse methods it results, that the volume of investment outlays has a crucial importance on the farm's property. The level of explanation of property's fluctuation through investment outlays and factors covariant with them is high and for the linear function amounts from 63.65% in 2004 up to 83.69% in 2011.


It has previously been shown that readers spend a great deal of time skim reading on the Web and that this type of reading can affect comprehension of text. Across two experiments, we examine how hyperlinks influence perceived importance of sentences and how perceived importance in turn affects reading behaviour. In Experiment 1, participants rated the importance of sentences across passages of Wikipedia text. In Experiment 2, a different set of participants read these passages while their eye movements were tracked, with the task being either reading for comprehension or skim reading. Reading times of sentences were analysed in relation to the type of task and the importance ratings from Experiment 1. Results from Experiment 1 show readers rated sentences without hyperlinks as being of less importance than sentences that did feature hyperlinks, and this effect is larger when sentences are lower on the page. It was also found that short sentences with more links were rated as more important, but only when they were presented at the top of the page. Long sentences with more links were rated as more important regardless of their position on the page. In Experiment 2, higher importance scores resulted in longer sentence reading times, measured as fixation durations. When skim reading, however, importance ratings had a lesser impact on online reading behaviour than when reading for comprehension. We suggest readers are less able to establish the importance of a sentence when skim reading, even though importance could have been assessed by information that would be fairly easy to extract (i.e. presence of hyperlinks, length of sentences, and position on the screen).


The development of resistance measurement techniques is very important for characterization of future nanoelectronics. Pulsed IV measurement techniques are very useful for accurate resistance measurements on nanoscale samples because of the efficient removal of e.g. EMF errors. In the project we have designed a pulsed IV-setup based on a state-of-the art current source (6221) and nanovoltmeter (2182A) from Keithley, and used the setup for resistance measurements on ferromagnetic samples. Two different samples were investigated using the pulsed IV system – ferromagnetic wires with a central nanoconstriction and amorphous microwires. We have tested the pulse delta system with different pulse widths, duty cycles and voltage levels. The results show a successful integration of the setup. From the measurement results we confirm that the pulse delta system provides accurate measurements with a low noise of about 0.02Ω. The resistance of the samples increases approximately quadratically with bias which is interpreted as a heating effect due to the very high current density of about 107A∙cm-2.


Unusual adsorption phenomena, such as breathing and negative gas adsorption (NGA), are rare and challenge our thermodynamic understanding of adsorption in deformable porous solids. In particular, NGA appears to break the rules of thermodynamics in these materials by exhibiting a spontaneous release of gas accompanying an increase in pressure. This anomaly relies on long-lived metastable states. A fundamental understanding of this process is desperately required for the discovery of new materials with this exotic property. Interestingly, NGA was initially observed upon adsorption of methane at relatively low temperature, close to the respective standard boiling point of the adsorptive, and no NGA was observed at elevated temperatures. In this contribution, we present an extensive investigation of adsorption of an array of gases at various temperatures on DUT-49, a material which features an NGA transition. Experiments, featuring a wide range of gases and vapors at temperatures ranging from 21-308 K, were used to identify for each guest a critical temperature range in which NGA can be detected. The experimental results were complemented by molecular simulations that help to rationalize the absence of NGA at elevated temperatures, and the non-monotonic behavior present upon temperature decrease. Furthermore, this in-depth analysis highlights the crucial thermodynamic and kinetic conditions for NGA, which are unique to each guest and potentially other solids with similar effects. We expect this exploration to provide detailed guidelines for experimentally discovering NGA and related "rule breaking" phenomena in novel and already known materials, and provide the conditions required for the application of this effect, for example as pressure amplifying materials.


The current debate over cost-benefit concerns in agencies' evaluations of government regulations is not so much whether to consider costs and benefits at all but rather what belongs in the estimated costs and benefits themselves. Overlaid is the long-standing concern that the distribution of costs and benefits needs some consideration in policy evaluations. In a recent article in the University of Chicago Law Review, Robert Frank and Cass Sunstein proposed a relatively simple method for adding distributional concerns to policy evaluation that enlarges the typically constructed estimates of the individual's willingness to pay for safer jobs or safer products. One might pay more for safety if it were the result of a government regulation that mandated greater safety across-the-board. The reason, Frank and Sunstein argue, for enlarging current estimates is that someone who takes a safer job or buys a safer product gives up wages or pays a higher price, which then moves him or her down in the ladder of income left over to buy other things. Alternatively, a worker who is given a safer job via a government regulation has no relative income consequences because all affected workers have lower pay. We show that when considering the core of the Frank and Sunstein proposal carefully one concludes that current regulatory evaluations should be left alone because there is no reason to believe that relative positional effects are important either to personal decisions in general or to currently constructed cost-benefit calculations of government regulations in particular. One of the practical problems with trying to consider relative position of income and consumption when estimating willingness to pay is that there is no unique way to ascertain from a statistical model the person's actual social reference group. A researcher must specify ex ante a reference group and then net out the behavioral effects of a possibly incorrectly attributed reference group's behavior on the individual. There is no well-established result from survey data for a typical person's economic reference group. Moreover, the econometric literature generally finds that reference group or social interaction effects are small and easily ignored, perhaps because the relative positional effects of workplace or product safety offset possible reference group effects on residual income (income net of the implicit cost of the extra product or job safety). It is also the case that Frank and Sunstein's recommended increase in the value of willingness to pay for safety used in current regulatory evaluations is already considered. Regulatory evaluations often include a pessimistic and an optimistic value of likely benefits, and Frank and Sunstein's suggested revised value of willingness to pay is still below the optimistic case that carefully formulated cost-benefit studies use. It is easy to show that almost doubling the estimated value of a statistical life would have an inconsequential effect on the economic desirability of a broad set of regulatory policies. Finally, we argue that the most important refinements one could make in the area of regulatory evaluation would be for agencies involved to adhere more to the framework of what is generally considered a carefully done cost-benefit study, and for agencies to make greater actual use of appropriately done cost-benefit studies when recommending regulations.


The present study was conducted with the aimed to determine the frequency of anemia and lack of  hemoglobin in human pregnancy  at Bolan Medical College Hospital Quetta during 2017. As many as 625 pregnant women patients were examined, of these 350 were found anemic. Blood samples of  randomly selected three hundred and fifty pregnant women of age group 17-44 years were analyzed, and was classified under first trimester (21), second trimester (58) and third trimester (271). The data was analyzed to estimate the frequency of anemia during pregnancy ranging from mild: 288 (46.1%) to moderate: 54 (8.6%) and severe: 8 (1.3%). Findings revealed that anemia was found to be prevalent in third trimester (271) as compared to the second (58) and first (21) trimester of pregnancy. Chi-square test was applied at 5% level of significance to check the association between age groups, parity and gestation age (G age). Significant association was found with anemic level at p-value <0.001 in age group and G age, whereas parity was not found associated with anemic level at 5% level of significance. The present study revealed that overall prevalence rate of anemia was 56% which indicated high prevalence of this disease in the region. The study concluded that pregnant women are at high hazard of blood anemia. Fresh balanced diets rich in iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 are recommended for their health and fine growth of developing baby.
Keywords: Anemia; Frequency; Gestation-age; Hemoglobin; Parity; Quetta
http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2019.80045