Aim
Using semi-structured interviews and IPA, explore mothers' experiences of wellbeing during the different phases of their sons' recovery and rehabilitation
Background
This thesis reports on the deleterious effect on six mothers' wellbeing as a result of their son's traumatic combat injury during deployment to Afghanistan between 2008-2009.
Method/ Methodology
Six mothers were recruited to the study by purposive sampling. The mothers were interviewed on 2 occasions using a semi-structured interview schedule. Analysis adhered to an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, which seeks to uncover the meanings of participants descriptions of their lived experiences. Each mother's transcript was analysed separately to reflect the idiographic element of IPA. Three superordinate themes emerged from the cross-case analysis of the mothers' narratives: "The stressful event unfolds", "The support of others", "Life after the stressful event." The emergence of a dialogue between my interpretations of the mothers phenomena and psychological concepts found in the extant literature, provided a link between the mothers lived experiences and Attachment Theory, Coping Theory, Social Suppport Theory and the Myth of Motherhood.
Findings
A son's Traumatic Combat Injury has the potential to impact on the relationship between mother and son during the son's recovery and rehabilitation. Mothers who had a close relationship with their son called upon a range of adaptive coping strategies to help them mitigate the stressors they encountered during their son's recovery and rehabilitation.
Support of family and friends was helpful to the mothers who had a close relationship with their son, depending on the mothers' coping strategies, predispositions towards motherhood and the quality of the relationship with their son. Mothers who had a poor relationship with their son and daughter-in-law demonstrated withdrawal from the relationship, maladaptive coping strategies and relied less upon the support of family and social networks.
Contribution to knowledge of the subject
This is the first study to examine the impact on a mother's wellbeing whose adult son has been traumatically injured in combat. The relationship between mother and son and the type of coping strategies called upon by mothers who adopt a caring role should be heeded. It is recommended that running concurrently with a son's recovery and rehabilitation programme, all mothers should receive emotional support from a counsellor who specialises in psychodynamic family therapy. Drawing upon attachment and coping theory will enable the counsellor to identify the psychosocial stressors associated with caring for their injured son and concomitantly lead the counsellor to an earlier treatment strategy and level of support appropriate to the mother's needs. Additionally, medical staff at role 4 of the son's care-pathway should receive interpersonal skills training to maximise the emotional support they provide to mothers and other family members during a son's recovery in hospital. Army Welfare Staff should also be familiarised with the findings of this study so that they are equipped to support the emotional and instrumental needs of mothers adjusting to their son's traumatic injuries during their initial recovery in hospital. Mothers would also benefit from being signposted to the Armed Forces charity Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) , who provide specific support to family members of wounded, injured or sick (WIS) service personnel.


Nitric oxide (NO), produced by inducible NO synthase (iNOS) during infection, plays a crucial role in host defense mechanisms. Salmonella typhimurium infection in mice is associated with excessive production of NO from iNOS as a host defense response. An important cytoprotective and antimicrobial function of NO is mediated by induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1. The signaling mechanism of NO-dependent HO-1 induction has remained unclear, however. We recently discovered a nitrated cyclic nucleotide, 8-nitroguanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-nitro-cGMP), which is formed via guanine nitration with NO and reactive oxygen species. iNOS-dependent 8-nitro-cGMP formation and HO-1 induction were identified in Salmonella-infected mice. Extensive apoptosis observed with iNOS-deficient macrophages infected with Salmonella was remarkably suppressed via HO-1 induced by 8-nitro-cGMP formed in cells. This cytoprotective signaling appears to be mediated by the reaction of 8-nitro-cGMP with protein sulfhydryls to generate a novel post-translational modification named protein S-guanylation. We also found that 8-nitro-cGMP specifically S-guanylates Keap1, a negative regulator of transcription factor Nrf2, which in turn up-regulates transcription of HO-1. Here, we discuss the unique mechanism of NO-mediated host defense that operates via formation of a novel signaling molecule - 8-nitro-cGMP - during microbial infections.


Marcus, Pinker, Ullman, Hollander, Rosen & Xu (1992) claim that when the irregular past form of a verb is known, it is immediately known to be the correct form, such that overregularizations only occur as speech errors, not as a genuine grammatical alternative; as a result, they argue, overregularization rates are, when carefully inspected, very low. In the present paper: (1) it is shown that even if overregularizations are a genuine grammatical alternative, overall rates in samples would still be low for most children; (2) careful analysis shows evidence for substantial overregularization periods in three longitudinal subjects ages 2; 5–5; 2 (Abe), 2; 3–5; 2 (Adam) and 2; 3–5; 0 (Sarah); (3) Abe's much higher rates follow from general developments in his past tense acquisition, in ways not consonant with Marcus et al.'s formulations.


The purpose of this study was to determine the socio-economic and intellectual factors affecting the imported meat preferences of consumers and to reveal the personal prioritized preferences of buyers consuming domestic meat and imported meat. The study was carried out in Izmir, the third city of Turkey, where face-to-face interviews were conducted in 300householdswhose occupants shop at hypermarkets where domestic and imported meat is sold. 28.7% of those participating in the study prefer imported meat. As a result of logistic regression, the approach related to the share of cattle meat in the total meat spend, the age factor and the belief that the price of imported cattle meat is low positively affect the probability of consuming imported meat. The consumption of chicken and lamb and marital status has negative effects. The religious belief factor and the perception of taste in those consuming imported meat take priority in the personal preferences of domestic meat consumers. Long-term policies that will ensure stability in the market as a whole are needed in the livestock sector in Turkey. Improvement of meat quality, classification and the rising awareness of consumers regarding quality and farming according to nutritional requirements and the development of certification also have significant importance.


In this paper, we consider the problem of output range analysis for feed-forward neural networks. The current approaches reduce the problem to satisfiability and optimization solving which are NP-hard problems, and whose computational complexity increases with the number of neurons in the network. We present a novel abstraction technique that constructs a simpler neural network with fewer neurons, albeit with interval weights called interval neural network (INN) which over-approximates the output range of the given neural network. We reduce the output range analysis on the INNs to solving a mixed integer linear programming problem. Our experimental results highlight the trade-off between the computation time and the precision of the computed output range.


Rm 8 is the pauline chapter containing much more than the others, soteriological expressions that throughout centuries had great influence not only on the presentation of the Apostle's theology but also on the soteriology in general itself. It is interesting to notice that the exegetical studies, until now, pay less attention to Rm 8 than to the other chapters of the Letter. For the A. of this exegetical research, it seems that in the context of Rm 8, it lacks above all a detailed study on that fundamental soteriological tensions that has been called, after O. Cullmann, the "already" ant the "not yet" of the soteria. Consequently, in this study, in taking account of the present state of the exegetic research, tha A. attempts to determine, exegetically, which soteriological categories have been adpted in Rm 8 to express, at the same time, the "already" and the "not yet" of the salvation.


Foreign Labor migration has lured to Nepalese and huge numbers of youths left the country daily for jobs abroad. Mainly unemployment is the cause that has encouraged people for foreign labour migration on one hand; it too has been a global issue on the other. With globalization and liberalization, the trend of going people from one place to another has intensified. Today, foreign employment among both male and female has become a significant aspect in strengthening the country's economy. The study entitled as Remittance: Its Impact and Utilization Trend (A Case Study of Returned Migrant Women of Kathmandu Valley) has been conducted to analyze the role of remittance. For this noble cause, researcher has adapted exploratory and descriptive research design where purposive sampling has been applied along with proper interpretation of both qualitative and quantitative data. This study has tried to provide a clear picture of contribution of Nepalese Women migrant Workers for supporting their families. The significant factor of remittances and changes felt by the migrants are highlighted throughout the text. Researcher hopes that the description, findings, conclusion and recommendation of the research will be useful to the agencies which are programming on the issues, academicians, students and others and will increase consciousness of the migrant workers, their families and the agencies which support women to send them to foreign lands safely.


The perceived color of an illuminated object depends not only on its intrinsic color or spectral reflectivity, but also on the power spectrum of the light source. In this chapter, we will study some of the most important light sources used in colorimetric studies. General descriptions of light sources can be found in many publications (Elenbaas, 1972; Eby and Levin, 1979; Malacara and Morales, 1988; LaRocca, 1995; IESNA, 2000). 2.2 Blackbody Radiation and Color Temperature Any nonmonochromatic light source can be characterized by its spectral power distribution, which is the total amount of power that it emits in a small unit interval of wavelength or frequency. Different curves are obtained in both of these cases, but the most frequently used is the power per unit of wavelength interval. A blackbody is one that has no color, that is, one that looks black because it absorbs all of the light that falls on its surface, such as a piece of carbon. A blackbody at the temperature of absolute zero (0 K on the Kelvin scale, or −273.15 °C) looks perfectly black, since it emits no light. If a blackbody is heated, it will become luminous, with a radiance and color that depends on the temperature. It looks red at about 1000 K (727 °C), yellow at about 1500 K (1227 °C), white at 4500 K (4227 °C), and bluish-white at about 6500 K (6227 °C). Further details are described in Chapter 5 in Fig. 5.10. Figure 2.1 shows how the spectral radiance and the color of a blackbody change with the temperature, as given by the well-known blackbody radiation law. Its spectral radiance L (λ) is given by (2.1) where h is Planck's constant, k is Boltzmann's constant, c is the speed of light, λ is the wavelength, and T is the absolute temperature. The wavelength at which the peak of radiation occurs is given by Wien's displacement law, which can be derived from the blackbody radiation law (2.2) and is represented by the red line in Fig. 2.1. Using this law, the temperature of an incandescent body, such as a star or an object in an oven, can be estimated from its color.


Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to identify factors that have been affecting the increase of transhipment (T/S) cargoes of the port of Busan and to explore how these factors can be utilised more effectively to attract and increase T/S cargoes through the development of a port choice model using the technique of system dynamics (SD). To clarify the reason why T/S cargoes have increased in the port of Busan, several steps have been taken as follows.

The first step was to design a quantitative model to explain the development of T/S cargoes during the last decade. The second step was to define dependent and independent variables for multiple regressions after testing variable significance. For this, data collection and the accuracy of validation have been achieved by using the direct interview procedure involving experienced experts from both Korean and foreign shipping companies. After validating the model with the collected data, the final step was to find variables that confidently explain the model.

It is found that two variables are clearly identified as core factors that describe well the development of T/S cargoes in the port of Busan: 'Mohring effect' and total cost. Further, it is strongly recommended, through this empirical study, that an incentive scheme be changed to the way in which more feeder vessels rather than mother vessels can reduce their direct costs to call at the port of Busan.

Based on regression analysis, it is also found that the sensitivity model for transhipment cargo is useful for dynamic forecasting in changing the cost factor and Mohring factor with time-series technique.


Using our recently developed in situ transmission electron microscopy techniques, we revealed that the FCC structured Ni nanowires with diameter of about 30 nm possess ultra-large strain plasticity. Dynamic complex dislocation activities mediated the large strain bent-plasticity and they were monitored at atomic scale in real time. The bent-induced strain gradient allows studying the strain effects on dislocation mediated plasticity. We also explored the deformation techniques to more general cases, the nano thin films. An example of tensile Pt ultra-thin film is presented.


This paper re-examines the social versus private value of lawsuits when both injurers and victims can take care. The basic conclusions of that literature remain valid in this context: the private and social values generally differ, and there is no necessary relationship between them, meaning that there may be either too many or too few suits. Introducing the possibility of victim care does, however, alter the calculation of the deterrent effect of lawsuits. In particular, because allowing suits tends to reduce the incentives for victims to invest in precaution, the social value of prohibiting suits increases in direct relation to the productivity of victim care in lowering accident risk.


Ship strikes are a major cause of anthropogenic mortality for the endangered North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacialis. Year-round data on animal presence are critical to man- aging ship strike mortality. Marine autonomous recording units were deployed throughout the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS, Massachusetts Bay, USA) for 13 mo from January 2006 to February 2007 and on Jeffreys Ledge (JL, Gulf of Maine, USA) for 7 mo from November 2004 to May 2005 to determine whether passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can improve information on right whale occurrence. Automated detection and manual review were used to determine presence and absence of right whale up-calls. In SBNMS, up-calls were detected year round, except during July and August, and calling rates were highest from January through May, peaking in April. In JL, up-calls occurred throughout all recording months, with the highest numbers from November through February. Up-calls were heard extensively in the win- tertime throughout SBNMS and JL, suggesting that these areas are important overwintering grounds for right whales. Additionally, up-calls showed a strong diel trend in both areas, with sig- nificantly more calls occurring during twilight than dark and light periods. These data indicate that right whales are present more often and over longer time periods in the western Gulf of Maine than previously thought using conventional visual techniques. Finally, this study demon- strates the utility of PAM in providing a detailed and long-term picture of right whale presence in an area that poses a significant risk of anthropogenic mortality.


Introduction: We do not think of ordinary people as preoccupied with such difficult and profound questions as: What is truth? What is authority? To whom do I listen? What counts for me as evidence? How do I know what I know? Yet to ask ourselves these questions and to reflect on our answers is more than an intellectual exercise, for our basic assumptions about the nature of truth and reality and the origins of know ledge shape the way we see the world and ourselves as participant in it. They affect our definitions of ourselves, they way we interact with others, our public and private personae, our sense of control over life events, our teahcing and learning, and our conceptions of morality. (Belenky et al, 1986, p. 3) This is the opening paragraph of Women's Ways of Knowing. It could well be found in some other teacher material prepared for Philosophy for Children. It is this theme, the theme of the importance of asking questions which help us to understand self, voice and mind and are therefore basic issues within teaching and thinking which ties together the three books under discussion in the Book Review Section. Women's Ways of Knowing is the first book under consideration. It is the broadest in scope and raises the most significant questions. Learning How to Learn is next considered. It presents research by Joseph Novak and D. Bob Gowin on two specific approaches to learning to learn. Finally, a volume edited by Robert Sternberg called Concepts of Giftedness ends the Review Section.


Background Diabetic foot ulcers are one disabling complication of diabetes mellitus. Pirfenidone (PFD) is a potent modulator of extracellular matrix. Modified diallyl disulfide oxide (M-DDO) is an antimicrobial and antiseptic agent. Aim To evaluate efficacy of topical PFD + M-DDO in a randomized, double-blind trial versus ketanserin in the treatment of noninfected chronic DFU. Methods Patients received PFD + M-DDO or ketanserin for 6 months. Relative ulcer volume (RUV) was measured every month; biopsies were taken at baseline and months 1 and 2 for histopathology and gene expression analysis for COL-1α, COL-4, KGF, VEGF, ACTA2 (α-SMA), elastin, fibronectin, TGF-β1, TGF-β3, HIF-1α, and HIF-1β. Results Reduction of median RUV in the PFD + M-DDO group was 62%, 89.8%, and 99.7% at months 1–3 and 100% from months 4 to 6. Ketanserin reduced RUV in 38.4%, 56%, 60.8%, 94%, 94.8%, and 100% from the first to the sixth month, respectively. Healing score improved 4.5 points with PFD + M-DDO and 1.5 points with ketanserin compared to basal value. Histology analysis revealed few inflammatory cells and organized/ordered collagen fiber bundles in PFD + M-DDO. Expression of most genes was increased with PFD + M-DDO; 43.8% of ulcers were resolved using PFD + M-DDO and 23.5% with ketanserin. Conclusion PFD + M-DDO was more effective than ketanserin in RUV reduction.


Drought stress during generative stage might reduce soybean yields up to 90%. This problem can be minimized by manipulating the environment or using tolerant varieties. A glasshouse research was done to evaluate the effect of drought stress on agronomic and physiologic characteristics of black grain soybean at the Indonesian Legumes and Tuber Crops Research Institute, Malang, from August to November 2010. Twenty genotypes of black grain soybean were evaluated under 100% (optimum) and 50% of field capacity (drought stress). The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The results showed that drought stress did not affect flowering dates and physiological maturity of pods, but significantly reduced plant height, shoot and root dry weight, root volume, number of branches, number of fertile nodes, and number of filled pods. The highest reduction was on shoot dry weight (70%) and number of filled pods (43%). Drought stress reduced transpiration rates and seed yield by 40% and 32-60%, respectively. Generally, soybean genotypes that had high transpiration rates under drought condition were more tolerant to drought. The highest average of soybean yields were found on genotypes AYT10-11 (6.20 g/plant) and AYT-10-16 (6.14 g/plant), and both were tolerant to drought stress with yield reductions 34.3% and 49.1%, respectively. The tolerance genotypes was mainly because roots were able to absorb more water under the drought stress conditions (3.29 l and 2.90 l, respectively) and had high water use efficiencies (2.99 and 2.85 mg seed/l, respectively). Genotype AYT10-3 showed a high tolerance to drought with 31.9% yield reduction and a lower transpiration rate under drought condition (2.60 l) than genotypes AYT10-11 and AYT-10-16, but higher in water use efficiency (3.11 mg seed/liter). However, AYT10-3 had a low yield (5 g/plant) and smaller seed size (8.9 g/100 seeds). Variety Detam 1 and Malika was each moderately sensitive to drought stress. The yields of these varieties were reduced by 46% and 51%, respectively, under drought stress condition.


The particle-particle random phase approximation (pp-RPA) and the particle-particle Tamm-Dancoff approximation (pp-TDA) are applied to the challenging conical intersection problem. Because they describe the ground and excited states on the same footing and naturally take into account the interstate interaction, these particle-particle methods, especially the pp-TDA, can correctly predict the dimensionality of the conical intersection seam as well as describe the potential energy surface in the vicinity of conical intersections. Though the bond length of conical intersections is slightly underestimated compared with the complete-active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) theory, the efficient particle-particle methods are promising for conical intersections and nonadiabatic dynamics.


This article's main goal is to analyze how the evolution of organizational culture can impact business performance. A theoretical framework was developed based on a review of the literature relating to organizational culture and family business succession management models. A single case study methodology was adopted based on primary and secondary data obtained through documentary research, participant observation and interviews at Guapo Loco, a Brazilian chain of Mexican restaurants / fun bars, which is a family company and was founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1996. We focused on its leader's trajectory and its implications for the life cycle of the family business, the founder's dream and vision, succession and cultural management difficulties. We conclude that it is possible for an organization to become trapped by its cultural formation. We will see that as it reaches maturity, the organizational, family and shareholder dimensions need to adapt in a similar fashion. At this stage, the organizational culture may become dysfunctional, jeopardizing the organization's survival.


The main points of the recommendations on use of surfactant for respiratory distress syndrome are reported in the article. In particular the aspects of why to administer it, when to give it and what kind of surfactant to use as well as who should inject it and where are analysed in agreement with the data of literature and the experience of the author.


Energy consumption in heaters of city gate stations is considerable and high quality refined gas is used for combustion in these heaters. Due to the ascendant rate of fuel cost and also environmental laws; analysis, redesign, renovation and maintenance of indirect water bath heaters is of paramount importance. Because of high amount of oxygen or fuel entered into combustion chamber of the heaters as well as high temperature of stack, these heaters usually work in a low efficiently. This could be due to a low performance of burner, an inappropriate control of combustion air and an incorrect size of the heaters. Finding a proper way to control the combustion and to improve the efficiency in heaters of city gate stations located at Arjestan (a city of Iran in Ardabil province) is the main purpose of this study. By adjusting the length of flame proportional to the combustion chamber, control of air/fuel ratio and installation of a barometric damper, 10% increase in combustion efficiency and 30% increase in overall efficiency of heaters are obtained.


Orbital rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common malignant orbital tumor of child-hood originating from mesenchymal cells. The presenting symptom is usually acute onset unilateral proptosis. The rapidly progressive course of the findings may resemble infectious and inflammatory orbital diseases. Radiological imaging and histopathological examinations are crucial for differential diagnosis. The main goal of treatment with a multidisciplinary approach is to control both local and distant spread of the tumor and to prevent further damage. With the introduction of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the treatment, the overall survival rate has in-creased. Thus, aggressive surgical approach for complete removal of the tumor has been abandoned. Abstract


AbstractIn 2001 a development program named FondeAgro was implemented in the northern region of Nicaragua with the aim to reduce poverty by rural development. During a ten-year period peasants in the departments of Jinotega and Matagalpa received expert assistance on farming in order to improve their livelihoods and create sustainable businesses as small- and medium- scale peasants.This study aims to present the reality of coffee producing farmers who participated in FondeAgro, ending in 2011. Research is made on if and how farmers continue with methods learned during the program and its effects on production- and livelihood development. Existing reports present the implementation of the program and farmers' abilities to adapt and work with new methods, though this stretches only until the end of the program, 2011. Accordingly, there is no information on how farmers' lives appear after the program's end, why this research is carried through.A field study was conducted in the municipality El Cua, department of Jinotega in northern Nicaragua in 2012. In order to visualize the complex pattern of poverty, access to or lack of capital assets the sustainable livelihoods framework is used for analysis. To further elucidate the effects of the development program and attainment of goals, a manual on development interventions by Sida is used as well.The conclusion of this research on the development program FondeAgro is that the effects of the program are positive and negative, differing mainly depending on farmers being small- or medium-scale producers. Many farmers have improved their livelihoods through their participation in FondeAgro but for some farmers there is no change to previous life situation. What seems to be decisive in order to continue with methods learned is what type of assistance that has been given to each farmer during the program years as well as possibilities to participate in cooperatives. The methods used to achieve the objectives of the program have not given the results hoped for and many farmers are still facing a future in severe povertyKeywords: Nicaragua, FondeAgro, agriculture, farmers, livelihoods, intervention


Abstract The aim of the study is to illuminate a teacher's conceptions of quality expressed through verbal and non-verbal actions in relation to summative assessments of dance knowledge. The following research questions are considered in the study: What conceptions of quality emerge during grade conferences? In what ways do teacher's conceptions of quality reflect knowledge hierarchies? How do the teacher's and student's conceptions of quality relate to each other? To grasp the phenomenon, material was gathered during observations in a Swedish upper secondary school and from the teacher's written reflections. Individual grading conversations were observed between the teacher and ten students attending a course called Dance technique 1. In the analytical process, the phenomenon was seen, broadened out, varied, and then condensed into two themes: conceptions of quality expressed through the teacher's focus on abilities and conceptions of quality expressed through views on the progression of dance knowledge.


When last commented on in theArchivestwo years ago, 1 the diabetic renal-retinal syndrome was viewed as a usually serious and often devastating complication of long-standing diabetes for which near-term improvement in prognosis was likely. At that time, it was noted that about half of insulindependent diabetics experience renal failure in a mean of 20 years. Survival of treated uremic diabetics was dismal, with only one in five patients surviving beyond two years of peritoneal dialysis and about one in two living longer than three years after a cadaveric kidney transplant or when sustained by hemodialysis. Interest in diabetic nephropathy since then has been intensified by numerous articles indicating that glomerulosclerosis, the major renal pathological finding in protracted diabetes, is a consequence of hyperglycemia per se. Evidence supporting this contention is drawn from two sources—animal models of diabetes and the fate of renal allografts from nondiabetic donors to diabetic


Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a worldwide phenomenon with significant public health relevance for both married and unmarried individuals. The focus of IPV research in India is on married women, a significant proportion of who cite having experienced IPV. Though adolescents engaging in dating relationships face many of the same risk factors for violence that married women face, literature from diverse populations is limited. This review sought to assess the current literature related to premarital romantic partnerships and/or sexual activity among youth in India to determine gaps in knowledge related to intimate partner violence.

Utilizing various combinations of search terms, a final sample of 13 articles was compiled based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The final sample of articles was reviewed for content related to attitudes and behaviors of adolescents regarding premarital romantic partnerships and/or sexual activity.

The literature suggests that youth in India are engaging in premarital romantic partnerships and/or sexual activity despite conservative social norms that discourage interaction with the opposite sex outside of marriage. However, violence among youth in India, particularly within their premarital relationships, is currently an understudied phenomenon.

There is reason to believe that adolescents engaging in premarital romantic partnerships and/or sexual activity in India are facing IPV within these relationships. As the current literature does not address this issue, future work must make an effort to assess the occurrence and correlates of violence within these relationships to best meet the needs of Indian youth and encourage the formation of healthy relationships.


The A. brings a survey of the material on folk medicine, which was collected by the field teams of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum and their collaborators between 1948 and 1984. Most of it originates from Dolenjska, Primorska, Stajerska, and Notranjska. The A. introduces the reader to the hardly known material on folk medicine, which is kept by the Documentation Department of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, and which is largely in the form of type-written copies of field notes. The following data are recorded: year, author, place(s) of notes as well as the diseases and treatment of people and animals with home-made natural substances, which were used in the countryside until the mid 20 th century.


In 1965, James Lovelock published a general statement, based on thermodynamic chemical equilibrium principles, about how to detect extant or extinct life on a planet other than Earth. Nearly 50 years later, it is possible to make such measurements with robotic missions such as current and future Mars rovers, and probes to sample icy plumes of Enceladus or Europa. We make a specific recommendation that certain characteristic patterns in the composition of lipid hydrocarbons can only result from a biological process, because the signal arises from a universal requirement related to lipid bilayer fluidity and membrane stability. Furthermore, the pattern can be preserved over millions of years, and instrumentation is already available to be incorporated into flight missions.


The genus Hypoxis L. (Hypoxidaceae) in the East Tropical A complete key with full descriptions and distributions of all known Hypoxis taxa found in the East Tropical Africa is presented in the monograph. The morphology of all species, subspecies and varieties is described, including such important taxonomic characters for this genus like tuber flesh color, tunic type, indumentum and seed testa sculpture. A succulent leaf structure is described for H. kilimanjarica var. prostrata. The anatomical studies were conducted as a part of taxonomical analysis. They have positively evaluated a taxonomic significance of leaf anatomy characters, such as succulent structure, occurrence of bulliform cells in epidermis outside the keel zone, type and distribution of trichomes. The studies of the Hypoxis leaf anatomy added new data concerning anatomical differentiation of the cataphylls and the inner leaves. Also differentiated mesophyll and simultaneous presence of different types of stomata on one leaf are reported. It has been shown that in some species mucilage canals are present in the inner leaves and that this character is not constant. The number of vascular bundles, which can be determined only on the basis of a leaf section, is useful only in species with a small number of veins, not increasing with a plant age. Because of lack of constancy in distribution, number of stomata accessory cells cannot be used as a diversifying character for the East African species of Hypoxis. The wax crystals are revealed to exist in many species of Hypoxis. The anatomical characters of scapes were also studied in a taxonomic context. A sclerenchyma distribution, as well as number of vascular bundles can be used for a species determination. The presence of sclerenchyma prevents the scapes from bending down after anthesis. The studies of phenology revealed that there are two groups of taxa, one with a resting period and the other without it. It is connected with a climate in which the species occurs. The study of distribution maps of the species occurring in the East Africa are provided for this area, as well as for their entire range. This new knowledge, along with a revision of literature data, led to a new conclusion as to a number of all Hypoxis species in Africa, which is now estimated to be 55. The revision demonstrates that distribution of many of the Hypoxis species is connected with White's phytochoria. It proves that not only South Africa, but also the Zambesian Region is a very important center of diversity of this genus. The number of endemic taxa of Hypoxis for the East Tropical Africa is very low, including only one species and one subspecies. Additionally, a study of vertical ranges of Hypoxis is presented. It reveals that most of the species in East Africa grow in the mountains and they show preferences of dispersal in particular altitudinal levels. The analysis of the vertical distribution within the entire ranges of different taxa has showed differences in the altitudinal position depending on the geographic location. The human influence on Hypoxis is studied in terms of their use in folk medicine and believes. Most of the species of Hypoxis survive quite well in East Africa, being a visible component of various types of grasslands. Some species however are under threat of extinction. This is due to their incapability of surviving in changed habitats, especially in shade of cultivated plants. Another threat is a large-scale collection of species believed to cure the HIV, or sold as a substitute of similar taxa, assumed to possess such qualities. The IUCN categories are proposed for the East African taxa of Hypoxis.


AimThe main aim of the study is to survey about the type of obturation technique that is most commonly followed by the students in dental colleges of Tamil Nadu. ObjectiveTo Investigate the endodontic profile of students and understand the most common obturation technique that is followed among students and the reason behind them following that particular technique. BackgroundThe attitudes, techniques and different appro endodontic treatment reflects the quality of the root canal treatment performed by students in the dental colleges.The long term success of endodontic therapy depends not only on preoperative status of the pulp and periapical tissues but also on a number of procedure related factors. ReasonTo understand the attitude of various students in dental colleges towards various obturation techniques.


Abstract We introduce a simple but flexible mechanism to learn an intermediate plan to ground the generation of abstractive summaries. Specifically, we prepend (or prompt) target summaries with entity chains—ordered sequences of entities mentioned in the summary. Transformer-based sequence-to-sequence models are then trained to generate the entity chain and then continue generating the summary conditioned on the entity chain and the input. We experimented with both pretraining and finetuning with this content planning objective. When evaluated on CNN/DailyMail, XSum, SAMSum, and BillSum, we demonstrate empirically that the grounded generation with the planning objective improves entity specificity and planning in summaries for all datasets, and achieves state-of-the-art performance on XSum and SAMSum in terms of rouge. Moreover, we demonstrate empirically that planning with entity chains provides a mechanism to control hallucinations in abstractive summaries. By prompting the decoder with a modified content plan that drops hallucinated entities, we outperform state-of-the-art approaches for faithfulness when evaluated automatically and by humans.


REE and other trace elements in the altered marbles, massive skarns and ores, as well as garnet and quartz were determined in order to examine the behaviors of trace elements during hydrothermal alteration. It is demonstrated that the high-field-strength (HFS) elements Zr, Hf, Th and Nb were immobile while other trace elements were mobile during the formation of skarns and related deposits. REE and ore-forming elements such as Cu and Ag in hydrothermally-altered marbles and skarns were provided primarily by hydrothermal fluids. In the direction transverse of the strata, the more deeply the marbles were altered, the higher the total REE abundance and the larger the negative Eu anomalies would be. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of skarns are similar to those of the marbles, but the former are distinguished by much higher REE contents and more remarkable negative Eu anomalies. Those patterns were apparently not inherited from the marble protolith, but were controlled by garnets, which were determined by the hydrothermal solutions involved in the infiltration metasomatism. The hydrothermal fluids are characterized by having slightly right-hand dipping REE patterns, being enriched in LREE and having strongly negative Eu anomalies. The uptake of REE from hydrothermal fluids during the growth of garnet crystals resulted in the garnets having similar REE patterns to the hydrothermal fluids. Based on the spatial variation of REE in skarns and the structures of the hosting strata, we can get a better understanding of the transport path and pattern of the fluids involved in the formation of skarns and their related deposits. REE geochemistry investigation can help elucidate the genesis of skarns and skarn-related deposits.


We study the time-asymptotic behavior of linear hyperbolic systems under partial dissipation which is localized in suitable subsets of the domain. More precisely, we recover the classical decay rates of partially dissipative systems satisfying the stability condition (SK) with a time-delay depending only on the velocity of each component and the size of the undamped region. To quantify this delay, we assume that the undamped region is a bounded space-interval and that the system without space-restriction on the dissipation satisfies the stability condition (SK). The former assumption ensures that the time spent by the characteristics of the system in the undamped region is finite and the latter that whenever the damping is active the solutions decay. Our approach consists in reformulating the system into n coupled transport equations and showing that the time-decay estimates are delayed by the sum of the times each characteristics spend in the undamped region.


Summary The paper describes in outline the cooling water intake tunnel for Peterhead Power Station from its inception in the latter part of 1973 to its completion in 1976. The choice of site investigation, the results thereof, the design specification for the tunnel tender enquiry together with subsequent developments during the construction phase are covered. The very weathered nature of the granite rock mass through which this tunnel was driven presented problems in interpretation of the site investigation and in the design and construction of the works which are of a fundamental nature. The more important of these aspects are dealt with in the paper. Detailed comparisons are made between the rock as encountered in the tunnel and conditions predicted by the site investigation. Reasons are given to account for discrepancies between predicted and in situ conditions.


Aim To examine trends in female lung cancer incidence. Introduction Lung cancer incidence in men has been decreasing for the past 2–3 decades, while for females it has increased. Furthermore, to achieve the national cancer mortality target reduction, it is essential that lung cancer incidence reduces as this is a major contributor to the mortality target. Mortality trends closely mirror that of incidence due to the poor prognosis of lung cancer. Methodology The UK Association of Cancer Registries dataset was used to identify female lung cancer cases diagnosed between 1985 and 2006 in England and its constituent Regions. Three year rolling directly age-standardised rates (standardised to the European population) was calculated. National deprivation quintiles were used, where deprivation was based on the income domain of Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2007. The postcode of residence of each patient was used to assign the relevant deprivation quintile. Results England lung cancer incidence for females significantly increased (p<0.01) from 1985 to 1987 (32.3 per 100 000) and 2004–2006 (35.4 per 100 000). Incidence and trends across Regions varies significantly. Further analysis at Network/LA level shows even more extreme variation in trends. By 2030, it is anticipated that lung cancer incidence will be similar for both males and females in the South West Region. In the past 20 years the inequalities gap for females is widening. Incidence rates have increased in the most deprived population (30%) of the South West, while remaining relatively stable in the most affluent population of the region. Each Region shows different inequalities. Conclusion Smoking prevention is the key to reducing lung cancer. A lot of effort to encourage people to give up smoking has focused on men. Evidence of increasing female rates, more so in deprived areas; show that targeted efforts to support women need to be increased in order for large health gains to be achieved.


Abstract Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is a novel neurotherapeutic intervention in development for the treatment of major affective disorders. Like other neurotherapeutic strategies such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a primary interest will be to monitor the associated neurocognitive effects. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the available data on the neurocognitive effects of MST. The authors performed two independent literature searches with the following terms terms: MST, magnetic, magnetic seizure therapy, depression, neurocognition, cognitive, preclinical. We included in this review a total of eleven articles that mentioned MST and neurocognition in the abstract. The articles were divided into three methodological domains that included virtual computer simulations, preclinical studies, and clinical investigations. Collectively, the available evidence suggests MST has little to no adverse cognitive effects. Specifically, virtual computer simulations found the magnetic field was localized to grey matter, and preclinical studies found no neurocortical or neurocognitive sequelae. Clinical investigations found MST to be associated with rapid reorientation and intact anterograde and retrograde memory. Future investigations using translational methods are warranted to confirm these findings and to further determine the effects of MST on neurocognitive functions.


Doodling is a way of passing the time when bored by a lecture or telephone call. Does it improve or hinder attention to the primary task? To answer this question, 40 participants monitored a monotonous mock telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of the group was randomly assigned to a 'doodling' condition where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the telephone call. The doodling group performed better on the monitoring task and recalled 29% more information on a surprise memory test. Unlike many dual task situations, doodling while working can be beneficial. Future research could test whether doodling aids cognitive performance by reducing daydreaming. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Structural reductions in vessel luminal diameters in response to elevated pressure may play a role in the elevation of peripheral resistance generally observed in hypertension. In the present study, a theoretical model is used to simulate the effect of increased driving pressure on flow resistance in microvascular networks. The angioarchitecture (lengths and diameters of all segments, topology) of microvascular networks (n=6) in the rat mesentery was recorded by intravital microscopy. The model simulation of vascular adaptation in response to local wall shear stress, transmural pressure, and tissue Po2 was used to predict changes in network pressure drop and flow resistance for a given change of driving pressure (&Dgr;P). For &Dgr;P increasing from 15% to 190% of the normotensive value, a 3.3-fold increase in flow resistance was observed (structural autoregulation). If vascular reactivity to pressure was suppressed, the resistance increase was abolished. Suppressing pressure sensitivity also led to a rise in mean capillary pressure at normal driving pressure from 23.8±7.3 mm Hg to 34±6.9 mm Hg. These results indicate that low capillary pressure levels as well as structural autoregulation depend on vascular responses to circumferential wall stress (corresponding to pressure). This tendency of peripheral vascular beds to increase flow resistance for a given increase of bulk flow or driving pressure may amplify and stabilize blood pressure elevation in the development of hypertension.


Background: Unhealthy diet is a common risk factor threatening dental and general health. Conflicting dietary advice persists among different healthcare professions, despite some shared goals, causing mystification to patients and the public. This qualitative study aimed to understand the perspectives of dentists, physicians, and dietitians in targeting unhealthy diet as a common risk factor, their experiences and barriers in addressing conflicting dietary advice, and possible ways for improving cross-professional coordination. Methods and Findings: A purposive sample of 40 dentists, physicians, and dieticians was recruited from different service sectors and joined in semi-structured interviews, which were subjected to thematic content analysis. Participants supported the common risk factor approach and suggested improving cross-professional cooperation by maximizing potentials of multidisciplinary care, engaging auxiliary/allied staff, refining electronic systems, and incorporating cutting-edge communication technologies. Inconsistent dietary advice stemmed from different treatment focuses and lack of mutual understanding and well-followed guidelines. Inconsistencies can be resolved by striking a balance for the patient's best interest, well-informing patients, respecting patients' autonomy, acquiring cross-professional knowledge, and conforming to shared guidelines. Conclusions: Views solicited from three healthcare professions endorsed the importance of cross-professional partnership in preventing/managing dietrelated health problems. Educators, professional bodies, and administrators share the responsibility to dispel conflicting health messages and promote better practice in dietary counselling.


Production of direct seeded onion is constrained by weeds and complete loss of crop yield is not
uncommon. Field trials were undertaken to study the influence of sequential applications of the
herbicides pendimethalin, oxadiazon and their tank mixtures on efficacy and selectivity to direct
seeded onion. Experiments were undertaken at the Gezira and Shendi Research Stations. Onion (cv
Saggai) seeds were planted on ridges. Grassy weeds were predominant at the Gezira Research Farm
(62 and 69%), while at Shendi Research Farm broad-leaved weeds were the most common (71%).
Pendimethalin at 1.19 and 1.79 kg a. i. ha-1, applied at planting, effected excellent and persistent
control (85-100%) of grassy weeds. The herbicide at the low rate displayed inconsistent performance
on broad-leaved weeds across seasons and sites, while at the high rate it was toxic to the crop.
Unrestricted weed growth reduced the onion bulb diameter by 55- 61% and bulb yield by 86-93%.
Pendimethalin at 1.19 kg a. i. ha-1, applied at planting, followed by oxadiazon and/or their tank
mixtures 2 or 4 weeks after crop emergence provided adequate weed control and significantly
increased bulb size and yield. The bulb diameter and yield, obtained, were often comparable to those
of the weeded control.
Keywords: Direct seeded onion, weed, oxadiazon, pendimethalin, broad-leaved weeds, grasses


When developing a software, one of the most important aspects for success of any software project is to get the requirements right. The success of any software project depends on the quality of the requirements. As the projects change over the time, we try to study the requirement process in different type of projects focusing on classical, web-based and open source projects. The requirements dictate all other software engineering processes which in turn influence the Productivity, Quality and Risk. The requirements engineering steers the whole process of the software development to develop the right software. Requirements engineering not only helps the various software process teams but also helps the management to meet the constraints of cost, time and resources. Also requirements can help us to trace the quality of the software product.


Annealing graphene oxide under an ammonia environment provides a facile approach to defunctionalise this material while simultaneously enabling nitrogen incorporation en route to the preparation of chemically derived graphene. Here, we use X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) in conjunction with near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy to probe both the global recovery of electronic structure in this material as well as to monitor evolution of the local structure of incorporated nitrogen atoms when graphene oxide is reduced under an ammonia gas environment at ambient and low pressures in the temperature range between 250 and 1000 °C. The local structure and extent of recovery of the π-conjugated framework is correlated to electrical conductivity measurements. Angle-resolved C K-edge NEXAFS spectra along with O K-edge NEXAFS and C 1s high-resolution XPS spectra suggest that hydroxyl and epoxide functional groups on the basal plane of graphene oxide are eliminated upon annealing to a temperature of 250 °C, bringing about substantial restoration of the π-conjugated framework of graphene. Furthermore, an increase in the in-plane orientation of constituent graphene oxide flakes is observed up to a temperature of 750 °C for annealing under both sets of conditions and is manifested as a greater spread in the intensity of the C K-edge π* resonance as a function of angle of incidence of the X-ray beam. Angle-resolved N K-edge NEXAFS spectra and high-resolution N 1s XPS spectra supplement the global view of recovery of π-conjugation with a local perspective of the chemical bonding environments of incorporated nitrogen atoms. Three distinct modes of nitrogen incorporation are evidenced: amine or nitrile like (N1), pyridinic (N2), and substitutional/graphitic (N3). The data suggest that nitrogen is initially incorporated as nitrile like functionalities at lower temperatures with these moieties protruding above and below the graphene basal plane; however, the nitrile and amine groups are subsequently transformed at higher temperatures through the elimination of oxygenated functional groups and reconstitution of the sp2-hybridized network to in-plane pyridinic and graphitic moieties. The latter two configurations are seen to substantially enhance the conductivity of reduced graphene oxide.


Plant stress is often expressed as a reduction in amount of biomass or leaf area index (LAI). In addition, stress may affect the plant pigment system, influencing the photosynthetic capacity of plants. Chlorophyll content is the main driver for this primary production. The chlorophyll content is indirectly related to the nitrogen (N) content. In this paper emphasis is on estimation of canopy chlorophyll content and N content using remote sensing techniques. Hyperspectral reflectance data representing a range of canopies were simulated using the PROSAIL radiative transfer model at a 1 nm sampling interval. Various indices were tested for estimating canopy chlorophyll content. Subsequently, tests with field data were performed for sampling locations within an extensively grazed fen meadow using ASD FieldSpec measurements and within a potato field with a Cropscan radiometer for estimating canopy N content. PROSAIL simulations showed that the red-edge chlorophyll index (CIred edge) was linearly related to the canopy chlorophyll content over the full range of potential values (R2=0.94) . In contrast, highly non-linear relationships of chlorophyll content with most traditional red-edge indices were found. At the study sites the CI2 was found to be a good and linear estimator of canopy N content (no chlorophyll was measured) for both the grassland site (R2=0.77) and for the potato field (R2=0.88) . The latter number refers to plots showing no "luxury" N consumption. However, for the full potato data set, including highly fertilized plants, an exponential relationship yielded a better fit (R2=0.85) as compared to a linear fit (R2=0.65) . Currently, this approach can, e.g., be applied with MERIS and Hyperion data and with the upcoming Sentinel-2 and -3 systems.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the clinical, histopathological, and immunohistochemical features of 17 cases of ocular surface xanthogranuloma (OSX) in dogs.

METHODS
Archived records from the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin (COPLOW) were searched for cases of canine OSX. Cases were evaluated for lipid-laden macrophages and Touton giant cells. Seventeen cases matching those criteria were identified (1993-2018). Clinical and epidemiological data were collected from the submission forms and additional follow-up survey.

RESULTS
Ocular surface xanthogranuloma in dogs presented as small bland nodules. OSX commonly occurred at the limbus (8/17) or cornea (4/17). Three of 17 affected animals were less than 1-year-old and the average age was 6.9 years (range 0.7-14 years). Fourteen of 17 cases did not report any lipid or metabolic abnormalities. Histologically, lesions were composed mainly of dense sheets of vacuolated lipid-laden macrophages and Touton giant cells with scant additional inflammatory cells and an intact overlying epithelium. No recurrence was noted in cases where complete surgical resection was achieved, and medical treatment either pre or post-resection led to only partial resolution.

CONCLUSIONS
Xanthogranulomas are histiocytic lesions characterized by abundant lipid-laden macrophages. The authors use the term, ocular surface xanthogranuloma, to describe nodules with rigidly defined cellular characteristics. Although these lesions share characteristics with human limbal xanthogranulomas, further investigation is needed to suggest the different subsets that have been reported in the medical literature. Complete surgical excision is the most effective treatment for OSX in dogs, and intralesional triamcinolone and topical steroids can be useful adjunctive therapies to surgery.


The Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) approached the Nursing Informatics Research Team (NIRT) with a request to collaborate and conduct a competency assessment for their organization. An online tool was developed to determine current technology in perioperative settings. This presentation shares the process used to conduct research that led to a method for assessing perioperative nurses' competencies skills in their practice as well as identified gaps in curricula that faculty could address. Both successes and areas for improvement are detailed. The outcome of the process demonstrated a need to understand what skills are being assessed as AORN did not know what technology existed or how existing equipment was being used.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of adjunctive interventions in individuals undergoing rapid maxillary expansion (RME).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, Scopus, LILACS, and Google Scholar were searched without restrictions up to June 2020. Trials involving participants undergoing orthopedic or surgical RME, along with adjunctive interventions, were included. Risk-of-bias assessments were performed using the Cochrane tool for randomized trials-2. The certainty level of evidence was assessed through the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation tool.

RESULTS
Six randomized clinical trials, with low to high risk of bias, were included. Low certainty of the evidence suggested that low-level laser facilitated opening of the midpalatal suture during the active phase of RME. Likewise, moderate certainty demonstrated that low-level laser accelerated the healing process of the suture during the retention phase. The clinical impact of this outcome, that is, stability and retention time, was not evaluated. Very low evidence indicated that osteoperforations along the midpalatal suture increased maxillary transverse skeletal gains in young adults undergoing RME. Low evidence suggested that platelet-rich plasma therapy did not minimize the vertical and thickness bone loss after RME in the short term.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on currently available information, the use of low-level laser associated with maxillary expansion seems to provide a more efficient suture opening and bone healing. Limited evidence suggests that osteoperforations improve the skeletal effects of RME in non-growing individuals. There are no adjunctive interventions capable of reducing the periodontal side effects of RME.


This paper is devoted to public services innovation in the municipal solid waste sector. It analyses the implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in the Bandeirantes and Sao Joao landfills in the municipality of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study is based on the concept of Public-Private Innovation Networks in services (ServPPINs). Using the ServPPIN concept it was possible to identify competence gaps affecting the stakeholders involved in these CDM projects. We focus in particular on those organisational and relational competence gaps that are likely to weaken innovation feasibility in services related to solid waste. In fact, innovation is closely linked to the development of new competences among service providers and users. For the most part, these will arise out of changes in interactions between actors-given that the projects in question include the coordination of various actors (public, private, and citizen).


Dynamic blockage of radio propagation paths between the user equipment (UE) and the 5G New Radio (NR) Base Station (BS) induces abrupt rate fluctuations that may lead to sub-optimal performance of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol. In this work, we characterize the effects of dynamic human blockage on TCP throughput at the 5G NR air interface. To this aim, we develop an analytical model that expresses the TCP throughput as a function of the round-trip time (RTT), environmental, and radio system parameters. Our results indicate that the blockage affects TCP throughput only when the RTT is comparable to the blocked and non-blocked state durations when the frequency of state changes is high. However, such conditions are not typical for dynamic body blockage environments allowing TCP to benefit from the high bandwidth of 5G NR systems fully.


Exascale supercomputers will have millions or even hundreds of millions of processing cores and the potential for nearly billion-way parallelism. Exascale compute and data storage architectures will be critically dependent on the interconnection network. The most popular interconnection network for current and future supercomputer systems is the torus (e.g., k-ary, n-cube). This paper focuses on the modeling and simulation of ultra-large-scale torus networks using Rensselaer's Optimistic Simulator System (ROSS). We compare real communication delays between our model and the actual torus network from the Blue Gene/L using 2,048 processors. Our performance experiments demonstrate the ability to simulate million to billion-node torus networks. The torus network model for a 16-million-node configuration shows a high degree of strong scaling when going from 1,024 cores to 32,768 cores on Blue Gene/L with a peak event-rate of nearly 5 billion events per second. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of our torus network model configured with 1-billion-nodes using up to 16,384 Blue Gene/L processors.


In recent years, computer-based testing (CBT) has grown in popularity, is increasingly being implemented across the United States, and will likely become the primary mode for delivering tests in the future. Although CBT offers many advantages over traditional paper-and-pencil testing, assessment experts, researchers, practitioners, and users have expressed concern about the comparability of scores between the two test administration modes. To help provide an answer to this issue, a meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the administration mode effects of CBTs and paper-and-pencil tests on K—12 student reading assessments. Findings indicate that the administration mode had no statistically significant effect on K—12 student reading achievement scores. Four moderator variables—study design, sample size, computer delivery algorithm, and computer practice—made statistically significant contributions to predicting effect size. Three moderator variables—grade level, type of test, and computer delivery method—did not affect the differences in reading scores between test modes.


Pituitary adenomas are common in the general population, and understanding their molecular basis is of great interest. Combining chip-based technologies with genealogy data, we identified germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) gene in individuals with pituitary adenoma predisposition (PAP). AIP acts in cytoplasmic retention of the latent form of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and also has other functions. In a population-based series from Northern Finland, two AIP mutations account for 16% of all patients diagnosed with pituitary adenomas secreting growth hormone and for 40% of the subset of patients who were diagnosed when they were younger than 35 years of age. Typically, PAP patients do not display a strong family history of pituitary adenoma; thus, AIP is an example of a low-penetrance tumor susceptibility gene.


African countries continue to face deepening food crises which have been accentuated by the global food, energy and financial crises. This situation is part of a long term structural problem: decades of under-investments in agricultural sector and poor policies of support for smallholder farmers who form the bulk of the farming population. The inability of these farmers to achieve a supply response when commodity prices were high and market access was less of a problem suggests that there are multiple sets of binding constraints that continue to limit the potential of agricultural growth to reduce food security and poverty on the continent. What the continent needs is a smallholder-based green revolution that can help raise agricultural productivity and lift millions out of poverty. Many challenges face the achievement of the green revolution in Africa. This paper reviews some of the historical trends that have hampered the performance of the agriculture sector. In addition, it reviews the impacts of more recent trends including the global financial crisis, public sector investments, inequities in global agricultural development policies, rush for agricultural lands by foreign investors, domestic commercial financing markets, climate change and emerging carbon markets. The paper argues that while opportunities for accelerated growth exists for African agriculture, new sets of policy instruments will be needed to support smallholder farmers to access new agricultural technologies, finance, reduce impacts of climate change and adopt sustainable land use practices that can allow them to benefit from emerging global carbon markets.


Cellular responses to drug treatment show tremendous variations. Elucidating mechanisms underlying these variations is critical for predicting therapeutic responses and developing personalized therapeutics. Using a small molecule screening approach, we discovered how a disease causing allele leads to opposing cell fates upon pharmacological perturbation. Diverse microtubule-depolymerizing agents protected mutant huntingtin-expressing cells from cell death, while being toxic to cells lacking mutant huntingtin or those expressing wild-type huntingtin. Additional neuronal cell lines and primary neurons from Huntington disease mice also showed altered survival upon microtubule depolymerization. Transcription profiling revealed that microtubule depolymerization induced the autocrine growth factor connective tissue growth factor and activated ERK survival signaling. The genotype-selective rescue was dependent upon increased RhoA protein levels in mutant huntingtin-expressing cells, because inhibition of RhoA, its downstream effector, Rho-associated kinase (ROCK), or a microtubule-associated RhoA activator, guanine nucleotide exchange factor-H1 (GEF-H1), all attenuated the rescue. Conversely, RhoA overexpression in cells lacking mutant huntingtin conferred resistance to microtubule-depolymerizer toxicity. This study elucidates a novel pathway linking microtubule stability to cell survival and provides insight into how genetic context can dramatically alter cellular responses to pharmacological interventions.


Oxygen‐to‐sulfur substitutions in DNA phosphate often enhance affinity for DNA‐binding proteins. Our previous studies have suggested that this effect of sulfur substitution of both OP1 and OP2 atoms is due to an entropic gain associated with enhanced ion pair dynamics. In this work, we studied stereospecific effects of single sulfur substitution of either the OP1 or OP2 atom in DNA phosphate at the Lys57 interaction site of the Antennapedia homeodomain–DNA complex. Using crystallography, we obtained structural information on the RP and SP diastereomers of the phosphoromonothioate and their interaction with Lys57. Using fluorescence‐based assays, we found significant affinity enhancement upon sulfur substitution of the OP2 atom. Using NMR spectroscopy, we found significant mobilization of the Lys57 side‐chain NH3+ group upon sulfur substitution of the OP2 atom. These data provide further mechanistic insights into the affinity enhancement by oxygen‐to‐sulfur substitution in DNA phosphate.


The aim of the present study is to assess the effects of different irrigation blades on the growth and yield of cauliflower cv. Verona CMS. The plants were cultivated in Red-yellow Latosol during the dry period (winter-spring 2014 and 2015), in the Cerrado-Amazon transition region, Middle-Northern of Mato Grasso State, Brazil. The reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was recorded through the Class A pan method by using tank coefficient of (Kp) 0.7795. We assessed the blades of 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120% evapotranspiration of the culture (ETc) by taking into account the cultivation coefficients (Kc) of 0.70 and 0.95 in the vegetative and reproductive phases. With regard to the morphometric variables of the plants (height, stem diameter and number of leaves) there were no significant interactions between assessment time (days after planting) and irrigation blades throughout the crop years. The hydric response functions presented higher yield at repositions from 80% to 100% of ETc. Variations in the irrigation blade did not influence the thermal demands for the inflorescence differentiation period or the inflorescence shape. Increased irrigated blade reduced water use efficiency: 7.4 and 12.4 kg of fresh mass per m³ of irrigated water.

 Key words: Irrigation management, water response function, degree-days, evapotranspiration.


ABSTRACT Idaszkin, Y.L.; Bortolus, A., and Bouza, P.J., 2014. Flooding effect on the distribution of native austral cordgrass Spartina densiflora in Patagonian salt marshes. Plant zonation is one of the most conspicuous ecological features of salt marshes worldwide. In Patagonian salt marshes the cordgrass Spartina alterniflora forms dense monospecific stands along the lowest marsh level, while the higher levels are dominated by Spartina densiflora or Sarcocornia perennis. In this study, we coupled field transplants combined with neighbor exclusion treatments and greenhouse experiments to evaluate the effect of submersion and waterlogged anoxic soil in the determination of the lower distribution limit of S. densiflora in Central Patagonian salt marshes within its native range. In the field experiment, no S. densiflora survived the frequent tidal submersion by approximately 2 m of seawater in the low marsh, independent of the S. alterniflora neighbor's presence, while in the greenhouse experiment, all plants were able to tolerate strongly reducing soil conditions. Our results suggest that the absence of S. densiflora in the low marsh level is a consequence of the effect of the submersion, independent of the presence of S. alterniflora neighbors and of the strong soil anoxia. Our results contribute to optimize the efforts addressed to control or eradicate this exotic species in salt marshes where it is invading.


Prickly Pear (PP) is often overlooked due to its' short shelf-life. Juicing may improve marketability but often affects quality, thereby warranting investigation. Purple PP (whole (WF) and flesh (FF)) was juiced using blenders; stick (SB) and jug (JB); and juicers; commercial (CJ) and cold-pressed (CP). Juices and methanolic (70%) pomace extracts were analysed for; bioactives; Total Phenolic (TPC; µgGAE/mL), Flavonoid (TFC; µgCE/mL) and Betalain Content (TBC; mg/100 g; Betacyanin; BE; Betaxanthin; IE); and antioxidant characteristics; DPPH, FRAP (µMTE) and vitamin C (mgAAE/mL). Juicing techniques had effects on phytochemicals in; juice: TPC (WF/FF; p = 0.022–0.025), TFC (FF; p = 0.034), Betacyanin (WF/FF; p = 0.029–0.026), FRAP (WF/FF; p = 0.016–0.024) and Vitamin C (WF/FF; p = 0.015–0.016); and pomace: TPC (WF/FF; p = 0.015), TBC (FF; p = 0.034), Betacyanin (FF; p = 0.047), Betaxanthin (FF; p = 0.017), DPPH (WF/FF; p = 0.016–0.024), FRAP (WF/FF; p = 0.015–0.023) and Vitamin C (WF/FF; p = 0.016–0.022). Processing-style (blend/juice) affected; TPC, DPPH and FRAP in juice and pomace. Overall, fruit-preparation (WF/FF) had minimal effects. Additionally, correlations existed between; juice TFC and TBC (p = 0.001; τ = −0.044); TBC and vitamin C (p = 0.001; τ = −0.637); pomace TPC and DPPH (p = 0.003; τ = 0.440), TPC and vitamin C (p = 0.011; τ = 0.440); and TFC and FRAP (p = 0.001; τ = 0.519). The best methods overall for juice were SB (FRAP), JB (TPC, TBC), CJ (TFC) and CP (DPPH, VitC); and for pomace extracts; SB(FRAP), JB (TPC, VitC), CJ(TFC), and CP (TBC, DPPH).


Orchid viruses are capable of causing flower deformities and death, which can se‐ verely impact the horticultural industry and wild orchid conservation. Here we show how two of these quickly evolving viruses display few genetic differences since their first emergence, across countries and host plants. This is concerning as, despite bios‐ ecurity regulations to control the movement of orchids and their related pathogens, these patterns are suggestive of rapid and regular international movement of horti‐ cultural material. Poor biosecurity practices could threaten the orchid horticultural industry and result in the accidental translocation or reintroduction of infected plant material intended to recover wild populations.


Advanced combustion engine concepts, such as the homogeneous charge compression ignition engine, rely on chemical kinetics for their proper operation. Accurate prediction and control of auto ignition time scales are therefore key issues. Real-time prediction and control of ignition using detailed chemical kinetic models is difficult due to the large size of such mechanisms that calls for high computational costs. Ignition models in the form of correlations can overcome these challenges, as long as they are able to predict the time scales that would be obtained using a detailed chemical kinetic model. In this work, a correlation approach based on detailed chemical models is used to simplify the determination of chemical time scales associated with kinetically controlled combustion events. Detailed combustion mechanisms for biodiesel surrogate (methyl decanoate), gasoline surrogates (isooctane/n-heptane/toluene), bio-alcohol (n-octanol) and ethanol/gasoline surrogate blends from the literature are used to generate ignition databases for correlation development, taking into account complex ignition behavior such as pressure-dependent limits of negative temperature coefficient kinetics. We further employ the Livengood–Wu integral method to assess the ability of the resulting correlations to predict ignition in cases where the temperature and pressure are changing prior to ignition. The integral method is compared with results of a single-zone adiabatic homogeneous charge compression ignition engine model simulation using the detailed chemical kinetic model. It is found that the simplified correlations accurately reproduce the predictions of the detailed chemical kinetic models at an insignificant computational cost relative to the detailed simulations. The correlation approach presented here can also be applied to experimental ignition data, as far as these are obtained in a manner that covers a wide range of the relevant parameters with minimal experimental uncertainties. This work enables the incorporation of realistic chemical kinetic effects in the computational analysis and control of kinetically controlled combustion systems.


A modified Delphi study was carried out in order to obtain consensus regarding the content of a university training course to involve service users and carers at all stages of the health and social care educational process within a higher education environment. Telephone interviews were carried out with service users and carers, educationalists and leaders in the field of service user and carer involvement to generate curriculum ideas. A questionnaire was developed from their responses and sent to a purposive sample of 65 people (24 service users and carers, 28 health and social care educationalists and 13 leaders in the field of service user and carer involvement). Fifty‐five statements were generated with consensus being reached on 46 (84%) statements. Mismatches between service users and carers, educationalists and leaders in the field were explored. Key themes to be included in the curriculum were identified. This paper demonstrates that the best training is not imposed upon service users and carers by academics or others who think they know best; rather, that service users and carers themselves can play a leading role in identifying their training needs and devising strategies to ensure these needs are effectively met.


The Good Neighbour explores the Australian government's efforts to support peace in the Pacific Islands from 1980 to 2006. It tells the story of the deployment of Australian diplomatic, military and policing resources at a time when neighbouring governments were under pressure from political violence and civil unrest. The main focus of this volume is Australian peacemaking and peacekeeping in response to the Bougainville Crisis, a secessionist rebellion that began in late 1988 with the sabotage of a major mining operation. Following a signed peace agreement in 2001, the crisis finally ended in December 2005, under the auspices of the United Nations. During this time Australia's involvement shifted from behind-the-scenes peacemaking, to armed peacekeeping intervention, and finally to a longer-term unarmed regional peacekeeping operation. Granted full access to all relevant government files, Bob Breen recounts the Australian story from decisions made in Canberra to the planning and conduct of operations.


Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using clinical evaluation (cognitive tests) is challenging due to wide variations amongst individuals. Since no effective treatment exists, prompt and reliable ASD diagnosis can enable the effective preparation of treatment regimens. This paper proposes structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (sMRI)-based ASD diagnosis via an outlier detection approach. To learn spatio-temporal patterns in structural brain connectivity, a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is trained exclusively with sMRI scans of healthy subjects. Given a stack of three adjacent slices as input, the GAN generator reconstructs the next three adjacent slices; the GAN discriminator then identifies ASD sMRI scan reconstructions as outliers. This model is compared against two other baselines– a simpler UNet and a sophisticated Self-Attention GAN. Axial, Coronal and Sagittal sMRI slices from the multi-site ABIDE II dataset are used for evaluation. Extensive experiments reveal that our ASD detection framework performs comparably with the state-of-the-art with far fewer training data. Furthermore, longitudinal data (two scans per subject over time) achieve 17-28% higher accuracy than cross-sectional data (one scan per subject). Among other findings, metrics employed for model training as well as reconstruction loss computation impact detection performance, and the coronal modality is found to best encode structural information for ASD detection.


Abstract Objective Insulin sensitivity could determine the effectiveness of weight-loss diets with different protein:carbohydrate ratios. Our aim was to evaluate whether or not energy-restricted diets with different protein:carbohydrate ratios in obese individuals with (IR) or without (IS) insulin resistance could lead to differences in weight loss or insulin sensitivity. Design Prospective, randomized, clinical intervention study. Thirty-six obese patients, allocated to the IR or IS group after a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test and calculation of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA) index, were assigned to follow an energy-restricted diet with either 40 % carbohydrate/30 % protein/30 % fat (diet A) or 55 % carbohydrate/15 % protein/30 % fat (diet B) and followed up to 16 weeks. Results Twenty-one IR and fifteen IS patients were randomized to diet A or B. After 16 weeks, there was no difference in weight loss between diets A and B in each group. Glucose and insulin levels and HOMA were significantly reduced at 16 weeks, but no differences related to the type of diet were detected either in the IR or the IS group. Conclusions Varying the macronutrient composition of a hypoenergetic diet, regarding the percentage protein:carbohydrate ratio, did not produce different weight loss or result in an improvement in insulin sensitivity in people with or without insulin resistance.


ABSTRACT Common fragile sites are specific chromosomal loci that show gaps, breaks, or rearrangements in metaphase chromosomes under conditions that interfere with DNA replication. The mechanism underlying the chromosomal instability at fragile sites was hypothesized to associate with late replication time. Here, we aimed to investigate the replication pattern of the common fragile site FRA7H, encompassing 160 kb on the long arm of human chromosome 7. Using in situ hybridization on interphase nuclei, we revealed that the replication of this region is initiated relatively early, before 30% of S phase is completed. However, a high fraction (∼35%) of S-phase nuclei showed allelic asynchrony, indicating that the replication of FRA7H is accomplished at different times in S phase. This allelic asynchrony is not the result of a specific replication time of each FRA7H allele. Analysis of the replication pattern of adjacent clones along FRA7H by using cell population and two-color fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses showed significant differences in the replication of adjacent clones, under normal growth condition and upon aphidicolin treatment. This pattern significantly differed from that of two nonfragile regions which showed a coordinated replication under both conditions. These results indicate that aphidicolin is enhancing an already existing difference in the replication time along the FRA7H region. Based on our replication analysis of FRA7H and on previous analysis of the common fragile site FRA3B, we suggest that delayed replication is underlying the fragility at aphidicolin-induced common fragile sites.


In the United States, many transit agencies are considering integrating their demand-responsive service with traditional fixed-route service. In some cases, it may be advantageous to the transit agency or to the passenger to coordinate traditional demand-responsive transit service with fixed-route service. The demand-responsive service connects passengers from their origin to the fixed route service and (or) from the fixed route service to their final destination. Such a service is expected to reduce the cost of transit service, but also will affect the level of service experienced by passengers. The integrated transit service problem is to schedule both passenger trips (or itineraries) and vehicle trips for this service. In considering the literature, this research proposes a scheduling method that explicitly incorporates both transit agency cost and passenger level of service. More specifically, the model assumes: (i) a fixed-route bus schedule; (ii) desired passenger pick-up and drop-off points; (iii) time window constraints for passenger pick ups, drop-offs, and transfers; and (iv) passenger level of service constraints, including maximum travel times and number of transfers. Using this information, the proposed technique determines which trips are eligible for integrated service using the passenger level-of-service constraints. A schedule is then created for both the passenger trips and the vehicle trips, so that the total cost of service is minimized. The method is illustrated using a case study of transit service in Houston, Texas, showing the possible cost advantages and changes in passenger level of service with integrated service. The contributions of the research included: (i) a new heuristic for scheduling integrated transit trips that accommodates both passenger and vehicle scheduling objectives; and (ii) an illustrated method for evaluating the operating cost and passenger level-of-service implications of integrated transit service.


This paper develops initial steps towards a framework for understanding factors that condition success and failure of complex market technologies. Dynamics of such technologies are conditioned by coevolutionary processes including the development of the installed base, consumer behavior, technologies, complementarities and interlinked supply chains. This paper analyzes diffusion patterns, including failures and successes, of alternative transportation fuel (ATF) and vehicle introductions, natural gas in New Zealand and Argentina, and ethanol in Brazil. I analyze the diffusion patterns of retrospective AFV introductions, failures and successes, through a behavioral dynamic simulation model. I characterize technology diffusion as a process of market formation which requires overcoming a period of fragility. During such a period at least one of the mechanisms conditioning its diffusion works against further spreading. Aggressive, simple strategies to overcome thresholds tend to fail. However, high potential strategies involve policy portfolios that are sustained, synchronized across multiple types of decision makers, and dynamic. Further, the efforts and their duration required to overcome this stage are strongly influenced by institutional and historical contexts. More broadly, the findings provide the groundwork for a framework to analyze processes of market formation for complex technologies. Such a framework involves capturing the fundamental mechanisms cutting across inter-organizational fields, but also includes important system-physiological aspects. Within this framework the traditional S-shaped diffusion curve is a special case with ex-ante usefulness confined to conditions of low market complexity and favorable institutional conditions. We discuss implications for policy and strategy.


BACKGROUND
This study evaluated the ability of a newly developed integrated backscatter intravascular ultrasound (IB-IVUS) system (VISIWAVE, Terumo, Tokyo, Japan) to detect optical coherence tomography (OCT)-verified thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) and assessed the correlation with peri-procedural myocardial infarction (PMI) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODS AND RESULTS
One hundred culprit lesions in 100 consecutive patients with ischemic heart disease who consented to repeated IVUS and OCT prior to PCI were studied. Of 100 lesions, 48 had OCT-verified TCFA with a cap thickness <65 µm. Such lesions had larger percentage lipid area and lipid angle >2 quadrants on IB-IVUS. A lipid core abutting lumen (LCAL) was defined as a lipid core pool in the plaque area, directly contacting with the lumen regardless of its circumferential extension. IB-IVUS-identified TCFA defined as a combination of percentage lipid area ≥53.6%, remodeling index ≥1.03, and the presence of LCAL was the best predictor of OCT-verified TCFA with sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of 72.9%, 90.4%, 87.5%, 78.3%, and 82.0%, respectively. IB-IVUS-identified TCFA as well as OCT-verified TCFA were significant independent predictors of PMI, after adjusting for other predictors on multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS
IB-IVUS can be used to identify plaques with a high prevalence of TCFA. Such techniques can therefore potentially be used to identify lesions with an elevated risk of PMI after PCI.


Short-term (15-min-duration) and long-term (5- to 6-day-duration) test procedures have been developed for determining the efficiency of the removal of bacteriophage phi X174 by air-sterilizing filters. These procedures were sensitive enough to measure a 10(8)-fold reduction in the number of bacteriophage. A filter commonly used in industrial air sterilizations (Domnick-Hunter Bio-X borosilicate glass) effected a 10(8)-fold removal of viable phage in both short-term and long-term tests. A prototype low-flux, hollow-fiber membrane gave similar results; however, a prototype high-flux, hollow-fiber membrane removed only about 99.999% of the bacteriophage in short-term tests.


The aim of this thesis is to discover the cognitive role of Plato's metaphors for the gods and the soul; that is, what part they play in the expression and elucidation of his philosophical theories and arguments. I maintain that these metaphors are primarily illustrative and persuasive; that they serve both to illuminate certain concepts and ideas and to persuade the reader into accepting them as true. But I also believe that in very particular circumstances, that is, in the formulation of radically new theories, Plato uses metaphors to develop and to express ideas for which no literal terms already exist. In Part I the cognitive role of metaphor is discussed. Three modern views (the Epistemic, Non-Informative and Illustrative) are set out and compared both to Aristotle's account of metaphor and to Plato's comments on the philosophical significance of figurative language. Part II opens with a discussion of the role of metaphor in theology, embracing both modern perspectives and the views of Plato. The various groups of metaphors for the gods are examined and three passages from the dialogues are analysed in detail, showing how metaphors can function as very effective instruments of persuasion. In Part III the debate turns to Plato's metaphors for the soul. First I argue against the view that Plato's soul myths provide, or were intended to provide, special cognitive access to the soul. Second 1 examine the significance of metaphors for the immortality of the soul, the soul/body relationship and for the inner nature of the tripartite soul. Finally I offer a new interpretation of the development and rhetorical significance of the metaphor of spiritual pregnancy in the Symposium.


This study used structural equation modeling to test a theory-based model of the pathways by which exposure to the "truth" counterindustry media campaign influenced beliefs, attitudes, and smoking behavior in national random-digit-dial telephone surveys of 16,000 12- to 17-year-olds before, 8 months after, and 15 months after campaign launch. Consistent with concepts from the theory of reasoned action, youth in markets with higher levels of campaign exposure had more negative beliefs about tobacco industry practices and more negative attitudes toward the tobacco industry. Models also provided support for a social inoculation effect, because negative industry attitudes were associated with lower receptivity to protobacco advertising and with less progression along a continuum of smoking intentions and behavior.


The lack of multi-party privacy management support in current mainstream Social Media infrastructures makes users unable to appropriately control to whom co-owned items are shared. Computational mechanisms that are able to merge the privacy preferences of multiple users into a single policy for these kind of items can help solve this problem. As privacy preferences may conflict, these mechanisms need to consider how users' would actually reach an agreement in order to propose acceptable solutions to the conflicts. We propose the first computational mechanism to resolve conflicts for multi-party privacy management in Social Media that adapts to different situations that may motivate different users' concessions and agreements.


We study the structures and the mechanical properties of nanocomposite networks consisting of disk-shaped particles and polymers by a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation. The disk-shaped particles and the polymers form tightly cross-linked network structures by the polymer adsorption on the disk-shaped particles and show high mechanical strength. We confirm the significance of the high polymerization degree for the large fracture elongations. Under the uniaxial elongation, at low elongation ratios, the networks maintain the cross-linked structures and indicate the sharp increase of the stress with the elongation. At large elongation ratios, the number of bridge chains decreases by the peeling of the adsorbed polymers from the disk-shaped particles. The decline of the bridge chains suppresses the increment of the stress. The orientation of the disk-shaped particles saturates prior to that of the polymers because of the slow orientation of the non-bridge chains. These results are consistent with reported experimental results.


This guide is meant to assist staff and patrons with the newly acquired assistive technology going in at several RPL Branches. Outreach Services


Several sperm parameters have been employed as useful tools to evaluate fish fertility. Within teleosts, approximately 3% of fish species are known to be viviparous. The Order Cyprinodontiformes includes several species with internal fertilization, and within this group most of the studies about sperm quality have been mainly focused on the Poeciliidae family. The livebearing fish Jenynsia multidentata (Anablepidae) inhabits an extensive area of the Neotropical region and it has been used as a useful fish laboratory model to evaluate the effects of xenobiotics through different biomarkers. The present work characterized the sperm of this species through a simple protocol of semen collection. Sperm population showed linearity greater than 89% and 70% of fish have a straight line and curvilinear velocity valued between 50 and 100 μm/s. Although 85% of individuals showed a proportion of live sperm higher than 60%, the male population had a high degree of heterogeneity in its sperm count. Morphometry analyses showed a total sperm and head lengths of 46.66 ± 2.06 μm and 3.46 ± 0.41 mm, respectively. A rather long midpiece region (9.12 ± 0.65 μm) was registered, which may indicate high energy-producing capabilities of the spermatozoa. This study established basic parameter values which could be useful for evaluating reproductive potential of J. multidentata populations.


Abstract China's growing stakes in the Indian Ocean, in particular the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) expanding profile in South Asia, has caused deep concern in India, where many believe Chinese naval deployments have shrunk New Delhi's traditional sphere of influence. China's inroads in India's strategic backwaters— in particular, growing PLAN submarine forays—are viewed with suspicion in New Delhi, where many are convinced of the need for a counter-China strategy. As India watches China expand its Belt and Road projects in the Indian Ocean bolstering sway over geopolitically significant island and coastal states, New Delhi faces a dilemma in its neighbourhood.


Summary Most large ophiolite complexes have been interpreted as representing the obducted remnants of oceanic basement of forearc regions. A knowledge of the tectonic setting of ophiolite formation as well as the mechanism of their entrapment within forearc regions is essential to achieve a more complete understanding of the often complicated geology of ophiolite complexes and the tectonic processes that result in their evolution and ultimate obduction. The mechanism of entrapment of an ophiolite complex within a forearc region is intimately related to the mechanisms involved in trench initiation. The most easily documented and apparently likely mechanisms of trench initiation and isolation of oceanic basement within forearcs are: (i) polarity flips along weakened back-arc/island-arc interfaces, and (ii) plate boundary evolution involving the conversion of active transform and accreting plate boundaries into subduction zones. These latter mechanisms of trench initiation are predicted by plate theory to occur by the evolution of transform and accreting plate boundaries upon (usually) gradual and (less often) abrupt changes in their position with respect to the instantaneous pole of relative motion, and by the evolution of certain types of triple junctions that leads to rapid conversion of transform and accreting plate boundaries to subduction zones. These plate boundary evolutionary schemes involve spatially and temporally complex overlap of subduction and plate accretion processes in forearc regions. The overlapping processes occurring during these conversions may result in 'atypical' oceanic-crustal magmas that are produced during or soon after sea-floor spreading within the forearc region. These magmas may not resemble typical mid-ocean-ridge basaltic (MORB) compositions. Such 'abnormalities' in the petrology of some ophiolite complexes need not necessarily imply that a process other than sea-floor spreading was the dominant plate-boundary process responsible for the generation of these ophiolite complexes. The term 'island-arc ophiolite' attached to several ophiolite complexes on the basis of their petrology may not appropriately reflect the dominant plate-boundary process (i.e. sea-floor spreading) and should be used cautiously and only if supported by non-petrologic data (e.g. field observations and structural relationships).