Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is highly comorbid with mental disorders in any disease stage, while psychiatric manifestations may precede the onset of neurological symptoms as well as diagnosis. Neuropsychiatric comorbidities are associated with an elevated risk of MS disability progression, and therefore, people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) with psychiatric comorbidities often experience a significantly lower functional status, perform worse in objective neuropsychological assessment, are less likely to adhere to pharmacological treatment, and exhibit higher levels of disruption of their supportive social environment as compared with "non-psychiatric" PwMS. The present study aims to estimate the nationwide use of psychopharmacological agents by PwMS in Greece. Prescription records of the nationwide digital prescription database were analyzed, in order to identify PwMS that have received prescriptions of an antipsychotic, an antidepressant, an anxiolytic or a psychostimulant during a 2-year study period. Pseudo-anonymized prescription records of PwMS (n=21218) were extracted from the Greek nationwide prescription database, dating from June 2017 to May 2019. According to this national level study, psychopharmacological agents are frequently prescribed in PwMS. Antidepressants were prescribed in 36.1% of the study sample, followed by anxiolytics (16.23%), psychostimulants (4.97%) and antipsychotics (3.76%). The proportion of patients under treatment with these agents was increasing with age. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, second generation antipsychotics and benzodiazepines were the most often prescribed agents in each drug category and especially in younger age groups, possibly indicating a better efficacy/side-effect equilibrium, while modafinil was the only psychostimulant prescribed aiming to ameliorate levels of fatigue. A pharmacological preference for antidepressants and psychostimulants was observed in the 40-60 age group (p = 0.02), while antipsychotics and anxiolytics were more frequently prescribed in the >60 age group (p<0.001). Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors were mostly prescribed within the 40-60 age-group. Benzodiazepines were less favored among the >60 age-group. This study highlights the increased prevalence of mental disorders in this patient group. Adequate treatment and monitoring of psychiatric symptomatology, may improve long-term outcomes of the disease, however caution is needed regarding potential drug interactions and side effects.


Hypocapnia was induced in dogs lightly anaesthetized with nitrous oxide and fentanyl. Measurements were made of estimated renal plasma flow (ERPF), glomerular filtration rate, vascular resistance and urine production. During the (short) duration of the experiments hypocapnia was found to be associated with ERPF twice that during normocapnia. Glomerular filtration rate and urine output were increased by hypocapnia in an approximately similar proportion, whilst renal vascular resistance halved. Though some of the experimental animals had a degree of metabolic acidosis this was thought not to have greatly influenced the results.


Cyber-attacks have become more threatening as Internet evolves, particularly for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that play a rule of carrying them to their subscribers. In order to protect themselves and their subscribers, ISPs invest in typical protection systems like IDS, IPS, or Firewalls, that are designed for perimeter-based operation. Even though these expensive systems are efficient to protect confined environments, they do not allow ISPs to anticipate cyber-attacks. At most, ISPs might only react to them as soon as possible to maintain network services for legitimate traffic. Based on what prior DIDS approaches have lacked, our approach relies on BGP protocol to interconnect distributed intrusion detection elements, each of which cooperating by sending information about a potential threatening flow that traverses its Autonomous System (AS). We present the architecture of our approach as well as the analytic model based on Dempster-Shafer's combination rule. The results show significant improvement in terms of reliability of the combined information, that enables better countermeasures decisions.


The course examines how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other people.


The open space system like housing, transportation, education and economic development, like air, water and light is a fundamental building block of modern urban life, a physical, social, economic, and human necessity, day in, day out, year after year. - New York City Open Task Force, 1987 INTRODUCTION Community builders, land developers, environmentalists, homeowners and politicians appreciate that land-use planning and management improves with better information and better understanding of the diverse interests involved. Behind concepts of growth management, sustainable development and new urbanism is a growing commitment to better understand ecological, social and economic factors in planning and managing our landscape. This study is intended to contribute to our understanding of the role of greenways in residential property markets, with particular reference to greenway standards applicable to fisheries management along shorelines, rivers, streams and creeks. The focus of our research is on testing the general hypothesis that proximity to a greenway will have a positive impact on nearby property values. There is a widespread belief, supported by numerous studies, that the positive features associated with a greenway outweigh the negative features, and that on balance, tenants and owners are willing to pay for such proximity. To test this hypothesis, four different sample areas have been selected in the province of British Columbia; three in the metropolitan Vancouver area and one in the metropolitan Victoria area. The economic focus of the paper is the application of multiple regression analysis to isolate the impact of greenways on property values. A survey of property owners in the four study areas was also administered f or insights about perceptions of values held by the residential owners and occupants related to their proximity to the greenways. This study makes several important contributions to our understanding of the pricing dynamics associated with proximity to greenways. First, the empirical analysis relies on a comprehensive database that includes all sales within a sub-market, not just a sample as is the case in most other studies. As a consequence, issues associated with sample bias are overcome. Second, the database used in the study has a comprehensive set of property characteristics available for use. Finally, using current appraisal data from the provincial assessment authority provides a secondary rich database that can be used to augment the often small number of sales within an area. This is important since residential properties tend to turn over infrequently, resulting in a small number of sales. In British Columbia all residential assessment is market-based and intended to represent current values, hence these assessed values provide an independent second source of data to use as the dependent variable in the analyses. Stepping back to define our term of reference, the term "greenway" is a relatively recent concept that may mean different things to different people. Generally, a greenway is characterized as a landscape corridor or linear open-space zone which is protected or regulated for public-interest purposes of balancing and enhancing the needs of natural systems and human experience. In its more natural form, a greenway could be a protected stream or wildlife corridor; in our cities it could be a carefully designed parkway or even a network of back alleys (Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, B.C. et al., 1995; City of Vancouver, B.C., 1995). For the purpose of this study, the general concept of a greenway has been further defined by the following characteristics: * the greenways are in or adjacent to suburban, residential neighbourhoods, and * the greenways are natural or naturalized watercourse landscapes of importance to fisheries-related ecosystems with adjacent leave areas or 'no development/disturbance areas' and naturally vegetated undisturbed areas that are intended as buffers for protection of the aquatic feature and fish habitat. …


ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica has two CyuR-activated enzymes that degrade cysteine, i.e., the aerobic CdsH and an unidentified anaerobic enzyme; Escherichia coli has only the latter. To identify the anaerobic enzyme, transcript profiling was performed for E. coli without cyuR and with overexpressed cyuR. Thirty-seven genes showed at least 5-fold changes in expression, and the cyuPA (formerly yhaOM) operon showed the greatest difference. Homology suggested that CyuP and CyuA represent a cysteine transporter and an iron-sulfur-containing cysteine desulfidase, respectively. E. coli and S. enterica ΔcyuA mutants grown with cysteine generated substantially less sulfide and had lower growth yields. Oxygen affected the CyuR-dependent genes reciprocally; cyuP-lacZ expression was greater anaerobically, whereas cdsH-lacZ expression was greater aerobically. In E. coli and S. enterica, anaerobic cyuP expression required cyuR and cysteine and was induced by l-cysteine, d-cysteine, and a few sulfur-containing compounds. Loss of either CyuA or RidA, both of which contribute to cysteine degradation to pyruvate, increased cyuP-lacZ expression, which suggests that CyuA modulates intracellular cysteine concentrations. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CyuA homologs are present in obligate and facultative anaerobes, confirming an anaerobic function, and in archaeal methanogens and bacterial acetogens, suggesting an ancient origin. Our results show that CyuA is the major anaerobic cysteine-catabolizing enzyme in both E. coli and S. enterica, and it is proposed that anaerobic cysteine catabolism can contribute to coordination of sulfur assimilation and amino acid synthesis. IMPORTANCE Sulfur-containing compounds such as cysteine and sulfide are essential and reactive metabolites. Exogenous sulfur-containing compounds can alter the thiol landscape and intracellular redox reactions and are known to affect several cellular processes, including swarming motility, antibiotic sensitivity, and biofilm formation. Cysteine inhibits several enzymes of amino acid synthesis; therefore, increasing cysteine concentrations could increase the levels of the inhibited enzymes. This inhibition implies that control of intracellular cysteine levels, which is the immediate product of sulfide assimilation, can affect several pathways and coordinate metabolism. For these and other reasons, cysteine and sulfide concentrations must be controlled, and this work shows that cysteine catabolism contributes to this control.


The Internet of Things requires developing ultralow power platforms embedding actuators, sensors, and signal processors. In order to limit the power consumption of such systems, nonuniform sampling schemes are very promising solutions, especially if coupled to event-driven circuitries. This strategy allows reducing the amount of sampled data, the system activity, and then the power consumption. Moreover, High-Level Synthesis (HLS) helps designers in rapidly developing ultra-low power platforms. In this article, we present a comparison of the uniform and non-uniform schemes in term of activity and power consumption. This evaluation is performed on Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters in three different flavors: a synchronous filter using a classical sampling scheme and two asynchronous filters implementing a nonuniform sampling scheme, where one has been manually designed and the other generated by HLS. The filters have been designed in CMOS 350 nm and 40 nm. The filter manually designed provides an area reduction of 8 % and depending on the signal and the application, it is able to consume from 6.6 to 43 times less energy than the synchronous version. The filter produced by HLS exhibits an area reduction of 12%, and consume from 3.3 to 28 times less energy.


Objectives: Historically, because of the magnitude of muscle forces exerted locally, as well as the commonly associated comminution, subtrochanteric fractures have been difficult to treat. Tencer et al found intramedullary nail fixation to be superior to lateral plate constructs in axial compression and combined bending. In addition, reconstruction-type intramedullary nails of more recent design have been shown to provide strength and stiffness superior to that supplied by the earlier antegrade intramedullary implants. A relatively new reconstruction nail, the DePuy VersaNail Troch Entry Nail (DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Warsaw, IN, USA), is unique in that it allows for two different proximal two-screw configurations: (1) the common parallel cephalomedullary arrangement and (2) a novel crossed-screw pattern. Our hypothesis was that the crossed-screw configuration would be as strong in axial loading as the cephalomedullary screw configuration. Methods: Twenty composite femurs were instrumented using the DePuy VersaNail Troch Entry Nail in a subtrochanteric fracture model: 10 with the crossed proximal screw configuration and 10 with the traditional parallel screw configuration. These constructs were first loaded axially to calculate their stiffness and then axially loaded to failure. Results: One specimen was rendered unusable for all calculations. Therefore, 19 constructs were evaluated: 9 parallel screw constructs, 10 crossed-screw constructs. The crossed-screw construct had a significantly higher stiffness than the parallel screw construct (347 +/− 73 N/mm and 261 +/− 42 N/mm, respectively; P = 0.01) and a significantly higher axial load to failure (2848 +/− 391 N vs. 2300 +/− 444 N; P = 0.01). Conclusions: This study shows that axial failure loads of the crossed-screw configuration were greater than those of the parallel screw configuration. Clinically, this provides the surgeon more options for stabilizing a subtrochanteric femur fracture. This decision may be made intra-operatively if necessary, facilitating fracture fixation and providing a stable construct.


* Corresponding author Streptococcus thermophilus cultures were grown either on trehalose or lactose, immobilized in alginate beads, dipped in various protective solutions and dried by either convection air-drying (CAD) or freeze-drying (FD). Immobilized cultures dipped in the 0.1% peptone solution did not show good survival to CAD or FD, as mortality was over 99%. There was no significant difference in mortality levels, in both methods of drying, when lactose or trehalose were used as protective ingredients. The highest survival levels (50 to 98%) were with a whey-sucrose protective medium, but this was potentially related to a higher pH and solids of the solution. Mortality levels were higher in FD than CAD, and this did not appear to be related to the fact that FD cultures had lower residual moisture contents than those dried under CAD. Cells grown on lactose had slightly higher survival rates to drying than those obtained from CAD. Trehalose-positive and trehalosenegative cultures of S. thermophilus did not show different mortality patterns to CAD or FD.


This Letter investigates the nature of synchronization in multilayered and multiplexed populations in which the interlayer interactions are randomly pinned. First, we show that a multilayer network constructed by setting up all-to-all interlayer connections between the two populations leads to explosive synchronization in the two populations successively, leading to the coexistence of coherent and incoherent populations forming chimera states. Second, a multiplex formation of the two populations in which only the mirror nodes are interconnected espouses explosive transitions in the two populations concurrently. The emergence of explosive synchronization is substantiated with rigorous mean-field calculations demonstrating the existence of a bistable region. The random pinning in the interlayer interactions concerns the practical problems where the impact of dynamics of one network on that of other interconnected networks remains elusive, as is the case for many real-world systems.


Eleven personality disorder scales for the MMPI, as described in DSM-III, were derived by Morey and his colleagues from the original MMPI item pool through a combination of rational and empirical strategies. These new scales have enjoyed popularity among clinicians. Normative tables for each of these scales, with and without overlapping items, were constructed from MMPI responses from a large contemporary normal reference sample of adults and adolescents without any physical or mental handicaps who were selected randomly from a three-state area in the Midwest. Some items from the Morey Personality Disorder scales were deleted during development of the MMPI-2; separate normative tables have been prepared for the scales so affected, which allows clinicians who are using the MMPI-2 to continue to use these slightly modified scales.


The pressure drop for steady uniform flows (UF) through low permeability porous media—packed bed of particles (balls and rods) and sand (K<10−7m2)—is predicted using the existing global Hazen-Dupuit-Darcy (HDD) hydraulic model, composed of the viscous and form drag terms. In this work, experiments are performed to generate pressure drop data for accelerated steady flows through porous media for a wide range of low permeability (10−9<K<10−7m2), low porosity (ϕ < 0.4) in the form drag-dominant (λ ≫ 1) flow regime. Using the data, the global spatial acceleration effect that arises due to channel cross section variation is shown to be unaccounted for in the existing global HDD model resulting in inaccurate prediction of pressure drop, with more than 80% error in such situations. A modified hydraulic model is developed, introducing geometric parameters in the drag terms in the existing hydraulic model, to account for the acceleration effects. By comparing the results with experimental data, the proposed modified hydraulic model is shown to predict the pressure drop for accelerated flows in porous media in the form drag-dominant regime, with less than 10% error.


The design of supported heterogeneous catalysts requires a detailed understanding of the structure and chemistry of the active surface. Although the chemical components of the active phase, support material, and process feed are typically considered to be the most important factors governing catalyst structure and performance, many common commercial supports contain trace impurities, which can have profound effects on catalyst properties. In this work, we study silica‐supported cobalt‐based catalysts, which are widely used in syngas conversion to value‐added products. Supported metallic Co is a commercial Fischer‐Tropsch catalyst, whereas Co2C has shown promise for the direct conversion of syngas to higher oxygenates. This study examines the effects of Na, a commonly detected support impurity and a frequently used promoter, on the structure and reactivity of Co and Co2C. We show that trace Na impurities significantly decrease catalyst activity of supported metallic Co, and that high Na concentrations result in Co2C formation and a loss in Fischer‐Tropsch activity. However, in Co2C catalysts, Na plays an important role in stabilizing the Co2C phase, but excess Na decreases catalyst activity. We use in situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy to study Co2C formation and decomposition in the Na‐free catalyst under carburization and reaction conditions. The work reveals the importance of carefully controlling alkali metal content, particularly at trace levels, in catalyst design.


The coexistence of bacterial infection with various fungal infections is well known. Viral infections of the skin also are often complicated by bacterial infection, especially those arising from various streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus . We treated a patient with a skin lesion simultaneously infected by dermatophytes and the herpes simplex virus. Report of a Case A 34-year-old woman with no history of herpes simplex infection or other skin disease was referred to us for an intensely itchy skin lesion of five days' duration. It had begun as a small red spot on the outer aspect of the left arm. The lesion had enlarged, and an eruption of scattered blisters was noted after two days. There had been no fever, but the lesion had been intermittently painful, as well as itchy, and the patient complained of slight malaise. Physical examination showed a well-demarcated circular lesion, about 3 cm in diameter, on the


This paper presents an original concept of a P+ guard ring realized in a 300μm depth High Resistivity Silicon Substrate (HRS) in order to reduce the substrate noise coupling in a 3D-PICS Integrated Passive Device technology. Guard rings have been designed to be a reliable and efficient protection against noise signals propagation. Case study presented in this work illustrates its significant role. In this paper, a 3D-PICS IPD test chip was studied as a first passive part prototype of a System-In-Package chip in combination with RF transceiver operating in the ISM band (863-870 MHz). Various configurations of the passive chip layout (including implementation of guard rings) have been characterized by Direct Power Injection. 3D-PICS electrical performances deduced from two-ports S-parameters are reported, as well as the guard rings efficiency measurements extracted from these S-parameters. Coupling isolation performances of the new integrated PICS components are found satisfactory.


Mandarin manner adverbs like dasheng 'loudly' (lit. 'big voice') occur both sentence-medially and sentence-finally, whereas adverbs formed with the adverbializer de (地) like kuaikuaide 'quickly' occur only sentence-medially. The behavior of AP-地 adverbs is puzzling under a classical adjunction analysis and under Cinque's (1999) hierarchy of functional projections. Here, I argue that Mandarin manner adverbs have a uniform low attachment in V complement position and that preverbal/medial position reflects obligatory movement imposed by the status of 地 as a "concordializing element".


A water heating system based on paraffin was investigated. Such a system fulfils a need in rural areas where electrify is not available and solar geysers are not practical. The solution is particularly apt due to the abundant use of paraffin in rural communities. The system was modelled for the previous conference and it was apparent that the product required some optimisation in order to be practical. The product was then optimised in terms of increasing the heat transfer area available and an improvement of 87% in terms of performance was achieved with an 8% reduction in cost to manufacture. This provided a solution that proved more practical when heating water to a suitable showering temperature of 38°C. A flow rate of 4.71/min with warmer summer water inlet conditions was achieved and 3.21/min with colder winter water inlet conditions. The product offers a great deal of versatility due to the nature of inline heat exchangers. It is possible to adjust the outlet water temperature by adjusting only the water flow rate. Thus the product can provide water at any range of temperature from a warm temperature for showering to boiling water.


The aim of the research was to describe the educational and professional history of Olga Verderese and highlight her remarkable contributions to the scientific field of the profession. It was based on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and scientific field. The sociohistorical study used sources such as interviews with Olga Verderese, a thesis and a dissertation on the topic and documents such as articles, books and recommendations by the Brazilian Nursing Association (ABEn). It considers that the biographee had a recognized social capital when she took up Nursing. Olga Verderese worked at the Nursing Schools of Bahia and Porto Alegre and remained for a long time at the Pan-American Health Organization, with outstanding work in Latin America. In addition, in the 1950s she took part in the research called Survey of Resources and Needs of Nursing in Brazil.


An analytical model is presented which accurately predicts the thermal response of decomposing materials in fire environments. The model is the same one developed for the design of reentry and space vehicle heat shield materials including the Apollo heat shield. The analysis handles one dimensional transient thermal conduction with decomposition, surface reactions, and transpiration with a variety of surface boundary conditions. Both temperature and density dependent properties are utilized for proper characterization of the thermophysical behavior of a material. Basic details of the thermal processes involved are given as well as the scope of the model. Thermal analyses of three different types of materials exposed to two different fire environments are presented. Two materials, gypsum wall board and a spray-on fiber material, were tested in a controlled subscale fire at the Avco Laboratories, while the third, a reinforced plastic, was tested at Underwriters' Laboratories in a safe-column furnace. Measured thermal properties used to make the predictions are presented along with the methods of measurement. The test environment is also discussed in terms of heat transfer rates, enthalpy, and nature of the gases. The behavior of plastics and their reaction to a fire environment is discussed and related to the model. Results given for the predictions made show excellent correlation with the measured temperatures and weight losses. Finally, the utility of the model is discussed relative to predicting the fire response of various materials without the aid of extensive testing.


This paper argues that the cognitive usage-based model enhanced by a complexity theory perspective can provide
 useful insights into L2 learners' non-target-like use of L2 phraseological chunks. Firstly, L2 chunks are conceptualized here as
 L2 complex form-meaning mappings subject to developmental schematization and entrenchment, as well as productive cut-and-paste
 mechanisms. Traces of these mechanisms at community level are interpreted as emergent patterns, a complexity theory concept in
 line with the cognitive usage-based model. Next, learner expressions for two task-elicited notions (depositing money and
 donating money) in a community of L2 English learners (N = 167; L1 Dutch) are analyzed for emergent
 patterns at different levels of schematicity. The findings indicate that L2 phraseological chunks are not constructed from a
 target-like initial exemplar that becomes entrenched or schematized. The paper concludes that within the cognitive usage-based
 model this is a major impeding factor in L2 learners' target-like use of L2 phraseological chunks.


AimThe aim of the study was to compare the differences between patient global disease activity (PtGDA) and physician global disease activity (PhGDA) score within and across 13 countries in the METEOR (Measurement of Efficacy of Treatment in the "Era of Outcome" in Rheumatology) database. MethodsData from METEOR were used to compare PtGDA and PhGDA, scored independently on a 100-mm visual analog scale from 0 (best possible) until 100 (worst possible), in 23,117 visits in 5709 anonymized patients during the period between 2008 and 2012. Linear mixed models were used to model mean differences between PtGDA and PhGDA in 13 countries (Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States), adjusted for differences in Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). Generalized estimating equations were used to model differences (>20 mm) between PtGDA and PhGDA score as the outcome and countries as determinants, adjusted for DAS28. ResultsMean difference between PtGDA and PhGDA scores varied by country, from −2 mm (physician scores higher) in Mexico to +14 mm (patient scores higher) in Brazil. "Country" was a significant determinant of the difference between PtGDA and PhGDA scores, independent of differences in DAS28. With the Netherlands as reference, PtGDA and PhGDA scores for individual patients differ significantly in almost all (n = 10) countries, with the exception of France and Spain. ConclusionsDifferences between patients' and physicians' assessment of GDA vary across the countries. Influence of country must be taken into account when interpreting discordances between the patient's and the physician's assessment of GDA in rheumatoid arthritis.


The successful treatment of acne still remains problematic. Conventional therapies often prove inconsistent with unacceptable side effects and recurrence rates, leading to patient noncompliance. A thermal phototherapy treatment using a combination of blue light and red light has recently attracted much attention and seems to offer an effective alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of blue light (415 nm) in combination with red light (633 nm) in the reduction of inflammatory lesions on the face of subjects (n=21) with mild to moderate acne vulgaris after a course of 8 20-minute (blue) or 30-minute (red) alternated light treatments, self-administered by a handheld unit over a period of 4 weeks. Lesion counts progressively reduced throughout the 4-week light therapy period and continued to reduce up to 8 weeks posttherapy, with a final average reduction of 69% seen 8 weeks after the treatment course (P>.001). This pattern is similar to previously reported studies.


Molecular characterization of the microbial populations of soils and sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is often a first step in assessing intrinsic biodegradation potential. However, soils are problematic for molecular analysis owing to the presence of organic matter, such as humic acids. Furthermore, the presence of contaminants, such as PAHs, can cause further challenges to DNA extraction, quantification, and amplification. The goal of our study was to compare the effectiveness of four commercial soil DNA extraction kits (UltraClean Soil DNA Isolation kit, PowerSoil DNA Isolation kit, PowerMax Soil DNA Isolation kit, and FastDNA SPIN kit) to extract pure, high-quality bacterial and eukaryotic DNA from PAH-contaminated soils. Six different contaminated soils were used to determine if there were any biases among the kits due to soil properties or level of contamination. Extracted DNA was used as a template for bacterial 16S rDNA and eukaryotic 18S rDNA amplifications, and PCR products were subsequently analyzed using denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE). We found that the FastDNA SPIN kit provided significantly higher DNA yields for all soils; however, it also resulted in the highest levels of humic acid contamination. Soil texture and organic carbon content of the soil did not affect the DNA yield of any kit. Moreover, a liquid-liquid extraction of the DNA extracts found no residual PAHs, indicating that all kits were effective at removing contaminants in the extraction process. Although the PowerSoil DNA Isolation kit gave relatively low DNA yields, it provided the highest quality DNA based on successful amplification of both bacterial and eukaryotic DNA for all six soils. DGGE fingerprints among the kits were dramatically different for both bacterial and eukaryotic DNA. The PowerSoil DNA Isolation kit revealed multiple bands for each soil and provided the most consistent DGGE profiles among replicates for both bacterial and eukaryotic DNA.


The paper reports on a teacher professional development program conducted over two years in five different regions within the province of Papua, Indonesia. The goal of the program was to assist Papuan teachers to become more aware of and skilled in the use of interactive classroom pedagogies using local resources. The paper reviews the research around successful professional development programs in developing countries, and outlines the specific cultural, pedagogical, linguistic and resourcing issues encountered in this program. An effective response within the unique context of teacher professional development in Papua necessitated a process of ongoing collaborative inquiry between Australian academics, Papuan academic advisors, local Papuan master coaches and local classroom teacher participants. The paper evaluates the perceptions of participating classroom teachers on what was of importance in the program, gathered through the use of open-ended questions, researcher field notes and participant reflective responses.


: Ligation of the cranial vena cava (CrVC) distal to the entrance of the azygous vein resulted in chylothorax in 7 of 10 dogs. Of the remaining 3 dogs, 1 developed a serosanguineous effusion that did not become chylous, and 2 dogs did not develop pleural effusion. In 2 of the 7 dogs developing chylothorax, the pleural effusion became serosanguineous within 2.5 weeks after CrVC ligation. Mesenteric lymphangiography was performed 2 to 6 weeks after ligation of the CrVC. Lymphangiectasia was seen in 4 dogs with chylothorax, but was not seen in the 3 dogs with serosanguineous effusions or the 2 dogs that did not develop effusions. One dog with chylothorax died prior to repeat lymphangiography. Less dye entered the thoracic duct, and alternate lymphaticovenous communications to the caudal vena cava were evident in the dogs without chylothorax. Ligation of the thoracic duct at the lymphaticovenous junction was performed in 3 dogs. These dogs did not develop pleural effusion. Lymphangiography was performed immediately after ligation and indicated filling of abdominal lymphatics but not of the thoracic duct. Lymphangiographic findings 6 weeks after ligation also indicated filling of intestinal lymphatics. Results of the present study indicated that ligation of the CrVC causes chylothorax, and that thoracic lymphangiectasia is a consistent finding in animals with experimental chylothorax. Obstruction of the thoracic duct did not induce lymphangiectasia or chylothorax. Impedence of thoracic duct flow into the CrVC may be a cause of clinical chylothorax in the dog.


Visualization and conceptualisation of 3D objects are complex cognitive processes which are regarded essential from pre-school education to develop abilities linked to spatial and 3D thinking. The focus of this paper is to discuss the use of a virtual 3D environment as a pedagogical serious gaming platform that may help intensify learning processes. Recently, serious games are gaining popularity not only as games, but as promising educational tools too. This paper presents the creation of a simple 'serious game' where several tasks can be constructed that promote the 3D spatial thinking in pre-school education. Specifically, the creation of the virtual environment from a pre-school's indoor and outdoor environment was performed using geodetic and terrestrial laser scanning techniques. To increase the geospatial sense of pre-school children within the virtual environment, an application was developed with simple educational tasks within the 3D environment. The templates, for each section of the gaming application, have been developed using HTML5 and CSS3, in order that they are interactive and accessible to all smart devices. The paper concludes with a discussion on the experience gained towards supporting spatial thinking for pre-school children.


Objective The psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs) admit patients who are considered extremely unmanageable within psychosis units or acute psychiatric wards, and who often demonstrate aggressive or other forms of severe behaviors. This raises the question: What is going on in these units and what constitutes nursing care there and how are these patients taking cared of? Is is possible to care and create a safe environment for both the patients and the staff? The findings presented here describe how and when nursing care is provided in PICUs. The findings are presented in relation to themes, as these emerged within the psychiatric intensive nursing care. Since PICUs are able to manage and care for these patients, one can assume that there exists specific cultural knowing among nursing staff working in psychiatric intensive care units and that this warrants further description. Psychiatric inpatient care is a social institution that is not under close social scrutiny, with few people having access to it. We believe that there is a societal interest in observing and describing the care and treatment carried out in these enclosed spaces and how the nurses succeed to create a safe place for both the staff and patients. Methods Spradley's ethnograp ic methodology was applied. Results Six themes emerged as frames for nursing care in psy- chiatric intensive care: providing surveillance, sooth- ing, being present, trading information, maintaining security and reducing. Conclusions These themes are used to strike a balance between turbulence and stability and to achieve equilibrium. As the nursing care intervenes when turbulence emerges, the PICU becomes a sanctuary that offers tranquility, peace and rest. What the study is adding to the field These units care for the most acutely mental ill people in society. The care does not only create safe for the patients, but also create a safe community.


Three incidents of presumptive scombroid poisoning were reported in the Wellington area in 1973. Two of these cases were attributed to canned mackerel and the third to smoked kahawai. The marked similarity of the symptoms of the kahawai poisoning to those of the other two outbreaks of scombroid fish poisoning and the relief following anti-histamine therapy suggests that the poisoning arose from a similar source. Analysis of the extracts from the smoked kahawai revealed an abnormally high level of histamine and the presence of an unknown toxin. The unknown substance resembled saurine, the toxin that has been incriminated in scromboid poisoning, thus suggesting that scombroid intoxication may not be confined to fish belonging to the sub-order Scombroidei.


This document describes extensions to OSPF to support mobile ad hoc
networks (MANETs). The extensions, called OSPF-OR (OSPF-Overlapping
Relay), include mechanisms for link-local signaling (LLS), an OSPF-
MANET interface, a simple technique to reduce the size of Hello
packets by only transmitting incremental state changes, and a method
for optimized flooding of routing updates. OSPF-OR also provides a
means to reduce unnecessary adjacencies to support larger MANETs.
[STANDARDS-TRACK]


Background : 2-chlorophenol is one of the aromatic organic compounds found in large amounts in oil and petrochemical waste waters and chemical methods such as advanced oxidation, etc are used for removal there.
 Among various AOPs the method derived from sulfate radicals (SO4● -) and per sulfate (S2O82-) activating with heat, UV radiation and transition metals (such as iron ions) is of interest. The aim of the study was to eliminate 2-cholorophenol from aqueous solutions by electro/per sulfate process.
Materials and Methods: This lab scale experimental study was conducted using an electrochemical batch reactor equipped with 2-iron electrodes connected to a power source. Different values of main parameters including pH, voltage, initial 2-chlorophenol concentration and persulfate concentration were investigated in present study. Samples total numbers were 234. After collecting data, results were analyzed using SPSS and Excel soft wares.
Results: The results showed that solution pH, initial concentration of persulfate and voltage had significant effects on the removal. Maximum removal was obtained in acidic conditions at pH of 3. Furthermore, removal efficiency increased with increasing the concentrations of 2-chlorophenol, persulfate and voltage. Thus the electro/ persulfate process was able to remove 99.94% of 2-chlorophenol.
Conclusion: The use of persulfate ions in electrochemical reactors equipped with iron electrode had high efficiency of 2-chlorophenol removal. Therefore, electro/persulfate process with iron electrodes (EPS) can be considered as a convenient option for industrial wastewater treatment plants.
Keywords: Radical sulfate, Persulfate, Electro /persulfate, Iron electrode, 2-chlorophenol, Aqueous solutions


Abstract We propose an application of the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) for the two-dimensional inverse Stefan problem, where data are to be reconstructed from knowledge of the moving surface and the given Stefan conditions on this surface. We present numerical results for several examples both when the initial data are given but also when it is not specified. These results show good accuracy with low computational cost and are compared with results obtained by other methods.


The assessment of microbial functional diversity is an important indicator of soil quality. Different methodological approaches are currently used; among them are enzyme activities (EA) and CLPP (community level physiological profile) techniques (e.g. MicroRespTM, MR). The aims of the study were: i) to assess the efficacy of both methods in capturing differences among various land use categories when different levels of selected explanatory variables such as land use category, total organic carbon (TOC) and pH are considered, and ii) to explore, through a quantile regression approach, the possible relationships between each of the two methods with land use category, TOC and pH. The Shannon diversity index (H'), calculated from EA and MR data, was chosen as a synthetic index deriving from the same mathematical model. The quantile regression model (QRM), the Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman rank correlation tests were performed. Enzyme activities and MicroResp were reliable ecological indicators to assess soil microbial functional diversity. No correlation was found between the diversity indexes, H'EA and H'MR, it was therefore supposed that the two methods may target complementary components of microbial functional diversity. Both methods were effective in capturing differences among various land use categories, in particular H'MR in soils with low TOC content (<1.5%). Moreover, the QRM approach allowed a more detailed analysis along the distribution of the diversity indexes (H'EA and H'MR) indicating that H'EA was more dependent on the selected variables.


To assess the value of a film-reporting session as a qualifying examination in radiology, 11 residents were allowed 1 hour to interpret and dictate reports on 20 test cases. Reports were marked by four examiners; two used a standardized marking scheme and two a simple pass or fail assessment. The marking schemes were compared and the scores were related to the level of training and performance on the American College of Radiology (ACR) practice examination. With pass or fail marking, there was 55% agreement between markers and poor correlation with the candidates' training level. There was 100% marker agreement using the standardized scheme and better correlation with the level of training. There was poor correlation with the ACR scores. Preliminary results suggest that a film-reporting session with standardized marking is feasible and may be a useful addition to current evaluation methods in diagnostic radiology.


Computer vision technology is widely used in biological and medical data analysis and understanding. However, there are still two major bottlenecks in the field of cell membrane segmentation, which seriously hinder further research: lack of sufficient high-quality data and lack of suitable evaluation criteria. In order to solve these two problems, this paper first proposes an Ultra-high Resolution Image Segmentation dataset for the Cell membrane, called U-RISC, the largest annotated Electron Microscopy (EM) dataset for the Cell membrane with multiple iterative annotations and uncompressed high-resolution raw data. During the analysis process of the U-RISC, we found that the current popular segmentation evaluation criteria are inconsistent with human perception. This interesting phenomenon is confirmed by a subjective experiment involving twenty people. Furthermore, to resolve this inconsistency, we propose a new evaluation criterion called Perceptual Hausdorff Distance (PHD) to measure the quality of cell membrane segmentation results. Detailed performance comparison and discussion of classic segmentation methods along with two iterative manual annotation results under existing evaluation criteria and PHD is given.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Kaposi sarcoma (KS), an angioproliferative disease associated with Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) infection, harbors a diversity of cell types ranging from endothelial to mesenchymal cells of unclear origin. Using a novel three-dimensional (3D) cell model, we have demonstrated that KSHV induces transcriptional reprogramming of primary lymphatic endothelial cells (LEC) to mesenchymal cells via endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). As EndMT induction has been described in response to activation of the TGF-beta or Notch pathways, inhibitor studies were used to decipher their roles in our 3D system. Inhibition of the Notch pathway dramatically attenuated the EndMT in KSHV infected LECs (K-LECs) in 3D whereas inhibition or activation of the TGF-β pathway did not have any effect. Two viral gene products, vFLIP and vGPCR, were found to trigger Notch signaling and lead to the KSHV-induced EndMT. As Notch activation has been shown to inhibit angiogenic and lymphangiogenic sprouting, we assessed the effect of VEGFA or -C stimulation on the 3D K-LECs. Interestingly, VEGFA/C stimulation induced a dramatic outgrowth of (lymph)angiogenic sprouts and inhibited the KSHV-induced EndMT in the 3D K-LECs. This suggests that the KSHV-induced Notch signaling and mesenchymal reprogramming can override the lymphangiogenic properties of LECs in the absence of VEGF-A/C stimulation. These results further corroborate the central role of Notch signaling as a critical determinant for the lymphangiogenic vs. mesenchymal fate of LECs. The 3D K-LEC transcriptome showed significant up-regulation of invasion related genes over the uninfected control. Intriguingly, comparison of the GEM profiles of the 3D K-LECs and KS biopsies, genes with similar co-regulation were found and included those involved both in EMT/EndMT and invasive processes. Using a panel of specific inhibitors we found a membrane associated matrix metalloproteinase MT1-MMP to be the major MMP involved in this process. Our data further identifies Notch as a previously unrecognized upstream regulator of MT1-MMP, and demonstrates that MT1-MMP as such is sufficient to induce EndMT in 3D cultured LECs. Mesenchymal markers and MT1-MMP were found co-distributed in the same cells with LANA in primary KS tumors suggesting that virus-induced EndMT may contribute to development of KS by giving rise to invasive cells, and providing the virus a permissive microenvironment for efficient spread of the viral genomes.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2976. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2976


Should the EU design transatlantic free trade agreements (FTAs) as a power-oriented "international law among states," a "democratic law among peoples," or as a "cosmopolitan law among individuals" as the legitimate "constituent powers" and "democratic principles" of all governance agents in the twenty-first century? Why are fundamental rights so important for reforming "disconnected UN/WTO governance," so as to render multilevel protection of transnational public goods (PGs) more effective for the benefit of citizens? FTAs protecting the rights and remedies of citizens have been uniquely successful in European integration, for instance by limiting "governance failures" and "market failures" (e.g. through constitutional, competition, labor, social and environmental law, and judicial remedies). Yet, the EU neglects its "cosmopolitan foreign policy mandate" in FTA negotiations with non-European countries. European citizens criticize transatlantic FTAs for disregarding fundamental rights and judicial remedies inside the EU. Rather than exercising leadership as a "protector of citizens" in the necessary reforms of "disconnected UN/WTO governance" of transnational PGs by designing FTAs among democracies as "cosmopolitan international law," the EU institutions prioritize bureaucratic self-interests in reducing legal, democratic, and judicial accountability vis-a-vis citizens in the trade policy area, thereby aggravating the EU's legitimacy—and rule-of-law-crises.


As firms jockey to position themselves in emerging markets, firms need to evaluate the relative attractiveness of market expansion in different countries. Since the attractiveness of a market is a function of the eventual market potential and the speed at which the product diffuses through the market, a better understanding of the determinants of market potential and diffusion speed across different countries is of particular relevance to firms deliberating their market expansion strategies. Despite a recent spurt in research on multinational diffusion, there exist significant gaps in the literature. First, existing studies tend to limit their analysis to industrialized countries, thus reducing the ability to generalize the insights to many emerging markets. Second, these studies tend to focus on the coefficients of external and internal influence in the Bass diffusion model but do not analyze the determinants of market potential. Third, the choice of variables that affect the parameters of the Bass diffusion model has been rather limited.

In this paper, we seek to address these gaps in the literature. To address the scope issue, we assembled a novel dataset that captures the diffusion of 6 products in 31 developed and developing countries from Europe, Asia, and North and South America. The set of countries in our dataset encompasses 60% of the world population and includes such emerging economies as China, India, Brazil, and Thailand. This should provide us with a stronger basis to make empirical generalizations about the diffusion process.

For firms seeking to expand into emerging international markets, our findings about penetration potential have considerable significance. For example, we find that for the set of products that we analyze the average penetration potential for developing countries is about one-third 0.17 versus 0.52 of that for developed countries. We also find that it takes developing countries on average 17.9% 19.25 versus 16.33 years longer to achieve peak sales. Thus, despite the well-known positive effect of product introduction delays on diffusion speed, we find that developing countries still continue to experience a slower adoption rate, compared to that of developed countries.

Our study also investigated the impact of several new macroenvironmental variables on penetration potential and speed. For example, our findings indicate that a 1% change in international trade or urbanization level can potentially change the penetration potential by about 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. These are some of the key variables projected to change significantly over the coming years for developing countries. While business managers have relatively little influence on such variables, our findings can still serve as valuable empirical guide for the variables that they should consider in evaluating diverse international markets and in performing sensitivity analysis with respect to their projected trends.

Finally, our study also holds implications for managers seeking to combine information about past diffusion patterns across products and countries for better prediction. We pool information efficiently across multiple products and countries using a Hierarchical Bayes estimation methodology. By sharing information across countries and products in a single, coherent framework, we find that this pooling approach leads to substantial improvements in prediction accuracy. Our technique is particularly superior in predicting sales and BDM parameter values in the early years of new product introduction in a new country, when forecast estimates are managerially most useful. We also decompose the variance in the BDM model parameters into product, country, and product-country components. These results give guidelines to managers about which market experience they should weigh more to arrive at forecasts of market potential and diffusion speed. We find that while past experiences of other products in a country country effects are relatively more useful to explain penetration level cumulative sales, past experiences in other countries where a product was earlier introduced product effects are more useful to explain the coefficients of external and internal influence and thus the speed with which the product will attain peak sales.


The homogeneity of the semi-insulating CdTe/CZT crystals will determine the capacity of these semiconductors to be used in pixelized imaging applications using gamma- and X-rays. It appears that the smaller the pixel unit size, the better the material uniformity has to be. Fast characterization methods become therefore, imperative to keep the production costs in industry acceptable. The goal of the present study is to evaluate two experimental methods in their ability to fulfill in a quick and routine manner the material properties: RESISTIVITY MAPPING: a contactless time dependent charge measurement (TDCM) method was used for mapping large scale wafers with spatial resolution of 1.0 mm/sup 2/ in an automatic set-up. It gives very good reproductibility for resistivities higher than 10/sup 6/ Ohm cm and displays full scale image of the resistivity distribution. - INFRARED TRANSMISSION MAPPING: allows the analysis of Te inclusions and an adapted software gives directly the distribution of the precipitate sizes. Samples of THM grown CdTe crystals have been investigated as grown and after various thermal treatments and the pixelized detectors produced from these wafers were tested using a /sup 57/Co radiation source.


BACKGROUND
We explored the dynamic expression of platelet-derived growth factor-D (PDGF-D) and phosphorylated platelet-derived growth factor receptor-β (p-PDGFR-β) after traumatic brain injury in rats to provide theoretical basis for selecting therapeutic target and intervention time after traumatic brain injury.

METHODS
This study prepared the weight drop/impact acceleration-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) model in rats, including sham group and TBI groups at different observation time points (6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 3 days, and 7 days after TBI). The dynamic expression of PDGF-D and p-PDGFR-β after TBI were detected by western blot and immunofluorescence staining.

RESULTS
The expression level of PDGF-D and p-PDGFR-β after TBI was detected by western blot. The PDGF-D level was increased (p < 0.05) 6 hours after TBI and remained at the high level until 3 days after TBI (p < 0.05). The p-PDGFR-β level was increased (p < 0.05) 12 hours after TBI and remained at the high level until 3 days after TBI (p < 0.05). PDGF-D and p-PDGFR-β in brain tissues were found by immunofluorescence in the perihematoma area 24 hours after TBI.

CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed the expression phenomenon of PDGF-D and p-PDGFR-β after TBI in rats, suggesting that PDGF-D participates in the process of secondary brain injury after TBI through specific binding with PDGFR-β, which provides a theoretical basis for further research on selecting therapeutic targets and intervention times after TBI.


In this sample of 140 patients undergoing hepatic resection to remove cancerous tissue, hypercoagulation was the most common postoperative BCD; in ten patients, this complication led to hepatic failure and hepatic coma. These findings differ from those previously reported in the literature, possibly because our patients had advanced hepatomas which had already infiltrated the great vessels of the liver, and/or the remaining liver was seriously cirrhotic. We found that blood-coagulation monitoring and anticoagulation therapy yielded encouraging results, and it is our hope that this treatment in combination with immunotherapy will prolong the survival of these patients.


Two different paradigms to realize a scalable all-optical packet switch with label swapping will be presented. All the functions required for switching the packets are based on all-optical signal processing without any electronic control. This allows very low latency and potential photonic integration of the systems. We report for both techniques experimental results showing the routing operation of the 160 Gb/s packets and beyond. We will discuss and compare both techniques in term of devices and bit-rate scalability, latency, power consumption, power penalty performance and cascadability as key parameters for the realization of an all-optical packet switch.


Phospholipase C from Clostridium perfringens induced the release of 45Ca2+ from isolated rat hepatocytes incubated at 0.1 mM extracellular Ca2+ with a time course similar to that for the action of phenylephrine. Under the conditions of these experiments, no significant damage to the plasma membrane was detected in the presence of phospholipase C. Little 45Ca2+ release was induced by bee venom phospholipase A2. At 1.3 mM extracellular Ca2+, both phospholipase enzymes stimulated the initial rate of 45Ca2+ exchange. Concentrations of phospholipase C comparable with those that stimulated 45Ca2+ release increased the rates of glucose release and O2 utilization by 70 and 20% respectively. An increase in the rate of O2 utilization but not glucose release was observed after the addition of phospholipase A2 to hepatocytes. The possible role for a cellular phospholipase C in the mechanism by which phenylephrine stimulates glycogenolysis in the liver cell is briefly discussed.


Vegetation is changing across the Arctic in response to increasing temperatures, which may influence archaeological sites in the region. At the moment, very little is known about how different plant species influence archaeological remains. In this study we visited 14 archaeological sites stretching across a climatic gradient from the outer coast to the inner fjords in the Nuuk Fjord area of West Greenland to assess the impact of vegetation growth on archaeological preservation. Examination of the physical disturbance of archaeological layers and materials by roots from different plant species showed that horsetail (Equisetum arvense) was particularly destructive because of its deep penetrating rhizomes and ubiquity across the study area. Willow (Salix glauca) also caused physical disturbance due to a dense root network, but its roots were mainly found in the upper 30 cm of the soil. Focus was also given to the impact from vegetation on the visibility of sites, where growth of willow was found be the main problem, especially in the inner fjords. Historic descriptions and aerial photographs from the sites show that shrub growth was already widespread in the region by the 1930s, but photos of some of the sites investigated show that the willow shrubs are significantly taller today, which has decreased the visibility of site features. The impact from horsetail and willow on archaeological sites may be mitigated using geotextiles and grazing by livestock, but both methods require further studies before being implemented in the study area.


Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety 3rd (revised) edn. L. Parmeggiani (ed) pp 3714 (2 volumes) £78.00 Geneva: International Labour Office 1983 These two tomes of 3714 pages, weighing 7.5 kg and costing £78, are compiled by 913 authors from 60 countries. They deal with a wide range of subjects including 'occupational safety, physiology, psychology and medico-social topics'. Certainly many of the articles are outstanding and give the right amount of information for the non-specialist and often for the expert as well. It may be churlish to criticize articles written 'virtually free of charge' by many eminent authors (and I know that many did not receive any fee at all), but a reference text should be of practical use to the enquirer. The physician, say, in chemical or pharmaceutical industry will profit from study of such sections as agriculture, pesticides, fertilizers, fire or dust control. He will not be impressed by the section on antibiotics with weird English and misleading text, or by just one page on genetic manipulation, 1H pages on epidemiology or 2 on computers. He will find little up-to-date information on reproductive health in the chapter devoted to 'genital systems', but a lot under 'embryotoxic effects' (6j pages), under 'dioxin' and 'dibromo-chloro-propane'. He is more likely to find what he needs on allergy under the heading of 'Alveolitis'. Dentists will find no mention of the effects of mercury, eye hazards, hepatitis or cervical spondylosis but, instead, radiodermatitis and bronchial infections, which must be exceedingly rare. It looks as if the editor was somewhat dependent on the material supplied by his contributors. Thus there are 60 pages on radiation, 33 on pesticides and 6 on photography, while automobiles, textiles and rehabilitation make do with 3 pages and fishing, road transport and sport with only 2 pages each. The indexing can be a trial. Important aspects of ergonomics appear under the title 'Indicators'. There is no reference to dermatitis, unless one discovers a brief article on 'Occupational Skin Diseases'. There is nothing on shipping, but an article on the 'Merchant Marine'. Synthetic resins are not mentioned, but synthetic rubbers are. And the article on coalworkers pneumoconiosis does not mention that the full set of international reference radiographs is reproduced under 'Pneumoconiosis'. Most of the articles are excellent and authoritative but some, like 'Cosmetics', are positively misleading. 'Heat Disorders' includes actinic keratoses, here misnamed rodent ulcers. 'Epilepsy' does not discuss driving occupations. All sections contain useful key references; the most recent in volume 1 are to 1981, a few in volume 2 to 1982. I do not think that a work of reference of this size can do more than reside in libraries to provide quick and reliable reference on a great variety of occupational health and safety topics. But nowadays it has to compete with much more rapid abstracting services, such as the information centre of the ILO itself, named by the French initials CIS, and with computer links to specialist services like TOXLine, NIOSHTIC, HSELine and ECDIN. It does, however, cover many other subjects which are widely scattered in the literature and which are not otherwise readily accessible. In a most comprehensive encyclopaedia I could not find any sections at all on occupational morbidity or mortality, nor on the Armed Forces or armaments and munitions.


The water resources of the Coconino Plateau in northern Arizona are under increasing demand as a result of development. The population of this arid region continues to grow, and the number of visitors to the many national and state parks and monuments in the region has increased annually. The sustainability, protection, and maintenance of springs and seeps and associated riparian habitat on the Coconino Plateau are major issues that have broad public and governmental support. Regional stakeholders agree that an improved understanding of the regional hydrogeologic system is needed to address the concerns of water supply and ground-water sustainability. The base of information required to adequately describe the hydrogeology of the Coconino Plateau currently does not exist. Hydrogeologic data is most abundant for large population centers like Flagstaff and Sedona, but is sparse for less populated areas like Williams, Tusayan, Valle, and Cameron. There are still large parts of the Coconino Plateau for which there is no basic geologic or hydrologic information available. In order to develop a hydrogeologic framework for the Coconino Plateau, a comprehensive effort is needsd to compile existent data and collect additional data to fill in data gaps and reinforce limited information. In 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began an assessment of the hydrogeology of the Coconino Plateau in cooperation with the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) as part of the Rural Watershed Initiative, a program established by the State of Arizona and managed by the ADWR. Assessments also are underway in the upper-middle Verde River watershed (Woodhouse and others, 2002) to the south and in the Mogollon Highlands to the southeast (Parker and Flynn, 2000). Each study has as its objectives: (1) the collection, compilation, and evaluation of all existing geologic, hydrologic, and related data pertaining to the study area and the creation of a database that is readily accessible to the public and (2) the development of an understanding of the hydrogeologic framework, which is the relation between hydrologic and geologic properties, that can be used for waterr e s o u r c e s management purposes and that will support the development of conceptual and interpretive models that can be used to e v a l u a t e t h e effects of climate and water use on regional water resources. ������� ������� ��������� �������� ������� ����� ���� ����� ����


We report a new way, i.e. double-end-pumping, to extend the stability range of a laser resonator, in advantage of making the thermal loading be effectively divided between the ends of the laser crystal to reduce the thermal effect, thus to extend the stability range. Using this new way, we experimentally obtained a 2.7-W cw laser source at 671 nm by intracavity frequency doubling of 1342nm ofa Nd:YVO4 laser based on the nonlinear crystal LIB3O5. The maximum pump power is 28 W, which is higher than 13 W of the single-end-pumping.


Story collected by Maggie Walshe, a student at Coill Bheithne (C.), Baile Mhisteala school (Kilbeheny, Co. Limerick) (no informant identified).


Demonstrates how to add security, use CGI and Perl scripts, fine-tune performance using Netscape Communicator and Internet Explorer, master Apache's modules and more. The text should give readers a sense of confidence in their ability to get Apache up-and-running quickly and efficiently. The enclosed CD includes CGI and Perl Scripts, as well as a trial version of Stronghold Apache - the freeware distribution version of the Apache Server software product.


This is the first volume in the final publication of the University of Cincinnati's investigations on the island of Keos. It describes the excavation of a small site on the headland of Kephala, about one kilometer north of the Bronze Age site of Ayia Irini. Remains of both a settlement and its cemetery were uncovered, unusual in excavated Aegean sites earlier than the second millennium B.C. Although doubt is expressed about its exact date, the site definitely falls into the period between the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, when evidence of a hierarchical, more developed society emerges. Occupied for less than a century by a community of fewer than 100 people, the settlement was probably abandoned around the end of the fourth millennium B.C. perhaps because a worsening climate could no longer support early agriculture on the barren rocks around the site. The report concludes with specialist studies on the different classes of artifact found, including some of the earliest evidence for copper-working in the Aegean.


In 2008 there was an expectation of major reform to social and economic structures following the financial crisis. The European Union (EU) referendum of 2016, and the UK's subsequent exit from the EU in 2020, was also signalled as a turning point that would bring about epochal change. Now, in the waning of the coronavirus pandemic, we are experiencing a similar rhetoric. There is widespread agreement that the pandemic will usher in big changes for the economy and society, with the potential for major policy reform. But what will be the long-term impacts of the pandemic on the UK economy? Is the right response a "new settlement" or is some alternative approach likely to be more beneficial? This report puts forward a new perspective on the pandemic-related changes that could be ahead. The central theme is assessing the viability of epochal reform in policymaking. There seems to be a relentless desire for making big changes; however, there is arguably not enough recognition of how current settings and history can hold back these efforts. Foreword by: Dame Frances Cairncross, CBE, FRSE.


Music is a natural human expression present in all cultures, but the functions it serves are still debated. Previous research indicates that rhythm, an essential feature of music, can enhance coordination of movement and increase social bonding. However, the prolonged effects of rhythm have not yet been investigated. In this study, pairs of participants were exposed to one of three kinds of auditory stimuli (rhythmic, arrhythmic, or white-noise) and subsequently engaged in five trials of a joint-action task demanding interpersonal coordination. We show that when compared with the other two stimuli, exposure to the rhythmic beat reduced the practice effect in task performance. Analysis of the behavioral data suggests that this reduction results from more temporally coupled motor movements over successive trials and that shared exposure to rhythm facilitates interpersonal motor coupling, which in this context serves to impede the attainment of necessary dynamic coordination. We propose that rhythm has the potential to enhance interpersonal motor coupling, which might serve as a mechanism behind its facilitation of positive social attitudes.


Plocama is a flowering plant genus belonging to Rubiaceae family. The natural products are soxlated from the dried powder of Plocama root with various solvents like n-Hexane, Ethyl acetate, Chloroform, Water and Ethanol. Phytochemical screening revealed that Alkaloids are present in chloroform extract whereas Anthocyanins are present in ethanol extract. Terpenoids, Flavonoids, Alkaloids and Phenolic compounds are present in water extract. In the present study, Plocama pendula root water extract (PPRWE) (400 mg/kg) produced significant antidepressant effect in Forced swim test & Tail Suspension Test. Ecliptin alkaloid & Culumbin, a flavonoid present in PPRWE may be facilitating monoaminergic transmission there by producing antidepressant effects. In this work, it was demonstrated that the administration of different doses of the water extract of Plocama pendula root in mice was able to induce antidepressant effects. On the basis of the clinical association of depressive episodes and stressful life events, many of the animal models for the evaluation of antidepressant drug activity assess stress‐precipitated behaviors. Results of this study showed that the administration of the PPRWE produced a diminution of immobility time of mice exposed to the both forced swimming and tail suspension tests. Harmaline alkaloidspresent in Plocama pendulaact as reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors and in common with other beta carboline binds to 5‐Hydroxy Tryptamine receptors. Inhibition of this enzyme causes a reduction in metabolism and subsequent increase in the concentration of biogenic amines. The flavonoid components of PPRWE might be interacting with adrenergic and serotonergic systems in mediating the antidepressant effects of PPRWE. However, the precise mechanisms by which the extract produced antidepressant‐like effect are not completely understood. Further studies would be necessary to evaluate the contribution of active chemical constituents for the observed antidepressant activity.


This reading list includes recommendations from Upper School students and teachers. Titles marked with an asterisk (*) are especially suited for students in grades 11 and 12 due to the sophistication of their style or content.


In our paper we tried to investigate the organisation and functioning of the Agricultural Knowledge System in Romania. On the basis of system analysis approaches, we critically examined the set of public and private organisations dedicated to research, education and extension, and their interaction with knowledge users (traditional farmers) and the main system failures and strengths in the innovation process in agriculture were identified. The empirical research in this study had a heuristic value.


Abstract Immigrant sentiment, measured by the number of state laws enacted to curb the flow of undocumented immigration or expand rights to immigrants, have been on a steady incline since September 11, 2001. Despite the increased attention to unauthorized immigration, little research has examined how immigrant policies are affecting group identity (i.e., linked fate). Linked fate is a form of collective group identity that develops when a group of people experience discrimination and marginalization. Using a unique database that merges the 2012 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey (n = 934 Latinos) with the sum of state-level immigration policies enacted from 2005 to 2012, this study is the first to examine the direct relationship between immigrant climate and linked fate. Results from our multinomial logistic regressions indicate that the linked fate among Latinos increases as the number of punitive immigration laws in a state increases, controlling for a vector of control variables. Consistent with our theory regarding differential impact, our findings also suggest that immigration laws have a more pronounced influence on the linked fate of foreign-born Latinos.


The aim of the investigation was to evaluate the hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activity of ethanolic extracts of different parts from the plant Ficus racemosa (FR) in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Diabetes was induced by a single dose of intraperitoneal injection of alloxan (100mg/kg) in Swiss Albino Mice. Metformin HCl (150mg/kg body weight, op.) was used as a standard antidiabetic agent. After oral administration of fruits (300 mg/kg) and bark extracts (300 mg/kg), changes in blood sugar levels, body weight and organ weight were measured for seven days. At the end of the experiment blood samples were analyzed for the estimation of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), phospholipid levels and liver glycogen content. The result indicated that oral ingestion of FR extracts significantly reduced blood glucose levels in Group-DFF (50.45%) and Group-DFB (60.53%) when compared to Group-DC mice. Short-term treatment did not alter the body weight among the mice; however the liver weight to body weight ratios were significantly reduced in Group-DFF and Group-DFB. Administration of extracts greatly reduced the serum cholesterols, triglycerides, phospholipids levels and the glycogen content were significantly restored in Group-DFF and Group-DFB as compared to Group-DC mice. Our findings suggested that extracts from different parts of Ficus racemosa have glucose and lipid lowering efficacy and may have some beneficial effects in patients with diabetes.


Abstract:
The Institute of Vehicle Concepts is developing a safe, modularisable vehicle concept in rib and space frame design for tomorrow's vehicles with alternative power trains. The vehicle can be powered either by a fuel cell system, a free-piston linear generator developed at the DLR, or a traction battery. Taking into account the given boundary conditions, the challenge is to design a body structure that is light and performs well in the event of an accident.
The rib and space frame concept for the vehicle body has a crash compartment in the floor to hold alternative power train components. Crash elements made from carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) are inserted between the crash compartment, formed by two continuous side members, and the outer rocker panels. The body consists of three annular ribs made of fibre-reinforced plastic, which are joined by means of simple geometric profiles or cast nodes. In a second design, support structures are integrated into the vehicle that significantly increase weight-specific energy absorption by means of systematic elongation.
The crash compartment serves to ensure that there is no danger by the alternative power trains, in this case particularly the energy storage systems, during an accident. In the event of a side impact, the annular ribs protect the passengers by keeping the survival space intact. Furthermore, the use of composite structures reduces the weight of the vehicle body considerably compared to a reference structure with the same level of safety.
In the case of extreme local strain arising from a pole collision, hybrid support structures consisting of a foam core and a metal profile reduce intrusion into the passenger compartment. Suitable materials are particularly metals with a high degree of weight-specific strength and elasticity such as stainless steel or the newly developed manganese steel, but also aluminium alloys with high elasticity.
The B-rib, which takes the most strain, is available as a structure tested for side impact as defined by Euro NCAP, and will shortly be subjected to the American IIHS test. Hybrid support structures for different combinations of materials were also tested at component level. The space frame is being constructed as a digital prototype on which different subsystems can be examined virtually in terms of energy absorption and their effect on the vehicle mass.
The lecture will discuss the simulation results and prototype tests for the B-rib and the hybrid support structures, as well as the current status of rib and space frame construction.


The epic battle over a mathematical concept that shook the old order and shaped the world as we know it On August 10, 1632, five leaders of the Society of Jesus convened in a somber Roman palazzo to pass judgment on a simple idea: that a continuous line is composed of distinct and limitlessly tiny parts. The doctrine would become the foundation of calculus, but on that fateful day the judges ruled that it was forbidden. With the stroke of a pen they set off a war for the soul of the modern world. Amir Alexanders Infinitesimal is the story of the struggle that pitted Europes entrenched powers against voices for tolerance and change. It takes us from the bloody religious strife of the sixteenth century to the battlefields of the English civil war and the fierce confrontations between leading thinkers like Galileo and Hobbes. We see how a small mathematical disagreement became a contest over the nature of the heavens and the earth: Was the world entirely known and ruled by a divinely sanctioned rationality and hierarchy? Or was it a vast and mysterious place, ripe for exploration? The legitimacy of popes and kings, as well as our modern beliefs in human liberty and progressive science, hung in the balance; the answer hinged on the infinitesimal. Pulsing with drama and excitement, Infinitesimal will forever change the way you look at a simple lineand celebrates the spirit of discovery, innovation, and intellectual achievement.


A porcine heart valve was irradiated by Ultraviolet (UV) rays (10 W, 254 nm) for 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours at 4 degrees C to cross-link the structural collagen matrix. The degree of cross-linking was evaluated by assaying the released amount of hydroxyproline (Hyp) from the matrix, and comparing it with the positive controls of valves treated by glutaraldehyde (GA) solution (0.625 wt%) and the negative controls of non-treated fresh valves. The undigested weight ratio of the specimens increased by increasing the UV irradiation time. The undigested weight of the leaflets, tunica interna and tunica externa of the fresh, GA-treated and UV-irradiated specimens after collagenase digestion was compared. As UV irradiation increased, the amount of released hydroxyproline was gradually decreased until 8 hours of irradiation, after which the released hydroxyproline-reduction occurred slightly until 24 hours of irradiation time in this system. A total 47.68% of the hydroxyproline in the valve was cross-linked by UV irradiation after 24 hours, while 73.74% of the hydroxyproline in the positive control was crossed-linked. Light microscopic observation revealed that the typical crimp pattern of collagen fibers decreased and was rearranged into a dense flattened pattern as the UV irradiation induced interfibrilar cross-linking. GA-treated valves demonstrated a denser matrix pattern than the UV-irradiated specimens. Cross-linked collagenous tissue prepared by UV irradiation would be useful for improving durability and reducing the disadvantages related to using a chemical cross-linking agent.


A subject which is often not given the importance it deserves concerns addiction psychotherapy. Starting from taking into account the complex and problematic characteristics of this peculiar psychopathology, there will be an effort to trace back the fundamental canon of the healing process to supportive treatment. Later on, expanding on the subject, we will take into account the possibility of a phenomenologically oriented treatment, and include it into the number of those psychotherapies which are better suited to respond to the typical aspects of these clinical conditions.


Abstract The present paper analyzes the changes in migration patterns of a Tibetan-style transhumance livelihood system for a period of 20 years in northwest Yunnan, China. Between 1984 and 2005, the average number of pastures for rotational use in the 12 investigated villages decreased from 6.2 to 3.9, and the average number of stops on the annual migration route decreased from 8.3 to 5.8. The number of days during which the animals depend on stall feeding and low-elevation shrubs increased from 231.3 to 270, while those spent in forest belts decreased by 32.6% and those in alpine rangelands by 25.5%. These changes have intensified the pressure on low-elevation ecosystems and grazing resources. Winter fodder supply, rather than carrying capacity based on overall grazing resources at all elevations, should be used to determine the scale of pastoral development. Encroachment of woody plants is a major cause of alpine rangeland degradation, which used to be unjustifiably attributed to a growing livestock population. Reintroduction of traditional management tools such as burning can effectively increase the area of available rangeland resources and curb localized degradation processes by evening out grazing pressure.


Background and aim Phacomatoses are genetic syndromes often associated with an increased risk of a variety of malignant and benign neoplasms, including nervous system tumors. Little is known about the causes of de novo occurrences of phacomatoses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and the occurrence of de novo phacomatoses. Methods All individuals born in Sweden between 1982 and 2014 with information on both biological parents were identified through the Medical Birth Register (MBR), n=3,132,056. The Swedish population-based health care registers were used to identify individuals with a phacomatosis and information on maternal smoking was extracted from the MBR. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the risk of phacomatoses. Results In the study population, we identified 2074 individuals diagnosed with a phacomatosis, among which 75% were regarded as de novo occurrence. While no effect of heavy maternal smoking (10+ cigarettes/day) was observed for de novo neurofibromatosis, an increased risk was found for other phacomatoses excluding neurofibromatosis (OR =1.51, 95% CI 1.13–2.03). Indications of an increased risk for specific phacomatosis subtypes were observed for tuberous sclerosis (OR =1.39, 95% CI 0.91–2.14) and Sturge–Weber syndrome (OR =1.86, 95% CI 0.83–4.19). No association was observed for familial phacomatoses. Conclusion This is the first study examining the risk of de novo phacomatoses associated with heavy maternal smoking during pregnancy. Further studies are needed to confirm the associations observed and elucidate potential biological mechanisms.


Background Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, low personal accomplishment and depersonalization experienced by a health professional and it is more common in nurses due to high workload and job stress that is mostly caused by working proximity to patients and taking care of them. Burnout compromises the provision of quality health care. Despite this, there is no information in Ethiopia on burnout among nurses in study area. Objectives To determine the magnitude of burnout and associated factors among nurses working in public hospitals of Harari regional state and Dire Dawa administration, eastern Ethiopia, February 1–29, 2020. Methods Institutional based quantitative cross-sectional study was employed from February 1–29 among 412 randomly selected nurses who have been working in hospitals for the last 6 months. Simple random sampling method was employed and data was collected by self-administered, standardized, reliable and valid, questionnaire (Maslachs Burnout Inventory- Human Services Survey). Data was entered into EpiData Version 3.1 and exported to statistical package for social science version 20 for analysis. All covariate with P-value less than 0.25 in bivariable analysis were candidate for multivariable analysis. Level of statistical significance was declared at p-value < 0.05. Results Among 412 nurses taking part in this study, 183(44.4%) of nurses with 95% CI, had experienced burnout. Married marital status [AOR:2.3,95%CI:(1.2–4.3)], poor current health status [AOR:4.8, 95% CI:(1.1–21.4)] and fair current health status [AOR:12, 95% CI:(4.5–32)], working greater than eight hour per-day[AOR:0.52, 95%CI:(0.29–0.92)], intention to leave a job [AOR:0.48,95%CI:(0.2–0.88), being working in emergency room [AOR:0.3,95%CI:(0.1–0.98)] and using a different medication related to work related health problems were factors associated with nurses' burnout. Conclusion The nurses' burnout in this study is high and it is attributed by marriage, perceiving health status as poor and fair, whereas, having the intention to leave job, being working in emergency room and using a medication in relation to work related health problems reduced risk of developing burnout. So, the concerned bodies should provide trainings which focus on stress copying mechanisms and assertiveness program.


With increasing motorization the number of traffic fatalities is a serious problem in many countries. Two studies addressing the road fatalities in Estonia as compared to other countries are described in this paper. The LiMo surveys, addressing the traffic behavior on both drivers and pedestrians by means of a questionnaire and field survey have been provided in Estonia since 2001. Another study, SARTE—Social Attitudes Towards the Road Traffic Risk in Europe has been carried out since 1989 (since 2002 in Estonia) and provides comparative data for different European countries. The results of the studies show that speeding and drunken driving are the largest problems in Estonia's traffic. The same problems are also recognized by public perception. At the same time, the passive road safety measures (use of reflectors, seat belts) are often considered secondary, less important measures. There is a big conflict between the attitudes and self-behavior of the road users, and the self-responsibility of safety improvement is still very low. For example, the number of cases of driving after alcohol consumption reached 2% in Estonia and 4.9% in the capital city of Tallinn in 2003. One driver in five exceeds the speed limit by more than 10 kph, however the public perception is that speeding by other drivers is recognized to be twice as much as oneself. The use of mandatory seat belt is ignored by almost one driver in three and about three passengers in four for the back seat. Ascertaining the public perception of the factors that continue to contribute to driver and pedestrian accidents and, secondly, assessing road-use behavior hopefully provide the foundation for developing fruitful strategies to decrease road fatalities.


BACKGROUND
Reports of shoulder arthroplasty for the treatment of fixed glenohumeral dislocation are rare. The purpose of this study was to analyze the results following shoulder arthroplasty in patients with a fixed anterior shoulder dislocation.

METHODS
Eleven patients were evaluated at a minimum of twenty-four months after they underwent an arthroplasty for the treatment of a fixed anterior shoulder dislocation. Four patients underwent a total shoulder arthroplasty, and the remainder were treated with a hemiarthroplasty. Four shoulders had osseous reconstruction of the anterior aspect of the glenoid. The patients were evaluated with use of the Constant score, measurement of active anterior elevation and external rotation, the patient's subjective grading of the result, and a radiographic examination.

RESULTS
The mean Constant score improved from 21.1 points preoperatively to 46.0 points following the arthroplasty, and the mean active anterior elevation improved from 48.6 degrees to 90.0 degrees . The pain component of the Constant score was the most reliably improved parameter, increasing from a mean of 4.8 points preoperatively to a mean of 11.0 points postoperatively. Eight patients reported that the result was excellent or good, and the remaining three considered it to be fair. We observed seven complications in five patients, including four cases of anterior instability of the shoulder. Two of the four patients treated with a total shoulder replacement were seen to have definite loosening of the glenoid component on follow-up radiographs.

CONCLUSIONS
Shoulder arthroplasty in patients with a fixed anterior shoulder dislocation is fraught with difficulties and complications. Although arthroplasty reliably relieved shoulder pain in this population, limited functional results should be expected.


In this thesis, I present an original account of Bentham's theory of the nature of law. Beginning with Bentham's methodology, I dispute H.L.A. Hart's claim that Bentham's method consists of 'morally neutral description'. I argue that Bentham's method is founded on a natural arrangement of law, which requires the legal philosopher to describe the true properties of legal materials according to their influence on people's pleasure and pain. A natural arrangement is, therefore, based on utility, and not 'morally neutral'. Bentham's theory is widely labelled as a command theory. As such, Hart claims that Bentham's theory is inadequate, because it cannot explain three major phenomena, namely the existence of legal materials that are not commands, the nature and working of the common law, and legally limited sovereignty. I argue that laws, for Bentham, are binding norms that are attributable to the sovereign, and that these norms include laws in populum and laws in principem: the latter are the laws that limit the sovereign. I argue that command theory is only one part of Bentham's wider theory of law, and characterizes laws in populum alone, and not laws in principem. I show how those legal materials that are not expressed as commands can be translated into commands, and how the rules of common law arise and work as the sovereign's commands. Finally, Hart argues that Bentham's command theory contains the germ of the idea of a peremptory reason. I claim that Bentham's notion of command does not equate to a peremptory reason. According to Bentham, a commander intends that the punishment assigned by him be accepted by the person to whom he issues his command as the overriding, rather than as a peremptory, reason to obey it.


In this article, the academic and industry careers for biomedical engineering students are explored. The clinical engineering field is growing as technology plays a greater role in the delivery of healthcare. Clinical engineering brings biomedical engineering to the clinical setting. It is concluded that working at the interface between engineering and medicine can make the transition to medical school a natural one for biomedical engineers who want to work closely with patients.


The Solar Orbiter flyby of Venus on 27 December 2020 allowed for an opportunity to measure the suprathermal to energetic ions in the Venusian system over a large range of radial distances to better understand the acceleration processes within the system and provide a characterization of galactic cosmic rays near the planet. Bursty suprathermal ion enhancements (up to ∼ 10keV) were observed as far as ∼ 50 R V downtail. These enhancements are likely related to a combination of acceleration mechanisms in regions of strong turbulence, current sheet crossings, and boundary layer crossings, with a possible instance of ion heating due to ion cyclotron waves within the Venusian tail. Upstream of the planet, suprathermal ions are observed that might be related to pick-up acceleration of photoionized exospheric populations as far as 5 R V upstream in the solar wind as has been observed before by missions such as Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Venus Express. Near the closest approach of Solar Orbiter, the Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) count rate was observed to decrease by approximately 5 percent, which is consistent with the amount of sky obscured by the planet, suggesting a negligible abundance of GCR albedo particles at over 2 R V . Along with modulation of the GCR population very close to Venus, the Solar Orbiter observations show that the Venusian system, even far from the planet, can be an e ff ective accelerator of ions up to ∼ 30keV. This paper is part of a series of the first papers from the Solar Orbiter Venus flyby.


Objective: To investigate the association between political trust in the Riksdag and lack of belief in the possibility to influence one's own health (external locus of control), taking horizontal trust into account. Design/setting/participants/measurements: The 2008 public health survey in Skåne is a cross-sectional postal questionnaire study with a 55% participation rate. A random sample of 28,198 persons aged 18—80 years participated. Logistic regression models were used to investigate the associations between political trust in the Riksdag (an aspect of vertical trust) and lack of belief in the possibility to influence one's own health (external locus of control). The multiple regression analyses included age, country of birth, education, and horizontal trust in other people. Results: A 33.7% of all men and 31.8% of all women lack internal locus of control. Low (external) health locus of control is more common in higher age groups, among people born outside Sweden, with lower education, low horizontal trust, low political trust, and no opinion concerning political trust. Respondents with not particularly strong political trust, no political trust at all and no opinion have significantly higher odds ratios of external locus of control throughout the multiple regression analyses. Conclusions: Low political trust in the Riksdag seems to be independently associated with external health locus of control.


Small modular reactors (SMRs) offer potential for addressing the nation's long-term energy needs. However, the project design cycle for new reactor concepts is lengthy. As part of the Department of Energy's Advanced SMR research and development program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is developing a Dynamic System Modeling Tool (MoDSIM) to facilitate rapid instrumentation and controls studies of SMR concepts.Traditional nuclear reactor design makes use of verified and validated codes to meet the strict quality assurance requirements of the licensing process for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, there are significant engineering analyses and high-level decisions required prior to the rigorous design phase. These analyses typically do not require high-fidelity codes. Different organizations and researchers may examine various plant configuration options prior to formal design activities. Engineers and managers must continuously make down-selection decisions regarding potential reactor architectures and subsystems. Traditionally, the modeling of these complex systems has been based on legacy models. Considerable time and effort are necessary to understand and manipulate these legacy models. For trade-space studies, two developments in the model-based systems engineering space represent a significant advancement in the ability of engineering tools to meet these demands. The first is Modelica: a nonproprietary, equation-based, object-oriented modeling language for cyber-physical systems. The second is the Functional Mockup Interface: a standardized, open interface for model exchange, simulation, and deployment.ORNL's MoDSIM tool makes use of these developments and is intended to provide a flexible and robust dynamic system-modeling environment for SMRs. This includes single or multiple reactors, perhaps sharing common resources, or producing both electricity and process heat for local consumption or feeding a regional grid. MoDSIM uses the open-source modeling language (Modelica) and incorporates a user interface, coupled dynamic models, and analysis capabilities that will enable non-expert modelers to perform sophisticated end-to-end system simulations of both neutronic and thermal-hydraulic models. This approach enables open-source and crowd-source-type collaborations for model development of SMRs in an approach similar to open-source and open-design techniques currently used for software production and complex system design. As part of the tool development, an example SMR was chosen (advanced liquid metal reactor [ALMR]) and the ALMR models developed and interface tools demonstrated. For initial verification purposes, the results from these Modelica simulations are compared with the results documented for the earlier ALMR power-reactor innovative small-module concept. These results, as well as initial demonstrations of the tool for different control strategies, are presented in this paper.Copyright © 2014 by ASME