Madagascar is recognized both for its unparalleled biodiversity and the high level of threat suffered by this biodiversity, associated in particular with anthropogenic deforestation. Despite sustained efforts to fight poverty and curb deforestation, forest cover in Madagascar is rapidly decreasing. To try to explain why it is so difficult to stop deforestation in Madagascar, we analysed the recent deforestation process in Western Madagascar through satellite image analysis and field surveys. We show that deforestation has increased from less than 0.9%/yr on 2000–2010 to more than 2%/yr on 2010–2017. We identified two major causes of deforestation, which were not associated with subsistence agriculture: slash-and-burn agriculture for the cultivation of cash crops (maize and peanut), and uncontrolled fires to create open pasture. Maize production is mainly at the destination of the domestic market and is used in particular for livestock feeding. Peanut production has boomed since 2013 and more than half of it is now exported towards asiatic countries. The money earned by farmers is principally invested into zebu herd acquisition. Trade of agricultural commodities benefits several intermediaries, some of whom have political responsibilities thus creating conflicts of interest. On the other hand, agents from institutions in charge of the management of the protected areas have no means to enforce laws against deforestation. In the absence of an efficient strategy to stop deforestation, we predicted that 38-93% of the forest present in 2000 will have disappeared in 2050. Forest loss, apart from biodiversity loss and climate-change global issues, will be at the expense of local population. In order to stop deforestation, international aid should be used to improve local governance to enforce environmental laws and pressure should be put on trading companies to buy certified agricultural commodities that are not derived from deforestation.


Despite their enormous potential, machine learning methods
have only found limited application in predicting reaction outcomes, as current
models are often highly complex and, most importantly, are not transferrable to
different problem sets. Herein, we present the direct utilization of Lewis
structures in a machine learning platform for diverse applications in organic
chemistry. Therefore, an input based on multiple fingerprint features (MFF) as
a universal molecular representation was developed and used for problem sets of
increasing complexity: First, molecular properties across a diverse array of
molecules could be predicted accurately. Next, reaction outcomes such as
stereoselectivities and yields were predicted for experimental data sets that
were previously evaluated using (complex) problem-oriented descriptor models. As
a final application, a systematic high-throughput data set showed good
correlation when using the MFF model, which suggests that this approach is
general and ready for immediate adoption by chemists.


We consider the problem of evaluating the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the sum of order statistics, which serves to compute outage probability (OP) values at the output of generalized selection combining receivers. Generally, closed-form expressions of the CDF of the sum of order statistics are unavailable for many practical distributions. Moreover, the naive Monte Carlo (MC) method requires a substantial computational effort when the probability of interest is sufficiently small. In the region of small OP values, we instead propose two effective variance reduction techniques that yield a reliable estimate of the CDF with small computing cost. The first estimator, which can be viewed as an importance sampling estimator, has bounded relative error under a certain assumption that is shown to hold for most of the challenging distributions. A possible improvement of this estimator is then proposed for the Pareto and the Weibull cases. The second is a conditional MC estimator that achieves the bounded relative error property for the generalized Gamma case and the logarithmic efficiency for the Log-normal case. Finally, the efficiency of these estimators is compared via various numerical simulations.


Maxwell 2D software is introduced in this paper to calculate the magnetic shielding effectiveness (MSE) properties of iron plate. The three-dimensional magnetic shield is thought isotropic and simplified as two-dimensional model to study its MSE properties by the finite element method. In this method, a uniform magnetic field is generated by two huge magnets and the MSE properties of iron plate, which is in the centre of the uniform magnetic field, is then calculated by the ratio of magnetic field intensity after and before magnetic shielding. All the results indicate that shape of shield materials affects the MSE properties much and the MSE properties of shield with square and circular shape with 3mm in depth are 39.3 and 53.5 dB, respectively. That means the shield shape with fewer bending is favorable to the conductivity of magnetic energy. It also shows that the MSE value decreased linearly with the distance between the magnetic shield and the centre of the magnetic field. That is, the increase of side length of magnetic shield will lead to the decrease of MSE properties of iron plate, which is agreement with the theoretical prediction of Lu H.M. model. Furthermore, the MSE properties of double layers shielding (iron plate with 2mm in depth and 3mm iron plate with 81% porosity) are also studied in this paper. The effect of places of iron plate with 2mm in depth is presented to play important role in double layers shielding and the MSE value increases with the distance between the two magnetic shields. Compared to that of shield with circular shape, the MSE properties are similar to each other when the distance of the two shields is 8mm. In addition, it also indicates that the MSE value is higher when the iron plate with 2mm in depth is inside of the other than that when it is outside.


In response to demands on public systems to do more, do better, and cost less, the value of integrated administrative data systems (IDS) for social policy is increasing (Fantuzzo & Culhane, 2016). This is particularly relevant in programming for young children where services are historically fragmented, disconnected from systems serving school-aged children, and siloed among health, human services, and education agencies. Guided by the vision that Iowa's early childhood system will be effectively and efficiently coordinated to support healthy families, we are developing an early childhood IDS to address this disconnection and facilitate relevant and actionable social policy research.
Iowa's IDS is a state-university partnership that acknowledges the need for agencies to retain control of their data while enabling it to be integrated across systems for social policy research. The innovative governance model deliberately incorporates procedures for stakeholder engagement at critical tension points between executive leaders, program managers, researchers, and practitioners. Standing committees (Governance Board, Data Stewardship, and Core team) authorize and implement the work of the IDS, while ad-hoc committees are solicited for specific projects to advise and translate research into practice.
This paper will articulate the Iowa IDS governance model that was informed by means tested principles articulated by the Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy Network. It will include our collaborative development process; articulated mission and principles that guided discussions about legal authorization, governance, and use cases; and the establishment of governance committees to implement our vision for ethical and efficient use of administrative data for social policy.


Transfer of the αβ TCR genes into T lymphocytes will provide a means to enhance Ag-specific immunity by increasing the frequency of tumor- or pathogen-specific T lymphocytes. We generated an efficient αβ TCR gene transfer system using two independent monocistronic retrovirus vectors harboring either of the class II MHC-restricted α or β TCR genes specific for chicken OVA. The system enabled us to express the clonotypic TCR in 44% of the CD4+ T cells. The transduced cells showed a remarkable response to OVA323–339 peptide in the in vitro culture system, and the response to the Ag was comparable with those of the T lymphocytes derived from transgenic mice harboring OVA-specific TCR. Adoptive transfer of the TCR-transduced cells in mice induced the Ag-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity in response to OVA323–339 challenge. These results indicate that αβ TCR gene transfer into peripheral T lymphocytes can reconstitute Ag-specific immunity. We here propose that this method provides a basis for a new approach to manipulation of immune reactions and immunotherapy.


Camellia brevistyla and C. tenuiflora, two ecologically and economically important species of Taiwan, have long been confused due to their morphological similarities. This paper aims to clarify their taxonomic relationship based on phenetic analyses of morphological data. We characterized the patterns of morphological variations of C. brevistyla and C. tenuiflora, along with C. hengchunensis and C. kissi, throughout their geographic ranges in Taiwan. The ordination plots obtained from non-linear principal analyses showed considerable overlap among the samples of C. brevistyla and C. tenuiflora, and none of the characters applied was able to distinguish the two species apart. Further assessment of morphological characters revealed considerable morphological variations across the entire geographic range. Pearson's correlation coefficients for the data suggested the occurrence of a continuum of morphological variation among the C. brevistyla-C. tenuiflora complex. It is concluded that C. brevistyla and C. tenuiflora belong to a single highly-variable species and the taxonomic treatment of C. tenuiflora as a synonym of C. brevistyla is supported.


Intraoperative hemodynamic changes and loss of blood with the associated risk of allogeneic blood transfusion are risk factors for complications in surgical patients. The use of medication in the perioperative period may influence these risk factors and consequently the frequency of complications. Perioperative medication includes both regular drugs that surgical patients receive already for comorbidity, as well as drug therapy especially initiated to optimise a patient's condition in the perioperative period, e.g. recombinant human erythropoietin. There is scant evidence from randomized controlled trials to guide perioperative medication management. Therefore, the studies in this thesis focused on the influence of medications on clinical parameters in surgical patients. The main objectives of this thesis were to investigate the effects of antidepressant agents on intraoperative hemodynamics and blood loss in patients who continued the use of their antidepressants during surgery and to investigate the effectiveness of preoperative treatment with erythropoietin in daily clinical practice. We found that severe intraoperative hemodynamic events did not occur more frequently in patients who continued the use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors in the perioperative period compared to nonusers. Treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) before surgery was associated with a briefer duration of intraoperative hypotensive episodes without introducing severe or sustained hypertensive episodes. Users of serotonergic antidepressants showed a moderate increase in blood loss during orthopedic surgery that did not result in increased transfusion requirements. The use of SSRIs was not associated with an increase in the occurrence of QT interval prolongation. The introduction of a preoperative erythropoietin protocol as part of a multifaceted blood management program reduced the transfusion rate in total hip arthroplasty patients. However, the effectiveness of preoperative erythropoietin therapy in daily clinical practice is lower than the efficacy shown in randomised clinical trials. We found that a substantial number of total hip arthroplasty patients showed a poor response to preoperative treatment with erythropoietin. This poor response was more frequent in patients using angiotensin II receptor antagonists or vitamin K antagonists, and in patients having a high BMI. As a result, poor responders more frequently required allogeneic blood transfusion. In conclusion, we showed that the use of antidepressants in the perioperative period influences hemodynamic parameters and blood loss in patients during surgery, but that the continuation of these antidepressive agents seems safe in daily clinical practice. For these studies, we used only routinely documented patient data. Further investigation should be performed to fill in knowledge gaps on the potential effects of drugs on clinical and hemodynamic parameters in the perioperative period. If routinely documented patient data in electronic medical records will be more accurately recorded as well as become more easily accessible, this will offer many opportunities for clinical research on drug effects in surgical patients. Furthermore, we showed that the effectiveness of preoperative treatment with erythropoietin in daily clinical practice does not meet its efficacy as shown in randomised clinical trials. Investigation of the effect of newly introduced drug therapies in real-life populations is necessary


Abstract Objective: To investigate the presence of abnormal illness behaviour in patients with a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome. Design: A cross sectional descriptive study using the illness behaviour questionnaire to compare illness behaviour scores and illness behaviour profiles of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and patients with multiple sclerosis. Setting: A multidisciplinary fatigue clinic and a teaching hospital neurology outpatient clinic. Subjects: 98 patients satisfying the Oxford criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome and 78 patients with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Main outcome measure: Responses to the 62 item illness behaviour questionnaire. Results: 90 (92%) patients in the chronic fatigue syndrome group and 70 (90%) in the multiple sclerosis group completed the illness behaviour questionnaire. Both groups had significantly high scores on the general hypochondriasis and disease conviction subscales and significantly low scores on the psychological versus somatic concern subscale, as measured in relation to normative data. There were, however, no significant differences in the subscale scores between the two groups and the two groups had identical illness behaviour profiles. Conclusion: Scores on the illness behaviour questionnaire cannot be taken as evidence that chronic fatigue syndrome is a variety of abnormal illness behaviour, because the same profile occurs in multiple sclerosis. Neither can they be taken as evidence that chronic fatigue and multiple sclerosis share an aetiology. More needs to be known about the origins of illness beliefs in chronic fatigue syndrome, especially as they are important in determining outcome.


Prediction of Proton and Neutron Absorbed-Dose Distributions in Proton Beam Radiation Therapy Using Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNPX). (August 2007) Brian Edward Massingill, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. John R. Ford The objective of this research was to develop a complex MCNPX model of the human head to predict absorbed dose distributions during proton therapy of ocular tumors. Absorbed dose distributions using the complex geometry were compared to a simple MCNPX model of the human eye developed by Oertli. The proton therapy beam used at Laboratori Nazionali del Sud-INFN was chosen for comparison. Dose calculations included dose due to proton and secondary interactions, multiple coulombic energy scattering, elastic and inelastic scattering, and non-elastic nuclear reactions. Benchmarking MCNPX was accomplished using the proton simulations outlined by Oertli. Once MCNPX was properly benchmarked, the proton beam and MCNPX models were combined to predict dose distributions for three treatment scenarios. First, an ideal treatment scenario was modeled where the dose was maximized to the tumor volume and minimized elsewhere. The second situation, a worst case scenario, mimicked a patient starring directly into the treatment beam during therapy. During the third simulation, the treatment beam was aimed into the bone surrounding the eye socket to estimate the dose to the vital regions of the eye due to scattering. Dose distributions observed for all three cases were as expected. Superior dose distributions were observed with the complex


The active management of long-term carbon pools in terrestrial vegetation and soils is an important tool for mitigating the rise in atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. This paper demonstrates the use ofremote sensing, climate records, and a vegetation-soil model National Aeronautics and Space Administration―Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach to estimate the past and future carbon balance in vegetation and soils. Using the western United States (WUS) as a case study, we describe spatially detailed (<10-km resolution) terrestrial carbon budgets for ecosystems of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions of the country. Net primary production increased on a western region-wide basis during the 1990s to 0.9 ± 0.1 Pg C/year, but the total terrestrial sink in all western U.S. ecosystems did not exceed 0.01 Pg C/year between 1982 and 1997. Over the entire period of 1982―1997, the total estimated net ecosystem production (NEP) flux from WUS ecosystems was 1.3 Pg C lost to the atmosphere (1 Pg = 1 billion metric tons). Forested mountain areas of the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada Range, the northern California Coast Range, and the southern Rockies were estimated as the only consistent ecosystem carbon sinks up to 1997. Most of the remaining vegetated (nondesert) lands of the western states were estimated to lose between 50 and 350 g C m ―2 as net ecosystem fluxes were summed over the period 1982―1997. Future climate scenario tests imply major ecosystem carbon losses in the west will continue in all but the most isolated forest areas of the mountain regions. Carbon pools in surface soils and woody litter pools in all WUS ecosystems are estimated currently at 12 Pg C. These baseline carbon pools are likely to become more susceptible to loss under climate model predictions for the western states over the next 50―100 years.


With the availability of large-scale network data, peer influence in social networks can be more rigorously examined and understood than before. Peer influence can arise from immediate neighbors in the network (formally defined as cohesion or direct ties with one-hop neighbors) and from indirect peers who share common neighbors (formally defined as structural equivalence or indirect ties with two-hop neighbors). While the literature examined the role of each peer influence (direct or indirect) separately, the study of both peer network effects acting simultaneously was ignored, largely due to methodological constraints. This paper attempts to fill this gap by evaluating the simultaneous effect of both direct and indirect peer influences in technology adoption in the context of Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) in a cellular telephone network, using data from 200 million calls by 1.4 million users. Given that such a large-scale network makes traditional social network analysis intractable, we extract many densely-connected and self-contained subpopulations from the network. We find a regularity in these subpopulations in that they consist either of about 200 nodes or about 500 nodes. Using these sub-populations and panel data, we analyze direct and indirect peer influences using a novel auto-probit model with multiple network terms (direct and indirect peer influence, with homophily as a control variable). Our identification strategy relies on Bramoullé et al.'s (2009) spatial autoregressive model, allowing us to identify the direct and indirect peer influences on each of the extracted subpopulations. We use meta-analysis to summarize the estimated parameters from all subpopulations. The results show CRBT adoption to be simultaneously determined by both direct and indirect peer influence (while controlling for homophily and centrality). Robustness checks show model fit to improve when both peer influences are included. The size and direction of the two peer influences, however, differ by group size. Interestingly, indirect peer influence (structural equivalence) plays a negative role in diffusion when group size is about 200, but a positive role when group size is about 500. The role of direct peer influence (cohesion), on the other hand, is always positive, irrespective of group size. Our findings imply that businesses must design different target strategies for large versus small groups: for large groups, businesses should focus on consumers with both multiple one-hop and two-hop neighbors; for small groups, businesses should only focus on consumers with multiple one-hop neighbors.


Fe3O4 nanocrystals were synthesized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as dispersant respectively by solvothermal process. The nanocrystals were characterized in order to elucidate the morphology and structure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) respectively. The results indicated that Fe3O4 nanocrystals were cubic phases, and the morphologies of samples were globular nanoparticles structure no matter what dispersant was. The photocatalytic degradation of levofloxacin lactate (LVFX) revealed that Fe3O4 nanocrystals promoted the degradation of LVFX. As the UV radiation time was only 30 min, the photocatalytic degradation percentage of LVFX with Fe3O4 (magnetite) as catalyst was about 92%. However, the direct photolysis degradation percentage of LVFX without Fe3O4 is about 85%.


Chronic wounds impose a significant financial burden for the healthcare system. Currently, assessment and monitoring of hard-to-heal wounds are often based on visual means and measuring the size of the wound. The primary wound dressings must be removed before assessment can be done. We have developed a quasi-monopolar bioimpedance-measurement-based method and a measurement system to determine the status of wound healing. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that with an appropriate setup, long-term monitoring of wound healing from beneath the primary dressings is feasible. The developed multielectrode sensor array was applied on the wound area and left under the primary dressings for 142 h. The impedance of the wounds and the surrounding intact skin area was measured regularly during the study at 150 Hz, 300 Hz, 1 kHz, and 5 kHz frequencies. At the end of the follow-up period, the wound impedance had reached the impedance of the intact skin at the higher frequencies and increased significantly at the lowest frequencies. The measurement frequency affected the measurement sensitivity in wound monitoring. The skin impedance remained stable over the measurement period. The sensor array also enabled the administration of periodical low-intensity direct current (LIDC) stimulation in order to create an antimicrobial environment across the wound area via the controlled formation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).


The chapter focuses on understanding the latest classification of the pituitary adenomas in light of immuno-histological and molecular signatures as envisaged in the latest WHO classification guidelines. It further looks into evaluating and analysing the symptoms of the adenoma locally and at distant organs. Imaging and hormonal analysis has been discussed in detail for both functional, non-functional and pituitary apoplexy. Further, the therapeutic options- medical, surgical and their outcomes have been highlighted.


Research has been conducted in order to critically evaluate and examine the level of employees' satisfaction as well as the factors of dissatisfaction among the employees of Karachi Electric supply Corporation (KESC). The purpose of this study is also to observe and analyze the factors which create job dissatisfaction especially among the hardworking managers, and to find out the reasons which make them realize that they don not have a clear career path along working with KESC. The primary data for this study was compiled through questionnaire filled in on a one-to-one basis by 60 respondents from a representative sample of employees of (KESC) in Karachi district in the last quarter of 2008. The results have shown that Working Environment, Total Compensation, Growth Opportunities and Training & Development are significant factor and these four are affecting Job Satisfaction and correlated with each others. The study was faced by certain limitations and those limitations included time constraints and resources constraints, which limited this research to only the Karachi Head office of the KESC organization. According to a number of literatures studied, lack of job satisfaction is a serious issue in various organizations and job dissatisfaction has become a major obstacle in employees' productivity and company's growth. There are numbers of factors which can create job dissatisfaction among employees but in this study the very critical factors are discussed upon which KESC management should really work on.


Since some clinical and metabolic features of lipoatrophy suggest increased human growth hormone (HGH) activity, we studied HGH responses in five patients with partial or total lipoatrophy. Two patients with total lipoatrophy had elevated basal levels of HGH of 80 and 25 ng. per milliliter, while two with partial lipoatrophy had abnormally high levels after arginine stimulation. The elevated levels seemed to correlate with the clinical activity of the disease. In one of the patients there was a slowing of the growth rate and a moderate weight gain after long-term chlorpromazine therapy decreased HGH levels; a comparison of the immunoreactive HGH in her serum with that from a normal patient by serial dilution technics suggested that the two were immunologically identical, and chromatographic mobilities were also identical. Oral glucose suppressed elevated HGH in all of the patients. These studies suggest that HGH levels are elevated intermittently in lipoatrophic patients and that the increase may contribute to some features of the disease.


One of the most popular works of the eighteenth century, Lettres d'une Peruvienne appeared in more than 130 editions, reprints, and translations during the hundred years following its publi cation in 1747. In the novel the Inca princess Zilia is kidnapped by Spanish conquerors, captured by the French after a battle at sea, and taken to Europe. Graffigny's brilliant novel offered a bold critique of French society, delivered one of the most vehement feminist protests in eighteenth-century literature, and announced--fourteen years before Rousseau's Julie, or the New Eloise--the Romantic tradition in French literature."


This article argues that the shift in author-publisher relations over the course of the nineteenth century, which has been characterized by scholars as alternatively either a "consecration" or a "degradation" of the author, was connected to a change in the law on literary property. Through a comparison of the terms of letters and contracts between authors and publishers before and after a landmark law of 1866, which extended literary property to 50 years after the death of the author, it shows that the new law favored publishers, by enabling them to monopolize and control the work of authors to an unprecedented extent. (ch )


It is suggested to reproduce a retrograde amnesia in mice by means of a complex extremal action: emaciating swim in cold water with simultaneous wheel rotation. It was found that nootropes such as pyracetam, mexidol, semax, nooglutil, acephen, and noopept fully or completely prevent from the amnesia development.


A distributed supervisory controller is proposed to achieve battery component swapping modularity (CSM) for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The CSM permits the designer to distribute a part of the supervisory controller to the battery module such that the PHEV can use a range of batteries while providing corresponding optimal fuel economy. A novel feedback-based controller for the charge sustaining mode is proposed to facilitate distributed controller design for battery CSM. The method based on sensitivity analysis of the control signals with respect to the battery hardware parameter is introduced to define the controller distribution architecture. The distributed controller gains are obtained by solving a bilevel optimization problem using the collaborative optimization and the augmented Lagrangian decomposition methods. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed distributed controller can achieve battery CSM without compromising fuel economy compared to the centralized control case.


A survey was conducted on IT personnel working in Taiwan's Top 500 Enterprises to explore effects of individual characteristics on job satisfaction. Results show that there were significant differences found in general, intrinsic and overall job satisfaction with regard to marital status, age, position title, and annual salary. Suggestions for increasing job satisfaction of IT personnel are proposed. Introduction To bring out the function of the information technology (IT) thoroughly, the enterprise takes not only the adequate hardware equipment and infrastructure, but also the perfect coordination between the information system (IS) and IT personnel. IT personnel will be the major human resources in enterprises. Hence, the key to make IT personnel grow and contribute themselves to the enterprise to create useful value for a long time and stably depends on their recognition, loyalty and job satisfaction to the enterprise. Accordingly, how the managers manage and encourage these professionals effectively has become the crux for future organizations. Job satisfaction is important in organizational behavior. It is based on employee's personal subjective perceptions and feelings. Therefore, individual is an important factor which affect employees' job satisfaction. Although general researches do not view the population background as dependent variables, practically, when an enterprise recruits employees or draws up personnel-related policies, it still expects to infer the employee's job satisfaction from the employee's personal file that is easily obtained and then constructs the responding model for the organization. This study takes the IT personnel working in Taiwan's Top 500 Enterprises, engaged in system development, software design and development, and software application as the studying subjects. The relationship between the individual demographic variables and job satisfaction of IT personnel in Taiwan will be studied thoroughly. Literature Review Job satisfaction is the individual's affective attitude or orientations for work (Blum & Naylor, 1968; Smith. Kendall, & Hulin, 1969; Muchinsky, 1990). The first study of job satisfaction was conducted by Hoppock (1935). There are many factors affecting employees' feeling for job satisfaction. Porter and Lawler (1968) divide the factors affecting job satisfaction into the intrinsic satisfactory factors related to work itself and the extrinsic satisfactory factors not directly related to work itself. Seashore and Taber (1975) consider that personal attributes and environment are the major factors affecting job satisfaction. Glisson and Durick (1988) indicate that the factors affecting job satisfaction are the worker himself/herself, work and organizational characteristics. Most studies have indicated that job satisfaction has positive effect on employees' working performance and organizational commitment, and negative effect on employee absenteeism and turnover (Menninger & Levison, 1956; Rabinowitz & Hall, 1977; Poulin, 1994; Reiner & Zhao, 1999; Clugston, 2000; Mclean & Andrew, 2000). In the study of the relationship between job satisfaction and personal characteristics, most studies indicate a positive association between age and job satisfaction (Lee & Wilbur, 1985; Reiner & Zhao, 1999). However, other studies have found a U-shaped relationship (Kacmar & Ferns, 1989; Eichar, Norland, Brady, & Fortinsky, 1991). Gender differences in job satisfaction have also been extensively studied. There is no conclusive evidence with regard to job satisfaction among men and women (Brush, Moch, & Pooyan, 1987; Witt & Nye, 1992). Tenure and job satisfaction are positively related (Bedian, Ferris, & Kacmar, 1992). That is, people who are more experienced on their jobs are more highly satisfied than those who are less experienced. White-collar personnel tend to be more satisfied with their jobs than blue-collar personnel (Weaver, 1980; Howard & Frink, 1996). …


Natalizumab (Tysabri, Biogen-Idec Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) is an effective drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients treated with natalizumab are at higher risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). MRI has become crucial in the drug surveillance in terms of an early (preferably presymptomatic) detection and monitoring of natalizumab-associated PML with special regard to the occurrence of an immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS).1

Natalizumab-associated PML is characterised by rather heterogeneous imaging findings particularly in the early disease course. Recently, a rare PML imaging pattern with punctiform enhancing lesions has been described in a patient with an asymptomatic course of natalizumab-associated PML.2 It remains unclear what this inflammation pattern in acute PML represents regarding the underlying histopathology and possible consequences of the disease progression or PML-IRIS development. In this case report, we describe a patient with acute natalizumab-associated PML presenting with punctate enhancing lesions suggestive of perivascular inflammation and discuss the importance of correctly interpreting this imaging finding in terms of differentiating productive JC virus infection from early presymptomatic PML-IRIS manifestation.

A 45-year-old female with relapsing-remitting MS (5 years disease duration, EDSS 2.0) complained of subacute slurred speech and mild ataxia of her right arm after completing 51 infusions of natalizumab. Natalizumab treatment was immediately discontinued. She had tested positive for serum antibodies against JC virus 6 months earlier. MRI showed multifocal classical PML lesions in the cerebellum and supratentorial brain. In addition, a group of small punctate T2-/FLAIR-hyperintense and contrast-enhancing lesions was identified in the deep white matter of the left parietal lobe, suggesting a perivascular distribution pattern with …


Isolation of the simplest 4p three-membered heterocycles (1H-azirine, oxirene, thiirene, and selenirene) remains a big challenge due to their p-antiaromaticity and significant ring strain. Here we demonstrate that the incorporation of a transition-metal fragment could stabilize the antiaromatic selenirene and pentalene frameworks simultaneously by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Experimental verification leads to the Se-containing metallapolycycles, osmapentaloselenirenes, with remarkable thermal stability. The osmaselenirene unit in the metallapolycycle is determined to be the first example of s-aromaticity dominating in an unsaturated Se-containing ring. Our results not only highlight a remarkable stabilization by the transition-metal but also widen the scope of s-aromaticity in unsaturated rings, which is traditionally reserved for the domain of p-aromaticity.


This chapter is dedicated to study the semiconductor surface states, which com-bined with nanolithography techniques could result on remarkable properties of advanced nanodevices suitable for terahertz (THz) signal detection or harvesting. The author presents the use of low-dimensional semiconductor heterostructures for the development of the so-called self-switching diodes (SSDs), studying by simulation tool key parameters in detail such as the shape and size of the two-dimensional electron gas system. The impact of the geometry on the working principle of the nanodevice and the effects on current-voltage behavior will be described in order to acquire design guidelines that may improve the performance of the self-switching diodes when applied to low-power square-law rectifiers as well as elements in rectennas by appropriately setting the size of the components.


In recent years, recognizing the societal benefits of broadband, a great many countries have developed national broadband plans. These plans often seek to achieve two different goals, which are not always clearly distinguished:* Provision of basic broadband to all, or as many as possible, at an affordable price; and* Provision of ultra-fast broadband to those who want it and can afford it.Latin American countries struggle against a number of common challenges, including:* Varied population, with a wide variation in disposable income and education;* Challenging topography and geography;* A long history of monopoly or oligopoly control of the sector; and* Institutional structures that struggle to introduce needed changes.Different countries in the region have taken somewhat diverse approaches in an effort to overcome these barriers in order to bring the benefits of broadband to their respective populations. These approaches typically reflect national circumstances and experience.


Introduction Prednisolone is an established treatment for viral induced wheeze and asthma exacerbations in children. However, it requires a multiple dose regime, is relatively unpalatable and causes vomiting. In our centre, along with much of the UK, a generic branded prednisolone tablet is now in use which appears to be even more unpalaTable. Despite attempts to improve tolerability, a retrospective notes review in our department in September 2015 revealed that 28% of children (14/50) did not tolerate prednisolone. This has led to increased concerns about compliance with treatment after discharge. Dexamethasone is suggested as an alternative due to its longer half-life and therefore shorter course, better tolerability and reduced vomiting. Aims and methods We aimed to establish whether dexamethasone is equivalent to prednisolone in the treatment of wheeze in children. To do this we performed a review of the literature using MEDLINE and Google Scholar to ask the question: In children of all ages, is dexamethasone as effective as prednisolone in treating wheeze? Results We found 11 papers comparing dexamethasone to prednisolone of which 8 were controlled trials, one was a retrospective cohort study and two were meta-analyses. There was significant heterogeneity of dosage and method of administration of dexamethasone, including intramuscular, nebulised and oral routes. We analysed four controlled studies of oral dexamethasone, as this was our preferred route. Details of the four studies can be found in Table 1. All of the studies found that dexamethasone was non-inferior to prednisolone. One study compared a single 0.6mg/kg dose of dexamethasone with 5 days of prednisolone, two studies compared two daily 0.6mg/kg doses of dexamethasone with 5 days of prednisolone and the most recent study compared a single 0.3mg/kg dose of dexamethasone with 3 days of prednisolone. Most of the studies have some limitations which may affect the validity of the results. Conclusion Dexamethasone is non-inferior to prednisolone in the treatment of wheeze in children and has better tolerability and compliance. However, the optimal dose and duration remain unclear. Clinicians can consider using dexamethasone in children with acute wheeze, particularly those who do not tolerate Prednisolone.Abstract G252(P) Table 1 "Is dexamethasone as effective as prednisolone in treating wheeze?" Results of review of literature using MEDLINE and Google


Background COVID-19 has been currently spread all over the world with high mortality reported in severe COVID-19 patients. Many severe COVID-19 patients exacerbated from mild illness several days after hospital admissions. Pathophysiological evolution within this para-exacerbation period remain unclear.Methods Twenty-two confirmed COVID-19 patients who underwent at least one exacerbation were included. Epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological data were extracted from electronic medical records and compared between the records of hospital admission day and the exacerbation day. Dynamic profiles of critical parameters were explored during the para-exacerbation period.Results Most of the patients were elder (67, IQR63-79), male (81.8%), coexisted with comorbidities (72.7%), multi-segments radiologically involved and exacerbated from mild to severe illness with anoxia at a median interval of 4 days (IQR, 2-7) from hospital admissions. On exacerbations, various clinical parameters were worsened, including respiratory rate, PaO2/FiO2 rate (PFR), alveolar-arterial PO2 difference (A-aDO2), hematological cellularities, biochemical parameters and radiological abnormalities. Dynamic profiles showed that neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and serum level of lactic acid, lactate dehydrogenase and coagulation parameters started to increase even at four days before the exacerbation. Conclusions Anoxia due to impaired gas exchange progress pathophysiologically characterized the exacerbation of COVID-19 patients. Continuously monitoring crucial clinical parameters, such as NLR, serum albumin, LDH, lactic acid, and CT involvement scale will be helpful to improve the recognition of the disease progression in patients with COVID-19 at early stage.Trial registration This retrospective study has been registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2000030580, www.chictr.org.cn)


A Review of:
Passoneau, S., & Erickson, S. (2014). Core competencies for assessment in libraries: A review and analysis of job postings. Library Leadership & Management, 28(4):1-19. https://journals.tdl.org/llm/index.php/llm/article/view/7080

Abstract

Objective – The authors sought to determine whether existing definitions of assessment agree with assessment-related skills sought in job postings, and to identify key assessment-related skills, needs for training, and trends in assessment.

Design – Content analysis.

Setting – Job postings from six library-specific websites: the American Library Association, the Library & Information Technology Association, the Society of American Archivists, the Council on Library and Information Resources, the Association of Research Libraries, and Library Assessment job announcements at http://libraryassessment.info/?cat=13.

Subjects – Job titles and descriptions published during an 18-month period between Summer 2012 and Winter 2013 that met the inclusion criteria (n=231).

Methods – Job postings were searched and analyzed in two separate sets whose inclusion criteria is as follows: First, job postings with the term assessment in the position title or as the main focus of the position (n=44) were retrieved; of these, three postings were too old to contain descriptions, so were excluded from analysis. Second, job postings were retrieved with the terms assessment, evaluation, metrics, and strategic in the descriptive text of postings with position titles that did not specifically mention assessment (n=187). The full text of both sets was downloaded to ATLAS.ti software for analysis using a grounded theory approach. Mutually exclusive terms emerging from the coding process were documented and defined; from this analysis, networks of code "families" or co-relational groupings helped to create categories and sub-categories. The context of terms was closely examined to understand the meaning of assessment-related terms in job descriptions. Following this step, Microsoft Excel was used to generate tables and pivot tables, aiding understanding and illustrating data.

Main Results – All 44 job posts containing the term assessment as part of the position title were from research universities or four year colleges; of these, most were ARL member libraries. For these postings, the concept of assessment was more clearly aligned with definitions of assessment as an ongoing process. The positions described, requiring a minimum of three years' of experience, ranged from entry-level to administrative in nature.

In the second set (187 postings), the interchangeable use of the terms "assessment" and "evaluation" was particularly evident in job postings unrelated to library instruction. No library types other than academic were recruiting for assessment librarians, but related skills, usually referred to as evaluation in public and special libraries, were mentioned in all areas of library practice including instruction, administration, public services, user behavior, and to a lesser extent, access services, archives, information technology, cataloging, and more. While less prominent, these less often mentioned areas of practice also appear to be increasing their awareness of assessment.

Key skills and knowledge areas needed for assessment in libraries emerged from content analysis of the job postings. These were grouped under eight main areas of competency and were augmented by the authors' own experiences as assessment librarians: background in library assessment, research methods, statistical and analytic skills, visualization and presentation skills, and project management and people skills.

Conclusions – Based upon analysis of this set of documents, a culture of assessment in libraries appears to be emerging, demonstrating a possible upward trend when contrasted with the earlier research of Walter and Oakleaf (2010). Overall, assessment related skills and knowledge were increasingly evident across all library types and positions. Suggestions for aiding the development of an emerging culture of assessment include fostering liaisons between ALA divisions and library schools to persuade the schools of the need for related coursework, workshops focused on assessment-related skills, certification programs, and a proposed minor in library assessment. Opening avenues for discussion between library types could enhance the growth of an assessment culture beyond academic librarianship. Additional research to better understand the diffusion of assessment culture and practice into non-academic libraries is also recommended.


The Kenyan government has been implementing policies to expand financial access including promoting mobile enabled financial services to those excluded by the formal banking sector. Majority of small scale businesses in Kenya have no access to a bank account due to limited bank branches and information asymmetry about the sector. To facilitate financial inclusion and reach out to rural areas historically marginalized by convectional banking, mobile network operators have made huge investment to create network and ease access to money. While invention of Mobile money offers financial alternatives businesses have not seized the opportunity. This study investigated the determinants of mobile financial services utilization among small scale businesses in Kiambu County using primary data obtained through interviews with licensed small scale businesses. The logit regression analysis was used and the results indicated that; size of business, age of business, distance to bank, transport cost, business type and sex of business owner were significant determinants of mobile financial service utilization by small scale businesses. The study recommends, infrastructure development by the government to facilitate movement in rural areas and to encourage financial service providers to penetrate with ease, provision of an encouraging environment for business to thrive and improvement of mobile financial services by the mobile network operators.


OBJECTIVE
Only very few instruments have been developed to assess sexual knowledge and practices. Most of the research to date has been carried out with adolescent samples, but not with university students, who are also at a particularly risky stage. The aim of this study was to design and validate a brief questionnaire to assess young´s sexual knowledge, practices and behaviors to design health education programs in the university context.

METHODS
We created a specific questionnaire about sexual pattern in university adolescents and a brief questionnaire consisted of 9 items (true/false) about contraception, sexuality and sexual transmission diseases. We carried out a pilot study, reliability (KR-20) and validity analyses using factorial analysis and examining the association with other variables.

RESULTS
566 students from University of Seville participated during 2015/16. One item was eliminated because of comprehension (only 13.9% of correct answers) and weak or non significant associations (p more than 0.05). Finally, the scale was formed by 8 items and had good internal consistency reliability (KR-20 = 0.57), and both factorial and external validity reliability. A three-factor model showed good data fit, χ2 (14, N=566)=17.48, p= 0.232, Comparative Fit Index CFI = 0.97, root mean squared error of prediction RMSEA = 0.02. Participants with less knowledge about sexuality were whose did not receive any information (M=6.82, SD=1.41), without partner (M=6.87, SD=1.35), had an abortion (M=6.43, SD=1.95) and did not use any contraceptive method (M=6.66, SD=0.58) or coitus interruptus (M=6.55, SD=1.39), and had less sexual relationships, e.g., once or twice a year (M=6.49, SD=1.70).

CONCLUSIONS
This questionnaire is a short instrument to assess students´ practices and knowledge about sexuality and contraception. The analyses of reliability and validity have shown the good psychometric properties of this instrument.


University libraries are undergoing a major metamorphisms consequent to the development of Information Communication Technology. Digital as a medium for marketing is likely to dominate in this decade due to the fact that digital became the predominant channel for accessing content. Many of the university libraries are now trying to use their websites for distributing documents and selling images and full texts online. Web marketing strategy aims to help the university library optimize the use of its information products and services. So it is indispensable to study the importance of library websites and to explore the reality and potential of the home page of university libraries in Kerala as a vehicle for marketing and public relations. The objectives of this study are (i) to analyze the present promotional activities of University Libraries in Kerala (ii) to analyze and evaluate the contents of university libraries websites in a marketing point of view and (iii) to build a model webpage for university libraries in Kerala which is suited for marketing. Both primary and secondary data used for the study. The primary data was collected from the university librarian or in-charge of the four university libraries viz. Kerala University Library (KUL), Mahatma Gandhi University Library (MGUL) , Cochin University of Science and Technology Library (CUSATL) and CH Mohammed Koya Library of the University of Calicut (CHMKL). The secondary data was collected from the website of each of the university library under study. Analyzed various university library websites at the national and international level and identified 23 links which have potential for marketing and repositioning the image of the library. The study examined how far the websites of university libraries in Kerala are equipped for marketing with respect to the identified links. The study revealed that most of the libraries in Kerala used traditional modes of promotion. CUSATL is on the top with a variety of promotional activities for their information products and services. The study also found that the websites of KUL, MGUL and CHMKL are not marketing oriented. Hence this paper is an attempt to propose a model website for the university libraries in Kerala, which has enough potential to market its information products and services.


ABSTRACT The sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) analogue FTY720 is therapeutically efficacious in multiple sclerosis and in the prevention of transplant rejection. It prevents the migration of lymphocytes to sites of pathology by trapping them within the peripheral lymph nodes, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs), and Peyer's patches. However, evidence suggests that its clinical use may increase the risk of mucosal infections. We investigated the impact of FTY720 treatment on susceptibility to gastrointestinal infection with the mouse enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. This attaching and effacing bacterium induces a transient bacterial colitis in immunocompetent mice that resembles human infection with pathogenic Escherichia coli. FTY720 treatment induced peripheral blood lymphopenia, trapped lymphocytes in the MLNs, and prevented the clearance of bacteria when mice were infected with luciferase-tagged C. rodentium. FTY720-treated C. rodentium-infected mice had enhanced colonic inflammation, with significantly higher colon mass, colon histopathology, and neutrophil infiltration than vehicle-infected animals. In addition, FTY720-treated infected mice had significantly lower numbers of colonic dendritic cells, macrophages, and T cells. Gene expression analysis demonstrated that FTY720-treated infected mice had an impaired innate immune response and a blunted mucosal adaptive immune response, including Th1 cytokines. The data demonstrate that the S1P analogue FTY720 adversely affects the immune response to and clearance of C. rodentium.


Recently, researchers have focused on how individuals generate different courses of action (i.e.,
options) on-the-fly, and predict the options to be taken by others. When generating predictive
options, previous research supports the use of cognitive mechanisms described by Long Term
Working Memory (LTWM) theory (Ericsson & Kintsch, 1995; Ward, Ericsson, & Williams,
2012). However, when generating response options, previous research supports the use of the
Take-The-First (TTF) heuristic (Johnson & Raab, 2003). The current research investigates the
effect of time constraint on option generation behavior. Our results provide further support for the
use of LTWM mechanisms during prediction, but support was observed for TTF only during
response without time constraint. When participants responded under time pressure, they shifted
towards a LTWM-type strategy. Modifications to the cognitive-process level description of
decision making during response are proposed and implications for training during both prediction
and response are discussed.


Gas turbine engines with high operational flexibility represent an important area of research. In support of this, the stage change of NOx emissions at high-temperature, full-load conditions are the main target of this research study. To overcome the challenge of decreasing the residence time of hot exhaust gas in the burner, the approach of axial-staged combustion has been used, which aims to burn at lean conditions. A main combustion stage with a conventional burner is followed by a jet-in-crossflow (JIC) stage downstream. This second combustion stage, the test section, burns well over a third of the total fuel amount, which is added by a jet inlet. The entire combustor is designed to run at a pressure of 5 bar, featuring a challenging point of experimental operation. Hence, a steady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was created in Star-CCM+ to analyze the JIC stage. A structured mesh grid with local refinement domains was used along with RANS equations, Realizable k-ε turbulence, Complex Chemistry model with Laminar Flame Concept (LFC) applied. The findings of the computational model include a detailed description of the flow field, focusing on vortex formation and penetration depth. Three vortex types and local pressure losses in the shear domain were identified. Results were compared with similar data from literature and a very good match was proven. Optical laser diagnostics should work well to capture the predicted flow penetration. The highest local reaction rates were observed inside a thin flame front between 4 and 6 diameters downstream of the jet. The jet showed a limited expansion into the available channel domain, resulting in a low total heat release and a methane conversion of 52%. Along with production of just under 1% CO, the potential of axial-staged combustion has been outlined by two boundary cases, using either equilibrium main burner stage NOx, which showed a reduction of high incoming NOx, or setting incoming NOx fractions to zero, which yielded a total production of only 17 ppm NOx in the JIC stage.


: Citrus bacterial blast is reported from many parts of citrus growing areas of world. It is one of the most important diseases of citrus in north of Iran, but its damage is different because of year-to-year climate variability. The disease is caused by two species of Pseudomonas. In those years that air humidity and temperature are suitable, these bacterial species can cause serious damage to citrus trees. The main symptom of citrus blast disease is wilting and dieback of branches. Some practices for management of this disease are illustrated in this article.


Cerebral palsy (CP) and epilepsy are two interactive neurological diseases, and their clinical treatment can cause severe side-effects in children's development, especially when it involves long-term administration of antiepileptic drugs. Accumulating studies on the gut-brain axis indicated that the gut microbiota (GM), which participates in various neurological diseases, would provide a harmless therapeutic target for the treatment of CP and epilepsy. To explore the GM characteristics in children with both CP and epilepsy (CPE), we collected fecal samples from 25 CPE patients (CPE group) and 21 healthy children (Healthy group) for 16S rDNA sequencing. In this study, we discovered significantly higher microbial diversity in the CPE group compared to healthy group (P < 0.001). After selecting the top 15 most abundant genera in each group, we found significantly enriched Bifidobacterium, Streptococcus, Akkermansia, Enterococcus, Prevotella, Veillonella, Rothia, and Clostridium IV in the CPE group, and noticeably reduced Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Ruminococcus, Roseburia, Anaerostipes, and Parasutterella. A GM co-occurrence network was also constructed, and negative correlations were discovered between Bacteroides and Lactobacillus (r = −0.768, P < 0.001, FDR < 0.001), as well as Intestinibacter and Bifidobacterium (r = −0.726, P < 0.001, FDR < 0.001). After KEGG annotation and functional enrichment, 24 functional categories exhibited different enrichment levels between the CPE and Healthy groups. The functions, associated with xenobiotics metabolism, immune system diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases, were enriched in the CPE group. Conversely, the functional categories related to the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were reduced. Furthermore, the neurodegenerative diseases were mainly attributed to Streptococcus, while an increased risk of immune system diseases was associated with enriched Akkermansia in the CPE patients. Generally, this study characterized the GM in CPE patients, illustrated the microbial co-occurrence relationships, and detected the functional distributions of the bacteria.


Several studies focus on the effects of trade openness on poverty alleviation through studying the effect on money-metric measures of poverty. Hence, they ignore the other dimensions of individual's well-being. Even those who studied the effect of money-metric poverty found that the ground argument that trade openness alleviates poverty in developing countries is fragile. Moreover, in most cases testing this relationship in developing countries resulted in a negative relationship. Most of studies stressed on the importance of mitigating the negative effects of trade openness on poverty in the short term. The main contribution of this paper is to add the non-money-metric measures of poverty in testing the impact of trade openness on both multidimensional poverty and its intensity. The paper has attempted to review the literature that supports and opposes the effects of trade openness on multi-dimensional poverty and its severity. Additionally, a dynamic panel model is estimated to test this relationship relying on macroeconomic data set for countries in MENA region. The paper supports that trade openness restricts the efforts to alleviate both of multidimensional poverty and its intensity in MENA countries. This underscores the need for governments to provide complementary policies aimed at bringing the benefits of trade openness to those in extreme poverty.


Bottom trawling causes widespread disturbance to the sediments in shallow-shelf seas. The resultant mortality of benthic fauna is strongly size dependent. We empirically demonstrate that beam trawling frequency in the central North Sea had a greater effect on fauna size distribution in a soft sediment benthic community than variables such as sediment particle size and water depth. Accordingly, we simulated the impacts of trawling disturbance on benthos using a model consisting of 37 organism size classes between 1 µg and 140 g wet weight. The model produced a production-biomass versus size relationship consistent with published studies and allowed us to predict the impacts of trawling frequency on benthos size distributions. Outputs were consistent with empirical data; however, at high yet realistic trawling frequencies, the model predicted an extirpation of most macrofauna. Empirical data show that macrofauna persist in many heavily trawled regions; therefore, we suggest that trawling by real fisheries is sufficiently heterogeneous to provide spatial refuges less impacted by trawling. If correct, our analyses suggest that fishery management measures that do not reduce total effort but do lead to effort displacement and spatial homogenization (e.g., temporarily closed areas) may have adverse effects on the systemic persistence of intermediate- and large-sized macrofauna.


Background:The course of incident delirium and subsyndromal delirium (SSD) after cardiac surgery is not well studied. Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate the course of incident delirium and SSD, their risk factors, and impact on patients' cognitive function after elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Methods:Consecutive patients scheduled for an isolated CABG at a tertiary medical center in Taiwan were enrolled if they had no preoperative delirium symptoms. Delirium was assessed daily for 1 week after surgery using the Confusion Assessment Method. Subsyndromal delirium was defined as presenting with any core symptom below the diagnostic threshold for delirium. Cognitive function was assessed by the Mini-mental State Examination. Results:Of 38 participants, 7 had incident (first-time) delirium (18.4% incidence) and 13 had incident SSD (34.2% incidence). Whereas SSD usually lasted 1 day, delirium changed gradually to SSD to recovery and its symptomatology lasted longer. We identified 6 delirium risk factors: older age, more comorbidities, cardiac pulmonary bypass, blood transfusion, larger transfusion volume, and longer duration of intraoperative blood pressure less than 60 mm Hg. The frequencies of these risk factors for SSD were often intermediate between those of risk factors in groups with and without delirium. By hospital discharge, participants with delirium had the longest hospital stays and lowest cognitive scores, those with SSD had intermediate stays and scores, and those without delirium had the lowest stays and scores. Conclusion:Delirium and SSD after CABG are common. Greater number and severity of risk factors for delirium may predict increasingly poor outcomes, with the dose-response relationship between risk factors and outcomes for SSD intermediate between that for no symptoms and full delirium. Intervention trials are indicated, particularly for patients with a greater number and severity of predisposing and precipitating risk factors.


We describe new experiments in which a bubble plume, produced from a point source of bubbles, rises through an ambient fluid composed of two layers of fluid of different density. In the lower layer, the speed of the plume exceeds the bubble rise speed and the motion is well described using classical theory of turbulent buoyant plumes. As the mixture enters the upper layer, it is either buoyant and rises to the top of the layer, or is negatively buoyant and forms a fountain. In our experiments, in which a fountain forms in the upper layer, the bubble rise speed exceeds the characteristic speed of this fountain, and a separated flow develops. The bubbles rise to the top of the system, while the lower layer fluid in the fountain rises a finite distance into the upper layer, entrains some of the upper layer fluid, and then collapses. This mixture of fluids then feeds a growing layer of density which is intermediate between the upper and lower layer. The height of rise of the fountain scales with the square of the Froude number of the fountain and the rate of entrainment of upper layer fluid into the fountain is directly proportional to the height of the fountain. This is analogous to the scaling for single-phase fountains with Froude numbers in the same range, $1<Fr<7$ , but the constants of proportionality are smaller. We illustrate the relevance of the work for the design of mixing and aeration systems in freshwater reservoirs.


This paper reviews the IS security literature for the period 1990-2004. More specifically three security journals and the top twenty IS journals were examined. In total 1280 papers were analysed in terms of theories, research methods and research topics. Our research found that 1043 of the papers contained no theory. In addition, almost 1000 of the papers were categorized as 'subjective-argumentative' in terms of methodology, with field experiments, surveys, case studies and action research accounting for less that 10% (8.10%) of all the papers. Fifty nine research topics were identified with fourteen of these topics totaling 71.05% of the articles. This papers offers implications for future research directions on IS security, scholars to publish IS security research, tenure practice, and IS security classification schemas.


The ceramic PZT often is used as a transducer. It can be polarized by raising the temperature above the Curie temperature and applying an electric field. It has exhibited many anomalous physical properties, however, and its nonlinearity is no exception. An increase in the nonlinearity parameter of two orders of magnitude near the Curie temperature and a frequency dependence even at room temperature have been observed. Such behavior is different from that of any solid that has been measured. Measurements of the anomalous nonlinear behavior of PZT are presented and mention is made of some technological implications of this behavior. [Research supported by Murata Corp.]


Allegations of civilian deaths or injury or damage to civilian property caused during combat operations require an investigation to determine the facts, make recommendations regarding lessons learned in order to prevent future occurrences, and recommend whether individual soldiers should be held accountable. Using the factual circumstances of the airstrike on the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital, this Article articulates how, in the context of targeting, a violation of the Law of War is made punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice as explained by the recent Targeting Supplement promulgated by The Judge Advocate General of the Army.


SweepScreen is a digital paintbrush enabling the printing of low-fidelity lasting free form images. It is made of a row of electromagnets that turn on and off in a specific pattern while the user sweeps across the magnetophoretic surface, thus producing a custom image. Despite being low fidelity (black & white, static images), SweepScreen works on passive surfaces to create bistable images. It can therefore replace physical paper on notice boards, packaging or other labeling systems. It can also be used to fast prototype static free form displays to better understand interactions with new display form factors. This could be of interest for the shape-changing community which struggles to access manufactured free form displays. We present our concept and proof-of-concept prototypes that can print images on flat free form surfaces. We show the results of performance evaluations to test the viability of the device and finish with a discussion about current limitations.


The vision behind this thesis, centered on the epigrammatic poetry of Martial (born Marcus Valerius Martialis, 34-41 – c. 103 CE) and the themes within his satiric works, stem from a proposal previously for Roman Poetry and Poetry Books that sought to analyze the connection between Martial's intense focus on his reader (lector) and his fixation on the materiality of his text (known as libellus or "little book" throughout his many works) in order to identify Martial's literary and social motives. Martial's choices to not only publish his books for the general public but circulate these texts through booksellers lead to the characterization of Martial as one of the preeminent authors of innovative poetry in the Roman Empire. This thesis seeks to investigate, analyze, and discuss the relationships present in Martial's works between author and audience, text and its physical form, and poet and patron. In analyzing the complexities of Martial's poetry and his own approach to literature and relationships, modern readers can gain insight into the world of classical poetry and art as well as the social dynamics, political tensions, and inherent economic disparities of ancient Rome. This thesis seeks to answer how these relationships between author and audience, poetry and its physical form, and patron and poet intersect in Martial's epigrams and become integral to the transformative nature of his work.


The injudicious and indiscriminate application of pesticides to crops results in pesticide residues in food and food commodities with consequential hazards. The extent of hazard depends on the number of pesticide residues on crops and their toxicity. The main objective of this study was focused on determining the likely presence of pesticide residues in cereals and pulse samples in Sikrai Tehsil Dausa district, Rajasthan. The study was carried out for the year 2017 and 2018. 150 samples were taken from different farms and market analyzed using GC-MS/MS& LC-MS/MS. In the present study, an effort has been made to analyze the residual concentration of selected pesticides Chlorpyriphos Methyl, Methyl Parathion, Chlorpyriphos, Malathion, Phorate Sulfone, Aldrin, Profenofos, Triazophos in crops grown agriculture field. The study reveals that a total of 73 samples were eventually found to be contaminated by different groups of pesticide. Among the samples analyzed 14 samples contained pesticide residues above the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) value and 59 samples found below the MRL. The number of pesticides was detected in the wheat sample followed by Gram and Mustard. Data showed that most samples were contaminated by Chlorpyrifos, Malathion, Profenofos, and Triazofos. The result reveals that the levels of some pesticides in crops were well below the established tolerances limit but exposer of the lower concentrations of pesticides that may cause chronic diseases. The maximum duration wise exposed sprayers reported most of the symptoms related to respiratory problems. Farmer was also found to be afflicted with dry/sore throat, headaches, runny/burning nose, dizziness and shortness of breathing, vomiting, coughing, skin and eye problems which were quite prominent. The farm sprayers who are not aware of the health hazards caused by the inappropriate handling and non-preventive work practices of the poisonous pesticide get the direct exposure of pesticides. The majority of the farmers were not aware of pesticide residues and their consequences in foodstuff, lack awareness regarding safe use of pesticides. It is concluded that there is a need for implementing protective work practices during handling and pesticide spraying and switching to safer Biopesticides and Integrated Pest Management techniques for the judicious use of pesticides. K e y w o r d s


For the real time visualization of the dynamics of MEMS it is often inevitable to use high speed camera systems because of the optical enlargement. The micro diagnostic system MinVis, which consists of a miniaturized optical setup with a commercial microscope objective and a high performance AlInGaP LED as pulsed light source allows the investigation of these highly dynamic processes in microsystems in real time, and represents an economical alternative to complex and very expensive high speed camera systems. The application of MinVis covers a wide range from diagnostic measurements during the prototype development to inspections for the quality assurance of microsystems. As an easily transportable setup MinVis is also particularly suitable for presentation purposes.


The identification and classification of urban and suburban phenomena through analysis of remotely-acquired sensor data can provide information of great potential value to many regional analysts. Such classifications, particularly those using spectral data obtained from satellites such as the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) orbited by NASA, allow rapid frequent and accurate general land use inventories that are of value in many types of spatial analyses. In this study, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin was classified into several broad land use categories on the basis of computer analysis of four bands of ERTS spectral data (ERTS Frame Number E1017-16093). Categories identified were: (1) road-central business district, (2) grass (green vegetation), (3) suburban, (4) wooded suburb, (5) heavy industry, (6) inner city, and (7) water. Overall, 90 percent accuracy was attained in classification of these urban land use categories.


Improvement in productivity is one of the Oil and Gas industry's biggest challenges. About 60% of crude Oil still lay trapped in the reservoir even after primary and secondary recovery process have been completed, hence the need for a method that further improves recovery. In this study, flooding experiment was conducted at laboratory condition to investigate the use of locally sourced alkaline in improving recovery on sand samples. The efficiency of the local alkaline (palm bunch ash) was compared with other conventional alkaline (NaOH, KOH, and Na 2 CO 3 ). Eight cores (A1 – A$ and C1 – C4) were prepared, saturated with formation brine of 30, 000ppm salinity; crude (light and medium) were then flowed through sand samples. The samples were individually flooded with brine for secondary recovery process where an average of 55% of initial Oil in place was recovered. Each sample was flooded with different alkaline (local and conventional) for the tertiary recovery stage. The result obtained during flooding on samples saturated with light crude showed that KOH recovered 74%, NaOH recovered 66%, and palm bunch ash recovered an average of 64% while Na 2 CO 3 recovered 59%. It is recommended that the further studies to investigate the impact of the palm bunch ash should be carried out using heavy crude under reservoir conditions. These studies if successful will help and increase the use of local content which is relatively cheaper and this will in turn increase the local content drive of the Nigerian government in the oil and gas industry. KEYWORDS : Secondary reservoirs, Flooding, Alkaline, Saturated, Samples, Brine, Local content, Enhanced recovery, Trapped.


A new feature-based technique is introduced to solve the nonlinear forward problem (FP) of the electrical capacitance tomography with the target application of monitoring the metal fill profile in the lost foam casting process. The new technique is based on combining a linear solution to the FP and a correction factor (CF). The CF is estimated using an artificial neural network (ANN) trained using key features extracted from the metal distribution. The CF adjusts the linear solution of the FP to account for the nonlinear effects caused by the shielding effects of the metal. This approach shows promising results and avoids the curse of dimensionality through the use of features and not the actual metal distribution to train the ANN. The ANN is trained using nine features extracted from the metal distributions as input. The expected sensors readings are generated using ANSYS software. The performance of the ANN for the training and testing data was satisfactory, with an average root-mean-square error equal to 2.2%.


In this paper, we present a novel algorithm for implementing linear time invariant controllers in computationally constrained environments. The algorithm transforms a linear time invariant controller into a periodically time varying system, which is shown to be implemented in a computationally efficient manner. This is achieved by first decomposing the controller into a dual rate system. A scheduling policy is then adopted that interlaces the computation associated with the two systems. The interlaced dual rate implementation of the controller algorithm significantly reduces the computational overhead at each time step. A theoretical framework is developed to analyze the effect of this model of computation on the closed-loop stability performance. The paper concludes with an example based on a flight control algorithm designed for the Boeing 737-100 transport system research vehicle (TSRV) linear longitudinal motion model.


Automated methods for reliable 3-D reconstruction of man-made objects are essential to many users and providers of 3-D city data, including urban planners, architects, telecommunication and environmental engineers. Manual 3-D processing of aerial images is time consuming and requires the expertise of qualified personnel. Therefore, the necessity to interpret, classify and quantitatively process aerial images in a semi- or fully automatic mode and to integrate the results into computer aided design (CAD) or spatial information systems is more urgent than ever. This paper describes current research activities at ETH Zurich in automated 3-D reconstruction of buildings. Two conceptually different approaches to building reconstruction are presented: TOBAGO and ARUBA. The first approach is semi-automatic and aims at the automatic structuring of manually measured 3-D point clouds to generate CAD models of complete buildings. It is geared towards a reliable and flexible procedure which has a large potential to be useful for professional practice. The second approach aims at fully automatic detection and reconstruction of buildings. This automatic system relies on hierarchical hypothesis generation in both 2-D and 3-D. To achieve this we have developed novel methods for feature extraction, segment stereo matching, 2-D and 3-D grouping, color and object modeling, and geometric reasoning. We also present and evaluate the results of both methods on various data sets. We will also show how modern visualization tools can be used for 3-D animations (fly-overs and walk-throughs). For that the vector data set will be augmented with data from still video images of the facades to generate photorealistic representations.


Overall DNA-protein interactions in animal cells undergo drastic changes coupled with cellular transitions from quiescence to growth and reversely as revealed by nucleoprotein-Celite chromatography. DNA of chromatin was found to exist in one of the two sharply distinct alternative forms, namely, either tightly or weakly bound to protein moiety. These forms are specific for cycling and quiescent cells, respectively. The tight DNA-protein interactions characterize all cycling cells independent of the cell cycle phase. Transition of DNA of cycling cells from one form to another was observed as a result of treatment of isolated nuclei with DNase I.


The purpose of this study is to improve functional properties of the ayran, a very popular drink in Turkey, while maintaining the high quality criteria. Fat replacer protein based Dairy Lo® and carbohydrate based inulin were used as food additives for the production of fat free ayran using yogurt bacteria L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus and probiotic ayran using L. acidophilus ve B. bifidum along with yogurt bacteria. Titration acidity, pH measurements, fat content of the ayran was determined using Gerber method. Total solids and protein content were determined using gravimetric method and Kjeldahl method, respectively. Aroma substances acetaldehyde, acetoin, acetone and diacetyl were determined using head space gas chromatographic method. Microbial counts of ayran samples were done on VRBA, MRS, M17, MRS-Oxgall and BSA media. Total solids content, pH values and protein content of TY and DL samples were 6.97%, 7.19%; 3.91, 4.00; 1.8%, and 2.6%, respectively. According to the results of microbiological analysis examination, significant differences were not detected between samples (P> 0.05). In probiotic ayran samples, a significant increase in lactobacillus bacteria count was observed. According to results of GC analysis showed that acetaldehyde/acetoin ratio of Dairy Lo® and whole fat ayran samples produced using whole milk and yogurt bacteria samples were 3.04 and 1.55, respectively (P 0.05). Low calorie probiotic ayran was produced with improved functional properties along with the good taste, apperance appearance and structural properties.


Echocardiography is widely used for obtaining images of the heart for both preoperative diagnostic and intraoperative purposes. For procedures targeting the mitral valve, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the primary imaging modality used as it provides clear 3D images of the valve and surrounding tissues. However, TEE suffers from image artifacts and signal dropout, particularly for structures lying below the valve including chordae tendineae. In order to see these structures, alternative echo views are required. However due to the limited field of view obtainable, the entire ventricle cannot be directly visualized in sufficient detail from a single image acquisition in 3D. This results in a large learning curve for interpreting these images as the multiple views must be reconciled mentally by a clinician. We propose applying an image compounding technique to TEE images acquired from a mid-esophageal position and a number of transgastric positions in order to reconstruct a high-detail image of the mitral valve and sub-valvular structures. This compounding technique utilizes a semi-simultaneous group-wise registration to align the multiple 3D volumes, followed by a weighted intensity compounding step. This compounding technique is validated using images acquired of a custom silicone phantom, excised porcine mitral valve units, and two patient data sets. We demonstrate that this compounding technique accurately captures the physical structures present, including the mitral valve, chordae tendineae and papillary muscles.


The design of the shiled tunnel segment is one of key and difficult problems in design of subway. The soil round the segments and the joint among them are tow factors must be considerd on the establishment of the calculation model of the segment. Simplification of joint in the calculation model of segment is improved,then a new model is built with the stratum-structure method. Taking Harbin Metro Line No.1 for example, a comparative analysis between the improved model and existing routine model is made. Then some conclusions are got from different deduction ratio of stiffness of joint.The study results show that the new model is tolerable,and significant to design and construction of tunnel segment in theory and practice.


We consider the thermodynamics of rotating and charged asymptotically de Sitter black holes. Using Hamiltonian perturbation theory techniques, we derive three different first law relations including variations in the cosmological constant, and associated Smarr formulas that are satisfied by such spacetimes. Each first law introduces a different thermodynamic volume conjugate to the cosmological constant. We examine the relation between these thermodynamic volumes and associated geometric volumes in a number of examples, including Kerr-dS black holes in all dimensions and Kerr-Newman-dS black holes in D = 4. We also show that the Chong-Cvetic-Lu-Pope solution of D = 5 minimal supergravity, analytically continued to positive cosmological constant, describes black hole solutions of the Einstein-Chern-Simons theory and include such charged asymptotically de Sitter black holes in our analysis. In all these examples we find that the particular thermodynamic volume associated with the region between the black hole and cosmological horizons is equal to the naive geometric volume. Isoperimetric inequalities, which hold in the examples considered, are formulated for the different thermodynamic volumes and conjectured to remain valid for all asymptotically de Sitter black holes. In particular, in all examples considered, we find that for fixed volume of the observable universe, the entropy is increased by adding black holes. We conjecture that this is true in general.


SUMMARY Two eyestalk (ES) neuropeptides, molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) and crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH), increase intracellular cGMP levels in target tissues. Both MIH and CHH inhibit ecdysteroid secretion by the molting gland or Y-organ (YO), but apparently through different guanylyl cyclase (GC)-dependent pathways. MIH signaling may be mediated by nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and NO-sensitive GC. CHH binds to a membrane receptor GC. As molting affects neuropeptide signaling, the effects of ecdysteroid on the expression of the land crab Gecarcinus lateralis β subunit of a NO-sensitive GC (Gl-GC-Iβ), a membrane receptor GC (Gl-GC-II) and a NO-insensitive soluble GC (Gl-GC-III) were determined. Gl-GC-Iβ isoforms differing in the absence or presence of an N-terminal 32-amino acid sequence and Gl-GC-III were expressed at higher mRNA levels in ES ganglia, gill, hepatopancreas, ovary and testis, and at lower levels in YO, heart and skeletal muscle. Three Gl-GC-II isoforms, which vary in the length of insertions (+18, +9 and +0 amino acids) within the N-terminal ligand-binding domain, differed in tissue distribution. Gl-GC-II(+18) was expressed highly in striated muscle (skeletal and cardiac muscles); Gl-GC-II(+9) was expressed in all tissues examined (ES ganglia, YO, gill, hepatopancreas, striated muscles and gonads); and Gl-GC-II(+0) was expressed in most tissues and was the dominant isoform in ES and thoracic ganglia. ES ablation, which increased hemolymph ecdysteroid, increased Gl-GC-II(+18) mRNA level in claw muscle. Using real-time RT-PCR, ES ablation increased Gl-GC-Iβ, Gl-GC-III and ecdysone receptor mRNA levels in the YOs ∼ten-, ∼four- and∼ twofold, respectively, whereas Gl-GC-II mRNA level was unchanged. A single injection of 20-hydroxyecdysone into intact animals transiently lowered Gl-GC-Iβ in hepatopancreas, testis and skeletal muscle, and certain Gl-GC-II isoforms in some of the tissues. These data suggest that YO and other tissues can modulate responses to neuropeptides by altering GC expression.


Mining is a core industry in Sweden and plays an important role in the economic development throughout the country. Though the importance of mining dust has been well recognized, the quantification of dust production with regard to individual source activity has rarely been done in Sweden. Depending on the type of source activity, dust estimation method can be chosen from three alternatives: exposure profiling methods, back calculation method, and wind erosion prediction method. Also included in the paper is an example of experiment, which was executed on two unpaved roads in Lulea, Sweden by using exposure profiling method. The experiment concluded that dust emission due to vehicle transportation is strongly dependent on traveling speed and road bed material.


In this paper, beamforming schemes that maximize diversity of the relay systems for amplify and forward (AF) and decode and forward (DF) methods are presented. For fading relay channels, these schemes are simulated with the relays having partial (quantized) information of the relay-destination channel, and compared to complete information case. Under utilized quantization process, phases and amplitudes of the channel fading coefficients are fed back to the relays in different number of bits. Phase information of the channel coefficients appear to be more crucial for both AF and DF methods. While the beamforming scheme for AF results in roughly full diversity order, the scheme for DF cannot achieve full diversity order because of its dependence to the decoding errors made at the relays.


Urinary tract infection (UTI) is associated with clinical conditions such as hypertension, anaemia, kidney failure and even death. Diagnosis and early detection of UTI are critical measures in the management of the disease. The classical microbiological culture method is hindered by long diagnostic time and characteristic features of certain microbes becoming viable-but-non-culturable (VBNC). Direct PCR is a more sensitive and rapid diagnostic tool for detecting pathogens in clinical samples. This work aimed at developing a simplified PCR assay for detection of uropathogenic Escherichia coli, an index microorganism for UTI and the results compared to two common diagnostic markers – i.e., dipstick and microbiological culture methods. The cross-sectional study involved collection of urine samples from 195 adolescents, aged between 13 and 18 years. DNA segments were amplified using specific primers targeting papC gene for fimbriae formation and the bacteriocin usp gene of the uropathogenic E. coli. Comparing the three diagnostic tools, the PCR produced the highest sensitivity of 71%, and the nitrite-based dipstick method recording the least sensitivity of 3%. Leukocyte esterase-based dipstick recorded the highest specificity of 76% as against 24% specificity by the PCR method. In addition, leukocyte esterase detection dipstick produced the highest values for both positive and negative predictive values of 52% and 76%, respectively. From the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses, PCR showed an area of 0.7231± 0.0262 (age in years X number of positives) over culture method with P value 0.0001, compared to 0.7205± 0.02623 (age in years X number of positives) of culture method over the dipstick method (p< 0.0001). Although the PCR diagnostic method for UTI uropathogenic indicator (E. coli) was found to be superior method as compared to culture and dipstick methods, it should be made a complementary UTI diagnostic tool due to the low specificity.


In relation to consumer demand, crustaceans and cephalopods are sold as both fresh and defrosted. It is well known that total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and volatile amine values, especially, biogenic amines and biogenic amine index, are expression of freshness of fish products, but there is a lack of knowledge of their acceptability limits, for crustaceans and cephalopods. In order to assess these limits, real-time shelf life tests were carried out, relating the results of TVB-N, biogenic amines and BAI to the sensory evaluation of crustaceans and cuttlefishes, both fresh and defrosted. TVB-N and biogenic amines have been analysed in many shrimp species and cuttlefishes purchased in Perugia (Central Italy), and BAI was calculated as the ratio between different biogenic amines. The results show levels of TVB-N and spermine different between shrimp and cuttlefish (TVB-N: 37 vs. 14 mg/100 g; spermine: 4 vs. 14 mg/kg, respectively) while the other biogenic amines and BAI are close to zero in both. Among biogenic amines, cadaverine and even more putrescine significantly affect BAI values and seem to be the most effective in assessing limits of acceptability during storage.


The consolidated differential protection could not be installed in generator in many old hydraulic power plants they are in running. Affected by various factors, the mal-operation of turn-to-turn protection based on other principles occurs easily. For a long time in operating the power plant, to prevent the mal-operation of turn-to-turn protection is a key point, so the turn-to-turn protection in actual operation is often ineffective. For large multi-polar hydraulic generator, if the turn-to-turn protection failed to operate, it will produce incalculable damage. It is so quite important to simulate before installing the main protection in new generating-sets. For the generators have not been simulated, this paper proposes a new simple setting method, which uses stator winding spreading figure to analyze the potential circle number of upper and lower stator bars in the same lot of same phase. It is of more practical value than both setting according to "Guideline" and setting blindly. From the analysis about the stator structure, turn-to-turn protection configuration, setting and operation history of 11 representative large hydraulic generators along the Qingjing River Valley, it can be drawn that turn-to-turn protection of old generating-sets is almost out of work which is installed before 2001 and the sensitivity of 17.5% new generating-sets put into operation by 2007 can't be guaranteed. It also indicates that excitation system impact considerably on main protection of generator. This paper discusses the turn-to-turn protection of large hydraulic generator.


Interferons (IFN) have had increasing clinical usage in the treatment of a variety of disorders, at times being used in combination with chemo‐ or radiotherapy. However, interferons may have inhibitory effects on hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and the effects of this cytokine's use on long‐term hematologic function have not been studied. We performed the competitive repopulation assay in the murine system, using cells exposed to irradiation or single‐dose chemotherapy with or without concomitant IFN‐γ use. IFN‐γ alone had no deleterious effects on hematopoietic stem cell productivity. We measured the repopulating ability of exhaustible multilineage precursors that were present at early stages of marrow repopulation after competitive repopulation (30 days). These progenitors were minimally impacted by cyclophosphamide (CTX) with or without IFN‐γ. Irradiation (XRT) and CTX alone produced significant repopulating defects in the most primitive hematopoietic stem cell, PHSC. Addition of IFN to either treatment regimen resulted in protection of PHSC, with improved repopulating ability, although the levels of donor marrow reached control levels only when CTX and IFN were used together. The results of multiple use of IFN with chemotherapy must be studied further, but IFN may offer hematologic radio‐ and chemoprotection, in addition to its antitumor properties in clinical protocols for treatment of cancers. Am. J. Hematol. 58:218–223, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


A 35-year-old female patient with Behçet's disease associated with nephrotic syndrome is described. Renal biopsy specimens revealed typical features of membranous nephropathy in light microscopical, electron microscopical and immunofluorescent microscopical examinations. Circulating immune complexes (IC) phagocytized by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in this patient were significantly increased compared with those in healthy adults. Recurrent oral aphthous ulcers had persisted for 14 years. In the course of Behçet's disease, nephrotic syndrome due to membranous nephropathy was observed. Depositions of IgA, IgM, C3 and C4 were observed in the subcutaneous arteriolar walls by immunofluorescence. It is suggested that the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease and membranous nephropathy might be due to a deposition of circulating immune complexes in various types of vascular vessels in this patient.


The present study was undertaken to examine the parasite fauna of spiny dogfish, and to determine seasonal variations in infection rates and faunal composition. A total of 10 metazoan parasite species was recorded, of which four species occurred in the intestine, three species were parasitic on the gills, two species occurred on the skin, and one species parasitized the spiracle. However, a cumulative parasite species richness curve indicated that a larger sample may have yielded additional parasite species. The parasite assemblage consisted of five species of copepods (Eudactylina acanthii Scott, Caligus curtis Müller, Pandarus bicolor Leach, Echthrogaleus coleoptratus (Guerin-Meneville) and Pseudocharopinus bicaudatus (Krøyer)), two species of nematodes (Anisakis simplex Rudolphi and Hysterothylacium aduncum (Rudolphi)), two species of cestodes (Trilocularia gracilis Olssen and Gilguina squali (Fabricius)), and one species of monogenean (Erpocotyle abbreviata (Olssen)). The parasite fauna was found to be similar to that of S. acanthias from the North Sea, and from New Zealand waters. Results obtained during the present study indicate that the infection rates of certain parasite species display seasonal cycles, most species displaying their greatest prevalence in spring and their lowest prevalence in autumn.