Responding to calls for a more theoretically driven, post-positivist and radical marine spatial planning research that approaches the policy as a political project, this paper develops a post-structuralist discourse theory approach to critical marine spatial planning. Elaborating radical contingency as an ontological condition of social life, which points to the ineradicability of power and conflict in marine spatial planning social relations, the paper problematizes marine spatial planning as constituting politics, or key practices that attempt to organize human coexistence and thus, conceal this radical contingency. These practices (e.g. ecosystem-based management, participation, planning regulation and the organization of socio-natural spaces), whose outcomes are far from adaptive, consensual or neutral are discussed as sites of 'politics' that effectively marginalize particular groups of people and 'herd' their participation and ways of knowing toward achieving limited policy outcomes. Drawing on the EU Marine Spatial Planning Directive, the paper further teases out how specific narratives and rhetorical signifiers around 'integrating' and 'balancing' potentially irreconcilable sustainable development objectives may interpellate particular stakeholders in ways that render them ideologically complicitous in sustaining, rather than challenging, neoliberal logics of managerialism and economic maximization of marine resources. But in tune with the ontological condition of the social as radically contingent, the paper discusses how and why participatory spaces may constitute a potential space of contestation for marginalized voices and thus, reveal the political moment of marine spatial planning. Calls are made for future empirically grounded research that explores how these marine spatial planning practices are lived in both planning and extra-planning settings, and with what implications for marine protection and extant social relations of power in different marine spatial planning contexts.


A double-blind, randomized, multicentre, parallel-group study was carried out to compare intranasal sumatriptan with placebo in the treatment of migraine. Seventy-four patients (37 in each treatment group) were recruited into the study. Patients received two insufflations of the same treatment (sumatriptan or placebo) 15 min apart. Sumatriptan (20 mg plus 20 mg) was more effective than placebo at relieving headache, defined as a reduction in severity from moderate (grade 2) or severe (grade 3) to mild (grade 1) or none (grade 0), at 60 and 120 min. At 120 min, 75% of patients in the sumatriptan group reported headache relief, compared with 32% of patients in the placebo group (p less than 0.001); 53% of patients in the sumatriptan group were completely pain-free, compared with 11% in the placebo group. A clinically significant reduction in the incidence of nausea, vomiting and photophobia was observed in the sumatriptan group compared with the placebo group, and sumatriptan was also more effective at reducing the functional disability of the patients. A similar number of patients reported migraine recurrence, within 24 h in both treatment groups. The observed reduction in headache severity, functional disability and nausea following intranasal administration of sumatriptan would appear to obviate the need for a concomitant anti-emetic during a migraine attack. The results support the further development and testing of intranasal sumatriptan.


The aim of this paper was to test the applicability of multiple regression analysis and rank transformation regression in assessing the values of private heritage property. The original dataset consists of 893 commercial properties transacted from 2004 to 2014 in Kelantan Malaysia. After filtration process, only 25 units of shophouse heritage property were available and valid to be used. The models have been constructed and their statistical performances have been compared. The results indicate that adopting statistical methods of valuation per se to overcome the issue of unavailability of market evidence could not solve the consequences of the limited data problem.
Keywords: real estate; heritage property; multiple regression analysis; rank transformation regression
eISSN 2398-4279 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.


The association between the risk of liver cancer and blood chemistry was investigated in a cohort study with 95,150 men and women from two counties in Sweden. In 1963-65, blood tests and physical measurements were undertaken. All individuals were then followed up until 2007, and a total of 312 were diagnosed with liver cancer. Using survival analysis and logistic regression, significant risk factors were identified. Stepwise Cox proportional hazards regression applied to a main effect model revealed that Glutamic Pyruvate Transaminase (GPT) and Thymol Turbidity (TYM) were the most significant risk factors (p 31) raised the hazard of experiencing liver cancer by a factor of 1.45 and 4.09, respectively. In addition, GPT was found to be the most significant risk factor in almost all age groups among both men and women. However, there was no evidence that elevated GPT levels within the normal range (<21), influenced the risk of liver cancer. Additional subgroup analyses revealed that TYM was highly significant within the group with normal GPT, and a high level of HEX (≥134 mg/dl) increased the hazard 1.55 times in comparison with the lowest HEX group (<115 mg/dl). BMI was significant only in the male subgroup (p<0.01) and, in the obesity group, the hazard of experiencing liver cancer was 1.99 times higher than in the normal BMI group. A significant three-way interaction between GPT, BMI and gender was present (p=0.05) with a robust significant two-way interaction between GPT and BMI (p<0.01) in the male subgroup.


Milpa, or slash and burn agriculture, is one of many livelihood strategies utilized by most households in Uaxactun, a small Guatemalan community located inside the borders of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Participatory Rural Appraisal and Rapid Rural Appraisal revealed that although household livelihood systems are primarily based on the extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), milpa is of fundamental importance. These approaches also suggest that households shift in and out of subsistence as they respond to changes in their sources of cash earnings. Ethnographic linear programming supports this premise, showing that households also modify their livelihood strategies in response to changes in the environment. How households choose to strategize and the intensity with which they participate in each livelihood activity, however, is driven by their composition and the household ratio of consumers to producers. These two factors not only determine their cash and nutritional needs, but also the size of their labor force, enhancing or inhibiting their ability to support themselves.


A visual enhancement training program utilizing the Eyespan was evaluated for its effect on the P-300 latency. The P-300 latency is a cortical response occuring appoximately 300 ms. after a stimulus is presented. The latency of 16 subjects was measured under identical conditions before and after a training program. Eight subjects participated in three weeks of training involving 16 five minute sessions with the Eyespan. The other eight subjects served as control for the study. After the training program, results showed an insignificant change in latency of the experimental group, while the control group showed an increase in latency.


Under starvation conditions, bacteria tend to slow down their translation rate by reducing rRNA synthesis, but the way they accomplish that may vary in different bacteria. In Mycobacterium species, transcription of rRNA is activated by the RNA polymerase (RNAP) accessory transcription factor CarD, which interacts directly with RNAP to stabilize the RNAP-promoter open complex formed on rRNA genes. The functions of CarD have been extensively studied, but the mechanisms that control its expression remain obscure. Here, we report that the level of CarD was tightly regulated when mycobacterial cells switched from nutrient-rich to nutrient-deprived conditions. At the translational level, an antisense RNA of carD (AscarD) was induced in a SigF-dependent manner to bind with carD mRNA and inhibit CarD translation, while at the post-translational level, the residual intracellular CarD was quickly degraded by the Clp protease. AscarD thus worked synergistically with Clp protease to decrease the CarD level to help mycobacterial cells cope with the nutritional stress. Altogether, our work elucidates the regulation mode of CarD and delineates a new mechanism for the mycobacterial starvation response, which is important for the adaptation and persistence of mycobacterial pathogens in the host environment.


A modern power grid needs to become smarter in order to provide an affordable, reliable, and sustainable supply of electricity. For these reasons, considerable activity has been carried out in the United States and Europe to formulate and promote a vision for the development of future smart power grids. However, the majority of these activities emphasized only the distribution grid and demand side leaving the big picture of the transmission grid in the context of smart grids unclear. This paper presents a unique vision for the future of smart transmission grids in which their major features are identified. In this vision, each smart transmission grid is regarded as an integrated system that functionally consists of three interactive, smart components, i.e., smart control centers, smart transmission networks, and smart substations. The features and functions of each of the three functional components, as well as the enabling technologies to achieve these features and functions, are discussed in detail in the paper.


This is intended to serve as a brief, basic list of good internet sites, grouped by subject, and useful for general information.


Summary

1
Male House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) colour their sexually selected plumage with carotenoid pigments, and there has been much interest in the factors that affect their ability to become bright red rather than drab yellow.

2
There is good support for the notions that health, nutritional condition and total carotenoid intake influence colour expression, but there are also suggestions that acquiring particular types of carotenoids from the diet may be important for developing red plumage.

3
We used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to analyse the types and amounts of endogenous (in plasma and liver) and integumentary (in newly grown feathers) carotenoids in a wild, native population of moulting male and female House Finches from the south-western United States to determine the carotenoid-accumulation strategies for becoming optimally colourful.

4
Four plant carotenoids – lutein, zeaxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin and β-carotene – were detected in plasma and liver. However, as was found previously, 11 carotenoids were observed in colourful plumage, with xanthophylls (e.g. lutein, dehydrolutein) predominant in yellow feathers and ketocarotenoids (e.g. adonirubin, 3-hydroxy-echinenone) in red feathers. This indicates endogenous modification of ingested carotenoids.

5
Birds that accumulated more of one type of carotenoid in plasma and liver did not necessarily accumulate more of all other types, suggesting that individuals are not employing a simple 'more is better' strategy for coloration. Instead, when forward stepwise regression was used to examine the ability of individual types of carotenoids in plasma and liver to explain variation in red plumage pigments and plumage redness, we found that the lone variable remaining in all models was β-cryptoxanthin concentration.

6
This supports the idea that, unlike some other songbirds (e.g. yellow Carduelis finches), there is a specialized biochemical strategy that male House Finches follow to become red and most sexually attractive – to accumulate as much β-cryptoxanthin in the body as possible. β-Cryptoxanthin is a less common dietary carotenoid than the typical xanthophylls and carotenes in grains and fruits and may be limited enough in the diet that, to become colourful, House Finches might adopt selective foraging strategies for the most β-cryptoxanthin-rich foods.


TNFalpha activated NF-kappaB and associated regulatory factors including IKK are strongly implicated in a variety of hematological and solid tumor malignancies. We show that tautomycetin (TC) specifically inhibits activation of NF-kappaB among the three TNFalpha effectors (NF-kappaB, JNK and caspase). TC inhibited T-loop phosphorylation of IKKalpha and IKKbeta, thereby preventing degradation of the NF-kappaB inhibitor, IkappaBalpha. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments revealed that the catalytic subunit of PP1 (PP1C) was involved in the IKK complex. Pull-down analysis using recombinant GST-TNFalpha, showed that PP1C was recruited to TNFR1 together with IKK complex, RIP and TAK1 upon stimulus. These results suggest that the PP1 positively regulates the TNFalpha-induced NF-kappaB pathway at the level of IKK activation. Thus, TC might be used therapeutically to suppress the TNFalpha/NF-kappaB pathway.


Mesoblastic nephroma is the most common renal tumor in infancy but is infrequent in the adult. It has a typical histological pattern but its histogenesis is unknown. We report a case of mesoblastic nephroma in an eighteen year old man who was treated by conservative surgery.


The aim of this study was to investigate (i) the influence of different sources and levels of potassium on photosynthetic pigments, (ii) measure nitrogen status in leaf, (iii) evaluate flower behavior in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), and (iv) to identify a better potassium source to cultivation of this species. The experiment design used was in factorial scheme with randomized blocks, being composed by 2 potassium sources (KCl and K2SO4), combined with 4 levels of K2O (250, 500, 750 and 1000 kg ha-1). Nitrogen accumulation in leaf at 50 days after transplanting had a higher value with KCl compared with K2SO4. Results linked to aborted fruits presented similar effects to KCl and K2SO4. This study revealed that eggplant exposed to excess potassium did not have a negative effect on chlorophyll a and b, and nitrogen concentration in leaf was significantly modified due to increase in potassium level. In addition, greater levels of potassium produced negative consequences linked to flower and fruit abortion. Therefore, potassium source indicated for eggplant is potassium sulfate.

 Key words: Solanum melongena L., potassium, flower, pigments, nutrition plant.


The radioligand 125I-ANP-(99-126) was used to map receptors for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the rat kidney and adrenal gland using in vitro autoradiography and computerized densitometry. In the kidney a very high density of receptors was found overlying glomeruli; these sites had a binding affinity constant of 0.48 +/- 0.06 X 10(-9) M-1 and a site concentration 818 +/- 108 fmol X mg protein-1. A moderate density of receptors was seen in the inner renal medulla; these sites had a binding constant of 0.9 +/- 0.2 X 10(9) M-1 and a receptor concentration of 204 +/- 44 fmol X mg protein-1, and moderate receptor density was also seen in the inner stripe of the outer medulla overlying vasa recta bundles. Diffuse low-density binding was also detected in the outer cortex. In all cases these patterns were abolished by 1 micron ANP-(101-126) or 1 microM atriopeptin III but not by a range of unrelated peptides. In the adrenal, a high density of binding was found overlying the zona glomerulosa, whereas a moderate density occurred in the zona fasciculata. Binding was not detected in the adrenal medulla. These results provide evidence for several classes of ANP receptor distribution in kidney and adrenal and suggest multiple roles of the peptide in fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.


The Greek myths studied both from the standpoint of their meaning to the Greeks and Romans and from the standpoint of their use in later literature and in everyday life.


While children's and young adult literature has always been a product marketed and sold for profit, the past two decades have seen a dramatic upsurge in young adult literature that is transmediated and commercially "branded" (Sekeres, 2009), positioning these books as only one product of many sold in a franchise. Despite the popularity of branded young adult fiction, little is known about how adolescent readers are navigating and valuing the myriad commercial products that are part of their reading experiences. The growing popularity of young adult literature, its increasing commodification as branded fiction, and concomitant concerns about its diminishing literary quality and implicit consumerist socialization of youth make the present an especially important moment to learn more about the literacy practices of adolescents engaging with branded young adult fiction. This dissertation study investigated how a group of Hispanic youth read between and across print, media, and material branded young adult fiction texts, critically analyzing how participants made sense of these texts through social interactions and considering the ethical and political implications of their engagement in the literature. Drawing from intersectional, feminist research traditions, this qualitative study is grounded in a conceptual framework of critical, sociocultural perspectives of literacy, resource orientations toward youth culture and identity, and transactional theories of reader response. Eleven ninth grade students participated in a weekly afterschool group in which they collectively engaged in an inquiry into branded young adult fiction. Additional data were collected through focus groups, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, survey, and artifact analysis. This research provides insight into possibilities for branded young adult fiction to occupy multiple and contradictory spaces in adolescents' lived worlds. Participants' transactions with these texts reflected the ambiguous positioning of print novels within franchises, contested traditional notions of reader, author, and interpretive authority, and suggested pedagogical opportunities for conceptualizing reading and reader response as embodied and materially situated. As participants engaged with branded fiction, their negotiations offer new understandings of the agency enacted by youth as they, through their entanglement with popular culture and prevailing consumerist forces, take critical positions, audition different identities, and create and inhabit multiple worlds. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Education First Advisor Vivian L. Gadsden


In the present paper, an effective approach for the optimization of turning parameters based on the Taugchi's method with regression analysis is presented. This paper discusses the use of Taugchi's technique for minimizing the surface roughness and maximizing the material removal rate in machining unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastics (UD-GFRP) composite with a polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tool. A multiple objective utility model has been studied to optimize both the dependent parameters. Experiments were conducted based on the established Taguchi's technique L18 orthogonal array on a lathe machine. The cutting parameters considered were tool nose radius, tool rake angle, feed rate, cutting speed, depth of cut and cutting environment (dry, wet and cooled) on the surface roughness and material removal rate produced. The performances of the cutting tool were evaluated by measuring surface roughness and material removal rate. A second order mathematical model in terms of cutting parameters is also developed using regression modeling. The results indicate that the developed model is suitable for prediction of surface roughness and material removal rate in machining of unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastics (UD-GFRP) composites. The predicted values and measured values are fairly close to each other. The results are confirmed by further experiments.


Taking the universal tools microscope (UTM) as an example, this paper proposes an original solution to the automatic image recognition of ocular optical measuring instruments based on algorithm fusion. An area-array CCD is used as the image collection device and a series of image pre-processing methods are adopted to locate the reticles and digit characters in ocular lens view images. A two-layer image recognition model which bands together the correlation-based template matching and an optimized BP concurrent neural network is established. The method featured as multiple complementary extraction is used in generating eigenvectors of the network. The experiment result shows the processing speed of the automatic reading method is enhanced on the basis of exerting the advantages of the high recognition ratio of neural network.


In this paper, we consider Poincaré inequalities for non euclidean metrics on R . These inequalities enable us to derive precise dimension free concentration inequalities for product measures. This technique is appropriate for a large scope of concentration rate: between exponential and gaussian and beyond. We give different equivalent functional forms of these Poincaré type inequalities in terms of transportation-cost inequalities and infimum convolution inequalities. Workable sufficient conditions are given and a comparison is made with generalized Beckner-Latala-Oleszkiewicz inequalities.


This paper discusses the thesis that the main danger for Eurozone survival does not lie in the areas that most economists have focused on; that is, it lies neither in insufficient regulation of the financial sector (banking union) nor in fiscal irresponsibility of the European governments (fiscal compact). The Eurozone technically has unlimited financial resources at its disposal to solve its recent financial problems, but the potential threats are rather of a political origin. The most important challenges are the distinct expectations that the strongest European economies harbored before the foundation of the Eurozone. The French sought to gain more autonomy in the conduct of their domestic economic policy, which had been impeded by external constraints, particularly exacerbated by German monetary policy. The German goal was to prevent permanent upward pressure on their currency, which had been undermining their export-led economic model. These distinct expectations did partly influence the institutional arrangement of the Economic and Monetary Union. However, the essence of the Franco-German conflict has not been adequately addressed and we hold that the Eurozone in its current setting is not able to fully resolve it. That being said, the ECB can employ means that could allow it to postpone the solution for a very long time.


: Plasma prostaglandins were determined by radioimmunoassay in 92 pregnant and 14 nonpregnant women. There was significant elevation of PGA-like material in the first trimester of pregnancy (1744 pg/ml) over that seen in nonpregnant women (576 pg/ml) with continuation of that elevation in the second and third trimesters. No significant difference existed among PGE levels of the nonpregnant group (251 pg/ml) and the first two trimesters of pregnancy (384 pg/ml and 294 pg/ml); the PGE level of the third trimester group (443 pg/ml) was significantly elevated over that of the nonpregnant group. PGF levels remained constant during all trimesters (135 pg/ml, 144 pg/ml, and 130 pg/ml) but exhibited plasma concentrations significantly higher than the nonpregnant group (78 pg/ml). Potential role (s) of prostaglandins as mediators of cardiovascular and renal changes of pregnancy are discussed.


Curricular analytics is the area of learning analytics that looks for insights and evidence on the relationship between curricular elements and the degree of achievement of curricular outcomes. For higher education institutions, curricular analytics can be useful for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the curricula and for justifying changes in learning pathways for students. This work presents the study of curricular trajectories as processes (i.e., sequence of events) using process mining techniques. Specifically, the Backpack Process Model (BPPM) is defined as a novel model to unveil student trajectories, not by the courses that they take, but according to the courses that they have failed and have yet to pass. The usefulness of the proposed model is validated through the analysis of the curricular trajectories of N = 4466 engineering students considering the first courses in their program. We found differences between backpack trajectories that resulted in retention or in dropout; specific courses in the backpack and a larger initial backpack sizes were associated with a higher proportion of dropout. BPPM can contribute to understanding how students handle failed courses they must retake, providing information that could contribute to designing and implementing timely interventions in higher education institutions.


A 14-year-old Swiss Warmblood gelding was presented with chronic severe polyuria, polydipsia and weight loss. At the time of admission, water intake was 240 l/day. On rectal examination, a large mass was identified in the left dorsal abdominal quadrant, which was shown to originate from the left kidney by transabdominal ultrasonographic examination. Unilateral nephrectomy via flank incision was performed under general anaesthesia. Histopathological examination of the tumour revealed a papillary renal adenocarcinoma. Successful outcome and survival was documented 13 months after surgery. Severe polyuria and polydipsia should be considered as major clinical signs for renal carcinoma in horses, which can be successfully treated with unilateral nephrectomy if no signs of metastatic spread are evident.


This study examines the influence of the institutional framework of European countries: more specifically coordinated market economies and liberal market economies on the earnings management and corporate social performance nexus. Employing econometric models impervious to endogeneity, our results show that socially responsible firms (particularly those with high governance scores) in coordinated market economies engage in earnings management. These findings suggest that in countries in which institutional settings enable implicit undertakings of corporate social responsibility in firm policies, firm practices ostensibly related to corporate social performance may serve purposes other than meeting stakeholders' ethical expectations and those of society at large. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment


Research done during the previous century established our S tandard Cosmological Model. There are many details still to be filled in, but few would seriously doubt the basic p remise. Past surveys have revealed that the largescale distribution of galaxies in the Universe is far from ra ndom: it is highly structured over a vast range of scales. Surveys being currently undertaken and being planned for th e next decades will provide a wealth of information about this structure. The ultimate goal must be not only to de scribe galaxy clustering as it is now, but also to explain how this arose as a consequence of evolutionary proc esses acting on the initial conditions that we see in the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropy data. In order to achieve this we will want to describe cosmic struc ture quantitatively: we need to build mathematically quantifiable descriptions of structure. Identifying where scaling laws apply and the nature of those scaling laws is an important part of understanding which physical mechan isms have been responsible for the organization of clusters, superclusters of galaxies and the voids between t hem. Finding where these scaling laws are broken is equally important since this indicates the transition to di fferent underlying physics. In describing scaling laws we are helped by making analogies w th fractals: mathematical constructs that can possess a wide variety of scaling properties. We must beware , however, of saying that the Universe is a fractal on some range of scales: it merely exhibits a specific kind of f ractal-like behavior on those scales. We exploit the richness of fractal scaling behavior merely as an import ant supplement to the usual battery of statistical descriptors. We review the history of how we have learned about the structu e of the Universe and present the data and methodologies that are relevant to the question of discover ing and understanding any scaling properties that structure may have. The ultimate goal is to have a complete un d rstanding of how that structure emerged. We are getting close!


This work aims to demonstrate how the Land Ethic, a ramification of the environmental ethics conceived by Aldo Leopold, proposes a change in the way human beings position themselves in relation to the world and everything that is non-human. Furthermore, we want to discuss the contemporary environmental crisis, expose its origins and demonstrate that one of its main causes is the position that human beings have occupied toward the world (a position of ethical and ontological superiority). We will see that its roots are profoundly connected to the western thought, especially to Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, Galileu Galilei and Isaac Newton ideas. To achieve our goal we consider that ethics are the starting point to the environmental crisis resolution. Human beings have achieved, especially after the XVI century, an incredible level of interference and transformation over nature, and that action has caused an important instability in the global ecosystem. The paradigm upon which we live in today is extremely anthropocentric and brought with it a project of domination by the human being over the environment realized through technic. Using the ideas of David Hume and Charles Darwin, Aldo Leopold postulated, with the Land Ethic, a change in our ethical emphasis, from the individual to the community – human beings would be, then, a plain member, one among many others, of the biotic community. Therefore, a change in the human being position in the world, proposed by the Land Ethic, would be a necessary "ethical turning point" in the contemporary world.


The childhood condition of visual difficulties caused by brain damage, commonly termed cortical or cerebral visual impairment (CVI), is well established but has no internationally accepted definition. Clarification of its core features is required to advance research and clinical practice. This systematic review aimed to identify the definitions of childhood CVI in the original scientific literature to describe and critically appraise a consensual definition of the condition. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and AMED databases were searched in January 2017. Studies were included if they (1) were published original research, (2) contained a childhood CVI sample, (3) contained a definition of CVI and (4) described their CVI identification/diagnostic method. Thematic analysis identified concepts within definitions and narrative synthesis was conducted. Of 1150 articles, 51 met inclusion criteria. Definitions were subdivided according to detail (descriptive definition, description not reaching definition status and diagnostic/operationalising criteria). Three themes concerning visual deficits, eye health and brain integrity were identified (each containing subthemes) and analysed individually across definitions. The most common themes were 'visual impairment' (n=20), 'retrochiasmatic pathway damage'(n=13) and 'normal/near normal eye health' (n=15). The most consensual definition identified here may not be the best quality for advancing our understanding of CVI. We argue for the alternative definition: CVI is a verifiable visual dysfunction which cannot be attributed to disorders of the anterior visual pathways or any potentially co-occurring ocular impairment. We propose reporting guidelines to permit comparison across studies and increase the evidence base for more reliable clinical assessment and diagnosis.


Twenty-eight horses in southern Mozambique died after exhibiting severe respiratory distress. At necropsy, the overinflated lungs did not collapse, had prominent rib impressions, and were fibrotic and emphysematous. Microscopically, prominent proliferation of nonciliated epithelial (Clara) cells in the terminal bronchioles and pulmonary fibrosis were observed, indicative of chronic pneumotoxicity. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated hyperplasia, desquamation, and apical bulging of Clara cells into the bronchiolar lumen. The outbreak was attributed to ingestion of Crotalaria dura J.M. Wood & M.S. Evans subsp. mozambica Polhill and Crotalaria monteiroi Taub. ex Baker f. var. monteiroi. Semiquantitative gas chromatography–mass spectrometry revealed the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in these 2 Crotalaria species.


Vertical migration of the mesopelagic jellyfish Periphylla periphylla (Scyphozoa: Coronatae) was studied by use of hull‐mounted and submerged echosounders in a ~440 m deep Norwegian fjord. The research vessel was kept at a fixed position so that individual jellyfish remained in the acoustic beam for prolonged periods in the low advective environment of the deep fjord basin. The population of jellyfish was divided into different vertical modes with different migration behavior. A scattering layer (SL) of P. periphylla was located at 150‐200 m during the day; it migrated coherently to the upper 50 m at night and returned to depth the next morning. A deeper SL seemed to remain below 250 m both day and night. However, focus on individuals revealed additional, asynchronous migration activity. A pulse of P. periphylla left upper layers already a few hours after sunset, and there was interchange of individuals between shallow and deep water throughout the night, including ascent of individuals from the apparent nonmigrating deepest SL. Vertical migration velocities were ~2 cm s−1 both during ascent and descent, irrespective of time. Different types of swimming behavior were reflected in the acoustic records, affecting the recorded backscatter.


The solvation of cyano- (CN-) based ionic liquids (ILs) and their capacity to establish hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) with water was studied by means of experimental and computational approaches. Experimentally, water activity data were measured for aqueous solutions of ILs based on 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ([BMIM](+)) cation combined with one of the following anions: thiocyanate ([SCN](-)), dicyanamide ([DCA](-)), or tricyanomethanide ([TCM](-)), and of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate ([EMIM][TCB]). From the latter data, water activity coefficients were estimated showing that [BMIM][SCN] and [BMIM][DCA], unlike [BMIM][TCM] and [EMIM][TCB], are able to establish favorable interactions with water. Computationally, the conductor like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) was used to estimate the water activity coefficients which compare well with the experimental ones. From the COSMO-RS results, it is suggested that the polarity of each ion composing the ILs has a strong effect on the solvation phenomena. Furthermore, classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed for obtaining an atomic level picture of the local molecular neighborhood of the different species. From the experimental and computational data it is showed that increasing the number of CN groups in the ILs' anions does not enhance their ability to establish H-bonds with water but decreases their polarities, being [BMIM][DCA] and [BMIM][SCN] the ones presenting higher propensity to interact.


We have developed a combinatoric matching method to find the exact groundstate energy for the 2-D Ising spin glass with the ± J distribution and equal numbers of positive and negative bonds. For the largest size (1800×1800 plaquettes of spins), we averaged results from 278 samples and for the smaller ones up to 374, 375 samples. We also studied the behavior of the distributions of computer time (CPU) and memory as functions of sample size. We present finite size scaling leading to a groundstate energy estimate of E∞=-1.40193±2 for the infinite system. We found that the memory scales as the square of sample length and that for a given size, the CPU time appears to have a skewed and high-tailed distribution.


In-Motes is a mobile agent middleware that generates an intelligent framework for deploying applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In-Motes is based on the injection of mobile agents into the network that can migrate or clone following specific rules and performing application specific tasks. By doing so, each mote is given a certain degree of perception, cognition and control, forming the basis for its intelligence. Our middleware incorporates technologies such as Linda-like tuplespaces and federated system architecture in order to obtain a high degree of collaboration and coordination for the agent society. A set of behavioral rules inspired by a community of bacterial strains is also generated as the means for robustness of the WSN. In this paper, we present In-Motes and provide a detailed evaluation of its implementation for MICA2 motes.


Most marine litter pollution is assumed to originate from land-based sources, entering the marine environment through rivers. To better understand and quantify the risk that plastic pollution poses on aquatic ecosystems, and to develop effective prevention and mitigation methods, a better understanding of riverine plastic transport is needed. To achieve this, quantification of riverine plastic transport is crucial. Here, we demonstrate how established methods can be combined to provide a rapid and cost-effective characterization and quantification of floating macroplastic transport in the River Rhine. We combine visual observations with passive sampling to arrive at a first-order estimate of macroplastic transport, both in number (10–75 items per hour) and mass per unit of time (1.3–9.7 kg per day). Additionally, our assessment gives insight in the most abundant macroplastic polymer types the downstream reach of the River Rhine. Furthermore, we explore the spatial and temporal variation of plastic transport within the river, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of current sampling methods. Finally, we present an outlook for future monitoring of major rivers, including several suggestions on how to expand the rapid assessment presented in this paper.


"Anthropomorphic Attachments" undertakes an examination of the human as a highly nebulous, fluid, multiple, and often contradictory concept, one that cannot be approached directly or in isolation, but only in its constitutive relationality with the world. Rather than trying to find a way outside of the dualism between human and not-human, I take up the concept of anthropomorphization as a way to hypersaturate the question of the human. Within this hypersaturated field of inquiry, I focus on the specific anthropomorphic relationalities between human and humanoid technology. Focusing primarily on contemporary U.S. technologies and cultural forms, my dissertation looks at artificial intelligence and robotics in conversation with their cultural imaginaries in contemporary literature, science fiction, film, performance art, and video games, and in conversation with contemporary philosophies of the human, the posthuman, and technology. In reading these discourses as shaping, informing, and amplifying each other and the multiple conceptions of the human they articulate, "Anthropomorphic Attachments" attends to these multiple humans and the multiple morphologies by which anthropomorphic relationalities imagine and inscribe both humanoid technologies and the human itself.


Biomethane is a gaseous and biogenic energy carrier, chemically identical to natural gas. When used as natural gas substitute, it can contribute to significant GHG savings depending on substrate utilization, cross compliance and system operation. Being an important part of Germanys climate protection program the development of a national biomethane market was pushed by several incentives via energy and climate policies and led to a rapid growth in biomethane producing facilities. Recent adaptions of the installed support schemes no longer guarantee sufficient compensation for the production of renewable energy. A system dynamics model was developed to evaluate future policies on their environmental and economic efficiency. Market participants want to shift from biomethane use in combined heat and power plants to new markets. The model will be able to simulate future energy and climate policies, estimate their success in terms of sustainable capacity development to support policy makers for the development of efficient support schemes that incite a further sustainable and economic efficient biomethane market development.


ABSTRACT In design theory, we often come across scholarly efforts that seek to define design as a unique discipline and to characterize it as a distinct category of practice, with its own epistemology in that it differs from sciences, arts and humanities (Cross, N. 2011. Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think and Work. Oxford: Berg.; Dorst, K. 2015. Frame innovation: Create New Thinking by Design. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Nelson, H. G., and E. Stolterman. 2012. The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World. The MIT Press.; Redström, J. 2017. Making Design Theory. MIT Press.). Although such efforts are helpful in teasing forward the nature of design epistemologies and practices, we question them by critically engaging with epistemic paradigms informing design education, its structural forms, origins and purposes, historically, while suggesting the time has come to reevaluate design's relationships with other epistemological traditions, including the sciences and humanities. We unpack history of design education, in order to problematize what we have come to view as overly schematized epistemological distinctions, most notably the asserted opposition between (what Schön calls) technical rationality and an alternative epistemology broadly linked to pragmatism and/or phenomenology. We do so by offering a genealogy of design education showing that since the nineteenth century, design programmes have continuously, if diversely, taught novice designers, methods, crafts, and attitudes that reflect diverse epistemological traditions. Theorists and educators of design have a shared interest in balancing the needs to appreciate and help develop that which is distinctive of design and also to build upon design's rich epistemological connections to the sciences and humanities. Whereas the former helps the field improve its abilities to contribute to society, the latter provides many of the theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical resources that make such contributions possible.


Insurance Europe aisbl Rue Montoyer 51, B-1000 Brussels Tel: +32 2 894 30 00 • Fax: +32 2 894 30 01 E-mail : email@example.com www.insuranceeurope.eu © Reproduction in whole or in part of the content of this document and the communication thereof are made with the consent of Insurance Europe, must be clearly attributed to Insurance Europe and must include the date of the Insurance Europe document. General comments


This paper reports on our research in developing a micro power generation system based on gas turbine engine and piezoelectric converter. The micro gas turbine engine consists of a micro combustor, a turbine and a centrifugal compressor. Comprehensive simulation has been implemented to optimal the component design. We have successfully demonstrated a silicon-based micro combustor, which consists of seven layers of silicon structures. A hairpin-shaped design is applied to the fuel/air recirculation channel. The micro combustor can sustain a stable combustion with an exit temperature as high as 1600 K. We have also successfully developed a micro turbine device, which is equipped with enhanced micro air-bearings and driven by compressed air. A rotation speed of 15,000 rpm has been demonstrated during lab test. In this paper, we will introduce our research results major in the development of micro combustor and micro turbine test device.


Tim Morris, Helen Lydka and Mark Fenton O'Creevy present data on a group of graduates during the first five years of employment. Dividing the sample into those who have remained with their original employer and those who have changed, they examine attitudinal commitment and tenure intentions against a set of human resource policies measured at three points in time. They find that those policies significantly associated with high commitment change over time; that attitudinal and behavioural commitment are conceptually distinct constructs; and that behavioural commitment is a less stable construct than attitudinal commitment. Generally, it appears that employee commitment is more provisional than is implied by much of the literature.


One key bottleneck in extending the use of stereocomplexed polylactides (sc-PLA) as functional biomaterials is the conflict between the high stereocomplex degree and controllable degradation rate. Herein, we report for the first time the pressure-controlled primary molecular assembly and subsequent secondary self-organization of the resultant stereocomplex crystals in ternary enantiomeric polylactides. The stereocomplex formation efficiency as well as the size, morphology and distribution of self-organized crystalline stereocomplex architectures was effectively tuned with the variation of crystallization temperature, pressure, time, and compounding ratio. In particular, the large scale growth of the size distributed sc crystals, with unique micro/nanoscale hierarchical topological structures, allowed for the easier penetration of water in amorphous regions and the consequent accelerated hydrolytic scission of PLA chains, irrespective of the hydrolysis media, whereas at the same time maintained the thermal stability of the polymer. This finally led to the design and fabrication of sc-PLA with the coordinated properties of improved heat resistance, enhanced hydrolytic degradation and moderate hydrophilicity. The study presented here may offer a promising approach to the construction of stereocomplexed enantiomeric biopolymers with optimized combinatorial functions in biomedical applications.


Fisheries have been a historical playground for dynamic models involving depletion and resource overexploitation, inspiring Vito Volterra in the development of what was probably the first system dynamic model of resource depletion. The model is known today as the Lotka-Volterra (LV) model. In the present paper, we examine the specific case of the Japanese fisheries by means of a simple dynamic system based on the original LV model. We assume that the prey is the fish stock and the predator is an aggregated parameter that takes into account the capital stock of the fishing industry, introducing in the model innovative elements beyond the populations of predators and prey. The results confirm those of earlier work (Ugo Bardi & Lavacchi, 2009) on the behavior of the 19 century whale fishery and show that the LV model can be used for the quantitative description of a real-world model.


The localization of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) protein and mRNA was investigated in large motor neurons of the lumbar spinal cord of 10 autopsied individuals without neurological diseases, by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. In the immunohistochemistry using 20 serial tissue sections with a total thickness of 80 microm, about approximately 58-85% (average 67%) of the large motor neurons (30 microm and more in somal minimal diameter) in the ventral horn were stained with the anti-human ChAT antibody. In the positive neurons, most immunoreactive products were observed focally in the perikarya. Occasionally, the perikarya of some neurons were stained diffusely. In situ hybridization with a single 4 microm-thick tissue section showed that almost all large motor neurons had positive signals (approximately 93-100%, average 98%), which were distributed diffusely in the perikarya. The positivity rate in the in situ hybridization was higher than that in the immunohistochemistry for all 10 cases. These results indicate that ChAT mRNA is transcribed in almost all large motor neurons in the ventral horn of the human spinal cord, but ChAT protein cannot always be detected in the cytoplasm by immunohistochemistry.


The dramaturgical aspects of using social media are applied in this study from a sociological perspective (Goffman, 1959) to describe the process of gaining a sense of self through learning in online-environments. The exploration of data in this qualitative case study sheds light on the theatrical dimension of virtual self-presentation which can encourage individuals to become engaged in interacting online and, in the process of doing so, learn actively though using social media via its unique audio-visual digital content. Social media tools provide a space for information sharing to fill the gaps when students are unwilling to communicate in face-to-face classrooms because of a particular socio-cultural context. The codes and themes from six months' Facebook analysis of adult social media users were analysed based on the selfrepresentation of the digital self with relation to their language and cultural background and its influence on the formation of identity. The 'actual self', as described in interviews, was being manipulated by individuals for different reasons such as its influence on their social/cultural identity and the development of the self-image. Increasingly, educators in all educational domains are using online social media platforms to support engagement in teaching and learning. It is hoped that this research, by offering increased understanding of the importance of online-communities, will have implications for learning from online contexts, particularly in contexts with socio-cultural boundaries.


Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) stimulates cell proliferation and can enhance the development of tumors in different organs. Epidemiologic studies have shown that an elevated level of circulating IGF-I is associated to increased risk of breast cancer as well as other cancers. Genetic variants affecting the release or biological action of growth hormone (GH), the main stimulator of IGF-I production, may predict circulating levels of IGF-I and have an effect on cancer risk. We tested this hypothesis with a large case-control study of 807 breast cancer patients and 1,588 matched control subjects nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. We genotyped 22 common single nucleotide polymorphisms in 10 genes involved in GH production and action (GHRH, GHRHR, SST, SSTR1-SSTR5, POU1F1, and GH1), and in parallel, we measured serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3, its major binding protein, in samples of cases and controls. SST and SSTR2 polymorphisms showed weak but statistically significant associations with breast cancer risk. SSTR5 polymorphisms were associated with IGF-I levels, whereas one polymorphism in GHRHR and one in POU1F1 were associated with IGFBP-3 levels. Our conclusion is that common genetic variation in the GH synthesis pathway, as measured by single nucleotide polymorphisms selected in the present study, is not a major determinant of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 circulating levels, and it does not play a major role in altering breast cancer risk.


In this study, Si-SiC composites were fabricated using a Si melt infiltration method using β-SiC/C composite powders synthesized by the carbothermal reduction of SiO₂-C precursors made from a TEOS and a phenol resin. The purity of the synthesized SiC-C composite powders was higher than 99.9993 wt% and the average particle size varied from 4 to 6 μm with increasing carbon contents of the SiO₂-C precursors. It was found that the Si-SiC composites fabricated in this study consist of β-SiC and residual Si, without any trace of α-SiC. The 3-point bending strengths of the fabricated Si-SiC composites were measured and found to be higher than 550 MPa, although the density of the fabricated Si-SiC composite was less than 2.9 g/cm3. The bending strengths and the densities of the fabricated Si-SiC composites were found to decrease with increasing C/Si mole ratios in the SiC-C composite powders. The specific resistivities of the Si-SiC composites fabricated using the SiC-C composite powders were less than 0.018 Ωcm. With increasing C content in the SiC-C composite powders used for the fabrication of Si-SiC composites, the specific resistivity of the Si-SiC composites was found to slightly increase from 0.0157 to 0.018 Ωcm.


This paper concerns multiobjective optimization in scenarios where each solution evaluation is financially and/or temporally expensive. We make use of nine relatively low-dimensional, nonpathological, real-valued functions, such as arise in many applications, and assess the performance of two algorithms after just 100 and 250 (or 260) function evaluations. The results show that NSGA-II, a popular multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, performs well compared with random search, even within the restricted number of evaluations used. A significantly better performance (particularly, in the worst case) is, however, achieved on our test set by an algorithm proposed herein-ParEGO-which is an extension of the single-objective efficient global optimization (EGO) algorithm of Jones et al. ParEGO uses a design-of-experiments inspired initialization procedure and learns a Gaussian processes model of the search landscape, which is updated after every function evaluation. Overall, ParEGO exhibits a promising performance for multiobjective optimization problems where evaluations are expensive or otherwise restricted in number.


The Integrated Reliability and Risk Analysis System (IRRAS) is a state-of-the-art, microcomputer-based probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model development and analysis tool to address key nuclear plant safety issues. IRRAS is an integrated software tool that gives the user the ability to create and analyze fault trees and accident sequences using a microcomputer. This program provides functions that range from graphical fault tree construction to cut set generation and quantification. Also provided in the system is an integrated full-screen editor for use when interfacing with remote mainframe computer systems. Version 1.0 of the IRRAS program was released in February of 1987. Since that time, many user comments and enhancements have been incorporated into the program providing a much more powerful and user-friendly system. This version has been designated IRRAS 2.0 and is the subject of this user's guide. Version 2.0 of IRRAS provides all of the same capabilities as Version 1.0 and adds a relational data base facility for managing the data, improved functionality, and improved algorithm performance. 9 refs., 292 figs., 4 tabs.


Presentation for the "How to Stand Out! Insider Research Tips from German Studies Librarians" session at the German Studies Association conference, October 4, 2013


Background: Implant surgery requires local anesthesia and drilling. This surgery may affect the blood circulation of the adjacent teeth. In this study, we evaluated the blood oxygen saturation of the healthy adjacent tooth with a pulse oximeter, during implant surgery. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 15 healthy adult patients, who were candidates for anterior implant surgery and had healthy anterior adjacent teeth, were selected. Blood oxygen saturation of the adjacent tooth and index finger was measured with a pulse oximeter, before and after local anesthetic injection, and also immediately and one hour after completion of surgery. The collected data were analyzed with a Paired Samples Test and Spearman's Correlation Coefficient. (the significance level was at alpha P < 0.05). Results: The mean value of peripheral finger blood Spo2 before local anesthetic injection was 98.2% and remained stable during surgery. In the adjacent tooth, the mean values of the pulpal Spo2, before and after local anesthesia, were 87.73 and 79.27%, respectively; immediately after surgery it was 86.13% and one hour after surgery was 86.4%. The decrease in the value of pulpal Spo2 after local anesthesia compared to before the injection was significant. Also there was an inverse relationship between the numbers of utilized local anesthetic cartridges and the value of pulpal Spo2 after local anesthesia. Conclusion: After giving local anesthesia, the mean value of Spo2 in the adjacent tooth, because of the vasoconstructive effect of epinephrine, was decreased to about 8%. According to this study, the effect of the local anesthetic drug, containing epinephrine, on the blood circulation in the adjacent tooth was significantly more than the trauma from the implant surgery. We wonder if this temporary decrease in blood flow in the adjacent toot is clinically important or not. To answer this question more studies are required.


Ground motions for earthquakes of moment magnitude ( M ) 7.5–9.0 on the Cascadia subduction zone interface are simulated based on a stochastic finite-fault model and used to estimate average response spectra for firm-site conditions in Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. We also express the response spectra as ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for Cascadia events. The simulations are calibrated by modeling the wealth of ground-motion data from the M  8.1 Tokachi-Oki earthquake sequence of Japan. Adjustments to the calibrated model are made to consider average source, attenuation, and site parameters for the Cascadia region.

We perform best estimate simulations for a preferred set of input parameters. Typical results suggest mean values of 5%-damped pseudoacceleration in the range from about 100 to 200 cm/sec2, at frequencies from 1 to 4 Hz, for firm-ground conditions in Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. Uncertainty in stress drop causes uncertainty in simulated response spectra of about ±50%. Uncertainties in the attenuation model produce even larger uncertainties in response spectral amplitudes—a factor of about 2 at 100 km, becoming even larger at greater distances. It is thus important to establish the regional attenuation model for ground-motion simulations. Furthermore, combining data from regions with different attenuation characteristics—in particular Japan and Mexico—into a global subduction zone database for development of global empirical GMPEs may not be a sound practice.

Time histories of acceleration for the stochastically simulated motions are provided for reference sites in Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. An alternative set of motions, based on lightly modifying real recordings from the Tokachi-Oki earthquake to match expected conditions for Cascadia cities, are also provided. These alternative records have similar spectral content to the simulated motions but contain additional complexity and more realistic phasing. The provision of alternative record sets allows users to conduct studies to determine the importance of these effects for structural response.


1. Although the addition of 32 mM/l. choline chloride to the standard bathing solutions depresses the short-circuit current of the isolated midgut, the replacement of the added choline chloride by either sodium or lithium chloride has no further affect on the current. No net flux of either sodium or lithium is measureable by atomic absorption spectrometry. Therefore neither sodium nor lithium is actively transported across the midgut. 2. Rubidium is able to substitute fully for potassium in maintaining a short-circuit current. The net fluxes of rubidium and potassium are approximately in the same ratio as their concentrations in the solutions bathing the blood-side of the isolated midgut. Therefore the midgut is unable to distinguish between potassium and rubidium. Ammonium is unable to replace potassium in sustaining a current. 3. In double-label experiments using 42 K to measure one unidirectional flux and 86 Rb to measure the other, the net potassium-rubidium flux accounts for about 87% of the short-circuit current. 4. The short-circuit current increases with increasing potassium concentration, at least in the range from 2 to 64 mM/l., although the exact function depends on the conditions under which the measurements are made. 5. The midgut isolated from the Cecropia silkworm appears to possess a 'potassium pump' with the simple ionic requirement that potassium be present in the solution bathing the blood-side and presumably that potassium be present in the cells.


In order to determine TMEn response to individual saccharide moieties, five different sugar additions were made to a soy protein concentrate control that contained low levels of oligosaccharides. The sugar additions to the control were made to approximate the amounts of raffinose, stachyose, and sucrose found in soybean meal (SBM). All samples were precision-fed to adult Leghorn roosters to determine TMEn values. The control had a dry matter gross energy (GE) of 4,873 kcal/kg, CP of 73.1%, and TMEn value of 3,757 kcal/kg. Raffinose and stachyose significantly reduced TMEn values for the control. Sucrose did not exhibit this effect. In a second experiment, different levels of stachyose and raffinose were added separately to the control to develop a TMEn dose response curve for these alpha-galactosides of SBM. The TMEn of soy protein concentrate was found to be significantly decreased by stachyose and raffinose inclusion and to be dose dependent.


Quiet as Church Mice: Offering Welcome Through Contemplative Worship Kristine O'Brien Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2017 In a busy suburban church, those with introverted personalities may easily be marginalized or overlooked. This project set out to create a new kind of welcome for both introverts and extroverts through a weekly contemplative worship service. Celebrating the Lord's Supper amid stillness and quiet presented a stark contrast to the prevailing culture of the congregation, which is usually sociable and boisterous. It recognized the increasing diversity of the community and invited leaders and participants to practice hospitality more deeply. It also taught a new kind of Christian practice that is essential for a congregation engaged in local mission. This doctoral project includes the short history of the congregation with its increasingly diverse context and explores the general definition, needs and character of introverts and extroverts. A theological and biblical argument is made for greater inclusion and for the use of contemplative spirituality as a way to welcome introverts more fully. A full liturgy for the Eucharist in a contemplative style is also included. This project not only widened the welcome at Trafalgar Presbyterian Church; it also created a new rhythm of action and contemplation. Once introverts were heard and accommodated, their needs and preferences turned out to be a gift to extroverts as well. Contemplative spirituality, previously unexplored, has begun to nourish a tired and missional congregation. Content Reader: Tom Schwanda, Ph.D. Words: 216


Abstract This paper proposes a novel analytical model for flexure-based proportion compliant mechanisms. The displacement and stiffness calculations of such flexure-based compliant mechanisms are formulated based on the principle of virtual work and pseudo rigid body model(PRBM). According to the theory and method, a set of closed-form equations are deduced in this paper, which incorporate the stiffness characteristics of each flexure hinge, together with the other geometric and material properties of the compliant mechanism. Displacement proportion, input stiffness, and output stiffness calculations can simply be performed for any serial compliant mechanism. Corner-filleted and circular flexure hinges that are utilized as connectors in proportion compliant mechanisms in this paper. Two types of flexure-based compliant proportion mechanisms based on the novel analytical model are designed and optimized based on these proposed equations. Finite element analysis results show that these design equations are reliable and easier to be used in the design of such proportion compliant mechanisms. This proposed novel analytical model gives a new viewpoint on the design of flexure-based proportion compliant mechanisms. Multi-Agent Deployment based on Homogenous Maps and a Special Inter-Agent Communication Protocol


It is true that we must avoid creating "half trained scientists and half baked clinicians," but it is equally important to affirm that it is wrong to use either laboratory or clinical training in a purely instrumental way. To this end is linked the need for a firm commitment to the job in hand, whether it is a clinical task or a problem in basic research, and respect for those who do this job every day. Only in this way can we avoid engendering in colleagues who are "pure" scientists or clinicians the feeling that they are being used. I have found this feeling to be particularly strongly held among non-clinical scientists in several settings, but I am grateful to have experienced it to a lesser extent among clinician colleagues. Finally, it is important to remember the impact ofabrupt career changes on family life. My children were born during my period as a preclinical lecturer and were of school age when I suddenly started doing resident on call duties. The first few months were painful for all concerned and, even after a period of three years in which to acclimatise, they still complain bitterly-although no longer tearfully-about each month's weekend on call.


This paper delineates political and cultural shifts in the Malakand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. The paper challenges dominant perceptions and discourses about the people of KP in the post 9/11 context and presents an alternative version of history and politics. It traces the history of peasant movements and indigenous resistance (1968-1977) for gaining social, economic, and political equality. It is argued that state policies, the influence of regional and global powers have brought radical changes in the whole province in general and in Malakand in particular. In addition to the role of state's ruling elites and international agencies, the emphasis is on changing demographic and economic conditions which favored religious right at a deep societal level. Qualitative method has been adopted while conducting this research work which involves extensive fieldwork in the Malakand district.  Archival and vernacular sources have also been consulted for tracing the history of progressive politics in the province.


Most estimates of energy-return-on-investment (EROI) are "static". They determine the amount of energy produced by a particular energy technology at a particular location at a particular time. Some "dynamic" estimates are also made that track the changes in EROI of a particular resource over time. Such approaches are "bottom-up". This paper presents a conceptual framework for a "top-down" dynamic function for the EROI of an energy resource. This function is constructed from fundamental theoretical considerations of energy technology development and resource depletion. Some empirical evidence is given as corroboration of the shape of the function components.


Architectural design theories developed during the last decades of the 20 th century - including Environmental Psychology and Pattern Theories - aimed to improve the quality of the built environment while centred on the experience of users. However, their approaches of analytical methodologies are not usually applied to understand and comprehend historic buildings from a wider architectural perspective. This study aims to deepen the analysis of historic buildings by advancing their depictions using concepts and ideas mainly established in pattern theories and contemporary best practices, in order to facilitate how modern designers may learn from the significant buildings of the past. To achieve this, a knowledge-based descriptive framework has been developed; this tool serves to enrich the architectural description of a building by including both qualitative and quantitative details, abstract and as-built characteristics, and spatial patterns which are inherent to architectural designs. Four historical palatial complexes erected in the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic rule in al-Andalus have been selected to demonstrate the practical application and validity of this tool. The information collected through such a descriptive tool adds a layer of quantitative information that enriches the depiction of the historic buildings studied. An organized display of the resulting data provides for comparative analysis and also serves as a way to develop contemporary architectural proposals which reflect distinctive features of significant historical buildings.


The relationship between the Fc region of trinitrophenylated (TNP)-immunoglobulins (Ig), and their ability to induce tolerance was examined. It was found that adult B cells responding to a T-independent (TI) antigen were tolerized by TNP11 human gamma globulin (HGG), but not by TNP10F(ab')2 fragments of HGG. Increasing the hapten density on the F(ab')2 fragments overcame their inability to induce tolerance. Thus, a TNP17-F(ab')2 was an effective tolerogen. Murine myeloma proteins of different IgG subclasses were similarly tested. A TNP12-IgG2a and a TNP11-IgG1 induced tolerance, whereas two TNP11-12-IgG3 did not. However, a more heavily haptenated TNP18-IgG3 was tolerogenic. These results suggest that lightly haptenated immunoglobulins depend upon Fc receptor binding to induce tolerance in adult B cells. Non-Fc receptor-binding carriers are not tolerogenic unless they are more heavily haptenated. Finally, T cell and macrophage depletion experiments suggest that the tolerogens act directly on the B cells.


I consider pricing and ordering decisions faced by a retailer selling a perishable product with a two-period shelf life over an infinite horizon. In the first period, the product is �new�; in the next, it becomes �old.� The new product is perceived by customers to have a higher quality than the old product. Every period, the retailer makes three decisions: prices for the new and old products and how much new product to order. I first show, with some simple cases, that demand uncertainty can make the sale of the old product profitable. I then consider a more realistic case with dynamic demand substitution among customers. I recognize that the retailer's decisions may be constant or may vary across different periods, under different contexts. For instance, varying the price of the new product can sometimes be difficult due to the negative impact it generates among customers. I find that (i) the benefit obtained from selling the old product with constant decisions is much higher than the benefit from allowing all the decisions to vary; (ii) the former benefit increases with a higher procurement cost, a higher quality of the new product, and higher demand volatility; however, the latter benefit is non-monotone in these parameters; (iii) most of the latter benefit can be obtained by just changing the order quantity; and (iv) as the inventory of the old product increases, when all the decisions vary, the optimal price of the new product may increase or decrease.


Purpose: This study assessed chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Pingtung, Taiwan as indicated by the annual changes glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and risk factors of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Methods: This study utilized longitudinal data analysis to examine the 2011-2013 medical checkup results for adult at a Pingtung hospital. The participants' general information, physical examination results, and blood test results were analyzed. eGFR was calculated via the abbreviated modification of diet in renal disease (aMDRD) formula and used to determine eFGR stages based on the 2002 Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) guidelines. Results: Data from a total of 9,702 participants were analyzed in this study. This study indicated that in Pingtung, from 2011 to 2013, male, aged ≧ 65 years and those who have metabolic syndrome and its components are abnormal have lower eGFR. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to examine the risk factors influencing eGFR. The results showed lower eGFR in males, participants aged 65 and over, participants with metabolic syndrome, blood pressure, waist 1 Pingtung Christian Hospital, the Division of Nephrology, Pingtung County, Taiwan. 2 Pingtung Christian Hospital, Nursing Department, Pingtung County, Taiwan. 3 Department of Health Business Administration, Meiho University, Pingtung County, Taiwan. 4 Department of Physical Therapy, Tzu Hui Institute of Technology, Taiwan. 5 Department of Nursing, Meiho University, Pingtung County, Taiwan. Article Info: Received: May 29, 2016. Revised: June 16, 2016. Published online : July 15, 2016. 46 HaoHuan Huet al. circumference, and triglyceride level abnormalities. Conclusion: Predictors of eGFR decline included male gender, age of 65 years and over, metabolic syndrome, and abnormal blood pressure, waist circumference, and triglyceride levels.


Inspired by the working principle of natural spiderweb and long-persistence phosphors, we have synthesized a spiderweb-like nanocomposite in which CoS quantum dots are confined in N-doped carbon frameworks/carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The intimate combination of three-dimensional conductive networks of CoS/CNTs with abundant active sites allows effective capture of sulfate radicals via both physical confinement and chemical bonding and accelerates the redox kinetics significantly. Furthermore, in virtue of the light storing and luminescence behaviors of long-persistence phosphors, the all-weather CoS/CNTs produced can realize an optimum degradation efficiency of 64% under dark conditions. Overall, this work reveals a significant step forward for building a desirable all-weather catalyst with abundant active sites for potential use in degradation under dark conditions.


This paper considers how issue sellers advance new issues within an organization over time, and how they gain competence at doing so. Using ethnographic, archival, and interview data spanning a six-year period, it describes the moves made by members of a high-tech manufacturer to introduce environmental considerations into the design of new manufacturing processes. A significant shift occurred in the pattern of moves used over time, and explanations for the shift are found in two accompanying dynamics: The gradual accumulation of assets by the group advancing the issues and their adjustment of moves used based on earlier experiences. The findings are used to develop a model of issue selling as resourcing; that is, a practical accomplishment through which issue sellers' moves enact key schemas held by issue recipients, triggering their attention and action on the issue. Issue selling as resourcing builds on recent work on resources and organizational boundaries to address how organizational contexts shape opportunities for and barriers to issue selling, and to identify how issue sellers learn to operate effectively within them.


DeapSECURE is a non-degree computational training program that provides a solid high-performance computing (HPC) and big-data foundation for cybersecurity students. DeapSECURE consists of six modules covering a broad spectrum of topics such as HPC platforms, big-data analytics, machine learning, privacy-preserving methods, and parallel programming. In the second year of this program, to improve the learning experience, we implemented a number of changes, such as grouping modules into two broad categories, "big-data" and "HPC"; creating a single cybersecurity storyline across the modules; and introducing post-workshop (optional) "hackshops". Two major goals of these changes are, firstly, to effectively engage students to maintain high interest and attendance in such a non-degree program, and, secondly, to increase knowledge and skill acquisition. To assess the program, and in particular the changes made in the second year, we evaluated and compared the execution and outcomes of the training in Year 1 and Year 2. The assessment data shows that the implemented changes have partially achieved our goals, while simultaneously providing indications where we can further improve. The development of a fully on-line training mode is planned for the next year, along with a reproducibility pilot study to broaden the subject domain from cybersecurity to other areas, such as computations with sensitive data.


Differences in secondary structure among Bombyx mori (B. mori) silk and two wild silks of Antheraea yamamai (A. yamamai) and Antheraea pernyi (A. pernyi) were investigated by CP/MAS 13C NMR Spectroscopy. The β-sheet structure was primary in three silk, and B. mori silk had the highest β-sheet structure. Although amino acid compositions are very similar for two wild silk, their secondary structures had significant difference. A. yamamai silk contained more α-helix structure, whereas more β-turn and random coil structures formed in A. pernyi silk. B. mori silk was mainly composed of anti-parallel β-sheet structure, however, the parallel β-sheet structure was advantage in the two wild silks, and A. yamamai silk contained more anti-parallel β-sheet conformation than A. pernyi silk.


This article is aimed at crafting an interpretive policy analysis as a predictive tool by using the proposal to relocate Israeli military bases. Since the mid-2000s, the Israeli government has promoted a new plan to transfer military bases from urban areas and central regions to the southern metropolitan area in the Negev desert. The economic and operational logic behind the program is unclear and prompts serious debate about nationality, ethnicity, economic gaps, and the environment in the Negev. This area epitomizes marginality in Israel, both socially and geographically, and is characterized by conflicts between Jews and Bedouins. Thus, the program can be regarded as one involving policy images, where potential participants lack the information necessary for understanding the goals of the policy. This paper proposes a new methodology based on interpretive policy analysis for conducting a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and practicality of the proposed program. We use this methodology to analyze the symbolic meanings that local organizations attribute to the program with the goal of predicting their response to this program. Thus, the relocation plan serves as a template on which to develop and test the IPA-informed evaluative methodology, which is applicable to other cases.


Abstract In this paper, I want to show how the lesbian is denied any ethical framework for selfassertion within the morality of the closet. Drawing on Foucault's, Bulter's, and Wittig's theories of bodies, power and sexuality, I examine the perplexing position of the lesbian within the moral codes of hegemonic Arab cultures that play a major role in making an arbitrary connection between morality and institutionalized heterosexuality in a manner that legitimatizes homophobia, either openly or in a subtle manner. In this context, I expose various types of discourses that are used as a means of controlling both the private and public spheres and of maintaining control over both worlds. "If power is everywhere", as Foucault argued, so too is resistance possible from multiple sources. Hence, in my paper, I confront several forces that forbid the emergence of lesbian ethics in most Middle-Eastern societies ----- Bibl iography: Al-Ghafari, Iman: The Quest for Lesbian Ethics in Contemporary Middle-Eastern Cultures, INSEP, Vol. 2, Issue 1/2014, pp. 19-38. https://doi.org/10.3224/insep.v2i1.17061


The free sample containing the first chapter of the book can be downloaded from http://goo.gl/0JuXqU This book ideally suited for preparing for programming interviews conducted by top technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. The questions in the book have been carefully selected so that they represent the most frequently asked questions in interviews. The solutions are clearly explained with plenty of diagrams and comments in the code so that you can easily understand. So if you are looking for saving precious time and effort for preparing for an interview then this is the right book for you I am sure you will enjoy reading this book. Wishing you all the best for the interviews ahead!


Abstract
This paper describes a simple but accurate device for counting helminth and schistosome eggs as well as other organisms of similar size that can be suspended in liquids. The device presents the additional advantages of being inexpensive and durable.


Some 3(2H)-pyridazinone and 1(2H)-phthalazinone derivatives were synthesized. The structures of these new compounds were confirmed by IR, 1H-NMR, mass spectrum, and elemental analysis. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial activity against various gram-positive and gram-negative strains of bacteria and their clinical isolates and for their antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. The results showed that the synthesized compounds were generally active against B. subtilis and its clinical isolate. Among the target compounds, compound 14c exhibited the best antibacterial activity, with a MIC value of 15.62 m g/mL against B. subtilis. Compound 15e had the highest antimycobacterial activity.


The influence of an oncogenic v‐Ha‐ras gene on the expression of TGF‐β and TGF‐α by mouse keratinocytes and derived tumors has been investigated. Normal mouse keratinocytes cultured as basal cells in 0.05 mM Ca2+ secreted low levels of TGF‐β2 peptide, and this increased markedly following culture in 1.4 mM Ca2+, retinoic acid, or phorbol esters. In contrast, introduction of a v‐Ha‐ras gene into normal keratinocytes increased basal expression and secretion of TGF‐β1 (rather than TGF‐β2) in response to all three agents. The selective secretion of TGF‐β1 in v‐Ha‐ras keratinocytes in response to 1.4 mM Ca2+ occurred even though the four TGF‐β2 transcripts were induced and the TGF‐β1 transcript decreased, suggesting that the activated v‐Ha‐ras gene product regulates expression of the TGF‐β isoforms at the posttranscriptional level. Immunohistochemical analysis of papillomas formed following skin grafting of v‐Ha‐ras keratinocytes onto nude mice indicated that TGF‐β1 was abundant in the basal and spinous layers, while there was no expression of TGF‐β1 in normal skin. In contrast, both normal and neoplastic tissues expressed TGF‐β2 and TGF‐β3 in the granular layers. Furthermore, TGF‐α mRNA expression was also elevated fivefold in cultured v‐Ha‐ras keratinocytes, and TGF‐α protein was overexpressed in the grafted papillomas, but there was no detectable expression in normal skin. Elevated expression of both TGF‐β1 and TGF‐α in the basal and spinous layers of benign tumors may be important for the high proliferation rate in these tumors as well as for increased proliferation in the suprabasal layer.


This paper addresses an integrated vector management (IVM) approach for combating Aedes aegypti, the transmission vector of dengue, zika, and chikungunya diseases, some of the most important viral epidemics worldwide. In order to tackle this problem, a receding horizon control (RHC) strategy is adopted, considering a mono‐objective and a multiobjective version of the optimal control model of combating the mosquito using chemical and biological control. RHC is essentially a suboptimal scheme of classical optimal control strategies considering discrete‐time approximations. The integrated vector control actions used in this work consist in applying insecticides and inserting sterile males produced by irradiation in the population of mosquitoes. The cost function is defined in terms of social and economic costs, in order to quantify the effectiveness of the proposed epidemiological control throughout a time window of 4 months. Numerical simulations show that the obtained results are better than those from the optimal control strategies found in literature. Furthermore, through the application of the multiobjetive approach, varying the scenarios in the mono‐objective formulation is no longer necessary and a set of optimal strategies can be obtained at once. Finally, in order to help health authorities in the choice of the best solution of the Pareto‐optimal set to be implemented in practice, a cost‐effectiveness analysis is performed and a strategy representing the most cost‐effective control policy is obtained.


Tube leakage of steam boiler can decrease the whole efficiency of power plant cycle, and eventually cause an unscheduled shutdown. In this paper, we propose a leakage detection method for steam boiler tubes in thermal power plant (TPP) using principal component analysis and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA). To determine the number of principal components, the cumulative percent variance technique is employed, and the Q statistic is used as the detection index. If the Q statistic of an unseen sample is larger than a predefined threshold value, the sample is detected as a fault sample and an alarm signal is generated. EWMA is used to reduce false alarms. To demonstrate the performance, we apply the proposed method to an unplanned shutdown case due to boiler tube leakage, which is collected from distributed control systems of 250 MW coal-fired TPP. The experiment results show that the proposed method can detect failure symptoms of the case successfully.


Both the hibernating and the stunned myocardium are characterized by reversible contractile dysfunction. In hibernating myocardium, perfusion is still reduced, whereas in stunned myocardium blood flow is fully or almost fully restored. Both the hibernating and the stunned myocardium retain an inotropic reserve. In hibernating myocardium the increase in contractile function is at the expense of metabolic recovery, whereas in the stunned myocardium no metabolic deterioration occurs during inotropic stimulation. Therefore, inotropic stimulation in combination with metabolic imaging may help not only to identify viable, dysfunctional myocardium but also to distinguish hibernating and stunned myocardium. The therapy of hibernating myocardium is to restore blood flow to the hypoperfused tissue. Myocardial stunning per se requires no therapy at all, since, by definition, blood flow is normal and contractile function will recover spontaneously. If, however, myocardial stunning is severe, and it involves large parts of the LV and thus impairs global LV function, it can be reversed with inotropic agents and procedures. In the experimental setting, anti-oxidant agents, calcium antagonists and ACE inhibitors attenuate stunning, but most effectively when administered before ischaemia.


BACKGROUND
The recent death of a Victorian surgeon who was assaulted by a member of the public when leaving work has re-highlighted the risk and potential cost of violence experienced by healthcare workers.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this article is to outline the risk of occupational violence experienced by doctors, and general practitioners in particular, and to discuss practical measures that can be taken to manage this risk.

DISCUSSION
The majority of doctors have experienced aggression or violence in their workplaces in the past 12 months. Risks for violence include elements of workplace design, policy and procedures, and client factors. A series of practical tools designed to assist the assessment and management of risk of occupational violence are discussed.


Trans-anethole was studied for antifertility activity in rats at dose levels of 50 mg, 70 mg and 80 mg/kg po. Dose-dependent activity was observed, a 100% anti-implantation activity being achieved at 80 mg/kg, po. The compound showed a significant estrogenic activity and did not possess anti-estrogenic, progestational, anti-progestational, androgenic or anti-androgenic activities. In an earlier study, the compound was found to be safe, its LD50 being more than 3000 mg/kg, po in mice.


ABSTRACT This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on online initial teacher education. This review is timely given the growing numbers of online students studying teacher education in Australia and beyond. The paper begins with a presentation of the search protocol including search terms, databases, and inclusion/exclusion criteria that resulted in 492 refereed articles being included in the review. Analysis of title and abstract of these articles allowed insight into a variety of factors and trends, including journal of publication, year of publication, research approach, and key focal areas. Two well-established research focal areas emerged: technological pedagogical innovations and student experiences of studying teacher education online. Two emerging research focal areas were teacher educator experiences of teaching online and online teacher education in traditionally experiential specialisations, such as drama and outdoor education. When all the articles are considered holistically, a fragmented and siloed research approach is revealed, evidenced by a large number of journals publishing articles on multiple focal areas, leading to considerable repetition among the evidences presented across the articles. As such, this paper highlights the need for a more coherent and organised approach to research in online teacher education and its dissemination to all stakeholders.


In the paper, the method of a numerical simulation concerning diagonal crack propagation in concrete beams was presented. Two beams reinforced longitudinally but without shear reinforcement were considered during the Finite Element Method analysis. In particular, a nonlinear method was used to simulate the crack evaluation in the beams. The analysis was performed using the com-mercial program ANSYS. In the numerical simulation, the limit surface for concrete described by Willam and Warnke was applied to model the failure of concrete. To solve the FEM-system of equations, the Newton-Raphson method was used. As the results of FEM calculations, the trajectories of total stains and numerical images of smeared cracks were obtained for two analyzed beams: the slender beam S5 of l eff = 1.8 m and the short beam S3k of l eff = 1.1 m. The applied method allowed to generate both fl exural vertical cracks and diagonal cracks in the shear regions. Some differences in the evaluation of crack patterns in the beams were observed. The greater number of fl exural vertical cracks which penetrated deeper in the beam S5 caused the lower stiffness and the greater deformation in the beam S5 compared to the short beam S3k. Numerical results were compared with the experimental data from the early tests performed by S ł owik [3]. The numerical simulation yielded very similar results as the experiments and it con fi rmed that the character of failure process altered according to the effective length of the member. The proposed numerical procedure was successfully veri fi ed and it can be suitable for numerical analyses of diagonal crack propagation in concrete beams.


Relative warp analyses of landmarks describing cranial and mandibular shape are used for investigating patterns of morphological variation among extant bears (Mammalia, Carnivora, Ursidae) indicative of diet and feeding behavior. These patterns are used for deriving inferences about the autecology of two extinct species previously assumed to have had different dietary preferences, the North American giant, short-faced bear Arctodus simus and the Eurasian cave bear Ursus spelaeus. Results reveal a set of shared craniodental traits among the herbivorous bears, including short and vaulted skulls with well-developed zygomatic arches, lateralized orbits and small canines, concave jaws with a highly positioned condyle, large moment arms for the temporalis and masseter muscles, and long cheek teeth. In contrast, those bears that consume animal resources have long skulls with small zygomatic arches, frontalized orbits and well-developed canines, and long jaws with a deep mandibular symphysis, low muscle leverages, a condyle situated at the level of the tooth row and reduced cheek teeth. The craniodental morphology of omnivorous bears is intermediate between those of faunivores and herbivores. This is also the case of the short-faced bear and the cave bear, which suggests that previous reconstructions of the feeding ecology of these extinct species (highly carnivorous for A. simus and herbivorous for U. spelaeus) should be revised.


Community colleges are open-door institutions serving many students with characteristics that can make college completion a challenge. Their graduation rates are often considered low, but their students do not always have earning a degree as a goal. While individuals may feel that their college experience was a success, standard graduation rate measures of performance count a student's enrollment as a failure unless it culminates in a credential or transfer to a four-year institution. This paper explores the impact of students' reasons for enrollment and educational expectations on their outcomes and, thus, on the performance of their college, showing that community college students with degree and transfer goals are more likely to graduate or transfer. Still, an analysis suggests that even among only students who state that their goal is a degree, certificate, or transfer, fewer than 50 percent achieve that goal within six years. Moreover, large gaps in success rates for Black and Hispanic students cannot be explained by differences in either their reason for enrolling or their educational expectations. We also show that students' educational expectations should not be treated as fixed, and that, not surprisingly, the experience of college has a role in shaping their expectations. We conclude that educators and policy makers should be cautious in using student goals as benchmarks for success, and that assumptions about student goals should not be used to discourage efforts to improve overall performance and reduce disparities between groups. Colleges need to recognize the dynamic nature of student intentions and expectations, the factors that shape these goals before entering college, and the institutional role in shaping them while at college.


The goal of this research is to derive an approach to assess uncertainty in an arbitrary volume conditioned by sampling data, without using geostatistical simulation. We have accomplished this goal by deriving an numerical tool suitable for any probabilistic distribution of the sample data. For this, we have worked with an extension of the traditional multi-Gaussian model, allowing us to obtain a formulation that makes explicit the dependence of the uncertainty in the arbitrary volume from the grades within the volume, the spatial correlation of the data and the conditioning values. A Kriging of the Gaussian values is the only requirement to obtain not only conditional local means and variances but also the complete local distributions at any support, in an easy and straightforward way.


PURPOSE
Two tripeptide chemoattractants, acetyl-proline-glycine-proline (Ac-PGP) and methyl-proline-glycine-proline (Me-PGP), are the primary triggers for early neutrophil invasion into the alkali-injured cornea. In the present study the effectiveness of a complementary peptide designed to inhibit the PGP chemoattractants (arginine-threonine-arginine [RTR] tetrameric peptide) and an apo A-1 mimicking peptide (5F) was investigated in the alkali-injured rabbit eye.

METHODS
(L)-RTR tetramer, (D)-RTR tetramer, and 5F were tested in vitro for their effects on neutrophil polarization. Synthetic 5F was also tested in vitro for its effect on the neutrophil respiratory burst. In the alkali-injured rabbit eye model, the right corneas of 48 rabbits were exposed to 1 N NaOH for 35 seconds. Sixteen animals were randomly assigned to each of three groups: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control; 800 microM RTR (dextrorotatory) tetramer in PBS alternating each hour with 1.5 mM RTR (levorotatory) tetramer in PBS; and 12 microM 5F in PBS. One topical drop of each substance was administered hourly (14 times per day) for 33 days. The experiment was continued until day 42 with no additional drops administered.

RESULTS
(L)-RTR tetramer and (D)-RTR tetramer inhibited neutrophil polarization activated by the PGP chemoattractants in vitro. Synthetic 5F did not inhibit neutrophil polarization in the presence of Ac-PGP or the respiratory burst of neutrophils in the presence of a metabolic stimulant derived from alkali-degraded corneas. During the entire animal experiment, statistically fewer ulcers occurred in the RTR tetramer group than in the PBS control group (43.8% vs. 87.5%, P = 0.0046). The frequency of ulceration in the 5F group (68.8%) was not significantly different from the PBS control group.

CONCLUSIONS
The reduction in the frequency of corneal ulceration by the RTR tetramer possibly resulted from its complementary binding to Ac-PGP and Me-PGP in the cornea shortly after alkali injury, leading to a reduction in the early and late infiltration of neutrophils. RTR tetramer appears to hold enough promise to warrant additional study as a therapeutic drug for the alkali-injured eye.