The high affinity receptor for IgE (Fc epsilon RI) is present on mast cells and basophils, and the aggregation of IgE-occupied receptors by Ag is responsible for the release of allergic mediators. The Fc epsilon RI is composed of at least three different subunits, alpha, beta, and gamma, with the alpha subunit binding IgE. The series of biochemical events linking receptor aggregation to the release of mediators has not been fully delineated. As a step towards understanding these processes, and for the development of functional cell lines, we have transfected the human Fc epsilon RI alpha subunit into the rat mast cell line RBL 2H3. These human Fc epsilon RI alpha-transfected cell lines have been characterized with respect to the association of the human alpha subunit with endogenous rat beta and gamma subunits and the ability of aggregated Fc epsilon RI alpha subunits to mediate a variety of biochemical events. The signal transduction events monitored include phosphoinositide hydrolysis, Ca2+ mobilization, tyrosine phosphorylation, histamine release, and arachidonic acid metabolism. In all cases, the events mediated by aggregating human Fc epsilon RI alpha subunits were indistinguishable from those produced via the rat Fc epsilon RI alpha. These results demonstrate that the human Fc epsilon RI alpha subunit can functionally substitute for the rat Fc epsilon RI alpha subunit during signal transduction. The availability of this cell line will provide a means of evaluating potential Fc epsilon RI antagonists.


The article examines the experience of strategic management and planning of socio - economic development of the municipalities of the Russian North and the Arctic region for the period 2000-2012 years. 108 municipalities with a population of 20 to 100 thousand people, situated in the territories belonging to the Far North and equivalent areas has been studied. It has been found that for the period of 2000-2012 a strategic approach to the management of socio - economic development was applied in 44 northern municipalities, local authorities adopted strategic documents, and they were posted on the official Internet- sites of local governments, which allowed to group them by the date of their adoption. The first and second group was composed of the documents adopted in the early and mid 2000s, so in addition to the degree of completeness of strategic documents (the presence of the mission, goals, objectives, scenarios, etc.) we reviewed the benchmarks strategies. The third group includes strategic documents adopted recently, so we carried out only assessment of the completeness of the strategic documents, marked features of the strategies for the development of some municipalities. The analysis of all the three groups showed that in developing strategic documents, local authorities face problems and the solution of the majority of them hardly depending entirely on the local governments: lack of legal, information and personnel security, lack of a universal method for strategic planning of urban development, lack of revenue sources of local budgets. In terms of the contents of the strategy documents there is also a number of problems: a poor quality of the designed strategies, their optimistic and/or non-public nature, etc. The results can be used by regional and municipal authorities, both in the evaluation of the designed strategies, and in the formation and improvement of the development strategies that are being designed.


Abstract Due to the increasing complexity of the global development challenges that need solving, the past thirty years have seen interdisciplinary research (IDR) and university-industry collaboration developing into its own subject of research. While there have been numerous studies on defining and evaluating IDR, what remains under-researched is a unifying or integral perspective in IDR theoretical framing and conceptualisation much due to the nature of the multiple disciplines that constitute IDR. This study takes an integral systems theory perspective in address of the knowledge-gap in IDR, using the example of the project CATCH, a capture-based aquaculture research project funded by the Research Council of Norway and industry partners, for improved Norwegian cod products to local and global markets. The purpose of this study is to investigate and uncover the management strategies of the project CATCH, with the goal of illustrating how elements of such a management strategy can be mapped unto a four-quadrant integral systems theory model towards a unified perspective of an IDR project. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has projected a 20% growth in global fish production and consumption by 2030. CATCH, which is situated in the field of fisheries and aquaculture research, makes for a timely and interesting example of how an inherently IDR project is managed and executed by multiple stakeholders from academic institutions as well as industry partners. The contribution of this study is twofold, (i) working towards the consolidation of the theoretical foundations of IDR, and (ii) developing empirical insights into the management processes and strategy of an IDR project.


Tiramisu candy is made of oyster mushroom extract ethanol. Oyster mushroom ( Pleurotus ostreatus ) contains lovastatin that inhibit cholesterol synthesis in the body. Ethanol extract of oyster mushroom was expected to give an effect in lowering cholesterol. This experiment used 35 male Sprague dawley rats that were divided into 5 groups (n=7) .  The treatment period was for 14 days, normal group fed by standard woof, hypercholesterolemic group (HK) were fed by high- cholesterol woof (3%) and PTU (0.5 mg/kg BW), the group of lovastatin( lovastatin+HK0.2857mg/kg BW ), treatment I group (HK+ oyster mushroom ethanol extract 30 mg/kg BW ), and treatment II group (HK+ oyster mushroom ethanol extract 60 mg/kg BW ). Blood was taken through the eyes of rats with hematocrit -heparin. Candy is made with a mixture of 5% starch, maltodextrin 10%, 4% magnesium stearate, sucrose 81%, and ethanol extract 2.1 grams of white oyster mushroom.The results showed that the ethanol extract of oyster mushroom (30 mg/kg BW and 60 mg/kg BW ) may decrease 53.89 %  and 66.43% of cholesterol concentration. AST and ALT results of the analysis showed that the ethanol extract of white oyster mushroom dose of 30mg/ kg and 60 mg/ kg did not cause liver damage. Based on HPLC analysis,  a gram of oyster mushroom ethanol extract containing 3.6x10 - 6 grams of lovastatin . Tiramisu candy successfully made by weight 100 mg to extract content of 2.1 mg and 7.56x10 - 6 mg of lovastatin. Keywords : AST ALT, candy, cholesterol, lovastatin, Pleurotus ostreatus.


Popular Abstract in English Research has shown the Ugandan construction industry to be, primarily, an informal sector dominated by unskilled labour contracted mainly on minor building works such as alterations and renovations. Within such a context, the industry has also received negative publicity due to increasing quality failures on sites – commonly referred to as shoddy work. Some reasons cited for these failures include; use of substandard building materials and ineffective supervision by design consultants. This, inspite of the existing national regulatory and institutional framework regarding the built environment.The omnipresent quality failure attribute, however, is rework. This is because contractual obligations between a client and a contractor may necessitate rework where quality failures are noted, regardless of the causes. Notably,absolute compliance to established client quality requirements is one such contractual obligation, but it is difficult to attain, particularly, in public building construction due to varying socio-economic, cultural and political factors. It still remains, nevertheless, that where ways of mitigating against the impacts of non-compliance to client quality requirements are not established, there could be adverse impacts to national development plans for example, in Uganda's case. The research aim, therefore, was to study the causality and magnitude of rework and to recommend ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements. Rework and client quality requirements were considered as the units of analysis. With insufficient information available on the subject in the Ugandan context, the research was designed to, therefore, begin with an exploratory study into rework causality and subsequently into explanatory research that studied the magnitude of rework-related impacts on budgets and schedules, non-compliance to client quality requirements and ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements. The mixed research methodological approach that used case studies and a questionnaire survey was found useful in aiding the triangulation of data and enhancing the generalisability of inferences from the findings. The identified rework causality factors were; ineffective client-consultant communication, inadequate design information, end-user based causality, inefficient supply chain management, use of non-compliant building materials and inefficient works supervision. Operationrelated rework was found to occur at an average of 0.25% of construction contract sums. With regards to the magnitude of rework-related impacts on project budgets and schedules, it was deduced that the average percentage range of rework-related impacts on the project budgets was within 10-13%, while the percentage range contribution of rework to the project schedule overrun was 6-11%. The recommended ways of mitigating against non-compliance to client quality requirements were; stringent action on public sector graft, increased quality testing of materials, increased end-user participation and routine supervisor participation, increased use of vocationally skilled personnel and improved procurement practices that cater for efficient supply chain management and focus more on value-for-money rather than selection of contractors on the basis of "the best bid is the lowest evaluated bid". The research emphasises viewing rework as a phenomenon that occurs over the life of public buildings and additionally proposes the adoption of a whole-life value philosophy as an intervention in the mitigation of rework-related impacts. Relatedly, public sector client entities in Uganda are encouraged to document quality requirements over the life of buildings and this begins with developing protocols for collecting quality-specific project data from the design through to the operation and maintenance stages of building facilities. It is aknowledged that much more research into rework in Uganda is necessary, with a particular emphasis on rework in the operation and maintenance stages of building facilities. (Less)


Background: An expanding literature documents the childbearing patterns of migrants and their descendants in contemporary Europe. The existing evidence pertains mainly to the northern, western, and southern regions of the continent, while less is known about the fertility of migrants who have moved between the countries of Eastern Europe. Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the fertility patterns of first- and second-generation Russians in Estonia, relative to the sending and host populations. Methods: The study draws on the Estonian and Russian Generations and Gender Surveys. Proportional hazards models are estimated for the transitions to first, second, and third births. Results: Russian migrants in Estonia exhibit greater similarity to the sending population, with a lower propensity for having a second and third birth than the host population. This pattern extends to the descendants of migrants. However, mixed Estonian-Russian parentage, enrolment in Estonian-language schools, and residence among the host population are associated with the convergence of Russians' childbearing behaviour with the host-country patterns. The findings support the cultural maintenance and adaptation perspectives; selectivity was found to be less important. Contribution: The study focuses on a previously under-researched context and underscores the importance of contextual factors in shaping migrants' fertility patterns. It raises the possibility that, depending on the childbearing trends and levels among the sending and receiving populations, large-scale migration may reduce rather than increase aggregate fertility in the host country. With the advancement of the fertility transition in sending countries, this situation may become more common in Europe in the future.


Abstract Context: Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are used as alternatives to smoking; however, data on their cytotoxic potential are scarce. Objective: To evaluate the cytotoxic potential of 21 EC liquids compared to the effects of cigarette smoke (CS). Methods: Cytotoxicity was evaluated according to UNI EN ISO 10993-5 standard. By activating an EC device, 200 mg of liquid was evaporated and was extracted in 20 ml of culture medium. CS extract from one cigarette was also produced. The extracts, undiluted (100%) and in five dilutions (50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% and 3.125%), were applied to cultured murine fibroblasts (3T3), and viability was measured after 24-hour incubation by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Viability of less than 70% was considered cytotoxic. Results: CS extract showed cytotoxic effects at extract concentrations above 12.5% (viability: 89.1 ± 3.5% at 3.125%, 77.8 ± 1.8% at 6.25%, 72.8 ± 9.7% at 12.5%, 5.9 ± 0.9% at 25%, 9.4 ± 5.3% at 50% and 5.7 ± 0.7% at 100% extract concentration). Range of fibroblast viability for EC vapor extracts was 88.5–117.8% at 3.125%, 86.4–115.3% at 6.25%, 85.8–111.7% at 12.5%, 78.1–106.2% at 25%, 79.0–103.7% at 50% and 51.0–102.2% at 100% extract concentration. One vapor extract was cytotoxic at 100% extract concentration only (viability: 51.0 ± 2.6%). However, even for that liquid, viability was 795% higher relative to CS extract. Conclusions: This study indicates that EC vapor is significantly less cytotoxic compared tobacco CS. These results should be validated by clinical studies.


In reentry measurement, we need to measure the track of reentry vehicle. For the speed of target is very high, it is difficult for traditional positioning system to capture and track the target. TDOA (time difference of arrival) positioning system is used in reentry measurement. The position of target is calculated by using time difference of arrival. This paper introduces the principle of reentry TDOA positioning system. The key technology is synchronization of ground stations' clocks. The implementation of clock synchronization using low-cost commercial GPS receiver is presented. The sources of errors in the existing telemetry system, corresponding precision and experimental results are presented. Some methods, which are used to improve the precision, are proposed at the end of this paper.


Few studies have compared knowledge of the specific health risks of cannabis across jurisdictions. This study aimed to examine perceptions of the health risks of cannabis in Canada and US states with and without legal non-medical cannabis. Cross-sectional data were collected from the 2018 and 2019 International Cannabis Policy Study online surveys. Respondents aged 16-65 (n = 72 459) were recruited from Nielsen panels using non-probability methods. Respondents completed questions on nine health effects of cannabis (including two 'false' control items). Socio-demographic data were collected. Regression models tested differences in outcomes between jurisdictions and by frequency of cannabis use, adjusting for socio-demographic factors. Across jurisdictions, agreement with statements on the health risks of cannabis was highest for questions on driving after cannabis use (66-80%), use during pregnancy/breastfeeding (61-71%) and addiction (51-62%) and lowest for risk of psychosis and schizophrenia (23-37%). Additionally, 12-18% and 6-7% of respondents agreed with the 'false' assertions that cannabis could cure/prevent cancer and cause diabetes, respectively. Health knowledge was highest among Canadian respondents, followed by US states that had legalized non-medical cannabis and lowest in states that had not legalized non-medical cannabis (P < 0.001). Overall, the findings demonstrate a substantial deficit in knowledge of the health risks of cannabis, particularly among frequent consumers.


We present an asymmetric watermarking method for copyright protection that uses different matrix operations to embed and extract a watermark. It allows for the public release of all information, except the secret key. We investigate the conditions for a high detection probability, a low false positive probability, and the possibility of unauthorized users successfully hacking into our system. The robustness of our method is demonstrated by the simulation of various attacks.


Data used for this study were collected on the Carnarvon Afrino flock from 1986 to 1998, and include data records on several subjectively assessed traits, body weight and fleece traits of 3291 animals, the progeny of 127 sires and 772 dams. Reproduction data of 686 ewes born from 1986 to 1997 were also included. The heritabilities of and genetic and phenotypic correlations among the subjectively assessed traits were estimated, as well as the genetic and phenotypic correlations of these traits with body weight, objective fleece traits and reproduction. Heritability estimates for the various subjectively assessed traits ranged from 0.06±0.02 for straightness of the top line to 0.51±0.04 for softness of fleece. Positive genetic correlations, ranging from 0.33±0.18 to 0.80±0.06 were estimated amongst the conformation traits head, front quarters, top line and hocks. High genetic correlations were estimated among the subjectively assessed fleece traits and fibre diameter, where animals with lower fibre diameter had softer fleeces, better crimp definition, their fleeces were more even, less dense and had higher creeping belly scores (the extent to which belly wool tends to creep up the side into the fleece). Estimated genetic correlations between the subjectively assessed fleece traits and reproduction were variable in sign and magnitude. The most important of these is the unfavourable genetic correlation (-0.33±0.23) between creeping belly and reproduction. The conformation traits had moderate to high genetic correlations with body weight at all ages. Of the subjectively assessed fleece traits, creeping belly score had the highest genetic correlation with body weight, ranging from -0.26±0.10 for weaning weight to -0.38±0.07 for 15-month body weight. No noteworthy phenotypic correlations were discernable between the reproductive traits and any of the subjectively assessed traits. Of the objective fleece traits, only fibre diameter had some significant phenotypic correlations with the subjectively assessed fleece traits. These were similar in sign, but smaller in magnitude than the corresponding genetic correlations. It is concluded that, with the exception of two or three traits, the subjectively assessed traits would not be negatively influenced when selection is based on the economically important production traits. It is, however, important that selection priorities be based on economic values of the traits. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol.32(2) 2002: 88-96


Why do most civil wars occur in a relatively small number of countries? We answer this question by analyzing how civil wars diffuse in multiethnic states. Our theory outlines two motivation and two opportunity mechanisms that trigger additional ethnic rebellions in the same state. First, ongoing civil wars motivate members of other ethnic groups to mobilize in reaction to the negative externalities of nearby conflict. Second, ethnic groups emulate nearby rebel groups as a means of addressing preexisting grievances. Third, fighting multiple civil wars drains state capacity, opening the door for additional challengers to rebel against the government. Finally, long-lasting civil wars signal that the state is unable to defeat active rebels, thus creating incentives for new challengers to take up arms. We test our mechanisms in all multiethnic states with a history of armed conflict between 1946 and 2006. Using Geographic Information Systems, we construct overlap and minimum distance measures between ethnic groups' settlement patterns and conflict zones. Our statistical analysis indicates that new ethnic civil war onsets are more likely in the vicinity of ongoing armed conflicts. Ethnic civil wars also diffuse as governments face an increasing number of rebels and longer rebellions.


We study queueing systems where customers have strict deadlines until the end of their service. An analytic method is given for the analysis of a class of such queues, namely, M(n)/M/1+G models with ordered service. These are single-server queues with state-dependent Poisson arrival process, exponential service times, FCFS service discipline, and general customer impatience. We derive a closed-form solution for the conditional probability density function of the offered sojourn time, given the number of customers in the system. This is a novel result that has not been known before. Using this result, we show how the probability measure induced by the offered sojourn time is computed and consequently how performance measures such as the probability of missing deadline and the probability of blocking are obtained. This is further illustrated through a numerical example.


when we die?'. It also echoed deep-seated traditions of punishment and propitation which came not only from the Judaic-Christian but also from the pagan-Germanic past, contemproary legal developments giving new strength to the latter. Thus this is a challenging and important, though not flawless book and considering the eminence of the author, its hesitant and apologetic style is surprising. A.K. McHARDY


Summary: Lubag is an x-linked recessive dystonia parkinsonism that affects Filipino men originating principally from the Panay Island. Linkage analysis has confirmed the mode of inheritance and localized the disease gene to the proximal long arm of the x-chromosome. We studied the brain of a 34 year old Filipino man affected with lubag. He developed truncal dystonia at age 30, which subsequently generalized. With disease progression, he also presented with parkinsonism including, rigidity, bradykinesia, and impaired balance. His symptoms were largely unaffected by medication and, at age 34, he underwent a right cryothalamotomy. He died suddenly 2 days after the procedure. The principal neuropathological findings were neuronal loss and a multifocal mosaic pattern of astrocytosis restricted to the caudate and lateral putarnen. Similar findings have been reported in two other men with dystonia--one Filipino and the other nonFilipino. The similar pathology of the two Filipino men suggests that this is the pathology of lubag. Recognition of this pathology in a non-Filipino man suggests that the mutation causing lubag may not be restricted to the Filipino population. Key Words: Dystonia-Lubag-Neuropathology-Striatum.


This thesis aimed to explore how sequential boolean satisability solvers can be used on the integer factorisation problem. The integer factorisation problem is believed to be hard and modern public key cryptography relies on that,note worthily SSL/TSL and SSH support the use of RSA. However, it is not proven that integer factorisation is hard and therefore it is of great importanceto explore dierent attack avenues. The modulus in RSA is a semiprime, e.g.an integer that is the product of two primes. Hence, in this thesis an empiricalstudy of the factorisation of semiprimes with a bit-length of up to 32 bits iscarried out. Randomly selected semiprimes are factorized through six dierent reductions using three dierent solvers (Glucose, Lingeling and PicoSAT) and the result are compared to that of MSieve, an open-source integer factorisationprogram. As seen in the comparison boolean satisability solvers cannot be used as a replacement of an integer factorisation solver. Additionally comparisons between the dierent reductions and boolean satisability solvers show that the combination of solver and reduction greatly aects performance. The implication is that further explorations of the integer factorisation problem with boolean satisability solvers can greatly benet from either avoiding a inadequate solver and reduction pair or from attempting to identify the outliers that signify a inadequate coupling.


The effect of the low-frequency vibration processing on the residual elastic stresses in the Ti-6Al-4V alloy manufactured by 3D printing (Selective laser melting) was investigated. The studied sample was manufactured horizontally in respect to the building platform. Different vibration oscillations modes (vertical, horizontal, and elliptical) were chosen for study. The oscillations were done with frequency of 16 Hz, and a processing time was 20 minutes. Studies shown that 3D printed sample had a high level of residual elastic stresses, which were changed after vibration treatment. The optimal parameters of vibration processing, which provide a minimum level of residual elastic stresses in 3D printed Ti-6Al-4V alloy are discussed.


When requirements come from different companies, as it often happens in big industrial projects, it is crucial for the success of the project to offer means and automatic tools for the early validation of the requirements. This paper introduces an approach for quality evaluation of natural language (NL) requirements documents performed with the help of an automatic support tool. The key factors of the approach are the concepts of readability, defects and errors detection in NL requirements documents (RDs) with support of the tools QuARS that exploits for the analysis NL processing techniques. The approach has been successfully applied to the collection of requirements for a Train Control and Monitoring System (TCMS), produced by writing several requirements coming from different people. The application was carried out inside the EU/IP MODTRAIN project, subproject MODCONTROL on the MODTRAIN requirements database containing more than 5500 requirements.


Bargaining is a fundamental characteristic of many markets and legal disputes, but it can be a source of inefficiency. Buyers often waste resources by searching for information about past prices, where a seller already holds that information. A second – and novel – source of social loss is that some buyers will avoid otherwise beneficial bargains because they recognize the seller's advantage in any haggling match, and avoid sellers with negotiable prices. Similarly, parties might decline to accept settlement offers because they sense some disadvantage. This Article argues for mandated disclosure of past prices, and occasionally settlements, where these have been negotiable. The rule requires uniform or transparent pricing, where uniformity means that customers know that a price offered to them is the same as that offered to others, and transparency refers to the disclosure of past sale, or settlement, prices. The rule is applied to markets where consumers presently haggle with professional sellers, including the sale of medical services to hospital patients, law school merit scholarships offered to prospective students, and legal services sold to non-business clients. We additionally explore its potential in employment relationships, where it might be deployed to reduce male-female pay disparities.
A requirement of uniform or transparent transactions can limit a seller's ability to price discriminate. There are a few markets in which price discrimination is desirable, sometimes to deliver important goods such as life-saving medicines and clean water. We demonstrate how those markets can be preserved alongside a requirement of transparency. Drawing on a variety of examples, including familiar disclosure rules in contracts, as well as compulsory licensing in copyright and the utmost good faith doctrine in insurance, this Article shows that law is conceptually equipped to address the social loss generated by duplicative search and other inefficiencies, and that pricing disclosure rules can be easily implemented, especially as markets increasingly digitize.


Gentrification occurs when middle-class people, attracted by cheaper prices and often romanticised cultures, relocate to working class neighbourhoods. From the scientific innovation of Electric Avenue, to Caribbean cultures brought by Windrush migrants, to the sweet exotic aroma's of Brixton market, to Pop Brixton - there's no denying Brixton has changed.


Wastewater reuse is becoming increasingly common, and there is a need for decentralized and small-scale systems to support the safe recovery of water resources. In this study, an integrated life cycle assessment (LCA) and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) were used to compare microplasma ozonation (an emerging technology) to chlorination (an established technology) for the disinfection of wastewater for landscape irrigational reuse. Three waterborne pathogens, Legionella pneumophila, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium parvum, were selected to include bacteria and protozoans covering the transmission routes of inhalation and ingestion. Inactivation data from the literature were coupled with bench-scale experiments (to establish inactivation parameters for L. pneumophila by ozone in wastewater) for the design and simulation of disinfection processes. Microplasma-based ozonation reduced more life cycle human health impacts as compared to chlorination for five of the six impact categories, because of the high susceptibility of the pathogens to ozone and the lower impacts stemming from electricity (required in ozonation) vs. chemical production (required in chlorination). These results were consistent across the electricity-fuel mixes of all fifty U.S. states. These results indicate that from the point of view of reducing human health impact, the emerging microplasma ozonation technology is superior to chlorination for wastewater reuse disinfection. To reduce the overall human health impact, future design efforts should focus on reducing process consumables (i.e., chemical and electricity consumption) through longer hydraulic residence times (HRTs), while maintaining adequate disinfectant dosing to provide reliable disinfection efficacy despite influent variability in compounds that may quench or interfere with the disinfectant.


A new method for mass estimation of loose parts in nuclear power plant (NPP) based on the support vector machine (SVM) was proposed. It includes analyses of the relationship between the impact signals' frequency spectrum and the mass of loose part, then formation of a vector consisting of linear predictive coding (LPC) parameters, which represent the shape of spectrum of impact signal. Using the vector as input data and the mass of loose part as the output data to train the SVM, the mass estimation can be done by the trained SVM model. Experimental results show that the method has higher accuracy and easier to achieve than the traditional methods. It provides a new way for mass estimation of loose part in NPP.


Hypercontractile esophagus (HE), defined by the Chicago Classification version 3.0 (CCv3.0) as 20% or more hypercontractile peristalsis (Distal Contractile Integral >8000 mmHg·s·cm) on high‐resolution manometry (HRM), is a heterogeneous disorder with variable clinical presentations and natural course, leading to management challenges. An update on the diagnostic criteria for clinically relevant HE was needed. Literature on HE was extensively reviewed by the HE subgroup of the Chicago Classification version 4.0 (CCv4.0) Working Group and statements relating to the diagnosis of HE were ranked according to the RAND UCLA Appropriateness methodology by the Working Group, and the quality of evidence was rated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. An overall emphasis of the CCv4.0 is on clinically relevant esophageal dysmotility, and thus it is recommended that an HE diagnosis requires both conclusive manometric diagnosis and clinically relevant symptoms of dysphagia and non‐cardiac chest pain. The Working Group also recognized the subtypes of HE, including single‐peaked, multi‐peaked contractions (Jackhammer esophagus), and hypercontractile lower esophageal sphincter. However, there are no compelling data currently for formally subdividing HE to these subgroups in clinical practice.


Objective: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a validated staging technique for breast carcinoma. Some women are exposed to have a second SLNB due to breast cancer recurrence or a second neoplasia (breast or other). Due to modified anatomy, it has been claimed that previous axillary surgery represents a contra-indication to SLNB. Our objective was to analyse the literature to assess if a second SLNB is to be recommended or not. Methods: For the present study, we performed a review of all published data during the last 10 years on patients with previous axilla surgery and second SLNB. Results: Our analysis shows that second SLNB is feasible in 70%. Extra-axillary SNs rate (31%) was higher after radical lymph node dissection (ALND) (60% - 84%) than after SLNB alone (14% - 65%). Follow-up and complementary ALND following negative and positive second SLNB shows that it is a reliable procedure. Conclusion: The review of literature confirms that SLNB is feasible after previous axillary dissection. Triple technique for SN mapping is the best examination to highlight modified lymphatic anatomy and shows definitively where SLNB must be performed. Surgery may be more demanding as patients may have more frequently extra-axillary SN only, like internal mammary nodes. ALND can be avoided when second SLNB harvests negative SNs. These conclusions should however be taken with caution because of the heterogeneity of publications regarding SLNB and surgical technique.


This study investigated the relationship between organizational stressors in sport and athlete burnout and involved a cross-cultural comparison of English and Japanese soccer players. Ninety-eight male players completed the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001) to determine levels of perceived burnout. Based on data reported in previous research, and the thresholds developed by Hodge, Lonsdale, and Ng (2008), 22 of the players were identified as exhibiting higher levels of perceived burnout. Nine members of this subsample (4 English and 5 Japanese players) were subsequently interviewed to explore the relationship between their experiences of burnout and the organizational stressors they encountered. Results revealed multiple demands linked to the dimensions of athlete burnout and identified specific organizational-related issues that players associated with the incidence of burnout. Cultural differences between English and Japanese players in terms of the prevalence and organizational stressors associated with burnout were also identified, with the main differences being the relationship with senior teammates and the coaching style.


As a result of external pressures and to meet its own economic objectives, China has been moving its intellectual property rights (IPR) regime closer to those found in many more developed nations. As China's economy grows, its transition from manufacturing-based to knowledge-based production, more comprehensive laws, and more attention to enforcement have led to an increase in the number of IPR infringement cases being brought before the courts or taken up through China's administrative procedures. In this paper, the authors analyze the changing role of IPR enforcement in China and examines trends in damages awards in IPR cases in China, using a proprietary database, developed by NERA, of cases filed in China between 2002 and 2008. The authors find that, while there has been a marked increase in IPR infringement cases being brought before Chinese courts and, consequently, in the frequency of damage awards over the past decade, the damages both claimed and awarded tended to be very small compared to those in other jurisdictions and compared to the likely degree of harm caused.


(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) In March of 2008, the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Colorado, Boulder, hosted a small interdisciplinary conference titled "Illustrating the Dharma: Popular Buddhism in Medieval Japanese Fiction." The conference featured ten presentations and one keynote speech devoted to exploring aspects of "popular" (as opposed to monastic, elite, or orthodox doctrinal) Buddhism in the illustrated fiction of the Kamakura, Muromachi, and early Edo periods.roughly the thirteenth through seventeenth centuries. Participants considered a variety of hand-illustrated and woodblockprinted texts from an array of methodological perspectives.literary, historical, Buddhological, and art historical.concentrating in particular on issues of religious doctrine, practice, and representation in the literary genres of setsuwa ... (tales), otogizoshi ... (Muromachi-period fiction), ko-joruri ... (early puppet theater), jisha engi ... (temple and shrine histories), and kowakamai ... (ballad-dramas). The present thematic issue of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies is an indirect result of that 2008 conference. Five of the seven essays included here were first presented at the Boulder event, which also inspired our underlying (and, it was intended, unifying) approach: to consider premodern Japanese religious culture through the lens of literature, rather than more traditional Buddhist scriptural, historical, biographical, and exegetical sources. Our two corollary desiderata have been, from the start, to explore the roles of Buddhist sectarian and/or didactic concerns in the production of late-Heian and medieval literature, and to consider the place and significance of "visuality" in the illustrated textual media of medieval and early-Edo Japan (including illuminated sutras, emaki ... picture scrolls, nara ehon ... picture books, and woodblock-printed books and maps).1 The seven contributors to this volume have approached these issues in different ways, but each engages the three topics of Buddhism, literature, and visual representation. Terminological Considerations: Popular Buddhism, Folk Buddhism, Vernacular Buddhism Medieval religious culture in Japan was fundamentally trans-sectarian, constituting a rich amalgam of diverse and occasionally incompatible elements, rather than an organized or internally consistent universe of practice and belief. Specialized cults dedicated to particular deities, bodhisattvas, and celebrity icons flourished in the cities and surrounding communities, dominating the religious landscape and competing for a limited pool of potential devotees. Itinerant preacher-entertainers plied the roadways, frightening audiences with stories and images of hell, extolling the Buddhas and the bodhisattvas, and collecting temple donations. Insofar as many works of medieval Japanese fiction are understood to derive from the proselytizing and fund-raising activities of these street-level preacher-entertainers, including biwa hoshi ... (biwa-playing priests), etoki hoshi ... (picture-explaining priests), Kumano bikuni ... (nuns of Kumano), kanjin hijiri ... (fund-raising priests), Koya hijiri ... (priests of Mt. Koya), shomonji ... (low-caste chanters), miko ... (female mediums), and the like, their study promises insights into popular medieval religious culture in a way that the study of sutras, commentaries, and learned treatises does not. At least, such was the idea that inspired the Boulder conference. The reader will notice, however, that what was "popular Buddhism" in the conference title has become "vernacular Buddhism" here. In the course of working on this special issue of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, we the editors came to feel that the former term did not accurately reflect the diversity of the works discussed in the articles. After all, a number of the texts treated by our authors originated in the highest circles of ecclesiastical authority, rather than in the world of street preaching. …


This essay offers a generally negative appraisal of the significance of Justice Antonin Scalia's work on the takings issue during his tenure on the Supreme Court. While Justice Scalia was a visible advocate for expanding the scope of regulatory takings doctrine, and his opinion for the Court in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council represents an important precedent, the totality of Scalia's takings work turned out to be relatively inconsequential. He only authored two majority opinions in takings cases during 30-plus years on the Court. No grand theory motivated his work on the issue, though he was surely sympathetic to the potential for the Takings Clause to constrain the permissible scope of government regulation. Scalia's substantive contributions to takings jurisprudence are best understood as an effort to elaborate upon the two-part takings test articulated by Justice Lewis Powell in his 1980 opinion for the Court in Agins v. City of Tiburon. The first branch of this test, suggesting that a regulation denying economically viable use of property necessarily represents a taking, blossomed into the Lucas decision; though undeniably important, Lucas has turned out to have a relatively narrow scope. The second branch of the Agins test, suggesting that a regulation results in a taking if it fails to substantially advance a legitimate governmental interest, was repudiated by a unanimous Supreme Court, including Scalia himself, in the 2005 decision in Lingle v. Chevron USA Inc.


The study sheds light on the impacts of income diversification on risks of the Vietnamese banking industry. By analyzing a broad set of 32 local commercial banks during the period from 2005 to 2012, we find the evidence that bank with high non-interest income present lower risk than those with mainly interest income. Considering size effects, the results are also mostly accurate for large banks. However, for small banks, the impacts of income diversification are not confirmed clearly. In addition, the paper investigates two samples: listed and unlisted banks. The results also indicate the positive effects of the diversification on banking risks of these categories.


This paper introduces an efficient method for face localization and recognition in color images. The proposed method uses the location of eyes for computation and extraction of a face's bounding ellipse. In this way, parameters of a face's ellipse (center, orientation, major and minor axis), is computed by the location of eyes in a face image. In the next step, we apply pseudo Zernike moments (PZM), Zernike moments (ZM) and principal component analysis (PCA) for feature extraction. For classification of these feature vectors a new structure of RBF neural networks with a novel distance function is introduced and a new method for determination of RBF unit parameters is proposed. Finally, we compare the efficiency of the proposed system for three types of feature vectors (PZM, ZM and PCA). Results emphasize the high accuracy and efficiency of the PZM features proportion to other features (ZM and PCA) for use in the proposed recognition system.


An increase in apoptotic events may underlie neuropathology in schizophrenia. By data-mining approaches, we identified significant expression changes in death receptor signaling pathways in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of patients with schizophrenia, particularly implicating the Tumor Necrosis Factor Superfamily member 6 (FAS) receptor and the Tumor Necrosis Factor [ligand] Superfamily member 13 (TNFSF13) in schizophrenia. We sought to confirm and replicate in an independent tissue collection the noted mRNA changes with quantitative real-time RT-PCR. To test for regional and diagnostic specificity, tissue from orbital frontal cortex (OFC) was examined and a bipolar disorder group included. In schizophrenia, we confirmed and replicated significantly increased expression of TNFSF13 mRNA in the DLPFC. Also, a significantly larger proportion of subjects in the schizophrenia group had elevated FAS receptor expression in the DLPFC relative to unaffected controls. These changes were not observed in the bipolar disorder group. In the OFC, there were no significant differences in TNFSF13 or FAS receptor mRNA expression. Decreases in BH3 interacting domain death agonist (BID) mRNA transcript levels were found in the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder groups affecting both the DLPFC and the OFC. We tested if TNFSF13 mRNA expression correlated with neuronal mRNAs in the DLPFC, and found significant negative correlations with interneuron markers, parvalbumin and somatostatin, and a positive correlation with PPP1R9B (spinophilin), but not DLG4 (PSD-95). The expression of TNFSF13 mRNA in DLPFC correlated negatively with tissue pH, but decreasing pH in cultured cells did not cause increased TNFSF13 mRNA nor did exogenous TNFSF13 decrease pH. We concluded that increased TNFSF13 expression may be one of several cell-death cytokine abnormalities that contribute to the observed brain pathology in schizophrenia, and while increased TNFSF13 may be associated with lower brain pH, the change is not necessarily causally related to brain pH.


This paper presents evidence on the impact of managers on cost efficiency in banking. Stochastic frontier analysis is applied to a unique Finnish data set. The paper finds that manager age and education have strong yet complicated effects. University education enhances efficiency if the manager is running a large bank. Managing director changes are systematically followed by efficiency changes. Manager retirement typically causes an efficiency improvement, whereas other manager changes can either improve or weaken efficiency.


Preface Companion Website Introduction The Criminal Justice System The Penal Crisis and Strategies for Criminal Justice Notes on Terminology: 'Punishment' and 'System' Crisis? What Crisis? Is there a Crisis? The Orthadox Account of the Crisis The High Prison Population (The Numbers Crisis) Overcrowding Bad Conditions Understaffing Staff Unrest 'Toxic Mix' of Prisoners Riots and Disorder Criticisms of the Orthodox Account Improving on the Orthadox Account The Crisis of Penological Resources The Crisis of Visibility The Crisis of Legitimacy Responses to the Crisis A Radical Pluralist Account of the Crisis Justifying Punishment Is Punishment Unjust? Reductivism Deterrence Incapacitation Reform Just Deserts: Retributivism and Denunciation Retributivism Denunciation Restorative Justice Schools of Penal Thought The Classical School: Deterrence and the Tariff Bentham and Neo-Classicism: Deterrence and Reform Positivism: The Rehabilitative Ideal The Justice Model: Just Deserts and Due Process From Just Deserts to the New Punitiveness - and Beyond? Philosophies, Strategies and Attitudes Conclusions: Punishment and Human Rights Explaining Punishment The Sociology of Punishment The Marxist Tradition Economic Determinism: Rusche and Kirchheimer Ideology and Hegemony: The Legacy of Gramsci Structuralist Marxism and Althusser Post-Structuralism, Discipline and Power: Michel Foucault Humanistic Materialism: The Case of E. P. Thompsom The Durkheimian Tradition The Weberian Tradition Pluralism and Radical Pluralism Applying Penal Sociology The New Penology and The New Punitiveness Comparative Penology and the New Punitiveness Sentencing: The Crux of the Crisis The Crux of the Crisis Who Are the Sentencers? Constraints on the Powers of Sentencers Judical Independence and Traditional English Sentencing Confining Discretion Checking Discretion: Appeals Structuring Discretion: Principles and Guidelines The Current Legal Framework of Sentencing A Brief, Tangled Recent History of Sentencing 1991: From the Strategy of Encouragement to Just Deserts 1992-97: The Law and Order Counter-Reformation New Labour, Mixed Messages Coalition False Dawn A Rational Approach? Punishment in the Community Community Punishment in a Rapidly Changing Penal Landscape Non-Custodial Punishment: the Current Sentencing Framework Nominal and Warning Penalties Financial Penalties Compensatory Penalties Reparative Penalties and Restorative Justice Approaches Supervisory Penalties and the Changing Role of the Probation Service Community Payback (Community Service or Unpaid Work) Surveillance and Restrictions on Movement: Curfews and Electronic Monitoring 'Hybrid Penalties' Community Punishment: Strategic Issues Changing Penal Strategies and their Impact on the Use of Imprisonment and Community Punishment Enforcement of Community Sentences: Sticks or Carrots? 'Sentence Management' and the Changing Role of the Judiciary Effectiveness of Community Sentences Contestability and Privatization Shifting Patterns of Penality: Theoretical Reflections Scull's 'Decarceration' Thesis Cohen and Mathiesen: the 'Dispersal of Discipline' Thesis Bottoms' 'Juridical Revival' Thesis Conclusion: The Future of Punishment? Prisons and the Penal Crisis Overview The Aims and Functions of Imprisonment Official Aims of Imprisonment Social Functions of Imprisonment The Prison System The Prisons and the Prisoners Privatization The Debate Around Prison Privatization Privatization and the Crisis of Resources Key Phases in Recent Prison Policy-Making 1995-1999: The Security and Control Agenda - Post-Woolf Backlash 1999-2002: 'Decency Agenda' and 'Effectiveness Credo' - The Quest for a Balanced Approach 2002-2006: Keeping the Lid On - Pragmatism Reasserts Itself 2006-2012: Where do we go From Here? The Prison System and its Crises The Managerial Crisis The Crises of Containment and Security The Prison Numbers Crisis and the Problem of Overcrowding The Crisis of Conditions The Crises of Control and Authority The Crisis of Accountability The Crisis of Legitimacy and How to Tackle it Early Release: The Penal System's Safety Valve Early Release: Useful, Controversial, Troublesome History of Early Release From Remission to Automatic Early Release Parole (Discretionary Early Release) Early Release Today Fixed-term (Determinate) Sentences Extended Sentences (Extended Determinate Sentences) Life Imprisonment and Imprisonment for Public Protection The Parole Board Conclusion: Early Release Evaluated The Youth Justice System Young People, Crime and the Penal Crisis Responding to Youth Crime: Models of Youth Justice The Welfare Model The Justice Model Minimum Intervention and Systems Management The Restorative Justice Model Neo-Correctionalism Neo-Correctional Youth Justice, 1997 Responding to Youth Crime: the Youth Justice System in Operation Concluding Assessment: No More Excuses? Bias in the Criminal Justice System Introductory Class Race Gender Solving the Crisis? A Grim Fairy Tale Responses to the Crisis, 1970-2006 From Positivism to Law and Order with Bifurcation: 1970-1987 Just Deserts and Punishment in the Community: 1987-1992 Law and Order Reinvigorated: 1993-1997 'Tough On Crime, Tough On the Causes of Crime': New Labour, 1997-2010 Coalition False Dawn: 2010 Onwards How to Solve the Crisis Approaches to the Penal Crisis Measures to Solve the Crisis The Prospects Glossary of Key Terms References Index


Background and purpose: Utilisation of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) by people who inject drug (PWID) in East Lombok is low. This study aims to explore barriers for PWID to access VCT service from community health centres in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in East Lombok. Data were collected using in-depth interviews. Nine participats were purposively selected consisted of five HIV negative PWID who repeatedly tested for HIV, one non-governmental organization official, one field worker, one VCT counsellor and one medical doctor. Data were inductively analysed.Results: This study found that PWID preferred to use mobile VCT rather than VCT at health centres because of scared of getting caught by police. They also felt uncomfortable of using VCT service at the health centres due to stigma and discrimination. In addition, lack of human resources at the health centre was also found to be a significant barrier. This led to increased workload thus limited attention was given to quality of VCT service.Conclusions: Barriers to access VCT service at the health centre include high stigma and discrimination from health provider and living arrangements of PWID. To improve VCT access for PWID, effective collaboration between health centres, private health institutions and village cadres are required.


Knowledge of correct flow stress curves of Ni-based alloys at high temperatures is of essential importance for reliable plasto-mechanical simulations in materials processing and for an effective planning and designing of industrial hot forming schedules like hot rolling or forging. The experiments are performed on a computer controlled servo-hydraulic testing machine at IBF (Institute of Metal Forming). To avoid an inhomogeneous deformation due to the influence of friction and initial microstructure, a suitable specimen geometry and lubricant is used and a thermal treatment before testing has to provide a microstructure, similar to the structure of the material in the real process.The compression tests are performed within a furnace, which keeps sample, tools and surrounding atmosphere at the defined forming temperature. The uniaxial compressions were carried out in the range of strain rates between 0.001 and 50 s−1 and temperatures between 950 and 1280°C. Furthermore two-stage step tests are carried out to derive the work hardening and softening behaviour as well as the recrystallisation kinetics of the selected Ni-based alloys.At the end of this work a material model is adapted by the previously determined material data. This model is integrated into the Finite Element program LARSTRAN/SHAPE to calculate a forging process of the material Alloy 617.Copyright © 2000 by ASME


An aberrant tyrosine kinase signalling due to non-receptor tyrosine kinase JAK2 V617F mutation has been highlighted in the pathogenesis of polycythemia vera (PV). In myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia (MMM) this mutation has been reported to be present in approximately 50% of the patients and its pathogenetic role is not elucidated. Here we report the results of JAK2 V617F mutation in a retrospective analysis of blood samples from 170 patients with MMM. Search for JAK2 mutation was performed by an allele specific PCR from DNA purified from granulocytes. To evaluate whether the mutation was carried in the homozygous or heterozygous state, digestion of PCR products with BsaXI restriction enzyme was performed. The overall frequency of JAK2 V617F mutation was 60% and homozygosity for the mutation was found in 39.2% of mutant samples. Disease duration was similar in JAK2 mutated and wild type patients. Patients who harboured an homozygous mutation had an higher myeloproliferative severity score (that indexed leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and splenomegaly) than patients who had a wild type or heterozygous genotype. In post-PV MMM, the mutant gene was present in 22/22 (100%) of patients, and the frequency of homozygosity was 59% of the mutated cases. In post-ET MMM (n=13), the mutant gene was present in 46% of the patients, and the frequency of homozygosity was 16% of the mutant samples. In idiopathic MMM (n=135), the incidence of the mutational state was 54.8%, with 35.1% of homozygote mutation. Patients who had received a diagnosis of prefibrotic myelofibrosis (WHO classification) had an incidence of the mutation significantly lower than patients who were diagnosed in the fibrotic stage (6/18, 33% vs 68/112, 60.7%; P=0.001). By considering only patients not receiving cytoreductive or disease modifying agents, patients who had an heterozygote mutation, had a mean Hb value higher than wild type patients (9.4 g/dL vs. 11.4 g/dL; P=0.004). Moreover, patients who had an homozygote mutation had the myeloproliferative severity score higher than both heterozygote and wild type patients (2.26 vs 1.59, P=0.008, and 2.26 vs.1.52, P=0.001, respectively). We conclude that JAK2 V617F mutation is significantly represented in MMM patients. It is a necessary event in the transformation from PV to MMM while not in the transformation from ET to MMM. Patients who harboured an heterozygote state maintained higher Hb values than patients with a wild type genotype, while the homozygote mutation was associated with leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and splenomegaly.


This chapter looks at three films whose Portuguese urban settings offer a privileged ground for the re-evaluation of the classical-modern-postmodern categorisation with regard to cinema. They are The State of Things (Wim Wenders, 1982), Foreign Land (Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, 1995) and Mysteries of Lisbon (Raul Ruiz, 2010). In them, the city is the place where characters lose their bearings, names, identities, and where vicious circles, mirrors, replicas and mise-en-abyme bring the vertiginous movement that had characterised the modernist city of 1920s cinema to a halt. Curiously, too, it is the place where so-called postmodern aesthetics finally finds an ideal home in self-ironical tales that expose the film medium's narrative shortcomings. Intermedial devices, whether Polaroid stills or a cardboard cut-out theatre, are then resorted to in order to turn a larger-than-life reality into framed, manageable narrative miniatures. The scaled-down real, however, turns out to be a disappointing simulacrum, a memory ersatz that unveils the illusory character of cosmopolitan teleology. In my approach, I start by examining the intertwined and transnational genesis of these films that resulted in three correlated visions of the end of history and of storytelling, typical of postmodern aesthetics. I move on to consider intermedia miniaturism as an attempt to stop time within movement, an equation that inevitably brings to mind the Deleuzian movement-time binary, which I revisit in an attempt to disentangle it from the classical-modern opposition. I conclude by proposing reflexive stasis and scale reversal as the common denominator across all modern projects, hence, perhaps, a more advantageous model than modernity to signify artistic and political values.


Information technology has become an integral part of health care in the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS). All health care professionals are required to have a certain level of cyber ethics and knowledge of computers. This is assured by regular mandatory training. The government of the United Kingdom has charted out a course to strengthen cyber security and prevent any crises like Wannacry. Simple things like leaving a computer unlocked can pose a potential threat to the cyber security of the whole NHS. These cannot be addressed with money alone, as they involve complex interactions of human factors. Such seemingly simple non-compliance results often in harm to the patient or breach of confidentiality. We tried to find out the compliance among junior doctors to the Trust Information Technology (IT) Safe Usage Policy. We made interventions and interviewed junior doctors to find out the reasons for non-compliance. We re-audited in order to see if our interventions helped. We also audited compliance in another Trust independently, which showed that this problem is not specific to a particular trust. Here we suggest the changes that all Trusts can make and follow our model to audit their compliance.


Monocytes separated from human blood by Ficoll-Hypaque and adherence to polystyrene flasks were maintained successfully in culture for 7 days. The cultured cells showed normal morphology and good viability. The insulin binding properties of the cultured monocytes were also identical to those of fresh monocytes. In vitro pretreatment of the monocytes with insulin decreased both the number and affinity of insulin receptors, resulting in a 72% reduction in the binding of tracer quantities of 125I-insulin. Insulin-induced receptor down regulation was dose-dependent and specific to the insulin receptor. Monocytes pretreated with insulin in the presence of the cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitor 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (MIX) lost significantly fewer insulin receptors than monocytes treated with insulin alone. Tracer binding to these cells was 62% of control levels. MIX had no effect on basal insulin binding. The cAMP analogues N6,O2'-dibutyryl cAMP and 8-bromo-cAMP did not counteract insulin-induced receptor downregulation by themselves and did not significantly enhance the effects of MIX. These results indicate that MIX may counteract insulin receptor downregulation by a cAMP-independent process.


Homologous antisense constructs were used to down-regulate tobacco cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD; EC 184.108.40.206) and cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR; EC 220.127.116.11) activities in the lignin monomer biosynthetic pathway. CCR converts activated cinnamic acids (hydroxycinnamoyl-SCoAs) to cinnamaldehydes; cinnamaldehydes are then reduced to cinnamyl alcohols by CAD. The transformations caused the incorporation of nontraditional components into the extractable tobacco lignins, as evidenced by NMR. Isolated lignin of antisense-CAD tobacco contained fewer coniferyl and sinapyl alcohol-derived units that were compensated for by elevated levels of benzaldehydes and cinnamaldehydes. Products from radical coupling of cinnamaldehydes, particularly sinapaldehyde, which were barely discernible in normal tobacco, were major components of the antisense-CAD tobacco lignin. Lignin content was reduced in antisense-CCR tobacco, which displayed a markedly reduced vigor. That lignin contained fewer coniferyl alcohol-derived units and significant levels of tyramine ferulate. Tyramine ferulate is a sink for the anticipated build-up of feruloyl-SCoA, and may be up-regulated in response to a deficit of coniferyl alcohol. Although it is not yet clear whether the modified lignins are true structural components of the cell wall, the findings provide further indications of the metabolic plasticity of plant lignification. An ability to produce lignin from alternative monomers would open new avenues for manipulation of lignin by genetic biotechnologies.


Economic theory is often abused in practical policy-making. There is frequently excessive focus on sophisticated theory at the expense of elementary theory; too much economic knowledge can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Too little attention is paid to the wider economic context, and to the dangers posed by political pressures. Superficially trivial distinctions between policy proposals may be economically significant, while economically irrelevant distinctions may be politically important. I illustrate with some disastrous government auctions, but also show the value of economic theory.


Simulation and emulation are commonly used to study the behavior of communication networks, owing to the cost and complexity of exploring new ideas on actual networks. Emula-tions executing real code have high functional fidelity, but may not have high temporal fidelity because virtual machines usually use their host's clock. A host serializes the execution of multiple virtual machines, and time-stamps on their interactions reflect this serialization. In this paper we improve temporal fidelity of the OS level virtualization system OpenVZ by giving each virtual machine its own virtual clock. The key idea is to slightly modify the OpenVZ and OpenVZ schedulers so as to measure the time used by virtual machines in computation (as the basis for virtual execution time) and have Linux return virtual times to virtual machines, but ordinary wall clock time to other processes. Our system simulates the functional and temporal behavior of the communication network between emulated processes, and con-trols advancement of virtual time throughout the system. We evaluate our system against a baseline of actual wireless network measurements, and observe high temporal accuracy. Moreover, we show that the implementation overhead of our system is as low as 3%. Our results show that it is possible to have a network simulator driven by real workloads that gives its emulated hosts temporal accuracy.


In recent years, there has been significant work on increasing both interpretability and debuggability of a Deep Neural Network (DNN) by extracting a rule-based model that approximates its decision boundary. Nevertheless, current DNN rule extraction methods that consider a DNN's latent space when extracting rules, known as decompositional algorithms, are either restricted to single-layer DNNs or intractable as the size of the DNN or data grows. In this paper, we address these limitations by introducing ECLAIRE, a novel polynomial-time rule extraction algorithm capable of scaling to both large DNN architectures and large training datasets. We evaluate ECLAIRE on a wide variety of tasks, ranging from breast cancer prognosis to particle detection, and show that it consistently extracts more accurate and comprehensible rule sets than the current state-of-the-art methods while using orders of magnitude less computational resources. We make all of our methods available, including a rule set visualisation interface, through the open-source REMIX library (https://github.com/mateoespinosa/remix).


This paper describes the numerical analysis and design for a higher jumping rescue robot using a pneumatic cylinder. First, the basic equations for jumping are derived and the simulation is performed. Then, the relationship between the jumping height and the pressure-receiving area of the cylinder is considered when the volume or the stroke of the cylinder is kept constant. This allows calculation of the optimal cross sectional area. In addition, the jumping height is also affected by the weight ratio between the rod and the cylinder tube. Based on these results, a robot equipped with a cylinder of the appropriate dimensions controlled by a well-selected valve is re-engineered and demonstrated. Experimental results show that the improved robot can jump considerably higher than the former design with the same energy efficiency, as shown in the following video


Medical devices utilize pumps in several different application domains including medicine dispensing systems, drug and fluid infusion systems, perfusion equipment, and left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). In this paper, we propose a novel pump design for applications where continuous flow at high efficiency is the functional goal, such as in an LVAD.Copyright © 2018 by ASME


BACKGROUND
Neuroendocrine tumours constitute a small group of malignancies; about 200 new patients are diagnosed in Norway annually. This article discusses problems associated with use of deoxyfluoroglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and other available options in patients with these conditions, as well as challenges related to introduction of new radiopharmaceutical agents.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The article is based on review of literature in connection with development of new guidelines for nuclear medicine examinations, supplemented with literature identified through a non-systematic search of Pubmed.

RESULTS
A large proportion of these tumours grow slowly, and recent data show that 5-year survival is about 50 %. Neuroendocrine tumours are characterised by specific biochemical processes that enable tailoring of radiopharmaceutical agents for PET and consequently a more accurate diagnosis and improved follow-up of these patients.

INTERPRETATION
As for other cancer types, diagnostics and detection of metastases are an important factor for correct treatment of neuroendocrine tumours. PET with FDG is of limited use for patients with this condition. New specific radiopharmaceutical agents for PET may imply detection of 90 % of all such tumours.


Notes that God-talk encountered in pastoral ministry resembles the genre of apocalyptic literature and that the language and imagery is often confrontational and non-rational. Opines that caregivers need to be aware of the dynamic dimension of apocalyptic in order to understand the use of apocalyptic imagery in the pastoral encounter. Explores the background and theology of apocalyptic perspectives and suggests how it might be utilized in pastoral ministry.


Both the relevant literature and the regulatory authorities' policy reports suggest that there is a relationship between smart meters and distributed generation and that an essential tool for the integration of distributed generation into electric systems is the smart meter technology. However, to date, there has been no formal or scientific test of this proposition. This article examines the relationship between advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and distributed generation (DG), which are expected to be among the critical components of future electricity markets. For this purpose, long monthly time series data were used for four different consumer groups (commercial, industrial, residential and small- and medium-sized enterprises) for the network reporting regions in New Zealand and a panel Granger causality analysis was conducted. The econometric results establish a two-way causality relationship between AMI penetration and DG uptake rate. These findings are in line with the propositions in the literature and policy papers, and they comprise policy implications.


Punching mechanisms with servo input are typical variable-input controllable mechanisms. By means of extending the output link infinitely, the Stephenson Ⅲ six-bar linkage is evolved into a six-bar punching mechanism with a slide. A virtual prototype model of this novel punching mechanism was established by using the software ADAMS. The model includes geometry, load and drive, total three sub-models. Based on the model, the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the slide with variable-input crank motion and instantaneous large load were simulated. The numerical results showed that the Stephenson's six-bar punching mechanism had good transmission characteristics, improving the working performances and production efficiency, reducing the manufacturing costs of servo mechanical presses.


The process of discovering groups of similar vertices in a graph, known as graph clustering, has interesting applications in many dierent scenarios, such as marketing and recommendation systems. One of the most important aspects of graph clustering is the evaluation of cluster quality, which is important not only to measure the eectiveness of clustering algorithms, but also to give insights on the dynamics of relationships in a given network. Many quality metrics for graph clustering evaluation exist, but the most popular ones have strong biases and structural inconsistencies that cause the quality of their results to be, at least, doubtful. Our studies showed that, while in general those popular quality metrics do a good job evaluating the external sparsity between clusters, they do poorly when evaluating the internal density of those clusters, ignoring essential information (such as a cluster's vertex count) or having its internal density component ignored in practice because of its computational cost. In this article, we propose a new method for evaluating the internal density of a given cluster, one that not only uses more complete information to evaluate that density, but also takes into consideration structural characteristics of the original graph. With our proposed method, the internal density of a cluster is evaluated in terms of the expected density of similar clusters in that same graph, in contrast to the traditional quality metrics available, where clusters from dierent graphs are compared by the same standards. We believe that, if used in conjunction with a good external sparsity evaluation metric, like conductance, this method will help to obtain better, more signicant graph clustering evaluation results.


Abstract Carotenoid oxidation products have various structures, among which epoxides and apo- or seco-carotenoids are the two main families. Although both these compound types are widely found in the natural world, the sensitivity of carotenoids to oxidation means they can also be an unwanted presence in in vitro assays. On the other hand, carotenoid oxidation products have also provided chemists with useful chemical tools for the structural identification of carotenoids, and in the natural world they are important biological mediators for plants and animals. In vitro, carotenoid oxidation products have been found to exert various effects which are either potentially beneficial or, on the contrary, detrimental to human health. However, to date, few carotenoid oxidation products have been found in humans. In order to isolate and characterize carotenoid oxidation products and identify their mechanism of formation, we set up two chemical oxidation systems. Lycopene was oxidized with potassium permanganate in a biphasic system to produce the fullest possible range of apo-lycopenals and some diapocarotene-dials. Biomimetic chemical systems of a heminic enzyme center were shown to oxidize lycopene and β-carotene into different families of molecules. Analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array-UV/vis detector and a mass spectrometry detector (HPLC-DAD-MS) was used to gain insight into the possible mechanisms of formation of the carotenoid oxidation products formed by these biomimetic systems.


Violence against women (VAW) is widespread in Africa, with psychological abuse, domestic violence, rape and defilement occurring daily. It increases and manifests in different forms across various contexts, particularly in conflict, humanitarian situations, informal urban settlements and during electioneering periods among others. In the latter case, elections around the world are peaceful expressions of the right of peoples to choose their leaders, however in certain circumstances they have divided and destabilized countries. The UN Secretary General's report on Preventive Diplomacy stresses that a broader, more political approach which recognizes among other issues that election-related violence is most fundamentally a form of political violence, the root causes of which are most often systemic, long-standing and unresolved grievances are required to address this challenge. In an ideal world, women's political participation takes on various roles including leadership and decision making. Women are political candidates, campaign or political party organizers and voters who exercise their right to vote for leaders of their choice. Reality however is different and ssuccessive elections have demonstrated that gender-based violence is deliberately used as a tool to intimidate and exclude women from fully participating in electoral processes. Existing political, socio-economic and cultural beliefs predominantly prevent their full political participation. Strong negative traditional beliefs and cultural attitudes remain and dictate women's roles and low status in society. In essence, the major challenge that women face at a political level is that they come up against the patriarchal nature of their societies. In patriarchy, power and privilege is vested on men and all efforts are made to retain and enhance this power. It is during elections that one can begin to understand and quantify data around Electoral gender-based violence (EGBV) mostly committed against women any act of violence against women for political reasons to facilitate the inclusion of women's voices in preventing and managing political violence in general but also specifically political violence that targets women. This violence may take place in the private sphere but is found primarily in the public sphere, and manifests itself through psychological, physical and emotional violence. It can affect women politicians, candidates, voters, political activists and organizers, and women whose family members are working within the political terrain of the country. EGBV recognizes the discrimination of women in relation to unsettling acts of distorted political power relations by men that prevent women from entering political office, from exercising their right to participate in politics as organizers or voters, and from choosing representatives of their own political interests. It also recognizes acts of violence against female politicians, as well as acts of violence against family members of women in politics. On the other hand, the State has an enabling role to provide the legislative framework and institutions in this case during the elections to serve as custodians of human rights for both women and men. In Africa, these institutions are often led by men and influenced by the patriarchal systems within which they exist and operate leading to, non-accountability to women's rights. This study compares and analyses electoral gender based violence in Kenya and Uganda and provides recommendations on how to address EGBV to promote women's political leadership. It is critical to understand electoral gender-based violence as part of a continuum of existing high levels of gender-based violence and discrimination against women. To address these systemic violations of women's rights, citizens and the broader society must be vigilant and continue to impress on government to provide the enabling environment while political parties should become the institutional vehicle through which women's participation in politics is enhanced especially in facilitating their participation within party structures and over election periods.


We justify some characterizations of the ground states of spin-1 Bose-Einstein
condensates exhibited from numerical simulations. For ferromagnetic systems, we
show the validity of the single-mode approximation (SMA). For an
antiferromagnetic system with nonzero magnetization, we prove the vanishing of
the $m_F=0$ component. In the end of the paper some remaining degenerate
situations are also discussed. The proofs of the main results are all based on
a simple observation, that a redistribution of masses among different
components will reduce the kinetic energy.


The last decade has seen the proliferation of "global health" departments, centers, programs, and majors across top research universities in North America and Europe. This trend has been particularly pronounced in the United States, where it is connected to America′s new role as a major sponsor of HIV treatment in Africa. This paper describes the rise of "global health" as a research, funding, and training priority within U.S. academic medicine, and the increasing desirability of "global health partnerships" with institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. Leading spokespersons emphasize that "partnership" with poor nations is central to the mission of global health, an ethic that distinguishes it from older, more paternalistic traditions of international health and tropical medicine. However, at the same time, the field of academic global health depends on steep inequalities for its very existence, as it is the opportunity to work in impoverished, low-tech settings with high disease burdens that draws North American researchers and clinicians to global health programs and ensures their continued funding. This paradox – in which inequality is both a form of suffering to be redressed and a professional, knowledge-generating, opportunity to be exploited – makes the partnerships to which global health aspires particularly challenging.


We have successfully designed and fabricated a high-bit-rate low-power decision circuit using InP-InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Its main design feature is the use of a novel master-slave D-type flip-flop (MS-DFF) as the decision circuit core to boost the operating speed. We achieved error-free operation at a data rate of up to 60 Gb/s using an undoped-emitter InP-InGaAs HBT with a cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of approximately 150 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/ of approximately 200 GHz. Our decision circuit operates approximately 15% faster than one with a conventional MS-DFF core. We also achieved 90-Gb/s operation with low power consumption of 0.5 W using an InP-InGaAs DHBT exhibiting f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ of 232 and 360 GHz, respectively. These results demonstrate that InP-based HBTs and our novel MS-DFF are attractive for making ultrahigh-performance ICs for future optical communications systems operating at bit rates of 100 Gb/s or more.


This study reflects upon and explains the strategies developed in teaching music appreciation in a large urban secondary school. These reflections were developed through an action research study that took place during the 2005-2006 school year. Taken in the broadest, possible view, this study is a small example of how globalization and its offshoots – diversity and multiculturalism – are inherently paradoxical. Fundamentally, these phenomena are characterized by trans-national flows of capital, labor, communications, and culture that tend to unite and broaden many aspects of peoples' perspectives and identities – personal, creative, and musical. However, the same forces that power uniting and broadening can also divide, and erase local and personal identities. Such threats often fuel the determination of "marginal groups" to assert their independence negatively or positively – through all forms of creativity. As a music teacher, my task is to help students resist and replace negative forces with positive personal and cultural agency. Hence, the purpose of this study: to examine and describe the factors that contributed towards the resentment and discomfort my music appreciation students experienced at the start of the school year. It became evident that such emotions were the surface symptoms of issues related to social justice, diversity, democratic teaching and learning, and multiculturalism.


Metastatic or primary unresectable cancers confined to the liver are the sole or life-limiting component of disease for many patients with colorectal cancer, ocular melanoma, neuroendocrine tumors or primary colangio- or hepatocellular carcinomas. A number of regional treatment strategies including infusional chemotherapy and local ablative therapy are under clinical development and attest to the difficulty in adequately treating this condition. Isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP) was first clinically applied over 40 years ago, but because of its technical complexity, the attendant potential morbidity, and the lack of documented efficacy, it has not gained widespread application. In light of the remarkable antitumor activity with isolated limb perfusion with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and melphalan in patients with unresectable extremity sarcoma or in transit melanoma, this regimen has been administered via IHP at several centers worldwide for unresectable liver cancers. IHP with TNF and melphalan can result in significant regression of advanced refractory cancers confined to the liver and, with additional clinical development, will most likely be a more routinely considered option for patients with this condition.


Summary

Tumours arising from the dorsal surface of the tongue occurred in 3 horses from 14 to 23 years of age. Tumours were surgically excised at a referral hospital (1 case) and on the farm (2 cases) and submitted for histopathology. All tumours were multilobular and composed of vaguely nested, bland, oval to slightly elongated cells with an infiltrative growth pattern. Mitotic activity was not detected. Immunohistochemical studies found that tumour cells were often positive for S-100 and cytokeratin and occasionally positive for vimentin. Tumour cells were negative for glial fibrillary acidic protein, neuron specific enolase, synaptophysin, muscle actin and chromogranin A. Follow-up obtained from 7 months to 2 years following tumour removal indicated no evidence of regrowth or metastasis. The origin of these distinctive tumours is not clear but the immunohistochemical profile suggests the possibility of origin from lingual taste buds. These cases and review of the literature indicate that successful surgical excision of tongue tumours can be performed by practitioners in private practice as well as by surgeons at referral hospitals.


The purpose of this paper is to develop maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) models by using different regression methods such as Multilayer Feed-Forward Artificial Neural Networks (MFANN's), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN's) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The dataset includes data of 439 subjects and the input variables of the dataset are gender, age, body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (BF), respiratory exchange ratio (RER) from treadmill test, self-reported rating of perceived exertion (RPE) from treadmill test, heart rate (HR) and time to exhaustion from treadmill test. The performance of the models is evaluated by calculating their standard error of estimates (SEE) and multiple correlation coefficients (R). The results suggest that MFANN-based VO2max prediction models perform better than other prediction models.


The polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a primer-directed in vitro enzymatic reaction for the production of a specific DNA fragment, has dramatically facilitated molecular biology approaches to fundamental research questions, as well introduced DNA testing into a variety of clinical diagnostic areas. Some of the principles of PCR, several recent advances in PCR technology and selected applications are reviewed. A variety of methods for analyzing allelic sequence diversity in amplified DNA have been developed. Genetic testing of the HLA loci, and other genes encoding cytokines and cytokine receptors, has had a significant impact on disease susceptibility studies and in clinical transplantation.


A laboratory test on the effects of 12 salinity-waterlogging stresses on the growth of Kandelia obovata seedlings was conducted. Nine growth indexes including seedling height, stem height, basal diameter, node number, leaf number, root biomass, stem biomass, leaf biomass and total biomass were measured. The results showed that salinity and salinity-waterlogging stresses had significant effects on the growth of K. obovata seedlings, while waterlogging stress had no significant effects on the seedling height, stem height, basal diameter, node number and leaf number, but had significant effects on root biomass, stem biomass, leaf biomass and total biomass. The growth and biomass of K. obovata seedlings decreased with increasing the salinity and waterlogging time. The principal components analysis showed that K. obovata seedlings would grow best under the 7 per thousand salinity+2 h waterlogging stress, while the 21per thousand+8 h combination was a critical stress.


Background The availability of the bovine genome sequence and SNP panels has improved various genomic analyses, from exploring genetic diversity to aiding genetic selection. However, few of the SNP on the bovine chips are polymorphic in buffalo, therefore a panel of single nucleotide DNA markers exclusive for buffalo was necessary for molecular genetic analyses and to develop genomic selection approaches for water buffalo. The creation of a 90K SNP panel for river buffalo and testing in a genome wide association study for milk production is described here. Methods The genomes of 73 buffaloes of 4 different breeds were sequenced and aligned against the bovine genome, which facilitated the identification of 22 million of sequence variants among the buffalo genomes. Based on frequencies of variants within and among buffalo breeds, and their distribution across the genome, inferred from the bovine genome sequence, 90,000 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms were selected to create an Axiom® Buffalo Genotyping Array 90K. Results This 90K "SNP-Chip" was tested in several river buffalo populations and found to have ∼70% high quality and polymorphic SNPs. Of the 90K SNPs about 24K were also found to be polymorphic in swamp buffalo. The SNP chip was used to investigate the structure of buffalo populations, and could distinguish buffalo from different farms. A Genome Wide Association Study identified genomic regions on 5 chromosomes putatively involved in milk production. Conclusion The 90K buffalo SNP chip described here is suitable for the analysis of the genomes of river buffalo breeds, and could be used for genetic diversity studies and potentially as a starting point for genome-assisted selection programmes. This SNP Chip could also be used to analyse swamp buffalo, but many loci are not informative and creation of a revised SNP set specific for swamp buffalo would be advised.


This thesis focuses on Views of Egypt, an album housed in the Art Gallery of Ontario, that contains forty-six albumen prints of which twenty-seven are made by two Greek brothers: Georgios (ca.1845-ca.1895) and Constantinos (ca. 1845-1916) Zangaki. The Zangaki brothers worked as commercial photographers in the late nineteenth century in the Levant. Considering the extensive number of prints by the Zangaki brothers in various institutions worldwide, they must have been successful; yet neither they nor their photographs are well known. Views of Egypt is part of a larger enterprise: late nineteenth-century photography in Egypt that aimed at supplying Oriental scenes and picturesque views to the Western tourist. The Zangaki brothers' photographs are representative of this period and merit closer examination. Furthermore, as it is important to preserve such examples, the last part of the thesis considers the preservation of both the album and the photographs it contains.


Dear Editor, We read with great interest the article by Mert [1] outlining the importance of infection in etiopathogenesis and hence the efficacy of topical metronidazole in the treatment of acute anal fissures. We have been working on the same concept for the last several years [2–6] and would like to highlight a few pertinent points as per our experience with LOABAC (local plus oral antibiotics with avoidance of constipation) regimen to manage fissure conservatively. First, for local application on anal fissure, the addition of povidone-iodine cream increases the efficacy of local metronidazole cream [4, 7]. This is expected because unlike metronidazole which is effective against mainly anaerobes, povidone-iodine has an action against a broad spectrum of microorganisms which include aerobes (both gram-positive and gram-negative), fungi, protozoa, tubercle bacilli, viruses, and bacterial spores. A small proportion of patients (< 5%) experience a burning sensation after the application of povidone-iodine cream in whom this cream may be withheld. Second, the addition of a short course of oral antibiotics covering gram-negative and anaerobes (ciprofloxacin and metronidazole) also increases the efficacy of this conservative management. In the presence of pain especially in the acute anal fissure, the local cream application is difficult and painful due to which the compliance of the patients falls significantly. Therefore, an addition of a short course (5 days) of oral antibiotics, by eradicating infection in anal fissure, gives much-needed immediate relief in pain and spasm. This results in the subsequent easier application of local antibiotics cream on anal fissure inside the anal canal. Third, while outlining the inclusion criteria, the author defined acute anal fissure as an anal fissure present for less than 8 weeks, lesions limited to the epithelium on physical examination, and no findings suggestive of chronic anal fissure (such as skin tag in the anal region) [1]. Though the duration of the existence of anal fissure is taken as one of the criteria to differentiate acute from chronic anal fissure, it is prudent that the presence or absence of anal spasm should also be included as a main parameter [4]. Because the presence of spasm would require appropriate management for complete healing of the anal fissure. Therefore, like other chronic disorders, anal fissure should be categorized as acute anal fissure, chronic anal fissure, and acute-on-chronic anal fissure (Table 1) [4]. This classification takes both duration of existence of anal fissure as well as the spasm into consideration. Once this is done, the management of each category becomes quite clear and avoids unnecessary confusion [4]. The anal fissure should be classified based on the duration of onset of symptoms and clinically assessed anal tone (Table 1) [4]: acute fissure of < 6 weeks duration with high anal tone (spasm); chronic fissure of > 6 weeks duration with normal/low anal tone (no spasm); and acute-on-chronic fissure of > 6 weeks duration with high anal tone (spasm). The management of anal fissure in each category is outlined in Table 1.


Family size is the outcome of sequential decisions influenced both by preferences and by ongoing changes in the environment where a family lives. During the last two decades the gap between the number of children women prefer and their actual fertility has widened in Spain. The paper uses the 1985 and 1999 Spanish Fertility Surveys to study whether the tightening of the labor market and worsening of economic conditions in Spain during the last twenty years are important determinants of this change. I find that women facing high unemployment rates in their mid-twenties tend to restrict their fertility below their ideal level. Among working-women, the stability of a public sector job lessens the difficulties of balancing work and family and of achieving preferred fertility. Temporary contracts work in the opposite direction. Findings are robust to the inclusion of controls for the use of family planning as well as within-couple discrepancies in either preferences or religious affiliation.


In most of the production areas under maize, mild drought can significantly reduce yields while severe drought can sometimes completely destroy an entire plantation. Consequently, the livelihood of farmers is affected due to reduction in their incomes leading to poverty. Currently, very few highly transformable maize genotypes such as B73, W22, A188 and CM216 are used in genomic studies and genetic engineering of traits such as drought tolerance. Following trait enhancement through genetic engineering, consumer uptake of the transgenic product may be hindered due to presence of undesirable genetic elements such as selectable marker genes (SMG). Therefore generation of transgenic plants free of SMG is important to make them biosafe. The objective of this study was to generate SMG-free maize plants having an artificial microRNA (amiRNA) targeting the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) gene and assess transgenic plants for tolerance to severe oxidative and drought stress. In earlier studies using arabidopsis and rapeseed, the PARP1 gene silencing approach was demonstrated to enhance drought tolerance through preservation of cellular energy and reduced damage by reactive oxygen species. In this study, maize PARP1 gene silencing constructs (amiRNA-PARP1) were cloned in the same T-DNA region as the pmi or the bar SMG or placed in a separate T-DNA region for cotransformation of plants. The cotransformation vectors were first validated in tobacco before use in transformation of different maize genotypes. Maize transformation was achieved by co-cultivation of immature embryos with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the amiRNA-PARP1 construct. Transgenic plants were assessed for downregulation of the PARP1 gene using qRT-PCR. The effect of PARP1 gene downregulation on drought tolerance was also assessed. Out of 13 genotypes evaluated, two (TL03B6754A-20 and TL03B6757-68) were found to be highly regenerable and were chosen for recovery of transgenic plants using either the PMI/mannose or bar/PPT selection system. Using the PMI/mannose selection system, the two maize genotypes were found to be highly transformable, averaging transformation frequencies (TF) of 48% and 34.16%, respectively. The TF for the control genotype CML216 was 32.19%. The TF under PPT selection` for the inbred lines CML216, TL03B 6757-68 and TL03B 6754A-20 was 26.16%, 14.81%, and 21.69% for pMarkfree3.1 and 27.22%, 32.10% and 36.32% for pMarkfree3.2, respectively. A qRTPCR analysis conducted on six amiRNA-PARP1 transgenic lines revealed that the expression of the PARP1 gene was reduced in plants exposed to methyl viologen-induced oxidative stress. However, the level of PARP1 gene expression was higher in nontransformed plants. Plants with reduced expression of the PARP1 gene were tolerant to oxidative and drought stress indicated by higher chlorophyll content, relative water content, growth and biomass as well as reduced anthocyanin accumulation, compared to non-transformed plants. In conclusion TL03B6754A-20 and TL03B6757-68 genotypes are highly responsive to transformation. Therefore these inbred lines extend the pool of highly transformable genotypes available for genomic and trait improvement studies. In addition the cotransformation binary vectors developed here (pMarkfree3.0, pMarkfree2.1 or pMarkfree2.2) are applicable in any plant to produce SMG-free plants containing one or more transgenes of interest. In the long term, the drought tolerant transgenic maize plants produced in this study can help stabilize maize yields and increase production during water stressed conditions. This will impact targeted farmers and their households by increasing their incomes thereby improving their livelihoods.


Narrative structures the human experience of time, but does it also organise our musical experience? Behind this question lies another one, which concerns the narrative process itself: does it belong solely to the time of consciousness or does it manifest itself through other forms of temporal organisation in the unconscious mind? Psychologists have identified a structure of the experience of time that precedes narrative itself, which can be called "proto-narrative form" and which organises the coherence and unfolding of narrative, as it does perhaps the unfolding of musical form. It may be characterised by its linearity and a strong directionality, implying a clearly perceptible and temporally oriented line of dramatic tension. However, during the 20th century, directionality and linearity have progressively given way to a-directional or poly-directional fragmented forms, implying discontinuities of the temporal flux and the superimposition of multiple lines of dramatic tension that have neither the same progressions nor the same endings. What sense can we give to these new splintered forms of time? We attempt to answer this question from a psychoanalytic perspective.