Product ion spectra produced by collision-induced dissociation (CID) in tandem mass spectrometry experiments can differ markedly between instruments. There have been a number of attempts to standardise the production of product ion spectra; however, a consensus on the most appropriate approach to the reproducible production of spectra has yet to be reached. We have previously reported the comparison of product ion spectra on a number of different types of instruments - a triple quadrupole, two ion traps and a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer (Bristow AWT, Webb KS, Lubben AT, Halket JM. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2004; 18: 1). The study showed that a high degree of reproducibility was achievable. The goal of this study was to improve the comparability and reproducibility of CID product ion mass spectra produced in different laboratories and using different instruments. This was carried out experimentally by defining a spectral calibration point on each mass spectrometer for product ion formation. The long-term goal is the development of a universal (instrument independent) product ion mass spectral library for the identification of unknowns. The spectra of 48 compounds have been recorded on eleven mass spectrometers: six ion traps, two triple quadrupoles, a hybrid triple quadrupole, and two quadrupole time-of-flight instruments. Initially, 4371 spectral comparisons were carried out using the data from eleven instruments and the degree of reproducibility was evaluated. A blind trial has also been carried out to assess the reproducibility of spectra obtained during LC/MS/MS. The results suggest a degree of reproducibility across all instrument types using the tuning point technique. The reproducibility of the product ion spectra is increased when comparing the tandem in time type instruments and the tandem in space instruments as two separate groups. This may allow the production of a more limited, yet useful, screening library for LC/MS/MS identification using instruments of the same type from different manufacturers.


THE year 2016 will mark the quadricentennial of Shakespeare's death. While the occasion will no doubt elicit a flurry of tributes and biographies, it might also provide an opportune moment to re-examine the evidence concerning how Shakespeare met his end. The case file is, regrettably, a thin one. Apart from the terse comment of Reverend Richard Davies, that Shakespeare 'died a papist', the only testimony comes from the journals of John Ward, a Stratford vicar: 'Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted


Abstract. The establishment of ground control points is a critical issue in mapping field, especially for large scale mapping. The fast and rapid technique for ground control point's establishment is very important for small budget projects. UAV onboard GPS has the ability to determine the point positioning. The objective of this research is to assess the accuracy of unmanned aerial vehicle onboard global positioning system in positioning determination. Therefore, this research used UAV onboard GPS as an alternative to determine the point positioning at the selected area. UAV is one of the powerful tools for data acquisition and it is used in many applications all over the world. This research concentrates on the error contributed from the UAV onboard GPS during observation. There are several points that have been used to study the pattern of positioning error. All errors were analyzed in world geodetic system 84- coordinate system, which is the basic coordinate system used by the global positioning system. Based on this research, the result of UAV onboard GPS positioning could be used in ground control point establishment with the specific error. In conclusion, accurate GCP establishment could be achieved using UAV onboard GPS by applying a specific correction based on this research.


We investigate the electronic band structure of device relevant GaInNAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) and veitical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) structures. We report photo-modulated reflectance (PR) studies under applied pressure and variable temperature that probe the influence of N-related states on the electronic structure of dilute nitrogen (N) III-V MQWs. The pressure and temperature dependence of the intersubband transitions within the MQWs is reduced by addition of N. By matching our experimental results with a theoretical model important predictions for the ground-state electron effective mass and conduction band offset as a function of N and pressure are made. We present results of angle- and temperature-dependent electro-reflectance (ER) measurements on a dilute-N GaInNAs VCSEL and show that these explain how the corresponding VCSEL device can operate over a such a wide range of temperatures. We argue that intrinsic properties of dilute-N QWs provide novel ways to design laser devices, especially in the crucial telecommunication range of wavelengths. We show how non-destructive ER and PR measurements can be used, in order to estimate the QW transition energy when it is coupled with the cavity mode (CM). The energy of the main exciton is determined by monitoring the amplitude and the phase of the PR spectra. The ER measurements are presented on the GaInNAs VCSEL described in the previous paragraph. Furthermore we present a growth characterisation study on a representative InGaAs/GaAs/AlAs/AlGaAs as-grown VCSEL structure, using PR spectroscopy as a function of position on a non-uniform wafer. We also show how temperature dependent PR and the appropriate lineshape model can be used to obtain a full picture of the relative movements between the gain and the CM over the full range of temperature. This information allows calculating the material gain in the temperature range of interest, independent from the effect of the CM and also provides an alternative method for characterising the growth, which can be applied to uniform wafers. PR and non-destructive ER can be used to identify regions suitable for fabrication into devices. For this reason modulation spectroscopy can be very useful for industry to reject wafers where good alignment between the CM and the QW does not occur and can thus save on the time consuming and expensive fabrication procedures.


Abstract Pratylenchus species are among the most common plant parasitic nematodes in the Great Plains Region of North America. Our goal was to survey Pratylenchus species diversity across the Great Plains region using a mitochondrial COI DNA barcode. The objectives were to (i) determine species boundaries of the common Pratylenchus species within the region, (ii) assess the host associations of the barcoded Pratylenchus specimens, and (iii) determine Pratylenchus distribution patterns throughout the region. A total of 860 soil samples, primarily associated with eight major crops, were collected from Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. From this total, 246 soil samples provided the majority of 915 individual nematode specimens that were amplified by PCR and sequenced for a 727 to 739 bp region of COI. Maximum likelihood, neighbor-joining, and Bayesian phylogenetic trees all recognized 19 distinct and well-supported haplotype groups. The most common and widespread haplotype group, representing 53% of all specimens was P. neglectus, detected from 178 fields in 100 counties and associated with fields growing wheat, corn, dry beans, barley, alfalfa, sugar beets, potatoes, and a vineyard. The second most prevalent haplotype group was P. scribneri, representing 30% of all specimens and recovered from 104 fields in 45 counties, and most frequently associated with corn. Mixed field populations were encountered in approximately 20% of infested fields, with P. neglectus and P. scribneri most often occurring together in corn-soybean cropping systems. Less frequently encountered from the region were P. hexincisus, P. thornei, P. penetrans, P. alleni, and P. zeae. Eight additional haplotype groups, potentially new Pratylenchus species, were discovered in the survey.


Using a novel experimental design, I test how the exposure to information about a group's relative performance causally affects the members' level of identification and thereby their propensity to harm aliates of comparison groups. I find that both, being informed about a high and poor relative performance of the ingroup similarly fosters identification. Stronger ingroup identification creates increased hostility against the group of comparison. In cases where participants learn about poor relative performance, there appears to be a direct level effect additionally elevating hostile discrimination. My findings shed light on a specific channel through which social media may contribute to intergroup fragmentation and polarization.


This paper reports an alternative method for seasonal and long-term monitoring of biomass and the leaf area index (LAI) at Arctic tundra sites. Information related to the historical and projected change in abundance and distribution of biomass and LAI is required to address numerous environmental and resource management issues. Observations of earth from satellites could potentially be used to derive seasonal and long-term changes in biomass and the LAI. To realize this potential, seasonal and long-term ground monitoring data for validation are essential; however, the conventional destructive sampling method for measuring biomass and the LAI does not allow repetitive measurements at the same plots and thus is not suitable for monitoring change over time. Alternative methods, such as sampling nearby similar plots, can be laborious and easily subject to large sampling errors, especially in Arctic tundra sites with low vegetation cover. In this study, we developed a practical method for relating non-destructive measurements (percent cover and mean height) to biomass and the LAI for 13 major Arctic plant groups, or seven plant functional types, on the basis of measurements at 196 plots across Canada's Arctic tundra ecosystems. Using the method at the plant group level to estimate plot total vascular aboveground biomass, foliage biomass, and LAI, we had r 2 = 0.91–0.95 and relative mean absolute error of 25–29%. By this method, one could monitor seasonal and long-term changes in biomass and the LAI through repeated, non-destructive observations of percent cover and mean height at the same permanent plots.


This paper presents a novel image encryption scheme based on extended largescale randomization key-stream generator. The basic form of the key-stream generator is presented, and employed in digital image ciphering. The modification of the basic form also, presented, and gives encouraging results in image encryption as compared with classical non-linear stream cipher generators and the basic form. Pixel shuffling is performed via vertical and horizontal permutation. Shuffling is used to expand diffusion in the image and dissipate high correlation among image pixels the sequences generated from all presented generators are introduced to five well-known statistical tests of randomness to judge their randomness characteristic. The ciphered images are tested for their residual intelligibility subjectively. The measures applied to images ciphered by one of the classical key-stream cipher generators (Threshold generator) for the purpose of comparison with the presented key-stream algorithms. Experiments results show that the proposed algorithm achieves the image security. In order to evaluate performance, the proposed algorithm was measured through a series of tests. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed scheme shows a good resistance against brute-force and statistical attacks.


Yusuf NergizSOKER, S.; SERT, C.; DENIZ, M.; TEKMEN, I.; AKKUS¸, M. & NERGIZ, Y. The effects of electromagnetic fields on theultrastructure of heart. Int. J. Morphol., 29(3):960-964, 2011.SUMMARY: Increasingly the use and convenience of electrical appliances in our daily lives are the cause of harmful effectscaused by electromagnetic fields (EMF). The aim of this study was to research the effect of EMF on the ultrastructure of the heart inEMF exposed rats. In this study 45 male Sprague Dawley rats ranging in weight between 260 and 280 grams were used. The rats wer edivided into 3 groups, control (n:15), Sham (n:15) and EMF group (n: 15) and exposed for 14 days 3 hours per day; gauss levels at 2.5were applied to the EMF group, while the sham group in the same environment in Plexiglas cage was kept for 14 days 3 hours per daywithout magnetic field exposure. Control group at 14/10 hours light dark cycle fed in normal cages for 14 days. After two weeks ratswere sacrificed by 50mg/kg of Ketalar anesthesia and heart tissue fixed in 2.5 gluteraldehide. Routine follow up with electron microscopicassessment. Mitochondrial structures and cellular structures observed in all the groups were normal. Myofibrillar loss, dilatation ofsmooth endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial swelling or cristalysis was not observed. Intercalated disc degeneration and apopto sis ofnucleus was not observed. Therefore, and as a result of our study we did not observe differences between control and EMF groups.KEY WORDS: Electromagnetic field; Heart; Electron microscopy.


The differential effects of an easy and difficult-to-interview patient on therapist self-reported behavioral arousal and physiological activation were observed. Eighteen experienced white male psychiatrists each interviewed two patient simulators believing they were real patients. Each actress was programed to act the part of a difficult-to-interview patient and an easy-to-interview patient. Each randomly played either part as assigned and the order of patient and role was counterbalanced. Differences in patient roles were validated by the participating therapists and independent raters. Fifteen-minute rest periods with soft music preceded each therapy session such that a complete experimental session consisted of rest 1, therapy 1, rest 2, and therapy 2. Self-reported arousal was assessed during each of the four periods by Thayer's factors from the Nowlis Mood Adjective List. Physiological activation was measured by electromyogram, heart rate, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), and skin conductance. Therapist self-reported behavioral arousal and measured physiological activation during therapy were significantly greater than during rest. The difficulty of the patient did not appear to affect either behavioral or physiological activation level of the therapists. Several explanations for this are explored.


BACKGROUND
The diagnosis of chronic primary pain (CPP), according to the recently released International Classification of Disease (ICD-11) criteria, refers to conditions with complex aetiologies. CPP is characterized by specific clinical features such as generalized sensory hypersensitivity and widespread pain, and is associated with functional disability and emotional distress.

OBJECTIVE
This study investigated clinical features of CPP in individuals with painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and comorbidities (fibromyalgia, migraine and/or tension-type headache).

METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 129 individuals. Painful TMD, fibromyalgia and primary headaches were evaluated based on well-established international criteria. Generalized sensory hypersensitivity was assessed using psychophysical tests. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The Central Sensitization Inventory was applied to assess central sensitization-related symptoms and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index to evaluate the quality of sleep. The presence of widespread pain was assessed using a body map. The sample was stratified into three groups: control (n = 25), TMD-painful TMD only (n = 35) and TMD + Cm-painful TMD and comorbidities (n = 69). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, chi-squared test and ANCOVA, considering gender as a covariate (α = .05).

RESULTS
Compared to controls, individuals presenting painful TMD and comorbidities showed lower pressure pain thresholds in all evaluated areas (p ≤ .012) and a higher number of painful areas in the body (p = .001). They presented more symptoms of anxiety (p = .040) and depression (p = .018), and a higher score in the Central Sensitization Inventory (p ≤ .006) than the other groups.

CONCLUSION
Individuals with painful TMD and comorbidities presented more clinical features of CPP compared to those affected by TMD only.


There has been a strong push recently to examine biological scale simulations of neuromorphic algorithms to achieve stronger inference capabilities. This paper presents a set of piecewise linear spiking neuron models, which can reproduce different behaviors, similar to the biological neuron, both for a single neuron as well as a network of neurons. The proposed models are investigated, in terms of digital implementation feasibility and costs, targeting large scale hardware implementation. Hardware synthesis and physical implementations on FPGA show that the proposed models can produce precise neural behaviors with higher performance and considerably lower implementation costs compared with the original model. Accordingly, a compact structure of the models which can be trained with supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms has been developed. Using this structure and based on a spike rate coding, a character recognition case study has been implemented and tested.


The decapeptide [hydroxyproline9]GnRH (HypGnRH) has been characterized as an endogenous posttranslational product of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) precursor in a wide range of mammalian brains. Despite consistent biological effects, its secretion by the hypothalamus remains hypothetical. We report here in vitro secretion of HypGnRH and GnRH by the hypothalamus from intact and castrated male rats and provide evidence that they are differentially regulated. Both peptides were identified by two anti-GnRH antibodies of different specificities after separation under two high-performance liquid chromatography conditions. Calcium dependency of HypGnRH release was demonstrated under stimulation with KCl in the absence or presence of Ca2+, as well as with Bay K 8644, veratridine, methoxyverapamil, or tetrodotoxin. Activation of signaling pathways involving adenylate cyclase and protein kinases A and C (PKC) induced HypGnRH release. Expression of data as percentage of release over tissue stores revealed a two- to threefold higher release of HypGnRH than of GnRH under the different modes of stimulation used, except under PKC activation which triggered a comparable recruitment of both peptides. Castration selectively affected PKC-coupled GnRH secretion which showed a twofold lesser release than in intact rats, while the HypGnRH release was unaffected. We conclude that HypGnRH and GnRH are not secreted from the hypothalamus according to the same mechanisms.


In normoglycemic offspring of two type 2 diabetic parents, low insulin sensitivity (SI) and low insulin-independent glucose effectiveness (SG) predict the development of diabetes one to two decades later. To determine whether low SI, low SG, or low acute insulin response to glucose are predictive of diabetes in a population at low genetic risk for disease, 181 normoglycemic individuals with no family history of diabetes (FH−) and 150 normoglycemic offspring of two type 2 diabetic parents (FH+) underwent i.v. glucose tolerance testing (IVGTT) between the years 1964–82. During 25 ± 6 years follow-up, comprising 2,758 person years, the FH− cohort (54 ± 9 years) had an age-adjusted incidence rate of type 2 diabetes of 1.8 per 1,000 person years, similar to that in other population-based studies, but significantly lower than 16.7 for the FH+ cohort. Even when the two study populations were subdivided by initial values of SI and SG derived from IVGTT's performed at study entry, there was a 10- to 20-fold difference in age-adjusted incidence rates for diabetes in the FH− vs. FH+ individuals with low SI and low SG. The acute insulin response to glucose was not predictive of the development of diabetes when considered independently or when assessed as a function of SI, i.e., the glucose disposition index. These data demonstrate that low glucose disposal rates are robustly associated with the development of diabetes in the FH+ individuals, but insulin resistance per se is not sufficient for the development of diabetes in individuals without family history of disease and strongly suggest a familial factor, not detectable in our current measures of the dynamic responses of glucose or insulin to an IVGTT is an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Low SI and low SG , both measures of glucose disposal, interact with this putative familial factor to result in a high risk of type 2 diabetes in the FH+ individuals, but not in the FH− individuals.


Nuclear reprogramming of a differentiated cell in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a major concern in cloning procedures. Indeed, the nucleus of the donor cell often fails to express the genes which are a prerequisite for normal early embryo development. This study was aimed to evaluate the developmental competence and the expression pattern of some reprogramming related genes in bovine cloned embryos reconstructed with amniotic membrane stem cells (AMSCs) in comparison with those reconstructed with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and adult fibroblasts (AF) as well as with in vitro fertilized (IVF) oocytes. In vitro matured abattoir-derived oocytes were considered as recipients and a hand-made cloning technique was employed for oocyte enucleation and nuclear transfer (NT) procedures. The expression pattern of genes involved in self-renewal and pluripotency (POU5F1, SOX2, NANOG), imprinting (IGF2, IGF2R), DNA methylation (DNMT1, DNMT3A), histone deacetylation (HDAC2), and apoptosis (BAX, BCL2) were evaluated in NT and IVF derived embryos. Despite the insignificant difference in cleavage rate between reconstructed and IVF oocytes, the blastocyst rate in the IVF group was higher than that of other groups. Among reconstructed oocytes, a higher blastocysts rate was observed in MSC-NT and AMSCs-NT derived embryos that were significantly higher than AF-NT derived ones. There were more similarities in the expression pattern of pluripotency and epigenetic modification genes between MSC-NT and IVF derived blastocysts compared with other groups. In conclusion, considering developmental competence, AMSCs, as alternative donors in SCNT procedure, like MSCs, were prone to have more advantage compared with AF.


This paper highlights the effects of climate related hazards in crops and the existing adaptation practices in the high hills of Nepal. First, interaction meeting held in Kathmandu decided to select three districts: Humla, Kaski and Solukhumbhu as the representative districts. Second, stakeholder interaction meetings held in respective districts selected three villages: Chhipra from Humla district, Lumle from Kaski district and Takashindu from Solukhumbhu district. Information was acquired using Focus Group Discussion with the use of diversity analysis tools viz. four-cell analysis, noting traits of local crop genetic resources, and matrix ranking of crop varieties. The study found that climate hazards were increasing in recent years affecting farming adversely. Existing adaptation practices included change of crops and cropping pattern and use of alternate crop management strategies. Tourism, low social value attached to traditional crops, inadequate research, and food subsidy and other forms of external support have been identified as the threat to agrobiodiversity conservation in high hills of Nepal. Promotion of agro-tourism, identifying crop varieties tolerant to extreme weather events and their promotion through technology development and value addition have been suggested to combat climate change effects in high hill agriculture in the country.


ABSTRACT The concept of precarity has gained momentum and challenges social scientists to consider the effects of labour-market insecurity across classes and welfare arrangements. This article discusses the varieties of experiences of precarious work by young people in university and identifies in which cases they are also experiences precarity. It is one of the first studies of its kind to investigate the material triggers of inequality by comparing young people's experiences across countries (England, Italy and Sweden) and by looking at the welfare mixes available to young people who are working at university. Through a comparative qualitative research involving young people from different socio-economic backgrounds and 'welfare mixes', the article shows that experiences of precarity concern a minority of young people who have an absolute necessity to rely on labour-market sources, due to the lack or insufficiency of state support and family sources. It also identifies: a group of young people who feel pressure to get precarious jobs to fill a decline in family resources; and a convenient use of precarious jobs suiting the circumstances of young people with abundant family resources. Overall, the research found that precarity is deeply connected to young people's welfare mixes.


ABSTRACT Water stress is one of the limiting factors for citrus production and Citrus species show great variation in their response to drought stress. Although the majority of Citrus rootstocks are sensitive to water stress, Rangpur lime (Citrus limon (L) Osbeck) (RL) shows a high degree of drought tolerance. Therefore, it has been used as a rootstock in drought-prone environments, but mechanisms of drought tolerance are not yet known. In this study, to explore the mechanisms of drought adaptation and tolerance, a subtractive cDNA library was constructed from the leaves of 14-day drought-stressed and non-stressed RL for identification of drought-induced genes. 285 cDNA sequences were obtained from randomly selected clones from the subtracted library containing the drought-induced genes. The expression analyses of 200 cDNAs in 14-day drought treated and untreated RL by macroarray hybridisation revealed that the expression of 56 cDNAs increased two to 11-fold. 30 non-redundant drought-induced genes were identified from these cDNAs and drought induction of eight selected genes was confirmed by a real-time RT-PCR assay suggesting that expressions of these genes were regulated by drought-stress. Genes identified in this study were mostly related with cell rescue and defense pathways involved in drought adaptation and tolerance of RL.


Introduction : There is no one single unified theory to explain the etiology of autism. Autistic symptoms occur along a wide spectrum. Thus we studied the autistic symptoms according to gender, mental retardation and presence of epilepsy.
Methods : 500 children attending different special schools were screened for autism employing DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for autistic disorder. Data was analysed employing suitable statistical tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results : Display of autistic features was significantly different among the study subjects (p value less than 0.00001). But more than 90% of the subjects had distorted speech, repetitive speech and tantrum to minor changes symptoms. Autistic males were two times greater than autistic females (50 vs. 24). Proportion of autistic subjects with loneliness and poor interaction was significantly higher in 26-50 intelligence quotients group compared to 51-80 intelligence quotients (p value equal to 0.002, 0.03 respectively). 25.67% autistic subjects were epileptic. In them, prevalence of not identifying strangers , failing to make eye contact, not understanding
humor symptoms were significantly higher compared to others ( p value equal to 0.018, 0.044, 0.015, respectively ). Epilepsy was associated with higher number of autism symptoms ( p value equal to 0. 023).
Conclusions : Tantrum to minor changes, distorted and repetitive speech are the most common autistic features. Risk of autism is 2 times higher in males compared to females. Aloofness and poor interaction symptoms are higher in autistic subjects with lower intelligence quotients. Epilepsy is associated with higher number of autism symptoms.


ABSTRACT Whereas most research has focused on the influence of teachers on student engagement, we postulate that peer experiences – particularly bullying behavior as a victim or perpetrator – impact student engagement over time. Using a sample of 525 adolescents (46% female, mean age = 13.51) nested within 31 classrooms from Chilean schools selected by convenience sampling design, we examined the relationship between victim and perpetrator on student engagement. Concurrently, we examined school bonding as a predictor of student engagement as well as its potential role as a protective factor. Our results indicated that perpetration predicted students' cognitive engagement (at the individual level), whereas both being a victim (at the individual level) and school bonding (at the individual and classroom levels) predicted emotional engagement. However, classroom-level school bonding did not moderate the relationship between bullying and student engagement. Our study highlights the importance of building positive school climates for improving student engagement.


Poor produce quality and inconsistent supply currently impede smallholder vegetable growers in Fiji from accessing high-value domestic markets. One proposed option to overcome these constraints is to adopt a more centralised approach to product grading and storage, based around a network of regional ripening and packaging facilities. In terms of tomato growers, this would necessitate reconfiguring existing postharvest supply chains, removing the need for on-farm ripening, and transport of harvest-green mature fruit. This preliminary study was undertaken to determine whether the alternative transport of mature hard-green fruit would affect the incidence of bruising and impact damage. Fruits of four ripening stages were commercially transported to Suva municipal market, and then stored for seven days at 20-28°C (ambient market storage conditions). Fruit deformation due to compression in the carton was significantly less in mature-hard green fruits. We found that mature hard-green stage was least susceptible to bruising (8%) compared with turning stage tomatoes (12%), commercially traded fruit (16%) and light-red (21%). For mature green tomatoes most damage (36%) was in the middle inner level of the carton. Light red and turning tomatoes placed in the bottom inside layer displayed highest level of damage, 62 and 46% respectively. Based on this preliminary trial, transporting hardgreen tomatoes is likely to reduce the risk of in-transit postharvest damage, compared to the current smallholder practices of transporting fully-ripe fruit.


The case for nonprofit sector studies as an autonomous field of knowledge is well established. Among the more distinctive characteristics of the field is that it is interdisciplinary and has unambiguous underpinnings of theory and practice drawn from research and education methods that use a nonprofit-first perspective and pedagogy. To advance institutional anchors of the field, nonintrusive and low cost accreditation based upon NACC indicators of quality and curricular guidelines should be used. A process of accrediting nonprofit academic programs, research center activity, and community service programs can also provide a means of rating nonprofit programs nationally.


A recursive hypothesis suggests that gender differences in spatial abilities, including mental rotation tasks, are the result of differences in the strategies that men and women use to process information. To address this issue, we systematically explored men and women's performance for rotated patterns by assessing recognition, confidence rating and response time, thought to be fundamental to spatial processing, with classical methods, and with signal detection theory (SDT) parameters (d-prime and c-bias). Among our findings, we highlight d-prime as the most robust parameter to assess gender differences and predict group membership. Furthermore, we conclude that better performance by men is due to their strategy of transforming a mental rotation task into a simpler task comparing the alignment of test stimuli to the surrounding experimental environment.


A large political gathering such as the 1984 Republican National Convention provided the ingredients necessary to challenge a community's medical system. A committee consisting of representatives from the city, the county hospital district, the Dallas County Medical Society, and the American Red Cross coordinated their efforts toward developing a comprehensive plan to provide medical support for all aspects of the convention. Provisions to deal with the following potential problems included: 1) the extreme heat; 2) security; 3) massive crowds on the convention floor; 4) the area in which the demonstrators were staying as well as the area in which the demonstrations were to occur; 5) special requirements for visiting dignitaries; and 6) terrorism. Eighty patients were seen in the protest area. Thirty-nine patients were treated by the Red Cross, and 518 patients were seen in the convention center. Ten patients required transportation to the hospital. Organization, coordination, and cooperation of all personnel and appropriate agencies helped ensure a smooth operation.


This study documents how a high school ESL teacher working with new immigrants ages 14–20 supported the development of their critical thinking and English language skills by using advertising analysis activities. The article examines the use of key critical questions for analyzing media messages and documents instructional activities designed to strengthen students' vocabulary, reading, and discussion skills to build inferential thinking and critical analysis skills. The researchers focus on four instructional practices used by the participating teacher, which rely on strategies for applying critical questions to analyze advertising: the cloze technique, the question generation approach, practice in analyzing ads using critical questions in class discussion, and a collaborative online writing activity resulting in the creation of a multiparagraph multimedia document. These activities provided a meaningful opportunity for students to practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in English while supporting the development of abstract thinking, balancing the learning of new academic language and cultural knowledge, and connecting with students' prior knowledge, home cultures, and everyday experience.


Mesocosm experiments on phytoplankton dynamics under high CO2 concentrations mimic the response of marine primary producers to future ocean acidification. However, potential acidification effects can be hindered by the high standard deviation typically found in the replicates of the same CO2 treatment level. In experiments with multiple unresolved factors and a sub-optimal number of replicates, post-processing statistical inference tools might fail to detect an effect that is present. We propose that in such cases, data-based model analyses might be suitable tools to unearth potential responses to the treatment and identify the uncertainties that could produce the observed variability. As test cases, we used data from two independent mesocosm experiments. Both experiments showed high standard deviations and, according to statistical inference tools, biomass appeared insensitive to changing CO2 conditions. Conversely, our simulations showed earlier and more intense phytoplankton blooms in modeled replicates at high CO2 concentrations and suggested that uncertainties in average cell size, phytoplankton biomass losses, and initial nutrient concentration potentially outweigh acidification effects by triggering strong variability during the bloom phase. We also estimated the thresholds below which uncertainties do not escalate to high variability. This information might help in designing future mesocosm experiments and interpreting controversial results on the effect of acidification or other pressures on ecosystem functions


S.T. Sonis and D.M. Keefe (eds.), Pathobiology of Cancer Regimen-Related Toxicities, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-5438-0_3, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract It has long been considered that the important biological effects of ionizing radiation are a direct consequence of unrepaired or misrepaired DNA damage occurring in the irradiated cells. It was presumed that no effect would occur in cells in the population that receive no direct radiation exposure. However, in vitro evidence generated over the past two decades has indicated that non-targeted cells in irradiated cell cultures also experience signi fi cant biochemical and phenotypic changes that are often similar to those observed in the targeted cells. Further, nontargeted tissues in partial body-irradiated rodents also experienced stressful effects, including oxidative and oncogenic effects. This phenomenon, termed the "bystander response," has been postulated to impact both the estimation of health risks of exposure to low doses/low fl uences of ionizing radiation and the induction of second primary cancers following radiotherapy. Several mechanisms involving secreted soluble factors, oxidative metabolism, gap-junction intercellular communication, and DNA repair, have been proposed to regulate radiation-induced bystander effects. The latter mechanisms are major mediators of the system responses to ionizing radiation exposure, and our knowledge of the biochemical and molecular events involved in these processes is reviewed in this chapter.


So much feeling has been aroused by the evacuiation of city children to the country, and so many speculative opinions put forward, that a careful study of the problems involved is especially welcome. This book describes a systematic survey, carried out both statistically and by casestudy methods, of 725 Tottenham and Islington children billeted in Cambridge during the first six months of the war. The respective points of view of children, fosterparents, teachers, and local authorities (including billeting officers) were studied by means of questionaries, interviews, and essays written by the children. Unfortunately the survey had to be limited considerably both in scope and in method. The number of cases investigated formed only a small and not altogether representative sample of the evacuated population: the Tottenham children included few from very poor homes, and an unusually high proportion of adolescents; the question of the " under fives " could not be studied, since only twelve of the children fell into this age group. Also, the investigators were debarred from visiting foster-homes, and so were forced to rely on information gathereo by willing but in most cases tintrained " friendly visitors " of the W.V.S. As the editors of this book recognize, the whole problem of evacuation is kaleidoscopic. Children and workers are constantly changing in any one area; conditions change with the varying phases of the war. Before the raids many foster-parents felt aggrieved at having to look after children whose homes were not apparently in danger. When the serious raids began there was a revulsion of feeling in favour of the temporary exiles, who in turn became more anxious on behalf of their families, with resultant nervous symptoms and disorders of behaviour; the lull in raiding has again made foster-parents-and parents-less tolerant. The Cambridge Evacuation Survey, though carried out before these changing circumstances became apparent, has gathered valuable information and formulated practical recommendations still of great use at the present time. Among the latter are the provision of more adequate hostel accommodation, including emergency hostels, the establishment of social and child guidance services, and the appointment of billeting officers chosen for their knowledge of the needs of children as well as of local conditions. The need for skilled planning and preparation, both in evacuation and in reception areas, is stressed, and various other suggestions are made for preventing the drift back to the cities. The members of the survey are to be congratulated on having combined human insight with a scientific approach to material, and on a method of investigation that may well serve as a model for a larger and later survey of the problem.


Through the commentary on a particularly interesting period taken from the Introduction to La libertà viene prima, the author intends to focus on Bruno Trentin's idea of socialism. Giovanni Mari underlines how this idea foresees the critique of four theses of the modern socialist tradition: 1) socialism is not a model of society, but a continuous process; 2) in our company the company does not constitute a world in itself; 3) the socialization of property does not solve the problems of democracy; 4) the center of civil coexistence is not constituted by the class but by the person. And four positive theses: 1) the form of political action does not foresee two separate times, first the seizure of power and then the reforms; 2) the measure of society is the freedom of the person; 3) the goal of the socialist process is the self-realization of the person; 4) everything begins with the person who works, that is, with the battle for freedom in work.


Abstract : An experimental study was made of the influence of noise signals on the storage of information recorded in a memory superconducting cell--a persistotron--operating in the regime of the so-called symmetric recording. The obtained data allow judging the operational reliability of such an element in the memory matrix and the requirements of the identity of the parameters of such elements forming the memory matrix. The calculation is given, showing the influence of the spread of the characteristics of transition of the superconducting film into a normal state on the storage of information in the element at its readout by current pulses. The dependence between the value of an allowance for the spread of the element parameters and the number of readouts after which the regeneration of the recorded information should be made was obtained experimentally. A conclusion is made about expediency of studying of persistotrons operating in the regime of the so-called assymmetric recording, in this case, using thermal processes in the element, as in this case an increase of reliability of the memory matrix is expected. (Author)


A large segment of cryptoassets consists of tokens—simple code running on programmable blockchains such as Ethereum—that serve as a payment or governance mechanism for an underlying digital platform, usually a peer-to-peer marketplace of various services. An ongoing debate about the viability of the token market is centered on whether tokens are used purely for speculation, or have actual utility on their underlying platforms. The objective of this study is to create and validate a set of granular measures of token utility and speculation. Using disaggregated data on 270 million transactions in 891 tokens hosted on the Ethereum blockchain, we construct three intuitive measures of token utility and speculation: utility turnover (UT), speculative turnover (ST), and DeFi ratio (DF). These measures first reveal a striking decline—of about 90%—in average token utility usage since 2017. This decline coincides with an equally pronounced increase in token speculation, with exchange-based speculation peaking at mid-2020. We show that the emergence of DeFi applications, which offer increasingly levered and complex speculative tools, are crowding out both utility and speculation usages and further extending the increase in token speculation. We provide additional economic validation of our measures by relating them to future market outcomes and show that token utility negatively predicts return volatility in the cross section, while both speculative measures positively predict volatility. Additionally, DeFi activities positively predict future market-adjusted returns. These results suggest that our measures embed value-relevant information about the economic activities in the token-linked platforms, and about the intensity of speculative noise trading in these tokens, thus making them useful outcome or explanatory variables in future empirical analyses of blockchain tokens and platforms.


Enzymes are increasingly recognized as valuable (bio)catalysts that complement existing synthetic methods. However, the range of biotransformations used in the laboratory is limited. Here we give an overview on the biosynthesis-inspired discovery of novel biocatalysts that address various synthetic challenges. Prominent examples from this dynamic field highlight remarkable enzymes for protecting-group-free amide formation and modification, control of pericyclic reactions, achieve stereoselective hetero- and polycyclizations, enable atroposelective aryl couplings, facilitate site-selective C-H activations, introduce ring strain, and promote N-N bond formations. We also explore unusual functions of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, radical SAM-dependent enzymes, flavoproteins, and enzymes recruited from primary metabolism, which offer opportunities for synthetic biology, enzyme engineering, directed evolution, and catalyst design.


Intelligent robots are capable of handling complex tasks that includes recognition of vocal commands, logical inference, autonomous navigation and manipulation, etc. To accomplish intelligent behaviors, researchers have proposed a number of control software architectures such as tripodal schematic control architecture (TSCA). To achieve real-time performance for robot's navigation, we have implemented software components in the reactive layer of TSCA on RTAI (Real-Time Application Interface) for our intelligent robot. In this article, we present our structures of the reactive layer components. Real-time performance of the designed reactive control layer is demonstrated via experimental results.


PURPOSE
To determine the added value of functional magnetic resonance (MR) sequences (dynamic contrast material-enhanced [DCE] and quantitative diffusion-weighted [DW] imaging with apparent diffusion coefficient [ADC] mapping) for the detection of recurrent soft-tissue sarcomas following surgical resection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. The requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. Thirty-seven patients referred for postoperative surveillance after resection of soft-tissue sarcoma (35 with high-grade sarcoma) were studied. Imaging at 3.0 T included conventional (T1-weighted, fluid-sensitive, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging) and functional (DCE MR imaging, DW imaging with ADC mapping) sequences. Recurrences were confirmed with biopsy or resection. A disease-free state was determined with at least 6 months of follow-up. Two readers independently recorded the signal and morphologic characteristics with conventional sequences, the presence or absence of arterial enhancement at DCE MR imaging, and ADCs of the surgical bed. The accuracy of conventional MR imaging in the detection of recurrence was compared with that with the addition of functional sequences. The Fisher exact and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to define the accuracy of imaging features, the Cohen κ and Lin interclass correlation were used to define interobserver variability, and receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to define a threshold to detect recurrence and assess reader confidence after the addition of functional imaging to conventional sequences.

RESULTS
There were six histologically proved recurrences in 37 patients. Sensitivity and specificity of MR imaging in the detection of tumor recurrence were 100% (six of six patients) and 52% (16 of 31 patients), respectively, with conventional sequences, 100% (six of six patients) and 97% (30 of 31 patients) with the addition of DCE MR imaging, and 60% (three of five patients) and 97% (30 of 31 patients) with the addition of DW imaging and ADC mapping. The average ADC of recurrence (1.08 mm(2)/sec ± 0.19) was significantly different from those of postoperative scarring (0.9 mm(2)/sec ± 0.00) and hematomas (2.34 mm(2)/sec ± 0.72) (P = .03 for both).

CONCLUSION
The addition of functional MR sequences to a routine MR protocol, in particular DCE MR imaging, offers a specificity of more than 95% for distinguishing recurrent sarcoma from postsurgical scarring.


Some Korovkin-type theorems for spaces containing almost periodic measures are presented. We prove that some sets of almost periodic measures are test sets for some particular nets of positive linear operators on spaces containing almost periodic measures. We consider spaces which contain almost periodic measures defined by densities and measures which can be represented as the convolution between an arbitrary measure with finite support (or an arbitrary bounded measure) and a fixed almost periodic measure. We also give a Korovkin-type result for the space of almost periodic measures; in this case the net of linear operators has a certain contraction property.


Forecasting future outcomes from recent time series data is not easy, especially when the future data are different from the past (i.e. time series are under temporal drifts). Existing approaches show limited performances under data drifts, and we identify the main reason: It takes time for a model to collect sufficient training data and adjust its parameters for complicated temporal patterns whenever the underlying dynamics change. To address this issue, we study a new approach; instead of adjusting model parameters (by continuously re-training a model on new data), we build a hypernetwork that generates other target models' parameters expected to perform well on the future data. Therefore, we can adjust the model parameters beforehand (if the hypernetwork is correct). We conduct extensive experiments with 6 target models, 6 baselines, and 4 datasets, and show that our HyperGPA outperforms other baselines.


The development potential of remittances has resurfaced as a topic of analysis, based in part on dramatic increases in migration and amounts of money 'sent home', and partly in the growing interest and involvement by states and non-state actors in gaining leverage over remittances. The trend is indicative of an emerging remittance-based component of development and poverty reduction planning. This article uses the case of Mexico to make two broad arguments, one related to the importance of extra-economic dimensions of remittances, particularly the social and political meanings of remittances, and the other based on a disaggregation of remittances into family, collective or community-based, and investment remittances. Key dimensions of this typology include the constellation of remitters, receivers, and mediating institutions; the norms and logic(s) that regulate remittances; the uses of remittances (income versus savings); the social and political meanings of remittances; and the implications of such meanings for various interventions. The author concludes that policy and programme interventions need to recognize the specificity of each remittance type. Existing initiatives to bank the un-banked and reduce transfer costs, for example, are effective for family remittances, but attempts to expand the share of remittances allocated to savings, or to turn community donations into profitable ventures, or small investments into large businesses, are much more complex and require a range of other interventions.


Network analysis is becoming one of the most active research areas in statistics. Significant advances have been made recently on developing theories, methodologies and algorithms for analyzing networks. However, there has been little fundamental study on optimal estimation. In this paper, we establish optimal rate of convergence for graphon estimation. For the stochastic block model with $k$ clusters, we show that the optimal rate under the mean squared error is $n^{-1}\log k+k^2/n^2$. The minimax upper bound improves the existing results in literature through a technique of solving a quadratic equation. When $k\leq\sqrt{n\log n}$, as the number of the cluster $k$ grows, the minimax rate grows slowly with only a logarithmic order $n^{-1}\log k$. A key step to establish the lower bound is to construct a novel subset of the parameter space and then apply Fano's lemma, from which we see a clear distinction of the nonparametric graphon estimation problem from classical nonparametric regression, due to the lack of identifiability of the order of nodes in exchangeable random graph models. As an immediate application, we consider nonparametric graphon estimation in a H\"{o}lder class with smoothness $\alpha$. When the smoothness $\alpha\geq1$, the optimal rate of convergence is $n^{-1}\log n$, independent of $\alpha$, while for $\alpha\in(0,1)$, the rate is $n^{-2\alpha/(\alpha+1)}$, which is, to our surprise, identical to the classical nonparametric rate.


We report the results of an experimental study on the radiation hardness of 4H-SiC diodes used as alpha-particle detectors with 1 MeV neutrons up to a fluence of 8times1015 n/cm2. As the irradiation level approaches the range 1015 n/cm2 , the material behaves as intrinsic due to a very high compensation effect and the diodes are still able to detect with a reasonable good Charge Collection Efficiency (CCE=80%). For fluences >1015 n/cm2 CCE decreases monotonically to ap20% at the highest fluence. Heavily irradiated SiC diodes have been studied by means of Photo Induced Current Transient Spectroscopy (PICTS) technique in order to characterize the electronic levels associated with the irradiation-induced defects. The dominant features of the PICTS spectra occur between 400-700 K; in this temperature range the deep levels associated with the induced defects play the main role in degradation of the CCE. Enthalpy, capture cross-section and concentration of such deep levels were calculated and we found that two deep levels (Et=1.18 eV and Et=1.50 eV) are responsible for the decrease in CCE. They have been associated to an elementary defect involving a carbon vacancy and to a defect complex involving a carbon and a silicon vacancy, respectively


Intracellular recordings from the dorsal root ganglion cells of adult frogs in the presence of tetraethylammonium display action potentials with a prominent calcium-dependent plateau. These action potentials can be altered by serotonergic agents in one of two ways. The superfusion of 5-HT (0.1-1 microM) usually produces a dose-dependent reduction of the action potential duration, whereas 8-hydroxy dipropylaminotetralin (8-OH-DPAT) (10-50 microM) produces a dose-dependent increase in duration. A series of 5-HT antagonists were tested for their ability to block either the 5-HT or the 8-OH-DPAT effect. The antagonists were chosen for their reported selectivity in distinguishing receptors of the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 subtypes. The antagonists' action on 5-HT narrowing [blockade by methiothepin, spiperone and spiroxitrine, but not by ketanserin or 3-tropyl-indole-3-carboxylate (ICS 205-930)] suggests that this response is mediated by 5-HT1A receptors. The widening effect produced by 8-OH-DPAT (a putative 5-HT1A agonist) was not blocked by any antagonist tested. At lower concentrations (0.1-2.5 microM) 8-OH-DPAT exhibited no agonist actions, but antagonized the 5-HT-induced narrowing. These results suggest the 5-HT receptors mediating 5-HT action potential narrowing in these cells are of the 5-HT1A subtype, but that they differ from the 5-HT1A receptors described in other tissues in which 8-OH-DPAT is an agonist or a partial agonist.


Background: The development of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) treatment has led the increased of patients survival. Quality of life has became a value based medicine component that should be evaluated in treating SLE. One standardized questionnaire to asses the quality of life in SLE patients is Lupus Quality of Life (Lupus QoL). Currently, in Indonesia, there has not been any spesific questionnaire to asses the quality of life in SLE patients. This study aims to prove that Lupus QoL is valid and reliable to asses the quality of life in SLEpatients in Indonesia.Methods: This study used cross sectional study method. Firstly, we translated the Lupus QoL into Indonesian language, then we tested to 10 respondents. Then, we continued the study with larger sample size. We analyzed the reliability of the test and the re-test result using the interclass coefficient correlation and the internal consistency of the tests using cronbach alpha. Construct validity was evaluated using multi trait scaling analysis and the extrenal validity was evaluated using correlation between domains in short form 36 (SF 36)with Lupus QoL and with disease activity.Results: Data collection was done to 65 SLE patients between October – November 2015 in RSCM. The test has good external validity SF 36 (r=0.38-0.66, p 0.4; range: 0.44-0.93). The ICC value in one week >0.7 and Cronbach α was>0.7 in each domain. The correlation between lupus QoL and the disease activity was weak and consistentwith other studies.Conclusion: Lupus QoL questionnaire is valid and reliable to asses the quality of life in SLE patients inIndonesia.Key words: Quality of Life, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Lupus QoL, Validity, Reliability


One kind of mid-term production system, aggregate production planning, identifies the optimum production plan for each production period. The goal of aggregate production planning is to forecast future demand swings. On the other hand, maintenance system identifies the proper time for preventive maintenance and restrains from break downs and reduces maintenance costs. Due to the importance of these two systems, in recent years, there has generated different models independently. The current research has proposed an integrated aggregate production planning model considering the time and costs of maintenance. This model indicates the optimum production size among the optimum time of preventive maintenance. As a final point, in order to check the reliability of the proposed model, an example has been examined. Results show that a considerable amount of cost has been saved by applying the model.


This article reports the results of a study examining the utility of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in algebra for predicting performance on a state math assessment and informing instructional placement decisions for students in seventh, eighth, and tenth grades. Students completed six Basic Skills algebra probes across different time schedules and took their respective grade-level state math assessment. Using a dichotomous pass/fail variable based on whether students met grade-level proficiency, logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were conducted to assess the CBM's predictive validity. Rates of improvement (ROIs) were computed using the Tukey method to collect initial information on whether these measures would help monitor student progress. Finally, to determine whether these measures might inform instructional programming, a MANOVA using course assignment as the grouping variable and CBM, ROI, and state assessment performance as the dependent variables was conducted for the tenth-grade students. Results indicate that these measures show promise to predict which students might not meet grade-level proficiency standards as well as to determine whether students are progressing in the curriculum. Implications for practice are discussed.


This article elucidates the importance of Indo-Pacific in maritime security today. In the 21st century, the region has gained the world's attention due to dramatic growth of China's economy, steady rise of India, the more proactive regional countries, and the increasing oil exports to the region. With such importance, the region has been contested with powerful nations, such as China, India, Australia, Japan, the Southeast Asia nations, and even the United States. China's increasing military presence in Indo-Pacific has been perceived as assertive by some of the regional countries. Meanwhile, the United States has become a more prominent actor in the region since the application of Rebalance policy in 2012. The paper discusses the issues, challenges and prospects of maritime security in Indo Pacific.


ABSTRACT This article takes a point of departure in Denmark's decision to use the armed forces as a tool of foreign policy, even when this implies deployment to regions where combat and casualties must be expected. Since war, combat, and violence contradict traditional self-understandings of being Danish, recent experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have implied renegotiations and reconstructions of the national 'we'. In this article, I examine how this is reflected in the emergent memorial landscape by focusing on one national monument, two grassroots memorials, and 20 individual tombstones. All memorials, I argue, relate to a recent public discourse about the 'war-fighting nation' and the 'warrior generation'. The national monument eschews references to war and violence to produce a national narrative focusing on 'effort' as the core collective value. One grassroots memorial subtly challenges war and insists on possible alternatives. The other silently accepts war, but demonstrates that, apart from the 'fallen soldiers' who are commonly memorialized, war produces many other kinds of suffering that remain officially and socially unrecognized. The individual graves and tombstones, which have been designed by the soldiers and their families, memorialize soldiers as professionals with a military belonging as well as persons with numerous social attachments. And they most directly address the war, violence, and suffering that the emergence of a 'war-fighting nation' and a 'warrior generation' inevitably implies. Assembling different kinds of memorials that represent different positions of authority and power in the same analysis, I argue, provides a unique insight into how Denmark's recent military adventures are ascribed meaning, contested, and negotiated.


An adaptive non-convex total variation regularisation is proposed for blind image restoration. A flux corrected transport (FCT) technique is used to obtain a stable numerical scheme, where a spatially varying constraint allows a better restoration of image edges and fine detail. Finally, its advantages are shown in deblurring edges, denoising and restoring fine details of image simultaneously in experiments.


Spermarche (first penile ejaculation) is a physiological event that many boys experience as part of the onset of puberty. However, there is little qualitative research on how they themselves experience and interpret it. Based on interviews with 26 Taiwanese men, experiences of spermarche occurred due to: (1) sexual behavior; (2) nocturnal emission; (3) naïve self-exploration; and (4) masturbation were identified and examined. Findings reveal that ejaculation was experienced as a complex and dynamic process with diverse emotions which were entangled. In addition, it was understood not just as a biological phenomenon, but there are broader social, cultural and medical discourses that shape how these men feel and reflect on their first ejaculation experience. In the end, the contribution of this study to the research field of spermarche is suggested.


Development of novel electrode materials is essential to achieve high-performance lithium ion batteries. Here, we demonstrate that amorphous nickel iron complex hydroxides (Ni–Fe–OH) synthesized by a laser–chemical method can be used as a potential conversion anode material for lithium storage. Complementary characterizations, including ensemble-averaged X-ray absorption spectroscopy, spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope, were performed to reveal the chemical and structural evolutions of the active hydroxide particles undergoing electrochemical cycling. The solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer with a primary component of lithium fluoride (LiF) was found and remained robust on the particle surface during the charge/discharge processes, which suggests that the LiF-containing SEI layer plays a critical role in maintaining the stable capacity retention and good reversibility of the Ni–Fe–OH anode.


We have been interested in the analytical and experimental study of real-life bird song sources for several years. Bird sources are characterized by either a single or multiple bird vocalizations independent of each other or in response to others. The sources may be physically-stationary or exhibit movements and the signals are wide-band in frequency and often intermittent with pauses and possibly restarting with repeating previously used songs or with new songs. Thus, the detection, classification, and 2D or 3D localization of these birds pose challenging signal and array problems. Due to the fact that some birds can mimic other birds, time-domain waveform characterization may not be sufficient for determining the number of birds. Similarly, due to the intermittent nature of the vocalizations, data collected over a long period cannot be used naively. Thus, it is necessary to use short-time Fourier transform (STFT) to fully exploit the intricate natures of the time and frequency properties of these sources and displayed on a spectrogram. Various dominant spectral data over the relevant frames are used to form sample covariance matrices. Eigenvectors associated with the decompositions of these matrices for these spectral indices can be used to provide 2D/3D DOA estimations of the sources over different frames for intermittent sources. Proper cluttering of these data can be used to perform enhanced detection, classification, and localization of multiple bird sources. Two sets of collected bird data will be used to demonstrate these claims.


Recently, the research interest of person re-identification (ReID) has gradually turned to video-based methods, which acquire a person representation by aggregating frame features of an entire video. However, existing video-based ReID methods do not consider the semantic difference brought by the outputs of different network stages, which potentially compromises the information richness of the person features. Furthermore, traditional methods ignore important relationship among frames, which causes information redundancy in fusion along the time axis. To address these issues, we propose a novel general temporal fusion framework to aggregate frame features on both semantic aspect and time aspect. As for the semantic aspect, a multi-stage fusion network is explored to fuse richer frame features at multiple semantic levels, which can effectively reduce the information loss caused by the traditional single-stage fusion. While, for the time axis, the existing intra-frame attention method is improved by adding a novel inter-frame attention module, which effectively reduces the information redundancy in temporal fusion by taking the relationship among frames into consideration. The experimental results show that our approach can effectively improve the video-based re-identification accuracy, achieving the state-of-the-art performance.


: Clinical pharmacy research is defined as investigation of patient oriented drug related services. The dilemma is that Canadian practitioners have failed to do sufficient research in the area of clinical pharmacy programs, and this is desperately needed. A simple two-factor model is proposed to help explain the problem. Factors facilitating research are termed personal and enabling. Personal factors are: knowledge and skills in research design and statistical analysis, as well as personal qualities which include a positive attitude toward research, desire for involvement, and drive to carry it out. Enabling factors are leadership and support (resources, encouragement from management, time, and finance). It is suggested that lack of research skills in practitioners, lack of leadership, and lack of management support are prime reasons for the dilemma. The author proposes that: 1. undergraduates and graduates receive more formal instruction in research methodology and statistical analysis; 2. skilled researchers assume a leadership role, and; 3. research be encouraged by giving it a higher priority, by allowing adequate time for research, and by providing financial and political support.


This thesis work has been performed at the department of diagnosis and dependability at Volvo Car Company, Torslanda. The background of this project is based on interest in ascertaining how different factors possibly can affect a diagnosis method, which has been developed to find leaks in the fuel tank and evaporation system. According to the OBD II requirements leaks with an orifice diameter larger or equal to 0,5 mm, must be detected. The idea of the diagnosis method is to create an over pressure in the system with an air-pump. The current through the pump is measured and correlates to the power consumed by the pump. As the power is a function of the pressure difference over the pump, the pump current correlates to the pressure in the tank. Thus, the pump current can be used as a measure of the impenetrability. Changes in the system pressure, not caused by the pump, are accordingly disturbances to the method. The object of this work was to develop mathematical models, describing the lapse where the system is pressurized by the pump under the influence of different physical factors. The model is for instance considering variations in temperature and height, flow resistance in lines and valves, component characteristics, fuel evaporation, leaks etc. Furthermore the pump current is treated by the diagnosis evaluation algorithm with purpose to judge whether there is a leak in the system. The model has been implemented in Matlab/Simulink and it can consequently be used in dynamic simulations according to the over pressure leakage detection concept. Numerical experiments can be done in purpose to examine how changes in environmental conditions or component characteristics will affect the diagnosis method. Good agreement has been found between measurements and simulated results. The diagnosis function produces correct decisions under different conditions with disparity in leak sizes, additionally confirming the reliability of the model.


"One size fits all" is an erroneous paradigm in drug delivery, due to side effects/adverse effects and variability observed in drug response. The variability is a result of geneotypic variations (variability in genomic constitution) which is studied in the branch of science called Pharmacogenomics. The variability in drug response is studied by multigene analysis or profiling of whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and is recorded in terms of the pharmacokinetic (absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination) and pharmacodynamic (drug-receptor interaction, immune response, etc.) response of the drug. Therefore, a foray into this research area can provide valuable information for designing of drug therapies, identifying disease etiology, therapeutic targets and biomarkers for application in treatment and diagnosis of diseases. Lately, with the integration of pharmacogenomics and nanotechnology, a new facade for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases has opened up, and the prescription pattern of drugs has moved to pharmacotyping (individualized dose and dosage-form adjusted therapy) using nanoplatforms like nanobioconjugates, nanotheranostics, etc.


Abstract So far, most options for protecting the viability of Social Security have tinkered with financing and eligibility rules that do nothing about design flaws that led to our current fiscal crisis – regressive transfers, unfunded liabilities, and inefficient funding of retirement benefits. Under the current system, payroll taxes rob the first dollars of earnings from the working poor and from others who would prefer real savings to a promise of future benefits from the government, while retirees who do not need public support fight for their earned benefits. My proposal, Social Security Basic Income, replaces a rigid formula for forced savings and intergenerational transfers with a pay-as-you-go welfare program funded from general revenue that provides basic income to poor people, regardless of age. Comparative static analysis of the impact of this system on individuals finds that a generous safety net will not significantly increase total federal expenditures or individual tax burdens.


Anomalous X-ray pulsars, compact nonpulsing X-ray sources in supernova remnants, and X-ray bursters are three distinct types of sources for which there are viable models that attribute their X-ray spectra to thermal emission from the surface of a neutron star. Inferring the surface area of the emitting regions in such systems is crucial in assessing the viability of different models and in providing bounds on the radii of neutron stars. We show that the spectroscopically inferred areas of the emitting regions may be over- or underestimated by a factor of ≲2, because of the three-dimensional geometry of the system and general relativistic light deflection, combined with the effects of phase averaging. Such effects make the determination of neutron star radii uncertain, especially when compared to the ~5% level required for constraining the equation of state of neutron star matter. We also note that, for a given spectral shape, the inferred source luminosities and pulse fractions are anticorrelated because they depend on the same properties of the emitting regions, namely, their sizes and orientations. As a result, brighter sources have on average weaker pulsation amplitudes than fainter sources. We argue that this property can be used as a diagnostic tool in distinguishing between different spectral models. As an example, we show that the high inferred pulse fraction and brightness of the pulsar RXS J1708-40 are inconsistent with isotropic thermal emission from a neutron star surface. Finally, we discuss the implication of our results for surveys in the soft X-rays for young, cooling neutron stars in supernova remnants and show that the absence of detectable pulsations from the compact source at the center of Cas A (at a level of ≳30%) is not a strong argument against its identification with a spinning neutron star.


South Africa is a developing country. It has been an active participant in the multilateral trading system since the creation of the new democratic government in May 1994. However, the country's role in the history of the multilateral trading system before this was very different. South Africa was a founding member of the GATT in 1947. The apartheid regime positioned itself within the organisation as a developed country and behaved as such. This study examines over 800 GATT documents on the country's participation in the GATT from 1947 to 1994. These documents have not been examined or studied before in any comprehensive manner.Although there is a vast literature on the history of the GATT, much of this is written from an orthodox standpoint, especially on the role of developing countries (Bhagwati, 2002; Srinivasan, 1998; Hoekman and Kostecki, 1995; Martin and Messerlin, 2007). More recently, there has been some revisionist academic literature on the GATT (Wilkinson, 2006, 2014; Wilkinson and Scott, 2008). This empirical study contributes to the work of the revisionists.An examination of the GATT documentation raises three main questions that this study sets out to examine. First, why did Apartheid South Africa project itself as a developed country in the GATT from its formation in 1947? Second, how was South Africa able to implement its domestic protectionist and discriminatory policies and still adhere to the ideas and principles of the GATT? And third, why did the major players in the GATT reflect a tendency to deviate from the main ideas and principles of the GATT in their trade practices vis-a-vis South Africa?John Ruggie's work on ideas and multilateralism and his concept of 'embedded liberalism' to describe the post-war multilateral economic institutions, including the GATT, is utilised to analyse the above questions.This study argues that while Ruggie's work is helpful in setting out the main ideas that drove the creation of the GATT and that became the core principles of the organisation, this analytical work on the multilateral trading system is incomplete and will need to be extended by other theoretical work. The GATT documentation reveals that there was a gap between the ideals of the multilateral trading system and the practice of both South Africa and the developed countries within the organisation. While they both professed their commitment to the GATT ideas of liberalisation, non-discrimination and reciprocity, their practices often tended towards protectionism, discrimination and the exclusion of developing countries. To explain this contradictory behaviour this study has drawn on the revisionist history of the GATT. This extended analytical framework is utilised to analyse the GATT documentation on South Africa.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Children with osteogenesis imperfecta frequently present with coxa vara. Skeletal fragility, severe deformity and limited fixation options make this a challenging condition to correct surgically. Our study aimed to determine the efficacy of the Fassier technique to correct coxa vara and determine the complication rate METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of a cohort of eight children (four females, 12 hips) with osteogenesis imperfecta (6/8 Sillence type III, 2/8 type IV) who had surgical treatment with the Fassier technique for proximal femoral deformity between 2014 and 2020 RESULTS: The mean age at operation was 5.8 years (range 2-10). The mean neck-shaft angle (NSA) was corrected from 96.8° preoperatively to 137° postoperatively. At a mean follow-up of 38.6 months, the mean NSA was maintained at 133°, and 83% (10/12) of hips had an NSA that remained greater than 120°. There was a 42% (5/12) complication rate: three Fassier-Duval rods failed to expand after distal epiphyseal fixation was lost during growth; one Rush rod migrated through the lateral proximal femur cortex with recurrent coxa vara; and one Rush rod migrated proximally and required rod revision CONCLUSION: The Fassier technique effectively corrected coxa vara in children with moderate and progressively deforming osteogenesis imperfecta. The deformity correction was maintained in the short term. The complication rate was high, but mainly related to the failed expansion of the Fassier-Duval rods. Further studies are required to determine the long-term outcome of this technique Level of evidence: Level 4 Keywords: osteogenesis imperfecta, coxa vara, Fassier-Duval, neck-shaft angle, deformity


Since 9/11 terrorism has been much discussed both in international media and in an academic context. Countries like China have launched their own"war on terror". The purpose of this essay will be to research how a nation like China can use terrorism and religion to motivate the marginalization of oppositional religious minorities. This will be done through a discourse analysis of YouTube videos produced in cooperation with the Chinese state that focuses on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The focus of the analysis will be on the discourses used by the Chinese state to define the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, religion and terrorism and how these discourses relate to William Cavanaugh´s theory of the myth of religious violence which states that a nation can use an envisaged link between religion and violence to legitimate its own existence, motivate its own use of violence and marginalize religious groups. The analysis show that the Chinese state marginalize the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and the conflict in Xinjiang by focusing on terrorism and religious violence as the main cause to the conflict in Xinjiang.


An evolutionary technique with a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is offered for planning time-optimal trajectories on a predefined Visibility Graph Method Dijkstra (VGM-D) path of a Nomad 200 mobile robot (MR). First of all, the segmented trajectory is generated by the VGM-D algorithm. Line and curve segments are the components of the trajectory. The number of intersections of the segmented VGM-D path determines the curve segments number. It is assumed that, at each curve segment, translation velocity v t is taken as constant. The Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm finds v t values of all the curve segments, which minimize the trajectory tracking time. Line segments lengths are used to calculate the constraints of the problem according to the Nomad 200's limitations on the translation velocity and acceleration/deceleration. The structures of the curve segments are modeled by FIS to decrease the DE's execution time. Another FIS model is used to define the upper bound of the translation velocities on the curve segments for the same purpose. Both FIS models are trained by the adapted-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Experiments are successfully implemented on the Nomad 200 MR.


Living arrangements have changed enormously over the last two centuries. While the average American today lives in a household of only three people, in 1850 household size was twice that figure. Further, both the number of children and the number of adults in a household have fallen dramatically. We develop a simple theory of household size where living with others is beneficial solely because the costs of household public goods can be shared. In other words, we abstract from intra-family relations and focus on households as collections of roommates. The model's mechanism is that rising income leads to a falling expenditure share on household public goods, which endogenously makes household formation less beneficial and privacy more attractive. To assess the magnitude of this mechanism, we first calibrate the model to match the relationship between household size, consumption patterns, and income in the cross-section at the end of the 20th century. We then project the model back to 1850 by changing income. We find that our proposed mechanism can account for 37 percent of the decline in the number of adults in a household between 1850 and 2000, and for 16 percent of the decline in the number of children.


Public health has several roles in reproductive genetic screening. It should emphasize the voluntary nature of these programs and ensure that people are adequately informed before making decisions and supported afterward. It must ensure that a central coordinating body will monitor the implementation and the outcome of these programs. Public health must also ensure that the definition of 'success' or 'failure' of a program is not based on too narrow monetary calculations.

Keywords:

screening;
reproductive;
genetic;
policy;
United Kingdom


Ammonia has sparked great interest as a carbon-free energy carrier for the transportation of renewable energy worldwide. The major objective of this dissertation is to design and synthesise fluorinated ionic liquid-based electrolytes that are capable of dissolving large amounts of nitrogen gas, for the electrochemical conversion of nitrogen into ammonia. Through the construction of a highly-precise pressure apparatus to measure the solubility of nitrogen gas, new underlying principles to raise the amount of dissolved nitrogen were established by tailoring the individual components, and the physical properties of the fluorinated electrolyte.


Batu Gajah dental clinic was built in early 70's where it provides services to the residents nearby. Recently, the patients and staff of the clinic complained about the level of comfort in the waiting area of the clinic whichwas said as very warm and uncomfortable. Besides, the monthly electricity consumption of the clinic increased significantly recently. Therefore, a study on the cooling energy of the clinic is required in order to identify rooms for improvements in thermal comfort and its energy consumption. The objective of the project is to studyand analyze the building thermal performance and various factors towards energy saving in the clinic. In this project, the study involvescalculations of the dental clinic's cooling energy and measurement of the temperature at various points in the waiting area during various conditions. Interviews are conducted with patients at the waiting area, and it is found that among of them prefer to wait outside the clinic due to the hot condition in the indoor area. Detailed analysis on the current trend of operation isconducted to identify potential energy conservation measures. At the end of this report, several ideas are proposed.


Industrial applications frequently require statistical procedures to analyze life-test data from various sources, particularly in situations where observations are limited. The author develops a Bayes parameter estimation method for bivariate censored data collected from both system and component levels. The bivariate Weibull distribution of Marshall & Olkin (1967) is used to model lifetimes of components in a two-component system. Closed-form Bayes estimators of the model parameters are proposed along with their variances and high-probability density intervals. >


Author(s): Curley, Lauren Butler | Advisor(s): Jernigan, Terry L | Abstract: Human development is a dynamic, protracted process influenced by genetics, the environment, experience, and many other factors. During development, an individual develops an entirely unique neural architecture along with a unique set of cognitive skills and abilities. Through recent large-scale pediatric neuroimaging initiatives, we now have a better understanding of the protracted structural changes occurring in the developing brain. We are also beginning to map out relationships between developing brain structure and domain-specific cognition, although we haven't fully characterized these relationships and their variability throughout typical development. The goal of this work is to assess how individual differences in regional cortical and subcortical brain structure are related to behavioral and cognitive variability in different domains during childhood and adolescence, which is a period of rapid dynamic change. This work also aims to investigate overlapping as well as distinguishing characteristics of the relationships between developing neural systems and domain-specific cognition. In this dissertation, I focus on three cognitive domains: phonological awareness, spatial working memory, and response inhibition. These three cognitive domains are thought to involve relatively distinct brain regions and networks, allowing us to investigate the specificity of associations between structure and function in the developing brain. In addition, these three domains have been well studied in pediatric, clinical, and adult populations in behavioral and functional neuroimaging studies, leading to relatively well-defined region-specific hypotheses. Utilizing three distinct cognitive domains also supports the investigation of domain-general aspects of cognitive development, such as latent factors or skills supporting multiple areas of cognitive development. In addition, studying multiple cognitive domains allows me to study the reflection of any shared features in the neural architecture. I will first address the region-specific associations between cortical and white matter regions thought to be principally related to each cognitive domain. Following that, I will carry out a more data-driven analysis aimed at exploring possible latent factors underlying the associations between these cognitive domains and structural regions. These results may provide insight into the neurobiological correlates of cognitive development and the nature of individual difference variability during development.


The role of regulatory quality as one of the so-called deep determinants of growth has emerged as an important issue in economic research in the past 20 years. The positive or negative growth effects of a country's regulatory framework are amplified by economic integration, which makes factors and producers more mobile and enables them to avoid burdensome regulation. Therefore, the two potential determinants to growth might be interlinked. So far there is very little empirical evidence on the impact of the regulatory framework in an integrated economy on growth. We deal with the most common problems in estimating growth equations by using internal instruments to identify a causal relationship between regulation and growth in the presence of international trade and find evidence that both regulation and trade have a significant positive influence on growth, with the effect of regulation being especially pronounced for countries that have worse regulatory quality and for middle-income countries.


We identified a gene ( atlA ) encoding autolytic activity from Streptococcus mutans Xc. The AtlA protein predicted to be encoded by atlA is composed of 979 amino acids with a molecular weight of 107,279 and has a conserved (cid:1) -1,4- N -acetylmuramidase (lysozyme) domain in the C-terminal portion. Sodium dodecyl sulfate extracts of strain Xc showed two major bacteriolytic bands with molecular masses of 107 and 79 kDa, both of which were absent from a mutant with inactivated atlA . Western blot analysis revealed that the 79-kDa band was derived from the 107-kDa peptide by cleavage of its N-terminal portion. The inactivation of atlA resulted in a marked decrease in autolysis and the formation of very long chains of cells compared to the case for the parent strain. Although both the parent and mutant strains formed biofilms in the presence of sucrose, the biofilms formed by the mutant had a sponge-like architecture with large gaps and contained 30% less biomass than those formed by the parent strain. Furthermore, strain Xc formed glucose-dependent, loose biofilms in the absence of sucrose, but the mutant lost this ability. These results suggest that AtlA may play an important role in biofilm formation by S. mutans . The antibody produced against the C-terminal peptide containing the (cid:1) -1,4- N -acetylmuramidase domain drastically inhibited the autolytic activity of strain Xc. This inhibition was specific among the oral streptococci to S. mutans . These results indicate that the catalytic domain of AtlA is located at the C terminus, suggesting that further characterization of this domain may provide a means to control cariogenic dental plaque formation.


The discus is a very popular and expensive aquarium fish belonging to the family Cichlidae, genus Symphysodon, formed by three Amazon basin endemic species: Symphysodon aequifasciatus, S. discus and S. tarzoo. The taxonomic status of these fish is very controversial, with a paucity of molecular research on their population genetic structure and species identification. Information on molecular genetic markers, especially isoenzymes, in search of a better understanding of the population genetic structure and correct identification of fish species, has been receiving more attention when elaborating and implementing commercial fishery management programs. Aiming to contribute to a better understanding of the species taxonomic status, the present study describes the isoenzymatic patterns of 6 enzymes: esterase (Est - EC 220.127.116.11), lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh - EC 18.104.22.168), malate dehydrogenase (Mdh - EC 126.96.36.199), phosphoglucomutase (Pgm - EC 184.108.40.206), phosphoglucose isomerase (Pgi - EC 184.108.40.206), and super oxide dismutase (Sod - EC 188.8.131.52) extracted from skeletal muscle specimens and analyzed by starch gel electrophoresis. Monomorphic patterns, presumably controlled by 11 loci: Est-1, Est-2, Est-3, Ldh-1, Ldh-2, Mdh-1, Mdh-2, Pgi-1, Pgi-2, Pgm-1, and Sod-1 were fixed for the same alleles: Est-1(1), Est-2(1), Est-3(1), Ldh-1(1), Ldh-2(1), Mdh-1(1), Mdh-2(1), Pgi-1(1), Pgi-2(1), Pgm-1(1), and Sod-1(1), respectively, and detected in all 60 specimens examined (27 S. aequifasciatus from Manacapuru and 33 S. discus from Novo Airão, Central Amazon). The failure in the present study to detect diagnostic loci, which could be very useful for differentiating S. aequifasciatus from S. discus species, and polymorphic loci, which could also be applied for possible identification and delimitation of their stocks, does not rule out the possibility of there existing in other isoenzyme gene loci to be analyzed in the future.


BACKGROUND: Until today, docetaxel is the only EMEA and FDA approved active agent in hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). In the absence of other effective and approved drugs we evaluated the toxicity and efficacy of intermittent docetaxel-chemotherapy in patients whose cancers progressed after successful first-line docetaxel therapy. METHODS: 46, 18, and 5 patients with HRPC received 1, 2, or 3 cycles of docetaxel based chemotherapy. Toxicity, PSA response and general condition were evaluated systematically. SPSS 15.0 was applied for statistic analysis. RESULTS: 26 (56 %) patients achieved a PSA response of > 50 %, another 10 (22 %) patients of up to 50 %; 10 (22 %) patients were progressive under docetaxel. The median overall survival of the whole cohort calculated from the first docetaxel application was 16 (3 - 60 + ) months. Tolerance, toxicity and general condition were crucial for the administration of a second cycle (n = 18); in contrast, age or the degree of the PSA decline in cycle 1 did not seem to be of importance. The median overall survival of all patients who received at least two blocks was 35 months; moreover, 13 / 18 patients achieved a biochemical response in cycle 2. Toxicity did not rise significantly. Five patients were given a third docetaxel cycle, three of whom responded. Higher frequencies of grade 3 / 4 stomatitis, skin toxicity and leukocytopaenia were observed. CONCLUSION: Intermittent docetaxel therapy is well tolerated and shows high response rates in the second and third sequences of treatment in selected HRPC patients who presented with low docetaxel toxicity, good clinical condition and responded to prior docetaxel-based treatment.


This paper describes a method to generate a concentration gradient using an osmosis-driven pump, without the need for bulky peripheral devices, such as an electric syringe pump or a pneumatic pump. By the osmosis, the flow in the microfluidic channel can be controlled even to a very slow speed (nanolitre scale), which enables its application to generate the stable and wide (width = 4 mm) concentration gradient profile, even within a short flow path. A computational simulation was also performed to predict the local distribution of the solute concentration and velocity-pressure profile in the microfluidic chip. The performance of the osmosis-driven pump was evaluated by culturing human mesenchymal stem cells within the concentration gradient of fetal bovine serum. The effects of the gradient on attachment, viability and morphology of the cells were analyzed and quantified. The cell density in a higher serum concentration region was twice greater than that in the pure culture media. The compact, cost-effective, self-powered and osmosis-based gradient generation system can be useful for biomedical and chemical applications.


OBJECTIVES
Self-critical people, compared with those who self-reassure, are at increased risk of psychopathology. However, there has been little work on the different forms and functions of these self-experiences. This study developed two self-report scales to measure forms and functions of self-criticism and self-reassurance and explore their relationship to depression.

METHODS
A self-report scale measuring forms of self-criticism and self-reassuring, and a scale measuring possible functions of self-criticism, together with a measure of depression and another self-criticism scale (LOSC), were given to 246 female students.

RESULTS
Self-criticizing vs. self-reassuring separated into two components. Forms of self-criticizing separated into two components related to: being self-critical, dwelling on mistakes and sense of inadequacy; and a second component of wanting to hurt the self and feeling self-disgust/hate. The reasons/functions for self-criticism separated into two components. One was related to desires to try to self-improve (called self-improving/correction), and the other to take revenge on, harm or hurt the self for failures (called self-harming/persecuting). Mediation analysis suggested that wanting to harm the self may be particularly pathogenic and is positively mediated by the effects of hating the self and negatively mediated by being able to self-reassure and focus on one's positives.

CONCLUSIONS
Self-criticism is not a single process but has different forms, functions, and underpinning emotions. This indicates a need for more detailed research into the variations of self-criticism and the mechanisms for developing self-reassurance.