Various single-molecule techniques were utilized for ultra-sensitive early diagnosis of viral DNA and antigen and basic mechanism study of enzymatic reactions. DNA of human papilloma virus (HPV) served as the screening target in a flow system. Alexa Fluor 532 (AF532) labeled single-stranded DNA probes were hybridized to the target HPV-16 DNA in solution. The individual hybridized molecules were imaged with an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) in two ways. In the single-color mode, target molecules were detected via fluorescence from hybridized probes only. This system could detect HPV-16 DNA in the presence of human genomic DNA down to 0.7 copy/cell and had a linear dynamic range of over 6 orders of magnitude. In the dual-color mode, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was employed to achieve zero false-positive count. We also showed that DNA extracts from Pap test specimens did not interfere with the system. A surface-based method was used to improve the throughput of the flow system. HPV-16 DNA was hybridized to probes on a glass surface and detected with a total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscope. In the single-probe mode, the whole genome and target DNA were fluorescently labeled before hybridization, and the detection limit is similar to the flowmore » system. In the dual-probe mode, a second probe was introduced. The linear dynamic range covers 1.44-7000 copies/cell, which is typical of early infection to near-cancer stages. The dual-probe method was tested with a crudely prepared sample. Even with reduced hybridization efficiency caused by the interference of cellular materials, we were still able to differentiate infected cells from healthy cells. Detection and quantification of viral antigen with a novel single-molecule immunosorbent assay (SMISA) was achieved. Antigen from human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV-1) was chosen to be the target in this study. The target was sandwiched between a monoclonal capture antibody and a polyclonal detector antibody. The capture antibody was covalently immobilized on modified glass slides. The detector antibody was conjugated with AF532 labeled secondary antibody prior to being used as probe for the antigen. Imaging was performed with a TIRF system. This technique is demonstrated for detecting HIV-1 p24 antigen down to 0.1 pg/mL with a dynamic range of over 4 orders of magnitude. A Langmuir isotherm fit the molecule count dependence on the target concentration. The results also showed that neither sensitivity nor dynamic range was affected by the biological matrix. SMISA is therefore a promising approach for the early diagnosis of virus-induced diseases. Single-molecule enzymatic kinetics and enantioselectivity were monitored in real time by using TIRF microscopy. AF532 labeled poly-L-lysine (PLL) or poly-D-lysine (PDL) was covalently immobilized on a dithiobis (succinimidyl undecanoate) self-assembled monolayer (DSU SAM). Chain shortening due to enzymatic hydrolysis resulted in the reduction of the individual fluorescence intensities. A broad distribution was obtained when 100 single-molecule half-lives were analyzed. However, the detailed hydrolysis process involved also a long-lived component and an induction period that varied significantly among molecules. Charge and steric heterogeneity at the surface are responsible for these features.« less


This article analyses the evolving uses of social media during wartime through the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Spokesperson Facebook and Twitter accounts. The conflict between Israel and Hamas-affiliated groups in November 2012 has generated interesting data about social media use by a sovereign power in wartime and the resultant networked discourse. Facebook data is examined for effective patterns of dissemination through both content analysis and discourse analysis. Twitter data is explored through connected concept analysis to map the construction of meaning in social media texts shared by the IDF. The systematic examination of this social media data allows the authors' analysis to comment on the evolving modes, methods and expectations for state public diplomacy, propaganda and transparency during wartime.


Abstract The fusion crusts of meteorites form due to heating during atmospheric entry and have mineralogies which are strongly influenced by changes in oxidation state. We have studied the fusion crusts of the most reduced primitive meteorite group, the enstatite chondrites, since they should demonstrate pronounced changes on oxidation. The fusion crusts are dominated by highly unequilibrated assemblages of sulphide, metal and oxide with compositions indicative of progressive oxidation by the reaction with atmospheric oxygen. Troilite becomes depleted in Ti, Cr and Mn, and enriched in Ni with increasing oxidation. Enrichments in the Ni-contents of kamacite and depletions in Si-content also occur with oxidation, although contemporaneous enrichments in Si within metal droplets occurs by partial melting. Assemblages dominated by Fe-oxide are found within fusion crusts as reaction rims on metal, as veins and within troilite-metal assemblages as droplets and formed by oxidation of metal during heating. Despite the evidence for large increases in redox state during heating, fusion crusts also contain lithophile sulphides indicating a high degree of disequilibrium during the atmospheric reprocessing of enstatite chondrite materials. Based on comparisons with experimental phase relations, ablation rates of 0.08-0.25 cm s-1 are predicted from the thermal gradients recorded in fusion crusts; these rates are broadly similar to those suggested for other meteorite groups.


In this paper, we determine some properties of pseudo-projective curvature tensor denoted by $\bar{P}$ on some Riemannian manifolds, especially on generalized quasi Einstein manifolds in the sense of Chaki . Firstly, we consider a pseudo-projectively Ricci semisymmetric generalized quasi Einstein manifold and then we study pseudo-projectively flatness of this manifold. Moreover, we construct a non-trivial example for a generalized quasi Einstein manifold to prove the existence.


ABSTRACT A new euryhaline and eurythermal dinoflagellate species, Biecheleria tirezensis sp. nov., is described based on samples taken from an extreme environment, the athalassohaline and particularly sulphate-rich Tirez natural pond (Spain). This species is able to survive in salinities from almost fresh water up to 56 and over a 5–25°C temperature range. Thus, the ecological characteristics of this isolate differentiate it from other species of the same genus. Its morphology, as examined by light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, shows that the cells are almost spherical, with several series of amphiesmal vesicles. It also has a single elongate amphiesmal vesicle (EAV) observed by SEM and the eyespot has a type E structure, typical of Biecheleria. Spherical and smooth cysts were observed in old cultures. The pigment composition is typical of a peridinin-containing dinoflagellate. Phylogeny inferred from nuclear rDNA SSU, ITS and LSU sequences showed the isolate belongs to the genus Biecheleria, closest to B. cincta and B. brevisulcata. Modelling and analysis of the secondary structure of its ITS2 region, and that of other species of the same genus and some representatives of the most closely related genera, indicated that the isolate represents a new species clearly separated from but related to B. cincta. The criterion of the presence of Compensatory Base Changes (CBCs) in the secondary structure of the ITS2 region as an indicator of species differentiation confirmed this, supporting the establishment of the Tirez pond isolate as a new species of Biecheleria.


As the previous chapters of this book chart, debates and arguments over the meaning/s and relevance of 'Englishness' have grown steadily over the past twelve years, running in tandem with the emerging 'facts on the ground' of New Labour's devolution policies and the significant movement in public attitudes that have accompanied them. The new political realities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have inevitably shifted attention towards Englishness, to what it means and how much people living in England identify with it, in comparison to the over-arching 'British' identity now perceived to be under serious threat. Debates about national identity have the dangerous potential to become racialised and exclusionary, especially at a time when a far-right party, the British National Party, has made significant political advances, The current 'conversations' about Englishness have also been triggered by mainstream political and media discourses questioning the national identity and loyalty of non-White British (and English) citizens at a very basic level. This chapter aims to discuss the meaning/s of Englishness for non-White ethnic minorities in the context of wider political debates and developments around multiculturalism, citizenship and Community Cohesion and offers thoughts about the potential for genuinely inclusive and non-racial understandings of Englishness taking greater hold than at present.


To understand the research hotspots of Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (Pharmacological Action) by PubMed. Methods: With MS Excel, SPSS, Cytoscape software, we took MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) word frequency analysis, clustering analysis, co-word network graph of PubMed papers. Results: It shows that the main research hotspot of ACE-Is (pharmacological action) is Antihypertensive Agents of ACEIs for Hypertension, also it is beneficial to Heart Failure, Myocardial Infarction, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetic Nephropathies, Kidney Diseases, Left Ventricular Dysfunction, and so on. Conclusion: It is helpful and timesaving for researcher or doctor to understand the research hotspots with ACE-Is (Pharmacological Action).


OBJECTIVE
To determine safety, tolerability, and systemic absorption of ingenol mebutate 0.05% gel applied for two consecutive days to treatment areas up to 100cm(2) on the forearm(s) of patients with actinic keratosis.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Two studies are reported: a Phase 1, multicenter, open-label, dose-area escalation cohort study (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00659893) and a Phase 2, double-blind, vehicle-controlled pharmacokinetic study (http://clinical trials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00852137).

PARTICIPANTS
The Phase 1 study included male patients (n=65), mean age 68.1 years; the Phase 2 study included both male and female patients (n=16), mean age 63.3 years.

MEASUREMENTS
In the Phase 1 study, patients assigned to escalating dose-area cohorts were evaluated for local skin responses, adverse events, and any other relevant safety data. In the pharmacokinetic study, blood samples were collected pre-dose and for up to 24 hours after administration on Day 2, and analyzed for ingenol mebutate and its primary metabolites. In both studies, safety assessments were performed on Days 2, 3, 8, 15, 29, and 57 (study end).

RESULTS
In the Phase 1 study, most adverse events were mild, and all treatment-related adverse events resolved before the end of the study. The 100cm(2) treatment area showed a small increase in the overall intensity of mean composite local skin response scores. There was no quantifiable systemic exposure to ingenol mebutate or its primary metabolites.

CONCLUSION
Ingenol mebutate 0.05% gel has a good safety profile when applied to treatment areas up to 100cm(2) with acceptable tolerability and local skin responses. There is no systemic absorption following application to areas of 100cm(2).


The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center and the California Department of Transportation have recently developed design guidelines for computing foundation demands during lateral spreading using equivalent static analysis (ESA) procedures. In this study, ESA procedures are applied to two parallel bridges that were damaged during the 2010 M 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake in Baja California, Mexico. The bridges are both located approximately 15 km from the surface rupture of the fault on soft alluvial soil site conditions. Estimated median ground motions in the area in the absence of liquefaction triggering are peak ground accelerations = 0.27g and peak ground velocity = 38 cm/sec (RotD50 components). The bridges are structurally similar and both are supported on deep foundations, yet they performed differently during the earthquake. A span of the pile-supported railroad bridge collapsed, whereas the drilled-shaft-supported highway bridge suffered only moderate damage and remained in service following the earthquake. The ESA procedures applied to the structures using a consistent and repeatable framework for developing input parameters captured both the collapse of the railroad bridge and the performance of the highway bridge. Selection of the geotechnical and structural modeling parameters is discussed as well as combining inertial demands with kinematic demands from lateral spreading.


The Weimar era in Germany is often characterized as a time of significant change. Such periods of rupture transform the way people envision the past, present, and future. This book traces the conceptions of time and history in the Germany of the early 20th century. By focusing on both the discourse and practices of the youth movement, the author shows how it reinterpreted and revived the past to overthrow the premises of modern historical thought. In so doing, this book provides insight into the social implications of the ideological de-historicization of the past.


The purpose of this research is to study the impact of conflict witnessed in Pakistan from 2007 onwards on educational outcomes, particularly pertaining to female education. It consists of three distinct chapters, each focusing on a unique aspect in which conflict affected educational outcomes. The first chapter deals with the first phase of conflict witnessed between 2007 and 2011, and analyses the impact of violence, and the ban on female schooling implemented with it, on enrolment rates. It suggests that although conflict resulted in a decline in overall enrolment rates at primary and middle level, militants were successful in using violence as a tool to deter female education, as enrolment rates for girls declined more compared to boys in areas that witnessed conflict. The second chapter studies the short-term and medium-term impact of conflict on enrolment rates after the end of the first phase of conflict. Results show that although the negative impact of conflict was larger in magnitude on girls than boys in the short-run, enrolment rates for girls recovered in the medium-run to match those of girls that did not witness conflict. However, enrolment rates for boys at middle level continued to suffer in the medium-run, possibly due to the permanent substitution of boys into the labour market. The third chapter examines the impact of conflict on degree choices of students applying to university. We find that students who live in districts affected by conflict are less likely to apply to degrees that require mathematics as a prerequisite, compared to students who live in districts that do not witness conflict. However, a gender-wise breakup of results suggest that this is only the case for degree choices of boys, and not of girls.


Users' adherence to security policy, reduced internal security threats, appropriate security behaviour and a culture of security-aware users are among the results of an effective security awareness effort in an organisation. Generally, security awareness efforts are meant to change behaviour communally, however, most of them are actually focused on altering individual security behaviours. Thus, we conducted a systematic literature review on past research on security awareness approaches focusing on the delivery methods, program contents and theories used for the proposed security awareness program and whether they help in fostering communal change. Despite the importance of ensuring communal learning in security awareness approach, we found that only one of these studies applied an approach which promotes communal change in all four of their selected underlying theories, delivery methods and program content.


The aim of this comparative study is to investigate language proficiency in English among Swedes and the Finnish-speaking population living in Sweden, henceforth referred to as Sweden Finns. The main issue is to discover to what extent Sweden Finns show similarity and how they differ from Swedes regarding their proficiency in English, concerning grammar and vocabulary. Through a proficiency test, this essay intends to compare and discover any possible tendencies among male and female monolingual and bilingual participants. Gender issues are rather unexplored in research on bilingualism. Sex, or gender, as a variable has received a limited amount of attention compared with other factors of individual variation, such as age or language learning strategies in the field of SLA. The results of the statistical analysis of the data indicate that results are varied, and therefore confirm previous results. Sweden Finns score higher as a group on the test than Swedes, but male Swedish participants gave the most correct answers on all questions, followed by female Sweden Finns, then male Sweden Finns and ultimately female Swedes. Interesting, but not statistically significant, findings suggest that the students participating in this study have a good vocabulary size and are acquainted with high-frequency words and pronouns. Most errors were found in the parts concerning irregular verbs and synonyms. Multiple-choice questions received a higher frequency of right answers than open questions. As the results are varied since this type of study has not been carried out before, it shows that there is a need for nuanced quantitative research in this field of study.


Background: MK‐0646 binds to IGF‐1R and blocks its interaction with the IGF‐I/ II ligands, enhances gemcitabine (G)‐induced apoptosis and inhibits the MEK/ Erk and the PI3‐kinase/Akt signaling. Collectively, these pathways are important in cellular proliferation, survival and drug resistance in pancreatic cancer. Receptor cross‐talk between IGF‐1R and EGFR and enhanced IGF‐1R‐induced activation of the PI3‐kinase/ Akt pathways mediate resistance to anti‐EGFR agents such as E. IGF‐1R + EGFR antagonists result in synergistic anti‐tumor activity in preclinical pancreatic cancer models. Methods: Patients with stage IV, previously untreated pancreatic cancer, ECOG performance status (PS) 0–1, adequate hematologic and organ function were enrolled. MK‐0646 was escalated in two dose levels using 3+3 statistical design. Uncontrolled hyperglycemia or cardio‐respiratory conditions were exclusions. Arm A: G 1000 mg/m2 over 100 min, weekly × 3, MK‐0646 over 60 min: 5 or 10 mg/kg, weekly × 4; Arm B: same schedule of G and MK‐0646 as Arm A + E 100 mg daily. Cycles were repeated every 4 weeks. Radiologic responses measured with RECIST (study radiologist PB). Study endpoints: maximal tolerated dose, progression‐free survival (PFS), response rate, toxicity and overall survival. Results: 22 pts enrolled, 15 males, 2 priorWhipple, 20 PS 1, 2 PS 0. Median of 2 cycles (range 1–8) administered as of 9/09. Hematologic toxicity was common: grade 3 or 4 neutropenia (n=9) or thrombocytopenia (n=6). Other grade 3 toxicities: hyperglycemia (n=2), fatigue (n=2), ALT (n=3). Two dose limiting toxicities observed in Arm B at dose level 2 (MK‐0646 at 10 mg/kg + E + G): febrile neutropenia (n=1), hepatic transaminitis (n=1). Best radiologic responses: 6 PR (including 1 hepatic CR), 7 PD, 3 SD, 4 too early, 1 not evaluated, 1 not treated. PFS range in weeks for evaluable patients (n=12) was (4, 36+). Conclusion: MK‐0646 is tolerable in a dose of 10 mg/kg with G 1000 mg/m2 and at 5 mg/kg with G 1000 mg/m2 and E 100 mg. Promising anti‐tumor activity was noted. A randomized phase II study will be conducted with the control arm of G+E. Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2009;8(12 Suppl):B121.


This final project report explains about the activities of Public
Relations in Sahid Jaya Hotel. Sahid jaya hotel is one of the best Hotels in
Surakarta of which the Public Relations section has a good archievement
in making a good image of the hotel. This report is aimed at identifying
the scope, job, and duty done by the practitioner. This hotel is located at
Gajah Mada Street 82 Surakarta.
Through the job training, the writer can see that Public Relations
Department in Sahid Jaya Hotel Surakarta has activities in both internal
and external publics. The activities of Public Relations such as filing the
invitation letters,collecting news of Sahid Jaya typing press release, typing
Public Relations Action Plan and typing brochure. The job descriptions are
divided into seven parts, they are : publicity, planning some work
program, advertising, promotion,lobbying and public affairs,collecting
data and issues management.
In the last chapter,the writer gives some suggestions to the Public
Relations to improve the work by making better coordination with internal
stakeholders and attending morning briefing in order to know what is
going on that day.


This master thesis presents an approach to make the MOOSES platform more flexible and dynamic. MOOSES is a platform that allows people to play video games on a large screen using their mobile phones. A server runs the game on the large screen, and mobile phones are used as controllers for the game. The client controller is an application written in Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME), which has to be downloaded to the mobile phones. The game server communicates with the client controllers through bluetooth. The MOOSES prototype was developed during our depth study at NTNU fall 2006 based on ideas from us and Alf Inge Wang. During the development of the MOOSES framework we encountered some technical limitations that constrained the MOOSES platform. One of these problems was tied to maintenance of the platform which makes adding and removing of games to a bothersome job. Most mobile phones support the J2ME platform, and there has been developed a couple of script solutions that run on top of this platform. Scripts provide for the J2ME application programming interface (API) to be more powerful by elevating the abstraction level. It also makes it easier to provide a domain specific set of instructions, making development easier. The MOOSES prototype requires manipulation of the source code when adding new games. As a consequence of this, a new client has to be distributed to all the users of the system every time new games are added. A more dynamic client will provide for the MOOSES system to be passive in the addition of new games because the games will not interfere directly with the backbone of MOOSES, but are loaded dynamically on runtime. We will also focus on making development of game clients more tailored to the MOOSES concept. When we are using a scripting platform to develop game clients, it will provide an API that is completely tied to the MOOSES platform. Such an API will have both pros and cons. It makes the API easier to follow and provides a better overview, but it constrains the freedom of creativity. We will have a look at different scripting solutions that may replace or stand as an alternative to our current solution for development of game clients. We will also develop a prototype to test the feasibility of such a solution. A client for the game developed in the depth study will be rewritten to suit the scripted client prototype. This client will be tested at our presentation of MOOSES at the Kosmorama film festival 2007 [1]. The content of this thesis is confidential and should not be given or shown to any other person than the external examiner, Alf Inge Wang, Morten Versvik, Sverre Morka or Aleksander Spro without permission granted by Alf Inge Wang, Morten Versvik, Sverre Morka and Aleksander Spro.


Hydraulic fracturing becomes a necessary method to exploit shale gas, and the imbibition behavior of fracturing fluid can cause the pore structure variation. At present, the evaluation of this variation has less been investigated, and repeated imbibition was conducted to research the variation of pore structure. First imbibition was conducted as simulating the pore structure variation during hydraulic fracturing, and repeated imbibition was carried out to appraise this kind of variation. Two significant parameters were proposed to estimate the pore structure variation, which are the differential value of initial imbibition rate and the utmost differential value of normalized imbibed volume. Initial imbibition rate is closely related to pore connectivity, and normalized imbibed volume reflects the pore volume. Reservoirs with a higher value of these two parameters have advantage for developing its resources. Sichuan Longmaxi formation has the highest value in both parameters among all formations, which showed that Sichuan Longmaxi formation has advantage for exploiting its resources by hydraulic fracturing. Baojing Longmaxi formation, Sichuan Niutitang formation, and Cengong Niutitang formation have a lower value in both two parameters which indicated that these formations have less potential to develop its resources by hydraulic fracturing. These two parameters are mainly influenced by wettability and initial permeability, and have no obvious relationship with clay content. Overall, our research is conducive to screening the ideal formation for exploiting shale gas by hydraulic fracturing.


A multiscale modeling methodology, which incorporates a statistical distribution of fiber strengths into coupled micromechanics/ finite element analyses, is applied to unidirectional polymer matrix composites (PMCs) to analyze the effect of mesh discretization both at the micro- and macroscales on the predicted ultimate tensile (UTS) strength and failure behavior. The NASA code FEAMAC and the ABAQUS finite element solver were used to analyze the progressive failure of a PMC tensile specimen that initiates at the repeating unit cell (RUC) level. Three different finite element mesh densities were employed and each coupled with an appropriate RUC. Multiple simulations were performed in order to assess the effect of a statistical distribution of fiber strengths on the bulk composite failure and predicted strength. The coupled effects of both the micro- and macroscale discretizations were found to have a noticeable effect on the predicted UTS and computational efficiency of the simulations.


This paper examines the formation and properties of subscriber sets of a bi-directional telecommunications service. Most bi-directional telecommunications systems have demand or consumption externalities in that the benefit to a subscriber depends upon the number of subscribers to the system or upon who they are. When a new telecommunications system is to be set up, even an establishment that feels it convenient and is willing to subscribe will not do so alone. It will either subscribe with others or agree to subscribe in anticipation of others joining.The success or failure that a new service experiences depends upon whether they attract enough uses to become feasible and profitable. This means that there exist two significant sets. The one is the minimum subscriber set for the system to be feasible and the other is the ultimate expansion level of it. The former is called the critical mass and the latter the equilibrium user set.Although some authors have proposed this idea, their argument would be rather intuitive. In this paper, I give a rigorous definition of these sets in the context of the stability and unstability of them. Heterogeneous and nonanonymous users are assumed to formulate the model. Equilibria of the system are defined as a set of users in which the benefit to the smallest usage subscriber is equal to zero. A dynamic approach is applied to examine the stability of the system. The condition for a two-part tariff system to be feasible is derived.


We present a novel highly parallel method for optimizing bounding volume hierarchies (BVH) targeting contemporary GPU architectures. The core of our method is based on the insertion‐based BVH optimization that is known to achieve excellent results in terms of the SAH cost. The original algorithm is, however, inherently sequential: no efficient parallel version of the method exists, which limits its practical utility. We reformulate the algorithm while exploiting the observation that there is no need to remove the nodes from the BVH prior to finding their optimized positions in the tree. We can search for the optimized positions for all nodes in parallel while simultaneously tracking the corresponding SAH cost reduction. We update in parallel all nodes for which better position was found while efficiently handling potential conflicts during these updates. We implemented our algorithm in CUDA and evaluated the resulting BVH in the context of the GPU ray tracing. The results indicate that the method is able to achieve the best ray traversal performance among the state of the art GPU‐based BVH construction methods.


The study area is bounded by latitude of N 3° 05' to N 3° 10' and the longitude of E 113° 01' to E 113° 06'. It is located along Bintulu-Tatau Road, Bintulu, Sarawak. This area comprises about 100 kilometres square which represents the Nyalau Formation which is Early Oligocene to Middle Miocene in age. Structural analysis indicates that the major compressional force is North West-South East (NW-SE) in direction. The facies analysis is done by using parameters such as geometry of rock unit, lithology, sedimentary structures and fossil. The Nyalau Formation can be divided into four main facies, which are Thick Sandstones Facies (Facies A), Interbedded of Sandstones and Shale Facies (Facies B), Heterolithic Fades (Facies C) and Shale
Facies (Facies D). Facies A is characterized by the thickness of sand from 1 m until 3 m. Facies 8 is subdivided into Interbedded of thick sandstones and thin shale (Facies B), Interbedded of thin sandstones and thin shale, 50:50 (Fades Bâ'') and interbedded of thick shale and thin sandstones (Facies Bâ'…), Facies C is characterized by flaser and lenticular laminated sandstones. Facies D is characterized by laminated shale intercalated with thin bedding of mixed sandstones and siltstones. The fades
association consists of channel-levee deposit, migration and progradation of sand bar, tidal flat deposit, and lagoonal deposit. The vertical sequence shows that the fining
upwards sequence (FUS) is more dominant than coarsening upwards sequence (CUS) which indicates that delta plain occurred within the study area. For the petrographic analysis, the sandstone of Nyalau Formation within the study area is classified as sublithic-arenite. It is chemically and texturally matured. Besides, it is Originated from
recycled orogen.


We found frequent and unique parasitism by an unidentified myxosporean in the kidney of the arctic lamprey, Lampetra japonica, living in Japan. Trophozoites (pseudoplasmodia with or without sporoblasts) existed predominantly in the lumina of proximal urinary tubules, but were rarely found in any other regions of the kidney. Since no mature spores were produced in the trophozoites, exact identification of the species was impossible. Two parasitic forms were recognized in proximal urinary tubules: one adhering to the epithelial cells of renal tubules, and the other free-floating in the lumina of tubules. Ultrastructurally, the attaching trophozoites developed microvilli-like projections towards the apical surface of epithelial cells and vigorously interdigitated with microvilli of the brush border. In contrast, the whole surface of the floating trophozoite was smooth without any cell projections. The developed projections in the former type of trophozoite may contribute to their firm attachment to the epithelial cells and/or to absorption of nutrients via the epithelial cells. Against the myxosporean infection, the lamprey as the host exhibited a local immune reaction by disposition of numerous lymphocytes and macrophages into the epithelium of urinary tubules.


The term "theranostics" defines the effort to develop individualized therapies by the combination of diagnostic and therapeutic functions in the same agent. Gold-magnetite hybrid nanoparticles (H-NPs) are proposed as innovative theranostic nanotools for imaging-guided radiosensitization of cancers. H-NPs are designed to exert a dual function: (i) to provide contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).and (ii) to enhance radiation effects in the cancer. The imaging and the radiosensitization potentialities of H-NPs arise from the superparamagnetic behaviour of magnetite and the large x-ray extinction coefficient of gold, respectively. Hybrid nanoparticles allows cancer theranostics as the biodistibution of nanoparticles can be tracked by MR imaging, providing a real-time picture of the cancer radiosensitivity profile and allowing precise modulation of radiotherapy.
The purposes of this work are to synthetize properly designed gold-magnetite hybrid nanoparticles and to provide preliminary in vitro evaluations about the potentialities of nanoparticles as MRI-contrast agents and radiosensitizers.
A novel method for the synthesis of hydrophilic and superparamagnetic Tween20-stabilized dumbbell-like gold-magnetite hybrid nanoparticles was set up. Morphology and chemical composition of nanoparticles were assessed by transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction analysis and ion-coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Colloidal stability and magnetic properties of nanoparticles were determined by dynamic light scattering and alternating field magnetometer. The potentialities of H-NPs for MR imaging were studied using a human 4T-MRI scanner. Nanoparticles were proven to induce concentration-dependent contrast enhancement in T2*-weighted MR-images. The biosafety, the cellular uptake and the radiosensitization activity of H-NPs were investigated in human osteosarcoma MG63 cell cultures and murine 3T3 fibroblasts, using specific bioassays and laser scanning confocal microscopy. The results evidenced that nanoparticles were taken up by cells without inducing any cytotoxic effects, even at high nanoparticle concentration. In addition, nanoparticles were proven to induce osteosarcoma-specific reduction of cell viability in clonogenic cell cultures treated with radiotherapy. The experimental results confirmed the potentialities of H-NPs as theranostic tools for MRI-guided radiosensitization. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to identify other potential biological targets for MRI-guided radiosensitization.


: Penicillium chrysogenum crude extract was prepared in our laboratory. The protein concentration of this allergen assessed by coomassie blue G250 stain was 44-48 mg/ml. Three protein bands P1, P2a and P2b, were obtained by PAGE. Molecular weights of the bands were 94,000, 43,000 and 25,000 respectively as compared with standard molecular weight markers. Gel filtration through sephadex G200 revealed two peaks. These fractions were monitored for absorbance at 280 nm and combined into 3 pools according to the results of PAGE. Tube 1(T1), T2 and T3 were obtained. The average size of wheals developing after intradermal skin testing showed that T2 induced the strongest reaction. Since the main component of T2 was P2a, it is supposed that P2a of P. chrysogenum extract contains the protein with the highest allergenicity.


SURGICAL exposure of the mitral valve, whether approached from the left or the right, has, in the experience of most surgeons, been less than ideal. The author prefers the left-sided approach except in cases where the aortic or tricuspid valves also require surgery. When the valve is approached from the left, its exposure is frequently perturbing because the plane of the valve slopes caudad, away from the surgeon's line of vision. Furthermore, the margin of atrial wall remaining between the usual anterolateral atriotomy incision and the atrioventricular groove forms a ledge which overhangs the valve and hides it unless this flap is firmly and widely retracted. The fragility of this tissue presents a serious hazard to use of any of a variety of standard clamps or retractors which easily cause tears or lacerations. The retractor-clamp described here (Fig 1) is designed to gently but firmly clamp a broad arc of


ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate possible biochemical alterations in tendons and cartilage caused by type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), using quantitative in vivo 7 T sodium magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Materials and MethodsThe institutional review board approved this prospective study, and written informed consent was obtained. Eight DM1 patients with no history of knee trauma and 9 healthy age- and weight-matched volunteers were examined at 7 T using dedicated knee coils.All participants underwent morphological and sodium MR imaging. Region-of-interest analysis was performed manually for the non–weight-bearing area of the femoral condyle cartilage and for the patella tendon. Two readers read the image data sets independently, twice, for intrareader and interreader agreement. Normalized mean sodium signal intensity (NMSI) values were compared between patients and volunteers for each reader using analysis of variance. ResultsOn morphological images, cartilage in the non–weight-bearing area and the patellar tendon was intact in all patients. On sodium MR imaging, bivariate analysis of variance showed significantly lower mean NMSI values in the cartilage (P = 0.008) and significantly higher values in the tendons (P = 0.025) of patients compared with those of volunteers. ConclusionOur study showed significantly different NMSI values between DM1 patients and matched volunteers. Differences observed in the cartilage and tendon might be associated with a DM1-related alteration of biochemical composition that occurs before it can be visualized on morphological MR sequences.


This paper deals with the development of glacier mapping and glacier fluctuations since the mid-nineteenth century, with special reference to the Indian Himalayas, and the contributions of the Survey of India and the Geological Survey of India. In addition, it presents a review of the limitations and challenges relating to: the mapping of clean-ice and debris-covered glaciers; the comparison of different data sets; and the measurement of glacier volume changes based on multitemporal digital elevation models. Possible solutions are discussed, and the emerging areas of glacier mapping research and applications for the Indian Himalayas are highlighted.


The goal of this paper is to improve modeling of the supply and demand of land in the GTAP framework to enhance suitability of the model for climate change policy analysis and, specifically, analysis of green house gas emissions driven by land use and land use change. On the demand side, we begin with a dynamic general equilibrium model that predicts economic growth in each region of the world, based on exogenous projections of population, skilled and unskilled labor force and technical change. Economy-wide growth is, in turn, translated into consumer demand for specific products using an econometrically estimated, international cross-section, demand system that permits us to predict the pattern of future consumer demands across the development spectrum. This is particularly important in the fast-growing, developing countries, where the composition of consumer demand is changing rapidly. These countries also account for an increasing share of global economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions. Consumer demand is translated into derived demands for land through a set of sectoral production functions that differentiate the demand for land by Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ). In equilibrium, this must each land supply, by AEZ, with land rents by AEZ and use adjusting to attain this equilibrium over the 1997-2025 projections period.

The paper devotes considerable attention to alternative approaches to modeling the supply of AEZ land to different land-using activities in the economy. We address the issue of land mobility across different uses via sequence of successively more sophisticated models of land supply, beginning with a model in which land is perfectly mobile and undifferentiated, and ending with one in which land mobility across uses is governed by a nest Constant Elasticity of Transformation function which also accounts for the heterogeneity of land within AEZs. Here, landowners solve a sequential revenue maximization exercise in which land is first allocated between forestry and agriculture, then between grazing and crops, and finally, amongst competing crops. The supply elasticities are calibrated to econometric estimates of these parameters. We find that the most realistic representation of land supply results in baseline land rental changes in forestry and grazing that appear excessive. This likely stems from limitations of the current model, such as absence of unmanaged land and the lack of forestry input-augmenting productivity growth in forestry processing sector. Having identified these limitations, we plan to address them in future versions of this paper.


Abstract The distribution of children in different school-types and regions in Pakistan suggests that access and opportunities in education are not evenly accessible for many children. Segregation at school level is an important concern for equity and social justice because the adverse effects of segregation increase the pre-existing gap in opportunities between rich and poor, preventing the disadvantaged children from equal access to better life and success opportunities. This paper presents an analysis of segregation by poverty and pupil performance between schools, with a comparison of private and government schools in Pakistan. The data obtained for this study is from the Annual Status of Education Report 2014 survey of households and schools. The analysis includes 27,979 children aged 5–16 years for whom the information could be linked with their schools, and parents' socio-economic status. Segregation levels have been assessed using the Gorard Segregation Index. The results show that segregation by academic performance is higher than segregation by poverty, and segregation by poverty is higher in the private sector compared to government schools, whereas segregation by performance is greater in the government schools. A regional level analysis shows that segregation in urban areas is higher in both school types compared to rural areas. In addition to insisting on full attendance for children of school age, the government should work towards decreasing segregation in the state sector, perhaps also involving an increase in the number of schools maintained, and therefore reducing the need for cheap private provision.


Monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) specific for autoantibody-associated cross-reactive idiotypes (CRIs) of Waldenström's IgM react frequently with the surface Ig (slg) expressed by leukemia cells of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Evaluation of the molecular basis for this cross-reactivity indicates that such CRIs are encoded by conserved antibody variable region genes (V genes) that have undergone little or no somatic hypermutation. We find that such anti-CRI MoAbs stain a subpopulation of cells within the mantle zones surrounding the germinal centers of normal human tonsil. In contrast, MoAbs specific for variable region subgroup determinants react with cells in both the mantle zones and germinal centers of secondary B-cell follicles. To test whether mantle zone B cells not reactive with existing anti-CRI MoAbs may express slg bearing as-yet-unrecognized CRIs present on Igs produced by neoplastic cells of some patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia or CLL, we immunized mice with purified Waldenström's IgM that have been characterized for their variable region subgroups using subgroup-specific antisera raised against synthetic peptides. The supernatants of hybridomas generated from the splenocytes of immunized mice were screened for their ability to stain a subpopulation of mantle zone lymphocytes in human tonsil. With this approach, two new anti-CRI MoAbs were identified, designated OAK1 and VOH3. OAK1 binds to a CRI present on a subset of kappa light chains of the VK1 subgroup. VOH3 recognizes a CRI determinant(s) present on a subset of antibody heavy chains of the VH3 subgroup. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that OAK1 specifically binds leukemia cells from 5 to 20 patients (25%) with kappa light chain expressing CLL. In addition, VOH3 reacted with the leukemia cells from 1 of 17 (6%) patients tested. The success of these methods demonstrates that the variable regions of the Igs produced by mantle zone B cells share idiotypic determinants with Igs expressed in B-cell CLL (B-CLL) and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.


Medical practices, clinical practice guidelines, clinical performance measures and measurements, and a variety of health care-related administrative decisions, such as insurance coverage decisions, are claiming to be "evidence based" with increasing frequency. In this paper we examine the "evidence based" label; discuss how evidence ought to have been assembled, evaluated, and synthesized; and when evidence is sufficient for the "evidence-based" moniker to rightfully apply. We also highlight several considerations other than the strength of evidence that are relevant to several common types of health care-related administrative decisions and that influence the extent to which the resulting decisions are truly evidence based.


During the last few thousand years, human population growth and resource use has been reshaping the planet's nutrient cycles, climate and biodiversity and might be causing significant changes to spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of species, and a general erosion of biodiversity at global scales. Many studies have been looking to model and predict how species could respond to actual rates of change on environmental conditions, with a high interest in terms of species distribution and richness with potential extinctions. However, how global change impact local communities still remains unclear. Moreover, previous research suffers from a significant bias against Tropical montane regions. In this study, we evaluate whether diversity and composition of communities in an Andean Tropical forest are changing, potentially in response to changes in environmental conditions. We analyze the dynamics in 26 forest plots that are part of a larger network of nearly 490 plots located on the eastern slopes of the Bolivian Andes. We quantify mortality and recruitment rates, document changes in diversity and compare changes in species composition to null model expectations. We have that mortality and recruitment rates occur at about 1.6% per year, and that richness seems to be increasing in regions of cold climates, but decreasing in warm regions. Finally, we find evidence that community composition is shifting across all environmental conditions. Our analyses support the idea that communities in the Tropical Andes are going through changes consistent with an effect of global change. However, the final causes for the changes we observe are yet unknown. Understanding the responses of forest communities is urgently needed to advance theory in community ecology, but also to understand and manage natural ecosystems in a changing World.


Background : On 1 July 2012, a large number of cases of acute diarrheal episodes were reported in Vikas Nagar, Chandigarh. A rapid response team was sent to investigate this outbreak on 3 July 2012. Aim : To determine the reasons for the outbreak and to focus on the identification of a gap in the management of the epidemic by applying remedial measures in the Vibrio cholera outbreak in the Vikas Nagar area of Chandigarh district. Materials and Methods : A house-to-house survey of 2765 houses was performed with 20 teams of Auxillary Nurse Midwife ANM/Anganwadi workers. Information regarding age, sex, place of residence, occupation, date of onset and treatment history and laboratory finding were collected. Environmental investigation and laboratory investigation of the stool samples were also performed. As the study was conducted during an emergency response to the outbreak, and was designed to provide information to orient the public health response, ethical approval was not required. Remedial measures were implemented. Results : A total of 1875 patients reported to the various health facilities of the Vikas Nagar area with complaints of increased frequency of loose watery diarrhea and a few had vomiting episodes during the time period of 1 - 14 July 2012. Four deaths were reported. Three hundred eighteen (318) cases were found in the house-to-house survey of 2765 houses of the area. Twenty-six percent of the cases were in the age group of 1800 MPN/100 mL was reported from 10 water samples. Investigations revealed that the epidemic was waterborne. Leakages in the pipes were found at many places leading to mixing of water with drainage, and water samples collected from the houses of the cases were found to be positive for Vibrio cholerae. Conclusion : Among the identified gaps, delays in the initiation of the investigation of the epidemic and pipe leakages were the most important. In India, waterborne epidemics are usual occurrences during the year. In this scenario, proper monitoring of water sources, proper sewage disposal, sanitation measures and creating awareness among the people should be undertaken.


The purpose of this study was to present a method for generating x-ray source models for performing Monte Carlo (MC) radiation dosimetry simulations of multidetector row CT (MDCT) scanners. These so-called "equivalent" source models consist of an energy spectrum and filtration description that are generated based wholly on the measured values and can be used in place of proprietary manufacturer's data for scanner-specific MDCT MC simulations. Required measurements include the half value layers (HVL1 and HVL2) and the bowtie profile (exposure values across the fan beam) for the MDCT scanner of interest. Using these measured values, a method was described (a) to numerically construct a spectrum with the calculated HVLs approximately equal to those measured (equivalent spectrum) and then (b) to determine a filtration scheme (equivalent filter) that attenuates the equivalent spectrum in a similar fashion as the actual filtration attenuates the actual x-ray beam, as measured by the bowtie profile measurements. Using this method, two types of equivalent source models were generated: One using a spectrum based on both HVL1 and HVL2 measurements and its corresponding filtration scheme and the second consisting of a spectrum based only on the measured HVL1 and its corresponding filtration scheme. Finally, a third type of source model was built based on the spectrum and filtration data provided by the scanner's manufacturer. MC simulations using each of these three source model types were evaluated by comparing the accuracy of multiple CT dose index (CTDI) simulations to measured CTDI values for 64-slice scanners from the four major MDCT manufacturers. Comprehensive evaluations were carried out for each scanner using each kVp and bowtie filter combination available. CTDI experiments were performed for both head (16 cm in diameter) and body (32 cm in diameter) CTDI phantoms using both central and peripheral measurement positions. Both equivalent source model types result in simulations with an average root mean square (RMS) error between the measured and simulated values of approximately 5% across all scanner and bowtie filter combinations, all kVps, both phantom sizes, and both measurement positions, while data provided from the manufacturers gave an average RMS error of approximately 12% pooled across all conditions. While there was no statistically significant difference between the two types of equivalent source models, both of these model types were shown to be statistically significantly different from the source model based on manufacturer's data. These results demonstrate that an equivalent source model based only on measured values can be used in place of manufacturer's data for Monte Carlo simulations for MDCT dosimetry.


Abstract Farmers face many choices when selecting seed for soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) production, including highly desired herbicide tolerance traits. Despite the convenience of herbicide tolerance, resistant weeds and technology fees may reduce utility and profitability of these varieties, especially when commodity prices are low. Sporadic outbreaks of soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura, Hemiptera: Aphididae) that require insecticide use for optimal yield can be a further complication for farmers in Iowa. Soybean aphid-resistant varieties are commercially available, but in limited genetic backgrounds without herbicide tolerance. We hypothesized yield and value of resistance traits will vary based on the environment. We established plots at two locations with different risks of soybean aphid outbreaks and used two planting dates at each location to mimic different yield environments. In 2016 and 2017, we planted four varieties that varied in their susceptibility to soybean aphids and glyphosate, and applied insecticides if aphid populations reached an economic threshold. Regardless of genetic background, aphid-resistant varieties prevented populations from reaching the economic threshold at all environments. We observed no significant difference in yield between resistant and susceptible varieties, revealing this trait is as effective at protecting yield as an insecticide application on susceptible varieties at the high-risk location. We also explored the value of each variety in different environments. Resistant varieties produced greater potential net revenue than susceptible varieties at the high-risk location, while the opposite occurred at the low-risk location. Resistant varieties with herbicide tolerance, if made available, would be the most valuable across all environments.


Deep Learning (DL) algorithms are the central focus of modern machine learning systems. As data volumes keep growing, it has become customary to train large neural networks with hundreds of millions of parameters with enough capacity to memorize these volumes and obtain state-of-the-art accuracy. To get around the costly computations associated with large models and data, the community is increasingly investing in specialized hardware for model training. However, specialized hardware is expensive and hard to generalize to a multitude of tasks. The progress on the algorithmic front has failed to demonstrate a direct advantage over powerful hardware such as NVIDIA-V100 GPUs. This paper provides an exception. We propose SLIDE (Sub-LInear Deep learning Engine) that uniquely blends smart randomized algorithms, with multi-core parallelism and workload optimization. Using just a CPU, SLIDE drastically reduces the computations during both training and inference outperforming an optimized implementation of Tensorflow (TF) on the best available GPU. Our evaluations on industry-scale recommendation datasets, with large fully connected architectures, show that training with SLIDE on a 44 core CPU is more than 3.5 times (1 hour vs. 3.5 hours) faster than the same network trained using TF on Tesla V100 at any given accuracy level. On the same CPU hardware, SLIDE is over 10x faster than TF. We provide codes and scripts for reproducibility.


Bone is continuously resorbed and formed in the process of remodeling. Osteoporosis results when bone loss is sufficient to cause increased risk of fracture. High rates of bone turnover can be identified by measuring biochemical byproducts of resorption and formation. Collagen crosslinks and associated peptides measured in urine are newly recognized markers for bone resorption. Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin are serum markers for bone formation. The clinical utility of these new techniques is two-fold: to identify adults at high risk of osteoporosis so that preventive therapy can be instituted, and to provide noninvasive, sensitive tools for monitoring clinical course and effect of therapy.


Determination of transport coefficients in 3D topological insulators is one of the highlighted topics in the literature. The main difficulty of the calculation of transport coefficients comes from the contribution of bulk modes. In this work, electrical conductivity in 3D topologic insulators is considered under zero magnetic fields and it is written in a size dependent form. For this purpose, Weyl conjecture is used. The contribution of the bulk modes to electrical conductivity is analytically derived by depending on the material size, hybridization energy and degeneracy of the carriers.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


The paper shows the changes in the dates (complete freeze-up, ±5 days/°C and complete ice clearance, ±3 days/°C) of the ice regime in Lake Onego depending on changes in average air temperature within the preceding two-month periods (autumn and spring). The regression equations for their calculation based on previous three- and four-month periods according to the 2000-2018 data are also provided. Indicative dates of ice regime based on accumulated air temperatures within the ice period of Lake Onego were also established (early formation of ice phenomena, complete freeze-up phase, beginning of the break-up phase and complete ice clearance). Together with the data on expected air temperature above the lake's surface, these dependencies enable us to predict the indicative dates of the ice regime.


CONTEXT
While the actions of popular figures are believed to influence the behavior of the general public, including health care decisions, little research has examined such an effect.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a temporal association exists between use of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) for treatment of breast cancer and Nancy Reagan's mastectomy in October 1987.

DESIGN/SETTING
Population-based observational cohort study.

PATIENTS
Two sources of data: (1) 82 230 women aged 30 years and older who were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results tumor registry because of a diagnosis of local or regional breast cancer from 1983 to 1990; and (2) 80057 female Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 79 years who received inpatient surgery for local or regional breast cancer in 1987 or 1988.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Percentage of use of BCS vs mastectomy over time.

RESULTS
Compared with women undergoing surgery for breast cancer in the third quarter of 1987 (just prior to Mrs Reagan's mastectomy), women were 25% less likely to undergo BCS in the fourth quarter of 1987 (odds ratio [OR], 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-0.85) and in the first quarter of 1988 (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.67-0.86). In subsequent quarters, the rate returned to the baseline. In multivariate analyses, the decline was significant among white but not nonwhite women. It was most prominent among women aged 50 to 79 years in the central and southern regions of the country, and most sustained among women living in areas with lower levels of income and education.

CONCLUSIONS
Celebrity role models can influence decisions about medical care. The influence appears strongest among persons who demographically resemble the celebrity, and those of lower income and educational status.


The settings of Kate O'Brien's novels span late nineteenth early twentieth-century
Ireland and are concerned with the lives of middle-class women. This thesis argues that
O'Brien's rendering of the interiority of the bourgeois family and the inner lives of
middle-class women, reveals a site of the public discourse of Church and State.
O'Brien's representations of female characters are analysed through the framework of
the Family, as well as the social, cultural and religious background of this period,
focusing particularly on the influence of Catholicism on women's roles as wives and
mothers in Irish society. O'Brien provided a powerful dramatisation of the lives of
women that were determined by the particular modes of femininity advocated by Irish
society and Church teaching, as specified by Church writings, especially Papal
encyclicals, on woman's role in the family. Catholic Social Teaching edicts on
women's roles in the family were incorporated into the 1937 Irish Constitution, which
in Article 41 especially, defined a woman's role as that pertaining to "her life within the
home" (Bunreacht na hEireann, Article 41.2.1).
Chapter One sets the historical and ideological context in which the "struggles" of the
characters subsequently analysed takes place. Chapter Two looks at instances of
struggle in O'Brien's work for some mother characters, who exemplify State and
Church discourses of ideal womanhood, and those around them, while Chapter Three
explores the instances of protest in the lives of ideologically-bound wives. Chapter
Four focuses on the struggles of single women who are precariously positioned with
regard to the family. The common theme shared by O'Brien's female characters is their
negotiation of personal desires and energies within and without the structures of the
family unit. By focusing on the individual experience, O'Brien questioned ideological
perspectives of middle-class women's homogenised acceptance of their prescribed roles
in the family and in society, and made the seemingly private, public, a space for
ideological analysis and debate.


The biosynthetic origins of the structurally related racemic isoxazolidine Papaveracaea alkaloids Setigerumine I, Dactylicapnosinine and Dactylicapnosine have remained elusive since their original isolation over two decades ago. Herein we report the first biosynthetic hypothesis for their formation and, inspired by it, the first synthesis of (±)-Setigerumine I with accompanying computational rationale. Based on the results, these isoxazolidine alkaloids arise from racemizing oxidative rearrangements of prominent isoquinoline alkaloids Noscapine and Hydrastine. The key steps featured in this synthesis are a room temperature Cope elimination and a domino C–H oxidation/inverse-electron demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of an axially chiral, yet configurationally unstable, intermediate.


We develop a property-rights model of the firm in which production entails a continuum of uniquely sequenced stages. In each stage, a final-good producer contracts with a distinct supplier for the procurement of a customized stage-specific component. Our model yields a sharp characterization for the optimal allocation of ownership rights along the value chain. We show that the incentive to integrate suppliers varies systematically with the relative position (upstream versus downstream) at which the supplier enters the production line. Furthermore, the nature of the relationship between integration and "downstreamness" depends crucially on the elasticity of demand faced by the final-good producer. Our model readily accommodates various sources of asymmetry across final-good producers and across suppliers within a production line, and we show how it can be taken to the data with international trade statistics. Combining data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Related Party Trade database and estimates of U.S. import demand elasticities from Broda and Weinstein (2006), we find empirical evidence broadly supportive of our key predictions. In the process, we develop two novel measures of the average position of an industry in the value chain, which we construct using U.S. Input-Output Tables.


The construction of Dirac observables, that is, gauge-invariant objects, in general relativity is technically more complicated than in other gauge theories such as the standard model due to its more complicated gauge group which is closely related to the group of spacetime diffeomorphisms. However, the explicit and usually cumbersome expression of Dirac observables in terms of gauge noninvariant quantities is irrelevant if their Poisson algebra is sufficiently simple. Precisely that can be achieved by employing the relational formalism and a specific type of matter proposed originally by Brown and Kuchař, namely pressureless dust fields. Moreover one is able to derive a compact expression for a physical Hamiltonian that drives their physical time evolution. The resulting gauge-invariant Hamiltonian system is obtained by Higgs-ing the dust scalar fields and has an infinite number of conserved charges which force the Goldstone bosons to decouple from the evolution. In previous publications we have shown that explicitly for cosmological perturbations. In this paper we analyse the spherically symmetric sector of the theory and it turns out that the solutions are in one-to-one correspondence with the class of Lemaître–Tolman–Bondi metrics. Therefore, the theory is capable of properly describing the whole class of gravitational experiments that rely on the assumption of spherical symmetry.


An assessment of recent scholarly work treating Tudor and Stuart drama and some general observations on the state of the profession. A full bibliography and price list of the works received by SEL for consideration follow.


A moment solution is presented for the problem of transverse electric (TE) scattering from homogeneous dielectric cylinders. The moment solution uses fictitious filamentary magnetic currents to simulate both the field scattered by the cylinder and the field inside the cylinder and in turn point-matches the continuity conditions for the tangential components of the electric and magnetic fields across the cylinder surface. The procedure is simple to execute and is general in that cylinders of arbitrary shape and complex permittivity can be handled effectively. Metallic cylinders are treated as reduced cases of the general procedure. Results are given and compared with available analytic solutions, which demonstrate the very good performance of the procedure. >


Background: Dysfunctional uterine bleeding is most common menstrual disorder. Third generation selective estrogen receptor modulator ormeloxifene is relatively recent modality of treatment for this condition. Conventionally ormeloxifene in dose of 60 mg is used to treat this condition. In this study 30 mg of ormeloxifene was used for treatment of DUB and its efficacy was compared with 60 mg dose. Objective was to evaluate whether 30 mg of ormeloxifene will be as efficacious as 60mg of ormeloxifene in the treatment of dysfunctional uterine bleeding.
Methods: In this study patients presenting to the outpatient department or emergency with clinical features suggestive of dysfunctional uterine bleeding were included. Random number table was used and 60 patients assigned in two groups with 30 patients in each group. Study group and control group patients were administered T. ormeloxifene 30 mg and 60 mg respectively. Both groups received it twice week for 12 weeks and weekly for next 12 weeks. Patients followed up 4 weekly and efficacy of treatment assessed in terms of decrease pictorial blood assessment chart (PBAC) score, rise in hemoglobin and reduction in endometrial thickness.
Results: Treatment efficacy in terms of hemoglobin rise, decrease in PBAC score and reduction in endometrial thickness was assessed and it was found that ormeloxifene in dose of 30 mg as well as in 60 mg was equally efficacious.
Conclusions: Patients treated with 30mg dose of ormeloxifene showed efficacy of treatment comparable to 60 mg dose. Patients receiving 30 mg dose showed significant increase in mean hemoglobin, significant fall in mean endometrial thickness and also significant reduction in menstrual blood loss. 30 mg can be used as the optimum dose for the treatment of DUB with similar efficacy of treatment and more cost effectiveness.


As broadband Internet access and virtual reality technology rapidly expand, virtual worlds and three-dimensional avatars will become more pervasive and widely adopted. In virtual worlds, people assume an identity as an avatar and interact with each other. The objective of this study is to theorize how users form attitudes and intentions regarding avatars in realistic, task-focused virtual world settings. To investigate these effects, this study proposes a conceptual framework based on dual-congruity perspectives (self-congruity and functional congruity). The results show that the more closely an avatar resembles its user, the more the user is likely to have positive attitudes (e.g., affection, connection, and passion) toward the avatar, and the better able to evaluate the quality and performance of apparel products. In the end, these positive attitudes toward an avatar and its usefulness positively affect users' intentions to use the avatar. Based on this study, we propose that avatars representing users' actual appearance may be helpful in experiencing and evaluating some business areas related to users' lives in the real world (e.g., virtual apparel shopping, matchmaking, plastic surgery, fitness clubs, etc.); utilization of such avatars may be a new business opportunity likely to thrive in virtual worlds.


Using 1979-2011 Current Population Survey data for the United States and 1975-2011 New Earnings Survey data for Great Britain, we study wage behavior in both countries, with particular attention to the Great Recession. Real wages are procyclical in both countries, but the procyclicality of real wages varies across recessions, and does so differently between the two countries. U.S. distributions of year-to-year nominal wage change show many workers reporting zero change (suggesting wage stickiness) and many reporting nominal reductions (suggesting wage flexibility), but both findings could be distorted by reporting error. The British data, which are based on employers' payroll records, show much lower prevalence of zero wage change, but still show surprisingly frequent nominal wage cuts. The complex constellation of empirical regularities defies explanation by simple theories.


The creation of 3D models of ancient sites has often been focused on their major monuments only. This is logical, given the high costs of traditional 3D modeling. Thus, to efficiently reconstruct entire sites like cities, a large number of domestic buildings and workshops need to be generated automatically. Their appearance should follow the aesthetic and statutory architectural rules of the corresponding epoch. From various GIS (Geographical Information Systems) data given as input, such as population density, land usage, street network and building footprints, our system assigns type and style of the buildings to its footprints and calls the corresponding shape grammar rules to efficiently create detailed large-scale models. The shape grammar rules which are responsible for the creation of the actual building geometries are manually derived from photos and plans of remaining buildings, archaeological excavation data, and (historical) paintings. To complete the model of the reconstructed urban zone, streets are automatically embedded according to the given GIS data and appropriate vegetation is added based on simple procedural rules.


A new type of 3,3'-(2-hydroxypropane-1,3-diyl) bis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene)bis(2-(4-alkoxy phenyl)prop-1-en-1-ol) and their copper complexes were prepared and mesomorphic properties characterized. The mesomorphic properties of these copper complexes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM) and powder X-ray diffraction. X-ray structural crystallographic analysis showed that these bimetallic compounds have two copper centers coordinated with central square planar geometry. These molecules all have total two 1a or five alkoxy sidechains 1b appended around the central core. The mesomorphic behavior exhibited was found to be dependent on the sidechain density. All compounds in 1a exhibited smectic mesophases, however, compounds in 1b exhibited hexagonal columnar phases (Colh), which were characterized by optical textures and confirmed by powder x-ray diffraction.


The concept of anxiety occupies a crucial position in early Heidegger's writings. Most prominently, it appears in Being and Time (1927) and "What is Metaphysics?" (1929) as a structurally central concept. After 1920s, Heidegger began to use the term much less frequently, leading some scholars to suggest a change in Heidegger's view of the significance of the concept of anxiety. In this essay, we argue that central to the understanding of the role of anxiety in Heidegger's thought is the fundamental difference between Heideggerian and psychological anxiety. This distinction is crucial as it is directly connected to the idea of the ontological difference, i.e., the difference between the ontical and the ontological, between beings and the Being of beings. Psychological descriptions of anxiety remain at the level of the ontical and, therefore, fall short of comprehending the ontological meaning of Heideggerian anxiety, which is one of Dasein's basic possibilities of Being. Equipped with such an ontological understanding, we argue that the concept of anxiety remained central to Heidegger's thought, early and late alike. We also suggest that Heidegger's less frequent use of the term anxiety after "What Is Metaphysics?" could possibly be associated with his recognition that its terminological similarity with psychological anxiety may become a source of misunderstandings. Moreover, in the last section of the essay which functions as an addendum, we engage with Freud's analysis of the uncanny and examine its relation to Heidegger's Being-not-at-home. We argue that although Freud's analysis of the uncanny does, in a sense, open up horizons beyond the reach of empirical psychology, his quasi-scientific quest for causal explanation ultimately remains within the framework of an ontical analysis.


Grid computing has emerged as a powerful environment for parallel processing. Nowadays, many organizations participate in one or more grid computing infrastructures, sharing computational resources to achieve high computational power and/or very large storage capacities. Mostly, these grids provide application interfaces for the user to submit jobs or workflows. These interfaces receive the submissions and distribute them among the grid resources. In this paper we evaluate a service-oriented grid testbed. Jobs are submitted through a workflow manager using a workflow composition language which allows services to be invoked sequentially or in parallel. Experimental results show that the overhead when using a service composition scheme does not prevent the grid from giving fast workflow execution. In our testbed, for a median filter application, we were able to get executions in the order of five times faster using the grid when compared to the local execution.


Cancer is, globally, one of the main causes of death. Even though various therapies are available, they are still painful because of their adverse side effects. Available treatments frequently fail due to unpromising responses, resistance to classical anticancer drugs, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and low accessibility to tumor tissues. Developing novel strategies to minimize adverse side effects, improve chemotherapy sensitivity, and control cancer progression is needed. Many studies have suggested small dietary molecules as complementary treatments for cancer patients. Different components of herbal/edible plants, known as flavonoids, have recently garnered attention due to their broad biological properties (e.g., antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, anticancer, hepatoprotective, and cardioprotective). These flavonoids have shown anticancer activity by affecting different signaling cascades. This article summarizes the key progress made in this area and discusses the role of flavonoids by specifically inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in various cancers.


Coral diseases are a major threat to coral reef health and functioning worldwide. Little is known about how coral disease prevalence relates to multiple interacting changes in host densities, abiotic stressors, and levels of human impact. In particular, almost nothing is known about coral disease dynamics under changing abiotic conditions in the absence of direct anthropogenic stressors. Understanding how disease dynamics change relative to shifts in environmental conditions is crucial for the successful management and future survival of coral reefs. With the use of existing and novel field data and statistical modeling I examined the associations (abiotic and biotic) of multiple coral disease states across a variety of spatial scales encompassing a wide range of environmental conditions. Biomedical techniques were then used to relate these environmental associations to potential disease etiology. Study sites included areas with high levels of anthropogenic impact (e.g. Oahu, main Hawaiian Islands); to extremely remote quasi-pristine reefs removed from direct human influence (e.g. Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge). Over small spatial scales (100s m) at a marine reserve in the main Hawaiian Islands I modelled the spatial patterns of four coral diseases (Porites growth anomalies, Porites tissue loss, Porites trematodiasis and Montipora white syndrome). While Porites tissue loss and Montipora white syndrome were positively associated with poor environmental conditions (poor water quality, low coral cover), Porites growth anomalies and Porites trematodiasis were more prevalent in areas considered to be of superior quality (clearer water, increased host abundance, higher numbers of fish). At Palmyra Atoll, fatal tissue loss diseases were largely absent and although coral growth anomalies were present their prevalence was extremely low. Patterns of growth anomaly prevalence at Palmyra were positively associated with host abundance across four coral genera (Acropora, Astreopora, Montipora and Porites) and generally negatively associated with algal cover. Growth anomalies, although progressive and detrimental to the hosts, were most prevalent in the "healthiest" regions (the highest coral cover regions) of Palmyra. I hypothesised that differences seen in the types and prevalence of coral diseases between heavily populated parts of Hawaii and remote uninhabited locations such as Palmyra Atoll, could be a result of differing levels of either direct (e.g. pollution) or indirect (e.g. pollution leading to loss of key hosts) human stressors, in addition to natural changes in the environment. To begin disentangling the confounding effects of natural variability and human stressors on coral disease prevalence patterns I modelled two diseases (Acropora and Porites growth anomalies) across hundreds of sites throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean (1000s km). Predictors included host densities, human population numbers, frequency of sea surface temperature anomalies, and input of ultra-violet radiation. Porites growth anomaly prevalence was positively associated with human population density (and to a lesser extent host density), while the prevalence of Acropora growth anomalies was strongly host density dependent. The positive association between the prevalence of Porites growth anomalies and human density suggests the presence and prevalence of the disease are related, directly or indirectly, to some environmental co-factor associated with increased human density at regional spatial scales. Although this association has been widely posited, this is one of the first wide scale studies unambiguously linking a coral disease with human population size. In summary, the types of coral diseases observed, their prevalence, and spatial patterns of distribution within reef systems are the result of multiple abiotic and biotic factors and stressors interacting, in some cases synergistically. Statistical modelling, in conjunction with biomedical techniques and field observations, proved essential to the understanding of coral disease ecology within single reefs and atolls to patterns across entire oceans.


Cardiopulmonary bypass has been implicated in triggering a multisystem inflammatory response caused by blood contact with the artificial surfaces of the circuit. This leads to increased morbidity levels because of cytotoxic enzymes released from activated neutrophils. Recently, it was discovered that certain inflammatory mediators are permeable to the membrane of the hemoconcentrator. As a result, this study was undertaken to quantitatively characterize the nature of this movement by deriving a sieving coefficient (S) for four inflammatory mediators: myeloperoxidase, elastase, interleukin-6, and lactoferrin. The results show no permeability through the hemoconcentrator for the two neutrophil derived enzymes myeloperoxidase and elastase (S = O,p > 0.05). Conversely, although larger than the pore size of the hemoconcentrator, lactoferrin sieves through unrestricted (S = 1.030 \pm 0.037, p < 0.0001). Interleukin-6 is removed in concentrations greater than those found in the blood, which yields a sieving coefficient significantly greater than 1.0 (S = 1.246 \pm 0.042, p < 0.0001). In addition to sieving coefficients, this study offers theories as to why these mediators acted as such. One conclusion is that certain mediators are efficaciously removed by the hemoconcentrator and, with additional study, may result in an attenuated inflammatory response.


Conventional CMOS technology is reaching fundamental scaling limits, and interconnection bottleneck is dominating IC power and performance. Migrating to 3-D integrated circuits, though promising, has eluded us due to inherent customization and manufacturing requirements in CMOS that are incompatible with 3-D organization. Skybridge, a fine-grained 3-D IC fabric technology was recently proposed towards this aim, which offers a paradigm shift in technology scaling and design. In this paper we present specifically architected core Skybridge structures to enable fine-grained connectivity in 3-D intrinsically. We develop predictive models for interconnect length distribution for Skybridge, and use them to quantify the benefits in terms of expected reduction in interconnect lengths and repeater counts when compared to 2-D CMOS in 16nm node. Our estimation indicates up to 10x reduction in longest global interconnect length vs. 16nm 2-D CMOS, and up to 2 orders of magnitude reduction in the number of repeaters for a design consisting of 10 million logic gates. These results show great promise in alleviating interconnect bottleneck due to a higher degree of connectivity in 3-D, leading to shorter global interconnects and reduced power and area overhead due to repeater insertion.


Power flow in a recyclable transmission line (RTL) for a z-pinch-driven inertial-confinement fusion energy (IFE) system is studied. In a magnetically insulated transmission line, plasma forms by explosive emission on the cathode but emission from the anode does not occur. However, in an RTL, the large linear current density that flows in the electrodes at small radius near the load resistively heats the anode surface, leading to anode plasma formation and ion emission. If the impedance of the RTL is too small, large ion current losses can occur and large electron flow currents can be launched into the z-pinch load region. If only the boundary current drives the z-pinch load, then these large electron flow currents can introduce a polarity effect with more bound current in the anode than the cathode. While being mindful of the IFE system requirement to maintain a small RTL inductance, these problems are avoided by choosing the line impedance at the load end of the RTL to be well above the effective impedance of the imploding load. In this case, the ion current losses are tolerable and the electron flow current is negligibly small. For the present baseline design with a peak current of 60 MA driving a 100-ns implosion, these power flow constraints require a gap of order 2 mm or more at the load end of the RTL


Abstract Changes regarding the importance of graduates' competences by employers and changes of competences themselves are to a great extend driven by the technological changes, digitalization, and big data. Among these competences, the ability to perform business and data analytics, based on statistical thinking and data mining, is becoming extremely important. In this paper, we study the relationships among several constructs that are related to attitudes of economics and business students regarding quantitative statistical methods and to students' intention to use them in the future. Findings of our research provide important insights for practitioners, educators, lecturers, and curricular management teams.


The ABS East 2018 conference at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach attracted roughly 4,900 attendees, including more than 2,100 issuers and investors. The conference started on Sunday, September 23, and ran through Tuesday, September 25. Events and sessions drew strong attendance, and the overall mood was strongly positive. The report covers 17 sessions from the event, including the general sessions on the overview of the market, regulatory reform, and replacing LIBOR. Coverage also includes the traders' and researchers' roundtable and multiple sessions on residential MBS and CLOs, as well as sessions on blockchain technology, FICO scores, consumer ABS, student loan ABS, and equipment finance. TOPICS: CLOs, CDOs, and other structured credit; credit risk management; portfolio management/multi-asset allocation; quantitative methods; financial crises and financial market history


SUMMARY Currently, society awareness, legislations and competing markets demand dairy farming systems which are sustainable. In the near future, farm management and animal genetics will be key elements in developing such sustainability. Although the effect of farm management on some attributes of sustainability has already been studied, the impacts and scope for realizing goals of agricultural multifunctionality through genetic changes are still to be tested. Sustainable and Integrated Management Systems for Dairy Production (SIMSDAIRY) is a new farm level modelling framework which integrates these concepts to practical actions and brings all of this complexity into an operational and scientific modus operandi. The current paper provides a brief description of the structure of SIMSDAIRY and an example of how it can be used to compare the scope for improving the overall sustainability of a dairy farm by: (i) future system changes aimed at improving genetic characteristics of plants and animals with (ii) current system structural changes aimed at improving nutrient management efficiency. In order to do this comparison, management factors and new genetic traits from plants or/and animals, acting singly or in combination, are evaluated against a baseline dairy farm scenario. Sustainability is measured in terms of targets associated with: (i) the Nitrates Directive, (ii) phosphorus (P) threshold for eutrophication, (iii) the Kyoto Protocol, (iv) the Gothenburg Protocol, (v) an adequate net farm income for standard of living and acceptable standards of (vi) quality of milk, (vii) animal welfare, (viii) level of biodiversity, (ix) landscape aesthetics and (x) soil quality. Results suggest that genetic-based changes offer greater scope than management-based ones to improve sustainability up to an acceptable level. Costs associated with management changes are often too high within current socio-economics circumstances. Optimizing nitrogen (N) mineral fertilizer rate and timing was the only management-based measure that, while improving most of the environmental and biodiversity indices, resulted in improved economic results. Some genetic-based changes offered substantial scope for reducing environmental losses while having economic benefits. However, only those decreasing the crude protein (CP) of the plant and increasing the diet N cow partition into milk seemed to result in non-significant pollution swapping and be achievable in the nearby future.


Abstract This article seeks to shed new light on the complex nature of Italian agency in the League of Nations (LoN) and the Italians' involvement in the international community that characterised Geneva in the interwar period. By analysing the actions and the networks of the Italians who worked in the League's machinery, this article reveals the extent to which they were part of an international society emerging in Geneva. Through the experiences of Alberto Theodoli, chairman of the Permanent Mandates Commission, and Pietro Stoppani, director of the Economic Relations Section, this study concludes that Italian experts were fully part of the international society that flourished in interwar Geneva, being members of international networks and using their position to promote their agendas. However, these Italians were influenced in different ways by the Fascist regime and their attachment to the League's internationalism varied. The article shows how the Fascist government realised the potential of the LoN world for promoting its foreign policy goals and legitimising the regime. Fascist Italy valued Geneva as a central forum for international relations and as a place where it could further its imperial ambitions.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To consider psychometric estimates of the validity and reliability of the Spanish translation of a mammography-specific self-efficacy scale.

DESIGN
A cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Three primarily Hispanic churches and a Hispanic community center in a low-income urban area of New Jersey.

SAMPLE
153 low-income Hispanic women aged 40-85 years.

METHODS
The translated scale was administered to participants during a six-month period. Internal consistency, reliability, and construct and predictive validity were assessed.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Demographic variables included income and insurance status. Outcome variables included total mammography-specific self-efficacy and having had a mammogram within the past two years.

FINDINGS
Preliminary evidence of reliability and validity were found, and predictive validity was demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS
The health needs of specific populations can be addressed only when research instruments have been appropriately validated and all relevant factors are considered. Diverse groups of low-income women face similar challenges and barriers in their efforts to get screened.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Nurses are in an ideal position to help women with preventive care decision making (e.g., screening for breast cancer). Understanding how a woman's level of self-efficacy affects her decision making should be considered when counseling a client.


We report on a variety of electroactive surfaces for the control of in vitro cell adhesion, proliferation, and stimulation. Planar cell culture substrates have been coated with the conducting polymer PEDOT and by switching the redox state, adhesion and proliferation of MDCK epithelial cells was controlled as well as stem cell seeding density. Electronically active 3D-scaffolds based on electrospun PET nano-fibers coated with PEDOT have been used as a substrate to culture SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and to induce Ca2+ signaling. Finally, we report on micromechanical stimulation of cells using an electroactive topography surface based on micropattened polypyrrole.


High performance single-phase Si microchannel coolers have been designed and characterized in single chip modules in a laboratory environment using either water at 22°C or a fluorinated fluid at temperatures between 20 and -40° C as the coolant. Compared to our previous work, key performance improvements were achieved through reduced channel pitch (from 75 to 60 microns), thinned channel bases (from 425 to 200 microns of Si), improved thermal interface materials, and a thinned thermal test chip (from 725 to 400 microns of Si). With multiple heat exchanger zones and 60 micron pitch microchannels with a water flow rate of 1.25 1pm, an average unit thermal resistance of 15.9 C mm 2 /W between the chip surface and the inlet cooling water was demonstrated for a Si microchannel cooler attached to a chip with Ag epoxy. Replacing the Ag epoxy layer with an In solder layer reduced the unit thermal resistance to 12.0 C mm 2 /W. Using a fluorinated fluid with an inlet temperature of -30°C and 60 micron pitch microchannels with an Ag epoxy thermal interface layer, the average unit thermal resistance was 25.6 C mm 2 /W. This fell to 22.6 C mm 2 /W with an In thermal interface layer. Cooling >500 W/cm 2 was demonstrated with water. Using a fluorinated fluid with an inlet temperature of -30° C, a chip with a power density of 270 W/cm 2 was cooled to an average chip surface temperature of 35°C. Results using both water and a fluorinated fluid are presented for a range of Si microchannel designs with a channel pitch from 60 to 100 microns.


Abstract. From basic physical assumptions we derive a simple linear model of the global CO2 cycle without free parameters. It yields excellent agreement with the observations reported by the carbon dioxide information analysis center (CDIAC) as time series of atmospheric CO2 growth, of sinks in the ocean and of absorption by the biosphere. The agreement extends from the year 1850 until present (2013). Based on anthropogenic CO2 emission scenarios until 2150, future atmospheric CO2 concentrations are calculated. As the model shows, and depending on the emission scenario, the airborne fraction of CO2 begins to decrease in the year ~ 2050 and becomes negative at the latest in ~ 2130. At the same time the concentration of the atmospheric CO2 will reach a maximum between ~ 500 and ~ 900 ppm. As a consequence, increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions will make the ocean and the biosphere the main reservoirs of anthropogenic CO2 in the long run. Latest in about 150 years, anthropogenic CO2 emission will no longer increase the CO2 content of the atmosphere.


Abstract In the West Bank, hundreds of non-Palestinian women who are married to Palestinian men have recently been issued shortened visas with tightened restrictions. This means they are often prevented from working, their mobilities are severely reduced and they are placed in extremely precarious bureaucratic and procedural positions. The research in this article draws from fieldwork interviews with women affected by such restrictions to show how politically induced precarities produce gendered effects towards specific ends of the occupation of Palestine. We thus frame a discussion of the women's experiences of visa regulations through precarity before giving an account of the profound effects on women's roles in family and political life. We then broaden the focus to consider Israel's occupation of Palestine and the demographic implications of the gendered effects of visa precarity. In doing so we make the argument that Israel's spousal visa regulations contribute to the (re)production of uneven gender relations and the demographic objective of emptying out the West Bank.


A regulatory process, by which a person/organization/sponsor/innovator gets sanction to launch a drug in the market, is kenned as drug approbation process. In general, a drug approbation process comprises of sundry stages: application to conduct clinical tribulations (CT), conducting clinical tribulations, application to marketing sanction (MA) of drug and post-marketing studies (PMS). Every country has its own regulatory ascendancy, which is responsible to enforce the rules and regulations and issue the guidelines to regulate the marketing of the drugs. Keywords: CT, PMS, MA Cite this Article Agarwal Praveen, Bhandary Deepak, Rasheed Abdul. Drug approval procedure in India (CDSCO). Research & Reviews: A Journal of Drug Design & Discovery. 2015; 2(2): 20–26p.


In both youth research and pedagogical literature, and especially in related policy arenas, the perspectives often combine normative and analytical aspects, and the concept of participation is sometimes used uncritically, legitimised by a powerful discourse in which young people are addressed as the future of society. This chapter provides theoretical and methodological perspectives that help to deconstruct the ideological lenses through which participation is continually reproduced in ways defined by powerful institutional actors, and from there reconstruct the meaning of participation starting from the perspective of the participants, especially young people. An understanding of democracy is important in studying ways of youth participation that might not be recognised as such by conventional understandings of participation. Apart from participatory observation, group discussions can give access to practical knowledge of young people by reconstructing they refer to each other and the shared meanings of their activities in public spaces. Most processes of institutionalisation of youth participation are related to youth policies.


We examine the evolution ('healing') of the interface between two polymer films at various temperatures below the glass transition temperature, Tg. Specifically, neutron reflectometry is used to study the relaxation of the interface between both unentangled and entangled deuterated polystyrene (d-PS) and hydrogenated polystyrene (h-PS) films in the glass state where these bilayer films are supported on silicon substrates. We find that the initially sharp interface between the glassy polymer layers broadens with time (t), but the average interfacial thickness Δσ(t) between these layers then saturates after long time to a thickness (ξp) in a range between 1 nm and 3 nm after a long annealing time (≥1 h) for the range of temperatures investigated. This characteristic scale, and the temperature dependence of the interfacial relaxation time τ, were unanticipated, and we thus investigated the dependence of ξp and τ on molecular mass (M), annealing temperature (T) and the thickness (hf) of the PS films. We find that ξp increases with hf at a fixed T and increases with T at fixed hf. Our observation of a 'healing length' ξp, regardless of whether the polymers are entangled or not, and the dependence of ξp on T rule out an interpretation of this parameter in terms of the reptation model. On the other hand, ξp has a scale comparable to the mobile interfacial layer thickness reported in both small molecule and polymeric materials in the glass state, suggesting that ξp is a well-defined dynamical length scale characterizing the interfacial properties of glassy materials. The existence of such an interfacial layer has numerous implications for the processing and scientific understanding of thin polymer films.