Japan Tobacco is developing the mixed action ion channel blocker, JTV-519, which has potential use as an antiarrhythmic [285800]. The drug is a novel cardioprotectant derivative of 1,4-benzothiazepine for which phase I trials were completed in the third quarter of 1998; phase II trials started in the fourth quarter of 1998 for the potential treatment of myocardial infarction [320195]. Studies have shown that JTV-519 has a strong cardioprotective effect against catecholamine-induced myocardial injury and against ischemia/reperfusion injury [316749]. In experimental myofibrillar overcontraction models, it demonstrated greater cardioprotectant effects than propranolol, verapamil and diltiazem [171668].


There are a growing number of jobs related to web development, yet there is little formal literature about the accessibility of web development with a screen reader. This article describes research to explore (1) web development accessibility issues and their impact on blind learners and programmers; (2) tools and strategies used to address issues; and (3) opportunities for creating inclusive web development curriculum and supportive tools. We conducted a Comprehensive Literature Review (CLR) to formulate accessibility issue categories, then interviewed 12 blind programmers to validate and expand on both issues in education and practice. The CLR yielded five issue categories: (1) visual information without an accessible equivalent, (2) orienting, (3) navigating, (4) lack of support, and (5) knowledge and use of supportive technologies. Our interview findings validated the use of CLR-derived categories and revealed nuances specific to learning and practicing web development. Blind web developers grapple with the inaccessibility of demonstrations and explanations of web design concepts, wireframing software, independent verification of computed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and navigating browser-based developer tool interfaces. Tools and strategies include seeking out alternative education materials to learn independently, use of CSS frameworks, collaboration with sighted colleagues, and avoidance of design and front-end development. This work contributes to our understanding of accessibility issues specific to web development and the strategies that blind web developers employ in both educational and applied contexts. We identify areas in which greater awareness and application of accessibility best practices are required in Web education, a need to disseminate existing screen reader strategies and accessible tools, and to develop new tools that support Web design and validation of CSS. Finally, this research signals future directions for the development of accessible web curriculum and supportive tools, including solutions that leverage artificial intelligence, tactile graphics, and supportive-online communities of practice.


In this study, the characteristics of VoIP traffic in a deployed Cisco VoIP phone system and a SIP based soft phone system are analysed. Traffic was captured in a soft phone system, through which elementary understanding about a VoIP system was obtained and experimental setup was validated. An advanced experiment was performed in a deployed Cisco VoIP system in the department of Computer Science at the University of Saskatchewan. Three months of traffic trace was collected beginning October 2006, recording address and protocol information for every packet sent and received on the Cisco VoIP network. The trace was analysed to find out the features of Cisco VoIP system and the findings were presented. This work appears to be one of the first real deployment studies of VoIP that does not rely on artificial traffic. The experimental data provided in this study is useful for design and modeling of such systems, from which more useful predictive models can be generated. The analysis method used in this research can be used for developing synthetic workload models. A clear understanding of usage patterns in a real VoIP network is important for network deployment and potential network activities such as integration, optimizations or expansion. The major factors affecting VoIP quality such as delay, jitter and loss were also measured and simulated in this study, which will be helpful in an advanced VoIP quality study. A traffic generator was developed to generate various simulated VoIP traffic. The data used to provide the traffic model parameters was chosen from peak traffic periods in the captured data from University of Saskatchewan deployment. By utilizing the Traffic Trace function in ns2, the simulated VoIP traffic was fed into ns2, and delay, jitter and packet loss were calculated for different scenarios. Two simulation experiments were performed. The first experiment simulated the traffic of multiple calls running on a backbone link. The second experiment simulated a real network environment with different traffic load patterns. It is significant for network expansion and integration.


Several oxime-containing small molecules have useful properties, including antimicrobial, insecticidal, anticancer, and immunosuppressive activities. Phosphonocystoximate and its hydroxylated congener, hydroxyphosphonocystoximate, are recently discovered oxime-containing natural products produced by Streptomyces sp. NRRL S-481 and Streptomyces regensis NRRL WC-3744, respectively. The biosynthetic pathways for these two compounds are proposed to diverge at an early step in which 2-aminoethylphosphonate (2AEPn) is converted to (S)-1-hydroxy-2-aminoethylphosphonate ((S)-1H2AEPn) in S. regensis but not in Streptomyces sp. NRRL S-481). Subsequent installation of the oxime moiety into either 2AEPn or (S)-1H2AEPn is predicted to be catalyzed by PcxL or HpxL from Streptomyces sp. NRRL S-481 and S. regensis NRRL WC-3744, respectively, whose sequence and predicted structural characteristics suggest they are unusual N-oxidases. Here, we show that recombinant PcxL and HpxL catalyze the FAD- and NADPH-dependent oxidation of 2AEPn and 1H2AEPn, producing a mixture of the respective aldoximes and nitrosylated phosphonic acid products. Measurements of catalytic efficiency indicated that PcxL has almost an equal preference for 2AEPn and (R)-1H2AEPn. 2AEPn was turned over at a 10-fold higher rate than (R)-1H2AEPn under saturating conditions, resulting in a similar but slightly lower kcat/Km. We observed that (S)-1H2AEPn is a relatively poor substrate for PcxL but is clearly the preferred substrate for HpxL, consistent with the proposed biosynthetic pathway in S. regensis. HpxL also used both 2AEPn and (R)-1H2AEPn, with the latter inhibiting HpxL at high concentrations. Bioinformatic analysis indicated that PcxL and HpxL are members of a new class of oxime-forming N-oxidases that are broadly dispersed among bacteria.


Several efforts have been undertaken in the information systems (IS) arena to develop a model IS curriculum. Most notable of these is the IS'97 model that contains not only a list of suggested IS courses but also other sub-course and super-course constructs such as presentation areas, learning units, knowledge elements, and knowledge levels. The richness of this model is intended to enhance its usefulness in understanding the details of a curriculum. However, this richness adds a level of complexity that makes it difficult for all but the dedicated scholar to understand the intricacies of the model beyond the course construct level when reading the IS'97 document. This paper describes the development of an interactive prototype based on IS'97 that captures the details of the model within a relational database in an attempt to make it more useful and readily applicable to a variety of curriculum-related activities. Various forms, queries, and reports were developed to make understanding the model easier and to provide interactive capabilities to help faculty, students, and others experiment with the model. Efforts at utilizing the prototype for curriculum visualization and analysis are presented which help to add value to the existing IS'97 document. Finally, the paper concludes with a proposal to extend the IS'97 model constructs into a curriculum management system for an academic institution.


OBJECTIVE We examined the relationship between habitual daily physical activity and measures of glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and β-cell responses in adults with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or drug-naive, recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Participants included 230 adults (mean ± SD age 54.5 ± 8.5 years, BMI 35 ± 5.5 kg/m2; 42.6% women) who underwent a 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hyperglycemic clamp. Wrist accelerometers worn for 7 consecutive days measured total physical activity counts (TAC) (daily mean 233,460 [∼50th percentile for age]). We evaluated whether TAC was associated with fasting plasma glucose, OGTT 2-h plasma glucose or glucose incremental area under the curve (G-iAUC), hyperglycemic clamp measures of insulin sensitivity (steady-state glucose infusion rate/insulin [M/I]) and β-cell responses (acute C-peptide response to glucose, steady-state C-peptide, and maximal β-cell response), and OGTT C-peptide index (ΔC-peptide0–30/Δglucose0–30). RESULTS After adjustments for confounders, there was no association of TAC with fasting plasma glucose, 2-h glucose, or G-iAUC. Higher TAC was associated with higher insulin sensitivity (M/I). After adjusting for M/I, higher TAC was not associated with measures of β-cell response. CONCLUSIONS In adults with IGT or drug-naive, recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes, higher levels of habitual physical activity are associated with higher insulin sensitivity. Further studies are needed to understand why higher levels of physical activity are not associated with better β-cell response.


In general, deciding satisfiability of quantified bit-vector formulas becomes harder with increasing maximal allowed bit-width of variables and constants. However, this does not have to be the case for formulas that come from practical applications. For example, software bugs often do not depend on the specific bit-width of the program variables and would manifest themselves also with much lower bit-widths. We experimentally evaluate this thesis and show that satisfiability of the vast majority of quantified bit-vector formulas from the smt-lib repository remains the same even after reducing bit-widths of variables to a very small number. This observation may serve as a starting-point for development of heuristics or other techniques that can improve performance of smt solvers for quantified bit-vector formulas.


Amplification of earthquake ground motions by near-surface soil deposits was believed to have occurred in Maysville, Kentucky, U.S.A. during the northeast Kentucky (Sharpsburg) earthquake (mb,Lg 5.3) of July 27, 1980. The city of Maysville, founded on approximately 30 m of Late Quaternary Ohio River flood plain alluvium, was 52 km from the epicenter, but experienced equivalent or higher Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) VII, compared with the epicentral area of the earthquake (i.e., MMI VI-VII). In this study, dynamic soil properties were obtained at 10 sites in Maysville using seismic P-wave and S-wave (SH-mode) refraction and reflection methods. Synthetically generated composite time histories and limited geotechnical information, along with the measured dynamic properties, were used to perform one-dimensional linear-equivalent amplification analyses. The results indicated the soils generated ground-motion amplification factors between 3.0 and 6.0 and at a frequency range between 2.0 and 5.0 Hz (0.2 to 0.5 s). The building damage in Maysville from the Sharpsburg earthquake was predominantly found in one- to three-story masonry structures. The estimated fundamental period for one- to three-story masonry buildings is approximately 0.11 to 0.26 s (3.8 to 9 Hz). These correlations suggest the elevated ground motion intensity in Maysville can be accounted for by near-surface soil-amplification effects and resonance of the ground motion by the buildings (i.e., double resonance).


We demonstrate DNA-directed nanosystems with multiple components in motion. Coordinating functional parts to operate in concert is essential for machinery. In gear trains, meshed gears are compactly interlocked, working together to impose rotation or translation. In photosynthetic systems, a variety of biological entities in the thylakoid membrane interact with each other, converting light energy into chemical energy. However, coordinating individual parts to carry out regulated and coordinated motion within an artificial nanoarchitecture poses challenges, owing to the requisite control on the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate DNA-directed nanosystems, which comprise hierarchically-assembled DNA origami filaments, fluorophores, and gold nanocrystals. These individual building blocks can execute independent, synchronous, or joint motion upon external inputs. These are optically monitored in situ using fluorescence spectroscopy, taking advantage of the sensitive distance-dependent interactions between the gold nanocrystals and fluorophores positioned on the DNA origami. Our work leverages the complexity of DNA-based artificial nanosystems with tailored dynamic functionality, representing a viable route towards technomimetic nanomachinery.


Waterlogging is a major environmental constraint severely limiting crop production both in Australia and worldwide. In Australia, most barley cultivars are waterlogging sensitive and increasing their tolerance is an important breeding objective in regions of high rainfall. However, little genetic research and progress has been made on improving barley for waterlogging tolerance, mainly because it is a complex abiotic stress that is affected by many factors such as temperature, plant development stage, nutrient, soil type and topography. The aims of this PhD project were to: (i) investigate the genetic behavior and quantitative inheritance of waterlogging tolerance in barley; (ii) identify and validate quantitative trait loci (QTL) for waterlogging tolerance in barley.
A quantitative genetic analysis of waterlogging was conducted with a 6 X 6 half diallel experiment between three Chinese tolerant cultivars and three susceptible Australian and Japanese cultivars. The six parents and 15 F\(_2\) from each cross were seeded into two steel tanks (replications), flooded for 10 days and measured for mean yellow leaf percentage. This trait was chosen as other studies have found it to be correlated with waterlogging tolerance. The mean leaf chlorosis of all the F\(_2\)s was similar to that of their mid-parent values. Leaf chlorosis percentages followed an additive model with no significant dominance effect and possessed a high heritability. This experiment demonstrated that selecting in early generations for this trait would be effective.
For the purpose of identification of quantitative trait loci controlling waterlogging tolerance in barley, two linkage maps were constructed, based on doubled haploid populations from crosses between TX9425 (waterlogging tolerant) x Franklin (sensitive), and Yerong (tolerant) x Franklin. The TX9425/Franklin linkage map comprised 412 Diversity Array (DArT) markers, 27 SSR and 81 AFLP markers organized into 8 linkage groups and covering 956 cM. The Yerong/Franklin linkage map was based on 496 DArT and 22 SSR markers assigned to 9 linkage groups and covered 1084.5 cM. The robustness of the DArT markers was confirmed when linkage maps were generated from two sub-sets of progenies in the Y erong/Franklin population, which were genotyped in different batches (arrays). The resuJts indicated that the 496 markers were assigned to exactly the same seven different chromosomes in each of the two experiments. Only minor changes in marker order within chromosomes were found. A relatively large proportion of the molecular markers showed distorted segregation and the possible causes of this are discussed. In order to synthesize the genetic information contained in the two linkage maps produced in this project together with two other maps using DArT markers, a consensus map was constructed which could serve for barley molecular breeding in the future, and as a basis for studies of genome organization and evolution. For example, many more markers showed segregation distortion than expected. Out of the 2975 markers used across all four populations 21.1 %, 10.9%, and 7 .9% exhibited segregation distortion at 5%, 1 %, and 0.5% probability threshold respectively. DArT markers were not more likely to show segregation distortion than other marker types. Of the 63 5 markers showing aberrant segregation in the four populations, 459 markers were located in 16 putative segregation distortion regions (SDR). The SDRs were identified on all seven barley chromosomes, but they were unevenly distributed over the seven chromosomes and their size varied from 4 to 46 cM. Ten of the SDRs were found in at least two populations and several at a consistent map location over the four populations. Further studies are needed to determine the molecular basis of segregation distortion.
In order to detect QTL for waterlogging tolerance in barley, the two mapping populations were tested for germination (six replicates of fifty seeds each, submerged in 50 ml of water for six days, then moved to incubators for germination), leaf chlorosis, biomass reduction and survival (four replicates (tanks), five plants from each DH and parental lines sown in pots, placed in tanks, three of which were flooded and one used as a control). QTL analysis found a total of 6 distinct QTLs for the four traits in the Franklin/TX9425 population and 6 QTLs in the Franklin/Y erong population. QTL controlling leaf chlorosis were quite similar in their location between the two populations, the most important QTL found being in the same region of chromosome 3H in each population. One QTL controlling plant survival rate was located on chromosome 2H in both populations. A QTL for biomass reduction was identified in each population to chromosome 4H. However, it may not be the same QTL because they mapped to slightly different regions of that chromosome in each population. A QTL for seed germination was located on chromosome lH in the Franklin/TX9425 population. However, this QTL was different from the QTL controlling leaf chlorosis, which mapped to a different region of the same chromosome. In this study strong QTLs were identified, which could be cross-validated in different mapping population for traits correlated with waterlogging tolerance in barley. Thus there is good scope for using marker assisted selection in breeding for waterlogging tolerance in barley. However, these QTL will need to be further validated through field experiments and yield measurements under waterlogging conditions.


A French turkey multiplication company experienced a significant rise in Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale infections. Two clinical forms were observed: predominantly respiratory signs in the breeding farms (supplying the hatcheries) and joint/locomotor signs in the prebreeding farms (supplying breeding farms with 29-week-old future turkey layers). Repeated antibiotic treatments provided unsatisfactory results. As the birds' welfare and performances were compromised, a broad herd-specific immunisation programme was designed, including 47 different vaccine formulations with one to four O rhinotracheale strains, in compliance with French regulations on autogenous vaccines. This programme was applied before the birds' transfer in each of the affected prebreeding farms. Over the next two years, 63 batches were vaccinated; undesirable effects were not reported. Presence of O rhinotracheale was monitored in the receiving farms and occurred in 12 batches, two of which required antibiotic treatment. Control of O rhinotracheale was achieved through a customised immunisation programme, which has been maintained since.


Abstract Causal and counterfactual thoughts are bound together in Byrne's theory of human imagination. We think there are two issues in her theory that deserve clarification. First, Byrne describes which counterfactual possibilities we think of, but she leaves unexplained the mechanisms by which we generate these possibilities. Second, her exploration of "strong causes" and enablers gives two different predictions of which counterfactuals we think of in causal scenarios. On one account, we think of the counterfactuals which we have control over. On the other, which counterfactuals we think of depends on whether something is a strong cause or an enabler. Although these two accounts sometimes give the same predictions, we present cases in which they differ, and we would like to see Byrne's theory provide a way of reconciling these differences.


Many processes are composed of a n-fold repetition ofsome simpler process. If the whole process can be modeledwith a neural network, we present a method to derivea model of the basic process, too, thus performing notonly a system-identification but also a decompositioninto basic blocks. Mathematically this is equivalent to theproblem of computing iterative or functional roots: Giventhe equation F(x)=f(f(x)) and an arbitrary function F(x)we seek a solution for f(x). A special topology of multilayerperceptrons and a simple addition to the delta ruleof backpropagation will allow most NN tools to computegood approximations. Applications range from data analysiswithin chaos theory to the optimization of industrialprocesses, where production lines like steel mills oftenconsist of several identical machines in a row.


Radiotherapy has played a limited role in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to the risk of tumor radioresistance. A previous study in our laboratory confirmed that CD147 interacts with integrin β1 and plays an important role in modulating the malignant properties of HCC cells. In this study, we further evaluated the role of CD147 in the radioresistance of HCC and as a potential target for improving radiosensitivity. Upon irradiation, the colony formation, apoptosis, cell-cycle distribution, migration, and invasion of SMMC-7721, CD147-knockout SMMC-7721, HepG2, and CD147-knockdown HepG2 cells were determined. A nude mouse xenograft model and a metastatic model of HCC were used to detect the role of CD147 in radioresistance in vivo. Deletion of HAb18G/CD147 significantly enhanced the radiosensitivity of SMMC-7721 and HepG2 cells, and knocking out HAb18G/CD147 in SMMC-7721 cells attenuated irradiation-enhanced migration and invasion. The knockout and antibody blockade of CD147 decreased the tumor growth and metastatic potentials of HCC cells under irradiation. CD147-deleted SMMC-7721 cells showed diminished levels of calpain, cleaved talin, active integrin β1, and decreased p-FAK (Tyr397) and p-Akt (Ser473) levels. FAK and PI3K inhibitors, as well as integrin β1 antibodies, increased the radiation-induced apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells. Our data provide evidence for CD147 as an important determinant of radioresistance via the regulation of integrin β1 signaling. Inhibition of the HAb18G/CD147 integrin interaction may improve the efficiency of radiosensitivity and provide a potential new approach for HCC therapy. Mol Cancer Ther; 14(2); 553–63. ©2014 AACR.


In this Thesis, new simulation codes for the evaluation of a heat pump system seasonal performance are presented. The codes apply to electric air-to-water and ground-coupled heat pump systems based on a vapor compression cycle, used for building heating, cooling and domestic hot water production.
Numerical models are developed to simulate different kinds of air-to-water heat pumps by means of the bin-method. The models take into account the different operating modes of mono-compressor on-off, multi-compressor and inverter-driven heat pumps. The heat pump system seasonal performance is analyzed in terms of SCOP and SEER in relation to the thermal characteristics of the building, the climate of the location and the kind of heat pump control system.
Furthermore, numerical codes for the hourly simulation of air-to-water heat pump systems are developed. The dynamic codes are implemented in the software MATLAB and apply to on-off and inverter-driven heat pumps for building heating, cooling and domestic hot water production, coupled with storage tanks and integrated by a gas boiler or electric heaters. The codes are used, in particular, to evaluate the seasonal performance and the primary energy consumption of the inverter-driven air-to-water heat pump employed in the retrofit of a residential building in Bologna (Italy).
A code for the hourly simulation of ground-coupled heat pump systems is developed. The code, implemented in MATLAB, employs g-functions expressed in analytic form and applies to on-off and inverter-driven heat pumps, used for building heating and/or cooling. The whole system, composed by the heat pump and the coupled borehole heat exchanger field, can be simulated for several years. The code is applied to analyze the effects of the inverter and of the total length of the borehole field on the mean seasonal performance of a ground-coupled heat pump system designed for a residential house with dominant heating loads.


Three problems associated with the two-arm load sharing force controller are considered. These are (1) load sharing; (2) control of interactive forces and torques; and (3) the application of desired forces and torques to the object while maintaining accurate position control. These objectives are achieved by minimizing an interactive force/torque error vector. The computation of this vector requires a wrist force/torque sensor on each manipulator. The adaptive load-sharing controller developed optimizes the distribution of joint torques over both manipulators to increase the efficiency and combined load-carrying capacity of the two manipulators. Simulation results are provided.<<ETX>>


The purpose of this study was to better understand providers' perspectives of and experiences with frequent users of medical services. Focus group interviews were conducted with physicians in San Diego, California, and Omaha, Nebraska. Indicators of problematic patient overuse of medical services were identified as well as the common physician experience of overuse that is troublesome and problematic. Qualitative data analysis revealed that physicians did not consider patient overuse, by itself, to be problematic. Overuse became problematic and troublesome when patient behavior violated the physician-patient relationship of trust. All participants described a distinct negative physiological reaction to these patients.


The goal of the present article is to explain how the previous treatment of risk concerning "genetically modified organisms" (GMOs) took place in the Brazilian biosafety framework. In this sense, this work has as main target to present the legal aspects regarding projects and activities with GMOs. Moreover, the explanations will be enlightened with observations regarding the most important theoretical concepts.


This article explains the nature of hedge funds and, in particular, the main investment strategies followed by hedge funds. It also provides an overview of the Australian hedge fund sector. The article, in contrast to the majority of the legal commentary on hedge funds, examines hedge funds from the "buy-side" perspective - it considers whether hedge funds are appropriate investments, under Australian law, for fund managers, superannuation trustees and other fiduciaries. Under Australian law, fiduciaries must act prudently when investing the funds entrusted to them. On a strict formulation of this duty of prudence, with its insistence on capital preservation, it is almost certain that fiduciaries would be barred from investing in hedge funds. However, it is likely that the Australian courts will follow the lead of the English and United States courts in recasting the prudent investor rule in terms of modern portfolio theory, thus bringing hedge funds within the universe of (potentially) permissible investments for fiduciaries. Moreover, where a fiduciary invests in a "fund of hedge funds", as opposed to directly investing in a hedge fund, a further issue arises - whether the fiduciary has breached its duty to act personally, since, in a fund of hedge funds, the fiduciary plays no part in the selection and monitoring of the underlying hedge funds. This article examines the Australian law on the delegation of investment powers by fiduciaries and considers the statutory modifications to the common law strictures on delegation.


Abstract This research aimed to assess the use of neuromuscular blockers (NMB) and its reversal, associated or not with neuraxial blockade, after general anesthesia. This retrospective study analyzed 1295 patients that underwent surgery with general anesthesia at Prof. Dr. José Aristodemo Pinotti Hospital in 2013. The study included patients aged >1 year, with complete, readable medical charts and anesthetic records. Rocuronium (ROC) was the most used NMB (96.7%), with an initial dose of 0.60 (0.52–0.74) mg/kg and total dose of 0.38 (0.27–0.53) mg/kg/h. In 24.3% of the cases, neuraxial blockade was associated with a significantly longer anesthesia (P < .001) than in cases without neuraxial block, regardless of technique (total intravenous (TIV) vs intravenous and inhalational (IV+IN)). In 71.9% of the cases, a single dose of NMB was used. Patients under TIV general anesthesia associated with neuraxial blockade had a lower total dose of ROC (mg/kg/h) in comparison with TIV GA alone (0.30 (0.23–0.39) and 0.42 (0.30–0.56) mg/kg/h, respectively, P < .001). The same was observed for patients under IV+IN GA (0.32 (0.23–0.41) and 0.43 (0.31–0.56) mg/kg/h, respectively, P < .001). The duration of anesthesia was longer according to increasing number of additional NMB doses (P < .001). Dose of neostigmine was 2.00 (2.00–2.00) mg or 29.41 (25.31–33.89) &mgr;g/kg. The interval between neostigmine and extubation was >30 minutes in 10.9% of cases. The most widely used NMB was ROC. Neuroaxial blockade (spinal or epidural) was significantly associated with reduced total dose of ROC (mg/kg/h) during general anesthesia, even in the absence of neuromuscular monitoring and regardless of general anesthetic technique chosen. In most cases, neostigmine was used to reverse neuromuscular block. The prolonged interval between neostigmine and extubation (>30 minutes) was neither associated with total doses of ROC or neostigmine, nor with the time of NMB administration. This study corroborates the important role of quantitative neuromuscular monitors and demonstrates that neuraxial blockade is associated with reduced total ROC dose. Further studies are needed to evaluate the possible role of neuraxial blockade in reducing the incidence of postoperative residual curarization.


HIV infected subject has many advocates in Western communities.' The situation is, however, clearly different in countries where the risk of the vaccinable disease is not only high but also carries a high morbidity and mortality. Moreover the complete or partial cessation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) extended programme for immunisation because of fears of vaccinating HIV infected children would be disastrous for many countries. We did not emphasise the difference between asymptomatic HIV positive children and those with AIDS or AIDS related complex, as we had already made the point that the distinction is more difficult to make in children. At a recent WHO meeting (11-13 August 1987) attended by AGD these issues were reviewed. There is a vast and increasing number of reports that suggest that activating or stimulating T cells in vitro may lead to increased replication of HIV. Although many aspects of HIV infection in vitro can readily be extrapolated in vivo, all the available evidence (much of it unpublished) suggests that multiple vaccinations of HIV infected children do not appear to be detrimental although it is likely that HIV infected children only respond to neoantigens before they become symptomatic. A full review of these data by WHO advisers supports the use of antigens in HIV infected individuals in those countries where the target diseases of the extended programme for immunisation remain important causes of morbidity and mortality. No distinction was drawn between asymptomatic children and those with clinical AIDS, reflecting the overwhelming importance of continued vaccination programmes in these communities. The antigens recommended for the extended programme for immunisation include the live viruses vaccines -measles and polio, the toxoids-diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP), and BCG. The inactivated polio vaccine is preferable to the oral preparation where possible, although the oral preparation is far cheaper and more widely available. All vaccines should be given to all children as early in life as possible in countries where HIV is endemic, especially as screening of all children may be impractical before vaccination. In areas, however, in which tuberculosis is uncommon BCG may be withheld from those children known to be HIV seropositive and should definitely not be given to those with AIDS or AIDS related complex. We thank the above correspondents for pointing out that the word 'never' was inappropriate in the absence of a more detailed discussion.


Despite several severe shocks in the past, conflict, unstable governments, earthquakes, and trade disruptions, Nepal has made strong progress in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity. With the decade-long peace and constitutional process concluded, the Government of Nepal is keen to accelerate economic growth and become a middle-income country by 2030. Between 1996 and 2011, the proportion of households living in extreme poverty fell from 46 to 15 percent. Nepal's macroeconomic fundamentals have remained sound. This report takes place as Nepal transitions to a federal structure. This poses a unique and unprecedented opportunity to establish clarity of functions, expenditures, and revenue assignments, as well as changing jurisdictions across various levels of governments and agencies, including as they interface with the private sector. The new government is in place and emphasizing the need for stronger cooperation between the public and private sectors. Against this background, this report assesses the energy (electricity generation, transmission, and distribution), transport (roads, airports, and urban transport), and urban (water supply, sanitation, and solid waste management) infrastructure sectors. The report recommends interventions that combine short-term and longer-term structural and policy changes with tailored project implementation approaches. Completing projects will help stress test the framework and system and identify potential bottlenecks that can be corrected. Such a learning-by-doing approach will further help prioritize the implementation of the initiatives proposed in this report and target capacity development initiatives in the areas of greatest need.


In order to implement models of reform-based history education in the classroom there is a fundamental need to address preservice and practicing teachers' understanding of learning and teaching history, mindful of the role inquiry must play in the process. The project described in this paper employed a comparative case design to explore how prospective social studies educators perceived inquiry-based instruction and the extent to which it aligned with relevant history education for middle and secondary students. Results suggest that the process undertaken by the intervention group may have more of an implicit impact on shaping how preservice teachers understand inquiry. Yet these preservice teachers included more inquiry-based activities in lesson plan products analyzed as part of this project. After the implementation of both means of learning about historical inquiry, many remained conflicted about what the ideal model of inquiry represents for student learning and at what ability level students are capable of engaging in inquiry in social studies.


This article offers a hierarchy of definitions for information and communication digital objects. We define gradually, object, tool, instrument, device, and the artifact. These definitions specify (a) the nature of these objects that organize our thinking, but are also the product thereof, (b) their function of both intellectual and practical for everyday experiences, (c) interest in causing different types of questions or problems. Our anthropological approach of digital objects admits that man shows everyday skills to understand these objects. This understanding is the heart of the problem. It amalgamates formal reality built by tools and techniques to informal reality built by technological society and digital culture. Therefore, this understanding is limited to arguments of human activity, objects are then used to make and thinking the activity becomes secondary. We forget the importance of objects in the construction of our representation of the world. We forget the objects ask a study of human capabilities and they are substance of human knowledge socially shared at some point.


Improving the quality of free-range chicken meat is not only in improving feeding and maintenance management, it is necessary to increase the genetic quality and maintain its physiological characteristics that reflect the condition of poultry (chicken) including blood cholesterol in free-range chickens. This study aims to determine the effect of varying doses of sweet potato leaves (Ipomoea batatas) on blood cholesterol content in native chickens. The design used was RAL. The research material consisted of 4 treatments with 3 repetitions. The chickens used are native chickens, with maintenance until the age of 12 weeks. The treatments in this study consisted of P0 (chicken feed/control), P1 (chicken feed + 5% sweet potato leaves), P2 (chicken feed + 10% sweet potato leaves), and P3 (chicken feed + 15% sweet potato leaves). The analysis includes the homogeneity of the research sample. The final analysis with ANOVA with a significance level of 5%, if there is an effect continued with Duncan's test. The results of this study showed no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the blood cholesterol of native chickens. The blood cholesterol content in the administration of variations in doses of sweet potato leaves (Ipomoea batatas) did not significantly affect the results of the highest blood cholesterol content in the P2 treatment (279 mg/dl) and the lowest result in the P0 treatment (225.67 mg/dl).


Progressive sensorineural hearing loss has been associated with Chiari type I malformation. Retrocochlear features on auditory brainstem response testing have been reported; however, debate exists over the exact location of the defect. Surgical decompression may be beneficial if brainstem or vascular compression have played a significant role in the pathophysiology of the hearing loss. Lack of specific audiologic data before and after surgical decompression has kept surgical decision making theoretic. This report presents the case of a 10-year-old boy with a progressive, asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss without other neurologic abnormalities. He underwent a posterior fossa decompression that resulted in stable hearing over the 2 years he was followed postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative audiologic and evoked response features are described, and the rationale for operating with symptoms limited to hearing loss is discussed.


Recent studies have underlined the importance of climatic variables in determining tree height and biomass in tropical forests. Nonetheless, the effects of climate on tropical forest carbon stocks remain uncertain. In particular, the application of process‐based dynamic global vegetation models has led to contrasting conclusions regarding the potential impact of climate change on tropical forest carbon storage. Using a correlative approach based on a bioclimatic envelope model and data from 1771 forest plots inventoried during the period 1996–2013 in Madagascar over a large climatic gradient, we show that temperature seasonality, annual precipitation and mean annual temperature are key variables in determining forest above‐ground carbon density. Taking into account the explicative climate variables, we obtained an accurate (R2 = 70% and RMSE = 40 Mg ha−1) forest carbon map for Madagascar at 250 m resolution for the year 2010. This national map was more accurate than previously published global carbon maps (R2 ≤ 26% and RMSE ≥ 63 Mg ha−1). Combining our model with the climatic projections for Madagascar from 7 IPCC CMIP5 global climate models following the RCP 8.5, we forecast an average forest carbon stock loss of 17% (range: 7–24%) by the year 2080. For comparison, a spatially homogeneous deforestation of 0.5% per year on the same period would lead to a loss of 30% of the forest carbon stock. Synthesis. Our study shows that climate change is likely to induce a decrease in tropical forest carbon stocks. This loss could be due to a decrease in the average tree size and to shifts in tree species distribution, with the selection of small‐statured species. In Madagascar, climate‐induced carbon emissions might be, at least, of the same order of magnitude as emissions associated with anthropogenic deforestation.


Although it has been known that oblivious (or blind) watermarking schemes are less robust than nonoblivious ones, they are more useful for various applications where a host signal is not available in the watermark detection procedure. From a viewpoint of oblivious watermarking for a three-dimensional (3-D) polygonal mesh model, distortionless attacks, such as similarity transforms and vertex reordering, might be more serious than distortion attacks including adding noise, smoothing, simplification, remeshing, clipping, and so on. Clearly, it is required to develop an oblivious watermarking that is robust against distortionless as well as distortion attacks. In this paper, we propose two oblivious watermarking methods for 3-D polygonal mesh models, which modify the distribution of vertex norms according to the watermark bit to be embedded. One method is to shift the mean value of the distribution and another is to change its variance. Histogram mapping functions are introduced to modify the distribution. These mapping functions are devised to reduce the visibility of watermark as much as possible. Since the statistical features of vertex norms are invariant to the distortionless attacks, the proposed methods are robust against such attacks. In addition, our methods employ an oblivious watermark detection scheme, which can extract the watermark without referring to the cover mesh model. Through simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed approaches are remarkably robust against distortionless attacks. In addition, they are fairly robust against various distortion attacks


Unlike the intrapsychic mechanism for self-esteem regulation in males as a basic component of perversion-extrapsychically (compensationally) culminating in an output of sexual impulsesa functional stabilization of the female self-concept seems more likely if conflict drives were to be focused on reproductional aspects and not on sexuality. It therefore seems more suitable to use a new expression in linguistic analogy to perversion: ''reproversion. The case history gives an example of a clinical manifestation of ''reproverse symptom formation. The general survey describes the main points of view inregard to clinically oriented differentiation, i.e., intensity, ego-proximity in the personality structure, and one's own self-acceptance within ''reproverse symptom formation. Underlying personality disturbances are also discussed. The significance of reproversion is relevant to many different specialized medical fields. This is explained in conclusion, using the examples of denied pregnancy and infanticide at b...


Four lines of evidence (clinical findings, epidemiology, inhibition of tumor growth together with prolongation of survival time, and mechanism of action) which suggest that certain phenothiazines, particularly chlorpromazine, possess a range of anti-neoplastic activities in man and in rodents which has not been generally recognised are reviewed and discussed. Chlorpromazine interferes with energy production in sensitive tumours; the mode of action appears to correspond to autooxidative cellular injury, a common form of cell death.


Regional branding is one of several ways to promote rural regions and support development of socially, culturally and environmentally oriented economies in areas that are interesting due to their natural and cultural heritage. The article attempts to review the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of branding as conveyed by leading authors in the marketing field. The aim of this paper is to define brand as a broad complex of variables, which are used in building of its identity as a basis for creating value proposition and the position of a brand. Article briefly describes the most comprehensive labeling system for regional products at the micro-regional level is the one guaranteed by Association of Regional Brands (ARB). The main contribution of this article is a theoretical model of strategic management of a regional brand, which captures the interdependence of the individual steps of brand building as well as stakeholders. The starting point for building of brand value is a strategic analysis of the brand, including analysis of customer and competitors. The analysis of external factors is followed by analysis of the brand itself. The resulting relationship between the brand and the customer is based on value proposition representing benefits (functional, emotional, self‑expression). The concept of total product is connected with the concept of total brand and it is offered to the customer as a regional product. Finally it suggests possibilities for further research.


Mass attenuation coefficient, total interaction cross-section and effective atomic number of xPbO:(100-x)SiO2, where 30 x 70 (% weight), glass system have been investigated at 662 keV on the basis of the mixture rule. The results are in good agreement with the theoretical values, calculated by WinXCom. The mass attenuation coefficient increases with PbO content, due to higher probability of photoelectric absorption in glass. However, Compton scattering gives dominant contribution to the total mass attenuation coefficient for the glass samples studied. The shielding properties of the glass samples are also better than ordinary shielding concretes and commercial window glasses. These results indicate that the glass systems prepared in this study has a potential to be used as radiation shielding materials.


MCS has stood the test of time and has demonstrated an unusually high five year rate of cure of 94.2 per cent in a series of 1,448 consecutive patients treated over a period of 40 years. In addition, because of the selectivity of MCS, a maximal amount of normal tissue is conserved which permits repair of defects with unusually good functional and cosmetic results.


Strategic evaluation of electronic waste and cell phone disposal was conducted by the researchers in Kisumu County, Kenya. The researcher sought information from both the published and unpublished documents for the review. The study established that there is strong relationship between effective strategic evaluation management and cell phone disposal. The researchers concluded that there is need for the government to establish free shops in Kenya to bring the electronic wastes from the dumping sites to their proper disposal.


The dynamics of expanding domes of isothermal lava are studied by treating the lava as a viscoplastic material with the Herschel–Bulkley constitutive law. Thin-layer theory is developed for radially symmetric extrusions onto horizontal plates. This provides an evolution equation for the thickness of the fluid that can be used to model expanding isothermal lava domes. Numerical and analytical solutions are derived that explore the effects of yield stress, shear thinning and basal sliding on the dome evolution. The results are briefly compared with an experimental study. It is found that it is difficult to unravel the combined effects of shear thinning and yield stress; this may prove important to studies that attempt to infer yield stress from morphology of flowing lava.


Arm-band type textile-MP3 player using direct chip integration technique into textile named Planar Fashionable Circuit Board (P-FCB) is designed. The multi-layered board manufacturing technique improves the integration level so that more complex system can be implemented using P-FCB. Also, wearable user input-output (I/O) interface makes people control the system freely without any disturbance. Finally, Arm-band type textile-MP3 player system is developed and demonstrated to show the possibility of using P-FCB in wearable entertainment system.


The present studies were performed to investigate the possibility of culturing isolated pancreatic islets in vitro in a system which should allow assessment of both morphologic and metabolic alterations in the islet cells after prolonged periods of incubation. For this purpose, isolated islets from adult mice were maintained in stationary organ cultures in a nutrient medium containing glucose at a concentration of either 1.2 mg./ml. or 5 mg./ml. After six or twelve days in culture, the islets were studied with regard to light-microscopic appearance, rates of oxygen consumption, glucose oxidation, insulin release and insulin content. The metabolic rates were determined in short-term incubations (30–150 minutes) so that relevant comparisons with freshly isolated mouse islets could be performed. As evidenced by light microscopy, there was an excellent morphologic preservation of islets cultured in either the high or the low glucose medium. Similarly, the rates of oxygen consumption, glucose oxidation and insulin release responded responded to glucose throughout the culture period in a manner qualitatively similar to these responses in freshly isolated islets. The most obvious quantitative metabolic alterations observed in the cultured islets were increased rates of respiration and glucose oxidation and a decreased basal rate of insulin release. Islets cultured in the high glucose medium responded to glucose with a higher glucose oxidation and a lower rate of insulin release than those cultured in the low glucose medium for a similar period of time. The insulin content of the islets decreased markedly during the initial six days of the culture period. The results indicate that with the present technic for organ culture of isolated mouse islets, the β cells retain several of their characteristic metabolic responses during prolonged in vitro culture. The method should be useful for providing new information on the long-term effects in vitro of various factors on the structure and metabolism of the pancreatic β cell.


Transfer in Reinforcement Learning aims to improve learning performance on target tasks using knowledge from experienced source tasks. Successor features (SF) are a prominent transfer mechanism in domains where the reward function changes between tasks. They reevaluate the expected return of previously learned policies in a new target task to transfer their knowledge. A limiting factor of the SF framework is its assumption that rewards linearly decompose into successor features and a reward weight vector. We propose a novel SF mechanism, ξ-learning, based on learning the cumulative discounted probability of successor features. Crucially, ξ-learning allows to reevaluate the expected return of policies for general reward functions. We introduce two ξ-learning variations, prove its convergence, and provide a guarantee on its transfer performance. Experimental evaluations based on ξlearning with function approximation demonstrate the prominent advantage of ξ-learning over available mechanisms not only for general reward functions, but also in the case of linearly decomposable reward functions.


The contribution of knowledge transfer to an organization's overall performance outcomes has become one of the central themes of investigation among the theorists and scholars in the field of knowledge management. This paper questions the positive effect of external knowledge transfer on an organization's financial performance, taking into account that even coordinated knowledge transfer is time consuming and likely to impair the performance outcomes when the conditions appropriate for obviating the inherent difficulty of knowledge transfer are not established. Its aim is to examine the fundamental role of the attractiveness of industry as a main moderator in an external knowledge-transfer activity which takes place between two parties in an alliance. Consistent with prior work on knowledge management this study argues that transfer costs are determinative factors for an organization's performance and include: (i) the considerable amount of time spent searching in order to identify the appropriate new knowledge required, (ii) the effort to effectively distribute this knowledge between the parties of an alliance and (iii) the time needed for the external knowledge to be implemented effectively to an organization's daily processes. The case to be examined is that of organizations which are in great need of obtaining and using new knowledge to achieve business model innovation. This kind of organizations is more likely to be affected by search and transfer costs since they are trying to reduce time-tomarket entry, thus, achieving first mover advantage. A plausible source of knowledge for these organizations (knowledge seekers) is the formation of strategic alliances with organizations which not only possess the required knowledge (knowledge keepers) but also operate in attractive environments. An attractive environment, among others, is liable to frequent entries of new players and this may not give time to such organizations to elaborate and effectively utilize the knowledge that is externally derived. These assumptions are shaped on an overarching conceptual framework, which identifies the role of the attractiveness of the industry and delineates research propositions, taking the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) as a case study. To determine the attractiveness of the mobile telecom industry we apply Porter's five forces framework and then we draw on a number of interviews which allows us to provide data suggesting that with an increase in the number of new entrants in the mobile telecom industry, an increase in the amount of knowledge derived externally may reduce the organization's ability to increase its performance outcomes.


This paper examines the retirement intentions of Australian Baby Boomers by occupation. Workers from 14 of 35 occupations expect to retire earlier than the national average of 64.3 years, with 'white collar' workers more likely to be among the early retiring, and 'blue collar' workers among the late. Early-retiring intentions will be reinforced by short gaps between preferred and expected retirement age, relatively high levels of financial security and formal discussion about retirement, yet lower than average levels of desire for transition-to-retirement arrangements; late-retiring intentions will be reinforced by more or less the opposite. Early-retiring occupations are also the largest and have the potential to cost the economy 1.26 million person-years of working life. The findings indicate that policy interventions should be targeted, that interventions should include non-economic inducements and reforms, including efforts to ensure a healthier longer work life, and that Baby Boomer retirement needs to be 'managed' at an institutional level.


New material from the Famennian of Morocco in the southern Maider comprises chondrichthyan teeth (Thrinacodus, Cobelodus, Denaea, Stethacanthus), actinopterygian remains (scales, teeth and hemilepidotrichium) and one acanthodian scale. The absence of crushing teeth suggests deeper water environments for the Maider Basin than the Tafilalt Basin. Vertebrate microremains from the Famennian of Sardinia, including Siamodus and Jalodus teeth, are illustrated and described. Ichthyofaunal relationships of the North Gondwanan platform during the Famennian are examined.


Pollution of water-body ecosystems by heavy metals through uncontrolled anthropogenic activities lead to serious ecological problems in many parts of the world. These metals continue to accumulate to high toxic levels as they are discharged into water-bodies from agricultural activities, industrial and domestic wastes, and mining operations. This study focused on assessing the concentration of selected heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Cu, Cd and As) in the waters and sediments of River Mukurumudzi in Kwale County, Kenya. Four sampling points along the course of the river were purposely chosen owing to their proximity to identified land based pollution sources, these were titanium mining sites, large scale sugarcane plantations, human settlements and a control site. Samples were collected in three different seasons (long rain, short rain, and dry season). The heavy metals were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The results showed that the level of Fe and Cu in water was the highest during the rainy season while all the other metals were found to be below detectable limits. In sediments, Fe (0.64 mg/L, 1.97 mg/L, 0.33 mg/L and 0.21 mg/L), Cu (0.1 mg/L, 0.14 mg/L, 0.14 mg/L and 0.1 mg/L), and Pb (0.14 mg/L, 0.21 mg/L, 0.12 mg/L and 0.33 mg/L) were detected at Shimba Hills, Nguluku, Bomani and Gazi consecutively. The concentrations of metals in water were found to be within the NEMA and WHO safe limits. Though River Mukurumudzi is not contaminated with the selected heavy metals it is established that the anthropogenic activities along the river are contributing some of the heavy metals. As such, this study recommends that conservation measures be put in place to avoid contamination of the river.


Published to accompany a BBC1 television series presented by David Attenborough, this is an illustrated natural history of the Antarctic. Season by season, it traces the lives of the fish, birds, mammals and plants of an extraordinary continent. Spring finds whales, seals and birds feeding in the richest ocean in the world, and summer sees a frenzy of activity as the Antarctic inhabitants race to breed before the onset of winter. In autumn their young face many hazards - leopard seals snatch fledgling penguins from their parents and killer whales overturn ice-floes to attack the seals. In winter, when the frozen sea literally doubles the size of their home, only the remarkable emperor penguins and a few brave humans remain. Meanwhile, below the ice, underwater cameras capture pictures of abundant life - giant spiders, soft corals and countless varieties of fish.


We consider a Markov decision process model of a network revenue management problem. Working within this formal framework, we study policies that combine aspects of mathematical programming approaches and pure Markov decision process methods. The policies employ heuristics early in the booking horizon, and switch to a more-detailed decision rule closer to the time of departure. We present a family of formulations that yield such policies, and discuss versions of the formulation that have appeared in the literature. Subsequently, we describe sampling-based stochastic optimization methods for solving a particular case of the formulation. Numerical results for two-leg problems suggest that the resulting hybrid policies do perform strongly. By viewing the Markov decision process as a large stochastic program, we derive some structural properties of two-leg problems. We also show that these properties cannot, in general, be extended to larger networks.


Based on the assumptions that firms entering emerging markets typically are ignorant about these markets this paper discusses learning as a consequence of discoveries of the beforehand unknowable. Market discoveries are related to search and routine activities. Three cases presenting entry processes of Swedish firms in China, Saudi-Arabia and Russia are presented and commented. Improvisation is introduced as a method to handle unpredictable changes.


Central and Eastern Europe has experienced fundamental land use changes since the collapse of socialism around 1990. We analyzed the patterns and determinants of agricultural land abandonment and recultivation in Slovakia during the transition from a state-controlled economy to an open-market economy (1986 to 2000) and the subsequent accession to the European Union (2000 to 2010). We quantified agricultural land-use change based on available maps derived from 30-m multi-seasonal Landsat imagery and analyzed the socioeconomic and biophysical determinants of the observed agricultural land-use changes using boosted regression trees. We used a scenario-based approach to assess future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation until 2060. The maps of agricultural land use analysis reveal that cropland abandonment was the dominant land use process on 11% of agricultural land from 1986 to 2000, and on 6% of the agricultural land from 2000 to 2010. Recultivation occurred on approximately 2% of agricultural land in both periods. Although most abandoned land was located in the plains, the rate of abandonment was twice as high in the mountainous landscapes. The likelihood of abandonment increased with increased distance from the national capital (Bratislava), decreased with an increase of annual mean temperatures and was higher in proximity to forest edges and on steeper slopes. Recultivation was largely determined by the opposite effects. The scenario for 2060 suggests that future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation may largely be determined by climate and terrain conditions and, to a lesser extent, by proximity to economic centers. Our study underscores the value of synergetic use of satellite data and land-use modeling to provide the input for land planning, and to anticipate the potential effects of changing environmental and policy conditions.


Jean-Pierre Brun writes: Strachan et al. 1989, Strachan & Roach (1990), Treloar & Strachan (1990) as well as Strachan et al. 1990 give an interpretation of Cadomian deformation in Northern Brittany in terms of a single event of strike-slip tectonics at 540 Ma and have proposed a model of 'terrane amalgamation' which I find in strong contradiction with field and geochronological data (Balé & Brun 1983Balé & Brun 1989; Brun & Balé 1990). Our analysis takes into account regional-scale evidence (geological maps, strain patterns and geophysical data) and all available and reliable geochronological data. Our resulting interpretation stresses that Cadomian deformation started around 590–580 Ma ago, combining thrusting and sinistral wrenching shear zones, and ended at 540 Ma with the uplift of the St Malo migmatite. I would like to discuss three main points that, for clarity, are dealt with under the following headings. Deformation timing. Balé and myself consider that the Coët-mieux-Fort la Latte intrusion, dated at 593 Ma (Vidal et al. 1974), is synkinematic and provides an age estimate for early Cadomian deformation in the St Brieuc area. A similar situation is observed in Normandy, where the Coutance diorite gives an age of 584 Ma (Guerrot & Peucat 1990). Strachan & Roach (1990, p. 144) write: 'We do not believe that parallelism of an igneous fabric with a regional cleavage can alone demonstrate synchroneity of intrusion and regional deformation'. This pluton is strongly elongated with an aspect ratio of 1:4 for the visible part, and presents a well-defined L-S


Alloy 15-5 PH is a stainless steel with 15 wt.% Cr and 5 wt.% Ni that is precipitation hardened by addition of Cu. In its semi-finished state, this alloy consists in Cu-supersaturated soft martensite; its high specific properties come from a final tempering consisting in a heating to 550-600°C, holding for 4 hours, and then air cooling. This treatment leads to nanometric Cu precipitation that hardens the material and to transformation of some martensite to reverted austenite which is then stable and provides ductility. While a' embrittlement of such steels is known to occur at temperature in the range 450-520°C, it has been reported that they can be sensitive to the same phenomenon after long term ageing at temperature as low as 300°C, with a significant loss of ductility and an increase of the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. Atom probe studies showed that this degradation is related to demixtion of martensite into Fe-rich and Cr-rich phases. Depending on the ageing temperature, demixtion can proceed through a nucleation and growth precipitation or by spinodal decomposition of the martensitic matrix. The present study reports differential thermal analyses (DTA) performed upon heating samples of material held at various temperatures (290-525°C) for various times (410 h to 8500 h) that have been characterized by atom probe. A clear DTA signal is obtained upon the reverse spinodal transformation that is further found to depend on ageing conditions.


As we all aware that the kin relation of man and nature which has been observed since theological stage. The people in general and tribes in particular are dependent on the nature for their livelihood. For this perspective most of the tribal people of our country has been accepting the nature as a sacred phenomenon and this is why the tribes are practicing the animism as form of religious institution. As like as the people of Kechopalri Village of West Sikkim believed that the Lake Kechopalri is sacred one. The Bhutia, Lepcha, Nepali etc are main ethnic groups of the lake area. There are 53% people are belonging to Bhutia tribes. The lake is covered by the forest. During these days of the invention of the state of Sikkim, we are supposed to observe their kin relation with the said lake and they were economically dependent on the lake and its surroundings. The local Buddhist people are collected leafs, fibrous roots of different plants species and sold to local folk medicine practitioners. Not only that but also some of them are collected the pieces of wooden material and made Buddhist doll and selling to the pilgrims. But now a days little number of residents of the lake area are compelled to migrated to other places in Sikkim and West Bengal also mainly due to market economy, ecological degradation. As a result day by day the lake is facing the crisis of identity and the area is not in a position to attract pilgrims due to loss its sacredness. The paper is tried to explore some socio-cultural aspects of the said lake form holistic point of view. As I try to develop this paper by using sociological tools and techniques like participant observation and with the help of auto ethnography.


Objective. To determine how U.S. and Canadian pharmacy schools include content related to health disparities and cultural competence (HDCC) and health literacy (HL) in curriculum and assessment practices. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to 143 accredited and candidate status pharmacy programs in the U.S. and 10 in Canada in three phases using Qualtrics. Statistical analysis was performed to assess inter-institutional variability and relationships between institutional characteristics and survey results. Results. No significant differences were found among the responding institutions, 72 (50%) in the U.S. and 8 (80%) in Canada, after stratification by institutional characteristics. A core group of faculty typically taught HDCC/HL. HDCC was primarily taught in multiple courses across multiple years in the pre-APPE curriculum. While HL was primarily taught in multiple courses in one year in the pre-APPE curriculum in Canada (75.0%), delivery of HL was more varied in the U.S., including in a single course (20.0%), multiple courses in one year (17.1%), or multiple courses in multiple years (48.6%). HDCC/HL was mostly taught at the introduction or reinforcement level. Active learning approaches were mostly utilized in the U.S., whereas in Canada active learning was more frequently utilized in teaching HL (62.5%) than HDCC (37.5%). Few institutions reported providing professional preceptor development. Conclusion. U.S. and Canada pharmacy schools have wide inclusion of HDCC/HL content; however, less is required and implemented within experiential programs and co-curricula. Opportunities remain to expand and apply information on HDCC/HL content, particularly outside the didactic curriculum, as well as identify barriers for integration.


Partitioning ions between the solid and solution phase is one of the most important processes controlling nutrient mobility and bioavailability. Despite this, less research has focused on the interactions of nutrient anions at soil interfaces, although variable-charge components are present to some extent in nearly all soils. The objective of this study was to develop equations using commonly measured soil properties (particle size analysis, organic matter content, and extractable Fe and Al fractions) to predict sorption isotherms for NO 3 -, SO 4 2 -, and H 2 PO 4 -. Six subsurface soils, ranging spatially and temporally from heavily weathered Oxisols of the tropics to a recendy glaciated Entisol from the U.S. Pacific Northwest, were used to generate sorption isot herms of the three macronutrient anions using initial solution concentrations from 0.1 to 5 mmol L -1 . Before batch sorption experiments, soils were saturated with KCl, rinsed free of excess salts, and adjusted to pH = 4.0 ± 0.1 to eliminate the confounding effects of competing ions or differing pH regimes. Almost all soils from temperate latitudes had a greater capacity to sorb anions than the Oxisols included in this study for comparison. This was particularly true for the soils with volcanic parent materials from the U.S. Pacific Northwest. For any given soil, the capacity to sorb the macronutrient anions was in the order H 2 PO 4 - > SO 4 2- > NO 3 . Multiple regression analyses generally suggest that the electrostatic sorption of NO 3 - and SO 4 2- is positively related to the presence of active Al fractions and negatively correlated with organic C content.


Miscanthus sinensis (Poaceae) cultivars have great values as ornamental grasses and adapt well to various environmental conditions. To assess the inflorescence visibility of seven popular Miscanthus cultivars ('Gold Breeze', 'Strictus', 'Morning Light', 'Variegatus', 'Gracillimus', 'Kleine Fontäne', and 'Common'), the heading performance and morphological characteristics were analyzed. The test cultivars were transplanted and cultivated on research plots in 2013 and data were collected from July 2017 to February 2018. Among the six cultivars, except 'Gold Breeze', which had not bloomed during the research period, 'Kleine Fontäne' showed the longest heading period and the highest peduncle density. Heading patterns were classified in the early and the late heading patterns. The early heading pattern cultivars ('Kleine Fontäne', 'Common', and 'Strictus') had a high weekly heading rate (WHR), and reached later heading peak time with low mean heading rate (MHR). However, the late heading pattern cultivars ('Variegatus', 'Gracillimus', and 'Morning Light') had high WHR at the beginning of the heading initiation and reached earlier heading peak time with high MHR. The changes of inflorescence stage were classified into the flowering season (stage 1), the seed maturation (stage 2), and the seed shatter stages (stage 3). The inflorescence colors were expressed with a reddish ('Strictus', 'Morning Light', 'Variegatus', 'Gracillimus', and 'Common') and a yellow-greenish ('Kleine Fontäne') color in stage 1. The color difference value (ΔE*ab) was greater at stage 1 and stage 2; however, ΔE*ab was decreased in stage 3 compared with the reference inflorescence color of 'Common'. The morphological characteristics of inflorescences were significantly different among the cultivars, such as the plant height, stem length, dissociation index, length, width, length/width ratio, raceme density, and spikelet density. On the assessment of inflorescence visibility, the morphological characteristics showed a decisive component in 'Common', 'Strictus', 'Variegatus', and 'Gracillimus'; on the other hand, the heading characteristics were more influential on visibility in 'Kleine Fontäne' and 'Morning Light'. These results suggest that the inflorescence visibility of Miscanthus cultivars was determined by various factors of the heading and morphological characteristics of inflorescence.


Article history: Received: November 1, 2018 Accepted: November 26, 2019 Cassava is produced by more than 80% of farming households and is an important contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) in Liberia. It is therefore important to assess the status of cassava processing into food and other products. A total of one hundred and sixty (160) well-structured questionnaires were used for the collection of information from eight counties, with twenty respondents from each county. It was found out that all the counties lack adequate modern cassava processing machines, with almost all cassava processing operations being done with rudimentary equipment. Gari and wet fufu are common products in Liberian markets, with no high-quality cassava flour (HQCF) or derivatives. Consequently, user and gender friendly processing machines were installed in six established modern cassava processing centres, and new cassava products, such as fufu powder, tapioca, and HQCF with its value-added products (10% bread and pastries), were introduced. This upscaling will enhance the cassava value chain in Liberia with improvement in livelihoods, especially for vulnerable women and unemployed youth.


In this article I will explain the subprime crisis by means of Smith's theory of human nature. This interpretation reveals (i) many similarities between Smith's thought and the discoveries of behavioral economics (ii) and the potential of Smith's theory of human nature in consistently explaining the crisis. Moreover, from this interpretation it emerges that the Smithian practical subject represents a fundamental reference point for the elaboration of a unifying theory of the practical agent that overcomes the traditional opposition between the economic actor and the moral agent.


TRECVID is an annual exercise which encourages research in information retrieval from digital video by providing a large video test collection, uniform scoring procedures, and a forum for organizations interested in comparing their results. TRECVID benchmarking covers both interactive and manual searching by end users, as well as the benchmarking of some supporting technologies including shot boundary detection, extraction of some semantic features, and the automatic segmentation of TV news broadcasts into non-overlapping news stories. TRECVID has a broad range of over 40 participating groups from across the world and as it is now (2004) in its 4th annual cycle it is opportune to stand back and look at the lessons we have learned from the cumulative activity. In this paper we shall present a brief and high-level overview of the TRECVID activity covering the data, the benchmarked tasks, the overall results obtained by groups to date and an overview of the approaches taken by selective groups in some tasks. While progress from one year to the next cannot be measured directly because of the changing nature of the video data we have been using, we shall present a summary of the lessons we have learned from TRECVID and include some pointers on what we feel are the most important of these lessons.


The objective of the paper is to study sharp inequalities for transforms of martingales taking values in ' N. Using Burkholder's method combined with an intrinsic duality argument, we identify, for each N 2, the best constant CN such that the following holds. If f is a martingale with values in ' N and g is its transform by a sequence of signs, then jjgjj1 CNjjfjj1: This is closely related to the characterization of UMD spaces in terms of the so-called -convexity, studied in the eighties by Burkholder and Lee.


The common-envelope (CE) phase is an important stage in the evolution of binary stellar populations. The most common way to compute the change in orbital period during a CE is to relate the binding energy of the envelope of the Roche-lobe filling giant to the change in orbital energy. Especially in population-synthesis codes, where the evolution of millions of stars must be computed and detailed evolutionary models are too expensive computationally, simple approximations are made for the envelope binding energy. In this study, we present accurate analytic prescriptions based on detailed stellar-evolution models that provide the envelope binding energy for giants with metallicities between Z = 10−4 and Z = 0.03 and masses between 0.8 M☉ and 100 M☉, as a function of the metallicity, mass, radius, and evolutionary phase of the star. Our results are also presented in the form of electronic data tables and Fortran routines that use them. We find that the accuracy of our fits is better than 15% for 90% of our model data points in all cases, and better than 10% for 90% of our data points in all cases except the asymptotic giant branches for three of the six metallicities we consider. For very massive stars (M ≳ 50 M☉), when stars lose more than ∼20% of their initial mass due to stellar winds, our fits do not describe the models as accurately. Our results are more widely applicable—covering wider ranges of metallicity and mass—and are of higher accuracy than those of previous studies.


Urchin-like Cu-W18O49 and flower-like Cu-WO3 structures were successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal process followed by calcination. The synthesized products were characterized using XRD, SEM, and TEM. The results revealed that the as-prepared urchin-like and flower-like samples with monoclinic structures, which were approximately 1 μm and 1-2 μm, respectively, possessed microflower architecture assembled by the nanosheet. In addition, the gas sensing properties of monoclinic-structured Cu-WO3 to acetone were measured using a static state gas sensing test system. The sensor based on the flower-like Cu-WO3 nanostructures, which were calcined at 600°C, exhibited high sensitivity toward 10 ppm acetone at an optimum temperature of 110°C, and the maximum sensitivity reached 40, which was approximately four times higher than that of urchin-like WO3 that was annealed at 300°C. The sensitivity was improved by increasing the acetone concentration. The detection limit was as low as 1 ppm. Using linear fit, the sensor was determined to be sufficiently sensitive to detect acetone in a detection range of 1 to 10 ppm even in the presence of interfering gases, which suggests that this type of sensor has excellent selectivity and has the potential for use in acetone gas sensors in the future.


AIM
To investigate the effect of several chelating solutions on transforming growth factor (TGF-β) release from dentine discs and their subsequent impact on cellular behaviour.

METHODOLOGY
Human dentine discs were prepared with a standardized diameter and disinfected using 1.5% NaOCl for 5 min. The dentine discs were then exposed to 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 1% phytic acid (IP6), 9% etidronic acid (HEDP) or distilled water (DW). The release of transforming growth factor (TGF-β) was quantified using ELISA. The proliferation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) on the conditioned dentine discs was analysed using an MTT assay, and the cell morphology was observed by SEM. Migration of DPSCs towards the conditioned dentine discs was measured using a Transwell assay. Data for cell proliferation and migration were analysed using two-way analysis of variance with a Bonferroni post hoc test; a Kruskal-Wallis test was used for analysing TGF-β release.

RESULTS
Both HEDP and IP6 treatment triggered TGF-β release and cell migration. The greatest TGF-β release was observed after HEDP treatment as compared with EDTA and DW but there was no significant difference between the groups. In terms of cell migration, HEDP was more effective than EDTA (P < 0.05) whilst IP6 was similar to EDTA. Cell proliferation significantly increased with time after EDTA, DW and IP6 treatment (P < 0.05), whereas HEDP treatment did not induce cell proliferation (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
IP6 and HEDP were effective chelating agents on TGF-β release, and cell migration was as effective as EDTA.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Intensive chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative treatment option for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Peripheral blood (PB) HSCT was introduced in 1992 and PB has become the source of choice of autologous stem cells worldwide. Autologous PB stem cells result in faster hematopoietic recovery, but may be associated with a higher risk of relapse.

DESIGN AND METHODS
We analyzed the data of 336 patients transplanted after 1992 with either bone marrow (BM) (n=104) or PB (n=232).

RESULTS
Various factors had an impact on event-free survival in univariate analysis: age hazard ratio [HR]=1.1 per 10 years; p=0.12), source of stem cells (HR=1.2, p=0.22), interval between diagnosis and transplantation (HR=1.0 per month; p=0.87), and therapy-related vs primary disease (HR=0.5; p=0.002). In the multivariate Cox model, the event-free survival was not different after PB or BM HSCT with a HR of 0.93 (95% confidence interval of 0.67 - 1.30; p=0.67). The relapse risk after transplantation with stem cells from either source was similar with a HR of 1.1. A significant interaction (p=0.02) between age and the source of stem cells indicated a more favorable potential of autologous PB HSCT in young age groups.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
Autologous PB and BM HSCT result in equivalent outcomes. Therefore, given the more rapid hematopoietic recovery PB is the preferred source of stem cells.


Current chemotherapy drug showed adverse side effects towards the patients such as vomiting, nausea, constipation, fatigue, muscle pain and other pains. With the high risk of these side effects, majority of cancer patients prefer on finding better cure and lesser side effects. This circumstance somehow urged the scientists to search for alternative medicine, which is natural products that is believed can cure cancer patients with lesser side effects. Such natural product, damnacanthal which is an anthraquinone has been reported to posses inhibitory effects on the cancer promoting ras gene and p561 gene. In a previous study, Damnacanthal from the root of Morinda elliptica was found to induce apoptosis towards the human acute T-lymphoblastic leukaemia cell line (CEM_SS). This study was conducted to determine the mechanisms involved in apoptosis induced by damnacanthal. The cells were treated with 1, 3, 10 and 30 µg/ml damnacanthal and incubated for 24, 48 and 72 hours. Untreated cell were included as control. Following treatment, the samples were subjected to several assays such as cytotoxic study, morphological study, cell cycle analysis and determination of p53, multi caspases (caspase 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9) and Bc12 and Bax proteins activities. The percentage of viable cell at the highest concertration of the compound (30 µg/ml) decreased significantly (p<0.05) after 72 hours to 40.4%. Cells treated with damnacanthal (10 and 30 µg/ml) showed characteristics of apoptosis such as condensation of cytoplasm, membrane blebbing and apoptotic bodies. At the highest concentration of damncanthal (30 µg/ml), the cell cycle was found to be arrested at the G2/M phase after 72 hours incubation. Apoptosis induced by damnacanthal was found to be related to the caspase 2 and caspase 6 activation possibly through p53-independent pathway. In the treatment at higher concentrations of damnacanthal (10 and 30µg/ml), the expression of Bcl-2 protein was down regulated whereas Bax protein was upregulated yet insignificant. Nevertheless, there was a significant correlation of activities between these two proteins. In conclusion, this study indicated that damnacanthal induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase most probably through p52-independent pathway and later involved in the activation of caspase 2 and caspase 6, and the downregulation of Bcl2 and upregulation of Bax proteins which are believed drive the cell to undergo apoptosis.


This paper presents the experimental investigation results of exterior render of external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS). The study involved natural (long-term) and artificially accelerated (short-term) ageing including effect of UV radiation. For research purposes the cycle of accelerated UV radiation ageing test, imitating the impact of one natural year in Lithuanian climate conditions, have been composed and used. In order to determine the visual, microstructure and water absorption changes and find out the correlation between the natural and artificial weathering, the results of tested aged and untreated samples have been compared. The main attention was focused on the changes of structure and physical properties after short-term and long-term ageing tests. The structural changes of render surface of ETICS after UV tests were determined using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The water absorption of ETIC system was determined by partially submerging. Analysis of render surface microstructure showed that UV rays destroy continuous polymer film on the acrylic and silicone render surface, but water absorption of ETICS does not increase in both cases. Water absorption rates of acrylic, silicon and silicate renders after one natural year of exposure become similar. The polymer film formed on exterior acrylic and silicone render surface was destroyed during one year natural and equivalent laboratory ageing. In conjunction, the carbonization process was taking place, the newly formed calcite crystals covering pores and capillaries, consequently the water absorption rate of all ETICS samples decreased. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.21.1.4869


Several laboratory parameters can be altered in advanced renal failure. Results may be difficult to interpret and may become misleading and unreliable in such a context. On the other hand, some of the alterations may reflect real abnormalities. Thus sufficient knowledge and careful judgment are required by the clinician. We reviewed different publications related to biochemical anomalies in renal failure and report some of the main findings. The sections are divided as follows: cardiovascular risk factors and markers, inflammation markers, pancreatic and liver function tests, hormones, bone turnover indices and parathyroid hormone assays, tumor markers, carbohydrate metabolism indicators, and others. The information provided should be useful to clinicians involved in the care of renal failure patients.


This paper revisits probabilistic, model–based goal recognition to study the implications of the use of nominal models to estimate the posterior probability distribution over a finite set of hypothetical goals. Existing model–based approaches rely on expert knowledge to produce symbolic descriptions of the dynamic constraints domain objects are subject to, and these are assumed to produce correct predictions. We abandon this assumption to consider the use of nominal models that are learnt from observations on transitions of systems with unknown dynamics. Leveraging existing work on the acquisition of domain models via deep learning for hybrid planning, we adapt and evaluate existing goal recognition approaches to analyse how prediction errors, inherent to system dynamics identification and model learning techniques have an impact over recognition error rates.


This review has examined the evidence from both clinical and experimental data that insulin has a key role in stimulating fetal growth. Human disorders where excessive insulin secretion and beta cell hyperplasia are present result in fetal overgrowth. Experimental models confirm an important anabolic effect of insulin in utero. Contrasted with this data is the evidence of intrauterine growth retardation occurring in association with insulinopenia or total absence of fetal insulin. Without the anabolic effect of insulin, no amount of substrate will induce optimal growth. It is evident from both the clinical and experimental data that sensitivity to insulin (probably individual receptor sites) develops in the latter stages of pregnancy. This point of sensitivity to the anabolic action of insulin has yet to be identified in a number of fetal tissues.


We describe a simple method for extracting polymerase chain reaction-amplifiable DNA from ancient bones without the use of organic solvents. Bone powders are digested with proteinase K, and the DNA is purified directly using silica-based spin columns (QIAquick3, QIAGEN). The efficiency of this protocol is demonstrated using human bone samples ranging in age from 15 to 5,000 years old.


In contemporary society, knowledge plays a key role in professionalism and in interpersonal relations. The profile of the future citizen must be rethought with the intention of providing expendable knowledge to use in work environment, but also in terms of flexibility in lifelong learning, adapting people to the mutable needs of today's labor market. Then, the learning evaluation will be thought in relation to this new goals, since the assessment of learning outcomes is a fundamental part of the training process, the phase of the critical reflection, the rethinking of the intervention designed and implemented. The traditional approach to evaluation consists in a systematic process of collecting and interpreting data, in which emission of a judgment does not consist in a mere sum of the data found in the measurement phase, but is characterized by the interpretation of the same, with respect to the criteria established and respect to the purposes for which it was decided to measure and evaluate. In the last two decades, the emphasis has placed on new evaluation methods that were able to support learning outcomes in a systematic way, with attention not only to the quality of knowledge acquired, but also to cognitive processes and meta-reflection's strategies involved. It talks about authentic assessment as it aims to facilitate social, cognitive and metacognitive learning, able to encourage students to mobilize their knowledge in real tasks that are close to the contexts of everyday life. Nowadays, the evaluation is considered intrinsic action to the educational process, and is central to the debate on the quality of education because it is necessary to promote not only the expression of rating scales, but, also and especially, the promotion of meaningful learning processes. This paper will aim to clarify what is authentic assessment, what are its contexts of use and will offer concrete examples to describe a possible path that can help to improve assessment practices. The construction of authentic tasks, in fact, provides for the standards and criteria definition to clarify the performance nature, and to communicate the complete description of the final task in terms of expected and desired results, in order to encourage the development of metacognitive regulation processes. This contribution, also, clarifies the circumstances in which the student's competences and his subjective attribution of meaning to the task is revealed through a simulation of situations-problem. The evaluation action, in this way, highlights the value and significance of the training process with respect to each student, encouraging him to mobilize their knowledge/experiences to identify an appropriate solution to the tasks required not only in school but also in real life.


&NA; In the case of elective surgery requiring transfusion, preoperative autologous blood donation offers an attractive alternative to allogeneic blood transfusion. Although previously underutilized, autologous donation has become a standard of care in several elective surgical procedures, resulting in a significant increase in the percentage of blood collected nationally that is autologous. Potential candidates for autologous blood donation prior to elective surgery include any patient for whom blood type and crossmatch are requested, indicating a likelihood of requiring blood transfusion according to a maximum surgical blood ordering schedule. Utilization of autologous donation before elective surgery has increased with coordinated programs involving regional blood centers, hospital blood banks, information services, and physicians. The impact of physician ordering and autologous blood procurement practices on subsequent allogeneic blood transfusions must be understood in order to address the role of aggressive autologous blood procurement, including the role of recombinant human erythropoietin in blood conservation strategies.


Whether environmental contaminants increase breast cancer risk among women on Long Island, NY, is unknown. The study objective is to determine whether breast cancer risk is increased in relation to organochlorines, compounds with known estrogenic characteristics that were extensively used on Long Island and other areas of the United States. Recent reports do not support a strong association, although there are concerns with high risks observed in subgroups of women. Blood samples from 646 case and 429 control women from a population-based case-control study conducted on Long Island were analyzed. No substantial elevation in breast cancer risk was observed in relation to the highest quintile of lipid-adjusted serum levels of p,p'-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethene (DDE) [odds ratio (OR), 1.20 versus lowest quintile; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.76-1.90], chlordane (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.62-1.55), dieldrin (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.69-2.72), the sum of the four most frequently occurring PCB congeners (nos. 118, 153, 138, and 180; OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.54-1.29), and other PCB congener groupings. No dose-response relations were apparent. Nor was risk increased in relation to organochlorines among women who had not breastfed or were overweight, postmenopausal, or long-term residents of Long Island; or with whether the case was diagnosed with invasive rather than in situ disease, or with a hormone receptor-positive tumor. These findings, based on the largest number of samples analyzed to date among primarily white women, do not support the hypothesis that organochlorines increase breast cancer risk among Long Island women.


Erik Adolf von Willebrand (1870-1949) studied medicine in Helsinki, where he subsequently joined the staff at the Deaconess Hospital. Haematological disorders were his main interest. In 1924 he was consulted about 5-year-old Hjordis S. She suffered from a severe bleeding disorder, as did six of her ten siblings; three of her sisters had died. In a Finnish article in a Journal in 1926 (in the Swedish language) he plotted the family pedigree (bleeding disorder in three preceding generations, on the part of both parents). Von Willebrand also distinguished the disorder from haemophilia and thrombopathies with purpura. His conjecture that the disorder was a special form of thrombocyte dysfunction would eventually be borne out, though the key factor is severe deficiency of a specific plasma protein. In milder, autosomal dominant forms of the disease, the protein is partly deficient or abnormal.


If two or more program entities (such as files, classes, methods) co-change (i.e., change together) frequently during software evolution, then it is likely that these two entities are coupled (i.e., the entities are related). Such a coupling is termed as evolutionary coupling in the literature. The concept of traditional evolutionary coupling restricts us to assume coupling among only those entities that changed together in the past. The entities that did not co-change in the past might also have coupling. However, such couplings can not be retrieved using the current concept of detecting evolutionary coupling in the literature. In this paper, we investigate whether we can detect such couplings by applying transitive rules on the evolutionary couplings detected using the traditional mechanism. We call these couplings that we detect using our proposed mechanism as transitive evolutionary couplings. According to our research on thousands of revisions of four subject systems, transitive evolutionary couplings combined with the traditional ones provide us with 13.96% higher recall and 5.56% higher precision in detecting future co-change candidates when compared with a state-of-the-art technique.


This study aimed to determine whether definable profiles existed in a cohort of nursing staff with regard to demographic characteristics, job satisfaction, acculturation, work environment, stress, cultural values and coping abilities. A survey was conducted in one hospital in Singapore from June to July 2012, and 814 full-time staff nurses completed a self-report questionnaire (89% response rate). Demographic characteristics, job satisfaction, acculturation, work environment, perceived stress, cultural values, ways of coping and intention to leave current workplace were assessed as outcomes. The two-step cluster analysis revealed three clusters. Nurses in cluster 1 (n = 222) had lower acculturation scores than nurses in cluster 3. Cluster 2 (n = 362) was a group of younger nurses who reported higher intention to leave (22.4%), stress level and job dissatisfaction than the other two clusters. Nurses in cluster 3 (n = 230) were mostly Singaporean and reported the lowest intention to leave (13.0%). Resources should be allocated to specifically address the needs of younger nurses and hopefully retain them in the profession. Management should focus their retention strategies on junior nurses and provide a work environment that helps to strengthen their intention to remain in nursing by increasing their job satisfaction.


The theoretical and experimental studies of statistical evaluation method for flatness error are conducted thoroughly, and evaluation parameters and corresponding practicable data processing model are provided. Furthermore, a large number of experiments have been done and statistical analysis has been conducted. The results show that the distribution of extract elements of almost 90 percent of the measured planes is accordant with censored normal distribution, which proves that statistical flatness error obeys normal distribution. The characteristic that sample points are random variables is taken full advantage of in the statistic method, and the flatness error can be calculated without the influence of gross error and therefore the rate of waste parts can be reduced effectively.