All plants require iron to survive, but those that establish symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria have a particularly high demand. The bacterial nitrogenase enzyme is dependent on iron-sulphur cofactors, and the host plant expresses large amounts of leghaemoglobin in infected cells to protect nitrogenase from oxygen inactivation. Using reverse genetics, this study aims to identify proteins involved in Fe transport and haem cofactor biosynthesis in the nodules of Medicago truncatula and its partner symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti.

I identified the major (FECH1B) and minor (FECH1A) nodule ferrochelatases, enzymes responsible for the last stage of haem biosynthesis. I obtained a Tnt1 insertion mutant in each of these and confirmed genotype by PCR. RT-PCR showed that transcript was absent in fech1b but not fech1a, most likely because the insertion in the latter is intronic. fech1b mutants produced fewer pink nodules than the wild type, with some morphological differences. FECH1B-eGFP localised to the plastids.

I also identified two highly upregulated nodule-specific vacuolar iron transporter-like (VTL) genes, VTL4 and SEN1. I obtained two Tnt1 insertion mutants in VTL4, and also a mutant, 13U, with a 30 kilobase deletion encompassing VTL4 and SEN1; the only two nodule-expressed VTLs. 13U mutants only produced white nodules, while vtl4 mutants produced more white nodules than the wild type. A novel bacterial iron reporter PmbfA:lux showed that bacteria in 13U nodules perceived less iron than in wild-type nodules, with vtl4 nodules showing an intermediate phenotype. VTL4-mCherry localised to the plasma membrane and infection thread membrane of cells in the infection zone, while SEN1mCherry localised to the symbiosome membrane of interzone cells. Together, these data suggest that VTL4 and SEN1 mediate Fe transport to bacteroids, but at different stages of the infection process.


Explants of normal mouse embryonic tissues and disaggregated embryonic single cells were cultured in vitro to study the erythropoietic progenitor cells present during embryonic development. The results indicate that there are two populations of erythropoietic progenitor cells committed to different hemoglobin synthetic programs. These progenitor cells are present at an early gestational stage prior to the formation of the fetal hepatic primordium. One population of progenitors can be stimulated by erythropoietin alone to form usually small erythroid colonies after culture for six days in vitro. These erythroblasts primarily synthesize embryonic hemoglobins, but produce some adult hemoglobins as well. The other population of progenitors requires stimulation by both erythropoietin and adult spleen cell-conditioned medium, and usually forms large erythroid colonies after culture for six days in vitro. These erythroblasts produce only adult hemoglobins.


Disability Employment 101: Lesson Two: Cultivating the Next Generation of Qualified Workers. This revised Disability Employment 101 guide is a comprehensive analysis of hiring employees with disabilities that includes information about how to find qualified workers with disabilities, how to put disability and employment research into practice and how to model what other businesses have done to successfully integrate individuals with disabilities into the workforce.


For nearly a century, invasive annual grasses have increasingly impacted terrestrial ecosystems across the western United States. Weather variability associated with climate change and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are making even more difficult the challenges of managing invasive annual grasses. As part of a special issue on climate change impacts on soil and water conservation, the topic of invasive annual grasses is being addressed by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service to emphasize the need for additional research and future studies that build on current knowledge and account for (extreme) changes in abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research has focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying annual grass invasion, as well as assessing patterns and responses from a wide range of disturbances and management approaches. Weather extremes and the increasing occurrences of wildfire are contributing to the complexity of the problem. In broad terms, invasive annual grass management, including restoration, must be proactive to consider human values and ecosystem resiliency. Models capable of synthesizing vast amounts of diverse information are necessary for creating trajectories that could result in the establishment of perennial systems. Organization and collaboration are needed across the research community and with land managers to strategically develop and implement practices that limit invasive annual grasses. In the future, research will need to address invasive annual grasses in an adaptive integrated weed management (AIWM) framework that utilizes models and accounts for climate change that is resulting in altered/new approaches to management and restoration.


INTRODUCTION
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, manifesting in a variety of clinical spectrums such as an asymptomatic disease or acute coronary syndrome. It has become highly prevalent in Southeast Asia, including Pakistan. There has been little work done on the prevalence of traditional risk factors in different age groups and genders and there is a dire need to gauge the importance of baseline indices in CAD patients.

AIM
To determine the prevalence of conventional risk factors and evaluate the variations in lipid profiles, electrolyte levels and haematological indices among patients with CAD in different age groups and gender.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This cross-sectional study was carried out in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan from January to June 2016, among patients with CAD. We recorded the presence of conventional risk factors and baseline indices within the first 24 hours of admission. Continuous variables were compared using Independent t-test or Mann-Whitney test and categorical variables were compared using chi-square or Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS
The most frequent risk factor was dyslipidemia (91.2%), followed by hypertension (70.4%), diabetes (51.2%), family history of CAD (40.0%) and smoking (29.2%). Total of 98.4% of patients had at least one risk factor. Diabetes and hypertension were found to be common in females; whereas, smoking was predominantly present in males. Diabetes and dyslipidemia were mostly encountered in elderly patients. The most frequent lipid alteration was low levels of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL). Cholesterol and HDL levels were found to be higher in females than males. Elderly patients had lower levels of HDL and higher levels of Cholesterol. The levels of haematological indices were found to be higher in males and younger patients. The median levels of serum sodium and potassium were found to be higher in elderly patients.

CONCLUSION
Our study findings corroborate with the findings from previous studies regarding the significance of risk factors in causing cardiovascular pathology. Medical interventions and dietary control to improve body's lipid status would be indispensable in the prevention of CAD. Deranged electrolyte levels necessitate correction of body electrolyte parameters as an adjunct in prevention strategies.


We present the first complete axiomatisation for quantifier-free separation
logic. The logic is equipped with the standard concrete heaplet semantics and
the proof system has no external feature such as nominals/labels. It is not
possible to rely completely on proof systems for Boolean BI as the concrete
semantics needs to be taken into account. Therefore, we present the first
internal Hilbert-style axiomatisation for quantifier-free separation logic. The
calculus is divided in three parts: the axiomatisation of core formulae where
Boolean combinations of core formulae capture the expressivity of the whole
logic, axioms and inference rules to simulate a bottom-up elimination of
separating connectives, and finally structural axioms and inference rules from
propositional calculus and Boolean BI with the magic wand.


We analyze three-dimensional numerical simulations of driven incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in a periodic box threaded by a moderately strong external magnetic field. We sum over nonlinear interactions within Fourier wave bands and find that the timescale for the energy cascade is consistent with the Goldreich-Sridhar model of strong MHD turbulence. Using higher order longitudinal structure functions, we show that the turbulent motions in the plane perpendicular to the local mean magnetic field are similar to ordinary hydrodynamic turbulence, while motions parallel to the field are consistent with a scaling correction that arises from the eddy anisotropy. We present the structure tensor describing velocity statistics of Alfvénic and pseudo-Alfvénic turbulence. Finally, we confirm that an imbalance of energy moving up and down magnetic field lines leads to a slow decay of turbulent motions, and speculate that this imbalance is common in the interstellar medium, where injection of energy is intermittent both in time and space.


The present study explored the degree to which participants of one sport-based positive youth development (PYD) camp learned self-control skills and transferred self-control skills to school during the year after participation. The influence of contextual and personal factors on transfer also were examined. The sample included 176 who participated in the 2017 LiFEsports camp and then returned in 2018. Significant (p<.05) increases in self-control from the beginning (M=3.56) to the end of the 2017 camp (M=3.77) were found. Survey responses in 2018 found that 91% reported using self-control at school during the academic year post-camp participation. Open-ended responses revealed youths' application of self-control at school to avoid problematic confrontations (e.g., walking away from a fight) and approach academics (e.g., working quietly by oneself). The frequency of self-control transfer to school was significantly predicted by a set of contextual and personal factors, (R2 = .48) including reflection on learning, personal importance, perceived autonomy, confidence in transferring self-control, and peers value of their use of self-control at school. Results suggest youth participating in sport-based PYD programs report transfer of self-control to school and point to important contextual and personal processes affecting life skills transfer.


The fixed parameter tractable (FPT) approach is a powerful tool in tackling computationally hard problems.  In this paper, we link FPT results to classic artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to show how they complement each other.  Specifically, we consider the workflow satisfiability problem (WSP) which asks whether there exists an assignment of authorised users to the steps in a workflow specification, subject to certain constraints on the assignment.  It was shown by Cohen et al. (JAIR 2014) that WSP restricted to the class of user-independent constraints (UI), covering many practical cases, admits FPT algorithms, i.e. can be solved in time exponential only in the number of steps k and polynomial in the number of users n.  Since usually k << n in WSP, such FPT algorithms are of great practical interest. We present a new interpretation of the FPT nature of the WSP with UI constraints giving a decomposition of the problem into two levels.  Exploiting this two-level split, we develop a new FPT algorithm that is by many orders of magnitude faster than the previous state-of-the-art WSP algorithm and also has only polynomial-space complexity.  We also introduce new pseudo-Boolean (PB) and Constraint Satisfaction (CSP) formulations of the WSP with UI constraints which efficiently exploit this new decomposition of the problem and raise the novel issue of how to use general-purpose solvers to tackle FPT problems in a fashion that meets FPT efficiency expectations.  In our computational study, we investigate, for the first time, the phase transition (PT) properties of the WSP, under a model for generation of random instances.  We show how PT studies can be extended, in a novel fashion, to support empirical evaluation of scaling of FPT algorithms.


This article reviews the medicinal drumming praxis, an ancient and modern day ceremonial approach to psychological and spiritual well-being. A brief overview of similar, but culturally diverse healing modalities is presented along with a background on the evolution of certain Afro-Caribbean rhythms that are centerpiece to the drumming ceremony, and are used to activate and channel healing energy within a group setting. Distinctions between different drumming styles are presented and an explanation regarding the uniqueness of ceremonial drumming is offered. The conceptualization of the medicinal drumming praxis is operationalized into stages that sequentially unfold over the course of the ceremony. A discussion about the manner in which; rhythms, plant medicine, song, storytelling, colors, symbols and elements such as water, air, fire and earth, are used to produce an effect is presented. The effects generated by the ceremonial process and the tools used during a drumming ceremony are addressed. The process by which the facilitator (guide) ushers the group through the ceremony is explained and the manner in which the energetic current of the group is activated and molded during the ceremony is described. A discussion on generating and encoding intention into sound vibrations is provided. The capacity to stimulate group cohesion, unconditional positive regard, social connectivity, and well-being through ceremony is argued. The ability to elevate consciousness through drumming ceremony is explored. A discussion, on the use of ceremony as a sacred space that generates a pathway whereby the projection of constructive intentionality and communion with higher consciousness occurs, is presented. A previous evaluation of the model is offered along with a summary of a current training and implementation project funded by the San Francisco Department of Public Health is described.


The use of distraction osteogenesis to improve the airway volume of individuals affected by craniofacial anomalies is common practice today. The methods of assessing the outcomes of such surgical procedures have changed over the last several years. Objective : The objective of the present pilot study was to determine if the CBCT imaging modality may serve as a simple and reliable method for craniofacial practitioners to evaluate airway volume changes following distraction osteogenesis. Materials and Methods : Twelve patients who had previously undergone distraction osteogenesis for the primary purpose of improving their airways were enrolled in the current study. Pre (T0) and post-surgical (T1) CBCT's volumes were analyzed to measure the nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) volume changes. InVivoDental 4.0 (Anatomage Inc., San Jose, CA) (IVD) program was used to visualize and render the oropharyngeal (OP) and nasal passage (NP) volumes, separately. Means and standard deviations were calculated. Results : Of the 7 males and 5 females in the study, 4 patients underwent mandibular distraction (MandDO) and 8 underwent maxillary distraction (MaxDO). Four in the MaxDO group were treated with internal distractors and 4 were treated with external distractors. Individuals who underwent internal MaxDO greatly improved their NP volumes (1605 ± 1736 to 3273 ± 3130 mm 3 ) as did patients who underwent external MaxDO (5763 ± 5077 to 9243 ± 9442 mm 3 ). In comparison, the MandDO group's NP volume showed modest gains (3519 ± 1944 to 3894 ± 2516 mm 3 ). With regard to the OP volumes, the MandDO group gained substantially (4906 ± 2347 to 11385.8 ± 6393.5 mm 3 ) while the MaxDO groups showed humble increases; internal MaxDO group (1779 ± 273.8 to 2639.5 ± 898.4 mm 3 ) and the external MaxDO group (8959 ± 5311 to 9734.13 ± 7124.7 mm 3 ). Conclusions : In the present preliminary study of assessing airway volume changes using CBCT on patients who have undergone different DO techniques, MandDO greatly increases OP volumes and MaxDO tends to increase NP volumes. The CBCT imaging modality holds great promise for craniofacial practitioners in its application to assess airways of individuals affected by craniofacial anomalies.


Within the past decade, the potential of metal biosorption has been well established. For economic reasons, of particular interest are abundant biomass types either generated as a waste by-product of large-scale industrial fermentations or certain metal-binding algae found in large quantities in the sea. Some of these high metal-sorbing biomass types serve as a basis for newly developed metal biosorption processes foreseen particularly as a very competitive means for detoxification of metal-bearing industrial effluents. Ions of lead and cadmium, for instance, have been found to be bound very efficiently from very dilute solutions by the dried biomass of some ubiquitous brown marine algae such as Ascophyllum and Sargassum which accumulate more than 30% of biomass dry weight in the metal. Mycelia of industrially steroid-transforming fungi Rhizopus and Absidia are excellent biosorbents for lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, and uranium, binding also other heavy metals up to 25% of the biomass dry weight. The common yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a 'mediocre' metal biosorbent. Construction of biosorption isotherm curves serves as a basic technique assisting in evaluation of the metal uptake by different biosorbents. The methodology is based on batch equilibrium sorption experiments extensively used for screening and quantitative comparison of new biosorbent materials. Experimental methodologies used in the study of biosorption and selected recent research results demonstrate the route to novel biosorbent materials some of which can even be repeatedly regenerated for re-use.


The consequences of cold stress and severe hypothermia are well known. The frequency of low admission temperatures <35°C to the NICU varies widely among neonatal centers with rates as much as 40% in infants <26 weeks gestation. The purpose of this report is to describe the frequency distribution of admission temperatures in extreme low birth weight infants (ELBW) in our tertiary care NICU. The correlation of mean admission temperature and both birth weight and gestational age was also examined. A retrospective descriptive study conducted in King Khalid University Hospital-NICU, including 50 consecutive extremely low birth weight infants (<1000 g at birth), delivered between December 2004 to September 2007. Data gathered included birth weight, gestational age, mode of delivery and admission temperatures. The mean admission temperature was 35.59°C±0.88°C (range=33.0-36.8°C). 84 % (n=42) of the study population had admission temperatures <36.5°C. The frequency of admission temperatures <35.0°C and <36.0°C was 18% and 52%, respectively. There is almost a linear correlation between mean admission temperature and both birth weight and gestational age. The frequency of low admission temperature <36.5°C is significantly high in our unit (84%). This calls attention to the need to review and apply evidence-based practice with regard to thermal management especially for the most vulnerable premature infants.


Introduction: Health literacy is an important factor in promotion of health and patient empowerment. This study aims at determining the health literacy levels and influencing factors in 20 to 64 years old individuals, registered to Family Health Centers in Edirne city center.
Materials and Methods: The study sample was comprised of 285 individuals, who were aged between 20 and 64 years and registered to 17 out of 20 Family Health Centers in Edirne city center. The participants completed a survey on their socio-demographic data as well as an Adult Health Literacy Measure including 23 questions. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation analysis, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskall-Wallis H tests were used in analysing the results. A multivariate linear regression model was used to examine the independent effects of different predictors on health literacy.
Results: Participants were 143 females (50.2%) and 142 males (49.8%). Their average age was 39.42 years. Their mean of Adult Health Literacy Measure scores was 13.26 where female participants had higher mean scores. The mean score for health literacy increased with an increase in education level, number of books read in a year, number of days reading a newspaper weekly and monthly household income. The findings of regression analysis indicated that male gender had 0.975 unit of negative effect on health literacy and decreased health literacy level. Being married and having university education had 1.079 and 1.445 units of positive effect respectively on health literacy thereby increasing its level. An increase of 1 unit in the number of days for reading a newspaper weekly led to a 0.241 unit of increase in health literacy.
Conclusion: The mean score for health literacy which was calculated on a scale of 23, was 13.26 and it should be increased. The analysis indicated that education was the most important predictor.


Both β1 and β2 auxiliary subunits of the BK-type K+ channel family profoundly regulate the apparent Ca2+ sensitivity of BK-type Ca2+-activated K+ channels. Each produces a pronounced leftward shift in the voltage of half-activation (V0.5) at a given Ca2+ concentration, particularly at Ca2+ above 1 μM. In contrast, the rapidly inactivating β3b auxiliary produces a leftward shift in activation at Ca2+ below 1 μM. In the companion work (Lingle, C.J., X.-H. Zeng, J.-P. Ding, and X.-M. Xia. 2001. J. Gen. Physiol. 117:583–605, this issue), we have shown that some of the apparent β3b-mediated shift in activation at low Ca2+ arises from rapid unblocking of inactivated channels, unlike the actions of the β1 and β2 subunits. Here, we compare effects of the β3b subunit that arise from inactivation, per se, versus those that may arise from other functional effects of the subunit. In particular, we examine gating properties of the β3b subunit and compare it to β3b constructs lacking either the NH2- or COOH terminus or both. The results demonstrate that, although the NH2 terminus appears to be the primary determinant of the β3b-mediated shift in V0.5 at low Ca2+, removal of the NH2 terminus reveals two other interesting aspects of the action of the β3b subunit. First, the conductance-voltage curves for activation of channels containing the β3b subunit are best described by a double Boltzmann shape, which is proposed to arise from two independent voltage-dependent activation steps. Second, the presence of the β3b subunit results in channels that exhibit an anomalous instantaneous outward current rectification that is correlated with a voltage dependence in the time-averaged single-channel current. The two effects appear to be unrelated, but indicative of the variety of ways that interactions between β and α subunits can affect BK channel function. The COOH terminus of the β3b subunit produces no discernible functional effects.


ABSTRACT Reference genes are essential for the normalisation of the expression data of quantitative real-time PCR for the purposes of validation. Although several reference genes have been validated for the olive, comprehensive analyses including an excessive number of candidate reference genes still require study in various olive tissue samples. In this work, a total of 40 candidate reference genes were tested for their stability in 8 different olive tissues (root, apical bud, lateral bud, pedicel, young leaf, mature leaf, fruit mesocarp, and seed) with the utilisation of the most popular software programs including GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and ΔCt. The analyses of expression stability of candidate reference genes using quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (UBC1) as the most stable reference gene for the studied tissues of the olive. The GeNorm software also calculated the optimum reference gene combinations as two which consist of UBC1 and the Clathrin adaptor complex medium subunit (CLATHRIN) genes. This study provides the most stable reference gene combination for normalisation of target genes for quantitative real-time PCR gene expression studies on the olive.


"Modernismo" can be divided onto two distinct epochs: one from 1888 to 1898 that was shaped by French Parnassian and Formalist poetry, and the second epoch, after 1898, influenced by French symbolism and the socio-political conditions of Latin America. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States caused and presented the most fear for Latin America with its expansionist ambitions.

This dissertation will investigate the second epoch of "Modernismo" through discussion and analysis of three major writers: Jose Marti (Cuba, 1853-1895), Jose Enrique Rodo (Uruguay, 1872-1917), and Ruben Dario (Nicaragua, 1867-1916). From each writer's perspective and opinions, the reader will gain a greater insight into the frustration felt by Latin Americans as a result of United States aggressive policies toward the area. While the United States desired to establish world dominance, Latin Americans feared the expansionism would cause a loss of culture, history, and linguistic traditions for them. Each selected writer presented a type of "plan" for Latin American resistance against North American aggression and displayed a fear for Latin America's cultural and independent future.


Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, segregation based on race and sex is sweeping the nation's educational systems. Courts are rapidly dismantling desegregation orders, and when those desegregation orders end, school districts racially resegregate. At precisely the same time this end to racial desegregation is occurring, the government is beginning to sponsor sex segregation in schools as well. The No Child Left Behind Act provides over $400 million in federal funds for experiments in education, such as single-sex schools and classes. Embracing Segregation draws connections between the end of racial desegregation and the beginning of government-sponsored sex segregation in schools. The article examine the parallels between official sponsorship of segregation in education across various dimensions of identity. Proponents of both single-sex and neighborhood schools urge tolerance of segregation as a matter of individual student and parent choice. For supporters of single-sex schools, this choice provides a diversity of educational options; for opponents of desegregation, this choice revives parents' unfettered autonomy with respect to their children's schooling. This article critiques the conflation of diversity with choice. The separatist educational movement mistakenly advances an option play concept of choice that masquerades as the constitutionally endorsed concept of diversity. Supporters of separatism try to divorce diversity from its origins as an integrative principle that brought together different types of people within an institution. The segregationist concept of diversity argues for differences among institutions, but within those institutions, demands homogeneity along the only dimension of identity that is being measured - race or sex. The article returns to the message of Brown that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal - that official endorsement of segregation based on identity characteristics creates inequality. The article presents empirical evidence from the social sciences, as well as international experiences with gender and racial apartheid, about stigmatization from government sponsorship of separation, even under conditions of relative equality. Embracing Segregation also examines the ways contemporary separatism is usually presented without history or context. The article concludes that this country has insufficient distance from its segregative past and the ravages of those practices to vest separatism with new meaning. If the nation's past offers any lesson, surely it is that government separation of equals will recreate the very inequality that so many have fought so hard to overcome.


Five-minute bird counts in Pureora Forest Park were compared between one site in a 1978-81 study and two similar sites in a 1997-98 study. The two sites from the more recent study have had different levels of pest control since the historical survey. The mean number of birds detected per count was calculated for each species and the differences among the sites were tested for significance. The results suggest a dramatic decline over time (irrespective of pest control) in many small native insectivores, including the grey warbler (Gerygone igata), tomtit (Petroica macrocephala), fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) and rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris). A large increase in bellbird (Anthornis melanura) conspicuousness was detected. Increases were observed for robin (Petroica australis), kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni), kaka (Nestor meridionalis), parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae) and kereru (NZ pigeon Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) between the historical site and the recent pest-controlled site, but tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) counts have decreased. The number of species with higher mean counts in the site with more intensive pest treatment suggests that pest control has had a positive effect on some bird populations. However, some species also increased at the site with less-intensive treatment, and tui is more conspicuous at this site than the controlled one. The study shows the value of historical bird count surveys for assessing long-term changes in bird populations, and suggests a need to make similar data sets from around New Zealand more readily available to researchers. Smith, A.N.H.; Westbrooke, I.M 2004. Changes in bird conspicuousness at Pureora Forest. Notornis 51(1): 21-25.


The ubiquitous m- and μ-calpains are thought to be localized in the cytosolic compartment, as is their endogenous inhibitor calpastatin. Previously, μ-calpain was found to be enriched in mitochondrial fractions isolated from rat cerebral cortex and SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, but the submitochondrial localization of μ-calpain was not determined. In the present study, submitochondrial fractionation and digitonin permeabilization studies indicated that both calpain 1 and calpain small subunit 1, which together form μ-calpain, are present in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. The N terminus of calpain 1 contains an amphipathic α-helical domain, and is distinct from the N terminus of calpain 2. Calpain 1, but not calpain 2, was imported into mitochondria. Removal of the N-terminal 22 amino acids of calpain 1 blocked the mitochondrial calpain import, while addition of this N-terminal region to calpain 2 or green fluorescent protein enabled mitochondrial import. The N terminus of calpain 1 was not processed following mitochondrial import, but was removed by autolysis following calpain activation. Calpain small subunit 1 was not directly imported into mitochondria, but was imported in the presence of calpain 1. The presence of a mitochondrial targeting sequence in the N-terminal region of calpain 1 is consistent with the localization of μ-calpain to the mitochondrial intermembrane space and provides new insight into the possible functions of this cysteine protease.


SUMMARY The combination of optical fluorescence microscopy with digital image processing and analysis has been used to examine the three-dimensional organization of chromosomes within intact polytene nuclei. Although the arrangement indicates a high degree of flexibility, there are many conserved features between nuclei at the same developmental state. For example, chromosome arms are loosely coiled with centromeres clustered at the opposite end of the nucleus from the telomeres. Individual chromosome arms are not interwoven but occupy different spatial domains. Chromosomal sites that contact the envelope correlate with intercalary heterochromatin. Connections are observed between actively transcribing regions.


Blockchain technology has been prominent recently due to its applications in cryptocurrency. Numerous decentralized blockchain applications have been possible due to blockchains' nature of distributed, secured, and peer-to-peer storage. One of its technical pillars is using public-key cryptography and hash functions, which promise a secure, pseudoanonymous, and distributed storage with nonrepudiation. This security is believed to be difficult to break with classical computational powers. However, recent advances in quantum computing have raised the possibility of breaking these algorithms with quantum computers, thus, threatening the blockchains' security. Quantum-resistant blockchains are being proposed as alternatives to resolve this issue. Some propose to replace traditional cryptography with postquantum cryptography—others base their approaches on quantum computer networks or quantum internets. Nonetheless, a new security infrastructure (e.g., access control/authentication) must be established before any of these could happen. This article provides a theoretical analysis of the quantum blockchain technologies that could be used for decentralized identity authentication. We put together a conceptual design for a quantum blockchain identity framework and give a review of the technical evidence. We investigate its essential components and feasibility, effectiveness, and limitations. Even though it currently has various limitations and challenges, we believe a decentralized perspective of quantum applications is noteworthy and likely.


In this work we study the computational power of graph-based models of distributed computing in which each node additionally has access to a global whiteboard. A node can read the contents of the whiteboard and, when activated, can write one message of $O(\log n)$ bits on it. A message is only based on the local knowledge of the node and the current content of the whiteboard. When the protocol terminates, each node computes the output based on the final contents of the whiteboard in order to answer some question on the network's topology. We propose a framework to formally define several scenarios modelling how nodes access the whiteboard, in a synchronous way or not. This extends the work of Becker {\it et al.} [IPDPS 2011] where nodes were imposed to create their messages only based on their local knowledge (i.e., with the whiteboard empty). We prove that the four models studied have increasing power of computation: any problem that can be solved in the weakest one can be solved in the the second, and so on. Moreover, we exhibit problems that {\it separate} models, i.e., that can be solved in one model but not in a weaker one. These problems are related to Maximal Independent Set and detection of cycles. Finally we investigate problems related to connectivity as the construction of spanning- or BFS-tree in our different models.


Current RFID tag readers do not do much more than reading the tags and transmitting that information to a central server for processing. This places a heavy burden on the central server to keep track of all the incoming data from the reader when it can be spending its time more gainfully on other tasks. We propose building some intelligence into RFID tag readers so that they can process some of the data themselves and reduce the load on the central server. We discuss the technical details of building this intelligence in the four key functions of tag readers: (A) Automatic initialization of the tag readers, (B) Automatic identification of misplaced items, (C) Automatic generation of shelf replenishment alerts, and (D) Automatic generation of reorder alerts. In addition, we discuss possible network designs for interconnecting the tag readers and the central transaction server at the retail store. We provide a database model for storing transactions generated by RFID tag reads. We discuss how the current enterprise architectures can be modified to accommodate RFID transactions.


Resistance genes are a major tool for managing crop diseases. The crop breeder networks that exchange resistance genes and deploy them in elite varieties help to determine the global landscape of resistance and epidemics, and comprise an important system for maintaining food security. These networks function as complex adaptive systems, with associated strengths and vulnerabilities, and implications for policies to support resistance gene deployment strategies. Extensions of epidemic network analysis can be used to evaluate the multilayer agricultural networks that support and influence crop breeding networks. We evaluate the general structure of crop breeding networks for cassava, potato, rice, and wheat, which illustrate a range of public and private configurations. These systems must adapt to global change in climate and land use, the emergence of new diseases, and disruptive breeding technologies. Principles for maintaining system resilience can be applied to global resistance gene deployment. For example, both diversity and redundancy in the roles played by individual crop breeding groups (public versus private, global versus local) may support societal goals for crop production. Another principle is management of connectivity, where enhanced connectivity among crop breeders may benefit global resistance gene deployment, but increase risks to the durability of resistance genes without effective policies regarding deployment.


Ionizing radiation causes histological changes in normal tissues that resemble those resulting from the inflammatory response. Inflammation is a multistep process requiring expression of adhesion molecules on the surface of endothelial cells which results in leukocyte extravasation. E-selectin is an adhesion molecule that mediates leukocyte "rolling" on the endothelium and is required for the inflammatory response. We quantified E-selectin expression and selectin-dependent adhesion of leukocytes to human endothelial cells after X irradiation to determine whether E-selectin participates in the radiation-mediated inflammation-like response. Immunofluorescence staining of irradiated endothelial cells demonstrated expression of E-selectin on the cell surface similar to that elicited by treatment with interleukin-1 (IL-1). Radiation-mediated expression of E-selectin was dependent on dose and time and occurred at doses as low as 0.5 Gy. Furthermore, the increased adhesion of leukocytes to irradiated endothelial cells was prevented by an E-selectin-blocking antibody. Sialyl Lewis X is one of the molecules on the surface of leukocytes that adheres to E-selectin. The anti-inflammatory agents glycyrrhizin and carminic acid, which are structural analogues of sialyl Lewis X, attenuated adhesion of leukocytes to endothelial cells treated with X rays or IL-1. These data implicate a new class of anti-inflammatory agents in the prevention of adhesions of leukocytes to the irradiated vascular endothelium.


Acute graft-versus-host-disease (aGvHD) is the major cause of non-relapse mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Recently, diagnostic biomarkers for aGvHD have been shown to play important roles in evaluating disease status and mortality risk after allo-HSCT. To identify plasma biomarkers for aGvHD with high sensitivity and specificity, a quantitative proteomic approach using 8-plex isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (8-plex iTRAQ) was employed to screen differentially expressed proteins in peripheral blood before and after the onset of aGvHD. Four target proteins, ceruloplasmin (CP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), complement factor H (CFH), and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), were chosen for preliminary validation with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 20 paired samples at both the time of diagnosis of aGvHD and the time of complete response. The most promising candidate, ceruloplasmin, was further validated at fixed time points after allo-HSCT and during aGvHD. The plasma ceruloplasmin levels were significantly increased during the period of aGvHD onset and were markedly decreased as aGvHD resolved. The plasma ceruloplasmin levels at different time points post-transplant in the aGvHD (+) group were significantly higher than those in the aGvHD (−) group (p<0.001). The elevation of ceruloplasmin level in patients with active aGvHD was independent of infection status. Patients whose ceruloplasmin levels were elevated above 670 μg/ml at 7, 14 and 21 days after allo-HSCT had a remarkably increased probability of subsequently developing aGvHD. In conclusion, our results suggest that plasma ceruloplasmin is a potential plasma biomarker of aGvHD, and it also has prognostic value for risk-adapted prophylaxis during the consecutive time points monitored in the first month after allo-HSCT.


Background —Cardiomyocytes use Ca 2 (cid:1) not only in excitation-contraction coupling but also as a signaling molecule promoting, for example, cardiac hypertrophy. It is largely unclear how Ca 2 (cid:1) triggers signaling in cardiomyocytes in the presence of the rapid and large Ca 2 (cid:1) fluctuations that occur during excitation-contraction coupling. A potential route is store-operated Ca 2 (cid:1) entry, a drug-inducible mechanism for Ca 2 (cid:1) signaling that requires stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1). Store-operated Ca 2 (cid:1) entry can also be induced in cardiomyocytes, which prompted us to study STIM1-dependent Ca 2 (cid:1) entry with respect to cardiac hypertrophy in vitro and in vivo. Methods and Results —Consistent with earlier reports, we found drug-inducible store-operated Ca 2 (cid:1) entry in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, which was dependent on STIM1. Although this STIM1-dependent, drug-inducible store-operated Ca 2 (cid:1) entry was only marginal in adult cardiomyocytes isolated from control hearts, it increased significantly in cardiomyocytes isolated from adult rats that had developed compensated cardiac hypertrophy after abdominal aortic banding. Moreover, we detected an inwardly rectifying current in hypertrophic cardiomyocytes that occurs under native conditions (ie, in the absence of drug-induced store depletion) and is dependent on STIM1. By manipulating its expression, we found STIM1 to be both sufficient and necessary for cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro and in the adult heart in vivo. Stim1 silencing by adeno-associated viruses of serotype 9–mediated gene transfer protected rats from pressure overload–induced cardiac hypertrophy. Conclusion —By controlling a previously unrecognized sarcolemmal current, STIM1 promotes cardiac hypertrophy. ( Circulation . 2011;124:796-805.) -dependent signaling pathways has been identified as critical for cardiac hypertrophy. However, it has remained largely unclear how Ca 2 (cid:1) triggers signaling in cardiac myocytes in the presence of the rapid and large Ca 2 (cid:1) fluctuations that occur during excitation contraction coupling. Here, we have studied the role of stromal interaction molecule 1 in cardiomyocytes, a molecule that has been described in several cell types as critical for Ca 2 (cid:1) entry. By manipulating its expression, we found stromal interaction molecule 1 to be both sufficient and necessary for cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro and in the adult heart in vivo. Stim1 silencing by viral gene transfer protected rats from pressure overload–induced cardiac hypertrophy. These data demonstrate an important role for stromal interaction molecule 1 in cardiac hypertrophy and may lead to the development of novel approaches to prevent cardiac dysfunction.


This paper summarizes the results of a comparative bathymetric study encompassing 150 km of the Louisiana barrier island coast. Bathymetric data surrounding the islands and extending to 12 m water depth were processed from three survey periods: the 1880s, the 1930s, and the 1980s. Digital comparisons between surveys show large-scale, coherent patterns of sea-floor erosion and accretion related to the rapid erosion and disintegration of the islands. Analysis of the sea-floor data reveals two primary processes driving this change: massive longshore transport, in the littoral zone and at shoreface depths; and increased sediment storage in ebb-tidal deltas. Relative sea-level rise, although extraordinarily high in the study area, is shown to be an indirect factor in causing the area's rapid shoreline retreat rates.


Measures of intelligence, when broadcast, serve as salient signals of social status, which may be used to unjustly reinforce low-status stereotypes about out-groups' cultural norms. Herein, we investigate neurobehavioural signals manifest in small (n = 5) groups using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a 'ranked group IQ task' where implicit signals of social status are broadcast and differentiate individuals based on their expression of cognitive capacity. We report an initial overall decrease in the expression of cognitive capacity in the small group setting. However, the environment of the 'ranked group IQ task' eventually stratifies the population into two groups ('high performers', HP and 'low performers', LP) identifiable based on changes in estimated intelligence quotient and brain responses in the amygdala and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, we demonstrate signals in the nucleus accumbens consistent with prediction errors in expected changes in status regardless of group membership. Our results suggest that individuals express diminished cognitive capacity in small groups, an effect that is exacerbated by perceived lower status within the group and correlated with specific neurobehavioural responses. The impact these reactions have on intergroup divisions and conflict resolution requires further investigation, but suggests that low-status groups may develop diminished capacity to mitigate conflict using non-violent means.


In this paper we propose an approach to high-level classification of video into genre: sport, cartoon, news, commercial and music. An important issue for automatic high-level classification systems is the amount of time needed to classify a video. Here we investigate classification performance as a function of the test sequence length. In addition we present performance against different orders and combi-nations of static and dynamic mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC). We find that static and delta MFCCs perform well for this classification task. A test sequence length of approximately 25 seconds for the 5 class problem gives approximately 80% correct identification.


"Where Writing Begins: A Postmodern Reconstruction" is an innovative approach to the postmodern dilemma in rhetoric and composition that" "offers a positive and postmodern pedagogy that redefines and revalues writing and the teaching of writing through reconstructive, postmodern thought. The result is a fresh understanding of both the field of composition and writing instruction.Drawing on the rich potential of beginning as a philosophical concept, Michael Carter asks the simple question: Where does writing begin? His findings take readers first to a new view of what it means to begin, and then to a new understanding of writing and teaching writing based on the redefined beginning. Challenging conventional notions that posit beginning as a chronological and temporal concept, he instead advocates an ontological and philosophical approach, in which beginning embodies both deconstruction and reconstructionand the very possibility of newness.Adding to a growing body of rhetorical scholarship in postmodern reconstruction, "Where Writing Begins "illustrates that writing must be understood within the framework of deconstruction and reconstruction. Writing, then, may be newly defined and valued as beginning. Weaving together conceptual, structural, and methodological patterns, Carter s study is also a journey through the history of philosophy and rhetoric that will leave readers feeling refreshed and teachers eager to return to their classes."


Proper water resources management involves the analysis and resolution of various optimization problems according to climate change effects on the availability and distribution of the resources themselves. Specifically, these conditions require the identification of new resource allocation optimization solutions capable of taking into account the water resource losses due to climate change scenarios. As is well known, Southern Italy is a region that is potentially very sensitive to climate change. In this paper, a 1717 km2 area, corresponding to the province of Crotone, was analyzed as a study case. This area is characterized by a sufficient availability of resources as a whole as compared to the needs of the users, but has an unbalanced distribution of water through its various systems. After identifying water resource allocations in detail for this area, an optimization solution accounting for the expected reduced availability of water resources in the context of climate change was created and was compared with the optimization solution for current water availability.


Mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) from nine morphologically distinct unisexual species and five bisexual species of lizards, all from the sexlineatus species‐group of Cnemidophorus, were compared using restriction endonucleases. The unisexual lizards have mtDNAs that are identical at all or nearly all of the 128 sites cleaved. Although differing little in sequence, some mtDNAs differed in size due to the presence of tandem sequence duplications. Phylogenetic analysis of cleavage maps indicates that the mtDNAs of the unisexuals are most similar to that of the bisexual species C. inornatus. Considerable mtDNA diversity exists among C. inornatus populations, and one geographically restricted subspecies, C. i. arizonae, was identified as the most probable maternal ancestor of all nine unisexuals. All but one of these are triploid, and all have at least one C. inornatus gene complement. This, together with the homogeneity of their mtDNAs, suggests that all stem from one or a small number of allodiploid females (presumably parthenogenetic) that originated in a restricted geographic area in the recent past. These data, when combined with those from allozyme studies, preclude the possibility that most of the triploid unisexuals could have arisen via fertilization of an unreduced diploid ovum from one species by a haploid sperm from a different species.


: Purpose: Drawing on marketing and recruitment theory, we examined the relationships between employer branding and employer attractiveness as seen by currently employed employees. The evidence was sought of which employer branding practices (external or internal) may have the strongest impact on the employer's image perceived by employees. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on an outline of current conceptualizations of employer branding, the paper discusses the potential of external employer branding activities and internal branding processes in the context of the impact on the employer attractiveness perceived by employees. This paper selects 520 employers from local services firms in Poland. The hypotheses are tested using SEM-AMOS. Findings: Data from 520 employees representing the service companies provided some evidence that more intense external employer branding activities and more intense internal employer branding practices directly affected employer attractiveness, considered in terms of expected benefits. Research limitations/implications: To concentrate on the research objective, the authors only consider the same characteristics in each workers' job environment, neglecting differences in employment conditions, living environment, etc. Practical implications: Our study reveals that internal and external employer branding activities could change employees' perception of an organization's attractiveness. Originality/value: We seek to contribute to the employer branding literature by investigating specific external and internal factors that affect employer image and employer attractiveness. The results support the notion that external employer branding and internal branding practices directly affect employer attractiveness.


I was surprised at the high error in these workers' ultrasound dating until I realised that the biparietal diameter was measured on a static B scan display. Greater accuracy may be obtained by combining this static display with the A scan display using the method described by Campbell.' A further advantage of using an A scan display is that fetal life may be confirmed from 7 weeks from the last menstrual period onwards. I would like to make an appeal for far more extensive ultrasound screening-hopefully, of all pregnancies in those referred sufficiently early. This could be done in the first trimester by the method described by Robinson2 using crown-rump length measurement. I feel that the "spin off" obtained by early routine ultrasound examination would be of extreme help not only to the obstetricians but also to the paediatricians who have to care for the patient next. JOHN ATKINS


Chapter 1 Heat and Mass Transfer (Bradley P. Marks). Chapter 2 Microbiology of Cooked Meats (Aubrey F. Mendonca). Chapter 3 Fundamentals of Continuous Thermal Processing (Donald Burge). Chapter 4 Thermal Processing of Slurries (Darrell Horn and Daniel Voit). Chapter 5 Processing Interventions to Inhibit Listeramonocytogenes Growth in Ready-to-Eat Meat Products (C. Lynn Knipe). Chapter 6 Introduction to Lethality Equations (Bradley P. Marks). Chapter 7 Predictive Microbiology Information Portal with Particular Reference to the USDA-Pathogen Modeling Program (Vijay Juneja, Andy Hwang, and Mark Tamplin). Chapter 8 Supporting Documentation Materials for HACCP Decisions (Mary Kay Folk). Chapter 9 The 10 Principles of Sanitary Design for Ready-to-Eat Processing Equipment (David Kramer). Chapter 10 Principles of Sanitary Design for Facilities (David Kramer). Chapter 11 Third Party Audits (Robert E. Rust). Chapter 12 Food Safety Beyond Guidelines and Regulations (Bradley P. Marks). Appendix A Objectives and Critical Elements of Thermal Processing of Ready-to-Eat Meat Products (Erwin Waters).


We report on a girl with maxillary hypoplasia, prominent ears, dry sparse hair, palmar and plantar keratoderma, dystrophic nails, patchy pigmented skin lesions in hands and feet and bilateral Wilms tumor. She was born with bilateral ankyloblepharon. The mother and maternal grandmother presented similar ectodermal defects. Skin biopsies of the patient and her mother proved to contain cells overexpressing p63 by immunohistochemistry. Karyotypes of the patient and her mother, and FISH studies on lymphocytes and tumor cells of the girl demonstrated a mosaic 11p15.5 deletion. These findings suggest a relationship between familial ankyloblepharon, ectodermal defects and cleft lip and palate (AEC) syndrome (Hay-Wells syndrome) and familial reticulate pigmentation of the skin. In addition the development of Wilms tumor and 11p15.5 region involvement expand the genetic relationship between these conditions and the enlarging group of genetic entities related to nephroblastoma.


Abstract The processes of making transgenic animals by microinjecting DNA into the pronucleus of a fertilized oocyte or after the transfection of embryonic stem cells are now well established. However, attempts have also been made, with varying degrees of success, to use spermatozoa as a vector for transgenesis in mammals and other vertebrates during the last decade. A number of different approaches for making transgenic spermatozoa have been developed. These include directly incubating mature, isolated spermatozoa with DNA or pretreating mature, isolated spermatozoa before assisted fertilization. Microinjection procedures have also been established to transfect male germ cells directly in vivo within the seminiferous tubules or to reimplant previously isolated male germ cells submitted to in vitro transfection into a recipient testis. The latter two techniques present the advantage of being able to create transgenic progeny simply by mating with wild-type females, which avoids the possibility of interference or damage as a result of assisted fertilization or the manipulation of embryos. The different aspects of sperm-mediated transgenesis are presented.


Grazing is an important part of the grassland ecosystem dynamics and plays a key role in carbon and nitrogen storage in the system. The exclusion from grazing is considered one of the major practical implications to restore the ecosystem and prevent grassland degradation. The study focused on the effects of grazing on vegetation and soil properties in subarctic grassland in Iceland, comparing a grazed and an un-grazed area. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the effects of exclusion from grazing on the main compartments (soil, vegetation and sward/litter) of carbon and nitrogen storage in the system. The area excluded from grazing had less total carbon and nitrogen storage in the system down to 30 cm depth in soil and the distribution of the carbon and nitrogen stocks among the system compartments was slightly different. The results showed that the carbon and nitrogen stocks in vegetation and sward/litter were slightly higher in the un-grazed area as compared to the grazed area, which indicated the recovery of the ecosystem after exclusion from grazing, whereas the carbon and nitrogen in soil was significantly higher in the grazed area as compared to the ungrazed area. The study did not answer whether the difference observed in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks was due to the effects of grazing or environmental factors such as soil moisture. In addition, the soil was the largest reservoir of carbon and nitrogen in both study areas. Therefore, further research to investigate the effects of exclusion from grazing are needed not only to understand the ecology of this fragile ecosystem but also to enhance sustainability of grazing management. UNU Land Restoration Training Programme This paper should be cited as: Amgaa B (2012) Comparison of carbon and nitrogen stocks under grazed and un-grazed areas. United Nations University Land Restoration Training Programme [final project] http://www.unulrt.is/static/fellows/document/Amgaa2012.pdf UNU Land Restoration Training Programme


Objectives: To question the traditional ethos of only translating into one's mother tongue, since English and Spanish have become vehicular, international languages; put forward some suggestions for a method of teaching translation using specialised texts. Method: The starting point is to present to the learners simple though specialised texts to be translated into both languages. In doing so, students realise how important it is to acquire a translation strategy, which can be applied, mutatis mutandis, to both languages. Since the texts are goal-oriented, the prime aim of translating is getting the message across: content analysis necessitates extensive use of documentary research in order to master the terminology used. Results: Since specialised texts are more standardized and predictable than journalistic texts, students soon realise that they can achieve results approaching those of native speakers, so long as they apply the relevant principles.  Conclusion: The approach has paved the way for a trilingual handbook to be proposed for publication.
Received: 08-02-10 / Accepted: 14-06-10
How to reference this article:
Humbley, J. & Torres, O. (2010). Le texte spécialisé comme élément clé dans la pédagogie de la traduction vers les langues secondes / Specialized Text as a Key Element in the Teaching of Translation into Second Languages.íkala, 15(2), 2 – 39.


: Security means the absence of risks, threats and vulnerabilities, the absence of fear or insecurity. Any human group, or state, indifferently its wideness, placement, form of organization, etc. can develop only under the conditions of relative security of its members. How security is practically provided it is a matter of strategy, respectively priorities settlements in regard to a geopolitical context, resources, alliances, loyalty to the allies, planning and management (the conductment experience). In order to fulfil its security strategy, each government assumes its security policy (legislative, institutional, material and human resources etc. systems) able to satisfy the entire range of issues in the national security field.
Often, we have wonder if it really exist total security? The answer is far from positive. Different threats, vulnerabilities or risks are at every step. Still, a part of risks, threats or vulnerabilities against security can be diminished or extincted by education and self-education. As this concern, E-learning instruments can contribute to the understanding and thoroughness of security studies and assess the continuous changing security environment. The use of E-learning instruments will lead to shifting the accent from a learning environment in security studies centered on teacher, to one centered on student wherein teachers are not anymore the key-source of information and knowledge delivery, but they become colaborators of students and students are not anymore only pasive receivers of information but they are actively involved in their own education.
Starting from these considerations, our paper intends to highlight that in security studies can be used E-learning instruments as methods of learning and lessons? delivery.


This study investigated the extent to which log-linear smoothing could improve the accuracy of common-item equating by the chained equipercentile method in small samples of examinees. Examinee response data from a 100-item test were used to create two overlapping forms of 58 items each, with 24 items in common. The criterion equating was a direct equipercentile equating of the two forms in the full population of 93,283 examinees. Anchor equatings were performed in samples of 25, 50, 100, and 200 examinees, with 50 pairs of samples at each size level. Four equatings were performed with each pair of samples: one based on unsmoothed distributions and three based on varying degrees of smoothing. Smoothing reduced, by at least half, the sample size required for a given degree of accuracy. Smoothing that preserved only two moments of the marginal distributions resulted in equatings that failed to capture the curvilinearity in the population equating.


The national policy on education in Nigeria has its cardinal objective to promote the acquisition of appropriate creative skills, abilities and competence both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of the society. In most recent times the Nigeria educational system and governance are both at cross-road by contrast to what are obtained in developed nations of the world. Predicated on this basis that, leadership potentials can be activated and built through a systematic-induction process inherent in architectural design studio culture model (learning-by-doing, LBDM), and capable of engendering sustainable development across all fields of human endeavour, including governance. It employed mainly a feedback-mechanism based on the design studio process instruction model. The study drew heavily on the ethical values of this model to justify its potentials in enhancing leadership capacity building in Nigeria. The results revealed the values of optimism, respect, sharing, engagement, and innovation while hinged on core factors of dynamism, teamwork, specification, creativity, intelligence and innovation that are at the heart of sustainable development.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of ischemic postconditioning(IPC) on intestinal mucosa of rats subjected to ischemia and reperfusion process comparing two cycles of reperfusion and ischemia lasting two minutes each and four cycles of reperfusion and ischemia lasting 30 seconds each.

METHODS
Thirty Wistar rats were distributed into three groups: group A (10 rats), ischemia (30 minutes) and reperfusion (60 minutes); group B (10 rats), ischemia and reperfusion plus IPC by two lasting two minutes each; and Group C (10 rats), ischemia and reperfusion plus IPC by four cycles lasting 30 seconds each. Finally, a segment of small intestine was resected for histological analysis. We analysed the results according to Chiu et al. classification and proceeded to the statistical treatment by Kruskal-Wallis test (p<0.05).

RESULTS
The mean degree of tissue injury according to Chiu et al. classification were: Group A, 2.77; in group B, 1.4; and group C, 1.4. B X C (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Ischemic postconditioning was able to minimize reperfusion injury of rats undergone mesenteric ischemia and reperfusion process. There was no difference in the effectiveness of the method comparing two cycles of two minutes with four cycles of 30 seconds by H&E histological evaluation of the ileum after 60-minute reperfusion.


Severely head injured adults were tested on a recognition memory procedure involving the identification of eight recurring shapes among a series of 160. Compared with a control group, the tested patients showed many fewer correct responses. Their type of error was commonly a failure to recognize rather than a false recognition. The severity of the memory deficit was related to the length of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA), but to neither the presence of neurological signs at the time of memory testing, nor to the time after injury at which the patients were tested. The older patients showed a more significant relationship between PTA and memory score than the younger patients.


Abstract Integrated platforms for storage, management, analysis and sharing of large quantities of omics data have become fundamental to comparative genomics. CoGe (https://genomevolution.org/coge/) is an online platform designed to manage and study genomic data, enabling both data- and hypothesis-driven comparative genomics. CoGe's tools and resources can be used to organize and analyse both publicly available and private genomic data from any species. Here, we demonstrate the capabilities of CoGe through three example workflows using 17 Plasmodium genomes as a model. Plasmodium genomes present unique challenges for comparative genomics due to their rapidly evolving and highly variable genomic AT/GC content. These example workflows are intended to serve as templates to help guide researchers who would like to use CoGe to examine diverse aspects of genome evolution. In the first workflow, trends in genome composition and amino acid usage are explored. In the second, changes in genome structure and the distribution of synonymous (Ks) and non-synonymous (Kn) substitution values are evaluated across species with different levels of evolutionary relatedness. In the third workflow, microsyntenic analyses of multigene families' genomic organization are conducted using two Plasmodium-specific gene families—serine repeat antigen, and cytoadherence-linked asexual gene—as models. In general, these example workflows show how to achieve quick, reproducible and shareable results using the CoGe platform. We were able to replicate previously published results, as well as leverage CoGe's tools and resources to gain additional insight into various aspects of Plasmodium genome evolution. Our results highlight the usefulness of the CoGe platform, particularly in understanding complex features of genome evolution. Database URL: https://genomevolution.org/coge/


Although PELIS was established mainly to promote forest plantation development through enhancing forest establishment and the survival of plantation trees, it has also provided other significant benefits such as making available arable land for the landless and contributing to food production. This study investigated the contribution of PELIS towards alleviating food insecurity and landlessness. Selected forest zones, where PELIS is practiced were used. Communities residing near the forests were served with questionnaires to document arable lands given and food produced. Results showed that PELIS provided an annual average of upto 2,000 hectares of arable land to the landless, which contributed an annual total average of upto 3 million bags of potatoes from the forest zones investigated. This study recommends that management considers establishing PELIS in the other remaining forest zones in order to provide more arable land and consequently increase food production.


If modal logics for coalitions need to be applied, one must know how to translate coalition power into agents' actions. To these days, the connection between coalition power and the actions of the agents has not been studied in the literature. This paper fills the gap by presenting a semantic translation from Pauly's Coalition Logic to a (fragment of an) action logic. The interpretation of the empty coalition in Pauly's system and the representation of the notion of ability are discussed.


A lateral current injection (LCI) multiquantum-well (MQW) laser having planar structure is proposed and its advantages compared with conventional vertical structure lasers. A LCI-MQW laser has been fabricated by using Si- and Zn-induced disordering of an MQW active layer. It is shown that a threshold current of 27 mA is achieved under pulsed current driven at room temperature and a very low stray capacitance of 0.27 pF is obtained at zero bias voltage. >


Kinondoni district has higher number of private health facilities than any other
district in Tanzania. About 84% of its health facilities are privately owned by
individuals and institutions including faith based organizations. However, little is
known about quality of services provided in these facilities. This study aimed to
assess quality of services provided by private health facilities in the Kinondoni
district. Interview was administered to 110 outpatients who have accessed services at
Mwenge hospital. Service quality was assessed by using five dimensions of
reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility. Descriptive analysis;
frequencies, and mean were used to summarize the data. Mean score were used to
determine differences among the five dimensions and between items in each
dimension.Overall, respondents show relatively positive perceptions toward quality
of services provided at Mwenge hospital. The average score of the five dimensions is
3. 9 out of 5. Items such as records keeping and ability of staff to make patients
confident and safe were ranked the highest. Waiting areas, number of staff and
appearance of service delivery rooms scored fewer points. Patient's satisfaction was
also relatively high. About 48% and 14% of the respondents reported being satisfied
and very satisfies with the services respectively.In conclusion, service quality at
Mwenge is high and patients satisfaction as well. Yet, due to firm competition in the
health sector, the hospital needs to improve its services particularly in areas that were
ranked the lowest by respondents. Some measures that can be taken to improve
service quality at Mwenge include motivation of current staff and recruitment of
additional staff.


ABSTRACT Powdery mildew incited by Podosphaera aphanis is an important disease affecting strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). Cultivars that are resistant to the pathogen can reduce the dependence on chemicals for commercial production. There is little information on the variation in resistance across cultivar studies and the best way to measure the progress of the disease. This review highlights some of the important issues which need to be considered when conducting such experiments. The first objective of the review was to determine the variation in the severity of powdery mildew within and across experiments. The second objective was to determine the best way to record the development of the disease. In some of the experiments, the plants were rated on the severity of the disease based of the area of the leaf infected (0% = resistant cultivar and 100% = susceptible cultivar). In the others, these values were converted to scores between 0 and 6 or 0 and 10, or similar. There was a range in the behaviour of the cultivars. In some experiments, the cultivars varied across the whole spectrum from susceptible to resistant. In the others, the cultivars were mostly moderately susceptible to resistant, or mostly resistant genotypes with a few susceptible genotypes, or mostly resistant genotypes (N = 65 studies). There is information suggesting that the ranking of cultivars for resistance can vary under different conditions. In these studies, cultivars had the same classification (resistant and resistant, etc.) in about 60% of cases or 53 out of 89 comparisons across sites or years. Resistance to mildew is moderately to highly inheritable, with additive effects more important than non-additive effects. Only a few of the descriptions of new cultivars include data on the incidence or severity of the disease. There are numerous resistant cultivars, although they do not always have acceptable commercial production. Some of the historical resistant cultivars can be used as source of resistance in breeding programmes. I recommend that information be collected on the area of the leaf or fruit surface affected by the disease or these values converted to a scale (less preferred). The studies need to include at least one or two susceptible standard cultivars such as 'Selva' or 'Torrey'. Initial experiments should be conducted under controlled conditions (growth chambers or glasshouses) using inoculated plants. Subsequent experiments should be conducted under protected cropping (tunnels) or in the open field in locations with a high rate of natural infection. These subsequent experiments across different sites and years could be used to determine if the relationship between yield and the severity of mildew differs between resistant and susceptible cultivars. Resistant cultivars possibly have lower slopes in the regression (higher yields per unit leaf area infected) than susceptible cultivars. It is hoped that adoption of these suggestions will improve collaboration across research groups. Genome-wide association studies are likely to accelerate the development of cultivars resistant to the disease.


Problem statement: The main objective of this study is to develop an incremental clustering algorithm that can handle numerical as well as categorical attributes in a given dataset. The authors have previously reported a cluster feature-based algorithm, CFICA that can handle only numerical data. Appraoch: Since many of the real life data mining applications work with datasets that contain both numeric and categorical attributes, there is a need for modifying the earlier algorithm to handle such mixed datasets. The core idea is to propose a new distance measure based on the weight age which is automatically generated and apply it to incremental clustering algorithms. The incremental data points are handled in two phases. In the first phase, k-means clustering algorithm is employed for initial clustering of the static databse.In the second phase, the designed distance measure is used to generate the appropriate cluster for the incremental data points. The combination of the two has proved to be more effective in handling mixed datasets. Clustering accuracy, clustering error and the computational time of the proposed approach have been evaluated with different k values and the thresholds. Variation of threshold values showed better results in terms of accuracy for different datasets. Results: The clustering error in this approach reduced considerably with different k values and thresholds. Conclusion: The results ensure the efficiency of the proposed approach in handling real mixed datasets composed of numerical and categorical attributes only.


Imaging Fresnel has been extensively studied to focus light in an effective and low-cost way; however, these lenses show low tolerances in alignment when they are coupled with plastic optical fibers (POFs). The principal factor is the high focal point movements produced by slight changes in the incidence angle of the source rays. In order to study these movements and its effects over the coupling between Fresnel lens and POFs, a mathematical analysis using Geometrical Optics and simulations in Zemax OpticStudio® were performed. The results show that the asymmetry of the numeric aperture of the Fresnel lens has higher sensitivity to low incidence angles and the coupling of the focused light to POFs with different fiber lenses at the input have a better performance using a plane face end. The results confirm the low tolerance, <1o, to source angular misalignments and suggest the use of a secondary optical element.


This study describes some physical oceanography features of an estuary maintained by fresh groundwater inflow. The mesoscale variability of currents, temperature and salinity are documented from moored current meter observations of 12 days duration at three stations. Current speeds exceeded 0.7m.s−1 during spring tides and decrease to 0.1m.s−1 during neap tides. Current directions followed the major channel axes, reversing by 180 degrees between the flood and the ebb tides. Harmonic analysis indicated that tidal currents were mainly semi-diurnal, with a predominance of the M2 harmonic, but included M4 and M6 sub-harmonics, possibly resulting from non-linear interactions of the flow with the shallow bottom and channel curvatures. Close to the lagoon entrance the water is of marine character but, further upstream, salinity decreased significantly. In the absence of river runoff, this decrease must result from some yet undisclosed underground freshwater inflow. The water renewal time estimated using the tidal prism method was at least two tidal cycles. Using the fresh-water fraction method, the groundwater inflow was estimated to be 2.3m3.s−1 at most. Coupled 2D hydrodynamic and advection-dispersion models (MIKE21) were then used to verify some renewal times. The tidally averaged renewal time for the whole lagoon was found to be 7 days, while the local renewal time at the upstream end of the lagoon was 25 days. Finally, an inverse modelling approach using MIKE21 was used to estimate the groundwater inflow required to produce the observed salinities. That inflow was found to be 0.25m3.s−1 for the period under consideration, showing that the tidal prism method gave flows that were far too high.


Reactive oxygen species (ROS) oxidize the guanine base in the DNA to 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG). This lesion, if left unrepaired, causes the transversion of G:C pair to T:A following replication. 8-oxoG is targeted by one of the DNA glycosylases, namely OGG1. Arabian camel (one humped camel, Camelus dromedarius ) is adapted to live in desert climate conditions under direct exposure to endogenous and exogenous ROS-producing conditions, among of them the sunlight. In the recent study, partial sequence of camel OGG-1 gene was cloned and analyzed for the first time. A DNA fragment of 567 bases was amplified by reverse transcription PCR. It is equivalent to about 55% from the coding region of the known transcript of many organisms. The level of expression of OGG-1 in different camel tissues (liver, kidney, spleen, lung and testis) was examined using real time-PCR. The highest level of OGG-1 transcript was found in the camel liver (represented as 100%) followed by testis (85%), spleen (78%), kidney (37%) and lung (3%) using 18S ribosomal subunit as endogenous control. The obtained cDNA sequence of OGG-1 showed high similarity with Ailuropoda melanoleuca (86%), Sus scrofa (86%), Canis familiaris (85%), Bos taurus (85%), Macaca mulatta (85%), Homo sapiens (84%), Pan troglodytes (84%) and Pongo abelii (82%). Keywords: Camelus dromedarius , cloning, OGG1, gene expression, DNA glycosylase


The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) was released in 2006 as part of the FANTA II Project as a population-level indicator of household food access. Household dietary diversity can be described as the number of food groups consumed by a household over a given reference period, and is an important indicator of food security for many reasons. A more diversified household diet is correlated with caloric and protein adequacy, percentage of protein from animal sources, and household income (Swindale & Bilinsky, 2006 [1] ). The HDDS indicator provides a glimpse of a household's ability to access food as well as its socioeconomic status based on the previous 24 hours (Kennedy et al., 2011 [2] ).


Reactive distillation for tert-butyl alcohol dehydration to isobutene and water catalyzed with the cation exchange resin was carried out. A mathematical model for simulating the process was developed and verified by the experimental results. Then, the dynamic matrix control (DMC) method was put into the process to achieve an efficient control for high purity isobutene from the top of the reactive distillation column. The tracking test and anti-disturbance test of the control system were carried out, and the effect of DMC parameters such as predictive length, control weighting matrix, error weighting matrix and reference trajectory coefficient on the performances of DMC were discussed. The results show that the tuning of these parameters has significant effect to the performances of DMC.


To remain competitive, organizations must change in response to demands in the dynamic environments in which they operate; yet oftentimes they do not change, perhaps due to an inability to first recognize, and then act on, the need for change. To combat this reluctance, organizational factors such as control systems and incentives may be effective since they are often used to direct managerial attention and thereby influence firm strategy (e.g., Simons 1990, 1995; Garg et al. 2003; Kober et al. 2007; Peterson and Luthans 2006). Indeed, prior research has found that control systems influence managers' information search as well as firm-level strategic choice (e.g., Simons 1990, 1995) and incentives are closely tied to managers' motivation to act (e.g., Bruggen and Moers 2007; Peterson and Luthans 2006). To further investigate this issue, we examine whether one individual-level variable – perceived environmental uncertainty (hereafter, "PEU") – and two firm-level variables – control systems and incentives – are effective in overcoming managers' insufficient motivation and/or their inability to recognize that change is needed, thereby increasing their willingness to recommend strategic change (hereafter, "WTRC"). Consistent with expectations, we find that the positive association between PEU and willingness to recommend strategic change is diminished by all combinations of control systems and incentives (except for an interactive system–social recognition incentive combination). Regarding this result, neither interactive systems nor social recognition incentives seem to provide a point of focus for managers to interpret strategic threats, thereby lowering the likelihood that managers will recommend strategic change. Thus, the positive association between PEU and WTRC remains intact. However, for low PEU managers, both diagnostic systems and financial incentives seem to make low PEU managers behave more like high PEU managers by focusing attention on performance metrics, thereby creating a strategic decision-making framework that increases the likelihood of recommending strategic change. Overall, these results suggest that the positive association between PEU and managers' willingness to recommend strategic change can be enhanced, or muted, by control systems and incentives.


This one-of-a-kind collection consists of actual cases written by fraud examiners out in the field. These cases were hand selected from hundreds of submissions and together form a comprehensive picture of the many types of computer fraud how they are investigated, across industries and throughout the world. Topics included are email fraud, on-line auction fraud, security breaches, counterfeiting, and others.


Kraft lignin, a by-product of the pulp and paper industry, was explored as an adsorbent for six dietary oils and was compared to chitosan, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical market. The dissolution and adsorption efficiency of kraft lignin were tested at an acidic pH corresponding to the stomach, as well as at a basic pH corresponding to the intestine. Results showed that kraft lignin is a powerful adsorbent that can take up dietary oils at up to about 6 times its own weight. Kraft lignin exhibits higher stability and insolubility at the pH of the stomach in comparison to chitosan. The adsorption isotherm of dietary oils fits well with the Freundlich model, and the adsorption kinetics follows a pseudo-second order relationship.


We report on an investigation into the use of differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (DInSAR) for the discrimination between surface and subsurface features in a soil, undertaken at the Ground-Based SAR Microwave Measurement Facility. A temporal sequence of C-band VV SAR images of a drying soil containing a buried target was collected. While the phase record of the signal identified with the soil return showed almost no variation, in stark contrast, the phase from the buried target showed a strongly linear change with time. A model is presented, which describes the observed phase changes in terms of retardation of the signal by the soil dielectric properties, which are dependent upon the moisture content. The model confirms a strongly linear relationship between phase and volumetric soil moisture. The linearity promises to greatly simplify any exploitation scheme, and such a DInSAR scheme would be applicable at large standoff distances from airborne and spaceborne platforms, in contrast to current subsurface techniques which rely on close-in measurement to spatially isolate returns vertically in backscatter.


We propose an integrative reflection between considerations on the specificity of the autism syndrome and possible guidelines for their inclusion at school. We discussed historic and normative assumptions, indicators of good practices that aim at the combination of quality and pedagogical choices. There is an exploration of new professional care, mainly referring to the continuous investigation on etiological hypotheses, early diagnosis, as well as timely and multiplicity of the educational and didactic interventions in autism that favor school inclusion projects We analyze the major approaches on autism, gathering essential elements for a proposal, or guidelines for the inclusion of subjects with autism at school.


The increased usage of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) sequencing for oncology clinical research demonstrates a critical need for sensitive and specific testing. While we have observed a high degree of concordance between single tumor mutations in tumor and plasma, several recent studies have highlighted a lack of concordance between plasma and tumor panel NGS gene panel testing due to biological and technical factors. To explore further these factors and benchmark ctDNA NGS testing services, a set of matched plasma, tumor, and normal samples from 24 subjects were acquired from three biobanking companies. Replicate 2 ml-plasma samples were tested by four ctDNA sequencing companies, and matching tumor/normal samples were tested by two tumor sequencing companies. Concordance was measured by comparing plasma mutations to tumor mutations as well as comparing mutations among the same plasma tested by the ctDNA companies. While our experience with NGS of matched samples from clinical trials typically identifies ~30% of patients with no detectable mutation and therefore likely not shedding tumor DNA, with the retrospectively collected commercial samples ~60% lacked detectable high confidence mutations, likely due to quality control issues with sample collection. We also found variation in the concordance of ctDNA mutation detection rates among the four vendors, due to significant differences in DNA yield and assay sensitivity. While factors such as tumor heterogeneity and timing of plasma-tumor collection can lower concordance rates, the majority of discordance in our study was due to technical rather than biological variation. Assay analytical variance and the impact of reporting false positive variants are key factors that need to be addressed as plasma-based NGS testing is more widely incorporated into translational and clinical research. Examples illustrating the complexity of the analyses and giving support for confidence in ctDNA testing results will be given. Citation Format: Daniel Stetson, Brian Dougherty, Ambar Ahmed, Tristan Lubinski, Aleksandra Markovets, Kenneth Thress, Robert McEwen, Gaia Schiavon, David Whitston, Barrett Nuttall, J. Carl Barrett. Examination of analytical factors impacting concordance of plasma-tumor testing by next-generation sequencing (NGS) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-249. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-249


Around the world there are many schools where native speakers of other languages study English as a foreign language (EFL). In this article, I introduce a school-based reflective management model (SBRM) for such EFL schools. The model centers on creating a learning community where all changes involve reflective learning and growth for students, teachers, and principals. The model's 3 distinct concepts-learning, teaching, and leading-are mutually supportive. This model particularly offers a theoretically grounded framework for school-based reflective management and new roles for students, teachers, and principals by drawing on 4 bodies of literature (leading for learning, school-based management, creating a reflective learning community in EFL contexts, and reflective teaching and learning). In this model, reflective management is used to describe the concept that teachers, principals, and students should be leaders and learners.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by multiple cognitive deficits including memory and sensorimotor gating impairments as a result of neuronal and synaptic loss. The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in these deficits but little is known about its influence on the molecular mechanism regarding phosphorylated tau (p-tau) protein accumulation – one of the hallmarks of AD –, and on the density of synaptic proteins. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the preventive effects of anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) on multiple cognitive deficits and on the levels of synaptic proteins (syntaxin 1, synaptophysin and synaptosomal-associated protein, SNAP-25), cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and molecules related to p-tau degradation machinery (heat shock protein 70, HSP70), and Bcl2-associated athanogene (BAG2) in an AD-like sporadic dementia model in rats using intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Our hypothesis is that AEA could interact with HSP70, modulating the level of p-tau and synaptic proteins, preventing STZ-induced cognitive impairments. Thirty days after receiving bilateral icv injections of AEA or STZ or both, the cognitive performance of adult male Wistar rats was evaluated in the object recognition test, by the escape latency in the elevated plus maze (EPM), by the tone and context fear conditioning as well as in prepulse inhibition tests. Subsequently, the animals were euthanized and their brains were removed for histological analysis or for protein quantification by Western Blotting. The behavioral results showed that STZ impaired recognition, plus maze and tone fear memories but did not affect contextual fear memory and prepulse inhibition. Moreover, AEA prevented recognition and non-associative emotional memory impairments induced by STZ, but did not influence tone fear conditioning. STZ increased the brain ventricular area and this enlargement was prevented by AEA. Additionally, STZ reduced the levels of p-tau (Ser199/202) and increased p-tau (Ser396), although AEA did not affect these alterations. HSP70 was found diminished only by STZ, while BAG2 levels were decreased by STZ and AEA. Synaptophysin, syntaxin and CB1 receptor levels were reduced by STZ, but only syntaxin was recovered by AEA. Altogether, albeit AEA failed to modify some AD-like neurochemical alterations, it partially prevented STZ-induced cognitive impairments, changes in synaptic markers and ventricle enlargement. This study showed, for the first time, that the administration of an endocannabinoid can prevent AD-like effects induced by STZ, boosting further investigations about the modulation of endocannabinoid levels as a therapeutic approach for AD.


The second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of a series of dithienylethene- (DTE-) containing Pt(II) complexes have been investigated by density functional theory calculations. The first hyperpolarizabilities β of studied systems can be greatly enhanced by simple ligand substitutions. Because of the nature of DTE units, the β values also can be varied by the use of lights in the studied systems. The highest β difference between photoisomers can over 1000 × 10(-30) esu, with the contrast around five times. Thus, the studied systems can act as effective photoswitchable second-order NLO materials. The time-dependent density functional theory calculations revealed that the charge transfer patterns of studied systems have special characters compared to other reported DTE-containing NLO switched chromogens, the DTE units mainly act as electron-donors in studied systems, and the variation of β can be viewed as alternation of donor abilities of DTE units; thus, our work also proposed a new mechanism for designing photoswitched NLO multifunctional materials.


In this paper, I analyze a particular artifact from my lived curriculum – a short children's book I wrote while running a literacy program in an Ojibway community. In doing this, I draw upon Ng-A-Fook's (2011) (re)imagining of currere as specific experiential snapshots that open up into wider landscapes of meaning. After situating the book within my own lived experience, I unlock some of the meanings contained in it by analyzing it through three different theoretical lenses. I first examine the book in relation to research on place-based literacy (e.g. Kulnieks, Longboat, & Young, 2010), and suggest the value of such a localized approach to literacy education. Secondly, in relation to the scholarship on settler colonialism (e.g. Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernández, 2013), I question whether my choice as an outsider to write a work of "literature" incorporating aspects of local intergenerational knowledges should be seen an act of appropriation. Thirdly, I draw on literature arguing for the development of ethical intercultural meeting places (e.g. Haig-Brown, 2008) in order to suggest that this artifact is best understood as a record of my gradual development as an educator and a researcher. I suggest that currere is not just a way for teachers to become "amateur intellectuals" (Kanu & Glor, 2006), but also a way for researchers like such as myself to become "amateur practitioners," by learning to situate our experience within the skilled practices of a curriculum of place (Chambers, 2008).


Discharge from a hospital after the intensive care unit (ICU) is challenging. Please do not mistake us—we agree many patients are happy to go home. In fact, most critical care survivors are desperate to leave the hospital, typically after a prolonged frightening hospital stay lasting weeks or longer. Unfortunately, most patients have not returned to their preillness physical status when they go home, and many face new cognitive or psychological disabilities that may just be emerging. Yet, constrained budgets, limited acute hospital beds and wide variation in formal rehabilitation mean many patients enter posthospital survivorship without coordinated support. No matter which health system cares for them, many survivors experience an unplanned rehospitalisation within a few months.1–4

Hospital discharge prior to full recovery may be inevitable, as recovery after many illnesses simply takes a really long time (or might never be complete). Data from the Women's Health and Aging Study (all aged 65+) noted 33% of patients hospitalised for any reason had activity of daily living (ADL) recovery during the 6 months after hospitalisation, and another 14% in the 6 to 12-month interval.5 (See figure 1) A more acutely ill, younger cohort of critical care patients who required at least 7 days of mechanical ventilation experienced improvement in mean function over the first 6 months, but limited change thereafter.6 However, close inspection of these data reveals very wide variation between individuals between 6 and 12 months that are not apparent in population mean estimates. In light of these and related data, our community is rightly expending energy trying to treat this 'post-intensive care syndrome (PICS),'7 or at least improve the health problems that our patients describe months or years after we discharge them from our ICUs.

Figure 1
Duration of recovery of function. (Left) Women's Health and Aging …


PURPOSE
Renal cell carcinoma is resistant to most chemotherapy, and only a minority of patients respond to immunotherapy. Its highly vascular nature suggests that antiangiogenesis therapy might be useful. We thus performed a phase II study of the fumigillin analog TNP-470 in previously treated patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients with good organ function were entered onto the study through five separate institutions. There were no exclusion criteria for prior therapy. All patients were treated at a dose of 60 mg/m(2) of TNP-470 infused over 1 hour three times per week.

RESULTS
Thirty-three patients were enrolled. Therapy was generally well tolerated, but asthenia, fatigue, vertigo, dizziness, sense of imbalance, and loss of concentration were common and severe enough to lead to therapy discontinuation in five patients. There was only one partial response of short duration (response rate, 3%, 95% confidence interval, 0% to 16%), but six patients (18%) remained on study for 6 or more months without toxicity or disease progression.

CONCLUSION
Long-term therapy with TNP-470 has manageable toxicities and is feasible in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma but does not lead to any significant objective responses. Further studies in this population using TNP-470 schedules that produce more prolonged drug levels and clinical trial end points other than objective tumor regression may be indicated.