The Rock County 4-H Disaster Relief Committee raised $1,550 to aid tsunami victims in Sri Lanka and then turned its attention to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Thirty-one 4-H youth participated in a service learning trip to the South with the objectives of helping hurricane victims, learning about new cultures and achieving personal growth during three days of service projects in Louisiana and Mississippi. Their written reflections and other evaluative measures revealed they learned about southern culture, gained a greater appreciation for their lives, gained self confidence and developed a desire to help others more often. The trip was a valuable developmental experience for the youth, and information from the trip could be utilized to create similar experiences based on service learning. This article provides an overview of the trip and describes the evaluation methods used to measure learning and assess personal growth.


: In this study the mechanism responsible for atrial fibrillation (AF) in hyperthyroidism was investigated by standard cardiovascular exploration and echocardiography. Fifty four patients (43 women, 11 men, mean age 44 years) were examined during, and after successful treatment of a thyrotoxicosis episode associated with Graves' disease in 43 cases, with a secondarily toxic goitre in 7 cases and with a toxic adenoma in 4 cases. Nineteen patients presented with a heart disease: mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in 11 (including 4 with AF) and another cardiopathy in 8 (including 4 with AF). Among the 34 patients without heart disease, only 2 had AF during thyrotoxicosis. In all groups the antero-posterior diameter of the left atrium was greater in patients with AF than in those with normal sinus rhythm, but it remained within normal limits in patients with MVP. It may be assumed that in these cases AF resulted from synergism between the arrhythmogenic potential of MVP and that of the thyroid hormones. In contrast, prior dilatation of the left atrium seemed to play a predominant role in patients with another cardiopathy. The 4 patients with AF in the latter group remained with AF after the thyrotoxicosis was cured, whereas the 2 patients without heart disease and 3 of the 4 MVP patients reverted to sinus rhythm without anti-arrhythmic therapy or cardioversion. It is concluded that the presence of an underlying heart disease accounts for most cases of AF developed during thyrotoxicosis, but in 1 out of 2 cases the heart disease in a minor one, consisting of MVP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The article deals with the reputational, cultural, and informational resonance of the Ukrainian Republican Capella's tours conducted by Oleksandr Koshyts in Western Europe from 1919 to 1921. The Ukrainian Republican Capella was created on the initiative of Symon Petliura, Head of the Directorate, Chief Otaman of the Army and Navy of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), to promote international recognition of Ukraine's independence and the image of Ukrainian culture in the world. It gave 208 concerts in 74 of the most prestigious concert halls of 45 European cities. More than 600 reviews complimentary of Ukraine, Ukrainian state institutions, and Ukrainian culture appeared on the pages of the leading Western European press, and Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad as well as the Capella's office received hundreds of letters from leading European artists and politicians with enthusiastic reviews on its musical art and UNR aspirations for independence. The author provides little-known archival documents of the Ukrainian Republican Capella Foundation at the Central State Archives of the Supreme Bodies of the Government of Ukraine (CSASB of Ukraine), covering institutional, legal, financial and diplomatic support of the Capella abroad as part of Symon Petliura's and the UNR Directory's policy of cultural diplomacy, and suggests that foreign tours of the Capella should be considered as the first project of cultural diplomacy in the history of modern Ukraine.


Two of the most important issues facing society in the Western World at the end of the twentieth century are how to accommodate substantial growth in the number of households and how to recreate vital and viable city centres. One solution advocated by policy makers is to increase the number of homes within city centres. Indeed, too many cities, as we reach the next millennium, are typified by Hirst's description:

There is an eerie silence in the city - towering offices dominate the streetscape but no one appears to be in them. A distant mechanical hum and the fluttering of litter in the wind shows the only evidence of occupation. (1996, p.8)

Cities play a pivotal role in bringing people together as a focus of social and economic activity. Town and city centres are multi-functional places providing an organic mix of functions, acting as a shopping and market place, an arts, cultural and entertainment centre, a business and transport hub and, once again, increasingly a place to live and visit. The contraction and rationalisation of many of the traditional roles of the centre such as industry and commerce has provided the space for this renaissance in the provision of dwellings in city centres. This is in sharp contrast to the over-riding trend in Britain during this century for the dispersal of population away from traditional centres. The public's perception of urban areas has been very poor. However, in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in urban living (URBED, 1998). In addition, since the mid-1990s, there have been television programmes and numerous articles in newspapers and magazines extolling the virtues ofliving in the city centre. Indeed, in November 1996, The Observer announced that 'urban life is sexy again' (Harrison, 1996, p.12).


Despite a lack of consistent empirical evidence, there has been an ongoing assumption that intellectual disability is associated with reduced levels of motivation. The participants in this study were 33 children with Down syndrome ages 10-15 years and 33 typically developing 3-8-year-old children. Motivation was measured through observational assessments of curiosity, preference for challenge, and persistence, as well as maternal reports. There were no significant group differences on motivation tasks, but mothers of children with Down syndrome rated their children significantly lower on motivation than did parents of typically developing children. There were some intriguing group differences in the pattern of correlations among observations and parent reports. The findings challenge long-held views that individuals with intellectual disability are invariably deficient in motivation.


The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of probiotics on the live weight, live weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency and health condition of calves. Nineteen Holstein calves, divided into 2 similiar groups in terms of age, sex and live weight, were used in the trial. The first group of calves were given a probiotic at 20 g/day during the first 2 weeks and 40 g/day in the following weeks, via milk during the first 3 months and later on via drinking water. The other group received no probiotic. Both groups were started in the second week on the same concentrate and good quality alfalfa hay ad libitum, in addition to milk. The probiotic used was a commercial preparation containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Streptococcus termophilus and Aspergillus niger. Live weight at the end of the experiment, average daily live weight gain, average daily concentrate and (concentrate + hay) intake, feed efficiency ratio calculated as (concentrate + hay) / live weight gain for the no probiotic and probiotic groups were 145.80 ± 2.28 and 152.00 ± 3.97 kg, 631.6 ± 14.7 and 681.6 ± 15.5 g; 1.727 ± 0.05 and 1.705 ± 0.06 kg; 2.403 ± 0.067 and 2.309 ± 0.071 kg; 3.80 ± 0.07 and 3.38 ± 0.08, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the groups, except for the daily live weight gain (P < 0.05) and feed efficiency ratio (P < 0.01). Diarrhea was observed in the control group, while there were no health problems in the probiotic group.


Based on research by Wigfield and Guthrie (1997), Moller and Bonerad (2007) as well as Schaffner and Schiefele (2007) have developed questionnaires to assess students' reading motivation. The goal of the present study was to examine whether these instruments coincide with students' subjective views of their own reading motivation. In order to clarify this question, we conducted interviews with 26 elementary school students and applied content analysis to examine the interview protocols. Although the results support some of the theoretically postulated components, they suggest that questionnaire measures have neglected some important aspects of reading motivation (e. g., reading to regulate one's feelings, reading to relax). Finally, consequences for the revision of reading motivation questionnaires were discussed.


In heat treatment industries, quench medium is used to increase the cooling rate of heat-treated materials, thus altering their microstructure and properties. Several conventional quench medium, such as salt bath system, petroleum-based oil, and polymers are commonly used, depend on the cooling rate needed for the process. Most of those quench medium, however, are harmful for environment due to their high chemical reactivity, mostly non-reusable and dangerous post-usage product. A recent approach to address this problem is by using nanofluid as quench medium. Nanofluids are colloids obtained by combining high thermal conductivity solid nanoparticles with base fluids, such as water, ethylene glycol, or oil. Water-based nanofluids with carbon nanoparticles are promising candidate as quench medium because of their reusable components, relatively inert element, non-toxic waste, and adjustable quench severity. Carbon nanoparticles are chosen due to their enhanced thermal properties and high thermal conductivity of 1.7 W/mK at 25°C, comparing to other nanoparticle materials with higher cost, such as Al2O3, CuO and TiO2. In this study, ordinary charcoals were comminuted and sieved repeatedly to obtain carbon powder. Furthermore, the powder was milled to get nano-sized carbon particles. The dimension of carbon particles were roughly μm size after sieving, measured by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Composition and crystallinity of carbon particle were characterized using Electron Diffraction X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and showed a pure carbon x-ray spectrum. Carbon nanoparticles with variation from 0.06 wt% to 0.14 wt% were mixed with 100 ml water as the base fluid to create nanofluid.


Characterizing the differences between the mechanical properties of brain tissue gray and white matters is of importance in biomechanics of brain tissue and may find a variety of different applications in medicine. In this study, a comparison has been made between mechanical behavior of bovine brain tissue white and gray matters. Through a linear elastic theory and using Bridgman method, necking phenomenon is considered for brain tissue in tension test. Results show that gray and white matters have different mechanical properties and differences between true and nominal values (the effect of cross section changes of the samples during the test) are not negligible. Besides, it is shown that for certain strains, linear elastic theory is acceptable for brain tissue modeling. These results are in agreement with the literature.


Reduction in NOx and soot in light and medium duty diesel engines and meeting the U.S. emission standards is an important challenge. This paper shows how injection rate shaping should be performed to reduce NOx while engine performance and soot formation remain almost constant. Effects of intercooler with and without rate shaping on NOx reduction will be investigated. Results indicated that the rate shaping and pilot/split injection was an effective technique to reduce NOx at some operating condition. Combined effects of intercooler and rate shaping have shown a reduction of NOx by 50% for some operating conditions. At idle condition, a split injection was found to be a good solution for NOx reduction. A combustion simulation computer program was used in this analysis for six different operating conditions.


In this work, a methodology is proposed for determining the content of total polyphenols and moisture in commercial tea samples by using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression coupled with the Successive Projections Algorithm for interval selection (iSPA-PLS). For comparison, full-spectrum PLS and the Interval PLS (iPLS) were also used. Since the spectra are scattered and exhibit systematic variations on the baseline, standard normal variate transformation (SNV) and multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) were applied as data preprocessing methods. The number of PLS latent variables and the number of region intervals were optimized according to the root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) and coefficient of determination (RCV2) in the calibration set. The predictive ability of the final model was evaluated in terms of the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP), coefficient of determination (RPred2) and ratio performance deviation (RPDPred) in the external prediction set, which were not employed in the model-building process. For the determination of the total polyphenol content, 10-iSPA-PLS with MSC preprocessing presented the best results with the smallest RMSEP (0.599 mg kg−1), and the highest RPred2 (0.933) and RPDPred (3.863) values. For the determination of moisture content, 20-iSPA-PLS with MSC preprocessing achieved the best results with the smallest RMSEP (0.32 mg kg−1), and the highest RPred2 (0.94) and RPDPred (4.08) values. Thus, it can be concluded that the NIRS coupled with iSPA-PLS is a promising analytical tool for monitoring tea quality.


The Women's Rights as International Human Rights Symposium (Symposium), sponsored by the International Women's Human Rights Project of the Center for Law and Public Policy at St. John's University, focused on the roles played by rules of law and by the conflation of economic, social, political, religious, cultural, and historic forces in the marginalization of women in the public and private sectors in both the international and domestic systems. The traditional exclusion of women from the articulation, development, implementation, and enforcement of rights has rendered gender issues invisible and thereby shielded gender-based abuses from much needed scrutiny. The flawed public/private dichotomy, for example, has delayed the recognition of domestic violence as a violation of both domestic and international rights, such as the universal international right to security of the person. Additionally, the application of the public/private distinction in domestic, regional and international law has ghettoized women's interests and has helped to maintain the unequal status of women.The Symposium, recognizing the second-class status of women in international societies and the dangers of the marginalization that results from this treatment, sought to reassess the international human rights construct to ensure inclusion of women's rights as human rights. These reconceptualized norms must be applied to issues pertaining to individuals, such as sexual harassment, reproductive freedom, and gender-based violence, and to issues facing local and national governments and intergovernmental organizations including economic policies and structural adjustment programs. Forward-looking strategies must be devised to facilitate and safeguard women's enjoyment of the full range of so-called "generational human rights" -- first, civil and political; second, economic, social, and cultural; and third, solidarity. The eradication of the false public/private dichotomy and the encouragement and incorporation of women's voices and concerns into the rights discourse is essential to effect this reformulation of human rights. Scholars and activists in various fields must work together, utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to the rights construct, to implement existing rights in a fashion that protects women. Simultaneously, these individuals must innovatively develop, expand, and transform the content and meaning of these rights to reflect women's realities and perspectives.A feminist methodology is necessary and appropriate because gender concerns simply represent a microcosm of the myriad problems facing the international community. Gender is a particularly well-suited focus precisely because it encompasses many vital issues such as race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, national and social origin, class, and sexuality. A new analytical construct taking a multidimensional perspective is necessary. The current construct, that has been used to define rights and prohibitions with a single-issue focus, is ill-equipped as an analytical tool to evaluate women's issues. The multidimensional perspective requires a culturally sensitive analysis that incorporates the voices of different cultures to ensure that the new international human rights construct is indeed equitable in both principle and application.Although these concerns are not new, only recently have women gained access to domestic and international arenas. As a result, gender dimensions of human rights norms are being examined and a feminist critique of international law is emerging. It is disturbing, however, that despite this recent trend, there are some who have already begun to dispute the need for any focus on international women's human rights. Critics suggest that the emergence of and discourse about international "women's human rights" is inappropriate because international human rights norms include women as human beings, and, thus, the proper emphasis is on all people, not just women.


Over three decades there has been a shift from ideologies of idealism and educationalism towards instrumentalism in higher education due to the global circulation of neoliberal ideologies. Facilitated by digital technologies and encouraged by international ranking systems, there is a paradoxical trend towards homogenisation rather than heterogeneity in terms of what counts as valued knowledge, producing tensions in national policies, institutional responses and academic work in Australia as elsewhere. The paper identifies the implications of trends driving universities towards entrepreneurialism, hyper-instrumentalism, continual rebranding in their search for distinctiveness in global markets, restructuring towards specialisation, focusing on immediate use-value of research, vocationalising teaching, demand driven curriculum that makes students happy, and the disaggregation of curriculum underpinning new multimodal forms of online learning / management technologies.


We performed two-dimensional Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of 60-nm-gate InP-based lattice-matched In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) to clarify the effect of the gate–drain spacing Lgd on device performance. The calculated maximum transconductance gm and cutoff frequency fT increase with decreasing Lgd down to 50 nm, which agrees with experimental values. To explain the increase in gm and fT, we obtained electron velocity profiles in the InGaAs channel layer. Electron velocity overshoot under the gate is enhanced with decreasing Lgd. The resulting average electron velocity under the gate increases with decreasing Lgd. The enhancement of the electron velocity overshoot can be explained by using potential profiles in the HEMT. Potential profile under the gate in the InGaAs channel becomes steeper with decreasing Lgd.


Abstract. The Flemish Ardennes (W Belgium) are known to be affected by deep-seated landslides. The assessment of the landslide reactivation hazard requires understanding the driving processes and delimiting precisely not only the landslide boundaries but especially that of their most active parts. Precise 3D models of 13 landslides were produced by digital stereophotogrammetry using aerial photographs of different dates. Dealing with photographs at the scale 1:25000 or larger, we obtained for each model an accuracy better than 0.5m. As a first result, the main size parameters of the landslides (width, length, depth, volume, ...) are easily computed. Moreover, the obtained DTMs may be subtracted from each other in order to determine the apparent vertical displacement of each pixel during the interval of time considered. Provided that more than 2 epochs are documented, such DTMs not only supply precise information about distribution and style of the landslide activity but may also point to temporal variations in this activity. The subtraction of DTMs allows us to give an estimation of the volume of the "uplifted" and "collapsed" terrains between two epochs.


Background: The banking industry globally provides Internet banking to offer their customers easy access to banking services. The banks in South Africa, like their counterparts in other parts of the world, offer Internet banking to customers. However, the majority of South Africans in rural areas do not adopt and use Internet banking despite its convenience, the availability of Internet banking infrastructure, the effort of banks in promoting Internet banking awareness and Internet security. Objectives: This research investigated factors which influence the adoption and use of Internet banking in the context of South African rural areas. Method: In this study, a quantitative research approach was used. Data were collected through questionnaires and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool. Results: The perceived compatibility, trialability and external variables such as awareness and security were found to have significant influence in the adoption of Internet banking in South African rural areas, whereas relative advantage was found not to be a significant factor. Security and the complexity of Internet banking were also revealed as some of the factors hampering the intention to adopt Internet banking in South African rural areas. Conclusion: The lack of awareness on Internet banking services and its benefits such as its convenience and the possibility to conduct banking transactions from any location with Internet is found to be the reason for South African rural area retail bank consumers' reluctance to adopt Internet banking. The majority of retail bank customers in South African rural areas do not use Internet banking because of the lack of resources, such as computers with Internet access. The security of transactions conducted over the Internet is the main concern and significant element that customers consider before adopting Internet banking in South African rural areas as they perceive it as being easily exposed to fraud. As a result, this perception erodes retail bank customers' confidence to adopt Internet banking. The majority of retail bank customers in South African rural areas will be willing to adopt Internet banking if their lifestyle, values and specific need are met. Retail bank customers in South African rural areas will adopt Internet banking if the Internet banking processes are simplified and user-friendly.


This paper analyses 45 cases of insolvency and bankruptcy resolution in order to measure the efficiency and problems of the present laws for firm bankruptcy in India. These cases have been selected to cover a month of judgements under the reorganisation provisions of the Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA) 1985, the winding up provisions of Companies Act, 1956, and the debt enforcement provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI), 2002. I find that the time taken from the start of the application to the final judgement was over 10 years for more than 40 of the cases heard at the High Court. Winding up of companies or debt recovery took more than 5 years. The analysis identifies the underlying themes driving these delays as conflicts arising from having multiple laws to protect the interests of the debtor and different stakeholders, conflicts from having these different laws being implemented in the Civil Courts and Tribunals, and the pro-rehabilitation stance of the adjudicators in resolving insolvency and bankruptcy.


K. pneumoniae was known as a nosocomial infection that causes human diseases. It is considered as one of the food-borne pathogens as it causes septicemia and diarrhea in humans. This study aims to characterize K. pneumoniae strains isolated from ready to eat processed meat phenotypically and genetically. Three hundred and fifty ready to eat processed meat (Luncheon-meat) samples were collected. Forty-four (12.6%) K. pneumoniae strains were isolated and bio-typed, where the majority were identified to belong to biotype B1. K1 and K2 serotypes were detected and strains were classified as hypermucoviscous K. pneumoniae (HVKP) and classic K. pneumoniae (CKP) (26 and 18 isolates, respectively). The isolates were resistant to several classes of β–lactam antibiotics, ceftazidim and cefotaxime (95.5%), cefoxitin (93.2%), ertapenem (90.9%) and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (86.4%). They were classified as extended spectrum β–lactamases (ESBLs), AmpC or carbapenemase-producers phenotypically. Eighteen β-lactamase genes were investigated by PCR. The most prominent genes were SHV (63.6%), TEM (52.2%), CTX-M15 (50%), AMPC (47.7%), CIT-M (45.5%) and VIM (43.2%). Co-detection of β–lactam resistance genes revealed 42 gene profiles. Twenty-four isolates had the complete efflux system (AcrAB-ToƖC). Besides, Integrons (I, II, III) were detected in 20 isolates. Molecular typing by ERIC-PCR showed high genetic diversity between isolates as 34 different patterns were identified. Overall, this study confirmed the hazards posed by the presence of multiple resistance genes in the same isolate and this should not be undervalued. Besides, the horizontal transfer of plasmid harboring resistance genes between isolates in food represents potential health risks for consumers in Egypt and so the control and inhibition plans are necessary.


Protective multilayer coatings are designed, with each layer providing distinctive features to reduce the transport of water, ions, and oxygen from the environment to the substrate. The top coat provides the barrier, whereas the base coat/primer provides adhesion to the substrate as well as galvanic or passivation protection. The change in the coating capacitance during the ingress or egress of water is associated with the change in the dielectric property of the coating and can be monitored using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy response of a high-frequency signal applied to the coating. The wetting and drying behaviors of epoxy and urethane single-layer coatings and epoxy primer/urethane top-coat two-layer coatings were experimentally measured. A hydrophilic room-temperature ionic liquid was used to simulate drying while maintaining a nonaqueous electrical contact to the coating. Embedded electrodes were used to access the top-coat-primer interface in the two-layer coating. Mathematical models were developed based on Fick's second law for water transport in single-layer and two-layer coatings. Comparison of measured and simulated water uptake demonstrated that the assumptions used in the single-layer model were appropriate while the assumptions used for transport across the interface between the layers in the two-layer coating were inadequate.


Abstract Objectives: Homocysteine, folate, and some group B vitamins have been proposed as a cause of Cerebro-Vascular Accidents (CVA). We conducted a case-control study to compare the plasma levels of folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine in Iranian subjects with and without cerebro-vascular accident. Methods: We recruited 82 patients with ischemic stroke as cases and 60 subjects as controls (using simple nonrandom sampling). Homocysteine was measured by fluorimetric high-performance liquid chromatography. Plasma folate and vitamin B12 levels were measured by an ion-capture method. Results: Mean plasma level of vitamin B12 in cases and controls were 358.4±290.3 Pg/ml and 369.8±110.4 Pg/ml, respectively which did not show any significant difference. Mean plasma level of folate in cases was significantly lower than the controls (6.8±4.5 ng/ml vs. 12.2±3.0 ng/ml, p=0.001). It was also shown that mean plasma level of total homocysteine in cases was significantly higher than the controls (21.1±9.8 μM/L vs. 13.5±3.2 μM/L, P=0.001). Homocysteine and folate but not plasma B12 had linear relation with age. Male cases had significantly lower Folate and B12 in contrast to women. In addition, male cases had significantly higher Homocysteine level in contrast to women. Conclusions: Our data shows that the level of homocysteine was higher and the level of folate was significantly lower in patients with ischemic stroke in contrast to controls. Effectiveness of supplementary folate and B 12 in such patients needs further well-structured prospective placebo controlled studies.


Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC

RasGRP3 is a member of the Ras guanine nucleotide releasing protein (RasGRP) family of the Ras-specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors. These proteins play role in the regulation of the activity of Ras signaling pathway which constitutive activation is demonstrated in many cancer types. The RasGRP3 protein has potential oncogenic effect, the amplification of the gen of the protein is observed in many malignant cancer types. Recent investigations have highlighted that RasGRP3 plays a role in tumorigenesis, hence it exerts effect on the proliferation, migration, survival and tumorigenecity of prostate adenocarcinoma-derived and melanoma cells. In light of this potential oncogenic effect we have examined the change of expression and potencial function of RasGRP3 in breast-derived ductal adenocarcinoma.

The RasGRP3 and phosphoRasGRP3 expressions were examined in human ductal adenocarcinoma-derived samples from different grades and in 1 primary ductal adenocarcinoma-derived cell line called BT-474 and 5 different metastatic: JIMT-1, MCF7, SK-BR-3, MDA-MB-453 es T-47D cell lines both in mRNA (Q-PCR) and protein levels (Western blot; immunhisto-and cytochemistry). To explore the biological function of the protein RasGRP3 knockdown cultures were created on MCF7 and T-47D cell lines. To examine the role of RasGRP3 in the viability of cells annexin-V/PI staining was performed. To clarify the function of the protein in cell proliferation and in the developement of resistance against chemotherapeutic drugs Tamoxifen and Herceptin CyQuant assay was performed. To observe the RasGRP3 function in tumor formation and maintance SCID mouse model was used.

According to our results the expression of RasGRP3 and the active phosphoRasGRP3 were elevated at protein level on the human ductal adenocarcinoma samples. This expression was increased in the tumor samples compared to the normal. RasGRP3 was found typically in the cytoplasm of the cells, while the phosphoRasGRP3 showed strong nuclear reaction. The RasGRP3 expression of the BT-474 cell line was lower then in the metastatics. The downregulation of RasGRP3 induced apoptosis, inhibited cell proliferation and sensitizied the T-47D cells to killing by Tamoxifen and Herceptin. In vivo tumor growth in mouse xenografts of both cell lines were decreased. Suppression of RasGRP3 expression inhibited downstream RasGRP3 responses AKT and ERK1/2 phosphorylation were reduced.

Our results suggest the RasGRP3 may have an importante role in the regulation of cell growth, chemotherapeutic resistance, and tumor formation in breast cancer.

Citation Format: Zsuzsanna Nagy, Edina Orosz, Ilona Kovacs, Miklos Torok, DezsŹ Toth, Tamas Biro, Peter M. Blumberg, Gabriella Czifra. Investigation of RasGRP3 expression and function in human breast cancers and breast-derived ductal adenocarcinoma cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4399. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4399


Milton's God can derive satisfaction from relationships with the Son, the angels and Man, and hold these creatures accountable for maintaining this union only if he allows them free choice. Creatures demonstrate their love and obedience, and so maintain their relationships with God, by choosing to carry out the divine will. The choice either to maintain or break union with God must be deliberate, and involve an internal process if that creature is to be free and held accountable for their actions. The intellectual faculties of reason, will, and self-perception enable created beings to exercise their freedom consciously. All free agents must apply their selfknowledge to comprehend and fulfil their respective roles in Creation. An accurate creaturely self-perception involves creatures knowing their identity and nature; understanding the limits of their power to act; appreciating God as the source of their existence and their power to act; and recognising their places and roles in the divine order. Self-understanding is connected to happiness and together these form an appreciation that motivates free agents to establish and continue their alliances with God. The Son, Satan, Adam and Eve all behave in accordance with the way they understand themselves. The Son's selfless obedience to God is motivated by his appreciation for God as his Maker, and his perception of his role in the divine order as the physical manifestation of God's will. This frees the Son to pursue his desire to promote the divine purpose without consideration for himself. Inaccurate self-perception is self-deception, allowing creatures to believe that their happiness consists in independence from God. Satan deceives himself into believing that he can be God's adversary and that opposition to God is a realistic possibility. Adam's and Eve's individual acts of disobedience are the result of a gradually developing inaccuracy in their self-perception. Adam comes to believe that Eve is the source of his happiness, and this misconception is confounded with his fear of solitude. He disobeys God after allowing his immoderate love for Eve to become a higher priority than his relationship with God. Eve's self-perception is confused when she becomes aware of a 'disparity between her husband's assessment of her and her own understanding of herself because hitherto Adam has been her primary source of knowledge about God, Creation, and her being. The Serpent inspires a sense of injured merit that corresponds with Eve's impression that Adam judged her unfairly. She disobeys God's law because she comes to believe that obeying God impedes her happiness. These creatures behave in accordance with the way they understand themselves, and can make righteous choices by applying their reason in conjunction with their self-lmowledge.


ABSTRACT The objective of this observational study was to assess the genetic variability in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease gene from HIV type 1 (HIV-1)-positive (clade B), protease inhibitor-naı̈ve patients and to evaluate its association with the subsequent effectiveness of a protease inhibitor-containing triple-drug regimen. The protease gene was sequenced from plasma-derived virus from 116 protease inhibitor-naı̈ve patients. The virological response to a triple-drug regimen containing indinavir, ritonavir, or saquinavir was evaluated every 3 months for as long as 2 years (n = 40). A total of 36 different amino acid substitutions compared to the reference sequence (HIV-1 HXB2) were detected. No substitutions at the active site similar to the primary resistance mutations were found. The most frequent substitutions (prevalence, >10%) at baseline were located at codons 15, 13, 12, 62, 36, 64, 41, 35, 3, 93, 77, 63, and 37 (in ascending order of frequency). The mean number of polymorphisms was 4.2. A relatively poorer response to therapy was associated with a high number of baseline polymorphisms and, to a lesser extent, with the presence of I93L at baseline in comparison with the wild-type virus. A71V/T was slightly associated with a poorer response to first-line ritonavir-based therapy. In summary, within clade B viruses, protease gene natural polymorphisms are common. There is evidence suggesting that treatment response is associated with this genetic background, but most of the specific contributors could not be firmly identified. I93L, occurring in about 30% of untreated patients, may play a role, as A71V/T possibly does in ritonavir-treated patients.


We consider a slotted system with N queues, and independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) Bernoulli arrivals at each queue during each slot. Each queue is associated with a channel that changes between "on" and "off" states according to i.i.d. Bernoulli processes. We assume that the system has K identical transmitters ("servers"). Each server, during each slot, can transmit up to C packets from each queue associated with an "on" channel. We show that a policy that assigns the servers to the longest queues whose channel is "on" minimizes the total queue size, as well as a broad class of other performance criteria. We provide several extensions, as well as some qualitative results for the limiting case where N is very large. Finally, we consider a "fluid" model under which fractional packets can be served, and subject to a constraint that at most C packets can be served in total from all of the N queues. We show that when K=N, there is an optimal policy which serves the queues so that the resulting vector of queue lengths is "Most Balanced" (MB)


Boston—The Bible of lab animal care—the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals—came out with a new scriptural interpretation last week, unveiled at a conference in Boston. The revision, the first to the powerful guide since 1985, allows researchers to alter old standards for space allotments and cage construction to focus instead on enhancing animals' sense of "wel-being"—for example, housing playful animals such as cats and chimpanzees in multilevel cages with plenty to distract them. Researchers welcomed the changes, but many in the animal-welfare movement object, saying the new guidelines are subjective and difficult to enforce.


| Formal veriication using interactive proof-checkers has been used successfully to verify a wide variety of moderate-sized hardware designs. The industry is beginning to look at formal veriication as an alternative to simulation for obtaining higher assurance than is currently possible. However, many questions remain regarding its use in practice: Can these techniques scale up to industrial systems, where are they likely to be useful, and how should industry go about incorporating them into practice? This paper describes a project recently undertaken by SRI International and Collins Commercial Avionics, a division of Rockwell International to explore some of these questions. The project formally speciied in SRI's PVS language a Rockwell proprietary pipelined microprocessor (the AAMP5, built using almost half a million transistors) at both the instruction-set and register-transfer levels and used the PVS theorem prover to show the microcode correctly implemented the instruction-level speciication for a representative subset of instructions. The key results of the project were the development of a practical methodology for microprocessor veriication in industrial settings and the discovery of both actual and seeded errors.


: The nervous system is the most common site for the development of solid neoplasms in children. The most frequent oncotype is the pilocytic astrocytoma, followed by the medulloblastoma. Primitive undifferentiated neuroectodermal tumors occur primarily in childhood; problems of pathogenesis of these neoplasms are discussed, as well as their relationship with central nervous system development.


Nascent secreted proteins and integral membrane proteins in eukaryotes must be imported, or 'translocated' into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Because approximately one-third of all cellular proteins fall into these protein classes, the translocation machinery in the ER must operate with high efficiency and accommodate a wide variety of chemically diverse substrates. Moreover, proteins can translocate into the ER either cotranslationally or posttranslationally, and each of these modes of protein entry into the ER requires unique components. Through the years, the composition and function of the ER translocation machinery was defined by the development of in vitro assays in which protein translocation can be recapitulated. For example, the posttranslational translocation of a model protein into the yeast ER can be measured using ER-derived microsomes or reconstituted proteoliposomes. The model protein for this assay is the mating pheromone precursor, prepro-alpha factor.

Key Concepts:

A large number and variety of proteins must be imported, or 'translocated' into the ER.

Proteins can enter the ER either cotranslationally, that is during synthesis, or posttranslationally, that is after synthesis.

The translocation reaction requires a multiprotein complex and associated factors which reside in the cytoplasm, in the ER membrane and in the ER lumenal space.

Posttranslational translocation can be recapitulated using ER-derived microsomes prepared from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or using reconstituted proteoliposomes into which the translocation machinery has been integrated.

The in vitro reaction has helped to define how components of the translocation machinery function.

The translocated substrate can be mutated to assess how aberrant proteins are targeted for ER-associated degradation (also known as ERAD).

Keywords:

translocation;
endoplasmic reticulum;
yeast;
sec61;
microsomes;
ERAD


The dynamics of intense laser pulses in plasmas are investigated both theoretically and numerically. The linear growth and nonlinear saturation of relativistic stimulated Raman scattering of plasmons are investigated by means of a nonlinear dispersion relation and via direct Vlasov simulations. We observe acceleration of electrons up to ultra-relativistic energies by a positive electrostatic potential that is created by intense short laser pulses.


Although software innovations are the cornerstone in the modern economy, their patent-ability, as well as the social and private value of software patenting, have continued to be at the center of policy debates pertaining to the U.S. patent system. The landmark 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank had profound impact on software patenting as it drastically limited the scope of patent protection on software innovations. Using Alice as a natural experiment, we found that limiting software patents had no detectable downsides to the value of software firms. Instead, it was associated with improved sales, greater engagements in open source development, and tighter scope of individual patents. Our findings offer implications for the extent to which software firms pursue patenting as a strategy to protect innovation versus pursuing alternative appropriability mechanisms. They also have compelling implications for patent policies on software and software-related inventions, such as artificial intelligence, business methods, and other emerging digital innovations.


Reduction pruning cuts were used to prune Quercus virginiana (live oak) and Quercus Shumardii (shumard oak). One-half of the pruning wounds were harvested and dissected 3 years later to observe extent of discoloration in response to the pruning cut. Shumard oak did not limit discoloration as effectively as live oak. Discolored area in the wood increased with size of the pruning cut surface in shumard oak and less so in live oak. Dissections showed that the shape of the discolored area attenuated with depth. The branch connection morphology and response (branch–trunk aspect ratio, branch angle, release growth after pruning) appeared to influence discoloration pattern in reduction pruning. The angle of the reduction cut relative to the American National Standards Institute-recommended angle bisect method was not found to influence discoloration. Discoloration in the less efficient compartmentalizing species (Shumard oak) was related to cut surface area, but not to cut angle. There was no relationship between aspect ratio and discoloration in the 3 years after pruning. The data suggest that reduction cuts can be made back to lateral branches as small as one-third the diameter of the removed stem.


We propose a watermarking scheme for color images based on local quaternion Fourier spectral analysis (LQFSA).The merits of the proposed scheme include: 1) Quaternion Fourier transform is defined in a 4D vector space and thus provides a larger embedding scope for watermark than conventional monochannel transformation techniques. 2) We improve the imperceptibility of watermark with regard to human color vision properties through LQFSA. 3) We introduce invariant feature transform (IFT) and geometric correction scheme so as to enhance the robustness to extensive attacks, which is another essential factor to evaluate a watermarking scheme. 4) We adopt the nearest-neighborhood search to ensure the correctness of watermark extraction. Extensive experiments on the Stirmark platform validate the aforementioned merits.


Sumann, Günther, Peter Paal, Peter Mair, John Ellerton, Tore Dahlberg, Gregoire Zen-Ruffinen, Ken Zafren, and Hermann Brugger. Fluid management in traumatic shock: a practical approach for mountain rescue. High Alt. Med. Biol. 10:71-75, 2009.-The management of severe injuries leading to traumatic shock in mountains and remote areas is a great challenge for emergency physicians and rescuers. Traumatic brain injury may further aggravate outcome. A mountain rescue mission may face severe limitations from the terrain and required rescue technique. The mission may be characterized by a prolonged prehospital care time, where urban traumatic shock protocols may not apply. Yet optimal treatment is of utmost importance. The aim of this study is to establish scientifically supported recommendations for fluid management that are feasible for the physician or paramedic attending such an emergency. A nonsystematic literature search was performed; the results and recommendations were discussed among the authors and accepted by the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR MEDCOM). Diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are discussed, as well as limitations on therapy in mountain rescue. An algorithm for fluid resuscitation, derived from the recommendations, is presented in Fig. 1. Focused on the key criterion of traumatic brain injury, different levels of blood pressure are presented as a goal of therapy, and the practical means for achieving these are given.


The experimental study on the failure behavior of cement test block in sodium sulfate solution and strength change of specimen in early stage. The microstructure of cement test block attacked by sodium sulfate is observed by means of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS)and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The mechanism of erosion damage in the sodium sulfate solution is analyzed. It is found that in the early period corrosion intensity will not suffer, but increase, and on the surface no obvious changes can be seen. However, in the attack later coarse surface cracks appear, then there is a serious off and the cement test block eventually collapses.


One of the most striking phenomena of Zimbabwean literature since the 1990s has been the boom in white memoirs. Often written from abroad, these texts respond to the hostile political climate of the land reforms by insisting upon their authors' right to speak as national subjects. This article studies four memoirs by the two most famous exponents of the genre, Alexandra Fuller and Peter Godwin. It argues that their texts negotiate a contested sense of belonging, challenged by their own doubts and expatriate position as well as by government exclusion. Outweighing such concerns, however, are the authors' continued family connections to the continent they have left behind. Their parents and siblings are used to insist upon the right of Fuller and Godwin, and with them whites more generally, to call Africa home.


Background: Clonidine is an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, which is a centrally acting antihypertensive drug. The recent reviews had shown that clonidine has sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic, and anesthetic-sparing properties which would stabilises the circulatory system and maintains the perioperative stress response at a lower level.
Aim: To compare the efficacy between oral clonidine and oral diazepam as a premedication in maintaining the hemodynamic stability during craniotomy surgeries.
Materials and Methods: Fifty patients with various types of intracranial tumours who were planned for elective surgical excision were included for the study. Group 1 patients (n=25) received 0.2mg/kg of diazepam and the Group 2 patients received 3.5mcg/kg body weight of clonidine orally 90mts before induction. Recordings of systolic, diastolic, mean blood pressure and heart rate was done from the arterial tracing, the transducer kept at the level of the external auditory meatus. It was made every 10mts for the first 2hours from the time of dural opening.
Results: Of all the various hemodynamic parameters the heart rate alone had shown a statistically significant reduction over the period of 2 hours in patients among the clonidine group. The blood pressure parameters in both the groups had also shown reduction from base line in the first 60minutes and later on over the period of 2 hours the values had come back to that of the base line values and no statistically significant difference had occurred between the two groups and also the antisialagogue activity is more with clonidine than   diazepam.
Conclusion: The hemodynamic response during craniotomy was better controlled with clonidine which has shown a better response in controlling tachycardia and maintaining the systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressures than diazepam. So clonidine can be considered as a good drug for premedication in craniotomy surgeries in comparison with diazepam.

Keywords: Clonidine, Dia


A two-dimensional mixed-potential integral equation formulation is used to analyze the eigenmodes of microstrip lines. The new method involves a fast evaluation scheme for the space domain Green's functions of the substrate by using perfectly matched layers to obtain closed-form expressions as a series of leaky and Berenger modes. Efficient summation of these series is performed by means of the Shanks transform. The modal series can be applied to calculate all field interactions analytically, except for the selfpatch and the nearest neighbor contributions. Examples show an important reduction in CPU time for the new perfectly matched layers approach, as compared to the classical evaluation of the continuous Sommerfeld integrals.


Kenya has developed a model of the Bamako Initiative which differs in some respects to that developed in other African countries. It has established a system of community pharmacies in peripheral areas which acts as the locus of a community financing programme, focused on the provision of drugs and disease control activities carried out by Community Health Workers. This model addresses problems of geographical accessibility rather than quality in existing services. While it responds to the most urgent health service problems in Kenya, it ignores the communities felt needs for the extension of services to treat serious illnesses. Nevertheless, the Initiative has been successful in generating community enthusiasm and in establishing an affordable and sustainable services. It is important that the Bamako Initiative is not marginalized from the main health service delivery system and is not seen as a substitute for extension of services. In the longer term, the Initiative should be used to support efforts to strengthen quality and improve accessibility at higher levels.


This article examines the implications of electronic monitoring systems for organizational information flows and worker control, in the context of the U.S. trucking industry. Truckers, a spatially dispersed group of workers with a traditionally independent culture and a high degree of autonomy, are increasingly subjected to performance monitoring via fleet management systems that record and transmit fine-grained data about their location and behaviors. These systems redistribute operational information within firms by accruing real-time aggregated data in a remote company dispatcher. This redistribution results in a seemingly incongruous set of effects. First, abstracted and aggregated data streams allow dispatchers to quantitatively evaluate truckers' job performance across new metrics, and to challenge truckers' accounts of local and biophysical conditions. Second, even as these data are abstracted, information about truckers' activities is simultaneously resocialized via its strategic deployment into truckers' social relationships with their coworkers and families. These disparate dynamics operate together to facilitate firms' control over truckers' daily work practices in a manner that was not previously possible. The trucking case reveals multifaceted pathways to the entrenchment of organizational control via electronic monitoring.


Five fold i-AlPdMn surface prepared under UHV by ion bombardment and annealing was so far considered to be bulk terminated. This result was substantially based on a quantitative LEED analyses [1]. Analysis of the specular rod in a X ray diffraction experiment at grazing incidence supported this result [2]. We present a new study of this surface by high resolution X ray diffraction at normal incidence. In this Bragg configuration the diffraction peak 18 – 29 for instance is at a photon energy of 2.873keV, the 72 – 116 reflection at 5.725keV. This results in an analyzed thickness of the sample surface of a few micrometers. The surface was cleaned by ion bombardment. During annealing (T≅880K), we clearly observed the progressive disappearance of the initial Bragg peak characteristic of the as cast bulk sample. Conversely a new Bragg peak grows at an energy position shifted by 1eV compared to the position of the original Bragg peak. This is a clear signature for an irreversible structural transformation which takes place on at least the micron thickness. On the transformed surface, both, a LEED pattern and a RHEED pattern, characteristic for a five fold surface were easily obtained. This high resolution experiment (the relative Bragg peak shift is 310) was reproduced on samples from different initial compositions. This shows that five fold i-AlPdMn surface changes after preparation by ion bombardment and annealing at 900K on a micrometer thickness. This is not consistent with the conclusion that the surface is simply terminated by a cut of the original bulk. We conclude that a reorganization process of the quasicrystalline structure during annealing proceeds in the surface vicinity (probed depth is close to a few microns).


For robotic systems tracking a given geometric path, the paper addresses the problem of satisfying input and state constraints. According to a prediction of the evolution of the robot from the current state, a discrete-time device called a path governor generates online a suitable time-parameterization of the path to be tracked, by solving at fixed intervals a constrained scalar look-ahead optimization problem. Higher level switching commands are also taken into account by simply associating a different optimization criterion to each mode of operation. Experimental results are reported for a three-degree-of-freedom PUMA 560 manipulator subject to absolute position error, Cartesian velocity, and motor voltage constraints.


Abstract Saniwa ensidens is a pivotal taxon for understanding varanid evolution. A complete specimen of Saniwa ensidens was recently described, offering important new insights into the morphology of this taxon. We apply these new data to a broader-scale study of squamate relationships in order to understand the phylogenetic position of Saniwa ensidens and of varanids more generally. Among the other fossils included in our analysis were the Eocene taxon "Saniwa" feisti, the Miocene Varanus rusingensis, and the giant Pleistocene varanid Megalania prisca. We compare the phylogenetic hypothesis from our analysis of morphology with a recent molecular-based hypothesis and find numerous differences in the phylogenetic relationships within Varanus. We constrained our morphological data set to the phylogenetic pattern presented by the molecular data to further analyze the possible phylogenetic relationships of the fossil taxa. Our analyses show that Saniwa ensidens is the sister taxon to crown-group Varanus and that "Saniwa" feisti is a basal member of the varanid lineage, not closely related to Saniwa ensidens. Both Varanus rusingensis and Megalania prisca are members of the crown radiations of Varanus.


As usual, our starting point is a random experiment with an underlying sample space and a probability measure \(\P\). In the basic statistical model, we have an observable random variable \(\bs{X}\) taking values in a set \(S\). In general, \(\bs{X}\) can have quite a complicated structure. For example, if the experiment is to sample \(n\) objects from a population and record various measurements of interest, then \[ \bs{X} = (X_1, X_2, \ldots, X_n) \] where \(X_i\) is the vector of measurements for the \(i\)th object. The most important special case occurs when \((X_1, X_2, \ldots, X_n)\) are independent and identically distributed. In this case, we have a random sample of size \(n\) from the common distribution.


Purpose: This study investigated the current mental health status of school-age children from multicultural families and explored the maternal factors influencing their mental health. Methods: The subjects consisted of 70 pairs of elementary students and their mothers who were registered at Global Children Center in A City and Support Center for Multicultural Families in H County. One of the dependent variables was the children`s mental health measured using the Korea Child Behavior Checklist, and the predictors were the maternal factors measured using the Korean General Health Questionnaire, modified East Asian Acculturation Measure, modified Acculturation Stress Scale for International Students, and reformulated Social Support Scale. Results: 14.7% of the children were within the clinical range for total social competence, and 8.7% showed elevated total behavior problems. Maternal acculturation stress, marginalization, and depression were the predictors of the total social competence, explaining 25.0% of the latter. One of the contributors to the total behavior problems was the maternal mental health, explaining 18.0% of such. Conclusion: The findings indicated that promoting the mental health of children from multicultural families requires comprehensive support for positive acculturation and the promotion of mental health in interracial married women.


Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) comprising of battery-powered sensor nodes are being used in a wide range of applications. The feasibility of such applications is highly influenced by the longevity of these networks. In this work, we present a realistic WSN lifetime optimization framework where transmission power levels for both data and ACK packets are optimally selected (i.e., a complete link-layer handshaking cycle is modeled). Log-normal shadowing path loss model is employed to take into account the effects of path losses. We utilized the developed Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) based optimization framework to investigate the impact of data packet length on WSN lifetime. To quantify the effects of data packet length on network lifetime we explored the parameter space consisting of the number of nodes and node deployment density. Our results show that the optimal data packet length is the maximum allowed length.


Depth adjustment aims to enhance the visual experience of stereoscopic 3D (S3D) images, which accompanied with improving visual comfort and depth perception. For a human expert, the depth adjustment procedure is a sequence of iterative decision making. The human expert iteratively adjusted the depth until he is satisfied with the both levels of visual comfort and the perceived depth. In this work, we present a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL)-based approach for depth adjustment named VCA-RL (Visual Comfort Aware Reinforcement Learning) to explicitly model human sequential decision making in depth editing operations. We formulate the depth adjustment process as a Markov decision process where actions are defined as camera movement operations to control the distance between the left and right cameras. Our agent is trained based on the guidance of an objective visual comfort assessment metric to learn the optimal sequence of camera movement actions in terms of perceptual aspects in stereoscopic viewing. With extensive experiments and user studies, we show the effectiveness of our VCA-RL model on three different S3D databases.


Abstract Gravel bars are the initial habitats, inseparably connected to the mountain streams. On the one hand, they are an unstable substrate, influenced by the overflows and high waters; however, they are also exposed to strong sunlight and heat. This situation determines specific vegetation which, due to dynamic changes in the habitat, has a pioneer character. What is more, gravel bars are areas where many river migratory species and many random species appear. Among them, there are also synanthropic species. In years 2011-2012, floristic and phytosociological studies were conducted in the Silesian Beskids. The goal of these studies was to recognize the vegetation of the gravel bars of the Vistula and the Brennica rivers - from their springs in the Silesian Beskids to the point where the Brennica River flows into the Vistula River in the Silesian Foothills. The studied section of the two rivers is regulated. Particular attention was paid to the synanthropic species that pose a threat to the native flora. In 9 recognized types of plant communities, 293 vascular plant species were recognized. More than 15% of the flora were alien species (45) and 22 of them were considered to be invasive. The most common invasive species that were spotted included: Impatiens glandulifera, Heracleum mantegazzianum and Reynoutria japonica. Plant communities with the biggest number and share of alien species were Plantago major-Barbarea vulgaris community and Phalaridetum arundinaceae.


This thesis is in two parts. The first is a critical analysis of the use of dialect as unheimlich
in British writing. Using Freud's essay, The Uncanny (1919), as its basis, this thesis will
argue that the use of dialect creates tension within a text between the representation of
home, and of that which may be considered unhomely. Reading a range of British texts
psychoanalytically alongside sociolinguistic studies, this thesis seeks to show how an
author's choice of dialect-use within their literary form is bound up with an unheimlich
mind-set of dialect within both writer and reader, whilst considering the cultural and
historical contexts in which these attitudes are based. A range of unheimlich notions may
be read from dialect, and its use is to be repressed or rejected as abject and replaced with
the more accessible standard English associated with education, adulthood, civilisation and
power. Yet it might also be read that, through standard English, the 'strange' has been
brought into our homes and our mouths, made familiar through the hegemonic
appropriation of the 'mother tongue'. Whilst the hearing of spoken accents and dialects
within various medias has become increasingly common, negative connotations remain,
especially when presented in the written form; what might be familiar to the ear remains
strange to the eye. Its use divides readers as to its necessity and desirability, suggesting
there is a long way to go before dialects are accepted fully in literary terms. Yet it remains
an important aesthetic tool for the writer, and its continued use suggests the need or desire
to represent in writing the many individual ways of speaking, and so too a sense of place,
person, home, and familiarity, within the text. That writers appear to uphold associated
connotations of maleness, or of undesirable, regressive human traits through dialect,
however, suggests that embedded inequalities persist and so too the unheimlich qualities of
dialect.
The second part is a literary novel, exploring lives in a post-apocalyptic matriarchal
society, set in Yorkshire, in which dialect and who is speaking play a discernible role.


Geant4 is a very large, highly accurate toolkit for Monte Carlo simulation of particle-matter interaction. It has been applied to high-energy physics, cosmic ray modeling, radiation shields, radiation therapy, mine detection, and other areas. Geant4 is being used to help design some high energy physics experiments (notably CMS and Atlas) to be run on the future large hadron collider: the largest particle collider in the world. The parallelization, ParGeant4, represents a challenge due to the unique characteristics of Geant4: (i) complex object-oriented design; (ii) intrinsic use of templates and abstract classes to be instantiated later by the end user; (iii) large program with many developers; and (iv) frequent releases. The key issue for parallelization is not just how to parallelize "correctly" but also how to parallelize "with minimum effort". In addition, the parallelization should make as few assumptions about the source code as possible, due to the frequent release schedule of Geant4. We use TOP-C (Task Oriented Parallel C/C++) for parallelization and Marshalgen for marshaling/serialization. In some examples on a cluster of 100 nodes yielded a speedup of up to 94.4. The code's portability, scalability and performance are also discussed


Nanoparticles have attracted considerable recent research interest for a variety of applications and can be used to visualize and characterise biological processes at the molecular and cellular level. They can be exploited as contrast agents for imaging and functionalised to incorporate luminescent moieties to a provide multi-modal imaging capability. This thesis presents a detailed series of studies on a luminescently labelled gold and silica nanoparticles, with the use of optical and electron microscopies to examine their applications.

Using surfactant and peptide pre-coatings gold nanoparticles were coated with an organic dye developed bind to the nanoparticle surface. The imaging potential of these novel nanoprobes is explored by examining uptake in vitro in cancer cells. Confocal laser scanning and transmission electron microscopies indicate significant cellular uptake. Nuclear uptake is also observed and possible methods of translocation to the nucleus are discussed. Cell cycle dysregulation is also assessed with no statistically significant perturbations observed.

The cellular uptake of 13 nm and 100 nm gold nanoparticles coated with a luminescent ruthenium polypyridyl complex was also investigated. Microscopy studies demonstrated the imaging potential of luminescent nanoprobes upon cellular uptake which was not accompanied significant cytotoxicity.

Finally an investigation in to the interaction of luminescent silica particles with dentine is presented. Confocal and scanning electron microscopies enable qualitative comparisons of the dentinal tubule occluding ability of particles coated with surfactants. The data indicate surfactant hydrophobicity is important factor in governing interactions with the dentine and illustrate the potential of luminescence imaging in dentistry.


Faster communication between electronic devices inside a semiconductor chip may be enabled by optical interconnects based on surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves, as their high localization overcomes the size mismatch between optical and electronic devices. Hence, we solved the Maxwell equations in the time domain to investigate the jump of a pulse-modulated carrier SPP wave across a semi-infinite gap on the metallic side of a planar metal/dielectric interface. The Drude model was used for the susceptibility of the metal and the air was taken as the dielectric material in our calculations. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the appropriate component of the Poynting vector at two points on either side of the gap was calculated. After an abrupt termination of the metal, reflection was very low and the signal continued to propagate in air as a precursor followed by a somewhat distorted version of the launched pulse. Information encoded as the existence of a pulse was found to be strongly and positively correlated with the transmitted signal. When the metal/air interface was restored after a gap of width equal to the carrier wavelength in free space, the signal received across the gap still comprised a precursor and a main pulse that were still strongly and positively correlated with the transmitted signal. Thus, information continued to propagate in the forward direction for a long distance after the gap, a promising result for SPP-wave-based optical interconnects.Faster communication between electronic devices inside a semiconductor chip may be enabled by optical interconnects based on surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves, as their high localization overcomes the size mismatch between optical and electronic devices. Hence, we solved the Maxwell equations in the time domain to investigate the jump of a pulse-modulated carrier SPP wave across a semi-infinite gap on the metallic side of a planar metal/dielectric interface. The Drude model was used for the susceptibility of the metal and the air was taken as the dielectric material in our calculations. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the appropriate component of the Poynting vector at two points on either side of the gap was calculated. After an abrupt termination of the metal, reflection was very low and the signal continued to propagate in air as a precursor followed by a somewhat distorted version of the launched pulse. Information encoded as the existence of a pulse was found to be strongly and positively ...


Euripides' tragedies proved highly controversial even in his own lifetime, presenting his audience with unexpected twists of plot and violently extreme emotions; for many of today's readers and spectators, he seems almost uncannily modern in his insights. Euripides was the key figure in transforming the familiar figures of Greek mythology from awe-inspiring but remote heroes into recognizable, fallible human beings. His characters, all superbly eloquent, draw on fierce contemporary debates about the nature of justice, politics and religion. His women are perhaps the most sympathetically and powerfully presented in ancient literature. Alcestis, the dramatist's first surviving work, is less harrowing than the others, almost a tragicomedy. The Children of Heracles examines the conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus and Medea, two of his greatest plays, reveal his profound understanding of destructive passion. This new translation into dignified English prose makes one of the greatest of Greek writers accessible once again to a wide public.


Abstract This paper considers the issues of research 'relevance' and 'use' to reflect upon a cultural geography research project on bushfire that did not begin with any specific aim of being useful to policy makers but which has garnered considerable and ongoing interest from a broad audience. It provides an example of how the integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods and data can enhance research into cultural aspects of natural hazards whilst simultaneously playing a key role in ensuring that the research results are of interest to a wide range of groups. Using a mixed-methods research approach was found to provide insight into complex factors that influence attitudes and actions towards bushfire amongst diverse landholders in rural–urban interface areas in south-east Australia. We argue that mixed-methods research is a powerful tool in building and enhancing a cultural geography that has policy relevance, retains analytical depth, and is acceptable to risk managers. The ability of cultural geography through mixed-methods research to illuminate how socio-cultural processes are central to environmental attitudes and preparedness behaviour has direct relevance to recent international discussions of how to manage the vulnerability of the growing number of people living in bushfire-prone rural–urban interface areas.


The transient excitation of two identical, straight, thin wire antennas above a plane interface between two homogeneous dielectric half spaces is analyzed. The two wires are located parallel to each other and to the interface, and one of them is excited by a voltage source. By applying symmetry considerations, the problem is decomposed into two single‐wire problems, for which a method of solution is available from previous work by the authors [Rubio Bretones and Tijhuis, 1995]. The problem is solved in two steps. First, the configuration of two wires in a homogeneous medium is studied. The electric field integral equation for the total current on the wires is derived directly in the time domain and subsequently solved by using the continuous‐time discretized‐space approach. This results in a linear system of equations of a fixed dimension which is solved by marching on in frequency. Subsequently, we consider the complete configuration. As in our previous work, the field reflected by the interface is treated as a secondary incident field in the integral equation for the currents on the two wires. This leads to an integral equation of a form similar to the one describing the currents on the two wires in free space. In this equation the response of a pulsed dipole source in the two‐media configuration occurs as a Green's function. The spatial Fourier inversion involved is carried out with the aid of a fixed composite Gaussian quadature rule. This again leads to a system of equations of a fixed dimension, which can be solved by marching on in frequency. Finally, some representative numerical results are presented and discussed.


Large concentration of antibiotics is excreted through faces and urine of patient and reaches liquid wastes and act as selective pressure on hospital microflora and development of antibiotic resistant pathogens. Therefore, this seminar review paper aims to exploit the contribution of wastewater as a source of drug resistance pathogens. The literature was searched by different electronic databases like Google Scholar and PubMed and then reviewed systematically get valuable conculusion from recent article. This review may help to appraise hospital wastewater manegment system in Ethiopia.


This article investigates the relationship between IQ scores and criminal thinking as measured by the Criminal Sentiments Scale–Modified (CSS-M). We argue the CSS-M may not capture criminal thinking, but reflects the test-takers' cognitive ability to interpret the test's intentions. Based on our analysis of inmates admitted to Pennsylvania prisons in 2013, we find that highly intelligent inmates receive lower scores on the CSS-M, controlling for other measures of risk. In our analysis, the CSS-M's ability to predict institutional misconduct is greatest for inmates whose IQ scores fall in the middle of the distribution, with a weaker relationship between CSS-M and misconduct found among low- or high-IQ inmates. We propose a need for reevaluation of actuarial assessment tools for cognitively low- or high-functioning inmates. Taking into account the social-environmental factors of the testing situation and being aware of the test-takers' interpretative processes may be crucial for generating valid results.


Analyses of seven cosmic ray ground level enhancements (GLE) are presented.
The first four events were part of the unprecedented sequence of relativistic solar
proton events which occurred during 1989. Three of the larger events of the 21st
solar cycle have also been modelled. In each case, analysis is based on data from
the world-wide network of neutron monitors. Surface muon telescope data has
also been used for of the 29 September 1989 event.
A sophisticated model has been developed from that of Smart et al. ( 1979).
Modifications include the calculation of asymptotic directions using a geomagnetic
field model which accounts for distortion of the field during geomagnetic
disturbances, and the use of a least squares method for determining the best fit
parameters. An exponential function used to describe the pitch angle distribution
has been further developed to allow bi-directional particle flow and rigidity
dependence. The form of the particle spectrum used in most of the analyses was
a modified power law in rigidity. An approximation of the Ellison and Ramaty
(1985) shock acceleration spectrum has recently been included in the model.
A rigidity dependent pitch angle distribution was required to model the GLE
on 29 September 1989 and indicates that, initially, the anisotropy of the particle
distribution decreased with increasing rigidity. Significant back-scattering of particles
resulted in the observation of a late peak at stations viewing in the anti-sun
direction and two peaks at some other stations.
The three GLEs which occurred during October 1989 have been modelled with
particular emphasis on the initial spikes seen at some stations for both the 19 and
22 October events. In the case of 19 October 1989, a further spike later in the
event appears to have been produced by the same mechanism as the initial spike,
which had a significantly different particle distribution and spectrum to that of the
main event. Enhancement of the pitch angle distributions in the anti-sun direction
during the 22 October event is probably due to scattering by a disturbed plasma
region beyond the Earth. The 24 October 1989 event was best modelled using a
modified form of the Ellison and Ramaty shock acceleration spectrum. A rigidity
dependent pitch angle distribution resulted in only marginal improvement in the
fit to the observed data.
The 12 October 1981 GLE has been modelled with a bi-directional pitch angle
distribution. This is found to be consistent with results at lower energies and is
further evidence for the presence of a looped structure in the interplanetary magnetic
field. Further complexity in the interplanetary medium was present during
the 7-8 December 1982 GLE. Interplanetary magnetic field data are consistent with a magnetic cloud-like feature situated just beyond the Earth. Observed neutron
monitor increases were satisfactorily reproduced by a model with an elliptical
deficit region to account for the scattering which impeded some particles approaching
the Earth. The derived particle arrival direction for the 16 February 1984 GLE
was rv40° from the measured interplanetary magnetic field direction. This could
not be satisfactorily explained, however it is found to be consistent with the results
of previous studies.


This paper introduces the problem of Fine-grained Incident Video Retrieval (FIVR). Given a query video, the objective is to retrieve all associated videos, considering several types of associations that range from duplicate videos to videos from the same incident. FIVR offers a single framework that contains several retrieval tasks as special cases. To address the benchmarking needs of all such tasks, we construct and present a large-scale annotated video dataset, which we call FIVR-200K, and it comprises 225,960 videos. To create the dataset, we devise a process for the collection of YouTube videos based on major news events from recent years crawled from Wikipedia and deploy a retrieval pipeline for the automatic selection of query videos based on their estimated suitability as benchmarks. We also devise a protocol for the annotation of the dataset with respect to the four types of video associations defined by FIVR. Finally, we report the results of an experimental study on the dataset comparing five state-of-the-art methods developed based on a variety of visual descriptors, highlighting the challenges of the current problem.


We propose a framework of realizing natural assist behavior with a walking assist suit inspired by human interaction. We look at the human interaction as a behavior of synchronization action, which is a common phenomenon in walking assist between human. To achieve this human-like walking assist, synchronization based control is adopted and applied to a walking assist suit. We use neural oscillators to entrain and synchronize the assist suit's motion with that of human user. To determine the validity and feasibility, walking experiments have conducted with a 4-DOF walking assist suit. The results showed the validity of using synchronization based control for walking assist suit.


Objective: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a debilitating disorder with few limited treatment modalities. Because of the proven association between BMS symptoms, and depression and anxiety, treatment modalities that alleviate the two latter etiologic factors can be clinically effective. Thus, owing to the antidepressant and potential analgesic effects of crocin (as an active constituent of saffron), the present study was performed to compare the effect of crocin and citalopram (as control) on BMS symptoms and depression/anxiety in patients with BMS. Materials and Methods: The present double-blind randomized clinical trial was carried out on BMS patients. Patients were randomly divided into citalopram (n=21) and crocin (n=26) groups and treated for 11 weeks. BMS symptoms (based on Visual Analysis Scale (VAS)), as well as anxiety and depression (based on Hamilton questionnaire) were evaluated at baseline and during the treatment period. Mann-Whitney, Chi-Square test, Independent t-test, Friedman, and Spearman correlation were employed for statistical analysis. Results: Our findings showed a significant effect for crocin on the severity of BMS symptoms, anxiety and depression in BMS patients. Conclusion: Crocin can be considered for treatment of BMS subjects with concurrent anxiety and/or depression.


Techniques of chemical analysis, amino acid sequencing and autoradiography are being used to study the frequency of incorporation of normally noncoded amino acids into hemoglobins and seminal fluid proteins. We are studying, by the sequencing of radiolabeled proteins followed by the recovery of [3H]isoleucine phenylthiohydantoin by high-performance liquid chromatography, the frequency at which normally noncoded isoleucine is incorporated into hemoglobin because of base-substitution mutations versus translational errors. Irradiation increases the isoleucine content of human hemoglobin and the frequency of substitution of isoleucine for specific amino acids in rabbit hemoglobin. Studies to date indicate that these techniques have been developed sufficiently for initial analysis of the potential of drugs and environmental pollutants to induce base-substitution mutations in mammalian somatic cells.


Rotating equipment and instrument engineers working with dry gas seals should attend this tutorial to increase their knowledge of methods for monitoring secondary seals. Over the last several years a number of compressor manufactures have issued safety notices concerning the industries inability to properly detect secondary seal failures in a tandem dry gas seal arrangement. When a secondary seal failure is undetected, the potential for an uncontrolled process gas release increases, leading to risks indicated in the safety notices issued. This tutorial will examine the methods of monitoring the secondary seal in a tandem dry gas seal arrangement and the means to detect a secondary seal failure. The information and diagrams in this tutorial do not provide detail design requirements for the total seal monitoring system but only methods currently being used for monitoring the secondary seal.


Research is the prime need of contemporary Ayurveda, but modern research on Ayurveda has not been very rewarding for Ayurveda itself. Much of it uses Ayurveda to extend modern bioscience. In contrast, Ayurveda needs research designed to test and validate its fundamental concepts as well as its treatments. In this context, if Ayurveda is to be truly explored and validated in all its aspects, scientific inputs should conform to Ayurveda's principles and philosophy. While its evidence base, established since antiquity, may need further verification, research should now focus on the Science of Ayurveda, rather than merely looking for new drugs based on Ayurveda herbals; in-depth research is needed on Ayurveda. Such research will require teamwork between scientists and vaidyas based on truth and trust. Ayurveda research methodology requires the 'whole system testing approach', global participation with protocols evolved through intense interface with modern science, regulatory reforms to eliminate barriers, and to be investigated 'as it is', using approaches adapted from its own basic principles.


This study evaluates the ability of three Regional Climate Models (RCMs) used in Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) to simulate the characteristics of rainfall pattern during the West Africa Summer Monsoon from 1998 to 2008. The seasonal climatology, annual rainfall cycles, and wind fields of the RCMs output were assessed over three homogenous subregions and validated using precipitation data from eighty-one (81) ground observation stations and TRMM satellite data. Furthermore, the ability of the RCMs to simulate response to El Nino and La Nina events was assessed. Results show that two of the RCMs (RCA and REMO) simulated the main features of the rainfall climatology and associated dynamics over the three subregions (Guinea Coast, Savannah, and Sahel) of West Africa. The RCMs also capture the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and Tropical Easterly Jet (TEJ) with little variations in position and intensity. Analysis shows significant biases in individual models depending on subregion and season under consideration which may be attributed to strong cyclonic circulation observed at 850 mb pressure level. In general, the study shows RCA and REMO fairly simulate West Africa rainfall adequately and can therefore be used for the assessment of West African Summer Monsoon and future climate projections.


To understand the functional roles of visual neurons in the retina and the visual cortex, responses of a visual neuronal network under natural visual environments should be investigated. In this study, we developed an emulation platform for reproducing neural activities in the retina and the visual cortex with the following features: real-time reproduction of neural activities with physiologically feasible spatio-temporal properties and configurable model structure. To achieve both real-time simulation and configurability, we employed a mixed analog-digital architecture with multiple parallel processing techniques. The system was composed of a silicon retina with analog resistive networks, a field-programmable gate array, and SpiNNaker chips. The emulation system was successful in simulating a part of the retinal and cortical circuits at 200 Hz.


PURPOSE
To investigate if differences in antecedents of severe and nonsevere medication errors exist.

DESIGN
A longitudinal study of 6 months of data from 279 nursing units in 146 randomly selected hospitals in the United States (US).

METHODS
Antecedents of severe and nonsevere medication errors included work environment factors (work dynamics and RN hours), team factors (communication with physicians and nurses' expertise), person factors (nurses' education and experience), patient factors (age, health status, and previous hospitalization), and medication-related support services. Generalized estimating equations with a negative binomial distribution were used with nursing units as the unit of analysis.

FINDINGS
None of the antecedents allowed predicting both types of medication errors. Nurses' expertise had a negative and medication-related support services had a positive association with nonsevere medication errors. Nurses' educational level had a significant nonlinear relationship with severe medication errors only: As the percentage of unit BSN-prepared nurses increased, severe medication errors decreased until the percentage of BSN-prepared nurses reached 54%. In contrast, RN experience had a statistically significant relationship with nonsevere medication errors only and nursing units with more experienced nurses reported more nonsevere medication errors.

CONCLUSIONS
Severe and nonsevere medication errors might have different antecedents.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Error prevention and management strategies should be targeted to specific types of medication errors for best results.


Neuromelioidosis is a rare CNS infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei and is characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Our report presents the diagnostic and therapeutic approach of the first case of neuromelioidosis confirmed in Europe. A 47-year-old man with a medical history of recurrent otitis with otorrhea and fever after tympanoplasty and radical cavity revision operation on the left ear was admitted with headache, decreased level of consciousness, dysarthria, left-sided hemiparesis, and urinary incontinence. After extensive investigations including MRI, microbiological, serological, and CSF analyses, and, ultimately, brain biopsy, a diagnosis of neuromelioidosis was established. Despite antibiotic treatment, the patient showed no clinical improvement and remained in a severely compromised neurological state under mandatory mechanical ventilation. Neuromelioidosis can pose a diagnostic challenge requiring an extensive diagnostic evaluation because of its uncommon clinical and radiological presentations.


Social control, the ability to exert influence over others, is critical in interpersonal interactions yet uninvestigated. Here, we used functional neuroimaging and a social exchange paradigm in which people's current choices either did, or did not, influence their partners' proposals in the future. Computational modeling revealed that participants used forward thinking and calculated the downstream effects of their current actions regardless of the controllability of the social environment. Furthermore, greater levels of estimated control correlated with better performance in controllable interactions and less illusory beliefs about control in uncontrollable interactions. Neural instantiation of trial-by-trial values of social controllability were tracked in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), striatum, and insula for controllable interactions, but only in vmPFC for uncontrollable interactions. These findings demonstrate that humans use forward thinking, a strategy similar to model-based planning, to guide social choices; and that subjective beliefs about social controllability might not be grounded in reality.


When it comes to system integration certain guidelines have been established through empirical practices and a great deal of trial and error experiments, even nowadays the predominant approach to system integration is practical knowledge and expertise in system building. For this reason a formal methodology is proposed that systematically helps the analysis of the system integration process of complex power electronics systems. Our proposal decomposes a system into its main building blocks, which are called functional units; and by identifying the main interrelations among them; such interrelations can be designed to obtain a system in which its components are tightly integrated. In other words the method consists in the design of the multiple physical interfaces -the system's interrelations- that the functional units use to relate to each other. We make use of abstract representations of such interrelations, called interrelation planes. When a satisfactory solution is designed in one interrelation plane, such design is projected on the next plane to check for consistency on that plane. Our methodology helps analyze multiple variations of system configurations in a swift and easy way, and discard unfeasible solutions from the beginning of the design process. As a manner of example we present the integration methodology applied to a hybrid drive train and to the integration of a complex system: a 5kW (10 kW peak) Compact Variable Speed Power Generator Set. The analysis of the system configuration is presented, as well as the design of the prototype. Experimental results of some of the functional units that were built for the purpose of validation of the mentioned methodology have been already presented in the literature.


Authors: Clara Carlson & Emilia ThorTitle: The man who played with the fire – a study on how gender is framed in the magazine Allt om mat.Level: BA Thesis in JournalismLocation: Linnaeus UniversityLanguage: SwedishNumber of pages: 43 The media constantly sends out messages about how men and women should be and how they are expected to be. This means that women and men are kept apart and the gender-power order, where women are subordinated to men, is reinforced. In recent years we have seen a major trend of food in media. We think it is important to examine cooking journalism from a gender perspective because people are influenced by what they see in the media and we can assume that they form their identity based on what they are exposed to in the media.This is a study about how Allt om mat (All about cooking), the largest foodmagazine in Sweden, portrays women and men in their personal portraits. By using theories on gender we investigate what kind of stereotypes media use to portrait women and men. We have used the framing theory, Anthony Giddens theory about gender and identity, Yvonne Hirdmans gender contract and Judith Butlers queer theory.Using a combined narrative and a semiotic analysis, we found that traditional gender roles are often reproduced in Allt om mat and women and men are portrayed as opposites. Men should hunt their food and cook it over an open fire. They represents the natural cooking and master the "dangerous nature" while women should take care of the household and cooking in an environment that may not be that dangerous.The findings of the study are relevant and significant because it reinforces the image of men subordinate women, which creating injustice in society. Those who do not fit into the heteronormative gender roles will feel different and not as a part of the community.


Purpose To determine the safety and efficacy of a new-generation nitinol stent with enhanced flexibility in arterial lesions in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) and proximal popliteal artery (PPA). Methods The Complete Self-Expanding (SE) Multicenter Trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00814970) enrolled 196 patients (124 men; mean age 68.7±10.5 years) from 28 centers in the United States and Europe. The patients presented with intermittent claudication (193/196) or ischemic rest pain (3/196) and were treated with nitinol stents for obstructive lesions of the SFA or PPA. Over a quarter of lesions (29.9%) were chronic total occlusions. The mean lesion length was 60.7 mm. Moderate to severe calcification was present in 91.0% of lesions. Results A total of 225 stents were successfully implanted in 213 (99.5%) of 214 lesions. Acute lesion success (<30% residual stenosis) was achieved in 90.0%. There were no in-hospital major adverse events. Primary patency (defined as a peak systolic velocity ratio <2.0) at 12 months was 72.6%. Clinically-driven target lesion revascularization (TLR) was required in 8.4% of patients at 12 months. The mean ankle-brachial index increased from 0.7 at baseline to 0.9, and there was sustained improvement in the Rutherford category, with 83% of patients classified as Rutherford category 0 or 1 at 12-month follow-up. No stent fractures were detected through 12 months. Conclusion In this multicenter trial, primary implantation of a new-generation self-expanding nitinol stent in the SFA and PPA was associated with a low rate of TLR and sustained clinical benefit at 12 months without stent fracture.


This Article contends that "qualified" notice-and-demand statutes, enacted in many states, violate a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. Plain notice-and-demand statutes allow a prosecutor to introduce a witness' testimony in written form unless the defendant demands live testimony. Qualified statutes require some showing above a timely demand before requiring that the witness testify in person. These statutes are unconstitutional because the Confrontation Clause, properly understood, protects a defendant's right to "true" confrontation - live testimony from prosecution witnesses - as well as the right to cross-examination. This interpretation is well supported by case law and the history of confrontation at common law, and furthers the reasoning of and principles behind Crawford v. Washington. Further, this Article argues that qualified notice-and-demand statutes are invalid because they conflict with the current interpretation of the Confrontation right, by forcing waiver of objections that would be unquestionably valid under Crawford.


: Asthma often, but not always, is the result of an IgE-mediated allergic reaction to an airborne antigen. The chain of biochemical reactions is now fairly well defined. These reactions generate an immediate smooth muscle bronchoconstriction and a late inflammation 4 to 24 hours later. This article describes the most important allergens in the community, home and workplace, and discusses procedures for diagnosis and management.