Single trophic-level studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning highlight the importance of mechanisms such as resource partitioning, facilitation, and sampling effect. In a multi-trophic context, trophic interactions such as intraguild predation may also be an important mediator of this relationship. Using a salt-marsh food web, we investigated the interactive effects of predator species richness (one to three species) and trophic composition (strict predators, intraguild predators, or a mixture of the two) on ecosystem functions such as prey suppression and primary production via trophic cascades. We found that the trophic composition of the predator assemblage determined the impact of increasing predator species richness on the occurrence of trophic cascades. In addition, increasing the proportion of intraguild predator species present diminished herbivore suppression and reduced primary productivity. Therefore, trophic composition of the predator assemblage can play an important role in determining the nature of the relationship between predator diversity and ecosystem function.


Hereditary mixed polyposis is a genetically heterogeneous, autosomal dominant condition with adenomatous, hyperplastic and juvenile polyps. We conducted a comprehensive clinical evaluation of a large Ashkenazi Jewish family with this phenotype and performed extensive genetic testing. As seen in one previous report, a 40 kb duplication upstream of GREM1 segregated with the polyposis/colon cancer phenotype in this kindred. Our study confirms the association of GREM1 with mixed polyposis and further defines the phenotype seen with this mutation. This gene should be included in the test panel for all Jewish patients with mixed polyposis and may be considered in any Ashkenazi patient with unexplained hereditary colon cancer when mutations in other hereditary colon cancer genes have been ruled out.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the volatility of daily returns in a sample of developed and emerging equity markets at different time scales through wavelet decomposition. Such information is vital for international investors who have different time horizons for their investment decisions and trading strategies. Design/methodology/approach - The wavelet technique used here allows the return series to be viewed at different frequency by decomposing the series into different time horizons known as time scales. The decomposed return series enable investigation of return variability at different return intervals. Findings - In an analysis at different time scales, there is no evidence to suggest that the return dynamics of developed and emerging markets are different. In both types of markets, return variance is time scale dependent, satisfying a pure power law process, and the variability in returns is more likely to be due to the dynamics at the lower time scales. While emerging markets generally exhibit a higher level of volatility, the relative contribution from each time scale is quite similar to that of the developed markets. Originality/value - The difference in the return dynamics between emerging and developed markets is observed at the lowest time scale. This is an indication that differences in the return dynamics between the two types of markets may be more likely in the short term (high frequency) rather than in the long term. A plausible reason for this is speculative trading. Such information is vital for international investors who have different time horizons for their investment decisions and trading strategies.


The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Facebook activities on relationship drivers and relational benefits and the effect of relationship drivers of relational benefits perceived by customers to Pite Havsbad. To do this we have explored the relationship between a number of Facebook activities, relationship drivers and relational benefits. We developed two conceptual models, which included these relationships. We have written this degree project on commission for Pite Havsbad, which is a company that operates in the hotel industry in the county of Norrbotten in the north of Sweden. The research question that we formulated was as following: What kind of impact does Facebook activities have on relationship drivers and relational benefits in the hospitality industry? With this research question we aimed to make a practical contribution and to help Pite Havsbad develop their social media strategies in order to be able to build customer relationships. We also aimed to make a theoretical contribution to fill the research gap that exists in the research area on social media and customer relationship building. We used a quantitative data collection method in the form of a survey administered on Pite Havsbad's Facebook page. Our population consist of the approximately 6 300 fans that Pite Havsbad has on Facebook. The data continuing of was 256 responses were processed in SPSS by conducting Cronbach's alpha test, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis in order to test the hypothesized effects between our key variables. The findings from this degree project show that Facebook activities affect both the relationship drivers and relational benefits, although they have less effect on relational benefits. The relational benefits are though highly affected by the relationship drivers. Over all, the Facebook activities of Pite Havsbad were highly valued by the respondents, which means that all of them are important to work with. Many of the activities also had positive effects on the relationship drivers, which means they can be used to build relationships with customers. By conducting this research we also helped Pite Havsbad with the starting point of creating a Social CRM strategy, which can be used for future relationship building with their fans on Facebook.


Whether CEOs and other senior executives are too highly compensated is one of the most publicized and divisive issues in corporate governance. In this paper, we address this question not by asking whether executives are paid more than the value they create, but by asking whether firms could pay executives less money without reducing quality, thus retaining more money for shareholders, by using a better negotiation strategy. The focus of our attention is a particular feature of how CEO compensation – and the compensation of some other high level employees – is often determined, although rarely discussed: the firm first decides which candidate it prefers, and only then negotiates the amount of compensation with the desired candidate. We hypothesize that this approach to negotiation, which we call "choose first, negotiate second," is inferior to its alternative, which we call "negotiate first, choose second," or "N1C2." We explain the theoretical basis for this hypothesis and then present the results of an experiment we conducted to test it. We conclude by suggesting a number of possible explanations for firms' failure to take advantage of what we consider to be a superior negotiating strategy.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
A putative mutation causative of cerebellar abiotrophy (CA), a genetic defect found almost exclusively in Arabian horses, was recently identified.

OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS
To investigate the presence of the CA mutation in breeds other than Arabian and ascertain whether the mutation had been introduced into these breeds by Arabian ancestry. The CA mutation is present in breeds of horses with Arabian ancestry.

METHODS
Allele-specific PCR was used to genotype 1845 non-Arabian horses for the CA mutation. For those breeds in which at least one carrier was identified, an additional 266 horses were genotyped to determine the frequency of the CA allele. Cerebellar abiotrophy carriers were further genotyped for a haplotype segregating with CA in Arabians.

RESULTS
At least one CA carrier was identified in 3 breeds and the frequency of the CA allele calculated: Bashkir Curly Horses (2.8%), Trakehners (0.68%) and Welsh ponies (0.33%). Based on pedigree and haplotype analysis, CA was introduced into these breeds by Arabian ancestry. The Trakehner and Welsh pony carriers were at least half-Arabian, while the Bashkir Curly horses appeared to have had the CA allele introduced by a single Arabian stallion used for developing the breed in the 1960s.

CONCLUSIONS
The CA mutation is present in breeds of horses that allow crossbreeding with Arabian horses and in breeds that have used Arabians as foundation stock during their development.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE
Breeds that allow registration of horses with Arabian ancestry should have any Arabian breeding stock tested for the mutation and breeds descended from Arabian ancestry should pursue genetic testing of breeding stock to prevent the occurrence of affected foals.


The members of this section, who are specialists in diseases of children, are far more conversant with the general conditions than I. I am more apt to see the special nasal disease, although I was in active, general practice for three years, and treated as many general cases as I could induce various public institutions and friends to entrust to me. For the past twenty years, since I relinquished general work, I have treated large numbers of children for special diseases, and have observed in most of them connections between the special work and the general conditions present. As the result of this experience I have arrived at certain conclusions which perhaps I may be able to present so as to be of practical value. In the first place, the importance of the functions of the nose, its relation to other parts of the body, and its widespread influence when


Summary form only given. In this virtual-reality art installation - a mathematical play space - the viewer-participant creates an immersive visual and sonic experience. It is based on the mathematical and physical simulation of over one million particles with momentum and elastic reflection in an environment with gravity. The final scene has a realistic rendering of water with reflections and lighting based on spherical harmonics. Sound components are triggered and modified by the user and particle interaction. The application was originally developed using a CUDA particle system running within Thumb, a virtual-reality framework developed by Robert Kooima. It is now being ported to CalVR, developed by researchers at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) Qualcomm Institute at University of California, San Diego.


This paper provides a comparative analysis of statistical methods to evaluate the consumer perception about the quality of Services of General Interest. The evaluation of the service quality perceived by users is usually based on Customer Satisfaction Survey data and an ex-post evaluation is then performed. Another approach, consisting in evaluating Consumers preferences, supplies an ex-ante information on Service Quality. Here, the ex-post approach is considered, two non-standard techniques - the Rasch Model and the Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis - are presented and the potential of both methods is discussed. These methods are applied on the Eurobarometer Survey data to assess the consumer satisfaction among European countries and in different years.


Interpretation of genetic variation is required for understanding genotype-phenotype associations, mechanisms of inherited disease, and drivers of cancer. Millions of single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in human genomes are known and thousands are associated with disease. An estimated 20% of disease-associated missense SNVs are located in protein sites of post-translational modifications (PTMs), chemical modifications of amino acids that extend protein function. ActiveDriverDB is a comprehensive human proteo-genomics database that annotates disease mutations and population variants using PTMs. We integrated >385,000 published PTM sites with ∼3.8 million missense SNVs from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the ClinVar database of disease genes, and inter-individual variation from human genome sequencing projects. The database includes interaction networks of proteins, upstream enzymes such as kinases, and drugs targeting these enzymes. We also predicted network-rewiring impact of mutations by analyzing gains and losses of kinase-bound sequence motifs. ActiveDriverDB provides detailed visualization, filtering, browsing and searching options for studying PTM-associated SNVs. Users can upload mutation datasets interactively and use our application programming interface for pipelines. Integrative analysis of SNVs and PTMs helps decipher molecular mechanisms of phenotypes and disease, as exemplified by case studies of disease genes TP53, BRCA2 and VHL. The open-source database is available at https://www.ActiveDriverDB.org.


Wall detection in floor plans is a crucial step in a complete floor plan recognition system. Walls define the main structure of buildings and convey essential information for the detection of other structural elements. Nevertheless, wall segmentation is a difficult task, mainly because of the lack of a standard graphical notation. The existing approaches are restricted to small group of similar notations or require the existence of pre-annotated corpus of input images to learn each new notation. In this paper we present an automatic wall segmentation system, with the ability to handle completely different notations without the need of any annotated dataset. It only takes advantage of the general knowledge that walls are a repetitive element, naturally distributed within the plan and commonly modeled by straight parallel lines. The method has been tested on four datasets of real floor plans with different notations, and compared with the state-of-the-art. The results show its suitability for different graphical notations, achieving higher recall rates than the rest of the methods while keeping a high average precision.


Within a changed and changing context for Religious Education, scholars and practitioners (n = 57) across Australia gathered to share and discern ways forward in Religious Education (RE) within Catholic schools. A Constant Comparative Analysis process identified five pathways (ways forward) in support of RE (Formation, Pedagogy, Curriculum, Partnerships, and Research). Each pathway was underpinned by foundations in faith, summarised by an integrating principle and advanced through strategic intentions. Faith foundations for Formation were centred in Christ, acknowledged Churchtradition and focused on mission as part of one's faith journey. The arena of Pedagogy was reinforced as dependent on dialogue, inquiry, and witness and underscored in love. Curriculum dimensions focused on identity and inclusion and were argued to be relevant and creative. Partnerships were encouraged through collaboration across school, parish and parent community; and, Research was grounded through building awareness and addressing accountability. The Integrating principles for each pathway included: Formation, 'advancing formation for personal identity and school mission'; Pedagogy, 'advancing an inquiry, experiential, encounter-based model'; Curriculum, 'advancing a faith-based liberating curriculum'; Partnerships, 'advancing practices which engage and strengthen collegiality'; and Research, 'advancing data gathering which identifies needs and informs practice'. Strategies to support future RE were multifaceted and included: Formation (forums for networking and integrating faith experience with professional learning); Pedagogy (promoting teacher roles of moderator, specialist, witness); Curriculum (involving all staff in support of curriculum alignment); Partnerships (engaging partners beyond schools); and, Research (gathering and applying quality data). Colloquium conclusions informed an imagination for RE and offered a platform for consideration of 'where to from here' and 'what might be next'.


A family of single-chain magnets (SCMs), of which the SCM character originated from the spatial arrangement of high spin Fe(II) ions with easy-plane anisotropy, was synthesized, and their magnetic properties were investigated. The chain complexes including alternating high-spin Fe(II) ions and low-spin Fe(III) ions, catena-[Fe(II)(ClO(4))(2){Fe(III)(bpca)(2)}]ClO(4)·3MeNO(2) (1·3MeNO(2)), catena-[Fe(II)(ClO(4))(H(2)O){Fe(III)((Me)L)(2)}](ClO(4))(2)·2MeNO(2)·H(2)O (2·2MeNO(2)·H(2)O), catena-[Fe(II)(ClO(4))(H(2)O){Fe(III)((Bu)L)(2)}](ClO(4))(2)·3.5MeNO(2) (3·3.5MeNO(2)), and catena-[{Fe(II)(ClO(4))(H(2)O)Fe(II)(H(2)O)(2)}(0.5){Fe(III)((Ph)L)(2)}](ClO(4))(2.5)·4EtNO(2) (4·4EtNO(2)), were synthesized with the use of bridging ligand Hbpca (bis-(2-pyridylcarbonyl)amine)) and its derivatives of H(Me)L, H(Bu)L, and H(Ph)L each incorporating methyl, tert-butyl, or phenyl group on the 4-position of pyridyl ring. These complexes showed a typical ferrimagnetic behavior on direct current (dc) susceptibility data, and from an alternating current (ac) susceptibility measurements, SCM or superparamagnetic behaviors were confirmed with the Δ/k(B) values of 22.5(4), 21.8(18), and 28.8(3) K for 1·3MeNO(2), 2·2MeNO(2)·H(2)O, and 3·3.5MeNO(2), of which the easy-axis anisotropy was originated from the orthogonal arrangement of easy-planes of Fe(II) ions. In the crystal structures, cylindrical voids were formed along the chain axis being surrounded by four chains in 1·3MeNO(2), 2·2MeNO(2)·H(2)O, and 4·4EtNO(2) and two chains in 3·3.5MeNO(2), and solvent molecules as well as coordination-free perchlorate anions occupied these voids in a slightly different fashion depending on the complexes. 2·2MeNO(2)·H(2)O maintains its chemical composition in a dried condition, whereas 1·3MeNO(2), 3·3.5MeNO(2), and 4·4EtNO(2) easily release solvent molecules to give 1, 3, and 4, respectively. 1 and 3 maintain the crystalline character showing slightly different X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns from those of 1·3MeNO(2) and 3·3.5MeNO(2), and an enhancement of SCM character after release of the solvent molecules was observed for both. 4 lost crystalline character to become amorphous, and it lost the SCM character at the same time.


Hyoscyamine 6 beta-hydroxylase, a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase that catalyzes the hydroxylation of l-hyoscyamine to 6 beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine in the biosynthetic pathway leading to scopolamine [Hashimoto, T. & Yamada, Y. (1986) Plant Physiol. 81, 619-625] was purified 310-fold from root cultures of Hyoscyamus niger L. The enzyme has an average Mr of 41,000 as determined by gel filtration on Superose 12 and exhibited maximum activity at pH 7.8 l-Hyoscyamine and 2-oxoglutarate are required for the enzyme activity, with respective Km values of 35 microM and 43 microM. Fe2+, catalase and a reductant such as ascorbate significantly activated the enzyme. 2-Oxoglutarate was not replaced by any of ten other oxo acids tested, nor was Fe2+ by nine other divalent cations tested. The enzyme was inhibited moderately by EDTA, Tiron and various oxo acids and aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, and strongly by nitroblue tetrazolium and divalent cations Mn2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+ and Hg2+. Several pyridine dicarboxylates and o-dihydroxyphenyl derivatives inhibited the hydroxylase. Pyridine 2,4-dicarboxylate and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate are competitive inhibitors with respect to 2-oxoglutarate with the respective Ki values of 9 microM and 90 microM. Several alkaloids with structures similar to l-hyoscyamine were hydroxylated by the enzyme at the C-6 position of the tropane moiety. The enzyme preparation also epoxidized 6,7-dehydrohyoscyamine, a hypothetical precursor of scopolamine, to scopolamine (Km 10 microM). This epoxidation reaction required the same co-factors as the hydroxylation reaction and the epoxidase activities were found in the same fractions with the hydroxylase activities during purification. Two possible pathways for scopolamine biosynthesis are discussed in the light of the hydroxylase and epoxidase activities found in the partially purified preparation of hyoscyamine 6 beta-hydroxylase.


Twenty four Holstein heifer calves were used in a completely randomized block design, and fed either 2 L of full milk (FMS) or experimental milk replacer (EMSS) twice daily with ad lib access to a commercial calf starter. The purpose of the study was to obtain growth data on the experimental milk replacer and compare that to growth data from milk fed calves. Body weight and skeletal development were measured weekly and faecal consistency was subjectively scored daily. Starter intake was 0.30 kg/d and 0.34 kg/d respectively at 35 days of age and 1.11 kg/d and 1.10 kg/d for FMS and EMSS calves respectively at 56 days. Body weight decreased from birth up to week two after birth. Body weight increased from week two onwards as age increased. The ADG for the 56-day experiment were 370 g/day for both FMS and EMSS. Based on literature studies where a milk replacer similar to EMSS was compared to full milk, one would have expected calves receiving full milk to have a higher ADG than the calves receiving milk replacer. However calves were housed in a relatively cold environment with very little shelter and Cryptosporiduim spp. was isolated in some of the calves. This probably impacted on the results. The growth prediction with the NRC showed that the NRC growth predictions are in agreement from week 6 onwards with the current study's growth results, and can be used with confidence by South African producers


Background—Survival after nontraumatic out-of-hospital (OOH) cardiac arrest in Tucson, Arizona, has been flat at 6% (121/2177) for the decade 1992 to 2001. We hypothesized that interruptions of chest compressions occur commonly and for substantial periods during treatment of OOH cardiac arrest and could be contributing to the lack of improvement in resuscitation outcome. Methods and Results—Sixty-one adult OOH cardiac arrest patients treated by automated external defibrillator (AED)–equipped Tucson Fire Department first responders from November 2001 through November 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. Reviews were performed according to the code arrest record and verified with the AED printout. Validation of the methodology for determining the performance of chest compressions was done post hoc. The median time from "9-1-1" call receipt to arrival at the patient's side was 6 minutes, 27 seconds (interquartile range [IQR, 25% to 75%], 5 minutes, 24 seconds, to 7 minutes, 34 seconds). An additional 54 seconds (IQR, 38 to 74 seconds) was noted between arrival and the first defibrillation attempt. Initial defibrillation shocks never restored a perfusing rhythm (0/21). Chest compressions were performed only 43% of the time during the resuscitation effort. Although attempting to follow the 2000 guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, chest compressions were delayed or interrupted repeatedly throughout the resuscitation effort. Survival to hospital discharge was 7%, not different from that of our historical control (4/61 versus 121/2177; P=0.74). Conclusions—Frequent interruption of chest compressions results in no circulatory support during more than half of resuscitation efforts. Such interruptions could be a major contributing factor to the continued poor outcome seen with OOH cardiac arrest.


Economic crisis in Indonesia emerges as an effect of economic policy with much rely on conglomerates and disregard people economics in capitalistic economy system. Since 1998, the awareness of reforming economic system strives to the democratic economics are not yet realized by the government of reform era. The state has failed to improve the economics in agricultural sector especially the farmers, who has systematically experience of poverty.  The new governance lead by the elected president have to conduct the farmer economic institution becomes part of integrated network of the rural ecomomic and the conglomerates, and have to be supported by macro economic policies having conducive for improving the people economics.


: Morphological features of the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes on the 45th--and 90th day of oral exposure to benzene, potassium dichromate and their mixtures were studied in 40 Wistar rats. A strong trend to a decrease in the activity of T lymphocytes has been established. Apoptotic thymocytes and lymphocytes in the T-dependent areas of spleen and lymph nodes have been revealed.


Hereditary spherocytosis is the most frequent hereditary anemia excluding beta thalassemia in Argentina. Historical, demographic, genetic and pathogenic aspects of the disease are reviewed, and confirmatory laboratory tests are described. Special characteristics on the outcome of the disease in our population and prevalent protein deficiencies in our country are described. Emphasis is given on new available laboratory tests, which allow an earlier diagnosis using volume of blood samples significantly smaller than required for conventional tests.


Mass media reports suggest that pangasius (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) is 'full of poison' because it is able to survive in the 'heavily polluted Mekong River' and contains pesticides and veterinary treatment chemicals. However, most of these claims are not substantiated with scientific evidence. To assess the safety of pangasius consumption, a full toxicological risk assessment was performed. The results obtained were compared to toxicity claims made in a selection of media reports. Information on contaminant levels encountered in pangasius was collected from the EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database. The toxicological risk assessments do not support any of the toxicological risks suggested in the media. Next, the maximum pangasius consumption that would be considered safe was estimated on the basis of the highest levels of the toxic contaminants reported in Vietnamese pangasius by RASFF and the safety thresholds for the contaminants. The maximum amount of the recalled fillet that could have been consumed without any adverse effects amounted to between 3.4 and 166.7 kg day−1 (lifelong for a 70 kg adult) in the case of pesticide contamination and between 0.613 and 303 kg fillet day−1 in the case of preservatives and antibiotics. It is concluded that consumption of pangasius available on the European market does not pose any concern for the health of the consumer. The analysis presented in this study illustrates that publicly available independent information could help consumers to develop their own well-informed opinion about food safety issues.


Threats in the external environment and changes in the industry's markets and structures have challenged destination marketing organizations to change in fundamental ways. The strategic responses to these developments are essentially decisions to proactively shape, adapt to, or passively struggle through a crisis. Envisioning the future of tourism and examining possible ways of reaching various future scenarios are essential exercises in this process of deciding which strategic approach to adopt. In response to the increasing need for new visions of the future of tourism and particularly destination marketing, leading destination marketers from the midwestern United States were invited to participate in a large focus group to discuss the specific challenges encountered by their organizations. This article summarizes the issues raised and their implications for destination marketing organizations as well as tourism research.


Computer network is one of the most important equipment in the whole world, with the gradual and rapid development of its scale, howto manage andmaintain the computer network is becomingmore andmore complicated. The network fault diagnosis has become peopleÂ's focus. With the development of artificial intelligence, by introducing neural network technology into the area of network fault diagnosis, neural network can bring out its advantages in the fault diagnosis. This article would employ SOMneural network andBP neural network, the sampleswould be clustered by using SOM neural network, and the results of the cluster would be put back into the original samples, whichwould also be setwith certainweights, through the weightsÂ' consistent updating, the convergence speed of BP neural network can be improved. Through using LMalgorithmto improve BP neural network and using computer network diagnosis as practical samples to simulate and analyze computer, the validity of this method has been proved, and at the same time building a system of computer network diagnosis can be very meaningful for theoretical study and practical use.


The tensile properties, γ↔e transformation and shape recovery have been related to the orientation of tensile axes i.e., along rolling direction(specimen 'A') and toward 45° to the rolling direction(specimen 'B') in a cold-rolled and then annealed Fe-15Mn -10Co-5Cr-3Si alloy. It is revealed that the deformation modes of the specimens 'A' and 'B' with respect to tensile axes are not the same; tensile deformation of the specimen 'A' is mainly achieved by slip, while that of the specimen 'B' is mainly governed by γ→e transformation. The yield strengths of the specimens 'A' and 'B' are 569MPa and 745MPa, respectively. The reverse transformation temperature of the specimen 'A' is much higher than that of the specimen 'B', and the shape recovery of the specimen 'B' is much larger than that of the specimen 'A'. The differences between those properties with tensile axes are discussed in association with texture developed in a cold-rolled and then annealed Fe-15Mn-10Co-5Cr-3Si alloy.


Book synopsis: The Oxford Handbook of Victorian Literary Culture is a major contribution to the dynamic field of Victorian studies. This collection of 37 original chapters by leading international Victorian scholars offers new approaches to familiar themes including science, religion, and gender, and gives space to newer and emerging topics including old age, fair play, and economics. Structured around three broad sections (on 'Ways of Being: Identity and Ideology', 'Ways of Understanding: Knowledge and Belief', and 'Ways of Communicating: Print and Other Cultures', the volume is sub-divided into 9 sub-sections each with its own 'lead' essay: on subjectivity, politics, gender and sexuality, place and race, religion, science, material and mass culture, aesthetics and visual culture, and theatrical culture. The collection, like today's Victorian studies, is thoroughly interdisciplinary and yet its substantial Introduction explores a concern which is evident both implicitly and explicitly in the volume's essays: that is, the nature and status of 'literary' culture and the literary from the Victorian period to the present. The diverse and wide-ranging essays present original scholarship framed accessibly for a mixed readership of advanced undergraduates, graduate students and established scholars.


A lectin-like component on the surface of porcine adipocytes was identified, chiefly by means of the cell adhesion and hemagglutination assays. This component, named porcine adipocyte lectin (PAL), was isolated with Triton X-100 solubilization followed by affinity chromatography. By SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, two hands of PAL stained with Coomassie blue were revealed with the apparent molecular weights of 112,000 and 89,000. Moreover, the glycoprotein nature of PAL, was demonstrated by periodic-Schiff reagent staining. PAL was able to recognize maltose, mannose and mannan and glycoproteins with analogous sugar structure in the presence of Ca. By the finding that adipocytes in suspension could be aggregated by adding PAL, the hypothesis was advanced that PAL may be involved in the recognition and adhesion of adipocytes in vivo.


The γA2-subgroup of γA-globulins, previously delineated by antigenic studies, was found to differ strikingly from other immunoglobulins in the manner in which the polypeptide chains are bound together. The heavy and light chains were not linked to each other by disulfide bonds. Instead the light chains were disulfide linked to one another, and were present in the γA2-molecule as disulfide bridged L-L dimers. Antisera specific for γA2-proteins indicated the occurrence of two different antigenic types in all normal sera as well as saliva and colostrum. Both of these showed the unique interchain disulfide linkage. Quantitative analyses indicated higher levels of γA2-proteins in external secretions.


Respiratory infections caused by mycoplasma species in ruminants lead to considerable economic losses. Two important ruminant pathogens are Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. Mycoides (Mmm), the aetiological agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri (Mmc), which causes pneumonia, mastitis, arthritis, keratitis, and septicemia in goats. We established precision cut lung slices (PCLS) infection model for Mmm and Mmc to study host-pathogen interactions. We monitored infection over time using immunohistological analysis and electron microscopy. Moreover, infection burden was monitored by plating and quantitative real-time PCR. Results were compared with lungs from experimentally infected goats and cattle. Lungs from healthy goats and cattle were also included as controls. PCLS remained viable for up to two weeks. Both subspecies adhered to ciliated cells. However, the titer of Mmm in caprine PCLS decreased over time, indicating species specificity of Mmm. Mmc showed higher tropism to sub-bronchiolar tissue in caprine PCLS, which increased in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, Mmc was abundantly observed on pulmonary endothelial cells, indicating partially, how it causes systemic disease. Tissue destruction upon prolonged infection of slices was comparable to the in vivo samples. Therefore, PCLS represents a novel ex vivo model to study host-pathogen interaction in livestock mycoplasma.


High incidences of breast and colon tumors are associated with high dietary fat intake. The importance of specific fat type and of other nutrients that interact with fat, as well as the mechanisms by which fat acts, is being investigated in animal models. The amount and type of dietary fat influence mammary gland carcinogenesis in rats. Tumor incidence and number are increased and latency is decreased in rats fed large amounts of corn oil, other polyunsaturated vegetable oils, or lard. Certain fats, e.g., rapeseed oil and beef fallow, have little or no effect. The influence of corn oil is exerted during promotion; lard appears to act both at initiation and during promotion. Mechanisms proposed for enhancement of carcinogenesis by dietary fat include alteration of endocrine balance and stimulation of cell division or changes in differentiation in the mammary gland. Data from studies of these postulated mechanisms are inconclusive; further investigation in well-defined animal models is needed. Colon carcinogenesis also is increased in rats fed high-fat diets in certain models, but in others there is no demonstrable effect of dietary fat. Interactions of fat and selenium, the requirement for which is governed by amount and type of dietary fat, may play a role in mammary gland and colon carcinogenesis. Lipotropic nutrients, required for normal fat metabolism, have powerful effects on hepatocarcinogenesis but have not been demonstrated to influence colon and mammary gland carcinogenesis. Lipotrope deficiency alters carcinogen metabolism, increases hepatocyte turnover, and accelerates induction of hyperplastic foci in the liver by many carcinogens. The significance of these abnormalities for carcinogenesis and the timing of the lipotrope effects are subjects of investigation in several animal models.


Game based learning can be seen as an interesting approach to learning, but the complexity of today's videogames demands from developers a robust foundation in a variety of technologies. On the other hand, the educational part of game based learning requires the active participation of field experts. The collaboration between those experts and game developers is always difficult. The project addresses this problem by offering an authoring environment for educational adventure games that does not demand a deep formation in Information and Communication Technologies. The author (an expert in a specific field) only needs to write documents that describe the contents of the videogame following the XML syntax and feed them to the engine. In turn, the engine produces a fully functional game from those documents.


Metropolitan cities are facing many socio-economic problems (e.g., frequent traffic congestion, unexpected emergency events, and even human-made disasters) related to urban crowd flows, which can be described in terms of the gathering process of a flock of moving objects (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians) towards specific destinations during a given time period via different travel routes. Understanding the spatio-temporal characteristics of urban crowd flows is therefore of critical importance to traffic management and public safety, yet it is very challenging as it is affected by many complex factors, including spatial dependencies, temporal dependencies, and environmental conditions. In this research, we propose a novel matrix-computation-based method for modeling the morphological evolutionary patterns of urban crowd flows. The proposed methodology consists of four connected steps: (1) defining urban crowd levels, (2) deriving urban crowd regions, (3) quantifying their morphological changes, and (4) delineating the morphological evolution patterns. The proposed methodology integrates urban crowd visualization, identification, and correlation into a unified and efficient analytical framework. We validated the proposed methodology under both synthetic and real-world data scenarios using taxi mobility data in Wuhan, China as an example. Results confirm that the proposed methodology can enable city planners, municipal managers, and other stakeholders to identify and understand the gathering process of urban crowd flows in an informative and intuitive manner. Limitations and further directions with regard to data representativeness, data sparseness, pattern sensitivity, and spatial constraint are also discussed.


Leadership pervades every aspect of organizational and social life, and its study has never been more diverse, nor more fertile. With contributions from those who have defined that territory, this volume is not only a key point of reference for researchers, students and practitioners, but also an agenda-setting prospective and retrospective look at the state of leadership in the twenty-first century. It evaluates the domain and stretches it further by considering leadership scholarship from every angle, concluding with an optimistic look at the future of leaders, followers and their place in organizations and society at large.


When Hannah Hall wrote this letter, prohibition was still officially in effect; the 18th amendment would not be repealed until December 1933. However, on March 20th, Congress passed the Cullen-Harrison Act, which legalized the sale of 3.2 percent beer and wine in any state whose legislature permitted it.On April 5 that year, the NC House of Representatives voted to permit the sale of beer and wine starting May 1st, which Dan Tompkins announced that day in the Jackson County Journal. The beer bill received overwhelming support: "75 for the and 27 against." However, among the dissent was Dan Tompkins, along with the representatives from other mountain counties, Yancey, Buncombe, Haywood and Macon.Additionally, Tompkins pressed for an amendment to the bill, which would revoke "licenses… where the sellers of beer engage in bootlegging," as well as ban the sale of alcohol in the proximity of churches and schools, and ban its sale on Sundays. The House of Representatives supported Tompkins' amendment as a regulatory measure, providing some parameters many believed the bill lacked. As Tompkins writes, "The bill would have possibly have received more votes than it did, had the regulatory amendments been adopted. Some representatives state that they would have voted for it if it had been in proper shape." By his vote against the bill and his proposed regulatory amendment, Tompkins made a name for himself as a supporter of temperance.By May 2nd, ads for beer began showing up in the Ruralite, the newspaper Tompkins edited. In response to these ads, Mrs. Hannah Hall, a supporter of temperance, writes to Tompkins, praising him for his legislative opposition in April and to express her fervent displeasure at the spread of alcohol in Sylva. And though she could have railed against Tompkins for publishing the ads, Mrs. Hall seems warmly supportive of him.This letter is housed in the Special Collections department of the Hunter Library at Western Carolina University.


Job security provisions are widely believed to reduce dismissals and hiring. In addition, in developing countries job security is believed to reduce compliance with labor regulations and to increase informal activity. Reductions in dismissal costs are, thus, often advocated as a way to increase labor market flexibility and to increase compliance with labor regulations. This paper analyzes the impact of a substantial reduction in dismissal costs introduced by the Colombian Labor Market Reform of 1990. A theoretical model illustrates the effect of dismissal costs when there is a noncompliant sector. The model shows the direct effect of a reduction in dismissal costs on increased turnover as well as the second order effects on wages and on the composition of the compliant and noncompliant sectors. Using microdata from the Colombian National Household Surveys, I exploit the temporal variability in dismissal costs together with the variability in coverage between formal and informal workers (who are not covered and were, thus, not directly affected by the reform). The differences-in-differences results indicate increased separations and accessions for formal workers relative to informal workers after the reform. Moreover, the increase in worker turnover was greatest among younger workers, more educated workers, and workers employed in larger firms who are most likely to have been affected by the reform. The estimates, together with the steady-state conditions of the model, suggest the reform contributed to 10% of the reduction in unemployment during the period of study.


Evidence for the occurrence of alkaloids in mycelial fungi, pathways of their biosynthesis and types of regulation are presented. The effect of some factors on the alkaloid production is discussed. In literature, the biosynthesis and the metabolism of diketopiperazine and ergot alkaloids in Penicillium fungi are covered most completely.


The paper describes one of the methods of investigation of galvanomagnetic phenomena compound thin film semiconductor system AIVBVI. The resulting current-voltage characteristics of thin films PbTe: Sb and analyzed the basic parameters for thin films of different thicknesses using the method of Hall. The dependence of the film thickness PbTe:Sb on the mobility and concentration of major carriers.


The residential and road transport sectors are both major contributors to the emissions of greenhouse gases. In both sectors, electrification may help reduce these emissions. Electrification, however, need not imply that the role of fossil fuels in the economy is reduced. This role is intimately linked to how the electricity will be generated in the future. In particular, natural gas may remain an important source of fossil energy. To what extent this will be the case closely depends on the transition of the electricity sector towards renewable energy sources. In this paper the authors explore the future energy system of the Netherlands, departing from actual data on the current situation and the policy objectives regarding both electrification and energy transition. The paper derives the consequences of electrification of heating and transport for the gas and electricity sectors, greenhouse gas emissions and the total social costs.


The conventional view in the professional finance community is that we live in a world with only rare asset price bubbles of immense magnitude. Instead, in this article the author argues that price bubbles are a common phenomenon, and that most stocks have small price bubbles representing perhaps 1% to 25% of their value. The theoretical underpinnings for this argument are based on the local martingale theory of bubbles and a recent article by the author where he derives a multiple-factor asset-pricing model with asset price bubbles. In this article, the author reviews the previous piece and uses it to support his assertion.


Electric field measurements from cometary environments are very rare but can provide important information on how plasma waves help fashion the plasma environment. The long dwelling time of the Rosetta spacecraft close to comet 67P/Churyumov‐Gerasimenko promises to improve this state. We here present the first electric field measurements from 67P, performed by the Rosetta dual Langmuir probe instrument LAP. Measurements of the electric field from cometocentric distances of 149 and 348 km are presented together with estimates of plasma density changes. Persistent wave activity around the local H2O+ lower hybrid frequency is observed, with the largest amplitudes observed at sharp plasma gradients. We demonstrate that the necessary requirements for the lower hybrid drift instability to be operating are fulfilled. We suggest that lower hybrid waves are responsible for the creation of a warm electron population, the origins of which have been unknown so far, by heating ambient electrons in the magnetic field‐parallel direction.


Euglena gracilis, single-cell flagellate eukaryotes, are a diverse genus which can be found in both freshwater and saltwater. Salmon in freshwater depends on Euglena gracilis as a nutritious food source. To understand how various temperatures will impact the growth of salmon, we grew Euglena gracilis at different treatment temperatures. Four incubation temperature treatments were 13°C, 20°C, 25°C (optimal), and 30°C. Three replicates of each treatment, containing culture and Euglena gracilis were incubated for two weeks. Then, we collected data and calculated the growth rate of the species at 13°C, 20°C, 25°C, and 30°C and found 13111, 58921, 75998, 32685 cells/mL/day respectively. Our one-way ANOVA analysis shows that the f-calculated value equals 20.551, is greater than the f-critical value, 3.49 at ɑ=0.05. And the calculated p-value is less than 0.05, which indicates that there is a significant difference between the growth rates at the temperature treatments. Therefore, we rejected our null hypothesis. A Tukey-Kramer test concluded that the calculated p-values for 13°C treatment growth rate was less than the p-value of 0.05 in comparison to 20, 25, and 30°C treatments. There was no statistical difference among the 20, 25, and 30°C treatments. Therefore, 13°C is the only temperature treatment that has a growth rate that is significantly different from the other temperatures.


The sialyl transferase of disialoganglioside formation is depressed in mammary tumors induced in the rat by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene. Specific activities of other glycosyltransferases of the pathway ceramide to monosialo-ganglioside are unchanged or elevated so that the ganglioside GM1 accumulates and higher gangliosides are depressed. These findings with a solid tumor are critical to an involvement of gangliosides in the cell-surface changes of tumorigenesis.


Stimulation of (cid:1) 1-adrenoreceptors ( (cid:1) 1-AR) acutely alters ion channel behavior via several signaling pathways [calcium and protein kinase C (PKC)]. Little is known about sustained (cid:1) 1-adrenergic/PKC signaling and channel regulation as may occur during cardiovascular dis- ease states. Here we describe the effects of prolonged (cid:1) 1A-AR and PKC activity on human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) K (cid:1) channels (Kv11.1) expressed in a heterologous expression system. Stim- ulation of (cid:1) 1A-AR with phenylephrine or direct activation of PKC with phorbol ester increased HERG channel protein abundance and K (cid:1) current density in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Channel augmentation reached a steady-state plateau within 24 h with a 2- to 6-fold induction. Phorbol ester and moderate (cid:1) 1A-AR stimulation enhanced HERG abundance in a PKC-dependent fashion but with stronger (cid:1) 1A-adrenergic stimulation; protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent activity also contributed. Comparable channel induction of other cardiac K (cid:1) channels was not seen in this system. Comparison of wild-type HERG and channels with either mutated PKC phos- phorylationsites(HERG (cid:2) PKC)ormutatedPKAphosphorylationsites (HERG (cid:2) PKA) suggested that the mechanisms of augmentation of HERG by the two kinases were partially overlapping. The PKC- dependent effect was largely due to enhanced synthetic rates. Stimulation of (cid:1) 1-AR in cultured rat neonatal cardiac myocytes also enhanced the abundance of ERG channels. These findings show that (cid:1) 1A-AR stimulation is capable of influencing the balance of HERG channel synthesis and degradation via multiple signaling pathways, a process that may have relevance in cardiac diseases and treatment. a of solutions. All out Cells were studied on an inverted microscope equipped with patch-pipette micromanipulators and epifluorescence optics for green fluorescent protein (trans-fected cells). patch-clamp used for voltage-clamp measurements. 9 to 10 M


The feasibility of using a cylindrical denuder tube for sampling gaseous ammonia, followed by detection with a piezoelectric quartz crystal, was investigated. Gaseous ammonia was sampled with a tungsten oxide-coated cylindrical denuder tube and then thermally desorbed onto a piezoelectric quartz crystal coated with pyridoxine hydrochloride–Antarox CO-880. A linear calibration graph of peak area response versus ammonia concentration sampled was obtained for ammonia concentrations between 3.1 and 8.2 µg l–1. A concentration of 29 ng l–1 of ammonia in air was detected with a signal-to-background ratio of 14:1 by achieving an enrichment ratio of 900 with the tungsten oxide denuder tube.


What does it mean to be spiritual but critical of religion? This thesis analyzes spiritual communities who critique structures of power, expounding upon them via Karl Marx's philosophy. As an integral component of the postmodern landscape, criticalist spiritual communities provide a window into the ways in which people and their communities combine spirituality with critical values. I present many queer Jewish feminists who engage in spiritual practices that do not adhere to restrictive Jewish tenets. For example, writers such as Alicia Ostriker and Vivian Gornick describe a distinctly leftist spiritual position that centers on their group identity. Using a comparative approach, this thesis then parallels the praxis and liturgy of contemporary queer synagogues with a theoretical articulation of Marxist spirituality. These parallels fall under three spiritual themes: integrated temporality, integrated community, and creative labor. Together, these parallels create a flexible framework for understanding communally oriented spirituality that revolves around nontheist spiritual components rather than God. I call this framework, "for(a)ging," based on the dialectic between spiritually forging new traditions and foraging from old ones. By outlining a framework, this thesis explores a growing form of contemporary spirituality that relies on community rather than individual choice or religious authority.


Born of the union between African maroons and the Island Carib on colonial St. Vincent, and later exiled to Honduras, the Garifuna way of life combines elements of African, Island Carib, and colonial European culture. Beginning in the 1940s, this cultural matrix became even more complex as Garifuna began migrating to the United States, forming communities in the cities of New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Moving between a village on the Caribbean coast of Honduras and the New York City neighborhoods of the South Bronx and Harlem, England traces the daily lives, experiences, and grassroots organizing of the Garifuna. Concentrating on how family life, community life, and grassroots activism are carried out in two countries simultaneously as Garifuna move back and forth, England also examines the relationship between the Garifuna and Honduran national society and discusses much of the recent social activism organized to protect Garifuna coastal villages from being expropriated by the tourism and agro-export industries. Based on two years of fieldwork in Honduras and New York, her study examines not only how this transnational system works but also the impact that the complex racial and ethnic identity of the Garifuna have on the surrounding societies. As a people who can claim to be black, indigenous, and Latino, the Garifuna have a complex relationship not only with U.S. and Honduran societies but also with the international community of nongovernmental organizations that advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples and blacks.


The purpose of this study was to generate contrast detail (CD) curves for low contrast mass lesions embedded in images obtained in head and neck CT examinations. Axial head and neck CT slice images were randomly chosen from patients at five different levels. All images were acquired at 120 kV, and reconstructed using a standard soft tissue reconstruction filter. For each head CT image, we measured detection of low contrast mass lesions using a 2 Alternate Forced Choice (2-AFC) experimental paradigm. In an AFC experiment, an observer identifies the lesion location in one of two regions of interest. After performing 128 sequential observations, it is possible to compute the lesion contrast corresponding to a 92% accuracy of lesion detection (i.e., I92%). Five lesion sizes were investigated ranging from 4 mm to 12.5 mm, with the experimental order randomized to eliminate learning curve as well as observer fatigue. Contrast detail curves were generated by plotting log[I92%] versus log[lesion size]. Experimental slopes ranged from ~ -0.1 to ~ -0.4. The slope of the CD curve was directly related to the complexity of the anatomical structure in the head CT image. As the apparent anatomical complexity increased, the slope of the corresponding CD curve was reduced. Results from our pilot study suggest that anatomical structure is of greater importance than quantum mottle, and that the type of anatomical background structure is an important determinant of lesion detection in CT imaging.


Functions in Stata take two main forms, built-in functions that are part of the executable and egen functions written in Stata's own language. These are surveyed, giving a variety of tips and tricks, and noting the large number of user-written egen functions available for download from the Internet. Two substantial examples, the calculation of percentile ranks and plotting positions, and the calculation of measures summarizing properties of the other members of a group, provide detailed illustrations of egen in action.


Objectives To evaluate prospectively the clinical outcome of a population of patients presenting with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrage in two neurosurgical centers not using oral nimodipine as a systematic prophylaxis but aggressive therapeutic treatment of vasospasm (controlled hypertension +/- angioplasty). Methods We evaluated 186 patients admitted consecutively with aSAH from 2013 to 2016 to Geneva's and Lugano's neurosurgical centers. Parameters recorded were age, gender, WFNS grade, modified Fisher score, treatment received for the ruptured aneurysm (surgical versus endovascular) and prevalence of vasospasm using clinical scales. Outcome was assessed after 1 year of follow-up using the modified Rankin scale (mRs). Results Vasospasm was observed in 35% (n=66) of patients suffering aSAH. Among patients presenting a vasospasm, 39% (n=26) received medical treatment only (observation in the ICU and controlled hypertensive therapy), 53% (n=35) received medical combined with endovascular treatment, (balloon angioplasty: 28%, chemical angioplasty: 60%, both: 11%. No significant difference was present concerning the mortality/morbidity in patients treated by angioplasty versus those treated with controlled hypertension only. High Modified Fisher scores (III-IV) were associated with vasospasm and low Modified Fisher scores (I-II) against it (two-sided Chi2 analysis, p=0.01). GCS at admission and WFNS were not predictive for vasospasm occurrence. Patients with EVD placement were more represented in the vasospasm goup (p=0.0009), which is also true for patients with VPD shunting (p=0.0002). Mortality and morbidity were not different between vasospasm and vasospasm-free patients. A bad clinical outcome (mRS ≥3) at first 1 year FU was respectively found in 9 patients (13%) in the vasospasm group and in 17 patients (14%) in the vasospasm-free group. Conclusions The occurrence of a clinically relevant vasospasm is not associated with worse outcome when its treatment includes controlled hypertension and endovascular angioplasty. Compared to data reported in the literature, clinical outcome of this cohort managed without oral nimodipine seems to be comparable to a population of aSAH whom treatment included a preventive therapy of vasospasm with oral nimodipine. Our results have to be confirmed by new controlled randomized trial comparing contemporary vasospasm management involving controlled hypertension and endovascular angioplasty (balloon or chemical) with or without oral nimodipine as a preventive therapy. Disclosures M. Corniola: None. P. Bijlenga: None. A. Moiraghi: None. A. Venier: None. M. Reinert: None. S. Karl: None. T. Robert: None.


The creation of object models for computer graphics applications, such as interior design or the generation of animations is a labour-intensive process. Today's computer aided design (CAD) programs address the problem of creating geometric object models quite well. But almost all users nd common tasks, such as quickly furnishing a room, hard to accomplish. One of the basic reasons is that manipulation of objects often does not yield the expected results. This paper presents a new system that exploits knowledge about natural behavior of objects to provide simple and intuitive interaction techniques for object manipulation. Semantic constraints are introduced, which encapsulate such `common knowledge' about objects. Furthermore, we present a new way to automatically infer a scene hierarchy by dynamically grouping objects according to their constraint relationships.


This important new book replaces the author's highly successful Practical Surveying and Computations and has been completely recast to accord with modern practices of geospatial surveying.

 Although much has changed in the profession of geospatial surveying, the same basic geometrical principles still apply - as does the need for instrumental calibration, its proper application, the suitable analysis of data and the presentation of results to users. Although the hands-on nature of day-to-day work has almost disappeared, to be replaced by rapid turnkey systems of amazing sophistication, the geospatial surveyor still has to plan and organise the work and above all remains responsible to the client for its outcome, and must be able to defend the work if necessary.

 Since most practical work is carried out by prescribed systems and processed by software packages, the book concentrates on those essential principles which the user needs to know, if the results are to be verified and assessed with understanding and wisdom. The text outlines the fundamentals of geospatial surveying including relevant worked examples that make liberal use of Excel spreadsheets. The mathematical treatment relates directly to those topics found in the author's successful textbook, Maths for Map Makers.


Sinai Peninsula has fascinating geologic setting and is displaying a diversity of structural lineaments that have greatly influenced the distribution of natural resources and hazards. Shaded relief images derived from SRTM-DEM mosaics were used for the identification, extraction, and mapping of these structural lineaments. Statistical parameters particularly, azimuth frequency, lineament intersection, lengths, and density distribution were analyzed using SPSS software. Two additional new statistical indices; Lineament Relative Abundance Index (LRAI) and Lineament Majority-Minority Index (LMMI) were applied. Moreover, the distribution of the different statistical parameters was illustrated as contour maps through GIS environment. Basically, two dominant clusters; NW-SE and NNE-SSW trends were detected. These trends are related to major fracture systems that are characterized by extensive mean lengths and high proportion values. Furthermore, the northern and central parts of Sinai Peninsula have lower density and intersection of structural lineaments that gradually increase towards the southern part. However, the northern part of Sinai displays wider areas of majority zones than the southern part. This could be attributed to the lower density of lineaments and little tendency for multiple lineament populations. The majority zones are usually associated with NE and NW-SE in the northern part of Sinai, whereas the majority zones are of less abundance in the central and southern parts of Sinai due to the multiple orientations of lineament populations which reduce the tendency for majority. Eventually, the results of the present work could be applicable in the different geologic and environmental aspects that are based on a good understanding of the genetic and spatial relationships of fracture systems. These aspects encompass geodynamics, exploration for mineralization and groundwater, in addition to the mitigation of natural hazards such as flush flooding and earthquakes.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Small bowel capsule endoscopy (SBCE) allows mapping of small bowel inflammation in Crohn's disease (CD). We aimed to assess the prognostic value of the severity of inflammatory lesions, quantified by the Lewis score (LS), in patients with isolated small bowel CD.

METHODS
A retrospective study was performed in which 53 patients with isolated small bowel CD were submitted to SBCE at the time of diagnosis. The Lewis score was calculated and patients had at least 12 months of follow-up after diagnosis. As adverse events we defined disease flare requiring systemic corticosteroid therapy, hospitalization and/or surgery during follow-up. We compared the incidence of adverse events in 2 patient subgroups, i.e. those with moderate or severe inflammatory activity (LS ≥790) and those with mild inflammatory activity (135 ≤ LS < 790).

RESULTS
The LS was ≥790 in 22 patients (41.5%), while 58.5% presented with LS between 135 and 790. Patients with a higher LS were more frequently smokers (p = 0.01), males (p = 0017) and under immunosuppressive therapy (p = 0.004). In multivariate analysis, moderate to severe disease at SBCE was independently associated with corticosteroid therapy during follow-up, with a relative risk (RR) of 5 (p = 0.011; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5-17.8), and for hospitalization, with an RR of 13.7 (p = 0 .028; 95% CI 1.3-141.9).

CONCLUSION
In patients with moderate to severe inflammatory activity there were higher prevalences of corticosteroid therapy demand and hospitalization during follow-up. Thus, stratifying the degree of small bowel inflammatory activity with SBCE and LS calculation at the time of diagnosis provided relevant prognostic value in patients with isolated small bowel CD.


Current studies on the effects of work environments on employees can be criticised with regard to three aspects: (1) they are often based on single buildings or organisations and therefore not generalizable. (2) the influences of work design and the social environment are often not separated from the influences of the work environment. (3) the focus lies either on physical or perceived parameters – the two perspectives are usually not put into relation with each other.In order to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of workplace factors on office users, data from 39 buildings have been collected. A total of 1373 users of these office buildings participated in a survey. Multi-level models show that building-level variables are not generally informative in relation to office user-level outcomes such as satisfaction, well-being or job performance. Rather, employees' perceptions of their office environments explain variance in self-reported outcomes. Perceptions of the office environment explain additional variance in relation to work design. The multi-level models further indicate that different aspects of the office environment contribute to variance explained in different outcomes. Important predictors for job satisfaction are workspace quality, distractions, and control over the environments. Health status is influenced by social density and distractions. Finally, job performance and work engagement are affected by workspace quality, distractions, and workplace appropriateness.The results therefore imply that leveraging office design and management workplace / facilities managers can promote satisfaction, health, job performance, and work engagement. Thus, the results from the two studies have several implications for business managers, workspace designers, and workplace / facilities managers.


The distributed cache system contains a group of servers caching different contents based on consistent hashing. The dynamic provisioning of servers helps to improve the system efficiency, which leads to a reduction of energy cost. We first measure the cache hit rate, request batching effect and cache warm-up time of the system through experiments, considering that they can affect the system performance and efficiency. Then we formulate a stochastic network optimization problem, which aims at achieving objectives on the queue stability, energy cost and cache hit rate simultaneously, through the dynamic control of server activeness and request dispatching. The problem is transformed into a minimization problem in each time slot, which is further addressed through the proposed efficient online algorithm based on dynamic programming. Moreover, we improve the scheme with several practical considerations in the scheme implementation. Finally, the proposed algorithm and the improvements are evaluated through extensive experiments.


Abstract In this study, the impact of propeller emergence on the performance of a ship (speed), propeller (thrust, torque, and RPM), a diesel engine (torque and RPM) and fuel consumption are analysed under severe sea conditions. The goal is to describe the variation in the system variables and fuel consumption rather than analysing the motion of the ship or the phenomenon of propeller ventilation in itself. A mathematical model of the hull, propeller, and engine interactions is developed in which the propeller emergence is included. The system parameters are set using model experiments, empirical formulae, and available data for the engine. The dynamic response of the system is examined in regular head waves under submerged and emerged conditions of the propeller. The pulsatility and the extent of variation of 20 selected variables for the coupled system of hull, propeller, and engine are elaborated using quantitative and qualitative terms and absolute and relative scales. The simulation begins with a ship moving on a straight path, in calm water, with a constant speed for the ship, propeller and engine under steady conditions. The ship then encounters regular head waves with a known time series of the total resistance of the ship in waves. Large motions of the ship create propeller emergence, which in turn reduces the propeller thrust and torque. This study shows that for a specific ship, the mean ship speed, shaft angular velocity, and engine power were slightly reduced in submerged conditions with respect to calm water. We compared the mean values of the variables to those in the emerged condition, and found that the shaft angular velocity was almost the same, the ship speed was considerably reduced, and the engine power significantly dropped with respect to calm water. The ratios of the amplitude of fluctuation to the mean (Amp/Mean) for the ship speed and angular velocity of the shaft under both conditions were considerable, while the Amp/Mean for the power delivered by the engine was extremely high. The outcomes of the study show the degree of influence of propeller emergence on these variables. We identify the extent of each change and categorise the variables into three main groups based on the results.


We describe the different radiation therapy techniques for malignant tumors of the eyelid, their results in squamous-cell and basal-cell carcinoma, their side effects, and the advantages and disadvantages compared to surgery. The most frequent indications for radiation in the management of these tumors are also reviewed.


Paraelectric BaSrTiO3 films deposited by sol-gel have been investigated from 1 kHz to 40 GHz using coplanar waveguides, resonators, and inter-digitated capacitances. At room temperature and without bias, the dielectric constant epsivr is around 300 and the loss tangent is 5times10-2. Tunability is 40% for a 40-V bias voltage. Analog phase-shifter circuits were subsequently fabricated in order to obtain a 360deg phase shift in the Ka-band with a moderate bias voltage. The lowest bias value was 17 V at 40 GHz, whereas 40 V were necessary at 30 GHz. For the latter condition, the insertion loss was -6dB. The best figure-of-merit of the phase shifters with a loading factor of 1.4 was 27deg/dB. These results show an improvement in terms of voltage-controlled tunability


A 28-year-old woman with stable hepatosplenomegaly (diagnosed at the age of 2-3 years) presented with a one-year history of progressive dyspnoea. She denied other pulmonary symptoms. The patient had a younger sister, aged 25 years, who had also had hepatosplenomegaly since early childhood and complained of mild dyspnoea. Physical examination in both sisters confirmed hepatospleno megaly. High-resolution computed tomography performed in both sisters (figure 1) showed the same aspects, characterised by thickening of the interlobular septa and intralobular interstitium in association with small foci of ground-glass opacity.


Toxic cardiotonic steroids (CTS) act as a defense mechanism in many firefly species (Lampyridae) by inhibiting a crucial enzyme called Na+,K+-ATPase (NKA). While most fireflies produce these toxins internally, species of the genus Photuris acquire them from a surprising source: predation on other fireflies. The contrasting physiology of toxin exposure and sequestration between Photuris and other firefly genera suggests that distinct strategies may be required to prevent self-intoxication. Our study demonstrates that both Photuris and their firefly prey have evolved highly-resistant NKAs. Using an evolutionary analysis of the specific target of CTS (ATPα) in fireflies, and gene-editing in Drosophila, we find that the initial steps towards resistance were shared among Photuris and other firefly lineages. However, the Photuris lineage subsequently underwent multiple rounds of gene duplication and neofunctionalization, resulting in the development of ATPα paralogs that are differentially expressed and exhibit increasing resistance to CTS. In contrast, other firefly species have maintained a single copy. Our results implicate gene duplication as a facilitator in the transition of Photuris to its distinct ecological role as predator of toxic firefly prey. One-Sentence Summary Gene duplication and neofunctionalization distinguish firefly predators from their toxic firefly prey.


ZnO as a semiconductor is used in many applications such as gas sensor devices, laser and optoelectronic devices, photocatalysts, solar cells, and varistors. The applications and properties of ZnO nanoparticles highly depend on the size and morphology of these particles. In this research ZnO nanoparticles were prepared via chemical bath deposition at various temperatures in order to see the effects of synthesis temperature and also 2- methoxyethanol (2-ME) as a novel solvent on the morphology of obtained nanoparticles. For synthesizing of ZnO nanostructured materials, 2-ME has been highly used in sol-gel process but it is the first time that it is used in the chemical bath deposition process. For this purpose 1 M solutions of zinc acetate dehydrate in 2-ME were prepared and added to the solution of NaOH in the same solvent dropwisely. Monoethanolamine (MEA) was used as surfactant. The synthesis temperatures were 30°C, 60°C and 90°C. After filtering and drying, morphologies of obtained nanoparticles were characterized and compared.


Thyroid receptor-interacting protein 6 (Trip6), a multifunctional protein belonging to the zyxin family of LIM proteins, is involved in various physiological and pathological processes, including cell migration and tumorigenesis. However, the role of Trip6 in neurons remains unknown. Here, we show that Trip6 is expressed in mouse hippocampal neurons and promotes dendritic morphogenesis. Through interaction with the glutamate receptor-interacting protein 1 (GRIP1) and myosin VI, Trip6 is crucial for the total dendritic length and the number of primary dendrites in cultured hippocampal neurons. Trip6 depletion reduces F-actin content and impairs dendritic morphology, and this phenocopies GRIP1 or myosin VI knockdown. Furthermore, phosphorylation of GRIP1956T by AKT1 inhibits the interaction between GRIP1 and myosin VI, but facilitates GRIP1 binding to 14-3-3 protein, which is required for regulating F-actin organization and dendritic morphogenesis. Thus, the Trip6–GRIP1–myosin VI interaction and its regulation on F-actin network play a significant role in dendritic morphogenesis.


The study examines the impact of source likeability and source credibility on the effectiveness of print advertisements. A theoretical model that depicts the impacts of source characteristics on (1) ad attitude, (2) brand attitude, and (3) willingness to purchase is investigated using data collected through a quasi-experimental design. In addition to direct impacts, the moderating role of message processing motivation (involvement) and product category knowledge in the relationships of interest are investigated via multigroup analyses. Findings indicate that the sequence of relationships between source characteristics, attitudinal responses and willingness to purchase may vary substantially across the four conditions characterised by high/low levels of processing motivation and product category knowledge.


ABSTRACT Aim: ABP 215 is being developed as a biosimilar to bevacizumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody that binds vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and inhibits binding to receptors. Although bevacizumab and intended biosimilars share the same amino acid sequence, differences will likely exist in product quality attributes due to differences in expression systems, bioprocess and purification. Equivalence of product quality attributes, especially functional equivalence, is of primary importance during stepwise development of a biosimilar in order to provide confidence for similar clinical safety and efficacy in patients. Functional equivalence to bevacizumab is also a critical consideration when considering extrapolation of indications for the candidate biosimilar product. The aim of these studies is to examine functional simiarlity of ABP 215 to bevacizumab. Methods: Comparative assessment of biological activity included testing binding of ABP 215 and bevacizumab to VEGF and VEGF isoforms by surface plasmon resonance and to cell-surface expressed FcRn and to FcgRIIIa by AlphaLISA. The inhibition of proliferation and VEGFR2 autophosphorylation was compared in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Anti-tumor activity was compared in A431 and Colo205 tumor xenograft models. Results: Equilibrium binding affinity (Kd) to VEGF was similar between ABP 215 (117 pM) and bevacizumab (112 pM). Binding to VEGF165 and VEGF121 was also similar. Binding (3 lots each) to FcRn was similar between ABP 215 (95-102%) and bevacizumab (114-127%) as was binding to FcgRIIIa comparing ABP 215 (100-115%) to bevacizumab (100-105%). Potency in proliferation inhibition was similar across three lots each of bevacizumab (87-98%) compared to ABP 215 (92-101%). Inhibition of autophosphorylation (IC50) was similar for a single lot each of ABP 215 (0.0871 µg/ml) compared to bevacizumab (0.0858 µg/ml). The effects of ABP 215 and bevacizumab were also similar in vivo, in terms of inhibition of both tumor growth and tumor-associated vasculature in A431 and Colo205 models. Conclusions: ABP 215 appears to be highly similar to bevacizumab in multiple sensitive preclinical pharmacologic assessments. Disclosure: T.L. Born: author is a stockholder and emplyoee of of Amgen; Q. H uynh, A. Mathur, J. Velayudhan, J. Canon, K. Reynhardt, T.J. Goletz and R.A. Markus: Amgen employee and stockholder


Does the seemingly disproportionate growth in Australia of agricultural economics, relative to other branches of applied economics, represent a misallocation of educational and research resources? Probably not, since (i) it may be better--because of the existence of increasing returns--to concentrate one's limited resources of economist brainpower in a few fields than to spread them widely; and (ii) the growth of agricultural economics has helped to correct certain weaknesses--particularly in micro-economics and econometrics--in the Australian economics profession as a whole. However, it is suggested that in the future agricultural economists might apply their skills increasingly to non-agricultural problems.


A rectal pack is often indicated after certain surgical procedures and should provide for hemostasis, but it should also indicate persistent bleeding. Most packs are either too bulky, causing increased postoperative pain, or they completely occlude the rectum. First introduced to me by Isadore S. Ravdin, MD, the "whistle tube" rectal pack has been a useful adjunct in many postoperative rectal procedures, especially after hemorrhoidectomy. As indicated in the Figure, one non-radiopaque sponge is wrapped around a large-gauge, stiff, rubber catheter usually 28 F or 30 F. The sponge is tied on firmly with 0 silk and may be sutured through the catheter. The end of the catheter with multiple holes is inserted into the rectum so that it extends about 5 cm above the operative site. The sponge is greased with an anesthetic jelly, such as lidocaine, for postoperative comfort. Excess catheter is then cut off and incorporated into


This paper explores the change in the security portfolio of the holding company of Mitsubishi Zaibatsu (Mitsubishi Partnership) and its implication on the profitability of that company. First we confirmed that Mitsubishi Partnership substantially altered the portfolio from 1925 to 1935, especially in the early 1930s. Then we decomposed the profitability change into that due to the changes in the returns on the individual securities which had existed in the portfolio and that due to the change in the portfolio. We found that whereas the former factor was larger, the portfolio factor was also substantial and positively contributed to the profitability. It is suggested that the zaibatsu holding company secured profitability thorough management of the portfolio as well as thorough governance of the companies in which it invested.


for SATB unaccompanied The optional opening section, for which there is a graphic score, is spoken to texts by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and other esteemed poets and authors. The four sung movements which follow are conventionally notated and set to further texts by Longfellow, and they amply demonstrate the hallmarks of Skempton's extraordinarily skilful choral writing. Subtle word painting and masterful use of harmony reinforce the rich imagery conveyed in the texts, weaving together a work of considerable beauty and power. Immensely satisfying to sing, this piece is ideal for concert use.


A simple single-phase material, a random close-packed (volume fraction 67%) ensemble of highly monodisperse bare maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles, is shown to exhibit ideal superspin-glass behavior (mimicking that of model spin-glasses), namely, an unprecedentedly sharp onset of the absorption component of the ac susceptibility, narrow memory dips in the zero-field-cooled magnetization and a spin-glass characteristic field-dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. This ideal behavior is attributed to the remarkably narrow dispersion in particle size and to the highly dense and spatially homogeneous configuration ensured by the random close-packed arrangement. This material is argued to constitute the closest nanoparticle analogue to a conventional (atomic) magnetic state found to date.


This Research represent case study at Bank of BRI Syariah Malang with title "System Evaluation Internal Control Of Bank Syariah In channeling of defrayal Musyarakah To Society". Target of this research is to know applying effectively of System Internal Control in channeling of defrayal musyarakah to society that conducted by Bank of BRI Syariah Malang and to know the System Internal Control Of Bank of BRI Syariah Malang have as according to internal control elements thereby channeled defrayal can walk effectively. The Method of data analyze used the character of qualitative that is conducted analysis method pursuant to at comparison between theory practice pursuant to condition of accurate research object. Writer use four internal control elements in evaluation. From result of evaluation by comparing between theory with practice that happened at Bank of BRI Syariah Malang, can know that in channeling of defrayal musyarakah to society have as according to procedure from is fourth of internal control system elements. So that system internal control of the company walk effectively and in control. From conclusion above, writer of implication can in the long term in Bank operational activity of BRI Syariah Malang can maintain Effectively System Internal Control Of Bank Syariah competitiveness and company through the make-up of quality and also Resource interest of Insani and banking of Syariah.


I 1-I I·· Malleahlllt; !-;:fr~~t ;;;~~ Color Lustre, Grain. I State. ant1UlIctil-1 of l"rnll--'--__ / 1 :__j~_._I~:~ Sulphur. I I " eharcoal. . Hrumine. Incline. ' PhOdphofU8 I I (C,,"t1on). I ! ·Make strips of the eame length. at taeh to one end 01 each a hit of paraffin, ami arrange the l'!tri(18 on the rint.:" of an ITO)) stand 80 that the "as flame in the unddle heats the non paraflln eurla equally. N'(Jt~ the or 'er In which the balls fal) 8m180 determine roue bly the order ot conducting power for heat, How do they cOlUlJare with glass. in this respect?


We present AceWiki, a prototype of a new kind of semantic wiki using the controlled natural language Attempto Controlled English (ACE) for representing its content. ACE is a subset of English with a restricted grammar and a formal semantics. The use of ACE has two important advantages over existing semantic wikis. First, we can improve the usability and achieve a shallow learning curve. Second, ACE is more expressive than the formal languages of existing semantic wikis. Our evaluation shows that people who are not familiar with the formal foundations of the Semantic Web are able to deal with AceWiki after a very short learning phase and without the help of an expert.


This paper gives sufficient conditions for the practical and finite time stability of a particular class of linear discrete time delay systems. Analyzing the finite time stability concept, these new delay-independent conditions are derived using an approach based on the Lyapunov-like functions. The practical and attractive practical stability for discrete time delay systems has been investigated. The above mentioned approach was supported by the classical Lyapunov technique to guarantee the attractivity properties of the system behavior.


Functional characterization of oncogene products that induce cellular transformation has progressed rapidly in recent years. However, less is known about the mechanism(s) by which the transformed cells may escape destruction by host immune defenses and form tumors. A recently described oncogene that has an important association with aggressive human breast carcinoma is "HER2," for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. The oncogene has also been called NGL and human c-erbB-2 (ERBB2). In this paper we show that amplification of HER2 oncogene expression can induce resistance of NIH 3T3 cells to the cytotoxic effects of recombinant tumor necrosis factor alpha (rTNF-alpha) or macrophages. Resistance is accompanied by an increased dissociation constant for rTNF-alpha binding to high-affinity receptors on the HER2-transformed NIH 3T3 cells. The resistance phenotype is independent of transformation since NIH 3T3 cells transformed by the activated human homologue of the Harvey-ras oncogene (HRAS) retain high-affinity binding sites for rTNF-alpha as well as sensitivity to its cytotoxic effects. These results suggest that HER2 may potentiate tumorigenesis by inducing tumor cell resistance to host defense mechanisms.


In view of the shortcoming of traditional underground gas monitoring system, a new kind of wireless monitoring system was designed. Furthermore, in order to solve the problem of the gas explosion limit reducing once the coal dust involved, the explosion parameters were detected by multi-sensor and the information of dust, gas concentration and temperature from sensors were carried on fuzzy processing to be fused based on fuzzy information and fusion theory. The system can finish fusion computing and decision-making of various system parameters to realize the early prediction for mine explosion successfully. The experimental results indicate that the discerning accuracy and reliability of mine explosion detection system is greatly increased based on fuzzy information and data fusion. It is concluded that the system is of great significance to coal mine production safety.


Based on a three-year-long ethnography of the hobby of model rocketry, I present a practice-centered theory of interest relationships—that is, the pattern of long-term, self-motivated engagement in open-ended practices that has been theorized under the concept of individual interests. In contrast to extant theories of individual interests, in which persistent engagement is pegged to a topic-specific relationship (e.g., a model rocketeer has an interest in the topic of rocketry, broadly conceived), I propose that persistence in a practice of interest is best understood in terms of what I call lines of practice. A line of practice is a distinctive, recurrent pattern of long-term engagement in a person's practice participation. Any line of practice entails a set of closely interrelated activities that are defined by two structural elements: preferences and conditions of practice. Preferences refer to the deep, long-term goals, values, and beliefs that a person develops in the practice, whereas conditions of practice refer to the constraints and affordances impinging on the person's practice (e.g., socioeconomic status and the norms of practice sites). A line of practice can thus be seen in the distinctive ways that a person's preferences are attuned, over the long haul, to specific conditions of practice, and how preferences cluster to form any single line. I show how persistent engagement can be understood in terms of the birth, death, and changes to a person's lines of practice and describe how this formulation broadens current theories of individual interests.


Antibiotic sensitivity of 38 strains of enteric bacteria, such as Serratia marcescens Klebsiella pneumoniae and others and Ps. aeruginosa isolated during an outbreak of meningitis in a premature infant resuscitation department was studied. It was shown that all the isolates were multiple resistant, most frequently to 7 antibiotics. All the resistance markers were transferred on conjugation, segregation of some markers being observed. Investigation of the plasmid composition of the clinical strains and transconjugants of E. coli revaled the presence of 2 plasmids with the molecular weights of 40 and 60 Md or one of them. The restriction analysis demonstrated that the plasmids with the same molecular weights isolated from different strains were identical. It was suggested that such plasmids originated from the same source and were distributed by conjugation. The possible part of R plasmids in epidemiological analysis of hospital infections is discussed: the possible part as an additional marker in determination of the infection source and the possible part through its ability to change the host cell phenotype, including the phage and bacteriocin types.


Specimens collected from the forest areas of Mazandaran Province (Iran), Kojour, between Lashkenareh and Gandis-Kala village showed significant characteristics. At first glance, these specimens looked similar to A. szowitsianum, but with no indumentum on fruit. Further studies showed that those specimens belong to a new species, Alyssum mazandaranicum Mirzadeh & Assadi sp. nov., which was confined to the ecotone area between Euro-Siberian and Irano-Turanian regions. More populations of this new species were also found in other localities with similar ecological circumstances. Here, the new species is described, illustrated and compared with the closest taxon.


The use of probiotics engineered to express specific enzymes has been the subject of considerable attention in poultry industry because of increased nutrient availability and reduced cost of enzyme supplementation. Phytase enzyme is commonly added to poultry feed to improve digestibility and availability of phosphorus from plant sources. To construct a probiotic with potential of phytate degradation, phytase gene (appA) from E. coli was cloned and transformed into two probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactococcus lactis. L. salivarous showed plasmid instability, unable to express the gene. The expression of appA gene in L. lactis was analyzed by detecting specific RNA and zymography assay. Phytase enzyme was isolated from cellular extracts of recombinant L. lactis, showing a 46 kDa band upon the SDS-PAGE analysis. Zymogram also confirmed the phytase activity of the 46 kDa band corresponding to the enzyme. An enzyme activity of 4.9U/ml was obtained in cell extracts of L. lactis. The growth of native and recombinant L. lactis was similar in the presence of two concentrations of ox bile. Keywords—Lactobacillus salivarus, Lactococcus lactis, recombinant, phytase, poultry.


Vibroarthrography, A Novel Technique in Diagnosis of Knee Osteoarthritis A. Rahimi PhD PT , M.M. Roostayee MSc PT , D. Shahimoridi MSc PT Received: 02/02/06 Sent for Revision: 24/06/06 Received Revised Manuscript: 27/11/06 Accepted: 26/12/06 Background and Objective: Use of joint sound signals for diagnosis of knee joint disorders has been greatly welcomed since it is a non-invasive and inexpensive technique. In vibroarthrography (VAG), joint sound signals can be detected using a contact sensor over the skin surface of the joint during movements. This study aimed to investigate the capability of this method in diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and Methods: In this study which was the evaluatin of a diagonstic test, forty-four knees from 22 healthy and OA-diagnosed subjects were included in this study. A miniature potentiometer was placed on the patellar, medial and lateral sides of the knees and their VAG signals were recorded in a non-weight bearing (NWB) flexion/extension task. The average root mean square (RMS) of the signals were calculated and compared between the healthy and OA knees. Results: The findings of this study revealed more physiologic signals in healthy knees. OA-diagnosed knees showed less physiologic signals with some spikes among them. There was no significant difference between these two groups in terms of the total average RMS of the VAG signals. However, a noticeable difference was noted between the right and left OA knees. The left OA knees did not show significantly different RMS in the medial and lateral sites, however this finding was significantly different on the patellar site compared to the left healthy knees (p=0.03). Conclusion: Based on these findings, the VAG technique might be considered as a non-invasive method in diagnosis of OA changes of the knees. It was also concluded that use of potentiometer on the patella is possibly helpful in diagnosis of only left knee osteoarthritis. Key words: Knee Osteoarthritis, Vibroarthrography, Non-invasive


Long-term care (LTC) policy in China is in its infancy, and it is highly decentralised. Where policy structures exist, they are poorly resourced. Although China's demography is still young by developed country standards, it is ageing very rapidly, and by mid-century will have "caught up" with many countries in the developed world with respect to population ageing. LTC policy development, therefore, is becoming a priority in China. We argue that it should be formulated with population ageing as a framework.  Policy designs, which take account of and encourage, informal care provision, will be critical to the fiscally sustainable delivery of LTC. In China, informal care is sometimes seen as very scarce because of the one child policy. With only one child, it is argued, there will be less informal care offered than in societies with larger families.  This paper uses the recently developed China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) dataset to analyse the current patterns of disability and informal care availability. In particular, and contrary to expectation, we find that fertility change is not the main driver for reducing informal care. Education levels, living standards, urbanization and co-residency are much more important. This suggests that current policy, which targets those with one child families, may be misguided, and also that mechanical extrapolations of future demand for care may be misleading.


Mellein and 4-hydroxymellein are isocoumarin compounds produced by Aspergillus ochraceus Wilhelm. They are structurally similar to the dihydroisocoumarin moiety of ochratoxin A, a toxic metabolite of the same fungus, and they possibly have similar biological properties. Production of mellein and 4-hydroxymellein on synthetic media and natural solid substrates was determined. Several carbon and nitrogen sources supported production of these metabolites in stationary culture. Additional zinc and molybdenum increased production of both metabolites in stationary culture, but were not required for maximum production in shaken culture. Mellein and 4-hydroxymellein were produced on yellow corn, but neither was produced on wheat, peanuts, or soybeans.


This research began with the modest idea that bringing an evolutionary, cognitive and existential understanding to Golding's novels is going to help to establish the universality and historical specificity of his writerly engagements as well as shed new light on his moral preoccupations and concerns. In fact, the endeavour was initially launched in keeping with the spirit of Literary Darwinism, a movement which sought to foreground the field of literary study on more scientific foundations, using the emerging discipline of evolutionary psychology as a means to bridging the gap between the sciences and the humanities, and to bringing the two cultures together. Of course, most of the past critical efforts dedicated to understanding Golding's work tended to overlook or downplay the asserted relation between rationalism and biologism in the formation and articulation of Golding's moral preoccupations in order to favour a broadly religious reading. This was especially the case given the overt biblical overtones in Golding's novels as well as his confessed antagonism to the overwhelming rationalism of the sciences and the ubiquity of scientific reductionism in accounts and justifications of knowledge. Despite this antagonism, however—which included a confessed dislike for notions of Darwinian evolution and its progressive overtones—the rational dimension to Golding's novels cannot be denied. It can be detected in his early writings where attempts at establishing the universality of evil are linked to an engagement with, sometimes even an endorsement of, some of the evolutionary propositions of his own period as well as those relevant to the periods that provided the contexts for his historically or prehistorically located fictions. There are even instances when Golding appears to be sharing not only the evolutionary literary theorists' preference for examining human behaviour within a biological frame, but also their tendency to regard art as an innate propensity that constitutes an undeniable and definitive part of human nature. However, as illuminating as the field of evolutionary psychology initially proved in relation to Golding's work, the completed thesis reveals how an attempt to frame his work entirely in terms of evolutionary theorizing is unhelpfully reductionist. This is particularly the case with his later creations that seem to be written intentionally to challenge simplistic or reductionist templates of interpretation as a way of asserting the necessary complexity of literary texts if they are to be an adequate exploration or reflection of the complexity of life itself. Consequently, it became necessary to move beyond the limited scope of evolutionary theory and incorporate a range of views from diverse, yet consilient schools in contemporary psychology that can help account for the increasingly diverse spiritual, social and cultural realities characterizing his creations in general, and his later novels in particular.