Three lots of Lirutrin (measles-mumps-rubella live, attenuated virus vaccine) were evaluated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study involving 273 children. The vaccine consisted of a combination of Schwarz strain measles, Jeryl Lynn strain mumps, and Cendehill strain rubella vaccine viruses. The frequency of positive clinical findings was essentially the same in susceptible vaccinees, immune vaccinees, and placebo recipi ents ; indicating that the observed symptoms were not caused by the vaccine. Antibody assay of paired serum samples revealed that measles, mumps, and rubella seroconversion rates in triple susceptible vaccinees were excellent, ranging from 96 to 98 per cent with all three lots com bined. Results of this study show that Lirutrin trivalent vaccine is well tolerated and highly effective.


Delayed time to chemotherapy (TTC) is associated with decreased outcomes of breast cancer patients. Recently, studies suggested that the association might be subtype‐dependent and that TTC within 30 days should be warranted in patients with triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC). The aim of the current study is to determine if TTC beyond 30 days is associated with reduced 10‐year overall survival in TNBC patients. We identified all TNBC patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2014 who received adjuvant chemotherapy in the Netherlands. We distinguished between breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) vs. mastectomy given the difference in preoperative characteristics and outcomes. The association was estimated with hazard ratios (HRs) using propensity‐score matched Cox proportional hazard analyses. In total, 3,016 patients were included. In matched patients who underwent BCS (n = 904), 10‐year overall survival was favorable for patients with TTC within 30 days (84.4% vs. 76.9%, p = 0.001). Patients with TTC beyond 30 days were more likely than those with TTC within 30 days to die within 10 years after surgery (HR 1.69 (95% CI 1.22–2.34), p = 0.002). In matched patients who underwent mastectomy (n = 1,568), there was no difference in 10 years overall survival between those with TTC within or beyond 30 days (74.5% vs. 74.7%, p = 0.716), nor an increased risk of death for those with TTC beyond 30 days (HR 1.04 (95% CI 0.84–1.28), p = 0.716). Initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy beyond 30 days is associated with decreased 10 years overall survival in TNBC patients who underwent BCS. Therefore, timelier initiation of chemotherapy in TNBC patients undergoing BCS seems warranted.


Introduction: Study goals attempt to identify the variables most commonly associated with successful tweeted messages and determine which variables have the most influence in promoting exponential dissemination of information (viral spreading of the message) and trending (becoming popular) in the given disaster affected region. Methods: Part II describes the detailed extraction and triangulation filtration methodological approach to acquiring twitter data for the 2013 Hattiesburg Tornado. The data was then divided into two 48 hour windows before and after the tornado impact with a 2 hour pre-tornado buffer to capture tweets just prior to impact. Criteria-based analysis was completed for Tweets and users. The top 100 pre-Tornado and post-Tornado retweeted users were compared to establish the variability among the top retweeted users during the 4 day span. Results: Pre-Tornado variables that were correlated to higher retweeted rates include total user tweets (0.324), and total times message retweeted (0.530). Post-Tornado variables that were correlated to higher retweeted rates include total hashtags in a retweet (0.538) and hashtags #Tornado (0.378) and #Hattiesburg (0.254). Overall hashtags usage significantly increased during the storm. Pre-storm there were 5,763 tweets with a hashtag and post-storm there was 13,598 using hashtags. Conclusions: Twitter's unique features allow it to be considered a unique social media tool applicable for emergency managers and public health officials for rapid and accurate two way communication. Additionally, understanding how variables can be properly manipulated plays a key role in understanding how to use this social media platform for effective, accurate, and rapid mass information communication.


A new aeromagnetic survey of the Junction Magnetic Anomaly in northern New Zealand reveals that it is associated with up to 10 subparallel lineaments. The Junction Magnetic Anomaly delineates the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt, a remarkably linear though sigmoidally bent major boundary zone traceable through most of New Zealand, which separates terranes sutured onto the New Zealand Gondwana margin in late Mesozoic time. Modelling of the lineaments, in conjunction with a new review of structures along the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt throughout New Zealand, indicates that the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt in Auckland consists of a number of imbricate slices, most of which are likely to dip steeply to the east (i.e. overturned away from the former trench) and extend to considerable depth in the crust. The source bodies for the central high-amplitude magnetic lineaments are interpreted to be serpentinite shear or mélange zones, cutting a large lensoid body of ultramafic rocks, similar to those occurring elsewhere along the length of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt. Our data have revealed that a formerly postulated offset of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt in the region instead resembles a duplex or thrust imbricate-like bundling of shear zones. These shear zones were probably initiated as accretion thrusts, but complexities in their pattern indicate subsequent shearing, including 'backfolding' to an overturned attitude and possibly strike slip to produce the linear nature of the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt. The outer lineaments mostly mark accretion thrusts in the adjacent terranes. This study demonstrates that detailed aeromagnetic surveys can delineate the fine structure in ophiolite complexes and thereby give valuable insights into the effects of micro-continental collision on an accretionary margin.


Sepioteuthis lessoniana (the bigfin reef squid) and Uroteuthis duvauceli (the Indian squid) are two squid species found in largely overlapping regions in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. While both squids are important to fisheries throughout their ranges, very little taxonomic work has been done on either of them. Previous studies have led scientists to believe that S. lessoniana is actually a species complex (for example, there appear to be three species of "S. cf. lessoniana" in Japanese waters alone). The similarly broad geographic range of U. duvauceli suggests that this species could also harbor substantial cryptic genetic diversity. In order to evaluate genetic variation within these two species, regions of two mitochondrial genes—the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (16S) and the cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI)—from specimens caught in regions throughout the northern Indian and western Pacific Oceans were sequenced and compared. Sequences were obtained by extracting the DNA from tissue samples of both species, amplifying the DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), determining the sequences of both DNA strands using a automated DNA sequencer, and comparing sequences to one another to establish similarities and differences between geographic locations. To expand the significance of this study, we compared our sequences to data contributed by a collaborator (Samantha H. Cheng, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA) and data downloaded from GenBank (an online genetic database). Phylogeographic analyses showed that Sepioteuthis lessoniana from southern India represent two very distinct genetic lineages, suggesting that "S. cf. lessoniana" comprises at least two cryptic species in south Indian waters. For Uroteuthis duvauceli, specimens from Iran are genetically distinct from those in Thailand and Japan, which may support the hypothesis of several undescribed species within "U. cf. duvauceli". This study is the first attempt to assess genetic diversity across the ranges of these


Male behavior of Neotropical swarm-founding wasps has rarely been observed. The few published observations about male activities only describe their behavior during the short period they spend inside nests. In consequence, virtually nothing is known about what they do outside the colonies, and even less is known about mating behavior. This paper provides the first report of Epiponini males arriving at a colony with virgin females. The behavior of males and workers after queen removal was observed in one colony of Chartergellus communis located at a farm in Pedregulho, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The day after queen elimination, males were observed outside the nest. When males tried to enter the nest, workers aggressively attacked them. These attacks were similar to the defensive behavior used when foreign conspecifics attempt to enter the nest. The aggressive workers response and the absence of males before queen removal indicated that the males did not belong to the colony. Additionally, no fights were observed between individuals before queen removal. It is likely that foreign males arrived at the colony to mate with virgin females. Observations suggest that epiponine males are able to find nests with virgin females in mature stages of the colony cycle, and that mating can occur during different stages of the colony cycle.


Background:High opioid dosage has been associated with overdose, and clinical guidelines have cautioned against escalating dosages above 100 morphine-equivalent mg (MEM) based on the potential harm and the absence of evidence of benefit from high dosages. However, this 100 MEM threshold was chosen somewhat arbitrarily. Objective:To examine the association of prescribed opioid dosage as a continuous measure in relation to risk of unintentional opioid overdose to identify the range of dosages associated with risk of overdose at a detailed level. Methods:In this nested case-control study with risk-set sampling of controls, cases (opioid overdose decedents) and controls were identified from a population of patients of the Veterans Health Administration who were prescribed opioids and who have a chronic pain diagnosis. Unintentional fatal opioid analgesic overdose was measured from National Death Index records and prescribed opioid dosage from pharmacy records. Results:The average prescribed opioid dosage was higher (P<0.001) for cases (mean=98.1 MEM, SD=112.7; median=60, interquartile range, 30–120), than controls (mean=47.7 MEM, SD=65.2; median=25, interquartile range, 15–45). In a ROC analysis, dosage was a moderately good "predictor" of opioid overdose death, indicating that, on average, overdose cases had a prescribed opioid dosage higher than 71% of controls. Conclusions:A clear cut-point in opioid dosage to distinguish between overdose cases and controls was not found. However, lowering the recommended dosage threshold below the 100 MEM used in many recent guidelines would affect proportionately few patients not at risk for overdose while potentially benefitting many of those at risk for overdose.


Introduction. There are five county public libraries in Lithuania with specific functions in the state library system. A research project LiBiTOP was conducted to identify directions of their strategic divelopment. Case studies of each library were carried out to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Library user satisfaction with library service were part of these case studies. Goal. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the data of usage of library services and user satisfaction for outlining the directions of strategic development of the county public libraries in Lithuania. The data used for the purposes of this article is only part of a larger qualitative and quantitative data collected for the LiBiTOP project. Method. Statistical data of library activities was provided by libraries for the latest five years. User satisfaction was surveyed using a questionnaire in all five county public libraries in Lithuania. The questionnaire was based on other user satisfaction tools, especially, the SCONUL Satisfaction Survey for library services. Analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to make sense of two sets of data (usage statistics and user questionnaire) for each library case study. Results. Results show that the usage of county public library services and collections is inadequate. The percentage of target group reached is very low. User satisfaction is expressed as high and very high, however, the data depicting the actual use of services under evaluation reveal which library services are not used or demanded by users. Conclusions. A number of strategic development possibilities were outlined for the county public libraries in Lithuania using data of users' survey and usage statistics. They were used to formulate recommendations on further development of Lithuanian public libraries for the law-makers, governmental bodies, and library managers.


We derive general upper bounds on the distillable entanglement of a mixed state under one-way and two-way local operations and classical communication (LOCC). In both cases, the upper bound is based on a convex decomposition of the state into "useful" and "useless" quantum states. By "useful," we mean a state whose distillable entanglement is non-negative and equal to its coherent information (and thus given by a single-letter, tractable formula). On the other hand, "useless" states are undistillable, i.e., their distillable entanglement is zero. We prove that in both settings, the distillable entanglement is convex on such decompositions. Hence, an upper bound on the distillable entanglement is obtained from the contributions of the useful states alone, being equal to the convex combination of their coherent informations. Optimizing over all such decompositions of the input state yields our upper bound. The useful and useless states are given by degradable and antidegradable states in the one-way LOCC setting, and by maximally correlated and positive partial transpose (PPT) states in the two-way LOCC setting, respectively. We also illustrate how our method can be extended to quantum channels. Interpreting our upper bound as a convex roof extension, we show that it reduces to a particularly simple, non-convex optimization problem for the classes of isotropic states and Werner states. In the one-way LOCC setting, this non-convex optimization yields an upper bound on the quantum capacity of the qubit depolarizing channel that is strictly tighter than previously known bounds for large values of the depolarizing parameter. In the two-way LOCC setting, the non-convex optimization achieves the PPT-relative entropy of entanglement for both isotropic and Werner states.


Vortex flow filtration (VFF) was used to concentrate viruses and dissolved DNA from freshwater and seawater samples taken in Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahamas Bank. Recoveries of T2 phage and calf thymus DNA added to artificial seawater and concentrated by VFF were 72.8 and 80%, respectively. Virus concentrations determined by transmission electron microscopy of VFF-concentrated samples ranged from 3.4 x 10(7)/ml for a eutrophic Tampa Bay sample to 2.4 x 10(5) for an oligotrophic oceanic surface sample from the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Viruslike particles were also observed in a sample taken from a depth of 1,500 m in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Filtration of samples through Nuclepore or Durapore filters (pore size, 0.2 micron) prior to VFF reduced phage counts by an average of two-thirds. Measurement of dissolved-DNA content by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence in environmental samples concentrated by VFF yielded values only ca. 35% of those obtained for samples concentrated by ethanol precipitation (the standard dissolved-DNA method). However, ethanol precipitation of VFF-concentrated extracts resulted in an increase in measurable DNA, reaching 80% of the value obtained by the standard method. These results indicate that a portion of the naturally occurring dissolved DNA is in a form inaccessible to nucleases and Hoechst stain, perhaps bound to protein or other polymeric material, and is released upon ethanol precipitation. Viral DNA contents estimated from viral counts averaged only 3.7% (range, 0.9 to 12.3%) of the total dissolved DNA for samples from freshwater, estuarine, and offshore oligotrophic environments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Abstract Primary objective: To identify goal setting approaches used with people with acquired brain injury (ABI) in the working age range. Methods: Database searches were conducted in Medline (via Ovid) (1960–May 2014), CINAHL (1982–May 2014), Cochrane Library (1996–May 2014) and PsycINFO (1840–May 2014). Systematic scoping review of databases identified studies that described or evaluated goal setting approaches, which were classified as informal or formal. Methodological quality appraisal was completed with all studies that evaluated a goal setting approach. Key practice principles were extracted from evaluation studies using a content analytic approach to identify key themes. Results: Of the full text articles included (n = 86), 62 described a goal setting approach and 24 evaluated a goal setting approach. Formal goal setting approaches were used in 77% of studies. The most common practice principles extracted describe goal setting in ABI rehabilitation as being client-centred, collaborative, measurable and realistic and as incorporating proximal goals or providing a link to therapy. Conclusion: Use of formal goal setting approaches appears more prevalent in research studies compared with routine clinical practice. There is a strong theme in the literature that client-centredness and collaboration are necessary components of effective goal setting.


A simple scheme for asymmetry compensation in optical read channels is presented in this study. The simplicity and yet the effectiveness of this scheme makes it an excellent candidate for a practical implementation. The simulation results show that the use of such a compensator significantly reduces the bit-error rate (BER) at the detector output, especially for optical channels with severe asymmetry.


The new task lines and motion guides approaches to telerobotics are described. Motion guides is a new paradigm for teleoperation of a robot where the path is teleoperated rather than the robot, and the robot is constrained to follow the path. Continuous commands to the robot are only onedimensional: forward, back, or halt along the motion guide. Task lines have subtasks attached to motion guides. The task lines and motion guides have been implemented in a virtual reality environment to enable task description and execution in a natural, virtual reality graphics environment rather than via direct interaction with a command program. Subtasks are represented in the virtual reality environment by icons attached to the motion guides. The combination of task lines and motion guides is valuable for ground control of Space Station robots, which is the initial application for this technology.


ABSTRACT Irreversible processes play a major role in the description and prediction of atmospheric dynamics. In this paper, we present a variational derivation for moist atmospheric dynamics with rain process and subject to the irreversible processes of viscosity, heat conduction, diffusion, and phase transition. This derivation is based on a general variational formalism for nonequilibrium thermodynamics which extends Hamilton's principle to incorporate irreversible processes. It is valid for any state equation and thus also includes the treatment of the atmosphere of other planets. In this approach, the second law of thermodynamics is understood as a nonlinear constraint formulated with the help of new variables, called thermodynamic displacements, whose time derivative coincides with the thermodynamic force of the irreversible process. In order to cover the case of atmospheric dynamics, the original variational principle is extended in three directions in this paper: the inclusion of the rain process, the inclusion of phase changes, and the treatment of constraints. The variational formulation is written both in the Lagrangian and Eulerian descriptions and can be directly adapted to oceanic dynamics. The proposed variational formulation yields a general approach for the modelling of thermodynamically consistent models in atmospheric dynamics, thereby extending previous variational methods that were restricted to the reversible Hamiltonian case. We illustrate this point, by deriving a moist pseudoincompressible model with general equations of state and subject to the irreversible processes of viscosity, heat conduction, diffusion, and phase transition.


Horizontal temperature gradients are small in the tropical atmosphere, as a consequence of the smallness of the Coriolis parameter near the equator. This provides a strong constraint on both large-scale fluid dynamics and diabatic processes. This work is a step toward the construction of a balanced dynamical theory for the tropical circulation that is based on this constraint, and in which the diabatic processes are explicit and interactive. The authors first derive the basic fluid-dynamical scaling under the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation in a shallow water system with a fixed mass source representing an externally imposed heating. This derivation follows an earlier similar one by Held and Hoskins, but extends the analysis to the nonlinear case (though on an f plane), examines the resulting system in more detail, and presents a solution for an axisymmetric ''top-hat'' forcing. The system is truly balanced, having no gravity waves, but is different from other balance models in that the heating is included a priori in the scaling. The WTG scaling is then applied to a linear moist model in which the convective heating is controlled by a moisture variable that is advected by the flow. This moist model is derived from the Quasi-equilibrium Tropical Circulation Model (QTCM) equations of Neelin and Zeng but can be viewed as somewhat more general. A number of additional approximations are made in order to consider balanced dynamical modes, apparently not studied previously, which owe their existence to interactions of the moisture and flow fields. A particularly interesting mode arises on an f plane with a constant background moisture gradient. In the limit of low frequency and zero meridional wavenumber this mode has a dispersion relation mathematically identical to that of a barotropic Rossby wave, though the phase speed is eastward (for moisture decreasing poleward in the background state) and the propagation mechanism is quite different. This mode also has significant positive growth rate for low wavenumbers. The addition of the b effect complicates matters. For typical parameters, when b is included the direction of phase propagation is ambiguous, and the growth rate reduced, as the effects of the background gradients in moisture and planetary vorticity appear to cancel to a large degree. Possible relevance to intraseasonal variability and easterly wave dynamics is briefly discussed.


EQUIPPING MARRIED COUPLES TO ASSIST WITH PREMARITAL COUNSELING AT FIRST CHINESE BAPTIST CHURCH IN WALNUT, CALIFORNIA Jonathan Mark Szeto,D. Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Stuart W. Scott This ministry project was designed to equip married couples to assist with premarital counseling at First Chinese Baptist Church in Walnut, California. Chapter 1 outlines the purpose, goals, and plan for the project. It also provides a brief analysis of the congregation of First Chinese Baptist Church. Chapter 2 examines God's design for marriage from Genesis 1-2, Ephesians 5:21-33, and Titus 2:1-8. These three texts provide the foundation, structure, and support system for marriage. Chapter 3 presents an overview of the benefits of mentoring from a secular and Christian perspective. Chapter 4 documents the ministry project implementation, which involved teaching a fourteen session Sunday school class. Chapter 5 evaluates the ministry projects from a personal, theological, and practical perspective. It includes suggestions for implementation and concludes with personal reflection.


Osteoporosis related fractures are common in old age and over 40 % of the women above 50 years of age are at a risk of developing a fragility fracture. Biochemical markers of bone turnover (BTMs) have proven to be of some value in fracture predictability. There is also a correlation between rate of decrease of areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and incident fractures. In this series of studies, the correlation between BTMs and rate of bone loss (change of aBMD and ultrasound variables) over 5 years was investigated in a cohort of 75 year-old Swedish women. In addition, correlation of BTMs and bone metabolism, as assessed by scintigraphy, was tested in postmenopausal women. Finally, the effect of precision error on the longitudinal monitoring of change in aBMD was assessed in elderly women and in elderly men. There was a strong correlation between all bone turnover markers and the results of scintigraphy (total skeletal uptake of 99mTc-labelled methylene diphosphonate), with no significant difference between bone formation markers and bone resorption markers. BTMs correlated to the 5-year rate of change of aBMD, especially in the legs and the total body, and 5 year change in speed of ultrasound. When serial measurements of BTMs were analysed, the mean value of measurements correlated more strongly to aBMD change than single measurements, and women with constantly high levels of BTMs had higher rates of bone loss. Precision error of aBMD measurement by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry has an influence on the detection of individuals with aBMD change exceeding the least significant level. The calculated follow-up interval for detection of aBMD change beyond the least significant level in more than 50% of elderly individuals ranged from 332 years, and was dependent on the equipment used and the skeletal site tested. These results indicate that BTMs are associated with future bone loss although the correlations may not be strong enough to predict bone loss at individual level. DXA also has some limitations when used in longitudinal follow up of elderly individuals. DXA is therefore of limited use in the longitudinal monitoring ofbone loss. Further studies with novel bone turnover markers may improve the ability of BTMs to predict bone loss.


Subject motion can severely degrade MR images. A retrospective motion correction algorithm, Gradient‐based motion correction, which significantly reduces ghosting and blurring artifacts due to subject motion was proposed. The technique uses the raw data of standard imaging sequences; no sequence modifications or additional equipment such as tracking devices are required. Rigid motion is assumed.


LB-307 In previous study we showed synergistic effect of IL-6 related genes (IL-6 gene, IL-6 receptor gene and gp130 gene) on the induction of CTL against human cancer cells using CB17-SCID-PBL/hu experimental model. In this model IL-6 related genes were administered in vivo using adenovirus vector into CB17-SCID-PBL/hu mice bearing human cancers, and induced CTL activity against human tumor cells (lung cancer, stomach cancer, colon cancer) and significant prolonged survival of mice was observed.
 IL-2 receptor γ-chain disrupted NOD-SCID mice have little activity of NK cell. Therefore, the engraftment of human T cell in IL-2 receptor γ-chain disrupted NOD-SCID [IL-2R (-/-) SCID] is very stronger than that in CB17-SCID mice.
 IL-6 related genes were injected (i-p) into IL-2R (-/-) SCID-PBL/hu mice in vivo by using this experimental model [IL-2R(-/-)SCID mice given PBL from healthy volunteer and CESS human cancer cells]. Forty percent of spleen cells in these IL-2R (-/-) SCID-PBL/hu mice were CD3 + human T cell. Two weeks after the immunization with CESS cells, 50% of cytotoxic activity against CESS cells was detected in spleen cells at an E/T ratio of 10:1. The CTL (CD4 - CD8 + CD3 +) human T activity in the spleen cells from IL-2R(-/-) SCID-PBL/hu was extremely higher (more than 100 fold) than that from CB-17 SCID-PBL/hu.
 Furthermore, recombinant granulysin exerted strong cytotoxic activity in vitro against human lung cancer cell lines.
 To our knowledge, it is quite difficult to generate the invivo CTL against tumor associate antigens in human treated with several kinds of cancer vaccines (tumor associated antigens vaccines). Therefore, the recombinant granulysin and the IL-2R(-/-) SCID-PBL/hu model using gene encoding lung cancer associated antigens or peptides of tumor associated antigens might provide a powerful weapon for developing new cancer vaccines against human lung cancers. (Co-worker: Izumu Saito: Tokyo University)
 (Grant sponsor: Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare, Japan)


A study was undertaken to identify injurious events to users of public transport systems in Australia to assist in the UK project on Improving the Safety for Older Public Transport Users. Two analyses were undertaken comprising an analysis of surveillance data (the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset), collected at a number of participating trauma hospitals in the state of Victoria, and an analysis of National Coronial Information System (NCIS) data in Australia. For the VEMD database, details of injuries were recorded on attendance and the patients' account of the circumstances of the accident and causation factors were noted. Data from the NCIS involved a collection of coronial data on deaths reported to the Australian coroner from 2000 onwards and contains details on the police report of death, autopsy reports, toxicology reports and coronial findings.
The VEMD results showed that injury was more common among bus passengers than those on either trams or trains, especially when taking account of their relatively lower usage. The most common injuries from these incidents were to the head and face regions and upper and lower limbs. Chest injuries were especially problematic for older travellers: they sustained more multiple injuries especially those likely to be life-threatening than their younger counterparts. Getting on or off the vehicle accounted for almost two-thirds of all injury-causing events and the most common mechanisms involved a slip, trip or fall while getting on and off the vehicle or while onboard or running to catch public transport. Being hit, struck or crushed by another person or an object was also reported. Injuries to older public transport users appeared to be positively correlated with increasing age. The majority of those injured only required out-patient treatment at the participating hospital but this too was somewhat dependent on the participant's age. The NCIS results further showed that for fatal outcomes to public transport users, self-harm was a predominant cause and older people seemed less involved than younger ones, albeit young-older groups. Males predominated over females and most mechanisms involved external impacts. Trains were heavily over-involved as a vehicle type and there were high proportions of multiple injuries, especially those judged to be intentional. A range of possible interventions to prevent these events and mitigate injury severity was identified and a number of limitations in this study were noted. Several areas requiring further research were identified for future studies, in particular, the need for more definitive in-depth studies of public transport injurious incidents was especially noteworthy.


The quantum-mechanical calculation of chiroptical properties such as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) is an increasingly popular tool for establishing the absolute configuration of organic compounds, including natural products. However, this approach is often limited by conformational flexibility, which can be overcome by considering the solid crystalline state instead of solution. By knowing the solid-state geometry, one may employ it as the input structure for ECD calculations and then comparing this with the ECD spectrum measured on a microcrystalline sample. We report here the application of this solid-state ECD approach to establish the absolute configuration of three natural products, namely ximaolide A, sinulaparvalide A and B; all display pronounced flexibility and belong to two families of compounds with remarkable biological activity. The present configurational assignment may also be extended to several analogues whose absolute configurations have not yet been reported.


Dividing a water distribution network (WDN) into district metered areas (DMAs) is the first vital step towards pressure management and real losses reduction. However, other factors of water quality such as the water age must be taken into account while forming DMAs. The current study uses genetic algorithm (GA) optimization methods to achieve the desired WDN segmentation conditions in terms of: (a) reducing the operating pressure, thus reducing the system9s real losses; and (b) reducing the water age, thus improving the feeling of water freshness and preventing growth of disinfection byproducts. Techniques based on GA are a proven way to provide a very good solution to optimization problems. The solution is obtained using an objective function and setting boundary constraints. The formation of the objective functions is tested through Matlab9s optimization toolbox. The logic of the objective functions9 formulation for both the operating pressure and the water age optimization is recorded and analyzed. The method9s application utilized a sample network model assisted by EPANET and Bentley9s WaterGEMS software tools. The morphology of the DMAs is presented for each scenario, as well as the results of the network9s segmentation according to the operating pressure and the water age.


Automatization of gear shift and number selection in passenger cars with stepped transmission result in improvement of driving safety due to concentration of driver's attention on the conditions of the traffic [1, 3]. Besides, the car can be used by a disabled person. The most important benefit of the projected solution is associated with reduction in fuel consumption resulting from the more economical selection of the transmission ratio [4, 5, 7]. The gear number choice depends on many factors, for example: traffic conditions, temporum vehicle and engine rotational speed as well as engine load. It is very often the case that even a driver with experience can face problems with optimal decisions. Automatically controlled system with suitable algorithm can reduce fuel consumption and improve the vehicle drivability. The system named MeGSS (Mechatronic Gear Shift System) has been developed for this purpose. It was subsequently tested in a passenger car equipped with five-step gear box. In the car the MeGSS is responsible for engine start process and the gear shift procedure. In this system the manual (M) and automatic (A) gear ratio control is possible. The gear shift procedure is connected with electronic throttle control algorithm, which promote smooth power transmission [2, 6].


Town twinning is a European phenomenon that occurs at the local level. Municipalities across Europe are collaborating across borders, involving politicians, officials, professionals, organisations, and citizens. This study investigates town twinning in specific cases of the Netherlands and Denmark by means of interviews with twinning officers in two cases from each country. The aims of the study are threefold: firstly, we wish to establish what characterises town twinning in these specific cases; and secondly, we wish to ascribe possible differences to the respective governance structures; thirdly, we aim to demonstrate to what extent European identity is of relevance to town twinning. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews we have observed that there are seven features that are of influence to town twinning practise: (1) there are various actors involved in twinning, varying between countries; (2) adequate evaluation of activities is lacking; (3) the municipal budget can be considered a key instrument; (4) European citizenship is of no value to the four cases; (5) key activities (official and citizen meetings) are based on tradition; (6) activities are facilitated by close proximity of the other twin town; (7) bottom-up and top-down forces are co-dependent. We have also discovered that the difference between Danish cases and Dutch cases with regard to the primary actor within the municipalities can be related to the way governance is structured at the local level in Denmark and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the local authorities' dependency on national government has been discovered in the Dutch cases, even though regional forces steer municipal decisions in different ways. We may point into the direction of validity: as most town twinning activities are purely habitual and the added value is not assessed, there are serious validity issues with regard to the implementation of town twinning. Furthermore, the municipalities steer the continuation of town twinning while stating that bottom-up forces are ensuring its existence. It is recommended municipalities adopt measures for evaluation. The claimed irrelevance of European identity in town twinning has serious implications for the EU with regard to citizens' support. We suggest improved accommodation in financial resources.


Spherical nucleic acid (SNA) nanoparticle conjugates are a class of bionanomaterials that are extremely potent in many biomedical applications. Their unique ability to enter multiple mammalian cell types as single-entity agents arises from their novel three-dimensional architecture, which consists of a dense shell of highly oriented oligonucleotides chemically attached typically to a gold nanoparticle core. This architecture allows SNAs to engage certain cell surface receptors to facilitate entry. Here, we report studies aimed at determining the intracellular fate of SNAs and the trafficking events that occur inside C166 mouse endothelial cells after cellular entry. We show that SNAs traffic through the endocytic pathway into late endosomes and reside there for up to 24 h after incubation. Disassembly of oligonucleotides from the nanoparticle core is observed 16 h after cellular entry, most likely due to degradation by enzymes such as DNase II localized in late endosomes. Our observations point to these events being likely independent of core composition and treatment conditions, and they do not seem to be particularly dependent upon oligonucleotide sequence. Significantly and surprisingly, the SNAs do not enter the lysosomes under the conditions studied. To independently track the fate of the particle core and the fluorophore-labeled oligonucleotides that comprise its shell, we synthesized a novel class of quantum dot SNAs to determine that as the SNA structures are broken down over the 24 h time course of the experiment, the oligonucleotide fragments are recycled out of the cell while the nanoparticle core is not. This mechanistic insight points to the importance of designing and synthesizing next-generation SNAs that can bypass the degradation bottleneck imposed by their residency in late endosomes, and it also suggests that such structures might be extremely useful for endosomal signaling pathways by engaging receptors that are localized within the endosome.


Currently there exists little knowledge or work in phantoms for the in-vitro evaluation of photoplethysmography (PPG), and its' relationship with vascular mechanics. Such phantoms are needed to provide robust, basic scientific knowledge, which will underpin the current efforts in developing new PPG technologies for measuring or estimating blood pressure, blood flow and arterial stiffness, to name but a few. This work describes the design, fabrication and evaluation of finger tissue-simulating pulsatile phantoms with integrated custom vessels. A novel technique has been developed to produce custom polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) vessels by a continuous dip-coating process. This process can accommodate the production of different sized vessel diameters (1400–2500 µm) and wall thicknesses (56–80 µm). These vessels were embedded into a mould with a solution of PDMS and India ink surrounding them. A pulsatile pump experimental rig was set up to test the phantoms, where flow rate (1–12 L·min−1), heart rate (40–120 bpm), and total resistance (0–100% resistance clamps) could be controlled on demand. The resulting flow profiles approximates human blood flow, and the detected contact PPG signal (red and infrared) from the phantom closely resembles the morphology of in-vivo PPG waveforms with signal-to-noise ratios of 38.16 and 40.59 dB, for the red and infrared wavelengths, respectively. The progress made by this phantom development will help in obtaining new knowledge in the behaviour of PPG's under differing flow conditions, optical tissue properties and differing vessel stiffness.


beta-Adrenergic stimulation of ventricular heart cells results in the enhancement of two important ion currents that regulate the plateau phase of the action potential: the delayed rectifier potassium channel current (IK) and L-type calcium channel current (ICa). The temperature dependence of beta-adrenergic modulation of these two currents was examined in patch-clamped guinea pig ventricular myocytes at various steps in the beta-receptor/cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase pathway. External applications of isoproterenol and forskolin were used to activate the beta-receptor and the enzyme adenylate cyclase, respectively. Internal dialysis of cyclic 3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) or the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (CS), as well as the external addition of 8-chlorphenylthio cAMP (CPT-cAMP) was applied to increase intracellular levels of cAMP and CS. Isoproterenol-mediated increases in IK, but not ICa, were found to be very temperature dependent over the range of 20-37 degrees C. At room temperature (20-22 degrees C) isoproterenol produced a large (threefold) enhancement of ICa but had no effect on IK. In contrast, at warmer temperatures (30-37 degrees C) both currents increased in the presence of this agonist and the kinetics of IK were slowed at -30 mV. A similar temperature sensitivity also existed after exposure to forskolin, CPT-cAMP, cAMP, and CS, suggesting that this temperature sensitivity of IK may arise at the channel protein level. Modulation of IK during each of these interventions was accompanied by a slowing in IK kinetics. Thus, regulation of cardiac potassium channels but not calcium channels involves a temperature-dependent step that occurs after activation of the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase.


This work reports on the main physical processes that arise in the environment of the megacity from the "urban metabolism"—the complex interactions of the climate with the activities performed in the city and its built structure and texture—as well as on associat ed large-scale processes that generate hazards for the megacity's inhabitants. It is esti mated that in a few decades most of the world's population will live in urban centers. Both the growth of megacities and climate change will increase the vulnerability of huge sectors of the population to climatic consequences of the urban metabolism. These in clude urban heat islands, pollution, and extreme weather events such as heat waves and floods. Developing policies to mitigate these threats will require integrating scientific knowledge with management skills, communication among cities about effective ap proaches, and taking into account residents' needs for health and the capacity to live safely.


In this essay I argue that in order to fully challenge the nationalism assumed in many approaches to Asian Canadian studies we must consider the roles of francophone Asian Quebecois authors and their works. These authors often find themselves at a cultural impasse by living and working in the province of Quebec—a quasi-nation-state animated by a competing sovereign impulse, and an entity that deliberately and continuously interrupts Canadian nationalism as a whole. I ask: what does it mean to be a francophone Asian Quebecois writer living and working in the language of a competing nationalism, and particularly a competing nationalism that defines itself overtly in terms of language but inferentially through an exclusionary Europeanness that harkens back to French settlements and the mythologies of white labourers, explorers, and settlers. I turn to Kim Thuy's Ru (2009) and Ook Chung's La Triologie Coreenne (2012) first to interrupt the anglo-centricism of Asian Canadian literary studies and second to consider the ways that the theme of language appears in notably ambivalent ways. I draw on images of in-betweeness and themes of colonialism in both novels arguing that these representations parallel the ambivalent and precarious statuses of francophone Asian Quebecois writers, both within the framework of Asian Canadian literature and Quebecois' competing nationalism. Put another way, while these writers disturb Canadian nationalism by speaking the language of a competing nationalism, they also recognize the ways in which they are never fully included in the sovereigntist project despite the fact that they are writing in French. Thus, by writing in French, these authors disrupt one nationalist project while also exposing the limitations (and contradictions) of another.


In India, the research on solar cells is b
e-
ing pursued in various scientific labor
a-
tories and industries; however, there is
no facility for the validation of s
o
l
ar cell
efficiency. Globally there are three re
c-
ognized ce
n
ters available for validation
of solar cell efficiency, namely
 National
Renewable Energy Laboratory
(USA),
Fraunhofer
Physikalisch
-
Technische
Bundesanstalt
(Germany) and
Institute of
Advanced Indus
trial Science and Tec
h-
nology
 (Japan).
In order to validate the
e
f
ficiency of the fabricated solar cells,
these have to be sent to one of the
above
-
mentioned centers and this process is not
only e
x
pensive but also time consuming.
For the validation of e
f
fic
iency of such
devices
,
 it requires calibration of various
individual parameters involved in mea
s-
urement of efficiency, such as, light
source, cu
r
rent/voltage source
-
meter,
temper
a
ture sensors and active area of
device.


The anticancer drug adriamycin (ADR) induces severe nonselective glomerular proteinuria in rats. The proliferation of the glomerular mesangium in chronic ADR nephrosis suggests a disturbed metabolism of extracellular matrix proteins. In the present study the structural protein fibronectin was analyzed by immunological methods in urine and plasma in two rat strains after a single injection of 5 mg of ADR/kg b.wt. After ADR administration the excretion of 220 kd-plasma fibronectin, identified by its electrophoretic mobility and Western blotting, increased. This was confirmed by quantitative measurement (ELISA) of total urinary fibronectin (ADR-treated Munich Wistar Frömter rats: 85.4 +/- 49.5 ng/hr, N = 31; controls: 1.7 +/- 0.7 ng/hr, N = 26; day 7 after ADR injection). Control urines contained distinct fragments of fibronectin with a molecular weight range of 40 to 60 kd. It is suggested that these fragments did not originate from plasma inasmuch as only little correspondence between the fibronectin patterns of urine and plasma was found, and also because in ADR-treated rats the excretion of the fibronectin fragments decreased from day 4 of ADR administration. The data suggest that the urinary fibronectin fragments are released from cellular fibronectin during the normal catabolism of the glomerular extracellular matrices, and that ADR interferes in the metabolism of matrix components. Only as a consequence of an enhanced glomerular permeability is plasma fibronectin excreted in ADR-treated rats.


This paper deals with the regularization problem raised by the inversion of GPR radargram. The determination of subsurface conductivity and permittivity profiles leads to Laplace transform inversions for real data. A very recent method to solve this severely ill-posed problem is presented and evaluated using a standard 2D FDTD numerical GPR model for multilayered media.


Purpose: The aim of the present study was to detect the expression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and multi-drug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1) in retinoblastoma tumors, and analyze the relationship between its expression, the clinico-pathological features and recurrence. Methods: P-gp and MRP1 expression in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded retinoblastoma bearing ocular tissue sections from 26 patients were studied by immunohistochemistry assay, and the results were analyzed in correlation with clinico-pathological parameters. Patients were classified into two groups according to their treatment: with (n=16) and without (n=10) preoperative chemotherapy. Results: Six (23%) and 12 (46%) tumors were P-gp and MRP1 positive respectively. Three out of five tumors that presented P-gp had tumor invasion while MRP1 was positive in four tumors with invasion. Seven patients showed recurrence during follow-up time that P-gp and MRP1 were expressed in three and four of them, respectively. There was no correlation between protein expression and clinical outcomes as recurrence in this study. Conclusion: MRP1 and P-gp were intrinsically expressed in our study population. However, the results did not demonstrate significant association between P-gp and/or MRP1 positive expression and unresponsiveness to chemotherapy in Iranian retinoblastoma patients.


The most important industry in sustainable tourism is ecotourism that contains a deep relationship with the sustainable development. Additionally, majority of countries focus on this connection. In this paper, reviewing theoretical foundations of the sustainable development and ecotourism, using experts' opinions and analyzing the current status of Azerbaijan, Iran has been addressed according to tourist areas in the form of SWOT Table and by assessing all ecotourism and sustainable development indices a relationship between these concepts has been discussed. The conceptual model of the paper is based on "analytical-descriptive" method that has been examined by collecting information and theoretical data from scientific, documented bases, literature study and the research observations. The results indicate a shortage of water resources, ecological changes, environmental pollution, institutions' ignorance, lack of urban services and infrastructure, illegal hunting and low cultural level of people in maintaining and finally increasing rural to urban migration and environmental degradation. Keywords: Ecotourism; Sustainability; Azerbaijan Iran; SWOT model


A mobile Ad Hoc network (MANET) may be a wireless network that doesn't consider any fastened infrastructure (i.e., routing facilities, such as wired networks and access points), and whose nodes should coordinate among themselves to see property and routing. the standard way of protective networks isn't directly applicable to MANETs. Many conventional security solutions are ineffective and inefficient for the highly dynamic and resourceconstrained environments wherever Edouard Manet use may be expected. Since bar techniques are ne'er enough, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), that monitor system activities and detect intrusions, are typically accustomed complement alternative security mechanisms. the way to discover intrusions effectively and expeditiously on this highly dynamic, distributed and resource-constrained setting may be a challenging analysis drawback. during this paper, we tend to investigate the employment of evolutionary computation techniques for synthesizing intrusion detection programs on MANETs. we tend to evolve programs to discover the subsequent attacks against MANETs: dropping attacks and power consumption attack. The planned system may be a novel design that uses knowledge-based intrusion discovering techniques to detect the attacks that an antagonist will perform against the routing cloth of mobile impromptu networks. Mobile unexpected Networks (MANETs) are vulnerable to various node misbehaviours attributable to their distinctive options, such as highly dynamic topology, rigorous power constraints and error-prone transmission media. important analysis efforts have been created to deal with the matter of misbehaviour detection. However, very little analysis work has been done to differentiate reallymalicious behaviours from the faulty behaviours. each the malicious behaviours and therefore the faulty behaviours are typically equally treated as misbehaviours with none additional investigation by most of the traditional misbehaviour detection mechanisms. during this paper, we propose and develop a policy-based malicious peer detection mechanism, within which context data, like communication channel standing, buffer standing, and transmission power level, is collected so wont to confirm whether or not the misbehaviour is likely a results of malicious activity or not. Simulation results illustrate that the policy-based malicious peer detection mechanism is able to differentiate malicious peers from faulty peers with high confidence. Moreover, the mechanism converges to an even view of malicious nodes amongst all the nodes with a restricted communication overhead.


HISTORY: An otherwise healthy 20-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with obstruction of the oesophagus by a bolus after eating a chicken meal. These symptoms continued over the past 12 years and required multiple interventions at different hospitals. There was no history of any other previous illness and both the physical examination and routine laboratory tests were unremarkable. INVESTIGATIONS: Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) revealed segmental circular trachea-like constrictions of the esophagus and two stenoses at 35 cm and 40 cm. Histopathology of several biopsies favored the diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis. TREATMENT AND FURTHER COURSE: After initial balloon dilatation and dilatation with a Savary bougie the patient was put on systemic steroids and montelukast (a leukotriene receptor antagonist). The symptoms subsequently disappeared. CONCLUSION: Eosinophilic esophagitis, a unique form of esophageal inflammatory disease, consists of dense eosinophilic infiltration of the epithelium and is associated with various macroscopic findings, such as the rare but striking circular trachea-like constrictions, nodules, plaques and other forms of constriction of the esophagus. Several lines of evidence favor an allergic cause. The leading symptom is recurrent dysphagia after solid foods, sometimes accompanied by heart-burn. Medical treatment consists of topical or systemic administration of steroids and/or montelukast. A history of chronic dysphagia after eating solid food, combined with endoscopic findings atypical for reflux disease is highly suspicious of eosinophilic esophagitis in the differential diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease in adults.


We propose a new approach to analyze economic shocks. Our new procedure identifies economic shocks as exogenous shifts in a function; hence, we call them "functional shocks." We show how to identify such shocks and how to trace their effects in the economy via VARs using "VARs with functional shocks" and "functional local projections." Using our new procedure, we address the crucial question of studying the effects of monetary policy by identifying monetary policy shocks as shifts in the whole term structure of government bond yields in a narrow window of time around monetary policy announcements. Our approach sheds new light on the effects of monetary policy shocks, both in conventional and unconventional periods, and shows that traditional identification procedures may miss important effects. Our new procedure has the advantage of identifying monetary policy shocks during both conventional and unconventional monetary policy periods in a unified manner and can be applied more generally to other economic shocks.


We report on the design, fabrication, packaging and characterization of a 4-channel semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) flip-chip mounted on a photonic carrier. Significant loss occurs across high radix silicon photonic switching platforms due to multiple switching stages, waveguide crossings and I/O coupling elements. To overcome these losses, we propose the hybrid integration of a III-V SOA onto a photonic switch carrier to realize a gain neutral switch. Custom four channel cleaved facet SOA variants were designed with unique mounting structures for precise vertical alignment. A photonic carrier test site was designed with unique SiN waveguide coupling structures, vertical reference stops, a trench with metal lines and AuSn solder bumps for device bonding. Individual SOAs were attached to photonic carriers using a precision flip-chip bonder. All assemblies exhibited good bond strength and no line-line shorts were observed. The SOA and assembled test sites were characterized in the 1.5- 1.6 μm wavelength range. A net SOA/photonic carrier optical gain of greater than 10 dB was observed.


Canadian institutions of higher education are grappling with decolonization, particularly with how to move beyond decolonial and settler colonial theory and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action to practical and specific strategies for meaningful change in the classroom. To that end, this paper offers a case study of a settler instructor's process of decolonization in a popular music analysis course and describes a variety of methods for decolonizing course design and classroom activities. A discussion of how to apply and adapt the author's methods for different courses, programs, and local contexts leads to critical reflection on the impact of these changes on student learning and their efficacy in terms of decolonization itself.


The French philosopher of science Gilles-Gaston Granger (1992) explains that in the domain of Economics we must take into account three aspects of economic rationality if we want to achieve a correct and complete analysis. According to him, these aspects are the epistemic (or theoretical), the technical and the axiological (or practical). Epistemic rationality refers to the logic involved in the description or knowledge of facts; technical rationality refers to the rationale of the adequation between means and ends; and axiological rationality refers to the reasonability and coherence of the ends. In recent times, we have observed a growing conscience about the relevance of the axiological rationality for economics, which had been almost completely forgotten during the last Century. Anthony Atkinson in an article suggestively entitled "Economics as a Moral Science" (2009: 794) claims that economists have never ceased in making welfare statements, whereas not limiting themselves to positive statements. One of the examples he put is the Human Development Index (HDI), constructed and published by the UN Development Program (UNDP) in its Annual Development Report (HDR). The HDI has epistemic, technical and axiological aspects. There is a logical way of knowing and building the Index as well as a better way of achieving the decided ends, and also a (sometimes "under-defined", "under-argued" or hidden) rationale for defining these ends and their relative weights. The HDI is then an occasion to discuss whether economists, should intervene –and how to do so– in the definition of the ends or if, à la Robbins, they should limit to indicate the best way of seeking the ends decided in other stages.


We have purified the human low molecular mass cysteine proteinase inhibitor in good yield from amniotic fluid, using ultrafiltration through 100-kDa and 1-kDa cut-off filters, chromatography on Ultrogel AcA 54, and affinity chromatography on alkylated papain-agarose. Approximately 1-4 mg/l of this inhibitor are present in amniotic fluid. The purified inhibitor had an apparent molecular mass of 10.5-12 kDa, as judged by its electrophoretic behavior. Amino acid analysis showed it to be rich in acidic and aliphatic residues and in cysteine. No carbohydrate side-chains could be demonstrated. The purified inhibitor inhibited papain, ficin, cathepsins B, C, and H, the cathepsin B-like enzyme from B16 melanoma cells, and a bovine chromaffin granule enkephalin-converting activity. No inhibition of Ca2-dependent neutral cysteine proteinase, serine- or metallo-proteinases was seen. Analysis of the purified inhibitor by isoelectric focusing revealed 7 major bands with pI values of 7.95, 7.0, 6.7, 6.55, 6.25, 5.5, and 5.2, all of which inhibited papain.


In project alliancing the construction project owner and service providers assume joint responsibility for project planning and construction through a common organization; the parties also share project-related risks. That allows integrating a wide range of expertise in support of successful implementation of demanding ventures. In order to fully exploit alliancing, the key service providers must be involved in project planning from an early stage which often makes use of the full-price criterion in the selection of service providers questionable. On the other hand, selection involving no price criteria leaves it uncertain whether the project will be profitable or not. Thus, it is not immediately clear how the price aspect should be integrated in the criteria of alliance team selection. This publication hopes to increase the understanding of the appropriateness of using price factors by delving into the practices and experiences of the Australian infrastructure sector. The presently used form of project alliance is an Australian innovation which is why it is justified to chart their experiences. The presentation begins with a review of the Australian guidelines for team selection and the underlying motives. Research related to the subject and the spirited debate in the sector are also delved into. Admittedly, the discussion and writing have focused on the comparison of so-called extreme models – i.e. selection based on full price and selection that totally excludes price. Consequently, the conducted discussions are included in the publication as a frame of reference although the main aim of the work is to seek solutions in-between these extremes. The essential goal of the publication is to determine whether it is possible to find some intermediate forms that would integrate the good features of both extreme models so that projects could be carried out based on both broad-based competition and good, creative collaboration. An answer to the question was sought by trying to find and describe the procedural solutions of those Australian projects where team selection is based on price tenders for some cost items or parts in addition to capability assessment (i.e. partial price selection). These items do not cover the total project price leaving part of the project unpriced. An estimate for the part in question is prepared on the basis of offered component prices and/or the owner's own cost-estimate items to determine the reference price. Three partial price (price component) selection projects will be described in more detail. Application of this method has so far been scarce. Experiences from the projects have, however, been for the most part encouraging and support the validity of partial price selection. Yet, it must be remembered that different projects call for different selection methods derived from project properties and boundary conditions of implementation. Use of price components may also make a project considerably more challenging unless the content of components is defined clearly enough.


The fiscal burden in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries more than doubles the overall taxation level in Latin American countries. In terms of revenue composition, OECD countries collect a larger share from direct taxes; there is also a greater component from social contributions. During the nineties, the revival of economic growth and the design of better tax systems enabled fiscal revenues to recover strongly, reaching an increase of 3 points of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). However, this effort has not been sufficient, considering the dynamics of public debt in an environment of high interest rates and low growth. In this paper, the main trends of tax burden and composition of tax revenues in Latin American countries are described, and then the short-term tax-gap, as OECD has defined it, are calculated for 18 countries. The reversal of economic cycle makes impossible to fill this gap in the short term without significant macroeconomic costs. Some room of manoeuvre, namely a cyclical safety margin, has to be considered. The magnitude of this cyclical safety margin is very significant, because of the volatility of output and the high value of tax elasticities, despite the relatively minor size of public sector when compared to OECD standards. If fiscal policy is more efficient when letting operate automatic stabilisers, then second generation" macro fiscal rules will have to address on the issue of the pronounced pro-cyclical bias that defined fiscal policies in the nineties in many Latin American countries."


The S.cerevisiae Ino80 chromatin remodelling complex is known to be involved in the DNA damage response at double strand breaks and has more recently also been shown to play a role at stalled replication forks. The many functions of this remodellor are likely to be mediated by different subunits of the complex. Interestingly, strains harbouring a deletion of the IES6 subunit are hypersensitive to hydroxyurea and fail to stabilise stalled replication forks, phenocopying strains lacking the catalytic subunit, INO80, indicating a role for Ies6 within the complex's response to DNA damage. Although largely uncharacterised, Ies6 contains a YL1 domain, which is a putative DNA binding domain. In vitro DNA binding gel shift assays with recombinant Ies6 showed that this protein does possess DNA binding activity. Recombinant Ies6 bound both Holliday Junction and Y-fork DNA, as well as linear duplex DNA, displaying a small but reproducible preference for the two branch-structured DNAs. Recombinant Ies6 containing mutations in the protein's C-terminal YL1 domain were generated and a quadruple mutant, ies6-T119A/K122A/S127A/T129A, exhibited significantly reduced DNA binding activity compared to the wild-type protein. The importance of the DNA binding activity was investigated in vivo, and, in contrast to the wild-type strain, the DNA binding mutant of IES6 failed to complement the deletion strain's HU-hypersensitivity. Interestingly, overexpression of Top3 or Cdk1, but not Top2 or Clb2 also rescued the ies6 deletion strain's HU-hypersensitivity to near wild-type levels. Further investigation revealed that Ies6 is also required for the maintenance of correct cellular ploidy, as in the absence of IES6, cellular ploidy is seen to increase prior to a drift towards unregulated ploidy and aneuploidy, which are hallmarks of cancer. Notably, the protein's ability to bind DNA correlated with its ability to maintain cellular ploidy. We therefore propose that the Ino80 chromatin remodelling complex Ies6 subunit plays an important role in the maintenance of genomic stability.


Cancer Metastasis
Preventing cancer metastasis is a major challenge, but the discovery of potential new metastasis suppressor genes may help guide new therapies. Ozturk et al. now show that relative to nonmetastatic cells, metastatic breast cancer cell lines express lower amounts of the protein serum deprivation response (SDPR). When the authors overexpressed SDPR in metastatic breast cancer cells, the cells migrated poorly in culture, and when injected into mice, they showed a reduced ability to disseminate to the lung. Analysis of gene expression data sets indicated a loss of SDPR in multiple tumor types. The gene encoding SDPR appears to be silenced by an epigenetic mechanism: DNA methylation of its promoter.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10.1073/pnas.1514663113 (2016).


The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 is the most comprehensive regulatory reform undertaken of the U.S. financial services industry and financial markets since the Great Depression. Much has already been written about this Act. However, given its enormous complexity and sheer size, many questions still remain. The Act is littered with ambiguities. In addition, significant provisions of Dodd-Frank delegate to regulatory bodies such as the SEC and CFTC the responsibility to issue implementing rules and regulations. This article focuses on the provisions of Dodd-Frank that impact the world of structured finance including the regulation of derivatives markets, swap dealers and major swap participants; the new clearing requirements; the changes to the securitization market; and the limitations being imposed on the derivatives activities of depository institutions. The article outlines what we already know about these provisions of Dodd-Frank. More importantly, the article discusses what we still don't know and what still remains ambiguous under the Act and outlines the rules and regulations that must still be issued under the Act to address these unknowns and the ambiguities.


This paper examines legal practice, legal scholarship, ethics and politics from the viewpoint of an academic who in his lifetime has, besides having been a professor, been a vice-rector, a civil servant, an advocate general and an anti-corruption officer.. As a vice-rector he acknowledged the essence of decision making: based on intuition kept in check by deliberation. As a civil servant he learned to involve considerations of general interest in the decision making process. As an advocate general he tried to combine assistance to the Court with assistance to the legal community in a multicultural and pluralist European environment. As an "anti-corruption" officer he used his judicial experience to advance reform in the EC Commission. As an academic he sought to promote the "bottom up" approach of comparative law: from judicial (and legislative) solutions to general principles which the EU member states have in common.


Striga uses a hypersensitive receptor The strigolactone hormones govern plant growth and development. A nasty parasitic weed, Striga, senses traces of these hormones to identify its targets. After functionally characterizing several strigolactone receptors from Striga, Toh et al. solved the crystal structure of one that is especially sensitive. The structure shows an unexpectedly large ligand-binding pocket, which may explain how Striga manages to sense picomolar concentrations of the range of strigolactones. Science, this issue p. 203 Features of the ligand-binding pocket explain how a parasitic plant receptor is exquisitely sensitive to host plant hormones. Strigolactones are naturally occurring signaling molecules that affect plant development, fungi-plant interactions, and parasitic plant infestations. We characterized the function of 11 strigolactone receptors from the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica using chemical and structural biology. We found a clade of polyspecific receptors, including one that is sensitive to picomolar concentrations of strigolactone. A crystal structure of a highly sensitive strigolactone receptor from Striga revealed a larger binding pocket than that of the Arabidopsis receptor, which could explain the increased range of strigolactone sensitivity. Thus, the sensitivity of Striga to strigolactones from host plants is driven by receptor sensitivity. By expressing strigolactone receptors in Arabidopsis, we developed a bioassay that can be used to identify chemicals and crops with altered strigolactone levels.


.Background
Dietary assessment is of paramount importance for public health monitoring. Currently in the
UK, the population's diets are examined by the National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling
Programme (NDNS RP). In the survey, diet is assessed by a four-day paper-based dietary
diary, with accompanying interviews, anthropometric measurements and blood and urine
sampling. However, there is growing interest worldwide in the potential for new technologies
to assist in data collection for assessment of dietary intake.
Published literature reviews have identified the potential of new technologies to improve
accuracy, reduce costs, and reduce respondent and researcher burden by automating data
capture and the nutritional coding process. However, this is a fast-moving field of research,
with technologies developing at a rapid pace, and an updated review of the potential
application of new technologies in dietary assessment is warranted. This review was
commissioned to identify the new technologies employed in dietary assessment and critically
appraise their strengths and limitations in order to recommend which technologies, if any,
might be suitable to develop for use in the NDNS RP and other UK population surveys.
Objectives
The overall aim of the project was to inform the Department of Health of the range of new
technologies currently available and in development internationally that have potential to
improve, complement or replace the methods used in the NDNS RP. The specific aims were:
to generate an itinerary of new and emerging technologies that may be suitable; to
systematically review the literature and critically appraise new technologies; and to
recommend which of these new technologies, if any, would be appropriate for future use in
the NDNS RP. To meet these aims, the project comprised two main facets, a literature
review and qualitative research.
Literature review data sources
The literature review incorporated an extensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature.
The following sources were searched: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR),
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), Web of Science Core Collection,
Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process, Embase, NHS EED (Economic Evaluation
Database), National Cancer Institute (NCI) Dietary Assessment Calibration/Validation
Register, OpenGrey, EPPI Centre (TRoPHI), conference proceedings (ICDAM 2012,
ISBNPA 2013, IEEE Xplore, Nutrition Society Irish Section and Summer Meetings 2014),
recent issues of journals (Journal of Medical Internet Research, International Journal of
Medical Informatics), grants registries (ClinicalTrials.gov, BBSRC, report), national surveys,
and mobile phone application stores. In addition, hand-searching of relevant citations was
performed. The search also included solicitation of key authors in the field to enquire about
Making the best use of new technologies in the NDNS: a review
4
as-yet unpublished articles or reports, and a Bristol Online Survey publicised via social
media, society newsletters and meetings.
Literature review eligibility criteria
Records were screened for eligibility using a three-stage process. Firstly, keyword searches
identified obviously irrelevant titles. Secondly, titles and abstracts were screened against the
eligibility criteria, following which full-text copies of papers were obtained and, in the third
stage of screening, examined against the criteria. Two independent reviewers screened
each record at each stage, with discrepancies referred to a third reviewer.
Eligibility criteria were pre-specified and agreed by the project Steering Group (Section 1.6).
Eligible records included: studies involving technologies, new to the NDNS RP, which can be
used to automate or assist the collection of food consumption data and the coding of foods
and portion sizes, currently available or beta versions, public domain or commercial; studies
that address the development, features, or evaluation of new technology; technologies
appropriate for the requirements of the NDNS RP in terms of nutritional analysis, with
capacity to collect quantifiable consumption data at the food level; primary sources of
information on a particular technology; and journal articles published since the year 2000 or
grey literature available from 2011 onwards. The literature search was not limited to Englishlanguage
publications, which are included in the itinerary, although data were not extracted
from non-English studies.
Literature synthesis and appraisal
New technologies were categorised into eleven types of technology, and an itinerary was
generated of tools falling under each category type. Due to the volume of eligible studies
identified by the literature searches, data extraction was limited to the literature focussing on
selected exemplar tools of five technology categories (web-based diet diary, web-based 24-
hour recall, handheld devices (personal digital assistants and mobile phones), nonautomated
cameras to complement traditional methods, and non-automated cameras to
replace traditional methods). For each category, at least two exemplars were chosen, and all
studies involving the exemplar were included in data extraction and synthesis. Exemplars
were selected on the basis of breadth of evidence available, using pre-specified criteria
agreed by the Steering Group.
Data were extracted by a single reviewer and an evidence summary collated for each
exemplar. A quality appraisal checklist was developed to assess the quality of validation
studies. The checklist was piloted and applied by two independent reviewers. Studies were
not excluded on the basis of quality, but study quality was taken into account when judging
the strength of evidence. Due to the heterogeneity of the literature, meta-analyses were not
performed.
References were managed and screened using the EPPI Reviewer 4 systematic review
software. EPPI Reviewer was also used to extract data.


Towards a New Understanding of Sraffa examines the legacy of Piero Sraffa by approaching his ideas in a new light, thanks to the insights gained from the opening of the archive collection of his papers at the Wren Library (Trinity College, Cambridge, UK). It provides a refreshing perspective into Sraffa's approach to money, the role of equilibrium and of the surplus in economic theory.
The study is backed by previously unpublished, original, archival material. It provides an appraisal of the discontinuities in the path leading to the publication in 1960 of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities since its conception in the late 1920s. It unlocks significant new perspectives about the connection of Sraffa to Marx regarding Standard commodity, the macro-social and monetary theory of exploitation, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, and the transformation of values into prices of production. It also offers insights on how Sraffa dealt with money in the various phases of his thinking, and explores his ideas about the role of equilibrium and of the surplus in economic theory. It concludes with an account of some recent Sraffa scholarship and points towards future research avenues.


The increasing environmental concerns at the world scale have pointed out to the unsustainability of present development and growth models as well as its unforeseen consequences such as the chaotic sprawl in space, the fragmentation of territorial units, or the issue of human security. Nowhere else than in the emergent world cities' does the imperative of reconciling national development, metropolitan expansion and sustainable production models appear more vividly. Here impressive population increases will be absorbed by cities that are and will undisputedly remain the main driver for economic growth. Addressing the issue of sustainable metropolitan development in its most visible form (emissions, access to important utilities like water or electricity, or urban sprawl) is a vital necessity for a substantial share of cities in the South. Yet several hurdles impair the achievement of a holistic model of green growth.

The capacity of public, corporate and social actors to come about consensual development models designs that address these urgent demands pose the problem in terms of expertise buildup and leadership –the steering of development- as well as in financial terms –how to arbitrate between mitigation costs and competitiveness. Metropolitan development therefore has to include indicators of sustainability dependent on a consistent –and readable –model of green growth. Also, specific decision-making formats that remain vertical for the most part reveal entrenched interests between the State and powerful non-State actors that more often than not become crucial veto players when it comes to a revision of preexistent operational models. The integration of Asian metropolis to regional value-chains and their impact on national development plans (in the form of Special Economic Zones, high-added value technological corridors) reveal the weight of transnational capital as a decisive factor for change. As a direct consequence, transformations become erratic and the temporality of reform appears to lag behind ever growing necessities.

Our project aims at studying systems of action that contribute to the emergence of green strategies in rapidly developing metropolis in Southeast Asia, namely Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Manila (Philippines). These cities are confronted to the simultaneous necessity to (i) adapt manufacturing infrastructural development to sustainability principles (transports, energy accessibility), (ii) improve social standards through spatial redistribution (segregation, more efficient layout of manufacturing and residential areas) and (iii) ensure the economic competitiveness at both the national and international level (first-class services, state of the art regulatory frameworks for investors, and reinforcement of strategic economic sectors). Our research also wishes to explore the leverage capacity of these cities to promote green growth models autonomous enough as to reflect the operational concerns of metropolitan entities as well as to take into account national developmental constraints and orientations. Furthermore, and irrespective of this double constraint of green growth strategies, our research wishes to explore to what extent existing programs are able to interrelate these metropolitan concerns and solutions to neighboring territories –within or outside metropolitan regions- and other cities at a national and regional scale.

The selected approach to the subject combines a technical economic study (economic growth, financial flows, manufacturing transformations and innovations) and a socio-political study of systems of action and actor's interactions. The proposed methodology combines several in-depth case studies and a systematization ambition that would lead to the development of a model of sustainable metropolitan development in emerging countries.

The project stands out in its ambition to combine the study of both productive models transformations and their socio-political dimensions, two elements that are usually addressed from a separate perspective. The adjustment of urban and environmental policies to these major challenges presupposes a precise understanding of interdependencies between developmental, urban and financial choices and the transformation of metropolis growth models.


Raman spectroscopy was used for analysis of phase transformations and residual stress in machined silicon. Wear debris from dicing of silicon was scanned with a Raman spectrometer. Recorded spectra manifest the presence of amorphous Si, hexagonal phase (Si-IV), bc8 phase (Si-III) and pristine Si-I under residual stress. On surfaces of diced wafers as well as lapped silicon wafers, the r8 phase (Si-XII) was detected in addition to the above phases. The composition of phases in diced cross sections of silicon wafers differs dramatically between high and low speed cuts. The quantification of these phases was attempted by curve fitting each spectrum with corresponding peaks of each phase. Subsequently, relative intensity maps of specific phases were generated. Thus, Raman spectroscopy studies of machined surfaces demonstrated metallization of Si under a variety of machining conditions including lapping, grinding, scratching, dicing and slicing. All metastable phases of silicon disappear after etching and polishing of respective wafers. No evidence of phase transformations was found on a quartz-damaged silicon wafer surface. Residual stress having a characteristic distribution was observed in this case.


We consider the performance of cryptocurrencies in the light of fundamental asset pricing and portfolio theory. We observe how a traditional focus on reducing asset return volatility with Markowitz diversification actually misses the significance of such volatility for growth. The recognition that asset growth is more likely subject to exponential or continuously-compounding growth characteristics reveals that asset volatility can be exploited both across assets and across investment periods to deliver superior returns.


An unmarried, 19 years old, Sudanese girl developed a firm right ovarian mass which increased in size to reach a diameter of 25 x 25 cm and a weight of 2.8 kg in 8 months time. The patient's condition was associated with amenorrhoea, polycystic ovary and ascites. The ovarian tumour was diagnosed by clinical examination and ultrasound scanning and was identified as a fibrothecoma by histopathology.


Technical Education Curricula for Health and Safety (TECHS) is a research collaboration between safety and health professionals and vocational instructors in three Minnesota colleges. Curriculum materials, including full and refresher modules with of classroom presentations, lab activities, homework, and quizzes, were developed for auto body collision technology (ABCT) and machine tool technology (MTT) programs. Curricula were implemented during the 2015-2018 academic years. Graduates' safety-related knowledge, skills, work practices, and workplace safety climate were assessed 1 year postgraduation using an electronic survey. Responses were received from 71 ABCT and 115 MTT graduates. Classroom presentations were used consistently throughout the study. Instructors cited a lack of time as the main barrier to using other materials (lab activities, homework, and quizzes). Graduates with TECHS instruction had significantly greater safety-related knowledge overall (both trades) as well as in two topic areas: eye and respiratory protection (ABCT) and hearing protection and machine guarding (MTT). Our data confirm that nearly all graduates consistently engage in practices such as use of safety glasses, hearing protection, and respirators, use of machine guards, material handling strategies. At 1 year postgraduation, MTT graduates' work practices related to machine guarding improved significantly. Graduates with TECHS instruction had improved in about half of the work practices, but statistical significance was not achieved. Graduates' self-reported work practices were not significantly correlated with their knowledge or skills. Work practices variability was best explained by graduates' attitudes toward safety rules and their rating of the workplace safety climate. TECHS findings confirm that classroom instruction alone has little impact on graduates' work practices. We propose institutions formalize their commitment to safety and health education by ear-marking teaching time for this subject and providing assistance to instructors to facilitate curricula integration. Instructors would benefit from learning more about trade-specific safety and health, and adult education teaching methods. Additional research is needed to understand how students' attitudes toward safety change during vocational college attendance and the first year of employment in the trade, explore implementation supports and barriers at institutional and instructor levels, and assess educational effectiveness beyond the end of the academic program. The entire curricula are available on the study website www.votechsafety.net.


Background: The practical difficulties for patients with stroke include lack of information about their condition, poor knowledge of the services and benefits available. Specialist Stroke nurses provide education and support services for people with Stroke  in many health care systems. A key goal is helping and empowering unable people to self-manage their stroke and supporting caregivers of these valnurable population, too. Objective: The objective of this review was to assess the role of specialist nurse in care for patients following a stroke and their caregivers support. Search methods: The databases CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct and Synergy were searched from 1988 to 2017 using the keywords Stroke, Specialist Nurse, Care, Caregivers and support. Bibliographies of relevant papers were searched, and hand searching of relevant publications was undertaken to identify additional Studies. Selection criteria: All studies of the effects of a specialist nurse practitioner on short and long term stroke outcomes were included in the review. Data collection and analysis: Three investigators performed data extraction and quality scoring independently; any discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Findings: Stroke, Specialist Nurse, Care, Caregivers concepts and labels are defined and measured in different and often contradictory ways by using 31 founded study. Conclusions: The findings indicate a dissonance in the views of different stakeholders within the care system. The division of labour associated with nursing care and specialist nurse requires further exploration. The contrasting paradigms of health care professionals and people with stroke regarding models of disability were highlighted.  Stroke, like other chronic illnesses, requires substantial nursing care. There is a growing number of specialist nurses in the workforce, however, little is known how their role interfaces with other nurses.


QT prolongation, a classic risk factor for arrhythmias, can result from a mutation in one of the genes governing cardiac repolarization and also can result from the intake of a medication acting as blocker of the cardiac K+ channel human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG). Here, we identified the arrhythmogenic potential of a nonopioid antitussive drug, clobutinol. The deleterious effects of clobutinol were suspected when a young boy, with a diagnosis of congenital long QT syndrome, experienced arrhythmias while being treated with this drug. Using the patch-clamp technique, we showed that clobutinol dose-dependently inhibited the HERG K+ current with a half-maximum block concentration of 2.9 μM. In the proband, we identified a novel A561P HERG mutation. Two others long QT mutations (A561V and A561T) had been reported previously at the same position. None of the three mutants led to a sizeable current in heterologous expression system. When coexpressed with wild-type (WT) HERG channels, the three Ala561 mutants reduced the trafficking of WT and mutant heteromeric channels, resulting in decreased K+ current amplitude (dominant-negative effects). In addition, A561P but not A561V and A561T mutants induced a ≈-11 mV shift of the current activation curve and accelerated deactivation, thereby partially counteracting the dominant-negative effects. A561P mutation and clobutinol effects on the human ventricular action potential characteristics were simulated using the Priebe-Beuckelmann model. Our work shows that clobutinol has limited effects on WT action potential but should be classified as a "drug to be avoided by congenital long QT patients" rather than as a "drug with risk of torsades de pointes".


Multiple and constricted arc-anode attachment modes were observed in helium arc discharge to prepare nickel nanoparticles. The electron overheating instability resulted in the formation of multiple attachment modes. The effects of hydrogen concentration and shield gas flow rate on the characteristics of nickel nanoparticles were investigated. The evaporation rate of anode material contributed to forming different arc-anode attachments. The surface temperature of the electrode was measured during the arc discharge by two-color pyrometry combined with a high-speed camera which employs appropriate band-pass filters. The relationship between the arc-anode attachment mode and the temperature behavior of the anode surface was investigated by using two synchronized high-speed cameras. The waveform of anode jet area variation with time follows that of the highest temperature variation of anode surface with time. The fluctuation of the highest anode temperature increased when the arc anode attachment changed from multiple into constricted mode. The highest temperature fluctuation and stability of the arc contributed to nanoparticle size distribution. Nickel nanoparticles with large productivity and narrow size distribution were obtained when shield gas was employed by controlling the residence time of nanoparticle growth. The formation mechanism of different arc-anode attachment modes was explained.


ABSTRACT Centromeres, the sites of spindle attachment during mitosis and meiosis, are located in specific positions in the human genome, normally coincident with diverse subsets of alpha satellite DNA. While there is strong evidence supporting the association of some subfamilies of alpha satellite with centromere function, the basis for establishing whether a given alpha satellite sequence is or is not designated a functional centromere is unknown, and attempts to understand the role of particular sequence features in establishing centromere identity have been limited by the near identity and repetitive nature of satellite sequences. Utilizing a broadly applicable experimental approach to test sequence competency for centromere specification, we have carried out a genomic and epigenetic functional analysis of endogenous human centromere sequences available in the current human genome assembly. The data support a model in which functionally competent sequences confer an opportunity for centromere specification, integrating genomic and epigenetic signals and promoting the concept of context-dependent centromere inheritance.


The research was conducted to isolate and conduct an antimicrobial susceptibility test of Salmonella species from Zobo and Kunun-aya drinks sold at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. A total of 150 samples were collected from different sales points using a systematic sampling technique. The samples were analysed using standard bacteriological procedures and antimicrobial susceptibility tests using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique. The results showed that 38(25.3%) samples were positive for Salmonella. Kunun-aya drink has 28(37%), and Zobo has 5(6.7%) of the Salmonella isolates, which indicated that Kunun aya had the highest level of contamination than Zobo drink. The Salmonella isolates were sensitive to Tarivid 18(24%), Ciprofloxacin 18(24%), Gentamycin 18(24%), and Ampillicin 15(20%). It was found resistant to Nalidixic acid 14(19%), Augmentin 14(19%) and Septrin 9(12%). The contamination observed in the Kunun-aya, and less contamination in Zobo drinks may be due to the product used and improper sanitary conditions during its processing. The presence of Salmonella in the beverages may pose serious public health concerns as some of this bacterium is implicated in causing foodborne diseases, thus the need to develop Good Manufacturing Processes (GMP) and post production preservation and packaging techniques.


ABSTRACT Drawing on pláticas held between preservice and in-service teachers, this study explores the experiences of Latinx teachers teaching in the New Latino South. The researchers illustrate how teachers navigate teaching in schools where they were oftentimes the only Latinx teacher. For this study, we used Latino Critical Race Theory paired with pláticas to analyze the stories that the participants shared. Findings from this study indicate that teachers in the New Latino South resisted traditional teacher roles by willingly taking on additional roles that supported Latinx families. Findings also indicate that teachers navigated spaces in which they often experienced different forms of racism. The article concluded with implications for recruiting and retaining Latinx teachers as well as implications for how schools can better support Latinx families.


Determining the exact sizes of anatomical structures play a very important today in laparoscopic surgery. This makes it possible to make a correct selection of gauges of instruments needed, prosthetic materials, and to make decisions regarding the further strategy of the surgical procedure. The device developed at the clinic has proven itself in everyday clinical practices. It is currently used in laparoscopic operations for hiatal hernias, choledoch measurements in patients with choledocholithiasis, stomach stump size measurements during the resection in patients with morbid obesity. The presented clinical case serves to confirm that obtaining objective data in video endoscopic surgery makes it possible to choose the optimal treatment strategy.