Background The participation of neurologists and patients in studies on the effectiveness and safety of newly authorized drugs in multiple sclerosis (MS) is insufficient. Monthly online self-assessments using patient-reported outcomes may help in short-term monitoring of neurological changes and side effects. Objective Investigate in relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients the adherence to monthly online self-assessments after the start of disease modifying treatment. Methods Observational study in 39 neurological departments in The Netherlands. Patients starting glatiramer acetate treatment were instructed to complete online the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale 5-item version and the 8-item Leeds Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life scale every month during 1 year (T0 toT12). Results Sixty-three investigators included 163 analyzable patients. At T3, 148 (90.8%) patients had completed all questionnaires; at T6, 142 (87.1%); at T9, 133 (81.6%); and at T12, 123 (75.5%). Eight (4.9%) patients did not complete any questionnaire. Median values for inter-assessment intervals ranged from 32 to 34 days (first quartile [Q1] 30 days, third quartile [Q3] 41 days), and the final assessment was at 417 days (median: Q1 385 days, Q3 480 days). Forty-three (26.3%) patients completed the questionnaires at all time points (completion adherent) with their final assessment within 30 days after the scheduled T12 (interval adherent). Eighty (49.1%) patients were completion adherent, but not interval adherent. Forty (24.5%) patients were not completion adherent, as they discontinued assessments prematurely. Men were more interval adherent than women (47.5% vs 20.0%; P = 0.001). Conclusion The observation that three out of four (75.5%) RRMS patients completed two short questionnaires at all monthly time points during 1 year after the start of disease modifying treatment suggests that intensive online monitoring in this patient group is feasible. As only one in five (19.6%) patients adhered to the time intervals between self-assessments, measures are needed that improve the timely completion of questionnaires.


In the Dutch public administration, inter-communal cooperation or inter-council cooperation in the form
of a joint arrangement with a public body, is a frequently used form of cooperation. Central to this form
of cooperation is the characteristic of extended local governing, which implies that the administrative
and political primacy lies within the local councils. In addition to the administrative commitment, the
participating local councils bear financial responsibility. Deficits as result of the exploitation of the
cooperation – by the organization carrying out the duties – will be compensated from the council's
budget. Therefore, to minimize administrative and financial risks, an adequate governing and
controlling of the cooperation by the participating councils is necessary.
The introduction of the law 'Dualisering gemeentebestuur' and the 'Besluit Begroting en
Verantwoording' (BBV) has (had) an great influence on the local administration. The introduction of
dualism has lead to an explicit distribution of tasks and competences between the community council
on the one hand and the city council on the other. The introduction of the BBV with new regulations
regarding accountability, has led to a more policy-like cycle of planning and control, expressing itself in
formulating the basics of policy, management (i.e. directing the realization of an organization's goals
through, among other things, structuring the organization and developing processes), accountability
and control. Besides this, the community council and city council have their own budget document on
different levels of abstraction.
The objective of this research is to describe the way in which the community council is controlling the
cooperation, which possible problems the community council may experience and if it's possible to
improve ways of controlling. The scope of the research is limited to the execution of the law 'Wet
sociale werkvoorziening' (Wsw) by the local or regional employment organization, a so called
'werkvoorzieningschap'. Three of these organizations have been selected for the research. From each
joint arrangement, several participating councils were selected from which some members of the
community council and city council have been interviewed. Also an analysis of financial accountability
documents and policy documents from the local or regional employment organizations as well as the
participating councils has taken place.
The legislative boundaries for this research are the law 'Wet gemeenschappelijke regelingen (Wgr),
the BBV en the law 'Wet Dualisering gemeentebestuur'. The theoretical framework exists of two
theories. The agency theory provides an insight for the community council how to regulate it's way of
governing an controlling the local or regional employment organization, in order to prevent or limit
strategic behavior as a result of information asymmetry and goal incongruency. The theory of
government governance is subject to research to attain insight in how to use the basics of policy,
management and accountability as instruments for governing and controlling the joint arrangements.
These two theories result in a normative framework.
The research shows that with regard to the Wsw, the community council uses little of the policy budget
document as a policy framework. The programs of the budget document contain little information on
objectives regarding the regional employment organization. Also the paragraphs of the budget
document contain little information about the contribution of the employment organization to the local
policy and risks of the inter-communal cooperation. In controlling the relationship with the joint
arrangement, the marginal role of the general committee is striking. Also the system of financing the
organization is restricting the use of incentives. In the accountability, the general committee and
community council receive enough informative for carrying out their controlling tasks. The main
conclusion is not that the system of organizing the joint arrangement through a public body is
restricting, but the way the community council uses the system and the instruments that are available.


Donors want to ensure a social return on their investment. In the case of microfinance, donors must judge whether providing the poor with access to financial services yields a sufficient social return compared to alternative poverty alleviation efforts. The good news is that impact assessments have demonstrated that financial services for the poor improve people's lives by increasing their incomes and improving their capacity to pay for social services. However, although microfinance is an important catalyst for poverty reduction, it is not a magic bullet. The climb out of poverty tends to be slow and uneven. Donor funding for microfinance needs to complement, not substitute for, investments in core services like health, education, and infrastructure.


We review the most common types of lesion produced by terrorist blasts and the general principles of their treatment. We also describe the resources of the General Surgery Department and surgical specialties of the Gregorio Maranon University Hospital as a general introduction to the specific resources of each surgical area. The center's surgical capacity, in terms of both staffing and operating rooms, is also described.


The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [6]. Although RFC 2119 was written with protocols in mind, the key words are used in this document for similar reasons. They are used to ensure the results of measurements from two different implementations are comparable, and to note instances when an implementation could perturb the network.


Abstract. Nanobamus macrorhinus Schoch and Milner, 2014 is a small amphibamiform temnospondyl from the early Permian Arroyo Formation of Texas. It is most readily characterized by an elongate and partially subdivided naris. This condition is superficially reminiscent of that seen in the coeval trematopids, the group to which N. macrorhinus was originally referred to under an interpretation of the holotype as a larval form. This was discounted by later workers, but the amphibamiform affinities of the specimen were not formalized until recently. The specimen has never been described in the context of its amphibamiform affinities and remains poorly characterized, never having been sampled in a phylogenetic analysis. Here we present a complete, updated osteological description of N. macrorhinus, including an improved characterization of its unique mosaic of plesiomorphic and apomorphic features and clarification of the taxon's autapomorphies. Our analysis of the taxon's phylogenetic position within Amphibamiformes shows that N. macrorhinus was recovered as diverging after basal amphibamiforms, e.g., the micropholids, and before derived amphibamiforms, e.g., the amphibamids. This is supported by the unique mixture of retained plesiomorphies, e.g., nonforeshortened postparietals and an oval choana, and apomorphies, e.g., a narrow interorbital region and slender palatal rami of the pterygoid. These results reflect the complexity of terrestrial amphibamiform diversity and provide further insight into the evolutionary history of the lissamphibian stem in terrestrial environments.


In lithography, optical proximity and process bias/effects need to be corrected to achieve the best wafer print. Efforts to correct for these effects started with a simple bias, adding a hammer head in line-ends to prevent line-end shortening. This first-generation correction was called rule-based optical proximity correction (OPC). Then, as chip feature sizes continued to shrink, OPC became more complicated and evolved to a model-based approach. Some extra patterns were added to masks, to improve the wafer process window, a measure of resilience to manufacturing variation. Around this time, the concept of inverse lithography technology (ILT), a mathematically rigorous inverse approach that determines the mask shapes that will produce the desired on-wafer results, was introduced. ILT has been explored and developed over the last three decades as the next generation of OPC, promising a solution to several challenges of advanced-node lithography, whether optical or extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Today, both OPC and ILT are part of an arsenal of lithography technologies called resolution enhancement technologies. Since OPC and ILT both involve computation, they are also considered as part of computational lithography. We explore the background and history of ILT and detail the significant milestones that have taken full-chip ILT from an academic concept to a practical production reality.


OBJECTIVES
To assess the efficacy and cost effectiveness of a home safety programme and a home exercise programme to reduce falls and injuries in older people with low vision.

DESIGN
Randomised controlled trial.

SETTING
Dunedin and Auckland, New Zealand.

PARTICIPANTS
391 women and men aged > or =75 with visual acuity of 6/24 or worse who were living in the community; 92% (361 of 391) completed one year of follow-up.

INTERVENTIONS
Participants received a home safety assessment and modification programme delivered by an occupational therapist (n = 100), an exercise programme prescribed at home by a physiotherapist plus vitamin D supplementation (n = 97), both interventions (n = 98), or social visits (n = 96).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Numbers of falls and injuries resulting from falls, costs of implementing the home safety programme.

RESULTS
Fewer falls occurred in the group randomised to the home safety programme but not in the exercise programme (incidence rate ratios 0.59 (95% confidence interval 0.42 to 0.83) and 1.15 (0.82 to 1.61), respectively). However, within the exercise programme, stricter adherence was associated with fewer falls (P = 0.001). A conservative analysis showed neither intervention was effective in reducing injuries from falls. Delivering the home safety programme cost NZ650 dollars (234 pounds sterling, 344 euros, US432 dollars) (at 2004 prices) per fall prevented.

CONCLUSION
The home safety programme reduced falls and was more cost effective than an exercise programme in this group of elderly people with poor vision. The Otago exercise programme with vitamin D supplementation was not effective in reducing falls or injuries in this group, possibly due to low levels of adherence. Trial registration number ISRCTN15342873.


: The teratogenic potential of alcohol in humans has now been confirmed, and a characteristic pattern of anomalies (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) is found in infants born to mothers who are chronic alcoholics. The pathogenesis of the fetal alcohol syndrome is unclear: very little is known about the way alcohol acts during pregnancy and alters fetal growth and morphogenesis. The objective of this investigation was to determine the effects of a widely used ethanol liquid diet in the pregnant rat. The ethanol liquid test diet is based on the Lieber-De Carli formula. 20 Sprague-Dawley rats were matched closely by weights and assigned in pairs to either an alcohol treated or a pair-fed control group. Control animals received the same amount of the liquid diet with maltose-dextrins substituted isocalorically for the ethanol. Graduated tubes were used for the oral delivery of the diets. Ethanol was gradually introduced into the diet as follows: 100 Kcal/l, days 1-2; 200 Kcal/l, days 3-5; 350 Kcal/l, days 6-12. Following this initial treatment period, all animals were then given rodent pellets and tap water ad libitum. The mothers showed no overt signs of gross toxicity. The mean maternal weight gain of the ethanol treated animals did not differ significantly from the controls. The incidence of fetal resorptions was increased, intrauterine growth was not affected and the offspring at term appeared normal. The results indicate that moderate alcohol consumption during early gestation in the rat led to significant prenatal loss but proved to be non-teratogenic.


In a previous study of epipelic diatoms on the littoral sediments of Izmit Bay (Marmara Sea, Turkey), which was carried out from March 1999 to September 2000, it was found that two Merismopedia Meyen species (Cyanobacteria) occurred frequently. In the present study, the seasonal variations of density and biomass of the Merismopedia species, which were dominant at certain times in the epipelic algal flora on the littoral sediments of Izmit Bay, were investigated. In addition, some physical and chemical parameters were measured. One of the species, Merismopedia glauca (Ehrenb.) Nageli, was dominant in terms of cell numbers and frequency while M. tenuissima Lemmerm. was found to be rare and was present in very low numbers. M. glauca was recorded at all seven stations and at certain times reached quite high numbers. The highest numbers were obtained from Station 4, which is characterised by being an area protected from wave action where the sediment is quite stable.


BACKGROUND: Bronchiectasis leads to reduced functional capacity, which might have implications for physical activity. The impact of dyspnea and long-term oxygen therapy on physical activity has never been investigated in subjects with bronchiectasis. Based on these findings, specific strategies could be applied to allow individuals to be more active in their daily life. In this study we aimed to evaluate physical activity, the impact of dyspnea and long-term oxygen therapy on physical activity, and the determinants of physical activity in subjects with bronchiectasis. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study in 139 subjects with bronchiectasis (age 45 ± 13 y, FVC 70 ± 22% of predicted, FEV1 54 ± 25% of predicted) and 49 healthy subjects as controls. Physical activity was assessed using steps per day (measured with a pedometer), spirometry, incremental shuttle walking test (ISWT), and dyspnea. RESULTS: Reduced physical activity was observed in subjects with bronchiectasis, who recorded a median (interquartile range) of 8,007 (5,131–10,432) steps/d compared with controls, who recorded 10,994 (8,551–14,078) steps/d (P < .001). Significant correlations were observed between physical activity and FVC (r = 0.43), FEV1 (r = 0.36), ISWT (r = 0.37), and dyspnea (r = −0.48). Determinants for reduced physical activity included pulmonary function (R2 = 0.150), dyspnea (R2 = 0.075), ISWT (R2 = 0.044), and long-term oxygen therapy (R2 = 0.038); these factors explained 32% of the physical activity. CONCLUSION: Subjects with bronchiectasis exhibited reduced physical activity compared with healthy peers. Dyspnea has a negative impact on physical activity. Independent factors associated with physical activity included pulmonary function, dyspnea, functional capacity, and long-term oxygen therapy. These findings will guide strategies to enhance daily physical activity and to encourage subjects with bronchiectasis to be more active.


: This paper is part of a larger project investigating what I have called the ideology of individualism. For some time now it has seemed to me evident that feminism needs to develop a greater awareness of the ways in which references to individuals operate to disguise relations of ruling by populating the social world only with discrete, asocial individuals, at the expense of any acknowledgement of the existence of the social structures of domination. This present paper argues that individualism is a crucial component of all ideological justifications for domination, because it enables relations of ruling to be disguised as intrinsic properties of individuals. As a consequence, ideological individualism prevents any genuine account of individual responsibility, because it blames the victims and exonerates the perpetrators. To illustrate the problem I start with two articles taken from a daily newspaper, which exemplify malestream versions of individualism. I go on to point out that feminism, too, can get caught up in individualism, to the extent that it remains exclusively focused on 'women' and elides the question of male domination. In contrast, I argue that it is only a feminism which starts from the ethical standpoint of opposition to male supremacy, which can provide an adequate account of both women's embeddedness in and our resistance to male supremacist relations of ruling.


ABSTRACT The development of a patterned lymphatic vascular network is essential for proper lymphatic functions during organ development and homeostasis. Here we report that class 3 semaphorins (SEMA3s), SEMA3F and SEMA3G negatively regulate lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC) growth and sprouting to control dermal lymphatic network formation. Neuropilin2 (NRP2) functions as a receptor for SEMA3F and SEMA3G, as well as vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC). In culture, Both SEMA3F and SEMA3G inhibit VEGFC-mediated sprouting and proliferation of human dermal LECs. In the developing mouse skin, Sema3f is expressed in the epidermis and Sema3g expression is restricted to arteries, whereas their receptor Nrp2 is preferentially expressed by lymphatic vessels. Both Sema3f;Sema3g double mutants and Nrp2 mutants exhibit increased LEC growth in the skin. In contrast, Sema3f;Sema3g double mutants display increased lymphatic branching, while Nrp2 mutants exhibit reduced lymphatic branching. A targeted mutation in PlexinA1 or PlexinA2, signal transducers forming a receptor complex with NRP2 for SEMA3s, exhibits an increase in LEC growth and lymphatic branching as observed in Sema3f;Sema3g double mutants. Our results provide the first evidence that SEMA3F and SEMA3G function as a negative regulator for dermal lymphangiogenesis in vivo. The reciprocal phenotype in lymphatic branching between Sema3f;Sema3g double mutants and Nrp2 mutants suggest a complex NRP2 function that regulates LEC behavior both positively and negatively, through a binding with VEGFC or SEMA3s.


Several hypotheses explain the prevalence of undifferentiated sex chromosomes in poikilothermic vertebrates. Turnovers change the master sex determination gene, the sex chromosome or the sex determination system (e.g. XY to WZ). Jumping master genes stay main triggers but translocate to other chromosomes. Occasional recombination (e.g. in sex-reversed females) prevents sex chromosome degeneration. Recent research has uncovered conserved heteromorphic or even homomorphic sex chromosomes in several clades of non-avian and non-mammalian vertebrates. Sex determination in sturgeons (Acipenseridae) has been a long-standing basic biological question, linked to economical demands by the caviar-producing aquaculture. Here, we report the discovery of a sex-specific sequence from sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus). Using chromosome-scale assemblies and pool-sequencing, we first identified an approximately 16 kb female-specific region. We developed a PCR-genotyping test, yielding female-specific products in six species, spanning the entire phylogeny with the most divergent extant lineages (A. sturio, A. oxyrinchus versus A. ruthenus, Huso huso), stemming from an ancient tetraploidization. Similar results were obtained in two octoploid species (A. gueldenstaedtii, A. baerii). Conservation of a female-specific sequence for a long period, representing 180 Myr of sturgeon evolution, and across at least one polyploidization event, raises many interesting biological questions. We discuss a conserved undifferentiated sex chromosome system with a ZZ/ZW-mode of sex determination and potential alternatives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Challenging the paradigm in sex chromosome evolution: empirical and theoretical insights with a focus on vertebrates (Part I)'.


Abstract : All jihadist orthodoxies hold the core animating belief of absolute intolerance for the religious "other," that is other religions and faith groups, as well as other Muslims, whether members of other Muslim groups or individual Muslims who dissent from intolerant orthodoxies. The contest of ideas requires a U.S. soft power response that advances religious freedom and tolerance in the Muslim world. The new administration should prioritize this effort in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iraq because of their foreign policy significance. It should press Saudi Arabia to end its sponsorship and spread of religious hatred; undertake real textbook and educational reform; end persecution of and discrimination against Shiites and individual Muslims accused of apostasy and blasphemy by its clerical establishment; and allow non-Muslim places of worship inside the Kingdom. In Iraq it should urgently adopt a comprehensive policy to specifically help endangered communities of Christians, Yizidis, and Mandeans. It should use its considerable leverage with Egypt to end official discrimination and repression against Copts, Quranists, Shiites and those accused of apostasy and blasphemy. It should oppose the trend to universalize blasphemy laws, including through bans on religious defamation now being considered at the United Nations; and recognize the diversity within Islam in its own Muslim outreach programs here in America.


Microsporidiosis is a rare, but emerging opportunistic infection in solid organ transplant and stem cell transplant recipients. Renal involvement in microsporidiosis is very rarely seen in these recipients. We describe two cases of pediatric renal microsporidiosis, diagnosed on renal biopsies, following bone marrow transplantation presenting as severe acute kidney injury. The first patient died, whereas the second survived due to early diagnosis based on high index of suspicion and prompt treatment with Albendazole. We believe these are the first such reported cases of renal microsporidiosis in pediatric bone marrow transplant recipients.


Abstract. The multi-sensor fusion scheme has become more and more popular these days with its great potential to estimate reliable navigation information for the modern development in automated driving system (ADS) and mobile mapping systems (MMS). Since these systems are combined with numerous navigation sensors, thus their geometric relationship should be precisely known. This study focuses on practical aspects when calibrating LiDAR-IMU mounting parameters (lever-arms and bore-sight angles) in land-based MMS. This calibration model is based on expressing the mounting parameters within the direct georeferencing equation for each epoch time and conditioning a set of INS/GNSS and LiDAR navigation solutions to lie on it. There is no need for a required information about the planar features in the calibration field as part of the unknowns. Such conditions are only benefitable in the residential area where the presence of sufficient planes in form of building is abundant. We present an approach for recovery the mounting parameters by conditioning the high-definition (HD) point cloud map-based LiDAR information and INS/GNSS navigation solutions through the least-squares solutions. The presented results and discussion mainly focus on practical examples with data from land-based MMS. Preliminary results indicate that correct calibration parameters are not only capable to improve the performance of point cloud georeferencing but also dramatically provide reliable performance evaluation of navigation estimation. Moreover, these findings show that the studied method is not only applicable in the featureless environment but also in its practicality to the self-driving applications.


Waipio Valley, also known as the "Valley of the Kings", is located on the Hamakua coast in the north-east of the island of Hawaii. Waipio is the largest and most fertile of several river valleys draining the windward slopes of the Kohala volcano, the oldest of the 5 volcanoes which built the island of Hawaii. Cliffs reaching almost 2000ft form the valley walls, with many waterfalls and a black sand beach at the estuary. Once home to many of the Hawaiian kings, including King Kamehameha I, sacred burial grounds are located in the cliffs and Waipio valley still has great cultural and historical significance for the Hawaiian people. In 1778, when Captain James Cook arrived in Hawaii, it is estimated that there may have been as many as 10,000 Hawaiians living in Waipio. Later many Chinese immigrant farmers settled in the valley. Following the 1946 tsunami, the worst in Hawaii's history, which devastated Waipio for a long way inland (but miraculously no-one was killed), most people left the valley. Today an estimated population of only 50 people live in Waipio farming taro and fishing. This image shows the estuary of Waipio Stream and black sand beach.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of gelatin-norbornene (GelNB), which is crosslinkable via thiol-ene click chemistry, and the photoinitiator lithium phenyl-2,4,6 trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP) for 3D bioprinting. These materials were compared to two widely used materials, gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA) and 2-hydroxy-4'-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methylpropiophenone (I2959). Characterization of photocuring kinetics revealed that LAP markedly improved the kinetics compared to I2959, which improved stability and print fidelity. Additionally, GelNB exhibited improved photocuring kinetics, improved stability, and decreased filament spreading compared to GelMA. However, inks containing GelMA yielded at lower stress, were more easily extruded, and produced smoother filaments. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts exhibited high viability in printed constructs, regardless of the gelatin derivative or photoinitiator used. Overall, these results support the selection of LAP over I2959 and suggest that GelNB could be a useful alternative to GelMA, although further work is needed to optimize GelNB extrusion.


The controlled foreign company rules (CFC rules) are a relatively new regime in the Bulgarian domestic legislation. Their introduction in the Corporate Income Tax Act (CITA) is connected with the transposition of Directive 2016/1164. As EU Мember State, Bulgaria is obliged to follow and apply the European law including in the tax law. At the same time, based on the principle of sovereignty, Bulgaria has its own domestic policy. The CFC rules are a symbiosis of law, economics and accounting. In the Bulgarian domestic legislation, they are characterized with numerous challenges both from a theoretical and a practical perspective. Proof of this is their several amendments and the issues concerning their implementation. Due to their new existence and rather controversial nature, there are only several articles in the Bulgarian literature that do not explicitly analyze in details this issue. The main aim of the current study is to outline some of the disputable issues regarding the CFC rules from a Bulgarian perspective. For this purpose, the author makes some recommendations and shares some thoughts regarding the CFC's future. The applied methods are the historical method, the method of systematic analysis, the formal-logical method and the comparative method.


M alignancy and ischemic stroke are both major causes of morbidity and mortality. In an autopsy study, 15% of cancer patients had cerebral infarction, and further studies have confirmed the association between stroke and cancer. Cancer predisposes to stroke by tumor causing occlusion or emboli, malignancy-associated hypercoagulability, infection , and paraneoplastic phenomena. 1,4–6 Regarding cancer treatment, therapeutic irradiation can cause accelerated ath-erosclerosis. 7 Hormonal therapy and chemotherapy have been associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular complications. Cancer patients have a higher in-hospital poststroke mortality rate than those without cancer. 10 Cancer patients with cryptogenic stroke have higher D-dimer levels and more frequently infarcts located in multiple vascular territories than patients with stroke associated with other pathogenesis. The frequency of traditional ischemic stroke risk factors among cancer patients differs between studies. Little is known about cancer among young and middle-aged patients with ischemic stroke. Young patients traditionally have more ischemic strokes with nonconventional stroke mechanisms and undetermined pathogenesis compared with older stroke patients. The prevalence of cancer has been higher among young stroke patients compared with the general population of similar age. 14 Active malignancy was a significant prognostic factor for death when adjusted for known poststroke mortality prognosticators in our previous study. 19 In the present study, we investigated pre-and poststroke cancer diagnoses and their association with stroke pathogen-esis and long-term mortality among young patients with isch-emic stroke. which has the only neurological emergency room for a defined population of 1.5 million. In Finland, practically all patients with stroke are treated in a hospital, regardless of symptom severity. All 1008 consecutive patients aged 15 to 49 years with first-ever ischemic stroke Background and Purpose—Cancer is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Little is known about cancer among young adults with ischemic stroke. We studied the frequency of cancer and its association with long-term risk of death among young patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods—1002 patients aged 15 to 49 years, registered in the Helsinki Young Stroke Registry, and with a median follow-up of 10.0 years (interquartile range 6.5–13.8) after stroke were included. Historical and follow-up data were derived from the Finnish Care Register and Statistics Finland. Survival between groups was compared with the Kaplan–Meier life-table method, and Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify factors associated with mortality. Results—One or more cancer diagnosis was made in 77 (7.7%) patients, of whom 39 (3.9%) had cancer diagnosed prestroke. During …


The decade and a half of litigation that followed Argentina's sovereign bond default in 2001 ended with a great disturbance in the Force. A new creditor weapon had been uncloaked: The prospect of a court injunction requiring the sovereign borrower to pay those creditors that decline to participate in a debt restructuring ratably with any payments made to those creditors that do provide the country with debt relief. For the first time holdouts succeeded in fashioning a weapon that could be used to injure their erstwhile fellow bondholders, not just the sovereign issuer. Is the availability of this new weapon limited to the aggravated facts of the Argentine default or has it now moved permanently into the creditors' arsenal? Only time (and future judicial decisions) will tell. In the meantime, however, sovereigns will occasionally find themselves in financial distress and their debts will occasionally need to be restructured. Venezuela already casts this chilly shadow over the sovereign debt market. If, in a galaxy not too far away, sovereign debt workouts are to have any chance of an orderly completion, a method must be found to neutralize this new weapon. Judging by the secondary market prices of different series of Venezuelan sovereign bonds, large amounts of money are being wagered that it cannot be done.


In Chile the amounts of wood sawdust, shavings, and chips available is around 2.72 million, 340 thousand, and 4.25 million m3/year, respectively, and about 30% of this material is employed in the manufacture of particleboards. Two types of particleboards were made from wood residues as moisture-resistant particleboards, and the main goal was to meet the requirements for P3 moisture resistance according to the European Standard EN 312. Five mats of each type were pressed without stops in a 30 cm diameter electrically heated hot press at 180°C for 3.5 min. Target board density was 680 kg/m3 (T1) and 720 kg/m3 (T2), mat moisture was 10%, resin dosage applied was 6%, and board thickness was 15 mm for both boards (0.5 x 0.5 m). Samples were designated as T1 and T2, on which both physical and mechanical tests were conducted. Density, moisture content, thickness swelling, and water absorption were measured. Mechanical tests included internal bond before and after cyclic test, as well as fire retardancy. The analysis of the high resolution images allowed us to ensure that there was no gap between the veneer and the particleboard; therefore it can be concluded that there was no adherence loss. Results for all tests showed that both boards met all the P3 standards for moisture resistant non-structural board for use in humid conditions.


Mexican rural reform has questioned the role of the peasantry and private national producers in agriculture. The reform followed a neoliberal paradigm for incorporating the nation into the global village. As part of a government strategy, land reform in Mexico aims to change entrepreneurial and land tenure patterns in rural areas into an individual, private, large-scale, and capitalist productive structure, and the land market is vital in allowing the land transfers needed to change the land tenure pattern. Alternative land reforms favor a smallholding structure, and many academics, peasant and indigenous organizations, and even government officials, now favor structural changes that are related to the factors of production in rural Mexico and to the historical construction of the nation. This paper argues that the land market should have a vital role in an agrarian reform that favors the peasantry and indigenous people. There is a need to understand the peasants and indigenous people's logic, rationality and subjective construction of land, for land is the foundation of their survival strategies. The land market can answer to values that have deep cultural roots. The modernization of rural Mexico could be more inclusive, and the land reform strategy could be designed from the bottom to the top and consider the diversity of the rural communities.


The anti-ulcer effects of methanolic extract of neem leaf (NLE) and neem compound nimolicine (NC) have been studied and the effects were compared with the ulcer healing drugs Ranitidine and Omeperazole on stomach of albino rats (Wistar strain).A total of 90 rats of both sex weighing 150-200 gms were used in the study. The rats were divided into six groups. Per oral administration of ethanol (100%) was used for ulcer induction.This group served as a check group. The control group was given Peanut oil 1 ml/day for the treatment of ulcer.The test groups received NLE 1ml/day (0.88 gm) p/o for 5 days and NC 1% (0.01 gm in the healing effects of p/o Ranitidine 50 mg/kg and Omeperazole (2.5mg/kg).The ulcer induction and healing effects both were confirmed by histopathology of the gastric tissues. The calculaton of ulcer index and ulcer inhibition percentage was done. The gastric secretion of H mEq/100 Gms of rat was also calculated.The
 antioxidant activity of NLE and NC was also done. Finally the identification of NLE, NC, and drugs in tissue extracts were done by HPLC. The results were analysed by using a one way ANOVA by a SPSS version 18 computerized software programme.The P value (P<0.05) was considered significant.The results show that NLE is better than NC and the anti ulcer effect of NLE can be compared to the anti-ulcer drugs Ranitidine and Omeperazole. The high antioxidant activity of NLE compared to NC may explain the mechanism of action of NLE which needs further explorations.The effects of NLE and NC on gastric secretion of H mEq/100 gms when compared with PNO and Ranitidine and Omeperazole were insignificant. However there was a significant difference on comparison of gastric secretion between PNO control and Ranitidine.Further studies are required to confirm the present study by conducting clinical trials. Anti ulcer treatment by NLE will be of financial benefit to the community in developing countries specially in Pakistan. In conclusion NLE has a better ulcer healing effect compared to NC. The effect of NLE can be compared to the ulcer healing drugs Ranitidine and Omeperazole


The Discovery of Knowledge from Databases (KDD) is an high complex process, where a lot of tools are needed to achieve the goal of previously unknown, potentially useful information extraction. It implies that an user has to choose, to set-up, to compose and to execute the tools more suitable to her/his knowledge discovery problem. In order to overcome this complexity, we are developing the Knowledge Discovery in Databases Virtual Mart, a support platform based on the service-oriented paradigm. In this paper we discuss how to design a core element of this platform: the UDDI service


Organic agriculture is an alternative to conventional farming system, promoting environmentally friendly agricultural technologies which exclude synthetical chemicals, and provid healthy agricultural products that contribuite to consumers' health, environmental protection and conservation of natural resources. Organic agriculture production system is particularly important as it includes medicinal and spice crops which are intended primarily to guarantee consumers' health; by definition, these plants must be free of synthetic chemical residues, originating from fertilizers or pesticides. Research had been performed on Salvia officinalis L. species grown in organic agriculture condition, in Moara Domneasc�� Experimental Field, Ilfov County – Romania, situated on a reddish preluvosoil, over three years (2009-2011). The three years of experiments show a positive reaction of Salvia officinalis L. species to the tested ecological fertilizers, i.e. peat and Tecamin Max (leaf fertilizer), which are fertilizers accepted in organic agriculture. The reaction of Salvia officinalis L. species to fertilization consists in important production increases, in comparison with unfertilized crop. The highest average multiannual production of Salviae folium was of 11,624.21 kg/ha fresh matter, or 3,407.99 kg/ha dry matter and the highest average multiannual production of Salviae herba, was of 13,343.72 kg/ha fresh matter, or 4,387.10 kg/ha dry matter. The yield quality of Salviae herba was reflected in 95.63% dry matter and 2.11% volatile oil content. It is to recommende the fertilization of Salvia officinalis L. organic crop grown on the reddish preluvosoil from South Romania with Peat 10,000 l/ha or Tecamin Max 3 l/ha.


AIM: To evaluate the effects of folic acid on epithelial apoptosis and expression of Bcl-2 and p53 in the tissues of premalignant gastric lesions.METHODS: Thirty-eight patients, with premalignant gastric lesions including 18 colonic-type intestinal metaplasia(IM)and 20 mild or moderate dysplasia, were randomly divided into a treatment group (n = 19) receiving folic acid 10 mg thrice daily and a control group (n = 19) receiving sucralfate 1 000 mg thrice daily for 3 mo. All patients undervvent endoscopies and four biopsies were taken prior to treatment and repeated after concluding therapy.Folate concentrations in gastric mucosa were measured with chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay. Epithelial apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and p53 protein in gastric mucosa were detected with flow cytometric assay.RESULTS: The mean of folate concentration in gastric mucosa was 9.03±3.37 μg/g wet wt in the folic acid treatment group, which was significantly higher than 6.83±3.02 μg/g wet wt in the control group. Both the epithelial apoptosis rate and the tumor suppressor p53expression in gastric mucosa significantly increased after folic acid treatment. In contrast, the expression of Bcl-2oncogene protein decreased after folic acid therapy.CONCLUSION: These data indicate that folic acid may play an important role in the chemoprevention of gastric carcinogenesis by enhancing gastric epithelial apoptosis in the patients with premalignant lesions.


This paper deals with the stability of so-called "self-sampled" digital phase-locked-loops (PLLs). These systems are meant to be used as the nodes of autonomous clock distribution networks, where clock signals are locally generated in each node and each node is synchronized with its neighbours. Despite the absence of an absolute reference clock, it is possible to use the local irregular clock to trigger the operations of the digital loop filter. In this paper, we show that, in this mode of operation, PLLs can be modeled as autonomous piecewise-linear systems. We investigate what filter coefficients to choose in order to ensure stability and, hence synchronization. Two methods are explored, the first based on transient simulations, the second on linear matrix inequalities. It is shown that the second method yields much more conservative results than the first but that it cannot apply to all design options of self-sampled PLLs.


Cloud is a term used as a metaphor for the wide area networks (like internet) or any such large networked environment. It came partly from the cloud-like symbol used to represent the complexities of the networks in the schematic diagrams. It represents all the complexities of the network which may include everything from cables, routers, servers, data centers and all such other devices. Cloud based systems saves data off multiple organizations on shared hardware systems. Data segregation is done by encrypting data of users, but encryption is not complete solution. We can do segregate data by creating virtual partitions of data for saving and allowing user to access data in his partition only. We will be implementing cloud security aspects for data mining by implementing cloud system. After implementing cloud infrastructure for data mining for cloud system we shall be evaluating security measure for data mining in cloud. We will be fixing threats in data mining to Personal/private data in cloud systems.


SUMMARY
We report two cases of flutamide-induced hepatotoxicity in
patients treated with the drug for metastatic prostatic carcinoma.
In both patients the latency period between drug
intake and onset of symptoms, (80-150 days) the history,
the type of the reaction and the histological findings were
compatible with the diagnosis of drug-induced hepatotoxicity.
In addition, other causes of hepatobiliary disorders
were excluded and in the first case the diagnosis was confirmed
by a rechallenge. It is concluded that patients receiving
flutamide should be carefully monitored with liver
function tests and the drug should be promptly discontinued
if liver toxicity is detected.
Key words: flutamide, hepatitis, cholestasis, rechallenge


Since reform started under Ottoman rule in the early 19th century, Istanbul has undergone a substantial period of modernisation that has spanned more than 150 years. Ilhan Tekeli outlines the metropolis' enduring development, characterising Istanbul's transformation into a modern city into four distinct periods. It is a story that bridges the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the reconstruction of the Turkish Republic as a nation-state, with the initial demise of the city in favour of Ankara; and continues with Istanbul regaining its status as a world city; as it evolves from a monstrous industrial city to an urban region and global centre. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The main purpose of this study was to define and conceptualize the term parental involvement. A questionnaire was administrated to parents (140), teachers (145), students (120) and high ranking civil servants in the Ministry of Education (30). Responses were analyzed through Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). The SSA solution among all groups rendered a two dimensional solution with a coefficient of alienation .18. The SSA map clearly divided 44 parental activities into four quadrants. The left and right regents represent the focus of parental activity: The left regent represents in-school activities and the right side represents out-school activities. The upper and lower regents represent the organizational level: The upper regent represents organizational based activities and the lower regent represents student-based activities. The initial findings also demonstrated that parental involvement can be defined by the 44 actions, which are deployed on the SSA map in a polarized facet. The facet includes four elements (separation index 1.00): Resources, school welfare, control processes and pedagogical and wellbeing contents. We now have a better understanding of what constitutes school-related parental involvement; we know that it reflects a broad spectrum of parental actions and activities, which can take place either at school or outside the school. The involvement can be expressed actively or passively, often relating to the school as an organization and often in the personal context of one's own child.


The Deepwater Horizon blowout has important lessons to teach about environmental review. It is easy to scapegoat the Minerals Management Service for its poor implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act's environmental study requirements, a product in part of its capture by the oil industry. But captive agencies are a common phenomenon. Oversight by environmental mission agencies is supposed to provide a check on the myopia typical of captive or primary-mission agencies. NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and the Coastal Zone Management Act all provide for such oversight in the offshore drilling context. Yet none of the external reviews conducted in the course of permitting the Macondo Well uncovered MMS's wildly incorrect estimates of the probability, magnitude, and consequences of a blow-out. This article details the external reviews that were conducted, explains why those reviews were ineffective, and offers suggestions for improvement. Reinvigorating worst-case analysis under NEPA and incorporating worst-case analysis into ESA consultation for activities that pose an uncertain risk of catastrophic harm could help focus the attention of reviewing agencies on actions that merit an especially close look, and justify the mobilization of the resources needed to evaluate action agency risk assessments.


This thesis presents new developments in the computational analysIs of sculptured
surface products and in non-contacting vibration measurements based on the laser
Doppler technique. The work is applied to the study of elastic deformation during
impact where a detailed measurement and analysis capability is demonstrated using the
golf impact as a principal example.
A study of quadrilateral finite element mesh generation on sculptiired surface product
families has shown that the versatility of an existing paving mesh generation algorithm
can be improved significantly by dividing the product geometry into an anatomy of
features and further subdividing primary features into smaller areas with four
curvilinear sides. The hollow golf club head is an example of a sculptured surface
product and is used to demonstrate the mesh generation difficulties which are
overcome using the proposed approach.
A computational analysis of a hollow golf club head under steady state dynamic
conditions and in impact with a golf ball is presented which is of greater accuracy and
superior detail to any previously reported. These tools are necessary for the
development of a greater understanding of the detailed mechanical behaviour during
impact in terms of energy transfer and 'feel' characteristics and are of importance to the
golf equipment industry.
Experimental validation of impact models is achieved through the introduction of a
system of measurements which is suited to the analysis of high-speed, short duration
impacts between lightweight bodies in which large elastic deformation occurs. A
wealth of short duration golf impact data is captured efficiently using laser Doppler
vibrometers and piezo-electric accelerometers.
When using remote, non-contacting transducers such as the vibrometer, whole body
translation of the target body causes the point on the target interrogated by the laser
beam to change during the impact. A displacement compensation technique is
introduced which permits close approximation of the vibration of fixed points on
bodies undergoing whole body translation using data recorded from remote
transducers. The technique is of additional importance in matching the available
experimental data to points of interest in a computational model of the body. The
improvement in data quality, relative to a single remote measurement, is quantified by
reference to both simulated and actual experimental data in the case of steady state
vibration and transient pulse propagation in impact.
The golf impact is one of an increasing number of applications to exceed the
measurement range of the available non-contacting instrumentation. Accordingly, the
first practical demonstration of the laser Doppler accelerometer, a new non-contacting
laser transducer which is directly sensitive to the acceleration of a target surface, is
reported. The instrument has several advantages including an easily adjustable working
range with effectively no upper measurement limit, straightforward operation and use
of low cost optical components. Practical issues in the successful isolation of the
particular optical beat frequency which carries the acceleration signal are descnbed and
recommendations for the future development of this important new instrument are
discussed.


In thesis we propose a mathematical model of electrolyte fluid and interface systems. The model is based on a coupling between the Navier-Stokes equations of an incompressible fluid, the Nernst-Plank-Poisson equations of a diffuse, binary electrolyte, and the phase field Allen-Cahn equation. The coupling is derived in the energetic variational framework and guarantees the consistent exchange of the kinetic energy of the fluid, entropic and electric energy of the charge carriers and the surface area of the interface. Using the phase field as a topological labeling of the interface, we introduce a "short range" barrier potential which selectively blocks charge migration across the interface. The model is able to capture the dynamics of both charge induced flow and selection by the interface. This is demonstrated by simulation of the coalesence of two charge selective vesicles by charge induced motion. We also develope the existence theory for global classical solutions of the NPP equations with smooth data in space dimension d ≤ 3, global weak solutions to the NPP equations coupled with the NS equations for d ≤ 3 and global weak solutions for small initial data with the additional phase field Allen Cahn equation in space dimension d ≤ 2. The NPP equations are a system of second order, divergence form, semilinear, nonlocal parabolic equations. We elucidate many of the special features of the NPP equations which are nonstandard in complex fluid systems.


Through a non-probability quota sampling survey method, this paper explores the reasons of why Turkish Public Relations (PR) professionals need to allocate a respectable amount of their communication budget to social media along with traditional media. It analyses the perception of PR communication activities in social media for consumer and media relations. Survey results show that almost half of the respondents believe that social media, which enables PR with 100 % interactive communication, provides an easy and a fast target group determination. More than one third of the respondents believe that social media provides consumers to forward their opinions directly to the brands, provides brands to listen to consumer opinions in all social media platforms and provides a clear measurement of brand and consumer communication. One can conclude that there is a positive relationship between social media engagement and buying intention as well as education and social media engagement.


Multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells poses a serious obstacle to successful chemotherapy. The overexpression of multispecific ATP-binding cassette transporters appears to be the main mechanism of MDR. A search for MDR-reversing agents able to sensitize resistant cells to chemotherapy is ongoing in the hope of their possible clinical use. Studies of MDR modulators, although they have not produced clinically beneficial effects yet, may greatly enrich our knowledge about MDR transporters, their specificity and mechanism of action, especially substrate and/or inhibitor recognition. In the present review, interactions of three groups of modulators: phenothiazines, flavonoids and stilbenes with both P-glycoprotein and MRP1 are discussed. Each group of compounds is likely to interact with the MDR transporters by a different mechanism. Phenothiazines probably interact with drug binding sites, but they also could indirectly affect the transporter's activity by perturbing lipid bilayers. Flavonoids mainly interact with ABC proteins within their nucleotide-binding domains, though the more hydrophobic flavonoids may bind to regions within transmembrane domains. The possible mechanism of MDR reversal by stilbenes may result from their direct interaction with the transporter (possibly within substrate recognition sites) but some indirect effects such as stilbene-induced changes in gene expression pattern and in apoptotic pathways should also be considered. Literature data as well as some of our recent results are discussed. Special emphasis is put on cases when the interactions of a given compound with both P-glycoprotein and MRP1 have been studied simultaneously.


This paper proposes a robust method to compensate for the chromatic aberrations induced by the optical elements in digital color holography. It combines a zero-padding algorithm and a convolution approach with adjustable magnification, using a single recording of a reference rectangular grid. Experimental results confirm and validate the proposed approach.


BACKGROUND
Raised intraocular pressure is a risk factor for glaucoma. One treatment option is glaucoma drainage surgery (trabeculectomy). Antimetabolites are used during surgery to reduce postoperative scarring during wound healing. Two agents in common use are mitomycin C (MMC) and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU).

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of MMC compared to 5-FU as an antimetabolite adjunct in trabeculectomy surgery.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched CENTRAL (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group Trials Register) (2015 Issue 9), Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE Daily, Ovid OLDMEDLINE (January 1946 to October 2015), EMBASE (January 1980 to October 2015), Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database (LILACS) (January 1982 to October 2015), the ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/editAdvancedSearch), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We last searched the electronic databases on 2 October 2015.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials where wound healing had been modified with MMC compared to 5-FU.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently selected trials and collected data. The primary outcome was failure of a functioning trabeculectomy one year after surgery. Secondary outcomes included mean intraocular pressure at one year. We considered three subgroups: high risk of trabeculectomy failure (people with previous glaucoma surgery, extracapsular cataract surgery, African origin and people with secondary glaucoma or congenital glaucoma); medium risk of trabeculectomy failure (people undergoing trabeculectomy with extracapsular cataract surgery) and low risk of trabeculectomy failure (people who have received no previous surgical eye intervention).

MAIN RESULTS
We identified 11 trials that enrolled 687 eyes of 679 participants. The studies were conducted in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Five studies enrolled participants at low risk of trabeculectomy failure, five studies enrolled participants at high risk of failure, and one study enrolled people with both high and low risk of failure. None of the included trials enrolled participants with combined trabeculectomy/cataract surgery.We considered one study to be at low risk of bias in all domains, six studies to be at high risk of bias in one or more domains, and the remaining four studies to be at an unclear risk of bias in all domains.The risk of failure of trabeculectomy at one year after surgery was less in those participants who received MMC compared to those who received 5-FU, however the confidence intervals were wide and are compatible with no effect (risk ratio (RR) 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30 to 1.00; studies = 11; I(2) = 40%). There was no evidence for any difference between groups at high and low risk of failure (test for subgroup differences P = 0.69).On average, people treated with MMC had lower intraocular pressure at one year (mean difference (MD) -3.05 mmHg, 95% CI -4.60 to -1.50), but the studies were inconsistent (I(2) = 52%). The size of the effect was greater in the high-risk group (MD -4.18 mmHg, 95% CI -6.73 to -1.64) compared to the low-risk group (MD -1.72 mmHg, 95% CI -3.28 to -0.16), but again the test for interaction was not statistically significant (P = 0.11).Similar proportions of eyes treated with MMC lost 2 or more lines of visual acuity one year after surgery compared to 5-FU, but the confidence intervals were wide (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.54 to 2.06).Adverse events occurred relatively rarely, and estimates of effect were generally imprecise. There was some evidence for less epitheliopathy in the MMC group (RR 0.23, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.47) and less hyphaema in the MMC group (RR 0.62, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.91).None of the studies reported quality of life.Overall, we graded the quality of the evidence as low largely because of risk of bias in the included studies and imprecision in the estimate of effect.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We found low-quality evidence that MMC may be more effective in achieving long-term lower intraocular pressure than 5-FU. Further comparative research on MMC and 5-FU is needed to enhance reliability and validity of the results shown in this review. Furthermore, the development of new agents that control postoperative scar tissue formation without side effects would be valuable and is justified by the results of this review.


Egocentric economic voting models are widely used in studies of voting behaviour in Great Britain: they suggest that people whose standard of living has risen recently as a perceived consequence of government policies are more likely to vote for the government's return to office than are those who blame government policies for a decline in their living standards. But many people whose living standards have increased vote against the government. Analyses reported here, using specially constructed bespoke neighbourhoods around the homes of respondents to the 1997 British Election Study, show that the latter group mainly live in areas of high local unemployment. This suggests a pattern of altruistic voting, of people who are prospering personally, but whose neighbours are not, voting against the incumbent government—a pattern confirmed by statistical analyses of both egocentric and sociotropic voting.


This paper contributes to quantum-like modeling of decision making (DM) under uncertainty through application of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (in the form of the Robertson inequality). In this paper we apply this instrument to quantify uncertainty in DM performed by quantum-like agents. As an example, we apply the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to the determination of mutual interrelation of uncertainties for "incompatible questions" used to be asked in political opinion pools. We also consider the problem of representation of decision problems, e.g., in the form of questions, by Hermitian operators, commuting and noncommuting, corresponding to compatible and incompatible questions respectively. Our construction unifies the two different situations (compatible versus incompatible mental observables), by means of a single Hilbert space and of a deformation parameter which can be tuned to describe these opposite cases. One of the main foundational consequences of this paper for cognitive psychology is formalization of the mutual uncertainty about incompatible questions with the aid of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle implying the mental state dependence of (in)compatibility of questions.


Glutamate transporters are essential for terminating synaptic excitation and for maintaining extracellular glutamate concentrations below neurotoxic levels. These transporters also mediate a thermodynamically uncoupled chloride flux that is activated by two of the molecules that they transport - sodium and glutamate. Five eukaryotic glutamate transporters have been cloned and identified. They exhibit approximately 50% identity and this homology is even greater in the carboxyl terminal half, which is predicted to have an unusual topology. Determination of the topology shows that the carboxyl terminal part of the molecule contains several transmembrane domains that are separated by at least two re-entrant loops. In these structural elements, we have identified several conserved amino acid residues that play crucial roles in the interaction with the transporter substrates sodium, potassium and glutamate.


Background and Objective: Evaluation of tumor proliferative activity may provide a predicting parameter to estimate biologic aggression and a subsequent prognosis that has been evaluated in many malignancies. We have selected renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in this study. To determine tumor proliferative activity, KI67 antibody was applied and results were compared with apoptosis, applying P53 antibody and using immunohistochemical staining. Patients and Methods: Specimens of 30 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy for RCC were selected for histopathology and immunohistochemical study. Two different grading systems (S&H, Fuhrman) were used to calibrate average nucleoli diameter and tumor grading on all specimens. After processing of paraffin-embedded samples, they were immunohistochemically stained applying (MIB-1) KI67 monoclonal and P53 antibodies. Then, statistical analysis was done. Results: Tumor grading correlated with the average nucleus diameter. Positive reaction to KI67 and P53 antibodies in tumors increased as compared to control group. No significant relationship between age, sex and tumor grade was obtained. Conclusion: These two antibodies are as easy and reliable markers that could be applied on formalin-fixed tissues for better assessment of the biologic behavior of RCC and probably prediction of patients' outcome.


The present study investigated prospective teachers' perception of constructivist view of learning and teaching. A case study design was adopted in the study. Elementary and Science prospective teachers (4th grade) participated (n=226) in the study. After having provided a caricature that represented the transmission view of teaching and learning prospective teachers were asked to make a caricature to represent the constructivist view of learning and teaching. They were also required to provide an explanation for their drawings. The drawing and its explanation were analysed together ideographically. The results of this analysis showed that the majority of the prospective teachers' described the constructivist view where the learner actively constructs the knowledge. Five major elements were detected in their perception. These were; learner's role, teacher's role, philosophy of constructivist view, instructional materials and learner's acquirements. Teacher and learner's role existed in all of the prospective teachers' drawing. Yet, the role of the teacher and the learner seem to differ in nature depending on the prospective teacher's perception of the constructivist view and preference of its brands as cognitive or socio-cultural.


For many decades a major emphasis in public policy has been the assurance of food safety and security. Measurement of the economic returns to these programs is often difficult and challenging. In many cases the difficulty in obtaining data and the sheer complexity of the issues make the use of traditional econometric and programming approaches impractical for assessing these activities. This paper presents a summary of an innovative method for measuring benefits and costs of hard-to-assess programs and activities, such as those that deal with food safety, meat inspection and quality assurance. The building block approach described here for measuring benefits and costs was developed as an alternative method for measuring returns to meat inspection, agricultural grading, agricultural research and seed and seed potato quality assurance.


A fierce critical intelligence animates every page of Queer Street. Its sentences are dizzying divagations. The postwar generation of queer New York has found a sophisticated bard singing 'the elders' history' (The New York Times). James McCourt's seminal Queer Street has proven unrivaled in its ability to capture the voices of a mad, bygone era. Beginning with the influx of liberated veterans into downtown New York and barreling through four decades of crisis and triumph up to the era of the floodtide of AIDS, McCourt positions his own exhilarating experience against the whirlwind history of the era. The result is a commanding and persuasive interlocking of personal, intellectual, and social history that will be read, dissected, and honored as the masterpiece it is for decades to come. A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2003; a Lambda Award finalist.


The practice of Knowledge Management (KM) has been conceptualized as a set of organizational processes that facilitate knowledge availability to support decision making, inform actions, and enhance performance. An underlying assumption of the KM practice is that knowledge availability would lead to knowledgeable actions. However, the notion of a 'theory-practice' gap remains an issue in many fields. By adopting the phenomenon of knowledge mobilization to represent the interactions between the two domains, this research aims to answer the question of what affords for theory-practice gaps to emerge when knowledge is mobilized in action. The findings from a case study of ICT graduates who are required to engage with theory and use it in their practice indicates that professionals frame their situations by drawing mainly upon a practical rather than a theoretical knowledge base acquired through experience and socialization.


Introduction: Hypertension (HTN) has been identified as a common health problem in every ethnic group in the USA. Due to the silent nature of the HTN, some cultures may not perceive this condition as being serious or potentially fatal. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the health beliefs of Russianspeaking immigrants with hypertension and their adherence to the prescribed treatment. Design: The study was a non-experimental exploratory survey and interview. Convenience sampling was used. The Health Belief Model (HBM) provided the theoretical framework. Sample: A total of 62 subjects (27% male and 73% female, ages from 51 to 86) completed the questionnaire that covered health beliefs and self-report on adherence to treatment. Results: This study indicated a correlation between embarrassment, inconvenience, and compliance with fitness recommendations. Financial burden correlated with adherence to dietary modifications. A strong negative correlation was found between perceived severity of complications and number of missed medications. Patient's awareness about existence of complications of hypertension had a positive correlation with change in adherence to treatment. Educational level had no correlation with adherence. Conclusion: Health education based on these findings will facilitate the reduction of the rate of complications in the targeted population.


ABSTRACT This paper describes my practitioner inquiry as a newly qualified teacher, initially used as a form of teacher learning, but ultimately became the reason I remained in the physical education (PE) teaching profession. In Scotland, early-career PE teachers are encouraged to embody the role of teacher–researcher and pursue Career-Long Professional Learning (CLPL) opportunities that nourish creative and enquiring dispositions. However, it is also understood that failure to integrate into political school structures, successfully managing workload and relationships, negotiating curricular content and aims and becoming a competent classroom manager can lead to dissatisfaction and attrition. Supported by critical friends, I use narrative inquiry to explore the contexts and people that shaped my learning during my initial years in the profession and factors contributing to my professional teaching identity. Through this process, I began to understand my professional knowledge landscape as an arena of contested stories that bump, intertwine and converge. This understanding was important for me to feel comfortable as a teacher–researcher and in my decision to remain in the profession. These findings reflect the capacity for growth inherent in a narrative understanding of experience and potential for sustaining PE teacher–researcher identities via research-based practitioner inquiry. Those within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) should consider the application of narrative identity work to encourage early-career PE teachers to reflect on the personal, social, and contextual aspects of identity construction in their lives, with the hope they can effectively navigate the shifting landscape of twenty-first century PE.


U-Pb SHRIMP ages of detrital zircons from metasedimentary rocks of the Connecticut Valley-Gaspé trough in Vermont corroborate a Silurian-Devonian age of deposition for these strata and constrain their provenances. Ages of randomly selected detrital zircons obtained from quartzites within the Waits River and Gile Mountain Formations range from Archean to Devonian with Mesoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, Ordovician, and Silurian age populations suggesting both eastern and western sources of the sediments. The two youngest single-grain detrital zircon ages from samples collected in the Waits River Formation are 418 ± 7 and 415 ± 2 Ma. The youngest single-grain detrital zircon age from the eastern part of the Gile Mountain Formation is 411 ± 8. The youngest detrital zircons from the western portion of the Gile Mountain Formation comprise an age population with a weighted average of 409 ± 5 Ma. These ∼409 Ma zircons are likely of volcanic origin, perhaps derived from the Piscataquis magmatic belt to the east. The absence of younger volcanic zircons in the coarser-grained eastern facies of the Gile Mountain Formation suggests the eastern sediments are older and were buried during Piscataquis volcanism and deposition in the west. The shift in protoliths from calcareous silts and muds of the Waits River Formation to quartzo-feldspathic sands of the Gile Mountain Formation implies a change from a continental slope-like depositional environment to a near-shore or terrestrial environment of deposition. This change supports a transition in the nature of the basin from an intercontinental back-arc extensional setting to a foreland basin setting. Maximum depositional ages of sediments above and below this facies boundary constrain the timing of transition in basin style between about 415 and 411 Ma. Given the timing of the approaching Acadian wedge, this shift in basin style likely reflects westward migration of thrust sheets during the Acadian orogeny. The fine-grained nature of the youngest silts, muds and turbidites suggests that sedimentation occurred in increasingly deeper water. The implied basin subsidence was likely caused by lithospheric flexure as the Acadian wedge approached from the east. The timing of this subsidence is constrained to be younger than the youngest zircons at about 409 Ma.


The functional thermal evaluation of test transformers insulated with silicon fluid is described. Studies have shown that polydimethylsiloxane fluids maintain good electrical properties at elevated temperatures, but system evaluation is required to determine their capability in a transformer. A transformer test facility meeting the requirements of IEEE Standard 262 is described and was used for the accelerated thermal testing of the transformer models. The test results are summarized and an indication is given of how silicone fluid can be used in the design of high-reliability industrial transformer systems.


The battery system is one of the key components of electric vehicles (EV) which has brought groundbreaking technologies. Since modern EVs have mostly Li-ion batteries, they need to be monitored and controlled to achieve safe and high-performance operation. Particularly, the battery management system (BMS) uses complex processing systems that perform measurements, estimation of the battery states, and protection of the system. State of charge (SOC) estimation is a major part of these processes which defines remaining capacity in the battery until the next charging operation as a proportion to the total battery capacity. Since SOC is not a parameter that can be measured, the fundamental challenge is an accurate estimation. There are different SOC estimation methods in the literature that promises high accuracy such as model-based estimations, adaptive filter based estimations, and a combination of these systems. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly machine learning (ML) based systems are included in the battery state estimation both as a part of adaptive systems and standalone. Data-driven methods are promising approaches to battery state estimation which provide high accuracy. The purpose of this study is to present a novel and highly accurate way of SOC estimation of the Li-ion battery (LIB) cell with a considerably low parameterization and modeling effort. Therefore, a new approach is proposed to estimate SOC with reduced modeling and without performing parametrization. Based on discharge test data, XGBoost is used to estimate SOC under dynamic operating conditions and the estimation is reached 98.81% coefficient of determination. As a novel approach, exponential smoothing is performed in combination with XGBoost SOC estimation to improve the estimation performance of the model. The estimation accuracy is improved as approximately 0.62%.


ABSTRACT Gusmawati, N.F.; Zhi, C.; Soulard, B.; Lemonnier, H., and Selmaoui-Folcher, N., 2016. Aquaculture ponds precise mapping in Perancak Estuary, Bali, Indonesia. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 637–641. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Indonesia is one of the biggest producers and exporters of shrimp in the world. Shrimp ponds mapping and monitoring will be of critical importance for supporting decision-making regarding the development of sustainable fisheries. Therefore, automatic processing, acceptable quality, and efficient aquaculture mapping are urgently required. The objective of our work is to develop an automatic classification procedure for aquaculture mapping and monitoring, using the Edge Detection Based (EDB) method on very high spatial resolution satellite image. Then we compare the result obtained with EDB with results given respectively by the unsupervised classification method Isodata implemented using ArcGIS (IUC) and a region growing segmentation (RGT) method implemented in SPRING. The broken structure of embankments, dried-up ponds, ongoing development ponds, also abundance of algae and mangrove vegetation in the ponds present significant challenges to establish an accurate map. The aquaculture map provided by EDB successfully identified a high proportion of the existing ponds (> 95%) and overall accuracy of 84% and a kappa coefficient of 0.68. On the other hand, IUC and RGT produced a lower proportion of ponds (between 60 and 80 %) with lower overall accuracy and needed manual refinements. The present study also showed a potential in discriminating different types of ponds. That could be used for a further objective of analyzing the spatiotemporal changes of the ponds and thus improving shrimp farming development.


Amid the childhood obesity epidemic, understanding how organized sports participation contributes to meeting physical activity recommendations in children is important. Anthropometrics were measured in children (n = 111; 68% female, 9.1 ± 0.8 yr) before one 50-min soccer match. Time spent at different physical activity intensity levels was examined using Actigraph accelerometers. 49% of the match time was spent in sedentary activity (25.4 ± 5.7 min), while 33% of the match (16.9 ± 4.7 min) was spent in moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA; p < .001). 22.5% of the children were overweight/obese and spent more time in sedentary activity (+3.2 ± 1.2 min; p < .05) and less time in MVPA (-3.0 ± 1.0 min; p < .01) compared with the normal weight children. These data demonstrate that playing an organized sport such as soccer only meets a portion (~25%) of the 60 min of MVPA recommended and even less of this recommendation is met by overweight/obese children.


Recent data suggests an important role for mutations in the spliceosome machinery, which controls the editing of introns from protein coding transcripts, in the development of hematological malignancies. Understanding how this machinery is regulated in cancer cells may provide leads for design of rational therapeutic targets. We demonstrate that several spliceosome proteins are regulated by the sirtuin class of histone deacetylase inhibitors. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) have proven preclinical and clinical activity against Hodgkin Lymphoma. HDACs are grouped into four categories with classes I, II, and IV, constituting the zinc-dependent family members and class III comprising the seven known NAD+ dependent members known as sirtuins. Current HDAC inhibitors in clinical use have no activity against the NAD+ sirtuins, thus we have designed lead compound inhibitors. AS4.064, a novel selenium analog of thiobarbituric acid designed in our lab, inhibits sirtuins 1 and 3 in enzymatic studies. We demonstrate that Hodgkin and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia lines show decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis when treated with the zinc based HDAC inhibitor SelSA-1 and/or with AS4.064 by viability studies and annexin V studies. We have previously demonstrated an important role for c-Myc inhibition in the activity of HDACi in lymphoid malignancies. The combination of AS4.064 and SelSA-1 showed enhanced inhibition of c-Myc protein levels in L540 cells, while the acetylation of p53 at various lysines is differentially enhanced by single agent versus the combination of the two agents. We show changes in DNA damage response elements such as GADD45 and FOXO3A, telomerase, and several related miRNAs enhanced by the combination of the two agents. Interestingly, time dependent increases in several spliceosome enzymes, were confirmed by RT-PCR, with increased binding of AcH3K9 at the U2AF1 promoter in a ChIP assay, after sirtuin inhibition with AS4.064. Transcription of the metabolic enzyme, IDH2, is altered in cells treated with AS4.064 as well. In summary, the novel SIRT1 inhibitor, AS-64, and the novel HDACi, SelSa-1, show growth inhibitory and pro-apoptotic activity in lymphoid leukemia lines, alone and in combination. Sirtuins may be important regulators the spliceosome machinery, and as such may be of biological and therapeutic importance in the hematologic malignancies. Citation Format: Kimberly A. Scata, Arun K. Sharma, Dhimant Desai, Shantu Amin, Mark H. Kirschbaum. The novel Sirtuin inhibitor AS4.064 induces apoptosis in lymphoid malignancy lines and regulates transcription of spliceosome components and the metabolic enzyme IDH2. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5140. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5140


A brief review is given of three recent results concerning classical solutions of gravitational theories: (1) With asymptotically anti de Sitter boundary conditions, there are matter theories satisfying the positive energy theorem which violate cosmic censorship. (2) Despite supersymmetry, there are solutions to = 8 supergravity in which the total gravitational energy is arbitrarily negative. This theory can also violate cosmic censorship. (3) A large class of supersymmetric compactifications (including all simply connected Calabi–Yau manifolds) have solutions with negative four dimensional effective energy density.


In this paper we investigate the performances of two bulk magnetocaloric refrigerants based on La(Fe,Co)13-xSix and prepared by powder metallurgy. Both materials were developed especially for a magnetic cooling machine. We have determined the magnetocaloric effect in term of temperature change under magnetic field using a test-bench with practical running conditions. ΔT was measured under 2 T and close to room temperature range. The obtained results will be compared with those of some reference materials reported in the literature. In addition, a composite material based on La(Fe,Co)13-xSix is proposed for magnetic systems using Ericsson and AMR cycles for refrigeration close to room temperature.


Abstract In this work the analysis by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique of copper-based alloys having different composition and performed with fs laser pulses is presented. A Nd:Glass laser (Twinkle Light Conversion, λ = 527 nm at 250 fs) and a set of bronze and brass certified standards were used. The inverse Calibration-Free method (inverse CF-LIBS) was applied for estimating the temperature of the fs laser induced plasma in order to achieve quantitative elemental analysis of such materials. This approach strengthens the hypothesis that, through the assessment of the plasma temperature occurring in fs-LIBS, straightforward and reliable analytical data can be provided. With this aim the capability of the here adopted inverse CF-LIBS method, which is based on the fulfilment of the Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) condition, for an indirect determination of the species excitation temperature, is shown. It is reported that the estimated temperatures occurring during the process provide a good figure of merit between the certified and the experimentally determined composition of the bronze and brass materials, here employed, although further correction procedure, like the use of calibration curves, can be demanded. The reported results demonstrate that the inverse CF-LIBS method can be applied when fs laser pulses are used even though the plasma properties could be affected by the matrix effects restricting its full employment to unknown samples provided that a certified standard having similar composition is available.


A Slepian model is derived for the shape of dicks in modulated FM transmission. The modulated signal may be a deterministic periodic function or a stationary stochastic process, not necessarily Gaussian. To describe the clicks one first derives the stochastic properties of noise and signal at the clicks. (For a periodic signal this amounts to giving the relative number of clicks in any given part of the period.) Then the conditional distributions of noise and signal near clicks are derived in explicit form, using the noise and signal values at the click as (random) parameters, and finally these conditional distributions are mixed into a total model for the click shapes. For increasing carrier-to-noise power ratio A^{2}/2 , the Slepian model converges after normalization to a rational function with random coefficients. The amplitude of a click is shown to be of the order A^{2} , in contrast to the unmodulated ease, where click amplitudes are of the order A .


This is the introduction to the Ecology and Society special feature on "Applying Landscape Science to Natural Resource Management". Primarily drawing upon examples from Australia, the nine papers in the feature illustrate how landscape science seeks to integrate information from diverse sources to generate management solutions for implementation by individual land managers, communities, and governments at different levels. This introduction refers to the genesis of the feature, briefly outlines the nature and content of landscape science, and then summarizes key features of the nine papers. These are organized into two sections: one deals with inputs from human agents in the landscape, and one with the development of models enabling different management scenarios and environmental changes to be envisaged, understood, and applied to policy development.


While the influence of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) on the functions of lymphocytes has rather extensively been investigated, there are almost no data on the action of this thiol compound on macrophages. We examined the effect of 2-ME in vitro (10(-6)-10(-4) M) on migration from capillary tubes of oil elicited peritoneal macrophages of non-immune and immune guinea pigs, sensitized with ovalbumin in complete Freund's adjuvant. This thiol did not affect the random migration of macrophages both in normal and in sensitized animals. Contrary to this, it significantly enhanced the frequency of occurrence and the magnitude of migration inhibition caused by the action of the migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the examination of delayed hypersensibility by a direct MIF assay. The possible mechanism and the site of action of 2-ME are discussed.


New vertebrate species are still being discovered in the Indonesian Archipelago (Rheindt et al., , Science, , –), many of which may already be threatened with extinction. One such species is the Wangi-Wangi white-eye, an undescribed micro-endemic species of Zosterops inhabiting just one small island: the  km Wangi-Wangi in the Wakatobi archipelago, South-east Sulawesi (O'Connell et al., , Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, , –). The Wangi-Wangi white-eye is a novel taxon, unlike many recently described bird species that have resulted from socalled taxonomic splits. Genetic andmorphological analyses (O'Connell et al., , Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, , –) have shown theWangi-Wangiwhite-eye to be distinct, but it is not formally recognized as a species as no type specimen (a preserved adult) exists in a museum. Wangi-Wangi Island has been heavily deforested and therefore the Wangi-Wangi white-eye is likely to have already suffered from habitat loss. The Indonesian NGO Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark has found this species is being increasingly traded in bird markets (Menner, , Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark Spring News, silentforest.eu/spring-news-from-the-prigen-conservationbreeding-ark-pcba-march-).White-eye species are commonly traded for their pleasant song, and trade in bird species that have suffered from habitat loss is threatening songbird species in Indonesia (Marshall et al., , Biological Conservation, , ). Trade of this undescribed species is therefore of concern. Although Menner (op. cit.) notes the Wangi-Wangi white-eye is being bred in captivity, it is difficult to ascertain how many of the traded birds have been captive bred and how many have been recently trapped in the wild. Unregulated trapping for the cage bird trade may pose a serious threat, particularly as the Wangi-Wangi white-eye's status has yet to be formalized. Until a species is formally described, it receives no conservation protection (O'Connell et al., , Science, , ). The process of obtaining permits for the collection of a type specimen is underway, to facilitate formal recognition of the species and an assessment of its conservation status. Only then can it be protected by law. However, this can be a lengthy process. As its range is,  km, the Wangi-Wangi white-eye is likely to be categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The example of the Wangi-Wangi white-eye highlights the problems faced by rare new species. Modern trappers are quick to exploit profitable populations (Yang & Chan, , Zootaxa, , –; Neslen, , The Guardian, theguardian.com/environment//jan//poachers-usingscience-papers-to-target-newly-discovered-species). Conservationists need to be alert to this issue and consider how to make protection more effective for threatened populations.


The Sudd, one of the largest wetland areas in the world, is faced by huge evapotranspiration rates. More than 50 % of the Sudd inflow is evaporated out of the Sudd swamps, resulting in less water availability in the downstream areas. To gain extra water downstream, planners have proposed to dig a canal (Jonglei canal) around to Sudd area, to save an extra 4.8 Gm3/year. What the effects of the swamps in the Sudd area will be, are still relatively unknown. In this thesis the effects on the Sudd swamp will be studied based on several Jonglei Canal scenarios.
In the first phase of the study the historical monthly water balance for the period 1961 – 2000 has been simulated. This is done by creating a hydrological model based on the water balance made by Sutcliffe & Parks (1987). This model describes the Sudd as a reservoir, where the input comes from the precipitation and the inflow, and the output from the evapotranspiration and the outflow.
To simulate the water balance, several data sets had to be collected. The first data set is the precipitation data in the Sudd area. This data was collected at the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC). The next data set is the evapotranspiration data. This data was simulated with the use of the ET0 calculator (FAO, 2009). The ET0 calculator uses the Penman-Monteith equation for the calculation of the evapotranspiration. The input for the calculator is collected at the measurement stations at Juba and Malakal for the temperature, relative humidity and the sunshine hours. The inflow data set is collected at the measurement stations Mongalla simulated in the RIBASIM model. The RIBASIM model simulates the monthly water flows for several measurement stations in the Nile basin. The outflow for the Sudd is based on the flows at the stations Malakal and Doleib Hill. The outflow is described as the flow of Malakal minus the flow at Doleib Hill. The data for the period 1961 – 1983 has been measured and the data for the period 1983 – 2000 will be simulated by a regression equation between the flows at Malakal and Doleib Hill.
When all the data sets were collected, the historical water balance for the Sudd could be simulated. The results from the water balance show that the swamp sizes in the period 1961 – 1964 increased by almost 300 % from 15 Gm2 to around 60 Gm2. In the period 1965 – 1978 the swamp sizes recovers to around 42 Gm3 where it slightly decreased to 35 Gm2 until 1978. In the period 1979 – 1981 the swamps show a sudden size increase. This is caused by a high increase in the precipitation in that period. In the last period until 2000 the Sudd swamps fluctuates around 30 Gm2.
The second phase of the study several Jonglei canal scenarios have been tested. The scenarios are placed in three groups: fixed canal flows, seasonal dependent canal flows and flows where the extra water volume downstream of the Sudd will be 4.8 Gm3/year. For the simulation of the swamps with the canal flows some variables needed to be adjusted. The inflow will now be decreased by the flow through the canal. The evapotranspiration will change under influence from a changing relative humidity as a result of the drained area. At last the outflow will change. The Sudd outflow is linear related to the swamp area where there will be a division in a dry period relation and a wet period relation.
The results from the fixed canal flows show a high linear relation between the flows and the change in the permanent (16 – 26 %), seasonal (13 – 22 %) and total swamp (15 – 25 %). The effects on the permanent swamp will be the highest, followed by the total swamp and at last the seasonal swamp.
The effects with seasonal dependent canal flows will be the highest on the size of seasonal swamp. The change on the permanent swamp depends mainly on the total
The effects of Jonglei Canal operation scenarios on the Sudd swamps in Southern Sudan 5
yearly flow. When this total is high, the decrease of the permanent swamp will also be high. The change on the seasonal swamp depends on the size of the canal flow in the wet period. When this is high, the decrease of the seasonal swamp will also be high. The change on the total swamp depends, just like the permanent swamp, on the total yearly flow.
To create 4.8 Gm3/year water downstream of the Sudd, the average canal flow need to be 18 Mm3/day. The scenario, a canal flow of 10 Mm3/day in the dry period and 26 Mm3/day in the wet period, has the highest influence on the total swamp, almost
26 %. The same scenario has the highest influence on the seasonal swamp. The scenario, a canal flow of 26 Mm3/day in the dry period and 10 Mm3/day in the wet period, has the highest influence on the permanent swamp, although the difference between the scenarios is small.


Because large numbers of volunteer blood donors may be disqualified for "false‐positive" results on tests for antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc), a more specific definition of anti‐HBc enzyme immunoassay (EIA)‐reactive was evaluated, including only those donor samples that were "strongly" reactive (sample‐to‐cutoff absorbance ratio, < 0.45). Results using this definition and other anti‐HBc test methods were compared to the serologic response (antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen [anti‐HBsAg]) to hepatitis B vaccination. Fifty‐eight volunteer blood donors who had previously been deferred as donors, because of reactive anti‐HBc tests (all other blood screening tests were negative, including those for HBsAg and anti‐HBsAg) on two occasions, were vaccinated for hepatitis B. It was assumed that an anamnestic response to vaccine indicated past infection with hepatitis B, while a primary response to vaccine indicated lack of past infection. One (2%) of 43 donors with a historically "weak" anti‐HBc (reactive absorbance ratio, > or = 0.45) had an anamnestic response to vaccine, compared to 8 (53%) of 15 with historically "strong" anti‐HBc (reactive absorbance ratio, < 0.45) (p < 0.005). Anti‐HBc testing using the microparticle EIA method also correlated well with hepatitis B vaccination results. The use of a narrower definition of "reactive" for anti‐HBc EIA testing yielded much more specific, but slightly less sensitive, results.


Abstract: The employment of foreign workers is one of the most crucial problems today in the domain of work relations. Absorbing workers from abroad poses serious questions concerning the moral obligations of the employers as well as the government authorities in the migrant-receiving country. Unfortunately, the moral dilemmas of foreign labor have been largely neglected by business ethics researchers. This paper develops a conceptual framework based on the multinational corporation (MNC) ethical research to help examine the moral obligations of employers and states toward foreign workers, as opposed to citizens. The main argument is that domestic employers, who have the power to affect crucial aspects in the lives of migrant workers, incur obligations to these people and bear moral responsibility for their subsistence. As regards the host country in a universal social order based on the existence of nation-states, the employment of foreign workers poses a genuine ethical dilemma between two valid moral duties: the duty to improve the welfare of nationals and the duty to promote the interests of everyone, regardless of their nationality.