Trypanosomes mostly regulate gene expression through post-transcriptional mechanisms, particularly mRNA stability. However, much mRNA degradation is cytoplasmic such that mRNA nuclear export must represent an important level of regulation. Ribosomal RNAs must also be exported from the nucleus and the trypanosome orthologue of NMD3 has been confirmed to be involved in rRNA processing and export, matching its function in other organisms. Surprisingly, we found that TbNMD3 depletion also generates mRNA accumulation of procyclin-associated genes (PAGs), these being co-transcribed by RNA polymerase I with the procyclin surface antigen genes expressed on trypanosome insect forms. By whole transcriptome RNA-seq analysis of TbNMD3-depleted cells we confirm the regulation of the PAG transcripts by TbNMD3 and using reporter constructs reveal that PAG1 regulation is mediated by its 5′UTR. Dissection of the mechanism of regulation demonstrates that it is not dependent upon translational inhibition mediated by TbNMD3 depletion nor enhanced transcription. However, depletion of the nuclear export factors XPO1 or MEX67 recapitulates the effects of TbNMD3 depletion on PAG mRNAs and mRNAs accumulated in the nucleus of TbNMD3-depleted cells. These results invoke a novel RNA regulatory mechanism involving the NMD3-dependent nuclear export of mRNA cargos, suggesting a shared platform for mRNA and rRNA export.


While nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are capable of producing accurate results for mesoscale models, the simulations for a few million molecules can take considerable duration even when run on multiple processors. However, the alternative continuum simulations, while faster, cannot account for any temperature discontinuities at interfaces, and as such, can be rather inaccurate. We present a solution to this by incorporating both models into a multiscale computational scheme, where MD simulations are run over regions where temperature discontinuities are expected, while SSPH simulations are carried out over the remainder of the domain. In order to validate our model, we investigate thermal transport across a Si-Ge nanoscale interface that is embedded within a mesoscale system using both the novel multiscale model and pure MD simulations. The results indicate that the output from the coupled MD-SSPH model is in good agreement with those of the pure MD simulation when the boundary temperatures are specified. However, as SSPH does not account for phonon scattering at nonperiodic reflective boundaries, the local temperatures obtained from the multiscale model tend to be higher than those for the pure MD simulation when boundary flux is specified.© 2010 ASME


Alya is the BSC in-house HPC-based multi-physics simulation code. It is designed from scratch to run efficiently in parallel supercomputers, solving coupled problems. The target domain is engineering, with all its particular features: complex geometries and unstructured meshes, coupled multi-physics with exotic coupling schemes and Physical models, ill-posed problems, flexibility needs for rapidly including new models, etc. Since its conception in 2004, Alya has shown scaling behaviour in an increasing number of cores. In this paper, we present its performance up to 100.000 cores in Blue Waters, the NCSA supercomputer. The selected tests are representative of the engineering world, all the problematic features included: incompressible flow in a human respiratory system, low Mach combustion problem in a kiln furnace and coupled electro-mechanical problem in a heart. We show scalability plots for all cases, discussing all the aspects of such kind of simulations, including solvers convergence.


In focus groups and individual interviews with the wives and mothers of Palestinian political prisoners, we find that their narratives describe a triple captivity—of the Israeli colonial system, the Israeli prison, and the post-Oslo Palestinian political landscape with its isolating effects in their own communities. Wives and mothers of prisoners mediate between prison and family life by navigating through the multiple dynamics of Israeli securitization and geographic incarceration, political invisibility in the Palestinian field, and social isolation in their communities. In particular, the visit from the West Bank to prisons inside Israel emerges as an ordeal that haunts and structures daily life. We draws on Jacques Ranciere's notion to highlight the vanishing of the political, the dominance of policing, and the diminishing value of imprisonment in the post Oslo years, signaling an absence of the Palestinian emancipatory project.


This paper deals with a comparative study on using water and air as actuation means for the control of a fluidic muscle (designed for air) and assesses the performance, particularly from a dynamic and energetic point of view. A medium with higher bulk modulus such as oil/water is believed to increase pressure and force bandwidths and reduce sensitivity to load variations, as is the case with conventional hydraulic stiff actuation systems. However in this application the inherent flexibility of the muscle plays a major role. Water has been chosen because of its non-flammability, environmental friendliness and the low solubility of air in it. The operating pressure range of the pneumatic muscle is 0-6 bar (typical range of a pneumatic system) that is well below typical operating pressures of hydraulic systems (typically over 100 bar). At such low pressures the dynamic behaviour of water is less predictable because of the higher likelihood of entrapped air in the water which physically occurs when operating at low pressures. This can majorly affect water bulk modulus and hence its dynamic performance. Therefore, the behaviour of the system in this unconventional pressure range for a liquid must be more thoroughly investigated. Theoretical and experimental analyses on a dedicated test rig have been carried out to assess these assumptions.


Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with increased risk of endothelial dysfunction if it lasts a long time without control. This study aims to connect the Onset of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) with Nitric Oxide levels in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study used cross-sectional study method. The samples were 86 subjects, consisting of 38 subjects of Type 2 DM controlled and 48 subjects of Type 2 DM uncontrolled. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis statistical test showed no significant difference between the Onset of DM and Nitric Oxide levels in the categories of 4-6 years (19.4 ± 10.1), 7-9 years (17.3 ± 9.3) and 10-12 years (13.3 ± 8.5) (p=0.06). Furthermore, the Spearman correlation test revealed a negative correlation between the Onset of DM and Nitric Oxide level in patients with Type 2 DM with and without control (r =-0.217). The level of Nitric Oxide (NO) can consider as a predictor of long-term complication in patients with type 2 DM.


In one scenario of gene evolution, exon shuffling plays a fundamental role in increasing gene diversity. This paper is an appraisal of the biological relevance of categorising proteins by their splicing profiles (exon-intron structures). The central question is whether protein function is more correlated with splicing profiles than sequence similarity, or not. To approach this question, a splicing profile similarity (SPS) index, which measures relative exon length discrepancy, was devised. Arbitrary human proteins were compared, in terms of SPS and amino acid sequence similarity, to their 1) mouse orthologues and 2) human paralogues, which epitomise functional equivalence and non-equivalence, respectively, to methodically elucidate the global relationship between a) biological function, b) splicing profile similarity, and c) sequence similarity. Protein function is more correlated with splicing profile similarity than sequence similarity as demonstrated by the fact that human-mouse orthologues (HMOs) display significantly higher splicing profile similarity than do human-human paralogues (HHPs), despite the mutual sequence similarity between these two categories. This finding indicates that splicing profile-based protein categorisation is biologically meaningful.


[1] Physical and chemical properties of warm and hot spring waters as well as soil radon concentrations were measured continuously during a 3-year period in the Marmara region; following the devastating Izmit earthquake of 17 August 1999 (Mw = 7.4). Promising and encouraging anomalies in ground radon emanation have been recorded and found to be closely related to seismic activity. The temporal and spatial variations in the soil radon data are presented. The earthquakes with magnitude >4 in the region were correlated with positive radon anomalies. Furthermore, during quiescence (absence of seismic activity) the radon data indicate random walk behavior of radon in soil and show Rayleigh-type probability density function (pdf), however, during the earthquake build-up period, the data show deviations from Rayleigh-type pdf. The radon positive anomalies indicate disturbance of the path of gas movement or gas release pattern prior to earthquakes. However, systematic and consistent anomalies in physical and/or chemical properties of the spring waters have not been detected for earthquakes occurring in the observation period (M < 5.3).


Rivista di psichiatria, 2005, 40, 1 26 SUMMARY. Objective. To assess the current role of psychotherapy during graduate training in the United States. Methods. A questionnaire was distributed to one hundred and sixty general graduate psychiatric training programs in the United States. Results. Programs reported an increase in psychotherapy training in anticipation of the competency-based guidelines recently delineated and approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). A majority of respondents (54%) reported an increase in psychotherapy training in their programs in the last 2 years, while 42% of respondents anticipate an increase in the next 2 years. The emphasis during graduate psychiatric training remains on individual psychotherapy, with 75% of the total psychotherapy seminar hours dedicated to this topic. However, current and anticipated funding for psychotherapy training remains stagnant. The majority of the programs (78%) reported no changes in funding during the last 2 years, while 75% of the programs anticipate funding to remain unchanged in the next 2 years. Graduate training programs are considering a variety of assessment tools to objectively document residency competency in psychotherapy. Conclusions. Graduate medical education and, in particular, graduate psychiatric training is currently facing major training challenges. While funding has not increased, new training priorities are more demanding with respect to the implementation of the new core competency model recently established by the ACGME and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).


In this report, we present a facile approach to forming dendrimer-functionalized LAPONITE® (LAP) nanodisks loaded with gadolinium (Gd) for in vitro and in vivo T1-weighted MR imaging applications. In this work, LAP nanodisks were sequentially modified with silane coupling agents, succinic anhydride to have abundant carboxyl groups on their surface, and amine-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers of generation 2 (G2). The dendrimer-modified LAP nanodisks were then conjugated with gadolinium (Gd) chelator diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), followed by Gd(III) chelation to form the LM–G2–DTPA (Gd) nanocomplexes. The designed LM–G2–DTPA(Gd) nanocomplexes were characterized via different techniques. Cell viability assay shows that the formed LM–G2–DTPA(Gd) nanodisks are non-cytotoxic in the given concentration range. With a high r1 relaxivity (2.05 mM−1 s−1), the LM–G2–DTPA(Gd) nanocomplexes are able to be used as an efficient contrast agent for T1-weighted MR imaging of cancer cells in vitro and animal organ/tumor model in vivo. The designed LM–G2–DTPA(Gd) nanocomplexes may hold a great promise to be used as a versatile nanoplatform for MR imaging of different biological systems.


Hepatocytes from fasted rats, previously maintained as a monolayer in a serum-free glucagon-containing culture medium are demonstrated to provide a useful model system for the study of receptor-mediated mechanisms of insulin action. The cultured liver cells show glucagon- and insulin-responsive biological effects. These cultures show the long-term effects of insulin on the syntheses of protein ([3H]leucine incorporation), glycogen, and lipids (conversion of [3H]glucose) in a dose-dependent manner in the physiological range of insulin concentrations. The order of the effects of different analogues of insulin on each of the bioactivities studied at 37 degrees C is the same as their order to compete at 25 degrees C for binding to insulin-specific receptors. The characterization of radioactive products of 125I-insulin using gel filtration and anti-insulin A chain antibody has shown a transient accumulation of insulin A chain, indicating that the sequential pathway of insulin degradation is operative in the anchored, cultured hepatocytes. Whereas the synthesis of proteins proceeds linearly after insulin inoculation, the syntheses of glycogen and lipids first occur after a lag period of about 10 and 12 h, respectively. None of the three 125I-labeled fragments or products of 125I-insulin released in the culture mediums showed any biological activity (glycogenesis) in cultured hepatocytes although a high-molecular-weight 125I-product isolated from cells could not be tested because of its insolubility. The possibility that the insulin effects might have been mediated via a nonradioactive fragment of insulin or another chemical agent remains open.


In this article, I examine how contemporary Finnish Jewish women understand their roles and identities as women in a small Orthodox Jewish community, on the one hand, and as members of a tiny minority in largely secular and predominantly Lutheran/Christian Finland, on the other. How do Finnish Jewish women negotiate their identities in relation to their community, strongly organised along gender lines, and in relation to Finnish society and especially its equality ideals and norms? I divide my article into four sections. First, I give a short overview of the theory of intersectionality, concentrating on its possibilities and limitations for the study of religion and gender in general, and for the study of Judaism, specifically. Second, I focus on my informants' views of the gendered practices of their Orthodox Jewish community, which, by many standards, is a very specific form of Orthodoxy, which could be called 'Finnish Orthodoxy'. Third, I analyse my informants' views on how they perceive being Jewish women in contemporary Finland. The intersection of the last two broad themes will highlight the realities of Finnish Jewish women in contemporary Finland. Fourth, I discuss possibilities and limitations of intersectional theorising in the light of my data.


Six healthy male volunteers (age: 27.6 +/- 4.7; weight: 74.6 +/- 7.7) participated in a "repeated measure" design for comparing the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic behaviours of the brand-name drug of Dogmatyl and a generic sulpiride formulation. Each subject received a single 400-mg dose of Dogmatyl in tablet form during the first dosing period. After two weeks of washout period, the same dose of a generic preparation was then administered. Blood samples were obtained at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours after initial dosing. The concentration of sulpiride was measured by a high pressure liquid chromatographic method using a UV detector. All the data were processed by Keith K.H. Chan and Kenneth Wnuck's method which utilizes KMCP computer software. Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated, based on one compartment model. The results revealed that the maximal concentration (Cmax) of Dogmatyl and the generic preparation was 1.468 +/- 0.631 and 1.472 +/- 0.608 mcg/ml, the time to reach maximal concentration (Tmax) was 1.5 +/- 0.63 and 1.25 +/- 0.61 hours, the half life (T 1/2) was 8.369 +/- 1.953 and 8.013 +/- 2.602 hours, the area under curve (from 0 to 24 hours) (AUC0-24 hr) was 11.03 +/- 6.78 and 8.27 +/- 2.99 mcghr/ml, and the area under curve (from 0 hour to infinity) (AUC0-hr) was 13.56 +/- 9.09 and 10.11 +/- 4.61 mcghr/ml, respectively. Based on the data, there was no significant difference found between the two groups after statistical analysis with paired t-test (p greater than 0.05). Therefore, the similarity of these two formulations is then suggested by the authors.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Neointimal hyperplasia from increased vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation remains a significant clinical problem. Phosphoprotein enriched in astrocytes-15 (PEA-15) is an extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) binding protein. We have previously demonstrated in vitro that PEA-15 acts as a cytoplasmic "anchor" in VSMCs and prevents ERK1/2 translocation to the nucleus, decreasing proliferation. We now assess the hypothesis that expression of PEA-15 regulates the development of neointimal hyperplasia. Arterial injury was induced by wire denudation with ligation of the carotid artery in C57BL/6 mice and examined 3, 7 and 14 days after surgery. Neointima formation was significantly increased in injured arteries from day 7 compared to control arteries. PEA-15 protein expression was significantly decreased in injured arteries in comparison to control vessels 3 days after arterial injury (ratio to GAPDH - 0.29±0.10 vs. 0.91±0.1, n=3), preceding significant neointima formation at day 7. A similar decrease in PEA-15 protein and mRNA levels was observed in human saphenous vein rings incubated ex vivo in 30% serum for 14 days to induce neointimal hyperplasia (protein ratio to GAPDH - 0.36±0.05 vs. freshly isolated veins 1.34±0.20, n=5). This coincided with increases in proliferative markers. To determine a causal relationship between decreased PEA-15 expression and neointimal formation, we induced arterial injury in mice deficient in PEA-15 (PEA-15-/-). There was a significantly exaggerated neointima formation in PEA-15-/- mice 7 days after surgery compared to C57BL/6 mice at the same time point (intima-to-media ratio - 0.95±0.26 vs. 0.35±0.09, n=3-5). The mechanisms involved were investigated. Immunolocalization of ERK1/2 was assessed in primary cultured VSMCs isolated from aortae of C57BL/6 and PEA-15-/- mice. In unstimulated VSMCs from PEA-15-/- mice, there was a significant increase in nuclear staining of ERK1/2 compared with cells from C57BL/6 mice. In conclusion, decreased PEA-15 expression occurs in VSMCs during the development of neointima hyperplasia which may increase proliferation. Targeting this pathway could be beneficial in the treatment of restenosis.


This study explores the relationship between diversity within executive decision-making teams at institutions of higher education and their propensity for strategic change. Previous research in the areas of strategic change, group decision making, and higher education was drawn from in this study. Statistically significant relationships were discovered the demographic background of executive decision-making teams at public colleges and universities, as measured by both the pursuit of new degree and certificate program offerings and multiple measures of student retention. The results also indicated the presence of an insufficiently diverse pool of potential executives for colleges and universities to draw from.


This paper addresses various timing and glitch detection issues in switch-level simulation. Particular attention is focused on charge sharing. We categorize and analyze problems caused by charge sharing. Solutions to these problems are proposed and applied to real designs. Results are reported and compared with SPICE simulation. The computational complexity of our methods is also investigated.


The localized scleral indentation procedure for treatment of retinal detachment is one that we have been using with increasing frequency since first seeing it performed by Dr. Custodis in Dusseldorf in 1958. 1 In recent years we have changed the materials and technique of the procedure in three ways: By replacing the polyviol implant with silicone sponge. By developing an improved scleral needle. By substituting cryopexy for diathermy. The purpose of this paper is to describe the operation with these changes. The operation consists essentially in buckling a soft synthetic implant directly over the retinal hole. The advantages which it provides in suitable cases are that it is a limited operation, usually confined to one quadrant of the eye, no scleral dissection is required, and there is no drainage of subretinal fluid. Dr. Custodis originally used an implant of polyviol, a red rubbery substance made of polyvinyl alcohol, gum arabic


: We report on the nonlinear transmission limits of various super-channel configurations in a flex-grid network upgrade scenario. In particular, we consider flexible data-rates ranging from 180Gb/s to 1.2Tb/s, employing either single-carrier, dual-carrier, or penta-carrier polarization multiplexed m-state quadrature amplitude modulation (PM-8QAM/PM-16QAM) –termed as super-channels, and establish transmission performance margins for each configuration, both with and without super-channel fiber nonlinearity compensation. Our results show that the benefit of intra super-channel nonlinearity mitigation (nonlinear compensation addressing full super-channel bandwidth) reduces with increasing sub-carrier count within the super-channel, and that single-carrier super-channel achieves the maximum improvement from nonlinearity mitigation (up to ~4.5dB, in Q-factor), better than dual-carrier (up to ~3.5dB) and penta-carrier (up to ~2dB) configurations. Moreover, the maximum reach improvement, compared to linear compensation only, is found to be ~170% (180Gb/s, PM-8QAM), ~150% (240Gb/s, PM-16QAM), ~100% (360Gb/s, PM-8QAM), ~100% (480Gb/s, PM-16QAM), and ~65% (1.2Tb/s, PM-16QAM). ©2013


Bioinformatic research relies on large-scale computational infrastructures which have a non-zero carbon footprint. So far, no study has quantified the environmental costs of bioinformatic tools and commonly run analyses. In this study, we estimate the bioinformatic carbon footprint (in kilograms of CO2 equivalent units, kgCO2e) using the freely available Green Algorithms calculator (www.green-algorithms.org). We assess (i) bioinformatic approaches in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), RNA sequencing, genome assembly, metagenomics, phylogenetics and molecular simulations, as well as (ii) computation strategies, such as parallelisation, CPU (central processing unit) vs GPU (graphics processing unit), cloud vs. local computing infrastructure and geography. In particular, for GWAS, we found that biobank-scale analyses emitted substantial kgCO2e and simple software upgrades could make GWAS greener, e.g. upgrading from BOLT-LMM v1 to v2.3 reduced carbon footprint by 73%. Switching from the average data centre to a more efficient data centres can reduce carbon footprint by ~34%. Memory over-allocation can be a substantial contributor to an algorithm's carbon footprint. The use of faster processors or greater parallelisation reduces run time but can lead to, sometimes substantially, greater carbon footprint. Finally, we provide guidance on how researchers can reduce power consumption and minimise kgCO2e. Overall, this work elucidates the carbon footprint of common analyses in bioinformatics and provides solutions which empower a move toward greener research.


The increasing probability of loss and damage to floods is a global concern. Countries are united by an urgent need to reduce flood risk to households, businesses, agricultural land, and infrastructure. As natural and engineered protection erodes with climate change and development pressures, new approaches to flood risk management delivered at the catchment scale that work with nature hold promise. One nature-based solution that aligns with this Special Issue on river flooding is the temporary storage of floodwaters on the floodplain. In many countries, this would involve controlled flooding inland low-lying agricultural land. Designing schemes that farmers and irrigation districts will adopt is essential. To inform future floodplain storage options, we review farm-centred drought management, specifically, agreements that transfer agricultural water to municipalities through fallowing in California, USA and an Australian farm exit scheme. These initiatives reveal underpinning principles around the need to: balance the multiple objectives of the parties, share the benefits and responsibilities, address local impacts and practical guidance on incentive design including the consideration of conditional participation requirements and responding to farmer and public preferences. In terms of funding there is opportunity for blended financing with flood-prone communities, insurers, and conservation charities.


The conventional treatment of drug addiction by psychiatrists has never been conspicuously successful. In our increasingly "do-it-yourself" culture it was inevitable that drug addicts, impatient of the vagaries of "square" medicine, should claim the right to try to cure themselves in their own way and in their own choice of setting. Synanon is a lay organization founded on these principles. This book, an interesting, well-written if unashamedly partisan piece of sociological reportage, tells the story of Synanon and its creator, Chuck Dederich, a cured alcoholic and a dynamic, practical extrovert with a strong sense of mission. Synanon minimizes all the permissive overtones of the current management of addiction, subjects its selfstyled "dope fiends" to brutal cathartic assaults on the emotions in an autocratic family situation, is uncompromisingly antiaddict and anticriminal in its approach, ridicules back-sliding, and insists on complete candor with pitiless self-examination from its members. Despite irrational communal antagonism


Based on the morphological characteristics of loess hilly and gully areas, a simple and effective method for extracting loess shoulder-lines based on object-based image analysis is proposed. A case study is conducted in the northern Shaanxi Loess Plateau of China and the digital elevation model with a grid size of 5 m is applied as original data in this research. In order to get clear edge of DEM slope, the convolution filter by Gauss Blur is applied to the original DEM. The slope image is calculated on the smoothed DEM. Then the landform DEM objects are obtained by contrast split segmentation. For the standard deviation values between gullyslope land and loess interfluve are obvious different, the basic loess shoulder-lines could be extracted. While there are still small areas and other disturbing objects, the shoulder-lines will be refined by context and area values. At last, the final results are merged and exported. According to the accuracy assessment, the average extraction accuracies are about 88.7% and it is applicable in the loess area analysis.


In an energy-efficient wireless communication system, transmit powers are minimized subject to predetermined signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) requirements. In this paper, a general framework for distributed stochastic power control (PC) algorithms is proposed, where the transmit powers are updated based on stochastic approximations. The proposed algorithms are distributed in the sense that no global information is needed in the power updates. Interference to each user is estimated locally via noisy observations. Two types of stochastic PC algorithms are studied: standard stochastic PC algorithms where the interference estimator is unbiased, and quasi-standard stochastic PC algorithms where the interference estimator is biased. The conditions under which the stochastic PC algorithms converge to the unique optimal solution are identified. Corresponding to two classes of iteration step-size sequences, two types of convergence, the probability one convergence and convergence in probability, are shown for both algorithms based on recent results in the stochastic approximation literature. Based on the theoretical results, some well-known stochastic PC algorithms, such as stochastic PC with matched filter receivers, and joint stochastic PC with blind minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) interference suppression, are revisited; several new stochastic PC algorithms, such as stochastic PC with minimum-power base-station assignment, and stochastic PC with limited diversity, are proposed. It is shown that these algorithms fall into either the standard or the quasi-standard stochastic PC framework. Simulation results are given to illustrate the performance of the proposed algorithms in practical systems.


This paper explores the alkali activation potential of brick wastes and metallurgical slags. Inorganic polymers (IPs) were produced using an alkaline medium consisting of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate solutions and the optimum synthesis conditions were determined. In this context, the variable parameters, such as solid to liquid (S/L) ratio, curing temperature (60, 80 and 90 °C) and ageing time (7 and 28 days) on the compressive strength and the morphology of the produced IPs were investigated. Specimens produced under the optimum synthesis conditions were subjected to high temperature firing and immersed in distilled water and acidic solutions for various periods of time, in order to assess their durability and structural integrity. The results showed that the IPs produced using a mix ratio of 50 wt % metallurgical slag and 50 wt % brick wastes, cured at 90 °C and aged for 7 days obtained the highest compressive strength (48.9 MPa). X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), particle size analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mineralogical analysis (XRD), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis also confirmed the optimum microstructural characteristics and the chemical reactions that took place during synthesis. The overall results of this study indicate that the co-valorization of different waste streams, which are produced in large quantities and cause environmental problems if not properly managed, is a viable alternative for the production of binders or secondary construction materials with higher added value.


Over the last decade the approach to dealing with an increasing water demand in the Cape Metropolitan Area (CMA) has progressively shifted from a supply oriented philosophy to one where strategies for reducing the demand are integrated with supply
management. While there is still much to be done to implement a totally integrated approach, a firm foundation has been laid. Water demand management as an approach became increasingly prominent in the CCT supply area in the mid 1990s.
Accordingly, a Water Demand Management Section was formed in the Water Department of the former Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC). This section was instrumental in shifting the approaches to water demand management in the 6 local councils in the CMA.
Towards the end of 1999 it became increasingly clear that there was a need to adopt an integrated water resource planning approach to manage the future water demand. As a result, the former CMC appointed consultants to carry out an "Integrated Water
Resource Planning" (IWRP) study. The results of the IWRP study indicate that a significant saving in water demand could be achieved through the implementation of water demand management initiatives. In comparison to the water supply options, the
water demand management initiatives would have a significantly lower implementation cost, could be implemented in a shorter time frame and were generally more environmentally and socially acceptable. Recommendations were made to the new City of
Cape Town (CCT) – formed in December 2000 through the amalgamation of the former CMC and the 6 local councils - on where to focus their resources and attention with the aim of meeting and managing the water demand. The water demand in the CCT has decreased significantly since November 2000. This can be attributed to the recent water
restrictions as well as the implementation of water demand management initiatives. The reduction in water demand has delayed the need for the implementation of additional water augmentation schemes other than the Berg Water Project.. Water SA Vol. 30 (5) 2005: pp.100-104


Headache could be a symptom of many disturbances or alterations influencing mastication system. It had been reported that one out of three persons had experienced severe headache in his or her lige. According to many research, 70% patients with temporomandibular disorder has a recurrent headache symptom. Furthermore, a temporomandibular disorder with headache could be resulted from alteration in occlusion. Unfortunately, examination for occlusal disturbances that cause temporomandibular disorder is often neglected. Many dentists assume that patient with such a symprom should consult a physician since it is beyond his area of treatment. This present study is aimed to look for any relationship between alteration in radiographic imaging of temporomandibular joint, and occlusal disturbance in individuals with headacehe symptom, using questioners and study models. The study also includes clinical examination to see any alteration in occlusal function, and radiograph of temporomandibular joint to see any differences from normal. Data that had been collected is analyzed by statistical analysis to find relationship between the two variables.


A novel gossip algorithm for distributed averaging with fast convergence and reduced cost of communication over wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is proposed in this paper. This algorithm is proved to improve the behaviour of the standard gossip algorithm (SGA), triplewise gossip algorithms (TGAs) and, the geographic gossip algorithm (GGA) by exploiting the geographic information of the network. An analysis of convergence time and cost of communication of the proposed algorithm is performed and a comparison with other existing methods is provided.


Husbandry training and environmental enrichment are both important advancements associated with current behavioural welfare practices. Additionally, the use of training procedures has been proposed as a form of enrichment, with the implication that training can produce beneficial behavioural
 welfare results. This paper examines the concept of training as enrichment through three distinct ways training procedures could enrich: (i) training facilitates enrichment usage; (ii) training modifies interactions, conspecific or otherwise; and (iii) training expands behavioural repertoires.
 Within each category, the paper focuses on past research that provides empirical support for training functioning as enrichment, as well as related areas of research that provide additional evidence. Previous studies support the claim that training is enriching, with additional research necessary
 to better understand how prevalent and under what conditions training procedures function as enrichment. Future training research should examine these potential enrichment effects, including methodology that allows for comparisons to traditional enrichment, the use of welfare diversity/variability
 indices, and the effects of learning on trainers and trainees alike.


The nuclear organization of chromosomes has been suggested to be associated with regulation of gene expression. In embryonic stem cells, chromosomes were shown to segment into topological domains. However, many questions remain how transcriptional control is related to nuclear positioning. This thesis describes the experiments trying to unraveling the functional role of a few protein factors in the 3D organization of the genome. Chapter 2 describes the application of LacO/LacR platform in studying the role of different types of repressive chromatin regulators in targeting to transcriptionally active genomic loci. We found trans-acting factors can re-shape a locus according to their functional roles, however, genomic contexts do have a strong influence in this reposition phenomenon. This spatial repositioning is uncoupled from gene expression, indicating nuclear organization is not a major determinant of gene expression.
 Chapter 3 investigates that pluripotency factors have a unique role in organizing the higher-order genome structure in pluripotent stem cells. Pluripotency factors binding sites are found to cluster in the nucleus, which may facilitate their robust control of the pluripotent state. Linker histone H1 is studied in Chapter 4. Here, we combined various genome-wide data sets including DNA methylation, histone modification, DNaseI hypersensitivity profiling and Hi-C to investigate the role of histone H1 in chromatin folding and function. Our analysis suggests that histone H1 is essential for cell to maintain normal gene expression and chromatin structure. Partial depletion of histone H1 causes massive epigenetic changes and alteration of topological organization at specific sites. This local structure changes are uncoupled with transcriptional changes, supporting the emerging concept that gene expression and higher-order chromosome topology beyond that of topologically associating domains are not causally related, but independently controlled by the locally associated trans-acting factors.


Demand-response is a scheme in which electricity suppliers and consumers collaborate for smarter usage of electricity aiming to mitigate the gap between supply and demand. It makes electricity consumers receive incentives through curtailing or increasing power demand during a certain period subject to request from the power infrastructure. Water utilities, as heavy electricity consumers, could participate in the scheme through shifting power demand by modifying pump operation schedule, utilizing reservoirs' buffering stock capability. We developed a conveyance/transmission pump scheduling algorithm to be applied in the scheme that requires a quick modification of pumping schedule to respond to a request. In addition, we made test bedding through a simulation approach utilizing actual data from Osaka Water Supply Authority to show the scheme's potential for waterworks and the effectiveness of the algorithm.


Allele frequency distributions of the HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 genes were investigated in four Pacific Islands populations from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga. Limited diversity was observed for both the HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 loci. Five HLA-DRB1 alleles were observed to be the most frequent amongst all the studied Pacific Islands populations. They were: HLA-DRB1*0403, HLA-DRB1*08032, HLA-DRB1*09012, HLA-DRB1*11011 and HLA-DRB1*1201. Cook Islanders had the largest number of low frequency DRB1 alleles followed by Samoans, Tokelauans and Tongans, most of which may be attributed to reported non-Polynesian admixture. The most frequently observed DQB1 alleles in the four studied Pacific Islands populations were those of the DQ3 subgroup of alleles HLA-DQB1*03011, HLA-DQB1*0302 and HLA-DQB1*03032 as well as HLA-DQB1*05031 and HLA-DQB1*06011. Cook Islanders had the highest number of rare HLA-DQB1 alleles, the distibution being similar to that of the HLA-DRB1 allele. While, in general, the values of homozygosity for DRB1 and DQB1 were observed to be lower then expected under neutrality, a statistical significance was observed in Tongans, Samoans and Tokelauans for the DQB1 locus and in Tongans for the DRB1 locus. Differences were observed between allele frequency distributions for Tokelauans compared to the other three populations. This was also demonstrated by principal component analysis of DRB1 and DQB1 allele frequencies, which separated the Tokelauan population from Cook Islanders, Tongans and Samoans. Tongans and Samoans were separate from the other Polynesian populations in the phylogenetic trees. Observed allele and haplotype frequencies were found to be in agreement with previously published HLA-DRB and HLA-DQB Polynesian data.


IP Differentiated Services is widely seen as the framework to provide quality of service (QoS) in the Internet in a scalable fashion. However many issues have still not been fully addressed, such as: the way per-hop behaviours can be combined to provide end-to-end services; the specification of admission control and resource reservation mechanisms; and the role of management plane functionality and its integration with the control and data planes. This paper presents the service management aspects of an integrated control and management architecture for supporting end-to-end QoS-based IP services in next generation networks. It introduces a two-phased approach for service negotiation, namely, service subscription followed by service invocation, and describes the interworking between service and resource management based on the concept of a resource provisioning cycle.


Power method is frequently used for finding largest Eigen-pair. On the other hand, Inverse Power method is utilized to find smallest Eigen-pair. Using shifting property, Power method and/or Inverse Power method can be used to find out other desired Eigen pairs too. Several lemmas based on Power method with shifting property are presented here. Moreover, a Modified Hybrid Iterative Algorithm based upon both Power method and Inverse Power method is proposed to find both largest and smallest Eigen-pairs simultaneously with ease. Several experiments have been performed to investigate the robustness and effectiveness of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm is able to find both (largest and smallest) Eigen-pairs successfully and efficiently. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is able to find out the nature (positive and negative sign) of the Eigen values and in some cases the algorithm is also able to find out the second largest Eigen pair in consequence. GANIT J. Bangladesh Math. Soc. Vol. 37 (2017) 51-61


Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has undergone explosive growth in clinical applications and has emerged as one of the most important imaging modalities in staging, restaging, detecting recurrence and/or metastasis, and monitoring therapeutic response, in most kinds of malignant diseases. However, to date, available experience with FDG PET/CT is limited in prostate cancer, mainly because prostate tumour is characterised by a slow glycolysis and low FDG avidity on PET imaging. Limited data suggested that FDG PET/CT might impact the clinical management of some prostate cancer in an adequate clinical setting, although this impact may be lower than that for other cancers. FDG PET/CT is useful for staging advanced prostate cancer with high Gleason score, detecting local recurrent or metastatic disease in some patients with biochemical failure, assessing treatment response, and providing prognostic information. More prospective clinical trials are underway to define the role of FDG PET/CT in prostate cancer, and more efforts will be made to develop novel radiotracers for PET imaging of prostate cancer.


Abstract Background: Vitamin D is important to health and disease. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MSMS) is considered the most accurate technology for quantification of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) which is the best biomarker for estimating vitamin D nutritional status. Methods: Serum was mixed with acetonitrile containing hexadeuterated 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (d6-25OHD3) and centrifuged 10 min at 15,634×g. The supernatant was injected onto a turbulent flow preparatory column then transferred to a polar endcapped C18 analytical column. The mass spectrometer was set for positive atmospheric pressure chemical ionization. Results: The analytical cycle time was 5.5 min. Inter- and intra-assay CV for both analytes across three concentrations ranged from 3.8% to 14.2%. The method was linear from 3.0 to 283.6 nmol/L for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD3) and 4.6 to 277.9 nmol/L for 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 (25OHD2), with an accuracy of 88.7%–118.7% and 90.7%–100.3%, respectively. No carryover or ion suppression was observed. Comparison with a radioimmunoassay using patient specimens (n=527) showed a mean difference of 5.2%, and diagnostic agreement of 80.9% with Deming regression of slope 0.867, intercept 12.8, standard error of estimate (SEE) 17.4, and r=0.8425. Conclusions: The LC-MSMS method coupled with turbulent flow technology for serum 25OHD quantitation is rapid, efficient, and suitable for clinical testing. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:1565–72.


Absolute and relative permeability are key inputs into reservoir flow simulation. The other two key inputs are porosity and hydrocarbon saturation. Porosity can be, in principle, inferred from acoustic impedance if an impedance-porosity transform is available. Such transforms can be obtained from sonic, density, and porosity data at a well. Typically, a theoretical rock physics model is found to explain these data and then used to expand the impedance-porosity interpretation beyond the data range present in the well. Saturation volumes emerge from reservoir modeling itself if the initial distribution of fluids is specified. However, the permeability required to arrive at fluid distribution in the reservoir versus time and for given boundary conditions remains, by and large, unknown.


Globalisation and its impact on higher education will be discussed, while globalisation as a critical external influence on the South African higher education system in its development towards a national higher education system will also be explained. The establishment and development of higher education as a field of study are described as being critical in understanding globalisation in relation to national planning in higher education. The implementation of the ambitious National Plan for Higher Education of the Department of Education expects the unstinting commitment and scientific work of all constituencies to be successful. It is argued that reliable support of the National Plan should also be in the form of developing, establishing and implementing learning programmes of high quality in higher education studies as the basis for research into higher education. The field of higher studies is then discussed with specific reference to the position and standing of higher education studies in South Africa. Finally, critical comments and observations on higher education studies in South Africa that might lead to quality growth in the research and learning programmes of this field of study are shared.
 South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.16(1) 2002: 91-98


Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in humans induces electric fields (E-fields, EF) that perturb and modulate the brain's endogenous neuronal activity and result in the generation of TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs). The exact relation of the characteristics of the induced E-field and the intensity of the brains' response, as measured by electroencephalography (EEG), is presently unclear. In this pilot study, conducted on three healthy subjects and two patients with generalized epilepsy (total: 3 males, 2 females, mean age of 26 years; healthy: 2 males, 1 female, mean age of 25.7 years; patients: 1 male, 1 female, mean age of 26.5 years), we investigated the temporal and spatial relations of the E-field, induced by single-pulse stimuli, and the brain's response to TMS. Brain stimulation was performed with a deep TMS device (BrainsWay Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel) and an H7 coil placed over the central area. The induced EF was computed on personalized anatomical models of the subjects through magneto quasi-static simulations. We identified specific time instances and brain regions that exhibit high positive or negative associations of the E-field with brain activity. In addition, we identified significant correlations of the brain's response intensity with the strength of the induced E-field and finally prove that TEPs are better correlated with E-field characteristics than with the stimulator's output. These observations provide further insight in the relation between E-field and the ensuing cortical activation, validate in a clinically relevant manner the results of E-field modeling and reinforce the view that personalized approaches should be adopted in the field of non-invasive brain stimulation.


BACKGROUND
Patients with tetraplegia can achieve independent gait with lateral-type powered exoskeletons; it is unclear whether medial-type powered exoskeletons allow for this.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate gait training with a medial-type powered exoskeleton wearable power-assist locomotor (WPAL) in an individual with incomplete cervical (C5) and complete thoracic (T12) spinal cord injury (SCI).

METHODS
The 60-session program was investigated retrospectively using medical records. Upon completion, gait performance was examined using three-dimensional motion analyses and surface electromyography (EMG) of the upper limbs.

RESULTS
The subject achieved independent gait with WPAL and a walker in 12 sessions. He continuously extended his right elbow; his left elbow periodically flexed/extended. His pelvic inclination was larger than the trunk inclination during single-leg stance. EMG activity was increased in the left deltoid muscles during ipsilateral foot-contact. The right anterior and medial deltoid muscle EMG activity increased just after foot-off for each leg, as did the right biceps activity. Continuous activity was observed in the left triceps throughout the gait cycle; activity was unclear in the right triceps.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest the importance of upper limb residual motor function, and may be useful in extending the range of clinical applications for robotic gait rehabilitation in patients with SCI.


The world of hedge fund activism has been heavily reviewed by academics and journalists. However, academics have truly only looked at the most immediate consequences of activism by primarily researching the changes in the company targeted. Although important, this neglects the spillover impacts of activism. How can individuals definitively say shareholder activists are good or bad without looking at all of the effects of their presence? To help answer this question, the focus of this paper surrounds the externalities of hedge fund activism on the suppliers of target companies. The results particularly emphasize certain financial metrics, calculating their change over time as a result of the presence of an activist. Ultimately, the results show that the presence of an activist has a significantly negative effect on supplier firms, harming operating income margin and D&A while increasing restructuring costs.


This paper reports on: (a) new primary source evidence on; and (b) statistical and econometric analysis of high technology clusters in Scotland. It focuses on the following sectors: software, life sciences, microelectronics, optoelectronics, and digital media. Evidence on a postal and e-mailed questionnaire is presented and discussed under the headings of: performance, resources, collaboration & cooperation, embeddedness, and innovation. The sampled firms are characterised as being small (viz. micro-firms and SMEs), knowledge intensive (largely graduate staff), research intensive (mean spend on R&D GBP 842k), and internationalised (mainly selling to markets beyond Europe). Preliminary statistical evidence is presented on Gibrats Law (independence of growth and size) and the Schumpeterian Hypothesis (scale economies in R&D). Estimates suggest a short-run equilibrium size of just 100 employees, but a long-run equilibrium size of 1000 employees. Further, to achieve the Schumpeterian effect (of marked scale economies in R&D), estimates suggest that firms have to grow to very much larger sizes of beyond 3,000 employees. We argue that the principal way of achieving the latter scale may need to be by takeovers and mergers, rather than by internally driven growth.


Optimal transport (OT) defines a powerful framework to compare probability distributions in a geometrically faithful way. However, the practical impact of OT is still limited because of its computational burden. We propose a new class of stochastic optimization algorithms to cope with large-scale problems routinely encountered in machine learning applications. These methods are able to manipulate arbitrary distributions (either discrete or continuous) by simply requiring to be able to draw samples from them, which is the typical setup in high-dimensional learning problems. This alleviates the need to discretize these densities, while giving access to provably convergent methods that output the correct distance without discretization error. These algorithms rely on two main ideas: (a) the dual OT problem can be re-cast as the maximization of an expectation ; (b) entropic regularization of the primal OT problem results in a smooth dual optimization optimization which can be addressed with algorithms that have a provably faster convergence. We instantiate these ideas in three different setups: (i) when comparing a discrete distribution to another, we show that incremental stochastic optimization schemes can beat Sinkhorn's algorithm, the current state-of-the-art finite dimensional OT solver; (ii) when comparing a discrete distribution to a continuous density, a semi-discrete reformulation of the dual program is amenable to averaged stochastic gradient descent, leading to better performance than approximately solving the problem by discretization ; (iii) when dealing with two continuous densities, we propose a stochastic gradient descent over a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). This is currently the only known method to solve this problem, apart from computing OT on finite samples. We backup these claims on a set of discrete, semi-discrete and continuous benchmark problems.


This document characterizes saving patterns in Bolivia at the aggregate and sectoral level. Bolivia's accumulated economic growth during 1990-2013 is one of the highest in the region and the country witnessed important reductions in its levels of poverty and inequality measured by income during the 2000's. Our results show that the important increase in domestic saving rates during the 2000's was influenced mainly by the increment in household saving rates during 2001-2004 and the general government during 2005-2007 and not by their relative contribution (size) to the economy. The increment in public saving rates is a consequence of new taxes on hydrocarbons and increments in the international prices in the hydrocarbon and mining sector. Using household survey data we show that the increase in household saving rates is the result of important increments in saving rates of younger cohorts in rural households and among the less less educated. Saving rates of the more educated newer cohorts is decreasing, however, which means that as the process of human capital accumulation continues household saving rates are likely to remain equal or fall. Our results also suggest that alternative forms of savings include durables and dwelling ownership and that rural households use self-consumption as a form of saving that allows them to smooth consumption.


A theory is given that allows inbreeding coefficients to be calculated exactly for populations with overlapping generations. Emphasis is placed on providing equations well suited for computer iteration. Both monoecious and dioecious populations are considered and family size is not restricted to being Poisson. One-locus and two-locus inbreeding coefficients are evaluated, although the reader may omit the two-locus sections. The exact treatment is shown to be preferable to approximate treatments in that it applies to both early and late generations for all populations sizes. Inbreeding effective numbers found by the exact treatment are compared to various approximate numbers, and the approximate values are found to be generally very good.


Fatigue cracking is one of three major distresses for asphalt pavement. Asphalt binder is a very important component of asphaltic mixture. The fatigue performance of asphalt binder also greatly affects that of asphaltic mixture. Asphalt binder's fatigue characteristics are affected by external conditions, such as temperature and loading rate. It is warranted to study the effects of these external conditions on fatigue of asphalt binder and take them into account. New fatigue tests and properties have been proposed to characterize the fatigue behavior of asphalt binders, such as monotonic constant shear-rate tests. This study investigated the effects of temperature and shear rate on fatigue properties of asphalt binder. Two asphalt binders were tested with a range of temperature and shear rates. It was found that time-temperature superposition principle also applies to critical strain energy density and shear strength of asphalt binders. The values of shift factors for building the master curves of critical strain energy and shear strength are comparable.


Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of Familias Unidas, a Hispanic-specific, parent-centered intervention, in preventing/reducing adolescent substance use, unsafe sexual behavior, and externalizing disorders. Methods: A total of 213 8th grade Hispanic adolescents with behavior problems and their primary caregivers were assigned randomly to one of two conditions: Familias Unidas or Community Control. Participants were assessed at baseline and at 6, 18, and 30 months post baseline. Results: Results showed that, relative to a Community Control condition, Familias Unidas was efficacious in preventing or reducing externalizing disorders, preventing and reducing substance use, and in reducing unsafe sexual behavior. The effects of Familias Unidas on these outcomes were partially mediated by improvements in family functioning. Conclusions: These findings suggest that parent-centered intervention is an efficacious strategy for preventing/reducing specific health risk behaviors in Hispanic adolescents with behavior problems.


Holographic optical elements (HOE) have classically been designed using grating theory [ E.B. Champagne , J.Opt.Soc.Am.57, 51( 1967)]; logically so, since an HOE is a grating produced on film by two interfering beams of coherent light. This paper describes an equivalent refracting lens, which exactly duplicates the focusing properties of an HOE. This analog allows optical systems containing holographic optical elements to be completely designed with a common lens design computer code. The thickness of the analogous lens approaches zero and its index approachs infinity. In this paper the ray tracing equations for a thin lens are specialized to the infinite index case. The resulting equation has exactly the same form as the diffraction equation; thereby verifying the analog. The analogous lens for a grating a curved mirror is also described.


This thesis is the product of an ethnographic research study that uses a psycho-social approach to explore how children's emotions are engaged with by child and family social workers. This theme is of relevance and professional interest to me as a CAMHS social worker where my role specifically focuses on this area of practice. It also relates to my previous experience as a teacher and supervisor of social workers. Informed by a psycho-social frame of reference to both practice and research, I was interested in the types of dynamics that might play out in the research both in relation to social workers and children and young people and also for me as a researcher/social worker and the participants in the research.

The literature identifies a range of knowledge and research that looks at how social workers should communicate and engage with children and some of the barriers that seem to adversely impact on effective engagement. There is also some evidence that specifically focuses on what social workers do when they meet with children, through the use of observation. However, research which focuses on how practice focuses on the emotional dimensions of children's lives is largely absent from the literature. This study aims to provide a perspective on how social work practice with children attends to their emotional needs and experiences and what factors promote or inhibit this from taking place.

Drawing on psycho-social perspectives in research (Hoggett, 2014; Hollway and Jefferson, 2013) this study brings together the individual and the social, giving credence to both. It is founded on an interpretivist epistemology and uses an ethnographic, qualitative methodology. Interviews were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, Flowers, and Larkin, 2009) and observations and case records were analysed through a psycho-social lens. Discourse analysis was used to interrogate the case records. Observation reports were shared with a Many Minds panel as part of the interpretive process.

The thesis findings demonstrate that whilst social workers engaged with children's emotional lives to some extent, they often seemed to overlook, ignore or distance themselves from some of the emotional experiences shared and communicated by the children and young people they met. Using examples from the observations, interviews and case records, the thesis demonstrates how complex emotional dynamics are mobilised, perhaps consciously and unconsciously, by social workers, to protect themselves from the complex emotional pain and anguish of the families they work with, as a way of managing the realities of the role. It also bears witness to the organisational defences that exist that serve to distant practitioners from full engagement with the emotional experiences they are faced with. This thesis makes an original contribution, developing new knowledge and understanding of complex processes that impact on practice, represented in a model for effective practice – the 4C model. Whilst the thesis identifies the limitations of this research and the methodology used, it also makes a number of recommendations for practice, education and further research.


Integral Humanism is a doctrine developed by Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay. It emphasizes on an economic model for the entire Indian society. It also evaluates the good points of capitalism as well as socialism and tries to adopt the middle path. Pt. Upadhyay is not in view of accepting any social systems which believes on individualism. He also rejected the concept of communism which crushes individualism. According to him society is a natural living organism having 'national soul' or 'ethos'. It is not a social contract between individuals. So, both the concept of capitalism and communism is not accepted as it is. Integral Humanism also stands out for its emphasis on decentralization and attaches immense importance to the economic progress of every human being. The doctrines of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay are the guiding principles of government policies. In this paper the researcher is trying to evaluate the economic development of India in the light of the above concept.


BACKGROUND
QT interval dispersion, measured as interlead variability of QT, is a marker of dispersion of ventricular repolarization and, hence, of cardiac electrical instability. We tested the hypothesis that dispersion of ventricular repolarization may be differently affected by interventions destined to provide complete or incomplete protection against malignant arrhythmias in patients with long QT syndrome (LQTS). Twenty-eight patients affected by the Romano Ward form of LQTS entered the study and were divided into three groups: LQTS patients before institution of therapy, patients who did respond to beta-blocker therapy, and patients who continued to have syncope and cardiac arrest despite beta-blockade and who underwent left cardiac sympathetic denervation. A group of 15 healthy volunteers served as control subjects.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Dispersion of QT and QTc were calculated using two indexes: the difference between the longest and the shortest value measured in each of the 12 ECG leads (QTmax-QTmin, QTcmax-QTcmin) and the relative dispersion of QT and QTc (standard deviation of QT/QT average x100, standard deviation of QTc/QTc average x100). Both indexes of dispersion of repolarization were higher in the LQTS patients than in control subjects; also, patients not responding to beta-blockers had a significantly higher dispersion of repolarization than responders. A cutoff value of 100 milliseconds for QTmax-QTmin had an 80% sensitivity and 82% specificity in discriminating between responders and nonresponders. A cutoff value of 6 for QT relative dispersion yielded similar results. The LQTS patients who did not respond to beta-blockade underwent left cardiac sympathetic denervation and thereafter remained asymptomatic (mean follow-up, 5 +/- 4 years). In this group, dispersion of repolarization was significantly reduced by the surgical denervation to values similar to that of the responders to beta-blockade.

CONCLUSIONS
These data indicate that QT dispersion is a useful clinical tool to predict efficacy of antiadrenergic therapy in LQTS patients.


Making use of noncommutative motives we relate exceptional collections (and more generally semi-orthogonal decompositions) to motivic decompositions. On one hand we prove that the Chow motive M.X/Q of every smooth and proper Deligne–Mumford stack X, whose bounded derived category D.X/ of coherent schemes admits a full exceptional collection, decomposes into a direct sum of tensor powers of the Lefschetz motive. Examples include projective spaces, quadrics, toric varieties, homogeneous spaces, Fano threefolds, and moduli spaces. On the other hand we prove that if M.X/Q decomposes into a direct sum of tensor powers of the Lefschetz motive and moreover D.X/ admits a semiorthogonal decomposition, then the noncommutative motive of each one of the pieces of the semi-orthogonal decomposition is a direct sum of  ̋-units. As an application we obtain a simplification of Dubrovin's conjecture.


A new seismic isolation system,namely the prestress rubber isolator(PRI,Chinese patent application number:200910174415x),is introduced.The basic principle of this new isolator is: making all or part of vertical deformation of isolator be finished in advance by exerting a longitudinal pre-compressional stress on the rubber isolator with flexible cables, the prestress tension cables become loose because of unloading after the exerting of superstructure loads,and the loose cables can limit the horizontal displacement and resist the tension of isolator. The calculation formula of horizontal stiffness of isolator is derivated,and the mechanical properties are researched. The research results show that:besides the horizontal isolating property of common rubber isolators,the prestress rubber isolator has also properties of reducing vertical deformation, limiting horizontal displacement and resisting tension.Moreover,the prestress isolator has also a certain vertical isolating affect because of the improve of rubber thickness.


Objective The Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County (DOH-Hillsborough) routinely reviews the ESSENCE-FL system to assess syndromic trends in emergency department (ED) and urgent care data (UCC). Collection of this type of symptom data from long term care facilities (LTCFs) and child care centers is of interest in order to better understand how these illness patterns present in vulnerable populations outside of the EDs. Introduction Surveillance in nursing homes (Enserink et al., 2011) and day care facilities (Enserink et al., 2012) has been conducted in the Netherlands, but is not commonly practiced in the United States (Buehler et al., 2008). Outbreaks of illnesses within these facilities are required to be reported to the Epidemiology Program, however a small fraction of outbreaks reported come from LTCFs. Without regular communication between LTCFs and the Epidemiology Program, it is likely that many outbreaks are going unreported due to lack of awareness of the reporting requirements by facility staff. To better understand the prevalence of illness in LTCFs and improve communication between LTCFs and DOH-Hillsborough a weekly surveillance survey was created using Epi Info web survey. Methods The online facility search tool from the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) was used to query assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Hillsborough County in July 2017. The information provided included the number of beds a facility is licensed to have. Interest in participation was solicited from larger LTCFs within the county in August 2017 and 23 facilities volunteered to receive weekly surveys, with a total volume of 3,276 beds. A form was created in Epi Info to capture weekly information per facility of the number of residents and staff with new onset of various symptoms. Symptom groups include GI, rash, respiratory, and those with respiratory symptoms who also have a fever (to assess influenza-like illness); number of positive flu tests for the week is also asked. Starting with week 38, an email has been sent once a week to participating facilities with a link to the Epi Info web survey (Figure 1) and instructions to fill out the information for the previous week. Results To date, 12 weeks of information has successfully been captured in Epi Info and transferred to Microsoft Excel for graphical visualization of percentage of residents/staff reported each week in the county with new onset of the above symptoms. Low levels of illness (<6%/week of total reported residents/staff) have been reported for various syndromes each week. Over the 12 week period an average of 3.9 facilities submit data per week, with a total of 10 of 23 facilities participating at least once. In week 42 phone calls were made to faclities that had not submitted any responses in an attempt to elicit more participation and troubleshoot any problems faclities may have encountered. Prior to week 42, an average of 3.2 facilties reported per week. After reminder phone calls were conducted, the average number of responses for weeks 42-48 was 4.4 with the highest in week 42 (6 responses). Starting in week 42 the survey has also been implemented for 15 child care facilities, with four participating over the seven weeks with an average of 2.1 responses per week. Conclusions Since implementation, the main limitation with the data collection is lack of regular participation from facilities.The current goal of the project is to increase the number of regular responses from both LTCFs and child care facilities. The phone calls made in week 42 increased the response rate for LTCFs, particularly for that week. Preliminary results from the first 12 weeks of data indicate that using Epi Info web survey as a syndromic surveillance tool for local facilities has potential if regular participation can be acheived. References Buehler, J., Sonricker, A., Paladini, M., Soper, P., Mostashari, F. (2008), Syndromic Surveillance Practice in the United States: Findings from a Survey of State, Territorial, and Selected Local Health Departments. Advances in Disease Surveillance, 6:3. Enserink, R., Meijer, A., Dijkstra, F., van Benthem, B., van der Steen, J. T., Haenen, A., van Delden, H., Cools, H., van der Sande, M., Veldman-Ariesen, M.-J. and on behalf of the Sentinel Surveillance Network on Infectious Diseases in Nursing Homes Study Group (2011), Absence of Influenza A(H1N1) During Seasonal and Pandemic Seasons in a Sentinel Nursing Home Surveillance Network in the Netherlands. J Am Geriatr Soc, 59: 2301–2305. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03715.x Enserink, R., Noel, H., Friesema, I., de Jager, C., Kooistra-Smid, A., Kortbeek, L., Duizer, E., van der Sande, M., Smit, H., van Pelt, W. (2012), The KIzSS network, a sentinel surveillance system for infectious diseases in day care centers: study protocol. BMC Infectious Diseases, 12:259. doi:10.1186/1471-2334-12-259


In hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, race is a determinant of treatment response and interferon (IFN) effectiveness. Here, we investigated whether there were differences in the pretreatment viral strains between African American patients and white patients and whether these differences correlated with viral kinetics. IFN effectiveness was calculated using a viral kinetic model. The HCV NS5A region from 21 treated patients with HCV genotype 1a was sequenced and analyzed. White patients displayed more mutations in the V3 region (mean+/-SD, 4.5+/-1.4 vs. 2.9+/-1.6; P=.016), and treatment responders tended to have more mutations in this region than did nonresponders. There was a significant positive correlation between IFN effectiveness and the number of mutations in the V3 region (P=.03). There was no clustering of strains by race, treatment response, or IFN effectiveness in phylogenetic analyses. The results of this study, in conjunction with those of a previous study illustrating the impaired IFN effectiveness in African Americans, suggest a role for host-related factors.


Whole-animal net electrolyte fluxes (Ca2+, apparent H+, titratable acidic equivalents, ammonia, Na+, Cl−, K+, Mg2+, phosphate and sulphate) and respiratory gas exchange were monitored throughout the moulting cycle in juvenile freshwater crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard) at 21 °C. Intermoult crayfish were essentially in ion balance. As crayfish approached ecdysis (−3 days, where t=0 is the day when the cuticle is shed), there was a net efflux of Ca2+ (−1000μmolkg−1 h−1) correlated with a corresponding uptake of acidic equivalents (or base output) of +2000μmolkg−1 h−1. Following ecdysis, both fluxes switched vector; uptake of Ca2- (+2000μmolkg− h−) and basic equivalents (+4000μmolkg−1h−1) were completed within 6 days. The moulting cycle also affected fluxes of electrolytes other than those involved in CaCO3 resorption and deposition. Crayfish remained in Na+; and C−; balance from intermoult up to ecdysis. Following ecdysis, both were taken up actively at rates of around plus;500μanolkg−1h−1 for 3 days, presumably restoring the haemodilution that would have resulted from water loading. A premoult efflux of K+ was partially offset by postmoult uptake. Meanwhile, crayfish experienced increased efflux of phosphate following ecdysis, probably because of increased integumentary permeability. Rates of O2 uptake (MO2) and CO2 excretion (Mco2) increased to peak values (double intermoult rates) immediately prior to ecdysis. While MO2 recovered during postmoult, Mco2 dropped precipitously, significantly reducing the gas exchange ratio. Since the Mco2 deficit agreed well with the postmoult basic equivalent uptake, the latter is probably attributable to HCO3− uptake for calcification.


The usefulness of an ultrasonic duplex system to assess portal blood flow was investigated. In a model involving a steady flow through a vinyl tube in agar, there was a significant linear correlation between the maximum blood flow velocity measured by this system (V-max) and the mean blood flow velocity calculated from the actually measured blood flow volume (V-mean), that is, V-mean = 0.53 X V-max was obtained (r = 0.994; n = 47). This equation was used to calculate the mean portal blood flow velocity by this system (V-dopp) in 10 patients with liver disease, and the findings were compared with data simultaneously obtained by cineangiographic mapping of Lipiodol droplets released into the portal vein through a catheter placed in situ at the time of surgery (V-cine). A linear correlation between V-dopp and V-cine was statistically significant (r = 0.970; n = 13), and the regression line was V-cine = 1.29 X V-dopp -2.11. The ultrasonic duplex system proved reliable for a quantitative assessment of portal hemodynamics.


The engineering properties of compacted soils are of primary importance in fill performance. However, for economic reasons, the achievement of a given relative compaction and compaction water content has become an end in itself for field compaction control. Although the profession has developed an understanding of the relationships between properties and compaction density/water content, it has become routine practice to use some combination of precedence and code rather than desired material properties to establish compaction specifications. Because of the heavy emphasis placed on relative compaction, it is extremely important that geotechnical practitioners and earthwork contractors recognize the deviations in field density that can occur as a result of typical differences in the compaction processes and in the methods of compaction control encountered. Variations in both the field density and the laboratory-determined reference maximum dry density arise from numerous sources. A corresponding spatial variability of relative compaction should therefore be anticipated. This paper provides a comprehensive evaluation of potential problems in compaction control and addresses the sources of field variability in relative compaction.


While capitalism has always relied on the segmentation of the labour process and labour markets, such processes were respatialized and intensified with the global reorganization of production beginning in the 1970s. In single (and often the most profitable) global production chains, we find the most advanced and the most dramatically 'backwards' modes of surplus value combined, even to and including superexploitation and new forms of slavery. In Brazil, technological, organizational and finance-related 'innovations' driving the most dynamic sectors have enhanced accumulation but also reintroduced these 'backward' forms, all the while swelling the reserve army, now peopled by those precariously cycled through formal employment and spat back out again. Meanwhile, the instruments of struggle associated with the age of the nation-based mass worker (where s/he existed) have not caught up to this challenge.

 This paper is intended to think through these issues by reflecting on the work of two activist-intellectuals from Caribbean and Latin American Marxism. In their own contexts, Walter Rodney and Ruy Mauro Marini attempted to come to terms with the specific role of Southern labour in global accumulation strategies at a pivotal moment in the global re-organization of production, with the shift from unfree to free labour at the height of classical imperialism. Rodney (1981) discussed the racialized division of labour instituted by the British planter class in Guyana which polarized classes of emancipated African slaves and Indian indentured workers, despite the parallel between each group's experience of subjugation in and displacement from the labour process. Marini (2005) provided the most rigorous discussion to date of the role of superexploited Southern labour in equally racialized global strategies of accumulation, looking at how the recourse to superexploitation in Brazil effectively subsidized the cost of foodstuffs and primary materials in Britain, enabling the shift from absolute to relative surplus labour in the mid-19th century.

 Both authors insisted that such supposedly backward forms of surplus value were inherently 'modern' due to their centrality to global accumulation in imperialist times. Both insisted on the need to reckon class relations within and across national borders, in keeping with the regime of accumulation shaped by imperialism. And ultimately, both read the shape of struggle through these objective conditions, moving between the particular conditions of oppression and the necessity of unified national and international class struggle. Rodney was at once a Pan-Africanist who insisted on the necessity for Afro-Caribbean revolutionaries to 'ground' their struggles in the history and oppression of one another; and a Marxist who rejected Guyana's communal politics, which had "been used by the colonialists ... to split the progressive movement and prevent the people from securing their rightful shares" (Mohamed 2010). Similarly, with the bankrupting of democratization at the hands of Brazil's first neoliberal governments, Marini argued the only way forward was through the struggle for working class unity across national boundaries; what social movements today are calling the "integration of the peoples." Such ideas are timely contributions to the effort to create an international working class response to the current crisis.


[1] Past studies of the thermophysical properties of the Martian surface layer have assumed temperature-independent thermal inertia, which is a function of the material density, specific heat, and bulk conductivity. In this paper, we evaluate the temperature-driven variations of these quantities for particulated and cemented material under Martian conditions of atmospheric pressure and temperature. Temperature-driven density variations are negligible. The specific heat of a basaltic material is strongly influenced by the temperature (∼75% increase from 150 to 315 K), inducing significant variations of the thermal inertia. The thermal conductivity of uncemented Martian regolith is weakly controlled by the solid phase conductivity and strongly controlled by the gaseous phase conductivity. As a result, the conductivity of the solid phase (i.e., composition, temperature) is unimportant, whereas medium to large variations (30–50%) of the bulk conductivity are associated with temperature-induced fluctuations of the pore-filling gas conductivity. Overall, the thermal inertia of uncemented Martian soils is predicted to vary significantly (∼80%) throughout the range of the observed surface temperatures. In the case of cemented soils, the contribution of the gas conductivity is generally small, and the solid phase (i.e., grains and cement) conductivity (i.e., composition, temperature) becomes more important. Consequently, the magnitude of the thermal inertia change for cemented soils is variable, and smaller than that predicted for uncemented materials (10–50%). Large diurnal and seasonal temperature variations only occur within the top material, and most of the near-surface regolith does not experience large thermal inertia variations. The shapes of modeled diurnal temperature curves are not significantly modified (e.g., the 0200 LT (Martian local time) apparent thermal inertia of uncemented regolith is up to ∼15% lower than the average daily inertia of the top material). Thermally derived grain sizes are usually based on conductivity measurements operated at room temperature or above, where the thermal inertia and specific heat are higher than on Mars, implying that grain size predictions for Mars are currently underestimated. However, in situ observations by the Mars Exploration Rovers and thermal conductivity modeling suggest that this underestimation is not significant.


The host epithelium is both a barrier against, and the target for microbial infections. Maintaining regulated cell growth ensures an intact protective layer towards microbial-induced cellular damage. Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections disrupt host cell cycle regulation machinery and the infection causes DNA double strand breaks that delay progression through the G2/M phase. We show that intracellular gonococci upregulate and release restriction endonucleases that enter the nucleus and damage human chromosomal DNA. Bacterial lysates containing restriction endonucleases were able to fragment genomic DNA as detected by PFGE. Lysates were also microinjected into the cytoplasm of cells in interphase and after 20 h, DNA double strand breaks were identified by 53BP1 staining. In addition, by using live-cell microscopy and NHS-ester stained live gonococci we visualized the subcellular location of the bacteria upon mitosis. Infected cells show dysregulation of the spindle assembly checkpoint proteins MAD1 and MAD2, impaired and prolonged M-phase, nuclear swelling, micronuclei formation and chromosomal instability. These data highlight basic molecular functions of how gonococcal infections affect host cell cycle regulation, cause DNA double strand breaks and predispose cellular malignancies.


Such evidence as there is indicates that hypoxia excites peripheral chemoreceptors in the adult by causing a fall in the rate of oxidative phosphorylation and that this process is potentiated by a rise in PCO2 which most probably acts by altering intracellular pH. What is unclear is whether this occurs in Type I cells or in sensory fibres and whether either should be regarded as the primary receptor. There is also uncertainty about the role of noradrenaline and dopamine, which are stored and presumably secreted in the chemoreceptor complex: are they, respectively, excitatory and inhibitory transmitters or do they modulate an underlying chemoreceptive process? In the fetus, the carotid body chemoreceptors are largely insensitive despite an adequate chemical stimulus; they are activated at or shortly after birth by an unknown process and thereafter, in the newborn period, they appear to be involved in sensing chemical changes in arterial plasma and assisting in respiratory stability but there is some evidence that they only become fully effective some days or even weeks after birth. There is now compelling evidence that important if not unique central chemoreceptors, sensitive to changes in pH of brain extracellular fluid are located superficially in the ventro-lateral part of the medulla in the adult but in the fetus it appears that these receptors or their afferent discharge are in some way inhibited such that respiratory activity when it occurs is driven largely by supra-pontine influences, the so-called 'automatic' component of respiratory control being largely if not entirely suppressed. At birth, this component is clearly activated since breathing is continuous and sensitive to chemical stimulation. It is probable that in a proportion of newborn, activation of this component is either imperfect or delayed which would lead to respiratory instability or even failure and this would be more likely to occur in quiet sleep than in rapid-eye-movement sleep or with the newborn awake. A more complete understanding of the changes in sensitivity of the central and peripheral chemoreceptors and their reflexes at birth is required before the reasons for inadequate respiratory control in the newborn period can be appreciated.


Objective: In this study, we mapped the topography of the greater palatine foramen (GPF), within the South-Eastern European population, according to clinically identifiable anatomical landmarks. Materials and Methods: We used 100 dry adult human skulls, of which 75 were bilaterally dentate, whereas 25 were partially edentulous. Results: The shape of the GPF was oval in 84% of the cases. The foramen was located internally from the third molar in 73% of the skulls. The greater palatine canal showed an antero-infero-medial direction in 82% of the cases. The average values of the distances between the GPF and the oral surfaces of the maxillary third molar, the medio-palatine suture, the posterior margin of the hard palate, the pterygoid hamulus and the pterygo-maxillary suture were 11.0 (SD 1.5), 14.5 (SD 0.8), 4.4 (SD 1.1), 12.0 (SD 1.8) and 10.5 mm (SD 1.3), respectively. Conclusions: A thorough knowledge of GPF's various positions may assist the clinicians in providing improved surgical techniques in the area.


ABSTRACT Unilateral spatial neglect is a neuropsychological syndrome commonly observed after stroke and defined by the inability to attend or respond to contralesional stimuli. Typically, symptoms are assessed using clinical tests that rely upon visual/perceptual abilities. However, neglect may affect high-level representations controlling attention in other modalities as well. Here we developed a novel manual exploration test using a touch screen computer to quantify spatial search behaviour without visual input. Twelve chronic stroke patients with left neglect and 27 patients without neglect (based on clinical tests) completed our task. Four of the 12 "neglect" patients exhibited clear signs of neglect on our task as compared to "non-neglect" patients and healthy controls, and six other patients (from both groups) also demonstrated signs of neglect compared to healthy controls only. While some patients made asymmetrical responses on only one task, generally, patients with the strongest neglect performed poorly on multiple tasks. This suggests that representations associated with different modalities may be affected separately, but that severe forms of neglect are more likely related to damage in a common underlying representation. Our manual exploration task is easy to administer and can be added to standard neglect screenings to better measure symptom severity.


This paper is devoted to issues which have not been sufficiently explored in European literature, and which have had fragmented consideration in comparative literature. These issues raise the question of whether the EU legislator should develop a framework of criminal law rules which would regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter: AI) in the near future, and what such rules should specifically address. The authors recognise two issues of particular importance for the future regulation of AI development within the EU, and offer their perspective on the areas which should be subjected to regulation in this regard. In order to provide a systematic overview of this topic, the paper starts with a description of the recent regulatory action of the EU in the field of AI, with special reflection on the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. The authors then describe what are, in their opinion, the most important intersections of AI and criminal law in the broader sense, and in conclusion present their views of which areas should be specifically regulated by EU legislature in this context.
Keywords: robot, Artificial Intelligence, criminal law, criminal procedure, autonomous, sanctions, European Union.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution − Non-Commercial − No Derivatives 4.0 International License.

Suggested citation: I Vuletic and T Petrasevic, 'Is it Time to Consider EU Criminal Law Rules on Robotics?' (2020) 16 CYELP 225.


Out-of-equilibrium
molecular systems hold great promise as dynamic, reconfigurable matter that
executes complex tasks autonomously. However, translating molecular scale
dynamics into spatiotemporally controlled phenomena at mesoscopic length scales
remains a challenge. In living cells, reliable positioning processes such as
the centering of the centrosome involve forces that result from dissipative
self-assembly. We demonstrate how spatiotemporal positioning emerges in synthetic
systems where self-assembly is coupled to molecular fluxes originating from
concentration gradients. At the core of our system are millimeter long
self-assembled filaments and Marangoni flows induced by non-uniform amphiphile
distributions. We demonstrate how repulsive and attractive forces that are
generated as filaments organize between source and drain droplets sustain autonomous
positioning of dynamic assemblies at the mesoscale. Our concepts provide a new
paradigm for the development of non-equilibrium matter with spatiotemporal programmability.


Time Warp is an optimistic protocol for synchronizing parallel discrete event simulations. To achieve performance in a multiuser network of workstation (NOW) environment, Time Warp must continue to operate efficiently in the presence of external workloads caused by other users, processor heterogeneity, and irregular internal workloads caused by the simulation model. However, these performance problems can cause a Time Warp program to become grossly unbalanced, resulting in slower execution. The key observation asserted in this article is that each of these performance problems, while different in source, has a similar manifestation. For a Time Warp program to be balanced, the amount of wall clock time necessary to advance an LP one unit of simulation time should be about the same for all LPs. Using this observation, we devise a single algorithm that mitigates these performance problems and enables the "background" execution of Time Warp programs on heterogeneous distributed computing platforms in the presence of external as well as irregular internal workloads.


The study was carried out in one of the most common types of geographical landscape of the middle and southern taiga subzones in the Northwest of European Russia. In areas with a long agrarian land use history boreal ecosystems are replaced by agroforestry complexes, which represent a mosaic of arable land, hayfields and meadows, together with fragments of forest of different generations, covering extensive territories. These forests can be of the 'copse' type (with the overstorey predominated by a most varied mixture of deciduous species, including those typical of understorey) and ordinary secondary forests (coniferous, coniferous-deciduous, and deciduous stands aged on average from 40 to 80 years). A comparative analysis of species lists for meadows (meadow flora), copses (copse flora) and forests (forest flora) showed that copse flora features a higher level of species diversity, and high shares of meadow and wetland species. These features were due to high coenotic distinctness, relative spatial isolation (distance from the forest edge), direct contact with meadow communities and, as a rule, small size of such forest patches. The investigated floras are arranged along the disturbance gradient in the following order: forest flora - copse flora - meadow flora. Synanthropism of the communities with the tree layer is achieved mainly owing to the apophytic component, and in meadow communities it is owing to both apophytes and adventitious species. Having compared the coenotic structure of these three floras we found a stepwise increase in the number of meadow species along synanthropism gradient, a relatively high persistence of forest species (trees, shrubs, herbaceous apophytes) within meadow communities, a notable contribution of species pertaining to very wet habitats to copse and meadow floras. According to cluster analysis, the rate at which the natural vegetation recovers is largely defined by the scope of disturbance. Although forest communities in our study were considerably transformed by human activities, there occurred species that are naturally rare or relatively rare in the middle taiga of Karelia: Dryopteris cristata, Ranunculus subborealis, Stellaria longifolia, Rubus humulifolius and Urtica galeopsifolia, as well as a rare inhabitant of secondary forests Galium triflorum.


The study presents a conceptual framework that links culture (that is, power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity), and conflict management styles (that is, problem-solving, compromising, forcing, and legalistic), to identify their impact upon satisfaction of expatriates and their job performance. The sample size comprised of 193 Japanese senior managers working in Taiwan. LISREL 8.52 was used to assess the relationships among these variables. The results demonstrated that: (1) higher individualism is related to compromising and legalistic styles; (2) uncertainty avoidance is negatively related to problem-solving and positively related to forcing styles; (3) masculinity is positively associated with problem-solving and negatively associated with forcing styles; (4) performance satisfaction is negatively related to problem-solving, legalistic, and masculinity but positively related to individualism.

 Key words: Performance, culture, conflict management styles.


Ajoene, a garlic-derived sulfur-containing compound, has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. To assess the potential of ajoene for treating tuberculosis (TB), we determined whether it induces the stress response of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which plays an important role in TB. We showed that ajoene stimulation induced the production of ER stress sensor molecules and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Ajoene-induced ROS production was dependent on c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. Interestingly, the inhibition of JNK activity and suppression of ROS production reduced ajoene-induced CHOP production in macrophages. Because ER stress activates autophagy, the activation of which suppresses the growth of mycobacteria, we investigated the ajoene-induced production of autophagy-related factors, including LC3-II, P62 and Beclin-1. As expected, ajoene treatment increased the levels of these factors in RAW 264.7 cells. Remarkably, the total amount of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H37Rv was significantly reduced in ajoene-treated RAW 264.7 cells. The treatment of macrophages with ajoene resulted in the activation of JNK, induction of ROS synthesis and accumulation of ROS, possibly leading to the activation of ER stress and autophagy. These results reveal the mechanism of the antimycobacterial effects of ajoene against Mtb H37Rv. Our findings might facilitate the development of novel therapies for patients with TB.


Objective: The current study examined the effects of pharmacologic dopaminergic manipulations on working memory-related brain activation in postmenopausal women to further understand the neurochemistry underlying cognition after menopause. Methods: Eighteen healthy postmenopausal women, mean age 55.21 years, completed three study days with dopaminergic drug challenges during which they performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging visual verbal N-back test of working memory. Acute stimulation with 1.25 mg oral D2 agonist bromocriptine, acute blockade with 1.5 mg oral haloperidol, and matching placebo were administered randomly and blindly on three study days. Results: We found that dopaminergic stimulation increased activation primarily in the posterior regions of the working memory network compared with dopaminergic blockade using a whole brain cluster-level corrected analysis. The dopaminergic medications did not affect working memory performance. Conclusions: Patterns of increased blood-oxygen-level dependent signal activation after dopaminergic stimulation were found in this study in posterior brain regions with no effect on working memory performance. Further studies should examine specific dopaminergic contributions to brain functioning in healthy postmenopausal women to determine the effects of the increased brain activation on cognition and behavior.