The lumenal pH of an organelle is one of its defining characteristics and central to its biological function. Experiments have elucidated many of the key pH regulatory elements and how they vary from compartment-to-compartment, and continuum mathematical models have played an important role in understanding how these elements (proton pumps, counter-ion fluxes, membrane potential, buffering capacity, etc.) work together to achieve specific pH setpoints. While continuum models have proven successful in describing ion regulation at the cellular length scale, it is unknown if they are valid at the subcellular level where volumes are small, ion numbers may fluctuate wildly, and biochemical heterogeneity is large. Here, we create a discrete, stochastic (DS) model of vesicular acidification to answer this question. We used this simplified model to analyze pH measurements of isolated vesicles containing single proton pumps and compared these results to solutions from a continuum, ordinary differential equations (ODE)-based model. Both models predict similar parameter estimates for the mean proton pumping rate, membrane permeability, etc., but, as expected, the ODE model fails to report on the fluctuations in the system. The stochastic model predicts that pH fluctuations decrease during acidification, but noise analysis of single-vesicle data confirms our finding that the experimental noise is dominated by the fluorescent dye, and it reveals no insight into the true noise in the proton fluctuations. Finally, we again use the reduced DS model explore the acidification of large, lysosome-like vesicles to determine how stochastic elements, such as variations in proton-pump copy number and cycling between on and off states, impact the pH setpoint and fluctuations around this setpoint.


Batch studies were conducted for kinetics and equilibrium studies on the biosorption of Acid Blue 225 (AB 225) from aqueous solution by Multi Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs). The different parameters studied were initial dye concentration, biomass concentration, contact time and solution pH. Results show that the pH value of 3 is favorable for the biosorption of AB 225 dye. The biosorption data have been analysed using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms. The isothermal data for biosorption followed Langmuir Model. The biosorption processes conformed to the pseudo-second-order rate kinetics. Overall, the study demonstrated that MWCNTs can effectively remove AB 225 dye from aqueous solution under a wide range of experimental conditions.


Lymph chylomicrons radiolabelled in triacylglycerol and cholesteryl ester were injected into control and Watanabe heritable-hyperlipidaemic (WHHL) rabbits. Clearance of chylomicrons was slower in heterozygote and homozygote WHHL rabbits. Slower remnant clearance in WHHL rabbits was confirmed by monitoring the clearance from plasma of preformed chylomicron remnants. Use of chylomicron-like lipid emulsions injected into control and WHHL rabbits also confirmed the defect in remnant clearance in heterozygote WHHL and homozygote WHHL groups. Clearance from plasma of emulsion triolein was delayed in both WHHL groups compared with controls, owing to slower remnant clearance. The clearance from plasma of radioiodinated rabbit low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in heterozygote WHHL rabbits was the same as control rabbits. Defective chylomicron-remnant removal but normal LDL clearance in the heterozygote WHHL corresponded to elevated concentrations of plasma triacylglycerol and normal concentrations of plasma cholesterol. Receptor versus non-receptor clearances of chylomicron remnants were studied by comparing the clearance of emulsions with and without unesterified cholesterol respectively. Unlike control rabbits, there were no significant differences in the clearances of the two emulsion types in either the homozygote or heterozygote WHHL rabbits, indicating that the apolipoprotein-B100/E receptor is the primary route for clearance of chylomicron remnants from plasma.


The most active ingredient against insects, azadirachtin, a tetranortriterpenoid, manifests antifeedant, growth regulatory and fecundity-reducing properties in insects. Effects of azadirachtin extracts obtained from ripe fruits, seeds, trunk and flower of Melia azedarach and Azadirachta indica on total glycogen amount of Galleria mellonella was studied. Total glycogen synthesized were measured when the larvae reached their last larval stage after feeding them during 3rd stage with 1.00, 2.00, 4.00 and 6.00 mL/100 g azadirachtin compared with control insects while 33%, 42% and 50% decrease were observed in individual fed with 2.00, 4.00 and 6.00 mL/100 g azadirachtin containing feed respectively.


Conjuring up images of nineteenth-century London à la Charles Dickens, the Wall Street Journal recently featured an article entitled "Welcome to Debtors' Prison, 2011 Edition." The Journal was not using the term debtors' prison as a figure of speech but, rather, was documenting a recent spike in the use of arrest warrants by debt collectors to prosecute borrowers who cannot or will not repay small amounts of money. Indeed, over the past several years, and particularly following the most recent economic crisis from which the United States and the global economy have still not fully recovered, debt-buying firms have increasingly relied upon the state's legal system as a means of compelling individuals behind on their credit card payments, auto loans, and other bills to meet their obligations. In the past year alone, judges have signed off on more than 5,000 arrest warrants, incarcerating Americans for debts as small as $250.


Gender dynamics shape and influence the nature of participation in, as well as the ability to benefit from, seed and ware potato markets in Malawi. 35 sex-disaggregated focus group discussions with farmers and 4 interviews with extension officers were conducted in Dedza and Ntcheu districts. Data on seed marketing and purchase, ware potato marketing, affordability, marketing decisions, and clients, as well as social norms and values that influence market participation by men and women were collected and analyzed using the Real Markets Approach focusing on social relations within markets. Results demonstrate that agricultural market interventions that do not address underlying social structures—such as those related to gender relations and access to key resources—will benefit one group of people over another; in this case men over women.


A wetland has no economic value in and of itself. Nor does it have a unique value, irrespective of context. Economic value is ascribed to a wetland by humans operating at a confluence of individual preferences, property rights, technological opportunities, and available resources. Such values are not generally reflected in market prices, a deficiency that can nonetheless addressed by competent economic analysis, using a variety of empirical techniques. The task is complicated by scientific information shortfalls, by ever-changing technologies and economies, and by evolving societal preferences--but it can be done. Economic valuations have been used in wetland priority rankings and in comparative investment analyses.


Robot-assisted systems have been developed for minimally invasive surgical procedures, which bring tremendous benefits for patients, such as less trauma, less bleeding, and shorter recovery time. Among the contemporary surgical robotic manipulators, flexible serpentine manipulator shows great advantages on operating with complicated nonlinear anatomical constraints, and it can reach deep occluded surgical targets without colliding in a critical anatomical environment. In surgical robotic operation, less spatial sweeping area from the flexible manipulator in motions is desired to induce the minimal surgical complications. The goal of our research is to reduce unnecessary sweeping motion of the flexible surgical manipulator in operations, and to obtain safer and more reliable reference trajectories. A novel 3-D neural dynamic model is proposed and expected to obtain the safety-enhanced trajectory in workspace with the consideration of minimum sweeping area. In this model, the neural stimulation propagates from the start state to the whole network through the connective weight of manipulator's sweeping area. According to the results of comparative studies with commonly used planning algorithms in various simulation scenarios, the proposed planning algorithm is validated in terms of effectiveness and safety. Ultimately, the experiments on phantoms and preclinical cadaveric human head show the feasibility of the proposed safety-enhanced planning algorithm.


Even though high frequency ventilation is the most important anesthetic ventilation technique for patients who have tracheal T-tube, other method is still in use, especially the Montgomery's method. In our daily practice, we found that there are some practical problems in the application of the Montgomery's method. Firstly, air leakage is present due to the presence of the Fogarty catheter at the connection of T-tube and endotracheal tube. Secondly, the internal diameter of the extraluminal limb of T-tube is smaller than the internal diameter of the intraluminal limbs, and the internal diameter of the endotracheal tube is smaller than the internal diameter of the extraluminal limb. This causes an increase in airway pressure in some patients. Thirdly, the endotracheal tube may kink and reduce the effective size of the lumen. Fourthly, the operation field may be interfered by the tube. We have designed a modification to solve these problems. A non-kinking endotracheal tube was used and the distal end of the non-kinking endotracheal tube was pushed to fit into the extraluminal limb of a T-tube. The other proximal end was connected to a mask elbow which was equipped with a sampling port. A Fogarty catheter was passed through the sampling port of the mask elbow and the trio attachment (mask elbow, non-kinking endotracheal tube, and T-tube) into the upper intraluminal limb of the T-tube. The balloon of the Fogarty catheter was inflated to occlude the opening of the upper intraluminal limb. Ventilation was performed by connecting the free end of the mask elbow to the anesthesia ventilator.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper investigates the relationship between a bureaucracy and mass media industry, and its implications to corruption. We develop a bureaucratic model of corruption with mass media. A representative profit maximizing media firm seeks for corruption news to be printed and sold. Channels through which competition in media industry and press freedom affect equilibrium corruption in a bureaucracy are modeled. Different degrees of media freedom and competition affect production and employment decisions of media firms, and this in turn affects the effectiveness of media in monitoring corruption. Competition and freedom in media sector also have an influence on bureaucratic structure and consequently on equilibrium corruption. We find that the degree of competition in media market plays a significant role in controlling corruption. Freedom of media also reduces corruption. Empirical results support these findings. Media competition appears to be a more important tool to combat corruption than press freedom. The corruption problem in Italy could be reduced to the level experienced by France if the competitiveness of its media industry was to be improved to the same level as that of United Kingdom.


CpG-oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) are potent immune stimuli being developed for use as adjuvants in different species. Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) is the cellular receptor for CpG-ODN in mammalian cells. The CpG-ODN with 18–24 deoxynucleotides that are in current use for human and mouse cells, however, have low activity with rabbit TLR9. Using a cell-based activation assay, we developed a type of CpG-ODN containing a GACGTT or AACGTT motif in 12 phosphorothioate-modified deoxynucleotides with potent stimulatory activity for rabbit TLR9. The developed CpG-ODN have higher activities than other developed CpG-ODN in eliciting antigen-nonspecific immune responses in rabbit splenocytes. When mixed with an NJ85 peptide derived from rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus, they had potent activities to boost an antigen-specific T cell activation and antibody production in rabbits. Compared to Freund's adjuvant, the developed CpG-ODN are capable of boosting a potent and less toxic antibody response. The results of this study suggest that both the choice of CpG-motif and its length are important factors for CpG-ODN to effectively activate rabbit TLR9 mediated immune responses.


Owing to the analogies between the problem of wealth redistribution with taxation in a multi-agent society, we introduce and discuss a kinetic model describing the statistical distributions in time of the sizes of groups of biological systems with prey-predator dynamic. While the evolution of the mean values is shown to be driven by a classical Lotka-Volterra system of differential equations, it is shown that the time evolution of the probability distributions of the size of groups of the two interacting species is heavily dependent both on a kinetic redistribution operator and the degree of randomness present in the system. Numerical experiments are given to clarify the time-behavior of the distributions of groups of the species.


TT:[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Baranya county, Hungary]
Amyotrophic lateralsclerosis is a progressive
neurodegenerative disease resulting in loss of upper and lower
motoneurons. Here we analyzed the clinical and
epidemiological data of 202 ALS patients admitted to our
department between 1950 and 2004. Risk and protective
factors influencing onset and progression of the disease were
examined. We also analyzed the relationship between first
clinical symptoms/signs and prognosis of the disease. Our
data suggest the importance of toxic factors in the initiation of
the disease and the effect of clinical phenotype on the
progression of ALS.


This school-based study arose as a result of one secondary school's application to their District Technology Coordinator for further funding for technology. A need was perceived to keep pace with advancing technology by our administration, and by a group of teachers in the school. There are also new courses which are mandated by the province which required internet browsing capability and graphics programs which were beyond our current resources. A summary of the goals of the District Coordinator and the District Technology Committee are summarized in this report. A history of the development of technology in the school is described within the context of programs and people. Participant and non-participant observations were made by the author over the course of discussions with staff from January through March of 1999 regarding pedagogical concerns with technology. A survey was also used to determine the staff's perceived needs in the area of technology that was developed by the author and school technology committee.


This thesis examines the development of the Edwardian Scouting Movement through the experiences of the young, ambitious individuals who first took up Robert Baden-Powell's call-to-action. By putting the recorded testimony of the individuals at the centre of the analysis, this thesis will challenge existing narratives that insinuate boys were passive participants in an organisation directed and founded from the top. Making use of Scouts' diaries, journals, camp notes, scrapbooks, memoirs, and troop records demonstrates that the pioneers at the local, community levels not only had a great deal of autonomy in the function of their troops, but were active agents in developing Scouting across Britain. Likewise, this thesis shows that not only did boys take an active role in shaping the Movement, but they brought with them their previously-held principles and ideologies that often amplified Scouting's operations. Before the Boy Scouts became the organisation it is recognised as today, it was a movement encouraged and developed by enthusiastic youth through grass-roots initiative. By viewing the Scouting Movement through a 'history from below' approach, I will situate my research within wider academic fields of nationalism, youth culture, class, and imperial culture. I will demonstrate that the Scouting Movement was a reflection of broader Edwardian trends of patriotism, national anxiety, and martial culture. Likewise, this thesis shows that average people throughout Britain, with no official ties to the Empire or state, contributed consciously to the nation through their efforts with the Scouting Movement. The Edwardian Scouting Movement served as a mechanism through which youth were able to express their understandings of social and national issues; participate in vocational and military training; and serve their country by working for their local communities.


Representative assessment parameters are proposed for indoor air quality (IAQ) audit in various strategies and guidelines.1 In Hong Kong, assessment of indoor airborne fungi is not incorporated in many IAQ audits of air-conditioned offices, although the exposure to airborne fungi could cause a variety of adverse health effects. An IAQ assessment for a local office will audit 12 parameters, including air temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, respirable suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, total volatile organic compounds, radon, and airborne bacteria. This paper reviews recent studies of the indoor airborne fungi levels and IAQ assessments in some air-conditioned offices of Hong Kong and evaluates the contribution of the airborne fungi to an unsatisfactory IAQ in the environment. The unsatisfactory rates regarding the assessment parameters were evaluated using the Monte Carlo simulations with measured data in Hong Kong Offices. In particular, the impact of selecting representative IAQ assessment parameters was examined against an express assessment protocol (EAP), which assessed some dominant contributors of unsatisfactory IAQ.2 The results reported that the three top ranked contributors for unsatisfactory IAQ were total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), indoor airborne fungi count (AFC) and airborne bacteria count (ABC) for air-conditioned offices of Hong Kong. Practical applications: This study has shown that the assessments of airborne fungi levels in office environment is an important issue and further investigations for the airborne fungi in the IAQ audits were thus recommended. The results of this study could be a useful source of reference for policymakers in evaluation of an effective IAQ assessment protocol with some representative IAQ assessment parameters.


Background Although bone marrow (BM) or mobilized peripheral blood (PB) is frequently used as the source of hematopoietic stem cells, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using cord blood (CB) is gradually gaining popularity in many countries. However, BM or PB is still preferred over CB in Korea. Therefore, we tried to assess the awareness of CB transplantation (CBT) among domestic HSCT physicians and develop strategies for boosting its utilization by administering questionnaires to some of these physicians. Methods A direct questionnaire survey was conducted using the "Audience Response System" among 301 members who attended the annual meeting of the Korean Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. The data were analyzed for only 67 board certified physicians who were directly involved in HSCT activities. Results The poor outcomes resulting from insufficient experience in CBT was designated by the physicians as the main reason for the low domestic implementation of HSCT using CB. Other reasons identified in the survey were distrust in the quality and management of domestic CB and the high cost of obtaining CB. Conclusion Increasing the use of donated CB would foremost require increasing the inventory of donated CB containing a sufficient cell number for CBT and securing structured quality control of the CB banks. In addition, it would be necessary to minimize CB supply costs and continue to provide academic data, including CBT guidelines, so that clinicians could perform CBT with more confidence.


The gonad is a unique biological system for studying cell fate decisions. However, major questions remain regarding the identity of somatic progenitor cells and the transcriptional events driving cell differentiation. Using time course single cell RNA sequencing on XY mouse gonads during sex determination, we identified a single population of somatic progenitor cells prior sex determination. A subset of these progenitors differentiate into Sertoli cells, a process characterized by a highly dynamic genetic program consisting of sequential waves of gene expression. Another subset of multipotent cells maintains their progenitor state but undergo significant transcriptional changes that restrict their competence towards a steroidogenic fate required for the differentiation of fetal Leydig cells. These results question the dogma of the existence of two distinct somatic cell lineages at the onset of sex determination and propose a new model of lineage specification from a unique progenitor cell population.


The academic/scientific publication in Open Access is already a current practice with several advantages, and the trend is that it will continue to be adopted worldwide by academics and researchers to disseminate the results of their work among the scientific community and the public at large. At a time when Open Access is not only unavoidable but tends to become generalised as a form of scientific publication, this paper seeks to put forth, discuss and analyse some emerging issues, which are directly related to the financing of the publication of scientific research in Open Access, and which are directly linked to the consequences for academic freedom and the impact of the dissemination of the scientific publication, as current questions that shape the scientific publication that we will have and wish. The results of this analysis allow concluding that, for this new way of publishing science to grow in a sustained way, it is necessary to ensure, among other aspects, the existence of independent scientific advisory boards; freedom of publication within certain boundaries; a sustainability strategy to plan for the operation of the platform; transparency in public scrutiny; and respect for the law.


Primary hyperparathyroidism may present with non-specific symptoms, and this may be one reason why patients with coeliac disease fail to improve despite compliance with a gluten-free diet. Seven case reports of primary hyperparathyroidism due to sporadic adenoma occurring in a series of 310 patients with coeliac disease are presented, highlighting the importance of looking for this condition in this population group. A prevalence of primary hyperparathyroidism of 2.3% in this series suggests a significant association between hyperparathyroidism and coeliac disease; most studies have indicated a prevalence of 3 in 1000 in the general population, although one study found that it may be as high as 21 in 1000 in women aged 55–75 years. The average age of patients in our series was 59 years and all but one were women. Further studies are needed to establish a possible association between primary hyperparathyroidism and coeliac disease.


Wyoming has one of the highest crash rates in the United States and a higher fatality rate than the U.S. average. These high rates result from many factors such as the high traffic through I-80 and the mountainous areas of Wyoming. This study employed two approaches to study contributory factors to crashes in the most hazardous interstate, I-80, in Wyoming by employing crash and citation data sets. Different factors may contribute to different driver actions so it is important to consider these crash causes separately. Thus, multiple logistic regression models were used in this study to examine the differences in crash-contributing factors for three driver actions: driving too fast for conditions, improper lane change, and no improper driving. These driver actions account for about 70% of all the crash causes on this interstate. The same violations as the two driver actions, improper lane change and driving too fast for conditions, account for 42% of all the crashes. The literature has indicated that previous violations can be used to predict future violations, and consequently crashes. Therefore, these violations were identified to detect the groups that are at higher risk of involvement in crashes. The analyses indicated that there are substantial differences across different driver actions for crash and violation data. For instance, not-dry-surface conditions increased the estimated odds of driving too fast for conditions 33 times while it decreased the risk of no improper driving by an estimated 250%. Crash severity, number of vehicles, vehicle maneuver, point of impact, driver condition, and speed compliance also impacted different driver actions differently. The results of violation analyses revealed that the interaction between types of vehicle and various variables were significant. For instance, nonresident truck drivers were more likely to violate all types of risky violations, which increased the estimated odds of crashes, compared with resident truck drivers. Recommendations based on the results are provided for policy makers to reduce high crash rate in the state.


Millions of users post comments to TripAdvisor daily, together with a numeric evaluation of their experience using a rating scale of between 1 and 5 stars. At the same time, inspectors dispatched by national and local authorities visit restaurant premises regularly to audit hygiene standards, safe food practices, and overall cleanliness. The purpose of our study is to analyze the use of online-generated reviews (OGRs) as a tool to complement official restaurant inspection procedures. Our case study-based approach, with the help of a Python-based scraping library, consists of collecting OGR data from TripAdvisor and comparing them to extant restaurants' health inspection reports. Our findings reveal that a correlation does exist between OGRs and national health system scorings. In other words, OGRs were found to provide valid indicators of restaurant quality based on inspection ratings and can thus contribute to the prevention of foodborne illness among citizens in real time. The originality of the paper resides in the use of big data and social network data as a an easily accessible, zero-cost, and complementary tool in disease prevention systems. Incorporated in restaurant management dashboards, it will aid in determining what action plans are necessary to improve quality and customer experience on the premises.


The aim of improving air tightness of structures is to prevent the uncontrolled air leakages through structures. Built environments contain microbes, particulate and gaseous impurities but removing them is not always necessary. For example, an ageing building envelope commonly contains microbial impurities even when there is no obvious moisture damage. Air leaks convey impurities to indoors where they can lead to poor indoor air quality and associated health problems. Air leaks have also negative impact to energy efficiency and living comfort. An air tight building envelope prevents air leaks through the envelope structure. Common air leakage places are the joints of structures, i.e. the joint of ground slab and external wall and untight inlets of the envelope. The joints of the structures are typically not air tight without detailed planning. In Finland an air tight building envelope is taken into account in the building regulations and therefore airtightness is relatively good in the new construction. In the existing buildings improving airtightness of structures is a relatively new concept. It can be used in a combination with other renovation methods to solve indoor air quality problems in buildings. In Finland several techniques have been implemented in order to prevent uncontrolled air flux through the structures since 1980's. In practise the air tightness renovation method has been successful in indoor air quality problems in buildings. The main principle of moisture or microbial damage renovation is that before installing new building materials all moisture or microbially damaged materials are removed and the source of the problem is identified and fixed. However, in practise it is often impossible to remove all impurities and therefore improving airtightness of the new structure has an important role in completing a successful renovation. Improving of airtightness must be applied on to the whole building envelope. Air tightening renovation is never a single renovation action but always a part of other action. The air tightening material must be elastic, safe and long lasting and tested for its purpose. Improving airtightness requires planning, accurate execution on the construction site and supervision. Quality control measurements are in a key role to success. Quality control measurements are done visually and with the trace-gas leak test. It is very important always adjust the ventilation system to match the changed pressure difference. In Finland there are no guidelines for planning, execution or supervising air tightness renovation method. It is planned to start certification training and publish first guideline in 2014.


The assertion that access to firearms makes us safe, rather than increases the likelihood that oneself or a family member will die, is contradicted by a large body of evidence. Gunshots kill more than 30,000 Americans each year. Homicide accounts for approximately one-third of these deaths, with the remainder involving suicides and accidental gun discharges. In fact, firearms put us at greater risk of death than participating in war; in four months, as many Americans were shot dead in the United States as have died fighting in Iraq for an entire decade. Given these grim statistics, it would be reasonable to expect swift legislative action. Living in a nation plagued by the highest gun death rate in the world should trigger public and political outrage. Yet, the country is in a state of political impasse. Despite public demand for reform, federal legislators have been unable to enact laws that would protect, at least in part, the public from gun violence. Partly to blame for this political standoff may be the public's misperception that there are rigorous gun control laws at the federal and state levels, all of which in actuality are riddled with loopholes. State and federal legislators could significantly tighten gun control laws without infringing on the Second Amendment right to bear arms but repeatedly fail to do so. When proposed reforms are viewed cumulatively, it is clear that they would almost certainly prevent many firearm injuries and deaths, even if no reform can eliminate gun violence altogether.


Background: for the public health and world development diseases such as Dengue, Zika, Chikungunya, Yellow fever and rabies are re-emergent and most of them are infections that have crossed the barrier that exists between animal species and humans. Objective: to analyze the behavior of rabies outbreaks in Havana province, from 2013 to 2016. Methods: a retrospective descriptive, observational study of rabies-positive animal species examined at the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology of Havana was conducted from 2013 to 2016. 51 samples of brains from carnivores, bats, and herbivores studied in the province were included. The direct immunofluorescence technique was used for the diagnosis of rabies. The description of the positivity was carried out using the Excel information systems. Results: the municipality of Boyeros with the highest positivity index (24.5%) followed by Arroyo Naranjo, displaces canine rabies with 61.7% of rabies cases by mongoose. (Specify other relevant results). Conclusions: the largest report of cases was reported in Boyeros geographically located in the south Havana province and bordering with Artemisa province. DeCS: RABIES/epidemiology; RABIES VIRUS; BEHAVIOR, ANIMAL; ZOONOSES; EPIDEMIOLOGY, DESCRIPTIVE.


The direct current (dc) conductivities and organic field-effect transistor (OFET) characteristics of a class of octa-substituted liquid crystalline (discotic mesophase) phthalocyanines (Pcs) are discussed. These molecules self-organize into columnar aggregates with large coherence lengths (up to approximately 300 nm). Langmuir–Blodgett films of these molecules were horizontally transferred to either interdigitated microelectrodes (IME) or OFET substrates, so that current flow could be measured either parallel or perpendicular to the column axis. Twenty-eight bilayer films of these Pcs on the IME substrates showed anisotropies in dc conductivity up to 50:1, whereas similar Pc films showed anisotropies in field effect mobilities of approximately 10:1, for a variety of W/L ratios (source/drain dimensions and spacing). Field-effect mobilities of 1 to 5 × 10^-6 cm^2·V^-1·s^-1 were determined from OFET measurements, along the Pc column axis, whereas charge mobilities measured from the space charge limited current regime on the IME substrates were in the range of 10^-4 cm^2·V^-1·s^-1. Conductive tip atomic force microscopy measurements on the apprximately 500-nm length scale showed that the conductivity anisotropy can be as high as 1000:1 when the Pc columns are intimately contacted to an adjacent Au bond pad.


Purpose: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is well documented to exert destructive effect to renal cells and its mechanism is not clear. Autophagy is one of cell basic response for stressful conditions and it is important to determine cell's fate. The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of autophagy in the process of shock wave-induced renal cells injury. Methods: NRK-52E cell, a rat renal tubular epithelial cell, was exposed to shock wave at the voltage of 14KV. GFP-LC3 puncta was used to monitor Autophagy flux in the process of shock wave injury. Autophagic relative proteins, such as light chain 3 (LC3), beclin-1 and p62, were also examined. Cell variability and apoptosis were detected when inhibition autophagy with 3-methyladenine (3MA) or stimulating its activity with rapamycin during the process of shock wave injury. The role of Akt/ GSK-3β and its connection with autophagy in the process of shock wave injury were also investigated. Results: Shock wave was confirmed to activate autophagy in renal cells, which was manifested in LC3-II turnover, beclin-1 induction and degradation of p62. Inhibition autophagy enhanced cell damage or apoptosis, whereas its stimulating was able to exert protection from shock wave injury. Akt/ GSK-3β, a cell-survival signaling pathway, can also be activated during the process. And its activation could be suppressed by blockade autophagy. Conclusion: Autophagy is a self-protective response for renal cells from shock wave injury. The cyto-protection of autophagy may be connected with modulation Akt/ GSK-3β pathway.


Brick kiln is a big environmental issue for the agriculture of Bangladesh as it was observed that the agricultural production in the soil close to the brick kiln was lesser than the same soil far from brick kiln. The study was conducted to assess the impact of brick kiln operation to the degradation of topsoil quality at Singair of Kalihati upazila in Tangail, Bangladesh, during the period of July to December 2013. The Soil was collected from areas close to the brick fields and far from the brick fields at a depth of 0-15 cm. The Electrical Conductance (EC) was found almost double in the soil samples close to the brick field than the soil samples far from brick field. The organic mattter content in the soil sample close to the brickfield was significantly lower than that of the far soil sample. The mean values of total N, available P and S were also significantly lower in the soil samples close to the brick kiln, 0.05%, 12.4, and 8.36 ppm respectively in the close soils, while 0.06%, 24.6, and 11.7 ppm respectively in the far soil. There were no significant changes observed in the other elements.


Article reveals the specific features and problems of human resources formation in oil and gas regions of the Russian Arctic and Subarctic. The research objective is to clarify the correlation of the 'labor resources' and 'human resources' concepts, identify of mechanisms of their formation, and determine the characteristics and capabilities of the most effective use of human potential through the use of non-traditional methods of organizing production shift in the circumpolar region. Human resources are treated as the most capacious concept with extended space-time and socio-cultural characteristics, additionally containing the hidden features and quality. The factors that determine the specificity of the formation of human resources in the circumpolar region, the inconsistency of regional identity and the perception of further development of the territories of indigenous and newly arrived population are allocated. The study is based on sociological surveys held from 1980 to 2015 covering various population categories of the circumpolar zones: the old-timers, newcomers, shift workers, representatives of indigenous peoples of the north. Research results enable the representatives of public authorities and oil and gas companies understand the effects of exploration and production operations on the way of life of indigenous peoples as well as to develop solutions for combining cultural traditions and modern industrial innovation as to help minimize social and ethno-cultural harm. Additionally, study reveals the features of the shift workers' interactions with the indigenous population, as well as in labor collectives, define areas of possible constructive dialogue. Expert interviews revealed behavioral features of stationary and shift staff of oil and gas companies, the dynamics shift workers' assessment of their living standards. The authors consider it necessary to continue research of the social problems arising in the course of development of Arctic regions, to develop a system of standards governing the quality of human resources, and quality of life. Keywords: shift method, autochthonous population, regional identity, arctic region JEL Classifications: Q3; M54; J6; R11


Donor–acceptor heterostructures have attracted much interest in current optoelectronic technologies because they can control the charge dynamics in these applications. To improve the charge-carrier generation and transport properties, the donor and acceptor components in the heterostructures have a better interface at the molecular level with bicontinuous structures. So far, most available examples are obtained by a self-assembly approach from two organic semiconducting molecules. Considering the complementary properties of inorganic and organic semiconductors, the self-assembly of semiconductive inorganic and organic components in one material is anticipated to form abnormal hybrid heterostructures with synergetic properties. However, so far, only a few such hybrid heterostructures have been reported, most of which involved in the inorganic components as electron donors. Herein we reported that the combination of 2,5-bis-(4-pyridinium)thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole (Py2TTz) with Cu2+ in the presence of acetonitrile by a solvothermal method led to a novel bicontinuous hybrid heterostructure [Cu2(Py2TTz)(CN)2]·0.5(Py2TTz) (1) with semiconducting Py2TTz and in situ synthesized CuCN as the electron donor and acceptor components. Due to the strong coordination combined with cation–π interactions between the two semiconducting components, this hybrid exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activities towards the degradation of methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RhB), and methyl orange (MO) in comparison with those of the two individual bulk semiconductive Py2TTz and CuCN.


In production, frequently used words are preferentially extended to new, though related meanings. In comprehension, frequent exposure to a word instead makes the learner confident that all of the word's legitimate uses have been experienced, resulting in an entrenched form-meaning mapping between the word and its experienced meaning(s). This results in a perception-production dissociation, where the forms speakers are most likely to map onto a novel meaning are precisely the forms that they believe can never be used that way. At first glance, this result challenges the idea of bidirectional form-meaning mappings, assumed by all current approaches to linguistic theory. In this paper, we show that bidirectional form-meaning mappings are not in fact challenged by this production-perception dissociation. We show that the production-perception dissociation is expected even if learners of the lexicon acquire simple symmetrical form-meaning associations through simple Hebbian learning.


AC-DC power systems have been operating more than sixty years. Nonlinear bus-wise power balance equations provide accurate model of AC-DC power systems. However, optimization tools for planning and operation require linear version, even if approximate, for creating tractable algorithms, considering modern elements such as DERs (distributed energy resources). Hitherto, linear models of only AC power systems are available, which coincidentally are called DC power flow. To address this drawback, linear bus-wise power balance equations are developed for AC-DC power systems and presented. As a first contribution, while AC and DC lines are represented by susceptance and conductance elements, AC-DC power converters are represented by a proposed linear relationship. As a second contribution, a three-step linear AC-DC power flow method is proposed. The first step solves the whole network considering it as a linear AC network, yielding bus phase angles at all busses. The second step computes attributes of the proposed linear model of all AC-DC power converters. The third step solves the linear model of the AC-DC system including converters, yielding bus phase angles at AC busses and voltage magnitudes at DC busses. The benefit of the proposed linear power flow model of AC-DC power system, while an approximation of the nonlinear model, enables representation of bus-wise power balance of AC-DC systems in complex planning and operational optimization formulations and hence holds the promise of phenomenal progress. The proposed linear AC-DC power systems is tested on numerous IEEE test systems and demonstrated to be fast, reliable, and consistent.


A polymer blend material comprising: (i) a first polymer containing hydrogen bond donating groups having at least one hydrogen atom bound to a heteroatom selected from oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, or an anionic version of said first polymer wherein at least a portion of hydrogen atoms bound to a heteroatom is absent and replaced with at least one electron pair; (ii) a second polymer containing hydrogen bond accepting groups selected from nitrile, halogen, and ether functional groups; and (iii) at least one modifying agent selected from carbon particles, ether-containing polymers, and Lewis acid compounds; wherein, if said second polymer contains ether functional groups, then said at least one modifying agent is selected from carbon particles and Lewis acid compounds. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described.


Percutaneous cholecystostomy was performed in 17 poor surgical risk patients. 16 patients developed acute acalculous cholecystitis postoperatively in the intensive care unit, 1 patient had an acute cholecystitis with calculi. Diagnostic imaging using CT and US was specific for acute cholecystitis in 58% only. Percutaneous cholecystostomy was the definitive treatment in 69% of the patients. Additional cholecystectomy was required in 3 patients with complicated cholecystitis, in 1 patient with bile leakage after catheter dislocation and in 1 patient with gallbladder calculi. 3 patients died, 2 of them from reasons unrelated to the gallbladder disease. Radiology-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy performed by a transhepatic approach is a safe and effective procedure for acute cholecystitis in high-risk patients.


AIM
The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro sealing ability of a new obturating material (Real Seal 1, SybronEndo, Orange, CA, USA) and compare it with the Thermafil (Dentsply Maillefer, Baillargues, Switzerland) and One-Step systems (CMS Dental, Copenhagen, Denmark).

METHODS
Forty-four freshly extracted lower premolars teeth were selected and a root canal treatment was performed using a crown-down Nickel-Titanium rotary preparation technique. Teeth were randomized into three groups (N.=14): 1) Thermafil group; 2) One/step group; 3) Real Seal 1 (RS1) group. The remaining two teeth served as controls. A fluid filtration system device was utilized to assess quantitatively the microleakage. Statistical analyses were performed by ANOVA and significance was set at 95%.

RESULTS
Data clearly showed that the RS1 provided the best results, showing a minimal leakage after 24 hours. Statystical analysis showed a significant difference about the RS1 group, the Thermafil and One/Step group, while no significant differences were noted between these last two groups. Results show that the number of teeth that had no (=0) leakage was higher in the RS1 group (8 specimens) than in the remaining ones (1 and 1 specimen, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Under the conditions of the present experimental test, the new RS1 material (carrier-based Resilon) provided excellent preliminary results showing sealing ability at 24 hours significantly better that traditional carrier-based gutta-percha systems.


Developing countries and countries with economies in transition have varying experiences in enforcing their national environmental law. China's judicial interpretations and legislation on environmental protection have established the rules that shift the burden of proof for causation in environmental tort litigation. However, this study of 513 court decisions from the people's courts at different levels in China shows that although the court decisions usually refer to or quote the rules that shift the burden of proof, in most cases the victim-plaintiffs still bear the liability to prove whether the causal relationship exists between the pollution and the harm. This study also finds that Chinese courts defer greatly to the evaluation report in proving causation. It suggests that the court practice of adjudicating environmental tort cases in China values more the factual causation of a pollution incident than the provisions regarding proof of causation stipulated by relevant laws. Consequently, such judicial practices hinder the effectiveness of judicial remedies for pollution victims in China.


Analyses were carried out on latex obtained from twenty one plant species belonging to Khandesh region of Maharashtra, India, for the presence of possible secondary metabolites, namely alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, cynogenic glycosides, phenolics, tannins and saponins. Phenolic compounds were found in all latex samples except in Ipomoea carnea Jacq. Seventy six percent species of laticiferous plants contain alkaloid. Terpenoids were found in the latex of Carica papaya L. and Manilkara zapota (L.) P. van Royen only however, remaining plants were devoid. Cynogenic glycosides and tannins were detected in 52 % and 48 % of latex samples respectively. Flavonoids and saponins were detected in equal number of latex samples i.e. 38 %. Out of this, four species of Apocynaceae and single species of Euphorbiaceae, Moraceae, Carricaceae, Convolvulaceae etc. showed flavonoid. While three species of Euphorbiaceae, two species of Apocynaceae and Moraceae and single species of Asclepiadaceae showed saponin. The moisture and total solid content varies from species to species in latex samples analyzed. Euphorbia prunifolia Jacq. had highest level of moisture i.e. 93.33% and less solid content i.e. 6.67% whereas Euphorbia hirta L. had lowest level of moisture i.e.63.63% and highest content of total solid i.e. 36.37%. The results suggest that, the laticiferous plants would be exploited in the management of various diseases as they have diverse group of secondary metabolites.


The liver is involved in the turnover of fibronectin in two different ways: hepatic synthesis contributes substantially to the plasma fibronectin pool, while Kupffer-cells, performing an important role of the reticuloendothelial system, remove fibronectin opsonized material from the circulation. In 45 patients with histologically confirmed liver cirrhosis and six patients with acute liver failure due to intoxication we determined fibronectin concentration in plasma by electroimmunoassay and additionally measured factor VIII-related antigen, which is a large glycoprotein not synthesized in the liver. Fibronectin levels in plasma were decreased in liver cirrhosis. This decrease was correlated with the extent of porto-caval collateral circulation. Very low levels were found in patients with acute liver failure. Factor VIII-related antigen levels were greatly increased as a function of the hepatic insufficiency. Between both parameters there was a significant inverse correlation. It is concluded that the simultaneous determination of both proteins provides reliable information about the remaining liver function.


For humans and robots, variable impedance control is an essential component for ensuring robust and safe physical interaction with the environment. Humans learn to adapt their impedance to specific tasks and environments; a capability which we continually develop and improve until we are well into our twenties. In this article, we reproduce functionally interesting aspects of learning impedance control in humans on a simulated robot platform. As demonstrated in numerous force field tasks, humans combine two strategies to adapt their impedance to perturbations, thereby minimizing position error and energy consumption: 1) if perturbations are unpredictable, subjects increase their impedance through cocontraction; and 2) if perturbations are predictable, subjects learn a feed-forward command to offset the perturbation. We show how a 7-DOF simulated robot demonstrates similar behavior with our model-free reinforcement learning algorithm PI2, by applying deterministic and stochastic force fields to the robot's end-effector. We show the qualitative similarity between the robot and human movements. Our results provide a biologically plausible approach to learning appropriate impedances purely from experience, without requiring a model of either body or environment dynamics. Not requiring models also facilitates autonomous development for robots, as prespecified models cannot be provided for each environment a robot might encounter.


Abstract In today's competitive situation, all textile industries ,specially carpet industry, are well aware of the significance of customer and its vital role in the development of marketing. Development in production and also reaching a high quality is only viable through listening to the customer's voice .customer's approval of various products with high quality is considered as an important concept in the carpet industry. The studies indicate that the customer's approval of the quality and variety of the products is among one of the most important goals of quality management and highly affects the market and the return of profit and investment. This study is an attempt to identify some of the customer's needs using KANO model and Conjoint analysis. It further introduces some workable marketing strategies for the new products of machinery carpet to enter the market


Although the pulsatility of an input pressure is an important factor that determines the arterial baroreflex responses, whether the difference in the input waveforms can meaningfully affect the baroreflex function remains unknown. This study aimed to compare baroreflex responses between two distinct pressure waveforms: a forward saw wave (FSW) and a backward saw wave (BSW). In seven anesthetized rats, carotid sinus pressure was exposed to the FSW or the BSW with a mean of 120 mmHg, pulse pressure of 40 mmHg, and pulse frequency of 1 Hz. Changes in efferent sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) and arterial pressure (AP) during six consecutive saw wave trials (FSW1, BSW1, FSW2, BSW2, FSW3, and BSW3) were examined. The steady-state SNA value during FSW1 was 91.1 ± 1.9%, which was unchanged during FSW2 and FSW3 but significantly increased during BSW1 (106.6 ± 3.4%, P < 0.01), BSW2 (110.6 ± 2.5%, P < 0.01), and BSW3 (111.6 ± 2.3%, P < 0.01). The steady-state AP value during FSW1 was 98.2 ± 8.1 mmHg, which was unchanged during FSW2 and FSW3 but significantly increased during BSW1 (106.7 ± 7.4 mmHg, P < 0.01), BSW2 (105.6 ± 7.8 mmHg, P < 0.01), and BSW3 (103.8 ± 7.2 mmHg, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the FSW was more effective than the BSW in reducing mean SNA and AP. The finding could be applied to designing an artificial pulsatile pressure such as that generated by left ventricular assist devices.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study examined whether the waveforms of an input pressure alone can affect the baroreflex function by using a forward saw wave and a backward saw wave with the same mean pressure, pulse pressure, and pulse frequency. The forward saw wave was more effective than the backward saw wave in reducing sympathetic nerve activity and arterial pressure. The finding could be applied to designing an artificial pulsatile pressure such as that generated by left ventricular assist devices.


To compare the geometry of two or more geometric structures consisting of N ordered points, and which can be considered as solids in three-dimensional space, we developed a method based on the minimization of a certain comparison function. This function is the sum of squared distances between pairs of elements of the two structures under comparison with the same indices. Distances change when changing the mutual orientation of the structures with all possible shifts and rotations of the structures as rigid bodies. The comparison function is minimized with respect to Euler angles, provided that centers of mass of two compared structures are superposed. The minimization of the comparison function with respect to Euler angles is carried out numerically by the Rosenbrock method. The developed method for comparison of geometric structures is used to solve problems in structural chemistry, that is to compare molecules with the same structural formula in one crystal.


Active power smoothing of wind generator is very important to the utilization of wind energy. One-step ahead prediction of wind speed with the inverse-system is proposed in this paper. Wind generator is simplified as first order dynamic model. An inverse-system is designed to cascade with the model. Kalman filter and ARIMA models are used to predict the wind speed one-step ahead. The predicted wind speed is the input to the cascade system. The simulation shows that the fluctuations of the torque, the active power and the pitch angle are decreased effectively.


Despite significant media and research interests drawn into the Canadian dairy sector in recent years, no study has estimated price and income elasticities of demand for major dairy products at the provincial level using longitudinal data. This article attempts to bridge this gap by estimating a demand system for seven major dairy products in Ontario. Employing Barten's General Model, four alternative demand systems were nested and the NBR demand system was found to be the most appropriate for the data set in Ontario on both theoretical and empirical grounds. The symmetry, homogeneity and concavity conditions are all supported by the data. Empirically, all own-price elasticities are negative and statistically significant. The expenditure elasticities of all dairy products are positive, less than unity and statistically significant. Finally, most dairy products are net substitutes in consumption.


The discipline of narratology has long recognized the need to classify documents as instances of different text types. We have discovered that classification is as applicable to hypermedia as it is to any other document presentation. Following the work of S. Chatman (1978; 1990), we consider three such text types: description, argument and narrative. The goal of a description document is to describe some object or concept; this is usually achieved by describing component parts and then describing how those parts combine to constitute the entirety. An argument document, on the other hand, is concerned with establishing some assertion or point of view, and it is based on supporting evidence, as well as possible refutations and justifications for defeating those regulations. Finally, a narrative document recounts some sequence of events in time, addressing relationships such as causality and contingency among those events. We analyze these types through case studies that give an example of each as a hypermedia document. We then argue that this classification provides an organizational framework that facilitates the construction of outlines that serve the writer in preparing the actual content of a document. Such outlines can also benefit the reader's understanding of the content that the writer intended to convey; if the writer does not make those outlines available explicitly to the reader, the reader can use knowledge of the document type to construct his own version of those outlines. Finally, we review some early work in content based indexing and search of multimedia documents.


Much new information has been published in the last few years regarding pathophysiology of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in diabetic rats and mice. Our group has been studying the time-course cardiovascular changes associated with experimental diabetes in the last years, and obtained consistent evidences of severe dysautonomia in diabetes animal models. The aim of this manuscript is to review the contribution that studies involving different animal models of insulin deficiency or resistance have given to understand, treat and prevent diabetic cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction.


Abstract Incidental observations on the nesting ecology of Ouachita map turtles (Graptemys ouachitensis) were made at 2 sites on the Wisconsin River, Iowa County, Wisconsin, during research on the use of electric fencing to decrease turtle nest predation. Sites were continuously monitored by digital trail cameras during the 2008–2011 reproductive seasons. Turtles nested in a bimodal diel pattern overall, the result of a reduction of midday nesting activity on relatively warm days. Nesting duration was relatively short compared to most emydids and was inversely correlated with ambient air temperatures. Precipitation within 24 hrs prior to nesting was not associated with levels of nesting activity. Younger nests appeared to have greater survival during short-term flooding events than did older nests.


Using thin-layer chromatography, studies have been made on corticosteroids in the aurochs Bison bonasus. Hydrocortison, corticosteron, aldosteron, 11-dehydrocorticosteron and 11-deoxycorticosteron were found in the suprarenals. Besides these hormones, the blood of the aurochs contains cortison, 17-oxy-11-deoxycorticosteron ("S" compounds) and unidentified fraction. Compounds revealed in the blood of the aurochs were also found in the bison and ox. The ratio of hydrocortison to corticosteron together with 11-dehydro- and 11-deoxycorticosteron is equal to 0.42 +/- 0.06 in the suprarenals and to 0.34 +/- 0.01 in the blood.


This article explores the relationship between metaphysics, politics and aesthetics in its role of technē within the context of equality. It presents two interconnected arguments. Firstly, it emphasises that equality is situated within the framework of ontopolitics, understood as the convergence of metaphysics and politics. This fusion is grounded in a shared systematic structure within the object's internal dynamics. Secondly, the article underlines the importance of the mode of human cognition and object presentation in implementing equality. It proposes the xenoaesthetics of abstraction as a regime of action for perception to effectively establish the ontopolitical framework of equality. By challenging prevailing notions of transcendence, the article advocates for a non-hierarchical interior of the object that embraces the mutual constitution of object and subject. It recognises the thing's capacity to reveal itself to us and be realised through us, emphasising the mobilisation of subjectivities as additional manifestations of the object. This perspective offers a complementary pathway to contemporary critical and activist discourses, promoting the advancement of equality through an ontopolitical focus on objects.


According to WHO, 40% of maternal death in the developing countries related to anemia in a pregnancy. The highest factor which influence anemia occurrence is obedience in consuming Fe tablet i.e 60% compare to other factors. The aim of this research is to know the relationship between obidiencein consuming Fe tablet and anemia in Aranio Health Center. This research using analytic survey with cross sectional approach. Subject of this research are the pregnant women of trimester II and trimester III amount 52 respondents which are taken by total population. The result of the research showed that most of pregnant women were not obedient in consuming Fe tablet were 38 women (73,1%), Most of them with anemia that are 44 women (84,6%). The result of statistical using chi square test showed there is correlation between the obidience in consuming Fe tablets with anemia occurrence in the Work Area of Aranio Health Center (p value = 0,000). Midwifes as care provider have to motivate the pregnant woment to understand about how important to consume Fe tablet during pregnancy in order to decrease anemia occurrence to the pregnant women .


Educational practices are widely used in the health field, both in continuing education for health professionals and health education for the general population. These two fields intersect through the development of educational knowledge oriented by a set of target representations of man and society. Such representations are demonstrated by teaching/learning processes in the four main pedagogical trends in Brazil: traditional, renewed, conditioning-based, and liberating (or the Paulo Freire approach). Based on their respective principles, methods, and individual and social consequences, we contend that liberating pedagogy can produce better results than the others by allowing the student's active participation in the learning process, thus fostering continuous development of human skills in both the health services clientele and health workers.


GALS archetype is to partition a system design in decoupled Clockindependent modules. GALS design eliminates the issue of using global clock and decreases area overhead when compared to purely synchronous or purely asynchronous designs. Networkon-chips vigorously benefit to such a globally asynchronous design methodology. Clock free interconnect networks improve authenticity by removing clock-domain passing synchronizations and by using delay-insensitive mediators for solving routing issues. This paper presents an trendsetting methodology for network-on chip GloballyAsynchronous LocallySynchronous (GALS) system paradigm. High performance multiclock FPGAs are overburdened for easy and fast prototyping of GALS systems based of an Asynchronous Network-on-Chip (ANoC). Modularity property of asynchronous circuits is fully oppressed to design regular distributed link topologies by the means of basic topology-free building blocks, with a focus and special design effort to solve mediators and synchronization problems. The design is carried out using FPGA and simulation and synthesis reports are shown.


Organ damage or loss can occur from congenital disorders, cancer, trauma, infection, inflammation, iatrogenic injuries or other conditions and often necessitates reconstruction or replacement. Replacement may take the form of organ transplant. At present, there is a severe shortage of donor organs that is worsening with the aging of the population. Tissue engineering follows the principles of cell transplantation, materials science and engineering towards the development of biological substitutes that can restore and maintain normal tissue function. Therapeutic cloning involves the introduction of a nucleus from a donor cell into an enucleated oocyte to generate embryonic stem cell lines whose genetic material is identical to that of its source. These autologous stem cells have the potential to become almost any type of cell in the adult body, and thus would be useful in tissue and organ replacement applications. This paper reviews recent advances in stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and describes the clinical applications of these technologies as novel therapies for tissue or organ loss.


A general micromechanical viscoelastic theory is developed to study the effective creep behavior and nine complex parameters of an orthotropic composite consisting of a viscoelastic matrix and aligned elliptic cylinders. With such a microgeometry it is first shown that two Maxwell or two Voigt constituents generally do not make a Maxwell or a Voigt composite, but under the conditions that the ratios of the shear modulus to the shear viscosity are equal for both constituents and that both Poisson's ratios remain unchanged in the course of deformation, a Maxwell and a Voigt composite can be constructed. The orthotropic creep compliances then are examined as the cross-sectional aspect ratio α (the thickness-to-width ratio) of the elastic elliptical cylinders changes from circular one (α = 1) to lamellar one (α→ 0) under six loading directions. It is found that under the three tensile loadings the composite with the lamellar structures gives rise to the strongest creep resistance. As the aspect ratio increases the tensile creep resistance also weakens, with the traditional circular fibers providing the poorest reinforcement. But the creep behaviors under the three shear loadings are sensitive to the loading direction as well. The real and imaginary parts of the nine complex moduli under a harmonic loading at low frequency are also examined as a function of the aspect ratio, the volume fraction of elastic cylinders and the loading frequency. The results show that the real parts of all these nine effective complex moduli will reach their elastic counterparts as the frequency increases. The imaginary parts, however, are dependent upon the cross-sectional shape and the loading frequency, but all of them reduce to zero when the volume concentration reaches 1 or the loading frequency increases to infinity.


our series of fetuses with pleural effusion treated with thoracoamniotic shunting. Methods: Between 1992 and 2005, 53 fetuses with pleural effusion were referred to our unit and underwent thoraco-amniotic shunting. In all cases a detailed fetal anatomy scan and karyotyping were performed. A search for maternal infection was done in every case. A double pigtail catheter (Rocket, London, UK) was inserted by one operator under ultrasound guidance using local anesthesia when a complication like hydrops or polyhydramnios was found. Results: There were 35 bilateral and 18 unilateral shunt placements. In all 53 cases the procedure was successful. In two cases there was termination of pregnancy because of abnormal karyotype. There were 12 neonatal deaths. There were 34 survivors, with a follow-up at 1–7 years for 45% of cases. Survival rate was 90% for fetuses without hydrops and 58% for those which were hydropic, compared with an overall survival rate of 59% and 35%, respectively, as reported in untreated cases. Conclusions: Thoraco-amniotic shunt may improve outcome for fetuses with pleural effusion expecially if complicated with hydrops.


This essay describes how the Victorian media reported on the transformation of coal tar into a synthetic palette of colours in the form of aniline and azo dyes. These dyes were the first of many new chemical substances including drugs, perfumes, and flavourings, which chemists began to synthesise and produce on an industrial scale from a waste product of the coal gas industry. Although intended for use in the textile industry, the new dyes soon began to be added to food, becoming one of the first examples of laboratory–created, industrially manufactured chemicals to permeate our daily life in unexpected ways. The essay describes how the initial media portrayal of the dyes as wonders of science became more nuanced as the risks as well as the benefits of the new dyes being used in textiles, and then subsequently in food, became better understood. By examining the media representation of new chemical substances, from their creation in the laboratory to their widespread use in consumer products, sometimes in ways not intended by their creators, my research provides an intriguing case study to add to the growing historiography of how science is represented in the press.


: It has been demonstrated that the infectivity of Schistosoma mansoni miracidia for a highly susceptible strain of Biomphalaria glabrata was reduced markedly when the miracidia were pretreated with hemolymph from the snail Helisoma caribaeum. Although the Helisoma hemolymph factor(s) responsible for this phenomenon has not been identified with certainty, it appears to be a snail lectin associated with binding sites for n-acetyl-D-glucosamine on the surface of the miracidium. Hemolymph from uninfected and infected B. glabrata and from a resistant strain of B. glabrata did not reduce the infectivity of miracidia, nor did pretreatment with bovine plasma albumin. Likewise, we demonstrated that reduction of miracidial infectivity was not due to the presence of a miracidial immobilizing factor found in the hemolymph of many snail species. Differences in the infectivity between pretreated miracidia and controls were statistically significant (P = 0.001).


Neural network quantization has become increasingly popular due to efficient memory consumption and faster computation resulting from bitwise operations on the quantized networks. Even though they exhibit excellent generalization capabilities, their robustness properties are not well-understood. In this work, we systematically study the robustness of quantized networks against gradient based adversarial attacks and demonstrate that these quantized models suffer from gradient vanishing issues and show a fake sense of robustness. By attributing gradient vanishing to poor forward-backward signal propagation in the trained network, we introduce a simple temperature scaling approach to mitigate this issue while preserving the decision boundary. Despite being a simple modification to existing gradient based adversarial attacks, experiments on multiple image classification datasets with multiple network architectures demonstrate that our temperature scaled attacks obtain near-perfect success rate on quantized networks while outperforming original attacks on adversarially trained models as well as floating-point networks.


A reference frame consists of: a reference space, a time scale and a spatial metric. The geometric structure induced by these objects in spacetime is developed. The existence of a class of spatial metrics that are rigid, have free mobility and can be derived as a slight deformation of the radar metric, is shown.


The extent of convergent molecular evolution is largely unknown, yet is critical to understanding the genetics of adaptation. Target site insensitivity to cardenolides is a prime candidate for studying molecular convergence because herbivores in six orders of insects have specialized on these plant poisons, which gain their toxicity by blocking an essential transmembrane carrier, the sodium pump (Na,K-ATPase). We investigated gene sequences of the Na,K-ATPase α-subunit in 18 insects feeding on cardenolide-containing plants (spanning 15 genera and four orders) to screen for amino acid substitutions that might lower sensitivity to cardenolides. The replacement N122H that was previously shown to confer resistance in the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and Chrysochus leaf beetles was found in four additional species, Oncopeltus fasciatus and Lygaeus kalmii (Heteroptera, Lygaeidae), Labidomera clivicollis (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), and Liriomyza asclepiadis (Diptera, Agromyzidae). Thus, across 300 Myr of insect divergence, specialization on cardenolide-containing plants resulted in molecular convergence for an adaptation likely involved in coevolution. Our screen revealed a number of other substitutions connected to cardenolide binding in mammals. We confirmed that some of the particular substitutions provide resistance to cardenolides by introducing five distinct constructs of the Drosophila melanogaster gene into susceptible eucaryotic cells under an ouabain selection regime. These functional assays demonstrate that combined substitutions of Q111 and N122 are synergistic, with greater than twofold higher resistance than either substitution alone and >12-fold resistance over the wild type. Thus, even across deep phylogenetic branches, evolutionary degrees of freedom seem to be limited by physiological constraints, such that the same molecular substitutions confer adaptation.


better and slightly prolonged but again over 24 hours each bolus became progressively less effective. The dose of diamorphine was increased to 20 mg two hourly and the next day to 30 mg two hourly. At this dose the patient slept for 30 to 60 minutes after each injection and awoke in severe pain. She was referred for advice about pain control. The intravenous diamorphine was discontinued and she was given 120 mg morphine per rectum (by suppository) every four hours (she was still vomiting but the rectum was empty). The dose ofmorphine was conservative: the equianalgesic dose for 60 mg intramuscular or subcutaneous diamorphine would be about 180 mg, and intravenous diamorphine is probably more potent in terms of its peak effect. Within 24 hours the patient was more or less pain free, alert, and beginning to mobilise. She remained on rectal morphine (100-120 mg four hourly), her pain was controlled, and she was up and about until her death 17 days later. This patient appeared to have developed acute tolerance to intermittent boluses of diamorphine, and we have had experience of other patients with cancer pain running into similar problems with this method of administration. Occasionally enormous dose levels are reached. Our approach is to administer the opioid by another route-orally if possible or rectally or by subcutaneous infusion. It is invariably possible to achieve pain control in this way, often with a reduced equivalent dose of opioid-as in this case. This suggests that part of the explanation for the development of acute tolerance is pharmacokinetic. Changing the route of administration so that there is less fluctuation in drug concentration seems not merely to influence the duration of analgesia, but also the depth of analgesia produced by a given dose.


Partial and reverse retirement are two key behaviors characterizing labor force dynamics for individuals at older ages, with half working part-time and over a third leaving and later re-entering the labor force. The high rate of exit and re-entry is especially surprising given the declining wage profile at older ages and opportunities for re-entry in the future being uncertain. In this paper we study the effects of wage and health transition processes as well as the role of accrues work-related strain on the labor force participation on older males. We find that a model incorporating a work burnout-recovery process can account for such reverse retirement behavior that cannot be generated by health and wealth shocks alone, suggesting re-entry patterns result in large part from planned behavior. We first present descriptive statistics of the frequency and timing of re-entry and characteristics of those who re-enter using Health and Retirement Study (HRS) panel data. We then develop and estimate a dynamic model of retirement that captures the occurrence and timing of re-entry decisions observed in the data-as well as the transition to part-time work-while incorporating uncertainty in earnings, health, and stress accumulation. The burnout-recovery process allows us to account for about 40 percent of re-entry, and one-quarter of the shifts to part-time work with age. We also consider the lower exit and re-entry rates after 2008, and attribute this to high option values of work in an environment where future re-entry is less certain. Consistent with our burnout-recovery model, we see that respondents are more likely to report high levels of job stress as they continue to work when they would have otherwise stopped working, recovered, and re-entered. This offers us some information about the relative option value of work versus the burnout-recovery process.


Objective: The aim of this study was assessment the accuracy of sonographic estimation of fetal weight at 34–37 weeks and 37–40 weeks of gestation. Materials and methods: In this prospective cross sectional study 120 well dated pregnant women who were perceived to be at low risk of obstetrics complications or fetal abnormality, were enrolled. Two ultrasound measurements were made on each fetus, first at 34–37 and the next at 37–40 weeks. Measurements of fetal biparietal diameter (BPD), abdominal circumference and femoral length were all taken by a single sonographer using standardized techniques. Birth weight was measured immediately after birth, always using the same scales and techniques of measurements for each newborn. The ultrasound measurements were used in four different formula (Aoki, campell and Wilkin, Shepard and Hadlock formulas) to calculate estimated birth weight. The estimates were adjusted for weight gain between scan and delivery by adding 25 grams per day. Results: There were fewer errors in predicting true birth weight in sonograms obtained between 34–37 weeks than sonograms obtained between 37–40 weeks. And the greatest accuracy was obtained with the Aoki formula. The differences were less than 120 grams and although not clinically significant but were statistically significant. Conclusion: Sonography obtained between 34 and 37 weeks gestation provided comparable and slight more accurate prediction of birth weight. So for prediction of birth weight a single sonography obtained between 34–37 weeks' gestation is better than serial sonography or sonographies taken late in pregnancy.


BACKGROUND--Nitric oxide is a potent dilator of the pulmonary vasculature. There have been no previous reports on the action of nitric oxide on the arterial duct. OBJECTIVES--To determine the responses of isolated post-term arterial duct rings from lambs to oxygen, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and the nitric oxide donor, 3-morpholinosydnonimine (SIN-1). SETTING--Experimental laboratory. SUBJECTS--Six neonatal lambs. METHODS--Lambs aged 1-5 days were killed and the arterial duct and aorta excised and cut into rings. These were mounted on tension gauges in organ baths containing Krebs-Henseleit solution. Rings were exposed to increasing concentrations of oxygen, PGE2 and after preconstriction with potassium (40 mmol/l) to SIN-1. Tension and relaxation responses were recorded. RESULTS--Increased oxygen tension resulted in increased tension in the ductal rings above 88.9 mm Hg as previously described. No response to PGE2 occurred before or after ductal rings were exposed to oxygen. SIN-1 caused relaxation of smooth muscle in the arterial duct to a similar degree as that in the aortic rings. CONCLUSIONS--As previously shown, oxygen is a potent constrictor of the arterial duct. The post-term arterial duct does not relax in response to PGE2 possibly as a result of inactivation by oxygen of the special sensitivity of the duct to PGE2. SIN-1 is a potent smooth muscle relaxing agent in the term arterial duct and may have a role in the initial management of neonates with duct dependent pulmonary circulation.


Mount Telout, situated at the edge of the Murzuq Basin, is a 325 m high conical hill within a circular collapse structure that records 0·5 km3 of sand intrusion into Silurian shales. Based on a comparison with other similar circular collapse structures around the Murzuq Basin, it is argued that sand injection in the form of pipes occurred during the Devonian. The overpressures triggering the process are inferred to result from a combination of: (i) tectonic uplift at a basin scale that initially focused regional ground water flows; and (ii) igneous intrusion within the sand‐rich Cambrian–Ordovician strata. The palaeorelief buried under the regionally extensive Silurian shales may have locally focused overpressures and localized sand injection at the 1 to 10 km scale. The Mount Telout injected sandbody and related features offer exceptional, seismic‐scale outcrop analogues for sand injections that are often identified in seismic reflection data. Large‐scale sand injections might be essential in petroleum exploration of the North African Lower Palaeozoic basins as they form seal‐bypass systems.


Introduction and aim. Hyponatremia is common in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and is associated with increased mortality. Tolvaptan, a vasopressor V2 receptor antagonist, can increase free water excretion, but its efficacy and safety in cirrhotic patients remain unclear. Material and methods. We studied the usage and safety of tolvaptan in cirrhotic patients in a real-life, non-randomized, multicenter prospective cohort study. Forty-nine cirrhotic patients with hyponatremia were treated with tolvaptan 15 mg daily, and 48 patients not treated with tolvaptan in the same period served as controls. Improvement in serum sodium level was defined as an increase in serum sodium from < 125 to ≥ 125 mmol/L or from 125-134 to ≥ 135 mmol/L on day 7. Results. Twenty-three (47%) patients in the tolvaptan group and 17 (35%) in the control group had normal serum sodium on day 7 (p = 0.25). Serum sodium improved in 30 (61%) patients in the tolvaptan group and 17 (35%) patients in the control group (p = 0.011). Adverse events occurred in 46-47% of patients in both groups, and tolvaptan was not associated with worsened liver function. No patient with normal serum sodium on day 7 died within 30 days of treatment, whereas 16% of those with persistent hyponatremia died (p = 0.0019). Conclusion. In conclusion, short-term tolvaptan treatment is safe and can improve serum sodium level in cirrhotic patients with hyponatremia. Normalization of serum sodium level is associated with better survival.


: Barrett's esophagus is defined as the replacement of squamous normal mucosa by columnar specialized epithelium, being its main importance its preneoplastic potential. In this retrospective study on 5303 gastrointestinal endoscopies, done in 8 years, we describe, for the first time the gross prevalence and incidence rates in a Spanish country. We found 28 cases of Barrett's esophagus, what means a prevalence rate of 0.53% of all endoscopies, and an incidence rate of 26.4/100,000 inhabitants of our hospital referred population, with an estimated incidence rate of 3.3 cases/100,000 inhabitants/year. The prevalence rate of Barrett's esophagus adenocarcinoma--3 cases--was 10.71%, and the incidence rate of 1 case/104 Barrett's esophagus/year, follow-up similar to that of other authors.


Abstract. Geometric quality of 3D city models is crucial for data analysis and simulation tasks, which are part of modern applications of the data (e.g. potential heating energy consumption of city quarters, solar potential, etc.). Geometric quality in these contexts is however a different concept as it is for 2D maps. In the latter case, aspects such as positional or temporal accuracy and correctness represent typical quality metrics of the data. They are defined in ISO 19157 and should be mentioned as part of the metadata. 3D data has a far wider range of aspects which influence their quality, plus the idea of quality itself is application dependent. Thus, concepts for definition of quality are needed, including methods to validate these definitions. Quality on this sense means internal validation and detection of inconsistent or wrong geometry according to a predefined set of rules. A useful starting point would be to have correct geometry in accordance with ISO 19107. A valid solid should consist of planar faces which touch their neighbours exclusively in defined corner points and edges. No gaps between them are allowed, and the whole feature must be 2-manifold. In this paper, we present methods to validate common geometric requirements for building geometry. Different checks based on several algorithms have been implemented to validate a set of rules derived from the solid definition mentioned above (e.g. water tightness of the solid or planarity of its polygons), as they were developed for the software tool CityDoctor. The method of each check is specified, with a special focus on the discussion of tolerance values where they are necessary. The checks include polygon level checks to validate the correctness of each polygon, i.e. closeness of the bounding linear ring and planarity. On the solid level, which is only validated if the polygons have passed validation, correct polygon orientation is checked, after self-intersections outside of defined corner points and edges are detected, among additional criteria. Self-intersection might lead to different results, e.g. intersection points, lines or areas. Depending on the geometric constellation, they might represent gaps between bounding polygons of the solids, overlaps, or violations of the 2-manifoldness. Not least due to the floating point problem in digital numbers, tolerances must be considered in some algorithms, e.g. planarity and solid self-intersection. Effects of different tolerance values and their handling is discussed; recommendations for suitable values are given. The goal of the paper is to give a clear understanding of geometric validation in the context of 3D city models. This should also enable the data holder to get a better comprehension of the validation results and their consequences on the deployment fields of the validated data set.


From systems for cottages to year-round systems with micro-flush toilets and graywater gardens, the wide range of ecological recycling toilet options are featured in The Composting Toilet System Book. More than 40 systems - including those you can buy and those you can build - are featured. Composting toilet systems and other ecological wastewater management methods are increasingly installed in both seasonal and year-round homes, as municipalities require systems that won't pollute the environment and drinking water. This book details why - and how to choose, install and maintain them. You'll also find profiles of owner-operators worldwide, regulatory information for every state, compatible toilet stools (waterless, micro-flush, foam- and vacuum-flush and urine-diverting), a chapter on graywater systems, information about health risks and handling, and sources for many off-the-shelf and DIY designs. If you are seeking to install a system that meets state codes or if you are simply seeking to make your own system, this book is for you. Stop polluting and start recycling and saving water today!


Adoption of Social Media (SM) has been growing in an incremental manner over the past few years. In their attempt to capitalize from the large user base present on such websites, business executives have been piloting different approaches in order to gain a competitive edge and promote their products and services to consumers. Research however, has been lagging in this direction. This study examines utilitarian and hedonic motivations of consumer engagement in the context of social media. Partial Least Squares (PLS) modelling techniques were applied on data obtained from 115 SM users to identify the impact that such sites have on commerce. Results indicate that specific aspects trigger Utilitarian (Convenience and Product Selection) and Hedonic (Idea and Adventure) motivations which in sequence impact user intention to browse products on such mediums.


The influence of p38 mitogen-activated proteinkinase (MAPK) expression in the development and progression of periodontal disease is currently under investigation. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the p38 MAPK expression in gingival tissues correlates with IL-1β levels in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF). Twenty patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP), 15 patients with generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP) and 10 healthy subjects (H) were enrolled in the study. Clinical data, gingival tissue biopsies and GCF samples were collected. The expression of p38 was investigated by immunohistochemistry. The levels of IL-1β in GCF were measured using ELISA. Mean clinical parameters and GCF volumes were statistically higher in patients with GAgP and GCP compared to H subjects. Higher levels of IL-1β were found in both periodontitis groups. The p38 expression was significantly increased in inflamed gingival tissues. There were no statistically significant differences in levels of IL-1β and p38 expression between subjects with GAgP and GCP. Our data support the hypothesis that MAPK signaling pathway is an additional player in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. This is the first report to evaluate the involvement of p38 MAPK in patients with GAgP and GCP which might be, in part, considered of value in understanding disease mechanisms.


Studies have found that participation in social movements has long-term consequences for individuals' personal life choices and political beliefs. An important but understudied subject in this literature is the impact of past activism on political behavior in an institutional context. The entry of past activists into Korea's National Assembly offers a unique opportunity to assess the continuing effects of movement participation in the context of institutional politics. Analyzing roll call data related to Korea's participation in the Iraq War, we explore the relative effects of movement participation and institutional pressure after accounting for legislators' current ideological positions. Results from regression analyses show that while party and ideology remain strong predictors of voting behavior, past participation in social movements continues to influence political action. This study extends the scope of research on the consequences of social movements by pointing to the impact of movement participa...


Aims (1) To see how well are we performing in this area, (2) To suggest changes to improve the standard of patient care. Background Intrapartum and postpartum bladder care are of great clinical importance. Overdistension of the bladder can cause permanent damage of the bladder. If voiding difficulties are recognised and treated early, both short and long-term morbidity may be prevented. Currently, there are no clear national guidelines available and further research is needed to develop evidence-based guidelines. Methods Data were collected using proformas retrospectively. 36 case notes within the year of 2009 were chosen randomly. Results Over 90% patients laboured within 16 h. Among 17 women who laboured within 4 h, 3 women (18%) had spontaneous void. Among women who laboured within 8 h, 9 out of 13 women (69%) did not void at all nor had bladder emptied. Similar findings were noted in women with longer labours. Postnatally, there was adherence to duration and timing of removal of catheter in two out of four women (50%). Following the catheter removal, one out of four patients (25%) manage to void within 6 h. There is no documentation regarding bladder care in the other three patients. 59% of women who had normal delivery had no postdelivery voiding documentation recorded. None of the patients has acute postpartum urinary retention. Conclusions This audit demonstrates a lack of consistency in the management of intrapartum and postpartum bladder care. It is important to increase awareness of bladder care to prevent bladder damage.


The continuing climate change phenomenon causes disruption to agricultural sector including seasonal fruits such as mangoes. To anticipate the negative effects of climate change, the farmers adapt themselves in order to maintain their mango farming. The dynamics of mango farmers related to the adaptation of agribusiness strategy due to climate change occur at the level of production/cultivation and marketing. The objectives of this study are to: (1) Identify the factors that influence the behavior of mango farmers' adaptation as an effort to minimize the risks due to climate change; (2) Describe the adaptation behavior of mango farmers based on interactions among the factors that influence the adaptation by using causal loop diagrams. The results showed that the adaptation behavior of mango farmers was constructed on 37 variables from 8 categories, namely, climate change, production, marketing, income, financing, productivity, information adoption, and innovation. Adaptation behavior of mango farmers to climate change arises not only as the farmers' effort to maintain the mango farming they run but also to maintain their lives. The use of growth regulator and pesticides are shortcuts taken by farmers to increase production without realizing the side effects that can arise and accumulate in the long term. The income variable is the leverage point of the behavior pattern that is reflected in the causal loop diagram. Small changes in income will cause major changes in the overall system described. Keywords: climate change, mango farmer, system thinking, causal loop diagram, system archetypes


Objectives: We describe our experience with the postoperative sequelae, complications, and recurrences associated with resection of a series of parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumors via a transcervical approach without submandibular gland excision, parotidectomy, or mandibulotomy. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 51 cases, 40 of which were pleomorphic adenomas and 11 of which were lipomas or schwannomas. Results: Of 30 fine-needle aspirations performed, 24 indicated pleomorphic adenoma before operation. Twenty-eight of the 30 fine-needle aspirations yielded diagnoses that were consistent with the final pathologic diagnoses. The average hospital stay was 1.05 days. After operation, there were 9 cases of trismus, 4 cases of "first bite" pain, and 7 cases of transient marginal nerve weakness. There were no recurrences over an average follow-up of 115 months. Conclusions: The majority of PPS tumors are benign. It is important to use an approach that allows complete tumor excision but does not impart undue postoperative morbidity. We demonstrate that the transcervical approach without submandibular gland excision, parotidectomy, or mandibulotomy is ideal for benign PPS tumors.


We recently found that cytochrome P450 aromatase (P450arom) is present in germ cells of the mammalian testis and is capable of converting androgens to estrogens in the male reproductive tract. The objective of the present study was to determine whether testicular germ cells and epididymal sperm of an avian species are also capable of synthesizing estrogen. P450arom was localized in the rooster testis and epididymal region by immunocytochemistry, using an antiserum generated against purified human placental cytochrome P450arom. Immunostaining was present in pachytene spermatocytes, round spermatids, elongated spermatids, flagella of late spermatids, and sperm in the epididymal region. A positive reaction was also found in nonciliated cells of the epididymal region. However, the absence of mRNA for P450arom in the epididymal region indicated that the immunoreactive protein present in the epididymal region is not synthesized in this region. The immunoreactive P450arom found in epididymal sperm was shown to be active through use of a 3H2O assay. On the basis of these data, we conclude that rooster testicular germ cells and epididymal sperm are sites for the synthesis of estrogen, a potential regulator or modulator of germinal epithelium in the testis and the epithelium of the epididymal region of the avian species.


Regional equity has taken off as a field of research and activism in recent years. Within the general field, three important variants have emerged: community development regionalism, in which the main interest is in using regional levers to promote a new form of community revitalization; policy change regionalism, in which the main emphasis is on shifting government rules to better distribute metropolitan resources; and social movement regionalism, in which the focus is on mobilizing communities for collective action at a regional level. Drawing on a series of case studies from across the country, we argue that all these variants have a role but that social movement regionalism may be particularly effective in productively addressing the inevitable tensions and conflicts that emerge in regional equity strategies, including the relationship to business-oriented regionalism, labor–community alliances, and the role of race. We conclude by speculating on the recent efforts of social movement regionalism to scale up, suggesting that this could present an important contribution to a broader and deeper movement for progressive social change in the United States.