Various approaches of quantifying nondeterminism in nondeterministic finite automata (NFA) are considered. We consider nondeterministic finite automata having finite tree width (ftw-NFA) where the computation on any input string has a constant number of branches. We give effective characterizations of ftw-NFAs and a tight bound for determinizing an ftw-NFA A as a function of the tree width and the number of states of A. We introduce a lower bound technique for ftw-NFAs. We study the interrelationships between various measures of nondeterminism for finite automata. We define the trace measure which is a new approach of quantifying nondeterminism. The trace is defined in terms of the maximum product of the degrees of nondeterministic choices in any computation. We establish upper and lower bounds for the trace of an NFA in terms of its tree width. It is known that an NFA with n states and branching k can be simulated by a deterministic finite automaton with multiple initial states (MDFA) having k · n states. We give a lower bound k 1+log k · n for the size blow-up of this conversion. We also consider bounds for the number of states an MDFA needs to simulate a given NFA of finite tree width. i We consider unary NFA employing limited nondeterminism. We show that for unary regular languages, minimal ftw-NFAs can always be found in Chrobak normal form. A similar property holds with respect to other measures of nondeterminism. The latter observation is used to establish, for a given unary regular language, relationships between the sizes of minimal NFAs where the nondeterminism is limited in various ways. We study also the state complexity of language operations for unary NFAs with limited nondeterminism. We consider the operations of concatenation, Kleene star, and complement. We give upper bounds for the state complexity of these language operations and lower bounds that are fairly close to the upper bounds. Finally, we show that the branching measure (J. Goldstine, C. Kintala, D. Wotschke, Inf. and Comput vol 86, 1990, 179-194) of a unary NFA is always either bounded by a constant or has an exponential growth rate.


Heracleum sosnowskyi is dangerous invader successfully spread along roads, riverbanks and has naturalized in Lithuanian habitats and plant communities. It out-competes native species, thus changing ecosystems diversity, pushing autochthones species from native habitats, decreasing biodiversity and transforming landscape. This paper aims to evaluate H. sosnowskyi spread and establishment in habitat scale in Lithuania. Data on abundance, spatial distribution and contribution of H. sosnowskyi to plant biodiversity were collected from natural and anthropogenic habitats. Another objective was to evaluate the spread speed in infected landscape. Local assessments of the abundances of H. sosnowskyi by estimating variables of spatial penetrating and establishment in native plant communities at an individual block scale were carried out. Four population types with different density and coverage of species individuals were found. Species abundance was structured according to distance from highway and significantly correlated (r = 0.7) with native plant community type. H. sosnowskyi find opportunities for colonization and reproduction resulting in decrease of natural diversity.


Studies investigating the effect of trade liberalization policies on transaction costs in agricultural markets are scarce. The objective of our paper is to determine whether Brazil became more integrated with reduced transaction costs after the introduction of MERCOSUR with respect to its main agricultural trade partners, Argentina (a MERCOSUR member) and the United States (a non-MERCOSUR member). Using a threshold vector error correction model (TVECM), we estimate the transaction cost, price transmission elasticity and half-life adjustments for the most traded agricultural products between Brazil/Argentina and Brazil/United States from January 1980 to December 2012. Our findings suggest a strong MERCOSUR effect, with lower transaction costs (TC) and higher price transmission elasticity when compared to a non-agreement scenario. Moreover, the variations of both parameters are highly heterogeneous across products, depending mainly on their degree of differentiation. From a policy perspective, elements such as the sources of comparative and competitive advantages together with investment policies, specific market regulations and agricultural subsidies, among others, are mainly what influence the extent of transaction cost and market integration. Our results show that Brazil has made progress but still has considerable room for improvement in reducing barriers to agricultural products and, as a consequence, to achieving the full benefits of the MERCOSUR agreement.


For air-cleaning, TiO2 photocatalysis represents one of the very efficient advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) that can decompose chemically and microbiologically stable volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, the photocatalytic activity of nanocrystalline TiO2 powders can be significantly suppressed due to TiO2's poor adsorption characteristics for organic compounds and its relatively low surface area. The present study sought to solve this problem by immobilising nanocrystalline TiO2 in the porous silicate substrate. Two titania sources were used in an aqueous solution form: a suspension from a TiO2 producer in Slovenia, Cinkarna Celje (CC-40) and a TiO2 sol, prepared by a low-temperature synthesis developed at the University of Nova Gorica (TiO2-UNG). Two different types of mesoporous silica were used: SBA-15 with an ordered hexagonal pore arrangement and KIL-2 with disordered inter-particle mesoporosity. The structural characteristics, adsorption properties and photocatalytic activity of catalysts deposited on aluminium plates as thin films were investigated. CC-40 exhibited higher adsorption and photocatalytic activity than TiO2-UNG due to the greater quantity of Ti-OH groups on its surface. The addition of mesoporous silica led to higher adsorption and catalytic activity for both TiO2 sources. SBA-15 was more efficient than KIL-2.


In this article, we review various tests that have been proposed in the literature for testing the equality of several mean vectors. In particular, it includes testing the equality of two mean vectors, the so-called two-sample problem as well as that of testing the equality of several mean vectors, the so-called multivariate analysis of variance or MANOVA problem. The total sample size, however, may be less than the dimension of the mean vectors, and so usual tests cannot be used. Powers of these tests are compared using simulation.


Instant messaging (IM) systems have gained a lot of popularity in recent years. The increasing number of IM users has lured malware authors to develop more worms and viruses that spread in IM networks. In response to such growing security threat to IM systems, it is imperative to develop a fast and responsive IM worm detection system. In this paper, we apply change-point detection techniques to catch two families of IM worms, one aimed at infecting all vulnerable machines as quickly as possible and the other aimed at spreading slowly in a stealthy fashion to evade detection. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed solutions are very effective in detecting both families of IM worms.


Coxiella burnetii directs the synthesis of a large parasitophorous vacuole (PV) required for replication. While some lysosomal characteristics of the PV have been described, the origin and composition of the PV membrane is largely undefined. Cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it plays important regulatory and structural roles. Here we investigated the role of host cholesterol in biogenesis and maintenance of the C. burnetii PV in Vero cells. The C. burnetii PV membrane stained with filipin and was positive for the lipid raft protein flotillin‐1, suggesting PV membranes are enriched in cholesterol and contain lipid raft microdomains. C. burnetii infection increased host cell cholesterol content by 1.75‐fold with a coincident upregulation of host genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. Treatment with U18666A, lovastatin, or 25‐hydroxycholesterol, pharmacological agents that inhibit cholesterol uptake and/or biosynthesis, altered PV morphology and partially inhibited C. burnetii replication. Complete inhibition of C. burnetii PV development and replication was observed when infected cells were treated with imipramine or ketoconazole, inhibitors of cholesterol uptake and biosynthesis respectively. We conclude that C. burnetii infection perturbs host cell cholesterol metabolism and that free access to host cholesterol stores is required for optimal C. burnetii replication.


The adoption of Business Process Management requires organizational, technological and cultural change hat must continually evolve to achieve the advantages offered by this approach. Maturity models help in the evolution of BPM by proposing guidelines and techniques that seek to evaluate the actual status of the initiative for achieving a higher level. The variety of existing models motivated the identification of distinctions and similarities through an analysis of documents proponents of the models. The analysis was complemented with the perception of specialists about the theme. It was concluded that the maturity models proposed by Rosemann and De Bruim and the OMG are, theoretically, the most complete, intuitive and easy to use compared with others researched models. It was highlighted yet that a maturity model needs to be objective, clear and simple to effectively evaluate the BPM maturity of an organization.


This year's convention "Twenty-five Years of "l'industria - Rivista di Economia e Politica Industriale". Italian Industrial Organisation, Corporate Governance and Company Growth" wishes to show the strong "symbiotic" relationship that links our Journal to the "country-system". Two important aspects emerge from a re-reading of this last quarter of a century as viewed through the work of the conventions. The first is the constant reference to the theme of Institutions, which has in some ways represented the fabric of our conventions. The second, and a matter for a certain degree of self-satisfaction, is represented by the capacity of the conventions to be ahead of the times and foresee problems that would shortly afterwards be topical. We can recall the reflections on inflation, industrial reconvertion and restructuring, protection of competition and regulation in the public utilities sector. A result that we have most certainly managed to reach is that of having brought the subject of the methods of industrial economics into an Italian cultural context, thereby contributing to initiating a debate on the elimination of national differences, on the attainment of internal balance, on the opening up of the Italian economy to international trade and on highlighting the many frailties and imbalances present in the structure of Italian industry. The scientific and life experiences that we have gained have sometimes been tormented and troubled but always highly charged with a human and professional dimension.


We investigated whether biota and sediments in river catchments consisting of primary forest in northwestern Costa Rica are contaminated by atmospheric transport of organochlorine pesticides from nearby regions where their use is intense. We measured organochlorine residues in stream mayflies, as well as in the bark and leaves of trees in catchments of an undisturbed dry tropical forest west of Volcán Orosí and Cerro Cacao (i.e., western catchments), and in tree leaves and bark in partially disturbed rain forest catchments east of Cerro Orosí (i.e., eastern catchments) in a region where agricultural activity is intense. Samples were solvent extracted, purified by silica gel clean-up, and concentrated before analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Twelve organochlorine pesticides were detected in samples, including hexachlorocyclohexanes, heptachlor epoxide, endosulfans, DDT, DDE, dieldrin, endrin, endrin aldehyde, and aldrin. Endosulfans dominated the organochlorine signature of mayflies collected in the western catchments and of leaves and bark collected from eastern catchments. Leaves and bark collected in the undisturbed western catchments contained ten-fold lower concentrations of the endosulfans than those collected from the eastern catchments. Hexachlorocyclohexane isomers were dominated by the gamma isomer and were present at comparable levels in samples of leaves and bark collected from both sides of the volcanic ridge. An exception was high residues in bark collected from one eastern catchment, suggesting a local source. Stream mayflies and terrestrial vegetation in the undisturbed dry tropical forest contained substantial quantities of organochlorine pesticides, the most likely source being long- and short-range atmospheric transport.


With the enormous growth of the world population in the last decades and the higher life expectancy, pelvic organ prolapse has become a world wide health problem. In the Netherlands, in case of a uterine descent, a vaginal hysterectomy is a popular procedure to perform. However, from current literature, more evidence is gained suggesting that removing the uterus in prolapse surgery might be unnecessary. Moreover, preserving the uterus was associated with less morbidity and a shorter recovery time. The sacrospinous hysteropexy, a procedure in which the uterus is preserved and fixed to the sacrospinous ligament in case of a uterine descent, has been performed since 1989. The few studies published describing this procedure focus on anatomical outcomes, not on functional outcomes and quality of life. We first performed a retrospective study in which the sacrospinous hysteropexy was found to be an efficient procedure with a low complication rate. 84% of women was (highly) satisfied with the procedure and 91% would recommend the procedure to other women. Recurrent surgery because of prolapse symptoms was performed in 2.3% of women. Recurrent cystocele stage 2 or more was found in 38% of women, however these women did not experience more functional symptoms compared to women without a recurrent cystocele. A second study showed that functional outcomes and quality of life, measured with validated questionnaires before and after surgery, improved significantly after a sacrospinous hysteropexy. To answer the question if the sacrospinous hysteropexy is a better procedure compared to the more common vaginal hysterectomy in terms of morbidity, anatomical outcomes, functional outcomes and quality of life, a randomized study was performed. Compared with a vaginal hysterectomy, hospitalization was 1 day shorter (P = 0.03) and women were able to return to work 23 days earlier (P = 0.02). Although urogenital symptoms and quality of life scores after both procedures were comparable a year after surgery, anatomical outcomes differed. At 1-year follow-up, the recurrence rates for the anterior and posterior compartment were comparable. Of all women with a stage 2-4 prolapse pre operative, a lower recurrence rate was found of the apical compartment after vaginal hysterectomy compared to women who had a sacrospinous hysteropexy. The difference in risk for recurrent apical descent was 17% (95% CI, 2 to 30) in favour of the vaginal hysterectomy. Especially high recurrence was noted in the preoperative high stage prolapse patients who underwent a sacrospinous hysteropexy. However, recurrent surgery was not significantly higher after a sacrospinous hysteropexy. Surgery for prolapse after a sacrospinous hysteropexy was performed in 11% (4/35) of patients. Surgery for prolapse after a vaginal hysterectomy occurred in 7% (2/31) of patients (Risk difference: 5%, 95% CI = -9 - 19). We can conclude that the sacrospinous hysteropexy is a good alternative for women who wish to preserve their uterus. This seems most appropriate for patients with a prolapse stage 2 and 3 pre operative.


The popliteal fossa nerve block (PFNB) technique is one of the most popular anesthesia method in the foot and ankle surgery. The wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) technique is an local anesthetic method and it has been gaining popularity in orthopedic surgery in recent years. Our aim is to compare the efficacy of the WALANT and the PFNB techniques in pain management. This prospective study included 40 patients with lateral malleolar and medial malleolar fractures. The first group was anesthetized using the WALANT technique; in the second group, PFNB was performed. All patients were evaluated for intrasurgical bleeding amounts, mean arterial pressure, surgery time and VAS scores for presurgical pain, pain during the local anesthetic injection sequence, mean intrasurgical pain, mean postsurgical pain. A total of 40 patients in both groups were successfully operated on with the WALANT and the PFNB techniques. When the two groups were compared, statistically significant differences were observed for mean intrasurgical VAS (p = 0.033), mean postsurgical VAS (p = 0.038) and intrasurgical bleeding (p = 0.006). No significant difference was found in pain scores during anesthetic injection (p = 0.529), mean arterial pressure (p = 0.583) and surgery time (p = 0.277). The PFNB technique is more successful in pain management in the treatment of the unimalleolar fractures. Intrasurgical bleeding amounts were less detected in the WALANT tech- nique. The both techniques are a reliable and suitable anesthetic method in the surgical treatment of uni- malleolar fractures.


Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the factors that may influence the purchasing behaviour of the students of the University of Gavle with regards to green products. This study aims to answer the question if the following factors such as: gender of the students, price of the green product, level of green awareness and the green behaviour of the students and whether they have a significant difference with the purchasing behaviour of the students.Design/methodology/approach: The framework is structured on the bases of examining the correlation between the following variables, green behaviour, gender, level of green awareness of the respondents and the price of the product with regards to the purchase of green products. Data was collected via randomly distributed questionnaires and an online survey. SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyse the results of the questionnaires through correlation analysis and linear regression analysis.Findings: Our findings show that the genders of the respondents, level of green awareness and the green behaviour have a significant, positive influence on their purchase behaviour, whilst the price of the green product has a negative influence on the purchasing behaviour of the students of the University of Gavle.Limitations and Suggestions for further research: The limitations of the study were the time, size of the sample group as well as the language of the questionnaire. To enhance the representation of the sample, future research should aim at targeting a larger sample group and a wider variety of variables should be examined.Originality: The study examines a variety of factors other than the green awareness of the respondent, that influences the purchasing behaviour of the respondents and this information could provide important results for companies when it comes to marketing a green product.


Interactions between lipoproteins and infectious microorganisms are diverse and often multifaceted. There is a growing body of evidence which suggests that circulating plasma lipoproteins play an important role in warding off various infections. They are increasingly recognized as vital components of the host immune system. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with an overview of this emerging domain. We review the anti-infective role of different lipoprotein particles and their components and further highlight the known molecular mechanisms involved therein. Instances where lipoproteins facilitate infections instead of protecting against them are also summarized. Finally, broad implications for the future in this active line of research are discussed.


Retinoscopy is a widely used objective method of finding a patient's refractive error, but many students and beginning clinicians find it challenging to learn. Even with a thorough explanation, students can still have difficulty visualizing what they should see during retinoscopy. Having only a vague idea of what retinal reflexes look like can make their first experiences with retinoscopy frustrating and challenging. This nine-minute video was created to show students what actual retinal reflexes look like. It shows'examples of with, against, and neutral reflexes, as well as how to neutralize with and against motions. Astigmatic and dilated reflexes are also shown. We feel the video would make a great teaching aid for instructors to use in lectures and for students to review individually.


Respiratory tract infections are common diseases in childhood. Most children with recurrent respiratory infections do not have an immunodeficiency. If they do, this is often due to an antibody deficiency. An important point in the investigation of a child with recurrent respiratory infections is to assess whether the child is thriving. If not, an underlying disease should be sought. Immunological investigations are useful if other, more frequent, underlying diseases have been ruled out. Early immunological screening is mandatory if there is a family history of immunodeficiency. In this review, a protocol is described which identifies children with severe antibody deficiency by simple screening tests before recurrent infections have caused irrepairable damage to the lungs. More elaborate tests are used to detect milder antibody deficiencies. These are reserved for those children in whom symptoms persist.


The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key determinant of metastatic efficiency. We performed a quantitative high-throughput screen (qHTS) of diverse medicinal chemistry tractable scaffolds (44,420 compounds) and pharmacologically active small molecules (386 compounds) using a layered organotypic, robust assay representing the ovarian cancer metastatic TME. This 3D model contains primary human mesothelial cells, fibroblasts, and extracellular matrix, to which fluorescently labeled ovarian cancer cells are added. Initially, 100 compounds inhibiting ovarian cancer adhesion/invasion to the 3D model in a dose-dependent manner were identified. Of those, eight compounds were confirmed active in five high-grade serous ovarian cancer cell lines and were further validated in secondary in vitro and in vivo biological assays. Two tyrosine kinase inhibitors, PP-121 and milciclib, and a previously unreported compound, NCGC00117362, were selected because they had potency at 1 μmol/L in vitro. Specifically, NCGC00117362 and PP-121 inhibited ovarian cancer adhesion, invasion, and proliferation, whereas milciclib inhibited ovarian cancer invasion and proliferation. Using in situ kinase profiling and immunoblotting, we found that milciclib targeted Cdk2 and Cdk6, and PP-121 targeted mTOR. In vivo, all three compounds prevented ovarian cancer adhesion/invasion and metastasis, prolonged survival, and reduced omental tumor growth in an intervention study. To evaluate the clinical potential of NCGC00117362, structure–activity relationship studies were performed. Four close analogues of NCGC00117362 efficiently inhibited cancer aggressiveness in vitro and metastasis in vivo. Collectively, these data show that a complex 3D culture of the TME is effective in qHTS. The three compounds identified have promise as therapeutics for prevention and treatment of ovarian cancer metastasis.


Nowadays, factory automation systems need to cope with very different challenges, such as big data, IIoT, etc. These challenges lead to a new generation of automation systems based on the so-called Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) globally connected to form a flexible System of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (SoCPPS). CPPSs require acquisition of production system data and smart data processing to extract information to improve the overall system performance. To achieve that it is needed to bridge the gap between the control systems and higher layers. This paper discusses an approach to use the IEC 61499 function block concept to exchange data between plant floor and higher layers using an industrial standard like OPC UA. The OPC UA server offers subscription mechanisms, making possible the integration of several resources residing at plant floor. As it runs on embedded devices, the proposal makes possible to acquire plant information at low cost, enabling at the same time, a component-based design for enterprise plant floor control with independence of the hardware platform used


In order to find out an effective approach for the improvement of therapeutic results of acute cholangitis of severe type (ACST) and its therapeutic and pathophysiologic problems, clinical observation has been made. In clinical practice, 38 patients with ACST were treated with ERBD and herbs (n = 20) or operative drainage (n = 18). The results suggested that the pressure of bile duct in the patients was very high (20-35 cmH2O). There were high levels of endotoxin in bile and blood, and level of fibronectin in serum was just 25% compared to that of normal level. The value of C3 in serum was only a half of normal level of C3. However, a high level of C-reactive protein in serum was determined. Positive rate of E. coli in bile was 84%. From the significant differences in the series of parameters between the ERBD-herb group and the operative drainage group, it was suggested that the ERBD-herb therapy was more effective than the operative method in promoting immunologic ability, relieving symptoms of ACST, minimizing complications and decreasing mortality. Some new pathophysiologic and therapeutic concepts of ACST have been proposed.


Recently the orthodontic treatment needs had increased with the increased of community incomes. During treatment sometimes there is problem toward periodontal tissue. Fixed appliances that bonded to the teeth surface can cause difficulty in controlling the plaque especially in the marginal region that can cause the inflamation and gingival enlargement. Gingival enlargement due to the local irritation of tha plaque can be treated with plaque control, scaling, root planing until surgery intervention. The aim of the treatment with surgical intervention for gingival enlargement is to eliminate the gingival pocket so the patient can easily clean the teeth and the disease will not continue. Beside that the gingival contour will recover and become normal again


We examine the relationship between income inequality and house prices for a panel of 17 OECD countries over the period 1870 to 2015. Our identification strategy takes advantage of exogenous variation in culturally weighted communist influence to instrument for within-country variations in income inequality. Controlling for time and country fixed effects, our results suggest that an increase in income inequality has a significant negative effect on real house prices. This finding is robust to the use of both the Gini coefficient and top income share as measures of income inequality as well as a range of robustness checks. We examine crime as a mechanism through which income inequality influences housing prices and find that the theft rate is a channel via which higher income inequality contributes to lower house prices.


In Tasmania, Australia, the family Coreidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) is represented by three species; Amorbus obscuricomis (Westwood), Gelonus tasmanicus (Le Guillou) and Acantholybas kirkaldyi Bergroth. Of these, A. obscuricomis and G. tasmanicus are host specific for plants of the genus Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae), with the former feeding almost exclusively upon shoots and the latter feeding at various sites.
Initial uncertainty as to the identity of the coreids within Tasmania lead to the taxonomy of the three genera being reyiewed. These studies showed that Amorbus, a genus of 20 plus species, is represented in Tasmania only by A. obscuricomis; while Gelonus tasmanicus was confirmed as being a monospecific genus. Rediscovery of individuals of A. kirkaldyi, known previously only from the type description, allowed a formal revision of this genus to be undertaken.
The distributions of A. obscuricomis and G. tasmanicus were found to include much of Tasmania and south-eastern Australia. In Tasmania, coreids were noticeably absent from the western half of the island where the vegetation is almost devoid of eucalypts. Both species were found to be univoltine in Tasmania. The phenology of A. obscuricomis appears to coincide particularly well with seasonal growth phenology of Eucalyptus. Aspects of these species' developmental and reproductive biologies are used to support hypotheses concerning their biogeography and host plant utilisation.
No-choice host plant performance studies revealed that A. obscuricomis would feed and lay eggs on all Eucalyptus species offered. Nymphs of this species were also able to eclose on most eucalypts tested. G. tasmanicus was only able to reach adulthood on E. regnans and E. delegatensis. For A. obscuricomis, performance indicators such as adult survival, egg production and weight of offspring were influenced by the quality of the hosts' shoots, in particular the C/N ratio and water content; while the reduced host range of G. tasmanicus is suggestive of a more important role of secondary plant substances in the species.
The oligophagous habit of A. obscuricomis and G. tasmanicus for eucalypts was confirmed by field sampling. General observations suggested that A. obscuricomis preferred hosts which were coppicing after being physically damaged and a field based experiment investigated this issue. Epicormic buds were induced by canopy removal, simulating the effect of fire. Sampling of control and coppicing eucalypts revealed the complete absence of A. obscuricomis nymphs from non-coppicing trees. C/N and water content analyses of coppicing and control hosts revealed that coppice shoots were nutritionally superior to normal shoots.
In the discussion I relate the biogeography and host plant utilisation of A. obscuricomis, in particular, to the degree of polyphagy exhibited by that species. I argue that the selection pressure imposed on A. obscuricomis by an environment where the supply and quality of eucalypt shoots is unpredictable, has favoured the evolution of an oligophagous feeding strategy. That the species is oligophagous for plants belonging to the one genus is possible given the ubiquity of Eucalyptus species in the Australian environment.


This book traces the impact of Orson Welles from Rosebud to The Colbert Report. "Orson Welles and the Unfinished RKO Projects: A Postmodern Perspective" traces the impact of legendary director Orson Welles on contemporary mass media entertainment and suggests that, ironically, we can see Welles' performance genealogy most clearly in his unfinished RKO projects. Author Marguerite H. Rippy provides the first in-depth examination of early film and radio projects shelved by RKO or by Welles himself. While previous studies of Welles largely fall into the categories of biography or modernist film studies, this book extends the understanding of Welles via postmodern narrative theory and performance analysis, weaving his work into the cultural and commercial background of its production. By identifying the RKO years as a critical moment in performance history, Rippy synthesizes scholarship that until now has been scattered among film studies, narrative theory, feminist critique, American studies, and biography. Building a bridge between auteur and postmodern theories, "Orson Welles and the Unfinished RKO Projects" offers a fresh look at Welles in his full complexity. Rippy trains a postmodern lens on Welles' early projects and reveals four emerging narrative modes that came to define his work: deconstructions of the first-person singular; adaptations of classic texts for mass media; explorations of the self via primitivism; and examinations of the line between reality and fiction. These four narrative styles would greatly influence the development of modern mass media entertainment. Rippy finds Welles' legacy alive and well in today's mockumentaries and reality television. It was in early, unfinished projects such as F for Fake where Welles first toyed with fact and fiction, and the pleasure of this interplay still resonates with contemporary culture. As Rippy suggests, the logical conclusion of Welles' career-long exploration of 'truthiness' lies in the laughs of fake news shows. Offering an exciting glimpse of a master early in his career, "Orson Welles and the Unfinished RKO Projects" documents Welles' development as a storyteller who would shape culture for decades to come.


Most EU law is concerned with the government of risk. This poses challenges for traditional ethical yardsticks, which base the unethical nature of the act in the perpetrator's knowing that certain consequences will flow from her actions. With risk it is impossible, however, to know what consequences will follow from an action. Drawing upon a case study from the regulation of genetically modified food, this essay suggests an additional ethic, that of mediation, for EU law. Government of risk involves two forms of politics. One is the politics of hazard, which embraces uncertainty in order to realise new public goods. The other is the politics of anxiety, which rejects uncertainty to protect the vulnerability, status and singularity of the individual subject. Ineluctably opposed to one another, each politics has virtues and pathologies. A government of risk must contain both and mediate between both. Much angst with EU law, it will be suggested, derives from its paying insufficient attention to the terms of this mediation.


The purpose of this study is to compare beneficiation policy between oil, coal, gas and metal mining sector in Indonesia. The empirical fact shows Indonesia's Constitution of 1945 stated that natural resources in Indonesia are controlled by the state to be exploited to the greatest benefit of the people. However, Indonesia's prevailing law has varied interpretation of this term. This is shown in differentiation of beneficiation policy between oil, coal, gas and metal mining sector in Indonesia despite the same philosophical basis of the utilization itself. This study explains the difference of interpretation under Indonesia's Law regarding natural resources beneficiation and how it is furtherly implemented in the sector. This research is normative in nature, using literature study to gather data. The conclusion of this study is metal mining sector is the only sector whom ready to implement domestic mineral beneficiation obligation. While in other sector, Indonesian government and mining stakeholders are not ready to take the risks to establish beneficiation dependency.


The development of new semiconductor device materials is currently dominated by costly and time-consuming experimental investigations in which growth parameters are varied and correlated, ex situ, to device characteristics. Model-based process development has the potential to assist greatly in optimizing growth parameters and providing models that are suitable for use in in-situ process control. Researchers have used this approach sparingly, however, because robust, predictive models that describe the growth of semiconductor materials are neither well-developed nor validated. This situation is changing, however, due to the availability of high-resolution microscopy and improved modeling capabilities resulting from greatly increased computer power and more efficient numerical algorithms. The focus in this paper is on III-V semiconductor molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), which is the preferred technique for growing complex heterostructure device materials with many critical interfaces. The challenge is to understand the connection between macroscopic reactor conditions and microscopic film properties such as interface thickness and morphology.


There are several questions that need answering regarding mobilization of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients. How do we mobilize ICU patients? Is there an internationally agreed definition? Is there an internationally agreed prescription/program for mobilizing the patients? What is considered early? Why should we mobilize our patients, and lastly, why don't we? Mobilization of ICU patients takes many different forms and views. It includes bed activities such as range of motion, turning, transferring, self-care, breathing exercises, sitting at the edge of the bed, and even stationary cycling. There are also several out of the bed activities such as sitting in a chair, standing, and walking. Although several units have their own protocols, a literature review reveals that definitions are either too broad or too narrow, subsequently challenging to transfer these results.1 Some trials have started mobilizing patients from as early as the first day, while other trials have waited 48 hrs, 5 days, and even longer before mobilization was started. Most trials which have managed to deliver very early mobilisation have found improved outcomes up to hospital discharge, while trials which intervened later mostly found no significant effect.2 The absence of a definition for early, very early, and late initiation of mobilization makes comparing studies very difficult. Muscle weakness that develops during the ICU stay is called ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW). It manifests as generalized muscle weakness that is often severe. It develops in ICU patients who receive mechanical ventilation for 24 hours or more and is associated independently with prolongation of the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU and hospital stay. ICU-AW is associated with increased mortality in the first year following ICU discharge. Mobilizing patients at an early time point decreases invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) duration, delirium, hospital length of stay, and reduced healthcare costs.3,4 Reported reasons for not mobilizing patients vary widely and include mechanical ventilation, catecholamine infusion, impaired consciousness, poor functional status, safety considerations, limited staff capacities, or lack of protocols. Absolute contraindications can include acute myocardial infarction, active bleeding, increased intracranial pressure with major instability, unstable pelvic fractures, therapy withdrawal, and lastly patients' refusal.4 Recommendations on safety criteria for early mobilization mention that vasopressor use, endotracheal intubation, renal replacement therapy, or even life support devices like ECMO should not be considered as contraindications for active mobilization. Only one study has explored the safety of very early mobilization in critically ill patients on multiple support systems.4 Multiple QI projects have successfully implemented and sustained early mobilization projects within the ICU setting and all identified strong leadership for early mobilization. This along with the multidisciplinary team approach ensured success and sustainability of mobilizing ICU patients.5 In conclusion, there is a lack of internationally agreed protocols or guidelines on when and how we should mobilise our patients. There are also several obstacles facing us even once achieving consensus in that. The good thing is that we are clear on why we should mobilise our patients and hopefully this will drive further research to standardize the above unanswered questions.


The objective of this experiment was to study if incubating the water treated grain could improve the in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) values of three varieties of Indonesian sorghum (UPCA-S1, KD-4, and No. 46 varieties). Each variety of sorghum was divided into four groups of incubation time: 0 day (as a control group), 1, 2, and 3 days. All of the grains were brought into water content of 30% and incubated at 32⁰C. The IVPD values varied with sorghum variety (P<0.05). TheIVPD value of untreated UPCA-S₁ was higher than those of KD-4 and No. 46. The effect of adding water to the grain followed by incubation at 32⁰C for several days signigicantly improved (P<0.05) the IVPD values of all the three varieties.


The use of post-harvest water stress as a management practice in producing two crops of grapes annually was investigated using three-year-old own-rooted Kyoho grapevines. The vines were established under a restricted rooting-zone culture (ca. 30 L/vine). Five weeks after harvesting the first crop, vines were subjected to water stress treatments by completely cutting off irrigation. Control vines received normal watering throughout the year. Though vines in all the treatments produced a second crop, the severe water stress lasting for 16 days was effective in inducing early budbreak, enhancing blooming, and increasing fruitfulness, cluster size, berry set, and berry growth, compared to continuously well-watered vines. The mild water stress of 10 days was less effective. There was an apical dominance tendency in budbreak and a growth potential gradient favoring the upper shoots during the second cycle. Fruits from the two cycles did not differ significantly in their quality. The study shows the potential of water stress as a management practice, especially in increasing the productivity of warm-regions grapevines.


Giant cell granulomas (GCGs) of the jaws are lesions that arise either peripherally in periodontal ligament, mucoperiosteum, or centrally in the bone. Histologically, both peripheral and central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) are characterized by the presence of numerous multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in a prominent fibrous stroma. CGCG are further categorized into aggressive and non aggressive variant. The present case highlights the perplexity in diagnosing CGCGs which are aggressive in nature due to its close proximity with respect to pathology, behaviour and prognosis from giant cell tumors (GCT). The recurrent nature of the present case and the extensive destruction caused in the hard and soft tissues convinces us the need of exploring the possibilities of the so called true 'tumors' (giant cell tumors) having a definitive presence in the jaws.

 Key words: Giant cell granulomas, fibrous stroma.


ABSTRACT We examine if and how news coverage influences governments' humanitarian aid allocations, from the perspective of the senior bureaucrats involved in such decision-making. Using rare in-depth interviews with 30 directors and senior policymakers in 16 of the world's largest donor countries, we found that the majority of these bureaucrats believed that sudden-onset, national news coverage can increase levels of emergency humanitarian aid allocated to a crisis. They said that this influence operated by triggering other accountability institutions (the public, civil society, elected officials) who put pressure on aid bureaucracies to announce additional funding. However, these practitioners claim that annual humanitarian aid allocations—which are much larger—are unaffected by news pressure. Intriguingly, we also find that many respondents interpret a lack of news coverage as grounds for increasing their annual aid allocations to what they call "forgotten crises". We argue that "bureaucratic mediatisation", rather than the "CNN Effect" or the "Cockroach Effect", provides the most appropriate theoretical perspective to understand these multiple, concurrent and indirect forms of media influence. These findings have important implications for government donors, news organisations and aid agencies, and for our wider understanding of how news coverage may influence foreign policy.


We present the discovery, photometric, and spectroscopic follow-up observations of SN 2010X (PTF 10bhp). This supernova decays exponentially with τd = 5 days and rivals the current recordholder in speed, SN 2002bj. SN 2010X peaks at Mr = −17 mag and has mean velocities of 10,000 km s−1. Our light curve modeling suggests a radioactivity-powered event and an ejecta mass of 0.16 M☉. If powered by Nickel, we show that the Nickel mass must be very small (≈0.02 M☉) and that the supernova quickly becomes optically thin to γ-rays. Our spectral modeling suggests that SN 2010X and SN 2002bj have similar chemical compositions and that one of aluminum or helium is present. If aluminum is present, we speculate that this may be an accretion-induced collapse of an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf. If helium is present, all observables of SN 2010X are consistent with being a thermonuclear helium shell detonation on a white dwarf, a ".Ia" explosion. With the 1 day dynamic-cadence experiment on the Palomar Transient Factory, we expect to annually discover a few such events.


Accounting for undecided and uncertain voters is a challenging issue for predicting election results from public opinion polls. Undecided voters typify the uncertainty of swing voters in polls but are often ignored or allocated to each candidate in a simple deterministic manner. Historically this may have been adequate because the undecided voters were sufficiently small to assume that they do not affect the relative proportions of the decided voters. However, in the presence of high numbers of undecided voters, these static rules may in fact bias election predictions from election poll researchers and metapoll analysts. We examine the effect of undecided voters in the 2016 US presidential election compared with the previous three presidential elections. We show that there were a relatively high number of undecided voters over the campaign and on election day, and that the allocation of undecided voters in this election was not consistent with two‐party proportional (or even) allocations. We find evidence that static allocation regimes are inadequate for election prediction models and that probabilistic allocations may be superior. We also estimate the bias attributable to polling agencies, which is often referred to as 'house effects'.


Author(s): Obedzinski, Mariska; Nossaman Pierce, Sarah; Horton, Gregg E; Deitch, Mathew J | Abstract: While many studies have established the importance of streamflow as a driver of fish population dynamics, few have examined relationships between survival of juvenile salmonids and flow-related variables in intermittent streams. With predictions for higher frequency of drought conditions due to climate change, and the associated increasing human demand for water during the dry season, understanding fish–flow relationships is becoming increasingly important for the protection of sensitive aquatic species. To examine the effects of low streamflow on juvenile salmonids rearing in small intermittent streams, we estimated survival and collected environmental data in four coastal California watersheds from 2011 to 2013. We used an individual-based mark-recapture modeling approach to evaluate the influence of flow-related variables on oversummer survival of PIT-tagged juvenile Coho Salmon stocked into eight stream reaches. Survival was positively associated with streamflow magnitude, wetted volume, and dissolved oxygen, and negatively associated with days of disconnected surface flow (days of disconnection), and temperature. Days of disconnection best explained survival, though the relationship varied by geomorphic reach type. Survival was lower in alluvial reaches as compared to bedrock and clay reaches, and showed a faster rate of decline with increasing days of disconnection and drought condition. In all reaches, the onset of pool disconnection represented a turning point at which water quality, water quantity, and survival declined. For this reason, we suggest that days of disconnection (or the flow magnitude at which pools become disconnected) is a useful metric for identifying flow-impaired reaches, informing streamflow protection strategies, and prioritizing streamflow enhancement efforts designed to benefit sensitive salmonid populations in intermittent streams.


My experience in the Jewish-Christian-Muslim trialogue took place mainly in the first decade of my work with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). While the bishops had voted to establish a secretariat for interreligious affairs as well as one for ecumenical and Catholic-Jewish relations, they did not fund or provide staff for interreligious relations until the late 1980's, when Dr. John Borelli assumed the position. For the first ten years of the thirty I spent at the USCCB, I was asked to handle Catholic-Muslim as well as Catholic-Jewish relations, since it was felt that if I could handle two of the three Abrahamic traditions, I could at least adequately deal with the third, derived as it is from Judaism and Christianity, as one can tell from reading the Qur'an. Before I discuss my experiences with the Abrahamic trialogue, a comment on the term may be in order. Critics of the term rightly note that "dialogue" does not simply mean words spoken between two people, but words spoken and received in such a way that the two individuals or groups involved are able to see into each other and understand how the other sees them and the world from, as it were, the inside. The word, the understanding of which we owe to the Jewish philosopher, Martin Buber, represents an "I-Thou" relationship as opposed to an instrumental "I-It" relationship, such as one might have with a store salesclerk, which is an "instrumental" rather than personal or soul-to-soul relationship. True dialogue, however, is "di" as in "diaphanous." The two see through and into each other. Critics of the term "trialogue" argue for the use of the term "trilateral dialogue" with regard to Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations. My own feeling, however, is that a different term than dialogue is helpful, since the relationship between Jews and Christians, on the one hand, and that of Jews and Christians with Muslims, on the other, is in fact qualitatively different. Jews and Christians are bonded in covenant as, together, forming the People of God in a way distinct from their relationship with any other world religion, including Islam. The Jewish-Muslim relationship can be quite close and fruitful because of the similarity of their sacred tongues, the related Semitic languages of Arabic and Hebrew, and the fact that sharia (Muslim religious law) and halachah (Jewish religious law) share legal terms and concepts in common. But, Islam does not share sacred texts with either Jews or Christians in the way that Jews and Christians share the Hebrew Scriptures (to wrangle over and debate for their significance for our religious lives). Indeed, it is not accurate to call Jewish-Christian dialogue an "interfaith" dialogue at all. We claim as our own the faith of Abraham and Sarah, a share in God's enduring covenant with the Jews. Jesus was a Jew, faithful to God's Law as expressed to the Jewish People on Mt. Sinai and interpreted and reinterpreted in the subsequent books of what was, for Jesus, the Bible, the Hebrew Scriptures. He was killed by the Romans as a Jew. Christianity claims to be and is a renewed form of Judaism, not an entirely separate religion. Jewish-Christian relations can be called an "interreligious dialogue," since we are bound ("religio") to God by differing interpretations of the same scriptures, but not an "interfaith" dialogue, since we share essentially the same faith based upon the same scriptures, however differently interpreted. Jews and Christians, however, cannot quite say the same thing in the same way regarding Muslim readings of the scriptures that we Jews and Christians share in common. Islam claims that, while the revelations to us may have been valid, Moses and Jesus being prophets in the line of prophecy sealed and ended by Muhammad, we Jews and Christians made mistakes in passing down the revelation in writing over the generations. Only the Qur'an is wholly accurate to God's revelation. So they do not regard either the Hebrew Scriptures or the Second Testament as sacred and binding upon them in the sense that both Jews and Christians regard and revere the Hebrew Scriptures. …


Hannah Arendt reversed what tradition had consecrated as a revolutionary. Far from the conception of Marx and Marxism, which, at the time, was the only expression perceived as authentically revolutionary, Arendt showed the brought about violence expressed by a history of wars and revolutions. The revolutionary act is, instead, for Arendt, to begin something entirely new and cannot be identified with the project or with the result. The essay analyzes the epistemological revolution and the revolutionary method that the author used in her examination of history, the consonances with authors such as Ch. Peguy, who had the opportunity to read during her time as a refugee in Paris and who left deep traces in her work and dissonances with respect to sociology, emerging new science in America.


Due to the advance of the geo-spatial positioning and the computer graphics technology, digital terrain data become more and more popular nowadays. Query processing on terrain data has attracted considerable attention from both the academic community and the industry community. One fundamental and important query is the shortest distance query and many other applications such as proximity queries (including nearest neighbor queries and range queries), 3D object feature vector construction and 3D object data mining are built based on the result of the shortest distance query. In this paper, we study the shortest distance query which is to find the shortest distance between a point-of-interest and another point-of-interest on the surface of the terrain due to a variety of applications. As observed by existing studies, computing the exact shortest distance is very expensive. Some existing studies proposed ε-approximate distance oracles where ε is a non-negative real number and is an error parameter. However, the best-known algorithm has a large oracle construction time, a large oracle size and a large distance query time. Motivated by this, we propose a novel ε-approximate distance oracle called the Space Efficient distance oracle (SE) which has a small oracle construction time, a small oracle size and a small distance query time due to its compactness storing concise information about pairwise distances between any two points-of-interest. Our experimental results show that the oracle construction time, the oracle size and the distance query time of SE are up to two orders of magnitude, up to 3 orders of magnitude and up to 5 orders of magnitude faster than the best-known algorithm.


Wheat straw was used as raw material in production of medium density fibreboard (MDF) and high-density fibreboard (HDF). The straw fibreboard process was performed without addition of synthetic binders. Adhesive bonding between fibers was initiated by activation of the fibre surfaces by an oxidative pre-treatment in the defibration process. Hydrogen peroxide was added into the blowline to get a fast and effective process. Adhesive bonding between the activated fibres were later formed when pressing. The fiber quality and pH and pH buffering capacity was analysed at different hydrogen peroxide loadings. The effects of mechanical and physical properties of the non-resin wheat straw MDF/HDF were evaluated. Mechanical bending properties, Modulus of Rupture (MOR), Modulus of Elasticity (MOE), and Internal Bond (IB) were generally lower than conventional wood-based MDF/HDF but close to the requirements of the MDF-standard. Modulus of Elongation (MOE) was surprisingly high and exceeded the levels in the MDF-standard. Moreover, the thickness swelling of the non-resin wheat straw MDF was high but was reduced by the addition of a hydrophobic agent (metallic ion). Increased level of hydrogen peroxide improved the panel properties and the usage of the hydrophobic agent reduced the thickness swelling.


The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) revised United Kingdom national guideline for the management of gonorrhoea in adults, 2011, identified five auditable outcome measures, namely, that all patients should receive first-line treatment, be screened or treated for chlamydial infection, have a test of cure (TOC), be offered written information and have partner notification carried out. The UK National Guideline for Gonorrhoea Testing, Clinical Effectiveness Group, BASHH, 2012, recommended in addition that all reactive nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) from pharynx and rectum should be confirmed by supplementary testing, using a second NAAT which detects a different nucleic acid target, all those with a positive NAAT for gonorrhoea should have culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing and that TOC should be done by two weeks. Staff, associate specialist and specialty doctors performed a national audit against these standards. Data from 3233 cases were submitted; 8% of cases of gonorrhoea diagnosed in England, Scotland and Wales over this period. We found that 83% patients received first-line treatment with a reason for not doing so provided for 11%. TOC was documented for 62% and written information was offered to 41%. Results about supplementary testing were inconsistent. The results for the other outcomes were satisfactory.


The motivation of this work is to understand E-shape analysis and how it can be applied to various classification tasks. It has a powerful feature to not only look at what information is contained, but rather how that information looks. This new technique gives E-shape analysis the ability to be language independent and to some extent size independent. In this thesis, I present a new mechanism to characterize an email without using content or context called E-shape analysis for email. I explore the applications of the email shape by carrying out a case study; botnet detection and two possible applications: spam filtering and social-context based finger printing. The second part of this thesis takes what I apply E-shape analysis to activity recognition of humans. Using the Android platform and a T-Mobile G1 phone I collect data from the triaxial accelerometer and use it to classify the motion behavior of a subject.


The unbalanced usage of resources in cloud data centers cause an enormous amount of power consumption. The Virtual Machine (VM) consolidation shuts the underutilized hosts and makes the overloaded hosts as normally loaded hosts by selecting appropriate VMs from the hosts and migrates them to other hosts in such a way to reduce the energy consumption and to improve physical resource utilization. Efficient method is needed for VM selection and destination hosts selection (VM placement). In this paper, a CPU-Memory aware VM placement algorithm is proposed for selecting suitable destination host for migration. The VMs are selected using Fuzzy Soft Set (FSS) method VM selection algorithm. The proposed placement algorithm considers both CPU, Memory, and combination of CPU-Memory utilization of VMs on the source host. The proposed method is experimentally compared with several existing selection and placement algorithms and the results show that the proposed consolidation method performs better than existing algorithms in terms of energy efficiency, energy consumption, SLA violation rate, and number of VM migrations.


Purpose: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of conjunctival rotation autograft technique in preventing the recurrence of primary pterygium. Methods: In this prospective study, 24 eyes of 24 consecutive patients with primary pterygium were evaluated. Conjunctival rotation autograft technique, which involved the removal of the underlying fibrovascular pterygium tissue and replacement of the original epithelium over the bare sclera with a 180° rotation was performed in all eyes. Results: Patients were 34–70 years of age (mean, 52.8; SD = 10.5). During the mean follow-up of 15.9 months (range, 12–23 months; SD: 4.0), 4 recurrences (16.6%) were observed. Neither intraoperative nor postoperative complications were encountered except for recurrences and 3 suture openings, which were re-sutured postoperatively without further complications. Conclusion: Conjunctival rotation autograft technique appears to be effective and safe in preventing the recurrence of primary pterygium. A prospective randomised trial comparing conjunctival rotation autografting with other adjunctive procedures in addition to simple pterygium excision is required to determine its effectiveness.


The concept of globalization refers to a multitude of processes rapidly changing the space in which individuals, institutions, and systems interact with one another. Popular interpretations have seen increasing interconnectedness as the beginning of a "race to the bottom" in which the state is precluded from governance as competition to attract capital and prevent flight mandates a retrenchment of the public sector. As this occurs, outside influences should crowd out opportunities for the "collective priority and preference setting" that defines democratic governance. Instead, much of the convergence toward retrenchment has been endogenous change motivated by ideas and political strategy rather than exogenous economic pressure.  America's protracted battle over the debt ceiling provides a compelling case to explore how the ideational force of globalization has included new voices in domestic preference setting and augmented rather than crowded out public deliberation. Tracking the impact of these influences on the American discourse will help us understand how the 2012 elections are likely to be impacted by the emergence of groups willing and able to compete with the Republican Party on behalf of economic conservatives.


This paper deals with the stress distribution in adhesively bonded joints with rubbery adhesives. The 3-D finite element analysis (FEA) software was used to model the joint and predict the stress distribution along the whole joint. The FEA results indicated that there are stress discontinuities existing in the stress distribution within the adhesive layer and adherends at the lower interface and the upper interface of the boded section for most of the stress components. The FEA results also show that the stress field in the whole joint is dominated by the normal stresses components S11, S33 and the shear stress component S13. The features and variations of these critical stresses components are discussed.


As the inevitable building by numbers ensues, London's Thames Gateway becomes one of many playgrounds for bar charting enthusiasts. Houses measured by the thousands and little clues as to where it is, that ghost in the machine, what they are, the structures of everyday contemporary life, and who's life it is anyway.
Fernand Braudel, Georges Perec, Jorge Luis Borges, amongst others, are employed to examine just how Wittgensteins radiators find their ways into Barratts South East catalogue. They supply the container for Dickensian content with Sinclairesque detail, while late Jan Turnovski's epic lunacy will help to once and for all allay widespread popular fears that Wittgenstein 1 and 2 may add up to one-and-a-half, simple as that.
Never has the ideal of treating technology involved with building as an intellectual discipline been further removed from any notion of genius, loci or otherwise; housing policy housing, building policy building. Against the backdrop of mass housing and landmark buildings with little space or time for anything in between, five years of studio work with diploma students at the University of Greenwich, Vienna University of Technology and University Innsbruck, concerned themselves with the structural narrative of the Thames Gateway.
This paper, as well as the projects presented through it, is a premature attempt at anchoring buildings on the words they are built on, technology on the sentence structure of its description, assembly instructions written in the most specific of dialects. It describes techniques, suggesting an architecture read backwards, sideways, horizontal and in parallel, free associative sequence, thus discussing issues of site, context, detail and conceptual adhesion.
It also poses questions: concerning locality, history, ritual, conceptualisation and intellectual detachment. Above all, in view of the sheer relentlessness of commercially driven urban expansion, questions of soul and character, of design sustainability in terms of creating space to accommodate viable structures social, cultural, narrative. Allowing history to continue, creating place worth telling tales about.


ZENGER, E. et al., Einleitung in das Alte Testament (Studienbucher Theologie, 1.1; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1995), pp. 447. Paper, DM 39.80. ISBN 3-17-0120137-9. Kohlhammer launches a new senes of textbooks with this impressive Introduction to the OT edited and directed by the mdefatigable Zenger. Among its claims to recognition is the fact that it is the first comprehensive Introduction m German to


Problem. Clergy sexual misconduct is a significant problem for the church. There are legal and financial problems, as well as damage to individuals and communities. The purpose of this study was to examine personality profiles and situational themes of ministers in treatment whose presenting problems included sexual misconduct. Method. Inactive case files of ministers in treatment were analyzed. From the case file it was determined if the minister was involved in an intimate affair which included an emotional bond, a casual affair with no emotional bond, or was not involved in an affair. The complete MMPI-2 profile and the Personal Problem Checklist for Adults were recorded for each file. Chi square was used for each of the items on the checklist. Chi square was also used to compare likelihood of self-referral, versus referral by a superior. Analysis of variance was used to compare means for each sub-scale of the MMPI-2. Discriminant analysis was used to look for linear combinations of the scales that discriminated among the three groups. Results. Twenty-nine items on the checklist were significant. Ministers involved in an affair of either type were much more likely to be referred by a superior. The ANOVA and discriminant analysis were significant in distinguishing among both affair groups, and the no affair group. The MMPI-2 scores of both of the affair groups were statistically the same. Ministers involved in an affair tended to score low on the L scale, and high on the 4 and 9 scales. Conclusions. There were some self-reported problems that distinguished between ministers involved in a casual affair, an emotional affair, and ministers not involved in an affair. There were sub-scales and a combination of sub-scales which distinguished between ministers involved in an affair and ministers who were not involved in an affair.


Brazil has hosted mass event (ME) and participants are exposed to health risks. The scope of this paper is to systematize the main relationships between ME and the occurrence of disasters of interest to Public Health. Three methodological strategies were used: systematic search and review of the literature on ME; systematization of the main information on ME; and selection and systematization of the references located for the theme of disaster in the search for key words, title or abstract. 28 references for ME were selected, mostly scientific papers, literature reviews, publications in 2012 and sports events. The main subjects addressed were surveillance systems and planning of ME. There was little analytical information about ME, as well as the importance of non-communicable events for the occurrence of disasters with emphasis on those related to crowds. It is important to consider the risk of disasters when planning ME to increase response time. Strategic areas such as medical emergencies, surveillance of communicable diseases and vectors, food and health service security, environmental health and laboratories should be considered. The importance of analytical research and registration of experience acquired in ME should be stressed for disaster risk reduction. Language: pt


In part because of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the Tax Reform Act of 1986, state taxation has been become one of the most prominent fields of taxation. Gone are the days when federal income tax dominated tax planning. Corporate tax managers and advisors pay meticulous attention to state and local tax planning, while state legislatures are faced with modernizing their tax codes. State tax agencies are under staffed and over worked and competing with the private sector for valuable tax talent. Wisconsin uses formulary apportionment, rather than separate accounting, to derive the amount of a corporation's income taxable by the State, using a formula based on the sales, payroll, and property attributable to Wisconsin. Wisconsin's primary weakness in its corporate income tax is the absence of combined reporting. As the name suggests, combined reporting is a methodology that requires a unitary business to consolidate the income and factors of its unitary subsidiaries. Combined reporting allows a state to treat unitary subsidiaries like divisions of the parent company. Without combined reporting, a business in Wisconsin can create a subsidiary in a "tax haven" state (or country) and shift income from Wisconsin to that company where it will not be taxed. Combined reporting not only yields a better measure of apportionable income but also levels the playing field for intrastate companies that are unable, or unwilling, to engage in tax minimization strategies. Combined reporting will almost certainly raise revenue for the state. The adoption of combined reporting would have some detractors, particularly the interstate business community, which will find their common tax minimization strategies undone. The increased revenue from combined reporting can be used to finance public programs that attract and retain businesses. In general, tax considerations are a low priority for business location decisions.Very often the main question asked when implementing a significant change in tax policy is whether the tax will be too high or low when applied to specific businesses compared to other states. The preferable method of making these comparisons is to measure the effects of a tax change on a corporation's after-tax rates-of-return. The after-tax rates-of-return isolates tax differentials from other factors that influence profitability, considers the federal offset, determines whether a tax change will affect different businesses in different ways, captures the patterns of tax liabilities over time, and allows the state to customize tax changes for the businesses they are trying to attract. State taxes have an insignificant effect on economic development. Public spending can foster an environment that increases productivity and encourage growth, while tax cuts and incentives can, contrary to their stated purpose, undermine a state's business climate. Wisconsin should have little to fear, and everything to gain, from combined reporting. In addressing state sales tax concerns, Wisconsin should direct its attention to an issue that frustrates the tax systems of any taxing jurisdiction: entity isolation. One example of entity isolation occurs when a business creates a related entity for the purpose of remote selling. States must have nexus with a taxed activity to levy a tax. The U.S. Supreme Court in Quill v. North Dakota held that businesses with no physical presence in a state, and that only engage in remote selling through a common carrier to customers in that state, have no nexus with that state. Does Quill therefore protect entity isolation? The decision did not broach the topic of related entities, but it seems as though creating a related entity solely for the purpose of remote sales within a state denotes a higher level of involvement than a mere connection through a common carrier, as was the case in Quill. Several states have amended their tax codes to require remote vendors to collect sales tax if they are selling goods similar to goods sold by a related brick and mortar entity within the state. Wisconsin should analyze these statutes and adopt the best features of each.Finally, as it pertains to property taxes, Wisconsin should ask whether existing exemptions should be continued. The State's scheme is unnecessarily generous and too removed from the purpose of property tax exemptions: the promotion of worthwhile nonprofit activities. Narrowing the property tax exemption for nonprofits can be controversial, but ultimately worthwhile. Wisconsin cannot afford to offer property tax exemptions carte blanche, and the Legislature should carefully consider the types of activities that should qualify for an exemption and the level of subsidization the activity warrants. In addition, the state should consider the following approaches: consulting the local jurisdiction before taxable property is purchased by a tax-exempt entity; phasing in the exemption to protect the local jurisdiction from a sudden decrease in revenue; phasing out the exemption after the business is established; limiting the amount of acres that can qualify for an exemption; limiting the amount of property that can be exempt; impose a user charge; or authorizing payments by the state to jurisdictions containing tax-exempt property.Tax reform is never easy. But the way forward is clear, and it calls for the adoption of combined reporting, an update to the state sales tax to mitigate entity isolation, and reforming the state's property tax exemptions. The road is clear; what is required is the action and courage of the Wisconsin legislature.


One of the problems often associated with online anonymity is that it hinders social accountability, as substantiated by the high levels of cybercrime. Although identity cues are scarce in cyberspace, individuals often leave behind textual identity traces. In this study we proposed the use of stylometric analysis techniques to help identify individuals based on writing style. We incorporated a rich set of stylistic features, including lexical, syntactic, structural, content-specific, and idiosyncratic attributes. We also developed the Writeprints technique for identification and similarity detection of anonymous identities. Writeprints is a Karhunen-Loeve transforms-based technique that uses a sliding window and pattern disruption algorithm with individual author-level feature sets. The Writeprints technique and extended feature set were evaluated on a testbed encompassing four online datasets spanning different domains: email, instant messaging, feedback comments, and program code. Writeprints outperformed benchmark techniques, including SVM, Ensemble SVM, PCA, and standard Karhunen-Loeve transforms, on the identification and similarity detection tasks with accuracy as high as 94% when differentiating between 100 authors. The extended feature set also significantly outperformed a baseline set of features commonly used in previous research. Furthermore, individual-author-level feature sets generally outperformed use of a single group of attributes.


BACKGROUND: Key recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics guideline on management of severe hyperbilirubinemia in healthy infants of ≥35 weeks' gestation include predischarge screening for risk of subsequent hyperbilirubinemia, follow-up at 3 to 5 days of age, and lactation support. Little information is available on contemporary compliance with follow-up recommendations. OBJECTIVE: To assess timing and content of the first newborn office visit after birth hospitalization in urban and suburban pediatric practices in Houston, Texas. METHODS: We reviewed office records for the first visit within 4 weeks of birth during January through July 2006 for apparently healthy newborns with a gestational age of ≥35 weeks or birth weight of ≥2500 g seen within a pediatric provider network. For each pediatrician, we selected every fifth patient up to a total of 6. RESULTS: Of 845 records abstracted, 698 (83%) were eligible for analysis. Infants were seen by 136 pediatricians in 39 practices. They had vaginal (64%) or cesarean (36%) deliveries at 20 local hospitals, of which 17 had routine predischarge bilirubin screening policies. Only 37% of all infants, 44% of vaginally delivered infants, and 41% of exclusively breastfed infants were seen before 6 days of age. Thirty-five percent of the infants were seen after 10 days of age. Among 636 infants seen at ≤15 days, jaundice was noted on examination in 33%; of these, 44% had bilirubin measured. Nine infants had phototherapy documented after birth hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: Among a large group of urban and suburban pediatricians, implementation of the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation for follow-up was inconsistent, and delayed follow-up was common. Understanding reasons for delayed follow-up and providing guidance for jaundice management may promote a safer first week of life.


RCC1 is a guanine nucleotide exchanging factor acting on nuclear G protein Ran. Premature chromatin condensation occurs in the temperature-sensitive rcc1 mutant of the BHK21 cell line, tsBN2, at the restrictive temperature. This observation can be explained if the premature activation of MPF is normally inhibited by GTP-Ran. In the absence of RCC1, GDP-Ran predominates, resulting in MPF activation. However, experiments with Ran mutants to determine whether GTPor GDP-Ran prevents activation of MPF have yielded conflicting results. In order to clarify this point, we have microinjected nucleotide-bound Ran, instead of mutated Ran, into the nuclei of tsBN2 cells treated to reduce RCC1-mediated guanine nucleotide exchange. GTP-Ran, GTPgS-Ran, and GDP-Ran all inhibited chromatin condensation. However, the inhibition of chromatin condensation by GDP-Ran could be completely abolished by co-injection with GDP, but not GTP. Thus, we conclude that GTP-Ran blocks the activation of MPF and that hydrolysis of GTP is not required to prevent MPF activation.


Even if you've never tried programming before, Android App Inventor lets you quickly and easily create apps that will run on the Android platform. Whether you're a first-timer or a seasoned application developer, ANDROID APP INVENTOR FOR THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNER has something for you. Beginners will find clear step-by-step instructions and a thorough introduction to this fun and intuitive visual programming environment. Experienced developers will enjoy the coverage of more advanced topics, including various sensors, robotics, and TinyWebDB. Mobile app development is booming; there's never been a better time to get started. With Android App Inventor (free, open source software created by Google and MIT) and this book, you can design an app and upload it to your device in as little as 30 minutes. No prior experience in programming is necessary--and you don't need to be a math or graphics wiz. Get ready for a fun and fascinating introduction to app development with ANDROID APP INVENTOR FOR THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNER.


Prevailing patterns of dispersed share ownership and rules of corporate governance for UK listed companies appear to constrain the ability of managers to make credible, long‐term commitments to employees of the kind needed to foster effective labour‐management partnerships. We present case study evidence which suggests that such partnerships can nevertheless emerge where product market conditions and the regulatory environment favour a stakeholder orientation. Proactive and mature partnerships may also be sustained where the board takes a strategic approach to mediating between the claims of different stakeholder groups, institutional investors are prepared to take a long‐term view of their holdings, and strong and independent trade unions are in a position to facilitate organisational change.


The errors involved in dimensional measurements with the microscope are discussed, together with their reduction by calibration with objects of known size. A method is described for the preparation of disk objects from spheres of known diameter, using a series of evaporated thin films.


During a seismic sequence, it is extremely important that the population shaken by the earthquakes has continuous and timely information about the ongoing seismic activity. For this reason, a few days after the beginning of the Po Plain sequence, we opened a new informative channel, namely a blog ( http://ingvterremoti.wordpress.com ), through which we released tens of updates and in-depth scientific explanations on the earthquake sequence, as well as the classical information provided on the INGV web sites. Through the collaboration of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia ( INGV) researchers and technicians, we published more than 80 posts about the sequence, to describe ongoing activities during the emergency, and the first scientific results obtained from preliminary data processing. The response of the public was immediately encouraging, and reached its maximum on June 3, 2012, when a Ml 5.1 earthquake was strongly felt in the region previously shaken by the May 20, 2012, Ml 5.9 and the May 29, 2012, Ml 5.8 events. We recorded more than 850,000 views on that particular day, and had more than six million contacts (6,403,843) in the first two months (May 29 to July 29), mostly concentrated in the first 15 days. Even if the number of contacts is surely the main indicator of the effectiveness of a blog, it is important to carry out an in-depth analysis of the audience, to have useful material to further improve this blog. A broader research project could also include cross-media comparisons, taking into account the whole set of social media used by the INGV (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Apple). Future developments include the creation of new categories and new articles for other regions of Italy, and in-depth scientific articles to explain the results of the research activities. We also plan to find a way to implement the interactions with the public, for answering questions and making comments. The INGVterremoti blog is an original tool to provide information to people, not only during a seismic sequence, but also 'in times of peace', thus contributing to the work of prevention that remains the best defense against earthquakes.


Variable-wavelength photocurrent microscopy and photocurrent spectroscopy are used to study the photoresponse of (n, m) sorted single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) devices. The measurements of (n, m) pure SWCNT devices demonstrate the ability to study the wavelength-dependent photoresponse in situ in a device configuration and deliver photocurrent spectra that reflect the population of the source material. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to map and determine the chirality population within a working optoelectronic SWCNT device.


Project Hypotheses The specific predictions can be summarized as: P1: Life history parameters will vary across the range of this species and spatial differences in life histories will be determined by population density, sex ratios, environmental factors, and fishing pressure. P2: Fish collected in this study will be smaller and younger than fish collected from previous times (historical collections from 1970-1980) and the effects will be greatest at sites where fishing is intense (i.e. southern California vs. Baja California). P3: Fish collected in this study will change sex from female to male at a younger age and smaller size than previous times, especially at sites where fishing is intense (as predicted by size advantage model). P4: As a result of P3 (females mature younger and smaller), operational sex ratios will increase (also predicted by size advantage model). P5: Stricter harvest limits may have initiated recovery in heavily exploited populations and may result in increases in lengths, the timing of maturation, and the timing of sex change. P6: Individual growth rates will differ both spatially (sites across the species range) and temporally (historical vs. 1998 vs. this study) and variance will be more related to site location (e.g. water temperature and food availability) than type or amount of fishing. P7: Ultrasound techniques will provide a cost effective, non-destructive, and reliable tool to assess sex, fecundity, and reproductive state in these important fish. P8: Radioimmunoassays of estradiol and testosterone will verify the utility of visual assessments of sexual state and provide a non-destructive means to survey reproductive function during the breeding season. P9: Potential reproductive output will be less in this study than that of past studies at sites where fishing pressure is intense.


Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CO2 insufflation on the pressure of the middle ear cavity (PMEC) during laparoscopic surgery under total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with propofol or sevoflurane as an inhalational anesthetic maintenance. Material and Methods. Sixty patients who underwent laparoscopic/or non-laparoscopic surgery under general anesthesia were included in the study. For anesthetic maintenance with inhalation agents, 20 non-laparoscopic surgery patients in Group 1 were applied sevoflurane (2–2.5%). Forty patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery were randomized into two groups. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane (2–2.5%) in twenty patients in Group 2 and the TIVA technique in 20 patients in Group 3. In Group 1, PMEC was measured before anesthesia, 10 and 30 min after endotracheal intubation, 10 min before extubation, and 15, 30, 60 min and 6 hours in the postoperative period. In Group 2 and 3, PMEC was measured before the anesthesia, 10 min after intubation, 10 and 30 min after CO2 insufflation, just before the CO2 elimination, 10 min before the extubation, and 15, 30, 60 min and 6 hours after extubation in the postoperative period. Results. PMEC was significantly increased in Group 1 at 10 min after intubation, at 30 min of the operation, before extubation, and at postoperative 15 and 30 min (p < 0.05). In Group 3, differences between PMECs were detected at the 30th min of insufflation (p = 0.005), and during elimination (p = 0.035) compared to the initial measurement. Generally, the values remained positive in Group 1 and negative in Group 3. There was a significant difference between Group 1 and Group 3 at 10 min after the induction (p = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in PMECs between Group 2 and 3 patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery. Conclusions. Our results indicate that, in laparoscopic surgery, TIVA used for the maintenance of anesthesia did not increase the PMEC and the changes caused by sevoflurane were also in the normal range of middle ear pressures. In patients with previous ear surgery, if there is a need of classical surgical procedures in the future, sevoflurane anesthesia should not be the first choice due to its effects on PMEC, which cause it to be increased over 50 daPa, especially at 30 min after intubation. Patient characteristics including previous ear surgery should be considered in selecting the optimum anesthetic agents and technique (Adv Clin Exp Med 2014, 23, 3, 447–454).


: A double-blind study was conducted to determine the efficacy and safety of trazodone vs. amitriptyline and placebo in 184 patients suffering from neurotic depression. All patients were evaluated for safety and 127 patients who completed 12 to 42 days' therapy were evaluated for efficacy. Trazodone was found to be significantly better than placebo on almost every rating scale, particularly on those items or factors related to depression and associated anxiety. Trazodone was superior to amitriptyline in some patients while amitriptyline was only occasionally better than placebo. Significant improvement was noted in trazodone patients within the first seven days of therapy. Trazodone produced a low level of side effects compared to amitriptyline.


Genome editing is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of a living organism using engineered nucleases, or "molecular scissors". These nucleases create site-specific double-strand breaks (DSBs) at desired locations in the genome. This technology has many applications both in research, as well as in the possible treatement of genetic diseases or diseases which carry a genetic component.
In the present article we reviewed the three main genetic editing techniques and their employment in the deletion of the CCR5 gene in the cells susceptible to HIV infection or the deletion of HIV proviral DNA in infected cells, as a potential means of treating HIV infection. The molecular editing technologies are Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN) and Cluster Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) in the chronological order of their development.
It is premature to make any definitive statements, but it is fair to say that scientist are excited about the great number of possibilities these genetic techniques offer.


The interaction between the central nervous system and the immune system has been focus of recent research. Whereas cyclic AMP has been described as a link between atopic and affective disorders, a possible link between atopic disorders and schizophrenia has not yet been investigated. A 33-year-old patient showed episodes of allergic-asthmatic and paranoid-catatonic symptoms which appeared in an anticyclic pattern. Biological, clinical and therapeutic aspects are discussed in respect to the interaction between immunological and psychiatric disorders. Cyclic-AMP as a second-messenger is not specific for a certain cell species and might represent a possible link for integrated communication between the nervous and the immune system.


Behaviour varies between individuals and is often thought to be adaptive. Behaviours are predicted to vary according to the circumstances of the individual, to decrease their risk of mortality or that of their offspring, or to reduce the costs associated with certain behaviours, such as territory establishment, foraging or nestling provisioning. Two of the most important behaviours determining reproductive success, and thus having potential to be adaptive, are breeding dispersal and parental care. Individual birds should be under selection pressure to minimise the costs related to these behaviours, and likely to do so in response to aspects of habitat quality, individual quality, and their own prior experience. This study examined the relative importance of these factors upon breeding dispersal and parental care in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), additionally using repeatability analysis as a novel means to indirectly assess the influence of both individual quality and habitat. Specifically, this study explored the influence of habitat quality and individual-specific experience upon nest-site occupancy, breeding dispersal and reproductive success. It also estimated repeatability of the breeding parameters and examined the reproductive outcome of dispersal. Mixed models suggested that nestbox occupancy increased with population density but not habitat quality, and that the probability of dispersing varied by sex, with females more likely to disperse than males, and both more likely to disperse after breeding in noisier territories. Dispersal distance was not influenced by individual or habitat quality and did not influence reproductive success. Repeatability analyses suggested that habitat quality significantly influenced reproductive success. Furthermore, clutch size was strongly repeatable for females, but not males, whereas fledging success was repeatable between individual males but not females. If individual quality is consistent through their lifetime then these results suggest that female quality is important early in the breeding attempt, but that male quality exerts a stronger influence upon final fledging success. Both males and females increased their provisioning rate to larger broods, however, the other variables influencing each sex differed. Male provisioning rates decreased as both they, and their partner, aged, but increased when a mate was retained between breeding attempts. Females increased their provisioning rate in response to their partner's effort and provisioned at a higher rate after retaining their nest-site. However, retaining mate or nest-site did not result in higher reproductive success for either sex. The repeatability analysis suggested that females responded to the requirements of their brood, and the effort of their partner, whereas male care was less flexible. Additionally, total and male provisioning rates were repeatable for each nestbox, suggesting an influence of habitat quality. Overall, different behaviours and decisions were found to be varyingly influenced by individual, and habitat, quality and the repeatability analyses aided in assessing the relative contribution of each of these.


PURPOSE
To validate the independent strong prognostic value of mitotic activity index (MAI) in lymph node (LN) -negative invasive breast cancer patients younger than 55 years in a nationwide multicenter prospective study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Analysis of routinely assessed MAI and other prognosticators in 516 patients (median follow-up, 118 months; range, 8 to 185 months), without systemic adjuvant therapy or previous malignancies.

RESULTS
Distant metastases occurred in 127 patients (24.6%); 90 (17.4%) died as a result of metastases. MAI (< 10, > or = 10) showed strong association with recurrence (hazard ratio [HR], 3.12; 95% CI, 2.17 to 4.50; P < or = .0001) and mortality (HR, 4.42; 95% CI, 2.79 to 7.01; P < .0001). The absolute difference in 10-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of time to distant recurrence as well as survival was 22% between MAI less than 10 versus > or = 10. This effect was independent of age, estrogen receptor (ER) status, and tumor diameter (which were significant prognosticators). In multivariate analysis with regard to patient age, tumor diameter, grade, ER status, and the St Gallen criterion, MAI proved to be an independent and the strongest prognosticator. Tubular formation (TF) and nuclear atypia (NA), as constituents of (expert revised) grade, had no (for TF) or limited (for NA, P = .048) additional prognostic value to the MAI. In the group with MAI less than 10, MAI less than 3 versus more than 3 had additional value but the classical threshold of 0 to 5 v 6 to 10 did not. With this additional subdivision of MAI as less than 3, 3 to 9, and more than 9, NA lost its additive prognostic value.

CONCLUSION
The MAI is the strongest, most widely available, easily assessable, inexpensive, well-reproducible prognosticator and is well suited to routinely differentiate between high- and low-risk LN-negative breast cancer patients younger than 55 years.