ABSTRACT This study tests efficient market theory by examining the effect of Hurricane Katrina on oil companies' stock prices. It follows that oil firms with significant investment interests in Katrina's path should incur negative stock price returns in some time frame. This event study analyzed 15 firms with interests in the Gulf of Mexico and examines the effect of Hurricane Katrina on stock price's risk adjusted rate of return before and after August 30, 2005. Results show stock returns dropping significantly prior to Hurricane Katrina reaching land. These results support semi-strong market efficiency, reflecting that the market rapidly anticipated the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Appropriate statistical tests for significance conducted in this study show that Hurricane Katrina had a significant impact on the risk adjusted rate of return on selected oil company stock prices over the event study period. Specifically, results show that oil company stock price returns started a significant downturn up to 25 days prior to the hurricane event on August 30, 2005. INTRODUCTION Natural disasters have a major affect on the stock market. How soon does the stock market respond to an imminent disaster? If the market immediately impounds all available information concerning an approaching weather event, then the stock market may serve as the best possible predictor of the potential devastation of an approaching storm. This study examines the market's ability to monitor or predict the impact of Hurricane Katrina by analyzing the risk adjusted rate of return of selected oil company stocks around the event. Specifically, this research tests the effect ofHurricane Katrina on the risk adjusted rate of return of selected oil company stocks around the event date defined as August 30, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was one of the biggest hurricanes to hit the Gulf of Mexico in recorded history. Due to the Gulfs oil supply and its ease of transportation, many oil companies have refineries and drilling operations there. With significant asset loss exposure in the Gulf, it follows that this event could damage oil rigs, refineries and storage facilities costing oil companies millions of dollars. Likewise, the probability of such enormous losses should be anticipated by oil company stock price reaction prior to the hurricane event. The purpose of this study is to examine the reaction of the risk adjusted rate of return of selected oil company stocks up to 30 days before and 30 days after the event defined as August 30, 2005. Results here suggest that the market is semi-strong efficient with observed stock price reaction up to 25 days prior to the event. LITERATURE REVIEW Some research suggests that the stock market actually increases after a major hurricane as was the case for three major storms, Andrew (1992), Hugo (1989), and Camille (1969). Historically, big hurricanes and other natural disasters reduce short term output while boosting economic growth over the long-term through reconstruction. This balance of positives and negatives tends to reduce the overall economic impact of hurricanes (Barton, 2005). The Bush administration budgeted $10.5 billion for repair and reconstruction making Hurricane Katrina the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. This expenditure does not consider opportunity costs resulting from the interruption in the oil supply nationwide and lost grain exports. The overall economic impact on Louisiana and Mississippi was estimated to be over $150 billion. Hurricane Katrina could not have hit the oil industry at a worse time. With oil prices already on the rise, the effects of Katrina drove prices at the pump over $3 per gallon. This was caused by flooded refineries and damaged drilling rigs. The shut down period of refineries and drilling rigs resulted in a 12% (630 thousand barrels) daily loss in oil production in the U.S. (CBS) METHODOLOGY The study sample includes fifteen oil companies which either had operations in the Gulf of Mexico or import oil to refineries in the Gulf. …


There is never-ending race for the competitive advantage that forces RFID technology service integrators to focus more on used technology qualitative aspects and theirs impacts inside RFID ecosystem. This paper contributes to UHF RFID reader qualitative parameters evaluation and assessment problematic. It presents and describes in details indirect method and procedure of sensitivity measurement created for UHF RFID readers. We applied this method on RFID readers within prepared test environment and confirmed long term intention and recognized trend. Due to regulations limitations, there is not possible to increase output power over defined limits, but there are possibilities to influence reader sensitivity. Our proposal is to use customized comparative measurement method with insertion loss compensation for return link. Beside the main goal achievement, results show as well the qualitative status of development snapshot of reader. Method and following experiment helped us to gain an external view, current values of important parameters and motivation we want to follow up on as well as compared developed reader with its commercial competitors.


We present a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations at z>5 from the Feedback In Realistic Environments project, spanning a halo mass range M_halo~10^8-10^12 M_sun at z=5. We predict the stellar mass-halo mass relation, stellar mass function, and luminosity function in several bands from z=5-12. The median stellar mass-halo mass relation does not evolve strongly at z=5-12. The faint-end slope of the luminosity function steepens with increasing redshift, as inherited from the halo mass function at these redshifts. Below z~6, the stellar mass function and ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function slightly flatten below M_star~10^4.5 M_sun (fainter than M_1500~-12), owing to the fact that star formation in low-mass halos is suppressed by the ionizing background by the end of reionization. Such flattening does not appear at higher redshifts. We provide redshift-dependent fitting functions for the SFR-M_halo, SFR-M_star, and broad-band magnitude-stellar mass relations. We derive the star formation rate density and stellar mass density at z=5-12 and show that the contribution from very faint galaxies becomes more important at z>8. Furthermore, we find that the decline in the z~6 UV luminosity function brighter than M_1500~-20 is largely due to dust attenuation. Approximately 37% (54%) of the UV luminosity from galaxies brighter than M_1500=-13 (-17) is obscured by dust at z~6. Our results broadly agree with current data and can be tested by future observations.


Chemical reactions can be induced at a distance due to the propagation of electromagnetic signals during intermediate chemical stages. Although it is well known at optical frequencies, e.g. photosynthetic reactions, electromagnetic signals hold true for much lower frequencies as well. In E. coli bacteria such electromagnetic signals can be generated by electric transitions between energy levels describing electrons moving around DNA loops. The electromagnetic signals between different bacteria within a community is a "wireless" version of intercellular communication found in bacterial communities connected by "nanowires". The wireless broadcasts can in principle be of both the AM and FM variety due to the magnetic flux periodicity in electron energy spectra in bacterial DNA orbital motions.


Children in the UK over the last fifteen years have grown up surrounded by mobile technology. Information is accessed through a plethora of hardware including laptop computers and more prevalently through "hand held" mobile devices, including mobile phones, mp3 players and tablet computers. The vast majority of children in this generation (born 1995 – 2010, termed digital natives) have a growing familiarity with such technology and by school entry age, are familiar with the use of mobile technologies.

The challenge for educationalists is to harness this proficiency with technology in the classroom. Whilst hand held technologies are starting to be used in several subjects across the primary curriculum [1], it has been suggested that the development of effective pedagogical approaches to TEL has significantly lagged behind technological advances [2].

Science, most particularly investigative experimentation, is an ideal opportunity for children to use hand held devices, due to the accessibility and mobility of this technology. This study aims to investigate the scope of embedding tablet computer use during experimentation; specifically to explore the extent by which iPads can have an impact upon the acquisition of skills e.g. planning for upper Key stage 2 (10 - 11 year old) children.

The research was approached from an interpretivist paradigm with mainly qualitative data collection methods being used. Before undertaking the research, extensive negotiations and planning sessions were undertaken with the class teachers to ensure the experimental investigations were designed at an appropriate level of challenge and integrated within the existing cross-curricular scheme of work.

The children carried out eight investigations over a period of 7 days (in one 2 day block and another 5 day block) and had access to their own individual iPad throughout the experimentation process. The researchers undertook semi-structured observations to determine how the children used the iPads throughout the experiments, with four main considerations in mind in terms of autonomy, which were taken from recent research in the area [3].

In order to achieve triangulation of data, semi-structured small group interviews were carried out following experimentation to allow the children to provide detailed information of their views of how iPads impacted upon their learning. Staff also completed structured reflective responses to taught sessions.

The data shows that there was a significant impact of using Ipads during scientific investigations, the most prominent features being improved planning and experimental outcome recording. Peer assessment and sharing ideas, especially in terms of discussion surrounding experimental results were prevalent. It is hoped to develop this work to inform future pedagogic approaches to promoting investigational science skills in young learners.


Abstract This article argues that the involvement of technical experts in decision making promotes better environmental results while simultaneously recognizing the uncertainty in science. India's record as a progressive jurisdiction in environmental matters through its proactive judiciary is internationally recognized. The neoteric National Green Tribunal of India (NGT) – officially described as a 'specialised body equipped with necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues' – is a forum which offers greater plurality for environmental justice. The NGT, in exercising wide powers, is staffed by judicial and technical expert members who decide cases in an open forum. The experts are 'central', rather than 'marginal', to the NGT's decision-making process. This article draws on theoretical insights developed by Lorna Schrefler and Peter Haas to analyze the role of scientific experts as decision makers within the NGT. Unprecedented interview access provides data that grants an insight into the internal decision-making processes of the five benches of the NGT. Reported cases, supported by additional comments of bench members, illustrate the wider policy impact of scientific knowledge and its contribution to the NGT's decision-making process.


Abstract Introduction Studies report contradicting results on the incidence of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS) and its association with seasons. We aim to assess the IHPS incidence in the Netherlands and to determine whether seasonal variation is present in a nationwide cohort. Materials and Methods All infants with IHPS hospitalized in the Netherlands between 2007 and 2017 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Incidence rates per 1,000 livebirths (LB) were calculated using total number of LB during the matched month, season, or year, respectively. Seasonal variation based on month of birth and month of surgery was analyzed using linear mixed model and one-way ANOVA, respectively. Results A total of 2,479 infants were included, of which the majority was male (75.9%). Median (interquartile range) age at surgery was 34 (18) days. The average IHPS incidence rate was 1.28 per 1,000 LB (variation: 1.09–1.47 per 1,000 LB). We did not find a conclusive trend over time in IHPS incidence. Differences in incidence between season of birth and season of surgery were not significant (p = 0.677 and p = 0.206, respectively). Conclusion We found an average IHPS incidence of 1.28 per 1,000 LB in the Netherlands. Our results showed no changing trend in incidence and no seasonal variation.


What kind of denial does it take to look at a major industrial city in the midst of a crisis of self-reinvention involving millions of dollars of urban infrastructure, and see only a small country town going about its business as usual? And how does this relate to the strategic marketing of an urbanised coastal tourist destination that downplays the amenities of urban life in favour of the intangible qualities of small town experience? Whatever its literal dimensions in terms of population or location, the imagined small country town functions—in Australian media and other public discourse—in multiple ways. The country town image is, on one hand, easily dismissed and criticised and, on the other hand, a source of comfort and reassurance. A relatively stable image of the country town continues to make a curious kind of sense, at least in terms of seemingly persistent national myths and ideals. 'Come on,' such an image seems to proclaim, 'we're all Australians, we know what country life is about'. Of course, most Australians don't have direct experience of small country towns. Rather, they have a perverse familiarity with popular Australian television serials and movies—from Bellbird to A Bed of Roses, as well as imaginary communities from Mt Thomas to Summer Bay (see Botterill)—and how they promote images of 'rural' or regional life in a national context. It's this familiarity with a set of ideas about rural charm and hospitality that makes media promotion of Wollongong as a small country town


SUMMARY Animal recording is an interactive process that involves several practices. The efficiency of the process is essential to ensure the utility of outcomes necessary for sustainable participation. Most evaluation approaches define efficiency in economic terms. Animal recording systems lack outputs of direct economic benefits; hence, efficiency evaluation based on utility derived from the records would be more laudable. In that case, a system is considered efficient when outcome-utility-dependent participation is sustained. Approaches for evaluating efficiency based on the utility of outputs are, however, unavailable. The current study presents an approach for evaluating the efficiency of animal recording based on output utility using the institutional analysis and development framework. The approach evaluates efficiency by incorporating institutional issues influencing the operations of the system and its outcomes. It considers animal recording as an action arena with various actors in three action situations, namely: animal identification and registration, pedigree and performance recording and animal evaluation and information utilization. The variables include the positions occupied by actors, their actions, the outcomes associated with the actions, the level of control over choice, available information and the cost and benefits of engagement. As an interactive process, animal recording has rules that order relationships between actors. It also exists within a biophysical system and community whose attributes, combined with the rules, influence the actions and outcomes of recording. These are evaluated by looking at rule formation structures, enforcement and compliance and the level of interaction between the recording system and other biophysical characteristics and the community for their effects on outcomes, their utility and sustainability of recording. Participatory tools, Stakeholder matrix and Venn diagrams are used to identify the variables, quantify their interactions and link them to outputs. The applicability of the approach is tested using a case where information systems are imperfect. The approach successfully identifies missing actors within the action arena, poor rule conformance due to weak enforcement agencies and the absence of rules that govern outcomes and ensure the utility of outcomes as hindrances to the utility of recording and hence the efficiency of the system. It may therefore be used to evaluate the efficiency of systems whose outputs do not have a direct market value and in situations where quantitative market information is scarce.


Big data trends, have gained popularity among practitioners for its potential applications on accurate econometric prediction. This paper presents an application where unemployment job search indicators for the G7 countries are based on Google trends data. For each country, a set of google search keywords is identified, then a data reduction technique is applied to estimate our unemployment indicator which is considered a latent common trend. Finally the predictive performance of our indicators is assessed by an automatic stochastic specification with respect to unemployment levels and other key labour market outcomes.


Actin dynamics control activity of the transcriptional coactivator MKL1. This Podcast features an interview with Susanne Muehlich, author of a Research Article that appears in the 10 November 2015 issue of Science Signaling, about how actin dynamics can regulate gene expression. The actin cytoskeleton is highly dynamic, with actin filaments polymerizing and depolymerizing to allow cells to move, divide, or maintain their shape. In the polymerized state, actin subunits are referred to as filamentous actin (F-actin), whereas soluble actin monomers are called globular actin (G-actin). Actin dynamics can influence gene expression through changes in the relative abundances of F-actin and G-actin. The transcriptional coactivator MKL1 remains in the cytoplasm when it is bound to G-actin but translocates into the nucleus when it dissociates from G-actin. In the nucleus, MKL1 cooperates with the transcription factor SRF to promote the expression of target genes. Kircher et al. found that MKL1 must also associate with the F-actin–binding protein Filamin A to stimulate target expression. Listen to Podcast


Abstract Introduction: The incidence of malignant melanoma has been rising steadily over the past decades and Merkel cell carcinoma is a highly aggressive neuroendocrine skin tumor with a high mortality rate. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is a recommended prognostic tool in primary cutaneous malignant melanomas of intermediate thickness and in all clinically node-negative Merkel cell carcinomas. The gold standard method for identification of SLNs is lymphoscintigraphy, which involves radioactive tracers. Indocyanine green-based near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRFI) has been also used for intraoperative SLN identification. We aim to evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity of the VisionSense VS3 NIRFI device for SNL identification. This device uses stereoscopic 3D high definition for both fluorescence and visible light imaging. Our hypothesis is that SLNs may be identified transcutaneously using fluorescent dye injections and NIRFI; therefore, obviating the need for lymphoscintigraphy in the future. Methods and analysis: lymph node identification in skin malignancy using indocyanine green transcutaneously is a prospective diagnostic sensitivity study conducted at the Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery at the University Hospital Berne, Inselspital, Switzerland. The study aims at recruiting 93 patients (start date September 2017) to compare the accuracy of VisionSense VS3 camera at identifying SLNs transcutaneously with the current gold standard, lymphoscintigraphy. Moreover, a secondary objective is to determine if anatomical location of the SLN and patient factors (eg, body mass index, age) have an impact on the ability of VisionSense to detect SLNs when compared with the same gold standard. Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT 03545334.


A consimer survey panel, consisting of representative households throughout the United States, recorded their fishery product purchases for a 12-month period, beginning in February 1969. They were participants in a study conducted under the aegis of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Division of Economic Research. This paper deals mainly with study findings respecting the consumption of major species of shellfish--at home and away from home. Findings of the study indicate marked regional preferences for individual shellfish items. For example, oysters are consumed in South Atlantic states at nearly double the national per capita rate. Similarly, clams enjoy a high rate of consumption in Middle Atlantic and New England areas. All of which suggests an important correlation between consumption and tradition, as well as a persistent tendency for seafood varieties-- particularly those consumed in a "fresh" form-- to be consumed in the area of catch. The study also indicated an association between hgih income households and shellfish consumption-- with oysters a single notable exception. Age of consumer, too, has an apparent bearing on shellfish consumption, as it was found that older consumers are more disposed toward consumption of these products. With respect to consumption away from home-- it appears that half or more of the crabs and lobsters are consumed in meals outside the home, but the majority consumed of other products examined, was at home.


Background Long non-coding RAN five prime to Xist (LncRNA FTX) has been revealed to be a cancer-related lncRNA and implicated in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Besides, miR-192-5p (miR-192) or eukaryotic initiation factor 5A2 (EIF5A2) also was identified to link with the tumorigenesis of CRC. Here, we further explored the function of FTX and the regulatory relationship among FTX, miR-192 and EIF5A2 in CRC progression. Methods Levels of FTX, miR-192-5p and EIF5A2 were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) or Western blot, respectively. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion were analyzed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, flow cytometry or transwell assay, respectively. The interaction between miR-192-5p and FTX or EIF5A2 was confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter and pull-down assay. Murine xenograft model was established using LoVo cells transfected with sh-FTX. Results FTX was up-regulated in CRC tissues and cell lines, knockdown of FTX inhibited CRC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro as well as suppressed CRC tumor growth in vivo. FTX was confirmed to directly bind to miR-192-5p and negatively regulated miR-192-5p expression in CRC cells. Besides that overexpressed FTX positively modulated EIF5A2, a direct target of miR-192-5p, via miR-192-5p in CRC cells. Importantly, the inhibitory activities on CRC progression mediated by FTX deletion were reversed miR-192-5p down-regulation or EIF5A2 up-regulation. Conclusion LncRNA FTX functioned as an oncogene to contribute to CRC progression by regulating miR-192-5p/EIF5A2 axis, providing a novel insight into the pathogenesis of CRC and a promising therapeutic target for CRC treatment.


Biochemical studies have demonstrated the presence of ouabain-sensitive Na-K-ATPase in lens epithelium. The development of certain experimental cataracts has been associated with the decrease in the level of activity of this enzyme. Cytochemical investigations at the ultrastructural level to localize this important enzyme in the ocular lens are needed to exhibit the site of Na-K-ATPase action. In this investigation cytochemical methods originally described by Ernst for the localization of Na-k-atpase through K-NPPase reaction have been used for normal and cataractous ocular lens. The reaction product was observed to be present on the lateral and apical portion of the epithelial cell membranes. Mooreover, the membranes of the cortical fibers in the anterior polar and equatorial region of the lens also exhibited reaction product of Na-k-atpase. The presence of ouabain reduced the reaction product of Na-K-ATPase; however, continuous exposure to ouabain during preincubation fixation, and incubation demonstrated greater reduction in enzyme action in the lens. The Na-K-ATPase activity in the lenses of animals fed galactose decreased with increase in time on galactose diet. In this study, using ultrastructural cytochemistry, we have demonstrated gradual decrease in Na-K-ATPase activity in the lenses of galactose-fed animals.


This article hopes to make the following contributions to the existing academic scholarship: First, some legal scholars have ignored how the impeachment contributed to the modern apolitical judiciary or have construed its contribution too narrowly. This article provides a fuller explanation of the impeachment's contributions to our modern understanding of judicial independence and what properly constitutes an impeachable offense. Second, the article touches upon the contribution the debates over Chase's impeachment made to more peripheral subjects, such as the debates over jury nullification and judicial review. Third, this article fills a void in the academic literature, as there are almost no articles fully addressing the "story" of Chase's impeachment and even fewer which analyze the importance of the debates in the House of Representatives and the examination of the trial witnesses. Given the increasing attention devoted to judicial activism and persistent calls for the impeachment of federal judges, the lessons of the Chase impeachment are perhaps more relevant today than ever before. By addressing the issues mentioned above, this article endeavors to draw greater attention to a major event in American legal history and to give a turning point in the history of impeachment and the judicial branch the attention it deserves.


Abstract. Basal sliding in the ablation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet is closely associated with water from surface melt introduced to the bed in summer, yet melting of basal ice also generates subglacial water year-round. Assessments of basal melt rely on modelling with results strongly dependent upon assumptions with poor observational constraint. Here we use surface and borehole measurements to investigate the generation and fate of basal meltwater in the ablation zone of Isunnguata Sermia basin, Western Greenland. The observational data are used to constrain estimates of the heat and water balances, providing insights into subglacial hydrology during the winter months when surface melt is minimal or non-existent. Despite relatively slow ice flow speeds during winter, the basal meltwater generation from sliding friction remains many fold greater than that due to geothermal heat flux. A steady acceleration of ice flow over the winter period at our borehole sites can cause the rate of basal water generation to increase by up to 20 %. Borehole measurements show high but steady basal water pressure, rather than monotonically increasing pressure. Ice and groundwater sinks for water do not likely have sufficient capacity to accommodate the meltwater generated in winter. Analysis of basal cavity dynamics suggests that cavity opening associated with flow acceleration likely accommodates only a portion of the basal meltwater, implying a residual is routed to the terminus through a poorly connected drainage system. A forcing from cavity expansion at high pressure may explain observations of winter acceleration in Western Greenland.


As one of the most common cause of cancer death in the world, lung cancer causes approximately 1.6 million deaths annually. Among them, NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of patients in whole lung cancer patients. Ginsenoside Rg1 has been confirmed to play an important role in various diseases including cancer. As one of miRNAs, miR-126 closely involves in pathogenesis of the several types of cancers including colorectal, prostate, bladder and gastric cancer, and so on. Thus, the present study aims to investigate effects of the Ginsenoside Rg1 on NSCLC and underlying mechanism. In the study, two lung cancer cell lines including A549 and H1650 were used. It was found that expression of miR-126 was decreased in PBMC of NSCLC patients compared to healthy control. Expression of miR-126 was decreased in cancer tissue compared to paracancerous tissues in NSCLC patients. Importantly, it was found Ginsenoside Rg1 could inhibit growth of lung cancer cells. miR-126 KD remarkably increased the expression of apoptosis genes including caspase 3 and caspase 9 and decreased cell viability in lung cancer cells including A549 and H1650 cells. Interesting, in silico analysis indicated that miR-126 could target PI3K signaling pathway, which was confirmed by WB assay. KD of PI3KR2 compromised promotion of miR-126 on cell apoptosis. Similarly, it was found that KD of mTOR compromised promotion of miR-126 on cell apoptosis. Inhibition of Ginsenoside Rg1 on growth of lung cancer cells was through miR-126 and mTOR. Thus, the present study confirmed that Ginsenoside Rg1 remarkably inhibit lung cancer, which is through microRNA-126-PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway.


Oral melanoacanthosis (MA) is a rare pigmented mucosal lesion
that is considered the counterpart of cutaneous melanoacanthoma.
Microscopically the superficial epithelium shows mild
to moderate acanthosis, spongiosis and prominent dendritic
melanin producing melanocytes, which are present throughout
the spinous keratinocytes. Reported cases show predilection for
black females and the most common locations in decreasing frequency
are buccal mucosa, lip, palate and gingiva. Although its
pathogenesis remains uncertain, its clinical behavior is sugestive
of a reactive origin. The clinical appearance of oral MA is non
diagnostic and therefore biopsy is mandatory to differentiate
from other melanocytic lesions, including melanoma.


In this paper we use ASPECS, the ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field in band 3 and band 6, to place blind constraints on the CO luminosity function and the evolution of the cosmic molecular gas density as a function of redshift up to z ∼ 4.5. This study is based on galaxies that have been selected solely through their CO emission and not through any other property. In all of the redshift bins the ASPECS measurements reach the predicted "knee" of the CO luminosity function (around 5 × 109 K km s−1 pc2). We find clear evidence of an evolution in the CO luminosity function with respect to z ∼ 0, with more CO-luminous galaxies present at z ∼ 2. The observed galaxies at z ∼ 2 also appear more gas-rich than predicted by recent semi-analytical models. The comoving cosmic molecular gas density within galaxies as a function of redshift shows a drop by a factor of 3–10 from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 0 (with significant error bars), and possibly a decline at z > 3. This trend is similar to the observed evolution of the cosmic star formation rate density. The latter therefore appears to be at least partly driven by the increased availability of molecular gas reservoirs at the peak of cosmic star formation (z ∼ 2).


In this essay, I revisit the notions of 'informal education practices' and 'formal education practices' taken in their generic sense. After remembering the meanings commonly attributed to both terms, I reflect upon them specifically as fulcrums of mother tongue learning. Since they are direct or indirect participants in the daily social practices, we learn the discourse genres associated with them. With them, we learn not only the rules of language but also the differentiation potential of living languages, which foil the petrifying power of rules. Nevertheless, when mother tongue becomes a school subject, its differentiation potential becomes an anomaly to be corrected or cured. It has always been so all through the whole history of the formal education of the Portuguese language in school institutions.


12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), a potent tu mor promoter, induced phenotypic differentiation in the human thymic acute lymphocytic leukemia cell line, HPB-ALL. Within 30 min of seeding in the presence of TPA, the cells formed a smooth round shape. After a 7-day exposure to TPA, most of the cells became smaller and reminiscent of large or atypical lymphocytes. Electron microscopic analysis evidenced mor phological differentiation in TPA-treated HPB-ALL cells. Thymic antigens stained with monoclonal antibody OKT6 were dra matically reduced while Leu2a-positive cells were increased in the TPA-treated HPB-ALL cells. However, OKT3-positive cells did not appear in these TPA-treated cells for up to 7 days. Upon TPA-induced phenotypic differentiation, the growth rate of cells was significantly inhibited, their ability to incorporate DMA and RNA via 3H-labeled precursors was reduced, their ability to bind sheep red blood cell rosettes was significantly increased, and the proportion of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-positive cells was decreased.


The study of the human brain is growing more sophisticated with the advent of more advanced neuroimaging technologies. This development- colliding with the aging of the baby boomers- is driving the evolution of a new area of study and practice: brain health. The study of the human brain is simultaneously mysterious and fulfilling as we continue to learn more about its grand architecture and function. This wonderful two-to-four-pound structure is the single greatest and most complicated system ever designed in the history of the universe. All of our thoughts, emotions, and movements are products of thousands of neurons firing in response to a particular environmental input. Our brain is the birthplace of our identity, and while we should strive to learn everything we can about this part of our being, we can only speculate about and imagine the brain's capabilities. Despite our primitive understanding of how the brain functions, we are now better informed-and neuroscience has unleashed findings both transforming and exciting. The study of the human brain may be that final great frontier of exploration that yields answers to our most complex questions. Excitement about human brain study has accelerated with the advent of more advanced neuroimaging technologies, and this is colliding with the aging of the baby boomers (a cohort of seventy-six million strong born between 1946 and 1964), a generation that is passionate and educated about health. What has now evolved is a new area of study and practice known as brain health, one of the most popular and discussed topics in healthcare today. It is quite common to read about brain health in consumer magazines and major newspapers, or to see programs about it on television. The topic has permeated the business sector, healthcare and the insurance industry, assisted living, libraries, lifelong learning institutes and education, the media, and religion. While such information dissemination is likely positive for educating the general public, there remains a need to define brain health and to rely on scientifically based standards for consumer application. Underlying the increased attention to the human brain and brain health is a fundamental question: Can the human brain be shaped for health and, if so, how does this occur? Another question of equal importance ponders what we can do, if anything, to promote our brain health. This issue of Generations addresses these questions by providing a critical review of some of the major areas of brain health. The purpose of this issue is multifold: to discuss neural plasticity as a primary mechanism for shaping the brain towards health; to review both the normal changes and pathologic conditions associated with the aging brain (plasticity infers both positive and negative change); to review research on the relationship between lifestyle and brain health; and to serve as a reference point for the consumer to make informed decisions about the ever-proliferating information on brain health. Brain Health Defined There is no uniform definition of brain health; terms such as "brain fitness," "cognitive fitness," and "mental fitness" are often used to mean the same thing. While the contents of this Generations are not meant to be the ultimate standard for defining brain health, it is important and useful to put forth a definition that applies especially to this issue of the journal. Brain health is the result of a dynamic process in which a person engages in behaviors and environments to shape the brain toward a healthier existence. The articles that follow support the idea that environmental input (our choice of actions and external stimuli) has an impact on our brain. The focus is to try and identify those behaviors and environments that help to shape the brain toward health. Several useful reviews have been published on the relationship between environment and the shaping of the brain towards health (Diamond and Hopson, 1998; Kotulak, 1997; Nussbaum, 2003), and this Generations will build upon these early reviews. …


A kind of lyotropic liquid crystal nanoparticle (LLC NPs) has been designed and prepared. LLC NPs are dSMO/OA/β-casein/water quaternary systems, and their cubic or hexagonal microstructures have been characterized by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The phase transition of LLC NPs takes place with ratio and pH adjustments. The properties, such as cytotoxicity, stability, drug encapsulation and release ability, have been investigated with MTT assay, cryo-TEM and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results showed that LLC NPs were nontoxic to cells and stable to enzymatic degradation. Hydrophilic drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX·HCl) could be effectively encapsulated in LLC NPs and its release rate could be regulated by pH. It was concluded that LLC NPs are potential nanocarriers in nanomedicine technologies. We hope that this work provides new guidelines for the rational design of LLC NP systems with lipopeptides for biomedical applications.


Contrary to the neo-liberal thesis that entrepreneuring is an open and accessible endeavour where personal effort alone determines reward and status, it has been demonstrated that there is a persistent, but occluded, gender bias within the entrepreneurial discourse. Accordingly, women are positioned as lacking and incomplete men; however, despite calls to employ feminist theory as an analytical frame to demonstrate the reproduction of such subordination, there is scant evidence this has emerged. Within this article, we respond to this call by demonstrating how post structural feminist analysis reveals the gendered assumptions informing entrepreneurship theory that embed prevailing hetero-normative assumptions. These assumptions limit the epistemological scope of contemporary research which positions women as failed or reluctant entrepreneurial subjects; as such, in the absence of feminist theorizing these analyses remain descriptive rather than explanatory. Accordingly, the current entrepreneurial research agenda is in danger of reaching an epistemological dead end in the absence of a reflexive critical perspective to inform the idea of who can be and what might be an entrepreneur. Finally, we draw upon these arguments to reflect upon current approaches to theorizing within the broader field of entrepreneurial enquiry.


Objectives: To the best of our knowledge, there is no published study regarding use of IFN beta-1a in the treatment of severe COVID-19. In this randomized clinical trial efficacy and safety of IFN {beta}-1a has been evaluated in patients with severe COVID-19. Methods: Forty-two patients in the interferon group received IFN beta-1a in addition to the standard of care. Each 44 micrograms/ml (12 million IU/ml) of interferon beta-1a was subcutaneously injected three times weekly for two consecutive weeks. The control group received only the standard of care. Primary outcome of study was time to reach clinical response. Secondary outcomes duration of hospital stay, length of ICU stay, 28-day mortality, effect of early or late administration of IFN on mortality, adverse effects and complications during the hospitalization. Results: As primary outcome, time to the clinical response was not significantly different between the IFN and the control groups (9.7 +/- 5.8 vs. 8.3 +/- 4.9 days respectively, P=0.95). On day 14, 66.7% vs. 43.6% of patients in the IFN group and the control group were discharged, respectively (OR= 2.5; 95% CI: 1.05- 6.37). The 28-day overall mortality was significantly lower in the IFN then the control group (19% vs. 43.6% respectively, p= 0.015). Early administration significantly reduced mortality (OR=13.5; 95% CI: 1.5-118). Conclusion: Although did not change time to reach the clinical response, adding to the standard of care significantly increased discharge rate on day 14 and decreased 28-day mortality. Clinical Trial Registration ID #IRCT20100228003449N28.


Thymidine kinase (TK1) is a key enzyme in the salvage pathway of nucleotide metabolism and catalyzes the first rate-limiting step in the synthesis of dTTP, transfer of a gamma-phosphate group from a nucleoside triphosphate to the 5′-hydroxyl group of thymidine, thus forming dTMP. TK1 is cytosolic and its activity fluctuates during cell cycle coinciding with the DNA synthesis rate and disappears during mitosis. This fluctuation is important for providing a balanced supply of dTTP for DNA replication. The cell cycle specific activity of TK1 is regulated at the transcriptional level, but posttranslational mechanisms seem to play an important role for the level of functional TK1 protein as well. Thus, the C-terminal of TK1 is known to be essential for the specific degradation of the enzyme at the G2/M phase. In this work, we have studied the effect of deletion of the C-terminal 20, 40, and 44 amino acids of TK1 on in vitro stability, oligomerization, and enzyme kinetics. We found that deletion of the C-terminal fold markedly increased the stability as well as the catalytic activity.


Gate oxide shorts (GOS) defect is a critical factor in influencing yield or reliability of the wafer. Due to the conventional test vehicles are not appropriate to collect mass of testing data for GOS defect densities detection and have different manufacture process from the normal transistors resulting in the high testing cost. In this paper, a novel pseudo transistor matrix (PTM) is proposed for GOS density extraction which has almost the same structure as normal transistor. By assuming that GOS are completely independent, the defect density of GOS is extracted from the layout attributes and yield with PTM as a test vehicle to collect mass of testing data. Experimental results show that the extracted GOS defect density is in a good agreement with inline e-test data.


This dissertation examines the origins and justification for the "any evidence" rule which has been a feature of New Zealand family law for many years. The rule provides judicial discretion to admit evidence in the Family Court which would be otherwise inadmissible. Its ongoing value has never been closely examined, although the rule has frequently been criticised.  Selected cases have been examined to determine if reliance on the Evidence Act without the "any evidence" rule would have the deleterious outcomes contemplated. Analysis has shown that the rule has very little use and conversely, that the detriment caused by the rule is greater than the harm it was designed to remedy.  Repeal and reform options are considered to better achieve the specific purposes of the various family law statutes as well as improve the integrity of the Family Court process overall.


Charging batteries of light electric vehicles require chargers with high efficiency and a high-power factor. To meet this need, this paper presents a bridgeless single-power-conversion battery charger composed of an isolated stepup AC-DC converter with a series resonance circuit. The bridgeless configuration reduces the conduction losses associated with the input diode rectifier, and the series-resonance circuit reduces the reverserecovery losses of the output diodes by providing zerocurrent switching. In addition, direct and series-resonance current injection enables bidirectional core excitation by the transformer, thereby allowing high power capability. The control algorithm derived from feedback linearization is also developed, which allows the proposed charger to correct the power factor and regulate the output power in a single-stage power conversion. This simple circuit structure leads to high efficiency and a high-power factor. The theoretical concepts of the proposed charger are verified experimentally using a 1.7 kW prototype.


BACKGROUND
Clinician-parent interaction and health system influences on parental acceptance of prescribing decisions for children with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) may be important determinants of antibiotic use.

OBJECTIVE
To achieve a deeper understanding of parents' acceptance, or otherwise, of clinicians' antibiotic prescribing decisions for children with RTIs.

METHODS
Qualitative interviews with parents of child patients who had recently consulted in primary care with a RTI in four European countries, with a five-stage analytic framework approach (familiarization, developing a thematic framework from interview questions and emerging themes, indexing, charting and interpretation).

RESULTS
Fifty of 63 parents accepted clinicians' management decisions, irrespective of antibiotic prescription. There were no notable differences between networks. Parents ascribed their acceptance to a trusting and open clinician-patient relationship, enhanced through continuity of care, in which parents felt able to express their views. There was a lack of congruence about antibiotics between parents and clinicians in 13 instances, mostly when parents disagreed about clinicians' decision to prescribe (10 accounts) rather than objecting to withholding antibiotics (three accounts). All but one parent adhered to the prescribing decision, although some modified how the antibiotic was administered.

CONCLUSIONS
Parents from contrasting countries indicated that continuity of care, open communication in consultations and clinician-patient trust was important in acceptance of management of RTI in their children and in motivating adherence. Interventions to promote appropriate antibiotic use in children should consider a focus on eliciting parents' perspectives and promoting and building on continuity of care within a trusting clinician-patient relationship.


The immunofluorescent examination of nasopharyngeal secretions has been compared with conventional cell culture for the diagnosis of respiratory syncytial (RS) virus infection in children under the age of 2 years in Newcastle upon Tyne and Manchester. Two hundred and sixty-eight identifications of RS virus were made by the fluorescent method, of which 258 (96%) were confirmed culturally. In 267 children from whom virus was isolated in cell culture a positive diagnosis was made by the fluorescent method in 258 (97%). In 238 infants with bronchiolitis a diagnosis of RS virus infection was made on the basis of the fluorescent test in 185 (78%) of which 180 (97%) were subsequently confirmed in cell culture. The reasons for false results are briefly discussed. It is concluded that the method is reliable for the early diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus infection.


The thesis reconsiders key aspects of the work of the British artist Edward Robert Hughes RWS (1851-1914). A nephew of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hughes (1832-1915), Hughes made a career as a portraitist and draughtsman and as an exhibiting watercolourist, specialising in highly-finished compositions of literary and allegorical subjects. The first chapter situates the artist in the context of the late Victorian and Edwardian art world, and particularly in relation to the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle. It summarises the key relationships enjoyed by Hughes within contemporary artistic networks, investigating the extent to which these connections helped to shape his career and affected the ways in which his work was critically received. The second chapter discusses Hughes's use of drawing as a medium. It examines Hughes's drawn work in the context of Victorian exhibiting practice, casting light not only on his career as a draughtsman but on the changing status of drawings as exhibition pieces in the second half of the nineteenth century. The final chapter considers the extent to which Hughes can be characterised as a Symbolist artist. It relates his later work to Symbolist theory and practice, and investigates Hughes's personal and professional links with Symbolism as an international movement.


The motion of the human limbs results in the unique micro Doppler features which can be used for classification and recognition of different gaits. In this paper, a general human model, together with motion capture data of human motion, is displayed to calculate the expected radar echo and spectrogram of the target. Then the echoes of human torso and limbs are separated based on Chirplet signal representation. The cadence of human motion is extracted from the echo of the limbs to classify the different human gaits. Finally the validity of this feature is verified by computer simulation.


Dynamic crosstalk between growth factor receptors, cell adhesion molecules and extracellular matrix is essential for cancer cell migration and invasion. Integrins are transmembrane receptors that bind extracellular matrix proteins and enable cell adhesion and cytoskeletal organization. They also mediate signal transduction to regulate cell proliferation and survival. The type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-IR) mediates tumor cell growth, adhesion and inhibition of apoptosis in several types of cancer. We have previously demonstrated that β1 integrins regulate anchorage-independent growth of prostate cancer (PrCa) cells by regulating IGF-IR expression and androgen receptor-mediated transcriptional functions. Furthermore, we have recently reported that IGF-IR regulates the expression of β1 integrins in PrCa cells. We have dissected the mechanism through which IGF-IR regulates β1 integrin expression in PrCa. Here we report that IGF-IR is crucial for PrCa cell growth and that β1 integrins contribute to the regulation of proliferation by IGF-IR. We demonstrate that β1 integrin regulation by IGF-IR does not occur at the mRNA level. Exogenous expression of a CD4 - β1 integrin cytoplasmic domain chimera does not interfere with such regulation and fails to stabilize β1 integrin expression in the absence of IGF-IR. This appears to be due to the lack of interaction between the β1 cytoplasmic domain and IGF-IR. We demonstrate that IGF-IR stabilizes the β1 subunit by protecting it from proteasomal degradation. The α5 subunit, one of the binding partners of β1, is also downregulated along with β1 upon IGF-IR knockdown while no change is observed in the expression of the α2, α3, α4, α6 and α7 subunits. Our results reveal a crucial mechanistic role for the α5β1 integrin, downstream of IGF-IR, in regulating cancer growth.


Although research in partnership with older people has been slower to develop than that with some other service user 'groups', there are a growing number of health and social care studies that have involved older people as co-researchers. We build on this existing evidence by addressing two key areas. First, despite the growth of participatory research with older people generally, some groups tend to be excluded. We focus particularly on a project in which older people with dementia and older people from a black and minority ethnic community were involved as co-researchers. They worked with academic researchers in all stages of the research process, exploring other older people's experiences of transitions between care services. Second, recent literature suggests a lack of critical evaluation of involvement, arguing that researchers tend to emphasise the positives on the basis of retrospective narrative accounts of the process, rather than critically appraising the impact of involvement. This article offers a critical account of the impact of a participatory approach at different stages of a research project, evaluating this from the perspective of different stakeholders. In so doing, we engage with incisive critiques which claim that, far from empowering service users, much service user involvement activity contributes to their oppression. We conclude that participatory research with marginalised older people has the potential to achieve meaningful change at both individual and social levels. However, in view of its dangers and limitations, we argue the need for the impact of participatory research to be carefully evaluated from the perspectives of all parties in the process.


: The study was designed to elucidate the wave structure of heart rhythm variability (HRV) for the assessment of vegetative regulation of pacemaker activity of the sinoatrial node in 362 patients with coronary heart disease. The results were compared with the data of routine cardiologic examination. Sinus node dysfunction and weakness were shown to be accompanied by differential autonomous dysregulations that may be used as additional symptoms for the diagnosis of arrhythmias. Precision analysis of HRV permits to evaluate the arrhythmogenic events behind vegetative regulation of the sinus node, hemodynamic significance of arrhythmic episodes, and dependence of sinoatrial blockade on the degree of autonomous dysregulation. Autonomous cardioneuropathy syndrome is distinguished, its association with necrobiotic changes in the sinus node is demonstrated by electron microscopy.


Drawing on country experience, the authors analyze alternative frameworks for providing financial services. Scope of permissible activities: The integrated banking model (commercial banking fully integrated with other financial services, including investment banking) benefits both financial institutions and consumers. Potential costs, such as extending the safety net to non-deposit financial services, can be mitigated with safeguards and firewalls, which require regulatory enforcement and monitoring. Internationally, countries are moving toward the integrated model. The wider scope of services appears to improve financial stability and mitigate the risk of a banking crisis. Degree of competitiveness and contestability (openness to competition): Competitiveness need not only require many financial institutions; a concentrated system can be competitive if contestable. Allowing the liberal entry of foreign banks lowers the franchise value of (domestic) institutions, but the evidence suggests that on balance foreign entry provides important benefits. Systems should not be over-competitive, however. They should allow enough franchise value that future profits give institutions an incentive to behave prudently. Design of safety net: the design of the safety net is important in the tradeoff between ensuring the safety and soundness of financial institutions and allocating resources efficiently. A well-functioning safety net minimizes regulatory forbearance and gives banks incentives to act prudently. Owners of financial institutions behave more prudently if they have much at risk, in the form of capital, future expected profits, or their own jobs. The wrong safety net, especially the wrong deposit insurance, entails great moral hazard. Large deposit holders are more likely to provide market discipline if they are not covered by deposit insurance (explicit or implicit), if disclosure is extensive, and if the accounting framework is adequate. Supervision: Best international practice suggests that supervision of the financial conglomerate should probably be consolidated in one agency. Supervisors should have incentives both to monitor and to take appropriate action. Supervisory salaries should be sufficient, relative to those in the private sector, to attract and retain competent and motivated staff.


This study examines the impact of tax policy uncertainty (TPU) on analysts' forecasts and managers' interim estimates of effective tax rates (ETRs). We adopt a broad definition of TPU that encompasses both the legislative and regulatory processes and perform tests to validate a news-based measure of TPU consistent with our definition. We document that 1) analysts' implied ETR forecasts are less accurate and more disperse during periods of high TPU, 2) managers' ETR estimates are less accurate during periods of high TPU, and 3) the presence of relatively inaccurate management ETR estimates strengthens the effects of TPU on analysts' ETR forecasts. We further find that firm-level tax-related complexity exacerbates the effects of TPU on analysts' and managers' ETR predictions. Overall, our results are consistent with uncertainty surrounding tax policy impairing analysts' and managers' ability to assess and predict future tax-related fundamentals, thus imposing real costs on managers and market participants.


This paper addresses the problem of rapidly driving a linear system's state near a manifold. These manifold or algebraic constraints represent desired surfaces in the state space whose neighborhood the system is required to move to. For practical reasons only linear type controls are allowed. To solve this, we propose to reformulate the original problem by extending the state space to include additional dynamics that will be part of the controller. The design involves a two-part control which make use of a linear dynamic as well as static feedback control. The feedback gains are chosen so that the extended system is stable. Furthermore they are adjusted so that the rate of the decay of the controller states will go to zero "faster" than the rate of the original states. For a scalar case we present a complete characterization on how to select the eigen values allocations to achieve the requirement. Examples are presented to illustrate the suggested approach.


Labour market restructuring and the emergence of the 'service economy' have had profound impacts on the nature of work and the gender composition of employment in industrialised countries. Stagnating participation rates for low skilled men suggests that this cohort is struggling to adjust to the demands of the new economy. Centred around detailed case studies of two strategically chosen female dominated occupations, this research uses occupational sex segregation - a concept traditionally used to explain women's employment outcomes – to understand what supports and what deters low skilled men from obtaining employment in traditionally female care occupations in Australia. The occupations selected for case study were aged care and child care. The case study approach involved 68 interviews with men who might take jobs in these occupations (i.e. unemployed men), employers, male workers and clients. The research finds that there are a number of factors operating on both the supply and demand side of the labour market that affect men's willingness and ability to gain employment within these 'feminine' caring occupations. Gender essentialism was central to many of these processes and the paper highlights the mechanisms by which this operates to limit men's movement into female dominated care occupations. Despite the power of gender essentialism in producing occupational sex segregation, the research also finds that processes on both the supply and demand side reduced or moderated its impact. The paper concludes by discussing the implication these findings have for the ways in which gender segregation is theorised and generated in the workplace.


We propose an optomechanics experiment that can search for signatures of a fundamentally classical theory of gravity and in particular of the many-body Schrodinger-Newton (SN) equation, which governs the evolution of a crystal under a self-gravitational field. The SN equation predicts that the dynamics of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator's center-of-mass wave function differ from the predictions of standard quantum mechanics [H. Yang, H. Miao, D.-S. Lee, B. Helou, and Y. Chen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 170401 (2013)]. This difference is largest for low-frequency oscillators, and for materials, such as tungsten or osmium, with small quantum fluctuations of the constituent atoms around their lattice equilibrium sites. Light probes the motion of these oscillators and is eventually measured in order to extract valuable information on the pendulum's dynamics. Due to the nonlinearity contained in the SN equation, we analyze the fluctuations of measurement results differently than standard quantum mechanics. We revisit how to model a thermal bath, and the wave-function collapse postulate, resulting in two prescriptions for analyzing the quantum measurement of the light. We demonstrate that both predict features, in the outgoing light's phase fluctuations' spectrum, which are separate from classical thermal fluctuations and quantum shot noise, and which can be clearly resolved with state of the art technology.


In many bacteria, LuxS functions as a quorum sensing (QS) molecule synthase. Its product, auto-inducer-2 (AI-2) plays a role in regulation of various bacterial activities in concert with cell population density. LuxS also has a second more central metabolic function in the activated methyl cycle (AMC) which generates the Sadenosylmethionine (SAM) required by methyltransferases and recycles the product via methionine. Helicobacter pylori lacks an enzyme catalysing homocysteine to methionine conversion, rendering the AMC incomplete and thus making any metabolic role of LuxSHp uncertain. Consequently, the mechanism underlying phenotypic changes upon luxS inactivation is not always clear.
The aims of this project were to define the metabolic role of LuxS in H. pylori; to assess whether LuxSHp effects on bacterial motility were through metabolic effects or via production of the signalling molecule AI-2; and to explore the mechanism underlying motility phenotypic changes upon luxSHp inactivation.
luxSHp is located next to genes annotated as cysKHp and metBHp, which are involved in cysteine and methionine metabolism in other bacteria. This study showed that isogenic mutants in luxSHp, cysKHp and metBHp could not grow without added cysteine (whereas wild-type could), suggesting roles in cysteine synthesis. Together with data from metabolite analyses, it confirmed that cysK-metB-luxS encode the capacity to generate cysteine from products of the incomplete AMC of H. pylori in a process of reverse transsulphuration. Consequently, the misnamed genes cysKHp and metBHp were recommended to be renamed mccAHp (methionine-to-cysteine-conversion gene A) and mccBHp, respectively.
Data presented in this thesis also showed that disruption of luxS in H. pylori renders it non-motile, whereas disruption of mccA or mccB does not, implying that the loss of phenotype is not due to disruption of cysteine provision. The motility defect of the ΔluxSHp mutant could be genetically complemented with luxSHp and also by addition of in vitro synthesised AI-2, but not by addition of cysteine. Microscopy and immunoblotting further revealed that the motility defect of the ΔluxSHp mutant likely resulted from a reduction in the number and length of flagella due to loss of AI-2. This is supported by data obtained from quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR).
In conclusion, this study looked into the metabolic capacity of a three-gene cluster in H. pylori, including luxS. It showed that LuxSHp has a previously undescribed metabolic function in a cysteine provision pathway through a process of reverse transsulphuration. It also defined the precise steps in this pathway, and re-defined the roles of and renamed the two previously misnamed genes in the luxSHp cluster. It then addressed the controversial topic of the role of LuxS in bacteria: apart from being a central metabolic enzyme, is it a QS signalling molecule synthase? This study distinguished between the mechanisms underlying the alteration in motility of H. pylori ΔluxS mutants, and clarified whether this originated from a disruption of cysteine metabolism or signalling. Results showed that LuxS and its product, AI-2, influence motility via regulating flagellar gene transcription, suggesting the existence of an additional role for LuxS in H. pylori as a signalling molecule synthase.


Background
Celecoxib and low-dose aspirin might decrease risk of breast cancer recurrence.

Methods
In the Canadian Cancer Trials Group MA.27, postmenopausal hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients were randomly assigned (2 × 2) to adjuvant exemestane or anastrozole, and celecoxib or placebo. Low-dose aspirin of 81 mg or less was a stratification factor. Due to concerns about cardiac toxicity, celecoxib use was stopped in December 2004, while stratification by aspirin use was removed through protocol amendment. We examined the effects of celecoxib and low-dose aspirin on event-free survival (EFS), defined as time from random assignment to time of locoregional or distant disease recurrence, new primary breast cancer, or death from any cause; distant disease-free survival (DDFS); and overall survival (OS). All statistical tests were two-sided.

Results
Random assignment to celecoxib (n = 811, 50.0%) or placebo (n = 811, 50.0%) was discontinued after 18 months (n = 1622). At a median of 4.1 years' follow-up, among 1622 patients, 186 (11.5%) patients had an EFS event: 80 (4.9%) had distant relapse, and 125 (7.7%) died from any cause. Celecoxib did not statistically significantly impact EFS, DDFS, or OS in univariate analysis (respectively, P = .92, P = .55, and P = .56) or multivariable analysis (respectively, P = .74, P = .60, and P = .76). Low-dose aspirin use (aspirin users n = 476, 21.5%; non-aspirin users n = 1733, 78.5%) was associated in univariate analyses with worse EFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12 to 1.96, P = 0.006) and worse OS (HR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.35 to 2.61, P < .001). After adjusting for baseline characteristics and treatment arm, aspirin use showed no statistical association with EFS (P = .08) and DDFS (P = .82), but was associated with statistically worse OS (HR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.13 to 2.49, P = .01).

Conclusion
Random assignment to short-term (≤18 months) celecoxib as well as use of low-dose aspirin showed no effect on DDFS and EFS in multivariable analysis. Low-dose aspirin increased "all-cause" mortality, presumably because of higher preexisting cardiovascular risks.


Nonstationarity is one major issue in hydrological models, especially in design rainfall analysis. Design rainfalls are typically estimated by annual maximum rainfalls (AMRs) of observations below 50 years in many parts of the world, including South Korea. However, due to the lack of data, the time-dependent nature may not be sufficiently identified by this classic approach. Here, this study aims to explore design rainfall with nonstationary condition using century-long reanalysis products that help one to go back to the early 20th century. Despite its useful representation of the past climate, the reanalysis products via observational data assimilation schemes and models have never been tested in representing the nonstationary behavior in extreme rainfall events. We used daily precipitations of two century-long reanalysis datasets as the ERA-20c by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the 20th century reanalysis (20CR) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The AMRs from 1900 to 2010 were derived from the grids over South Korea. The systematic errors were downgraded through quantile delta mapping (QDM), as well as conventional stationary quantile mapping (SQM). The evaluation result of the bias-corrected AMRs indicated the significant reduction of the errors. Furthermore, the AMRs present obvious increasing trends from 1900 to 2010. With the bias-corrected values, we carried out nonstationary frequency analysis based on the time-varying location parameters of generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution. Design rainfalls with certain return periods were estimated based on the expected number of exceedance (ENE) interpretation. Although there is a significant range of uncertainty, the design quantiles by the median parameters showed the significant relative difference, from −30.8% to 42.8% for QDM, compared with the quantiles by the multi-decadal observations. Even though the AMRs from the reanalysis products are challenged by various errors such as quantile mapping (QM) and systematic errors, the results from the current study imply that the proposed scheme with employing the reanalysis product might be beneficial to predict the future evolution of extreme precipitation and to estimate the design rainfall accordingly.


When mandibular permanent incisors erupt lingually to the corresponding primary tooth, the lingually erupted permanent incisor should be allowed to correct itself. This self correction will usually occur by eight years of age. If the primary incisor is still present at eight years of age, it should be considered overretained. Extraction is indicated. No primary mandibular central incisors are indicated for extraction, when the mandibular permanent central incisors initially erupt malaligned. In addition, if there is an apparent lack of space for the unerupted mandibular lateral incisor after the permanent central incisors have erupted, wait for the permanent lateral incisor to erupt fully. This waiting period allows for maximum intercanine width to occur. Other factors can allow for further improvement of the malaligned mandibular permanent incisors.


We present COPAINS (Code for Orbital Parametrization of Astrometrically Inferred New Systems), an innovative tool developed to identify previously undiscovered companions detectable via direct imaging, based on changes in stellar proper motions across multiple astrometric catalogues. This powerful procedure allows for dynamical predictions of the possible masses and separations of unseen companions compatible with observed astrometric trends, marginalized over unknown orbital elements. Validating our approach using well-constrained systems, we found that our tool provides a good indication of the region of the parameter space where undetected secondaries may be located. Comparing the output of the code to the measured or expected sensitivity from various imaging instruments, this in turn enables us to robustly select the most promising targets for direct imaging campaigns searching for low-mass companions. Such an informed selection method promises to reduce the null detection rates from current programmes and will significantly increase the current census of wide brown dwarfs and planetary companions to stars, which remain extremely rare in the surveys conducted so far.


\textbf{G}raph \textbf{C}onvolutional \textbf{N}etwork (\textbf{GCN}) is widely used in graph data learning tasks such as recommendation. However, when facing a large graph, the graph convolution is very computationally expensive thus is simplified in all existing GCNs, yet is seriously impaired due to the oversimplification. To address this gap, we leverage the \textit{original graph convolution} in GCN and propose a \textbf{L}ow-pass \textbf{C}ollaborative \textbf{F}ilter (\textbf{LCF}) to make it applicable to the large graph. LCF is designed to remove the noise caused by exposure and quantization in the observed data, and it also reduces the complexity of graph convolution in an unscathed way. Experiments show that LCF improves the effectiveness and efficiency of graph convolution and our GCN outperforms existing GCNs significantly. Codes are available on \url{this https URL}.


Purpose – This article aims to be an expository introduction to Robert Rosen's anticipatory systems, the theory of which provides the conceptual basis for foresight studies.Design/methodology/approach – The ubiquity of anticipatory systems in nature is explained.Findings – Causality is not violated by anticipatory systems, and teleology is an integral aspect of science.Practical implications – A terse exposition for a general readership, such as the present article, by definition cannot get into too many details. For further exploration the reader is referred to the recent book More than Life Itself by the author.Originality/value – The topic of anticipatory systems in particular, and methods of relational biology in general, provide important tools for foresight studies. It is the author's hope that this brief glimpse into the world of relational biology piques the interest of some readers to pursue the subject further.


Electron detachment from O− is important for understanding of lightning‐induced upper atmospheric discharges. Contrary to previous studies, Rayment and Moruzzi (1978) (RM78) argue that the associative detachment reaction of O− with N2 proceeds with N2 in its ground state. Here, we analyze the experimental setup in RM78 and demonstrate that vibrationally excited N2 may have in fact contaminated the results, the theoretical approach in RM78 requires corrections, and the rate calculations provided in RM78 are inconsistent. As the vibrational temperature of N2 remains relatively low in the initial stages of gas discharges in air, i.e., streamer formation, we conclude that if in fact vibrationally excited N2 is required for the O− + N2 → N2O + e reaction to proceed, the process will happen only in later stages of the discharge, e.g., during streamer to leader transition. Controlled experiments are required to reconcile the literature on the reaction of O− with ground state N2.


The author presents the results of studies on the effect of staphylococcus toxin formation on the origination of allergic reaction. Staph. aureus strains, active producers of the alpha- and gamma-hemolysin, leukocidin, and Staph. epidermidis strains possessing no pathogenicity signs (a total of 8 strains) were used for the sensitization. Guinea pigs and rabbits served for the reproduction of anaphylactic shock and passive skin anaphylaxis after Ovary. Toxigenic properties of the strain were not the dominating factor in the formation of an allergic reaction of the organism. Immediate sensitization reaction occurred in the animals in response to the toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains not only after the administration of a reacting dose of homologous, but also of other strains of different toxigenicity. Sensitization reaction with Staph. aureus strains was more pronounced. Sensitization of the organism with Staph. epidermidis strains (possessing no pathogenicity signs) is also possible.


Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Maastrichtian strata, Gansserina gansseri-Abathamphalus mayaroensis Planktonic Foraminiferal Zone, of the AbTalkh Formation at Aitamir section (west of the Kopeh-Dagh basin) were investigated in order to evaluate the palaeoenvironmental changes (organic matter flux and bottom-water oxygenation). Maastrichtian faunal assemblages are well preserved and diversified. Fluctuations in the percentage of infaunal and epifaunal morphogroups as well as simple diversity and heterogeneity index are recorded. The study indicates that an unstable environment with oligotrophic to weakly mesotrophic condition and high oxygenated bottom water condition was prevailed during the depositionof the sediments in the latest Cretaceous.


This thesis describes the development of a Monte Carlo simulation to predict the dose rates that will be encountered by a novel robotic inspection system for the pressure tubes of an offline CANDU reactor. Simulations were performed using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) radiation transport code, version 6.1. The radiation fields within the reactor, even when shut down, are very high, and can cause significant damage to certain structural components and the electronics of the inspection system. Given that the robotic system will rely heavily on electronics, it is important to know the dose rates that will be encountered, in order to estimate the component lifetimes. The MCNP simulation was developed and benchmarked against information obtained from Ontario Power Generation and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. The benchmarking showed a good match between the simulated values and the expected values. This simulation, coupled with the accompanying user interface, represent a tool in dose field prediction that is currently unavailable. Predicted dose rates for a postulated inspection at 7 days after shutdown, with 2.5 cm of tungsten shielding around the key components, would survive for approximately 7 hours in core. This is anticipated to be enough time to perform an inspection and shows that the use of this tool can aid in designing the new inspection system.


This study pertains to an exploration of man's relationship to his sensory environment. The paradigm employed includes exposing subjects to three 2 1/2 hour sessions of (1) sensory deprivation, (2) normal stimulation, and (3) sensory overload and providing them within limits with an opportunity to regulate the amount and kind of auditory or visual input. This research paradigm permits a way of obtaining "sensory profiles" on subjects. So far, results indicate that mild-to-profound altered states of consciousness or "psychedelic" effects can be produced by sensory overload in about 40% of normal subjects. Also, subjects tend to experience time as "speeded up" in sensory overload and "slowed down" in sensory deprivation as compared to the normal control condition.


Studies show that the quality of a child's education is largely dependent on her family's wealth, race, and residence. When a child living in deep poverty is educated in a poor school district, she has little exposure to the opportunities and experiences enjoyed by children in wealthier districts. Metro-wide school districts attempt to equalize educational opportunities for all students, raise regional academic achievement levels, and generate better relations across economic, ethnic, and racial lines. These districts often form by consolidating urban and suburban school districts within a region into one centralized unit, often on a county-wide scale.


Heterogeneity to some extent is realized in every reservoir. Variable properties, namely fluid saturations and lithology, make it very difficult to accurately estimate the bulk dielectric response of the reservoir. This study isolates and identifies the dependencies of the bulk dielectric response to changing water content, quartz content, limestone content, oil content, and clay content.
 A multitude of experiments were run where the identified parameters were systematically isolated and varied to capture both the contribution from the rock matrix and the pore space. Reservoir rock was simulated by mixing the rock matrix components with the fluids to form unconsolidated core samples. The bulk dielectric properties, both the real and imaginary components, were measured for each of the seventy five different samples using a vector network analyzer (VNA) in conjunction with a dielectric probe. Individual experiments were analyzed comparatively and the dielectric responses are presented as a function of each isolated parameter.
 Understanding the general dependencies and sensitivity of the dielectric behavior of the reservoir is vital for various aspects of petroleum including electromagnetic heating and well logging. The complex and dynamic downhole environment creates coupled and mutual interactions making estimation of the bulk response very difficult. Isolation of each variable allows for the identification of the governing relationship of each parameter with the dielectric response. In this study, linearity is established for the dielectric response of all investigated parameters. The sensitivity of the complex permittivity is represented as the magnitude of change as a function of variable fluid saturation or lithology. This enables the drivers of dielectric heating to be quantified, namely the increase in complex permittivity with increasing water saturation. The established relationships allow for the estimation of the dielectric response of the reservoir as a result of heterogeneity present. Variable properties that change with position and time are accounted for by understanding the corresponding change in the complex permittivity of the reservoir.
 By illuminating the complex permittivity relationship as a function of rock minerology and fluid saturations, a more holistic understanding of absorption mechanics can be achieved. The study offers the unique ability to express the intrinsic relationship experienced under the influence of reservoir properties. The presented relationships also enable the estimation of dielectric properties as a function of reservoir heterogeneity.


it into the National Enquirer a few years ago for his finding that trial lawyers have higher testosterone levels than other lawyers. Social psychologist Alan Booth of Pennsylvania State University, who has studied testosterone in tennis and chess players, says he believes the soccer cup finding is "the first time [the effect has been] shown to occur among onlookers." Sociologist Alan Mazur ofSyracuse University, who studies testosterone and behavior in males, adds that while some scientists tend to confound dominance with physical aggression,


In the multi-stage deep drawing processes of a beta titanium alloy sheet, the formability has been investigated. The beta titanium alloy sheets have sufficient ductility at room temperature, whereas a seizure tends to occur during deep drawing due to high reactivity with other materials. To prevent the seizure, the beta titanium alloy sheet was treated by oxide coating heating, because the coated sheet was not in direct contact with the die during deep drawing due to the existence of the oxide layer. The blank used was the commercial beta titanium alloy Ti-15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al. The effect of the coating condition on the formability in the multi-stage deep drawing process was examined. It was found that long drawn cups with a height sixfold that of the diameter were successfully formed by oxide coating heating.


In genome rearrangement, given a set of genomes G and a distance measure d, the median problem asks for another genome q that minimizes the total distance [Formula: see text]. This is a key problem in genome rearrangement based phylogenetic analysis. Although this problem is known to be NP-hard, we have shown in a previous article, on circular genomes and under the DCJ distance measure, that a family of patterns in the given genomes--represented by adequate subgraphs--allow us to rapidly find exact solutions to the median problem in a decomposition approach. In this article, we extend this result to the case of linear multichromosomal genomes, in order to solve more interesting problems on eukaryotic nuclear genomes. A multi-way capping problem in the linear multichromosomal case imposes an extra computational challenge on top of the difficulty in the circular case, and this difficulty has been underestimated in our previous study and is addressed in this article. We represent the median problem by the capped multiple breakpoint graph, extend the adequate subgraphs into the capped adequate subgraphs, and prove optimality-preserving decomposition theorems, which give us the tools to solve the median problem and the multi-way capping optimization problem together. We also develop an exact algorithm ASMedian-linear, which iteratively detects instances of (capped) adequate subgraphs and decomposes problems into subproblems. Tested on simulated data, ASMedian-linear can rapidly solve most problems with up to several thousand genes, and it also can provide optimal or near-optimal solutions to the median problem under the reversal/HP distance measures. ASMedian-linear is available at http://sites.google.com/site/andrewweixu .


Exclusive π 0 electroproduction at a beam energy of 5.75 GeV has been measured with the Jefferson Lab CLAS spectrometer. Differential cross sections were measured at more than 1800 kinematic values in Q 2 , x B , t , and φ π , in the Q 2 range from 1.0 to 4.6 GeV 2 , − t up to 2 GeV 2 , and x B from 0.1 to 0.58. Structure functions σ T + (cid:15)σ L , σ TT and σ LT were extracted as functions of t for each of 17 combinations of Q 2 and x B . The data were compared directly with two handbag-based calculations including both longitudinal and transversity GPDs. Inclusion of only longitudinal GPDs very strongly underestimates σ T + (cid:15)σ L and fails to account for σ TT and σ LT , while inclusion of transversity GPDs brings the calculations into substantially better agreement with the data. There is very strong sensitivity to the relative contributions of nucleon helicity flip and helicity non-flip processes. The results confirm that exclusive π 0 electroproduction offers direct experimental access to the transversity GPDs.


Climate models predict that the Mediterranean region will experience a particularly marked increase in aridity during the 21st century when compared to other regions. This study examines the current and future potential geographical distribution of the stone pine (Pinus pinea L.), a species of considerable ecological and economic importance, in the light of aridity predictions in the Mediterranean region. For this purpose, 19 bioclimatic variables taken from the Worldclim database in 30 arc-second spatial resolution (∼1000 m) were used. The bioclimatic variables that displayed high correlations with one another when applied to 125 pieces of presence data pertaining to the species were reduced using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and the current and future potential distribution areas of the species were identified using MaxEnt 3.4.1 software. To determine the future geographical distribution of the species under the impact of climate change, the Community Climate System Model (CCSM ver. 4) was used to model the potential geographical distribution areas for two climate scenarios – Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5 – and two time periods (2041–2060 and 2061–2080). According to the model data, the predicted potential geographical distribution areas of the stone pine increase under the 2041–2060 and 2061–2080 RCP 4.5–8.5 scenarios and move northwards and towards higher altitudes. Knowledge of the current and future potential distribution maps of the species, and especially of the suitable/very suitable distribution areas, can be used in work on land use, afforestation, ecological restoration and the protection of the species.


Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are known for their uses in applications ranging from civil engineering to medicine. A bare FBG is small and light; hence, it can be easily embedded into hosting materials. However, conventional fabrication methods are generally time-consuming with reproducibility issues. A more recent strategy has been proposed to develop novel FBG-based systems by encapsulating the grating within 3-D-printed structures. This process, known as 3-D printing, is characterized by several advantages like rapid prototyping, printing precision, and high customization. The possibility of quickly personalizing the 3-D-printed sensors by customizing the infill settings makes this technique very appealing for medical purposes, especially for developing smart systems. However, the influence of printing settings on the sensor response has not been yet systematically addressed. This work aimed at combining FBG with the most popular 3-D printing technique (the fused deposition modeling [FDM]) to develop four 3-D-printed sensors with different printing profiles. We chose two patterns (triangle and gyroid) and two infill densities (30% and 60%) to investigate their influence on the sensors' response to strain, temperature, and relative humidity (RH), and on the hysteresis behavior. Then, we preliminary assess the sensor performance in a potential application scenario for FBG-based 3-D printing technology: the cardiorespiratory monitoring. The promising results confirm that our analysis can be considered the first effort to improve the knowledge about the influence of printing profiles on sensor performance and, consequently, pave the way to develop highly performant 3-D-printed sensors customized for specific applications.


We consider the classical inequality measures due to Gini, Bonferroni, and De Vergottini and we present a brief review of the three inequality indices and the associated welfare functions, in the correspondence scheme introduced by Blackorby and Donaldson, and Weymark. The three classical inequality indices incorporate different value judgments in the measurement of inequality, leading to different behavior under income transfers between individuals in the population. The welfare functions associated with the Gini, Bonferroni, and (normalized) De Vergottini indices are Schur-concave OWA functions, with larger weights for lower incomes. We examine the dual decomposition and the orness degree of the three welfare functions in the standard framework of aggregation functions on the [0; 1]n domain, and show that it offers interesting insight on the distinct and complementary nature of the classical inequality indices.


Symbolic approaches to Artificial Intelligence (AI) represent things within a domain of knowledge through physical symbols, combine symbols into symbol expressions, and manipulate symbols and symbol expressions through inference processes. While a large part of Data Science relies on statistics and applies statistical approaches to AI, there is an increasing potential for successfully applying symbolic approaches as well. Symbolic representations and symbolic inference are close to human cognitive representations and therefore comprehensible and interpretable; they are widely used to represent data and metadata, and their specific semantic content must be taken into account for analysis of such information; and human communication largely relies on symbols, making symbolic representations a crucial part in the analysis of natural language. Here we discuss the role symbolic representations and inference can play in Data Science, highlight the research challenges from the perspective of the data scientist, and argue that symbolic methods should become a crucial component of the data scientists' toolbox.


The high-resolution gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of 25 Great Lakes fish extracts confirmed the identities of several 2,3,7,8-tetrasubstituted polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs). The dominant congener in extracts from Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior fish was 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF). The fish extracts from Lake Ontario showed significant levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorobenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) besides containing considerable amounts of PCDFs. The 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents in these extracts were determined by their activities as inducers of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) in rat hepatoma H-4-II E cells in culture. For most of these samples, there was less than a 2-fold difference in the bioassay-estimated 2,3,7,8-TCDD equivalents and the total PCDDs plus PCDFs as determined by GC-MS. The bioassay-derived values were significantly (>2-fold) higher for the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario fish extracts. This difference may be due to several factors including synergistic interactive effects of the congeners in the bioassay induction response or the presence of bioassay-active components that are not detected by GC-MS analysis.


The collection of eye gaze information provides a window into many critical aspects of human cognition, health and behaviour. Additionally, many neuroscientific studies complement the behavioural information gained from eye tracking with the high temporal resolution and neurophysiological markers provided by electroencephalography (EEG). One of the essential eye-tracking software processing steps is the segmentation of the continuous data stream into events relevant to eye-tracking applications, such as saccades, fixations, and blinks. Here, we introduce DETRtime, a novel framework for time-series segmentation that creates ocular event detectors that do not require additionally recorded eye-tracking modality and rely solely on EEG data. Our end-to-end deep learning-based framework brings recent advances in Computer Vision to the forefront of the times series segmentation of EEG data. DETRtime achieves state-of-the-art performance in ocular event detection across diverse eye-tracking experiment paradigms. In addition to that, we provide evidence that our model generalizes well in the task of EEG sleep stage segmentation.


Due to heavy transportation for single-setup multidelivery (SSMD) policy in supply chain management, this model assumes carbon emission cost to obtain a realistic behavior for world environment. The transportation for buyer and vendor is considered along with setup cost reduction by using an investment function. It is assumed that the shipment lot size of each delivery is unequal and variable. The buyer inspects all received products and returns defective items to vendor for reworking process. Because of this policy, end customers will only obtain nondefective items. The analytical optimization is considered to obtain the optimum solution of the model. The main goal of this paper is to reduce the total cost by considering carbon emission during the transportation. A numerical example, graphical representation, and sensitivity analysis are given to illustrate the model.


Northwest Africa (NWA) 11962 is a lunar regolith breccia composed of a wide range of different clasts. The lunar origin of this meteorite is confirmed by oxygen isotope analysis and the Fe/Mn ratio in pyroxene and olivine. In the present study, the clasts and the matrix of NWA 11962 are characterized by optical and electron microscopy along with electron microprobe analyses and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The meteorite has a glassy impact melt matrix, which accounts for 35% of the surface area in the two thin sections examined, and which contains a very large variety of different lithic clasts, monomineralic clasts, and glass fragments. The presence of volcanic and impact-related glass spherules led to the classification of this meteorite as a regolith breccia. Lithic clasts include numerous fragments of quartz monzogabbro and lunar felsite, which are quite rare lithologies in the lunar alkali suite. However, the most abundant components in the breccia are gabbroic clasts. The mineral chemistry of the pyroxenes in the gabbroic clasts and the chemistry of various types of glass fragments in the breccia indicate an origin of the regolith from an area with low-Ti to high-Ti mare basalt volcanism. In addition to the peculiar petrographic characteristics of NWA 11962, the possible pairing relationships with other lunar meteorites are discussed.


This paper reports on the findings of a study designed to investigate the cultural and social complexities governing the compliment responses among the Persian native speakers. 200 Persian respondents took a 24-item Discourse Completion Task (DCT) while 15 native field workers were also set responsible for collecting the examples of complimenting exchanges they either observed or participated in. The results suggested a significant effect for the treated intervening social variables of age, gender, educational background, social distance, and relative power as well as compliment topics in determining the type of compliment response. The responses were further suggestive of the contextual effects of the three systems of hierarchical, solidarity and deferential as well as a newly coined system as kinship system.


Three key issues have arisen for centrally-managed wholesale electric power markets in Europe and the United States as they attempt to handle an increased penetration of variable energy resources. First, rigid definitions for energy and reserve products make it difficult to ensure appropriate compensation for important needed flexibility in start-up times, ramp-rates, power dispatch levels, and duration. Second, participation restrictions hinder the achievement of an even playing field for potential providers of flexible services. Third, reliance on outof-market compensation for the provision of some valued services encourages strategic manipulation. This study examines the possibility of addressing these three issues through the introduction of standardized energy and reserve contracts with swing (flexibility) in their contractual terms. Concrete examples are used to demonstrate how the trading of these standardized contracts can be supported by linked forward markets in a manner that permits efficient real-time balancing of net load subject to system and reserve-requirement constraints. Comparisons with existing wholesale electric power markets are given, and key policy implications are highlighted.


Mobility in Economic Informality by Gender in Nairobi/Mobility including the movement of persons and goods is major constraint in a large majority of African cities. Mobility is even more constrained for people who are engaged in economic informality. The 2012 economic survey reports that 2.7 people are engaged in economic informality in Nairobi while the ILO 2002 report estimates that 83% of informal operators in Kenya are women. These people make journeys to and from work and also transport stock, raw materials and finished products within the city as well as to or from the city. It is therefore imperative to investigate the gender dimension of this movement more so because women's movement is constrained because of their gender and also because women tend to dominate the informal economy. This paper seeks to investigate the gender dimensions of movement of persons and goods in economic informality in Nairobi. The paper demonstrates that there are gender based differences in the way men and women in economic informality move in Nairobi. Differences also exist in choice and reasons for movement in the city. Mobility is a source of empowerment for women.