Human-Object Interaction (HOI) detection, inferring the relationships between human and objects from images/videos, is a fundamental task for high-level scene understanding. However, HOI detection usually suffers from the open long-tailed nature of interactions with objects, while human has extremely powerful compositional perception ability to cognize rare or unseen HOI samples. Inspired by this, we devise a novel HOI compositional learning framework, termed as Fabricated Compositional Learning (FCL), to address the problem of open long-tailed HOI detection. Specifically, we introduce an object fabricator to generate effective object representations, and then combine verbs and fabricated objects to compose new HOI samples. With the proposed object fabricator, we are able to generate large-scale HOI samples for rare and unseen categories to alleviate the open long-tailed issues in HOI detection. Extensive experiments on the most popular HOI detection dataset, HICO-DET, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for imbalanced HOI detection and significantly improve the state-of-the-art performance on rare and unseen HOI categories. Code is available at https://github.com/zhihou7/HOI-CL.


Using a measure of transmission latency between exchanges in Frankfurt and London and exploiting speed-inducing technological upgrades, we investigate the impact of international transmission latency on liquidity and volatility. We find that a decrease in transmission latency increases liquidity and volatility. In line with existing theoretical models, we show that the amplification of liquidity and volatility is associated with variations in adverse selection risk and aggressive trading. We then investigate the net economic effect of high speed and find that the liquidity-enhancing benefit of increased trading speed in financial markets outweighs its volatility-inducing effect. JEL Classification: G10; G14


Abstract This article seeks to investigate the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand from the ideological perspective of his assassins: the Young Bosnia movement. More specifically, it views Young Bosnia's ideology as a form of political religion. It begins by constructing an ideal‐typically defined syndrome of how radicalised, counter‐hegemonic ideologies draw on senses of the numinous as part of their praxis. The article argues that through this lens we can enrich our understanding of the movement's ideological dynamic. By taking as a point of departure the Young Bosnia's conception of cultural time, which they believed to be unstable, the article argues that the movement promoted a mental state that demanded the need to act out what were perceived as personally heroic and socially redemptive fantasies. To the members of Young Bosnia, these fantasies, dramatising individual and societal redemption, were understood as narratives of renewal, or 'palingenesis'. Following a theoretical discussion exploring this syndrome ideal‐typically, the model is then used to generate a reading of the ideology that underpinned the Young Bosnia movement. After this, the article turns its attention to Ferdinand's killer, Gavrilo Princip, and the cohort helping to carry out the assassination. This grouping's willingness to commit suicide after completing their 'mission' was, the article argues, the product of a host of mythopoeic resources drawn upon by the Young Bosnia movement in order to elaborate a palingenetic ideology. Further, it claims that their actions provide an excellent case study in which one can see how a broad synthesis of socialist, Marxist and nationalist ideologies, alongside poetic resources, each induced the palingenetic condition in the assassins. Finally, it provides an explanatory framework that allows us to interpret how this ideology could justify political violence both against others and against their own persons.


Bilateral epididymal cysts are rare in childhood. Clinically they may present as acute scrotum and should be differentiated from other pathologies. Here in, we report bilateral epididymal cysts in a 14-year-old boy. He was admitted to emergency department with symptoms of acute left scrotum. There was no history of trauma or infection. Blood analyses, including testis tumor markers were unremarkable. Bilateral epididymal cysts were diagnosed on ultrasonography evaluation. Medical treatment did not stop his scrotal pain. During scrotal exploration, there was no evidence of testicular torsion or any other pathology. An excision of cyst was performed. Histopathologically, the cyst wall was lined by columnar epithelia. As a result of these findings, a pathological diagnosis of epididymal cyst was made. The synchronized evaluation of clinical and ultrasonography findings with an appropriate histopathological evaluation can usually diagnose this rare pathology.


Arctic sea ice will decline through the 21st century. This will have great impact on the Arctic ecosystems, hence the region and global climate. We used satellite data to study the temporal and spatial coherence between ice cover (ICE), chlorophyll _a (CHL) (a proxy for algal biomass), aerosol optical depth (AOD) (related to the atmospheric burden of aerosol) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in the Greenland Sea (20° W–10° E, 70°N–80° N) during 2003–2012. The influences of ice cover to CHL, AOD and NAO were determined. In general, the peak of ICE was in March. ICE began to melt until September. The polar front was located in the region 70° N–75° N where ICE was almost totally melted. The region 75° N–80° N was our focus area for the correlation study. ICE, CHL, AOD and NAO were correlated with a time lag. In general, ICE reached a peak 3 months ahead of CHL. When ice started melting, CHL started to increase. The melting ice contributed ice algae for the growth of phytoplankton biomass. ICE had an influence on AOD with a 1 month time lag ahead of AOD. EViews statistical software was used to conduct lag regression analysis and then cointegration analysis was carried out. There was cointegration between CHL and ICE and AOD and ICE, which means that they both had a long-term equilibrium relationship. NAO and melting ice had a positive correlation, melting ice lagged 3 months behind NAO, which explained why NAO had an influence on ICE. CHL and NAO had negative correlations. This research provides a valuable reference for the polar ecosystem and global climate predictions.


Various linear transceiver design methods have been developed in three-node amplify-and-forward (AF) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) relay systems. Nonlinear designs in such systems, however, have yet to be investigated. In this paper, we propose nonlinear transceiver designs for a linear source and relay precoded system with the QR successive-interference-cancellation (SIC) receiver and another linear source and relay precoded system with the minimum-mean-squared-error (MMSE) SIC receiver. Our designs minimize the criterion of the block error rate, which is a complicated function of the source and relay precoders. Solving the two precoders simultaneously is not feasible. To overcome the difficulties, we first resort to the primal decomposition approach, i.e., transferring the original optimization to a subproblem and a master problem and solving the two precoders individually. However, since two power constraints are mutually coupled, the decomposition cannot actually be conducted. We then propose a unitary structure for the source precoder and show that the power constraints can be decoupled. As a result, the source precoder can be solved as a function of the relay precoder in the subproblem. With a proposed relay precoder structure, the master problem can further be transferred to a scalar-valued concave optimization problem. A closed-form solution can finally be derived by the Karuch-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions. Simulations show that the proposed transceivers can significantly outperform the existing linear transceivers.


Natural Wildlife Development Area is a protection status declared in accordance with the Land Hunting Act No. 4915. Within this scope, there are 80 Wildlife Development Areas in our country. The aim of this study was to observe possible threats in the Elekdag wildlife development area and to suggest solutionsfor the area. Elekdag Wildlife Development Area is located in Kastamonu province within the boundaries of Tasköprü county. The administrative responsibility of Elekdag Wildlife Development Area belongs to the General Directorate of National Parks and Nature Conservation, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kastamonu Provincial Environment and Forestry Directorate. As a result of the study, it was found that the wildlife habitats for deer populations (target species) and water resources in the area at risk. The identification of the risks on habitats and biological resources and proposed solutions have great importance on ecosystem integrity of the protected area. Therefore, we proposed some solutions to eliminate these risks. The most important factor is the arranging on-site management to ensure sustainable protection-use balance.


A popular method for nasolabial rating in unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) is the Asher-McDade system consisting of a 5-point ordinal scale assessing nasal form, nasal symmetry, nasal profile, and vermilion border. The aim of the current study was to identify reference photographs illustrating this scale to facilitate its use. Four observers assessed nasolabial appearance on frontal and profile photographs of the nasolabial area of 42 children of Caucasian origin with a repaired UCLP at age 9 years. Cronbachs &agr;, based on the individual scores of the 4 observers, ranged from 0.73 to 0.82 for the 4 nasolabial ratings, indicating a good reliability. The reliability of the overall score (mean of the 4 component scores) was also high (Cronbachs &agr;, 0.83). Both for the nasolabial component ratings and for the overall score, duplicate measurement errors were small. The reliability for the mean of the 4 observers' scores was good, Spearman rank correlation coefficients ranging from 0.56 to 0.96. Subsequently, photographs were selected that showed the highest agreement among observers. For each of the 4 components (eg, nasal form, nasal deviation, nasal profile, and shape of the vermilion border), 5 photographs were selected to illustrate the whole range of the scale (score, 1-5), resulting in the selection of 20 pictures. It was concluded that nasolabial appearance rating can be performed reliably using a panel of judges and averaging the scores of all observers. Reference photographs, as developed from this study, may facilitate the rating task.


Abstract Following an application from BENEO GmbH submitted for authorisation of a health claim pursuant to Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 via the Competent Authority of Germany, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver an opinion on the scientific substantiation of a health claim related to isomaltulose and normal energy‐yielding metabolism. The scope of the application was proposed to fall under a health claim based on newly developed scientific evidence. The food proposed by the applicant as the subject of the health claim is isomaltulose. The Panel considers that isomaltulose is sufficiently characterised. The claimed effect proposed by the applicant is 'normal energy‐yielding metabolism'. The Panel considers that contribution to normal energy‐yielding metabolism is a beneficial physiological effect. A number of human studies applying indirect calorimetry measurements or stable isotope methodologies have shown the postprandial metabolic utilisation of isomaltulose as energy source. However, all energy‐containing macronutrients (i.e. carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) supply the body with energy and this property is not specific to isomaltulose. The Panel concludes that a cause and effect relationship has been established between the intake of isomaltulose and contribution to energy‐yielding metabolism. The following wording reflects the scientific evidence: 'isomaltulose contributes to normal energy‐yielding metabolism'. Since the contribution to energy‐yielding metabolism is not specific to isomaltulose but applies to all energy containing macronutrients (i.e. carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) that supply the body with metabolisable energy and any amount would contribute to the claimed effect, the Panel cannot set conditions of use for this claim. The applicant proposes that isomaltulose should replace other sugars in foods and/or beverages. The target population is the general population.


Abstract Developing new network services in the Internet is complex and costly. This high entrance barrier has prevented new innovation in the network itself, and stuck the Internet as being mainly browser-based client/server systems. End-system based decentralized services are cheaper, but have a complexity several orders of magnitude higher than centralized systems in terms of structure and protocols. To foster development of such decentralized network services, we present the ariba framework. We show how ariba can facilitate development of end-system based decentralized services through self-organizing service overlays–flexibly deployed purely on end-systems without the need for costly infrastructure.


Introduction: The ingredients from the dental restoratives are known to leach and elicit a host response. The prerequisite to deem a material biocompatible requires its toxicologic evaluation. The study was performed to analyze the probable toxicity resulting from silorane-based composite (SBC) with methacrylate-based composite (MBC). Materials and Methods: The in vitro cytotoxicity test, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, evaluated the cell viability and proliferation rate of dental pulp cells (DPCs). The extirpated pulp was cultured in α-MEM-containing supplements and incubated at 37°C. DPCs were subjected to varying doses of SBC or MBC at different time intervals after attaining confluence and monitored for proliferation and viability via MTT assay. An independent Student t test was performed to compare the effect of composites on the DPC. The cytotoxicity levels were compared using one-way analysis of variance and posthoc Tukey multiple comparison test at 5% level of significance and P-value of <0.05. Results: DPC exposed to MBC showed higher viability than SBC. The MTT assay reported the number of viable cells as (>90%) in the first 24 hours. The count significantly reduced by the end of 48 hours (minimum 65% in 25 μg/ml) at all concentrations (P < 0.05). SBC had lower survival than MBC in all concentrations and periods. Except at 5 μg/ml concentration at 48 hours in SBC, no statistically significant values were reported. Conclusion: DPCs are prone to the cytotoxicity caused by dental composite. In contrast to MBC, the cytotoxicity of SBC declines overtime.


The terms xij, i, j = 1, 2 can be represented as a linear combination of tangential and normal component. Each of the vectors xij can be represented as a combination of the tangent component (which itself is a combination of vectors x1 and x2) and the normal component (which is a multiple of the unit normal vector n). Let Γij and Γ 2 ij denote the coefficients of the tangent component and Lij denote the coefficient with n of vector xij. Thus,


We demonstrate that loop integrands of
 (super-)gravity scattering amplitudes possess surprising properties in the
 ultraviolet (UV) region. In particular, we study the scaling of multi-particle unitarity cuts
 for asymptotically large momenta and expose an improved
 UV behavior of four-dimensional cuts through seven loops as compared to
 standard expectations. For N=8 supergravity, we show that
 the improved large momentum scaling combined with the behavior of the integrand under BCFW
 deformations of external kinematics uniquely fixes the
 loop integrands in a number of non-trivial cases. In the integrand
 construction, all scaling conditions are homogeneous. Therefore, the only
 required information about the amplitude is its vanishing at particular
 points in momentum space. This homogeneous construction gives indirect
 evidence for a new geometric picture for graviton amplitudes similar to the
 one found for planar N=4 super Yang-Mills theory. We also show how the
 behavior at infinity is related to the scaling of tree-level amplitudes under
 certain multi-line chiral shifts which can be used to construct new recursion
relations.


A very small tripeptide amide L-pyroglutamyl-L-histidyl-L-prolineamide (L-PHP, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone, TRH), was first identified in the brain hypothalamus area. Further studies found that L-PHP was expressed in pancreas. The biological role of pancreatic L-PHP is still not clear. Growing evidence indicates that L-PHP expression in the pancreas may play a pivotal role for pancreatic development in the early prenatal period. However, the role of L-PHP in adult pancreas still needs to be explored. L-PHP activation of pancreatic β cell Ca2+ flow and stimulation of β-cell insulin synthesis and release suggest that L-PHP involved in glucose metabolism may directly act on the β cell separate from any effects via the central nervous system (CNS). Knockout L-PHP animal models have shown that loss of L-PHP expression causes hyperglycemia, which cannot be reversed by administration of thyroid hormone, suggesting that the absence of L-PHP itself is the cause. L-PHP receptor type-1 has been identified in pancreas which provides a possibility for L-PHP autocrine and paracrine regulation in pancreatic function. During pancreatic damage in adult pancreas, L-PHP may protect beta cell from apoptosis and initiate its regeneration through signal pathways of growth hormone in β cells. L-PHP has recently been discovered to affect a broad array of gene expression in the pancreas including growth factor genes. Signal pathways linked between L-PHP and EGF receptor phosphorylation suggest that L-PHP may be an important factor for adult β-cell regeneration, which could involve adult stem cell differentiation. These effects suggest that L-PHP may benefit pancreatic β cells and diabetic therapy in clinic.


Objectives
To evaluate the potential of cheese whey bioactive components for intestinal health and barrier function in vitro.

Methods
HT29-MTX intestinal globet cells were treated with whey protein isolate (WPI), glycomacropeptides (GMP) and a galacto-oligosacharide rich whey protein isolate (WPI-GOS) followed by challenge with lipopolysaccharides (LPS, 4 µg/ml). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was assessed using the 2,7 dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) assay. Gene and protein expression of intestinal inflammation biomarkers were also assessed using standard analytical techniques. The effects of WPI, WPI-GOS and GMP on barrier function were assessed on a co-culture (Caco-2/HT29-MTX in a 75/25 ratio, respectively) cell model through the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and apparent permeability (Papp) assays; whereas protein expression of tight junction biomarkers was assessed by Western Blots.

Results
WPI, GMP and WPI-GOS did not inhibit cell viability of colon cells within a dose range of 25-100 µg/ml. LPS induced ROS production in HT29-MTX cells up to 1.92 -fold of control and this effect was prevented by WPI, GMP and WPI-GOS (100 µg/ml) that maintained ROS down to levels that were similar to controls not challenged with LPS. GMP protected colon cells at a highest extent against the expression of inflammatory biomarkers (nuclear factor kappa β (NF-kβ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4)) on HT29-MTX cells challenged with LPS and maintained NF-kβ and TNF-α at levels similar to untreated control. In addition, GMP improved TEER (1.3-fold of untreated control) and decreased intestinal permeability by 64% in Caco-2/HT29-MTX co-cultures. Finally, these results were accompanied by the upregulation of tight junction proteins (Claudin-1, Claudin-3, Occludin and Zonulin-1) exerted by GMP and WPI at similar levels.

Conclusions
WPI, GMP and WPI-GOS protected against ROS production at similar levels. However, GMP protected colon cells against LPS-induced inflammation and improved barrier function with higher potency than WPI and WPI-GOS. These results strongly suggest that cheese whey components may be used by the functional foods industry as ingredients to improve intestinal health with emphasis on GMP as anti-inflammatory ingredient.

Funding Sources
BUILD Dairy Program.


The Rothamsted long-term experiments-the Classicals-were started almost 150 yr ago. These experiments were originally de signed to study the N, P, K, Na, Mg, and Si needs of the field crops then grown in England. This was done by comparing these inorganic nutrients, in various combinations, with farmyard manure, the traditional source of fertility at that time. Although the questions the experiments were originally designed to answer have long been re-solved, the experiments continue to give results of interest to agron omists, ecologists, soil scientists, plant pathologists, and others. The experiments show that grain yields can be sustained (and even in creased) for almost 150 years in monocultures of wheat and barley given organic or inorganic fertilizer annually. They provide data on the long-term effects of inorganic fertilizers and organic manures on soil organic matter levels. These data have been used to test computer-based models for the turnover of organic matter in soil. Again, long-term N balances show that there are considerable inputs of N to the soil/plant system, amounting to some 30 kg N ha−1 yr−1 in unfertilized wheat and up to 65 kg ha−1 yr−1 in an arable soil reverting to woodland. These and other results are used to consider the advantages and disadvantages of long-term experiments. Wisely used, long-term experimental sites provide information on the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems that can be obtained in no other way.


The case of an 8 year old boy with both nocturnal enuresis and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus is presented. Diagnosis of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus was based on a typical medical history, the characteristic result of a fluid restriction test, the lack of an eVect of 1-desamino-8D-arginine (DDAVP) on both urine osmolality and plasma coagulation factors and, finally, the detection of a hemizygous missense mutation within the arginine vasopressin (AVP) receptor gene. Hydrochlorothiazide treatment and dietary measures reduced the patient's urine volume to one third of its original volume. However, this had no eVect on enuresis. The daily intranasal application of DDAVP did not further reduce urine output but dramatically decreased the frequency of bed wetting. This observation contradicts the common notion that the therapeutic eVect of DDAVP in nocturnal enuresis is the result of compensation for a nocturnal AVP deficit. Rather, it points to a diVerent mode of action of DDAVP in patients with enuresis. It is hypothesised that central AVP receptors are a target of DDAVP and that they might play an important role in the pathogenesis of nocturnal enuresis. (Arch Dis Child 1999;81:57–59)


Co/CoO hybrid films are prepared by annealing Co films with various ratio of oxygen of O2/Ar mixture. The nanocomposite film shows a relatively large exchange bias (5.32 kOe) and coercivity (HC-: 6.17 kOe) taken at 80 K when formed by post annealing at 473 K under 3% O2 for 1h. Both are much larger than that of Co/CoO nanocomposite by reactive sputtering with an oxygen partial pressure. Investigation shows that the formation of interface by post annealing is of importance for the large exchange bias and enhanced coercivity. The surface CoO, grain size of CoO and composition may also contribute to magnetic properties of the post annealing film.


We have from our research, conducted in Guardamar del Segura, Spain, discovered that most of the communication between native Spaniards and immigrant Bulgarians is negative non-verbal communication which leads to a division between the two groups. The result of high unemployment and social stress, which the current situation in Spain provides, tend to create stronger ties inside the groups and at the same time enlarge the distance towards other groups. Also, the large amount of nonverbal communication such as observing each other's behavior leads in this case to negative stereotyping and prejudices that creates and maintain the different group's relations in the society.


A transmission imaging and a strain mapping in the vicinity of a crack tip in steel were investigated using a high energy white X-ray obtained from BL28B2 beam line at SPring-8 in Japan. Low-alloy and high-tensile steel was used as a specimen prepared in the G-type geometry with a rectangular sectional part of 5mm thickness for a four-point bending. A fatigue crack was introduced into the notch root on the tension side of the specimen by a pulsating bending load. The imaging of the crack in the specimen under the bending load was carried out by using the CCD camera that can detect indirectly the X-ray transmitted through the specimen. To measure the internal strain in the vicinity of the crack tip, the synchrotron white X-ray beam, which had a height of 80m and a width of 300m, was incident on the specimen with the Bragg angle  of 5 degrees using the energy dispersive X-ray diffraction technique. As the results, the transmitted image of the crack showed that the crack in the specimen was propagated deeper than that on the surface. The map of the internal strain near the crack tip could be obtained using the white X-ray with energy ranging from 50keV to 150keV. It became clear by the numerical simulation that the FWHM of diffracted X-ray profile measured near the crack tip was increased due to the steep change in the strain distribution. It was confirmed that the synchrotron white X-ray was useful for the imaging of the internal crack and the strain mapping near it.


Intratracheal elastase challenge of laboratory animals has long been established as a model for observing the physiological and morphological changes that result from alveolar destruction, the hallmark of emphysema. However, instillation of elastase suspended in buffer results in widespread inflammation and variable emphysematous lesions, which has made the identification of specific cellular and molecular events associated with the onset of emphysema difficult to define. Here we establish a bead-based elastase delivery system that induces localized tissue destruction, a key event in the initiation of emphysema. Elastase was coupled to bisacrylamide beads, which were shown to retain enzymatic activity prior to intratracheal administration in mice. C57BL/6 mice were given a single dose of 40,000 beads, which became distributed throughout the small airways and parenchyma of the lung. Elastase-coupled beads resulted in a quantifiable loss of alveolar tissue immediately surrounding the beads, an effect that was not observed with beads that lacked protein altogether or with beads containing elastase inactivated by an irreversible inhibitor. Furthermore, beads bound with active elastase elicited local recruitment of mononuclear cells, including macrophages, and polymorphonuclear neutrophils to the site of bead deposition, a feature consistent with the cellular infiltration observed following conventional solubilized elastase challenges. This work identifies a novel bead-based enzyme delivery system that also extends the elastase model of emphysema to permit the characterization of mechanisms that drive alveolar surface area loss following elastin degradation in focal emphysematous lesions.


The freedom of movement of capital in the modern global economy has been indispensable to the development of international corporate enterprise. This paper argues that the judicial and legal institutions of states are as essential to the stability of the global economy as the traditionally heralded international economic channels that have been so carefully crafted globally. In fact, in the sphere of trans-border insolvency and bankruptcy, judicial and legal institutions could be perceived as even more vital, as the vibrancy and the health of global enterprises can be radically challenged and even severely impeded should countries fail to institute universally accepted legislative and judicial codes of practices. The quest for this normative approach has found expression by the United Nations in its development of the UNCITRAL Model Law, a prototype which has since been adopted by twenty-two States. A number of other States, as well, have adopted measures which mirror the cooperation and co-ordination principles of the UNCITRAL Model Law These States all accept that legislative and judicial capacity and competence are essential ingredients in the salutary infusion of mutual confidence, and it is this very shared trust that is the ultimate catalyst for successful resolution of cross-border and other disputes. For Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs), reinforcement of confidence in their Courts in the international arena is perhaps even more highly critical to their sustained roles in today's globalized economy. This paper outlines the legislative and judicial competencies and roles that have enabled the Cayman Islands, as an example of a key OFC, to emerge as a major player in international cross-border conflict resolution. This discourse also acknowledges the hurdles OFCs have had to overcome in both perceptions and reality in the global marketplace and the increased pressures faced by Courts today in meeting demands of public policy objectives. With specific regard to the Cayman Islands as an example of an effectively functioning OFC, the paper examines the Islands' insolvency regime, reviews a number of cases demonstrating the efficacy of the approach of the Islands' Courts, and highlights relevant Cayman Islands' legislation and orders made pursuant to those laws. This analysis demonstrates how, by implementing through its Courts a public policy model on a par with international codes of conduct, the territory has vouchsafed its ability to render the kind of international judicial assistance that is critical to the fulfilment of the tenets of the UNCITRAL Model law and to the principles of universality of bankruptcy that the Law embraces. A further benefit is that Cayman's Courts and court-appointed officials, in turn, may expect to receive full cooperation from other jurisdictions. Indeed, the emergence of the Cayman Islands as a leader among financial centres is due in no small part to its compliance with international regulatory requirements across the breadth of its financial industry. In addition to complying with FATF Directives on money laundering, the territory complies with OECD threshold requirements for tax information exchange and serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the OECD's Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information. Furthering its position of strength, the Islands' legal and judicial system is based on English common law traditions, and its local legislative arsenal is being constantly modernized to meet contemporary Cayman Islands' needs. This legislative progression, given the Islands' continued status as a British Overseas Territory (UKOT) located in the North West Caribbean Sea, includes the extension, as required, of United Kingdom legislative provisions to the Islands.


OBJECTIVE
To determine baseline data among pregnant women consenting to participate in a randomised trial of alternative strategies of malaria chemoprophylaxis in Kigoma urban district, western Tanzania.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
The study was conducted in an urban MCH clinic in Kigoma town in western Tanzania.

SUBJECTS
All consenting pregnant women who fulfilled entry criteria were recruited into the study. BASELINE STUDIES: Baseline data were collected prior to randomisation of women to antimalarial prophylactic regimens. Baseline measurements included examination for blood depleting parasitic infections (stool and urine examinations), haemoglobin levels, haematocrit, sickling test, and blood slide for malaria parasites.

RESULTS
A total of 728 pregnant women consented to participate in the interview and of these 705 participated in baseline studies constituting a participation rate of 96.8%. The age of participating women ranged from 14 to 45 years with a mean age of 23.7 years (standard deviation [SD] = 5.4) while the mean number of pregnancies ranged from 1 to 13 with a mean of 3.2 (SD = 2.2). The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among the pregnant women examined was 9.4% (N = 705) while the prevalence of anaemia (defined as Hb < 8.5 gdl-1) was 12.4% (N = 579). No significant difference was observed in prevalence proportions of malaria parasitaemia in relation to age, parity, marital status and use of mosquito bednets. However the prevalence of anaemia among women in the age group 31-45 years was significantly lower than that observed among women in the age group 14-20 years (2.9% versus 18.9%; crude odds ratio [OR] = 0.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.55). Sickle cell disease (HbAS) was found in 2.3% (N = 564) of the pregnant women examined.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded that the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and anaemia was very high in this population suggesting the need for interventions directed at controlling these major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in Tanzania.


OBJECTIVES
β-Phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) has been demonstrated to fight many types of cancers through various molecular pathways. In this study, we focused on its effect on the induction of apoptosis to inhibit cell growth and molecular mechanism in oral cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2-(4 sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay was used to examine cell viability. The apoptotic effect was investigated using 4'-6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining or Western blotting. Inhibitors were used to determine the molecular target and mechanism of PEITC-mediated apoptosis.

RESULTS
β-Phenylethyl isothiocyanate inhibited the growth of HN22 human oral cancer cells and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in HN22 cells as evidenced by nuclear fragmentation and the activation of caspase 3. It increased cleaved caspase 8, truncated BID, and death receptor 5 (DR5) through the activation of p38 MAPK. This result was confirmed by blockage of PEITC-induced cleavages of Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase, caspase-3, caspase-8, and DR5 by p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB203580. We also found that PEITC activated p38 and augmented DR5 to induce apoptosis in other human oral cancer cells.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that DR5 is a potential molecular target for PEITC-induced apoptosis in oral cancer via p38 MAPK.


This paper presents a functional observer based technique for estimating gaseous partial pressures in triple phase boundary of a high-order solid oxide fuel cell. Triple phase boundary is a nanoscale region in solid oxide fuel cells where direct measurement of partial pressure of individual gases is not possible. For a reliable and a safe operation those quantities must be monitored. This paper reports a novel functional observer based dynamic state estimation approach that utilizes a system decomposition algorithm to provide a functional observer with minimum order. Therefore, the proposed technique has a simpler structure than conventional state observer based schemes. Case studies of the proposed technique, implemented on a complex nonlinear power system, show accurate and smooth estimations in comparison to full-order state observer based techniques in terms of tracking of nonlinear partial pressures.


Junior staffing cuts in paediatricsAmerican style If you've had a surfeit of JPAC, career or visiting registrars, and working hours, and think these are purely NHS problems, you should read the article by Honigfeld et al (Pediatrics 1990;85:%9-76) about strategies used by American hospitals faced with coping without paediatric residents. Apparently some hospitals there are finding it difficult to comply with training requirements, some are cutting back for financial reasons, and some are in difficulty because of reductions in the hours residents are permitted to work. Strategies to plug the gaps have included getting other people to do more (nurses, medical students, family practice residents, the remaining paediatric residents, and paediatricians), hiring more staff, and hiring locums. Some of the options were restricted in practice-if there's a shortage of nurses it's unrealistic to think they can take over many of the doctors' duties. None of the solutions seemed entirely satisfactory and the authors comment that 'physicians generally agreed that residents are the optimal hospital staff provider'. The authors do not address the question of the quality of care provided by the 'gap pluggers' and the work offers no solutions to staffing problems in British hospitals, but at least we are not alone.


Follicular neoplasms of the thyroid gland are benign follicular adenoma and follicular carcinoma. To distinguish follicular carcinoma from a follicular adenoma based on cytologic, sonographic or clinical features alone is very difficult. As follicular adenoma of the thyroid is a benign tumor usually do not metastasize. Here, a case is presented with follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC) with lung metastasis which was treated as follicular adenoma four years back. Patient had left hemithyroidectomy for follicular adenoma and ignored to have regular follow up. He suddenly developed fever, chest pain and dry cough. CT scan evaluated a fairly big lung mass which eventually came out as metastatic follicular carcinoma. From this reported case, it is evident that regular checkup of patient with follicular adenoma should be ensured for early diagnosis of further transformation of adenoma to malignancy.
Bangladesh J. Nuclear Med. 22(2): 157-160, Jul 2019


To our knowledge, we are reporting the first case of a pectoralis major tendon avulsion from rappelling. The mechanism of injury in this case differs biomechanically from the commonly associated activity of bench pressing. The patient's initial presentation, course of corrective treatment, and postoperative rehabilitation is discussed in detail. A review of the historical and current literature on pectoralis major tendon injuries is included. The results of current biomechanical studies are discussed in relation to the complex anatomy of the pectoralis major muscle. This report is relevant to individuals involved in rappelling, high-demand athletes, and the surgeons who treat them. Nonoperative management of pectoralis major tendon tears is contrasted with operative repair. The current literature supports operative treatment in high-demand athletes, laborers, and military personnel to allow them to regain full strength and endurance.


Pyrethroid resistant pollen beetles (Meligethes aeneus) are now widely distributed in Germany since the first resistant beetles were detected about 15 years ago. Over half (53%) of sensitive populations in biotests in 2005 had declined to 0% by 2011. Very clear resistance increased from 33% in 2005 to 100% in 2015. Monitoring of the other insect pests of oilseed rape in Germany showed no resistance yet in pest species including Ceutorhynchus napi and C. pallidactylus, Dasineura spp. and Phyllotreta spp., but resistance to pyrethroids has recently developed in C. obstrictus and Psylliodes chrysocephala. Resistance of both species has spread over many parts of Germany but resistance factors in laboratory biotests are far below resistance values known for M. aeneus.


New generation centres and servitude constraints in Southern Africa have promoted interest in the possibility of dc and ac lines in close proximity to each other, and even sharing structures. Certain interactions of HVDC and HVAC transmission circuits have been analysed by other authors, but this has mainly focused on conversion of existing double-circuit transmission lines to hybrid lines, and has mostly been in European contexts. The dissertation reviews this prior work, and extends it to a Southern African context. First a framework is developed to describe engineering considerations for ac and dc lines in terms of power transfer capability, air insulation, corona-related phenomena, electric and magnetic fields, and behaviour under fault conditions. A study system amenable to analysis is developed, consisting of two hybrid dc/ac transmission corridors, each with a 1000 MW ac line and a 3000 MW dc bipole. The ac current flowing in the pole conductors due to coupling is estimated, and found to be an issue requiring mitigation. Line transposition is adequate mitigation during normal operation, but 50 Hz blocking filters or special converter controls are needed under fault conditions. A parametric study of conductor surface gradients for the study system was carried out; some calculated dc values seemed misaligned with service experience, possibly due to ionic current flow and space charge. Using the corona saturation method, ion density, ion current and electric field at ground level are estimated. Corona-related phenomena are investigated using empirical equations from the literature and the calculated conductor surface gradients. Behaviour under hybrid dc/ac energisation is not fundamentally different to corona behaviour under pure ac or dc energisation. For ac, sound pressure levels were calculated for each phase, but for dc only the positive pole was considered, because the contribution from the negative pole is negligible. Radio interference for both ac and dc is calculated using empirical expressions. Optimal voltage and conductor sizes are investigated using generalised cost models developed by Cigré. It is found that the study system could be optimised better. Feasible improvements to the system, limits on some field-effect related parameters appropriate to Southern African conditions are suggested. These consist of different conductor bundles, and a reduction in the power transfer to 800 MW for the ac circuits and 2000 MW for the dc circuits. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that there is scope for hybrid dc/ac corridors in the region, and the theoretical basis for doing this is exemplified.


Discussion of "Spatial accessibility of pediatric primary healthcare: Measurement and inference" by Mallory Nobles, Nicoleta Serban and Julie Swann [arXiv:1501.03626].


Advanced technology in molecular biology has provided us powerful tools for the diagnosis and treatment for cancer. We herein adopted a new methodology to identify a novel cancer/testis (CT) antigen with high frequency of expression in colorectal cancer as follows: (a) combining laser microdissection and cDNA microarray was used to analyze the gene expression profile of colorectal cancer cells; (b) genes overexpressed in testis and underexpressed in normal colon epithelium were analyzed using cDNA microarray; and (c) the gene expression profile of colorectal cancer cells was compared with that of normal testis. Using this methodology, we selected 38 candidates for CT antigen. Among these genes, we identified a novel CT antigen, serine/threonine kinase 31 (STK31), which was previously reported as a gene expressed in spermatogonia. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis showed that STK31 gene expression levels in cancer samples were significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than those in normal samples. The STK31 gene was frequently expressed not only in colorectal cancer but also in gastric and esophageal cancer. Moreover, STK31 peptide was able to elicit specific CTLs and induced CTLs lysed either peptide-loading or endogenously STK31-expressing target cells. These results showed that the new methodology in this study facilitated identification of CT antigens and that STK31 may be a candidate for cancer immunotherapy against gastrointestinal cancer.


One of the greatest challenges to the use of probabilistic reasoning in the assessment of criminal evidence is the 'problem of the prior', i.e. the difficulty in establishing an acceptable prior probability of guilt. Even strong supporters of a Bayesian approach have often preferred to ignore priors and focus on the likelihood ratio (LR) of the evidence. But to calculate if the probability of guilt, given the evidence reaches the probability required for conviction (the standard of proof), the LR has to be combined with a prior. In this article, we propose a solution to the 'problem of the prior': the defendant shall be treated as a member of the set of 'possible perpetrators' defined as the people who had the same or better opportunity as the defendant to commit the crime. For this purpose, we introduce the concept of an 'extended crime scene'. The number of people who had the same or better opportunity as the defendant is the number of people who were just as close or closer to the crime scene, in time and space. We demonstrate how the opportunity prior is incorporated into a generic Bayesian network model that allows us to integrate other evidence about the case. (Less)


Background Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary bone tumor associated with locally aggressive growth and early metastatic potential that typically occurs in children and adolescents. Chinese traditional medicine Cinnamomum cassia Presl has been shown to have significant tumor-killing effect, in which cinnamaldehyde (CA) is the main active ingredient. Purpose To explore the anticancer effect of CA on the osteosarcoma cells and the possible molecular mechanism. Methods Crystal violet assay, MTT assay and colony-forming assay were used to confirm the inhibitory role of CA in the proliferation of 143B and MG63 osteosarcoma cells. Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry were used to observe apoptosis. The migration and invasion role of OS cells were evaluated using transwell assays and wound healing assays. Western blotting was used to analyse the protein expression levels. Nude mice were inoculated with 143B cells to establish an orthotopic OS tumor animal model and to investigate the effects of CA on OS tumors. Results According to crystal violet assay, MTT assay and colony-forming assay, CA significantly inhibited cell proliferation. Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry analysis showed that CA-induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, transwell assays and wound healing assays showed that CA inhibited the migration and invasion of osteosarcoma cells. In vivo mouse models, CA inhibited the growth of osteosarcoma. The potential mechanisms could be that CA inhibited the transcriptional activity of Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/Akt of the osteosarcoma. Conclusion CA may inhibit the proliferation, migration, invasion and promote apoptosis of OS cells by inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways. CA may be a potentially effective anti-tumor drug.


This paper presents a political economy model of inflation as a result of social conflict. Agents are heterogeneous in terms of income. Agents' income levels determine their ability to hedge against the effects of inflation. The interaction of heterogeneous cash holdings and preferences over fiscal policy leads to conflict over how to finance government expenditure. The model makes a number of predictions concerning which environments are conducive to the emergence of inflation. Inflation will tend to be higher in countries with higher inequality and with greater pro-rich bias in the political system. Conversely, the use of income tax will be higher in countries with lower inequality and less pro-rich bias. The model also predicts that although inequality and political bias will have an impact on the composition of revenue, it will have no effect on the overall level of government spending (assuming that spending is on public goods only). These results are largely confirmed by the empirical portion of the paper. The paper's novel features are its simplifications at the household level which allow for richer treatment of the income distribution and political process than in the related literature. The paper also gives unequivocal comparative statics results under relatively undemanding assumptions.


Nanoparticle induced hyperthermia has been considered as a promising approach for cancer treatment for decades. The local heating ability and drug delivery potential highlight a diversified possibility in clinical application, therefore a variety of nanoparticles has been developed accordingly. However, currently, only a few of them are translated into the clinical stage indicating a 'medically underexplored nanoparticles' situation, which encourages their comprehensive biomedical exploration. This study presents a thorough biological evaluation of previous well-developed dual pH- and thermo-responsive magnetic doxorubicin-nanocarriers (MNC-DOX) in multiple cancer cell lines. The cytotoxicity of the nanocomposites has been determined by the MTT assay on primary cell lines. Histology and fluorescence microscopy imaging revealed the efficiency of cellular uptake of nanocarriers in different cell lines. The IC50 of MNC-DOX is significantly higher than that of free DOX without an alternating magnetic field (AMF), which implied the potential to lower the systemic cytotoxicity in clinical research. The concurrent thermo-chemotherapy generated by this platform has been successfully achieved under an AMF. Promising effective synergistic results have been demonstrated through in vitro study in multi-model cancer cell lines via both trypan blue exclusion and bioluminescence imaging methods. Furthermore, the two most used magnetic hyperthermia modalities, namely intracellular and extracellular treatments, have been compared on the same nanocarriers in all 3 cell lines, which showed that treatment after internalization is not required but preferable. These results lead to the conclusion that this dual responsive nanocarrier has extraordinary potential to serve as a novel broad-spectrum anticancer drug and worth pursuing for potential clinical applications.


CCD BVRcIc light curves of GQ Cancri were observed in April 2013 using the SARA North 0.9-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona in remote mode. It is a high-amplitude (V ~ 0.9 magnitude) K0–V type eclipsing binary (T1 ~ 5250 K) with a photometrically-determined mass ratio of M2 / M1 = 0.80. Its spectral color type classifies it as a pre-contact W UMa Binary (PCWB). The Wilson-Devinney Mode 2 solutions show that the system has a detached binary configuration with fill-outs of 94% and 98% for the primary and secondary component, respectively. As expected, the light curve is asymmetric due to spot activity. Three times of minimum light were calculated, for two primary eclipses and one secondary eclipse, from our present observations. In total, some 26 times of minimum light covering nearly 20 years of observation were used to determine linear and quadratic ephemerides. It is noted that the light curve solution remained in a detached state for every iteration of the computer runs. The components are very similar with a computed temperature difference of only 4 K, and the flux of the primary component accounts for 53–55% of the system's light in B, V, Rc, and Ic. A 12-degree radius high latitude white spot (faculae) was iterated on the primary component.


We present a novel local descriptor for range data that can describe one or more planes or lines in a local region. It is possible to recover the geometry of the described local region and extract the size, position and orientation of each local plane or line-like structure from the descriptor. This gives the descriptor a property that other popular local descriptors for range data, such as spin images or point signatures, does not have. The estimation of the descriptor is dependant on estimation of surface normals but does not depend on the specific normal estimation method used. It is shown that is possible to extract how many planar surface regions the descriptor represents and that this could be used as a point-of-interest detector.


We consider a recently developed sparsity-driven synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging approach which can produce superresolution, feature-enhanced images. However, this regularization-based approach requires the selection of a hyper-parameter in order to generate such high-quality images. In this paper we present a number of techniques for automatically selecting the hyper-parameter involved in this problem. We propose and develop numerical procedures for the use of Stein's unbiased risk estimation, generalized cross-validation, and L-curve techniques for automatic parameter choice. We demonstrate and compare the effectiveness of these procedures through experiments based on both simple synthetic scenes, as well as electromagnetically simulated realistic data. Our results suggest that sparsity-driven SAR imaging coupled with the proposed automatic parameter choice procedures offers significant improvements over conventional SAR imaging.


Purpose of the article: Many studies show that dissatisfaction of traditional budget models was growing among the companies over the last decades. However it is possible to compete effectively in the rapidly changing environment if enterprise refuse to use the old planning budgeting approaches, involve all employees in budget model's continuous improvements and development. For this purpose budgets models identification and change methodical was created. Methodology/methods: For examination of the theoretical aspects of the budget models, there were used these scientific methods – scientific literature analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and modelling. In order to achieve this aim, extensive research of academic publications was required; on the grounds of the resources gathered from academic materials, consistent budget model identification and alteration methodology was developed for practical application in major enterprises. Scientific aim: The aim of the present academic research is the development of a methodology of budgeting model identification and alteration. Findings: Analysis of budgets models in the literatures showed that the traditional budgets are outdated approach to business planning and control. There were also determined four main budget models. The review of different researches of companies budgets, shows that even the different researches are incomparable with one each other because of different countries and years when they were done, but most of them indicate that even if companies are not planning to reject budgets. Conclusions: Budgets models identification and change methodical is presented in details, by which companies can move to modern budgets models and because of such change respond more quickly to business changes in the market and pay greater attention to motivation of their employees.


The employment market for graduates is competitive with employers requiring appropriate work experience in addition to academic qualifications. Sandwich courses, where up to a year is spent in industry, provide an opportunity for structured work experience to be gained alongside studying. Benefits of placements include improved academic performance and the development of transferable skills to increase employability. This paper evaluates the impact of placements on academic performance and graduate employment among management students. Analysing performance data and graduate destinations data, results indicate that management students completing a placement are more likely to perform better academically with improvements in their personal grades between year 2 and the final year. Additionally, a qualitative themed analysis of student experiences indicates placement students feel more confident in engaging with the graduate recruitment process, with a better understanding of their personal skills and an ability to articulate their experience in relation to the workplace.


Predicting the precision of grinding process, especially correlating surface functionality generation to grinding conditions, would be of great significance to improve grinding accuracy of the end precision product. Huang developed a very promising revolutionary spectral data analysis technique based on the Hilbert transform. The concrete methods of the EMD, the local Hilbert spectrum are introduced. An artificial neural network (ANN) based on back propagation is developed to predict surface roughness Ra. An accelerometer is employed as in-process surface recognition sensor during grinding process to collect the vibration as input neurons. Changing the grinding condition, training and testing within the artificial neural networks to retrieve the weightings, the experimental results show that the proposed ANN surface recognition model is economical, efficient and the model has a high accuracy rate for predicting surface roughness.


For the design of harvesting machines is important the study of characteristics dealing with the harvest of crops. This study focused on some physico-mechanical characteristics of rose petals, which are important for pneumatic harvest mechanization of Rosa damascena Mill. These characteristics are terminal velocity, picking force, mass, projection area, density, and drag coefficient of rose petals. The petals were handpicked at 06:30 a.m. (S1), 08:30 a.m. (S2), 10:30 a.m. (S3), and 12:30 p.m. (S4) at four different dates in 2009, June 5 (H1), June 11 (H2), June 17 (H3), and June 23 (H4), covering the potential flowering period. Terminal velocity of rose petals varied between 1.572 and 1.257 m s–1; the picking force from 0.501 to 1.005 N; the mass measured from 0.049 to 0.122 g; projection area from 13.830 cm2 for H1S4 to 7.071 cm2 for H4S1; drag coefficient from 0.790 for H2S1 to 0.287 for H1S4. The results of the study indicate that as far as terminal velocity of rose petals is concerned the harvest of R. damascena should be executed towards the end of H4 and S4. On the other hand, the magnitude of the picking force, the density, and the drag coefficient of rose petals decrease when the harvesting hour increases from H1 to H4 and the harvesting date increases from S1 to S4, which makes necessary to increase aspiration pressure.


Background In efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goal for mortality among children under 5 years of age, countries require strategies for covering hard-to-reach and older children who are often missed by routine, fixed-site health services. Objective To document the evolution of Child Health Days (CHDs), designed as regular events for the delivery of health and nutrition services to children under the age of five. Methods We extracted information on service delivery strategies and codelivered interventions for the period 1999 to 2010 from global monitoring databases for vitamin A and immunization. Results Our data illustrate a dramatic rise in CHDs over the decade: only two countries held CHDs in 1999; in 2010, 96 CHDs were conducted in 51 countries. Reliance on CHDs has been particularly marked in sub-Saharan Africa, where they are increasingly used to deliver five or more services per event. Whereas early CHDs were largely defined by codelivery of vitamin A, immunizations, and deworming, they have since evolved into diverse packages including services such as water purification tablets and screening for severe malnutrition. Conclusions The scale-up of CHDs is helping countries to achieve high and equitable coverage of essential health and nutrition services. Future research should consider whether the increasingly diverse services delivered via CHDs are guided by epidemiologic considerations, and whether the rising number of codelivered interventions is affecting coverage performance or service quality. Guidance is also needed to ensure that CHDs are implemented as part of systematic efforts to improve health systems.


AIM
The aim was to test sampling and explore sample characteristics in a pilot study using a case management intervention for older people with functional dependency and repeated contact with the healthcare services as well as to investigate the effects of the intervention on perceived health and depressed mood after 3 months. The aim was also to explore internal consistency in the life satisfaction index Z, activities of daily living-staircase and Geriatric Depression Scale-20.

METHOD
This pilot study was carried out in a randomised controlled design with repeated follow-ups. In all, 46 people were consecutively and randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 23) or a control (n = 23) group. Two nurses worked as case managers and carried out the intervention, which consisted of four parts.

RESULT
No differences were found between the groups at baseline. The results showed the participants had low life satisfaction (median 14 vs. 12), several health complaints (median 11) and a high score on the Geriatric Depression Scale (median 6) at baseline, indicating the risk of depression. No significant effects were observed regarding depressed mood or perceived health between or within groups at follow-up after 3 months. Cronbach's alpha showed satisfactory internal consistency for group comparisons.

CONCLUSIONS
The sampling procedure led to similar groups. The life satisfaction, functional dependency and symptoms of depression measures were reliable to use. No changes in perceived health and symptoms of depression were found after 3 months, indicating that it may be too early to expect effects. The low depression score is noteworthy and requires further research.


Type 2 diabetes associates with increased risk of mortality, but how kidney disease contributes to this mortality risk among individuals with type 2 diabetes is not completely understood. Here, we examined 10-year cumulative mortality by diabetes and kidney disease status for 15,046 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) by linking baseline data from NHANES III with the National Death Index. Kidney disease, defined as urinary albumin/creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g and/or estimated GFR ≤60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2), was present in 9.4% and 42.3% of individuals without and with type 2 diabetes, respectively. Among people without diabetes or kidney disease (reference group), 10-year cumulative all-cause mortality was 7.7% (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 7.0%-8.3%), standardized to population age, sex, and race. Among individuals with diabetes but without kidney disease, standardized mortality was 11.5% (95% CI, 7.9%-15.2%), representing an absolute risk difference with the reference group of 3.9% (95% CI, 0.1%-7.7%), adjusted for demographics, and 3.4% (95% CI, -0.3% to 7.0%) when further adjusted for smoking, BP, and cholesterol. Among individuals with both diabetes and kidney disease, standardized mortality was 31.1% (95% CI, 24.7%-37.5%), representing an absolute risk difference with the reference group of 23.4% (95% CI, 17.0%-29.9%), adjusted for demographics, and 23.4% (95% CI, 17.2%-29.6%) when further adjusted. We observed similar patterns for cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality. In conclusion, those with kidney disease predominantly account for the increased mortality observed in type 2 diabetes.


ABSTRACT In 1928–1929 Rollo Beck discovered in New Guinea a spectacular new species of bowerbird, Sericulus bakeri, which according to his specimen labels he collected near the previously well-studied lowland town and former colonial capital of Madang. That seemed so implausible that suspicions arose that Beck had intentionally falsified the locality—especially when it eventually turned out that the new bowerbird is instead confined to the nearby Adelbert Mountains. Beck made this discovery in the course of amassing large collections in northeast New Guinea that, in fact, have never been published as a whole, although Ernst Mayr (1941) in his List of New Guinea Birds included some of Beck's records. Much doubt has remained about Beck's collecting localities. Hence we have now reconstructed Beck's itinerary on the basis of his field diary and specimen register; the letter by his wife who accompanied him; a spreadsheet of his cataloged specimens in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); and correspondence, records, and photographs archived at the AMNH. We show that Beck collected at 10 sites grouped into three areas: the foothills of the Adelbert Mountains and adjacent lowlands, the westernmost foothills of the Huon Peninsula, and the Cromwell Mountains in the east of the Huon Peninsula. We assemble a table listing all species that Beck collected at each of the 10 sites. For each site, we discuss the upland species, open-country species, and other groups of species collected there. Those results illuminate the upland avifaunas of the Adelbert Mountains and the Huon Peninsula, range borders in Northeast New Guinea, and a possible Massenerhebung effect in the Cromwell Mountains. It is clear that Beck's labeling of his Sericulus bakeri specimens as collected at Madang was not done with intent to mislead, but is instead readily understandable from Beck's previous collecting experiences and his preparation for his New Guinea trip.


We consider the problem of training a classification model with group annotated training data. Recent work has established that, if there is distribution shift across different groups, models trained using the standard empirical risk minimization (ERM) objective suffer from poor performance on minority groups and that group distributionally robust optimization (Group-DRO) objective is a better alternative. The starting point of this paper is the observation that though Group-DRO performs better than ERM on minority groups for some benchmark datasets, there are several other datasets where it performs much worse than ERM. Inspired by ideas from the closely related problem of domain generalization, this paper proposes a new and simple algorithm that explicitly encourages learning of features that are shared across various groups. The key insight behind our proposed algorithm is that while Group-DRO focuses on groups with worst regularized loss, focusing instead, on groups that enable better performance even on other groups, could lead to learning of shared/common features, thereby enhancing minority performance beyond what is achieved by Group-DRO. Empirically, we show that our proposed algorithm matches or achieves better performance compared to strong contemporary baselines including ERM and Group-DRO on standard benchmarks on both minority groups and across all groups. Theoretically, we show that the proposed algorithm is a descent method and finds first order stationary points of smooth nonconvex functions.


The Caspian miniature horse is one of the rarest small horse breeds in Iran. It is an Iranian breed with a small conformation compared to other breeds. In this study, the coronary arteries of six Caspian miniature horses older than two years were studied. The origin, distribution and possible anastomoses of their branches were noticed. Three excised hearts were convoluted and injected with rodopas resin to obtain arterial casts. The other three hearts were injected with gelatin choromopaque and were subsequently radiographed. The injected hearts and casts were carefully dissected and photographed. This study showed that the pattern of distribution of coronary arteries is almost similar to that of ordinary horses. No anastomoses were observed between branches of the left and right coronary arteries.


Novel silica-based bioactive glasses were successfully prepared by the sol-gel method. The optimized glass composition for fabrication of the scaffolds was (in mol.%) 60% SiO2 – 30% CaO - 5% Na2O - 5% P2O5 (60S30C5N5P). This composition was confirmed to develop a thick hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) layer in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) after 7 days, as revealed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), indicating the bioactive character of the scaffolds. The mesoporous nature of the glass structure allows the load of tetracycline and a sustained release of the drug in PBS during 7 days was measured.


The problem of mobilising research generated knowledge into practice has received increasing attention from policy makers and scholars internationally. Academic Health Science Centres (AHSCs) are partnerships between universities and hospitals which aim to use research discoveries to improve patient care. Despite their complexity and recent international spread, they have not received much attention from social science. This thesis, as a study of this emergent organisational form, contributes to addressing this gap. It conceptualises the 'bench to bedside' knowledge mobilisation process within two English AHSC cases as 'boundary work' between the domains of research and clinical practice. By analysing qualitative data collected through semi structured interviews (48), observations (130+ hours) and documentary analysis at micro (research/clinical teams) and meso (organisational) levels, it addressed the research question: What boundary processes mobilise knowledge within Academic Health Science Centres? Epistemic, professional and organisational framings were all important conceptualisations of the research/clinical practice boundary. Epistemic elements motivated knowledge mobilisation, with organisational boundaries often proving least permeable. The most effective boundary work encompassed all three. Networked forms of governance prevailed at the organisational level. Joint fields of practice emerged at the micro level with key (instrumental and symbolic) spanning mechanisms including professional hybrids as boundary spanners (e.g. clinician scientists), and objects (e.g. shared data). The 'bench to bedside' heuristic operated as an overarching boundary concept, motivationally powerful yet vague enough to bring together diverse groups. This study is one of few to consider the early development of AHSCs from a social science perspective. It contributes empirically and theoretically to the knowledge mobilisation and boundary literature by focussing analysis on the research and clinical practice boundary (as a space for new practice) and the people and objects that work across it, particularly centring on the under-researched role of organisation in this process.


The search for new effective antimicrobial agents is necessary due to the appearance of microbial resistance to antibiotics and occurrence of fatal opportunistic infections associated with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), cancer and chemotherapy. The isolation of antimicrobial compounds from plants provides a solution to increased demands for new antimicrobial agents to combat infection and overcome the problem with resistance and side effects of the currently available antimicrobial agents (antibiotics). The aim of this study was to identify extracts from Euphorbia species with antimicrobial activity and to isolate and characterise the compound(s) responsible for this activity. Euphorbia clavaroides Boiss. var. truncate (N.E.Br.) A.C. White was selected for screening based on the antimicrobial activity reported during previous routine screening of species selected from plant families in our laboratory. Due to unavailability of E. clavaroides plant material in large quantity, E. ingens E.Mey. ex Boiss. was also selected for screening. It is known that plants from the same family may contain the same chemical compounds. Soxhlet extraction was used to prepare extracts of each plant using petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and ethanol successively. These plant extracts were screened for antimicrobial activity against a range of microorganisms using the disc diffusion and microplate assays. The toxicity evaluation of the prepared extracts was assayed against human epithelial cell lines (HeLa) using 3(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The ethyl acetate extract of the fleshy inner part of E. ingens showed the most promising antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria 6. subtilis and S. aureus in both the disc diffusion and MIC assay and was therefore selected for further study. The security index (1 17,Z) against 6. subtilis of the ethyl acetate extract of the fleshy inner part of E. ingens showed that it is relatively safe to use at the concentration of 0,64 mglml in cases of 6. subtilis infections. The ethyl acetate extract of the fleshy inner part was subjected to bioassay-guided fractionation approach using column chromatography. This lead to the isolation of kaempferol which was identified by spectroscopic techniques. A brief literature search indicated that kaempferol possessed weak antimicrobial activity against a wide range of microorganisms with a known MIC value of 100 pglml against Staphylococcus aureus as well as toxicity against human cancer cell lines. From bioassay-guided fractionation approach kaempferol showed a weak antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis (2 mm) and S. aureus (1 mm). Unfortunately, without structural modification it is not suitable for human usage. In conclusion, although the compound isolated in this study is a fairly common flavonol, it is the first report of the isolation of kaempferol from E. ingens. Biological activity of the compound isolated from Euphorbia ingens justifies chemotaxonomic approach used to select species of the same genus.


The Saccharomyces cerevisiae High-Osmolarity Glycerol (HOG) pathway is a conserved mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction system that often serves as a model to analyze systems level properties of MAPK signaling. Hog1, the MAPK of the HOG-pathway, can be activated by various environmental cues and it controls transcription, translation, transport, and cell cycle adaptations in response to stress conditions. A powerful means to study signaling in living cells is to use kinase inhibitors; however, no inhibitor targeting wild-type Hog1 exists to date. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and biological application of small molecule inhibitors that are cell-permeable, fast-acting, and highly efficient against wild-type Hog1. These compounds are potent inhibitors of Hog1 kinase activity both in vitro and in vivo. Next, we use these novel inhibitors to pinpoint the time of Hog1 action during recovery from G1 checkpoint arrest, providing further evidence for a specific role of Hog1 in regulating cell cycle resumption during arsenite stress. Hence, we describe a novel tool for chemical genetic analysis of MAPK signaling and provide novel insights into Hog1 action.


PurposeIn this paper, the authors argue that multicultural skills and relational leadership act as enablers for open innovation, and thereby examine the process through which teams can utilize multicultural skills to support the development of relational leadership and knowledge sourcing and sharing (KSS) through individual interaction and relationship building. The authors address the following research question: How does relational leadership enable open innovation (OI) among employees with multicultural skills?Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies a multi-level approach (team and individual level) and builds on interviews with 20 employees, middle and senior managers with multicultural experiences, working in open innovation environments.FindingsThe authors' findings shed light on the process through which social exchange relationships among team members (e.g. R&D teams) and knowledge exchange partners are enhanced by the use of multicultural skills and support the development of relational leadership to facilitate KSS and ultimately OI. The decision for participants to collaborate and source and share knowledge is motivated by individual reward (such as establishing network or long-lasting contacts), skill acquisition (such as learning or personal growth in decision-making) and a sense of reciprocity and drive for group gain. The authors encourage greater human resource (HR) manager support for relational leadership and the development and use of multicultural skills to promote KSS.Research limitations/implicationsDespite the value of our findings, this paper is not without limitations. The authors explained that the focus of this study design was on the work activities of the participants and their skill development and not specific projects or organizations. It was outside the scope of this study to examine variations across organizations and individuals as the authors wanted to focus on multicultural skills and relational leadership as enablers for OI. The authors recommend that future studies extend our research by unpacking how various boundary conditions including relational leadership and multicultural skills impact KSS and OI over the life cycle of innovation teams within large multinational organizations, across countries and ethnicities.Practical implicationsThe study's findings provide managers with improved understandings of how to enable an individual's willingness and readiness to source and share knowledge through multicultural skills and relational leadership. Managers need to ensure that human resource management (HRM) practices celebrate multicultural skills and support relational leadership in innovation teams. The authors suggest managers engaged in OI consider the components of social exchange as described by Meeker (1971) and utilize reciprocity, group gain, rationality and status consistency to support the emergence relational leadership and KSS in innovation teams.Originality/valueIn this paper, the authors contribute to the dearth of literature on the boundary conditions for OI by examining the role of relational leadership and characteristics/skills of the workforce, namely multicultural skills and contribute to the scarce research on the role of employees with multicultural skills and their impact on OI and present multicultural skills/experiences and relational leadership as enablers for OI.


Vaccines exert a positive externality, reducing spread of disease from the consumer to others, providing a rationale for subsidies. We study how optimal subsidies vary with disease characteristics by integrating a standard epidemiological model into a vaccine market with rational economic agents. In the steady-state equilibrium for an endemic disease, across market structures ranging from competition to monopoly, the marginal externality and optimal subsidy are non-monotonic in disease infectiousness, peaking for diseases that spread quickly but not so quickly as to drive all consumers to become vaccinated. Motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic, we adapt the analysis to study a vaccine campaign introduced at a point in time against an emerging epidemic. While the nonmonotonic pattern of the optimal subsidy persists, new findings emerge. Universal vaccination with a perfectly effective vaccine becomes a viable firm strategy: the marginal consumer is still willing to pay since those infected before vaccine rollout remain a source of transmission. We derive a simple condition under which vaccination exhibits increasing social returns, providing an argument for concentrating a capacity-constrained campaign in few regions. We discuss a variety of extensions and calibrations of the results to vaccines and other mitigation measures targeting existing diseases.


Benign rheumatoid nodules are subcutaneous nodules morphologically and histologically identical to the ones appearing in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. They usually happen in healthy people without neither clinical nor serologic manifestations of any rheumatic illness. These nodules are more usual in children and they are considered exceptional beyond the age of eighteen. In the literature, only two hundred cases in children and twenty five cases in adults have been properly documented, with histological confirmation. We report four new cases of benign rheumatoid nodules histologically proved, two children and two adults, and we confirm the optimistic prognosis of these patients.


At present, the literature on judgment and decision-making in outdoor leadership is either limited to (a) empirical studies that explore a particular aspect of judgment and decisionmaking, (b) discussions in textbooks that are designed to inform undergraduates and novices, and (c) somewhat outdated theoretical explanations of judgment and decisionmaking as they relate to outdoor recreation education. Collectively, these individual facets of a large and complex body of work inadequately surmise the gestalt of the present knowledge regarding judgment and decision-making. This article addresses this gap by integrating recent findings from parent disciplines to outdoor leadership and outdoor leisure pursuit contexts, primarily by adopting a "dual-process" framework. Three major themes emerge in the outdoor leadership literature, one that focuses on heuristics and biases, one that focuses on naturalistic decision-making (NDM), and one that explores differences among novice and expert outdoor leaders. These themes are considered in relation to trans-disciplinary judgment and decision-making literature. Conclusions suggest an integrated approach to understanding decision-making in outdoor leadership that focuses on the decision-making environment, the decision-maker, the type of decisions being made, and the decision-making process itself.


This paper presents a general result for the simulation of correlated heterogeneous targets, which are present in images corrupted by speckle noise. This technique is based on the use of a correlation mask and Gaussian random variables, in order to obtain spatially dependent Gamma deviates. These Gamma random variables, in turn, allow the obtainment of correlated deviates with specified correlation structure. The theoretical properties of the procedure are presented, along with the corresponding algorithm.


Background Data on the association between dietary patterns and depression are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms assessed repeatedly over 10 years in the French occupational GAZEL cohort. Methods A total of 9,272 men and 3,132 women, aged 45–60 years in 1998, completed a 35-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline. Dietary patterns were derived by Principal Component Analysis. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) in 1999, 2002, 2005 and 2008. The main outcome measure was the repeated measures of CES-D. Longitudinal analyses were performed with logistic regression based on generalized estimating equations. Principal Findings The highest quartile of low-fat, western, high snack and high fat-sweet diets in men and low-fat and high snack diets in women were associated with higher likelihood of depressive symptoms at the start of the follow-up compared to the lowest quartile (OR between 1.16 and 1.50). Conversely, the highest quartile of traditional diet (characterized by fish and fruit consumption) was associated with a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms in women compared to the lowest quartile, with OR = 0.63 [95%CI, 0.50 to 0.80], as the healthy pattern (characterized by vegetables consumption) with OR = 0.72 [95%CI, 0.63 to 0.83] and OR = 0.75 [95%CI, 0.61 to 0.93] in men and women, respectively. However, there was probably a reverse causality effect for the healthy pattern. Conclusion This longitudinal study shows that several dietary patterns are associated with depressive symptoms and these associations track over time.


Well documented experiences of the Irish diaspora in England include humiliation, discrimination, and higher rates of suicide and psychiatric intervention (Hickman, 2000). However, the construction of the Irish in relation to rape has rarely been considered, despite the longstanding history of the term being used as a metaphor in the context of colonization (Sharkey, 1994). This paper examines intersecting discourses around anti-Irish racism and sexual violence through a genealogical tracing of the concept of rape in relation to men, women, and the discursive category of "The Irish." This historically situated, discourse analysis (Parker, 2003, 2014) includes contemporary material from microblogs (Java, Song, Finan, & Tseng, 2007). It reveals the construction of the Irish as passive recipients of sexual conquest (whether consensual or coercive) that implies sexual availability. Whether it is the popular "Kiss me I'm Irish" or the more aggressive "Rape me I'm Irish" "joke," the conceptual Irish body is positioned as an object for others to act upon. This analysis exposes the myth of white homogeneity and the relative invisibility of anti-Irish racism, particularly when combined with other axes of oppression such as gender and class. For professionals working with victims of violence, the complex relationship between colonialism, sectarianism, and racism should be considered beyond visible differences and black–white dichotomies.


Analysis of underground structures under blast has challenges due to the complexity of blast dynamic loading and soil behavior. Due to the role of underground structures as a shelter and the vulnerability of these structures to explosive loads, it is vital to investigate and analyze the effect of explosions on these structures. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of explosive projectile distance from the underground structure and the diameter of the explosive sphere on the underground structure. For this purpose, using the finite difference method and dynamic analysis, the underground structure was simulated for different distances of the explosive projectile and different diameters of the explosive sphere. In this study, the propagation of explosion waves in a spherical manner was considered by applying an explosion pressure on the wall of the explosive sphere. The results show that with increasing the distance of the underground structure from the center of the explosion, the maximum soil pressure on the maintenance system as well as the bending moment and axial force in the canopy and wall of the tunnel maintenance structure decrease exponentially. In addition, after the explosion wave reaches the tunnel maintenance system, the displacement and vertical velocity of the storage system particles in the tunnel crown is the highest. As the diameter of the explosive sphere increases, the bending moment at the crown and wall of the tunnel increases almost linearly, which is three times the slope for the tunnel crown.


Only months from now, another decade will dawn on stroke research with a dearth of therapeutic innovations developed to reverse the devastating effects of acute ischemic stroke. Despite generations of academic research investigators and associated industry collaborations, our clinical trials have marked each decade by successive eras of failed treatments with only a few exceptions. The recent publication of results from the Desmoteplase In Acute ischemic Stroke (DIAS)-2 trial provides important lessons that may hold the clues to reversing stroke in the 2010s.1 DIAS-2 was undoubtedly a landmark study, incorporating sophisticated trial design with the latest innovations in CT and MRI techniques to confirm benefit of a novel fibrinolytic agent to treat acute ischemic stroke up to 9 hours after symptom onset. The potential for another stroke therapy in clinical practice was replaced by collective introspection on the determinants of yet another negative trial after earlier positive results.2 Once again, an article starts by underscoring the limited treatment options for stroke, details the saga of an elaborate yet negative clinical trial, and ends by noting that the "criteria to optimize the selection and treatment outcomes" remain elusive. The perpetual motion of academia echoes the familiar chorus that further studies are indicated, but perhaps this philosophical juncture provides an opportunity to heed important lessons learned. An endless list of reasons can be cited for failure, like in the litany of articles on neuroprotective trials or the thoughtful considerations of Stroke Therapy Academic Industry Roundtable (STAIR),3,4 yet most are difficult to prove or easily remedy without a comprehensive overhaul. Overall, DIAS-2 teaches us that the traditional approaches to stroke therapy may require revision of our currently engrained textbook approach to key variables such as time, imaging of the penumbra, ischemic pathophysiology, predictors of outcome, and the paradigm of randomized, controlled trials to prove efficacy of a single intervention. Tweaking such aspects may translate into therapeutic breakthroughs and allow us to reflect on a very different decade of stroke research by 2020. Time was a key focus of DIAS-2, using an extended window from 3 to 9 hours after symptom onset to test a novel fibrinolytic drug for late reperfusion. Like in the recent success of European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS) III with thrombolysis up to 4.5 hours after onset,5 offering treatment beyond the strict and perhaps arbitrary time limit of 3 hours has been a critical goal. "Time is brain" may be a useful slogan to accelerate triage of acute stroke, but such dogma defies the vascular pathophysiology of cerebral blood flow. Faster treatment always seems better, yet hemodynamics and the time course of collateral perfusion and subsequent failure vary substantially across individuals.6,7 Time from symptom onset is not synonymous with stroke onset, because it only reflects when collaterals become insufficient to sustain normal neurological function. The time course of collateral failure and clinical deterioration vary and are influenced by numerous factors such as lesion location. In fact, patient presentation to the emergency room may be driven by such features because many are often dissuaded from seeking medical attention due to fluctuation or mild symptoms. Starting the clock in such cases remains a challenge. Reperfusion of mismatch at later time points, like in DIAS-2, may also not translate into substantial clinical improvement because these "survivors" may have tolerated prolonged hypoperfusion with only modest impairment. Interestingly, the DIAS-2 investigators found no difference in response rates based on time, an emerging pattern evidenced with other stroke interventions despite several prior studies to the contrary, raising questions about the accuracy of defining time windows without imaging. Imaging may reveal why time is important, disclosing facets that relate to vascular changes such as no reflow and endothelial ischemia aside from evolving ischemic injury in tissue. DIAS-2 highlighted multimodal CT and MRI, including parenchymal images with both angiography and perfusion measures. These techniques have rapidly gained traction in routine clinical practice, yet equating mismatch with penumbra may be especially misleading if CT and MRI approaches


Nurses find that caring for clients with HIV disease can be exceptionally rewarding but can also be stressful and frustrating. Stressors in HIV work arise both from specific issues related to HIV and from more generic concerns arising from caring for clients with a chronic illness in an environment of limited resources. This article describes sources of stress for nurses and personal institutional factors that can lead to burnout as well as positive aspects of HIV nursing. Institutional strategies that can decrease stress and support nurses' practice are described. Group support and individual strategies, including humor and spirituality, offer interventions that can help nurses maintain energy and enthusiasm for nursing practice with HIV clients.


Background

Unexpected cardiac arrest in patients during surgery is associated with high mortality. Reasons are often multifactorial and not exactly clear.

Case presentation

Therefore, this case report describes a patient, who developed reversible asystoles during knee surgery under general anesthesia. All diagnostic cardiac examinations were unremarkable. After surgery the patient showed no further symptoms.

Conclusion

To prevent cardiac arrest due to non-cardiac reasons, patients with high risk for asystole caused by vasovagal reflex or pain need to be identified. Preoperative conditions like hypovolemia need to be improved and additional monitoring should be used. Further investigations to find the influence of non-cardiac disease and long-term medication are necessary.


Abstract Parent involvement in the process of creating an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law in the United States that ensures children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education alongside their peers without disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Yet much research has shown that parents often feel like outsiders during the process. To understand parent perspectives about how educators might help make the IEP process more collaborative and inclusive, this study collected qualitative data from 35 parents of students with disabilities who have worked to develop an IEP with a school team. Our findings provide insight into parent experiences and evidence that parents have many suggestions for how educators can improve the IEP process. In our discussion section, we provide educators with strategies to address parent suggestions.


Thymidine kinase (TK) activity was examined during the development of preimplantation mouse embryos. TK activity was increased approximately 20‐fold from day 2 embryos (2‐cell) to day 5 embryos (late blastocyst). TK activity did not change along with the progression into S‐phase of the first and the second cell cycles but increased sharply at S‐phase of the third cell cycle. Analysis of TK mRNA with a reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) method showed that the level of TK mRNA was low in ovulated eggs and 1‐cell embryos and was hardly detectable in day 2 embryo (2‐cell), but sharply increased in day 3 embryos (mixture of 5‐ to 8‐cell and morula). The functional role of 5′‐flanking sequence of TK gene was also investigated in preimplantation embryos after microinjection with the DNA construct of 5′‐flanking sequence of TK (2.4 kb) linked to bacterial lacZ gene (TK2.5lacZ) into the pronucleus of 1‐cell and subsequently by histochemical staining with X‐gal. β‐Galactosidase activity was first detected in day 3 embryos (8‐cell), and 30% of embryos were stained with X‐gal in day 4 and day 5 embryos, respectively. These results show that an increase in TK activity occurred after 2‐cell stage, and this increase was primarily due to the embryonic activation of TK gene expression. Also, it appears that the 5′‐flanking sequence of TK may directly regulate the TK gene expression at the transcriptional level during preimplantation murine development. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract Ecological release is often attributed to the rapid adaptive diversification of phenotypic traits. However, it is not well understood how natural selection changes its strength and direction through the process of ecological release. Herein, we demonstrated how shell colour of the Japanese land snail Euhadra peliomphala simodae has diversified via a shift in natural selection due to ecological release after migration from the mainland to an island. This snail's shell colour diversified on the island due to disruptive selection after migration from the mainland. We used trail camera traps to identify the cause of natural selection on both the mainland and the island. We then conducted a mark–recapture experiment while collecting microhabitat use data. In total, we captured and marked around 1,700 snails on the mainland, some of which were preyed upon by an unknown predator. The trail camera traps showed that the predator is the large Japanese field mouse Apodemus speciosus, and the predatory frequency was higher on the mainland than on the island. However, this predation did not correlate with shell colour. Microhabitat use on the island was more extensive than on the mainland, with snails on the island using both ground and arboreal microhabitats. A Bayesian estimation showed that the stabilizing selection on shell colour came from factors other than predation. Our results suggest that the course of natural selection was modified due to ecological release after migration from the mainland, explaining one cause of the phenotypic diversification.


Can a rational choice modeling framework help broaden our understanding of anorexia nervosa? This question is interesting because anorexia nervosa is a serious health concern, and because of the following issue: could a rational choice approach shed useful light on a condition which appears to involve "choosing" to be ill? We present a model of weight choice and dieting applicable to anorexia nervosa, and the sometimes-associated purging behavior. We also present empirical evidence about factors possibly contributing to anorexia nervosa. We offer this analysis as a consciousness-raising way of thinking about the condition.


Upon detecting a frequency event in a power system, the stepwise inertial control (SIC) of a wind turbine generator (WTG) instantly increases the power output for a preset period so as to arrest the frequency drop. Afterwards, SIC rapidly reduces the WTG output to avert over-deceleration (OD). However, such a rapid output reduction may act as a power deficit in the power system, and thereby cause a second frequency dip. In this paper, a hybrid reference function for the stable SIC of a doubly- fed induction generator is proposed to prevent OD while improving the frequency nadir (FN). To achieve this objective, a reference function is separately defined prior to and after the FN. In order to improve the FN when an event is detected, the reference is instantly increased by a constant and then maintained until the FN. This constant is determined by considering the power margin and available kinetic energy. To prevent OD, the reference decays with the rotor speed after the FN. The performance of the proposed scheme was validated under various wind speed conditions and wind power penetration levels using an EMTP-RV simulator. The results clearly demonstrate that the scheme successfully prevents OD while improving the FN at different wind conditions and wind power penetration levels. Furthermore, the scheme is adaptive to the size of a frequency event.