Objectives: To determine the prevalence of urinary tract infection (UTI) among pregnant women in Mosul city and to classify the infected women according to their trimesters of pregnancy. The sensitivity of isolated organisms to various antibiotics was also examined. Patients and methods: Sample of 154 pregnant women attending Al-Batool Maternity Hospital in Mosul city from Feb-April 2007 was taken. Information on age, gestational age, gravidity, parity, level of education and residence were collected for each woman. Clean midstream urine samples were examined for UTI microscopically and culture, and sensitivity tests were done for the organisms isolated using a range of antibiotics. Results: Prevalence rate of UTI among the studied subjects was 47.4%. Eschirishia coli was the most frequently isolated organism (73.5%) which was highly sensitive to nitrofurantoin, ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, ceftriaxone and amikacin. Amoxicillin, cotrimoxasole, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin are the effective antibiotics to half of isolated Gram positive bacteria. Of the variables examined, 79.5% of the infected participants were in the age group 20-35 years, 53.0% were in their third trimester, 41.0% had 1-4 children, 30.1% were primigravidae, 63.0% attended the antenatal care unit on need, and 71.2% were urban at 6-12 years schooling. Conclusion: UTI is still a major health problem among pregnant women especially during their third trimester. Escherichia coli is the predominant pathogen causing UTI. All detected bacteria were sensitive to amikacin. Urinalyses with culture and sensitivity tests are mandatory for all pregnant women during the different trimesters. Health education with regular antenatal care share greatly in reducing the incidence of this infection.


This paper gives a general overview of the evolution of labour market indicators between 1995 and 2005 in Brazil. It shows an overall increase in formal employment rates from 2001 to 2005, as opposite to what had happened from 1995 to 1999. It is argued that such recent trends might indicate the reconfiguration of the labour market in better terms, with potential positive consequences to the finance performance of the Social Security sector. The paper also examines some of the major factors associated with this new trend and their chances to maintain such tendency in the near future. It's important to notice that all of them may be subject to some kind of political management by the State. In other words, we suggest that there are sufficient instruments and operative skills in the Brazilian State to make these and others factors work in favour of a more persistent strategy of development with social inclusion through labour.


Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) have been widely used in electrochemical energy storage devices because of their excellent conductivity, extremely large surface area and structural stability. Herein, we obtained a viscous, liquefied bio-stalk carbon via the simple chemical treatment of biomass, and mixed it with polyacrylonitrile to prepare a spinning solution. Subsequent electrospinning and high temperature activation resulted in the successful preparation of liquefied lignin-based activated carbon nanofibers. The as-prepared liquefied bio-stalk carbon nanofibers exhibited an outstanding electrochemical performance (specific capacitance of 273 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 current density), and a capacitance retention of 210 F g−1 even under a large current density of 10 A g−1. Besides its high specific capacitance and outstanding rate capability, the symmetrical supercapacitor cell based on the liquefied carbon-based nanofiber electrodes also exhibited an excellent cycling performance with 92.76% capacitance retention after 5000 charge–discharge cycles. This study provides a new strategy for the future development of supercapacitor electrode materials and enhances the development of biomass energy.


Forests in the western United States generally have increased in tree density since Euro-American settlement, particularly through increases in fire-sensitive species, such as spruces, firs, and junipers. Like most areas, the Black Hills region in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming was logged for forest products and underwent agricultural conversion before historical forests were documented. To supplement historical reconstructions and accounts, we compared tree composition and densities (diameters ≥12.7 cm at 1.37 m above ground height) from historical General Land Office (GLO) records (years 1878 to 1915) and current Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) tree surveys (years 2011 to 2016) in the Black Hills Highlands of South Dakota. For composition, ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa P. Lawson & C. Lawson) decreased from 95% to 86% of all trees, with a consequent increase specifically of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) from 1.5% to 6.7% of all trees. Ponderosa pine currently is smaller in mean diameter by 7.4 cm, while white spruce is larger in mean diameter by 2.4 cm than historically. When the 35% of historical survey points without recorded trees were excluded, historical tree densities indicated an overall forested structure of savannas and open woodlands with tree densities ranging from 66 trees ha–1 to 162 trees ha–1. However, historical forests of the Black Hills incorporated dense stands. Tree densities have increased two- to more than four-fold, to 311 trees ha–1 currently. These comparisons provide another source of information, paralleling changes documented in surface fire-dependent pine and oak forests throughout the United States, of transitions in forest composition and structure since Euro-American settlement.


The activity of Nitric Oxide Synthase 2 (NOS2) was found in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) but not in normal mucosa. Molecular changes associated to early carcinogenesis have been found in mucosa near carcinomas, which is considered a model to study field cancerization. The aim of the present study is to analyze NOS2 expression at the histologically normal margins of OSCC. Study Design: Eleven biopsy specimens of OSCC containing histologically normal margins (HNM) were analyzed. Ten biopsies of normal oral mucosa were used as controls. The activity of NOS2 was determined by immunohistochemistry. Salivary nitrate and nitrite as well as tobacco and alcohol consumption were also analyzed. The Chi-squared test was applied. Results: Six out of the eleven HNM from carcinoma samples showed positive NOS2 activity whereas all the control group samples yielded negative (p=0.005). No statistically significant association between enzyme expression and tobacco and/or alcohol consumption and salivary nitrate and nitrite was found. Conclusions: NOS2 expression would be an additional evidence of alterations that may occur in a state of field cancerization before the appearance of potentially malignant morphological changes. Key words:Field cancerization, oral squamous cell carcinoma, Nitric Oxide Synthase 2 (NOS2), malignity markers.


Tetragonally distorted FexCo1−x alloy films are grown on Rh (001) showing a strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a wide thickness and composition range. This large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is chemical composition dependent and reaches a maximum at x=0.4. For this composition, we observed an out-of-plane easy axis of magnetization at room temperature with film thickness up to 15 ML. Our experiments show that the proper adjustment of the Fermi level (EF) by the variation of the FexCo1−x alloy composition and the corresponding tetragonal distortion results in a large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.


The purpose of this study was to explore how the Theory of Planned Behavior applies to five appearance management behaviors and the effects of three variables - attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control on appearance management behaviors. The research was conducted by surveying 410 female adult respondents between the ages of 20 to 40 with the goal of predicting the appearance management behavior of women. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0 and Amos 19 in addition to Frequency analysis and path analysis. In the first case, the potential for applying appearance management theory on appearance management behavior of women was observed. The appearance management behavior performed by women was classified into five categories: skin care behavior, makeup management behavior, apparel management behavior, hair care behavior, and weight management behavior. It was determined all five behaviors could be predicted by applying the Theory of Planned Behavior. In the second case, effects of attitude related to subjective norm and perceived behavior control related to skin care behavior was statistically significant. In terms of makeup management behavior, all of the three variables were statistically significant. With regard to apparel management behavior, only subjective norm behavior was statistically significant. Concerning hair care behavior, attitude and perceived behavior control were statistically significant. On weight management behavior only attitude was statistically significant.


Heterostructure of graphene nanowalls (GNW) supported Ni thin-layer was fabricated to form an on-chip pseudocapacitor via a standard microelectromechanical system process. Beyond a high-rate capability of the micro-supercapacitors, a large specific energy density of 2.1 mW h cm−3 and power density up to 5.91 W cm−3 have been achieved, which are two orders of magnitude higher than those commercial electrolytic capacitors and thin-film batteries, respectively. Rational analysis revealed a rapid GNW growth originated from the Pt current collector embedment by catalyzing hydrocarbon dissociating. The unique concept in our design includes that Ni was evaporated onto GNW to serve as both the shadow mask for microelectrode patterning and subsequently a precursor to be in-situ electrochemically converted into pseudo-capacitive Ni(OH)2 for capacitance enhancing. Addressing the challenge to uniformly coat in complex nanoporous structures, this strategy renders a conformal deposition of pseudo-capacitive material on individual graphene nanoflakes, leading to efficient merits harnessing of huge accessible surfaces from the conductive GNW networks and great capacitance of the Ni-based active materials for high performance delivery. The proof of concept can be potentially extended to other transition metals and paves the way to further apply GNW hybrids in diverse microsystems.


Using the Angular Spectrum (AS) method, we have calculated the spatial distribution of the light intensity ring at the observation plane for a Vortex Micro-lens (VML). By comprehensive investigation of the variations in the ring characteristics, including the radius and width of the ring, the maximum intensity and the radius of the null spot versus the observation plane distance and VML topological charge, we have found a zone of maximum power level behind the VML in the Fresnel region. The zone is located at the between its double peaks. We call this zone the Maximum Power Zone (MPZ) and Also, we have shown that the location of the MPZ is independent of the refractive index and topological charge of VML while is dependent on frees-pace wavelength (0) and diameter of VML (D) and there is an absolute peak of power level in the MPZ at the distance of D2/30. The result can easily use to design a VML with a specified ring characterization.


We analyze the smoothing effect of superposing homogeneous sources in a network. We consider a tandem queueing network representing the nodes that customers generated by these sources pass through. The servers in the tandem queues have different time varying service rates. In between the tandem queues there are propagation delays. We show that for arbitrary arrival and service processes which are mutually independent, the sum of unfinished works in the tandem queues is monotone in the number of homogeneous sources in the increasing convex order sense, provided the total intensity of the foreground traffic is constant. The results hold for both fluid and discrete traffic models.


Prolonged exercise in the heat elicits a number of physiological changes as glycogen stores are low and water and electrolytes are lost through sweat. However, it is unclear whether these changes provoke an increase in liking of saltiness and, therefore, palatability of an oral rehydration solution (ORS). Twenty-seven recreationally active participants (n = 13 males; n = 14 females) completed sensory analysis of an ORS, a traditional sports drink (TS), and a flavored water placebo (PL) at rest and during 60 min (3 × 20-min bouts) of cycling exercise at 70% age-predicted maximum heart rate (HRmax) at 35.3 ± 1.4 °C and 41 ± 6% relative humidity. Before and after every 20 min of exercise, drinks were rated (using 20-mL beverage samples) based on liking of sweetness, liking of saltiness, thirst-quenching ability, and overall liking on a nine-point hedonic scale. Hydration status was assessed by changes in semi-nude body mass, saliva osmolality (SOsm), and saliva total protein concentration (SPC). After 60 min of exercise, participants lost 1.36 ± 0.39% (mean ± SD) of body mass and there were increases in SOsm and SPC. At all time points, liking of sweetness, saltiness, thirst-quenching ability, and overall liking was higher for the TS and PL compared to the ORS (p < 0.05). However, the saltiness liking and thirst-quenching ability of the ORS increased after 60 min of exercise compared to before exercise (p < 0.05). There was also a change in predictors of overall liking with pre-exercise ratings mostly determined by liking of sweetness, saltiness, and thirst-quenching ability (p < 0.001), whereas only liking of saltiness predicted overall liking post-exercise (R2 = 0.751; p < 0.001). There appears to be a hedonic shift during exercise in which the perception of saltiness becomes the most important predictor of overall liking. This finding supports the potential use of an ORS as a valuable means of hydration during the latter stages of prolonged and/or intense exercise in the heat.


Adolescents have complex health needs, that require consistent answers between the health and education sectors. This article describes the existing structures and collaborations in Geneva, between medical practitioners, specialized clinics and school health. School health doesn't make any routine health screening, but strengthens its role for guidance of adolescents. Priority health activities for school health include protection of victims of abuse, integration of youth living with a chronic condition, and mediation for students with repeated absences. In any of these cases, collaboration between health services and school health services is essential. In the case of drug abuse, collaboration with teachers is necessary.


The need to protect the confidentiality of research data has long been recognized. One means to help protect research data from use in civil or criminal matters in the United States is a Certificate of Confidentiality (CoC). Until recently, investigators applied for a CoC when conducting research that was sensitive, stigmatizing or where the disclosure of private information could possibly result in civil or criminal liability. However, effective October 1, 2017, CoCs are automatically issued for much research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While automatic issuance reduces administrative burden, it also poses some surprising unanticipated challenges for research in general and pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) in particular, which are key elements of learning health systems.


1. Headmistress, Government M.C Girls High School, Millat Colony Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan 2. Ph. D Scholar, Department of Education, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Punjab, Pakistan 3. M. Phil Scholar, Department of Education, Riphah International University Faisalabad, Punjab, Punjab, Pakistan PAPER INFO ABSTRACT Received: January 18, 2021 Accepted: March 01, 2021 Online: March 15, 2021 The present study aimed to investigate how conspiracy beliefs convince people to believe unreal stories leading to psychological distress. An online survey was conducted using a questionnaire. The researchers adopted A generic conspiracist beliefs scale (GCBS) by Brotherton et al. (2013), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 Items (DASS-21) by Lovibond and Lovibond (1995), The Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) by Templer (1970), and self-made questionnaire. Six hundred and sixty-four university students have participated in this study. The participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The major findings of this study reveal that participants believe in a different conspiracy rather than scientific reasoning about COVID-19 such as it is laboratory accident (71%), bioweapon (76%), and elites' strategy for business (68%). Participants' level of conspiracy belief M = (M = 3.892) leads to psychological distress among them. It is recommended that sound rationality, flawless communication, and awareness strategies must be implemented to dispel propaganda and conspiracies about COVID-19.


MPEG-Pro, an MPEG-4 authoring software prototype has been designed to integrate all main authoring capabilities from audio/visual encoding to the final delivery of a complete MPEG-4 application. The storage format, named MP4, has been defined for MPEG-4, but adapted techniques for specific delivery scenarios that are compliant with this format are still in course of proposition and definition. We introduce a solution to author and store MPEG-4 content with better data accessibility for the streaming over RTP/IP scenario. By respecting scrupulously the MP4 constraints, this content remains reusable by any MPEG-4-compliant tool. We describe how its implementation is integrated in MPEG-Pro whose modular architecture allows large scope for extensibility.


The purpose of this chapter is to discuss certain disturbances around the pole of a Venus – type planet that result as a response to barotropic instability processes in a zonal flow. We discuss a linear instability of normal modes in a zonal flow through the barotropic vorticity equations (BVEs). By using a simple idealization of a zonal flow, the instability is employed on measurements of the upper atmosphere of Venus. In 1998, the tropical cyclone Mitch gave way to the observational study of a dipole vortex. This dipole vortex might have helped to intensify the cyclone and moved it towards the SW. In order to examine this process of interaction, the nonlinear BVE was integrated in time applied to the 800 – 200 hPa average layer in the previous moment when it moved towards the SW. The 2-day integrations carried out with the model showed that the geometric structure of the solution can be calculated to a good approximation. The solution HLC moves very fast westwards as observed. On October 27, the HLA headed north-eastward and then became quasi-stationary. It was also observed that HLA and HLC as a coupled system rotates in the clockwise direction.


In Maharashtra state industrialization is on the raising slope, hence demand of electricity continuously blooming. But to meet ever-growing energy demand for industrialization as well for house-hold work brings rise in tariff rates. Raising rates of tariff boost the increasing immoral activities in electrical power sector. With a technical point of view, Power Theft adversely affects the power quality, tariff rates and non-reliability of power supply. So power theft is a non-ignorable crime that is highly prevented, as it directly affected the power quality and economy of the state. Electricity theft is a social evil, so it has to be completely eliminated. Power consumption and losses have to be closely monitored so that the generated power is utilized in a most efficient manner. Now Utility companies have prime responsibilities to prevent the illegal usage of electricity. At these stage traditional methods to stop power theft is totally out dated. New technological development highly needed to solve the problem of illegal usage of electricity without any human control. The implementation of such technology will save large amount of electricity, and there by electricity will be available for more number of consumer then earlier with affordable tariff. This paper introduces the electrical power theft controlling mechanism.


For a very long time, RNA was considered just the medium by which information flows from DNA into the cell. The model proposed in the 1960s assumed that proteins are the main products and regulators of the gene expression process. In this context, the results of the Human Genome Project and the discoveries of RNA interference and small regulatory RNAs (srRNAs) came as a true surprise. The first ones demonstrated that less than 5% of the human genome encodes proteins. The second showed that RNA, especially 20-30 nt-long molecules should be placed among the most important factors controlling gene expression. srRNAs are capable of affecting the release and flow of genetic information in many different ways. They can induce changes in the genome structure, inhibit transcription, mediate mRNA degradation and repress translation. Interestingly, in different organisms, different pathways are used to regulate gene expression. It has recently been estimated that, in humans, the expression of 35-40% of genes is controlled by srRNA. As a result, RNA is currently believed to be a central molecule in many biological processes.


A modified honeycomb panel with improved bonding technique is presented in this paper. The idea is to keep the basic mechanical properties of a honeycomb panel while to eliminate the coincidence phenomenon of the whole system by using modified bonding technique. A specimen was made and measurement was performed. Results show that the coincidence phenomenon of the whole system disappears and the weighted intensity sound reduction index is 4 dB higher than that of the corresponding honeycomb panel with similar surface density and static strength.


The generation and transport of water in both liquid and gas phases during device operation are important areas to understand both steady state and transient performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Localized concentrations of liquid water within the cell can cause flooding, which leads to decreases in cell performance, fuel starvation, degradation, or, in extreme cases, collapse of cell output. A variety of experimental and simulation techniques have been used to elucidate flooding events; yet, a comprehensive understanding of what leads to flooding and the specific details of how flooding affects fuel cell performance, especially during transient operation, have not been completely developed. The work reported here couples direct observations of liquid water flooding, primarily in the gas flow channel, with measurements of cell performance, outlet temperature, and outlet dew point during a step change in current density. Liquid water buildup and water slug dynamics were monitored with the temperature and electrical performance of the cell in real time. The size of the water slugs was connected to the cell performance to illustrate how the liquid water influences cell operation and how the conditions of the cathode gas flow control the liquid water content of the cell.


The circumscription of Ganoderma coffeatum has been revised, based on morphological data. It is evidenced that the commonly used concept of the species encompassed several taxa. In addition to G. coffeatum s.s., two additional species occur endemically in the Neotropics and are identified as Ganoderma flaviporum and Amauroderma deviatum. In tropical Asia, two other taxa were evidenced but are so far of uncertain status. The main features of G. coffeatum, G. flaviporum, and A. deviatum are emphasized. A preliminary key to the Ganodcrmataceae with a complex endosporic ornamentation pattern is presented.


We present PatchmatchNet, a novel and learnable cascade formulation of Patchmatch for high-resolution multi-view stereo. With high computation speed and low memory requirement, PatchmatchNet can process higher resolution imagery and is more suited to run on resource limited devices than competitors that employ 3D cost volume regularization. For the first time we introduce an iterative multi-scale Patchmatch in an end-to-end trainable architecture and improve the Patchmatch core algorithm with a novel and learned adaptive propagation and evaluation scheme for each iteration. Extensive experiments show a very competitive performance and generalization for our method on DTU, Tanks & Temples and ETH3D, but at a significantly higher efficiency than all existing top-performing models: at least two and a half times faster than state-of-the-art methods with twice less memory usage. Code is available at https://github.com/FangjinhuaWang/PatchmatchNet.


Bio-oil has been identified as a major feedstock for the production of renewable fuels. As bio-oil has a high O-content, and therefore a low heating value and low stability over time, upgrading is desirable to remove the oxygen and to make it similar to crude oil. Here, we examine the two general catalytic routes for bio-oil upgrading: cracking and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). Zeolite cracking is an alternative path in which acid zeolites are used as catalysts for the deoxygenation reaction. In these systems, hydrogen is not required, and so the operation is performed at atmospheric pressure. However, HDO is usually conducted under high H2 pressure in order to remove the O-containing compounds and hence to produce a high grade oil product. The catalysts employed for HDO are traditional hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts, such as Co–MoS2/Al2O3, or metal catalysts. However, the life of the catalyst (more than 200 h on stream) has not been demonstrated. Of the two catalytic routes mentioned above, HDO appears to have the best potential, as zeolite cracking cannot produce fuels of an acceptable grade. Although HDO is considered the best option to produce transportation fuels of a grade and cost equivalent to present fossil fuels, several problems still have to be solved. An understanding of the carbon forming mechanisms and kinetics, an evaluation of the requirement for high pressure, and sustainable sources of hydrogen are some of the areas that have to be elucidated before the process can be commercialized.


In this thirty-second annual volume in the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy's NOMOS series, entitled Majorities and Minorities, thirteen distinguished contributors consider a diverse selection of topics. Included are essays on legitimacy of the majority, the utilitarian view of majoritarianism, majorities and elections, pluralism and equality, democratic theory, and American democracy and majority rules. Of Interest to political scientists, philosophers, and legal scholars, this collection brings together a variety of viewpoints. Each author is a leading voice within his or her specialized field.


There is growing evidence to show increased mental ill health in women compulsorily separated from their babies at birth (Cantwell et al., MBRRACE-UK, 2018:56). For imprisoned women, the risk of self-harm and suicide may be exacerbated. This article draws on in-depth interviews with a sample of 28 imprisoned pregnant women/new mothers, 10 prison staff and observations to discuss the experience of separation from or anticipation of separation of women from their babies. Oakley (Signs, 4:607-631, 1980) reflected on the transition to motherhood with reference to the sociology of loss of identity. Women who have been compulsorily separated from their babies experience subjugated loss out of place with societal norms. The experiences of compulsory separation, in relation to concepts of disenfranchised grief, resonate with Lovell's (Social Science & Medicine, 17:755-761, 1983) research into the altered identities of mothers when loss occurs through late miscarriage or stillbirth. Additionally, this type of complex loss also denies a woman her identity as a 'mother'. This article offers a fresh sociological perspective on the ways loss and grief are experienced by women facing separation from their babies in prison, drawing on concepts of uncertainty, loss and disenfranchised grief.


Objective. Departing from the typical focus of intervention studies on service use and program effects for mothers and children, this article examines the extent to which fathers are present as clients in Early Head Start intervention programs for infants and toddlers. Design. The article uses descriptive findings from 2 studies: the first is a population survey of 261 Early Head Start programs (National Practitioners Survey), and the second is a father involvement demonstration program of 21 programs (Fatherhood Demonstration Study). Similar measures enabled comparability across the studies. Results. The 2 studies report that there was a father present in the lives of a majority of Early Head Start children - 70% in the national study, and 76% in the demonstration study. However, only 45% and 48%, respectively, of children had a father in residence, and there was considerable variation by race and ethnicity. About 59% of resident fathers had some participation in programs (53% in demonstration programs). Demonstration programs involved more nonresident fathers (45%) than did typical programs (30%). The proportion of resident fathers who were involved in Early Head Start at higher levels, defined in this study as at least 3 times a month, equaled 24% and 48% for typical and demonstration programs, respectively. For nonresident fathers, comparable figures were 10% and 30%. Conclusions. These studies illustrate that the majority of Early Head Start children have a father present in their lives, although many fathers are not in residence, and that the majority of fathers have some contact with the program. Findings showing that demonstration programs were more successful in engaging fathers at higher levels of involvement (especially true for nonresident fathers) illustrate that there is a greater potential for father participation in intervention programs than is realized today. Greater inclusion of fathers as clients in these programs has important implications for the science and practice of intervention.


Background and objectives: In this study, we investigated how enteric plexuses protect themselves from complement mediated attack. For this purpose, the expression patterns of membrane bound complement regulatory proteins (mCRP) and their association with C3 deposition was determined. In addition, mCRP expression patterns of enteric plexuses were compared with those in the central nervous system (CNS). Methods: Immunohistochemical stainings were performed to discriminate neuronal cells from glial cells and to detect the presence of CD46, CD55, CD59, and C3d. RNA in situ hybridisation (RISH) was used to determine the cell types that produce CD55 mRNA. Results: Enteric plexuses minimally expressed CD46 whereas CD55 and CD59 were highly expressed. CD55 expression was also observed in a ring around Auerbach's plexuses which was not observed for CD46 and CD59. C3d was deposited around the plexuses but plexus cells themselves did not stain for C3d. In contrast with CNS neurones, enteric neurones were shown to express CD55 whereas enteric glial cells did not. This was confirmed with CD55 RISH. Phospholipase C mediated cleavage of CD55 demonstrated that CD55 was most likely attached to elastic fibres surrounding the plexus. Attached CD55 might protect CD55 negative glial cells from complement mediated injury during inflammatory reactions. CD55 on elastic fibres surrounding the plexuses most likely originated from enteric neuronal cells. Conclusion: In contrast with the CNS, enteric neurones express CD55 and enteric glial cells lack CD55 expression. CD55, produced by neuronal cells, attached to elastic fibres surrounding the plexuses is proposed to protect the CD55 negative glial cells within plexuses.


The present paper is concerned with the geometric (point) Lie symmetry groups of the Willmore equation – the Euler-Lagrange equation associated with the Willmore functional. The ten-parameter group of special conformal transformations in three-dimensional Euclidean space, which is known to be the symmetry group of the Willmore functional, is recognized as the largest group of geometric transformations admitted by the Willmore equation in Monge representation. The conserved currents of ten linearly independent conservation laws, which correspond to the variational symmetries of the Willmore equation and hold on its smooth solutions, are derived. All types of non-equivalent group-invariant solutions of the Willmore equation are identified, an optimal system of one-dimensional subalgebras being given together with the invariants of the corresponding one-parameter groups, up to one exception. Special attention is paid to the rotationally-invariant (axially-symmetric) solutions.


The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill significantly impacted the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM) deep benthos (>125 m water depth) at different spatial scales and across all community size and taxa groups including microbes, foraminifera, meiofauna, macrofauna, megafauna, corals, and demersal fishes. The resilience across these communities was heterogeneous, with some requiring years if not decades to fully recover. To synthesize ecosystem impacts and recovery following DWH, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI) Core 3 synthesis group subdivided the nGoM into four ecotypes: coastal, continental shelf, open-ocean, and deep benthic. Here we present a synopsis of the deep benthic ecotype status and discuss progress made on five tasks: (1) summarizing pre- and post-oil spill trends in abundance, species composition, and dynamics; (2) identifying missing data/analyses and proposing a strategy to fill in these gaps; (3) constructing a conceptual model of important species interactions and impacting factors; (4) evaluating resiliency and recovery potential of different species; and (5) providing recommendations for future long-term benthic ecosystem research programs. To address these tasks, we assessed time series to detect measures of population trends. Moreover, a benthic conceptual model for the GoM deep benthos was developed and a vulnerability-resilience analysis was performed to enable holistic interpretation of the interrelationships among ecotypes, resources, and stressors. The DWH oil spill underscores the overall need for a system-level benthic management decision support tool based on long-term measurement of ecological quality status (EQS). Production of such a decision support tool requires temporal baselines and time-series data collections. This approach provides EQS for multiple stressors affecting the GoM beyond oil spills. In many cases, the lessons learned from DWH, the gaps identified, and the recommended approaches for future long-term hypothesis-driven research can be utilized to better assess impacts of any ecosystem perturbation of industrial impact, including marine mineral extraction.


Bariatric/metabolic surgery is considered an accepted treatment option for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with body mass index (BMI)  ≧  35 kg/m2. Mounting evidence also shows that metabolic surgery is effective for T2DM with BMI  <  35 kg/m2. To evaluate current status of metabolic surgery, we reviewed the available clinical studies which described surgical treatment for T2DM with mean BMI  <  35 kg/m2. 18 studies with 477 patients were identified. 30% of the patients was insulin users. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 216 months. The weight loss effect was reasonable, not excessive. Mean BMI decreased from 30.4 to 24.8 kg/m2. Remission of T2DM was achieved in 64.7% of the patients with fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin approaching slightly above normal range. Clinical T2DM status was an important factor when selecting the eligible candidates for metabolic surgery. Postoperative complication rate of 10.3% with mortality of 0% in the studies has been acceptable. Even though it would be premature at this point to state that metabolic surgery is an accepted treatment option for T2DM with BMI < 35 kg/m2, it is clear that a high proportion of T2DM patients will derive substantial benefit from metabolic surgery.


Biogenic amines are organic nitrogen compounds with low molecular weight whose presence plays a vital role in oenology. They can be found in the grape must, but they can also be formed during alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, as well as during wine aging. Their presence at high levels in wine can lead to health problems. The most important biogenic amines in wine are tryptamine, putrescine, histamine, phenylethylamine, tyramine, cadaverine, spermine, and spermidine.
Two analytical methods for determination of the main biogenic amines in red and white wines have been optimized and validated. One method is based on pre-column derivatization with dansyl chloride followed by reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (RP-HPLC/DAD) and the other one uses direct determination with ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with triple quadruple mass spectrometry (TQ/MS). Both methods demonstrated excellent linearity, recovery, repeatability and reproducibility and were applied for analysis of commercial white and red wines from Macedonian origin. The content of the individual biogenic amines was below the maximal allowed concentration in all tested wines.
Also a RP-HPLC method for quantitative determination of tartaric, malic, shikimic, lactic, citric and succinic acids in wines has been developed and validated after sample clean up with solid-phase extraction (SPE). Validation parameters such as linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, precision and recovery after clean-up of the wine samples through C18 SPE columns, were found satisfactory. The validated method was applied for analysis of white and red wines from Macedonian origin.
 Experimental wines from the grape variety Vranec, have been produced, applying six different types of commercial malolactic bacteria from different producers. Biogenic amines and organic acids in these experimental wines were analyzed with the developed HPLC/DAD and UPLC-TQ/MS method. Sensory evaluation of the wine has also been performed in order to evaluate the impact of the different strains of malolactic bacteria on the wine aroma profile. The results have demonstrated positive impact of the controlled malolactic fermentation with selected bacteria on the content of biogenic amines during the fermentation process and aging of wine as well as on the sensory characteristics of the produced wines.

Keywords: wine; biogenic amines; organic acids; derivatization; HPLC/DAD; UPLC-TQ/MS


Abstract Oxygen-isotope tracer data combined with results from two linear barotropic coastal models are used to argue that the observed equatorward mean alongshelf flow in the Middle Atlantic Bight is a downstream extension of the mean alongshelf flow over the Scotian Shelf. Qualitative agreement between model results and observations supports the concept that the alongshelf pressure gradient associated with the mean alongshelf flow in the Middle Atlantic Bight has an upstream or downstream and not an offshelf origin. The role of the local large-scale general circulation is apparently to help keep the shelf water on the shelf rather than to drive the shelf mean flow.


In this paper, we pursue two related research questions. First, we enquire whether state owned enterprises (SOEs) perform better than privately owned firms in a large variety of emerging markets. To test this, we develop a unique dataset using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES), resulting in a sample of over 50,000 firms from 57 understudied countries including emerging capitalist, former socialist and state capitalist ones. Our results suggest that SOEs do display productivity advantages over private firms in these understudied economies. Our second research question asks whether the performance of state owned firms in these understudied countries is context specific, namely whether performance depends on the institutional system into which a country is classified. We refer to these systems as configurations. In particular, we are interested in whether state owned firms perform better in "state capitalist" countries including China and Vietnam. We find empirical support for the argument that the "state-led" configuration provides better institutional support for the ownership advantages of SOEs than others.


Clarity and guidance is required with regard to the use of direct oral anticoagulants in antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients, within the confines of the recent European Medicines Agency recommendations, discrepant recommendations in other international guidelines and the limited evidence base. To address this, the Lupus Anticoagulant/Antiphospholipid Antibodies Scientific and Standardization Committee (SSC) chair and co‐chairs together with SSC Control of Anticoagulation members propose guidance for healthcare professionals to help them manage APS patients. Uncertainty in this field will be addressed. This guidance will also serve as a call and focus for research.


One distinction between the markets for corporate and municipal bonds involves institutional constraints that apply to some municipal bond issues. This research focuses on how public finance institutions, in particular explicit debt limits and referenda requirements, affect the borrowing cost of individual school district bond issues. The empirical model specifies as the dependent variable the true interest cost of issuing debt. The results suggest that the presence of referenda requirements for the approval of annual school district budgets imposes an additional cost for borrowing funds.


A large amount of valuable information resides in a decentralized attributed social graph, where each user locally maintains a limited view of the graph. However, there exists a conflicting requirement between publishing an attributed social graph and protecting the privacy of sensitive information contained in each user's local data. In this paper, we aim to collect and generate attributed social graphs in a decentralized manner while providing local differential privacy (LDP) for the collected data. Existing LDP-based synthetic graph generation methods either fail to preserve important graph properties (such as modularity and clustering coefficient) due to excessive noise injection or are unable to process attribute data, thus limiting their adoption and applicability. To overcome these weaknesses, we propose AsgLDP, a novel technique to generate privacy-preserving attributed graph data while satisfying LDP. AsgLDP preserves various graph properties through carefully designing the injected noise and estimating the joint distribution of attribute data. There are two key steps in AsgLDP: 1) collecting and generating graph data while satisfying LDP, and 2) optimizing the privacy-utility tradeoff of the generated data while preserving general graph properties such as the degree distribution, community structure and attribute distribution. Through theoretical analysis as well as experiments over 6 real-world datasets, we demonstrate the effectiveness of AsgLDP in preserving general graph properties such as degree distribution, community structure and attributed community search, while rigorously satisfying LDP. We also show that AsgLDP achieves a superior balance between utility and privacy as compared to the state-of-the-art approaches.


Today the western view of Russia presents the problem of corruption exclusively as a continuation of the old Soviet order. In this chapter it is argued that the present phenomenon of corruption in Russia systemicly emerged from the privatization of state property and the introduction of market relations in the 1990s. The problem of corruption in Russia is a problem of political capitalism. It can only be solved by reforms which change the nature of the system, including above all the return to the state of at least part of the privatised property, while at the same time radically reforming and democratising the political system and the apparatus of rule.


Recently, sketches have been introduced as a general language for representing the subgoal structure of instances drawn from the same domain. Sketches are collections of rules of the form C -> E over a given set of features where C expresses Boolean conditions and E expresses qualitative changes. Each sketch rule defines a subproblem: going from a state that satisfies C to a state that achieves the change expressed by E or a goal state. Sketches can encode simple goal serializations, general policies, or decompositions of bounded width that can be solved greedily, in polynomial time, by the SIW_R variant of the SIW algorithm. Previous work has shown the computational value of sketches over benchmark domains that, while tractable, are challenging for domain-independent planners. In this work, we address the problem of learning sketches automatically given a planning domain, some instances of the target class of problems, and the desired bound on the sketch width. We present a logical formulation of the problem, an implementation using the ASP solver Clingo, and experimental results. The sketch learner and the SIW_R planner yield a domain-independent planner that learns and exploits domain structure in a crisp and explicit form.


Background: Despite the growing body of evidence produced by and for nurses, moving evidence from research into practice remains challenging. These challenges can be attributed in part, to attitudes of nurses towards evidence based practice. This study examined attitudes to evidence based practice among Emergency Department nurses and factors which influenced these attitudes such as: years of experience in nursing, country of education, practice outside country of education, perception of the culture of the organisation, previous education on evidence based practice, and role in the Emergency Department.Methods: This quantitative, descriptive study was conducted in the Emergency Department of a multi-specialty hospital in the United Arab Emirates. The study sample included 68 emergency nurses. Data was collected using the Evidence Based Practice Attitudes Scale between July and August of 2018. Data analysis was performed using independent t-tests and one way analysis of variance using SPSS from September to October 2018.Results: A response rate of 78% indicated that overall, participants had positive attitudes to evidence based practice. Participants from Europe had significantly more favourable attitudes to evidence based practice than those from Asia and the Middle East.Conclusions: Future research should be aimed at identifying barriers to implementation of EBP. Developing nursing competencies could provide clarity for nurses as to what is expected from them in terms of engagement in EBP and delivery of high quality patient care. The findings could be used to influence future implementation and dissemination efforts in evidence based practice.


This paper assesses the vulnerability of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) economies to external crises. It shows that while the average LAC economy has made significant strides to reduce vulnerability to crises to its historical minimum, there is still considerable room for improvement, compared to both advanced and non-advanced economies. When compared to other non-advanced economies, the average LAC economy displays a higher level of vulnerability, mainly due to slower improvements in portfolio composition and less accumulation of international reserves since 2000. Advanced economies have lower exposure to external risk factors and a structural resilience advantage to prevent exposure from leading to crises. This analysis highlights the need for LAC economies to focus more on enhancing their risk-mitigating strategies concerning the composition of their external portfolios and reserves accumulation, which will provide a stronger buffer against external shocks and promote overall economic resilience.


We examine whether time variation in the comovements of daily stock and Treasury bond returns can be linked to measures of stock market uncertainty, specifically the implied volatility from equity index options and detrended stock turnover. From a forward-looking perspective, we find a negative relation between the uncertainty measures and the future correlation of stock and bond returns. Contemporaneously, we find that bond returns tend to be high (low) relative to stock returns during days when implied volatility increases (decreases) substantially and during days when stock turnover is unexpectedly high (low). Our findings suggest that stock market uncertainty has important cross-market pricing in-fluences and that stock-bond diversification benefits increase with stock market uncertainty.


In previous studies, two hydrocarbon-degrading sulfate-reducing bacteria, strains PP31T and PL12T, were obtained from oil-polluted marine sediments of Shuaiba, Kuwait. They had been reported as organisms capable of anaerobic degradation of p-xylene and n-alkanes, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain PP31T showed 98.8 % sequence similarities to that of Desulfosarcina variabilis'Montpellier'T. Strains PL12T had 97.8 % of sequence similarity to Desulfosarcina ovata oXys1T. They both have been partially characterized, but not been validly published as new species of the genus Desulfosarcina. In this study, additional characterizations of these strains were made to describe them as two new species of the genus Desulfosarcina. Major cellular fatty acids of strain PP31T were C15 : 0 (25.9 %) and anteiso-C15 : 0 (22.3 %), whereas those of strain PL12T were C15 : 0 (21.3 %), C16 : 0 (17.8 %) and anteiso-15 : 0 (11.6 %). The phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene revealed that these isolates should not be classified as any of the known species in the genus Desulfosarcina. On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses, these two sulfate reducers are proposed to form two novel species of the genus Desulfosarcina : Desulfosarcina widdelii sp. nov. (PP31T=JCM 31729T=DSM 103921T) and Desulfosarcina alkanivorans sp. nov. (PL12T=JCM 31728T=DSM 103901T). In addition, emended description of the genus Desulfosarcina is presented in this study.


Under the conditions of OLS use in order to perform multiple linear regressions, both the estimated parameters values and also computed values of some statistical tests such as coefficient of determination, Fisher test or Student test are influenced by collinearity1. The respective influence is revealed by the values of the coefficient of alignment to collinearity hazard. For this reason, this paper presents an analysis model which identifies the factors and their influences on the above-mentioned indicator. On the one hand, we quantify the factors contribution to the arithmetical mean of coefficients of alignment to collinearity hazard, having in view that the respective indicator reveals the collinearity impact on a linear regression model as a whole. On the other hand, we emphasize the necessary conditions for the positivity of all coefficients of alignment to collinearity hazard, in order to avoid the occurrence of "unexpected signs" in case of some estimated parameters. Also, we bring some clarifications and extensions of the other concepts previously proposed by the author such as: the main and secondary explanatory variable, coefficient of mediated by resultative variable correlation between explanatory variables.


In the developed world, the modern buyer is very aware of the backlog of environmental problems and all the consequences for the health and quality of life in general. Therefore, their responsibility, to be sure of eliminating all those who behave environmentally irresponsible. Eco-marketing, as well as conventional marketing, are elements of marketing mix, but extended and adapted to modern conditions. As a logical consequence there is distinct increase in demand for ecological food products (products and services) and support to companies whose activities fit the demands of citizens and legislators, when it comes to ecology. Eco-marketing is slowly cease to be desire, but becomes a need for products that their products are placed on discerning market. Thus, with the standard information on the composition and quality of product, and instructions for use and terms of use, the information appearing on the eligibility of certain eco products. Showing the importance of marketing and Serbian able to place eco products on the market of Europe is the essence of this paper.


For the solutions to engineering equipment with pipes, unknown forces and unclear constraint conditions on the pipes result in the analysis limitation due to the high temperature and fluid pressure to pipes. In this paper, a new method for determining the loads is established to problems with many pipes. In the method, based on the combination of FEM and Successive Approximation Approach, pipes forces on the equipment are analyzed. By the analysis of suitable forces, the relationship between forces and stress can be obtained. The cycling process of "loading-solving-determining-adjusting" is carried out to approaching destinations based on hundreds of numerical results. Moreover, an evaluation scheme is built to evaluate groups of forces and guarantee equipment to work normally under some certain forces. The constraint condition from groups of forces can be also confirmed. A case study gave the verification of the method.


It is my pleasure to welcome you to the sixth Demonstration Session at the IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks (LCN) 2014. We were looking for demonstrations for all topics covered by the main conference as well as all the workshops held in conjunction with the conference. The technical demonstrations were strongly encouraged to show innovative and original research. The main purpose of the demo session is to provide demonstrations that validate important research issues and/or show innovative prototypes.


Coordinated landing requires anticipating the timing and magnitude of impact, which in turn requires sensory input. To better understand how cane toads, well known for coordinated landing, prioritize visual versus vestibular feedback during hopping, we recorded forelimb joint angle patterns and electromyographic data from five animals hopping under two conditions that were designed to force animals to land with one forelimb well before the other. In one condition, landing asymmetry was due to mid-air rolling, created by an unstable takeoff surface. In this condition, visual, vestibular and proprioceptive information could be used to predict asymmetric landing. In the other, animals took off normally, but landed asymmetrically because of a sloped landing surface. In this condition, sensory feedback provided conflicting information, and only visual feedback could appropriately predict the asymmetrical landing. During the roll treatment, when all sensory feedback could be used to predict an asymmetrical landing, pre-landing forelimb muscle activity and movement began earlier in the limb that landed first. However, no such asymmetries in forelimb preparation were apparent during hops onto sloped landings when only visual information could be used to predict landing asymmetry. These data suggest that toads prioritize vestibular or proprioceptive information over visual feedback to coordinate landing.


Summary A de-endothelializing injury to the artery wall in vivo results in a rapid procoagulant response at the surface of the exposed subendothelium. Activated tissue factor (TF)-bearing cells and hemostasis factors located at the site of injury respond by producing thrombin, and within minutes the principal thrombus-forming, blood-borne components (platelets, fibrinogen) accumulate at the site.To compare their behaviors, the rates of uptake and turnover of rabbit 51Cr-platelets and rabbit 125I-fibrinogen were quantified simultaneously during the initial 100-min interval after a balloon catheter injury to the rabbit aorta in vivo.Platelets (∼70,000/mm2) and fibrin(ogen) (∼2.8 pmol/cm2) saturated the ballooned aorta surface within five minutes after injury.Whereas the adherent platelet and fibrinogen concentrations remained steady at the aorta surface, fibrin(ogen)-related products continued to accumulate slowly in the tunica media (TM) for at least 100 minutes. A relatively small proportion (3.7%/min) of adhered platelets turned over at the ballooned aorta surface at 10 minutes, decreasing to 1.2%/min at 100 minutes. By contrast, a larger proportion of fibrin(ogen) (∼ 20%/min) was turned over within the platelet layer at 10 minutes, decreasing to 6%/min at 100 minutes. As verified by immunostaining aorta sections and by protein analysis ofTM extracts,the uptakes of platelets and fibrinogen at the site of injury contributed to an accumulation of products of platelet releasate and fibrin(ogen) degradation (FDPs) within the TM.These observations improve our understanding of the hemostatic processes and subsequent events that occur after an arterial injury in vivo.


Fundamental differences in the nature of climate and hydrologic models make coupling of future climate projections to models of watershed hydrology challenging. This study uses the NCAR Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) to dynamically downscale climate simulations over the Saginaw Bay Watershed, MI and prepare the results for input into semi-distributed hydrologic models. One realization of the bias-corrected NCAR CESM1 model's RCP 8.5 climate scenario is dynamically downscaled at a spatial resolution of 3 km by 3 km for the end of the twenty-first century and validated based on a downscaled run for the end of the twentieth century in comparison to ASOS and NWS COOP stations. Bias-correction is conducted using Quantile Mapping to correct daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity for use in future hydrologic model experiments. In the Saginaw Bay Watershed the end of the twenty-first century is projected to see maximum and minimum average daily temperatures warming by 5.7 and 6.3°C respectively. Precipitation characteristics over the watershed show an increase in mean annual precipitation (average of +14.3 mm over the watershed), mainly due to increases in precipitation intensity (average of +0.3 mm per precipitation day) despite a decrease in frequency of −10.7 days per year. The projected changes have substantial implications for watershed processes including flood prediction, erosion, mobilization of non-point source and legacy contaminants, and evapotranspirative demand, among others. We present these results in the context of usefulness of the downscaled and bias corrected data for semi-distributed hydrologic modeling.


-Bluetooth includes the concept of devices participating in multiple "piconets" interconnected via bridge devices and thereby forming a "scatternet". This paper presents a scheme for Bluetooth scatternet operation that adapts to varying traffic patterns. According to the traffic information of all masters that the bridge is connected, the bridge switches to the masters with high traffic loads and increase the usage of the bridge. In addition, load adaptive interpiconet scheduling can reduce the number of failed unsniffs and the overhead of the bridge switch wastes to further increase the overall system performance.


Eliminating the climate impact of long-distance airline flights will require cutting fossil carbon from the aviation energy supply. Startups and established companies are scrambling to develop new energy technologies that would allow airlines and their passengers to fly the globe without contributing to its warming. There is, however, no consensus on the best way this can be accomplished.


Abstract This prospective clinical trial evaluated the clinical performance of indirect onlay and overlay restorations made of resin composite. From January 2012 to March 2013, a total of 60 patients (36 males, 24 females; mean age; 34.4 ± 10 years) received 67 posterior onlay/overlay restorations in the maxilla or mandible made of laboratory-processed indirect composite (Gradia, GC, Japan). Patients were followed until March 2015. Two operators luted all restorations adhesively (Variolink II). Two independent calibrated examiners evaluated the restorations at baseline (2 weeks), 6 months, and then annually, during regularly scheduled maintenance appointments, using the modified USPHS criteria for anatomic form, marginal adaptation, color match, surface roughness, marginal discoloration, secondary caries, and postoperative sensitivity. The observation periods involved 4 recalls during 24 months. Changes in the USPHS parameters were analyzed with the Friedman and Bonferroni-adjusted Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests (α = .05). The mean observation period was 24.1 months. All restorations assessed were clinically acceptable with alfa scores predominating. Two restorations failed due to severe pain and subsequent extraction during the observation period. Not the color match (p > .05) but marginal adaptation (p < .05), marginal discoloration (p < .05), and surface roughness (p < .05) showed a significant difference between the baseline and the 2-year recall. No secondary caries or fractures were observed until the final follow-up. The indirect composite tested demonstrated to be successful for posterior onlay and overlays but deteriorations in qualitative parameters were observed during the 2-year clinical service.


(1) Background: Current evidence-based treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are moderately effective. Studies testing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in AUD commonly apply a limited number of rTMS sessions with different rTMS settings, showing inconsistent effects on craving for alcohol. This study tested the efficacy of a robust rTMS protocol on craving and alcohol use. (2) Methods: In a single-blind randomized controlled trial in recently detoxified patients with AUD, ten days of high-frequency rTMS over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on top of treatment as usual (n = 14) was compared with sham rTMS (n = 16). Outcome measures were alcohol craving and use over a follow-up period of one year. Analysis was performed by means of repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance. (3) Results: The results showed a main group-by-time interaction effect on craving (Wilks' Λ = 0.348, F (12, 17) = 2.654, p = 0.032) and an effect of group on alcohol use (Wilk's Λ = 0.44, F (6, 23) = 4.9, p = 0.002), with lower alcohol craving and use in the group with active rTMS compared to the control group. Differences in craving between groups were most prominent three months after treatment. At 12 months follow-up, there was no effect of rTMS on craving or abstinence. (4) Conclusions: This small-scale randomized controlled trial showed the efficacy of high-frequency rTMS over the right dlPFC diminished alcohol craving and use in recently detoxified patients with AUD during the first months after detoxification. These findings suggest that rTMS might be an effective add-on in treating patients with AUD and warrant replication in future large-scale studies.


Methods for object detection and segmentation rely on large scale instance-level annotations for training, which are difficult and time-consuming to collect. Efforts to alleviate this look at varying degrees and quality of supervision. Weakly-supervised approaches draw on image-level labels to build detectors/segmentors, while zero/few-shot methods assume abundant instance-level data for a set of base classes, and none to a few examples for novel classes. This taxonomy has largely siloed algorithmic designs. In this work, we aim to bridge this divide by proposing an intuitive and unified semi-supervised model that is applicable to a range of supervision: from zero to a few instance-level samples per novel class. For base classes, our model learns a mapping from weakly-supervised to fully-supervised detectors/segmentors. By learning and leveraging visual and lingual similarities between the novel and base classes, we transfer those mappings to obtain detectors/segmentors for novel classes: refining them with a few novel class instance-level annotated samples, if available. The overall model is end-to-end trainable and highly flexible1. Through extensive experiments on MS- COCO [32] and Pascal VOC [14] benchmark datasets we show improved performance in a variety of settings.


In the article is considered actual questions of condition of family upbringing. At first was defined problems of upbringing and conditions of their execution. Then was done analysis of problems, which families are faced in the time of upbringing of children. Ways of overcoming of this problems have been offered by taking into account cumulative experience.


This is a study of class formation and agrarian transition in Pakistan. The process of class differentiation under way is a manifestation of capitalist development. The agrarian transition in Pakistan is reflected by the disintegration of the peasant and feudal systems. The approach adopted in this paper demystifies the process of agricultural development in an underdeveloped country where, with the expansion of forces of production, the precapitalist relations of production are slowly dissolving. It should also help in discovering the mechanism by which agricultural surplus is extracted from direct producers and rural poverty is perpetuated.


The aim of this paper is to investigate why convergence is so difficult in the EU Monetary Union. My hypothesis is that Non-Negotiable Domestic Factors (N-NDFs) and Partially-Negotiable Domestic Factors (P-NDFs) play a pivotal role in both monetary Integration and Europeanization. N-NDFs are radically or irreducibly different from, while Partially-Negotiable Domestic Factors (P-NDFs) are significantly different from the ones the EU dictates to its members. I apply these two concepts to redefine two well-known approaches. Looking at "flexible integration", my hypothesis is that the UK, Denmark and Sweden failed to enter into the Eurozone because some Non-Negotiable leadership' and citizens' beliefs prevailed. With regard to "Uploading Europeanization", Germany was only partly successful in uploading its Deutsche Bank system to the EU level because it was obliged to partially negotiate with other members its proneness to play as a leader in monetary policy. Furthermore, I use N-NDFs and P-NDFs to define two brand new processes. "Skeptical integration" refers to the cases of Italy's and Greece's dubious attitudes toward monetary union caused by Partially-Negotiable Domestic Factors (P-NDFs) such as internal policy heritage that heavily constrained the Euro implementation. Finally, "Europeanized Integration" led to new members of Eastern Europe to obtain a successful entrance delay into the Eurozone because a lack of integration process brought to a forced and subsequently unsuccessful Europeanization, meaning that new members integrated in an already Europeanized context. Taken together, these four approaches synoptically explain rejections that occurred in the EMU by both old and new members.


The nuclear lamina is a structural meshwork composed of intermediate filament proteins known as lamins that maintains nuclear shape and function. Perturbations of lamins lead to diseases, collectively known as laminopathies, which affect a wide variety of organ systems. One such laminopathy is autosomal dominant leukodystrophy (ADLD), a severe and fatal adult-onset demyelinating laminopathy caused by overexpression of LMNB1, one of the lamin proteins that make up the nuclear lamina. My studies aim to elucidate the role of lamin B1 in the organization of the nuclear envelope, its role in myelin regulation during oligodendrocyte maturation, and to understand how the genomic rearrangements involving LMNB1 cause ADLD. Our results suggest a novel concentric organization model of the nuclear lamina, with lamin B1 facing the inner nuclear membrane while lamins A and C together face the nucleoplasm. Lamin B1's outward-facing localization maintains nuclear shape by restraining the lamin A/C meshwork from protruding outward. To study lamin B1's function in mature oligodendrocytes, conditional Lmnb1 knockout mice were used to study behavioral and molecular changes in the central nervous system. Knockout mice did not exhibit any overt behavioral phenotypes or myelination defects, but a careful analysis revealed alterations in the number of myelinating oligodendrocyte populations. We conclude that while mature oligodendrocytes do not require lamin B1 for their proper function, it might be important for the regulation of oligodendrocyte cell number. Array CGH studies revealed that deletions upstream of LMNB1 can also lead to ADLD, while large duplications involving LMNB1 and a significant upstream region do not. Real-time PCR analysis demonstrate much higher LMNB1 expression in white matter than in grey matter and fibroblasts. We propose that an oligodendrocyte-specific silencer element lies upstream of LMNB1, explaining ADLD's central nervous system exclusivity despite a constitutional LMNB1 duplication. As demyelination and white matter injuries are common in disorders affecting a wide age range – from preterm neonates to young adults and the elderly – researching pathways involved in myelination and ways to reverse it could have a significant impact to public health.


Abstract. We present a differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instrument, called "miniDOAS", optimised for optical open-path field-measurements of ambient ammonia (NH3) alongside nitrogen oxide (NO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The instrument is a further development of the miniDOAS presented by Volten et al. (2012). We use a temperature-controlled spectrometer, a deuterium light source and a modified optical arrangement. The system was set up in a robust, field-deployable, temperature-regulated housing. For the evaluation of light spectra we use a new high-pass filter routine based upon robust baseline extraction with local regression. Multiple linear regression including terms of an autoregressive–moving-average model is used to determine concentrations. For NH3 the random uncertainty is about 1.4 % of the concentration, and not better than 0.2 µg m−3. Potential biases for the slope of the calibration are given by the precision of the differential absorption cross sections (±3 %) and for the offset by the precision of the estimation of concentration offsets (cref) introduced by the reference spectrum Iref. Comparisons of miniDOAS measurements to those by NH3 acid trap devices showed good agreement. The miniDOAS can be flexibly used for a wide range of field trials, such as micrometeorological NH3 flux measurements with approaches based upon horizontal or vertical concentration differences. Results from such applications covering concentration dynamics of less than one up to several hundreds of µg m−3 are presented.


Using text, field sketches, and full-page watercolor illustrations, husband and wife team Ted and Betsy Lewin detail their visit to the island of Heimaey (off the coast of Iceland). They accompany two child members of the "Puffling Patrol" (who rescue newly hatched puffins that become disoriented and lost on their way to the sea) and observe as the children find, care for, and release the baby pufflings. Although the Lewins' narrative is somewhat dry, the clear writing and measured tone help make this exotic event accessible for children who have no prior knowledge of this locale or annual event. Kids will also appreciate the child-hero aspect of the tale, and animal lovers will particularly enjoy following the details of the puffling rescue and release process. Occasionally, stiffly posed human figures or garish coloring cause the otherwise effective full-page watercolor illustrations to stumble, but the field sketches (done in pen and ink and watercolor) are wonderfully vigorous and expressive with just a minimum of detail; the two different illustrative styles clash more than complement, but kids eager for the puffling details may not be bothered by the visual mismatch. The Lewins' outsider perspective gives this title a slightly different approach than McMillan's photo-illustrated Nights of the Pufflings (BCCB 3/95), which drops readers right into the action; while McMillan's is the more gripping account of the two, the Lewins' book is certainly a useful companion title. End matter includes additional facts about puffins and the island, a bibliography, and a helpful glossary and pronunciation guide. JH


The enduring growth in the international hospitality and tourism sector, in conjunction with an increasingly globalised labour market, has increased the chances of tourists being served by staff using their shared non-English native language. Numerous studies have explored the use of native language in service encounters, with customer perceptions widely investigated [1,2]. However employees' perspectives of non-English native language use in the servicescape are under-researched. This study is a part of an AUT Master of International Hospitality Management dissertation. The study applied a qualitative methodology, interviewing eight international employees in New Zealand hotels with long-term experience of speaking their non-English native language in service encounters.
Results of the study indicated that employees are well aware of the demands for employers to provide customer-oriented service by speaking their non-English native language; however, in any service encounters with customers speaking the same native language, staff have a strong preference for initiating service communication in English. The interviews showed that this preference was a result of workers experiencing considerable concerns, stress and anxiety around the use of their non-English native language. Specifically, a complex series of considerations and decisions occur when staff are faced with customers who might want to use shared non-English native language, suggesting employees experience 'linguistic labour', similar to the constructs of emotional [3,4] and aesthetic labour [5].
Participants indicated that the choice of using non-English native language may be passive (i.e. following the lead of a guest who recognises the staff member as a fellow speaker), or proactive when workers recognise a customers' poor English and use their native language to minimise guest embarrassment. Given the complexity and distinctiveness of each service context, participants suggested they had principles that underpinned their choice of language in the service space. Firstly, that English is the default service language and should be used as such; secondly, that participants did not want to assume guests' ethnic/language identity and so avoided using their non-English native language; thirdly, participants avoided using non-English native language so as to not be identified as a particular ethnicity. Crucially, participants sought to avoid being ethnically/linguistically pigeonholed, because engaging in shared native language in the servicescape was perceived to lead to significantly increased customer service demands and thus increased workload. In essence, participants stated that using shared language in the service space immediately engaged cultural norms from their home countries that they would rather avoid; notably increased workloads, guest expectations of subservience and a perceived loss of status and respect for the participants.
The study makes an original contribution to management studies, showing that managers and owners should consider the impacts of linguistic labour on employees in the servicescape. What can appear as a simple request to speak a certain language can engage employees in a complex process of choices and considerations as they try to avoid the perceived work intensification that comes with speaking their non-English native language.
The full dissertation can be accessed here:
https://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/10877/ChenT.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y
Corresponding author
David Williamson can be contacted at: email@example.com
References
((1) Holmqvist, J.; Van Vaerenbergh, Y.; Grönroos, C. Consumer Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language: Communication in Service Settings. Management Decision 2014, 52(5), 950–966. http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-3214078
(2) Kang, S.-J. Dynamic Emergence of Situational Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language. System 2005, 33(2), 277–292.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2004.10.004
(3) Hochschild, A.R. Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure. American Journal of Sociology 1979, 85(3), 551–575. https://doi.org/10.1086/227049
(4) Hochschild, A.R. The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling; University of California Press: Berkeley, CA, 1983.
(5) Warhurst, C.; Nickson, D. Employee Experience of Aesthetic Labour in Retail and Hospitality. Work Employment & Society 2007, 21, 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017007073622


Abstract A case of squall line generation in the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) network has been examined with the intention of capturing synoptic-scale influences. A telescopic analysis approach was used whereby observations from both synoptic and mesoscale networks were combined. The squall line formed in the warm air behind the surface position of the cold front. Large-scale circulation was responsible for creating a shallow layer (∼1-km thick) of convectively unstable air immediately above this front. Horizontal gradient of low-level moisture, pronounced low-level wind shear, and surface convergence were the large-scale factors that combined to produce the unstable region. Mesoscale analysis showed that vertical velocity in the low levels exhibited a persistent small-scale variation prior to convective activity. The horizontal variation in vertical velocity was ultimately responsible for creating a favored position within the mesonetwork. Conservation of potential temperature and specific hu...


Aim: The aim of the research is to establish diagnosis of diseases in cervico facial lymphadenopathy by colour Doppler ultrasound.
The purpose of the present study is to study the clinical aspects of lymph node and the changes in node in colour doppler ultrasonography.
Materials and Methods: Patients were clinically examined by bimanual palpation for cervico facial lymphadenopathy and their colour doppler ultrasound findings were recorded. Biopsy was done to confirm ultrasound findings.
Results: The internal architecture of the node, the pattern of colour doppler flow, vascular resistance were assessed in various inflammatory and malignant lymph nodes.
Conclusion: The utility of colour doppler ultrasound is really beneficial in establishing the regional lymph node enlargement as inflammatory and metastatic node.

Keywords: Lymphnode, Colour doppler, Ultrasound, Reactive nodes, Necrosis, Blood flow.


During the course of an infection, a pathogenic bacterium has to sense the environment and adjust its gene expression appropriately. One such environmental cue is the difference in temperature inside and outside the host. RNA thermosensors are structures that can respond to differences in temperature by altering their conformation and thereby allowing/preventing binding of the ribosome to the translational start site. This chapter discusses different types of RNA thermosensors in general and RNA thermosensors known to control virulence gene expression in particular.


Background/aim: The Motor Function Measure (MFM-32) is a classification system for ambulant and nonambulant patients with neuromuscular diseases (NMDs). We aimed to translate it into Turkish, culturally adapt it, and test its reliability and validity for Turkish patients with NMDs.Materials and methods: The translation of the 32 items assessing three functional areas: standing position and transfers (D1: 13), axial/proximal (D2: 12), and distal (D3: 7) motor functions was performed according to the established guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation. Totally 51 patients (12.56 ± 8.84 years; F/M 12/39) were tested. Vignos and Brooke scores for the lower and upper extremities, respectively, were used for the validity of the MFM-32-TR items, which were rated on a 4-point Likert scale. Results: The agreement coefficients for interrater reliability were excellent (0.72-0.93) for 10 items, good (0.58-0.77) for 16 items, and moderate (0.42-0.56) for 6 items of the MFM-32-TR. The intertester reliability varied from good to excellent and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.76-0.93. The MFM-32-TR positively correlated with Vignos and Brooke scores with coefficients 0.47 to 0.75, indicating concurrent validity.Conclusion: The MFM-32-TR is a reliable and valid outcome measure for the assessment of motor function of people with NMDs in our sociocultural context.


Web search engines have become indispensable in our daily life to help us finding the information we need. Several search tools, for instance Google, use links to select the matching documents against a query. In this paper, we propose a new ranking function that combines content and link rank based on propagation of scores over links. This function propagates scores from source pages to destination pages in relation with query terms. We assessed our ranking function with experiments over two test collections WT10g and GOV. We conclude that propagating link scores according to query terms provides significant improvement for information retrieval.


MicoRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that associate with Argonaute (AGO) family member proteins to mediate silencing of host mRNA transcripts. A number of DNA viruses and a single retrovirus exploit this pathway to generate their own miRNAs in an effort to self regulate or combat the host immune response to infection. While natural examples of viral miRNAs have been limited to nuclear viruses, manipulation of cytoplasmic‐restricted RNA virus genomes revealed the ability of these vectors to produce abundant levels of mature, functional miRNAs, exclusively within the cytoplasm. This novel processing mechanism is found to be dependent upon the ribonuclease (RNAse) III proteins Drosha and Dicer, while processing is able to proceed in the absence of the canonical dsRNA binding proteins DiGeorge syndrome critical region gene 8 (DGCR8), Tar RNA binding protein 2 (TRBP2), and protein kinase R activating protein (PACT). Processing of cytoplasmic restricted primary‐miRNA transcripts (c‐pri‐miRNAs) corresponds with virus‐induced redistribution of Drosha, implicating the formation of a noncanonical microprocessor. This review will discuss c‐pri‐miRNA processing, the mechanism of miRNA production, and the implications of a virus‐induced cytoplasmic microprocessor. WIREs RNA 2013, 4:463–471. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1169


Henoch-schönlein purpura (HSP), an anaphylactic vasculitis, is characterized by palpable purpuric rash and collection of immunglobulin A (IgA) around small vessels. Its clinical triad is purpura, arthritis and abdominal pain. Henoch-schönlein purpura usually involves the kidney, gastrointestinal tract, joints and rarely, non-renal genitourinary organs. Except all rare cases that progress to renal failure, HSP is a disease which resolves without any sequelae. Henochschönlein purpura may mimic surgical conditions such as appendicitis and testicular torsion, leading to unnecessary laparotomy and explorations. Herein, we report a case of an 11-yearold boy, diagnosed on the 12th day of HSP and operated on with suspicion of testicular torsion, for which surgical exploration did not reveal any torsion but global necrosis of the testicle.


Abstract The Castleton area contains an extensive and complex karst drainage system. Recharge is provided by allogenic stream sinks and by infiltration into a soil covered autogenic catchment. Concentrations of the sanitary indicator bacteria faecal coliform (FC) were measured weekly over a 84-week period at three stream-sinks (P6, P7 and P8) and at two contrasting springs (Russet Well and Peak Cavern Rising). Russet Well drains the allogenic catchment, but also receives some autogenic recharge whereas Peak Cavern Rising receives only autogenic recharge except at high stage when it functions as an overflow spring for the Russet Well system. Over the year as a whole and during each three-month season, median FC concentrations at P6 were significantly higher than at Russet Well. The difference was greatest during summer/autumn and was lowest in winter/spring and it appears that FC concentrations at the rising are a complex function of faecal inputs and flow through time. The relationship between FC concentrations at Russet Well and at Peak Cavern Rising proved to be complex. Over the sampling period as a whole and during the spring and autumn there was no significant difference between median FC concentrations at the two risings; during the winter, when discharge was highest, median FC concentrations at Russet Well were significantly higher than at Peak Cavern Rising; and during the summer FC concentrations at Peak Cavern Rising were significantly higher than at Russet Well. The high FC concentrations in the sinking streams and at the risings suggest that there could be a health risk to cavers, especially during storm events and the summer. Furthermore, the fact that the waters from both springs contain significant concentrations of FC bacteria indicates that even soil covered karst systems are unable to filter out potentially harmful micro-organisms.


In this paper we present a simple technique that uses background information to improve mining the frequent patterns of structured data. This technique uses a heuristic function that remaps the search space in a way the greatly reduces the number of costly subgraph isomorphism tests, without using space-expensive data structures. We illustrate our approach on a popular structured data mining problem, called the frequent subgraph mining problem, and show, through experiments on synthetic and real-life data, that this simple approach has advantages over other frequent pattern mining algorithms.


In this study, the association between big five personality factors and level of forgiveness has been measured with the help of two standardized questionnaires. These are Universiti Sains Malaysia Personality Inventory (USMaPand the Hartland Forgiveness Scale. A sample of 500 college students (200 males and 300 females; age range= 15-22 years) were selected by proportionate stratified sampling technique, from five major colleges of situated in Gujrat. The results showed significant correlation among big five personality factors and level of forgiveness. Results revealed that there was a significant and positive relationship among conscientiousness, extroversion, openness, agreeableness and level of forgiveness. It was concluded that neuroticism was significantly negatively correlated with level of forgiveness. The implication and the limitations of the study are discussed.


Many skin disorders in horses share the same appearance-hair loss of various degrees, itchiness, lesions that may or may not be painful to the touch, oozing sores, or skin that is reddened, crusty, scaly, flaky, thickened or swollen- making diagnosis sometimes difficult. A horse owner's documentation of a horse's medical history, the history of the skin disorder, and the horse's environment assists veterinarians and compounding pharmacists in their diagnosis and treatment. This article discusses some of the common skin problems that affect horses, takes a look at causes, and provides a case report of the treatment of a veterinary patient suffering from one of these common skin disorders.


A newly emerging field in bioanalytics based on biomolecular binding detected label-free at single metal nanoparticles is introduced. Thereby particles which show the effect of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) are used as plasmonic transducers. They change their spectroscopic properties (a band in the UV-VIS range) upon binding of molecules. This effect is even observable at the single nanoparticle level using micro spectroscopy and presents the base for a new field of single particle bioanalytics with the promise of highly parallel and miniaturized sensor arrays. The paper describes this approach and shows first result from our work regarding the detection of DNA binding at single nanoparticle sensors.


AIM
Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer and MALT-lymphoma. Different genotypes of Helicobacter pylori are confirmed from diverse geographic areas. Its association with bleeding peptic ulcer remains controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the Helicobacter pylori vacA alleles, cagA and iceA in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer.

METHODS
We enrolled patients with bleeding, non-bleeding peptic ulcers and chronic gastritis. Biopsy specimens were obtained from the antrum of the stomach for rapid urease test, bacterial culture and PCR assay. DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction were used to detect the presence or absence of cagA and to assess the polymorphism of vacA and iceA.

RESULTS
A total of 168 patients (60.4%) (25 patients with chronic gastritis, 26 patients with bleeding gastric ulcer, 51 patients with non-bleeding gastric ulcer, 26 patients with bleeding duodenal ulcer, and 40 patients with non-bleeding duodenal ulcer) were found to have positive PCR results between January 2001 and December 2002. Concerning genotypes, we found cagA (139/278, 50%), vacA s1a (127/278, 45.7%), and ice A1 (125/278, 45%) predominated in all studied patients. In patients with bleeding peptic ulcers, vacA s1a and m1T were fewer than those in patients with non-bleeding peptic ulcers (37/106 vs 69/135, P=0.017, and 4/106 vs 21/135, P =0.002).

CONCLUSION
In patients with peptic ulcers, H pylori vacA s1a and m1T prevent bleeding complication.


The Bates Linear Accelerator uses six 4MW 2.856GHz RF transmitters. Phase drifts between the transmitters 12 klystrons of greater than 0.5 degree or any amplitude drifts compromise beam delivery and are a common occurrence. Machine operators in years previous to the Phase and Amplitude Monitoring system "PAM" were unable to tell which klystron was affecting beam and resorted to shifting the phases of each klystron experimentally. The PAM system has proven itself as a viable monitor, easing phase re-adjustment. PAM is comprised of off-the-shelf RF amplitude and phase detectors, phase shifters, splitters, and VME hardware under EPICS . The detected signals are amplified and matrixed to the control room via an EPICS driven custom video switch, are sample/held, then digitized by a VME 12bit ADC. Each of the 14 channels employ phase shifters and code that can auto zero the displayed phase. Phase drift is then apparent. Amplitude setpoints can also be auto zeroed with drift displayed as power deviations. To ensure repeatability to less than 0.25 degree a continuous calibration sequencer is employed that has been shown to measure phase drift independent of amplitude shifts. Under investigation is the viability of 60Hz sourced and slow phase feedback and correction.


THE chemist regards magnesium as a highly reactive metal for such reasons as the inflammability of its powder or foil in air, its active displacement of hydrogen gas from many aqueous chloride solutions, and its position near the reactive end of the electrode‐potential series. All these suggest that the metal would be unsuitable for constructional engineering. Yet engineers use alloys, rich in magnesium, up to 98 per cent of the metal, for an increasing number of services, although the alloying elements do not, as a rule, greatly cut down, and may even increase, the corrosion rate. Their industrial use is possible because the liability to corrode, reckoned over a reasonably prolonged period, is not a definite property of a metal such as conductivity, which is subject only to relatively small changes with alteration of environment, but is highly specific to metal‐liquid and metal‐gas systems. Moreover, these systems may undergo important changes with time owing to the intervention of films of corrosion products, and the rate of attack may be governed by the physical characteristics of these films, which will vary with the adjacent liquid and gases. Thus, in stagnant caustic alkalies magnesium may be reckoned as almost incorrodible because of the intervention of a film of hydroxide of the self‐healing type which, in these conditions, is highly impervious to magnesiumions; but in the presence of alkali chlorides the corrosion product is physically different and rapid corrosion occurs. Many dilute acids attack magnesium rapidly, but hydrofluoric acid scarcely at all, no doubt owing to the formation of a protective film of fluoride.


The main purpose of this paper is to determining the effect of Empowerment implementation by considering the three factors of delegation, implementation of participating management, encouragement and giving reward and also determination of classification of priority and importance of effect of each factor with employee's performance improvement in Golestan Telecommunication Company in Iran. The research method has been descriptive and causal comparative and statistical sample under study was 226 people in order to collected data, two questionnaires and existing documents about rate of employee performance were used in two periods of time before and after Empowerment implementation. The tools validity with Content method and their Reliability by Cornbach method coefficients 0.98, 0.95 has been confirmed. In order to analyze the data, Spearman correlation method, Wilcoxon tests method, and multiple regressions, were used. Findings showed that there is significant difference between rate of employee's performance before and after Empowerment implementing, by the way Empowerment implementing emphasizing the factors, delegation, participating management and encouragement and giving reward cause employee's performance to improve.


Over the past quarter century, social theory has moved in diverse and often seemingly incompatible directions, exaggerating differences of approach that existed even in earlier periods. In a strikingly original book, Barry Barnes uses this intellectual diversity not only to identify but also to unify the central ways of looking at the field. Barnes frames his task by addressing the most important problem confronting all students of society today: the apparent conflict between cultural and functional methods of describing the social order, on one hand, and choice-theoretic accounts, on the other. But rather than reviewing in detail the origins and development of these contending views of reality, Barnes conducts a dialogue between the two perspectives, thereby revealing their respective strengths and shortcomings. In the process, he develops a case for a theoretical "third way," an interactionist understanding of the workings of the social order and the emergence of behavioral norms.Barnes successfully applies interactionist analysis, formerly used mostly for micro-social settings, to macro-phenomena like the formation of status groups, the origin of social movements, the politics of class formation, and the dynamics of bureaucratic action. He shows how these phenomena are inexplicable in terms of exclusively cultural- functional or choice-theoretic methods: they can be understood only by showing how norms emerge through interaction. Barnes has constructed a coherent and learned vision of the fundamentals of social theory that will excite not only sociologists but all social scientists and their students.Originally published in 1995.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


The mechanical behaviors were investigated by nonlinear creep tests of poly(methyl methacrylate) under different temperatures. The test duration was 4000 seconds. The corresponding temperature shift factors, stress shift factors and temperature-stress shift factors were obtained according to time-temperature superposition principle, the time-stress superposition principle and the time-temperature-stress superposition principle (TTSSP). The master creep compliance curve up to about 1-month at a reference temperature 22 degrees centigrade and a reference stress 14 MPa was constructed, and the effect of stress-induced damage evolution on the long-term creep behavior of polymeric material was accounted. It was shown that TTSSP provides an effective accelerated test technique in the laboratory, the results obtained from a short-term creep test of poly(methyl methacrylate) specimen at high temperature and stress level can be used to construct the master creep compliance curve for prediction of the long-term mechanical properties at relatively lower temperature and stress level, and the master creep compliance curve with damage considered can be applied to accurately characterize the long-term creep behavior of nonlinear viscoelastic polymer.


Over the last several decades, there has been increasing interest and activity in the filed of energy management. The knowledge gained from the deployment of energy efficient projects is driving a transition from traditional tactical practices to more comprehensive strategic energy management practices. Like many modern management practices, a strategic management approach highlights the need for an information system to set goals, track performance, and communicate results. An enterprise energy management (EEM) information system can support strategic energy management by capturing data about current energy performance, assisting in the creation and tracking of energy performance goals, and communicating results to managers and energy project participants. This paper presents specific EEM system applications that support strategic energy management, which include: modeling and forecasting; benchmarking; energy use and cost analysis; and measurement and verification.