This article presents preliminary findings from a multi-year, multi-disciplinary text analysis project using an ancient and medieval Chinese corpus of over five million characters in works that date from the earliest received texts to the Song dynasty. It describes "distant reading" methods in the humanities and the authors' corpus; introduces topic-modeling procedures; answers questions about the authors' data; discusses complementary relationships between machine learning and human expertise; explains topics represented in Analects, Mencius, and Xunzi that set each of those texts apart from the other two; and explains topics that intersect all three texts. The authors' results confirm many scholarly opinions derived from close-reading methods, suggest a reappraisal of Xunzi 's shared semantic content with Analects, and yield several actionable research questions for traditional scholarship. The aim of this article is to initiate a new conversation about implications of machine learning for the study of Asian texts.


AIM
The restoration of the digestive tract by performing an esophago-jejunal anastomosis (EJA) is a crucial step of the total gastric and distal esophagus surgical resection for esophago-gastric junction (EGJ) cancer. We have already ideated and tested on a cadaver model an innovative technique which could be useful to minimize the risk of complications related to the phase of securing the anvil of the circular stapler prior to perform the EJA. This surgical technique was derived from the well-known "double-stapling Knight and Griffen" one that was described for the rectal resection. We used the following described technique in 20 patients with EGJ cancer and it is efficient, reliable, safe, easy to learn and easy to perform.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
From August 2014 to May 2015, 20 patients (14 male and 6 female) underwent surgery for esophagogastric junction cancer: In all patients a distal esophageal resection and total gastrectomy was performed. Through the trans-hiatal access, the free margins of the esophageal stump were suspended and the anvil of a circular stapler on a new dedicated and registered support bar was inserted into the lumen. Subsequently, the linear suturing stapler is closed over the bar and then fired to suture the distal stump of the esophagus; after the confirmation of a negative margin, the bar is retracted and the push-rod of the anvil is pulled out through the linear suture. Finally, the anastomosis is performed with the classic technique by using a circular stapler.

RESULTS
No postoperative mortality occurred; postoperative course has been uneventful for 18 patients. One patient developed anastomotic fistula that has been treated conservatively with endoscopic prothesis, removed after 20 days. One patient developed in 3 POD myocardial infarction Mean Hospital stay has been 14 days (range 7-20 days).

CONCLUSIONS
The aim of our new procedure is the insertion the anvil of a common circular stapler without handsewn securing; this is to reduce the technical difficulties related to the hand-sewn securing into a deep and narrow anatomic location, typical of the trans-hiatal approach.

KEY WORDS
Anastomosis, Oesophago-gastric junction cancer, Stapler, Trans-hiatal.


There is a strong demographic association between Spanish place-names and the share of the Hispanic population in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Texas. After controlling for county xed e ects and a host of observable variables, two otherwise observably-similar and geographically-proximate communities that only di er by Spanish-name origin can be expected to contain a share of Hispanics that di ers by 3 percentage points. This implies an increment in the population of Hispanic origin of 10 percent in Spanish-named towns. The association between Spanish toponymy and Hispanic demographics was already strong 40 years ago. However, recent Latino immigrants were also more likely to locate in places with Spanish names. Conventional naming patterns had strong social impacts 150 years after the Mexican-American War and subsequent acquisition of these territories. These results with respect to a seemingly irrelevant local attribute, toponymy, underline the historical resilience of culturallydriven demographic settlement patterns.


The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere. by Jonathan A. Campbell and William W. Lamar. Comstock (Cornell University Press), Ithaca, NY, 2004. 2 vols. 962 pp. $149.95, £86.95. ISBN 0-8014-4141-2. This profusely illustrated, comprehensive survey of venomous snakes and lizards of the Americas also includes overviews of mimicry, evolution, and the medical management of snakebites.


The article analyzes the issues and problems of conducting an economic analysis in order to determine the actual financial condition of enterprises and prevent the possibility of bankruptcy.

An assessment of the importance of timely diagnosis of the actual financial condition of an enterprise and of an economic analysis of the financial prerequisites of a possible bankruptcy of an enterprise under current market conditions is made. Also the concept of "bankruptcy" and "insolvency" of the enterprise in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine are described.

As world practice shows, bankruptcy of an enterprise is not an accidental phenomenon, but a consistent pattern which can be detected and eliminated in a timely manner. The most common methodological approach to diagnosing the state and the threat of bankruptcy is the coefficient approach which involves the use of a list of special financial ratios-indicators of an enterprise — relative indicators calculated by comparing certain absolute measures of economic activity with one another.

The author reviewed the classical models of economic express analysis of the financial condition of the company to identify possible bankruptcy, developed by American scientists, economists William Beaver and Edward Altman. Depending on the values of indicators of these models, an assessment was made of the degree of proximity of a business entity to bankruptcy. Advantages and disadvantages of using these models in practice in the conditions of a modern market economy taking into account the specifics of the financial situation in Ukraine are described and analyzed.

According to the results of the study, a list of measures for the exit of enterprises that are at risk of possible bankruptcy from the current unfavorable situations has been proposed. The author also concluded that further scientific developments on this topic are necessary and will be of interest both among scientists and among the participants of financial and economic relations.

Key words: economic analysis, test method, enterprise, financial condition


The present study examines cases of the Japanese copula da used in the utterance-final position
 in naturally occurring conversations. The morpheme da in Japanese is typically categorized as a type of copula in
 linguistic studies, but da also functions as an utterance-final expression, especially in the spoken form of
 Japanese. The examined recordings of naturally occurring conversations for the present study contained 120 cases of
 utterance-final da, and 89 (74.2%) of them were uttered immediately following statements of subjective
 evaluation. In addition, of these 89 cases of utterance-final da that followed statements of evaluation, 87 were
 determined to follow statements in which the speaker expressed his or her negative attitude toward the evaluated matter. The data
 analysis also showed that 26 cases (21.7%) of utterance-final da in the examined recordings were uttered
 immediately after the speaker discovered a new piece of information. Based on the findings from the data analysis, the present
 study argues that utterance-final da is considered to be one of the expressions in Japanese that can signal both
 discovery of new information and the speaker's negative attitude toward a stated matter. In addition, the present study also
 argues that da marks the speaker's emotional exclamatory reaction when it is used in the utterance-final
 position.


A prospective study of 483 pregnant women was undertaken to examine possible associations of social and psychiatric factors with both low birth weight (less than 2500 g) and preterm delivery (less than 37 weeks' gestation). As few babies were born before term (n = 14) or with a low birth weight (n = 14) further analyses were conducted to investigate predictors of absolute birth weight and gestational age. Low income was found to be an independent predictor of birth weight when birth weight was treated both as a dichotomous and as a continuous variable. Unemployment was found to be associated with absolute birth weight. Although this effect was statistically accounted for by low income, a low income was frequently caused by unemployment. Smoking independently predicted absolute birth weight and tended to be associated with preterm delivery. None of the factors investigated was associated with gestational age. In contrast with previous findings, factors such as social class, adverse life events, and psychiatric state were not associated with birth outcome. The mechanism underlying the association between low income and low birth weight requires further investigation.


M. M. Zavadovsky (1891--1957) embriologist and geneticist is one of the founders of the experimental helminthology in the USSR. Using original methods he in twenties--thirties studied the structure of the egg membranes in some parasitic nematodes, proved the necessity of the access of free oxygen for the development of their eggs, studied the role of some environmental factors in the ontogenesis of nematodes. On this basis Zavadovsky worked out certain recomendations for the prophylaxis of nematodose of agricultural animals. His works have not lost their significance up to now.


It has been demonstrated that the cardiac non-neuronal cholinergic system (NNCS) plays a role in regulating cardiac homeostasis under physiological conditions. To examine a possible role played by NNCS upon cardiac remodeling, we submitted mice with genetic deletion of cardiomyocyte-specific choline acetyltransferase (cChAT) to chronic subcutaneous infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II). Male mice aged six months were assigned into four experimental groups: wild-type (WT) + Saline; WT + Ang II; cChAT + Saline and cChAT + Ang II. Ang II did not change the heart weight in WT mice (10.4±0.3 vs. 8.5±0.2 mg/mm in WT+Saline) but determined an increase in cChAT mice (12.8±1 vs. 8.8±0.6 mg/mm in cChAT+Saline). In WT mice, Ang II decreased left ventricular (LV) fractional shortening (23±2 vs. 35±2 % in WT+Saline) and LV ejection fraction (54±4 vs. 73±2 % in WT+Saline). However, cChAT+Ang II mice exhibited greater decrease in both LV fractional shortening (12±1.8 vs. 23±2 % in WT+Ang II) and ejection fraction (31±4 vs. 54±4 % in WT+Ang II). cChAT mice displayed cardiomyocyte hypertrophy (2002±116 vs. 1377±48 μm2 in WT+Saline) even when receiving saline. Ang II increased the cardiomyocyte surface area in both WT and cChAT mice; however, the cChAT mice exhibited greater myocyte hypertrophy (3035±181 vs. 2603±122 μm2 in WT+Ang II). Hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed that Ang II promoted greater disruption of myocardial structure in cChAT mice. Additionally, Trichrome C staining revealed that WT+Ang II mice presented increased collagen deposition (2.86±0.2 vs. 0.45±0.07 % in WT+Saline); nevertheless, the fibrotic response in cChAT+Ang II mice was greater than that observed in WT animals (6.16±1.1 vs. 2.86±0.2 % in WT+Ang II). Therefore, mice with deficiency for ChAT displayed exacerbated ventricular dysfunction induced by chronic Ang II administration, providing support for a role of the NNCS in the progression of cardiac remodeling.


Quinolone resistance may emerge in gut bacteria (e.g., in Escherichia coli) of animals. Such bacteria could cause infections in the animal itself or be transmitted to humans via the food chain. Quinolone resistance is also observed in fecal E. coli of healthy dairy cattle, but the prevalence varies between farms, not solely as a result of varying degree of fluoroquinolone exposure. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for the fecal shedding of quinolone-resistant E. coli (QREC) from dairy calves and postpartum cows. Rectal swabs from 15 preweaned calves and 5 postpartum cows per farm were collected on 23 Swedish dairy farms to determine the prevalence of QREC. Risk factors for the shedding of QREC were investigated using multivariable statistical models. Quinolone-resistant E. coli were found on all but one farm. Factors associated with QREC shedding by calves were being younger than 18 d, being fed milk from cows treated with antimicrobials, recent use of fluoroquinolones in the herd, carriage of QREC by postpartum cows, and using the calving area never or rarely as a sick pen compared with often. Factors associated with QREC shedding by cows were calving in group pens or freestalls compared with single pens or tiestalls, purchasing cattle, sharing animal transports with other farmers, and poor farm hygiene. Proper biosecurity and improved hygiene, as well as minimizing fluoroquinolone exposure and waste milk feeding, may be important factors to reduce the burden of QREC on dairy farms.


The aim of this study was to obtain extracts from soursop pulp that were obtained with different solvents (chloroform, methanol, ethyl acetate and water) and different extraction methods (soxhlet, sonication and microwave), and analysed their extractable polyphenol content, antioxidant capacity and qualitative presence of acetogenins. The most efficient extraction method to obtain extractable polyphenols with high values of scavenging capacity by DPPH was sonication followed by microwave when methanol was used. The acetogenins were detected only in chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts obtained by the three extraction methods. Sonication or microwave was effective to obtain acetogenins or phenolic extracts in greater quantity than reported in soursop pulp, in a short time and few solvent.


We previously found that the tryptophan catabolite picolinic acid (PA) is a costimulus for the activation of macrophage effector functions. In this study, we have investigated the ability of PA to modulate the expression of chemokines in macrophages. We demonstrate that PA is a potent activator of the inflammatory chemokines MIP (macrophage inflammatory protein)-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta (MIPs) mRNA expression in mouse macrophages in a dose- and time-dependent fashion and through a de novo protein synthesis-dependent process. The induction by PA occurred within 3 h of treatment and reached a peak in 12 h. The stimulatory effects of PA were selective for MIPs because other chemokines, including monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, RANTES, IFN-gamma-inducible protein-10, MIP-2, and macrophage-derived chemokine, were not induced under the same experimental conditions and were not an epiphenomenon of macrophage activation because IFN-gamma did not affect MIPs expression. Induction of both MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta by PA was associated with transcriptional activation and mRNA stabilization, suggesting a dual molecular mechanism of control. Iron chelation could be involved in MIPs induction by PA because iron sulfate inhibited the process and the iron-chelating agent, desferrioxamine, induced MIPs expression. We propose the existence of a new pathway leading to inflammation initiated by tryptophan catabolism that can communicate with the immune system through the production of PA, followed by secretion of chemokines by macrophages. These results establish the importance of PA as an activator of macrophage proinflammatory functions, providing the first evidence that this molecule can be biologically active without the need for a costimulatory agent.


The article argues that the social life of racialization in Tunisia can be traced back to colonial norms and that one cannot speak of racialization in isolation of class differentials, elements that arose historically with the spread of the tandem colonialism-capitalism in North Africa. From a direct form of racialized violence leaving Muslim Tunisians on the low end of the colonial social ladder of worth, salaries, and the right to life, one moved to a more symbolic form of violence, with the south of the country quasi-racialized as less valuable than the urban coastal areas around Tunis and the Sahel in contemporary Tunisia. In a polity that reached independence more than six decades ago, one can witness the perpetuation of a north-south divide that dates back to the colonial times; but a historical reading of racialized brutality can help us recognize a distinct tradition of activism, in particular trade union activism around the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) and protests in the southern part of the country, such as the one that led to the ousting of dictator Ben Ali in 2011. Through a discussion of diachronic forms of racialization, the article suggests that Giorgio Agamben's focus on juridical issues of exception is partly misleading, for many forms of exception arise outside of the realm of emergency.


Abstract Wind and wind-rain-induced cable vibration are usually nonstationary. Based on the field measured wind data from the Dongting Lake Bridge (DLB) in China, a wavelet-based method was developed to investigate the wind characteristics of wind-rain-induced cable vibration. By using the wavelet analysis, the time-varying mean wind speed is extracted and a nonstationary wind speed model is proposed. The turbulence intensities and probability distributions of measured wind data are calculated using the proposed nonstationary model and compared with those based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and design values. The correlation between wind and wind-rain-induced acceleration response are discussed. At the same time, the relativity of acceleration responses of cable and the wind speed are discussed via calculating root mean square (RMS) averaging and acceleration response peak factors.


Events underlying derepression of the nitrogen fixation (nif) genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae M5A1 were analyzed in vivo by comparing the effects of selective inhibitors of transcription and translation on subsequent nitrogenase activity (rate of acetylene reduction). When batch cultures were induced for derepression, an 87-min lag separated ammonium ion/oxygen removal and the appearance of activity. To prevent eventual activity by adding inhibitors during this period, it was found necessary to add rifampin, ammonium ion, or chloramphenicol more than 50, 20, or 10 min, respectively, before activity appeared in a parallel control. When these inhibitors were added to cultures in which nitrogenase activity had already appeared, further increase in activity was not stopped by rifampin or ammonium ion until 45 or 20 min, respectively, after addition. Chloramphenicol stopped further increase in nitrogenase activity almost immediately. These data indicated a nif operon whose transcription/translation consumes 40 min. When the kinetics of β-galactosidase induction were analyzed under similar conditions, it was found that 7 min separated the initiation of transcription and the first completions of translation. Extrapolating from this, we find the nif operon to occupy 17 average gene lengths. It is argued that the nif structural genes in K. pneumoniae are contained on one operon, and further, that the disparity between the kinetics of inhibition by rifampin and those by ammonium ion suggests regulation at a locus other than the operator.


A well-established finding in the literature is that self-employment enables mothers to accommodate work and family needs better than when they are engaged in organizational employment. With this result in mind, the authors investigate within a dual system of job protection if women under temporary contracts face greater work-family conflicts than those under permanent contracts. The authors use data on women's work and fertility histories from the Spanish Continuous Sample of Working Histories to analyze whether women under temporary contracts transition to self-employment upon motherhood more than those who are under permanent contracts. Analyses show that being under a temporary contract increases women's likelihood of transitioning to self-employment upon childbirth. Supplementary analyses show that this is partly the result of voluntary transitions and not an employer's decision to terminate a temporary contract upon motherhood. Overall, these findings reveal a hidden cost of temporary contracts: the greater difficulty in balancing work and family.


Some of the vital aspects in the diffusion of renewable energies are the cost of producing the energy, as well as the environmental impacts associated with its lifecycle. As petroleum based energy becomes increasingly costly, alternatives will be relied upon to meet the ever increasing energy demand. Biofuels, and biodiesel in particular, could be a near term solution for providing a transitional fuel to meet the energy demand of the transportation sector. However, the costs of biodiesel, as well as perceptions of a negative energy balance are hindering its widespread adoption. Using waste cooking oil (WCO) can reduce the cost of raw materials necessary for producing biodiesel, when compared to traditional sources, and by collecting and using biodiesel locally, its cost can be further reduced. This research involves the design and development of a simulation model to analyze the costs and emissions associated with waste cooking oil collection for the local, or decentralized, production and use of biodiesel. A case study for the food and beverage industry is investigated. A series of simulation experiments was used to evaluate different scenarios for utilizing the unexploited capacity of a local food and beverage distribution network for the collection of waste cooking oils. The economic and environmental costs associated with collecting WCO were compared to the economic and environmental savings from using biodiesel, the impacts of such operation upon service level are also investigated. Based on the local food and beverage network used to construct the model parameters, biodiesel production from WCO on a localized scale has positive impacts to both cost and emissions without sacrificing customer service.


Abstract International politics has often been viewed as a brutal place where might trumps right and where, as a consequence, questions of democracy are irrelevant to ask. In the last decades, however, scholars and political leaders have increasingly suggested that elements of democracy exist in governance beyond individual states. If this is so, how does democracy beyond the state shape international politics? This article suggests conceptual preliminaries for theorising consequences of democracy beyond the state in general and their implications for problems of peace and conflict in particular. The purpose is twofold: first, to begin reconstructing existing normative democratic theory into an explanatory perspective sensitive to international politics; second, to indicate how this new perspective is able to explain empirical observations pertaining to conflict and cooperation among states; international institutions; foreign policies; human rights protection; and the violence of transnational terrorist networks.


The development of global microstructure characteristics has been compared to the local distribution and extent of Σ3 and Σ3n (1 n 3) grain boundary clusters as a function of thermo-mechanical processing in Type 304 stainless steel. A cold reduction of 5% produced GBE modified microstructures on annealing at 1050°C, containing almost one order of magnitude longer maximum cluster lengths than the corresponding annealing treatments for a reduction of 15%. Differences in the development of the distributions of cluster length scales were observed between the thermo-mechanical treatments. A re-conversion of the longest cluster obtained after GBE processing was observed with long annealing times. The local distribution of Σ3n boundary clusters was assessed, and regions with a low density of clusters are indicative of the onset of GBE conversion of microstructure.


The use of drugs to increase human happiness and to improve the quality of life physically, mentally and socioeconomically is a serious matter of concern. Chronic disabling conditions become common in old age and affect the quality of life. Quality of life (QOL) is an important measure of health care, which measures the gap between expectations and achievements. Effect of Drug use on quality of life in elderly Indian population with hypertension was studied using Mc Master Health Index. The study population was divided into test group (hypertensive patients on regular treatment) and control group (Not on any treatment or on treatment for less than 3 months). All three parameters of QOL namely physical, emotional and social were studied using Mc Master Health Index questionnaire. The results were statistically compared using ANOVA and chi square. Our results point toward better overall QOL in patients on regular treatment


Background: Clival giant cell tumors (GCTs) are extremely rare with only eight cases reported to date, and malignant transformation is quite rare. Herein, we report a case of an uncontrolled clival GCT, which was transformed malignant, and review the literature. Case Description: A 25-year-old man experienced double vision for 1 month. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a clival tumor. The endonasal endoscopic transsphenoidal approach (EEA) was used, and partial resection was performed because of massive bleeding. Histological examination showed a GCT. After radiation therapy, the tumor recurred; the EEA and the anterior transpetrosal approaches were used to perform second and third operations, respectively. The MIB-1 index increased from 4.2% to 26.3%. Conclusions: GCTs are difficult to treat because of their location, vascularity, and the potential for malignant transformation.


Human visual performance changes dramatically both across (eccentricity) and around (polar angle) the visual field. Performance is better at the fovea, decreases with eccentricity, and is better along the horizontal than vertical meridian and along the lower than the upper vertical meridian. However, all neurophysiological and virtually all behavioral studies of cortical magnification have investigated eccentricity effects without considering polar angle. Most performance differences due to eccentricity are eliminated when stimulus size is cortically magnified (M-scaled) to equate the size of its cortical representation in primary visual cortex (V1). But does cortical magnification underlie performance differences around the visual field? Here, to assess contrast sensitivity, human adult observers performed an orientation discrimination task with constant stimulus size at different locations as well as when stimulus size was M-scaled according to stimulus eccentricity and polar angle location. We found that although M-scaling stimulus size eliminates differences across eccentricity, it does not eliminate differences around the polar angle. This finding indicates that limits in contrast sensitivity across eccentricity and around the visual field are mediated by different anatomical and computational constraints.


Since wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are characterized by a multipath fading environment, which causes a significant degradation in terms of both network reliability and data rate, the use of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) as a modulation technique is highly needed which is the newest contender against other modulation schemes that provides high quality of service and data rate. The real problem for OFDM implementation in WSNs is the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of the OFDM signal, which requires highly linear power amplifiers to avoid excessive intermodulation distortion. This is not compatible with the energy conservation which is the major constraint for the design of WSNs. By utilizing continuous phase modulation (CPM) in OFDM system, the PAPR can be effectively reduced to 0 dB. In this paper, we propose to utilize helical interleaving scheme for continuous phase modulation–based orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CPM-OFDM) systems. In addition, based on our study to many of the interleavers, we proposed a new interleaver, FRS, that can break the burst channel errors and take the benefits of the previously proposed interleavers, and hence a better bit error rate (BER) performance can be achieved. The proposed system combines the advantages of frequency diversity and power efficiency from CPM-OFDM and performance improvement from new interleaving. Through simulation, the BER performance of the CPM-OFDM system with and without new interleaving is evaluated. In addition, the overall complexity of FRS interleaver compared to helical and 2D-prime interleavers in terms of hardware requirements is evaluated.


Authigenic dolomite layers occur in the organic matter-rich sediments of Kau Bay, Indonesia. Dolomite formation is related to the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter which causes depletion of pore-water sulfate and increase in interstitial water alkalinity. X-ray diffractograms of Kau Bay dolomites show sharply defined peaks, including the superstructure reflections. Carbon isotopes indicate that a significant portion of the carbon is derived from the degradation of organic matter. The pore waters are highly supersaturated with dolomite, but at greater depths, pore waters are undersaturated or are near saturation with calcite and aragonite. Dolomite seems to have formed by direct precipitation from solution. The formation of dolomite is believed to be initiated by the high alkalinity levels found in the zone of anoxic methane oxidation. The rate of dolomite formation is controlled by the supply of calcium and is on the order of a few centimetres per 1 ka.


Recent studies indicate that cunnilingus may be as prevalent as fellatio among American adolescents. Despite this approximate equivalence in rates, there is an imbalance in the amount and type of attention paid to fellatio and cunnilingus. Furthermore, there has been little empirical examination of young women's experiences and perceptions of cunnilingus during adolescence. Two studies in response to this gap in knowledge were conducted. In Study 1, regression analyses indicated that a young woman's sexual assertiveness was linked to having more lifetime cunnilingus partners, as well as more cunnilingus experiences in the past three months. Study 2 explored young women's perceptions of cunnilingus and their speculations about their male partners' perceptions thereof. Linear mixed modeling revealed that participants had highly favorable impressions of cunnilingus, which they believed their male partners shared. These findings are considered in terms of positive adolescent sexual development and cultural norms regarding female sexuality.


We present the first high-resolution, simultaneous observations of the solar chromosphere in the optical and millimeter wavelength ranges, obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer at the Dunn Solar Telescope. In this paper we concentrate on the comparison between the brightness temperature observed in ALMA Band 3 (3 mm; 100 GHz) and the core width of the Hα 6563 Å line, previously identified as a possible diagnostic of the chromospheric temperature. We find that in the area of plage, network and fibrils covered by our field of view, the two diagnostics are well correlated, with similar spatial structures observed in both. The strength of the correlation is remarkable, given that the source function of the millimeter radiation obeys local thermodynamic equilibrium, while the Hα line has a source function that deviates significantly from the local Planck function. The observed range of ALMA brightness temperatures is sensibly smaller than the temperature range that was previously invoked to explain the observed width variations in Hα. We employ analysis from forward modeling with the Rybicki-Hummer (RH) code to argue that the strong correlation between Hα width and ALMA brightness temperature is caused by their shared dependence on the population number n2 of the first excited level of hydrogen. This population number drives millimeter opacity through hydrogen ionization via the Balmer continuum, and Hα width through a curve-of-growth-like opacity effect. Ultimately, the n2 population is regulated by the enhancement or lack of downward Lyα flux, which coherently shifts the formation height of both diagnostics to regions with different temperature, respectively.


Structural ordering in a commercial suspension poly(vinyl chloride), a low temperature synthesized vinyl chloride polymer and a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer has been investigated. The polymers were characterized as regards their molecular weight using gel permeation chromatography and their chain tacticity using 13 carbon nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy. [Continues.]


This chapter deploys a range of feminist ethical philosophy and theory that embraces multiplicity and difference, to examine two contemporary art films by female artists Shirin Neshat and Gilliant Wearing. Including the work of French philosopher Marie-Jose Mondzain on the ethics of looking and Audre Lorde on the celebration of difference, the chapter combines close analysis of the films with these theoretical perspectives that specifically take up a plural, difference-based mode of feminist analysis. Deploying Mondzain's writing on visibility, affect and violence, it first contests spectatorial claims to universal affect by engaging with the bi-cultural positioning of Neshat's WOMEN WITHOUT MEN (2009) in relation to Euro-Western and diasporic/exilic Iranian conceptions of femininity and otherness (and the uneasiness of these cultural translations). Deploying Lorde's writing on difference and her attack on "universal' feminism, combined with Mondzain's approach to vision and imagination, the chapter then explores the active revisions of seeing and visibility, through moments of intense emotional creativity enacted in selected sequences from Wearing's film SELF MADE (2010). It concludes by suggesting that the engagements in this chapter offer a starting ground for what a restitution of difference in relation to contemporary experimental film (by women) might look like, particularly for contemporary tensions in feminist film studies.


Abstract—In this study, a spatial wavelet-based crack localization technique for a thick beam is presented. Wavelet scale in spatial wavelet transformation is optimized to enhance crack detection sensitivity. A windowing function is also employed to erase the edge effect of the wavelet transformation, which enables the method to detect and localize cracks near the beam/measurement boundaries. Theoretical model and vibration analysis considering the crack effect are first proposed and performed in MATLAB based on the Timoshenko beam model. Gabor wavelet family is applied to the beam vibration mode shapes derived from the theoretical beam model to magnify the crack effect so as to locate the crack. Relative wavelet coefficient is obtained for sensitivity analysis by comparing the coefficient values at different positions of the beam with the lowest value in the intact area of the beam. Afterward, the optimal wavelet scale corresponding to the highest relative wavelet coefficient at the crack position is obtained for each vibration mode, through numerical simulations. The same procedure is performed for cracks with different sizes and positions in order to find the optimal scale range for the Gabor wavelet family. Finally, Hanning window is applied to different vibration mode shapes in order to overcome the edge effect problem of wavelet transformation and its effect on the localization of crack close to the measurement boundaries. Comparison of the wavelet coefficients distribution of windowed and initial mode shapes demonstrates that window function eases the identification of the cracks close to the boundaries.


Teacher research tends to have a low uptake among teachers, which might be due to the fact that they are not generally identified with the role of the teacher as a researcher in initial teacher education programs. Also, as there is little research on the effects of research introduction courses on pre-service teachers, this descriptive study explored pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' attitudes towards research engagement and the benefits and difficulties they experienced throughout this process. To this end, pre-service EFL teachers (N= 32) from a state university in Turkey, who took a course on research engagement, participated in this study. This study adopted a mixed-methods research design: We triangulated quantitative survey data with the qualitative data elicited through an open-ended survey and semi-structured focus-group interviews. The findings described pre-service teachers' attitudes towards research from self-efficacious, behavioural, cognitive, and affective perspectives, as well as elicited the perceived benefits and challenges from participants' responses. Overall, we found that participants developed positive views towards research as part of the course and they felt more self-efficacious and overcame their research anxiety. At the same time, our study also showed that while most participants found the research methodology course important, less than one third of them planned to conduct research when they become in-service teachers. The study concludes by discussing the implications for initial teacher education programs. ABSTRACT Nearly any existing framework reflecting on the skills essential for success in the 21st century includes critical thinking competencies (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009). Thus, enhancing learners' critical thinking skills for their academic and future professional development has been among the primary concerns of


Purpose: The main aim of the research is to determine the elements that dictate the competencies of chairpersons of crisis management teams at the level of municipalities and districts in Poland. Approach/Methodology/Design: In order to solve the research problem, a diagnostic poll method was used, carried out by means of a survey technique, with the use of a survey questionnaire tool. In relation to the research conducted, the general population consisted of officials in charge of local government units (municipalities and districts) who also act as chairpersons of crisis management teams in the administered area. The most numerous group of persons in charge of administrative units was the group of heads of municipalities, who constituted 64.04% of the general population. The second most numerous group was a group of mayors (14.33%), then a group of city presidents (11.24%) and the least numerous group – a group of district governors (10.39%). Findings: The analysis of the research allows to state that the most probable threats which may occur on the research area include violent weather phenomena, floods and fires. Moreover, the activities for efficient and effective execution of crisis management include increasing financial means, proper identification of crisis threats, and raising citizens' awareness through the implementation of training on potential threats and ways to behave in the event of their occurrence. The individual factors that may hinder the respondents from performing emergency management tasks were analyzed, i.e., uncertainty of crisis situation development, lack of means necessary to perform tasks under the Crisis Management Act and the obligation to make decisions that affect life, health of co-workers and citizens. Practical Implications: The authors have indicated and discussed, threats appearing within the research area and tasks of persons acting as chairmen of crisis management teams. These two elements significantly determine the requirements in the field of knowledge and skills in relation to the chairpersons of crisis management teams. Originality/Value: The results allow to characterise elements which are fundamental for functioning of crisis management within the research area and, at the same time, influencing the work of people who act as chairpersons of crisis management teams. War Studies University, Management Institute, Management and Command Department, ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6025-1862 e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; The same as in 1, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-6939-762X, firstname.lastname@example.com; The same as in 1, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-4647-7694, firstname.lastname@example.com; Determinants of Managerial Competencies of Crisis Management Team Chairpersons in the Context of Building Resilience to Threats at the Local Level 370


The article explores the association between housework, earnings, and education. In contrast to the majority of existing studies from Western countries, this article tests the bargaining theory in the Czech Republic. Given the high female labor force participation coupled with a tendency for women to drop out of the labor market for several years after childbirth, the country provides an interesting context to test the theory. Using data from the first wave of the Czech Household Panel, we apply multilevel mixed-effect regressions and analyze the index expressing the relative division of housework between the male and female partners. We demonstrate that in this institutional context, economic factors such as the woman's education and her absolute or relative earning have little explanatory power for the way housework is shared. Furthermore, we show that the man's education is a better predictor of the division of housework than the woman's education.


The risk of developing premature ovarian failure and azoospermia is a major concern in long-term survivors treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Alkylating chemotherapy containing procarbazine and/or cyclophosphamide causes prolonged azoospermia in 90–100% of men and premature ovarian failure in 5–25% of women under the age of 30. The risk of infertility increases with the cumulative dose of alkylating agents and the risk is high after salvage therapy including conditioning and autologous or allogeneic transplantation. The doxorubicin-bleomycin-vinblastine-dacarbazine regimen is associated with a lower risk of gonadal damage; the rate of infertility is less than 10%. The risk of premature ovarian failure is limited after the doxorubicin-bleomycin-vinblastine-dacarbazine regimen. However, age is an important factor; women over 30 years of age are at a much higher risk of ovarian failure. Semen cryopreservation should be routinely offered, especially before initial treatment with bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisolone or salvage therapy with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous transplantation. For women with a stable partner, in vitro fertilization for embryo cryopreservation is a routine procedure but can only be offered to a small number of patients and requires a delay in treatment initiation for at least four weeks. Cryopreservation of mature or immature oocytes remains experimental. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is promising but has so far resulted in only a small number of pregnancies and births. This method, usually involving the removal of an entire ovary, is only proposed before treatment leading to a high risk of infertility. Analogs of LHRH were investigated in order to preserve fertility in women but are not recommended in the absence of studies demonstrating their effectiveness. The risk of secondary infertility should be discussed with patients from the time of the diagnosis and requires multidisciplinary collaboration between hematologists and Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) teams.


Euro area countries exhibited modest convergence prior to the financial crisis and diverged thereafter. Such divergence has been examined from many angles, and various narratives of the crisis have developed. Surprisingly, the gradual transformation of the economic structures of euro area countries over the last 15-20 years has, however, received less attention. This paper brings together several strands of evidence - both macro and micro - on such economic transformation. It makes three contributions. First, profound changes are found in the allocation of countries' resources across sectors as had been predicted prior to the launch of the euro. In some cases, transformation precedes the launch of the euro, such as the industrial sector, and might reflect different comparative advantages. Such specialisation is not problematic, and is generally accompanied by diverse risk sharing channels. Yet, the second contribution of this paper is to show instead that in some euro area countries productive resources were misallocated to less efficient and lower productivity sectors. In order to distinguish between good and bad specialisation, a firm-based database is examined. The third contribution shows that frictions play an important role in preventing the shift of resources towards more productive firms and thus reduce the potential growth of some countries. This might then explain in part the modest convergence and then divergence of euro area countries.


We propose a use of high speed spherical self-organizing map (HSS-SOM) as a new visualization technique for huge climate datasets complementarily and alternatively to empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. In order to reduce computational cost, we change the number and visible positions of neurons in our HSS-SOM method. This method allows us to use a large number of neurons and thus understand climate datasets better than conventional methods. We apply the HSS-SOM to a 4-times daily surface temperature dataset to check the accuracy. Then the HSS-SOM succeeds to map all data into 4 cluster regions in which each cluster region includes data of the same observational time. While 4 cluster regions are also classified by EOF analysis clearly, HSS-SOM locates several observational data points whose spatial patterns are similar to each other but observed at different time in a marginal area of different cluster regions. We also apply the HSS-SOM to a huge climatology dataset which is not classified clearly in the EOF analysis. Then the HSS-SOM classifies observational data points of similar spatial patterns in the physical space closely, while those of different spatial patterns far away. These results show HSS-SOM extracts more detailed features than the EOF, and suggest that the HSS-SOM would be a useful tool to study future climate change and its assessment.


Background Radiotherapy (RT) alone or in combination with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is most common non-operative treatments for localised prostate cancer (PC). Some circulatory cytokines are believed to play an important role in RT resistance and lead to tumour progression, invasion, and angiogenesis. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of ADT and RT on the expression of circulatory cytokines levels in plasma at different time points. Methods Between Nov 2015 and Aug 2016, 18 patients with localized PC were selected for this clinical study. All patients had received neoadjuvant ADT using a leuteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) analogs prior to RT. Peripheral blood samples were collected prior to ADT, before RT, at the end of RT and 3 months after the completion of RT. Blood plasma samples were monitored for the pro-inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-6, and IL-8, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedures. Results The concentration of TGF-β1 rose while IL-6 levels declined in post-ADT samples when compared pre-ADT. Levels of TGF-β1 increased in post-RT blood plasma compared to pre-RT blood plasma. Those changes were not statically significant. Three months post-RT completion, TGF-β1 levels decreased and IL-6 and IL-8 levels increased. Although levels of TGF-β1, IL-6 and IL-8 were found to be altered 3 months post-RT completion, only changes in IL-8 levels were found to be statistically significant (P=0.05). Conclusions In conclusion the changes in cytokines levels have been found after ADT and RT, which strengthen the finding of other clinical studies. Accept that small numbers of samples made difficult to attain significant results. Large clinical studies will be required to validate these findings and hopefully become useful biomarkers in the clinical setting to predict patient outcome and success of treatment received.


THIS paper aims at describing, illustrating, and interpreting the ocular lesions associated with onchocerciasis. The literature of onchocerciasis already includes many pictures of the ocular lesions. The paintingst and diagrams in this paper supplement those previously published and are intended to fill gaps in the existing literature. The accompanying text expresses the author's views on the interpretation of the lesions and refers to alternative opinions. Particular attention is paid to the choroido-retinal lesions because they have been the subject of much controversy. It is hoped that the paper as a whole will assist workers in the field to distinguish and understand the lesions of onchocerciasis.


In this paper, flow and heat transfer characteristics of SiO2-water nanofluid flow over a corrugated backward-facing step are numerically investigated. The numerical study is performed by solving governing equations (continuity, momentum, and energy) with finite volume method. The duct inlet and step heights are 4.8 mm. The expansion ratio is 2. The upstream wall, Lu, and downstream wall, Ld, lengths are 48 cm and 96 cm, respectively. The downstream wall of the duct is subjected to a constant and uniform heat flux of 2000 W/m 2 . The ranges of the volume fraction of nanoparticles and Reynolds number are 0%-3.0% and 135-240, respectively. The effects of the volume fraction of nanoparticles on the average Nusselt number, average Darcy friction factor, and velocity distribution are investigated under laminar forced convective nanofluid flow condition. It is revealed that the nanoparticle volume fraction substantially influences the heat transfer and flow characteristics. The volume fraction of 3.0% shows the highest heat transfer performance.


668 Background: TAS-102 is an orally administered combination of the thymidine-based nucleic acid analogue, trifluridine and the thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, tipiracil hydrochloride. Following the phase III RECOURSE study, it received approval as third line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer showing significant improvement in overall and progression free survival and an acceptable toxicity profile. Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective observational study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer receiving TAS-102 as third line treatment between 2016 and 2018 in Cancer centers across the UK. Results: A total of 143 patients were included (94 men, 49 women). Median age was 68 years (35-82). All patients had received at least 2 lines of fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy doublet with oxaliplatin or irinotecan. About 90% of patients had ECOG ≥ 1. Median duration of treatment was 2.9 months (0.5-22.9), with a response rate of 1.6% and stable disease achieved in 24%. Median OS was 7 months (95% CI 5.84-8.15) and median PFS 2.6 months (95% CI 2.2-3.36). A dose reduction was required in 28% of patients, while 8% discontinued treatment due to toxicity. AEs reported included fatigue 81.3% (G3 16.8%), nausea 34.5% (G3 4.5%) and diarrhoea 25.5% (G3 1.8%). Neutropenia was common 50.4%, (≥ G3: 25.4%) with 4.2% cases of neutropenic fever while thrombocytopenia was less frequent 8.7% (≥ G3 1.8%). Conclusions: The OS, PFS and ORR observed in our real-world experience were consistent with the RECOURSE trial, though we noted a lower disease control rate. Overall, TAS-102 was well tolerated and the most prevalent adverse events seen in our patients were in keeping with those reported in the trial. Although severe toxicities were less frequent than the trial, we experienced higher rates of toxicity induced dose reductions and treatment cessations, which could reflect the differences between trial and real world populations. Further validation is warranted.


Language Workbenches are instruments developers use to create new domainspecific languages. They provide tools to rapidly develop, test and deploy new languages. Currently, workbenches support deployment in desktop-based integrated development environments. Setting up these environments can be a hurdle for the often non-technical users of these languages. Web-Based IDEs could be a solution in this case, but workbenches are currently not able to deploy languages in these environments. This work presents the first step towards language workbenches in Web IDEs by creating a language parametric runtime for the browser which serves as a back-end for Spoofax. Combined with an editor, this runtime is the basis for the generation of entirely client-side language playgrounds based on Spoofax specifications. For parsing, this runtime has similar performance characteristics as the existing Spoofax implementation. Code execution in this runtime can be used in environments where performance is not critical.


As our overhead costs continue to increase while reimbursements decrease,
physicians are motivated to find novel ways to reduce our fixed overhead
costs. Nearly every practice has 15% of "fat" that has to be cut.
Just a few cost-saving strategies will reduce thousands of dollars of overhead,
and one of these strategies is to implement an electronic system of archiving
medical records.


uO nanowire is an important one-dimensional semiconductor nano-material which can be used in field effect transistors, photovoltaic cells, field emission nanodevices, and chemical and gas sensors. In this paper, CuO nanowires are synthesized by heating copper substrates in air, and the CuO nanowire is assembled on two opposite microelectrodes to fabricate a single CuO nanowire nanodevice by dielectrophoresis (DEP). In experiment, suitable parameters are chosen, such as concentration of the CuO nanowire solution, applied voltage and frequency on the microelectrodes, time of DEP duration, to assemble a single CuO nanowire on the microelectrode. Using this single nanowire nanodevice, this paper measured FET effect and photoconductivity of the single CuO nanowire. The results show that the single CuO nanowire nanodevice can work as a FET and it also has novel sensitivity to light intensity.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of solid state fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation (SmF) with bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances (BLIS) producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus sakei and Pediococcus pentosaceus) on the content of alkylresorcinols (ARs) and lignans in plant products (barley bran, pea fiber, and lupine seeds). Lignans analysis was performed by HPLC-MS/MS, and alkylresorcinols content was evaluated by GC/MS. We found that with the experimentally tested LAB, under SSF conditions more organic acids were produced and in most cases a higher count of the LAB was found in SSF samples, compared to the SmF samples. The matairesinol content was increased by using fermentation (from 7.9 to 35.4 % in pea fiber, from 33.2 to 81.5 % in lupine seeds, and from 5.9 to 74.9 % in barley bran), and in most cases a higher content of matairesinol was found in the SSF samples. The content of secoisolariciresinol in the fermented samples was found to be higher, in comparison to the untreated samples. It was found that the total lignans content in the pea fiber had a strong correlation with the amylase activity (R=0.7908; P=0.0177). Our results suggested that the total ARs content in pea fiber, lupine seeds, and barley bran was 267 μg/g; 1757 μg/g, and 1488 μg/g, respectively, and by using the LAB fermentation, the ARs content was reduced by 40 to 73 %, by 10 to 77 %, and by 24 to 74 %, respectively. We conclude that by using the LAB fermentation, the concentration of lignans in plant products could be increased, but the ARs content could be reduced, and the proper conditions should be selected for the fermentation, in order to prevent possible losses of these biologically active compounds.


Bone marrow samples from 55 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and 23 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undertermined significance (MGUS) were evaluated with a broad panel of monoclonal antibodies. Plasma cells from 78% (43/55) of patients with MM strongly expressed the natural killer cell antigen CD56 (NKH-1, Leu-19). Of the 23 patients with MGUS, none showed strong CD56 reactivity, although three had weak reactivity in less than 20% of plasma cells. Myeloma cells expressing CD56 did not coexpress the CD57 or CD16 antigens. Patients with CD56-positive plasma cells had both indolent and aggressive disease. However, the 12 CD56-negative patients had predominantly aggressive disease with an unexpected preponderance of kappa Bence Jones only myeloma (5/10[50%] evaluable patients). Polyclonal plasma cells from non-neoplastic tissue sites (normal bone marrows, lymph nodes, tonsillar biopsies, and gut-mucosa biopsies) showed a near absence of CD56. We conclude that isolated, strong CD56 expression is common in MM, but not in MGUS or reactive plasma cells. The potential biologic importance of CD56 positivity in myeloma is reviewed.


Travelling stock reserves (TSRs) are thought to represent some of the highest-quality and least degraded remnants of threatened temperate woodland in south-eastern Australia. These public reserves have not had the same high levels of grazing pressure and other disturbances as woodland remnants on private land. Thus, TSRs are expected to be important for the protection of biodiversity in heavily cleared and modified landscapes. We tested the hypothesis that land tenure had significant effects on the quality of woodlands by comparing vegetation structural attributes between TSRs and remnant vegetation used for primary production purposes. Vegetation attributes were monitored in 155 permanent plots over 5 years in remnant temperate woodland sites in the Riverina bioregion of New South Wales. Overall, TSRs supported higher native plant species richness and were characterised by higher ground cover of native shrubs and less cover of exotic plant species than agricultural production areas. We found land tenure had significant effects on some vegetation attributes demonstrated to be important for threatened fauna. We attribute these results to TSRs having a history of lower grazing pressure compared with remnants managed for agricultural production. Our study provides empirical evidence to support the high conservation value of TSRs in formerly woodland-dominated, but now extensively cleared agricultural landscapes.


The traditional construction education model based on precise, well-defined problems and formal definitions is not satisfactorily fulfilling its mission of educating the decision-makers of tomorrow. This realization has moved several researchers to explore alternatives where problem solving is carried out in conjunction with the environment and concepts are embedded in the context promoting learning within the nexus of the activity. Several efforts have been undertaken to develop these environments resulting in a variety of special-purpose situational simulations. However, special-purpose situational simulations exhibit inherent limitations related to their application breadth, flexibility, and promotion of collaborations. These limitations cannot be resolved within the framework of special-purpose learning environments. A general-purpose environment is required to overcome these shortcomings and take full advantage of the situational learning paradigm. This paper presents theoretical aspects related to situational simulation environments as the conceptual framework to introduce a pilot application called Virtual Coach. The implementation and preliminary evaluation of this software system are also discussed in this paper.


It is shown that a number of well known iterative deconvolution algorithms are closely related members of a general class. This point of view leads to new understanding of previous approaches and to a new algorithm that incorporates both a finite interval constraint and a positivity constraint on the output of the deconvolution process. Examples are given to illustrate performance on gamma-ray spectra.


Japanese boxed lunches are called bento (or obento). These cute, yummy, healthy lunches are all the rage in Japan, where mothers think of them as an expression of love for their children. Bento boxes can be made from scratch, but they are also a great way to enjoy leftovers. Easy, nutritious, super-cute meals are just minutes away! "Yum-Yum Bento Box" is a collection of simple recipes for adorable bento box lunches suitable for children and adults. They are almost too cute to eat!


Due to the large number of technological developments in recent years, UAS systems are now used for monitoring purposes and in projects with high precision demand, such as 3D model-based creation of dams, reservoirs, historical monuments etc. These unmanned systems are usually equipped with an automatic pilot device and a digital camera (photo/video, multispectral, Near Infrared etc.), of which the lens has distortions; but this can be determined in a calibration process. Currently, a method of "self-calibration" is used for the calibration of the digital cameras mounted on UASs, but, by using the method of calibration based on a 3D calibration object, the accuracy is improved in comparison with other methods. Thus, this paper has the objective of establishing a 3D calibration field for the digital cameras mounted on UASs in terms of accuracy and robustness, being the largest reported publication to date. In order to test the proposed calibration field, a digital camera mounted on a low-cost UAS was calibrated at three different heights: 23 m, 28 m, and 35 m, using two configurations for image acquisition. Then, a comparison was made between the residuals obtained for a number of 100 Check Points (CPs) using self-calibration and test-field calibration, while the number of Ground Control Points (GCPs) variedand the heights were interchanged. Additionally, the parameters where tested on an oblique flight done 2 years before calibration, in manual mode at a medium altitude of 28 m height. For all tests done in the case of the double grid nadiral flight, the parameters calculated with the proposed 3D field improved the results by more than 50% when using the optimum and a large number of GCPs, and in all analyzed cases with 75% to 95% when using a minimum of 3 GCP. In this context, it is necessary to conduct accurate calibration in order to increase the accuracy of the UAS projects, and also to reduce field measurements.


Highlands are a new frontier to produce fine wines in the Southern region of Brazil (27o 12' 24" S, 51o 06' 96" W, 1211 m altitude) and has presented specific oenological characteristics with a good adaptation of some varieties, among them, Canaiolo nero. To characterize the wines of this region, during the 2012 and 2014 harvests the volatile compounds were determined through the MHS-SPME-GC-MS technique. The grapes were harvested, and samples analyzed in triplicate. The positive identification of the volatile compounds was performed by comparing the experimentally obtained mass spectrum and retention index with the reference spectra and retention indices available in the literature. Four consecutive extractions were used for quantitative evaluation to avoid a matrix effect. Odor activity value was calculated from the perception threshold for each evaluated compound. The mean soluble solids content was 21.55 o Brix, and total acid content was 81.0 meq L -1 ; the mean weight of the clusters was 176 g, and the productivity was 2.2 tons per hectare (espalier – 1.5 m × 3.0 m). Thirty-one volatile compounds were identified and quantified in the analyzed samples. The major components were the aromatic alcohol 2-phenylethanol (38.364 µg L -1 ), and the esters diethyl succinate (6.357 µg L -1 ) and ethyl acetate (2.005 µg L -1 ); and the compound of class C6, 1-hexanol (3.2 µg L -1 ). Odor activity values showed the compounds that contribute the most to the aroma of the analyzed wines, highlighting ethyl isovalerate (OAV 394.38), ethyl hexanoate (OAV 9.22), ethyl cinnamate (OAV 8.62) ethyl isobutanoate (OAV 5.59), β-damascenone (OAV 2.44), hexanoic acid (OAV 4.03), octanoic acid (OAV 3.64) and isoamyl acetate (OAV 3.01). These results showed the aroma characteristics of Santa Catarina wines of the Canaiolo nero variety, especially fruity aromas of apple, green apple, strawberry, plum and banana; and floral aroma of violet and roses.


The impact of language impairment on the clinical assessment of patients suffering from disorders of consciousness (DOC) is unknown or underestimated and may mask the presence of conscious behavior. In a group of DOC patients (n = 11; time post-injury range: 5–252 months), we investigated the main neural functional and structural underpinnings of linguistic processing, and their relationship with the behavioral measures of the auditory function using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). We assessed the integrity of the brainstem auditory pathways, of the left superior temporal gyrus and arcuate fasciculus, the neural activity elicited by passive listening of an auditory language task, and the mean hemispheric glucose metabolism. Our results support the hypothesis of a relationship between the level of preservation of the investigated structures/functions and the CRS-R auditory subscale scores. Moreover, our findings indicate that patients in minimally conscious state minus (MCS−): (1) when presenting the auditory startle (at the CRS-R auditory subscale) might be aphasic in the receptive domain, being severely impaired in the core language structures/functions; (2) when presenting the localization to sound might retain language processing, being almost intact or intact in the core language structures/functions. Despite the small group of investigated patients, our findings provide a grounding of the clinical measures of the CRS-R auditory subscale in the integrity of the underlying auditory structures/functions. Future studies are needed to confirm our results that might have important consequences for the clinical practice.


We evaluated whether a knowledge-based system (KBS) connected to a ventilator in pressure support mode could correctly predict the ability of patients to tolerate total withdrawal from ventilatory support. The KBS was designed to continuously adapt ventilatory assistance to the needs of the patient, to manage a strategy of gradually decreasing ventilatory assistance, and to indicate when the patient was able to breathe without assistance. Thirty-eight patients for whom weaning was being considered were evaluated using a conventional battery of parameters, including weaning criteria, tolerance of a T-piece trial, and outcome 48h after permanent withdrawal of ventilation. The results of this evaluation were compared with the suggestions made by the KBS at the end of a period of KBS-driven mechanical ventilation inserted in the conventional weaning procedure. The positive predictive value of the KBS was 89%, versus 77% for the conventional procedure and 81% for the rapid shallow breathing index alone. The KBS correctly predicted the course of five patients who tolerated a T-piece trial but required ventilation within 48 h. We conclude that our KBS ensured appropriate patient management during the weaning period and improved our ability to predict responses to weaning.


Abstract The response of grassland soil bacterial community characteristics to different grazing intensities is central ecological topics. However, the underlying mechanisms between bacterial abundance, diversity index, and grazing intensity remain unclear. We measured alpine meadow soil bacterial gene richness and diversity index under four grazing intensities using 16S rDNA sequence analysis on the Tibetan Plateau. The results suggest that extreme grazing significantly decreased alpine meadow both bacterial gene abundance and diversity index (p < .05). The lowest operational taxonomic unit numbers were 3,012 ± 447 copies under heavy grazing in the growing season. It was significantly lower than heavy grazing with approximately 3,958 ± 119 copies (p < .05). The Shannon index for medium and high grazing grassland bacterial diversity was slightly higher than for light grazing in the growing season. Furthermore, the lowest index was approximately 9.20 ± 0.50 for extreme grazing of grassland in the growing season. The average bacterial gene abundance and diversity index in the dormancy period were slightly higher than that in the growing season. Soil bulk density, pH, ammonium, and nitrate nitrogen were the main positive factors driving grazed grassland bacterial communities. Our study provides insight into the response of alpine meadows to grazing intensity, demonstrating that moderate grazing increases bacterial community diversity in grazed grasslands.


Abstract:Scholarship today asserts that the Chinese Party-state's media control strategy with regard to popular protests has changed from suppressive to proactive. Nevertheless, existing literature tends to regard the Chinese state as a monolithic and unitary actor, and neglects the heterogeneity in different levels of government in handling protests. This article attempts to make a modest contribution to the literature by viewing the Chinese state as heterogeneous and multilayered actors with respect to popular protests. The authors contend that due to the distinctive incentives as well as the context factor "hierarchical government trust", lower-level authorities, especially the local ones, have a lower tendency to adopt a proactive approach to controlling media coverage of protests than their central counterparts. The authors utilise the Wukan incident as a case study to corroborate their argument, and identify the specific strategies that various levels of the governments have adopted.


In this study, bacterial communities within the guts of several longicorn beetles were investigated by a culture-dependent method. A total of 142 bacterial strains were isolated from nine species of longicorn beetle, including adults and larvae. A comparison of their partial 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that most of the bacteria constituting the gut communities can typically be found in soil, plants and the intestines of animals, and approximately 10% were proposed as unreported. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the bacterial species comprised 7 phyla, and approximately half were Gammaproteobacteria. Actinobacteria were the second most populous group (19%), followed by Firmicutes (13%) and Alphaproteobacteria (11%). Betaproteobacteria, Flavobacteria, and Acidobacteria were minor constituents. The taxonomic compositions of the isolates were variable according to the species of longicorn beetle. Particularly, an abundance of Actinobacteria existed in Moechotypa diphysis and Mesosa hirsute, which eat broadleaf trees; however, no Actinobacteria were isolated from Corymbia rubra and Monochamus alternatus, which are needle-leaf eaters. Considerable proportions of xylanase and pectinase producing bacteria in the guts of the longicorn beetles implied that the bacteria may play an important role in the digestion of woody diets. Actinobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria were the dominant xylanase producers in the guts of the beetles.


The application of ceramics for knee prostheses promises a significant extension of the lifespan compared to conventional metal implants due to their outstanding mechanical and tribological properties. Nevertheless, grinding operations at the bone-faced surface of ceramic knee implants are limited. These limitations arise from an unfavorable accessibility of coolant lubricant. Caused by undercuts and concave surfaces the external coolant jet is deflected and does not reach the contact zone. In this paper, a prototype of a toric grinding tool with internal coolant supply is introduced. This innovative tool design enables a reliable and economic grinding process of the bone-faced surface of ceramic knee implants.


Panoramic dental radiographs are commonly used in general dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery to examine upper and lower teeth, maxilla, mandible and the surroundings simultaneously. Carotid artery calcification, a specific indicator of atherosclerotic change of the carotid arteries, can be seen on the radiographs. Many studies have suggested that cigarette smoking is a risk factor of atherosclerotic change as well as cerebral infarction. We hypothesized that smoking could increase the prevalence of carotid artery calcification, and compared the radiographs of smokers and non-smokers aged 50 years and over: 146 male smokers, 165 male non-smokers, 42 female smokers and 422 female non-smokers. This is the first study to focus on carotid artery calcification seen on panoramic dental radiographs to show the connection between smoking and atherosclerotic change. In male patients, carotid artery calcification was seen in 18 (14.1%) of the smokers, and in 8 (4.8%) of the non-smokers, which clearly shows that male patients aged 50 years old or over are more likely to develop carotid artery calcification if they smoke. However, there is no significant difference between female smokers and female non-smokers in the same age group. Dentists are in a good position to find carotid artery calcification on radiographs. When this is found on a radiograph, the patient should be advised to stop smoking and be referred to a physician for further tests. Clinicians should be aware that this radiographic finding indicates the presence of atherosclerotic change of the carotid arteries.


Most of malign tumors of head and neck region often occur at the nose. Surgical methods like primary closure, skin grafts, local flaps and free tissue transfer are often used for reconstruction of those defects. Nasal dorsum, nasal tip, sidewalls, alar regions, columella and soft triangles are described as nine subunits of the nose and various reconstruction methods are described for every subunit. Local flaps are often advanced on the pivot point by rotating or advancing. The most commonly used local flaps in nasal reconstruction; bilobed, rhomboid, advancement, dorsal nasal and transposition flaps. Nasal dorsum skin is thin and mobile. Dorsal nasal flap, glabellar flap, forehead and full thickness skin could also be preferred for reconstruction of this region. Nasolabial flaps are the foremost preferred method for reconstruction of the nasal sidewall. Bilobed flap, dorsal nasal flap and forehead flap are the foremost preferred flap techniques within the nasal tip. Bilobed flap, nasolabial flap, paramedian forehead flap and Millard's "gull-wing" flap are the well-liked methods to form reconstruction of alar region. The dimensions of the defect, its relation with neighboring structures, comorbid diseases of the patient, smoking and alcohol use are other important factors.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major global public health problems.HBV infection is the 10th leading cause of death.(1) In India, HBsAg prevalence,(an indicator of chronic HBV infection) among general population ranges from 2% to 8%.(2) HBV vaccination has been integrated in the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) for last 10 years. All new borns are expected to receive HBV vaccination at 0 day and subsequently at 6, 10 and 14 weeks.
Majority of women do not know they are HBV infected. Often they do not have no symptoms. When a pregnant woman has hepatitis B, it can spread to her baby at birth. This can happen during a vaginal delivery or a c-section. Babies and young children can also get hepatitis B from close contact with family members or others who might be infected. When babies become infected with hepatitis B, they have about a 90% chance of developing a lifelong, chronic infection.


Introduction Allogeneic stem cell transplantation survivors are at a relevant risk of developing chronic GvHD (cGvHD), which importantly affects quality of life and increases morbidity and mortality. Early identification of patients at risk of cGvHD-related morbidity could represent a relevant tool to tailor preventive strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic power of immune reconstitution (IR) at cGvHD onset through an IR-based score. Methods We analyzed data from 411 adult patients consecutively transplanted between January 2011 and December 2016 at our Institution: 151 patients developed cGvHD (median follow-up 4 years). A first set of 111 consecutive patients with cGvHD entered the test cohort while an additional consecutive 40 patients represented the validation cohort. A Cox multivariate model for OS (overall survival) in patients with cGvHD of any severity allowed the identification of six variables independently predicting OS and TRM (transplant-related mortality). A formula for a prognostic risk index using the β coefficients derived from the model was designed. Each patient was assigned a score defining three groups of risk (low, intermediate, and high). Results Our multivariate model defined the variables independently predicting OS at cGvHD onset: CD4+ >233 cells/mm3, NK <115 cells/mm3, IgA <0.43g/L, IgM <0.45g/L, Karnofsky PS <80%, platelets <100x103/mm3. Low-risk patients were defined as having a score ≤3.09, intermediate-risk patients >3.09 and ≤6.9, and high-risk patients >6.9. By ROC analysis, we identified a cut-off of 6.310 for both TRM and overall mortality. In the training cohort, the 6-year OS and TRM from cGvHD occurrence were 85% (95% CI, 70-92) and 13% (95% CI, 5-25) for low-risk, 64% (95% CI, 44-89) and 30% (95% CI, 15-47) for intermediate-risk, 26% (95% CI, 10-47), and 42% (95% CI, 19-63) for high-risk patients (OS p<0.0001; TRM p = 0.015). The validation cohort confirmed the model with a 6-year OS and TRM of 83% (95% CI, 48-96) and 8% (95% CI, 1-32) for low-risk, 78% (95% CI, 37-94) and 11% (95% CI, 1-41) for intermediate-risk, 37% (95% CI, 17-58), and 63% (95% CI, 36-81) for high-risk patients (OS p = 0.0075; TRM p = 0.0009). Conclusions IR score at diagnosis of cGvHD predicts GvHD severity and overall survival. IR score may contribute to the risk stratification of patients. If confirmed in a larger and multicenter-based study, IR score could be adopted to identify patients at high risk and modulate cGvHD treatments accordingly in the context of clinical trial.


In this work techniques for heating the fusion reactor ITER to thermonuclear temperatures, over 100 million kelvin, is investigated. The temperature is numerically computed for different heating configurations. The heat leakage is modeled to occur only via diffusion. The diffusion is assumed to be a combination of Bohm and gyro-Bohm diffusion. Basic conditions for a fusion reactor has been studied. The power needed for the different heat sources for the plasma to ignite is computed. Plots of the temperature profiles are included in the results together with plots showing the Q-value dependency on the power and the major radius.


Today the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a global health problem. After more than a year with the pandemic, although our knowledge has progressed on COVID-19, there are still many unknowns in virological, pathophysiological and immunological aspects. It is obvious that the most efficient solution to end this pandemic are safe and efficient vaccines. This manuscript summarizes the pathophysiological and thrombotic features of COVID-19 and the safety and efficacy of currently approved COVID-19 vaccines with an aim to clarify the recent concerns of thromboembolic events after COVID-19 vaccination. The influx of newer information is rapid, requiring periodic updates and objective assessment of the data on the pathogenesis of COVID-19 variants and the safety and efficacy of currently available vaccines.


There are significant regional disparities regarding circular material use rates between Western European countries and other regions in the EU. Hence, there is a severe risk that the circular transition will remain slow and unevenly distributed across EU regions. Business ethics related to circular change involves some principles and practices that guide the ethical conduct of businesses operating within the circular economy. The study aims to recommend a framework to guide regional entities to implement an Ethical Circular Hub to identify new solutions and challenges regarding stakeholder collaboration, ethical circular value chains, social equity, fair labor practices, and transparency, suggesting innovative business models. This framework proposal is based on the literature review and analysis of case studies to identify and promote the best practices in terms of Ethical Circular Hubs implementation. The outcomes of this study will help improve the regional development of policy instruments in the field of Ethical Circular Hubs, identifying ethical and circular best practices to overcome transition problems, will enable countries' regions to integrate and benchmark successful experiences and policies from other regions into their own regional reality and contribute to a more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive society.
Keywords: ethics, circular economy, ethical circular hubs, social impact, policies


Bioinformatics is a research field that uses computer‐based tools to investigate life sciences questions employing "big data" results from large‐scale DNA sequencing, whole genomes, transcriptomes, metabolomes, populations, and biological systems, which can only be comprehensively viewed in silico . The epidermis was among the earliest targets of bioinformatics studies because it represents one of the most accessi‐ ble targets for research. An additional advantage of working with the epidermis is that the sample can even be recovered using tape stripping, an easy, noninvasive protocol. Consequently, bioinformatics methods in the fields of skin biology and dermatology generated a fairly large volume of bioinformatics data, which led us to originate the term "skinomics." Skinomics data are directed toward epidermal differentiation, malignancies, inflammation, allergens, and irritants, the effects of ultraviolet (UV) light, wound healing, the microbiome, stem cells, etc. Cultures of cutaneous cell types, keratinocytes, fibroblasts, melanocytes, etc., as well as skin from human volunteers and from animal models, have been extensively experimented on. Here, we review the development of the skinomics, its methodology, current achievements, and future potentials.


A higher-order integrator approach is proposed to obtain an approximate discrete-time transfer function for uncertain continuous systems having interval uncertainties. Thanks to simple algebraic operations of this approach, the resulting discrete model is a rational function of the uncertain parameters. The problem of non-linearly coupled coefficients of exponential nature in the exact discrete-time transfer function is therefore circumvented. Furthermore, interval structure of the uncertain continuous-time system is preserved in the resulting discrete model by using this approach. Formulas to obtain the lower and upper bounds for the discrete interval system are derived, so that existing robust results in the discrete-time domain can be easily applied to the discretized system. Digital simulation and design for the continuous-time interval plant can then be performed based on the obtained discrete-time interval model.


Abstract Feedback relations between deformation and metamorphic mineral reactions, derived using the principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, indicate that mineral reactions progress to completion in high-strain areas, driven by energy dissipated from inelastic deformation. These processes, in common with other time-dependent geological processes, lead to both strain, and strain-rate, hardening/softening in rate-dependent materials. In particular, strain-rate softening leads to the formation of shear zones, folds and boudins by non-Biot mechanisms. Strain-softening alone does not produce folding or boudinage and results in low-strain shear zones; strain-rate softening is necessary to produce realistic strains and structures. Reaction–mechanical feedback relations operating at the scale of 10–100 m produce structures similar to those that arise from thermal–mechanical feedback relations at coarser (kilometre) scales and reaction–diffusion–mechanical feedback relations at finer (millimetre) scales. The dominance of specific processes at various length scales but the development of similar structures by all coupled processes leads to scale invariance. The concept of non-equilibrium mineral stability diagrams is introduced. In principle, deformation influences the position of mineral stability fields relative to equilibrium stability fields; the effect is negligible for the quartz→coesite reaction but may be important for others. Application of these results to the development of structures and mineral reactions in the Italian Alps is discussed.


Biomass has potential as a carbon-neutral alternative to petroleum for chemical and energy products. However, complete replacement of fossil fuel is contingent upon efficient processes to eliminate undesirable characteristics of biomass, e.g., low bulk density, variability, and storage-induced quality problems. Mechanical size reduction via comminution is a processing operation to engineer favorable biomass flowability in handling. Crumbler rotary shear mill has been empirically demonstrated to produce more uniformly shaped particles with higher flowability than hammermilled biomass. This study combines modeling and experimentation to unveil fundamental understandings of the relation between granular particle characteristics and biomass flow behavior, which elucidate underlying mechanisms and guide selection of critical processing parameters. For this purpose, the impact of critical material attributes, including particle size (2–6 mm), particle shape (briquette, chip, clumped-sphere, cube, etc.), and surface roughness, on the angle of repose (AOR) of milled pine chips were investigated using discrete element method (DEM) simulations. Forest Concepts Crumbler rotary shear system is used to produce milled pine particles within the same size range considered in DEM simulations. AOR of different sets of these particles were measured experimentally to benchmark DEM results against experimental data. Specific energy consumption for the comminution of biomass with different particle size and moisture content are measured for technoeconomic analysis. Our results show that the smaller size (2 mm) of pine particle achieves better followability (i.e., smaller AOR) while the energy cost of comminution is significantly higher and bulk density is almost the same as the 6-mm pine particles. For the 2-mm particle size, Crumbles from veneer have better flow properties than Crumbles from chips. Contrarily, no significant difference was observed between the AOR of the two materials for the 6-mm particle size. Furthermore, from DEM simulations, mechanical interlocking between particles was found as a dominant factor in determining AOR of complex-shaped particles such as milled pine, which cannot be accurately captured by using simple particle shapes (e.g., mono-sphere) with a rolling resistance model. Conversely, clumped-sphere model alleviates this limitation without increasing computational cost significantly and can be used for accurate representation of biomass granular particles when simulating free-flow behavior.


Broad-line regions (BLRs) in high-redshift quasars provide crucial information on chemical enrichment in the early universe. Here we present a study of BLR metallicities in 33 quasars at redshift 5.7 < z < 6.4. Using the near-IR spectra of the quasars obtained from the Gemini telescope, we measure their rest-frame UV emission-line flux and calculate flux ratios. We then estimate BLR metallicities with empirical calibrations based on photoionization models. The inferred median metallicity of our sample is a few times the solar value, indicating that the BLR gas had been highly metal enriched at z ∼ 6. We compare our sample with a low-redshift quasar sample with similar luminosities and find no evidence of redshift evolution in quasar BLR metallicities. This is consistent with previous studies. The Fe ii/Mg ii flux ratio, a proxy for the Fe/α element abundance ratio, shows no redshift evolution as well, further supporting rapid nuclear star formation at z ∼ 6. We also find that the black hole mass–BLR metallicity relation at z ∼ 6 is consistent with the relation measured at 2 < z < 5, suggesting that our results are not biased by a selection effect due to this relation.


Summary of the previous works on the in vitro culture of cashew is highlighted with emphasis on the critical factors that influence the explants response and plantlet regeneration. The recalcitrant nature of cashew has been attributed to the limited success recorded so far in the in vitro culture of the crop and abnormal development has been reported in the calli derived from its explants.Browning of explants in cashew was found to be due to the presence of high secondary metabolites and it has been reduced through frequent transfer of explants, addition of activated charcoal and dark treatment. Explants necrosis has also been traced to the effect of strong sterilization. Meanwhile, the use of explants from in vitro germinated seedlings or fungicidal treated young flush has been found to improve the success rate significantly. The use of MS base salt supplemented with two-step treatment of cytokinins enhances the response of cashew explants and development of derived plantlets. Key words: Cashew, Invitro Culture, Breeding, Explant Browning, Growth Regulators


We develop a stream temperature model within the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) that reflects the combined influence of meteorological (air temperature) and hydrological conditions (streamflow, snowmelt, groundwater, surface runoff, and lateral soil flow) on water temperature within a watershed. SWAT currently uses a linear air‐stream temperature relationship to determine stream temperature, without consideration of watershed hydrology. As SWAT uses stream temperature to model various in‐stream biological and water quality processes, an improvement of the stream temperature model will result in improved accuracy in modeling these processes. The new stream temperature model is tested on seven coastal and mountainous streams throughout the western United States for which high quality flow and water temperature data were available. The new routine does not require input data beyond that already supplied to the model, can be calibrated with a limited number of calibration parameters, and achieves improved representation of observed daily stream temperature. For the watersheds modeled, the Nash‐Sutcliffe (NS) coefficient and mean error (ME) for the new stream temperature model averaged 0.81 and −0.69°C, respectively, for the calibration period and 0.82 and −0.63°C for the validation period. The original SWAT stream temperature model averaged a NS of −0.27 and ME of 3.21°C for the calibration period and a NS of −0.26 and ME of 3.02°C for the validation period. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the new stream temperature model calibration parameters are physically reasonable and the model is better able to capture stream temperature changes resulting from changes in hydroclimatological conditions.


The lens is a transparent, biconvex structure within the eye that has a very high refractive index. It focuses light onto the retina and enables vision. It is able to elastically deform to adjust the focal length of the eye for observing objects at varying distances, a process known as accommodation.
With age or damage, the lens becomes stiffer and more likely to develop opaque regions called cataracts. Levels of oxidised lipids such as 7-ketocholesterol increase with age and raised levels of these oxysterols are observed in cataractous lenses.
The goal of this project is to investigate the effect of raised levels of 7-ketocholesterol on the biophysical properties of lens membranes, which could in turn affect the structure of lens fibre cells and thereby impact on their individual function and the lens structure as a whole.
Nanomechanical measurements of the lens elasticity with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) show that the Young's Modulus of model and extracted bovine lens lipid membranes are lower when incubated with biologically-relevant levels of 7-ketocholesterol, signalling decreased membrane stiffness. In addition to this, the force required to extract individual thiol-tagged cholesterols from the model membranes was observed to decrease with the presence of 7-ketocholesterol, indicating this is consistent with Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching observations of model membranes which support a more fluid membrane with 7-ketocholesterol present as the diffusion coefficient (recovery rate of the membrane) is higher.
Taken together, these findings show how the biophysical properties of the lipid membranes are altered by the presence of 7-ketocholesterol and provide insight for further investigations to examine how the eye lens is affected with age or oxidative damage. A novel model membrane for the lipids of the bovine eye lens was also created and tested, which could be used in further experiments.


This article examines the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the main actors of the populist radical right in France (i.e., Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National and Éric Zemmour's Reconquête) as well as Jean-Luc Mélenchon's La France insoumise on the populist radical left. It looks, in particular, at the effects of the Ukraine crisis on the French presidential election in April 2022. After the outbreak of the war, French populists (of the left and the right) came under fire for their pro-Russia positions and previous sympathy for Vladimir Putin. However, these parties revealed quite different responses in interpreting the Ukraine crisis. The analysis suggests that Marine Le Pen successfully evaded accusations of sympathy for Putin by toning down her nativism and emphasizing instead her social-populist agenda, which foregrounds egalitarian social protection and economic nationalism. This move allowed her to exploit war-related issues of energy and rising prices. Public opinion data suggest that such issues were paramount to voters in the 2022 election. Zemmour, on the other hand, largely ignored growing socioeconomic concerns while perpetuating a more ambiguous stance vis-à-vis Putin, which may have contributed to his failure to challenge Le Pen on the radical right. Overall, the article concludes that the impact of the Ukraine war in France has been heavily mediated by socioeconomic anxieties, fuelling support for populism at both ends of the political spectrum.


The acute nursing shortage across the nation is compounded by underrepresented minorities in health care in light of the growing diversity of America"s citizenry. These issues are converging into a major debate in higher education regarding admission policies and practices to ensure entry of most qualified students to meet the growing demand for nurses. While nursing programs have been charged with increasing the diversity of students admitted into their programs, it has not yet come to fruition. This investigation evaluates entrance criteria for RN associate of science degree nursing programs (ASN) at two-year institutions using an ex post facto design to determine if nurse entrance criteria provide for equal opportunity for admission or results in de facto discrimination. The research examines the effect of nurse entrance criteria of overall Total Quality Points (TQP) for non-science, non-math, math, and science courses, and nurse entrance exam scores, specifically the Test of Academic Assessment Skills (TEAS) to determine how they impact the admission of minority students, specifically African American students, into the nursing program. Admissions criteria of TEAS only, TEAS plus TQP, TEAS and TQP separately, and TQP only are assessed to determine which criteria maximize the admission rate of minority students into nursing programs along with regression studies to identify which demographics or characteristics significantly impact the success of African American students" performance on the TEAS test or to determine if de facto discrimination is present. Identification of various iv stages of elimination of students from the applicant pool as it is narrowed down will aid in determining which levels of the admissions criteria may require intervention during the prenursing preparation phase. This study will investigate the role of standardized tests as a barrier to minority enrollment. Data analyses revealed discrimination against African American students seeking entrance into the ASN program at three community colleges. The TEAS test was a serious barrier to African American student inclusion in the final applicant pool and consideration for admission into the ASN program. Students who did not pass all TEAS subsets did not move forward for inclusion in the final applicant pool. Those African American students in the applicant pool were also negatively impacted by the TEAS test as well as TQP after controlling for first generation status, age, high school rank, and high school rigor. Thus, the admission process for the ASN program using TEAS as an admission criterion is discriminatory against African American students.