This thesis examines the effects of managerial overconfidence on corporate financing decisions. Overconfident managers tend to overestimate the mean of future cash flow and underestimate the volatility of future cash flow. We propose a novel time-varying measure of overconfidence, which is based on computational linguistic analysis of what the managers said (i.e. Chairman s Statement). The overconfidence of CEO and CFO is also constructed based on what the managers did (i.e. how they trade their own firms shares). We conduct three empirical studies that offer new insights into the roles of managerial overconfidence in the leverage decision (i.e. debt level), pecking order behaviour (i.e. the preference for debt over equity financing) and debt maturity decision (i.e. short-term debt vs. long-term debt). Study 1 documents a negative overconfidence-leverage relationship. This new finding suggests that debt conservatism associated with managerial overconfidence might be a potential explanation for the low leverage puzzle: some firms maintain low leverage, without taking tax benefits of debt, because overconfident managers believe that firm securities are undervalued by investors and thus are too costly (Malmendier, Tate and Yan, 2011). Study 2 finds managerial overconfidence leads to reverse pecking order preference especially in small firms, which sheds light on the pecking order puzzle that smaller firms with higher information costs surprisingly exhibit weaker pecking order preference. This new evidence is consistent with Hackbarth s (2008) theory that overconfident managers who underestimate the riskiness of earnings tend to prefer equity to debt financing. Study 3 finds managerial overconfidence leads to higher debt maturity. This evidence supports our proposition that overconfidence can mitigate the underinvestment problem (which is often the major concern of long-term debt investors) (Hackbarth, 2009), which in turn allows overconfident managers to use more and cheaper long-term debt. This evidence also implies that overconfidence may mitigate the agency cost of debt. Overall, our empirical analysis suggests that managerial overconfidence has significant incremental explanatory power for corporate financing decisions.


Leonardo's Walls. Surveys in 1502In the summer of 1502, Cesare Borgia appointed Leonardo da Vinci for his engineering expertise. His assignment was specific and concerning with military architecture: he was expected to "see, measure and do good estimation". The Codex L, a small notebook conserved in the Library of the Institute of France, show the results of the survey of the city walls of Cesena and Urbino. The technique Leonardo adopted consists in traversing rectilinear stretches, measuring their length by means of an instrument able to count his steps and establishing their orientation by means of a compass. At the end of the path, the data relative to the sides of a closed polygon are obtained, resulting the geometric plan of the walls. This practice is testified by some residual eidotypes provided with quotas and orientations. In some cases, only the lists of distances in numbers are present, but the analysis of the figures makes it possible to reconstruct the surveyed plans, as Nando De Toni pioneered many years ago. This study focuses on the tools and the urban survey technique used by Leonardo. The analysis of some sheets from the Codex L, contextualized with respect to the actual topography of the sites, allows to understand the correct sequence of the operations carried out first in the site and then at the drawing board. By means of specific digital reconstructions, it is therefore possible to study the instrumental and operational limits of this practice and, by comparing it with the current state, to reconstruct the entire defensive structure.


The study was conducted on 155 female Wistar rats (aged 3 months, body mass--180-200 g), in diestrus phase of the sexual cycle. The effect of the pineal hormone melatonin (MT) on morphological organization of the follicular apparatus and the vasculature of the ovaries was studied in rats after overheating achieving a rectal temperature of 43.5 degrees C. It was found that hyperthermic exposure lead to an increase of the relative areas of the arteries, veins and lymph vessels of the ovaries. Overheating caused disturbances of folliculogenesis. The injection of MT after exposure to hyperthermia resulted in a quick (already on Day 7 after exposure) recovery of the disturbances of the venous circulation and lymphatic drainage of the ovary, as evidenced by the normalization of the relative sizes of arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels of the ovary, reaching control values. This, in turn, contributed to the reduction of morphological disorders of folliculogenesis and created the conditions for accelerated recovery of the relative area of generative elements of the ovary (at the stages of primary, preovulatory and atretic follicles) as early as 7 days after hyperthermia.


We present analytical and experimental results on fluxgate magnetometers that make use of a readout technique based on residence times. This approach allows for enhancing sensitivity to weak target signals in particular when the reduction of the sensor dimensions are considered. Our approach, exploiting the inherent nonlinear character of the bistable core dynamics, is based on the time domain characterization of the transitions between the two saturation states of the hysteresis loop that is inherent in the ferromagnetic core dynamics. This readout technique can be implemented with bias signals having lower amplitude and frequency than those used in conventional fluxgate processing schemes, thus reducing the device power requirements. The efficacy of this strategy is shown through an analytical approach and via experimental results which suggests guidelines for optimal device design and realization. The experiments have been carried out on a miniaturized laboratory fluxgate prototype; this device shows numerous desirable characteristics, including very good sensitivity and resolution, as well as ease of operation and a very low cost.


The media in the modern era influences all segments of society, and have an important role in the education and upbringing of children. A teacher is no longer the only source of information and the work of all educators is increasingly influenced by information that children learn through mass media.
The aim of our research is to investigate the application of media in educational work. The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of teachers on the type of media they prefer to use in educational work in preschools.
The survey was conducted on a sample of 217 preschool teachers in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The starting hypothesis of this research is the assumption that teachers prefer using the television in their work with preschool children, and that there is significant difference in the preferences of teachers regarding the type of media that is appropriate for use with preschool children, depending on the level of teachers' education, experience and age, as well as in relation to urban and rural areas.
The research has shown that the mass media are represented in the framework of educational work in preschools. Educators believe that traditional media is still dominant, and to a lesser extent, they mention the use of the Internet and the new media. The results show that there is a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of teachers in relation to the location of their preschool (urban and rural area). Specifically, the media is better utilized in urban compared to rural areas in Serbia. The use of technologies is limited because of the financial crisis, unbalanced development of urban and rural areas and the lack of appropriate training of teachers.


Sludge from a swine manure lagoon and municipal sewage sludge were used in a greenhouse study to determine their effects on fescuegrass (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) yield, heavy metal concentrations, and N uptake. Four variables were used in the experiment: sludge (swine and municipal), soil (loamy sand and sandy clay loam), application method (surface applied and incorporated), and application rate (10, 20, and 40 kg/ha of sludge-applied Cu). Inorganic fertilizer treatments supplying 50, 100, and 200 kg N/ha were also included. The sludges were applied at the beginning of the experimental period and increased yields for a period of 35 weeks (five harvests), municipal sludge generally resulted in higher yields than did swine sludge during this period. Total recovery of applied N in harvested grass was 24% of the municipal-sludge N and 16% of the swine-sludge N for the first five harvests. Surface application resulted in greater N recovery (24%) than did incorporation (16%, average of both sludges). Copper concentration in the grass was not affected by sludge type or soil type, but Zn concentrations were higher with municipal sludge and with the sandy clay loam. With municipal sludge the effects of soil types on the concentrations of the other metals in the grass were: Cr and Pb, no effect; Ni, higher with loamy sand; and Cd, initially higher with sandy clay loam, later higher with loamy sand. Surface-applied sludge generally resulted in higher concentrations of metals in the grass than did incorporated sludge. A comparison of the effects of surface-applied and incorporated sludge vs. the effect of chemical fertilizer on metal concentrations in the grass showed: Cr and Pb, no effect; Cu, slight increase due to sludge at first harvest only; and Zn, Ni, and Cd, increase due to sludge. Heavy metal concentrations in the grass were not consistently related to the soil type. Since the soils differed in cation exchange capacity (CEC, loamy sand, 3.9 meq/100 g; sandy clay loam, 8.5 meq/100 g), it appears that a better criterion than CEC is needed for determining acceptable metal loading rates for major soils of the southeastern United States.


Gold-coated nanodisk arrays of nearly micron periodicity are reported that have high figure of merit (FOM) and sensitivity necessary for plasmonic refractometric sensing, with the added benefit of suitability for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), large-scale microfabrication using standard photolithographic techniques and a simple instrumental setup. Gold nanodisk arrays are covered with a gold layer to excite the Bragg modes (BM), which are the propagative surface plasmons localized by the diffraction from the disk array. This generates surface-guided modes, localized as standing waves, leading to highly confined fields confirmed by a mapping of the SERS intensity and numerical simulations with 3D finite element method. The optimal gold-coated nanodisk arrays are applied for refractometric sensing in transmission spectroscopy with better performance than nanohole arrays and they are integrated to a 96-well plate reader for detection of IgY proteins in the nanometer range in PBS. The potential for sensing in biofluids is assessed with IgG detection in 1:1 diluted urine. The structure exhibits a high FOM of up to 46, exceeding the FOM of structures supporting surface plasmon polaritons and comparable to more complex nanostructures, demonstrating that subwavelength features are not necessary for high-performance plasmonic sensing.


There exists no comprehensive metric for describing the complexity of Multi-Object Tracking (MOT) sequences. This lack of metrics decreases explainability, complicates comparison of datasets, and reduces the conversation on tracker performance to a matter of leader board position. As a remedy, we present the novel MOT dataset complexity metric (MOTCOM), which is a combination of three sub-metrics inspired by key problems in MOT: occlusion, erratic motion, and visual similarity. The insights of MOTCOM can open nuanced discussions on tracker performance and may lead to a wider acknowledgement of novel contributions developed for either less known datasets or those aimed at solving sub-problems. We evaluate MOTCOM on the comprehensive MOT17, MOT20, and MOTSynth datasets and show that MOTCOM is far better at describing the complexity of MOT sequences compared to the conventional density and number of tracks. Project page at https://vap.aau.dk/motcom


Control over nanopore size and 3D structure is necessary to advance membrane performance in ubiquitous separation devices. Here, inorganic nanoporous membranes are fabricated by combining the assembly of cylinder‐forming poly(styrene‐block‐methyl methacrylate) (PS‐b‐PMMA) block copolymer and sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS). A key advance relates to the use of PMMA majority block copolymer films and the optimization of thermal annealing temperature and substrate chemistry to achieve through‐film vertical PS cylinders. The resulting morphology allows for direct fabrication of nanoporous AlOx by selective growth of Al2O3 in the PMMA matrix during the SIS process, followed by polymer removal using oxygen plasma. Control over the pore diameter is achieved by varying the number of Al2O3 growth cycles, leading to pore size reduction from 21 to 16 nm. 3D characterization, using scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography, reveals that the AlOx channels are continuous through the film and have a gradual increase in pore size with depth. Finally, the ultrafiltration performance of the fabricated AlOx membrane for protein separation as a function of protein size and charge is demonstrated.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions


Porous MOFs capable of storing relatively high amount of dry methane (CH4) in adsorbed phase are largely explored, how-ever solid CH4 storage in confined pores of MOFs in the form of hydrates is yet to be discovered. Here we report a rational approach to form CH4 hydrates by taking advantage of the optimal pore confinement in relatively narrow cavities of hydro-lytically stable MOFs. Unprecedentedly, we were able to isolate methane hydrate (MH) nanocrystals with a sI structure en-capsulated inside MOF pores with an optimal cavity dimension. It was found, that confined nanocrystals require cavities slightly larger than the unit cell crystal size of MHs (1.2 nm), as exemplified in the experimental case study performed on Cr-soc-MOF-1 vs smaller cavities of Y-shp-MOF-5. Under these conditions, the excess amount of methane stored in the pores of Cr-soc-MOF-1 in the form of MH was found to be 50% larger than the corresponding dry adsorbed amount at 10 MPa. More importantly, the pressure gradient driving the CH4 storage/delivery process could be drastically reduced com-pared to the conventional CH4 adsorbed phase storage on the dry Cr-soc-MOF-1 (≤3 MPa vs. 10 MPa).


Mental health problems (MHPs) among children with perinatal HIV infection have been described prior to and during the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. Yet child, caregiver and socio-demographic factors associated with MHPs are not fully understood. We examined the prevalence of MHPs among older children and adolescents with perinatal HIV exposure, including both perinatally HIV-infected (PHIV + ) and perinatally HIV-exposed but uninfected (PHEU) youth. Our aims were to identify the impact of HIV infection by comparing PHIV+ and PHEU youth and to delineate risk factors associated with MHPs, in order to inform development of appropriate prevention and intervention strategies. Youth and their caregivers were interviewed with the Behavior Assessment System for Children, 2nd edition (BASC-2) to estimate rates of at-risk and clinically significant MHPs, including caregiver-reported behavioral problems and youth-reported emotional problems. The prevalence of MHPs at the time of study entry was calculated for the group overall, as well as by HIV status and by demographic, child health, and caregiver characteristics. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with youth MHPs. Among 416 youth enrolled between March 2007 and July 2009 (295 PHIV+, 121 PHEU), the overall prevalence of MHPs at entry was 29% and greater than expected based on recent national surveys of the general population. MHPs were more likely among PHEU than among PHIV+ children (38% versus 25%, p<0.01). Factors associated with higher odds of MHPs at p<0.10 included caregiver characteristics (psychiatric disorder, limit-setting problems, health-related functional limitations) and child characteristics (younger age and lower IQ). These findings suggest that PHEU children are at high risk for MHPs, yet current models of care for these youth may not support early diagnosis and treatment. Family-based prevention and intervention programs for HIV affected youth and their caregivers may minimize long-term consequences of MHPs.


Limitations on bank consolidation and branching in the United States at an early date effectively limited the scope of commercial banks and their involvement in financing large-scale industry, and increased information and transaction costs of issuing securities. In contrast, German industry was financed by large-scale universal banks who maintained long-term relationships with firms, involving ongoing monitoring and disciplining of management, and underwriting. Low costs of German industrial finance are reflected in lower investment banking spreads on securities issues and a higher propensity to issue equity relative to the United States.


Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the education sector worldwide had to adapt rapidly from in-person to virtual modes of teaching and learning to mitigate the spread of the virus. In a short period of time, teachers were forced to find new and innovative ways of delivering education to their students to ensure the continuation of education. In this context, this paper investigates how teachers in Pakistan leveraged mobile technology as an alternative teaching strategy to provide access to and to ensure the continuation of education. Through in-depth interviews with 13 selected teachers, this study explores the potential of mobile technology to offer alternative teaching and learning arenas. The findings underscore the importance of embracing new pedagogical possibilities offered by mobile technology and the significance of effective teacher professional development in the post-pandemic era. This study provides valuable insights into the utilization of mobile technology in the education sector, even in the most challenging circumstances, and highlights the potential for mobile learning to contribute to education reform.


Poor sleep and chronic pain are known to be interrelated, but the influence of negative and positive affect on this relationship is not fully understood. The present study sought to examine whether negative and positive affect mediate the relationship between sleep and pain interference. Secondary data analysis from Midlife in the United States (MIDUS‐III) was used to examine 948 individuals with chronic pain (mean age = 64.73 years). Sleep disturbance was conceptualized as the sum of self‐reported difficulty with sleep‐onset latency, wake after sleep onset, early morning awakening and daytime sleepiness, and total sleep time was assessed via self‐reported sleep duration. Pain interference was operationalized as the sum of pain‐related interference with general activity, relationships and enjoyment of life. Finally, items from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were used to measure affect. Mediation analyses revealed that sleep disturbance indirectly predicted pain interference via both negative affect (β = 0.15, confidence interval: 0.10, 0.21) and positive affect (β = 0.18, confidence interval: 0.12, 0.25). Similarly, negative (β = −0.003, confidence interval: −0.01, −0.001) and positive affect (β = −0.003, confidence interval: −0.01, −0.001) also mediated the effect between total sleep time and pain interference. This study highlights the unique role of negative and positive affect on pain interference for individuals with chronic pain in mid‐ to late‐life. Additionally, findings suggest that holistic treatment approaches, which assess both sleep and affect in the context of chronic pain, may be beneficial.


Seven subjects with rate-dependent left bundle branch block (RDLBBB) and 13 subjects with normal conduction (control group) underwent upright bicycle exercise radionuclide angiography to determine the effects of the development of RDLBBB on global and regional left ventricular function. Six of the seven subjects with RDLBBB had atypical chest pain syndromes; none had evidence of cardiac disease based on clinical examination and either normal cardiac catheterization or exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy. Radionuclide angiograms were recorded at rest and immediately before and after RDLBBB in the test group, and at rest and during intermediate and maximal exercise in the control group. The development of RDLBBB was associated with an abrupt decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in six of seven patients (mean decrease 6 +/- 5%) and no overall increase in LVEF between rest and maximal exercise (65 +/- 9% and 65 +/- 12%, respectively). In contrast, LVEF in the control group was 62 +/- 8% at rest and increased to 72 +/- 8% at intermediate and 78 +/- 7% at maximal exercise. The onset of RDLBBB was associated with the development of asynchronous left ventricular contraction in each patient and hypokinesis in four of seven patients. All patients in the control group had normal wall motion at rest and exercise. These data indicate that the development of RDLBBB is associated with changes in global and regional ventricular function that may be confused with development of left ventricular ischemia during exercise.


This article briefly reviews recent applications of phase-field method to ferroelectric phase transitions and domain structures in thin films. It starts with a brief introduction to the thermodynamics of coupled electromechanical systems and the Landau description of ferroelectric transitions in homogeneous ferroelectric single crystals. The thermodynamic potentials of a homogeneous crystal under different mechanical boundary conditions are presented, including the thin-film boundary conditions. The phase-field approach to inhomogeneous systems containing domain structures is then outlined. It describes a domain structure using the spatial distribution of spontaneous polarization. The evolution of a domain structure towards equilibrium is driven by the reduction in the total-free energy of an inhomogeneous domain structure including the chemical driving force, domain wall energy, electrostatic energy as well as elastic energy. A number of examples are discussed, including phase transitions and domain stability in ferroelectric thin films and superlattices. It is demonstrated that using a set of independently measured thermodynamic parameters for the corresponding bulk single crystals, the phase-field approach is able to quantitatively predict not only the strain effect on phase transition temperatures but also the correct ferroelectric domain structures for a given strain and temperature.


Nutrient imbalance-a mismatch in nutrient ratios between the available food supply and the demands of consumers-has the potential to be transported up food chains, exposing higher trophic-level organisms to nutrient limitations. We performed experiments to estimate the tolerance of jellyfish ephyrae (Aurelia sp. 1) and fish larvae (Paralichthys olivaceus) to nutrient limitations, and analyzed their growth, survival, and elemental homeostasis. As the primary consumer, rotifers Brachionus plicatilis exhibited the lowest amino acid content but the highest fatty acid content in a P-limited treatment. Among the secondary consumers, nutrient limitations (especially P limitation) had significantly negative effects on the growth of P. olivaceus larvae, but no significantly negative effects on Aurelia sp. 1 ephyrae. The 10th percentile mortality time of Aurelia sp. 1 ephyrae was much longer than that of P. olivaceus larvae. In terms of elemental homeostasis, Aurelia sp. 1 ephyrae showed a greater ability to maintain constant chemical composition in their bodies than P. olivaceus larvae. Additionally, growth and survival of P. olivaceus larvae could be negatively affected by the reduction of amino acid contents (but not fatty acids) in their nutrient-limited food. These results indicate that Aurelia sp. 1 ephyrae could be more competitive than P. olivaceus larvae with respect to tolerance of nutrient limitations, and, thus, elemental imbalances may favor increases in jellyfish in some eutrophication regions.


Pin-on-disk wear tests using biomedical CoCrMo alloy pins and alumina disks were conducted in Kokubo and 1% lactic acid solutions. The mass loss and elution of metallic ions were measured and the surface of the pin was observed after the wear test. Mass loss of the alloy pins in 1% lactic acid solution was 10 times higher than the mass loss in Kokubo solution. In Kokubo solution, the as-cast pins exhibited higher mass loss and higher total amount of eluted ions than solution-treated pins. The Cr and Mn ion content in Kokubo solution was lower than expected, based on the chemical composition of the alloy. The incorporation of Cr and Mn ions into the calcium phosphate detected on the wear track of disks is the possible reason for the small amount of these ions in Kokubo solution. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.ME201316]


2 Abstract Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a pleiomorphic diatom that exists in three different forms depending on environmen- tal conditions, viz. oval, fusiform or triradiate. In spite of numerous observations of the three morphotypes, very little information is available about the process of transformation. In this review, we summarize results of previous studies and add new observations on cell wall structure of the three morphotypes and the environmen- tal conditions under which each form appears (for different strains of Phaeodactylum). New data on the cellular mechanisms of transformation between the three morphotypes and on the differentiation of oval cells are also presented. The ultrastructural morphology of the three morphotypes and strain/genotype-dependent transformations of morphotypes are discussed.


Collecting, monitoring, and analyzing data automatically by well instrumented systems is frequently motivated by human decision-making. However, the same need occurs when system software decisions are to be justified. Compiler optimization or storage management requires several decisions which result in more or less resource consumption, be it energy, memory, or runtime. A magnitude of system data can be collected in order to base decisions of compilers or the operating system on empirical analysis. The challenge of large-scale data is aggravated if system data of small and often mobile systems are collected and analyzed. In contrast to the large data volume, the mobile devices offer only very limited storage and computing capacity. Moreover, if analysis results are put to use at the operating system, the real-time response is at the system level, not on the level of human reaction time. In this paper, small and most often mobile systems (i.e., ubiquitous systems) are instrumented for the collection of system call data. It is investigated whether the sequence and the structure of system calls are to be taken into account by the learning method, or not. A structural learning method, Conditional Random Fields (CRF), is applied using different internal optimization algorithms and feature mappings. Implementing CRF in a massively parallel way using general purpose graphic processor units (GPGPU) points at future ubiquitous systems.


The survey evaluates the awareness and level of compliance in the use of approved cocoa pesticides by local farmers in selected cocoa producing states of Nigeria. Thirty farmers were randomly selected in Kwara, Ogun and Osun States. More than 70 percent of the farmers were aware of banned cocoa pesticides. The source of cocoa pesticides used by the farmers includes agrochemicals retailers, Cocoa traders, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). Ridomil plus (29.2 percent) was mostly known as banned cocoa pesticide by farmers in Ogun State while Gammalin 20 and Basudin were mostly known to the farmers in Osun and Kwara States. About 50 percent of farmers in Ogun, 8.0 percent in Osun and 8.3 percent in Kwara indicated that they were still using some of the banned chemicals due to their effectiveness in the control of pest and diseases and inexpensive. There should be adequate registration of all approved cocoa pesticides by concerned agency as well as enlightenment by extension agents to the cocoa farmers and the sellers and suppliers of the agrochemicals in each of the cocoa producing states of Nigeria. Banned agrochemicals should not be allowed into the country, monitoring group working in conjunction with Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) are to work out modality for the removal of banned chemicals in the market. Keywords : Cocoa pesticides, pesticide registration, radio and television, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN)


The subject of the analysis presented in the text is an argument that tends to (and used to) be raised in the critical discourse on constitutionalism – the allegation of the so-called constitutional fetishism. The argument is to show why the constitutional discourse has lost its potential to explain and create social processes. The reason is that lawyers focus too much only on the content and interpretation of the provisions of the constitution, without considering a broader social context, which makes the constitutional discourse limited solely to legal issues with a simul taneous omission or underestimation of all other aspects of constitutionalism. This attitude of lawyers to the content of the constitution (or – in broader terms – to the provisions of law) is sometimes referred to even as idolatrous, hence the reference to the notion of fetishism in the religious sense. The aim of the text is to analyse the structure of this argument and to attempt to determine the impact it can have on constitutionalism.


Information is presented on the ecological role of groundwater in the Altamaha River watershed. Although groundwater makes up a substantial portion of baseflow to coastal plain streams, it may have ecological benefit far out of proportion to the quantity of seepage or springflow that reaches the river. Groundwater flows provide reliable sources of cool, fresh water that allow aquatic and estuarine organisms to cope with seasonal temperature and salinity stress and sustain baseflows and nutrient delivery during periods when surface runoff is reduced. It is hypothesized that sustained groundwater flows are a principal source of resiliency to coastal plain aquatic ecosystems that allows populations to survive periodic drought and recover quickly from drought-induced stress. As such it is imperative that protection of ecologically-important groundwater resources be incorporated into plans for aquatic ecosystem conservation and water supply development.


This introductory essay to the special issue, "The Future of Traditional Knowledge Research: Building Partnership and Capacity," discusses some of the fundamental issues about what researchers and Indigenous peoples face in collaborating research. It also discusses how contributing authors have dealt with these problems in the past.


Increasingly people use the Internet to find health-related information. However, to obtain information of good quality there may be obstacles. The aim of this literature review was to gain knowledge about use of the Internet in developing health related knowledge. Two questions were posted: What factors can be obstacles in understanding health-related information on the Internet? What effects can health related information obtained from the Internet have for the user? In a systematic search in CINAHL and Pubmed, and a systematic review of two specific journals from the years 2000 to 2004, 14 scientific articles were found. Use of the Internet is related to the individual's age, socio-economical factors, ethnicity, and health. Information obtained from the Internet may influence the patient-caregiver relation, as well as the individual's sense of security and independence. There are learning needs for the individual in how to use the Internet and needs for improvement of the search-engines and websites.


The rhadinovirus Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) is the causative agent of sheep-associated malignant catarrhal fever. OvHV-2 primarily affects ruminants and has a worldwide distribution. In this study, a composite sequence of OvHV-2 genomic DNA isolated from nasal secretions of sheep experiencing virus-shedding episodes was determined and compared with the sequence of OvHV-2 DNA isolated from a lymphoblastoid cell line derived from a clinically affected cow. The study confirmed the OvHV-2 sequence information determined for the cell line-isolated DNA and showed no apparently significant changes in the OvHV-2 genome during passage through a clinically susceptible species with subsequent maintenance in vitro. Amino acid identity between the predicted open reading frames (ORFs) of the two genomes was 94-100%, except for ORF73, which had an identity of 83%. Polymorphism in ORF73 was due primarily to variability in the G/E-rich repetitive central region of the ORF.


Imaging of the heart anatomy and function using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important diagnosis tool for heart diseases. Several techniques have been developed to increase the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between myocardium and background. Recently, a technique that acquires cine cardiac images with black-blood contrast has been proposed. Although the technique produces cine sequence of high contrast, it suffers from elevated noise which limits the CNR. In this paper, we study the performance and efficiency of applying a Bayes classifier to remove background noise. Real MRI data is used to test and validate the proposed method; In addition, a quantitative comparison is done between the proposed method and other thresholding-based classifications techniques.


In the present study, hydrogen utilization as diesel engine fuel at low load operation was investigated. Hydrogen cannot be used directly in a diesel engine due to its auto ignition temperature higher than that of diesel fuel. One alternative method is to use hydrogen in enrichment or induction. To investigate the combustion characteristics of this dual fuel engine, a single cylinder diesel research engine was converted to utilize hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen was introduced to the intake manifold using a mixer before entering the combustion chamber. The engine was run at a constant speed of 2000 rpm and 10 Nm load. Hydrogen was introduced at the flow rate of 21.4, 36.2, and 49.6 liter/minute. Specific energy consumption, indicated efficiency, and cylinder pressure were investigated. At this low load, the hydrogen enrichment reduced the cylinder peak pressure and the engine efficiency. The reaction progress variable and combustion rate of reaction were slower as shown by the CFD calculation.


We investigate the origin of the period distribution of giant planets. We fit the bias-corrected distribution of gas-giant planets inside 300 d found by Santerne et al. using a planet formation model based on pebble accretion. We investigate two possible initial conditions: a linear distribution of planetary seeds, and seeds injected exclusively on the water and CO icelines. Our simulations exclude the linear initial distribution of seeds with a high degree of confidence. Our bimodal model based on snowlines gives a more reasonable fit to the data, with the discrepancies reducing significantly if we assume the water snowline to be a factor of 3-10 less efficient at producing planets. This model moreover performs better on both the warm/hot Jupiters ratio and a Gaussian mixture model as comparison criteria. Our results hint that the gas-giant exoplanets population inside 300 d is more compatible with planets forming preferentially at special locations. (Less)


Biomassmaterials are used sincemillennia formeetingmyriad human needs including energy. Main sources of biomass energy are trees, crops and animal waste. Bioethanol produced from renewable biomass has received considerable attention in current years. There has been an increasing interest in utilizing alternative sources of energy. Paddy straw and Paddy husk are the two basic rawmaterials chosen for boiethanol production in present study because of their abundant availability and representative sample of crops stovers and unutilizable agro wastes. Each one of this biomass having more than 60-70% cellulose appeared to be very suitable for presence study in collection with bioethanol production. The pretreatment method followed in the present investigation as review fromthe literature available with other cellulosic biomass are also applicable to this chosen biomass as the percentage of available cellulose free fromlignin seal constitute crystalline cellulose and hemicellulose 68%percentage. The subsequent hydrolysis by both chemical and enzymatic methods following the standard method reported by many workers shows significant result in producing fermentable sugar within reasonable incubation period. However for standardization of the protocols use of model sources of cellulase in view of commercial enzyme needs further investigation.With the limitation of time the procedure follow in the present investigation shows encouraging result ranging from0.583mg/gmto1.919mg/gmof fermentable sugar produced after 4 days incubation of reaction mixture in standard reaction, in enzymatic cellulolysis.


In this thesis exposure-response relationships between isocyanate exposure and respiratory health end-points and specific sensitization in spray painters were investigated. Isocyanates, a group of compounds characterized by reactive N=C=O groups, are among the most frequently identified causes of occupational asthma in industrialized countries. Isocyanates are used as polymerizing agents in polyurethane products, such as kits, glues, lacquers and insulation materials. Spray painters comprise a large population at risk with potentially high isocyanate exposure. Large scale (n=566) personal task based inhalation sampling showed that hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) oligomers were dominant in frequency of occurrence and had the highest exposure levels. Exposure was highest during spray painting. Exposure to monomeric HDI was far below current occupational exposure levels. An ad hoc method was developed for dermal exposure sampling (n=95) and showed that dermal exposure occurred during tasks that involve direct handling of paint. Personal inhalation exposure was estimated by combining results from task-based personal inhalation exposure assessment and task activity information. Association between exposure and respiratory symptoms were studied in 581 workers. Log-linear exposure-response associations were found for asthma-like symptoms (wheezing or chest tightness), COPD-like symptoms (chronic cough or phlegm or shortness of breath) and work-related chest tightness (prevalence ratios (PRs) for an interquartile range (IQR) increase in exposure of 1.2, 1.3 and 2.0 respectively, p?0.05). Bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), assessed by methacholine challenge (n=229), was more prevalent among exposed workers than office workers and a positive association was found with exposure (PR (95 % CI) IQR: 1.8 (1.1-3.0)). Exposure related obstructive effects on lung function, independent of BHR, were also found (FEV1, FEV1/FVC and flow parameters associated with exposure, p<0.05). Specific IgE and IgG were assessed by various immunoassays based on HDI-HSA conjugates prepared with HDI in the liquid (HDIL) or vapor phase (HDIv), or with HDI-oligomers (N100, N3300) and the commercial ImmunoCAP assay (n=581). The prevalence of specific IgE sensitization was low (up to 4.2 % in spray painters) suggesting that at most, specific IgE plays a role in a minority of individuals with symptoms. The prevalence of specific IgG was higher (2-50 %) and strongly associated with exposure. When comparing the immunoassays, EIAs with HSA-conjugated HDI oligomers seemed to provide the best combination of sensitivity and specificity in this industry. This suggests that exposure to specific isocyanates should be taken into account when assessing isocyanate specific sensitization. In a subset of the population (n=101) the use of a new cellular diagnostic test based on the production of the cytokine monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) by peripheral blood mononuclear cells stimulated with isocyanate conjugates was explored. Crude data did not suggest that HDI-induced MCP-1 release differed between exposure categories or between individuals with and without asthma-like symptoms, BHR or specific IgE or IgG antibodies. Taken together, the associations found in this study indicate that isocyanate oligomers can induce respiratory health effects at levels commonly found in this industry. No indications for a role of specific sensitization (IgE or IgG) were found. The results stress the importance of regulation and control of isocyanate oligomer exposure.


This thesis is an exercise in descriptive translation studies (DTS) which sets out to investigate the much neglected area of screen translation for children. The corpus selected for investigation is a collection of six original television programmes from the German Janoschs Traumstunde animation series and the corresponding Irish dubbed versions. The aim of this research is to investigate the relative influence of the various constraints imposed on the target texts by a) the major/minority language pair, 1 e German/Irish, b) the translation method, 1e dubbing and c) the target audience, 1e children.

The mam focus of the comparative section of this thesis is the translation of lexis, especially LSP terms. The findings show that lexical simplification is a widespread feature of the Irish dubbed translations. It is argued that the prevalence of lexical simplification in the target language text cannot be explained, as one might have expected, simply in terms of the typical problems experienced by minority languages in relation to modern specialised terminology, but rather must be seen as also a result of a) technical aspects of the dubbing process and b) the attitude and assumptions of the Irish dubbing translation team with regard to the purpose of the translation and the linguistic needs and capabilities of the children who constitute the primary target audience While the primary purpose of this study is to describe a contemporary example of minority language dubbing for children, it is also hoped that its findings will contribute to changes in aspects of dubbing studio practice and screen translator training and ultimately result in improved standards of screen translation practice and criticism.


Numerous studies have evaluated the relationship between the T241M polymorphism of the X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) gene and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. However, the specific relationship remains controversial. We conducted meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between the XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and CRC risk. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies investigating the relationship between the XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and CRC risk. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the possible relationship. Thirteen individual case-control studies, including 4720 cases and 6104 controls, were identified and included in this meta-analysis. Meta-analyses revealed no relationship between the XRCC3 T241M polymorphism and CRC risk (TT vs MM: OR = 0.85, 95%CI = 0.63-1.14; TT vs MT: OR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.68-1.10; dominant model: OR = 1.18, 95%CI = 0.92-1.50; recessive model: OR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.69-1.11). In the further subgroup analysis by ethnicity, we found no direct relationship between the polymorphism and CRC risk in either Asians or Europeans. Our findings demonstrated that the T241M polymorphism in the XRCC3 gene may not be a risk factor for CRC development.


Objective: To assess whether interspinous process device implantation is more effective in the short term than conventional surgical decompression for patients with intermittent neurogenic claudication due to lumbar spinal stenosis. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Five neurosurgical centers (including one academic and four secondary level care centers) in the Netherlands. Participants: 203 participants were referred to the Leiden-The Hague Spine Prognostic Study Group between October 2008 and September 2011; 159 participants with intermittent neurogenic claudication due to lumbar spinal stenosis at one or two levels with an indication for surgery were randomized. Interventions: 80 participants received an interspinous process device and 79 participants underwent spinal bony decompression. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome at short term (eight weeks) and long term (one year) follow-up was the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire score. Repeated measurements were made to compare outcomes over time. Results: At eight weeks, the success rate according to the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire for the interspinous process device group (63%, 95% confidence interval 51% to 73%) was not superior to that for standard bony decompression (72%, 60% to 81%). No differences in disability (Zurich Claudication Questionnaire; P=0.44) or other outcomes were observed between groups during the first year. The repeat surgery rate in the interspinous implant group was substantially higher (n=21; 29%) than that in the conventional group (n=6; 8%) in the early post-surgical period (P<0.001). Conclusions: This double blinded study could not confirm the hypothesized short term advantage of interspinous process device over conventional "simple" decompression and even showed a fairly high reoperation rate after interspinous process device implantation.


Background: Recent data have shown that the proportion of older adult patients admitted to intensive care units is increased and the severity of illness is an independent risk factor associated with mortality. The aim of the current study was to compare the prognostic value of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and GCS-Age Prognosis (GAP) scores in older adult patients (aged ≥65 years) admitted to Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). Methods: This was a prospective study of 168 consecutive older adult patients admitted to medical ICU during a 14-month period. For each patient, the GCS and GAP score in the first 24hours of admission and demographic characteristics were calculated and recorded. For statistical analysis, the logistic regression, Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, and Hosmer-Lemeshow test were used (95% confidence interval). Results: Survivors had a significantly higher GCS and GAP scores in the first 24h of MICU admission compared with nonsurvivors (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively). The discrimination power of both models was good ((area under curve [AUC]:83.8% (standard error [SE]:3%), AUC: 85.4% (SE: 2.9%), respectively). Based on the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test, just GCS had an acceptable calibration (x2=13.18, p=0.068). Conclusions: For older adult patients admitted to the MICU, GCS and GAP scores reliably predict outcomes. Based on AUCs the discrimination power of models was good, but the calibration was acceptable just for GCS, thus the GCS is the better predictive model than GAP and useful in determining the prognosis of older adult patients in MICU.


Invasive micropapillary carcinomas (IMPC) of the breast
account for less than 2% of all breast cancers and have been recently described
as luminal B carcinomas. CD24, CD44, ALDH1 and EZH2 are commonly used as
stem-cell markers that display differential expression as a function of stage
and molecular type, but their pattern of expression according to this rare
histological type remains poorly defined and unknown for EZH2. We assessed
expression of these markers in a series of 28 micropapillary breast carcinomas
and compared the results with those obtained in a series of luminal A (27
cases) and B (34 cases) invasive carcinomas not otherwise specified (IC-NST).
CD24 and CD44 were expressed in most cases. However, CD24 was expressed at the
inverted apical membrane in 85% of invasive micropapillary carcinoma and at the
apical pole of gland-forming cells in 45% of luminal A (p-val = 6.8 × 10-4)
and 13% of luminal B cases (p-val = 1.1 × 10-7). ALDH1 was
expressed in the stroma in most tumors, but in only 25%, 11% and 15% in epithelial
cells of IMPC, luminal A and B IC-NST, respectively.
Nuclear expression of EZH2 was not observed in luminal A tumors, and was
detected in 35% (12/34) of luminal B carcinomas (p-val = 6.1 × 10-3) and only 4% (1/28) of invasive
micropapillary carcinomas. This series shows that invasive micropapillary
carcinomas harbor a CD24-positive inverted apical pole associated with weak
EZH2 expression, phenotypical characteristics that distinguish this entity from
other luminal carcinomas.


Abstract Background In the United States, days of therapy (DOT) is the currently preferred method for measuring antibiotic consumption. A major disadvantage of DOT is that it does not account for the antimicrobial's spectrum. Antibiotic de-escalation is therefore not well-captured by DOT. To overcome the limitation of DOT, we recently proposed a new metric, days of antibiotic spectrum coverage (DASC). DASC is calculated by multiplying DOT and the antibiotic spectrum coverage (ASC) score, which was assigned based on the activities of each antibiotic agent for 11 wild type bacteria and 5 acquired resistance patterns. Here we evaluate the performance of DASC using antibiotic consumption data where the main antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) activity is daily prospective audit-and-feedback of all inpatients on antibiotics. Methods We analyzed the retrospective cohort of inpatient antibiotic use at Iowa City VA Health Care System from 2017 to 2021. Total monthly DOT was the aggregation of monthly DOT for each antibiotic. DASC for each antibiotic was calculated by multiplying ASC for each antibiotic to DOT. DASC for each antibiotic was aggregated to total monthly DASC. Days-present was used as a denominator for both metrics. Trends of total monthly DOT and DASC were analyzed by simple linear regression. Results There was no significant trend in monthly DOT (Figure A: beta= 0.30, 95%CI: -0.67 to 1.27, p=0.55), but there was a significant downward trend in monthly DASC (Figure B: beta= -6.89, 95%CI: -12.7 to -0.98, p=0.03). Conclusion While a significant downward trend was seen using monthly DASC, no trend was observed using monthly DOT. In contrast to DOT, which captures antibiotic consumption without considering the spectrum, DASC captures both antibiotic consumption and spectrum, suggesting DASC can add another dimension in tracking inpatient antibiotic use. DASC is easily calculated if DOT for each antibiotic is available. Metrics that don't capture antimicrobial spectrum may not be able detect improvements in avoiding unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials, an important target of ASPs. Disclosures Daniel J. Livorsi, MD, Merck & Co.: Grant/Research Support Michihiko Goto, MD MSCI, Merck & Co.: Grant/Research Support.


Slices of Red Spanish and Smooth Cayenne pineapples vacuum packed in plastic bags without sirup developed strong off flavors during storage at -10° F (-23.3° C) even though the bromelin and the peroxidases were inactivated by blanching. Red Spanish slices frozen in sirup with 100 to 300 mg of ascorbic acid/lb of pack retained their original quality without developing appreciable off flavors when stored at -10° F for about 280 days. When the slices were packed in sirup, blanching to inactivate the peroxidases and the bromelin improved slightly both quality and shelf life of the frozen product. The quality of the frozen slices, however, was low and sometimes inferior to the canned product.


Efforts have been made to solve the Dirac equation with axially deformed scalar and vector Woods?Saxon potentials in the coordinate space with the imaginary time step method. The results of the single-particle energies thus obtained are consistent with those calculated with the basis expansion method, which demonstrates the feasibility of the imaginary time step method for the relativistic static problems.


Objective: To isolate, identify, and evaluate a new angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor from Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth herbs. Methods: A dried sample of Peperomia pellucida herb was successively macerated with n-hexane and ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate extract solution was evaporated to obtain the crude extract. Vacuum liquid column chromatography and thin layer chromatography were performed to obtain two pure compounds. Then, both compounds were elucidated and identified using the spectroscopic method. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory activity studies of both compounds were determined using angiotensin-converting enzyme kit WST-1 with spectrophotometer microplate reader 96-well at 450 nm wavelength. Results: Two bioactive compounds were successfully isolated from Peperomia pellucida herb, including a new compound of 2,3,5-trimethoxy-9-(12,14,15-trimethoxybenzyl)-1H-indene and pellucidin A. Both compounds demonstrated angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 72 μM (27.95 μg/mL) and 11 μM (4.4 μg/mL), respectively. Conclusions: In the present study, two active angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were successfully isolated and purified from Peperomia pellucida which is used as an antihypertensive in traditional medicine, and support its use as an angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibiting drug.


We attempted to replicate findings of a frequently cited study by Motley. This author had used a tachistoskope to present his participants pairs of words which had a meaning after exchanging the initial letters of each word ("spoonerisms"). In accordance with the psychoanalytic theory of Freudian slips, Motley was able to show that under the impression of a sexually stimulating situation more sexual words were read; under the threat of electric shock spoonerisms appeared more often in words with reference to electricity. In our study we tried to induce spoonerisms by presentation of short written texts of erotic, aggressive and neutral content. It could be shown that after reading the erotic and the aggressive text, slips were produced more often than following the text of neutral content. In addition, significantly more slips of erotic kind occurred after reading the erotic text, whereas more aggressive slips were observed immediately after lecture of the text with aggressive content. We were therefore able to replicate Motley's findings and thus also corroborated assumptions made by Freud on the origin of slips of the tongue.


The steady growth of multimedia collections - both in terms of size and heterogeneity - necessitates systems that are able to conjointly deal with several types of media as well as large volumes of data. This is especially true when it comes to satisfying a particular information need, i.e., retrieving a particular object of interest from a large collection. Nevertheless, existing multimedia management and retrieval systems are mostly organized in silos and treat different media types separately. Hence, they are limited when it comes to crossing these silos for accessing objects. In this paper, we present vitrivr, a general-purpose content-based multimedia retrieval stack. In addition to the keyword search provided by most media management systems, vitrivr also exploits the object's content in order to facilitate different types of similarity search. This can be done within and, most importantly, across different media types giving rise to new, interesting use cases. To the best of our knowledge, the full vitrivr stack is unique in that it seamlessly integrates support for four different types of media, namely images, audio, videos, and 3D models.


Radicicol, a macrocyclic antifungal antibiotic, has been shown to bind to the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) chaperone, interfering with its function. Hsp90 family chaperones have been shown to associate with several signaling molecules and play an essential role in signal transduction, which is important for tumor cell growth. Because radicicol lacks antitumor activity in vivo in experimental animal models, we examined the antitumor activity of a novel radicicol oxime derivative, radicicol 6-oxime (KF25706), on human tumor cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. KF25706 showed potent antiproliferative activities against various human tumor cell lines in vitro and inhibited v-src- and K-ras-activated signaling as well as radicicol. In addition, Hsp90 family chaperone-associated proteins, such as p185erbB2, Raf-1, cyclin-dependent kinase 4, and mutant p53, were depleted by KF25706 at a dose comparable to that required for antiproliferative activity. KF25706 was also shown to compete with geldanamycin for binding to Hsp90. KF29163, which is an inactive derivative of radicicol, was less potent both in p185erbB2 depletion and Hsp90 binding. More importantly, KF25706 showed significant growth-inhibitory activity against human breast carcinoma MX-1 cells transplanted into nude mice at a dose of 100 mg/kg twice daily for five consecutive i.v. injections. KF25706 was also shown to possess antitumor activity against human breast carcinoma MCF-7, colon carcinoma DLD-1, and vulval carcinoma A431 cell lines in vivo in an animal model. Finally, we confirmed the depletion of Hsp90-associated signaling molecules (Raf-1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 4) with ex vivo Western blotting analysis using MX-1 xenografts. In agreement with in vivo antitumor activity, KF25706 depleted Hsp90-associated molecules in vivo, whereas KF29163 and radicicol did not show this activity in vivo. Taken together, these results suggest that antitumor activity of KF25706 may be mediated, at least in part, by binding to Hsp90 family proteins and destabilization of Hsp90-associated signaling molecules.


Data streams have gained considerable attention in data analysis and data mining communities because of the emergence of a new classes of applications, such as monitoring, supply chain execution, sensor networks, oilfield and pipeline operations, financial marketing and health data industries. Telecommunication advancements have provided us with easy access to stream data produced by various applications. Data in streams differ from static data stored in data warehouses or database. Data streams are continuous, arrive at high-speeds and change through time. Traditional data mining algorithms assume presence of data in conventional storage means where data mining is performed centrally with the luxury of accessing the data multiple times, using powerful processors, providing offline output with no time constraints. Such algorithms are not suitable for dynamic data streams. Stream data needs to be mined promptly as it might not be feasible to store such volume of data. In addition, streams reflect live status of the environment generating it, so prompt analysis may provide early detection of faults, delays, performance measurements, trend analysis and other diagnostics. This thesis focuses on developing a data stream association rule mining algorithm among co-occurring events. The proposed algorithm mines association rules over data streams incrementally in a centralized setting. We are interested in association rules that meet a provided minimum confidence threshold and have a lift value greater than 1. We refer to such association rules as strong rules. Experiments on several datasets demonstrate that the proposed algorithms is efficient and effective in extracting association rules from data streams, thus having a faster processing time and better memory management.


Using the job-demands resource theory, the basic purpose of this article was to study the relationship between cognitive job demands, stress-related presenteeism, and procrastination. Stress-related Presenteeism is a kind of psychological state in which individuals are present at work but due to stress are not able to expend their full energies at work and remain distracted. We also tested for the combined effect of psychological capital and cognitive job demands on stress-related presenteeism. Data were collected from 192 full-time working professionals and analyzed using step-wise regression and bootstrapping. Results revealed that individuals with strenuous job demands were facing stress-related presenteeism and were involved in procrastination. Findings also supported the moderating role of psychological capital as an effective personal resource in reducing stress-related presenteeism. In the end implications for practice have been discussed.


Introduction Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) is probably one of the causes of non-gonococcal, non-chlamydial urethritis in men and post-partum endometritis in women. The epidemiology of UU is currently unclear because culture isolation is difficult and molecular identification is limited to specialised laboratories. Testing for UU would be useful for surveillance, disease management, and epidemiology. This study assessed the prevalence of UU in men attending the local STD clinic by real-time PCR. Methods A convenience sample of de-identified residual urine specimens from men attending an STD clinic was collected. Urine was placed into commercially available transport tubes and tested by PCR for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV). The remaining residual processed specimen was tested for UU DNA using a previously published real-time PCR assay. Descriptive statistics were used to examine UU prevalence with age, and co-infection with CT, NG, and TV. Results A total of 99 residual male urine specimens were available for testing. UU DNA was detected in 16/99 (16.2%) of the specimens and was comparable to CT (14/97, 14.4%), NG (11/97, 11.3%), and TV (4/25, 16.0%). Of the 16 UU positive specimens, co-infection with CT was observed in one (6.25%), NG in one (6.25%), and the remaining 14 (87.5%) had no other infection identified. The mean age of those individuals positive for UU DNA was 32.4 (range 18–63) while the mean age of those infected with CT, NG, and TV was 29.8, 28.3, and 36.8 years old, respectively. Conclusions The prevalence of UU in men attending an STD clinic is similar to that observed for CT, NG, and TV. This study was useful in order to gain a better understanding of UU in this population including the age of those positive for UU, co-infection status with other commonly identified pathogens, and as a means to confirm the feasibility of real-time PCR testing using residual processed specimens. More studies are needed to elucidate the significance of UU in this population.


Dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P) is an extremely potent carcinogen that may be present in environmental samples. Dose-response studies were conducted at low doses in mouse skin by initiation-promotion and repeated application to compare its activity to that of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), DB[a,l]P-8,9-dihydrodiol and DB[a,l]P-11,12-dihydrodiol. Female SENCAR mice were initiated with 1 or 0.25 nmol of DB[a,l]P, DMBA, B[a]P or DB[a,l]P-11,12-dihydrodiol and promoted with phorbol ester acetate. At 1 nmol, DB[a,l]P induced 2.6 tumors/mouse, whereas DB[a,l]P-11,12-dihydrodiol and DMBA induced 0.17 and 0.29 tumors/mouse respectively. At the low dose, DB[a,l]P induced 0.79 tumors/mouse, but the other two compounds were virtually inactive. B[a]P, tested only at 1 nmol, was inactive. These three compounds, as well as DB[a,l]P-8,9-dihydrodiol, were tested by repeated application twice weekly for 40 weeks at 1 and 4 nmol per dose. In addition, DB[a,l]P, DMBA and B[a]P were also tested at 8 nmol. At 8 and 4 nmol, DB[a,l]P induced malignant tumors in 91 and 70% of mice respectively. At 4 nmol DB[a,l]P-11,12-dihydrodiol elicited only benign tumors in 36% of mice. At 4 nmol DMBA induced two carcinomas in one mouse and at 8 nmol it induced one papilloma and one sebaceous gland adenoma. B[a]P and DB[a,l]P-8,9-dihydrodiol were inactive at all doses tested. These results demonstrate that DB[a,l]P is a much more potent carcinogen than DMBA, the aromatic hydrocarbon previously considered to be the most potent. Combination of these results with previous comparisons of DB[a,l]P, DB[a,l]P-11,12-dihydrodiol, DMBA and B[a]P at higher doses (E.L. Cavalieri et al. (1991) Carcinogenesis, 12, 1939-1944) shows clearly the interference of toxicity with the tumorigenicity of DB[a,l]P and its 11,12-dihydrodiol.


Early theorists of online networks likened the ideals underpinning emerging cyber-communities to Jurgen Habermas's conception of the bourgeois public sphere. This association is evoked by the online Jane Austen community, The Republic of Pemberley , which elaborates its enthusiasm for Austen's oeuvre within the Habermasian rhetoric of eighteenth-century Bluestocking feminism. In its celebration of female sociability and textual production, The Republic of Pemberley recalls the female-centred social and intellectual circles that formed in eighteenth-century Britain around Bluestocking hostesses including Elizabeth Vesey, Frances Boscawen and Elizabeth Montagu. This essay explores the extent to which the theoretically democratic spaces of the Bluestocking salon were constituted by rigorous class and sexual standards, these strictures masking the extent to which Bluestocking sociability and scholarship transgressed the gendered and sexual norms of late-eighteenth-century Britain. Pemberley and the eighteenth-century public sphere are moreover linked by an analogous tension between their democratic ideals and their actual social instantiation, each employing rigorous social regulation to quell the embodied and affective energies constitutive of their alternative polities.


Background : High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP),is considered a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation and highly predictive of subsequent cardiovascular events and Diabetes mellitus. Moreover hs-CRP is also associated with Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and its separate components. Objective: To evaluate hs-CRP levels in normoglycemic healthy subjects, obese non-diabetic & Obese Type-2 diabetic subjects and in diabetic subjects with and without MetS & its association with individual components of MetS. Material & Methods: Hundred obese non diabetic subjects, Non-obese Type-2 diabetic individuals and 100 healthy controls and were enrolled into this study. Diabetic subjects were further subdivided into Diabetic subjects with and without metabolic syndrome. Various anthropometric and biochemical parameters like hs-CRP, FBS, lipid profile, fasting insulin levels & HOMA-IR were measured. Statistical analysis was done by Medcalc.v184.108.40.206. software. Results : Serum hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in obese non-diabetic subjects and non-obese Type 2 DM patients as compared to control subjects (p = 4.1 × 10−6, 7.5 × 10−10, respectively). Also There was significant difference in serum hs-CRP levels between Obese Non-diabetic subjects and non-obese Diabetic subjects (p = 0.010). hs-CRP levels correlated positively with BMI (r= 0.26, p < 0.001) & Waist circumference (r = 0.45, p < 0.001) in Obese Non-diabetic subjects. As the number of components of MetS increased, mean hs-CRP levels also increased. Conclusion: Plasma hs-CRP levels is not significantly affected by diabetes per se, and this suggest that alterations in Type 2 DM & MetS may be due to obesity and may be an important link between obesity , Insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.


The dynamic adaptive nature of terrorism requires a systematic and methodical intelligent strategy for terrorism threat assessment and management. Unwitting weaknesses in approach and deficiencies in scope invite strategic surprise. Effective decision-making on managing terrorism risk benefits from insights available from quantitative thinking across the range of significant risk factors. This way of thinking about terrorism is presented in a manner accessible to military and security personnel, emphasizing key conceptual principles and ideas, whilst minimizing technical mathematical detail.


We developed an advanced optical fiber Acoustic Emission (AE) monitoring system with a phase compensation feed back circuit. Two lasers transmitted through the reference and sensing arms are combined by a 2x2 coupler and detected by two photodiodes as the intensity change of the interfered laser. Outputs of the photodiodes are then combined in a differential amplifier which extracts error signal and improves the S/N ratio. The developed system was demonstrated to detect weak guided wave AE signals such as zero-th order longitudinal cylindrical wave (Lo-mode) with the S/N ratio higher than that of PZT sensor. This system was utilized to monitor the oxidation resistance of various alloys during thermal cycles from 300 K to 1273 K. We detected weak AE signals from micro fractures of growing oxide films of boiler tube and austenitic stainless steel, but no AE from Inconel 600 tubes. Here the optical fiber sensor was wound over the tube at 600 K. Both the AE counts and amplitudes during thermal cycles showed clear tendency depending on the oxidation resistances of the alloys.


Mining opinion targets from online reviews is an important and challenging task in opinion mining. This paper proposes a novel approach to extract opinion targets by using partially-supervised word alignment model (PSWAM). At first, we apply PSWAM in a monolingual scenario to mine opinion relations in sentences and estimate the associations between words. Then, a graph-based algorithm is exploited to estimate the confidence of each candidate, and the candidates with higher confidence will be extracted as the opinion targets. Compared with existing syntax-based methods, PSWAM can effectively avoid parsing errors when dealing with informal sentences in online reviews. Compared with the methods using alignment model, PSWAM can capture opinion relations more precisely through partial supervision from partial alignment links. Moreover, when estimating candidate confidence, we make penalties on higher-degree vertices in our graph-based algorithm in order to decrease the probability of the random walk running into the unrelated regions in the graph. As a result, some errors can be avoided. The experimental results on three data sets with different sizes and languages show that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods.


In this richly detailed and imaginatively researched study, Victoria Bynum investigates "unruly" women in central North Carolina before and during the Civil War. Analyzing the complex and interrelated impact of gender, race, class, and region on the lives of black and white women, she shows how their diverse experiences and behavior reflected and influenced the changing social order and political economy of the state and region. Her work expands our knowledge of black and white women by studying them outside the plantation setting. Bynum searched local and state court records, public documents, and manuscript collections to locate and document the lives of these otherwise ordinary, obscure women. Some appeared in court as abused, sometimes abusive, wives, as victims and sometimes perpetrators of violent assaults, or as participants in ilicit, interracial relationships. During the Civil War, women freqently were cited for theft, trespassing, or rioting, usually in an effort to gain goods made scarce by war. Some women were charged with harboring evaders or deserters of the Confederacy, an act that reflected their conviction that the Confederacy was destroying them. These politically powerless unruly women threatened to disrupt the underlying social structure of the Old South, which depended on the services and cooperation of all women. Bynum examines the effects of women's social and sexual behavior on the dominant society and shows the ways in which power flowed between private and public spheres. Whether wives or unmarried, enslaved or free, women were active agents of the society's ordering and dissolution.


This article examines section 3.3.2 of the Report of the National Bankruptcy Review Commission. That section proposed altering the Bankruptcy Code to clarify the law governing the liability and fiduciary obligations of trustees in bankruptcy. The article was prepared in connection with a symposium evaluating the Commission's Report held at Dickinson Law School. The Commission issued its Report on October 20, 1997, following many months of controversy, heated hearings and significant public debate. The article argues that section 3.3.2 represents a failure of the drafter to understand and delineate the two basic doctrines of fiduciary law and derived judicial immunity. The article notes that cogent scholarship dating to the inception of the Code had correctly identified errors in the development of law governing the liability of trustees and directors of the DIP, but the drafter failed to acknowledge or incorporate this prior work. The article begins by analyzing the characteristics of the bankruptcy trustee, describing the trustee as a "unique person, holding fiduciary obligations to a discrete set of "beneficiaries," and liable to these persons for a failure to live up to necessary standards, while simultaneously serving as a functionary of the bankruptcy court entitled to a judge's judicial immunity from suit." The article carefully explains that fiduciary duty analysis should be kept separate and distinct from judicial immunity analysis. A trustee in bankruptcy (and by extension, directors of the DIP) should be always liable to beneficiaries of the bankruptcy trust for a breach of his fiduciary duties. The only exception to the trustee's liability to beneficiaries occurs where the trustee has received permission for an action from the bankruptcy court following complete disclosure of the trustee's intended action and its attendant risks. A contrary result should occur if non beneficiaries of the bankruptcy trust sue the debtor and the trustee. A trustee represents the estate in a variety of matters, and may in the course of his responsibility commit a tort or breach a contract. When the aggrieved party sues, the trustee is entitled to the benefit of derived judicial immunity. Tort victims and parties in contract disputes are not beneficiaries of the bankruptcy trust and the trustee does not owe these parties any fiduciary duties. In addition, section 3.3.2 proposed to subject chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13 trustees to suit in their "individual" capacities only for actions taken outside the "scope of their duties." The section then proposed that chapter 7, 12 and 13 trustees be subjected to suit in their "personal" capacity to the extent they act in a grossly negligent manner. The section proceeds to explain that gross negligence "should be defined as reckless indifference or deliberate disregard of the trustee's fiduciary duty." The article points out that 1) the duty of care is a fiduciary duty, 2) the duty of care is typically defined in terms of negligence, and therefore 3) defining gross negligence by referencing a disregard of a trustee's fiduciary duty is a circular definition. The article further ruminates on the possible meanings of and distinctions between the trustee's "personal," "individual" and "representative" liability to suit described in section 3.3.2. This represents a confusing word choice. Finally, the article examines the manner in which section 3.3.2 proposed to alter the liability of chapter 11 trustees. Section 3.3.2 proposed that "a chapter 11 trustee for a corporate debtor only should be subject to suit in the trustee's representative capacity and subject to suit in the trustee's personal capacity only to the extent that the trustee has violated the standard of care applicable to officers and directors of a corporation in the state in which the Chapter 11 case is pending." The article argues that this change in the Code, if adopted, would have completely altered rules governing chapter 11 trustees and directors of the debtor in possession, and for the worse. Creditors of chapter 11 companies reasonably expect "care," as that term applies to trustees (and derivatively, to directors of the DIP) to mean the same thing whether the bankruptcy case is filed in New York, California, or any other jurisdiction. However, enactment of this new rule would create fifty different definitions of "care" corresponding to the fifty jurisdictions. The proposed section would also make permanent in the Code a flawed distinction between breaches of the duty of care and the duty of loyalty. A trustee should be liable for a breach of either duty.


Thanks to its magnificent exposures and extraordinary petrologic development, the Skaergaard Intrusion provides an excellent test for three basic mechanisms of crystal-liquid fractionation: diffusive exchange, compaction, convective exchange. (1) Diffusive exchange at the solidification front does not seem to have played a major role, for no obvious difference is seen in the behavior of components of widely differing diffusivities. The effects of diffusion were probably masked by porous flow of the interstitial liquid. (2) Compaction and 'filter pressing' of residual liquids can be tested by comparing concentrations of incompatible elements in parts of the intrusion that crystallized in different orientations with respect to gravity. The contrast between the large concentrations of these elements in the Upper Border Series and consistently smaller abundances in the Layered Series, long thought to 'be due to contamination of the upper levels with crustal rocks, is more likely a result of compaction that took place at the floor but not under the roof. (3) Convective exchange driven by differences in the compositional densities of the main magma and interstitial liquids seems to have been important at the steep walls and, to a lesser degree, under the roof. It may also have been responsible for a large compositional anomaly near the centre of the Layered Series where an iron-rich liquid percolated down through parts of Lower and Middle Zones. At later stages of crystallization when density relations were reversed, a buoyant liquid, rich in volatiles and incompatible elements, rose from the Layered Series and permeated the upper part of the intrusion. A liquid of this latter kind could have caused the pervasive metasomatic alteration seen in much of the Layered Series. In both compaction and convective exchange, re-equilibration and reactions between migrating liquids and early-formed crystals augmented permeabilities and brought about extensive compositional and textural changes. Although inhomogeneities in the initial magma could account for some of the compositional variations, the main trend of differentiation can be ascribed to a combination of compaction and convective fractionation. The convective flow was of two kinds, one of descending iron-rich liquids and another of more evolved rising liquids (and fluids) with low densities and large concentrations of incompatible elements. In the early stages, the proportions of iron-rich liquids were much greater than those of the silica-rich variety, and until the crystallization fronts converged at the Sandwich Horizon, the former made the greatest contribution to evolution of the main body of magma. As crystallization advanced, however, light, silica-rich liquids became more important; they permeated the Upper Border Series and much of the upper part of the Layered Series. This late-stage liquid continued to differentiate after the crystallization fronts met; a secondary Sandwich Horizon was formed where incompatible elements reach maximum concentrations in the lower part of the Upper Border Series.


This paper provides a complete general parametric solution (V,W) to the high-order generalized Sylvester matrix equation ∑i=0mAiVFi=BW, with F being an arbitrary square matrix. The primary feature of this solution is that the matrix F does not need to be in any canonical form, or may be even unknown a priori. The results provide great convenience to the computation and analysis of the solutions to this class of equations, and can perform important functions in many analysis and design problems involving high-order dynamical systems.


Cover crop is a special plant to protect the soil from threats such as erosion damage and to improve soil physical and chemical properties. The purpose of this study is to measure soil cover crop plant productivity from Desmodium spp. species and to measure the impact of cover crop Desmodium spp. on the growth of jabon seedlings (Anthocephalus cadamba). This study was conducted in two stages, planting in the nursery to measure the plants growth and productivity and planting the cover crops along with jabon seedling to observe its effects to Jabon seedling. The acquired data then analyzed with SAS version 9.1. Study results shows that D. heterophyllum species has the highest seedling growth, productivity and growth rate compared with other Desmodium species. D. heterophyllum has the highest plant growth rate (LPT) up to 5.02 g/m2/day, while D. ovalifolium dan D. triflorum respectively 4.57 g/m2/day and 4.20 g/m2/day. Biomass production of D. heterophyllum also have the highest value compare with other Desmodium species, up to 122.52 g/m2, while D. ovalifolium dan D. triflorum respectively 92.79 g/m2 dan 52.08 g/m2. Desmodium spp. planting have significant effect on jabon seedling diameter growth, leaves count, and height thus recommended to be planted together.


We have already proposed and demonstrated novel ceramic foams named "superplastically foamed ceramics" utilizing the superplastic deformation. Since almost all the processes are carried out in solid phase, figure and the location of the foaming agent can be controllable, leading to desired patterning of closed pore in a fully densified ceramics. We have already demonstrated two-dimensional (2D) pore patterning through the superplastically foaming method. In the present study, we aim to fabricate helical tubular pore in zirconia based ceramics as a typical 3D patterned pore. As a foaming agent, SiC powders were used with a form of thin sheet based on methylcellulose aqueous solution followed by drying. A core cylindrical matrix compact was first fabricated using φ 10 steel die and the liner foaming agent was attached to make helical pattern. The patterned core matrix was placed in φ 14 or φ 15 steel die and pressed together with the filled matrix powder. The resultant powder compact was heat treated at 1600°C for 8h for sintering followed by foaming to give a ceramics with 3D tubular pore. Continuous upheaval reflecting the tubular pore was clearly observed on the side wall of the cylinder and helical tubular pore with different pitch can be fabricated.


The worldwide increasing energy demand, interest in alternative energy production and limited resources have made it inevitable to turn to recovering wastes, such as waste tires. Waste tires with annual increase of 2%, corresponding to significant reserves all over the world, brings a serious environmental pollution. In this study, energy recovery was planned considering environmental pollution caused by waste tires and waste cooking oils, both. Accordingly, performance and emission analyzes were carried out using fuels formed by mixing pyrolytic oil obtained from waste tires (WTPO) and biodiesel obtained from waste cooking oil with diesel fuel in a single cylinder engine. The experiments are carried out at 2800 rpm and at full load condition. The findings of engine performance and exhaust emissions were evaluated. While the maximum brake specific fuel consumption (Bsfc) value was determined as 2100 g/kWh for blend fuel of 30% biodiesel and 10% WTPO in diesel fuel, the maximum brake thermal efficiency (Bte) value was determined as 33.541% for P30 fuel. The crank angles yielding maximum in-cylinder pressures approach to top dead center, with increasing biodiesel fraction while keeping WTPO fraction constant. While the increase in the amount of WTPO in the test fuels has an effect on the increase of CO emissions, and increasing biodiesel ratio has reduced the CO emissions. Also the use of biodiesel without WTPO increases NOx emissions slightly, while providing an effective reduction at high WTPO fractions. At low WTPO fractions, biodiesel has reduced HC emissions, while at high WTPO fractions has increased.


Under a new family of separations the distance between two posterior densities is the same as the distance between their prior densities whatever the observed likelihood when that likelihood is strictly positive. Local versions of such separations form the basis of a weak topology having close links to the Euclidean metric on the natural parameters of two exponential family densities. Using these local separation measures it is shown that when the tails of the approximating density have appropriate properties, the variation distance between an approximating posterior density to a genuine density can be bounded explicitly. These bounds apply irrespective of whether the prior densities are grossly misspecified with respect to variation distance and irrespective of the form or the validity of the observed likelihood.


ABSTRACT In the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), technology for tritium production by use of 6LiAl alloy has been developed with the aim of furnishing tritium for fusion research. The alloy contains β-phase, i.e., intermetallic compound β-LiAl, which has a large influence on the tritium behavior in 6Li-Al alloy. Since β-LiAl has a unique crystal structure and a large amount of Li vacancy at room temperature, the tritium behavior in β-LiAl is affected by the defect structure and the lithium diffusion. In this paper, on the basis of a simultaneous measurement of tritium release rate and electrical reseistivity, it is suggested that the tritium diffusion has a strong correlation with the lithium diffusion in the neutron-irradiated β-6LiAl.


SUMMARY: The β-d-glucosidase which was associated with the cellobiohydrolase and endo-(1·4)-β-d-glucanase activities in the cellulase of the fungus Trichoderma koningii was purified by gel filtration on a column of Ultrogel AcA 44, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose and sulphoethyl-Sephadex (SE-Sephadex), and finally by isoelectric focusing in a pH gradient supported in a sucrose density gradient. The separation of β-glucosidase and endo-(l·4)-β-glucanase, which was effected with some difficulty on SE-Sephadex, could be achieved readily by chromatography on a column of concanavalin A-Sepharose. Isoelectric focusing yielded two β-glucosidase components (pI 5·53 and 5·85) of identical molecular weight (39800), but with different affinities for o-nitrophenyl-β-glucoside (K
m 0·37 · 0·04 and 0·85 · 0·3 mm), cellobiose (K
m 1·18 · 0·09 and 0·86 · 0·02mm) cellotriose (K
m 5·10 · 0·22 and 7·10 · 0·33 mm), cellotetraose (K
m 2·38 · 0·14 and 4·0 · 0·4mm) and cellopentaose (K
m 1·51 · 0·04 and 2·19 · 0·06 mm). One of the β-glucosidases was devoid of carbohydrate, the other contained approximately 2% carbohydrate. Gluconolactone was a powerful inhibitor of the action of both enzymes on o-nitrophenyl-β-glucoside (K
i 1·8 · 0·08 and 1·17 · 0·05 μm); glucose was less effective (K
i 1·05 · 0·07 and 0·66 · 0·04 mm). Inhibition was of the competitive type in each case. Both β-glucosidases showed the same capacity for acting in synergism with a mixture of the endo-(l·4)-β-glucanase and cellobiohydrolase in solubilizing the cellulose in cotton fibre. They differed markedly, however, in the degree of synergism they showed when acting in concert with the cellobiohydrolase on partially degraded H3PO4-swollen cellulose.


Stylosanthes macrocephala M. B. Ferr et S. Costa is a leguminous species used as forage, cover crop and as a pioneer plant to recover degraded areas. Inexistence of stable morphological descriptors and lack of ecogeographic information about collecting sites bring difficulties to the studies of this species. The objective of this work was to use the geographic information system (GIS) and RAPD markers to obtain ecological and molecular descriptors and to study the genetic variability of 87 S. macrocephala accessions. The accessions were collected from different ecogeographical areas in seven Brazilian States, five hydrographic regions, seven vegetation types and seven soil types. Collecting sites ranged from 1 to 1,298 m above sea level with annual rainfall from 550 to 2,870 mm. Accession distribution along those diverse ecosystems indicate high adaptive diversity. Using 161 RAPD markers, genetic distances between accessions ranged from 0.02 to 0.42. These genetic distances allowed the establishment of ten genetic groups. Accessions collected in specific hydrographic region tended to be grouped in the same genetic group. Accessions collected in Bahia and Minas Gerais States showed high genetic variability. The high genetic variability observed in the accessions showed the importance of this S. macrocephala collection for breeding programs.


Recent interest in nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been driven by the excellent photocatalytic and optical properties exhibited by the anatase and rutile phases. This article highlights the relationship between reaction conditions and the resultant nanostructured TiO2 and is primarily focused on wet chemical synthetic methods. We show that solvothermal syntheses of nano-TiO2 can be rationalised by making use of a diffusion-controlled model accounting for physical properties of the solvent such as the vapour-pressure, allowing the prediction and control the phase, size and type of nanostructured TiO2 product. This external control makes it possible for the systematic synthesis of TiO2 nanostructures via parameters such as the solvent chain length, the reaction temperature and time, and also by the addition of surfactants, providing the ability to design and tailor the nanostructured TiO2, which is vital for the optimal application of these nanostructures in photocatalytic or optical applications.


Sexual selection is thought to have driven the diversification of courtship behavior and associated ornamentation between geographically isolated populations of the jumping spider Habronattus pugillis Griswold. In an attempt to understand the pathways of sexual selection during this diversification, we conducted reciprocal mating trials between two populations of H. pugillis (Santa Rita [SR] and Atascosa [AT]) that differ in both male courtship display and secondary sexual ornamentation. Observations of mating frequencies show a xenophilic mating preference in which SR females have a stronger response to AT males than to SR males, while AT females show no difference in mating frequency. These results are not consistent with a coevolutionary process in which male traits and female preferences evolve in concert, positively reinforcing each other. We discuss alternative pathways of sexual selection that may have acted in this system, including the possibility that female preferences and male traits have evolved antagonistically. In addition, we found that SR females spent a higher proportion of time prior to copulation visually attentive to AT males versus SR males. This difference in visual attention prior to copulation was not seen in AT females and may provide insights into our observations of xenophilic mating preference. Copyright 2005.


The regularized D-bar method for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) provides a rigorous mathematical approach for solving the full nonlinear inverse problem directly, i.e., without iterations. It is based on a low-pass filtering in the (nonlinear) frequency domain. However, the resulting D-bar reconstructions are inherently smoothed, leading to a loss of edge distinction. In this paper, a novel method that combines a D-bar approach with the edge-preserving nature of total variation (TV) regularization is presented. The method also includes a data-driven contrast adjustment technique guided by the key functions (CGO solutions) of the D-bar method. The new TV-enhanced D-bar method produces reconstructions with sharper edges and improved contrast. This is achieved by using the TV-induced edges to increase the truncation radius of the scattering data in the nonlinear frequency domain, thereby increasing the radius of the low-pass filter. The algorithm is tested on numerically simulated noisy EIT data and d...


A 46-year-old man with multiple sclerosis had severe generalised pain for which treatment with paracetamol, ibuprofen, gabapentin and methyl-prednisolone had been unsuccessful. In addition normocytic anaemia without haemolysis and with a normal iron load was found. Due to bright red rectal blood loss and nausea, vomiting, weight loss, anorexia, abdominal pain and constipation a colonoscopy was planned. However, before this was performed, manual slide differentiation of a blood smear showed basophilic stippling and it turned out that the patient had been taking Ayurvedic medication up to one month before presentation. A moderately severe lead intoxication was diagnosed: 0.77 mg/l. The herbal medication had a very high lead content. The patient was successfully treated with the oral lead chelator 23-dimercaptosuccinic acid. Traditional and folk remedies often are important causes of lead poisoning.


The copepod Eurytemora affinis generally lives under estuarine conditions, where the suspended particulate matter (SPM) is strongly dominated by non-living particles. This article investigates as to how far E. affinis is capable of feeding selectively on phytoplankton under these extreme circumstances. Selectivity for phytoplankton by E. affinis was studied from samples taken from the Westerschelde (Belgium/The Netherlands). Copepod clearance rates exerted on natural phytoplankton quantified from the gut pigment content were significantly higher than those exerted on total particulate matter, calculated from microscopic image analysis of total gut content and total particulate matter concentration in the water. In addition, gut pigment content data on adult E. affinis measured during spring in three European estuaries (the Gironde (France), the Westerschelde and the Elbe (Germany)) were used to study the quantitative response of gut pigment content to varying ratios of phytoplankton to total SPM. A model, expressing maximum gut fluorescence as a function of body weight and gut fluorescence as a product of maximum gut fluorescence with the proportion of phytoplankton to total SPM in the feeding medium, satisfactory fitted the gut fluorescence observations made in the three estuaries. Over the range of phytoplankton-carbon/particulate organic carbon ratios observed in the three estuaries, gut fluorescence decreased with SPM concentration, but maximum gut fluorescence was reached when phytoplankton-carbon was >5% of particulate organic carbon. Limitation of selective feeding apparently only occurred under extremely high SPM loads, such as observed in the Gironde. Maximum gut fluorescence values corresponded exactly to those obtained previously for planktonic copepods in general, affirming the relationship with copepod size. 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


Arterial calcification (AC) is a common complication of CKD and ESRD, and the extents of AC are predictive of subsequent cardiovascular mortality beyond established conventional risk factors. AC develop in two distinct sites: the intima and media layers of the large and medium-sized arterial wall. These two forms are frequently associated. AC is tightly associated with aging and arterial remodeling, including intima-media thickening, but also changes of the geometry and function of aortic valves. Evidence has accumulated pointing to the active and regulated nature of the calcification process. Elevated phosphate and calcium may stimulate sodium–dependent phosphate cotransport involving osteoblast–like changes in cellular gene expression. AC is responsible for stiffening of the arteries with increased left ventricular afterload and abnormal coronary perfusion as the principal clinical consequences.


We analyze a population of Brownian particles moving in a spatially uniform environment with stochastically gated absorption. The state of the environment at time t is represented by a discrete stochastic variable k(t)∈{0,1} such that the rate of absorption is γ[1-k(t)], with γ a positive constant. The variable k(t) evolves according to a two-state Markov chain. We focus on how stochastic gating affects the attenuation of particle absorption with distance from a localized source in a one-dimensional domain. In the static case (no gating), the steady-state attenuation is given by an exponential with length constant sqrt[D/γ], where D is the diffusivity. We show that gating leads to slower, nonexponential attenuation. We also explore statistical correlations between particles due to the fact that they all diffuse in the same switching environment. Such correlations can be determined in terms of moments of the solution to a corresponding stochastic Fokker-Planck equation.


The objective is to describe the interference degree between motor vehicles and bicycles at signalized intersection. The interference degree was expressed by conflict delay. Via analyzing the microscopic actions of the motor vehicles crossing through the bicycle flow at a typical two-phase signalized intersection, a conflict delay model of the right-turn vehicle was proposed applying the gap acceptance theory and traffic wave theory. The model was verified and compared with the existing conflict delay models. The result showed that the proposed model is stable and suitable for the condition of unsaturated to calculate the conflict delay of right-turn vehicle. Sensitivity of the conflict delay model with respect to the flow rate of the bicycle and the width of the bicycle lane was analyzed. It showed that the increase of the width of the bicycle lane within limits could reduce right-turning vehicle's conflict delay effectively when the motor vehicle's flow rate was higher and the bicycle flow rate was varying in a certain range.