BACKGROUND
Intrasynovial grafts are the ideal solution to replace defects in intrasynovial flexor tendons, but autologous graft sources are rarely available. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypotheses that an intrasynovial tendon prepared with repetitive freeze-thaw cycles and lyophilization (as a means of reducing immunogenicity) has increased frictional force (gliding resistance) in comparison with fresh intrasynovial tendons and that a lyophilized intrasynovial flexor tendon that is modified with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin has decreased frictional force in comparison with untreated lyophilized tendons.

METHODS
Thirty-six flexor digitorum profundus tendons from the second and fifth digits of canine hind paws were randomly assigned to three groups. Twelve tendons were immediately assessed both mechanically and morphologically and served as the normal tendon group. The other twenty-four tendons were prepared with repetitive freeze-thaw cycles and lyophilization and were randomly assigned to two groups, including one group in which the tendons were treated with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin and one group in which the tendons were not treated. The frictional force was measured during 1000 cycles of simulated flexion-extension motion in all tendons, and the mean frictional forces were compared. The tendons were then observed with use of transmitted light microscopy for residual hyaluronic acid on the tendon surface, and the smoothness of the surface was evaluated with use of scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS
The frictional force after lyophilization was significantly increased by 104.9% after the first cycle and by 99.5% after 1000 cycles in comparison with the normal tendon (p < 0.05). The frictional force of the lyophilized tendons after treatment with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin was not significantly different from that of normal tendons. The untreated lyophilized tendon surfaces were observed on scanning electron microscopy to be rough in appearance, whereas the normal surface and the surface treated with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin were smooth, with residual hyaluronic acid present on the gliding surface.

CONCLUSIONS
Lyophilization alters tendon surface morphology and increases tendon frictional force. Surface modification with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin can mitigate this adverse effect.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Tendon surface modification with carbodiimide-derivatized hyaluronic acid and gelatin can improve the gliding ability of lyophilized flexor tendons and therefore may improve the utility of lyophilized tendon allografts as a tendon graft substitute.


Schema change is an unsolved problem in both live programming and local-first software. We include in schema change any change to the expected shape of data, whether that is expressed explicitly in a database schema or type system, or whether those expectations are implicit in the behavior of the code. Schema changes during live programming can create a mismatch between the code and data in the running environment. Similarly, schema changes in local-first programming can create mismatches between data in different replicas, and between data in a replica and the code colocated with it. In all of these situations the problem of schema change is to migrate or translate existing data in coordination with changes to the code. This paper contributes a set of concrete scenarios involving schema change that are offered as challenge problems to the live programming and local-first communities. We hope that these problems will spur progress by providing concrete objectives and a basis for comparing alternative solutions.


This article focuses on The Noble Game of the Elephant and Castle, or Travelling in Asia, an early nineteenth-century board game published by London-based William Darton. A toy that relies on the science of portable technologies and optical entertainment, the game offers selected vignettes of the political and cultural history of Britain's growing empire to its young players. As such, it represents the importance of learning about the nation's emerging imperial identity through categorizing and critiquing diverse peoples and their traditions. The article also analyzes how board games mobilized notions of Christian virtue and duty within the larger framework of travel and adventure across imperial geographies. To this end, it examines medieval bestiaries, the elephant's figure as a metaphor for travel, the aesthetics of cartography and the significance of menageries, all of which can be connected one way or another to the game.


The present research work was focussed on the preparation as well as the evaluation of Simvastatin solid dispersions for hypolipidemic activity. Solid dispersions were formulated using soybean powder as polymer in different ratios. The solid dispersions were prepared using solvent evaporation technique. The solid dispersions were found to release the drug faster than the pure drug in dissolution media of phosphate buffer pH 7.0. The formulation SS5 showed best drug release profile when compared to other formulations. This formulation was used for the evaluation of hypolipidemic activity against triton X-100 induced hyperlipidemic Wistar rats. When compared to the hyperlipidemic control group, the group of animals treated with SS5 formulation showed better results. From the test results, a decrease in the total cholesterol, total triglyceride, low density lipoproteins, very low density lipoproteins levels and an increase in the high density lipoproteins were observed. Thus from the present study it was concluded that Simvastatin solid dispersion could be a promising hypolipidemic agent which would be a boon for most of the patients suffering from heart diseases.


Tanahashi M, Karicheti V, Thor KB, Marson L. Characterization of bulbospongiosus muscle reflexes activated by urethral distension in male rats. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 303: R737–R747, 2012. First published August 8, 2012; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00004.2012.—The urethrogenital reflex (UGR) is used as a surrogate model of the autonomic and somatic nerve and muscle activity that accompanies ejaculation. The UGR is evoked by distension of the urethra and activation of penile afferents. The current study compares two methods of elevating urethral intraluminal pressure in spinalized, anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats (n 60). The first method, penile extension UGR, involves extracting the penis from the foreskin, so that urethral pressure rises due to a natural anatomical flexure in the penis. The second method, penile clamping UGR, involves penile extension UGR with the addition of clamping of the glans penis. Groups of animals were prepared that either received no additional treatment, surgical shams, or received bilateral nerve cuts (4 nerve cut groups): either the pudendal sensory nerve branch (SbPN), the pelvic nerves, the hypogastric nerves, or all three nerves. Penile clamping UGR was characterized by multiple bursts, monitored by electromyography (EMG) of the bulbospongiosus muscle (BSM) accompanied by elevations in urethral pressure. The penile clamping UGR activity declined across multiple trials and eventually resulted in only a single BSM burst, indicating desensitization. In contrast, the penile extension UGR, without penile clamping, evoked only a single BSM EMG burst that showed no desensitization. Thus, the UGR is composed of two BSM patterns: an initial single burst, termed urethrobulbospongiosus (UBS) reflex and a subsequent multiple bursting pattern (termed ejaculation-like response, ELR) that was only induced with penile clamping urethral occlusion. Transection of the SbPN eliminated the ELR in the penile clamping model, but the single UBS reflex remained in both the clamping and extension models. Pelvic nerve (PelN) transection increased the threshold for inducing BSM activation with both methods of occlusion but actually unmasked an ELR in the penile extension method. Hypogastric nerve (HgN) cuts did not significantly alter any parameter. Transection of all three nerves eliminated BSM activation completely. In conclusion, penile clamping occlusion recruits penile and urethral primary afferent fibers that are necessary for an ELR. Urethral distension without significant penile afferent activation recruits urethral primary afferent fibers carried in either the pelvic or pudendal nerve that are necessary for the single-burst UBS reflex.


The concept of a fast-ignition heavy-ion fusion (FIHIF) power plant involves a cylindrical target and superhigh energy ion beams. The driver produces one plus/minus charge state multimass platinum ions with energy of 100 GeV. The driver efficiency and the target gain are taken as 0.25 and 100, respectively. The preliminary data on the energy fluxes delivered to the reactor chamber wall by the 500-MJ fusion yield are presented. The reactor chamber designed has two sections. In the first section, the microexplosions occur, and in the second section of bigger volume the expansion and condensation of vapors take place. The response of the blanket and the thin liquid film at the first-wall surface is evaluated. Lithium-lead eutectic is taken as a coolant. The evaporated mass and the condensation time are estimated, taking into account major thermophysical effects. The estimated neutron spectrum from the FIHIF target gives an average neutron energy of 11.9 MeV. The mechanical stresses in the construction material due to neutron energy release are evaluated. The outlet coolant chamber temperature is taken as 550°C. The heat conversion system consisting of three coolant loops provides a net efficiency of the FIHIF power plant of 0.37.


Objective: To determine prevalence of Idiopathic osteosclerosis (IO) by radiographic evaluation and to investigate the relationship between the finding in relation with age, gender and location in Indonesia Sub-Population.
Material and Methods: this was a cross-sectional study that panoramic radiograph of patients (1030 male and 1914 female) whose age range 10-82 years old and who visited Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology Hasanuddin University Dental Hospital from 2017 and 2020. We evaluated group of age, location, appearance and occurrence of IO and analyzed using chisquare test.
Results: in total, 2944 panoramic radiographs were examined, IO found in 144 (4.8%) patients and 170 IO's were detected. IO detected mostly in mandible than maxilla (p<0.005) where premolar and molar area was the most common location of IO (42.3% and 41.7%; respectively). Most of cases was solitary lesion (<0.005) and unilateral (<0.005).  In addition, most of IO separate from teeth (45.8%) and also related with periapical site (35.3%).
Conclusion:  Idiopathic Osteosclerosis can defined as developmental variation that can occur in any age range, no predilection of sex. The frequency of IO in Indonesia Sub-population is slightly lower than other country


Psychological consequences of exercise deprivation in habitual exercisers. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of 3 d of exercise deprivation on selected psychological variables. Ten volunteers (4 female and 6 male) who regularly exercised 6-7 d.wk-1 for at least 45 min at a time participated in a 5-d study. Participants completed their regular workout on the first day of the study, refrained from physical activity for the next 3 d, and then resumed their regular exercise on the 5th d of the study. Participants reported to the lab on Monday following their regular workout and completed a series of questionnaires, and these same questionnaires were completed at the same time of day on the next 4 d. The dependent variables consisted of state and trait anxiety (STAI), and tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue, confusion, and overall mood (POMS). Increases in total mood disturbance, state anxiety, tension, depression, and confusion across days were significant (P < 0.05), and vigor decreased. The pattern of increasing mood disturbance with exercise deprivation was followed by mood improvement to baseline levels when exercise was resumed. We concluded that a brief period of exercise deprivation in habitual exercisers results in mood disturbance within 24-48 h.


With a Wolf Ultrasonic lithotrite, gallstones from 12 patients were fragmented in vitro. The average fragmentation time was 20 seconds compared with 4 days when they could be dissolved by monooctanoin. A stone from one patient could not be fragmented successfully. The ability of ultrasound to fragment gallstones did not depend on their cholesterol content. Ultrasonics may have an important role in the treatment of biliary stones, especially pigment stones.


Three river conceptual models make differing predictions about the major source of primary production in lowland rivers, acknowledging the importance of primary productivity in the ecology and management of lowland rivers. Patterns of primary production in lowland rivers are still an area of considerable uncertainty. The objective of this study was to examine the major sources and transformations of organic matter in an Australian lowland river and compare them to the predictions of existing models. The broad approach adopted was to quantify the contribution from the major ecosystem components and compare these with estimates of system metabolism determined using open water measures of diel oxygen change. Three 4‐km river reaches were selected to represent the extent of variation found along the free‐flowing lowland sections of the Murray River, one of Australia's largest and most regulated rivers. Annual open water gross primary production (GPP) estimates for the Murray R. during this study ranged from 221 to 376 gC m−2 y−1 and were similar to other large rivers. Examination of the net contribution of organic matter to the channel indicates that primary productivity in the Murray R. is derived from a combination of phytoplankton, riparian vegetation and macrophytes, but that the major source varies both spatially and temporally. The present study confirms that the River Continuum Concept (RCC), the Flood Pulse Concept (FPC) and Riverine Productivity Model (RPM) all have some application to Australian lowland rivers, but that synthesis of the models will be difficult until we can incorporate the extent, causes and consequences of primary production variability. This study also highlights the importance of the microbial loop and macrophytes in the ecology of the Murray R. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The genus Mentha L. (Lamiaceae) is distributed all over the world and can be found in many environments. Mentha species, one of the world's oldest and most popular herbs, are widely used in cooking, in cosmetics, and as alternative or complementary therapy, mainly for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders like flatulence, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and ulcerative colitis. Furthermore, it is well documented that the essential oil and extracts of Mentha species possess antimicrobial, fungicidal, antiviral, insecticidal, and antioxidant properties. The economic importance of mints is also evident; mint oil and its constituents and derivatives are used as flavoring agents throughout the world in food, pharmaceutical, herbal, perfumery, and flavoring industry. To provide a scientific basis for their traditional uses, several studies have been conducted to determine the chemical composition of mints and assess their biological activities. This chapter describes the therapeutic effects and uses of Mentha species and their constituents, particularly essential oils and phenolic compounds; some additional biological activities will also be considered.


Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are important human pathogens. There is an estimated number of 350 million carriers of HBV and 170 million people are chronically infected with HCV worldwide. These are at high risk of developing chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Apoptosis of liver cells may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of hepatitis C. Whereas pathomorphologic features of increased a apoptosis process appears to be a host defense mechanism against viral infections and tumourigenesis.The presence of excess oxygen radicals and/or the lack of sufficient antioxidants to scavenge these radicals can either directly contribute to hepatocyte necrosis or enhance the inflammatory response associated with necrosis. Oxygen radicals appear to cause hepatocyte necrosis by modifying DNA, lipids and proteins in the cells This research study was meant to provide Detailed information on the role of apoptosis and oxidative stress mechanisms in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis, which ultimately leads to hepatocellular carcinoma using biochemical and immunological techniques


Herein, we describe a waterborne polymer/carbon dot nanocomposite system as an efficient, resourceful and sustainable photocatalyst for para-selective hydroxylation of substituted aromatic compounds using H2O2 under UV light. The polymer matrix and carbon dot generate a synergistic catalytic system. A unique structural attribute of the functionalities in this catalytic system attracts the aromatic substrates into close proximity and activates them. Additionally, the flexible molecular box-like structure of the hyperbranched polymer provides the ability for favorable three-point interaction with several substrates having various sizes by means of their multiple force networks and the increased accessibility of the active sites. The catalyst can be stored on the bench top for months and is reusable without considerable loss in its activity. The reaction was exclusively selective toward para hydroxylation irrespective of the nature of the substituents (electron donating or electron withdrawing) in the aromatic hydrocarbons. Hence, it is one of the most promising catalysts for selective hydroxylation of substituted aromatic hydrocarbons.


Background: Despite the high prevalence of diabetes, limited information is available about the impact of impaired glucose regulation on the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among Middle East populations. Aims: To determine the risk of CVD in an urban Iranian population according to glucose tolerance status. Material and methods: The study population consisted of 1752 men and 2273 women, aged ≥40 yr, free of CVD at baseline. Incident CVD was ascertained over a median of 7.6 yr of follow-up. Results: A total of 340 CVD events occurred (197 in men and 143 in women). At baseline, there was no difference between newly diagnosed and known diabetes regarding the Prospective Cardiovascular Münster (PROCAM) risk score and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in both genders. Applying the 1997 American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria, compared with those with normal glucose tolerance, after controlling traditional risk factors, hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for CVD in women with known and newly diagnosed diabetes were 3.30 (2.09–5.21) and 1.93 (1.16–3.21) and the corresponding values for men were 1.90 (1.11–3.25) and 1.69 (1.12–2.54), respectively. Impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance was associated with 56% increased risk of CVD in women (HR 1.56, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.45), in the age-adjusted analysis, considering the 2003 ADA criteria. Conclusions: All diabetic subjects, whether newly diagnosed or known cases, should receive intensive primary prevention for CVD regardless of risk factors, in particular females with abnormal glucose regulation.


Gujarat is one of India's economic powerhouses, but its geographical conditions mean that most of the state's districts face water deficits. In 2002, emergency arrangements to meet water shortages were replaced with a longer-term strategy: the construction and management of the State-Wide Water Supply Grid. This scheme moves towards connecting 47 million people to safe, potable water supplies. It has also positioned Gujarat as a pioneer in India in terms of moving towards water security and conservation, a policy choice that has boosted economic growth and made important strides towards human development.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the redistributive effect of domestic public debt: lenders to the government lie on the higher end of the income distribution, but the burden of debt financing falls on the entire tax base, to the extent that taxes are used to service debt. Because domestic debt is typically held by domestic lenders, this involves a redistribution of resources. Design/methodology/approach - – The author uses cross-country panel data on debt composition, and run regressions of income inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, using various specifications, controlling for a variety of macroeconomic, fiscal and political variables. Findings - – The author finds that the composition of public debt is consistently a significant determinant of income inequality: the domestic share of public debt is regressive and significant across all specifications, even controlling for total and external debt servicing, political conflict, corruption and a variety of government spending variables. Research limitations/implications - – The data span 18 years (1990-2007) which means that long-run effects are hard to track. While the author has a good mix in the sample of observations from low-, middle- and high-income countries, the author is constrained in the choice of countries by the availability of data on inequality and on the composition of public debt. Originality/value - – This is the first paper to examine the composition of public debt in terms of domestic and external debt, and any bearing it may have on income inequality. The finding is also new for both the public debt and income inequality literatures: cross-country panel data are consistent with the belief that domestic debt redistributes resources from the entire tax base to wealthy holders of government debt in a way that external debt does not.


Hybrid halide perovskites composed of protic organic A-site cations are promising materials for the conversion of light into electricity. Polycrystalline technologies are of particular interest because of their desirable processability, but suffer from decreased efficiency compared to single crystal devices, in part owing to trap states at grain boundaries. Recent remedies for increasing performance of polycrystalline lead iodide-based perovskites include additional organic polymers at grain boundaries, serving to both prevent material decomposition and passivate the grain. Here we demonstrate that, using the 2D perovskite architecture as an analogue for the 3D material, passivating layers containing nitrogen lone pairs may act as chromophores, resulting in poor material performance.


Soils are considered important components of many pesticide contamination models and are frequently the direct or indirect targets of pesticides applied during agricultural activities. Soil texture is commonly referenced on pesticide labels as an important factor in the selection and application of pesticides and in identifying target areas that are vulnerable to leaching. In general, no guidelines exist for the common interpretation of generic soil texture terms found on pesticide labels, for example, coarse or coarse-textured soils. In the present study, a significant logistic regression model (P=0.017) was developed that is based on the soil particle-size class composition of sections containing wells sampled for DBCP (1,3-dipromochloropropane). Particle-size class is a concept used in Soil Taxonomy to describe soil family texture and is a component of soil family names. The model contains terms for the sandy and fine particle-size classes. The model was validated using data obtained from sources independent of those used to develop the model. Records in the California Soils Map Unit Inventory database that describes the soil map unit composition of >65 000 sections (1600 m{sup 2} or 1 Mi{sup 2}) were used to generate probability scores for >15 000 sections located in the San Joaquin Valley, CA.more » A geographic information system, an information management technique that is becoming an accepted tool for a wide range of regulatory agencies, was used to generate visual images of the probability scores. A map was developed that depicts four distinct probability scores. A map was developed that depicts four distinct probability classes of the DBCP-contamination status of section-sized areas and their distribution within the study area. 16 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.« less


Binge drinking, commonly defined as consuming five or more standard drinks per occasion for men and four or more drinks for women, typically begins in adolescence. Adolescents, although they may drink less often, tend to consume higher quantities of alcohol per occasion compared with adults. This developmental difference in pattern of alcohol consumption may result, in part, from maturational changes that involve an adolescent-specific sensitivity to certain alcohol effects and greater propensity for risk-taking behaviors, such as binge drinking. Adolescent binge drinking is associated with a range of acute alcohol-related harms, some of which may persist into adulthood. The prevalence of binge drinking, including high-intensity drinking (i.e., 10 or more and 15 or more drinks per occasion), has declined among adolescents in recent years. Overall, however, the proportion of youth who engage in binge drinking remains high. This article reviews the definition and prevalence of binge drinking in adolescence, trajectories of binge drinking and their correlates, and implications for prevention.


In 2001 each primary care trust in England was required to undertake a needs assessment in preparation for the development of a mental health promotion strategy. In Greenwich, it was decided to include the physical environment as one of the themes. This paper describes the findings of a literature review undertaken of health, social sciences and architectural research and the preliminary conceptual model subsequently developed to pull together all aspects of the interface between the urban and physical environment and mental well‐being. The literature review identified five key domains that impacted on this relationship: control over the internal housing environment, quality of housing design and maintenance, presence of valued 'escape facilities', crime and fear of crime, and social participation. That these domains can be confounded by socio‐economic and demographic factors and also interact with cultural factors and housing type suggests the importance of a public health approach, which focuses on causal systems rather than simply on individual causal factors.


The growing numbers of older people in the UK has resulted in increased demand on existing and prospective health and social care services (Gray, A and Birrell, D 2013, p. 6). Intermediate care for older people has been an important aspect of a wide range of policy developments in the UK, developing from an awareness that hospital admission or a prolonged hospital stay is not necessarily an appropriate or effective intervention for older people (Glasby and Littlechild, 2000, p.110, Parker, 2005, p.9). Contemporary intermediate care policy and practice has developed within the context of research into the issues which impact on the outcomes for older people, including the concepts of caring (Fine, 2012), gender and caring (Clarke and Bennett, 2013) dependency (Fine and Glendinning, 2005), resilience (Netuveli, Wiggins, Montgomery, Hildon, Blane, 2008) and motivation (Shafizadeh, 2007). However, there is a paucity of evidence about the effectiveness or impact of intermediate care units in the UK (Roe and Beech, 2005, p. 62); most research focuses on the impact of NHS services and on disease specific services.
This research provides an original contribution to knowledge by exploring the impact of the Lodge, a small intermediate care unit, managed by social services in a unitary authority on the south coast of England. Previous research on intermediate care has focused overwhelmingly on NHS provisions or disease specific rehabilitation. This research is original in exploring both the outcomes of rehabilitation and the voices of older people admitted to the Lodge. The effectiveness of the Lodge was measured by comparing the Barthel scores of residents both pre and post the rehabilitation intervention; as well as whether a resident is discharged to the community as opposed to residential or hospital care. Eleven participants were interviewed using a narrative approach to explore older people's perspectives of rehabilitation and motivation. From the results, the Lodge was effective in improving the Barthel scores of older people and in facilitating their discharge to the community. Older people were generally positive about the intervention but they were not always clear about the process of admission; nor did the older people appear to have a sense of their goals within the Lodge. Instead, their motivation to return home appeared to be based on the quality and interdependence of the relationships with their family as well as their formal and informal carers.


Ordering is one of the process done before doing data processing. The sorting algorithm has its own strengths and weaknesses. By taking strengths of each algorithm then combined can be a better algorithm. Quick Sort and Merge Sort are algorithms that divide the data into parts and each part divide again into sub-section until one element. Usually one element join with others and then sorted by. In this experiment data divide into parts that have size not more than threshold. This part then sorted by Insertion Sort, Bubble Sort and Selection Sort. This replacement process can be reduce time used to divide data into one element. Data size and data type may affect time so this experiment use 5 data sizes and 3 types of data. The algorithm dominates in experiment are Merge-Insertion Sort and Merge-Selection Sort.


Joseph Holt, the stern, brilliant, and deeply committed Unionist from Kentucky, spent the first several months of the American Civil War successfully laboring to maintain Kentucky's loyalty to the Union and then went on to serve as President Lincoln's judge advocate general. In "Lincoln's Forgotten Ally," Elizabeth Leonard offers the first full-scale biography of Holt, who has long been overlooked and misunderstood by historians and students of the war.In his capacity as the administration's chief arbiter and enforcer of military law, Holt strove tenaciously, often against strong resistance, to implement Lincoln's wartime policies, including emancipation. After Lincoln's assassination, Holt accepted responsibility for pursuing and bringing to justice everyone involved in John Wilkes Booth's conspiracy. It was because of this role, in which he is often portrayed as a brutal prosecutor, and because of his hard position toward the South, Leonard contends, that Holt's reputation suffered. Leonard argues, however, that Holt should not be defined by what Southern sympathizers and proponents of the Lost Cause came to think of him. "Lincoln's Forgotten Ally" seeks to restore Holt, who dedicated both his energy and his influence to ensuring that the Federal victory would bring about lasting positive change for the nation, to his rightful place in American memory.


By now, fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) represent a well assessed technology in both communications and sensing fields. In particular, thanks to their small signal bandwidth and wavelength encoded information, they allow simple measurements in reflection for sensing purposes and also easy multiplexing capability in realizing sensors arrays. Unfortunately, to make FBGs sensitive to surrounding-medium refractive index (SRI), hosting fiber structuring is needed. In last years, also tilted FBGs (TFBGs) - intrinsically SRI sensitive structures - have been proposed as promising technological platform for several sensing applications. However, complex spectral features combined with the difficulty to be configured as quasi distributed or multi-point sensors network limit the practical exploitation of this assessed and mature technology. It would be extremely useful to merge the peculiar spectral characteristics of both grating types. To address this issue, here, we propose a hybrid cavity involving two unbalanced uniform FBGs written at both sides of a TFBG to form an all-fiber interferometer. The proposed configuration provides a wavelength gated reflection signal with interference fringes depending on the cavity features modulated by spectral dips associated to the wavelength dependent optical losses due to cladding mode coupling occurring along the TFBG. Such a structure preserves the advantages of uniform FBGs in terms of interrogation methods and allows the possibility to contemporarily measure multiple parameters.


The main aim of this article is to explore different strategies of boundary making and unmaking by a minority ethnic group. I apply the theories of "boundary work" and constructivist understanding of ethnicity and nationhood to the case of the Laz, one of the autochthons of the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. I analyze two main strategies—boundary crossing and contraction—in the context of three sets of encounters and interactions, with Turks/Turkishness, people of Black Sea—Karadenizli—and Kurds/Kurdishness. First, I argue that assimilating into the official Turkish identity is one of the strategies adopted by the ethnic Laz. The Laz are incorporated into Turkishness both by their search for economic mobility, status, and by assimilationist policies of the state especially aimed at the spread of Turkish. To become a full-fledged true member of the nation and access to potential benefits, Turkishness through language shift has been realized that allowed boundary crossing of the Laz. Second, I state that despite the efforts of the top-down assimilationist policies, noncontentious ethnic identities can be reproduced by means of symbolic boundaries. The Laz contextually activate symbolic boundaries in informal settings by contracting from other people of Black Sea—Karadenizli—or ethnic Turkishness. The ethnic language is substituted by nonthreatening ethnic performances and rhetoric, less marked and more subjective traits of self-asserted differences. Such symbolic boundaries correspond to unofficial forms of hierarchies and competition over local belongings. Third, the analysis of the Laz–Kurd relationship unveils that ethnic boundaries can be redefined according to changing conditions. The impact of the Kurds on the Laz identity, either by means of personal acquaintances or the relationship between the state and the Kurdish national movement, is imperative. It triggers contradictions in the Laz identity by revealing new potential redefinitions and recasting of boundaries.


Grazing by domestic livestock is ubiquitous in the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome of western North America. Widespread, long-term population declines in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have elicited concern about negative effects of livestock grazing on sage-grouse populations. Hypothesized relationships, mostly untested, between livestock and sage-grouse nesting ecology have played a prominent role in shaping public land livestock grazing policy and broader discussions about management of grazing in sagebrush ecosystems. We tested predictions arising from several commonly hypothesized mechanisms by which livestock may affect nesting habitat quality for sage-grouse in a grazed landscape in central Montana, USA. We employed Bayesian variable selection methods to identify factors related to both nest site selection and nest success, focusing on indices of livestock use at local and pasture scales and including other factors known to influence nesting ecology such as anthropogenic features and weather. In spite of some evidence nest survival was positively associated with senesced vegetation height, evidence for effects of livestock presence and indices of local livestock use on nest site selection and survival was equivocal at best. In contrast, we found strong evidence that females selected nest sites based on relatively static features such as sagebrush cover and distance from gravel and paved roads, whereas nest failure was driven primarily by extended periods of heavy precipitation. Management of sage-grouse nesting habitat in this region should focus on conserving areas of adequate shrub cover and preventing further fragmentation by roads. 2018 The Wildlife Society.


Accurate predictions of contamination in next-generation optical storage drives are paramount when active gap control is employed. In near-field recording devices, the read/write interface can be on the order of 20-30 nm, which means that the gap could be quite susceptible to contamination. Predictive modeling approaches for studying the behavior of contaminates in nanoscale hydrodynamic interfaces are needed. Here, we present such a model. The interface consists of a flat disk surface translating under a solid immersion lens (SIL) of hemispherical geometry. We present the computational modeling simulation results for nano-scale contaminates around the near-field SIL. The simulation shows that the discrete contaminates actually circumnavigate the SIL/disk interface during operation. We identify and discuss the external influences on the discrete contaminate particle behavior


Maintaining the integrity of differentiated genomes in marine organisms needs efficient isolation mechanisms, because planktonic larval dispersion provides contacts between taxa. Habitat specialisation is interesting in this respect, because it can both prevent interspecific crosses (each taxon reproduces in its own habitat) and eliminate hybrids (typically less fit than a parental taxon in each habitat). The contact zone between smooth-shelled mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovin- cialis in Europe is a good example, as allozyme genotypes typical of both taxa seem to segregate into different habitats. However, allozymes may be selected directly and it is not known whether the same pattern can be extended to the whole genome. Here, we used 6 presumably neutral PCR markers to investigate habitat specialisation, focussing on the Bay of Quiberon, a small region in the midst of the contact zone between the 2 taxa. Confirming allozyme findings, our results indicate that habitat spe- cialisation is apparent at the genomic scale, as M. edulis-like genotypes are found in sheltered or open-sea sites under freshwater influence, whereas M. galloprovincialis-like genotypes occupy exposed sites. Hybrid (or mixed) populations are found in open-sea or sheltered areas without fresh- water influence. Therefore, habitat specialisation does contribute to the interspecific barrier. How- ever, this mechanism seems insufficient to completely prevent the mixing of the 2 genomes, as mixed populations exist and provide opportunity for further hybridisation. Large gametic disequilibria within hybrid populations indicate the existence of restrictions to genetic exchange between the 2 taxa, even within a single habitat. Habitat-independent isolation mechanisms must, therefore, exist in addition.


Case-control studies of birth defects might be subject to selection bias when there is incomplete ascertainment of cases among pregnancies that are terminated after a prenatal diagnosis of the defect. We propose a simple method to estimate inverse probability of selection weights (IPSWs) for cases ascertained from both pregnancies that end in termination and those that do not end in termination using data directly available from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and other published information. The IPSWs can then be used to adjust for selection bias analytically. We can also allow for uncertainty in the selection probabilities through probabilistic bias analysis. We provide an illustrative example using data from National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997-2009) to examine the association between prepregnancy obesity (body mass index, measured as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared, of ≥30 vs. <30) and spina bifida. The unadjusted odds ratio for the association between prepregnancy obesity and spina bifida was 1.48 (95% confidence interval: 1.26, 1.73), and the simple selection bias-adjusted odds ratio was 1.26 (95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.53). The probabilistic bias analysis resulted in a median adjusted odds ratio of 1.22 (95% simulation interval: 0.97, 1.47). The proposed method provides a quantitative estimate of the IPSWs and the bias introduced by incomplete ascertainment of cases among terminated pregnancies conditional on a set of assumptions.


Effect of clamping pressure on electrical resistance between Gas diffusion layer (GDL) and bipolar plate is a very important parameter in Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. For investigation of this matter some researches have been done in these years. But there is not an experimental investigation of clamping pressure effect on PEM electrical resistance. In this paper, some experimental tests have been performed with various clamping pressures in order to find the relationship between clamping pressure and electrical resistance. The same situations have been simulated in Abaqus software and their results have been compared to each other. Some models with different situations of clamping pressure and thickness of end plate for uniform pressure distribution on the gas diffusion layer have been obtained and these models have been investigated for electrical analysis. These models have been imported to electrical and mechanical analysis with putting electrical loads and boundary conditions. At the end, results of the investigation showed that PEM fuel cell with more clamping pressure and end plate thickness has less electrical resistance. Stress and electrical resistance have reversed relationship to each other. In other word by increasing in clamping pressure, electrical resistance between gas diffusion layer and bipolar plate will reduce and vice versa.


The Lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) is an identified neuron of the locust that detects looming objects and triggers the insect's escape responses. Understanding the neural principles and network structure that leads to these fast and robust responses can facilitate the design of efficient obstacle avoidance strategies for robotic applications. Here, we present a neuromorphic spiking neural network model of the LGMD driven by the output of a neuromorphic dynamic vision sensor (DVS), which incorporates spiking frequency adaptation and synaptic plasticity mechanisms, and which can be mapped onto existing neuromorphic processor chips. However, as the model has a wide range of parameters and the mixed-signal analog-digital circuits used to implement the model are affected by variability and noise, it is necessary to optimize the parameters to produce robust and reliable responses. Here, we propose to use differential evolution (DE) and Bayesian optimization (BO) techniques to optimize the parameter space and investigate the use of self-adaptive DE (SADE) to ameliorate the difficulties of finding appropriate input parameters for the DE technique. We quantify the performance of the methods proposed with a comprehensive comparison of different optimizers applied to the model and demonstrate the validity of the approach proposed using recordings made from a DVS sensor mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).


Objective
The purpose of this study was to evaluate early changes in myocardial function in overweight and obese children without hypertension.

Methods
Cross-sectional study involving 150 participants of both sexes between 6 and 15 years old. Anthropometric and biochemical evaluations were performed. Ventricular function was assessed by conventional echocardiographic methods and myocardial deformation analysis by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. One-way analysis of variance was employed for the global comparison of study variables between groups (children with normal weight, overweight and obesity), and post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction was used for multiple comparison, considering normal-weight children as the reference category.

Results
Overall, 142 participants were included, 50 (35%) with normal weight, 39 (28%) overweight and 53 (37%) obesity. Diastolic diameter of the left ventricular (LV) and interventricular septum, diameter of the left atrium and LV mass were significantly higher in children with obesity compared to those with normal weight. No significant differences in the conventional indicators of LV systolic and diastolic function were found between groups. Significant differences in the regional myocardial deformation between the three groups were observed. Mean global longitudinal myocardial deformation was smaller in patients with obesity (-20.9% vs. -23.5%, p < 0.05) compared to children with normal weight.

Conclusions
The childhood obesity was associated with altered myocardial deformation, even in the presence of normal ejection fraction. Myocardial deformation evaluation is relevant in the assessment of pediatric patients with obesity.


In the growing literature on presidential elections, economic circumstances have a privileged position. Nearly all of the models designed to predict the 2008 presidential election included one or more aggregate economic indicators or aggregate public evaluations of economic circumstances. The influence of the economy on presidential elections has been well documented. However, citing the substantial growth of the federal government and the enactment of legislation such as the Employment Act of 1946, the majority of the literature focuses on the effect of the economy only on modern presidents. While some scholars study the influence of the economy on presidents starting in 1913 or even the late nineteenth century, few, if any, scholars study the effect of the economy on earlier presidents. This paper examines the extent to which the U.S. economy affected presidential election from the early 19th century to the present day. Arguing that the federal government's role in the national economy changed dramatically during the middle of the twentieth century, we present evidence that price stability was positively associated with incumbent party electoral success from 1828 to 1948 and that income growth was directly related to incumbent party electoral success in the subsequent years. While the nature of the economic effects on presidential elections have varied over time, economic conditions have clearly played a role in national elections since the early years of the American republic.


The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer AMS-02 has been installed in May 19th 2011 on the International Space Station where it will detect cosmic rays for the next decades. AMS-02 with its accurate measurements up to the TeV scale will contribute to our knowledge of the Universe providing the most sensitive search for the existence of primordial anti matter and indirect search for dark matter. Nine layers of silicon micro-strip constitute the core of the spectrometer, allowing the simultaneous measurement of the sign and charge of impinging particles and reconstructing their rigidity up to the TV. The 3D imaging calorimeter, with a depth of 17 radiation lengths, and the TRD detector provide an accurate measurement of the electron and positron components, rejecting the protons background. Velocity and charge measurements are performed by the scintillator planes of the Time of Flight system and by the Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector. During the first year in Space several billion events have been recorded. In this paper, the AMS-02 flight operations, performance and perspective for physics measurements are reported.


Sterkfontein is notable not only for its wealth of isolated bones but also for the fortuitous preservation of two partial skeletons, both attributed to Australopithecus africanus, Sts 14 and StW 431 from Member 4. This short chapter reviews the history of recovery and preservation of these skeletons. Sts 14 was the first partial skeleton of any australopith ever found, including 19 associated bones recovered in a single block of breccia in 1947. The skeleton was too fragile to be removed by mechanical preparation techniques, so was only removed from the block using acid preparation in the late 1960s. Additional rib fragments were only recently identified and accessioned with this skeleton. StW 431 was recovered in 1987, with four additional elements identified and published in 2003. Although this skeleton did not derive from a single block of breccia, their proximity within the sediments and similar preservation indicate that these bones are associated. Given the small size of Sts 14 and compared to the much larger size of StW 431, they are likely female and male individuals respectively. Subsequent chapters describe individual skeletal elements by anatomical region.


Acute and chronic dietary deficiencies in macro and micro minerals have significant impacts on production efficiency on rangelands throughout the world. However, limited information is available on the mineral quality of diets primarily because salivary and soil mineral contamination of esophageal extrusa precludes quantitative recovery of dietary minerals. Mineral profiles of diets can be estimated indirectly, however, if forage species composition of diets and mineral concentrations of selected forages are known. The objective of this study was to utilize this approach to estimate seasonal dynamics of phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg) in cattle diets' relative requirements. Two diet selection scenarios were developed: the first, maximum mineral intake, assumed cattle consumed only live plant tissue of a forage if it was available; the second, considered minimum mineral intake, assumed cattle consumed live and dead tissue in direct proportion to their availability. Calculated concentrations of P and Ca in diets showed P concentrations were below and Ca concentrations were above their respective requirements for spring calving cows regardless of selection scenario or season of the year. However, K and Mg concentrations varied as a function of selection scenario and season of year and ranged from adequate during periods of rapid vegetation growth to marginally inadequate during periods of water (drought) or temperature (winter) induced dormancy.


The average model of the forward converter is build with the state-space average method. The open-loop transfer function model is deduced in detail according to the average model of the forward converter, the controller is designed based frequency domain by the type III compensation network. And the stability of the control system has been improved. The modeling and simulation of system was implemented based Matlab. The results of simulation confirm that the controller is capable of reduced steady state error and improve controller's reliability during power supply disturbance and load disturbance.


A hypothesis is stated explaining emergence of mechanisms of oncogenesis and old age involution. According to the hypothesis the destructive and proliverative phenomena, observed in the course of these pathological processes, emerged on the basis of the destructive and proliverative phenomena, assotiated with asexual reproduction in the Precambrian Metazoa. The evolutionary predecessor of the oncogenesis was semelparous asexual reproduction, and the evolutionary predecessor of the old age involution was desintegration of tissues associated with iteroparous asexual reproduction. The oncogenesis and old age involution in different lines of the Metazoa originated independently. Processes of the normal ontogenesis in the contempory primitive Invertebrates are pointed out. These are the evolutionary predecessors of regression of tumors and haemoblastosis. The importance of regressive development is discussed.


Scientific data provenance is often cited as a valuable tool for scientists to use to document their data collection and analysis processes, allowing improved understanding and sharing of data and results. However, most software that supports data provenance requires scientists to adopt new technologies rather than adding these capabilities to technologies that scientists already use. In this paper, we introduce RDataTracker, an R library that supports the collection of data provenance from executed R scripts.


During the last 2 years we have conducted several trials exploring how augmented reality and mobile technologies can be used to support learning and teaching in science education. In particular, we present the on-going efforts that are part of the EU funded project Science Center To Go. We provide an overview of the different activities, the lessons learned and what we propose as ways to forward making the technology, mobile, affordable and in the long term -- ubiquitous available.


: As nano-scale metal-oxide-semiconductor devices are cooled to temperatures below 1 K, detrimental e ff ects due to unintentional dots become apparent. The reproducibility of the location of these unintentional dots suggests that there are other mechanisms in play, such as mechanical strains in the semiconductor introduced by metallic gates. Here, we investigate the formation of strain-induced dots on aluminum and palladium gated metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) quantum devices using COMSOL Multiphysics. Simulation results show that the strain e ff ect on the electrochemical potential of the system can be minimized by replacing aluminum with palladium as the gate material and increasing the thickness of the gate oxide.


The scientific research results related to foreign trade and direct investment abroad (DIA) are discussed in the article. The relation of the direct investment abroad and foreign trade is still under the discussion as there is no clear answer whether foreign trade is supplemented or replaced by the direct investment abroad. Since 1997 the flows of the direct investment abroad increased greately in Lithuania. Consequently, it is important to define the link between the DIA and foreign trade considering each country separately. Direct investment abroad and trade links in Lithuania in 1997–2014 are analyzed in the article. The research analysis involves Lithuanian direct investments in the developed countries except some countries, such as Belorus, Russia and Ukraine. It is defined that there is a positive bilateral link between Lithuanian direct investment abroad and foreign trade. It is also observed the impact of general development of Lithuanian direct investment abroad (considering certain countries) on the countries economy itself – imports can exceed exports. Engle-Granger causality test is applied in the research paper for the purpose of defining the impact of the DIA on the import and export range.


Abstract Paraneoplastic syndrome frequently presents before cancer is diagnosed and can be associated with neoplastic disease that is not yet radiographically detectable. We report on the case of a 35-year-old woman who presented at the neurology department with complaints of insidious onset and gradually progressive weakness in all four limbs, which had lasted for the past six months. The weakness originally commenced in both lower limbs and was progressive, ascending in nature from distal to proximal. Both upper limbs were affected seven days later. Magnetic resonance imaging of the dorsal spine revealed long-segment T2 and short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) hyperintensity, suggestive of myelitis. Nerve conduction studies and an electromyogram suggested sensory motor polyneuropathy which affected all four limbs. On gynaecological check-up, a diagnosis of International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIB carcinoma cervix was made. Histology diagnosed it as a case of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Thus, a diagnosis of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, arising as a paraneoplastic syndrome in the carcinoma cervix, was made. The patient was treated with chemotherapy, steroids and radical radiotherapy. She recovered partially from her motor deficiencies and completely from her sensory derangement, and was devoid of gynaecological complaints. The cancer growth regressed completely.


Obesity and osteoporosis are associated with estrogen deficiency following menopause. Therefore, it is important to prevent and treat both disorders to maintain a healthy life in postmenopausal women. Nobiletin, a polymethoxylated flavone, exhibits various pharmacologic effects, including anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effects of nobiletin on obesity, obesity-related metabolic disorders, and bone mass in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. Mice were divided into four groups and underwent sham operation or OVX. OVX mice were treated with 50 or 100 mg/kg nobiletin, or received vehicle alone (0.3% carboxyl methyl cellulose/0.5% dimethyl sulfoxide). Nobiletin decreased body weight gain and white adipose tissue weight in OVX mice. Nobiletin also decreased triglyceride levels, and tended to reduce plasma total cholesterol and glucose levels. Additionally, nobiletin prevented the reduction in bone mineral density of the trabecular region of the femur in OVX mice. Taken together, our results suggest that nobiletin improves adiposity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and prevents bone loss in OVX mice. Therefore, nobiletin is expected to have beneficial effects for the prevention and improvement of metabolic disorders and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.


ABSTRACT In this study, the effect of varying temperature and humidity on the friction and wear properties of a silicone-based isotropic magnetorheological (MR) elastomer were examined with an applied magnetic field. Specifically, MR elastomer specimens were fabricated, and a temperature- and humidity-adjustable reciprocating friction tester was employed. The results indicated that the friction coefficient decreased across all tests when a magnetic field was applied. The friction coefficient increased when the temperature increased and slightly decreased following an increase in relative humidity. The wear depth results also exhibited an increasing pattern as the temperature increased and a decreasing pattern when the relative humidity increased. The surface state experienced significant changes under varying temperatures and relative humidity conditions with and without a magnetic field.


A Arnold, Y Jeelall, L Braconnaire, A Sommerfield, C Bundell, D Sommerfield, L Slevin, K Rueter, BS von Ungern-Sternberg and M Lucas Immunology Department, Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth, Australia School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Australia Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Australia Immunology Department, PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Perth, Australia Department of Clinical Research and Education, Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth, Australia Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth, Australia School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Australia Immunology Department, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Australia Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia


The objectives of this study are to synthesize pumice supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (P-nZVI), to characterize it and to test its removal capacity of heavy metals. Characteristics of P-nZVI are investigated using SEM-EDX, BET and XRF. The characterization results show that nZVI particles were effectively attached and well dispersed on the surface of pumice. To identify the effectiveness of pumice modification, the RP and P-nZVI were used for adsorption of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II). Pumice coated with nZVI shows high efficiency in the removal of Ni(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II).


Groundwater can be a source of both water and salts in semiarid areas, and therefore, capillary pressure–induced upward water flow may cause root zone salinization. To identify which conditions result in hazardous salt concentrations in the root zone, we combined the mass balance equations for salt and water, further assuming a Poisson‐distributed daily rainfall and brackish groundwater quality. For the water fluxes (leaching, capillary upflow, and evapotranspiration), we account for osmotic effects of the dissolved salt mass using Van't Hoff's law. Root zone salinity depends on salt transport via capillary flux and on evapotranspiration, which concentrates salt in the root zone. Both a wet climate and shallow groundwater lead to wetter root zone conditions, which in combination with periodic rainfall enhances salt removal by leaching. For wet climates, root zone salinity (concentrations) increases as groundwater is more shallow (larger groundwater influence). For dry climates, salinity increases as groundwater is deeper because of a drier root zone and less leaching. For intermediate climates, opposing effects can push the salt balance either way. Root zone salinity increases almost linearly with groundwater salinity. With a simple analytical approximation, maximum concentrations can be related to the mean capillary flow rate, leaching rate, water saturation, and groundwater salinity for different soils, climates, and groundwater depths.


This analysis explores the potential effects of wind production tax credit expiration and various extension scenarios on future wind deployment with the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), a model of the U.S. electricity sector. The analysis does not estimate the potential implications on government tax revenue associated with the PTC. Key findings include: Under a scenario in which the PTC is not extended and all other policies remain unchanged, wind capacity additions are expected to be between 3 and 5 GW per year from 2013-2020; PTC extension options that ramp-down from the current level to zero-credit by year-end 2022 appear to be insufficient to support deployment at the recent historical average; Extending the PTC at its historical level may provide the best opportunity to support deployment consistent with recent levels across a range of potential market conditions; it therefore may also provide the best opportunity to sustain wind power installation and manufacturing sector at current levels.


WHILE studying the problem of the pathogenesis of stricture of the common bile duct we noted the lack of knowledge of its arterial blood supply. None of the standard anatomy texts describe the blood supply, and the illustrations in the various atlases are either very diagrammatic or lacking. The only reference in the literature so far discovered is in the report of postmortem dissections of Shapiro and Robillard, 1 who in the course of a study of the blood vasculature of the doudenum in 62 cases summarized the arterial supply from an undisclosed number of specimens. They found that the duct had a very poor supply of blood, consisting chiefly of end arteries and only an occasional anastomotic marginal artery. Injury to these small vessels, they said, might result in ischemic necrosis and stricture of the duct. This idea seemed to us to warrant further investigation. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty human postmortem


A single-photon emission tomographic system was used to study the normal anatomy of the facial bones and the usefulness of emission computed tomography in evaluating diseases of the bones of the face. The examination was performed following routine bone scintigraphy and took an additional 20 to 30 min. The anatomy of the facial bones was well defined, with clear separation of deep and superficial structuress. Early experience with tumor, infection, bone grafts, and postirradiation osteonecrosis indicates that useful added diagnostic information can be obtained by this method.


High purity low hydroxyl synthetic fused silica glass was prepared by electric melting synthetic crystallized silica powders which were made by the process of hydrolysis, dehydration and calcination of high purity silicon tetrachloride obtained from the by-product of polysilicon production. The structure morphology and hydroxyl content of synthetic silica powders were characterized by XRD and IR, respectively. The experimental results suggest that the silica powders dried at 120°C are amorphous, and the amorphous silica powders are gradually transformed to alpha-cristobalite after sintered in 1250°C, but the crystallization peaks are very strong and sharp until the temperature reaches at 1400°C. The hydroxyl content of silica powders can be effectively reduced by heat-treatment at high temperature.the crystallized silica powders calcined at 1500°C have much lower hydroxyl content than the amorphous silica powders. The hydroxyl group content in the silica glass products melted synthetic pre-crystallized silica powders is 7.3ppm, which meets the requirements for full-spectrum (wavelength from 190nm to 3200nm) transmittance.


To precisely measure temperature in high-voltage electrical power equipment subject to intense electromagnetic interference (EMI), we present an artificial neural network (ANN) inverse compensating method, based on which we also construct a compounded fiber-optic temperature measurement system (CFOTMS). The CFOTMS consists of a fiber-optic semiconductor absorption temperature sensor (FOSATS) and an ANN inverse compensator. On one hand, optical-fiber-based light transmission is insusceptible to EMI; on the other hand, due to the utilization of the ANN inverse compensator, the dynamic performance and measuring precision of the CFOTMS are significantly enhanced compared with the sole use of the sensor. Therefore, it is very suitable to be used in high-voltage electrical power equipment. Furthermore, as the intensity-dependent FOSATS is a cheap device, and the ANN inverse compensator is realized in software, the cost of the CFOTMS will be low, which makes it suitable to be used in economical equipment.


This paper discusses solutions for gain sharing in consortia of logistic providers where joint planning of truckload deliveries enables the reduction of empty kilometres. The highly competitive nature of freight transport markets necessitates solutions that distinguish among the logistics providers based on their characteristics, even in situations with two players only. We introduce desirable properties in these situations and propose a solution that satisfies such properties. By comparing the existing solutions against the introduced properties we demonstrate the advantages of our proposed solution.


In its judgment of May 5, 2020, the Second Senate of the German Constitutional Court qualified for the first time a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)—C-493/17 Weiss—as "arbitrary from an objective perspective" and declared the underlying European Central Bank (ECB) decisions regarding the Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) to be ultra vires. It requested the German Government and the German Parliament to take steps against the PSPP in its current form and to ensure that the ECB conducts a proportionality assessment of its PSPP. The judgment also prohibits the German Central Bank from participating, after a grace period of three months, in the implementation and execution of the ECB decisions at issue, unless the ECB assesses and substantiates that the measures provided for in its decisions satisfy the principle of proportionality. The present article, which was written by academics, lawyers, and civil servants from five countries, casts a critical eye on the judgment of the German Constitutional Court. It identifies significant shortcomings from both a German constitutional and a European Union perspective.


The last chapter on cost-effective cane is probably the one psychiatrists will want to show to health service managers, com missioners and policy-makers. It points out that the trend of shifting patients to general medical providers may reduce costs, but it usually deteriorates outcome and, as a consequence, does little to improve the value of care. If your manager is too busy to read chapter 9, I suggest you photocopy page 147. This simply states that achieving quality improvement raises the cost of mental health care but is cost-effective. This is a well-written book. I recom mend it to anyone who has an interest in the care and treatment of depressive disorders. The breadth of the discussion also means that it will appeal to health economists, mental health professionals and those who undertake research on depressive disorders.


Besides lowering the HOMO energy level of polymer donors to promote higher open circuit voltages (Voc) of polymer solar cells, fluorination of their conjugated backbones has been widely demonstrated to improve the overall device performance as well by inducing face-on orientated polymer crystalline lamellae, which is profitable for vertical charge transport. Nevertheless, over-fluorination (up to 4 fluorine atoms) causes severe solubility reduction and serious segregation, leading to large phase separation of PC71BM and subsequent low and unbalanced charge transport, thus deteriorating Jsc, FF and the overall PCE. The underlying impact of multi-fluorination of polymer donors on their interlinked optoelectronic and morphological properties thus remains beyond reach. Guaranteed with sufficient solubility, two D–A copolymers, poly[(5,5′-(2,5-bis((2-octyldodecyl)oxy)-1,4-phenylene)bis(4-fluorothiophene-5,2-diyl))-alt-((5-fluorobenzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole)-4,7-diyl)] (PDTBBT-3F) and poly[(5,5′-(2,5-bis((2-octyldodecyl)oxy)-1,4-phenylene)bis(4-fluorothiophene-5,2-diyl))-alt-((5,6-difluorobenzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole)-4,7-diyl)] (PDTBBT-4F) with 3 and 4 fluorine substituents on the same backbone, respectively, were therefore designed and synthesized. Although lower-lying HOMO energy levels and stronger intermolecular interactions were observed as before, more interestingly, the molecular packing of PDTBBT-3F and PDTBBT-4F in neat films was found to be diametrically opposite. PDTBBT-4F exhibits a preferred face-on orientation whereas the edge-on orientation is dominant for PDTBBT-3F. When mixed with PC71BM to form BHJ blends, the molecular orientation of PDTBBT-3F crystals was transferred to uniform edge-on/face-on intermixing with better crystallinity. Oppositely, the face-on oriented crystals were suppressed to be comparable with edge-on orientated ones with less crystallinity for PDTBBT-4F from the neat film to the BHJ blend. Such distinctive morphology improved the charge generation efficiency, balanced the charge transport and suppressed the charge recombination in the PDTBBT-3F:PC71BM device, eventually leading to an approximate 40% increase of the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE, 8.33%) in comparison with the PDTBBT-4F:PC71BM device (5.92%). Although the maximum PCE is modest compared with the highest state-of-the-art polymer:fullerene blends, we clearly reveal the effect of the degree of multi-fluorination of polymer donors on their self-assembled thin film structure and photovoltaic properties. Attractive molecular orientation transformation of the crystalline lamellae triggered by the degree of multi-fluorination in this case is likely to percolate into related organic semiconductor fields beyond polymer solar cells.


Molecular Biology![Figure][1]

Trypanosome. CREDIT: DR. MAE MELVIN/CDC

Human sleeping sickness is caused by the parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma brucei , which is transmitted when the tsetse fly bites. As in prokaryotes, the genes in this microorganism are arrayed in large polycistronic transcription units. Despite this unusual organization relative to what is seen in most other eukaryotes, the promoter elements where RNA polymerase II and its associated transcription factors bind have largely eluded identification.

Using the ChIP-seq method, which involves DNA sequencing of chromatin immunoprecipitations, Siegel et al. suggest that Pol II transcription factors look for histone modifications and histone variants. Levels of acetylated histone H4 (H4K10ac) are higher at Pol II transcription start sites. In addition, histone variants H2BV and H2AZ, as well as the bromodomain protein BDF3, colocalize with H4K10ac. The authors also show that decoration with these histone variants correlates with less stable nucleosomes, which would allow for their displacement by transcription initiation complexes. A third feature defined by histone variants, in this instance H3V and H4V, is the transcription termination regions. Finally, G-rich stretches in the sense strand upstream of H4K10ac sites may serve as directional sign-posts for transcription. Hence, Trypanosoma appears to use nucleotide sequence and chromatin structure to mark starts and stops.

Genes Dev. 23 , 1063 (2009).

 [1]: pending:yes


A protoplast transformation system has been developed for Corynebacterium glutamicum by using a C. glutamicum-Bacillus subtilis chimeric vector. The chimera was constructed by joining a 3.0-kilobase cryptic C. glutamicum plasmid and the B. subtilis plasmid pBD10. The neomycin resistance gene on the chimera, pHY416, was expressed in C. glutamicum, although the chloramphenicol resistance gene was not. The various parameters in the transformation protocol were analyzed separately and optimized. The resulting transformation system is simple and routinely yields 10(4) transformants per microgram of plasmid DNA.


One hundred forty‐two patients with progressive, hormonally refractory advanced prostate carcinoma who had not received prior chemotherapy were randomized to receive either combination chemotherapy with 5‐fluo‐rouracil (5‐FU), doxorubicin, and mitomycin C (FAM) or sequential chemotherapy with the same agents, i.e., mitomycin C, followed by doxorubicin on disease progression, followed by 5‐FU. Objective tumor regressions were observed in 10 of 70 (14%) patients receiving the FAM treatment arm and 10 of 72 (14%) patients initially receiving mitomycin C. Of the 24 patients who received secondary therapy with doxorubicin alone, 3 (12.5%) achieved objective tumor regression. There were no responses among five patients who received tertiary therapy with 5‐FU alone. The median survival time for all patients treated with the combination arm was 8.7 months, compared with 7.1 months for patients who received the FAM arm (P = 0.025). However, this modes! survival advantage in favor of the FAM treatment arm must be weighed against significantly more myelosuppression experienced by these patients. The chemotherapeutic regimens used in this study have only minor clinical value in the treatment of hormonally refractory advanced prostate cancer. Cancer 1992; 69:1440‐1444.


Original scientific paper Physical Education (PE) research has shown that students' in-class performance on a range of tasks can be explained using selfdetermination theory (SDT). However, little attention has been given to students' applied motor skill performance from an SDT perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine relationships between students' perceived autonomy support, basic need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, applied volleyball skills, volleyball knowledge, and attitude towards a PE course. Participants included students (N = 141; M age = 14.90, age range: 14-18 years) and teachers (N = 4; M age = 41.25, age range: 29-56 years) from four intact PE classes at one large high school in the Southeastern United States. Students completed questionnaires assessing perceived autonomy support, basic need satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and attitude towards the PE course. Skills and knowledge were assessed using standardized performance-based protocols. Structural equation modeling indicated that perceived autonomy support was positively related to basic need satisfaction and attitude towards PE directly. Perceived autonomy support also appeared to facilitate students' applied volleyball performance and game-relevant knowledge through the mediation model proposed by SDT. Pedagogical implications reflected in the interrelated psychological constructs are offered.


BACKGROUND
We examined whether aerobic exercise could have an impact on anthropometric and metabolic parameters of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) Cameroonian women aged ≥50 years.

METHODS
We enrolled 23 T2DM Cameroonian women aged ≥50 years regularly followed at the National Obesity Center of Yaounde, Cameroon, in a 12-week aerobic exercise program monitored by a pedometer. Exercise intensity was progressively set between 55% and 75% of maximum heart rate. We measured weight, body mass index (BMI), fat, lean mass, visceral fat, maximum oxygen uptake, glycaemia and insulin tolerance index at baseline, after six and twelve weeks. A mixed ANOVA model was used to evaluate changes of outcome measures over time.

RESULTS
Total body weight was significantly reduced after 12 weeks (P<0.05), waist circumference after 6 and 12 weeks (P<0.05). There was an increase of the lean mass from 6 weeks (P<0.001) and a reduction of the mean visceral fat at 12 weeks (P<0.001). At the end of the program, the mean glycaemia was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the maximum oxygen uptake was enhanced (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The 12-week aerobic exercise program improved the anthropometric and metabolic parameters as well as the aerobic capacity of T2DM Cameroonian women aged ≥50 years.


The measurement of Hispanics in the 2000 U.S. Census significantly skews the racial identification of the Hispanic population in America. The literature on racial and ethnic identification, however, lacks serious engagement with the social psychology of self-identification. We draw on social identity theory to demonstrate how the process of individual self-categorization reinforces a society structured along racial and ethnic lines. This understanding of the psychological processes through which individuals categorize themselves and others leads to the conclusion that academic distinctions between "race" and "ethnicity" do not adequately reflect the social categories employed by Americans responding to the current U.S. government format for racial self-identification. Using a nationally representative sample, we demonstrate that a significant portion of self-reported Hispanics treat that identity as a race, most often by choosing "other" when asked for their racial classification. Ultimately, we advocate including "Hispanic" as one of the choices in what is currently called the "race question." This approach more accurately captures the lived experience of those who claim an Hispanic identity.


The Informed Systems Approach offers models for advancing workplace learning within collaboratively designed systems that promote using information to learn through collegial exchange and reflective dialogue. This systemic approach integrates theoretical antecedents and process models, including the learning theories of Peter Checkland (Soft Systems Methodology), which advance systems design and informed action, and Christine Bruce (informed learning), which generate information experiences and professional practices. Ikujiro Nonaka's systems ideas (SECI model) and Mary Crossan's learning framework (4i framework) further animate workplace knowledge creation through learning relationships engaging individuals with ideas.


A new technique using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was developed to investigate water transport in whole tissue slices (1–5 mm3) and suspended cells during freezing. The tissue and cellular DSC data were correlated to water transport data by freeze substitution tissue microscopy and standard cellular cryomicroscopy techniques respectively. Sprague Dawley liver tissue and a (non-attached) lymphocyte (Epstein Bar Virus Transformed, EBVT) human cell system, were chosen as our tissue and cell model systems. The DSC was used to quantitatively monitor the heat released by water transported from the cell to the frozen vascular/ extracellular space in both systems at 5°C/min. Cryomicroscopy experiments verified that at a slow cooling rate of 5°C/min no intracellular ice formation (IIF) occurred in either system. The sub-zero volumes of the tissue and cells were obtained as a function of temperature by both DSC and cryomicroscopy. By fitting a model of water transport for cells and tissues, dV/dt = f (Vb, B, T (t), Lp (Lpg, ELp)), to the DSC data for both systems, the following biophysical parameters were obtained, for rat liver tissue: Lpg = 2.25 μm/min-atm, ELp = 75.76 kcal/mole, and for EBVT lymphocytes: Lpg = 0.15 μm/min-atm, ELp = 28.78 kcal/mole. These results compare favorably to a recent study which found water transport parameters in whole liver tissue (Pazhayannur and Bischof, 1996) and to the single cell cryomicroscopy data we obtained in this study. The DSC technique is shown to be a fast and powerful method to obtain dynamic water transport information during cell and tissue freezing.


Hundreds of hazardous waste sites are on the Superfund National Priority List in the United States, and thousands more could become eligible. The Superfund has spent or ordered the spending of billions of dollars, with little apparent impact on human health risks. While public perception of the real or imagined hazardous nature of consumer and industrial substances has resulted in widespread attention to the issue, lawsuits have proliferated with liability aimed at "deep pockets" instead of individual agents who may be responsible. Contributors to "Cutting Green Tape" carefully examine the existence and severity of the toxic harms and liability problem, the erosion of a clear tort legal system to settle disputes, and whether a clearly defined system of property rights could be developed to reduce the dangers from toxic substances. "Cutting Green Tape" rethinks the nature and impact of today's environmental bureaucracy. Rather than continue unworkable, cumbersome, and often contradictory regulations, "Cutting Green Tape" prescribes a clearer tort legal system to settle disputes and demonstrates that clearly defined environmental property rights would reduce the threat of toxic substances. Among the many topics addressed are: air toxins policy; pollution, damages, and tort law; risk assessment, insurance, and public information; protecting groundwater; regulation of carcinogens; contracting for health and safety; and toxin torts by government. The book converges on a central theme: when common law remedies, with their burden of proof and standards of evidence, are replaced by the legislatively mandated regulatory regimes described, a problem emerges. The bureaucratic "tunnel vision" described by Justice Stephen Breyer, tends to take over. The police powers of the state are given to bureaucratic decision makers who are limited only by the blunt instrument of political influence, rather than by the need to show harm or wrongdoing in an unbiased court (as the police are), or by a budget on expenditures set by the Congress (as most bureaus are). The excesses described in the chapters thus result not from incompetence in the bureaus, but from the expansive powers granted to decision makers who are tightly focused on the narrow mission they see before them.


We report a case of a young female patient presenting with bilateral endogenous endophthalmitis (EE) following meningitis due to Neisseria meningitidis with excellent visual outcome. A young 35-year-old female presented with chief complaint of decreased vision in both eyes (right eye more than left eye). On presentation, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was <20/400 in the right eye and <20/120 in the left eye. The patient had a history of fever for which she was admitted in the hospital with the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis and received intravenous fluids with course of intravenous antibiotics. Four days after discharge from the hospital, she noticed diminution of vision; on ocular examination, the anterior segment was normal, and vitritis was present in both the eyes with multiple retinal exudates in between two arcades. Fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were done. Diagnosis was made based on clinical profile secondary to bacterial meningitis. She was started on oral antibiotics for 1 week and oral steroids. The patient was kept on follow-up visits at 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, and monthly up to 6 months. BCVA, intraocular pressure, complete slit-lamp examination, indirect ophthalmoscopy, fundus photo, and OCT were done on each visit. She responded well to the treatment, with BCVA on the final visit being 20/80 (right eye) and 20/20 (left eye), and macular edema resolved in both eyes on the final visit. To conclude, EE is a rare complication following meningitis due to Neisseria meningitis which if diagnosed promptly and managed effectively can have a favorable prognosis.


We recently identified a candidate tumor suppressor gene, HIN-1, that is silenced due to methylation in the majority of sporadic breast carcinomas and is localized to 5q33-qter, an area frequently lost in BRCA1 tumors and thought to harbor a BRCA1 modifier gene. To establish whether germ-line mutations in HIN-1 may influence breast cancer risk, we sequenced the HIN-1 coding region in 10 familial breast cancer patients with positive logarithm of the odds scores of at least one of the markers flanking HIN-1. We also sequenced the HIN-1 coding region in 15 BRCA1 and 35 sporadic breast tumors to determine whether HIN-1 is the target of the frequent 5q loss in BRCA1 tumors. No sequence alterations were found in any of the cases analyzed. However, analysis of HIN-1 promoter methylation status revealed that in striking contrast to sporadic cases, there is a nearly complete lack of HIN-1 methylation in BRCA1 tumors (P < 0.0001). Sporadic breast tumors with a "BRCA1-like" histopathological phenotype also demonstrated significantly lower frequency of HIN-1 promoter methylation (P = 0.01) compared with other cancer types, and there was also a difference among tumors based on their estrogen receptor and HER2 status (P = 0.006), suggesting that HIN-1 methylation patterns are associated with specific breast cancer subtypes.


Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) have been proposed as alternative water treatments coping with recalcitrant organic pollutants [1]. AOPs are based on in-situ generation of highly oxidant hydroxyl radicals. Particularly, in the photo-Fenton process they are produced from ferrous salts (Fe) and hydrogen peroxide (HP). However, this process has been acknowledged to suffer inefficient reactions scavenging HP; which has motivated a large amount of research aimed to determine efficient ratios for the initial concentrations of reactants (Fe/HP).
Dosage is also reported to reduce these side reactions and improve the performance of these processes. Certainly, since they are operated batchwise, the most efficient ratio Fe/HP should not be regarded as an initial value, but as a profile that may undergo optimization. Yet, such optimization problem has not been attempted. A large experimental effort has produced empirical models that cannot be scaled up and do not address the process dynamics, while some first-principle kinetic models that can be found on the literature [2] require a high computational cost for too simple reactions. Therefore, a first issue towards optimization is model selection.
This work adopts the kinetic model by Cabrera Reina [3] based on aggregated components. This model focuses on practical observable variables such as dissolved oxygen and total organic carbon (TOC), and provides a simplified modelling of delayed response of TOC and scavenging reactions. Hence, this work expands it to semi-batch operation and addresses simulation and subsequent optimization of the dosage profile using the Python and Modelica open-source programing languages. Python is used as the core providing functions that Modelica lacks, while the model is implemented in Modelica to take advantage of its model-based language.
The optimization of the HP dosage profile addressed two different scenarios and objective functions. Thus, Pareto frontiers were determined to analyse trade-offs and opportunities, and to aid decision making: i) The TOC reduction to be achieved under time and HP limitations, and ii) The total HP required to attain a given conversion (TOC) within a given time horizon.
Continuous and piecewise optimization approaches were tested and discussed. Results validate the importance of determining efficient dosage profiles for the photo-Fenton process. Model based optimization allows exploring opportunities and trade-offs, and aids decision-making. Hence, this study fosters further work on model fitting for specific applications.


Very-high-resolution (VHR) images can provide abundant ground details and spatial geometric information. Change detection in multi-temporal VHR images plays a significant role in urban expansion and area internal change analysis. Nevertheless, traditional change detection methods can neither take full advantage of spatial context information nor cope with the complex internal heterogeneity of VHR images. In this paper, a powerful feature extraction model entitled multi-scale feature convolution unit (MFCU) is adopted for change detection in multi-temporal VHR images. MFCU can extract multi-scale spatial-spectral features in the same layer. Based on the unit two novel deep siamese convolutional neural networks, called as deep siamese multi-scale convolutional network (DSMS-CN) and deep siamese multi-scale fully convolutional network (DSMS-FCN), are designed for unsupervised and supervised change detection, respectively. For unsupervised change detection, an automatic pre-classification is implemented to obtain reliable training samples, then DSMS-CN fits the statistical distribution of changed and unchanged areas from selected training samples through MFCU modules and deep siamese architecture. For supervised change detection, the end-to-end deep fully convolutional network DSMS-FCN is trained in any size of multi-temporal VHR images, and directly outputs the binary change map. In addition, for the purpose of solving the inaccurate localization problem, the fully connected conditional random field (FC-CRF) is combined with DSMS-FCN to refine the results. The experimental results with challenging data sets confirm that the two proposed architectures perform better than the state-of-the-art methods.


Creating reinforcement learning (RL) agents that are capable of accepting and leveraging task-specific knowledge from humans has been long identified as a possible strategy for developing scalable approaches for solving long-horizon problems. While previous works have looked at the possibility of using symbolic models along with RL approaches, they tend to assume that the high-level action models are executable at low level and the fluents can exclusively characterize all desirable MDP states. Symbolic models of real world tasks are however often incomplete. To this end, we introduce Approximate Symbolic-Model Guided Reinforcement Learning, wherein we will formalize the relationship between the symbolic model and the underlying MDP that will allow us to characterize the incompleteness of the symbolic model. We will use these models to extract high-level landmarks that will be used to decompose the task. At the low level, we learn a set of diverse policies for each possible task subgoal identified by the landmark, which are then stitched together. We evaluate our system by testing on three different benchmark domains and show how even with incomplete symbolic model information, our approach is able to discover the task structure and efficiently guide the RL agent towards the goal.


If mutual gravitational scattering among exoplanets occurs, then it may produce unique orbital properties. For example, two-planet systems that lie near the boundary between circulation and libration of their periapses could result if planet–planet scattering ejected a former third planet quickly, leaving one planet on an eccentric orbit and the other on a circular orbit. We first improve upon previous work that examined the apsidal behavior of known multiplanet systems by doubling the sample size and including observational uncertainties. This analysis recovers previous results that demonstrated that many systems lay on the apsidal boundary between libration and circulation. We then performed over 12,000 three-dimensional N-body simulations of hypothetical three-body systems that are unstable, but stabilize to two-body systems after an ejection. Using these synthetic two-planet systems, we test the planet–planet scattering hypothesis by comparing their apsidal behavior, over a range of viewing angles, to that of the observed systems and find that they are statistically consistent regardless of the multiplicity of the observed systems. Finally, we combine our results with previous studies to show that, from the sampled cases, the most likely planetary mass function prior to planet–planet scattering follows a power law with index −1.1. We find that this pre-scattering mass function predicts a mutual inclination frequency distribution that follows an exponential function with an index between −0.06 and −0.1.


Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) was first discovered as a plasma opsonin for baker's yeast and was independently characterized biochemically. It belongs to the small subfamily of collectins: C-type lectins possessing a collagen-like domain. MBL is synthesized by the liver and secreted into the bloodstream. It is believed to be an important component of innate immunity, acting as an ante-antibody and/or as a disease modifier. It is thought to influence disorders as diverse as meningococcal disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis and recurrent miscarriage. Lack of MBL may be most relevant in the context of a co-existing secondary immune deficiency. Replacement therapy, first carried out 30 years ago with unfractionated plasma, appears promising. The development of a recombinant product should permit the extension of MBL therapy to randomized clinical trials of sufficient size to provide clear evidence about the physiological significance of this intriguing glycoprotein.


We evaluate relationships among time allocation decisions for farm operators and their spouses and endogenous farm structure. We consider two aspects of farm structure{ farm scale, represented by acreage operated and harvested, and farm scope, which is represented by an index of diversification. We are particularly interested in the role of policy expectations as a factor influencing labor decisions and farm structure. Our results indicate that farm structure and household time allocations are significantly related to one another. Operators on larger and more diversified farms tend to work less off the farm. Size may be endogenous to off-farm work decisions in that farms tend to be smaller when farmers pursue off-farm work opportunities, though the converse is true for the operators' spouses. Direct (decoupled) payments tend to be associated with less off-farm work by spouses, a smaller scale of production, and more diversification. This result has relevance to the ongoing debate over the production neutrality of decoupled payments. Coupled payments tend to be associated with more off-farm work by spouses and larger farms, thus suggesting a positive effect on farm labor.


Information technology plays a significant role in the accounting industry. Accounting graduates, therefore, are expected to possess necessary IT competencies to execute the day-to-day activities. However, IT competencies have been viewed as a uni-dimensional construct, with the focus on imparting technical knowledge. There is a difference between the ability to operate IT and IT competencies. IT competency refers to the use of technology for the execution of routine business, so that it contributes to the sustenance, growth and evolution of the business. Therefore, IT competencies should be viewed as a multi-dimensional construct wherein technical ability is complemented by organisational, people and conceptual skills. This study reports the results of a study which analysed the maturity level of IT competencies embedded in existing accounting curriculum in a Malaysian public university. These IT competencies were examined by reference to four major dimensions, namely: technical skills, organisational skills, people skills, and conceptual skills. In doing so, this study presents a scorecard of IT competencies and highlights the underachieving areas of the results of this case study; thus, enabling learning and working as a role map for the continuous improvement of the incorporation of IT competencies in the curriculum. This study makes a significant contribution to the academic and professional body of knowledge and provides an empirically-tested basis for developing IT competencies for knowledge workers in general and professional accountants in particular.


In May 2005, preliminary trial results pronouncing the effectiveness of Herceptin (trastuzumab) for treatment of early-stage breast cancer were disseminated at a high-profile scientific meeting. Herceptin was subsequently approved for use in the public healthcare systems of Canada and the United Kingdom, although the differences between the two decision timelines were stark. The authors compared UK and Canadian newspaper coverage of the Herceptin story to assess how it may have been "hyped" in each country. They analyzed a diverse sample of newspapers and coded clippings for reporters' framing of the drug's efficacy, costs and funding approval process. Canadian news coverage preceded formal publication of the trial results, while UK coverage mirrored major national events. Reporters in both countries used predominantly individualistic perspectives and framed Herceptin's efficacy in salutary terms. Framing of costs was more neutral in Canadian than in UK newspapers. Funding approval framing focused on inequitable access in the UK and timeliness in Canada. News coverage of drug access stories varies across jurisdictions in terms of intensity and some aspects of framing. Such variations likely reflect different journalistic practices and dominant political rhetoric. Greater attention should be given to the role that news coverage of drug access plays in shaping public opinion and policy action, especially when this coverage precedes scientific debate.