Developmental differences in the relationship between coping and adjustment were examined. Participants were fourth, sixth, and eighth grade children and adolescents. Participants completed a self-report measure of their approach and avoidant coping behaviors, and their teachers completed a measure of participants' psychosocial adjustment as measured by both positive and negative indicators. Results indicated that there were developmental differences in participants' use of approach and avoidant coping strategies, with eighth graders using more avoidant strategies than the fourth and sixth graders. Additionally, use of approach strategies was related to more positive adjustment across the three age levels. Individual approach and avoidant coping strategies associated with greater positive adjustment are identified. This study has implications for the development of coping skill s interventions.


Precision measurements by AMS of the fluxes of cosmic ray positrons, electrons, antiprotons,
protons and light nuclei as well as their rations reveal several unexpected and intriguing features. The presented measurements extend the energy range of the previous observations with much increased precision. The new results show that the behavior of fluxes and electrons and positrons at around 300 GeV is consistent with a new source that produce equal amount of high energy electrons and positrons. Surprisingly, in this rigidity range the spectral indices of cosmic ray nuclei, including protons and helium, experience progressive hardening over the rigidity interval of few hundred GV. In addition, in the absolute rigidity range 60-500 GV, the antiproton, proton, and positron fluxes are found to have nearly identical rigidity dependence and the electron flux exhibits different rigidity dependence. The measured ratio of proton-to-Helium fluxes is not constant at high rigidities, whereas the ratios of other primary cosmic ray nuclei such as carbon and oxygen to helium are constant. From the behavior of the flux ratio of beryllium to carbon the age of cosmic rays in the galaxy is found to be ~12 million years, and, remarkably, the measured boron-to-carbon flux ratio is found to follow a single power law, consistent with the Kolmogorov turbulence model of magnetized plasma. Most importantly, AMS continues studies of complex antimatter candidates with stringent detector verification and collection of additional data.


This design paper presents new guidance for creating map legends in a dynamic environment. Our contribution is a set ofguidelines for legend design in a visualization context and a series of illustrative themes through which they may be expressed. Theseare demonstrated in an applications context through interactive software prototypes. The guidelines are derived from cartographicliterature and in liaison with EDINA who provide digital mapping services for UK tertiary education. They enhance approaches tolegend design that have evolved for static media with visualization by considering: selection, layout, symbols, position, dynamismand design and process. Broad visualization legend themes include: The Ground Truth Legend, The Legend as Statistical Graphicand The Map is the Legend. Together, these concepts enable us to augment legends with dynamic properties that address specificneeds, rethink their nature and role and contribute to a wider re-evaluation of maps as artifacts of usage rather than statements offact. EDINA has acquired funding to enhance their clients with visualization legends that use these concepts as a consequence ofthis work. The guidance applies to the design of a wide range of legends and keys used in cartography and information visualization.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Alzheimer's disease (AD)--the main cause of dementia--is characterized by the presence of neuritic plaques containing the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) and an intraneuronal accumulation of tubule-associated protein called tau. The current and future therapeutic strategies for AD will be discussed. Currently available treatment used in AD is based on acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, since in the course of AD there is a substantial loss in cholinergic neurons. Another registered drug used in more severe AD is NMDA antagonist--memantine. Available strategies for AD include vitamin supplementation for reducing homocysteine levels, statins and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The big hope of the last few years--vitamin E and estrogen supplementation have not been proved efficient, but more studies are needed. There are several strategies aimed at acting directly on A beta or amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing: vaccination with A beta peptide, A beta passive immunization, beta and gamma secretases inhibitors. Nerve growth factors and neurotrophines could also be targeted by new therapies.

CONCLUSIONS
A better understanding of the role of APP processing and folate and homocysteine in neuronal homeostasis throughout life consist revealing novel and relatively inexpensive approaches for preventing and treating AD.


With the development of information carriers and information recording means, non-book materials have experienced considerable changes in type and number. Moreover non-book materials play an increasingly important role in information resources construction by virtue of increasing user demand for non-book materials.At present non-book materials in the library are short of effective management and unable to meet user demand, which reduces user satisfaction and damages the image of the library. The author holds the opinion that establishing networked management of non-book materials is crucial. In order to solve this problem, the author mainly expounds 5 indispensible aspects of networked management in non-book materials: classification unification and descriptive standardization; transformation of information; networked management; establishing regional joint service system; paying attention to the copyright problem.


ABSTRACT Pigs are capable of generating reassortant influenza viruses of pandemic potential, as both the avian and mammalian influenza viruses can infect pig epithelial cells in the respiratory tract. The source of the current influenza pandemic is H1N1 influenza A virus, possibly of swine origin. This study was conducted to understand better the pathogenesis of H1N1 influenza virus and associated host mucosal immune responses during acute infection in humans. Therefore, we chose a H1N1 swine influenza virus, Sw/OH/24366/07 (SwIV), which has a history of transmission to humans. Clinically, inoculated pigs had nasal discharge and fever and shed virus through nasal secretions. Like pandemic H1N1, SwIV also replicated extensively in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts, and lung lesions were typical of H1N1 infection. We detected innate, proinflammatory, Th1, Th2, and Th3 cytokines, as well as SwIV-specific IgA antibody in lungs of the virus-inoculated pigs. Production of IFN-γ by lymphocytes of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes was also detected. Higher frequencies of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, γδ T cells, dendritic cells, activated T cells, and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were detected in SwIV-infected pig lungs. Concomitantly, higher frequencies of the immunosuppressive T regulatory cells were also detected in the virus-infected pig lungs. The findings of this study have relevance to pathogenesis of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in humans; thus, pigs may serve as a useful animal model to design and test effective mucosal vaccines and therapeutics against influenza virus.


Here, we present a study of the population genetic architecture and microevolution of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) at the environmental margins in the Middle East using mitochondrial sequences and nuclear microsatellites. In contrast to the rather homogenous population structure typical of cave‐dwelling bats in climax tropical ecosystems, a relatively pronounced isolation by distance and population diversification was observed. The evolution of this pattern could be ascribed to the complicated demographic history at higher latitudes related to the range margin fragmentation and complex geomorphology of the studied area. Lineages from East Africa and Arabia show divergent positions. Within the northwestern unit, the most marked pattern of the microsatellite data set is connected with insularity, as demonstrated by the separate status of populations from Saharan oases and Cyprus. These demes also exhibit a reduction in genetic variability, which is presumably connected with founder effects, drift and other potential factors related to island evolution as site‐specific selection. Genetic clustering indicates a semipermeability of the desert barriers in the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula and a corridor role of the Nile Valley. The results emphasize the role of the island environment in restricting the gene flow in megabats, which is also corroborated by biogeographic patterns within the family, and suggests the possibility of nascent island speciation on Cyprus. Demographic analyses suggest that the colonization of the region was connected to the spread of agricultural plants; therefore, the peripatric processes described above might be because of or strengthened by anthropogenic changes in the environment.


The main aim of the present book is to suggest some improved estimators using auxiliary and attribute information in case of simple random sampling and stratified random sampling and some inventory models related to capacity constraints. This volume is a collection of five papers, written by six co-authors (listed in the order of the papers): Dr. Rajesh Singh, Dr. Sachin Malik, Dr. Florentin Smarandache, Dr. Neeraj Kumar, Mr. Sanjey Kumar & Pallavi Agarwal. In the first chapter authors suggest an estimator using two auxiliary variables in stratified random sampling for estimating population mean. In second chapter they proposed a family of estimators for estimating population means using known value of some population parameters. In Chapter third an almost unbiased estimator using known value of some population parameter(s) with known population proportion of an auxiliary variable has been used. In Chapter four the authors investigates a fuzzy economic order quantity model for two storage facility. The demand, holding cost, ordering cost, storage capacity of the own - warehouse are taken as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. In Chapter five a two-warehouse inventory model deals with deteriorating items, with stock dependent demand rate and model affected by inflation under the pattern of time value of money over a finite planning horizon. Shortages are allowed and partially backordered depending on the waiting time for the next replenishment. The purpose of this model is to minimize the total inventory cost by using the genetic algorithm. This book will be helpful for the researchers and students who are working in the field of sampling techniques and inventory control.


The main role in determination of the pharmacologic effects of the imipramine groups antidepressants is given to their influence on neurotransmitters metabolism in synapses, the activity of enzymic systems regulating the transport of ions, as well as on the system of cyclic AMP metabolism. Interaction of tricyclic antidepressants with membrane and, as the result, distrubance in reuptake of transmitters (epinephrine and 5-hydroxytryptamine) in neurons is supposed to be one of the mechanisms of synaptic transmission regulation. The possible role in inhibition of biological amines deamination, in particular of phenylethylamine, in antidepressive effect of tricyclic antidepressants is discussed. It is supposed that the thymoanaleptic effects of the imipramine group antidepressants are due to activation of central serotoninergic processes, and their psychoanaleptic effect due to activation of the adrenergic system. Inhibition of the Na+, K+-ATPase activity quilizing effect of tricyclic antidepressants.


Crowdsourcing is an effective and powerful tool for firms to solve practical issues and develop innovative products, but the relationship between risks and performance in crowdsourcing has received insufficient attention. Based on a dataset of 163 samples from China, social subsystem risk is empirically found to negatively influence crowdsourcing performance, whereas technical subsystem risk affects the performance insignificantly. The negative impact of social subsystem risk on performance is stronger than that of technical subsystem risk. These findings reveal that different types of risk have diverse roles in affecting performance. Moreover, we provide novel knowledge to existing literature by empirically indicating that different risk types interact with one another to influence performance. Technical subsystem risk particularly enhances the negative effect of social subsystem risk on performance. Therefore, crowdsourcers should develop systematic but different risk management strategies to mitigate the two risk types.


Early applications of wilderness economic research demonstrated that the values of natural amenities and commodities produced from natural areas could be measured in commensurate terms. To the surprise of many, the economic values of wilderness protection often exceeded the potential commercial values that might result from resource extraction. Here, the concepts and tools used in the economic analysis of wilderness are described, and the wilderness economic literature is reviewed with a focus on understanding trends in use, value, and economic impacts. Although our review suggests that each of these factors is trending upward, variations in research methods plus large gaps in the literature limit understanding of long-run trends. However, as new data on wilderness use, visitor origins, and spatially referenced features of landscapes are becoming increasingly available, more robust economic analysis of both onsite and offsite wilderness economic values and impacts is now becoming possible.


This article uses a new source of data, namely the full sample of the 1881 census enumerators' books, to study female labour force participation. It examines the interaction between labour demand and supply to gauge their relative importance in determining female labour force participation rates (LFPRs). Three main findings emerge from the current article. First, there is an unmistakable link between labour demand and female LFPRs. High levels of female labour force participation are found in areas where there were industries with ample demand for female labour. Second, supply‐side factors also had clear effects on female LFPRs. However, they can only operate within the limit imposed by the demand‐side conditions. Third, female migration did not fundamentally change the spatial patterns of female LFPRs. Overall, this article argues that the demand side of the female labour market was the most important factor in determining female LFPRs in nineteenth‐century England and Wales.


Solution for length-limited thin-walled cylindrical shells' deformation and stress state under non-axisymmetric uniform line load and concentrated load conditions, such as containments of rail guns, is a common engineering problem. Based on fundamental equations of the above problem, load function and displacement function are presented, and displacement and stress analytic solutions are obtained by Galerkin Method in this paper. The analytical solutions are verified by comparing them with ANSYS numerical solutions of an example problem. The results of this paper can be served as a reference for analytic solutions and engineering designs of non-axisymmetric cylindrical shells.


Electrothermal guns utilize an ablation stabilized pulsed capillary arc discharge to generate a high-pressure propellant gas. The plastic propellant, usually polyethylene, is ablated from the capillary walls by absorption of the radiative flux from the arc discharge. Similar capillary discharges have also been used to ignite conventional gun propellants in electrothermal-chemical (ETC) guns. During the rising part of the current pulse, there are rapid changes in the chamber pressure and temperature as shocks propagate from the capillary and then reflect from the base of the projectile and back into the capillary. This causes redistribution of the current density within the capillary altering the spatial ablation rates with time. MACH2 is a general purpose MHD code that has been used to simulate these complex electrical, hydrodynamic and radiation interactions for a 12 mm bore diameter electrothermal gun configuration tested at Institut St. Louis (ISL). The simulation domain includes the capillary discharge, and an expansion chamber extending to the projectile. The radiation was adjusted to match the measured pressure pulse and total ablated mass. Large radial and temporal variations in the velocity, temperature, density and radiation fields were observed in the simulations during the rising part of the current pulse. These results suggest that one-dimensional models may neglect some important physical processes.


The introduction of non-native species can pose environmental and economic risks, but under some conditions, introductions can serve conservation or recreational objectives. To minimize risks, introductions should be conducted following the International Union for Conservation of Nature's guidelines and should include an initial assessment and a follow-up.
In 1948, to reduce the predation pressure on Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica by golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos, the alpine marmot Marmota marmota was introduced to the Pyrenees in Western Europe. In successive introductions, about 500 marmots were released, but the fate of the released animals and their impacts on the environment remain largely unstudied.
The aim of this study was to assess the success of the introduction of the alpine marmot into the Pyrenees, 60 years after the initial release, and the potential impacts of this species on Pyrenean ecosystems.
We reviewed what is known about the marmot populations introduced to the Pyrenees and other populations within their native range in the Alps, particularly in terms of population structure and dynamics, habitat use and potential environmental impacts.
The alpine marmot is widely distributed and, apparently, well established in the Pyrenees. Population structure and demographic parameters are similar within and outside the historical distribution range of the species, and habitat suitability is one of the main reasons for the species' success in the Pyrenees. Few researchers have investigated the impacts of alpine marmots in the Pyrenees; thus, those impacts have to be inferred from those observed in the species' native range or in other species of marmot. Introduced alpine marmots are likely to impact on Pyrenean grasslands through grazing and burrowing, have the potential to alter Pyrenean food webs and could act as vectors of parasites and disease.
Although the introduction of the alpine marmot in the Pyrenees appears to have been successful, more needs to be known about the effects of the established populations on the environment before informed management actions can be taken in the Pyrenees.


: Four commonly and largely abused drugs morphine, cocaine, amphetamine, cathinone and sympathomimetic ephedrine were investigated, using intravenous self-administration by naive mice, with special regard to methodological aspects of these techniques. All drugs showed a similar bell-shaped concentration response curves, which are typical of compounds with high addictive potential. A new method of analysis of the reinforcing properties allowing to disregard motor side effects of drugs nas been proposed. Procedure and analysis aspects of described techniques as well as the possibilities of its application for screening of addictive substances are discussed.


Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) yield in Ghana is limited by variable rainfall, low soil fertility, pests and diseases, and poor crop management. Field experiments were conducted during the 1997 and 1998 seasons at the Savanna Agricultural Research Station in Ghana to evaluate the CROPGRO-peanut model for its ability to simulate growth, yield, and soil water balance of a peanut crop and to quantify yield losses caused by biotic and abiotic factors. Two peanut cultivars, Chinese which matures in 90 d, and F-Mix which matures in 120 d, were grown rainfed on an Alfisol soil at three sowing dates between May and August in 1997 and at four dates in 1998. Soil water and crop growth were measured during the season and compared with crop model simulations to determine yield-limiting factors relative to potential yield. Growth and yield were highest for the early sowing dates and decreased progressively with later sowing, a trend attributed to leaf diseases. After incorporating functions for percentage leaf defoliation and percentage diseased leaf area, the model accurately simulated soil water content fluctuations, crop growth, and yield of cultivars for the sowing dates and seasons. Simulated yield losses caused by water deficits were small (averaging 5–10%) for early sowing dates (late May to mid-July) and increased with later sowing dates (20 and 70% for third and fourth sowings). Yield losses due to diseases and pests were simulated as a percentage of potential yield under water-limited environments and averaged 40%, also increasing with later sowing dates. Using 13 yr of weather data, simulated yields were reduced 10 to 20% by water deficit for the two earlier (normal) sowing dates, but more for the later sowing dates, while additional yield reductions were attributed to biotic stresses. We conclude that the CROPGRO-peanut model can be successfully used to quantify the yield potential and yield gaps associated with yield-reducing stresses and crop management for this region.


Background and Aim: Temporal resolution refers to the ability of perceiving changes over time. This study was conducted to prepare Persian version of the temporal resolution test, which was first introduced by Phillips (1994) and Stuart (1996), and to obtain its results in 18 to 25 year old normal individuals of both genders. Methods: To construct the Persian version of the temporal resolution test, like the original version, speech stimuli, continuous and interrupted noises were used. Speech stimuli comprised four lists of fifty words-monosyllabic lists, which were presented to the right ears first in quietness and then with continuous and interrupted noises on S/Ns of -20, -10, 0, +10 dB. The test was performed on thirty three right handed healthy individuals (14 male and 19 female with the mean age 21.02, SD=1.7 year old) in written response mode. Results: Significant difference was shown between test scores in quiet with each of the continuous (p<0.0001) and interrupted (firstname.lastname@example.com) noises in four signal to noise ratios, and also between test scores of continuous and interrupted noise presentations (p<0.0001). No significant correlation was revealed between gender and test scores and age and test score and age in +10 dB S/N ratio. Conclusion: Conducting this test on a group of healthy individuals showed its application for


Background: In 2008 the National Patient Safety Agency encouraged UK hospitals to develop local policies that reduced the risks associated with chest drain insertion. A key theme that emerged from the 2008 Rapid Response Report was that the inexperience of junior doctors and inadequate supervision increased the risk of complications associated with the procedure. Aims: We proposed that a ward based nurse practitioner, trained in thoracic ultrasound and chest drain insertion could: 1. Safely perform this procedure in the absence of a competently trained doctor. 2. Optimise training opportunities for junior doctors to undertake this procedure under appropriate supervision. Method: Following a tailored education programme including ultrasound interpretation and chest drain insertion we reviewed 10 chest drain insertions performed by the nurse practitioner. Various aspects relating to chest drain insertion including consent practice, use of thoracic ultrasound and incidence of any adverse events were audited. Data was collected over a four month period (June to September 2011). Results: All 10 chest drain insertions performed by the nurse practitioner were correctly sited, written consent was obtained in 100% of procedures undertaken, thoracic ultrasound was used to guide drain placement in 100% of cases and there were no adverse incidents or complications related to chest drain insertion. Conclusion: Training of specialist nurses in the procedure of chest drain insertion for elective patients with uncomplicated pleural effusion is an acceptable model within the district hospital setting and has the additional benefit of providing appropriate support and supervision for junior doctors undertaking this procedure.


Today, members of most institutions realize how important risk management practices are, but many encounter difficulties in putting such policies into practice (Hsiao, 2007). Most accidents have been associated with the absence of risk management plans and the failure to provide instruction in swimming. Because of the high rate of accidents in water-related activities, the focus of this research was to understand the management status of aquatic centers in schools, YMCAs, public/private communities, hotels, and theme parks in Taiwan; the risk management practices employed by these institutions; and associated legal concerns. The aforementioned institutions are believed to be in the most reasonable position to provide water safety education and swimming classes for children and adults in Taiwan. Language: en


Ediacara-type fossils represent a group of soft-bodied organisms, mainly known from imprints in Proterozoic coarse-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. Circular compressions of Beltanelliformis brunsae and remains related to Ediacara-type fossils, such as Cucullus fraudulentus , and Mucuplagum primitivum are reported here in an organic mode of preservation from the Neoproterozoic Doushantuo and Liulaobei Formations of China. They can be interpreted as prokaryotic colonies. A charnid fossil with circular attachment disc and stalk, but torn-off frond, is documented in a three-dimensional and partly organic mode of preservation from the Neoproterozoic Ust-Pinega Formation (White Sea coast, Russia). According to their morphology and structure, the Charniidae are not regarded by us as pennatulaceans. Modern Myxobacteria illustrate that macroscopic size, complexity, and even compartmentalization can also be developed by prokaryotic colonies. Part of the Ediacara-type fossils may therefore represent prokaryotic colonies or symbiotic organisms involving prokaryotes. Finally, direct evidence indicates that biofilms with associated prokaryotic sheaths, preserved in both organic and pyritic fashion, form the wrinkled surfaces ("elephant skin") that were preferentially colonized by Ediacara-type fossils. This finding supports previous interpretations, based on comparative morphological and sedimentological approaches, that ancient wrinkle structures were microbial mats.


Previous multispectral sounders have consisted of infrared and microwave instruments operated asynchronously, with the data interpolated during ground processing to common fields of view (FOVs) for geophysical retrieval processing. To help achieve the high retrieval accuracy required for the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) system, the four instruments making up the AIRS suite are aligned and synchronized in such a way as to achieve common FOVs without interpolation. We describe the system, how the alignment is accomplished, and the plans to verify performance after launch and compensate for misalignments that might be revealed then.


Teaching metal forming processes in Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate program is very important because these technologies are widely used to manufacture a great number of parts to industries like automotive, machine tools, aeronautical and many others. High tooling costs and low numbers of parts produced are typical characteristics of forming processes of metal parts. The development of accurate numerical models capable of predicting parameters process combining time and cost reduction, could help to achieve design objectives, thus avoiding the practice of the empirical "trial and error" method that has been traditionally applied to metal forming design. The main objective of this paper is to show a perspective of the new Mechanical Engineering Graduate Undergraduate curricula in the current context of Engineering Education in Spain, focusing on the solid mechanics and manufacturing fundamentals needed to success in teaching simulation of metal forming processes. A new course dealing with modelling of metal forming processes is proposed, discussing curricula context, contents and methodology.


Many concurrent data structures are initially designed for the sequential consistency (SC) memory model. Developers often implement these data structures on real-world systems with weaker memory models by adding sufficient fences to ensure that their implementation on the weak memory model exhibits the same executions as the SC memory model. Recently, the C11 and C++11 standards have added a weak memory model to the C and C++ languages. Developing and debugging code for weak memory models can be extremely challenging. We present AutoMO, a framework to support porting data structures designed for the SC memory model to the C/C++11 memory model. AutoMO provides support across the porting process: (1) it automatically infers initial settings for the memory order parameters, (2) it detects whether a C/C++11 execution is equivalent to some SC execution, and (3) it simplifies traces to make them easier to understand. We have used AutoMO to successfully infer memory order parameters for a range of data structures and to check whether executions of several concurrent data structure implementations are SC.


Microplastic content (MPs) in mussels ( Mytilus spp.) from two areas of the north coast of Spain was measured for the first time. Additionally, a comparison of microplastic levels observed in mussels digested with nitric acid and with potassium hydroxide was carried out. The average microplastic concentration in mussels digested with nitric acid was significantly lower than that observed in mussels digested with potassium hydroxide (p –1 WW) was slightly higher than that in mussels from the Ria of Vigo (1.59±1.28 MPs g –1 WW). Both in the Ria of Vigo and in the Cantabrian Sea the observed pattern of pollution was fitted to the one expected. Consequently, mussels have been confirmed as suitable sentinel organisms for microplastic pollution.


H-NS is a major constituent of the Escherichia coli nucleoid. Expression of the major outer membrane proteins, OmpC and OmpF, is influenced by hns mutations such that OmpC expression increases whereas OmpF expression decreases irrespective of the osmolarity of the medium (K. A. Graeme-Cook, G. May, E. Bremer, and C. F. Higgins, Mol. Microbiol. 3:1287-1294, 1989). In this study we show that the effect of an hns::neo mutation on OmpF expression is largely diminished in a deletion mutant carrying the micF gene that encodes the ompF mRNA-specific antisense RNA. In addition, the micF transcript levels in the hns::neo mutation are high compared with transcript levels in wild-type cells. On the basis of these results, we provide evidence for a link between OmpC/OmpF expression and the regulatory function of H-NS. We suggest that H-NS most likely affects OmpC expression directly at the level of transcription, but OmpF expression is indirectly regulated by micF antisense RNA.


Community pharmacists play a significant role in the proper management of asthma because of their unique position and extended roles in the community as a healthcare team member. Hence, knowledge, attitude and perceived practice (KAPP) of asthma among community phannacists can influence the effectiveness of the treatment. This study was conducted to determine KAPP of asthma among urban community pharmacists
in Selangor, Malaysia, and Lahore, Pakistan. The aim of the study was to investigate the differences in the scores ofKAPP of asthma among urban community pharmacists in two different states and countries, to determine the correlation of knowledge of asthma with attitude and perceived practice of asthma, and to determine the predictors and their effects that lead to different level of KAPP of asthma among urban community pharmacists in two different states and countries. In this cross-sectional study, 150 urban community pharmacists were recruited from Selangor, Malaysia, and 170 from Lahore, Pakistan, via a convenience sampling design. The self-administered instruments were disseminated
directly to the consented respondents. The instrument consisted of socio-demographic data, knowledge (n = 23 items), attitude (n = 10 items) and perceived practice (n = 22 items) of asthma. Similar findings as in pilot study, the instrument used in this study was found to be valid «modem test theory (MTT) (Rasch-Model) and classical test theory (CTT) (factor analysis)) and reliable (MTT (Rasch-Model) and CTT (internal consistency)). The level of asthma knowledge among Malaysian urban community pharmacists was moderate (M = 12.93, ±SD = 3.46) and significantly lower than those scored by Pakistani urban community pharmacists (M = 15.35, ±SD = 2.78). Overall the
level of attitude toward asthma was good, significant (p = 0.00) higher with mean (±SD) score of 45.26 (±3.25) obtained by Malaysian than that obtained by Pakistani pharmacists (36.30 (±1.32)). The mean (±SD) score of perceived practice of asthma among Malaysian urban community pharmacists was 99.29 (±4.58) that indicated very good perceived practice of asthma but in Lahore, Pakistan, the mean (±SD) score of perceived practice of asthma was significantly (p = 0.00) lower (79.77 (±3.21) but still at a good level. Statistical significant mean differences (p < 0.05) were found in the KAPP of asthma scores for age, education level and number of working hours in all respondents. Overall, the correlation between knowledge and attitude, knowledge and perceived practice, and attitude and perceived practice of asthma was significantly (p < 0.05) positive moderate (r = 0.306) negative moderate (r = -0.366), and positive high (r = 0.919), respectively.
Multiple Regression analysis showed that the selected study predictors insignificantly explained 7.4%, 3.8%, 8.5% of variation in the KAPP of asthma in all respondents, respectively. Logistic regression showed that none of the selected study variables
predicted KAPP of asthma among community pharmacists in both states and countries.Interestingly, overall, age, education level and number of working hours had significant effect on the attitude and perceived practice of asthma management. Community
pharmacists identified time and patient related factors as the major barriers to the provision of asthma services. In Malaysia, knowledge of asthma among urban community pharmacists needs to be enhanced whereas in Pakistan, urban community pharmacists need to improve in KAPP of asthma to fulfil their current role for better management of asthma. Therefore, attendance to continuous asthma education programmes would
benefited community pharmacists in providing excellence pharmaceutical care to asthma patients.


Sickle cell disease (SCD) and Beta thalassemia are disorders of beta globin production and function that lead to severe anemia and significant disease complications across a multitude of organ systems. Autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells engineered through the upregulation of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) or correction of the beta globin gene have the potential to reduce disease burden in patients with beta hemoglobinopathies. Base editing is a recently developed technology that enables precise modification of the genome without the introduction of double strand DNA breaks.
 Gamma globin gene promoters were comprehensively screened with cytosine and adenine base editors (ABE) for the identification of alterations that would derepress HbF. Three regions were identified that significantly upregulated HbF, and the most effective nucleotide residue conversions are supported by natural variation seen in patients with hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH). ABEs have been developed that significantly increase the level of HbF following nucleotide conversion at key regulatory motifs within the HBG1 and HBG2 promoters. CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) were purified at clinical scale and edited using a process designed to preserve self-renewal capacity. Editing at two independent sites with different ABEs reached 94 percent and resulted in up to 63 percent gamma globin by UPLC. The levels of HbF observed should afford protection to the majority of SCD and Beta thalassemia patients based on clinical observations of HPFH and non-interventional therapy that links higher HbF dosage with milder disease (Ngo et al, 2011 Brit J Hem; Musallam et al, 2012 Blood).
 Directly correcting the Glu6Val mutation of SCD has been a recent goal of genetic therapies designed for the SCD population. Current base editing technology cannot yet convert mutations like those that result from the A-T transversion in sickle beta globin; however, ABE variants have been designed to recognize and edit the opposite stranded adenine residue of valine. This results in the conversion of valine to alanine and the production of a naturally occurring variant known as Hb G-Makassar. Beta globin with alanine at this position does not contribute to polymer formation, and patients with Hb G-Makassar present with normal hematological parameters and red blood cell morphology. SCD patient fibroblasts edited with these ABE variants achieve up to 70 percent conversion of the target adenine. CD34 cells from healthy donors were then edited with a lead ABE variant, targeting a synonymous mutation in an adjacent proline that resides within the editing window and serves as a proxy for editing the SCD mutation. The average editing frequency was 40 percent. Donor myeloid chimerism documented at these levels in the allogeneic transplant setting exceeds the 20 percent that is required for reversing the sickle phenotype (Fitzhugh et al, 2017 Blood).
 These next generation editing approaches provide a promising new modality for treating patients with Beta thalassemia and SCD.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Background and Objective : AIDS is a disease that requires suitable management and appropriate treatment. The treatment includes antiretrovirals together with other medications to prevent patients from opportunistic infections and mortality from AIDS. Due to drug related problems (DRPs) may occur at any time, resulting to unachieved drug therapy. Root cause analysis is a strategy that may find out and solve the problems systematically. Methods : The study was a descriptive, cross-sectional study in HIV-infected patients who received antiretroviral therapy. This study was conducted between 1 st December 2013 to 28 th February 2014 at  AIDS clinic, outpatient departments, Srinagarind hospital, Khon Kaen university. Data were collected from a questionnaire detailing patient's behavior, drug use and the problems caused by the drug. Assessment of the drug related problems was performed by using the system of The Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) Results : The results showed that 220 patients (64.7%) from 340 patients were found with DRPs.  Classification of problems by PCNE showed 298 DRPs. The most frequent problems were treatment effectiveness 188 problems (63.1%), adverse drug reactions 64 problems (21.5%), treatment costs 45 problems (15.1%) and others 1 problem (0.3%). The majority of problems from treatment effectiveness (53.7%) were the inefficacy of drug treatment / therapy failure and suboptimal drug treatment. It was found that the problem was mainly caused by failure to receive prescribed drug  (76.9%), which mostly due to the patients themselves (80.3%), followed by the system of healthcare service (10.0%) and medical personnel (9.7%)  respectively. The result showed that the root cause was patients' noncompliance which mostly from forgetting to take the medicine. This problem may be solve by changing the treatment regimen to once daily regimen to augment patient's convenience. Conclusion : The major drug related problems found in this study was the failure of receiving prescribed drug and its the root cause was forgetting to take the medicine by patients themselves. Drug regimen modification may be the potential way to solve drug related problem in patient.


The essay materials abstracted below present a look at Big Data and a review of the role the arts play in the evolution of the human species and the collective, cumulative project of assembling scientific and artistic knowledge: Part 1: how art and science are similar; Part 2: how their approach to "knowing" differs and how together they create knowledge; and Part 3: how these systems of knowing apply to the transformations activated by the digital revolution of the past 25 years. In concert, art and science might enable a collective human response sufficiently resilient to survive the natural and cultural challenges ahead. These essays start with the observation that art and science are the primary, interlocked and essential components in the production of human knowledge: Art and science are distinct and intertwined, two elements of a single compound. By the conclusion of the essays it starts to emerge that art contains the sciences by virtue of being the unmoored, radical vanguard in collective thought. In this sense, science is suspended in the arts; science is the crystalline forms that appear in the matrix of art's critical, complex and enigmatic thinking. The arts work one step beyond the collective conversation we call culture, and from that place just over the perimeter, the arts compassionately and sometimes jarringly bring us along to see the view from this new spot. Within these cultural horizons, science is doing the hard work of making what we encounter "real." These essays present the arts and sciences as parallel yet intertwined, like two components of a composite organism, feeding off each other to sustain a growing and adapting life form bigger than either.


We read with interest the paper by Hamada et al ,1 which draws a number of conclusions from a 5 year follow up study of 69 periocular basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) treated by conventional surgery and, in particular, suggests that there is no place for Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) in patients with periocular BCCs. MMS is the serial saucerisation excision with mapped horizontal tissue sections examining 100% of the surgical margins to produce histological evidence of tumour negative margins. Unfortunately, the data included in the paper are incomplete and if such conclusions are to be considered, then further clarification is required.

Risk of BCC recurrence relates directly to the nature of the tumours treated.2 The principal risk factors for recurrence include previous treatment, large tumour size, and an infiltrative or micronodular histological growth pattern. No information is given on the first two factors and the histological subtype was non-specified in approximately 45% of cases. We calculate from the data provided that the authors experienced a 19% 5 year recurrence rate in patients with a histologically infiltrative BCC.

If most of the "non-specified" tumours in Hamada's series were small nodular tumours, as the paper implies, then Hamada's series also differs significantly from other larger series in that it represents a group of patients with an inherently better prognosis. Other comments hint at this, in that 76% of BCCs were on the …


This dissertation explores the discursive production of, and response to, environmental disaster. The project is contextualized through the case of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. By interrupting traditional perceptions of environmental disaster, this project frames socio-environmental disasters as a normal and increasingly experienced part of global hydrocarbon capitalism. The project purports that disaster is embedded within the current global economy and the high-modernist ideologies that underlie it. As such, the strategies and techniques employed to respond to environmental disaster are intimately bound up within the same systemic processes that have created them in the first place. Moreover, because instrumentalist responses are quickly employed to mitigate disaster, the systemic factors productive of disaster remain concealed. Environmental disaster is thus a process of hydrocarbon capitalism rather than a product of it; as such it can, among other categories, be understood as manageable, profitable, and litigable. This research also highlights the normalization of chronic socioenvironmental disaster though sensationalistic perspectives on acute disaster. This project explores the potential for resistance through artistic endeavors, highlighting how the discursive processes that construct traditional power/knowledge formations of environmental disaster might be subverted through non-traditional means. While the framework of eco-governmentality is especially useful in highlighting the problematic social relationships to nature, the project nonetheless acknowledges that counterdiscourses for are likely to be appropriated by industry for the purpose of new enterprise and profit.


The problem in designing of modern Website projects is to produce contents according to the latest trends and styles. The common Website editors just help to draw the intended layouts but the problem is to design the accurate Web layout according to the demand and latest trends and style. This approach is useful when the user has a specific layout already in mind and is familiar with the Web page layout principles as to what kinds of layouts are possible. It is intrinsically difficult for particularly those who have limited artistic and creative abilities to design good layout from scratch which is acceptable in every respect. An automated system is required that has ability to mine the layouts of the desired type of Websites. The designed system for "Web layout mining (WLM)" helps to mine the most popular web-layouts from the Internet database and design a Web-layout that is near to acceptable and have all the marks and features of modern requirements. The designed system actually bases on a rule based algorithm which helps the user to search out some samples related to his Website category and afterwards the user himself chooses a desired Web-layout and designs its own one with proper implications and variations according to his own requirements.


The effects of removal of external fat prior to cooking on fat and moisture content and sensory properties of cooked beef lean were investigated. Twelve pairs of beef strip loin steaks, eye of round roasts, top round roasts, briskets and arm pot roasts fabricated from USDA Choice carcasses were used. True fat retention was also determined for 36 strip loin steaks trimmed to either 0, 0.6 or 1.3 cm external fat. Cooking yield and sensory traits were adversely affected, by the fat removal, only in those cuts (briskets and arm pot roasts) which were cooked by braising. Fat content of the cooked lean was numerically higher in all cuts cooked with an external fat layer. Retention of intramuscular fat was also higher in strip steaks cooked with an external fat layer.


Bioceramics based on calcium phosphate is convinced to be well biocompatible after abundant researches. In this study, a biphasic bioceramic block (10 mm by 5 mm) (BBB) composed of hydroxyapatite and beta-tricalcium phosphate (40/60 in wt%) was prepared using a molten salt approach. At 800oC, the molten sodium chloride well helped the sintering of the precursor powders. A second calcination at 1000oC was then used to evaporate the salt so that a pure biphasic bioceramic block was obtained. This approach can provide porous BBB with 60% porosity, and powder x-ray diffraction patterns ensured the phasic compositions. However, the electrom probe microanalysis showed that around 2 at% of sodium was retained in the BBB. Scanning electron microscope revealed well-dispersed connective micro-pores of 3 micron and random macro-pores of >100 micron in the BBB. Because the salt was evaporated during the preparation of the BBB, the spatial voids were created, and, as a result. The compressive strength of the BBB can only reach a value of 3 MPa. Subcutaneous implantation of the BBB in mice showed that both acute and chronic imflammation were mild. In summary, the molten salt approach is feasible to fabricate biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics having controlled porosity.


The expanding complex pattern of filaments, walls and voids build the evolving cosmic web with material flowing from underdense onto high density regions. Here we explore the dynamical behaviour of voids and galaxies in void shells relative to neighboring overdense superstructures, using the Millenium Simulation and the main galaxy catalogue in Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. We define a correlation measure to estimate the tendency of voids to be located at a given distance from a superstructure. We find voids-in-clouds (S-types) preferentially located closer to superstructures than voids-in-voids (R-types) although we obtain that voids within $\sim40~\mathrm{Mpc}\,\mathrm{h}^{-1}$ of superstructures are infalling in a similar fashion independently of void type. Galaxies residing in void shells show infall towards the closest superstructure, along with the void global motion, with a differential velocity component depending on their relative position in the shell with respect to the direction to the superstructure. This effect is produced by void expansion and therefore is stronger for R-types. We also find that galaxies in void shells facing the superstrucure flow towards the overdensities faster than galaxies elsewere at the same relative distance to the superstructure.
The results obtained for the simulation are also reproduced for the SDSS data with a linearized velocity field implementation.


The article was written with the intention of throwing some light upon the development of the Hollerith Electric Tabulating System, which ultimately resulted in the first automatic sequence-controlled printing calculator, the DEHOMAG D 11 tabulator. The story of this particular machine is important in the general history of tabulating equipment, yet it has not been told before. Although the article is based upon a larger technical report, of which other parts are intended for later publication, it cannot be said to be the last word on this machine. Basic material about the device continues to be collected, and every item leads to further insights. >


Current methods of training personnel on high cost machine tools involve the use of both classroom and hands on practical training. The practical training required the operation of costly equipment and the trainee has to be under close personnel supervision. The main aim of this project is to reduce the amount of practical training and its inherent cost, time, danger, personal injury risk and material requirements by utilising a virtual reality technology.

In this study, an investigation into the use of Virtual reality for training operators and students to use the Milling Machine was carried out. The investigation has been divided into two sections: first the development of Milling Machine in the 3D virtual environment, where the real machine was re-constructed in the virtual space.

This has been carried out by creating objects and assembling them together. The complete Milling machine was then properly modelled and rendered so it could be viewed from all viewpoints.

The second section was to add motion to the virtual world. The machine was made of functions as for the real machine. This was achieved by attaching Superscape Control Language (SCL) to the objects. The developed Milling machine allows the users to choose the material, speed and feed rate. Upon activation, the virtual machine will be simulated to carry out the machining process and instantaneous data on the machined part can be generated.

The results were satisfactory, the Milling Machine was modelled successfully and the machine was able to perform according to task set. Using the developed Virtual Model, the ability for training students and operators to use the Milling Machine has been achieved.


The authors use metrical, demographic and body part analyses of animal bone assemblages in Anatolia to demonstrate how cattle were incorporated into early Neolithic subsistence economies. Sheep and goats were domesticated in the eighth millennium BC, while aurochs, wild cattle, were long hunted. The earliest domesticated cattle are not noted until the mid-seventh millennium BC, and derive from imported stock domesticated elsewhere. In Anatolia, meanwhile, the aurochs remains large and wild and retains its charisma as a hunted quarry and a stud animal.


The onset of self-excited oscillations is developed theoretically for a traveling wave thermo-acoustic-piezoelectric (TAP) energy harvester. The harvester is intended for converting thermal energy, such as solar or waste heat energy, directly into electrical energy without the need for any moving components. The thermal energy is utilized to generate a steep temperature gradient along a porous stack. At a specific threshold of the temperature gradient, self-sustained acoustic waves are generated inside an acoustic resonator. The resulting pressure fluctuations excite a piezoelectric diaphragm, placed at the end of the resonator, which converts the acoustic energy directly into electrical energy. The pressure pulsations are amplified by using an acoustic feedback loop which introduces appropriate phasing that make the pulsations take the form of traveling waves. Such traveling waves render the harvester to be inherently reversible and thus highly efficient. The behavior of this class of harvesters is modeled using the lumped-parameter approach. The developed model is a multi-field model which combines the descriptions of the acoustic resonator, feedback loop, and the stack with the characteristics of the piezoelectric diaphragm. A new method is proposed here to analyze the onset of self-sustained oscillations of the traveling wave engine using the classical control theory. The predictions of the developed models are validated against published results. Such models present invaluable tools for the design of efficient thermo-acoustic-piezoelectric (TAP) energy harvesters and engines.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Objectives The purpose of this study was to review evaluation studies of nursing management information systems (NMISs) and their outcome measures to examine system effectiveness. Methods For the systematic review, a literature search of the PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was conducted to retrieve original articles published between 1970 and 2014. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms included informatics, medical informatics, nursing informatics, medical informatics application, and management information systems for information systems and evaluation studies and nursing evaluation research for evaluation research. Additionally, manag* and admin*, and nurs* were combined. Title, abstract, and full-text reviews were completed by two reviewers. And then, year, author, type of management system, study purpose, study design, data source, system users, study subjects, and outcomes were extracted from the selected articles. The quality and risk of bias of the studies that were finally selected were assessed with the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-randomized Studies (RoBANS) criteria. Results Out of the 2,257 retrieved articles, a total of six articles were selected. These included two scheduling programs, two nursing cost-related programs, and two patient care management programs. For the outcome measurements, usefulness, time saving, satisfaction, cost, attitude, usability, data quality/completeness/accuracy, and personnel work patterns were included. User satisfaction, time saving, and usefulness mostly showed positive findings. Conclusions The study results suggest that NMISs were effective in time saving and useful in nursing care. Because there was a lack of quality in the reviewed studies, well-designed research, such as randomized controlled trials, should be conducted to more objectively evaluate the effectiveness of NMISs.


Vilnius University The present paper concentrates on particular mytho-religious symbolism and mythological structures used in two popular films by famous contemporary Indian film director Ashutosh Gowariker: Lagaan (2001) and Swades (2004). These films are significant in the history of Indian popular cinema not only for their complex problems related to the sensitive topics of anti-colonialism, nationalism and patriotism, but also for their widely used mytho-religious symbolism. My goal in this essay is to analyse these two films, identifying the mythological symbols and mythological structures used in the films, and to see how they organise the films' narrative and how they are connected with the issues of anti-colonialism, Hindu nationalism, and the construction of (idealised) Indian identity. In this paper I argue that the usage of mythological and mytho-religious symbolism functions as a useful tool for the director to transfer ideas related to national identity, nationalism, and anti-colonialism to the viewer effectively, as well as to express a political and social critique of contemporary India and to construct the images of idealised Indian identity in response.


Abstract Achievement test is a mechanism to measure student's knowledge and abilities. Numerous categories of achievement tests have been developed by different scholars and psychologists. Since they do not directly consider curriculum adopted during the course of study of students, they do not reflect truly upon the achievements of students. We propose an achievement test which is computerized and is based on assessment of RAW (reading, arithmetic and writing) capabilities considering curriculum used for imparting education. We set compositions and contents according to age group and educational standards. We then conduct a series of experiments to show how an achievement test linked with a curriculum is reflective, in a better manner, of the student's achievement index then a general one. We call Online RAW Achievement Battery test and we also develop an application which use for conducting our experiment and formulation of results. Finally, we analyze our results with students' historical records and WRAT-4 which is a well-known standardized test and report our findings.


Motivation Marker genes, defined as genes that are expressed primarily in a single cell type, can be identified from the single cell transcriptome; however, such data are not always available for the many uses of marker genes, such as deconvolution of bulk tissue. Marker genes for a cell type, however, are highly correlated in bulk data, because their expression levels depend primarily on the proportion of that cell type in the samples. Therefore, when many tissue samples are analyzed, it is possible to identify these marker genes from the correlation pattern. Results To capitalize on this pattern, we develop a new algorithm to detect marker genes by combining published information about likely marker genes with bulk transcriptome data in the form of a semi-supervised algorithm. The algorithm then exploits the correlation structure of the bulk data to refine the published marker genes by adding or removing genes from the list. Availability and implementation We implement this method as an R package markerpen, hosted on https://github.com/yixuan/markerpen. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com


A women's dormitory required a plan that facilitated genteel surveillance. The Martha Cook Building (York & Sawyer, 1911–15) at the University of Michigan manifested early twentieth-century ideas about gender, race, class, and higher education. The residence hall, named in honor of donor William W. Cook's mother, had one main entry on its narrow end, with a door facing the street and a matron's office adjacent to it. When the University of Michigan built a men's dormitory soon after, paid for by the same patron and designed by the same architects, it used a staircase plan, which afforded less control over the students. One might think that a donor who funded a lavish dorm would have as his motive the promotion of woman-centered education. Instead, Cook employed architecture in the service of social exclusion; he objected to the presence of Asians and poor women in the dorm and imagined that the elegant semipublic rooms would civilize brutish young men. As had been the case at Oberlin College, the women's residence hall served as the social hub for the entire campus.


We are now starting our ESL "Irregular Verb Challenge," which means we are going to produce a story entitled "Was It Love?" in episodes, which will include all the 140+ Irregular verbs that students often find tiresome to learn.


Development and Analysis of a Vibration Based Sleep Improvement Device Benjamin John Himes Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Many research studies have analyzed the effect that whole-body vibration (WBV) has on sleep, and some have sought to use vibration to treat sleep disorders such as insomnia. It has been shown that low frequencies (f < 2Hz) are generally sleep inducing, but oscillations of this frequency are typically difficult to achieve using electromagnetic vibration drives. In the research that has been performed, optimal vibration parameters have not been determined, and the effects of multiple vibration sources vibrating at different frequencies to induce a low frequency traveling wave have not been explored. Insomnia affects millions of people worldwide, and non-pharmacological treatment options are limited. A bed excited with multiple vibration sources was used to explore beat frequency vibration as a non-pharmacological treatment for insomnia. A repeated measures design pilot study of 14 participants with mild-moderate insomnia symptom severity was conducted to determine the effects of beat frequency vibration, and traditional standing wave vibration on sleep latency and quality. Participants were monitored using high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG). Sleep latency was compared between treatment conditions. Trends of a decrease in sleep latency due to beat frequency vibration were found (p ≤ 0.181 for AASM latency, and p ≤ 0.068 for unequivocal sleep latency). Neural complexity during wake, N1, and N2 stages were compared using Multi-Scale Sample Entropy (MSE), which demonstrated significantly lower MSE between wake and N2 stages (p ≤ 0.002). Lower MSE was found in the transition from wake to N1 stage sleep but did not reach significance (p ≤ 0.300). During N2 sleep, beat frequency vibration shows lower MSE than the control session in the left frontoparietal region. This indicates that beat frequency vibration may lead to a decrease of conscious awareness during deeper stages of sleep. Standing wave vibration caused reduced Alpha activity and increased Delta activity during wake. Beat frequency vibration caused increased Delta activity during N2 sleep. These preliminary results suggest that beat frequency vibration may help individuals with insomnia symptoms by decreasing sleep latency, by reducing their conscious awareness, and by increasing sleep drive expression during deeper stages of sleep. Standing wave vibration may be beneficial for decreasing expression of arousal and increasing expression of sleep drive during wake, implying that a dynamic vibration treatment may be beneficial. The application of vibration treatment as part of a heuristic sleep model is discussed.


In this study, free vibration analysis of Reissner plates on Pasternak foundation is carried out by mixed finite element method based on the Gateaux differential. New boundary conditions are established for plates on Pasternak foundation. This method is developed and applied to numerous problems by Akoz and his co-workers. In dynamic analysis, the problem reduces to the solution of a standard eigenvalue problem and the mixed element is based upon a consistent mass matrix formulation. The element has four nodes and bending and torsional moments, transverse shear forces, rotations and displacements are the basic unknowns. The element performance is assessed by comparison with numerical examples known from literature. Validity limits of Kirchhoff plate theory is tested by dynamic analysis. Shear locking effects are tested as far as h/2a =10 -6 and it is observed that REC32 is free from shear locking.


Mothers of the Atlantic grey seal, Halichoerus grypus, lactate for about 20 days, during which they do not feed and may have no access to water. Following weaning, they depart to sea leaving their pups unattended and unfed for up to another 40 days. We are interested in how this lactation strategy supports the pups' rapid growth and development while also preparing them for their long fast before independently going to sea. We report a broad spectrum metabolomic analysis of whole milks of these seals that reveals continuous changes in key metabolites from birth to weaning. Certain components exhibit abbreviated appearances at the onset of lactation, followed by continuous rises or falls in others until weaning. Riboflavin/Vitamin B2, hormone-related sterol sulfates, lactose, and complex oligosaccharides all appear in milk briefly after birth then disappear. Lipids associated with cellular signaling and brain development occur at highest levels shortly after birth, then diminish. In contrast, other lipids and Vitamin B6/pyridoxine steadily increase as weaning approaches. Overall, these findings may indicate an early transition from carbohydrate to fat-based energy metabolism and establishment of gut microbiomes in pups, followed by provisioning for post-weaning development and fasting.


The solar cycle 23 provided several strong ground level enhancements (GLEs). The first strong
GLE event of the cycle was observed on 14 July 2000 (the Bastille day event), while the last
was observed on 13 December 2006. In addition, the period of late October - early November
2003 was characterized by strong cosmic ray variability and sequence of three GLEs. Cycle 23
produced also the second largest event in the observational history - 20 January 2005 event. Here
we perform a precise analysis of spectral and angular characteristics of solar energetic particle
(SEP) events on the basis of neutron monitor (NM) data. We model particle propagation in the
Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere using a newly computed NM yield function at several altitudes
above the sea level. The method includes several consecutive steps: detailed computation
of asymptotic cones and rigidity cut-off of each NMstation used in the analysis, making an initial
guess of the inverse problem by assuming the apparent source position location in a convenient
way, application of the NM yield function for detector response modelling and subsequent optimization
procedure in order to derive spectral and angular characteristics of SEPs. Here, we
present results from analysis of several GLEs. The SEP spectra and pitch angle distributions were
obtained in their dynamical development throughout the events. We briefly demonstrate the capability
of the method to assess SEP features of sub-GLE events, the details reported in this volum.
Several case examples are discussed.


This thesis examines the introduction and importation of numerous exotic food plants into north-western and western Europe during the Roman and medieval periods. It constitutes the first part of a wider, ongoing research project directed by Prof. Van der Veen on "Long-Distance Trade and Agricultural Development". The aim is to establish the dispersal histories of these exotics and highlight the active role of food in processes of socio-economic change in past societies. Relevant data were collected from all available archaeobotanical records in the area and period under study, and brought together in a uniform database format. Information was gathered on the species presence, mode of preservation and accuracy of identification. Sites are classified by period (Roman/early medieval/medieval), type (urban/rural/military), status (elite/non-elite) and context (secular/ceremonial/religious). Two types of analyses are employed to identify the chronological, social and geographical dispersal of the most common (forty-two) species: a species-specific, and a multivariate technique (Correspondence Analysis). Results indicate the emergence of very distinct dispersal patterns for each period and for the various species. In the Roman period numerous new food plants become available in different contexts. Many species that could be locally cultivated become incorporated into local diet, particularly near the Rhine frontier, while rarer species are limited to military, major urban and elite sites. In the following period most exotics disappear, indicating a turn towards more local dietary and agricultural regimes and highlighting the disjointed socio-economic context of the early medieval world. A shift in activities northwards is observed during the medieval period when the diversity of species increases again. Different food plants become prominent but most are associated with towns and the urban elite, marking socio-economic divisions. This study advances understanding of the changing nature of the exotic status of many species, and reveals these as crucial guides to charting human and economic impacts and movements. For my parents, Sofia and Tasos Livardas


Twenty-four growing-finishing pigs averaging 19.70 ± 1.14 kg were used to determine the effect of level of daily feed intake (ad libitum, 90%, and 80% ad libitum) on growth, feed efficiency, and visceral organ weights. The average daily metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) intake of the 90% and 80% ad libitum fed groups was limited to 37.58 and 33.17 MJ and 356.8 and 315.2 g, respectively. The control groups received 41.78 MJ of ME, and 396.8 g of protein daily. Average daily gains of the restricted group was 3-4% lower than the control group, necessitating one to three extra feeding days to attain the desired weight range (98-100 kg). Feed efficiency of the restricted group was slightly higher than the control group; however differences were significant (P < 0.05) only for 80% ad libitum treatment. The weight of the liver decreased significantly (P < 0.05) but other visceral organs were not affected by treatment.


Objective: Archetypal positioning has gained an increased amount of popularity in the field of branding; however, little investigation has been undertaken with regards to the congruent visualization of archetypal positioning among certain corporate visual identity elements. This study investigates the effects of a congruent visualization of archetypal positioning among company descriptions, logos and slogans on attitude towards the organization and perception. Method: The study consisted of two online experiments. First, 16 logos had to be rated based on four archetype descriptions as well as on logo attractiveness. The four logos scoring best for each archetype were selected for the second study. The second study included four fictive company cases, each of them consisting of a logo, a slogan and a company description. The four fictive organizations are active in the green energy business, however differing in positioning based on the four archetypes caregiver, hero, outlaw and sage. Eight scenarios were created, each of them consisting of two company cases, one case including organizations positioned on the hero vs. caregiver archetype, the other case including organizations positioned on the outlaw vs. sage archetype. In each of the eight scenarios, logo, slogan and company description of the two cases differed in congruence and incongruence. Each respondent had to rate its archetype perception and attitude towards the organization of the two presented cases. Afterwards, the degree of design sensitivity of each respondent was measured. Findings: The first study represented positive results, showing that respondents had similar associations towards the logos as described in the literature. Respondents were able to match the right logos to the right archetype description. Other than expected, the second did not show any significant results for congruence on the attitude towards the organization, therefore rejecting H1. An effect was, however, found of slogan and logo congruence on attitude for the caregiver vs. hero case among respondents scoring high on design sensitivity, therefore partly supporting H2. Moreover, a significant main effect was found for description on perception and attitude in almost all scenarios. In scenarios where the company description was for instance based on the caregiver archetype, ratings on caregiver perception tended to be higher. Conclusion: It is concluded that a congruent representation of description, logo and slogan does not have any effects on the attitude towards the organization. Results indicated, however, that organizations need to present a well thought through, informative and concise company description, in order for consumers to form a positive attitude towards the organization. In addition, findings show that the logo is a vital carrier of the archetypal positioning, a fact which should be carefully considered by organizations. In addition, the powerful ability to communicate a desired positioning through logos is not applicable when the company description is presented simultaneously with the logo. Specific assimilation processes are assumed to have an impact on this finding. All in all, this study shows that once an organization positions itself on a specific archetype, it has to thoroughly decide on how to express and visualize this archetype to its consumers, both visually and textually.


The effect of encapsulation of adriamycin into niosomes, and its resultant chemical purity, was studied by means of HPLC and high-speed scanning spectrophotometry (the simultaneous use of which allowed investigation of potential non-fluorescent drug degradation products), and the process shown not to adversely affect the drug. Efficiency of entrapment of aqueous solutions of the drug was apparently dependent on neither vesicle composition nor method of production, and evidence of a degree of surfactant-adriamycin association was provided by the high entrapment values. Light-induced drug degradation was reduced by niosome encapsulation, and efflux of entrapped adriamycin was decreased by inclusion of cholesterol into the vesicles, in a manner similar to that reported for liposome preparations. Thus only chemically pure adriamycin was entrapped in, and released from, niosomes.


The results of the development of a nonfatal model of experimental infection induced by Pixuna alpha-virus and suitable for the evaluation of the effectiveness of antiviral drugs are described. The asymptomatic infection induced in white mice by intranasal inoculation of Pixuna virus is characterized by intensive virus multiplication in the brain and spleen of the animals. In these organs virus reproduction is observed early after infection and amplification of the agent reaches maximum titres within 72 h postinfection. With this model, the main criterion of the effectiveness of antiviral drugs would be their effect on virus reproduction in the spleen and brain.


solar irrigation pumps a reality in India. It is only a matter of time before governments begin aggressive promotion of solar irrigation pumps. Several players are already in the market offering a range of solar pumping solutions. This note is inspired by a field visit to some of the solar pumps installed by Claro Energy in Bihar. Its cost structure which is high on fixed costs and low on variable costs makes solar pumps ideal for small farmers wanting to double up as Irrigation Service Providers (ISP) to their neighbours. Solar pumps are widely seen as an 'energy' solution; however, in the Indian context, they need to be viewed as a composite energy-and-water intervention that will affect both energy as well as groundwater economies. Aggressive promotion of solar pumps in groundwater abundant Eastern India has the potential to catalyze an ever-green revolution there. The same strategy in Western and Southern India, however, can increase the stress on depleted groundwater resources because solar pump owners face near-zero marginal cost of groundwater. In water-abundant Eastern India, subsidizing capital cost of solar pumps can be part of a sound promotional strategy. Elsewhere, it may be appropriate instead to connect farmers as microlevel Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to the grid and offer attractive price for buying surplus power from them. Tushaar Shah and Avinash Kishore Water Policy Research


Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common causes of neurological disability in young and middle-aged adults. Patients with MS face many challenges, both physical and emotional, and see an overall reduction in their autonomy.
There is no definitive treatment for MS, though Disease Modifying Drugs (DMDs) have proved effective in reducing the frequency and severity of relapses. Unfortunately, long-term adherence to these therapies is a significant challenge due to practical difficulties as well as a general distrust towards the drugs
.

 This study follows an original research carried out in 2008. In the first study, patients answered questions on their clinical history and expressed their judgment on the pharmacological treatment, their perceived effectiveness and factors that may undermine compliance. They have been recalled after two years to verify if the reported symptoms have changed and to assess how their knowledge of the disease and "acceptance" of the treatment have been modified.

 In spite of the relatively high number of patients participating in the first study (141 patients followed at a single neurological centre), only 16 patients have completed the questionnaire for the long-term survey. A detailed descriptive analysis has been carried out, as well as a pairwise correlation analysis.

 The interviews carried out gave an insight into how patients' behavior may have changed over time. Compliance rate is different in newly-diagnosed patients and long-term patients; the latter are more likely to be compliant, given their personal experience with the disease. Communications with neurologists and health personnel should aim at forming therapeutic alliances with patients and detecting their preferences for a qualitatively adequate assistance throughout their illness.


The combination of habits and a forward outlook suggests that consumers will be sensitive not just to prices but to price dynamics. In particular, rational habits models suggest 1. that price volatility and uncertainty will reduce demand for a habit-forming good and 2. that such volatility will dampen demand?s responsiveness to price. These two implications can be tested by augmenting a traditional partial-adjustment or error-correction model of demand. I apply this augmented model to data on gasoline consumption, as rational habits provide a succinct representation for the investment and behavioral decisions that determine gasoline usage. The trade-o¤s among 2SLS, system GMM, and pooled mean group (PMG) estimators are considered, and my preferred PMG estimator provides evidence for the two implications of rational habits in a panel of 29 countries for the years 1990-2009. The sensitivity of certain results to the choice of estimator o¤ers a cautionary illustration of the cost of assumptions such as coe¢ cient heterogeneity. Given the evidence uncovered in favor of rational gasoline habits, such habits may help to explain some of the cross-country variation in "total" price elasticity. These habits also imply that the e¤ect of price volatility must be taken into account when projecting the impacts of potential policies on gasoline consumption.


Implicit neural representation (INR) characterizes the attributes of a signal as a function of corresponding coordinates which emerges as a sharp weapon for solving inverse problems. However, the capacity of INR is limited by the spectral bias in the network training. In this paper, we find that such a frequency-related problem could be largely solved by re-arranging the coordinates of the input signal, for which we propose the disorder-invariant implicit neural representation (DINER) by augmenting a hash-table to a traditional INR backbone. Given discrete signals sharing the same histogram of attributes and different arrangement orders, the hash-table could project the coordinates into the same distribution for which the mapped signal can be better modeled using the subsequent INR network, leading to significantly alleviated spectral bias. Experiments not only reveal the generalization of the DINER for different INR backbones (MLP vs. SIREN) and various tasks (image/video representation, phase retrieval, and refractive index recovery) but also show the superiority over the state-of-the-art algorithms both in quality and speed. Project page: https://ezio77.github.io/DINER-website/


Let R be a commutative Noetherian local ring. We show that R is Gorenstein if and only if every finitely generated R-module can be embedded in a finitely generated R-module of finite projective dimension. This extends a result of Auslander and Bridger to rings of higher Krull dimension, and it also improves a result due to Foxby where the ring is assumed to be Cohen-Macaulay.


One of the key drivers of cloud computing adoption is usage-based IT service delivery alternative to on premises IT infrastructure. Existing research supports the role of cloud computing for cost savings. We employed a mixed-method two-staged study to investigate the total cost of ownership of cloud computing in the local government sector of Queensland, Australia. The first qualitative study included 21 in-depth interviews of IT managers to understand the cost elements associated with cloud computing. This was followed by a quantitative study that analysed survey data collected from 480 IT staff across 47 local government organizations to investigate the impact of specific cost elements on cloud computing adoption. We found that cloud computing is perceived to save costs and more specifically for IT capital investments. However specific cost elements for training and operational costs may not reduce as expected. Research findings may assist to make investment decisions on cloud computing adoption.


Background — The EUROASPIRE surveys showed high rates of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in patients with coronary heart disease, identified after coronary artery bypass graft, percutaneous coronary intervention or myocardial infarction, with time trends in preventive cardiology over more than a decade. Aim — The aim of this study was to test the implementation of European recommendations for cardiac rehabilitation and secondary risk prevention programmes in the population of coronary heart disease patients from Serbia. Subjects and methods — A total of 665 consecutive coronary heart disease patients (432 men, 233 women, aged 59.43 ± 11.62 years), admitted for specialized cardiovascular rehabilitation, interviewed and examined in relation to the presence of coronary risk factors and administration of secondary prevention measures, were enrolled in the study. Results — High rates of smoking (27.67%), central obesity (58.05%), physical inactivity (61.50%) and adverse dietary habits (61.50%) were observed, as well as low frequency of patients who have reached recommended targets for waist circumference (41.95%), total cholesterol (40%), LDLcholesterol (39.25%), HDL-cholesterol (59.69%) and triglycerides (59.25%), while systolic (82.26%) and diastolic blood pressures (95.49%) were well regulated. A significantly lower rate of achieved therapeutic targets, despite widely used cardioprotective drugs, was observed in diabetic patients and patients with the metabolic syndrome. Conclusion — The results have shown a low proportion of coronary heart disease patients, especially with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, who reached the recommended therapeutic targets for cardiometabolic risk profile parameters, in spite of widely used cardioprotective drugs, and therefore clearly demonstrated the compelling need for more effective lifestyle management in the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.


Intercropping grain sorghum and legumes is a common practice in the tropics, but the effects of N application in an intercropping system have not been fully studied. Therefore, field experiments were conducted on a Decatur silty loam (Rhodic Paleudult) soil to evaluate the effects of N and intercropping methods on grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) with common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and soya bean (Glycine max L.). Four N rates (0, 33, 66, 99 kg h -1 ) were utilized on sorghum interplanted, in alternate rows or alternating plants within rows, with common bean and soya bean. A sole planting (pure stand) of each species was added as a control treatment. Grain sorghum yield when intercropped with common bean and soya bean was 112% and 91% of the sole planting yield, respectively. Yields of intercropped soya bean and common bean were 90% and 68% of their respective sole plantings. The yield difference between intercrop and sole crop sorghum became less as N rates increased. Sorghum yields and common bean responded positively to an increase in N from 0 to 99 kg ha -1 . Efficiency of production from intercropped treatments, as measured by the land equivalent ratio, was significantly higher (1.83) than sole plantings.


We have demonstrated that infusion of donor rats with fenoldopam, a dopaminergic compound that maintains renal blood flow without increasing blood pressure, induces HO-1 expression and protects kidneys against cold-storage injury when transplanted. Since fenoldopam has vascular and other cellular effects, whether the protection is mediated through HO-1 remains uncertain. To test this, renal tubular (RPTE) cells were preincubated with fenoldopam (0-80 μg/mL) for 18 hours and subjected to 4°C cold storage for 24 hours. Fenoldopam significantly reduced cold-storage injury (e.g., % LDH release, mean ± SE, 53.4 ± 1.3 cold control vs. 16.2 ± 0.5 and 2.2 ± 0.2 for 10 and 80 μg/mL fenoldopam respectively (n = 3; p < .001). Similarly, inclusion of fenoldopam in UW solution during cold storage also protected the cells against cold-storage injury. The fenoldopam's protections of cells on both of these occasions were associated with a significant increase in HO-1 protein. To test whether HO-1 induction is directly responsible for fenoldopam's cytoprotection in RPTE cells, we employed siRNA oligonucleotides specifically directed against HO-1 mRNA to silence the HO-1 gene. Using real-time RT PCR, we first confirmed that fenoldopam caused a two-fold induction of HO-1 mRNA. In a separate experiment in which RPTE cells were stored in the cold, siRNA dose dependently knocked down the fenoldopam-induced HO-1 mRNA by 70%. The controls, oligofectamine, the vehicle for siRNA, or siRNA alone did not affect HO-1. To determine the effect of HO-1 on fenoldopam's protection, we repeated the experiment in the presence of HO-1 siRNA and measured LDH release. As before, fenoldopam significantly suppressed cold-induced LDH release in these cells. However, the addition of HO-1 siRNA completely abrogated the protective effect of fenoldopam (% LDH release: cold control 50.2 ± 0.4 vs. cold plus fenoldopam 10.1 ± 0.5, vs. cold plus fenoldopam 40 μg/mL plus HO-1 siRNA 52.2 ± 0.3; p < .001) demonstrating a central role for HO-1 in fenoldopam's cytoprotection. Use of fenoldopam may prove to be useful in reducing the cold-storage injury of transplanted organs.


We report a case of Fanconi anemia who presented with growth failure (short stature),
bone marrow failure (pancytopenia- aplastic anemia), bilateral absent thumbs, absent
right radius, bowed and dysplastic right ulna, cafe-au-lait spots, hyperpigmentation, and
absent left kidney.
Fanconi anemia ( FA) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. It is the most commonly
inherited constitutional aplastic anemia (1). Patients of FA typically have short stature,
hyperpigmentation, skeletal malformations, progressive pancytopenia, increased risk of
malignancy (2). Fanconi cells are characterized by chromosomal hypersensitivity to cross
linking agents and the resulting increase in chromosomal breakage provides basis for the
diagnostic test (3). Palliative therapy consists of treatment with androgens or
oxymetholone and steroids. Corrective therapy is bone marrow transplantation and recent
modalities of therapy include gene therapy using lenti virus or retro virus as vectors.


At CRYPTO'98, Bleichenbacher published his seminal paper which described a padding oracle attack against RSA implementations that follow the PKCS #1 v1.5 standard. Over the last twenty years researchers and implementors had spent a huge amount of effort in developing and deploying numerous mitigation techniques which were supposed to plug all the possible sources of Bleichenbacher-like leakages. However, as we show in this paper, most implementations are still vulnerable to several novel types of attack based on leakage from various microarchitectural side channels: Out of nine popular implementations of TLS that we tested, we were able to break the security of seven implementations with practical proof-of-concept attacks. We demonstrate the feasibility of using those Cache-like ATacks (CATs) to perform a downgrade attack against any TLS connection to a vulnerable server, using a BEAST-like Man in the Browser attack. The main difficulty we face is how to perform the thousands of oracle queries required before the browser's imposed timeout (which is 30 seconds for almost all browsers, with the exception of Firefox which can be tricked into extending this period). Due to its use of adaptive chosen ciphertext queries, the attack seems to be inherently sequential, but we describe a new way to parallelize Bleichenbacher-like padding attacks by exploiting any available number of TLS servers that share the same public key certificate. With this improvement, we can demonstrate the feasibility of a downgrade attack which could recover all the 2048 bits of the RSA plaintext (including the premaster secret value, which suffices to establish a secure connection) from five available TLS servers in under 30 seconds. This sequential-to-parallel transformation of such attacks can be of independent interest, speeding up and facilitating other side channel attacks on RSA implementations.


Reconceptualist work in curriculum studies resides in an intellectual Patagonia —a distant provincial backwater too often forgotten in the tumultuous capital centers— and places its sole hope for curricular (and social) change on the faint messages it telegraphs from self-chosen margins. To any honest reconceptualist scholar in curriculum studies, the above statement is obvious, and therefore, requires no elaboration. As evidence of this statement, ask a teacher or administrator in K-12 education if they have ever heard of the area or its scholars.


In the context of education technology, empathic interaction with the user and feedback by the learning system using multiple inputs such as video, voice and text inputs is an important area of research. In this paper, a non-intrusive, standalone model for intelligent assessment of alertness and emotional state as well as generation of appropriate feedback has been proposed. Using the non-intrusive visual cues, the system classifies emotion and alertness state of the user, and provides appropriate feedback according to the detected cognitive state using facial expressions, ocular parameters, postures, and gestures. Assessment of alertness level using ocular parameters such as PERCLOS and saccadic parameters, emotional state from facial expression analysis, and detection of both relevant cognitive and emotional states from upper body gestures and postures has been proposed. Integration of such a system in e-learning environment is expected to enhance students' performance through interaction, feedback, and positive mood induction.


Musicians have been used extensively to study neural correlates of long-term practice, but no studies have investigated the specific effects of training musical creativity. Here, we used human functional MRI to measure brain activity during improvisation in a sample of 39 professional pianists with varying backgrounds in classical and jazz piano playing. We found total hours of improvisation experience to be negatively associated with activity in frontoparietal executive cortical areas. In contrast, improvisation training was positively associated with functional connectivity of the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices, dorsal premotor cortices, and presupplementary areas. The effects were significant when controlling for hours of classical piano practice and age. These results indicate that even neural mechanisms involved in creative behaviors, which require a flexible online generation of novel and meaningful output, can be automated by training. Second, improvisational musical training can influence functional brain properties at a network level. We show that the greater functional connectivity seen in experienced improvisers may reflect a more efficient exchange of information within associative networks of importance for musical creativity.


Neutrinos in compact-object environments, such as core-collapse supernovae, can experience various kinds of collective effects in flavor space, engendered by neutrino-neutrino interactions. These include"bipolar"collective oscillations, which are exhibited by neutrino ensembles where different flavors dominate at different energies. Considering the importance of neutrinos in the dynamics and nucleosynthesis in these environments, it is desirable to ascertain whether an Earth-based detection could contain signatures of bipolar oscillations that occurred within a supernova envelope. To that end, we continue examining a cost-function formulation of statistical data assimilation (SDA) to infer solutions to a small-scale model of neutrino flavor transformation. SDA is an inference paradigm designed to optimize a model with sparse data. Our model consists of two mono-energetic neutrino beams with different energies emanating from a source and coherently interacting with each other and with a matter background, with time-varying interaction strengths. We attempt to infer flavor transformation histories of these beams using simulated measurements of the flavor content at locations in vacuum (that is, far from the source), which could in principle correspond to earth-based detectors. Within the scope of this small-scale model, we found that: (i) based on such measurements, the SDA procedure is able to infer \textit{whether} bipolar oscillations had occurred within the protoneutron star envelope, and (ii) if the measurements are able to sample the full amplitude of the neutrino oscillations in vacuum, then the amplitude of the prior bipolar oscillations is also well predicted. This result intimates that the inference paradigm can well complement numerical integration codes, via its ability to infer flavor evolution at physically inaccessible locations.


Oestrogens play key roles in the development of the majority of breast tumours, a fact that has been exploited successfully in treating breast cancer with tamoxifen, which is a selective oestrogen receptor modulator. In post-menopausal women, oestrogens are synthesised in peripheral hormone-target tissues from adrenally derived precursors. Important in the peripheral fine-tuning of sex hormone levels are the 17β hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (17βHSDs). These enzymes catalyse the oxidation/reduction of carbon 17β of androgens and oestrogens. Upon receptor binding, the 17β-hydroxy conformation of androgens and oestrogens (testosterone and oestradiol) triggers a greater biological response than the corresponding keto-conformation of the steroids (androstenedione and oestrone), and the 17βHSD enzymes are therefore important mediators in pre-receptor regulation of sex hormone action.Breast tumours differ substantially with regards to molecular and/or biochemical signatures and thus clinical courses and response to treatment. Predictive factors, which aim to foretell the response of a patient to a specific therapeutic intervention, are therefore important tools for individualisation of breast cancer therapy. This thesis focuses on 17βHSD14, which is one such proposed marker, aiming to learn more of properties of the enzyme in breast cancer as well as in normal physiology. We found that high 17βHSD14 levels were correlated with clinical outcome in two separate subsets of breast tumour materials from trials evaluating adjuvant tamoxifen therapy. Striving to understand the underlying mechanisms, immunohistochemical 17βHSD14 expression patterns were analysed in a large number of human tissues using an in-house generated and validated antibody. The 17βHSD14 protein was expressed in several classical steroidogenic tissues such as breast, ovary and testis which supports idea of 17βHSD14 being an actor in sex steroid interconversion. Furthermore, using a radio-high pressure liquid chromatography method, cultured cells transiently expressing HSD17B14 were found to oxidise both oestradiol and testosterone to their less potent metabolites oestrone and androstenedione respectively. The evaluation of a mouse model lacking Hsd17b14 revealed a phenotype with impaired mammary gland branching and hepatic vacuolisation which could further suggest a role for 17βHSD14 in oestrogen regulation.Although other mechanisms of the enzyme cannot be ruled out, we suggest that 17βHSD14 relevance in tamoxifen-treated breast cancer is related to oestradiol-lowering properties of the enzyme which potentiate the anti-proliferative effects of tamoxifen. Translating into the clinical setting, patients with oestrogen receptor positive tumours expressing low levels of oestradiol-oxidising enzymes such as 17βHSD14 would likely receive more clinical benefit from alternative treatments to tamoxifen such as aromatase inhibitors or in the future possibly inhibitors of reductive 17βHSD-enzymes.