Multi-agent reinforcement learning has been successfully applied to a number of challenging problems. Despite these empirical successes, theoretical understanding of different algorithms is lacking, primarily due to the curse of dimensionality caused by the exponential growth of the state-action space with the number of agents. We study a fundamental problem of multi-agent linear quadratic regulator in a setting where the agents are partially exchangeable. In this setting, we develop a hierarchical actor-critic algorithm, whose computational complexity is independent of the total number of agents, and prove its global linear convergence to the optimal policy. As linear quadratic regulators are often used to approximate general dynamic systems, this paper provided an important step towards better understanding of general hierarchical mean-field multi-agent reinforcement learning.


The purest articulation of Paul Ryan's fiscal belief system is his 2010 Roadmap for America's Future. The tax provisions of this extensive proposal would convert the current personal and corporate income taxes into two consumption taxes, and repeal the gift and estate tax. This report explains how the Roadmap, like Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan, would operate in practice like a large new payroll tax. The Roadmap would directly immunize the highest labor income earners from this tax through a large reduction in the top rate of the Roadmap's labor earnings tax, compared with current law or policy. Unlike the 9-9-9 Plan the Roadmap further would largely immunize "old" capital from the efficient (if arguably unfair) imposition of consumption tax when that capital was consumed, by providing a write-off of existing depreciable basis. And finally the Roadmap would reduce the tax burdens on the most affluent capital owners further by eliminating the gift and estate tax. For these reasons, it is not surprising that the Roadmap contemplates an extraordinarily large redistribution of tax burdens from the affluent to middle-class and lower income Americans. For middle-class families, tax burdens would increase on the order of 50 percent. At the same time, the Roadmap's reprioritization of government spending also would be regressive in its impact. Proponents of the Roadmap or plans like it must explain how any projected increase in economic growth will compensate the majority of Americans for shouldering more tax burdens while receiving smaller government benefits.


This document defines the IANA guidelines for registering new port
number values for use with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and
User Datagram Protocol (UDP). It provides clear processes for the TCP
and UDP port number registries, important for their long-term
management. It updates RFC2780 by replacing Sections 8 and 9.1 of that
RFC.


Sleep is ubiquitous in nature. Humans spend a third of their lives sleeping. And yet, despite all the recent advances in the field, we still don't know the purpose of sleep. However, sleep disorders are detrimental for health and quality of life and insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders. Excessive daytime sleepiness or insufficient sleep decreases cognitive performance and may cause accidents. These facts suggest that understanding sleep and its regulation is very important. In the first chapter I summarized the most recent hypotheses on the purpose of sleep; then I described the gold standard of assessing sleep – polysomnography (PSG), sleep stages and particularly the electroencephalogram (EEG). Furthermore, an overview of machine learning tools is provided as they will be used to classify sleep stages and detect microsleep episodes. In the second chapter we implemented and tested 14 simple artifact detection methods and conducted a thorough analysis of their performance on two datasets, one comprised sleep recordings of healthy young subjects, the other one data recorded in patients with hypersomnia and narcolepsy. We found that clean average EEG power density spectra can be obtained using very simple methods. We got the best performance of artifact detection with thresholding slope, power in high frequency (25-90 Hz or 45-90 Hz) and the residual errors of an autoregressive model fitted to the EEG. It is not surprising that the power in high frequency range was a good predictor of an artifact as muscle artifacts are characterized by the power in high frequency range. Most methods showed good sensitivity. However, since we had chosen fixed false positive rate (FPR) of 10%, we excluded on average 16.3% of the epochs whereas experts excluded on average only 7% of the epochs. Our approach seemed reasonable as it leaves enough data for subsequent analyses. The main chapter (third chapter) describes the developed automatic sleep scoring algorithms. Scoring rules are complex and to some degree subjective. Despite the fact that human brain has superb image recognition abilities, sleep scoring is a difficult task. Thus, it is not possible to just program an algorithm which implements the scoring rules for sleep. Such a problem can be addressed however, with modern machine learning methods. Such algorithms learn from the examples which have already been analyzed by an expert. With these techniques we don't even need to know how to score sleep stages ourselves, we just need examples of experts. We developed several algorithms ranging from basic machine learning tools to deep artificial neural networks. First, we engineered 20 features derived from EEG, EOG and EMG data. This process reduces the dimensionality of our data and makes classification of the data easier. We employed a random forest (RF) classifier in conjunction with a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) or a moving median filter (MF) to smooth the data. Alternatively, we applied artificial neuronal networks (ANN), Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) networks, designed to handle time series to classify the data. We used our engineered features as input for these networks. Finally, we employed deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in combination with LSTM networks. Such algorithms (CNN-LSTM networks) work with raw data and do not require engineered features. We used the F1 score, a performance measure of multi-class data which takes both specificity and sensitivity into account, to evaluate the quality of the automatic scoring. We achieved a sleep stage classification quality close to the human expert in recordings of healthy subjects, with F1 scores above 0.8 for all stages except for stage 1. Stage 1 is difficult to score for a human scorer as well. F1 scores of stage 1 were slightly above 0.4 for most our methods, like the interscorer performance. Our methods trained on healthy participants performed slightly worse on the patient data than on the data of healthy subjects when they were trained only on the data of healthy subjects. However, the performance of the ANNs was better than RF in this case. Performance on the patient data improved when patient data were included into the training. We demonstrated that the methods which incorporate the temporal structure generally perform better. Further, the methods relying on the raw data performed slightly better than the feature-based methods. We think that we could not use the whole potential of ANNs due to the scarcity of the training data. Using these algorithms, we may score sleep fully automatically and analyze big amounts of data very quickly. Our CNN-LSTM network produced good results using just a single EEG channel. This was an unexpected result as we assumed that reliable detection of REM sleep would require EOG and EMG data. Such networks would allow on-line scoring of data recorded with portable devices. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the automatic detection of microsleep episodes (MSE). MSE are very short sleep fragments lasting 3 to 15 s. They often occur in sleep deprived people, in individuals who had insufficient sleep or under boring or monotonous conditions, and in patients with excessive daytime sleepiness. We engineered features and applied basic machine learning methods (support vector machine, random forest) to detect MSE. In a preliminary step we demonstrated that the methods work and reached very good specificity (0.99) and good sensitivity (0.74). Future improvement of MSE detection algorithms should include the temporal structure of the data, for example using LSTM neural networks. In summary, our preliminary analysis provides proof of concept that automatic detection of MSE based on sleep EEG data is feasible. All together, we could demonstrate that machine learning approaches perform well in detecting sleep stages and MSE. The final chapter provides an outlook on further improvements and future steps to be taken.


Localized flaws such as corrosions in petroleum pipelines often cause fragility, impairing integrity and shortening service lifetime of the structures. There has been much interest recently in monitoring the integrity of the pipe structures. Ultrasonic guided waves provide a highly efficient technique for rapid pipe inspection because they can be made to propagate significant distances in pitch-catch configurations. Crosshole tomographic geometry is formed in such pitch-catch configurations when transmits and receivers are respectively laid along two parallel circumferential belts around the pipe. Considering the pipe as an unwrapped plate, we investigate the adapation of the tomographic reconstruction in seismology to the guided wave inspection of a pipe. Various effects such as transducer arrangement, mesh precision, sampling interval and iterative algorithm on tomographic reconstruction are analyzed. The results provide a theoretical basis for quantitative detection of pipeline flaw using guided wave tomography.


ABSTRACT Thyroid transcription factor gene 1 (TTF-1) is a homeobox-containing gene involved in thyroid organogenesis. During early thyroid development, the homeobox gene Nkx-2.5 is expressed in thyroid precursor cells coincident with the appearance of TTF-1. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying thyroid-specific gene expression. We show that the Nkx-2.5 C terminus interacts with the TTF-1 homeodomain and, moreover, that the expression of a dominant-negative Nkx-2.5 isoform (N188K) in thyroid cells reduces TTF-1-driven transcription by titrating TTF-1 away from its target DNA. This process reduced the expression of several thyroid-specific genes, including pendrin and thyroglobulin. Similarly, down-regulation of TTF-1 by RNA interference reduced the expression of both genes, whose promoters are sensitive to and directly associate with TTF-1 in the chromatin context. In conclusion, we demonstrate that pendrin and thyroglobulin are downstream targets in vivo of TTF-1, whose action is a prime factor in controlling thyroid differentiation in vivo.


The aim of this study was to establish the presence of HPV infection in cervical lesions in a Venezuelan population, by Hybrid Capture Assay II (HCA II), and its association with cytological diagnosis. The study included 1483 cervical samples analysed at Laboratorios CITOMED, Caracas, Venezuela, from 2005 to 2007. The woman age range was between 20 and 58 years, and the mean age was 28.8. HPV infection was determined using HCA II. The cytological diagnosis of the smears showed LSIL in 1120/1483 samples (75.5%), HSIL in 354/1483 (23.9%) and ASC-US, in 9/1483 (0.6%). The positivity of HPV DNA detected by HCA II was 54.6% (811/1483). Of the positives cases, 138/811 (17%) presented HPV DNA of low oncogenic risk and 673/811 (82.9%) had high-risk HPV. There were significant differences in the low and high oncogenic HPV type frequencies of the evaluated samples (p > 0.0001). Low risk HPV types were detected in 127 cases of LSIL, 9 of HSIL and 2 of ASC-US. High-risk HPV was detected in most of the cases: 361 LSIL, 308 HSIL and 4 ASC-US. Our study showed a high presence of cervical infection by human papillomavirus of a high risk genotype. Our results contribute to the epidemiological data that report diversity in the prevalence rates in different countries.


Using a method to discover and classify supernovae (SNe) in galaxy spectra, we find 90 Type Ia SNe (SNe Ia) and 10 Type II SNe among the ~700,000 galaxy spectra in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 that have VESPA-derived star-formation histories (SFHs). We use the SN Ia sample to measure SN Ia rates per unit stellar mass. We confirm, at the median redshift of the sample, z = 0.1, the inverse dependence on galaxy mass of the SN Ia rate per unit mass, previously reported by Li et al. (2011b) for a local sample. We further confirm, following Kistler et al. (2011), that this relation can be explained by the combination of galaxy "downsizing" and a power-law delay-time distribution (DTD; the distribution of times that elapse between a hypothetical burst of star formation and the subsequent SN Ia explosions) with an index of -1, inherent to the double-degenerate progenitor scenario. We use the method of Maoz et al. (2011) to recover the DTD by comparing the number of SNe Ia hosted by each galaxy in our sample with the VESPA-derived SFH of the stellar population within the spectral aperture. In this galaxy sample, which is dominated by old and massive galaxies, we recover a "delayed" component to the DTD of 4.5 +/- 0.6 (statistical) +0.3 -0.5 (systematic) X 10^-14 SNe Msun^-1 yr^-1 for delays in the range > 2.4 Gyr. The mass-normalized SN Ia rate, averaged over all masses and redshifts in our galaxy sample, is R(Ia,M,z=0.1) = 0.10 +/- 0.01 (statistical) +/- 0.01 (systematic) SNuM, and the volumetric rate is R(Ia,V,z=0.1) = 0.247 +0.029 -0.026 (statistical) +0.016 -0.031 (systematic) X 10^-4 SNe yr^-1 Mpc^-3. This rate is consistent with the rates and rate evolution from other recent SN Ia surveys, which together also indicate a ~t^-1 DTD.


Abstract The paper presents the study of internal defects resulting from the continuous casting of steels. The 50 samples were taken from a total of 20 continuously cast bits of different steel grades. The investigation of the causes of internal defects, shown on the analyzed samples, started from the assumption that the secondary metallurgy was performed correctly. The following internal defects have been evident: internal cracks (axial cracks, section cracks), central porosity and marginal punctuation impurities.


The industry uses immersive virtual environments for testing engineering solutions. Annotation systems allow capturing the insights that arise during those virtual reality sessions. However, those annotations remain in the virtual environment. Users are required to return to virtual reality to access it. We propose a new annotation system for VR. The design of this system contains two important aspects. First, the digital representation of the annotations enables to access the annotation in both virtual and physical world. Secondly, the interaction technique for taking notes in VR is designed to enhance the feeling of bringing the annotations from the physical world to the virtual and vice versa. We also propose the first implementation of this design.


In many Industrial applications, censored observations are present and in this cases direct application of the Shewhart mean and np control charts is not adequate. We develop a methodology for constructing a mean control chart based on the conditional expected value of censored observations, assuming that the in-control process follows a Weibull distribution. The performance of the proposed control chart is studied in terms of the false alarm probability. We also compare the proposed chart with the np chart and the Shewhart mean chart.


Vitali S., Napoletano M. and Fagiolo G. Spatial localization in manufacturing: a cross-country analysis, Regional Studies. This paper employs a homogeneous-firm database to investigate industry localization in European countries. More specifically, it compares, across industries and countries, the predictions of two of the most popular localization indexes, that is, the Ellison and Glaeser index of 1997 and the Duranton and Overman index of 2005. Independently from the index used, it is found that localization is a pervasive phenomenon in all countries studied; and the degree of localization is very unevenly distributed across industries in each country. Furthermore, it is shown that in all countries localized sectors are mainly 'traditional' sectors or, if one controls for country industrial structures, science-based sectors. Moreover, it is found that the two indexes significantly diverge in predicting the intensity of localization of the same industry both across and within countries. In turn, these differences point to the different role played by pecuniary versus non-pecuniary externalities in driving firms' location decisions.


By comparing the redox potentials of poly 2,5 dimethoxyaniline(PDMAn), poly o toluidine(POT) and poly m chloroaniline(PmClAn) membrane modified electrodes, the morphology and crystal face orientation of Pt deposited on these polymers and isopropanol oxidation behavior on the platinized polyaniline electrodes, the relation of electrochemical properties of polyanilines to ring substituted groups in the polymers and the influence of different polyaniline on Pt deposition and the catalytic properties of platinized polyaniline modified electrodes were discussed in terms of the electronic and steric effects. The results indicated that among 3 polyanilines, the redx potential of PDMAn was the most negative, and that of POT was less negative, and that of PmClAn was the most positive. The electrodeposition mechanisms of Pt particles on POT and on PDMAn membranes were different from that on PmClAn membrane. The Pt particles deposited on polyanilines were inclined towards the preferred orientation of Pt(200) crystal face, but the degree of preferred orientation depended on polymers. The preferred orientation on POT was stronger than that on PDMAn, and the weakest on PmClAn. The potentials of isopropanol oxidation on platinized polyaniline modified electrodes rely on the nature of polyanilines matrix. On POT modified electrode the isopropanol oxidation mainly occurs in the potential region where POT is electroactive, but on PDMAn and PmClAn modified electrodes it takes place in the potential region same as that on Pt. It follows that polymer matrix was not only as disperse media of Pt particles, but also exerts catalytic actions.


1. Electrical and mechanical activities of the longtitudinal muscle of the dog antrum were recorded with the double sucrose‐gap technique. 2. The muscle exhibited spontaneous action potentials which consisted of a spike‐like potential which, after a brief and partial repolarization, was followed by a negative‐going, plateau‐type potential. In 97% of the preparations, no tension changes were produced by spontaneous action potentials. 3. Tetrodotoxin, atropine, alpha‐ and beta‐adrenoceptor antagonists, and H1 and H2 receptor blocking agents had no effect on the action potential. It was concluded that the action potential was myogenic in origin. 4. The mean frequency of the action potential at 37+/‐ 0.5 degrees C was 1.0/min+/‐0.06 (s.e. of mean, n=92) and the mean duration 7.1+/‐0.2 sec (s.e. of mean, n=11). 5. Steady depolarizing current increased whereas hyperpolarizing current decreased the frequency of the action potential. 6. Length‐tension relations were studied. In twelve strips, the average resting, passive, tension at LO was 570 mg. The active force of isometric contraction produced by acetylcholine increased with strip length up to a maximum, then decreased wtih further increased in length. There were no mechanical responses to pentagastrin. 7. Pentagastrin had two sites of action. On smooth muscle, it increased the frequency of the action potential in a dose dependent fashion. Threshold concentraions ranged from 2X10‐14 to 10‐11M. The ED50 was 2X10‐10M. The maximum response, 5.4/min, was reached at 10‐8M. Pentagastrin also released acetylcholine from intramural cholinergic nerves. 8. Pentagastrin reduced the amplitude and duration of the action potential.


Abstract Background Drug-related adverse events (AEs) are reported to be common amongst patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT). However, comparative data regarding intravenous (iv) catheter-related AEs are lacking. Objectives To compare drug- and iv catheter-related AEs from a large UK OPAT centre. Patients and methods We reviewed 544 OPAT episodes [median (IQR) age: 57 (39–71) years, 60% male, 13% with diabetes] with a median (IQR) duration of 7 (2–18) days. Clinically significant drug- and iv catheter-related AEs were calculated as a percentage of OPAT episodes with an AE and also as AEs per 1000 iv drug/catheter days. Results Drug-related AEs complicated 13 (2.4%) OPAT episodes at 1.7 (95% CI 0.9–2.9) per 1000 drug days. Catheter-related AEs occurred more frequently, complicating 32 (5.9%) episodes at 5.7 (95% CI 4.2–7.9) per 1000 iv catheter days (χ2 test for difference in AE rate: P < 0.001). Non-radiologically guided midline catheters were associated with the most frequent AEs (n = 23) at 15.6 (95% CI 10.3–23.4) per 1000 iv catheter days compared with other types of iv catheters (HR 8.4, 95% CI 2.4–51.9, P < 0.004), and self-administration was associated with a higher rate of catheter-related AEs at 12.0 (95% CI 6.0–23.9) per 1000 iv catheter days (HR 4.15, 95% CI 1.7–9.1, P = 0.007). Conclusions Clinically significant iv catheter-related AEs occurred more frequently than drug-related AEs, especially when using non-radiologically guided midline catheters. Regular review of the need for iv therapy and switching to oral antimicrobials when appropriate is likely to minimize OPAT-related AEs.


The impact of water droplets on solid surfaces is studied experimentally and theoretically. Theoretical equations based on energy conservation are developed. In our theoretical study, the droplet is modeled as a ring-like shape, which matches the dynamic shape of droplets observed from our experimental tests. In the analysis of energy conservation, the nonuniform distribution of pressure inside the deformed droplet is taken into account by introducing a flow potential energy term in the theoretical equations. To derive viscous dissipation for recoiling, a viscous layer coefficient is introduced. Its values for the tests using smooth surfaces are found to be within a small range. Both theoretical predictions and experimental data show significant influence of surface wettability on maximum spread and recoiling process. With the increase of advancing contact angle, surface energy shows a decreasing trend, whereas flow potential energy shows an increasing trend and becomes significant for hydrophobic surfaces. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 2683–2691, 2014


There is a strong argument in Artificial Intelligence in Education which advocates that computer-based learning systems need to adapt to the needs of learners if they are to provide for effective personalised instruction (Self, 1999a). Diagnosing a learner's cognitive capacity is a crucial issue in building adaptive systems. We have explored an interactive open learner modelling (IOLM) approach which conceives diagnosis as an interactive process involving both a computer system and a learner that discuss and together construct the learner model. This paper outlines the architecture of an interactive open learner modelling system and illustrates the method in a terminological domain. We discuss an evaluative study of an IOLM demonstrator - a system called STyLE-OLM. The results from the study demonstrate potential benefits of the method for improving the quality of the learner model and providing a means for fostering reflective thinking. We argue that IOLM is a fruitful approach which may be employed in intelligent learning environments both for obtaining a better model of a learner's cognitive state and engaging learners in reflective activities.


The calibration of structured light vision sensor is the key technique in structured light 3D vision measurement. In this paper, a novel method for structured light vision sensor calibration is presented. In our method, a simple 2D planar target is used, and the corresponding world coordinate system is set for the target at different positions as well as the transformation relationships between world coordinate system camera coordinate system and image coordinate system. The intersecting line equations at different positions are unified under the camera coordinate system after processing. Then we can use least square method to fit the structured light equation. The experimental results show that the proposed method is an efficient method with high precision and simple procedure.


Clay minerals are the most abundant materials in sedimentary basins. The most common—like kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and smectite—are found in various amounts in mudstones and are also often found in clastic and nonclastic reservoir rocks. Their presence alters the elastic behavior of reservoir rocks significantly as a function of mineral type, volume and distribution. Thus, two sandstones with the same clay amount might have different elastic properties due to differences within the clay population. The elastic properties of clay minerals are therefore important in rock physics modeling to understand the seismic and sonic log responses of shaley sequences and clay-bearing reservoir rocks.


The preoperative assessment of the extent of biliary and vascular involvement by hilar cholangiocarcinoma is clinically important because resectability may be limited by tumor extension along the bile ducts into the hepatic parenchyma or to the adjacent hilar vessels. Thirty‐five patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma were studied with ultrasound, and the results were compared with operative findings and other diagnostic modalities. The level of intrahepatic biliary obstruction was determined in 100% of patients with ductal ectasia, and a tumor mass was shown in 37.1%. Imaging and Doppler ultrasound proved accurate in detecting the neoplastic involvement of the portal vein. Both correctly diagnosed portal occlusion and wall infiltration in 4 of 4 and 15 of 18 (83%) patients, respectively, without any false‐positives. On the contrary, imaging ultrasound had poor sensitivity in detecting infiltration of the hepatic artery (43%) and metastases in regional lymph nodes (37%), liver (66%), and peritoneum (33%). In conclusion, ultrasound may be valuable in the preoperative staging of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, specially in predicting ductal and portal involvement. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The area of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been the focus of increasing attention over recent years. In particular, research has emphasised that the sexual abuse of children is a major societal problem because of its high prevalence and devastating impact on the victimised child. A growing body of research suggests that the experience of CSA can have a lasting impact on adult interpersonal functioning. The majority of existing research studies have employed quantitative methodologies. This study explored in depth the lived experience of relating amongst women who have experienced CSA. A qualitative methodological approach was employed. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The participants were eight women who had experienced sexual abuse during childhood. The three superordinate themes that emerged from the data included: 'Protection', 'Disturbed Intercourse' and 'Responsive and unresponsive mothers and others'. The women's experience of relating was complex and multifaceted. Much of the women's experience of relating was overwhelmingly negative as they depict worlds occupied with threatening and malevolent others who could invariably cause harm. A resounding communication evident throughout all of the dialogues appeared to suggest that present relating is inextricably bound to past experiences. The narratives revealed the difficulties and disturbance experienced within the context of relating and how the past has in some way formed an invisible template for present day relating causing terror, angst and uncertainty. This study presents rich descriptions of the lived experience of relating amongst this group of women. Implications for the clinical practice of Counselling Psychology are considered within.


Physical-layer attacks allow attackers to manipulate (spoof) ranging and positioning. These attacks had realworld impact and allowed car thefts, executions of unauthorized payments and manipulation of navigation. UWB impulse radio, standardized within 802.15.4a,f, has emerged as a prominent technique for precise ranging that allows high operating distances despite power constraints by transmitting multi-pulse symbols. Security of UWB ranging (in terms of the attacker's ability to manipulate the measured distance) has been discussed in the literature and is, since recently also being addressed as a part of the emerging 802.15.4z standard. However, all research so far, as well as security enhancements proposed within this emerging standard face one main limitation: they achieve security through short symbol lengths and sacrifice performance (i.e., limit the maximum distance of measurement), or use longer symbol lengths, therefore sacrificing security. We present UWB with pulse reordering (UWB-PR), the first modulation scheme that secures distance measurement between two mutually trusted devices against all physical-layer distance shortening attacks without sacrificing performance, therefore simultaneously enabling extended range and security. We analyze the security of UWB-PR under the attacker that fully controls the communication channel and show that UWB-PR resists such strong attackers. We evaluate UWB-PR within a UWB system built on top of the IEEE 802.15.4 device and show that it achieves distances of up to 93m with 10cm precision (LoS). UWB-PR is, therefore, a good candidate for the extended mode of the new 802.15.4z Low Rate Pulse standard. Finally, UWB-PR shows that secure distance measurement can be built on top of modulation schemes with longer symbol lengths so far, this was considered insecure.


This thesis describes a series of studies of the energetics, structure, sorption and electronic transport of polymers and single molecules at the nanoscale. The first of these relates to hypercrosslinked porous polymers, which are of technological and commercial interest for their ability to efficiently absorb molecules in a wide range of contexts from pharmaceuticals to gas storage. I model a family of polymers synthesised by collaborators at the University of Strathclyde, which show very high uptake of polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules from solution and could potentially be used as a filtration material to remove these molecules from vehicle lubrication oils, where they are responsible for the build up of soot and the long term degradation of both oil and engine. Density functional theory calculations identified the structural units of the polymers contributing most to sorption, and the relative binding strengths of several PAHs which correspond to the experimental trends. Molecular dynamics simulations of the polymer pores with PAH molecules in a heptane solution highlighted the significance of polymer flexibility and pore size in the sorption process. In the second I analyse the conductance of the first organically synthesized sp-sp3 hybridized porous carbon, OSPC-1. This new carbon shows electron conductivity, high porosity, the highest uptake of lithium ions of any carbon material to-date, and the ability to inhibit dangerous lithium dendrite formation. It therefore has potential as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries with high capacity, excellent rate capability, long cycle life, and potential for improved safety performance. Detailed simulation of the variation of the conductivity of this amorphous material versus length using a tight binding methodology showed that the measured conductance is consistent with an inelastic scattering length of the size of an OPSC-1 fragment. The third project is in the field of molecular electronics, where a crucial area of research aims to identify molecular anchor groups to bind molecules to electrodes. This study presents a series of oligo(phenylene-ethynylene) wires with one tetrapodal anchor and a phenyl or pyridyl head group. The new anchors are designed to bind strongly to gold surfaces without disrupting the conductance pathway of the wires. Density functional theory was used to simulate the structures of the molecules and the nature of their binding to the Au surface. Quantum transport calculations provided insight into the conductance pathway through the molecules and confirmed the decoupling between surface binding and electronic coupling. This feature may enable the inclusion in junctions of a wider range of functional groups, in particular those with strong electronic coupling, but only weak physical binding.


Peer-mediated education programs in Kenya and Zimbabwe focusing on female sex workers for the control of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have led to increased condom use and increased adoption of other safer sex practices, as well as declines in STD and HIV incidence among female sex workers. It is likely that similar declines have occurred among their clients and possibly in the general community, although supporting data are limited. These results are encouraging. However, progress in increasing the scale and coverage of intervention programs among female sex workers has been slow. Constraints to expanding program coverage include inadequate political commitment; deficiencies in program planning, management, and human resources; and insufficient funding. The challenges currently are to show that behavioral change can be sustained and to scale up activities from small demonstration projects to district, provincial, and national levels.


Purpose: To characterize the expression profile of p73 in human normal tissues by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and to analyze the correlation between p73 expression and bladder cancer progression. Experimental Design: CJDp73 was characterized for p73 detection in Western blot and IHC through its application to isoform-transfected 293 cells. Normal tissues were analyzed by IHC with the CJDp73 antiserum. Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC)-derived cell lines were subjected to reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot. TCC tissue microarrays were analyzed for p73 expression by IHC, and the results were statistically analyzed. Results: p73 immunostaining was nuclear and restricted to epithelial cells of certain organs such as squamous epithelium of the epidermis and transitional epithelium of the bladder. The expression was also observed in certain specialized glandular epithelia such as acinar cells of breast and parotid gland. Four of seven TCC-derived cell lines had low to undetectable p73 protein levels. We found undetectable or low p73 expression in 104 of 154 (68%) TCC cases, this phenotype being more frequently observed in invasive tumors when compared with superficial lesions. This association was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). We also observed a significant association between p53, p63, and p73 alterations with bladder cancer progression (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: p73 plays a tumor suppressor role in bladder cancer, and its inactivation occurs through an epigenetic mechanism, most probably involving protein degradation.


Metallic arcs were found to precede the firm contacting of electrical contacts which were closed without bounce. When the open-circuit voltages were below the ionization potential, the initiation of these arcs was found to depend on the presence of asperities on the .surfaces and on asperity contacting, melting, and pinching off by magnetic forces. The arc is thought to be initiated inductively when the molten metallic asperity contact is pinched off, and the electrode damage is similar to that produced by the arcing of opening contacts. Arcing could not be produced for exceptionally Smooth surfaces, or, for rough surfaces when the open-circuit potential was below the melting voltage of the electrode metals. In order to prevent damage to contact surfaces by melting or arcing, it is suggested that test potentials be limited to below the melting voltages, that the current be limited, the test circuits be designed to prevent inductively generated high voltage transients, and the contact surfaces be very smooth. In order to facilitate arc initiation in arc welding applications, it is suggested that the surfaces of electrodes and work pieces be roughened.


The fully recessive disease resistance (R) gene xa13, which mediates race-specific resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), encodes a plasma membrane protein that differs by one amino acid from that encoded by its dominant (susceptible) allele Xa13. The molecular mechanism of xa13-mediated resistance is largely unknown. Here we show that, compared with its dominant allele, expressional non-reaction of xa13 to Xoo infection, not its protein composition, is the key factor for xa13-mediated resistance. We used the promoter (P(Xa13)) of the dominant Xa13, which was induced by only the incompatible Xoo strain for xa13, to regulate xa13 and xa13(Leu49) (a natural recessive allele of xa13) in the rice line IRBB13 carrying xa13. The transgenic plants showed the same level of susceptibility and bacterial growth rate as those of the rice line carrying dominant Xa13, accompanied by the induced accumulation of xa13 or xa13(Leu49) proteins. Constitutive expression of dominant XA13 or different xa13 proteins (xa13, xa13(Leu49), xa13(Ala85) or xa13(Val184)) in IRBB13 had no effect on Xoo infection in the transgenic plants. These results suggest that race-specific pathogen-induced Xa13 expression is critical for infection. Thus, xa13 stands out from other R genes in that its functions in disease resistance are due to only the loss of pathogen-induced transcriptional motivation caused by natural selection.


We report on a 69-year-old female patient with severe valvular aortic stenosis who was hospitalized for cardiac decompensation for aortic valve replacement. Preoperative imaging (X-Ray, cat-scan and CMR) revealed significant and extraordinary intramyocardial calcification pronounced globally in the left ventricle and around the mitral valve. Due to high operative/surgical risk we preferred to approach an aortic valve replacement by transfemoral transcatheter procedure (TAVI-TF). Within the context of an undeniably elevated risk for ventricular injuries and dissections in conventional operations, highly progressed myocardial calcifications should lead to consider and prefer the transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure.
Keywords: Aortic stenosis, intramyocardial calcification, transcatheter aortic valve replacement.


A number of tests have been developed for early screening of difficulties in learning to read. However, little research has compared their performance or their diagnostic abilities. Our study aims to evaluate 6 reading tests (Time2, LUM, words and pseudowords reading subtests from Evalec, the Batelem and a non standardized phonological decoding subtests) by using a standard French reading test (l'Alouette) as a reference test. ROC curves were used for: 1. evaluating and comparing tests based on sensitivity, specificity, weights of evidence and expected weights of evidence and 2. choosing optimal cut-off values. Results show that these tests have good overall performance but they differ in their diagnostic abilities. Strategies are proposed for effectively using these tests in a screening program for second grade children.


Alcohol hangovers are a commonly experienced consequence of drinking and are frequently associated with worsened mood and cognitive functioning. The physiological changes that occur with an alcohol-induced hangover state are largely unknown. This review focuses on key physiological factors of an alcohol-induced hangover, more specifically, oxidative stress, hormonal fluctuations, dehydration and changes to the immune system. The role of sleep disturbances and headaches will also be briefly discussed. Increased understanding of the relationship between the physiological factors and symptoms of a hangover is needed to further elucidate the mechanisms of an alcohol-induced hangover and potentially identify a treatment. The direct effects of the physiological factors occurring during an alcoholinduced hangover state should be further assessed under laboratory settings.


IntroductionFlying Start (FS) is the Welsh Government's (WG) flagship Early Years programme for families with children aged less than 4 years of age. Running since 2006, the four entitlements are:

Free part-time childcare for 2-3 year olds
Enhanced Health Visiting
Parenting support
Speech, language, and communication support

Objectives and ApproachCurrently, while we know which areas in Wales are receiving FS support, individual-level data on which child received what entitlements is not available. This means that area-level outcomes can be used as proxy indicators but the individual impact of receiving FS support cannot be examined. This project describes the issues around collecting individual-level data in deprived Welsh regions, a pilot project to facilitate this collection and will report some emerging findings from the analysis of pilot data.
ResultsFollowing from previous studies funded by the ESRC and WG (e.g. Supporting People Data Linking Feasibility Study), a Dataflow Development Project (DDP) has been launched to install Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) appliances into 6 pilot Local Authorities in Wales. The SAIL appliance technology will provide Local Authorities with the ability to link individual-level data within a Local Authority or between Local Authorities and to securely anonymise data into the SAIL Databank or ADRC-W.
The DDP will test acquiring the individual level FS data from pilot Local Authorities into SAIL. The project aims to evaluate FS by linking the FS cohort to a range of outcomes including health, education and social care. We will report emerging findings from the analysis of pilot data.
Conclusion/ImplicationsThere is grow interest in using linked administrative data to evaluate government initiatives, and mounting enthusiasm in Local Government. If successful, this model is likely to be adopted by related WG programmes; improving the evidence base, facilitating effective evaluation, and adding to the data available for re-use in Wales.


Due to their common role as suppliers, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are especially challenged by today's turbulent business conditions. In order to meet this challenge, short‐term Internet‐based enterprise co‐operations are regarded as an appropriate way to enhance the competitive strength of SMEs. Hence, the Institute of Machine Tools and Industrial Management (IWB) operates three so‐called competence networks for engineering (www.engineering‐net.de), rapid prototyping (www.rp‐net.de) and manufacturing (www.produktionsnetz.de) services. For the purpose of an applied research project, more than 80 participating SME suppliers were included in these specialised virtual markets, which are based on the core competencies of the co‐operating SMEs. Additionally, an Internet platform (www.virtueller‐markt.de) is used to enable customers to configure their specific cyber chains via the above‐mentioned competence networks. The present paper depicts how to establish and operate competence networks as well as how to configure cyber chains via these virtual markets.


Urban policy agendas are increasingly focused on the mobilization of active citizens and the propagation of cosmopolitan identities. This reflects a growing convergence between countries in urban policy thinking and practice, and greater uniformity in the terms and concepts that are used in different countries. This article draws on empirical evidence from Taipei, Taiwan to explore the form and character of changing urban policy agendas and their impacts on urban environments and communities. Taipei has undergone radical social, economic and political change in recent decades, and in the 2000s policymakers readily adopted the discourses of cosmopolitanism and community empowerment to legitimate major redevelopment projects. We develop the argument that this turn to cosmopolitanism lies at the heart of a paradox. On the one hand it is presented by policymakers as a radical, emancipatory programme that reflects wider shifts in the aspirations and expectations of increasingly active and globally oriented citizens. On the other hand, the term is used to underpin reactionary or conservative agendas that seek to sustain and extend existing power relations. The article argues that greater academic and policy attention needs to be given to the socially situated nature of cosmopolitanism and its characterizations in diverse contexts.


Abstract. With the development of Web 2.0 and cyber city modeling, an increasing number of 3D models have been available on web-based model-sharing platforms with many applications such as navigation, urban planning, and virtual reality. Based on the concept of data reuse, a 3D model retrieval system is proposed to retrieve building models similar to a user-specified query. The basic idea behind this system is to reuse these existing 3D building models instead of reconstruction from point clouds. To efficiently retrieve models, the models in databases are compactly encoded by using a shape descriptor generally. However, most of the geometric descriptors in related works are applied to polygonal models. In this study, the input query of the model retrieval system is a point cloud acquired by Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems because of the efficient scene scanning and spatial information collection. Using Point clouds with sparse, noisy, and incomplete sampling as input queries is more difficult than that by using 3D models. Because that the building roof is more informative than other parts in the airborne LiDAR point cloud, an image-based approach is proposed to encode both point clouds from input queries and 3D models in databases. The main goal of data encoding is that the models in the database and input point clouds can be consistently encoded. Firstly, top-view depth images of buildings are generated to represent the geometry surface of a building roof. Secondly, geometric features are extracted from depth images based on height, edge and plane of building. Finally, descriptors can be extracted by spatial histograms and used in 3D model retrieval system. For data retrieval, the models are retrieved by matching the encoding coefficients of point clouds and building models. In experiments, a database including about 900,000 3D models collected from the Internet is used for evaluation of data retrieval. The results of the proposed method show a clear superiority over related methods.


Details on localized deposition of biopolymers in cell wall have rarely been studied. Anatomical observation is important to understand tissue-specific accumulation of biopolymers and such knowledge can further clarify tissue-function. Myrtaceae roots possess alternating suberized and non-suberized cell layers known as polyderm that exist beyond the endodermis. It is important to understand firstly, where biopolymers accumulate in this tissue and secondly what mechanisms control cell wall modification. This study aims to study areas of biopolymer deposition in Myrtaceae root tissues. Root specimens were sectioned freehand or with an ultramicrotome after embedding in Technovit 7100 resin. Root sections were stained with berberine hemisulfate-aniline blue-safranin O series or just phloroglucinol and observed under a fluorescent or optical microscope. Different biopolymers accumulated alternatively on opposite sides of the cell wall in polyderm. In non-suberized tissues, lignin accumulation was dominant and its accumulation appeared to be "closed" centripetally resembling the letter "w". In suberized tissues, it resembled the letter "m". This tissue-specific accumulation pattern was common in all five Myrtaceae species. What factors could control and regulate such patterned and tissue-specific accumulation of biopolymers? Could this accumulation pattern itself be a contributing factor to its protective role? Discovery of this pattern, specific to Myrtaceae root polyderm, triggers more investigations on the effect of biotic and abiotic stress on biopolymer accumulation in it.


Strategies to protect against viral infections are essential during pregnancy. Maternal-fetal transmission can have serious pathological outcomes, including fetal infection, growth restriction, birth defects, and/or death. Throughout pregnancy, the placenta (composed of polarized trophoblasts amid stromal and vascular arrangements) is an indispensable tissue that forms a barrier at the maternal-fetal interface. Viruses have likely evolved specific mechanisms to exploit the protective functions of placental trophoblasts to initiate fetal infection. Despite the severity of pathologic disease associated with fetal viral infection, little is known regarding virus-host interactions at the maternal-fetal interface. In this work, we have examined the mechanisms by which – 1) placental trophoblasts protect against invading viruses and 2) coxsackievirus B (CVB), a virus associated with fetal pathology, gains entry into polarized trophoblasts. As a model, we have used cultured primary human trophoblasts (PHTs) and immortalized human (BeWo) trophoblasts.

We have found that PHTs are highly resistant to infection by six disparate viruses. PHTs transfer this resistance to non-placental recipient cells through exosome-mediated delivery of select placental microRNAs (miRNAs). We show that members of the chromosome 19 miRNA cluster (C19MC), which are almost exclusively expressed in the primate placenta, are packaged within trophoblast-derived exosomes, and attenuate viral replication in recipient cells by inducing autophagy.

To study CVB entry into placental trophoblasts, we have merged virological and cell biological techniques, combined with pharmacological inhibitors and siRNAs directed against diverse cellular endocytic and signaling components, to characterize the pathways hijacked by CVB to promote its entry into human trophoblasts. We found the kinetics of CVB entry and uncoating in placental trophoblasts similar to those described in polarized intestinal epithelial cells. CVB entry into placental trophoblasts requires decay accelerating factor (DAF) binding, and is associated with the relocalization of virus from the apical surface to intercellular tight junctions. We have identified a divergent mechanism for CVB entry that is independent of clathrin, caveolae, and dynamin II but is dependent on lipid-rafts and Src family tyrosine kinase signaling. Our studies model viral transmission and infection at the maternal-fetal interface, and have the therapeutic potential for preventing prenatal infections, pre-term labor, and birth defects.


Efficacy of postoperative pancreatitis prevention is assessed in 123 patients with gastric cancer. Pancreatic bloodflow and central hemodynamics were assessed by rheography, activities of serum amylase and free-radical oxidation by biochemiluminescence of blood plasma. After radical surgery on the stomach, disorders of hemocirculation develop in the pancreas, leading to ischemia of the organ and formation of venous congestion; free-radical oxidation is activated and fermenturia increases. Prolonged epidural blocking with lidocaine prevented a decrease of arterial inflow to the pancreas, decreased the intensity of free-radical oxidation, and was more effective than isoptin therapy.


INTRODUCTION

 Nowadays, shea butter can be often used in the cosmetic products in which it may impart moisturizing effects on the skin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cosmetic formulations containing shea butter, by using the hydration and elasticity probes of DermaLab Combo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The cosmetic formulations containing solid shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil, and rose powder were prepared with the ratio of 2:1:1:0.7. The formulations were then given to 10 volunteers to be applied on the volar forearm for 2 weeks. Skin conditions in term of hydration and elasticity of the skin were analysed before and after a 2 weeks period of daily application. The measurements were taken using hydration and elasticity probe of DermaLab Combo Clinical Skin Testing (Cortex Technology) instrument.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

After 2 weeks of application, the hydration and elasticity of the skin was shown to be significantly improved (p < 0.05). Shea butter has emollient properties which is can increase stratum corneum hydration by increasing the skin capacitance [1] and ultimately can improve the hydration state of the skin (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Effect of shea butter on skin hydration (n=10)

In addition to that, due to lipophilic feature of shea butter, it can attract and retain water molecules in the stratum corneum and hence increase the skin elasticity [1, 2]. Our results show that shea butter is a natural effective ingredient for improving skin hydration, possibly through a humectant mechanism. Consequently, it may be used in moisturizing cosmetic formulations and also as a complement in the treatment of dry skin.

Fig. 2. Effect of shea butter on skin elasticity (n=10)

CONCLUSIONS
 In conclusion, there is significant improvement in skin elasticity and skin hydration of the volunteers. Thus the claim of shea butter to be used as moisturizer is supported.


In the present study, the researcher sought to examine the factors associated with Latino immigrants and the barriers/challenges that are faced in mental health. The main question that the researcher focuses on in the present study is: What are some of the mental health challenges for Latino immigrants & how do these disparities further impact psychological well-being? Furthermore, the research focuses on highlighting the variables that are increasingly damaging to the minority population of Latinos in the United States. These variables include lack of health insurance, stigma, acculturation issues, legal issues, and biopsychosocial factors, such as socioeconomic class. In multiple studies, but particularly one conducted by Cook, Zuvekas, Chen, Progovac, and Lincoln (2016), findings demonstrated that rates of mental illness are similar across most racial and ethnic backgrounds, however the challenges and disparities associated with mental illnesses are greater for individuals who identify with minority populations, or Latino immigrants. These factors negatively impact mental health and the wellbeing for this marginalized, minority population in the United States. The population in focus for this research are Latino immigrants, both documented and undocumented, that reside throughout the United States, with a sub-focus on those residing in Northern California, Marin County. On top of providing information based on mental health and mental illness through the lens of Latinos in the United States, this manual also hopes to unveil the disparities and challenges associated with help-seeking behaviors, resources, awareness, and stigma, to name a few.


For thermoelectrics it is important to produce thermodynamically stable bulk nanostructured materials. Ball milling/hot pressing was shown to reduce the crystallite size by a factor of 100 and to reach about 100 nm with dislocation densities of 1012 – 1013m-2. Thereby thermoelectric properties of single, double and multifilled Sb-based skutterudites were improved significantly leading to figures of merit ZT, which in some cases are twice as high as those of their microstructured counterparts. With HPT treatment the crystallite size can be decreased to even 50 nm with dislocation densities as high as 1015m-2. The small grains as well as the high dislocation density result in a further lowering of thermal conductivity holding a high potential for future enhancement of ZT.


Abstract The atomic structure of synthetic, deuterated goslarite (ZnSO4·7D2O), a = 11.8176(6) Å, b = 12.0755(7) Å, c = 6.8270(4) Å, space group P212121, Z = 4, has been refined in a combined neutron powder diffraction and X-ray single-crystal data refinement to wRp 1.92%, Rp 1.45% and R(F2) 12.66% for the neutron powder data contribution and R(F2) 8.72% for the X-ray single-crystal data contribution. Both data sets were necessary to achieve the best overall fit agreement in the Rietveld refinement and reasonable geometry within structural units. The results of this study confirm that the H-bonding scheme for goslarite is the same as that of the other epsomite group minerals. Small but significant variations of the Zn-O bond lengths can be attributed to details of the H bonds to the O atoms of the Zn octahedra. This investigation of the atomic structure and hydrogen bonding of goslarite is groundwork for future studies into phase relationships and the mechanisms of hydration and dehydration in the ZnSO4-H2O system.


error of estimated fetal weight was 238 g (absolute range 3 g – 855 g, real range −855 g – 792 g), with a mean absolute percentage error of 6.7% (absolute range 0.08% – 21%, real range −21% −20%). Twenty three infants (6.6%) had a birth weight < 10th centile when matched for gestation, including three infants with a birth weight < 2.5 kg. The mean error in estimated fetal weight in these infants was 6.3%. Forty seven infants (13.4%) had a birth weight > 90th centile. The mean error in estimated fetal weight in this group was −4.7%. Conclusions: Ultrasound determined estimated fetal weight performed just prior to labour shows a strong correlation with birth weight. In this study we observed an overestimation of birth weight in small for gestational age infants, and an underestimation of birth weight in large for gestational age infants. The incidence of undiagnosed small for gestational age neonates in this study was greater than 1:20, confirming the difficulty in identifying these babies by clinical assessment alone.


Salt reduction in foods is becoming an important challenge to protect population health from severe diseases as recommended by different health agencies worldwide. Among the reduction strategies already evaluated in order to lower sodium salt content in foods, the use of cross-modal interactions between taste and odour, regardless of saltiness, was revealed to be a very promising method to improve saltiness perception. Cross-modal odour-taste interactions, as means to enhance salty taste in foods, is reviewed. Salt-related odours can enhance salty taste in water solutions containing a low level of sodium chloride through odour-induced changes in taste perception. Odour-induced saltiness perception enhancement (OISE) depends on salt concentration (intensity). OISE was also found to be effective in low salt content solid model cheese but was texture- and composition-dependent. A significant enhancement in saltiness perception induced by Comté cheese and sardine odours was observed only in model foods with soft textures. In ternary odour-sour-salty solutions, sourness additively enhanced saltiness perception with salt-related odours. Finally, in cream-based food systems, a strategy combining OISE and heterogeneous distribution of stimuli was found to compensate for a greater than 35% decrease in salt content without significant loss of acceptability. However, variation in the composition of the food matrix influenced aroma and salt release and consequently the overall saltiness perception. A better knowledge of the mechanisms involved in cross-modal perceptual interactions at the central level should allow for the optimization of their use as salt reduction strategies for healthier food design.


The potential utility of integrated focal planes to the Army's second-generation IR imagers is well established. Over the past four years, the Night Vision and Electro-Optics Laboratory has initiated several hardware-development programs designed to integrate large detector arrays with CCD signal processing in one structure. These programs focused on general architecture design and fabrication feasibility, i.e., the electrical/mechanical interface between detector and CCD for various IR backgrounds and scan techniques. Although not all the architecture problems are completely solved, the attention is now turning toward the more practical aspects of implementing focal plane technology, such as economical testing and device reliability. Test procedures, relatively trivial for low-density linear arrays, are neither simple nor standard for the high-density detector/CCD mosaics. The reliability of the sensor will depend on both the inherent quality and the stability of the detector/CCD structure and the integrity of the dewar assembly. New materials and processes, possible metallurgical incompatibility, and uncertain limits on anneal and bakeout temperatures are all factors in estimating the sensor's operating life. This paper reviews some of the unresolved technical issues concerning advanced focal planes and addresses the Army's concern with testing and predicting reliability of the second-generation sensor.


Introduction: Doctors-prescribing practices are influenced by drug promotional activities. Studies have shown that drug promotional literatures (DPLs) do not conform to the established regulations in many countries. However, whether the non-conformance is more likely in a particular clinical specialty needs to be determined. The objective of our study was to assess the adherence of DPLs sampled from various clinical specialties to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for ethical drug promotion and determine the presence of any difference. Methodology: Thirty DPLs were collected from each of the five clinical specialty clinics (General Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry) of a University Teaching Hospital. Each promotional literature was evaluated for adherence to the individual WHO ethical criteria′s for drug promotion. Results: More than 80% of the promotional literatures from all the clinical specialties did not contain information on dosage modification, contraindications, precautions, adverse effects, drug interactions, drug over dosage, excipients, storage and shelf-life, and legal category of the drugs. Nearly 19.33% of the DPL were for vitamins, minerals, and nutritional supplements; 13.33% for antimicrobials and 10% for anti-anxiety medications. Conclusions: Our study shows that most of the DPLs across clinical specialties failed to adhere to many of the WHO criteria of ethical drug promotion. The information lacking in the DPLs is critical for rational decision making. Considering that these irregularities are present across clinical specialties, it is important to strengthen the regulations governing drug promotion.


Caroli's disease (CD) is a rare congenital abnormality characterized by non-obstructive dilatation of intra hepatic bile ducts, which may be complicated by stone formation, recurrent cholangitis, biliary abscess and higher risk for biliary malignancy. We report a 37-year-old man with recurrent bouts of upper abdominal pain, high grade pyrexia, mild icterus with normal liver function tests who was diagnosed as a case of Caroli's disease. The laboratory studies confirmed Caroli' s disease with a SOL in liver suggestive of liver abscess and the patient received broad spectrum antibiotics with anaerobic and amoebicidal coverage. With 14 days course of antibiotics, he gradually recovered from his symptoms.


By combining multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication with block transmission using a cyclic prefix (CP), MIMO block transmission systems can not only achieve high data rates but also simplify channel estimation and equalization. In this paper, to provide a bandwidth-efficient solution for channel estimation in MIMO block transmission systems with a CP, we present a framework for blind channel estimation based on a general non-redundant precoding. Using this framework, we propose a blind estimator exploiting a simplified non-redundant precoding that is robust against overestimates of a true MIMO channel order. Furthermore, in the case with the number of transmit antennas greater than that of receive antennas, we show under specific system conditions that the proposed blind algorithms can be used for estimation of the MIMO channel without oversampling the received signals. With the simplified precoding conditions established in this paper, the proposed method does not impose the strict identifiability conditions on the MIMO channel, which are required for the existing methods. Furthermore the proposed estimator achieves accurate channel estimation with a small number of symbol blocks. In addition, we derive a simplified precoder that is optimized in the sense of minimizing the impact of unknown additive noise. We discuss the tradeoff between channel estimation accuracy and bit error rate performance associated with the simplified precoder. Finally, we develop a technique for resolving the channel ambiguity in the proposed blind estimator to create a semi-blind channel estimator relying on only a few known symbols.


We investigate the temporal stability of YBa2Cu3 O7-δ Josephson junctions created by ion irradiation through a nanoscale implant mask fabricated using electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. A comparison of current-voltage characteristics measured for junctions after fabrication and eight years of storage at room temperature show a slight decrease in critical current and increase in normal state resistance consistent with broadening of the weak link from diffusion of defects. Shapiro step measurements performed eight years after fabrication reveal that device uniformity is maintained and is strong evidence that these devices have excellent temporal stability for applications.


Histiocytoses are rare disorders of unknown origin with highly heterogeneous prognosis. BRAF mutations have been observed in Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). We investigated the frequency of BRAF mutations in several types of histiocytoses. Histology from 127 patients with histiocytoses were reviewed. Detection of BRAF(V600) mutations was performed by pyrosequencing of DNA extracted from paraffin embedded samples. Diagnoses of Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD), LCH, Rosai-Dorfman disease, juvenile xanthogranuloma, histiocytic sarcoma, xanthoma disseminatum, interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma, and necrobiotic xanthogranuloma were performed in 46, 39, 23, 12, 3, 2, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. BRAF status was obtained in 93 cases. BRAF(V600E) mutations were detected in 13 of 24 (54%) ECD, 11 of 29 (38%) LCH, and none of the other histiocytoses. Four patients with ECD died of disease. The high frequency of BRAF(V600E) in LCH and ECD suggests a common origin of these diseases. Treatment with vemurafenib should be investigated in patients with malignant BRAF(V600E) histiocytosis.


Germline mutation of the linker for activation of T cells (LAT) gene at the phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1)-binding site leads to a fatal lymphoproliferative disease in mice. The hyperactivated T cells that develop in these mice have defective T-cell antigen receptor (TCR)-induced calcium flux but enhanced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation. We used genetic analysis to investigate genes whose products might suppress MAPK activation and lymphoproliferative disease in LAT mutant mice. B-lymphocyte adaptor molecule of 32 kDa (Bam32) is a known mediator of MAPK activation in B cells. We recently reported that in CD4+ T cells, Bam32 deficiency decreased MAPK activation and specifically extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (Erk) signaling, following TCR stimulation. By crossing the Bam32 null mutation onto the LAT knock-in background, we found that the Bam32 null mutation delayed the onset and decreased the severity of lymphoproliferative disease in LAT knock-in mice. The pulmonary lymphocyte infiltration seen in LAT knock-in mice was also markedly decreased in double-mutant mice. Additionally, Erk activation was diminished in LAT knock-in Bam32 knockout CD4+ T cells. To more accurately determine the role of Erk in this delay of lymphoproliferative disease, we also bred a transgenic, hypersensitive Erk allele (the Erk2 sevenmaker mutant) onto the LAT knock-in Bam32 knockout double-mutant background. These triple transgenic mice demonstrated a role for Erk activation in lymphoproliferative disease caused by the LAT knock-in mutation.


Statnett wants to increase the transmission capacity in their 300 kV overhead lines by upgrading the operating voltage to 420 kV. To make this possible some modifications must be done. Insulator strings have to be elongated by two to four insulators and the air clearances must be checked. EN standards provide guidelines for how to calculate the air clearances adequately to provide required safety margins. It turns out that the formulas given by the standards provide greater safety margin than appropriate for upgraded transmission lines. By finding new proper safety margins, several towers which otherwise would have to be rebuilt to fulfill the requirements for clearances, can stay unmodified. When considering the number of towers in an average transmission line, there is obviously a great potential for saving money by putting some effort looking into proper minimum air clearances. By reduce the air clearance by approximately 10 cm, 6.5 mill. NOK were spared in a 65 km transmission line. It is therefore desirable to calculate the air clearances on the basis of smaller safety margins than described in the standard, but which is still within acceptable safety limits. In the formulas for minimum distances, the statistical withstand voltage U50%, gap-factors and altitude factors are examined for the cases of operating voltage, switching impulse and lightning impulse. Discrepancies between test results from a laboratory work conducted by STRI and calculations based on the EN standard of U50%, have been discovered. Tested U50 for switching impulses are 5–9 % higher than U50 from the standard. The same applies for lightning impulses where the tested value is 12 % higher than the standard. This gives reason to assume the standard to be somewhat conservative. Further, discrepancies are found between the standard EN 50341 that says that the gap factor when an insulator is present is the same as if no insulator is present, and Cigre report 72, which says that the gap factor should be corrected for the presence of insulators. Correction for insulators will lead to a lower gap factor i.e. lower break down strength along the insulator string than in the rest of the air gap. It turns out that the combination of rain and insulator string reduce the gap factor and thus, the withstand strength in the cases of switching impulses in the order of 6-13 % for V-string insulators and 20-34 % for I-string insulators and for continuous power frequency voltage in the order of 25 % for V-string insulators and 33-40 % for I-string insulators. Rain has no influence on the withstand strength of I-strings or V-strings exposed to lightning impulses. Several previous researches [1][2] shows the same tendencies of lack of correlation between U50 and gap factors when air gaps with insulator strings are exposed to lightning impulses. Thus, the gap factor is not sufficient to describe the discharge characteristics of air gaps with insulator strings exposed to lightning impulses. It is found that the air gap between phase and guy wire has approximately 7 % greater withstand strength than over the insulator string in a tower window. This additional safety margin is a desirable property in terms that the guy wires are the weakest point of a tower. This should however be verified by full-scale laboratory tests as this is mainly valid for the case of only the conductor-guy wire gap without the presence of the other air gaps that represent the tower window.


It has been shown that reversible and irreversible phase transitions of biogels can be represented by epidemic models. The irreversible chemical sol–gel transitions are modeled by the Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) or Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) epidemic systems whereas reversible physical gels are modeled by a modification of the Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) system. Measured sol–gel and gel–sol transition data have been fitted to the solutions of the epidemic models, either by solving the differential equations directly (SIR and SEIR models) or by nonlinear regression (SIS model). The gel point is represented as the "critical point of sigmoid," defined as the limit point of the locations of the extreme values of its derivatives. Then, the parameters of the sigmoidal curve representing the gelation process are used to predict the gel point and its relative position with respect to the transition point, that is, the maximum of the first derivative with respect to time. For chemical gels, the gel point is always located before the maximum of the first derivative and moves backward in time as the strength of the activation increases. For physical gels, the critical point for the sol–gel transition occurs before the maximum of the first derivative with respect to time, that is, it is located at the right of this maximum with respect to temperature. For gel–sol transitions, the critical point is close to the transition point; the critical point occurs after the maximum of the first derivative for low concentrations whereas the critical point occurs after the maximum of the first derivative for higher concentrations.


Electric vehicles (EVs) are clean due to their zero local emissions and low global emissions. They are also green due to their environmental friendliness, since electricity can be generated by renewable sources. Despite these obvious benefits, EVs have not been widely used around the world; the key reasons are due to their high price, short driving range or lack of charging facilities. With the growing concerns on price fluctuation, depletion of petroleum resources and global warming, there is fast growing interest on EVs in Macau. A Mitsubishi "i-MiEV" was used for experiment and evaluation, the gasoline-powered counterpart "i" will be used as baseline. In this paper, the performance of a mini-EV is evaluated specifically in sub-tropical environment of Macau.


This article presents methodological contributions and a conceptual innovation for thinking about the production of health care, stemming from a study on access and barriers in mental health carried out in the municipality of Campinas (Sao Paulo, Brazil). The study used a cartographic approach and, after an initial identification of the most complex cases (on the part of the teams of workers), adopted the users as guides to explore the different levels of production of their lives and to evaluate the possibility of forming a network of existential connections that produce life as a fundamental analyzer of access or barriers to care.


A recent herpetological field trip to the Torres Group, an island group located at the northernmost border of Vanuatu, about 150 km from the southernmost Solomon Islands, allowed the collection of about 300 reptile specimens. Among these, Lepidodactylus guppyi is a new species record for Vanuatu. I also provide many new species records for the Torres Group, including two recently introduced species. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the islands of the Torres Group is reviewed for the first time and compared (1) to that of the Solomon Islands and particularly the southern Solomon island groups (Santa Cruz Group) bordering the Torres Group in the north, (2) to the remainder of Vanuatu and particularly Espiritu Santo Island which I recently surveyed, and (3) to a neighbouring group of islands in northern Vanuatu, the Banks Group. The Banks and Torres Groups share the same herpetofauna and their affinities are much stronger to the remainder of Vanuatu than to the southern Solomon Islands, thus suggesting their similar paleopositions during Melanesian arc movements.


The density functional theory (DFT) method (b3p86) of Gaussian 03 is used to optimize the structure of the Ni2 molecule. The result shows that the ground state for the Ni2 molecule is a 5-multiple state, symbolizing a spin polarization effect existing in the Ni2 molecule, a transition metal molecule, but no spin pollution is found because the wavefunction of the ground state does not mingle with wavefunctions of higher-energy states. So the ground state for Ni2 molecule, which is a 5-multiple state, is indicative of spin polarization effect of the Ni2 molecule, that is, there exist 4 parallel spin electrons in Ni2 molecule. The number of non-conjugated electrons is greatest. These electrons occupy different spatial orbitals so that the energy of the Ni2 molecule is minimized. It can be concluded that the effect of parallel spin in the Ni2 molecule is larger than that of the conjugated molecule, which is obviously related to the effect of electron d delocalization. In addition, the Murrell–Sorbie potential functions with the parameters of the ground state and other states of the Ni2 molecule are derived. The dissociation energy De for the ground state of the Ni2 moleculeis 1.835 eV, equilibrium bond length Re is 0.2243 nm, vibration frequency ωe is 262.35 cm-1. Its force constants f2,f3 and f4 are 1.1901 aJ.nm-2, -5.8723 aJ.nm-3, and 21.2505 aJ.nm-4 respectively. The other spectroscopic data for the ground state of the Ni2 molecule ωeχe, Be andre are 1.6315 cm-1, 0.1141 cm-1, and 8.0145×10-4cm-1 respectively.


Motivated by the recent interest in models of guarded (co-)recursion, we study their equational properties. We formulate axioms for guarded fixpoint operators generalizing the axioms of iteration theories of Bloom and \'Esik. Models of these axioms include both standard (e.g., cpo-based) models of iteration theories and models of guarded recursion such as complete metric spaces or the topos of trees studied by Birkedal et al. We show that the standard result on the satisfaction of all Conway axioms by a unique dagger operation generalizes to the guarded setting. We also introduce the notion of guarded trace operator on a category, and we prove that guarded trace and guarded fixpoint operators are in one-to-one correspondence. Our results are intended as first steps leading, hopefully, towards future description of classifying theories for guarded recursion.


Wild grapevine (Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris) populations exist in the northern mountain forests of Tunisia (Harbi Ben Slimane et al., 2010). These populations can be natural reservoirs of pathogens including viruses (Pacifico et al., 2016). Grapevine virus A (GVA) is the type member of the genus Vitivirus in the family Betaflexiviridae. GVA has a worldwide distribution, is associated with Kober stem grooving and Shiraz diseases (Minafra et al., 2017), and is widely distributed in Tunisian vineyards (Mahfoudhi et al., 1998). To study the presence of this virus in wild grapevines, a survey was carried out in the mountain forests of northern Tunisia in spring and autumn of 2015. Dormant canes from 84 accessions (male and female specimens) were collected and tested for the presence of GVA by RT-PCR using specific primers (MacKenzie, 1997) to amplify a 236 bp fragment of the coat protein gene. Results showed that 13% (11 of 84) of the tested samples were infected by GVA. To confirm the presence of GVA in wild Tunisian grapevines, RT-PCR amplicons from three positive accessions were sequenced and sequences were compared with those from GenBank. The nucleotide sequence identity of Tunisian GVA isolates VS15 (LT906663), VS16 (LT906664) and VS178 (LT906665) ranged from 92 to 96% among themselves and from 89 to 93% with other isolates for which information is available in GenBank. To our knowledge, this is the first report of GVA in wild grapevines in Tunisia.


Context. PSR B1259–63/LS 2883 is a gamma-ray binary system consisting of a pulsar in an eccentric orbit around a bright Oe stellar-type companion star that features a dense circumstellar disc. The bright broad-band emission observed at phases close to periastron offers a unique opportunity to study particle acceleration and radiation processes in binary systems. Observations at gamma-ray energies constrain these processes through variability and spectral characterisation studies.
Aims. The high- and very-high-energy (HE, VHE) gamma-ray emission from PSR B1259–63/LS 2883 around the times of its periastron passage are characterised, in particular, at the time of the HE gamma-ray flares reported to have occurred in 2011, 2014, and 2017. Short-term and average emission characteristics of PSR B1259–63/LS 2883 are determined. Super-orbital variability is searched for in order to investigate possible cycle-to-cycle VHE flux changes due to different properties of the companion star's circumstellar disc and/or the conditions under which the HE gamma-ray flares develop.
Methods. Spectra and light curves were derived from observations conducted with the H.E.S.S-II array in 2014 and 2017. Phase-folded light curves are compared with the results obtained in 2004, 2007, and 2011. Fermi-LAT observations from 2010/11, 2014, and 2017 are analysed.
Results. A local double-peak profile with asymmetric peaks in the VHE light curve is measured, with a flux minimum at the time of periastron tp and two peaks coinciding with the times at which the neutron star crosses the companion's circumstellar disc (~tp ± 16 d). A high VHE gamma-ray flux is also observed at the times of the HE gamma-ray flares (~tp + 30 d) and at phases before the first disc crossing (~tp − 35 d). The spectral energy range now extends to below 200 GeV and up to ~45 TeV.
Conclusions. PSR B1259–63/LS 2883 displays periodic flux variability at VHE gamma-rays without clear signatures of super-orbital modulation in the time span covered by the monitoring of the source with the H.E.S.S. telescopes. This flux variability is most probably caused by the changing environmental conditions, particularly at times close to periastron passage at which the neutron star is thought to cross the circumstellar disc of the companion star twice. In contrast, the photon index remains unchanged within uncertainties for about 200 d around periastron. At HE gamma-rays, PSR B1259–63/LS 2883 has now been detected also before and after periastron, close to the disc crossing times. Repetitive flares with distinct variability patterns are detected in this energy range. Such outbursts are not observed at VHEs, although a relatively high emission level is measured. The spectra obtained in both energy regimes displays a similar slope, although a common physical origin either in terms of a related particle population, emission mechanism, or emitter location is ruled out.


The 18th century Irish philosopher George Berkeley argued that we might know of the existence of other minds based upon our experience of having certain sense-data or "ideas" imprinted upon us. This served, for Berkeley, ultimately as a basis for us to know of a "grand" other mind orchestrating the order among said ideas imprinted upon us, that is, God. This leap to God, however, has been challenged over the past three decades. A very rudimentary form could still be retained though from Berkeley's argument for God, whereby Berkeley argued that human minds were dependent upon other "more powerful" minds. I shall open with the contention that Berkeley did not actually show that there must exist one or many other minds orchestrating the order among imprinted ideas. This contention shall serve as the ground for speculating what form Berkeleyanism would take, if we posit many other minds instead of one God. I shall argue that this Berkeleyanism "reworked" on the premise of many other minds, could understand those ideas imprinted upon us as having been decided by a commune of finite other minds. I shall also argue that the experience of having ideas imprinted upon us is identical to an experience the Japanese thinker of the same century, Motoori Norinaga, expressed with the phrase semusubenaki ("There is nothing to be done"). This experience of there being "nothing-to-be-done" (Nasusubenaki) shall also be situated within the Berkeleyanism "reworked" around the premise of a commune of other minds imprinting ideas upon us to speculative ends.


PURPOSE
The drug therapy of common conditions and complications during labor and delivery and the fetal and neonatal effects of this therapy are examined.

SUMMARY
The pharmacologic therapy of common conditions that occur in labor and delivery primarily involves oxytocin and prostaglandins for cervical ripening and labor induction and systemic and regional narcotic analgesics for pain. Because most medications used in women during labor and delivery do not have Food and Drug Administration-approved labeling, pharmacists should understand the benefits and limitations of medications used in the mother. Although induction and augmentation of labor and the control of pain often require drug therapy, other, less frequent, complications may occur in labor. Drug therapies for these complications include anti-infective agents to treat maternal infection and prevent neonatal diseases; antiretrovirals to reduce perinatal HIV-1 transmission from the mother to the fetus; corticosteroids to prevent fetal lung immaturity; antihypertensives to treat preeclampsia; anticonvulsants to treat eclampsia; antibiotics to prolong pregnancy and improve neonatal outcomes after premature rupture of the membranes; tocolytics for premature labor; and oxytocin, ergot alkaloids, and prostaglandin analogues for postpartum hemorrhage. The fetal and neonatal effects of therapy for the conditions that occur during labor and delivery are usually benign, but significant morbidity and mortality involving the mother, the fetus, and the newborn are ever-present risks.

CONCLUSION
Awareness of the conditions and complications requiring drug therapy during labor and delivery will allow hospital pharmacists to make knowledgeable decisions about the rapid accessibility of critical medications in the labor and delivery unit.


In the present survey the results of energy expenditure investigation of 14-16 years old (n=100) male sambo athletes', studying at Center of Sport and Education "Sambo-70", at the stage of the instant arrangement for startup, are presented. Serious differences in the level of athletes' energy expenditure depending on training load have been identified in the course of investigations. On the ground of the pre-contest stage training model the combinations of the most common conditioning exercises are determined. By the analysis of energy expenditure out of training and during the training activity, the average data of general (daily) energy expenditure in accordance with the amount and the direction of training load are deduced. The difference between the roughest and the rest day amounted to 2075 kcal a day. The significant varies in energy expenditure of different weight category athletes have been found. It has been revealed that during the single training load execution of the same volume and intensity, the representatives of the lightweight athletes (45-50 kg) burn, at the average, 377 kcal less than the heavy-weight ones (81-85 kg), which amounts not less than 15% of the energy value of average daily ration.


Small molecules can be represented as modular structures: small numbers of unbreakable cells, of known elemental composition, joined together at cleavable seams. The cells are a mathematical partition of the molecular weight. A systematic process is described here for converting mass spectral data into these simple modular structures; a computer program was then developed and tested using this process. On the basis of this preliminary work, it appears that this partitioning approach may be practicable for many compounds. Examples illustrating some of the limitations encountered with this approach are also presented.


This technical note describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Latin America and the Caribbean, and considers the implications for future population health, health spending, healthcare service reforms, and investments to prepare for future health emergencies. It provides a summary of the few existing empirical studies and then contributes original analysis using administrative data from hospitals and vital registration systems in five countries. It shows substantial declines in health and healthcare delivery during the first year of the pandemic, especially for preventive and elective care. Some countries were able to return healthcare to historical levels, while others were still below average in 2021. The study concludes with reflections on how the pandemic has altered health policy recommendations for the region, generating a greater sense of urgency to make progress on long-standing agendas such as eliminating fragmentation, integrating care, and pursuing digital transformation while reordering priorities toward investments in emergency preparedness, disease surveillance, resilience, and self-sufficiency. In other words, going beyond normal.


We have used a double-immunolabelling technique on human carotid atherosclerotic plaques to measure cell proliferation and type-I collagen gene expression, using antibodies to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and type-I procollagen protein, respectively. Although cell proliferative activity and type-I collagen gene expression can occur simultaneously in the same cell, this is a rare event, and the vast majority of collagen-producing cells do not show proliferative activity. These two processes also tend to occur in separate locations, although they can coexist in certain regions of the plaque. This disparate location of these two important modes of plaque growth suggests that cell proliferation and collagen gene expression may be under separate biological controls during the development and evolution of human atherosclerosis.


Abstract Organophosphatic-shelled brachiopods (Subphylum Linguliformea, Class Lingulata) of early Ordovician (Arenig) age are described for the first time from carbonate olistoliths within the Silurian Pulgon Formation of the Kichik Alay Range, southern Kyrgyzstan. The assemblages include Paterula? naukatensis sp. nov., Rowellella sp., Orbithele ceratopygarum (Brøgger), Acrotreta korynevskii Holmer & Popov, Ombergia mirabilis gen. et sp. nov., Eoconulus cf.primus Popov & Holmer, and Palaeoglossa? aff. razumovskii (Lermontova). The Kyrgyzstanian faunas appear to correlate mainly with assemblages from the upper Hunnebergian or lower Billingenian regional stages of Baltoscandia. Taxa in common with those from the early Arenig of Baltoscandia and the South Urals include O. ceratopygarum and A. korynevskii. Ombergia mirabilis is known otherwise only from coeval strata in Baltoscandia. It is probable that the Kyrgyzstanian olistoliths originated from early Ordovician intra-oceanic volcanic island arcs in the proximity of Gondwana, and the microbrachiopod faunas around these islands may have given rise to the more widespread and richer faunas that spread across Baltica during the rest of the Ordovician, as the island complexes drifted towards Baltica.


v' The authors report a series of 100 consecutive patients with spinal metastases causing cord or cauda equina compression, who were treated with surgical decompression. Of these, 30% (all women) had breast cancer. The most common primary neoplasm in man was prostatic carcinoma. Pain was the earliest and most prominent symptom, followed by weakness. Bladder dysfunction was recorded in 40 patients. The thoracic region was the most common site of cord compression (76 patients). Surgical treatment involved urgent and extensive laminectomy decompression. Concomitant spinal stabilization was required in 10 cases, involving posterior rib graft fusion in seven and Harrington rod instrumentation in three. At last follow-up review, 29 of these patients were living with an average postoperative survival of 2.3 years; 71 patients had died with an average survival of 8.8 months. Surgical decompression produced effective pain relief in 70% of the patients. Postoperatively, 58 patients could walk; of these, 40 were walking and continent of urine 6 months following surgery (including five patients who were totally paraplegic on admission). Positive approach and aggressive management in this problem can achieve results superior to those generally reflected in the literature.


Three common categories of bilateral asymmetry have been described: directional asymmetry, antisymmetry, and FA (fluctuating asymmetry). FA is the most subtle of the three types of asymmetry, and differs from the patterns of the others in that paired structures tend to be symmetric in size. The analysis of FA allows to estimate the influence of stress factors on animal development and enables evaluation of resistance to stress. The aim of this work was to estimate the symmetry of skulls of a contemporary pure goat breed, as there is currently no study of FA as an estimate of individual quality for domestic goats. For this purpose, 11 landmarks were digitized in two dimensions from the crania of 24 adult goats (12 males and 12 females) belonging to the "White Rasquera" breed. The skulls showed nearly perfect bilateral symmetry. The low detected values of FA in skulls revealed a weak influence of developmental stress on this goat contemporary population and its strong ability to compensate stress.


In the Montgomery bus boycott and the South African anti-pass campaign, women's autonomous organizations initiated actions that catalyzed the mass movements for racial justice and national liberation. The activism of women and their organizations sprang from their particular positioning within systems of multiple oppressions simultaneously experiencing racial/ethnic, class, and gender oppression. In both the United States and South Africa, the particular structural location and autonomous resistance of women of African descent was an important aspect of the political opportunity structure and served as a catalyst that catapulted their respective movements for racial justice and/or national liberation to higher levels. This study employs a gendered and comparative approach to these two resistance campaigns to understand better the effects of interactive and multiplicative inequalities on movement processes and the gendered nature of political opportunities.


When Islam and human rights are discussed together, the conversation quickly turns into an abstract, dichotomous debate as to whether the two are compatible. A common line of argumentation proffers Islamic law is fundamentally antithetical to universal human rights norms, while an opposing view rebuts that post-World War II human rights laws are created by former colonialist powers as the latest iteration of Western nations' imposition of their religious, social, and political order on the global south and east.

Further de-legitimizing human rights law is selective enforcement that exempts European and American persons — the most glaring example being the torture of thousands of Muslim detainees in the Global War on Terror. For these critics, purported universal human rights norms are nothing more than a ruse to punish African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Latin American state leaders who fail to obey Western states' hegemonic interests.

Notwithstanding reasonable suspicions of the asymmetrical power animating the international human rights legal regime, the idea that all humans have some fundamental natural rights traverses cultures, religions, and time. Thus, any good faith debates on the compatibility of Islamic law and human rights should not be as concerned with whether Islamic law mirrors Western law — for that would indeed be legal and cultural imperialism — but rather examine the commonalities between Islamic human rights norms and post-WWII Western human rights norms.

While acknowledging the importance of theoretical discussions, this article takes a different approach. Moving beyond an analysis of what is written in religious and legal texts or debated by Islamic scholars, I examine how Islam inspires lay Muslims to defend and advocate for human rights. To that end, I explore how Muslims advocate for human and civil rights — as a result of rather than despite — their Islamic beliefs and Muslim identity. Accordingly, this article focuses on Muslims in the United States as a case study for how commitments to human rights manifest in the lived experiences of Muslims.

Muslim activists in the United States are putting their Islamic faith into action through cross-racial and interfaith rights advocacy. Their collective action for nearly two decades brings into sharp relief the argument that the political environment, not solely religion, facilitates protection of human rights. Whether it is in Muslim-majority democratic countries such as Indonesia and Tunisia or Christian-majority countries such as South Africa, the United States, and some European nations, Muslims living in pluralistic democratic societies defend human rights because of their faith. In doing so, these Muslims demonstrate that authoritarian and politically repressive regimes of most Muslim-majority countries — most of whom are supported by Western states — are more determinative of human rights abuses than the religious beliefs of citizens in Muslim-majority countries.


For a better understanding of pre-Holocene cultural history, archaeologists are in need of an absolute time scale that can be confirmed and duplicated by different dating methods. Proxy data available from archaeological sites do not, in themselves, allow much reflection on absolute age. Even when founded on supporting radiocarbon data, Paleolithic chronologies that are beyond the actual limits of 14C calibration still remain relative ones, and thus are often quite tentative. Lacking the possibility of calibration for the Paleolithic, archaeologists often attempt to correlate their data with different time scales from different archives that are thought to be absolute or calendric. The main result of this paper is that the GISP2 and U/Th chronologies duplicate each other over their entire range of data overlap, while other time scales (i.e., GRIP, most varve sites) differ significantly. The context-derived 14C calibration curve provides a large potential to correlate the various climate archives as recorded in ice cores and deep ocean drillings with terrestrial sequences.