Objectives: The objectives of the present study were to identify the species of enterococci isolated from nosocomial infections and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility pattern with reference to high-level aminoglycosides and vancomycin. Materials and Methods: Enterococci were isolated from various clinical samples collected from patients after 72 hours of hospitalization. Various species of Enterococcus were identified by standard methods. High-level aminoglycoside resistance and vancomycin susceptibility in enterococci were detected by disk-diffusion and agar-screen methods. Results: One hundred eighty enterococcal strains were isolated from various clinical samples. Various species of Enterococcus — Enterococcus fecalis 130 (72.22%), Enterococcus casseliflavus 24 (13.33%), Enterococcus fecium 17 (9.44%), Enterococcus durans 7 (3.89%) and Enterococcus dispar 2 (1.11%) — were isolated. The highest resistance to aminoglycoside was observed among E. fecium, followed by E. durans, E. fecalis and E. casseliflavus, both by disk-diffusion and agar-screen methods. The high-level aminoglycoside resistance (HLAR) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in E. fecium by agar-screen method. All enterococci showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ≤8 μg/mL to vancomycin. Sixteen (12.31%) E. fecalis and 3 (12.5%) E. fecium strains were intermediately resistant to vancomycin (MIC= 8 μg/mL), whereas other strains were susceptible to vancomycin. Conclusion: The occurrence of high-level aminoglycoside resistance in enterococcal isolates in our setup was high. Even though none of the enterococcal strains showed resistance to vancomycin, yet reduced susceptibility to vancomycin was noticed in our study. This would require routine testing of enterococcal isolates for HLAR and vancomycin susceptibility. Agar-screen method was found to be superior to disk-diffusion method in detecting resistant strains to aminoglycosides and vancomycin.


This paper incorporates a model of corporate control into a general equilibrium framework for production economies with incomplete markets. The classical objective of value maximization is extended, but is indeterminate. Instead, firms are viewed as being subject to shareholder control via some decision mechanism. As long as this decision mechanism is responsive to a unanimous preference by shareholders, shareholder control is consistent with but stronger than value maximization. Next, the particular institution of majority voting by shareholders is examined. It is shown that for generic economies, a majority rule equilibrium for a firm implies that production is optimal for the largest, or dominant, shareholder. Finally, a more realistic control mechanism is considered in which majority voting by shareholders is constrained by a group of shareholders, or Board of Directors, who control the voting agenda. The result is that shareholders not on the Board have no influence on the equilibrium production choice of the firm.


This thesis explores how the discrete education structures in the German and Australian context inform the strategies adopted by families, while also taking into account how family strategies reinforce the structures as well. This is in contrast to a passive construction of how families mediate student achievement, where the influence of families is too often distilled into a socio-economic variable, which can imply that the structures and processes inbuilt into education systems happen to families, as if there is no family action involved whatsoever. Families are active agents and data suggests that there is an increasing inclination to position their children into more favourable positions within education systems partly as a reflection of the broader dimensions of social and economic life and a generalized state of anxiety concerning the ability of schools to meet their children's needs.

This work identifies the strategies used within Germany and Australia and their interplay with contextual features of the education system, employing a common framework to study each jurisdiction. It also considers the diverse structures of education at a national level, and how parents mobilize educational strategies of choice within Germany and Australia. It adopts a case-study approach to investigate how strategies of educational advantage are actually more reflective of a localized context, as opposed to a national picture. Other strategies, including tutoring and homework assistance, are also identified. Overall this study provides a more complex and differentiated account than is currently available of why it is so necessary to study families via a comparative approach, including the expectations and strategies they operationalize to support their children's education. The role of families is a vitally important dimension in explaining how education systems function. The focus on family strategies of educational advantage – uncovers crucial supportive mechanisms which can be overlooked in other studies. One key shared common characteristic to both systems is the predominance of the academic curriculum. Drawing on the comparative observations, key implications in terms of reforms for both countries to realize greater equity are identified. Any advances towards equity in education systems involves improving access to the academic curriculum to more young people and supporting them by making it more accessible. Therefore, Germany should continue to alleviate their practices of academic selection and Australia should reorientate to being less socially selective.


The pathogenic effects of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in vitro on hematopoiesis were investigated. Normal human bone marrow cells from both seronegative and seropositive donors were challenged with CMV (Towne or wild-type strain) and tested for their responsiveness to the recombinant hematopoietic growth factors granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte-CSF (G-CSF), respectively. Regardless of the serostatus of the donor, infection with CMV resulted in a significant decrease in the proliferation and colony formation of hematopoietic progenitor cells in response to both growth factors, with more pronounced suppression in response to G-CSF being observed. Evaluation of the colony composition revealed a profound decrease in colonies of the granulocytic (CFU-G), or granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) lineages, while suppression of multipotential (CFU-GEMM) and erythroid (BFU-E) colony-forming cells occurred after infection with wild-type but not the laboratory strain of CMV. Although no evidence of productive virus infection could be seen in colony-forming cells, in situ hybridization studies and immunohistochemical staining revealed the presence of CMV-specific mRNA and immediate-early antigens, demonstrating that a small proportion of cells were abortively infected. These studies demonstrate that CMV can infect bone marrow progenitor cells and interfere with normal hematopoiesis in vitro, which may help to explain the hematologic defects seen during acute infections with CMV in vivo.


Respiratory quinone profiles were applied as tools for identifying different bacterial populations in the aerobic submerged biofilter along with the change of environment such as the temperature and the loading of hard-biodegradable chemicals. To begin with, a novel and simplified analytical operation of respiratory quinones was developed. A diversity in microbial population was observed in the film cultivated at the higher temperature. The change of microbial population in the course of acclimation to hard-biodegradable chemicals such as dimethylformamide(DMF, hereafter) was clarified on the basis of quinone profile.


Kirik's treatise on chronology: Novgorod, XIIth Century A Novgorodian monk, Kirik, composed in year 6644 (1136) a Treatise on calendar computations which gained him the title of 'First Russian mathematician'. An edition of the Treatise and French translations of this Treatise and of an associated short Chronology are given and discussed. Greek and Slavonic influences are present. Interesting mathematical contributions may be seen in the numerical notations and in the calculation of big numbers, on the basis of the date 6644. This date has a symbolic meaning, as Novgorod acquired in this year the right to choose its prince. A chapter on successive divisions of the hour by five, creating very small units of time, raises many questions. Kirik participated probably in the redaction of a Questionnary on everyday religious problems, thus assassing a wide interest in the life of his city.


Greece and Rome Before the fifth century B.C., ancient Greece had physician-seers (iatromantis) who combined magical procedures and drug treatments, and wound healers deft at caring for battlefield trauma. Another group of practitioners were engaged in medical dietetics, a tradition that developed primarily in response to the needs of athletes. Ultimately, it encompassed not only questions regarding exercise, bathing, and relaxation, but the regulation of food and drink for all citizens. All of these traditions eventually merged around 500 B.C. into a techne iatriche , or healing science, that sought to define its own intellectual approach and methodology. For this purpose, the new medicine adopted a theoretical framework capable of explaining the phenomena of health and illness. The new techne was also heavily dependent on clinical observations from which careful inferences and generalizations were derived. The foremost representative of classical Greek medicine was Hippocrates, a prominent practitioner and teacher who came to personify the ideal Western physician. Within a century of his death in 370 B.C., several unknown disciples wrote nearly 60 treatises, come clinical and some theoretical, on medical subjects differing widely in content and style. This collection of writings, which comprised a comprehensive and rational healing system usually known as "Hippocratic" medicine, emphasized the individual patient. Its practitioners focused exclusively on physical factors related to health and disease, including the immediate environment. Indeed, among the most famous works of the Hippocratic corpus was the treatise Airs, Waters, and Places , an early primer on environmental medicine. Another was Epidemics , a day-to-day account of certain patients, and a third was Regimen , a prescription of diet and life-style conducive to health.


In the debate over immigration reform, it is frequently asserted that immigrants take jobs that U.S. natives do not want. Using data from the 2000 Census merged with O*NET data on occupation characteristics, I show that the jobs held by immigrants are more physically arduous than the jobs held by U.S. natives. However, data from the California Work and Health Survey on self-reported physical job demands indicate that immigrants do not perceive their jobs as requiring more physical effort than U.S. natives. Immigrants thus have worse jobs than natives but do not view them as such.


Two-dimensional representation of consequence of 32 proteins with known three-dimensional structure has been obtained on 20 X 20 matrix of the distribution of amino acid pairs (nearest neighbours). Prediction algorithm of the structural class of globular proteins has been worked out on the basis of the comparison of 20 X 20 matrix of the distribution of amino acid pairs for the proteins of different structural classes. The accuracy of structural class predictions of 32 proteins has been carried out (all the proteins are taken from numerous ones used to obtain the algorithm).


In tandem with Oreet Ashery's Revisiting Genesis exhibition and web project Helena Reckitt discussed the 'Now You Can Go' programme that she initiated and organised with six feminist colleagues in 2015.

A two-week long events programme inspired by Italian feminisms of the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, 'Now You Can Go' foregrounded how practices of transmission, translation and annotation can operate as means of intergenerational feminist encounter. In this talk Reckitt highlighted the non-assimilationist politics of Italian feminisms associated with the Milan Women's Bookstore collective and with Rivolta Femminile and its cofounder Carla Lonzi, whose book Vai Pure ('Now You Can Go' in English translation) lent the programme its title. These strains of Italian feminism rejected the reformist assumptions inherent to campaigns for equal rights, and called for women to resist stereotypical gendered roles along with mainstream institutional power.

Little-known within Anglo-American feminist circles, Italian feminism has much to offer contemporary feminisms, Reckitt argues. Of particular significance is the Italian feminist critique of how work and productivity seep into all aspects of our lives, and of art cultures that celebrate high-status artistic production while disavowing the supportive, background, feminized labour that sustains them.


Background Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) isn't always prescribed according to international guidelines: nutritional screening is frequently lacking, the prescribed therapy is not always adapted accordingly and subsequent monitoring is often absent. Our objective was to assess the potential benefit of a clinical pharmacist reviewing prescribed TPN. Purpose Evaluation of the appropriateness of prescribed TPN. Material and methods Setting: A prospective pre-post intervention study in a tertiary care teaching hospital with a high percentage of cancer and critically ill patients. Method: Adult hospitalised patients on TPN were included. The presence of a Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 and the calculation of energy requirements, the indication, the therapy appropriateness and the therapy duration were assessed by a clinical pharmacist. During the intervention period feedback was provided to the physician and dietician in multidisciplinary collaboration. The ESPEN guidelines were taken as golden standard. All data were obtained from the electronic patients files. Results We assessed 272 hospitalisations, 152 pre-interventional (10/2013–01/2014) and 120 post-interventional (02/2014–04/2014). During the latter period an intervention was needed in 83.7% (176 interventions) of the cases. Prevalence of nutritional screening increased from 25.0% to 61.7% (p < 0.001) as did energy requirement calculation (30.9% vs. 67.5%; p < 0.001). Therapy appropriateness increased from 58.8% to 75.8% (p < 0.05). The median duration (6.0 vs. 7.0 days) of the therapy was not significantly reduced (p = 0.36). We avoided the production of at least 81 TPNs on a total of 1172. During the 3 month intervention period an estimated total saving of 20756€ could be obtained. Conclusion The additional monitoring of the appropriateness of TPN by a clinical pharmacist has a positive influence on therapy quality and healthcare costs. References and/or acknowledgements ESPEN guidelines (http://www.espen.org/education/espen-guidelines) Nutrition support team No conflict of interest.


Radiant and hybrid sintering experiments have been performed on dry and wet processed nanocrystalline 3-YSZ using both a conventional single stage and a new two stage sintering cycle. Whilst densities >98.5% of theoretical were achievable by all combinations, a nanostructure could only be retained using the two stage sintering approach. With hybrid heating the average grain sizes for die pressed samples were in the range 70 – 80 nm whilst for the more homogeneous slip cast samples a final average grain size of just 64 nm was achieved for a body with a final density of >99%. It is believed that the primary advantage offered by hybrid heating is the ability to use a much faster initial heating rate, 20 versus just 7oC min-1, without risking damage to the samples. Whilst detailed characterisation of the properties of these nanostructured ceramics is still underway, preliminary results have suggested that neither the hardness or toughness has been improved compared to conventional, submicron-sized 3-YSZ. As a result of detailed crystallographic characterisation this is believed to be due to a grain size dependent shift in the phase boundary composition for nano YSZ ceramics leading to 'over stabilisation' at any given yttria content.


Anatomy of the venous system forms the basis of clinical phlebology and is crucial to the correct evaluation and appropriate treatment of venous disorders. The current official anatomical nomenclature, Terminologia Anatomica (TA)1 has well served anatomists and clinicians involved in investigation and treatment of venous diseases. Deficiency in the nomenclature of the veins of the lower limbs, however, became obvious as knowledge accumulated about their physiology and pathophysiology. In addition, clinicians introduced and used names not present in the TA. Incorrect interpretation of these names led to confusion and even to inappropriate treatment of venous disease. For example, the main deep vein of the thigh, named the "superficial femoral vein" by some clinicians has been erroneously considered to be a superficial vein. This has led to failure to treat deep vein thrombosis.2 In current usage, the abbreviation "LSV" can represent either long saphenous vein or the lesser saphenous vein.3 This has led to confusion as to which vein was being referred to. In addition, the official anatomical nomenclature has had an inadequate listing of perforating veins, saphenous vein collaterals, tributary veins, and some of the deep veins. Several of these unlisted veins are reasonably constant in location and connections. They need an official name to obtain terminologic conformity.


This paper uses dynamic simulation analysis to consider the likely consequences of the 1988 Japanese Beef Market Access Agreement (BMAA) on the Japanese livestock industry and beef imports. Using a simultaneous equations, econometric model of Japanese livestock markets, a forecast baseline up to 1997 was first established, asswning that the Japanese beef import quota continues to increase by 9,000 tons annually as under the 1984 agreement The restrictions of the new agreement were then imposed on the model. The results lead to a number of conclusions. Beef imports will increase to the new quota level in the first three years and continue increasing at about the same rate thereafter. The shift from the import quota to the import tariff in 1991 will have little effect on imports or prices. The US share of increasing Japanese beef imports will increase at the expense of Australia and New 7.ealand. The effects of the BMAA on the Japanese beef industry will be significant but less than devastating. The pigmeat industry will also be affected. The chicken and fish industries will be little affected. Finally, the degree of responsiveness of Japanese cattle prcxiucers to the expected beef price decline will significantly affect the outcome.


Regardless of etiology, all patients with chronic renal disease show a progressive decline in renal function with time. Fibrosis, so-called scarring, is a key cause of this pathophysiology. Fibrosis involves an excess accumulation of extracellular matrix (primarily composed of collagen) and usually results in loss of function when normal tissue is replaced with scar tissue. While recent major advances have led to a much better understanding of this process, many problems remain. We for instance know little about why some wounds heal and others scar and little about how many putative antifibrotic agents work. This review discusses recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of tubulointerstitial fibrosis, focusing on the regulation and role of the myofibroblast in this process, the role of recently recognized endogenous antifibrotic factors, controversy surrounding the effects of metalloproteinases, and the opportunities presented by new treatment strategies that abrogate and may even reverse fibrosis.


This study examined the patterns of workplace violence among women in informal sector. The study adopted a survey research design. Three hundred and seventy-four women working in informal sector like farm, bakery, laundry, canteen and various construction sites were randomly selected. Their ages range from 2148 years with the mean of 32.6 years. Workplace Violence Questionnaire (WOVIQ) was used to collect data for this study. Two hypotheses were raised to test workplace violence among women in informal sector across educational qualifications and ages. The findings revealed a significant difference in self-reported workplace violence based on age of women working in informal sector at F (3, 373) =23.66; p<.05 and significant difference in self reported workplace violence based on level of education of women working in informal sector was at F (3, 373) =28.46; p<.05. It was concluded that although all female workers experienced workplace violence in their workplace at different degrees, it was discovered that the younger the female workers are ones who reported workplace violence more. Apart from age which is significant in determining the workplace violence among female workers, level of education also influences workplace violence, the higher the level of education the less the reported workplace violence. It was recommended that supervisors at different sites, firms etc should discourage any negative practice in the non-formal workplace including sexual harassment. Secondly, because of their status, female employees should be protected by legislation against such acts. Thirdly, non-governmental organizations interested in women issues should provide forum for female workers to bring forward their complaints whenever they experience workplace violence and other related discriminatory practices against them.


A widely accepted narrative of the European sovereign debt crisis is that it was due, at least in a large part, to a loss of competitiveness suffered by a number of countries. This article argues that this assertion is factually wrong. Working with the same data used to make the assertion, the article shows that the competitiveness loss view is the result of several misleading assumptions. When using a proper definition of competitiveness, the data reveal that whatever loss occurred was being corrected before the crisis erupted and was completely eliminated within three years. It also provides evidence that competitiveness changes have been endogenous to demand shocks. This implies that policies aiming at "restoring" competitiveness look at the symptoms, not the cause.


OBJECTIVES
This study examined the extreme medical unemployment and underemployment in the urban areas of Mexico. The conceptual and methodological approach may be relevant to many countries that have experienced substantial increases in the supply of physicians during the last decades.

METHODS
On the basis of 2 surveys carried out in 1986 and 1993, the study analyzed the performance of physicians in the labor market as a function of ascription variables (social origin and gender), achievement variables (quality of medical education and specialty studies), and contextual variables (educational generation).

RESULTS
The study reveals, despite some improvement, persistently high levels of open unemployment, qualitative underemployment (i.e., work in activities completely outside of medicine), and quantitative underemployment (i.e., work in medical activities but with very low levels of productivity and remuneration). The growing proportion of female doctors presents new challenges, because they are more likely than men to be unemployed and underemployed.

CONCLUSIONS
While corrective policies can have a positive impact, it is clear that decisions regarding physician supply must be carefully considered, because they have long-lasting effects. An area deserving special attention is the improvement of professional opportunities for female doctors.


This paper examines marital partner selection and the significance of fertility status among couples living with HIV using qualitative research methods. This study was conducted in the Maun and Gaborone areas in Botswana in southern Africa where patrilineal marriage traditions are normative and both civil as well as traditional marriage practices remain prevalent. Data were collected from 32 respondents using in-depth interviews after new civil marriages and where HIV status was positive for both partners. Results from the research demonstrate that HIV status is socially significant in the decisions that the couples living with HIV make in terms of selecting marriage partners. Yet once new marital relationships are established based on concordant HIV status, the cultural importance of fertility and childbearing remains paramount and rates of unprotected sex remain high. HIV positive and concordant couples engaged in unprotected sex in order to reinforce positive social status through reproductive success even when knowledge about mother to child transmission and increased viral loads in their own bodies was evident. This paper demonstrates the value of understanding cultural norms that surround fertility desires and fears of infertility in crafting efficacious HIV prevention programmes. HIV concordant couples still seek fertility success with partners in a context where HIV infection rates have remained high and this paper contributes to literature on both partner selection with respect to HIV status as well as the value of qualitative investigation to elucidate cultural challenges to HIV prevention. The paper concludes with further recommendations for understanding of the often overlooked cultural significance of infertility in areas with high HIV infection in order to better inform policies in the formulation of evidence based prevention strategies in Botswana with respect to people living with HIV and AIDS.


Each chapter is revised and updated by contributors from the best-selling Fifth Edition, as well as new thought leaders from the field of holistic nursing. Chapters begin with Nurse Healer Objectives that are divided into theoretical, clinical, and personal subject areas, and then conclude with Directions for Future Research and Nurse Healer Reflections to encourage readers to delve deeper into the material and reflect on what they have learned in each chapter.


Telecommuting as an approach in transportation demand management has made the news a lot in recent years. Technology has enabled this growing trend, and more and more companies and families are taking advantages of it. Adopting telecommuting is a multidimensional decision making process that involves different aspects of life such as family, work and many more. Modelling telecommuting enables employers and employees to understand the main factors that influence on decision making about adopting telecommuting. The role of subjective knowledge and linguistic variables cannot be ignored in human decision making process and Fuzzy Logic has proved to be a powerful tool for knowledge-based decision-making systems. Telecommuting as a multifaceted decision involves more on subjective knowledge rather that accurate numbers. Thus, fuzzy logic is applied for modelling telecommuting. Moreover, the complex internal decision making process for adopting telecommuting reveals the role of various factors at different levels that influence on the outcome of the decision. Therefore, Fuzzy Rule Based Network, as a novel approach in modelling complex systems, is utilised. Using Fuzzy Network as a transparent approach, enables to understand the role of external inputs, intermediate variables and their interaction in modelling telecommuting. According to choice theory and in order to find the maximum utilities of alternatives in telecommuting, the Fuzzy Network is tuned and optimised in terms of rules and membership function using Genetic Algorithm and Fuzzy c-mean clustering method. In addition, to reduce the size of Fuzzy Network, an input and branch selection method is proposed. Linguistic composition of the nodes in Fuzzy Network is also performed by an efficient method to reduce computational costs. Results highlight the most important external and intermediate variables as well as decision rules in describing the suitability of telecommuting. Also, a Multinomial Logit model, as benchmark model, is developed to compare models performances which shows the superiority of the proposed method in transparency, efficiency and interpretability criteria. The main contributions of this research can be highlighted in modelling the suitability of telecommuting using Fuzzy Rule Based Network, developing fuzzy utility model using Fuzzy Rule Based Network, tuning Fuzzy Rule Based Network using Genetic Algorithm, input and branch selection for Fuzzy Rule Based Network and finally proposing an efficient method for linguistic composition of Rule Based Network. DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award. Word Count: 43120


Background Clove oil of Eugenia caryophyllata (Myrtaceae) is a light yellowish fluid obtained from dried flower buds. Clove oil is used traditionally to relieve toothache. Aim The aim of the present work was to study the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic potential of clove oil in mice. Methods Analgesic activity was examined using acetic-acid-induced abdominal constrictions and the hot plate test. Carrageenan-induced paw edema and brewer's-yeast-induced pyrexia were used to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity and the antipyretic effects, respectively. The oil was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a dose of 33 mg/kg body weight and the effects were compared with reference drugs. Results In the antinociceptive test, mice treated with clove oil exhibited significantly decreased acetic-acid-induced writhing movements by a maximum of 87.7% (p<0.01) compared with a decrease of 77.7% (p<0.01) in response to aspirin injection (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneal, i.p.). Similarly, in the hot plate test, clove oil significantly increased the reaction latency to pain after 60 min by 82.3% (p<0.05) compared with morphine value of 91.7% (p<0.01). In addition, clove oil and indomethacin produced anti-inflammatory effects, as demonstrated by respectively 50.6% (p<0.05) and 70.4% (p<0.01) inhibition of mouse paw edema induced by carrageenan. Furthermore, clove oil significantly attenuated the hyperthermia induced by yeast at ΔT-max by 2.7°C (p<0.001), and time of peak effects was 30–180 min compared with a paracetamol value ΔT-max of 3.2°C (p<0.001). The estimated i.p. LD50 of clove oil was 161.9 mg/kg. Phytochemical screening of the oil showed the presence of eugenol. Conclusion The present findings demonstrate the potential pharmacological properties of clove oil and provide further a support for its reported use in folk medicine.


This paper presents a survey study with 1,444 low-income older residents in regional NSW, Australia exploring their value perceptions towards using energy efficiently, as an approach to segmentation in social marketing. The study theorises that insight regarding the perceived functional, economic, emotional, social, and ecological value of using energy efficiency by participants can be used to segment, target and position social marketing programme activities to facilitate energy efficient behaviour(s). Latent class analysis was conducted on the participant sample, and identified seven distinct latent classes: frugal eco warriors, value opportunists, greenies, indecisive, apathetic independent spendthrifts, independents, and ambivalent ecologists. Each of these distinct latent classes displayed particular orientations with respect to value of using energy efficiently. This analysis presents new insights for social marketers from an appreciation of how different groups frame value in energy efficiency practices. The relevance and utility of using value theory as a social marketing segmentation approach offers academics and policy makers new insights to focusing on value as means for addressing energy efficiency.


At Hydrate Ridge (HR), Cascadia convergent margin, surface sediments contain massive gas hydrates formed from methane that ascends together with fluids along faults from deeper reservoirs. Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM), mediated by a microbial consortium of archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria, generates high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the surface sediments. The production of sulfide supports chemosynthetic communities that gain energy from sulfide oxidation. Depending on fluid flow, the surface communities are dominated either by the filamentous sulfur bacteria Beggiatoa (high advective flow), the clam Calyptogena (low advective flow), or the bivalve Acharax (diffusive flow). We analyzed surface sediments (0 to 10 cm) populated by chemosynthetic communities for AOM, sulfate reduction (SR) and the distribution of the microbial consortium mediating AOM. Highest AOM rates were found at the Beggiatoa field with an average rate of 99 mmol m-2 d-1 integrated over 0 to 10 cm. These rates are among the highest AOM rates ever observed in methane-bearing marine sediments. At the Calyptogena field, AOM rates were lower (56 mmol m-2 d-1). At the Acharax field, methane oxidation was extremely low (2.1 mmol m-2 d-1) and was probably due to aerobic methane oxidation. SR was fueled largely by methane at flow-impacted sites, but exceeded AOM in some cases, most likely due to sediment heterogeneity. At the Acharax field, SR was decoupled from methane oxidation and showed low activity. Aggregates of the AOM consortium were abundant at the fluid-impacted sites (between 5.1 × 1012 and 7.9 × 1012 aggregates m-2) but showed low numbers at the Acharax field (0.4 × 1012 aggregates m-2). A transport-reaction model was applied to estimate AOM at Beggiatoa fields. The model agreed with the measured depth integrated AOM rates and the vertical distribution. AOM represents an important methane sink in the surface sediments of HR, consuming between 50 and 100% of the methane transported by advection.


Algeria knows a periodical risk of floods and flash floods phenomena over much of its territory. This results in a stress on the daily activities of citizens and it will be an obstacle for the economic and social development of the country. In most cases uncontrolled urbanization conducts to be the failure of a flowing evacuation and efficiency of the storm water networks. The study presented has object, the operation of the map data of flood zone in the center of Ghardaia city after the flash flood of the first October 2008. This study consists of three distinct parts, first the development of flood phenomena and how did citizens handle the case of flood risk in Algeria. With detailed study of morphometric and hydrography of the M'Zab valley, i.e. the second part, the HEC-RAS software is selected and presented as numerical calculation tools for hydraulic modeling. The basic data (hydraulic and thematic) are identified as areas threatened by potential floods in the city center of Ghardaia, particularly vulnerable area in case of high flood. The third part is devoted to the identification and mapping of flood risk in an urban environment by hydraulic modeling approach. Thus developing this very ambitious and relevant part of help tools for managing decisions. Finally, our results have included a descriptive map of the spread of the flooded area in order to improve local responses


I The responses of cortical and striatal neurones to morphine and adenosine applied iontophoretically have been studied in the male rat. 2 The majority of cells (57%) within the corpus striatum were profoundly inhibited, and a smaller proportion (18%) excited by morphine. Adenosine depressed the firing rate of 30/44 cells in the striatum, excitation never being observed. In contrast, the responses of cortical cells to morphine were typically weak and required longer ejection pulses to effect comparable changes in firing rate. 3 Aminophylline applied iontophoretically, as an anion, proved able to antagonize reversibly both morphine and adenosine in parallel. 4 On a number of cells, y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was used as a control depressant but aminophylline did not appear to reduce these responses. 5 The responses to morphine (both inhibitory and excitatory) were not easily antagonized by naloxone. Typically, excitatory responses were easier to antagonize than the inhibitory ones. 6 It is concluded that a consequence of the interaction of morphine with its receptors may be the release of adenosine which subsequently produces the inhibition observed with morphine.


The production of thematic maps from remotely sensed images requires the application of classification methods. A great variety of classifiers is available, producing frequently considerably different results. Therefore, the automatic extraction of thematic information requires the choice of the most appropriate classifier for each application. One of the main objectives of the research described in this paper is to evaluate the performance of supervised classifiers using the information provided by the application of uncertainty measures to the testing sets, instead of statistical accuracy indices. The second main objective is to show that the information provided by the uncertainty measures for the training set may be used to assess and redefine the sample sites included in this set, in order to improve the classification results. To achieve the proposed objectives, two supervised classifiers, one probabilistic and another fuzzy, were applied to a Very High Spatial Resolution (VHRS) image. The results show that similar conclusions on the classifiers performance are obtained with the uncertainty measures and the traditional accuracy indices obtained from error matrixes. It is also shown that the redefinition of the training set based on the information provided by the uncertainty measures may generate more accurate outputs.


Differential clinical diagnosis of the parkinsonian syndromes,viz., Parkinson's disease (PD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy (MSA), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD) can be difficult. Visual hallucinations, however, are a chronic complication of some parkinsonian disorders and their presence may be a useful aid to diagnosis. The visual hallucinations in parkinsonism are often recurrent, well-formed, and detailed and occur in a significant proportion of cases of DLB and PD but are less common in PSP, MSA, and CBD. Hallucinations in PD often occur later in the disease and are complex, with flickering lights, and illusionary misconceptions often preceding the most common manifestation, viz., stereotypical colourful images. Hallucinations in DLB, however, are often present earlier in the disease and are similar to those in the 'misidentification syndromes', 'visual agnosias', and in 'delerium' but differ from those produced by hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD. Most typically in DLB, the hallucinations involve people or animals invading the patient's home but may also include inanimate objects and the appearance of writing on walls or ceilings. Visual hallucinations may involve a number of brain mechanisms including a change in the balance of neurotransmitter activity between the cholinergic and monoaminergic systems and may be a specific consequence of Lewy body (LB) pathology in brain stem nuclei. Ocular and retinal pathology may also contribute to hallucinations by reducing occipital stimulation. Hence, in patients with unclassifiable or with indeterminate parkinsonian symptoms, the presence of visual hallucinations should be regarded as a 'red flag' symptom indicating underlying Lewy body pathology and therefore, supporting a diagnosis of PD or DLB rather than PSP, MSA, or CBD. The presence of early visual hallucinations would support a diagnosis of DLB rather than PD.


Glass-epoxy composite structures are frequently used in many aerospace applications, such as landing gear struts, satellite frames, aircraft nose cones, and interior fuselage stiffeners. In glass fiber/epoxy composite systems, damage precursors such as micro-cracking have significant implications in impacting the performance and life span of the structure. As a consequence, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the response under fatigue loading. The focus of this study is to identify the stress levels responsible for crazing, micro-crack formation and coalescence into macrocrack in S2 Glass Cycom381 Epoxy matrices (8 plies woven). Fatigue tests are performed at 1, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, and 1,000,000 cycles under tensile loading conditions (R=0.1). Strategies for monitoring the damage prior to, during, and after cyclic loading conditions include ultrasound and acoustic emission (AE) non-destructive evaluation techniques. AE is used during the fatigue loading tests to identify and localize real-time the presence of rupture, delamination, and crack formations. The high frequency ultrasound immersion technique is conducted for high fidelity interlaminar evaluation prior to fatigue testing. After each test, an examination of the fracture surface is conducted by several image characterization techniques including optical microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). By this systematic evaluation, the phenomena of crazing, the propagation of micro-cracks, delaminations and other factors that lead to catastrophic failure are investigated. At the end of this study, an empirical framework is developed that maps the relationship between the sizing and location of the damage pre-cursors and the corresponding matrix/fiber degradation mechanisms.


Despite a long history of the use of 'citation count' as a measure of scientific impact, the evolution of the follow-up work inspired by the paper and their interactions through citation links have rarely been explored to quantify how the paper enriches the depth and breadth of a research field. We propose a novel data structure, called Influence Dispersion Tree (IDT), to model the organization of follow-up papers and their dependencies through citations. We also propose the notion of an ideal IDT for every paper and show that an ideal (highly influential) paper should increase the knowledge of a field vertically and horizontally. We study the structural properties of IDT (both theoretically and empirically) and propose two metrics, namely Influence Dispersion Index (IDI) and Normalized Influence Divergence (NID) to quantify the influence of a paper. Our theoretical analysis shows that an ideal IDT configuration should have equal depth and breadth (and thus minimize the NID value). We establish the superiority of NID as a better influence measure in two experimental settings. First, on a large real-world bibliographic dataset, we show that NID outperforms raw citation count as an early predictor of the number of new citations a paper will receive within a certain period after publication. Second, we show that NID is superior to the raw citation count at identifying the papers recognized as highly influential through 'Test of Time Award' among all their contemporary papers (published in the same venue)


ABSTRACT
 In this paper, we focus on young people's use of digital platforms, within the context of a 'live' digital media project. The study draws on Bourdieu's notion of social practices and explores unevenness in the possession of digital capital by young people. We use a live digital media project and draw on a (digital) participatory action research approach to explore the extent of distributed digital capital in evidence with a group of young people from dis-privileged backgrounds and their creative use of digital platforms to enact strategies to alter their future prospects. We conclude that for those young people emerging from a challenging habitus, support mechanisms are a crucial element in building a bank of digital capital tradable in other areas of their lives. Communities of practice can support those without privilege to compete on a more level playing field with their privileged counterparts by opening up access to educational cultural capital.


Stochastic logic is based on digital processing of a random pulse stream, where the information is codified as the probability of a high level in a finite sequence. This binary pulse sequence can be digitally processed exploiting the similarity between Boolean algebra and statistical algebra. Given a random pulse sequence, any Boolean operation among individual pulses will correspond to an algebraic expression among the variables represented by their respective average pulse rates. Subsequently, this pulse stream can be digitally processed to perform analog operations. In this paper, we propose a stochastic approach to the digital implementation of complex controllers using programmable devices as an alternative to traditional digital signal processors. As an example, a practical realization of nonlinear dissipative controllers for a series resonant converter is presented.


BACKGROUND: Survivin, a bifunctional protein, acts as suppressor of apoptosis and has an essential role in mitosis. Survivin is physically phosphorylated on Thr34, and other important sites such as Thr117, Ser20, Thr48 and Ser81. Our previous report has shown that Ser81 of survivin plays role in cytoprotection. In order to investigate the underlying mechanism, all motifs with medium stringency were scanned. We found that site of survivin at Ser81 was correlated to PKA, which is well reported to many cell signal machineries, including cell survival. Therefore, we focused our current investigation in finding possible correlation and interaction between survivin's Ser81 site and PKA. METHODS: Wild-type survivin (Survivin), antisense survivin (Survivin-AS), mutated-survivin and mutated-survivin Ser81Ala (Survivin-S81A) were constructed. Each retroviral product was produced. Some cell lysates were prepared and immunoprecipitated. For analysis, we performed immunoblotting and PKA's activity assays. RESULTS: In our current results, phosphorylated-PKA was correlated with survivin. Infection of survivin could lead to acceleration of PKA's activity in a viral particle dependent manner. This positive back loop induction by survivin was shown to be correlated to Ser81 site, since survivin-mediated PKA activity was not resulted by mutated form of survivin at Ser81 to nonphosphorylatable Ala (S81A). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested a possible back loop of survivin to activate PKA, and Ser81 could be an important site to mediate the survivin-PKA back loop signaling. Survivin-induced activation of PKA might be related to cytoprotection. KEYWORDS:  survivin, S81A, L929, PKA


Given that species is the fundamental unit in systematic biology, rigorous species delimitation is crucial for taxonomic studies, yet routine species delimitation remains an ongoing challenge in the taxonomic practice of insects. The two-horned scorpionfly Dicerapanorpa is a small genus in Panorpidae (Mecoptera) endemic to the Qinling-Bashan and Hengduan mountains, a biodiversity hotspot. However, species of Dicerapanorpa are difficult to delineate owing to marked intraspecific variation and interspecific similarity. Here, we investigate the diversity and species boundaries of Dicerapanorpa using an integrative approach based on DNA barcoding, morphological, geometric morphometric and molecular phylogenetic analyses. This integrative analyses confirmed the 13 described species of Dicerapanorpa and revealed three new species: Dicerapanorpa lativalva sp. nov., Dicerapanorpa hualongshana sp. nov. and Dicerapanorpa minshana sp. nov. Most molecular operational taxonomic units are in congruence with morphological clusters. Possible reasons for several discordances in Dicerapanorpa are tentatively discussed.


This monograph critically examines the contemporary discourses on the nature of 'human rights', their histories, the myths that are embedded in them, and contributes an alternative reading of those histories by placing the concerns and interests of the 'people in struggle and communities of resistance' at centre stage. It examines the cold reality that despite the last century being justly described as the century of human rights, the 'rightless and suffering peoples' still remain; it analyzes the gulf between the actuality and possibilities for the future. It analyzes the significance of the UN and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and goes on to study the more contemporary issues such as women's struggle to feminize the understanding and practice of human rights, the post-modernist critique of the universal idiom of human rights and, most pertinently for the current world scene, it analyzes the impact of globalization on the human rights movement. The new edition includes a discussion of the proposed United Nations norms regarding the human rights responsiblities of multinational corporations and other business entities.


One of the most important subjects of safety research is to reveal the relationship between causes and consequences of road accidents, taking into account not only driver's behavior but also the influence of an accident place, especially its geometrical characteristics. The crucial problem has to be considered: do road accident patterns exist and whether and how these patterns are dependent on the place. In this work, such analysis is concentrated on the determining of similarities and dissimilarities of accident patterns on chosen types of urban intersections of a middle town.


Patient: Male, 73-year-old Final Diagnosis: Intramuscular myxoma Symptoms: Shoulder pain Medication:— Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: General and Internal Medicine • Orthopedics and Traumatology Objective: Rare disease Background: Intramuscular myxomas are rare and benign soft-tissue tumors of uncertain differentiation. Predisposing or precipitating factors have not yet been reported. Activating mutation in GNAS (exons 8 and 9) is detected in >90% of sporadic cases. The role of chronic myopathy, tendinopathy, or trauma to muscles in the etiology of these neoplasms is not known. We report an unusual case of a deltoid mass found following longstanding rotator cuff tendinopathy and a recent fall, later confirmed to be an intramuscular myxoma on biopsy. Case Report: A 73-year-old man with a 5-year history of left shoulder pain and rotator cuff tear presented with intractable pain in his left shoulder after a recent fall at home. Physical examination was suggestive of a rotator cuff injury and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the left shoulder revealed a 2.7×2.5×3.7cm T1 hypo- and T2 hyperin-tense oblong mass-like signal abnormality with heterogeneous, predominantly peripheral enhancement within the deltoid muscle concerning for a malignant mass. Surgical resection was carried out along with left reverse total shoulder replacement, and histopathology revealed findings consistent with an intramuscular myxoma. Conclusions: Intramuscular myxomas are rare, benign tumors. This case report presents one such myxoma incidentally found in a patient with longstanding rotator cuff tendinopathy and a recent fall. Although this co-occurrence is likely incidental, further research and case series review of similar presentations may influence postulations of the pathophysiology of myxomas.


Australian government policy envisages that pervasive socio-economic disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians be overcome by economic mainstreaming. Critics, however, consider the political attempt at 'Closing the Gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to be ineffective in the absence of material improvements in Indigenous welfare statistics. At issue also are the colonial mindsets and structures that have given rise to Indigenous disadvantage in the first place and the fact that economic mainstreaming largely occurs on the terms of the colonisers to enable the participation of Aboriginal people in the formal economy, which is itself a construct of the privileged. It is in this context that this paper employs a Bhabhaian perspective, exploring the work of an Indigenous social enterprise operating in north-east Arnhem Land, an organisation that is understood here as a 'third space' for cross-cultural learning. The third space enterprise is presented as an alternative pathway for Indigenous economic participation, one that is without the assimilation pressures commonly associated with the Closing the Gap policy approach.


Numerous methods have been developed over the past two decades that model species' ecological niches. These methods can generally be described as finding a correlation between where a species is found with a set of environmental parameters. The resulting models, however, are generally in the form of predictive maps that vary wildly in how transparent they are to evaluation and scrutiny. Herein, we propose a tool for visualizing species' modeled ecological niches called ecological fingerprinting. This method uses the distributional models from a predictive algorithm and projects them into a visualization matrix. The resulting matrices mimic the general appearance of sequenced DNA and facilitate the ecological comparison across many species that was not previously possible. We demonstrate our new method in the phyloclimatic analysis of the South American beetle genus Nordus.


Introduction: Tracheostomy patients develop copious secretions from the stoma along with cough after the procedure. However, the morphology of this secretion and the pattern of the flora over a period of time are not studied. Objective: The main objectives are to study the early after-effects of tracheostomy and to study the flora of the tracheal secretion and its impact on the host. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that was undertaken in a tertiary referral public hospital. Sixty patients were categorized into two groups of 30 each, intubated (Group A) and nonintubated (Group B), before tracheostomy. The consistency, quantity, and culture sensitivity of the tracheal secretion and its impact on the lungs were noted on day 2, 30, and 90 after the procedure. Results: The most common after-effect was copious tracheal secretion that was obvious immediately after tracheostomy which, gradually reduced to scanty. The most common organism was Pseudomonas and Klebsiella in intubated and nonintubated patients on day 2 and day 30, respectively. Conclusion: Tracheal secretion was copious and colonized in most of the patients in both the groups in the immediate post tracheostomy period which became scanty and free of colonies by the 3rd month. The organisms had no negative impact on the lower respiratory tract.


BRCA1 and BRCA2 germline mutation-associated breast cancers are known to be deficient in the process of homologous recombination and often respond favorably to drugs targeting this important DNA repair pathway. There is emerging evidence that a significant proportion of patients with BRCA1/BRCA2 wild-type breast cancer are also deficient in homologous recombination, and it is hypothesized that these patients may derive similar benefit from drugs targeting this pathway. Current research has focused on the development of a companion diagnostic to identify these sporadic BRCA-like tumors. This review outlines the various approaches that researchers have taken to predict homologous recombination deficiency as part of correlative biomarker work in various studies and clinical trials in breast cancer. As some of these tests of homologous recombination deficiency move closer to clinical use, understanding the approach and limitations of each is of relevance to clinicians who treat patients with breast cancer.


Background and purpose: Today, information storage and retrieval are the main concerns in libraries and information centers, therefore, a number of library software packages are designed and used. This cross-sectional study aimed at identifying the viewpoints of librarians in Ahvaz, Babol, and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences towards Pars Azarakhsh Digital Library Software. Materials and methods: This survey was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire in a five-point Likert scale and approved reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.822). Data was statistically analyzed using SPSS V22. Results: According to all participants, the scores for a) search capability in different fields, b) other search capabilities, and c) search formulas were less than average level. The scores for a) display features of search results and b) ancillary facilities were found to be more than average level. In current study, all librarians in three universities had similar viewpoints (P=0.338). Conclusion: Pars Azarakhsh Digital Library Software was found efficient enough in data entry and storage, data integration, connection space, and search display facilities for librarians and users, but the search and retrieval capabilities need to be reviewed.


Childhood sarcoidosis is a rare granulomatous disorder that affects several systems including the lungs, skin, eyes, and bones. On histopathology, non-caseating granuloma is the classic feature. We present a case of late childhood sarcoidosis of the skin, lungs, and bones demonstrating granulomas with fibrinoid necrosis, making distinction from tuberculosis difficult.


Readers' responses to Ring Lardner's short stories are remarkably homogeneous. Who, other than the "confirmed pursuer of ironies" (Booth, Irony 5), finds Whitey, narrator of "Haircut," sly and perceptive?(1) Or Nurse Lyons, character in "Zone of Quiet," intelligent and charming? Few readers miss either Lardner's irony or his satire; they perceive the invitation to seek darker meanings below the innocuous surface, and they determine those meanings with consistent results. Yet despite the strength and consistency of Lardner's rhetorical effects, critics have not thoroughly explained how they are achieved. Primarily critics overlook readers' activity, portraying readers as passive and helpless before Lardner's authorial manipulation. For instance, T. S. Matthews, reviewing Round Up in 1929, writes that "when you have finished the story, in each case, you are compelled to hate the person you have been hearing about" (36; emphasis added). Sarah Gilead claims that in Lardner's stories "the illusory moral authority of the authorial personae itself becomes symptomatic of exploitative abuses of language" (332). And William Keough argues that "[a]fter a while, the reader knows the formula and sits back to watch the characters self-destruct" (95). Readers, however, are never this passive; as Walter J. Ong has observed, all readers of all texts actively collate and decipher textual clues regarding the role of "implied reader," and decide the degree to which they will accept that proffered role. Readers of ironic stories such as Ring Lardner's must work particularly hard. In addition to choosing their level of involvement in the role of implied reader, they must reject the surface meaning (e.g., that Whitey merely describes an accidental death); test alternative explanations (namely, the man was actually murdered); determine the implied author's ironic intentions from clues in the text (by finding evidence to support alternative explanations and proving the presence of irony); and, finally, choose the best-supported reconstructed meaning from among the alternatives (Booth, Irony 10-13). The author provides the textual clues; the reader does the work. Thus, what Gilead terms a "flattering illusion" is a reality: Lardner, through his own texts, instructs the reader in the shortcomings of his culture's behavioral and conceptual codes. Even when the reader is made to learn painful truths about himself, he can enjoy the flattering illusion that both he and the author are co-equals in their search after moral truth, the author by interpreting reality, the reader by interpreting the author's texts. (332) As a consequence of this interpretive work, readers of Lardner's stories perceive a consistent set of corrective "lessons" conveyed satirically by the implied author - such lessons as, don't speak unless you have something interesting to say;(2) don't worship successful people uncritically;(3) don't be more ambitious and vain than justified by your talents;(4) don't be dishonest;(5) and so on. Readers accepting the role of implied reader - quite an attractive one, placing the implied reader as it does close to the implied author in an ostensibly small company of uncommonly intelligent, perceptive, and ethical people - accept these messages, and thus fulfill the timeless purpose of satire: social correction. Critics generally agree that Round Up, published in 1929, contains 35 of Lardner's best and most representative stories. The volume's combination of quality, representativeness, and scope makes it the best single text for an analysis of his rhetoric. Lardner's rhetoric operators in two distinct patterns that are determined by the person in which the narrative is cast. In the third-person stories, the implied reader is consistently invited to join the implied author in finding characters inferior, and in doing so, to implicitly accept qualities opposite the characters' as desirable and valuable. In the first-person stories, the implied reader is (still) invited to share the implied author's views, but here the views of characters vary significantly: some characters appear, to them, definitely inferior; some are half-contemptible, half-likable; and some are quite sympathetic. …


Background Our objective was to assess the cost-effectiveness of novel rapid diagnostic tests: rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDT), digital immunoassays (DIA), rapid nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), and other treatment algorithms for influenza in high-risk patients presenting to hospital with influenza-like illness (ILI). Methods We developed a decision-analytic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic test strategies (RIDT, DIA, NAAT, clinical judgement, batch polymerase chain reaction) preceding treatment; no diagnostic testing and treating everyone; and not treating anyone. We modeled high-risk 65-year old patients from a health payer perspective and accrued outcomes over a patient's lifetime. We reported health outcomes, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), healthcare costs, and net health benefit (NHB) to measure cost-effectiveness per cohort of 100,000 patients. Results Treating everyone with no prior testing was the most cost-effective strategy, at a cost-effectiveness threshold of $50,000/QALY, in over 85% of simulations. This strategy yielded the highest NHB of 15.0344 QALYs, but inappropriately treats all patients without influenza. Of the novel rapid diagnostics, NAAT resulted in the highest NHB (15.0277 QALYs), and the least number of deaths (1,571 per 100,000). Sensitivity analyses determined that results were most impacted by the pretest probability of ILI being influenza, diagnostic test sensitivity, and treatment effectiveness. Conclusions Based on our model, treating high-risk patients presenting to hospital with influenza-like illness, without performing a novel rapid diagnostic test, resulted in the highest NHB and was most cost-effective. However, consideration of whether treatment is appropriate in the absence of diagnostic confirmation should be taken into account for decision-making by clinicians and policymakers.


Over 90 per cent of paediatric HIV infections are maternally acquired, most of these in sub-Saharan Africa. Mortality trends underscore the humanitarian and ethical obligation for urgent global action to protect children from HIV. With the adoption of anti-retroviral therapy in pregnancy, mother-to-child transmission rates have declined to 4-6 per cent in the USA and other industrialised countries. In low-resource settings, where most of the children are continuously being exposed to HIV, the cost of anti-retroviral therapy is prohibitive. Very few developing countries apart from Botswana, Thailand and Brazil have national policies for integration of preventive anti-retroviral therapy in antenatal clinics. This paper reviews anti-retroviral and non-anti-retroviral interventions for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. To support the health of mothers as well, it supports the implementation of a comprehensive package of care in pregnancy and post-partum, such as access to antenatal and delivery services; anti-retroviral preventive therapy; malaria treatment; family planning; multivitamin, iron and folate supplementation; counselling on feeding options; post-natal care for the child and post-partum care for the mother, and calls for a strategy for advocacy, programme communication and community mobilisation.


The high-speed milling process has been widely used for manufacturing the aeronautical aluminum alloys. And it is quite important to choose the logical milling parameters for improving the precision and surface quality in the high-speed milling aluminum alloys. In this paper, the orthogonal experiments are designed and made to construct the relationships between the milling force and milling factors to 7050-T7541 aluminum alloys. The milling factors are mainly consist of the milling speed, the feed rate, the milling depth and the milling width. The empirical formulas of milling force are derived by multiple linear regression analysis, and the formulas are tested to be correct by the single factor experiment. The research is very important for further study of the aluminum alloys.


Congestion control in Signaling System #7 faces new challenges as mo-bile communication systems and Intelligent Networks grow rapidly. New ser-vices change traffic patterns, add to signalling network load, and raise demands on shorter service completion times. To handle new demands, the congestion control mechanisms must foresee an overload situation, and respond to it so that the network can maintain high probability for successful service comple-tion. With the introduction of a state machine and a memory function for each signaling link it is possible to predict the completion time of a service session and to detect an emerging congestion. If the predicted completion time of a service session is too long, the session is annihilated. This is the foundation of a congestion control mechanism that reacts fast on information supplied by the congested part of the network. The congestion control mechanism increases the ratio of successfully completed service sessions during congestion by several hundred percent.


A computational analysis of a Gulfstream isentropic external compression supersonic inlet coupled to a Rolls-Royce fan was completed. The inlet was designed for a small, low sonic boom supersonic vehicle with a design cruise condition of M = 1.6 at 45,000 feet. The inlet design included an annular bypass duct that routed flow subsonically around an engine-mounted gearbox and diverted flow with high shock losses away from the fan tip. Two Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes codes were used for the analysis: an axisymmetric code called AVCS for the inlet and a 3-D code called SWIFT for the fan. The codes were coupled at a mixing plane boundary using a separate code for data exchange. The codes were used to determine the performance of the inlet/fan system at the design point and to predict the performance and operability of the system over the flight profile. At the design point the core inlet had a recovery of 96 percent, and the fan operated near its peak efficiency and pressure ratio. A large hub radial distortion generated in the inlet was not eliminated by the fan and could pose a challenge for subsequent booster stages. The system operated stably at all points along the flight profile. Reduced stall margin was seen at low altitude and Mach number where flow separated on the interior lips of the cowl and bypass ducts. The coupled analysis gave consistent solutions at all points on the flight profile that would be difficult or impossible to predict by analysis of isolated components.


Topics include recent scientific findings obtained in various natural hazard areas and assessment of actual and potential damage from earthquakes, floods and landslides. Of particular importance are measures that can be taken to mitigate these hazards ranging from use of new algorithms for structural engineering to warning systems for a given region. At a time when natural disasters are widespread, engineers play a key role. Construction methods and building codes are changing; current knowledge shapes the direction of these changes.


This paper investigates an on-going study into the nature of the discourse teacher educators (TEds) and student-teachers (Ts) use during postobservation feedback, and explores the feedback discourse in terms of the impact it may have on teacher learning and change. Two types of feedback, confirmatory and corrective, are briefly discussed, and the former is then made the focus of the paper in its role as a potential instigator of teacher learning and change.


Northrop Frye's expansive and influential lectures on the literary symbolism of the Bible given during 1981-2 are arguably among his best and most accessible works. This thirteenth volume in the Collected Works of Northrop Frye gathers together these lectures and Frye's notebooks on the Bible, Dante, and Eastern religion. The eleven holograph notebooks and the twenty-four lectures transcribed here present new insights into Frye's personality, methods, and thought, and complement the other published editions of Frye's notebooks in this series, The Late Notebooks (2000) and The 'Third Book' Notebooks (2002). The notebook material comes mostly from the 1970s, when Frye was at work on the first of his books on the Bible, The Great Code, but also includes one notebook from the 1940s, another from the 1960s, devoted to Frye's reading of Dante's Purgatorio and the first ten cantos of the Paradiso, and another from the 1980s, when Frye was at work on his second book on the Bible, Words with Power. Fully annotated, this latest volume in the Collected Works of Northrop Frye will be an invaluable addition to any literary or religious scholar's library.


A new approach which uses the full-space Green's function is proposed to eliminate the influence of the finitude of the segmented free surface in the indirect formulation of the Boundary Element Method. The absence of a contribution from the far parts of the free surface that are neglected in the computation is compensated for, assuming that the wave field along flat parts of the surface far from the localized irregularity can be substituted by the reference solution, i.e., the wave field in the half space with a completely flat free surface which is given analytically. The nonphysical waves radiated at the two ends of the segmented model of the free surface are eliminated efficiently by this approach. This reduces the amount of computer main memory required and the CPU time consumed for calculation. Moreover, physical consideration of the relation to existing approaches shows clearly that our approach gives a more precise approximation, in particular for high frequency problems. The capacity of the indirect formulation of the Boundary Element Method therefore is bettered by this approach.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze patterns and trends of articles that present the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) and that were published in several Brazilian journals. In addition, this paper maps the institutions where the authors of the identified articles are affiliated, and discusses aspects of searching the articles in journals' archives and other scientific databases.

Design/methodology/approach
The work used bibliometrics, which is one of the forms of evaluation and measurement of information flows in scientific knowledge, using mathematical and statistical methods.

Findings
The study showed an exponential growth in using SEM in several areas in recent years, with predominance in marketing. Most of the publications were produced by authors from institutions such as USP, FGV and UFRGS, but most authors published only one article using SEM. Almost all published articles used one of the three most common software, especially AMOS®. Surprisingly, many articles did not mention the software used, indicating methodological flaw.

Practical implications
Weaknesses were found regarding the search for articles in the different sources used, indicating that, for literature reviews, the research should be conducted in several databases in a complementary way and not alternatively. This fact becomes critical especially when expressions in languages other than Portuguese were used. This situation suggests an aggravating lack of visibility for the Brazilian scientific community since the articles are less likely to be found.

Originality/value
The paper shows that among the various techniques of multivariate data analysis used in the field of administration, SEM has gained prominence being operationalized using specific software.


Results: Emergency cesarean hysterectomy was performed in 28 patients (9.5%). No significant differences on the basis of maternal age, parity, the number of abortion, the number of cesarean section, gestational age and the number of antenatal vaginal bleeding between two groups. And emergency cesarean section has more tendency to emergency hysterectomy compared to elective cesarean section. On the basis of third-trimester transvaginal sonographic findings, the distance from the internal os of cervix was not associated with emergency hysterectomy. However, significant differences were found on the lower placental edge thickness and the presence of lacuna in the placenta between two groups. Conclusions: Patients with placenta previa are at a higher risk of undergoing cesarean hysterectomy if the emergency cesarean section is performed and the lower placenta edge is thick and lacuna is showed in the placenta. The other clinical factors such as maternal age, parity, the number of abortion, the number of cesarean section, gestational age, the number of vaginal bleeding and sonographic finding such as the distance of placenta from internal os might not be associated with the risk of cesarean hysterectomy.


A survey of the foremothers of Blues Music in the United States of America. Gain insight into their contribution to the music of artists like Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, and SZA along with the performance of sexuality that many Black women experience and imple


Among the car accident casualties, Pedestrian occupied a large proportion of the injuries. Pedestrian protection became a key problem of vehicle safety. The engine hood was the most possible zone impacted by the head of pedestrian. The pedestrian protection of engine hood was an important performance of vehicle. The active engine hood was used to improve the pedestrian protection performance of vehicle and to meet the regulations. In the lifting system of active engine hood, springs were used to improve the pedestrian protection performance. A design optimization method about the spring stiffness used in active engine hood was developed in this research. The spring stiffness of K was set as design variable, and its interval was set 1~50 N/mm. The impacting zones of engine hood where HIC values of original engine hood were higher than the mean values of corresponding child and adult zones were selected as the cases of optimization. The objective was to minimize the sum of HIC values of those selected zones. The first type of constraints was that the HIC values of child zones were less than the mean HIC value of child zones. The second type of constraints was that the HIC values of adult zones were less than the mean HIC value of adult zones. The spring stiffness optimization model about active hood based on pedestrian protection was constructed and solved. The results of optimization indicated that the obtained spring stiffness by this method improved the pedestrian protection performance of engine hood.


This study was carried out to determine whether the investments made in KMS have helped the banks to gain competitive advantage or not, and the extent to which the KMS have helped the bank to achieve their objectives. 27 licensed banks by the Central Bank of Ghana participated in the survey, representing 100% participation rate. The study used structured questionnaires (open and close ended questions) and interview to collect data and the findings were analyzed using the SPSS software and presented by use of descriptive statistics. The study revealed that the KMS are for the tracking and the management of the bank's operations both internally and externally. The KMS thus handles both front and back office operations and transactions. It also handles both clients and staff data and records. The conclusion reached is that investments in KMS enables the banks to achieve their objectives and helps it gain a better corporate image and improved performance. Keywords : Knowledge, Knowledge Management (KM), Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), Banking Information System (BIS)


Issue congruence between voters and parties can be achieved if voters and parties follow the party mandate model. A central requirement of this model is that parties fulfil their electoral mandate. This article studies collective party mandate fulfilment by comparing parties' election manifestos with the parliamentary speeches of their politicians in two countries: a typical consensus democracy, the Netherlands, and a typical majoritarian democracy, the United Kingdom. The central question is whether a difference in collective mandate fulfilment exists between these two types of democracy. Contrary to previous findings, this study finds that such a difference does not exist, at least not with regard to the two countries analysed. This can be explained by the way in which the party mandate is conceptualised. The article also analyses the development of party mandate fulfilment over time and finds no evidence for the idea that collective mandate fulfilment is declining.


The financial accounting, reporting, and auditing handbook (FARAH) sets out good practices to facilitate implementation of the operational policies and procedures in Operational Policy and Best Practices 10.02 in the Bank's Operational manual. Its primary purpose is to provide guidance in these areas to the Bank's Task Managers. FARAH will also be a useful guide to the borrowers in the implementation of Bank assisted projects. It provides a minimum level of understanding of the role of financial management in overall project management and the importance of the various elements, from accounting system design, the linkage of financial information to key indicators of project objectives and financial reporting, to audits. In a world of scarce financial resources and complex projects, it is imperative that the financial management system of a project or an implementing organization be strong enough to provide timely, reliable, and useful information for accountability and decision making.


In this paper governing aeroelastic equations of the two degree of freedom airfoil containing cubic nonlinearity in an incompressible flow are presented in the both time and frequency domains. Numerical solution and harmonic balance methods are applied for the solution of govening aeroelastic equations in the time domain to obtain amplitude and frequency of limit cycle oscillations (LCO). Also, describing function method is modified and presented for the pediction of the LCO amplitude and frequency in the frequency domain. LCO frequency and amplitude are obtained via applying three methods as harmonic balance, describing function and numerical solution methods for two different cases. Comparision between the results of these three methods shows a very good agreement.


Wideband time-varying systems can be found in many applications, including underwater acoustics and ultra-wideband technologies. The time variation due to Doppler scaling effects, coupled with dispersive scattering due to multipath propagation, can severely limit the performance of wideband systems. Just as the discrete time-frequency model can efficiently improve narrowband processing, a discrete time-scale system characterization is important in processing wideband time-varying systems. In this paper, a time-scale model is proposed as a discrete characterization of wideband time-varying systems. This representation decomposes a wideband system output into discrete time shifts and Doppler scalings on the input signal, weighted by a smoothed and sampled version of the wideband spreading function. The proposed transform-based approach uses the Mellin transform that is inherently matched to scalings to geometrically sample the scale parameter and the Fourier transform to arithmetically sample the time-delay parameter. Using this proposed model, and by properly designing the signaling and reception schemes using wavelet techniques, a joint multipath-scale diversity can be achieved over a dyadic time-scale framework in wideband wireless systems. The simulation results demonstrate that, based on the proposed model, performance can be increased by exploiting the diversity intrinsically afforded by the wideband system.


Study Design. A prospective study in a chronic pain/ disability population, relating changes in the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), as well as the Mental Component Summary (MCS) and Physical Component Summary (PCS) of the Short Form-36 (SF-36), to work retention (WR) status at 1-year postrehabilitation. Objective. To explore the relationship between WR status and change in ODI, and the MCS and PCS of the SF-36, and determine if an MCID can be identified using WR as an external criterion for the group of patients under consideration. Summary of Background Data. Clinically meaningful change may be defined through self-report, physician- based, or objective criteria of improvement, although most assessments have been based on self-report assessment of improvement. The disability occurring after work-related spinal disorders lends itself to anchoring self-report measures to objective work status outcomes 1-year post-treatment. Additional research is needed to evaluate the relationship between change and objective markers of improvement. Methods. A consecutive cohort of patients (n = 2024) with chronic disabling occupational spinal disorders completed an interdisciplinary functional restoration program, and underwent a structured clinical interview for objective, socioeconomic outcomes at 1-year post-treatment. The average percent change in the ODI, as well as the MCS and PCS of the SF-36, were calculated for patients who successfully retained work and those who had not after completing a functional restoration program. Predictive ability of the percent change scores were evaluated through logistic regression analysis. Results. No percent difference variables were strong predictors of WR status 1-year following treatment. Conclusion. The current analyses suggest that the ODI and SF-36 MCS and PCS measures are not responsive at the individual patient level when WR data are used as the external criterion using an anchor-based approach. This finding contrasts to reports of responsiveness based on distributional methods, or methods using self-report anchors of change.


For a reasonable understanding of the difference of weed ecological distribution caused by soil moisture conditions in non-cultivated paddy fields, a growth analysis experiment was carried out on several Gramineous summer species under three different soil moisture levels. Soil moisture treatments were started at the early growth stage of plants with five to seven leaves, by means of keeping the soil submerged under water, wet, and dry conditions. The wet and dry conditions of the soil were controlled by means of constant capillary tention method. Results obtained are as follows: 1. It was found that each of the species in this experiment exhibited a tendency to flourish better in an optimum soil moisture, required for their growth. They were grouped under three categories according to their growth response to the different soil moisture conditions. Some species showed the tendency of declining relative growth rate (RGR) as the soil moisture decreased (type-I), whereas some other species showed the highest RGR under wet conditions (type-II) and the remaining species scarcely reduced the RGR even under drought conditions (type-III). 2. Change in the two growth parameters, the net assimilation rate (NAR) and the leaf-area ratio (LAR), depending on soil moisture conditions were different for each of the three types. LAR of the species in type-III and NAR of the species in type-II were more affected by soil moisture conditions in these two types, whereas type-I species were little affected by soil moisture conditions in both the parameters. 3. Comparing the growth response to soil moisture of C3 with C4 plants, the results showed that C4 species had a tendcncy of higher RGR and LAR under relatively dry conditions, while C3 species grew better under relatively wet conditions. 4. Results showed that the ecological distribution of the weeds in non-cultivated paddy fields, as for their growth response was concerned, seemed to be attributed to the soil moisture.


Film historian Giuliana Bruno commemorates celebrated filmmaker Chantal Akerman (1950–2015), whose intimate portraits of cities, lands, and homes captured the passing of everyday life and intensified our own sense of time, memory, and space. Akerman's breakthrough film, Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), exposed the strictures of women's time and space while creating a new cinematic language of observation and duration. She continued to experiment with moving images throughout her life, moving easily between fiction and documentary, cinemas and gallery exhibitions. In the mid-1990s, Akerman began to engage in an expanded field of film-based installation art, at an early stage of the cultural movement that still drives today's filmmakers and artists to work between media. Bruno's personal evocation of Akerman's oeuvre highlights the filmmaker's use of the screen as both filter and threshold, in order to convey a relationship between interiority and exteriority, and physical and mental space, a relationship delicately tailored to Akerman's particular version of empathy.


Even With A University Education, the Igbo women of southeastern Nigeria face obstacles that prevent them from reaching their professional and personal potentials. Negotiating Power and Privilege is a study of their life choices and the embedded patriarchy and other obstacles in postcolonial Africa barring them from fulfillment. Philomina E. Okeke recorded life-history interviews and discussions during the 1990s with educated women of differing ages and professions. Her interviews expose both familiar and surprising aspects of the women's experiences - their victories and compromises - within their families, marriages, and workplaces. Okeke explores the many factors that have shaped women's access to sponsorship and promotion in their quest to join men as partners in nation building. Negotiating Power and Privilege captures the voices of African female professionals and vividly portrays the women's continuous negotiation as wives, mothers, single women, and workers. It shows the inherent limitations of contemporary policies in developing nations that often prescribe secondary and advanced education for women as a panacea for every social ill. It is also an original and important contribution to African studies, gender studies, development studies, education policy, and sociology. This engagingly written book will appeal to a wide audience, ranging from undergraduate students to scholars and professionals.


In humans, innate immune recognition of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is a feature of cells as dendritic cells (DC) and γδ T cells. In this study, we show that BCG infection of human monocyte-derived DC induces a rapid activation of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells (the major subset of γδ T cell pool in human peripheral blood). Indeed, in the presence of BCG-infected DC, Vγ9Vδ2 T cells increase both their expression of CD69 and CD25 and the production of TNF-α and IFN-γ, in contrast to DC treated with Vγ9Vδ2 T cell-specific Ags. Without further exogenous stimuli, BCG-infected DC expand a functionally cytotoxic central memory Vγ9Vδ2 T cell population. This subset does not display lymph node homing receptors, but express a high amount of perforin. They are highly efficient in the killing of mycobacterial-infected primary monocytes or human monocytic THP-1 cells preserving the viability of cocultured, infected DC. This study provides further evidences about the complex relationship between important players of innate immunity and suggests an immunoregulatory role of Vγ9Vδ2 T cells in the control of mycobacterial infection.


TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In your publication, July 17, p. 71, of the Report of the Committee on Neuronymy which was adopted by the American Neurological Association June 5, 1896, occurs an error which is unaccountable, but for which I must be held responsible. After the word epiphysie comes the date 1895, as if indicating the adoption of that word by the Committee of the Anatomische Gesellschaft in that year. On the contrary, they prefer corpus pineale.


Paraffin wax deposition, or the settling of solid wax particles on pipelines and equipment, is an extensive problem encountered in oil production and transportation. Flowing through subsea pipelines, oil and condensate are subject to cooling. If the temperature of a supersaturated crude oil mixture drops below the solubility limit of wax, known as the wax appearance temperature (WAT), solid paraffin start to appear in solution. Assuming temperatures below the WAT and a radial heat flux from the fluid to the surroundings, paraffin will precipitate, adhere to the inner pipe wall and gradually accumulate. The result is an undesirable layer of paraffin wax on the inner pipe wall causing flow restrictions, reduced production and a need for remediation. In the current thesis, the applicability of five effective thermal conductivity models for determination of the effective thermal conductivity of paraffin wax deposits have been evaluated. Based on the structure of the deposit, the Effective Medium Theory is found applicable. The influence of the deposit on the thermal conditions in the pipeline has been examined, and the temperature at the deposit surface is found to increase with an increasing wax deposit thickness. The increased temperature at the oil/deposit interface reduces the radial temperature gradient in the pipeline, being the thermal driving force for deposition. The result is a reduced growth rate of the wax layer with time and a need for dynamic simulations to avoid over prediction of the wax deposit thickness. The most important part of the presented work, is the implementation of an analytical and a numerical model facilitating wax deposit predictions. Simulations have been conducted on a typical subsea pipeline and the results have been compared. The analytical model, with its assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium between the solubility of wax and the actual wax concentration at ever point in the pipeline, has shown to yield a significantly higher amount of wax to be expected, compared to the results obtained by the numerical model, taking the precipitation kinetics of wax into account.


Student attitudes about learning science and student ideas about the nature of science were compared at the end of two astronomy courses taught in Fall 2007, a course with a traditional astronomy curriculum and a transformed course, whose traditional astronomy curriculum was supplemented by an embedded curriculum that explicitly addressed the nature of science and student metacognition (i.e., thinking about one's own thinking.) The embedded curriculum in the transformed course gave students practice at evaluating examples of valid science and pseudoscience found on the internet; it also provided students opportunities to discuss what they think about learning science. Student attitudes and ideas were assessed using the epistemological beliefs assessment for physical science (EBAPS) survey, interviews, and written responses to an open-ended exam question. Our results indicate that the embedded curriculum led the majority of students in the transformed course to think that anyone can learn science, whereas a majority of students in the traditional course thought that only individuals with innate abilities can learn science and think scientifically. Students in the transformed course also reported much more confidence in their ability to evaluate the scientific validity of information found on the internet. Furthermore, students from the transformed course valued making sense of science more than students from the traditional course. The embedded curriculum could readily be used in any course for nonscience majors, not just introductory astronomy.


CCD imaging photometric observations were carried out with Cousins filters in 1999 ( I filter) and 2002 ( R filter) on eight nights in order to search for the intrinsic short-period oscillations in the lightcurve of the slowly rotating minor planet 1689 Floris-Jan. The principal objective of the observations is to perform independent verification or rejection of the short-period oscillations in the lightcurve reported by Pych ([CITE], A&A, 343, L75). Observations made in 1999 and 2002 (this work) do not show any short-period sine-like oscillation. The observations were taken at relatively large airmass conditions and the atmospheric effects introduced large point to point scatter in some data sets in 1999 and 2002. Further observations and a detailed frequency (period) analysis of the short timescale lightcurve variations of this asteroid are strongly encouraged during the next oppositions: the next one will be in March 2005.


Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on healthcare services, particularly affecting patients who suffer from chronic conditions. However, the pandemic's effect on endometriosis surgery is not yet known. Objectives To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for severe endometriosis in the UK at a national, regional and centre-level. Materials and Methods The British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE) collects data nationally on all operations for severe endometriosis which involve dissection of the pararectal space. Annual audits of this database were obtained from the BSGE. Publicly available data on COVID-19 cases and population were obtained from the UK Office for National Statistics. Main outcome measures Numbers of annual BSGE-registered endometriosis operations. Results A total of 8204 operations were performed. The number of operations decreased by 49.4% between 2019 and 2020 and then increased in 2021, but remained 10.5% below average pre-pandemic levels, indicating at least 980 missed operations between 2019-2020. Median operations per centre decreased by 51.0% in 2020 (IQR 29.4% – 75.0%) and increased in 2021 but remained 33% below pre-pandemic levels. There was no change in the type of surgery performed. All 11 administrative regions of Great Britain had reduced numbers of operations in 2020 compared with the average for 2017-2019, with a median 44.2% decrease (range 13.3% - 67.5%). Regional reduction in operations was correlated with COVID-19 infection rates (r=0.54, 95% CI of r 0.022 – 1.00, p=0.043). Conclusion The number of operations performed annually in the UK for severe endometriosis fell dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and is yet to normalise. What's new? This study shows the dramatic effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on UK services for endometriosis surgery, which may continue to affect patients and clinicians for a considerable time to come.


Current security systems are designed to prevent foreseeable attacks. Those security systems do not prevent effectively the more emergent types of attacks, like a botnet, whose presence and behavior is difficult to predict. In order to predominate those types of attacks, we advocate an adaptive security approach based on the animal immune system. But since those sophisticated attacks can also be directed at the security systems themselves, leading to computer immunodeficiency, like HIV, in this paper we propose a protocol that protects the immune system itself. This approach discriminates between attacks on the security systems, which are part of the computer immune system, and attacks on other vital computer systems in an information infrastructure.


Introduction: To study the functional and hystological alterations in dog kidneys submitted to total ischemia for thirty minutes and the possible metoprolol protective action. Material and methods: Sixteen dogs anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (SP) were studied and divided into two groups: G1–8 dogs submitted to left nephrectomy and right renal artery clamping for thirty minutes, and G2–8 dogs submitted to the same procedures of G1 and to the administration of 0.5 mg.kg−1 metoprolol before ischemia. Attributes of renal function were studied. Results: There was acute tubular necrosis and a decrease ofrenal blood flow and glomerular filtration, and a increase of renal vascular resistance in both groups. Conclusion: The thirty minute renal ischemia appears to have determined the alterations found in the renal function and hystology in both groups. Metoprolol, used in G2, as to the time and dose applied didn't protect the kidney from the ischemic episode.