In our paper — "How Can 'Smart Beta' Go Horribly Wrong?" — we show that performance chasing can be as dangerous in smart beta as it is in stock selection, fund selection, or asset allocation. We differentiate between "revaluation alpha" and "structural alpha." The former is the part of the past return that came from rising valuations. Revaluation alpha is nonrecurring, and is at least as likely to reverse as to persist. Rising valuations create an illusion of alpha and encourage performance chasing.
Structural alpha is the part of the past return that was delivered net of any impact from rising valuations. Why do we emphasize rising valuations? Because factors and strategies with tumbling valuations are rarely noticed in the data mining so pervasive throughout the finance community. For some factors, such as low beta, we show that most or all past performance was revaluation alpha, which could easily reverse from current valuation levels. For smart beta strategies, the picture is a bit better: most established products have respectable structural alpha.
In our paper "To Win with 'Smart Beta' Ask If the Price Is Right," we show that valuations are predictive of future returns. We demonstrate that this result is robust across time, in international and emerging markets, and holds for various metrics used to measure valuations. We also point out that — for the moment, at least — many so-called smart beta strategies are trading in the top quartile, and even top decile, of historical valuations. We caution those who believe past is prologue and are tempted to extrapolate past "alpha" into expected future returns without regard to current valuation levels.
In this paper we explore whether active timing of smart beta strategies and/or factor tilts can benefit investors. We find that performance can easily be improved by emphasizing the factors or strategies that are trading cheap relative to their historical norms and by deemphasizing the more expensive factors or strategies. We also observe that aggressive bets (favoring only the cheapest factor or smart beta strategy) can severely erode Sharpe ratios, so that gentle or moderate tilts toward that factor or strategy would seem to be a sensible compromise. Finally, we note that both factor and smart beta strategies have typically been identified and accepted as potentially alpha generating by the finance and investing communities after a period of impressive success — indeed, many of our own tests include a span that predates their discovery. We show that out-of-sample tests, after a strategy or factor has been discovered, are often far less impressive.


Fenugreek is commonly used herb in Ayurveda. Fenugreek seeds (F.S) actually deadens the sense of sweet tastes and also the bitterness of bitter substances. Present study was carried out to determine the cardiotonic activity by using infusion of F.S with different dilutions & compared with cardiotonic activity of digoxin‐the life saving cardiotonic. The activity was tested by using isolated frog heart assembly. The present preliminary studies confirm the b etter cardiotonic activity of Fenugreek seeds extract than digoxin. Further studies can confirm the reduced toxicity & this will be the advantage of F.S over digitalis. Thus, in future it will be interesting to isolate the active chemical constituents which are responsible for the c ardiotonic activity.


Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two dominant nutrients regulating the productivity of most terrestrial ecosystems. The growing imbalance of anthropogenic N and P inputs into the future is estimated to exacerbate P limitation on land and limit the land carbon (C) sink, so that we hypothesized that P limitation will increasingly reduce C sequestered per unit N deposited into the future. Using a global land surface model (CABLE), we simulated the effects of increased N deposition with and without P limitation on land C uptake and the fate of deposited N on land from 1901 to 2100. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that N deposition continued to induce land C sequestration into the future, contributing to 15% of future C sequestration as opposed to 6% over the historical period. P limitation reduced the future land C uptake per unit N deposited only moderately at the global scale but P limitation increasingly caused N deposition to have net negative effects on the land C balance in the temperate zone. P limitation further increased the fraction of deposited N that is lost via leaching to aquatic ecosystems, globally from 38.5% over the historical period to 53% into the future, and up to 75% in tropical ecosystems. Our results suggest continued N demand for plant productivity but also indicate growing adverse N deposition effects in the future biosphere, not fully accounted for in global models, emphasizing the urgent need to elaborate on model representations of N and P dynamics.


This dissertation examines the frequent, yet overlooked, occurrence of depictions of financial activity and speculation in the cinema of the Weimar Republic. The few existing treatments of economic themes in Weimar Cinema have focused on the signature crisis events of the period: the hyperinflation of 1921-23 and the onset of the Weltwirtschaftskrise in 1929. I reveal a broader engagement with financial themes and speculative activity, evidenced in canonical as well as little known films of the time. This project contributes to the historical understanding of the everyday fabric of Weimar culture, and argues that the importance of the emergence of a post-WWI German homo-economicus is central to our understanding of this period. The Weimar Republic, and the city of Berlin itself, function as a locus classicus in discourses on European modernity, and the scholarship on the key sites of modernity is well established. Within this discourse however, surprisingly little attention has been paid to spaces of finance such as the Borse (stock exchange). This project aims to evaluate how these spaces were represented to a rapidly expanding, film-going demographic that appeared after WWI: the bank clerks, tellers, insurance workers and brokers, amongst the "white collar workers" identified by Siegfried Kracauer. I argue that popular filmic depictions of financial activity gave form to the otherwise invisible forces of financial exchange. I draw on the work of German speaking economists of the late 19th century, who were the first to articulate the contours of an image of the "world economy." I claim that the activity of the market was itself a labour of representation that, in the words of Friedrich Engels, reproduced an image of the world as "an inverted reflection." For non-specialist viewers of these films, fictional accounts of financial activity provided an image of the interconnected global economy, and distilled its complexity into key tropes and stereotypes that also appeared in the Weimar illustrated press. Thus, this project aims to establish the importance of fictional representations to the creation of the worldview of the modern market through the discussion of key films from the period.


Hybrid wired/wireless network architectures combine the flexibility and inexpensiveness of WLANs with the real-time performance of wired real-time networks. This paper describes both a scheduling framework and a scheduling algorithm to handle real-time communication over the wireless section of a hybrid wired/wireless industrial network, which uses a scheduled protocol that extends the IEEE 802.11n standard. The proposed scheduling framework is able to schedule real-time flows traversing one or multiple Access Points, providing both intra- and inter-cell scheduling. Moreover, the scheduling framework offers support for three different kinds of real-time flows, i.e., periodic, aperiodic, and sporadic. A simulative analysis is also provided to assess the computation times as a function of the number of flows and the number of schedulable flows in different scenarios.


The single event effect in ferroelectric-gate field-effect transistor(FeFET) under heavy ion irradiation is investigated in this paper. The simulation results show that the transient responses are much lower in a FeFET than in a conventional metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET) when the ion strikes the channel. The main reason is that the polarization-induced charges(the polarization direction here is away from the silicon surface) bring a negative surface potential which will affect the distribution of carriers and charge collection in different electrodes significantly. The simulation results are expected to explain that the FeFET has a relatively good immunity to single event effect.


This report summarizes the main results of Work Package 1 of the research project 'Assessing Needs of Care in European Nations' (ANCIEN).
This report aims at contributing to knowledge on long-tem care (LTC) system design features by developing a typology of LTC system models in EU countries, which are characterized by diverse arrangements for the provision of care/organization and financing. Its approach deviates from existing typologies in a number of ways:
• It intends to produce a complete portrait of LTC systems without restricting its attention to selected settings, such as 'nursing homes', 'residential care/assisted living' or 'home care'.
• Focus is confined to LTC services rather than covering a broader range of social services.
• It outlines a typology on the provision of care/organization and financing. This differs from existing work, which concentrates on comparing design features, such as financing alone, building up a system for developing countries or providing lessons for one national system in particular for the Netherlands and the UK.
• It provides a typology of existing systems rather than an overview of theoretically available possibilities.
• Unlike the typologies we know of, we also cover new EU member states for which sufficient data could be obtained to enable inclusion in a typology: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
• Finally, in deriving country clusters the report applies formal methods rather than pursuing a purely qualitative analysis. The limited availability of quantitative data, however, forced the authors to either restrict the number of variables and use more qualitative information, or reduce the number of countries to those with better availability of metric data. Therefore two approaches are presented, one for each kind of restriction. This quantitative approach again is in contrast to the existing typologies of known comprehensive LTC systems.


Background The tetrapod limb is a highly diverse structure, and reduction of the limbs accounts for much of the phenotypes observed within species. Squamate reptiles represent one of the many lineages in which the limbs have been greatly modified from the pentadactyl generalized pattern; within the group, limb-reduced morphologies can vary from minor reductions in size of elements to complete limblessness, with several intermediate forms in between. Even though limb reduction is widespread, it is not clear what are the evolutionary and developmental mechanisms involved in the formation of reduced limb morphologies. Methods In this study, we present an overview of limb morphology within the microteiid lizard group Gymnophthalmidae, focusing on digit number. Results We show that there are two major groups of limb-reduced gymnophthalmids. The first group is formed by lizard-like - and frequently pentadactyl - species, in which minor reductions (such as the loss of 1-2 phalanges mainly in digits I and V) are the rule; these morphologies generally correspond to those seen in other squamates. The second group is formed by species showing more drastic losses, which can include the absence of an externally distinct limb in adults. We also show the expression patterns of Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) in the greatly reduced fore and hindlimb of a serpentiform gymnophthalmid. Conclusions Our discussion focus on identifying shared patterns of limb reduction among tetrapods, and explaining these patterns and the morphological variation within the gymnophthalmids based on the current knowledge of the molecular signaling pathways that coordinate limb development.


A major international transmission channel of productivity increases is trade in intermediate products and services. This paper analyses international spillovers at the industry level and for the first time investigates effects from the services sector in this framework. The analysis makes use of newly available data on international input-output linkages between industries. Our results using this novel approach indicate significant positive productivity effects from innovation in knowledge intensive, high technology business services and confirm the productivity effects from international manufacturing spillovers found in the recent literature.


SUMMARY Three protocols of blood transfusion were evaluated in a canine model for (1) the strength and breadth of leukocytotoxin induction, (2) the induction of cell-mediated immunity against the blood donors, (3) haemagglutinin production, and (4) any effect on kidney graft survival. At the end of the transfusion schedule, each dog received a kidney graft and was given azathioprine and prednisolone postoperatively. All dogs were unrelated and blood donors were not used as kidney donors. All three transfusion protocols, comprising i.v. injections of blood twice weekly or every 2 weeks from one or three donors, induced unacceptably strong and broad leukocytotoxins. All transplants performed across a positive crossmatch failed to function. However, where a negative crossmatch was available, the trend of results was that the transfused dogs had better graft survival than nontransfused animals similarly treated with azathioprine and prednisolone. Only one dog produced haemagglutinins. Several animals had positive cell-mediated immunity against the blood donors, but the response was not strong and was frequently not sustained. The problems posed by blood transfusions in clinical renal transplantation are complex, and have been a subject of debate from the time of the earliest transplants. A number of early studies comparing graft survival in patients, who had received few transfusions with those that had received many before transplantation, showed that graft outcome either was not different in the two groups (19) or that it might have been better in the patients given the most transfusions (7). That blood transfusions before transplantation could induce a state of specific unresponsiveness to a subsequent organ allograft was clearly demonstrated in the rat by a number of groups ( 10, 17, 18). The more exacting clinical comparison of a group of nontransfused patients with a transfused group was not made until 1974 when Opelz and Terasaki (21) published data showing that graft survival was substantially worse in nontransfused patients. Their work has been supported by further clinical reports ( 14, 15, 22, 27) and by experimental work in the rhesus monkey (26) and the dog (1). Although the clinical results from our unit show that nontransfused and transfused patients have essentially similar and excellent graft survival (P. J. Morris et al., in preparation), the retrospective studies from most, but not all, units suggest that blood transfusions before transplantation do lead to better graft survival in those patients that receive a transplant. The problem that arises in patients given transfusions before transplantation is that any beneficial effect in terms of graft protection for those that come to transplantation might be offset by the relegation to life-long dialysis of those that become highly sensitized (3, 24). The clinical problem, then, is the choice of a protocol for transfusion that is most likely to result in graft protection and least likely to result in the production of lymphocytotoxins to HLA-A, B, and C antigens. The balance between an overall harmful or beneficial effect of transfusions almost certainly depends on a number of variables, such as the number of different blood donors, the frequency of transfusion, the volume of blood transfused, the use of frozen blood, the age of the blood, the interval between the last transfusion and transplantation, the degree of histocompatibility between blood donor and recipient, the genotype of the recipient, and the degree of nonspecific immunosuppression induced by chronic renal failure. The experiments reported in this paper attempt to evaluate some of these factors in the dog.


Active methane seeps and shallow methane hydrate deposits are found in along the margins of the Sea of Japan. In this study, we installed several types of methane sensors on an ROV to determine dissolved gas concentrations in the water column as well as to map the distribution of concentrations near the seafloor. We first compare the performance of sensors from different manufacturers, then compare the results to actual water samples collected in vacuum bottles and in Niskin bottles. The recorded sensor data is then calibrated and compared with seafloor features recorded using the SeaXerocks mapping system developed at the University of Tokyo. The results show that high methane concentrations near the seafloor correspond to observed areas of microbial mats and exposed gas hydrate. The authors wish to acknowledge the crew and scientific staff of JAMSTEC that provided technical support during the 2014-2015 research seasons. This study was conducted as a part of the 2013-2015 shallow methane hydrate exploration project of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.


The increasing power and display resolution of mobile devices allow the user nowadays to work with 3D information in mobile environment. The use of this new technology brings some new problems that need an urgent solution. One of them has its roots in the fact that common users are not trained to work in 3D graphical environment in general. The main obstacle for a common user is the fact that 3D environment offers too much freedom for object manipulation in comparison with situation in 2D environment.

There are various solutions to this problem but usually they do not handle efficiently the problem of navigation in 3D environment in context of handling appropriate information density on a small screen on a mobile device. Our approach is based on transformation of a 3D scene in 2D representation in order to decrease freedom of movement during navigation in the scene. The navigation (and other types of interaction) is performed in 2D environment - the information acquired during interaction is transformed back into 3D form (into 3D object space). In such a way the user can manipulate with single objects in various modes (e.g. the user can change focus on various objects what might e.g. result in their temporary elimination from the scene).

The work in 2D in mobile environment requires some special features that are not considered in standard environment. Especially critical is zooming. Zooming in raster form could change the picture on a small screen into completely unusable representation (pixels will be transformed in tiles that will be difficult to perceive). Solution to this (and to other related problems) is the use of SVG format to handle 2D scene representation. The main advantage of SVG is that it is object oriented and supports zooming, interaction with objects, scene annotation and manipulations with objects. The process of scene transformation and manipulation with objects is distributed between the server and mobile device. The transformation is performed on the server side. The resulting 2D representation of the scene is sent to mobile device where the visualization is performed. The user can interact with the picture on the mobile device with interaction techniques available on mobile devices.

As the SVG is XML based format, the Cascading Style Sheets can be used to style all graphical elements. Therefore each object can be visualized in different mode (solid, transparent, semitransparent). These modes could be changed interactively. This feature (interactive change of modes) substitute in certain sense some functions available for avatars during their walkthroughs when performed in standard 3D environment (e.g. "having look behind corner" etc.). The user interaction in 2D environment is rather limited in comparison with standard 3D interaction but it is less demanding for the user. On the other hand it brings better picture quality due to SVG features applied e.g. during the process of zooming.


Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is still popular worldwide. This study investigates and compares the choices of health care and social work students between CAM and conventional medicine (COM) on a 5 point severity scale of diseases. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey 595 (49.6% response rate) health care and social work students at the University of Debrecen, Faculty of Health completed the questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The more serious the disease was, the frequency of primarily COM and secondly CAM increased (from 37.1% up to 62.4%), while it decreased in only COM (from 26.2% to 23.5%), in primarily CAM and secondly COM (from 28.7% to 10.8%), in only CAM (from 7.9% to 3.2%). Significantly more health care than social work students chose only COM on moderate level (34.0% vs. 24.2%; p<0.05) Significantly more social work than health care students chose primarily COM and secondly CAM on moderate, serious and the most serious levels (62.9% vs. 49.9%; 69.4% vs. 58.8%; 71.8% vs. 59.9%; p<0.05). Significantly more males than females chose only COM on the most serious level (36.4% vs. 21.6%; p<0.05). Significantly more females than males chose only CAM on the mildest level (8.9% vs. 1.3%, p<0.05) and primarily COM and secondly CAM on serious and the most serious levels (62.7% vs. 49.4%, 63.9% vs. 51.9%; p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that beside conventional medicine most health care and social work students consider CAM to be an important element of healing process, although social work students are more open towards the combined use of CAM and conventional medicine. Our results supported that females have more positive attitudes towards CAM than males.


Marketing theory on exchanges is dominated by market/nonmarket exchanges and their hybrid versions. However, unlike these relatively more secular exchanges, little is known about religious exchanges or "gifts-to-gods" in marketing theory, in spite of evidence to indicate its overwhelming presence around the world. Using the context of a Pentecostal consumption field, this article examines three forms of religious exchanges—exchange with the church (institution), exchange among church members (communal pooling), and exchange with God (sacred) and how they influence the consumption of religion in this context. Instead of market/nonmarket economic systems, the article advances a divine economic system—a system of exchanges governed by divine agents (gods, spirits, saints), which centralizes and legitimizes these religious exchanges. This article extends marketing theory on exchanges, reciprocity, and the consumption and marketization of religion.


The book deals with the heterodox concept of economic localisation, its aim is to define, operationalize, critically discuss and theoretically embed the localisation concept, especially within a broader framework of ecological economics and social geography. The book is mainly theoretical, its methodology is based on the principles of grounded theory. To complement the theory, five exaples of localisation practise from the Czech republic are shortly introduced. The author concludes that despite the partial shortcomings of the localisation argumentation and despite its undoubtedly multifaceted practices, at least the radical streams of economic localisation can be interpreted as alternatives to the current system of production and consumption with the potential to contribute to sustainability (as understood within the context of sustainable degrowth).


Abstract : Nanoplanktonic protists comprise a diverse assemblage of flagellate species. Current methods for identifying small protists do not readily permit identification and enumeration of nanoplanktonic flagellates in cultures or field samples. The aim of this study was to apply molecular biological techniques for identification and enumeration of nanoflagellate taxa in water samples. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of small subunit rDNA differentiated cultures of heterotrophic nanoflagellates according to established taxonomic classification at the generic and species level. In addition, this method permitted discrimination of polymorphic forms of Paraphysomonas species. A fluorescent in situ hybridization method that uses rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes for counting protists in cultures and environmental water samples was developed. This method gave estimates of nanoplankton abundances that might be more representative of natural abundances than estimates obtained by fluorochrome stains. Abundances of the cosmopolitan heterotrophic flagellate, paraphysomonas imperforata, enumerated using species-specific probes, were found to be extremely low in coastal environments. Water temperature, the absolute abundance of P. imperforata, and nanoplankton grazers appeared to play a role in determining P. imperforata dominance. Results from this study also suggest that enrichment cultivation can select for nanoflagellates that may not be representative of abundant oceanic species.


Achieving interoperability in environmental modeling has evolved as software technology has progressed. The recent rise of cloud computing and proliferation of web services initiated a new stage for creating interoperable systems. Scientific programmers increasingly take advantage of streamlined deployment processes and affordable cloud access to move algorithms and data to the web for discoverability and consumption. In these deployments, environmental models can become available to end users through RESTful web services and consistent application program interfaces (APIs) that consume, manipulate, and store modeling data. RESTful modeling APIs also promote discoverability and guide usability through self-documentation. Embracing the RESTful paradigm allows models to be accessible via a web standard, and the resulting endpoints are platformand implementation-agnostic while simultaneously presenting significant computational capabilities for spatial and temporal scaling. RESTful APIs present data in a simple verb-noun web request interface: the verb dictates how a resource is consumed using HTTP methods (e.g., GET, POST, and PUT) and the noun represents the URL reference of the resource on which the verb will act. The RESTful API can self-document in both the HTTP response and an interactive web page using the Open API standard. This lets models function as an interoperable service that promotes sharing, documentation, and discoverability. Here, we discuss the process of making a set of science models used by the EPA for pesticide registration available as RESTful endpoints and provide an example API for environmental models, using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pesticide registration models.


ABSTRACT FlhF is a signal recognition particle-like protein present in monotrichous bacteria. The loss of FlhF in various bacteria results in decreased transcription of class II, III, or IV flagellar genes, leads to diminished or absent motility, and results in the assembly of flagella at nonpolar locations on the cell surface. In this work, we demonstrate that the loss of FlhF results in defective swimming and swarming motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The FlhF protein localizes to the flagellar pole; in the absence of FlhF, flagellar assembly occurs but is no longer restricted to the pole. ΔflhF bacteria swim at lower velocities than wild-type bacteria in liquid media and can no longer swarm when assayed under standard swarming conditions (0.5% agar). However, ΔflhF bacteria regain swarming behavior when plated on 0.3% agar. ΔflhF organisms show decreased transcription and expression of flagellin (FliC) both in liquid media and on swarming plates compared to wild-type bacteria. However, changes in flagellin expression do not explain the different motility patterns observed for ΔflhF bacteria. Instead, the aberrant placement of flagella in ΔflhF bacteria may reduce their ability to move this rod-shaped organism effectively.


OBJECTIVES
Osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODMS) is a rare and serious neurologic disorder with acute myelin disintegration, usually in the pontine area (central pontine myelinolysis) and to a lesser extent, even in other areas of the central nervous system (extrapontine myelinolysis). The main underlying mechanism is the change of serum osmolality with quick correction of low mineral levels, mainly hyponatraemia. Clinical manifestation is various and depends on the localization.

DESIGN
We describe an acute isolated extrapontine myelinolysis causing acute onset of parkinsonism in a 61-year-old man who developed quickly progressing parkinsonian syndrome after the rapid correction of hyponatraemia.

RESULTS
Brain MRI revealed lesions only in the striatum, sparing the globus pallidus. Substitution therapy with high doses of levodopa significantly improved his clinical condition.

CONCLUSION
Extrapontine myelinolysis with isolated affection of basal ganglia is extremely rare. In such case, clinical manifestation of acute severe parkinsonism could be successfully treated by high dose of levodopa.


Plants have developed sophisticated defense networks to defend against their enemies and increase their fitness. However, there is often significant natural variation in plant fitness- and defense- related traits. If high levels of defense and reproduction are important, then why do plants not all have the highest possible values for these traits? One possible explanation is that these traits are costly to produce and allocation to one trait limits the resources available for another. Such tradeoffs are likely to be very important in understanding why phenotypic variation is maintained in natural populations. However, the genetic mechanisms that underlie them remain poorly understood. Coding regions of known defense- and seed- related genes are typically highly conservative in their sequences, suggesting that sequence differences in those genes are not responsible for the observed phenotypic variation. How then do plants achieve large phenotypic differences in these traits?

In my dissertation studies, I have dissected the genetic architecture underlying tradeoffs in defense and reproductive traits in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana and identified tradeoffs in a worldwide collection of wild Arabidopsis populations between a defense trait, leaf trichome number, and a reproductive trait, mass per seed. I found that two traits were negatively correlated at a major trichome-related locus, ETC2, which encodes a transcription factor. I also performed a Genome-wide Association (GWA) study searching novel candidate genes accounting for the observed variation in resistance to a bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae DC3000 and found that one of the candidate genes, AtABCG16, appears to assist plant resistance through its effect on abscisic acid-signaling in leaves.

Collectively, my work has taken advantage of reverse genetic mapping, traditional genetic techniques ,and bioinformatical analysis to improve our knowledge of plant natural variation. Moreover, my work suggests that the genetic basis of tradeoffs may involve both transcription factors and hormonal signaling. These findings are novel and are likely to explain why phenotypic variation persists in important defense traits. These results will therefore be important for predicting how these traits will respond to environmental change and how they can be manipulated in agricultural crops.


Rechargeable Li-CO 2 batteries are attracting increasing attention due to their high energy density and ability to capture greenhouse gas CO 2 . However, the difficulty in decomposing electronically insulating and electrochemically sluggish Li 2 CO 3 discharge products under low charge voltages is still a major challenge. Herein, for the first time, a composite of intermixed ruthenium-copper alloy nanoparticles uniformly anchored on carbon nanofibers ( i - RuCu/CNFs) as efficient cathode electrocatalysts for Li-CO 2 batteries is well designed. Remarkably, the Li-CO 2 batteries with i -Ru 4 Cu 1 /CNFs cathodes can be steadily cycled for over 110 cycles without capacity decay. And they show record-high rate capability along with much decreased overpotentials of 1.45 and 1.56 V even at current densities of 1000 and 2000 mA g -1 , respectively. Moreover, a high discharge capacity of 15753 mAh g -1 is obtained for Li-CO 2 batteries based on i -Ru 4 Cu 1 /CNFs, and 99.3% of discharged capacity could be reversibly charged, giving the significant Coulombic efficiency. This work demonstrates the powerfully catalytic activity of intermixed RuCu nanoalloys for easily decomposing discharge


Vaccinia virus (VACV) protein N1 is an intracellular immunomodulator that contributes to virus virulence via inhibition of NF-κB. Intradermal infection with a VACV lacking gene N1L (vΔN1) results in smaller skin lesions than infection with wild-type virus (WT VACV), but the impact of N1 deletion on the local microbiota as well as the innate and cellular immune responses in infected ear tissue is mostly uncharacterized. Here, we analysed the bacterial burden and host immune response at the site of infection and report that the presence of protein N1 correlated with enhanced expansion of skin microbiota, even before lesion development. Furthermore, early after infection (days 1–3), prior to lesion development, the levels of inflammatory mediators were higher in vΔN1-infected tissue compared to WT VACV infection. In contrast, infiltration of ear tissue with myeloid and lymphoid cells was greater after WT VACV infection and there was significantly greater secondary bacterial infection that correlated with greater lesion size. We conclude that a more robust innate immune response to vΔN1 infection leads to better control of virus replication, less bacterial growth and hence an overall reduction of tissue damage and lesion size. This analysis shows the potent impact of a single viral immunomodulator on the host immune response and the pathophysiology of VACV infection in the skin.


Remote sensing can transform the speed, scale, and cost of biodiversity and forestry surveys. Data acquisition currently outpaces the ability to identify individual organisms in high resolution imagery. We outline an approach for identifying tree-crowns in RGB imagery while using a semi-supervised deep learning detection network. Individual crown delineation has been a long-standing challenge in remote sensing and available algorithms produce mixed results. We show that deep learning models can leverage existing Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)-based unsupervised delineation to generate trees that are used for training an initial RGB crown detection model. Despite limitations in the original unsupervised detection approach, this noisy training data may contain information from which the neural network can learn initial tree features. We then refine the initial model using a small number of higher-quality hand-annotated RGB images. We validate our proposed approach while using an open-canopy site in the National Ecological Observation Network. Our results show that a model using 434,551 self-generated trees with the addition of 2848 hand-annotated trees yields accurate predictions in natural landscapes. Using an intersection-over-union threshold of 0.5, the full model had an average tree crown recall of 0.69, with a precision of 0.61 for the visually-annotated data. The model had an average tree detection rate of 0.82 for the field collected stems. The addition of a small number of hand-annotated trees improved the performance over the initial self-supervised model. This semi-supervised deep learning approach demonstrates that remote sensing can overcome a lack of labeled training data by generating noisy data for initial training using unsupervised methods and retraining the resulting models with high quality labeled data.


Although the previous outlook for patients with soft-tissue tumors was poor, in recent years advances have been made in earlier recognition and management of soft-tissue sarcomas. Advances include improved clinical pathologic correlation and clinical staging, as well as an improved concept of what constitutes adequate surgical management. In addition, recent advances in surgical adjuvant treatment programs promise better results. Moreover, a better understanding of the biology of cancer and the development of sophisticated techniques of molecular biology should lead to more effective treatment


Foreign-born population in Slovakia has been growing steadily over recent years. Since 2018, foreigners from the so-called third countries have become dominant within the immigrant population. The migration crisis due to the Pandemic seems not affected the patterns of migration to Slovakia. We would argue that the need in Slovakia's domestic labour market affected immigration flows more than anything else. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, due to emigration flows, there was a shortage of labour in the country. However, as a result of the restrictive measures taken by the government in response to the Pandemic, changes are taking place, which also has an impact on the employment of foreigners. During the Pandemic, several laws regulating the legal status of foreigners in the Slovak Republic have been amended. This article focuses on the legislative developments in shaping the Slovak migration policy in the near future.


Background
The benefit of providing early nutrition intervention and its continuation post-discharge in older hospitalized patients is unclear. This study examined efficacy of such an intervention in older patients discharged from acute care.

Methods
In this randomized controlled trial, 148 malnourished patients were randomized to receive either a nutrition intervention for 3 months or usual care. Intervention included an individualized nutrition care plan plus monthly post-discharge telehealth follow-up whereas control patients received intervention only upon referral by their treating clinicians. Nutrition status was determined by the Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) tool. Clinical outcomes included changes in length of hospital stay, complications during hospitalization, Quality of life (QoL), mortality and re-admission rate.

Results
Fifty-four males and 94 females (mean age, 81.8 years) were included. Both groups significantly improved PG-SGA scores from baseline. There was no between-group differences in the change in PG-SGA scores and final PG-SGA scores were similar at 3 months 6.9 (95% CI 5.6-8.3) vs. 5.8 (95% CI 4.8-6.9) (P = 0.09), in control and intervention groups, respectively. Median total length of hospital stay was 6 days shorter in the intervention group (11.4 (IQR 16.6) vs. 5.4 (IQR 8.1) (P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in complication rate during hospitalization, QoL and mortality at 3-months or readmission rate at 1, 3 or 6 months following hospital discharge.

Conclusion
In older malnourished inpatients, an early and extended nutrition intervention showed a trend towards improved nutrition status and significantly reduced length of hospital stay.


239 psychotic patients entered a 52-week open study comparing the efficacy and safety of intramuscular haloperidol decanoate, injected once every 4 weeks, with that of their previous maintenance therapy. Haloperidol decanoate, given at a medium monthly dose of 100 mg provided a suitable substitute for oral neuroleptic mono- and polytherapy and intramuscular fluphenazine decanoate. Stabilization or slight improvement was observed for all ten symptoms selected from the BPRS. The drug provoked a low incidence of side-effects allowing reduction of antiparkinsonian medication and there were no significant haematological or biochemical changes.


The moving average (MA) filter is a smoothing filter well-known in the digital signal processing community. The MA filter has only one configuration parameter, N, which is the order of the filter and is used to adjust the smoothing effect of an MA filter. The MA filtering technique can be effectively used to de-noise signals coming from inertial sensors. One of the drawbacks of the MA filter is that the theory behind digital signal processing does not provide a formal method to determine the value of N. Thus, N is usually chosen based on the previous experience of the MA filter designer. The present work proposes a novel approach to find the optimal value of N. The methodology compares two signals, one coming from a low-cost, MA-filtered inertial sensor, and another coming from a high-end inertial sensor. A statistical significance analysis is done for several orders of an MA filter for a particular low-cost inertial sensor. Finally, N is chosen considering the lowest MA filter order that performs the highest level of de-noising with respect to the high-end inertial sensor. The adjustment methodology is tested on four MEMS IMUs using a real-world trajectory generated by driving a vehicle. As a result, inertial sensors under study experience a noise reduction up to 52% for noisier inertial sensors.


In line with contemporary constructivist pedagogies, students are frequently expected to learn through interaction in physical education (PE). There is a relatively sophisticated body of literature focusing on learning in groups, peer teaching, and cooperative learning. Current research has not, however, focused on how the body is implicated in interactional learning. This is surprising given that much learning in PE is expected to take place in the physical domain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to current theorizing by examining social interactions in PE practice. By drawing on symbolic interactionist theory, we put forward a framework for considering how inter-student interactions occur in a multimodal sense. Key ideas relate to (1) the sequential organization of interactions; (2) the ways in which semiotic resources in different fields are used to elaborate each other; (3) the importance of interpretation as a driver of interaction; (4) the creation of local environments in which participants attend to and work together within a shared world of perception; and (5) the influence of material environments on social interaction. The specific concepts employed are epistemic ecology, epistemic position, and learning trajectory. The paper includes observational data from an investigation of learning in Swedish PE to demonstrate the explanatory power and limitations of the theoretical tenets presented. The paper is concluded with practical implications of understanding group work in a multimodal manner.


The Palaeozoic Era ends with the c. 47-million-year-long Permian Period. This was a major juncture in Earth history when the vast Pangean supercontinent continued its assembly and the global biota suffered the most extensive biotic decimation of the Phanerozoic, the end-Permian mass extinction. It was also the time of accumulation of vast mineral and energy deposits, notably of salt and petroleum. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Permian time is, therefore, critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth history. This temporal ordering is based mostly on the Permian timescale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centuries. This book reviews the history of the development of the Permian chronostratigraphic scale. It also includes comprehensive analyses of Permian radioisotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based correlations, and timescale-relevant marine and non-marine biostratigraphy and biochronology.


The influence of 5-amino uracil (5-AU) was investigated on the cell cycle of log growth and division-synchronized Tetrahymena pyriformis GL. The division index of log growth phase Tetrahymena was suppressed by 50% after 40 min in 8 mM 5-AU. Cells division-synthronized by one heat shock per generation were also treated with 5-AU. Cells treated either prior to the first synchronous division (80 min EH) or up to 25 min prior to the second synchronous division (after 160 min EH) were not delayed in their progress through the cell cycle. Cells treated during the S phase of the first free running cell cycle, however, were delayed 5-30 min from reaching the second synchronous division. The effect of 5-AU on DNA and RNA synthesis was also examined. Incorporation of [3H]thymidine into acid-precipitable material was reduced in the presence of 5-AU; the rate of DNA synthesis was also reduced. The depression in the rate of DNA synthesis was greater at the beginning of S than at the end of S. The size of the thymidine pool (nucleosides + nucleotides) did not change during 5-AU treatment; however, an accumulation of thymidine tri-phosphate and a decrease in the amount of thymidine nucleoside was observed. A suppression of [14C]uridine incorporation resulting from 5-AU treatment was observed throughout the cell cycle. The rate of RNA synthesis as monitored by [14C]uridine incorporation into acid precipitable material was also reduced during 5-AU treatment. No change in either the size or the composition of the pool of uridine (nucleoside + nucleotide) was detected in 5-AU treated cells as compared to controls.


Obese women often have certain degree of reproductive dysfunction with infertility. Although the clinical impact of obesity on female infertility has been extensively studied, the effective and targeted treatment is still lacking. Melanocortin-4-receptor knock-out (MC4R KO) mouse is an over-eating obese model with hyperphagia, hyperinsulinemia, reduced growth hormone (GH), and insulin resistance. Dapagliflozin improved metabolic and hormonal parameters in MC4R KO mice. MC4R KO female mice were treated with dapagliflozin for 14 weeks from 14-week-age. Age-matched WT littermates and non-treated MC4R KO mice were used as control groups. Food intake was measured daily. Body weight was measured twice a week. Estrous cycles, GH and LH profiles were measured. Selected tissues were collected at the end of experiments for gene expression profiles and hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Regularity and mode of hormonal profiles were restored by the dapagliflozin treatment. Estrous cycle was partially normalized; number of CL was significantly increased; and the expression of Kiss1 and Gnrh1 in hypothalamus and LH in pituitary was markedly increased by the dapagliflozin treatment. It is concluded that dapagliflozin may recover LH and GH profiles partially through modification of relevant gene expression at hypothalamus and pituitary, and result in an improved ovulation rate in obese mouse model. Dapagliflozin may therefore improve fertility in obese patients.


In 1974, in one of the most intriguing footnotes in the history of political theory, Robert Nozick postulated the existence of a Genetic Supermarket, a state of affairs in which prospective parents would be able to choose - to whatever extent technology allowed - the genetic characteristics of their children. The closing decades of the Twentieth Century saw this thought experiment become a possibility, with developments in reproductive and genetic technologies allowing ex utero embryos to be tested for the presence of certain genetic traits before a decision as to which to implant. However, as technological obstacles to the unfettered choice envisaged by Nozick have disappeared, they have been replaced by regulatory barriers. In this thesis, I examine the merits of a laissez faire approach to parental choice of offspring characteristics. Specifically, I consider the case for largely unrestricted access to preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), the technology that currently offers most possibilities in this regard, and which has been the subject of most discussion and controversy. My examination is considered predominantly with the interests of the various parties who might be affected by such choices, and in particular, with the prospect of harm to any of them. In Chapter 2, I argue that if our concern is with the avoidance of harm, we should acknowledge that curtailing the range of choices open to prospective parents results in a harm to them. Hence, any such restrictions much be justified by reference to the risk of a greater harm which such restrictions will plausibly avoid. In Chapter 3, I examine the purported harms that could be inflicted upon either those potential future children who would have been born but for their parents' use of PGD, or to the more tangible class of children who are in fact born as a result. With regard to the former, I argue that the attribution of interests (an essential prerequisite of harms) to merely potential beings is incoherent. Those children who are in fact born, however, are likely to be bearers of interests, and can therefore be the subjects of harm. Furthermore, I acknowledge that their unique origins, or the parental motives underlying them, could indeed see them faced with harms from which children born in more orthodox ways may be spared. However, it is my contention - a contention strongly influenced by the work of Derek Parfit - that such harms are likely to be outweighed by the benefits of existence, rendering it impossible to say of such children that they are harmed on balance. In Chapter 4, I consider the possibility of harms being occasioned to other parties, specifically, existing disabled persons and those who are denied access to the Genetic Supermarket due to lack of financial means. With regard to the former, I suggest that while harms - both subjective and objective - cannot lightly be discounted, a laissez faire approach which sees the state adopt a position of neutrality with regard to the selection of traits may diminish rather than exacerbate these. Likewise, considerations of justice create unease about the prospect of a Genetic Supermarket accessible only by the wealthy. This, however, forces us to confront wider questions about undeserved advantage, and leads me to ask whether the Genetic Supermarket approach would be any more unjust than the status quo. In my final chapter, I look critically at the decisions arrived at thus far by the various bodies charged with regulating access to PGD. In particular, the provisions of the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Act 1990, and the decisions of the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority which it established, are scrutinised. It is my contention that the decisions of the latter are sometimes inconsistent and difficult to reconcile with the ethical principles that they purport to uphold. In particular, they lack a coherent notion of harm, or of the duties that we owe to future persons.


Fully polarimetric radar systems are capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving in two orthogonal polarizations. Instantaneous radar polarimetry exploits both polarization modes of a dually-polarized radar transmitter and receiver on a pulse by pulse basis, and can improve the radar detection performance and suppress range sidelobes . In this paper, we extend the use of instantaneous radar polarimetry for radar systems with multiple dually-polarized transmit and receive antennas. Alamouti signal processing is used to coordinate transmission of Golay pairs of phase codes waveforms across polarizations and multiple antennas. The integration of multi- antenna signal processing with instantaneous radar polarimetry can further improve the detection performance, at a computational cost comparable to single channel matched filtering.


The cell cycle progression is tightly regulated to ensure error-free cell replication. The complexity of the transcriptional machinery aids to function in a spatiotemporal pattern across different phases and genomic loci. However, the cell cycle regulation has always been associated with a "protein-centric" view that implicates an intricate network of closely related proteins and transcription factors. This view neglects the fact that only 2 ̶ 2.3% of the human genome codes for proteins. On the other hand, more than 70% of the human genome undergoes pervasive transcription of, most likely, regulatory noncoding RNA (ncRNA) counterparts. Thus, the interrogation of the intimate functional relationship of ncRNAs to cell cycle progression and tumor homeostasis in different cancer types is indispensable. To this end, in the first study of the current thesis, we optimized a nascent RNA capture assay coupled with high throughput sequencing that enables high-resolution mapping of ongoing RNA transcriptional events. The study revealed the temporal separation between DNA replication and RNA transcription, where replication timing has an inverse correlation with transcription. Given that the DNA replication is the most critical process during cellular division, the regulatory elements governing the S phase progression would be of great importance for cell survival. Thus, in the second study, we utilized our optimized nascent RNA capture assay to identify the long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are enriched in different compartments of the S phase in HeLa cells. Then, we analyzed the expression patterns of the identified lncRNAs across the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) datasets and determined their clinical relevance in different types of cancer. We uncoupled the function of an uncharacterized lncRNA, termed as SCAT7, which harbored oncogenic properties that promote cell cycle progression. Transcriptome-wide analysis of cells depleted of SCAT7 demonstrated its role in activating FGF/FGFR signaling and the downstream PI3K-AKT pathway in different cancer models, including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and renal cell carcinoma. The SCAT7-mediated activation of PI3K/AKT signaling depends on the lncRNA interaction with a protein complex comprising hnRNPK and YBX1 proteins. Therefore, the therapeutic targeting of SCAT7 in mouse xenografts and PDX models reduced tumors progression significantly. In the third study, we uncoupled the DNA replication-related functions of SCAT7. Using a combination of immunoprecipitation, immuno-fluorescence, and DNA combing assays, we report that SCAT7 physically interacts and regulates the topoisomerase I (TOP1) turnover via protein ubiquitination. The depletion of SCAT7 induces accumulation of TOP1 that creates replication stress and double-stranded breaks. However, SCAT7 abrogation also interferes with DNA homologydirected repair and inhibits the phosphorylation of ATM protein. Subsequently, the TOP1-induced DNA damage persists, causing further replication stress and cellular death. We also uncover the potential implication of SCAT7 silencing in circumventing cisplatin resistance in LUAD cells. In the last study, we identified LY6K-AS lncRNA, which has elevated expression levels in LUAD tissues compared to healthy counterparts. LY6K-AS acts as an independent prognostic biomarker of survival for LUAD patients. The silencing of LY6K-AS induces chromosomal abnormalities and interferes with the mitotic progression of LUAD cells. Mechanistically, it interacts with 14-3-3 proteins to modulate the transcriptional programs of several factors involved in spindle assembly checkpoint. The silencing of LY6K-AS in cisplatin-resistant and crizotinib-resistant cells reduces their proliferation significantly. In vivo experiments indicated that LY6K-AS is a potential therapeutic target against naive and chemoresistant tumors. Collectively, the presented studies in the current thesis establish novel functions for lncRNAs in regulating cell cycle progression in different cancer models.


Evidence suggests that developing countries are much more concerned with stabilizing the nominal exchange rate than developed countries. This paper presents a model to explain this observation, based on the hypotheses that both interventions and depreciations are costly. Interventions are costly because they generate a financial need in a fiscally constrained government that relies solely on distortionary taxes. Depreciations are costly because the country, in particular its financial sector, is exposed to a currency mismatch between its assets and its liabilities that is not effectively hedged. The results suggest that the amount of intervention will depend on the degree of currency mismatch between assets and liabilities, the elasticity of money demand, and the relative size of the financial system. It would be expected that countries with a high degree of currency mismatch and large financial sectors would intervene heavily in foreign exchange markets, as long as the money demand is not too sensitive to the nominal interest rate. JEL classification: E5, F3, F41


"The caste discrimination in Indian society is generally portrayed by western scholars as if it is the unique feature of Indian society. But, this is not so. This book is an attempt to compare it with race discrimination in the United States. The author concludes that the advances made by dalits in India have been much greater than those made by blacks in the United States. At the same time, much greater efforts have been made in that country to bring out the latent potential of black sportsmen, musicians, literateurs, etc. In India, similar efforts need to be made to promote budding talent among the dalits. This book is an important contribution to the debate among Indian dalits as it has been written from a dalit author s perspective on the western society."


This paper reflects upon the conceptualization of risk management adopted in the field of information systems (IS). We explore the unintentional consequences, uncertain risk, and the systemic risk that we are yet to know. In particular, we examine unexpected failures of human-technology interaction. Conventionally, IS researchers tend to assume risk management as tradeoffs involved in risk-taking, and they rely on various probability and statistical approaches offering a rigorous basis for informing decision. The topic where risks are most widely documented is IS security. Yet, the conceptualization of uncertain risk remains unclear. This paper proposes a reconceputalization of knowledge of risk that incorporates both probability risk and uncertain risk. Drawing on Stirling's (2007) classification of incomplete knowledge, risk, uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance, we report our pre-test results from dominant IS literature (2010-2015). We present evidence of our assertion that IS research has yet to deeply engage the notion of uncertain risk. This paper suggests that the precautionary principle drawing from jurisdiction, policy areas allow a deeper and broader understanding of knowledge of risk in the IS field. This understanding provides insight into a more "responsible governance of risk" toward sustainability, avoiding a determinative "tunnel vision" to the potential dangers of future IT development in a broader extent of uncertainty and complexity.


The authors studied the landscape components that favour the occurrence of anthrax in the Flooding Pampa grasslands (Buenos Aires province, Argentina). They made spatial locations of anthrax outbreaks diagnosed by registered veterinary laboratories in the study area's zone of influence. As variables for study, they differentiated areas that are flooded for 20% of the time or more from primary and secondary runoff channels. They also identified areas with low-productivity pasture. Logistic regression analysis of farm populations revealed that landscape components favouring the occurrence of anthrax outbreaks are shared runoff channels (odds ratio (OR) = 2.3; confidence interval (CI) = 1.2; 4.7) and > or = 40% low-productivity pasture (OR = 5.4; CI = 3.5; 8.3). Contrary to initial assumptions, susceptibility to flooding was not a significant variable (OR = 1.1; CI = 0.5; 2.1). The authors concluded that the first step in decision-making and ensuring more efficient implementation of future anthrax control and eradication plans was to identify risk variables.


CG-regressions are multivariate regression models for mixed continuous and dis- crete responses that result from conditioning in the class of conditional Gaussian (CG) models. Their conditional independence structure can be read off a marked graph. The property of col- lapsibility, in this context, means that the multivariate CG-regression can be decomposed into lower dimensional regressions that are still CG and are consistent with the corresponding sub- graphs. We derive conditions for this property that can easily be checked on the graph, and indicate computational advantages of this kind of collapsibility. Further, a simple graphical condition is given for checking whether a decomposition into univariate regressions is possible.


For sustainable and incremental growth, mankind is adopting renewable sources of energy along with storage systems. Storing surplus renewable energy in the form of hydrogen is a viable solution to meet continuous energy demands. In this paper the concept of electrochemical hydrogen storage in a solid multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrode integrated in a modified unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) is investigated. The method of solid electrode fabrication from MWCNT powder and egg white as an organic binder is disclosed. The electrochemical testing of a modified URFC with an integrated MWCNT-based hydrogen storage electrode is performed and reported. Galvanostatic charging and discharging was carried out and results analyzed to ascertain the electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of the fabricated electrode. The electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of the porous MWCNT electrode is found to be 2.47 wt%, which is comparable with commercially available AB5-based hydrogen storage canisters. The obtained results prove the technical feasibility of a modified URFC with an integrated MWCNT-based hydrogen storage electrode, which is the first of its kind. This is surelya step forward towards building a sustainable energy economy.


A Monte Carlo simulation using semi grand canonical ensemble method was applied to examine the condition that precipitation free zone (PFZ) appears in an Al-based composite materials under two step aging. The present simulation uses a fcc lattice with a periodic boundary condition for y and z directions, and a grain boundary existing at the end for x direction. A simple grain boundary segregation case gave a nealy parabolic growth law in PFZ width and the volume fraction of precipitates. Different origin of PFZ, namely, mobility or chemical potential, lead to the opposite effect upon secondary heat treatment.


OBJECTIVES
To determine whether dolichofacial (Frankfort horizontal mandibular plane angle (FHMPA) ≥30°) vs brachyfacial (FHMPA ≤22°) phenotypes differ in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) loads and whether these differences correlate longitudinally with mandibular ramus height (Condylion-Gonion, Co-Go).

SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION
Lateral and posteroanterior cephalographs from ten dolichofacial and ten brachyfacial individuals made at average ages of 6 (T1), 12 (T2) and 18 (T3) years and available online (http://www.aaoflegacycollection.org/aaof_home.html) were used.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Three-dimensional anatomical data were derived from cephalographs and used in numerical models to predict TMJ loads for a range of biting angles on incisors, canines and first molars. Two criteria were used to define clinically important between-group TMJ load differences: statistical significance was defined with a two-group t-test, and where differences were also ≥20%. A statistical approach called response surface analysis was used to assess correlation between TMJ loads and its predictors considered in this study.

RESULTS
The two phenotypes had significantly different FHMPA at all ages (P<.05). No differences in TMJ loads were found at T1. Ipsilateral and contralateral TMJ loads at T2 and T3 were significant and ≥20% larger in dolichofacial than brachyfacial phenotypes for specific biting angles (all adjusted P<.05). Regression analysis indicated age and ramus height contribute 53% of the variability in normalized values of TMJ loads. At higher ages, dolichofacial phenotypes had significantly higher TMJ loads which were correlated with shorter ramus heights compared to brachyfacial phenotypes.

CONCLUSIONS
Craniofacial mechanics may explain, in part, mandibular growth differences between dolichofacial and brachyfacial phenotypes.


Summary Objectives: To determine the frequency and radiographic aspect of medial humeral epicondylar lesions as a primary or concomitant finding and to evaluate the association with osteoarthritis. Methods: Medical records of dogs diagnosed with elbow lameness were reviewed. Inclusion criteria for this study were a complete clinical examination, a complete set of digital radiographs and a final diagnosis made by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopy. Changes of the medial humeral epicondyle were recorded and correlated with the radiographic osteoarthritis and final diagnosis. Results: Eighty of the 200 elbows showed changes of the medial humeral epicondyle. In 12 of these 80 elbows, changes of the medial epicondyle were the only findings within the joint, and these elbows were diagnosed with primary flexor enthesopathy. In the remaining 68 elbows, other concomitant elbow pathologies were found. In those cases of concomitant epicondylar changes, high grades of osteoarthritis were recorded, while most elbows with primary flexor enthesopathy showed a low grade of osteoarthritis. Clinical significance: Changes of the medial humeral epicondyle are often considered clinically unimportant and are regarded as an expression of osteoarthritis. This study showed the relatively frequent presence of epicondylar changes of which the majority were considered concomitant to a primary elbow problem. If changes of the medial humeral epicondyle are the only pathologic finding (primary flexor enthesopathy) they should be considered as the cause of lameness and not as a sign of osteoarthritis.


Electrical stimulation is increasingly being used to modulate human cell behaviour for biotechnological research and therapeutics. Electrically conductive polymers (CPs) such as polypyrrole (PPy) are amenable to in vitro and in vivo cell stimulation, being easy to synthesise with different counter ions (dopants) to augment biocompatibility and cell-effects. Extending our earlier work, which showed that CP-mediated electrical stimulation promotes human neural stem cell differentiation, here we report using electroactive PPy containing the anionic dopant dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBS) to modulate the fate determination of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Remarkably, the stimulation without conventional chemical inducers resulted in the iPSCs differentiating to cells of the three germ lineages—endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm. The unstimulated iPSC controls remained undifferentiated. Phenotypic characterisation further showed a robust induction to neuronal fate with electrical stimulation, again without customary chemical inducers. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence supporting the use of electrical stimulation to augment stem cell differentiation, more specifically, pluripotent stem cell differentiation, and especially neuronal induction. Moreover, we have shown the versatility of electroactive PPy as a cell-compatible platform for advanced stem cell research and translation, including identifying novel mechanisms of fate regulation, tissue development, electroceuticals, and regenerative medicine.


Laser Magnetic Resonance (LMR) is a very sensitive, accurate and high resolution spectroscopic technique. Transitions of paramagnetic species are brought into coincidence with a fixed frequency laser using Zeeman tuning. Three different LMR spectrometers are described, two of which use the CO laser as a radiation source and the other used optically pumped far-infrared lasers. These LMR spectrometers have been used to study four radicals, germanium hydride (GeH), tellurium deuteride (TeD), iron hydride (FeH) and iron deuteride (FeD). Transitions in the fundamental and first hot bands of the GeH radical have been detected by CO LMR. The transitions occur within both 2Π1andfrasl;2 and 2Π3andfrasl;2 manifolds. These data have been fitted with previously published data for GeH and GeD to determine the parameters of a single model effective Hamiltonian which describes all naturally occurring isotopomers. Details of the Hamiltonian are given. The same Hamiltonian was used to model transitions in the fundamental and first two hot bands of the TeD radical that were also recorded using CO LMR. Resonances from the seven most abundant isotopomers, including the two with I = ½, have been identified. Seven transitions in the fundamental band of FeH have been observed using Faraday CO LMR. Due to the complicated electronic structure for FeH it is not possible to model these data using a single model effective Hamiltonian. It has been possible to fit the parameters of a second order Zeeman expression to these FeH data and so determine accurate zerofield transition wavenumbers for six of these transitions. Pure rotational transitions in the ground state of FeD have been observed using FIR LMR. As for FeH the parameters of second order Zeeman expressions can be fitted to these transitions and zero field wavenumbers determined.


Through this interview-based study with 40 respondents in the United States we have outlined enablers of career transitions and sustainable careers for professionals who have experienced severe hearing loss as adults. To sustain careers after adult onset disability, respondents engaged in a quest for meaning and big picture answers to 'who am I?' and 'am I still successful?' This included redefining themselves – e.g. I am now both a person with a disability (disability identity) and a successful professional (professional identity) – and career success (e.g. now I care about service to society as much as I care about material artifacts). Respondents also adopted new work roles where disability was a key to success (e.g. becoming an equal employment officer) and utilized social networks to continue being successful. Such redefining of work and networks supported the aforesaid quest for meaning and big picture answers. Findings not only indicate how individuals experience career success after a life-changing event but also help defamiliarize extant notions of ableism in workplace contexts.


Fitness every day Active lifestyle is usually associated with training in the gym on a daily basis and running long distances though it's not obligatory. Many would be pleased to find out that one can fit exercise into his/her everyday life by introducing only small changes into one's usual lifestyle. This section suggests thinking about the following: The importance of leading an active lifestyle The importance of making decisions about changing your life Changes that you could introduce into your daily routine We would like to draw your attention to various ideas and recommendations on changing your lifestyle into a more active one. You would also find information for people doing sports professionally. Why is this important? Many people prefer an active lifestyle not only because of its positive effects on their health but also because it allows them to feel better and to keep their weight under control. Active lifestyle could be beneficial for the whole family. You might want to ask why it is that important for you. Therein under you will find a list that would answer this question. You may print it and hang it where it can be seen plainly to motivate you.


As an organisation, it is important with technical security controls to protect information assets, but without cooperation from the employees, this is nearly useless. Gradually realising the importance of information security awareness, different campaigns and programs have been created to be deployed in organisations that wish to strengthen the awareness and knowledge of their employees. Creating an effective program or campaign is not straightforward, and there are several factors that come into play. Preknowledge, attitude, personality and the company's culture and norms are all examples of such factors. Some studies have been conducted to try to outline what the most optimal way of implementing a program is, or measuring the effect of an awareness campaign, but the topic is still highly relevant to research. This project uses data from an information security awareness campaign that has been deployed in a company existing of around 2000 knowledge workers. The goal is to try to find out to which degree different groups of people have different views on the implemented campaign, and on the general topic of information security. The campaign consisted of three "rounds" running periodically over three years, and continuous communication, reminders and talks were given also outside of the specified rounds. In each round, a set of e-learning sessions were released on the company's intranet, consisting of a video raising a security issue accompanied by PowerPoint slides elaborating on the issue. After each campaign "round" a survey was conducted, asking the employees various questions regarding the campaign and security in general. In addition to data from the campaign (with surveys), interviews were done to substantiate or contradict findings from the surveys. The findings indicate that there are differences in gender, age, and management responsibility level with regard to information security in the workplace. They also imply that the campaign had some effect on the employees' motivation and behaviour. The interviews uncovered four main themes; the campaign, IT-systems in the organisation, information security and policies, and management and organisation. All interviewees were content with the campaign method, although they admitted they learned little new from it. Most agreed that the campaign rounds could be spread more evenly over the year, and some wished for stricter/obligatory completion of the e-learning sessions. Although all candidates expressed that information security was important to them and their coworkers, most of them mentioned the gap between security and practicality. All interviewees agreed that their boss has a positive approach to information security and that this is important to create a positive engagement around the topic in the company.


The 2020 M 6.5 Stanley, Idaho, earthquake produced rupture in the north of the active Sawtooth fault in the northern basin and range at depth, without any observable surface rupture. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data yield several millimeters of static offsets out to ∼100  km from the rupture and up to ∼0.1  m of near-field crustal deformation. We combine the GPS and InSAR data with long-period regional seismic waveforms to derive models of kinematic slip and afterslip. We find that the coseismic rupture is complex, likely involving up to 2 m combined left-lateral strike slip and normal slip on a previously unidentified ∼south-southeast-striking fault. This slip is predominantly left-lateral strike slip, different from the dominant east-northeast–west-northwest normal faulting of the region. At least one ∼northeast-trending fault, likely associated with the Trans-Challis fault system, is inferred to have accommodated a few decimeters of right-lateral afterslip, consistent with vigorous aftershock activity at depth along northeast-trending lineations.


Despite South Africa's shift to democracy, there are ongoing difficulties in relationships both in the broader society and schools. An official response to this situation was the establishment of the History Ministerial Task Team (MTT), which recommended: that history should be made a compulsory subject for learners in all phases at school; and, that the history curriculum should be revised using an African nationalist paradigm, informed by the framework of Ubuntu. This article uses the findings of a research project conducted in history classrooms at three primary schools in Johannesburg to illustrate some of the difficulties in relationships in the history classroom. It argues that compulsory history at school level will not necessarily be a panacea for South Africa's social ills, especially as this proposal has reawakened fears of how history education was abused during apartheid. A strength of the History MTT's report is that it emphasises the importance of multi-perspectives in history, while favouring an approach that uses an African nationalist paradigm, informed by Ubuntu, to assist with nation-building. However, the notion of Ubuntu needs to be reconstituted, and when applied in conjunction with reconciliation pedagogy, it provides an alternative way, during teacher development workshops, for in-service history teachers to reflect on their own residual prejudices about "the other", so that, in turn, they are able to facilitate meaningful changes in relationships in the history classroom. This approach might be applicable not only in South Africa, but also to history teachers in post-conflict countries which experience similar problems.


To develop the next generation of risky products, ALZA, a mature and profitable biotechnology firm specializing in drug delivery systems, must raise $40 million. Organizational constraints and competitive concerns demand that the work be done inside the firm. However, accounting considerations and concerns about shareholders' reactions to the introduction of new risks to the firm lead the CEO to consider off-balance-sheet means to finance the new venture. To finance the new venture, the firm creates a new financing vehicle: a unit consisting of callable common stock plus warrants. This case examines the CEO's decision leading up to the issue of the units and the establishment of a new research and development subsidiary.


This paper presents a study that aims to review the awareness tools provided by video games to support team-play and team collaboration/communication. It also focuses on the use of these tools in groupware. A content analysis of gamers interview, the games observation and the game guides reading have revealed that, awareness tools used in games, support mainly location, presence, identity, action and event history. Communication tools like chat are also provided. From the tools that are reviewed here, there are several that might be useful in groupware : those which allow participants to gather in order to perform a task, those which provide direct vocal communication, those which allow users to configure their own awareness tools, etc. Video games also provide indication about the quality of the information that the awareness tools should offer. They must be accurate (a system should provide awareness tools adapted to the task) and as responsive as possible in order to minimize the user's cognitive load.


This thesis examines the performance of the support vector machine and the random forest models in the context of binary classification. The two techniques are compared and the outstanding one is used to construct a final parsimonious model. The data set consists of 33 observations and 89 biomarkers as features with no known dependent variable. The dependent variable is generated through k-means clustering, with a predefined final solution of two clusters. The training of the algorithms is performed using five-fold cross-validation repeated twenty times. The outcome of the training process reveals that the best performing versions of the models are a linear support vector machine and a random forest with six randomly selected features at each split. The final results of the comparison on the test set of these optimally tuned algorithms show that the random forest outperforms the linear kernel support vector machine. The former classifies all observations in the test set correctly whilst the latter classifies all but one correctly. Hence, a parsimonious random forest model using the top five features is constructed, which, to conclude, performs equally well on the test set compared to the original random forest model using all features.


DNS Cookies are a lightweight DNS transaction security mechanism that
provides limited protection to DNS servers and clients against a
variety of increasingly common denial-of-service and amplification/
forgery or cache poisoning attacks by off-path attackers. DNS Cookies
are tolerant of NAT, NAT-PT (Network Address Translation - Protocol
Translation), and anycast and can be incrementally deployed. (Since
DNS Cookies are only returned to the IP address from which they were
originally received, they cannot be used to generally track Internet
users.)


Aging is a complex biological process, which usually is accompanied by changes in socioeconomic status, which may have a great impact on the physical and nutritional status of the elderly. Decreased food intake and a sedentary lifestyle in the growing numbers of the elderly increase their risk for malnutrition, decline of bodily functions and developing chronic diseases. Oxidative stress is believed to be an important factor in aging and many age-associated degenerative diseases. Modulation of oxidative stress by energy restriction in animals has been shown to be one of the mechanisms for retarding the aging process. Dietary antioxidants are regarded as being important in modulating oxidative stress of aging and age-associated diseases. Supplementation of the elderly with vitamin E has been shown to enhance immune response, delay onset of Alzheimer's disease, and increase resistance to oxidative injury associated with exercise. Vitamin E, in comparison with other antioxidants, is also effective in reducing viral titres, but not the longevity of middle-aged mice. Our studies have indicated that polyphenols or vitamin E may assist in preventing cardiovascular disease, in part by decreasing expression by endothelial cells of proinflammatory cytokines, adhesion molecules, and monocyte adhesion. Most recently, we have found that some of these antioxidants may prevent tumour growth by inhibiting angiogenesis via suppression of interleukin 8 and modulation of the cell junction molecule, VE-cadherin. These findings provide further support for the consumption of fruit and vegetables, which contain several forms of phytochemicals with antioxidant activity, in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among the elderly.


Abstract This study is an attempt to characterize the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of olive leaves variety (namely Bouricha variety) that is very widespread in the East of Algeria. The aqueous extract (AE) of leaves was initially analyzed for its phenolic profile. Using the liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry analysis, it was possible to identify the predominant components in the AE of the leaves. This extract was hydrolyzed with acid and gave hydroxytyrosol (HT). AE and HT were evaluated for their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity, ferric reducing antioxidant power and total antioxidant activity by phosphomolybdenum method. The antioxidant and anti-asthmatic activities of these extracts were examined in a model of experimental asthma in Wistar rats. For measuring the intensity of the airway inflammation, oxidative stress parameters were analyzed in lungs and a histological study of this tissue was performed. The obtained results showed that the sensitization of the ovalbumin (OVA) group induced lung inflammation and severe lipid peroxidation (LPO) revealed by a significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and a decrease in the non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant systems. However, the administration of AE and HT extracts significantly improved the antioxidant state in asthma disease and provided evidence for the relation between phenolic compounds and the high antioxidant activity of olive leaves extracts, especially HT more than AE.


A bacterium isolated from Lonar Soda lake sample was tested for its cellulolytic activity, which was showing more activity on cellobiose as substrate than CMC and sugarcane bagasse. CMCase activity was highest at 72 h of incubation and declined on further increase in the time of incubation. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of different carbon sources on CMCase production. Overall, the bacterium showed the highest CMCase activity; i.e., 0.45 IU mL-1 at 72 h, when cellobiose was used as a carbon source. Genomic sequencing of this strain B14 was performed which was showing an assembly length of 5.39 Mb. Gene ontology analysis assignied 3907, 3012 and 1003 genes associated with known molecular functions, biological processes and cellular components, respectively. The total protein coding genes present were 5477, amounting to 97.89% of the genome size. Of these, 4150 genes were protein coding genes with known functions and 1327 genes were protein coding genes with some unknown functions. The gene annotation using PANTHER identified 9 different sequences across all the contigs which belonged to Glycosyl hydrolase family13. Of these, only one gene was identified as a a-amylase, the remaining 8 genes are potentially novel genes belonging to the family present in the strain B14.


Abstract The present work describes the preliminary design of a 25-MW(thermal) nuclear reactor capable of providing safe and reliable heating and electricity to any Canadian Forces Bases, especially in the Arctic, as well as in comparable civilian applications. The aim of the project is to provide a nuclear reactor system with sufficient inherent safety characteristics as it is intended to run in automatic mode and be monitored by operators with limited experience and training. For the neutronics calculations, the design work of the reactor's core is carried out using the probabilistic simulation code MCNP 5 along with the Winfrith Improved Multigroup Scheme–Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (WIMS-AECL) deterministic code, Version 3.1, thus permitting a code-to-code comparison of the numerical results. Several design constraints related to coolant temperature and pressure, reactivity control, fuel enrichment, and time between refueling have been considered. The final reactor concept, named the Super Near Boiling 25 reactor (SNB25), provides heat energy dedicated to building and domestic water heating and supplies electricity through an organic Rankine cycle energy conversion plant. SNB25 employs TRISO fuel particles, contained in zirconium-sheathed fuel rods, and is light water cooled and moderated. Complete reactivity control is achieved through simple and reliable mechanical means consisting of 133 control rods and six adjustable radial reflector plates. The optimized reactor core configuration, along with its intrinsic control system, allows for the power plant to operate safely for more than a decade between refuelings from a typical central heating plant or the basement of a multilevel office building. The work also included a preliminary investigation of the nonnuclear part of the energy supply system including heat exchangers and the turbine-driven, electricity-generating system.


The small GTPase Ran is involved in nucleocytoplasmic transport, spindle formation, nuclear envelope (NE) formation, and cell-cycle control. In vertebrates, these functions are controlled by a three-dimensional gradient of Ran-GTP to Ran-GDP, established by the spatial separation of Ran GTPase-activating protein (RanGAP) and the Ran guanine nucleotide exchange factor RCC1. While this spatial separation is established by the NE during interphase, it is orchestrated during mitosis by association of RCC1 with the chromosomes and RanGAP with the spindle and kinetochores. SUMOylation of vertebrate RanGAP1 is required for NE, spindle, and centromere association. Arabidopsis RanGAP1 (AtRanGAP1) lacks the SUMOylated C-terminal domain of vertebrate RanGAP, but contains a plant-specific N-terminal domain (WPP domain), which is necessary and sufficient for its targeting to the NE in interphase. Here we show that the human and plant RanGAP-targeting domains are kingdom specific. AtRanGAP1 has a mitotic trafficking pattern uniquely different from that of vertebrate RanGAP, which includes targeting to the outward-growing rim of the cell plate. The WPP domain is necessary and sufficient for this targeting. Point mutations in conserved residues of the WPP domain also abolish targeting to the nuclear rim and the cell plate, suggesting that the same mechanism is involved in both targeting events. These results indicate that plant and animal RanGAPs undergo different migration patterns during cell division, which require their kingdom-specific targeting domains.


: The effect of cytotoxic chemotherapy on phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte DNA synthesis was monitored in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of drug-treated solid tumor cancer patients. The results obtained were correlated with changes in indomethacin-sensitive immunoregulatory function, prostaglandin E (PGE) levels, and PBMC PGE sensitivity. Those patients who demonstrated "rebound-overshoot" recovery of PHA responsiveness following their drug treatment did so in association with a significant reduction in levels of indomethacin-sensitive immunoregulation. This was associated with a significant decline in PGE-levels in PBMC. This was not consistently associated with a reduction in the sensitivity of PBMC to suppression by PGE. These data show that immune function recovery in drug-treated cancer patients is dependent in part on the effects of chemotherapy on PGE synthesis by PBMC.


Abstract:  This paper considers the main developments of RGB photoelasticity with reference to the maximum measurable retardation. In this paper, a new procedure based on the standard error function evaluated on a subset of the calibration array is also proposed and experimentally tested. The experiments show that the filament lamp makes it possible to find retardations until approximately 4 fringe orders while the fluorescent lamp makes it possible to determine higher fringe orders (12 fringe orders in this paper) owing to the discrete spectrum of the source. The paper shows that, by using the incandescent lamp, the primary limiting factor is the lack of modulation of the R, G and B signals whereas, by using the fluorescent lamp, the limitation of the maximum fringe order derives mainly from the gradient of the fringes and the procedure of search of the retardation.


Summary form only given. The product development challenges for high-tech companies are even greater than most industries, thanks in large part to their dependence on an increasingly distributed and complex global value chain and extreme pressure to deliver innovation to market quicker than their fierce competition.That chain of frequently independent companies collaborating on these shrinking project timeline stretches from product conception to chip design, product development, production/assembly, testing, packaging, and delivery. Central to addressing these challenges are solutions and interoperable IT enterprise architectures that can streamline this innovation pipeline. In this presentation the author discusses the opportunities to shrink product time-to-market by more quickly, efficiently, and securely collaborating and integrating with product development value chain partners.


Treatment of the mandible fracture is basic to the treatment of maxillofacial trauma. Although there is universal agreement as to treatment goals and therapeutic principles, a plethora of currently accepted treatment modalities indicates a lack of consensus. This article reviews 435 mandible fractures in 268 patients treated by the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service of Kings County Hospital/State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn during a 3-year period from July 1, 1992 to June 30, 1995. Fifteen cases required reoperation or readmission for a complication rate of 3.4%. There was satisfactory bone healing in 99% of the cases. Based on these results, a mandible fracture protocol is proposed.


This study illustrates the differences in empirical results due to data measurements and estimating procedures when applying the single index market model in agriculture. Gross and net return betas along with systematic and unsystematic risk proportions are estimated and found to be different. The stochastic coefficients model is used to show the difference in beta-risk estimates compared with the traditional fixed coefficients OLS procedure. A third estimating technique, weighted least squares/Prais Winsten method, is also proposed.


Heterogeneous photocatalysts are of interest for their use in applications such as environmental remediation. WO3 is a known photocatalyst, and mesoporous WO3 offers a higher surface area than the bulk material, and thus a greater concentration of active sites. By covalently attaching πconjugated organic molecules to the surface of metal oxides, sensitization of the semiconductor is possible through charge transfer between the molecule and the solid. In this work, mesoporous WO3 particles, synthesized via a hard-templating method from mesoporous SiO2, are modified by attachment of either folic acid or 3,3′′′-dihexyl-2,2′:5′,2′′:5′′,2′′′-quaterthiophene (DH4T) to the surface of the particles. Covalent attachment of these molecules to the metal oxide is achieved by use of a silane anchoring group, aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), which attaches to the surface by a condensation reaction with the surface hydroxides. The amine group of APTES then allows for peptide coupling with FA or the carboxylated thiophene tetramer, DH4T-COOH, yielding WO3-APTES-FA or WO3‐APTES-DH4T. The optical properties of the synthesized materials were studied by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy under 405 nm laser excitation. WO3-APTES-FA showed no change in spectrum from WO3, possibly due to small surface concentration of the molecule, or the fact that 405 nm is not resonant with any electronic transitions of FA. WO3-APTES-DH4T showed an intense PL emission when excited at 405 nm. Fitting of the spectrum revealed contribution from the molecular emission, as well as transitions involving oxygen vacancy (OV) states in WO3. Photophysical mechanisms of the sensitization of WO3 by DH4T are proposed, and possible implications for photocatalysis are discussed.


This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the causes of the great divergence by comparing the use of expensive labour-saving capital goods—water-mills, windmills, and cranes—in medieval western Europe and the Middle East. Using novel ways of measuring, we find that whereas the use of these goods increased in Europe, in the Middle East their prevalence decreased, or they were not used at all. We investigate several possible explanations and reject most of them, including religion, geography, technological knowledge, and disparities in wages and cost of capital. Our analysis shows that differences in lordship systems and the security of property rights best explain the patterns found.


In this article the many in-between spaces of paradox that characterise the society of South Africa, up to this day, are seen as liminal breeding grounds for what could be called a vulnerable homiletic. Three key concepts are discussed as being inherent to such a homiletic, namely seeing, sighing, and signing. These key concepts are exemplified by reference to sermons by former Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Desmond Tutu in particular. The article concludes with a reflection on an art work by South African artist Marco Cianfanelli.


The effect of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor on the circulating levels of angiotensin I, angiotensin II, and arginine vasopressin was studied in dogs subjected to hypotensive hemorrhagic shock. In dogs subjected to hemorrhage but not given the inhibitor, angiotensin II rose 20-fold (from 69 to 1,343 pg/ml of plasma), whereas in dogs subjected to hemorrhage but pretreated with the inhibitor, angiotensin II rose only 2-fold (from 92 to 171 pg/ml of plasma). In the pretreated dogs angiotensin I rose 30-fold (from 108 to 3,232 pg/ml of plasma). There was no statistically significant difference between the vasopressin levels found in the untreated dogs and the levels found in dogs given the inhibitor (1,016 and 1,095 pg/ml of plasma). Of the 15 dogs in the untreated group, five died before retransfusion was completed (four of cardiac failure and one of cardiac arrhythmia); none of the 10 dogs in the inhibitor-treated group died. These observations suggest that the very high levels of angiotensin II observed following severe hemorrhage do not contribute significantly to the increased secretion of vasopressin and that the inhibitor protects against death, possibly by suppressing the very high blood levels of angiotensin II observed following this type of experimental hemorrhagic shock.