Electric railway vehicles require high electric power when powering and return high electric output when regenerating. Therefore, the fall in vehicle performance due to a voltage drop and the restriction on regenerative power due to a load shortage become problems in a dc‐electrified railway. Therefore, energy storage devices (ESDs) are mounted on vehicles to assist the power of powering operation and to absorb the power of regeneration. In recent years, various hybrid vehicles have been studied because the performance of ESDs has become good enough for them to be mounted on vehicles. Generally, the design of the controller is a complicated problem because the vehicle operates under various running conditions. In this paper, a simple controller for ESDs is designed in the frequency domain. This controller aims at smoothing the input power and at managing the ESD energy. The proposed controller is examined under various running conditions with numerical simulations.


Abstract This study was conducted to determine the total oil contents and fatty acid compositions of some commercial almond cultivars. The total oil contents changed significantly (p<0.05) by year in all cultivars with the exception of cultivar Ferrastar. Total oil contents were changed from 50.90% (Picantili) to 62.01% (Supernova) in 2008 and from 52.44% (Lauranne) to 63.18% (Cristomorto) in 2009. While predominant unsaturated fatty acids were oleic and linoleic acids, predominant saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid. The highest amount of oleic acid was obtained in Glorieta in both 2008 (83.35%) and 2009 (72.74%). Linoleic acid content varied by year and the highest content was recorded in Picantili (26.08%) in 2008 and Yaltinski (30.01%) in 2009. The highest amount of palmitic acid was detected in cultivar Sonora in both years, i.e. as 7.76% in 2008 and 10.11% in 2009. The mean UFA:SFA ratio was 11.73 in 2008 but 7.59 in 2009. Principal component (PC) analysis indicated that palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, arachidic acid, unsaturated fatty acid (UFA), saturated fatty acid (SFA) and UFA:SFA ratio were primarily responsible for the separation on PC1

http://journal.pan.olsztyn.pl/pdf-98455-31191?filename=Total Oil Content and.pdf


PURPOSE
Automated metabolic analyzers are frequently utilized to measure maximal oxygen consumption (V˙O2max). However, in portable devices, the results may be influenced by the analyzer's technological approach, being either breath-by-breath (BBB) or dynamic micro mixing chamber mode (DMC). The portable metabolic analyzer K5 (COSMED, Rome, Italy) provides both technologies within one device, and the authors aimed to evaluate differences in V˙O2max between modes in endurance athletes.

METHODS
Sixteen trained male participants performed an incremental test to voluntary exhaustion on a cycle ergometer, while ventilation and gas exchange were measured by 2 structurally identical COSMED K5 metabolic analyzers synchronously, one operating in BBB and the other in DMC mode. Except for the flow signal, which was measured by 1 sensor and transmitted to both devices, the devices operated independently. V˙O2max was defined as the highest 30-second average.

RESULTS
V˙O2max and V˙CO2@V˙O2max were significantly lower in BBB compared with DMC mode (-4.44% and -2.71%), with effect sizes being large to moderate (ES, Cohen d = 0.82 and 1.87). Small differences were obtained for respiratory frequency (0.94%, ES = 0.36), minute ventilation (0.29%, ES = 0.20), and respiratory exchange ratio (1.74%, ES = 0.57).

CONCLUSION
V˙O2max was substantially lower in BBB than in DMC mode. Considering previous studies that also indicated lower V˙O2 values in BBB at high intensities and a superior validity of the K5 in DMC mode, the authors conclude that the DMC mode should be selected to measure V˙O2max in athletes.


In 1998, Gordts et al. introduced the concept of transvaginal hydrolaparoscopy (THL) to explore the pelvic cavity through a vaginal incision using a saline solution medium. Several reviews have validated the concept of THL in comparison to the gold standard, i.e. laparosco-py. In a literature review of 187 patients from six studies including one prospective double blind trial, a high concordance was found between THL and laparoscopy ranging from 77.8% to 100%. In a review of 1516 THL, the rate of failure was 5.4% and linked to a retroverted uterus and the presence of adhesions. Another review of 1205 THL, revealed that complete exploration of the pelvis including analysis of both sides with visualization of ovaries and tubes was achieved in 88.3%. In a review of 4232 procedures from 10 studies, bowel injuries occurred in 0.61%. In a multicenter study, the incidence of bowel perforation was 0.65% and decreased to 0.25% after an initial learning experience of 50 THL: 92% of these bowel injuries were managed expectantly without consequences. In addition to diagnostic THL, the relevance of operative THL has been validated mainly for ovarian drilling for polycystic ovary syndrome. Despite the advantages of THL in terms of cost, reliability as compared to laparoscopy in detecting pelvic abnormalities and its superiority in detecting subtle lesions, as well as the feasibility of performing it under local anesthesia thereby contributing to the couple's participation, uptake of THL remains relatively low underlining the need to promote this minimally invasive procedure.


This essay is a contribution to a symposium on international NGO accountability. It distinguishes between "internal" accountability for NGOs (fiduciary standards, fiscal and internal governance controls, etc.) and "external" accountability (the legitimacy with which they act in the international world, and the legitimacy which they confer upon others, and why). The essay focuses upon the latter, external accountability, and argues that the transformation of international NGOs into "global civil society" signaled an ideological move with regards to legitimacy in the global community, one which asserted claims of "representativeness" and not merely interest or expertise. The essay criticizes this legitimacy move, suggesting that it arises from mutual interests on the part of international NGOs and public international organizations such as the UN to confer legitimacy upon each other in the interest of promoting a mutually congenial form of global governance. The essay offers this account and critique in the context of a quasi-historical examination of the rise of the human rights movement as the "apex" values of the international system, with a special "legitimacy" place in that system accorded to international human rights NGOs. The essay concludes by noting that this "auto-legitimation" between international NGOs and international organizations does not lead to greater external accountability, particularly in an increasingly multipolar world.


The appearance of mathematical regularities in the disposition of leaves on a stem, scales on a pine-cone, and spines on a cactus has puzzled scholars for millennia; similar so-called phyllotactic patterns are seen in self-organized growth, polypeptides, convection, magnetic flux lattices and ion beams. Levitov showed that a cylindrical lattice of repulsive particles can reproduce phyllotaxis under the (unproved) assumption that minimum of energy would be achieved by two-dimensional Bravais lattices. Here we provide experimental and numerical evidence that the Phyllotactic lattice is actually a ground state. When mechanically annealed, our experimental "magnetic cactus" precisely reproduces botanical phyllotaxis, along with domain boundaries (called transitions in Botany) between different phyllotactic patterns. We employ a structural genetic algorithm to explore the more general axially unconstrained case, which reveals multijugate (multiple spirals) as well as monojugate (single-spiral) phyllotaxis.


In this paper, we propose an adaptive mechanism based on humoral immune algorithm and neural network identifier technique. It is also applied for an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV) system. When the immune algorithm is applied to the PID controller, there exists the case that the plant is damaged due to the abrupt change of PID parameters since the parameters are almost adjusted randomly. To slove this problem, we use the neural network identifier technique for modeling the plant humoral immune algorithm (HIA) which performs the parameter tuning of the considered model, respectively. Finally, the experimental results for control of steering and speed of AGV system illustrate the validity of the proposed control scheme. Also, these results for the proposed method show that it has better performance than other conventional controller design method such as PID controller.


Information Net Primary Production (NPP) of tropical forests is important for the development of realistic global carbon budgets and for projecting how these ecosystems will be affected by climate changes. This research utilized remotely sensed data and micrometeorological measurement to provide information on vegetation condition. The objective of this research is to estimate spatial NPP using remote sensing approach and plant physiological/micrometeorological modeling. The estimation of NPP is conducted using modeling approach, which is based on relationship between radiation use efficiency, photosyntetically active radiation and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation by the plants's canopy. Trend of NDVI derived using micrometeorological measurement showed an increase from 2001 to 2002, and then decrease from 2002 to 2004. Average different values (delta) between both methods used to derive NDVI is relatively constant around 0.33 with a high correlation of r2 = 0.98. Using remotely sensed data, the highest NPP values estimated is in year 2003 with value range between 2000 – 2500 (gC m-2 yr-1), less than 2% of the whole forest area. In 2003, 75% area has NPP between 1500 – 2000 (gC m-2 yr-1), meanwhile for 2002 and 2004 it is only 21% and 50 %, respectively. NPP values estimated using micrometeorological measurement show the increasing of NPP values from 2002 to 2003, and then decrease from 2003 to 2004. There is strong correlation between NPP values derived from the two methods with r2 = 0.98.


The numbers tell the importance of this topic. Litigators are calling expert witnesses more frequently than ever before, and there has never been such a vast body of technical literature available to impeach expert witnesses. The maddening aspect of this topic is that although in some circumstances all courts will permit the use of publications to impeach an opposing expert, the courts almost never explain why the publication's contents are logically relevant on an impeachment theory. At one time the courts' failure to do so was tolerable; until the last few decades, most jurisdictions did not recognize a learned treatise exception to the hearsay rule. However, following the lead of Federal Rule of Evidence 803(18), most jurisdictions now recognize that exception - at the same time they permit the impeachment use of treatises. Today it is imperative that the courts distinguish between the two doctrines. When a court allows the use of a publication solely for the purpose of impeachment, that distinction determines both what the judge should say in a limiting instruction and what counsel may say during closing argument. As the title of this article suggests, the purpose of the article is twofold: rationalization and limitation. After describing the current split of authority, the article attempts to rationalize the impeachment doctrine. The article evaluates the various positions taken by the courts to determine under which positions the publication possesses legitimate, nonhearsay relevance to the expert's credibility. The article then argues for a policy limitation on the scope of the impeachment doctrine. Having identified several impeachment theories of logical relevance, the article demonstrates that some courts have gone too far in allowing the impeachment use of publications.


Accurately predicting formation and partitioning of ambient organic aerosols remains a challenge despite decades of sustained effort in this domain. A major source of uncertainty is the poorly characterized volatility of these aerosols. This uncertainty stems in large part from difficulty separating the overlapping effects of aerosol thermodynamic properties and evaporation coefficients in thermodenuder volatility studies. For lack of other information, it is commonly assumed that the evaporation coefficient is unity when interpreting thermodenuder data, leading to potentially large biases in inferred volatility of the sampled aerosol. In this paper, we present a novel thermodenuder-based approach for determining evaporation coefficients of pure compound and complex aerosols without knowledge of their thermodynamic properties. The method involves tracing the normalized dynamic response of an aerosol system to a step change in temperature as it flows through a heated tube. The approach is validated using pure compounds and a mixture of laboratory-generated dicarboxylic acids, and is applied to concentrated ambient aerosols sampled in Beirut, Lebanon. Three valid data sets were obtained from more than 200 h of ambient air sampling during the month of August 2010, yielding values of 0.34, 0.46, and 0.28 for an assumed binary gas diffusion coefficient of 7.8 × 10−6 m2/s at 60°C. Copyright 2012 American Association for Aerosol Research


The purpose of this study was to explore counselor educators' experiences using computer technology in counselor education programs. Understanding these experiences could enhance counselor educators' instructional teaching methods in preparing doctoral students.
In this study, grounded theory procedures were utilized to develop a theoretical conceptualization of counselor educators' experiences with computer technology in preparing doctoral students. Three rounds of interviews were conducted with six counselor educators who taught in counselor education programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) across the United States. The interview data were transcribed and analyzed for emerging concepts, themes and patterns.
Results from this investigation illuminated what counselor educators experienced in terms of computer technological integration, adaptation to computer technology, as well as their perceptions of critical issues regarding the use of computer technology in counselor education programs. Theoretical conceptualizations regarding these concepts emerged as a result of the data collection and analysis and served as a description of how counselor educators used computer technology in preparing doctoral students.
The findings from this study indicated that counselor educators believed the integration of computer technology in counselor education programs was vital in preparing doctoral students and technology provided new ways of teaching. The findings also indicated that counselor educators felt readily prepared for the advances and impact of technology in counselor education. The participants attended computer training seminars or workshops to increase their technological competency skills. Additionally, results from this study indicated that counselor educators believed privacy, ethical and legal issues, face-to-face meetings, technology in supervision, safety, security, confidentiality, abuse, and wireless communication through the Internet were critical issues that are having an impact on the use of technology in counselor education programs.
Technology plays an increasing role in counselor education training programs. Findings generated from this investigation produced important information for counselor educators to consider regarding the use of computer technology in counselor education programs and the counseling profession. As a result, findings from this study may significantly increase the use of technology in the counselor education teaching curriculum.


The rapid development of information technology has sped up the production of digital news media. An effective news production system plays an important role in improving workflow efficiency of the production via computer support collaborative work. However, most news production systems developed today target for on-line news Web publishing and usually are tailored to a specific organization. In this paper, we have used the University News at National Chengchi University as a target example to design a generic collaborative news production system with flexible access control. We have formally analyzed and modeled the system requirements with the UML language. In addition, we have adopted an augmented role-based access control mechanism to design a news production system that can easily adapt to organizational changes. The implemented system is used a testbed for experimental news production. Preliminary evaluation of the system functions reveals that users can adapt to this system and increase their productivity in the news production process.


ABSTRACT Using the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement, Japan's first globally comparable panel survey of the elderly, we estimate the effect on female employment in Japan due to the provision of informal parental care. We observe that informal parental care has little impact on female employment, after controlling for endogeneity of informal care or individual unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity. This finding is consistent with those observed in Europe and the US, underscoring a limited association between care and work in Japan, which is facing ageing at the fastest pace among advanced economies.


The Canadian Arctic has always occupied a space within our identity as a nation. However, propelled by a changing climate, the expanding search for natural resources, and the actions of international actors, the Arctic has recently assumed a position of political prominence as well. Canada's Northern Strategy, introduced in 2009, outlines four areas of priority: exercising Canadian Arctic sovereignty, protecting environmental heritage, promoting social and economic development, and the devolution of Northern governance. Furthermore, 2010 saw the announcement of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS)—a $36.6 billion initiative that at once asserts Canadian Arctic sovereignty as a priority for the present government, and displays the Defence-heavy approach that will realize this goal. In light of the growing significance of the Canadian Arctic region, is such an emphasis on Defence initiatives advantageous for the assertion of Canadian Arctic sovereignty? Through the analysis of Cold-War-era Defence memoranda, a juxtaposition of the past and present political environment of the Arctic region is presented. The economic precariousness of the $3.1 billion plan to procure Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships is explored through consideration of the October 2014 budget analysis released by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Finally, the social implications of the current government's Defence-heavy approach are framed by the narrow definition of human security that they imply. The current NSPS initiative is found to be incompatible with the existing political environment of the Arctic circumpolar region, not only for economic reasons, but because of social implications that threaten Canada's Arctic sovereignty itself.


120 An important ark clam ( Arca zebra ) artisanal fishery takes place in the east region of Venezuela. Besides the target species, trawling extracts a significant bycatch of several mollusk species including the gastropod Voluta musica, a threatened species according to the Venezuelan Red List of Endangered Species. In this paper we evaluate: 1) the composition of mollusk species in the bycatch, 2) the number of individuals of V. musica caught as bycatch and, 3) the abundance and size structure of the exploited population. Each fishing night, about 27,830 m2 are trawled by each boat extracting on the average 607 kg of A. zebra meat and 19 kg of V. musica (whole shelled animal). This fishery activity potentially captures ~30,000 kg of ark clam meat and 922 kg of V. musica in one week (~95 snails/fishing night/boat). The size structure of the V. musica population at the ark clam bed is significantly smaller than in other nearby sites not impacted by trawling fishing activities. Non-targeted species extracted in the bycatch but consumed by the local inhabitants include the gastropods Chicoreus brevifrons , Phyllonotus margaritensis , P. pomum , Fasciolaria tulipa , Strombus pugilis , a few Trochidae species, and the bivalves Pinctada imbricata , Spondylus americanus , Anadara floridana , A. notabilis , and Trachicardium muricatum . Individuals of V. musica along with several invertebrates are discarded. We recommend that V. musica should not be neglected as a conservation target, and despite that A. zebra fisheries are considered "artisanal", that more strict regulations should be established on it. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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This thesis seeks to examine the extent of the role that the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) played in Taiwan's high-technological development and whether developing countries of today can promote such development by creating similar institutional arrangements. Literature on innovation systems was reviewed, particularly national innovation systems and the role of R&D institutions within these. Taiwan's recent economic success, deemed attributable to economic and institutional reforms in recent decades, was also studied. In depth analysis was carried out of its leading high-technological research institute, ITRI, which bridges the gap between industry and academia. Although the case of Taiwan is sometimes presented as a unique example of industrial success of an SME-based state, this thesis argues that this success was possible because the research and development process had a large institute at its core. One way of creating such a research scale is by merging existing institutes, a process that would result in more efficient use of capital and human resources. The case of high-technological development in Pakistan is briefly assessed in order to gauge how its existing institutions structure could be amended to allow such changes to be made. The study concludes with the following three main points: (i) scale is an important factor: Taiwan's SME-based industry was able to succeed because of a large research institute at its core; (ii) in developing countries, governments decide which form of high-technology to pursue and when; thus, timing and choice of sector are important; and (iii) political leadership was seen to be important in the case of Taiwan's development in high-technology, and can play a key role in developing countries of today. Thesis supervisor: Alice Amsden Professor of Political Economy, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT Thesis Reader: CalestousJuma Professor of the Practice of International Development Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University


Investigations of Nonlinear Optical Phenomenon and Dispersion in Integrated Photonic Devices James Flintoft McMillan Integrated photonics is the field of shrinking and simplifying the fabrication of devices that guide and manipulate light. It not only offers to greatly lower the size and cost of systems used in optical communications it also offers a platform on which new physical phenomenon can be explored by being able to fabricate and manipulate structures on the scale of the wavelength of light. One such platform in integrated photonics is that of two-dimensional slab photonic crystals. These structures exhibit a photonic band-gap, a band of optical frequencies that are prohibited from propagating within the medium, that can be used to guide and confine light. When used to create photonic crystal waveguides these waveguides exhibit unique dispersion properties that demonstrate very low optical group velocities, so called "slow-light". This dissertation begins with the practical realization of design and fabrication of such waveguides using the silicon-on-insulator material system using conventional deepUV photolithography fabrication techniques. It will detail and demonstrate the effect physical dimensions have on the optical transmission of these devices as well as their optical dispersion. These photonic crystal waveguides will then be used to demonstrate the enhancement of nonlinear optical phenomenon due to the slow-light phenomenon they exhibit. First spontaneous Raman scattering will be theoretically demonstrated to be enhanced by slowlight and then experimentally shown to be enhanced in a practical realization. The process of four-wave mixing will be demonstrated to be enhanced in these devices and be shown to be greatly affected by the unique optical dispersion within these structures. Additionally, we will examine the dispersion that exists in silicon nitride microring resonators and the effect it has on the use of these devices to generate optical frequency combs. This is done by leveraging the dispersion measurement methods used to characterize photonic crystal waveguides. We conclude this work by examining the avenues of future work that can be explored in the area of photonic crystal waveguides.


The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between students' participation in school sports (SS) and their self-perception. A total of 2535 students (1290 boys, 1245 girls) aged ranged 10 and 18 years old participated in this study. Data was collected using a questionnaire related to students' self-perception, more particularly questions linked with their perception of competence, elegance, healthy, physical appearance and participation in SS. To analyse if the participation in SS was different according to the variables of self-perceptions, we used the t-test. 18% of students mentioned they took part in SS. Among these participants, 82% said that they trained twice a week. On a scale of 1–5, students generally considered themselves as being elegant (M=3.4±1), fit (M=3.5±0.7) and showed they were quite satisfied with their physical appearance (3.7±1.1). Regarding their perception of health, they answered that they were healthy (M=3.1±0.1, on a scale from 1 to 4). Comparing their participation in SS according with the variables of self-perceptions, there were not significant differences in their perception of health (p=0.746), elegance (p=0.367) and physical appearance (p=0.804). Regarding perception of competence there were significant differences (p=0.007), and it is possible to conclude that those who revealed more physical abilities were those who were involved in SS. Based upon the results the participation in SS was independent of their perception of elegance, health and satisfaction with body image. However it was observed that students with higher levels of self-perception participated more than those with lower levels. This may suggest that if correctly stimulated by teachers, students' participation in SS could increase.


The aim of the present study was to detect the alterations of Pseudoplatystoma corruscans parasite infracommunity structure, after the construction of the Porto Primavera dam on the high Paraná River floodplain. The execution of this research was based on 119 host specimens collected between March 2011 and September 2012, and the results were compared to studies performed on periods before the reservoir's construction, when 110 fishes were collected between March 1992 and February 1993. Five parasite species still remain on the environment, despite the environmental modifications: Choanoscolex abscissus, Spasskyelina spinulifera, Nomimoscolex pertierrae, Harriscolex kaparari and Contracaecum sp 2. The Berger-Parker dominance index, calculated to the parasite fauna of 1992, did not show the dominance of any species, while, on the present days, this same index accused the dominance of Nomimoscolex pertierrae (49%) and Choanoscolex abscissus (50%). The present study reports the disappearance of Megathylacus travassosi, Contracaecum sp. 1, Contracaecum sp. 3, Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) sp. and Cucullanuspseudoplatystomae, suggesting the possibility of a local extinction or a host switch of these species. It has also been registered an Acanthocephala specimen, a genus not observed on this host yet. The results here presented show that the antropic influences on natural systems alter the environmental conditions, what is reflected on the richness and diversity parasite levels.


Progesterone is the hormone of pregnancy and unequivocally required in all mammals for maternal support of conceptus (embryo/fetus and associated membranes) survival and development. The actions of progesterone are mediated by the progesterone receptor (PR). However, the endometrial lumenal (LE) and glandular epithelia (GE) of a number of species exhibit a loss of PR expression prior to the stages of uterine receptivity and implantation. In sheep, PR expression becomes undetectable in the endometrial LE after Day 11 and then in the GE after Day 13. Loss of PR in the GE appears to be required for onset of differentiated functions in terms of production of secretory proteins, such as uterine milk proteins (UTMP) and osteopontin (OPN). Therefore, the actions of progesterone on endometrial epithelia during most of gestation appear to be mediated by the endometrial stroma that remains PR-positive throughout pregnancy. Stromal cells produce several growth factors, such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and fibroblast growth factors-7 and -10 (FGF-7, FGF-10), that have receptors expressed specifically in the endometrial epithelia. These factors may be progesterone-responsive and mediate epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that are crucial for support of pregnancy. Studies of the uterine gland knockout (UGKO) ewe indicate that uterine glands and, by default, their secretions are required for peri-implantation conceptus survival and growth. A complex servomechanism, involving hormones from the ovary and conceptus as well as endogenous betaretroviruses expressed in the endometrial LE and GE, is proposed to regulate endometrial gland differentiation and function during gestation. At estrus, estrogen increases PR expression in the endometrial epithelia. High levels of endogenous Jaagsiekte sheep retroviruses (enJSRVs) are expressed in the PR-positive endometrial LE and GE in response to increasing progesterone and are hypothesized to stimulate trophoblast proliferation and production of interferon (IFN) tau. IFN tau, the pregnancy recognition hormone produced by the trophoblast from Days 10 to 21, acts in a paracrine manner on the PR-negative endometrial LE and superficial GE to inhibit transcription of estrogen receptor alpha (ER) and oxytocin receptor (OTR) genes. These actions of IFN tau maintain progesterone production from the corpus luteum by abrogating release of luteolytic pulses of prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF) from the endometrial epithelium. The antiluteolytic effects of IFN tau are dependent on progesterone. Progesterone stimulation over 8-10 days suppresses expression of the PR gene in the LE and then GE. Loss of the PR in the LE is concomitant with decreases in mucin glycoprotein one (MUC-1), an inhibitor of blastocyst implantation. As the conceptus begins implantation on Day 15, the binucleate trophectodermal cells then differentiate and produce placental lactogen (PL), a member of the prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) family. PL stimulates GE proliferation and production of secretory proteins, such as UTMP and OPN. Interestingly, the effects of PL on the GE appear to require the absence of PR and prior exposure to IFN tau. During mid-pregnancy, the mononuclear trophectodermal cells produce GH that can also act on a progestinized uterus to stimulate GE hypertrophy and secretory function. The actions of this servomechanism are proposed to stimulate GE hyperplasia from Days 20 to 50 and then GE hypertrophy and maximal differentiated function after Day 50 when the majority of fetal growth and development occurs during gestation.


Mast cells, producing different cytokines, chemokines, proteases, vasoactive substances and other mediators, are multifunction cells which play an important role in physiological reactions, as well as in pathological situations. In the human heart mast cells have been identified at the site of sarcolemma, in perivascular tissue, tunica adventitia of vessels, and also in coronary atheroma. Heart mast cells have a number of immunological and functional features that make them distinct from other mast cells, the features are believed to be due to microenvironmental influences on phenotypic and cytochemical characteristics. Mast cells play complex and considerable role in development of different pathological processes in the heart. Surface receptors to lgE (Fc epsilon RI) and anaphylotoxine G5a determine their participation in development of systemic and cardiac anaphylactic reactions. Direct activation of heart mast cells by intravenously injected substances used in therapy and diagnostics can also result in development of anaphylactoid reactions. It was shown that quantity and density of mast cells is much higher in patients with atherosclerosis, myocarditis, ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathy, than in humans without any cardiac pathology. Thus, the data allow to suggest that heart mast cells play an important role in regulation of a functional state of the myocardium both under normal and pathological conditions.


Asking the man question in a society where compulsory all-male military conscription is standard inevitably requires interrogating how masculinities are militarized and how militaries are masculinized. A militarized state devotes considerable cultural, legal and discursive resources to perpetuating the militarization of masculinities. Men who feel anxious about serving, who consider it a waste of time or see it as an abuse of state power, are likely made to feel they are unreasonable, "unmanly" and subversive. Exploring the impact of this gender dissidence allows an analysis of Cynthia Enloe's insight that "if a state's military begins to lose legitimacy, the tension between masculinity and military service can become acute" (1993:54). In 1980s apartheid South Africa, two years of full-time compulsory conscription existed for all white men and this was followed by a fifteen-year period of alternate-year "camp duty". Tensions between masculinity and military service emerged when a small number of white men publicly rejected compulsory conscription. They were then joined by white men and women who established a war resistance and anti-apartheid movement called the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). Objection to military service for expressly political reasons reflected deeper cultural shifts and widening divisions in South Africa's white community (Phillips 2002:224; Charney 1987) and demonstrated how the contradictory pressures of militarization on a society can provoke projound political change. The analysis of the war resistance movement in South Africa reveals the possibilities and constraints for contesting and destabilizing dominant militarized gender norms and contesting racist and authoritarian rule. The use of sexist and homophobic discourses to stigmatize objectors and their supporters demonstrated the heteronormativity of the public realm, and the dilemma of how to transgress such stigmatization confronts peace activists across contexts. The case study of war resistance in apartheid South Africa and the cultures of masculinity that underpinned it resonate with social practices in contemporary militarized societies such as in Israel and Turkey. This chapter will begin by theoretically conceptualizing conscription and political objection to it as "performative" (Butler 1999) acts generative of individual and collective identity. I will move on to analyse the discursive and material means by which the apartheid state militarized masculinity; and finally I will conceptualize and assess resistance to conscription in South Africa.


In protogynous fishes, smaller individuals tend to be female and only the largest individuals are male. In Lythrypnus dalli the small population of mini-males that are found in the wild are typically alternative males that mimic females to gain access to the nest. However, recent work has shown that small juveniles can develop into mini-nesting males in a laboratory setting. We tested whether or not some of the small males in the wild are actually mini-nesting males by comparing the content of the accessory gonadal structure (AGS), a prostate-like gland that is known to have different functions in nesting and mini-males. Over half of the mini-males had AGS contents typical of nesting males as well as larger dorsal fins and longer genital papillae than the alternative males. These findings add to our understanding of the role of the environment in regulating sexual phenotype in L. dalli. INDEX WORDS: Bluebanded Goby, Mini males, Nesting males TESTING FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SMALL NESTING MALES IN A NATURAL POPULATION OF BLUEBANDED GOBIES, LYTHRYPNUS DALLI.


The practice of adding organic amendments to crop soils is undergoing resurgence as an efficient way to restore soil organic matter content and to improve soil quality. The quantity and quality of the organic matter inputs affect soil physicochemical properties and soil microbiota, influencing different parameters such as microbial biomass and diversity, community structure and microbial activities or functions. The influence of organic amendments on soil quality has also effects on crop production and plant health. The enhancement of soil suppressiveness using organic amendments has been widely described, especially for soil-borne diseases. However, there is great variability in the effectiveness of suppression depending on the nature of the amendment, the crop, the pathogen, and the environmental conditions. Although the effects of organic amendments on soil properties have been widely studied, relationships between these properties and soil suppressiveness are not still well understood. Changes in soil physicochemical parameters may modulate the efficacy of suppression. However, the parameters more frequently associated to disease suppression appear to be related to soil microbiota, such as microbial biomass and activity, the abundance of specific microbial groups and some hydrolytic activities. This review focuses on the effect of organic amendments on soil microbial populations, diversity and activities; their ability to enhance plant health through disease suppression; and which of the parameters affected by the organic amendments are potentially involved in soil suppressiveness.


Funding/Support: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health was supported by contracts from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This study was jointly sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the US Department of Health and Human Services.


We investigate a new class of training sequences that are optimal for least squares (LS) channel estimation in systems employing transmit diversity and single-carrier (SC) modulation with a cyclic prefix (CP) extension. The sequences have a constant envelope in the time domain and are orthogonal in the frequency domain. Transmission of these sequences facilitates optimal (in the LS sense) estimation of the channel impulse response at the receiver while precluding the peak-to-average power ratio problem that is inherent in other CP-based architectures such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.


DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNANCE ..........................................................................II Political system .................................................................................................................. ii Challenges of government's legitimacy / armed conflicts.................................................. ii Rule of law ......................................................................................................................... ii Government effectiveness ................................................................................................. ii Corruption .......................................................................................................................... ii


BACKGROUND
Increasing age has most often been associated with less aggressive approaches to treatment of nonmetastatic breast cancer in elderly women even after controlling for stage of disease at diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the influence of patient age on the initial treatment for breast cancer received by elderly women while controlling for the effect of patient comorbidity.

METHODS
Cancer registry records for a cohort of 2252 women aged 66 years or older who were diagnosed as having nonmetastatic, invasive breast cancer between 1984 and 1989 and identified through the Virginia Cancer Registry were linked to Medicare Provider and Reimbursement data files. Multivariate models were used to assess the effects of age and comorbidity (as measured by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, codes recorded on Medicare claims) on initial treatment approach while adjusting for stage of disease, race, residential location, marital status, and year of diagnosis.

RESULTS
In baseline multivariable models, age was negatively associated with any surgical treatment, non-breast-conserving procedures, and radiotherapy following breast-conserving surgery. The odds of women aged 85 years and older receiving surgery were less than one third those of women aged 66 to 74 years (odds ratio, 0.31; 95% confidence interval, 0.16 to 0.60), while odds ratios across the same two age groups for nonbreast-conserving surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy were 0.55 (95% confidence interval, 33 to 92) and 0.03 (confidence interval, 0.01 to 0.13), respectively. With additional adjustment for aggregate comorbidity, odds ratio estimates in these same age-group comparisons were virtually unchanged at 0.31, 0.56, and 0.04.

CONCLUSION
Aggregate comorbidity measured by inpatient International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, codes on Medicare inpatient hospital claims does not explain age-related patterns in the initial treatment of elderly patients with breast cancer.


With rapid industrialization all over the world, pollution is on the increase. One of the modes through which pollutants enter the biosphere is that of industrial effluents. Bioremediation is a method available for reclaiming the environment which have been polluted. It is an option that offers the possibility to destroy or render harmless various contaminants using natural biological activity. By definition, bioremediation is the use of living organisms, primarily microorganisms, to degrade the environmental contaminants into less toxic forms. It uses naturally occurring bacteria and fungi or plants to degrade or detoxify substances hazardous to human health and/or the environment. It also applicable for the heavy metal hazards.


Introduction Risk stratification is mandatory for optimal management of patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE). Previous studies indicated that renal dysfunction predicts outcome and can improve risk assessment in APE. Aim The aim of the study was a comparison of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) formulas, MDRD, and Cockcroft-Gault (CG), in the prognostic assessment of patients with APE. Materials and Methods Data from 2274 (1147 M/1127 F, median 71 years) hospitalised patients with APE prospectively included in a multicenter, observational, cohort study were analysed. A serum creatinine measurement as a routine laboratory parameter at the cooperating centers and eGFR calculation were performed on admission. Patients were followed for 180 days. The primary outcome was death from any cause within 30 days. Results The eGFR levels assessed by both, MDRD (eGFRMDRD) and CG formula (eGFRCG), were highest in patients with low-risk APE and lowest in high-risk APE. The eGFR (using both methods) was significantly lower in nonsurvivors compared to survivors. Using a threshold of <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, eGFRMDRD revealed the primary outcome with sensitivity 67%, specificity 52%, PPV 8%, and NPV 97%, while eGFRCG had a sensitivity 62%, specificity 62%, PPV 8.6%, and NPV 96%. The area under the ROC curve for eGFRCG tended to be higher than that for eGFRMDRD: 0.658 (95% CI: 0.608-0.709) vs. 0.631 (95% CI: 0.578-0.683), p = 0.12. A subanalysis of ROC curves in a population above 65 yrs showed a higher AUC for eGFRCG than based on MDRD. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a worse long-term outcome in patients with impaired renal function. Conclusion eGFRMDRD and eGFRCG assessed on admission significant short- and long-term mortality predictors in patients with APE. The eGFRCG seems to be a slightly better 30-day mortality predictor than eGFRMDRD in the elderly.


Abstract. South and East Asian anthropogenic aerosols mostly reside in an air mass extending from the Indian Ocean to the North Pacific. Yet the surface temperature effects of Asian aerosols spread across the whole globe. Here, we remove Asian anthropogenic aerosols from two independent climate models (ECHAM6.1 and NorESM1) using the same representation of aerosols via MACv2-SP (a simple plume implementation of the 2nd version of the Max Planck Institute Aerosol Climatology). We then robustly decompose the global distribution of surface temperature responses into contributions from atmospheric energy flux changes. We find that the horizontal atmospheric energy transport strongly moderates the surface temperature response over the regions where Asian aerosols reside. Atmospheric energy transport and changes in clear-sky longwave radiation redistribute the temperature effects efficiently across the Northern hemisphere, and to a lesser extent also over the Southern hemisphere. The model-mean global surface temperature response to Asian anthropogenic aerosol removal is 0.26 ± 0.04 °C (0.22 ± 0.03 for ECHAM6.1 and 0.30 ± 0.03 °C for NorESM1) of warming. Model-to-model differences in global surface temperature response mainly arise from differences in longwave cloud (0.01 ± 0.01 for ECHAM6.1 and 0.05 ± 0.01 °C for NorESM1) and shortwave cloud (0.03 ± 0.03 for ECHAM6.1 and 0.07 ± 0.02 °C for NorESM1) responses. The differences in cloud responses between the models also dominate the differences in regional temperature responses. In both models, the Northern hemispheric surface warming amplifies towards the Arctic, where the total temperature response is highly seasonal and weakest during the Arctic summer. We estimate that under a strong Asian aerosol mitigation policy tied with strong climate mitigation (Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 1-1.9) the Asian aerosol reductions can add around 8 years' worth of current day global warming during the next few decades.


A series of experimental observations of light impurity profiles was carried out in JET (Joint European Torus) ITER-like wall (ILW) L-mode plasmas in order to investigate their transport mechanisms. These discharges feature the presence of 3He, Be, C, N, Ne, whose profiles measured by active Charge Exchange diagnostics are compared with quasi-linear and non-linear gyro-kinetic simulations. The peaking of 3He density follows the electron density peaking, Be and Ne are also peaked, while the density profiles of C and N are flat in the mid plasma region. Gyro-kinetic simulations predict peaked density profiles for all the light impurities studied and at all the radial positions considered, and fail predicting the flat or hollow profiles observed for C and N at mid radius in our cases.


A system based on a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer is developed to perform bidirectional reflectivity measurements on material surfaces, providing the ability to measure this property simultaneously for multiple infrared wavelengths. Calibration is based on a relative method that relates the system output to absolute spectral bidirectional reflectivity. Results are presented for rough gold and grooved nickel surfaces, considering the variation with incident and reflected angle. The surface reflectivity for gold is largely independent of wavelength in the infrared region of interest, while the nickel surface exhibits spectral variation. The experimental results are compared to complete electromagnetic theory predictions and other measurements. 28 refs., 8 figs.


Active magnetic bearing (AMB) systems can support a rotor without physical contact and enable users to precisely control rotor position and vibration as function of time or other parameters. These frictionless and programmable features have made AMB suitable to meeting the demand for higher speed, higher efficiency and reliability of rotating machineries in many industrial application including oil and gas production, power generation and energy conservation, clean manufacturing and transportation. This paper reviews the components and working principles of AMB, which requires basic understanding of rotordynamics, electromagnetisms, power electronics and control theories. Several configurations and applications of AMB are presented including design and cost issues. The capabilities of several major AMB world manufacturers are evaluated. The paper concludes with the summary of investigation topics at several leading AMB research centers. It is hoped that this paper can provide an up-to-date, brief and yet comprehensive introduction of the AMB technology for potential users and industrial communities in general.


Zhang, Ying Ming, Lijuan Shang, Criss Hartzell, Michael Narlow, Leanne Cribbs, and Samuel C. Dudley, Jr. Characterization and regulation of T-type Ca2 channels in embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 285: H2770–H2779, 2003. First published August 14, 2003; 10.1152/ajpheart.01114.2002.—T-type Ca2 channels may play a role in cardiac development. We studied the developmental regulation of the T-type currents (ICa,T) in cardiomyocytes (CMs) derived from mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). ICa,T was studied in isolated CMs by whole cell patch clamp. Subsequently, CMs were identified by the myosin light chain 2v-driven green fluorescent protein expression, and laser capture microdissection was used to isolate total RNA from groups of cells at various developmental time points. ICa,T showed characteristics of Cav3.1, such as resistance to Ni2 block, and a transient increase during development, correlating with measures of spontaneous electrical activity. Real-time RT-PCR showed that Cav3.1 mRNA abundance correlated (r2 0.81) with ICa,T. The mRNA copy number was low at 7 4 days (2 copies/cell), increased significantly by 7 10 days (27/cell; P 0.01), peaked at 7 16 days (174/cell), and declined significantly at 7 27 days (25/cell). These data suggest that ICa,T is developmentally regulated at the level of mRNA abundance and that this regulation parallels measures of pacemaker activity, suggesting that ICa,T might play a role in the spontaneous contractions during CM development.


The microbial and physico-chemical quality of our commercially produced non-alcoholic beverages-Ginger beer, Soya milk, Soborodo drink and kunun-zaki-were investigated. The organisms isolated included lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus, Streptococcus and Leuconostoc. Other bacterial isolates were Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Pseudomonas while the fungi were Penicillium, Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Candida and Saccharomyces. Studies were also carried out on the sensory evaluation and shelf-stability during storage. A combination of pasteurization and refrigeration was found most suitable for prolonged shelf life and consumer acceptability. Chemical analysis showed that the major food components were retained, though some toxic elements were detected like Cadmium and-Chromium even above the permissible levels.


To a certain extent the organization chart of public administration is inspired by the doctrines which are offered by public administration science. Some of these doctrines relate to policy implementation and the design of implementing agencies. In this chapter three of these main doctrines are discussed and confronted with the introduction of information technology: the separation of politics and administration, the separation of policy preparation and policy implementation and the routinization of policy implementation. These main doctrines have led to specific structures within public administration. When implementation is automated by means of information technology, these structures may change considerably. Some of the organizational transformations are illustrated in this chapter. It is argued that the structural transformation of public administration raises new questions with regard to some of the traditional doctrines. These doctrines have to be reinvestigated, reassessed, and maybe even restated in view of the automated implementation of public policy.


Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that occurs after a traumatic event, and its diagnostic criteria include attention and memory deficits as well as symptoms of anxiety. We aimed to review the literature related to attention, memory, and executive functions in PTSD. Although studies on the subject are limited (in that there is no uniformity in terms of trauma type, selection of the control groups or types of neuropsychological tests used), most reported similar deficits in PTSD subjects in terms of memory and executive functions including attention. Since the presence of psychiatric comorbidities may disrupt neuropsychological functions, results of studies that have not controlled comorbidity may be questionable. However, studies that excluded the comorbid conditions reported similar deficits in cognitive functions in PTSD patients. The relationship between recovery from PTSD symptoms and change in cognitive functions has been examined in only a few studies, and most have reported an improvement for both memory and executive functions in remitted patients. The improvement in executive functions, however, has been limited by the difficulty of task. Cognitive deficits have been among the major causes of disabilities in PTSD patients. Therefore, the amount of improvement in cognitive dysfunctions by current treatments of PTSD deserves more attention.


This paper will discuss the system of abstracting water from the underlying water-bearing sediment of surface dry river beds. The technology is well established in Zimbabwe and is a valuable method of obtaining water for human consumption as well as for both livestock and irrigation use. Within Zimbabwe the system is erroneously but commonly, referred to as "sand abstraction". Apart from traditional methods there are several systems of sand abstraction which have been developed. Each method is dependant on equipment which can be installed into river sands which retain water. Systems range from large mechanized schemes to small scale, hand-operated pump and well screen units. The author, through his work and experience in this area has come to believe that small scale units which can be operated and sustained by local communities are the best option for reliable sources of clean water. In large rivers the sediment frequently retains a perennial supply of water and during a dry-season can provide many thousands of kilolitres of water. The river sands act as a huge, slow sand-filtration system and invariably yield water which is neither contaminated by poor sanitation nor by unpalatable mineral salts. Tests undertaken on water samples drawn from river sands have indicated that contamination occurs only after abstraction from containers. Water utilised from such sources is thus particularly suitable for both primary and secondary purposes. Where such systems can be established on low river banks, not too distant from the river edge, simple sand abstraction units provide an excellent, low cost method of abstracting water. Such systems are particularly appreciated by women who prefer small, low technology installations which they can operate themselves and can maintain simply and effectively.


This book is intended to "provide a complete overview of breast carcinoma for the senior medical student, intern and resident." The authors, all from New England, more than half from Harvard, present a book that is out of balance. The first 100 pages deal carefully and well with breast cancer's epidemiology, anatomy, history and physical examination, pathology, and biochemical features. Radiological diagnosis and treatment occupy 125 pages, this abundance representing the interest of the first editor. The second editor deals with surgical aspects in one tenth of that space. In his brief chapter, however, there is an area of confusion. The discussion of results of surgical treatment compares "standard radical mastectomy" (Halsted) with "total mastectomy." The latter is not defined. The chapter on medical management of advanced breast cancer is a disappointment. It occupies eight pages. Reading the brief comparisons of chemotherapeutic regimens was for me an experience that resembled


Researchers learned some 12 years ago that the AIDS virus, HIV, needs to latch onto a cell protein called CD4 to enter and infect cells. But they've known for a decade that CD4 by itself is not sufficient to get the virus into cells. Also required is some unknown "cofactor." That cofactor eluded their efforts to discover it, however, until perhaps now. Work reported in this issue indicates that the cofactor is a protein called fusin, a discovery that may help solve several mysteries about AIDS. Among them: how HIV destroys cells and why it appears not to harm some infected people. It may also be possible to limit HIV infectivity by designing new drugs that work by binding to fusin.


Background: Numerous studies have investigated injuries and treatments in the baseball athlete. The majority of these studies have focused on the throwing shoulder and elbow. However, more recent literature is reporting injuries to other regions in this cohort, including the knee, head, hip, and hamstring. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of the current study was to determine the number and type of injuries in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players that do not occur during the actual game but are related to baseball participation. Our hypothesis was that there would be a substantial number of injuries that occurred in professional baseball players during non-game situations. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods: Deidentified, anonymous data were collected from the 2011 through 2016 seasons from the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System (HITS) medical record database. All injuries that were identified as a primary diagnosis and resulted in at least 1 day out of play from both MLB and MiLB were examined. Injuries were categorized as occurring during the game ("game" injuries) or not during the game. A "non-game" injury was defined as occurring at any time other than during the scheduled game from the first to last pitch. Results: There were 51,548 total injuries in MLB and MiLB players from 2011 to 2016, almost 40% of which were attributed to non–game-related injuries (n = 19,201; 37.2%). The remainder occurred during a game (n = 32,347; 62.8%). A significantly greater percentage of non-game injuries were season ending (10.8%) compared with the percentage of game-related season-ending injuries (8.4%) (P < .0001). Pitchers had significantly more non–game-related injuries than game-related injuries (P < .0001). Conclusion: A large number of injuries occur in professional baseball outside of actual games. MiLB players, specifically pitchers, are particularly at risk for these types of injuries. It is feasible that the overall injury rate in professional baseball players could be reduced by analyzing these injuries in more detail to develop prevention strategies.


This book presents an exploration of the idea of the common or social good, extended so that alternatives with different populations can be ranked. The approach is, in the main, welfarist, basing rankings on the well-being, broadly conceived, of those who are alive (or ever lived). The axiomatic method is employed, and topics investigated include: the measurement of individual well-being, social attitudes toward inequality of well-being, the main classes of population principles, principles that provide incomplete rankings, principles that rank uncertain alternatives, best choices from feasible sets, and applications. The chapters are divided, with mathematical arguments confined to the second part. The first part is intended to make the arguments accessible to a more general readership. Although the book can be read as a defense of the critical-level generalized-utilitarian class of principles, comprehensive examinations of other classes are included.


Undesired gene expression can lead to severe diseases such as cancers. Oncogenic proteins or survival factors encoded by oncogenes can sustain cancer cell survival and proliferation. Considering that proteins are manufactured and transported by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the destroying of oncogenic proteins within the ER could cut-off the process of undesired gene expression. In this study, a new type of ER targeting strategy was developed based on the coordination interaction of the Ca(II) ion rich ER lumen with the carboxyl group of poly(aspartic acid) (PAsp). A comblike polymer PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) was rationally designed and successfully prepared by grafting azido-modified polyethylene glycol (PEG) and the azido-modified photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) onto alkynyl-modified PAsp through the copper(I)-catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition (CuAAC). Here, ICG not only shows its importance as an imaging agent that reveals the distribution of PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) micelles both at tissue and subcellular levels, but also acts as a protein destructive agent to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in protein denaturation. Moreover, chemotherapeutic drugs, such as paclitaxel, can be easily encapsulated into PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) (PTX@PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG)) in up to 28% drug loading capacity with excellent stability. The experimental results proved that the as-prepared PTX@PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) micelles exhibited selective accumulation in the ER lumen of cancer cells. Thus, a 10-fold enhancement of ROS was obtained by incubating cancer cells with PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) micelles at a PTX concentration of 1.0 μg ml−1 under laser irradiation (0.2 W cm−2, 785 nm, 30 s) for 24 h, leading to disruption of proteins in the ER that caused ER stress-induced cancer cell apoptosis up to 76%. In a cytotoxicity test, U-87 MG glioma cells incubated with PTX@PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) at the PTX concentration of 2.5 μg ml−1 were reduced to nearly 0% of cell viability upon 24 h laser irradiation (2 W cm−2, 785 nm, 30 s), in comparison with free PTX that showed 60% cell viability under the same conditions, indicating that photodynamic therapy (PDT) remarkably enhanced chemotherapeutic effects. With the good combination of PDT and chemotherapy, the PTX@PAsp-g-(PEG-ICG) micelles offer unprecedented advantages by effectively targeting the ER and displayed a prolonged retention time in the tumors of U-87 MG bearing nude mice, providing great promise for manipulating biomaterial design to achieve the intended ER targeted delivery for non-invasive cancer therapy.


Background: The aim of this research was to investigate the association of various structural measurements of the forefoot with Morton's neuroma (MN). Methods: Weightbearing anteroposterior and lateral foot radiographs of subjects attending the University of Western Australia (UWA) Podiatry Clinic and the first author's private practice were included in this study. A single assessor measured the following angles: lateral intermetatarsal angle (LIMA), intermetatarsal angle (IMA), hallux valgus angle (HVA), digital divergence between the second and third digits (DD23), digital divergence between the third and fourth digits (DD34) and relative metatarsal lengths of the first to fifth metatarsals (Met1-5), and the effect of MN size as measured by ultrasonograph on digital divergence. Intratester reliability of all radiographic measurements was assessed on all radiographic measurements. The study included 101 subjects, of whom 69 were diagnosed with MN and 32 were control subjects without MN. The mean (± standard deviation) age of MN subjects was 52 (±15) years and for control subjects, 48 (±12) years. Results: When comparing all feet, there were no significant differences in the LIMA, HVA, IMA, digital divergence angles and the relative metatarsal distances between subjects with MN and control subjects. No relationship between MN size and digital divergence was found in either foot, or in either neuroma location. Conclusion: We were unable to demonstrate any relationship in this study between radiographic metatarsal length and angular measurements in a symptomatic MN group compared to a control group. In addition, we did not find any correlation between the size of MN as measured from ultrasonographic images and radiographic evidence of digital divergence. Level of Evidence: Level III, case control study.


Background:
 Inpatient hospital stays contribute considerable costs to our total healthcare expenditures in the US. Increased lengths of stay can lead to increased costs. At the University of Kentucky, there appears to be delays in care in patients admitted over the weekend compared to those who are admitted during weekdays, due to availability of certain testing, such as MRI and transthoracic echocardiogram. This may lead to delays in delivering appropriate care, increase in length of stay, and possibly costs.

 Methods:
 We retrospectively reviewed charts for patients admitted to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center between September to November 2012. Patients were divided into two groups based on the day of the week tests were ordered. Group 1 included patients on whom MRI or echocardiogram was ordered between Monday through Thursday. Group 2 included patients on whom tests were ordered Friday through Sunday. Results were compared using the two sample t-test.

 Results:
 A total of 275 MRIs were performed on stroke patients. For Group 1 (n=168) procedures, mean time to completion was 13.2 hours +/- SD 12.6. For Group 2 (n=97), the mean time to completion was 20.7 hours +/- SD 19.5 (p=.002). A total of 272 echocardiograms were performed. For group 1 (n=171), mean time to completion was 17.4 hours +/- SD 11.2. For Group 2 (n=97), the mean time to completion was 33.4 hours +/- SD 21.6, (p<.0001).

 Conclusion:
 There was a 57% increase in the time needed to complete MRI and 92% increase in the time needed to complete echocardiogram when it was ordered on the weekend. This represents a significant delay in care and may impact lengths of stay. The hiring of additional MRI and echocardiogram technicians could reduce delays in patient care and lengths of stay. This in turn may reduce costs for both patients and the system.


Abstract In recent years, the impact of party leaders on voting behavior has attracted increasing attention, leading some scholars to identify a phenomenon of 'presidentialization'. Many extant studies of this topic in Japan are limited to one or two electoral cycles. In order to trace long-term trends, this paper analyses longitudinal survey data to investigate the existence and magnitude of the effect party leader evaluations exert on vote choice in Japan. Empirical results show that while only dominant and forceful personalities substantially influenced voters' likelihood of supporting their parties in the 1980s and 1990s, by the 2000s assessments of most major party leaders had a significant impact on their parties' electoral performance. In short, party leaders affect vote choice due not to their personalities, but instead to the position they hold. We also test the hypotheses that the association between leader appraisal and voting behavior would be particularly conspicuous among voters who lack party identification and those who are most heavily exposed to media reportage. Analysis reveals that (1) independent voters are not more likely to vote on the basis of leader evaluations than partisans; (2) a leader effect is found more frequently among voters with greater exposure to election coverage on television.


Objective: To compare the clinical and laboratory findings and short-term outcomes of those children diagnosed with COVID-19 in the first and second waves of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at a suburban community hospital during a 1-year period. All children who were less than 18 years of age and confirmed with COVID-19 were included in the study population. The demographics, clinical features, laboratories, treatments given, hospitalizations, and outcomes were analyzed. Results: A total of 198 patients were enrolled; median age was 9.3 years. One-hundred four patients were diagnosed with COVID-19 disease in the first wave and 94 (47.5%) patients were diagnosed in the second wave of the pandemic. Those patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic were significantly younger than those in the second wave (medians: 2.7 years vs. 15 years respectively, P < .001). Intra-familial contact was detected in 66.4% vs. 33.6% in the first and second waves of the pandemic, respectively (P < .001). Asymptomatic patients were higher in the second wave than in the first wave (P < .001). Additionally, moderate-to-critically ill patients were significantly higher in the first wave than in the second wave (P < .001). The rate of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) cases was 0.32% in this study. Conclusion: In children, COVID-19 disease affected older children, there was less intra-familial contact and the severity of the disease was milder in the second wave of the pandemic in comparison to the first wave. MIS-C was encountered in the second wave of the pandemic.


This paper presents a methodology, based on Virtual Reality (VR), for representing a manufacturing system in order to help with the requirement analysis (RA) in CIM system development, suitable for SMEs. The methodology can reduce the costs and the time involved at this stage by producing precise and accurate plans, specification requirements, and a design for CIM information systems. These are essentials for small and medium scale manufacturing enterprises. Virtual Reality is computer-based and has better visualization effects for representing manufacturing systems than any other graphical user interface, and this helps users to collect information and decision needs quickly and correctly. A VR-RA tool is designed and developed as a software system to realize the features outlined in each phase of the methodology. A set of rules and a knowledge base is appended to the methodology to remove any inconsistency that could arise between the material and the information flows during the requirement analysis. A novel environment for matching the physical and the information model domains is suggested to delineate the requirements.


(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major component of green tea, protects against certain types of cancers, although the mechanism has not yet been determined. It was previously demonstrated that EGCG blocks aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated transcription induced by the potent carcinogen 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Unlike other AhR antagonists that directly bind to the AhR, EGCG inhibits AhR-mediated transcription by binding to hsp90. We hypothesize that EGCG exerts anti-AhR and anticancer effects by acting as an hsp90 inhibitor. Using proteolytic footprinting, immunoprecipitation, and an ATP-agarose pull-down assay, EGCG was found to directly modulate the conformation of hsp90 and bind at or near to a C-terminal ATP binding site. Hsp90 chaperone function, as assessed by its ability to mediate refolding of denatured luciferase, was inhibited by EGCG treatment. Hsp90 dimerization, which occurs at the C-terminal end, was also inhibited by EGCG treatment. Coimmunoprecipitation studies showed that EGCG stabilizes an AhR complex that includes hsp90 and XAP2 (hepatitis B virus X-associated protein 2), and decreases the association of aryl hydrocarbon nuclear translocator (Arnt) with ligand-activated AhR. Thus, EGCG, through its ability to bind to hsp90, blocks AhR response element (AhRE) recognition. These studies indicate a novel mechanism whereby EGCG inhibits ligand-induced AhRE binding and AhR-mediated transcriptional activity. In EGCG-treated human ovarian carcinoma SKOV3 cells, decreased levels of several cancer-related hsp90 client proteins, such as ErbB2, Raf-1 and phospho-AKT, were observed. EGCG also modified the association of hsp90 with several cochaperones. Overall, these data indicate that EGCG is a novel hsp90 inhibitor. Further studies are needed to determine if this has a role in the antitumor actions of EGCG.


This paper presents an overview for feature extraction method using S transform from a disturbance waveform which is a new useful tool for classification of power quality problems in electrical power systems. According to researchers, the excellent timefrequency resolution characteristics of the S-transform can be effectively used for the analysis of power quality (PQ) disturbances under noisy condition and has the ability to detect the disturbance correctly. Features extracted using the S-transform can be applied to an artificial NN for automatic classification of the PQ disturbances. he simulation results shown states that the S-transform can effectively detect and classify different power quality disturbances by visual inspection also.


While not yet in commercial existence, quantum computers have the ability to solve certain classes of problems that are not efficiently solvable on existing Turing Machine based (classical) computers. For quantum computers to be of use, methods of programming them must exist. Proposals exist for programming quantum computers, but all of the existing ones suffer from flaws that make them impractical in commercial software development environments. Cove is a framework for programming quantum computers that extends existing classical languages to allow for quantum computation, thus providing a quantum computing toolkit for commercial software developers. Since the target users of Cove are commercial developers, it is an object oriented framework that can be used by multiple languages and also places emphasis on complete documentation. The focus of Cove is not so much on the software product, but on the fundamental concepts that make quantum computing practical for common developers.


Abstract Background Minimally invasive surgery has become the standard approach for several cardiac diseases. In this retrospective study, we compared right anterolateral minithoracotomy (RALT) with standard median sternotomy (SMS) for resection of left atrial myxoma (LAM). Materials and Methods From January 2009 to June 2015, the clinical data of patients who underwent RALT (n = 30) and SMS (n = 36) for resection of LAM in our hospital were collected. The preoperative clinical data and operative results were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in aortic cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass time between the two groups. The total incision length was significantly shorter in RALT group compared with SMS group (p < 0.001). For RALT and SMS groups, respectively, the intensive care unit length of stay was 29.2 ± 6.5 versus 43.5 ± 6.9 hours (p < 0.001), and the postoperative hospital length of stay was 5 days (interquartile range [IQR]: 4–6) versus 8 days (IQR: 7–10) (p < 0.001). The total cost in RALT group was 27,000 RMB (IQR: 25,000–29,000) versus 33,000 RMB (IQR: 31,000–35,000) in SMS group (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in mortality and postoperative complications between the two groups. Conclusion RALT approach for LAM resection can be performed safely with favorable cosmetic outcome, accepted clinical results, and lower cost. It should be considered as a promising alternative to SMS and merit additional study.


Considering that productivity has a critical effect on the economic development of a country, it is regarded as the basis upon which an economy's prosperity is hinged, which in turn affects national growth. Economic growth is also hinged on information technology as a veritable resource for companies and organization for their processes. Despite several studies on the impact of information technology investment as it relates to organization growth, it still remains a debate if IT investments has a significant effect on better productivity and business efficiencies. Libya is a country where the IT`s potential is limited in terms of reach and usage, as data shows that amongst the MENA regional countries, Libya has the least internet penetration rate only behind Algeria, Iraq and Yemen. This study investigates the effect of information technology on the productivity and organizational agility of telecommunication companies in Libya. The study took a survey of sample size of 364 respondents from telecommunication industries in Libya, using a four-point experience scale (4-Excellent). The questionnaires were divided into three parts, with each section highlighting the IT incorporation in the companies based on companies' IT infrastructures and Personnel usage, the organization productivity in terms of market profits and lead, and the organization agility. Results show that the effect of information technology on organizational agility is quite significant. The study goes to show that the competitiveness of the telecommunication industry in Libya is heavily hinged on the growth and integration of Information technology.


In this study, the effect of the two cationic surfactants (benzyldimethyltetradecylammonium chloride (BDTDACl) and dodecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (DTABr)) on the electrokinetic and rheologic properties of Na-montmorillonite dispersion (3% w/w) has been investigated at their concentrations between 0 and 10 mmol/L. Experimental results reveal that cationic surfactants are attached on the surface of negatively charged clay particles and also they penetrate into the interlayer of clay particles. The intercalation of surfactants with clay minerals is shown to lead to an increase in the interlayer spacing of montmorillonites by X-ray diffraction. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra obtained from the modified bentonite products reveal the characteristic absorption bands. The morphology of bentonite dispersions was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Both X-ray diffraction data and scanning electron micrographs of intercalated montmorillonites indicate that most of the montmorillonites are dispersed randomly in the organo-clay dispersion.


OBJECTIVES
Medicine must keep current with the research literature, and keeping current requires continuously updating the clinical knowledge base (i.e., references that provide answers to clinical questions). The authors estimated the volume of medical literature potentially relevant to primary care published in a month and the time required for physicians trained in medical epidemiology to evaluate it for updating a clinical knowledge base.

METHODS
We included journals listed in five primary care journal review services (ACP Journal Club, DynaMed, Evidence-Based Practice, Journal Watch, and QuickScan Reviews). Finding little overlap, we added the 2001 "Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print Books and Journals for the Small Medical Library." We counted articles (including letters, editorials, and other commentaries) published in March 2002, using bibliographic software where possible and hand counting when necessary. For journals not published in March 2002, we reviewed the nearest issue. Five primary care physicians independently evaluated fifty randomly selected articles and timed the process.

RESULTS
The combined list contained 341 currently active journals with 8,265 articles. Adjusting for publication frequency, we estimate 7,287 articles are published monthly in this set of journals. Physicians trained in epidemiology would take an estimated 627.5 hours per month to evaluate these articles.

CONCLUSIONS
To provide practicing clinicians with the best current evidence, more comprehensive and systematic literature surveillance efforts are needed.


There is a lack of scientific testing of commercially available malware detectors, especially those that boast accurate classification of never-before-seen (zero-day) files using machine learning (ML). The result is that the efficacy and trade-offs among the different available approaches are opaque. In this paper, we address this gap in the scientific literature with an evaluation of commercially available malware detection tools. We tested each tool against 3,536 total files (2,554 72% malicious, 982 28% benign) including over 400 zero-day malware, and tested with a variety of file types and protocols for delivery. Specifically, we investigate three questions: Do ML-based malware detectors provide better detection than signature-based detectors? Is it worth purchasing a network-level malware detector to complement host-based detection? What is the trade-off in detection time and detection accuracy among commercially available tools using static and dynamic analysis? We present statistical results on detection time and accuracy, consider complementary analysis (using multiple tools together), and provide a novel application of a recent cost-benefit evaluation procedure by Iannaconne \& Bridges that incorporates all the above metrics into a single quantifiable cost to help security operation centers select the right tools for their use case. Our results show that while ML-based tools are more effective at detecting zero-days and malicious executables, they work best when used in combination with a signature-based solution. In addition, network-based tools had poor detection rates on protocols other than the HTTP or SMTP, making them a poor choice if used on their own. Surprisingly, we also found that all the tools tested had lower than expected detection rates, completely missing 37% of malicious files tested and failing to detect any polyglot files.


Ex-Machina is a 2015 sci-fi thriller, written and directed by Alex Garland, and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander. Critically acclaimed, the movie explores the relations between human and posthuman, as well as the relations between men and women. The article analyzes four main themes: the dystopian spaces of relations and conflicts between human and posthuman entities; the gender issues and the violent tendencies represented both in humans and in AIs; the construction and the representation of women's bodies, roles, identities and images; the control and the manipulation perpetrated by "authoritarian" individuals on feminine bodies. The goal of my contribution is to show the reasons of the "double male fear of technology and of woman" (Huyssen 226), and I hope that my reflections could encourage a debate on posthumanism and on gendered power relations.


The large-angle, low multipole cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides a unique view of the largest angular scales in the Universe. Study of these scales is hampered by the facts that we have only one Universe to observe, only a few independent samples of the underlying statistical distribution of these modes, and an incomplete sky to observe due to the interposing Galaxy. Techniques for reconstructing a full sky from partial sky data are well known and have been applied to the large angular scales. In this work we critically study the reconstruction process and show that, in practise, the reconstruction is biased due to leakage of information from the region obscured by foregrounds to the region used for the reconstruction. We conclude that, despite being suboptimal in a technical sense, using the unobscured region without reconstructing is the most robust measure of the true CMB sky. We also show that for noise free data reconstructing using the usual optimal, unbiased estimator may be employed without smoothing thus avoiding the leakage problem. Unfortunately, directly applying this to real data with noise and residual, unmasked foregrounds yields highly biased reconstructions requiring further care to apply this method successfully to real-world CMB.


Survival outcomes are common in comparative effectiveness studies and require unique handling because they are usually incompletely observed due to right-censoring. A ``once for all'' approach for causal inference with survival outcomes constructs pseudo-observations and allows standard methods such as propensity score weighting to proceed as if the outcomes are completely observed. For a general class of model-free causal estimands with survival outcomes on user-specified target populations, we develop corresponding propensity score weighting estimators based on the pseudo-observations and establish their asymptotic properties. In particular, utilizing the functional delta-method and the von Mises expansion, we derive a new closed-form variance of the weighting estimator that takes into account the uncertainty due to both pseudo-observation calculation and propensity score estimation. This allows valid and computationally efficient inference without resampling. We also prove the optimal efficiency property of the overlap weights within the class of balancing weights for survival outcomes. The proposed methods are applicable to both binary and multiple treatments. Extensive simulations are conducted to explore the operating characteristics of the proposed method versus other commonly used alternatives. We apply the proposed method to compare the causal effects of three popular treatment approaches for prostate cancer patients.


The study focuses on analyzing the policies followed in Turkey based on inflation targeting with an application of interest rate corridor policy in which the spread between the two policy rates, namely, the borrowing and lending rates. To overcome the difficulty of two different policy rates, two indices, the PDI and the MDI are utilized to capture the response of the monetary authority within a nonlinear Taylor rule context. The empirical findings for the Turkish economy with MS-VAR and MS-Granger causality analyses suggest that while the policy interest rates are determined in the spirit of the Taylor rule, the monetary policy involuntarily affirms inflation after the application of the policy, a finding that is consistent with the FTPL theory. As a result, as the central bank tries to establish price stability and financial stability with two policy interest rates, accepting higher inflation rates could be unavoidable. The results also are in favor of bi-directional nonlinear causality which led to important policy implications.


Composites of alumina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2) are known for their high toughness, low thermal expansion, and low thermal conductivity. Alumina-Titania coatings are excellent candidates for providing protection against abrasive wear, resistant to high temperature erosion with cryogenic compatibility, high adhesion strength, and are resistant to high thermal shock. High temperature formation of Al2TiO5 (AT) is reason for the excellent property. It is reported in literature that nano-composite of Al2O3-TiO2 or Al2O3-AT has 2-3 times better thermo-mechanical property. In most of the cases Al2O3-TiO2 composite powder prepared by mechanical mixing of nano alumina and titania powder which are costly. There are very few reports on in-situ synthesis of Al2O3-TiO2 composite by simple wet chemical method. In our present work, an alumina-titania composite powder containing 13 wt.% titania was prepared by polymer assisted co-precipitation technique. Co-polymer Pluronic P-123 was used in the precipitation process. The influence and effect of concentration of the surfactant on the morphology and size of the obtained materials were investigated. The particle size for polymer assisted composite powder is found to be less than the sample prepared by the simple co-precipitation process. The phase evolution and reaction mechanism was studied by XRD and DSC-TG. The Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurement was carried out in order to investigate the presence of polymer. The particle size and morphology was analyzed for with and without polymer synthesized powder. Densification behavior of nano-composite powder was studied by dilatometry. 95% of sintered density can be achieved at 1650oC. Our derived process is able to achieve homogeneous distribution of Al2O3-Al2TiO5 phase in sintered samples.


Today's fiscal policy challenges are rooted in the way that fiscal policy rules have evolved over the history of the United States. This paper demonstrates that two shifts of informal norms occurred in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century. First, public expectations shifted from requiring a balanced budget to instead using the federal budget to promote economic security at the household level and economic stability at the macro level. Simultaneously, norms for elected office shifted from temporary service to careerism, and the federal government became increasingly professionalized. Both shifts increased demand on the expenditure side of the federal budget while creating fiscal commons problems on taxation and appropriations. Through a series of legislative milestones, Congress codified both shifts into entitlement programs and macroeconomic objectives. The combined effect has been to exert relentless pressure to increase public expenditures through debt finance. Despite four decades of legislative attempts to constrain spending relative to taxes, the informal norms have trumped the formal constraints. Viewed through the lens of public choice economics, fiscal policy rules have evolved into a complex system of incentives that instill a strong bias toward systematically greater deficit spending, whether or not policymakers intend for that outcome to result. Furthermore, by creating intergenerational redistribution, the pattern of deficit spending is morally suspect. Reform discussions must recognize that today 's fiscal policy challenges can be met only by addressing these deep changes in federal budget rules.


Permineralized fossil coniferous woods from the Pliocene of Dunarobba, Umbria, Italy, and the Jurassic of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, were studied using non-destructive techniques on uncoated polished thin sections to elucidate their preservational history. Specimens were observed using transmitted light, polarized light, reflected light under oil, and cathodoluminescence. Selected areas were studied using a variable pressure SEM in backscattered electron mode. This allowed uncoated specimens to be examined and elemental distributions to be determined using an energy dispersive X-ray microanalyser. The data were used to interpret details of the permineralization history. Results reveal that anatomical interpretations based merely on observations of thin sections in transmitted light can be very misleading and could potentially affect the application of permineralized plant fossils, for example, in evolutionary biology, palaeoclimate analysis and isotope geochemistry.


OBJECTIVE
Accurate diagnosis of sport-related concussions relies heavily on truthful self-reporting of symptom severity. Previous studies have emphasized lack of knowledge as a factor in symptom nondisclosure. This study sought to examine concussion knowledge and the relationship of knowledge to reasons for symptom nondisclosure.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Data were collected during preparticipation athletic evaluations via electronic survey.

PARTICIPANTS
One hundred fifty-six incoming National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I student-athletes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Survey items included previous concussion diagnosis, concussion fact and symptom knowledge, reasons and situational contexts for nondisclosure, and stakeholder attitudes.

RESULTS
Participants, on average, had substantial concussion symptom and fact knowledge. Unexpectedly, participants with higher concussion fact knowledge endorsed more reasons that athletes may hide symptoms. Concussion symptom knowledge was unrelated to reasons for nondisclosure. Athletes believed that symptom reporting was less likely in high-stakes versus low-stakes situations and consistently identified their teammates as holding attitudes that support underreporting and athletic trainers as engaging in behaviors that support player safety.

CONCLUSIONS
Greater concussion knowledge did not reduce the number of reasons that participants viewed as drivers for concussion nondisclosure. In other words, participants understood why athletes choose to hide symptoms even when they also understood the symptoms, risks, sequelae, and consequences of concussion (and potential harm of nondisclosure). Situational contexts and important stakeholder attitudes also appeared to importantly influence symptom disclosure decisions. A multifaceted approach that goes beyond current educational strategies to addresses situational, social, and athletic pressures may be needed to initiate a widespread cultural shift away from concussion nondisclosure.


The number of potential uses of emergency department (ED) ultrasound is growing. This brief report describes its use in two ED patients who presented with acute ocular pathology. The diagnoses were quickly made with ED ultrasound, and subsequently confirmed with more traditional methods of ocular evaluation.


Context: Imperfect detection, where a species remains undetected in surveys even though it is present, occurs in all wildlife surveys. The probability of detecting a species with different sampling designs can be assessed using occupancy modelling, then improved through employing the most appropriate survey effort and methods. Aims: My research applies analytical methods to determine optimal survey effort, by varying the number of camera traps per site and deployment time, for the detection of the threatened black-footed tree-rat, Mesembriomys gouldii. Methods: My analysis was applied to camera trap data collected by myself and others for a range of research objectives from 224 sites across eight regions in the Top End, Northern Territory, between 2013 and 2016. All data were collected using a five camera array and over a minimum six week period. Single-season occupancy models were applied to daily detection data over 42 days to assess the effect of altering the number of camera traps set per site on detection probability. Cumulative detection curves with 95% confidence intervals were calculated to determine the optimal length of deployment for each scenario of deploying one to five camera traps per site. Key Results: The detection probability for black-footed tree-rats was low (p = 0.15) for the one camera scenario, but increased with the number of cameras set per site, as did the precision around the detection probability estimate. The optimal length of deployment with a predefined precision (p* > 0.85) dropped from 21 days to 11 days with the addition of a second camera trap. The optimal survey design, that should reliably determine the presence of black-footed tree-rats if they are present, was identified as two camera traps per site for two weeks. Conclusions: The optimal survey effort required to reliably detect a target species can be derived from pre-existing data. Additional variation due to environmental, ecological and detection method, in this case using camera traps, will also influence detection probability and needs to be considered. Implications: The outcomes of this research will be incorporated into impact assessment guidelines to improve detectability and provide definitive and achievable methods for detecting the black-footed tree-rat prior to development activities. The guidelines will serve to standardise survey design and methods, providing a greater knowledge base for natural resource management and species conservation. The analytical methods outlined can also be applied to determine optimal survey design for other species using pre-existing data from past surveys.


During the heat treatment of coffee and its substitutes some compounds potentially deleterious to health are synthesized by the Maillard reaction. Among these, N(ε)-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) was detected at high levels in coffee substitutes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of changes in agricultural practice on the lysine content present in chicory roots and try to limit CML formation during roasting. Of the 24 varieties analyzed, small variations in lysine content were observed, 213 ± 8 mg/100 g dry matter (DM). The formation of lysine tested in five commercial varieties was affected by the nitrogen treatment with mean levels of 176 ± 2 mg/100 g DM when no fertilizer was added and 217 ± 7 mg/100 g DM with a nitrogen supply of 120 kg/ha. The lysine content of fresh roots was significantly correlated to the concentration of CML formed in roasted roots (r = 0.51; p < 0.0001; n = 76).