Abstract Several management theorists have called for organizations to incorporate organization learning, empowerment, open-book management, and similar initiatives to generate better value from an important strategic resource: employees. What does this mean for the controlled? Do extensions of the management control system's ability to implement the strategy of the firm offer workers a more central role in creating their future? Or is this "progress" just another means to extract extra effort from workers for the benefit of owners? This paper is developed in two parts. The first argues that seeking better value from workers is here to stay, and that the implications for management control system bear consideration. In particular, the five disciplines of Senge's (1990) Organization Learning are introduced to illustrate growing ways informal controls enhance workers' knowledge contributions. The second half of the paper examines implications of this increasing control. Some argue that it is naive to expect organization learning will lead managers to willingly realign existing lopsided rewards. However, as a natural response to change, these controls are themselves dynamic and evolutionary. This paper suggests that the growing dependence on employee's superior knowledge recalibrates power arrangements. Further there is a growing awareness that many managers' self-interest is mitigated by their sense of fairness. Consequently, an increasingly shared authority combined with the self-reflection and transparency of organization learning raises the possibility of an environment where those who perform the work share more equally in its rewards.


Background: Reports on any aspect of management of meniscal injuries are scarce in Nigeria, though the anecdotal experience is that occurrence of meniscal injuries is not rare. Meniscal repair is the preferred option following meniscal injury due to the long-term harmful effects attributed to partial meniscectomies. Meniscal repair in the setting of an isolated meniscal injury is also reputed to give a satisfactory return to preinjury levels of about 91.3%. Meniscectomy has been reported to be associated with long term symptoms and functional limitations. Current treatment trend involves conserving the meniscus where and if possible. Despite this, arthroscopic partial meniscectomy is said to be one of the most common orthopaedic procedures worldwide. Indications for meniscal repairs have been well developed over the years and include factors like duration and pattern of the tear among other features. We present a study of the management of 16 patients who had surgery for meniscal injury over 1 year. Aims and Objectives: To determine the difference in short term outcome for patients who had meniscal injuries following arthroscopic treatment using the Tegner Lysholm score. Materials and Methods: Our work was a retrospective, descriptive study of all our patients who had surgery for meniscal injuries from December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2019. We recruited qualified patients into the study and extracted relevant information from their records. Data retrieved included age, sex, aetiology, presenting complaint, duration before the presentation, intra-operative arthroscopic findings, the treatment offered and the difference in the patient's Tegner Lysholm knee score evaluated preoperatively and at 6 months post-treatment. Results: In the study period, 16 patients had arthroscopic surgery for complaints of persistent knee pain. The majority (75%) of the patients were aged between 20 and 40 years. Most were male (88%) and had their injuries playing football (63%). The presentation was late in most cases (75%), and most of the patients had complex, irreparable tears at arthroscopy. An associated rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament was found in 25% of the patients. Majority of the patients had partial meniscectomy alone. Only two patients (12.5%) qualified for and had meniscal repairs using the outside-in technique. Most of the patients had a poor Tegner Lysholm knee score preoperatively. Post-operatively, at 6 months follow-up, all the patients demonstrated a short-term improvement in the Tegner Lysholm score. Our study indicates that the presentation of meniscal injuries is often delayed in our environment. Most of the patients who present with these injuries do not qualify for meniscal repair as they often have complex, irreparable tears. These patients have partial meniscectomies with short term relief of their complaints. Conclusion: Despite the need for meniscal conservation, partial meniscectomy is still very relevant in our environment.


ABSTRACT Qian, Y.; He, M., and Wang, R., 2020. Experimental study on influence of disc number on soil failure state of concrete expanded-plate pile under horizontal force in oceanographic engineering. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 660–663. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. As a new type of variable section pile, concrete expansion piles have the advantages of high bearing capacity, strong overturning resistance, and flexible design position. However, the effects of disc parameters on failure state and bearing capacity need further study. In this study, taking disc number as the main parameter, an innovative semisection pile model test method of undisturbed soil is proposed to study the influence of disc number on horizontal bearing capacity and soil failure state of concrete expanded piles under horizontal force. The research results of this study have further improved the test method, test device, and theoretical research conclusion of the undisturbed soil half-section model, which promotes popularization and application of concrete expansion piles.


The iMakerspace helps with innovative and entrepreneurial projects that students and faculty wish to bring into reality. The space is funded by tuition fees and is free to use by any student or faculty, regardless of their major or department. The space has 3D printers, a mill, a CNC machine, and many other tools to help students to create their products. The space is currently home to 7 research projects and a total of 23 employees who either fill a leadership, research assistant, or technical role.  The iMakerspace is used by student organizations and clubs, including SEDS and ARC. SEDS is currently participating in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC), an international competition involving a 12' high powered rocket. ARC (Autonomous Robotics Club) is a club that uses the space for their meetings and projects, one of which is Talus (Totally Autonomous Legless Useful System), which is a 3d printed human torso and will be an interactive greeter for the space that visitors can ask questions and get directions from.  The space is also used for classes, including communications and other class subjects. Pop up informational meetings are also conducted in the space for Eagle Works, a Shark Tank-like competition for students to compete for funding for their startup ideas and companies. The iMakerspace also hosts a holiday design contest to design a holiday ornament for the iMakerspace holiday tree. Many research projects from undergraduates and people outside the university are presented in the space as well.


Abstract The concept of "elite interviewing" is a recent phenomenon in educational research and has been studied widely in the Western context. Drawing on my own experience, this article traces the challenges and difficulties involved in "elite interviewing" in higher education in post-colonial Bangladesh. It is based on a critical methodological perspective, using a thematic analysis of interviews with 28 higher education policy-making elites working between the 1990s and 2010s at the state level in Bangladesh. This article examines how the local power structure within the current socio-political context emerged from a long colonial past, and how this in turn influenced elite interviewing. It looks at how the researcher, who's onto-epistemological as well as geopolitical position originated from and has been influenced by both Global South and Global North contexts, negotiated with this distinctive power structure in elite interview settings to understand the "micro-politics" of neoliberal policy formulation in Bangladesh. In its critical analysis of elite interviewing, this paper traces how "everyday social practices" drawn from colonial practices, for example, the use of "sir" and acknowledging "supremacy" and "power conflict" served as a form of "capillary" domination of relations to respond to the power structure and neutralise specific identities, positions, and experiences in elite interview settings.


Ag-based compounds are excellent co-catalyst that can enhance harvesting visible light and increase photo-generated charge carrier separation owing to its surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect in photoelectrochemical (PEC) applications. However, the PEC performance of a ZnO/Ag/Ag2WO4 heterostructure with SPR behavior has not been fully studied so far. Here we report the preparation of a ZnO/Ag/Ag2WO4 photo-electrode with SPR behavior by a low temperature hydrothermal chemical growth method followed by a successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The properties of the prepared samples were investigated by different characterization techniques, which confirm that Ag/Ag2WO4 was deposited on the ZnO NRs. The Ag2WO4/Ag/ZnO photo-electrode showed an enhancement in PEC performance compared to bare ZnO NRs. The observed enhancement is attributed to the red shift of the optical absorption spectrum of the Ag2WO4/Ag/ZnO to the visible region (>400 nm) and to the SPR effect of surface metallic silver (Ag0) particles from the Ag/Ag2WO4 that could generate electron–hole pairs under illumination of low energy visible sun light. Finally, we proposed the PEC mechanism of the Ag2WO4/Ag/ZnO photo-electrode with an energy band structure and possible electron–hole separation and transportation in the ZnO/Ag/Ag2WO4 heterostructure with SPR effect for water oxidation.


170-r-------------------, results of asthma treatment. The success of immunotherapy has repeatedly been demonstrated and its safety is much better than drug treatment. The United Kingdom Committee on Safety in Medicines reported no deaths as a result of the use of Allpyral extracts in the United Kingdom over ten years. 2 What other method of treatment can equal this record? Like all treatments. experience improves results. Immunotherapy should be instigated only on the advice of a consultant. Avoidance is to be preferred, but, when a satisfactory degree of avoidance is not possible, we must rely on immunotherapy rather than drugs alone. Selwyn P Trenerry, FACA 12th Floor, National Mutual BUilding 15 London Circuit, Canberra City. ACT 2601 1. Phelan PD. Dangers of Immunotherapy for the treatment of asthma in children [LetterJ. Med J Aus/1990: 153: 367. 2. Committee on Safety in Medicines. Desensitisingvaccines. Br Med J 1986; 293: 948


Finding a membrane with both high permeability and high salt rejection is very important for saline solution purification. Here, we report the performance of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) membranes with nanoscale pores for saline solution purification via all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that the nanoporous two-dimensional MoS2 membrane can impede salt ions, while allowing highly efficient permeation of water molecules. By engineering the appropriate sizes of the nanopores within two-dimensional MoS2 membranes, their water permeability can be tens of times as high as that of conventional reverse osmosis membranes, while still maintaining a high salt rejection rate. These remarkable water permeability and salt rejection properties of the nanoporous monolayer MoS2 membranes are attributed to the formation of single chain hydrogen bonds, which link the water molecules within the nanopores and those at the immediate exteriors of the nanopores, causing significant reduction in the resistance of water molecules passing through the nanopores, which are small enough for any salt ions to pass through. Therefore such nanoporous monolayer MoS2 membranes have great potential for saline solution purification.


We applied a data‐driven analysis based on self‐organizing group independent component analysis (sogICA) to fMRI data from a three‐stimulus visual oddball task. SogICA is particularly suited to the investigation of the underlying functional connectivity and does not rely on a predefined model of the experiment, which overcomes some of the limitations of hypothesis‐driven analysis. Unlike most previous applications of ICA in functional imaging, our approach allows the analysis of the data at the group level, which is of particular interest in high order cognitive studies. SogICA is based on the hierarchical clustering of spatially similar independent components, derived from single subject decompositions. We identified four main clusters of components, centered on the posterior cingulate, bilateral insula, bilateral prefrontal cortex, and right posterior parietal and prefrontal cortex, consistently across all participants. Post hoc comparison of time courses revealed that insula, prefrontal cortex and right fronto‐parietal components showed higher activity for targets than for distractors. Activation for distractors was higher in the posterior cingulate cortex, where deactivation was observed for targets. While our results conform to previous neuroimaging studies, they also complement conventional results by showing functional connectivity networks with unique contributions to the task that were consistent across subjects. SogICA can thus be used to probe functional networks of active cognitive tasks at the group‐level and can provide additional insights to generate new hypotheses for further study. Hum Brain Mapp, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Buswell Library at Wheaton College in Illinois faced a cataloging backlog of thousands of rare materials focusing on American and British Protestant evangelism and missions. Cataloging staff used creative thinking to solve challenges such as lack of staff time and expertise. We collaborated with special collections staff to determine specific user needs, then used our knowledge of metadata practices to meet those needs. Many complicated items appeared in the workflow, but we found creative ways to make them accessible. To communicate the project to the rest of the library, we presented at a staff meeting, explaining the types of materials cataloged and sharing tips for searching for them. The project significantly increased the amount of special collections items cataloged annually and allowed us to connect faculty and students with our valuable research materials.


The active electrolocation technology has been developed for near 60 years and played a significant role in the field of biomimetic sensor. But the influence of the edge characteristics of detected objects on underwater active electrolocation system was rarely investigated. In this paper, an experiment system based on the underwater active electrolocation technology is built. The amplitude information-frequency characteristics (AIFC) for different probed objects with the different edge characteristic and approximate volumes are investigated. Two sets of different edge characteristic shapes (cylinder and cuboid, cone and pyramid), whose volumes are little difference in each sets, are carried out in the same materials to deeply study on the effect. The height variation curve (HVC) is employed to compute the frequency inflection point (FIP) of AIFC for the system. According to experiment results, we find that the FIP for the probed metallic objects with similar volumes is weighty associated to the edge characteristics of objects, while the FIP for the plastic has nothing to do with the edge characteristics of objects. It may have reference value for physical mechanism of weakly electrical fish active electrolocation system. Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.


Voltage-gated sodium channel blockers are clinically used in several disorders of membrane excitability including cardiac arrhythmias, epileptic seizures, pain and myotonia. The safety of these drugs relies on their ability to block sodium channels in a frequency-dependent manner, allowing a selective inhibition of over excited cells while sparing the healthy organs. Among them mexiletine is an antiarrhythmic drug belonging to class IB. Besides its well-known antiarrhythmic activity, its usefulness in the treatment of skeletal muscle channelopathy, as myotonia, which are rare human genetic diseases, is now widely recognized. Mexiletine has been recently appointed as an orphan-drug in myotonic-syndromes. Nevertheless, it has been discontinued in many countries because of its side effects. Consequently, numerous attempts have been made in recent years to develop an alternative to mexiletine, including the design of new analogues that offer the same pharmacological effect but without the unwanted side effects. In the past decade, my research group has been focusing on the development of mexiletine and its relative, tocainide, analogues that helped to clarify the structural requirements for ameliorating the therapeutic profile, in terms of potency and use-dependent block of myofiber sodium currents. As these identified compounds were more potent channel blockers than the parent compounds, they have been proposed as mexiletine alternatives for the treatment of myotonia. Furthermore, compounds with a dual action as voltage-gated sodium channel blockers and anti-oxidants have been identified, that may have an interesting therapeutic action in degenerating myopathies in which the alteration of excitation-contraction coupling is accompanied by chronic inflammatory state and unbalanced oxidative stress. Some of these compounds showed also a better antiarrhythmic activity along with the same or less cardiovascular effects than mexiletine, thus presenting a higher selectivity of action and reduced side effects. Herein the results of this study will be presented.


Ataxin-1 (Atx1), a member of the polyglutamine (polyQ) expanded protein family, is responsible for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1. Requirements for developing the disease are polyQ expansion, nuclear localization and phosphorylation of S776. Using a combination of bioinformatics, cell and structural biology approaches, we have identified a UHM ligand motif (ULM), present in proteins associated with splicing, in the C-terminus of Atx1 and shown that Atx1 interacts with and influences the function of the splicing factor U2AF65 via this motif. ULM comprises S776 of Atx1 and overlaps with a nuclear localization signal and a 14-3-3 binding motif. We demonstrate that phosphorylation of S776 provides the molecular switch which discriminates between 14-3-3 and components of the spliceosome. We also show that an S776D Atx1 mutant previously designed to mimic phosphorylation is unsuitable for this aim because of the different chemical properties of the two groups. Our results indicate that Atx1 is part of a complex network of interactions with splicing factors and suggest that development of the pathology is the consequence of a competition of aggregation with native interactions. Studies of the interactions formed by non-expanded Atx1 thus provide valuable hints for understanding both the function of the non-pathologic protein and the causes of the disease.


A Rotational Modulator (RM) gamma ray imager, consisting of a single grid of lead slats rotating above an array of detectors with diameter equal to the slat spacing, has the capability of providing angular resolution significantly better than the geometric resolution (i.e., the ratio of detector diameter to mask/detector separation). The sensitivity, weight, and angular resolution are comparable to that of a coded aperture device, but with significantly less complexity. As the grid rotates, the transmission from a source is modulated on each detector between 0 and 100%. The count profile is cross-correlated with precalculated modulation profiles to produce an approximate source image. Deconvolution of this image with the known imager response can accurately resolve point sources and complex emissions. The appropriate deconvolution technique can achieve angular resolution better than the basic geometrical resolution of the instrument. A prototype RM developed at Louisiana State University features high sensitivity and energy resolution, functional angular resolution of 15, and a simple readout system. The detector array consists of 19 1.5 × 1 thick cerium-doped lanthanum bromide (LaBr3:Ce) crystals. LaBr3 produces significantly more light than other common scintillators, offering < 3% FWHM energy resolution at 662 keV. A grid spaced ~1.2 m from the detection plane with slat width 1.5 offers a 13.8° field of view. We present our reconstruction technique, deconvolution algorithms, and simulated and experimental imaging results.


Using data collected by the International Institute of Agriculture, we document the disintegration of international commodity markets between 1913 and 1938. There was dramatic disintegration during World War I, gradual reintegration during the 1920s, and then a very substantial disintegration after 1929. The period saw the unravelling of a great many of the integration gains of the 1870-1913 period. While increased transport costs certainly help to explain the wartime disintegration, they cannot explain the post-1929 increase in trade costs. Protectionism seems the most likely alternative candidate.


Studies on the occurrence of molluscs in Lake Mikołajskie (Masurian Lakeland, NE. Poland) were carried out in 2011–2015. Samples were taken yearly from 5–10 sites in the littoral and sublittoral. Twenty four mollusc species were recorded, including 12 snails and 12 bivalves. Moreover, empty shells of another eight species were found. The most common species in most sites were snails Bithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus), Valvata piscinalis (O. F. Müller) and Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gray), and bivalves Unio tumidus Philipsson and Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas). Live molluscs were recorded to the depth of 5 m and their mean density in particular sites ranged from 100 to 300 individuals per m2. Compared to earlier studies, the number of species was markedly smaller which may be partly associated with the increasing trophic status of the lake. On the other hand, alien species (P. antipodarum, Lithoglyphus naticoides (C. Pfeiffer)) appeared in the lake in various periods of time and some species (e.g. Anodonta cygnea (Linnaeus)), not recorded for many years, returned to their sites. D. polymorpha had been studied permanently (with short breaks) for 50 years in the lake. Its abundance at the beginning of the 21st century was markedly higher than in the last two decades of the 20th century but far smaller than the enormous densities noted before. The live malacofauna differed greatly from the collection of empty shells in its species composition, dominance structure as well as in the age and size structure of selected species.


Liver blood flow and exchange of oxygen, glucose, lactate, and amino acids were measured in pigs at the same time as the peripheral arteriovenous (A-V) difference of these substances was determined. Four groups of animals were studied; they were normal postabsorptive, septic fasted, and septic infused either with complete parenteral nutrition (4.25% mixed amino acid solution with 25% glucose) or an isocaloric solution of 1.8% leucine with glucose. Sepsis in the pig caused a rise in arterial concentration of all essential amino acids except tryptophan and a decrease of most of the others. The liver uptake of the sum of all amino acids rose from nonsignificant values to 26.03 mumol/min/kg at the same time as the peripheral A-V difference changed from +20.4 to -678.0 mumol/l. Hyperalimentation increased arterial amino acid concentration, whereas peripheral A-V difference decreased to -132.3 mumol/l. The total liver uptake of amino acids was 24.80 mumol/min/kg but with a higher proportion of essential amino acids than in the fasted septic state suggesting increased liver protein synthesis. When leucine and glucose were infused the peripheral A-V difference of the sum of all amino acids was only -45.6 mumol/l indicating an almost complete cessation of muscle proteolysis. The arterial plasma concentration of all amino acids except leucine, glutamine, and glutamate were markedly reduced. Although hepatic clearance rate of amino acids fell only slightly, due to the low plasma concentrations, the liver uptake decreased substantially to 7.37 mumol/min/kg suggesting a decreased liver protein synthesis which could be deleterious in the presence of sepsis.


The afterglow emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is basically well described by synchrotron radiation from fluid shocked by collisions between the jets and the external medium.
However, several afterglow photons with energy from tens of GeV up to 94.1 GeV have been detected by the \textit{Fermi} Large Area Telescope.
Such energy is challenging for the synchrotron radiation from the external shocks and may require another component such as inverse-Compton scattering.

Identifying the responsible emission process in this energy range is important for revealing the central engine and energy dissipation process which causes the bursts.
In the energy range above $\sim 10$ GeV, the sensitivity of the telescope is limited by the signal statistics.
We developed novel photon classes of the \textit{Fermi} Large Area Telescope to recover untapped events with energy above 20 GeV.
Multivariate analysis for rejecting cosmic-ray backgrounds was optimized, and an increase of $\sim 70$\% in the signal acceptance around the peak energy, $\sim 100$ GeV, was achieved.

In these classes, four candidates of photons correlated to GRBs were found. These events arrived much later than the end of the prompt phase.
The observed energy of an event correlated to GRB 090926A at $\sim 4.2\times 10^2$ s after the trigger is 50 GeV. The redshift-corrected energy is 157 GeV. This is one of the highest energy values among GRB photon-like events detected with space telescopes. We estimated the coincidental background detection, and it turned out to be $(2.1\pm 0.3)\times10^{-4}$ counts.
This energy exceeds the synchrotron energy limit for decelerated jets. In this case, another emission component such as inverse-Compton scattering is required.

These results demonstrated the possibility of the new data for scientific studies.


In this paper we evaluate the Swedish Establishment Reform, carried out in 2010 with the goal of speeding up the establishment of refugees and their family. From December 1, 2010 the reform transferred the responsibility for the integration of newly-arrived refugees from the municipalities to the government funded Public Employment Service through which those eligible should get establishment talks, individual plans and coaches. The Reform was motivated by concern over the low employment level and slow integration of refugees. Our approach is to compare the outcomes of the Treatment group, which took part in establishment activities and arrived between December 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011, to those of the Comparison group, which arrived in the eleven months preceding the Reform and participated in municipal introduction programs, controlling for a rich set of observables, including country of birth and month of residence permit. Outcomes are measured in terms of employment and earnings in 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the Treatment group and in 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the Comparison group. Our data comes from registers held by Statistics Sweden and covers all immigrants. The results suggest positive and significant effects of the Reform. In the second year after program-start the Treatment group had about 5.7 percent higher probability of employment and in the third year about 7.5 percent higher. The effects on earnings were larger, about 20 percent higher earnings for the Treatment group after the second year and about 22 percent higher after the third year.


Composite materials are formed between carbon nanotubes or graphene oxide and photocatalytically active LaTiO2N particles by a scalable solution-based method. Structural analysis by SEM, UV/Vis and profilometry reveals that long carbon nanotubes are able to form large agglomerates with LaTiO2N. These agglomerates result in photoelectrodes with a rough, open structure and freely accessible LaTiO2N surface. Graphene oxide, however, forms smaller agglomerates and, in consequence, smoother electrode surfaces. In addition, it covers the LaTiO2N surface already at low C content (>0.05 wt%). Graphene oxide does not improve the photoelectrochemical performance significantly. Carbon nanotubes, however, build a conductive network throughout the electrode film resulting in nearly identical performances under front and back side illumination. While electrodes prepared without carbon material exhibit a drop in performance for thicker films, carbon nanotubes composite films see an increase with a best in class performance for co-catalyst free electrodes of nearly 400 μA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE at 10.7 μm thickness. The addition of co-catalysts improves the performance further to 2.1 mA cm−2. These results demonstrate that limitations in the photoelectrochemical performance of particle-based photoelectrodes induced by high charge transfer resistance can be overcome by composite formation with carbon nanotubes, opening up a route towards cheap and scalable fabrication of efficient photoelectrodes.


Across the tropics, agricultural activities and tree plantations are rapidly expanding to meet growing human needs for food, wood and fiber. Such developments are reducing the extent of forests and severing remaining forest blocks, thereby reducing and fragmenting wildlife habitat. Large mammals are particularly vulnerable to such habitat loss and fragmentation because of their large area needs and high susceptibility to poaching and other human pressures. My research focuses on maintaining connectivity for large mammals in fragmented landscapes within two of the world's recognized biodiversity hotspots, the rainforests of central Sumatra, Indonesia and the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.

I used camera traps and rapid-survey techniques to investigate the local distribution of larger (>1 kg) mammals, aiming to improve survey methods and devise wildlife-management recommendations in agricultural landscapes. My general objectives were to:

1. Survey the extent and type of scientific research that has been conducted to date on "biological corridors" (remnant or linear vegetation that could provide avenues for wildlife movements or habitat for animal occupancy) in tropical forests; and identify findings of particular relevance for the use of such corridors by larger mammals in the tropics.

2. Assess the efficacy of various rapid-assessment methods used to survey mammals in agricultural and timber-plantation landscapes, by comparing (a) automatic camera traps with without baiting and with (b) data collected from community interviews and from expert opinion.

3. Test the influence of landscape and site variables that could affect the use of biological corridors by individual mammal species, using camera trap data and occupancy models. The influence of factors such as corridor width, length, habitat type, surrounding matrix, and distance to core habitat was tested individually in two broad types of potential biological corridors: (a) linear riparian-forest remnants within an industrial wood-pulp (Acacia mangium) planation in Sumatra, and (b) a mixed-use landscape with a mosaic of natural and agricultural lands between three protected areas on the Osa Peninsula.

My literature review indicates that landscape-scale corridors are a popular conservation strategy in tropical countries, but much of scientific literature on the effectiveness of tropical forest corridors has focused on relatively small spatial scales. The limited scale of these studies precludes an effective analysis of broader ecological processes across more extensive forest landscapes (on the order of >1,000 km² or more).

Studies of large mammals in tropical nations largely support the recommendations for corridor design from the more extensive body of literature on temperate-zone corridors. In broad terms, these studies suggest corridor use by large mammals may be enhanced by maximizing corridor connectivity, and minimizing human disturbances that degrade forest quality. Species tend to respond to corridors in species-specific manners, such that individual habitat predictors may influence some species positively while having little or even negative effects on other species. Anthropogenic disturbances such as hunting, logging, transport corridors, settlements, and mining near to corridors generally have a negative impact on corridor use by many species of high conservation significance. The proximity of large forest tracts nearby also has a positive and often strong effect on corridor usage. However, the literature I examined only rarely provided explicit tests of the importance of corridor width and length on corridor efficacy for wildlife occupancy or movements.

I compared the efficacy of three rapid assessment techniques – scent-baited camera traps, community interviews and expert interviews - for conducting rapid assessments of High Conservation Value (HCV) mammals. In particular, I contrasted the value of these rapid-survey approaches for producing an accurate regional-species inventory and effectively identifying the distribution of individual species across landscapes. I found that each method has certain advantages and appears to have varying efficacy for different species and geographic regions; no single method emerged as being consistently superior over the others. Rather, the three approaches appear to provide complementary information in different contexts, and all three have the potential to contribute to rapid HCV mammal assessments.

In Sumatra, I evaluated linear remnants of riparian forest in an industrial Acacia plantation, spanning a landscape of about 180 km² in area. I evaluated five corridor-design variables for large (>1 kg) mammals: corridor width, corridor length, distance of the sampling point from core forest habitat, direct connectivity with forest core habitat, and habitat type. The results suggest that linear riparian remnants of 100-200 m width can function as habitat and potential movement corridors for many large mammal species in Sumatra, at least for localized movements extending up to a few kilometers from intact forest. This study was the first to assess the habitat and landscape factors that influence the use of linear remnants by the Malay tapir (Tapirus indicus).

On a larger scale, in a 740 km² area of the Osa Biological Corridor in Costa Rica, I evaluated corridor design-variables for 16 large mammal species, focusing on species' habitat use and distance to nearby core habitats. I identified species-specific responses to six habitat types, demonstrating that the presence of forest had a strong positive effect on occupancy for almost all species. However, the linear distance to large blocks of forest (³500 ha) was a significant predictor for only a few species, emphasizing the conservation value of retaining smaller, fragmented forests across the corridor. The percentage land-cover of mangroves, grasslands and oil palm surrounding sample sites all had significant negative associations for many species across the large-mammal community. Using least-cost modeling to compare single-species and multi-species corridor models, I found that most corridors developed for single-species showed a strong overlap with the multi-species corridor created based on the average habitat preference of all species. Likewise, there was a minimal change in corridor cost for most species when comparing the multi-species corridor with those designed for single species. The findings from circuit-flow analyses, where I compared models of species movement routes using the same single and multi-species data used in the least-cost models, also supported this conclusion. Therefore, a single corridor designed for multiple species would potentially serve the majority of mammal species on the Osa Peninsula. The integrated approach of intensive landscape-scale sampling with camera traps, multi-species occupancy modeling and corridor modelling in this study is a cost-efficient approach and especially useful for defining regional corridors between protected areas at a scale ranging from a few hundred to a thousand square kilometres.

This study was the first to sample large mammal use of swamps dominated by the tree Raphia taedigera, which is a distinctive habitat type in Central America. My findings revealed that they provide potentially important habitat for maintaining wildlife connectivity across the Osa Biological Corridor.

Collectively, my findings further our understanding of biological corridor-design variables for large tropical mammals in Sumatra and Costa Rica. Rapid survey techniques show considerable promise for evaluating HCV habitats and for documenting species distributions, although each strategy I evaluated has some apparent advantages relative to the others. As detailed above, my results and habitat-management recommendations have a number of practical implications for enhancing large-mammal use in heterogeneous tropical landscapes. Human-dominated landscapes will continue to expand in the tropics, underscoring the importance of devising and implementing landscape-design principles that maximize the use of such lands by larger mammal species and other rare wildlife.


Diabetes is one of the major rising diseases which are spread globally. For every 8 seconds one life is claimed or at every 30 seconds a limb is lost. Every developed country around the world is making a concern in fighting against it. Diabetes is a disease where a body will have excessive glucose concentration. Diabetes may be detected with few of the symptoms like thirst, blurring of vision, polyuria and weight loss. The normal range of blood glucose a body need to maintain is about 70-110mg\dl. To maintain and regulate blood glucose, determination of the level of glucose in blood is a necessary procedure which helps in development of a good controller. Designing a good controller needs an adequate knowledge of mathematical plant model. Well choosen plant model needs to incorporate the dynamics of the system which will correctly respond to the changes. The main parameters considered for developing such models are biological hormonal effect. In the background study, number of mathematical models on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) has been reported, from which Bergman, Augmented Bergman and Sorenson model are considered for the simulation and development of conventional PID and advanced controller like Model Predictive Control (MPC). A detailed interaction, mass balance equation and the simulink results of the Bergman Minimal Model, the Augmented model and the Sorenson model with various cases is detailed in the next sections.


Louis Pierre Gratiolet (1815-1865) was one of the
first modern anatomists to pay attention to cerebral convolutions. Born in
Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde), he moved to Paris in 1834 to study medicine, as
well as comparative anatomy under Henri de Blainville (1777-1850). In 1842, he
accepted de Blainville's offer to become his assistant at the Museum d'histoire naturelle and progressively
abandoned medicine for comparative anatomy. He undertook a detailed study of
brains of human and nonhuman primates and soon realized that the organizational
pattern of cerebral convolutions was so predictable that it could serve as a
criterion to classify primate groups. He noted that only the deepest sulci
exist in lower primate forms, while the complexity of cortical folding
increases markedly in great apes and humans. Gratiolet provided the first
cogent description of the lobular organization of primate cerebral hemispheres.
He saw the insula as a central lobe around which revolved the frontal,
parietal, temporal (temporo-sphenoidal) and occipital lobes. He correctly
identified most gyri and sulci on all brain surfaces, introduced the term "plis de passage" for some interconnecting
gyri, and provided the first description of the optic radiations. In the early
1860s, Gratiolet fought a highly publicized battle
against Paul Broca (1824-1880) on the relationship between brain and intelligence. Gratiolet agreed that the
brain was most likely the seat of intelligence, but he considered human
cognition far too subtle to have any direct relationship with brain size. He argued that a detailed study of the human brain architecture would be more profitable than Broca's vain speculations on
the relationship between brain weight and intelligence, which he considered a
monolithic entity. Despite remarkable scientific achievements and a unique
teaching capacity, Gratiolet was unable to secure any academic position until
three years before his sudden death in Paris at age 49.


Rare cases of recurrent life-threatening allergic reactions to red meat have been linked to tick bites, according to researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Lone Star ticks range from the Southeast through the Eastern United States and bites from the arachnids are known to cause a rare allergy to galactose-α-1,3galactose (α-gal), a type of sugar found in beef, pork, lamb, and other red meats. Now, researchers from NIAID have found antibodies to α-gal in the blood of 6 of 70 individuals treated for recurrent, unexplained anaphylaxis. All 6 individuals had a history of tick bites and lived in states where Lone Star ticks are common. Adopting red meat-free diets allowed them to avoid further anaphylaxis for the duration of fol low-up, which ranged from 18 months to 3 years. Alpha-gal allergies are hard to ident i f y b e c a u s e s y m p t o m s s u c h a s a n abnormally fast heartbeat, gastrointestinal distress, hives, swelling, and impaired breathing may not occur until 3 to 6 hours after eating red meat, according to NIAID. Typical allergic reactions to food usually occur within 5 to 30 minutes of eating making it easier for individuals and their clinicians to identify the cause. This often results in misdiagnoses of α-gal allergies, according to Dean Metcalfe, MD, chief of the Mast Cell Biology Section in the Laboratory of Allergic Diseases at NIAID. "If you start to have trouble breathing in the middle of the night, you probably are not going to blame the hamburger you had for dinner," Metcalfe said in a statement. More research is needed to understand exactly why these allergies develop in some people bitten by Lone Star ticks. " T h e a s s o c i a t i o n i s i n c r e a s i n g l y clear, but we still need to discover exactly how these two events are linked and why some people with similar exposure to tick bites seem to be more prone to developing alpha-gal allergy than others," said study coauthor Melody C. Carter, MD, staff clinician in the NIAID's Mast Cell Biology Section.


This paper investigates the problem of acquisition in unslotted distributed direct-sequence packet radio networks. A noncoherent serial acquisition scheme is considered that uses passive matched filters to detect packet headers. A new Gaussian approximation is derived to model the effects of multiple-access interference during acquisition. This approximation takes into account oscillator inaccuracies and Doppler shifts, and its validity depends only on the presence of a sufficient number of chips in the acquisition header. In particular, the accuracy of the approximation is not contingent on the presence of a large number of equal-power interferers. False alarm processing is modeled and a simple expression for the probability of acquisition is derived. The problem of threshold selection is considered and it is shown that a single threshold can be chosen to provide acceptable performance in a wide range of channel conditions.


Abstract. Tissue simulating phantoms can provide a valuable platform for quantitative evaluation of the performance of diffuse optical devices. While solid phantoms have been developed for applications related to characterizing exogenous fluorescence and intrinsic chromophores such as hemoglobin and melanin, we report the development of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) tissue phantom that mimics the spectral characteristics of tissue water. We have developed these phantoms to mimic different water fractions in tissue, with the purpose of testing new devices within the context of clinical applications such as burn wound triage. Compared to liquid phantoms, cured PDMS phantoms are easier to transport and use and have a longer usable life than gelatin-based phantoms. As silicone is hydrophobic, 9606 dye was used to mimic the optical absorption feature of water in the vicinity of 970 nm. Scattering properties are determined by adding titanium dioxide, which yields a wavelength-dependent scattering coefficient similar to that observed in tissue in the near-infrared. Phantom properties were characterized and validated using the techniques of inverse adding-doubling and spatial frequency domain imaging. Results presented here demonstrate that we can fabricate solid phantoms that can be used to simulate different water fractions.


The biomechanical position of the foot while landing plays a major role in performance and injury. A common issue of landing is excessive foot pronation and subsequently ankle eversion. This biomechanical position can result in knee abduction, increasing the chance of knee injury. The velocity at which the ankle everts may also be a component of injury as long distance runners that became injured had higher ankle eversion velocity in their landing strides while running. Short foot exercise (SFE) strengthens the intrinsic muscles of the foot and help stabilize the arch which assists in eccentrically controlling pronation. However, acute effects of SFE are unknown. PURPOSE :The purpose of the study was to examine if an acute bout of SFE utilized as a warm up before jumping would have an impact on ankle eversion velocity while landing. METHODS: Ten healthy participants (6 male; 24.9 ±1.91 y) underwent vertical drop jumps (DJ) from an 18-inch box. The test began with three DJ trials (PRE) and were followed by SFE. The SFE involved contractions of 5 seconds and were performed with two sets of 30 repetitions on both feet both in sitting and standing. The participants then performed three more DJ tests (POST). Kinematics were collected at 100 Hz with a 14-camera motion system. Marker position data to calculate joint velocity as motion in the distal segment relative to proximal. Peak frontal plane ankle eversion velocity (EV) during landing was used for analysis. RESULTS: There was no effect of SFE on right EV (PRE: -119.32 ± 37.10 °/s; POST: -104.40 ± 39.32 °/s; p=0.202, d =0.435) or left EV (PRE= -129.93 ± 56.17°/s; POST= Performing acute SFE had no effect on ankle eversion velocity during the landing of the participants. It may be beneficial to examine single leg activity to increase demands. Additionally, participants were healthy and demonstrated proper mechanics, thus limiting the ability to induce a change.


After a long spell of neglect, historians in the last twenty years have started again to take an interest in the economics of the 'British World': an entity centred on Britain and the dominions. Their approach emphasises shared culture and networks. By contrast this article reasserts the importance of institutions of governance in shaping economic transactions and hence the importance of political (not cultural) economy. In order to re-emphasise the connected importance of co-ordination between states within the Empire, it prefers the term Empire-Commonwealth to British world, a term more closely grounded in contemporary language. It argues that the Empire-Commonwealth possessed complex, patchy, but discernible practices of economic governance which the paper delineates and argues were shaped by the overriding concern to maximise the autonomy of self-governing members (Britain and the dominions). These practices let to cooperation over preferential trading arrangements, currency, taxation, migration and investment, law and regulation, and transport and communications. After 1945 the international framework which sustained these practices transformed, while the internal dynamics of the post-imperial Commonwealth made significant cooperation on matters other than aid and development in the global south unlikely. The possibility of broad-ranging governance receded even as intra-Commonwealth trade and investment declined.


By three-dimensional kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, the effects of the temperature, the flux rate, the total coverage and the interruption time on the distribution and the number of self-assembled InAs/GaAs (001) quantum dot (QD) islands are studied, which shows that a higher temperature, a lower flux rate and a longer growth time correspond to a better island distribution. The relations between the number of islands and the temperature and the flux rate are also successfully simulated. It is observed that for the total coverage lower than 0.5 ML, the number of islands decreases with the temperature increasing and other growth parameters fixed and the number of islands increases with the flux rate increasing when the deposition is lower than 0.6 ML and the other parameters are fixed.


ABSTRACT In research on traffic injury prevention, young male drivers willing to take risks are known as "young problem drivers" and have been identified as the greatest road safety challenge. This intersectional study draws on interviews and participant observation, and employs a masculinity perspective to explore how 12 young, male drivers who were injured in severe accidents assess driving after their accidents and ways in which they construct their identities as disabled men. While the participants cited their accidents as a turning point that prompted a change in their attitudes and practices regarding driving, they often continued to engage in deviant driving practices, especially speeding. In addition, the men tended to distance themselves from the social category of disability. We propose that the field of traffic injury prevention would benefit from supplementing the biological approach in the research literature with cultural perspectives on the internal logics and prevailing masculinity discourses that guide the choices of young, male drivers. Also, we argue that the men's negotiation of disability illustrates the stigma still attached to the social category of disability.


Microwave processing ceramics is emerging fast as a new field of ceramic processing and material synthesis. The past year has witnessed significant progress in the aspects of commercialization and application of the technology to new areas. Further research states that Titanium Carbide (TiC) is the best cutting tool due to its high melting point and by that reason this project aims to show the difference between conventional sintering, microwave sintering and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP). Two different compositions consisting of 97TiC3Ni and 93TiC7Ni were sintered using conventional furnace, microwave furnace and HIP. Density, hardness and microstructure analysis were carried out on these TiC inserts. 97TiC3Ni produced higher density and hardness values compared to 93TiC7Ni for all three different methods. Microwave sintering produced the highest density and hardness values compared to conventional sintering and HIP. Microwave produced samples with improved density and hardness in a shorter processing time which is 93% faster than conventional sintering and 50% faster than HIP.


A 60 year old man with the complaint of bone pain was advised bone marrow examination to rule out plasma cell dyscrasia visited the Department of Pathology and Transfusion medicine, Santokba Durlabhji Memorial Hospital, Jaipur, India for Bone marrow aspiration and trephine biopsy. The bone marrow aspiration on MGG stain showed almost all the normal marrow components were replaced by the plasma cells suggestive of plasma cell tumour/ multiple myeloma along with shizonts of plasmodium vivax infecting the Red blood cells. This was a rare and incidental finding on bone marrow examination.


This article addresses the optimal choice of the waiting period (or timeout) that a device should respect before entering sleep mode, so as to optimize a tradeoff between power consumption and user impact. The optimal timeout is inferred by appropriate statistical modeling of the times between user requests. In a test approach, these times are supposed independent, and a constant optimal timeout is inferred accordingly. In a second approach, some dependency is introduced through a hidden Markov chain, which also models specific activity states, like business hours or night periods. This model leads to a statistical framework for computing adaptive optimal timeout values. Different strategies are assessed using real datasets, on the basis of the power consumption, user impact and the frequency of wrong decisions.


Dissolved organic matter (DOM), the mobile form of soil organic matter (SOM), plays an important role in soil C cycling and in nutrient transport. We investigated the effects of 5 years of CO2 enrichment (370 versus 570 μmol CO2 mol−1) on DOM dynamics at the alpine treeline, including the analysis of fast‐cycling components such as low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) biodegradability, and the decomposition of 14C‐labeled oxalate. Concentrations of DOC in canopy throughfall were 20% higher at elevated CO2, probably driven by higher carbohydrate concentrations in leaves. In the organic soil layer, 5 years of CO2 enrichment increased water‐extractable organic C by 17% and soil solution DOC at 5 cm depth by 20%. The 13C tracing of recently assimilated CO2 revealed that the input of recent plant‐derived C (<15% of total DOC) was smaller than the CO2‐induced increase in DOC. This strongly suggests that CO2 enrichment enhanced the mobilization of native DOC, which is supported by significant increases in dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). We mainly attribute these increases to a stimulated microbial activity as indicated by higher basal and soil respiration rates (+27%). The 14C‐labeled oxalate was more rapidly mineralized from high CO2 soils. The concentrations of LMWOAs, but also those of "hydrophilic" DOC and biodegradable DOC (6% of total DOC), were, however, not affected by elevated CO2, suggesting that production and consumption of "labile" DOC were in balance. In summary, our data suggest that 5 years of CO2 enrichment speeded up the cycling of "labile" DOM and SOM in a late successional treeline ecosystem and increased the mobilization of older DOM through a stimulated microbial activity. Such a "priming effect" implies that elevated CO2 can accelerate the turnover of native SOM, and thus, it may induce increasing losses of old C from thick organic layers.


Transferring research from the laboratory to mainstream applications requires the convergence of people, knowledge, and conventions from divergent disciplines. Solutions involve more than combining functional requirements and creative novelty. To transform technical capabilities of emerging mixed reality (MR) technology into the mainstream involves the integration and evolution of unproven systems. For example, real-world applications require complex scenarios (a content issue) involving an efficient iterative pipeline (a production issue) and driving the design of a story engine (a technical issue) that provides an adaptive experience with an after-action review process (a business issue). This article describes how a multi-disciplinary research team transformed core MR technology and methods into diverse urban terrain applications. These applications are used for military training and situational awareness, as well as for community learning to significantly increase the entertainment, educational, and satisfaction levels of existing experiences in public venues.


Previous researchers have found that participants associate higher frequencies with locations that are higher in space and lower frequencies with lower locations, creating a phenomenological–spatial association for the frequency of auditory tones. With such an association, the frequency of an auditory tone could potentially bias movements along multiple axes. This hypothesis was tested. In four experiments, nine frequencies (250–1,250 Hz) were binaurally presented to blindfolded participants (n = 10, 12, 20, & 9; M age = 22 yr.) who indicated the perceived location of the stimuli on a measurement scale oriented in the vertical, the horizontal (Experiment 1), or depth dimension (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, participants were asked to indicate the perceived location of the frequencies on a two-dimensional vertical board located in front of them. In Experiment 4, participants indicated the perceived location in three-dimensional space. An optoelectronic device recorded at all locations. Analyses of constant error indicated a spatial association in the vertical, horizontal, and depth dimensions when responses were restricted to only one dimension (Experiments 1 & 2). Higher frequencies were perceived to be located higher, farther to the right, and farther away from the body than lower frequencies. However, this spatial association was only exhibited in the vertical dimension when the responses were unconstrained in two dimensions (vertical and horizontal; Experiment 3) and all three dimensions (Experiment 4). Although this spatial association is a robust phenomenon, it appears that the association only biases actions when indicating perceived locations in the vertical dimension during unconstrained responses.


This paper discusses necessary components of a GPU-assisted traffic classification method, which is capable of multi-Gbps speeds on commodity hardware. The majority of the traffic classification is pushed to the GPU to offload the CPU, which then may serve other processing intensive tasks, e.g., traffic capture. The paper presents two massively parallelizable algorithms suitable for GPUs. The first one performs signature search using a modification of Zobrist hashing. The second algorithm supports connection pattern-based analysis and aggregation of matches using a parallel-prefix-sum algorithm adapted to GPU. The performance tests of the proposed methods showed that traffic classification is possible up to approximately 6 Gbps with a commodity PC.


Future broadband networks must support integrated services and offer flexible bandwidth usage. Most existing proposals for wide-area wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks employ circuit switching adopting the concept of lightpath, in which each circuit or lightpath occupies an entire wavelength. This, however, is not suited for end-to-end transport of information streams, typically with each stream having its unique traffic characteristics such as the bandwidth needed, different traffic bursty nature, and diverse service requirements. We explore the extensions of the functions of what we refer as the optical link control (OLC) layer, native on top of optical layer, to offer finer granularity of wavelength usage and further enable the possibility of bandwidth on-demand (BoD) service directly over WDM networks. The objective is to facilitate the support of integrated services over WDM networks and to mitigate the changes needed in the upper layers as well. The proposed approach attempts to exploit the strengths of both optics and electronics, in which packets are either routed end-to-end over a lightpath transparently, or forwarded from wavelength to wavelength by electronic switching, whenever required. Furthermore, in order to establish an end-to-end BoD connection, the issue of how to select the best wavelength to route the given connection is also investigated. The effectiveness of the proposal is evaluated by simulation.


BACKGROUND
Many school-age children with language impairments are enrolled in mainstream schools and receive indirect language therapy, but there have been, to the authors' knowledge, no previous controlled studies comparing the outcomes and costs of direct and indirect intervention delivered by qualified therapists and therapy assistants, and each delivery mode offered to children individually or in groups.

AIMS
To investigate the relative effectiveness of indirect and direct intervention therapy modes delivered individually or in groups for children with primary language impairment.

METHODS & PROCEDURES
A multi-centre randomized controlled trial investigated 161 children with primary language impairment aged 6-11 years randomized to a usual-therapy control group or to direct individual, indirect individual, direct group or indirect group therapy modes. Intervention was delivered three times a week for 30-40-min sessions in mainstream schools over 15 weeks. Language performance was assessed at baseline, post-therapy and at 12 months. Cost analysis was based on salary and travel costs for intervention modes and usual therapy.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS
Compared with controls, children receiving project therapy made short-term improvements in expressive (p = 0.031), but not receptive, language immediately following intervention. Children with specific expressive language delay were more likely to show improvement than those with mixed receptive-expressive difficulties. The four project therapy modes did not differ on primary language outcomes (all p-values>0.392) and there were no further improvements evident at follow-up. Indirect group therapy was the least costly mode, with direct individual therapy the most costly.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS
Intervention in this age group can be effective for expressive language and can be delivered equally effectively though speech and language therapy assistants and to children in groups.


In previous papers, the authors introduced the wireless transmission of power and information (WTPI). This paper describes the most important issue for realizing the WTPI, which is how to ensure reliable transmission by reducing the crosstalk from the power-to-data channel. Crosstalk analysis is made with the following steps after the review of the WTPI technology: (1) magnetic flux distribution in the coaxial WTPI coupling is assumed; (2) an equivalent circuit is drawn by introduction of the crosstalk coefficient K/sub ct/; and (3) according to the equivalent circuit, the crosstalk ratio CR is calculated and the induced noise level is estimated. Thereafter, the following three possible countermeasures to reduce crosstalk are proposed: (1) appropriate magnetic core dimensioning for the coupling; (2) reduction of high-frequency harmonics in the power inverter output voltage; and (3) magnetic shielding. Lastly, test results on concurrent transmission with the combination of these countermeasures are shown.


PURPOSE
Parent-implemented early communication interventions are commonly delivered to culturally and linguistically diverse families. Although there is evidence from fields such as public health or psychology, there is little guidance regarding what elements to culturally adapt for parent-implemented speech-language pathology interventions. This scoping review addresses this gap by identifying parent-implemented early communication interventions that have been culturally adapted and describing which intervention components were adapted. Definitions of culture, use of adaptation frameworks, and adaptation guidelines, policies, and recommendations are also reported.

METHOD
The databases Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase via OVID were searched. Supplementary search methods, including hand-searching of references and a gray literature search, were also conducted. Covidence software was used to deduplicate, collate, and review articles. Population, intervention, study, and cultural adaptation data were extracted and synthesized using the Ecological Validity Framework.

RESULTS
Twenty-one articles were included from the database and supplementary searches. No studies defined culture, and only three used cultural adaptation models or frameworks to guide adaptation. Studies varied greatly in what they adapted; language adaptations, such as translation, were conducted most frequently, and intervention goals were rarely adapted. Only three studies obtained parent feedback to inform cultural adaptation for future recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS
More clarity in the reporting of cultural adaptation for communication interventions is required. Cultural adaptation frameworks are useful tools to guide adaptation but can be difficult to operationalize. Additional research in this area is necessary to help clinicians provide culturally responsive, parent-implemented communication interventions.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.20416107.


Digital subtraction angiography, whether based on traditional X-ray or MR, suffers from patient motion artifacts. Until now, the usual remedy is to pixel shift by hand, or in some cases performing a global pixel shift semi-automatically. This is time consuming, and cannot handle rotations or local varying deformations over the image. We have developed a fully automatic algorithm that provides for motion compensation in the presence of large local deformations. Our motion compensation is very accurate for ordinary motions, including large rotations and deformations. It does not matter if the motions are irregular over time. For most images, it takes about a second per image to get adequate accuracy. The method is based on using the phase from filter banks of quadrature filters tuned in different directions and frequencies. Unlike traditional methods for optical flow and correlation, our method is more accurate and less susceptible to disturbing changes in the image, e.g. a moving contrast bolus. The implications for common practice are that radiologists' time can be significantly reduced in ordinary peripheral angiographies and that the number of retakes due to large or local motion artifacts will be much reduced.


Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers have a high incidence worldwide and coexist in many geographical areas, especially in low-middle-income countries (LMIC) in South and Southeast Asia. There is extensive consensus on the urgent need for better and affordable vaccines against systemic Salmonella infections. ABSTRACT Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers have a high incidence worldwide and coexist in many geographical areas, especially in low-middle-income countries (LMIC) in South and Southeast Asia. There is extensive consensus on the urgent need for better and affordable vaccines against systemic Salmonella infections. Generalized modules for membrane antigens (GMMA), outer membrane exosomes shed by Salmonella bacteria genetically manipulated to increase blebbing, resemble the bacterial surface where protective antigens are displayed in their native environment. Here, we engineered S. Paratyphi A using the pDC5-viaB plasmid to generate GMMA displaying the heterologous S. Typhi Vi antigen together with the homologous O:2 O antigen. The presence of both Vi and O:2 was confirmed by flow cytometry on bacterial cells, and their amount was quantified on the resulting vesicles through a panel of analytical methods. When tested in mice, such GMMA induced a strong antibody response against both Vi and O:2, and these antibodies were functional in a serum bactericidal assay. Our approach yielded a bivalent vaccine candidate able to induce immune responses against different Salmonella serovars, which could benefit LMIC residents and travelers.


The government makes an effort to disperse the centralization of Seoul through the its surroundings development for relieving the various social problems caused by the capital region concentration. But, the planless rail system development in the capital region have made it difficult to approach into Seoul city center from its surroundings. Through Seoul metro line 9, constructed by private company first in Korea, that has operation plan with normal and express train together, we would like to study up on promotion of passenger service quality such as "the improvement of the accessibility to Seoul city center from its surroundings" and "service of various pattern of trains".


The traditional power station boiler temperature field reconstruction algorithm is sensitive to the time of flight. In the boiler movement, the temperature field has symmetric distribution feature within the boiler. On the basis of the boiler temperature field reconstruction fundamental by using the acoustic method, the paper presents a new two dimension temperature field reconstruction algorithm, which combines the single path method and genetic algorithm. Firstly, the algorithm makes sure the temperature distribution by using single path function. It uses the points denote the temperatures on each path, and plots the mesh, which can represent the temperature preliminary distribution, by using the Bezier spline principle and linear multistep integration. Finally, the surface mesh is Interpolated and fitted by using genetic algorithm. The experimental result proved that, compared to the least square method, the new reconstruction algorithm has the feature of higher accuracy and higher reconstruction speed.


In the paper a review of the transient nucleate boiling process duration is widely discussed. It has been established that duration of transient nucleate boiling process is directly proportional to square of the thickness of steel parts and inversely proportional to thermal diffusivity of a material, depends on the configuration of steel parts, liquid properties, and its velocity. The transient nucleate boiling (self-regulated thermal process) is followed by amazing regularities: The surface temperature during nucleate boiling is maintained at the level of the boiling point of the liquid, which is used as a quenchant. During this period, average effective heat transfer coefficients and average generalized Biot numbers and Kondratjev numbers can be found which significantly simplify core cooling time and cooling rate calculations. Using established characteristics of the transient nucleate boiling process, the new intensive quenching (IQ) technologies were developed: IQ-1; IQ-2: IQ-3. In the paper the steel super-strengthening phenomenon and optimal quenched layer, which provides maximal residual compressive stresses at the surface of steel parts, are discussed, which increase service life of products. Instead of oils, plain water is used as a quenchant, environmental conditions are significantly improved.


Few people have seen an original copy of any of the highly sought after Herman Miller product catalogs. This exact reprint of the profusely illustrated 1955/56 Herman Miller Collection will introduce classic modern furniture to anyone interested in twentieth-century design, plus provide detailed documentation and essential information for the connoisseur. The Herman Miller name has come to be synonymous with great modern furniture design. With an introduction by super-designer George Nelson, information on construction, materials, colors, finishes, designer biographies, and an extensive original price list, this volume is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in modern design or furniture.


A Research project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor Business Science Finance at Strathmore University


An immunofluorescence method was used to study the expression of cytokeratin 8 in human aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during prenatal development and in atherosclerotic plaques. Aortic SMCs from a 10-wk-old fetus contained cytokeratin 8 in additional to vimentin and a small amount of desmin, whereas, in the cells from a 25-wk-old fetus, cytokeratin 8 was not detected. Cytokeratin 8 was found in the SMCs from intimal thickenings, fatty streaks, and atherosclerotic fibrous plaques. Clusters of cytokeratin 8-positive cells were more abundant in rather advanced lesions (fibrous plaques) that contained at least some amount of lipid. Expression of cytokeratin 8 in the cells of human atherosclerotic lesions probably reflects general rearrangement of gene expression in the intimal cells.


Collection by divers permitted determination of the natural diets of siphonophore species within II genera. Siphonophores that swim rapidly to spread their tentacles capture small prey, whereas those that swim very weakly capture much larger prey. Nematocyst batteries of two species of weak swimmers closely resemble copepods and fish larvae. Morphology, behavior, and diet suggest that these two species attract large prey by mimicking other zooplankton.


This is an annual publication of the Department of Communication Studies, in the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.


While overweight and obesity are problems for many adults, there are significant racial disparities, such that Blacks suffer higher rates than Whites. A number of health conditions that are linked to overweight and obesity, including diabetes and hypertension are also more prevalent among Blacks than among Whites (Glover, Greenlund, Ayla, & Croft, 2005; Pleis & Lethbridge-Çejku, 2007). With the knowledge that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that there are psychological components to obesity, this research aims to investigate psychological components that may contribute to the weight/health disparity between Blacks and Whites. Other research has demonstrated that Blacks perceive race-related prejudice and discrimination in the health domain (Blocker et al., 2006; LaVeist, Nickerson, & Bowie, 2000; Lillie-Blanton, Brodie, Rowland, Altman, & McIntosh, 2000). Yet, it is unknown how they cope with racism in this domain, and whether the voluntary strategies of discounting, disengagement, and devaluing (Major & O'Brien, 2005) have unintended consequence that contribute to weight disparity between Blacks and Whites. This study was designed as a conceptual replication of Major, Spencer, Schmader, Wolfe, & Crocker (1998, study 1). The design included giving participants false feedback on an ostensible assessment of their risk for developing excess visceral fat. The primary goal was to examine whether the coping strategies mentioned above, which are commonly used among Black students in an academic domain, would be used by Black adults upon receiving negative feedback in the health domain. The sample included 79 Black and White adults recruited from the City of Syracuse, ages 18-44. While the majority of these participants had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of < .30, the cut-off for obesity, error resulted in the inclusion of eight obese participants. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicate that Black participants did not report greater use of these coping strategies when confronted with feedback that they were at increased risk of developing excess visceral fat (compared to Whites in this same feedback condition and Blacks and Whites in the control condition). Instead, race did not seem to affect devaluing or disengagement, and negative feedback resulted in less, not more, discounting among Blacks than Whites who also received negative feedback. Although, the finding from one study cannot act as conclusive evidence, results of this study suggest that differences in self-reported use of these three coping strategies does not suggest an explanation for the weight disparity. However, differences in reported beliefs regarding health-promoting behaviors offer insight into how future research projects can examine potential mediation between race and negative health outcomes. COPING WITH NEGATIVE FEEDBACK IN THE HEALTH DOMAIN: ARE RACE DIFFERENCES IN COPING RELATED TO WEIGHT DISPARITIES AMONG BLACKS AND WHITES? by Lindsay R. Kraynak B.S., Geneva College, 2006 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology . Syracuse University August 2010 Copyright © Lindsay R. Kraynak 2010 All Rights Reserved


Blood vessels are subject to fluid shear stress, a hemodynamic factor that inhibits the mitogenic activities of vascular cells. The presence of nonuniform shear stress has been shown to exert graded suppression of cell proliferation and induces the formation of cell density gradients, which in turn regulate the direction of smooth muscle cell (SMC) migration and alignment. Here, we investigated the role of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-beta receptor and Src in the regulation of such processes. In experimental models with vascular polymer implants, SMCs migrated from the vessel media into the neointima of the implant under defined fluid shear stress. In a nonuniform shear model, blood shear stress suppressed the expression of PDGF-beta receptor and the phosphorylation of Src in a shear level-dependent manner, resulting in the formation of mitogen gradients, which were consistent with the gradient of cell density as well as the alignment of SMCs. In contrast, uniform shear stress in a control model elicited an even influence on the activity of mitogenic molecules without modulating the uniformity of cell density and did not significantly influence the direction of SMC alignment. The suppression of the PDGF-beta receptor tyrosine kinase and Src with pharmacological substances diminished the gradients of mitogens and cell density and reduced the influence of nonuniform shear stress on SMC alignment. These observations suggest that PDGF-beta receptor and Src possibly serve as mediating factors in nonuniform shear-induced formation of cell density gradients and alignment of SMCs in the neointima of vascular polymer implants.


Galaxy EvolutionAt a distance of 2.5 million light-years, Andromeda is our closest galactic neighbor comparable to the Milky Way: far enough to offer a global view and close enough for telescopes to take a good look at individual stars inside it. As such, Andromeda has come to be regarded as one of the best models available for understanding the evolution of galaxies, including our own. That's why it has acquired a dedicated fan club of astronomers who have been studying the galaxy in ever-increasing detail over the past 15 years. These studies have helped astronomers define Andromeda's structure with unprecedented clarity, showing that the galaxy's disk and halo extend far beyond the boundaries that had been assumed before. The details of the picture are providing clues about how Andromeda came to be the galaxy it is today.


Long-throated flumes provide economical and flexible water measurement capabilities for a wide variety of open-channel flow situations. Primary advantages include minimal headloss, low construction cost, adaptability to a variety of channel types, and ability to measure wide ranges of flows with custom-designed structures. Long-throated flumes can be calibrated using computer programs that apply proven hydraulic theory, thus eliminating the need for laboratory calibration. This paper describes recent advances in the computer software available for design and calibration of long-throated flumes, and highlights two potential flume design issues that have recently come to light. Specifically, there have been field observations of an apparent suction effect below flumes having a vertical drop at the end of the control section; this can lead to significant differences between the actual and theoretical head-discharge rating curve. Second, in flumes that are primarily width-contracted—as opposed to those with a sill that creates a bottom contraction—there is potential for non-modular flow in the throat section when the width to crest length ratio is large, despite the fact that traditional hydraulic theory predicts critical flow. Again, this can cause a significant discrepancy between the actual and theoretical rating curves of a structure.


A nonequilibrium system of locally interacting elements in a lattice with an absorbing order-disorder phase transition is studied under the effect of additional interacting fields. These fields are shown to produce interesting effects in the collective behavior of this system. Both for autonomous and external fields, disorder grows in the system when the probability of the elements to interact with the field is increased. There exists a threshold value of this probability beyond which the system is always disordered. The domain of parameters of the ordered regime is larger for nonuniform local fields than for spatially uniform fields. However, the zero field limit is discontinous. In the limit of vanishingly small probability of interaction with the field, autonomous or external fields are able to order a system that would fall in a disordered phase under local interactions of the elements alone. We consider different types of fields which are interpreted as forms of mass media acting on a social system in the context of Axelrod's model for cultural dissemination.


Objectives
With advances in healthcare leading to longer life expectancy, the edentulous geriatric population is increasing. Expectantly, head and neck trauma surgeons will encounter atrophic (edentulous) mandible fractures in their practice. The objectives of this paper are to review the prevalence, etiology, and diagnosis of atrophic mandible fractures with a descriptive discussion on the different methods of treatment.

Materials and Methods
The review included a search using PubMed (National Library of Medicine, NCBI) and Medline from 1950–2016 with keywords such as "atrophic mandible" with the addition of the words fracture and computerised guided technology and Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP).

Results
This search produced 499 articles. Of those 499 articles, 18 were included in this critical review. Management discussion identified papers to provide the most powerful evidence in the decreasing order of strength by cohort studies, case-control studies, surveys, and case-series. The update provides new information on virtual surgical planning that will assist in time under general anaesthesia for complex case management.

Conclusions
A comprehensive update reviewed all forms of treatment from soft diet to open reduction with computerised technology to provide head and neck trauma surgeons a better basis for clinical management of these fractures.


Photoelastic tomography is exploited to investigate the effect of the spinning process on residual stress development in spun fibers. High-spatial-resolution measurements of stress profiles in spun and corresponding unspun fibers are compared. The resulting differences correspond to a reduction of the intrinsic linear birefringence as a consequence of an applied constant spinning.


Research over the past several decades suggests that mindfulness-based interventions facilitate reductions in psychological distress associated with a range of clinical presentations. Although there have been a significant number of studies looking at the impact of mindfulness on symptom reduction, there have been far fewer studies looking at the effect of mindfulness training on distress tolerance. Distress tolerance refers to the ability to tolerate and withstand negative or unpleasant experiences, and involves a fundamental shift in the relationship that one has with their current experience. This review aims to take a closer look at the existing literature on mindfulness-based interventions, including the multifaceted construct of mindfulness itself, clinical applications, and the mechanisms of change believed to mediate positive treatment outcomes. The current state of research on distress tolerance is reviewed, as well as the mechanisms by which mindfulness is believed to facilitate increased distress tolerance and nonjudgmental acceptance of unpleasant experiences. Although mindfulness research on this topic appears to be promising, the precise mechanisms by which this shift occurs are yet to be clearly understood. The empirical research examining the relationship between mindfulness and distress tolerance is also discussed and future directions for research are identified.


Various tools have been designed to classify the wholistic/analytic cognitive style, based mostly on behavioral data that reveals little about how these processes function. The main goal of this study is to characterize patterns of eye movements (EM) that are typical of learners with tendencies toward wholistic/analytic styles. Forty students completed the E-CSA-W/A test, while their EM were simultaneously monitored. The results revealed that the overall response time of the wholist group was lower in both tasks. The differences in response time between the groups are interpreted as being influenced by impulsive/reflective styles. While the behavioral data provide us with the end result and quantitative differences between the groups, EM provide us with the qualitative information about the process that led to the response. The study showed that the wholist group is characterized by less fixations and transitions than the analytic group, which is interpreted as reflecting use of whole/partial strategy.


Two comparative serial-slaughter experiments were conducted to determine whole empty body (WEB) composition and accretion rates of Ca and P in 18 to 109 kg BW pigs to provide information for modeling of these nutrients for growth. Both studies were conducted with 5 sets of 5 littermate barrows which were allotted to 5 slaughter groups in each study (Exp. 1: 18, 27, 36, 45, and 54 kg BW; Exp. 2: 36, 54, 73, 91, and 109 kg BW). Pigs were fed corn-soybean meal-based diets fortified with minerals and vitamins in 2 dietary phases in Exp. 1 (Phase 1: 18 to 36 kg BW; Phase 2: 36 to 54 kg BW) and 3 dietary phases in Exp. 2 (Phase 2: 36 to 54 kg BW; Phase 3: 54 to 78 kg BW; and Phase 4: 78 to 109 kg BW). At the predetermined BW, pigs were slaughtered and separated into body components of hair, hooves, blood, head, viscera, and carcass. The carcass was split along the dorsal midline and the left carcass side was ground for chemical analysis. Whole empty body weight averaged 93.6% and 94.0% of live BW in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. As WEB weight increased in both experiments, the percentage carcass of the WEB linearly (P < 0.05) increased, the percentage viscera linearly (P < 0.05) decreased, and the mass (g) of N, ash, Ca, and P in the WEB increased linearly (R(2) = 0.98). The concentration (g/kg) of P in the WEB of 18 to 54 kg pigs increased from 4.30 to 4.57 (linear; P < 0.05) and for Ca increased from 5.13 to 5.66 (linear; P < 0.05). In Exp. 2, P concentration was not related to WEB weight and Ca concentration increased quadratically (P < 0.05). The relative accretion rate of N to P was 1.00 (R(2) = 0.99) in the pigs from 18 to 54 kg. In conclusion, these results indicate that compositional changes as BW increases are strongly related to P retention and that the quantification of WEB P and relationships of WEB P to other chemical components in the body may be useful for modeling purposes in growing and finishing pigs.


Single-layer mixed-phase clouds are prevalent in the Arctic atmosphere. The properties of mixed-phase clouds, including the optical depth of both the liquid and ice components, can be retrieved from spectrally resolved infrared radiance observations that are made in both the 8-13-mum and 17-24-mum windows. The accuracy of the retrieved properties from this algorithm has been established in single-phase clouds (i.e., clouds that contain only liquid or only ice) but not in mixed-phase clouds. A polarization-sensitive high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) was deployed to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program's Barrow, Alaska site during the fall of 2004. The HSRL measures optical depth directly, and the phase can be discriminated using the depolarization ratio measured by the lidar. Comparisons of the infrared retrieved optical depths with the optical depths directly observed by the lidar in clouds that consist of supercooled liquid layers precipitating ice are in good agreement, with the slope and correlation being 1.055 and 0.65 for the ice portion of the mixed-phase cloud and 0.954 and 0.82 for the liquid portion.


Purpose – The Rome Statute, especially Article 7 on Crimes against Humanity, and the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) apply to widespread violations of human rights that a State fails to prohibit or protect against. Yet far too little attention has been paid to systemic crimes that take the lives of many millions of women and girls every year. The purpose of this paper is to detail a proposal to use international law to hold governments and/or their agents accountable when they fail to protect the female half of humanity from widespread and egregious crimes of violence. Design/methodology/approach – To accelerate the movement to make women's human rights a global priority, it examines: first, expanding the interpretation of the Rome statute, particularly Article 7 – Crimes against Humanity. Second, where necessary, amending the statute to include gender in addition to race and ethnicity. Findings – Seven crimes and their personal, social, and economic consequences are analyzed, and legal remed...


Regulation of sleep and metabolic homeostasis are critical to an animal's survival and under stringent evolutionary pressure. Animals display remarkable diversity in sleep and metabolic phenotypes; however, an understanding of the ecological forces that select for, and maintain, these phenotypic differences remain poorly understood. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a powerful model for investigating the genetic regulation of sleep and metabolic function, and screening in inbred fly lines has led to the identification of novel genetic regulators of sleep. Nevertheless, little is known about the contributions of naturally occurring genetic differences to sleep, metabolic phenotypes, and their relationship with geographic or environmental gradients. Here, we quantified sleep and metabolic phenotypes in 24 D. melanogaster populations collected from unique geographic localities. These studies reveal remarkable diversity in sleep, starvation resistance, and energy stores. We found that increased sleep duration is strongly associated with proximity to the equator and elevated average annual temperature, suggesting that environmental gradients strongly influence natural variation in sleep. Further, we found variation in metabolic regulation of sleep to be associated with free glucose levels, while starvation resistance associates with glycogen and triglyceride stores. Taken together, these findings reveal robust naturally occurring variation in sleep and metabolic traits in D. melanogaster and suggest that distance from the equator and median temperature is a significant evolutionary factor in sleep regulation and architecture.


The study assessed migration of digital content and provision of viable platform for effective library operations; the millennium experiences of two academic libraries in Nigeria. This was with a view to providing valuable Information for stakeholders to guide them in software subscription and development. The descriptive survey, method was adopted for the study. 18 Librarians/ 5 Para-librarians from Covenant University and 20 Librarians/ 8 Para-librarians from University of Lagos constitute the target population. The purposive sampling technique was adopted. Instruments of data collection were interview, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Questionnaire. The study revealed that migration experience to MILLENIUM software was not so smooth and easy. Respondents preferred it however because it is web-based and has wide range of operations and upgrade options to suit any emerging demand in the future etc. The challenges faced by the librarians include; subscription to individual right to access (pot) in MILLENIUM, vendor/host controlled actual content with MILLENIUM, absence of in-depth feasibility study and testing the product before embarking on the migration exercise. The study recommended that subscription to any software should not be based on individual pot or module as with MILLENIUM software but be open and integrated among others.


In the world of business special attention is paid to entrepreneurs for their potential and large corporations for their impact on the market. Due to this, small businesses often fall short of resources and tools to help them grow.

The aim of this dissertation is to introduce a framework for decision making to small businesses as a tool to help embed more structure into their organization.

The framework was then applied to two distinct case studies to display its functionality and usefulness. The framework consists of several steps:

1) corporate plan and financial assessment 2) a current state analysis 3) a quantitative and mathematical feasibility study of the decision

The framework in each case study resulted in an objective and qualified decision. It also suggests that, due to the unique structure and characteristics of each small business, the framework proposed would only be relevant and applicable on a general level and more work is required to refine the details in order to be able apply it universally to business entities with limited working capital.


Passive keyless entry and start system has been widely used in modern cars. Car owners can open the door or start the engine merely by having the key in their pocket. PKES was originally designed to establish a communication channel between the car and its key within approximately one meter. However, the channel is vulnerable to relay attacks by which attackers unlock the door even if the key is out of range. Even though relay attacks have been recognized as a potential threat for over ten years, such attacks were thought to be impractical due to highly expensive equipment; however, the required cost is gradually practical. Recently, a relay attack has been demonstrated with equipment being sold only under $100. In this paper, we propose a sound-based proximity-detection method to prevent relay attacks on PKES systems. The sound is eligible to be applied to PKES because audio systems are commonly available in cars. We evaluate our method, considering environments where cars are commonly parked, and present the recording time satisfying both usability and security. In addition, we newly define an advanced attack, called the record-and-playback attack, for sound-based proximity detection, demonstrating that our method is robust to such an attack.


The ATP-driven drug efflux pump, P-glycoprotein, is a critical and selective element of the blood-brain barrier and a primary impediment to pharmacotherapy of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Thus, an understanding of how P-glycoprotein function is regulated has the potential to improve CNS therapy. We recently demonstrated rapid (minutes) and reversible inactivation of P-glycoprotein in rat brain capillaries signaled through tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and endothelin-1 (ET-1), components of the brain's innate immune response. In this study, we examined the longer-term consequences of continuous exposure of rat brain capillaries to low levels of TNF-α and ET-1. Exposing brain capillaries to TNF-α or ET-1 caused a rapid decrease in P-glycoprotein transport activity with no change in transporter protein expression. This was followed by a 2- to 3-h plateau at the low activity level and then by a sharp increase in both transport activity and protein expression. After 6 h, transport activity and transporter protein expression was double that of control samples. TNF-α signaled through TNF-R1, which in turn caused ET release and action through ETA and ETB receptors, nitric-oxide synthase, protein kinase C and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and finally increased P-glycoprotein expression and transport activity. Assuming similar effects occur in vivo, the present results imply a tightening of the selective blood-brain barrier with chronic inflammation and thus reduced efficacy of CNS-acting drugs that are P-glycoprotein substrates. Moreover, involvement of NF-κB raises the possibility that other effectors acting through this transcription factor may have similar effects on this key blood-brain barrier transporter.


BackgroundPeople with psychiatric problems, despite efforts in recent decades still experience vulnerability. Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), where self-harm is common, often live in difficult and complex social relationships because of their illness. Additional knowledge and studies about mental illness, self-harm, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and the therapeutic alliance are needed.Purpose and MethodThis study aims to examine how staff perceive and describe: DBT as a treatment method; the therapeutic alliance and the importance it has for treatment. The study utilises a qualitative approach with a qualitative content analysis method and presents earlier research on DBT and the therapeutic alliance. The empirical material consists of focus group interviews comprising three DBT - teams. The theoretical framework is based on attachment theory which addresses the dynamics of close relationships and how we act in them.ResultsResults show that DBT - teams describe patients with self-harm as vulnerable. Here, self-harm represents a way to reduce aggression and make life bearable. DBT is produced as a collaboration between therapist and patient, giving patients the opportunity for a new secure attachment to achieve self-respect and a meaningful life. The teams assess DBT as successful and effective. The therapeutic alliance is seen as an emotional and social interaction and is considered the most important tool in the treatment.ConclusionsPatients who self-harm and have emotional difficulties may indicate insecure and lack of attachments. Through DBT, trust and confidence are trained and developed to enhance attachment patterns and move the process forward. New aspects emerge such as the significant role of relatives and the team and the importance of feeling hope in both the patient and the therapist. Furthermore, the health professional's knowledge of the BPD diagnosis affects the care and the treatment of the patients and thus the patients' possibility to live better lives. In a broader discussion of health determinants, health care, early intervention, cooperation and long-term measures are assessed to be important factors for promoting health and good living conditions for the patients.