A study has been made of a correlation between the heat resistance of zygotes and embryos of the same clutches at different stages of development of Rana temporaria L. The embryos were incubated at 19 degrees C, the injurious temperature being 37 degrees C. As criterion of heat resistance served the time of the injurious temperature action which leads by the ++stra of cleavage to a 50 per cent elimination of embryos (LD50). The correlation in question has been evaluated by the rank correlation coefficient (rho). The correlation between the heat resistance of zygotes and embryos at the start of gastrulation (stage 11) was moderate (rho = 0.47). At one of neurulation stages (stage 22) this correlation was weak (rho = 0.207), to become rather high just before the cleavage (stage 28, rho = 0.63). It is assumed that the thermal selection of zygotes, i.e. of the organism at the cellular stage of development, may be oriented to result in the survival of embryos, which just before the cleavage will show both elevated heat resistance and high heritability of this character.


We carried out 2 experimental simulations in which natural planktonic communities were subjected to a combination of turbulence and variable nutrient forcing. Nutrient addition was varied both in terms of total nutrient load and in the balance of elements. Unbalanced nutrient inputs (with regard to Redfield values) and varying nitrogen sources are frequent in coastal areas heavily exposed to human perturbations. The relative abundance of nitrate and ammonium has been related to shifts in the size distribution of the planktonic community, so we explored whether uneven inputs of ammonium and nitrate could be major factors driving plankton dynamics in coastal environments. The occasional uncoupling between turbulence and nutrient pulses is also a distinctive feature of nearshore waters compared with open ocean environments. Thus, we fur- ther tested the match-mismatch between nutrient enrichments and turbulent mixing. Both turbu- lence and nutrient inputs had a significant positive effect on the growth of planktonic organisms, with some synergistic effects. Shifts in community composition appeared to be mostly related to the interplay between turbulence and N partitioning. Under still conditions, ammonium-rich waters favoured small organisms and reinforced the microbial loop, whereas nitrate mostly favoured diatom growth. Turbulence added complexity to the final outcome, because mixing tended to favour large over small osmotrophs. Accordingly, the rapid growth of small autotrophs and heterotrophic bacteria in ammonium-rich waters may be partly counteracted by diatom increases if nutrient pulses are coupled with turbulent mixing; diatom bursts after nitrate enrich- ments may also be enhanced by concomitant turbulence.


Pulsars and neutron stars are generally more massive than the Sun, whereas black holes have unlimited mass-spectrum, though the mass-gap between 2 - 5$M_\odot$, which applies for both classes, is evident and remains puzzling. Based on the solution of the TOV equation modified to include a universal scalar field $\phi$ at the background of supranuclear densities, we claim that pulsars must be born with embryonic super-baryons (SBs), that form through the merger of individual neutrons at their centers. The cores of SBs are made of purely incompressible superconducting gluon-quark superfluids (henceforth SuSu-fluids). Such quantum fluids have a uniform supranuclear density and governed by the critical EOSs for baryonic matter $P_b = \mathcal{E}_b$ and for $\phi-$induced dark energy $P_\phi= -\mathcal{E}_\phi.$ The incompressibility here ensures that particles communicate on the shortest possible timescale, superfluidity and superconductivity enforce SBs to spin-down promptly as dictated by the Onsager-Feynman equation, whereas their lowest energy state grants SBs lifetimes that are comparable to those of protons. The extraordinary long lifetimes suggests that conglomeration of SuSu-objects would evolve over several big bang events to possibly form dark matter halos that embed the galaxies in the observable universe. Having pulsars been converted into SuSu-objects, which is predicted to last for one Gyr or even shorter, then they become extraordinary compact and turn invisible. It turns out that recent observations on the quantum, stellar and cosmological scales remarkably support the present scenario.


Induction motors are the most predominant motors used in the industry. They use two-thirds of the total electrical energy generated in the industrialized countries. Motors fail due to many reasons and many are rewound two or more times during their lifetimes. It is generally assumed that a rewound motor is not as efficient as the original motor. Precise estimation of efficiency of a refurbished motor or any existing motor is crucial in industries for energy savings, auditing and management. Full-load and partial load efficiency can be determined by using the dynamometer procedure which is a highly expensive way and available only in well-equipped laboratories. An inexpensive and easily applied procedure for efficiency estimation is therefore a target of researchers and engineers in the field. In this Ph.D. work, two novel methods for estimating repaired, refurbished, or any existing induction motors' efficiency are proposed. The two methods (named Method A and Method B) require only a DC test (including temperature measurement), nameplate details, and RMS readings of no-load input power, input voltage, and input current. Experimental and field results of testing a total of 196 induction motors by using Method A are presented and the degree of accuracy is shown by comparing the estimated efficiencies to the measured values. Method B was validated by testing 8 induction motors with acceptable accuracy. To provide the necessary credits to the proposed techniques, an error analysis study is conducted to investigate the level of uncertainty through testing three induction motors, and the results of uncertainty of the direct measurements and no-load measurements using the proposed technique are declared.
Derating is a necessary procedure to protect induction motors from overheating which is the main reason of motor failures. The overheating is caused by operating induction motors with unbalanced voltages, over or undervoltage, or harmonics rich power supplies. To derate a machine, its full-load efficiency with balanced undistorted voltages and with unbalanced or distorted voltages must be measured.
In many situations in industry and due to critical processes, it is not allowed to interrupt induction machines operation. Hence, an in situ efficiency estimation technique is most required.
In this thesis, three novel in situ efficiency estimation algorithms are proposed. The first algorithm is to estimate the full-load and partial loads efficiency of induction motors operating with balanced undistorted voltages. The algorithm is validated by testing 30 induction motors with acceptable accuracy.
The second proposed algorithm is for full-load efficiency estimation of induction motors operating with unbalanced voltages. The technique is evaluated by testing 2 induction motors with different levels of voltage unbalance. The results showed an acceptable accuracy.
The third proposed algorithm is for full-load efficiency estimation of induction motors operating with distorted unbalanced voltages where the harmonics effect is added. The technique is evaluated by testing 2 induction motors with different levels of voltage unbalance. The results showed an acceptable accuracy.
The three novel algorithms are designed by using Genetic Algorithm, pre-tested data, and IEEE Method F1 calculations.


A prospective study was done to determine the clinical profile of first attacks of acute rheumatic fever in children in North India. Unlike other reports, the clinical profile described here closely resembles the spectrum prevalent in the West. Arthritis, the most common manifestation, was seen in 66.6% of the 102 patients, chorea in 20.7%, and carditis in 33.7%. Carditis was considered mild in 22 patients and severe in 12; a persistent elevation of sleeping pulse rate and mitral regurgitation was noted in each case. Patients with severe carditis also had significant cardiomegaly and apical mid-diastolic murmur. Two patients with severe carditis developed congestive heart failure; one of them had pericarditis as well. Murmur of aortic origin was not noted in this series. One patient with severe carditis died from the disease. Erythema marginatum was noted in two, both of whom had severe carditis. There were two instances of subcutaneous nodules, one with and one without carditis. The close similarity of these results with those in the West is attributed to the prospective design of the study, analysis of first attacks only and survey of a general pediatric population for all manifestations suggestive of the disease.


By studying some bouncing universe models dominated by a specific class of hydrodynamical fluids, we show that the primordial cosmological perturbations may propagate smoothly through a general relativistic bounce. We also find that the purely adiabatic modes, although almost always fruitfully investigated in all other contexts in cosmology, are meaningless in the bounce or null energy condition (NEC) violation cases since the entropy modes can never be neglected in these situations: the adiabatic modes exhibit a fake divergence that is compensated in the total Bardeen gravitational potential by inclusion of the entropy perturbations.


This classroom study focused on modeling a hands-on approach for understanding classroom applications of multiple intelligence theory through arts-based integration. Thirty-five preservice teachers enrolled in Educational Psychology classes participated in an interdisciplinary geometry lesson modeling Artful Learning™, experiencing an arts- based pedagogical approach in the lesson. Students identified and described geometric concepts and relationships and photographed geometrical elements authentically on campus as part of the model's original creation. Assessment of lesson objectives revealed that students appreciated arts-based pedagogy, but had difficulty translating theory into practice when creating their original lesson plans. Discussion includes reflective responses of preservice teachers to inquiry and arts-based classroom instruction for enhancing student understanding, as well as implications for integrating art pedagogy in professional practices.


Today, it is a major issue for mobile applications to maintain a replica state of the server on mobile devices. This creates the need to keep data on both the server and the mobile. In such cases, when the data changes on the server, the new state of the data has to be updated on the mobile in order to maintain a consistent view of the data flow. However, mobile devices communicate over wireless mediums (.e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5G/4G, etc.) which can experience intermittent connectivity. The volatility of the network is also influenced by low-bandwidth. The direct effects of these issues are high latency and inconsistency issues between the data on the mobile clients and the remote servers. In this work, I present a detail review on the topic of data synchronization in mobile networks. Then, a generic architecture called MobiQ is proposed which can keep working in an offline mode to record local modifications and can synchronize with the remote servers when connectivity is restored. This is achieved through the proposal of an efficient synchronization protocol which combines different synchronization and replication strategies. Moreover, the MobiQ framework provides a secured environment to work with data. The implemented architecture is designed and tested in mobile questionnaire system and the result is encouraging.


Pathological processes in the interpleural space appear on x-ray film as space-occupying growths. The assessment of such processes will always require x-ray films of the thoracic organs in two planes, rotating fluoroscopy and spot films as well as tomography. Additional information is obtained via oesophagus contrast radiography, angiography and mediastinoscopy. Computer tomography, being a non-invasive method, has proved very effective in such cases. Formation of an abscess in the mediastinum is rare, since the usually preceding mediastinitis is fatal even before an abscess is formed. In patients from countries where tuberculosis is still frequent, the possibility of formation of a cold abscess via liquafaction of specifically infected lymph nodes must be included in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal enlargement.


PURPOSE
To analyze the correlation between p53 and bcl-2 expression and colorectal adenocarcinoma staging and prognosis.

METHODS
This was a retrospective series of 125 colorectal adenocarcinoma patients (67 women and 58 men; ages 30-87 years) who underwent surgery with curative intent. The mean follow-up was 28.5 months (range: 2-96 months). TNM staging, tumor recurrence, survival and cancer-related mortality were analyzed. Immunoreactivity was evaluated using DO7 (Dako) for p53 and K492 (Dako) for bcl-2. Tumors with accumulation of staining for cytoplasmic bcl-2 or nuclear p53 in more than 10% of cells were considered positive. Statistical analysis utilized Pearson chi-squared, log-rank and Wilcoxon tests, and Kaplan-Meier survival estimation (significance level: p<0.05).

RESULTS
p53+ was found in 11.8% (14/118), bcl-2+ in 50% (58/116) and associated p53+/bcl-2+ in 6.4% (7/109) of the tumors. There was no significant correlation between expression of these biomarkers and TNM I, II, III and IV staging (p=0.385 for p53; p=0.461 for bcl-2). For tumor recurrence, p53+ was found in 9.5% (2/21), bcl-2+ in 50% (11/22), and associated p53+/bcl-2+ in 5.2% (1/19) of the tumors (p=0.714, p=1.000 and p=0.960, respectively). For survival analysis, p53+: 57 months (45.0-68.0), bcl-2+: 78 (37.0-89.0), and p53+/bcl-2+: 62 (56.0-68.0) (p=0.319). For cancer-related mortality, p53+: 8.3% (3/36), bcl-2+: 47.2% (17/36), and p53+/bcl-2+: 5.9% (2/36) of the patients (p=0.432, p=0.688 and p=0.907, respectively).

CONCLUSION
No correlation was found between tumor expression of p53 and bcl-2 and the TNM staging, recurrence, survival and cancer-related mortality in colorectal adenocarcinoma.


Internal lead shielding is utilized during superficial electron beam treatments of the head and neck, such as lip carcinoma. Methods for predicting backscattered dose include the use of empirical equations or performing physical measurements. The accuracy of these empirical equations required verification for the local electron beams. In this study, a Monte Carlo model of a Siemens Artiste linac was developed for 6, 9, 12, and 15 MeV electron beams using the EGSnrc MC package. The model was verified against physical measurements to an accuracy of better than 2% and 2 mm. Multiple MC simulations of lead interfaces at different depths, corresponding to mean electron energies in the range of 0.2-14 MeV at the interfaces, were performed to calculate electron backscatter values. The simulated electron backscatter was compared with current empirical equations to ascertain their accuracy. The major finding was that the current set of backscatter equations does not accurately predict electron backscatter, particularly in the lower energies region. A new equation was derived which enables estimation of electron backscatter factor at any depth upstream from the interface for the local treatment machines. The derived equation agreed to within 1.5% of the MC simulated electron backscatter at the lead interface and upstream positions. Verification of the equation was performed by comparing to measurements of the electron backscatter factor using Gafchromic EBT2 film. These results show a mean value of 0.997±0.022 to 1σ of the predicted values of electron backscatter. The new empirical equation presented can accurately estimate electron backscatter factor from lead shielding in the range of 0.2 to 14 MeV for the local linacs. PACS numbers: 87.53.Bn, 87.55.K-, 87.56.bd.


In this study, PIC 18F4520 based wye-delta starting and protection relay was designed and manufactured with semiconductor devices for three phase cage rotor induction motors. Protection relay controls the phase absence and phase sequence before motor starting process. Designed relay system performs better than that of other electromechanical starting and protection relays, due to the decrease in the number of electromechanical components, total volume of relay, complexity of system. Furthermore, the use of microcontroller and semiconductor devices makes the new starter and protection relay design more robust and more reliable.


The authors present the application of a method for gas turbine analysis, that they have recently introduced, based upon the selection of rotating components and on the study of off-design behaviour. The paper deals with an aero-derivative gas turbine, whose operating field is evaluated by an advanced cycle calculation which takes into account the fluid-dynamic and mechanical matching of the turbomachines.Different regulation systems are considered, like variable-geometry compressor and turbine vanes, whose effect is combined with the variations in rotational speed of the gas generator device.The simulation model allows definition of a performance map of the gas turbine, not only in terms of mechanical output and efficiency but also of pollutant emissions, as a result of the prediction of thermal NO formation inside the combustor.The method leads to the establishment of an optimal control and regulation strategy with respect to a prescribed objective, i.e., either for maximum in energy saving or for the best compromise between performance and emission levels. Cases are examined with reference to both mechanical energy production and combined heat and power generation.Copyright © 1996 by ASME


Abstract There has been a marked decline in the summer extent of Arctic sea ice over the past few decades. Data from autonomous ice mass-balance buoys can enhance our understanding of this decline. These buoys monitor changes in snow deposition and ablation, ice growth, and ice surface and bottom melt. Results from the summer of 2008 showed considerable large-scale spatial variability in the amount of surface and bottom melt. Small amounts of melting were observed north of Greenland, while melting in the southern Beaufort Sea was quite large. Comparison of net solar heat input to the ice and heat required for surface ablation showed only modest correlation. However, there was a strong correlation between solar heat input to the ocean and bottom melting. As the ice concentration in the Beaufort Sea region decreased, there was an increase in solar heat to the ocean and an increase in bottom melting.


The paper presents both the technical and socio-economic issues that arise from the design of an open, multimodal end-to-end tracking and tracing system. A brief overview of the general technical design choices is followed by a discussion of the associated socio-economic aspects, including the business context, which is heavily influenced by an electronic commerce environment and user requirements.


Regional trade agreements (RTAs) constitute one of the most important elements of the international economic order. Researchers have accordingly embarked on comparative analyses of their design. Yet one fundamental question remains unanswered: how have officials in different RTAs responded to the challenge of regulatory misalignments among the member states? In this article, I turn to 10 of the most established RTAs in the world and document three types of responses. Some RTAs rely on the principle of mutual recognition or references to existing international standards; the same agreements also rely on technical dispute resolution mechanisms. Other RTAs, by contrast, make use of extensive harmonization and permanent courts charged with interpreting law. Yet a third group exhibits a hybrid design. This heterogeneity in legislative and judicial design invites explanation. I show that there is a remarkable correspondence between the legal traditions of the member states (common vs. civil law) and the design of RTAs. This correspondence undermines the claims of world polity theorists about the nature of the international order, but is consistent with other strands of sociological institutionalism and certain elements of rationalist and neoliberal institutionalism. I conclude by reflecting on the implications of different RTA designs for the regulation of everyday life in the member states, the World Trade Organization as an international regulatory body, and national sovereignty and democracy.


Non-uniform blind deblurring of dynamic scenes has always been a challenging problem in image processing because of the diverse of blurring sources. Traditional methods based on energy minimization cannot make accurate kernel estimation. It leads to that some high frequency details cannot be fully recovered. Recently, many methods based on convolution neural networks (CNNs) have been proposed to improve the overall performance. Followed by this trend, we first propose a two-stage deblurring module to recover the blur images of dynamic scenes based on high frequency residual image learning. The first stage performs initial deburring with the blur kernel estimated by the salient structure. The second stage calculates the difference of input image and initially deblurred image, referred to as residual image, and adopt an encoder-decoder network to refine the residual image. Finally, we can combine the refined residual image with the input blurred image to obtain the latent image. To increase deblurring performance, we further propose a coarse-to-fine framework based on the deblurring module. It performs the deblurring module many times in a multi-scale manner which can gradually restore the sharp edge details of different scales. Experiments conducted on three benchmark datasets demonstrate the proposed method achieves competitive performance of state-of-art methods.


In recent years, there has been increasing emphasis in the rural development literature on the multiple income-generating activities undertaken by rural households and the importance of assets in determining the capacity to undertake these activities. Controlling for endogeneity choice and applying Lee's generalization of Amemiya's two-step estimator to a simultaneous equation model, household returns to assets from multiple activities are explored for the Mexico ejido sector. To incorporate the multiple variables representing social and public capital into the analysis, factor analysis is used. The results indicate that the asset position of the household has a significant effect on household participation in income generating activities and returns to those activities. Furthermore, the inclusion of measures of social and public capital into the analysis show that these assets play an important role in income-generating activities and that the influence is dependent on the type of social and public capital as well as the particular activity.


: In this study, we present a numerical solution for the two-phase incompressible flow in the porous media under isothermal condition using a hybrid of the linear lower-order nonconforming finite element and the interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method. This hybridization is developed for the first time in the two-phase modeling and considered as the main novelty of this research.The pressure equation and convection dominant saturation equation are discretized using the nonconforming Crouziex-Raviart finite element (CR FEM) and the weighed interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin (SWIP) method, respectively. Utilizing the nonconforming finite element method for solving the flow equation made the pressure and velocity values be consistent with respect to the degrees of freedom arrangement at the midpoint of the neighboring element edges. The boundary condition governing the simulation is the Robin type at entrance boundaries, and the time marching discretization for the governing equations is the sequential solution scheme. An H (div) projection using Raviart-Thomas element is implemented to improve the results' resolution and preserve the continuity of the normal component of the velocity field. At the end of each time step, the non-physical oscillation is omitted using a slope limiter, namely, modified Chavent-Jaffre limiter, in each element. Also, in this study, the developed algorithm is verified using some benchmark problems and the test cases are considered to demonstrate the efficiency of the developed model in capturing the shock front at the interface of fluid phases and discontinuities.


This notice announces Medicare's monthly hospital insurance premium for the uninsured aged for the 12 months beginning January 1, 1986.


India is the world's second-most populous country and there are about 5.3 million people with dementia in India. Only one out of ten people living with dementia in India ever gets a diagnosis, care or treatment. There are various obstacles to deliver dementia care and support to people living with dementia and their carers. Furthermore, there is inadequate understanding of dementia in the general public and within the health care professionals. Studies in India indicate that people with dementia experience stigmatisation in society as well as neglect from their families. Social prejudice associated with dementia makes it a challenging experience, in addition, it makes the persons with dementia and carers feel isolated and stigmatised. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to explore perceptions, beliefs and experiences of dementia across a number of stakeholders in India, with an effort to understand stigma towards people with dementia. Participants were recruited in two diverse cities of India (Chennai and Delhi), and were comprised of a range of key stakeholders, including persons with dementia (n = 8), caregivers (n = 19), health care professionals (n = 16) and the general public (n = 15). Following a thematic analysis, we identified three overachieving themes; (1) Poor awareness, (2) Stigma and (3) Barriers to accessing care. These all occurred within the context of socio-cultural beliefs. Whilst each stakeholder group had different experiences of dementia, it was common for all participant groups to use stigmatising language associated with dementia. In many cases, stigmatising beliefs and poor understanding of dementia resulted in poor care. There is an apparent need to raise awareness of dementia in India across all stakeholder groups; the fact that participants were able to self-identify that they had a lacked awareness of the condition may indicate that these groups are receptive to learning more about dementia.


The technology acceptance model (TAM) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) originating from the theory of diffusion of Innovation seek to understand the use and adoption of technological products, however none of them is focused on understanding behavioral aspects and personal traits of the consumer innovativeness. Research studies that investigate the effect of domain-specific innovativeness (DSI) and innate innovativeness (II) on the perception of usability from innovative behavior (IB) with services such as intelligent personal assistants (IPA) that is get activated based on voice commands are scarce. Also, the extent to which DSI and II have affected consumer's perception of usability services across different genders has been largely unexplored. Against this backdrop, this study investigated the effect of DSI and II on consumer perception of usability services and how such perceptions differ across consumers genders. The data for the study were gathered via a survey conducted among 101 users of IPA across smartphones from Brazil. It is concluded that there is moderation of DSI in relation to perceived usability and this moderation is significant in males. When II is low there is moderation in perceived usability, however, DSI and II together do not moderate the perceived usability.


In this paper we present an RF PA employing an output impedance matching network of the pi-type, where an inductor is variable. In order to implement this tunable inductor, the coupled-inductor technique [1] is used. Although other techniques for inductor tuning exist, like those using active [2] and MEMS inductors, and p-i-n diodes [3], the coupled-inductor technique is the only providing quality factor (Q) enhancement and tunable capability.


Video is becoming increasingly accessed, captured, and published on the Web, from different platforms and devices. Users can easily georeference the information they capture and access, allowing to enrich their contextualization. But video search has been limited to keywords, or a set of parameters, providing limited support for temporal and spatial dimensions. We propose novel ways to search and access georeferenced videos, where these dimensions are of central importance, especially by video trajectories shape and speed, and by time, using a multimodal interactive mobile interface, involving gestures and movement, with the potential for more natural interactions, increased engagement, sense of presence and immersion. The evaluation based on high-fidelity prototypes had positive results. Users found most features useful, satisfactory, sometimes fun, and easy to use. Different options and modalities were found interesting and adequate for different use scenarios that could be identified and suggested, and some concerns and challenges were identified to be taken into account in future developments, towards more flexible and effective interactive content access, through more natural interaction with mobile devices on their own or as second screens to a larger screen on TV or public displays.


The cytokine IL-7 enhances the generation and antitumor activity of a T cell subset that may be used in cancer immunotherapy. Enhancing therapeutic potential CD4+ T helper 9 (TH9) cells secrete the cytokines interleukin-9 (IL-9) and IL-21 and are important in cancer immunotherapy because of their ability to stimulate the antitumor effects of cytotoxic T cells. Bi et al. found that the presence of IL-7 in the culture medium during the differentiation process increased the production of TH9 cells in vitro and enhanced their antitumor activity. IL-7 signaling caused the exchange of the repressive transcriptional regulator Foxp1 for Foxo1 on the Il9 promoter, leading to increased Il9 expression and TH9 cell generation. Together, these results suggest that IL-7 treatment of TH9 cells may amplify the antitumor effects of this type of cancer immunotherapy. Tumor-specific CD4+ T helper 9 (TH9) cells, so-called because of their production of the cytokine interleukin-9 (IL-9), are a powerful effector T cell subset for cancer immunotherapy. We found that pretreatment of naïve CD4+ T cells with IL-7 further enhanced their differentiation into TH9 cells and augmented their antitumor activity. IL-7 markedly increased the abundance of the histone acetyltransferase p300 by activating the STAT5 and PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathways and promoting the acetylation of histones at the Il9 promoter. As a result, the transcriptional regulator Foxo1 was dephosphorylated and translocated to the nucleus, bound to the Il9 promoter, and induced the production of IL-9 protein. In contrast, Foxp1, which bound to the Il9 promoter in naïve CD4+ T cells and inhibited Il9 expression, was outcompeted for binding to the Il9 promoter by Foxo1 and translocated to the cytoplasm. Furthermore, forced expression of Foxo1 or a deficiency in Foxp1 in CD4+ T cells markedly increased the production of IL-9, whereas a deficiency in Foxo1 inhibited the ability of IL-7 to enhance the differentiation and antitumor activity of TH9 cells. Thus, we identified the roles of Foxo1 as a positive regulator and Foxp1 as a negative regulator of TH9 cell differentiation and antitumor activity, which may provide potential targets for cancer immunotherapy.


Soil water can be a limiting factor for dryland wheat production in Oklahoma. Five experiments on three different soils were conducted to determine the effect of placing residue (wheat straw and paper) layers beneath the soil surface on water conservation. Treatments included a control (no residue on the surface or inverted), 6 Mg ha-1 wheat straw placed 1.5, 3, and 6 cm below the surface (wheat straw inversion), 6 Mg ha-1 applied on the surface (simulation of zero-tillage), 6 Mg ha-1 mixed with the surface 6 cm of soil (simulation of conventional tillage), 3 Mg ha-1 placed 6 cm below the surface, and 6 Mg ha-1 ground telephone book paper placed 1.5 cm beneath the surface. Water was applied to prepared pots, and water loss was determined on a daily basis. Pots were placed in growth chambers where daytime and nighttime temperatures were ramped to 32°C and 18°C, respectively. Water losses in the first 10 days were greater in all wheat straw inversion treatments when compared with zero-tillage. Water losses stabilized after 15 days in the 3− and 6-cm wheat straw inversion treatments, but zero-tillage continued to show significantly higher water loss. The 3 cm to 6 Mg ha-1 wheat straw inversion treatment had significantly lower water loss before reaching the wilting point when compared with zero-tillage in two of the three soils evaluated. Placing the wheat straw 3 cm beneath the surface reduced water loss when compared with 1.5− and 6-cm inversion.


The genetic determinants for the aerobactin iron uptake system of plasmid ColV-K30, cloned as recombinant plasmid pABN1, were mapped by insertional inactivation using Tn1000 (gamma delta). Sites of insertion resulting in loss of aerobactin biosynthesis spanned ca. 5.5 kilobase pairs of cloned ColV-K30 DNA contiguous with a 2-kilobase-pair region in which transposon insertion resulted in loss of the outer membrane ferric-aerobactin receptor protein. Translation products of plasmid pABN1, and of subclones specifying siderophore biosynthesis alone or receptor activity alone, were analyzed by using the maxicell and minicell expression system. Four polypeptides (Mr = 62,000, 35,000, 45,000, and 50,000) are required for biosynthesis of aerobactin. A fifth product (Mr = 74,000) of plasmid pABN1 represents the outer membrane receptor protein. The linear order of genes for these polypeptides was determined by comparing translation products of a series of smaller derivative plasmids and of a number of mutant plasmids carrying Tn1000 at known locations.


Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severely disabling disorder characterized by elevated pul- monary artery pressure ultimately leading to right heart failure and death. Treatment options have significantly increased over the past decade. Intravenous prostacyclins remain the treatment of choice for advanced PAH, leading to long-term clinical benefits and improved survival. Their administration requires a high level of nursing competency and presents considerable challeng- es for patients and caregivers. This article reviews the characteristics of currently available intrave- nous prostacyclins and provides a practical guide for nurses who may have had limited exposure to intravenous prostacyclins and their unique dosing, side effects, and titration characteristics.


Although it has been recognised that implicit messages in magazine advertisements can be effective, little research has been undertaken on the impact of different levels of implicity. This study looks specifically at metaphors in advertising and examines the impact that an implied message has on comprehension and likeability. The results indicate that likeability can be high when the challenge of understanding the advertisement is moderate but if the advertisement is perceived to be either too easy or too hard to understand likeability levels drop, suggesting a quadratic relationship between these two variables. The implications of these finding are discussed. Magazine advertisements have become increasingly implicit in the way that they communicate their messages. A study by Phillips and McQuarrie (2002) who examined advertising from 1954 to 1999, found that there was a gradual reduction in the amount of explanation provided and an increase in the use of a rhetorical approach such as puns, metaphors and irony. Such advertisements have been referred to by some as 'post-modern' (Procter, Procter and Papasolomou 2005; Bulmer and Buchanan-Oliver 2004). The purpose of this paper is to examine this phenomenon to establish how implicit a message can be before it has a negative impact on levels of comprehension and/or likeability


We examined the effects of Lycium barbarum fruit (goji) intake on general well-being in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 30-day intervention trial. Plasma levels of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), glucose, urea nitrogen (BUN) and lactic acid followed by an exercise challenge were assessed at the pre- and post-intervention. Relative to the placebo group (n=19), tiredness and overall health were significantly improved in the Lycium barbarum group (n=20). Cortisol, DHEA and lactic acid levels were significantly increased by the exercise for the pre-intervention: However, at the post-intervention, Lycium barbarum intake significantly attenuated cortisol and DHEA levels. Lactic acid levels were comparable for both groups, and glucose and BUN levels were not altered. These results show that Lycium barbarum consumption attenuates the adrenal steroid response and reduces the feeling of tiredness.


To understand how peppermint responds to different LED light qualities during the early vegetative phase, peppermints were illuminated with three different LED light conditions (RB = Red/Blue, RGB = Red/Green/Blue, SUN = artificial sunlight closely resembling the terrestrial sunlight spectrum between 380 and 780 nm) in an automated vertical cultivation system. RB resulted in compact growth, whereas both green-containing lighting conditions induced excessive stem and side branch elongations and significant leaf expansions. Although peppermint plants achieved marketable appearances regardless of lighting condition, essential oil (EO) compositions with highly elevated amounts of pulegone and menthofuran did not meet consumer safety requirements. Both artificial SUN and RB spectra showed lower concentrations of pulegone in the EO at 41 and 43%, respectively, than detected under RGB at more than 49%. Reasons for this undesirable EO composition are discussed as a result of the lighting conditions applied and the early harvest time, leading to an incomplete reduction of pulegone to menthone during biosynthesis. Based on these findings, aromatic peppermint cultivation under LEDs can be improved to meet regulatory requirements and highlights the need for analytical quality controls regarding consumer safety to evaluate the applicability of LED lighting for fresh herb productions.


Objective: To evaluate bone regeneration in alveolar defects treated with human umbilical cord–derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs), hydroxyapatite/chitosan/gelatin (HA/CS/Gel) scaffold, and bone morphogenic protein-2 (BMP-2) in Capra hircus models. Design: Randomized posttest-only control group design. Setting: Animal Hospital at Bogor Agricultural Institute. Participants: Healthy and equally treated 24 female Capra hircus/goats. Intervention: Animals were randomly assigned to 3 experimental group design (iliac crest alveolar bone graft/ICABG [control], HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2 [Novosys], and HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2+UCMSCs). Graft materials were implanted in surgically made alveolar defects. Main Outcome Measures: Postoperative functional score and operating time were assessed. New bone growth, bone density, inflammatory cells recruitment, and neoangiogenesis were evaluated based on radiological and histological approach at 2 time points, week 4 and 12. Statistical analysis was done between treatment groups. Results: Operating time was 34% faster and functional score 94.5% more superior in HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2+hUCMSC group. Bone growth capacity in HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2+UCMSCs mimicked ICABG, but ICABG showed possibility of bone loss between week 4 and 12. The HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2+UCMSCs showed early bone repopulation and unseen inflammatory cells and angiogenesis on week 12. Discussion and Conclusion: The HA/Cs/Gel+BMP-2+hUCMSCs were superior in enhancing new bone growth without donor site morbidity compared to ICABG. The presence of hUCMSCs in tissue-engineered alveolar bone graft (ABG), supported with paracrine activity of the resident stem cells, initiated earlier new bone repopulation, and completed faster bone regeneration. The HA/Cs/Gel scaffold seeded with UCMSCs+BMP-2 is a safe substitute of ICABG to close alveolar bone defects suitable for patients with cleft lip, alveolus, and palate.


As the oceans are warming, fish stocks are moving with the water masses of their preferred temperatures to stay within a physiologically optimal temperature range, provided further factors such as food availability and competition with other species allow for that. This has already been documented for several fish species of the North Sea, which have been moving northward at a rate of about 10 km per decade. In response to this warming trend, the North Arctic stock of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) has also shifted spawning areas to the north and expanded its range into the Barents Sea. For the greatest part of the year, juvenile Atlantic cod are now frequently found in the coastal waters of Spitsbergen, with an as yet unclear outcome for the ecosystems species composition.
Ocean acidification is an additional stressor developing in parallel to ongoing climate warming. Future impacts of ocean acidification on organisms and ecosystems are expected to be greatest in cold regions, owing to enhanced CO2 solubility in cold waters and body fluids and to the concomitant exposure of organisms to a strong warming trend. At the same time, thermal tolerance windows are narrower and thus sensitivities to combined stressor effects are likely to be higher in cold-adapted polar compared to temperate species. The expected rise in carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature in the oceans (800-1000 µatm and 1-2 °C, respectively, until the year 2100) may thus prove to be particularly threatening to Boreal and Arctic ecosystems.
Some of the commercially most important fish species in the North Atlantic belong to the family of Gadidae, namely Atlantic cod, haddock, pollock, whiting, and Polar cod, and have been the target of substantial industrial fishery in the Arctic. The Atlantic cod is now the subject of intensive aquaculture in Norway. Any shift in the population structure, caused by ocean acidification and warming (OAW) could thus have far reaching effects not only on the ecosystem itself but also on fisheries, and further, on aquaculture. The socio–economic consequences of such scenarios have not yet been evaluated.
Within the German ocean acidification research programme BIOACID (2012-2015) we investigate how the combined effects of OAW affect different life stages and interactions between polar gadoid fish species and their prey.
Objectives include addressing the question whether OAW affects interacting species differently due to divergent physiological optima and ranges, expressed in thermal tolerance windows and associated performance capacities and phenologies of specific life stages. We aim to identify fundamental mechanisms by unravelling the connections between levels of biological organisation, from genomic, molecular to cellular, individual and population level. Scopes for acclimation (physiology and behaviour) and adaptation (evolution) that together define species resilience are studied in various life stages (eggs, larvae, juveniles, adults) to identify the most sensitive one(s). We feed these data into socio-economic models to assess stock sensitivity and resilience to evaluate the possible consequences for fishery, aquaculture and last but not least, society.


A convenient mapping and an efficient algorithm for solving scheduling problems within the neural network paradigm is presented. It is based on a reduced encoding scheme and a mean field annealing prescription which was recently successfully applied to TSP. Most scheduling problems are characterized by a set of hard and soft constraints. The prime target of this work is the hard constraints. In this domain the algorithm persistently finds legal solutions for quite difficult problems. We also make some exploratory investigations by adding soft constraints with very encouraging results. Our numerical studies cover problem sizes up to O(105) degrees of freedom with no parameter tuning. We stress the importance of adding self-coupling terms to the energy functions which are redundant from the encoding point of view but beneficial when it comes to ignoring local minima and to stabilizing the good solutions in the annealing process.


Adoption of maize (Zea mays L) hybrids containing Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) transgenes and increased plant population is widespread but little scientific research exists on their interactions with production environments in the Western Maize Belt of the United States. Two pairs of near-isogenic Bt and non-Bt maize hybrids were grown under rainfed and irrigated conditions from 2008 to 2010 at target populations from 49,300 to 111,100 plants ha-1 near Mead, NE. The objective was to determine the influence of the presence/absence of Bt transgenes for European corn borer [Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner) - ECB] and corn rootworm [Diabrotica spp. - CRW] on maize yield and lodging across a range of target populations. Bt maize hybrids produced 0.6 Mg ha-1 more grain, 0.2 more ears m-2, and 1.3 g heavier 100-kernel weight than non-Bt hybrids in absence of visible ECB and CRW rootworm pressure. Yield of Bt and non-Bt hybrids responded similarly to increasing target population, with Dekalb DKC 58-16 and 58-19 increasing from 11.0 to 13.1 Mg ha-1 and Dekalb DKC 61-69 and 61-72 from 11.8 to 12.7 Mg ha-1 as the target population increased from 49,300 to 111,100 plants ha-1. Lodging increased linearly with increasing target population, with a greater increase in rainfed than irrigated environments. Lodging of Bt and non-Bt maize hybrids was inconsistent. Grain yield, seed and insecticide cost, likelihood of ECB and CRW infestation, and en¬vironmental concerns related to soil insecticide use should be the drivers when determining if Bt maize hybrid use is justified. If CRW resistance occurs, planting non-Bt maize hybrids along with application of soil insecticide is a viable alternative.


Ethyl carbamate is a pluripotent carcinogen, and most fermented foods and beverages, including table wine, contain trace amounts of ethyl carbamate. The optimized parameters of the solid phase microextraction of table wine were: sample pH was 10.2, and 9.0 mL sample and 2.0-2.5 g (20-25%) sodium chloride were added to the vial; A 70 μm CW/DVB fiber was inserted into the headspace for 35 min at 40°C, then the fiber removed from the sample vial and inserted into the injection port of the GC for 10 min. Under this extraction conditions, the recoveries and the precision were 93.4-101.0% and 3.73-7.10%, respectively. The limit of detection was 3.0 μg/L. The solid phase microextraction technique was successfully applied to determine the EC levels in table wines. The extraction method was rapid and simple, and without the need for any organic solvent. It was an environmental protecting extraction method.


Remittances are increasingly becoming an important source of external financing for the developing countries. For some of the developing countries, it forms almost 40-50% of their GDP. Though there is a growing literature on the impact of remittances on development, very few studies have empirically estimated the impact of remittances on poverty in the developing countries. This study undertakes impact analysis of remittances on poverty in developing countries at two levels. Firstly, it estimates the impact of remittances on poverty in 77 developing countries; Secondly, separate analyses are undertaken for 29 developing countries and 21 Asian developing counties, which have 5% or more share of remittances in GDP. The results of the study consistently show that remittances significantly reduce poverty in recipient countries but the results are more reliable for countries with remittances greater than 5% of GDP.


The role extragalactic class I methanol masers play in their host galaxies is currently
not well understood. With only a few known examples of these masers to date, investigating
their nature is very difficult. However, determining the physical conditions
and environments responsible for these masers will provide a useful tool for the study
of external galaxies. In this thesis we present over a hundred hours of Australia Telescope
Compact Array (ATCA) observations aimed at expanding our available sample
size, increasing our understanding of the regions in which these masers form, and
making comparison with class I methanol emission towards Galactic regions.
We present the first detection of 36.2-GHz class I methanol maser emission toward
NGC 4945, which is the second confirmed detection of this masing transition and the
brightest class I maser region ever detected. This emission is offset from the nucleus of
the galaxy and is likely associated with the interface region between the bar and southeastern
spiral arm. Additionally, we report the first detection of the 84.5-GHz class I
maser line toward NGC 253, making NGC 253 the only external galaxy displaying 3
separate masing transitions of methanol. Upper limits on the 36.2- class I and 37.7-
GHz class II maser lines are also reported for 12 other galaxies that were searched as
part of this project.
Alongside observations of the class I methanol lines, we also observed various thermal
and masing molecular lines towards these sources. This includes the imaging of 7-
mm HC3N, CS and SiO lines towards NGC 4945, which had not previously been
observed at high resolution before, along with some 3-mm lines, such as HNCO,
towards NGC 253.
Long term monitoring of the 36.2-GHz transition from NGC 4945 and NGC 253
was also performed. This monitoring produced detections of new maser regions in
both NGC 4945 and NGC 253 and provided the first evidence for variability from
these extragalactic class I masers, with the luminosity of the new maser region in
NGC 4945 increasing by approximately 300 percent compared to past observations.
We determine this is likely the result of excitation changes in the maser environments,
however, further monitoring is required to accurately quantify this variability.
We also present interferometric imaging of the 95.2-GHz class I methanol masers
towards 32 6.7-GHz class II maser sources along with detailed comparison between the
class I (36.2-, 44.1- and 95.2-GHz) and class II (6.7- and 12.2-GHz) lines in these high-mass
star formation regions. Flux-density ratios for matched (spatially associated)
44.1- and 95.2-GHz class I masers shows that the 3:1 ratio previously reported in the
literature holds true even at parsec scales. Investigation of our statistically complete
sample indicates that 95.2-GHz class I methanol masers do not preferentially favour
more evolved sources. Our observations reinforce that when using class I methanol
masers to investigate shock fronts and star-formation region dynamics, observation of
multiple class I transitions is necessary in order to form a complete picture.


Background: Nigella sativa is a traditional herb used since ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations. It is also known as black seed, black cumin, and as the blessed seed, after its reported extraordinary curing ability. Nigella sativa has a broad range of therapeutic properties including anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-helminthic, and anti-fungal activities. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-cancer properties of Nigella sativa oil on the Jurkat E6.1 cell line. Method: Investigation of the anti-cancer properties of Nigella sativa oil in the human T lymphoblastic Jurkat E6.1 cell line was undertaken evaluating 4 different concentrations (undiluted, diluted 1:10,1:50 and 1:100) at three time points (24, 48 and 72 hours). Cell viability was assessed using the vital dye, trypan blue. Apoptosis was detected using the Human Annexin V assay by flow cytometry. Wilcoxon Signed–Rank test was used for statistical analysis. A p-value ≼ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Cells treated with undiluted oil could not be assessed by trypan blue due to the hydrophobicity of oil and bubble formation when mixed with culture media. The 1:10 dilution had the highest percentage of non-viable cells with 92.78% followed by 90.53% and 67.62% for the 1:50 and 1:100 dilutions, respectively, after 72 hours. Cells treated with undiluted oil had 58.18% apoptotic cells followed by 44.3%, 33.89% and 26.81% for the 1:10, 1:50 and 1:100 dilutions respectively. Conclusion: Nigella sativa seed oil induced apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in the Jurkat E6.1 cell line in vitro in a time- and dosage-dependant manner. Further research is required to determine whether Nigella sativa demonstrates similar efficacy in other leukaemic cell lines, and other cancer types, and also to determine which bioactive constituent(s) present is(are) responsible.


The paper analyzes the interactions between monetary and fiscal policies. Its emphasis is on a monetary union; one in which (some of) the governments are excessively ambitious. In contrast to conventional games, our novel game theoretic framework allows for stochastic timing of policy actions. The fact that moves occur with some ex-ante probability distribution (rather than certainty every period) enables us to model various degrees of fiscal rigidity and indiscipline that are heterogeneous across the member countries. We examine a number of specifications in discrete and continuous time, such as the widely-used Calvo (1983) timing, as well as a fully general probability distribution of the timing of policy actions. We derive the necessary and sufficient degree of monetary commitment that eliminates socially inferior (subgame perfect Nash) equilibria. This degree is shown to be increasing in (i) the degree of fiscal rigidity of each member country, (ii) their relative economic size, (iii) the structure of the economy (that determines eg inflation and output variability costs), and (iv) the degree of the central banker(cid:146)s impatience. Interestingly, such a strong monetary commitment - interpretable as a sufficiently explicit numerical inflation target - does not only ensure high credibility of the central bank, but it also indirectly (cid:145)disciplines(cid:146) the fiscal policymaker(s). As such, it leads to an improvement in monetary-fiscal policy cooperation and outcomes of both policies. We conclude by calibrating the model with European Monetary Union data. This exercise aims at providing some quantitative predictions regarding the required explicitness of the European Central Bank(cid:146)s commitment to an inflation target.


Iberian Crime Fiction is the first volume in English to provide an extensive overview of crime fiction in Spain and Portugal. While the origins of peninsular crime fiction are traced in Nancy Vosburg's introductory chapter to the volume, the essays focus on specific topics that provide readers with a sense of the development of the genre in the second half of the 20th-century and current trends in the 21st-century. Patty Hart, whose The Spanish Sleuth introduced English-speaking readers to early crime fiction in Spain, provides a summary account of the development of the crime novel from the 1950s through the 1980s, highlighting the major authors and works that set the stage for the boom that followed the establishment of the novela negra tradition in the 1970s. This tradition, spearheaded by Manuel Vazquez Montalban, is the subject of a separate essay by Maria Balibrea that analyzes the socio-political conditions that gave rise to the novela negra. NancyVosburg studies the emergence of a feminine/feminist crime novel in the 1980s and 1990s and the subversion of masculine codes associated with crime fiction, while Stewart King analyzes crime fiction from the Catalan, Basque, and Galician autonomous regions of Spain, focusing on the political realities that resulted in a different use of the genre as a vehicle of regional nationalism. David Knutson traces contemporary trends in Spanish crime fiction, beginning in the 1990s and up to the present. Paul Castro's essay documents the emergence of crime fiction in Portugal and the major works/authors through to the present.


acceptable. There is a very useful list of references at the end of each chapter and also a summary of the contents of each chapter contained in one to two pages. The summary is unnecessary as each chapter itself is something of a summary of present knowledge in the field. The book is beautifully and copiously illustrated. The diagrams are clear, concise, and easily assimilable. This volume is well written and achieves its object of summarising neuro-anatomy and neurophysiology as pertinent to basic training in clinical neurology. I think it will be of value to medical students in training. I doubt if postgraduate neurology students would find much new inFormation in it.


Since the process and conversion of natural rubber into epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) was discovered and patented by I. R. Gelling of the Malaysian Rubber Product Research Association  (or now known as the Tun Razak laboratory), Brickendonbury, Hertford, in the United Kingdom, there are more than 10 000 technical and technological papers cited in the internet. Information on ENR is available, not only in the the English language but also other languages like Chinese, Malay, French, Thai and even German languages are used.NR is the most versatile and reactive rubber/elastomer. It is an advanced natural rubber which could be potentially used as a starting material for the development of other rubbers, modifie elastomers, for grafting, plastic-based materials and also thermoplastic rubbers. Its reactivity is dependent on its epoxy groups, the opening of its ring structure, and also the subsequent structures of carboxylic groups and the in-situ side-chains "carbon – carbon" double bonds (> C = C <). In some instances, up to 65% epoxidation of NR is possible and achieved for more oil resistance. For these reasons, there are many new and advanced materials which have been formed and developed in the last two decades.Among them, some of the recent research work is listed here. Apart from studies of compounding the ENR itself and its potential uses, there are many rubber-rubber blends and ENR rubber-plastics blends, some of the studies cited are "uses of new and advanced chemicals"  and synthetic rubbers:  ENR/NBR, ENR/PVC, ENR/polylactic acid blends, ENR/copolyester blends, ENR/Copolyamide Blends, ENR/poly (vinylidene fluoride)blends, ENR/Carbon Nanotubes with co-agent Trimethylol Propane Triacrylate, ENR /recycled silicon materials, and ENR/copolymer of n-butyl acrylate/butyl methacrylate "grafted". Each of these blends has its own characteristics in terms of processing, enhancement of processing like safety, scorch, oil and water resistance properties, or some in the development of potential thermoplastic rubber and its thermoplastic vulcanizates.In this paper, the author would like to share some findingsof the ENR/EPDM blends that have good flexand dynamic properties, relatively low compression set, and tolerant tensile properties that satisfy most rubber products that are required for and used in the industrial, mechanical, and even automotive parts. More importantly, the sliding skid resistance/frictional property and wear resistance of the blends are also examined. In some blends, the thermal dynamic behaviour is also measured over a temperature range depicting the low-temperature stability, its temperature of transition and the dynamic factor like tangent delta (σ). These are the potential factors that could enhance the blend properties that give possible, good high speed and traction, applicable in tyres.


Growth in energy demand together with the expansion of variable renewables has significant implications for the
future electricity system. The increased volatility from growing intermittent production requires new sources of flexibility at a
much greater scale to help maintain system balance. In particular, it is necessary to encourage demand reduction during peak
load periods in order to avoid high cost capital investments in accommodating future peak capacity. Curtailable electricity
contracts are one incentive-based Demand Response (DR) instrument that could help increase demand flexibility in the
residential sector. Specifically, end-use specific curtailable contracts work by curtailing the household load directly related to the
final energy service provided, for example a washing machine. To help understand consumer preferences for these types of
contracts, this paper employs a discrete choice experiment on a large representative sample of electricity consumers to elicit
their preferences for end-use specific curtailable contracts on different household appliances during the peak load hours
between 5pm and 8pm in the evening. Furthermore, this paper estimates the compensations required by consumers to accept
curtailable contracts and conducts a welfare analysis from the consumer's standpoint to determine the welfare effects for 96
different contract scenarios. In general, there is a large potential for demand flexibility from end-use specific curtailable
contracts with consumers found to prefer curtailable contracts compared to their status quo electricity contracts on average.
More specifically, the results show that the type of household appliance in these contracts has the most influence on consumer's
preferences. The findings also suggest that consumers prefer contracts at low event frequencies that also include advance
notice and an opt out. Overall, the compensations required for such contracts are estimated to be comparatively reasonable to
other contract types examined in the literature.


The paper examines the hydrological and land use processes that are affecting the quality of water in the Gucha catchment situated within the lake basin region in southwestern Kenya. The significance of hydrological processes on the quality of water resources in the catchment is examined. Major land use categories such as cultivation, settlement, and transport infrastructure are examined paying special attention to their role on water resources quality degradation within the catchment. The implications of these processes and activities on water resources management and development are critically evaluated and suggestions made on various strategies that could be applied to counteract or minimize the adverse effects of these processes. Information generated in this study is vital in water resources development planning and management within the catchment and could be of great significance in other catchments in the Lake Victoria drainage area that experiences similar climatic, hydrological, land use and catchment characteristics as the Gucha catchment.


This article begins with a short introduction and continues with a presentation of solar tower power plants around the world. The focus is set on the developments of the last five years and in the near future of the most important components of a central receiver system (CRS). For each of the components, a description of each technology, its applicability, and the advantages and disadvantages is presented. The chapter also includes a state of the art review for almost each system and points out the Research and Development (R&D) needs. A further issue is the choice of the heat‐transfer fluid (HTF) as well as the improvement of new solar tower power plant cycle systems. The paper introduces recent R&D activities, with the majority occurring in Europe and the United States, as has been presented in international journals and conferences by scientific personnel. It also reflects opinions of experts who specialized in the planning and erection of solar power plants and carrying out CRS research projects. The future effort of R&D in these fields should improve efficiencies, increase durability and reliability, and reduce investment and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) costs. Nowadays, and in this decade, the most advances in CRS occur in the United States, in Europe, and in China. Furthermore, a great interest, especially for add‐ons to existing research platforms as well as the construction of new ones, can be observed for the last years for countries in the Middle East & North Africa region, such as Morocco as well as India, Australia, and South Africa. WIREs Energy Environ 2017, 6:e217. doi: 10.1002/wene.217


SINCE so little information has been made available in this country with regard to Russian aero‐engines, it was thought worth‐while to attempt to compile a description of this engine, although it was first produced at least fifteen years ago. This description is necessarily incomplete and to some extent disjointed because most of it is based on references contained in the book Aero‐Engines—Design and Detail Calculations, edited by A. E. Zaikin, of the Joukowsky Military Aviation Academy of Kiev, and published in 1941 by the State Publishing House of the Defence Industry. This book was not intended to describe any one engine but rather, to indicate the merits and demerits of various components of many engines including English, American, French and German products. It is known that most of the aero‐engines produced in Russia are of foreign origin and for this reason it was assumed that interest would be taken in the AM.34 which does appear to be of Russian design.


FMRI has become a key tool for human neuroscience. At ultra-high field (=> 7 Tesla) it is possible to acquire images with submillimeter spatial precision, which allows examinations of mesoscale functional organization. Studying the brain at this scale does not come without its challenges, however. To tackle some of these challenges, we propose an approach that builds upon task modulations to identical visual stimuli and the simultaneous imaging of distal areas of varying complexity across the cortical hierarchy. Specifically, we record BOLD responses elicited by face stimuli during a stimulus relevant and a stimulus irrelevant task across cortical depths in V1, Occipital Face (OFA) and Fusiform Face area (FFA). We observed that task-related top-down modulations were larger in the inner compared to the outer layers of V1; and in the outer compared to the inner layers in the FFA. Our findings are consistent with animal reports of feedback exchange between deeper and superficial layers and with the notion of apical dendritic amplification as a key mechanism of conscious perception. Our approach showcases the potential of "laminar-fMRI" to explore large scale network activity and represents a promising step towards characterizing laminar functional profiles in humans for complex, cognitively meaningful, and socially relevant stimuli such as faces.


The relative infectiousness of laboratory and primary human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants was evaluated in in vitro cell cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells or MT-2 cells and in Hu-PBL-SCID mice. HIV(MN) and syncytium-inducing primary isolates were preferentially transmitted to cells in tissue culture. HIV(Ba-L) and non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) primary isolates were more infectious in Hu-PBL-SCID mice. Phylogenetic analysis of env sequences derived from the primary isolates, from the cell cultures, and from five Hu-PBL-SCID mice was performed by using methods designed for resolving differences among closely related sequence pairs. This analysis demonstrated preferential transmission of an evolutionarily related subset of NSI variants to Hu-PBL-SCID mice. The pattern of selective transmission of a restricted range of NSI variants that is observed in the clinical setting is maintained in Hu-PBL-SCID mice and not in tissue culture systems. The Hu-PBL-SCID mouse model system, when used with appropriate phylogenetic analysis methodologies, will be useful for identifying and characterizing the more infectious HIV-1 variants that should be targeted for vaccine development.


PURPOSE In 2016, there were 1,308,061 cases of cancer being treated in Indonesia, with 2.2 trillion rupiahs spent, amounting to $486,960,633 in US dollars (purchasing power parity 2016). The high burden of cancers in Indonesia requires a valid data collection to inform future cancer-related policies. The purpose of this study is to report cancer epidemiological data from 2008 to 2012 based on Hospital-Based Cancer Registry (HBCR) data from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Indonesia. METHODS This was a descriptive study with cross-sectional design. Data were collected from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital HBCR 2008-2012. Demographical, diagnostic, stages of cancer, and histopathological types of cancer data were extracted. RESULTS After screening, 18,216 cases were included. A total of 12,438 patients were older than 39 years of age (68.3%), with a female-to-male ratio of 9:5. Most patients have cancers at advanced stages (stages III and IV, 10.2%). The most common sites of cancer were cervix uteri (2,878 cases, 15.8%), breast (2,459 cases, 13.5%), hematopoietic and reticuloendothelial systems (1,422 cases, 7.8%), nasopharynx (1,338 cases, 7.4%), and lymph nodes (1,104 cases, 6.1%). CONCLUSION From this HBCR, cancer incidence in female was almost twice the incidence in male, largely because of the burden of cervical and breast cancers. The cervix uteri as one of the top five cancer sites based on this HBCR, 2008-2012, are still approximately consistent with Global Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence 2018, which portrayed that Indonesia has been severely afflicted by cervical cancer cases more than any other Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries. The HBCR could serve as a robust database of epidemiological data for cancer cases in Indonesia.


Critical care is provided to patients who require intensive monitoring and often the support of failing organs. Cardiovascular and circulatory diseases and dysfunctions are extremely common in this group of patients. However, cardiac disease states are highly patient-specific and every patient has a unique expression of the disease or underlying dysfunction. Clinical staff must consider many combinations of different disease scenarios based on frequently conflicting or confusing measured data on a patient's condition. Successful diagnosis and treatment therefore often rely on the experience and intuition of clinical staff, increasing the likelihood for clinical errors. A cardiovascular (CVS) computerized model that uniquely represents the patient and underlying dysfunction or disease is developed. The CVS model is extended to account for the known physiologic mechanisms during spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation, thus increasing the model's accuracy of representing a critically ill patient in the intensive care unit (ICU). The extended CVS model is validated by correctly simulating several well known circulatory mechanisms and interactions. An integral-based system parameter identification method is refined and extended to account for much smaller subsets of available input data, as usually seen in critical care units. For example, instead of requiring the continuous ventricle pressure and volume waveforms, only the end-systolic (ESV) and end-diastolic (EDV) volume values are needed, which can be even further reduced to only using the global end-diastolic volume (GEDV) and estimating the ventricle volumes. These changes make the CVS model and its application to monitoring more applicable to a clinical environment. The CVS model and integral-based parameter identification approach are validated on data from porcine experiments of pulmonary embolism (PE), positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) titrations at different volemic levels, and 2 different studies of induced endotoxic (septic) shock. They are also validated on 3 adrenaline dosing data sets obtained from published studies in humans. Overall, these studies are used to show how the model and realistic clinical measurements may be used to provide a clear clinical picture in real-time. A wide range of clinically measured hemodynamics were successfully captured over time. The integral-based method identified all model parameters, typically with less than 10% error versus clinically measured pressure and volume signals. Moreover, patient-specific parameter relationships were formulated allowing the forward prediction of the patient's response towards clinical interventions, such as administering a fluid bolus or changing the dose of an inotrope. Hence, the model and methods are able to provide diagnostic information and therapeutic decision support. In particular, tracking the model parameter changes over time can assist clinical staff in finding the right diagnosis, for example an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance indicates a developing constriction in the pulmonary artery caused by an embolus. Furthermore, using the predictive ability of the model and developed methods, different treatment choices and their effect on the patient can be simulated. Thus, the best individual treatment for each patient can be developed and chosen, and unnecessary or even harmful interventions avoided. This research thus increases confidence in the clinical applicability and validity of this overall diagnostic monitoring and therapy guidance approach. It accomplishes this goal using a novel physiological model of the heart and circulation. The integral-based parameter identification methods take dense, numerical data from diverse measurements and aggregate them into a clearer physiological picture of CVS status. Hence, the broader accomplishment of this thesis is the transformation, using computation and models, of diverse and often confusing measured data into a patient-specific physiological picture a new model-based therapeutic.


First lines: In the Western world, it is widely acknowledged that the Welfare state has gradually eroded since the end of the 1970s due to a range of liberalization and deregulation policies, such as the privatization of social insurance schemes, the decentralization of Welfare services, or increases in competition between Welfare providers. Certainly, the pathways taken by such a large-scale transformation has varied from by country and by sector—overall, it has been more pronounced in Anglo-Saxon democracies than in Continental Europe, and more perceptible for pensions than for healthcare. It is also true that a number of post-war Welfare institutions have proven to be very resilient or particularly difficult to remove (think of America's Medicare or the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom). Still, the creation of countrywide Welfare institutions is no longer seen as the sole nor the dominant way through which the nation-state envisions its intervention upon social and economic life. Indeed, recent events suggest that when present-day politicians try to promote large-scale program change, they face far greater opposition than their post-war predecessors—as recently exemplified by the conflictual adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the US.


Background: Androgen-related aggressive behaviour and musth cause serious problems in captive African elephant bulls and often lead to human and animal injuries, and damage to property.Objectives: To review the work carried out with anti-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccines to control androgen-related behaviour and fertility in captive and free-ranging elephant bulls and the induction of anoestrus in elephant cows.Method: In the first study, an anti-GnRH vaccine from Pepscan was tested in six bulls (four captive and two free-ranging). Once the vaccine Improvac® became available, the effect on behaviour, the reproductive organs and semen quality was tested. Improvac® was also used to attempt induction of anoestrus in elephant cows.Results: The first study proved that aggressive behaviours are significantly associated with increased faecal androgen concentrations. Musth (n = 1) and aggressive behaviour (n = 2) were down regulated and correlated with a decline in faecal androgen concentrations. Aggression and musth could be controlled with Improvac® (600 µg), but were more consistent when the dose was increased to 1000 µg administered every five to six months. The same dose down regulated testicular function and bulls (n = 17) were rendered infertile within 12 months after commencement of treatment. Initial attempts to induce anoestrous with 600 µg in free-ranging elephant cows gave inconclusive results, but 1000 µg in captive cows delivered five-monthly was successful.Conclusion: The treatment of elephant bulls with Improvac® resulted in the successful down-regulation of androgen-related behaviour and sperm production in captive and wild elephant bulls of various ages (≤ 34 years). Preliminary studies to induce anoestrus in cows with Improvac® appear to be successful.


In this paper, we present our approach to introduce dynamism support to simulation environments, which adopts a Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS)-based modeling and simulation approach and builds upon previous work on Simulation Modeling Architecture (SiMA), a DEVS-based simulation framework developed at TUBITAK UEKAE. In the relevant literature there are already proposed solutions to the dynamism support problem. One particular contribution offered in this study over previous approaches is the systematic framework support for post-structural-change state synchronization among models with related couplings, in a way that benefits from the strongly typed execution environment SiMA provides. In addition to introducing theoretical extensions to basic SiMA, we report the results of performance measurements to illustrate the added value of dynamism extensions over the basic version, using a sample wireless sensor network simulation.


Ecosystem stability is threatened by multiple global change factors such as drought and elevated nitrogen deposition. Yet, it is still poorly understood whether soil organisms can buffer against such perturbations. Here we focus on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), a common and widespread group of soil fungi. AMF form symbiotic associations with the majority of terrestrial land plants and promote a range of ecosystem services including plant production, diversity and nutrient cycling. We tested whether AMF have the ability to enhance the resistance and resilience of plant communities under soil moisture deficit (hereby drought) and nitrogen deposition. Grassland microcosms with 11 different plant species were established with and without AMF and exposed to elevated nitrogen levels and to an intermittent period of drought. Drought strongly reduced plant productivity and nitrogen cycling, but had limited effects on plant diversity. Nitrogen enrichment reduced plant diversity and increased nitrogen leaching and N2O emissions. The presence of AMF enhanced plant productivity, plant diversity and reduced nitrogen losses. AMF facilitated the resistance of plant productivity and nitrogen cycling to drought and the recovery of the plant community structure back to its pre drought state. Furthermore, AMF also mitigated the adverse effects of nitrogen enrichment on the resistance of multiple ecosystem functions to drought. Synthesis. Our work highlights the integral role of AMF for the stability of ecosystem functioning; AMF are not only able to promote resistance to harsh conditions of global change but also improve resilience by enabling plant communities to recover. These findings underline AMF's insurance capacity to buffer ecosystems against global change.


The aim of our RCT was to evaluate safety and efficacy of a new device called Prevention Nail System (PNS) developed for the prevention of femoral neck fractures (FNFs) in patients with severe osteoporosis. The PNS is a titanium screw with a hydroxyapatite coating implanted in the femoral neck in order to reinforce it. We enrolled patients with: FNF; age ≥65 years; DXA of the noninjured hip with a T-score ≤ −2.5 SD. In the fractured hip patients received standard treatment while the contralateral hip was randomized either to receive PNS (group A) or not: control group (B). During each follow-up (FU) at 3, 12 and 24 months, DXA, CT and X-rays of the reinforced hip were performed.
The mean age was 83 years and the preoperative DXA was −3.3 SD in both groups. The walking ability of patients with PNS were comparable to controls. The CT scan showed good integration of the PNS in the bone. At the longest available FU 23 patients reported one or more falls. 16 nonfemoral fractures were recorded: 10 (A) and 6 (B) and 6 contralateral hip fractures (CHFs): 3 in the PNS group and 3 in the control group. In A all CHFs occurred within 1 month after surgery and there was a difficult screw placement during surgery, in the control group the CHFs were consequence of a fall (6 months to 2 years after the first FNF). No statistical differences were reported between groups A and B.
In conclusion, the device was well tolerated; CHFs in the PNS group should be considered a technical error due to the surgical instruments. Safety of the device can be increased by improving the instruments to reduce the risk of iatrogenic fractures.


Fluorescence angiography was used to study local microcirculation in 20 patients (9 females and 11 males) aged 18 to 48 years who had primary pterygium. All pterygiums were divided into unprogressive (10 patients, 10 eyes) and progressive (10 patients, 10 eyes). The revealed pattern of the microangioarchitectonics of pterygium suggests that there is an independent isolated microvascular system that comprises a system of posterior conjunctival vessels, relatively large arterial trunks, and a developed newly formed vasculature. Unprogressive pterygium is characterized by a slightly developed neovasculature in the tissue of pterygium, in its head in particular, while the progressive form is marked by a rich neovasculature with pronounced extravasal fluorescence.


In a context of ongoing popular resistance in the Arab world, the question of how this has affected the view of the EU's role in the region by European stakeholders has not yet sufficiently be inquired into. How is the EU – and its presence and practices particularly – perceived within its own core, by its policymakers on one hand, and by the European civil society it also involves in its policies, on the other? Institutional stakeholders see the space the EU occupies in the Mediterranean as rather limited with other powers growing in the region. In contrast to this, resistance of European civil society to the current EU role is growing. Not only is the EU now criticized of massive human rights violation itself, specifically in the area of migration, but its whole development model is called into question, including within Europe itself. At the same time, civil society presents a strong alternative imagination of the EU as a non-colonial presence whose practices are based on a universal human rights approach with a strong focus on socio-economic rights/social justice and the inclusion of a variety of actors.
European Union, Mediterranean, civil society, democracy, human rights, resilience


This article addresses the serious public health problem of substance abuse among pregnant women. Part I of this article introduces the national problem of prenatal drug abuse. Part II discuses the appropriateness of government intervention. The article explains the medical consequences of prenatal drug abuse, and then, describes the justification of government intervention. The article details both existing criminal law and new legislation regarding prenatal drug abuse. Part III addresses constitutional concerns and the conflict between a woman's right on the one hand and the state interest and "fetal rights" on the other. Part IV considers the moral and legal obligations and duties of pregnant women. After introducing the obligations and duties of pregnant woman, the article analyzes the issues using Hohfeld's Correlatives. Part V evaluates the advisability of adopting criminal legislation that punishes women for not getting drug treatment. Part VI argues for legislation that treats drug addiction as a disease. The article reasons that by focusing on treatment, a win/win situation is created where the interest if the mother, the unborn child, and society are served. Part VII touts the advantages of the proposed legislation while Part VIII examines its practical effects. Part IX concludes by reasserting the seriousness of prenatal drug abuse and the benefits of legislation that would treat drug addiction as a disease.


Time series models of global climate change have tended to estimate a low climate sensitivity and a fast adjustment rate to equilibrium. These results appear to be biased by omission of a key variable - heat stored in the ocean. I develop a time series model of the ocean atmosphere climate system where atmospheric temperature moves towards a long-run equilibrium with both radiative forcing and ocean heat content, which is distributed between upper ocean and deep ocean components. The time series model utilizes the notion of multicointegration to impose energy balance relations on an autoregressive model. As there are only around fifty years of observations on ocean heat content I use the Kalman filter to estimate heat content as a latent state variable constrained by the available observations. The estimate of the equilibrium climate sensitivity is 8.4K with a confidence interval of 5.0 to 11.7K. Temperature takes centuries to adjust to an increase in radiative forcing. The transient climate sensitivity at the point of carbon dioxide doubling is 1.7K.


Abstract To obtain CT images of the knee joint in a more lifelike position, data acquisition can be performed with patients in standing rather than in lying position. However, in that situation, people tend to show involuntary motion. One possibility to compensate for that motion is the use of Inertial Measurement Units, that capture the accelerations during the scan. For this purpose, their local coordinate system needs to be known. An estimation based on the SIFT algorithm was implemented and compared to an existing approach that uses the Fast Radial Symmetry transform and to expert labels for evaluation. The SIFT method showed to be superior to the existing approach as it could extract stable feature points from the projections that were used to estimate the three-dimensional coordinate system in a reliable manner. The final algorithm achieved a mean euclidean distance of 2.61 mm between the calculated position of the origin and the assumed ground truth by the expert labels.


beta-Arrestins regulate opioid receptor-mediated signal transduction and play an important role in opiate-induced analgesia and tolerance/dependence. This study was carried out to measure the direct interaction between beta-arrestins and opioid receptor. Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that beta-arrestin 1 physically interacts with delta opioid receptor (DOR) co-expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells in an agonist-enhanced manner and truncation of the carboxyl terminus of DOR partially impairs the interaction. In vitro data from glutathione-S-transferase pull-down assay showed that the carboxyl terminus (CT) and the third intracellular loop (I3L) of DOR are both capable of and either domain is sufficient for binding to beta-arrestin 1 and 2. Surface plasmon resonance determination further revealed that binding of CT and I3L of DOR to beta-arrestin is additive, suggesting these two domains bind at distinctly different sites on beta-arrestin without considerable spatial hindrance. This study demonstrated for the first time the direct binding of beta-arrestins to the two distinct domains, the carboxyl terminus and the third intracellular loop, of DOR.


The human mouth has been utilized as a new and significant in vivo open bioassay system for tracing undesirable substances present in tobacco smoke, in an exact milieu where the smoking "problem" begins and must be dealt with directly. The associated in vitro closed test systems described herein have provided new, sensitive bioassays that help to explain the in vivo effects.


This study examined the differential role of purpose in the lives of high school male students representing a range of personal and academic well-being, including both thriving and at-risk participants. A primary aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive description of the  types of purpose adolescent males express and to investigate the degree to which they are integrated into their lives. Results suggest that most youth, even those at risk, can articulate a sense of purpose, and the majority identify school as a primary source of purpose in their lives. This study found that while most young men report having purposes, these purposes lack differentiation and are just beginning to be defined. Most young men report having purposes that they are optimistic about fulfilling, are realistic in nature, influence their decisions and are salient.


Getting to know the lifestyles of university students provides important input for possible decision-making for the implementation of intervention programs within the university environment. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of risk behaviors to health in a representative sample of UENP students and, in accordance with the information obtained, indicate specific actions using means that can assist in reducing such behaviors. The survey of the main risk factors for the health of the population in question was performed by database analysis. The orientation was conducted through social networks, with online control over access to and interactions with members of the networks using information made available by the research. More than 200 messages were posted, trying to put this population on the path towards factors related to healthy habits. A viewing average of 471.2 ± 128.16 people accessed the page and an average of 12,915.07 ± 6,517.45 people saw the posts per week. Given the above, we suggest actions in UENP to encourage healthy habits, and the social networks proved to be a viable tool for this though other media may be offered, seeking to encourage this population to adopt a more active and health lifestyle.


The generation and propagation of a packet of small-amplitude inertia–gravity waves (IGWs) in a rotating stratified balanced flow is described. The initially balanced geophysical flow is an unstable baroclinic jet which breaks up into a street of cyclonic and anticyclonic vortices. The small-amplitude unbalanced component of the flow is extracted from the large-amplitude mesoscale balanced flow using the optimal potential vorticity balance approach. This analysis reveals that during the instability the balanced flow spontaneously emits bursts of IGWs. The emission occurs along two directions, into and out of the anticyclonic vortices. The inward-waves remain trapped inside the vortices while the outward-waves propagate away from them as a packet of small-amplitude IGWs with a three-dimensional helical structure. The wave packet emission is confirmed for different spatial resolutions ($128^3$, $160^3$, $192^3$ and $256^3$ grid points). The ratio between the balanced vertical and horizontal velocity components is of the order of $10^{-3}$, as is typical of mesoscale geophysical flows. The ratio between the unbalanced vertical and horizontal components is about 0.1. Since the unbalanced horizontal and the balanced vertical velocity components are of similar magnitude, the vertical velocity of the IGWs is about $10^{-4}$ times the balanced horizontal velocity. The IGWs are dominated by frequencies close to the inertial frequency and have a clockwise-rotating horizontal velocity, similar to plane wave solutions.


In many cultures, eating is an important social and family occasion, a pleasurable experience and thus is an enjoyment in life. However, there are other facets of eating whereby it poses as a challenge to a wide sector of adolescents who exhibit weight-related concerns and behaviours. A significant proportion of them fall into the spectrum of disordered eating. At one extreme of the spectrum is morbid obesity and at the other, anorexia nervosa. Obesity has increased markedly in the past two decades in all developed countries and regions. The medical consequences of obesity are well studied. But obesity in adolescents is not mere overeating. Overeating in adolescents has been shown to be associated with a number of adverse behaviours and negative psychosocial experiences. In fact, it may be a clear sign alerting for intervention, intervention that crosses disciplines. This paper ad dresses the psychosocial risks of obese adolescents that youth workers and professionals need to be cognisant of. Intervention strategies with particular emphasis on prevention rationale and approaches that tap on intersectoral collaboration are discussed.


The goals of this study were to identify groups of health-related behaviors among young adults (N = 314, Mage = 21.94, SD = 6.53), gauge the relation between emotional intelligence and health behaviors in this population, and assess health consciousness as mediator of said relation. Latent class analysis identified two mutually exclusive health behavior groups, which according to response patterns were labeled as Healthy and Unhealthy. The Healthy group (56%) was composed of individuals who had a healthy diet (i.e., low fat and high fiber), exercised regularly, and who frequently engaged in behaviors that prevent oral and skin-related diseases. In contrast, the Unhealthy group (44%) rarely engaged in these health-promoting behaviors. Using structural equation modeling we found a negative relation between emotional intelligence and unhealthy behaviors relative to health-promoting ones. Mediation analyses indicated that the mechanism explaining said relation was through increments in health consciousness, with large standardized indirect effects ranging between -0.52 and -0.78. As health behaviors during early adulthood are salient predictors of health outcomes in old age, the results have clear implications for the inclusion of emotional intelligence training in programs seeking to raise health awareness and cultivate health promoting behaviors in young adults, in so much as to seek to reduce the risk of chronic ailments later in life.


Abstract Reflecting a central premise of the collective securitisation model, it is argued in this article that both specific events and longer-term trends have galvanised and reinforced the EU discourse of increasing threat and risk around cybersecurity, at different points in time. Thus, whilst major cyberattacks have caused the EU to reflect with some urgency on the increasing threat and review its approach, new policy initiatives evolved incrementally thereafter, rather than being the product of any emergency action outside the EU's normal politics. It is shown further that, in the case of cybersecurity, discourses of threat and risk have continued beyond policy initiation, and that this discourse has very much run in parallel with further action and initiatives. Finally, this article demonstrates how collective securitisation and legislation in certain key areas related to cybersecurity can also be subject to EU institutional desecuritisation moves, leading to national policy differentiation following a precipitating event.


Over the past 10 years, innovations in physics and computer science have promoted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an essential tool for investigating the biological substrates of psychiatric disorders. Requiring no radiation exposure, MRI is now the preferred imaging technique for pediatric populations. However, the rapid technical advances in MRI pulse sequences, data processing, and analysis have made it increasingly complex for clinicians to compare and critically evaluate MRI research studies. This paper selectively reviews MRI research on five psychiatric conditions occurring in childhood or adolescence: ADHD, autism, childhood-onset schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, and early-onset depression. The selection of papers reviewed was based on four criteria: the originality of the idea underlying the paper, the quality of the sample and methodologies used, the presence of controversial findings in the paper, and whether the paper was a clear illustration of specific methodological strengths or weaknesses. The two goals of this review paper are to update clinicians on morphometric brain imaging in child psychiatry and the methodological issues pertaining to image acquisition and analysis, and to promote critical reading of future MRI studies.


We present a novel approach to modeling stories using recurrent neural networks. Different story features are extracted using natural language processing techniques and used to encode the stories as sequences. These sequences can be learned by deep neural networks, in order to predict the next story events. The predictions can be used as an inspiration for writers who experience a writer's block. We further assist writers in their creative process by generating visualizations of the character interactions in the story. We show that suggestions from our model are rated as highly as the real scenes from a set of films and that our visualizations can help people in gaining deeper story understanding.