After Germany's military defeat in World War I, and with its acceptance of provisions stipulated by the Versailles Treaty in June 1919, major territorial changes took effect in the German eastern provinces. Almost all of the Posen province, a portion of Silesia, and large areas of West Prussia were lost by Germany and integrated into the newly established Polish state. The "corridor" of Polish territory now lay between the Free City of Danzig (to be administered by the League of Nations) and the parts of Pomerania which remained German. Although not on as grand a scale, the situation after 1918 was in quite a few ways comparable to that incurred twenty-seven years later in 1945. In the area remaining within the Reich, German politicians, business people, as well as local inhabitants, were forced to confront the sudden loss of territory, economic facilities, agricultural resources, and political control. Beyond the newly drawn eastern borders, German citizens were either driven out of what was now Polish territory, or they suddenly found themselves living as an isolated and not very well respected or protected minority under foreign political control.(1) Because of the loss of much of what had previously been known as West Prussia and Posen, an independent new German province was established in 1992 which stretched out along the eastern-most border of the Weimar Republic and became known as the Grenzmark Posen-Westpreussen. The Polish historian Jan Wasicki has shown how the Grenzmark was founded and named purposefully as "to keep green the memory of the territories detached by the provisions of the Versailles Treaty." The formerly German areas of Posen and West Prussia would thus live on in name as well as in the collective consciousness of the German people.(2) In 1936, the German historian Erich Murawski went even further, stating that the creation of the Grenzmark emphasized the artificiality and temporariness of the borders imposed by the Versailles Treaty. The Grenzmark was here seen as a territory which would help the Germans gather strength before they returned to their rightful place as rulers over West Prussia and Posen.(3) The new province, a true borderland phenomenon, was very slim and elongated, and rather small in territory and population. It only consisted of nine regional administrative counties (Kreise), situated in a thin strip along the new German-Polish border, and its capital was a town of 40,000 inhabitants named Schneidemuhl. A thorough portrayal of area and population of the territory is available in statistical reference works,(4) as well as more recently in two major histories of public administration.(5) These show that the new region had, in 1925, a population of 332,485 persons (by 1933 the figure had risen slightly to 337,600), an area of 7,715 square kilometers, and a population density of 43.8 persons per square kilometer. The nine individual counties (Kreise) were Schlochau, Flatow, Deutsch Krone, Netzekreis, Schwerin, Meseritz, Bomst, Fraustadt, and the city of Schneidemuhl itself. They stretched for several hundred kilometers along the newly created international border. Since it was composed in such an artificial way, one of the most obvious features of the Grenzmark province was its heterogeneity. This holds true for the historical roots, the national and linguistic affiliation of the population, as well as for economic development in the nine individual districts.(6) Created out of bits and pieces left over when intact territories were forcibly divided by the Versailles Treaty, the Grenzmark may thus be seen as a region consisting of administrative areas possessing not many historical links and common characteristics. In fact, the artificiality of this newly joined administrative region was the main reason, in its few years of existence, for German fears of chronic instability. On the other hand, it is perhaps astounding that the region remained as stable as it did. …


Desharnais, Gupta, Jagadeesan and Panangaden introduced a family of behavioural pseudometrics for probabilistic transition systems. These pseudometrics are a quantitative analogue of probabilistic bisimilarity. Distance zero captures probabilistic bisimilarity. Each pseudometric has a discount factor, a real number in the interval (0, 1]. The smaller the discount factor, the more the future is discounted. If the discount factor is one, then the future is not discounted at all. Desharnais et al. showed that the behavioural distances can be calculated up to any desired degree of accuracy if the discount factor is smaller than one. In this paper, we show that the distances can also be approximated if the future is not discounted. A key ingredient of our algorithm is Tarski's decision procedure for the first order theory over real closed fields. By exploiting the Kantorovich-Rubinstein duality theorem we can restrict to the existential fragment for which more efficient decision procedures exist.


Corruption is widespread in Nigeria not because the people are different from people from other parts of the world, but because the conditions are ripe for it. There are many reasons why this is so. The motivation to earn income from among the populace is relatively stronger; exacerbated by poverty, unemployment and low wages. In Nigeria, accountability is generally weak, political competitions and civil liberties are often restricted. Laws and principles of ethics in government are poorly developed and the legal institutions charged with enforcing them are ill- prepared. The impediment to implementation of Anti - Money Laundering standards include Anti - graft Agencies been manned by corrupt personnel, pressure of organized crimes forces on enforcement officials, harassment of political opponents by law enforcement agencies, lack of cooperation by banks and other financial institutions in performing what is required by law, perceived high susceptibility of returned loot to corruption/ laundering all over again. On the whole, to shift from practice to result, it is suggested that there is need for improvement in the socio- economic life of the people and leadership by example; punitive measures on corruption practices and value re -orientation as well as independence of enforcement agencies concern with Anti -Money Laundering.


Semantic search in video is a novel and challenging problem in information and multimedia retrieval. Existing solutions are mainly limited to text matching, in which the query words are matched against the textual metadata generated by users. This paper presents a state-of-the-art system for event search without any textual metadata or example videos. The system relies on substantial video content understanding and allows for semantic search over a large collection of videos. The novelty and practicality is demonstrated by the evaluation in NIST TRECVID 2014, where the proposed system achieves the best performance. We share our observations and lessons in building such a state-of-the-art system, which may be instrumental in guiding the design of the future system for semantic search in video.


Objective: Aspergillus fumigatus is the main causative agent of invasive aspergillosis. Upon inhalation conidia pass the mucosal barrier and end up in the lung cavities, the alveoli. Surveilling lung macrophages and type II lung epithelial cells produce amongst others intra-and extracellular reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) to prevent fungal growth. ROS consists of superoxides, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. Fungal components involved in protection against these compounds are superoxide dismutase (O2 -), catalases (H2O2 ), L-DOPA melanine (OH. ) due to the existence of different oxidative states of the quinone residues. A. fumigatus produces DHN-melanine present in spores whereas pyomelanine is produced by hyphae. Both types of melanines were suggested to play a role in protection against ROS but the evidence of their protective role is very thin. In addition, how these compounds protect at a chemical level has not been investigated. Our objective is to unravel the protective mechanisms of fungal components against ROS and RNS. We expect that surface exposed and/or secreted fungal component are involved in protection. In this study we have investigated the sensitivity of spores of WT A. fumigatus strain and mutants with disruption in genes involved in production of DHN-melanine (PksP), pyomelanine (HppD) or the rodlets (Roda or RodB) for hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. Methods: Spores or fungal cells were incubated with different concentrations of H2O2 or hydroxyl radicals for several time intervals and survival was determined after dilution plating on PDA agar media and counting CFU. Spores were plated on minimal medium plates containing different concentrations of H2O2 and zones of inhibition were determined. L-tyrosine was added to culture media to determine the role of pyomelanine. Results: Comparison of sensitivity for hydrogen peroxide or hydroxyl radicals of the WT A. fumigatus strain with any of the mutants in different types of assays did not reveal any change in sensitivity for the tested ROS. In contrast, C. neoformans grown in the presence of L-DOPA and producing L-DOPA melanine was found to be protected against hydroxyl radicals. Conclusion: The rodlet and the melanin layer present at the outside of the conidia of A. fumigatus does not play a role in the protection against hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals, this in contrast to the role of L-DOPA-malanine in the cell wall of C. neoformans. The resistance of fumigatus spores to hydroxyl radicals is very striking and we propose that spores of A. fumigatus have a novel protective mechanism against this component and a possible role of secondary metabolites is discussed.


Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) and self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) are widely used as standardized measurements in diabetes management. HbA1c is a measure of the mean blood glucose level over a period of 8-12 weeks. This index is easy to measure, relatively inexpensive and internationally standardized. HbA1c helps to predict the complications, particularly microvascular complications in patients with diabetes [1]. However, because HbA1c represents only an average measure of glucose levels, it does not provide glycemic variability (GV), glucose excursions or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia and GV ultimately are major challenges during optimization of glycemic control. GV is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular (CV) outcomes and diabetic retinopathy. There are many factors that affect GV including diet, physical activities, patient health status and therapeutic regimen. On the other hand, there are certain conditions and factors such as renal failure, anemia or hemoglobinopathies that can alter the accuracy of HbA1C result .
Current viewpoints in diabetes care emphasize personalized treatment plan for each individual to provide an excellent quality, to improve patient experience, and to minimize the burdens of daily living with diabetes. Many current guidelines indeed recommend an optimal glucose control consisting of an HbA1C level ~7% (but personalized for each individual) with less GV and severe hypoglycemic events as much as possible [3].
SMBG for long is also an accurate measure of capillary glucose levels that is relatively inexpensive and easy to use. SMBG can improves blood glucose control. However, SMBG have many limitations such as representing only a single point value of glucose, no indication of the trend or rate of glucose level change, multiple daily testing required that increase the daily burden and unable to detect nocturnal and unawareness hypoglycemic events The dramatically emergence of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems has potentially become one of the disruptive innovations that change the way we manage the patients with diabetes. CGM systems are measured glucose readings in the interstitial fluid continuously throughout whole day. The glucose readings display in real-time manner including not only glucose levels but also the trends that can help patient and health care provider (HCP) make interventions before the events happen.
There are many research and analysis that show the benefits of CGM in patients with type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Twenty-seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the outcomes of CGM use in 3,826 patients have been published.
Compared to conventional HbA1c and SMBG measurements, CGM provides more valuable information including a continuous and real-time glucose monitoring, detection of GV and number and time of hypoglycemia as well as hyperglycemia. CGM can help to minimize severe or nocturnal hypoglycemia, especially in patients with hypoglycemic unawareness; CGM resulted in better glycemic control than conventional treatment and reduce the mean amplitude of glycemic excursion in persons with diabetes. CGM reduces importantly HbA1c levels, increase time in range and reduce incidence and time spent with hypoglycemia. In addition, CGM can be used as a valuable tool for patient education of self-management and help patients to personalize their management strategies

Evidence from the studies and meta-analysis have shown that the application of CGM in patients with diabetes has been beneficial in glycemic control, reduction of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia events, HbA1c reduction and improvement of quality of life. CGM use in combination of HbA1c monitoring obviously help to achieve a better optimal and stable glycemic control as well as to build patient confidence in self-management with a useful monitoring tool. While the use of CGM is drastically increasing, there are barriers including the absence of international guidelines on CGM use, the cost or reimbursement issues, frustration over adherence, the complexity of technology and the lack of accuracy needed to have proper solutions for enhancing routine use of CGM in patients with diabetes.


This article briefly presents the target factors and methods for summarizing evidence employed in a technological evaluation, as well as the underlying logic in their elaboration and utilization in the field of public health. The example is post-menopausal osteoporosis, analyzing the current timeliness of disseminating bone densitometry and technologies to combat osteoporosis in Brazil Available studies on the effects of the respective technologies were reviewed according to the recommended methodology in order to produce a synthesis of the scientific evidence, updated and applied in Brazil. Preliminary cost-effective analyses of different alternatives for intervention (as compared to traditional care) are presented, considering women in and around menopause and at 65 years of age. Despite the optimistic hypotheses, the incremental cost estimates per averted fracture were high, all above R$ 10,000 for any of the various intervention alternatives, as compared to a mean cost of fractures treated by traditional care estimated at less than R$ 2,000, suggesting that the implementation of any of the target alternatives in the SUS would be questionable according to both efficiency criteria in the use of resources as well as equity.


Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is the leading cause of pneumonia in older children and young adults. Normally, it does not progress to a condition requiring hospitalization but improves spontaneously or has a mild clinical course. We report two cases of M. pneumoniae pneumonia with different clinical manifestations from the normal course. The patients were young healthy individuals. The diagnoses were made by serology. However, it could not be determined beforehand that they had M. pneumoniae pneumonia. Based on the empirical treatment strategy of severe community acquired pneumonia, the patients were treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics including cephalosporin, quinolone and macrolide. After administering the antibiotics, they showed a gradually favorable clinical course and recovered without residual complications. A M. pneumoniae infection should be considered as a cause of severe community acquired pneumonia, and empirical treatment targeting this organism might be helpful in treating patients with the severe manifestation. (Tuberc Respir Dis 2007;63:515-520)


The authors have summed up the results of development of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the determination of testosterone (T) in human and animal blood plasma. The method is based upon the use of rabbit antiserum to testosterone-3-(O-carboxymethyl) oxim with bovine serum albumin as a binding system, a conjugate of T with horse-radish peroxidase as a marker, and the formation of the antigen-antibody complex was registered with a spectrophotometer of Cf-4a, Cf-16 and Cf-26 types. The method is highly sensitive (6.25 pg/test), specific and is characterized by high indices of precision. Close correlation between EIA and RIA results for the determination of a T level in human and simian plasma under physiological conditions as well as in some pathological conditions, associated with disturbed production of androgens, indicates the correctness of this method.


This month, we focus on current research in postpartum hemorrhage. Dr. Rouse discusses five recent publications, and each is concluded with a "bottom line" that is the take-home message. The complete reference for each can be found in on this page, along with direct links to the abstracts.


Postwar America gave rise to multiple literary traditions, often referred to as the era's counterpoetics in the sense that they veered from the Eliotic dictum of impersonality, in particular, and from the rigid academic verse of New Criticism, in general. Prominent among these groups are the Confessionals, the Beats and poets of the New York School. Their visions of poetry might seem irreconcilable at times; yet, these poets do share their discontent with the era's containment culture. An eminent figure of the New York School, Frank O'Hara devoted his creative energy to a vibrant and vivid rendering of a disordered yet compelling city such as NYC. Its frantic atmosphere speaks to his imagination, fuels his aesthetic verve and, in a synergetic manner, feeds on it, gleaning order/meaning from the poet's words. In this respect, O'Hara's poetry can be construed as a containment of an established literary order, embodied in the rigorous dictates of New Criticism, but most important, as an outburst of meaningful disorder that finds strong resonance in life within NYC. Meaningful it is, for such disorder liberates the poet from feelings of vacuity and loss amplified especially by postwar anxiety, substantiating the poet's thought that, after all, "people do not totally regret their life," as O'Hara puts it (O'Hara, 1995, p. 97). In probing into the synergy between O'Hara's poetry and his city, this paper aims at examining the way in which the city, in O'Hara's words again, "flatters meanings of my life I cannot find," and in so doing, it not only invests the poet's life with meaning but also galvanizes his quest for meaning itself (O'Hara, 1995, p. 230).


E verything is going right in your leadership career—you're meeting goals, objectives, and timelines; volume and patient revenue are up; staff members are engaged; and patient satisfaction scores have never been better—when suddenly, the management team is called to a special meeting. The hallways are buzzing with rumors, which are confirmed when your highly respected, long-term CEO announces his resignation. The response from the management team is one of shock, fear, and sadness. There's a sudden sense of insecurity: Will the rhythm of success soon be a fond memory? Who'll lead the organization in the future? How will this change in leadership impact you, your staff, and, most importantly, patient care? Although this is a hypothetical situation, we can all recall similar times in our professional careers—just when everything seemed to be moving according to a precise direction, an unwelcomed change threatened to interrupt our hard-earned cadence of success. What's the best way to respond? Should you be proactive, neutral, or reactive to the change? Unexpected change is difficult because there's little or no time to digest how it will affect your agenda. Being proactive can prove positive if you believe that you're on the right track and are highly committed to the change. Getting ahead of the curve may grant you access to the decision-making process, allowing you to share your thoughts and ideas and leading to a greater influence regarding the change. However, getting on board with a new change before doing your own research and engaging in due diligence may cause major disruption that you aren't prepared to handle. Change for change's sake can disenfranchise staff members and be interpreted as demonstrating poor leadership skills. Neutral action may make it appear as if you aren't engaged in the change process. Proceeding with too much caution might cause major delays, which may leave your area of responsibility spending an inordinate amount of time attempting to catch up. If, however, you're taking a neutral position based on strategic thinking, it might be time well spent. Anticipating unintended consequences of the change while simultaneously implementing plans to mitigate untoward reactions may be the right course of action. By being reactive and taking a step back from the change, you'll allow others to be the experimenters. Gathering information on how your colleagues are implementing the change may save time and energy and ease transitional burdens. However, reacting is traditionally a characteristic of a follower not a leader; staff members typically prefer a leader who's dynamic and progressive, not passive and complacent. Whether you chose to be proactive, neutral, or reactive to change may yield both positive and negative consequences. The most important concept to remember regarding change is that you should consistently be a transformational leader. A leader who provides vision, inspiration, motivation, advice, honesty, and trust will help facilitate change and ensure controlled destabilization during the process. The beat of the cadence will always continue, but outstanding results hinge on the one beating the drum. NM


Why is acupuncture accepted in the East, especially for the treatment of chronic pain, but not in the West? One reason is that the modus operandi of acupuncture is not fully understood; another is the enigmatic nature of chronic pain. This article introduces a new concept of chronic pain, and suggests how acupuncture may relieve it. Chronic pain may arise from sources that are extrinsic to the nervous system (for example, ongoing injury or inflammation), but it can also be intrinsic and the result of abnormal hypersensitivity (supersensitivity) in neuropathic or partially denervated structures. Neuropathic pain typically affects the musculoskeletal system, and a pivotal component of this type of pain is muscle spasm or shortening. Spasm can cause pain localised to muscle, but sustained muscle spasm or shortening mechanically overloads tendons and their attachments, and can produce pain in these structures. Since neuropathic pain is different from nociception or inflammation, its treatment is also distinct (desensitisation of supersensitivity). Most physical treatment modalities for this type of pain, such as heat, massage or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), desensitise by reflex stimulation of the affected part via its intact innervation. However these modalities are passive and limited in scope. Stimulation ends when their application is terminated. In contrast, injection techniques, including acupuncture, are more effective and long-lasting, because the tissue injury that they produce can unleash the body's healing source of bioenergy through the current of injury. Tissue injury also releases the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), which can promote healing.


Abstract Supernovae of all types exhibit time-dependent spectropolarimetric signatures produced primarily by electron scattering. These reveal the presence of aspherical and variable phenomena such as complex velocity structures, changing illumination, and asymmetric or clumpy morphologies within the ejecta or surrounding circumstellar material. In addition, the gradual thinning of the ejecta over time allows us to probe different scattering regions as the supernova evolves. Interpreting the time variations of these spectropolarimetric signatures yields unprecedentedly detailed information about supernova explosion mechanisms, the physical processes that shape the density and velocity distributions of the ejecta and circumstellar material, and the properties of the progenitor star. I present an overview of supernova spectropolarimetry, highlighting recent observational and computational results. This versatile technique helps us to constrain explosion mechanisms, connect SNe with their massive progenitors (as well as other high-energy transient phenomena such as GRBs), and investigate the process of stellar evolution in other galaxies.


BACKGROUND
Despite very low mortality associated with micropapillary thyroid cancer, locoregional recurrence is common and controversy exists regarding optimal surgical treatment and the role of adjunctive radioiodine.

METHODS
The National Thyroid Cancer Treatment Cooperative Study Group Registry was analyzed for recurrences in patients with unifocal versus multifocal micropapillary cancer, with or without nodal disease, depending upon the extent of surgery and the use of adjunctive radioiodine. Six hundred eleven patients considered disease-free after initial therapy were followed for 2572 person-years.

RESULTS
Thirty patients (6.2%) had recurrences detected at a mean 2.8 years after primary treatment. Recurrences did not differ between patients with unifocal and multifocal disease overall; however, among patients who received less than a near-total thyroidectomy (NTT), those with multifocal disease had more recurrences than those with unifocal disease (18% vs. 4%, p = 0.01). Patients with multifocal disease who had a total (T) or NTT trended toward fewer recurrences than those undergoing less than an NTT (6% vs. 18%, p = 0.058). In patients who did not receive radioiodine therapy, recurrence was more common in patients with multifocal disease versus unifocal disease (7% vs. 2%, p = 0.02). However, radioiodine did not reduce recurrences in patients with multifocal disease or patients with positive nodes. Patients with positive nodes had more recurrences than node-negative patients regardless of surgical extent or use of radioiodine.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with micropapillary multifocal disease have a reduced risk of recurrence after a T/NTT compared with less surgery. A randomized, controlled trial is necessary and feasible to determine if radioiodine ablation of thyroid remnants is advantageous in patients with intrathyroidal micropapillary cancer.


Eighteen (18) lactating she-camels and two mature male for mating were used to determine the effect of Management System on camel calving interval, The camels were maintained under semi-intensive (N = 9) and Traditional management system (N = 9) in North Kordofan State, western Sudan. The experimental females in each group kept together with the bull during 18 months. Blood samples were collected from jugular vein since 4-months post-partum and continue 14 successive months at monthly interval. The serum samples were separated and stored at -20°C and were analysed for progesterone concentration using progesterone specific radio immuno assay (RIA) kits. The results indicated that under semi-intensive system 77.8% of females had been pregnant in 5th - 8th month post-partum and the calving interval varying between 17 to 20 months. Under traditional system and during the experimental period 44.5% of females were pregnant in the 11th – 16th month and the calving interval varying between 23 to 28 months. The ratios of pregnant vs non-pregnant during experimental period in semi-intensive and traditional were 88.9% vs 11.1% and 44.5% vs 55.5%, respectively. Beside the behavioural signs progesterone level consider a good indicator for pregnancy in camels. In pregnant females Progesterone concentration increased significantly during early months. The range of Progesterone concentration varied between 1.10 – 5.76 ng/ml and 0.67 – 2.53 ng/ml in semi-intensive and traditional system, respectively. Our results allow quantifying this impact. With a supplemented diet including 2 Kg of concentrates and 5 kg of roughages per day, the fertility rate will be improved of 67%. It would be possible to expect more than two fold young camels in a year by supplemented 5 kg of concentrates. We conclude that under semi-intensive management dietary supplement during post-partum and early lactation period improves reproductive parameters for instance shortened calving interval.


Compact localized modes of ring type exist in many two-dimensional lattices with a flat linear band, such as the Lieb lattice. The uniform Lieb lattice is gapless, but gaps surrounding the flat band can be induced by various types of bond alternations (dimerizations) without destroying the compact linear eigenmodes. Here, we investigate the conditions under which such diffractionless modes can be formed and propagated also in the presence of a cubic on-site (Kerr) nonlinearity. For the simplest type of dimerization with a three-site unit cell, nonlinearity destroys the exact compactness, but strongly localized modes with frequencies inside the gap are still found to propagate stably for certain regimes of system parameters. By contrast, introducing a dimerization with a 12-site unit cell, compact (diffractionless) gap modes are found to exist as exact nonlinear solutions in continuation of flat band linear eigenmodes. These modes appear to be generally weakly unstable, but dynamical simulations show parameter regimes where localization would persist for propagation lengths much larger than the size of typical experimental waveguide array configurations. Our findings represent an attempt to realize conditions for full control of light propagation in photonic environments.


Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have unveiled the functional localization and timing of neural ac- tivations associated with a variety of brain functions. This review focuses on the timing of neural activations related to at- tentional and sensory-motor functions in the somatosensory system as revealed by high-temporal resolution neuroimaging studies using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). We will briefly review basic concepts of EEG and MEG, and then EEG and MEG studies of attention and somatosensory- motor interaction while referring to previous studies using other techniques. Findings from patients with movement disor- ders will be also summarized. An overview of these studies shows that EEG and MEG are helpful to reveal cortical dy- namics of attentional and sensory-motor processing in the human brain and potentially a powerful tool to evaluate the pathophysiology of relevant disorders.


Aqueous extract of leaves of 3 herbs (Murraya koenigii, MK; Psidium guajava, PG and Catharanthus roseus, CR) were used to test their antidiabetic activity in Streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic albino rats. MK, PG and CR are given to the STZ induced diabetic rats at the concentration of 500 mg/kg body weight in different groups of 6 diabetic rats each orally once a day for 15 days. Glibenclamide (GBC) is also given to another group to support the results at the concentration of 3 mg/kg body weight orally once a day for 15 days. Diabetic control received vehicle. Body weight showed significant increase (MK and PG: p<0.05, CR and GBC: p<0.001) after 15 days of treatment with herbal extract when compared with the control. Blood glucose level on 15th day of treatment become significantly low (p<0.001). At the termination of th e experiment (on 15th day) the urine glucose and ketone were absent in herbal treated group which was present in the diabetic control. Histological study of the pancreas also assesses the results of body weight and blood glucose level. Islets of diabetic control group were damaged, shrunken in size and infiltration of lymphocytes was observed. While islets of herbal extracts treated rats were comparable to normal rats. Many rounds and elongated islets were evenly distributed through out the cytoplasm. No significant histological alteration was found in glomeruli or any other segment of kidney tubule in STZ induced diabetic rats. In herbal extract treated group no difference was found in kidney tubules when compare with their respective diabetic control. Findings of the present study suggest that the aqueous extract of leaves of MK, PG and CR at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight brings about significant beneficial effects in various physiological/ histological parameters altered during diabetic manifestations and these effects are quite comparable with glibenclamide (a standard drug used to treat diabetes mellitus).


We present an alternative scheme to perform a multiple encrypting technique based on the use of a Joint Transform Correlator architecture. The basic approach relies on using an extra random phase mask placed before the correlator input plane, where we select different disjoint regions to encode each input object. In this way we avoid the cross talking when reconstructing the encoded objects. We experimentally validated the procedure using a photorefractive crystal as a storing medium. Full text: PDF References: P. Refregier, B. Javidi,"Optical image encryption based on input plane and Fourier plane random encoding", Opt. Lett. 20, 767 (1995). [CrossRef] E. Tajahuerce, O. Matoba, S. C. Verrall, B. Javidi,"Optoelectronic information encryption with phase-shifting interferometry", Appl. Opt. 39, 2313 (2000). [CrossRef] G. Unnikrishnan, J. Joseph, K. Singh, "Optical Encryption System That Uses Phase Conjugation in a Photorefractive Crystal", Appl. Opt. 37, 8181 (1998). [CrossRef] J. F. Barrera, R. Henao, M. Tebaldi, N. Bolognini, R. Torroba, "Multiplexing encryption-decryption via lateral shifting of a random phase mask", Opt. Commun. 259, 532 (2006). [CrossRef] J. F. Barrera, R. Henao, M. Tebaldi, N. Bolognini, R. Torroba, "Multiplexing encrypted data by using polarized light", Opt. Commun. 260, 109 (2006). [CrossRef] G. Unnikrishnan, J. Joseph, K. Singh, "Optical encryption by double-random phase encoding in the fractional Fourier domain", Opt. Lett. 25, 887 (2000). [CrossRef] E. Tajahuerce, B. Javidi, "Encrypting three-dimensional information with digital holography", Appl. Opt. 39, 6595 (2000). [CrossRef] X. Peng, P. Zhang, H. Wei, B. Yu, "Known-plaintext attack on optical encryption based on double random phase keys", Opt. Lett. 31 1044 (2006). [CrossRef] Y. Frauel, A. Castro, T. J. Naughton, B. Javidi, "Resistance of the double random phase encryption against various attacks", Opt. Exp. 15, 10253 (2007). [CrossRef] T. Nomura, B. Javidi, "Optical encryption using a joint transform correlator architecture", Opt. Eng. 39, 2031 (2000). [CrossRef] D. Amaya, M. Tebaldi, R. Torroba, N. Bolognini, "Digital color encryption using a multi-wavelength approach and a joint transform correlator", J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 10, 104031 (2008). [CrossRef]


A biofilm-forming marine bacterium, D2, isolated from the surface of the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, was found to produce a novel, 190-kDa protein with antibacterial activity. The protein contained at least two subunits of 60 and 80 kDa, joined together by noncovalent bonds, and was shown to be released by D2 cells into the surrounding medium during stationary phase. N-terminal sequence analysis revealed no close similarity of this protein to any other proteins within the Swiss Prot database. Bacteriocidal activity against a wide variety of marine and medical bacterial isolates was observed, 77% of the strains tested being sensitive to the protein. Bacterial strains varied in their resistance to the D2 protein, with D2 itself being among the most sensitive with an MBC in liquid suspension of 4 micrograms/ml. An apparent increased resistance of D2 to the protein as the cells progressed further into stationary phase was observed and seen as a possible explanation for its survival despite the production of an autoinhibitory factor. The ability of the D2 bacterium to produce an antibacterial factor in addition to its inhibitory effects on marine invertebrates and algae (S. Egan et al., unpublished data) indicates that D2 has the potential to greatly affect the survival of a range of colonizers of the marine surface environment.


The change in appetite and food cravings before, during and after menstruation and the relationships between each premenstrual symptom and change in appetite and type of food with increased intake were investigated. This study was conducted by a self-administered questionnaire in 311 female students of health sciences. It was found that the proportion of students who increased the appetite was 70.4% during the menstruation cycle, and the highest period was before menstruation (85.8%). Sweets had the highest intake in all menstrual phases followed by junk food. It was found that increased appetite was significantly associated with depression and sleepiness. Moreover, increased intake of sweets was associated with depression, anger and sleepiness, while intake of junk food was associated with irritability and depression. In conclusion, the relationships between increased appetite for sweets and junk food and premenstrual symptoms indicate the need for promoting proper menstruation-related eating habits.

 Key words: Premenstrual symptoms, change in appetite, food craving, sweets, junk food.


Several investigators have indicated that changes in tumor size may not occur after hyperthermia therapy even with substantial tumor cell kill, because of early edema and subsequent fibrosis of background stroma, suggesting that "tumor stabilization" might be an important benefit of thermal therapy. Recently, 9 institutions completed a national cooperative study of localized hypetthermia for patients with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic solid cancer that evaluted the potential significance of this response variable in a standardized clinical trial. Of 960 evaluable patients who completed at least one course of hyperthermia, thermoradiotherapy, or thermochemotherapy, 85 (9%) had complete responses for 1‐34 months, 173 (18%) had partial responses for 1‐39 months, 95 (10%) had minimal responses for 1‐15 months, and 313 (33%) had disease stabilization for 1‐32 months. Of 313 patients who had no change (i.e., ± 25%) in the size of their tumors after hyperthermia, the response lasted only 1‐3 months in 170 (54%) patients, a finding of questionable clinical significance. However, disease stabilization was observed for more than 3 months in 143 (46%), for more than 6 months in 67 (21 %), more than 9 months in 33 (10%), and more than 12 months in 16 (5%). Disease stabilization was also associated with improved activity for 1‐22 months in 79 (25%) of these patients, and improved pain for 1‐22 months in 100 (32%). Disease stabilization appeared to be independent of tumor histology, location, or depth within the body, size, or minimum treatment temperature, but was somewhat more frequent after hyperthermia combination therapy. There is sufficient accumulative data to suggest that tumor stabilization after hyperthermia should not be dismissed as a placebo effect. This response variable well may be a unique and potentially important criterion of response to localized hyperthermia therapy.


Today, the part played by the image in the development of tourism, and, specially, as a diffe- rentiation element of a destination area is widely acknowledged. This is reflected to a great extent in the literature that focuses its interest on identifying the variables that motivate the purchase or stimulate the decision process. However, the reference to feedback processes or image control mechanisms as well as their creation, is surprising. An approach model to these processes will be exposed in this article.


During conversation, speakers typically take a breath when preparing to speak. At the previous meeting [Whalen and Hoequist, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 93, 2298(A) (1993)], it was shown that subjects were significantly more accurate at transcribing synthesized sentences that were preceded by a (naturally produced) breath intake than those that were not. It was concluded that the perception of synthetic speech is facilitated by the addition of a breath, presumably because it increased the naturalness of the stimuli. However, there is the possibility that this result is simply due to the extra attention‐getting effect of the breath between the warning tone and the sentence. To test this possibility, the breath was replaced with the sound of rustling leaves. The rustling sounds matched the breaths in duration and loudness. The results should tell us whether the presence or absence of a breath before a synthesized sentence functions as a cue for the upcoming speech, or merely as a general attention‐orienting sound. ...


It is almost twenty years since I realised the significance of Schumpeter's work to the pharmaceutical industry. But since the references to his conclusions in 'The Canberra hypothesis' in 1975, comparatively little attention has been drawn to the relevance of Schumpeter's theory of 'creative destruction' and the need for shelters against the 'perennial gale' of innovative competition in relation to pharmaceuticals. Hence when I was encouraged to look again at industrial economic theory relevant to pharmaceutical pricing in 1991, it seemed opportune to draw attention to the 50th Anniversary of Schumpeter's publication of 'Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy' in 1942. Although Schumpeter's more general thesis that the bureaucratization of innovation would lead from classical entrepreneurial capitalism to a form of socialism has proved wrong, his chapters on the nature of innovative competition have largely stood the test of time. Indeed that is the very issue to which Professor Richard Nelson addresses himself to in the first chapter of the present book. The book as a whole is based on a symposium in London in March 1992, entitled 'A Perspective on Pharmaceutical Economics - 1942-1992', held to mark the 50th Anniversary referred to above. The meeting, although it was excellently chaired by Lord Peston, did not altogether succeed in drawing together the threads of Schumpeterian theory and the current economic situation of the pharmaceutical industry. Indeed the papers by the Rt Hon Enoch Powell and Lord Jenkin strayed into the more general field of health care strategies as a whole. Nevertheless the seven papers taken together provide a wide and extremely interesting picture of the economics of innovation, the situation of the pharmaceutical industry, and the current issues facing the British National Health Service. They deserve a much wider audience than the hundred or so participants at the meeting itself. This is the logic behind the appearance of this book. In fact the issues raised by the individual authors do have much more coherence than may at first be obvious. I have pointed out that the work of Schumpeter covered a much broader field than merely industrial innovation. He was concerned with the shift from the individual entrepreneur and inventor to a new type of industrial organisation and with the whole subject of change in social structure. These subjects, on which Schumpeter wrote so clearly in the early decades of this century, are just as relevant to Britain's National Health Service as they are to the transnational pharmaceutical industry. Hence the issues covered in these chapters do in a very real sense each come back to Schumpeterian principles. Each of the authors has been conscious of the shadow of Schumpeter's theories which fall over so much of industrialised and post-industrial society in the 1990s. That is what draws an apparently diverse set of essays into a cohesive whole and links each of them to the intended theme of the Symposium itself. I hope that the readers of this book will derive as much interest from it as did, I believe, the audience in London in March 1992. It should certainly establish more formally the relevance of Schumpeter's work to the economic study of the pharmaceutical industry in particular.


Describes results obtained from applying genetic algorithms to the problem of detecting targets in image data. The method described is a two-layered approach, with the first layer providing a focus-of-attention function for the second layer. The first layer is called a Screener and selects subimages from the original image data to be processed by the second layer, called the Classifier. The Screener reduces the computational load of the system. Each layer consists of a set of linear operators (filters) applied directly to the image data. A genetic algorithm is applied to populations of filters based on fitness criteria. The authors note that the statistical classifier chosen for the Classifier stage drives the evolution of filters that are useful for that classifier to make good discriminations. >


The shape and surface texture of a liquid droplet were studied in two-dimension when a droplet impinges on a solid substrate under isothermal condition. The lattice Boltzmann moment model was applied to simulate the fluid dynamics considering the adhesive interaction between fluid particles and surfaces. The results show the influence of wetting on the process and the drop shape. For the hydrophobic surface, the process after impinging may be divided into two stages: the spreading process driven by inertial forces and the subsequent oscillation (recoiling process) driven by surface tension forces. While for the hydrophilic surface, the droplet will only deposits on the surface and there is no the recoiling stage. In addition, the effects of the impinging speed on the shape and texture of the droplet were studied. The spreading speed and the maximum diameter of the spreading droplet increase with the rise of the impinging speed.


There is limited information available explaining the agronomic and economic relationships between yield and nitrogen and phosphorus applications to growing switchgrass produced in phosphorus-deficient soils. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on feedstock yield and measures of expected total cost, gross revenue, net return, and breakeven price of feedstock produced in phosphorus-deficient soils in the southern Great Plains. Data were collected from a three-year, two-location agronomic field study conducted in south-central Oklahoma. Two discrete nitrogen treatments (0 and 134 kg ha-1) and four discrete phosphorus treatments (0, 30, 60 and 90 kg ha-1) were randomly assigned to small plots arranged in a randomized complete block designed (RCBD) study. Random effects mixed ANOVA models were used to estimate the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and nitrogen by phosphorus interactions on feedstock yield and the economic variables specified. Results showed that, on average over site-years, switchgrass yield increases from 10.5 to 12.3 Mg ha-1 with the highest (101-kg ha-1) treatment; however, we found no statistical difference in net profitability between phosphorus treatments. Yield and net return did respond significantly to 135 kg-1 of N ha-1. Our results suggest that phosphorus-deficient soils do not seem to have the same impact on switchgrass yield and profitability as they do for the yields and profitability of other crops traditionally grown in this region.


HMM-based speech synthesis offers a way to generate speech with different voice qualities. However, sometimes databases contain certain inherent voice qualities that need to be parametrized properly. One example of this is vocal fry typically occurring at the end of utterances. A popular mixed excitation vocoder for HMM-based speech synthesis is STRAIGHT. The standard STRAIGHT is optimized for modal voices and may not produce high quality with other voice types. Fortu-nately, due to the flexibility of STRAIGHT, different F0 and aperiodicity measures can be used in the synthesis without any inherent degradations in speech quality. We have replaced the STRAIGHT excitation with a representation based on a robust F0 measure and a carefully determined two-band voicing. According to our analysis-synthesis experiments, the new parameterization can improve the speech quality. In HMM-based speech synthesis, the quality is significantly improved especially due to the better modeling of vocal fry.


Thesis (M. Com. (Economic Science))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic & Business Sciences, 2015.


This paper investigates the use of twittering as a tourism marketing, tool from the perspectives of destination marketing organisations (DMO), hotels and the consumer. Twittering is a social networking tool and, as with all such tools - especially one that has existed only since 2006 - its use is still evolving. This study had initially two objectives: to review the current use of twitter by DMOs and by hotels, but during the course of the research sufficient information was obtained from both these organisations to add a third objective, the perceived use of twittering by tourists. Using twitter as the survey instrument, in mid 2009 over 400 hotels and DMOs were contacted about their use of twitter as a marketing tool, both now and in the future. The results suggest that because twitter is the new kid on the social networking block and as its development is still evolving, both organisations and consumers are struggling to understand its full potential. Although it remains open as to twitter's effectiveness as marketing tool, two questions still remain - can a organisation be real friend, and the much bigger question - who is actually listening? The paper concludes that twittering provides a voice for the consumer to learn and to share common experiences, and outlines some issues that require further research.


The study of the boundary layer flow of an electrically conducting fluid has many applications in manufacturing and natural process which include cooling of electronic devices by fans, cooling of nuclear reactors during emergency shutdown, cooling of an infinite metallic plate in a cooling bath, textile and paper industries, glass-fiber production, manufacture of plastic and rubber sheets, the utilization of geothermal energy, the boundary layer control in the field of aerodynamics, food processing, plasma studies and in the flow of biological fluids .


A new method for realizing a rational transfer-function matrix, in the factored form, into an irreducible Jordan canonical form state equation is presented. The method consists of two steps. First, the irreducible Jordan form structure of the internal dynamics of the system is determined simply from the ranks of an augmented coefficient matrix and its submatrices, without actually having to construct a realization. Second, the augmented coefficient matrix is decomposed in a simple manner to obtain the final realization. The construction procedure is straightforward and allows one to choose explicitly the element values with a high degree of freedom. As a natural consequence of the irreducible realization, the rank of the augmented coefficient matrix associated with a pole is defined as the degree of the pole in question. This new definition is equivalent to the McMillan/Duffin-Hazony/Kalman degree. Using this definition, many well-known properties of the degree of a rational matrix are readily established.


The subpopulations of lymphocytes (W3/25+ and OX8+) in the blood, spleen and lymph nodes were analyzed comparatively in rats susceptible (Holtzman) and resistant (Buffalo) to the development of adjuvant induced arthritis (AIA). In naive rats, it was found that the ratio (T helper/T suppressor) was significantly higher in Holtzman compared to Buffalo rats suggesting that the susceptible rats possess less suppressor cells than the resistant. Following induction of AIA (7 and 14 days) the ratio T helper/T suppressor was not significantly different in either strain. When the resistant strain was treated with 25 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide, the T suppressor cells were significantly reduced and this was followed by a strong potentiation of the AIA. Our data suggest that susceptibility to AIA is related to alterations in the T suppressor cell subset.


A Sample of the 25 hectare cropmark site at Limes Farm and Walnut Farm, Landbeach was the subject of an archaeological excavation during August and September 1999. Trainees directed and supervised by staff of Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit (AFU) undertook the work. Landbeach lies to the north of Cambridge and the site is situated to the south west of the village (TL 482/644).
The aim of the work was to identify whether agricultural practices have impacted upon the preservation of archaeological remains. The work was successful in achieving this aim and recommendations for the future cultivation have been made.
The site was first known from chance finds and later discovered to be of considerable size and complexity through aerial photography. Finds recovered from the site by chance and field walking, and the form taken by the cropmarks, suggested a Romano-British origin for the settlement. This excavation has shown that the settlement had its origins at least in the middle Iron Age period if not before. 18 trenches were opened by a mechanical excavator, two trenches (1 and 2) at the southern end of the study area were extended to form small areas. Areas 1 and 2, and trenches 3, 10 and 11 received detailed investigation, features in all the remaining trenches were described and planned, but not excavated.
The site was characterised by features representing timber structures, pit, and a complex of intercutting ditches.
Pottery of Middle Iron Age character was recovered from most feature types in areas 1 and 2 and a small component of 'Belgic' and Roman pottery was recovered from features in trencher 10 and 11.
The majority of the pottery from the site was a large and well-preserved Middle Iron Age assemblage composed predominantly of sand and sand and vegetable tempered fabrics. There was a notable absence of flint tempered fabrics which might imply a chronological differentiation. The assemblage is therefore tentatively attributed a late Middle Iron Age date of 300-50 BC. A middle Iron Age pottery tradition in south Cambridgeshire awaits satisfactory definition and the Limes Farm material provides an important addition to the corpus of material studied to date. The site stratigraphically allowed the Middle Iron Age pottery to be grouped into secure chronological phases and an attempt was made to identify trends within he period as a whole. A Late Iron Age phase dating from 50 BC was identified and the opportunity taken to explore its implications. Pottery that apparently reached the site from elsewhere was also evident including a lugged pot from Bedfordshire and scored wares from Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Animal skulls at Limes Farm suggest that some contexts witnessed special placed deposits; an attempt has been made to see if there were any counter parts in the ceramic record to these animal bone groups, but none were clearly apparent.
Although the earliest phase of activity was characterised by a complex sequence of ditches, these provide little direct dating evidence, but the ditches were stratigraphically earlier that an occupation phase dating to the Middle Iron Age. Primary filling of these ditches appears to have been natural silts derived from the sides of ditches. The final fills contained occupation debris including pottery, animal bones and evidence for spinning and weaving. An articulate juvenile pig burial and deliberate deposition of cow skulls was also associated with this latest ditch filling phase.
A Middle Iron Age occupation phase is indicated by the presence of at least one timber building, possibly associated with several pits, containing general rubbish including large unabraded pottery and animal bones.
A final phase of ditches replaced the Middle Iron Age occupation were probably backfilled in the Late Iron Age.
To the south, in trench 10, evidence was found for ditch filling in the roman period. The inhumation of a body was found associated with this latest phase of activity.


The association between a mother's use of specific medications during pregnancy and lactation and neuroblastoma in her offspring was evaluated in a case-control study. Newly diagnosed cases of neuroblastoma (n=504) in the United States and Canada were identified between 1992 and 1994 at 139 hospitals affiliated with the Pediatric Oncology Group or the Children's Cancer Group clinical trial programs. One age-matched control was sampled from the community of each case by means of random digit dialing. Exposure information was ascertained retrospectively from mothers in a structured telephone interview. Odds ratios were estimated using conditional logistic regression, with adjustment for maternal sociodemographic factors. The results did not support an association between neuroblastoma and maternal exposure to diuretic agents, antiinfective agents, estrogens, progestins, sedatives, anticonvulsant drugs, or drugs that may form N-nitroso derivatives. Mothers of cases were more likely to report using medications containing opioid agonists while they were pregnant or nursing than were mothers of controls (odds ratio=2.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.3, 4.3). Specifically, more mothers of cases reported using medications containing codeine while pregnant or nursing than did mothers of controls (odds ratio=3.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 8.4). This preliminary finding may be due to bias, confounding, or chance, and additional studies are needed for confirmation.


The International Symposium on Advanced Ovarian Cancer: Optimal Therapy. Update was founded by Dr. Andrés Poveda and Prof. Jan B. Vermorken and each edition has been directed by them. On February 27, 2009, the seventh edition was held. This symposium is organized every other year by GEICO (Grupo Español de Investigación de Cáncer de Ovario, Spanish Ovarian Cancer Group), and, since 2009, together with ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology). GEICO (www.grupogeico.org) was founded in June 1999 and from its beginning has developed its own studies as well as collaborated with international groups involved in the Research on ovarian cancer such as EORTC, NSGO, NCIC, and GCIG. GEICO members are medical oncologists, gynecologists, and molecular biologists especially interested in the study and research of gynecological tumors. They belong to different hospitals all over Spain. GEICO is part of the GCIG (Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup). The meeting is held under the auspices of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG), and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), Educational Committee for its Medical Oncology Recertification Approval (ESMO/MORA) Program. One hundred and fifty people attended the symposium_s first edition, held in 1996. Since then, the interest in this meeting has increased. Last edition (2009), more than 350 people coming not only from Spain but also from Europe, North and Latin America, Asia, and Australia were present in the symposium. This is a great challenge for us. Some important international cooperative groups, from Europe, America and Australia collaborate with this symposium such as GOG, NCIC, NCI, EORTC, AGO, Scottish Group, ICON, GINECO, NSGO, ANZGOG, etc. From its second edition (1999), the entire papers have been published in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer (2000, vol. 10, Supp. 1; 2001, vol. 11; Supp. 1; 2003, vol. 13, Supp. 2; 2005, vol. 15; Supp. 3; 2008, vol. 18, Supp. 1; and, in this supplement, 2009, vol. 19, Supp. 2). Our meeting has grown to be recognized internationally as a classic educational activity where many people come to teach, to learn, and also to discuss the value of how standard as well as new approaches are being incorporated into the management of ovarian cancer. In this symposium, held in one day, we cover all hot topics concerning diagnosis, biology and therapy of ovarian cancer. We are very pleased to present you this supplement!


Background The mechanisms for football injuries are largely unknown. Aim To describe the characteristics of injury situations in elite male football using a video-based method called football incident analysis. Study Design Prospective cohort study. Methods During the 1999 season, videotapes from 52 matches in the Icelandic elite football league were reviewed. Incidents (N = 95) were recorded when the match was interrupted by the referee because of a suspected injury. Team physical therapists recorded injuries prospectively (N = 28 time-loss injuries). Results Duels caused 84 of the incidents, mostly tackling duels (n = 54). The exposed player's attention appeared to be focused away from the opponent in 93% of the cases. The 3 main mechanisms observed were (1) breakdown attacks, tackling from the side or the front, attention focused on the ball (24%); (2) defensive tackling duels, attention focused on the ball or low ball control (20%); and (3) heading duels, attention focused on the ball in the air (13%). Conclusion Most incidents and injuries occurred during breakdown attacks and when a player was involved in tackling duels. Player attention appeared to be focused mainly on the ball, not on the opponent challenging him to gain ball possession.


Uremic malnutrition and chronic inflammation are important comorbid conditions that predict poor clinical outcome in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. These conditions are also closely associated with cardiovascular disease, the major cause of death in ESRD patients. A pathophysiologic link between malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis has been proposed in this patient population. Indeed, multiple lines of evidence suggest that chronic inflammation can predispose ESRD patients to a catabolic and atherogenic state. Malnutrition can also result from chronic inflammation and can accelerate the progression of cardiovascular disease. Whereas a single common etiology has not been identified in this complex process, nutritional and anti-inflammatory interventions provide potential treatment options to counter the high mortality and morbidity in ESRD patients.


The growth of BHK-21 culture cells on the outer surface and in the clear space of capillaries made of phenylone or polyacrylnitrile was studied. The cultivation of cells in the clear space of the capillary extends their survival time and outlines possible ways of continuous cultivation of tissue cells which are cultivated in the attached state.


This article tells the story of a cassette tape housed in the Andy Warhol Museum Archives, a set of never-released (and rarely heard) songs by Lou Reed, and the tape's intended audience: Andy Warhol. Warhol and Reed are giant figures in the history of twentieth-century Pop Art and popular music, and their collaboration from 1966 to 1967 resulted in the acclaimed album The Velvet Underground and Nico. Based on extensive archival research and interviews, I discuss how this tape reflects Warhol's and Reed's failed attempt to collaborate on a stage version of Reed's album Berlin (1973); Reed's reaction to Warhol's book, THE Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) (1975); and how elements of Warhol's own audio aesthetics and taping practices find their way into Reed's recordings around 1975. I also place this cassette in the context of the emerging common practice of creating and gifting homemade mixtapes of curated music, and demonstrate how such mixtapes function as a type of "closet media" (to quote theater scholar Nick Salvato) marked by private audience, disappearance, and inaccessibility. Drawing on William S. Burroughs's conceptual spliced-tape experiments and their challenge to unified subjectivity, I explore the epistemological and ontological ramifications of sonically entangling the self with another person, and the queer intimacies of doing so on cassette tape.


The area selected for the present study was Aralamallige Watershed in Dodaballapur Taluk,
Bangalore Rural District located between 77° 25'and 77 °35'32.6'' E longitude and 13
°15' 21.54'' and
13° 23'2.27''N Latitude. The catchment comprises of an area of about 138.45 sq.km. Remote sensing
provides the base informations on the land use/land cover, soil, drainage and other aspects. GIS softwares
were used for database creation and other analysis.Runoff was estimated using soil conservation service(SCS) model and estimated to be 323.54mm, 188.64mm, 78.43mm, 22.27mm, 158.79mm and
42.16mm for the years 2000 and 2005 respectively.
The study demonstrated the use of remotely sensed da
ta in conjugation with GIS for better management of natural resources within the watershed.


The ripening of blue and Roquefort cheeses is accomplished by the concerted and controlled actions of enzymes of the mold Penicillium roqueforti. The properties and effects of the enzymes involved in flavor development (i.e., proteases, lipase and beta-ketoacid decarboxylase) are reviewed. The metabolic activities of both spores and mycelia of P. roqueforti in relation to fatty acid metabolism and flavor generation are discussed. The chemical composition of blue cheese flavor and the simulation of this flavor by fermentation and formulation are briefly surveyed. Some nutritional aspects of blue cheese are cited.


Spontaneous regression of the canine venereal tumor is associated with the production of a serum factor which inhibits in vitro tumor colony-forming units in agar. Logarithmic or persistent tumor growth, on the other hand, is characterized by a serum factor which protects cells against in vitro inhibition (blocking factor). These factors have been characterized by immunochemical methods. Whole regressor and blocking sera were fractionated by Sephadex G-200 filtration and immunoabsorption with rabbit antiserum specific for canine immunoglobulin G2a. Fractions were characterized by immunoelectrophoresis, radial immunodiffusion, and disc gel electrophoresis. In vitro inhibitory and blocking activity of the whole serum was accounted for by the purified immunoglobulin G2a. Blocking activity was also found in protein eluted from logarithmically growing tumors. Preparative polyacrylamide electrophoresis revealed five major fractions with blocking activity only in the immunoglobulin G fraction. Tumor eluates and immunoglobulin G isolated from serially removed tumors demonstrated with the clinical course of the tumor. Using ultrafiltration and sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis of tumor-associated immunoglobulin G at low pH, it was not possible to identify an antigen complexed to the blocking antibody.


In this paper a novel Weighted Proportional Fair (WPF) scheduling algorithm is proposed. Traditional Proportional Fair (PF) algorithm cannot exploit the inherent near-far diversity given by pathloss and cannot achieve maximum best-effort service utility under multicell scenario. WPF overcomes this deficiency. The weight value and weight factor are introduced to WPF which enable WPF utilizing near-far diversity to reduce the inter-cell interference. All the asymptotic analysis and numerical results show when weight factor chooses a small value, WPF scheduling can enhance both the best-effort service utility performance and throughput performance compared to PF scheduling in multicell network.


While exploring different topics and issues—examining everything from the importance of our Pacific genealogies, to the analysis of Hawaiian language literature, to the power of prophecies and predictions for the future, to the need to be reflexive in the creation of culture, and finally to the act of building a nation—each chapter of this thesis is connected by one shifting concept: Kahiki. Furthermore, they are joined by the idea that there is life to be found there. As an ʻōlelo noʻeau, or a Hawaiian proverb, states, "Aia ke ola i Kahiki," "Life is in Kahiki". This adage has served as the foundation of this research and each chapter has been written with the belief that there is life—in the form of reconstructed knowledge, new interpretations, and growing understandings—to be found in Kahiki.  Encapsulated in this one term are our ancestral memories of migration. When islanders traveled to different parts of the Pacific region, they maintained knowledge of their homelands. Although the names of these homelands differ throughout the Pacific, the concept is the same: islanders knew that their life in a particular place, a particular group of islands, was dependent on other places and peoples that although out of sight were never completely out of memory. After generations, however, the specificity of these "homelands" was blurred, and one name came to represent the genealogical connection that people shared with other places in the Pacific. What was Pulotu for some, therefore, became Hawaiki for others, and eventually became Kahiki for my ancestors in Hawaiʻi. Thus, Kahiki became a general term for all lands in the region outside of Hawaiʻi, and more importantly, became a way for Hawaiians to explain their existence to themselves. In later generations, however, particularly when people from other parts of the world came to Hawaiʻi, Kahiki became a term used to refer to all lands beyond Hawaiʻi's shores.  This thesis, therefore, studies the life of this one concept through time: looking at it as part of our Pacific genealogies, as presented in oral traditions; examining it as a means of making nationalistic statements, and sometimes, even as a means of justifying colonialism in the nineteenth century; and then exploring contemporary articulations and engagements with Kahiki, particularly in the era following the Hawaiian renaissance, when a group of men on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi built a single-hulled canoe, brining tools, teachers, and knowledge from Kahiki to give new "life" to their people. Studying the way this one concept has shifted through time provides a means of understanding how people in each generation used one term to make sense of their experiences. Furthermore, it gives us the chance to examine our contemporary movements and to reengage with Kahiki in a way that will empower us to do and be more for our people, our region, and the world.


21 2001 10 1 P Private initiatives for corporate responsibility have been a major development in international management over the last twenty years. The initiatives include issuance of codes of business conduct, implementation of management systems and broader efforts to improve business accountability. Yet, there is little agreement about what these initiatives mean or how effective they are. OECD research on private initiatives sheds light on various aspects of the corporate responsibility movement: what are firms and business associations doing? How have governments influenced the initiatives? What contributions, if any, have these initiatives made to improving the business sector's ability to comply with law and regulation and to respond to broader societal expectations?


This paper brings a new method of adaptive control with constant pressure on large-scale surface grinding machine. The existing problem of uneven in the process of abrasive belt grinding on titanium alloy composite plates is solved effectively. And the grinding head and the belt follow the plate surface ups and downs effectively through contacting the workpiece with the constant pressure. Not only did ensure the grinding depth and the size of the titanium alloy plates, but also improved the surface processing quality. After experiment, the satisfactory control effect was obtained. The research results have some practical value on adaptive control theory and industrial practice.


The link between investment in innovation and subsequent change in the competitive advantage or performance of a firm is one of the most frequently studied topics with a huge importance for strategic management. The relationship has been mostly confirmed under additional influencing factors, with the form of innovation investments arguably being one of them. The research following the behavioral theory of the firm assumes that a firm adjusts its R&D spending in accordance to performance feedback. This feedback stems from the comparison of the current firm performance with its historical aspiration, historical performance and performance of firms constituting its social benchmark. When this aspiration is not attained, a firm is motivated to change which results in a change in R&D spending. A firm that is subject to this performance feedback continuously adjust its investment level—not because of changes in the research potential or deployment of a new strategy, but because of performance fluctuations, which can be caused by countless reasons, some of them outside a firm's control. In this research, it is argued that an increased fluctuation of a firm's R&D expense is related to a reduced financial performance. This hypothesis is tested on a sample of large German industrial firms listed on stock exchange markets followed between the years 2001 and 2015. Using fixed and random effects panel data models, the R&D instability measured by three-year and five-year standard deviations is related to financial performance levels measured by return on assets, return on equity and profit margin. Results support the proposed relationship between R&D expense instability and the subsequent financial performance of a firm. Although a causal link cannot be clearly established, the results indicate that firms with a lower financial performance have higher R&D investment fluctuations.


Cytokines, important mediators of inflammation, have been shown to cause disturbances in circulating and hepatic lipid metabolism. Although the intestine plays a major role in dietary fat transport and largely contributes to plasma lipoproteins, the effects of cytokines on intestinal lipid handling remain unknown. In the present study, the modulation of lipid, apoprotein, and lipoprotein synthesis and secretion by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was investigated in Caco-2 cells. Highly differentiated and polarized cells (20 days in culture) were incubated for 20 h with recombinant human TNF-alpha (100-500 ng/ml). No cytotoxic effect of TNF-alpha cells was observed, as indicated by the determinations of Caco-2 cell viability and monolayer transepithelial resistance. Moreover, no differences in cell maturation (sucrase activity) or cell proliferation ([3H]thymidine incorporation and cell cycle analysis) were detected between treated and control cultures. Significant inhibition of lipid secretion by TNF-alpha was observed, with the greatest reduction at 500 ng/ml. TNF-alpha significantly decreased Caco-2 cell secretion of phospholipids (22%), triglycerides (30%), and cholesteryl ester (37%). It also significantly diminished the export of newly synthesized low-density lipoproteins (LDL; 20%) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL; 13%), with a lesser effect on very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL; 3%). The lipid composition of these lipoproteins was minimally affected. De novo synthesis of apo A-I, apo B-100, and apo B-48 was also markedly reduced by TNF-alpha. Sphingomyelinase activity was not increased and cell content of sphingomyelin was not altered, suggesting that inhibitory effects on lipid and apoprotein of TNF-alpha were not mediated by the ceramide pathway. Our results indicate that TNF-alpha may play a role in modulating intestinal lipid metabolism, thus affecting circulating lipoproteins.


Abstract Background Congenital midnasal stenosis has previously been described as a cause of nasal obstruction in infants, and conservative and interventional treatments have been suggested. However, midnasal stenosis in adults has not been reported and related normative measurements have not been studied. Methods Three adult patients presented with nasal obstruction and, based on examination and radiological findings, were diagnosed with midnasal stenosis. Anatomical measurements were studied in axial and coronal computed tomography scans, and compared with findings for 161 healthy individuals. Results Anatomical measurements showed that the endonasal cavity was larger in males than females. The midnasal region was found to be constricted in patients compared to healthy controls. Conclusion This is the first study to report on midnasal stenosis in adults and to define normative anatomical measurements in adults. In patients presenting with nasal obstruction, midnasal stenosis should be suspected during endoscopic visualisation of medially located middle turbinates and uncinate processes in nasal cavities. A definitive diagnosis of midnasal stenosis can be made by examining paranasal sinus computed tomography scans. Endoscopic middle turbinectomy, complete uncinectomy, mega maxillary antrostomy and partial anterior ethmoidectomy have been suggested to relieve midnasal stenosis.


Chalkstone vessels, interpreted as objects for certain Jewish purity concerns, found on Tall Zira'a, near Gadara (Northern Jordan), bring up the question how purity obligations were practiced in the early Jewish Diaspora during the Roman Period. In Israel they are mostly known in the region of Galilee and Iudaea, in Jewish religiously observant environments.Growing numbers of those finds in Jordan – also in small scale settlements - in general show a larger distribution of these objects than originally thought. I would like to discuss if we see here a religious concern, a certain 'aesthetical' trend or a matter of identity.How have they been relevant to the community that lived outside the borders of 'Biblical Israel' and had no frequent access to the Temple or Jerusalem as a holy centre? Could the indication of the objects change in a more Gentile environment like Jordan?These material finds could be an opportunity to approach a wider understanding of the daily life of the early Diaspora.


A systematic experimental work has been carried out to investigate the effect of thicknesses of the Au and Ni layers in the bond pad metallization on the reliability of ball grid array (BGA) solder joints as well as to understand the mechanism of Au diffusion to the solder interface. BGA solder balls of Sn-37 wt.% Pb have been bonded on BGA solder bond pads of Au/electrolytic Ni/Cu by reflowing at 225 degC for 0.5 min. The thickness of the Ni layer was varied from 0.35 to 2.8 mum, while the thickness of Au layer was varied from 0.1 to 1.3 mum. Solid state aging at 150 degC up to 1000 h has been carried out to simulate the ultimate interfacial reactions during the operational life of electronic devices. Cross-sectional studies of the solder-to-bond pad interfaces have been conducted by scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer to investigate the interfacial reaction phenomena. Ball shear tests have been carried out to obtain the mechanical strength of the solder joints and to correlate shear behavior with the interfacial reaction products. After the shear tests, fracture surfaces have also been investigated to understand the fracture modes. It has been found that Au embrittlement in the BGA Sn-Pb solder joints on Au/Ni/Cu BGA bond pads can be reduced by using either a thin Au layer or a thin Ni layer in the trilayer metallization of Au/Ni/Cu. It is easy to understand why Au embrittlement is reduced when a thin Au layer in the BGA bond pad is used; however, contrary to the usual expectation, it has been realized in this paper that a very thin Ni metallization is an effective means to maintain the mechanical integrity of the BGA SnPb solder joint. It is revealed that the out-diffusion of the Cu atoms during the aging period changes the chemistry and morphology of the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at the solder interface, contributing to a significant reduction in brittleness. During aging at 150 degC, the thin Ni layer facilitates Cu diffusion from the bond pad toward IMCs. As a result, the brittle continuous layers of (Au,Ni)Sn4 and Ni 3Sn4 are transformed into a nodular-shaped discontinuous layer of AuSn4 and a layer of (Au,Cu,Ni)6 Sn5, respectively. New interfacial reaction products with the modified morphology change the typical scenario of Au embrittlement at the BGA solder interface and thus improve the interfacial joint strength significantly


Problem statement: Lack of understanding And scientific formulation of zero geometry and zero space-time and the truth about initiation conditions would continue to keep us all in dark and we would continue to create more theories defining our observations about the known universe which could Indeed be part of our illusionary perception of reality And as long as they continue to align themselves with our observations we will continue to obey and propagate them. Approach: Second law of thermodynamics which was considered to be the most fundamental law governing The known universe and its behavior and at all levels from micro to macro cosmos was itself subject to such flaws simply because it was nonexistent in zero space-time and it reaches infinity at leap out of zero state bordered by infinity wall (the outermost border of the leap universe) in no time. This law dictates that in the known universe/post big bang universe which was around 13.4 billion light years old the index of instability which inversely correlates with free energy incessantly increases following its inception, though we were in dark regarding the initiation condition of the known universe and relation of initiation condition with entropy and This needs to be understood, dissected and formulated Into the new physics on an urgent basis. Results: Big bang which had been proposed to give rise to the known universe presumably was the product of collision of two p-branes and this collision was expected to be similar in nature to the collision of biological p-branes In which case one p-brane impregnates the other and I have alluded to that in my previous publications; Following collision of cosmic p-branes the free energy of impregnated p-brane increases from zero to infinity in no time and because the cosmic p-branes were the residents of zero geometry and zero space-time in which all the values are zero , i.e., free energy and entropy were paradoxically both zero and because p-brane collision leads to disentanglement and decohe scence of these two values, leap out of zero geometry and space-time happens to re entangle these two values as a result of which leap universe was born the outermost border of which was infinity wall with infinity as the value of entropy however this creates another paradox simply because at that point the free energy was zero and entropy is infinity and again these two universal values find themselves disentangled and decohesced and this time the massive force of repulsion at infinity wall which was what I consider dark energy and was the source of massive negative gravity would create the second phase of the non-zero universe , i.e., post leap universe which one more time was aiming at entanglement, this time infinite entropy shifting to zero value to regain its original value of zero space-time universe, this would take the post leap Universe to zero geometry border but this move would Increase the free energy to infinity and that creates big Bang universe/phase 3 universe the goal of which was entanglement of free energy with zero entropy and this Ping pong reaction between the zero geometry partners in search of entanglement and cohescence in non-zero universe would continue indefinitely and this time expansion of the known universe through corridors of the dark matter creates post big bang universe as a result of which the four major forces of the known universe/regular matter would be born , i.e., would get separated into four different entities and the post big Bang universe would pursue its goal of decreasing the free energy which would reach zero (its original zero Geometry value) at the fire wall/repulsion trigger zone of the infinity wall and another round of repulsion, crunch, big bang and expansion would ensue; the engine of the above sequence of events following collision of the cosmic p-branes was massive increase in free energy in contradistinction to the biouniverse in which fertilization/collision of biological p-branes leads to a massive and sudden decrease in free energy of the fertilized ovum/the biological p-brane, (Afrasiabi, 2010). And thus triggering the big bang of recurrent rounds of mitosis the objective of which was to increase the free energy/decrease the entropy of the future generation cells simply because the living universe was an anti entropy machinery by nature and the known universe was an entropy promoting one. Conclusion/Recommendations: In living universe any event that inadvertently increases the entropy compared with the expected and normal entropy for that stage in life cycle can lead to a catastrophic disease such as cancer and auto- immune disorders if the corrective Mechanisms can not capture or correct the error and in the known/ non-living (post big bang) universe which follows the post leap universe any event that opposes the incessant increase in entropy/decrease in free energy can lead to cataclysmic events such as contraction of space-time/formation of baby black holes or massive and Aberrant outburst of high energy particles . This anti parallelism of the mechanism of formation and evolution of events in the living and non living universes and the opposite role that the second law of thermodynamics is playing in their births and evolution would offer us an exceptional opportunity to find solutions to many of the puzzles and unknowns regarding their path in the past and future and finding solutions to their aberrancies from cure of cancer as i alluded to in my previous publication all the way to time travel and migration out of milky galaxy .


The reasons for reported low sport activity of Polish women usually have been explained by too many responsibilities at work outside the home and at home. Yet, with the introduction of aerobics into Poland women apparently have had to overcome these hindrances. Other factors are assumed to be decisive reasons for physically active women in their mature years rather than the reasons which, up to now, were accepted as facts. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors differentiating women who are active in sport and women who are not interested in sport but take care of their body spending holidays at spas. The investigation was based on an interview, including a questionnaire to evaluate opinions on health and feelings. The questionnaire consisted of the following areas: personal data, occupation, level of education, health problems and sport activities practiced in youth. There are many factors related to why women are physically active, but the main influence comes from how active they were in...


When discussing Jewish burial laws, Radbaz, a sixteenth-century rabbi, quotes a story about a dead woman possessed by a vampire-like demon, causing hundreds of deaths. The story attributes the woman's transformation to the fact that her corpse had remained unburied for three days—violating statutes that require standing vigil over a dead body and then burying it as soon as possible. While this story conforms to the well-known tropes of epidemiology and social marginalization found in the scholarship of vampire folklore, it also underscores the importance of adhering to Jewish burial laws, and stresses society's collective responsibility in caring for all people.


Developing countries are experiencing simultaneous growth of population, income and private vehicle ownership, which significantly affects urban transport environment and poses challenges to policymakers and urban transport professionals. Experience shows that the performance of urban transport service delivery in many developing countries is low; policy makers have incomplete information to make decisions and managers and professionals rarely have a clear picture of their operational performance, best practices elsewhere or the desired level of their service provision, which is the case of urban transport services in Nigeria. Urban transport in Nigeria is largely an unregulated market and inadequate both in quality and quantitative terms. Urban transport technology in use in Nigeria is a combination of Para-transit modes, consisting of shared taxis, minibuses, motorcycles and tricycles. Only in the cities of Lagos and Abuja are conventional buses in use, but even in both cities the use of Paratransit modes of transport is obviously dominant. As a matter of fact, Nigeria remains the only country in the world where densely populated cities with over 6 million people do not have an organized urban transport system based on a combination of conventional buses and rail. It will be therefore imperative to identify Key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure and improve the performance of urban transport services in Nigeria. This paper is focused on the identification of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for urban transport development in Nigeria. The KPIs that have been identified in this paper following the performance measurement framework can be used to monitor and evaluate urban transport performance in Nigeria and eventually guide the further development and modernization of urban transport system in Nigeria, in the sense that the KPIs will assist in identifying key areas for improvement and also serve as a guide for transport policy makers in making decisions. The KPIs presented in this paper have been categorized into Safety, Security, Environmental pollution, Financial perspective, Traffic management and Customer satisfaction.


The IC chip ejecting and pick-up process in electronic assembly plays a critical role in advanced packaging since the success ratio and productivity are determined by the delamination of thin chips from the underlying substrate. For a chip-on-substrate structure subjected to a transverse concentrated load resulting from the ejecting needle, a competing relationship between chip peeling-off and chip cracking is discovered from the perspective of integral structure. A competing index, Γ, is defined to characterize the competing fracture behavior between cracking and peeling-off, and the competing fracture mechanism is then uncovered fundamentally. Based on the index, the effects of chip geometry on competing behavior are investigated using the virtual crack-closure technique with dummy nodes. Critical thickness and length, which separate chip peeling-off and cracking modes, are found and they represent the extremity of successful pick-up process. The critical values are determined by critical competing index, Γ - Γc. The competing mechanism uncovered applies to general pick-up process with various chip sizes and materials. The critical sizes and the method of evaluating critical values are meaningful for chip profile design, optimization of pick-up process, and propelling new designs of electronic assembly process, especially for thin chips.


The authors review the traditional simulated annealing algorithm, presenting physical analogies of the process and a formal statement of the algorithm, and propose a modification to the classical simulated annealing process through the use of dynamic perturbation functions. This modification is shown to yield a significant improvement in performance for the 50-city traveling salesman problem. The authors suggest a methodology for mapping aerospace problems into optimization problems to be solved by simulated annealing and demonstrate this methodology on three sample aerospace engineering problems: air traffic control, aircraft mission planning, and signal path switching.<<ETX>>


Background: Neonates are vulnerable population and at high risk of developing drug-related problems. The extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants require extended hospital stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This study was aimed to evaluate the medications and total parenteral nutrition (TPN) practices at a NICU and to evaluate the clinical significance of medicine management made by the pharmacist and to assess the perception of healthcare professionals. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective observational study conducted for 7 months in the NICU of a multidisciplinary advanced super specialty hospital, accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare. This study is approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. A total of 51 neonates who met inclusion criteria were included in this study. Data were collected, and all statistical analyses were performed using the GraphPad Prism 6 Demo. Variables were compared with rho Spearman nonparametric correlations and paired t-tests. Results: The present study showed that after administration of TPN, there was a significant change in the birth weight only in ELBW and very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates (P < 0.05). The average weight gain was more in the ELBW and VLBW groups. The study also measured the height of the preterm neonates before and after administration of TPN, and it was observed that VLBW group showed a significant increase in the height after administration of TPN (P < 0.05). About 0.27 cm average increase was observed from the VLBW group. Statistical analysis showed that head circumference gain after TPN administration was significant for birth weight <1000 g and 1000-1500 g neonates (P value 0.0192, 0.0001, respectively). Conclusion: TPN and medication practices at the NICU should be highly monitored for avoiding medication errors, drug interactions, and mortality rate in neonates. The most effective method can be achieved when a clinical pharmacist become a part of it.


We have examined the interaction of transforming growth factor (TGF)β receptors with phosphatidylinositol 3-(PI3) kinase in epithelial cells. In COS7 cells, treatment with TGFβ increased PI3 kinase activity as measured by the ability of p85-associated immune complexes to phosphorylate inositides in vitro. Both type I and type II TGFβ receptors (TβR) associated with p85, but the association of TβRII appeared to be constitutive. The interaction of TβRI with p85 was induced by treatment with TGFβ. The receptor association with PI3 kinase was not direct as 35S-labeled rabbit reticulocyte p85 did not couple with fusion proteins containing type I and type II receptors. A kinase-dead, dominant-negative mutant of TβRII blocked ligand-induced p85-TβRI association and PI3 kinase activity. In TβRI-null R1B cells, TGFβ did not stimulate PI3 kinase activity. This stimulation was restored upon reconstitution of TβRI by transfection. In R1B and NMuMG epithelial cells, overexpression of a dominant active mutant form of TβRI markedly enhanced ligand-independent PI3 kinase activity, which was blocked by the addition of the TβRI kinase inhibitor LY580276, suggesting a causal link between TβRI function and PI3 kinase. Overexpressed Smad7 also prevented ligand-induced PI3 kinase activity. Taken together, these data suggest that 1) TGFβ receptors can indirectly associate with p85, 2) both receptors are required for ligand-induced PI3 kinase activation, and 3) the activated TβRI serine-threonine kinase can potently induce PI3 kinase activity.


Questionnaire data were collected from 59 direct care staff in a residential service for people with multiple disabilities, and compared to actual staff turnover 3 years later. The questionnaire asked for information relating to: demographic characeristics of staff; perceived job tasks and work roles; perceived practical and emotional support from other staff; commitment to the organisation; job satisfaction; coping strategies; perceived stress; and intention to quit the organisation. Staff who had stayed with the organisation were younger, educated to a lower level, more satisfied with promotion prospects and public respect for the job, experienced less role ambiguity and role conflict, and received more practical support from their immediate supervisor, compared to staff who had left the organisation. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the two most important predictors of actual staff turnover were staff satisfaction with public respect for the job and levels of practical support from supervisors. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Purpose: Background: Th e current gold standard for the diagnosis of celiac sprue is histopathologic fi ndings on small bowel biopsies. Th ree serologic markers, anti-gliadin antibody (AGA), anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody (TGA) and anti-endomysial antibody (EMA) have been used as adjuncts to biopsy since the 1970's. Previous studies have looked at the correlation between one and a combination of two of these antibodies with the biopsy fi ndings. Many of these studies have reported variable to high sensitivity for one or two antibodies. However, there have been no studies which have assessed the sensitivity and accuracy of measuring all three antibodies and whether doing so would preclude the need for small bowel biopsy. Aim: Th e purpose of this study is to compare the sensitivity and accuracy of measuring all three antibodies to one or a combination of two antibodies and to correlate the results with biopsy fi ndings to determine whether endoscopy can be avoided in the diagnosis of celiac sprue. Methods: Aft er obtaining appropriate institutional approval, a retrospective review of the charts of patients who underwent small bowel biopsies for suspected celiac disease between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2008 were selected. Th ere were a total of 44 all patients who had all three antibodies checked and EGD done. Th e results of the antibody testing were correlated with the biopsy fi ndings. Results: Th e sensitivity for the diagnosis of celiac sprue when measuring all 3 antibodies was 84.2%. Th is was signifi cantly higher than measuring any of the 3 antibodies individually (p < 0.05; sensitivity for AGA was 77.7%, EMA was 66.6%, and TGA was 70.5%). Further, the accuracy of diagnosis of celiac sprue when measuring all 3 antibodies was 84.6%, signifi cantly higher than measuring antibodies individually (p < 0.05; accuracy for AGA was 63.6%, EGA was 62.9%, and TGA was 70.4%). Conclusion: Our results suggest that when all 3 antibodies are abnormal, this provides more accuracy and sensitivity for the diagnosis of celiac sprue than relying on individual antibodies. With a sensitivity of 84.2% and an accuracy of 84.6%, measuring all 3 antibodies could be useful but might not replace biopsies to diagnose celiac sprue.