Endwall contouring has been widely studied as an effective measure to improve aerodynamic performance by reducing secondary flow strength. The effects of endwall contouring with discrete holes and an upstream purge slot for a high turning (127°) airfoil passage under transonic conditions are investigated. The total pressure loss and secondary flow field were measured for two endwall geometries. The non-axisymmetric endwall was developed through an optimization study [1] to minimize secondary losses and is compared to a baseline planar endwall. The blade inlet span increased by 13 degrees with respect to the inlet in order to match engine representative inlet/exit Mach number loading in a HP turbine. The experiments were performed in a quasi-2D linear cascade with measurements at design exit Mach number 0.88 and incidence angle. Four cases were analyzed for each endwall – the effect of slot presence (with/without coolant) and the effect of discrete holes (with/without coolant) without slot injection. The coolant to mainstream mass flow ratio was set at 1.0% and 0.25% for upstream purge slot and discrete holes, respectively. Aerodynamic loss coefficient is calculated with the measured exit total pressure at 0.1 Cax downstream of the blade trailing edge. CFD studies were conducted in compliment. The aero-optimized endwall yielded lower losses than baseline without the presence of the slot. However, in presence of the slot, losses increased due to formation of additional vortices. For both endwall geometries, results reveal that the slot has increased losses, while the addition of coolant further influences secondary flow development.


Objective: This study examines the correlation between parental education and college attendees' attitudes toward love (ATL), as well as its formative mechanism. Background: Family formation in modern societies mostly involves the couple's matching attitudes toward love (ATL), but studies of the determinants of those attitudes have not much advanced over several decades. Method: Panel data from the random probability sample of the Beijing College Students Panel Survey (the sample size refers to 2,473 baseline survey respondents who enrolled in 2009 and were followed for four years. The population is the college attendees in Beijing, China) are used to analyze a gradational measure of ATL. The random-effects linear regression model and the mediation analyses are adopted. Results: Students with better-educated parents are more likely to lean toward realistic rather than romantic ATL. The effect does not differ between male and female students, and is stable across college years. Mediation analyses further highlight that parental education propels college students to be more realistic mainly through promoting family income and fostering children's endowment of objectified cultural capital. Conclusion: Both economic and cultural factors bridge parental education and adult children' ATL. Implications: ATL serves as a mechanism for maintaining assortative mating by family socioeconomic status, which further supports intergenerational transmission of economic advantages.


The clods of dirt are filled within reinforced concrete frame space, which composes raw soil composite wall. This structure has the advantages of lightweight, high strength, ecological and energy-saving and so on. In order to study the key building technology of raw soil composite wall's structure, this paper analyzes and investigates from the structural materials, wall production and its connecting structure method, and has produced raw soil composite wall structure's construction technology and relevant quality requirement, which provides the reference for the engineering application about the raw soil composite wall.


In the article we make an analysis of a thesis that verbal symbolic interaction is a necessary condition of constructing self. The main concepts used in the paper are: symbolic interaction, self and corporality. The aforementioned thesis and the concept of symbolic interaction originate from G.H Mead, who set the trend of thinking about interaction in human society in sociology and social psychology. This influence is noticeable up to this day. Symbolic interaction as a tool of understanding others actions and informing partners about our intensions is clearly visible in "languagecentred" and anthropocentrically oriented analyses of interactions as well as in the concentration on linguistic conditions of creating a self. Self is understood as an interpreted concept of a person but mainly in a process of social perception of a human by others occurring in interactions based on verbal language. In the article we want to develop a thesis about "nonlinguistic" possibilities of constructing interactions and self. The aforementioned thesis has been many times elaborated so far together with critical analyses of G. H. Mead (Irvin, 2004, Sanders, 1993, 1999, 2003; Myers, 1999, 2003). We want to integrate these elaborations, including our empirical experiences from a research on "The Social World of Pet's Owners' (research done in 2001-2005) on theoretical level and concentrate more on corporality and emotions issues and their relations to symbolic interaction and self. G.H. Mead's views on this topic are analysed with regard to their methodological consistency and adequacy. In the article there is another thesis proposed, that interactions between animals also have meanings and, sometimes, symbolic nature, or sometimes, non symbolic one, and not necessarily related to use of a verbal language. The creation of self is connected with issues of corporality that includes: 1. nonverbal communication, 2. a relation of bodies in physical space, 3. the so called "kinesthetic empathy", 4. emotions connected with body, mind and self processes. These elements of corporality may be the basis for taking the role of other. Researches and analyses of many sociologists (beginning from Ch. H. Cooley) show that self is often pre-verbal and that exclusion of an individual from her/his surroundings takes place also with the aid of the body and emotions tightly connected with functioning of self. The analysis of interactions between humans and animals provides us with much methodological and theoretical inspiration. Those researches and analyses obviously face a problem of "anthropomorphization of human behaviour", which is of frequent occurrence both among researchers and ordinary people. New sociological sub-discipline called the sociology of human - non-human animals relationships adds a lot of new threads to the abovementioned deliberations on conditions of constructing self.


Hirschsprung's disease is a congenital malformation characterized by the absence of enteric ganglia in the distal intestine and gut obstruction. Our previous study indicates the brain pathology during the disease progression. A subpopulation of Hirschsprung's disease patients is also associated with anomalies of the central nervous system. In the investigation, we studied a rat model of Hirschsprung's disease, known as spotting lethal (sl/sl) ETB-/- rats, which carries a spontaneous deletion in endothelin receptor B (human gene name: EDNRB) and manifests a similar phenotype as humans with Hirschsprung's disease. Homozygous mutant sl/sl rats were successfully rescued from premature death by performing colostomy and dramatically survived to their juvenile age. By the body weight measured, their body growth was not revealed to be significantly different between ETB-/- and wildtype ETB+/+ or heterozygous (+/sl) ETB+/- groups while all underwent the same colostomy. Cell loss was investigated in several brain regions by using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling assay (TUNEL) in ETB+/+, ETB-/-, and ETB+/- rats. Number of TUNEL-positive cells in the cerebellum and the hippocampus of ETB-/- rats was significantly increased compared with that of the ETB+/+ and ETB+/- rats. TUNEL-positive cells were observed in the molecular layer and granular cell layers of the cerebellum. In contrast, no significant difference in the density of TUNEL-positive cells was revealed in the cerebral cortex. These results suggest that either endothelin receptor B sl mutation or colostomy has predominant lasting effects on the cell survival/loss in the cerebellum and hippocampus of adult ETB-/- rats. Our findings provide the information on cellular changes in the brains of patients with Hirschsprung's disease due to congenital EDNRB mutation as well as clinically relevant interventions.


The empirical research presented in this paper focuses on concepts and perceptions of European politics and citizenship which are expressed by students and teachers in secondary schools. The qualitative study is based on semi-standardized interviews, written surveys, and classroom research (video transcripts, observation records). The results suggest that many young people are amenable towards transnational patterns of identity and they tend to combine pragmatic-optimistic expectations with European Union citizenship. Many of the students interviewed seem willing to adapt themselves to a larger European environment. However, many of the teachers voiced ambivalent notions while expressing veiled scepticism, although they rarely expressed open criticism based on their own fears towards political developments in a unified Europe. The classroom research shows that in the examined civic education lessons, the everyday concepts of students are seldom questioned and sparsely developed towards social-science-based explanatory models. Sometimes even misleading concepts are enforced in classroom interaction instead of being clarified by the development of adequate categories and models.


Visual images are ubiquitous which, inevitably, is part of their appeal and their difficulty. As is the case with all sensory experience, the process of sight becomes naturalized for us, and it is easy to forget that how we interpret what we see is historically and culturally specific (Banks 2001). Similarly, the representations of what we see are influenced by our historical and cultural perspectives. In the forms of photographs, video, film, and new electronic media, these representations increasingly and apparently, often unproblematically, play a central role in the work of researchers, not just from anthropology, but also from a range of disciplines. As part of a broader ethnographic methodology, photography, film, and video have now been embraced by anthropology, sociologists, cultural studies, media studies, geographers, and other social scientists. The visual images are present in the form of cultural texts or they represent aspects of ethnographic knowledge and methodological tools. They can exist as the basis for the sites of social interaction amongst the informants or between the researcher and the researched. They can take the form of pre-existing images, such as television programs or contemporary or archival photographs and films (Banks 2001). It is hardly surprising, then, that visual images have become so important to the ethnographic endeavor. Yet, as MacDougall laments above, relatively little has been written about how best to analyze and interpret the visual images, not only in anthropology, but indeed, in all of the social sciences.


The 2000s was a particularly eventful decade for both the international and Australian economies. There were: two recessions in many countries; the largest international financial crisis since the Great Depression; the ongoing rapid development of Asia; asset booms and busts; and, Australia experienced the longest sustained increase in commodity prices and the terms of trade in the nation's history. This paper provides an overview of the Australian economy's performance in the decade. Several key topics are elaborated on, including the development of Asia and implications for Australia, policy frameworks, and the opportunities and challenges facing the Australian economy, with a particular focus on the expansion of household balance sheets and the rapid growth in the mining economy.


The psychological construct of nature connectedness - the depth of an individual's relationship with the natural world - has not only been associated with benefits for mental well-being but has also shown relationships with personality traits relevant to the dark personality literature. These include agreeableness, cognitive and affective empathy, and callous and uncaring traits. Across two independently-sampled studies we delineate relationships between explicit and implicit indices of nature connectedness and dark personality. In Study 1 (N = 304), psychopathy (and Machiavellianism) was associated with self-reported, but not implicitly-measured, nature connectedness. Moreover, individuals scoring high on dark personality exhibited a preference for inner-city, relative to suburban or rural living. In Study 2 (N = 209), we replicated the findings of Study 1 in relation to explicit measures of nature connectedness but did not find further relationships between dark personality and the population densities of where participants had previously lived. Limitations of implicit and pseudo indices of nature connectedness are outlined, and the results are discussed in relation to future research and the potential role of nature connectedness interventions in forensic populations. Pre-registration information: [https://osf.io/2bpwy]. Data, syntax, and manuscript pre-print: [https://osf.io/3mg5d/?view_only=b5c7749d4a7945c5a161f0915a2d0259].


Missing covariate data are common in epidemiologic studies and disease prevention trials. In this article regression parameter estimation in the Cox proportional hazards model is considered when certain covariates are observed for all study subjects and other covariate data are collected only for a subset. The article presents both simple weighted and kernel-assisted fully augmented weighted estimators that use the partially incomplete data nonparametrically. We use nonparametric methods to estimate selection probabilities in the simple weighted estimating functions. We also use nonparametric kernel smoothing techniques to estimate certain conditional expectations in fully augmented weighted estimating functions. The proposed methods are nonparametric in the sense that they require neither a model for the missing-data mechanism nor specification of the conditional distribution of missing covariates given observed covariates. These estimators allow the missing-data mechanism to depend on outcome variables and observed covariates, and they are applicable to various cohort sampling procedures, including case-cohort and nested case-control designs. We show that the simple and the kernel-assisted fully augmented weighted estimators are typically consistent and asymptotically normal. Moreover, the proposed estimators are more efficient than the simple weighted estimator with the inverse of true selection probability as weight. They also correct the bias of estimates from analysis of the complete data alone when the missing-data mechanism depends on outcome variables. In addition, when covariates are time-independent, certain simple weighted estimators are shown to be asymptotically equivalent to the kernel-assisted fully augmented weighted estimators. Moderate sample size performance of the estimators is examined via simulation and by application to two real datasets.


This paper surveys recent empirical work on tests for liquidity constraints.The focus of the survey is on the tests based on the Euler equation. After examining the technical aspects of the recent tests on aggregate time-series data and on micro data, the survey tries to evaluate their economic significance. The paper concludes that for a significant fraction of the population the behavior of consumption over time is affected in away predicted by credit rationing and differential borrowing and lending rates. However, the available evidence is shown to have failed in providing information necessary to calculate the response of consumption to changes in the time profile of income.The paper attributes the failure to the fact that not much attention in the literature has been paid to the cause of liquidity constraints.


The study was aimed at the transformation of arsenic compounds in the rhizosphere, its accumulation in plants, P and Si translocation to plants under the influence of Bacillus megaterium var. phosphaticum, and Bacillus mucilaginosus with various forms of As compounds in the soil. The authors describe the maximum effect of Bacillus megaterium var. Phosphaticum strain on As migration, its mobilization and immobilization in the rhizosphere due to arsenic leaching from mineral and difficult-todestroy compounds and its accumulation in plants. The forms of arsenic compounds were isolated from the rhizosphere based on sequential extraction procedures. The features of the inter-element As-P interaction in plants were established. With the intense accumulation of As in the rhizosphere inoculated with rhizobacteria, the intake of phosphorus into plants was not observed, as contrary to Si. The study of As and biogenic elements behavior under the influence of rhizobacteria is of great importance in the development of ecobiotechnologies related to soil remediation and crop production.


A semicarbazide-sensitive clorgyline-resistant amine oxidase (SSAO) was solubilized from membrane fractions of rat brown adipose tissue by the non-ionic detergent, Triton X-100. Alteration of ionic strength or addition of chelating agents alone failed to release the enzyme from its membrane. Lipid-depletion led to loss of enzyme activity and alteration of substrate affinity. Over 80% of the activity of the solubilized enzyme was found in gel filtration fractions corresponding to an Mr of between 160 000 and 180 000. The glycoprotein nature of SSAO was established from affinity chromatography with either immobilized concanavalin A or Lens culinaris lectin. Elution of over 50% SSAO activity from the lentil lectin was achieved with 0.25M-alpha-methyl D-mannoside to give 80-90-fold purification of the enzyme. Irradiation inactivation gave a value for Mr of around 183 000 for both soluble and membrane-bound SSAO. Substrate affinity and inhibitor sensitivity of the enzyme were unaltered by solubilization. The copper-chelating agent, diethyldithiocarbamate, did not affect the enzyme, shedding doubt on the suggestion that SSAO is a copper-requiring enzyme. The significance of these findings in relation to the nature of SSAO and to its disposition within the cell membrane is discussed.


ABSTRACT CTCF is a transcription factor with highly versatile functions ranging from gene activation and repression to the regulation of insulator function and imprinting. Although many of these functions rely on CTCF-DNA interactions, it is an emerging realization that CTCF-dependent molecular processes involve CTCF interactions with other proteins. In this study, we report the association of a subpopulation of CTCF with the RNA polymerase II (Pol II) protein complex. We identified the largest subunit of Pol II (LS Pol II) as a protein significantly colocalizing with CTCF in the nucleus and specifically interacting with CTCF in vivo and in vitro. The role of CTCF as a link between DNA and LS Pol II has been reinforced by the observation that the association of LS Pol II with CTCF target sites in vivo depends on intact CTCF binding sequences. "Serial" chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis revealed that both CTCF and LS Pol II were present at the β-globin insulator in proliferating HD3 cells but not in differentiated globin synthesizing HD3 cells. Further, a single wild-type CTCF target site (N-Myc-CTCF), but not the mutant site deficient for CTCF binding, was sufficient to activate the transcription from the promoterless reporter gene in stably transfected cells. Finally, a ChIP-on-ChIP hybridization assay using microarrays of a library of CTCF target sites revealed that many intergenic CTCF target sequences interacted with both CTCF and LS Pol II. We discuss the possible implications of our observations with respect to plausible mechanisms of transcriptional regulation via a CTCF-mediated direct link of LS Pol II to the DNA.


Changing seawater chemistry towards reduced pH as a result of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is affecting oceanic organisms, particularly calcifying species. Responses of non-calcifying consumers are highly variable and mainly mediated through indirect ocean acidification effects induced by changing the biochemical content of their prey, as shown within single species and simple 2-trophic level systems. However, it can be expected that indirect CO2 impacts observed at the single species level are compensated at the ecosystem level by species richness and complex trophic interactions. A dampening of CO2-effects can be further expected for coastal communities adapted to strong natural fluctuations in pCO2, typical for productive coastal habitats. Here we show that a plankton community of the Kiel Fjord was tolerant to CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) levels projected for the end of this century (<1400 µatm), and only subtle differences were observed at the extremely high value of 4000 µatm. We found similar phyto- and microzooplankton biomass and copepod abundance and egg production across all CO2 treatment levels. Stoichiometric phytoplankton food quality was minimally different at the highest pCO2 treatment, but was far from being potentially limiting for copepods. These results are in contrast to studies that include only a single species, which observe strong indirect CO2 effects for herbivores and suggest limitations of biological responses at the level of organism to community. Although this coastal plankton community was highly tolerant to high fluctuations in pCO2, increase in hypoxia and CO2 uptake by the ocean can aggravate acidification and may lead to pH changes outside the range presently experienced by coastal organisms.


The paper develops and addresses a major challenge for therapeutic conceptions of philosophy of the sort increasingly attributed to Wittgenstein. To be substantive and relevant, such conceptions have to identify "diseases of the understanding" from which philosophers suffer, and to explain why these "diseases" need to be cured in order to resolve or overcome important philosophical problems. The paper addresses this challenge in three steps: With the help of findings and concepts from cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology, it redevelops the Wittgensteinian notion of "philosophical pictures." Through a case study on seminal versions of familiar mind-body problems, it examines how such pictures shape philosophical reflection and generate ill-motivated but captivating problems. Third, it shows that philosophical pictures are constitutive of "diseases of the understanding," in a quite strict sense of the term. On this basis, the paper explains when and why philosophical therapy is required.


A successful nanotechnology will require nanomotors that can perform functions from switches to pumps and actuators. In their Perspective, Besenbacher and Nørskov discuss the study by Schmid et al., who show that tin islands on a copper surfaces propel themselves forward on the surface, drawing energy from alloy formation with the surface below. The system has about the same power-to-weight ratio as a car and may provide a paradigm for future nanomotors.


This paper addresses the current research void on local community views of changes in ecosystem services associated with rapid land use transformation in the context of plantation-based forestry. This interview-based study, conducted in southern China, aims at assessing the perspectives of local communities of: 1) the effects of Eucalyptus industrial plantations on selected ecosystem services and on local development; and 2) opportunities for future community livelihood development, based on the relations with the government and with forest industry operating locally. We analysed data from semi-structured interviews with 70 villagers for their views on changes in ecosystem services after the establishment of plantations, and their future expectations on the local livelihood development. Most interviewees mentioned some negative development on environmental quality after the establishment of the industrial plantations, especially on soil and water. Furthermore, the reduced productivity of cropland surrounding industrial plantations, coupled with other financial drivers, induced several villagers to switch from agricultural crops to household plantations. In the absence of destructive typhoons, household plantations can provide owners more free time, higher income, while industrial plantations provided some employment opportunities. Interviewees' expectations for the future included receiving financial support and capacity building for household plantations and crops, support to local roads and schools, and higher employment opportunities. Some interviewees suggested that solutions should be implemented for improving degraded water quality, while others suggested reducing forestry operations. Even though being highly context-specific, our findings open up the discussion about the further community development opportunities in the context of plantation forestry. In particular, the potential of value sharing


Put simply, usability evaluation assesses the extent to which an interactive system is easy and pleasant to use. Things aren't this simple at all though, but let's start by considering the following propositions about usability evaluation:
Usability is an inherent measurable property of all interactive digital technologies
Human-Computer Interaction researchers and Interaction Design professionals have developed evaluation methods that determine whether or not an interactive system or device is usable.
Where a system or device is usable, usability evaluation methods also determine the extent of its usability, through the use of robust, objective and reliable metrics
Evaluation methods and metrics are thoroughly documented in the Human-Computer Interaction research and practitioner literature. People wishing to develop expertise in usability measurement and evaluation can read about these methods, learn how to apply them, and become proficient in determining whether or not an interactive system or device is usable, and if so, to what extent.
The above propositions represent an ideal. We need to understand where current research and practice fall short of this ideal, and to what extent. Where there are still gaps between ideals and realities, we need to understand how methods and metrics can be improved to close this gap. As with any intellectual endeavour, we should proceed with an open mind, and acknowledge that not only are some or all of the above propositions not true, but that they can never be so. We may have to close some doors here, but in doing so, we will be better equipped to open new ones, and even go through them.


The right to freedom from torture is one of the few non-derogable rights but
paradoxically also one of the most violated rights in many African countries. This is the case notwithstanding the fact that almost all constitutions in African countries prohibit torture. African countries are also parties to regional human rights instruments like the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights which specifically prohibit torture under article 5. It is worth noting that many African countries are states parties to international human
rights and humanitarian law instruments that prohibit torture. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the extent to which African countries have complied with their obligation to put an end to torture under the relevant international human rights and humanitarian law obligations. The article recommends that African countries have to take their obligations
under the treaties they ratify seriously to ensure that they put an end to the violations of the right to freedom from torture. East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights Vol. 14 (1) 2008: pp. 104-124


Most memory institutions are now engaging with digitising holdings to provide online access. Although recent developments in technology have allowed users to create high quality digital resources out with institutional boundaries, little consideration has been given to the potential contribution that the general public can make to digitising our cultural heritage. This paper seeks to scope the growing trend of the creation of amateur online museums, archives, and collections, and demonstrates that the best examples of this endeavour can teach best practice to traditional memory institutions in how to make their collections useful, interesting, and used by online communities.


Innovative composite extrusions consisting of an aluminium matrix material with steel fibres for reinforced lightweight constructions require adapted cutting technologies. Due to the resulting tool wear when machining such composite materials, new tools and processes have to be developed. The following article describes experimental investigations concerning conventional drilling operations in comparison to helix milling operations for the manufacturing of holes in these materials. Therefore especially wear and quality aspects are discussed. Furthermore a flexible cutting process for thin walled lightweight frame connector elements to combine profiles is described. To obtain detailed process knowledge also FEA-Simulations of the thermo-mechanical loads affecting the workpiece during the process are performed.


The obstacles of community debelopment in developing countries are low socioeconomic status that causes ignorancy, inability, and low productivity. However, the community can survive since they have the potential of coping with their minimum sources and skills. Such potential in the community must be developed using their own resources. The limitation of funding and manpower from the Government for health activities causes inequality in health care service distributiion. Using the community members as part of its health activity will stimulate the optimum usage the community potential to cope with the problem of sparsity in health care. Community health workers will bridge out the health gap disparsities between those who can afford  health care and those who cannot. These health workers must be members of the community, work closely with local authority and also get appropriate training of knowledge and skills in dealing with health problems individual, house-hold and community based health problems. Work principles of community health workers are to give health care service in their community, to help the community identify their own health needs and solve their health problems in the first hand.


ABSTRACT Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrolments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access – re-examining the quality of some of those facilities against the anticipated quality of educational outcomes. Studies in Southern and Eastern Africa, including the one under discussion here, indicate that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not rely only on school-based factors but also on the careful analysis of wider socioeconomic and cultural factors. This paper, through the results of the case study component of the Early Literacy Development project in the Lindi Rural District of Southern Tanzania, discusses why literacy development has lagged behind in Sub- Saharan Africa. The focus of the study and of this paper is on the relationship between literacy practices, literacy events and early literacy development at home and school in low-resourced communities. The extent to which school infrastructure and ecology including buildings, teaching learning materials and teacher characteristics reinforced literacy practices and events at home and school is also highlighted as being of special interest. The study was sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Development (formerly CIDA) – Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SES-EA).


Wonders in Italian Renaissance Cookery As early as the 1st century C.E., food writers and cooks were devising illusions and theatrical presentations using food and culinary formulas. Roman gourmet Apicius9 famous dish "Anchovies without Anchovies" and his utterance that "no one will know what he is eating" are (literally) classic examples of such "culinary wonders." In recent memory, illustrious chefs like Escoffier at the Savoy in London (who recreated a naval tragedy using poached chicken escalopes) and Abe Lebewohl of the Second Avenue Deli in New York City (who built a replica of the World Trade Center Twin Towers using chopped chicken livers) have made truly extraordinary--if not tasteful--contributions in this field of culinary arts. Such artifice and conceits found what was perhaps their greatest expression during the Italian Renaissance when the author of the "first modern cookery book," Maestro Martino of Como, documented a series of mirabilia gulae or "wonders of culinary indulgence," including a roast peacock that appears to be alive and spews fire and fishes that appear to swim in a suspended gelatin aquarium. A survey of his and his contemporaries9 recipes reveals that the wholly new genre of culinary writing emerged together with the many other "secret books" of the Italian Renaissance, including miscellanea by famous Renaissance figures like Luca Pacioli.


The paper considers the state-of-the-art of membrane technologies, as applied to the needs of medicine and ecology, the major benefits of membranes for microfiltration and ultrafiltration, and perspectives for the application of new membranes based on new materials. A number of membranes based on aromatic polyamide imides (PAs) have been investigated using rotavirus models. Due to the good solubility of PAs in amide solvents, their based asymmetric membranes can be formed in one step, by applying a water setting bath. The one-stage procedure developed at the Institute of High Molecular Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences, for the synthesis of aromatic PAs allows one to prepare polymers with required viscosity and strength characteristics. This gives rise to a membrane as porous films of digitiform morphology and asymmetric porous structure.


intended making decisions and treatment. the and severity the of appropriate imaging procedures or treatments. those examinations generally used for evaluation studies necessary to evaluate other co-existent diseases or other medical consequences of this condition are not considered in this The availability of equipment or personnel may the selection of appropriate imaging procedures or treatments. Imaging techniques classified as investigational by the FDA have not been considered in developing these criteria; however, study of new equipment and applications should be encouraged. The ultimate decision regarding the appropriateness of any specific radiologic examination or treatment must be made by the referring physician and radiologist in light of all the circumstances presented in an individual examination.


The study aimed to assess the potentials of Aplaya Calamba as a tourist destination. The existing condition of Aplaya Calamba and its potentials in terms of attraction, accommodation, amenities, and accessibility were discussed in this study. SWOT analysis of the place was also covered in this study. The study made use of descriptive method of research. Data were obtained using interview guide answered by the local officials of the barangay and the deparment head of the DOT in the municipality. Diary technique was also used in this study.


HYPOTHESIS
Surgical outcomes from a breast cancer-screening program of low-income women are similar to those of other screening programs.

DESIGN
Prospective cohort.

SETTING
Federally funded screening program.

PATIENTS
A total of 15730 women.

INTERVENTIONS
A total of 23149 mammograms, 20396 with concomitant clinical breast examination, from January 1, 1997, through December 31, 2001.

OUTCOME MEASURES
American College of Radiology scores; associated surgery consultations, biopsies, operations, and pathology results.

RESULTS
Most (20868) of the 21296 mammograms assigned an American College of Radiology score were benign; only 428 (2%) were suspicious. Resulting from suspicious clinical breast examinations, the group with American College of Radiology scores of 1 to 3 accounted for 45%, 18%, and 10% of recommended surgical consultations, biopsies, and cancers detected, respectively. A rate of 12.3 cancers per 1000 women was found, greater than with other screening programs. Compliance with therapy was 97%.

CONCLUSIONS
This screening program had a higher rate of advanced cancers. Clinical breast examination was an important component, and compliance with surgical recommendations was excellent.


Author(s): Mckeon, Olive | Advisor(s): Foster, Susan; Clover, Joshua | Abstract: This study of twentieth-century modern/postmodern dance in the San Francisco Bay Area investigates the relationship of concert dance to its political economic context through an examination of three dances: Carol Beals' Waterfront - 1934 (1936-1937), Anna Halprin's Parades and Changes (1965-1967), and the Wallflower Order's Journeys: Undoing the Distances (1982-1983). Expanding beyond the current interpretive methods within dance history, I offer a Marxist interpretative framework that foregrounds the material relations that condition and enable works of concert dance. Inspired by what dance scholar and sociologist Randy Martin refers to as overreading dance, I argue that the contradictions and antagonisms of capitalism appear immanently within these three works. The dialectical forces of economic history are also operative within concert dance. Rethinking the purview of what counts as 'context' within dance history, I employ a four part analysis for a political economic interpretation of these dances, which considers a) the choreography, b) the process of making the piece, c) the material conditions that enabled the choreographer to create the work, and d) its political economic period. The case studies of the dissertation allow me to map concert dance onto shifts within capitalism over the course of the twentieth-century, from the Great Depression of the 1930s to the Fordist post-war boom to the aftermath of the 1973 economic crisis. In developing a mode of interpretation adequate to each period, the chapters focus on a single political economic category and the contradictions dwelling within it: capital during the 1930s, labor during the 1960s, and social reproduction during the 1980s. The dissertation contributes to the historiography of modern dance in California by rethinking a canonical figure (Anna Halprin) and offering accounts of choreographers who have not received significant dance historical attention (Carol Beals and the Wallflower Order). Together, the studies of Beals, Halprin, and the Wallflower Order chart the relationship of their dances to the economic contradictions of their period. Political economic methods can rethink the study of dance beyond discrete stage performances by entangling works of concert dance with their economic context.


A nation-wide movement in cooperative potato marketing began when Idaho farmers founded United Potato Growers of Idaho (UPGI) in 2004. Potato growers in other states quickly formed similar regional cooperatives and helped develop a national federated cooperative – United Potato Growers of America (UPGA). UPGA's mission was to manage supplies to bring profitable prices to fresh potato growers. Although prices rose to record-high levels they also became more volatile. The development of UPGA was analyzed through the lenses of two cooperative pioneers: Aaron Sapiro and Edwin Nourse. Growers organized UPGA in the model of Sapiro who advocated nation-wide marketing control for all producers of a commodity. Nourse claimed that agricultural cooperatives should instead focus on efficiency. It is likely that Nourse would not have approved of UPGA, while Sapiro would have encouraged them.


Ice rafting is the dominant mechanism responsible for the transport of fine-grained sediments from coastal zones to the deep Arctic Basin. Therefore, the drift of ice-rafted debris (IRD) could be a significant transport mechanism from the shelf to the deep basin for radionuclides originating from nuclear fuel cycle activities and released to coastal Arctic regions of the former Soviet Union. In this study, 28 samples of IRD collected from the Arctic ice pack during expeditions in 1989-95 were analyzed for 137Cs by gamma spectrometry and for 239Pu and 240Pu by thermal ionization mass spectrometry. 137Cs concentrations in the IRD ranged from less than 0.2 to 78 Bq/kg (dry weight basis). The two samples with the highest 137Cs concentrations were collected in the vicinity of Franz Josef Land, and their backward trajectories suggest origins in the Kara Sea. Among the lowest 137Cs values are seven measured on sediments entrained on the North American shelf in 1989 and 1995, and sampled on the shelf less than six months later. Concentrations of 239Pu + 240Pu ranged from about 0.02 to 1.8 Bq/kg. The two highest values came from samples collected in the central Canada Basin and near Spitsbergen; calculated backward trajectories suggest at least 14 years of circulation in the Canada Basin in the former case, and an origin near Severnaya Zemlya (at the Kara Sea/Laptev Sea boundary) in the latter case. While most of the IRD samples showed 240Pu/239Pu ratios near the mean global fallout value of 0.185, five of the samples had lower ratios, in the 0.119 to 0.166 range, indicative of mixtures of Pu from fallout and from the reprocessing of weapons-grade Pu. The backward trajectories of these five samples suggest origins in the Kara Sea or near Severnaya Zemlya. Normal.dotm 0 0 1 11 63 University of Calgary 1 1 77 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Key words: sea ice, ice-rafted debris, radionuclides, cesium-137, plutonium


From the "Personal to the Political" seeks to analyze the autobiographical perspective of mothering and motherhood not purely as their inner, emotional and private narratives. The collection aims at evidentiating how autobiographical writing gives voice to the historically determined experience of mothering and makes visible the importance of mothers as resilient and political agents. The volume is divided into two sections. The first focuses on what may be termed 'autobiographical theory'. The contributors in this section use their life stories to theorize upon a social maternal perspective such as that as single mothers, mothers of children with disabilities, mothers of older children, and mothers of bi-racial children. The focus of the second section is on autobiographical narratives and includes readings of memoirs, slave narratives, poetry, and fiction. The essays in this volume position autobiography, in both theory and fiction, as a profoundly cultural and political text that makes social change possible


OBJECTIVE
To examine human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors and predictors of unprotected anal intercourse.

DESIGN
Structured interviews and paper-and-pencil instruments.

SETTING
Community sites in Minnesota during 1989 to 1991.

SUBJECTS
Two hundred thirty-nine gay and bisexual male adolescent volunteers.

OUTCOME MEASURES
AIDS knowledge and beliefs, self-reported substance use, and sexual behavior.

RESULTS
Subjects demonstrated accurate knowledge and beliefs about HIV; but 63% were found to be at "extreme risk" for prior HIV exposure, based on histories of unprotected anal intercourse and/or intravenous drug use. Thirty-four percent of subjects reported unprotected anal sex with at least one of the last three partners in the previous year. Perceived likelihood of HIV acquisition, substance abuse, having a steady partner, noncommunication with partners about risk reduction, and frequent intercourse were found to be significantly associated (P < .05) with unprotected anal sex in the previous year.

CONCLUSIONS
Programs for gay and bisexual youth should focus on preventing unprotected anal intercourse. Other goals are to promote: communication with sexual partners, consistent condom use during oral and vaginal sex, low risk sexual practices, avoidance of substance use in sexual situations, and developmentally appropriate HIV antibody counseling and testing services.


A comparison was made between geologic, radiometric, and paleomagnetic methods of dating and stratigraphic correlation on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. Age relationships based on geomorphology and paleontology agree with those determined using potassium-argon dating and paleomagnetic reversals, permitting the following synthesis of the geologic and geomagnetic history of the Pribilofs: The two islands formed during two pulses of volcanism separated by about 1 m.y. St. George Island was formed during the earlier pulse, which lasted from 2.2 to at least 1.6 m.y. ago. During this short interval of 0.6 m.y. the geomagnetic field changed polarity from an initial reversed direction to a normal direction and then back again to a reversed direction. The normal flows, which are both underlain and overlain by reversed flows, have ages between 2.0 and 1.8 m.y. They were extruded during the Olduvai normal event, a relatively brief interval of worldwide normal geomagnetic polarity within the otherwise reversed Matuyama polarity epoch, which lasted from 2.5 to 0.7 m.y. ago. A second pulse of volcanism, which began about 1 m.y. after the first, produced St. Paul Island. This pulse has continued for the past one third m.y., an interval of normal polarity. Fossiliferous marine sedimentary rocks deposited during the Beringian marine transgression are covered on St. George Island by a reversely magnetized pillow lava 2.14 ± 0.08 m.y. old. Fossiliferous marine sedimentary rocks deposited during a transgression younger than the Anvilian and older than the Kotzebuan transgressions are bracketed at the Einahnuhto Bluffs, St. Paul, between normally magnetized lava flows and are less than 0.4 and more than 0.1 m.y. old.


Here, we address a dimension-reduction problem in the context of nonlinear elasticity where the applied external surface forces induce bending-torsion moments. The underlying body is a multi-structure in $\mathbb{R}^3$ consisting of a thin tube-shaped domain placed upon a thin plate-shaped domain. The problem involves two small parameters, the radius of the cross-section of the tube-shaped domain and the thickness of the plate-shaped domain. We characterize the different limit models, including the limit junction condition, in the membrane-string regime according to the ratio between these two parameters as they converge to zero.


Abstract : This is the final report for the second contract phase for development of the Cronus Project. Cronus is the name given to the distributed operating system (DOS) and system architecture for distributed application development environment being designed and implemented by BBN Laboratories for the Air Force Rome Air Development Center (RADC). The project was begun in 1981. The Cronus distributed operating system is intended to promote resource sharing among interconnected computer systems and manage the collection of resources which are shared. Its major purpose is to provide a coherent and integrated system based on clusters of interconnected heterogeneous computers to support the development and use of distributed applications. Distributed applications range from simple programs that merely require convenient reference to remote data, to collections of complex subsystems tailored to take advantage of a distributed architecture. One of the main contributions of Cronus is a unifying architecture and model for developing these distributed applications, as well as support for a number of system-provided functions which are common to many applications.


We report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the new semiconductor gain material orientation patterned gallium phosphide (OP-GaP) and being the first example of a broadband OPO operating across the molecular fingerprint region. OP-GaP crystals with lengths of 1 mm and several patterning periods were diced, polished, and antireflection (AR) coated for near- to mid-infrared wavelengths. We configured a synchronously pumped OP-GaP OPO in a 101.2-MHz resonator with high reflectivity from 1.15–1.35 μm, pumped with 150-fs pulses from a 1040-nm femtosecond laser (Chromacity Spark). The coating of one spherical mirror was optimized for transmission at the pump wavelength of 1040 nm and for high reflectivity at the resonant signal wavelength in a range from 1.15–1.35 μm, while the other spherical mirror collimated the idler beam emerging from the OP-GaP crystal and was silver coated to provide high reflectivity for all idler wavelengths. This collimated idler beam was output-coupled from the cavity by transmission through a plane mirror coated with high transmission for the idler wavelengths (5–12 μm) and high reflectivity for the signal wavelengths (1.15–1.35 μm) on an infrared-transparent ZnSe substrate. Idler spectra centered from 5.4–11.8 μm and extending to 12.5 μm were collected. The maximum average power was 55 mW at 5.4 μm with 7.5 mW being recorded at 11.8 μm. Details of Fourier transform spectroscopy using water vapor and a polystyrene reference standard are presented.


Most of broadcast encryption schemes do not provide source authentication property. This allows an adversary to launch impersonating attacks. Therefore, broadcast encryption scheme without source authentication is not applicable in our real life as it is. In this paper, we propose a source-authenticated broadcast encryption scheme by fixing the identity-based broadcast encryption scheme proposed by Delerablée. The security of our scheme is proved in the random oracle model. Analysis of our scheme shows that it is comparatively efficient in terms of computation and communication.


REITs exhibit a strong and prevalent momentum effect that is not captured by conventional factor models. This REIT momentum anomaly hampers proper judgments about the performance of actively managed REIT portfolios. In contrast, a REIT momentum factor adds incremental explanatory power to performance attribution models for REIT portfolios. Using this factor, this study finds that REIT momentum explains a great deal of the abnormal returns that actively managed REIT mutual funds earn in aggregate. Accounting for exposure to REIT momentum also materially influences cross-sectional comparisons of the performances of REIT mutual funds. This study has important implications for performance evaluation, alpha–beta separation, and manager selection and compensation. Managers of such real estate portfolios as real estate mutual funds are compensated for the returns they produce on their portfolios relative to a benchmark portfolio's return. This study focuses on the REIT industry to illustrate that momentum effects in U.S. REIT returns can affect portfolio performance attribution. We first confirmed that the presence of a strong and prevalent momentum effect in REIT returns poses a challenge to performance attribution based on common factors. A REIT momentum strategy, which buys REITs with the highest past return and sells short REITs with the lowest past return, produces a return that is economically larger than that of a common-stock momentum strategy. The common-stock momentum factor, which is explicitly designed to capture momentum effects, does not suffice to capture the REIT momentum anomaly. Instead, return differences among portfolios with different REIT momentum characteristics are best captured by a REIT momentum factor. To gauge the practical implications of the REIT momentum anomaly, we demonstrated how the inclusion of our REIT-specific momentum factor in performance attribution models affects estimates of the value added by active REIT portfolio managers. Using a sample of U.S. REIT mutual funds, we found that REIT momentum explains a great deal of the abnormal returns that such mutual funds earn according to studies that did not account for REIT momentum. Consistent with our expectations, REIT mutual fund returns are better explained by a REIT momentum factor than by the conventional common-stock momentum factor. The positive alphas that REIT funds deliver under conventional factor models dissipate under a model that includes the three Fama–French factors and a REIT momentum factor. Finally, we showed that a consideration of REIT momentum affects our understanding of cross-sectional variation in the performance of REIT funds. Specifically, REIT mutual funds with relatively high past returns continue to earn higher returns than the competition because of greater exposure to the REIT momentum factor. Moreover, the common-stock factor model and the factor model proposed in this study substantially disagree about the rankings of REIT mutual funds by their alphas. These results imply that factoring REIT momentum into performance attribution has important implications for REIT performance evaluation and manager selection and compensation.


Trace metals are fundamental components of various biochemical reactions for phytoplankton. They serve as micronutrients and therefore play a key role in marine biogeochemical cycles. International programs such as GEOTRACES require fast, sensitive and reliable methods for the simultaneous analysis of multiple trace elements in seawater. This paper reports the development of a simplified, automated, low cost, portable, off-line extraction method with high sample throughput. The extraction uses the chelating resin Nobias-chelate PA1 offering an extraction factor of 18 from 27 mL of seawater. This solid phase extraction has been coupled with Sector Field-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) for analysing dissolved manganese (dMn), cobalt (dCo), nickel (dNi), copper (dCu), cadmium (dCd) and lead (dPb). An optimum pH of 6.2 was selected allowing quantitative recovery of most elements of interest, offering stable Cu and minimum molybdenum (Mo) recoveries, limiting interferences of Cd determination. Picomolar or subpicomolar trace metal blank concentrations and detection limits were obtained suitable for open ocean sample measurements. Regular analysis of reference seawater samples (SAFe, GEOTRACES and in-house seawater) showed excellent short-term and medium-term precision (1–8% RSD) and accuracy of the method. Twenty four samples, 3 blanks, 6 standard addition calibration samples, 3 replicates of in-house seawater and 2 reference seawater samples were extracted daily. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of seawater samples from the Southern and Pacific Oceans.


in children with heart disease. Increasingly, dilated cardiomyopathy is recognized to be familial, and specific gene products related to the myocyte cytoskeleton and contractile proteins have been identified. Other associations with metabolic disease, dysmorphic syndromes, and neuromuscular disease are important to establish, particularly in pediatric patients, to guide therapy and patient selection for transplantation. Survival in children with dilated cardiomyopathy depends on accurate diagnosis and aggressive therapy. Patients may respond to conventional treatment for heart failure or may deteriorate, requiring mechanical support. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has been used effectively for mechanical support in children until improvement occurs or as a bridge to transplantation. For those who are listed, the mortality rate while waiting for a donor organ averages approximately 20%. Survival after transplantation is good, with an intermediate survival rate of approximately 70%. Late survival remains to be determined in the current cyclosporin era but may in fact be improving. However, increased organ donation or strategies to increase the size of the organ donor pool, such as xenotransplantation, are needed to significantly reduce the rate of mortality while waiting. Curr Opin Cardiol 2000, 15:216–223 © 2000


This paper examines Pakistani Banks stock return and volatility relationship with market, interest rate and foreign exchange rate. The study extensively applies different statistical approaches to model return and volatility relation. First, Ordinary Least Square (OLS) multiple regression model is applied for estimation of return relation. Further, Generalize Method of Movement (GMM) is applied to cater the endogeniety issue. Secondly, Due to presence of Conditional Heteroskedasticity, Weighted Least Square (WLS) and Generalize Auto Regression Conditional Heteroskedasticity - GARCH (1,1) estimation model is applied to estimate conditional return and volatility. Interest rate and foreign exchange rate have significant impact on unconditional and conditional bank stock returns under different model specifications. Market return is a determining factor in bank stock pricing. The results infer that bank volatility is significantly related with interest rate and foreign exchange rate risk. The volatility of bank stock returns is persistent with slower decay over time.


Pretreatment of Lewis rats with a series of injections of a renal tubular antigen (RTA) in IFA prevented induction of Heymann's nephritis (HN) when the rats were challenged with RTA in FCA. This absence of disease was confirmed by immunofluorescent staining for rat IgG and histologic examination of the kidneys as well as by lack of development of significant proteinuria. Passive transfer of spleen and lymph node cells from rats receiving such pretreatment into syngeneic recipients prevented induction of HN when these recipients were challenged with RTA in FCA. Passive transfer of serum obtained from pretreated rats was without effect. These results suggest that one of the mechanisms involved in preventing HN by this pretreatment regimen was the induction of suppressor cells. The results of spleen cell transformation indicated that the suppressor cells were specific for RTA as the immune response to a second antigen, PPD, was unaffected. When rats already had active early HN, the diseas course was unaffected by transfer of suppressor cells.


Between November 1992 and September 1999 84 lungs have been transplanted at University Hospital Zurich. Currently the 1-year survival rate is up to 85%. However, long-term success is limited by the development of chronic rejection in the form of bronchiolitis obliterans. The risk factors are repeated episodes of acute rejection and infections, due to cytomegalovirus in particular. Both can occur in asymptomatic patients and are sometimes detected only by transbronchial lung biopsy. At the Zurich Lung Transplant Centre biopsies are performed as surveillance biopsies in asymptomatic patients in the first 6 months after transplantation, for clinical indications and as follow-up biopsies after a pathological result. Open lung biopsies are performed for special indications only. We evaluated 408 transbronchial biopsies taken between November 1992 and September 1999. Relevant findings were present in 46% of biopsies in symptomatic patients. Relevant acute rejection episodes were diagnosed in 15% of surveillance biopsies. Overall, 72% of acute rejection episodes requiring therapy and 33% of biopsies detecting cytomegalovirus were found in surveillance biopsies. 7 of 11 late (> 45 days postoperative) and 1 of 5 early (< or = 45 days postoperative) open lung biopsies revealed new diagnoses. Transbronchial biopsy after lung transplantation is at present the gold standard for diagnosis of acute rejection and cytomegalovirus pneumonia of the lung.


ABSTRACT Pneumococcal vaccination coverage of adults at risk for pneumococcal disease is below recommended levels. There is no observational data on pneumococcal vaccination and the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections in a general adult population. The current study had the objective to explore the incidence of lower respiratory tract infections and the pneumococcal vaccine coverage in function of age, influenza vaccination status and risk status, in Flanders, Belgium. We used data from Intego, ageneral practice-based morbidity registration network in Flanders (Belgium). We gathered data on pneumococcal vaccinations, influenza vaccination (in 2014) and ICPC2-coded diagnoses of pneumonia and acute bronchitis (2015). First, we divided the population into three groups along the risk status for developing apneumococcal infection according to the recommendations for pneumococcal vaccination in adults by the Belgian High Council of Health. 28.6% from our total adult study population are considered the target group for vaccination. Second, we found that the average pneumococcal vaccination coverage in this targeted population was 18.7%. Third, we found asignificantly higher incidence of LRTI in patients previously vaccinated against pneumococcal disease and/or influenza across the majority of subgroups. Pneumococcal vaccination coverage in Flanders is quantitatively low but observed to be qualitatively high in terms of reaching the most at risk population. Our findings are likely to be highly relevant to addressing future vaccination strategies in Flanders.


In the field of fluid flow measurement, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is the most recent addition technique to be introduced. The basic premise of how PIV works is by injecting small particles the fluid that is going to be tested and the position of a small group of said particles is recorded over two short interval time to extract the velocity of the fluid. Therefore PIV is conceived as method of measuring by means of visualization of the fluid flow that been applied by scientist and researchers throughout the years. This study touches on the development of PIV and investigation of featured and the theory involved.
The research is about creating an algorithm derived from cross-correlation theory that is being used in extracting velocity of the fluid. The software being used is MATLAB and the focus of the study is the 2D PIV which also requires the need to study 2D fluid flow.


A series of biologically active organophosphorus compounds have been synthesized by the reactions of Phenylphosphonic dichloride / 4-Chlorophenyl dichlorophosphate with 5-( phenyl / substituted phenyl )-1,3,4- thiadiazol-2-ylcarbamodithioic acids . The compounds have been characterized on the basis of elemental analyses and spectral (IR, 1H NMR 31P NMR) data. All the compounds were screened for their anti microbial activity. They were found to possess significant anti-microbial activity.


This paper is aimed at showing the complementarity between Richardson's and Hicks' contributions as regards the sketching out of a proper analytical framework for dynamic analysis. These contributions deal with two essential analytical ingredients that the out-of-equilibrium analysis of processes of economic change calls for: investment, in the sense of construction of productive capacity, and the relations which must be established for construction looked at as a process over time. In particular, light is thrown on the specific co-ordination problem that characterizes a process of economic change; a problem that arises at the junction of two strictly related lags: the phase of construction of productive capacity - which entails sunk costs - and the delay of transmission of information - which implies uncertainty. The analytical framework thus sketched out helps to understand why the economic agents' interaction does not bring about chaotic results, as long as the decision-makers are characterized by roughly stable patterns of behaviour and/or as long as a fair amount of co-ordination takes place, through various forms of cognitive exchange. It helps to show that the adoption of routines, the compliance to rules and customs, communicative action, the sharing of expectations about the behaviour of the system, the search for explicit agreements, are all mechanisms (or strategies) producing some degree of co-ordination, which confer the required order and stability to the environment.


Sixty strains/isolates of the genera Bradyrhizobium, Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium and Azorhizobium, isolated from different hosts (legume subfamilies: Papilionoideae, Mimosoideae and Caesalpinoideae) and location (Atlantic Forest, Amazon region, crop plantings and heavy metal experiments), were evaluated for Zn, Cu and Cd tolerance in YMA medium modified by the addition of biological buffers (HEPES and MES) and supplemented with Cu (0 to 60 mg L-1), Cd (0 to 60 mg L-1), and Zn (0 to 1,000 mg L-1) sulphates. Growth standards were applied to evaluate rhizobia cultures growth at different metal concentrations, allowing evaluation of highest tolerated concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Cd and the toxic doses (concentrations) of these metals, which reduce the growth standard in 25% (DT25) and 50% (DT50). It was verified that there was no influence of the origin (host and location) on the highest tolerated concentration of each metal; the order of sensitivity to heavy metals, considering the highest tolerable concentrations, was Azorhizobium > Rhizobium = Mesorhizobium = Sinorhizobium > Bradyrhizobium. The DT25 and the DT50 were useful to differentiate strain/isolates of the same genus, which reached the same highest tolerated concentration to Zn, Cu, and Cu; and the order of toxicity was Cu > Cd > Zn.


This paper describes about the development of new concept's rear wheel guards for the reduction of Road Noise in the passenger vehicle using test. The new wheel guards are proposed by various frequency chamber concept and different textile layers concept. Two wheel guards were verified by small cabin resonance test and vehicle test. Through new developing process without vehicle test, Result of road noise will be expected when new concepts and materials of wheel guard is applied into automotive vehicle. As a result of the application of Aimed Helmholtz and Multi-layers concept, this paper classifies the road noise, cost and weight are reduced by new concepts and the solutions are adopted into the 2 cars.


G-quadruplexes are nucleic acids secondary structures that can be formed in guanine-rich sequences. More than 30 years ago, their formation was first observed in telomeric DNA. Since then, a number of other sequences capable of forming G-quadruplex structures have been described and increasing evidence supporting their formation in the context of living cells has been accumulated. To fully underpin the biological significance of G-quadruplexes and their potential as therapeutic targets, several chemical-biology tools and methods have been developed to map and visualise these nucleic acids secondary structures in human cells. In this review, we critically present the most relevant methods developed to investigate G-quadruplex prevalence in human cells and to study their biological functions, presenting the next key chemical-biology challenges that need to be addressed to fully unravel G-quadruplex mediated biology and their therapeutic potential.


Regression analysis is useful when limited data on a material is obtained under various experimental conditions, and design allowables are required for certain (perhaps different) conditions. Since composite material properties typically exhibit considerable variability, and since composite material testing is expensive, the use of regression methodology for the efficient analysis of experimental data is even more important than for metals. However, test data for composites often come from several batches, with nonnegligible between-batch variability. The usual approach when confronted with such data is to combine all batches at each test condition, and then to use conventional regression methodology to determine allowables. This approach does not take the variability between batches into account, and, consequently, the allowables can be nonconservative. New methodology has been developed for regression allowables in the presence of between-batch variability that overcomes this limitation for a wide class of practical situations. This article discusses the interpretation of statistically-based design allowables, particularly for realistic situations where the data come from several batches over a test matrix of fixed conditions. A computer program (available from the author), which is an implementation of the new methodology, is used to analyze a set of graphite/epoxy compressive strength data.


Fumonisins are mycotoxins (MTs) produced mainly by the fungus Fusarium verticillioides, the main pathogens of maize which cause ear rot. The aim of this work was to evaluate some factors that may lead to high fumonisin production by F. verticillioides in maize grains, correlating the pathogen inoculation method with different genotypes grown in four Brazilian states. Experiments were conducted in 2015–2016 in maize crops from experimental maize fields located in four distinct states of Brazil. Results showed that contamination by fumonisin mycotoxins occurred even on symptomatic or asymptomatic grains. In all municipalities, the samples showed levels of fumonisin B1 that were higher than would be tolerable for the human consumption of corn products (the current tolerance limit for fumonisin is 1.5 μg g−1). High severity of grains infected with F. verticillioides does not always show high concentrations of fumonisins. Environments with higher temperatures may influence the production of high concentrations of fumonisin in maize hybrids. Spray inoculation methods and inoculation at the center of spikes did not influence fumonisin concentrations. Results showed that the hybrids P3630H, P32R48 and P3250 presented higher disease severity, as well as higher mycotoxin levels in the studied locations with higher temperatures.


ABSTRACT Despite being labelled 'the Citizen Kane of bad films' upon its release, The Room (2003) and its enigmatic director/writer/star Tommy Wiseau have gained a cult following worldwide. This article examines how reception of The Room and of Wiseau has evolved as a result of paratexts claiming to expose the truth behind the film's production and the Wiseau persona. While The Room has gained a cult following centred upon participatory cinema screenings, the film's lifespan has been sustained by paratexts promising to expose the authentic nature of the film and Wiseau. By examining both The Room and the Wiseau persona, the way paratexts have helped 'renovate' their images can be observed, giving them a 'second life' of devoted cult followers. The Room continues to draw fans in cinemas worldwide; and this success has brought Wiseau the fame he openly courts. The article proposes that the desire of the audience to uncover the authentic Wiseau is an integral part of the cultification of The Room. Ultimately, I contend that the paratexts which have developed around the production and reception of The Room have served to reinforce the film's cult status, and that the mystery of Wiseau's 'true' persona is central to the ongoing cultification of the film.


Silicon carbide (SiC) microtubes with villus-like morphology have been successfully fabricated through a reaction between carbon fiber and SiO gas via the pack cementation process. The effect of gas flow nature (argon and/or hydrogen) on silicon carbide microtube synthesis has been studied. The morphology of the microtubes and the production yield are greatly influenced by the nature of gas flow. Mixed ratio of argon to hydrogen gas has a strong influence on the thickness of the microtubes.


This paper describes the ImageCLEF 2019 Concept Detection Task. This is the 3rd edition of the medical caption task, after it was first proposed in ImageCLEF 2017. Concept detection from medical images remains a challenging task. In 2019, the format changed to a single subtask and it is part of the medical tasks, alongside the tuberculosis and visual question and answering tasks. To reduce noisy labels and limit variety, the data set focuses solely on radiology images rather than biomedical figures, extracted from the biomedical open access literature (PubMed Central). The development data consists of 56,629 training and 14,157 validation images, with corresponding Unified Medical Language System (UMLSR) concepts, extracted from the image captions. In 2019 the participation is higher, regarding the number of participating teams as well as the number of submitted runs. Several approaches were used by the teams, mostly deep learning techniques. Long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks (RNN), adversarial auto-encoder, convolutional neural networks (CNN) image encoders and transfer learning-based multi-label classification models were the frequently used approaches. Evaluation uses F1-scores computed per image and averaged across all 10,000 test images.


This paper uses a theoretical perspective based on the ideas of Foucault, critical criminology, and rural criminology, to examine how social relations influenced tax evasion mechanisms in agriculture in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. The paper's main contribution is to show how tax evasion mechanisms are deeply rooted in social relationships developed in the grain market. Through the analysis of thirty interviews, official statistics of tax evasion convictions, and administrative resolutions issued by the national tax agency, I argue that severe formal controls were unsuccessful in eradicating tax evasion because normative changes could not abruptly annul the social relations that made tax evasion in agriculture possible. On the contrary, tax evasion persisted, although some evasion mechanisms were left aside and new ones were created. Thus, it is necessary to stress the importance of a paper that studies economic crimes in geographic areas outside the global north, such as rural Argentina.


Feature selection has been used in many fields such as classification, data mining and object recognition and proven to be effective for removing irrelevant and redundant features from the original dataset. In this paper, a new design of distributed intrusion detection system using a combination feature selection model based on bees and decision tree. Bees algorithm is used as the search strategy to find the optimal subset of features, whereas decision tree is used as a judgment for the selected features. Both the produced features and the generated rules are used by Decision Making Mobile Agent to decide whether there is an attack or not in the networks. Decision Making Mobile Agent will migrate through the networks, moving from node to another, if it found that there is an attack on one of the nodes, it then alerts the user through User Interface Agent or takes some action through Action Mobile Agent. The KDD Cup 99 dataset is used to test the effectiveness of the proposed system. The results show that even if only four features are used, the proposed system gives a better performance when it is compared with the obtained results using all 41 features. Keywords—Distributed intrusion detection system, mobile agent, feature selection, Bees Algorithm, decision tree.


Purpose: This article investigates the deterministic relationship between monetary policy and stock market liquidity in South Africa. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Ordinary Least Square Method was used to capture the nexus between the Johannesburg Stock Exchange indices and selected liquidity measures over the period of 2002 to 2019. The liquidity measures chosen were multi-dimensional in nature, exhibiting characteristics such as tightness, immediacy, depth, breadth and resiliency. Findings: Empirical evidence shows that liquidity depend on monetary policy adjustments as the results reveal that liquidity is dependent on changes in South African Benchmark overnight rate (SABOR). The strength and significance of the relationship depended on the indices and period of analysis. The liquidity measure used was also influential as the results showed a negative relationship between SABOR and adjusted illiquidity measure in line with theory. Also, in line with theory effective spread was found to be positively related with SABOR. The relationship conflicted the theory on the trading volume as it was positively related to SABOR. However, the analysis could not confirm that the relationship between liquidity and monetary policy is asymmetric. Practical Implications: The article highlights the fact that stock market investment professionals, traders and regulators should account for the effects of changes in interest rates when modeling market frictions like liquidity. Originality/Value: An investigation was done in an emerging equity market which is different from the dynamics and mechanics of the developed equity markets because the emerging stock markets are illiquid and constitute a lot of market imperfections. Furthermore, developing countries' financial markets are extremely segmented and less efficient. The results revealed important insights that stock liquidity is time variant and index dependent and contrary to many studies the relationship between stock liquidity and monetary policy is not asymmetry.


We derive envelope theorems for optimization problems in which the value function takes values in a general Banach lattice, and not necessarily in the real line. We impose no restriction whatsoever on the choice set. Our result extend therefore the ones of Milgrom and Segal (2002). We apply our results to discuss the existence of a well-defined notion of marginal utility of wealth in optimal consumption-portfolio problems in which the utility from consumption is additive but possibly state-dependent and, most importantly, the information structure is not required to be Markovian. In this general setting, the value function is itself a random variable and, if integrable, takes values in a Banach lattice so that our general results can be applied.


Multiwavelets, wavelets with several scaling functions, offer simultaneous orthogonality, symmetry, and short support, which is not possible with ordinary (scalar) wavelets. These properties make multiwavelets promising for signal processing applications, such as image denoising. The common approach for image denoising is to get the multiwavelet decomposition of a noisy image and apply a common threshold to each coefficient separately. This approach does not generally give sufficient performance. In this paper, we propose a multivariate thresholding technique for image denoising with multiwavelets. The proposed technique is based on the idea of restoring the spatial dependence of the pixels of the noisy image that has undergone a multiwavelet decomposition. Coefficients with high correlation are regarded as elements of a vector and are subject to a common thresholding operation. Simulations with several multiwavelets illustrate that the proposed technique results in a better performance.


Frequently in information design, we lean toward selecting a platform based upon our knowledge, values, and interests, independent of our audience's practices with information. We found ourselves facing this issue when seeking a technology platform to increase access to learning resources for parents within a financially depressed community. We did not want to choose a platform based upon our biases, yet it was difficult for community members to engage in conversations about technology. We looked at cultural probes and technology probes as methods to seed dialogue within the community. However, neither directly addressed the goal of engaging the community with discussions of information medium In response, we developed the Medium Probe, which meets this goal by placing the focus on the experience of using multiple mediums to respond to prompts, rather than the responses themself.


In this article, the authors use both the stochastic frontier model (Battese and Coelli [1995]) and the discrete-time hazard model (DHM; Shumway [2001]) to determine whether the Taiwan Corporate Credit Risk Index (TCRI) is a good credit risk proxy for companies in Taiwan. They first apply the stochastic frontier model to study the relationship between the TCRI and technical inefficiency and then employ the DHM to study the relationship between the TCRI and financial distress. Finally, they compare the financial distress prediction performance of the DHM using the panel dataset solely based on the TCRI with that based on the well-known predictors in each of Altman [1968], Campbell, Hilscher, and Szilagyi [2008], Duffie, Saita, and Wang [2007], and Shumway [2001]. Their empirical results show that the larger the value of the TCRI, the lower the technical efficiency of the company and the larger the financial distress probability. Also, with the expanding rolling window approach, the DHM employing the panel dataset solely based on the TCRI has the best financial distress prediction performance among the five panel datasets, in the sense of yielding more accurate out-of-sample predicted number of financial distresses. Based on these empirical results, they conclude that the TCRI is a good credit risk proxy for companies in Taiwan.


24,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [24,25-(OH)(2)D(3)], once considered a relatively inert metabolite of vitamin D(3), has been recently recognized as a metabolically active product in some species. In previous studies, we have shown that infusion of 24,25(OH)(2)D(3) into the thyroid artery of normal dogs results in prompt and complete suppression of parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. In this study, we have examined the metabolic consequences of oral administration of this metabolite in dogs with experimentally induced renal hyperparathyroidism. Dogs with comparable degrees of renal insufficiency (glomerular filtration rate, 10-15 ml/min) were treated for 3 wk with daily doses of either 2 mug of 24,25(OH)(2)D(3) or 50% ethanol, the vehicle in which the metabolite was suspended. After a 6-wk recovery period, treatments were reversed: dogs who had previously served as controls received the metabolite while dogs previously treated with metabolite received the vehicle. Administration of 24,25(OH)(2)D(3) resulted in a 40-60% decrease of immunoreactive PTH. This was associated with a small (0.1-0.2 mg/dl) but unequivocal decrease of serum ionized calcium. Calcium balance, which was slightly negative under control conditions, became slightly but definitively positive on treatment with 24,25(OH)(2)D(3). All other parameters measured, including total serum calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, creatinine, electrolytes, phosphorus excretion, and phosphorus balance, remained unchanged. The data support the hypothesis that 24,25(OH)(2)D(3) not only decreases PTH secretion but also functions as an anabolic hormone in bone under the conditions of this experiment.


Surface texturing is one effective means to improve bearing performance. Available studies are mainly focused on the perfectly aligned journal bearing with textures. The studies involving the effect of surface texturing on the misaligned bearing are still limited. In the present study, a transient mixed lubrication model that allows predicting evolution of friction characteristics with high efficiency was proposed. The misalignment of journal bearing under the time-varying applied load was considered using two deflection angles. The performance of journal bearing with provision for misalignments and textures was studied using the proposed model. The results involving the orbits of the journal center and the energy loss of different misaligned journal bearings were obtained. The influences of misalignment degree and surface texturing on these parameters were analyzed. The results show that along with the increased deflection angles, the effect of texturing on the tribological performance of journal bearing would turn beneficial into harmful.


The inaugural speech of the  Medical Commencement Archive entitled, Who is Your Doctor? , comes from Dr. Timothy E. Quill, M.D., at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. The Archive will now release a new speech each Friday. Stay tuned for spectacular reads which speak directly to the future of medicine with wise reflections from the past. Dr. Quill is an accomplished physician and author in the field of Palliative Care. He earned his undergraduate degree at Amherst College, and received his M.D. at the University of Rochester. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Medicine/Psychiatry Liaison at the University of Rochester. Dr.Quill is now Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He is also the Director of the URMC Palliative Care Program. Dr. Quill has published extensively on the doctor-patient relationship, with an emphasis on the difficult decision-making processes toward the end of life. He was the lead physician plaintiff in the 1997 Supreme Court case Quill v. Vacco challenging the law prohibiting physician-assisted death. In his speech, Dr. Quill spoke to the class about the need for competent and personal medical care in this complex and fast-paced world of biomedicine with all its specialties and subspecialties. He drew upon his extensive clinical experience in palliative care to illustrate how a deep understanding of the patient and their family can help physicians not only guide patients through the plethora of medical options, but also make, "…clear recommendations among those options based on their medical knowledge and their knowledge of the patient as a person." Dr. Quill believes, "that kind of guidance and engagement, which is both medically competent but also very person, is what will make [one] a really exemplary doctor." Dr. Quill's speech is indeed very touching and inspirational. His personal clinical anecdotes are moving, as  they illustrate how competent and personal medicine improves patient care. His focus and dedication to understanding and treating patients as opposed to diseases is evident and serves as a role model to all, including medical students. His words inspire medical student to, "become one of those doctors who is not only technically very competent, but also very willing to engage with patients and families in difficult decision-making. " The MSPress encourages you to read his commencement speech to not only gain insight into Dr. Quill's wisdom, filled with powerful anecdotes, but to learn from an accomplished and very thoughtful physician.


We consider a system of Dp-branes in the presence of a nonzero B field with one leg along brane worldvolume and the other transverse to it. We study the corresponding supergravity solutions and show that the worldvolume theories decouple from gravity for p ? 5. Therefore these solutions provide dual description of large N noncommutative dipole field theories. We shall only consider those systems which preserve 8 supercharges in the branes worldvolume. We analyze the system of M5-branes and NS5-branes in the presence of nonzero C field and RR field with one leg along the transverse direction and the others along the worldvolume of the brane, respectively. This could provide a new deformation of (2,0) and little string field theories. Finally, we study the Wilson loops using the dual gravity descriptions.


Ni/sub 80/Fe/sub 20/ thin films were deposited using a wide range of process parameters in a dual source ion beam sputter deposition system. The films were characterized structurally, chemically, and magnetically. Two modes of deposition were investigated; the first permitted concurrent second source bombardment during film deposition but was limited in net deposition rate to about 300 AA/m; the second provided deposition rates in excess of 1000 AA/m, but did not allow for concurrent ion bombardment from the second ion source. Depending on specific conditions film stress varied from slightly tensile to highly compressive in both deposition modes. This, combined with small variations in magnetostriction, resulted in films with vertical anisotropy and stripe domain patterns as well as conditions where well-formed closure domain patterns were observed in yoke shaped structures. For monolithic films, easy axis coercivities >


RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
It is widely accepted that mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) causes injury to the white matter, but the extent of gray matter (GM) damage in mTBI is less clear.

METHODS
We tested 26 civilian healthy controls and 14 civilian adult subacute-chronic mTBI patients using quantitative features of MRI-based Gradient Echo Plural Contrast Imaging (GEPCI) technique. GEPCI data were reconstructed using previously developed algorithms allowing the separation of R2t*, a cellular-specific part of gradient echo MRI relaxation rate constant, from global R2* affected by BOLD effect and background gradients.

RESULTS
Single-subject voxel-wise analysis (comparing each mTBI patient to the sample of 26 control subjects) revealed GM abnormalities that were not visible on standard MRI images (T1w and T2w). Analysis of spatial overlap for voxels with low R2t* revealed tissue abnormalities in multiple GM regions, especially in the frontal and temporal regions, that are frequently damaged after mTBI. The left posterior insula was the region with abnormalities found in the highest proportion (50%) of mTBI patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Our data suggest that GEPCI quantitative R2t* metric has potential to detect abnormalities in GM cellular integrity in individual TBI patients, including abnormalities that are not detectable by a standard clinical MRI.


The advent of machine learning techniques has given rise to modern devices with built-in models for decision making and providing rich content to users. This typically involves processing huge volumes of data in central servers and sending updated models to end-user devices. There are two main concerns on this server architecture, one is the privacy of data that is being transferred to a central server and the other is volumes of data sent over the network for the model update. Federated Learning helps solve these problems by training models on local data within the device and aggregating the model with other devices. Federated Learning involves a central server for the aggregation and the resulting updates to the clients, here only model parameters are shared with the central server not the data itself thereby preserving privacy. But all the applications are not being compatible with Federated Learning and also there is a privacy concern of models being shared to the central server which can be susceptible to malicious attacks. In this paper, central server free Federated Learning, which is decentralized Federated Learning is used, where the parameters will be exchanged between the clients one to one and get their models updated removing the need for a central server for aggregation. Peer-to-peer techniques are used for communicating between clients and different node architectures to achieve better accuracy. This happens when the clients meet another client in a connected social network environment. The results show that the communication happens between clients in a decentralized fashion and thereby achieving privacy in a more trusted manner.


Not available – first paragraph follows:
When Howard B. Frost began citrus breeding at the University of California Citrus Experiment Station in 1914, knowledge of crossing relationships in the genus was limited to earlier studies in Florida by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Frost began a wide series of crosses among edible types, but the numbers of hybrids first obtained were limited by nucellar embryony. This is the phenomenon by which somatic cells of the nucellus (tissue in the ovule but outside the embryo sac) develop into embryos. Since these nucellar embryos develop asexually, with no male cells contributing to their formation, they are usually genetically identical with the seed parent.


Abstract In this paper we are interested in the relation between two facts accompanying the diachronic change from Latin to Romance within the domain of the morphological and argument-structural properties of the predicates expressing change. On the one hand, the element encoding the transition itself, which we call the Path, and the verb are realised as two distinct morphemes in Latin, but as one and the same morpheme in the daughter languages: in Talmy's (2000) terms, the former is a satellite-framed language and the latter are verb-framed languages. On the other hand, there is a whole range of argument-structural patterns which are found in Latin but not in Romance: unselected object contructions, complex directed motion constructions, productive locative alternation, etc. We show, within a syntactic view of argument structure and morphology, that both facts are intimately related. Furthermore, we provide data from Old Catalan showing an intermediate stage between the Latin satellite-framed system and the Romance verb-framed system.


Introduction: The Gastrointesintestinal and Hepatology Department (GHD) of Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST) desires to reduce its access times in order to meet the nationally approved standards for the access times for non- acute health care, the treeknormen. The treeknormen prescribe that 80% of the patients should get an appointment or treatment within three weeks and the other 20% of the patients should see a doctor within a maximum of four weeks (RIVM, 2014). The GHD is far from meeting the treeknormen at this moment with access times as high as four months at the Outpatient Clinic (OC) and two months at the Endoscopic Centre (EC).
Research objective: The department desires to find out whether it is possible to use its resources, such as the available time of the medical staff, more efficiently, so that access times can be reduced. Therefore the main objective of this research is: To develop and assess interventions that can lead to the decrease of access times at the Gastrointestinal and Hepatology Department of Medisch Spectrum Twente in order to meet the nationally approved treeknormen. In order to decrease the access time, this research focuses on the following two sub problems:
1. Imbalance in the distribution of program time over the EC- and OC programs
2. Empty slots in the schedule at the OC with three main causes: nursing slots not being filled by planners, no-shows, and emergency programs not being fully booked. Research Approach: Sub problem 1 is addressed by developing a heuristic to determine a ratio according to which the available program hours should be divided over the two sections.
Sub problem 2 is addressed by first searching for interventions that might reduce access times of the OC. After the formulation of interventions, we use computer simulation to test these interventions. Afterwards, the following five different Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were measured to draw conclusions about the influence of the interventions on the access times:
1. Mean access time in weeks
2. Percentage of patients receiving care in time according to internal- and external standards
3. Clinical throughput (number of appointments)
4. Percentage of idle time, split out in idle time caused by no-shows, and total idle time
5. Overtime


Since the early nineties, the Dutch tax system allows for a tax-favored form of risk free savings through employer-sponsored savings plans (ESSPs).Under some conditions and up to a certain amount, the contributions to this plan are tax-deductible, and the returns as well as the withdrawals are tax-free.This makes these plans extremely attractive, with real after-tax returns by far exceeding the returns to other financial assets such as risk free saving accounts or stocks and bonds.It suggests that those who have access to this type of savings should participate in them, provided they have some financial wealth that they can allocate to their own choice.Moreover, unless liquid financial wealth is too small, each household should hold the maximum amount to which the tax incentives apply.In this paper, we analyze household data on participation in ESSPs.For those who have access to the asset, we investigate the relationship between the ownership decision, the amount held, substitution of other savings, and background characteristics.We find that people who are likely to face binding liquidity constraints less often buy ESSPs and, if they buy them, more often use them as a substitute for other savings.Regular smokers often do not hold ESSPs, suggesting that some people in this group do not compose their portfolios optimally.The results question the assumption of rational financial decision making, which is typically maintained in theoretical as well as empirical work on savings and portfolio choice.


Increased oxidative stress has been shown to lead to muscle damage and reduced physical performance. The antioxidant mechanism is most likely to reduce these relationships, but in the context of the action of carotenoids, more research is needed. This study aimed to investigate whether carotenoids modify the association between plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and physical performance in Korean adolescents. The study sample consisted of 381 adolescents (164 boys, 217 girls) aged 13–18, who participated in the 2018 National Fitness Award Project. We quantified α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, and MDA levels in plasma using HPLC with photodiode array detection. Among boys but not girls, plasma MDA level was negatively associated (β = −0.279, p = 0.0030) with total plasma carotenoid levels and marginally negatively associated (β = −0.907, p = 0.0876) with absolute hand grip strength. After adjustment for covariates in boys, the MDA level was negatively associated with absolute hand grip strength and relative hand grip strength; this association was observed only in groups with individual carotenoid and total carotenoid values below the median. These findings support a significant association between plasma MDA level and hand grip strength, and this association has been potentially modified by plasma levels of carotenoids in Korean male adolescents.