Background and Aims: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the scientific framework of studies related to martial arts injuries and to provide a comprehensive review of the previous studies. Materials and Methods: The search for articles was performed in specialized databases and 17 articles were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: The study showed that most injuries in karate occur in the head and neck, and in taekwondo and judo they occur in the lower extremities. Most of these injuries are contusions and bruises. It was also found that most of the reported injuries occurred during practice, but these injuries are generally mild. The study also showed that the opponent's technical foul is the most important cause of injuries in karate, taekwondo, and judo. Conclusion: The present study revealed that there are clear differences between the method of research report related to martial arts injuries, that results in difficult conclusions, so matching the features seems to be necessary in future studies. However, it seems that the pattern of injuries in domestic investigations is similar to those reported abroad. Since none of the previous studies examined the effect of interventions on the reduction of injuries and the preventive suggestions offered are presented based on speculations or studies in other countries, it appears that many of these suggestions are not reliable and future attempts should aim to study the injury prevention strategies and interventions to control risk factors and injury mechanisms in Iranian martial artists.


Recent evidence indicates that leukocytes (LEU) are large, stiff, viscous cells that naturally adhere to vascular endothelium. Their broad role in the early myocardial microvascular response to acute ischemia was suggested by 1) the role of leukocyte capillary plugging in the no-reflow phenomenon, 2) resistance increases in skeletal muscle with LEU infusions, and 3) salvage of ischemic myocardium by anti-LEU agents. We perfused the coronary circulation under matched, controlled conditions with whole blood or granulocyte-depleted whole blood. During 1 h of ischemia (left anterior descending occlusion) circumflex perfusion pressure was servocontrolled to a constant value. In whole blood-perfused hearts, flow measured by the radiolabeled microsphere method decreased in endocardium from 0.12 +/- 0.05 at 5 min of ischemia to 0.09 +/- 0.04 ml X min-1 X g-1 at 60 min of ischemia and in epicardium from 0.27 +/- 0.17 to 0.21 +/- 0.16 ml X min-1 X g-1, both P less than 0.05. In granulocyte-depleted blood-perfused hearts, flow increased over the same period from 0.18 +/- 0.15 to 0.29 +/- 0.18 ml X min-1 X g-1 in endocardium (P less than 0.05) and did not change significantly in epicardium (0.36 +/- 0.22 to 0.41 +/- 0.24 ml X min-1 X g-1). The LEU-depleted blood perfusate contained less than 33 granulocytes/microliter, whereas control perfusate contained 4,265/microliter. Reperfusion at normal pressures with carbon suspension allowed for histologic evaluation of the no-reflow phenomenon. With whole blood perfusion the no-reflow phenomenon in the endocardium was present with 27% of capillaries occluded, compared with nearly complete reperfusion in LEU-depleted animals (1% of capillaries occluded, P less than 0.05). Furthermore, LEU depletion prevented the increases in tissue water content seen in control hearts and decreased the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias. These studies demonstrate the significant participation of granulocytes in the unfavorable responses of flow, edema formation, and arrhythmias to the 1st h of myocardial ischemia and further document their role in the no-reflow phenomenon.


This article tackles the historical context, the genesis and the German reception of two different concepts of elitist governmental people's instruction and public education drafted by two main intellectuals in the era of American progressivism – Walter Lippmann (1889–1974), journalist and former spin doctor of US-President Wilson (1856–1924), and the pragmatist philosopher John Dewey (1859–1952). The examination of Lippmann's books Public Opinion (1922) and The Phantom Public (1925) and Dewey's studies The Public and its Problems (1927) and Freedom and Culture (1939) reveals that both concepts are based on different notions of democracy, but on similar perceptions of modernity. Accelerated sequences of economic boom and depression, technological innovation, rapid social change and the seduction of mass media were seen as threats of public participation and of nationwide mobilization. These pessimistic notions of modernity as well as their implicit interactive perceptions of European socialism, nationalism and fascism facilitated the reception of Dewey and Lippmann in Germany. In doing so, German communication scientists, intellectuals, and pedagogues transformed terms like political leadership, community, action and creativity into the German context of nationalism and holistic community. But is this adoption a misreading or is this interpretation injected in the concept of both, Dewey and Lippmann? The comparison and reconstruction of these two concepts will show that their reception in Germany after 1945 was an amalgamation by intermingling different aspects of both models instead of a clear takeover of one model.


We report a case of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis presenting with purely olfactory symptoms. For 7 weeks, a 76-year-old man experienced distorted impressions of the odour of most foods and liquids and hallucinatory olfactory perceptions without objective stimuli. The perceived odour was metallic and foul, causing loss of appetite and weight, nausea and repeated retching. No dental or ENT cause for his symptoms was found. MRI of the brain and sinuses was normal. EEG showed no focal or paroxysmal activity. CSF protein was elevated (1.17 g) and isoelectric focusing revealed oligoclonal bands (3+) in the CSF only. A paraneoplastic antibody screen was positive for anti-Hu and weakly positive for anti-amphiphysin. CT TAP revealed malignant-appearing mediastinal lymphadenopathy but no pulmonary abnormality. The patient underwent endoscopic biopsy of the enlarged subcarinal lymph nodes. Histology confirmed metastatic small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). Clinically, he was initially intact but later developed diplopia and bilateral horizontal nystagmus on lateral gaze. His gait became ataxic, veering towards the left, and he developed asymmetrical leg weakness, L>R. Repeat MRI brain and spine showed no metastatic deposits to explain his symptoms. Olfactory abnormalities may be associated with limbic encephalitis but have never been reported as an isolated presenting symptom. Occult malignancy should be considered in new onset olfactory symptoms in the absence of other causes.


Abstract Robotic devices represent a promising emerging market, in particular for advanced economies. Relevant investment in research witnesses the desire of states and supranational authorities to acquire a leading role in the industry. However, at least as relevant – for the emergence of such a market – is the development of an adequate legal framework and of innovative risk-management solutions. The producer is in fact responsible for all damages deriving from the use of his product, hence managing that risk is of strategic relevance. Robotic products pose – to that end – some specific issues that are here analysed, both legal and material. With respect to the first, some uncertainty remains about what rules may apply to robots. Notably, the increasing interaction of man and machine that these devices bring about causes different liability schemes to overlap, stressing the limits of those sets of rules, increasing uncertainty both with respect to who should be held liable and upon which conditions. With respect to the second, because of the novelty of some devices, we do not possess sufficient data on what kind of damages this applications may cause, and their frequency. Both aspects call for the elaboration of alternative strategies, including legal reform, to adopt preferable liability rules and allow real-life-scenario testing. Some solutions are here briefly considered.


1. Purified 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase from baker's yeast (free from acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase activity) catalysed an exchange of acetyl moiety between 3'-dephospho-CoA and CoA. The exchange rate was comparable with the overall velocity of synthesis of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA. 2. Acetyl-CoA reacted with the synthase, giving a rapid ;burst' release of CoA proportional in amount to the quantity of enzyme present. The ;burst' of CoA was released from acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA and succinyl-CoA (3-carboxypropionyl-CoA) but not from acetoacetyl-CoA, hexanoyl-CoA, dl-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA, or other derivatives of glutaryl-CoA. 3. Incubation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase with [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA yielded protein-bound acetyl groups. The K(eq.) for the acetylation was 1.2 at pH7.0 and 4 degrees C. Acetyl-labelled synthase was isolated free from [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA by rapid gel filtration at pH6.1. The [1-(14)C]acetyl group was removed from the protein by treatment with hydroxylamine, CoA or acetoacetyl-CoA but not by acid. When CoA or acetoacetyl-CoA was present the radioactive product was [1-(14)C]acetyl-CoA or 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-[(14)C]glutaryl-CoA respectively. 4. The isolated [1-(14)C]acetyl-enzyme was slowly hydrolysed at pH6.1 and 4 degrees C with a first-order rate constant of 0.005min(-1). This rate could be stimulated either by raising the pH to 7.0 or by the addition of desulpho-CoA. 5. These properties are interpreted in terms of a mechanism in which 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA synthase is acetylated by acetyl-CoA to give a stable acetyl-enzyme, which then condenses with acetoacetyl-CoA yielding a covalent derivative between 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA and the enzyme which is then rapidly hydrolysed to free enzyme and product.


This paper illustrates a platform based on a general architecture for implementing home care services for chronic patients composed of a Remote Care Unit located at a patient's home and a Health Care Center Unit located at the treating center. The Remote Care Unit may be deployed on multiple platforms including PCs, mobile phones and even embedded devices not equipped with monitor, and may be configured to support many interoperability issues occurring among the parties involved in a health care delivery process. The platform may be tailored to match the specific issues of any chronic disease supporting either data acquisition as well as customized reminders and notifications from the center. Remote Care Unit platforms are also able to exploit multiple channels for acquiring data, including wireless links with medical devices, speech interaction and graphical user interaction. In this paper a couple of applications addressing the needs of diabetic and nephropatic patients developed on top of that platform are also introduced.


XML has recently made inroads into the data-oriented world of machine-to-machine interaction, most prominently in the form of SOAP and Web services. In this paper we present a new programming interface that views XML documents as sequences of events, and into which awareness of data typing is built in. These two features are intended to make the interface attractive for data-oriented applications that do not use XML internally. Our experience in using this interface in a mobile middleware system indicates that this sequentiality combined with type awareness and properly-layered higher-level interfaces provides a very natural way of handling XML for the data-oriented world.


In order to solve the collaborative manufacturing unit (CMU) selection problem in the networked cooperative manufacturing environment, a sorting adaptive genetic algorithm is proposed. To obtain the optimal executive manufacturing process, the objective function is constructed considering manufacturing cost and product load rate of candidate CMUs under time-sequence constraint. The embedded subtask scheduling procedure in sorting adaptive genetic algorithm is used to ascertain the penalty cost for the tardiness of the task. Finally, a case study is implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach. The results show that the proposed model and algorithm can obtain satisfactory solutions.


Cereal plants emerge and develop tillers in response to the field environment in which they are planted and grown. If the pattern of development of productive culms can be recognized and measured, impacts of different field conditions upon plants can be assessed. This study presents a method for describing emergence and tiller appearance patterns and illustrates the use of these patterns in comparing crop development responses to field environments. Desirable environments will produce uniform populations of culms with regularly spaced appearance patterns while stressful environments cause a variety of irregular patterns. Characteristics of the populations of appearing culms can be described fundamentally by the logistic distribution function or can be approximated by the normal distribution function. The cumulative form of both functions is a sigmoid curve. The mean of the normal coincides with the 50% appearance time of the logistic. When the dispersion coefficient (s) of the normal function and the rate coefficient (k) of the logistic equation are related by ks = 1.69, the two curves differ by less than 1% of the final population size at any point. Culm appearance populations from good seedbeds appear as normal or logistic curves (considered to be the same curve) when appearances are timed by degree-days (3°C base). Fifty percent emergence for Stephens winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) occurs near 100 degree-days from planting, and tillers Tl, T2, and T3 occur at about 250, 300, and 375 degree-days, respectively, in a fertile seedbed with adequate water. Culm appearance data that are not normally distributed may be converted to normal form with transforms or population splitting procedures. The nature of the transformation required to normalize the data may help characterize the field condition causing non-normal appearance.


In our search for new therapeutic agents, ferrocene-based thioureas (M1–M9) were successively synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques like FT-IR, Raman, CHNS, AAS, and multinuclear (1H and 13C) NMR. The interaction of the compounds with DNA was investigated by electrochemical and spectroscopic measurements. These complexes exhibited impressive binding constants ranging from 9.75 × 103 to 5.71 × 104 M−1. The diffusion coefficients of the drug–DNA adducts are lower than that of the free drug indicating the formation of a high molecular weight complex that diffuses slowly towards the electrode. The cathodic peak potential shift in the cyclic voltammetric behavior of the synthesized complexes by the addition of DNA is attributable to the electrostatic interactions between the compound and DNA, an indicator of the oxidizable behavior of the compounds in the presence of the negative environment of DNA. The energies of the frontier molecular orbitals (EHOMO and ELUMO) and the Mulliken charge distribution on the optimized structures were determined using the DFT/B3LYP method combined with the 6-31G(d,p) basis set in DMSO. The theoretically calculated HOMO and LUMO energies (HOMO–LUMO band gap) based on the DFT study correlate well with the electrochemically determined redox potentials (electrochemical band gap), having a correlation coefficient of 0.953. The synthesized thioureas were preliminarily screened for their in vitro antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. However, the most significant antitumor activity was found for M3 with an IC50 value of 1.87 μM. These compounds played a significant role in arresting microbial growth. The computational measurements were found to be in close agreement with the outcomes of biological activities.


Travel accounts from the second half of the eighteenth century feature more and more descriptions the authors of which seeks to present distant views to their readers. In this they clearly lack words which would in their opinion convey the power of a vista not limited by anything. Mountains naturally became preferred vantage points, although other elevations like towers or, in flatter regions, hills were sufficient to satisfy the desire. However, mountains were particularly well suited to the purpose, also because of the central role they played in the aesthetic discussions about loftiness held at the time. Vantage points described in numerous accounts became increasingly well-known. There were quite a few of them towards the end of the century throughout the Alps. While the growth of continental tourism, which began after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, accelerated rapidly in the middle of the century, around 1900 such vantage points in the Western Alps were reduced to just five, namely Rigi, Pilatus, Mont Blanc and Mer de Glace in the region of Chamonix, Gornergrat and Matterhorn as well as the Jungfrau region with the four-thousanders of the Bernese Alps. We should look for the reasons for this state of affairs in the development from a vantage point to a destination, i.e. commercialisation, for which two conditions had to be met: ease of access and comfortable accommodation. All five locations met these conditions, making it possible even for tourists in a great hurry — whose number was constantly growing with the development of organised tourism from 1860 — to treat themselves to a unique Alpine experience.The most popular destination at the time was Rigi in central Switzerland, because it enabled people to admire an unblemished panorama extending almost indefinitely; in addition, the peak was known for atmospheric sunrises and sunsets. Obviously, this was possible only when the view was not spoiled by rain clouds or mists. A remedy for the unpredictability of nature was devised by the entrepreneur Ludwig Meyer from Schauensee. He created a diorama in Lucerne's tourist district and thus guaranteed the two most important conditions of experiences on the Rigi: ease of access and certain weather. His diorama enabled people to admire both sunrises and sunsets, not only from the Rigi. As the popularity of the diorama rose, Meyer began to show also views from the nearby Pilatus and Gornergrat. Tourists who were in a hurry could now see the tree most famous Swiss panoramas within a short period. The commercialisation of tourism turned the panorama experience into an event, to use the modern term. Nothing was left of the initial abolishment of boundaries to human vision and self-fulfilment of the individual. Repeatability deprived the experience of its special aura. Thus also disappeared the aesthetically-determined idealisation, which had elevated these sites above all others in the Alps and was a precondition of their commercialisation.


This research was conducted to study x-ray and gamma radiation shielding parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, half value layer, tenth value layer, effective atomic numbers, effective electron density for the xBi2O3-(95-x)B2O3-5BaO (where x = 20 mol%, 35 mol%, 50 mol%, and 70 mol%) glass systems with different molar composition. The studied ceramic specimens were denoted by BB20, BB35, BB50 and BB70 and their density values were 4.438 g/cm3, 5.973 g/cm3, 7.156 g/cm3, and 8.005 g/cm3, respectively. Radiation shielding parameters of the samples were investigated by using web based XCOM programme. The obtained results revealed that the highest mass attenuation coefficients were reported for BB70 sample, which has the highest Bi2O3 additive in its chemical structure. At 7 MeV photon energy, half value layer (HVL) values were reported as 5.7812 cm, 3.8065 cm, 2.8533 cm, and 2.2457 cm for BB20, BB35, BB50 and BB70, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the present bismuth sesquioxide based glasses in the Bi2O3-B2O3-BaO glass system have a good quality in radiation protection purposes. Therefore, this glass system can be used as an alternative to conventional materials with the right molar compositon in its chemical formation.


Higher cognition may require the globally coordinated integration of specialized brain regions into functional networks. A collection of structural cortical hubs - referred to as the rich club - has been hypothesized to support task-specific functional integration. In the present paper, we use a whole-cortex model to estimate directed interactions between 68 cortical regions from fMRI activity for four different tasks (reflecting different cognitive domains) and resting state. We analyze the state-dependent input and output effective connectivity of the structural rich club and relate these to whole-cortex dynamics and network reconfigurations. We find that the cortical rich club exhibits an increase in outgoing effective connectivity during task performance as compared to rest while incoming connectivity remains constant. Increased outgoing connectivity targets a sparse set of peripheral regions with specific regions strongly overlapping between tasks. At the same time, community detection analyses reveal massive reorganizations of interactions among peripheral regions, including those serving as target of increased rich club output. This suggests that while peripheral regions may play a role in several tasks, their concrete interplay might nonetheless be task-specific. Furthermore, we observe that whole-cortex dynamics are faster during task as compared to rest. The decoupling effects usually accompanying faster dynamics appear to be counteracted by the increased rich club outgoing effective connectivity. Together our findings speak to a gating mechanism of the rich club that supports fast-paced information exchange among relevant peripheral regions in a task-specific and goal-directed fashion, while constantly listening to the whole network.


In this paper, first solutions of the dust moment equations developed in (Woitke & Helling 2003) for the description of dust formation and precipitation in brown dwarf and giant gas planet atmospheres are presented. We consider the special case of a static brown dwarf atmosphere, where dust particles continuously nucleate from the gas phase, grow by the accre- tion of molecules, settle gravitationally and re-evaporate thermally. Mixing by convective overshoot is assumed to replenish the atmosphere with condensable elements, which is necessary to counterbalance the loss of condensable elements by dust formation and gravitational settling (no dust without mixing). Applying a kinetic description of the relevant microphysical and chemical processes for TiO2-grains, the model makes predictions about the large-scale stratification of dust in the atmosphere, the depletion of molecules from the gas phase, the supersaturation of the gas in the atmosphere as well as the mean size and the mass fraction of dust grains as function of depth. Our results suggest that the presence of relevant amounts of dust is re- stricted to a layer, where the upper boundary (cloud deck) is related to the requirement of a minimum mixing activity (mixing time-scale τmix ≈ 10 6 s) and the lower boundary (cloud base) is determined by the thermodynamical stability of the grains. The nucleation occurs around the cloud deck where the gas is cool, strongly depleted, but nevertheless highly supersaturated (S � 1). These particles settle gravitationally and populate the warmer layers below, where the in situ formation (nucleation) is ineffective or even not possible. During their descent, the particles grow and reach mean radii of ≈30 µm ... 400 µm at the cloud base, but the majority of the particles in the cloud layer remains much smaller. Finally, the dust grains sink into layers which are sufficiently hot to cause their thermal evaporation. Hence, an effective transport mechanism for condensable elements exists in brown dwarfs, which depletes the gas above and enriches the gas below the cloud base of a considered solid/liquid material. The dust-to-gas mass fraction in the cloud layer results to be approximately given by the mass fraction of condensable elements in the gas being mixed up. Only for artificially reduced mixing we find a self-regulation mechanism that approximately installs phase equilibrium (S ≈ 1) in a limited region around the cloud base.


1 Electrical stimulation of the C1 area of the rostral ventrolateral medulla in rats elicits an increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP). 2 This increase in MAP is attenuated by intra‐hypothalamic and intradsternal administration of the non‐selective β‐adrenoceptor antagonist (±)‐propranolol and the β2‐selective antagonist ICI 118551. 3 The selective β1‐antagonist atenolol and (+)‐propranolol, which is inactive on β‐adrenoceptors, did not alter the increase in MAP produced by stimulation of the C1 area. 4 The α2‐adrenoceptor antagonist idazoxan enhanced the effects of C1 stimulation on MAP when administered either into the posterior hypothalamus or intradsternally. 5 The results indicate that β2‐ and α2‐receptors both have a role in the mediation of the rise in MAP during stimulation of the C1 area and that the receptors involved are located both within the hypothalamus and the spinal cord.


Professor Patrick Sturgis in the fifth (of six) part of the 'Structural Equation Modelling (SEM): What it is and what it isn't' online course. This video is part of the online learning resources from the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM). To access all videos and the supporting materials (presentation slides, datasets, recommended reading, links to related publications and resources) visit hhttps://www.ncrm.ac.uk/resources/online/SEM2016/


This senior thesis, entitled "Quidlibet audendi potestas: Deviant Word Order in the Odes of Horace," represents a sort of dry run for a method of answering empirically the questions of whether, how, and how much the word order of Latin verse systematically differs from that of Latin prose. The present project consists of comparing the attested word orders in Horace for cases of two frequent grammatical phenomena – clause-initial verbs and premodifier hyperbaton – against the prose data presented by A.M. Devine and L.D. Stephens in their monograph, Latin Word Order: Structured Meaning and Information. Devine and Stephens' work was chosen as a jumping-off point because of its unequalled scope and use of modern theories of pragmatics. The conclusion of the empirical analysis below is that the data from Horace differs from Devine and Stephens' data more dramatically in the case of premodifier hyperbaton – alleged by the authors of LWO to be a "properly syntactic phenomenon" – than in the case of clause-initial verbsregarded by Devine and Stephen as mainly pragmatically conditioned. It is hypothesized that the more frequent breaking of properly syntactic than mainly pragmatic rules is a general feature of Latin poetry, and some arguments are given to lend intuitive support to this hypothesis. As mentioned above, this essay should be thought of as a case study for a certain methodology, designed to generate interesting hypotheses and confirm the value of future research in this vein.


In review of the past studies on NF-kappaB regulation, most of them have focused on investigating how NF-kappaB is activated by a single inducer at a time. Given the fact that, in mixed bacterial infections in vivo, multiple inflammation inducers, including both nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and Streptococcus pneumoniae, are present simultaneously, a key issue that has yet to be addressed is whether NTHi and S. pneumoniae simultaneously activate NF-kappaB and the subsequent inflammatory response in a synergistic manner. Here, we show that NTHi and S. pneumoniae synergistically induce NF-kappaB-dependent inflammatory response via activation of multiple signaling pathways in vitro and in vivo. The classical IKKbeta-IkappaBalpha and p38 MAPK pathways are involved in synergistic activation of NF-kappaB via two distinct mechanisms, p65 nuclear translocation-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Moreover, casein kinase 2 (CK2) is involved in synergistic induction of NF-kappaB via a mechanism dependent on phosphorylation of p65 at both Ser536 and Ser276 sites. These studies bring new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the NF-kappaB-dependent inflammatory response in polymicrobial infections and may lead to development of novel therapeutic strategies for modulating inflammation in mixed infections for patients with otitis media and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.


Abstract The purpose of this symposium is to shed light on the genealogy of the idea of a business corporation, an economic institution which has long been regarded with a mixture of awe and apprehension. Each of the four original contributions addresses the history of some of its key features. In the process, each contributor reveals some of the insights that history has to teach us regarding the central concepts that inform contemporary debates about the nature of the corporation, the contours of the corporation's purpose, the sources of corporate power, the functions of corporate law, the duties of directors, the status of shareholders, and the legitimacy of corporate rights.


Ethnicity and cultural experience can affect neuropsychological performance, but they are rarely assessed in historical context. Attention measures are considered strongly biologically determined and therefore potentially culture-fair. In this study, we assessed the cross-cultural equivalence of Spanish and English versions of the Trail Making Test (TMT; Reitan, 1958, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 8, 271-276) and the Brief Test of Attention (BTA; Schretlen et al., 1996, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 10, 80-89) in two large samples of Americans (N = 203) and Spaniards (N = 213), divided into younger and older subgroups. The older Spaniards lived under Franco's political regime (1936-1975), whereas the Americans never experienced such repression. Overall, TMT performance was culture-sensitive, whereas BTA performance was not. However, when both groups were stratified by age, cultural differences in TMT performance were restricted to older participants, suggesting that historical experience across generations might have contributed to the observed differences in cognitive performance. Even such basic cognitive processes as attention, working memory, and resource sharing might be shaped to some degree by historical experiences that contribute to cultural differences.


Significant discrepancies of up to 10% exist between backscatter factors (BSF) recommended in a recent IAEA dosimetry Code of Practice (1987) compared with those published in Br. J. Radiol. Supplemenr 17 (1983), for the x-ray quality range 0.1-2.0 mm AI HVL. In an attempt to resolve this discrepancy, BSFS have been measured using thermo- luminescence dosimetry (TLD) with small lithium borate chips, in order to minimise displacement effects associated with the use of larger volume ionisation chambers. Although subject to uncertainties inherent in the TLD calibration and readout process, the results indicate that the BJR (1983) data overestimate BSFS in this quality range. Broad agreement with the IAEA data is indicated, for the limited number of x-ray qualities and field sizes used.


This study explores how a major public policy change—the implementation of welfare reform in the U.S. in the 1990s—shaped the age gradient in female crime. We used FBI arrest data to investigate the age-patterning of the effects of welfare reform on women's arrests for property crime, the type of crime women are most likely to commit and that welfare reform has been shown to affect. We found that women's property crime arrest rates declined over the age span; that welfare reform led to an overall reduction in adult women's property crime arrests of about 4%, with the strongest effects for women ages 25–29 and in their 40s; that the effects were slightly stronger in states with stricter work incentives; and that the effects were much stronger in states with high criminal justice expenditures and staffing. The key contributions of this study are the focus on a broad and relevant policy-based "turning point" (change in circumstances that can lead people to launch or desist from criminal careers), addressing the general question of how a turning point shapes age gradients in criminal behavior, and the focus on women in the context of the age patterning of crime.


AIM To investigate the possible long-term psychological harm of participating in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in Norway. METHODS In a prospective, randomized trial, 14294 participants (aged 50-74 years) were invited to either flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening, or a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) (1:1). In total, 4422 screening participants (32%) completed the questionnaire, which consisted of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the SF-12, a generic health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measurement, when invited to screening and one year after the invitation. A control group of 7650 individuals was invited to complete the questionnaire only, at baseline and one year after, and 1911 (25%) completed the questionnaires. RESULTS Receiving a positive or negative screening result and participating in the two different screening modalities did not cause clinically relevant mean changes in anxiety, depression or HRQOL after one year. FS screening, but not FIT, was associated with an increased probability of being an anxiety case (score ≥ 8) at the one-year follow-up (5.6% of FS participants transitioned from being not anxious to anxious, while 3.0% experienced the reverse). This increase was moderately significantly different from the changes in the control group (in which the corresponding numbers were 4.8% and 4.5%, respectively), P = 0.06. CONCLUSION Most individuals do not experience psychological effects of CRC screening participation after one year, while FS participation is associated with increased anxiety for a smaller group.


BACKGROUND: Ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging of abdominal wall has increasingly been used for hernia diagnosis when clinical examination is uncertain. Anatomical study of abdominal wall along with the ultrasound of transversus abdominis muscle aponeurosis can help identify a Spigelian hernia in this region, a disease of difficult diagnosis. AIM: To compare the ultrasound findings of anterolateral wall of the abdomen, focusing on Spigelian aponeurosis, to the anatomy of abdominal wall studied in cadavers. METHODS: The evaluation of the transversus abdominis aponeurosis was performed during routine ultrasound exams of the anterolateral wall of the abdomen in 90 individuals of both genders, over 25 years, and data were correlated with 60 dissections of the abdominal wall, held on cadavers. RESULTS: Ultrasound showed no significant defects in the aponeurosis of transversus abdominis muscle in the 90 subjects studied and the width of the Spigelian aponeurosis ranged from 0.83 to 2.93 cm (mean 1.72 cm). During dissections of the transversus abdominis, some defects were found in 14 out of 60 muscles and aponeurosis studied (23.3%) and the width of the Spigelian aponeurosis ranged from 1.5 to 3.5 cm (mean 2.26 cm). Comparisons between age groups and genders evaluated by ultrasound with cadaver dissections performed were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Sonographic examinations found no defects in the aponeurosis of transversus abdominis muscle compatible with hernias, and anatomical variations and defects found during dissections were not as well accompanied by Spigelian hernias in the studied corpse.


Pain induced by bone metastases has a strong impact on the quality of life of patients with cancer, but current therapies for bone cancer pain cannot attain a satisfactory therapeutic goal because of various adverse reactions. Currently, advanced monitoring is required to clarify pathogenic mechanisms, so as to develop more effective treatments. We constructed herpes simplex virus carrying small interference RNA for CNTF (HSV-siCNTF) and established cancer-induced bone cancer pain models with intra-tibial injection of MRMT-1 cells. At different time points after treatment, sensory function indicated by thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia was measured. The mechanism underlying sensory function regulated by CNTF was also determined. There was apparent mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in rats injected with bone cancer cells. Bone destruction was detected in the area of tibia injected with tumor cells by the plain radiography. MRMT-1 cells and the increased number of osteoclasts were found in tibia sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Intrathecal injection of morphine or HSV-siCNTF significantly reduced the mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, which was accompanied by astrocyte hypertrophy. The number of nerve fibers positive for substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) was significantly decreased, which was consistent with the decrease of CNTF, ERK/pERK, AKT/pAKT and c-fos expression. These results demonstrate that the HSV-siCNTF gene therapy appears beneficial for the treatment of pain induced by bone cancer via blocking the AKT-ERK signaling pathway. Our data suggest that CNTF interference may be considered a new target to develop an effective management for bone cancer pain.


According to the World Health Organisation, air pollution is now regarded as the world's single biggest environmental threat to human health. Amongst the principal air pollutants, particulate matter pollution has been identified as the dominant contributor to the global health burden of outdoor air pollution. While population densification and urbanisation are seen as key drivers for particulate matter pollution, by far the largest contribution to future urbanisation and densification is expected to occur in Africa. This renders the continent especially susceptible to rapidly increasing particulate matter pollution. High particulate matter pollution levels are already observed in South Africa, specifically in the Gauteng Province, which makes it an excellent case study for other South African and African urban areas, experiencing similar challenges. While air quality management in the region has been supported by Air Quality Management Plans (AQMP) both at city and provincial level, none of these plans have been based upon an integrated assessment and optimization of costs and benefits towards the goal of complying with the NAAQS or to minimize negative impacts on human health. This project aims to supply such an actionable evidence base for the Gauteng Province which will optimise the South African air quality management framework through control measures which address both health as well as economic concerns.


We theoretically examine the optomechanical interaction between a rotating nanoparticle and an orbital angular momentum-carrying optical cavity mode. Specifically, we consider a dielectric nanosphere rotating uniformly in a ring-shaped optical potential inside a Fabry-Perot resonator. The motion of the particle is probed by a weak angular lattice, created by introducing two additional degenerate Laguerre-Gaussian cavity modes carrying equal and opposite orbital angular momenta. We demonstrate that the rotation frequency of the nanoparticle is imprinted on the probe optical mode, via the Doppler shift, and thus may be sensed experimentally using homodyne detection. We show analytically that the effect of the optical probe on the particle rotation vanishes in the regime of linear response, resulting in an accurate frequency measurement. We also numerically characterize the degradation of the measurement accuracy when the system is driven in the nonlinear regime. Our results are relevant to rotational Doppler velocimetry and to studies of rotational Brownian motion in a periodic lattice.


This study analyzes 3,181 deaths from paracoccidioidomycosis in Brazil, based on 16 years of sequential data (from 1980 to 1995). During this period paracoccidioidomycosis showed considerable magnitude and low visibility, representing the eighth most common cause of death from predominantly chronic or recurrent types of infectious and parasitic diseases. It also had the highest mortality rate among the systemic mycoses. The mean annual mortality rate was 1.45 per million inhabitants, indicating a downward long-term trend (reduction of 31.28%), while spatial distribution among the different regions and States of Brazil was non-homogenous. The South (with the highest regional rate) and the Southeast showed a downward trend, while the Central West had the second highest rate in the country. At least one-fifth of Brazilian municipalities (or 22.71% of the country's total area) reported deaths from paracoccidioidomycosis. Overall nationwide mortality per area was 3.73/10,000km2. The disease was endemic in non-metropolitan areas. The majority of deaths occurred in males (84.75%), and there was a sex ratio of 562 men/100 women. The 30-59-year and over-60-year age groups were the most affected. The study showed that the mortality rate justifies classifying this disease as a major health problem in Brazil.


In many studies of the mammalian brain, subjective assessments of connectivity patterns and connection strengths have been used to subdivide the cortex into separate but linked areas and to make deductions about the flow of information through the cortical network. Here we describe the results of applying statistical analyses to quantitative corticocortical connection data, and the conclusions that can be drawn from such quantitative approaches. Injections of the tracer WGA-HRP were made into different visual areas either side of the middle suprasylvian sulcus (MSS) in 11 adult cats. Retrogradely labelled cells produced by these injections were counted in selected coronal sections taken at regularly spaced intervals (1 mm) through the entire visual cortex, and their cumulative sums and relative proportions in each of 16 recognized visual cortical areas were computed. The surface dimensions of these areas were measured in each cat, from contour lines made on enlarged drawings of the same sections. A total of 116,149 labelled neurons were assigned to all visual cortical areas in the 11 cats, with 5212 others excluded because of their uncertain location. The distribution of relative connection strengths, that is, the percentage of labelled cells per cortical area, was evaluated using non-parametric cluster analyses and Monte Carlo simulation, and relationships between connection strength and area size were examined by linear regression. The absolute size of each visual cortical area was uniform across individual cats, whereas the strengths of connections between the same area pairs were extremely variable for injections in different animals. The overall distribution of labelling strengths for corticocortical connections was continuous and monotonic, rather than inherently clustered, with the highest frequencies presented by the absent (zero density) and the very-low-density connections. These two categories could not, on analytical grounds, be separated from each other. Thus it seems that any subjective description of corticocortical connectivity strengths by ordinal classes (such as 'absent', 'weak', 'moderate' or 'strong') imposes a categorization on the data, rather than recognizes a structure inherent in the data themselves. Despite the great variability of connections, similarities in the distribution profiles for the relative strengths of labelled cells in all areas could be used to identify clusters of different injection sites in the MSS. This supported the conclusion that there are four connectionally distinct subdivisions of this cortex, corresponding to areas 21a, PMLS and AMLS (in the medial bank) and to area PLLS (in the lateral bank). Even for tracer deposits in the same cortical subdivision, however, the strength of connections projecting to the site from other cortical areas varied greatly across injection in different individual animals. We further demonstrated that, on average, the strength of connections originating from any given cortical area was positively and linearly correlated with the size of its surface dimensions. When analysed by specific injection site location, however, this relationship was shown to hold for the individual connections to the medial bank MSS areas, but not for connections leading to the lateral bank area. The data suggest that connectivity of the cat's visual cortex possesses a number of uniform global features, which are locally organized in such a way as to give each cortical area unique characteristics.


Two different and novel in-grown triangular stacking faults have been observed and characterized in 4H-SiC epitaxial layers grown on 4o off-cut substrates. The faults were formed at the beginning of the growth and extended continuously in size during the growth. Their structural and optical properties were however different as seen from both synchrotron white beam topography and low temperature photoluminescence. The luminescence spectra were similar but appeared in different energy regions 2.85 – 2.95 eV and 2.48 – 2.64 eV, respectively. BPDs present in the epilayer are found to be transformed into SFs under laser excitation during high resolution optically detected lifetime mapping. The faults are found to expand from the epilayer surface towards the epi-substrate interface. The optical spectrum from this fault is identical to the emission from the single layered Shockley stacking faults with excitonic bandgap of 3.034 eV previously only observed and formed in the bipolar diodes during forward voltage operation.


This paper describes how the Baton Rouge Brownfields Program (BRBP) was created in 2002 as a recommendation of the Horizon Plan, the City-Parish comprehensive plan. The Plan provides the framework for all City-Parish growth-oriented decisions and initiatives including Smart Growth, In-fill Development and Environmental Planning. Funding awarded through the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will target sites impacted by petroleum and hazardous substances in the Old South Baton Rouge (OSBR) area to support the revitalization efforts of the East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority (EBRPHA). According to the 2000 Census, 24% of the OSBR population is unemployed, 32% live below the poverty level and 43% lack a high school diploma. Also, the median household income is three times below the national average, and less than 40% of the homes are owner-occupied. The BRBP identified at least 28 properties in the OSBR area that had Underground Storage Tanks (USTs), indicating that at least 104 properties in this area may be affected. Environmental assessments and mitigation of potential risks will allow the EBRPHA to continue the efforts of their Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOPE VI Program. EBRPHA efforts thus far include the demolition of a 95-unit and 76-unit public housing development and construction of 136 units in "traditional neighborhood" design. Partnerships with organizations and community leaders are critical to redevelopment. These relationships are vital as OSBR continues to grow and strengthen.


The aim of this thesis is to investigate the origins and evolution of ornamental lakes in England, to establish when they first appeared, how they were constructed and what factors led to their emergence. For the purposes of this study, a lake is defined as a man-made piece of water covering one hectare or more. To aid discussion and analysis, a classification system to describe lakes has been drawn up, the two main categories being geometric and irregular lakes, with sub-divisions. The investigation begins with an appraisal of water in landscapes preceding the eighteenth century, with a focus on fishponds (vivaria), and elements such as moats, millponds and water-gardens. The appearance and development of ornamental lakes in the early eighteenth century is then explored in depth, as is the work of Lancelot Brown. The contribution of other lake-makers such as Richard Woods and William Emes is also examined. Humphry Reptoni?½s work, and the impact of the Picturesque on lakes, are evaluated to assess their importance in the evolution of lakes, and the chronological study extends into the late nineteenth century.

 The construction of lakes is investigated, and related to different lake types. Also, the question of whether lakes were lined to retain water is considered. Geological and topographical factors are also studied in order to see how they might affect the construction and siting of lakes. The reasons for the emergence of ornamental lakes are also explored, and these include the fact that landscapes increased in size around 1700 and became less symmetrical, the effect of the Grand Tour, and the paintings associated with it, and the changing ways in which parks were used.


Indexation of wages, pensions and tax scales to allow for inflation requires a reliable measure of the rate of inflation. In Australia the Consumer Price Index (C.P.I.) has been the basis of all official indexation. This paper examines both theoretical and practical problems involved in constructing a C.P.I. and the Australian C.P.I. in particular. Alternative indices of the rate of inflation such as a Wholesale Price Index and an Implicit Price Deflator, are also discussed.


We examined how population density, winter weather, snow conditions, and 2 large-scale climatic indices (North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO, and Arctic Oscillation, AO) influenced demography (reproduction and mortality) in an alpine herd of semi-domesticated reindeer Rangifer tarandus between 1959 and 2000 in Finnish Lapland. The herd lived on heavily grazed lichen pastures, with winter densities between 0.8 and 3.9 individuals km -2 . Icing conditions occurred every 7th yr, on an average, and decreased reproductive rate (calves/females) by 49%. In general linear models icing remarkably increased the fit of snow models to reproductive rate. Incorporation of an interaction term between icing and the snow depth index provided better fit than a model without interaction. Delayed snowmelt decreased reproductive rate. For the day of snowmelt, however, the model without interaction was better than the interaction model. These 3 models provided the best fit to the data and accounted for 51-54% of the variation in reproductive rate. Winter mortality was related to density and large-scale climatic indices, but not to local winter weather except a slight increase in mortality during an icing winter. The best model for winter mortality, including reindeer density and NAO, accounted for 26% of variation in mortality. Three factors may be involved explaining weak density dependence or the lack of such dependence; climate change scenarios that predict higher winter temperature, more frequent thawing-freezing periods, and deeper snow would be expected to decrease reproductive rate and increase winter mortality of reindeer and thus to reduce profitability of reindeer husbandry. In contrast, early springs would be advantageous for reindeer in the short term.


This is a reading of the brief, but quite significant, metafictional gesture in Stephen Crane's renewed war novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895). This metafictional gesture has gone unnoticed in spite of the prestigious bulk of Crane scholarship over the last hundred years. This incorporated metafictional gesture open the text of the novel to new insights on Crane's cultural and aesthetic politics. A wide range of critical spectrum is invoked in this paper to uncover the full significance of this aspect of Crane's novel.


Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate whether nocturnal melatonin concentration (NMC) and urinary 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s) excretion can predict melatonin status in patients with severe sepsis in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Blood samples for the determination of NMC were obtained from each patient at 3 a.m. Urine samples for the determination of aMT6s excretion were obtained from each patient at 12 h intervals. We obtained 89 blood and 178 urine samples from 23 septic patients, and 52 blood and 104 urine samples from 13 non-septic patients. The NMC of septic patients in a state of septic shock was significantly higher than that of septic patients not in septic shock (p=0.017) and those of non-septic patients (p=0.019). In contrast, there was no significant difference for nocturnal (NaMT6s) and total aMT6s (TaMT6s) excretion between septic patients with and without septic shock and non-septic patients (p>0.05). The NMC was significantly higher in septic patients in shock with and without hepatic dysfunction (HD) than in non-septic patients (p=0.004 and p=0.024, respectively). NaMT6s and TaMT6s excretion was significantly lower in septic patients with HD than in septic patient without HD (p=0.040 and p=0.029, for NaMT6s and TaMT6s, respectively). Our results showed that an elevated NMC may not reflect an increased MT production in septic patients in septic shock. It seems that, to evaluate the melatonin status of septic PICU patients, it is necessary to collect both serum and urine samples.


While biological intelligence grows organically as new knowledge is gathered throughout life, Artificial Neural Networks forget catastrophically whenever they face a changing training data distribution. Rehearsal-based Continual Learning (CL) approaches have been established as a versatile and reliable solution to overcome this limitation; however, sudden input disruptions and memory constraints are known to alter the consistency of their predictions. We study this phenomenon by investigating the geometric characteristics of the learner's latent space and find that replayed data points of different classes increasingly mix up, interfering with classification. Hence, we propose a geometric regularizer that enforces weak requirements on the Laplacian spectrum of the latent space, promoting a partitioning behavior. We show that our proposal, called Continual Spectral Regularizer (CaSpeR), can be easily combined with any rehearsal-based CL approach and improves the performance of SOTA methods on standard benchmarks. Finally, we conduct additional analysis to provide insights into CaSpeR's effects and applicability.


This article describes the risk-adjusted payment methodology employed by the Maryland Medicaid program to pay managed care organizations. It also presents an empirical simulation analysis using claims data from 230,000 Maryland Medicaid recipients. This simulation suggests that the new payment model will help adjust for adverse or favorable selection. The article is intended for a wide audience, including state and national policy makers concerned with the design of managed care Medicaid programs and actuaries, analysts, and researchers Involved in the design and implementation of risk-adjusted capitation payment systems.


Much of the difficulty in learning advanced concepts in quantum mechanics comes from trying to visualize abstract problems. This article addresses the situation with interactive curricular material created as part of the open source physics project. In particular, the authors focus on the measurement and time evolution of two-state superpositions in the context of bound states and spin.


Abstract This work describes the occurrence of numerous, nearly intact Mecochirus rapax populations within Thalassinoides suevicus burrows in the Lower Cretaceous Boca do Chapim Formation. This exceptional preservation allows for unquestionable attribution of a specific producer to a biogenic structure. Analysis of sedimentological features combined with functional morphology and ichnological inferences suggests that the unique preservation of the fauna resulted from river flood depositional events that buried successive Mecochirus populations in a shallow marine setting.


Abstract. In March 2006 two instrumented aircraft made the first detailed field measurements of biomass burning (BB) emissions in the Northern Hemisphere tropics as part of the MILAGRO project. The aircraft were the National Center for Atmospheric Research C-130 and a University of Montana/US Forest Service Twin Otter. The initial emissions of up to 49 trace gas or particle species were measured from 20 deforestation and crop residue fires on the Yucatan peninsula. This included two trace gases useful as indicators of BB (HCN and acetonitrile) and several rarely, or never before, measured species: OH, peroxyacetic acid, propanoic acid, hydrogen peroxide, methane sulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid. Crop residue fires emitted more organic acids and ammonia than deforestation fires, but the emissions from the main fire types were otherwise fairly similar. The Yucatan fires emitted unusually high amounts of SO2 and particle chloride, likely due to a strong marine influence on this peninsula. As smoke from one fire aged, the ratio ΔO3/ΔCO increased to ~15% in 1×107 molecules/cm3) that were likely caused in part by high initial HONO (~10% of NOy). Thus, more research is needed to understand critical post emission processes for the second-largest trace gas source on Earth. It is estimated that ~44 Tg of biomass burned in the Yucatan in the spring of 2006. Mexican BB (including Yucatan BB) and urban emissions from the Mexico City area can both influence the March-May air quality in much of Mexico and the US.


Purpose. To study the agronomic characteristics (yield, sugar content, bioethanol yield, energy yield, infestation by diseases and pests) in sterile and fertile breeding materials of beet sugar and select the best ones through top crossings in order to obtain experimental hybrids suitable for production both biofuel and sugar. Methods. Six diploid sterile lines of different origin and six multigerm diploid pollinators served as starting materials. Individual analysis of breeding value of the genotypes in terms of root yield, sugar content and infestation with black root, cercospora and pests was carried out. Energy characteristics, such as bioethanol, biogas and energy yield of sugar beet were calculation. Results. In crops of sugar beet, minor affection of leaves with cercospora (1–2 points) was observed. Pollensterile forms had a greater degree of tolerance to pathogens as compared to fertile pollinators. Yields and sugar content of multigerm pollinators were higher than that of sterile forms. Their yield ranged from 34.7 to 414 t/ha and sugar content from 14.0 to 15.6 % (the male line) against 32.5–38.3 t/ha and 13.0–14.0%, respectively (female line), which affected the yield of bioethanol, biogas and energy. Conclusions. Prospective multigerm pollinators '1180 02002 (2x)' and '1184 B2 (2x)' were selected in terms of high tolerance to all the pathogens, '1183 02024 (2x)' and '118 202 015 (2x)' in terms of ethanol yield and energy yield, '1182 02015 (2x)', '1233 Yan3 (2x)', 'CMS Uman.1212' in terms of biogas yield. Next year the selected lines will be used to produce experimental hybrids of sugar beet suitable for biofuel production.


Article abstract-Levodopa is the most efficacious drug in the symptomatic treatment of Parkinson's disease. However, exogenously administered levodopa is extensively metabolized in the periphery by aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AAAD) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) so that only 1% of an administered dose gains access to the brain. Even when levodopa is co-administered with an inhibitor of AAAD such as benserazide or carbidopa, the bulk (90%) of levodopa is converted by COMT to the therapeutically inactive 3-O-methyldopa. Two COMT inhibitors, tolcapone and entacapone, have recently been introduced as adjuncts to levodopa to further inhibit peripheral levodopa metabolism and thereby enhance brain levodopa availability. This paper reviews the pharmacokinetics, dosing schedule, peripheral and central effects, and safety profile of these agents.


Workflow management systems are becoming increasingly important in the automation of business processes. In order to ensure proper workflow execution, workflow policies must be specified with respect to users, roles, and tasks. In today's dynamic business environment, successful organizations must be able to respond to new customer demands and market opportunities with flexibility and speed. However, without systematic management of workflow policies, changes in organizational structure and process models can lead to inconsistent workflow specifications. Thus far, research in the change management of workflow policies has been scant. In this paper, we propose a logic-based approach to address this problem. Our contribution is three-fold: 1) a modeling language based on predicate logic is proposed, which is succinct and expressive enough to represent process model, organization model, and workflow polices; 2) workflow policy consistency in a dynamic changing environment is formally defined and analyzed based on the proposed language. 3) two algorithms are developed to check and enforce the policy consistency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work focuses on the formal analysis of workflow policy change management.


In The Gramscian Moment Peter Thomas fundamentally revises the 'textbook' Gramsci – a theorist whose work centred on a primordial East/West distinction, focused on the superstructure, and upon the ways a ruling class secured subaltern consent to its rule. Placing special emphasis on the Notebooks from 1932, Thomas critiques readings of Gramsci by Perry Anderson and Louis Althusser, and finds that Gramsci articulated the 'philosophy of praxis' not so much as a synonym for, or declaration of independence from, Marxism, but rather as a tendency within Marx's legacy that Gramsci hoped to make hegemonic within the working-class movement. Two friendly amendments emerge with respect to this persuasive account. First, the emphasis on Gramsci's philosophy leads the author to an over-simplified account of the role of evolutionary theory within Gramsci's own perspective and privileges 'philosophy' over other fields to which Gramsci's vision was even more decisive. Is the 'Gramscian moment' really best analysed by looking at those intellectuals commonly deemed philosophers? And second, does not this moment also entail a more fundamental rethinking of the orthodox concepts and methods of revolutionary-left historiography than the author sometimes implies?


Glass ceramics are advanced materials composed of one or more glass and crystal phases. By developing base glasses with appropriate compositions and by controlling crystal nucleation and growth in these glasses, glass ceramics with tailor–made properties can be fabricated. The key to developing this type of material is control of the nucleation processes. Both volume and surface nucleation can be exploited. Heterogeneous volume nucleation has been used to develop glass ceramics showing minimal thermal expansion and high strength. Two nucleation mechanisms can be combined and the precipitation of two crystal phases can be controlled. That the nucleation processes can be controlled by nano– and microscale immiscibility is a special feature, allowing selective nanophase formation or the development of needle–like apatite phases demonstrating a natural morphology. This represents a biomimetic process. The control of nucleation has enabled the development of biomaterials for dental applications.


In the consumer society, as it stands today in Western-type democracies, consumers have a far larger choice of products and services originating from all over the world than they did decades ago. Risks associated with products and services have also increased, as have mass problems and mass damages, often in a transborder dimension. The US and the European Community, though battling against common problems, maintain different standard setting and enforcement regimes. This paper focuses on enforcement regimes, thereby distinguishing between administrative enforcement via agencies and judicial collective enforcement via European collective actions and US class actions. The existing theoretical framework depicting administrative and judicial enforcement as alternative strategies is contrasted against modern developments in the US and the EC. In the field of consumer protection administrative control and judicial collective enforcement are being understood more as functional complements than alternatives. Enforcement covers negotiation, settlement, adjudication and arbitration. The analysis of the institutional variables determining the choice between administrative and judicial control – ex ante vs. ex post control, injunctive relief versus damages, personal injuries and economic losses, sector specificity vs. general instruments to protect consumers, public agencies vs. private organisations – provide the ground for preliminary thoughts on a revised theoretical approach.


Collaboration is critical to building the Knowledge Economy, and considerable work is being carried out not just in industry, but also in government and academic research circles to address the often difficult technical, social and legal challenges that cross-organizational collaboration demands in modern society and a post-industrial age. Usability, interoperability and secure identity management are no longer simply research challenges - they define what consumers expect in today's fast-moving collaborative world. One of the most difficult challenges of commercialization today is identifying aspects of solutions that are universal in appeal, while addressing local, national or regional differences that can make or break the successful launch of ICT-based or ICT-enabled products and services. This book brings together a comprehensive collection of over 200 contributions on commercial, government or societal exploitation of the Internet and ICT, representing cutting edge research, innovation and good practice from five continents. The strong emphasis on cross border collaboration and adaptation of innovative research results around the world augurs well for the continued development of the European Research Area.


Nanoparticles (NPs) are progressively being investigated for use in biomedical applications, including biological agents delivery like gene delivery, drug and protein delivery. Activation of complement pathways and interactions with immune recognition subcomponents can modulate the clearance of the NPs and subsequent inflammatory response. Such modulation could affect the intended translational applications either in the development as tissue-specific drug delivery platform or in the treatment of pulmonary diseases such as tuberculosis and lung cancer thus, poses challenges to develop them for in vivo applications. Here, we set out to study the interaction between innate immune components such as properdin, a small fragment of properdin, TSR4+5, a key lung pattern recognition molecule, surfactant protein D (SP-D), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and potential downstream effects on the immune response via macrophages. We report, that human properdin, an up-regulator of the complement alternative pathway and stabilizer of C3 convertase can opsonize CNTs via its thrombospondin type I repeat (TSR) 4 and 5. Uptake of properdin bound CNTs was enhanced by a macrophage cell line, THP-1, surging a robust pro-inflammatory immune response. In addition, recombinant TSR4+5 on CNTs, inhibited complement consumption, suggesting that TSR4+5, can be potentially used as a complement inhibitor in a number of pathological circumstances arising due to unintentional complement activation. Similarly, a recombinant fragment of human SP-D (rfhSP-D) bound to CNTs via its C-type lectin domain and augmented phagocytosis by THP-1 monocytic cell lines, together with an increased pro-inflammatory response. Furthermore, rfhSP-D opsozined CNTs continued to activate complement pathway via the classical pathway. Complement deposition on the rfhSP-D opsonised CNTs led to dampening of the pro-inflammatory immune response. Furthermore, like CNTs, Iron oxide nanoparticles are also recognized by complement pathway, but mainly by alternative complement pathway. Complement deposition enhanced their uptake by activated THP-1 macrophages and dampened the pro-inflammatory responses. These studies emphasise the significance of understanding the interaction between innate immune humoral factors including complement in developing nanoparticle-based drug delivery strategies.


This article describes the policy framework for siting, permitting, and developing offshore renewable energy facilities in the United States. It also highlights features of regulatory programs in other countries and makes some comparisons. Initially, the article presents a brief historical background of US regulatory development, and then it provides a synopsis of the more salient features of the federal siting and permitting program, followed by descriptions of policy frameworks in three other countries — the United Kingdom, Germany, and Portugal. It concentrates on federal policies as set apart from state and local-level policies, on policies encouraging or authorizing construction of offshore facilities, and on those offshore energy technologies considered relevant in the short term by the Alternative Energy and Alternative Use Program of the US Minerals Management Service. These hydrokinetic energy sources are generated in or over submerged lands and include offshore wind energy. To facilitate comparisons, framework elements are categorized as: (1) research and innovation policies that help to develop emerging and improved technologies; (2) market-based policies that underwrite the cost of introducing technologies, provide a competitive framework, and may internalize externalities and (3) regulatory advances that simplify and improve the efficiency of permitting offshore energy facilities.


Precursors of secretory proteins are targeted to the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum by specific protein complexes that recognize their signal sequence. All eukaryotic cells investigated so far have been found to possess the signal recognition particle (SRP) that targets the majority of precursors to the translocation machinery. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae a number of proteins are translocated independently of SRP. These precursors rely on a different signal sequence‐binding complex, which includes Sec62p, Sec63p, Sec71p and Sec72p. Identifying interactions between individual components of this tetrameric protein complex is important in the understanding of its function. We demonstrate a specific interaction between the only two essential proteins in this complex, Sec62p and Sec63p. Second, we show evidence of homodimerization of Sec72p molecules and further identify the YLR301w gene product as a novel in vivo interacting partner of Sec72p. Finally, we determine the authentic N‐terminus of Sec62p and describe interacting subdomains of both Sec62p and Sec63p. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


There has been a proliferation of studies examining attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in regular education settings. Most studies to date have focused on examining the attitudes regular teachers hold toward inclusion on the assumption that their acceptance of the policy of inclusion is likely to affect their commitment to implementing it. Other researchers have directed their attention to the attitudes held by typically developing children toward their peers with SEN and, to a lesser extent, to the attitudes of parents toward the inclusion of students with SEN in their children's classroom.
 Teachers have been found to generally hold positive attitudes toward the notion of inclusion, which are largely affected by the severity of the child's disability, the level of in-service training received, the degree of prior teaching experience with students with SEN, and other environment-related factors. Typically developing students have been found to hold neutral attitudes toward their peers with SEN. Age, prior experience of studying in inclusive settings, and parental influence seem to influence their attitudes. Studies on parents' attitudes have revealed neutral-to-positive attitudes toward the general notion of inclusion. Several factors were found to influence parental attitudes, such as their socio-economic status and education level along with their child's type of disability. Most attitudinal research to date has described static situations through the employment of single methodological research designs. Consequently, there is a need for mixed-method studies that employ coherent and, wherever possible, longitudinal research designs.


Summary: The accumulation of amino acids and the excretion of ammonium have been studied in various Neurospora crassa ammonium assimilation mutants, together with the labelling of glutamine in the presence of [U-14C]sucrose when N. crassa grows on glutamine as the nitrogen source. Ammonium coming from glutamine degradation by the ω-amidase pathway is assimilated by NADP-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase and glutamine synthetase. The operation of these enzymes results in a cycling of glutamine that seems to be essential for cell growth. In addition, glutamine is also converted to glutamate by glutamate synthase.


This study attempts to understand information diffusion in online social networks by investigating the factors that affect message dissemination. Particularly, we identify contextual factors from both message and user characteristics on Twitter and examine their impact on diffusion volume and speed. We collected 11,346 tweets, which have been retweeted at least once, regarding the three major mobile carriers in Korea, between September and December 2011. These tweets have generated 59,111 retweets. Our analysis indicates that information diffusion on Twitter in terms of volume and speed is mainly affected by message characteristics such as the inclusion of corporate social responsibility activities. However, the effect of message characteristics on information diffusion is heterogeneous by user type. Our study broadens the knowledge on information diffusion mechanism in online social networks and provides managerial implications on the strategic utilization of online social networks for marketing communications with customers.


A single-chip UHF RFID reader that integrates all building blocks-including an RF transceiver, IQ data converters, and a digital baseband-is implemented in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. A high-linearity RX front-end and a low-phase-noise synthesizer are proposed to handle the large self-interferer, which is a key challenge in the reader RX design. Highly reconfigurable mixed-signal baseband architecture for channel-selection filtering is proposed to achieve power optimization for multi-protocol operation with different system dynamic ranges and data rates. The reader dissipates a maximum power of 276.4 mW when transmitting maximum output power of 10.4 dBm and receiving the tag's response of -70 dBm in the presence of -5 dBm self-interferer while occupying 18.3 mm 2 .


The purpose of present study is determining semantic network for selected Persian words and designing false memory scale ( MAHAK ) based on it. This present research is cross sectional studies. In this research, two studies were designed. In the first study, selected word presented to 30 individuals and they should write down related word with free association. Key words (Critical Lure) selected from Roediger Mc Dermot (1995) in false memory scale. In the second study, list of words presented Without key words to 80 participants and recall and recognition of words were measured. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation test was used for analysis. Findings show that recall and recognition were significantly correlated (P< 0/001). Key words recall and list word recall are significantly correlated (r=0/66). Recall and recognition are significantly correlated (r= 0/41). Participants recall 19% and recognize 51% of words. Present study prepares word list for false memory test that can be used for study false memory in Persian language.


Six cases of cerebral occlusive disease in children were reported. The cerebral arterial occlusive disease had its onset at the age of less than 4 years, except for one case of a 9 year-old. The causes of occlusion were, trauma in two cases, infectious disease in one case, intraarterial myxoma in one case and an unknown reason in two cases. Initial symptoms were sudden onset of hemiplegia in 5 cases, and headache in one case. Angiography revealed stenosis of the main trunk of the middle cerebral artery, or of the anterior cerebral artery in 4 cases. Angiographical manifestations of stenosis in 4 cases were classified into two types, diffuse stenosis and localized stenosis. No stenotic changes were demonstrated in two cases, in which CT revealed a small low density area in the putamen. Follow up angiogram in three cases revealed improvement of stenosis. Though therapy in all cases was conservative, their prognosis is not so poor as had been considered. As the rate of recanalization in children was assumed to be high as compared with adult cases, it was considered that surgical revascularization in the acute stage had to be undergone very carefully.


The crystal and molecular structure of Lipase II from Rhizopus niveus was analyzed using X-ray single crystal diffraction data at a resolution of 2.2 A. The structure was refined to an R-factor of 0.19 for all available data. This lipase was purified and crystallized as Lipase I, which contains two polypeptide chains combined through non-covalent interaction. However, during crystal growth, Lipase I was converted to Lipase II, which consists of a single polypeptide chain of 269 amino acid residues, by limited proteolysis. The structure of Lipase II shows a typical alpha/beta hydrolase fold containing the so-called nucleophilic elbow. The catalytic center of this enzyme is analogous to those of other neutral lipases and serine proteases. This catalytic center is sheltered by an alpha-helix lid, which appears in neutral lipases, opening the active site at the oil-water interface.


Born in Maidstone, Kent, on 10th April 1939, John Catt was the son of a professional gardener who worked at the local Parish Church and Vicarage, so it was not surprising that he grew up with a life-long interest in nature, gardening and soils, and as a quiet but devoted member of the Anglican Church. He was educated in the county at the Ashford Grammar School, at the time one of the few in the country teaching Geology at A-level.


Aims This short study was performed to better understand the time frame associated with changes in SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing and provide recommendations for repeat testing. Recommendations are useful as little guidance is available for repeat testing in patients being followed expectantly for changes in disease. Methods A review of laboratory data of tests for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid was performed selecting patients who had changing results. Time between changes in test results was determined to provide guidance for repeat testing. Results The Interquartile Range (IQR) of data for patients who had a negative to positive change in laboratory testing (progression) was 6–16 days (median=9 days). The IQR of data for patients who had a positive to negative change in test results (remission) was 9–21 days (median=14 days). Conclusion Because sampling of the nares or nasopharynx can be variable, repeat testing should be performed swiftly when symptomatic patients are negative. The data in this short study vary widely, so authors recommend repeat testing during a period of time associated with the IQR or median (see results above).


This article has no abstract. The first 100 words appear below:A 15 year old male patient came to the Department with the complaint of continuous dull pain on his upper left central incisor. He also gave a history of traumatic injury when he was eight years old for which he didn't undergo any dental treatment. He had noncontributory medical history. On extraoral examination, no abnormality was detected. Intraoral examination revealed there was no sign of caries, no crown discoloration, no swelling and no sinus tract was present. Gingival tissue and tooth were intact. On palpation, the patient felt mild pain on the root area of affected tooth. On percussion, dull percussion note was present.


Recent increases in male reproductive disorders have been linked to exposure to environmental factors leading to the testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS). Testicular cancer is the most severe condition in TDS and studies have shown a clear correlation between risk of testicular cancer and other components of TDS and that the geographical location of the mother during pregnancy can be a risk factor. This suggests that the dysgenesis has its origin in utero and that TDS is initiated by environmental factors, including possibly hormone-disrupting compounds that act on the mother and the developing foetus, but the genetic background may also play a role. The morphological similarity of carcinoma in situ (CIS) cells (the precursor of the majority of invasive testicular cancers) with primordial germ cells and gonocytes, and overlap in expression of protein markers suggests an origin of CIS from primordial germ cells or gonocytes. CIS cells and germ cell-derived cancers of the human type have so far not been described in any animal model of TDS, which could be caused by species differences in the development of the male gonad. Regardless of this, it is plausible that the dysgenesis, and hence the development of CIS cells, is a result of disturbed signalling between nurse cells and germ cells that allow embryonic germ cells to survive in the pre-pubertal and adult testis. The post-pubertal proliferation of CIS cells combined with aberrant signalling then leads to an accumulation of genetic changes in the CIS cells, which eventually results in the development of invasive testicular cancer in the adult.


In this research, the FEM models of sealing rings for welding bellows mechanical seals were established by applying both isolation and integral contact method, and the displacement and stress of sealing ring's were calculated. The result shows that a wedge-shaped was appeared on the seal face under the medium pressure and spring force. It can be seen that the integral contact analysis effectively illustrated that the convergence and divergence of the wedge-shaped deformation will be occurred in the contact face. The researching results provide a theoretical basis for the furthermore analysis of the deformation and frictional wear and structure optimization of sealing rings for welding bellows mechanical seal.


Soil organic matter has a strong relation to total organic carbon, and about 85% of organic carbon consists of humic substances (HS), classified as humin (HU), humic (HA) and fulvic acids (FA), and denominated as recalcitrant carbon in soil. HS are formed by complex, heterogeneous and polydisperse molecules, which have significant influence on the soil physical and chemical characteristics. The study evaluates the hypothesis that agricultural soils treated with organic residues may present higher carbon stocks as presented in forest soils. The aim of this study was to evaluate alterations in recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen stocks in Oxisol (Forest FL, unfertilized Brachiaria UB, and fertilized Brachiaria FB) and Cambisol (Forest FC, Coastcross CC, sugarcane CA, and silage corn SM) at surface (0.0 0.1) and subsurface (0.1 0.2 m), in the Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Result shows that fertilization, low soil disturbance and residual removal promoted increase of C and N content in HS, being close to native forests. Both, carbon and nitrogen recalcitrant, presented reduction with soil depth. HU ranged from 10.5 to 16.7 g kg and presented the highest concentration compared to FA and HA. In Oxisol, FL and FB presented the highest SH concentration and demonstrate the positive effect of fertilization on carbon stocks improving soil quality in well-managed and productive areas. While, In Cambisol, FC and CC presented higher carbon and nitrogen in HS, mainly for HU and HA fractions, and SM showed the lowest concentrations in all fractions. Our results suggest that soil managements with lower soil disturbance and residual removal promotes increasing of carbon and nitrogen in recalcitrant fraction, with concentration close to native forests. Pasture should be fertilized to improve recalcitrant carbon and nitrogen stocks, avoiding process of degradation in tropical soil. It is an important outcome due to high levels of degraded areas in Brazil caused by inadequate use of soil mainly with pasture.


Urdu literature has a rich tradition of poetry, with many forms, one of which is Ghazal. Urdu poetry structures are mainly of Arabic origin. It has complex and different sentence structure compared to our daily language which makes it hard to classify. Our research is focused on the identification of poets if given with ghazals as input. Previously, no one has done this type of work. Two main factors which help categorize and classify a given text are the contents and writing style. Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, Iqbal and many others have a different writing style and the topic of interest. Our model caters these two factors, classify ghazals using different classification models such as SVM (Support Vector Machines), Decision Tree, Random forest, Naïve Bayes and KNN (K-Nearest Neighbors). Furthermore, we have also applied feature selection techniques like chi square model and L1 based feature selection. For experimentation, we have prepared a dataset of about 4000 Ghazals. We have also compared the accuracy of different classifiers and concluded the best results for the collected dataset of Ghazals.


Base station densification is increasingly used by network operators to provide better throughput and coverage performance to mobile subscribers in dense data traffic areas. Such densification is progressively diffusing the move from traditional macrocell base stations toward heterogeneous networks with diverse cell sizes (e.g., microcell, picocell, femotcell) and diverse radio access technologies (e.g., GSM, CDMA), and LTE). The coexistence of the different network entities brings an additional set of challenges, particularly in terms of the provisioning of high-speed communications and the management of wireless interference. Resource sharing between different entities, largely incompatible in conventional systems due to the lack of interconnections, becomes a necessity. By connecting all the base stations from different tiers to a central processor (referred to as the cloud) through wire/wireline backhaul links, the heterogeneous cloud radio access network, H-CRAN, provides an open, simple, controllable, and flexible paradigm for resource allocation. This article discusses challenges and recent developments in H-CRAN design. It proposes promising resource allocation schemes in H-CRAN: coordinated scheduling, hybrid backhauling, and multicloud association. Simulations results show how the proposed strategies provide appreciable performance improvement compared to methods from recent literature.


In this short essay we argue that open innovation requires a point of view—a firmspecific theory. In competitive environments, openness is not a free and obvious resource: openness can be costly and requires a theory of what a firm should uniquely be open to. Openness is most effective when firms are not merely scanning or filtering the environment, but rather when they know what they are looking for—a critical distinction. Thus we argue that the commonly-used funnel or filtering metaphor of open innovation—where the firm seeks to be more and more open to the environment—is misleading and problematic. Instead, openness should be conceived of as a directed activity: an activity directed by the theories, hypotheses and problems of the firm. To use a metaphor, rather than increase the aperture, lens size, breadth and overall capacity to be open to and absorb external factors (information, ideas, products, solutions), we argue that the best outcomes from openness emerge from a more targeted searchor flashlight approach. We conclude with a discussion of future directions building on this agenda.


Cidofovir is a broad-spectrum antiviral agent with activity against several DNA viruses. An application to approve the use of topical cidofovir for acyclovir-resistant herpes virus infection was denied by the US Food and Drug Administration owing to the lack of phase III clinicla trial data. The manufacturer stated that, as of 1997, no further controlled studies were planned or in progress to evaluate topical cidofovir in herpes simplex infections. It is unknown whether there are plans to conduct controlled studies of topical cidofovir for HPV or MVC infections. However, numerous case reports and published studies describe successful use of topical cidofovir to treat resistant and severe forms of viral infections such as molluscum contagiosum, condylomata acuminata, verruca vulgaris, herpes simplex virus infection, genital warts, and ginigval infection with human papillomavirus. Because of the mutagenic properties of cidofovir, compounding the preparation is considered hazardous. Since most retail pharmacies do no have the safety equipment necessary to compound hazardous preparations, a compounding pharmacist can play a vital role in preparing topical cidofovir cream or gel.


Several graphic variations have been suggested recently by other authors which give better display of cephalic descent or of the nature of contractions, and so on. Attempts to specify progress norms, "danger levels," etc., have been deliberately avoided since we felt that these might tend to be interpreted too rigidly. Such norms tend to vary and, I feel, are more appropriately recommended by other means.-I am, etc.,


This paper introduces a direct model predictive voltage control (DMP VC) for a sensorless five-phase induction motor drive. The operation of the proposed sensorless DMP VC is based on the direct control of the applied stator voltages instead of controlling the torque and flux as in model predictive direct torque control (MP DTC). Thus, the simplicity of the control system is enhanced, which saves the computational time and reduces the commutation losses as well. The methodology based on which the proposed sensorless DMP VC performs its operation depends on minimizing a cost function that calculates the error between the reference and actual values of the direct and quadrature (d-q) axes components of stator voltages. The reference values of d-q components of stator voltages are obtained through incorporating the deadbeat control within the proposed model predictive system. A robust back-stepping observer is proposed for estimating the speed, stator currents, rotor flux, and rotor resistance. The validity of the proposed sensorless DMP VC is confirmed through performing detailed and extensive comparisons between the proposed DMP VC and MP DTC approach. The obtained results state that the drive is exhibiting better performance under the proposed DMP VC with less ripples content and reduced computational burden. Moreover, the proposed back-stepping observer has confirmed its effectiveness in estimating the speed and other variables for a wide range of speed operation.


A twofold decrease in long-chain n -alcane ( n -nonacosane) concentrations in a downcore record from the northern South China Sea indicates a rapid drop in the supply of terrigenous organic matter to the open South China Sea during the last deglaciation, paralleled by an equally rapid increase in sea-surface temperatures, corresponding with the Bolling warming at 14.7 ka. The sudden drop in terrigenous organic matter delivery to this marginal basin is interpreted to reflect a short-term response of local rivers to rapid sea-level rise, strongly implying that the Bolling warming and the onset of meltwater pulse (MWP) 1a are synchronous. This phase relation contrasts with the widely cited onset of this MWP 1a ca. 14 ka, and implies that previous studies postulating a weakening of deep-water formation in the North Atlantic due to massive meltwater discharge during MWP 1a need to be reevaluated.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common neoplastic disease and a frequent cause of death. Drug resistance is a major challenge to CRC treatment and stem-like side-population (SP) cells may play a key role in this resistance. Although it has been recognized that cancer stem cells may be affected by redox status, the underlying mechanisms for this effect and the roles of celllular redox adaptation and antioxidant capacity in CRC remain elusive. Our study shows that CRC SP cells are highly dependent on cellular GSH to maintain ROS levels below those of non-SP cells. Exposing CRC cells to H2O2 produced a significant decrease in the percentage of SP cells, which was rescued by adding N-acetylcysteine. Mechanistically, CD44v interacts with and stabilizes xCT and thereby promotes the uptake of cysteine for GSH synthesis and stimulates SP cell enrichment. Additionally, miR-1297 levels were inversely correlated with the expression of xCT; thus, reduced miR-1297 contributes to SP cell enrichment in CRC tumors, which results in tumor aggressiveness and poor clinical outcomes. Importantly, redox modification by PEITC significantly reduces CRC SP cells in vitro and impairs tumors growth in vivo. The combination of 5FU and PEITC led to synergistic cytotoxic effects against CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our data suggest that a GSH-mediated reduction in cellular ROS levels is an essential regulator of CRC SP cells mediated by the CD44v-xCT axis, and disrupting the redox status may eliminate the chemotherapy-resistant CRC SP cells with potentially significant benefits for cancer treatment.


Swimming in urban surface waters is still an exception in European cities. At the same time there are numerous initiatives trying to achieve a quality of urban surface waters that allows recreational activities including swimming. In order to manage bathing waters properly the EU Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) demands the elaboration of bathing water profiles in which sources of pollution have to be assessed. In order to investigate the relevance of stormwater as a source of microbial contamination as well as the influence of catchment characteristics on the faecal loading, E.Coli, intestinal Enterococci and colony counts have been measured in event related stormwater samples of three different catchment areas in Berlin. The catchment areas were chosen to be as homogeneous as possible representing catchments of old housing buildings (OLD), new housing buildings (NEW), and commercial areas (COM). N-Formylaminoantipyrine (FAA) was measured as a tracer for raw wastewater. Results showed elevated concentrations (1-2 log units) of faecal indicator organisms (FIO) in catchment OLD (10-10 in comparison to 10 cfu/100mL) suggesting illicit connections of wastewater discharges to rainwater drains, which is supported by elevated concentrations of FAA in the same catchment type. This underlines the relevance of these illicit connections as a source of hygienic contamination, which has to be considered when planning urban bathing water activities.


SARS-CoV-2 mutations in MHC-I epitopes identified by deep viral sequencing evade CTL responses through decreased peptide-MHC-I binding. CD8+ T cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 has been implicated in COVID-19 severity and virus control. Here, we identified nonsynonymous mutations in MHC-I-restricted CD8+ T cell epitopes after deep sequencing of 747 SARS-CoV-2 virus isolates. Mutant peptides exhibited diminished or abrogated MHC-I binding in a cell-free in vitro assay. Reduced MHC-I binding of mutant peptides was associated with decreased proliferation, IFN-γ production and cytotoxic activity of CD8+ T cells isolated from HLA-matched COVID-19 patients. Single cell RNA sequencing of ex vivo expanded, tetramer-sorted CD8+ T cells from COVID-19 patients further revealed qualitative differences in the transcriptional response to mutant peptides. Our findings highlight the capacity of SARS-CoV-2 to subvert CD8+ T cell surveillance through point mutations in MHC-I-restricted viral epitopes.


Promoting reflective thinking is an important educational goal. A common educational practice is to provide opportunities for learners to express their reflective thoughts in writing. The analysis of such text with regard to reflection is mainly a manual task that employs the principles of content analysis.

Considering the amount of text produced by online learning systems, tools that automatically analyse text with regard to reflection would greatly benefit research and practice.

Previous research has explored the potential of dictionary-based approaches that automatically map keywords to categories associated with reflection. Other automated methods use manually constructed rules to gauge insight from text. Machine learning has shown potential for classifying text with regard to reflection-related constructs. However, not much is known of whether machine learning can be used to reliably analyse text with regard to the categories of reflective writing models.

This thesis investigates the reliability of machine learning algorithms to detect reflective thinking in text. In particular, it studies whether text segments from student writings can be analysed automatically to detect the presence (or absence) of reflective writing model categories.

A synthesis of the models of reflective writing is performed to determine the categories frequently used to analyse reflective writing. For each of these categories, several machine learning algorithms are evaluated with regard to their ability to reliably detect reflective writing categories.

The evaluation finds that many of the categories can be predicted reliably. The automated method, however, does not achieve the same level of reliability as humans do.