BACKGROUND
Information on fracture biomechanics has implications in materials research and clinical practice. The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of non-carious cervical lesion (NCCL) size, restorative status and direction of occlusal loading on the biomechanical behaviour of mandibular premolars, using finite element analysis (FEA), strain gauge tests and fracture resistance tests.

METHODS
Ten buccal cusps were loaded on the outer and inner slopes to calculate the strain generated cervically. Data were collected for healthy teeth at baseline and progressively at three lesion depths (0.5 mm, 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm), followed by restoration with resin composite. The magnitude and distribution of von Mises stress and maximum principal stress were simulated at all stages using FEA, and fracture strength was also determined (n = 7 per group).

RESULTS
There were significant effects of the lesion size and loading directions on stress, strain and fracture resistance (p < 0.05). Fracture resistance values decreased with increase in lesion size, but returned to baseline with restorations.

CONCLUSIONS
Combined assessment of computer-based and experimental techniques provide an holistic approach to characterize the biomechanical behaviour of teeth with both unrestored and restored NCCLs.


Significant enthusiasm currently exists for new immunotherapeutic strategies: blocking the interaction between programmed death-1 receptor on T-cells and programmed death-ligand 1 on tumor cells to boost immune system stimulation to fight cancer. Immunomodulation with the antiprogrammed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 monoclonal antibodies has shown to mediate tumor shrinkage and extend overall survival from several pivotal phase I/II studies in melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and non-small cell lung cancer. This has prompted multiple large ongoing phase III trials with the expectation for fast-track FDA approvals to satisfy unmet medical needs. Compounds targeting the programmed death-1 pathway that are in clinical trials fall into two major categories, namely antiprogrammed death-1 antibodies: Nivolumab, MK-3475, and pidilizumab; and antiprogrammed death-ligand 1 antibodies: MPDL3280A, BMS-936559, MEDI4736, and MSB0010718C. We reviewed the clinical efficacy and safety of each compound based upon major registered clinical trials and published clinical data. Overall, response rate of more than 20% is consistently seen across all these trials, with maximal response of approximately 50% achieved by certain single antiprogrammed death-1 agents or when used in combination with cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 blockade. The responses seen are early, durable, and have continued after treatment discontinuation. Immune-related adverse events are the most common side effects seen in these clinical trials. Overall, the skin and gastrointestinal tract are the most common organ systems affected by these compounds while hepatic, endocrine, and neurologic events are less frequent. These side effects are low grade, manageable, and typically resolve within a relatively short time frame with a predictable resolution pattern given proper management. We therefore propose detailed guidelines for management of major immune-related adverse events that are anticipated with antiprogrammed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 therapies based on general experience with other monoclonal antibodies and the established management algorithms for immune-related adverse events for cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 blockade with ipilimumab. We anticipate that the antiprogrammed death-1 strategy will become a viable and crucial clinical strategy for cancer therapy.


This study aimed at identifying at what point in the stem, in the longitudinal and cardinal direction, the pylodin penetration depth should be measured, for determining wood basic density, envisaging forestry inventory Data base used in compassed 36 parcels of 400 m 2 . Around the parcels 216 trees were sealed. Two clones (hybrid of E. grandis and E. urophylla), at the ages of 3; 4, 5 and 6 years, belonging to three different sites in East Brazil, encompassing East and Northeast of Espirito Santo state and south of Bahia state. In each measuring height of diameters it was also measured the penetration depth of the pylodin (in mm). The average basic density of scaled trees, was determined, departing from the cheaps, using the immersion method. The main conclusions were: The density equation, as function of the pylodin measures, age, site, diameters at 1.3m of ground and total height, was more precise, exact and stable than the density equation as function of pylodin, age, site and diameter, which in turn was more exact and stable than the density equation, as function of pylodin measures, age, site, diameter at a 1.3m of the ground and of total height, was precise and exact for all ages and sites, in dependent on if the pylodin measurements were taken in the South or in North fares, or in the average position between them. The height for measurement with pylodin can also be taken in the more ergonomic position of 1.3m. The density estimation, as a function of the measures with the pylodin, or as a function of the use of the pylodin, age, average dominant tree height an diameter at 1.3m of the ground, for both clones, was more precise when the measure with the pylodin was taken at the North face. The average tree basic density must always be taken by a specific equation for each clone, given that these equations differ statistically.


In the past decade, corporate social media, for all its variety, has converged on a dominant model: the sites are owned and controlled by a few people; they rely on their users to provide content; and user activity is monitored and the resulting data is sold to marketers. This model, largely an American one, is not without its critics, especially because the dominance of American corporate social media sites means that non-U.S. users are subject to U.S. government surveillance. An interesting subset of corporate social media critics are those who are actively building alternative social media systems that seek to retain the pleasures of corporate social media while excising the problems of centralized control and surveillance. This chapter theorizes alternative social media and distinguishes it from corporate social media along three main lines: technical infrastructures (software platforms, network topologies, and interface design), political economy (funding models, labor practices, and use of intellectual property regimes), and cultural practices (surveillance, activism, and social interaction). The empirical data for this study comes from the author's analysis and participation in a diverse range of alternative social media sites, including Twister, Diaspora, Ello, GNU social, and several Dark Web social media systems, as well as interviews with alternative social media creators and users.


Internationally, Stockholm's brownfield development Hammarby Sjostad is seen as one of the world's highest profile examples of Sustainable City Development. Is its energy efficiency already optimal, or is there an untapped potential for "Renewing a New City", for example through the innovative implementation of ICT? This is the main issue of the study reported in this paper. In the mid 1990s, after some five years of comprehensive planning, the City's politicians and leading officials agreed that Hammarby Sjostad should be the Olympic Village when applying for the 2004 Olympic Games. To strengthen the application, an environmental programme was passed in the city parliament, a project team comprising representatives of the main city administrations was established, and the team was given the task of injecting the novel features of the programme into an ongoing, ordinary planning process [1, 2]. In 1997, the Olympic committee gave the Games to Athens. Nonetheless, the environmental programme and the project team were retained, and for more than a decade of construction the area has been marketed as a spearhead of urban sustainable development [3, 4]. However, evaluations indicate that its energy efficiency is average if benchmarked towards other developments of the same period [5]. Dispersion is wide, a factor three. As part of development, the national government subsidized a number of projects to support the environmental profile, some of them being targeted towards ICT and "smart homes" technology [6, 7, 8, 9]. This is interesting, since it is often argued that the innovative application of ICT should markedly increase energy efficiency [10]. In research at KTH, Stockholm, we therefore explore this as applied to Hammarby Sjostad: To what extent do systems rely on smart infrastructure to control energy use and its impacts – in the electric system, in the district heating? Does ICT integrate citywide and local energy system components through automation, does ICT interact with operators, managers or residents, informing or persuading them to be energy efficient? For the purpose of this study, smart infrastructure is defined as systems that make it easy for users and managers to keep energy use and its impacts low, without compromising utility or comfort Data is collected from documents and interviews. Eight real estate units with elements of smart infrastructure were identified. Thus, about 5 per cent of the flats have this feature, mainly to automatically integrate novel components such as photovoltaics or geothermal energy into the large-scale ordinary energy systems. There is also a single example of a passive house. This is the only Sjostad real estate unit to comply with the original energy objectives of using no more than 60 kWh/m2yr. The addition of local energy sources to a large-scale energy system influences the routines of operators and managers, introducing an element of smartness. It was also found that in a few cases, buildings were provided with "smart homes technology", i.e. ICT that actively interacts with the residents. However, findings indicate that some of the technology does not function properly or has already become obsolete. In three cases, managers and owners are ignorant whether an element of smart infrastructure is operational or not. On the other hand, already from 2000 on, the district was provided with a comprehensive fibre network, which is still up to date. From this follows that on district level the potential for smart infrastructure is there, but as mentioned it is only in part utilised in the individual buildings.


The Working Paper employs the paradigm of new institutional economics to examine peculiarities of the Russian model of corporate governance and control in the banking sector. The study relies upon theoretical as well as applied research of corporate governance in Russian commercial banks featuring different forms of ownership. We focus on real interests of all stakeholders, namely bank and stock market regulators, bank owners, investors, top managers and other insiders. The Anglo-American concept of corporate governance, based on agency theory and implying outside investors' control over banks through stock market, is found to bear limited relevance. We suggest some ways of overcoming the gap between formal institutions of governance and the real life.


: The potential for rapidly dissolving coronary artery thrombi and for decreasing the risk of mortality after myocardial infarction by use of thrombolytic therapy is considerable. However, data are insufficient regarding the relative efficacy of regional vs systemic administration, the proper dose of activator administered regionally, the therapeutic role of the plasma lytic state during regional therapy, the incidence of serious bleeding, and the potential for simpler therapy using new activators with fibrin specificity.


Most land plants can form a root symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for assimilation of inorganic phosphate from the soil. In contrast, the nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis is almost completely restricted to the legumes. The finding that the two symbioses share common signaling components in legumes suggests that the evolutionarily younger nitrogen-fixing symbiosis has recruited functions from the more ancient AM symbiosis. The recent advances in cloning of the genes required for nodulation and AM symbioses from the two model legumes, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, provide a unique opportunity to address biological questions pertaining to the evolution of root symbioses in plants. Here, we report that nearly all cloned legume genes required for nodulation and AM symbioses have their putative orthologs in nonlegumes. The orthologous relationship can be clearly defined on the basis of both sequence similarity and microsyntenic relationship. The results presented here serve as a prelude to the comparative analysis of orthologous gene function between legumes and nonlegumes and facilitate our understanding of how gene functions and signaling pathways have evolved to generate species- or family-specific phenotypes.


What is the benefit of experience? Using data from a leading trading platform we find no evidence that retail FX traders learn to trade better, but they do appear to make valid inferences about their innate abilities as traders. In particular, following an unsuccessful trading day they are more likely to cease trading, to trade smaller amounts and to trade less frequently. These effects are stronger for younger and less experienced traders who might be expected to have more to learn than older, more experienced traders. As regards learning through experience, surprisingly we find that more seasoned traders demonstrate a slight decline in performance once we account for the endogenous decision to cease trading, and even very experienced traders consistently lose money.


The contamination of pesticides in water, sediments, Clarias gariepinus, and Tilapia zilli from Ogbesse River was investigated to evaluate the pollution status and potential hazard in river system. A total of sixteen pesticides were analyzed using Gas Chromatography (GC) equipped with Electron Capture Detector (GC-ECD). The concentration of pesticide residues ranged from ND to 0.43 µg/l for water samples, 0.82 to 2.14 µg/kg dw for sediment, 0.04 to 2.34 µg/kg/ww for C. gariepinus and 0.02 to 1.73 µg/kg/ww for T. zilli. There was a clear dominance of the organochlorine; Hexachlorocyclohexane (α HCH, γ - HCH (lindane), β- HCH) in all matrixes. Ecological risk assessment of pesticide residues in water samples using the Risk Quotient deterministic method showed the likelihood of cause adverse effects for each fish species (RQ≥1). Human health risk assessment indicated that the consumption of contaminated fishes (C. gariepinus and T. zilli) could have potential health implications.

 Key words: Pesticides, chromatography, risk quotient, estimated daily intake, hazard quotient, environmental exposure.


The Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase (NKA) plays a key role in muscle excitability, but little is known in human skeletal muscle about fiber-type-specific differences in NKA isoform expression or adaptability. A vastus lateralis muscle biopsy was taken in 17 healthy young adults to contrast NKA isoform protein relative abundance between type I and IIa fibers. We further investigated muscle fiber-type-specific NKA adaptability in eight of these adults following 4-wk repeated-sprint exercise (RSE) training, comprising three sets of 5 × 4-s sprints, 3 days/wk. Single fibers were separated, and myosin heavy chain (I and IIa) and NKA (α1-3 and β1-3) isoform abundance were determined via Western blotting. All six NKA isoforms were expressed in both type I and IIa fibers. No differences between fiber types were found for α1-, α2-, α3-, β1-, or β3-isoform abundances. The NKA β2-isoform was 27% more abundant in type IIa than type I fibers (P < 0.05), with no other fiber-type-specific trends evident. RSE training increased β1 in type IIa fibers (pretraining 0.70 ± 0.25, posttraining 0.84 ± 0.24 arbitrary units, 42%, P < 0.05). No training effects were found for other NKA isoforms. Thus human skeletal muscle expresses all six NKA isoforms and not in a fiber-type-specific manner; this points to their different functional roles in skeletal muscle cells. Detection of elevated NKA β1 after RSE training demonstrates the sensitivity of the single-fiber Western blotting technique for fiber-type-specific intervention effects.


The over-regulation and bureaucracy stifling the initiation and conduct of clinical trials have been well publicised, said senior clinical triallists attending a meeting in Oxford this week. What's needed now, they said, are workable solutions.

The two codirectors of the University of Oxford's clinical trial service unit summed up the frustration expressed by most speakers and delegates. "We don't just need to simplify the individual rules. How many of them are needed at all?" Richard Peto asked, while Rory Collins added: "How much longer do we have to do things that don't add value?"

An invited international audience of clinical researchers, industry leaders, regulators, funders, ethicists, and patients' representatives debated the many barriers to the efficient running of trials, particularly multicentre international trials run by academics.

Although such trials often pose little clinical risk to patients or legal or insurance risk to institutions and sponsors, they have to …


 Abstract — The average American worker sits for thirteen hours a day, often with poor posture and infrequent breaks, which can lead to health issues and back problems. The Smart Cushion was created to alert individuals of their poor postures, and may potentially alleviate back problems and correct poor posture. The Smart Cushion is a portable, rectangular, foam cushion, with five strategically placed pressure sensors, that utilizes an Arduino Uno circuit board and specifically designed software, allowing it to collect data from the five pressure sensors and store the data on an SD card. The data is then compiled into graphs and compared to controlled postures. Before volunteers sat on the cushion, their levels of back pain were recorded on a scale from 1-10. Data was recorded for an hour during sitting, and then a new, corrected posture was suggested. After using the suggested posture for an hour, the volunteers described their level of discomfort on a scale from 1-10. Different patterns of sitting postures were generated that were able to serve as early warnings of potential back problems. By using the Smart Cushion, the areas where different volunteers were applying the most pressure while sitting could be identified, and the sitting postures could be corrected. Further studies regarding the relationships between posture and specific regions of the body are necessary to better understand the origins of back pain; however, the Smart Cushion is sufficient for correcting sitting posture and preventing the development of additional back pain.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that asymptomatically infects the majority of the population by early adulthood. After initial infection, the virus remains in a latent state in the host and can be reactivated under a variety of conditions. In contrast to the normal host, both primary and reactivated symptomatic CMV infections are common in certain immunocompromised patients including organ transplant recipients and patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). One of the more common manifestations of the virus in this setting is a severe and often fatal interstitial pneumonitis. In transplant patients, this predictably occurs in the second or third month after transplantation and is characterized by severe hypoxemia and bilateral, symmetric interstitial infiltrates on chest x-ray. While the most direct and specific means of diagnosing CMV pneumonia is isolation of the virus from lung tissue homogenates cultured on human fibroblasts, techniques have recently been introduced using specific monoclonal antibodies or CMV DNA probes to rapidly identify the virus in tissue biopsy, cytologic specimens, or in tissue culture. These rapid techniques will become particularly important as antiviral agents with activity against CMV become available.


SUMMARY: Serum levels of a tumor-associated antigen, designated CA 15-3, which is defined by two monoclonal antibodies, in 60 untreated breast cancer patients in various stages were determined by immunoradiometric assay. CA 15-3 levels were found to be higher than maximum level of normal control subjects (27 u/ml), in 38,4% of cases in clinical stage-11, 40% of cases in stage-III and 75% of cases in stage-IV. In order to evaluate the correlation between the clinical course and CA 15-3 levels, serial measurements were performed in 32 patients. CA 15-3 levels were lower than initial values in 75% of cases with clinical, radiological, laboratory regression, on the other hand in 87% of cases with progressive disease, CA 15-3 levels were found to be elevated. These observations indicate that CA 153 is a sensitive tumor marker for diagnosis and especially for monitoring of breast cancer patients.


Ordered lipid domains enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol (lipid rafts) have been implicated in numerous functions in biological membranes. We recently found that lipid domain/raft formation is dependent on the sterol component having a structure that allows tight packing with lipids having saturated acyl chains (Xu, X., and London, E. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 844–849). In this study, the domain-promoting activities of variousnatural sterols were compared with that of cholesterol using both fluorescence quenching and detergent insolubility methods. Using model membranes, it was shown that, like cholesterol, both plant and fungal sterols promote the formation of tightly packed, ordered lipid domains by lipids with saturated acyl chains. Surprisingly ergosterol, a fungal sterol, and 7-dehydrocholesterol, a sterol present in elevated levels in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, were both significantly more strongly domain-promoting than cholesterol. Domain formation was also affected by the structure of the sphingolipid (or that of an equivalent "saturated" phospholipid) component. Sterols had pronounced effects on domain formation by sphingomyelin and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine but only a weak influence on the ability of cerebrosides to form domains. Strikingly it was found that a small amount of ceramide (3 mol %) significantly stabilized domain/raft formation. The molecular basis for, and the implications of, the effects of different sterols and sphingolipids (especially ceramide) on the behavior and biological function of rafts are discussed.


In a distributed multiagent negotiation involving multiple issues, it is often desirable to finalize deals only when all related issues are resolved. However, detecting that a multiagent negotiation has reached a globally quiescent state can be a nontrivial task in a distributed, asynchronous system. We present a quiescence detection protocol based on the Dijkstra-Scholten algorithm for distributed termination detection (D.W. Dijkstra and C.S. Scholten, 1980). The protocol operates as a layer on top of an underlying mediated negotiation protocol. If agents conform to the detection protocol, the detection process terminates iff the negotiation is quiescent. We discuss agent incentives to deviate from the protocol, and describe extensions that enforce adherence with respect to the most significant potential deviations.


We study whether arroyo channel head retreat in dryland discontinuous ephemeral streams is driven by surface runoff, seepage erosion, mass wasting, or some combination of these hydrogeomorphic processes. We monitored precipitation, overland flow, soil moisture, and headcut migration over several seasonal cycles at two adjacent rangeland channel heads in southern Arizona. Erosion occurred by headward retreat of vertical to overhanging faces, driven dominantly by surface runoff. No evidence exists for erosion caused by shallow-groundwater–related processes, even though similar theater-headed morphologies are sometimes attributed to seepage erosion by emerging groundwater. At our field site, vertical variation in soil shear strength influenced the persistence of the characteristic theater-head form. The dominant processes of erosion included removal of grains and soil aggregates during even very shallow (1–3 cm) overland flow events by runoff on vertical to overhanging channel headwalls, plunge-pool erosion during higher-discharge runoff events, immediate postrunoff wet mass wasting, and minor intra-event dry mass wasting on soil tension fractures developing subparallel to the headwall. Multiple stepwise linear regression indicates that the migration rate is most strongly correlated with flow duration and total precipitation and is poorly correlated with peak flow depth or time-integrated flow depth. The studied channel heads migrated upslope with a self-similar morphologic form under a wide range of hydrological conditions, and the most powerful flash floods were not always responsible for the largest changes in landscape form in this environment.


Acute pain is "the barking police-dog of our health". It represents an efficient system of information introducing or evoking a series of defensive mechanisms concerning acute illness, whereas the chronic ache is senseless, because it doesn't take over any protective functions; on the contrary, it burdens the total organism, especially the vegetativum and the psyche as well. Chronic pain very often renders independent, then it is no longer any symptom of a disease, but the disease itself: the idiopathic or unspecific syndrome of pain. Analyzing, for example, rheumatological aspects of a case, you can recognise that there exist continuous transitions from concrete local pain to diffuse indefinite psychalgia, whilst that gliding scale is more and more defined by psychic causes. Many aspects of cases imply a lot of such components. Obviously those syndromes of diseases are increasing where only pure psychosomatic facts exist, that is to say when soma is not the primary source but the scenery.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Highlights ▪ Women disproportionately bear the negative impacts of large-scale land investments (in agribusiness, extractives, logging) in the global South. ▪ Lack of formal land rights and their subordinate role in the household and community lead to the marginalization of women in decision-making processes and the bypassing of them in the distribution of compensation and the planning and implementation of resettlement. ▪ In Tanzania and Mozambique, two countries that promote commercial land-based investments, laws require community consultations and the payment of compensation to affected local communities, but they fail to adequately account for women's concerns and perspectives. Gaps in the legal frameworks include lack of consideration of women's land interests and farming activities and their need for access to common property resources (such as water, firewood, and wild plants) and social infrastructure to help rebuild livelihoods. ▪ Women are underrepresented in decision-making bodies, and laws lack mechanisms to ensure meaningful participation in community consultation and consent processes. ▪ Regulatory changes—including reforms of compensation eligibility and payment mechanisms, gender quotas in decision-making entities, more participatory processes and grievance mechanisms, community awareness-raising, and gender sensitization of government authorities and investors—could make compensation and resettlement processes more equitable for women. Working Papers contain preliminary research, analysis, findings, and recommendations. They are circulated to stimulate timely discussion and critical feedback and to influence ongoing debate on emerging issues. Most working papers are eventually published in another form and their content may be revised.


Objective: In the light of the shortcomings of curriculum-based health promotion in secondary schools, group motivational interviewing provides a potential alternative approach. This two-phase study set out to establish the key components, feasibility and acceptability of a group motivational interviewing intervention, focused on alcohol consumption. Methods: In phase 1, focus groups with 12 students and 8 teachers explored issues with existing health education in Wales. Phase 2 involved the development of a 1-hour group motivational interviewing session to address the issues raised. The session was delivered to two classes of students aged 13–15 years, facilitated by two motivational interviewing practitioners. Sessions were observed and audio-recorded and coded by two researchers using the Assessment of Motivational Interviewing Groups Observer Scale (AMIGOS). Student acceptability of the session was captured using a satisfaction questionnaire. Results: Sessions were consistent with motivational interviewing principles, providing empathic and focused discussion while maximising participants' autonomy and strengths. The majority of students felt listened to during the session, considered it was helpful and felt that they could learn more from this kind of experience. Conclusion: A group motivational interviewing session, developed based on key components identified during focus groups, was shown to be acceptable to students and feasible to deliver in secondary schools. The approach requires further research to establish sustainable delivery mechanisms.


Despite efforts to the contrary, disparities in health and health care persist in the United States. To solve this problem, federal agencies representing different disciplines and perspectives arecollaboratingona variety of transdisciplinary research initiatives. The most recent of these initiatives was launched in 2006 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Public Health Research and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health brought together federal partners representing a variety of disciplines to form the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research (FCHDR). FCHDR collaborates with a wide variety of federal and nonfederal partners to support and disseminate research that aims to reduce or eliminate disparities in healthandhealthcare.Given the complexity involved in eliminating health disparities, there is a need for more transdisciplinary, collaborative research, and facilitating


This paper examines the legal structure of securities lending in Australia, and also Europe, the United Kingdom and United States. It provides an analysis of the widely used industry documents, the Australian Master Securities Lending Agreement and the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA). It outlines the regulation of securities lending and short selling, including restrictions on short selling and the applicable disclosure requirements. It discusses the collapse of Opes Prime and the key Federal Court decision which considered the legal effect of the AMSLA. It also outlines the regulatory responses to securities lending and short selling taken by IOSCO, in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom during the global financial crisis.


This study focuses on the announcement effect of both dividend and corporate earnings on stock prices to examine evidence of semi-strong form efficiency in Malaysian Stock Exchange. A sample of 120 companies listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia that announced the final dividends in their fourth financial quarter was selected covering a time period from January 1, 2006 to November 30, 2006. The study results support the information content of dividend theory that increasing dividend announcements, on an average, earn positive abnormal return, while decreasing dividend announcements are associated with negative abnormal return. Based on the market reaction to both dividend and earnings announcements, this study concludes that both dividends and earnings play a significant role as signaling effects of the future prospects of the firm, with the dividends effect proving to be significantly stronger than the earnings effect. The results provide some evidence of semi-strong form efficiency in the Malaysian stock market, where stock prices adjust in an efficient manner to dividend and earnings announcements.


This article presents a case study about the implementation of a teaching innovation project aimed at applying the project-based learning technique through the use of new technologies, and specifically through the resources available in the virtual learning environment at the University of Seville (US), Spain. This project was carried out in the 2010/2011 academic year on two Sociology subjects forming part of the curricula of the Management & Public Administration and Nursing short degree courses. The objectives of this project were: 1) To apply and assess the use of a new teaching methodology for improving the teaching and learning process on socio-health subjects, and 2) To foster the students' active, participatory and collaborative learning by doing projects and using various virtual-learning didactic instruments. Besides the project rationale and objectives, the article will describe the resources used and the main results obtained. Finally, it will discuss the limitations and potential associated with the use of these new teaching techniques in university teaching.


Approximating marginals of a graphical model is one of the fundamental problems in the theory of networks. In a recent paper a method was shown to construct a variational free energy such that the linear response estimates, and maximum entropy estimates (for beliefs) are in agreement, with implications for direct and inverse Ising problems [1]. In this paper we demonstrate an extension of that method, incorporating new information from the response matrix, and we recover the adaptive-TAP equations as the first order approximation [2]. The method is flexible with respect to applications of the cluster variational method, special cases of this method include Naive Mean Field (NMF) and Bethe. We demonstrate that the new framework improves estimation of marginals by orders of magnitude over standard implementations in the weak coupling limit. Beyond the weakly coupled regime we show there is an improvement in a model where the NMF and Bethe approximations are known to be poor for reasons of frustration and short loops.


Abstract Gastric transposition has been used extensively in this department since 1965 for reconstruction following pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy (PLO). A previous report by Harrison and Thompson in 1986 detailed our experience with 101 cases dating back to 1965. Here we review our experience between 1986–1996. Medical records of 41 cases were examined. The primary site and stage of tumour and associated lymph nodes, patient demographics, complications, in-patient mortality and survival as demonstrated by the Kaplan-Meier method were recorded. Gastric transposition is now used for more extensive tumours: 70 per cent T4 (83 per cent pathologically T4) compared to 21 per cent in the previous report. A high proportion of 'radiation failures' remains (54 per cent). The in-hospital mortality has fallen from 11 per cent to seven per cent. The five-year-survival calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method is 11 per cent. This procedure is increasingly being used as a palliative procedure aiming to restore swallowing in the relatively young patient who has very extensive hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Long-term survival rates specific to this operation have fallen. This is attributed to patient selection for the procedure with the vast majority having disease extending into bone, cartilage or soft tissues (T4). The defect created by the resection of less extensive tumours are now increasingly reconstructed with jejunal free flaps and musculocutaneous flaps.


Critical congenital heart disease (cCHD) is the most common reason for acute cardiac failure in the neonatal period. cCHD, defined by systemic low cardiac output (LCO) and requiring surgery or catheter-based intervention in the first year of life, has an incidence of approximately 15% of CHD and is responsible for up to 25% fatalities of newborn infants. Clinical deterioration develops in most cases due to rapid closure of the ductus arteriosus (DA). Early diagnosis and immediate treatment determinate beneficial outcome. Critical CHD can be classified in duct-dependent systemic flow, duct-dependent pulmonary flow and transposition of the great arteries. The latter two manifest themselves in oxygen resistant cyanosis, whereas CHD with duct-dependent systemic flow may present itself with cardiogenic shock, which can be difficult to differentiate from other causes of shock such as sepsis. Besides prostaglandin therapy for reopening the arterial duct, a balanced parallel pulmonary and systemic circulation should be a therapeutic goal. In CHD with duct-dependent systemic flow a decrease of pulmonary resistance should be avoided; therefore inadequate oxygen therapy, hyperventilation and alkalosis due to excessive treatment of acidosis, should be averted. Volume therapy should be performed carefully. In CHD with duct-dependent pulmonary flow, pulmonary resistance can be decreased, in case of poor pulmonary flow systemic resistance should be increased, mild alkalosis is recommended. Intense volume therapy is in most cases necessary, except if a restrictive atrial communication is present. In addition to intensive care measures, an arsenal of catheter- and surgery-based procedures need to be hold available as back-up for emergency procedures. Transcatheter interventions are nowadays decisive. Atrial-septostomy was the first and still the most utilized high-urgency procedure; DA-stenting is used in prostaglandin-refractory duct stenosis. In the presence of critical aortic valve stenosis, palliation consists of balloon valvuloplasty. In critical aortic coarctation with myocardial failure and no response to prostaglandin, palliative balloon angioplasty may be the method of choice as bridging for corrective surgery.


7 patients with biliary ileal obstruction were operated on during the past 2 years. The article focuses on the features of the clinical presentation and the efficacy of diagnostic means. The surgical tactics and volume of the intervention is suggested. Recommendations on the prevention of the biliary ileus were worked out.


Our objective was to examine social class and educational differences in long-term smoking cessation success among a cohort of smokers attending a specialized smoking clinic. We studied sustained abstinence after cessation among 1,516 smokers (895 men and 621 women) treated for smoking cessation between 1995 and 2001 at a university teaching hospital in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. We calculated 1-year and long-term (up to 8-year) abstinence probabilities by means of Kaplan-Meier curves and the hazard ratio of relapse by means of Cox regression, after adjusting for other predictors of relapse. Overall abstinence probability was .277 (95% CI = .254-.301). Men and women in social classes IV-V had significant hazard ratios of relapse after long-term follow-up (men: 1.36, 95% CI = 1.07-1.72; women: 1.60, 95% CI = 1.24-2.06), as compared with patients in social classes I-II. The same independent effect was observed for education: Men and women with primary or less than primary studies had higher hazard ratios of relapse (men: 1.75, 95% CI = 1.35-2.25; women: 1.92, 95% CI = 1.51-2.46), as compared with patients with a university degree. Similar estimates were obtained after adjustment for stage of change, Fagerström score for nicotine dependence, and type of treatment. Patients of lower socioeconomic status are at higher risk of relapse, and this association is independent of other well-known predictors of relapse. Social differences have to be taken into account in the clinical setting when tailoring specific actions to treat smoking dependence.


As part of the multisite Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Demonstration and Evaluation Project, MDRC, together with its research partners, is leading an evaluation of parental employment and educational services delivered within Early Head Start (Enhanced EHS). The program model tested here aims to dually address the employment and educational needs of parents who are at risk of unemployment and the developmental needs of their children. The study is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with additional funding from the U.S. Department of Labor.The study uses a rigorous random assignment design comparing outcomes for families and children who were offered Enhanced EHS with outcomes for those who could only access alternative services in the community. This report presents the final impact results approximately 42 months after families and children first entered the study.


Societal changes make culture increasingly central but also problematise it. New per-spectives are needed to meet these challenges. The international field of cultural studies is a promising effort to answer these challenges and vitalise cultural research. Sweden may make a significant and indeed unique contribution to this effort, but im-portant steps remain to be taken with this purpose. One such step would be to install a new national-international research institute on a higher level, in order to connect disciplines, universities and regions, and push innovative developments forward.Against such a background, this report leads up to an outline of a proposed new Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden (ACSIS). This is yet only a proposal, writ-ten at a time when ACSIS yet only exists as an imaginary utopia – though living with an extraordinary vitality in the minds of a wide intellectual network of committed scholars. Funding is presently being sought for, but it is not yet decided in what exact manner the ideas presented here will eventually be made real. The formulation of tasks, organisation and budget is thus yet a hypothetical model.Still, this bold adventure has reached a long way since its first inception. The ACSIS has long been an attractive dream for me and for many of my colleagues among cultural researchers. It is a very great pleasure to see the plans crystallised thus far, as the journey towards an ACSIS has reached its last and decisive phase.The report results from a committee work funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercen-tenary Foundation (Riksbankens jubileumsfond), and the Swedish Council for Re-search in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Humanistisk-samhallsvetenskapliga forskningsradet). I had the great pleasure to work together with Svante Beckman, Ulf Hannerz, Lisbeth Larsson, Britta Lundgren, Orvar Lofgren, Ove Sernhede and Ulf Lindberg, and was reliably assisted by Asa Backstrom. The group started working in January 2000, with a series of working meetings. Each member of the group has also had intense discussions of the basic ideas with other Swedish and international scholars, in meetings and by personal communication.Many therefore deserve warm thanks for making this report possible. The material and mental support by the two research funding bodies was essential, as was the generous and always stimulating collaboration in the committee. Linkoping Univer-sity and the City of Norrkoping have been overwhelmingly supportive towards this unique proposal, further strengthening our faith in its potential. We are also grateful to all those many Swedish and foreign researchers with whom these ideas have been discussed. The National Institute for Working Life programme for Work and Culture in Norrkoping was a most hospitable host for this whole planning project.


Given the emerging interest in institutional positioning and to augment the small number of empirical studies in this field, this paper presents discussion about how Finnish universities of applied sciences implement their profiling strategies. The analysis is based on an examination of documents recently submitted by these institutions when reapplying for operating licences. The paper discusses how institutions refer to their positioning statements when introducing or responding to changes in their internal or external environments and questions whether or not positioning paves the way to strategic actorhood. The results suggest that the universities of applied sciences that most often refer to profiling statements have built different kinds of networks to support their positioning activities. Moreover, they have made considerable structural changes to implement their positioning strategies. The restructuring of human resource capacity required to execute the positioning strategy is discussed in the reapplication documents, albeit with a lesser emphasis.


Regulation of gene transcription is a key feature of developmental, homeostatic, and oncogenic processes. The reverse recruitment model of transcriptional control postulates that eukaryotic genes become active by moving to contact transcription factories at nuclear substructures; our previous work showed that at least some of these factories are tethered to nuclear pores. We demonstrate here that the nuclear periphery is the site of key events in the regulation of glucose-repressed genes, which together compose one-sixth of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. We also show that the canonical glucose-repressed gene SUC2 associates tightly with the nuclear periphery when transcriptionally active but is highly mobile when repressed. Strikingly, SUC2 is both derepressed and confined to the nuclear rim in mutant cells where the Mig1 repressor is nuclear but not perinuclear. Upon derepression all three subunits (α, β, and γ) of the positively acting Snf1 kinase complex localize to the nuclear periphery, resulting in phosphorylation of Mig1 and its export to the cytoplasm. Reverse recruitment therefore appears to explain a fundamental pathway of eukaryotic gene regulation.


Going down the folding funnel, proteins may sample a wide variety of conformations, some being outright detrimental to the organism. Yet, the vast majority of polypeptide molecules avoid such pitfalls. Not only do they reach the native minimum of the energy landscape; they do so via blazingly fast, biased, routes. This specificity and speed is remarkable, as the surrounding solution is filled to the brim with other molecules that could potentially interact with the protein and in doing so stabilise non-native, potentially toxic, conformations. How such incidents are avoided while maintaining native structure and function is not understood. This doctoral thesis argues that protein structure and function can be separated in the folding code of natural protein sequences by use of multiple partly uncoupled factors that act in a concerted fashion. More specifically, we demonstrate that: i) Evolutionarily conserved functional and regulatory elements can be excised from a present day protein, leaving behind an independently folded protein scaffold. This suggests that the dichotomy between functional and structural elements can be preserved during the course of protein evolution. ii) The ubiquitous charges on soluble protein surfaces are not required for protein folding in biologically relevant timescales, but are critical to intermolecular interaction. Monomer folding can be driven by hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding alone, while functional and structural intermolecular interaction depends on the relative positions of charges that are not required for the native bias inherent to the folding mechanism. It is possible that such uncoupling reduces the probability of evolutionary clashes between fold and function. Without such a balancing mechanism, functional evolution might pull the carpet from under the feet of structural integrity, and vice versa. These findings have implications for both de novo protein design and the molecular mechanisms behind diseases caused by protein misfolding.


OBJECTIVE
The British Antibiotic and Silver Impregnated Catheter Shunt (BASICS) trial established level I evidence of the superiority of antibiotic-impregnated catheters in the prevention of infection of newly implanted ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPSs). A wealth of patient, shunt, and surgery-specific data were collected from trial participants beyond that of the prespecified trial objectives.

METHODS
This post hoc analysis of the BASICS survival data explores the impact of patient age, hydrocephalus etiology, catheter type, valve type, and previous external ventricular drain on the risk of infection or mechanical failure. Time to failure was analyzed using Fine and Gray survival regression models for competing risk.

RESULTS
Among 1594 participants, 75 patients underwent revision for infection and 323 for mechanical failure. Multivariable analysis demonstrated an increased risk of shunt infection associated with patient ages < 1 month (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 4.48, 95% CI 2.06-9.72; p < 0.001) and 1 month to < 1 year (sHR 2.67, 95% CI 1.27-5.59; p = 0.009), as well as for adults with posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (sHR 2.75, 95% CI 1.21-6.26; p = 0.016). Age ≥ 65 years was found to be independently associated with reduced infection risk (sHR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10-0.69; p = 0.007). Antibiotic-impregnated catheter use was also associated with reduced infection risk (sHR 0.43, 95% CI 0.22-0.84; p = 0.014). Independent risk factors predisposing to mechanical failure were age < 1 month (sHR 1.51, 95% CI 1.03-2.21; p = 0.032) and 1 month to < 1 year (sHR 1.31, 95% CI 0.95-1.81; p = 0.046). Age ≥ 65 years was demonstrated to be the only independent protective factor against mechanical failure risk (sHR 0.64, 95% CI 0.40-0.94; p = 0.024).

CONCLUSIONS
Age is the predominant risk for VPS revision for infection and/or mechanical failure, with neonates and infants being the most vulnerable.


The present essay examines the scarcity–prosociality link, that is, the conditions in which scarcity leads to self-interest and competitiveness or to other-oriented prosociality and cooperativeness. Adopting a social-psychological approach, the findings of the major investigations of reactions to scarcity are summarised. These studies show both self-interest and prosociality as reactions to scarcity, depending on various mediating factors, although a scarcity mindset or limited-good perception is not revealed directly. This link needs to be interpreted in the light of social-psychological, cognitive, economic and cultural factors. In general, the scarcity–prosociality relationship is found to be ambiguous, yet thought-provoking. Some aspects that require detailed exploration and the multi-pronged implications of the scarcity–prosociality association for societal development are highlighted. It is suggested that effective coping with scarcity in resource-constrained economies will be possible if socialisation and social policies promote practices that enhance resource availability, encourage an optimal use of resources, and modify a competitive stance to a cooperative one, and a zero-sum game perception of resource exchange to one of non-zero-sum game.


The most common use of Ranunculus species in tradit ional medicines are anti-rheumatism, intermittent f ever and rubefacient. The objective of this research was to formulate and evaluate anti-bacterial activity agai nst different bacterial strains, and his essential oil from Ranun culus arvensis L. Antioxidant activity of this esse ntial oil was determined by DPPH radical scavenging. An antibacte rial activity analysis was carried out using paper disk diffusion the essential oil of Ranunculus arvensis L displayed antibacterial activity against the test ed bacteria in the disk diffusion method. The data obtained in previou s studies indicate that the Ranunculus arvensis L h ave a significant antioxidant and antibacterial activitie s. Only few pharmacological activities have been st udied of these species. Most of studies up till now have concentra ted their attention on the antibacterial, antifunga l, Anti- inflammatory and analgesic of different extracts. T here is a lack of comprehensive isolation studies i ssued or comprehensive investigation of their pharmacologica l actions. Thus, we believe that the isolation of n ew active component from these species would be of huge scien tific value.


Over recent years, there has been considerable growth in healthcare infrastructure
investment throughout Europe where billions of Euros are invested in new and
refurbished healthcare facilities. In the UK, capital expenditure on healthcare has
increased from around £1.1 billion in 1997/98 to around £5.5 billion in 2007/08; an
increase in real terms of almost four times the expenditure in 1997. As a result,
several environmental concerns and challenges, including construction waste
generation, have emerged. There is a consensus in the literature that factors causing
construction waste span the project life cycle, however, healthcare facilities have
different features compared to other buildings due to functional and operational
complexities. By means of a questionnaire followed by interviews with construction
industry practitioners specialising in healthcare facilities, this paper aims to identify
the level of importance given in the healthcare industry to minimising construction
waste; recognising the effect on construction waste generation due to complexity and
special features of healthcare facilities; exploring causes of waste particular to the
healthcare lifecycle and to examining the waste minimisation strategies used in the
industry. The findings revealed that lifecycle waste mapping in healthcare facilities is
similar to other types of buildings. Results also indicate that waste management is not
treated as a priority in the briefing and design stages of most healthcare facilities and
is still seen as the responsibility of the contractor. Initiating waste minimisation
practices at the construction stage inevitably results in loosing a number of effective
waste reduction opportunities at the beginning of the project. The findings from this
research contributes to a growing body of literature on sustainable healthcare
construction and to support NHS policy on 'greening the environment' through
reduction of construction waste. This paper concludes that a more integrated lifecycle
approach is required to effectively reduce healthcare construction waste.


Honeybee defensive behavior is a useful selection criterion, especially in areas with Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera L). In all genetic improvement programs the selected characters must be measured with precision, and because of this we evaluated a metabolic method for testing honeybee defensive behavior in the laboratory for its usefulness in distinguishing between honeybee ecotypes and selecting honeybees based on their level of defensive responses. Ten honeybee colonies were used, five having been produced by feral queens from a subtropical region supposedly colonized by Africanized honeybees and five by queens from a temperate region apparently colonized by European honeybees. We evaluate honeybee defensive behavior using a metabolic test based on oxygen consumption after stimulation with an alarm pheromone, measuring the time to the first response, time to maximum oxygen consumption, duration of activity, oxygen consumption at first response, maximum oxygen consumption and total oxygen consumption, colonies being ranked according to the values obtained for each variable. Significant (p < 0.05) differences were detected between ecotypes for each variable but for all variables the highest rankings were obtained for colonies of subtropical origin, which had faster and more intense responses. All variables were highly associated (p < 0.05). Total oxygen consumption was the best indicator of metabolic activity for defensive behavior because it combined oxygen consumption and the length of the response. This laboratory method may be useful for evaluating the defensive behavior of honey bees in genetic programs designed to select less defensive bees.


The Human Resource department in any institution would always determine how satisfied and committed the employees are in their organization. Thus, this study was conducted to examine the predictors of job satisfaction and commitment of employees in an academic institution. One hundred eighty (180) employees from academic support, general services, student services, and finance and auxiliary departments who hold managerial, professional, and support staff position were included in the study. Data from survey instruments developed by the Human Resource department were utilized to generate the results. The findings revealed that the employees have high level of job satisfaction and career commitment to their institution. Regression analysis indicates that the predictors of job satisfaction are: attracting high quality employees (β=.165), teamwork across departments (β=.356), salary and benefits of workers (β=.199). The total variance accounted for by these variables in job satisfaction is 52.9%. Further, the significant predictors of commitment are: retaining high quality employees (β=.181), years of service (β=-.110), and home and work balance (β=.149), which accounts for 14.2% of the variance in employee commitment. Based on these results, series of seminar/trainings and workshops were provided for employees.


Square wave voltammetry was applied to the detection of cysteine through the use of an indirect assay that exploits the reaction of the thiol with a quinone indicator. Voltammetric discrimination between unreacted quinone and the corresponding quinone-cysteine adduct is possible with clear resolution of the latter peak providing a linear response from 5 to 47 microM. The selectivity of the approach was assessed with no interference from cystine, lysine, paracetamol or 4-aminophenol. The response recorded in the presence of a massive excess of ascorbic acid was also investigated and the integrity of the approach confirmed. The effects of other sulfhydryl thiols, homocysteine and glutathione, were also assessed and found to present no appreciable change in the voltammetric profile. The practical utility of the approach was investigated through examining the response to cysteine in urine.


There have been many advances in orthodontic and restorative procedures. These can be combined to provide a very powerful tool in providing the optimum results. This article describes when a combined approach would be appropriate and discusses how the various problems are overcome.


Anomaly detection is a standard problem in Machine Learning with various applications such as health-care, predictive maintenance, and cyber-security. In such applications, the data is unbalanced: the rate of regular examples is much higher than the anomalous examples. The emergence of the Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have recently brought new algorithms for anomaly detection. Most of them use the generator as a proxy for the reconstruction loss. The idea is that the generator cannot reconstruct an anomaly. We develop an alternative approach for anomaly detection, based on an Encoding Adversarial Network (AnoEAN), which maps the data in a latent space (decision space), where the detection of anomalies is done directly by calculating a score. Our encoder is learned by adversarial learning, using two loss functions, the first constraining the encoder to project regular data into a Gaussian distribution and the second, to project anomalous data outside this distribution. We conduct a series of experiments on several standard bases and show that our approach outperforms the state of the art when using 10% anomalies during the learning stage and detect unseen anomalies.


Though anti-American terrorism springs these days as much from Yemen and the "virtual ummah" as from Afghanistan, President Obama has nontheless further committed US troops to stabilizing a country well-known as the graveyard of empires. What can the only Muslim country that belongs to NATO offer by way of advice? How best can the US keep its focus on the terrorist threat despite its diversion in Afghanistan?

Turkey's former envoy to Afghanistan and two of Europe's leading experts on Islamist terrorism offer their views.


The field of MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) is in its golden era. Nowadays, there are more than 80,000 apps on the market, around 30,000 of which are devoted to language learning, especially English. Most of them have been developed outside the academic world. (Calle-Martinez et al., 13) and (Martin Monje et al., 14) suggest that, although several studies assess and propose rubrics to analyse the technical, pedagogical and cognitive validity of educational apps (Santiago, 12, Santiago et al., 14), in the field of language learning there is a need for a solid theoretical framework which, based on pedagogical, linguistic and technical precepts, can constitute a guide of good practices in the development and use of MALL apps, as well as an assessment tool to distinguish those apps that lead to successful learning outcomes from those that are mere time-fillers. VISP (VIdeos for Speaking) is a MALL app developed by members of the UNED-based ATLAS research group and the Ghent University-based GOLLD research group to promote oral practice in English, based on pedagogical and linguistic standards. In order to assess its validity it has been tested with two different user groups: Spanish and Belgian students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). This paper shows the similarities and differences in their use and production. Given the differences in the ways of approaching and using the app, the results show that even though this MALL app was more effective with Spanish students in terms of motivation, Belgian students, though less motivated, performed better. In this light, the present study is in line with (Byrne, 14), concluding that this type of MALL app should be 'localized' according to the learners' cultural and linguistic factors, and suggesting that pedagogical standards of MALL apps should also take into account cultural factors.


Ensemble learning, which aggregates multiple diverse models for inference, is a common practice to improve the accuracy of machine learning tasks. However, it has been observed that the conventional ensemble methods only bring marginal improvement for neural machine translation (NMT) when individual models are strong or there are a large number of individual models. In this paper, we study how to effectively aggregate multiple NMT models under the transductive setting where the source sentences of the test set are known. We propose a simple yet effective approach named transductive ensemble learning (TEL), in which we use all individual models to translate the source test set into the target language space and then finetune a strong model on the translated synthetic corpus. We conduct extensive experiments on different settings (with/without monolingual data) and different language pairs (English↔{German, Finnish}). The results show that our approach boosts strong individual models with significant improvement and benefits a lot from more individual models. Specifically, we achieve the state-of-the-art performances on the WMT2016-2018 English↔German translations.


The object oriented (OO) distributed real time (RT) programming movement started in the 1990s and is growing rapidly at this turn of this century (year 2000). The motivations are reviewed and then a brief overview is given of the particular programming scheme which the author and his collaborators have been establishing. The scheme is called the time triggered message triggered object (TMO) programming scheme and it is used to make specific illustrations of the issues and potentials of OO RT programming. The desirable features of middleware providing execution support for OO RT distributed programs are then discussed. The issue of fault tolerant execution of distributed RT objects and that of RT distributed/parallel simulation are also discussed.


ists physically in the body, materially in space and as percept, all at once. As an artist, musician and scientist, I have been interested in disrupting the boundaries that separate our notions of the physical and the experiential, the present and virtual, of sight and sound. I am specifically interested in sound technology as a way to approach these dynamics more deeply: Are there alternative models of sound production that can lead to a different understanding of how audition and vision, physical material and the phenomenological realm, can be construed to create our experience? This question led me to the development of flat flexible speaker arrays—distributed, stochastic, continuous, multimodal, with potentially unlimited channels—and to the creation of artwork using these arrays as a material [1]. My work has much in common with that of other contemporary sound artists who explore the technology of sound production as a way to reveal the magic of sound in the world. My work drew inspiration from artists such as Paul DiMarinis [2], who creates installation work that carefully manipulates fire (e.g. Firebirds) and water (e.g. A Light Rain in collaboration with Rebecca Cummins) to generate the sounds of voices and music that lead viewers to a new sense of awe about the nature of their personal experience of sound, and Christina Kubisch, whose Electrical Walks use induction and specially designed headphones to allow users to discover sound from spatially distributed electromagnetic sources [3]. In each case, these works playfully confound our everyday notion of sound production, expand our awareness of the mystery of sound and, by extension, change how we relate on a fundamental level to auditory experience and our own awareness. My work explores similar themes: These flat flexible speaker arrays confront the listener with an unexpected physical form of sound creation. Here, however, the material form of sound production acts as a vehicle to explore, question and confound specific boundaries between modalities of experience, especially the boundary between visual art and music.


Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder caused by the loss of function of the imprinted UBE3A gene in 15q11-q13. In a small group of patients, the disease is due to an imprinting defect (ID) that silences the maternal UBE3A allele. The presence of a faint maternal band detected by methylation-specific PCR analysis of the SNURF-SNRPN locus in approximately one-third of patients who have an ID but no imprinting center deletion suggested that these patients are mosaics of ID cells and normal cells. In two patients studied, somatic mosaicism was proven by molecular and cellular cloning, respectively. X inactivation studies of cloned fibroblasts from one patient suggest that ID occurred before the blastocyst stage. To quantify the degree of mosaicism, we developed a novel quantitative methylation assay based on real-time PCR. In 24 patients tested, the percentage of normal cells ranged from <1% to 40%. Regression analysis suggests that patients with a higher percentage of normally methylated cells tend to have milder clinical symptoms than patients with a lower percentage. In conclusion, we suggest that the role of mosaic imprinting defects in mental retardation is underestimated.


The diachronic analysis allows evaluating the evolutionary process of the cities and the diverse interconnections that constitute and qualify the main structuring networks using axial maps. This study aims to analyse the urban evolution, and the impact on urban mobility, of two Brazilian cities (Florianópolis and Brasília) using the Social Logic of Space Theory (SLST). Florianópolis is located on an island in the south of Brazil and Brasília is located in the centre of the country,planned in the 1960's to be the Brazil's capital. Both cities have a dispersed system of road networks, where the districts are separated from each other and by their form of implantation, being horizontal and dispersed. This causes the local population to take long daily commutes to reach the centralities of the cities, overloading the transport networks, either by the use of public transport or individual private transport. The strategy of analysis is applicable to the context of both Florianópolis and Brasília, since it has the possibility of identifying the local and global centralities, more accessible routes and better options for spatial syntax based on the SLST. Also, it subsidies the identification of the intervention points and the promotion of more sustainable transport systems.Keywords: Urban mobility, Florianópolis, Brasília, Theory of Social Logic of Space, Sustainability, Axial maps


In order to increase food production it is necessary to better understand all the factors underlying short term operations and long term strategies that lead to improve food security. In this regard any good effect deriving from agricultural research is strictly connected to a more accurate estimation of crops resources requirements, to major improvements in the use of irrigation and drainage systems, to a better understand of climatic variability. All the variables involved show strong dependency on both place and time. The failing of past, present and future systems can be essentially attributed to poor agricultural research planning, to incorrect agricultural systems design and resource allocation and to a not complete capacity to cope with short and long-term global climatic behavior.


BACKGROUND: The spinal cord is an important site where volatile anesthetics decrease sensation and produce immobility. Beyond this knowledge, our understanding of a site of anesthetic action is limited. Previous evidence suggests that dorsal horn neurons with ascending projections may be more susceptible to depression by general anesthetics than local spinal interneurons. In this study we evaluated the effects of volatile and injectable general anesthetics on lumbar dorsal horn neurons with and without ascending projections. METHODS: Thirty-seven adult male rats underwent laminectomies at C1, for placement of a stimulating electrode, and T13/L1, for extracellular recording from the spinal cord dorsal horn. Neuronal responses to heat were evaluated under two doses of halothane, isoflurane, or propofol anesthesia. RESULTS: Under both halothane and isoflurane anesthesia, increasing the dose from 0.8 to 1.2 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) had no significant effect on heat-evoked responses in neurons that had ascending projections identified via antidromic stimulation (AD) or those without ascending projections (nAD). Heat responses in AD neurons 1 min after IV administration of 3 and 5 mg/kg of propofol were reduced to 60% ± 18% (mean ± se) and 39% ± 14% of control respectively. Similarly, in nAD neurons responses were reduced to 56% ± 14% and 50% ± 10% of control by 3 and 5 mg/kg propofol respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest, at peri-MAC concentrations, these general anesthetics do not preferentially depress lumbar dorsal horn neurons with ascending projections compared to those with no identifiable ascending projections.


Background and Aim: This paper describes the introduction and evaluation of an extended role occupational therapy support worker, called an 'occupational therapy assistant practitioner'.

Methods and Results: The evaluation took place within a single health care trust and involved focus groups with four groups of stakeholders: assistant practitioners; their supervisors; managers; and service users. The evaluation identified a lack of access to appropriate training; ambiguous supervision and accountability relationships; and a lack of a clear career direction for qualified occupational therapists, creating uncertainty about which aspects of their job they should be 'giving away'.

Conclusions: There is a need to clarify career structures and accountability relationships between existing and new staff members and ensure that appropriate training is available to support staff in their new roles.


The healthcare industry must improve its delivery methods and reduce costs to address current and anticipated needs. Various technologies could help by extending treatment and care beyond traditional clinical settings into personal and home settings. However, creating such a personal telehealth ecosystem will require interoperability. Device connectivity to enterprise services is currently very proprietary. In an effort to develop interoperability guidelines for the emerging personal telehealth ecosystem, we formed the Continua Health Alliance (www.continuaalliance.org), an international alliance of more than 133 companies. The guidelines will be based on a comprehensive set of industry standards, which will serve as a blueprint for integrating a product into the ecosystem.


Essentially the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight champions, John L. Sullivan was instrumental in the acceptance of gloved fighting. His charisma and popular appeal during this transitional period contributed greatly to making boxing a nationally popular, "legitimate" sport. Sullivan became boxing's first superstar and arguably the first of any sport. From his first match in the late 1870s through his final fight in 1905, this biography contains a thoroughly researched, detailed accounting of John L. Sullivan's boxing career. With special attention to the 1880s, the decade during which Sullivan came to prominence, it follows Sullivan's skill development and discusses his opponents in detail, providing various viewpoints of a single event. Beginning with a discussion of early boxing practices, the sport itself is placed within sociological, legal and historical contexts including anti - prize fighting laws and the so-called "colour line." Ironically, Sullivan's personal adherence to this final concept with his refusal to fight a coloured opponent remains the one blemish on a phenomenal career. A complete record of Sullivan's career is also included.


The level of informational efficiency of security markets has been a contentious issue among the academic and broader community over the last 35 years. This study highlights the growth in popularity in investment styles over this period, where investment decisions are made with only limited reference to available information and no concern with fair value (eg momentum investors and index investors). This paper models the market behaviour of fundamental, momentum and index investors and then simulates the behaviour of security prices in a market composed of investors following these three styles. Evidence is found to suggest that compositions of investment styles that are fairly typical of the mix of investors in current-day markets will lead to anomalous price behaviour similar to that found by other writers: an underreaction to new information which often gives rise to a subsequent overreaction.


Purified Cl. perfringens theta-hemolysin with a specific activity of 15-16 X 10(5) HU per mg of protein nitrogen, toxic for mice when injected intravenously, has been obtained by precipitation with zinc chloride, gel filtration through Sephadex G-100 and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex A-50. 1 Dcl of the toxin is 0.2-0.4 mg. The yield of theta-hemolysin amounting to 20-25% has been achieved, the degree of its purification reaching 80- to 120-fold. Equine anti-theta hemolytic serum has been obtained. The method for the determination of the anti-theta toxin-binding properties of Cl. perfringens toxins and the quantitative content of anti-theta-hemolysin in sera has been developed.


We discuss constrained and semi--constrained versions of the next--to--minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (NMSSM) in which a singlet Higgs superfield is added to the two doublet superfields that are present in the minimal extension (MSSM). This leads to a richer Higgs and neutralino spectrum and allows for many interesting phenomena that are not present in the MSSM. In particular, light Higgs particles are still allowed by current constraints and could appear as decay products of the heavier Higgs states, rendering their search rather difficult at the LHC. We propose benchmark scenarios which address the new phenomenological features, consistent with present constraints from colliders and with the dark matter relic density, and with (semi--)universal soft terms at the GUT scale. We present the corresponding spectra for the Higgs particles, their couplings to gauge bosons and fermions and their most important decay branching ratios. A brief survey of the search strategies for these states at the LHC is given.


OBJECTIVE
To present the clinical characteristics of patients enrolled in a trial of treatment of small cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung and to describe the central nervous system toxicity associated with the chemotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of 60 patients with SCC who received chemotherapy and thoracic radiation therapy. PCI was administered to patients who had limited disease or who had extensive disease that was subsequently down-staged to only residual chest disease after initial treatment. The total PCI dose was 3,200 cGy administered in 16 fractions of 200 cGy, given concurrently with systemic chemotherapy. Diagnostic criteria for leukoencephalopathy were based on previously published guidelines.

RESULTS
Of the 60 eligible and enrolled patients, 35 received PCI and 25 did not. Leukoencephalopathy developed in 5 of the 35 patients (14%) who received PCI. The median age of the patients in whom leukoencephalopathy developed was 64 years (range, 57 to 69), and the median follow-up time was 59 months. The most common signs and symptoms of leukoencephalopathy were intellectual changes, memory alterations, and motor abnormalities. The mean time to onset of symptoms after termination of irradiation was 357 days (range, 30 to 524). Of all 60 patients, 6 were still alive 4 years after enrollment, and 3 of them (50%) already had leukoencephalopathy.

CONCLUSION
Small dosage fractions of PCI may still result in leukoencephalopathy. The routine use of PCI in the management of SCC should be reassessed because of increasing evidence of the toxicity associated with it.


Modelling dry granular flows over topography Jonathan Michael Foonlan Tsang Dry granular flows are common and important in the environment and industry, and yet their behaviour is very poorly understood. The dynamics of individual grains are governed by the simple and well-known laws of Newtonian mechanics, but how do these 'microscopic' particlelevel laws translate into the 'macroscopic' collective motion of thousands or millions of grains, which flow like a liquid? Various rheological models of granular flows have been developed to facilitate a continuum approach, but hitherto they have only been applied to flows in very simple geometries such as parallel shear flow. In these applications, the flows are assumed to be quasi-steady and to vary only over very long distances in the streamwise direction. This approximation, related to the 'shallow water' model of hydraulics, greatly simplifies the equations of motion. However, the assumption is inappropriate for modelling flows interacting with basal features that vary over lengthscales comparable to the depth of the current, or for flows with abrupt time-dependence that cannot be assumed to be quasi-steady. We refer to these spatial and temporal inhomogeneities collectively as topography. In this thesis, we apply a common rheological model to problems involving various types of spatial or temporal topography. One problem that we shall particularly study concerns a flow down a chute that experiences a sudden increase in basal roughness, either spatially or in time. This change induces an evolution of the depthwise velocity profile that begins near the base but eventually spreads throughout the current. We introduce an adaptation of the μ(I) rheology and find the velocity profile that this rheological model predicts, using a technique similar to the Blasius boundary layer theory for Newtonian fluids flowing past an aerofoil. We validate the predictions of the rheological model by comparing them against the results of discrete particle model (DPM) simulations. We review existing techniques for DPM, and present a number of novel ways of employing these techniques. These methods allow us to reduce the computational cost of simulations while maintaining their realism. The internal profile of a granular flow, and its response to a change in basal conditions, are difficult to observe in experiments or in real life, since grains are opaque. However, the models studied here can help to make predictions about the depth and speed of the flows, or conversely to make inferences about the nature of the base, given measurements on the surface of the flow.


Ha Long Bay is distinguished by the hundreds of small limestone islands that rise steeply or vertically from its shallow waters. Its dramatic and beautiful landscape is deservedly famous as one of the world's outstanding natural sights, but it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site of international geomorphological significance (Fig. 1). The bay lies on the northeastern coast of Vietnam, immediately east of the Red River delta. It is bounded on the north by the mainland hills either side of Ha Long City (also known as Hong Gai), to the south by the open waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, to the west by Cat Ba Island, and to the east by islands of sandstone (Fig. 2). Ha Long Bay has an area of about 1500 km, and contains nearly 2000 limestone islands. The caves described here were all visited during an assessment of the bay's geomorphology with respect to its position as a World Heritage Site. Records of other caves in Ha Long Bay are sparse. A British team led by Howard Limbert mapped the Hang Hanh stream cave in the mainland limestone along the north shore of the bay; and a French team led by Marc Faverjon explored caves in the islands east of the bay, and also a few in Ha Long Bay itself.


Case: We present a case of rice-body formation and partial flexor tendon rupture in a 3-year-old child with seronegative juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), which presented as a painless soft-tissue mass of the volar aspect of the hand. The diagnosis was not confirmed until histologic examination. The patient was managed with a tenosynovectomy and oral medication; he made a full recovery. Conclusion: JIA is one of the most common rheumatologic conditions of childhood. Establishing the diagnosis can be challenging in very young children, particularly when clinical presentation is atypical and serology is negative. Surgical intervention may be warranted in the appropriately selected patient with JIA.


A method of quantifying lumbar vertebral bone marrow using pixel by pixel T1 mapping of spin echo magnetic resonance images is described. The accuracy and precision of the relaxation time measurements is confirmed by studies with the EEC Concerted Research Project, test object no. 5. The T1 data from all the pixels sampled from lumbar vertebral marrow are displayed as a histogram. By "thresholding" relative to normal control data the spatial distribution of high or low T1 pixels can be demonstrated. The approach is superior to that of the conventional region of interest method for quantifying and analysing relaxation time data, and allows tissue heterogeneity to be studied. Studies in patients with aplastic anaemia and acute leukaemia have been performed.


Adipose tissue Tregs dynamically dialogue with stromal cells via the ST2:IL-33 axis in homeostasis and disease. Stromal sources of IL-33 in fat depots White adipose tissue (WAT) is home to Tregs and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) that help keep inflammation under check. Two studies in this week's issue probe WAT in search of cells producing the alarmin cytokine IL-33 that regulates Tregs and ILC2s. Spallanzani et al. used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize visceral WAT stromal cells and defined five distinct subtypes, with subtypes 1 to 3 producing IL-33 and subtypes 4 and 5 resembling adipocyte precursors. Mahlakõiv et al. identified adipose stem and progenitor cells as a source of IL-33 in all WAT depots and mesothelial cells as an additional source of IL-33 in visceral WAT. These studies improve our understanding of WAT stromal cell diversity and how the stromal cell landscape responds to physiological or pathological variations. See the related Research Article by Mahlakõiv et al. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are key brakes on the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) inflammation that regulates local and systemic metabolic tenor. Breakdown of this regulation promotes type 2 diabetes. The cytokine IL-33 expands and sustains the unique Treg population residing within VAT. Here, relying on single-cell RNA sequencing, we identified the major IL-33 producers in VAT to be particular mesenchymal stromal cell subtypes, related to but distinct from adipocyte progenitor cells. We explored modulation of the VAT stromal cell landscape with physiologic variables such as age and sex, as well as its remodeling in pathogenic states like obesity. Last, we uncovered a VAT Treg:stromal cell negative regulatory loop that keeps the potent effect of IL-33 under rein.


Background: The objective of this work was to evaluate the relationship between the response rates and median overall survival (OS) in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (HR-MDS) to determine whether response rates could be used as predictors of median OS. Methods: Relevant MDS clinical trials were identified through a review of published literature. Weighted linear regression was performed with various linearizing transformations of response rates and median OS using the in-house built HR-MDS clinical trials database. Covariates of interest were evaluated using a forward inclusion, backward elimination covariate model building procedure at α=0.01 and α=0.005, respectively. Results: Twenty-five trials involving 38 cohorts were included in the meta-analysis. The analysis demonstrated that partial response (PR) or better rate (sum of complete response (CR), marrow complete response (mCR) and PR rates) was a strong predictor of median OS (adjusted R2=0.64). The median OS was 3.3 months longer (P < 0.005) with azacitidine treatment compared to treatment with other drugs for a given response rate and prior therapy status. We also have shown that the median OS of treatment naïve HR-MDS patients was 4.5 months longer (P < 0.0001) compared to that of previously treated patients for a given response rate and treatment group. Conclusion: Significant correlation between PR or better rate and median OS in HR-MDS highlights the potential to use PR or better rate as a surrogate endpoint to accelerate development of novel therapies for MDS.


Abstract Phenotypic variation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is common, and one atypical form is the flail arm variant (FAV). Some classic ALS patients carry TARDBP mutations, and so we sought to establish whether TARDBP mutations are also present in the FAV of ALS. Mutation analysis of TARDBP, the gene encoding TDP-43, was performed in cohorts of classic and FAV ALS patients. An analysis of mutation effects was performed in patient fibroblasts. Results showed that a novel heterozygous in-frame insertion/deletion (indel), c.1158_1159delAT; c.1158_1159insCACCAACC, was identified in a highly conserved region encoding the glycine-rich area of TDP-43 in a patient with FAV. This indel was confirmed in the proband's mother, an obligate carrier, and was absent from 480 ethnically-matched control individuals. Transcription of the mutant allele was confirmed. Under induced stress, indel-mutant fibroblasts showed a loss of normal nuclear TDP-43 immunoreactivity and formation of cytoplasmic inclusions of TDP-43, consistent with features seen in affected neurons. In conclusion, TARDBP missense mutations have previously been reported in classic ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The identification of a TARDBP indel mutation in a patient with FAV extends the spectrum of mutations and further supports the role of TDP-43 in a range of neurodegenerative phenotypes.


Public-private partnership as a new form of business draws attention of the academic community and the general public. However there is no clear understanding of what PPP stands for. The article considers the problem of formal definition of PPP and it's role in contemporary economy. Similarities and distinctions between PPP and other forms of collaboration between private and public companies (e.g. privatization or public procurement) are revealed as a result of comparative analyses conducted in the article. Based on this analyses key features of PPP are formulated. Then there are considered causes and stimulus from participation of state and private companies in joint projects. Additionally there are given reasons for distinction between PPP and concession due to different level of risk transfer in these forms and different main source of income for private company. Special attention is given to the question of application PPP in infrastructure and innovations. As a result of the research the author has offered clarification for PPP definition and classification of PPP tools in Russia.


The deep trench (DT) process module shows a strong impact on SiGe BiCMOS n-p-n array yield. DT liner oxidation introduces large tensile stress at the top of DT corners and in the vicinity of intrinsic SiGe base/collector regions. The increased tensile stress can result in dislocations in silicon. By replacing the 100-nm wet oxidation DT liner with a TEOS deposition liner, n-p-n array collector-emitter leakage yield can be improved from 64% to 94% in the investigated 0.18-μm DT SiGe BiCMOS process, comparable to the yield of a non-DT low-cost SiGe BiCMOS process.


This report is the first known stocktaking of its kind to provide a regional overview of state-owned enterprise (SOE) governance reforms and challenges across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Part One summarises the challenges and governance practices related to state-ownership across SADC economies; it draws conclusions on how to address common regional priorities. Part Two of the report is organised around country profiles providing a fact-based assessment of SOE reform policies and practices in 14 economies. The report was prepared at the request of the Southern Africa Network on Governance of State-Owned Enterprises – a regional cooperation initiative aimed at improving the corporate governance of SOEs, and mainly covering the member economies of the SADC region. The stocktaking was prepared based on information self-reported by authorities in participating economies and supplemented by desk research.


"Infertility is a common condition, occurring in approximately 10-15% of couples world-wide". The prevalence is similar across racial and ethnic groups and apart from certain parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, is the same world-wide. Infertility is a world-wide phenomenon and is prevalent in every community. The psychological trauma of prolonged infertility on the couple is enormous. The Assisted Reproductive Techniques is the advance procedures and the couples should have adequate knowledge in order to face the infertility confidently.
The investigator conducted the study to assess the outcome of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) package on Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) among the infertile couples. The objective of the study was to assess the outcome of Information, Education and Communication programme on knowledge and attitude acquisition on Assisted Reproductive Techniques. Thus the investigator applied a modified Roy"s adaptation model for the study.
The investigator used pre experimental one group pre test post test research design and sixty samples were selected by using random sampling technique (lottery method) that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The investigator conducted the study at G G Hospital, Chennai.
Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Analysis of demographic variables was done in terms of frequency and percentage distribution. Independent sample "t" test was used to analyze the effectiveness between pre test and post test group and chi square test was used to analyze the association between the demographic variables.
The findings concluded that in pre test, the majority 42 (70%) of infertile couples has inadequate knowledge and in the post test, the majority 36 (60%) infertile couples had adequate level of knowledge and 24 (40%) of infertile couples had moderate level of knowledge. In the pre test, the majority 43(71.67%) of infertile couples has unfavourable attitude and in the post test, the majority 31 (51.67%) infertile couples had favourable attitude and 29 (48.33%) infertile couples had moderately favourable attitude. Hence the Information, Education and Communication package was effective on assisted reproductive techniques on knowledge and attitude among the infertile couples. Hence the nurse midwife can motivate infertile couple's involvement in infertility care and imparting knowledge and attitude which can lead to healthier pregnancy and its good outcome.


The three largest undisturbed rainforest blocks remaining worldwide are located in the Amazon basin, Congo basin, and the Indo-Malay region of Southeast Asia. In their Perspective,
 Willis, Gillson, and Brncic
 discuss a number of recent archaeological and paleoecological studies that reveal disturbance of these tropical rainforests by prehistoric human settlements and their subsequent regeneration once the human populations moved on or died out. The Perspective authors suggest that given sufficient time, tropical rainforests disturbed by modern human activities also may be able to regenerate.


While extrusion molding with single-screw extruder, extrusion pressure comes into being from feeding section; it is one of the basic conditions to ensure that extrusion process can be carried on normally, in order to ensure molding process goes smoothly, it must meet the following requirement: extrusion pressure generated during the process must be sufficient. Therefore it has certain engineering significance to design structure of a single screw correctly that a mathematical model for formation of extrusion pressure during single-screw extrusion molding will have to be established. This paper conducted a research on theory of extrusion pressure when powder of pure UHMWPE resin is still in feeding section by molding in barrel of the single screw extruder specially designed for pure UHMWPE, and established a n-lamina model of powder materials or grain materials which is in feeding section and at the state of non-plug flow solid conveying, and it provided a method to calculate extrusion pressure of the n-lamina model, thus it enriched and perfected theory of single-screw extrusion molding.


The possible association between entheseal changes and activity has been widely studied. However, many questions remain. This study aims to assess if occupation and physical activity influence the age at which entheseal changes appear in the iliac crest, retroauricular area, iliac tuberosity, ischial tuberosity and obturator foramen. Absence or presence of ossification exostosis and stress lesions was recorded in os coxae from 130 males (19 to 88 years old) from Lisbon and Coimbra identified skeletal collections. The individuals were divided into two groups, based upon to the recorded occupations: manual (n = 69) and non-manual (n = 61). The sample was also divided according to an osteological indicator of physical activity: the femur robusticity index (55 are robust and 54 are gracile femora). The individuals from manual and robust groups were considered to have had physically demanding occupations, while the non-manual and gracile groups represent individuals with less demanding activities. The asymmetry of entheseal changes between left and right sides of the same individuals was tested with a Chi-square test. And the influence of occupation and physical activities on the age of appearance of entheseal changes was tested using logistic regression. Statistically significant asymmetry was not found between left and right bones (p <0.05). However, for the logistic regression calculations, the only valid result was obtained for the ossification exostosis on the iliac crest for the measure of femoral robusticity. For the iliac crest, physical activity did not influence the appearance of ossification exostosis. It was not possible to obtain valid logistic regression models, probably due to the distribution of individuals in each occupational and robusticity category. Therefore, it was not possible to assess the influence of occupation and physical activity on the age at which entheseal changes appeared for retroauricular area, iliac tuberosity, ischial tuberosity and obturator foramen. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The influence of the notch shape on the impact fracture of 17Mn1Si steel is investigated at different temperatures with the focus placed on the low-temperature behavior. An approach towards fracture characterization has been suggested based on the description of elastic-plastic deformation of impact loaded specimens on the stage of crack initiation and growth at ambient and lower temperatures. The analysis of the impact loading diagrams and fracture energy values for the pipe steel 17Mn1Si revealed the fracture mechanisms depending on the notch shape. It was found that the testing temperature reduction played a decisive role in plastic strain localization followed by dynamic fracture of the specimens with differently shaped notches. A classification of fracture macro- and microscopic mechanisms for differently notched specimens tested at different temperatures was proposed which enabled a self-consistent interpretation of impact test results.


A TLTP funded project called ELEN (Extended Learning Environment Network) seeks to provide both skills and subject based material on-line to supplement traditional teaching methods. This platform has been used to provide a short (5 question) multiple choice test that covers the material from each lecture in a series. The tests provide two levels of feedback and are not used in summative assessment in any way. In the first year some technical problems were encountered which reduced the number of students using the system. However, comments from those who did use the system have indicated that this method of providing formative assessment is useful and the method is currently being extended to other groups of students.