ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to present a case study of one midwestern Agricultural Center (Ag Center) that used social network analysis (SNA) to (1) evaluate its collaborations with extramural stakeholders and (2) strategically plan for extending outreach for goal achievement. An evaluation team developed a data collection instrument based on SNA principles. It was administered to the Ag Center's intramural stakeholders (N = 9), who were asked to identify the key extramural stakeholders with whom they had collaborated within the previous 12 months. Additional questions about each extramural stakeholder helped to categorize them according to SNA network measures for degree of centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality. Findings showed the Ag Center had N = 305 extramural stakeholders. Most of these were other researchers and did not represent the diverse group of stakeholders that the Ag Center had targeted for engagement. Only a few of the intramural stakeholders had national or international connections. Findings were used to improve and diversify connections in order to leverage the Ag Center's expertise and ability to translate research into new best practices and policies. The SNA case study has implications for other evaluators and project directors looking for methodologies that can monitor networks in large science consortia and help leaders plan for translating research into practice and policies by networking with those who can influence such change.


Summary: Mutated A and B incompatibility factors of Coprinus cinereus (Amut and Bmut) were recovered from fruit bodies produced on common-A and common-B heterokaryons, respectively, following mutagenesis. The Amut hyphal cells were either uninucleate or binucleate and had pseudo-clamps irregularly scattered along the hyphae. The Bmut hyphal cells were predominantly uninucleate and had no clamp structures. Amut Bmut double mutants constructed from these Amut and Bmut strains were predominantly binucleate, had true clamps, and gave rise to fertile fruit bodies indistinguishable from those of wild-type dikaryons. Although these Amut Bmut strains resembled in most respects a normal dikaryon, they produced abundant oidiophores and oidia like the monokaryons. The oidia were uninucleate, and possessed the potential to grow into fertile homokaryons with the above characteristics.


In response to a request from the Royal Government of Bhutan, the World Bank commissioned a study on the sustainable development of hydropower in Bhutan. The study identified loss and decline of aquatic biodiversity as one of the major potential environmental impacts of hydropower development in Bhutan. Access to information on aquatic biodiversity is of utmost importance in planning and designing of new hydropower projects in Bhutan. This data is essential for planners to avoid, minimize and effectively mitigate potential adverse impacts on aquatic biodiversity. However, access to this information is not easy. With the objective of making aquatic biodiversity data accessible, key stakeholders within Bhutan have taken the initiative to create and maintain a national data repository for aquatic biodiversity within the country. An inventory and gap analysis of aquatic biodiversity data in Bhutan was done to summarize the available data and information on aquatic biodiversity, stakeholder meetings were held to obtain feedback for the repository and a plan of action has been formulated for creating the repository. Bhutan already maintains a rich biodiversity information repository the Bhutan Biodiversity Portal (BBP, http://biodiversity.bt/), under the aegis of the National Biodiversity Centre ‡ ‡ § § © Dema S et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. (NBC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Serbithang, Thimphu. The platform is powered by the open source Biodiversity Informatics Platform that also powers the India Biodiversity Portal (IBP) and a portal on Weed Identification and Knowledge in the Western Indian Ocean (WIKWIO). Additional data fields and functionality were identified to extend the functionality of BBP to cover the needs of the stakeholders. Primarily, interfaces will be built to upload already available datasets on organisms that have been surveyed and identified, as well as newer aquatic biodiversity data that will be generated by surveys and monitoring in future. The portal will facilitate upload of data that captures observed characteristics, e.g., life stage, body size, reproductive state; environmental variables of the locality of occurrence; and other sampling data such as sampling gear and mode of observation. It will also enhance species knowledge by adding the ability to link existing species pages with international databases such as IUCN and FishBase, as well as fields to store voucher specimen details and ecological status. All tabular data that is added will be synchronised to either standard observation fields, custom observation fields that are relevant to aquatic biodiversity or to species traits. Data that cannot be categorised under any of the above will stored as key value pairs. The data upload module will have metadata marked up to the Ecological Metadata Language (EML) metadata specification and data will be available for exchange using the Darwin Core (DwC) standards. The platform will be enabled with an enhanced search and serve function through easy-touse query panels. Uploaded data will be aggregated and visualised on the portal along spatial, temporal and taxonomic axes. Furthermore, it will be available for stakeholders to download under Creative Commons licences for further processing and planning. The creation of the repository will be complemented by training the stakeholders in data curation and developing a campaign to build awareness of the portal within the community of stakeholders. The establishment of this repository will provide a guide to conserve aquatic biodiversity, maintain ecosystem functioning, and protect livelihoods and food security dependent upon aquatic biodiversity. It will also contribute to the open source biodiversity informatics platform and be available to all other instances of the portal. This will help in enriching the functions of the open source platform and provide value to conservation of biodiversity in other areas of the world.


Evaluation enables donor agencies to assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact of their development efforts. It is particularly vital in building knowledge and facilitating a results based management approach to aid delivery. Since the launch of the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2001, the international community has paid increased attention to trade-related assistance. Against this background, several bilateral donors and multilateral agencies have undertaken evaluations of their trade-related projects and programmes. Trade-Related Assistance: What Do Recent Evaluations Tell Us? draws on key findings and recommendations emerging from available donor evaluation reports, assesses factors that have contributed to the success (or failure) of past programmes, and provides guidance for enhancing the effectiveness and impact of future trade-related assistance. It argues that despite some positive results, further improvements are necessary, in particular, with regards to donor programming, donor harmonisation and donor-recipient partnerships. Donors can enhance the effectiveness of trade-related assistance by better taking account of the basic principles of the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. This report provides a timely input to the ongoing discussions among the aid and trade communities for effectively designing and delivering "aid for trade" as a complement to the DDA.


The uppermost Cretaceous to Early Paleocene is, in NW Europe, a period
of major deformations with significant inversions during Turonian
to Campanian times and during Early Paleocene. The mechanism of
those inversions is still debated. Later on, a major uplift coeval with the
Faroe-Shetland volcanic province occurred with a deformation regime
still poorly understood.
The objective of this study is to better constrain those deformations in
the Paris Basin and to discuss their implications on the palaeogeography
and the sedimentary systems. This study is based on well-dated wells
and outcrops, correlated using the technique of « stacking pattern ». In a
second step, accommodation space measurements were performed from
isopaches and facies maps.
(1) The paroxysm of the deformation and the sharp decrease of the subsidence
occurred between Late Campanian (with probably deposition
of part of the Maastrichtian) and Early Danian, with the growth of a
middle wavelength fold controlled by the Bray Fault. Danian carbonate
platforms, mainly preserved south-west of Paris, are growing on unstable
slightly consolidated chalk (numerous slumps).
(2) A hiatus characterized part of the Danian, the Selandian and the base
Thanetian.
(3) Thanetian initiate a major change of sedimentary system (silicilastic)
and of subsidence pattern, now located north of the Bray Fault, above
the Early Liassic highly subsiding domains.
(4) The Thanetian - Ypresian sediments do not record the eustatic signal,
using the Zachos world sea temperature curve as a proxy (Haq's
curve cannot be used anymore). This means that a significant deformation
event overprints this signal, here the reactivation of the Seine Fault
with inversion of some upper crust heterogeneities.


Objectives
To examine changes in plasma volume, hydration, and micronutrient concentrations across the menstrual cycle among healthy women of reproductive age.

Methods
Healthy women aged 18 to 44 years were studied longitudinally across a single menstrual cycle (n = 35). Women made three visits (v1, v2, and v3) to the study center around cycle days 2, 12 and 21 (adjusted for individual cycle length) representing early follicular, late follicular and midluteal phases, respectively. At each visit, blood samples were collected before and after injection of indocyanine green (ICG). ICG in plasma was measured with a spectrophotometer within 2 hours of blood draw, to estimate plasma volume. Urine specific gravity (USG) was measured with a hand-held refractometer; urine and plasma osmolality were measured using freezing point depression osmometry. Serum ferritin was measured by ELISA; serum concentrations for 5 minerals were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A mixed-effects model was used to examine changes in plasma volume and biomarker concentrations across the menstrual cycle; plasma volume and biomarker associations were tested with Spearman's correlation.

Results
Participants had a mean (SD) BMI of 21.6 (1.9) kg/m2. Plasma volume showed a non-significant decrease of 122 mL from v1 to v2 (P = 0.165; Table 1) and remained stable from v2 to v3 (P = 0.900). However, plasma osmolality decreased throughout the cycle from v1 to v3 (P < 0.001). Urine osmolality fell slightly from v1 to v2 (P = 0.214) followed by a significant rise from v2 to v3 (P = 0.026) but USG was constant across the cycle. From v1 to v3, serum magnesium concentration declined by 4.5% (P = 0.001); zinc had a similar decline that did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.057). Mean copper, calcium, manganese, ferritin, and hemoglobin concentrations did not change across the cycle (all P > 0.05). Adjusting for markers of inflammation (α1-acid glycoprotein and C-reactive protein) and plasma volume did not affect biomarker concentration changes. Plasma volume was not correlated with nutritional biomarkers at any timepoint (all P > 0.05, Table 2).

Conclusions
Concentrations of micronutrients were not related to plasma volume. Some hydration and micronutrient biomarkers changed across the menstrual cycle, which could have implications for the timing of measurements in women of reproductive age.

Funding Sources
The Pennsylvania State University.

Supporting Tables Images and/or Graphs


To improve combustion properties of fuel oils, save energy and reduce pollution, the metal nanoparticles modified by fatty acids have been prepared. The dispersion capacities of these modified nanoparticles in liquid paraffin oil were examined, and were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR) . The results show they possess similar crystal structure as organic shell, and average particle diameters, which are in agreement with their excellent oil-solubilities. Moreover, the properties of the modified nanoparticles additives in boiler fuel were evaluated by means of oxygen bomb relative method as regards energy saving and residual products lowering. The results show that the efficiency of combustion and decrement of residual products for fuels were improved to different degree. Therefore, notable economic and social benefits are brought.


Summary 1. Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been advocated for the protection of threatened marine mammals, but there is no empirical evidence that they are effective. In 1988, the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary was established to reduce gillnet mortalities of Hector's dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori, an endangered dolphin species endemic to New Zealand. This study assesses the effectiveness of the MPA in improving the survival rate of Hector's dolphin at Banks Peninsula. 2. Over 21 years, we undertook photo-identification surveys of Hector's dolphins along standardized transects from small outboard-powered boats. From 1986 to 2006, we photographically captured 462 reliably marked individuals. We estimated mean annual survival during the pre-sanctuary and post-sanctuary periods by applying a Bayesian random effects capture-recapture model to the data. Population growth was estimated from population simulations using a stage-structured matrix model. 3. We estimate a 90% probability that survival has improved between the pre-sanctuary and postsanctuary periods, with estimates of mean survival probability increasing by 5AE4% (from 0AE863 to 0AE917). This improvement in survival corresponds to a 6% increase in mean annual population growth (from 0AE939 to 0AE995). 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates improvement in a demographic parameter of an endangered marine mammal species following conservation action. Our results provide evidence that area-based protection measures can be effective for marine mammals. We note that estimating demographic parameters in marine mammals requires many years of data to achieve sufficient precision to detect biologically meaningful change. MPAs should be established with a commitment to long-term monitoring.


A woman with atopic dermatitis experienced anaphylactic episodes following intercourse with her husband, with subsequent exacerbations of her atopic dermatitis. Skin testing and an in vitro leukocyte histamine release assay established the diagnosis of immediate hypersensitivity to her husband's seminal fluid; delayed hypersensitivity to seminal fluid could not be demonstrated. Antigen was found in the seminal fluid of nonrelated men. Radioallergosorbent testing detected the presence of circulating IgE antibodies specific for seminal plasma protein. Immunotherapy with seminal plasma may have limited the severity of a subsequent reaction. Serum from the husband and nonrelated men also contained antigen that provoked histamine release from the patient's leukocytes in vitro. The antigen in serum was associated with the globulin fraction and had a temporal relationship to ejaculation, appearing within 12 hours of ejaculation and disappearing within four days.


The Modeling Instruction program at Arizona State University has developed a representational tool, called a system schema, to help students make a first level of abstraction of an actual physical situation. A system schema consists of identifying and labeling all objects of interest from a given physical situation, as well as all the different types of interactions between the objects. Given all the relevant objects and their interactions, students can explicitly identify which are part of their system and which are not, and then go on to model the interactions affecting their choice of system as either (i) mechanisms for energy transfer, or (ii) forces being exerted. In this paper, I describe the system schema tool, give examples of its use in the context of forces, and present some evidence on its effectiveness in helping students understand Newton's Third Law.


Aqueous polynuclear systems have been analyzed, for which the family of formation curves intersects at a common point. The analyzed graphical and computational method for determining the stability constants can be used as initial values within the iterative calculation process. In some cases, the stability constants are calculated using only the coordinates of the common intersection point. The obtained equations could be of special interest when the experimental data can be interpreted in several models. In these cases, given the large volume of experimental data, the calculation is simple and the model can certainly be chosen with high safety. The obtained equations may also be applied for critical evaluation of tabular data if the coordinates of the intersection point are known. A series of real polynuclear systems have been analyzed and useful conclusions have been made.


Abstract Context. Invasive predators are a key threat to biodiversity worldwide. In Australia, feral cats are likely to be responsible for many extinctions of native mammal species in the south and centre of the continent. Aims. Here we examine the effect of feral cats on native rodent populations in the second of two translocation experiments. Methods. In a wild-to-wild translocation, we introduced pale field rats, Rattus tunneyi, whose populations are declining in the wild, into two pairs of enclosures where accessibility by feral cats was manipulated. Key results. Individual rats translocated into enclosures accessible to cats were rapidly extirpated after cats were first detected visiting the enclosures. Rats in the enclosure not exposed to cats were 6.2 times more likely to survive than those exposed to cats. Two individual cats were responsible for the deaths of all but 1 of 18 cat-accessible rats. Rats in the site with denser ground cover persisted better than in the site with more open cover. Conclusions. These results are consistent with our previous study of a different native rat species in the same experimental setup, and provide further evidence that, even at low densities, feral cats can drive local populations of small mammals to extinction. Implications. Effective feral cat control may be necessary to enable recovery of small mammals.


Tertiary Biology students are expected to calculate parameters from their experimental data gathered in
practical classes, interpret the meaning(s) of these biological parameters and then discuss their findings in the context of the published literature. As teachers we expect students to have developed sound numeracy skills from their previous studies and be able to transfer these numeracy skills into their studies in Biology. However, Biology students are less than confident about performing calculations. Using research on student anxiety of learning mathematical skills (Meece , Wigfield and Eccles 1990; Boyd, Cullen, Bass, Pittman and Regan 1998; Klinger 2004) and self-efficacy intervention strategies (Hattie, Biggs and Purdie 1996; Pajares, Miller and Johnson 1999; Phan and Walker 2000; Schulz 2005), a numeric skills task was designed for second year plant science students and has been implemented since 2001. The numeric skills task allows each student to determine their confidence in: (a) their understanding of numeric concepts; (b) their understanding of quantities used in plant physiology; and, (c) their ability to calculate and convert between units of measure. An evaluation of the task shows that although all students were able to demonstrate their understanding of a physical parameter (e.g., volume), 32% of students were not confident with applying this understanding to estimating volumes, e.g., the volume of the tutorial room. A high proportion of students (47%) lacked confidence with converting between cubic metres and litres. Feedback from open-ended responses was categorised to measure student engagement with the task. Students who were the least confident with their answers had high levels of engagement with the numeracy task compared with those students who were more confident with their numeracy skills, indicating that students most likely to benefit from the task had been successfully targeted. Enabling students to engage in their own skills development appears to be a useful approach, particularly for students lacking confidence. This work is an analysis of a current assessment practice, and is being extended into a research project to help define the numeracy threshold of students in the Life Sciences.


This paper describes a new digital NTSC TV and audio signal transmission system in which circuit configurations are simplified and made more inexpensive than MPEG 2 on the basis of the subjective evaluation of the picture quality. An NTSC TV signal and an audio signal can easily be transmitted to the receiver at the same time, since the transmission rate is kept unchanged due to the insertion of the digital audio signal into the horizontal sync pulse of the digital NTSC TV signal. The proposed system has three features. Firstly, the system could give satisfactory picture quality enough to operate the consumer-use visual appliances even though the quality of the reproduced pictures is lower than that of the normal digital NTSC TV picture codes obtained at a sampling frequency of 4.00 X fsc with a quantizing level of 8 bits. Secondly, the sys- tem can satisfactorily transmit NTSC TV picture codes at a low transmission rate of 50 Mbps even if such an advanced compression technique as MPEG 2 has not been used. Thirdly, the system is used for transmission of the digital audio signals which are inserted into the horizontal sync pulse of the digital NTSC TV signal. A combination of edge-emitting LED's @LED's) and single-mode (SM) optical fibers enable the sys- tem to easily transmit a digital NTSC TV picture signal to- gether with digital audio signals over the distance of 10 km through the SM optical fibers.


Objective: A reverse phase liquid chromatography method in gradient mode has been developed for quantitative determination of impurities, related substances, degradation products of Zaltoprofen and Paracetamol simultaneously. Methods: Method uses a 250 X 4.6 mm, 5µm Hypersil BDS C8 column with a mobile phase composition of ammonium acetate buffer pH 5.0: methanol in gradient mode. The flow rate was 1.0 mL min -1 and wavelength was set at 240 nm. Results: Five related substances of Zaltoprofen and three of Paracetamol were well separated with the developed method. Resolution between closely eluting peaks was more than 4.0. The method was validated for selectivity, linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation for all available impurities were below 0.015% and 0.046% respectively. The method was linear in the range of limit of quantitation to 150% of specified concentration. The correlation coefficient for all components was more than 0.995. Conclusion: The stress studies showed that the method was specific, selective to study related substances of Zaltoprofen and Paracetamol simultaneously. The peak purity of analyte showed that unknown degradation products formed during stress studies did not interfere with the determination of all the studied analytes. The mass balance was achieved for Zaltoprofen and Paracetamol for degraded samples. The excipient compatibility study concluded that all the studied excipients are compatible with both drugs.


Phytoplankton bloom development and mesoscale hydrography was studied in detail during the SO-JGOFS cruise of RV POLARSTERN in Dec/Jan 1995/96 at the Polar Front (PF) in the South Atlantic. Increased surface chlorophyll concentrations (up to 2 mg/m$^{3}$) coincided with the meandering position of the PF and were associated with a strong gradient in dissolved Si concentrations from 0 to greater than 26 $\mu$Mol. Nitrate levels were alwaysgreater 20 $\mu$Mol. The phytoplankton was characterized by elongated, spiny forms of highly silicified species (e.g. Thallassiothrix spp., Chaetoceros spp., Pseudonitzschia spp.).Areas with high phytoplankton biomass were characterized by high ratios of biogenic silicate (BSi) to particulate organic nitrogen (PON) with BSi : PON being greater than 1 but mostly above 2. Accordingly, uptake rates of BSi : PON were greater than 1.In contrast to high phytoplankton biomass and increased uptake of dissolved silicate due to plankton growth, no vertical flux was measured. We thus conclude that during the austral summer 95/96, a slowly growing, not sinking phytoplankton assemblage was associated with the northern part of the PF. In contrast to previous years, this bloom did not alter the CO$_{2}$ balance (NIOZ-results) between the atmosphere and upper ocean significantly.


This paper investigates the process of trade integration between the enlarged European Union and the Newly Independent States (NIS), focusing on the new EU member states (NMS) and selected NIS (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Kazakhstan). The paper analyses the evolution of the regional and commodity composition of trade in the countries concerned. A detailed market share analysis reveals the emerging trade specialization patterns. There has been a general trade reorientation of both NMS and (less so) the NIS towards the West. The recent trade developments on EU?NIS borders indicate a closer trade integration among the NMS, a declining trade integration among the NIS, as well contradictory shifts in NMS?NIS exports and imports. The importance of the NIS as export markets for the NMS is growing, in particular for the NIS neighbours. The bulk of EU exports is made up of manufacturing products. By contrast, EU imports from the NMS and NIS display a much more distinct //? OR: diversified?// pattern. The key NMS manufacturing export commodities to the NIS are chemicals, machinery & equipment, motor vehicles and food products, whereas NMS manufacturing imports from the NIS are dominated by basic metals, refined petroleum, chemicals and fabricated metal products, and there is a high concentration on just a few basic manufactures. The NMS increasingly specialize on high-tech and medium-high-tech products. The wide-ranging modernization and industrial restructuring in the NMS has been facilitated by the process of EU integration and by massive inflows of FDI whereas in the NIS the resource specialization generally increased as reforms and restructuring were delayed. It is questionable whether the NIS will be able to revamp their industrial structure without significantly stepping up reform efforts, trade integration and attracting more FDI.


The advanced stage of prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death for American men. Novel, effective treatment options and more cancer-specific diagnostic tools are urgently needed to facilitate patient management. Here, we explored the construction and application of an array of gene-based molecular imaging and therapeutic vectors in a variety of clinically relevant settings. These vectors exploit prostate cancer-specific promoters to control the transcription of imaging reporter genes or therapeutic genes, and thus can achieve stringent cancer selectivity. We showed that gene-based imaging vectors can detect prostate cancer metastasis earlier than conventional imaging modalities; we also developed a dual-reporter imaging system that can specifically interrogate the activation/inhibition status of androgen receptor, and thus monitor the efficacy of androgen deprivation and androgen receptor blockade therapies. Further, we explored the applicability of gene-based vectors in detecting circulating tumor cells and have obtained promising results. Moreover, we employed two strategies to improve the clinical usability of viral vectors in immunocompetent hosts (such as humans). In the first strategy, we used a broad-acting immunosuppressant, rapamycin, to reduce the scale of adenovirus-induced inflammatory responses and also to decrease the eliminating effects of host adaptive immune system on viral vectors and viral-infected, transgene-expressing cells. Rapamycin significantly augmented the magnitude and prolonged the duration of virus-delivered transgene expression, and thus enhanced the diagnostic capability of these imaging vectors. The second approach took advantage of the versatile surface modifying ability of non-viral reagents. We designed a polypeptide coating that can non-covalently bind to adenoviral particles and confer protections against blood components such as neutralizing antibodies and coagulation factors. The coating significantly decreased the inhibitory effects of neutralizing antibodies on adenoviral transduction and markedly abrogated coagulation factors-mediated hepatocyte infection. Furthermore, this polypeptide coating reduced the antigenicity of adenoviral vectors in vivo, greatly diminished anti-adenovirus antibody production, and therefore could facilitate repeated administration of viral vectors in immunocompetent hosts. Overall, we herein present a substantial amount of evidence supporting the pre-clinical and translational use of gene-based imaging and therapeutic vectors to assist the management of patients with advanced, treatment-refractory prostate cancer.


The high speed rotating arc welding sensor (RAWS) driven by motor with air axis is widely used in seam tracking system. Using the characters of the RAWS, the purpose of this study based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) is to optimize welding process parameters of the RAWS for obtaining satisfied seam geometry. The output variables are penetration, width and height of the seam geometry. These output variables are determined by input variables, which are the welding current, welding voltage, welding speed, rotating arc radius, rotating arc frequency and rotating arc direction. Experimentations are made according to the optimal welding process parameters, and the result shows that the GA is an effective method to optimize the welding process parameters of the RAWS. The described computational methodology enables obtaining a seam with desired geometry.


The formation of the oocyst wall was examined in Eimeria stiedai in the bile duct epithelium of the rabbit and was found to follow the general eimerian pattern. However from the beginning of the formation of the outer layer of the oocyst wall the parasite was surrounded by a rarely reported veil membrane. Cell damage of the bile ducts at the gamogony stage of parasite development is depicted.


The quantitation of lysine post-translational modifications (PTMs) by bottom-up mass spectrometry is convoluted by the need for analogous derivatives and the production of different tryptic peptides from the unmodified and modified versions of a protein. Chemical derivatization of lysines prior to enzymatic digestion circumvents these problems and has proven to be a successful method for lysine PTM quantitation. The most notable example is the use of deuteroacetylation to quantitate lysine acetylation. In this work, levels of lysine ubiquitination were quantitated using a structurally homologous label that is chemically similar to the diglycine (GlyGly) tag, which is left at the ubiquitination site upon trypsinolysis. The LC-MS analysis of a chemically equivalent monoglycine (Gly) tag that is analogous to the corresponding GlyGly tag proved that the monoglycine tag can be used for the quantitation of ubiquitination. A glycinylation protocol was then established for the derivatization of proteins to label unmodified lysine residues with a single glycine tag. Ubiquitin multimers were used to show that after glycinylation and tryptic digestion, the mass spectrometric response from the corresponding analogous tagged peptides could be compared for relative quantitation. For a proof of principle regarding the applicability of this technique to the analysis of ubiquitination in biological samples, the glycinylation technique was used to quantitate the increase in monoubiquitinated histone H2B that is observed in yeast which lacks the enzyme responsible for deubiquitinating H2B-K123, compared to wild-type yeast.


This paper is an attempt to find an answer to the question of how to design a writing course for the teaching of Business English at Guangzhou Institute of Foreign Trade (GIFT) in China. Such a question implies a critical review of the practice of Business English teaching at GIFT and of some contemporary foreign language teaching theories. It is argued that the basic criterion for a Business English course design is that the specification of the language required by the learner defines the course content, and that the categories of the business communicative function can become the framework of a writing course in business English.


Molybdenum supported thin films of ScN, MgO and NaF with a Cu adatom have been studied in the framework of density functional theory. We have observed a charge transfer from the metal/film interface to the Cu atom and investigated its relation to surface and interface deformations. We find that a weak interaction between the metal and the film is a promising prerequisite for adatom charging. The detailed study of Cu/NaF/Mo and NaF/Mo indicates that the distortion of the NaF film caused by the Cu adsorption has essentially anharmonic character, as it is coupled to a strong charge redistribution in the system.


The main emphasis of this paper is to highlight the factors influencing power quality caused by compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) in current and voltage. Whole lighting system of a practical distribution network mostly comprises of fluorescent lights and incandescent lamps which are planned to be replaced by compact fluorescent lamps, nationally and internationally to promote demand side management (DSM), particularly in developing world due to short fall of electricity. Based upon the practical results obtained at RCET Lab Pakistan in consultation with UKM Malaysia, real model of CFL is developed in ETAP Harmonic Library to carry out simulations for the evaluation of required power quality parameters. While determining the impact of CFL at huge scale, current and voltage waveforms along with their spectrum for the HTs (High Tension side) and LTs (Low Tension side) of distribution transformers captured in the form of THDv and THDi have been analyzed for comprehensive analysis of power distribution system.


Background: Minimally invasive lumbar spine surgeries have become popular due
 to less tissue trauma involved and reduced hospital stay. General anaesthesia is
 more frequently used for these surgeries, though regional anaesthesia is proved
 to be safe in few studies.
 Purpose: To test the efficacy of Epidural anaesthesia (EA) for these lumbosacral
 spine surgeries in comparison with General anaesthesia supplemented with
 caudal analgesia (GA).
Method: We randomized 80 patients posted for elective primary minimally
 invasive lumbosacral decompression spinal procedures into two groups of 40
 each. The GA group patients received caudal analgesia with Ropivocaine 0.2% 30
 ml with Buprenorphine 75 mcg before incision. The EA group patients received
 10 cc of Ropivocaine 0.75% bolus with Buprenorphine 75 mcg through epidural
 catheter placed two spaces above the surgical incision site. Both groups received
 IV Paracetamol 1 gm 6th hrly and rescue analgesics given were IV Diclofenac and
 Tramadol.
Outcome measures: We compared the groups for perioperative haemodynamic variables, anaesthesia and surgical time, postoperative analgesic requirement,
 PONV and length of hospital stay.
Results: Intraoperative hypotension was seen more in GA group. The surgical and
 anaesthesia duration were significantly less in EA group. However, the patients for
 two level discectomies (3 vs. 1) and bilateral laminoforaminotomies (8 vs. 4) were
 more in GA group. Postoperative analgesic requirement was significantly more in
 GA group. There was no significant difference in the PONV and all patients were
 discharged on the first postoperative day.
Conclusion: Epidural anaesthesia can safely replace GA for minimally invasive
 lumbar spine procedures. It not only avoids the risks of GA, but also the
 intraoperative blood loss, the duration of anaesthesia and the postoperative IV
 analgesic requirements are much less with the use of Epidural anaesthesia.


The extended testing of hydro-generator with Pelton turbine (rated 35 MVA) was performed on a generator whose lifespan expired and it was going to be replaced. This was the perfect opportunity to do some specific and uncommon testing. The complex testing plan was designed in order to enable recording of as much relevant data as possible (electrical, electromechanical, mechanical). Therefore, in some phases of testing, 29 to 44 quantities were measured simultaneously. Among the tests, there are short circuits with lowered voltage, bad synchronization at approximate angle of 15 degrees, asynchronous operation, generator overspeed and operation with short circuited field winding on one pole. The most interesting and the most critical operation during this testing is asynchronous operation of hydro-generator [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], which is also very dangerous for generator and drive equipment. During such operation synchronous generator operates at a speed unequal to rated speed. This slip causes increased damping winding currents, which increases the thermal stress of this winding beyond the designed level. This makes these tests very infrequent. Asynchronous operating was achieved by decreasing the excitation current. Complex mathematical model for computer simulation of hydro-generator's asynchronous operation has been made, taking into consideration the magnetic saturation, damper winding and generator transformer's influence. Results obtained by simulations have been compared to those obtained by measurements.


Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses (NLV) are major causes of foodand water-related disease in the United States. There is no host cell line in which the NLV can be tested for infectivity. Feline calicivirus (FCV) and NLV both belong to the family Caliciviridae. FCV can be assayed for infectivity in the Crandell Reese feline kidney cell line, so FCV serves as a surrogate for NLV. This study is the first report of UV inactivation of FCV and also of using the plaque technique, in contrast to the 50% tissue culture infectious dose end point technique, to determine the FCV infectivity titer. The infectivity titers (log10 plaque-forming units/mL) of UVinactivated FCV, hepatitis A virus (HAV), poliovirus type 1 (PV1) and two small, round coliphages were plotted as a function of UV dose and analyzed by regression analysis and analysis of variance. These fitted straight-line curves represent exponential inactivation, so UV inactivation can be said to show ''one-hit kinetics.'' The decimal inactivation doses of UV for FCV, HAV, PV1, MS2 and uX174 were 47.85, 36.50, 24.10, 23.04 and 15.48 mW s/cm, respectively. FCV appears to be the most UV resistant among the tested viruses.


There are suggestions of an inverse association between folate intake and serum folate levels and the risk of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers (OPC), but most studies are limited in sample size, with only few reporting information on the source of dietary folate. This study aims to investigate the association between folate intake and the risk of OPC within the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology (INHANCE) Consortium. We analyzed pooled individual-level data from 10 case-control studies participating in the INHANCE consortium, including 5127 cases and 13,249 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for the associations between total folate intake (natural, fortification, and supplementation) and natural folate only, and OPC risk. We found an inverse association between total folate intake and overall OPC risk (the adjusted OR for the highest vs the lowest quintile was 0.65; 95% CI 5 0.43–0.99), with a stronger association for oral cavity (OR 5 0.57; 95% CI 5 0.43– 0.75). A similar inverse association, although somewhat weaker, was observed for folate intake from natural sources only (OR 5 0.64; 95% CI 5 0.45–0.91). The highest OPC risk was observed in heavy alcohol drinkers with low folate intake as compared to never/light drinkers with high folate (OR 5 4.05; 95% CI 5 3.43–4.79); the attributable proportion due to interaction was 11.1% (95% CI 5 1.4% to 20.8%). The present project of a large pool of case-control studies supports a protective effect total folate intake on OPC risk. HEAD & NECK—DOI 10.1002/HED APRIL 2015 463


Abstract The aim of this study was to report a case that underwent a craniotomy after primary pre-operative cerebrovascular and 3D digital subtract angiography (DSA) showed wrong outcomes. Digital subtract angiography misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of aneurysms were found and the subject was subsequently treated correspondingly. This case was analysed to identify 1) the cause of the false positive and false negative results in DSA, 2) the limitations of 3D DSA and 3) the experience and lessons learned. A 54-year-old spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage patient underwent DSA and 3D DSA under local anaesthesia. Results revealed aneurysm at the anterior cerebral A1 end. Considering the excessively large tumour angle circuitry, we decided to adopt craniotomy and clipping under direct vision. Misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis were intra-operatively noticed and the aneurysm was clipped out. About half a month after the operation, the patient underwent DSA again under full coordination. The results from these two DSAs were compared. An originally suspected aneurysm was merely a pseudo-anterior communicating artery; the real aneurysm was located in the starting zone of A1. Active cooperation (or anaesthesia) made 3D DSA clear and complete. Moreover, the two 3D DSAs were both ineffective in identifying false positive aneurysms because of anatomical variation. 3D DSA is still limited in differentiating or developing anatomical variations of cerebrovascular vessels, thereby causing false positive results. The use of 3D DSA requires full cooperation from the patient. The guiding effect of the clot accumulation area on aneurysms should be considered during operation.


Generalization is an important issue in machine learning. In fact, in several applications good results over training data are not as important as good results over unseen data. While this problem was deeply studied in other machine learning techniques, it has become an important issue for genetic programming only in the last few years. In this paper we compare the generalization ability of several different genetic programming frameworks, including some variants of multi-objective genetic programming and operator equalization, a recently defined bloat free genetic programming system. The test problem used is a hard regression real-life application in the field of drug discovery and development, characterized by a high number of features and where the generalization ability of the proposed solutions is a crucial issue. The results we obtained show that, at least for the considered problem, multi-optimization is effective in improving genetic programming generalization ability, outperforming all the other methods on test data.


Academically, citation is pivotal since it presents justifications for the arguments and a demonstration of the writer's position. Despite the increasing number of studies on citations, little knowledge has been reported regarding the citation use and practices of EFL students within the ESL context. Hence, the present study aimed at investigating the extent of variation in the citation practices in the literature review of PhD theses in Applied Linguistics and Information Technology. The study analysed the citations qualitatively focusing mainly on several aspects, including using types of citations, the variety of the citations based on the type of the clauses in each citation, and the perspectives of EFL Arab postgraduates on using citations. A purposeful sampling was adopted in selecting the literature review of 20 PhD theses and nine EFL Arab candidates of Applied Linguistics and Information Technology. The results show the dominance of the integral citation in the literature review of Applied Linguistics and Information technology. The inter-disciplinary comparison also reported similarity in terms of the high frequency of using citations with clauses complexes. The discourse-based interviews revealed that EFL Arab postgraduates depended on the integral citation to highlight ideas, attract the reader's attention, affirm the credibility of the cited information, and refer to the type of the information. The little available information on using citations and the possible effect of their native language may lead EFL Arab postgraduates to have their own strategies regarding citations use. Consequently, EFL postgraduate students probably need explicit instructions on the use of citations.


The NSF-funded Scalable CyberInfrastructure for Artificial Intelligence and Likelihood Free Inference (SCAILFIN) project aims to develop and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and likelihood-free inference (LFI) techniques and software using scalable cyberinfrastructure (CI) built on top of existing CI elements. Specifically, the project has extended the CERN-based REANA framework, a cloud-based data analysis platform deployed on top of Kubernetes clusters that was originally designed to enable analysis reusability and reproducibility. REANA is capable of orchestrating extremely complicated multi-step workflows, and uses Kubernetes clusters both for scheduling and distributing container-based workloads across a cluster of available machines, as well as instantiating and monitoring the concrete workloads themselves. This work describes the challenges and development efforts involved in extending REANA and the components that were developed in order to enable large scale deployment on High Performance Computing (HPC) resources. Using the Virtual Clusters for Community Computation (VC3) infrastructure as a starting point, we implemented REANA to work with a number of differing workload managers, including both high performance and high throughput, while simultaneously removing REANA's dependence on Kubernetes support at the workers level.


As-cast 30Cr2Ni4MoV steel was researched quantificationally to obtain the distribution and pattern of the microcosmic defect. By means of finite element simulation and experiment research, porosity consolidating and relative density evolution of as-cast 30Cr2Ni4MoV steel were investigated for a FM stretching process at a constant strain rate 0.001s-1. The studied parameters included three temperatures (800°C, 1000°C, 1250°C) and three deforming passes(1,2,3) and three friction factors(0.3,0.5,0.7), which bracketed the parameters that were used during most primary break-down processes. Temperature had an obvious effect on the porosity consolidating, but friction factor had no effect on the ultimate soundness nearly. When beginning temperature was 1250°C and heat exchanged considered, initial porosity can be eliminated after the accumulated effective strain reached 1.0 at least. The residual defect of the wrought material at different strain lever was compared to the initial defect of as-cast material and found to be somewhat reduced. The impact toughness of the wrought material at different strain lever was also compared to the as-cast material and found to be obvious improved. The difference in these behaviors between as-cast and wrought material could be attributed to the healing of the porosity defect and the enhancement of the soundness at a certain extent.


A low-cost planar leaky-wave antenna (LWA) offering directive antenna beam patterns as well as linear beam scanning through broadside is proposed. The design is based on a one-sided annular slot grating placed on a dual-layer grounded dielectric slab with an integrated TM$_0$ antenna feed system in the bottom ground plane. By appropriate selection of the width and the period of the top radiating annular slots, as well as the substrates, the structure is optimized to excite and perturb the dominant TM mode for the generation of directive beam patterns that can scan with frequency in the far field. In particular, the antenna parameters are chosen to obtain a narrow open stopband frequency range at broadside as well as control the dispersive scanning behavior. A method-of-moments dispersion analysis has also been developed to assist in the design and fully characterize the proposed antenna. These results are complemented by full-wave simulations and measurements of a LWA prototype offering realized gain values in excess of 14 dBi with scanning through broadside at 23.5 GHz.


A methodology is developed for describing of hierarchical control of robot systems in a manner which is faithful to the underlying mechanics, structured enough to be used as an interpreted language, and sufficiently flexible to encompass a wide variety of systems. A consistent set of primitive operations which form the core of a robot system description and control language is presented. This language, motivated by the hierarchical organization of neuromuscular systems, is capable of describing a large class of robot systems under a variety of single-level and distributed control schemes.<<ETX>>


This report presents an analysis of responses obtained from visitors to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) outdoor farmers market at 12th and Independence Avenue, SW, in Washington, D.C. during two market days, September 10 and 17, 2010. The Rapid Market Assessment, also known as the dot survey, was carried out to assess the composition and shopping habits of the market's customer base so the managers of the market could better understand their customers. Personnel from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Farmers Market and Direct Marketing Research Branch used the dot survey approach to conduct consumer research at the farmers market. The dot survey technique is a "self-service" research approach that asks a limited number of questions displayed on easels in the market. Individual questions are placed on poster boards, making it easy for consumers to indicate their responses with round, colorful, self-sticking dots. The dot survey technique is a quick, simple, and effective way to engage consumer participation and collect market data. It is among the most popular techniques for gauging consumer behavior at farmers markets.


Galectin-3, a member of the beta-galactoside-binding animal lectins, has been implicated in tumor invasion and metastasis. Using an immunoligand assay, we assessed the circulating levels of galectin-3 in sera from cancer patients as well as from healthy controls. Low serum levels of galectin-3 were detected in healthy individuals (median, 62 ng/ml; range, 20-313 ng/ml; 95th percentile, 184.3 ng/ml). Compared with healthy individuals, galectin-3 serum levels in patients with breast, gastrointestinal, lung, or ovarian cancer, melanoma, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were significantly elevated (P = 0.014). Moreover, galectin-3 concentrations in sera from patients with metastatic disease were higher than in sera from patients with localized tumors. Maximum serum concentrations of galectin-3 (median, 320 ng/ml; range, 20-950 ng/ml) were found in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal carcinoma. These results suggest that circulating galectin-3 may play a role in tumor progression. The possibility of using this assay in early-stage cancer to predict metastasis should be studied.


Flavanone synthase from irradiated cell suspension cultures of parsley was purified to apparent homogeneity. Molecular weights of about 77 000 for the enzyme and about 42 000 for the subunits were determined respectively by sedimentation-equilibrium measurements and disc-gel electrophoresis in the presence of dodecyl sulfate. A specific antiserum was prepared for the enzyme and was used in an assay for flavanone synthase mRNA activity in partially purified RNA preparations. The apparent molecular size of flavanone synthase mRNA was estimated by sucrose gradient centrifugation and gel electrophoresis under partially denaturing conditions. Values of about 17 S and Mr = 0.62 X 10(6) were obtained. The fractionation patterns suggested that flavanone synthase mRNA was homogeneous in size. All together, the results support the idea that the enzyme is composed of two subunits which are probably identical. Amino acid analysis and a microbial assay were carried out to test the possible occurrence of cysteamine, beta-alanine, and pantothenate in the enzyme. The results were negative, indicating the absence of pantetheine or a similar residue. The possible similarity in mechanism between flavanone synthase and 3-oxoacyl-(acyl carrier protein) synthase is discussed.


Any organization with sensitive, valuable, or critical data, or direct access to such data, is at risk of being attacked by cyber criminals who steal and use legitimate credentials for a multitude of purposes. This poses one of the highest threats to critical, sensitive, or even classified information for an organization. If a nefarious actor is able to access a network with legitimate credentials there are currently very limited ways to detect the malice of the activity.
By establishing a per-user behavior profile, we aim to apply machine learning anomaly detection algorithms to determine when a user account's activity indicates that it has been compromised by an attacker with stolen credentials. In this way, we will map a user's normal activity to a high dimensional space to predict what the user is likely to do and when. Within a threshold, deviation from this prediction indicates that an action may need to be taken to verify this user's identity.
Our data set is a sample of mixed enterprise logs from Los Alamos National Laboratory covering three months of authentication, network flow, process history, and DNS service. Some of the log items represent offensive red-team exercises, and we propose a system to identify these events based on their dissimilarity from regular user behavior.


A 6-month-old, female, domestic shorthair cat was examined after onychectomy and ovariohysterectomy because of bleeding from the paws. Prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time was discovered, Coagulation factor analyses revealed deficiency of factor XI coagulant activity. Plasma mixing studies indicated factor deficiency or dysfunction rather than factor inhibition. Feline factor XI deficiency in one adult cat has been previously reported but was attributed to factor XI inhibitors. The signalment, lack of primary disease, and the finding of persistent factor XI deficiency in the absence of coagulation inhibitors were considered compatible with congenital factor XI deficiency in the cat of this report.


We study the sensor and movement capabilities that simple robots need in order to create a map of an unknown polygon of size n, and to meet. We consider robots that can move from vertex to vertex, can backtrack movements, and see distant vertices in counter-clockwise order but have no means of visibly identifying them. We show that such robots can always solve the weak rendezvous problem and reconstruct the visibility graph, given an upper bound on n. Our results are tight: The strong rendezvous problem, in which robots need to gather at a common location, cannot be solved in general, and without a bound on n, not even n can be determined. In terms of mobile agents exploring a graph, our result implies that they can reconstruct any graph that is the visibility graph of a simple polygon. This is in contrast to the known result that the reconstruction of arbitrary graphs is impossible in general, even if n is known.


Drawing back on my experience of living in Nairobi, this thesis explores the city's dynamic system of public space and tries to improve its legibility by establishing a framework for its use and design. Exploring Nairobi as a city of arrival, my personal process in the development of this project was quite similar to that of coming to Nairobi as a migrant, continuously learning to understand, use and finally appropriate the city. As a colonial foundation closed off to the native population, Nairobi, the urban epicentre for East Africa, has always been a city of constant coming and going rather than a point of identification for the Kenyan population. By consequence, Nairobi's metropolitan system in general and its public space in particular is optimized to flexibly absorb the masses of migrants that make up its population. However, the lack of codification of public space, its dynamics and use side-lines minorities and arrivals and inhibits the 'becoming' of Nairobians, disenfranchising them with their own city.This research will therefore commence by trying to get an understanding of how Nairobi has developed into a city of comings and goings over the past 100 years since its foundation. Exploring the historical development of the city and its residents, I will argue that the notion of public realm in Nairobi is radically different from the ideals of public space discussed in traditional planning practice, mostly reflecting the European city.I will in a second step systematically analyse the spatial dimension of the public realm in Nairobi coming to the conclusion that in spite of its illegibility to arrivals, the city works by a set of clear spatial rules. Based on this research, I will try to establish how digitalisation and the mobile economy will codify the dynamics of public space and life in Nairobi. Trying to mediate between the city's duality between integration and identity, this project will then propose a framework of soft and hard public spaces based on existing structural and spatial typologies found along Nairobi's Ngong Road. Using a set of site specific indicators, these elements will be synthesised in designs for key sections of Ngong Road and its vicinity.


The power degradation and failure of photovoltaic (PV) modules can be caused by changes in the mechanical properties of the polymeric components during the module lifetime. This paper introduces instrumented nanoindentation as a method to investigate the mechanical properties of module materials such as polymeric encapsulants. To this end, nanoindentation tests were carried out on ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) surfaces, which have been separated from the glass panel. Two types of time-dependent indentation cycle modes, the time domain (creep mode) and frequency domain (dynamic mode) were performed to determine the viscoelastic behavior. For each mode, a corresponding model was applied to calculate the main mechanical properties. The general capability of nanoindentation as cross-linking determination method is investigated with the methodological advantages over bulk mechanical characterization methods. A large number of Glass/EVA/Backsheet laminates were built using different lamination conditions resulting in different degrees of curing. Both indentation modes indicate good modulus sensitivity for following the EVA crosslinking in its early stages but could not reliably differentiate between samples with higher EVA branching. Additional dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) characterization was used as an established method to validate the indentation measurements. Both nanoindentation and DMA tensile mode produce similar quantitative viscoelastic responses, in the form of the damping factor parameter, demonstrated for three different frequencies at room temperature. A statistical study of the data reveals the advantages for the investigation of multilayer PV laminates by using nanoindenation as a surface method while also being applicable to field aged modules.


The study presents in the first chapter the applied methodology and the data used for the empirical research. The economic activities were grouped into 10 sectors by aggregating the extended input-output tables for Romania (with 105 branches). The chosen reference year is 2007 - the last year for which such statistical recordings were available. The second chapter examines some of the Romanian economy's structural features revealed by the matrices A and (I-A)-1, insisting on the driving effects of interdependencies (direct and indirect) generated by cross-sector productive flows. The third chapter focuses on the impact of gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) upon the output. On the one hand, the implications of changes in volume are estimated (for example, data on 2007 are recalculated for a variation of +/-5% in the GFCF). On the other hand, the influence of the sectoral structure of the indicator in question is quantified with the help of three different macroeconomic simulations. Further possible developments of the current investigation are discussed at the end of the paper.


Using the conformally invariant Cotton tensor, we define a geometric flow, the Cotton flow, which is exclusive to three dimensions. This flow tends to evolve the initial metrics into conformally flat ones, and is somewhat orthogonal to the Yamabe flow, the latter being a flow within a conformal class. We define an entropy functional, and study the flow of nine homogeneous spaces both numerically and analytically. In particular, we show that the arbitrarily deformed homogeneous 3-sphere flows into the round 3-sphere. Two of the nine homogeneous geometries, which are degenerated by the Ricci flow, are left intact by the Cotton flow.


Many studies have addressed how linguistic complexity affects processing in online comprehension. However, little attention has been given to the relationship between different types of semantic complexity. We investigated two kinds of complexity that have previously been studied separately: coercion, where the meaning of a lexical item is shifted by context, and lexical semantic complexity, which describes the inherent semantic complexity of a lexical item. To compare their processing mechanisms, we used psychological verbs, which divide into two classes with different degrees of lexical semantic complexity, and also participate in a previously uninvestigated coercion, inchoative coercion. Using self-paced reading, we find a reading delay associated with both types of complexity, supporting theories that strongly connect representational complexity and processing. A subsequent magnetoencephalography study showed a distributed fronto-temporal effect around 300–500 ms for coercion but not for lexical semantic complexity. Our results conform with prior studies showing a prefrontal effect of coercion and suggest that lexical semantic complexity is processed via different mechanisms than coercion.


The present study deals with the problem of soil contamination risk assessment for a region being actively impact by the routine production of Kremikovtzi metallurgical plant near Sofia, Bulgaria. Although the production is now cancelled, the soil pollution is present and needs careful assessment. The application of self-organizing maps classification strategy of Kohonen makes it possible to identify: a/ pollution sources in the region of interest; b/ spatial patterns of similarity of polluted sites and the reason for the specific pollution.


Randomized controlled trial which aimed to verify whether the use of vascular ultrasound (VUS) increases assertiveness in the use of peripheral venous catheter in children, and the catheter dwell time, when compared to traditional puncture. Data were collected after approval of theethical merit. Children and adolescents undergoing VUS-guided peripheral intravenous (GVUS) or puncture guided by clinical assessment of the venous conditions(CG) were included in the study. Significance level was set at p<0.05. The sample was composed of 382 punctures, 188 (49.2%) in VUS Gand 194 (50.8%) in CG, performed in 335 children. Assertiveness was found in 73 (71.6%) GVUS catheters and in 84 (71.8%) of the CG (p=0.970), and catheter dwell time presented a median of less than one day in both groups (p=0.121), showing nostatistically significant difference. VUS did not significantly influence the results of the dependent variables investigated.ClinicalTrials.govNCT00930254.


This paper argues that search engines raise not merely technical issues but also political ones. Search engines systematically exclude (in some cases by design and in some accidentally) certain sites in favor of others, or alternatively give prominence to some at the expense of others. Such biases run counter to the basic architecture of the Web as well as the values and ideals that have fuelled widespread support for its growth and development. The paper considers ways of addressing the politics of search engines, raising doubts whether, in particular, the market mechanism can serve as an acceptable corrective.


When I editorialized on patch testing for corticosteroid allergy, budesonide was unavailable in the United States. 1 Late in 1994, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new nasal inhaler known as Rhinocort, which is budesonide made available in a metered-dose apparatus. The 7-g canister contains 200 metered doses, each containing approximately 32 mg of micronized budesonide. I had the opportunity to conduct a patch test on a patient with 0.1% budesonide in petrolatum, and an extreme reaction (3+) developed at 96 hours. I recently retested him with budesonide sprayed directly into a Finn chamber and applied to his back. This was done with one activation directly to the Finn chamber, with successive Finn chambers containing additional activations, up to a total of nine activations. He underwent retesting with 0.1% budesonide in petrolatum. At 48 hours, all of the tests showed equally positive results, indicating that one activation


The phenomenon of logical stochastic resonance (LSR) in a nonlinear bistable system is demonstrated by numerical simulations and experiments. However, the bit rates of the logical signals are relatively low and not suitable for practical applications. First, we examine the responses of the bistable system with fixed parameters to different bit rate logic input signals, showing that an arbitrary high bit rate LSR in a bistable system cannot be achieved. Then, a normalized transform of the LSR bistable system is introduced through a kind of variable substitution. Based on the transform, it is found that LSR for arbitrary high bit rate logic signals in a bistable system can be achieved by adjusting the parameters of the system, setting bias value and amplifying the amplitudes of logic input signals and noise properly. Finally, the desired OR and AND logic outputs to high bit rate logic inputs in a bistable system are obtained by numerical simulations. The study might provide higher feasibility of LSR in practical engineering applications.


Pregnancy presents a singular physiological scenario during which the maternal immune system must accommodate the semiallogeneic fetus. Fluctuations between pro- and anti-inflammatory states are required throughout gestation to facilitate uterine tissue remodeling, fetal growth and development, and finally birth. Tolerance for the fetus must be established and maintained without fundamentally compromising the maternal immune system function, so that both the mother and fetus are protected from foreign insults. Here, we review our current understanding of how genetic variation at both maternal and fetal loci affects implantation and placenta formation, thereby determining the likelihood of a successful pregnancy outcome or the development of pregnancy-related complications. We also consider the impact of pregnancy on both the maternal and fetal systemic immune systems and the related implications for modulating ongoing autoimmune diseases and triggering their development. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics Volume 22 is August 30, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


The development of science and technology in the last fifteen years has shown new dimensions of reality characterized by complex interactions on the physical, quantum, biological, cognitive, social and ecological areas, enabling new ways of producing information and knowledge. This paper aims to show a framework of a new curricular development approach that is based on the paradigm of complexity that shall meet the knowledge needs of the society of the XXI century. This proposed framework highlights the importance and the responsibility of engineering within the techno-scientific and social context, the role that the new engineer represents, the required skills and the new role that the university faculty member must play to facilitate meaningful learning. It is presently being evaluated for implementation at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida (USF) – Tampa, Florida in collaboration with the College of Education at the Universidad del Bosque – Bogotá, Colombia.


In this paper, we study the impact of the base station (BS) idle mode capability (IMC) on the network performance in dense small cell networks (SCNs). Different from existing works, we consider a sophisticated path loss model incorporating both line-of-sight (LoS) and non- line-of-sight (NLoS) transmissions. Analytical results are obtained for the coverage probability and the area spectral efficiency (ASE) performance for SCNs with IMCs at the BSs. The upper bound, the lower bound and the approximate expression of the activated BS density are also derived. The performance impact of the IMC is shown to be significant. As the BS density surpasses the UE density, thus creating a surplus of BSs, the coverage probability will continuously increase toward one. For the practical regime of the BS density, the results derived from our analysis are distinctively different from existing results, and thus shed new light on the deployment and the operation of future dense SCNs.


The West Texas frontier--the area encompassing the region stretching from Fort Worth to the Caprock, from Palo Duro Canyon to the San Saba River--has been a crossroads of humanity for thousands of years. Each group of humans who trekked across its sun-drenched prairies had to contend with the challenges of life in an area that has always been a climatic, geographical, political, and cultural borderland. In addressing these challenges, the people of the frontier developed perseverance, toughness, and determination--all necessities for life on the Texas frontier. This book tells the epic story of this region and its many transitions throughout the centuries. It traces the struggles and triumphs of many groups as they tried to tame the region for their own purposes. Early humans hunted mammoths and other game in the region. Then came the Jumanos following the great bison herds, then the Apaches, the Comanches, the Spaniards, and the Texans. By 1845, with Texas entrance into the United States, more formal efforts to tame the frontier brought forts and soldiers. Cattlemen and their herds shared the plains with the buffalo and the Plains Indians. Battles and ambushes, justice and injustice defined the struggle for the next several decades. The military abandoned the region during the Civil War, only to return with force upon its completion. The vast postwar expansion of the cattle industry and the systematic slaughter of the buffalo herds ensured that Americans would claim the region permanently and that the Plains Indians dominance of the frontier had come to an end. By 1880 barbed wire, windmills, railroads, and towns demonstrated that the frontier had been permanently transformed.


Nucleosome deposition occurs on newly synthesized DNA during DNA replication and on transcriptionally active genes via nucleosome-remodeling complexes recruited by activator proteins and elongating RNA polymerase II. It has been long believed that histone deposition involves stable H3–H4 tetramers, such that newly deposited nucleosomes do not contain H3 and H4 molecules with their associated histone modifications from preexisting nucleosomes. However, biochemical analyses and recent experiments in mammalian cells have raised the idea that preexisting H3–H4 tetramers might split into dimers, resulting in mixed nucleosomes composed of "old" and "new" histones. It is unknown to what extent different genomic loci might utilize such a mechanism and under which circumstances. Here, we address whether tetramer splitting occurs in a locus-specific manner by using sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation of mononucleosomes from yeast cells containing two differentially tagged versions of H3 that are expressed "old" and "new" histones. At many genomic loci, we observe little or no nucleosomal cooccupancy of old and new H3, indicating that tetramer splitting is generally infrequent. However, cooccupancy is detected at highly active genes, which have a high rate of histone exchange. Thus, DNA replication largely results in nucleosomes bearing exclusively old or new H3–H4, thereby precluding the acquisition of new histone modifications based on preexisting modifications within the same nucleosome. In contrast, tetramer splitting, dimer exchange, and nucleosomes with mixed H3–H4 tetramers occur at highly active genes, presumably linked to rapid histone exchange associated with robust transcription.


In IEEE 802.16-based networks, the transmission of best effort (BE) traffics is basically controlled by the contention-window size. Subscriber stations (SSs) contend for bandwidth request to allocate uplink bandwidth for BE traffics. The truncated binary exponential backoff algorithm is used to schedule for bandwidth-request retransmissions in IEEE 802.16-2004 standard. In this paper, we propose a contention-window size assignment scheme for the base station. The contention-window size is updated dynamically according to the arrival rate of BE traffics and the number of SSs which encountered transmission collision for bandwidth-request. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme indeed can improve throughput and delay in the transmission of bandwidth-request. Moreover, the proposed scheme offers optimal throughput for BE traffics.


This thesis traces the development of the Shetland hand knitting industry from 1790 to 1950; the origins and emergence of Shetland lace from c.1840; and, along with the socio-economic consequences of truck, seeks to analyse their contribution to the Shetland economy. As knitting was an exclusively female occupation in Shetland, a brief appraisal of the role of women has been included. Traditionally the Shetland economy depended on crofting to feed the family, fishing to pay the rent, and knitting - a subsistence activity - to supplement the domestic economy. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Shetland knitters relied on trading their knitwear with both the Hanseatic merchants and migrant fishermen, who came to Shetland during the summer to fish in Shetland waters and trade with its people. This knitwear, produced from locally grown wool, consisted of hose, caps and gloves, but mainly hose - hence the generic term 'Shetland hosiery' which refers to all types of Shetland knitting. It was coarse but cheap; and it was the cheapness of these ill-produced goods which was their attraction to itinerant fishermen and merchants. However, the trade disruptions caused by the French Wars at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, and the introduction of the Salt Tax in 1712, were responsible for the exodus of the Hanseatic merchants and to a lesser extent, the Dutch fishermen. And from around this time, the marketing of hosiery, inter alia, was taken over by Shetland lairds, although knitters still continued to sell hosiery to visiting fishermen during the summer fishing season. By 1790, knitters were selling or bartering their hosiery through 2 main outlets, that is, visiting fishermen and Shetland merchants. The first specialist hosiery merchant set up in business in Len.


Very small buildings have a special appeal, and the constraints of space and cost can actually liberate the imagination. Most of the projects in this book consist of no more than a few key spaces, in many cases just a single space. They are united only by their compact nature, the pleasure that they can provide and the intelligence that they embody. A brief introduction is followed by five thematic chapters: Public Realm, Community Spaces, On the Move, Compact Living and Extra Space. The 53 case studies include a park bench that transforms into a shelter for the homeless in Australia, an inflatable treetop structure for rainforest observation, a portable house for victims of hurricane Katrina, a transportable church in Finland, and a suspended office in France.


Background Imprisoned women are a socially disadvantaged group at greater risk of poorer obstetric and perinatal outcome compared with the general population. Despite an increased incidence of smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, the obstetric outcome is better compared to other disadvantaged but non-imprisoned controls. Imprisoned women admitted later in pregnancy after 28 weeks seem to have lighter babies compared to control group in general population. Method Retrospective case note analysis of pregnancy outcome of imprisoned pregnant women delivering at a University Hospital between 2000 and 2008. Results 48 notes were available out of 142. Their mean age was 27 years with high incidence of smoking (72.9%) and substance use (39.6%). 20 were imprisoned before 28 weeks of gestation. Most (72.9%) had spontaneous onset of labour and vaginal delivery (77.1%). The cohort imprisoned earlier than 20 weeks gestation had more antenatal admissions when compared to those imprisoned after 28 weeks (1.03 vs 0.4). Conclusion This retrospective cohort review details the good outcome of pregnancy in a vulnerable population due to dedicated maternity services offered. The increased admission in the cohort admitted at an earlier gestation is a reflector of such targeted care and detection of complications in a controlled environment.


Indoor air quality (IAQ) has been a concern in the library since 1990s, when several employees working in the building reported occasional discomforts that may have been
attributable to poor air quality. In the education world, library has been an important venue for students for various reasons no other than to enhance knowledge for the
importance of their education. The purpose of this study is to measure the volatile organic compounds (VOC) in two libraries located at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia
(UTHM). Benzene, phenol, furfural, isobutene and toluene were five VOC gasses measured using the Photo Ionization Detector (PID) for eight working hours in two
months. The results indicate that benzene and furfural gasses occurred as the highest VOC gasses detected in both libraries. The causes were due to the appearance of several
equipments and tools frequently used in libraries such as papers, copying machines, carpets and book shelves. Moreover, the concentration of gasses detected was above the
standard limit as accordance to the Environmental Protection Energy (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). As a whole, several actions should be taken
due to prevent unsafe environment in libraries as the existence of libraries play important role in education.


This topical and timely book critically explores contemporary liberal international relations theory. In the fifty years since the declaration of human rights, the language of international relations has come to incorporate the language of justice and injustice. The book argues that if justice is to become the governing principle of international politics, then liberals must recognise that their political preferences cannot be the preconditions of global ethics. The hierarchy of international political ethics must be constructed afresh so that the first principles of justice are accessible to all agents as political and ethical equals.

This book will be essential reading for students and scholars in politics, international relations, political theory and ethics.


The paper prototypes one enabler of the Internet of Energy that is autonomous collaborative energy storage devices. The case study investigates an intelligent parking lot of electric vehicles, using them as home energy storages. The vehicles implement decentralized battery coordination, where batteries exchange their State of Charge data along with getting online information on price and electricity demand. The study proposes a decentralised cooperation mechanism for the electric vehicles, which assumes mutual access to the energy stored in every battery in order to reduce the costs for everyone. The effect of such cooperation is evaluated under assumption of random presence of vehicles at the parking lot. The results demonstrated feasible costs reduction under different parking lot occupancy scenarios for every member of such a proposed collaborative society.


BACKGROUND
Spontaneous early infarct related artery (IRA) recanalisation before primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) has a favourable impact on outcome. However, the role played by pharmacotherapy driven patency prior to pPCI is still a matter of debate.

AIM
To assess the role of early IRA patency (TIMI flow 2 or 3) after early abciximab administration in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) transferred for pPCI.

METHODS
Data was gathered for 1,650 consecutive STEMI patients transferred for pPCI from hospital networks in seven countries in Europe between November 2005 and January 2007. We identified 691 patients who were pretreated with abciximab before transportation to a cathlab hospital and underwent PCI.

RESULTS
Angiography showed early IRA patency (TIMI flow 2 or 3) in 233 (33.7%) patients, and occluded IRA (TIMI flow 0 or 1) in 458 (66.3%) patients. In patients with patent IRA, in baseline angiography the rate of TIMI 3 flow and ECG ST-segment resolution 〉 50% after PCI was higher compared to patients with occluded IRA. One year mortality was significantly lower in patients with patent IRA, 1.3% vs 7% (OR 0.17; CI 0.05-0.6; p = 0.001). In multivariable Cox regression analysis, IRA patency at baseline was identified as an independent predictor of one-year mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
Infarct related artery recanalisation after early pharmacological pretreatment in STEMI patients undergoing transportation for pPCI is associated with better post-procedural myocardial perfusion and lower one-year mortality.


International students continue to outperform U.S. students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), while U.S. students increasingly leave these high-demand areas. To improve STEM performance and to alleviate STEM fatigue and attrition, researchers from several disciplines have been conducting studies to determine the most effective and efficient instructional and organizational practices in these courses. This thesis identifies best practices in structuring a STEM course to promote transformation to comprehension-based learning, while fostering student success. Best practices fall within three clusters: (a) structuring a course; (b) focusing on how to teach; and (c) assessing student performance. An illustrative case study in a large introductory biology classroom is highlighted as each cluster is described. Further, recommendations are provided related to effective instructional practices to be used in STEM classes. This combined research review and case study aims to provide new or inquiring instructors with the evidence-based strategies they may need to help reduce STEM fatigue and attrition in their classes.


The data compression based on dictionary techniques works by replacing phrases in the input string with indexes into some dictionary. The dictionary can be static or dynamic. In static dictionary compression, the dictionary contains a predetermined fixed set of entries. In dynamic dictionary compression, the dictionary changes its entries during compression. We present parallel algorithms for two parsing strategies for static dictionary compression. One is the optimal parsing strategy with dictionaries that have the prefix properly, for which our algorithm requires O(L+log n) time and O(n) processors, where n is the number of symbols in the input string, and L is the maximum length of the dictionary entries, while previous results run in O(L+log n) time using O(n/sup 2/) processors or in O(L+log/sup 2/ n) time using O(n) processors. The other is the longest fragment first (LFF) parsing strategy, for which our algorithm requires O(L+log n,) time and O(n log L) processors, while a previous result obtained an O(L log n) time performance on O(n/log n) processors. For both strategies, we derive our parallel algorithms by modifying the on-line algorithms using a pointer doubling technique.


BACKGROUND
Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy is a disease causing progressive or relapsing and remitting weakness and numbness. It is probably due to an autoimmune process. Immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs would be expected to be beneficial.

OBJECTIVES
We aimed to review systematically the evidence from randomised trials of cytotoxic drugs and interferons other than corticosteroids, immunoglobulin and plasma exchange for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Specialised Register (May 2010), The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, Issue 2), MEDLINE (January 1977 to May 2010), EMBASE (January 1980 to May 2010), CINAHL (January 1982 to May 2010) and LILACS (January 1982 to May 2010). We contacted the authors of the trials identified and other disease experts seeking other published and unpublished trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We sought randomised and quasi-randomised trials of all immunosuppressive agents such as azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, ciclosporin A, mycophenolate mofetil, and rituximab and all immunomodulatory agents such as interferon alfa and interferon beta in participants fulfilling standard diagnostic criteria for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors independently selected trials, judged their methodological quality and extracted data. We wanted to measure the change in disability after one year as our primary outcome. Our secondary outcomes were change in disability after four or more weeks (from randomisation), change in impairment after at least one year, change in maximum motor nerve conduction velocity and compound muscle action potential amplitude after one year and for those participants who were receiving corticosteroids or intravenous immunoglobulin, the amount of this medication given during at least one year after randomisation. Participants with one or more serious adverse events during the first year was also a secondary outcome.

MAIN RESULTS
Four trials fulfilled the selection criteria, one of azathioprine (27 participants), two of interferon beta-1a (77 participants in total) and one of methotrexate (60 participants). None of these trials showed significant benefit in the primary outcome or secondary outcomes selected for this review.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The evidence from randomised trials does not show significant benefit from azathioprine, interferon beta-1a or methotrexate but none of the trials was large enough to rule out small or moderate benefit. The evidence from observational studies is insufficient to avoid the need for randomised controlled trials to discover whether these drugs are beneficial. Future trials should have improved designs, more sensitive outcome measures and longer durations.


In 2002, the National Science Foundation established the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN), a network of universities supporting the National Nanotechnology Initiative by bringing computational tools online, making the tools easy to use, and supporting the tools with educational materials. Along the way, NCN created a unique cyberinfrastructure to support its Web site, nanoHUB.org, where researchers, educators, and professionals collaborate, share resources, and solve real nanotechnology problems. In 2007, nanoHUB.org served more than 56,000 users from 172 countries. In this article, the authors share their experiences in developing this cyberinfrastructure and using it, particularly in an educational context.


: Prenatal toxoplasmosis infection occurs when a previously seronegative women acquires the infection during her pregnancy. In order to detect early infected women and give them the correct treatment, systematic serological screening must be applied. A total of 3049 pregnant women were retrospectively studied and controlled in our service from 05/92 to 03/94 in order to a) detect seroprevalence y b) prove the efficiency of our controls. Indirect immunofluorescence was used to measure specific antibodies and ELISA for specific IgM. The total seroprevalence was 58.9%; 41.1% of the women were seronegative and susceptible to acquire the primary infection. The prevalence in the different groups according to age, was: < 19 years old: 58.8%; 20-29 years old: 56.9%; 30-39 years old: 64.2%. Only 8.5% of the whole population showed high titles in their first control and, 55% of them were checked correctly. Two primoinfections were found. Only 5% of the seronegative women received a second control during pregnancy. It can be concluded that: a) the high-risk group is large so that it is necessary to apply a suitable and systematic serological control; b) IgM antibody detection resulted very useful in order to avoid taking the second sample; c) the follow up of the negative cases was poor, therefore it was impossible to get an adequate registration of primary contacts.


The article explores the place of affect in community relations with respect to trauma following the closure of a steelworks for a working-class community in the South Wales valleys in 2002. A review of sociological approaches to community demonstrates the poor handling of relational and affective aspects which, it is argued, are central to the way in which community relations were formed and provided a safe and containing skin against the uncertainty of industrial production. Using psychoanalytic approaches to affect which stress the importance of skin, particularly the work of Bick, Tustin, Winnicott and Anzieu, the article explores how a sense of a containing skin provides a feeling of ontological security for a community beset by uncertainty and insecurity. It is argued that, following the closure of the steelworks in 2002, this skin is ruptured and that it is difficult for the members of the community to find a way forward. Using examples taken from psychosocial interviews with community members, the case is made for a range of affective relations and practices through which the skin is created. The absence of these practices and relations creates a profound sense of lack of safety and fear of death within the inhabitants, which needs to be addressed, but is rarely discussed in approaches to community or regeneration.


The purpose of this study was to assess the Human-Wildlife conflict (HWC) at Burunge Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Babati district. Specifically the study aim to examine source of human- wildlife conflict in Burunge WMA, indicators of human - wildlife conflict in Burunge WMA and mitigation measures used by local people to reduce human- wildlife conflict. Human-wildlife conflict, is a growing problem in today's crowded world, and can have significant impacts on both human and wildlife populations. Human-Wildlife conflict occurs when there is close interaction between wild animals and human beings, resulting to injuries, death, predation, and even human threats. In this study, both primary and secondary data were collected from the respondents where by manageable sample size of 80 respondents was used. Questionnaire, interview and observation methods were used to obtain information from respondents. SPSS, content analysis and Excel was used to analyze data generated for this study both qualitative and quantitative data. The findings revealed that human population growth contributes a lot in competition of resources between human and wildlife which cause human-wildlife conflict. Also blockage of wildlife migratory corridors was another source of human-wildlife conflict. Indicators of HWC identified in the study area were; crop raiding, livestock predation, human injury and killing. In mitigating HWC local people use different traditional methods depends on type of animal to minimize HWC such as; using fire around field boundaries or at elephant entry points to fields, guarding and use of chili as a buffer crop.


People with disasters experience are the most vulnerable victims of high anxiety trait. This behavior could develop overtime to pure anxiety if the individuals do not have any means of support. Hence, understanding this behaviour in the individuals is an essential means of unveiling anxiety emergence. Anxiety has been a phenomenon of focus over the years. Its manifestations have been extensively studied at the lower level of human functioning system (the body). Also, some researches have extended
to the higher level of cognitive functions. Still, evidences showed that a precise approach have not been provided to elicit its emergence in human behavior. Meanwhile, extant literatures showed that anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychological problems the world is facing today. More so, numerous numbers of people around the globe were suffering from these disorders. Therefore, this study examines how individuals with post disasters experience could develop anxiety by
virtue of exposure to further events in the environment. This is a proactive measure to cater for wider emergence of anxiety disorders that might arise through disasters occurrence which is now a worldwide affair. This aspect was achieved through consideration for the role of neurocognitive mechanisms in the emergence of
anxiety. The outcome of the investigation shows that, neurocognitive mechanisms play role in the emergence of anxiety. This was demonstrated through computational modeling concept to simulate those mechanisms identified through literatures and expert opinions. Increased activation of amygdala is observed to favor the
development of anxiety while that of the prefrontal cortex favor the prevention of
anxiety and vice versa. In addition, possible transformation of the individuals' conditions was assessed using mathematical equations to show the possible changes overtime


The child's right to receive alimony from his parents, is one of the basic human rights, which has been seriously challenged by the arrival of new technologies of reproduction. This paper seeks to answer questions and challenges about alimony of cloned Child. In this regard, the theoretical foundation of entitlement to alimony- such as the theory of compliance with legal parentage and compliance of alimony with conventional parity, theory of contractual nature of alimony, and theory of having credit and legal origin have been analyzed and explicated. Then, cloned child's alimony is discussed based on different assumptions such as cloning with couple of cells, cells stranger, an alien egg, a fetus alimony in during pregnancy and alimony of child in embryo donation and clonic without the interference of man. By analyzing the legal opinions, laws and spirit of the law. The article concludes that alimony payments depend on child's well-being rather than the legal parentage. The obligation to pay alimony is for the legal father who is the owner of the cell nucleus. And, in the event of non-payment or agreement, transference of the embryo recipients and those who are committed to get the child simulation is preferred.


Neonatal mortality, morbidity, and neurodevelopmental sequelae were compared between a consecutive series of 77 liveborn, low-birthweight (less than 2500 g) infants delivered after third trimester bleeding and 154 appropriate control infants of similar gestational age. Infants born after abruptio placentae had lower Apgar scores at 1 minute and higher rates of acidosis in comparison with control infants. In multivariate analysis, the infants in this group had higher risks of severe intraventricular hemorrhage and poor outcome (neonatal death or cerebral palsy) in comparison with control infants. In placenta previa, the infants had a higher prevalence of respiratory distress syndrome, whereas unclassified antepartum bleeding was associated with a high rate of neonatal hypoglycemia. After adjustment, by logistic regression analysis, for the effect of confounding factors (gestational age, birthweight, social class, and education of the mother), the risk of minor infant neurodevelopmental abnormalities at 2-year follow-up was increased in infants delivered after total or partial placenta previa or after unclassified antepartum bleeding. Third trimester bleeding should be considered a strong risk factor for both short-term neonatal morbidity and subsequent infant neurodevelopmental impairment in the low-birthweight infant population.