Once considered a pariah state because of its military regime, Myanmar has been taking giant strides towards becoming one of the most promising countries for investing in business ventures. At a time when the global economic scenario is reeling from Britain's exit from the European Union, foreign investment in Myanmar continues to attain unprecedented growth. Lifting of international sanctions, a promising economic outlook with a GDP growth rate averaging close to 8% and a sizeable labor force have attracted overseas investment in diverse sectors like energy, manufacturing, power generation, and construction. The country still faces formidable challenges in developing basic infrastructure, ensuring fiscal stability and curbing sectarian conflict. For the nascent democratic government, formulating and implementing effective policies are uphill tasks in a system fraught with bureaucratic inefficiencies, systemic corruption, and interference from the still-powerful military. Myanmar has ample opportunities to overcome internal roadblocks by utilizing its huge market with a predominantly young population, its expansive pool of low-cost labor and the heightened influx of international commercial ventures after the political transition of the mid-2010s. Investments in Myanmar's promising telecommunications sector, in ready-made garment manufacturing and in the tourism industry are projected to give substantial dividends over the next few decades. Journal of Business and Technology (Dhaka) Vol.11(1-2) 2016; 11-39


A General Equilibrium model of investment is constructed in which the pay-offs of firms depend on each other's actions. It is shown that when these actions are unobservable but aggregate output is in the information set of the agents; it acts as a signal. The implication is that output will lead investment over the business cycle. This gives a theory of the Rational Expectations Investment Accelerator. Learning also changes the cyclical behaviour of the endogenous variables and leads to a loss of output and efficiency. The inefficiency depends on the amount of noise in the system thus reducing fluctuations can have first-order welfare effects. It is also shown that the introduction of a stock market will not alter the qualitative conclusion of the paper. The intuition of this paper for the investment accelerator also suggests that an "employer accelerator" might exist. An economic investigation of the US and UK data gives support to these accelerators. Also, the model predicts, investment is less responsive to output when its conditional variance is higher.


This article presents a numerical method to determine the approximate solutions of the Lienard equations. It is assumed that the second-order nonlinear Linard differential equations on the range [-1, 1] with the given boundary values. We have to build a new algorithm to find approximate solutions to this problem. This algorithm based on the pseudospectral method using the Chebyshev differentiation matrix (CPM). In this paper, we used the Mathematica version 10.4 to represent the algorithm, numerical results and graphics. In the numerical results, we made a comparison between the CPMs numerical results and the Mathematica's numerical results. The biggest odds were very small. Therefore, they will be able to be applied to other nonlinear systems such as the Rayleigh equations and Emden-fowler equations.


—The usage of the Web has experienced a vertiginous growth in the last few years. Watching video online has been one major driving force for this growth lately. Until the appearance of the HTML5 agglomerate of (still draft) specifications, the access and consumption of multimedia content in the Web has not been standardized. Hence, the use of proprietary Web browser plugins flourished as intermediate solution. With the introduction of the HTML5 VideoElement, Web browser plugins are replaced with a standardized alternative. Still, HTML5 Video is currently limited in many respects, including the access to only file-based media. This paper investigates on approaches to develop video live streaming solutions based on available Web standards. Besides a pull-based design based on HTTP, a push-based architecture is introduced, making use of the WebSocket protocol being part of the HTML5 standards family as well. The evaluation results of both conceptual principles emphasize, that push-based approaches have a higher potential of providing resource and cost efficient solutions as their pull-based counterparts. In addition, initial approaches to instrument the proposed push- based architecture with adaptiveness to network conditions have been developed.


This paper presents an extension to PathFinder FPGA routing algorithm, which enables it to deliver FPGA designs free from risks of crosstalk attacks. Crosstalk side-channel attacks are a real threat in large designs assembled from various IPs, where some IPs are provided by trusted and some by untrusted sources. It suffices that a ring-oscillator based sensor is conveniently routed next to a signal that carries secret information (for instance, a cryptographic key), for this information to possibly get leaked. To address this security concern, we apply several different strategies and evaluate them on benchmark circuits from Verilog-to-Routing tool suite. Our experiments show that, for a quite conservative scenario where 10-20% of all design nets are carrying sensitive information, the crosstalk-attack-aware router ensures that no information leaks at a very small penalty: 1.58-7.69% increase in minimum routing channel width and 0.12-1.18% increase in critical path delay, on average. In comparison, in an AES-128 cryptographic core, less than 5% of nets carry the key or the intermediate state values of interest to an attacker, making it highly likely that the overhead for obtaining a secure design is, in practice, even smaller.


High yielding cultivars adapted to conventional and organic production system would maximize efficiency of nutrient usage and reduce dependence on pesticides. The objective of this study was to determine if separate breeding efforts are needed to obtain high yielding dry bean breeding lines for on-farm organic (FO) and on-farm conventional (FC) production systems. The six highest yielding breeding lines selected from each of FO, FC, and on-station conventional (SC) production systems in two populations (1WS, 2WS) and their parents were evaluated for days to maturity, 100-seed weight, and seed yield in 2007 and 2008. The production system and genotype effects were significant (P ≤ 0.01) for all three traits. Seed yield gains were between 10.5% in FC and 15.0% in SC in 1WS and between 6.2% in FO and 21.0% in SC in 2WS. Seed yield of breeding lines selected in SC was higher than those selected in FC and FO when tested across the three production systems. The SC seed yield was positively associated with seed yield in FC and FO in 2WS and with seed yield in FC in 1WS. The FC and FO seed yields were positively associated only in 2WS. The highest yielding breeding lines within and across the three PS varied by the production system in which they were selected. Thus, breeding high yielding cultivars in SC or FC may serve FO in some populations, whereas a separate breeding for FO and FC may be justified in other populations if the accompanying seed yield gains would off-set the added costs involved in the production system specific breeding.


In this paper, a new structure of two-dimensional (2D) square-lattice photonic crystal (SLPC) with button-shaped dielectric rods (BSDRs) is designed, and the properties of band gaps are analyzed by Plane Wave Expansion Method (PWM). The optimal samples that possess the width of absolute band gap are obtained by scanning the three parameters: the radius of large circular R in button mark, the ratio of the radius of small circular to the radius of large circular r/R, and the rotating angle of button mark Ө. It is shown that when r/R=0.485, R=0.406um, and Ө =750, the largest absolute band gap of 0.0406 (ωa/2πc) exists for normalized frequencies in the range 0.7501 to 0.7910 (ωa/2πc). Besides,we can get at most five absolute band gaps when r/R=0.485, R=0.406um, and Ө =600.


The high level of heterogeneity between linguistic annotations usually complicates the interoperability of processing modules within an NLP pipeline. In this paper, a framework for the interoperation of NLP components, based on a data-driven architecture, is presented. Here, ontologies of linguistic annotation are employed to provide a conceptual basis for the tagset-neutral processing of linguistic annotations. The framework proposed here is based on a set of structured OWL ontologies: a reference ontology, a set of annotation models which formalize different annotation schemes, and a declarative linking between these, specified separately. This modular architecture is particularly scalable and flexible as it allows for the integration of different reference ontologies of linguistic annotations in order to overcome the absence of a consensus for an ontology of linguistic terminology. Our proposal originates from three lines of research from different fields: research on annotation type systems in UIMA; the ontological architecture OLiA, originally developed for sustainable documentation and annotation-independent corpus browsing, and the ontologies of the OntoTag model, targeted towards the processing of linguistic annotations in Semantic Web applications. We describe how UIMA annotations can be backed up by ontological specifications of annotation schemes as in the OLiA model, and how these are linked to the OntoTag ontologies, which allow for further ontological processing.


Purpose: Diagnostic screening of the BRCA1/2 genes in breast cancer families is mostly done on genomic DNA. For families with a very strong family history and no mutation identified in the coding sequences or the exon–intron boundaries, BRCA1/2 transcripts' analysis is an efficient approach to uncover gene inversion and pre-mRNA splicing defaults missed by conventional DNA-based protocols. Experimental Design: We analyzed RNA from patients of negative BRCA families by reverse transcriptase PCR and identified an insertion in one family that we characterized by sequencing and by using a minigene splicing assay. More than 2,000 additional BRCA1/2 negative families were subsequently screened for this mutation using a dedicated PCR approach. Results: Nine families were found to harbor a BRCA2 mutant transcript containing a 95-nucleotide cryptic exon between exons 12 and 13. This cryptic exon results from a new mutation located deep into intron 12, c.6937+594T > G, which reinforces the strength of a preexisting 5′ splice site, turning it into a perfect consensus sequence. It is systematically included in transcripts produced by the mutant allele in cells from mutation carriers or produced by a mutant splicing reporter minigene. The inclusion of the cryptic exon was prevented when we cotransfected the minigene with antisense oligonucleotides complementary to the 3′ or mutated 5′ splice sites. Conclusion: This first deep intronic BRCA mutation emphasizes the importance of analyzing RNA to provide comprehensive BRCA1/2 diagnostic tests and opens the possibility of using antisense therapy in the future as an alternative strategy for cancer prevention. Clin Cancer Res; 18(18); 4903–9. ©2012 AACR.


African Americans (AAs) who have PCa typically have more aggressive disease and make up a disproportionate number of the disease deaths, relative to European Americans (EAs). TMPRSS2 translocations, a common event in EA patients, are exploited in diagnostic and prognostic settings, whereas they are diminished in frequency in AA men. Thus, these patients with TMPRSS2 fusion-negative disease represent an under-investigated patient group. We propose that epigenetic events are a significant and alternative driver of aggressive disease in fusion-negative PCa. To reveal epigenetically governed microRNAs (miRNAs) that are enriched in fusion-negative disease and associated with aggressive in AA PCa, we leveraged both our experimental evidence and publically available data. These analyses identified 18 miRNAs that are differentially altered in fusion-negative disease, associated with DNA CpG methylation, and implicated in aggressive and AA PCas. Understanding the relationships between miRNA expression, upstream epigenetic regulation by DNA methylation, and downstream regulation of mRNA targets in fusion negative disease is imperative to understanding the biological basis of the racial health disparity in PCa.


Theoretical description of phase discretization and quantization is provided for coaputer generated optical eleients (CGOK). Suitable estiiations of seanaquared and iaxiaui aberrations, Strehl nuaber and aean wavefront deviation are derived in dependence of discretization and quantization paraieters. A diffractive aberration corrector for thin len5 and also phase diffractive coipensator for aspheric wavefront foriation are investigated as exasples, 1 . PROBLEM OF CGOE D ISCRETI ZAT ION AND QUANTI ZAT ION. Wide-range possibilities of coaputer generated holograis and optical eleients1' are soietiies liiited by discretization of their phase transfer function. The known aethods for studying phase nonlinearities treat quantization as a superposition of iany diffraction orders but do not take discretization into account. In this paper coibined studying of discretization and quantization is perforied for siooth phase functions such as of zoned phase plates, coipensators, Fresnel lenses and siiilar type CGOK. Digital holography applications provide us coiputer generated optical elesents including kinoforis' with purely phase-type t'ransfer function r (t) exp{L.treod25rrrt (p(a)] (1) where • : (u,v) are 2-D Cartesian coordinates in the CGOI's plane, 'f (ii) is the phase shift perforied in point IT, iod2,,,tf ) is the value of 'p the aodulo (2ira), 1:1 or another positive nuiber. Coiputer-aided design of CGOK includes calculation of digital saiples for 'P function brought to [O,2%a) interval, driving suitable nak generator to access grey-level or binary iasks. Grey-level iasks used in bleaching or photopolyaer technology yield a CGO with variable iicrorelief thickness. Optical lithography with a set of binary aasks or iulti-stepped electron-beaw lithography yields aulti-level COOK described by quantization of 'P . Raster scanning iask generator set up all saska iI the field G fros so called resolution cells G7that are centered in i;point, enuierated by double index 1 : (i,,i) froi J set and obey the equations Q=,U G; , &!;flp=O if T (2) Mask's spatial resolution is fully deteriined by the size of cell. This is the way that discretization of takes place and results in piecewise approxiiation of 1'. Thus discretization and quantization are specific for CGOK and cannot be resoved. It should be noted that quantization take place also in holographic optical elesents lithographically fabricated fro. physical holograss used as aasks. Next parts of this paper are placed in the following sequence. For the first, zoie iatheaatical iodel is presented for phase discretization and quantization in CGOK. For the second, phase fluctuations are evaluated only on the CGOK's plane. For the third CGOK's light field is transforied to the plane at a soie distance fros CGOK's plane, soae characteristic are evaluated in general case and for such applications as iiage foriation and aspheric wavefront foraing.


Pentopril (CGS 13945) was administered in 125‐mg capsules to eight healthy men on two occasions according to a randomized schedule; on one occasion in the fasting state and on the other occasion immediately following the ingestion of a standardized meal. Unlike captopril, a prototype angiotensin‐converting‐enzyme inhibitor, there was no significant difference in the peak plasma concentration for either the drug or its active metabolite (CGS 13934) between the fasting and the fed states. There was also no appreciable change in the area under the plasma curve for the drug and its metabolite after administration of drug in the presence of food compared with a fasting state. There was, however, a lag time in drug absorption after ingestion of food, which resulted in a significant increase in peak time for the active metabolite in plasma. Food delays the body's absorption of the drug and hence the appearance of its active metabolite in plasma without any significant effect on the relative bioavailability. Because relative bioavailability is not affected in the presence of food, such a delay may not have any therapeutic importance on chronic administration.


A number of tightly regulated proteolytic enzyme systems, including the plasminogen activation cascade and matrix metalloproteases, play integral roles in the remodelling of extracellular matrices during pregnancy and parturition. This study assessed these labour-associated changes in protease activity in human gestational tissues. Amnion, choriodecidua and placenta collected from women before (at caesarean section, not in labour), during (at caesarean section, in labour) and after (spontaneous-onset labour, normal vaginal delivery) labour were examined on gelatin-substrate SDS-PAGE zymography. All tissues displayed major 55 kDa plasminogen-dependent activity that was abolished by the serine protease inhibitors (10 mmol phenylmethyl-sulphonylfluoride l-1, 100 mmol epsilon aminocaproic acid l-1, 1 mmol Glu-Gly-Arg chloromethylketone l-1). The enzymic activity was identified as urokinase plasminogen activator on the basis of its co-migration with reference standard and western blot analysis, and did not vary with labour status. An additional protease with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 90 kDa was detected in all tissues. Densitometric measurement of these tissues showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in this enzyme activity with labour onset. Heavy metal chelators (1 mmol 1.10 phenanthroline l-1 and 10 mmol EDTA l-1) selectively blocked the 90 kDa activity, consistent with the proposal that it is a metalloprotease. Co-migration with reference standard and western blot analysis confirmed the identity of this protease as the matrix metalloprotease 9 (MMP-9). Immunoreactive MMP-9 protein was also significantly (P < 0.05) increased during and after labour compared with before labour in all tissues examined. It is proposed that the upregulated expression of MMP-9 is involved in fetal membrane rupture and placental separation during and after labour onset, respectively. In conclusion, the regulated repertoire of protease activities expressed by human gestational tissues implies an important role for matrix-degrading enzymes during human parturition.


Abstract Deforestation, agriculture, farmyard animal husbandry, and urbanization are known to be the main causes of biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. The present study evaluated the role of anthropization in modulating Muscidae (Diptera) assemblages in the Humid Chaco ecoregion of Argentina, by testing the biotic homogenization and intermediate disturbance hypotheses. The study focused on natural, rural, and urban habitats in San Lorenzo Department, Chaco Province, where sarcosaprophagous muscid flies were surveyed. A total of 1,343 muscid flies were captured and identified to 7 genera and 24 species and morphospecies. We observed the effect of anthropization on the structuring of the assemblages and the presence of exotic species associated with human activity resulting from biotic homogenization. The highest abundance was recorded in the urban habitat, while the highest species richness and diversity (Shannon-Wienner and Hill's numbers) were found in the rural habitat, supporting the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. Several species are classified as indicators of habitat as well as according to their index of synanthropy. Our results provide valuable information about the use of sarcosaprophagous muscids as indicators of disturbance of natural habitats and about possible health risks related to this family of Calyptratae flies previously unsurveyed in northeastern Argentina. This information could be used in the ecological, agronomy, sanitary, and forensic fields. Graphical Abstract


Occasionally a vertical strip of muscle is seen at the lateral border of sternum, which is named as 'Rectus sternalis (sternalis) muscle'. This muscle is considered as part of the vertical strip of muscles (strap muscles present from chin to pubis). A rare case of unilateral right sided sternalis muscle was found during routine dissection of human male cadaver at Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally. The early detection of this variant muscle is necessary for assessing in radiological examination. Here by we report a case of right unilateral rectus sternalis muscle. Knowledge of variations occurring in the muscular system is of great importance to the surgeons and professionals who works with imaging. An unusual variation in chest wall rectus sternalis, it can be confused for a mass on mammography, but confusion revolved by computerised tomography/magnatic resonance imaging. It has unclear embryonic origin, perhaps a remnant of the panniculus carnosus. It is an unusal muscle found occasionally in the anterior part of the thorax. This variation was found in a male cadaver during routine dissection, it belongs to a muscle of pectoral group. It was found in 8% of population. This muscle is called as rectus sternalis, rectus means straight; it lies parallel to the lateral border of sternum on right side, absent in left side. It is an accessory muscle of the chest wall; it is useful for reconstruction of the neck, chest, abdomen, and perhaps even other places. At last, sternalis may be nothing more than misplaced developed muscle tissue, arising from variable sources in a localised region at the anterior thorax, and serving no apparent function but to be fuddle diagnosticians. Therefore, familiarity of the sternalis only broadens the surgeon's knowledge of variations of chest wall anatomy but also provides reconstructive operations (when present) for wounds in the chest wall as well as adjacent regions. It may be bilateral (or) unilateral. It is a rare variation.


This paper quantifies the effects of discrepancies between local supply and demand for skills on wages, employment, and mobility rates of laid-off workers. I propose the concept of local skill remoteness to capture the degree of dissimilarity between the skill profiles of workers and jobs in a local labor market. I implement a measure of local skill remoteness at the occupation-city level, and find that higher skill remoteness at layoff is associated with lower re-employment rates and lower wages upon re-employment. Earnings differences between the top and bottom skill remoteness quartiles amount to a loss of 15% of the median worker's annual income and persist for at least two years. Skill-remote workers also have a higher probability of changing occupation, a lower probability of being re-employed at jobs with similar skill profiles, a higher propensity to migrate to another city and, conditional on migration, a higher likelihood of becoming less skill-remote. Motivated by this evidence, I develop a search-and-matching model with two-sided heterogeneity that provides a natural framework to interpret my skill remoteness measure. I use a calibrated version of the model to show that subsidies to on-the-job training lower the average skill remoteness of unemployed workers, thus the aggregate unemployment rate. The marginal benefit of such a policy is increasing in the level of unemployment.


ARHI is a novel tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 1p31. Downregulation of ARHI expression has been detected in many types of cancer. However, the effects of ARHI in gastric cancer remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between ARHI expression and gastric cancer clinicopathological features. In this study, 81 pT2 stage gastric cancer specimens were subclassified by pT2a and pT2b stage. ARHI mRNA and protein levels were evaluated by real-time PCR and western blot analysis, respectively. Methylation plays an important role in suppressor gene silencing. We utilized methylation-specific PCR to identify the status of CpG islands in the ARHI gene. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the expression of the protein and analyzed clinicopathological features. The levels of ARHI mRNA in gastric cancer were lower compared to normal tissues (P<0.01). Similarly, the levels of ARHI protein in the cancer specimens were lower (P<0.05). DNA hypermethylation was identified in 79.1% of gastric cancer specimens without ARHI expression. Immunohistochemistry results were significantly correlated with the pT2 category (P<0.05). The cumulative survival rate of patients with ARHI expression was significantly higher compared to those without ARHI expression (P<0.05). ARHI as a suppressor is not only an important factor in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer, but also a potential factor for tumor aggravation. ARHI expression in gastric cancer can be employed to indicate favorable prognosis for the disease.


The element added diamond-like carbon films (hydrogen, fluorine, and sulfur) fabricated from C2H2:H2, C2H2:CF4 and C2H2:SF6 mixtures were used to study the effects of element contents on the spin density (ESR) and their relation to the changes in the structure of the DLC films deposited by PBII and RF-CVD method. The Raman spectroscopy was represented along with the ESR. The results indicate that the ESR spin density and g value of H-DLC, F-DLC, and S-DLC films deposited by PBII method decreases with element addition, attributed to the dangling bond was strongly observed after element addition. The Raman G peak position shifts towards higher, while the ID/IG intensity ratio increases with element addition and changes of bias voltage. For H-DLC films deposited by RF-CVD method, the spin density and g value decreases, the G peak shifts toward higher and ID/IG intensity ratio increases with hydrogen addition, that similar to H-DLC films deposited by PBII method. The ID/IG intensity ratio increases with hydrogen addition, indicating that the number of sp2 graphitic clusters of aromatic rings increases in the structure, and the decrease of spin density is correlated to the increase of the paramagnetic centers in the sp2-bonded graphite-like carbon structures, indicating to the spins originate mainly from the sp2 sites in the graphite-like carbon structures.


By incorporating the flavour-dependent quark-antiquark annihilation amplitude into the mass-squared matrix describing the mixing of the isoscalar states of a meson nonet, the new version of Schwinger's nonet mass formula, which holds with a high accuracy for the 0(-+), 1(--), 2(++), 2(-+) and 3(--) nonets, is derived and the mixing angle of the isoscalar octet-singlet for these nonets is obtained. In particular, the mixing angle of the isoscalar octet-singlet for the pseudoscalar nonet is determined to take the value of -12.92 degrees, which is in agreement with the value range from -13 degrees to -17 degrees deduced from a rather exhaustive and up-to-date analysis of data. It is also pointed out that the omission of the flavour-dependent q (q) over bar annihilation effect might be a factor resulting in the invalidity of Schwinger's original nonet mass formula for the pseudoscalar nonet.


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This contribution analyzes the origin and creation of Denmark's tax treaty network in a historical perspective. The development of the Danish treaty network is studied through an international perspective and by discussing a number of milestone events. It is concluded that the general tendency has pointed toward a continuously growing Danish treaty network and also that the question on abuse of the treaties has become of greater concern during the past decades. Moreover, it is argued that the growing number and importance of Denmark's tax treaties over time created a need for the Danish parliament to be more directly involved in the conclusion of new tax treaties.


The fourth Intensive Study Program (ISP) of MIT's Neurosciences Research Program was held in the summer of 1977. Previous volumes developed from ISPs have formed focal points in the evolution of the field of neuroscience, and the present volume continues this tradition of excellence. It differs from its predecessors, however, in that the entire ISP was based on the exploration of a single concept: local circuit interaction, structural (cellular), electrical, and chemical.From the beginning of modern brain research, emphasis has been put on long-range interactions, because the long-tract axons that carry relatively long-distance messages and the synapses they make upon dendrites and neuronal cell bodies have been relatively accessible to study. Recently attention has been focused on the important role of neuronal "local circuits, " emphasizing dendrites and dendrodendritic synaptic interaction between neurons whose axons may be short or completely absent. The most interesting brain activities--those thought to be concerned with higher functions--occur in the neuropil where myriad axons synapse on fine dendrites of intrinsic neurons of the cortex, and it is here that local circuitry is found.The emphasis on local circuitry does not mean that the ISP was narrower in overall scope than previous ISPs. Chemical, physiological, and anatomical aspects of the subject were all discussed. An entire day was devoted to the retina, because this neural tissue offers a good example of purely local circuit interactions. Models of neuronal networks were introduced, as were detailed models of the cell surface and of stages leading to the growth and interaction of neurons. And at the end a hypothesis was advanced to show how all of this might apply to higher brain functions (learning, memory, perception, awareness, consciousness)."The Neurosciences: Fourth Study Program" consists of 68 chapters divided into the following sections: Keynote Papers; Introduction to Local Circuits; Elements of Retinal Function; Spikeless and Electronic Information Processing; Structural Aspects of Local Circuits; General Principles of Neuronal Integration; High-Sensitivity Transduction; Membrane Dynamics and Cellular Interaction; Chemical Regulation and Transduction; Phosphorylation and Ion Transport; Regulation of Gene Expression in the Nervous System; Modulators and Effectors of Neuronal Interaction; and A Theory of Higher Brain Function.


As the development of tidal turbines attracts more and more attention in recent years, reliable design and efficient control of tidal turbines are becoming increasingly important. However, the majority of existing tidal turbines still utilize traditional fixed ratio geared transmissions and the associated control designs focus on simple feedback controllers that use measurements or possibly estimates of the turbine itself or current local tidal profile. Therefore, the measurement and control are inevitably affected by the inherent delay with respect to the current tidal speeds. This paper proposes a novel tidal turbine with continuously variable speed hydrostatic transmissions and a nonlinear predictive controller that uses short-term predictions of the approaching tidal speed field to enhance the maximum tidal power generations when the tidal speed is below the rated value. The controller is designed based on an offline finite-horizon continuous time minimization of a cost function, and an integral action is incorporated into the control loop to increase the robustness against parameter variations and uncertainties. A smooth second order sliding mode observer is also designed for parameter estimations in the control loop. A 150 kW tidal turbine with hydrostatic transmission is designed and implemented. The results demonstrate that the averaged generator power increases by 6.76% with this preview based nonlinear predictive controller compared with a classical non-predictive controller.


Context. In the last few years, the outskirts of galaxy clusters have been studied in detail and the analyses have brought up interesting results such as indications of possible gas clumping and the breakdown of hydrostatic, thermal, and ionization equilibrium. These phenomena affect the entropy profiles of clusters, which often show deviations from the self-similar prediction around R 200 . However, significant uncertainties remain for groups of galaxies. In particular the question, of whether entropy profiles are similar to those of galaxy clusters. Aims. We investigated the gas properties of the galaxy group UGC 03957 up to 1.4 R 200 ≈ 1.4 Mpc in four azimuthal directions with the Suzaku satellite. We checked for azimuthal symmetry and obtained temperature, entropy, density, and gas mass profiles. Previous studies point to deviations from equilibrium states at the outskirts of groups and clusters and so we studied the hydrodynamical status of the gas at these large radii. Methods. We performed a spectral analysis of five Suzaku observations of UGC 03957 with ~138 ks good exposure time in total and five Chandra snapshot observations for point source detection. We investigated systematic effects such as point spread function and uncertainties in the different background components, and performed a deprojection of the density and temperature profile. Results. We found a temperature drop of a factor of ~3 from the center to the outskirts that is consistent with previous results for galaxy clusters. The metal abundance profile shows a flat behavior towards large radii, which is a hint for galactic winds as the primary ICM enrichment process. The entropy profile is consistent with numerical simulations after applying a gas mass fraction correction. Feedback processes and AGN activity might be one explanation for entropy modification, imprinting out to larger radii in galaxy groups than in galaxy clusters. Previous analyses for clusters and groups often showed an entropy flattening or even a drop around ~ R 200 , which can be an indication of clumping or non-equilibrium states in the outskirts. Such entropy behavior is absent in UGC 03957. The gas mass fraction is well below the cosmic mean but rises above this value beyond R 200 , which could be a hint for deviations from hydrostatic equilibrium at these large radii. By measuring the abundance of the α -elements Si and S at intermediate radii we determined the relative number of different supernovae types and found that the abundance pattern can be described by a relative contribution of 80%−100% of core-collapse supernovae. This result is in agreement with previous measurements for galaxy groups.


Low altitude microburst wind shear would do harm to aircrafts' takeoff and landing. In order to analyze flight safety and advise better escape strategies, a mathematical model was built with high fidelity by a vortex ring based microburst model and a flight dynamics model with wind effects. A human pilot model which can describe characteristics of pilots such as skills, experiences, emotion, etc was embedded into the dynamics model. Since the key parameters of the microburst wind shear model and pilot model were set to be stochastic, the Monte Carlo method was adopted to obtain a numerical approximation of the probability density function of the minimum altitude and the F-factors for flight safety analysis.


We report new results on the electron spin resonance of single walled carbon nanotubes, peapods and double walled carbon nanotubes. A small ESR line is present in well purified samples and its temperature dependence reveals a striking 'super‐Curie' paramagnetic rise. In addition, we identify a narrower line in peapod and DWNT samples, which displays similar behavior. The linewidth of both inner and outer species are metallic and the outer tube's resonance broadens upon growth of the inner tubes. We observe a sudden decrease of relaxation rate below 20 K, in accordance with the opening of a spin‐gap. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The study attempts to investigate the availability, accessibility and utilization of health care services in a rural area. The study has been conducted in one of the rural areas (Ndwedwe) in the Province of KwaZulu Natal (Durban) near the town called Verulam. The Ndwedwe area consists of a population of about 170 000 and the number of households is hard even to estimate because of the geographical setting of the area. The study has been conducted at the centre of the entire area called Ndwedwe central w!:lere the Ndwedwe municipality is located. Most of the people spend most of the time in this area because it has most of the services that are needed by the community. The questionnaires administered and the interviews conducted were systematic because in all the sixteen areas, interviews were conducted (at least two ihterview encounters in one area consisting of the entire Ndwedwe area) and questionnaires were administered the same way. The findings show that the majority of people in the Ndwedwe area do not have enough health care service institutions and the very services are not equally and evenly distributed amongst areas that constitute the entire Ndwedwe area.


In the rat liver epithelial cell line, WB, the ability of TGF-beta 1 to inhibit DNA synthesis was shown to correlate with its ability to inhibit phosphorylation of the protein product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene, pRb. When WB cells were serum-starved, then refed with serum-containing medium, a peak of DNA synthesis occurred at about 18 h. Autoradiographs showed that 43.6% of cell nuclei could be labeled with 3H-thymidine at this time. When TGF-beta 1 was added simultaneously with serum, it blocked DNA synthesis and reduced the number of labeled nucleii to 6.3%. Cells treated with serum alone for 18 h also showed a pronounced increase in the highly phosphorylated form of pRb, as shown by mobility shifts in immunoblots, and in active phosphorylation of pRb, as shown by 32P incorporation. Simultaneous addition of TGF-beta 1 with serum abolished both 32P incorporation into pRb and its mobility shift on immunoblots. The effect of TGF-beta 1 on DNA synthesis measured at 18 h was sharply reduced if the cells were incubated with serum for 8 h (and thus allowed to enter S) before the addition of TGF-beta 1. If TGF-beta 1 was added after 8 h of serum treatment, its ability to inhibit pRb phosphorylation at 18 h was unchanged. If TGF-beta 1 was added after 13 h of serum treatment, its effects on pRb phosphorylation were reduced. Thus, as the cell population moved into S, the ability of TGF-beta 1 to inhibit both pRb phosphorylation and DNA synthesis was lost. In higher passages of WB cells the dose-response for inhibition of DNA synthesis by TGF-beta 1 was shifted to the right. Inhibition of pRb phosphorylation by TGF-beta 1 was also lost in higher passage WB cells. Thus, the passage-dependent loss of sensitivity to inhibition of DNA synthesis accompanied the loss of sensitivity to inhibition of pRb phosphorylation. Since the phosphorylation of pRb is believed to be required for the progression of cells from G1 to S, inhibition of pRb phosphorylation may be either a cause or a consequence of the G1 arrest of WB cells by TGF-beta 1.


Obesity levels continue to climb worldwide, but high income countries have managed to mitigate some of the harmful effects by achieving impressive reductions in blood pressure and cholesterol concentrations over the past 30 years.

These findings come from a vast amount of data gathered from every country in the world by the Global Burden of Metabolic Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases Collaborative Group and published in three reports in the Lancet (www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)62037-5/abstract).

The data show that in 2008 one in three adults in the world was overweight (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) and one in nine adults was obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). Since 1980 the average body mass index (BMI) has increased in all regions, but now middle income countries have caught up with high income countries. The highest levels of obesity in the world are found in Pacific Island nations.

The research, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, shows that systolic blood pressure is currently highest in low income and middle income countries. Between 1980 and 2008 mean systolic blood pressure declined markedly in high income countries by 7.3 mm Hg, whereas it increased in …


In thermal manufacturing processes performed by a localized, sequentially moving heat source, simultaneous regulation of multiple thermal quality characteristics requires real-time control of the temperature field developed through the distributed heat input on the part surface. Such control of the thermal field to a desired distribution employs infrared sensing and feedback of the surface temperature hill, to modulate the torch power and motion in-process. The torch trajectory is guided in real time by an efficient optimization algorithm based on the concept of moving complexes. This distributed-parameter control strategy is developed using a numerical simulation model of thermal processing, and its performance is evaluated experimentally in heat treatment of thin stainless steel plates. The thermal controller is applied to the new scan welding process, in which it drives the torch in a reciprocating motion along the weld, yielding a uniform and smooth temperature field, and thus a favorable material structure and mechanical properties. Application of such thermal control to various other material processing methods is also investigated.


The performance of 10 crossbred cattle and 10 crossbred carabaos, with each group having an average age of 22 months were evaluated in a 180-day feeding trial. The two groups of animals were fed at 3% of their live weight (L W) with the same ration consisting of corn silage (50%), brewer's spent grain (30%) and concentrate supplement (20%). The digestibilities of the different nutrients were likewise determined. The two species did not differ in voluntary dry matter intake (VDMI) when expressed as % of LW and metabolic BW (gDMI/W kg 0.75), as well as in average daily gain (ADG). During the first feeding period (1-90 days), the ADG of carabao was 1,066g while that of cattle, 940g. In the second feeding period (91-180 days), the ADG were 630g in cattle and 591g in carabao. Except for crude protein, digestion coefficients of the different nutrients were similar in cattle and carabao. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) were 58.84% in cattle and 57.37% in carabao. The return over feed cost was comparable for crossbred cattle and carabao during the first 90 days of feeding. Overall return over feed cost was higher for cattle than for carabao for the whole feeding period. Results showed that crossbred carabao can attain growth rate similar to cattle under intensive system, using high quality feeds.


Genetic factors seem to play an important role in the development of Parkinson's disease. The degeneration of the sustantia nigra, characteristic of this disease, might be due to the toxic effect of substances derived from cellular metabolism. The CYP2D6 gene codifies for the metabolising enzyme debrisoquie-4-hydroxilase involved in the detoxification of part of these products. The presence of determinate mutations in the gene implies a lack of enzymatic activity and generates the "poor metaboliser" phenotype. By means of the PCR-RFLP technique, the presence of the genetic mutations CYP2D6 3, CYP2D6 4, CYP2D6 6 and CYP2D6 8 has been analysed in a group of 46 patients with PD and in 54 controls, with the aim of studying the possible value of genotype CYP2D6 as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease in the population of Navarra. The alleles CYP2D6 3, 6 and 8 are not represented in the sample studied. We have not obtained a greater presence of CYP2D6 4 mutations in the patients with respect to the controls (30.43% vs. 44.44%). There is no correlation between Parkinson's disease and the presence of CYP2D6 4 mutations (odds ratio 0.55; 95% CI 0.24 to 1.25), in homozygosis (odds ratio 0.38; 95% CI 0.04 to 3.76) or in heterozygosis (odds ratio 0.62; 95% CI 0.27 to 1.44). In conclusion, the genotype CYP2D6 does not constitute a risk factor in PD.


ABSTRACT Epistemic systems are social processes generating judgments of truth and falsity. I outline a mathematical theory of epistemic systems that applies widely. Areas of application include pure science, torture, police forensics, espionage, auditing, clinical medical testing, democratic procedure, and the market economy. I examine torture and police forensics in relative detail. This paper is an exercise in comparative institutional epistemics, which considers how the institutions of an epistemic system influence its performance as measured by such things as error rates and the volume of judgments generated.


Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common form of vasculitis of the adult. General practitioners (GPs) are usually the first physicians who take care of GCA patients. In this study, the awareness of GPs from Genoa, Italy, regarding GCA was investigated by a web-based survey. A web-based questionnaire was sent by mail to 775 Italian GPs. It included 12 multiple choice questions regarding practice seniority, practice population size, number of GCA patients followed, and GPs' diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Of the 775 GPs involved, 76 (9.8%) answered. Thirty-three/75 (44%) declared that they did not see patients with GCA and the remaining 42 (56%) that they diagnose between one and two patients per year. New headache onset was the presenting feature of GCA for the majority of GPs (78.3%). GCA was diagnosed on the basis of clinical presentation alone by 35.2% of them, of temporal artery biopsy by 49.3%, and by imaging, including ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, by 15.5%. The referral pattern was mainly toward rheumatologists (68.5%). Only 27.8% GPs declared they start treatment at the first clinical suspicion, with the others waiting for laboratory and imaging examinations or specialist consultation. The doses of glucocorticoids used were in keeping with current guidelines. The management of GCA by GPs from Genoa is in general correct, with the exceptions of excessive confidence in headaches for diagnosis and of the timing of GC initiation. These points suggest that a program of information and education for GPs is warranted.


The main aim of this article is to introduce the Wii Balance Board in the evaluation of static computed posturography. Posturography is a general term that covers all the techniques used to quantify postural control in upright stance in either static or dynamic conditions. This study focused on static posturography only. Static posturography is carried out by placing the patient in a standing posture on a fixed instrumented platform connected to sensitive detectors, which are able to detect the tiny oscillations of the body. Though the Wii Balance Board was originally designed as a video game controller, obtained results show that Wii Balance Board can become a device useful for assessing center of pressure displacement in medical examinations. The considerable benefits of using the Wii Balance Board are also its portability and low price. Key-Words: posturography, Wii Balance Board, vertigo, balance, Romberg test, medical examinations.


Detailed information on life history and ecology is essential for successful conservation and management. However, we have relatively little detailed data on the life history and ecology of most small lizard species, relative to other vertebrates, especially those that have undergone recent taxonomic changes. We studied the ecology of the elegant snake-eyed skink (Cryptoblepharus pulcher), a lizard that occurs on trees, fences, walls, and rock outcroppings in eastern Australia that spans temperate to tropical environments. In our temperate-zone study population living in natural habitat, individuals are active year-round, and gravid females were found during the months of September through December. Sexual maturity is reached in 12 months, lifespan is at least three years, and clutch size is typically two eggs. In laboratory incubation experiments, larger eggs were more likely to hatch. Low incubation temperatures (averaging 23 ± 7.5°C versus high temperatures averaging 26 ± 7.5°C) increased incubation duration significantly (range 56–72 days versus 40–51 days) and reduced the body size of hatchlings significantly (17.8 mm versus 18.7 mm snout–vent length). Skinks sheltered beneath small rocks that were not shared simultaneously with predatory snakes, and that reached average temperatures that were up to 3°C warmer during the day than unused rocks. Preferred microhabitats include substrates of rock or soil, and the largest rocks were occasionally shared by up to four individuals of all body size/sex combinations (5.8% of observations were shared, 30.2% of individual rocks were shared). Our study expands upon knowledge of the widespread genus Cryptoblepharus by providing detailed life history and ecological information on C. pulcher that can serve as a baseline for future studies.


The purpose of this article is to mark the centenary of the birth of John Todd, a pioneer in the fields of numerical analysis and computational science. A brief account is given of his early life and career, and that of his wife, Olga Taussky, including experiences during World War II that led to him engaging with the then developing field of numerical analysis. Some of his contributions to the field, and the contexts in which they arose, are described.


Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary area in which polymeric nanofibers have been exploited either as scaffolds or wound dressings. This chapter overviews the use of versatile electro-hydrodynamic processing techniques for developing antimicrobial nanofibrous mats derived from polymeric biocomposites. The influence of well-known antimicrobial nanoparticles on the physical properties of precursory polymeric solution is discussed, and the consequences of their variations on several important morpho‐ logical parameters, namely average fiber diameter and orientation, porosity, pore size, among others, are considered. Moreover, other specific properties of composite fibers conferred by the nanoparticles are reviewed as well as their use toward the design of multifunctional polymeric mats.


Internationalization drives and export orientation are prominent in the organizational strategies of a number of leading Indian firms and multinationals located in India. This is a significant indicator of the growing competitiveness of firms, industries, and the nation. This paper examines the sources of competitive advantage in a few selected sectors and firms and explores the internationalization possibilities and potential. International marketing strategies are complex and tend to vary widely across nations, industries, and firms. The elements that form the ingredients of international strategies are numerous and their importance is tightly interwoven to contexts. With a view to enrich the existing body of international marketing theory, the authors investigate the international marketing strategies adopted in 12 different business sectors in India in an attempt to explore and explain the similarities and differences found in this varied set of industries. The examples span the old economy industries such as the assembly and manufacturing enterprises that are both skill-and capital-intensive and also the new economy sectors that are information-intensive. This study is exploratory in nature and offers a classification scheme using case research methodology, grounded theory approach, and modeling techniques. The five-cluster classification (visual map) may prove to be useful in many strategic and tactical ways. This classification scheme or typology can influence both the design and the execution of international marketing strategies. This schema may also offer empirical support to strategic management theories that focus on diversification into related businesses downstream. Another key contribution of the paper is the application of a combination of methodologies that yields new insights. A third contribution is the formulation of a link to quantification and modeling to enable qualitative researchers to lend analytical rigour in their attempts at theory generation. On the practical front, marketers can leverage the understanding gained from using the classification scheme contained in this study in designing and implementing international marketing strategies by paying appropriate attention to important dimensions in order to achieve desired outcomes. A few managerial implications of the study are as follows: International marketing requires a multi-faceted strategic approach. Continuous value creation and delivery should be the focus of strategies. Flexibility is as important as commitment. The 12 variables identified in the study should be examined to look for harmonious balance and their ability to continue to provide competitive edge. Thinking in terms of the 12 variables and/or their underlying dimensions individually and collectively while formulating and implementing international marketing strategies can help managers uncover the similarities and differences across business sectors. The suggested typology helps in revealing connections that bind businesses across disparate sectors using a holistic approach that encompasses different aspects of international marketing strategies.


As the power dissipation of data centers challenges their scalability, architectures for interconnecting computers, or servers must simultaneously achieve high throughput at peak utilization and power consumption proportional to utilization levels. To achieve this goal, this paper proposes the use of an optical multiplane interconnection network, named space-wavelength (SW) switched architecture, able to route and switch packets between servers (on cards) and between processors within a card (or card ports). SW architecture exploits the space domain to address the destination card and the wavelength domain to address the destination port on a per-packet basis. Scalability and energy efficiency of the considered architecture are quantified and compared to typical single-plane architectures. Not only can the SW multiplane architecture achieve higher throughput by exploiting two switching domains, but its performance is shown to be highly scalable with network utilization. More importantly, higher performance is reached with an energy efficiency superior to single-plane architectures. The excellent energy efficiency is achieved using optical devices with low idle power.


Objectives A functional polymorphism leading to reduced levels of growth and differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) was recently identified as a susceptibility factor for osteoarthritis. The authors studied the potential mechanisms of GDF5 involvement in osteoarthritis using haploinsufficient Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice. Methods Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice were challenged in the collagenase-induced arthritis model, the medial meniscus destabilisation model, the papain-induced arthritis model and a treadmill running model. Bone density and subchondral bone parameters were determined using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and peripheral quantitative CT. Additional in-vitro and ex-vivo analyses studied cartilage metabolism, gait and collagen characteristics. Results Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice appeared phenotypically normal. No difference in osteoarthritis severity was found in the different models, with the exception of increased synovial hyperplasia in the joints of Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice in the treadmill model. However, in the collagenase-induced model severe joint damage was found in the contralateral joints of Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice. Gait analysis demonstrated an aberrant walking pattern in Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice. In addition, Gdf5Bp-J/+ mice have a decreased subchondral bone density and a distorted arrangement of collagen fibres in bone. Conclusions These data suggest that decreased GDF5 levels in mice can contribute to osteoarthritis development by different mechanisms including altered loading and subchondral bone changes. This highlights the importance of the joint as an organ with different tissues involved in joint disease.


Due to renewed interest in security, iris images have become a popular biometric alternative to fingerprints for human identification. However, there exist very few databases on which researchers can test iris recognition technology. We present a novel method to augment existing databases through iris image synthesis. A multiresolution technique known as reverse subdivision is used to capture the necessary characteristics from existing irises, which are then combined to form a new iris image. In order to improve the results, a set of heuristics to classify iris images is proposed. We analyze the performance of these heuristics and provide preliminary results of the iris synthesis method.


The study of communication between natural environment and humanity—ecosemiotics—often proves perplexing for ecosemioticians and environmental critics alike. For a field of study meant to bridge the gap between human and environmental sign systems, the question remains: how do we write about nature with a fundamentally anthropocentric sign system yet not alter conceptions or the reality of natural sign? Timo Maran offers nature writing as nature-text, but he severely restricts which readers may understand that nature-text based on their shared experience with the author's subject. Because all literature mediates sign, however, no amount of shared experiences between author and reader will provide an exact translation of natural sign to the reader when filtered through an author and text. By acknowledging that readers cannot have a direct interaction with the natural environment through a text, ecosemiotic literary analysis may instead focus on fictional portrayals of environmental sign that empower and elevate the ontology of the natural environment. This thesis aims to elaborate on the applicability of ecosemiotics in literary analysis, especially in regards to fantasy literature. To that end, this thesis asserts that a close analysis of "fantastic ecosemiosis"—the sign systems developed for fantasy creatures representing a fantasy realm's natural landscape—in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings illustrates the fantasy genre's capacity for subverting human-centric perceptions of signs by substituting nature-centric perceptions of those signs in their place. Although the fantasy landscape does not exist in reality, fantasy realms like Middle-earth allow readers to connect with nature-like creatures that possess communicative abilities and complex social norms just like our natural environment. Thus, Fantasy authors like Tolkien may reform anthropocentric


Abstract What roles are military institutions expected to play in today's rapidly changing security environment? How are they supposed to interact with the society they are tasked to protect? These questions have been posed by classical military sociologists as well as by a newer generation of scholars. Yet so far, a comprehensive mapping of the military's potential roles in contemporary society is missing. In this article we contribute to an update of this debate by providing a categorisation of the different roles and tasks that the military institution plays in current industrialised democratic states. We identify three core roles, each divided into subroles, by drawing on an extensive reading of 70 National White Papers and Security Strategies from 37 OECD member states: (collective) defence, collective security, and aid to the nation. We analyse how these roles and tasks influence recent configurations in civil-military relations. This study thereby contributes with: (1) a useful illustration of the military's shifting roles and tasks in contemporary society; (2) increased understandings of how the different roles impact civil-military relations and related to this; and (3) a practical starting point for further analyses of the military organisation's internal challenges related to its, at times, contradictory roles.


AIMS
To determine if the cementum on the maxillary right and left first premolars has identical physical properties.

METHODS
Ten normal maxillary first premolar teeth, extracted from five orthodontic patients with a mean age of 14.0 years, were used. The teeth had not been subjected to an orthodontic force. The hardness and elastic modulus of the cementum were measured on the buccal and lingual surfaces of the roots at three locations: cervical third, middle third and apical third.

RESULTS
There were no significant side-to-side differences in cementum hardness (Mean side-to-side difference: 0.0063 GPa; SD: 0.0279; p = 0.525) or elastic modulus (Mean side-to-side difference: -0.027 GPa; SD: 0.111; p = 0.814). The hardness and elastic modulus of the cementum decreased from cervical to apical regions on both root surfaces.

CONCLUSIONS
Similar physical properties of the cementum on the maxillary right and left first premolars suggest that intra-arch comparisons can be used to investigate root resorption caused by orthodontic forces.


Simultaneous pancreas kidney transplantation (SPK) is an established therapy for type 1 diabetics with end stage or preterminal renal disease. SPK is superior to isolated kidney transplantation (KTX) in diabetic patients. Even pancreas-re-transplantations are more common in these patients now, mostly after SPK. But Experience with SPK after KTX is rare. Between 1994 and 2003 six Re-SPK 4.5 to 8.5 years after KTX were performed in our department. Average age of the recipients was 40.5 years. They had been suffering from diabetes for an average of 29.3 years. Four recipients were on dialysis again, whereas two had preterminal renal insufficiency. Pancreas transplants were drained through the bladder (n = 1) or into the small intestine (n = 5) with systemic venous anastomosis. After a median observation period of 28 months (8 to 99 months) all six recipients are insulin free. One patient lost his kidney graft due to severe acute rejection. Therefore kidney graft survival is 83 %. Four acute rejections (66 %) were observed in 4 patients. Only one rejection was treated successfully by steroids. Two rejections could be stopped with antibodies. 3 patients had infections in the early postoperative period (sinusitis, urinary tract infection, wound infection). Even after KTX with graft failure, diabetic patients suffering from renal disease can be re-transplanted successfully with SPK.


The serine/threonine kinase, glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta), is abundant in CNS and is neuron specific. GSK3beta plays a pivotal role in the regulation of numerous cellular functions. GSK3beta phosphorylates and thereby regulates many metabolic, signaling, and structural proteins which can influence cell survival. Increased GSK3beta correlates with increased cell death, whereas reduced GSK3beta expression correlates with increased cell survival. We report that the GSK3beta inhibitor Chir025 is neuroprotective in vitro and in vivo. First, Chir025 reduced cultured hippocampal neuron death following glutamate exposure by 15-20% versus vehicle-treated controls. Second, Chir025 significantly reduced cultured cortical neuron death following oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) by approximately 50%. Third, Chir025 reduced infarct size following focal cerebral ischemia by nearly 20%. There were no significant differences in the number of TUNEL-positive neurons or in caspase-3 and -9 activities between Chir025- and vehicle-treated rats, although Chir025 elevated cytosolic Bcl-2 expression. These data show that Chir025-mediated inhibition of GSK3beta is neuroprotective and that the mechanism is probably not anti-apoptotic.


This Report Describes The Landing Gear Modeling Undertaken For Incorporation Into The Six Degree Of Freedom Simulation Software -Class. The General Equations Of Motion For Many Rigid Bodies Interacting With Each Other Are Derived In The Newtonian Formulation. These Results Are Applied To The Derivation Of The Equations Of Motion Of The Telescopic And
Articulated Landing Gears.A Complete Analysis Of The Aircraft Dynamics On The Ground Is Presented. Novel Trim Algorithms For Trimming The Aircraft On The Ground Have Been Developed. The Linearized Equations Of Motion On The Ground Are Derived And Many Important Conclusions Are Drawn Regarding The Dynamic Behavior Of Aircraft During Take-Off. The Results Are Directly Relevant To Assessment Of Handling Qualities Of Aircraft In Take-Off In The Preliminary Design Stage. In Conclusion, The Simulation Results Of A Typical Landing And Take-Off Are Presented.


A unique assemblage of hedyphane-group minerals of the apatite supergroup associated with galena, cerussite, and calcite occurs in a Permian aplite dike crosscutting orthogneisses belonging to the pre-Alpine basement of the Veĺký Zelený Potok Valley in the Veporic Unit, Western Carpathians, Central Slovakia. The secondary Ca-Pb phosphates include phosphohedyphane Ca2Pb3(PO4)3Cl and (OH)-dominant "hydroxylphosphohedyphane" Ca2Pb3(PO4)3OH. Detailed EPMA and Raman spectroscopy of the hedyphane-group minerals reveal the presence of Pb, Ca, P, and Cl as major constituents; the systematic presence of (CO3)2– (up to 2.6 wt.% CO2calc; 0.65 apfu C) substituting for (PO4)3– (B-type) is the first reported carbonate-bearing phosphohedyphane in nature. There is also significant localized halogen deficiency (0.38–0.49 apfu Cl+F) which suggests the potential for a new mineral, "hydroxylphosphohedyphane". The secondary assemblage described herein results from very low-temperature sulfide-carbonate reactions and further near-surface supergene alteration of primary magmatic or metamorphic phosphate minerals (mainly apatite) and hydrothermal galena in the alkaline CO2-rich groundwater.


This paper provides an explanation for why political leaders may want to adopt ideological positions and maintain them over time even in the face of conflicting evidence. We study a dynamic framework in which politicians are better informed than the voting public about an underlying state of nature that determines the desirability of a given policy measure. The issue itself is non-partisan (everybody has the same policy preferences) but voters attach ideological labels to both candidates and available policy alternatives. We show that both sides may be caught in an ideology trap: because voters expect the perceived ideology of office holders to determine their political actions, politicians are tempted to act according to their perceived ideology, resulting in political failure.


Captive African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants can experience foot pathologies and arthritis. As a preventative measure against these pathologies and to alleviate the potential discomfort due to concrete substrates, some zoological institutions have renovated elephant housing to increase the amount of natural or shock-absorbent substrates. The objective of this study was to compare behavioral (diurnal and nocturnal) and glucorticoid (e.g., serum cortisol) responses of three female African elephants before, during, and after renovation to their indoor housing floor to assess whether renovations had short-term effects on the elephants' behavior and stress physiology. Behavioral data were collected using scan-sampling methods, and activity budgets were constructed for each of the three elephants. In addition, the duration of all lying rest activities were recorded. Weekly serum cortisol concentrations were determined with enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Overall, eating was the most prevalent behavior exhibited outdoors during the day, while resting (either in a lying or standing position) were most common during the indoor, nocturnal periods. Although variation existed among the three elephants, all three females spent significantly more time walking and less time eating during the day after the completion of the renovations. The extent to which the three elephants exhibited nocturnal lying rest behavior varied among the elephants, with the oldest elephant exhibiting the least amount (an average of 13.2 ± 2.8% of the nightly behavioral scans) compared to the two younger elephants (an average of 34.5 ± 2.1% and 56.6 ± 2.8% of the nightly behavioral scans). There was a significant increase in lying rest behavior for one elephant and standing rest for a second elephant following renovations. Baseline cortisol concentrations prior to renovations were 3.0 ± 0.4 ng/ml, 4.5 ± 0.5 ng/ml, and 4.9 ± 0.5 ng/ml for the three elephants. Cortisol concentrations remained baseline for two of the elephants throughout and after the renovation period, while one elephant that was pregnant had elevated cortisol during construction. Cortisol concentrations for the pregnant elephant remained higher than baseline once she was introduced to the new flooring and allowed back into the building, but these values were closer to the cortisol concentrations before renovations than during construction. Our findings demonstrate that individual elephants can vary in their behavioral and physiological responses to exhibit modifications. Given that the elephants walked more during the day, two of the three elephants had an increase in rest behavior during the night, and there were minimal changes in cortisol response after the flooring renovations, we conclude that the flooring renovations overall had a positive impact on animal welfare.


: Behavioral and neuroscientific methods have uniquely contributed to our understanding of human mind and behavior. The advance in neuroscience and its potential implications (e.g., in legal systems) have attracted attention from both academia and society. However, researchers found that, when providing statements supported by either neuroscientific or behavioral/psychophysiological results, even if these neuroscientific results were logically irrelevant to the statements, participants still considered statements with neuroscientific results as more trustworthy. This phenomenon was termed as neuroscience bias. By systematically reviewing empirical studies on neuroscience bias, we revealed that: (1) the reproducibility of neuroscience bias was debated, but the effect exists; (2) neuroscience bias could be attributed to people's preference for the reductionism and psychological essentialism. Neuroscience bias is one of many biases people may have when interpreting scientific results; future studies should further explore the psychological mechanisms of these biases and thereby provide guidelines for correctly interpreting and using scientific results.


The compact of the mixture composed of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 ceramics powder and partially oxidized Ti powder (5.0mass% O) which was named TiO2(Ti) powder was found to show PTCR characteristic, when the compact was sintered in vacuum at 1623 K for 3.6 ks, and then heated in air at 853 K for 0.3 ks. Some properties of the sintered compacts were investigated.The results obtained were as follows; (1)Obvious PTCR characteristic developed at TiO2(Ti) contents of 5-7vol%. (2)The transformation from tetragonal structure (ferroelectric phase) to cubic structure (paraelectric phase) of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 phase in the sintered and then annealed compact was suggested to occur only near the grain boundary and surface of the (Ba, Sr)TiO3 grains. (3)The dielectric constant ratio of e ?? .540K/e ?? t was 1/8, which was below the value (1/3) of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 air-sintered compact without TiO2(Ti), (4)The oxygen content of (Ba, Sr)TiO3 phase fairly decreased with increasing TiO2(Ti) content. (5)The densification and grain growth of the compact with 5-7vol% TiO2(Ti) hardly occured by the sintering. (6)The mechanism for the development of PTCR characteristic by the addition of TiO2(Ti) was discussed, based on Heywang-Jonker's model.


Milk producers in virtually every OECD country, and in many non-OECD countries as well, benefit from government interventions. Indeed, government support and protection for milk producers is more widespread than for any of the other commodities for which the OECD calculates producer subsidy equivalents. The purpose of the analysis reported in this paper was to investigate the relative market effects of these two varieties of government intervention in milk pricing: 1) interventions through trade measures applied to dairy products and 2) discriminatory pricing arrangements. Which kind of policy creates 'dollar-for-dollar' the greater effects? This paper shows the answer to that question is - it depends. Neither economic theory by itself, nor economic theory combined with 'plausible' ranges of numerical values for key parameters is enough to say definitely one way or another. In some plausibly real-life situations domestic milk pricing arrangements can be, at the margin, more distorting than explicit trade measures. The key determining parameters include the usual suspects - the relative elasticities of fluid and manufacturing milk demand, as well as initial price gap between fluid and manufacturing milk provided by various measures and the proportion of domestic milk production used to manufacture tradable dairy products.


Caseous caseoma, echocardiographic caseous degeneration in the internal material of the mitral annulus calcification. On echocardio- graphy, the calcification is a mass with a central echolucent area, typically located at the base of the posterior leaflet, and can be mistaken for cardiac tumors or abscesses. We describe 3 patients with the condition, one of whom required surgical removal of the mass to obtain a definitive diagnosis.


Service robotics has been growing significantly in the last years, leading to several research results and to a number of consumer products. One of the essential features of these robotic platforms is represented by the ability of interacting with users through natural language. Spoken commands can be processed by a Spoken Language Understanding chain, in order to obtain the desired behavior of the robot. The entry point of such a process is represented by an Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) module, that provides a list of transcriptions for a given spoken utterance. Although several well-performing ASR engines are available off-the-shelf, they operate in a general purpose setting. Hence, they may be not well suited in the recognition of utterances given to robots in specific domains. In this work, we propose a practical yet robust strategy to re-rank lists of transcriptions. This approach improves the quality of ASR systems in situated scenarios, i.e., the transcription of robotic commands. The proposed method relies upon evidences derived by a semantic grammar with semantic actions, designed to model typical commands expressed in scenarios that are specific to human service robotics. The outcomes obtained through an experimental evaluation show that the approach is able to effectively outperform the ASR baseline, obtained by selecting the first transcription suggested by the ASR.


You can dramatically increase your profits by: Cash stream #1--extending credit and earning interest on the unpaid balance; Cash stream #2--doing all of the undone treatment in your practice; Cash stream #3--providing financing for everyone who deserves it; Cash stream #4--treating bigger cases; Cash stream #5--avoid treating deadbeats. There isn't anything I know of, which will jump start your practice as much as these five cash streams--more new patients, better case acceptance as well as increased cash flow. But you must get good at financing. You must have in place an organized, proven, financing system--just like the finance companies do.


The aim of the present work is to develop 3D finite element models of implant fixture with different wall thicknesses to predict maximum stress concentration sites and distribution contours after loading. A maximum lateral force of 150 N was applied to simulate horizontal occlusal forces. When the fixtures were constrained to simulate different boundary levels, the maximum equivalent stress (max EQV) was always located at the implant-bone interface. Max EQV increased when the wall thickness or boundary level was reduced to a certain extent. The fixture with a wall thickness of 0.97 mm demonstrated the smallest stress increase ratio when the boundary level was lowered. Our results indicated that both wall thickness and the boundary level played important roles in maintaining a well-distributed stress level within the fixture. The stress concentration decreased when the fixture wall became thicker, however, this effect was less significant when the surrounding bone level was reduced.


In this article the author follows progressive evolution in web design that has been observed in Google Maps over the last 13 years (2005–2018). The analysis includes the graphic presentation of buttons, their layout and the changes in the functionality of the website. The results of the analysis corroborate the argument that it is possible to adapt the existing concept of progressive evolution, to the needs of Internet cartography. In the process of the analysis several crucial changes were spotted, such as the fact that as a result of the technological advancement the need to scroll the map with up, down, left and down buttons disappeared, being supplanted by the dragging function. In article all the discussed changes in Google Maps as an application for desktop computers and laptops, as well as a mobile application, prove that the product has been constantly improved. In the author's opinion, the crucial aspect is to enrich the web map in the non-invasive way to make it as user-friendly and easy to use as possible. The synthetic juxtaposition allowed one to highlight the evolution, considered by the author an important feature of the non-invasive way of introducing changes. The author notes that progressive evolution on Google Maps and other internet maps will continue. It is important that the user's needs are noticed during these changes.


Diabetes mellitus is one of the uncontagious diseases with the highest mortality rate in the world. It happens because of the increased risk of complications caused by the disease. One of the preventative ways is to do early detection, one of which is by using the iridology method. The method detects damage to the body's organs through the signs that appear on the iris. The paper has introduced a Diabetes Mellitus Detection System to classify diabetes using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The proposed method removed the pupil segmentation step that is important in the traditional machine learning classification system. The squared pupil image size 720×360 pixel was trained using Adam's algorithm with a learning rate of 0.001 to develop the CNN model. The pupil image was collected using Iriscope Iris Analyzer Iridology 9822U camera. The dataset consists of 35 healthy and 14 diabetes subjects that repeat three times of each person. The proposed approach has an accuracy of 96.43% that better performance compared to traditional machine learning.


We discuss the properties of ghost and gluon propagators in L andau gauge Yang-Mills theory and their relation to the confinement problem. In general two types of infrared behavior of these functions are allowed from their functional equations: sca ling and decoupling. Both solutions show positivity violations in the gluon propagator and lead to a confining Polyakov loop potential. However, only the scaling solution agrees with the Kugo-Oji ma confinement scenario and the related formulation of a physical Hilbert space of Yang-Mil ls theory. Our numerical results for the gluon dressing function agree almost pointwise with the lattice results at all physical momenta.


The kinetic parameters of 20 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase were determined in aqueous solutions and in reversed micellar media composed with either an anionic, a cationic or a nonionic surfactant, at low and at high ionic strength. The velocity data were analysed in two ways: first by extrapolation to infinite concentrations of both substrates to determine 'apparent' Michaelis constants and V values, and secondly by comparison to reaction rates calculated using the model presented (see first of this series of papers in this issue of the journal). Data analysis according to the first method reveals some differences in the kinetic parameters in reversed micelles as compared to those in aqueous solution, though the kinetic parameters of the enzyme seem not to be much affected by enclosure in reversed micelles. It is shown that the changes that do occur are not caused by a shift of the intramicellar pH or by electrostatic interactions between the enzyme and the surfactant head groups. Interpretation of the data using the second method assumes that the enzyme is not affected by the enclosure in reversed micelles, and that deviations with respect to the aqueous parameters are caused by exchange phenomena between distinct aqueous droplets in the organic phase and by a high effective intramicellar substrate concentration. This model is able to predict reaction rates that agree rather well with experimentally determined rates and explains why the enzyme mechanism in reversed micelles is, at all progesterone concentrations used, the same as observed at high progesterone concentrations in aqueous solution. Furthermore it clarifies the occurrence of substrate inhibition in sodium-di(ethylhexyl)sulphosuccinate-reversed micelles and the observed low activity in Triton-reversed micelles, as arising from the high partition coefficient of progesterone and the slow rate of diffusion of progesterone into the reversed micelles. From these results, and those reported for enoate reductase (see preceding paper in this issue of the journal) it can be concluded that the theory presented before (see first of this series of papers in this issue of the journal) offers a good explanation for the observed kinetic behaviour in reversed micelles, and emphasizes the importance of exchange processes between micelles.


This paper uses a natural linguistics analytic approach, by studying product prelaunch events' script, to investigate the determinants of driving the product sales based on customer values framework as well as "Nextopia" consumer psychology. This research contributes to the theoretical framework of identifying the customer values, which have impacts on the product sales. Moreover, we investigate how product sales be driven by the optimism attitude and affective forecasting feeling, which are vocal during product prelease events. Through the study of analysing the essential words, which represent the underlying customer values from the script of Apple Inc. product prelaunch events, we found that product functional and experiential/ hedonic of customer values drive product sales. Induced affective forecasting message negatively moderated the impact of cost/ sacrifices values on product sales. In addition to the theoretical contributions, this research provides practical guidelines of how to shape the product prelaunch speech to maximize the sales of the to-be-released products.


Abstract. We present Van Allen Probe B observations of azimuthally limited, antisymmetric, poloidal Pc 4 electric and magnetic field pulsations in the pre-midnight sector of the magnetosphere from 05:40 to 06:00 UT on 1 May 2013. Oscillation periods were similar for the magnetic and electric fields and proton fluxes. The flux of energetic protons exhibited an energy-dependent response to the pulsations. Energetic proton variations were anticorrelated at medium and low energies. Although we attribute the pulsations to a drift-bounce resonance, we demonstrate that the energy-dependent response of the ion fluxes results from pulsation-associated velocities sweeping energy-dependent radial ion flux gradients back and forth past the spacecraft.


BACKGROUND
Melanomas with poorly defined borders, lack of pigmentation, lentiginous extension, and location in cosmetically sensitive regions represent diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Repeated surgical reexcisions are frequently required to achieve tumor-free margins. The use of reflectance mode confocal microscopy as an noninvasive method has shown to be a promising tool for diagnosing pigmented lesions in vivo.

OBSERVATIONS
We report 3 clinical cases of melanoma: amelanotic melanoma (case 1), locally recurrent melanoma (case 2), and lentigo maligna melanoma (case 3). In case 1, in vivo confocal microscopy was instrumental in making the diagnosis and in monitoring the response to imiquimod therapy for in situ residual disease. It was also used to successfully delineate preoperative surgical margins in cases 2 and 3.

CONCLUSION
As new methods for treating melanoma emerge and become more available, confocal microscopy can play a significant role by improving sensitivity in diagnosis, by increasing rates of successful initial excision, and by serving as a noninvasive means of monitoring therapy.


In South Korea, paddy rice has been consumed over the entire region and it is the main source of income for farmers, thus mathematical model for the estimation of rice yield is required for such decision-making processes in agriculture. The objectives of our study are to: (1) develop rice yield estimation model using Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN), (2) choose hyper-parameters for the model which show the best performance and (3) investigate whether CNN model can effectively predict the rice yield by the comparison with the model using Artificial Neural Networks(ANN). Weather and MODIS(The MOderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) products from April to September in year 2000~2013 were used for the rice yield estimation models and crossvalidation was implemented for the accuracy assessment. The CNN and ANN models showed Root Mean Square Error(RMSE) of 36.10kg/10a, 48.61kg/10a based on rice points, respectively and 31.30kg/10a, 39.31kg/10a based on "Si-Gun-Gu" districts, respectively. The CNN models outperformed ANN models and its possibility of application for the field of rice yield estimation in South Korea was proved.


Osteosarcoma is the most common type of human primary malignant bone tumor with a potential propensity for local invasion and distant metastasis. Thus, this study focused on the expression and roles of IRX2 in the development of osteosarcoma. The mRNA expression levels of IRX2 in tissue samples of 69 cases of human osteosarcoma were detected by a quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay. The associations between the expression levels of IRX2 and the pathological features of the tumor tissues were analyzed. Functional studies were performed by MTT and Matrigel invasion assays following IRX2 knockdown with a lentivirus vector. Western blotting was used to assay the protein expression levels of IRX2, p-AKT and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). The results revealed that the expression levels of IRX2 were significantly increased in the primary human osteosarcoma tissues compared with those in the normal tissues, and the increase was significantly correlated with the tumor progression and prognosis of the patients. Furthermore, the proliferation and invasion of the cells were suppressed following IRX2 knockdown. Additionally, the mechanism by which IRX2 promoted cell proliferation and invasion by activating AKT and MMP9 was detected. In conclusion, these results indicated that IRX2 promotes proliferation and invasion in osteosarcoma and implicated the potential of IRX2 in cancer therapy.


Reliability is a key issue of the service-oriented architecture (SOA) that is widely employed in distributed systems such as e-commerce and e-government. Redundancy based technologies are usually employed for building reliable service composition on top of unreliable Web services. This paper proposes a strategy for modeling and analyzing fault tolerant service composition. The strategy consists of service selection mechanism, service synchronization mechanism and task exception mechanism. Petri nets are used to construct different components of service composition. Once the model is constructed, theories of Petri nets help prove the consistency of processing states and reliability of the strategy. The corresponding enforcement method for constructing fault-tolerant service composition is proposed. Experiments are conducted to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the fault tolerant strategy.


This paper presents a new simplified approach for the design of dead time compensators for processes with dead time. The approach is based on a modified structure of the Smith predictor that allows to isolate the disturbance and set-point responses and thereby, providing two-degree-of-freedom control scheme. The proposed structure is easy to analyze and tune. Using an estimation of the dead time and process model of the plant, the proposed compensator has only two tuning parameters that determine the closed-loop performance and robustness. In order to evaluate the proposed compensator, a comparative analysis of robustness with the most recent algorithm proposed in the literature is presented. To demonstrate its applicability to real processes, the method is evaluated on a pilot plant.


The previous methods of reducing electricity usage within residential houses in colleges isolated the students from the process by overwhelming them with choices and decisions to make to contribute to the carbon reduction. This project examines that isolation and attempts to bring more student participation by concentrating on students to reduce energy that they are not using actively—i.e., phantom energy, or standby loads—by developing the framework within the idea of an energy competition sponsored by Lucid Design Group. Surveys of student behaviors and support for such competition was examined and compared to the amount of energy students could eliminate just by being more conscious of the energy that is being used while the appliances are plugged in and not in use. The report supports the reasoning behind the planning of the competition and installation of better metering equipment in the quadrangle dorms over the summer, and a quadrangle-wide energy competition is planned to be implemented for Spring, 2012.


Worldwide, governments are introducing several rules and standards in the aim of limiting the quantity of primary energy for air conditioning of buildings and supporting the use of renewable source of energy for generating thermal and electric energy to be utilized in buildings such as the European Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings [1]. Along with these interventions, another important action takes currently place in the building sector, that is the introduction of passive structural components of the envelope, able to reduce the requirements of energy for air conditioning purposes. Among these building components, the so-called green roofs are becoming more and more interesting for designer and buildings owners. This simple technical solution, in fact, apart its effectiveness in lowering particularly the summer cooling loads, could make more attractive the shape of each single building and, when adopted on a large extension, of an entire city district, reducing the risks for urban heat island phenomena that represent a severe problem in urban contexts. In this work, a short review of the literature models for computing the energy balance of roof coverings will be proposed, with particular reference in modelling the heat exchange of a canopy.


This review's purpose was to identify how to make Australia's welfare system fairer, more effective, coherent and sustainable and encourage people to work. Overview The review, which was led by Patrick McClure AO, provides a comprehensive analysis and set of recommendations on simplification of Australia's welfare system. It recommends an integrated approach which builds on four pillars of reform: Simpler and sustainable income support system Strengthening individual and family capability Engaging with employers Building community capacity The Government will consider the Report's recommendations and will make further decisions on these as part of a longer term vision of Australia's welfare system.


Background Understanding how managers in the NHS access and use management knowledge to help improve organisational processes and promote better service delivery is of pressing importance in health-care research. While past research has examined in some depth how managers in the NHS perform their roles, we have only limited understanding of how they access management knowledge, interpret it and adapt and apply it to their own health-care settings. Objectives This study aims to investigate how NHS middle managers encounter, adapt and apply management knowledge in their working practices and to examine the factors [particularly organisational context, career background and networks of practice (NoPs)/communities of practice (CoPs)] which may facilitate or impede the acceptance of new management knowledge and its integration with practice in health-care settings. Our research was structured around three questions: (1) How do occupational background and careers influence knowledge receptivity, knowledge sharing and learning among health-care managers? (2) How do relevant CoPs enable/obstruct knowledge sharing and learning? (3) What mechanisms are effective in supporting knowledge receptivity, knowledge sharing and learning/unlearning within and across such communities? Design and setting Three types of NHS trust were selected to provide variation in organisational context and the diversity of services provided: acute, care and specialist foundation trusts (FTs). It was expected that this variation would affect the knowledge requirements faced by managers and the networks likely to be available to them. To capture variation amongst managerial groups in each trust, a selection framework was developed that differentiated between three main cohorts of managers: clinical, general and functional. Participants After initial interviews with selected key informants and Advisory Group members, the main empirical phase consisted of semistructured interviews combined with ethnographic observation methods. A purposive, non-random sample of managers (68 in total) was generated for interview, drawn from across the three trusts and representing the three cohorts of managers. Interviews were semistructured and data was collated and analysed using NVivo 9 software (QSR International, Warrington, UK). Main outcome measures The analysis was structured around four thematic areas: context (institutional and trust), management (including leadership), knowledge and networks. The research underlines the challenges of overcoming fragmentation across a diffuse managerial CoP in health care, exacerbated by the effects of organisational complexity and differentiation. The research highlights the importance of specific training and development initiatives, and also the value of NoPs for knowledge sharing and support of managers. Results The main findings of the research stress the heterogeneity of management and the highly diverse sources of knowledge, learning, experience and networks drawn upon by distinct management groups (clinical, general and functional); the particular challenges facing general managers in establishing a distinct professional identity based around a coherent managerial knowledge base; the strong tendency for managerial knowledge – particularly that harnessed by general managers – to be more 'home grown' (localised) and experiential (as opposed to abstract and codified); and the tendency for this to be reinforced through the difficulties facing general managers in accessing and being actively engaged in wider networks of professionals for knowledge sharing, learning and support. Conclusions Management in health care is a complex and variegated activity that does not map onto a clear, unitary and distinct CoP. Improving flows of knowledge and learning among health-care managers involves taking account not just of the distinctiveness of managerial groups, but also of a number of other features. These include the complex relationship between management and leadership, alternative ways of bridging the clinical–managerial interface, the importance of opportunities for managers to learn through reflection and not mainly through experience and the need to support managers – especially general managers – in developing their networks for knowledge sharing and support. Building on the model developed in this research to select managerial cohorts, future work might usefully extend the research to other types of trust and health-care organisation and to larger samples of health-care managers, which can be further stratified according to their distinct occupational groups and CoPs. There is also scope for further ethnographic research that broadens and deepens the investigation of management using a range of observation methods. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Service and Delivery Research programme.