With the rapid development of modern precision manufacturing industry, actuators with high resolution and long stroke are needed in many application fields. Because of the unique advantages such as self-locking on the power off, compact structure, fast response etc., piezoelectric actuators have been taking place of the traditional actuators which are based on the principle of electromagnetic induction. In this research, piezoelectric stacks were utilized as driving source to propose a piezoelectric linear motor. Design requirements of this motor were presented first and the structure of the motor was proposed. By modeling its stator, the operating principle of the motor was analyzed. In order to validate the feasibility of the principle, a prototype was made. The experimental results of the prototype show that the driving foot of the prototype vibrated with elliptical trajectory while two piezoelectric stacks are applied with two sinuous voltage signals with the same frequency. When proper preload is applied between the stator and rotor, the maximum no-load velocity of the motor is 7.3mm/s, and the maximum thrust force of the motor is 6.38 N.


We examined the differences between the ground-motion estimations of local and global prediction equations and explored some seismological parameters that may explain these differences. To achieve this objective, we first derived a set of ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for estimating peak horizontal accel- eration, velocity, and pseudospectral acceleration using the recently compiled Turkish ground-motion database. The new GMPEs are comparable with the recent global GMPEs in terms of model sophistication, and they are based on a well-studied national dataset. Using global GMPEs from the Next Generation Attenuation of Ground Motions project (Power et al., 2008) and the pan-European Akkar and Bommer (2010) model, we observed that the discrepancy between local and global GMPEs is more prominent at small magnitudes provided that the GMPEs possess similar mag- nitude limits. Our more detailed comparisons with the pan-European Akkar and Bom- mer (2010) predictive model, as well as with the estimations from a combined Italian and Turkish accelerometric dataset, indicate that depth can be of importance for delineating the differences between local and global GMPEs.


Despite the growing popularity of state-of-the-art opencanal mini-BTEs, which were discussed in last month's Cover Story, and the increasing prevalence of advanced hearing aid features, the annual Hearing Journal/Audiology Online dispenser survey conducted in January found only small, inflation-appropriate increases in the average retail price of hearing aids over the past 3 years. Specifically, the average price of the hearing aids that participating dispensers reported selling in 2007 was $1986, only marginally higher than the average prices of $1912 and $1868 in 2006 and 2005, respectively. Retail pricing is just one of many topics addressed in this, the second of two articles reporting the results of the 2008 dispenser survey. The March article focused on a special section of the survey exploring the experiences and attitudes of dispensing audiologists and hearing instrument specialists related to open-canal mini-BTE hearing aids. This article reports key findings from the rest of the Internet survey, which drew valid responses from 418 hearing healthcare professionals, including 291 audiologists and 120 traditional dispensers.


Why do so many otherwise smart people make foolish financial choices? Why do investors sell stocks just before they skyrocket -- and cling to others as they plummer? Why do shoppers overspend when using credit cards rather than cash? What do our habits of tipping or buying lottery tickets indicate about our relationship with money? In this fascinating investigation of the ways we spend, invest, save, borrow, and waste money, Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich reveal the psychological causes -- the patterns of thinking and decision making -- of irrational behavior. Most important, they focus on the decisions we make every day and, using entertaining examples, provide invaluable tips on avoiding the financial faux pas that can cost thousands of dollars each year.


Abstract:Upon witnessing a circus passing the house, Dickinson "tasted life," having felt "the red" and heard drums in her mind (L318). The "exotic" animals parading under her window no doubt contributed her enrapture, but where they appear in her corpus, Dickinson grapples with her own and her culture's perceptions of and encounters with alien animals. Popular entertainments like circuses, scientific discourses, and literary representations treated foreign animals as readily apprehended in both senses of the word: at once the physical captives of America's fascination with them and objects of absolute comprehension, despite (or, indeed, because of) their mysterious exotic allure. In three poems featuring either a leopard or a tiger, Dickinson interrogates claims to intimate knowledge of the alien animal and the animal mind, and critiques speakers who presume to know the identity and interiority of "bold" big cats in order to resolve their own identity and ethical relationship to foreignness.


How loss of genetic exchanges (recombination) evolves between sex chromosomes is a long‐standing question. Suppressed recombination may evolve when a sexually antagonistic (SA) polymorphism occurs in a partially sex‐linked 'pseudoautosomal' region (or 'PAR'), maintaining allele frequency differences between the two sexes, and creating selection for closer linkage with the fully sex‐linked region of the Y chromosome in XY systems, or the W in ZW sex chromosome systems. Most evidence consistent with the SA polymorphism hypothesis is currently indirect, and more studies of the genetics and population genetics of PAR genes are clearly needed. The sex chromosomes of the plant Silene latifolia are suitable for such studies, as they evolved recently and the loss of recombination could still be ongoing. Here, we used RAD sequencing to genetically map sequences in this plant, which has a large genome (c. 3 gigabases) and no available whole‐genome sequence. We mapped 83 genes on the sex chromosomes, and comparative mapping in the related species S. vulgaris supports previous evidence for additions to an ancestral PAR and identified at least 12 PAR genes. We describe evidence that recombination rates have been reduced in meiosis of both sexes, and differences in recombination between S. latifolia families suggest ongoing recombination suppression. Large allele frequency differences between the sexes were found at several loci closely linked to the PAR boundary, and genes in different regions of the PAR showed striking sequence diversity patterns that help illuminate the evolution of the PAR.


The histone proteins that constitute the nucleosomes of chromatin around which yards of DNA are wrapped undergo a series of chemical modifications during gene activation and gene silencing. In a Perspective,
 Berger
 discusses new results (
 Nakayama
 et al .) that elucidate the sequence of reactions that modify histone H3 and how these modifications translate into gene silencing in fission yeast.


Capacitive ultrasonic transducers are widely used to generate airborne ultrasound. This paper presents an equivalent circuit for an electrostatic transducer with a V-grooved backplate. The comparison between simulation results and measurements on a prototype transducer shows that the model gives reliable results. This model is useful in many applications, for example to simulate sensors in a robot and to design ultrasonic transducer systems.<<ETX>>


Tolerance to drugs that affect neural activity is mediated, in part, by adaptive mechanisms that attempt to restore normal neural excitability. Changes in the expression of ion channel genes are thought to play an important role in these neural adaptations. The slo gene encodes the pore-forming subunit of BK-type Ca2+-activated K+ channels, which regulate many aspects of neural activity. Given that induction of slo gene expression plays an important role in the acquisition of tolerance to sedating drugs, we investigated the molecular mechanism of gene induction. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by real-time PCR, we show that a single brief sedation with the anesthetic benzyl alcohol generates a spatiotemporal pattern of histone H4 acetylation across the slo promoter region. Inducing histone acetylation with a histone deacetylase inhibitor yields a similar pattern of changes in histone acetylation, up-regulates slo expression, and phenocopies tolerance in a slo-dependent manner. The cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) is an important transcription factor mediating experience-based neuroadaptations. The slo promoter region contains putative binding sites for the CREB transcription factor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays show that benzyl alcohol sedation enhances CREB binding within the slo promoter region. Furthermore, activation of a CREB dominant-negative transgene blocks benzyl alcohol–induced changes in histone acetylation within the slo promoter region, slo induction, and behavioral tolerance caused by benzyl alcohol sedation. These findings provide unique evidence that links molecular epigenetic histone modifications and transcriptional induction of an ion channel gene with a single behavioral event.


: The understanding of the scientific basis and the theory of knowledge are surprisingly heterogeneous in practical and clinical medicine. It is frequently influenced or based on the philosophical theory of critical rationalism founded by Sir Karl Popper. Because the theory of knowledge and the understanding of scientific truth is the central basis for cautious and good clinical practise it is necessary to discuss both points to avoid unscientific auto-immunisation against critique in a type of medicine that regards herself as science-based. Evidence-based medicine would not be possible without interpretation and explanation of existing data into the individual treatment context. Besides an inductive or deductive logic the historical and situative side-conditions of the gathering of knowledge and of experiments are of central importance for their interpretation and their relevance in clinical practice. This historical and situative context warrants reflection but must also be paid attention to in the reflections on medical ethics.


Heart failure affects over 5 50 000 people living in the United Kingdom (1) and roughly half of those present with reduced cardiac ejection fraction (2). The electron transport chain (ETC) within the mitochondria is the principle source of ATP within cardiac muscle. Consequently, the regulation of the ETC in heart failure represents a potential rate limiting step to cardiac contraction in the disease state. The post-translational modification of proteins by nitric oxide, S-nitrosylation (S-NO) has previously been shown to have inhibitor effects on complex I activity (3). The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the role of S-NO and how this may regulate ETC activity in an ovine tachypaced model of heart failure. Tachypacing induced heart failure resulted in an increase in left ventricular diameter (3.100.06cm to 4.040.13cm, p<0.01, n=5), a thinning of the left ventricular free wall (8110mm to 263mm, p=0.01, n=5) and a reduction in left ventricular contractility (0.470.01 to 0.200.03, p<0.01, n=5). Mass spectrometry in combination with either tandem mass tags or S-NO resin assisted capture, was used to assess protein expression or S-NO abundance respectively. The total number of S-NO proteins identified increased from 23218 in control samples to 31428.3 in heart failure (p=0.02, n=6). Of those identified in both groups 79% showed an increase in S-NO abundance in heart failure. Mitochondrial content per unit of protein was unaltered in heart failure (p=0.93, n=5). However, S-NO of several ETC complex subunits was increased in the disease state (eg. NDUFS1 ↑ 2.9 fold, SDHA ↑ 1.2 fold, UQCRH ↑ 1.1 fold, n=6) in the absence of corresponding protein expression changes (eg. NDUFS1 ↓ 0.2 fold, SDHA ↓ 0.07 fold, UQCRH0.2 fold, n=5). In vitro S-NO of control mitochondria, using 0.2 mM S-nitrosoglutathione, oxidative phosphorylation by 52% (p<0.01, n=5). This study demonstrates that in heart failure there is a gross increase in the level of myocardial S-NO. Within the mitochondria, S-NO of electron transport chain proteins is also increased, having an inhibitory effect on ATP production. This work therefore provides a novel insight into how S-NO may contribute to the deterioration of cardiac contractile function in heart failure. References . Townsend NWJ, Bhatnagar P, Wickramasinghe K, Rayner M. Cardiovascular disease statistics 2014. London: British Heart Foundation; 2014. Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, Arnett DK, Blaha MJ, Cushman M, et al. Executive Summary: Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2016 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016;133(4):447-54. Epub 2016/01/27. . Chouchani ET, Methner C, Nadtochiy SM, Logan A, Pell VR, Ding SJ, et al. Cardioprotection by S-nitrosation of a cysteine switch on mitochondrial complex I. Nat Med. 2013;19(6):753.


1. Metal ion-chelating agents such as EDTA, o-phenanthroline or desferrioxamine inhibit lipid peroxide formation when rat liver microsomes prepared from homogenates made in pure sucrose are incubated with ascorbate or NADPH. 2. Microsomes treated with metal ion-chelating agents do not form peroxide on incubation unless inorganic iron (Fe(2+) or Fe(3+)) in a low concentration is added subsequently. No other metal ion can replace inorganic iron adequately. 3. Microsomes prepared from sucrose homogenates containing EDTA (1mm) do not form lipid peroxide on incubation with ascorbate or NADPH unless Fe(2+) is added. Washing the microsomes with sucrose after preparation restores most of the capacity to form lipid peroxide. 4. Lipid peroxide formation in microsomes prepared from sucrose is stimulated to a small extent by inorganic iron but to a greater extent if adenine nucleotides, containing iron compounds as a contaminant, are added. 5. The iron contained in normal microsome preparations exists in haem and in non-haem forms. One non-haem component in which the iron may be linked to phosphate is considered to be essential for both the ascorbate system and NADPH system that catalyse lipid peroxidation in microsomes.


In current live Peer-to-Peer (P2P) streaming systems, buffering delay is too large compared with the channel switching delay of traditional TV service provided by cable companies. In this paper, network coding is applied to a live P2P streaming system to minimize the buffering delay that users experience. A new scheduling algorithm is designed, with server-push mechanism and intelligent method for determining initial playback point, to make full use of the advantage of network coding. Simulation results show that buffering delay can be reduced to as much as 5 seconds, compared to more than 15 seconds in current systems.


The inherited of traditional city's history context is very important topic in today's architecture design. Speed unprecedented gives the traditional city space very giant impact. Following the time develop, the idea become the core influencing the world which the speed and the space match harmoniously each other. According to this idea, the author suggest the thinking of the inherited of traditional city's history context should match the traditional speed, and argue in the paper that the urban context should be passed down with the maintenance of traditional speed, which can be accomplished by taking such measures as the speed separation, speed control, speed transition, etc., which also express the ideas of harmonious coexistence and development together.


In this paper the design, realization and testing of a photovoltaic charging system suitable for the management of an electrically power assisted tricycle are described. This vehicle uses a photovoltaic module as a source of electric energy for the battery recharging. In this work, an overview on the needs of sustainable mobility and on the commercial electrically power assisted velocipedes is presented. The electrical rickshaw prototype, developed in the SDELab laboratory of the University of Palermo, is presented in detail, underlining the design, implementation and developing phases of the photovoltaic charging system assembled on the velocipede. Moreover, tests oriented on the setting up of the whole system and validation tests on the prototype are described, with the aim of determining the growing up of performances. Particular attention is dedicated to the vehicle autonomy, by using the management system here proposed. The results show how is possible to reach an increase of the 30% of the electrical rickshaw autonomy by using the management system conceived by the Authors. Furthermore, these tests are carried out in order to demonstrate that the electrical rickshaw vehicle supported by the PV charging system could be targeted for touristic purposes.


Ensor LRC now has 6 Kindles and 6 Nooks available to be checked out to Georgetown College faculty, staff and students.


Content creation is a large component of the cost of creating educational software. Estimates are that approximately 200 hours of development time are required for every hour of instruction. We present an authoring tool designed to reduce this cost as it helps to refine and maintain content. The ASSISTment Builder is a tool designed to effectively create, edit, test, and deploy tutor content. The Web-based interface simplifies the process of tutor construction to allow users with little or no programming experience to develop content. We show the effectiveness of our Builder at reducing the cost of content creation to 40 hours for every hour of instruction. We describe new features that work toward supporting the life cycle of ITS content creation through maintaining and improving content as it is being used by students. The variabilization feature allows the user to reuse tutoring content across similar problems. The Student Comments feature provides a way to maintain and improve content based on feedback from users. The Most Common Wrong Answer feature provides a way to refine remediation based on the users' answers. This paper describes our attempt to support the life cycle of content creation.


We study the problem of making a distributed storage system information-theoretically secure against a passive eavesdropper, and aim to characterize coding schemes that are universally secure for up to a given number of eavesdropped nodes. Specifically, we consider minimum storage regenerating (MSR) codes and ask the following question: For an MSR code where a failed node is repaired using all the remaining nodes, is it possible to simultaneously be optimally secure using a single linear coding scheme? We define a pareto-optimality associated with this simultaneity and show that there exists at least one linear coding scheme that is pareto-optimal.


The objective of this study was to determine whether posttherapy 131I SPECT/CT changed the need for additional cross-sectional imaging or modified the American Thyroid Association risk of recurrence classification. We performed planar imaging and SPECT/CT in a consecutive series of patients after 131I therapy. Methods: Planar imaging and SPECT/CT were performed on 148 consecutive patients with thyroid carcinoma (125 papillary, 2 follicular, 8 Hürthle cell, and 13 poorly differentiated) approximately 5 d after the therapeutic administration of 1,739–8,066 MBq (47–218 mCi) of 131I. The indication for treatment was postsurgical ablation (n = 109) or recurrent or metastatic disease with rising thyroglobulin levels (n = 39). SPECT/CT scans were obtained for all subjects for 1 bed position (38 cm), which included the neck and upper chest. Additional SPECT/CT scans of the abdomen or pelvis were acquired if suggestive findings were noted on planar images. All patients were treated in real time, according to the standard of care in our practice. At that time, clinical decisions regarding thyroid tumor classification were made by our multidisciplinary group based on all data, including operative findings, pathology, imaging, and thyroglobulin levels. In a retrospective analysis, planar and SPECT/CT images were interpreted independently, and sites of uptake were categorized as likely benign, malignant, or equivocal. An experienced thyroid endocrinologist used a combination of surgical histopathology and scan findings to determine whether additional cross-sectional imaging was required and determined if the imaging findings changed the patient's risk category. Results: In 29 patients, 61 additional cross-sectional imaging studies were avoided using SPECT/CT, compared with medical decision making based on the planar images alone. In 7 of 109 postsurgical patients, SPECT/CT findings changed the initial American Thyroid Association risk of recurrence classification. The sensitivity of planar imaging and SPECT/CT for identification of focal 131I uptake in the thyroid bed was similar in the postsurgical and recurrence cohorts. For metastatic disease in the neck, characterization of 131I uptake by SPECT/CT in the postsurgical group was significantly better than that by planar scanning (P < 0.01). Among the 109 postsurgical patients, the characterization of iodine uptake in the lung, liver, and bone was also more accurate using SPECT/CT than planar scanning (P < 0.01). The CT portion of SPECT/CT demonstrated non–iodine-avid lesions in 32 of 148 patients. Conclusion: SPECT/CT data provided information that reduced the need for additional cross-sectional imaging in 29 patients (20%) and significantly altered the initial risk of recurrence estimates in 7 of 109 patients (6.4%), thereby altering patient management recommendations with regard to frequency and intensity of follow-up studies.


The study analyzed the impacts of climate change among rural farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it ascertained the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, their level of awareness of climate change, the perceived causes of climate change and the perceived impacts of climate change. Multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 farmers for the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean score and bar charts. Results showed that a greater proportion (40.6%) of the respondents knew a little about climate change. Also, it showed that gas flaring (M = 2.07, S.D = 1.94), violation of local customs (M = 2.01, S.D = 1.83) and natural phenomenon (M = 2.00, S.D = 1.83) were perceived as causes of climate change. The result further showed that declining crop yields (49.0%), declining soil fertility (17.0%), drought events (17.0%) and increased heat wave (15.0%) were the perceived impacts of climate change on agriculture in the study area. It was recommended that relevant, timely and up-to-date information on climate change should be provided to the farmers to boost their adaptive capacity to climate change.

 Key words: Climate change, impacts, rural farmers, Imo State, Nigeria.


The seminal publication in terms of current UK Transport Policy was the 1998 White Paper 'A
New deal for transport: Better for Everyone' (DoE, 1998). This stated that there was now a
consensus for a radical change in transport policy with recognition of the need to improve
public transport and reduce the dependency on the private car. It confirmed the UK
Government's commitment to tackling the problem of congestion and pollution. As such, the
main aim of the White Paper was 'to increase personal choice by improving the alternatives
and secure mobility that is sustainable in the long term'. The White Paper also sought to
enhance local transport planning by creating a partnership between local councils,
businesses, operators and users.
The Government, via the Department for Transport, is consequently keen to promote
initiatives that seek to reduce congestion, improve the local environment and encourage
healthier and safer lifestyles. 'Smarter Choices' is currently an approach being used in order
to influence individuals' travel behaviour towards the use of more sustainable options such as
encouraging workplace, school and individualised travel planning. Smarter Choices seeks to
improve public transport and marketing services, for example travel awareness campaigns,
setting up websites for car share schemes, supporting car clubs and encouraging teleworking.
Two high profile reports have recently been published in the UK with an impact on Transport
Policy, namely the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change (HM Treasury,
2006) and the Eddington Transport Study (Eddington, 2006). The Stern Review argues that in
terms of climate change 'strong and early action far outweighs the economic costs of not
acting'. Failure to act in terms of climate change is estimated to be equivalent to losing at
least 5% of global GDP per annum. The Review argues that climate change can be tackled in
a way that 'does not cap the aspirations for growth … Emissions can be cut through
increased energy efficiency'. Policy options include: 'action to remove barriers to energy
efficiency, and to inform, educate and persuade individuals about what they can do to
respond to climate change'. Clearly there is a role here for travel plans. The Eddington
Transport Study (December 2006) views key economic challenges facing the UK transport
system as capacity and performance, with congested and growing urban areas impeding
growth and impacting on productivity. To address this challenge, the Eddington Study – as a
guide to transport strategy priorities – states that the UK Government should focus on
improving the performance of existing transport networks.
In responding to these documents, the UK Government published Towards a Sustainable
Transport System in October 2007 (DfT, 2007) which considered the two reports and
incorporated the main features of both directly into Government policy, setting out an initial
position for the government in relation to those reports
One potential tool that has emerged in the UK over a similar period to address the issues
raised in the policy arena has been the travel plan, which UK Government guidance (EEBPP,
2001) defines as being:
'a general term for a package of measures tailored to meet the needs of individual sites and aimed at promoting
greener, cleaner travel choices and reducing reliance on the car. It involves the development of a set of
mechanisms, initiatives and targets that together can enable an organisation to reduce the impact of travel and
transport on the environment, whilst also bringing a number of other benefits to the organisation as an employer
and to staff.'
The idea behind travel plans, which have their origins in the US, was as a relatively quick and
easy response to the fuel crises during the 1970s. Travel plans were fairly slow to translate to
a European setting, arriving in first in the Netherlands in the early 1990s and then in the UK in
the mid 1990s. As of 2008, a number of travel plans are now in place across the European
Union, from Ireland to Austria – Travel Plans are not yet widely known about in Eastern Europe and from Sweden to Malta. The relative merits of travel plans to Governments and local authorities are that they are
reasonably quick to introduce, relatively cheap and, most importantly, are usually politically
acceptable. This is in marked contrast to most other transport improvement schemes which
often require high levels of investment over a long period of time and can carry a high political
risk – especially in the short term as conditions frequently deteriorate while improvements are
being carried out. Moreover, travel plans can be effective at peak times and in peak locations
and can be used to address a wide variety of public policy goals including reducing
congestion, energy use, air quality and noise impacts, and improving accessibility, equity,
health and the economy.
Crucially however, travel plans are dependent on the willingness of other organisations (i.e.
traffic generators such as employers, retail parks, schools and hospitals) to get involved in
helping to address something that is normally outside their operational remit. This potentially
is a major barrier.
At the site level studies have shown that UK travel plans combining both incentives to using
alternatives to the car, together with disincentives to drive, can achieve a 15-30 per cent
reduction in drive alone commuting (DTLR, 2001). For instance, Rye (2002) estimates that
travel plans have removed just over 150,000 car trips per day from British roads each working
day, or 1.14 billion km per year, i.e. around three quarters of one per cent of the total vehicle
km travelled to work by car overall.
The purpose of this report therefore, is to build upon the findings from a literature review (see
Enoch and Zhang, 2008) and a series of in-depth interviews conducted with ten Travel Plan
experts by the authors (Enoch and Ison, 2008)to propose a series of policy actions as to how
Government, local authorities, businesses, organisations and the travel plan industry might
improve the situation.


14 15 Background: High-throughput amplicon sequencing of marker genes, such as the 16S rRNA gene in 16 Bacteria and Archaea, provides a wealth of information about the composition of microbial 17 communities. To quantify differences between samples and draw conclusions about factors affecting 18 community assembly, dissimilarity indices are typically used. However, results are subject to several 19 biases and data interpretation can be challenging. The Jaccard and Bray-Curtis indices, which are 20 often used to quantify taxonomic dissimilarity, are not necessarily the most logical choices. Instead, 21 we argue that Hill-based indices, which make it possible to systematically investigate the impact of 22 relative abundance on dissimilarity, should be used for robust analysis of data. In combination with a 23 null model, mechanisms of microbial community assembly can be analyzed. Here, we also introduce a 24 new software, qdiv, which enables rapid calculations of Hill-based dissimilarity indices in 25 combination with null models. Results: Using amplicon sequencing data from two experimental systems, aerobic granular sludge 28 (AGS) reactors and microbial fuel cells (MFC), we show that the choice of dissimilarity index can 29 have considerable impact on results and conclusions. High dissimilarity between replicates because of 30 random sampling effects make incidence-based indices less suited for identifying differences between 31 groups of samples. Determining a consensus table based on count tables generated with different 32 bioinformatic pipelines reduced the number of low-abundant, potentially spurious amplicon sequence 33 variants (ASVs) in the data sets, which led to lower dissimilarity between replicates. Analysis with a 34 combination of Hill-based indices and a null model allowed us to show that different ecological 35 mechanisms acted on different fractions of the microbial communities in the experimental systems. 36 37 Conclusions: Hill-based indices provide a rational framework for analysis of dissimilarity between 38 microbial community samples. In combination with a null model, the effects of deterministic and 39 stochastic community assembly factors on taxa of different relative abundances can be systematically 40 investigated. Calculations of Hill-based dissimilarity indices in combination with a null model can be 41 done in qdiv, which is freely available as a Python package (https://github.com/omvatten/qdiv). In 42 qdiv, a consensus table can also be determined from several count tables generated with different 43 bioinformatic pipelines. we in different habitats within an acetate-fed MFC. We show the conclusions from an experiment may differ depending on the chosen dissimilarity index. We propose that a solution to this problem is to analyze community dissimilarity for a span of diversity using Hill-based indices, and we demonstrate that for the whole range of dissimilarity indices, models can be used to disentangle community assembly mechanisms. Finally, we introduce a free and package, qdiv, enables rapid and simple calculations of the indices and for the generation of consensus count tables. Our study focuses


While Rho GTPases are indispensible regulators of cellular polarity, the mechanisms underlying their anisotropic activation at membranes have been elusive. Using the budding yeast Cdc42 GTPase module, which includes a Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factor (GEF) Cdc24 and the scaffold Bem1, we find that avidity generated via multivalent anionic lipid interactions is a critical mechanistic constituent of polarity establishment. We identify Cationic-enriched Lipid Interacting Clusters (CLICs) in Bem1 that drive the interaction of the scaffold-GEF complex with anionic lipids at the cell pole. This interaction increases lipid acyl chain ordering, thus contributing to membrane rigidity and feedback between Cdc42 and the membrane environment. Sequential mutation of the Bem1 CLIC motifs, PX domain and the PH domain of Cdc24 lead to a progressive loss of cellular polarity stemming from defective Cdc42 nanoclustering on the plasma membrane and perturbed signaling. Our work demonstrates the importance of avidity via multivalent anionic lipid interactions in the spatial control of GTPase activation.


Therapies variously described as alternative, complementary, or unconventional because they lie outside the realm of scientific medicine practiced by graduates of orthodox U.S. medical schools are gaining mainstream respectability despite many questions about their efficacy and safety. Depending on definitions, surveys indicate that fewer than 10 percent to nearly 40 percent of Americans supplement or substitute for conventional health care with alternative systems of medical practice. Spending for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) nationwide has been estimated at up to $14 billion a year. Establishment of an Office of Alternative Medicine in the National Institutes of Health in 1992 has heartened advocates of CAM, increased interest and government funding for research into unorthodox therapies, and lent credibility to CAM modalities. Embracing marginal therapies may represent an opportunity for physicians and health systems to reduce inappropriate consumption, offer a wider range of choices to patients, and profit from a lucrative market.


Consumers may encounter a number of potential food hazards through their food choice decisions and consumption behaviour. It is psychologically determined risk perceptions that drive acceptance of such potential food hazards, and define people's risk‐taking or self‐protective behaviours. As such, it is necessary to understand exactly what consumers are worried about. Food issues of concern to consumers were identified in a previous exploratory focus group study. A list of 18 food safety issues was developed for the purpose of the study reported here, with the aim of comparing worry about the different issues and investigating any demographic differences. Factor analysis indicated that attitudes to the 18 food safety issues reflected two underlying constructs, the first relating to technological food issues and the second to lifestyle food issues. In general, people were more worried about technological food hazards compared to lifestyle hazards. Demographic differences were observed for gender, age and social class, but not for geographical region, or having children; furthermore, experience of food allergy or intolerance increased worry about technological issues.


This paper investigates the optimal transmit beamforming design of simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in the multiuser multiple-input-single-output (MISO) downlink with specific absorption rate (SAR) constraints. We consider the power splitting technique for SWIPT, where each receiver divides the received signal into two parts: one for information decoding and the other for energy harvesting with a practical non-linear rectification model. The problem of interest is to maximize as much as possible the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and the energy harvested for all receivers, while satisfying the transmit power and the SAR constraints by optimizing the transmit beamforming at the transmitter and the power splitting ratios at different receivers. The optimal beamforming and power splitting solutions are obtained with the aid of semidefinite programming and bisection search. Low-complexity fixed beamforming and hybrid beamforming techniques are also studied. Furthermore, we study the effect of imperfect channel information and radiation matrices, and design robust beamforming to guarantee the worst-case performance. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed algorithms can effectively deal with the radio exposure constraints and significantly outperform the conventional transmission scheme with power backoff.


Abstract. The recent discovery of voluminous submarine landslides along the Owen Ridge may represent a source of tsunami hazard for the nearby Oman coast. We assess the severity of this potential hazard by performing numerical simulations of tsunami generation and propagation from the biggest landslide (40 km 3 in volume) observed along the Owen Ridge. A finite-difference model, assimilating the landslide to a visco-plastic flow, simulates tsunami generation. Computation results show that Salalah city (190 000 inhabitants) is impacted by 2.5 m-high tsunami waves one hour after sediment failure. Higher wave elevation values (4 m) are reached in the low populated Sawqara Bay over 80 min after slide initiation. Although large submarine failures along remote oceanic ridges are infrequent, this study reveals an underestimated source of tsunami hazard in the Arabian Sea.


The aim of the present study was to determine median lethal concentrations (LC 50) of unionised ammonia (NH3) for the larvae and fingerlings of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L. 1758). The mean 48 h LC50 values were determined as 1.009 - 0.02 mg/l for larvae and 7.40 - 0.01 mg/l for the fingerlings. Larvae exposed to different concentrations of ammonia moved very rapidly, lost equilibrium in water and showed sideways swimming. In the case of the fingerlings, an increase in their movements, ventilation, convulsions, spiral swimming, efforts to swallow air from the surface of water, increase in the mucous secretion in the gills and on the body surface, haemorrhage in the gills, and darkening in the eye and on the skin were observed. The histological study showed hyperplasia and fusion of the lamella on the gills.


Controversy over the FDA's effort to finalize a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for opioids injects some spice into an effort by Congress to reauthorize the drug safety provision of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). One of the highest-profile amendments in the 2007 version of the PDUFA gave the FDA new authority to require every pharmaceutical manufacturer to develop a REMS for drugs that have value but whose risks could outweigh those benefits if these medications are not used carefully.

REMS are typically multifaceted programs for physicians and pharmacists. A REMS can be as simple as a patient medication guide (MedGuide), or the REMS might contain requirements in seven or eight areas (e.g., record keeping, patient monitoring, and certification). Those additional areas, specified in the 2007 PDUFA law, are called Elements to Assure Safe Use (ETASU).

Since the 2007 PDUFA was enacted, the FDA-required REMS programs have resulted in multiple drug manufacturers producing different REMS for the same agents. That has led to confusion among pharmacists, not to mention complaints from drug companies about a high regulatory burden. That is why revising the 2007 REMS provisions is the pharmacy industry's top legislative goal for Congress in 2012 as the House and Senate write the newest version of the PDUFA. The House and Senate need to approve a bill before September 30.

The FDA is trying to forestall having those 2007 REMS provisions gutted by a rabidly antiregulatory Congress. That is the backdrop to the FDA's publication of a draft in November 2011—the class-wide REMS Blueprint,1 an all-inclusive category consisting of many generic and brand-name opioid drugs. All of these opioids have been abused and characterized, to some degree, by physician groups and the White House National Drug Control Policy Office as promoting a prescription drug abuse epidemic.

If the FDA can achieve consensus among drug companies, physicians, pharmacists, and patient groups on this first class-wide REMS initiative, this would either obviate the need for Congress to revisit the 2007 REMS provisions, or it would serve as a model for any changes if the House and Senate decide that changes are needed. So far, however, the draft opioids REMS addresses only education for health care providers, which is only one of the ETASUs. Even here, the draft applies only to physicians, not pharmacists.

Peter W. Jackson, President of Advocates for the Reform of Prescription Opioids, thinks that pharmacists should be included in an opioids REMS strategy. He maintains that there should be mandatory patient counseling by prescribers (namely physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants), as well as pharmacists, to explain the risks of respiratory depression and addiction that can occur with the long-term use of opioid medications.

Ronna Hauser, PharmD, Vice President for Policy and Regulatory Affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association, adds that whichever components of REMS are provided to patients by prescribers should also be made known to pharmacists. Pharmacists can offer valuable reinforcement of the physician's education through appropriate counseling.

The FDA's Blueprint addresses only physician education, which is voluntary. Any provider education module agreed to by manufacturers of a specific drug class would have to be approved by the FDA and presented by an independent continuing education (CE) company. The programs would be free to health care providers and funded by unrestricted grants from the drug manufacturers. The drug companies would be required to establish goals for all prescribers trained, collect information about the number of prescribers who took the courses, and report the information to the FDA as part of the required periodic assessments.

When the FDA produced an earlier draft in April 2011 of what it expected to be the components of an educational course on opioids, the drug manufacturers argued that the FDA plan would require 30 hours of instruction. In the new Blueprint draft published last November, the FDA says that its syllabus requires 2 or 3 hours of course work for providers.

Suggestions for improving the Blueprint draft have been numerous and have come from all affected parties. Herbert Neuman, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Mallinckrodt, calls the Blueprint a "comprehensive outline" that contains a good mixture of conceptual and clinical topics. However, he notes that the core training requirements cannot be addressed in 2 or 3 hours, as the FDA purports. A group called Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing identifies what it believes are "unaddressed safety issues" in the Blueprint.

Peter Jackson has a much more negative view of the draft. He says that he and others, including members of an FDA advisory committee, urged the FDA to develop a REMS that went beyond provider continuing education, by including, for example, other ETASUs, such a requirement that patients receive laboratory tests. As for the draft education proposal, he states:

"This weak and timid proposal is shocking after all the [drug-related] deaths."


Efficient transfer learning algorithms are key to the success of foundation models on diverse downstream tasks even with limited data. Recent works of Basu et al. (2023) and Kaba et al. (2022) propose group averaging (equitune) and optimization-based methods, respectively, over features from group-transformed inputs to obtain equivariant outputs from non-equivariant neural networks. While Kaba et al. (2022) are only concerned with training from scratch, we find that equitune performs poorly on equivariant zero-shot tasks despite good finetuning results. We hypothesize that this is because pretrained models provide better quality features for certain transformations than others and simply averaging them is deleterious. Hence, we propose {\lambda}-equitune that averages the features using importance weights, {\lambda}s. These weights are learned directly from the data using a small neural network, leading to excellent zero-shot and finetuned results that outperform equitune. Further, we prove that {\lambda}-equitune is equivariant and a universal approximator of equivariant functions. Additionally, we show that the method of Kaba et al. (2022) used with appropriate loss functions, which we call equizero, also gives excellent zero-shot and finetuned performance. Both equitune and equizero are special cases of {\lambda}-equitune. To show the simplicity and generality of our method, we validate on a wide range of diverse applications and models such as 1) image classification using CLIP, 2) deep Q-learning, 3) fairness in natural language generation (NLG), 4) compositional generalization in languages, and 5) image classification using pretrained CNNs such as Resnet and Alexnet.


The group I metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) has been implicated in the pathology of various neurological disorders including schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism. mGluR5-dependent synaptic plasticity has been described at a variety of neural connections and its signaling has been implicated in several behaviors. These behaviors include locomotor reactivity to novel environment, sensorimotor gating, anxiety, and cognition. mGluR5 is expressed in glutamatergic neurons, inhibitory neurons, and glia in various brain regions. In this study, we show that deleting mGluR5 expression only in principal cortical neurons leads to defective cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) dependent synaptic plasticity in the prefrontal cortex. These cortical glutamatergic mGluR5 knockout mice exhibit increased novelty-induced locomotion, and their locomotion can be further enhanced by treatment with the psychostimulant methylphenidate. Despite a modest reduction in repetitive behaviors, cortical glutamatergic mGluR5 knockout mice are normal in sensorimotor gating, anxiety, motor balance/learning and fear conditioning behaviors. These results show that mGluR5 signaling in cortical glutamatergic neurons is required for precisely modulating locomotor reactivity to a novel environment but not for sensorimotor gating, anxiety, motor coordination, several forms of learning or social interactions.


Workplace bullying is defined as negative behaviors directed at organizational members or their work context that occur regularly and repeatedly over a period of time. Employees' perceptions of psychosocial safety climate, workplace bullying victimization, and workplace bullying perpetration were assessed within a sample of nearly 5,000 workers. Linear and nonlinear approaches were applied in order to model both continuous and sudden changes in workplace bullying. More specifically, the present study examines whether a nonlinear dynamical systems model (i.e., a cusp catastrophe model) is superior to the linear combination of variables for predicting the effect of psychosocial safety climate and workplace bullying victimization on workplace bullying perpetration. According to the AICc, and BIC indices, the linear regression model fits the data better than the cusp catastrophe model. The study concludes that some phenomena, especially unhealthy behaviors at work (like workplace bullying), may be better studied using linear approaches as opposed to nonlinear dynamical systems models. This can be explained through the healthy variability hypothesis, which argues that positive organizational behavior is likely to present nonlinear behavior, while a decrease in such variability may indicate the occurrence of negative behaviors at work.


Objective—Neutrophils play a key role in the immune response but can undesirably exacerbate inflammation. High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are antiinflammatory particles, exerting beneficial cardiovascular influences. We determined whether HDL exerts antiinflammatory effects on neutrophils and explored the mechanisms by which these occur. Methods and Results—CD11b on activated human neutrophils was significantly attenuated by apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and HDL. The effects of apoA-I were mediated via ABCA1, whereas the effects of HDL were via scavenger receptor BI. Both were associated with a reduction in the abundance of lipid rafts, and a strong correlation between raft abundance and CD11b activation was observed. ApoA-I and HDL reduced neutrophil adhesion to a platelet monolayer under shear flow, as well as neutrophil spreading and migration. ApoA-I also inhibited leukocyte recruitment to the endothelium in an acute in vivo model of inflammation. Finally, infusion of reconstituted HDL in patients with peripheral vascular disease was demonstrated to significantly attenuate neutrophil activation. Conclusion—We describe here a novel role for HDL and apoA-I in regulating neutrophil activation using in vitro, in vivo, and clinical approaches. We also show that these effects of HDL and apoA-I involve a mechanism requiring changes in membrane domain content rather than in cholesterol efflux per se.


The interest in the bovine DGAT1 gene has increased during the last few years. DGAT1 gene, encodes a microsomal enzyme that by using diacylglycerol and fatty acyl CoA as substrates catalyzes the terminal and committed step of triacylglycerol biosynthesis. This step is the most important storage form of energy for eukaryotic cells. DGAT1 is also important for the physiological processes involving triacylglycerol metabolism such as intestinal fat absorption, lipoprotein assembly, adipose tissue formation and lactation. Lactation was impaired in female mice lacking both copies of DGAT. This observation leads to a suggestion that DGAT1 gene was the functional candidate gene for milk production traits. The frequency of polymorphism in DGAT1 gene has been found to be very high in dairy cattle. Some associated studies such as, milk yield, fat content, protein yield and content have been carried out in dairy cattle. These associations will provide insight in to the underlying mechanism of DGAT1 gene and polymorphisms that can be used for selection purposes in dairy cows.


Globally, financial system regulators are susceptible to deliberate and inadvertent influence by the industry that they oversee and, hence, are also susceptible to acting to benefit the industry rather than the public interest – a phenomenon known as 'regulatory capture'. Australia, arguably, has an optimal model of financial system regulation (a 'Twin Peaks' model) comprising separate regulators for prudential soundness on the one hand, and market conduct and consumer protection on the other. However, the current design of the Twin Peaks model has not been sufficient to prevent and address prolonged and systemic misconduct that culminated in a public Royal Commission of Inquiry into misconduct in the industry. Subsequent to the Royal Commission and other inquiries, the Department of Treasury has proposed legislation to establish an Assessment Authority to assess the effectiveness of the Twin Peaks regulators. The proposal includes enquiries by an Assessment Authority into the regulators' independence, so as to identify instances of, and thereby mitigate, their capture. As with all financial system regulators, the Assessment Authority itself may be susceptible to regulatory capture, either by the Twin Peaks regulators, or by the financial industry. Thus, this paper poses the question: how can the new Assessment Authority be optimally constituted by legislation, and operated, to effectively oversee the effectiveness of the regulators, but itself remain insulated from the influence of the regulators and industry? We analyse the primary sources of influence over financial system regulators that the Assessment Authority will likely face and recommend ways in which a robust design of the Assessment Authority can mitigate those sources of influence. In doing so, we adopt an inter-disciplinary approach, drawing upon not only regulatory theory but also for the first time in relation to this question, organisational psychology. Our findings address gaps in the proposed legislation currently before Federal Parliament and propose methods by which those gaps may be filled, in order to ensure that this important reform to Australia's financial regulatory regime has the greatest chance of success.


: Milk thistle Silybum Marianum L. annual or biennial wild winter plant belongs to Asteraceae family widespread in north of Iraq particularly in Sulaimaniyah province. The botanical survey revealed that this plant became a third in coverage degree. Plant density reached 4.8plant / m 2 , replication 40 %, found the higher plant in height was 110 cm. This region is rich in floras vegetation cover which could be invested for anti-desertification, soil protection, sustainable biodiversity development and improvement of natural pastures. Its importance appearance as a medically by treating some diseases, milk thistle is better known as having medicinal benefits. It is a great tonic, increases appetite and aids in digestion. Including those who were addicted to alcohol to cleanse the liver. Used internally in the treatment of liver and gall bladder diseases, jaundice, cirrhosis, hepatitis and poisoning (including mushroom poisoning) through its containing several medicinal components as; linoleic acid64.59%, oleic acid23.59%, palmitic acid 12.62%and stearic acid 5.9%. Treating components; silymarin 1.5-3% tocopherol and 0.63% sterols. Including Cholesterol, camp sterol, stigma sterol, sit sterol and some mucilage, the three principle components of silymarin are the flavanoligans silybin, silychristin, and silidianin. To plant nutritional importance due to its seeds components for the follows; protein23%, oils 26.65 %, ash 3.4%, fiber4.55% and carbohydrates 37.72%. Also the plant contain some important elements such as magnesium, calicium; zinc and iron …etc. . Plant leaves as food eaten peaks cutworms and fresh as it palatable and useful of nutritional value. Contains mucilage substances, vitamins (A, B12, C, E, K) andsugars.


Hypomethylating agents have become the standard therapy for patients with high‐risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In Israel, azacitidine (AZA) is routinely used. Yet, infectious complications are common during AZA therapy. The current study was aimed to evaluate the incidence and predisposing risk factors for infections in AZA‐treated patients. This retrospective study included patients treated with AZA in 18 Israeli medical institutions between 2008 and 2011. Data on 184 patients [157 high‐risk MDS and 27 acute myeloid leukemia (AML)], with a median age of 71.6 (range 29–92) were recorded. Overall, 153 infectious events were reported during 928 treatment cycles (16.5%) administered to 100 patients. One hundred fourteen, 114/153 (75%) events required hospitalization and 30 (19.6%) were fatal. In a univariate analysis, unfavorable cytogenetics, low neutrophil, hemoglobin (Hb) and platelet (PLT) counts were found to be associated with infections (24.4% vs. 12.9%, P < 0.0001; 27% vs. 13.5%, P < 0.0001; 20.4% vs. 11%, P < 0.0001 and 29.2% vs. 14.2%, P < 0.0001, respectively). In multivariate analysis, only low Hb level, low PLT count, and unfavorable cytogenetics remained significant. Prior to therapy, poor cytogenetics, PLT count below 20 × 109/L and neutrophil count below 0.5 × 109/L were predictive of the risk of infection during the first two cycles of therapy. In conclusion, patients with unfavorable cytogenetics, presenting with low neutrophil and PLT counts, are susceptible to infections. Evaluation of infection risk should be repeated prior to each cycle. Patients with poor cytogenetics in whom AZA is prescribed despite low PLT count are particularly at high risk for infections and infection prophylaxis may be considered. Am. J. Hematol. 88:130–134, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The paper aims at analyzing the potentials for reducing income risk and income variation for slaughter hog producers in Germany and Holland by participating at futures markets in Amsterdam or Hannover. The relative market and hedging efficiency for the Amsterdam stock exchange markets is tested and the optimal hedge ratio is derived for minimizing risk and variance of slaughter hog gross margins (income). Relative market efficiency and a significant impact of hedging on income risk and variance can not be rejected. The results show that the optimal hedge ratio is smaller for variance compared to risk minimizing hedging strategy.


Real-time estimates of weight and mass center location for helicopters are desirable for flight control and condition-based maintenance purposes. While methods to estimate mass parameters of helicopters have been developed, they often assume near-perfect knowledge of helicopter dynamics and have been validated only through simulated measurement data. The work described here aims to experimentally validate a method for weight and mass center estimation using an ALIGN T-REX 600e R/C helicopter. The estimation algorithm utilizes an extended Kalman filter (EKF) which estimates the helicopter states along with the weight and mass center location in real-time. Nonlinear system identification is performed using maximum likelihood estimation to create an accurate dynamic model for use in the EKF. Results show that given a reasonably accurate dynamic model, weight and mass center location can be reliably estimated in non-descending flight conditions. Weight estimation is shown to be robust to sudden weight changes during flight. Detailed flight test studies characterize estimation error in weight and three-dimensional mass center position using the EKF formulation.


Prefrontal cortical (PFC) activity in the primate brain emerging from minicolumnar microcircuits plays a critical role in cognitive processes dealing with executive control of behavior. However, the specific operations of columnar laminar processing in prefrontal cortex (PFC) are not completely understood. Here we show via implementation of unique microanatomical recording and stimulating arrays, that minicolumns in PFC are involved in the executive control of behavior in rhesus macaque nonhuman primates (NHPs) performing a delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) task. PFC neurons demonstrate functional interactions between pairs of putative pyramidal cells within specified cortical layers via anatomically oriented minicolumns. Results reveal target-specific, spatially tuned firing between inter-laminar (layer 2/3 and layer 5) pairs of neurons participating in the gating of information during the decision making phase of the task with differential correlations between activity in layer 2/3 and layer 5 in the integration of spatial vs. object-specific information for correct task performance. Such inter-laminar processing was exploited by the interfacing of an online model which delivered stimulation to layer 5 locations in a pattern associated with successful performance thereby closing the columnar loop externally in a manner that mimicked normal processing in the same task. These unique technologies demonstrate that PFC neurons encode and process information via minicolumns which provides a closed loop form of "executive function," hence disruption of such inter-laminar processing could form the bases for cognitive dysfunction in primate brain.


The appearance of mucoceles of paranasal sinuses during infancy is very rare. In relation with a patient, 11-year-old, enduring an ethmoidal mucocele treated in our Department we benefit it in order to realize a review of the published cases in medical literature. We also discuss on the etiopathogenesis, clinic and differential diagnostic aspects in pediatric age in comparison of those verified in grown-up.


Identification is an important issue in many econometric models. This paper studies potentially non-identified and/or weakly identified ill-posed inverse models. The leading examples are the nonparametric IV regression and the functional linear IV regression. We show that in the case of identification failures, a very general family of continuously-regularized estimators is consistent for the best approximation of the parameter of interest. We obtain L2 and L∞ convergence rates for this general class of regularization schemes, including Tikhonov, iterated Tikhonov, spectral cut-off, and Landweber-Fridman. Unlike in the identified case, estimation of the operator has non-negligible impact on convergence rates and inference. We develop inferential methods for linear functionals in such models. Lastly, we demonstrate the discontinuity in the asymptotic distribution in case of weak identification. In particular, the estimator has a degenerate U -statistics type behavior, in the extreme case of weak instrument.


This study was carried out to ascertain the effect of emotional management training through NAVRAS Dance Therapy in Indian Classical Dance on emotional intelligence of adolescents. The sample of the present study comprises of randomly selected 200 senior secondary school students including girls and boys enrolled in DAV School at Madharam of Telangana state in India. 100 students who agreed to learn dance for 50 sessions (one hour each) were included into experimental group and similar 100 students were selected from the same population (age, class, school) were into control group who were not given any dance training. Experimental group underwent Navras Classical Dance Training by practicing (nine core emotions) for three months (50 sessions).Emotional intelligence inventory was administered to measure the level. Results showed the significant effect of navras dance therapy on emotional intelligence of adolescents. The findings of the study shown increase in the level of emotional intelligence after NAVRAS Dance Therapy and no specific changes seen in the level of emotional intelligence when no intervention conducted.


Abstract This paper presents the results of a study into the physical, chemical and mineralogical composition of two glacial sediments in Dublin, Ireland which are colloquially called Dublin 'brown' and 'black boulder clays'. The objective of this study was to ascertain whether the 'brown' was formed through weathering of the 'black boulder clay' or whether it represents a depositional feature. The study included fabric, clast lithological and microscopic analyses as well as X-ray diffraction. This work has shown that the sedimentology and fabrics of both are of the same glacigenic origin and that the lithology and mineralogy are identical apart from oxidation of the clay particles in the 'brown'. It is therefore concluded that the 'brown boulder' clay arises from the weathering processes affecting the upper levels of the 'black boulder clay'. This finding is consistent with the differences in the geotechnical parameters.


Non-blocking multithreaded architectures have been proposed as an effective means to overlap computation and communication in distributed memory systems. However, in these models, communication latency could only be hidden from computation as long as there are enough ready threads. We describe our I-Structure Software Cache (ISSC) run-time system, which takes advantage of the global data locality in these models without adding any specific hardware support. Our ISSC provides a communication latency reduction technique in non-blocking multithreaded architectures while maintaining the ability of tolerating communication latency. Our simulation results show that our ISSC run-time system dramatically decreases network traffic by caching remote requests and also achieves 70% to 95% improvement on the system performance (speedup).


The Nationwide Fishing Ports Development Project (also called the Fishing Ports Project, Package II) is a major undertaking of the Philippine Government to establish the necessary network of facilities that will encourage higher and more efficient fish production in the country. The project involves development of commercial and municipal fishing port complexes in identified regional consumption centers. The project is part of the Integrated Fishery Development Plan, a component plan of the country's 1992-1996 medium term economic development plan. This paper evaluates the government's plan to implement the fishing port complex project in Cadiz City. The proponents of the project are the Philippine Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA), a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture.


This article examines the qualitative research literature that exists in relation to men's experiences of male infertility. Since men have often been marginalized in the realm of reproduction, including academic research on infertility, it is important to focus on any qualitative research that gives voices to male perspectives and concerns. Given the distress documented by studies of infertile women, we focus in particular on the emotive responses and lived experiences of men in relation to infertility. In this article then, we present an analysis of the core themes across 19 qualitative articles, which include "infertility as crisis"; "emoting infertility- men as "being strong"' "infertility as a source of stigma"; and the "desire for fatherhood." In light of these insights, we identify key areas for future research and development including men's emotional responses to infertility, how men seek support for infertility, the intersection between masculinity and infertility, the relationship between the desire to father and infertility, and the outcomes of infertility for men in terms of other aspects of their lives. We suggest that such research would facilitate making the experiences of men more central within our understandings of infertility within a field that has primarily been female focused. Each of the men in the study recognized that his infertility threatened the very essence of all that he had held as secure—his future family, his marriage, and his personal identity. The men had mapped out their lives, and now everything had changed.


Human endometrial stromal cells (ESC) can produce a variety of chemokines, especially after inflammatory stimulation. Interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) is a potent chemoattractant for lymphocytes, and belongs to the family of non-ELR CXC chemokines. The expression of IP-10 in ESC after stimulation with interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Northern blot analysis. A small amount of IP-10 protein was detected in the culture media of unstimulated ESC. The expression of IP-10 mRNA was detected in ESC. IFN-γ, IL-1β, TNF-α and LPS significantly stimulated the expression of IP-10 mRNA and protein in ESC. These results suggest that the production of IP-10 by ESC is regulated by inflammatory mediators. The modulation of IP-10 concentrations in the local environment may contribute to the normal and pathological processes of human reproduction by regulating leukocyte trafficking in the endometrium.


Scientists have increasingly employed computer models in their work. Recent years have seen a proliferation of agent-based models in the natural and social sciences. But with the exception of a few "classic" models, most of these models have never been replicated by anyone but the original developer. As replication is a critical component of the scientific method and a core practice of scientists, we argue herein for an increased practice of replication in the agent-based modeling community, and for widespread discussion of the issues surrounding replication. We begin by clarifying the concept of replication as it applies to ABM. Furthermore we argue that replication may have even greater benefits when applied to computational models than when applied to physical experiments. Replication of computational models affects model verification and validation and fosters shared understanding about modeling decisions. To facilitate replication, we must create standards for both how to replicate models and how to evaluate the replication. In this paper, we present a case study of our own attempt to replicate a classic agent-based model. We begin by describing an agent-based model from political science that was developed by Axelrod and Hammond. We then detail our effort to replicate that model and the challenges that arose in recreating the model and in determining if the replication was successful. We conclude this paper by discussing issues for (1) researchers attempting to replicate models and (2) researchers developing models in order to facilitate the replication of their results.


Abstract. We present a multi patch assumed strain formulation (with implicit G-continuity at the ends of the element) for 3D space Kirchhoff-Love rod; rotations are introduced at the ends of the element as degree of freedom similarly to the Hermitian interpolation for Euler Bernoulli beam problem. In this way the G continuity is ensured. Due to the general curved geometry a strong coupling appears in the membrane-flexural-torsion (m-f-t) problem, so that a pure displacement formulation leads in general to a locked element (membrane, flexural and torsion locking phenomena can occur). The multi patch approach presented, based on G continuity (low degree of continuity), does not present locking in contrast to the B-Spline (high degree of continuity) element, in a pure displacement approach. However, both the approaches present spurious mode in the deformations, i.e. in the stress resultants. In order to avoid this pathology we adopt a standard assumed strain formulation (or B-bar) approach, projecting the tangent strain measures onto lower degree spaces, (by means of standard L projections). In particular, considering a polynomial degree interpolation (p) for the displacements, the membrane and torsional strain measures are projected on a (p-1) space, while the two flexural strain measures are projected on a (p-2) space. In this way a very easy definition of the B-bar operators is attained, since the integrations are performed numerically. The strategy is very appealing for the design of free-locking general curve rod elements, and it provides very accurate results for different polynomial degrees as it is shown by means of presented example.


In this thesis I investigate the extent to which accent variation existed in Yorkshire at the turn of the millennium. I do this by examining the speech of a number of speakers from different locations around the region, recorded in 1998-9 as part of the Millennium Memory Bank oral history project conducted by the BBC and British Library. I also use this data to study change over time by comparing two generations of speakers from the Millennium Memory Bank, and also comparing those speakers with data from the Survey of English Dialects. I conduct the study focussing on two phonological variables: the GOAT vowel, and the PRICE vowel. I discuss the changes and variation found, both over time and with regard to place, with reference to dialect levelling as it has previously been described within the region, considering the possibility of the development of a 'pan-Yorkshire' variety. My findings suggest that, although changes have clearly occurred in Yorkshire since the time of the SED, some variation within the region remains robust, and there may even be evidence of new diversity arising as urban varieties in Yorkshire cities continue to evolve.
I also assess the potential of an oral history interview collection such as the Millennium Memory Bank for use in linguistic research, discussing the advantages and drawbacks of such data, and describing ways in which the collection as it currently stands could be made more accessible to linguists.


Industrial and automotive trends clearly demonstrate an increased interest in medium- and high-power variable speed drives. Despite constant progress in the technology, the semiconductor characteristics are still the bottleneck in drive designs, due to their limitations to block high voltage (several kilovolts) and conduct high current (several hundreds of amperes per-phase). For this reason and numerous other advantages, solutions based on multilevel inverters and multiphase machines are considered in recent years.

The open-end winding drives are an alternative approach for drives construction. This thesis investigates carrier based pulse width modulation schemes for five-phase open-end winding drives. Two drive topologies, with isolated dc-links of two inverters, are considered. The first one consists of two two-level inverters and a five-phase machine. The second topology utilises one three- and one two-level five-phase inverter. It is shown that the same drive structure can produce a different number of phase voltage levels, when different dc-link voltages of two inverters are in use. Hence, dc-link voltage ratio is considered as an additional degree of freedom. An open-end winding structure that comprises of two two-level inverters offers harmonic performance equivalent to three- and four-level single-sided supply. The second drive structure under analysis is able to produce four, five and six voltage levels, depending on utilised dc-link voltage ratio.

Modulation schemes are classified in two categories. So-called coupled modulation schemes are developed under the assumption that open-end winding drives are equivalent to certain single-sided multilevel solutions. This enables the application of slightly modified modulation methods for multilevel inverters, to the open-end winding configurations. As a consequence, number of utilised voltage levels can be higher than the sum of two inverters' number of levels. However, this boost in number of levels relies on simultaneous switching in two inverters' legs connected to the same drive phase,which causes so-called dead-time spikes. The second group, referred to in this thesis as decoupled modulation schemes, rely on the separate modulation of two inverters, using voltage references obtained by splitting the overall phase voltage reference, proportionally to inverters' dc-link voltages. Hence, this kind of modulation offers somewhat worse harmonic performance, when compared to coupled modulation schemes.

Special attention is paid to the stability of dc-link voltage levels, which is one of the most important figures of merits of quality for multilevel drives. Using a novel analysis approach, it is demonstrated that utilisation of optimal harmonic performance offered by coupled modulation methods leads to unstable dc-link voltages, but only in the cases where dc-link voltage ratio is used for increment of available number of voltage levels. Decoupled modulation methods offer stable dc-link voltages, regardless of drive configuration.

One of the drawbacks of the analysed open-end winding drives is the need for two isolated dc sources, which form dc-link voltages of two inverters. For that reason, a possibility to use only one dc-source in open-end winding drives with isolated inverters is considered. Analysis shows that both drive topologies can be operated using so-called bulk and conditioning inverter control, where bulk inverter is supplied from an active dc source, but operates in staircase mode, while conditioning inverter performs high-frequency pulse width modulation, in order to suppress low-order harmonic content. This kind of operation is investigated in details for two specific configurations in which two inverters never operate at the same time in PWM mode, when coupled modulation methods are used. Comparison of the results shows that topology which comprises from one three- and one two-level inverter is more suitable for this kind of control. Together with previously analysed configurations and modulation strategies, dynamic performance of this novel drive is tested under the closed-loop speed control. Experimental results show that open-end winding drives are suitable for a wide range of applications.


Large turbine–generator foundation can reduce the vibration in an effective way by mounting vibration isolating springs when the equipments are operating. But under strong earthquake actions, the research of seismic behavior is presently limited to theoretical calculation and there are no test results or observation data. In this paper, 1:10 spring vibration isolating foundation model is made to carry out a pseudo–dynamic seismic test. This paper also analyzes the deform distribution of column and spring of turbine–generator foundation under horizontal earthquake actions. The test results show that because of the spring of column top, deform distribution of foundation has changed; column top displacement of each column is different; spring can regulate the internal force of the column and these springs are also able to resist horizontal earthquake action when they are reducing the vibration of the equipments.


This paper characterizes the optimal redistributive tax schedule in a matching unemployment framework with endogenous (voluntary) nonparticipation and (involuntary) unemployment. The optimal employment tax rate is given by an inverse employment elasticity rule. This rule depends on the global response of the employment rate, which depends not only on the participation (labor supply) responses, but also on the vacancy posting (labor demand) responses and on the product of these two types of responses. For plausible parameters, our matching environment induces much lower employment tax rates than the usual competitive participation model.


According to the relevant data of China Statistical Yearbook and Chinese Rural Statistical Yearbook in the year of 2009, the changes of grey correlation degree of farmers' net income, various items of incomes, national gross agriculture-supporting expenditure and various items of expenditures, farmers' net income and various items of fiscal agriculture-supporting expenditure in the eighth Five-Year Plan, ninth Five-Year Plan and tenth Five-Year Plan by using grey correlation degree and the by choosing seven indicators covering income from wage and salary, income from household business, transfer income and property income, agricultural production-supporting expenditure, agricultural basic construction expenditurei¼Œexpenses of three items of agricultural technology and the fee of rural relief. The results show that the grey correlation degree of each time period and household net income shows the downward trend; from overall perspective, the grey correlation degree of national gross agriculture-supporting expenditure, agricultural basic construction expenditure and agricultural production-supporting expenditure shows the descending trend; the grey correlation degree of fiscal agricultural supporting expenditure and the expenditure of three items of agricultural technology and fee of rural relief show the upward trend; the influence of agricultural production-supporting expenditure on farmers' income shows downward trend; the influence of agricultural basic construction on farmers' income shows upward trend; the fee of rural relief plays an active role in the promoting the farmers' income increase; the role played by fee of rural relief in promoting farmers' income increase should be further increased; the increase of farmers' income shows great reliance on agricultural science and technology. In the end, the relevant suggestions on establishing stable increase mechanism of fiscal agricultural support and insisting on the dynamic adjustment of the structure of fiscal agricultural supporting capital are put forward.


In this study, the CrN coating was first deposited on tool steels by cathodic arc evaporation technique and then this coating was subjected to oxygen glow discharge to activate the oxidation process in order to form oxide layer on the surface of the CrN coating. The varied properties of CrN coatings with or without oxidation treatment were studied in terms of hardness, adhesion, microstructure and surface morphology by using XRD, AFM, Rockwell indentation, Nano-indentation tests. The result turned out that the effect of the plasma oxidation process on the hardness of CrN coating was improved due to the oxide layer on the surface.


Attunement to native phonological categories and the specification of relevant phonological features in the lexicon occur early in development for monolingual and monodialectal speakers. However, few studies have investigated whether and how early exposure to two dialects of a language might influence the development of phonological categories, especially when a phonemic contrast exists only in one dialect. This study compared perceptual sensitivity to mispronunciations in phonemic vowel length in Australian English adult listeners with and without early exposure to another English dialect that did not have this contrast. The results showed that, while both mono- and bi-dialectal groups were sensitive to mispronunciations in vowel length, the bi-dialectal adults were more likely to accept a mispronunciation in vowel length compared to mono-dialectal adults. The bi-dialectal group accepted mispronunciations in vowel length more than in vowel height and backness. These results suggest that the bi-dialectal Australian English adults may employ a more flexible vowel length category for spoken word processing compared to mono-dialectal adults. The findings reveal a complex influence of early exposure to another dialect on the development of phonological categories.


In today's lifestyle, facial makeup plays an important role in enhancing visual attractiveness a nd boosting one's self-esteem. Makeup is known as the second skin of the women, and that too lipstick is a soul of the makeup. According to a survey, an average urban woman spends almost one year and three months of her life just wearing makeup. This much of the time is due to decision-making and choosing the best makeup style that would fit a particular age, skin complexion, profession, and occasion, requiring high imagination and full art. Many makeup recommendations systems exist, but no solitary system has existed to recommend a lipstick color properly to solve this problem computationally. Therefore, as a tiny step towards helping women save their time in decision-making, the proposed model puts forward an idea of a hybrid recommendation model for lipsticks alone. This proposed methodology uses a hidden Markov model to unleash the possible color of the lipsticks based on the given attributes. The collaborative filtering system catalyzes the process to recommend the best lipstick colors using a hybrid recommendation model.


This thesis investigates three-dimensional (3-D) surface modelling of the human
body and 3-D surface anthropometry. These are two separate, but closely related, areas. 3-D surface modelling is an essential technology for representing and describing the surface
shape of an object on a computer. 3-D surface modelling of the human body has wide
applications in engineering design, work space simulation, the clothing industry, medicine,
biomechanics and animation. These applications require increasingly realistic surface
models of the human body. 3-D surface anthropometry is a new interdisciplinary subject. It
is defined in this thesis as the art, science, and technology of acquiring, modelling and
interrogating 3-D surface data of the human body. [Continues.]


BACKGROUND—Software Process Improvement (SPI) is a systematic approach to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a software development organization and to enhance software products. OBJECTIVE—This paper aims to identify and characterize evaluation strategies and measurements used to assess the impact of different SPI initiatives. METHOD—The systematic literature review includes 148 papers published between 1991 and 2008. The selected papers were classified according to SPI initiative, applied evaluation strategies and measurement perspectives. Potential confounding factors interfering with the evaluation of the improvement effort were assessed. RESULTS— Seven distinct evaluation strategies were identified, whereas the most common one, "Pre-Post Comparison", was applied in 49% of the inspected papers. Quality was the most measured attribute (62%), followed by Cost (41%) and Schedule (18%). Looking at measurement perspectives, "Project" represents the majority with 66%. CONCLUSION— The evaluation validity of SPI initiatives is challenged by the scarce consideration of potential confounding factors, particularly given that "Pre-Post Comparison" was identified as the most common evaluation strategy, and the inaccurate descriptions of the evaluation context. Measurements to assess the short and mid-term impact of SPI initiatives prevail, whereas long-term measurements in terms of customer satisfaction and return on investment tend to be less used.


Small-amplitude weakly coupled oscillators of the Klein–Gordon lattices are approximated by equations of the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger type. We show how to justify this approximation by two methods, which have been very popular in the recent literature. The first method relies on a priori energy estimates and multi-scale decompositions. The second method is based on a resonant normal form theorem. We show that although the two methods are different in the implementation, they produce equivalent results as the end product. We also discuss the applications of the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation in the context of existence and stability of breathers of the Klein–Gordon lattice.


A mating system to transfer the ability of growing autotrophically as a hydrogen bacterium (aut
+ marker) has been developed in Nocardia opaca strain 1b. Following filter mating between an aut
+
trp str strain and an aut strain, transconjugants of the phenotype Aut+Trp+Strs were obtained. The number of recombinant colonies exceeded the number of revertants by a factor of 105. This and other crosses indicated that only the aut
+ marker is transferred. Among other markers tested (growth on lactate and benzoate) no new combinations were found. A few strains of the Rhodococcus taxon were tested for their ability to act as recipients. Transconjugants of Rhodococcus erythropolis and Corynebacterium hydrocarboclastus able to grow autotrophically were isolated. Most transconjugants were able to act as aut
+ donors, but with different recipient spectra. As indicated by the observation of sectored colonies after autotrophic growth, by the measurement of the frequency of loss of autotrophy compared to auxotrophic markers, and by the effect of mitomycin C treatment, the aut
+ marker does not become integrated in the recipient chromosome in a stable state. It is probably located on a plasmid.


To maintain information superiority as warfighting methods and technologies evolve, increasing quantities of time critical information must be shared between C2 systems. To meet these needs, interoperability between C2 systems must be driven to a new level. A synthetic battlespace testbed environment can facilitate this interoperability by providing a realistic context within which C2 systems can operate to refine information exchange mechanisms and processes. Existing simulations can be linked together to compose these synthetic battlespaces. Migrations to (1) the High Level Architecture (HLA) for DoD simulations and (2) the Defense Information Infrastructure (DII) Common Operating Environment (COE) for C2 systems offer opportunities to ease the composition of synthetic battlespaces and simulation-to-C2 connections. At the Electronic Systems Center (ESC), developing agency for many of the Air Force's C2 systems, a team of researchers is evaluating options for COE-based systems interoperability with HLA-compliant simulations within a framework to support C2 system integration and testing. This paper presents the vision for this framework and lessons learned from prototyping efforts to date.


Family bonding was examined among Hispanic adolescents whose fathers are illicit drug users to ascertain whether such adolescents maintain close affective family ties or alienate themselves from their families given their father's use of illicit drugs and referral to a drug screening and treatment program. It was hypothesized that high levels of paternal drug use would be associated with the youth's alienation from the family. In addition, it was postulated that the adolescent's endorsement of traditional cultural values and social responsibility would protect her or him against this effect in relation to family bonding. These hypotheses are based on prior research that suggests that youth bonding to prosocial institutions, such as family, school, church, and community organizations, can be "protective" against drug use. More specifically, our analyses examined the role of level of acculturation in middle school, family traditionalism, American orientation, Latino orientation, and social responsibility in predicting adolescents' family bonding. Results indicated that the father's level of marijuana and/or methamphetamine use was unrelated to youth family bonding. Additionally, Latino and American cultural orientations and level of acculturation in middle school were not associated with family bonding. By contrast, social responsibility (the youth's citizenship and responsibility to the community) and family traditionalism (endorsing conservative cultural values regarding the maintenance of family traditions and respect for elders and family) were significantly associated with family bonding. In other words, among children of Latino illicit drug users, the youth's conservative family values and a responsible attitude toward community traditions were dual factors related to family bonding, perhaps operating also as sources of "protection" against youth problem behaviors.


A survey of different schools of thought within the natural sciences with special attention to historical and contemporary debates around race and racism.


Abstract Introduction: The completeness of the pathological examination of resected colon cancer specimens is important for further clinical management. We reviewed the pathological reports of 356 patients regarding the five factors (pT-stage, tumor differentiation grade, lymphovascular invasion, tumor perforation and lymph node metastasis status) that are used to identify high-risk stage II colon cancers, as well as their impact on overall survival (OS). Methods: All patients with stage II colon cancer who were included in the first five years of the MATCH study (1 July 2007 to 1 July 2012) were selected (n = 356). The hazard ratios of relevant risk factors were calculated using Cox Proportional Hazards analyses. Results: In as many as 69.1% of the pathology reports, the desired information on one or more risk factors was considered incomplete. In multivariable analysis, age (HR: 1.07, 95%CI 1.04–1.10, p < .001), moderately- (HR: 0.35, 95%CI 0.18–0.70, p = .003) and well (HR 0.11, 95%CI 0.01–0.89, p = .038) differentiated tumors were significantly associated with OS. Conclusions: Pathology reports should better describe the five high-risk factors, in order to enable proper patient selection for further treatment. Chemotherapy may be offered to stage II patients only in select instances, yet a definitive indication is still unavailable.


Abstract Increasing sea surface temperatures (SST) and blooms of lipid‐poor, filamentous cyanobacteria can change mesozooplankton metabolism and foraging strategies in marine systems. Lipid shortage and imbalanced diet may challenge the build‐up of energy pools of lipids and proteins, and access to essential fatty acids (FAs) and amino acids (AAs) by copepods. The impact of cyanobacterial blooms on individual energy pools was assessed for key species temperate Temora longicornis and boreal Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. that dominated field mesozooplankton communities isolated by seasonal stratification in the central Baltic Sea during the hot and the cold summer. We looked at (a) total lipid and protein levels, (b) FA trophic markers and AA composition, and (c) compound‐specific stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) in bulk mesozooplankton and in a subset of parameters in particulate organic matter. Despite lipid‐poor cyanobacterial blooms, the key species were largely able to cover both energy pools, yet a tendency of lipid reduction was observed in surface animals. Omni‐ and carnivory feeding modes, FA trophic makers, and δ13C patterns in essential compounds emphasized that cyanobacterial FAs and AAs have been incorporated into mesozooplankton mainly via feeding on mixo‐ and heterotrophic (dino‐) flagellates and detrital complexes during summer. Foraging for essential highly unsaturated FAs from (dino‐) flagellates may have caused night migration of Pseudo‐/Paracalanus spp. from the deep subhalocline waters into the upper waters. Only in the hot summer (SST>19.0°C) was T. longicornis submerged in the colder subthermocline water (~4°C). Thus, the continuous warming trend and simultaneous feeding can eventually lead to competition on the preferred diet by key copepod species below the thermocline in stratified systems. A comparison of δ13C patterns of essential AAs in surface mesozooplankton across sub‐basins of low and high cyanobacterial biomasses revealed the potential of δ13C‐AA isoscapes for studies of commercial fish feeding trails across the Baltic Sea food webs.


Homicide is a potent crime in any society, and classical Athens was no exception. The Athenians implemented legal methods for dealing with homicide that were set apart from the rest of their legal system, including separate courts, long-established laws, and rigorous procedures. We have, however, limited extant sources on these issues, including only five speeches from trials for homicide. This has fomented debate regarding aspects of law and procedure, and rhetoric as it relates specifically to homicide has not been examined in detail. Here, I intend to examine how the nature of homicide and its prosecution at Athens may have affected rhetoric when discussing homicide in forensic oratory. First, I will establish what I will call the ideology of homicide at Athens: the set of beliefs and perceptions that are most commonly attached to homicide and its prosecution. Then, I will examine homicide rhetoric from three angles: religious pollution, which was believed to adhere to those who committed homicide; relevance, as speakers in the homicide courts were subject to particular restrictions in this regard; and motive and intent, related issues that appear frequently in rhetoric and, in some cases, define the nature of a homicide charge. I will suggest that there is a gap between the ideology and the reality of homicide prosecution at Athens, and that the way that Athenians spoke about homicide and its prosecution in rhetoric did not always hold up in practice. I will also argue that the physical courtroom context of the trial and the beliefs and perceptions of those present greatly influenced the rhetoric of homicide. This is particularly noticeable when comparing rhetoric from the homicide courts and from the dikastic courts. As a whole, I hope to approach law and rhetoric as symbiotic forces in the case of homicide, and to show how the rhetoric of homicide can reflect more broadly on classical Athenian society.


Although angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) have been recommended as a first line of anti-hypertensive agents in patients with diabetes, it remains unclear whether ARBs have a favorable effect on insulin action and triglyceride (TG) metabolism, both of which are impaired in type 2 diabetes. In this study we addressed this issue by investigating how a newly developed ARB, olmesartan medoxomil, influenced insulin sensitivity and TG metabolism in fructose-fed rats, a representative animal model of insulin resistance. Olmesartan was administrated as a 0.01% drinking solution ad libitum to rats either fed normal chow or fructose-enriched chow (60%) for 21 days. Olmesartan treatment markedly decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both chow-fed and fructose-fed animals. The area under the curve of insulin (AUCI) was substantially greater in fructose-fed rats in the intravenous glucose tolerance test, and olmesartan treatment significantly reduced the AUCI. Olmesartan significantly improved the insulin sensitivity index in fructose-fed rats assessed by Bergman's minimal model without affecting insulin-independent glucose disposal. Olmesartan significantly decreased plasma TG and non-esterified fatty acid levels in fructose-fed rats without affecting lipoprotein lipase mass. The TG secretion rate determined by the triton WR1339 technique was two-fold higher in fructose-fed rats, but olmesartan restored the TG secretion to a normal rate. Olmesartan did not affect plasma parameters, insulin sensitivity or TG metabolism in chow-fed rats. Olmesartan ameliorates insulin resistance and overproduction of TG in fructose-fed rats, and these effects appear to be independent of its hypotensive action.