Author(s): Lin, Debbie Wei Long | Advisor(s): Giacomini, Kathleen M | Abstract: ABSTRACTRenal transporters are primary modulators of drug disposition and elimination. The goals of this dissertation are: 1) to understand the role of renal transporters and genetic variation in renal transporters in disease through epidemiological studies and genetic association studies; 2) to characterize the role of transporters and assess the contribution of genetic variation in drug transport and cytotoxicity through functional experimental studies, 3) to identify and predict selective inhibitors of OAT1 and OAT3 through high throughput screening and computational modeling. Our epidemiological study of tenofovir associated renal insufficiency demonstrates that tenofovir is associated with mild decline in renal function and that HIV therapy, in general, may improve renal function in women with pre-existing renal impairment. Functional studies demonstrate that SLC22A6 is a primary transporter for tenofovir and adefovir uptake in the renal proximal tubule. We found that rare variants in SLC22A6 may play a role in differential transport and cytotoxicity of tenofovir and adefovir. A genetic association study using DNA from 565 children with pediatric leukemia on methotrexate therapy demonstrated that in 8 candidate transporter genes chosen, 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) out of 44 SNPs in ABCC1, ABCC2, ABCC4, ABCG2, and SLC22A8 were significantly associated with changes in glomerular filtration rate(GFR) post-methotrexate. Haplotype blocks of the ABCG2 were found to be significantly associated with changes in GFR after methotrexate treatment. Findings from our chemo-informatics screening study suggest that SLC22A6 and SLC22A8 molecular interactors vary in structure and that small changes in electrostatics and steric effects can drastically change the inhibition activity of SLC22A6 and SLC22A8. A number of non-selective and selective inhibitors were identified. SAR studies identified several chemical descriptors unique to OAT1 and OAT3 interacting molecules. This dissertation provides a unique look at drug-induced nephrotoxicity from the vantage of pharmacogenetic variation in the SLC22A6 and SLC22A8 transporters. It sets the stage for investigations where other genes involved in the nephrotoxicity pathways of these drugs may be investigated. It is our hope that insights from this dissertation can be further extended to other transporters in the SLC22 family and may inform clinical decisions in the future.


A novel bovine spleen phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) has been identified with respect to immunoreactivity with four independent antibodies against each of the PLC isoenzymes, and purified to near homogeneity by sequential column chromatography. Spleen contains three of the isoenzymes: two different gamma-types [gamma 1 and gamma 2, originally named as PLC-gamma [Rhee, Suh, Ryu & Lee (1989) Science 244, 546-550] and PLC-IV [Emori, Homma, Sorimachi, Kawasaki, Nakanishi, Suzuki & Takenawa (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 21885-21890] respectively] and delta-type of the enzyme, but PLC-gamma 1 is separated from the PLC-gamma 2 pool by the first DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. Subsequently, PLC-delta is dissociated on the third heparin-Sepharose column chromatography. The purified enzyme has a molecular mass of 145 kDa on SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and a specific activity of 12.8 mumol/min per mg with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate as substrate. This enzyme activity is dependent on Ca2+ for hydrolysis of all these phosphoinositides. None of the other phospholipids examined could be its substrate at any concentration of Ca2+. The optimal pH of the enzyme is slightly acidic (pH 5.0-6.5).


This Policy Brief, co-written by Senior Non-Resident Fellow Philippe Aghion, Senior Resident Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and David Hemous of Harvard University, attempts to change the terms of the debate surrounding climate change policy. The authors argue that policymakers should do more to encourage innovation and investment in green research and development rather than focusing solely on the setting of a carbon price. Using a model developed by Aghion in a previous paper, they argue that a carbon price would have to be about 15 times higher in the first five years and 12 times higher in the next five years if innovation is not properly subsidized by governments. The authors also provide several policy recommendations for incentivising this type of green growth in the private sector.


In recent years, Lebanon has witnessed a proliferation of the gay and lesbian community; at least that's one generalization many are willing to agree upon. But, agreeing is one thing and providing accurate data is another. In the absence of the latter, the issue is bound to remain subject to generalizations only. As a reporter seeking information on the topic, I learned this fact hands-on. I also learned my task was almost futile when it came down to the lesbian community. There were simply too many obstacles and hindrances. You just didn't go about investigating the way you did with other topics. One had to be discreet … really discreet.


On the night of 27 April 1865, the Sultana left Memphis for points north on the flood-swollen Mississippi River. An estimated 2347 individuals were on board this luxury passenger steamer—a boat designed to accommodate only 76 cabin passengers and 300 deck passengers. At a point seven miles (11 km) north of Memphis near a group of islands known as Paddy's Hen and Chickens, 3 of the boat's 4 boilers exploded. The explosion, fire, and river claimed approximately 1547 lives, exceeding the death toll of the Titanic. Why were so many passengers on board the Sultana? Why did the boilers explode? What were the stories of the survivors? And how does this tragedy compare with the Titanic disaster? These questions are addressed along with other aspects of the tragedy. In addition, recent attempts by the authors to discover the exact location of the wreck are discussed.


Vulval Crohn's disease is a rare extra manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease, and there is no treatment consensus for it. Current evidence is mainly from case studies and includes only about 250 participants globally. We explored how vulval Crohn's disease affects women's sexual well-being, and aimed to understand what might be the specific experiences of sexuality in this group

 Three participants from a phenomenological study exploring sexuality in inflammatory bowel disease have self-reported as diagnosed with vulval Crohn's disease. Data collected from telephone interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

 Women with vulval Crohn's disease reported a severe disease course with devastating consequences on their sexuality, and suffered years of delay in their diagnosis. Their experiences were summarised in four main themes: Scarred by Crohn's, Striving for normality, Waiting too long, and Who's going to help? Sex posed extreme challenges imposed by the condition, and participants waited almost a decade to get a diagnosis, which negatively affected their trust in clinicians. In their effort to continue to enjoy a sexual life as normal as possible, they had feared for the future, as they felt healthcare professionals were unsure of who should help those living with vulval Crohn's disease.

 In spite of specialists having knowledge of vulval Crohn's disease, participants experienced lengthy periods to get a diagnosis, with damaging consequences for their lives. Discussing sexual well-being in clinical settings may increase chances of early detection and avoid worsening symptoms.


Drawing inspiration from examples by analogy can be a powerful tool for innovative design during conceptual ideation but also carries the risk of negative design outcomes (e.g., design fixation), depending on key properties of examples. Understanding these properties is critical for effectively harnessing the power of analogy. The current research explores how variations in analogical distance, commonness, and representation modality influence the effects of examples on conceptual ideation. Senior-level engineering students generated solution concepts for an engineering design problem with or without provided examples drawn from the U.S. Patent database. Examples were crossed by analogical distance (near-field vs. far-field), commonness (more vs. less-common), and modality (picture vs. text). A control group that received no examples was included for comparison. Effects were examined on a mixture of ideation process and product variables. Our results show positive effects of far-field and less-common examples on novelty and variability in quality of solution concepts. These effects are not modulated by modality. However, detailed analyses of process variables suggest divergent inspiration pathways for far-field vs. less-common examples. Additionally, the combination of far-field, less-common examples resulted in more novel concepts than in the control group. These findings suggest guidelines for the effective design and implementation of design-by-analogy methods, particularly a focus on far-field, less-common examples during the ideation process. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers.


Alternative systems of medicine include Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathic, and naturopathic medicine. Chinese medicine emphasizes the balance of qi ("chee") or vital energy. Within this system, illness is deÞ ned as a disturbance in the balance of vital energy. Ayurveda is a system of healing which evolved from teachings in ancient India. Our review mainly focuses on the importance of the severity and control of asthma in the evaluation of patients and their response to treatment. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and the National / International abstracts to identify relevant articles. We limited evidence to alternative medicine for asthma, but we also reviewed observational evidence for safety. Outcomes of interest were overall mortality, exacerbations, quality of life, functional capacity, and primary health care. Lifestyle modiÞ cations that effectively lower asthma are: i) increased physical activity, ii) reduction of the impact of environmental factors on asthma such as smoking, air pollution, hazards in schools, day care, the work place, and home, as well as other environmental triggers. Our review suggests that alternative systems of medicine reduce adverse effects and the need for high-impact, high-cost intervention. It is the best way for self-healing and health promotion (salutogenesis rather than pathogenesis) that makes alternative medicine approaches to chronic disease especially attractive.


Specific immune unresponsiveness was induced in inbred mice (BDF1) by the administration of soluble ovalbumin (OVA) by gastric intubation. Anti-hapten (DNP) responses likewise were specifically diminished when animals were fed autologous carrier (OVA or keyhole limpet hemocyanin). Adoptive transfer of spleen cells demonstrated that the tolerant state could be maintained in irradiated recipient mice, and specific anergy could be transferred to normal recipient animals. Adoptive suppression was mediated by T lymphocytes, as demonstrated by nylon wool fractionation and susceptibility of the cells to anti-Thy 1.2 and complement. Transferred B cells had neither suppressive nor augmentative effects. Enteric administration of OVA also specifically diminished antigen-induced DNA synthesis of primed lymph node T cells, although suppressor cells were not identified in the lymph nodes per se.


One of the many possible negative outcomes of pathogen evolution is the emergence of a virulent drug resistant strain. A pathogen may exploit plasmid-mediated gene transfer to gain drug resistance and virulence genes in an attempt to become the exclusive infection. To answer questions on the possible emergence of a virulent drug resistant strain we constructed a nine dimensional SIS model with treatment. We used plasmid-mediated gene transfer by way of superinfection to distribute virulence and drug resistance genes. By examining the resulting system of differential equations at the two extremes of treatment level (%0 and %100), we determined the stability of the single strain endemic infection equilibrium points of interest. In the absence of treatment we determined a set of ancestral conditions which provided constraints on the model parameters. In the presence of treatment we focused on the ability of the virulent drug resistant (AB) strain to invade the avirulent drug resistant (B) strain. We were able to express these invasion conditions in terms of novel reproductive ratios that incorporated both non-superinfection effects and superinfection effects. Our model reveals that plasmid-mediated gene transfer by way of superinfection increases the parameter space allowing for virulence to evolve in a drug resistant population. However, virulence in a drug resistant population is not always more likely to evolve in comparison to virulence in a drug sensitive population. i


There is substantial research in the area of diffusion of innovation theory (DoI), and its application to information systems and information technology (IS/IT) innovation within organisations. However, scholars in recognition of the conceptual limitations of DoI, have called for the incorporation of certain aspects of social network theory (SNT) into DoI framework. In developing countries, one such justification for this theoretical stance is the fact that information communication channels through which technology innovation is diffused have been shown to substantially influence the rate of technology adoption. In this study, the author focuses on exploring how diffusion of innovation (DoI) theory underpinned by social elements can be used to develop and enable the effective diffusion of innovation among small scale agribusinesses in Nigeria. Data was obtained primarily through qualitative research (semi-structured interviews, document analysis and field notes/observation). Data analysis and coding was conducted using template analysis (Atlas.ti). The findings of the research suggest that an understanding of the conceptual basis of innovation is a major driver of successful innovation adoption.


This article offers a comparative study of the domestic and international dimensions of two calamitous famines in Communist countries: one in the USSR engendered by Iosif Stalin's Great Turning Point (1928–1934) and the other in the People's Republic of China in connection with Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward (1958–1962). The article traces the historical roots of these catastrophes and explains how Sino-Soviet interactions affected the genesis of the famine in China. It also discusses the long-term consequences of these avoidable tragedies, comparing their impact on subsequent Soviet and Chinese history. A close look at the evident affinity between the famines opens new and at times unexpected vistas, which allow us not only to get a better grasp of each event in its own specificity but also to shed new light on fundamental questions.


Glycerol has the potential to be both an excellent renewable solvent in modern chemical processes and a versatile building block in biorefineries. Both of these potential applications may be made easier and more convenient by microwave and/or ultrasound irradiation. As glycerol is a nontoxic, biodegradable compound, it will provide important environmental benefits to new platform products. Furthermore, significant markets in polymers, polyethers, fuel additives, nanoparticles and other valuable compounds may well be opened up by cutting down the high purification cost of glycerol. The aim of this review is to highlight the best literature examples of glycerol being used, either as solvent or as a reagent, to give interesting results under microwave or ultrasound irradiation.


In Kenya, where abortion remains illegal except in cases where the mother's life is in danger, incomplete illegal abortion accounts for over 25% of all hospital admissions. In Kenyatta National Hospital's 100-bed acute gynecology ward, 90% of admissions in 1985-87 were for incomplete abortion and an average of 40 women/day underwent dilatation and curettage under general anesthesia, with a waiting time of 12-14 hours. To remedy overcrowding and a bed occupancy rate of 300%, the hospital introduced manual vacuum aspiration on an experimental basis in 1987. In 1988, after a 6-month study, the hospital began using vacuum aspiration in all 1st-trimester abortions; in addition, all medical students received training in the procedure, ward nurses received training in equipment care and patient counseling, and postabortion contraception counseling were introduced. After the 1st year, 5000 incomplete abortions had been treated at Kenyatta National Hospital with vacuum aspiration. In 1989-91, the procedure was introduced to 18 district hospitals in Kenya and 3 mission hospitals; plans to expand the service to 20 or more district hospitals by 1994 are being developed. In the more than 20,000 vacuum aspiration abortions performed in Kenya to date, there have been no deaths or major complications. Patient satisfaction has been high and gynecology wards now have available beds. However, the conservation and lack of commitment of many health care workers to this life-saving procedure remain problematic.


ABSTRACT In this study, environmental impacts on air, water, and soil pollution caused by the exploit of Essakane gold mine, which is located in North Eastern part of Burkina Faso were investigated. Analyses on drinking water were made in the laboratory to determine the concentration of essential chemicals used in gold mining. Dust fallouts have been measured to assess the level of air pollution. The results showed that exploiting of gold mine directly or indirectly contributes to air pollution in Essakane district. The use of chemicals such as cyanide (industrial gold mining) and mercury (artisanal gold mining) to obtain the gold from the ore constitutes a potential risk for the ecosystem, the local population's health, and livestock production. The results also showed that there is a significant degradation of natural landscape and topography of the soil by open-pits mining (industrial mine) and holes dug by artisanal miners.


The aim of the study was to investigate the bioethanol production potentials by indigenous bacterial isolates screened for amylolytic and cellulolytic activities. Cassava peels were obtained from local 'garri' producers, while corn grains and corn cobs were gotten from retailers within the Erinfun farm settlement along Afe Babalola University Road, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria on June 4, 2015. The substrates (corn flour, corn cob and cassava peels) were sundried for 5 days and ground into fine powder using a hammer mill and analyzed for proximate nutrient composition and reconstituted to a 5% concentration in water before fermentation. The fermentation was set up for 20 days using single cultures of bacteria and co-cultures of bacteria and yeast selectively isolated and screened for amylolytic and cellulolytic activities. Parameters such as pH, total titratable acidity, reducing sugar and optical density were taken at intervals of 5 days and ethanol production was analyzed at the end of fermentation. Three bacterial isolates (Bacillus macerans, Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus varians) yielded ethanol in all the feed stocks. The highest percentage ethanol yield was observed in the fermentation of corn flour and corn cobs with B. macerans which were 3.6 ± 0.009 and 3.5 ± 0.009, respectively. There was reduction in the pH and total titratable acidity and increase in the reducing sugar content and optical density. B. macerans exhibited the highest average ethanol production (3.5±0.07%). A proximate analysis of the feed stocks showed presence of nitrogen, protein, fat, carbohydrate and ash. This study investigated the potentials of wastes (cassava peels and corn cob) used as feed stocks for bio-ethanol production, in substantially replacing major food crops (corn) as a case study.

 Key words: Fermentation, amylolytic activity, cellulolytic activity, corn flour, corn cob, cassava peels, feed stocks.


The GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) rules of 1947 were seen as prejudicial to the economic and development concerns of developing countries. With the coming into effect of World Trade Organization (WTO), it was expected that some of the concerns of the developing countries will be addressed.Notwithstanding the tremendous improvement made by WTO, there remained many areas of the current rules of WTO thatreinforce the disadvantages faced by developing economies. This essay deals with these unfair trade rules and disadvantagesinherent in the World Trade Organization (WTO) system by critically examining some important agreements that affect developing economies, specifically the Trade-Related Intellectual Property (TRIPs), Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers to Trade (SPS & TBT). This essay argues that WTO rules have locked most developing countries into an unfair and unbalanced trade system leaving them little space to introduce policies that advance their economy, a situation which not only perpetuate poverty but also hampers development and runs contrary to the  objective for which WTO was born and set up.


The goal in breeding programs is to choose candidates that produce offspring with the best phenotypes. In conventional selection, the best candidate is selected with high genotypic values (unobserved), in the assumption that this is related to the observed phenotypic values for several traits. Multi-trait selection indices are used to identify superior genotypes when a number of traits are to be considered simultaneously. Often, the causal relationship among the traits is well known. Structural equation models (SEM) have been used to describe the causal relationships among variables in many biological systems. We present a method for multi-trait genomic selection that incorporates causal relationships among traits by coupling SEM with a Smith–Hazel index that incorporates markers. The method was applied to field data from a Nebraska winter wheat breeding program. We found that the correlation and the relative efficiency increased for the proposed Smith–Hazel indices when the total causal information among traits was accounted for by the vector of weights (b), which includes the causal path coefficients in the causal matrix (Λ). On the other hand, when selection was based on a primary trait, for example yield, the proposed SI increased the mean yield of the best 28 (Top 10%) genotypes to 7%.


The electronic band-structure and band-gap dependence on the $d$ character of ${A}^{2+}$ cation in $A$WO${}_{4}$ wolframite-type oxides is investigated for different compounds ($A$ $=$ Mg, Zn, Cd, and Mn) by means of optical-absorption spectroscopy and first-principles density-functional calculations. High pressure is used to tune their properties up to 10 GPa by changing the bonding distances establishing electronic to structural correlations. The effect of unfilled $d$ levels is found to produce changes in the nature of the band gap as well as its pressure dependence without structural changes. Thus, whereas Mg, Zn, and Cd, with empty or filled $d$ electron shells, give rise to direct and wide band gaps, Mn, with a half-filled $d$ shell, is found to have an indirect band gap that is more than 1.6 eV smaller than for the other wolframites. In addition, the band gaps of MgWO${}_{4}$, ZnWO${}_{4}$, and CdWO${}_{4}$ blue-shift linearly with pressure, with a pressure coefficient of approximately 13 eV/GPa. However, the band gap of multiferroic MnWO${}_{4}$ red-shifts at \ensuremath{-}22 meV/GPa. Finally, in MnWO${}_{4}$, absorption bands are observed at lower energy than the band gap and followed with pressure based on the Tanabe-Sugano diagram. This study allows us to estimate the crystal-field variation with pressure for the MnO${}_{6}$ complexes and how it affects their band-gap closure.


Plants respond to herbivory by reconfiguring hormonal networks, increasing secondary metabolite production and decreasing growth. Furthermore, some plants display a decrease in leaf energy reserves in the form of soluble sugars and starch, leading to the hypothesis that herbivory-induced secondary metabolite production and growth reduction may be linked through a carbohydrate-based resource trade-off. In order to test the above hypothesis, we measured leaf carbohydrates and plant growth in seven genetically engineered Nicotiana attenuata genotypes that are deficient in one or several major herbivore-induced, jasmonate-dependent defensive secondary metabolites and proteins. Furthermore, we manipulated gibberellin and jasmonate signaling, and quantified the impact of these phytohormones on secondary metabolite production, sugar accumulation and growth. Simulated herbivore attack by Manduca sexta specifically reduced leaf sugar concentrations and growth in a jasmonate-dependent manner. These effects were similar or even stronger in defenseless genotypes with intact jasmonate signaling. Gibberellin complementation rescued carbohydrate accumulation and growth in induced plants without impairing the induction of defensive secondary metabolites. These results are consistent with a hormonal antagonism model rather than a resource-cost model to explain the negative relationship between herbivory-induced defenses, leaf energy reserves and growth.


Using a recently developed methodology, namely, the multiscale window transform (MWT), and the MWT-based theory of canonical transfer and localized multiscale energetics analysis, we investigate in an eddy-following way the nonlinear eddy-background flow interaction in the North Pacific storm track, based on the ERA40 reanalysis data from ECWMF. It is found that more than 50% of the storms occur on the northern flank of the jet stream, about 40% are around the jet center, and very few (less than 5%) happen on the southern flank. For storms near or to the north of the jet center, their interaction with the background flow is asymmetric in latitude. In higher latitudes, strong downscale canonical available potential energy transfer happens, especially in the middle troposphere, which reduces the background baroclinicity and decelerates the jet; in lower latitudes, upscale canonical kinetic energy transfer intensifies at the jet center, accelerating the jet and enhancing the middle-level baroclinicity. The resultant effect is that the jet strengthens but narrows, leading to an anomalous dipolar pattern in the fields of background wind and baroclinicity. For the storms on the southern side of the jet, the baroclinic canonical transfer is rather weak. On average, the local interaction begins from about 3 days before a storm arrives at the site of observation, achieves its maximum as the storm arrives, and then weakens.


Today, Kampung sungai Pusu is a real-life issue for many country communities, to which they unsurprisingly react. One of the terms of the inquiry was to review options
for better targeting of funding and delivery of public transport services to meet the needs of nonmetropolitan communities, including rural community and health
transport needs. The relationship between Kampung sungai Pusu and the city has always been characterized by episodes of conflict. The infrastructure nodes represent
the complex society and devoted to the movement, but also a chance to resolve old tensions that are due to a shared space, and to avoid creating poor urban areas between the poor facilities, amenities and the urban environments. The design goal for this project to enhance the walkability of Kampung Sungai Pusu and along Sungai Pusu as an excellent opportunity for revitalization by integrating green walkability as a vibrant community hub. Design objectives fully successful, Kampung Sungai Pusu will be able to improve the walkability and encourage users into a successful public space. To accomplish the goal of this project, there are three objectives includes To improve the walkability through linkages for the institutional user and local community become comfortable to walk hence minimizing the air pollution and traffic congestion.; To
create liveable space as a recreational area for the community that encourages people to walk towards a healthy living lifestyle.; and To promote nature environment within a community of Kampung Sungai Pusu and the institutional area towards the quality living of the community. Indirectly, in order to revitalize the area as public space for people through enhance walkability, the transformation process involved which to make is as small part of the Kampung Sungai Pusu in Gombak in line with the design proposal tried to achieved in the future.


Potential fi eld data along the Texas portion of the Gulf of Mexico indicate a large-amplitude coast-parallel magnetic maximum and a smaller Bouguer gravity high. Models constrained by seismic-refraction data indicate that these maxima manifest a deeply buried volcanic rifted passive margin or other magnetic high in the outer transitional crust. Buried 12‐15 km, the source is 220 km wide, similar to the Voring Plateau in Norway and the U.S. East Coast. This margin, which formed during the opening of the Gulf of Mexico, differs in origin from the transform boundary of the northeast Mexico margin (Tehuantepec transform), and we infer a Jurassic triple junction related to the Borderland rift system, which is traceable as far as southeast California.


ABSTRACT Immune checkpoint blockade has not yet been effective in patients with mismatch repair proficient metastatic colorectal cancer. Targeting immunosuppressive metabolic pathways is being explored as a new immunotherapeutic approach. We assessed whether CD73, the rate limiting enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of extracellular AMP into immunosuppressive adenosine, could be an immunological determinant of colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs). By immunofluorescence on tissue microarrays, intratumoral CD73 expression (tCD73) was analyzed in 391 CRLMs resected in 215 patients, and soluble CD73 (sCD73) was measured by ELISA in the pre-operative serum of 193 patients. High tCD73 was associated with worse pathological features, such as multiple and larger CRLMs, and poorer pathologic response to pre-operative chemotherapy. The median time to recurrence and disease-specific survival after CRLM resection was significantly shorter in patients with high tCD73 (11.0 and 46.4 months, respectively) compared with low tCD73 (19.0 and 61.5 months, respectively). tCD73 was strongly associated with patient outcomes independently of clinicopathological variables. sCD73 did not correlate with tCD73. Patients with high levels of sCD73 also had shorter disease-specific survival. Our results suggested that CD73 in CRLMs may be prognostically informative and may help select patients more likely to respond to adenosine pathway blocking agents.


This article gives in his second part a critical review of the clinical applications of SPECT with perfusion markers and receptor ligands in dementing disorders and psychosis. In addition this review discusses clinical applications of SPECT investigations with perfusion markers in inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system and in brain trauma.


Joanne Sayner's paper deals with texts by three women writing about their autobiographical experiences of German fascism and the Second World War. Questions of gender, memory and reception are central to Sayner's examination of the ways in which a former member of the Hitler Youth, a resister and a Jewish survivor have positioned themselves in relation to ongoing debates over guilt, responsibility and collective identity in the aftermath of the Nazi era. Sayner, firstly, addresses Melita Maschmann's  Taking Stock: No Attempt at Justification (1963). She points to the narrative focus on collective identities and the narrator's and protagonist's construction of an elite German generation of youth leaders based on clear national and racial lines. Such a universalising tendency, highlighting tropes of victimhood, contradicts precisely the text's subtitle 'no attempt at justification' and Sayner argues persuasively for an 'exonerating effect' in a textual fascination with fascism. Alongside this text produced in the then West Germany is Greta Kuckhoff's  From the Rosary to the Red Orchestra (1972). Kuckhoff's text too is explored in the light of the specific historical context of the 1960s and 1970s but this time from the perspective of an East German writer who was an antifascist resister during the Nazi era. Sayner shows how Kuckhoff is concerned to present a more diverse image of antifascism than was commonly portrayed in East Germany at the time but that this comes into conflict with a 'unifying political teleology', characteristic of the politics of the Cold War period. Finally, Sayner turns to the case of Hilde Huppert's autobiographical work, variously titled but in its most recent 1997 incarnation called  Hand in Hand with Tommy: an Autobiographical Report 1939-1945 . The changing uses and re-constructions of Huppert's memories as a Jewish survivor are charted through the complex publishing history of the text and the different addressees intended for succeeding editions of the memoirs. In conclusion, Sayner discusses how the three texts, in different ways, demonstrate the debates in Germany and elsewhere over the memory of the Nazi era and who is allowed to speak on behalf of whom. Sayner's concentration on the intended addressees of her texts and the books' publishing histories opens up a space to reconsider the gender politics of a predominantly male canon of autobiographical writing and the war years in German-language writing.


Females commonly incorporate information from more than 1 male trait when making mating decisions, which may increase their ability to choose high-quality males. Assessment of multiple male traits may also incur increasing costs of time and/or energy and should therefore provide an adaptive advantage over females that do not exhibit such complex mating decisions. Although this benefit has been assumed/concluded in previous mate choice studies, it has rarely been empirically verified with female fitness data. Here we show that female side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) that assess males for optimal trait combinations of throat color (a polymorphic social signal) and dorsal patterning (a polymorphic antipredator trait) recruit more offspring to the next adult generation. Specifically, females preferred males with a barred dorsal pattern, but only when males were yellow throated (signaling a sneaker strategy in males). Females mated to sires with both these traits experienced high rates of progeny survival to adulthood, via inheritance of favorable genetic combinations from sires (indirect benefits). Previous results suggest that this is because barredness confers crypsis primarily in yellow-throated lizards and not in lizards with alternative throat colors. Together, these results support the hypothesis that female preference for multiple, interacting male traits is an adaptive response to complex patterns of natural selection on offspring, such as correlational selection on unlinked traits. Our results provide new evidence for an adaptive advantage to females that exhibit complex mating-decision rules and suggest that one advantage lies in reducing deleterious recombination of genes for traits that, only in specific combinations, enhance fitness. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.


Three hundred thirty-two marrow graft recipients and 241 healthy marrow donors were studied by skin testing with recall and neoantigens. Two hundred thirty patients with leukemia and seventy-eight patients with aplastic anemia received allogeneic HLA-identical sibling marrow. Twenty-four patients with leukemia received syngeneic marrow. The conditioning regimen prior to marrow infusion consisted of 120 mg/kg cyclophosphamide and 9.2–15.75 Gy total-body irradiation (leukemia) or 200 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (aplastic anemia). The patients were skin-tested with the neoantigens dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)4, keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and a battery of five recall antigens around 100, 150, 365, 730, 1095, 1460, and 1825 days after grafting. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the factors thought to influence immunocompetence. At 3 months postgrafting, the proportion of patients positive to DNCB was equal to that of normal marrow donors, but thereafter it was lower until 2 years. The proportion of patients positive to keyhole limpet hemocyanin was lower than normal regardless of the time after grafting. The proportion of patients positive to recall antigens was lower than that of normal marrow donors until 4 years after grafting. Patients with a history of acute graft-versus-host disease had the lowest probability of a positive reaction to recall antigens. None of the other factors was significantly associated with an increased or reduced level of response.


Apart from finance from savings and from family, hire purchase was the most commonly used source of business finance for microenterprises, according to a survey in South Africa. The advantages to the microenterprise are the speed and low administrative costs of processing the loan using trade references to establish credit-worthiness. Hire purchase is also valuable to retailers and manufacturers to boost sales. This article suggests that, as computerization increases in developing countries, speedy credit searches, as used successfully for hire purchase agreements in South Africa, could become much more widespread in the processing of micro-credit.


Liver transplantation offers the last chance to salvage a patient with an irreparable liver injury. We report a case with hepatic avulsion and disruption of the suprahepatic vena cava that could not be repaired by conventional methods. General circulation was restored during the anhepatic phase with an end-to-end portacaval shunt, and a Gott tube (heparin coated) was interposed between the right femoral vein and right atrium. The total anhepatic phase lasted about 20 hours. The graft functioned well even though the patient died of herpes simplex virus infection 25 days postoperatively. While the patient was waiting for the donor, we used a quick and effective approach to maintain the patient's condition. (Arch Surg. 1993;128:1075-1077)


Intranasal deposition of Sendai virus (SV) in C57BL/6 mice provokes an Ab-forming cell (AFC) reaction in mediastinal (MLN) and cervical lymph nodes (CLN), which drain the lungs and upper respiratory tract, respectively. While the majority of AFC elicited by infectious SV at both sites produced IgG, the CLN response to SV rendered inactive in replication was restricted almost entirely to IgA, although isotype switching in mediastinal continued to be skewed heavily to IgG. However, in vitro restimulation of the accompanying virus-specific T cell populations from the two sites did not reveal any significant difference in lymphokine output, and isotype expression was not altered substantially in mice lacking IL-4 or IL-6 genes. To dissociate the response to specific Ags from the inflammatory reaction to viral infection, we examined the response to inactivated SV in the face of infection with influenza virus A/HKx31. The magnitude and IgA dominance of the anti-SV AFC population in the CLN were unaffected by a simultaneous, vigorous, IgG-dominated CLN anti-influenza reaction. Evidently, the characteristics of this antiviral response are determined primarily by cognate interactions. Moreover, the IgA bias of the CLN AFC response to inactivated SV was observed only when the virus was delivered intranasally: injection under the epidermis of the cheek, a site that has a lymphatic drainage into the CLN, resulted in an IgG-dominated CLN AFC reaction, lacking IgA. The site of deposition of a vaccine can thus have more influence on the pattern of isotypes induced than the site at which the immune response is initiated.


Although Uganda has abundant energy resources including hydropower, oil and gas, biomass, geothermal, and solar energy, energy poverty is still very high and constrains socio-economic transformation. Biomass energy accounts for approx. 88% of the energy mix and only up to 28% of the country population have access to electricity, and the two energy sources are climate sensitive. The reliance on biomass energy is a driver to deforestation and forest degradation that also reduces the country's resilience to climate hazards such as flooding, drought and landslides. Besides, deforestation is driver to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adversely affects the delivery of ecosystem services. Uganda is also warming very first and rainfall patterns are becoming more variable. Coupled with increasing occurrence and severity of drought, intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, energy supply systems are becoming more vulnerable. While Uganda is currently not a major emitter of GHG, emissions will rise significantly in the future given the country's rapidly growing population and urbanization that are increasing demand for energy and exacerbated by ongoing oil and gas development. Therefore, as Uganda strives to attain a middle-income status country, building climate resilient and transiting to decarbonized energy systems is not only a necessity but transformational to reducing energy poverty, increasing access to clean and affordable energy services, spurring investment and economic growth, job creation, improved health and poverty reduction. In this chapter, we examine the nexus between energy and climate change in Uganda, focusing on energy as both a driver and victim of climate change while at the same time exploring opportunities for achieving enhanced access to affordable, reliable and clean energy as a contribution to sustainable, green and resilient development.


Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria is becoming increasingly prevalent, posing a critical challenge to global health. Bacterial biofilm formation is a common resistance mechanism that reduces the effectiveness of antibiotics. Thus, the development of compounds that can disrupt bacterial biofilms is a potential strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance. We report herein the synthesis of amphipathic guanidine-embedded glyoxamide-based peptidomimetics via ring-opening reactions of N-naphthoylisatins with amines and amino acids. These compounds were investigated for their antibacterial activity by the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against S. aureus and E. coli. Compounds 35, 36, and 66 exhibited MIC values of 6, 8 and 10 μg mL-1 against S. aureus, respectively, while compounds 55 and 56 showed MIC values of 17 and 19 μg mL-1 against E. coli, respectively. Biofilm disruption and inhibition activities were also evaluated against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The most active compound 65 exhibited the greatest disruption of established biofilms by 65% in S. aureus, 61% in P. aeruginosa, and 60% in S. marcescens respectively, at 250 μM concentration, while compound 52 inhibited the formation of biofilms by 72% in S. marcescens at 250 μM. We also report here the in vitro toxicity against MRC-5 human lung fibroblast cells. Finally, the pore forming capability of the three most potent compounds were tested using tethered bilayer lipid membrane (tBLM) technology.


Taking Jinan Yellow River Bridge as an example, using 3D finite element method, displacement and behavior of four-line high-speed railway bridge with two main trusses, K-shaped brace and middle suspender is studied. The results show that transversal wave of displacement of floor system is significant, and the difference of the displacement in transversal direction reaches 6 mm. The causes includes: large distance between two main trusses, large stiffness of stringers, longitudinal stiffeners and crossbeams, weak transversal stiffeners which do not connect to lower chords. About 90% of the loads are transferred to the crossbeam through path 1 and about 60% to 80% of these loads through K-shaped braces. Less than 10% of the loads transferred to lower chords through path 2.


The purpose of this study is to clarify the correlation between cell differentiation and tumor development, including tumor aggressiveness and biological behavior. Eighty‐three cases of advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma were randomly selected. Using immunohistochemical staining with antibodies to CD10, MUC2 and human gastric mucin (HGM), the colorectal adenocarcinomas could be classified into five types (18 small intestinal, 27 large intestinal, 2 gastric, 9 mixed and 27 unclassified). Each type had characteristic features. The small‐intestinal type showed a relatively lower incidence of lymphatic permeation and higher venous invasion. The large‐intestinal type showed a low incidence of venous invasion and lymph node metastasis. The mixed type revealed female and right‐side‐dominant distribution, large tumor size, high incidence of mucinous carcinoma, and low incidence of venous invasion. Gastric type was seen in only two cases (2%), which exhibited high histologic grade, lymphatic permeation and lymph node metastasis with no venous invasion. Such phenotypic classifications are considered to be useful not only for evaluation of the biological behavior of the carcinoma, but also for analysis of tumorigenesis.


Three low-lying electronic states (X1Σ+, a3Σ+, and A1Π) of NO+ ion are studied using the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) method followed by highly accurate valence internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination of the correlation-consistent sextuple basis set augmented with diffuse functions, aug-cc-pV6Z. The potential energy curves (PECs) of the NO+(X1Σ+, a3Σ+, A1Π) are calculated. Based on the PECs, the spectroscopic parameters Re, De, ωe, ωeχe, αe, Be, and D0 are reproduced, which are in excellent agreement with the available measurements. By numerically solving the radial Schrodinger equation of nuclear motion using the Numerov method, the first 20 vibrational levels, inertial rotation and centrifugal distortion constants of NO+(X1Σ+, a3Σ+, A1Π) ion are derived when the rotational quantum number J is equal to zero (J = 0) for the first time, which accord well with the available measurements. Finally, the analytical potential energy functions of these states are fitted, which are used to accurately derive the first 20 classical turning points when J = 0. These results are compared in detail with those of previous investigations reported in the literature.


This paper examines the relationship between ideological position and electoral success in U.S. elections. We study primary and general elections to the U.S. House of Representatives over the period 1980-2010, focusing on races with no incumbent. Following previous literature, we use campaign donations to estimate the ideological positions of non-incumbent candidates. We find that in primary elections more extreme candidates receive more votes, and are more likely to win, than moderate candidates. However, the differences between extremists and moderates are small. More importantly, we show that the "reward" to extremism in the primary is swamped by an opposing reward to moderates in the general election. In general elections moderate candidates tend to receive more votes, and win more often, than extremists.


The author, Professor Norma Reid, bases this book on many years' experience of teaching students of the health care professions. This is evident in the overall presentation and content of the work. The text is clearly printed with bold titles and sub-titles, and is amply punctuated by illustrations making it easy to read. It is logically laid out with different aspects of the research process divided into chapters and sub-sections for convenient reference. This book is simple while not simplistic. As such it displays research as an attractive, and indeed necessary, imperative and divests it of much of its mystique for the health professional inexperienced in its practice. It is relatively Jargon-free and does not assume any knowledge of research methodologies. The reader is led sequentially through the research process. The early chapters ease the reader into the area of research in health care by identifying reasons for health professionals undertaking research and explaining how a research framework relates to prevailing philosophies within the health professions.


This study was performed to generate and evaluate recombinant antigens for use in a species-specific Chlamydia trachomatis immunoassay. In a molecular genetic approach, fragments of the C. trachomatis major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) were produced as fusion proteins to create three different constructs encompassing the variable domains I, II and IV of selected C. trachomatis serovars. The recombinant MOMP polyantigens were affinity-purified and used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Antibody detection was evaluated with 103 patient sera and the results were compared with titres obtained in the micro-immunofluorescence test. The results showed that the generated MOMP polyantigens detected the presence of C. trachomatis-specific human antibodies with little cross-reaction to C. pneumoniae-specific antibodies. When compared to the micro-immunofluorescence assay the MOMP polyantigen detected the presence of anti-C. trachomatis IgG antibodies with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 91%.


The physiology and pathophysiology of small bowel motility are reviewed with particular focus on the motility patterns and periods that are detected by intraluminal manometry. Motility patterns are groups of phasic pressure waves resulting from contractions of the circular muscle layer of the small bowel that are organized by the enteric nervous system. Phase III of the migrating motor complex, the hallmark of the fasting motility period, thus reflects enteric neuromuscular function. Response to meal challenge also involves the CNS, reflexes beyond the gut and endocrine responses. Although specific disease diagnosis cannot be made by motility studies of the small bowel, the functional integrity is revealed. The normal occurrence of the essential patterns and periods of motility and the absence of distinctly abnormal patterns evidence preserved function, whereas the opposite indicates clinically significant dysmotility. Certain motility patterns are occasionally seen both in health and disease, and increased prevalence indicates a moderate dysfunction of yet unclear significance. Bacterial overgrowth with Gram‐negative bacilli is the consequence of severe small bowel dysmotility, and a diagnosis that can be predicted by a motility study. Testing can be useful in the clinical management of paediatric and adult patients also by predicting the prognosis and response to enteral nutrition and medical therapy. Further studies are, however, needed to take full advantage of motility testing in clinical practise.


Current computer and display technology allows the creation of virtual environment scenes that can be utilized for treating a variety of psychological disorders. This case study demonstrates the effectiveness of virtual environment desensitization (VED) in the treatment of a subject who suffered from fear of flying, a disorder that affects a large number of people. The subject, accompanied by a virtual therapist, was placed in the cockpit of a virtual helicopter and flown over a simulated city for five sessions. The VED treatment resulted in both a significant reduction of anxiety symptoms and the ability to face the phobic situations in the real world.


We have read with interest the article "Retrosternal Deformations after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Using Statistical Shape Analysis" by Bademci et al.[1] The authors have used novel statistical methods to demonstrate geometric changes in the mediastinum following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. The authors conclude that, following CABG, "the main pulmonary artery approximates to the sternum" with "narrowing of the retrosternal area". They attribute this finding to the formation of scar tissue and adhesions which are the result of inflammation associated with cardiac surgery. We would like to inquire if the authors believe operative techniques affect the geometric changes in the mediastinum. Surgeons vary greatly in their CABG techniques, choice of grafts, pericardial closure, and use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). On-pump CABG may precipitate inflammatory processes more potently compared to off-pump CABG[2]. Another technique that produces less inflammation is the mini-extracorporeal circulation (MECC) during CABG[3]. Therefore, postoperative adhesions and scar tissue formation could be attenuated in patients who are revascularized with offpump CABG or using MECC. It is also possible that CPB times, blood transfusions, perioperative medications, and patient factors affect the amount of inflammatory response in the postoperative period. Data related to CPB and other factors that induce inflammation in the patient group in the study may be relevant. The cannulation strategy is also important, as central arterial cannulation may result in more retrosternal adhesions than femoral cannulation. The placement of a pulmonary vent catheter and the extent of tissue dissection around the pulmonary artery may influence the adhesions present in the postoperative period. For their statistical shape analysis, the authors have compared patients with previous CABG with a control group without a history of cardiac surgery. In our opinion, this overlooks interpersonal geometric differences in mediastinal anatomy. The size of the great vessels can be different in the population of patients who require cardiothoracic surgery than individuals who did not require an operation. Comorbidities accompanying heart diseases, including, but not limited to, aortic enlargement or elevated pulmonary pressure increasing great vessel diameters, may complicate the comparison of retrosternal distance[4]. If the authors can identify a cohort of patients who had chest computed tomography before and after surgery, their methods can be applied to distinctly assess the effect of CABG surgery on retrosternal adhesions. This would also allow controlling or comparing other important factors in inflammation. We congratulate the authors for their study in the underexplored field of retrosternal adhesions in cardiac surgery. The findings from this study can guide cardiac surgeons who face the perils of retrosternal adhesions in redo operations.


Abstract : Requirements for submarine periscope depth operations have been increased by integration with carrier battle groups, littoral operations, and contributions to joint surveillance. Improved periscope depth performance is therefore imperative. Submarine control personnel rely on a large number of analog gauges and indications. An integrated digital display system could enhance the ergonomics of the human control interface and display additional parameters. This thesis investigates the required feedbacks for robust automatic depth control at periscope depth, and thus indirectly determines the additional parameters desired for an integrated display. A model of vertical plane submarine dynamics is coupled with first and second order wave force solutions for a particular submarine hull form. Sliding mode control and several schemes of state feedback are used for automatic control. Head and beam seas at sea states three and four are investigated. The automatic control effectiveness provides insight into the indications used by the ship's control party in operations at periscope depth. One possible display system is proposed, with several additional enhancements to improve ship's safety, reduce operator fatigue, and enable accurate reconstruction of the events leading to a loss of depth control.


In addition to his capital contribution to science and philosophy, Galileo is also celebrated as a master of the Italian language. The first part of the book focuses on the explicit passages in which the scientist justifies the choice of language, on the few Latin letters of his and on the coexistence of Italian and Latin in the last work (Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences). Subject of the second part is the Latin translation of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which was published in 1635 by Matthias Bernegger. Particular attention is given to the history of the translation and to the rendering of Galileo's terminology, idiomatic expressions and metaphors.


Introduction Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a non-invasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer (PC). The objectives of the Novel Integration of New prostate radiation schedules with adJuvant Androgen deprivation (NINJA) clinical trial are to compare two emerging SBRT regimens for efficacy with technical substudies focussing on MRI only planning and the use of knowledge-based planning (KBP) to assess radiotherapy plan quality. Methods and analysis Eligible patients must have biopsy-proven unfavourable intermediate or favourable high-risk PC, have an Eastern Collaborative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1 and provide written informed consent. All patients will receive 6 months in total of androgen deprivation therapy. Patients will be randomised to one of two SBRT regimens. The first will be 40 Gy in five fractions given on alternating days (SBRT monotherapy). The second will be 20 Gy in two fractions given 1 week apart followed 2 weeks later by 36 Gy in 12 fractions given five times per week (virtual high-dose rate boost (HDRB)). The primary efficacy outcome will be biochemical clinical control at 5 years. Secondary endpoints for the initial portion of NINJA look at the transition of centres towards MRI only planning and the impact of KBP on real-time (RT) plan assessment. The first 150 men will demonstrate accrual feasibility as well as addressing the KBP and MRI planning aims, prior to proceeding with total accrual to 472 patients as a phase III randomised controlled trial. Ethics and dissemination NINJA is a multicentre cooperative clinical trial comparing two SBRT regimens for men with PC. It builds on promising results from several single-armed studies, and explores radiation dose escalation in the Virtual HDRB arm. The initial component includes novel technical elements, and will form an important platform set for a definitive phase III study. Trial registration number ANZCTN 12615000223538.


AbstractTitle: If it doesn't spread it's dead - a qualitative study on how young entrepreneurs are positioning themselves in the marketplace and with the help of social media spreading their brand. (If it doesn't spread it's dead - en kvalitativ studie om hur unga entreprenorer positionerar sig pa marknaden, med hjalp av sociala medier sprider sitt varumarke). Number of pages: 48 Author: Sandra Ahlinder, Anna Hoffman Tutor: Peder Hard af SegerstadCourse: Media and Communications Studies C Period: Fall 2013University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Purpose/Aim: The aim with this study is to investigate how companies use social media as a marketing tool. The study will investigate possible differences between two groups of newly started companies. The first group is companies that has recieved a relatively large amount of media attention and the second group is companies that has received less attention in media. The study will examine the usage of social media in the two groups. Material/Method: A qualitative method has been used in this study in the the collection of data and in the analysis of the collected material. The collection of data is based on semi-structed interwievs as a qualitative method. In the analysis of the data a content analysis was applied. Main results: The study's main results shows that there is a difference between the two groups of companies use of social media as a marketing tool. The difference is evident in the respective phases the companies are subject to. The group of companies that receives a significant larger amount of media attention has a developed structure in their marketing strategies. In contrast, the group with less media attention are still in a startup-phase and do not have the same means to reach that level of awareness and development in their marketing. Keywords: Sociala medier, Entreprenor, Traditionell marknadsforing, Icke-traditionell markandsforing, Word-of mouth (WOM), Relationship Marketing (RM), Storytelling, Relationsmarknadsforing.


This paper presents a study into the use of Gaussian Process Latent Variable Models (GP-LVM) and Probabilistic Principal Component Analysis (PPCA) for detection of defects on wind turbine bearings using Acoustic Emission (AE) data. The results presented have been taken from an experimental rig with a seeded defect, to attempt to replicate an AE burst generated from a developing crack. Some of the results for both models are presented and compared, and it is shown that the GP-LVM, which is a nonlinear extension of PPCA, outperforms it in distinguishing AE bursts generated from a defect over those generated by other mechanisms. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/286


1.The spherical body (200 μm in diameter) of this ciliate protozoan was easily immobilized on a suction pipette and penetrated with glass micro electrodes. 2.No recordings could be made from the contractile stalk, but in the body a negative potential of 30.3 ± 125 mV was observed. 3.Approximately 9 ms after the onset of a mechanical stimulus, a rapid depolarization was observed. This was apparently simultaneous throughout the body surface. The amplitude was 38.9 ± 13.7 mV. Recordings with aphotomultiplier showed that contraction of the stalk began 10 ms later. 4.A slower depolarization of complex form was observed during systole of the contractile vacuole.


Coring of sediments in active accretionary prisms by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) has revealed a wide variety of deformation features. The structures throw light on processes associated with accretion and the drainage of water-saturated sediments during active deformation. However, some of these structures are rarely described from ancient rocks, partly because they are not well preserved, but perhaps also through the descriptions being scattered among literature not widely read by geologists. This article provides a synopsis of the structures and their implications, based on sediment cores recovered from the five accretionary prisms most recently targeted by the ODP. Deformation bands are roughly planar, bedding-oblique zones of displacement that vary from resembling faults to being kink like or ductile-shear zone like. They can provide information on bulk strain geometries and dewatering regimes. Narrow zones of faulting (some including grain breakage) are common, and can grade into planar bands of breccia. Scaly fabric results from microscopic zones of flattening which become supplanted by shear-induced rotation and intensification into C–S bands. Surfaces associated with shear in the above structures commonly bear lineations, which even in these incompletely lithified materials can be used for stress tensor analysis. Hydraulic breccia is thought to be an indicator of in-situ overpressuring without shear. Web structure involves cataclasis of sand under high pore pressures and can occur at surprisingly shallow levels of burial. Sediment-filled veins may be an indicator of palaeoseismicity. All these structures have hydrological implications and record fluctuating histories of overpressuring and localized fluid flow during deformation.


OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to test the biofilm-controlling properties of N-halamine antimicrobial dental unit waterline (DUWL) tubing (T) tubing, without recharging over one year, compared to a control line (C).

METHODS
A simulated clinical model was used to pump ultrapure water through T and C lines at a rate of 1.4 mL/min, five minutes on, 15 minutes off, eight hours/day, five days a week. Samples of source water, effluent from T and C, and from the stagnant water in the carboy (liquid container) after bench work was completed (S2), were collected aseptically, serially diluted, and cultured on R2A agar for seven days every six weeks. SEM images of the inside surfaces of detached tubing sections were also taken. The carboy was rinsed with a 1:10 dilution of sodium hypochlorite after six months. Means of log transformed CFU values obtained in triplicate were paired by T and C lines across months for comparison by paired Student's t-tests.

RESULTS
An increase in effluent and carboy bacterial counts were noted after six months, but decreased after bleach rinse of the carboy. No significant difference (p > 0.25) between T and C lines were observed; similarly, T and carboy were not significantly different (p > 0.30). SEM images showed biofilm attachment on the inside surface of C after two months, but not on T. Organisms identified in the effluent reflected those in the source carboy.

CONCLUSIONS
No biofilm attachment was detected on the N-halamine test line after 12 months, indicating its antimicrobial properties were retained. Further evaluation is recommended to determine the optimal recharge interval for N-halamine DUWL tubing when ultrapure source water is used.


Denial-of-service (DoS) and distributed DoS (DDoS) are among the major threats to cyber-security, and client puzzle, which demands a client to perform computationally expensive operations before being granted services from a server, is a well-known countermeasure to them. However, an attacker can inflate its capability of DoS/DDoS attacks with fast puzzle solving software and/or built-in graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware to significantly weaken the effectiveness of client puzzles. In this paper, we study how to prevent DoS/DDoS attackers from inflating their puzzle-solving capabilities. To this end, we introduce a new client puzzle referred to as software puzzle. Unlike the existing client puzzle schemes, which publish their puzzle algorithms in advance, a puzzle algorithm in the present software puzzle scheme is randomly generated only after a client request is received at the server side and the algorithm is generated such that: 1) an attacker is unable to prepare an implementation to solve the puzzle in advance and 2) the attacker needs considerable effort in translating a central processing unit puzzle software to its functionally equivalent GPU version such that the translation cannot be done in real time. Moreover, we show how to implement software puzzle in the generic server-browser model.


In March 2015, an impressive set of guidelines for best practice on how to incorporate psychosocial care in routine infertility care was published by the ESHRE Psychology and Counselling Guideline Development Group (ESHRE Psychology and Counselling Guideline Development Group, 2015). The authors report that the guidelines are based on a comprehensive review of the literature and we congratulate them on their meticulous compilation of evidence into a clinically useful document. However, when we read the methodology section, we were baffled and disappointed to find that evidence from research using qualitative methods was not included in the formulation of the guidelines. Despite stating that 'qualitative research has significant value to assess the lived experience of infertility and fertility treatment', the group excluded this body of evidence because qualitative research is 'not generally hypothesis-driven and not objective/neutral, as the researcher puts him/herself in the position of the participant to understand how the world is from the person's perspective'. Qualitative and quantitative research methods are often juxtaposed as representing two different world views. In quantitative circles, qualitative research is commonly viewed with suspicion and considered lightweight because it involves small samples which may not be representative of the broader population, it is seen as not objective, and the results are assessed as biased by the researchers' own experiences or opinions. In qualitative circles, quantitative research can be dismissed as oversimplifying individual experience in the cause of generalisation, failing to acknowledge researcher biases and expectations in research design, and requiring guesswork to understand the human meaning of aggregate data. As social scientists who investigate psychosocial aspects of human reproduction, we use qualitative and quantitative methods, separately or together, depending on the research question. The crucial part is to know when to use what method. The peer-review process is a pillar of scientific publishing. One of the important roles of reviewers is to assess the scientific rigour of the studies from which authors draw their conclusions. If rigour is lacking, the paper should not be published. As with research using quantitative methods, research using qualitative methods is home to the good, the bad and the ugly. It is essential that reviewers know the difference. Rejection letters are hard to take but more often than not they are based on legitimate critique. However, from time to time it is obvious that the reviewer has little grasp of what constitutes rigour or quality in qualitative research. The first author (K.H.) recently submitted a paper that reported findings from a qualitative study about fertility-related knowledge and information-seeking behaviour among people of reproductive age. In the rejection letter one of the reviewers (not from Human Reproduction) lamented, 'Even for a qualitative study, I would expect that some form of confidence interval and paired t-tables analysis, etc. be used to analyse the significance of results'. This comment reveals the reviewer's inappropriate application to qualitative research of criteria relevant only to quantitative research. In this commentary, we give illustrative examples of questions most appropriately answered using qualitative methods and provide general advice about how to appraise the scientific rigour of qualitative studies. We hope this will help the journal's reviewers and readers appreciate the legitimate place of qualitative research and ensure we do not throw the baby out with the bath water by excluding or rejecting papers simply because they report the results of qualitative studies.


Rationale: In patients with chronic heart failure, daytime oscillatory breathing at rest is associated with a high risk of mortality. Experimental evidence, including exaggerated ventilatory responses to CO2 and prolonged circulation time, implicates the ventilatory control system and suggests feedback instability (loop gain. 1) is responsible. However, daytime oscillatory patterns often appear remarkably irregular versus classic instability (Cheyne-Stokes respiration), suggesting our mechanistic understanding is limited. Objectives:We propose that daytime ventilatory oscillations generally result from a chemoreflex resonance, inwhich spontaneous biological variations in ventilatory drive repeatedly induce temporary and irregular ringing effects. Importantly, the ease with which spontaneous biological variations induce irregular oscillations (resonance "strength") rises profoundly as loop gain rises toward 1. We tested this hypothesis through a comparison of mathematical predictions against actualmeasurements in patientswithheart failure and healthy control subjects. Methods: In 25 patients with chronic heart failure and 25 control subjects, we examined spontaneous oscillations in ventilation and separately quantified loop gain using dynamic inspired CO2 stimulation. Measurements and Main Results: Resonance was detected in 24 of 25 patients with heart failure and 18 of 25 control subjects. With increased loop gain—consequent to increased chemosensitivity and delay—the strength of spontaneous oscillations increased precipitously as predicted (r = 0.88), yielding larger (r = 0.78) and more regular (interpeak interval SD, r =20.68) oscillations (P, 0.001 for all, both groups combined). Conclusions: Our study elucidates the mechanism underlying daytime ventilatory oscillations in heart failure and provides ameans to measure and interpret these oscillations to reveal the underlying chemoreflex hypersensitivity and reduced stability that foretells mortality in this population.


Labor Standards in International Supply Chains examines developments in working conditions over the past thirty years. The authors analyze the stakeholders and mechanisms that create challenges and opportunities for improving labor rights around the world, in sectors including apparel, footwear and electronics. Extended examples from China, Honduras, Bangladesh and the United States, as well as new quantitative evidence, illustrate the complex dynamics within and among key groups, including brands, suppliers, governments, workers and consumers.


The fact that neutrinos have mass allows them to possess many other properties, like a magnetic dipole moment and a finite decay width. Theoretical expectations for these are, however, well beyond current experimental bounds, and the discovery of new exotic neutrino properties would indicate the presence of (more) new physics. Here, I review some of the current bounds on exotic neutrino properties. Neutrino experiments are unique probes of several fundamental space-time symmetries, including invariance under CP and Lorentz transformations. I discuss how precision neutrino experiments are used to test some of the most fundamental principles of physics at unprecedented levels.


In this paper, an original expandable mechanism for unfolding wheels is proposed. This mechanism combines two elementary mechanisms. One allows the deployment of the rim while the other one ensures the contact shape adaptation. In the first section, we analyse the different deployment mechanisms already proposed in the literature. Then, the design of the rim expansion mechanism is described and two complementary versions are proposed. Last, based on terramechanics models, a contact surface adaptation mechanism is proposed. This system allows to adapt the wheelground interaction properties and make the wheel ables to improve its traction and steering performance on soft soil.


Conservation farming is a system approach that considers all factors that affect production. Reduced tillage is one of the methods of conservation farming and is becoming increasingly popular on the prairie. This will impact directly on nutrient availability and on fertilizer and other chemical management decisions. Phosphorus (P) supply, and its availability in early stages of plant growth, is critical to the determination of optimum crop yield. Producers frequently avoid P application in flax and increase the P supply in the preceding crops since flax is very sensitive to seed-placed applications of monoammonium phosphate. Along with supplying residual P, a preceding crop such as wheat and canola may also have different impacts on yield and performance of flax depending upon its association with mycorrhizae. Since flax is a highly mycorrhizal crop, it is possible that mycorrhizal associations could be responsible for part of the positive response that flax shows in zero-till systems and the limited P response observed in recent studies. If so then P fertility requirements in flax could be greatly affected by the tillage system and by whether the preceding crop was mycorrhizal or not. Phosphorus fertilization could possibly be reduced or eliminated in flax grown in zero-till following a mycorrhizal crop and optimized in flax grown under conventional tillage management. By more clearly defining the P requirements of flax, canola and wheat grown under different management systems, it is possible to reduce inputs while maintaining or improving crop yield and quality. While many research studies have evaluated the economic impact of tillage systems on N fertility requirements, there has been very limited information available on the economic impact of tillage management and P phytoavailability or on the impact of the tillage system and past phosphorus fertilizer management on phosphorus response of crops. The objective of this study is to evaluate the economic impact of flax on tillage system, P fertilizer application, preceding crop, and level of P fertilizer applied in preceding crop. Introduction The sustainability of any farming system depends on its agronomic and economic performance while reducing negative effects on environment by more efficient use of inputs. Conservation farming is a system approach that considers all factors that affect production. Reduced tillage is one of the methods of conservation farming system and is becoming increasingly popular on the


The paper aims to examine the relationship between trade liberalization and wage premium at the firm level. Using effective protection rate as trade proxy, the paper assumes that in the face of increasing competition, an import-substituting firm may decide to remain at the low value added stage of the production process which requires relatively less skilled workers and suggests a decline in the wage premium. On the other hand, a firm may move away from the product whose protection rate has fallen and shift and expand toward a higher value added activity. This would require relatively more skilled workers suggesting an increase in the wage premium. The main findings of the paper show that: First, trade liberalization lowers the wage premium. A firm responds to import competition by shifting to the manufacture of products with lower value added and importing intermediate inputs rather than producing these within the plant. Second, using ASEAN tariff rates as trade proxy, the same results are obtained, however, when ASEAN tariff is interacted with skill intensity, the results show that tariff reduction on skill intensive products is associated with rising wage skill premium. Third, firm characteristics such as skill intensity, firm size, and capital labor ratio matter in assessing the impact of trade reform on the wage premium. Lastly, exports are associated with increasing wage premium at the firm level the higher their skill intensity. In the literature, greater openness is associated with skill biased technological change with export-oriented and technology intensive activities as channels.


Adverse childhood events can influence the development of emotional and physiological self-regulatory abilities, with significant consequences for vulnerability to psychological and physical illness. This study evaluated stress sensitization and inoculation models of the impact of early parental death on stress exposure and reactivity in late adolescence/young adulthood. Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) and diary reports of minor stress were collected every 30 min during waking hours over a 24-hr period from 91 late adolescents/young adults (43 early bereaved, 48 nonbereaved). Across the sample, minor stressors were associated with elevated BP and negative affect. The bereaved group had lower BP than did the nonbereaved group. Within the bereaved group, higher perceived caring from the surviving parent was associated with fewer reports of minor stress and lower stress-related negative affect. Higher perceived parental caring during childhood was associated with lower BP across the sample and more frequent hassles in the nonbereaved group. Findings support both the stress inoculation and sensitization models, suggesting that childhood parental loss and parental caring exert important influences on children's development of stress sensitivity.


The tax treatment of funded pensions is a critical policy choice in pension reform. In countries with mature funded systems, like the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, pension funds are worth 85 per cent of GDP on average. Pension funds in mature systems are large and could prove an attractive revenue target. They are a major force in private savings flows, supplying capital to industry and providing retirement incomes. The note continues with an in depth analysis of taxing pensions, and further, highlights the question, how generous a tax treatment? There are three arguments for taxing pensions more generously that other kinds of savings. a) to ensure people have a standard of living in retirement close to when they were working, b) to cut the cost of social security benefits for pensioners, and to increase long-term savings. The note concludes that : the 'expenditure tax' taxes pension savings once, either when contributions are made or benefits withdrawn it is the best way of taxing pensions, because it is neutral between consuming now and consuming in the future; most countries treat pensions close to the expenditure tax, the pre-paid tax, which exempts benefits, collects more revenue now, but may not be credible.


The interest in the concept of "interactivity" has increased as we are entering an "always-on" society where people can interact anytime and anywhere. Despite the importance of interactivity in Mobile Commerce (MC) environment, this topic has been given little attention in the academic literature. This paper identified the components of interactivity and investigated the impact of perceptions of interactivity on customer trust and transaction intentions in MC. Empirical results indicate that the addition of MC-specific components of interactivity (perceived ubiquitous connectivity and perceived contextual offer) improves the model fit. Also the perceptions of user control, responsiveness, connectedness, ubiquitous connectivity, and contextual offer have a significant effect on customer trust in MC. Especially, ubiquitous connectivity and contextual offer have a direct positive effect on transaction intentions in MC. Based on these empirical results, this paper suggests managerial implications of new marketing strategies, focusing on the contextual marketing communication that link online, mobile, and offline environment.


Changes brought about by the diagnosis and treatment of cancer always cause psychological, social, cultural, economic and spiritual disorders. We have tried to understand the significance of breast cancer for women and to find out what they do in order to detect it in an early stage. We have randomly chosen thirty-four women who went to a cancer prevention centre in the town of Fortaleza. We have carried out clinical examinations of the breasts, taught the circular self-examination technique and observed how the technique was learnt. We have analysed the results by means of an interactionist approach, and they have been organised according to their significance and to the development of early detection actions. We have concluded that women perceive cancer as a possibility of loss and death and make associations between people or past events and real or imaginary causes. Some of them perform early detection procedures, but the lack of information on the disease is evident, which makes it unfeasible to control breast cancer.


Herein, gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were decorated on magnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters@polydopamine nanocomposites (Fe3O4@PDA NCs) through a direct and green reduction method. The morphology was investigated via transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results showed that Fe3O4 nanoclusters were successfully coated with a PDA shell layer of 25 nm thickness that could work as a reducing reagent to form Au NPs on the surface of Fe3O4@PDA NCs and prevent the aggregation of Au NPs as well. More interestingly, the concentration of the Au precursor had a great effect on both the size and the dispersion of Au NPs on the surface of Fe3O4@PDA NCs, which directly affected the catalytic activity of Fe3O4@PDA@Au. The catalytic performance of Fe3O4@PDA@Au was determined by reducing 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol in the presence of excessive NaBH4, and the result showed that Fe3O4@PDA@Au prepared from a 130 μM Au precursor exhibited the best catalytic activity with the reaction rate constant of 39.2 s−1 g−1 and a conversion of >99% in ten minutes. After being recycled and reused ten times, the magnetic catalyst still had a conversion of >95%; this suggested that it might have practical applications in the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds.


Electrocardiography (ECG) signals are commonly used to diagnose various cardiac abnormalities. Recently, deep learning models showed initial success on modeling ECG data, however they are mostly black-box, thus lack interpretability needed for clinical usage. In this work, we propose MultIlevel kNowledge-guided Attention networks (MINA) that predict heart diseases from ECG signals with intuitive explanation aligned with medical knowledge. By extracting multilevel (beat-, rhythm- and frequency-level) domain knowledge features separately, MINA combines the medical knowledge and ECG data via a multilevel attention model, making the learned models highly interpretable. Our experiments showed MINA achieved PR-AUC 0.9436 (outperforming the best baseline by 5.51%) in real world ECG dataset. Finally, MINA also demonstrated robust performance and strong interpretability against signal distortion and noise contamination.


The present study evaluates the immunomodulatory effect of high molecular weight fractions of Aloe vera polysaccharides harvested during the dry season (March-April) and the rainy season (August-September). Peritoneal macrophages (MΦs) secluded from Balb/c mice underwent treatment with A. vera leaves extract and acemannan standard (the major component found in A. vera) and stimulated with lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Macrophage cell viability was assessed by the 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide method. Phagocytic activity was also evaluated in peritoneal macrophages, such as the production of nitric oxide and interleukin 6 (IL-6). In the results, found that the A. vera polysaccharides harvested during the rainy season stimulated the phagocytic activity with greater intensity than dry season and improvement NO and IL-6 production. No cytotoxic effect was found on cell viability and they cause a significant proliferative effect on macrophages in a concentration-dependent manner. It can be concluded that the A. vera polysaccharides harvested during the rainy season possessed a stronger immunostimulatory effect compared to the extracts from leaves obtained during dry seasons in a concentration-dependent manner without aff at the cell viability of macrophages.


Abstract Equipment selection is a key strategic decision in the design of a material handling system, because an improper one will lead to operational problems and unnecessary investment costs. It involves determining the number and combination of loaders and trucks which will move the material, fulfilling a specified production schedule. Previous works have addressed this problem with deterministic approaches, without considering the inter-dependent availability of trucks and loaders. In order to fill this gap, we developed a stochastic model that combines the selection and equipment replacement problems, subject to a stochastic production rate constraint. This is a new idea that will help decision-makers to decide faster and more reliable. The proposed model optimises the fleet by minimising the total life cycle costs. To solve it, we used a linearisation approach that reduces the computational effort. We tested our approach with a benchmark model, using a mining case study. Results indicate that the solutions ensure with a high probability a determined production target, producing good robust solutions compared to the deterministic counterpart.


Vulnerable households are not only those who are currently poor, but also those who are exposed to risks to become poor in the future. Rural agricultural households are perceived as being exceptionally vulnerable due to limited ability to cope with shocks and higher risks triggered by susceptible agricultural sector but it can also provide possibilities to mitigate and cope with risks and shocks from other sectors. Understanding the decisive characteristics of rural agricultural households provides a better insight to property and more efficient poverty reduction. To deal with this problem, 970 households were interviewed in 2007 in Ubon Ratchathani in Northeastern Thailand. 90% households surveyed engage in some form of own-agricultural activity. Particularly, about 6 % of the households surveyed depend solely on cropping and livestock production with support from remittances and public transfers, whereas 84% of the households undertake on-farm activities simultaneously with off-farm, and/or non-farm activities, hence being seemingly better prepared to prevent vulnerability to poverty due to more diversified occupation. However, roughly 30 % of all agricultural households currently fall under the provincial poverty line and another 30 % earn less than twice the provincial poverty line. Therefore, about one third of agricultural households in the province are already caught under poverty and another substantial one third is subject to downside risk of slipping into poverty should an unexpected shock occur. For that matter, 70 % of agricultural households experienced at least one shock during the previous 5 years. The most common covariate shocks are flood and drought as well as idiosyncratic shocks of illness and death of household members. Regarding production area, half of the agricultural households engage primarily in cropping whereas the other half also raises livestock for commercial purposes. Approximately 60% of agricultural households report agriculture as main occupation of at least 60% of their active members. To construct a basis for behaviour modelling of rural agricultural households regarding effects of shocks and coping strategies, income, main production area and occupation are taken as criterion and 8 typical farm types are identified. Statistical tests show significant differences in household size, yield, subsistence and commercial production and land allocation.


College students face a complex world filled with pervasive social problems that require strong knowledge bases, critical thinking abilities, and sustained engagement in civic life. This article details key pedagogical practices for our innovative health puppetry program, in which undergraduate honors students use puppets to share information about healthy eating, diabetes prevention, and active lifestyles with children and their families in community settings. We articulate a notion of "flexible thinking" as the ability to take on and perform new roles within the public/civic arena by seeing complex social problems from multiple perspectives and responding with creative solutions and engaged action. We look to the written reflections of our student puppeteers to share, in their own words, multiple ways their thinking and communication changed as they grew as puppeteers, community partners, and citizen-leaders. We also offer insights about promoting flexible thinking through in-depth service-learning.


"Primary Classic Reader" is a three-level series of classic tales comprising some of the best loved children's stories. The tales have been retold and carefully adapted for ELT. There are five books for each level: Primary 1, Primary 2 and Primary 3. The books are graded in terms of vocabulary and grammar to reflect student's capabilities at each level, making reading for pleasure in English simple and enjoyable. Each book contains: full-colour illustrations alongside the text to support students in their reading and increase motivation; a picture glossary at the back to build up student's vocabulary; a three-page activity section designed to revise and consolidate the vocabulary found in each tale; an accompanying CD with each tale narrated by professional actors.


Griscelli syndrome type 2 is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, due to a mutation in RAB27A gene. It associates partial albinism, silver hair and immune deficiency. We report the case of a 6 year-old boy who was admitted to the Emergency department with severe sepsis complicated by hemophagocytic syndrome. Many clinical and biological criteria leads to the diagnosis of type 2 Griscelli syndrome: consanguineous family, recurrent infection, absence of psychomotor retardation, oculocutaneous albinism, silver hair, occurrence of hemophagocytic syndrome and especially the pathognomonic appearance on microscopic examination of the hair. The absence of giant organelles inclusion in all granulated cells eliminated Chediak-Higashi syndrome.


In this paper the application of linear quadratic (LQ) optimal control based techniques to a thrust vectoring unmanned aerial vehicle (TV-UAV) control problem is considered. A general nonlinear dynamic model of the TV-UAV is built, which is different from the common UAV. The longitudinal and lateral linearization models are derived in a benchmark flight state. Two thrust deflections are considered as control variables, associated with the rudder control variables. LQ optimal control method based multivariable control system is designed for the attitude stability control problem. Simulations of a nonlinear model described UAV is carried out, results of which show the superiority of the hybrid control strategy, and also show that the TV-UAV has better properties than the common UAV, in the aspects of anti-disturbance and control efficiency.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCa, also called malignant hepatoma) is a primary malignancy of the liver. Most cases of HCCa are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection (hepatitis B or C) or cirrhosis (alcoholism) being the most common cause of hepatic cirrhosis. HCCa is the fifth most common cancer and the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Many different proteins are involved in HCCa including insulin growth factor (IGF) II , signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) 3 , STAT4, mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (SMAD 4) , fragile histidine triad (FHIT), SIRT etc. The present study includes the bioinformatics analysis of SMAD 4 protein in order to understand the proteomic aspect and improvement of the diagnosis of the disease. Different information related to proteins were gathered from different databases e.g. official Symbol and chromosome location were taken from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Gene database. Structural weight (mass of the protein) was taken from Uniprot database. Length of amino acids chain was taken from NCBI Protein database. Different domains of protein were taken from InterProScan. The proteins details related to diseases were checked from Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database. The multiple sequence alignments of top eight closest sequences to these proteins were performed by Claustalw2. Structure of the protein and evaluation of the quality of the structures were included from Easy modeller and Pymol programs. This analysis not only helped to gather the information related to the protein at one place but also analyzed the structure and quality of the protein. Moreover, the present study also included the phylogenetic analysis among different species based on the protein.


In an experiment with purple passion fruit in which a row spacing of 1.8 m (wide) was compared with that of 1.2 m (narrow) under four pruning regimes, severe, selective, light and no pruning, it was found that the narrow spacing outyielded the wide one over a period of three years. Severe pruning gave lower yields than the other pruning treatments. The greater part of the yield was produced during the first cropping year and there was a drastic decline in yields over the three years. Since the vines were given supplementary irrigation, yields were obtained throughout the year, but the marked seasonal trends were not eliminated by irrigation. Spacing did not influence fruit size and quality, but selective and light pruning gave heavier and juicier fruit than severe and no pruning.


Milk thistle (MT/Silybum Marianum) has been used medicinally for over 2000 years for diseases of the hepatic and biliary system in both complimentary and western medicine. It is widely available in tablet, tincture and other formulations through consumer outlets. MTs effectiveness in glucose control in diabetics and in aiding cholesterol control in hypercholesterolemic patients is well evidenced proving its efficacy in glucose management and dyslipidemia treatment is significant in those diagnosed with diabetes and or cardiovascular disease (CVD). More robust and empirically sound studies are required to solidify the use of MT in the clinical setting and the wider consumer environment. A thorough literature review revealed no previously published studies looking at the effect of MT extract on healthy individuals. It may be useful to examine the effect of MT on blood glucose, hepatic function and CVD markers in healthy participants for possible use as preventative treatment to reduce the risk of progression of those diagnosed with metabolic syndrome to diabetes and CVD. The present paper examines the effect of a commercially available MT fruit complex extract containing additional botanical extracts from taraxacum officinalis (dandelion), cynara scolymus (artichoke leaves) and boldo leaves (from the Boldo bush) on glucose control and cardiovascular status in healthy individuals. Using a single blinded, two week trial of supplementation with MT Complex tablets at a dose of 3.2 mg S.marianum, 4.6mg C.scolymus, 1.2mg T.Officianalis, 0.7 mg P.boldus twice daily (provided by A Vogel UK). Participants had baseline measurements of fasting blood glucose (F.Gluc), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), cholesterol, pulse wave velocity (PWV), augmentation index (AI), height and weight taken at baseline and after two weeks. The participants were required to take the supplement twice daily during those two weeks and then returned to repeat the previously mentioned measurements. No significant change (P<0.005) was noted in any of the observed variables.