A novel method with two steps for preparing high efficiency fluorescence nanocrystals (NCs)-encoded microspheres was developed. First, a series of polystyrene (PS) microspheres from 1 μm to 5 μm in diameter were prepared by dispersion polymerization; then, after a swelling process with CdSe NCs of different size the PS microspheres were encoded quantitatively. This method for fluorescence-encoding of microspheres was shown to have the following outstanding characteristics: (1) An emulsion containing CdSe NCs and swelling agents (chloroform) are firstly used for introduction of NCs into microspheres. (2) The embedded nanocrystals remain their original properties and they are not simply absorbed onto the surface of the microspheres but being carried into the inner of microspheres and so the NCs cannot be released or leaked out easily. As-prepared fluorescence-encoded microspheres could conjugate with proteins by some further surface modification, so they have a great potential to be applied to such fields as biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, immunology, etc. In addition, the method could be operated easily and reproducibly.


In 2014, a phase II randomised, double blind clinical trial assessing the efficacy of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) in patients with a cervical trauma will be set up. This trial stems from previous studies showing that vitamin D supplementation improves functional recovery in rat models of peripheral or central nerve injury. In a first series of experiments, we used a rat model of peripheral nerve trauma to demonstrate the therapeutic efficiency of vitamin D. We first demonstrated that ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) increases the number and the diameter of newly formed axons and improves the response of metabosensitive fibers from tibialis muscle, in a model of transected peroneal nerve. Then, we compared vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 and observed that the latter is more efficient. At the dose of 500 IU/kg/day, vitamin D3 induces a dramatic functional recovery. We also demonstrated that vitamin D3 increases the number of preserved or newly formed axons in the proximal end, the mean axon diameter in the distal end, neurite myelination in both the distal and proximal ends as well as the expression of genes involved in axogenesis and myelination. In parallel, we assessed the therapeutic role of vitamin D on the central nervous system. In a first study, using a rat model of spinal cord compression at the T10 thoracic level, we delivered vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) orally at the dose of 50 IU/kg/day or 200 IU/kg/day. When compared to control animals, vitamin D-treated rats displayed, three months after injury, a significant improvement of ventilatory frequency and a reduction of H reflex indicating functional improvements at three months post-injury. In a second study, we used a rat model of cervical hemisection (C2) with a higher dose of oral vitamin D3 (500 IU/kg/day) delivered weekly, during 12 weeks. We observed an improved locomotor recovery, a reduced spasticity and a significantly higher rate of axons crossing the lesion site in treated animals. However, it must be pointed out that the functional improvement is reduced when vitamin D is provided one week after the trauma.


Societies which structure themselves having the purchase and selling of work as the central dimension of social life find themselves in the middle of a crisis. The job market is not, and could never be, the only space of social work allocation, otherwise the activity which produces utility values, a reproducer of the cultural and social identity, organized under principles other than those of the valorization of capital, may collapse, imploding society's very own structure. The growth of non-formal work activities is but one of the most explicit signs of the functioning of the tradevalue producing activity when it submits and models the formerly formal work activity now newly shaped. Informal work, made visible by theories which would formerly identify it as a group of archaic relations or as having been produced by irrational social agents, thus destined to vanish, is itself provoked and made into a reference model to all forms of work. Formal work loses some of its space and centrality due to the uncountable labor-law reformations around the world gaining informal contours, but seeking to become formal. In short, formal work is replaced by the informal kind which is the result of the rational economic agents' coming up with strategies to escape the state's regulatory proceedings.


Authentication is determining an individual's identity correctly from among many, mostly through observing unique physiological features like face or presentation of a token that is unique for every individual. While these techniques work well for small populations, a challenge arises when the size of the population is large, as is the case with institutions of higher learning, during examinations. In Kenyan institutions of higher learning, examinations arc conducted in lecture halls and student populations may go up to 500 students per sitting. In such cases large auditoriums are used and several invigilators are positioned at the entrance before students enter the hall. Students are authenticated by providing their student ID card and an examination card. The student ID contains the student's photograph, student's admission number, his/her names, the degree program undertaken and course duration. The examination card contains the student's admission number, the student names the degree program and examination series. An examination card is not authentic if the exam series is invalid. Authentication ensures that only bona fide students are allowed into the examination facility. The process begins shortly before the scheduled time for the examination and it involves checking to confirm that the photograph on student ID matches the bearer's facial features and that the examination card is valid before the student is allowed into the examination facility. The problem with this mode of authentication is the time it takes to take such a population through this process and its effectiveness in terms of ensuring that no impostor ends up doing an examination. In trying to beat the time constraint so that the examination starts on time, the invigilators may quickly rush through the authentication and fail to scrutinize the documents for authentication. Furthermore for such large populations as is the nature of humans fatigue is bound to kick in thus worsening the situation. This project seeks to address this problem by using fingerprint biometric technology. Biometric technologies are automated methods of verifying or recognizing the identity of a living person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. (Nanavati,2002). In this project a biometric system is developed to authenticate individuals using their fingerprints which are difficult to forge. It is designed to reduce the time it takes for manual authentication by incorporating biometric readers at the point of entry into an examination facility which capture the sample and quickly compares it with a stored template, if a match is found the student is allowed otherwise he/she is rejected. The findings of this project show that the time taken to perform manual authentication is twice the time taken using the system.


To determine the effects of aged and diluted sidestream cigarette smoke (ADSS) as a surrogate of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on ozone-induced lung injury, male B6C3F1 mice were exposed to (1) filtered air (FA), (2) ADSS, (3) ozone, or (4) ADSS followed by ozone (ADSS/ozone). Exposure to ADSS at 30 mg/m of total suspended particulates (TSP) for 6 h/day for 3 days, followed by exposure to ozone at 0.5 ppm for 24 h was associated with a significant increase in the number of cells recovered by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) compared with exposure to ADSS alone or ozone alone. The proportion of neutrophils and lymphocytes, as well as total protein level in BAL, was also significantly elevated following ADSS/ozone exposure, when compared with all other groups. Within the centriacinar regions of the lungs, the percentage of proliferating cells identified by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling was unchanged from control, following exposure to ADSS alone, but was significantly elevated following exposure to ozone (280% of control) and further augmented in a statistically significant manner in mice exposed to ADSS/ozone (402% of control). Following exposure to ozone or ADSS/ozone, the ability of alveolar macrophages (AM) to release interleukin (IL)-6 under lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation was significantly decreased, while exposure to ADSS or ADSS/ozone caused a significantly increased release of tumor necrosis factor a from AM under LPS stimulation. We conclude that ADSS exposure enhances the sensitivity of animals to ozone-induced lung injury.


In mobile ad-hoc networks, hosts communicate with each other without the help of any physical infrastructure. Inevitably, the communication tends to be less efficient in terms of computational and communicational overhead. Recent studies have shown that virtual backbone can help reduce the communication overhead. However, the backbone structure is very vulnerable due to several reasons, e.g., node mobility and unstable links, etc. In this paper, we introduce a localized virtual backbone construction scheme, connected maximal independent set with multiple initiators (MCMIS), which takes node stability into consideration and can construct the backbone quickly. We design MCMIS aiming at three goals: small backbone size, fast construction, stable backbone. Through extensive simulations, we find that our scheme could obtain a better performance on stability and backbone size than other localized schemes.


The European Union's approach to ISDS is examined based on the available textual evidence in proposed or negotiated trade agreements. The evaluation focuses on three criteria: judicial independence, procedural fairness, and balance in the allocation of rights and responsibilities. Each criteria arises from concerns about the powerful and far-reaching arbitration mechanism at the core of ISDS and its role to decide the legality of sovereign conduct and allocate public funds to foreign investors. The main conclusions are that, in pursuing a massive expansion of ISDS in new trade agreements, the European Union has taken only partial steps on the issue of independence, has signalled but not carried through with steps on the issue of procedural fairness, and has not taken steps to balance investor rights with investor responsibilities or to ensure respect for the role of domestic courts.


The costs of Dutch pension funds have increased in the last decades. The costs, as a percentage of assets invested, doubled between 1992-2009. In 2014 total costs equalled 6.3 billion euro, or 19.6% of annual contributions. Asset management is the largest component of costs. Pension funds claim that the costs are necessary for financial performance. Using a unique data-set of Dutch pension funds, the effect of costs on performance is estimated. The hypothesis that higher costs do not lead to better financial results cannot be rejected.


We describe a number of experiments that demonstrate the usefulness of prosodic information for a processing module which parses spoken utterances with a feature based gram mar employing empty categories We show that by requiring certain prosodic properties from those positions in the input where the presence of an empty category has to be hypothe sized a derivation can be accomplished more e ciently The approach has been implemented in the machine translation project Verbmobil and results in a signi cant reduction of the work load for the parser


Economics reproduces itself as a [white] man's field through resistance to demographic and epistemic diversity. Although some resistance is expressed by anonymous individuals, they are neither the sole nor the primary source. Resistance is internal to the discipline; it is structural. It is present in the vertical organization of the profession, the seemingly neutral forms of evaluation that institutionalize gender bias, and the marginalization of certain topics and critical perspectives. Because resistance is structural, even if individuals do not discriminate, the discipline will remain resistant to diversity.
 The conceptualization of work as paid employment alone reflects gender ideology and plays a key role in the devalorization of unpaid work, those who do it, and research about it. Concepts and methods from feminist political economy link the orthodox conceptualization of work, and the value system underpinning it, to the experiences of women economists between 1970 and the present. I find that economics remains a "man's field" through structural resistance to women economists, through interpreting women's economic activities as marginal to the "real business" of economics, and by delegitimizing feminist research about those activities. The delegitimization of feminists' paid work as economists functionally devalues women's unpaid work in economic thought. Because economic thought is influential outside the economics discipline, the delegitimization of feminist economic research devalues women's unpaid work outside the discipline as well.
 Efforts to "fix" structural resistance to diversity without addressing the devalorization of the gendered work required to reproduce people are likely to have limited impacts. They may contribute to demographic diversity, but demographic diversity will not automatically translate into theoretical diversity in a discipline that marginalizes critical thought. Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts should ensure that nonwhite and nonmen economists have pathways to advancement with scope for academic freedom. This is especially necessary when their intellectual contributions challenge the value systems and the unequal power relations that economic orthodoxy reinforces.


[1] The INTEX-A field mission was conducted in the summer of 2004 (1 July to 15 August 2004) over North America (NA) and the Atlantic in cooperation with multiple national and international partners as part of a consortium called ICARTT. The main goals of INTEX-A were to (1) characterize the composition of the troposphere over NA, (2) characterize the outflow of pollution from NA and determine its chemical evolution during transatlantic transport, (3) validate satellite observations of tropospheric composition, (4) quantitatively relate atmospheric concentrations of gases and aerosols with their sources and sinks, and (5) investigate aerosol properties and their radiative effects. INTEX-A primarily relied on instrumented DC-8 and J-31 aircraft platforms to achieve its objectives. The DC-8 was equipped to measure detailed gas and aerosol composition and provided sufficient range and altitude capability to coordinate activities with distant partners and to sample the entire midlatitude troposphere. The J-31 was specifically focused on radiative effects of clouds and aerosols and operated largely in the Gulf of Maine. Satellite products along with meteorological and 3-D chemical transport model forecasts were integrated into the flight planning process. Intercomparisons were performed to quantify the accuracy of data and to create a unified data set. Satellite validation activities principally focused on Terra (MOPITT, MODIS, and MISR), Aqua (AIRS and MODIS) and Envisat (SCIAMACHY) to validate observations of CO, NO2, HCHO, H2O, and aerosol. Persistent fires in Alaska and NW Canada offered opportunities to quantify emissions from fires and study the transport and evolution of biomass burning plumes. Contrary to expectations, several pollution plumes of Asian origin, frequently mixed with stratospheric air, were sampled over NA. Quasi-Lagrangian sampling was successfully carried out to study chemical aging of plumes during transport over the Atlantic. Lightning NOx source was found to be far larger than anticipated and provided a major source of error in model simulations. The composition of the upper troposphere was significantly perturbed by influences from surface pollution and lightning. Drawdown of CO2 was characterized over NA and its atmospheric abundance related to terrestrial sources and sinks. INTEX-A observations provide a comprehensive data set to test models and evaluate major pathways of pollution transport over NA and the Atlantic. This overview provides a context within which the present and future INTEX-A/ICARTT publications can be understood.


Purpose. This paper presents a concise review of the role of the intrinsic opioid growth regulation system (IOGRS) in homeostasis and wound repair of the corneal epithelium. Methods. The article is a summary of published research on the topic. Results. The native opioid peptide, [Met 5 ]-enkephalin, also termed opioid growth factor (OGF), has been demonstrated to be present in a wide variety of classes of the phylum. Chordata, and acts as an autocrine/paracrine produced, tonically active, receptor specific, negative growth modulating factor in homeostatic (uninjured) corneal epithelium in humans and non-primates. Similarly, OGF acts to down-regulate epithelial cell division and migration of corneal epithelium in the closing of corneal epithelial abrasions. Such repair can be up-regulated (hastened) in non-diabetic animals by treatment with exogenous administration of the potent opioid antagonist, naltrexone (NTX). The system also is functional in diabetic animals and can be manipulated to restore epithelial wound healing rates to normal. Conclusions. The IOGRS plays a vital role in supporting corneal epithelial homeostasis, and in modulating closure of epithelial wounds. The system should provide opportunities for novel therapies especially for corneal epithelial wound healing disorders.


1 Theoretical models have predicted that the relative importance of facilitation and competition will vary inversely across gradients of abiotic stress, with facilitation being the dominant interaction under high abiotic stress conditions. A critical reappraisal of current theoretical models is needed because experimental studies both support and refute their predictions. 2 A quantitative meta‐analysis of field and common garden studies evaluating the effect of abiotic stress (low vs. high) on the net outcome of plant–plant interactions in arid and semi‐arid environments was performed to evaluate the degree of empirical support for these models. We created four separate data sets corresponding to the categories of response variables commonly used to measure plant performance (survival, density, growth and fecundity). 3 The analyses showed that both the selection of the estimator of plant performance and the experimental approach followed have a strong influence on both the net outcome of plant–plant interactions and the effect of abiotic stress on such outcome. The effect of neighbours on the survival and growth of target plants was not significant at either stress level, but that on the density and fecundity of target plants was positive (facilitation) and negative (competition) at the low and high abiotic stress level, respectively. Density data showed that the net effect of neighbours was positive and negative at low and high abiotic stress levels, respectively, whereas other estimators suggested that the net effect of neighbours did not differ with stress level. None of our meta‐analyses indicated that the magnitude of the net effect provided by neighbours, whether positive or negative, was higher under high abiotic stress conditions, and facilitation does not therefore appear to increase in importance with abiotic stress. 4 As the predictions of current theoretical models regarding the relationship between the net outcome of a plant–plant interaction and abiotic stress do not hold in arid and semi‐arid environments, different models are needed. These should consider different sources of abiotic stress separately, and should be valid for performance measurements, such as survival, that integrate plant responses over time. The incorporation of these features into theoretical models will undoubtedly improve their predictive capabilities.


Differences in the absorption spectrum of the Penicillum vitale catalase in the visible region as compared to the absorption spectrum for catalase of animal origin are established to be due to the prosthetic group of the enzyme. A molecule of P. vitale catalase is determined to contain 0.051 +/- 0.0003% of iron. It corresponds to two iron atoms per enzyme molecule and to a twice as low content of iron as in a molecule of the bovine liver catalase. An assumption is advanced that the P. vitale catalase contains two hemin groups located in two protein subunits.


ECPR (electrically calibrated pyroelectric radiometer) is a kind of electrical substitution radiometer with high precision in detecting optical power. With the development of the enhanced UV ECPR, a measuring system for the absolute spectral response of UV detector is built. The paper introduces the measuring methods of UV absolute spectral response based on ECPR, the configuration of the measuring system and the measurement results. The feature of the system is high precision, easy operation and automation. Also it provides a good solution for the measurement of absolute spectral response of UV source.


In recent years there has been an increasing interest in using high-yield pulp (HYP) as a partial replacement for hardwood bleached kraft pulp (HWBKP) in the production of high-quality fine papers as a cost-effective way of improving the product performance. This study investigated the substitution of HYP for HWBKP and its effect on the Alkenyl Succinic Anhydride (ASA) sizing performance. The results showed that the substitution of an aspen HYP for HWBKP can increase the ASA sizing performance at a HYP substitution as high as 15 to 20%. The ASA addition sequence has an influence on the ASA sizing performance and first adding ASA to the HYP followed by mixing with kraft pulps was the preferred method. Using precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) as a paper filler at a dosage of less than 20% can increase the ASA sizing performance due to the contribution of the calcium soap of the hydrolysed ASA. A PCC dosage greater than 20% resulted in a negative impact on the sizing performance. It was also found that different PCC loading sequences can also affect the ASA sizing performance.


Author(s): Duvvoori, Kavi | Advisor(s): Sack, Warren | Abstract: 'Titled, "Untitled"' presents a compendium of language games by the artist, in conversation with various models of language. This project asks how and where digital literary art can approach human language's contemporary situations, contextualizing its practice alongside late 20th century movements intervening artistically in language such as Oulipo, Language poetry, fluxus, net.art, and conceptual art. The quirks and failures of linguistic models, appearing in technical literatures before entering the human world through ubiquitous software systems, now act upon and evaluate us daily through systems for translation, sentiment and network surveillance, and the corporate characters for synthetic conversation. 'Titled, "Untitled"'s response pursues a strategy similar to the one Jenny Schlenzka identifies in Adam Pendleton's 'Black Dada', "first, to study these stabilizing functions of institutional language and then to take the further step of introducing elements of destabilization. What would happen… if a museum were to hand over its entire linguistic output to a group of poets?"A compositional semantics parses sentences about two rooms while an author interjects other assertions. A recurrent neural network struggles to make sense of contrasting training texts. A vector-space thesaurus degenerates sentence constellations. A physics engine drops 3d words through gamespace. A cellular automaton transforms common consonants and vowels into words and a territory.The compendium takes the form of a wiki and gallery reading room, where each entry offers a summary of a theoretical framework before presenting a work implementing it, working with its metaphors, or drawing attention to the remainder the theory excludes. Concerns across 'Titled, "Untitled"' include the materialities of digital language; the problem of digital language's simultaneous algorithmic processors and human audiences; the search for positive semantic or human possibilities in linguistic positions or identities defined as a negative space (such as "queer" or "person of color"); and the social, corporate, and technical infrastructures that mediate digital speech.


This document outlines a methodology for optimal investment in equity shares as using the procedure Markowitz with a stochastic approach, developing calculations leaf electronic Excel, relying on supplements Crystal Ball for the
Monte Carlo simulation and Optquest para la optimization through heuristics goal of Branch and bound


The datacenter of one university owns massive E-Learning resources, and how to support safe and efficient access so as to support large-scale concurrent read and write protection has troubled the administrators of the campus datacenter. In this paper, we presented our E-learning resources storage system. The resources are stored in one HDFS(HADDOP Distributed File System) based storage systems, to effectively support the E-learning scenarios as small write-once files with large-scale concurrent read scenarios. Within the System, the E-learning data can be deployed redundantly across multiple storage nodes, which are distributed so as to improve read and write speed. Furthermore, when a single data node fails the system can also be recovered by redundant node data in the system and improve system security greatly. The system supports that the desktop systems, mobile platforms and web browser can access the system with cross-platform mechanism. The system adopts encryption mechanisms through the establishment of secure storage directory, and the user terminal can encrypts and unencrypts the user-files with offline mode to guarantee the safety of user data.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of carbohydrate ingestion during exercise in the heat by measuring markers of gastrointestinal damage and inflammation. Methods: Active subjects (n = 7) completed two 60-min running trials in a heated environment (70% VO2max, 30°C). At minute 20 of exercise, subjects consumed a carbohydrate gel (Cho) (27 g), or a non-carbohydrate placebo (nCho). Plasma endotoxin, I-FABP, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10, and MCP-1 were measured pre-exercise, 20-min post-exercise, and again 2-h, and 4-h post-exercise. Results: Endotoxin increased 20-min post-exercise compared to pre in the Cho trial only (p = .03). I-FABP levels increased 20-min post-exercise in the Cho trial only compared to pre-exercise (p = .003). I-FABP levels were also increased in Cho trial 20-min post-exercise when compared to same time point in the nCho trial (p = .032). TNF-α increased 20-min post-exercise in the Cho trial only compared to pre (p = .03). Plasma IL-6 concentration increased 20-min post-exercise when compared to pre in both the Cho (p = .002) and nCho (p = .009), but remained elevated at the 2-h time point in the nCho trial (p = .03). I-FABP and several plasma cytokines (TNF-α, MCP-1, Il-6) returned to baseline sooner in the Cho trial. Conclusions: Ingestion of carbohydrate gel during exercise in the heat enhances markers of gastrointestinal wall damage.


Structural and optical properties of ZnSe thin films grown by electron-beam evaporation technique were reported in the present paper. X-ray diffraction pattern exhibited a single peak around 27° which is well-suited with cubic phase of the films. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses resulted in atomic composition ratio of Zn/Se nearly 1.0 which corresponds to the chemical formula of ZnSe. Transmission experiments were performed at various temperatures in between 10 and 300 K. The analyses of the transmission data showed that direct band gap energy of the ZnSe thin films increases from 2.72 to 2.83 eV as temperature was reduced to 10 K from room temperature. The Varshni and O'Donnell-Chen models giving the temperature-band gap energy relation were used to get various optical parameters of the evaporated thin films. Analyses resulted in absolute zero temperature band gap energy as 2.83 eV, temperature coefficient as −5.8 × 10–4 eV K−1 and average phonon energy as 16 meV. Urbach tail state energies were also calculated using absorption coefficient in the low photon energy region as increasing from 173 meV (300 K) to 181 meV (10 K) with decreasing ambient temperature.


Antibiotic resistant and biofilm forming uropathogenic Enterobacteriaceae are rising. This study was conducted to evaluate the efflux pump and plasmid mediated efflux genes in ciprofloxacin (CIP) resistant hospital acquired uropathogenic Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Also, to assess the anti-biofilm action of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP). Uropathogenic E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were collected from Mansoura University Hospitals in Mansoura, Egypt. The effect of Sub- minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CCCP on CIP MIC was evaluated and the MIC decrease factor (MDF) was calculated. The presence of oqxAB and qepA genes was detected by PCR. The effect CCCP on biofilm was detected in strong biofilm formers. 56 and 47 CIP-resistant uropathogenic E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates respectively were detected. Significant MDF by CCCP was observed in 55.3% of these isolates. The qepA gene was only present in E. coli. However, oqxAB genes were found only in K. pneumoniae. Biofilm formation was detected in 58.9% and 72.3% of CIP-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. Biofilm formation was significantly decreased by CCCP. According to these findings, CIP resistance and plasmid-mediated efflux pumps in uropathogenic E. coli and K. pneumoniae are of rising concern. Efflux pump inhibitor CCCP represents a possible option to decrease the biofilm formation in these resistant urinary pathogens.


Two members from the Six class of homeobox transcription factors, Sine oculis (SO) and Optix, function during development of the fly visual system. Differences in gain‐of‐function phenotypes and gene expression suggest that these related factors play distinct roles in the formation of the fly eye. However, the molecular nature of their functional differences remains unclear. In this study, we report the identification of two novel factors that participate in specific partnerships with Sine oculis and Optix during photoreceptor neurons formation and in eye progenitor cells. This work shows that different cofactors likely mediate unique functions of Sine oculis and Optix during the development of the fly eye and that the repeated requirement for SO function at multiple stages of eye development reflects the activity of different SO–cofactor complexes. Developmental Dynamics 234:497–504, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Ontologies have been widely used in numerous and varied applications, e.g., to support data modeling, information integration, and knowledge management. With the increasing size of ontologies, ontology understanding, which is playing an important role in different tasks, is becoming more difficult. Consequently, ontology summarization, as a way to distill key information from an ontology and generate an abridged version to facilitate a better understanding, is getting growing attention. In this survey paper, we review existing ontology summarization techniques and focus mainly on graph-based methods, which represent an ontology as a graph and apply centrality-based and other measures to identify the most important elements of an ontology as its summary. After analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, we highlight a few potential directions for future research.


Isaac Newton (1642-1727), the English genius, made his greatest contributions to original thought before the age of twenty-five, while at home in Lincolnshire escaping the great plague of 1665, a period of which he wrote: 'I was in the prime of age for invention.' Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, an MP, Master of the Mind and President of the Royal Society, Newton, the author of Principia, one of the most important books in the history of science, was fascinated by calculus, the planets and the 'laws of motion', and, in keeping with his age, blurred the borders between natural philosophy and speculation: he was as passionate about astrology as astronomy and dabbled in alchemy, while his religious faith was never undermined by his scientific reasoning. Peter Ackroyd brings this somewhat puritanical man to life and demonstrates the unique brilliance of his perceptions, which changed our world forever.


A general analysis of the clinical failures that were responsible for deaths attributable to anaesthesia over a 30-year period, 1956-1987, is presented. Four particular general failures in clinical management were responsible for 80% of anaesthetic-contributory deaths (ACD). These were in descending order of frequency: (i) failures in airway management, of which the majority were associated with the complications of endotracheal intubation (27% of ACD); (ii) failures in pulmonary ventilation management (20% of ACD); (iii) failures in blood volume control (19% of ACD); and (iv) failures in arrhythmia control (17% of ACD). Computation of these groups of causes by the decade reveals a distinct and progressive change in the aetiological pattern of these deaths with time. While the incidence of ACD over the period decreased 6-fold from 0.43 to 0.07/1,000 anaesthetics, that proportion due to failures in airway management, in general, and complications of intubation, in particular, has progressively increased. This has been accompanied by a reciprocal decrease in deaths due to circulatory factors. It is postulated that this change arises from the fact that the physical skills, manual dexterity and clinical judgement demanded by the former have not changed with time, whereas the latter depend on intellectual responses to information derived from ever-improving vital function monitoring.


Recent research has highlighted the role of institutions in channeling entrepreneurs into activities with positive or negative effects on overall productivity. Embedding central elements from these theories into a political economy framework reveals the bilateral causal relation between entrepreneurs and institutions. Core features of the entrepreneur force us to view its effects on institutions as more than mechanic general equilibrium adjustments. Three analytically separate channels of influence are isolated, analyzed and exemplified. Entrepreneurs influence formal economic institutions through direct involvement in politics, by using their entrepreneurial talent to wield de facto political power and by altering the effect of formal institutions. We propose a parsimonious framework that incorporates these effects as well as the role of institutions in channeling entrepreneurial talent. We use examples from modern history as a real-world context to illustrate our framework.


Over the last decades, numerous investigations have been conducted on Nitinol properties. However, the effects of alloying elements on Ni-rich NiTi alloys have been considered less. In this research, different effects of homogenization time and cooling rate on the behaviors of Ni-42.5wt%Ti-3wt%Cu alloy were evaluated. The mentioned alloy was fabricated by vacuum arc melting method. Three different homogenization times (half, one and two hours) and three cooling media (water, air and furnace) were selected. The microstructure and hardness were examined by means of optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and hardness test, respectively. According to the microscopic investigations, no significant changes were observed after half an hour. However, results indicate that increasing time of homogenization leads to finer precipitations and a uniform distribution of them. The various cooling environments result in the formation of two types of precipitation phases. It was seen that in the high cooling rate, the majority of precipitations consisted of Ti2(Ni,Cu) while by decreasing cooling rate NiTiCu precipitates appeared too, which affect the hardness.


Charles Dudley Warner's oft-quoted observation about the weather may aptly be applied to the taking of a more rigorous approach to the conceptual problems of psychopathology—lots of talk but not much doing. This volume represents a distinguished effort to do something about the problem and it will be read and discussed by many thoughtful clinicians and psychiatric researchers. The research which is reported in this book began with a thesis, indeed a prejudice, shared by many who deplore the anecdotal nature and conceptual sloppiness of much of the thinking in contemporary psychiatry. It is an argument against a major—and to this reviewer an alarming—trend in American psychiatry: the increasing tendency to confuse humanism and humanitarianism with disregard for scientific rigor. This Zeitgeist tends to downgrade the significance of knowledge and to equate empathic know-nothingness with respect for the dignity and


This study investigates the possible association between corporate governance (CG) and disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by listed companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. An un-weighted CSR disclosure index including 41 information items has been developed to gather suitable information from corporate annual reports of 246 sampled listed companies from the six GCC countries covering the 2016 financial period. Five independent variables represent CG factors (board size, non-executive directors, role duality, female directors and size of the audit committee) in addition to three company characteristics (firm size, profitability and type of industry) are control variables in six regression models. Findings of regression models reveal that only board size and non-executive directors are determinants of CSR disclosure; conversely, no significant association is found between CSR disclosure and the other three CG variables.


The new millennium was marked by the epic of the legendary Barcelona of Guardiola, the coach who revolutionized the world of football with his tiki taka. The search for this game made of fast ball exchanges, continuous changes of position and search for free space to occupy, however, has downgraded what is one of the main technical skills of the game of football, the dribbling. Starting with football schools Pedagogical value of the body and physical activity in childhood. 1vs1 has been set aside to favour other technical fundamentals, so we are in a period where fewer and fewer players take responsibility for trying a game in 1vs1, but prefer to pass the ball to their closest partner. This second study has analysed the scorer rankings of the top 4 European championships (Serie A, Premier League, Spanish League, Bundesliga) of the 2009/2010 and 2017/2018 seasons, taking into account not only the total goals, but also the average shots per game and the average dribbling per game.


Abstract The hydrodynamics, salinity circulation, and transport of suspended fine sediment from major rivers on the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) were simulated with the numerical model H3D. Tides, river inflow, wind, and heat exchanges were used to drive the three-dimensional baroclinic model. Tide propagation in the northern Gulf and seasonality in the sediment plume advection from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers into the GOM were well represented in the model. The similarity between the model's results and the sediment plume as seen in MODIS satellite images and the salinity structure as observed in previous studies is demonstrated. This qualitatively valid model is used for initial guidance in design of new Mississippi River (MR) diversions by studying the effects of five conceptual MR diversions on the fate of its suspended fine material. The diversions were positioned halfway between Port Sulphur and Venice, southeast Louisiana. The scenario transporting 70% of the MR to the west and 30% to the east of the delta presents the best configuration in terms of retention of sediment within the continental shelf. This configuration redirects the main sediment and freshwater flow from the river to the nearshore and the upper continental shelf with the least losses to deeper GOM waters. Given the local dominant westward wind regime, increased discharges diverted to the east will increase the amount of sediment that travels west around the MR birdfoot delta and over the Mississippi Canyon, with a higher chance of being lost to deeper waters.


The literature on sustainable fashion consumption tends to concentrate on the motivational factors which encourage consumers to behave sustainability from the lens of personal and social factors. This paper seeks to extend the sustainable fashion consumption study by conceptualising the aspects of socio-technical factor as a means of understanding the consumer's sustainable fashion consumption behaviour, noting the existence of attitude-behaviour gap. In addition, this paper considers how sustainable fashion consumption come into existence from the lens of personal factors and how the various interventions of facilitating conditions involved in these dynamics. An action oriented research which involved the technical aspects is needed to examine the distinctive challenges of understanding transitions in sustainable practice and to engender a more sustainable way of fashion consumption. KeywordsAttitude-Behaviour Gap, Facilitating Conditions, Socio-Technical, Sustainable Fashion Consumption


This work is concerned with issues related to using grey cast iron swarf from dry machining in powder metallurgy. In a first stage, a complete study on the characteristics of the raw powder is performed, in which aspects related to the dilution in different proportion of pure iron were studied. Low compacting pressure produces workpieces more resistant and that the ideal sintering temperature is 1160 °C. In a second stage, aiming at reduction of the powder, a heat treatment is performed. New dilutions using the decarburized powder were made and results showed better structural homogeneity and an improvement in the mechanical properties. The steel alloy 50/50% of swarf powder provided the best results. In a third stage, a cylindrical bearing was produced. New dilutions were made. Based on the control of the interconnected porosity, radial and wear resistance, the sample prepared with 100% swarf powder provided the best results.


The success of a project heavily relies on the quality of requirements determination, which the systems are built upon. However, about 60% of project failures are due to weak requirements determination. This weakness is due to poor communication and lack of stakeholder engagement. Understanding the factors that motivate user participation behaviors during requirements determination can increase user engagement during the requirements determination process. However, empirical research on the factors that motivate participants during requirements determination to engage and share their knowledge is still lacking. The purpose of this paper is to examine the motivational impact of gamification elements on user participation behaviors during requirements determination. This paper presents an extended model of the theory of reasoned action. The extended model posits that gamification elements will influence user participation intentions indirectly through their effects on attitude and subjective norms.


In this study, a new method for designing low profile frequency selective surfaces (FSS) with second-order bandpass responses is presented. The FSSs designed using this technique utilize non-resonant subwavelength constituting unit cells with unit cell dimensions and periodicities in the order of 0.15lambda0. It is demonstrated that using the proposed technique, second-order FSSs with an overall thickness of lambda0/30 can be designed. This is considerably smaller than the thickness of second-order FSSs designed using traditional techniques and could be particularly useful at lower frequencies with long wavelengths. To facilitate the design of this structure, an equivalent circuit based synthesis method is also presented in this paper. Two bandpass FSS prototypes operating at X-band are designed, fabricated, and tested. A free space measurement setup is used to thoroughly characterize the frequency responses of these prototypes for both the TE and TM polarizations and various angles of incidence. The frequency responses of these structures are shown to have a relatively low sensitivity to the angle of incidence. Principles of operation, detailed design and synthesis procedure, and measurement results of two fabricated prototypes are presented and discussed in this paper.


This study deals with the vegetation of about 125 former beds of the larger rivers in the Netherlands. It includes all communities of higher plants except the carrs, which are dealt with in a separate paper by Kop (1961). The investigation of the communities aimed at a knowledge of their floristic composition as well as at a definition of their habitat. The description and the classification of the units was carried out according to the concepts and methods of the Braun-Blanquet school (Braun-Blanquet, 1932, 1951; Becking, 1957). Moreover, among the former river beds types were recognized, characterized by a special set of communities and by correlated abiotical properties. A number of vegetation-units are described here for the first time, viz. The Polygoneto-Nymphoidetum (alliance Potamion) with the subass. typicum and the subass. potametosum pectinati. According to descriptions of vegetations found in the literature the subass. typicum is also present in former river beds of the Rhine in Germany about up to Bingen (LAUTERBRON, 1917); more to the south it is replaced by the Trapo-Nymphoidetum (OBERDORFER, 1957). The Sparganieto-Glycerietum fluitantis polygonetosum (alliance Glycerieto-Sparganion). The main difference with the habitat of the other subassociations (see MAAS, 1959), where the water is moving either permanently (brooks) or at least now and then (ditches), is that the vegetation is influenced by the current only during the shortlasting annual floods. The Cicuteto-Caricetum pseudocyperus (alliance Phragmition) is to be divided into two subassociations, viz. the subass. typicum and the subass. comaretosum. The main difference between the habitats of the two subassociations appears to be that the first is eutrophic and the second more mesotrophic. The Scirpetum triquetri et maritimi typhetosum (alliance Phragmition). In contrast with the other subassociations (see ZONNEVELD, 1960), this one occurs only in oligoto mesohalinic, stagnant water. The Caricetum elatae (alliance Magnocaricion) is revised. Carex hudsonii is the only characteristic species found throughout the area in which the association occurs. The community everywhere participates in the hydrosere on sand or peat. The following subdivision was made: Subass. typicum; the community is eutraphentous; according to the literature it is found in Switzerland (KOCH, 1926), S. Germany (OBERDORFER, 1957) and Belgium (LEBRUN c.s., 1949; VANDEN BERGHEN, 1952 a). Subass. comaretosum: more mesotraphentous than the subass. typicum; found in N. Germany (TUXEN, 1937; PASSARGE, 1955 b) and the Netherlands. Of the Valerianeto-Filipenduletum (alliance Filipendulo-Petasition) two new subassocaitions are established, viz.: Subass. juncetosum; it is the replacing-community of a mesotraphentous variant of the Alnetum glutinosae. Subass. senecietosum; represented in the river forelands outside the tidal area; it replaces there an eutraphentous Salicion-community, and may be natural if the development of trees is prevented by ice-drift. Eight types of former river beds were distinguished. Two of these could be subdivided into some subtypes. Their classification according to their communities and their abiotical properties is summarized in table 26. Descriptions of habitats which more or less resemble one of these types of former river beds, are known from other parts of the Netherlands and from the adjoining parts of Germany and Belgium. However, as far as we know, of the types described by us, viz. those represented in the river forelands along the upper courses of the rivers, seem to differ from all habitats that have been described so far.


Work is undergoing technological upgrading and innovation driven by digitization, the so called Fourth Industrial Revolution (Schwab 2016). The technological advancement makes possible to achieve higher levels of work and total factors productivity and to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (ILO 2016; Dodds et al. 2017). The issue is particularly sensitive, because of the coming impact of technological innovation on employment and the consequential intensified risks of social unrest (Frey, Osborne 2013). This is the reason why it is extremely relevant to equip people to stay ahead of technological change. To prepare the workforce for tomorrow, the attention has to be posed particularly on educational, training and re-skilling programs (Goldin, Katz, 2010). One problem is that — in Europe, but also elsewhere — this technological and organizational revolution is likely to be realized with an army of grey-haired workers (Kuhn, Ochsen 2009), but it must be taken into account that in a very near future workers of other age groups, adult and even young workers, will be the involved in some reskilling programs and in changing schooling processes. It is therefore appropriate to promote policies aimed at reskilling these workers and at making the young people fit for the coming digital economy. From this point of view, the permanent training will acquire an unprecedented role in the history of work. The paper is structured as follows. The first paragraph gives a short definition of the digitization process that has been taking place for some years and highlights the theoretical framework and technological areas involved in the digitization process. The second section is focused on the impact of the digital economy on the employment. The third paragraph is devoted to the skills requested by the digital economy and to measures that should be undertaken to enable the workers to stay on the labour market and to make more inclusive the workplaces. Evidences make clear that managers play a relevant role in supporting this kind of implementation process, particularly referred to the older workers, and in training and in introducing new forms of work organization (Sterns et al.1994; Maurer, Weiss, Barbeite 2003).


This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of adopting several low-noise printed circuit board (PCB) design practices. Two boards were designed and fabricated, each consisting of identical mixed-signal circuitry. Several important differences were introduced between the board layouts: one board was constructed using recommended low-noise practices and the other constructed without such attention. The emissions from the two boards were then measured and compared, demonstrating an improvement in radiated emissions of up to 22 dB.


Qualitative simulation is a key inference technique of model based reasoning that has found use in such areas as monitoring, fault diagnosis, and design. To advance embedded applications of the qualitative simulator QSim, we have developed a special purpose computer architecture designed to provide high performance, scalability, and increased portability to embedded computer platforms. To demonstrate our approach's suitability for embedded qualitative simulation, we have developed a prototype implementation on a heterogeneous multiprocessor system. As the article discusses, this prototype improves QSim's performance by two orders of magnitude.


The study of the ecology of fragmented landscapes has been dominated by two assumptions: the unique unidirectional path from larger to smaller fragments and the negligible role of fragment species on fragment properties. An accurate conceptualization of fragmented landscapes requires consideration of the age and origin of the fragments, i.e., direct fragmentation or reverse fragmentation (generation or increase of vegetated fragments by colonization), and the habitat modifications of fragment species (autogenic processes). Colonization and autogenic processes alter the fragments' composition and function. Fragment metrics affect colonization. Autogenic processes are antagonized by disturbances and modulated by abiotic inputs. Fragment alterations by autogenic processes may explain the continuous species substitution detected in some fragments or the species persistence in others. Reverse fragmentation, a natural process in commonly disturbed landscapes, challenges the avoidance-of-habitat disturbance as the ultimate strategy for biodiversity conservation and stresses the importance of pioneer species that promote succession as resilience elements in fragmented landscapes. Among-fragment diversity, generated by local disturbances, can be essential for the resilience of fragmented landscapes, suggesting that conservation and habitat utilization can be complementary processes. Traditional agroforestry systems that depend on disturbance, fragmentation, colonization, and autogenic processes may provide important insights into fragmentation ecology.


Background The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina enrolled between 1993 and 1997. EPTC (S-ethyl-N,N-dipropylthiocarbamate) is a thiocarbamate herbicide used in every region of the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that EPTC is most likely not a human carcinogen; however, the previous epidemiologic data on EPTC exposure and cancer risk were limited. Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine cancer incidence and EPTC use in 48,378 male pesticide applicators enrolled in the AHS. Methods We estimated the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all cancers and selected cancer sites using Poisson regression. We assessed EPTC exposure using two quantitative metrics: lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime exposure days, a measure that accounts for application factors that modify personal exposure likelihood. Results Among the 9,878 applicators exposed to EPTC, 470 incident cancer cases were diagnosed during the follow-up period ending December 2004 compared with the 1,824 cases among individuals reporting no use. Although EPTC was associated with colon cancer in the highest tertile of both lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime days (RR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.26–3.47 and RR = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.34–3.14, respectively) and the trend test was < 0.01 for both, the pattern of RR was not monotonic with increasing use. There was a suggestion of an association with leukemia. No other associations were observed. Conclusion In this analysis, EPTC use appeared to be associated with colon cancer and leukemia. However, given the relatively small number of cases in the highest exposure tertile, results should be interpreted with caution, and further investigations are needed.


Equine arteritis viruses (EAV) from Europe and America were compared by phylogenetic analysis of 43 isolates obtained over four decades. An additional 22 virus sequences were retrieved from GenBank. Fragments of the glycoprotein G(L) and the replicase genes were amplified by RT-PCR, prior to sequencing and construction of phylogenetic trees. The trees revealed many distinctive lineages, consistent with prolonged diversification within geographically separated host populations. Two large groups and five subgroups were distinguished. Group I consisted mainly of viruses from North America, whilst group II consisted mainly of European isolates. In most instances, where the geographic origin of the viruses appeared to be at variance with the phylogenetically predicted relationships, the horses from which the viruses were recovered had been transported between Europe and America or vice versa. Analysis of the replicase gene revealed similar phylogenetic relationships although not all of the groups were as clearly defined. Virus strains CH1 (Switzerland, 1964) and S1 (Sweden, 1989) represented separate 'outgroups' based on analysis of both genomic regions. The results of this study confirm the value of the G(L) gene of EAV for estimating virus genetic diversity and as a useful tool for tracing routes by which EAV is spread. In addition, computer-assisted predictions of antigenic sites on the G(L) protein revealed considerable variability among the isolates, especially with respect to regions associated with neutralization domains.


In 2015, international NGO Sightsavers created an Empowerment and Inclusion Strategy with three pathways to mainstreaming disability inclusion within portfolio and operations: implementation of human rights policies, equality of opportunities and removal of stigma and discrimination. This inspired individuals within the organisation to form a Community of Practice (CoP) to scale up efforts to achieve diversity in the workplace.
This paper charts the progress of the CoP in achieving its goal thus far: to facilitate a fully inclusive organisation through a coherent approach. It describes the community's terms of reference, practical set-up and sub-groups, benefits identified for those involved, challenges so far and a discussion of the perceived value to date. Other experiences are raised such as what it means to be a CoP in an organisation deploying a specific inclusiveness agenda for particular groups, maintaining motivation and momentum, relationship with senior management, and establishing a budget. Through sharing Sightsavers' journey towards change, the paper also contributes to ongoing discussions of how CoP knowledge sharing leads to capacity development.


Arbekacin (ABK) is one of aminoglycosides which has indications for septicemia and pneumonia caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Japan. ABK shows good clinical and microbiological efficacies also against Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, furthermore, ABK would be sometimes effective also against antimicrobial-resistant GNB. We investigated ABK inhalation, which showed good pulmonary drug delivery, for the treatment of pneumonia caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms and MRSA. Six patients with pneumonia were treated with ABK inhalation therapy (50 mg x three times/day). We observed clinical effect for multidrug-resistant organisms in 6/6 patients. Although routine use of aerosolized antibiotics might not be able to be recommended for multidrug-resistant organisms, we might be able to adopt the ABK inhalation therapy for pneumonia especially caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms in some situations where systemic therapy alone might be failure or inadequate, or where intravenous access is not available because of systemic toxicity. Further studies would be needed for ABK inhalation therapy for pneumonia.


The electronics of the first Level Global Trigger (GT) of CMS is the last stage of the Level-1 trigger system [1]. At LHC up to 40 million collisions of proton bunches occur every second, resulting in about 800 million proton collisions. The CMS Level-1 Global Trigger [1], a custom designed electronics system based on FPGA technology and the VMEbus system, performs a quick on-line analysis of each collision every 25 ns and decides whether to reject or to accept it for further analysis. The CMS trigger group of the Institute of High Energy Physics in Vienna (HEPHY) is involved in the Level-1 trigger of the CMS experiment at CERN. As part of the Trigger Upgrade, the Level-1 Global Trigger will be redesigned and implemented in MicroTCA based technology, which allows engineers to detect all possible faults on plug-in boards, in the power supply and in the cooling system. The upgraded Global Trigger will be designed to have the same basic categories of functions as the present GT, but will have more algorithms and more possibilities for combining trigger candidates. Additionally, reconfigurability and testability will be supported based on the next system generation.


Accounting research has a speculative and normative tradition. Starting at the beginning of the 1970s, empirical methodologies gained prominence and the boundaries of accounting disciplines have become uncertain. Quantitative and qualitative methods tend to overwhelm the accounting and business objects; often they are only suitable to deal with past and narrow phenomena. Empirical methodologies need reference theories, coming from other disciplines and particularly economics and sociology. In this context, it is questioned if accounting research does exist anymore and if it is relevant to the business world. Some scholars have begun to wonder whether it would be appropriate to revalue normative approaches in order to conduct a type of research which is useful to the society and allows the preservation of specific accounting knowledge. A necessity emerges to come back to the prominence of business and accounting issues over methodologies and sociological theories. Research should be directed to tackle wide and current phenomena, not just the narrow and past ones. Speculative thinking has to be reassessed and empirical findings should be used to strengthen it as starting premises. Explaining phenomena is not enough; empirical research has to go beyond its findings; the emphasis should be shifted to the drawing of policy recommendations.


The self-oncoprotein ErbB-2 is overexpressed in a number of malignancies. The presence of endogenous anti-ErbB-2 Ab and T cell immune responses to this protein in cancer patients has made ErbB-2 an attractive target for active immunization. However, the finding that murine anti-ErbB-2 Abs can have stimulatory, inhibitory, or no effects on cancer cell growth suggests that an inappropriately induced immune response may have an adverse effect. To ensure the induction of a beneficial Ab response, it is important to identify the epitopes recognized by these Abs. In this study we have used phage-displayed ErbB-2 gene fragment libraries and synthetic peptides to epitope-map a panel of anti-ErbB-2 mAbs. The epitopes of three mAbs, N12, N28, and L87, were successfully located to C531-A586, T216-C235, and C220-C235 of ErbB-2, respectively. It was found that while N12 inhibited tumor cell proliferation, N28 stimulated the proliferation of a subset of breast cancer cell lines overexpressing ErbB-2. The peptide region recognized by N12, (C531-A586; EP531), was used as an immunogen to selectively induce an inhibitory immune response in mice. Mice immunized with the GST fusion peptide (GST-EP531) recognized the peptide region EP531 as well as native ErbB-2. More importantly, Igs purified from mouse sera were able to inhibit up to 85% of tumor cell proliferation. In conclusion, our study provides direct evidence of the function-epitope relationship of anti-ErbB-2 Abs and also emphasizes the value of inducing a potent tumor inhibitory polyclonal Ab response by rationally selecting regions of ErbB-2 used for immunization.


In this interview, we engage in a cross-cultural discussion about the diversity of consciousness. Indian philosophy can seem quite cryptic and difficult to follow because it is a primary oral tradition. However, Monima Chadha has developed a series of work aiming at introducing the rich insights of Indian philosophy of mind into Western literature. Indeed, the translation of concepts and practices from the Indian to the Western context requires a solid knowledge of the Indian philosophical tradition in which they form an integrated whole primarily guided by the aim to attain enlightenment or liberation. Despite a careful comparative work of the notions of consciousness developed in both philosophical traditions is still largely lacking, Monima Chadha shares in this interview key insights highlighting how altered states of consciousness can be considered as transformative experiences and meditative practice as an additional resource in the Indian philosophical tradition to gain insight into the nature of consciousness.


New reactive hotmelt (RHM) adhesives based on thermally reversible Diels-Alder networks comprising multifunctional furan and maleimide prepolymers are described. The prepolymer mixture is easy to apply in the bulk from the melt and after application to the substrates, the adhesive undergoes polymerization at room temperature resulting in crosslinked bonds. Due to their thermoplastic nature and low melt viscosity at hot melt application temperatures, the adhesives provide processing properties similar to moisture cured polyurethanes (PUR). The technology is isocyanate-free and does not require moisture to initiate the crosslinking. Bonding and tensile properties of the RHM adhesive can be readily tuned by prepolymer design and provide cure rates similar to PUR adhesives. The Diels-Alder adhesives provide versatile adhesion to a variety of substrates and good creep resistance up to the retro temperature. The adhesives show good thermal stability during application and can be recycled multiple times by simple heating/cooling of the bonds providing similar performance. Several furan and maleimide prepolymers were scaled up to multi-Kg quantities to demonstrate the potential for industrial scalability. The results demonstrate that furan-maleimide reversible chemistry can be used for RHM application as a more sustainable alternative to conventional moisture curing PURs which tend to contain harmful residual isocyanate monomers.


Background: Scar tissue can cause cosmetic impairments, functional limitations, pain, and itch. It may also cause emotional, social, and behavioral problems, especially when it is located in exposed areas. To date, no gold standard exists for the treatment of scar tissue. Autologous fat grafting has been introduced as a promising treatment option for scar tissue-related symptoms. However, the scientific evidence for its effectiveness remains unclear. This systematic review aims to evaluate the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of autologous fat grafting for the treatment of scar tissue and scar-related conditions. Methods: A systematic literature review was performed using MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science. No language restrictions were imposed. Results: Twenty-six clinical articles were included, reporting on 905 patients in total. Meta-analysis was not performed because of the heterogeneous methodology demonstrated among the articles. Main outcome measures were scar appearance and skin characteristics, restoration of volume and/or (three-dimensional) contour, itch, and pain. All publications report a beneficial effect of autologous fat grafting on scar tissue. There is statistical significant improvement of the scar appearance, skin characteristics, and pain. Itch and restoration of volume and three-dimensional contour also improved. Conclusions: Autologous fat grafting is used to improve a variety of symptoms related to scar tissue. This systematic review suggests that autologous fat grafting provides beneficial effects with limited side effects. However, the level of evidence and methodological quality are quite low. Future randomized controlled trials with a methodologically strong design are necessary to confirm the effects of autologous fat grafting on scar tissue and scar-related conditions.


During civil conflicts the distribution of power heavily influences belligerents' war strategies, potentially including civilian targeting. Despite the potential relevance to wartime victimization, the relationship between insurgent capabilities and civilian victimization has received limited attention. A complicating factor in assessing this relationship is that power produces countervailing incentives and opportunities for violence. While greater military capabilities present more opportunities for death and destruction, incentives for anti-civilian violence should decline as the range of war strategies available to the group expands. This intuition suggests a tension between the opportunities and incentives to kill that past studies have failed to explicitly address. I help resolve this tension by examining the manner in which the origins of rebel resources condition the relationship between military capabilities and civilian victimization. Where groups rely on local support, violence declines as group capabilities increase. By contrast, when rebels rely on alternative sources of support, greater capabilities produce greater levels of violence. I test these relationships quantitatively using recently constructed data on insurgent resources and one-sided violence against civilians in conflicts occurring between 1989 and 2009.


University students' difficulty in employment has become a major obstacle hindering university graduates' further development in the society. To address this issue, there are clear instructions in the "12th five-year plan" about boosting university graduates' employment. From the perspective of economics, there is a direct connection between graduate's employment and the economy. Economic prosperity usually demands an increasing supply of talents and therefore has a positive influence in graduates' employment. While in the period of economic slowdown, the need for talent is usually lower, and it's more difficult for university graduates to get employed. The employment model can lead to more accurate analysis of the difficulty in employment. By rationally analyzing the cause of formation, it is possible to provide an option to promote college graduates' employment.


: Purpose: The outbreak of the COVID-19 forced companies to transform from the on-site work model to the remote or hybrid ones. This paper analyzes threats and challenges resulting from changes in the network structures before and during the pandemic-driven emergence of new work models. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study compares the structure of the social networks in three different work models, (a) office work model before COVID-19, (b) remote work model after the outbreak of coronavirus, and (c) hybrid work model during some of the pandemic restrictions loosening. Research is based on series of experiments conducted in the frame of strategic business simulations. In our approach, the primary source of information where people with their knowledge, behaviors, and points of view. Findings: Our findings confirm the early stage of remote and hybrid work model proficiency among managers and shed light on emerging threats for organizational transformation and innovation capability in such distributed work models. Practical Implications: New work models need to be deeply verified and improved. In the reality of distributed work models, we believe that analyzing social networks will become a critical approach used in organizations to understand weak ties forming their innovation and transformation capabilities. Originality/Value: We used the opportunity of ongoing longitudinal research during which the COVID-19 outbreak occurred. We recorded and analyzed disruptive changes in the social networks of competing teams during pandemic-caused transformations. We found the importance and threats of fragile social ties for organizations operating under distributed work models for innovation and transformation capabilities.


Contact tracing has been a central pillar of the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, contact tracing measures face substantive challenges in practice and well-identified evidence about their effectiveness remains scarce. This paper exploits quasi-random variation in COVID-19 contact tracing. Between September 25 and October 2, 2020, a total of 15,841 COVID-19 cases in England (around 15 to 20% of all cases) were not immediately referred to the contact tracing system due to a data processing error. Case information had been truncated from an Excel spreadsheet due to a row limit, which was discovered on October 3. There is substantial variation in the degree to which different parts of England areas were exposed - by chance - to delayed referrals of COVID-19 cases to to the contact tracing system. We show that more affected areas subsequently experienced a drastic rise in new COVID-19 infections and deaths alongside an increase in the positivity rate and the number of test performed, as well as a decline in the performance of the contact tracing system. Conservative estimates suggest that the failure of timely contact tracing due to the data glitch is associated with more than 125,000 additional infections and over 1,500 additional COVID-19-related deaths. Our findings provide strong quasi-experimental evidence for the effectiveness of contact tracing.


PURPOSE
To analyze the perinatal mortality rate in cases of gastroschisis and possible associated factors.

METHODS
A retrospective cohort study was conducted between 1992 and 2012. All cases of gastroschisis born in Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) during that period were included. The diagnosis of gastroschisis was obtained by morphological ultrasound examination or clinical examination at birth in prenatally unknown cases. The variables of birth (birthweight, gestational age and Apgar score, mode of delivery, type of gastroschisis and associated anomalies) and the surgical ones (type of surgical closure, reintervention and sepsis) were compared between surviving cases and deaths. The results of this comparison were analyzed according to the type of variable using parametric and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney or Student's t-test, χ² or Fisher's exact test), with the level of significance set at 5% (p=0.05).

RESULTS
Sixty-four newborns with gastroschisis were included, 59 of them (92.2%) diagnosed during the prenatal period. Twenty-six patients (40.6%) had only exposed intestines, classified as simple gastroschisis, 22 had exposure of the intestines and stomach (34.4%) and 16 had exposure of the intestine and other organs (25%), for a total of 38 cases of complex gastroschisis. Primary surgical repair was performed in 44 cases (68.8%). The mortality rate was 23.4% (15 deaths). Babies who died had significantly lower birth weight (p=0.001), gestational age (p=0.03) and Apgar score (p=0.03) than survivors. There was no difference in mode of delivery (p=0.8) and, with respect to gut contents, there was no difference between the cases of simple and complex gastroschisis (p=0.06). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with sepsis (p=0.008) and reintervention (p=0.001).

CONCLUSION
in the present study, perinatal mortality due to gastroschisis seemed to depend mainly on prematurity, low birth weight, and surgical complications.


Organismal appearances are shaped by selection from both abiotic and biotic drivers 1–5. For example, Gloger's rule describes the pervasive pattern that more pigmented populations are found in more humid areas 1,6,7, and substrate matching as a form of camouflage to reduce predation is widespread across the tree of life 8–10. Sexual selection is a potent driver of plumage elaboration 5,11, and species may also converge on nearly identical colours and patterns in sympatry, often to avoid predation by mimicking noxious species 3,4 To date, no study has taken an integrative approach to understand how these factors determine the evolution of colour and pattern across a large clade of organisms. Here we show that both habitat and climate profoundly shape avian plumage. However, we also find a strong signal that many species exhibit remarkable convergence not explained by these factors nor by shared ancestry. Instead, this convergence is associated with geographic overlap between species, suggesting strong, albeit occasional, selection for interspecific mimicry. Consequently, both abiotic and biotic factors, including interspecific interactions, are potent drivers of phenotypic evolution.


This article examines how high school principals in France work to change the negative effects that the country's academic tracking system brings to students from immigrant and working-class backgrounds. The tracking system tends to relegate these students to lower vocational tracks that do not prepare them well for the labor market and tend to reinforce their social marginalization. The authors—one a sociologist and the other a school principal—describe a comprehensive, diverse lycée in a suburb of Paris where administrators are addressing the multiple impacts of tracking on their students by enabling some to change tracks and providing others the support they need to succeed when facing challenges at school and in their neighborhoods. The description and analysis of daily life at school not only illuminates what is distinctive about the French system but also lays out strategies and practices that make the school environment more egalitarian.


Mixture-of-Expert (MoE) presents a strong potential in enlarging the size of language model to trillions of parameters. However, training trillion-scale MoE requires algorithm and system co-design for a well-tuned high performance distributed training system. Unfortunately, the only existing platform that meets the requirements strongly depends on Google's hardware (TPU) and software (Mesh Tensorflow) stack, and is not open and available to the public, especially GPU and PyTorch communities. In this paper, we present FastMoE, a distributed MoE training system based on PyTorch with common accelerators. The system provides a hierarchical interface for both flexible model design and easy adaption to different applications, such as Transformer-XL and Megatron-LM. Different from direct implementation of MoE models using PyTorch, the training speed is highly optimized in FastMoE by sophisticated high-performance acceleration skills. The system supports placing different experts on multiple GPUs across multiple nodes, enabling enlarging the number of experts linearly against the number of GPUs. The source of FastMoE is available at https://github.com/laekov/fastmoe under Apache-2 license.


THE chemotherapy of bacterial diseases is a medical innovation of the last four years only. In the case of the protozoal infections, on the other hand, this form of treatment is comparatively ancient. The discovery of the effect of quinine in malaria dates from the seventeenth century, and mercury was used in syphilis in very early times. In I9IO Ehrlich and Hata published the discovery of the synthetic organic arsenical, Arsphenamine, and subsequently Neoarsphenamine, and their therapeutic effects in spirochaetal infections. These were the first successful synthetic substances to be used in chemotherapy, and they have led to a most fruitful co-operation between the chemist and biologist which has given us several very important remedies. The bacterial diseases had been considered to be resistant to this type of therapy. It was thought that these infecting agents were too primitive in structure to be influenced by any drug which was not noxious to the host; the only method of treating them was by the administration of sera, which combined with and neutralised the toxic products elaborated by the bacteria but did not directly influence their powers of multiplication. The fact that the chemotherapy of protozoal diseases is so ancient may be attributed to the occurrence of quinine in the vegetable kingdom. Had there been a mineral or vegetable which contained sulphanilamide in some therapeutically active form we might have benefited by the potent action of this drug for the last 300 years.


Circular economy offers new visions of how diversely urban spaces could be inhabited and managed. While the generation and management of waste is being treated through innovative practices, disused industrial, rural, and infrastructural areas are resistant to becoming included in a closed-loop cycle. They, in fact, establish wastelands that need to be completely re-imagined as a precondition for the transition. The fact of shifting the definition of a 'neglected area' into a 'wasteland', in line with the metaphor of urban metabolism, could be of tactical importance for generating alternative policies and practices. In exploring how the transition impacts Naples' urban region, the paper argues that turning wastelands into resources has the double potential of rehabilitating spaces and challenging the governance model in use, overcoming barriers in multiple sectors.


ABSTRACT At the time we undertook the study, current accounting pronouncements in the United States that require the preparation of consolidated financial statements did not have precise guidelines on the presentation of minority interest in controlled subsidiaries. The students were exposed to a variety of reporting methods that proliferated because there are no rules that govern the accounting treatment and the presentation of the accounting information. On this topic, the students were tasked to search the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) database to observe such variation. They were taught how to access 10-K reports using the Internet to observe the research objective from the many consolidated financial reports that they found from SEC filings of public companies using Convenience sampling, upload their findings into a class webpage, and allow the use of Excel to summarize the findings and do the necessary statistical analysis. The study found that the reporting practices ranged from a complete disregard of such minority interest in the financial statements to presenting it only in the Income statement, and in many cases including it in the balance sheet among the liabilities or equity, or somewhere in between. The student mini survey showed that there was prevalence of presenting minority interest in the balance sheet in the hanging or mezzanine location between liabilities and equity, where the liabilities are not totaled and minority interest is listed at the end of the category before the Equity section. This variety of presentation methods is a result of the lack of guidance, hence the companies are unsure about how to present minority interest in consolidated statements. As a result of convergence between Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the felt need for specific rules for the accounting and presentation of minority interest, SFAS 160 entitled " Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Financial Statements " effective in December 2008 was issued that amended ARB No. 51 and established accounting and reporting standards for ownership interest in subsidiaries held by parties other than the parent companies, thereby requiring sufficient disclosures to identify and distinguish between interest of the parent and the interests of the non-controlling owners. INTRODUCTION The preparation of consolidated financial statements is required for companies that own controlling interest over subsidiaries. The acquisition of other companies is seen as a means of leveraging an advantage over a company's competition through synergies achieved by two companies, increased economies of scale, vertical integration in a firm's value chain, or even diversification of risk (Hoyle, Schaefer, & Doupnik, 2009). Regardless of the reason, however, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 141 revised in December 2007 (now known as SFAS 141R) requires that consolidated financial statements need be issued by the parent company if it has acquired a majority interest in its subsidiaries. This paper summarizes the result of a class study using technology to enhance the learning of advanced accounting topics. The textbook only summarizes the state of the art on issues related with consolidations, business combinations and the preparation of consolidated financial statements. To make the class alive with real-world examples, we ventured into reading actual consolidated financial statements that we accessed from the Securities and Exchange Commission website. The students, using the Internet, read consolidated financial statements found in 1 0-K filings, worked with a class web page using PBwiki to upload their findings and used Excel to consolidate their findings. Since the 10-K reports are voluminous and each student must look at five company reports, they used "find" to limit their reading and just hone in on the presence of the specific object of search in the reports like the consolidated income statement, or consolidated balance sheet or other financial statements; notes or disclosures; or in the management discussion and analysis (MDA). …


Despite the slope stability measures, rock falls are witnessed at section KM-37 of the Swat motorway (M-16), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The geotechnical data analysis of the site reveals that although the chances of plane/slope failures are reduced from 43% to 23% with the help of the existing design, still there are possibilities of rock fall at the sight, which has also been witnessed during the field visits. The rock fall hazards are assessed through field tests and simulation, and significant stabilization measures are suggested. The rock fall tests are conducted, and then using the data obtained, the rock fall simulation is carried out using GeoRock 2D®. From a combination of the kinematic analysis and rock fall simulation, the hazard level along the slope ranges from moderate to high. The reason for this is the increasing velocity of the falling boulder and the impact of energy at the bottom of the slope. This is an indication of the risk, as the most hazardous area is at the toe of the slope, where the highway road is the main element at risk. Rock boulders of different shapes and sizes are released from a couple of benches in order to check their impacts on the highway. Based on the simulation, it is concluded that the spherical shaped boulders are released from higher benches covering more horizontal distances and reaching the highway with a higher bouncing heights at the toe of the slope than the cylindrical shaped boulders. The maximum bounce height of 7 m has been recorded at the toe of the slope. In order to reduce the impacts of energy and bounce heights of the boulders striking the slope surface, certain mitigation measures are suggested like a ditch of a specific size filled with sand or fine debris at the toe of the slope. Draping wire mesh on the slope surface and a retaining wall or fence would be greatly helpful and economical to reduce the rock falling hazards along the road side at section KM-37 of the Swat motorway.


Abstract Background Although neuroendocrine tumours (NET) constitute a very heterogeneous group, most of them express somatostatin receptors that enable treatment with somatostatin analogues, which proved to be effective both as bio- or radiopeptide therapy. However, little is now about combining these two treatment modalities. The aim of our prospective study was to evaluate the results of radiolabeled somatostatin analogues (PRRT) with or without "cold" somatostatin analogues (SA) as consolidation treatment. Methods Patients with well-differentiated NET treated with PRRT (4 to 5 cycles repeated every 6 to 12 weeks) were included in the study. After the last cycle of PRRT response to radiopeptide treatment was evaluated with the scintigraphic, radiological and biochemical examination. Thereafter patients were randomly assigned either to treatment with SA or observation group (2:1 randomization). Initiation of the next line of therapy was left to the discretion of treating physician. Patients were followed-up at 4-12 months intervals with radiological examinations (CT or MRI) and receptors scintigraphy. The median time to progression was measured from the start of PRRT treatment till the day of disease progression confirmed in the radiological or scintigraphic examination. Results 125 patients (79 in SA and 46 in the observation group) were included in the study. 81 patients were randomly assigned to somatostatin analogs and 44 to the observation group. The median follow-up the calculated from the start of PRRT was 54 months for the whole group of patients. During that time 85 (68%) progressed. There was a trend to longer progression-free survival in SSA group (47 vs 44 months), however, the difference was statistically insignificant. During observation period 32 patients died and there was no difference in time to death between both groups. In 9 patients after radiopeptide therapy chemotherapy was given. Chemotherapy was well tolerated and there were no late serious side effects. Conclusions Preliminary results suggest that consolidation treatment with SA did not improve the results of PRRT. However, a larger number of patients and longer follow-up is necessary. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure D. Handkiewicz Junak: Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Ipsen Novartis Genzyme-Sanofi. B. Jurecka-Lubieniecka: Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Ipsen Novartis. B. Jarzab: Travel / Accommodation / Expenses: Ipsen Novartis Genzyme-Sanofi. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


Today's Network Operation Centres (NOC)
consist of teams of network professionals responsible for monitoring and taking
actions for their network's health. Most of these NOC actions are relatively
complex and executed manually; only the simplest tasks can be automated with
rules-based software. But today's networks are getting larger and more complex.
Therefore, deciding what action to take in the face of non-trivial problems has
essentially become an art that depends on collective human intelligence of NOC
technicians, specialized support teams organized by technology domains, and
vendors' technical support. This model is getting increasingly expensive and
inefficient, and the automation of all or at least some NOC tasks is now
considered a desirable step towards autonomous and self-healing networks. In
this article, we investigate whether such decisions can be taken by Artificial
Intelligence instead of collective human intelligence, specifically by the
Machine Learning method of Reinforcement Learning (RL), which has been shown in
computer games to outperform humans. We build an Action Recommendation Engine
(ARE) based on RL, train it with expert rules or by letting it explore outcomes
by itself, and show that it can learn new and more efficient strategies that
outperform expert rules designed by humans. ARE can be used in face of network
problems to either quickly recommend actions to NOC technicians or autonomously
take actions for fast recovery.

"This work has been submitted to the
IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice,
after which this version may no longer be accessible."


E-Service Learning is a service-learning course when the instruction and/or the service occurs online gains popularity among educators as we are transitioning to online learning platforms. The current study presents a systematic review of papers on the research involved information and communications technology (ICT) in the service-learning project. Studies have noted the growing use of ICT in service-learning projects for various purposes such as for communication and collaboration, data collection, reflection, and instruction delivery. However, very little research analysed students' engagement in this eService Learning environment. Future research should be done to investigate an effective application of technology in service-learning courses, especially to attain the attention of digital natives nowadays and engaging learners instead of merely using technologies in service-learning courses. Keywords—E-Service-Learning; Online Service Learning; Technology Integration


Author(s): Hollowood, Devon Lawrence | Advisor(s): Jeltema, Tesla E | Abstract: The formation history of galaxy clusters is a powerful probe of cosmology. In particular, one may place strong constraints on the dark energy equation of state by examining the evolution across redshift of the number density of galaxy clusters as a function of mass. In this thesis, I describe my contributions to cluster cosmology, in particular to the development of the richness optical observable mass proxy.I introduce redMaPPer, an optical cluster finder which represents an important upstream input for my thesis work. I next introduce the Mass Analysis Tool for Chandra (MATCha), a pipeline which uses a parallelized algorithm to analyze archival Chandra data. MATCha simultaneously calculates X-ray temperatures and luminosities and performs centering measurements for hundreds of potential galaxy clusters using archival X-ray exposures. I run MATCha on the redMaPPer SDSS DR8 cluster catalog and use MATCha's output X-ray temperatures and luminosities to analyze the galaxy cluster temperature-richness, luminosity-richness, luminosity-temperature, and temperature-luminosity scaling relations. I investigate the distribution of offsets between the X-ray center and redMaPPer center within 0.1 l z l 0.35 and explore some of the causes of redMaPPer miscentering. I collaborate with members of the Dark Energy Survey in order to repeat this analysis on Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data. I outline the various ways in which MATCha constitutes an important upstream work for a variety of astrophysical applications. These include the calibrations of two separate mass proxies, the study of the AGN fraction of galaxy clusters, and cosmology from cluster number densities and stacked weak lensing masses. Finally, I outline future upgrades and applications for MATCha throughout the lifespan of the Dark Energy Survey and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.


We propose what to our knowledge is a novel optical system that can scan an optical axis simultaneously in the perpendicular and the longitudinal directions (a two-dimensional scanner), which we have named the FOCOIVA (acronym for focal constant and image variable) lens system. We give the equations for first-order analysis and also the equations of motion for the lenses. Examples calculated with these equations are presented, and finally we give the optical designs for the writing system that will be used for a reader of digital documents.


There is a recognised association between pernicious anaemia and the development of gastric carcinoma, endocrine cell hyperplasia, and carcinoid tumour. Multiple endoscopic biopsies from the body mucosa of seven patients with pernicious anaemia showed small intestinal metaplasia with varying degrees of inflammation, fibrosis, and expansion of the lamina propria. Using conventional silver and lead stains, endocrine cells were inconspicuous. Staining for the general neural and neuroendocrine markers NSE and PGP 9.5 revealed a proliferation of endocrine cells in the epithelium and isolated clumps of endocrine cells in the lamina propria. The clumps were composed of two cell types, either small or large. Some of these endocrine cells showed gastrin, 5HT, VIP and substance P immunoreactivity of varying intensity. Ultrastructurally nine morphologically distinct types of granules were found some of which correlated with the immunohistochemistry. Some separate islands were composed solely of endocrine cells while others had a definite neural component, suggesting that the former arise from 'budding off' of enteroendocrine cells and the latter originate from the neuroendocrine cells of the lamina propria plexus. Thus there may be a dual origin of carcinoid tumours. Carcinoid tumours associated with pernicious anaemia tend to be multifocal and are infrequent. Less than 50 such cases have hitherto been reported. Our findings of endocrine cells proliferations in seven cases of pernicious anaemia indicate that this may be an adaptive change that occurs frequently and provides the basis on which carcinoids, less frequently, develop.


Background. Renal calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal deposition is associated with epithelial injury and movement of inflammatory cells into the interstitium. We have proposed that oxalate (Ox)and CaOx crystal-induced injury is most likely caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by activation of membrane nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase. Methods. Present study was undertaken to determine the effect of NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin on the expresNADPH oxidase inhibition and KIM-1 expression 1785 © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: email@example.com sion of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and renal CaOx crystal deposition in rats with hyperoxaluria. We also investigated the urinary excretion of KIM-1, osteopontin (OPN) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and renal expression of OPN and ED-1. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a diet containing 5% hydroxyl-L-proline (HLP) and 4 mmol apocynin to drink for 28 days. Urine was collected on Days 7, 14, 21 and 28. After that, rats were sacrificed and their kidneys processed for various microscopic and molecular investigations. Results. HLP consumption produced heavy deposits of CaOx crystals. Renal expression of KIM-1 and OPN and urinary excretion of KIM-1, OPN, H2O2 and MCP-1 was significantly increased. ED-1-positive cells migrated into renal interstitium. Apocynin treatment caused significant reduction of crystal deposits, injured and dilated tubules; renal expression of KIM-1, OPN and ED-1 and urinary excretion of KIM-1, OPN, MCP-1 and H2O2. Apocynin had no effect on the urinary excretion of Ox. Conclusions. This is the first study of urinary excretion and renal expression of KIM-1 in association with renal CaOx crystal deposition, experimental or clinical. The results indicate that NADPH oxidase inhibition leads to reduction in KIM-1 expression and urinary excretion as well as renal CaOx crystal deposition. KIM-1 is an important marker of renal epithelial injury. The results provide further support to our proposal that renal epithelial injury is critical for crystal retention and that injury is in part caused by the production of ROS with the involvement of NADPH oxidase.