Purpose

The debate on tourism sustainability and its contribution to local development has been very active, especially in connection with world heritage sites (WHSs). The analysis conducted was intended to evaluate the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in promoting sustainable tourism, stating the relevance given online by local and international operators to the fact a destination was a WHS and to its commitment over sustainability issues. With this aim, the authors aim to take the perspective of a person navigating online to collect information on possible travel to a specific globally recognised WHS: the Victoria Falls.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, for its structure, the authors propose the UN World Tourism Organisation book on sustainability (Sustainable Tourism for Development Guidebook, 2013) to define a framework suitable for a content analysis of websites and mobile applications – available to a prospective traveller, interested in visiting the Victoria Falls, one of the most known WHSs in Africa, not directly for a heritage end.

Findings

There are 91 available online resources that have been studied to assess whether the Victoria Falls is an area recognised and protected by UNESCO; the presence of sustainability-related contents; and the importance of information providers covering this topic and sharing with readers. A potential tourist to the Falls is not well informed online about issues related to sustainable tourism; his attention is likely not to be drawn to such issues, at least not explicitly. The results show there is plenty of room to improve the online communication value of an area recognised by UNESCO.

Originality/value

Literature does not offer other studies linking both WHSs and sustainability (and the related issues) to ICTs and adopting the tourist point of view. Using a WHS case, the results give evidence of the lack of a proper online communication, underlying the outstanding value of the area, and the destination' initiatives towards sustainability. Results suggest how relevant could be for a destination to offer a proper and complete online communication, to educate travellers about the several implications of being a WHS and about a sustainable and responsible behaviour in case they choose to visit it.


When MasPar died in 1996 SIMD looked nearly dead, but, as indicated below, it is now showing signs of revival. The SIMD marketplace had seen many other machines, including Staran, Illiac lV, the DAP series, Aspro, CLIP 4 and the early Connection Machines; of these, only the DAP is still in production (the Gamma II range). Both SIMD and traditional MIMD machines were losing to powerful single processors, loosely coupled farms and SMPs. SIMD architecture ranges from CRAY vector machines to arrays of 1-bit processors sometimes called associative processors. They all exploit data parallelism. Most non-trivial applications involve loops over arrays of data, doing similar things each iteration. As well as performing data parallel operations well, a good SIMD machine must include efficient serial control efficient selective processing ("activity control") efficient array manipulation to achieve data reordering, replication, etc. fast global testing. My own familiarity is with bit and byte organized PEs, which have great flexibility, and for which the speed of more complex functions varies with their underlying fundamental complexity. This is in sharp contrast with conventional processors that have certain functions built into hardware, such as 64-bit floating point add and multiply, but perform much worse on functions not built into hardware. Also of critical importance are good program development tools, including high level languages that hide the hardware details. For example by allowing operations on arrays of arbitrary size, program loops are largely eliminated, resulting in both easier programming and good performance because looping is done by efficient low level code. Such whole-array operations are expressed naturally using object-oriented languages such as C++. On very many applications SIMD can outperform other architectures, often by a wide margin, provided similar levels of technology are used. However SIMD was in a downward spiral due to several interconnected factors: a dominant sequential programming paradigm volume production of  standard  processors the high investment required for full custom Silicon lower cycle speeds for SIMD hardware the limited market for  non-standard  software interworking of SIMD and  standard  software not easy or efficient Undoubtedly the SIMD community also made mistakes. SIMD lost two  propaganda  battles. MIMD appropriated the label  MPP  (Massively Parallel Processing) when their systems typically contained tens of processors and SIMD contained thousands. More important, MIMD systems were labeled  General Purpose  and SIMD  Special Purpose . This claim really rested on MIMD programming being nearer to the dominant programming paradigm than SIMD programming, which is a very different issue from which applications are fundamentally best served by which architectures. In the late 80s, MIMD was more successful in capturing research funding. SIMD suffered from being: too simple, leaving no difficult system issues, such as message passing, for academics to research, and complete systems, which meant that it was harder for academic researchers to create their own architectures (for example Transputer arrays with various forms of interconnect). The fascinating subject of mapping applications to SIMD machines, with algorithms that efficiently exploit their many flexibilities, had less interest for computer scientists. More academic MIMD work (compared with SIMD} led to a larger MIMD community. Moving from the bad news to the good news, SIMD is now seeing the light of day in volume processors that include small-scale SIMD in the form of MMX etc. Old hands may laugh at parallelism as low as 4 or 8, but this is at high clock rates and is mainstream. This is an SIMD opportunity waiting to be more fully exploited. At regular intervals there are proposals, going under acronyms such as IRAM and PIM, to build SIMD units with memory and processing integrated on a chip. A development publicized recently is a programmable chip with 1536 PEs and 3 MB of memory, being produced by PixelFusion. This very high performance SIMD chip is for graphics, and is partly based on work over many years at the University of North Carolina. PixelFusion plan to cater for other applications in due course. Both the above developments exploit advanced Silicon design, and point to a resurgence in SIMD hardware. Currently the less advanced silicon technology used in traditional SIMD, and the low volumes, mean that careful high performance techniques are sometimes needed to be competitive. An example of using flexibilities to achieve high performance was published last year (see S. F. Reddaway,  Image and signal processing on the SIMD DAP Gamma II,  in  High Performance Architectures for Real-time Image Processing,  IEE Colloquium,Ref: 1998/197, London, Feb 1998). The task was to compute multiple filters for a Doppler Radar. By programming a complete multiply-accumulate loop (on array data) as a whole, and building the floating point weights into code using a code generator (as well as other algorithmic ideas), up to 23 GFLOPS was achieved on what was characterized as a 1.5 GFLOPS SIMD machine. A somewhat surprising success for SIMD has been large-scale indexed text retrieval. Currently web search engines, powered by processor farms, are failing to keep up with the explosive growth in both the size of the web and the search demand. Don't be surprised if a new generation of web search engines is powered by SIMD, using a new generation of application code. With a more level technology playing field, we are likely to see the downward spiral reversed and SIMD conquer many performance-critical applications. Stewart Reddaway Cambridge Parallel Processing Ltd.


One of the main clinical signs of irreversible human death is the flat EEG. It means that in this condition neurons do not generate action potentials, and therefore cannot control body movement and vital physiological functions. However, after brain death, the rate of destruction of cerebral and other cells is different in the several body districts.  We consider at least two approaches to the physical correlates of quantum consciousness in that condition. The first one is related to quantum effects in proteins, which can maintain unchanged their folding and water environment in several cells after brain death. The second one considers a part of conscious activity related to the formation of potentials in electrolyte systems containing water, ions and proteins, which can maintain charges (difference of potentials) after brain death. In the first approach the Schrodinger proteins can be considered the basis of quantum information; therefore, quantum consciousness may remain until the last folded protein exists in the body. In the second approach, since the flat EEG comes from a disturbance in the flux of some ions (mostly Na + and K + , affecting neuronal firing), but not necessarily other ions (mostly Ca 2+ in glial cells), which may still maintain a low entropy distribution, some instantiation of feelings and other conscious phenomena would take place until the system achieves a Gaussian ionic distribution, in which any functional charge is absent. On these bases, we argue for the possibility of fading quantum consciousness aspects after brain death. This claim deserves more thorough investigations, not only for its scientific boldness, but also because of the legal consequences that could be of considerable interest in a not too far future, when taking into consideration the aims of transhumanism.


Some anthropogenic activities pose acute risks for marine species. For example, pile driving could damage the hearing of marine mammals while underwater explosions can also result in physical damage or death. Effective mitigation is required to reduce these risks, but the exclusion zones specified in regulations can extend over hundreds or thousands of metres and seals pose particular problems because they are difficult to detect at sea. Aversive sound mitigation aims to exclude animals from high‐risk areas before dangerous activities take place by broadcasting specific acoustic signals. Field research is needed to identify signals that might be effective in eliciting short‐term avoidance by marine species such as harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). A series of controlled‐exposure experiments (CEEs) were undertaken to measure seal movements in response to acoustic deterrent devices (ADD) and predator calls, and to assess the effectiveness of candidate signals for aversive sound mitigation. Seals were fitted with UHF/GPS transmitters providing continuous high‐resolution tracks and real‐time transmissions of their locations. A tracking/playback vessel located seals at sea and transmitted either ADD signals or orca (Orcinus orca) calls over a range of distances while seals were foraging or moving between sites. Behaviour before, during and after exposure was analysed to assess responses. One‐hundred and ten CEEs were assessed as being of at least 'adequate' quality. Of the 71 adequate trials with the Lofitech ADD, all 38 at ranges of <1 km (predicted received level 134.6 dB RMS re 1 μPa) elicited a response. The maximum response range was 3123 m (predicted RL: 111 dB RMS re 1 μPa). However, the responses observed did not always result in substantial movements away from the source, especially for seals that were travelling at the time of the exposures. More work is needed to better understand how exposure risks would be reduced in different scenarios. The mean net speed of horizontal movements for seals responding to aversive sounds (1.15 m s⁻¹) was only 7% higher than their mean travel speed. Responses to broadcasts of orca calls were highly variable. The results suggest that signals similar to those generated by a Lofitech ADD could be used to reduce risks to harbour seals from pile driving and underwater explosions in coastal waters. More work will be needed to develop systems that match the requirements of industry and regulators and to explore whether these results can be generalized to offshore waters and to other phocids.


Local radionuclide therapy using radioactive microspheres is a promising therapy for patients suffering from liver malignancies. In contrast to normal liver tissue, which receives most of its blood flow from the portal vein, liver malignancies are almost exclusively dependent on arterial blood supply. Based on this difference in blood supply, it has been demonstrated that radioactive microspheres with a diameter between 20 and 50 mm that are injected into the hepatic artery, selectively lodge in and around the tumours and thereby irradiate the surrounding tissue. The treatment of cancer with holmium-166 loaded microspheres has obvious advantages over the use of other radionuclides, because holmium is the only element, which can be easily neutron-activated to a beta- and gamma-emitter with a logistically favourable half-life (26.8 h), and it can also be visualized by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using a solvent evaporation technique, non-radioactive holmium-165 can be incorporated into poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) microspheres as its acetylacetonate complex (HoAcAc). In a subsequent step, the microspheres (Ho-PLLA-MS) can be neutron activated. Before Ho-PLLA-MS can be clinically applied in patients, the pharmaceutical quality of the microspheres must be well defined, and in addition, the entire production procedure should be in compliance with the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations. The setup of a GMP production process resulted in Ho-PLLA-MS batches of which the pharmaceutical characteristics (residual solvents, possible bacterial contaminations and endotoxins) were in compliance with the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia. Moreover, the administration of Ho-PLLA-MS must not lead to toxic effects. A biocompatibility study in healthy rats showed that neutron-irradiated Ho-PLLA-MS had a good biocompatibility. An in vitro degradation study showed that the degradation of Ho-PLLA-MS resulted in the formation of holmium lactate. Lanthanides, among which holmium, offer great opportunities for new anticancer therapies that can be visualized with different imaging modalities. Therefore, also other lanthanide-loaded particles have been designed. Holmium-loaded alginate microspheres with a mean size of 160 mm can be used therapeutically for embolization and, when radioactive, for local radiotherapy of tumours. The preparation and characterisation of holmium-loaded liposomes for was investigated and showed that these liposomes could be used for multilimodality imaging and cancer therapy. Liposomes formulations were successfully labelled with radioactive holmium, allowing local radionuclide therapy and visualisation with a gamma camera. The incorporation of gadolinium acetylacetonate resulted in a strong effect on the relaxivity of the liposomes, allowing their detection with MRI. In conclusion, the preclinical research described in this thesis demonstrates that regarding the pharmaceutical quality and biocompatibility of Ho-PLLA-MS clinical research can be initiated. Furthermore, the possibility to image therapeutic radionuclides like holmium with different modalities such as gamma cameras and MRI offers great opportunities for the development of other advanced radionuclide cancer therapies.


Summary : This research was carried out to compare the fertility traits, greasy fleece weight and wool characteristics in breeding ewes; and the growth and survival rates of lambs in Ankaraman and Malya breeds. The data was obtained for fertility traits from 5581 Malya and 9707 Akkaraman ewes, for growth rates from 100 lambs in each breed, for greasy fleece weights from 100 ewes in each breed and for wool characteristics from 32 Malya and 28 Akkaraman ewes. Fertility traits such as lambing percentage, twinning rate, litter size and number of lambs weaned per hundred ewes lambing between 1992 and 1995 were found to be 87.2 - 90.6 %; 29.4 - 44.6 %; 1.29 - 1.44 and 112.1 - 121.7 for the Malya breed; 87.2 - 90.5 %; 29.5 - 43.1 % ; 1.29 - 1.44 and 113.3 - 125.8 for the Akkaraman breed, respectively. Least squares weights at birth and on the 105th, 150th, 180th, 210th, 240th and 360th day were found to be 4.591, 31.803, 37.200, 35.965, 37.961, 40.548 and 57.158 kg for Malya lambs; 4.915, 33.667, 38.878, 38.685, 41.607, 44.110 and 60.264 kg for Akkaraman lambs, respectively. Akkaraman lambs were for greater weight than Malya lambs in all ages; and differences between breeds at all different growth periods were significant. Effects of the lambs' sex and type of birth on the lambs' weights at different ages were significant. Of the lambs born alive at different years, 91.4 - 96.2 % and 96.1 - 97.6 % survived to the 105th day (weaning weight) in Malya and Akkaraman breeds, respectively. Greasy fleece weights were found to be 2.364 kg and 2.464 kg in Malya and Akkaraman breeding ewes. The average means for fiber length, fiber diameter, crimps in 2.54 cm, percentage of medullated fiber and wool efficiency were 10.27 cm, 24.61µ, 8.75, 0.00 % and 48.34 % in Malya breed, 14.15 cm, 27.96 µ, 4.01, 0.25 % and 51.41 % in Akkaraman breed, respectively. Differences between breeds for fiber length, fiber diameter and crimps were significant. Income from sheep breeding generally depends on lamb production. Although the growth rate of Akkaraman lambs is greater than Malya lambs, edible lamb production from the Malya breed is higher than the Akkaraman breed because Akkaraman are fat-tailed. Therefore, bearing in mind that the adaptation capability of the Malya breed to Central Anatolian conditions is very high like the Akkaraman breed, keeping the Malya breed is more suitable than the Akkaraman breed.


There are many graphical representations of separation results involving time as a crucial parameter determining the kinetics of a process. The graphical representations of results of separation are usually in the form of 2D plots relating two parameters which one of them is time. Time can also be utilized as a complex parameter such as a process rate. The plots involving time are called kinetic curves. Theoretically, the number of kinetic curves is infinite. The basic process kinetic curves, relating either yield (or recovery) and time can be modified to obtain numerous local and global efficiency curves. The global efficiency kinetic curves provide characteristic constants which do not change with the time and yield of a process. In this paper the local and global efficiency plots were created using experimental data which followed the so-called first order kinetics. It was shown that the integral 1 order kinetic equation provided the kinetic constant k which was numerically identical with the 1 order specific rate v, while their units were different (k, 1/min; v, %/(%·min). The global efficiency parameters plotted versus the maximum yield provided another type of plot, which can be called the limits kinetic curve. The limits kinetic curves are very useful for characterizing, quantification and classification of separation systems. The limits kinetic curves can be normalized providing one universal curve with a characteristic point, for instance, v50 indicating the specific rate (or kinetic) constant at the maximum recovery equal to 50%. The mathematical equation of the normalized limits kinetic curve was given in the paper.


The evaluation of strength of morphine withdrawal syndrome in rats after the 17th day i. p. morphine administration is proposed as calculation of individual indexes in "open field" test. It is found, that injection 1, 5 or 10 mg/kg of morphine 30 min before testing, decreases the withdrawal syndrome in dose dependent manner. Disappearance of particular withdrawal signs took place in different doses of morphine pretreatment. According to this effect all the signs were divided into four groups and signs of each group were given by the specificity coefficient (from 0 to 3). The total individual index of the withdrawal syndrome was calculated as a sum of particular signs, multiplied by the particular coefficient. Specificity of significant signs decrease according to the order: "wet dog" shakes, diarrhea, writhings, dyspnea, paw shakes, ptosis, piloerection and teeth chattering.


Consumer demand in relation to food is increasingly shifting towards products that are safe, nutritious, and of good eating quality. Beef consumers are demanding for experience quality that matches their quality expectations formed prior to consumption, particularly with respect to beef tenderness. The development of a beef quality guarantee system, backed up by objective knowledge obtained through muscle profiling research, can allow the beef industry to meet these consumer demands. A qualitative consumer study has been carried out to assess European consumers' opinions about beef quality and beef related technologies. This paper reports on consumer opinions and perceptions about muscle profiling and a beef quality guarantee system. Findings indicate that both concepts are well accepted by European beef consumers, although not unconditional. The insights obtained from this study indicate good opportunities for the development of a beef quality guarantee system in Europe. As an increase in consumers' satisfaction with beef products could lead to higher consumption rates and industry profitability, the introduction of a quality guarantee system can contribute to further market development and improved competitiveness of the European beef industry.


In this letter, we have studied the influence of the external magnetic fields on tunneling of the spin-1 Bose condensate. We find that the population transfer between spin-0 and spin-±1 exhibits the step structure under the external cosinusoidal magnetic field and a combination of static and cosinusoidal one, respectively. Compared with the longitudinal component of the external magnetic field, the smaller the transverse component of the magnetic field is, the larger the time scale of exhibiting the step structure does. The tunneling current may exhibit periodically oscillation behavior when the ratio of the transverse component of the magnetic field is smaller than that of the longitudinal component, otherwise it exhibits a damply oscillating behavior. This means that the dynamical spin localization can be adjusted by the external magnetic fields.


Welding is being considered as a potential alternative metal joining technique to mechanical fastening, not only to save cost on existing aircraft versions but also to face the challenges in the aerospace industry of the next generation mass air transportation. However, before change of a fabrication process, the residual stress generation due to welding needs accounting for in structural integrity calculations of safety critical components subjected to fatigue loading spectra. The present work is focused on determination of the full 3D residual stress distribution, and its subsequent evolution due to machining, in fusion welded airframe aluminium alloy 2024-T351. Within the overall program two fusion welding processes - Metal Inert Gas (MIG) and Variable Polarity Plasma Arc (VPPA) were studied.

A combination of diffraction techniques - neutron, synchrotron X-ray, and laboratory X-ray - were used in the course of the project. The recent advances in neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques were utilised to obtain a very detailed three dimensional picture of residual stress distribution with high spatial accuracy. The measurement requirements and the size specificity of different samples determine the appropriate diffraction technique. Material characterisation of grain size distribution and crystallographic texture was performed and used as a vital input to the diffraction experiments.

In this dissertation an integrated approach was adopted whereby stress magnitude and distribution in an as-welded sample was determined and then stress evolution and redistribution was compared before and after machining. Two welding processes were studied and compared. The residual stress in fatigue samples used to monitor short crack generation and growth (up to 1 mm) were measured for surface stress distribution and its evolution following testing. Fatigue samples for long crack (over 1 mm) growth were also studied. The effects of welding structural assemblies will not be manifested in coupon samples, and therefore, a structural wing skin and stringer assembly was also measured for residual stress generation.

The weld residual stress generation is found to be higher in a MIG weld than in a VPPA weld. A distinct profile and magnitude of stress distribution is observed in both the welds studied. A systematic stress evolution is observed in the fatigue geometry samples for short and long crack growth monitoring. The magnitude of stress reduction due to machining and cutting of fatigue specimens, however, is different for the different weld processes. The wing skin stringer assembly measured also shows a different magnitude and stress distribution pattern. However, the basic footprint of stress distribution was observed to be same in the different weld processes and the samples studied.


In 1991, researchers followed 212 mothers and infants who tested HIV-1 negative at delivery in Rwanda. Later 8 infants tested HIV positive. Both the infants and mothers became infected simultaneously. They ruled out other routes of infection and concluded that the colostrum and breast milk were possibly the route of infection for 4 infants and positively the route for 4 infants. They postulated that when one 1st becomes infected with HIV, one may have high levels of HIV in the blood and thus be more infectious in the time period between 1st contracting HIV and development of HIV antibodies. All the mothers were vulnerable to sexual exploitation because they were either unmarried or widowed or had absent husbands and unstable sexual partnerships. Thus the risk factor of economic and social instability enhanced their vulnerability to exposure to HIV. The researchers suggested that heal professionals should counsel HIV negative mothers who are at high risk about the possibility of transmitting HIV via breast milk if they happen to seroconvert. In some developing countries like Rwanda, no alternatives to breast feeding exist so the researchers advocated intervention studies to assess the efficacy and feasibility of alternative nutritional practices, such as wet nursing, for mothers at high risk of acquiring HIV after delivery. They did not conclude that already HIV infected mothers should not breast feed since research had not yet proved that infants acquire HIV from breast milk of infected mothers. In fact, other research showed that HIV positive infants who are breast fed live longer than bottle fed HIV infants. After publication of this study, WHO continued its commitment to promote, protect, and support breast feeding no matter what the HIV prevalence of a country is.


The fundamental building blocks for automating vehicles have been in development for many years, making vehicle automation a near-term reality (Barth et al., 2014). The interest and the expectations, with which the scientific world, the markets and urban societies anticipate a full scale launch of 'driverless' or 'semi-automated' vehicle technology are higher than ever before. This is because automated vehicles have, in theory at least, the potential to completely transform urban development as we know it, with a revolution in ground transport, regulations permitting, that could dramatically change the landscape of cities around the world and have an enormous economic, social, spatial, and mobility impact (Alessandrini et al., 2015). Although recent studies showed that a priori acceptability of fully automated cars could be likely for many drivers today (Payre et al., 2014) things could get far more complex. This is because, despite some initial encouraging technical results, the implementation of vehicle automation, will not be straightforward, predictable or unproblematic; there is a wide spectrum of social dilemmas and complicated human factors issues that may arise for such an 'untested' and 'powerful' innovation.

One of the likeliest consequences of vehicle automation on the average 'driver', for instance, could possibly be the loss of situation awareness and loss of the skills needed to perform the automated functions manually (Parasuraman et al., 2000). Previous research has revealed problems with driving performance in situations with automation failures and attributed this to drivers being out-of-the-loop (Strand et al, 2014). Another issue with the introduction of on-board technologies resides in the fact that drivers can react in unexpected ways to the introduction of new systems, a phenomenon defined as 'behavioural adaptation' (Gouy et al., 2014). The formation of a mixed traffic situation where vehicles equipped with automated systems taking over the lateral and longitudinal control of the vehicle will interact with unequipped vehicles that are not fitted with such automated systems is another likely future scenario that could arise societal dilemmas (Gouy et al., 2014). Also, future automated vehicles will encounter situations where the 'right' action is morally or legally ambiguous; allocating risks without a human driver's oversight is an issue of ethical dimension, particularly in instances where an automated vehicle would not be able to avoid crashing (Goodal, 2014).

The paper aims to examine some of these social dilemmas via a state-of-the-art review of the existing literature but more importantly, perhaps, via the analysis of a series of semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews will be testing future hypothetical scenarios to an audience spanning from researchers working in the field of automation to people that have never discussed about 'driverless' vehicles before in any formal sense. This approach is expected to deliver an intriguing mix of results that could have a more generalizable nature when trying to frame, to the degree that is possible, some of the inescapable, but yet somewhat unknown, realities in vehicle automation.


While it has been long recognized that genes are not randomly positioned along the genome, the degree to which its 3D structure influences the arrangement of genes has remained elusive. In particular, several lines of evidence suggest that actively transcribed genes are spatially co-localized, forming transcription factories; however, a generalized systematic test has hitherto not been described. Here we reveal transcription factories using a rigorous definition of genomic structure based on Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome conformation capture data, coupled with an experimental design controlling for the primary gene order. We develop a data-driven method for the interpolation and the embedding of such datasets and introduce statistics that enable the comparison of the spatial and genomic densities of genes. Combining these, we report evidence that co-regulated genes are clustered in space, beyond their observed clustering in the context of gene order along the genome and show this phenomenon is significant for 64 out of 117 transcription factors. Furthermore, we show that those transcription factors with high spatially co-localized targets are expressed higher than those whose targets are not spatially clustered. Collectively, our results support the notion that, at a given time, the physical density of genes is intimately related to regulatory activity.


BACKGROUND
Kidney stones affect people worldwide and have a high rate of recurrence even with treatment. Recurrences are particularly prevalent in people with low urinary citrate levels. These people have a higher incidence of calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate stones. Oral citrate therapy increases the urinary citrate levels, which in turn binds with calcium and inhibits the crystallisation thus reduces stone formation. Despite the widespread use of oral citrate therapy for prevention and treatment of calcium oxalate stones, the evidence to support its clinical efficacy remains uncertain.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review was to determine the efficacy and adverse events associated with citrate salts for the treatment and prevention of calcium containing kidney stones.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Kidney and Transplant Specialised Register to 29 July 2015 through contact with the Trials' Search Co-ordinator using search terms relevant to this review.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the efficacy and adverse events associated with citrate salts for the treatment and prevention of calcium containing kidney stones in adults treated for a minimum of six months.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two authors assessed studies for inclusion in this review. Data were extracted according to predetermined criteria. Summary estimates of effect were obtained using a random-effects model, and results were expressed as risk ratios (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) for dichotomous outcomes, and mean difference (MD) and 95% CI for continuous outcomes.

MAIN RESULTS
We included seven studies that included a total of 477 participants, most of whom had oxalate stones. Of these, three studies (247 participants) compared potassium citrate with placebo or no intervention; three (166 participants) compared potassium-sodium citrate with no intervention; and one (64 participants) compared potassium-magnesium citrate with placebo. Overall, quality of the reporting of the included studies was considered moderate to poor, and there was a high risk of attrition bias in two studies.Compared with placebo or no intervention, citrate therapy significantly reduced the stone size (4 studies, 160 participants: RR 2.35, 95% CI 1.36 to 4.05). New stone formation was significantly lower with citrate therapy compared to control (7 studies, 324 participants: RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.68). The beneficial effect on stone size stability was also evident (4 studies, 160 participants: RR 1.97, 95% CI 1.19 to 3.26). Adverse events were reported in four studies, with the main side effects being upper gastrointestinal disturbance and one patient reported a rash. There were more gastrointestinal adverse events in the citrate group; however this was not significant (4 studies, 271 participants: RR 2.55, 95% CI 0.71 to 9.16). There were significantly more dropouts due to adverse events with citrate therapy compared to control (4 studies, 271 participants: RR 4.45, 95% CI 1.28 to 15.50). The need for retreatment was significantly less with citrate therapy compared to control (2 studies, 157 participants: RR 0.22, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.89).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Citrate salts prevent new stone formation and reduce further stone growth in patients with residual stones that predominantly contain oxalate. The quality of reported literature remains moderate to poor; hence a well-designed statistically powered multi-centre RCT is needed in order to answer relevant questions concerning the efficacy of citrate salts.


The experimental data of phase diagrams for both polyethylene oxide/poly(ethylene oxide-b-dimethylsiloxane) binary and toluene/polyethylene oxide/poly(ethylene oxide-b-dimethylsiloxane) ternary polymer-containing systems was obtained at atmosphere pressure by light scattering method. The critical points for some pre-selected compositions and the pressure effect on the phase transition behavior of ternary system were investigated by turbidity measurements. The chosen system is a mixture of ternary which is one of the very few abnormal polymer-containing systems exhibiting pressure-induced both miscibility and immiscibility. This unusual behavior is related to the toluene concentration in the mixtures. The effect of toluene on the phase transition behavior of the ternary polymer-containing mixture was traced. Such behavior can make it possible to process composite materials from incompatible polymers.


The paper has two practical purposes. The first one is to analyze how successfully R can be used for data analysis on surveys carried out by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. In order to achieve this goal, we analyzed the data of the Monthly Statistical Survey on Earnings Paid by Legal Persons. The second purpose is to analyze how the assumption on the nonresponse mechanism, which occurs in the sample, impacts the estimated values of the unknown statistics in the survey. Depending on these assumptions, different approaches to adjust the problem caused by unit nonresponse are presented. We conclude the paper with the results of the analysis of the data and the main issues connected with the usage of R in official statistics.


It is well known that impulsive noise may significantly degrade wireless digital communication performance. The authors quantify the BER degradation of W-CDMA signals in the presence of measured impulsive noise interference, and evaluate the performance improvement obtained using adaptive antennas in cellular base stations. The scope of this contribution is two-fold. First, the BER under actual impulsive noise conditions in a single-user situation is estimated by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Then, performance evaluation is made in the presence of MAI in actual impulsive interference scenarios. Shot noise has been modelled as a train of pulses, whose parameters have been obtained from actual data of measurement campaigns in the UMTS band carried out in a typical urban environment. The antenna array has been modelled according to the specifications of a smart antenna prototype under development. Results show that adaptive antennas with beamforming based on the MMSE criteria provide a significant interference energy reduction factor at the array output with respect to a conventional sectored antenna when impulsive noise is present, which straightforwardly implies link quality improvement and system capacity enhancement.


Certain human glioma lines produce mucopolysaccharide coats that impair the generation of cytolytic lymphocytes in response to these lines in vitro. Coat production is substantially enhanced by the interaction of glioma cells with a macromolecular factor released by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in culture. This interaction thus constitutes an unusual mechanism by which inflammatory cells may nonspecifically suppress the cellular immune response to at least one class of solid tumors in humans.


Covariation in the structural composition of the gut microbiome and the spectroscopically derived metabolic phenotype (metabotype) of a rodent model for obesity were investigated using a range of multivariate statistical tools. Urine and plasma samples from three strains of 10-week-old male Zucker rats (obese (fa/fa, n=8), lean (fa/-, n=8) and lean (-/-, n=8)) were characterized via high-resolution 1H NMR spectroscopy, and in parallel, the fecal microbial composition was investigated using fluorescence in situ hydridization (FISH) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) methods. All three Zucker strains had different relative abundances of the dominant members of their intestinal microbiota (FISH), with the novel observation of a Halomonas and a Sphingomonas species being present in the (fa/fa) obese strain on the basis of DGGE data. The two functionally and phenotypically normal Zucker strains (fa/- and -/-) were readily distinguished from the (fa/fa) obese rats on the basis of their metabotypes with relatively lower urinary hippurate and creatinine, relatively higher levels of urinary isoleucine, leucine and acetate and higher plasma LDL and VLDL levels typifying the (fa/fa) obese strain. Collectively, these data suggest a conditional host genetic involvement in selection of the microbial species in each host strain, and that both lean and obese animals could have specific metabolic phenotypes that are linked to their individual microbiomes.


Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) sediments as a single species but is heterogeneous when centrifuged in CsCl. The heterogeneity is not due to degradation. The original interpretation of the nucleoprotein distribution in CsCl was based on the assumption that two populations of particles of equal densities but different diffusion rates formed in CsCl, the more diffuse band being composed of monomers and the less of tetramers (Bancroft et al. 1968). However, in light of the recently demonstrated behaviour of CCMV-RNA in polyacrylamide gels (Fowlks & Young, 1970; Bancroft, 1971) and the correlation between band density and RNA size found by Lane & Kaesberg (1971) for brome mosaic virus which has a similar RNA distribution to that of CCMV, a reconsideration of the explanation for the behaviour of CCMV in CsCl was thought to be appropriate and is now presented.
CCMV was grown, purified and assayed as described (Bancroft et al. 1968).


Introduction: The free gingival grafts have been used in periodontics to primarily augment the width of attached gingiva and to a lesser extent cover denuded root surfaces. An adequate width of attached gingiva is essential to maintain oral hygiene, to keep gingiva healthy and free of inflammation. Aim: In this pilot study, 8 cases with 15 sites treated using the free gingival graft technique to increase the width of attached gingiva are evaluated clinically and statistically. Materials and Methods: Graft material was obtained from the palatal donor site. Amount of recession, probing depth, clinical attachment level and width of attached gingiva were measured at baseline, one month and 3 months post operatively. Results: Consistent gain in the width of the attached gingiva was seen in all the cases treated. Though root coverage was not the primary objective a few cases reported root coverage also. Conclusion: The results of the pilot study indicate that free gingival grafting is an excellent technique to increase the width of the attached gingiva and to maintain stable periodontal health. Further long term studies with more subjects and proper standardization techniques are needed to confirm this.


Forty two million Americans, approximately, are considered runners today and half of those are over 35 years-old. Despite the benefits that running brings to older individuals health, there are an increase number of running-related injuries in this population. This high rate of injuries may be partly due to altered running mechanics. This study aimed to evaluate the surface electromyography (EMG) of gluteus medius and the peak of hip adduction at stance phase in young, middle-aged and elderly runners during running on a treadmill. Eighteen subjects were allocated into three groups. Group 1 (R1) included six men aged between 18 and 35, group 2 (R2), with six men aged between 36 and 60 years and Group 3 (R3), with six men aged over 61 years. As inclusion criteria, the subjects should run more than 10 kilometres per week and be a rear foot striker. The exclusion criteria were any incidences of injury in the three months prior to the experimente and musculoskeletal alterations. EMG was simultaneously recorded with kinematics at 2400Hz using wireless surface EMG electrodes (TrignoTM Wireless System, DelSys, Inc., Boston, MA, USA) and Qualisys Motion Capture System (Qualisys Medical AB, Sweden) with seven cameras and a sampling frequency of 240Hz. The EMG and kinematic signals were processed using custom MATLAB software. The average of 5 stance phases of each condition from the dominant lower limb was analysed. One-way ANOVA test was performed to comparison between groups and post hoc comparisons were performed using Bonferroni adjustments (α = 0,05). Significant differences were found for the peak of hip adduction between M1 and M2 (higher values for M2, p = 0.006) and between M1 and M3 (higher values for M3, p = 0.005). In addition, significant differences were found for the muscle activation of gluteus medius between M1 and M2 (higher values for M1, p = 0.001) and M1 and M3 (higher values for M1, p = 0.005). There were no significant differences between groups M2 and M3 for both variables evaluated. Musculoskeletal injuries in runners are common and may be attributed to the inability to control the hip and pelvic movements in the frontal plane. This lack can be from dysfunction of the gluteus medius. Thus, studies shows that an increase of hip adduction is associated with an increase in the quadriceps angle (Q angle) and this contributes to dynamics knee valgus. Since the Q angle reflects the frontal plane forces acting on the patella, biomechanics changes of the lower limb in the frontal plane may affect the patellofemoral joint. Therefore, there is an increase in the lateral forces acting on the patella, which can lead to a maltracking and can result in an increased contact, leading to articular cartilage degradation and pain over time. Therefore, the older runners showed an increase in hip adduction peak and a decrease of gluteus medius activation which are risk factors for certain injuries. These changes can generate an overload, mainly in the knee joint, and might predispose these runners to injury. Acknowledgment The authors would like to express appreciation for the support of the Fapesp [Project number = 2013/20400-3].


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

The receptor tyrosine kinase c-Met and its ligand hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) are frequently deregulated in many cancers, including brain tumors. c-Met activation induces brain tumor malignancy and is associated with poor clinical outcome. Consequently, c-Met inhibitors have been developed by pharmaceutical companies. However, the factors that determine sensitivity to c-Met inhibitors have not been determined to date. In the present study, we systematically investigated the factor(s) that determine sensitivity of brain tumors to c-Met kinase inhibitors and thereby also uncovered a new strategy for enhancing sensitivity to the inhibitors. We investigated the effects of a clinically applicable c-Met kinase inhibitor, PF-2341066, on fifteen different medulloblastoma and glioma cells and stem cells that possess different molecular characteristics. We investigated potential correlations between the effects of PF-2341066 on cell proliferation and death and the levels of total c-Met, p-Met, HGF, PTEN and EGFR co-expression. PF-2341066 completely inhibited basal and HGF-induced c-Met activation in all cells. However, the effects of PF-2341066 on cell proliferation and cell death varied tremendously between the different cell lines. The anti-proliferative and anti-survival effects of PF-2341066 did not correlate with c-Met, phospho-Met or PTEN or EGFR expressions in the cells. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between HGF expression levels and PF-2341066-induced inhibition of cell proliferation and cell survival (p<0.01). Similarly, orthotopic xenografts derived from cell line with high HGF expression level were significantly stronger inhibited by oral administration of PF-2341066 to than xenografts derived from low-expressing HGF cells. Therefore, HGF co-expression is the best predictor of response to c-Met kinase inhibitors. Surprisingly, we also found that when glioma cells and stem cells are pretreated with HGF, PF-2341066 is able to induce significantly greater (34-79%) cell death than in non-pretreated cells (p<0.01). The optimal time of pre-activation that achieved strongest sensitization to c-Met inhibitor-induced cell death was 2-4 hours. In vivo experiments showed that short-term bolus HGF pre-treatment of glioma stem cell-derived xenografts significantly sensitized the tumors to c-Met inhibition by PF-2341066. We therefore hypothesize that short-term exogenous activation of c-Met by HGF is able to trigger fast oncogene addition and therefore sensitize brain tumors to c-Met inhibitors. Overall, our data identify for the first time HGF co-expression as the determining factor in tumor sensitivity to c-Met kinase inhibitors and uncover HGF pre-treatment as a new strategy for enhancing the effects of the inhibitors. These findings have important practical implications for the efficient use of recently developed c-Met kinase inhibitors in cancer.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1821. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1821


The article discusses the determinants of labour turnover in Brazil. We contrast the view suggesting that severance payments (FGTS) induce labour turnover with arguments suggesting that turnover rates are a function of the characteristics of supply and demand for labour in Brazil. Additionally, we present econometric evidence that changes in the level of turnover rates observed at the end of the 1980s are not associated with changes in the legislation about severance payments in Brazil and also that turnover rates are pro-cyclical.


The religious communities of early modern Eastern Europe-particularly those with a mystical bent-are typically studied in isolation. Yet the heavy Slavic imprint on Jewish popular mysticism and pervasive Judaizing tendencies among Christian dissenters call into question the presumed binary quality of Jewish-Christian interactions. In Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe, editor Glenn Dynner presents twelve essays that chart contacts, parallels, and mutual influences between Jewish and Christian mystics. With cutting-edge research on folk healers, messianists, Hasidim, and Christian sectarians, this volume presents instances of rich cultural interchange and bold border transgression. Holy Dissent is divided into two sections: "Jewish Mystics in a Christian World" and "Christianizing Jews, Judaizing Christians." In these essays, readers learn that Jewish and Christian folk healers consulted each other and learned from common sources; that the founder of Hasidism, Rabbi Israel Ba'al Shem Tov, likely drew inspiration from Christian ascetics; that Christian peasants sought and obtained audience with Hasidic masters; that Jewish mystics openly Christianized; and that Christian mystics openly Judaized. In contrast to prevailing models that present Jewish and Christian cultures as either rigidly autonomous or ambiguously hybrid, Holy Dissent charts specific types of religio-cultural exchange and broadens our conception of how cultures interact. The scholarship in this volume is notably fresh and significant and makes an important contribution across disciplines. Jewish and Christian studies scholars as well as historians of Eastern Europe will benefit from the analysis of Holy Dissent.


Considered here is the last one of the six basic concepts of consciousness that The Oxford English Dictionary identifies in its several entries under consciousness. The referent of the sixth concept, which I call "consciousness6", is rightly understood to be a certain general operating mode of the mind. Any psychological account of consciousness6 must distinguish this operating mode from (a) the "particular consciousness or awarenesses", i.e., the specific thoughts, feelings, perceptions, intentions, and the like (including William James's succession of total states of consciousness), that occur while the mind is so operating, and from (b) the other, alternative, general operating modes of the mind: such as those that are sometimes in force in place of consciousness6, when one is awake.


Recent failures of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) raising therapies have shifted attention on understanding HDL functionality vs. quantity. For example, the ability of HDL to promote cholesterol efflux has been recently shown to be highly correlated with protection from cardiovascular disease - more so than HDL-C. VLDL and LDL, apoB rich lipoproteins (apoB-Lp), are commonly precipitated from plasma and the remaining HDL is assayed in situ. Two reagents for precipitating apoB-Lp's are polyethylene glycol (PEG), a neutral polymer that influences their solubility and dextran sulfate/MgCl2+ (DS), a polyvalent/ divalent combination that separates apoB-containing particles by charge. Given the recent focus on measuring HDL function under these precipitating conditions, it is critical to be sure that the constellation of HDL subspecies is not being altered by the apoB-Lp precipitation procedure. Using a gel filtration chromatography system, we compared the HDL subspecies profile in plasma before and after apoB-Lp precipitation by these methods. Compared to plasma alone, apoB-Lp depetion by PEG dramatically altered the HDL subspecies distribution with a loss of larger phospholipid-rich HDL and subsequent generation of smaller particles. This effect may result from the persistent association of PEG with HDL in plasma. The ability of these HDL particles to promote cholesterol efflux was also shifted in line with the phospholipid distribution. Conversely, DS precipitation had no effect on the HDL size distribution as determined by phospholipid and cholesterol profiles and cholesterol efflux pattern. Western blots showed significant decreases in HDL apoE content for the PEG method, but less so for DS. Ongoing work is aimed at characterizing the effect of these methods on other proteomic changes and functions (i.e. antioxidation) as well as comparing these methods to the "gold standard" of immunoaffinity isolation of apoB-Lp. Given the complexity of the HDL proteome and the growing realization that the family is composed of many functional subspecies, it is important that future clinical assays be carefully validated to be sure that important HDL functional particles are not being overlooked.


Objectives: The existing metadata standards in e-learning domain have been subject to much criticism for its lack of explicit category of metadata to allow cognitive-based description of learning resources. In order to overcome the deficiency of existing metadata standards, this research work proposed the content model for course based e-learning environment. Methods/Statistical Analysis: A course-based e-learning approach is employed to assist the students in constructing their own knowledge, by taking cognitive constraints into consideration. We are proposing the semantic based framework to describe the educational material for the course based learning environment. Findings: The researcher examined the required background knowledge for cognitive thinking, the differences between knowledge and cognition and then proposed the semantic based structuring of course contents for providing adaptable and intelligent learning environment. Application/Improvements: The proposed course content model influences the thinking skills, cognitive behaviour of learner and to overcome the deficiency of existing metadata standards.


Active authentication is the problem of continuously verifying the identity of a person based on behavioral aspects of their interaction with a computing device. In this paper, we collect and analyze behavioral biometrics data from 200 subjects, each using their personal Android mobile device for a period of at least 30 days. This data set is novel in the context of active authentication due to its size, duration, number of modalities, and absence of restrictions on tracked activity. The geographical colocation of the subjects in the study is representative of a large closed-world environment such as an organization where the unauthorized user of a device is likely to be an insider threat: coming from within the organization. We consider four biometric modalities: 1) text entered via soft keyboard, 2) applications used, 3) websites visited, and 4) physical location of the device as determined from GPS (when outdoors) or WiFi (when indoors). We implement and test a classifier for each modality and organize the classifiers as a parallel binary decision fusion architecture. We are able to characterize the performance of the system with respect to intruder detection time and to quantify the contribution of each modality to the overall performance.


OBJECTIVES
The standard predictive factors of actuarial survival such as T and N stage become less important as patients live for more than 10 years after treatment of cancer. Reports of actual 10-year survivors of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are rare, and demographic and clinicopathological factors associated with 10-year survival have not been well documented. In this research we evaluated factors predictive of actual, as opposed to actuarial, 10-year survival.

METHODS
We retrospectively analysed 1 046 patients who had undergone oesophagectomy for oesophageal SCC. The demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of patients who were alive more than 10 years after oesophagectomy and those of patients who had died were compared.

RESULTS
Univariate analysis showed that 18 factors differed significantly between the two groups. Based on logistic regression analysis, factors associated with 10-year survival were younger age, female gender, absence of dysphagia, a left transthoracic surgical approach, lower pathological T stage, and fewer metastatic lymph nodes.

CONCLUSION
The independent positive predictors of actual as opposed to actuarial 10-year survival are younger age, female gender, absence of dysphagia, lower pathological T stage, and fewer metastatic lymph nodes.


In my dissertation I address a gap in scholarship on contemporary Iranian women by using a selection of artworks as the lens through which to explore the gendered experience of exile and diaspora. More specifically, I examine the embodiment of personal and political space since the 1979 revolution as depicted by a selection of contemporary Iranian women artists some of whom live and work in the United States, others in Iran. Narratives embedded in their work examined in this project, provide a lens through which to view women's particular experiences inside and outside post revolutionary Iran. Some artist's works can be interpreted as descriptive of aspects of women's legal status in Iran; while others demonstrate the feelings of post revolution estrangement (ghorbat) and internalized exile through their portrayals of the related issues of veiling and women's cultural memory, as well as their private presence and public absence. Although engaging in a close reading of the art itself, I also draw from Iranian women's literature including memoirs, poetry, and scholarly works. The primary artists whose works I discuss include Haleh Niazmand, Taraneh Hemami, Kendal Kennedy and Shirin Neshat (U.S.) and Minoo Asaadi, Samila Amir-Ebrihimi, and Shirin Etehadieh (Iran). Additional artists included in this dissertation are Kendal Kennedy, Sonia Balassanian and Shirin Neshat (U.S.). The poet whose work frames the issues in each chapter is Persis Karim.


Donlin Creek contains a resource of718 tons gold associated with illite altered rhyodacite dikes and quartz-ankerite-dolomite-arsenopyrite-pyrite veinlets. The district contains 3 styles of mineralization; early high-temperature reduced porphyry-Au veins at Dome, later low-temperature sub-epithermal ACMA-Lewis veins/veinlets that comprises the main gold resource, and minor late quartz-stibnite veins. Veins at Dome contain coexisting high salinity brine and low salinity CO2-CR!±N, bearing vapor, and formed between 260 to 410°C at 1500-3000 m depth. Veins at ACMA-Lewis formed from low salinity (2.5 wt.% NaCI equivalent) CO2±Nz bearing (2 to 6.5 wt.% C02) aqueous fluid inclusions between 140-220°C at around 1600 m depth. A third fluid, which is possibly transitional between fluids at Dome and ACMA-Lewis, is found mainly around the margins of Dome, and partially overlaps ACMA -Lewis veins. This marginal fluid is characterized by low salinity aqueous fluid inclusions that homogenize between 230 and 300°C and contain significant COr CR!±N2. We propose that as the reduced (pyrrhotite stable) magmatic-hydrothermal fluids at Dome boiled, a low-density HzO-COz-CH4±N2 vapor phase sequestered Cu-Au-As-Sb-Hg as volatiles and transported them into overlying low salinity waters. As these low salinity waters cooled Cu and other elements were deposited at temperatures as low as 230 and 300°C, while Au-As-Sb-Hg were deposited mainly between 140-220°C as a result of boiling. The high CO~ content of the ore fluid resulted in boiling and Au deposition below the traditional epithennal environment.


Locomotion mechanism is a necessity for development of an active capsule endoscope. In this paper, we propose an inchworm-like locomotion mechanism, which is composed of a permanent magnet, a plunger, a solenoid and a cone-shaped polymer. When an alternating current is applied to the solenoid, the magnet will make a reciprocating movement under the electromagnetic force. With the friction difference produced by the polymer, the actuator could propel itself forward on a 2D surface. The working principle and kinetic model of the mechanism are analyzed. A prototype with a size of Phi12*37 mm were fabricated to study the feasibility of the mechanism. Experiments were carried out on the surfaces of various frictional coefficients. The results show that the actuator works more efficiently on the surface of the glass than on the paper, because the polymer has better clamping effect on the former. The velocity changes with the frequency and amplitude of the current. The mechanism consumes a low power and it can work under a relatively low voltage (less than 20 V). It has the potential for actuation of an active capsule endoscope


BACKGROUND Hemorrhagic complications are a major concern for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients treated with stenting or stent-assisted coiling and undergoing additional procedures such as shunting, ventriculostomy placement, and craniotomies/craniectomies. OBJECTIVE To assess the safety and efficacy of using a continuous infusion of tirofiban as a monoantiplatelet therapy in the management of ruptured aneurysms in the setting of either stent-assisted coiling (SAC) or flow diversion devices (FDD) in patients requiring either an external ventricular drain (EVD) or ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS). METHODS Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients between July 2017 and September 2018 who were treated with SAC or FDD were started on a continuous tirofiban infusion protocol (0.10 μg/kg/min) with no preceding loading dose as a monoantiplatelet therapy. Safety analysis was performed retrospectively to assess the complication rate, hemorrhagic rate, and rate of ischemic events. There were no hemorrhages related to the VPS surgery. RESULTS Nineteen subjects were included in the series. The patients received a total of 25 procedures that included 19 EVDs and 6 VPSs. Two patients (8.3%) developed small asymptomatic track hemorrhages after EVD placement. One patient developed a large retroperitoneal hemorrhage due to renal artery branch injury during procedure, and another patient developed an idiosyncratic transient thrombocytopenia which resolved after stopping the medication. One patient (4%) developed a transient ischemic attack, which resolved after a bolus of tirofiban. CONCLUSION Our study suggests that long-term use of intravenous tirofiban monotherapy in aSAH subjects for endovascular SAC or FDD is safe in the perioperative setting.


Quantification of DNA lesions constitutes one of the main tasks in toxicology and in assessing health risks accompanied by exposure to carcinogens. Tobacco-specific nitrosamines 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) can undergo metabolic transformation to give a reactive intermediate that pyridyloxobutylates nucleobases and phosphate backbone of DNA. Here, we reported a highly sensitive method, relying on the use of nanoflow liquid chromatography-nanoelectrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (nLC-nESI-MS/MS), for the simultaneous quantifications of O6-[4-(3-pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]-2'-deoxyguanosine (O6-POBdG) as well as O2- and O4-[4-(3-pyridyl)-4-oxobut-1-yl]-thymidine (O2-POBdT and O4-POBdT). By using this method, we measured the levels of the three DNA adducts with the use of 10 μg of DNA isolated from cultured mammalian cells exposed to a model pyridyloxobutylating agent, 4-(acetoxymethylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNKOAc). Our results demonstrated, for the first time, the formation of O4-POBdT in naked DNA and in genomic DNA of cultured mammalian cells exposed with NNKOAc. We also revealed that the levels of the three lesions increased with the dose of NNKOAc and that O2-POBdT and O4-POBdT could be subjected to repair by the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. The method reported here will be useful for investigations about the involvement of other DNA repair pathways in the removal of these lesions and for human toxicological studies in the future.


DNA lesions that escape excision repair pathways can cause arrested DNA replication. This replication block can be processed by translesion DNA synthesis (TLS), which is carried out by a number of specialized DNA polymerases. A sequential lesion bypass model has been proposed; one of the lesion-specific polymerases inserts nucleotide(s) opposite the damaged template, followed by extension from the inserted nucleotide by the same or another polymerase. Polζ and Polκ have been proposed as candidates for executing the extension step in eukaryotic cells. We previously disrupted separately Rev3, the catalytic subunit of Polζ, and Polκ in chicken B lymphocyte DT40 cells. We found that each cell line showed significant UV sensitivity, implying that both contribute to UV radiation damage repair. In the present studies we generated REV3–/–POLK/– double knock-out cells to determine whether they participate in the same or different pathways. The double mutant was viable and proliferated with the same kinetics as parental REV3–/– cells. The cells showed the same sensitivity as REV3–/– cells to UV, ionizing radiation, and chemical cross-linking agents. In contrast, they were more sensitive than REV3–/– cells to monofunctional alkylating agents, even though POLK/– cells barely exhibited increased sensitivity to those. Moreover Polk-deficient mouse embryonic stem and fibroblast cells, both of which have previously been shown to be sensitive to UV radiation, also showed moderate sensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate, a monofunctional alkylating agent. These data imply that Polκ has a function in TLS past alkylated base adducts as well as UV radiation DNA damage in vertebrates.


Question
How does the sowing of native species under different soil treatments contribute to the recovery of gypsum habitats affected by quarrying in Mediterranean environments?

Location
Mediterranean gypsum outcrops in Granada (SE Spain; 37o2′ N, 3o45′ W).

Methods
We conducted an experimental sowing of native perennial species from gypsum habitats (both gypsophiles and gypsovags) considering two factors: bedding materials and surface treatments. For bedding material we used: gypsum spoil, topsoil addition on gypsum spoil, raw gypsum and topsoil removal. The surface treatments were: control, sowing, sowing plus organic matter and sowing plus an organic blanket. There were five replicates per combination treatment (80 plots in total, of 25 m2 each). The sowing was performed in Nov 2009. All subplots were monitored to estimate density, richness, survival, growth of seedlings and herbaceous biomass, in two monitoring periods (Jul and Oct).

Results
No gypsophiles or gypsovags were found in the control plots (no sowing or surface treatment), and therefore natural succession proved ineffective in the first year. In contrast, sowing was very satisfactory, especially on gypsum spoil, where mean density was of more than 15 individuals m−2. This result is noteworthy as this material remains after the end of gypsum mining activity. Spreading topsoil over gypsum spoil proved to be no more positive, since it provided not only seeds of target species but also of competitor species. Also, with regard to herbaceous species, this treatment produced a highly significant increase of biomass. The organic blanket increased plant density, whereas the addition of organic matter had significant positive effects on survival and growth of the seedlings. The global high survival rate is remarkable, especially for the gypsum spoil treatment.

Conclusions
We highlight the importance of implementing recovery measures in gypsum habitats. An appropriate selection of seed mixture and density, as well as the use of gypsum spoil (the most favourable bedding material, according the results), is sufficient to ensure presence of the key species. Both technical solutions tested, organic blanket installation and organic matter addition, improved the results in terms of density, survival and growth of the seedlings.


Data-Driven Multithreading is a non-blocking multithreading model of execution that provides effective latency tolerance by allowing the computation processor do useful work, while a long latency event is in progress. With the Data-Driven Multithreading model, a thread is scheduled for execution only if all of its inputs have been produced and placed in the processor's local memory. Data-driven sequencing leads to irregular memory access patterns that could affect negatively cache performance. Nevertheless, it enables the implementation of short-term optimal cache management policies. This paper presents the implementation of CacheFlow, an optimized cache management policy which eliminates the side effects due to the loss of locality caused by the data-driven sequencing, and reduces further cache misses. CacheFlow employs thread-based prefetching to preload data blocks of threads deemed executable. Simulation results, for nine scientific applications, on a 32-node Data-Driven Multithreaded machine show an average speedup improvement from 19.8 to 22.6. Two techniques to further improve the performance of CacheFlow, conflict avoidance and thread reordering, are proposed and tested. Simulation experiments have shown a speedup improvement of 24% and 32%, respectively. The average speedup for all applications on a 32-node machine with both optimizations is 26.1.


Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) income plays an important role in the household economy in the rural forest dwelling communities. The study utilised both the primary data and secondary data. Primary data were collected from 30 sample households from two villages in Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya to analysis the significant of NTFPs income in the rural household economy with the objectives, (i) To study the determinants of income generation through NTFP (ii) To estimate the extent of employment generation through NTFP (iii) Price behaviour of selected NTFP in Mawiong regulated market. Econometric model and Box-Jenkins Autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) methodology were applied for the study. The study found that income from business was the major income sources (45.74 % share to the total household income). Income from NTFPs collection has the second largest share with 22.05 per cent followed by crop production with 14.61 per cent, labour with 9.16 per cent and livestock with 8.44 per cent. The lin-log model was selected as best model based on the value of R² value (0.89). Years of experience, total hours spent in NTFPs collection and average land holding have positive and significant relationship with the NTFPs income while age and distance travelled has a negative and significant association with it. Broom grass and Tezpatta contribute 2 and 1 manday/qtl/year to the total NTFPs employment. ARIMA (0, 1, 1) was the best fitted model as it has the lowest Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC). The price of Broom grass was forecasted for five weeks from 4th week of November to 4th week of December 2018 using ARIMA (0, 1, 1). The forecast Broom grass price for 4th week of November to be ` 2891.66 /qtl which will decrease to ` 2687.46 in 4th week of December.


Although the existence of illicit medicines is not new, all sorts of medicines, ranging from antibiotics to weight loss drugs, antimalarial tablets to steroids, are increasingly traded worldwide. The illicit medicines market is generally associated with considerable health risks for its users, as well as with high revenues and a perceived growing degree of criminadl organization. It is therefore important to gain extensive criminological insights into this global market. However, with a few exceptions, little criminological research has been conducted on the supply and demand sides of the illicit pharmaceutical market. The current thesis aims to engage directly with these perceptions as it fills gaps in the literature, by providing in-depth and empirically grounded theoretical insights on the online and offline trade in illicit pharmaceuticals, with particular reference to lifestyle pharmaceuticals. The main focus lies on the dynamics and activities of actors on both the demand and supply sides of the illicit medicines market in the Netherlands, and on the production and transnational distribution of illicit medicines in and from China. The central research question of this thesis is: how are actors involved in the illicit medicines trade, and how is the illicit market structured. In order to understand the dynamic interplay among actors as they operate, compete and develop trust relations, as well as how the illicit market is structured, a mixed-method approach of both qualitative and quantitative data is adopted. This includes the use of interviews with suppliers, consumers and professionals, an online study of vending websites and discussion platforms, an analysis of court cases and a survey study among consumers. This study shows that it is important to distinguish between deceived and non-deceived consumers of illicit medicines; this distinction is associated with important differences in motives for consumption, risk perception, risk management and feelings of shame or failure. In addition, the illicit medicines market can be characterized by the blurring and shifting boundaries among online and offline markets, as well the legitimate, semi-legitimate and illegitimate trade. Consumers and suppliers engage in various forms of risk minimization in order to obtain an acceptable balance between anonymity, deceit, trust and privacy. Furthermore, the illicit medicines trade is characterized by low entry barriers, especially through online distribution channels. As such, although the market has been portrayed as one that organized crime groups control on a large scale, this study shows that there is a large continuum of suppliers, traders and sellers that are involved in the market, which makes the trade in illicit medicines rather unorganized, with shifting roles and highly flexible networks.


The influence of crystallographic orientation stability on the inhomogeneous deformation on the meso-scale was numerically simulated with the crystal plasticity finite element. The initial microstructures were introduced into the finite element via intra-granular orientation gradient. The results demonstrated that the average orientation for both stable Goss and meta-stable cube oriented grains changed very little in plane strain compression (PSC). And for stable Goss oriented grain, the orientation gradient increased slightly, but for meta-stable cube oriented grain, the orientation gradient increased dramatically. And in spite of the same Taylor factor for both oriented grains, the dissipated averaged energy for cube oriented grain was higher than for Goss oriented grains, and the distribution width of dissipated work in cube oriented grain was also wider than that in Goss oriented grain. Furthermore, there was also strong energy gradient in PSC of cube oriented grain. Both the orientation gradient and energy gradient favor the nucleation of cube grains during recrystallization.


Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) presents an enormous rise in the last decades with an increasing number of diabetic patients. It has a negative impact on the health-related quality of life beside the related visual loss. Additionally, it incurs more health centre visits, higher health costs, and lower working performance. Therefore, early diagnosis and preventive measures gain more and more importance in the management of DMO. Risk factors for DMO can be divided into systemic and ocular risk factors. The leading systemic risk factors include age, type and duration of diabetes, insulin use, and glucose regulation. Hypertension, nephropathy, hyperlipidaemia, anaemia, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and amputation are other risk factors reported. In addition, susceptibility in cases with endothelial nitric oxide synthase polymorphism and vascular endothelial growth factor C634-G polymorphism has been reported. The severity of diabetic retinopathy, microaneurysm turnover, cataract surgery, incomplete vitreous detachment, and peripheral retinal ischaemia are among ocular risk factors. Though avoiding changes in the metabolic memory related to hyperglycaemia in the early period seems to be the most efficient treatment, nowadays close follow-up of patients with high risk and effort to control the modifiable risk factors seems to be the ideal treatment.


: In cooperation with the workers of the Province Sanitary-Epidemiological Stations in Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Koszalin, Cracow, Lodź, Poznan and Wroclaw an inquiry study was carried out of 839 students (517 girls and 322 boys) of the first classes of secondary schools, of whom 518 attended state schools and 321 attended schools run by non-governmental agencies. Since no statistically significant differences were found between girls and boys and between both types of schools, the results are presented for the whole studied population. Only 57% of the students regarded that in difficult situations they could rely on help and support of their parents; 55% considered that a mutual understanding existed between them and their parents; 7% described their relations with their parents as bad; 47 regarded their home atmosphere as calm and serene; 9% reported their families as contankerous; in 6% of the families quarrels between parents were frequent, and 15% of the students experienced such quarrels as particularly depressing, with 38% of girls and 14% of boys ruminating them even during lessons. Of interest were the data concerning spending of leisure time with parents. Time was spent with parents on school-days by 20% of the responders, and on Saturday and Sunday by 34%. On the other hand, time was not spent with parents on school-days by 37%, and during weekends by 16%. On weekdays 26% of female students from state-run schools and 12% of those from other schools spent the leisure time with their parents. Only 55% of the responding boys considered that the time spent with parents was sufficient.


The urgent need to improve livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa in order to keep pace with expected increases in demand for meat and milk is very topical. Breed improvement provides key entry points for increasing productivity in cattle populations. However, there are tendencies for breed improvement programs to focus on single, market driven traits such as milk or meat production in isolation of environmental constraints and broader livestock system functions which cattle assume in developing countries. This potentially leads to genotypes that are not well adapted to the environment and not capable of performing the multiple roles that cattle assume in cattle production systems of developing countries. In developing countries, many important functions of livestock are embedded in non-tradable traits that are neither captured in economic analysis nor considered in livestock improvement programs. This study evaluates preferences of cattle keepers in pastoral and crop- livestock systems of selected sites in Kenya for various cattle traits, focusing attention on trypanotolerance and employing choice modelling techniques. These systems are characterized by low input management, harsh environmental conditions and prevalence of various cattle diseases. Trypanosomosis is a serious disease constraint in these systems. The results indicate that farmer preferences for cattle traits are influenced by various factors including cultural practices, production system characteristics and environmental conditions, especially in relation to disease prevalence and availability of cattle feeds.


In the current study, we fit confirmatory bi-factor models to the items of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Autism Spectrum Quotient Short Form (AQ-S) in order to assess the extents to which the items of each reflect general versus specific factors. The models were fit in a combined sample of individuals with and without a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Results indicated that, with the exception of the Attention to Details factor in the AQ and the Numbers/Patterns factors in the AQ-S, items primarily reflected a general factor. This suggests that when attempting to estimate an association between a specific symptom measured by the AQ or AQ-S and some criterion, associations will be confounded by the general factor. To resolve this, we recommend using a bi-factor measurement model or factor scores from a bi-factor measurement whenever hypotheses about specific symptoms are being assessed.


AIM
To identify the differentially secreted proteins or polypeptides associated with tumorigenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) from serum and to find potential tumor secreted biomarkers.

METHODS
Proteins from human ESCC tissue and its matched adjacent normal tissue; pre-surgery and post-surgery serum; and pre-surgery and normal control serum were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) to identify differentially expressed proteins. The silver-stained 2-DE were scanned with digital ImageScanner and analyzed with ImageMaster 2D Elite 3.10 software. A cluster of protein spots differentially expressed were selected and identified with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). One of the differentially expressed proteins, clusterin, was down-regulated in cancer tissue and pre-surgery serum, but it was reversed in post-surgery serum. The results were confirmed by semi-quantitative reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR and western blot.

RESULTS
Comparisons of the protein spots identified on the 2-DE maps from human matched sera showed that some proteins were differentially expressed, with most of them showing no differences in composition, shape or density. Being analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS and database searching, clusterin was differentially expressed and down-regulated in both cancer tissue and pre-surgery serum compared with their counterparts. The results were also validated by RT-PCR and western blot.

CONCLUSION
The differentially expressed clusterin may play a key role during tumorigenesis of ESCC. The 2DE-MS based proteomic approach is one of the powerful tools for discovery of secreted markers from peripheral.


The choroidal tapetum of Latimeria chalumnae has been examined by optical, and by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The retinal epithelium, which contains no pigment, is separated from the tapetum by Bruch's membrane and the well-developed choriocapillaris. The tapetum itself consists of cells containing stacks of flat hexagonal crystals, shown by paper chromatography to be guanine. The crystals are arranged parallel within each cell; most are also parallel to those in neighbouring cells, though the crystals in some cells make a large angle with the general crystal plane. In the main the crystals lie so that their plane is approximately perpendicular to the optic axis of the eye. Owing to the retinal curvature, the angle of the crystal plane varies with position in the eye. The conditions for reflexion by constructive interference are fulfilled. Few choroidal melanocytes lie among the cells of the tapetum, which is not occlusible.


Decorative textiles were once ubiquitous and important, occupying a significant social and cultural space in the early modern interior, yet their impact upon how individuals engaged with domestic spaces is largely unknown. One way of approaching their impact is through an exploration of how present-day individuals engage visually with them in relation to other objects as they walk around an historic space. This article reports on one such investigation, an eye-tracking study which explored responses to the narrative hangings in Queen Margaret's Chamber at Owlpen Manor in Gloucestershire. Using eye-tracking equipment, we compared the viewing behaviour of two groups of participants, to whom we gave key information before they entered the room. We found that both the expertise of the viewers and the information provided influenced their viewing behaviour. Our findings highlight the importance of individual understanding and information provided to viewers when engaging with historic spaces, and can inform museum and heritage practice as well as enhancing our comprehension of how viewers engage with such textiles in historic spaces.


OBJECTIVE
This report compares response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy in sequential cohorts of men with DSM-III-R major depression.

METHOD
Patients were enrolled in consecutive standardized 16-week treatment protocols conducted in the same research clinic. The first group (N = 52) was treated with Beck's model of CBT, whereas the second group (N = 23) received randomized but open-label treatment with either fluoxetine (N = 10) or bupropion (N = 13). Crossover to the alternate medication was permitted after 8 weeks of treatment for antidepressant nonresponders. The patient groups were well matched prior to treatment. Outcomes included remission and nonresponse rates, as well as both independent clinical evaluations and self-reported measures of depressive symptoms.

RESULTS
Despite limited statistical power to detect differences between treatments, depressed men treated with pharmacotherapy had significantly greater improvements on 4 of 6 continuous dependent measures and a significantly lower rate of nonresponse (i.e., 13% vs. 46%). The difference favoring pharmacotherapy was late-emerging and partially explained by crossing over nonresponders to the alternate medication. The advantage of pharmacotherapy over CBT also tended to be larger among the subgroup of patients with chronic depression.

CONCLUSION
Results of prior research comparing pharmacotherapy and CBT may have been influenced by the composition of study groups, particularly the gender composition, the choice of antidepressant comparators, or an interaction of these factors. Prospective studies utilizing flexible dosing of modern antidepressants and, if necessary, sequential trials of dissimilar medications are needed to confirm these findings.


The debased condition under which people work is pervasive in contemporary societies and is especially ubiquitous in the so-called developing world. Yet, internationally recognized standards for the regulation of working conditions abound and are often applauded, without the passion for their application. Otherwise, why should a country like Ghana, which has one of the highest numbers of ratified labour standards conventions, continue to be fraught with poor working conditions? This undoubtedly simple but fundamental question is what this study sought to answer. Earlier attempts to answer this question have suffered from the lack of rich empirical data and compelling theoretical convictions. In view of this, ?Labour Standards Application in Ghana: Influences, Patterns and Solutions? may be considered a valuable contribution to the treatise of the labour standards phenomenon. Theoretically, the study collates salient aspects of both the market-oriented neo-classical and the non-market institutional and political-economy perspectives into an integrated model for the conceptualization of the labour standards phenomenon in Ghana. A combination of the quantitative and qualitative research strategies is then adopted for primary data collection in view of their respective epistemological and ontological implications. Specifically, a survey, which requires a large sample size to aid the generalisation of the existing patterns in the application of labour standards is used and complimented with interviews and observations to facilitate in-depth and contextual analyses of the issues under study.This thesis is therefore a presentation of a thoroughly researched and argued study of the influences on, patterns of, and solutions to, the labour standards problem. With regard to the macro level influences, the study has shown that continuous external influences in the form of the World Bank and the IMF policies, with their emphasis on economic growth, erodes the very fabric of the society and Ghana?s capacity to turn workers away from victims of economic growth to dignified citizens. Meanwhile, what is needed to create wealth - which may be fairly distributed, is a dignified working class. Particularly as it relates to the patterns of labour standards application, the study provides a compelling reason for the conclusion that working conditions in Ghana are poor and that it is misleading to put all multinational corporations and local firms together and make blanket statements as to whether or not they apply labour standards. This is because a number of factors, such as the country of origin, determine whether they apply labour standards or not. Regarding solutions, the revelation is that, the solutions to the labour standards problem proposed in the literature and in use in many developed countries are simply not workable in Ghana. Deliberative recommendations are therefore presented, in a context specific fashion, to ensure that labour standards application in Ghana is not just rhetoric but a reality. This way, the labour standards problem will be minimised and the working people of Ghana will be treated as worthy of the decency and dignity due all humans.


As a consequence of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, climate change is predicted to be particularly pronounced, although regionally variable, in the vast arctic, sub-arctic and alpine tundra areas of the northern hemisphere. Here, we review winter foraging conditions for reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) living in these areas, and consider diet, forage quality and distribution, accessibility due to snow variation, and effects of snow condition on reindeer and caribou populations. Finally, we hypothesise how global warming may affect wild mountain reindeer herds in South Norway. Energy-rich lichens often dominate reindeer and caribou diets. The animals also prefer lichens, and their productivity has been shown to be higher on lichen-rich than on lichen-poor ranges. Nevertheless, this energy source appears to be neither sufficient as winter diet for reindeer or caribou (at least for pregnant females) nor necessary. Some reindeer and caribou populations seem to be better adapted to a non-lichen winter diet, e.g. by a larger alimentary tract. Shrubs appear to be the most common alternative winter forage, while some grasses appear to represent a good, nutritionally-balanced winter diet. Reindeer/caribou make good use of a wide variety of plants in winter, including dead and dry parts that are digested more than expected based on their fibre content. The diversity of winter forage is probably important for the mineral content of the diet. A lichen-dominated winter diet may be deficient in essential dietary elements, e.g. minerals. Sodium in particular may be marginal in inland winter ranges. Our review indicates that most Rangifer populations with lichen-dominated winter diets are either periodically or continuously heavily harvested by humans or predators. However, when population size is mainly limited by food, accessible lichen resources are often depleted. Plant studies simulating climatic change indicate that a warmer, wetter climate may cause an altitudinal upward shift in the production of mat-forming lichens in alpine, sub-arctic regions. This is due to an increased potential for lichen growth at high altitudes, combined with increased competition from taller-growing vascular plants at lower altitudes, where the biomass of Betula nana in particular will increase. Matforming lichens dominant on dry, windblown ridges are easily overgrazed at high reindeer densities. This has longterm effects due to lichens' slow regeneration rate, but may also reduce competition from vascular plants in a long time perspective. Fires may act in a similar way in some forested areas. Accessibility of winter forage depends on plant biomass, snow depth and hardness; ice crusts or exceptionally deep snow may result in starvation and increased animal mortality. Calf recruitment appears to be low and/or highly variable where winter ranges are overgrazed and hard or deep snow is common. Population decline in several Rangifer tarandus spp. has been associated with snow-rich winters. Effects tend to be delayed and cumulative, particularly on calves. This is mainly ascribed to feeding conditions for young animals which later affect age at maturation. Global warming may increase the frequency of deep or hard snow on reindeer ranges in Norway, due to increased precipitation and more frequent mild periods in winter. We hypothesise that potential benefits from increased plant productivity due to global warming will be counteracted by shifts in the distribution of preferred lichen forage, reduction of the areas of suitable winter ranges, and generally reduced forage accessibility in winter.


AbstractAim:To evaluate the in vivo antitumor effects of antisense oligonucleotides targeting midkine (MK-AS).Methods:An in situ human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model was established in mice livers orthotopically. The MK-AS and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) were administered intravenously. The tumor sizes and plasma alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were measured by calipers and radiation immunoassay respectively. The morphology of tumors was evaluated by hematoxylin-eosin staining of histological sections. Human MK, p53, Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 protein content were detected by Western blotting.Results:MK-AS significantly inhibited in situ human HCC growth in mice compared with the saline group in a dose-dependent manner. After the treatment with MK-AS or with 5-Fu, the plasma AFP concentration decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, MK-AS also clearly downregulated the protein level of Bcl-2, and upregulated p53, Bax, and caspase-3 in the hepatocellular carcinoma tissue.Conclusion:These results demonstrated that MK-AS was an effective antitumor antisense oligonucleotide in vivo in mice; its antitumor effect is associated with the increase of pro-apoptotic proteins, such as p53, Bax, and caspase-3, and the decrease of the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2.


Estrogens have vascular protective effects in addition to their anti-lipid effects. Estrogens enhance endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the adult. While estrogens increase constitutive nitric oxide (NO) synthase activity, NO does not have a major role in maintenance of vasomotor tone in the newborn. We hypothesized that if estrogens altered vascular tone in the newborn, it would be via a dilator system other than NO. Using the closed cranial window technique, pial arterial vessel diameter was quantified in response to topically administered ovarian steroids in piglets anesthetized withα-chloralose. 17β-estradiol (10-5M) produced pial vasodilation that was not altered by topical LNA (10-3M) and was attenuated by indomethacin (5mg/kg iv): 36.1±1.6% vs 27.3±6.1% vs 6.4±2.6% respectively. 17α-estradiol (10-5M) produced pial vasodilation that was not altered by topical LNA and was attenuated by indomethacin: 34.6±2.2% vs 26.2±4.2% vs 3.3±4.2% respectively. Carbacyclin (6·10M-11), a prostacyclin analogue in a concentration not sufficient to alter pial diameter, was able to restore the dilator response to β-estradiol attenuated by indomethacin. We conclude that in the newborn the estradiols produce a prostanoid associated pial vasodilation with no major role for NO, and that the prostanoids play a permissive role in the response.


With a bird's-eye view, we survey the landscape of Calabi-Yau threefolds, compact and non-compact, smooth and singular. Emphasis will be placed on the algorithms and databases which have been established over the years, and how they have been useful in the interaction between the physics and the mathematics, especially in string and gauge theories. A skein which runs through this review will be algorithmic and computational algebraic geometry and how, implementing its principles on powerful computers and experimenting with the vast mathematical data, new physics can be learnt. It is hoped that this inter-disciplinary glimpse will be of some use to the beginning student.


I examined the level and predictors of life satisfaction among 504 participants who had experienced the 2011 Van (Turkey) earthquake (hit group), and 326 participants who, living in another city, had not (nonhit group). Participants completed measures of overall life satisfaction, belief in a just world, and hope. Results of group comparisons revealed that the hit group had significantly lower life satisfaction than did the nonhit group. Further, the life satisfaction of the hit group was significantly and positively associated with general belief in a just world, personal belief in a just world, and hope, whereas the significant correlations for the nonhit group existed between life satisfaction and general and personal belief in a just world. According to the regression results of the hit group, participants with high general belief in a just world, personal belief in a just world, and hope can be assumed to be more satisfied with their lives.