The Immersed Boundary Method (IBM) has been designed by Peskin for the modeling and the numerical approximation of fluid-structure interaction problems, where flexible structures are immersed in a fluid. In this approach, the Navier–Stokes equations are considered everywhere and the presence of the structure is taken into account by means of a source term which depends on the unknown position of the structure. These equations are coupled with the condition that the structure moves at the same velocity of the underlying fluid. Recently, a finite element version of the IBM has been developed, which offers interesting features for both the analysis of the problem under consideration and the robustness and flexibility of the numerical scheme. Initially, we considered structure and fluid with the same density, as it often happens when dealing with biological tissues. Here we study the case of a structure which can have a density higher than that of the fluid. The higher density of the structure is taken into account as an excess of Lagrangian mass located along the structure, and can be dealt with in a variational way in the finite element approach. The numerical procedure to compute the solution is based on a semi-implicit scheme. In fluid-structure simulations, nonimplicit schemes often produce instabilities when the density of the structure is close to that of the fluid. This is not the case for the IBM approach. In fact, we show that the scheme enjoys the same stability properties as in the case of equal densities.


Hyper-heuristic Flexible Framework (HyFlex) is an interface designed to enable the development, testing and comparison of iterative general-purpose heuristic search algorithms, particularly selection hyper-heuristics. A selection hyper-heuristic is a high level methodology that coordinates the interaction of a fixed set of low level heuristics (operators) during the search process. The Java implementation of HyFlex along with different problem domains was recently used in a competition, referred to as Cross-domain Heuristic Search Challenge (CHeSC2011). CHeSC2011 sought for the best selection hyper-heuristic with the best median performance over a set of instances from six different problem domains. Each problem domain implementation contained four different types of operators, namely mutation, ruin-recreate, hill climbing and crossover. CHeSC2011 including the competing hyper-heuristic methods currently serves as a benchmark for hyper-heuristic research. Considering the type of the operators implemented under the HyFlex framework, CHeSC2011 could also be used as a benchmark to empirically compare the performance of appropriate variants of the evolutionary computation methods across a variety of problem domains for discrete optimisation. In this study, we investigate the performance and generality level of generic steady-state and transgenerational memetic algorithms which hybridize genetic algorithms with hill climbing across six problem domains of the CHeSC2011 benchmark.


The removal of impacted third molars is one of the most common procedures inoral surgery. This is because third molars show high incidence of impaction and areoften associated with pain due to pericoronitis.Assess the reasons for extraction and describe the type of tooth angulations andstate of eruption. Determine the association of selected factors with pericoronitis as areason for extraction.A total of 256 patients having symptomatic third molars and referred to the oralsurgery department for consultation, diagnosis and treatment of partially orcompletely impacted third molars in the mandible and maxilla were included in thesample. All these teeth were surgically treated.the most common cause of surgical extraction of third molars was pericoronitis(86.7%). The condition occurs mostly in mandible and in the 25-29 years age group.Horizontal/transverse third molars were more affected by pericoronitis (96.9%)followed by vertical angulations (91.6%). Pericoronitis encountered more frequentlywith complete soft tissue impaction (93.3%).pericoronitis was the most common cause of third molar extraction. Factorsassociated with increased risk of having pericoronitis include: age group 25-29 years,mandible location, Horizontal / transverse angulation type and complete soft tissueimpactions.


This report complements the call for the inclusion of gender-based violence within
the Arms Trade Treaty by Amnesty International, IANSA Women's Network,
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Religions for Peace
International. It details the issue of gender-based violence and language needed
in the treaty. It also sets out how the threshold to determine the risk of an arms
transfer leading to the perpetration or facilitation of gender-based violence can be
identified by licensing agencies and which mechanisms can promote women's
rights as part of national-level implementation of the treaty


Feasibility of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for biliary drainage is not always applicable due to anatomical alterations or to inability to access the papilla. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage has always been considered the only alternative for this indication. However, endoscopic ultrasonography-guided biliary drainage represents a valid option to replace percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage when ERCP fails. According to the access site to the biliary tree, two kinds of approaches may be described: the intrahepatic and the extrahepatic. Endoscopic ultrasonography-guided rendez-vous transpapillary drainage is performed where the second portion of the duodenum is easily reached but conventional ERCP fails. The recent introduction of self-expandable metal stents and lumen-apposing metal stents has improved this field. However, the role of the latter is still controversial. Echoendoscopic transmural biliary drainage can be challenging with potential severe adverse events. Therefore, trained endoscopists, in both ERCP and endoscopic ultrasonography are needed with surgical and radiological backup.


The relationship between hypertension and cardiovascular morbidity has long been
recognised. However evidence is mounting implicating hypotension and not
hypertension as the predominant risk factor for mortality. I demonstrated a 20-30%
prevalence of intradialytic symptoms and hypotension in children during conventional,
4 hour haemodialysis (HD) sessions. The declining blood pressure (BP) was originally
believed to be caused by ultrafiltration (UF) and priming of the HD circuit due to loss of
fluid from the intravascular space. However data, largely in adults, challenged this
hypothesis leading to a new consensus that intradialytic hypotension has a multifactorial
aetiology. The uraemic milieu triggers a series of events that alters the cardiovascular
compensatory responses to haemodynamic stresses, however the extent to which these
physiological responses are impaired and their consequences are unknown and poorly
understood.
At first I corroborated adult findings that a poor correlation existed between relative
blood volume changes and intradialytic hypotension in children, supporting the theory
that fluid removal alone was not responsible for cardiovascular decompensation during
HD and this assumption was a gross oversimplification of the underlying problem.
Using a traditional method (endocardial wall motion) and a novel method (Speckle
tracking 2-dimensional strain) I then measured the regional left ventricular (LV)
function in children (aged 2 to 17 years) at the start of dialysis and again during peak
stress at the end of HD. I found rising cardiac troponin I levels in 25% of the cohort and
reduced regional LV function in all the children examined. The level of dysfunction
significantly correlated with actual BP, the degree of intradialytic BP fall and UF
volumes. What remains unclear however is whether the fall in BP was the cause or
effect of the ischaemic cardiac injury. Finally I investigated dialysis methods for
abrogating intradialytic morbidy in children treated with four hour HD sessions. A step
sodium profile from 148mmol/l to 138mmol/l, prophylactic mannitol and sequential
dialysis were successful, to variable degrees in attenuating intradialytic symptoms or
hypotensive episodes. Intradialytic midodrine was exclusively used in one patient
resistant to all other forms of therapy and was found to be the most efficacious in
supporting the BP and preventing hypotension.


Purpose: This research paper has been compiled from the articles and journals of various scholars. The elements and factors, which affected the plant closure and its impact on the economical fields, are analyzed at depth. Design/Methodology/Approach: The economic condition based on geographical scenario along with the case study on the Limestone Coast region of South Australia is vividly discussed. In other words, the paper has thrown down an in-depth analysis of the Pine plantations and Plan for the acceleration of electrical as well as industrial allocations and the role of gas on the Limestone Coast that had generated premium wine. Findings: There were four scenarios planned prior to proceeding with the work as well. At the same time, it also found different stakeholders involved in agricultural practices as well. Hence, it has focussed on the overall mission of the company. Practical Implications: The study had emphasized the methods and material of qualitative that had dealt with the case study of the Lime industry as well. Originality/value: This study contributes by supporting that conceptual, strategic, and technical competencies have a significant relationship with competitive intelligence and is achievable to be used by goverments in region and local economies.


Newsdrip documents the shifting emphasis and subject matter of the online news media. It is as much an index of significance as it is of the ephemeral.

Phase four of the project is a fully functional prototype of the hardware and software that will run the final installation.

Our software reads the front pages of a number of online newspapers, counts the occurences of a variety of place names and then triggers a series of dripping devices based on this information. In the final installation the resulting ripples will highlight locations of current media significance by dripping onto the surface of two large-scale, counterposed maps.

The software is live and the information updates constantly. The sensitivity of the system will increase over time as the coordinates of new locations are added to our database.


The principal work reported in this thesis is the examination of autonomic profile of ciliary muscle innervation as a risk factor in myopia development. Deficiency in sympathetic inhibitory control of accommodation has been proposed as a contributory factor in the development of late onset myopia (LOM). Complementary measurements of ocular biometry, oculomotor function and dynamic accommodation response were carried out on the same subject cohort, thus allowing cross-correlation of these factors with. autonomic profile. Subjects were undergraduate and postgraduate students of Aston University. A 2.5 year longitudinal study of refractive error progression in 40 subjects revealed the onset of LOM in 10, initially emmetropic, young adult subjects (age range 18-24 years) undertaking substantial amounts of near work. A controlled, double blind experimental protocol was conducted concurrently to measure post-task open-loop accommodative regression following distance (0 D) or near (3 D above baseline tonic accommodation) closed-loop tasks of short (10 second) or long (3 minute) duration. Closed-loop tasks consisted of observation of a high contrast Maltese cross target; open-loop conditions were imposed by observation of a 0.2 c/deg Difference of Gaussian target. Accommodation responses were recorded continuously at 42 Hz using a modified Shin-Nippon SRW-5000 open-view infra-red optometer. Blockade of the sympathetic branch of accommodative control was achieved by topical instillation of the non-selective b-adrenoceptor antagonist timolol maleate. Betaxolol hydrochloride (non-selective b1-adrenoceptor antagonist) and normal saline were employed as control agents. Retarded open-loop accommodative regression under b2 blockade following the 3 minute near task indicated the presence of sympathetic facility. Sympathetic inhibitory facility in accommodation control was found in similar proportions between LOM and stable emmetropic subjects. A cross-sectional study (N=60) of autonomic profile showed that sympathetic innervation of ciliary muscle is present in similar proportions between emmetropes, early-, and late-onset myopes. Sympathetic facility was identified in 27% of emmetropes, 21% of EOMs and 29% of LOMs.


Summary Profiles of prograding fan deltas are largely controlled by the water depth in the receiving basin. The initial slope of the fan-delta front with respect to that of the fan-delta plain, which is sometimes detectable in stratigraphic packages, decreases with the increase in water depth at the toe of fan-delta front deposits. The resultant relationship provides important evidence and information for restoring the depositional architecture of ancient fan deltas that may reflect the marginal geometry of sedimentary basins. Relatively steep gradients in fan-delta accretion surfaces may lead to an overestimation of the vertical stratigraphic thickness, particularly if it is calculated using a simple cumulative bed thickness. Furthermore, fan-delta successions which appear to be anomalously thick may not be due to progressive or incremental basin subsidence, but rather to overestimated stratigraphic thickness because the fan-delta clinoform dips were ignored. A part of the thick fan-delta deposits, therefore, can best be interpreted in terms of lateral accretion of fan-delta front deposits on the dipping clinoform surfaces, responding to the shallowing in the receiving basin.


In this letter, optical limiting property of the insufficiently oxidized silicon oxide (SiOx) thin films is reported. Films were deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition technique using Q-switched Nd: YAG laser (532 nm) onto fused silica substrate at a substrate temperature of 400 °C by varying the O2 pressure in the range of 5×10 to 0.5 mbar. Energy Dispersive X-Ray spectra showed the increase in oxygen content with increasing O2 pressure. Raman spectra of SiOx films depicted the presence of micron sized clusters composed of nanocrystalline Silicon embedded in uniform matrix of oxidized amorphous Silicon. The open Z-scan of the thin films, under cw He-Ne laser irradiation, showed strong reverse saturation absorption (RSA) features and non linear absorption (NLA) coefficient, β, was found to be decreasing from 23.5 cm/W to 1.64 cm/W, with increase in O2 pressure from 5×10 to 10 mbar, respectively. Also, the SiOx films except that with maximum oxygen content showed optical limiting, where limiting threshold increases with increasing transparency controlled by oxygen content. The key feature of the present work is the tunability in linear absorption, nonlinear RSA and optical limiting in the SiOx films which can be used as novel material for optical switching application. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.


BACKGROUND
Percutaneous tracheostomy has largely replaced surgical tracheostomy in the intensive care unit setting. Although it seems logical that surgeons continue to do tracheostomies, anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists are familiar with airway control and guide wire techniques and could replace surgeons in the performance of PDT.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the safety and effectiveness of bedside PDT in the ICU.

METHODS
We conducted a retrospective chart review of 207 patients in the ICU who underwent PDT by an intensive care physician.

RESULTS
Subcutaneous emphysema without pneumothorax occurred in one patient. Four patients underwent surgical revision following PDT. Early bleeding (during the first 48 hours following the procedure) was the indication in two patients and late bleeding, on the 10th post-PDT day, in one. In one case PDT was converted to surgical tracheostomy due to inadvertent early decannulation. There was one death directly related to the procedure, due to an unrecognized paratracheal insertion of the tracheostomy tube followed by mechanical ventilation, which led to bilateral pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and cardio-circulatory collapse. No infectious complications were seen at the stoma site or surrounding tissues.

CONCLUSIONS
PDT by intensive care physicians appears to be safe and should be included in the curriculum of intensive care residency.


Abstract Examining the use of sport by totalitarian regimes during the interbellum period reveals that politicians saw the potential of sport not only for patriotic expression and international exhibition but also as a means to exert control over youth. Francoism participated in such uses of sport, imitating German and Italian organizations' development of a youth sport structure. The Franco regime emphasized sport in universities to the extent that it made physical education a required subject to obtain a degree. This study's primary objective is to reconstruct the doctrinal genesis of Francoist university sport, tracing it to the years before the Spanish Civil War, specifically noting the international influences that sustained it and the draft regulations that gave it legal standing despite resistance from both university youth and from sport. To this end, documentary sources are analyzed, including archival material, printed sources (legal decrees written during the period examined in this study and historical accounts of the subject), publications of Falange and related organizations, and speeches and proclamations from Falange and the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU).


Researchers' interest in seeing the benefits of Internet in elderly people is now growing. The network helps this group to increase communication, avoid isolation and loneliness and to age actively. Europe decided 2012 to be the Year of Active ageing. This paper presents a descriptive study of time series analysis carried out between 2004 and 2012 with the aim of knowing how the evolution in the level, motives and needs of the use of computers and Internet by elderly people in an environment of university training focused on health and life quality is. To obtain results a question paper is to be handed out to a sample of 419 people aged between 55 and 94 and taking part in the «Inter-university Programs of Experiences» from the University of Burgos. The obtained results match up with previous studies that pointed a noticeable increase in the use of the Internet (in frequency, number of users and resources) caused by elderly people's desire to keep active, up-to-date and communicated, as well as their need to continue their learning process through tools linked to the network. Here some suggestions focused on the improvement of elderly people's formation and future research on the perception of the Internet as a tool for social participation.


Animal genome engineering experimental procedures involve three major steps: isolation of zygotes from pregnant females; microinjection of zygotes, and; transfer of injected zygotes into recipient females, that have been practiced for over three decades. The laboratory set ups intending to performing these procedures require to have sophisticated equipment as well as highly skilled technical personnel. Because of these reasons, animal transgenesis experiments are typically performed at centralized core facilities in most research organizations. We recently showed that all three steps, of animal transgensis, can be bypassed using a method termed GONAD (Genome-editing via Oviductal Nucleic Acids Delivery), by directly electroporating genome editing components into zygotes in situ. Although our first report demonstrated the genome-editing capability, its efficiency was lower than the standard methods using microinjection. Here we investigated critical parameters of GONAD to make it suitable for creating animal models of large genomic deletions, single nucleotide corrections and long sequence insertions. The efficiency of genome editing in the improved GONAD (i-GONAD) method reached to the levels comparable to traditional microinjection methods. The streamlined parameters, and the simplified experimental steps, in the i-GONAD method makes it suitable for routine genome editing applications performed both at centralized facilities as well as at the laboratories that lack highly skilled personnel and the sophisticated equipment.


The aim of this article is to verify the relation between two kinds of intrafirm integration conductors and the business performance. The first kind is the strategic, and the second one is the functional. The study has been conducted through a survey in firms, which are supply chain members of the metal-mechanical sector of Caxias do Sul, RS, Brazil. The sample data of 170 companies, with at least 10 employees each one, have been analysed using multivariate statistical: correlation analysis; factor analysis; multiple linear regression; and the clusters analysis. The analysis revealed the presence of two firms groups on the sample: one emphasizes as much the Strategic Integration as the Functional Integration in its internal environment and the other emphasizes only the Strategic Integration. The multiple linear regression analysis also revealed that only in medium and large firms there is a tendency of a better performance through a higher Functional Integration, but not from a higher Strategic Integration.


This article aims to answer the question "Whose tradition?" in relation to the contemporary architecture and urbanism of the Arabian Peninsula. It first contextualizes tradition in the region within the geocultural politics of the Arab World and identifies key factors that shaped its traditional settlements, including tribal governance, social systems, building materials, and construction techniques. The article then contends that the region's urban traditions have been transformed from ones shaped by common people to ones shaped by the elite, in which the role of rulers is heavily emphasized. To explore this view, it analyzes two representative scenes in the contemporary urban lived space of the region, using examples from Dubai and Doha. These are articulated in terms of the emergence of elite enterprises, persistent patterns of social and ethnic segregation, and a continuing struggle to construct identity. Conclusions drawn from the discussion delineate key answers to the question "Whose tradition?" But a framework of examination is also introduced that emphasizes that lived space and the traditions that ensue from it cannot be seen in isolation from other types of space — such as conceived and perceived space. There needs to be a new cycle of knowledge production about cities in the region that integrates concern for all three (lived, conceived and perceived space) to better understand its traditions.


Endothelin (ET)-1, an endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor and mitogen, acts as an antiapoptotic factor against serum deprivation–induced apoptosis of endothelial cells and fibroblasts but enhances apoptosis of some cancer cells. In the present study, we examined whether nitric oxide (NO) and ET-1 modulate apoptosis of rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) via the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway. Both serum deprivation and NO donors (FK409 and SNAP) caused apoptosis of VSMCs, as demonstrated by TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end-labeling, appearance of fragmented DNA, and induction of caspase-3 activity. ET-1 dose-dependently antagonized apoptosis induced by serum deprivation and NO donors. A selective ET A receptor antagonist (BQ123) and a nonselective ET A/B receptor antagonist (TAK044), but not a selective ET B receptor antagonist (BQ788), inhibited the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1, indicating that the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1 is mediated via the ET A receptor. ET-1 activated MAP kinase, whose effect was inhibited by FK409. Transfection with an unphosphorylated wild-type MAP kinase kinase-1 (MAPKK-1) or its constitutively activated mutant protected VSMCs against apoptosis induced by serum deprivation and NO donors. Inhibition of MAP kinase activity with PD98059, a specific inhibitor of MAPKK-1, or by transfection of a dominant-negative MAPKK-1 mutant antagonized the antiapoptotic effect of ET-1, suggesting the involvement of MAP kinase in the antiapoptotic effect. The potent inhibitory effect of ET-1 on apoptosis of VSMCs induced by serum deprivation and NO suggests that the counterbalance between the 2 endothelium-derived factors contributes to the process of vascular remodeling by determining VSMC survival and death, respectively, via a common MAP kinase pathway. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol . 2000;20:989-997.)


We study dynamic moral hazard where principal and agent are symmetrically uncertain about job difficulty. Since effort is unobserved, shirking leads the principal to believe that the job is hard, increasing the agent's continuation value. So deterring shirking requires steeper incentives, which induce the agent to over-work today, since he can quit if the principal believes that the job is easy. With continuous effort choices, no interior effort is implementable in the first period. The agent's continuation value function is non-differentiable and convex, since the principal makes the agent indifferent between his discrete (participation) choices in the second period. The problem can be solved if the agent's participation decision is made continuous, or if there are long-term commitments, and we provide conditions for the first order approach to work. However, the impossibility result recurs in other agency models that combine discrete and continuous choices.


Objective: The present study was conducted to explore the value of 3-dimensional microscope integrated extravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) as the first suitable intraoperative imaging modality of cerebral aneurysm (CA) and parent vessel wall morphology. Methods: Incidental CAs (n = 16) of the anterior circulation with indication for microsurgical clipping were scanned. Results: Analysis revealed that intraoperative OCT achieved to delineate the microstructural composition of the parent vessel in all cases and the CA wall in 68.8%. Clinical relevant characteristics such as thickness, calcification, residual tunica media, and atherosclerotic plaque of CA wall could be demonstrated with high image quality approaching the spatial resolution of histopathology. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that intraoperative OCT may hold promise as an additional imaging tool during neurovascular procedures.


In this paper results regarding development of reduction process for copper production are presented. This process is applicable for small smelting plants of capacity up to 30.000 t/year, with capability for treating poly-metallic Cu-Zn-Pb concentrates with dangerous level of toxic components presence (As, Cd, Hg, …). This procedure is interesting because it can be applied for smelters that are supplied from mines at the end of exploitation so in the edge sectors poly-metallic minerals appear. Procedure consists of oxidation roasting of copper concentrate with desulphurisation degree over 98% and reduction smelting of sintered roasting products in shaft furnace of special construction. Using process of slag fuming, the degree of Cu and (Au+Ag) utilization can rise over 98% which results in good economic parameters, environment protection and low investment comparing to technologies currently used, taking in mind that phase of concentration is excluded from this technology.


The paper analyses affixation of new borrowings in Lithuanian and the process of their integration into the system of Lithuanian morphological paradigms applying the framework of Natural Morphology. Two word classes, nouns and adjectives, have been analysed and productivity patterns of the new lexicon are presented and discussed. To the group of new borrowings are assigned those items that have been accepted into Lithuanian since 1990 or those that have not been included into the "Dictionary of International Words" (1985). The corpus of data used for the present analysis is compiled from the material found in the Database of New Borrowings, which provides information about borrowing into Lithuanian in written public texts of the last two decades, and the Corpus of Spoken Lithuanian (2006–2009).
It has been found that the new borrowings follow the inflectional and derivational rules of the most productive morphological paradigms of Lithuanian. The most productive inflectional class of the borrowed nouns is -as, less productive is -is (-io), and the least productive is -a. As for the suffixes, the most productive are -imas (signalling abstract nouns), -ininkas (naming of persons), and the feminine derivational form -inė (from the masculine form –inis) for naming of instrument/ location.
The newly borrowed adjectives, as a rule, are only rarely integrated into Lithuanian vocabulary by just adding the Lithuanian inflectional endings, they are mainly integrated using a suffix. In the adjective group the most productive suffix is -inis, while the least productive is -iskas.
The research of new borrowings as either inflectional or derivational. This is due to the fact that the derivational relationship between the base and the derived forms in the case of new borrowing is difficult to identify and to prove.


This paper reexamines Jelinek's proof that tree codes can be used to approach the rate-distortion bound. It is shown that the branching process used in Jelinek's proof is not a (strict-sense) branching process (SSBP) when the source is asymmetric. Branching processes with random environments (BPWRE) are introduced and used to extend the proof to general discrete-time memoryless sources. The theory developed indicates why a particular metric used in experiments performed better than another suggested by the original proof.


This paper is based on the findings of a field study which was planned to ascertain by metabolic measurement the rates of energy expenditure of men and women on productive effort at work in modern factories. The investigation which is described was carried out during a period of peace-time full employment, mainly in factories associated with the Slough Industrial Health Service in which a nutritional survey of the calorie intake of male operatives had been made by the Ministry of Health and the Medical Research Council in 1952. The rates of energy expenditure of 70 men and 54 women in 27 occupational groups were measured by indirect calorimetric methods. On the basis of the criteria for the classification of work according grades to its heaviness, adopted by the Factory Department of the Ministry of Labour, muscular work grades have been ascribed to the occupations studied. From the distribution of 390 metabolic measurements, ranges of energy expenditure have been computed for occupations classed as sedentary, light, moderate, heavy, or very heavy, Observation of recurrent phase variations in types of productive effort in the work-cycle indicated that wider work grades, such as light-to-moderate or moderate-to-heavy, are needed to cover the energy expenditure rates of men and women in many occupations. The data obtained in this study have enabled a table termed the "Slough Scales" to be compiled giving ranges of energy expenditure and pulmonary ventilation rates for the various work grades ascribed to occupations. The mean rates of energy expenditure of 257 workers (in industries in different parts of England and Scotland) which have been calculated from data published by other investigators have been found to fall within the ranges specified in these scales for the work grades of their occupations. It is felt, therefore, that the Slough Scales represent a reasonably true appraisal of the relation between the Ministry of Labour occupational work grades and the rates of energy expenditure of men and women at work under environmental and management conditions which usually appertain in the United Kingdom.


The problem of measuring fundamental characteristics of an inherently stable power-producing reactor is described. It is noted that, in the power range of operation of such a plant, reactivity is a function not only of control rod position, but also of power itself. The mechanism of the latter effect involves the variòus inherent coefficients of reactivity. The result is that conventional, low-power methods can be used neither to obtain rod calibrations, nor to determine temperature coefficient in the very range of operation where these characteristics assume importance. It is shown that a number of parameters including those mentioned above may be measured by effecting small sinusoidal perturbations in control rod position over a range of frequencies. The resultant frequency responses are analyzed by the familiar transfer function-block diagram method. Certain inherent advantages of the method are cited including: 1) Ability to separate effects which predominate in different frequency regions. 2) Improved reproducibility of power range measurements. Disturbances induced by steam plant changes, inherently nonreproducible, are avoided. 3) Good accuracy of data. The measurement replies primarily on good differential accuracy, easier to obtain from operational instrumentation than good absolute accuracy. 4) Ability to check data reproducibility by obtaining several cycles of data at each frequency. A brief description is included of the manner by which the technique is used to determine the following nuclear properties: 1) Perturbing rod calibration, 2) Temperature coefficient of reactivity, 3) Neutron generation lifetime, 4) Fractional production of delayed neutrons, 5) Mean delayed neutron decay constant.


Problem-based approaches to student learning in higher education have become increasingly popular in recent years predicated on the assumption that they are significantly different to traditional forms of pedagogy in that they represent a more engaging, applied, interactive and balanced distribution of power between the lecturer and the student. However, despite these claims, the extent to which these pedagogies create greater levels of student autonomy and challenge the traditional power relationships between student and lecturer is unknown. To explore this issue, this study examines the techniques of power as perceived by students enrolled in a specific business related master's programme run using a PBL methodology and identifies ways these students identify with their programme including the methods employed to differentiate their PBL programme over and above others. Employing a qualitative interpretivist approach, 13 graduates of a part-time, PBL based, master programme in an Irish educational institute were interviewed to explore the nature of power relations between the lecturer and the student as perceived through the lived experience of the student. The study found that PBL has done little to level the perceptions of power imbalance within this higher education programme, particularly with regards to part-time students. In fact, the students are highly critical of what they perceive to be lecturer attempts to wield power using both implied and explicit means and in response these students employ several strategies attempting to increase their status in terms of power, particularly in the areas of social identity theory and tactics suggested by Tajfel and Turner (1986) to effect individual and collective Professional Mobility. A key conclusion is that the introduction of these novel forms of pedagogy within higher education, such as PBL, is not a simple process. It should be approached in a combined, integrated way where the objectives of the institute are considered with the skills and ambitions of the lecturers and needs and requirements of the local student population. While it may be desirable to launch new courses with contemporary forms of pedagogy these must be fully teased out to understand long term implications for all parties, including the necessary investment in training and resources within the specific institute to support these programmes.


The paper presents a new approach to output feedback robust control synthesis problems for hybrid dynamical systems. The hybrid system under consideration is a composite of a continuous plant and a discrete-event controller. An output feedback H/sup /spl infin//-control problem on an infinite time interval is considered. The main results are given in terms of the existence of suitable solutions to a dynamic programming equation and a Riccati algebraic equation of the H/sup /spl infin//-filtering type. These results show a connection between the theories of hybrid dynamical systems and robust and nonlinear control.


In the present work, chitin microspheres were impregnated at different concentrations of palladium salt solution to generate the precursor-Pd2+/chitin, and then a series of size-controllable palladium nanocatalysts (Pd@chitin) were successfully constructed by calcining the composite microspheres. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) provided reliable evidence for well-dispersed and ultrafine palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) with mean diameters from about 1 to 3 nm. Chitin microspheres, as the supporting framework of these catalysts, played a significant role for stabilizing the highly dispersed Pd NPs based on their abundant functional groups and large surface areas. Moreover, the chitin matrix acted as a reductant for the precursor-Pd2+ during calcination, and the calcination process made Pd@chitin more stable. These Pd@chitin catalysts were further tested for the hydrogenations of styrene and benzaldehyde, and they displayed superior catalytic activities compared to commercial Pd/C and unsupported homogeneous Pd(OAc)2 catalysts. Notably, the most active catalyst of 1.2 wt% Pd@chitin had a highly competitive turnover frequency (TOF) of 50 000 h-1 in the hydrogenation of styrene, and the catalyst could be repeatedly used for more than 10 cycles with no decay of the catalytic activity, suggesting potential industrial applications.


We evaluate the institutional frameworks developed to implement time-varying macroprudential policies in 58 countries. We focus on new financial stability committees (FSCs) that have grown dramatically in number since the global financial crisis, and their interaction with central banks, and infer countries? revealed preferences for effectiveness versus political economy considerations. Using cluster analysis, we find that only one-quarter of FSCs have both good processes and good tools to implement macroprudential actions, and that instead most FSCs have been designed to improve communication and coordination among existing regulators. We also find that central banks are not especially able to take macroprudential actions when FSCs are not set up to do so. We conclude that about one-half of the countries do not have structures to take or direct actions and avoid risks of policy inertia. Rather countries? decisions appear to be consistent with strengthening the political legitimacy of macroprudential policies with prominent roles for the ministry of finance and avoiding placing additional powers in central banks that already are strong in microprudential supervision and have high political independence for monetary policy. The evidence suggests that countries are placing a relatively low weight on the ability of policy institutions to take action and a high weight on political economy considerations in developing their financial stability governance structures.


SMEs are increasingly pushed to adopt cloud-based solutions given the risks and costs associated with OnPremise ERP. Cloud ERP systems are considered to offer high scalability and flexibility since they are proposed as a service. Nevertheless, switching toward such systems remains a hard decision since cloud computing is associated to other kinds of risks such as security, data confidentiality, network dependency, vendor lock-in, amongst others. While several studies have focused on attitudes and perceptions as the main determinants of switching decisions, this research investigated the effects of personal innovativeness in the IT domain in respect of intentions to switch toward cloud ERP systems with a focus on moderating effects. The author adopted a quantitative approach based on a structured questionnaire administered to IS Managers in Saudi SMEs that actually use On-Premises ERP. Data collected from 83 firms are analyzed by Structural Equation Modelling using PLS (Partial Least Squares) technique to test the research hypotheses. Among the main results, personal innovativeness is found to significantly moderate the effects of the antecedent (information channels exposure) rather than the effects of the determinants (expected switching risks, satisfaction with current ERP). Unlike previous studies, the results of this study show that personal innovativeness is more crucial when managers develop their perceptions rather than later when deciding about switching toward cloud ERP. From a theoretical perspective, such results steer toward a greater focus on antecedents of intentions to adopt ERP systems. From a managerial perspective, the proposed research model could be used as a framework to help managers assess the opportunities to switch toward cloud ERP.


The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), currently under construction, is the next-generation instrument in the field of very high energy gamma-ray astronomy. The first data are expected by the end of 2018, while the scientific operations will start in 2022 for a duration of about 30 years. In order to characterize the instrument response to the Cherenkov light emitted when cosmic ray showers develop in the atmosphere, detailed Monte Carlo simulations will be regularly performed in parallel to CTA operation. The estimated CPU time associated to these simulations is very high, of the order of 200 millions HS06 hours per year. Reducing the CPU time devoted to simulations would allow either to reduce infrastructure cost or to better cover the large phase space. In this paper, we focus on the main computing step (70% of the whole CPU time) implemented in the CORSIKA program, and specifically on the mod-ule responsible for the propagation of Cherenkov photons in the atmosphere. We present our preliminary studies about different options of code optimization, with a particular focus on vectorization facilities (SIMD instructions). Our proposals take care, as automatically as possible, of the hardware portability constraints introduced by the grid computing environment that hosts these simulations. Performance evaluation in terms of running-time and accuracy is provided.


Irrigation management for corn (Zea mays L.) production on the typical low water holding capacity soil of the southeastern USA needs to be improved to increase irrigation efficiency and reduce losses of nitrate from fields. A threeyear (2012–2014) field study was conducted to compare the effects of three irrigation scheduling methods: Irrigator Pro (IPRO); normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) and soil water potentials (SWP) and two levels of nitrogen (N) (157 and 224 kg N ha-1) on nitrate level, water-use, and yield of corn grown on four soil types in the Coastal Plains, USA. Yield of corn was not affected by irrigation methods or soil types. Both yield and water-use efficiency (WUE) of corn differed among years. Average yields and WUE were 15.6, 10.5 and 13.5 Mg ha-1 and 29.8, 16.8 and 23.8 kg grain ha-1 mm-1 in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. Leached nitrate varied significantly with irrigation and N management systems, but not with soil types. The IPRO method had the lowest concentration of nitrate (11.1 mg L-1) followed by SWP (16.5 mg L-1) and NDVI (17.9 mg L-1). The low N application rate resulted in a lower nitrate concentration (13.4 mg L-1) than the high N rate (17.0 mg L-1). Our results suggest that each irrigation method was able to adequately manage irrigation to produce adequate corn yields for the region. Since the IPRO method resulted in a lower nitrate concentration in the lysimeters, the results indicate that a scheduling method may be a way to reduce fertilizer N losses to leaching on these soils.


Access to social data on human experience of place has never been more available than now. Social media, smart phones, and the Internet of Things provide glimpses into individual activity across the globe. The nearly-boundless stream of information is called "big data." Today, physically and even socially disconnected individuals can benefit from the similar experiences of others to adapt and change their environment. I argue that big data provides two critical benefits for landscape architecture research and practice: (1) big data opens a window into previously inaccessible human experiences of designed environments, introducing new metrics for evidence-based design and new ways of improving design literacy; and (2) the design, planning, and management of the land—especially in cities—can benefit from scraping big data to support urban ecological design. My study of YouTube use in New Orleans shows that big data can advance landscape research to support positive, interdependent relationships between people and built environments. Landscape architecture would benefit by harnessing this resource to better understand relationships with place and encourage individuals to participate in the design, creation, and evolution of cities.


Abstract. We describe the Chipalamawamba Beds, early to middle Holocene deposits at the southern margin of long-lived Lake Malawi. The beds are exposed because of downcutting of the upper Shire River. The Chipalamawamba sediments are medium to coarse, yellow to brown sands deposited in lenses varying in horizontal extent from a few meters to several hundreds of meters. Four units are recognized; the first three mainly contain lacustrine sediments deposited during lake high stands about 10.6–9.7 cal ka BP (Unit 1), 7.6–6.5 cal ka BP (Unit 2) and 5.9–5.3 cal ka BP (Unit 3). Sediments of Unit 4 overlay Units 1 to 3, are coarser and display regular foresets and oblique-bedding, suggesting deposition in riverine environments after installation of the Shire River (~ 5.5–5.0 ka BP). Freshwater mollusk assemblages and bioturbation regularly occur in the lacustrine sediments, but are largely absent from Unit 4. Diverse and often contradicting hypotheses on the lake levels of Lake Malawi have been proposed for the early and middle Holocene. The Chipalamawamba Beds allow straightforward recognition of water levels and provide strong evidence for oscillating lake levels during this period, rather than continuous high or low levels. Sedimentation rates have been high and individual shell beds have typically been deposited during a few decades. Because the Chipalamawamba Beds contain a sequence of mollusk assemblages with intervals between subsequent shell beds ranging from a century to a few millennia, they enable paleontological analysis of the fauna with an unusually high temporal resolution. That some mollusk lineages inhabiting Lake Malawi are in the early stages of diversification and radiation increases the paleobiological relevance of these beds.


There is almost not a case in exploration geology, where the studied data doesn't
includes below detection limits and/or zero values, and since most of the geological data
responds to lognormal distributions, these "zero data" represent a mathematical
challenge for the interpretation.
We need to start by recognizing that there are zero values in geology. For example the
amount of quartz in a foyaite (nepheline syenite) is zero, since quartz cannot co-exists
with nepheline. Another common essential zero is a North azimuth, however we can
always change that zero for the value of 360°. These are known as "Essential zeros", but
what can we do with "Rounded zeros" that are the result of below the detection limit of
the equipment?
Amalgamation, e.g. adding Na2O and K2O, as total alkalis is a solution, but sometimes
we need to differentiate between a sodic and a potassic alteration. Pre-classification into
groups requires a good knowledge of the distribution of the data and the geochemical
characteristics of the groups which is not always available. Considering the zero values
equal to the limit of detection of the used equipment will generate spurious
distributions, especially in ternary diagrams. Same situation will occur if we replace the
zero values by a small amount using non-parametric or parametric techniques
(imputation).
The method that we are proposing takes into consideration the well known relationships
between some elements. For example, in copper porphyry deposits, there is always a
good direct correlation between the copper values and the molybdenum ones, but while
copper will always be above the limit of detection, many of the molybdenum values will
be "rounded zeros". So, we will take the lower quartile of the real molybdenum values
and establish a regression equation with copper, and then we will estimate the
"rounded" zero values of molybdenum by their corresponding copper values.
The method could be applied to any type of data, provided we establish first their
correlation dependency.
One of the main advantages of this method is that we do not obtain a fixed value for the
"rounded zeros", but one that depends on the value of the other variable.
Key words: compositional data analysis, treatment of zeros, essential zeros, rounded
zeros, correlation dependency


Chiba Prefecture has a population of 5.55 million people living within its jurisdiction which consists of the peninsula lying just to the South East of Tokyo. Possessing Narita International Airport and the Port of Chiba, one of Japan's most active ports, Chiba acts as the entryway for Japan to the world. Chiba is also home of Tokyo Disneyland and Nippon Convention Center (Makuhari Messe, a large scale, multipurpose convention facility). As one of the partners in the Trans‐Tokyo Bay Road project, Chiba is industrializing and is advancing to become one of the most active and growing prefectures in Japan.


Abstract Three studies examined several hypotheses concerning the effects of group context on categorization and the subsequent effects of categorization on memory and social judgment. Using a paradigm developed by Taylor and her colleagues (Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff, & Ruderman, 1978), subjects in Studies 1 and 2 were exposed to a slide and audiotape depiction of a 6-person group discussing affirmative action. The racial makeup of the group was manipulated such that subjects either saw a balanced race group (three Black and three White members) or a solo Black/five White person group. In each case, three of the discussants expressed pro-and three expressed anti-affirmative action attitudes. We hypothesized that (1) race and attitude position would serve as encoding cues, resulting in greater frequency of within-than between-category errors in cued recall, and (2) White subjects′ negative stereotypes of Blacks would be activated by the racial overtones of the discussion, but would be offset by concerns about appearing non-prejudiced. This would result in more positive evaluations of Black than White targets, particularly among subjects scoring low in racism. This effect was expected to be reversed when race was no longer a salient aspect of the situation (Study 3). As a third hypothesis we set forth conflicting predictions about the effects of the group context manipulation on social judgment: Taylor et al.′s (1978) perceptual salience hypothesis and Oakes and Turner′s (1986; Oakes, 1987) functional perspective on category salience. Hypotheses 1 and 2 received sound support, and the data were more consistent with the Taylor than with the Oakes predictions. Findings are discussed in regard to modern racism, construct accessibility, perceptual salience, and contextual changes in category use.


Powerfully posing questions of ethics, ideology, authorship and form, documentary film has never been more popular than it is today. Edited by one of the leading British authorities in the field, The Documentary Film Book is an essential guide to current thinking on documentary film.

In a series of fascinating essays, key international experts discuss the theory of documentary, outline current understandings of its history (from pre-Flaherty to the post-Griersonian world of digital 'i-Docs'), survey documentary production (from Africa to Europe, and from the Americas to Asia), consider documentaries by marginalised minority communities, and assess its contribution to other disciplines and arts. Brought together here in one volume, these scholars offer compelling evidence as to why, over the last few decades, documentary has come to the centre of screen studies.


BACKGROUND/AIMS
The aim of this study was to analyze the outcome of 33 patients with primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) who were observed and treated in a single teaching hospital and followed up prospectively.

METHODOLOGY
Thirty-three GISTs patients (21 male; 12 female; mean age: 57 +/- 12 years; range: 23-76 years) between June 1994 and October 2004, were reviewed retrospectively. Patient, tumor, and treatment variables were analyzed to identify patterns of tumor relapse and factors affecting survival.

RESULTS
Of 33 patients, 30 patients (91%) had primary tumor without metastasis, and all of them underwent complete surgical resection of gross disease. Three patients (9%) had metastasis. Among patients radically resected, the 5-year actuarial survival rate was 85%, and the disease-free survival was 76%. Among patients resected for cure, there were 6 recurrences. The mean time to recurrence was 22 +/- 11 months (range: 4-36 months), and liver was the prevalent site for relapsing disease (n = 5; 83%). After recurrence, survival at 2 and 3 years was 44% and 0%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
GISTs are uncommon sarcomas. Tumor recurrence tends to be intra-abdominal. Investigational protocols are indicated to reduce the rate of recurrence after resection and to improve the outcome for patients with GIST.


Autonomous robots combine skills to form increasingly complex behaviors, called missions. While skills are often programmed at a relatively low abstraction level, their coordination is architecturally separated and often expressed in higher-level languages or frameworks. State machines have been the go-to language to model behavior for decades, but recently, behavior trees have gained attention among roboticists. Originally designed to model autonomous actors in computer games, behavior trees offer an extensible tree-based representation of missions and are claimed to support modular design and code reuse. Although several implementations of behavior trees are in use, little is known about their usage and scope in the real world. How do concepts offered by behavior trees relate to traditional languages, such as state machines? How are concepts in behavior trees and state machines used in actual applications? This paper is a study of the key language concepts in behavior trees as realized in domain-specific languages (DSLs), internal and external DSLs offered as libraries, and their use in open-source robotic applications supported by the Robot Operating System (ROS). We analyze behavior-tree DSLs and compare them to the standard language for behavior models in robotics: state machines. We identify DSLs for both behavior-modeling languages, and we analyze five in-depth. We mine open-source repositories for robotic applications that use the analyzed DSLs and analyze their usage. We identify similarities between behavior trees and state machines in terms of language design and the concepts offered to accommodate the needs of the robotics domain. We observed that the usage of behavior-tree DSLs in open-source projects is increasing rapidly. We observed similar usage patterns at model structure and at code reuse in the behavior-tree and state-machine models within the mined open-source projects. We contribute all extracted models as a dataset, hoping to inspire the community to use and further develop behavior trees, associated tools, and analysis techniques.


Somatic hybridization allows the creation of new patterns of nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplastic association. It is therefore necessary to master cytoplasmic molecular markers to determine the genetic origin of both organelles of plantlets obtained from protoplasts fusion. In the case of Citrus and related genera, only southern blot hybridization and restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) techniques were used for this task until now. Here, we describe the use in the Aurantioideae subfamily, of a simple and non labeling cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) technique, to determine the cytoplasmic genome origin of intergeneric somatic hybrids. Mitochondrial and chloroplastic universal primers previously selected for population genetic studies in Quercus by Demesure et al. (1995) are used with some modifications. The variability of cytoplasmic genome among somatic fusion partners is detected by coupling amplification and restriction reactions. Digested DNA fragments are analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis (PCR-RFLP). This technique has been applied for the analysis of the cytoplasmic constitution of somatic hybrids arising from intergeneric, intersubtribal and intertribal combinations. Systematic transmission of the mitochondria from protoplasts isolated from embryogenic callus parents was confirmed.


Multiple sclerosis is the most common inflammatory, chronic and degenerative condition of the central nervous system, and represents the first cause of disability in young adults. In Mexico, 11 to 20 out of every 100 000 people suffer from this disease. The causes of multiple sclerosis remain unknown, but several theories have been proposed: the interaction of environmental factors, viral infectious factors and genetic and immune susceptibility of each individual patient, which induce an autoimmune response and promote neuronal/axonal degeneration. In this review, the immune reaction main components and neurodegeneration present in multiple sclerosis are analyzed, as well as the inflammatory cascade associated with demyelination. Available treatments' main purpose is to modulate aspects related to the adaptive immune response (B and T cells). The therapeutic challenge will be antigen-specific immune-tolerance induction, for example, with the use of tolerance protocols with peptides or DNA or nanoparticles vaccines. Future therapies should aim to control innate components (microglia, macrophages, astrocytes) and to promote remyelination. To optimize the treatment, a combined therapeutic approach targeting the control of inflammatory and neurodegenerative components of the disease and monitoring of biomarkers will be necessary.


The concerns over deteriorating global climate change have been leading to the creation of several global initiatives, such as the Climate Change Convention and Kyoto Protocol. However, the effects of those globally coordinated initiatives have been doubted since their advent, and research on the effectiveness of those efforts has been a focus of global attention. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the commons that arise from climate changes, and investigate to what extent current market incentives perform to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The paper empirically assesses the factors and conditions that affect the market incentives in the current environment, and intends to provide an insight into the future international scheme for coordinated efforts. The basic premise of the paper is that the development of technology to stop global warming can serve as an incentive in and of itself. We develop this technology driven approach in the framework of an open economy in which there exists strong domestic political pressure for economic growth. This paper begins by examining the needs to develop technology for the reduction of carbon emissions. Following this discussion the paper presents a theoretical model to examine if the desire for growth through international trade encourages investment in technology, and examines how this induced level of investment relates to the globally efficient level of investment. Finally, the paper empirically investigates some of the determinants of technology investment using cross country panel data over time. In our theoretical model we derive propositions that the level of technology depends on the degree of openness, the cost of developing green technology and the importance which a country places on material growth and a clean environment (the weights associated with these items in a country"s welfare function). Through our empirical studies, we first examine the potential explanatory variables that affect both welfare weights and technology development cost, and then choose the level of income, unemployment rate, degree of openness, number of ratified major environmental conventions, degree of democracy and regional peer effect as a set of important socio-economic explanatory variables that influence the level of technology. Our theoretical derivations suggest that the degree of openness has a positive effect on stimulating investment in clean technology, while factors affecting the welfare weight on material progress are likely to have a negative effect. The factors affecting the development costs also need careful attention. We can summarize our empirical findings as follows. First, we find the degree of openness is related to the degree of the green technology development. We find that countries that have been under high growth pressure do not necessarily confirm this relationship. However, when we consider the different openness measurement, the Sachs and Warner openness measure, it seems that degree of openness is positively related to the development of green technology.. Second, we find that unemployment rate has negative influence on developing green technology and the degree of influence depends on the stage of economic development. Third, we find that the degree of democracy has different effect on developing green technology for countries with different level of income. For example, we find that the degree of democracy for high income countries has a negative effect on the technology investment. However, in highly developing countries, we find positive effects. Fourth, we show that there are regional peer efforts on developing the green technology in certain regions. For instance, we find that the European region with shared cultural heritage shows a positive peer effect on developing the green technology. However, we find the opposite effect for the North American Region. Fifth, we find that two most recent conventions such as the UNFCCC and the Kyoto protocol have positive effects on developing the technology. This implies that the exogenously given welfare weight on environment through the major convention dummies that countries have signed and ratified affects the development of technology in a positive way. Finally, the policy implications from our examinations are not straightforward. In the absence of coordinated efforts, each country has different incentives for the investment in clean technology and the incentive compatible mechanism to allocate the burden of developing world optimum technology would be extremely difficult. Those countries with certain favorable characteristics with the high degree of openness, low development cost and greater revealed preference for clean environment may lead the investment while the rest of the world follows leaders" initiatives. These propositions however need further scrutiny and research in the future.


Truncal subdiaphragmatic vagotomy with pyloroplasty was used in 28 patients with chronic relapsing pancreatitis, 19 of them were inclined to alcohol abuse. In 27 patients followed-up during 3 years, 18 were delivered from pain attacks resulting from chronic pancreatitis, the attacks became rarer and less intense in 4 patients, 3 patients had single attacks of pancreatic colic. In 2 patients the results of treatment were assessed as unsatisfactory due to often admission to the hospital for pain attacks. They were not found to have increased excretory and endocrine insufficiency of the pancreas in this period, but had mental disorders.


In Alpine sites snow is present on the ground from six to eight months per year in relation to elevation and exposure. Water is therefore immobilized into the solid state for the greater part of the winter season and released to the ground in a short period during spring snowmelt. In these areas, snow distribution exercises a fundamental role in influencing soil temperature and nutrient dynamics, in particular of nitrogen, with great consequences on plant nutrition. The dormant vegetation period, the low temperatures and the persistent snow cover suggest that soil biological activity is only concentrated during summer. As a matter of fact, soils covered with a consistent snow cover are isolated from the air temperature and can not freeze during winter. A snowpack of sufficient thickness, accumulated early in winter, insulates the ground from the surrounding atmosphere maintaining soil temperature closed to 0 °C during the whole winter season. The elevation of the snow line and the shorter permanence of snow on the ground, as a result of global warming (IPCC, 1996, 2001), might reduce the insulation effect of the snowpack, exposing soils of the mountain belt to lower temperatures and to a greater frequency of freeze/thaw cycles, which might alter organic matter dynamics and soil nutrient availability. Such thermal stresses may determine the lysis of microbial cells and the consequent increase of nitrogen and carbon mineralization by the survived microorganisms. Moreover, the freeze/thaw cycles can determine the exposure of exchange surfaces not available before, with release of organic matter of non-microbial origin, which may become available to surviving microorganisms for respiration. The reduced or absent microbial immobilization may cause the accumulation of remarkable amounts of inorganic nitrogen in soil, potentially leachable during spring snowmelt, when plants have not still started the growing season. Changes of snow distribution in alpine sites can consequently have a great impact on the thermal regime and nutrient cycle of soils. The environmental implications have to be estimated for a long time, through specific studies that aim to evidence the indirect effects of climatic change on characteristics of alpine pedoenvironments.


Images of pregnant Black teenagers and single Black mothers are plentiful in the media and popular culture. These representations have fueled debates on the need for welfare reform and have focused public attention on adolescent pregnancy among Black Americans. In Reconceiving Black Adolescent Pregnancy, Elizabeth Merrick presents a new understanding of childbearing and adolescent development among lower income Black American teenage girls. The author focuses primarily on the individual stories and themes of the six participants in the study. The first section provides the context, and the second section provides the major thematic findings. The final sections focus on agency and identity in this population. The findings that emerged from Merrick's study yield a provocative view that stands in marked contrast to assessments of pregnant Black adolescents as being deviant or greedy for welfare. There is a need for developmental models that start from, or at least incorporate, non-majority experiences. In particular, ethnographic accounts can provide key insights into different developmental pathways. Out of such accounts, new paradigms may also emerge to guide developmental research. Reconceiving Black Adolescent Pregnancy fills this void.


This work introduces a new floating point representation for complex numbers ("Complex floating point"), and compares it to the floating point representation defined in the IEEE 754 standard, with a reference to the common DSP fixed point representation. The new suggested representation uses fewer bits than the IEEE 754, while keeping the same dynamic range and precision. A number of common DSP building blocks have been implemented. Results show that for the new representation, the ASIC silicon footprint of the arithmetic modules is bigger, by a factor of more than 10%. However, the area of the registers and memories, which usually occupy most of the DSP subsystem footprint, is 10% less. This directly leads to reduction of the cost of the ASIC. The quantization noise introduced by both representations was evaluated by running a number of common DSP algorithms, on various inputs. Results show that both representations induce a negligible quantization noise level, and the difference between them is very small: up to 0.2 dB on high SNR scenarios or for small sized vectors, and up to 2 dB on low SNR scenarios with large sized vectors. These results indicate that effectively there is no difference in quantization degradation between the two representations. By using the results of this work, a DSP processor architect can decide whether to use the IEEE 754 floating point representation, or the suggested complex floating point representation, which allows smaller memories at the expense of bigger logic and negligible quantization degradation.


C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the strongest independent predictors of cardiovascular disease. We have previously reported that oxidized LDL (oxLDL) interacts with β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI), implicating oxLDL/β2GPI complexes as putative autoantigens in autoimmune-mediated atherosclerotic vascular disease. In this study, we investigated the interaction of CRP with oxLDL/β2GPI complexes and its association with atherosclerosis in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). CRP/oxLDL/β2GPI complexes were predominantly found in sera of DM patients with atherosclerosis. In contrast, noncomplexed CRP isoforms were present in sera of patients with acute/chronic inflammation, i.e., various pyrogenic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and DM. Immunohistochemistry staining colocalized CRP and β2GPI together with oxLDL in carotid artery plaques but not in synovial tissue from RA patients, strongly suggesting that complex formation occurs during the development of atherosclerosis. Serum levels of CRP correlated with soluble forms of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and oxLDL/β2GPI complexes correlated with total cholesterol and hemoglobin A1c. Thus, the generation of CRP/oxLDL/β2GPI complexes seems to be associated with arterial inflammation, hyperglycemia, and hypercholesterolemia. CRP/oxLDL/β2GPI complexes can be distinguished from pyrogenic noncomplexed CRP isoforms and may represent a more specific and predictive marker for atherosclerosis.


In this article we have two primary objectives: (1) to elaborate in some detail a theory of phonological representations embedded within a parametric framework, and (2) to apply this theory to a particular vowel system which displays some rather interesting properties. This work is a continuation of a collaboration on a programme of research on phonological theory begun in 1982 (cf. Vergnaud 1982; Kaye & Vergnaud 1984; Kaye et al. 1984, 1985, in preparation).This programme incorporates the view that phonology is to be regarded as a system of universal principles defining the class of human phonological systems. These principles underdetermine given phonologies in certain specific areas. A complete phonological system consists, then, of these principles along with sets of parameter values. Taken together, the principles and language-specific parameter settings give a complete characterisation of the phonological system under study. In this model, a phonological system contains no rule component. The observed phonological phenomena result from a combination of the general principles governing phonological representations and structures and the parameter values in operation in the particular language. We view this line of research as a continuation of the development of a theory of markedness (cf. Chomsky & Halle 1968 (SPE); Kean 1975, 1979). At the moment of writing, this view of phonology remains a long-term objective of our research programme. However, an increasing number of phonological processes which were formerly considered to be manifestations of rules are now successfully derivable from the principles of Universal Phonology (UP) (cf. Kaye & Lowenstamm 1984, to appear).


Purpose To evaluate the stability of meropenem trihydrate in elastomeric infusion devices at a range of selected concentrations (6, 12, 20 and 25 mg/mL) at ambient, refrigeration and freezing temperatures. Methods Meropenem Ranbaxy® (meropenem trihydrate equivalent to anhydrous meropenem 1 g) vials for injection were reconstituted with 0.9% sodium chloride and adjusted to pH 6.5 using 1 M hydrochloric acid. Following preparation, solutions were stored for 7 days at either 6.7°C in elastomeric infusion devices or at −19°C in glass vials; samples of each concentration were removed from the infusion devices at specific time-points and stored for 24 hrs at 22.5°C. All solutions were assayed at specific time-points using high-performance liquid chromatography. Forced degradation in hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide was carried out at 40°C. Results The lowest concentration of meropenem (6 mg/mL) displayed the highest stability. It maintained >90% of its initial concentration for up to 144 hrs when stored at 6.7°C and 72 hrs following 24 hrs storage at 22.5°C, having been initially refrigerated for 48 hrs. Meropenem 20 mg/mL required immediate administration following preparation under ambient temperatures, whilst meropenem 25 mg/mL did not remain stable following 24 hrs storage at ambient temperatures. Frozen meropenem solutions displayed good stability in all concentrations but were physically unstable due to the formation of a precipitate. Conclusion At lower concentrations, meropenem showed suitable stability for storage and administration in elastomeric infusion devices, at refrigerated temperatures. To enhance the stability of lower concentration solutions when exposed to ambient temperatures by ambulatory patients, a more adept method of maintaining lower temperatures that reflect refrigerated conditions for elastomeric infusion devices should be devised.


This paper offers the introduction of futures markets, and the resulting substitution away from consignment contracts around 1874, as the reason why early US money markets are relatively more volatile, and far less seasonal, than their post-1874 counterparts. Until 1874, movements in interest rates were erratic and financial instabilities imparted relatively large shocks to money markets, particularly in the autumn months. After 1874, the effects of financial instabilities on interest rates diminished and the regularization of seasonal movements was attained. The paper demonstrates the plausibility of this claim using the standard mean-variance framework of the spot price volatility literature, where producers and speculators are assumed risk averse and risk neutral, respectively. Results indicate that the ability to hedge in the futures markets increases the price sensitivities of aggregate supply and aggregate demand, thereby diminishing the variability of both the price level and the interest rate in the presence of supply and/or demand shocks.


Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate possible interactions during transport of oxprenolol . HCl, bovine serum albumin, α-chymotrypsin, and fibrinogen through poly(acrylic acid) and its random copolymeric gels. Carbonyl and carboxylate ion peak shifts were used to identify drug/gel binding due to electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions between the polymer carrier and the drugs tested. These findings were used to interpret the decrease in calculated diffusion coefficients of drugs diffusing through these gels and the associated hindering of drug transport. A model was developed to analyze this transport process as a function of the binding heat of the drug with the polymer.


This research explains slang in the novel If You Know What Happened in MCI: Sociolinguistics study. This research objectives are to describe (1) forms and the meaning of slang used in the novel If You Know What Happened in MCI; (2) the functions of slang, (3) factors that influence the using of slang in the novel If You Know What Happened in MCI. This research is done by carrying some theories, such as: word formation process theory by Ridwan (2003), alteration of meaning theory by Chaer (1994), the functions of slang theory by Partridge (2013), and SPEAKING theory by Hymes (2010). The design of this research is qualitative descriptive research. The data of this research was attained from slang used in the novel If You Know What Happened in MCI. The method and technique of data collections were consisted of observation technique. Referensial comparing method is used for data analysis. The research comes to this results. The first, the structure of slang consists of 32 words, 13 phrases, and 6 sentences. The structures of slang are based on Indonesian, English, local language, mixture of two languages, and unidentified language. Second, the word formation of slang consists of 10 word formation process such as (1) coinage; (2) borrowing; (3) compounding; (4) blending; (5) clipping; (6) conversion; (7) back formation; (8) acronym; (9) derivation; (10) multiple process. Third, the alteration of slang meaning consists of (1) specialitation, (2) generalisation, (3) pejoration, (4) asociation. Fourth, there are 14 functions of slang found in the novel If You Know What Happened in MCI out of 15 functions proposed by Partridge. Fifth, the social factors proposed by Hymes (2010) are very influencing on the appearance of slang.


Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are an essential mechanism that increases the complexity of cellular processes. Protein methylation is a common PTM that can result in structural variation altering protein-protein/protein-DNA interactions. Several enzymes have been identified that have the ability to remove methyl groups from proteins. Many of these enzymes are histone demethylases, which are vital epigenetic modifiers. Lysine demethylases (KDMs) remove methyl groups from proteins, such as histones, resulting in a transition of chromatin accessibility for transcription factors. Jumonji C (JmjC) domain containing KDMs are a family of approximately 30 2-ketoglutarate (2-KG/2-OG) dependent enzymes known to demethylate histones within the chromatin nucleosomal core structure for the regulation of gene expression. Histone demethylases have tissue specific expression patterns and are active towards particular lysine residues, which suggest they are involved in specific cellular pathways. Irregular expression of KDM4s is associated with several types of cancer, but the roles of each KDM4 member in oncogenesis or cancer progression is convoluted. It is a difficult task to study an individual epigenetic enzyme and elucidate non-histone substrates due to the redundant cofactor utilization and their functional rapidity. To orthogonally study KDM4s, a bump-and-hole activation and inhibition system was developed. To elucidate non-histone catalytic substrates of KDM4s, a photo-crosslinkable unnatural amino acid (UAA) was incorporated in the catalytic domain to induce covalent binding to substrates for subsequent identification. Elucidating the roles of individual epigenetic modifiers will greatly impact public health because it will allow for improved therapeutic interventions and diagnostic biomarkers.


Blacks and Whites. Men and Women. Historically, each group has held very different types of jobs. The divide between these jobs was stark-clean or dirty, steady or inconsistent, skilled or unskilled. In such a rigidly segregated occupational landscape, race and gender radically limited labor opportunities, relegating Black women to the least desirable jobs. Opportunity Denied is the first comprehensive look at changes in race, gender, and women's work across time, comparing the labor force experiences of Black women to White women, Black men and White men. Enobong Hannah Branch merges empirical data with rich historical detail, offering an original overview of the evolution of Black women's work. From free Black women in 1860 to Black women in 2008, the experience of discrimination in seeking and keeping a job has been determinedly constant. Branch focuses on occupational segregation before 1970 and situates the findings of contemporary studies in a broad historical context, illustrating how inequality can grow and become entrenched over time through the institution of work.


Membrane fusion is a key process in all living organisms that contributes to a variety of biological processes including viral infection, cell fertilization, as well as intracellular transport, and neurotransmitter release. In particular, the various membrane-enclosed compartments in eukaryotic cells need to exchange their contents and communicate across membranes. Efficient and controllable fusion of biological membranes is known to be driven by cooperative action of SNARE proteins, which constitute the central components of the eukaryotic fusion machinery responsible for fusion of synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane. During exocytosis, vesicle-associated v-SNARE (synaptobrevin) and target cell-associated t-SNAREs (syntaxin and SNAP-25) assemble into a core trans-SNARE complex. This complex plays a versatile role at various stages of exocytosis ranging from the priming to fusion pore formation and expansion, finally resulting in the release or exchange of the vesicle content. This review summarizes current knowledge on the intricate molecular mechanisms underlying exocytosis triggered and catalyzed by SNARE proteins. Particular attention is given to the function of the peptidic SNARE membrane anchors and the role of SNARE-lipid interactions in fusion. Moreover, the regulatory mechanisms by synaptic auxiliary proteins in SNARE-driven membrane fusion are briefly outlined.


Since 1887 Red Mud is an unavoidable waste derived from the production of alumina in the Bayer process. Because of its high alkalinity and metal loading, Red Mud disposal and storage constitute an important environmental risk. With worldwide storage capacity reaching its limits and no alternatives to the Bayer Process, the development of methods for the valorization of Red Mud is a must. Here, we demonstrate that Red Mud can be turned into an efficient catalyst for the valorization of CO 2 . By a simple potassium promotion, 45% conversion of CO 2 with a light olefin (C 2 -C 4 ) selectivity of 36% has been achieved at 350 ºC, 30 bar and at 9600 mL·g -1 ·h -1 , matching the performance of some of the best catalysts reported to date.


A series of indolin derivatives as anticancer agent was examined to determine the structural requirement of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR-2) inhibition by three-dimensional quantitative structural activity relationship (3D-QSAR) using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) methods. Evaluation of 31 compounds (training set) served to established model, which was validated by evaluation of a set of 13 compounds (test set). The lowest energy conformer of a most active molecule obtained from the systematic search was used as the template structure for alignment of data set. The optimum partial least square analysis (PLS) for CoMFA and CoMSIA models exhibited good 'leave-one-out' crossvalidated coefficient (q2) of 0.758 and 0.805, the coefficient of determination (r2) of 0.950 and 0.934 and good predictive power of (r2 pred) of 0.885 and 0.861 respectively. The final model of QSAR along with information assembled from contour maps may be used for designing novel indolin derivatives as potent anticancer agents


BACKGROUND
Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) promotes protein synthesis, accelerates wound healing, and maintains immune function in the catabolic state. It has also been claimed that rhGH may promote the activation of residual tumor cells, and therefore, increases the risk of tumor recurrence. This study aimed to investigate whether postoperative administration of rhGH increases the long-term risk of tumor recurrences in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery for malignancy.

METHODS
Patients (n =104) received three different doses of rhGH (0.075 IU/kg, 0.150 IU/kg, and 0.300 IU/kg) during 5 postoperative days in a placebo-controlled trial. Follow-up was performed for 56-70 months after radical tumor resection. Mean survival period and relapse-free survival were compared with the control group.

RESULTS
Complete data were available for 75 patients. Thirty-five percent (n = 20) of all patients treated with rhGH showed tumor recurrences in comparison to 44% (n = 8) of patients given placebo. Mean survival period for rhGH-treated patients was 46 months (median 59 months); in controls, 42 months (median 58 months). The length of relapse-free survival tended to be longer in rhGH-treated patients (2-47 months; median, 21 months) compared with the patients who were given placebo (2-18 months; median, 13 months).

CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate no evidence for an increased risk of tumor recurrence after rhGH treatment for a short period of time after removal of a gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma. Therefore, the positive metabolic effects of rhGH application can be used safely in the treatment of the postoperative catabolic state in the patient groups investigated.


The active nodal task seeking (ANTS) approach to the design of multicomputer systems is named for its basic component: an active nodal task-seeker (ANT). In this system, there is no load balancing or load sharing, instead, each ANT computing node is actively finding out how it can contribute to the execution of the needed tasks. A run-time partition is established such that some of the ANT computing nodes are under exhaustive diagnosis at any given time. An ANTS multicomputer system can achieve a mean time to failure of more than 20 years with just 8 computing nodes and 3 buses, while the minimum requirements are 3 computing nodes and 1 bus, and with a worst case computing node failure rate of 5/spl times/10/sup -4//h. This work has been motivated by the need to develop high-performance multicomputer systems for radar, active and passive sonar, and electronic warfare that can provide ultradependable performance for more than 20 years without field repairs. We argue that high performance is also an attribute of an ANTS computing system, because the overhead of dynamic task scheduling is reduced and because efficient use is made of the available processing resources. >


The synthesis and characterization of N-propyl-POSS-7-oxanorbornene-5,6-dicarboximide (NPONDI) and N-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl-7-oxanorbornene-5,6-dicarboximide (TFNDI) was reported. The synthesis of the POSS-based (co)polymers were accomplished by ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The monomers and polymers were characterized using FT-IR, 1H-, 13C-, 29Si-NMR, and GPC techniques. Thermal properties of TFNDI-NPONDI copolymers were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis of optically transparent and flexible copolymer films revealed the presence of 50 nm-sized POSS agglomerates. Atomic force microscopy analysis of the film surface exhibited a modest increase in surface roughness of TFNDI-NPONDI copolymers as compared with homopoly[N-3(trifluoromethyl)phenyl-7-oxanorbornene-5,6-dicarboximide] (HTFNDI). The POSS incorporated polymers such as 1NPONDI, 2NPONDI, and 3NPONDI increased the hydrophobicity as compared with HTFNDI. This was measured by static contact angle analysis. The study focussed on the dispersion, surface morphology, and the microstructure of POSS in TFNDI-NPONDI copolymer as determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).


The article reviews the literature, the main trends and prospects for building and, to a greater extent, evaluation of foreign language competence with university students in the context of modern neuroscience. For the first time, neuroscientific aspects in the now common methods of evaluation of foreign language competencies are determined and the expediency of using the associative method as an effective development and evaluative tool is substantiated. It is found that the neuro-approach at the level of linguodidactics in the evaluation and building linguistic and communicative competencies with students is possible with appropriate and methodically modeled actualization of logical-associative relations of free subjective meanings of words and obligatory (paradigmatic) meanings. The international significance of the article lies in its summary nature related to the methods of evaluating foreign language competencies, determining the relative universality and accessibility of the associative method as the most accessible of the neuro-oriented and accessible to the average higher education language teacher.


Objectives
The objective is to assess cohort differences in received emotional and instrumental support in relation to network types. The main guiding hypothesis is that due to increased salience of non-kin with recent social change, those in friend-focused and diverse network types receive more support in later birth cohorts than earlier birth cohorts.

Method
Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam are employed. We investigate cohort differences in total received emotional and instrumental support in a series of linear regression models comparing birth cohorts aged 55-64, 65-74, 75-84, and 85-94 across three time periods (1992, 2002, and 2012).

Results
Four network types (friend, family, restricted, and diverse) are identified. Friend-focused networks are more common in later birth cohorts, restrictive networks less common. Those in friend-focused networks in later cohorts report receiving more emotional and instrumental support. No differences in received support are evident upon diverse networks.

Discussion
The increased salience of non-kin is reflected in an increase in received emotional and instrumental support in friend-focused networks in later birth cohorts. The preponderance of non-kin in networks should not be perceived as a deficit model for social relationships as restrictive networks are declining across birth cohorts.


The aim of this work was to develop and compare recommendation systems which use the item-based collaborative filtering algorithm, based on Hadoop and Spark. Data for the research were gathered from a real social portal the users of which can express their preferences regarding the applications on offer. The Hadoop version was implemented with the use of the Mahout library which was an element of the Hadoop ecosystem. The authors original solution was implemented with the use of the Apache Spark platform and the Scala programming language. The applied similarity measure was the Tanimoto coefficient which provides the most precise results for the available data. The initial assumptions were confirmed as the solution based on the Apache Spark platform turned out to be more efficient.


Abstract Karst landscapes and karst aquifers, which are composed of a variety of soluble rocks such as salt, gypsum, anhydrite, limestone, dolomite and quartzite, are fascinating areas of study. As karst rocks are abundant on the Earth's surface, the fast evolution of karst landscapes and the rapid flow of water through karst aquifers present challenges from a number of different perspectives. This collection of 25 papers deals with different aspects of these challenges, including karst geology, geomorphology and speleogenesis, karst hydrogeology, karst modelling, and karst hazards and management. Together these papers provide a state-of-the-art review of the current challenges and solutions in describing karst from a scientific perspective.


The connection between idealizations, competence and multi-level explanations in cognitive psychology is discussed, in response to Patterson's ([1998]) reply to Franks ([1995]). I argue that idealizations are inherent in competence explanations and as a result, such explanations cannot be formulated in the multi-level terms widely used in the cognitive sciences. Patterson's argument was that neither competence nor performance involve idealizations, and since they are separate 'systems', it is inappropriate to apply a single multi-level explanation to them. I suggest that there is evidence that, although competence and performance are very often explicated in terms of levels of description, both none the less involve idealizations. However, I also suggest that Patterson's argument rests on confounding the demarcation of cognitive systems. Hence, even if competence and performance are different levels of a single system, questions concerning idealizations still arise when they are combined in an explanation.


Foodborne pathogenic bacteria present a crucial food safety issue. Conventional diagnostic methods are time-consuming and can be only performed on previously produced food. The advancing field of point-of-need diagnostic devices integrating molecular methods, biosensors, microfluidics, and nanomaterials offers new avenues for swift, low-cost detection of pathogens with high sensitivity and specificity. These analyses and screening of food items can be performed during all phases of production. This review presents major developments achieved in recent years in point-of-need diagnostics in land-based sector and sheds light on current challenges in achieving wider acceptance of portable devices in the food industry. Particular emphasis is placed on methods for testing nucleic acids, protocols for portable nucleic acid extraction and amplification, as well as on the means for low-cost detection and read-out signal amplification.


In this paper, we propose ex-ante characteristics that predict the drop in risk-adjusted performance out-of-sample for a large set of stock anomalies published in finance and accounting academic journals. Our set of predictors is generated by hypotheses of OOS decay put forward by McLean and Pontiff (2016): arbitrage capital flowing into newly published strategies and in-sample overfitting linked to multiple hypothesis testing. The year of publication alone— compatible with both hypotheses—explains 30% of the variance of Sharpe decay across factors: Every year, the Sharpe decay of newly-published factors increases by 5ppt. The other important variables are directly related to overfitting: the number of operations required to calculate the signal and two measures of sensitivity of in-sample Sharpe to outliers together add another 15% of explanatory power. Some arbitrage-related variables are statistically significant, but their predictive power is marginal. *We thank Yves Lemperière, Philip Seager, Mark Potters and Jean-Philippe Bouchaud for helpful feedback at an early stage of this project. †Capital Fund Management Inc, The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue – 55th Fl., New York, NY, 10174 ‡MIT, NBER & CEPR 1


BACKGROUND
Developmental alcohol (EtOH) exposure produces long-term changes in the photic regulation of rat circadian behavior. Because entrainment of circadian rhythms to 24-hr light/dark cycles is mediated by phase shifting or resetting the clock mechanism, we examined whether developmental EtOH exposure also alters the phase-shifting effects of light pulses on the rat activity rhythm.

METHODS
Artificially reared Sprague-Dawley rat pups were exposed to EtOH (4.5 g/kg/day) or an isocaloric milk formula (gastrostomy control; GC) on postnatal days 4 to 9. At 2 months of age, rats from the EtOH, GC, and suckle control groups were housed individually, and wheel-running behavior was continuously recorded first in a 12-hr light/12-hr dark photoperiod for 10 to 14 days and thereafter in constant darkness (DD). Once the activity rhythm was observed to stably free-run in DD for at least 14 days, animals were exposed to a 15-min light pulse at either 2 or 10 hr after the onset of activity [i.e., circadian time (CT) 14 or 22, respectively], because light exposure at these times induces maximal phase delays or advances of the rat activity rhythm.

RESULTS
EtOH-treated rats were distinguished by robust increases in their phase-shifting responses to light. In the suckle control and GC groups, light pulses shifted the activity rhythm as expected, inducing phase delays of approximately 2 hr at CT 14 and advances of similar amplitude at CT 22. In contrast, the same light stimulus produced phase delays at CT 14 and advances at CT 22 of longer than 3 hr in EtOH-treated rats. The mean phase delay at CT 14 and advance at CT 22 in EtOH rats were significantly greater (p < 0.05) than the light-induced shifts observed in control animals.

CONCLUSIONS
The data indicate that developmental EtOH exposure alters the phase-shifting responses of the rat activity rhythm to light. This finding, coupled with changes in the circadian period and light/dark entrainment observed in EtOH-treated rats, suggests that developmental EtOH exposure may permanently alter the clock mechanism in the suprachiasmatic nucleus and its regulation of circadian behavior.