The paper aims to indicate the preconditions and challenges that apply to the implementation of psychological tests as tools for selection of personnel in the Republic of Macedonia. Research results that speak of the benefits of their implementation in different contexts in developed countries are used to demonstrate the potentials of applying psychological tests for selection purposes. Research carried out in developed countries has been also used to illustrate international experiences gained through use of ability and personality tests for selection of employees for specific profession and/or work position. It also describes the procedures for proving the criterion validity that is considered as prerequisite for using the tests as a selection tool. Special emphasis is placed on the procedures for adaptation of psychological tests, which is a necessary requirement for the tests created in another country/culture and used as selective means in other countries/cultures to be implemented for this purpose in our country. Finally, it is concluded that psychological tests can be a powerful tool for professional selection of candidates for specific professions/workplaces in the Republic of Macedonia provided that such tests are appropriately adapted and standardized, since the professional selection in the country has to rely on the use of ability and personality tests created in other countries. Keywords : professional selection, selection with psychological tests, adaptation of psychological tests, criterion validity


Abstract— Large meteorite impacts, such as the one that created the Vredefort structure in South Africa˜2 Ga ago, result in significant heating of the target. The temperatures achieved in these events have important implications for post‐impact metamorphism as well as for the development of hydrothermal systems. To investigate the post‐impact thermal evolution and the size of the Vredefort structure, we have analyzed impact‐induced shock heating in numerical simulations of terrestrial impacts by projectiles of a range of sizes thought to be appropriate for creating the Vredefort structure. When compared with the extent of estimated thermal shock metamorphism observed at different locations around Vredefort, our model results support our earlier estimates that the original crater was 120–160 km in diameter, based on comparison of predicted to observed locations of shock features. The simulations demonstrate that only limited shock heating of the target occurs outside the final crater and that the cooling time was at least 0.3 Myr but no more than 30 Myr.


A new genus and species of non-hadrosaurid hadrosauriform dinosaur, Brighstoneus simmondsi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight. The new taxon has two autapomorphies, a nasal having a modest nasal bulla with convex sides, and primary and accessory ridges on the lingual aspect of the maxillary crown. The dentary has at least 28 alveolar positions, which is the highest number recorded in an ornithopod with non-parallel sided alveoli, creating a character combination that is unique within Iguanodontia. The hadrosauriform fauna of the Barremian–Aptian Wealden Group on both the Isle of Wight and mainland England has been represented for almost a century by just two taxa, the robust Iguanodon bernissartensis and the more gracile Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis, with referred material often being fragmentary or based on unassociated elements. This discovery increases the known hadrosauriform diversity in England and, together with recent discoveries in Spain, suggests that their diversity in the upper Wealden of Europe was considerably wider than initially realized. This find also has important implications for the validity of the Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis hypodigm, and a reassessment of existing material is suggested. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:31F0D48F-C1DA-406E-A811-1F5937ED19F4


It is quite challenging to fabricate metal–organic frameworks with permanent porosity using flexible organic ligands owing to their conformation freedom and flexibility making the resultant frameworks very difficult to stabilize. Successful synthesis of such frameworks will enrich the domain of porous compounds for various applications. In this work, we designed a flexible cyclotriphosphazene-functionalized hexacarboxylate, and used it to successfully construct a porous metal–organic framework ZJNU-62 upon solvothermally reacting with Pb2+ ions. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses show that ZJNU-62 is composed of nonanuclear Pb9 clusters connected by organic linkers to form a (4,12)-connected three-dimensional infinite network of Al3La topology with one-dimensional rectangular channels running along the crystallographic c axis. Although the organic ligand is flexible, the resulting MOF compound ZJNU-62 can sustain the desolvation and exhibit permanent porosity, which has been confirmed by various gas adsorption isotherms. In particular, this compound can selectively adsorb C2 hydrocarbons and CO2 from methane under ambient conditions, indicating its promising potential for natural gas purification. The predicted IAST adsorption selectivities are 21.0, 10.9, 13.2 and 5.8 for the equimolar C2H2/CH4, C2H4/CH4, C2H6/CH4 and CO2/CH4 gas mixtures at 298 K and 100 kPa, respectively. This work represents a rare example of a Pb-based MOF constructed from a flexible organic ligand exhibiting selective gas adsorption properties.


Surplus populations are back on the political agenda. With the rise of automation technologies and the advent of the hyperflexible 'gig economy', millions of individuals across the post-industrialised world will likely become supernumerary or consigned to low-quality jobs in the service sector. Neoliberalism signalled the abdication of the state's responsibility for ensuring full employment and providing high-quality employment. However, criminology has largely forgotten the central roles played by both in preventing the spread of social pathologies. Against the logic of neoliberalism, what is needed is a state capable of counteracting the formation of surplus populations, or an anti-surplus state. A second New Deal would enact infrastructure investments and re-embed superfluous populations into meaningful employment relations. Following Bourdieu's criticism of a scientistic 'flight into purity', criminologists should adopt the lessons learned by Sweden's interwar social democrats and advocate policies capable of preventing the augmentation of social superfluity.


A low cost adsorbent, banana stem fibers (BSFs), was used for modification by grafting with methacrylic acid via three free radical generation methods. The presence of poly(methacrylic acid) on the adsorbent surface was verified by FTIR, ESR and TG analyses. BSFs grafted via β-radiation (BSF-β) were proven to have a higher grafting yield which led to a higher Hg(II) adsorption capacity. A slight decrease in the equilibrium pH after the adsorption process was probably due to BSF-β acting as an acid-form ion-exchanger. The adsorption equilibrium uptake fitted well with the Freundlich isotherm model implying that Hg(II) adsorption occurred heterogeneously on the adsorption sites. The kinetics of adsorption follows a pseudo-first order model with an activation energy of 13.7 kJ mol−1 indicating that the adsorption undergoes an ion-exchange process. Thermodynamic studies illustrated that that the Hg(II) adsorption process was endothermic and non-spontaneous. Spent BSF-β was effectively regenerated with 0.1 M HCl and could be reused without any significance efficiency loss over at least six cycles of adsorption. The present investigation shows that BSF-β is a promising adsorbent for the removal and recovery of Hg(II) ions from aqueous solutions.


The effect of nitrogen and phosphorus availability on the growth of Sulfolobus metallicus was analyzed. This archaeon was subjected to a series of nitrogen and phosphorus limitation conditions to determine their effects on growth. The results indicate that Sulfolobus metallicus showed a relationship between one of the intermediate oxidation products (tetrathionate) and cell concentration during the exponential growth phase in the absence of nitrogen. Furthermore, significant differences were found in the specific growth rates under different scenarios with ammonia and phosphorus limitation, with values of 0.048 h−1 in the ammonia limitation case. The biomass substrate yield obtained was 0.107 gcel·g S−1. Meanwhile, in the absence of phosphorus, the specific growth rate was 0.017 h−1, and the substrate to biomass yield was 0.072 gcel·g S−1. The results indicate that the ability of Sulfolobus metallicus to bio-oxidize H2S depends on the availability of such nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), which affect cellular growth and the types of products generated. This, in turn, influences the oxidation process of various sulfur compounds, resulting in changes in the predominant products formed and the final oxidation of sulfate ions.


Certain minerals can produce alkaline reduced water with high pH and low oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) when dissolyed in water. Alkaline reduced water (ARW) showed significant anticancer effect. When Bl6 melanoma cells were inoculated subcutaneously and intra-peritoneallM C56BL/6 mice fed with ARW showed tumor growth delay and the survival span was significantly lengthened. ARW also shgwed the inhibition f metastasis by reducing the numbers ofB16 melanoma colonies when iniected through tail vein, The amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was very reduced when fed with ARW except for spleen, which is a rnajor organ for immunity Even for normal mice, ARW intake invoked systemic cytokines, such as, Thl (IFN-y, IL-12) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-5), suggesting strong immuno-modulation effect, Both ROS scavenging effect and immuno-modulation effect might be responsible for anticancer effect of alkaline reduced water. Keyword: alkaline reduced wateB antieancer effect, antioxidant, immuno-modulation


Most twentieth-century Americans fail to appreciate the power of Christian conversion that characterized the eighteenth-century revivals, especially the Great Awakening of the 1740s. The common disdain in this secular age for impassioned religious emotion and language is merely symptomatic of the shift in values that has shunted revivals to the sidelines. The very magnitude of the previous revivals is one indication of their importance. Between 1740 and 1745 literally thousands were converted. From New England to the southern colonies, people of all ages and all ranks of society underwent the New Birth. Virtually every New England congregation was touched. It is safe to say that most of the colonists in the 1740s, if not converted themselves, knew someone who was, or at least heard revival preaching. The Awakening was a critical event in the intellectual and ecclesiastical life of the colonies. The colonists' view of the world placed much importance on conversion. Particularly, Calvinist theology viewed the bestowal of divine grace as the most crucial occurrence in human life. Besides assuring admission to God's presence in the hereafter, divine grace prepared a person for a fullness of life on earth. In the 1740s the colonists, in overwhelming numbers, laid claim to the divine power which their theology offered them. Many experienced the moral transformatoin as promised. In the Awakening the clergy's pleas of half a century came to dramatic fulfillment. Not everyone agreed that God was working in the Awakening. Many believed preachers to be demagogues, stirring up animal spirits. The revival was looked on as an emotional orgy that needlessly disturbed the churches and frustrated the true work of God. But from 1740 to 1745 no other subject received more attention in books and pamphlets. Through the stirring rhetoric of the sermons, theological treatises, and correspondence presented in this collection, readers can vicariously participate in the ecstasy as well as in the rage generated by America's first national revival.


The guided modes of sub-wavelength diameter air-clad optical fibers exhibit a pronounced evanescent field. The absorption of particles on the fiber surface is therefore readily detected via the fiber transmission. We show that the resulting absorption for a given surface coverage can be orders of magnitude higher than for conventional surface spectroscopy. As a demonstration, we present measurements on sub-monolayers of 3,4,9,10-perylene-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules at ambient conditions, revealing the agglomeration dynamics on a second to minutes timescale.


Co-occurrence of granulocytic anaplasmosis, borreliosis and babesiosis in humans is a result of common vectors for the respective pathogens of these diseases, most commonly ticks from the genus Ixodes. Studies on ticks in Europe and also in Poland have shown that several pathogens may co-occur in individuals of I. ricnus. A total of 96 hospitalised patients infected or suspected of being infected with borreliosis were screened for A. phagocytophilum and Babesia sp. DNA. Positive results of PCRs for A. phagocytophilum DNA were obtained for 10 patients, 8 of whom were diagnosed with borreliosis earlier, and 4 of whom were diagnosed with tick-borne encephalitis (on the basis of serological studies of serum and cerebrospinal fluid). None of the 10 patients had clinical or biochemical markers of anaplasmosis, corroborating the existence of asymptomatic anaplasmosis or self-limiting course. in Europe. Similarly, Babesia DNA was not found in the blood of any of the patients. The results of the studies show that in diagnosing tick-borne diseases, clinical examinations should consider infection by two or even three tick-borne pathogens.


The purpose of this study was to assess changes in intercultural sensitivity among Agriculture college students at a land-grant university who participated in a designated international Icourse or a faculty-led short study abroad program to America, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. Using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). A nonequivalent group design pretest, posttest, with a comparison group, was used for data collection and analysis. One hundred and sixty-two students, clustered into five groups, participated in the study. The data were analyzed using split-plot factorial design 5 x 2. Findings indicated that all five groups were in the Ethnocentric Phase of the developmental continuum for both the pre and posttest, among the groups regarding development of intercultural sensitivity as a result of an international experience or I-course. The authors recommend that course facilitators include facets of intercultural dimensions in the curriculum as a means for assisting students acquire intercultural competence. Interventions should be designed according to individual levels of intercultural sensitivity. Reflexive journaling and group discussions should be used as an integral part of institutional curricular enhancement plans to increase intercultural competence. Institutional, intercultural goals should include moving students toward the acceptance stage of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS). Further research should identify specific variables related to developing intercultural sensitivity among college students.


Break Barriers (2019) is a story about uncovering your potential, even if you are the underdog. It's about learning to apply the virtues of patience, perspective, and purpose to achieve whatever you dream in life. Bishoy's message is a reminder that your comeback will always be stronger than the original setback. A story highlighted by the lessons learned during his childhood bout with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Bishoy shares how he was tried personally, professionally and athletically throughout adulthood and it was those burdens shouldered along his life's jour- ney that laid the groundwork for his greatest achievements. Enlightenment triggered a realization within him that setbacks are never instilled to define oneself but instead to dare them to uncover greater potential.


Human societies rely on food reserves and the importation of agricultural goods as means to cope with crop failures and associated food shortage. While food trade has been the subject of intensive investigations in recent years, food reserves remain poorly quantified. It is unclear how food stocks are changing and whether they are declining. In this study we use food stock records for 92 products to reconstruct 50 years of aggregated food reserves, expressed in caloric equivalent (kcal), at the regional and global scales. A detailed statistical analysis demonstrates that the overall regional and global per-capita food stocks are stationary, challenging a widespread impression that food reserves are shrinking. We develop a statistically-sound stochastic representation of stock dynamics and take the stock-halving probability as a measure of the natural variability of the process. We find that there is a 20% probability that the global per-capita stocks will be halved by 2050. There are, however, some strong regional differences: Western Europe and the region encompassing North Africa and the Middle East have smaller halving probabilities and smaller per-capita stocks, while North America and Oceania have greater halving probabilities and greater per-capita stocks than the global average. Africa exhibits low per-capita stocks and relatively high probability of stock halving by 2050, which reflects a state of higher food insecurity in this continent.


Many online vendors and third-party firms provide consumers with easy-to-use systems to give product reviews and ratings. Availability of online reviews and ratings may significantly influence a vendor's strategies in terms of pricing and market segmentation. Consumers as well as vendors can potentially benefit or lose from such availability though it is unclear whether the net effect to each party is positive, or who gains or loses most. This paper provides an analytical model to study the impacts of online product review and rating systems on vendor marketing strategies, consumer surplus and social welfare. We also examine the effects of both product-level and vendor-level competition on the impact of online reviews and ratings. We find that consumer surplus, vendor profitability, and social welfare can improve with the availability of consumer reviews and ratings, and that vendors may have an incentive to induce higher product ratings by under-charging in earlier periods. Interestingly, we show that, contrary to the conventional wisdom about competition, with the availability of consumer reviews, consumer surplus and social welfare can in fact be higher in a monopolist market than in a duopolistic market.


Cyst or intestinal duplications can arise anywhere along the gut, however those located in the rectum are very rare and only a few dozen cases have been reported. The reason that induced us to report this patient is double: first to present a new case of rectal duplication diagnosed at 45 days old that had a normal barium enema previously, second to confirm once more that the muscular complex of the rectum can be cut in the posterior middle line without any damage to the rectal continence function, as Peña's surgical approach for anorectal atresias. The case reported correspond to a newborn weighing 2,850 grs who had exomphalos of 5 cm. Wide with an integral sac and was operated by primary closure. When he was 10 days old, and because he had some intestinal disturbances compatible with malrotation, a barium enema was done that was normal. He was discharged and returned 30 days later because of striped feces and constipation. Rectal examination showed a retrorectal tumor located at left posterolateral space. Ultrasound showed a cystic mass and barium enema displayed a narrowed rectum channel. First we did a Wangesteen colostomy. Ten days later, by a sagittal posterior approach cutting the Levator and Muscular Complex of the rectum in the middle line and without opening the lumen, a tumor like a nut, sharing its muscular coat with the rectum, was excised. The Muscular Complex and the Levator were repaired with the aid of the electrostimulator. After the 7 day postoperation we made some rectal dilatations and closure of colostomy at 21 day.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The relationships among the n, ap , and f of the SiCp /Cu composite material produced by powder metallurgy and extrusion have been investigated. The cutting force F of this material is also discussed in this paper by the measuring of the three cutting factors of n, ap, and f, applying the dislocation theory and the electron microscope analysis of the cutting surface and sub-surface. The differences are analyzed between the SiCp/Cu composite materials, QSn6-6-3. H59-1and the copper cutting surface and the sub-surface. The forming of mechanism, the function of SiCp in the cutting process and the influence on the cutting surface quality are also analyzed. This research has shown: because the SiCp particles prevent the dislocation moving, the dislocation groups are formed on the SiC/Cu interface, and the stress concentration is produced, the typical brittle separation appears in the SiC/Cu composite material cutting process. In addition, the cutting force increases with the depth of cut and feed increasing and decreases while the cutting speed increases.


In rough set based feature selection, the goal is to omit attributes (features) from decision systems such that objects in different decision classes can still be discerned. A popular way to evaluate attribute subsets with respect to this criterion is based on the notion of dependency degree. In the standard approach, attributes are expected to be qualitative; in the presence of quantitative attributes, the methodology can be generalized using fuzzy rough sets, to handle gradual (in) discernibility between attribute values more naturally. However, both the extended approach, as well as its crisp counterpart, exhibit a strong sensitivity to noise: a change in a single object may significantly influence the outcome of the reduction procedure. Therefore, in this paper, we consider a more flexible methodology based on the recently introduced vaguely quantified rough set (VQRS) model. The method can handle both crisp (discrete-valued) and fuzzy (real-valued) data, and encapsulates the existing noise-tolerant data reduction approach using variable precision rough sets (VPRS), as well as the traditional rough set model, as special cases.


The present study was performed for the development of physico-chemical parameters of Carica papaya Linn. leaves belonging to family Caricaceae. The study comprises physico-chemical and phytochemical evaluation to confirm purity and authenticity of Carica papaya leaf based on WHO guidelines. Microscopy of the leaf showed presence of epidermis, collenchyma, and parenchyma, scellerenchyma, xylem, phloem and pith was found to be absent. Successive extractive value is found highest in petroleum ether extract 20.44 % (on dry weight basis). Mean ash values (%) are 16.72 (total), 3.25 (acid insoluble ash), and 6.05 (water soluble ash) and moisture content is found to be 7.77 % and the phytochemical analysis indicate the presence of carbohydrates, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds in different extracts of C.papaya L. leaf. TLC fingerprinting profile of different extract was also developed which exhibited presence of several medium polar compounds.


A new method is presented for the localization and recognition of three-dimensional objects using color information. In the first processing step, we estimate depth information by either applying a chromatic block matching method to color stereo images or acquiring a range image from a laser scanner. Second, the computed depth maps are segmented to distinguish between the image background and the objects that should be recognized. Assuming that the segmented regions represent single objects in the three-dimensional scene, feature vectors are generated based on color histograms. The Euclidean distance is used as well as the scalar product to measure the similarity between the feature vectors computed from the color image and the feature vectors stored in a database.


U.S. antitrust law has made enormous strides in the last twenty years towards becoming intellectually coherent and based on sound economic analysis. Economic analysis now has a preeminent place in evaluating and bringing cases, among enforcement agencies and in the courts. There is no serious debate that unilateral practices should be subjected to a per se test rather than a rule of reason analysis. Likewise, there is no debate among economists or legal scholars that tying should be removed from the genus of unilateral practices and placed in its own leper colony. The time has therefore come to abandon the per se label and refocus the inquiry on the adverse economic effects, and the potential economic benefits, that the tie may have. The law of tie-ins will thus be brought into accord with the law applicable to all other allegedly anticompetitive economic arrangements, except those few horizontal or quasi-horizontal restraints that can be said to have no economic justification whatsoever. This change will rationalize rather than abandon tie - in doctrine as it is already applied. Modern antitrust analysis does not support the per se condemnation of tying or the Jefferson Parish test. Neither should modern antitrust law.


It has been proposed that the Borana Plateau has markedly changed in terms of land cover and land use in recent decades, but no hard data have been available to critically assess this claim. In addition, systematic analysis of soil properties has been limited. Research was designed to measure changes in land cover/land use over 30 years in the 400-km Yabelo District of southern Ethiopia using three satellite images taken at an average interval of 15 years. Samples were also collected to assess variation in the physical and chemical properties of dominant soils. Results indicated that Yabelo District has indeed changed greatly in terms of land use and land cover; dramatic declines were noted in the extent of grasslands, while croplands increased five-fold, and bushed-grasslands and bushlands both increased substantially. Bushland soils had less organic matter and were more compacted than grassland soils. These results all support the idea that the productive capacity of this landscape for grazing has been markedly reduced in 2003 as compared to that for 1973. Rehabilitating the grazing system would be difficult and require a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary approach. Central to such an approach would be devising a well-informed land use plan. Changes in Land Cover and Soil Conditions for the Yabelo District of the Borana Plateau, 1973-2003


People and plants live in complex networks of cultural and ecological relationships. In northern Canada, plants are important to cultural practices, just as cultural practices shape plant communities. This research responds to research priorities identified by Makkovimiut, residents of the Inuit Community of Makkovik, Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada), on people-plant relationships (2012-2016). These priorities shaped the research objectives, which form the three central chapters of this integrated thesis: i) learning how to respectfully approach research on people-plant relationships in Makkovik; ii) learning about Makkovimiut relationships with plants; iii) learning about the effects of cultural practices on plant communities. Chapter 2 details and evaluates approaches in Indigenous methodologies that guide the research. As a non-Indigenous student, I rooted research questions in personal meaning and community relevancy, which I sought to understand through preliminary research, the ongoing guidance of community advisors, and by going as a learner to Makkovimiut plant mentors. An iterative approach to learning helped build relationships with Makkovimiut plant mentors and plants. Chapter 3 discusses Makkovimiut plant knowledge and practices. Plants support life and livelihood for Makkovimiut, and sustain cultural practices such as fishing, which reciprocally support plant communities. Plants are more than objects: plants are present in memory, well-being, and sharing, and have voices of their own. In actively managing—caring for—plants, Makkovimiut nurture the ecological and cultural values that create healthy communities for both people and plants. These values are expressed in the stories people tell about plants. Chapter 4 explores how research in plant ecology helps voice the stories plants tell about people. The urban ecology of the North shows the lasting effects of metals, salt and wood in soils and plant communities of commercial fishing stations, while specific plants of family fishing places speak to a legacy of soil enrichment. When Makkovimiut cultural knowledge directs and interprets ecological research, the voices of plants and soils become stories that tell of enduring ecological footprints in this peopled northern landscape. Interdisciplinary research deepens our understanding of the shared stories of people and plants, and creates space for people and plants to enrich each other's stories.


This paper forms part of a larger comparative study on Access to Environmental Justice in Asia and Africa. The project involves a comparison of seven cities (Accra, Bangalore, Cape Town, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Xiamen), with a focus upon the extent to which citizens are able to use law and legal institutions to shape the physical environment in which they live. In the research project generally, and in this paper in particular, there is no normative statement of what 'justice' should entail. Rather, our preferred approach is to identify what types of environmental claims are made by citizens, and evaluate the extent to which those claims may be pursued, and are pursued, in a legal context. Nor do we adopt a restrictive definition of 'environment'. Since we are concerned mainly with the perceptions of activists and citizens's groups, the applicable definition of environment must have a subjective element – the environment is what people say it is. For the purposes of comparison, there is a commitment to examine at least four areas of concern: 1) land use and functional or public space, 2) quantity and quality of the water supply, 3) the quality of air, and 4) waste and waste disposal. The purpose of this paper is to examine the context in which the citizens of Bangalore can, and do, seek to use legal gateways to get environmental justice, in order to provide a springboard for further research under the Access to Environmental Justice project. It also offers thoughts on possible avenues for further enhancing access to environmental remedies. This account is based upon relevant legislation, newspaper accounts, and a series of personal interviews conducted by Amanda Perry in April-June 1995 and Michael Anderson in March 1996. Finally, it should be added that this paper represents a snapshot of work in progress, and that a more detailed set of findings will be published at a later date.


Remobilization and transfer of the pre-stored food in vegetative tissues to the grains in monocarpic plants require the initiation of whole plant senescence. However, mechanisms by which plant senescence promotes remobilization of assimilates are rather obscure. This study examined the relationship between the senescence induced by water deficits and C remobilization during grain fill. Two semi-winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.),Yangmai 158 and Yangmai 931, were treated with two levels of nitrogen (normal [NN] or high [HN]) and three levels of soil moisture (well-watered, moderate water deficit, and severe water deficit). Results showed that water deficits enhanced the senescence by accelerating loss of leaf nitrogen and chlorophyll and increasing lipid peroxidation. At maturity, 75 to 92% of pre-anthesis C stored in the straw was reallocated to grains in water-deficit treatments, 50 to 80% higher than the amount in well-watered treatments, indicating that water deficits promoted remobilization. The peak values of abscisic acid (ABA) in both leaves and grains under water-defidt treatments were 63 to 144% higher than those under well-watered treatments. The elevated ABA level correlated with the degree of earlier leaf senescence, the 14 C partitioning into grains, and the carbon remobllization. The activites of both add invertase (INV) and sucrose synthase (SS) in grains were also enhanced by water deficits at the midstage of grain fill. Our results suggest that the senescence and remobilization promoted by water defidts during grain fill are coupled processes in wheat, and elevated ABA concentration may play a regulative role.


Content-based audio processing researchers need audio and its related metadata to develop and test algorithms. We present a common repository of audio, metadata, ontologies and algorithms. We detail the hardware implementation, in the form of massive storage and computation cluster, the software and databases design and the ontology management of the current system. The repository, as far as copyright licenses allow, is open to researchers outside the music technology group to test and evaluate their algorithms.


In this study, the conventional Bailey-Hirsch's relationship is extended in order to express the increase of critical resolved shear stress due to the lack of dislocation lines in a grain. This model is introduced into a triple-scale crystal plasticity model based on geometrically necessary crystal defects and the homogenization method. A FE simulation is carried out based on the proposed model for FCC polycrystals with different grain sizes. It is numerically predicted that yield behavior of fine-grained metals depends on the initial dislocation density and the initial grain size. Furthermore, yield point drop that is observed in annealed FCC fine-grained metal can be reproduced.


System-level design of embedded systems is essential to enhance designer productivity. Several design methodologies has been emerged using languages such as SystemC or SpecC that addresses the industry's need for a fast time-to-market. The higher abstraction level offered by these new methodologies is a challenge to rigorous, formal verification. This paper describes the formal verification of designs written in SpecC at the specification level. The method is illustrated on a high level description of the GSM Vocoder: a voice encoder decoder based on the European GSM standard. We define a set of properties P that the GSM Vocoder should satisfy. Essentially, P describes the temporal specification of the Vocoder, including properties about: timing, concurrency, states transitions and communication.


Over-constrained temporal problems are commonly encountered while operating autonomous and decision support systems. An intelligent system must learn a human's preference over a problem in order to generate preferred resolutions that minimize perturbation. We present the Best-first Conflict-Directed Relaxation (BCDR) algorithm for enumerating the best continuous relaxation for an over-constrained conditional temporal problem with controllable choices. BCDR reformulates such a problem by making its temporal constraints relaxable and solves the problem using a conflict-directed approach. It extends the Conflict-Directed A* (CD-A*) algorithm to conditional temporal problems, by first generalizing the conflict learning process to include all discrete variable assignments and continuous temporal constraints, and then by guiding the forward search away from known infeasible regions using conflict resolution. When evaluated empirically on a range of coordinated car sharing network problems, BCDR demonstrates a substantial improvement in performance and solution quality compared to previous conflict-directed approaches.


Room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials, typically heavy metals containing inorganic/metal complexes and a few pure organics, are highly desired in optoelectronics, biological imaging, and anti-counterfeit fields. In this study, we discovered a new class, CNDs@zeolite, of RTP materials prepared by the pyrolysis of organic amines confined in zeolites. The resulting composite materials exhibit a long lifetime of hundreds of milliseconds and high quantum yields of up to ca. 18%. The RTP properties can be modulated by selecting different organic templates and zeolitic frameworks.


THE PRESENT situation in regard to the treatment of malignancy is far from satisfactory. Our resources consist chiefly of surgical removal and exposure to radiant energy in various forms. Neither of these methods is always applicable, and certainly neither is always successful. In fact, one of the greatest problems confronting medical science is the discovery of a better attack on malignant disease. The inadequacy of current surgical procedures in many cases has stimulated efforts to secure better results by an extension of the magnitude and compass of the operative attack. Such extension has become more feasible with the development of supportive and rehabilitative measures such as improved understanding of blood chemistry, the free use of whole blood transfusions, and the increased safety of prolonged anesthesia. This combination of a desire for better results and the possibility of executing more radical attacks has resulted in the accomplishment of drastic destructive operations


The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) wealthiest emirate, Abu Dhabi, has built up the UAE Armed Forces in recent decades by procuring some of the finest military hardware available. This has provided the UAE with a strong defence shield and has undoubtedly reduced the threat of foreign invasion. However, the UAE's hard security capabilities are either insufficient or inappropriate for countering remaining regional threats from Iran or, to a lesser extent, other Arab states. As such, the UAE has had little option but to remain under a Western military umbrella. Moreover, as an unfortunate but perhaps inescapable hidden cost of its emergence as the region's premier free port, for many years the UAE's second wealthiest emirate of Dubai has attracted the attention of both international criminal and terrorist organisations, many of which have exploited the emirate's laissez-faire attitudes and impressive physical infrastructure to set up various smuggling, gun-running, human-trafficking, and money-laundering operations. Despite Dubai's undoubted usefulness to such groups, the final section of this article will reveal that the UAE has been unable to remain completely in the eye of the storm and has suffered from a number of terrorist attacks on its own soil


The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of pregnant women having ultrasonography and to evaluate their knowledge and expectations about ultrasonography. Our study included 230 patients who applied to obstetrics and gynecology clinic in a university hospital, who had a pregnancy of 32 weeks or more and agreed to participate in the study. After obtaining the approval of the ethics committee and getting their written consent, a questionnaire consisting of 34 questions was filled by face to face interview method. Pregnant women who were considered to have risky pregnancies in terms of their pregnancies or pre-pregnancy conditions and who need frequent follow-up were not included in the study. The questionnaires were evaluated using the SPSS version 22.0 program. According to the findings obtained from the study, 39.1% of the pregnant women participating in the study think that there is radiation on the ultrasound, just like on a direct radiograph (x-ray). These pregnant women also stated that they know that radiation is harmful for them and their babies. 90% of these pregnant women had ultrasound at each control, and 24.4% had an extra ultrasound to learn the baby's gender. If their doctor is told that it will be enough to do ultrasound four times during pregnancy, 65.6% of the pregnant women reported that they would change their doctor. An ultrasound examination was performed at each control to 90.1% of the pregnant women who stated that the ultrasound was harmful. 27.1% of pregnant women who went to the doctor for extra control for gender think that ultrasound is harmful. 37.3% of pregnant women who had three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound had this done without a doctor's recommendation. Ultrasound should be used in ethically appropriate indications during pregnancy follow-up.


The three-dimensional structure of the intact human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) was determined to 18-A resolution by electron cryomicroscopy and computer reconstruction. Its capsid shell is composed of pentons, hexons, and triplexes arranged on a T = 16 icosahedral lattice and is identical to that of the B-capsid isolated from host cell nuclei. An icosahedrally ordered tegument layer formed by 960 copies of filamentous density is also visualized, which interacts with the pentons, hexons, and triplexes of the underlying capsid. The observed structural similarities and differences of HCMV with those of herpes simplex virus offer insights into the significance of the different tegument components for their infection processes while maintaining similar capsids.


In December 2007, the House of Commons unanimously supported Jordan's Principle, a commitment that all First Nations children would receive the health care products, social services, and supports, and education they need, in memory of Jordan River Anderson. However, the process of applying for Jordan's Principle was convoluted and not transparent, leaving several cases not being responded to. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the definition and implementation of Jordan's Principle to be racist and discriminatory in 2016, ordering the Canadian government to make immediate changes. Failing to make changes to Jordan's Principle, the Canadian government was found to be noncompliant with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders in 2018. This article provides one case example of Jordan's Principle that was not responded to, details on the current status of Jordan's Principle, and information on the recent implementation of the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families.


Aim: To find the emotional and environmental stress in hostel resident medical students. Methods: The undertaken cross-sectional comparative study aims to identify and compare the responses of final and initial (2nd year) year medical students living in hostel in a private medical college in Lahore to environmental and emotional stress through a structured questionnaire. The 125 responses were analyzed through SPSS. Results: Stress of two types faced by medical hostel students were analyzed in the study. The study showed that responses ranged from lack of medical facilities to hostel rules in environmental stress and disloyalty to extra burden of study activities in emotional stress. A comparison of responses showed that there was no significant difference between males and females as both faced similar environmental and emotional stress. Further, analysis depicted that initial-year hostellers were more sensitive to both types of stress as compared to final-year medical hostellers. Thus, finally, the results highlighted that emotional factors caused more stress as compared to environmental factors. Practical implication: The study would help the students with an insight, realization, and identification of situations that could cause stress during hostel life experiences. This understanding could be helpful in overcoming the issues before they cause emotional or environmental stress, thus developing the capacity to cope in a productive manner. Further, this study would be helpful in arranging and providing professional mentoring. Conclusion: It is concluded that stress is unavoidable and is likely to be experienced by medical students residing in hostels. The study focused on stress caused by environment and emotions. The results of the study suggest that it was important to realize and identify stress-causing situations for students to focus on study challenges with a healthy mind and body. Keywords: Medical students, hostel, stress, psychological stress, mental health


A Tn5-generated mutant (strain S2430) of Shigella flexneri 2a (strain YSH6000) exhibited attenuated virulence and, in addition to the Tn5 insertion in the SalI K fragment of its virulence plasmid, had a 99-kb deletion within its chromosome. Unlike its wild-type parent, strain S2430 was susceptible to ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol. An independent multi-antibiotic susceptible variant of strain YSH6000 had a similar deletion. Southern blot analysis of pulsed field electrophoresis gels enabled the sizing of this deletion and its mapping to a region of the chromosome on NotI fragment D bounded by the S. flexneri homologues of ompA and pyrC. Hybridisation experiments with a probe specific to the multi-antibiotic resistance region indicated that this large deletion was responsible for antibiotic susceptibility. Both strain S2430 and a derivative of the antibiotic-susceptible variant, with a Tn5 insertion in its SalI K fragment, exhibited an equal reduction in contact haemolysis compared with the Tn5-bearing derivative of strain YSH6000. However, strain S2430 alone clearly displayed delayed plaque forming ability in LLC-MK2 monolayers, suggesting that the two examples of this deletion may not be identical.


Magnetotail reconnection and related phenomena (e.g., flux ropes, dipolarizing flux bundles, flow bursts, and particle injections) occur more frequently on the duskside than on the dawnside. Because this asymmetry can directly result in dawn‐dusk asymmetric space weather effects, uncovering its physical origin is important for better understanding, modeling, and prediction of the space weather phenomena. However, the cause of this pervasive asymmetry is unclear. Using three‐dimensional global hybrid simulations, we demonstrate that the Hall physics in the magnetotail current sheet is responsible for the asymmetry. The current sheet thins progressively under enhanced global convection; when its thickness reaches ion kinetic scales, some ions are decoupled from the magnetized electrons (the Hall effect). The resultant Hall electric field Ez is directed toward the neutral plane. The Hall effect is stronger (grows faster) on the duskside; i.e., more ions become unmagnetized there and do not comove with the magnetized dawnward Ez × Bx drifting electrons, thus creating a larger additional cross‐tail current intensity jy (in addition to the diamagnetic current) on the duskside, compared to the dawnside. The stronger Hall effect strength on the duskside is controlled by the higher ion temperature, thinner current sheet, and smaller normal magnetic field Bz there. These asymmetric current sheet properties are in turn controlled by two competing processes that correspond to the Hall effect: (1) the dawnward E × B drift of the magnetic flux and magnetized ions and electrons and (2) the transient motion of the unmagnetized ions which do not execute E × B drift.


The Vector Control Branch of the Hawaii State Department of Health has accumulated a large volume of written inspection data on pests of public health for the island of Oahu. Fly related problems, excluding both mosquitoes and odor complaints that often lead to fly breeding violations, provided the second greatest amount of ar - thropod pest information available, after mosquitoes. The objectives of this study were to conduct a survey on the occurrence of fly complaints on Oahu over a 10 year period, determine their distribution over time, graphically compare fly occurrence within and between district/areas, and correlate fly occurrence and distribution with season. Fly data were drawn from inspection reports from 1990-1999, population information was obtained from Hawaii Census and State of Hawaii Data Books, 125 district/area geographic locations were defined, and fly occurrence and distribution were adjusted for population and mapped using ArcView GIS 3.2. Overall, reported fly activity was found to occur fairly evenly across the island's districts. Lower elevation areas around the perimeter of Oahu had the greatest number of complaints and the levels of fly activ - ity were highest during the winter and summer. The primary fly species recorded were Phaencia cuprina (Wiedemann), the bronze bottle fly; Musca sorbens Wiedemann, the dog dung fly; Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius), the Oriental blow fly; and M. domestica Linneaus, the house fly. The main breeding sources were food garbage and slop, pet and farm animal dung, dead animals, and rotten fruits. Fly populations are being maintained in urban and agricultural districts by human activities. As a result, disease transmission is possible, especially in the lower elevation, urban and agricultural areas of Oahu. These results indicate that educational programs should be carried out in late fall and late spring, and that residential fly surveys may be concentrated in a limited number of district/areas.


This paper presents a new suppression scheme of ΔΣ fractional-N spurs for PLL synthesizers using analog phase detectors. The proposed scheme optimizes a phase difference of two phase-detector input signals to suppress spurious emissions caused by the ΔΣ fractional modulation. The phase difference is controlled by a preset signal for phase lock acquisition. The developed VHF-band ΔΣ fractional-N PLL synthesizer with a 2nd order MASH modulator suppresses the largest spurious level by 15dB using the proposed scheme.


Banking industry is considered as one of the most significant drivers in strengthening the soundness of an economy in terms of investment, job creation, income generation, facilitating flow of funds nationally and globally. It is assumed that the present state and attractiveness of the industry can be assessed by applying Porter's Five Forces Model. Porter's model incorporates five dimensions i.e. Competitive Rivalry, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Threat of Substitutes and Threat of New Entrants. It has been objectively assessed that Competitive Rivalry is negative as 57 banks operate with more than 9000+ branches where the market share is segregated. Bargaining Power of Buyers is high as the customers are very rate sensitive while Threat of New Entrants is also negative. Mobile Financial Services (MFS) are gaining huge momentum. The Bargaining Power of Suppliers is not high as there are idle fund of Tk 1140 billion and shareholders are risk averse. Threat of Substitutes is also negative considering the similar lending and deposit services by the NBFIs and MFS substituting the transfer of funds. Considering the negative dimensions (4) over positive (1), it can be inferred that currently the industry is not attractive along with other factors that have influence on the Five Forces.


We introduce the quantum theoretical formulation to determine a posteriori, if existing, the quantum wave functions and to estimate the quantum interference effects of mental states. Such quantum features are actually found in the case of an experiment involving the perception and the cognition in humans. Also some specific psychological variables are introduced and it is obtained that they characterize in a stringent manner the quantum behaviour of mind during such performed experiment.


Worldwide interest in LSI microprocessors and microcomputers has sparked a continuing growth of publications on all aspects of the subject. The bibliography below attempts to list most of the books, journal articles, conference papers, and technical reports in English and foreign languages, gathered since the publication of the compiler's bibliography on the same topic in Computer, July 1974. References from that bibliography are not repeated here. The cutoff date for inclusion in the list was October 15, 1975. Citations are grouped by year of publication, then listed alphabetically by author. Generally, one- or two-page "product features" are omitted, as are patents and specific device or system manuals.


Water pollution control agencies are implementing control programs for chemical contaminants in urban stormwater runoff because concentrations of total forms of some contaminants in receiving water exceed numeric water quality standards. While some assert that stormwater-associated contaminants are causing water quality problems (impairment of beneficial uses), there are significant reasons to question the reliability of that claim. While urban stormwater runoff frequently contains many chemicals in sufficient concentrations to cause exceedance of numeric US EPA water quality criteria in receiving waters, exceedance of a water quality criterion/standard applied to total concentrations is not a demonstration of water quality impairment The US EPA water quality criteria were developed for worst-case or near-worst-case exposure to available forms of the contaminants. Such exposure conditions would not be expected with short-term, episodic runoff events. Substantial portions of many of the chemical contaminants in stormwater runoff are associated with particulates and would hence be expected to be largely unavailable to affect aquatic life-related beneficial uses of receiving waters. Furthermore, evidence of beneficial use impairment caused by urban stormwater runoff has not been forthcoming to document the claims. It is concluded that many of the contaminants associated with urban stormwater runoff from residential and commercial areas do not impair beneficial uses of receiving waters. The current US EPA water quality criteria have limited applicability to assessing potential water quality concerns for stormwater runoff. Guidance is presented on how urban stormwater runoff-associated contaminants should be evaluated and regulated to control use impairment without significant unnecessary expenditures for contaminant control.


A two-dimensional electromechanical analysis is performed on a transversely isotropic piezoelectric material containing a line crack of length 2a, which is subjected to uniform distributed forces with intensity q along the crack faces and uniform electric displacement fields at infinity. Based on the impermeable electric boundary conditions, the closed complex form expression for the electromechanical fields are deduced in the vicinity of the crack. Taking PZT-4 ceramic into consideration, electromechanical fields under different loads are illustrated through several examples. It can be seen that electromechanical fields show 1/2 order singularity at the crack tip, and the piezoelectric effect can't be negelected.


In a rapidly changing and ever more complex world, 'wicked problems', which traditional, narrowly focused research struggles to grapple with, are becoming more and more common, including in the water sector. Here, numerous good practices derived through traditional research have shown a remarkable resistance towards scaling up. This paper discusses the Learning Alliance approach and its application to try to overcome the twin challenges of solving complex problems and scaling-up innovations in urban water management. Learning alliances are interlinked multi-stakeholder platforms formed at appropriate levels. Critically, the purpose of a learning alliance is to do things differently, rather than to do different things, in order to have more impact on policy and practice. The paper summarizes initial experiences and lessons learned in applying this approach in three urban water management projects.


In situ high-resolution electron microscopy has been used to observe nanoprecipitates of crystalline Xe in faceted cavities in Al during coalescence induced by 1.0 MeV electron irradiation at 300 K. Atomic-level fluctuations of cavity facets result in shape changes and precipitate motion leading to coalescence. There is no apparent elastic interaction between precipitates separated by as little as 0.5 nm. After coalescence, crystalline Xe conforms by plastic deformation without melting to changes in cavity shape. Cavity volume, not surface area, is conserved during coalescence, implying that cavity pressure is not determined solely by the interface tension.


This paper provides a description of a success story in using Scheme in a production environment, in the field of industrial automation. It describes the migration of an application based on legacy technologies such as Java applets and CGIs written in C, to a modern web application, through a set of smooth steps that have incrementally improved the product and the workflow. The components that have allowed this improvement are a set of declarative languages for configuration and customizations and a web framework. The Scheme implementation Gambit-C has showed itself to be well suited for the development of these components, thanks to the Scheme's nature and Gambit's own extensions.


Qaryah Thayyibah learning communities in Kalibening ,Tingkir, Salatiga is one form of community-based alternative schools. As institutionally, curriculum planning, implementation methods of education, and alternative methods of evaluation. Qaryah Thayyibah learning community providing equal education program package B (equivalent to junior high school) and package C (equivalent to high school). The process of applied learning and evoked responses citizens to learn after participating in the learning process that is applied in the Community Learning Qaryah Thayyibah are very important. From the data obtained in the study, showed that the learning process is applied in Qaryah Thayyibah based learning community agreement includes planning, implementation, and evaluation, the companion function only as a facilitator. The response form that appears on citizens studying in Qaryah shows Thayyibah more positive direction as seen from the few changes in behavior and mindset.


Synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) is a remote sensing technology that can be used to generate topography measurements such as digital elevation models (DEMs). The measurements are characterized by properties that highly depend on the system parameters. These properties include backscatter characteristics, penetration into vegetation, spatial resolution, geolocation accuracy, vertical noise, and coherence. InSAR sensors have been used operationally on air- and spaceborne platforms to generate moderate resolution DEMs. They are able to cover large areas with a small number of acquisitions, with independence from weather and daylight conditions. Higher, submeter resolution topography measurements are typically achieved using airborne laser scanning (ALS) technology. While now a mature and widely-used technology, ALS uses narrow swaths for high resolution data acquisitions and therefore requires large numbers of acquisitions. InSAR has the potential of achieving high resolution 3D measurements using the appropriate system parameters, and therefore could combine high resolution data acquisition with a large coverage, reducing costs. Data from an experimental airborne millimeter wave multibaseline InSAR system, the MEMPHIS system, were studied in this work. The datasets yielded decimeter resolution SAR images. The sensor uses the Ka-band wavelength that penetrates only marginally into vegetation, and multiple receiving antennas to combine straightforward phase unwrapping with reduced vertical noise. These unique properties enable the generation of high resolution three dimensional data, with accuracies that approach those of ALS data. To fully exploit the provided raw data, they first have to be focused into high resolution SAR images. Subsequent interferometric processing yields the topographic information. The work presented here investigated the prerequisites, such as the required navigation data quality and appropriate SAR focusing algorithms, necessary to generate well-focused images, accurate geolocation, and trustworthy interferometric phase values. SAR focusing and interferometric processing algorithms able to generate highly accurate point clouds or digital surface models (DSMs) are proposed. First a coarse-to-fine (C2F) interferometric phase estimation method is introduced, where interferograms generated using the shorter baselines are only used to help unwrap the interferogram generated using the longest available baseline. A maximum likelihood (ML) phase estimation method was also investigated, taking into account information from all receiving antennas to retrieve a better phase estimation. Signatures of corner reflectors were analyzed in the generated SAR images: measured resolutions yielded values close to the theoretical expectations. The planimetric geolocation accuracy was typically better than 0.1 m, validating the SAR system and focusing algorithm. InSAR DSMs were compared to ALS-based models to validate their absolute vertical accuracy; in grassland areas, the height difference between the ~2 m-resolution InSAR DSMs and the reference ALS models was typically 0 ± 0.25 m. The performance of the ML phase estimation was compared to results based on the C2F algorithm, with the ML method consistently delivering higher accuracies: the noise level using the ML approach was slightly but steadily lower than the noise level obtained using the C2F method. The potential of InSAR-based point clouds is demonstrated in an application: the point cloud of a forest canopy was generated from multi-aspect multibaseline InSAR data and compared to equivalent products generated using ALS and stereo-photogrammetry techniques. Through a segmentation of the point cloud, single trees were detected and their position, height, and crown diameter estimated. These estimates were compared to reference forestry data. The InSAR, ALS, III and photogrammetry-based point clouds all showed similar geolocation accuracies, with 0.2 – 0.3 m relative shifts. A much more limited penetration into the canopy was observed for both the InSAR and photogrammetry derived point clouds as compared to ALS. Canopy height models agreed very well with each other, with the InSAR height ~1 m lower than those derived from the other point clouds. Most of the large trees were accurately detected, as well as approximately half of the smaller trees, with a localization accuracy typically better than 1 m. Asides from a slight underestimation, the tree heights agreed well with the reference data, and the estimation of the crown diameter was accurate in the mean. Results were more accurate for conifers than for broad-leaf trees. All these results are in line with similar studies that tested ALS data. They validate millimeter wave multibaseline InSAR-data as a reliable alternative for forest monitoring in comparison to other remote sensing techniques such as ALS and stereo-photogrammetry. In the final chapter, a synthesis of the main findings is presented. The successful use of millimeter wave multibaseline SAR interferometry to carry out reliable and accurate high resolution topography measurements is highlighted, including its application in monitoring forested ecosystems. Limitations are identified: they range from motion compensation errors, to hardware-related severe range sidelobes when illuminating targets with intense backscattering, and to limited penetration into the forest canopy reducing detection of understory trees. Further improvements to the data processing are suggested: a reduction of the range sidelobes using multi-step adaptive pulse compression, an elaborate sample selection for the phase estimation, and the use of SAR tomography. Finally, several potential applications are proposed, such as monitoring and analysis of man-made objects, land cover classification using a combination of InSAR and polarimetric data, or change detection. In the latter case, the inherent 3D geolocation of the points removes the need for a precise external height model, and shadowed areas can be filtered using a coherence threshold, reducing the number of false alarms. Through its thorough validation, this work paves the way toward a more operational airborne or possibly spaceborne system that could combine high resolution topography measurements with a wide coverage.


BACKGROUND
Coronary artery stenting reduces the restenosis rate compared to coronary angioplasty alone. With the increased number of procedures completed with stent placement there has been a parallel increase in the number of procedures performed in patients with multivessel disease and therefore a rise in the number of patients receiving multiple stents. The clinical outcome and the predictors of the outcome of patients receiving multiple stents are not known.

METHODS
To evaluate the clinical outcome of patients with multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing multiple stenting we studied 133 consecutive patients who had received > 1 stent in at least two vessels. A total of 375 coronary stents (2.8 stent per patient) were implanted in elective procedure situations. Clinical follow-up was complete in 100%.

RESULTS
During follow-up 2 patients (1.5%) died (1 cardiac death), 4 patients (3%) had acute myocardial infarction, 96 patients (72.1%) remained angina-free, and 31 patients (23.3 %) had recurrence of angina. Repeat revascularization procedure was performed in 45 patients (33.8%); 43 patients (32.3%) underwent coronary angioplasty; 2 patients (1.5%) underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. The female gender and the presence of diabetes were significant (p < 0.05) predictors for coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting procedures during follow-up. Recurrence of angina was also significantly (p < 0.05) associated with unstable angina at the time of the first procedure as well as diabetes and the female gender. Diabetes, the female gender and unstable angina were highly predictive factors of major adverse cardiac events during follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS
Multiple vessel stenting in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease is associated with an acceptable immediate and long-term clinical outcome and could be considered as an alternative therapeutic option in these patients. Predictors of an adverse long-term outcome are the female gender and the presence of diabetes mellitus.


This paper describes an analysis of the damping of unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) in salient pole synchronous machines due to parallel stator circuits. Measurements of the UMP and currents in the parallel circuits have been performed on a 12-pole generator with the stator displaced relative to the rotor, creating a static eccentricity, and the stator winding connected as one circuit or two parallel circuits. Experiments were done at no-load conditions. Two numerical studies of the force reduction are also presented, one using a finite-element code and one using a permeance model. A good correspondence between measured and simulated forces is obtained. Results indicate that the reduction of UMP is strongly dependent on the direction of unbalance relative to the line of separation of the stator circuits. Eddy currents induced in the rotor during operation were found to reduce the standstill UMP with more than 20%.


ABSTRACT Sexual violence exposure represents a serious public health issue among female youth given its association with female youths' engagement in health-risk behaviours. Sexual minority female youth are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence exposure, alcohol use, suicidality, and sexual-risk behaviour. Using the population-based 2017 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, we examined sexual violence as a mediator of sexual orientation disparities in health-risk behaviours among female youth. This study included 7,532 female students in grades 9 through 12 across the US. Participants identified their sexual orientation as heterosexual (73.5%); bisexual (12.2%); and, gay or lesbian (2.2%). Compared to heterosexual female youth, sexual violence exposure, alcohol use, binge drinking, and multiple sex partners were more common among bisexual female youth. The elevated risk of suicidality was most notable among gay or lesbian female youth relative to heterosexual female youth and bisexual female youth relative to heterosexual female youth. Mediation analyses showed that sexual violence exposure partially explained the sexual orientation disparity in these co-occurring health-risk behaviours between bisexual female youth and heterosexual female youth. Our findings highlight the need for clinical attention to be paid to assessing and treating the health effects of sexual violence, especially among bisexual female youth.


Background & Objectives: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most common complications of anesthesia and without prophylactic intervention occurs in about one-third of patients under general anesthesia. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of ondansetron and metoclopramide in reducing PONV after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods : In this study, 90 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly allocated into three equal groups (n=30) and in the first group 10 mg metoclopramide, in the second group 4 mg ondansetron and for placebo group 2 cc normal saline preoperatively were injected. Anesthesia complications in recovery and nausea and vomiting in recovery and 6 hours and 24 hours after surgery were evaluated. Data were analyzed by SPSS software with chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: The incidence of nausea in placebo group was 66.7 %, in metoclopramide group was 43.3 % and in ondansetron group was 33.3 %. The difference only between placebo and ondansetron groups was significant (p=0.019). The incidence of vomiting in placebo group was 56.7%, in metoclopramide group was 20% and in ondansetron group was 26.7% and there was significant difference between placebo and ondansetron groups (p=0.035) and between placebo and metoclopramide groups (p=0.007), whereas there was not any significant difference between intervention groups (p=0.12). Also anti-emetic drug administration in ondansetron group (40%) in comparison with metoclopramide (63.3%) and placebo (66.7%) was lower, but this difference was not statistically significant (p= 0.07). Conclusion: For prevention of vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, both metoclopramide and ondansetron are effective. In comparing these two drugs, in preventing of nausea ondansetron is more effective than metoclopramide, whereas there was not any significant difference between two drugs in preventing of vomiting.


In the present article, the dynamic behavior of sandwich plates with embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) wires is evaluated for two cases wherein (i) the stress-strain curve of the superelastic behavior of the SMA wires is symmetric and (ii) the mentioned curve is non-symmetric. A modified version of Brinson's constitutive model is proposed and used. The high non-linearity in the behavior stems from the SMA wires embedded in the sandwich plate. In this regard, in addition to the proposed advanced algorithm for the determination of the martensite volume fraction, a Picard iterative solution algorithm is used in conjunction with Newmark's numerical time integration method for solving the resulting finite element equations. To improve the accuracy of the results, the variation of martensite volume fraction and material properties of individual points of the structure are updated continuously. Therefore, the kinetic equations of the phase transformation of the SMA are coupled with the motion equations, to accurately model the nonlinear behavior of the sandwich plate. For analysis of the thick sandwich plate, a higher-order global-local theory with novel 3D-equilibrium-based corrections is utilized. One of the features of this theory is the estimation capability of the nonlinear in-plane displacement components, and precise assessment of the transverse shear stresses through satisfying the continuity conditions of the shear stresses at the interfaces between layers. Another advantage of the proposed theory in comparison with the conventional approaches is the ability to simulate changes in the core thickness. This is especially important in cases where the core is relatively thick or soft.


Viewed abstractly, all the algorithms considered here are designed to provide a nonnegative solution x to the system of linear equations y=Px, where y is a vector with positive entries and P a matrix whose entries are nonnegative and with no purely zero columns. The expectation maximization maximum likelihood method, as it occurs in emission tomography, and the simultaneous multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique are slow to converge on large data sets; accelerating convergence through the use of block-iterative or ordered subset versions of these algorithms is a topic of considerable interest. These block-iterative versions involve relaxation and normalization parameters, the correct selection of which may not be obvious to all users. The algorithms are not faster merely by virtue of being block-iterative; the correct choice of the parameters is crucial. Through a detailed discussion of the theoretical foundations of these methods, we come to a better understanding of the precise roles these parameters play.


The mouse bone morphogenetic protein1 (Bmp1) gene encodes a secreted astacin metalloprotease that cleaves the COOH-propeptide of procollagen I, II and III. BMP-1 is also related to the product of the Drosophila patterning gene, tolloid (tld), which enhances the activity of the TGFbeta-related growth factor Decapentaplegic and promotes development of the dorsalmost amnioserosa. We have disrupted the mouse Bmp1 gene by deleting DNA sequences encoding the active site of the astacin-like protease domain common to all splice variants. Homozygous mutant embryos appear to have a normal skeleton, apart from reduced ossification of certain skull bones. However, they have a persistent herniation of the gut in the umbilical region and do not survive beyond birth. Analysis of the amnion of homozygous mutant embryos reveals the absence of the fold that normally tightly encloses the physiological hernia of the gut. At the electron microscopic level, the extracellular matrix of the amnion contains collagen fibrils with an abnormal morphology, consistent with the incorporation of partially processed procollagen molecules. Metabolical labelling and immunofluorescence studies also reveal abnormal processing and deposition of procollagen by homozygous mutant fibroblasts in culture.


Peer-to-peer storage systems organize a collection of symmetric nodes to store data without the use of centralized data structures or operations. As a result, they can scale to many thousands of nodes and can be formed directly by clients. This paper describes the design and implementation Mammoth, which implements a traditional UNIX-like hierarchical file system in a peer-to-peer fashion. Each Mammoth node stores a potentially arbitrary collection of directories and files that may be replicated on multiple nodes. The only thing that links these nodes together is that each metadata object encodes the network addresses of the nodes that store it. Data is replicated by a background process whose operation is simplified by the fact that files are stored as journals of immutable versions. An optimistic replication technique is used to allow nodes to read and write whatever version of data they can access, while also ensuring consistency when nodes are connected. In the event of temporary failure, eventual consistency is achieved by ensuring that every replica of a directory or file metadata object receives all updates to the object, irrespective of delivery order. While an update is being propagated every node that receives it cooperates to ensure that the update is delivered, even if the original sender fails. Our prototype is implemented as a user-level NFS server. Its performance is comparable to a standard NFS server and it will be publicly available soon.


Most arbitration research has been conducted in United States, despite the growth of arbitration internationally. In this study, we examine differences between Chinese and Americans arbitrators. First, we examine general levels of leniency versus punishment when arbitrators make awards. We predict, and find, that Chinese arbitrators punish bad performance more heavily than do American arbitrators. Second, we examine the effects of attributions on awards. Prior theory suggests that Chinese tend to have more external attributions for events, which should make Chinese arbitrators more lenient than American arbitrators. We find the opposite - that Chinese arbitrators have more internal attributions for poor performance than do Americans. Moreover, where evidence is mixed (evidence is provided for both internal and external attributions), American arbitrators pay more attention to external causes, while Chinese arbitrators pay more attention to internal causes.


Monostatic surface wave radar is vulnerable by the threat of stealth targets and establishment of near space bistatic radar is the most achievable way to solve this problem. The positioning principle and accuracy in near space bistatic radar is discussed in this paper. The geometrical dilution of precision expression of single measurement subset is calculated. The position precision contours of measurement subsets are obtained and which subset can be chosen for positioning at different area is pointed out. Simulation results show that different subset has different position accuracy and a high accuracy subset distributing picture is presented. Research of this paper provides a theoretical base of detecting and tracking for near space bistatic radar.


In recent years electricity sectors worldwide have undergone major transformations, referred to as the "energy transition". This has required energy planning to quickly adapt to provide useful inputs to the regulation activity so that a cost-effective electricity market emerges to facilitate the integration of renewables. This paper analyzes the role of system planning and regulations on two specific elements in the energy market design: the concept of firm capacity and the presence of distributed energy resources, both of which can be influenced by regulation. We assess the total cost of different regulatory mechanisms in the Brazilian and Mexican systems using optimization tools to determine optimal long-term expansion for a given regulatory framework. In particular, we quantitatively analyze the role of the current regulation in the total cost of these two electricity systems when compared to a reference "efficient" energy planning scenario that adopts standard cost-minimization principles and that is well suited to the most relevant features of the new energy transformation scenario. We show that two very common features of regulatory designs that can lead to distortions are: (i) renewables commonly having a lower "perceived cost" under the current regulations, either due to direct incentives such as tax breaks or due to indirect access to more attractive contracts or financing conditions; and (ii) requirements for reliability are often defined more conservatively than they should be, overstating the hardships imposed by renewable generation on the existing system and underestimating their potential to form portfolios.


Background Between 2000 and 2010, coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rates in Scotland fell by over one third. Important contributions came from reductions in blood pressure and serum cholesterol (primary prevention). However, the relative contributions from preventive medications (anti-hypertensives and statins) in individuals and from population-wide dietary changes remain unclear. We therefore examined the impact of differential effects on health inequalities. Methods We used the previously validated IMPACTsec model to estimate the contributions of population-level risk factor changes and treatment changes to the CHD mortality decline in Scotland between 2000 and 2010 for adults aged over 25. Data were stratified using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), a small area measure of deprivation. Model outputs were quantified as deaths prevented or postponed (DPPs) by each intervention. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using Ersatz-based Monte Carlo simulations. Results Between 2000 and 2010, 5770 fewer CHD deaths than expected occurred in Scotland; an estimated 3570 (62%) were attributable to reductions in blood pressure and serum cholesterol. Declines in blood pressure were responsible for approximately 2285 DPPs (minimum estimate 1630, maximum estimate 2915). The vast majority (2130 DPPs) came from population-wide blood pressure falls, with bigger absolute mortality decreases in the most deprived quintile compared with the least deprived (460 vs. 340 DPPs respectively); relative contributions were similar (37.2% and 37.5%). Anti-hypertension medications resulted in only 155 fewer deaths, with similar DPPs in the most (35) and least (30) deprived quintiles. Reductions in serum cholesterol resulted in 1280 fewer deaths; approximately 515 of these were attributable to population-wide changes in diet with more deaths prevented in the most deprived quintile compared with the least deprived (170 vs. 45 DPPs; relative contribution 13.8% and 4.7%). Conversely, approximately 770 fewer deaths were attributable to statin use, with very similar absolute numbers of deaths prevented in most (140) and least (140) deprived quintiles, but relatively greater contributions in the least deprived (15.4% vs 11.2%). Statin uptake was higher in the most deprived areas (17% vs 13.2%). Conclusion Population-wide falls in blood pressure helped to reduce CHD mortality; however the benefit from hypertension treatment was small. Improved diet and statins for high-risk individuals both made important contributions to the fall in population cholesterol. Population-wide falls in blood pressure and reductions due to medical treatments for hypertension were equitable between socio-economic groups. Higher socio-economic groups appeared to benefit more from statins, probably due to better compliance; this may perpetuate inequalities.


The prospect theory of Kahneman and Tversky (1979) and the cumulative prospect theory of Tversky and Kahneman (1992) are descriptive models for decision making that summarize several violations of the expected utility theory. This paper gives a survey of applications of prospect theory to the portfolio choice problem and the implications for asset pricing. We demonstrate that prospect theory (and similarly cumulative prospect theory) has to be re-modelled if one wants to apply it to portfolio selection. We suggest replacing the piecewise power value function of Kahneman and Tversky (1979) with a piecewise negative exponential value function. This latter functional form is still compatible with laboratory experiments but it has the following advantages over and above Kahneman and Tversky`s piecewise power function: 1. The Bernoulli Paradox does not arise for lotteries with finite expected value. 2. No infinite leverage/robustness problem arises. 3. CAPM-equilibria with heterogeneous investors and prospect utility do exist. 4. It is able to simultaneously resolve the following asset pricing puzzles: the equity premium, the value and the size puzzle. 5. In contrast to the piecewise power value function it is able to explain the disposition effect. Resolving these problems of prospect theory we show how it can be combined with mean-variance portfolio theory. JEL-Classification: D 01, D 14, D 81, G 11.


This project aims to capture the benefit of every operator`s drilling experience and thereby, to present a guide to effective drilling operations. GRI wants to identify and document state-of-the-art drilling technology and practices for Wilcox Lobo Trend wells. In this study, we surveyed the industry, found organizations which were drilling effectively, and gleaned the best drilling practices from each of them. Based on this information, we developed a complete Drilling Operations Plan for an archetypal well, which we named `Successful Lobo Well No. 1.`


This paper investigated the psychometric properties of Mathematics examinations conducted by four examination bodies (NABTEB, NECO, JAMB and WAEC) to establish the quality of the items presented to secondary school students for of the purpose of certification and placement.  The study employed descriptive survey research design to seek for information from a segment of the population of senior secondary students to make generalization on all Nigerian students adopting the multistage stratified sampling technique. From each of the 6 geo-political zones, 2 states were randomly selected to obtain a total of 12 states.  One co-educational Federal Government College was purposively sampled from each state, plus three public schools, one private secondary school and one technical college were selected from each state. Thirty SS3 students selected, using the systematic random sampling technique in each of the sampled schools that have been presenting students for public examinations.  The test batteries were past question papers developed in four common subjects offered in public examinations as listed above.  The statistical tools employed to provide empirical answers to the research questions are: calculation of difficulty indices using relevant formula; split half correlation, Distractor power estimate, and Discrimination indices using relevant formula, also quantitative validations of test were conducted. A fairly high proportion of the test items have appropriate difficulty index i.e. within ranges 0.25 – 0.75.  Validity of test batteries used was fairly good.  Other psychometric characteristics were found to be generally acceptable.  It is recommended that, for easy tests, attention should be given to higher order skills required of graduate of secondary schools and coverage of most aspects of the syllabi prescribed by examination bodies.  It is also recommended that the present standard of examinations in Nigeria should be sustained and improved upon. Keywords: Psychometric properties, Public Examinations, Distractor Power, Discriminative Index, Reliability, Validity.


A single-phase bridgeless Cuk ac/dc power factor correction (PFC) rectifier with positive output voltage is proposed in this paper. For low output voltage product applications, the rectifier is designed to convert high input voltage to low output voltage. Due to no bridge diodes required and thus decreased input conduction losses, the proposed rectifier efficiency can be improved. The proposed rectifier operates in discontinuous conduction mode, and the current-loop circuit is hence not needed. In addition, only a single switch is used in the rectifier to simplify the control circuit design. A simple translation method to have the positive output voltage in the Cuk converter is presented in the rectifier to reduce the component counts and the cost. The operational principles, steady-state analysis, and design procedure of the proposed rectifier are addressed in detail in this paper. Simulation and experimental results obtained from a 150-W rated prototype circuit with input of 90-130 Vrms, 60 Hz, and output of 48 Vdc have verified the validity of the proposed rectifier.


Subspace-based methods for estimating the direction of arrival are very important due to their high-resolution abilities. In this paper, a fast and efficient method based on the multi-stage wiener filter technique to estimate subspace is proposed, which doesn't require the training or reference signal. Firstly, the fact that the match filters of multi-stage wiener decomposition can span the signal subspace is simply proved. Then, a more efficient subspace approximation method is obtained. Compared with the classical eigen-vector decomposition (EVD) based method, the proposed method has less computation complexity with the approximation performance. The simulation results demonstrate its effectiveness and robustness.


This thesis evaluates the policy intentions, practices and effects of two different
types of School-Based Management (SBM) initiatives in Sri Lanka: the Programme for
School Improvement (PSI) and the Child-Friendly Schools Initiative (CFSI). Moreover,
it examines the similarities and differences between these two initiatives and, when they
co-exist in the same school, the ways in which schools have integrated them. PSI is the
national SBM initiative of Sri Lanka introduced to the schools during 2006-2011
following a prolonged process of designing and consensus building which started in the
1990s. Running parallel to PSI, the CFSI - a rights-based approach to education which
also has SBM features - is being implemented in selected primary schools.

The policy discourse of SBM/PSI focused on the proposition that schools should
be empowered to meet the expectations of their communities and that the administrative
decentralisation which had shifted power from national to provincial levels was not
addressing adequately disparities between schools. At the same time, there was
scepticism as to whether SBM would be able to address the issues of a heterogeneous
school system. CFSI was introduced by UNICEF in response to the government's
request to strengthen disadvantaged schools. The policy intentions of these two
initiatives were investigated through interviews with key policy officials and with the
representatives of development partner agencies who assisted PSI and CFSI. The
influences of the policy-intents of PSI and CFSI on organisational practices, their effects,
similarities, differences and complementarities were explored through six school case
studies and experiences of the principals, teachers and parents.

The thesis reveals that PSI is expected to empower schools with autonomy for
making collaborative decisions, create a sense of ownership among the school
community and permit improvement of schools. CFSI is intended to promote
inclusiveness, child-centredness and democratic participation. They are both, in
principle, guided by the concerns for ensuring equitable opportunities for all to learn,
improving the quality of education which is judged by student learning outcomes and
improving efficiency in resource allocation and use.

At the school level, each case-study school has forged collaboration between
school-parent-community and ensured democracy in decision-making. School-based
decision-making is promoted by PSI through a set of Ministry guidelines and by CFSI
through a participatory approach recommended by UNICEF and the Ministry, but having
less official 'force' than PSI. Both initiatives have influenced to increase parents'
contribution in the school physical infrastructure development and in the educational
projects. School-based planning has been promoted by both initiatives, and in some
cases has resulted in the production of two separate plans. Some schools have combined
these plans in accordance with the thematic structure of national Education Sector
Development Framework. These initiatives have involved principals and teachers in
decision-making, planning and implementation of programmes in collaboration with the
community. The emphasis given to school-based teacher development is, however
inadequate. Nonetheless, the increases in attendance and retention was influenced by
CFSI rather than PSI, while both initiatives have had a positive influence by improving
student learning and performance through various interventions at school and learning at
home.

The several ways in which these initiatives are integrated by schools, ensuring
that each contributes towards filling the gaps left by the other are described. Considering
their complementarities, the positive features of management in PSI and rights-based
approach to education in CFSI in a rational manner, the author recommends an
integrated 'Learner-Friendly School-Based Management Model' which will effectively
address learners' needs. It also recommends a methodology to pilot this model in Sri
Lanka, thus putting the new knowledge produced by this research into practice.


Stereotypic behaviour, such as territorial calls and songs, is thought to be evolutionarily conserved, and therefore useful in discerning systematic relationships. We examined vocalizations of several species of Peromyscus and Onychomys, a monophyletic group of rodents (Peromyscini). We report stereotypic vocal signals occurring in both sexes of the deer mice Peromyscus californicus, P. eremicus, P. leucopus, P. melanophrys, P. polionotus, and the grasshopper mice Onychomys arenicola and O. leucogaster. The stereotypic vocalizations of P. eremicus, P. leucopus, and P. polionotus are confined to frequencies greater than 20 kHz, unlike those of Onychomys, which are clearly audible, or P. californicus and P. melanophrys, which generate lower frequency vocalizations than the other Peromyscus. We did not observe stereotypic vocalizations in P. aztecus. Intensity, context and consistency suggest that these vocalizations serve an announcement function. Distribution of spectral energy distinguishes genera and most species, and some use of frequency is correlated to body size. There is a dichotomy between Onychomys and Peromyscus in the use of frequency, a genus-specific pattern identified previously among other peromyscine lineages.


Jeffersonians call for a new era of antitrust enforcement to break up giant firms. These populist and localist critics of leading technology platforms, megabanks, and health care behemoths are decentralizers. They believe that, in a just society, power must be widely dispersed. They promote strong local authorities to counterbalance the centripetal accumulation of wealth and power in multinational firms.
By contrast, Hamiltonians have promoted gigantism as inevitable or desirable, and argue that we simply need better rules to cabin abuses of corporate power. They argue that massive stores of data are critical to the future of artificial intelligence—and thus to the productive dynamism of the economy. They focus on improving the regulation of leading firms rather than on breaking them up. Jeffersonians and Hamiltonians express very different views on what an optimal economy looks like. In the long run, their visions are probably irreconcilable. In the short run, however, both sets of reformers offer important lessons for policymakers grappling with corporate power.


New phase-shifting techniques have recently been proposed to suppress the complex-conjugate ambiguity in frequency- domain optical-coherence tomography. A phase shift is introduced, in an elegant fashion, by incorporating a small beam offset at the scanning mirror. The tomogram is then computed by using a combination of Hilbert and Fourier transforms. This is a marked deviation from the conventional approaches, wherein each A-scan is reconstructed independently of the others. In this paper, we formulate the problem in a signal processing framework and provide theoretical proofs for maximal and partial suppression of complex-conjugate ambiguity. To supplement the theoretical derivations, we provide experimental results on in vivo measurements of a human finger nail.


We have used a structure-activity approach to investigate whether the Vinca alkaloids inhibit cell proliferation primarily by means of their effects on mitotic spindle microtubules or by another mechanism or by a combination of mechanisms. Five Vinca alkaloids were used to investigate the relationship in HeLa cells between inhibition of cell proliferation and blockage of mitosis, alteration of spindle organization, and depolymerization of microtubules. Indirect immunofluorescence staining of microtubules and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining of chromatin were used to characterize the effects of the drugs on the distributions of cells in stages of the cell cycle and on the organization of microtubules and chromosomes in metaphase spindles. The microtubule polymer was isolated from cells and quantified using a competitive enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay for tubulin. We observed a nearly perfect coincidence between the concentration of each Vinca derivative that inhibited cell proliferation and the concentration that caused 50% accumulation of cells at metaphase, despite the fact that the antiproliferative potencies of the drugs varied over a broad concentration range. Inhibition of cell proliferation and blockage of cells at metaphase at the lowest effective concentrations of all Vinca derivatives occurred with little or no microtubule depolymerization or spindle disorganization. With increasing drug concentrations, the organization of microtubules and chromosomes in arrested mitotic spindles deteriorated in a manner that was common to all five congeners. These results indicate that the antiproliferative activity of the Vinca alkaloids at their lowest effective concentrations in HeLa cells is due to inhibition of mitotic spindle function. The results suggest further that the Vinca alkaloids inhibit cell proliferation by altering the dynamics of tubulin addition and loss at the ends of mitotic spindle microtubules rather than by depolymerizing the microtubules. The specific alterations of spindle microtubule dynamics appear to differ among the five Vinca congeners, and such differences may be responsible for differences in the antitumor specificities of the drugs.