One of the main problems associated with reactors in commercial Residue Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) process in refinery plant is that each of six outlets of the riser has different particle mass flow rates. This phenomenon causes particle uneven distribution and catalyst loss. High conversion of cracking reaction requires uniform catalyst distribution in the riser. The riser termination device (RTD) is installed to reduce product gas residence time and achieve rapid separation between catalysts and product gas. RTD is made up of six close-coupled cyclone sets at the top of riser. Also, particle deposit formation in the cyclone duct has caused shutdown problems as well as a decrease of the cyclone efficiency. This study analyzes flow pattern of catalyst particles in the riser and the cyclone. Moreover, particle mass flow rates are investigated at each outlet by the number of feed injector. The cracking reaction is taken into account in the simulation scheme and its conversion is evaluated in the riser by employing multiphase-particle in cell (MP-PIC) method, one of computational particle fluid dynamics (CPFD) methodologies. It applies both a stochastic particle model and Lagrangian method for particle phase, and Eulerian method for fluid phase, respectively. Mass flow rates at the outlets of riser are different from each outlet from 107.8 kg/s to 144.1 kg/s, which means solid loading ratio for certain cyclones increased. The solid loading ratio affects the cyclone separation efficiency. As a result, particle uneven distribution flow was identified. Standard deviations of particle mass flow rate at the 4-injector riser case and 6-injector riser case represent respectively 11.3 and 8.8. So, this article suggests that particle uneven distribution will be alleviated by using 6-injector riser than 4-injector riser.


At the present time, there is increasing recognition and understanding of the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) entity as a stage which is a frequent precursor and harbinger of subsequently manifest Alzheimer's disease (AD) and, perhaps, other related conditions, such as vascular dementia (Gauthier et al., 2006). MCI has been defined in two disparate but generally compatible ways in the current literature (see Reisberg et al., 2008 (this issue), for a more complete historical overview of MCI). These two definitional approaches might be termed: (a) the clinical approach to MCI, and (b) the clinical plus psychometric approach to MCI.


The objective of this study was to investigate the altitudinal variation within and between Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) populations in Turkey using 23 morphological characters. Seeds were collected from 149 open-pollinated parents (trees) from five populations sampled from different altitudes in the natural distribution range of the species in northern Turkey and raised in a nursery along the coast. The populations were compared based on phenotypic variation of cones, seeds, seed-wings, juvenile seedlings and seedlings morphology, to study the pattern of natural variation of the species. ANOVA and Duncan test showed that the morphological characters differed by populations. Also, the cluster modeling performed on the morphological characters suggested that altitude was a major factor to differentiate the groups. This study showed that there were significant differences within and between the populations in P. sylvestris for the morphologic characters studied.


Angiolipoma, a benign mixed connective tissue tumour which is uncommon in the breast, may be confused clinically, radiologically and pathologically with malignant lesions. An unusual case of multiple, bilateral angiolipomas appearing synchronously and metachronously in the breasts of a 75 year old woman is presented. The apparent recurrent nature of these tumours is considered to result from a change in multiple, pre-existing but previously impalpable tumours in both breasts.


This paper argues that one of the most important contributions of the MSU School of Agrifood Governance and Technoscience (MSU-SAGT) was its focus on previously less explored and analyzed roles of technoscience in agriculture. The notion of technoscience was derived from the broader field of Science and Technology Studies, especially from Actor Network Theory. Studies conducted under Lawrence Busch's direction conceptualized this notion to indicate networks/collectives of human and nonhuman actors implicated in production, distribution and consumption of food. While these studies analyzed the role of technoscience in transforming agriculture, they also examined ethical issues (e.g., social justice and democracy) that arise from the simultaneous restructuring of social relations and practices that redistribute power and profit through various commodity chains. To highlight the contributions of MSU-SAGT to the study of technoscience in agriculture, this paper will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of this line of scholarship by comparing how the notions of networks, actors, and symmetry are used in Commodity Systems Analyses and Actor Network Theory. In our discussion, we will draw empirical examples from our work on rapeseed conducted in the 1990s. We emphasize that the application of the technoscience paradigm with innovative methodological approaches developed at MSU enabled us to problematize and theorize scientific practices in agriculture as 'politics by other means'. This explicitly raised issues of social justice and democracy as implicated in agrifood practices. This paper will conclude by emphasizing that the MSU-SAGT has stressed the importance of those temporal and spatial dimensions of technoscience politics that simultaneously transform global and local dynamics of agrifood production.


Spaced seeds have been recently shown to not only detect more alignments, but also to give a more accurate measure of phylogenetic distances, and to provide a lower misclassification rate when used with Support Vector Machines (SVMs). We confirm by independent experiments these two results, and propose in this article to use a coverage criterion to measure the seed efficiency in both cases in order to design better seed patterns. We show first how this coverage criterion can be directly measured by a full automaton-based approach. We then illustrate how this criterion performs when compared with two other criteria frequently used, namely the single-hit and multiple-hit criteria, through correlation coefficients with the correct classification/the true distance. At the end, for alignment-free distances, we propose an extension by adopting the coverage criterion, show how it performs, and indicate how it can be efficiently computed.


Fifty-eight patients, 30 males and 28 females, aged between 42 and 60 years (mean age 57 years) suffering from cirrhosis of the liver with signs and symptoms of portosystemic encephalopathy were studied. The double-blind study was performed according to a double-dummy experimental design, comparing the antibiotic rifaximin, administered at a dose of 1200 mg/day, with lactulose, administered at a dose of 30 g/day, both for 15 days. At the end of the treatment with the two drugs, there was a significant improvement in the main symptoms of portosystemic encephalopathy (mental state, asterixis, 'A' cancellation test, Reitan test). The improvement, which was also confirmed by a reduction in the overall score attributed to the degree of portosystemic encephalopathy was undoubtedly correlated with the reduction in the levels of serum ammonia concentrations, recorded after only 3 days of treatment. Tolerability of the treatment with rifaximin was decidedly higher with respect to lactulose. The greater rapidity of action and the lack of side-effects with rifaximin recommend the use of this intestinal antibiotic in patients with medium to severe portosystemic encephalopathy.


The Integrated Project LESSLOSS (Risk Mitigation for Earthquakes and Landslides), partially funded by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Programme, started on September 2004 and was concluded in August 2007. Activities were carried out by 46 European partners, with a total budget of 9.4 ME. The Project was divided into 11 Sub-Projects. This paper describes the activities performed in the framework of Sub-Project 6 (Development and Manufacturing of Energy Dissipation Devices and Seismic Isolators), which was coordinated by ENEA and whose partnership included two manufacturers of antiseismic devices (ALGA, Milan, Italy and MAURER SHONE, Munich, Germany) and two consulting and construction companies (STAP, Lisbon, Portugal and VINCI, Paris-Rueil, France). Aim of Sub-Project 6 was the development and validation of two innovative antiseismic devices (a low stiffness isolator and an electroinductive damper), the improvement of the performances of a slider with curved surface and the evaluation of benefits and limits of isolation systems based on steel hysteretic dissipaters coupled with flat sliders. The Low Stiffness Isolator (LSI) was developed by ALGA; it is a natural rubber seismic isolator particularly addressed to light structures like family houses. The Electroinductive Damper (DECS), developed by ALGA, is an energy dissipater based on the interaction of a diamagnetic material, like aluminium, with an electric field generated by permanent magnets. The Sliding Isolation Pendulum (SIP) developed by MAURER is an improved curved surface slider, capable of withstanding high weights for long periods without creep effects and high velocity deformations without damages due to friction. Finally, several types of Steel Hysteretic (SH) elements of different geometries and materials have been analyzed and tested in order of evaluating the benefits and the limits of such devices, with particular regard to the re-centering capabilities. All the abovementioned devices have been tested on the ENEA shaking table of the Casaccia labs (near Rome), with a suitable mock-up capable of providing a 300 kN force on the devices in the acceleration and frequency ranges of interest, using several natural and artificial acceleration time histories purposely developed by ENEA. The paper describes the main features of the devices, the numerical activity aimed at the optimization of their behavior and the results of the four shaking table campaigns carried out on each device.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Abstract The orbit of the asteroid 2953 Vysheslavia is currently locked in a tiny chaotic zone very close to the 5 : 2 mean motion jovian resonance. Its dynamical lifetime is estimated to be of the order of only about 10 Myr. Since Vysheslavia is a member of the Koronis family, such a short dynamical lifetime opens a variety of interesting questions concerning its origin and evolution. A. Milani and P. Farinella (1995, Icarus 115, 209–212) considered a number of plausible scenarios and suggested that most probably Vysheslavia is an outcome of a recent secondary fragmentation event in the family. Here we propose that Vysheslavia might have been placed on its peculiar orbit by a slow inward drift of the semimajor axis due to the Yarkovsky effect. Numerical simulations confirm that such evolutionary processes can take 100–500 Myr, a period comparable to but still shorter than the probable age of the family (on the order of a Gyr), depending on the thermal properties of Vysheslavia's surface, the orientation of its spin axis, and its size. We have also integrated orbits of the asteroids 7340 (1991 UA2) and 1993 FR58, located very close to but outside the chaotic zone that triggers Vysheslavia's orbit instability, and we show that the orbits of these asteroids may also slowly evolve toward the chaotic zone. Such an erosion of the asteroid families, caused by a slow leakage to the nearby powerful resonances, could be fairly common in the main asteroid belt.


The Bjorck-Pereyra algorithm for Vandermonde systems is known to produce extremely accurate results in some cases, even when the matrix is very ill-conditioned. Recently, Higham has produced an error analysis of the algorithm which identifies when this behaviour will take place. In this paper, we observe that this analysis also predicts the error behaviour very well in general, and illustrate this with a series of extensive numerical tests. Moreover, we relate the computational error to that caused by perturbations in the matrix elements, and show that they are not always commensurate. We also discuss the relationship between these error and perturbation estimates with the ``effective well-condition'''' of Chan and Foulser.


A summary of the NOC Liverpool turbulence glider deployment that occurred between Tuesday 28th June and Monday 4th July 2011 is provided in this document. The general objective of the deployment was to hold the glider on station at a nominal GPS location of 53o 48"N, -4o 00"W to provide a series of glider based turbulence probe and CTD data
profiles. These profiles were initiated when the glider reached a nominal depth of 40 metres and continued until the glider approached the sea surface. The glider deployment site was selected to be away from the influence of fresh water influx into the Liverpool Bay and in a
position that avoids scheduled shipping routes. The recorded glider data was compared with a seabed instrumentation frame that was deployed at the same nominal location. The instrumentation frame had a Seabird CTD and a 5 axis upward measuring ADCP with a vertical turbulence measurement capability installed. During the glider deployment cruise reference water samples and independent CTD measurements were collected for deployed instrumentation and glider sensor calibration purposes


Commonly used evaluation measures including Recall, Precision, F-Factor and Rand Accuracy are biased and should not be used without clear understanding of the biases, and corresponding identification of chance or bas e case levels of the statistic. Using these measures a sy tem that performs worse in the objective sense of Informedn ess, can appear to perform better under any of these commonly used measures. We discuss several concepts and measures that reflect the probability that prediction is infor med versus chance. Informedness and introduce Markedness as a dual measure for the probability that prediction is marked versus chance. Finally we demonstrate elegant connection s between the concepts of Informedness, Markedness, Correlation and Significance as well as their intuiti ve relationships with Recall and Precision, and outline th extension from the dichotomous case to the general multi-class case. .


At elevations above 1500 m, even a healthy person undergoes acclimatization. To avoid problems such as acute mountain sickness (AMS), high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) or high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE),the speed of ascent and the daily sleeping elevation are of primary importance. Mild symptoms and peripheral swelling are usually harmless. However, when the severity of altitude sickness progresses, rapid therapy and immediate transport to lower elevations can be life-saving under certain conditions. A sojourn in the mountains requires effective preparation and prophylaxis against oxygen deficiency, increased UV radiation, as well as against the possibility of hypothermia and frost-bite.


Overview. Microbial biofilms are complex communities of bacteria and are common in the human body and in the environment. In recent years, dental plaque has been identified as a biofilm, and the structure, microbiology, and pathophysiology of dental biofilms have been described. The nature of the biofilm enhances the component bacteria's resistance to both the host's defense system and antimicrobials. If not removed regularly, the biofilm undergoes maturation, and the resulting pathogenic bacterial complex can lead to dental caries, gingivitis, and periodontitis. In addition, dental biofilm, especially subgingival plaque in patients with periodontitis, has been associated with various systemic diseases and disorders, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, respiratory disease, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Clinical Implications.An understanding of the nature and athophysiology of the dental biofilm is important to implementing proper management strategies. Although dental biofilm cannot be eliminated, it can be reduced and controlled through daily oral care. A daily regimen of thorough mechanical oral hygiene procedures, including toothbrushing and interdental cleaning, is key to controlling biofilm accumulation. Because teeth comprise only 20% of the mouth's surfaces, for optimal oral health, the use of an antimicrobial mouthrinse helps to control biofilm not reached by brushing and flossing as well as biofilm bacteria contained in oral mucosal reservoirs.


A study of the comparative effects of different formulating additives and film coating on the properties of ibuprofen tablets was made. The tested properties were hardeness (H), friability (F), the disintegration time (D) and dissolution characteristics of ibuprofen tablets. The hardeness, friability, the hardeness friability ratio (HFR) and the disintegration time were affected by diluent-binder ratio and binder concentration. The ranking for the values of HFR for different coated tablet formulations and commercial tablet formulation )FC) was FVI>FV>FI>FII>FIV>FC>FIII. The ranking for disintegration times D of uncoated tablet formulations were FI>FII>FVI>FV>FIV>FIII and that of coated formulations and commercial formula was FI>FVI>FII>FV>FC>FIV>FIII. The ranking for the dissolution rates of uncoated tablet formulations after one hour were FIV>FV>FIII>FVI>FII>FI whereas those of coated formulations and commercial tablet formulation (FC) were FIV>FC>FV>FVI>FIII>FII>FI. It was found that, Film coating has a remarkable effect on both mechanical strength and drug release from different ibuprofen formulations. The results suggest that hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) could be selected as a binding agent and film coating material. It produces tablets with acceptable mechanical properties and drug release pattern. Formula FIV gave the most acceptable properties and drug release profile compared to other tested formulations. The oral absorption profile of the selected formula (FIV) was studied and compared to that of the commercial tablet formulation (FC). The AUC of FIV was not significantly larger than that of FC. The maximum biological half life (tmax) of FIV was the same as that of FC. Statistical comparison of the biological half-life parameter did not indicate a significant difference between results from FIV tablets and FC tablets. Cmax of FIV was higher than that of FC. The results indicated that the adopted formulation technique gave ibuprofen tablets with acceptable properties. These results were comparable with FC. Egyptian Journal of Biomedical Sciences Vol. 23 (1) 2007: pp. 60-72


BACKGROUND
There are many contaminants like aflatoxin present in food products. Aflatoxin in comparison to many other contaminants is very toxic and also carcinogenic. There are reports of outbreak of aflatoxin toxicity in many parts of the world.

AIM
To find out the level of aflatoxin in common food and feed.

SETTING
The study was conducted in 16 districts of the Eastern region of Nepal.

METHODS AND MATERIALS
Samples were collected from retailers and whole sellers from 1995 to 2003. Common food items that had high chances of infestation were collected. Food sample were taken to the laboratory to estimate the level of aflatoxin. The thin layer chromatography method was used to detect aflatoxin in the samples and comparison of fluorescence of sample spot with fluorescence of standard for estimation.

RESULT
There were 832 samples for aflatoxin detection and estimation. One-third samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin. The highest percentage of contamination was found in peanut butter/vegetable oil (42.5%) and the lowest in areca nut (25%). Highest proportion of cornflakes samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin by more than the recommended value (30 ppb) and contamination in peanut was the lowest.

CONCLUSION
People consume many common food items that contain aflatoxin. It is of high importance for the concerned department to give attention to this important public health issue. Even in small doses, continuous consumption can lead to many health problems. So it is of paramount importance to detect and control these contaminants in food items.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To investigate the effect of volitional pursed-lips breathing (PLB) on breathing pattern, respiratory mechanics, operational lung volumes, and dyspnea in patients with COPD.

SUBJECTS
Eight COPD patients (6 male and 2 female) with a mean (+/-SD) age of 58 +/- 11 years and a mean FEV1 of 1.34 +/- 0.44 L (50 +/- 21% predicted).

METHODS
Wearing a tight-fitting transparent facemask, patients breathed for 8 min each, with and without PLB at rest and during constant-work-rate bicycle exercise (60% of maximum).

RESULTS
PLB promoted a slower and deeper breathing pattern both at rest and during exercise. Whereas patients had no dyspnea with or without PLB at rest, during exercise dyspnea was variably affected by PLB across patients. Changes in the individual dyspnea scores with PLB during exercise were significantly correlated with changes in the end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) values estimated from inspiratory capacity maneuvers (as a percentage of total lung capacity; r2 = 0.82, p = 0.002) and with changes in the mean inspiratory ratio of pleural pressure to the maximal static inspiratory pressure-generating capacity (PcapI) [r2 = 0.84; p = 0.001], measured using an esophageal balloon, where PcapI was determined over the range of inspiratory lung volumes and adjusted for flow.

CONCLUSION
PLB can have a variable effect on dyspnea when performed volitionally during exercise by patients with COPD. The effect of PLB on dyspnea is related to the combined change that it promotes in the tidal volume and EELV and their impact on the available capacity of the respiratory muscles to meet the demands placed on them in terms of pressure generation.


Both ex post production to order and market-oriented ex ante production involve specific costs. With consumer goods produced "for the market", costs arise for disposal of excess production. Firms advertise, in order to inform buyers. Conditions for market equilibrium for pure production to order, pure market-oriented production and a mixed structure are analysed. As disposal costs rise, the market share of firms producing to order increases, while the volume of advertising and sales fall. When consumers seek for a favourable offer, the advertised range of prices and the advertising coverage are endogenous. As disposal costs rise, advertising coverage decreases.


In order to investigate the mechanical properties of cementitious composites (ECC) cured at 60°C, four-point bending test and compressive strength test are employed to analyze the effect of fly ash on the properties of ECC. The replacement ratio of cement with fly ash is 50%, 70% and 80%, respectively. The test results indicate that ECC with high volume fly ash still remain the characteristic of pseudo-strain hardening and the deflection of ECC increases remarkably by adding more fly ash. The observations of ECC indicate that the crack width is relatively smaller for higher volume fly ash ECC. Meanwhile, compressive strength of ECC specimens with 80% fly ash can reach to 70MPa. This is helpful to produce precast ECC with high volume of fly ash.


This paper examines the flow of money and country food resources within an Inuit extended family ( ilagiit ) in Clyde River, Nunavut, to understand the effects of a mixed wage-income and hunting economy on customary resource sharing and food security. Over a 12-week period in 2009, data were gathered through participant observation and bi-weekly recall interviews with 10 ilagiit households in the community. The findings are compared to data on sharing collected in 1999 from the same family group. Results indicate that resource sharing, especially for country food, continues to follow traditional kinship patterns and retains considerable importance in the group's aggregated "income." Further, imported foods are shared, but on what appears to be an ad hoc basis, while control of money appears to rest with individuals. Overall, differences between households in cash income, seen in terms of hunting and fishing equipment, are more apparent in 2009 than in 1999, but this inequality is moderated by shared use among close kin of large items like freighter canoes and outboard motors. At this time, social relations critically buffer subsistence disparities between lower- and higher-income households in culturally prescribed ways. Our study of the socioeconomic dynamics within an Arctic community is particularly valuable for informing a culturally relevant understanding of Arctic food security, given significant recent interest in this research area.


The development of physical theory is one of our greatest intellectual achievements. Its products--the currently prevailing theories of physics, astronomy, and cosmology--have proved themselves to possess intrinsic beauty and to have enormous explanatory and predictive power. This anthology of primary readings chronicles the birth and maturation of five such theories (the heliocentric theory, the electromagnetic field theory, special and general relativity, quantum theory, and the big bang theory) in the words of the scientists who brought them to life. It is the first historical account that captures the rich substance of these theories, each of which represents a fascinating story of the interplay of evidence and insight--and of dialogue among great minds. Readers sit in with Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo as they overturn the geocentric universe; observe the genius of Faraday and Maxwell as they "discover" the electromagnetic field; look over Einstein's shoulder as he works out the details of relativity; listen in as Einstein and Bohr argue for the soul of quantum mechanics in the Completeness Debate; and watch as Hubble and others reveal the history of the universe. The editors' approach highlights the moments of discovery that rise from scientific creativity, and the presentation humanizes the scientific process, revealing the extent to which great scientists were the first to consider the philosophical implications of their work. But, most significantly, the editors offer this as their central thesis: although each was ushered in by a revolution, and each contains counterintuitive elements that delayed its acceptance, these five theories exhibit a continuous rational development that has led them to a permanent place in the worldview of science. Accessible to the general reader yet sufficiently substantive that working scientists will find value in it, The Tests of Time offers an intimate look into how physical theory has been developed, by the brilliant people who have developed it.


Aim: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a disabling complication that can develop following breast cancer surgery months or even years after treatment ends. The effective management of BCRL requires adhering to simple risk-reduction strategies. The study aim was to assess the awareness and knowledge of lymphedema risk-management behaviors among breast cancer survivors and identify factors that affect it. Material and Methods: This study was conducted on 250 survivors of breast cancer. Demographic information, treatment details, time since surgery, duration and stage of lymphedema were recorded. Lymphedema education, knowledge about risk-minimization recommendations, and information sources were questioned using a survey. A multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors of lymphedema awareness. Results: Just over half (53.6%) of the patients had adequate lymphedema awareness (score≥8). BCRL was detected in 121 (48.4%) patients. Awareness scores varied by age, education level, body mass index, receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and a previous BCRL treatment (all p<0.05). Citing physiatrists as an information source reflected higher levels of awareness. Educational level and axillary lymph node dissection were positive predictors; time since surgery was the only negative predictor of lymphedema awareness. Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of lymphedema awareness among survivors of breast cancer. Accurate, timely, individualized training programs can improve knowledge and compliance of lymphedema risk management behaviors.


Streptococcus iniae has emerged as an important fish pathogen over the last decade in farmed rainbow trout in Iran. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the pathogenicity of S. iniae in Poecilia reticulata . Atotal of 60 apparently healthy P. reticulata were obtained from ornamental fish pet store and injected intraperitoneally with 1.5×10 6 cfu of bacteria. For 14 days after challenge, the rate of mortality and clinical signs were recorded. The first clinical signs was observed in challenged fish 48 hrs after injection of S. iniae and first mortality was observed 72 hrs after injection. No significant differences in mortality and clinical signs between both sexes were observed. Streptococcus iniae was collected from internal organs of fishes challenged, and was confirmed using the conventional biochemical tests and PCR. It is concluded that, P. reticulata is susceptible to streptococcosis and can play an important role in transmission of the disease to other ornamental fish species and also cultured fish.


This guide assists in finding resources for contemporary music, including improvised music, jazz, and film music. It also includes information on finding books, music scores, sound recordings, DVDs and useful websites.


The number of elderly people in Surabaya City is growing fast, with the largest population in Development Unit (UP) Tunjungan. It resulted to the needs of elderly facilities, such as parks. The elderly have certain characteristics, so the designing of elderly park need a specific approach. Therefore, the research's objective is to evaluate urban parks in UP Tunjungan that suitable for characteristic of the elderly's need. The research's methods is qualitative descriptive. The evaluation of eight parks in UP Tunjungan based on general criteria of elderly park through character appraisal analysis. The result is to find out the most suitable park to be designed as Elderly Park that meets 7 out of 10 sub criteria of an elderly park.


Background: Maternal physiological hypercholesterolemia (MPH) occurs in pregnancy for a proper fetal development. When cholesterol increases over the physiological range, maternal supraphysiological hypercholesterolemia (MSPH) is described, a condition underdiagnosed by a lack of evidence showing its biological and clinical relevance. Aim: To determine if MSPH associates with maternal vascular dysfunction, along with changes in the composition and function of maternal HDL leading to increased cardiovascular risk. Methods: This study included 57 women at term of pregnancy in which a lipid profile was determined. Results: Maternal total cholesterol (TC) and LDL but not HDL were increased in MSPH women. The isolated HDL from a subgroup of MSPH women had a lower protein abundance and a reduced activity of the antioxidant enzyme PON1; however, an increased antioxidant capacity compared to MPH was observed, along with higher serum levels of α-tocopherol. Moreover, HDL from a subgroup of MSPH women had a lower capacity to induce NO synthesis in endothelial cells compared to MPH. In the circulation, we observed a reduced total antioxidant capacity and augmented levels of soluble VCAM, ApoB, ApoCII, ApoCIII, IL-10, and IL-12p70, as well as the cardiovascular risk ratio ApoB/ApoAI, compared to MPH women. Conclusion: MSPH women present dysfunctional HDL and increased atherogenic cardiovascular risk factors.


Cognitive impairment is strongly associated with functional outcomes in psychiatric patients. Involvement of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LC-PUFA), in particular docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), in brain functions is largely documented. DHA is incorporated into membrane phospholipids as structural component, especially in the central nervous system where it also has important functional effects. The aim of this review is to investigate the relationship between DHA and cognitive function in relation to mental disorders. Results from few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of DHA (alone or in combination) in psychotic, mood and neurodevelopmental disorders, respectively, suggest that no conclusive remarks can be drawn.


This study compares the in vitro activities of enrofloxacin and its main metabolite ciprofloxacin against clinical Escherichia coli and non-lactose fermenting enterobacteria isolates from chickens. Ten (10) Escherichia coli and 8 non lactose fermenting enterobacteriaceae species isolated from a pool of clinical cases at the Microbiology Laboratory of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Agriculture Makurdi were used in this study. Ten-fold serial dilution of 10 varying concentrations (0.1-50μg/mL) of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were tested against the isolates in vitro by Bauer's disc-diffusion method to determine and compare their antimicrobial activities against the isolates. The 18 isolates tested were susceptible to both enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, and their mean values in the susceptibility of Escherichia coli and non-lactose fermenters were significantly different (p < 0.01). The study concluded that the clinical isolates are susceptible to both enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin though ciprofloxacin exhibit higher activity. Comparatively, ciprofloxacin was found to be more potent than enrofloxacin and the difference statistically significant. Ciprofloxacin was recommended as a better choice in the treatment of bacterial infections of chicken in this area compared to enrofloxacin. It was also recommended that proper steps should be taken in the administration of antimicrobials so as to reduce the incidences of bacterial resistance.Keywords:  Escherichia coli, Non-lactose fermenter, Antimicrobials, Ciprofloxacin. Enrofloxacin, Chicken


GaN nanowires have been successfully grown on Si (111) substrates by magnetron sputtering through ammoniating Ga2O3/V thin films. The influence of ammoniating temperature on the growth of GaN nanowires was analyzed in particular. The results demonstrate that ammoniating temperature has great influence on the growth of GaN nanowires. GaN nanowires are single crystal GaN with a hexagonal wurtzite structure and high crystalline quality after ammoniation at 900 oC for 15 min, which are straight and smooth with uniform thickness along the spindle direction and high crystalline quality, 50 nm in diameter and several tens of microns in length with good emission properties, and the growth direction of the nanowire is along the preferred (002) plane. A clear red-shift of the band-gap emission has occurred. The growth mechanism is also discussed briefly.


To determine the effect of acute volume expansion and changes in plasma chloride on fluid and chloride uptake in superficial loop segments of rats, this segment was microperfused in vivo at 22 nl/min with a fluid containing Na 145, Cl and 36Cl 130, and HCO3 15 meq/liter during hydropenia and after acute volume expansion with 0.15 M NaCl, 0.15 M NaHCO3, or an isotonic bicarbonate Ringer (Cl 106 meq/liter) solution. Fractional fluid, chloride, and 36Cl reabsorption and early distal chloride concentration did not change during maintained hydropenia (time control) or during volume expansion with NaCl (plasma chloride 120 meq/liter) or bicarbonate Ringer solution (plasma chloride 104 meq/liter). Absolute and fractional reabsorption of chloride and 36Cl increased, without change in fluid reabsorption, and early distal chloride diminished after infusion of NaHCO3 (plasma chloride 90 meq/liter). It is concluded that acute volume expansion, per se, has no effect on either net fluid or net chloride absorption in the superficial loop segment at the load studied. Hypochloremia is associated with increased net reabsorption of chloride and an increased unidirectional efflux of chloride from the loop segment during acute volume expansion, most likely due to a gradient effect on the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle.


Hypersensitivity pneumonia is an inflammatory interstitial lung
disease caused by immune response due to inhalation of various
organic and chemical substances. Bird fancier's lung disease is a
hypersensitivity pneumonia which develops in response to organic
bird products. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is caused by many birds,
especially pigeon. In the current case, the diagnosis was subacute
hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Thirty two year-old male was admitted
to chest diseases outpatient clinic due to two months of effort
dyspnea, dry cough, fever, sweating, fatigue and weight loss. The
patient has a history of pigeon feeding. The patient was diagnosed
as pigeon fancier's lung disease by the help of the history, physical
examination, pulmonary function tests, chest radiography and highresolution
computed tomography findings, and he had prednisolone
therapy. As a result, an early diagnosis and then early treatment
after the necessary precautions are very important to avoid chronic
progress of these diseases.


Consumption forecasts for fats and oils are essential in appraising the outlook for oilseeds and guiding farmers' acreage plans. They are also valuable to businessmen who produce, handle, or use fats and oils or who deal in oilseeds. Recognizing the extent of interchangeability among fats and oils, this paper presents an analysis of the factors affecting total consumption of fats and oils, except butter. An equation, for forecasting total fat and oil consumption, per person, and techniques which should prove useful as a guide in the analysis of demand for particular groups of fats and oils are likewise presented.


Drawing on a rich array of twenty-first-century speculative fiction, this book demonstrates how the commodification of life through biotechnology has far-reaching implications for how we think of personhood, agency, and value. Sherryl Vint argues that neoliberalism is reinventing life under biocapital. She offers new biopolitical figurations that can help theoretically grasp and politically respond to a distinctive twenty-first-century biopolitics. This book theorizes how biotechnology intervenes in the very processes of biological function, reshaping life itself to serve economic ends. Linking fictional texts with material examples, Biopolitical Futures in Twenty-First-Century Speculative Fiction shows how these practices are linked to new modes of exploitative economic relations that cannot be redressed by human rights. It concludes with a posthumanist reframing of the value of life that grounds itself elsewhere than in capitalist logics, a vision that, in a Covid age, might become fundamental to a new politics of ecological relations.


AIM
Oral health literacy is emerging as an important element in oral health promotion, but few studies have been conducted in older adults. This work aimed to develop and validate the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry for Older Adults (OA-TOFHLiD).

METHODS
The tool was developed by a researcher and then evaluated by experts for face validity. A convenience sample was conducted to recruit 105 older adults, aged more than 60 years in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2016. 2 existing health literacy tools and the newly developed test were administered and oral health statuses were examined by a dentist.

RESULTS
The mean age of the participants was 67.4 years (SD = 5.86). The OA-TOFHLiD scores were positively correlated with education, income, self-reported general literacy, health literacy scores and dental caries. However, it was negatively correlated with the number of decayed and missing teeth (P < .05). Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 and the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.86.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrated that OA-TOFHLiD has acceptable validity and reliability; however, it is suggested that the predictive validity of this tool should be improved.


We consider the nonunitary quantum dynamics of neutral massless scalar particles used to model photons around a massive gravitational lens. The gravitational interaction between the lensing mass and asymptotically free particles is described by their second-quantized scattering wavefunctions. Remarkably, the zero-point spacetime fluctuations can induce significant decoherence of the scattered states with spontaneous emission of gravitons, thereby reducing the particles' coherence as well as energy. This new effect suggests that, when photon polarizations are negligible, such quantum gravity phenomena could lead to measurable anomalous redshift of recently studied astrophysical lasers through a gravitational lens in the range of black holes and galaxy clusters.


James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans has had a remarkable impact on American culture and modern critics have often viewed it as a myth of America itself. Cooper's highly romanticized narrative has partly been seen as the less-than-historical "wish-fulfillment" (D.H. Lawrence) of an author who socialized in the salons of New York and Paris but dreamt of noble savages in the untamed American landscape but also as an expression of America's difficulties in coming to terms with its conquest of the Indians. As a complement to these views, this essay attempts to show that the character Natty Bumppo, or Hawkeye, represents the new nation's ambivalent relationship with the surrounding wilderness and therefore helplessly torn between vastly different ideals. On one hand, Hawkeye appears to show us a less confrontational way of relating to the wilderness: one that implies the possibility for man to transform himself and live in spiritual unity with nature—a notion that would make Hawkeye the forerunner of the ideals put forth in Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1836 essay "Nature". But Hawkeye's relationship with the woods and the Indians is complex, self-contradictory and filled with deep inner struggles, and he is at other times a merciless figure who divides Indians into good and bad. As such, his very character seems to be the embodiment of an American identity that is highly conflicted.In addition to examining the novel's depiction of Hawkeye, the Indians and the forest, the essay offers a wide historical perspective of the ideas of nature that were present or just emerging in Cooper's time, including those expressed by Emerson, as well as their Romantic and Christian influences. By understanding how Americans struggled to deal with feelings of guilt and sorrow in the face of the perceived decline of the wilderness in the 19th century, we might better understand the persisting importance of Cooper's work.


In drilling vessels, the dynamic positioning (DP) system has a great importance for the operation, since it ensures the station-keeping ability for the drilling operation. However, an emergency situation involves ungoverned drift due to problems associated with the DP system failures, such as thrusters, generators, powerbus, or control system. During this situation, the vessel drift is subjected to the influence of environmental conditions and the drift can lead to collisions with floating obstacles or submerged systems, wellhead emergency disconnection, damage to equipment and potentially causing major environmental disasters. It is then necessary to define a safety region for the drilling ship operation and to determine the limiting operation offset that the drilling vessel can disconnect from the wellhead without damage to any equipment. This offset limit is obtained through a riser analysis and drift-off study, important inputs for the Well Specific Operating Guidelines (WSOG). A validated time-domain simulator is required and able to predict the vessel drift trajectory after the DP failure under several environmental conditions. The aim of this work is to present a large set of model and full-scale drift tests and the validation of a time-domain numerical simulator (Dynasim), based on the main parameters of the drift tests: drift distance, heading variation, and trajectory. The comparisons between the numerical simulation results with full- and model-scale data demonstrated the accuracy of the numerical model, confirming that the simulator is a reliable tool to predict the motion of a drilling vessel after a blackout.


Background/Context Studies carried out over the last two decades have established structured after-school programs as significant contexts for adolescent development. Recent large-scale evaluations of after-school initiatives have yielded mixed results, finding some impact on adolescents' attitudes toward school but limited impact on their academic performance. One clear conclusion of these studies, however, is that it matters how often and for how long young people spend time in after-school settings. Purpose/Research Question This study describes the features of after-school settings that are most appealing and engaging to youth growing up in low-income communities. Setting Analyses focus on a network of five after-school centers that serve predominantly racial and cultural minority youth living in low-income urban neighborhoods. Participants Participants in the study include 120 youth who varied in their frequency of participation in the after-school centers. Of these participants, 20 were in elementary school, 76 were in middle school, and 24 were in high school. Forty-two percent identified themselves as Asian American, 22% as African American, 13% as Latino/Latina, 7% as European American, and 5% as Filipino, and 10% were categorized as "other" or "unknown." Research Design This study is a qualitative investigation geared toward understanding young people's subjective experiences and meaning making. Data are drawn principally from focus groups and individual interviews with participants over a 2-year period and supplemented with field work conducted by a team of trained youth ethnographers. Findings Our analysis of these data points to three features of the youth centers that youth identified as valuable: supportive relationships with adults and peers; safety; and opportunities to learn. Results highlight the meaning and significance youth ascribed to each feature, while also underlining the important function that centers with these features play in adolescent development. Conclusions/Recommendations After-school settings have the potential to serve as a unique developmental niche by meeting needs that are not consistently met in other contexts. Young people's descriptions of supports and opportunities also underscore the interrelationships among the positive features they perceived. Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers are encouraged to recognize after-school programs as core contexts of development that should be assessed according to the full spectrum of adolescents' developmental needs.


Abstract Neuropsychological test interpretation has relied on pre- and postmorbid comparisons, as exemplified by the use of demographically adjusted normative data. We argue that, when the assessment goal is to predict real-world functioning, this interpretive method should be supplemented by "absolute" scores. Such scores are derived from comparisons with the general healthy adult population (i.e., demographically unadjusted normative data) and reflect examinees' current ability, that is, the interaction between premorbid and injury/disease-related factors. In support of this view, we found that substantial discrepancies between demographically adjusted and absolute scores were common in a traumatic brain injury sample, especially in participants with certain demographic profiles. Absolute scores predicted selected measures of functional outcome better than demographically adjusted scores and also classified participants' functional status more accurately, to the extent that these scores diverged. In conclusion, the ecological validity of neuropsychological tests may be improved by the consideration of absolute scores. (JINS, 2009, 15, 94–102.)


This paper describes an investigation of the dynamics and acoustics of cloud cavitation, the structures which are often formed by the periodic breakup and collapse of a sheet or vortex cavity. This form of cavitation frequently causes severe noise and damage, though the precise mechanism responsible for the enhancement of these adverse effects is not fully understood. In this paper, we investigate the large impulsive surface pressures generated by this type of cavitation and correlate these with the images from high-speed motion pictures. This reveals that several types of propagating structures (shock waves) are formed in a collapsing cloud and dictate the dynamics and acoustics of collapse. One type of shock wave structure is associated with the coherent collapse of a well-defined and separate cloud when it is convected into a region of higher pressure. This type of global structure causes the largest impulsive pressures and radiated noise. But two other types of structure, termed 'crescent-shaped regions' and 'leading-edge structures' occur during the less-coherent collapse of clouds. These local events are smaller and therefore produce less radiated noise but the interior pressure pulse magnitudes are almost as large as those produced by the global events. The ubiquity and severity of these propagating shock wave structures provides a new perspective on the mechanisms reponsible for noise and damage in cavitating flows involving clouds of bubbles. It would appear that shock wave dynamics rather than the collapse dynamics of single bubbles determine the damage and noise in many cavitating flows.


Mechanochemical process was employed to prepare Fe/MgO and Fe/NaCl nanocomposites. The carbon nanostructures (nanotubes and carbon-encapsulated Fe nanoparticles) were successfully synthesized using two nanocomposites as the catalyst. Our wok revealed that the morphology of Fe nanoparticles in the Fe/MgO nanocomposites depended on the distribution and particle size of iron oxides in the precursors. The size of Fe nanoparticles greatly affected their catalytic properties and the morphologies of carbon nanotubes. The successful carbon encapsulation of Fe nanoparticles was achieved by using the mechanochemically derived Fe/NaCl catalyst.


Background: Air pollution due to road traffic is a serious health hazard and thus the persons who are continuously exposed, may be at an increased risk. Although several studies have confirmed the ill effects of air pollutants on the lung function of traffic policemen, only a few have investigated the relationship between respiratory health and duration of exposure in this category of occupationally exposed persons. Aim: The study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the extent of impairment in lung function in traffic policemen in respect to an unexposed control group having the same age group. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which the spirometric parameters of a group of 100 nonsmoking traffic policemen, aged 20-55 years, working in and around Patiala city, were compared with those obtained in an age-matched control group, consisting of 100 healthy males, serving in the Punjab Police, who have never done traffic duty and are thus not exposed to traffic pollution. Lung function was done with MEDSPIROR. The data on the overall health status of the subjects was collected using the standard Respirator Medical Evaluation Questionnaire. The statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS PC software version 13. Results: Traffic policemen recorded a significant decline in various parameters, such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) when compared with controls, and is probably due to exposure to vehicular pollution. It was also observed that in traffic policemen with >8 years of exposure, the values of FVC (2.7 L), FEV1 (1.8 L), and PEFR (7.5 L/s) were significantly lower than those obtained in traffic policemen with <8 years of exposure, in whom the values were 2.9 L, 2.3 L, and 7.7 L/s for FVC, FEV1, and PEFR, respectively. Conclusion: The effect of pollution by vehicular exhausts may be responsible for these pulmonary function impairments.


Purpose of review Thrombosis is one of the most frequent complications of indwelling central venous catheters. During the past year, new information has emerged regarding the incidence and predisposing factors of thromboembolic complications of indwelling central venous catheters. Because indwelling central venous catheters are widely used, it is important to be aware of new information regarding thromboembolic complications of these devices. Recent findings Recent studies have better defined the risks of thromboembolic complications in patients with cancer with indwelling central venous catheters. Acquired hypercoagulable disorders such as heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia, antiphospholipid syndrome, and therapy with asparaginase are associated with thromboembolic disorders in patients with indwelling central venous catheters. Studies analyzing the association between inherited hypercoagulable disorders and thrombosis have shown conflicting results. Preliminary studies suggest that low molecular weight heparins could have a role in the prevention of catheter‐related thromboembolic disorders. Nevertheless, larger prospective studies will be necessary to determine the role of anticoagulants in the prevention of thromboembolic disorders in patients with cancer with indwelling central venous catheters. Summary Recent reports will facilitate the evaluation and risk assessment of children with cancer who have indwelling central venous catheters. Despite these advances, large, controlled studies focusing on specific populations of patients, such as children, should be undertaken to determine the true performance and optimal use of indwelling central venous catheters. Future studies should also address better ways to prevent catheter‐related thrombosis and infection.


Longitudinal analysis has great potential to reveal developmental trajectories and monitor disease progression in medical imaging. This process relies on consistent and robust joint 4D segmentation. Traditional techniques are dependent on the similarity of images over time and the use of subject-specific priors to reduce random variation and improve the robustness and sensitivity of the overall longitudinal analysis. This is however slow and computationally intensive as subject-specific templates need to be rebuilt every time. The focus of this work to accelerate this analysis with the use of deep learning. The proposed approach is based on deep CNNs and incorporates semantic segmentation and provides a longitudinal relationship for the same subject. The proposed approach is based on deep CNNs and incorporates semantic segmentation and provides a longitudinal relationship for the same subject. The state of art using 3D patches as inputs to modified Unet provides results around ${0.91 \pm 0.5}$ Dice and using multi-view atlas in CNNs provide around the same results. In this work, different models are explored, each offers better accuracy and fast results while increasing the segmentation quality. These methods are evaluated on 135 scans from the EADC-ADNI Harmonized Hippocampus Protocol. Proposed CNN based segmentation approaches demonstrate how 2D segmentation using prior slices can provide similar results to 3D segmentation while maintaining good continuity in the 3D dimension and improved speed. Just using 2D modified sagittal slices provide us a better Dice and longitudinal analysis for a given subject. For the ADNI dataset, using the simple UNet CNN technique gives us ${0.84 \pm 0.5}$ and while using modified CNN techniques on the same input yields ${0.89 \pm 0.5}$. Rate of atrophy and RMS error are calculated for several test cases using various methods and analyzed.


In this paper, we investigate the electrical properties of dye solar cells (DSCs) under illumination and in dark conditions when an external bias is applied. The measurements performed on the cells will be compared with theoretical calculations. The modeling is made using two approaches: a finite-element code based on Tiber computer-aided design (CAD) software to describe in detail the electrical properties of the cell and a circuital model implemented on PSpice. The latter has been developed in the perspective of simulating larger systems, such as modules and panels. It should be a phenomenological model to fit I-V characteristics of real cells. The CAD instead allows to calculate steady-state properties and I-V characteristics of the cell, solving a set of differential equations on meshes in one, two, and three dimensions. The two models are compared to experimental values, and the microscopic model is used to shine light over the fitting parameters of the circuital model.


This paper critically examines the effects of mobile phone use on relationshipsamong people in Niger. The study is based on a fieldwork conducted during thesummer of 2003 and 2004 among Nigerien urban users of mobile phones inNiamey, the capital city. Semi-structured interviews were used to find out howpeople 'experience' the use of mobile phones in their everyday life. The authorargues that the use of mobile phones in Niger is expanding women's sphere ofprivacy, challenging the disintegration effects of urban life, reinforcing communalties, changing social use of time and what Pertierra et al. (2002) call 'discursivepractices.' The paper concludes by explaining that the popularity of mobilephones in Africa and particularly in Niger lies essentially in the manipulabilityand low cost of those telecommunications devices, including the fact that mobilephones do not require a certain level of literacy among the users.


Microarrays comprise an efficient approach to discovering large numbers of differentially expressed mRNA transcripts in the CNS resulting from changes in hormonal milieu. We used high-density oligonucleotide microarrays to examine the short- and long-term actions of estradiol (E2) on the transcriptomes from the medial basal hypothalamus and other brain regions of E2-treated (10 μg) adult female mice. Our results have revealed several unanticipated gene regulations. Most striking is lipocalin prostaglandin D2 synthase (L-PGDS), which catalyzes the conversion of prostaglandin (PG) H2 to PGD2, a neuromodulator involved in a variety of functions, including sleep, pain, and odor responses. In situ hybridization revealed significant increases in L-PGDS expression in the arcuate and ventromedial nucleus of the medial basal hypothalamus compared with vehicle controls. The magnitude of these changes is ≈2-fold and suggests a modulatory role for PGD2 in E2-controlled neuroendocrine secretions and behaviors. Surprisingly, L-PGDS gene expression is reduced 2-fold after E2 treatment in the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO), the suspected site of action for the sleep-promoting effects of PGD2. Finally, whereas L-PGDS has been reported to be expressed primarily in oligodendrocytes of the adult rodent brain, we demonstrate, immunocytochemically, that L-PGDS is also expressed in a population of VLPO neurons. Thus, our data suggest the intriguing possibility that E2 modulation of L-PGDS plays a role in the regulation of sleep–wake states through hitherto unknown mechanisms in VLPO neurons and through hormone-dependent neuronal-glial cooperation.


Address to the International Seminar on Accountability and Corruption Control, Mexico City, 21 October 2014. Over the last twenty years we have learned that transparency can be used to improve governmental accountability and performance in many ways. We have also become much better at understanding the political, bureaucratic and social factors that influence the adoption and successful implementation of transparency policies. But we have also witnessed the emergence of powerful trends -- such as economic globalization, the growth of terrorism, and a backlash against the democratic surge of the late twentieth century -- that have encouraged stronger resistance to transparency policies. And old approaches to transparency may not work well in a world in which governments and businesses are harvesting vast amounts of digitized information about citizens and customers. For all of these reasons, citizens need friends -- by which I mean organizations that are prepared to resist the rollback of transparency policies, and also explain precisely what governments and businesses are doing with the information they collect. But will there be a ready supply of organizations to play the role of trusted intermediary? This is the crucial question.


Background: Few long-term RCTs compare Hybrid Closed Loop (HCL) insulin delivery to manual (non-HCL) insulin dosing in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Objective: To examine glycemic and psychosocial outcomes in adults with T1D using HCL vs. manual insulin dosing with self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) for 6 months. Methods: Adults using multiple daily injections or pumps with SMBG were randomized 1:1 after insulin dose optimization to 26 weeks of HCL (Medtronic 670G) or continuation of current therapy. The primary outcome was time in target range (70-180mg/dL) with masked CGM during the final 3 weeks. Secondary outcomes included other CGM metrics, HbA1c, treatment satisfaction (DTSQs) and diabetes distress (PAID). Intention to treat analysis was performed with ANCOVA or rank sum test. Results: HCL and control groups were well balanced at baseline (Table). At 26 weeks, mean (95% CI) CGM time in range with HCL was greater by 14.8% (11.1, 18.5), with reduced high and low glucose time, and lower HbA1c. There were no between-group differences in treatment satisfaction or diabetes distress (Table). Conclusions: HCL provided a significant and sustained glycemic benefit compared with standard therapy. Results will inform potential users and health professionals and a cost-benefit analysis may facilitate HCL access. Disclosure S.A. McAuley: Advisory Panel; Self; Medtronic. Research Support; Self; Medtronic, Roche Diabetes Care. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Lilly Diabetes, Roche Diabetes Care. M.H. Lee: Research Support; Self; Medtronic. Speaker's Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Medtronic. B. Paldus: Research Support; Self; JDRF. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Australian Diabetes Society, Medtronic. S. Vogrin: None. M.B. Abraham: Speaker's Bureau; Self; Lilly Diabetes. L. Bach: None. M. Burt: None. N. Cohen: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lilly Diabetes. Research Support; Self; Ypsomed AG. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. P.G. Colman: None. E.A. Davis: None. C. Hendrieckx: None. M. de Bock: None. J. Holmes-Walker: None. J. Kaye: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott. Speaker's Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk Inc. K. Kumareswaran: None. R. MacIsaac: None. R.W. McCallum: None. C.M. Sims: Stock/Shareholder; Self; Medtronic. J. Speight: Research Support; Self; Abbott, AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Sanofi-Aventis. Speaker's Bureau; Self; American Diabetes Association, Australian Diabetes Society, Roche Diabetes Care. S. Stranks: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lilly Diabetes, Sanofi-Aventis. S. Trawley: None. V. Sundararajan: None. G. Ward: None. A.C. Keech: Advisory Panel; Self; Amgen, Kowa Research Institute, Inc. Consultant; Self; Sanofi-Aventis. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Abbott, Amgen. A. Jenkins: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott, Medtronic. Research Support; Self; Abbott, GlySens Incorporated, Medtronic, Sanofi-Aventis. T. Jones: Other Relationship; Self; Medtronic. D.N. ONeal: None.


Water temperature plays a crucial role in the physiology of aquatic species, particularly in their survival and development. Thus, resource programs are commonly used to manage water quality conditions for endemic species. In a river system like the Nechako River system, central British Columbia, a water management program was established in the 1980s to alter water release in the summer months to prevent water temperatures from exceeding a 20 °C threshold downstream during the spawning season of Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Such a management regime could have consequences for other resident species like the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). Here, we use a hydrothermal model and white sturgeon life stage-specific experimental thermal tolerance data to evaluate water releases and potential hydrothermal impacts based on the Nechako water management plan (1980-2019). Our analysis focused mainly on the warmest five-month period of the year (May to September), which includes the water release management period (July-August). Our results show that the thermal exposure risk, an index that measures temperature impact on species physiology of Nechako white sturgeon across all early life stages (embryo, yolk-sac larvae, larvae, and juvenile) has increased substantially, especially in the 2010s relative to the management program implementations' first decade (the 1980s). The embryonic life stage was the most impacted, with a continuous increase in potential adverse thermal exposure in all months examined in the study. We also recorded major impacts of increased thermal exposure on the critical habitats necessary for Nechako white sturgeon recovery. Our study highlights the importance of a holistic management program with consideration for all species of the Nechako River system and the merit of possibly reviewing the current management plan, particularly with the current concerns about climate change impacts on the Nechako River.


The purpose of this study is to appraise the strength and individualism of the principal characters in the novels of Willa Cather. A few critics -- Hicks, Bloom, and others -- have stated that her characters are only types; nevertheless, they have placed Willa Cather on the list of great American novelists. Since Cather's writing is proving more popular in recent years, the study of the characters in her novels seems to be a timely and worthwhile project for research. For a long time this type of study has been prevalent with scholars of theses, book reviews, and essays. Character interpretation involves philosophy, human relationships, frustrating circumstances, central ambition, attitudes, and other aspects of personality. This thesis gives the opportunity for interpreting the characters as Cather, the writer, and critics understand them. Although some kind of interpretation can be made without knowledge of background, this interpretation is based up on a general understanding of Cather's life, philosophy, attitudes, and influences.


Most existing studies of Web site characteristics and their impact on intentions have assumed a linear relationship between them. However, motivational theories suggest that while some characteristics have linear effects, others will act as either hygiene factors or motivator factors and have non-linear effects. Drawing on motivational theory and WebQual constructs, this study looks at different methods of testing for hygiene and motivator factors and proposes a different technique that could clarify misleading results. Linear regression, quadratic regression, and piecewise regression are used in the study. The results show the hygiene effect of trust and suggest that piecewise linear regression may be superior to quadratic regression in this context.