Background Reports of psychiatric morbidity associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection tend to be limited by geography and patients' clinical status. Representative samples are needed to inform service planning and research. Aims To describe the psychiatric morbidity associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction) in referrals to a consultation-liaison psychiatry service in Qatar. Method Retrospective review of 50 consecutive referrals. Results Most patients were male. Median age was 39.5 years. Thirty-one patients were symptomatic (upper respiratory tract symptoms or pneumonia) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 19 were asymptomatic (no characteristic physical symptoms of COVID-19 infection). Seventeen patients (34%) had a past psychiatric history including eight with bipolar I disorder or psychosis, all of whom relapsed. Thirty patients (60%) had physical comorbidity. The principal psychiatric diagnoses made by the consultation-liaison team were delirium (n = 13), psychosis (n = 9), acute stress reaction (n = 8), anxiety disorder (n = 8), depression (n = 8) and mania (n = 8). Delirium was confined to the COVID-19 symptomatic group (the exception being one asymptomatic patient with concurrent physical illness). The other psychiatric diagnoses spanned the symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with COVID. One patient with COVID-19 pneumonia experienced an ischaemic stroke. Approximately half the patients with mania and psychosis had no past psychiatric history. Three patients self-harmed. The commonest psychiatric symptoms were sleep disturbance (70%), anxiety (64%), agitation (50%), depressed mood (42%) and irritability (36%). Conclusions A wide range of psychiatric morbidity is associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and is seen in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. Cases of psychosis and mania represented relapses in people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and also new onset cases.


Biomass derived vegetable oils are quite promising alternative fuels for agricultural diesel engines. Use of vegetable oils in diesel engines leads to slightly inferior performance and higher smoke emissions due to their high viscosity. The performance of vegetable oils can be improved by modifying them through the transesterification process. In the present work, the performance of single cylinder water-cooled diesel engine using methyl-ester of Jatropha and karanja oil as fuel was evaluated for its performance and exhaust emissions. The fuel properties of biodiesel such as kinematic viscosity, calorific value, flash point, carbon residue and specific gravity were found. Results indicated that B25 has closer performance to diesel and B100 has lower brake thermal efficiency, mainly due to its high viscosity compared to diesel. The brake thermal efficiency for biodiesel and its blends was found to be slightly higher than that of diesel fuel at tested load conditions and there was no difference between the biodiesel and its blended fuels efficiencies. For Jatropha and karanja biodiesel and its blended fuels, the exhaust gas temperature increased with increase in power and amount of biodiesel. But, diesel blends showed reasonable efficiency, lower smoke, CO2, CO and HC.


Magnetic field sensors are an integral part of many industrial and biomedical applications, and their utilization continues to grow at a high rate. The development is driven both by new use cases and demand like internet of things as well as by new technologies and capabilities like flexible and stretchable devices. Magnetic field sensors exploit different physical principles for their operation, resulting in different specifications with respect to sensitivity, linearity, field range, power consumption, costs etc. In this review, we will focus on solid state magnetic field sensors that enable miniaturization and are suitable for integrated approaches to satisfy the needs of growing application areas like biosensors, ubiquitous sensor networks, wearables, smart things etc. Such applications require a high sensitivity, low power consumption, flexible substrates and miniaturization. Hence, the sensor types covered in this review are Hall Effect, Giant Magnetoresistance, Tunnel Magnetoresistance, Anisotropic Magnetoresistance and Giant Magnetoimpedance.


Most historical scholarship on race and housing in the 20th-century United States examines public housing and private housing separately or focuses on large metropoles. This study seeks to understand the relationship between public and private housing discrimination, segregated residential patterns, and desegregationist advocacy in mid-20th Century Trenton, New Jersey. To do so, it utilizes archived documents of local civil rights organizations, correspondence between activist groups and local public officials, and local newspaper articles along with secondary literature on race and housing. This thesis argues that the introduction of federal public housing programs in the 1930s, intended to increase quality housing access, allowed Trenton's government officials to place black residents in segregated projects, thereby reinforcing existing segregated residential patterns. Simultaneously, financial institutions and realtors infringed upon black Trentonians' agency in the private market through discriminatory lending and realty practices that discouraged integration. City leaders' segregationist attitudes furthered systemic racial discrimination, confining black Trentonians of all socio-economic classes to poor quality, overcrowded housing. Black and segregationist activists resisted segregationist practices by asserting their right to fair representation as taxpayers through letters, community meetings, and public demonstrations. By the 1960s, they gained an ally in Trenton's mayor, but the mass exodus of white Trentonians in the postwar period prevented integration efforts from coming to full fruition. These findings suggest that racial discrimination in private and public markets coalesced to systemically limit black families' ability to access decent and sufficient housing conditions throughout the country.


The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has demonstrated enhanced transmissibility and escape of vaccine-derived immunity. While current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death, robust evidence on vaccine effectiveness (VE) against all Omicron infections (i.e. irrespective of symptoms) remains sparse. We addressed this knowledge-gap using a community-wide serosurvey with 5,310 subjects by estimating how vaccination histories modulated risk of infection in Hong Kong (which was largely infection naive) during a large wave of Omicron epidemic during January-July 2022. We estimated that Omicron infected 45% (41-48%) of the Hong Kong population. Three and four doses of BNT162b2 or CoronaVac were effective against Omicron infection (VE of 47% (95% credible interval 34-68%) and 70% (43-99%) for three and four doses of BNT162b2 respectively; VE of 31% (1-73%) and 59% (10-99%) for three and four doses of CoronaVac respectively) seven days after vaccination, but protection waned with half-lives of 15 (3-47) weeks for BNT162b2 and 5 (1-37) weeks for CoronaVac. Our findings suggest that booster vaccination can temporarily enhance population immunity ahead of anticipated waves of infections.


Traditional architecture was responsive to climate and environmental considerations. One of the traditional architectural elements in hot dry climate was the Wind catcher that largely contributes thermal comfort inside buildings. However, Modern architectural design has moved away from this vocabulary. This research explores the air heat exchanger (WEAHE) that benefits from the earth soil temperature, as passive cooling system that improves the internal environment thermal comfort and reduces energy consumption in Iraq as an example for hot dry climate. The proposed system is based on increasing Wind catcher area, part of the structure of the Wind catcher is under the ground. To take the advantage of the lower soil temperatures and groundwater in summertime, to moisten the air moving areas through walls and tubes inside the soil. After that, Wind catcher was studied in a house Construction of the proposed model through the horizontal and vertical paths of air transmission to Earth and simulate using a computer a digital "simulation program (CFD)". Results showed through there were increased in airflow and a low temperature around 14 °C. The external temperature was 45.4 °C, relative humidity improved to 24%. The performance coefficient (COP) the "WEAHE system" is 3.34-5.42 with an increase in air velocity 1.5-3.5 m/s. New WEAHE design can be used as a self-cooling device that regulates internal air movement and achieves thermal comfort and sustainable exporter of renewable energy while decrease the need for mechanical means in hot dry climate such as Iraq.


A 3-year-and-7-month-old girl with Down's syndrome had papules and vesicles on hands, feet and buttocks, and vesicular lesions in the oral cavity. A positive culture of enterovirus in vesicular fluid confirmed the clinical diagnosis 'hand-foot-mouth disease'


Job stress is a psychological variable that has gained increasing importance in human resource management studies in recent years. Nursing is one of the professions which might be exposed to various sources of job stress due to its special nature, particularly its relation with patients' physical health. This study was an attempt to investigate the effect of factors including workload, lack of control, information gap, confidence and proficiency in the role, management's relationship and support, and coworkers' relationship and support on the job stress of nurses, and to identify the consequences of job stress in relation to nurses' organizational commitment. The population comprised all nurses working in different treatment and health departments of state and private hospitals of Nicosia. The questionnaires were distributed and finally 100 questionnaires returned by the nurses during several follow-up stages carried out by the researcher. In order to identify the factors influencing job stress, standard models developed by HSE (2004b), Davis et al. (1991) and Osipow (1987) were used. In order to analyze the data, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used by SPSS software. Results show that information gap exerts a positive effect on nurses' job stress, whereas confidence and proficiency in the role and management relationship and support exerts a negative effect on their job stress. However, the significant effect of workload, lack of control, and coworkers' relationship and support was not confirmed. Finally, identification of job stress consequences revealed that nurses with lower levels of job stress enjoyed higher organizational commitment. 1 Corresponding author's email: email@example.com International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics Vol. 4, No. 2, February, 2017 ISSN 2383-2126 (Online) © Authors, All Rights Reserved www.ijmae.com 101


A long afterglow phosphor CaZnGe2O6:Tb3+ has been prepared by using organic coated luminescence ZnO nanopowder through a high temperature solid-state reaction route. This new CaZnGe2O6:Tb3+ long afterglow phosphor sample emits the Tb3+ green fluorescence 543 nm emission corresponding to 5 D 4 ⟶ 7 F 5 transition under UVA 350 nm illumination. The organic coated luminescence ZnO nanopowder serves to construct shallow well trap for the Tb3+ dopant and to minimize electron leakage of well traps. By adjusting the mass ratio of both the bulk ZnO powder (5-10 nm size), depth of well traps that dictate luminescence and afterglow properties could be controlled. The optimized long afterglow phosphor sample was found to be made of 70% gm-weight of bulk ZnO powder and 50% gm-weight of organic coated luminescence ZnO nanopowder or CaZn0.83Ge2O6:Tb3+ phase compound that exhibit afterglow longevity of longer than 3 hours. Therefore, phosphorescence effect is best explained based upon well trap structures model and structure lattice defects play an important role in influencing persistent luminescence phenomena.
(Keywords: Afterglow phosphor, phosphorescence, well trap structure .)


The dual phase Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr TPC) is the state-of-art technology for neutrino detection thanks to its superb 3D tracking and calorimetry performance. Its main feature is the charge amplification in gas argon which provides excellent signal-to-noise ratio. Electrons produced in the liquid argon are extracted in the gas phase. Here, a readout plane based on Large Electron Multiplier detectors provides amplification of the charges before its collection onto an anode with strip readout. The charge amplification enables constructing fully homogenous giant LAr-TPCs with tuneable gain, excellent charge imaging performance and increased sensitivity to low energy events. Following a staged approach the WA105 collaboration is constructing a dual phase LAr-TPC with an active volume of 3×1×1m3 that will soon be tested with cosmic rays. Its construction and operation aims to test scalable solutions for the crucial aspects of this technology: ultra high argon purity in non-evacuable tank, large area dual phase charge readout system in several square meter scale, and accessible cold front-end electronics. A milestone was achieved last year in the completion of the 24 m3 cryostat that hosts the TPC. This is the first cryostat based on membrane technology to be constructed at CERN and is therefore also an important step towards the realisation of the upcoming protoDUNE detectors. The 3×1×1m3 dual phase LAr-TPC will be described in and we will report on the latest construction progress.


An IRF8-dependent subset of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs), termed cDC1, effectively cross-primes CD8+ T cells and facilitates tumor-specific T cell responses. Etv6 is an ETS family transcription factor that controls hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) function and thrombopoiesis. We report that like HSPCs, cDCs express Etv6, but not its antagonist, ETS1, whereas interferon-producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) express both factors. Deletion of Etv6 in the bone marrow impaired the generation of cDC1-like cells in vitro and abolished the expression of signature marker CD8&agr; on cDC1 in vivo. Moreover, Etv6-deficient primary cDC1 showed a partial reduction of cDC-specific and cDC1-specific gene expression and chromatin signatures and an aberrant up-regulation of pDC-specific signatures. Accordingly, DC-specific Etv6 deletion impaired CD8+ T cell cross-priming and the generation of tumor antigen–specific CD8+ T cells. Thus, Etv6 optimizes the resolution of cDC1 and pDC expression programs and the functional fitness of cDC1, thereby facilitating T cell cross-priming and tumor-specific responses.


Endosulfan-induced systemic toxicity arises from oxidative stress and glutathione depletion. This study aims to investigate the possible protective effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) against endosulfan-induced toxicity in the liver and kidney tissue of rats. Wistar albino rats were separated into 4 groups and administered saline, NAC, endosulfan and endosulfan + NAC for 5 days. After euthanizing the animals, trunk blood was collected, followed by the removal of the kidney and liver for histological observation, the determination of glutathione, malondialdehyde levels, collagen content and myeloperoxidase activity. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were measured in serum samples, while 8-OHdG, IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-α were analyzed in plasma. Endosulfan provoked a significant decrease in tissue glutathione, along with a significant increase in malondialdehyde and collagen status, as well as myeloperoxidase activity. In addition, the pro-inflammatory mediators, LDH activity, and 8-OHdG, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase and blood urea nitrogen levels were significantly raised in the endosulfan group. The endosulfan + NAC group showed significant decreases in MPO activity (P < 0.001 in both liver and kidney) and MDA levels (P < 0.01 in the liver, P < 0.05 in the kidney) compared with the endosulfan only group, revealing the protective effect of NAC. Furthermore, the results show that NAC treatment prevents all of the biochemical and histopathological alterations induced by endosulfan. This data indicates that NAC administration effectively prevents the deleterious effects of endosulfan toxicity and attenuates oxidative hepato-renal oxidative damage. This is possibly the result of its antioxidant effects.


This research was performed to specify the morphometry of the adult feline thoracic aorta (AoT) and to obtain reference data for this slice of aorta using computed tomography (CT) as a sensitive indicator for surgical operations and pathological diagnosis in developing veterinary medicine. CT images of the thorax area were used in the study, in which 23 adult short-haired cats (11 male and 12 female) were enrolled. All of the cats were anesthetized with a combination of tiletamine and zolazepam, and then OmnipaqueTM was applied. Fifteen transverse slice images of the body of thoracic vertebrae were taken, located between Th6 and Th13 and the area between the vertebrae of cats. After determining the dorsoventral diameter (DVD) and transversal diameter (TD) of these slices, the cross-sectional area (CsA) and total volume of the AoT were determined using the dotted area measuring technique, which is the basis of the Cavalieri principle. It was found that DVD and TD had closer values for male and female cats, and CsA was found to be higher for females, but no significant statistical difference was found. Although AoT volume was measured according to the Cavalieri principle and was found higher in males than in female cats, there was no statistical difference based on sex. When univariate analysis was used, it was revealed that sex was not an important factor in determining the dimensions of the AoT. It was found that the shape of the AoT was not different between sexes, and the general shape was dorsoventral elliptic.


: Commercial α -cellulose was compression-molded to produce 1A dog-bone specimens under various operating conditions without any additive. The resulting agromaterials exhibited a smooth, plastic-like surface, and constituted a suitable target as replacement for plastic materials. Tensile and three-points bending tests were conducted according to ISO standards related to the evaluation of plastic materials. The specimens had strengths comparable to classical petroleum-based thermoplastics. They also exhibited high moduli, which is characteristic of brittle materials. A higher temperature and higher pressure rate produced specimens with higher mechanical properties while low moisture content produced weaker specimens. Generally, the strong specimen had higher specific gravity and lower moisture content. However, some parameters did not follow the general trend e.g., thinner specimen showed much higher Young's Modulus, although their specific gravity and moisture content remained similar to control, revealing a marked skin-effect which was confirmed by SEM observations.


Abstract We study the problem of the unsupervised learning of graphical models in mixed discrete-continuous domains. The problem of unsupervised learning of such models in discrete domains alone is notoriously challenging, compounded by the fact that inference is computationally demanding. The situation is generally believed to be significantly worse in discrete-continuous domains: estimating the unknown probability distribution of given samples is often limited in practice to a handful of parametric forms, and in addition to that, computing conditional queries need to carefully handle low-probability regions in safety-critical applications. In recent years, the regime of tractable learning has emerged, which attempts to learn a graphical model that permits efficient inference. Most of the results in this regime are based on arithmetic circuits, for which inference is linear in the size of the obtained circuit. In this work, we show how, with minimal modifications, such regimes can be generalized by leveraging efficient density estimation schemes based on piecewise polynomial approximations. Our framework is realized on a recent computational abstraction that permits efficient inference for a range of queries in the underlying language. Our empirical results show that our approach is effective, and allows a study of the trade-off between the granularity of the learned model and its predictive power.


The aim of this session of the conference was to elucidate the nature of the Permo-Carboniferous and older plays in the producing areas of NW Europe and to suggest areas and play types where new discoveries could be made.

The introductory paper by Gerard et al. describes the main producing areas: Southern Permian Basin, Timan-Pechora and the Baltic Basin. Source-rock distribution from Cambrian to Permian times is discussed in terms of eustatic and super-continent cycles, while the obvious relation of areas of production to areas without late tectonic deformation is described.

For the Southern Permian Basin, the general hydrocarbon habitat and the development of the Southern North Sea is well illustrated by Hollywood and Whorlow's paper on multiphase structural development and the review by Bailey et al. of the plays of the Silver Pit Basin. The paper on the Caister Field by Ritchie and Pratsides illustrates the details of stacked structural plays with reservoirs of Triassic and Carboniferous age, while the papers by Turner et al. on the Ravernspurn North Field and by Burri et al. on the Rotliegend of NW Germany highlight the complexity of some traps.These two key papers on Rotliegend fields demonstrate the relationships between diagenesis, stratigraphy and structural history with the presence of good reservoir and the definition of subtle trap geometries. The approaches used by these authors point the way to future exploration evaluation as the Southern Permian Basin becomes increasingly mature.

That the detailed stratigraphic and sedimentological frame-works necessary in the search for subtle . . .


Pereskia bleo, locally known as Jarum Tujuh Bilah, has been claimed to have various medicinal capabilities, including anticancer, anti-rheumatic, and anti-inflammatory activities. In Malaysia, P.bleo has been used as a natural remedy either eaten raw (leaves) or taken as a concoction brewed from dried plant. Hot water extraction method was selected in the present study to mimic the traditional preparation. The hot water extract was then subjected to fractionation process prior to bioassays. Results of exogenous antioxidant assays, including the Total Phenolic content, DPPH and ABTS assays elucidated that hot water extract of P.bleo and its fractions have moderate antioxidant activities, with ethyl acetate (EA) fraction exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity. Cytotoxicity of P.bleo extracts towards various cancer cell lines were tested using MTT assays. MTT results showed that P.bleo extracts possessed moderate cytotoxicity towards tested cell lines, with EA fraction showing the lowest IC50 value (104.47±3.5 μg/ml) towards HT-29 cell line. EA fraction was shown to induce apoptosis in HT-29 cell line. The flow cytometric data of Annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay suggested that EA fraction was able to induce early and late apoptosis in HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent pattern. Meanwhile, in DNA fragmentation assay, DNA ladder was apparent in HT-29 cells following treatment with EA fraction, indicating the occurrence of late apoptosis.


A study of the behavior of the dried collodion membrane toward the bivalent calcium ion showed that: 1. There is almost no potential difference established across a membrane separating two calcium chloride solutions of 0.1 and 0.01 N concentrations. 2. The transfer numbers of chlorine and calcium, as measured in electrical transfer experiments, are both close to 0.5. 3. A sample of membrane in equilibrium with a solution of calcium chloride has an extremely high electrical resistance, greater than is observed with solutions of the chlorides of any of the monovalent cations. 4. The total electrolyte content of a membrane in equilibrium with a solution of calcium chloride was only 20 per cent of that observed when the solution was lithium chloride and 10 per cent of that found when the solution was potassium chloride. In explaining these various results it is supposed that (1), (2) and (3) are all the result of (4), that is, of the inability of the calcium ion to penetrate any but the largest of the membrane pores. As the total quantity of electrolyte able to penetrate the membrane is very small the electrical conductivity must also be very small. Moreover, the few larger pores that are large enough to transport the hydrated calcium ion are too large to exert any appreciable effect in decreasing the mobility of the anion. Thus the membrane has no effect in modifying the potentials established across concentration chains with CaCl2 and the transfer numbers determined experimentally are what one would expect if no membrane were present.


We present follow-up optical g′, r′, and i′ imaging and spectroscopy of serendipitous X-ray sources detected in six archival Chandra images included in the Chandra Multiwavelength Project (ChaMP). Of the 486 X-ray sources detected between 3 × 10-16 and 2 × 10-13 (with a median flux of 3 × 10-15) ergs cm-2 s-1, we find optical counterparts for 377 (78%), or 335 (68%) counting only unique counterparts. We present spectroscopic classifications for 125 objects, representing 75% of sources with r* < 21 optical counterparts (63% to r* = 22). Of all classified objects, 63 (50%) are broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs), which tend to be blue in (g*-r*) colors. X-ray information efficiently segregates these quasars from stars, which otherwise strongly overlap in these SDSS colors until z > 3.5. We identify 28 sources (22%) as galaxies that show narrow emission lines, while 22 (18%) are absorption line galaxies. Eight galaxies lacking broad-line emission have X-ray luminosities that require they host an AGN (logLX > 43). Half of these have hard X-ray emission suggesting that high gas columns obscure both the X-ray continuum and the broad emission line regions. We find objects in our sample that show signs of X-ray or optical absorption, or both, but with no strong evidence that these properties are coupled. ChaMP's deep X-ray and optical imaging enable multiband selection of small and/or high-redshift groups and clusters. In these six fields we have discovered three new clusters of galaxies, two with z > 0.4, and one with photometric evidence for a similar redshift.


A phosphate-bearing polymer thin film was covalently anchored on a glass substrate for alpha spectrometric determination of Pu4+ ions in aqueous samples. This method combined matrix elimination, preconcentration and source preparation into one-step sample manipulation. The thin polymer film was formed by first coupling 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl acrylate (TMSPA) on a hydrolyzed glass substrate by a sol–gel process, and simultaneously utilizing the double bonds of TMSPA for the UV-initiator-induced graft polymerization of bis[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] phosphate monomers. The thin phosphate ligand bearing the thus formed poly(bis[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl] phosphate) (poly(BMEP)) film was characterized for homogeneity, physical morphology, and its affinity toward representative actinide ions such as UO22+, Am3+, Th4+ and Pu4+ in a HNO3 medium. Alpha track radiography and elemental mapping of the C and P atoms indicated uniform formation of the poly(BMEP) film on the glass substrate. Atomic force microscopy indicated a 10–15 nm thickness of the film, and the alpha spectrum of Pu4+-loaded glass@poly(BMEP) exhibited well defined alpha energy peaks without any significant loss of energy in the host matrix. The glass@poly(BMEP) film was found to sorb Pu4+ ions preferentially in 3 mol L−1 HNO3 in the presence of competing UO22+ and Th4+ ions. Am3+ ions did not sorb to a significant extent under similar conditions, even in the absence of Pu4+ ions. The Pu4+ ions loaded on the glass@poly(BMEP) substrate were quantified by isotope-dilution alpha spectrometry. This glass@poly(BMEP)-based alpha spectrometric method was applied successfully to quantify Pu in aqueous samples. The concentrations of Pu measured by this technique were reproducible within ±6% and required a minimum preconcentration of 2.95 Bq Pu activity in the glass@poly(BMEP) film. The measured Pu concentrations showed good agreement with those obtained by standard thermal ionization mass spectrometry.


In this paper we focus on the detection of differentially expressed genes according to changes in hybridization signals using statistical tests. These tests were applied to 14 208 zebrafish cDNA clones that were immobilized on a nylon support and hybridized with radioactively labeled target mRNA from wild-type and lithium-treated zebrafish embryos. The methods were evaluated with respect to 16 control clones that correspond to eight different genes which are known to be involved in dorso-ventral axis specification. Moreover, 4608 Arabidopsis thaliana clones on the same array were used to judge statistical significance of expression changes and to control the false positive rates of the test decisions. Utilizing this special array design we show that differential expression of a high proportion of cDNA clones (15/16) and the respective genes (7/8) were identified, with a false positive error of <5% using the constant control data. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of the number of repetitions of experiments on the accuracy of the procedures with experimental and simulated data. Our results suggest that the detection of differential expression with repeated hybridization experiments is an accurate and sensitive way of identifying even small expression changes (1:1.5) of a large number of genes in parallel.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To explore the attitudes of nurses treating patients with cancer regarding the use of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) therapies to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life (QOL).
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DESIGN
Prospective and descriptive.

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SETTING
12 hospital and community care settings in Israel.
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SAMPLE
973 nurses working in oncology and non-oncology departments.
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METHODS
A 26-item questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of nurses treating patients with cancer.
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MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Interest in CIM integration and training in supportive cancer care.
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FINDINGS
Of the 973 nurses who completed the questionnaire, 934 expressed interest in integrating CIM into supportive cancer care. A logistic regression model indicated that nurses with a greater interest in integration tended to be older, believed that CIM improved patients' QOL, and had no structured postgraduate oncology training. Nurses who believed CIM to be beneficial for QOL-related outcomes were more likely to express interest in related training. The goals of such training include improving QOL-related outcomes, such as anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal symptoms, and pain.
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CONCLUSIONS
Most nurses working with patients with cancer are interested in the integration of CIM into supportive cancer care.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Most nurses would like to undergo training in CIM to supplement conventional care. CIM-trained integrative nurses can help promote the integration of patient-centered CIM therapies in supportive cancer care settings.


In animals, the piRNA pathway preserves the integrity of gametic genomes, guarding them against the activity of mobile genetic elements. This innate immune mechanism relies on distinct genomic loci, termed piRNA clusters, to provide a molecular definition of transposons, enabling their discrimination from genes. piRNA clusters give rise to long, single-stranded precursors, which are processed into primary piRNAs through an unknown mechanism. These can engage in an adaptive amplification loop, the ping-pong cycle, to optimize the content of small RNA populations via the generation of secondary piRNAs. Many proteins have been ascribed functions in either primary biogenesis or the ping-pong cycle, though for the most part the molecular functions of proteins implicated in these pathways remain obscure. Here, we link shutdown (shu), a gene previously shown to be required for fertility in Drosophila, to the piRNA pathway. Analysis of knockdown phenotypes in both the germline and somatic compartments of the ovary demonstrate important roles for shutdown in both primary biogenesis and the ping-pong cycle. shutdown is a member of the FKBP family of immunophilins. Shu contains domains implicated in peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity and in the binding of HSP90-family chaperones, though the relevance of these domains to piRNA biogenesis is unknown.


Abstract Objective: Alcohol use can cause social problems. Beside alcoholism the "binge drinking" and the "pre-drinking" could be a harmful form of alcohol use based on scientific literature data. In this study the alcohol use behaviors and associated problems were evaluated among young people aged between 14-30 years. Methods: The study was carried out using a self reporting questionnaire, containing the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) developed by World Health Organization and 10 more questions. This questionnaire was created in two languages (Romanian, Hungarian) and uploaded to the on-line survey page (www.kwiksurveys.com). The link was shared at different Facebook groups. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 933 young people. There was a predominance of females (66.99%) and the participant's average age was 22.12 years (±2.78). The results show that males' relative risk (RR) for alcoholism is 7.18 (CI95%, 3.47-14.85). Majority (539; 57.77%) of the participants had at least one time binge drinking, from this 36.66% were occasionally binge drinkers and 21.11% were regular binge drinkers. More males binge drinkers were found then females (RR: 1.72; CI95%, 1.55-1.90). The people who participate in pre-drinking have RR of 2.14 (CI95%, 1.89-2.41) for binge drinking. The binge drinkers have RR of 2.58 (CI95%, 1.78-3.37) for drunk driving. Conclusions: Binge drinking is a really common habit among young people. Measures to reduce the risk or prevent the harmful consequences of this habit should be employed.


The new mineral NaCrSi206 (ureyite) has been found as rareemeraldgreen grains in the iron meteorites Coahuila, Toluca, and Hex River Mountains. X-ray studies of the natural and synthetic material have established that the mineral is isostructural with jadeite, NaAlSi206. Indexed data for powder patterns obtained by x-ray diffraction and precise cell dimensions are given for the Cr, Fe, and Al members of the jadeite group. Unlike jadeite, a high-pressure phase, ureyite can be synthesized from melts at 1-atmosphere pressure.


The workshop program reviewed "the existing situation" on the first day, "background to existing divergency in pesticide regulation" and "pest control in the future" on the second day, and "analysis of the role of Science in enhancing regulatory wisdom" on the last day. This report reviews the topics in the order in which they affected the underlying question posed to the workshop--"how is it that the same pesticide can be regulated differently in different countries when the data are the same?" In this regard, the key presentations at the workshop were those which described results of international reviews of the ways in which countries regulated pesticides and how different countries could reach different decisions based on the same scientific information base.


Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate effects of massage therapy and the attachment promotion program with autistic children. Method: A quasi-experimental design was conducted with a convenience sample of 44 autistic children. The experimental group (n= 23) attended the massage therapy and the attachment promotion program for 4 months. The control group (n=21) only had the attachment promotion program. Measurements were made twice for both groups using the social maturity scale and child autism rating scale. Recording of mother-child attachment was done for 15 minutes in only the experimental group twice using video equipment. Results: After 4 months of interventions, there was significant difference on social maturity (F=9.01, p=.005) between the groups. However, there was no significant difference on CARS ((F=2.47, p=.124). The total scores of mother-child attachment between pre- and post-interventions showed a significant difference (Z=-3.42, p=.001). Conclusion: The results showed that massage therapy and the attachment promotion program might be an effective way for providing a chance to increase social maturation and to increase attachment between mother and autistic child.


The main objective of this book has been to examine what were the basic factors of the unprecedented high growth of the Japanese economy in the postwar world. However, with 1970-71 as a turning point, Japan began to slow down its growth to the rate observed for a mature economy owing to the following major internal and external reasons: (i) As internal factors responsible for Japan's rapid growth reached maturity and their driving force became weakened, Japanese economic growth has run into a period of deceleration. (ii) Since late 1973, significant changes occurred in the world economic system, which had nurtured Japan's rapid economic growth. (More on these later.)


A drug for the prevention and therapy of tick-borne encephalitis virus is being developed on the basis of the protective chimeric antibody ch14D5a. At the same time, the epitope recognized by this antibody on the surface of glycoprotein E has not been localized yet. The aim of this work was to identify the domain of glycoprotein E, to which the protective antibody ch14D5a binds. As a result, four recombinant variants of glycoprotein E were generated using the bacterial expression system: (1) the rE protein containing the domains D1, D2, and D3 of glycoprotein E; (2) the rED1+2 protein containing domains D1 and D2; (3) the rED3_301 protein, which is domain D3 of glycoprotein E, and (4) the rED3_294 protein comprising domain D3 and a hinge region connecting domains D1 and D3. The rED3_294 and rED3_301 proteins were obtained in soluble monomeric form. The rE and rED1+2 proteins were extracted from the inclusion bodies of Escherichia coli. Using Western blot analysis and surface plasmon resonance analysis, it was demonstrated that the protective chimeric antibody ch14D5a and its Fab fragment bound specifically to domain D3 of glycoprotein E. Since the antibodies recognizing epitopes on the surface of domain D3 do not tend to cause antibody-dependent enhancement of the infection as compared to antibodies directed to domains D1 and D2, the data obtained confirm the promise of using the antibody ch14D5a in the development of a therapeutic preparation against the tick-borne encephalitis virus.


The curriculum that is delivered through Business Schools has come under increasing scrutiny from a range of observers because of a number of concerns. These concerns can be reduced to three fundamental questions that attend all discussions on curriculum reform: what is the purpose of teaching this particular body of knowledge, to whom should it be offered, and how should it be delivered? This collection of published works is concerned with addressing a profound knowledge gap in Business School education that revolves around the future curriculum, its relevance and how it could be better resourced. This collection of published works addresses these problems through empirical research and makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the contemporary Business School curriculum and how it may be improved in order to meet the needs of students and wider society. In particular, Section 1 of this contextual chapter provides an introduction to the thesis outlining its structure. Section 2 provides an overview of the discourse related to the Business School curriculum. This Section identifies particular problems relating to the curriculum and addresses the knowledge gap in how we could respond to these concerns. Section 3 explains the choice of research methods used in this range of published works and in doing so justifies the methodological approach taken. Section 4 describes the findings generated by the research and comments on its significance as a contribution to knowledge. Finally, Section 5 concludes this contextual chapter and outlines areas for future research.


The economic liberalism, globalization and more recently the economic crisis are general phenomena leading to changes of territorial management practices. Within these practices, place marketing and branding are of crucial importance in promoting an image of the city and bringing some added value to a place. Although an emerging challenging problem for local authorities, few scholars are currently addressing the subject, in terms of delivering a branding modus operandi for the practitioners, be they local authorities or private agencies . The present paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the most recent writings showing how product marketing techniques apply to place marketing, with an emphasis on city branding, presenting the manner in which the place branding process was improved in two of the most representative cities of Transylvania: Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca. The paper's main objective is to highlight the role of territorial marketing which can become, through one of its components, namely place branding, an important trigger for the local communities development by the means of strategic planning. In this respect, the present work displays an overview of some of the most illustrative theoretical models regarding city branding, an insight on the Romanian city branding process within the two aforementioned cities and, finally, some brief recommendations regarding the place and the role of branding process for local authorities. The paper assumes that although place branding is an efficient tool for promoting a territory's identity (already proven in several European cities), Romania is at the beginning of this process. The few significant achievements (the ones from Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca being the most notable) still cannot make the most of their urban identities and values, neither at national, nor at international level. Last but not least, this kind of papers might raise some awareness among local stakeholders on the importance of these somehow new techniques.


Quartz resonator is a very important device to generate a clock frequency for information and telecommunication system. Improvement of the productivity of the quartz resonator is always required because huge amounts of resonator are demanded to install to various electronic devices. Resonance frequency of the quartz resonator is determined by the thickness of the quartz crystal wafer. Therefore it is essential to uniform the thickness distribution of the quartz crystal wafer with nanometric level. We propose the improvement process of the thickness distribution of the quartz crystal wafer by numerically controlled correction using atmospheric pressure plasma which is noncontact and chemical removal technique. We have already succeeded in obtaining a thickness uniformity of 33.1nm within 2 min in the thickness correction of an AT-cut quartz crystal wafer with an area of 24 mm × 24 mm. However, increase of removal rate and improvement of correction accuracy are required for industrial manufacturing. Heating effects of the quartz crystal wafer in the removal rate and the correction accuracy were investigated. The heating of the substrate and compensate of the scanning speed of the worktable in accordance with the variation of the surface temperature enabled an increase of 50% in removal rate and 10-nanometric-level accuracy in correction of the thickness distribution of the quartz crystal wafer.


Aims & Objectives: To know correlation between Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) and height, weight & BMI in males and females. Material &Method: The study has been carried out on 150 healthy females & males of 18 to 25 years of age. Informed consent was taken. Their PEFR was measured with the help of mini Wrights Peak Flow Meter. Three PEFR readings were taken from each individual and the best of the three readings was considered. Subjects were categorized into groups based on their differences in height, weight and BMI. The variations of PEFR with respect to height, weight and BMI were determined separately. Unpaired t-test and Pearson correlation was used for analysis. Results: The values of PEFR obtained in this study were within the normal range. The mean values of height, weight, BMI and PEFR were higher for males than females. There is also positive anthropometric association with PEFR. Conclusion: It was concluded that PEFR shows positive correlation with anthropometric determinants like height, weight and BMI.


The purpose of this article is to detect a possible linear and nonlinear causal relationship between the conditional stochastic volatility of log return of interbank interest rates for the BRICS countries in the period from January 2015 to October 2018. To extract the volatility of the analyzed time series, we use a stochastic volatility model with moving average innovations. To test a causal relationship between the estimated stochastic volatilities, two steps are applied. First, we used the Granger causality test and a vector autoregressive model (VAR). Secondly, we applied the nonlinear Granger causality test to the raw data to explore a new nonlinear causal relationship between stochastic volatility time series, and also applied it to the residual of the VAR model to confirm the causality detected in the first step. This study demonstrates the existence of some unidirectional/bidirectional linear/nonlinear causal relationships between the studied stochastic volatility time series.


DNA-based studies have been one of the major interests in conservation biology of endangered species and in population genetics. As species and population genetic assessment requires a source of biological material, the sampling strategy can be overcome by non-destructive procedures for DNA isolation. An improved method for obtaining DNA from fish fins and scales with the use of an extraction buffer containing urea and further DNA purification with phenol-chloroform is described. The methodology combines the benefits of a non-destructive DNA sampling and its high efficiency. In addition, comparisons with other methodologies for isolating DNA from fish demonstrated that the present procedure also becomes a very attractive alternative to obtain large amounts of high-quality DNA for use in different molecular analyses. The DNA samples, isolated from different fish species, have been successfully used on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) experiments, as well as on amplification of specific ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences. The present DNA extraction procedure represents an alternative for population approaches and genetic studies on rare or endangered taxa.


Department of Genetics and Microbiology, Facultad de Biologla, University of Murcia, 30071 Murcia, Spain The addition of glucose to derepressed cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe provokes a CAMP signal and activation of the cytoplasmic neutral trehalase. This transduction pathway does not require functional RAS protein since RASIdisrupted cells exhibited a glucose response similar to that shown by control cells. Treatment of activated trehalase by alkaline phosphatase resulted in enzyme deactivation suggesting that trehalase may be modulated in wiwo by reversible phosphorylation through CAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKAI). However, the addition of glucose to derepressed growing cells of Schiz. pombe lacking the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (Apkal : : URA4+ strains) induced stimulation of trehalase as well as phosphorylation of the enzyme protein. This glucose-induced response was absent in PKA I-def icient cells from resting cultures. Addition of exogenous CAMP activated trehalase in normal growing cells but failed to produce any effect on trehalase in PKAI-disrupted growing cells. These results confirm the occurrence of a PKAl-dependent pathway for trehalase activation and imply the existence of another glucoseinduced phosphorylation pathway capable of activating trehalase during growth by a distinct, CAMP-independent protein kinase. At least one of the upstream components playing a role in the transduction of this alternative signal is either absent or inactive in cells from stationary phase and sporulated cultures. Cells harbouring the disrupted PKAI gene responded also to a heatshock signal by increasing trehalase activity, thus revealing that this enzyme may be a target common to various signalling pathways in the fission yeast.


The finite element analysis and calculation were performed for the blanket first-wallmade of SiC/SiC composite material for Advanced Steady-state Tokamak Reactor 2, A-SSTR2,which at present is conceptually designed in Naka Fusion research establishment, JAERI. Compar-ison analysis and design window were analyzed using the finite element code ADINA 7.4. Througha 2D calculation for various geometrical configurations and sensitive material properties, a fun-damental guideline for the first wall and blanket design are established with respect to maximumtemperature, thermal and mechanical stress for many configurations. To satisfy hydrodynamicrequirement, a4d4 (the dimension of coolant channel is 4 mm × 8 mm, and the distance betweenneighboring channels is 4 mm) was chosen as a design point for high thermal conductivity upto 50 W/m.K. In order to find a good solution for lower conductivity, more elaborate work shouldbe done in the future. Nonetheless, the outline of design window for a specific structural materialis very useful for the future A-SSTR2 first wall design.


This thesis applies game theory to study optimal toehold bidding strategies during takeover competition, the problem of optimal design of voting rules and the design of package bidding mechanism to implement the core allocations. It documents three different research questions that are all related to auction theory. Chapter 2 develops a two-stage takeover game to explain toehold puzzle in the context of takeover. Potential bidders are allowed to acquire target shares in the open market, subject to some limitations. This pre-bid ownership is known as a toehold. Purchasing a toehold prior to making any takeover offer looks like a profitable strategy given substantial takeover premiums. However actual toehold bidding has decreased since 1980s and now is not common. Its time-series patter is centred on either zero or a large value. Chapter 2 develops a two-stage takeover game. In the first stage of this two-stage game, each bidder simultaneously acquires a toehold. In the second stage, bidders observe acquired toehold sizes, and process this information to update their beliefs about rival's private valuation. Then each bidder competes to win the target under a sealed-bid second-price auction. Different from previous toehold puzzle literature focusing on toehold bidding costs in the form of target managerial entrenchment, this chapter develops a two-stage takeover game and points another possible toehold bidding cost - the opportunity loss of a profitable resale. Chapter 2 finds that, under some conditions, there exists a partial pooling Bayesian equilibrium, in which low-value bidders optimally avoid any toehold, while high-value bidders pool their decisions at one size. The equilibrium toehold acquisition strategies coincide with the bimodal distribution of the actual toehold purchasing behaviour. Chapter 3 studies the problem of optimal design of voting rules when each agent faces binary choice. The designer is allowed to use any type of non-transferable penalty on individuals in order to elicit agents' private valuations. And each agent's private valuation is assumed to be independently distributed. Early work showed that the simple majority rule has good normative properties in the situation of binary choice. However, their results relay on the assumption that agents' preferences have equal intensities. Chapter 3 shows that, under reasonable assumptions, the simple majority is the best voting mechanism in terms of utilitarian efficiency, even if voters' preferences are comparable and may have varying intensities. At equilibrium, the mechanism optimally assigns zero penalty to every voter. In other words, the designer does not extract private information from any agent in the society, because the expected penalty cost of eliciting private information to select the better alternative is too high. Chapter 4 presents a package bidding mechanism whose subgame perfect equilibrium outcomes coincide with the core of an underlying strictly convex transferable utility game. It adopts the concept of core as a competitive standard, which enables the mechanism to avoid the well-known weaknesses of VCG mechanism. In this mechanism, only core allocations generate subgame perfect equilibrium payoffs, because non-core allocations provide arbitrage opportunities for some players. By the strict convexity assumption, the implementation of the core is achieved in terms of expectation.


Developing the capability to interpret nursing-sensitive quality indicators and other outcome data can be a challenge for registered nurses. An interactive, facilitator-led learning activity effectively addressed this issue in one organization. Registered nurses identified solutions to quality measures in an environment that engaged all levels of Benner's novice-to-expert continuum. The activity had positive outcomes, and learning was shown after the activity.


Objective: To test the hypothesis that the more severe the acute phase retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was in the preterm weeks, the more severely compromised is rod photoreceptor function after the ROP has resolved. Methods: Electroretinographic (ERG) responses were recorded from 25 dark-adapted children (ages 2.5 months' postterm to 14 years) categorized by maximum, acute phase ROP (None to Very Severe). From the ERG a-wave "S," a sensitivity parameter for the rod photoreceptor response, and Rmp3, the saturated amplitude of the rod photoreceptor response were calculated using a model of the activation of rod phototransduction. The patients' results were compared with those of healthy controls (n=71). Results: Among those in the None, Mild, Moderate, and Severe categories, both S and Rmp3 varied significantly with severity of acute phase ROP. In the Very Severe category, ERG responses were too attenuated to calculate S and Rmp3. Conclusions: The rod photoreceptors must be involved in ROP. The more severe the acute phase ROP, the more severe is the compromise of the processes involved in the activation of phototransduction in the rods.


Rationale: Dietary intake is a potential risk factor for respiratory morbidity in adult populations. Few studies capture the effect of dietary patterns, representative of the combination of nutrients consumed, on self‐reported respiratory morbidity in combination with objective measures of lung function. Objectives: To evaluate patterns of dietary intake in relation to respiratory morbidity and objective measures of lung function in a U.S. population. Methods: The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) study investigators enrolled 15,792 participants from four U.S. communities between 1987 and 1989 and collected data using a validated food frequency questionnaire to assess diet. Principal component analysis was applied, and patterns representative of "Western" and "Prudent" diets emerged. We investigated cross‐sectional associations between dietary patterns and pulmonary assessments that included asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnosis, respiratory symptoms, and lung function. Multivariable Poisson regression models included quintiles of dietary patterns and potential confounders. Interaction of dietary patterns with obesity, sex, and smoking status was assessed in relation to all outcomes. Results: Higher scores in the "Western" dietary pattern (quintile 5 vs. quintile 1) were associated with higher prevalence of COPD (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.62; 95% confidence ratio [CI], 1.33‐1.97), wheeze (PR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.11‐1.69), cough (PR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.32‐1.59), and phlegm (PR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05‐1.54) and lower percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), percent predicted forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC ratio. Higher scores in the "Prudent" dietary pattern (quintile 5 vs. quintile 1) were associated with lower prevalence of COPD (PR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.70‐0.95) and cough (PR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.67‐0.89) and higher percent predicted FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio. The prevalence of asthma was not related to dietary intake. Conclusions: A "Western" dietary pattern was associated with respiratory symptoms, lower lung function, and COPD in ARIC participants.


Haemophilus ducreyi is the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease chancroid. We have identified a hemolytic activity expressed by H. ducreyi. This activity is most readily detected when horse erythrocytes are used as a target; however, low levels of activity can be detected with sheep, human, or rabbit erythrocyte targets. The activity is heat labile and protease sensitive.


This chapter investigates the cone of copositive matrices, with a focus on the design and analysis of conic inner approximations for it. These approximations are based on various sufficient conditions for matrix copositivity, relying on positivity certificates in terms of sums of squares of polynomials. Their application to the discrete optimization problem asking for a maximum stable set in a graph is also discussed. A central theme in this chapter is understanding when the conic approximations suffice for describing the full copositive cone, and when the corresponding bounds for the stable set problem admit finite convergence.


This research explores material artifacts of Edwardian lingerie and Modernist couture through their cultural and material connections. Material culture theories of communication and production were used to examine garment artifacts from both Eras, while a conceptual framework provided a space to develop material outcomes and knowledge based upon research. Key findings from the research show that the cultural commodification of the female body, increased female agency and the fragmentation of social structures resulted in the development of specialized garments uniquely suited to the cultural requirements of the Modernist Era. Cultural producers continually adapted design practices and transformed dress signifiers of value in a cycle of appropriation and transformation. In addition, the appropriation of labour intensive Edwardian Era Lingerie techniques by Modernist couture houses supported the development of exclusive commodities whose design process was key to preventing devaluation through counterfeiting. Ultimately, a collection of garments resulted from a design exploration of these techniques, using action and practitioner research.


Chernoff (1971, Technical Report 71, Department of Statistics, Stanford University; 1973, Journal of the American Statistical Association 68: 361– 368) proposed the use of cartoon-like faces to represent points in k dimensions. This article describes a Stata implementation of a face-generating algorithm using the method proposed by Flury (1980, Technical Report 3, Institute of Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, Bern University), Schüpbach (1987, Technical Report 25, Institute of Mathematical Statistics and Acturial Science, Bern University), and Friendly (1991, http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/sasmac/faces.html). I present examples of applying Chernoff faces to data clustering and outlier detection.


Some recent approaches to narratology have presented the event as a basic constitutive element of narrativity. The event is considered either a primitive term or something that just happens or may happen, a change from one state to another. The underlying concepts are identity, state, and being. The article describes the event in general and the narrative event in particular from the perspective of the primacy of becoming, change, and flow, employing especially Whitehead's philosophy of process and also certain concepts developed by reception aesthetics. The narrative event is analyzed in the context of the following concatenation: the event – interconnected events – plot – fictional world – the real world and its potentiality. The aim is to understand a narrative event not as an interruption of the receptive flow, but as its change of course among levels of emergence.


The effect of colchicine on stalk elongation in the colonial peritrich ciliate Carchesium sp. has been investigated by growing this protozoon in colchicine-containing media. The length of the stalk in control cultures was 0-4-0-9 mm. In the presence of 2-5-12-5 mM colchicine, stalk elongation was inhibited, and stalk length was inversely proportional to colchicine concentration. At concentrations above 7-5 mM colchicine, stalks measured less than 0-1 mm, and sometimes contained imperfect myonemes. The rate of cell fission was retarded in colchicine-containing media, but nevertheless short-stalked colonies with apparently normal zooids were formed. On transfer of such colonies to media without colchicine normal growth was resumed, but only the newly formed branches were of normal length and contractility. The inhibitory effect of colchicine was annulled by Ca2+ and Mg2+ at 10(-3) and 10(-4) M, respectively. At lower concentrations of Mg2+, but in the presence of Ca2+, the effect of colchicine was less conspicuous than at low Ca2+ concentration in presence of Mg2+. Lowering Mg2+ concentration at low Ca2+ concentration, increased the inhibitory effect of colchicine. It is concluded that colchicine-sensitive, probably tubulin-like proteins, participate in the formation of the contractile stalk of Carchesium. Ca2+ and Mg2+ probably compete with colchicine for a common site in these proteins, or they might reduce the cell's permeability to this drug.


In this study, uses of labor were characterized using the 'Work Balance' method in a sample of 17 oasis farms. The results showed that almost 44% of total uses of labor are devoted to livestock, while the remainders 56% are used for crops. The labor required to raise livestock was almost entirely (92%) provided by family member, whereas that required for crops was mostly provided by hired laborers. Date palms are the pillar of the oasis farming system and enable the positive synergies of this mixed crop/livestock system. Date wastes and cereal straw are used to feed the animals, while the livestock supplies the farmers with milk and meat, and their sale ensures the purchase of agricultural inputs in the period preceding date harvest. Our results show that labor is an essential component of oasis farming systems, as it provides opportunities to achieve a circular economy. Otherwise, on farms specialized in crops that have no livestock, the economic efficiency of labor is higher, thanks to higher investments. Taken together, these results suggest that there are ways to improve the efficiency of the uses of labor on oasis farms.


Statistical analysis of the scatter (noise) in the oceanic heat flow data (about 800 measurements) has revealed the following statistical structure: the scatter in the ridge data is proportional to the background signal. Reduced scatter, that is, actual scatter divided by the mean is homogeneous. The probability density function of the reduced scatter is asymmetric with a peak on the negative side. Variance of the basin data depends upon the thickness of the sediment. The thermal field when continued downwards to the bottom of the sediment has a variance approximately equal to that of the ridge data. From this it is suggested that the ocean bottom underneath the sediments is as rough as in the ridge region. The entire ocean bottom must have been formed by the same process, for example, by a mechanism of dyke intrusion along the crest and lateral movement of the oceanic crust.


In recent years there has been an increasing level of interest in indigenous tourism. This has developed in an attempt to improve the returns to indigenous people. Too often indigenous people have become an object to view with little control over what is presented to tourists. The consequence of this has been the development of various paradigms for indigenously controlled tourism, including Maori. One of the aims of this paper is to review the research that has been conducted on Maori tourism. It is necessary, however, to step back from this process, which has developed from a succession of reactions to earlier problems rather than from a pro-active stance. This paper will not say what Maori should do with regard to tourism. That certainly is not my place. Instead, what will be offered are a number of questions that I believe should be answered or answered more completely. The presentation will take, as its basis, a very simple supply and demand approach. Whether tourism should be defined from a supply or demand perspective has been a topic of debate for some years in tourism research, particularly when considering the 'tourism industry'. Nearly all the research conducted so far on Maori tourism has been from the perspective of the supply of Maori cultural tourism. The demand for tourism by Maori has not been considered. Do Maori have the same motivation to be tourists as other groups in New Zealand? In terms of domestic tourism are Maori more likely to engage in 'reciprocated' tourism, that is visiting other Maori with the expectation that, at some time in the future, they will play host to Maori visitors? Are the places that Maori visit different to those places that attract other tourists? On the supply side questions need to be asked about what defines Maori Tourism. Can a tourism product offered by Maori businesses be considered Maori tourism if the products are not about Maori? Alternatively, does 'Maori Tourism' only refer to tourism products for which offer Maori culture to overseas visitors?


BACKGROUND
To date, there has not been sufficient experimental evidence to demonstrate the pharmacological effect of secretolytic and mucolytic drugs.

METHODS
Scintigraphic studies to detect the mucociliary clearance in the maxillary sinus before and after application of the secretolytic drug Gelomyrtol forte were performed on four healthy persons and one patient after sinus surgery. The most important parameter was the mucociliary transport velocity of the "region of interest-maxillary sinus" and the increase of radioactivity accumulated in a tampon placed in the middle meatus of the nose. Measurements were done with a gamma-camera, 99 m Technetium-sulphurcolloid was used as the radiopharmacentical. A dose of 1 MBq in 0.2 ml NaCl-solution was injected into the maxillary sinus.

RESULTS
The results show a clear increase of mucociliary transport velocity in the maxillary sinus after intake of secretolytics in connection with an increase of radioactivity in the tampon.

DISCUSSION
The results can be explained by the secretolytic and secretomotoric effects of the investigated drug.

CONCLUSION
The study reveals that ethereal oils have secretolytic effects and also have a pharmacological effect on the mucociliary apparatus.


Developers need help with multithreaded programming. We investigate how two program analysis tools are used by developers at Google: ThreadSafety, an annotation-based static data race analysis, and TSan, a dynamic data race de- tector. The data was collected by interviewing seven veteran industry developers at Google, and provides unique insight into how four different teams use tooling in different ways to help with multithreaded programming. The result is a collection of perceived pros and cons of using ThreadSafety and TSan, as well as general issues with multithreading.


Predicting natural and diverse 3D hand gestures from the upper body dynamics is a practical yet challenging task in virtual avatar creation. Previous works usually overlook the asymmetric motions between two hands and generate two hands in a holistic manner, leading to unnatural results. In this work, we introduce a novel bilateral hand disentanglement based two-stage 3D hand generation method to achieve natural and diverse 3D hand prediction from body dynamics. In the first stage, we intend to generate natural hand gestures by two hand-disentanglement branches. Considering the asymmetric gestures and motions of two hands, we introduce a Spatial-Residual Memory (SRM) module to model spatial interaction between the body and each hand by residual learning. To enhance the coordination of two hand motions wrt. body dynamics holistically, we then present a Temporal-Motion Memory (TMM) module. TMM can effectively model the temporal association between body dynamics and two hand motions. The second stage is built upon the insight that 3D hand predictions should be non-deterministic given the sequential body postures. Thus, we further diversify our 3D hand predictions based on the initial output from the stage one. Concretely, we propose a Prototypical-Memory Sampling Strategy (PSS) to generate the non-deterministic hand gestures by gradient-based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art models on the B2H dataset and our newly collected TED Hands dataset. The dataset and code are available at: https://github.com/XingqunQilab/Diverse-3D-Hand-Gesture-Prediction.


In this paper, we describe the self-generation of gait pattern in quadruped walking robot. The gait of robot is generated by the neural network CPG : Central Pattern Generator, and the robot learns the gait pattern by finding the optimal weights in CPG. In addition to the traditional optimization methods such as GA : Genetic Algorithm, and LSM : Likelihood Search Method, we propose the new optimization method VQSM : Vector Quantizing Search Method, which finds gradient from the finite quantized vectors to be applicable to the discontinuous search space, and which inherits intensification and diversification of search from LSM to find the global optimum in the search space. The simulation result of self-generation of gait pattern shows that VQSM has an advantage of optimization over LSM and an advantage of computational amount over GA. It is also shown that, like the gait of animals, according to walking speed, the optimal gait becomes Bound from Trot.


Sequence analysis of the human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) long terminal repeat (LTR) does not reveal a polyadenylation consensus sequence, AAUAAA, close to the polyadenylation site at the 3' end of the viral RNA. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we demonstrated that two cis-acting signals are required for efficient RNA processing in HTLV-I LTR: (i) a remote AAUAAA hexamer at a distance of 276 nucleotides upstream of the polyadenylation site, and (ii) the 20-nucleotide GU-rich sequence immediately downstream from the poly(A) site. It has been postulated that the folding of RNA into a secondary structure juxtaposes the AAUAAA sequence, in a noncontiguous manner, to within 14 nucleotides of the polyadenylation site. To test this hypothesis, we introduced deletions and point mutations within the U3 and R regions of the LTR. RNA 3'-end processing occurred efficiently at the authentic HTLV-I poly(A) site after deletion of the sequences predicted to form the secondary structure. Thus, the genetic analysis supports the hypothesis that folding of the HTLV-I RNA in the U3 and R regions juxtaposes the AAUAAA sequence and the poly(A) site to the correct functional distance. This unique arrangement of RNA-processing signals is also found in the related retroviruses HTLV-II and bovine leukemia virus.


There is now wide agreement that people with severe mental illness can be adequately treated and cared for in the community, provided back-up hospital care is available when needed. Another important development has been the recognition that clinical treatment and care is insufficient for recovery and restoration of role functioning following illness onset, and must be supplemented by evidence-based practices in psychiatric rehabilitation. This article describes how allied health professionals can lead recovery oriented approaches that incorporate evidence-based forms of psychiatric rehabilitation. Family psychoeducation and supported employment are provided as examples of such evidence-based practices that require wider implementation.


This paper is principally concerned with the form error measurement and evaluation of the spherical surface after precision machining. According to the minimum zone condition, the definition of sphericity error is first analyzed. To obtain the minimum sphericity error from the form data, an approximations technique is devised. First the method is modeled, then the process of approximations is constructed, and finally software for data processing is programmed. Six steel bolls of φ50 are measured on a coordinate measurement machine (CMM) in the Measurement experiment. The experiment results indicate that the geometric approximations technique can give an accurate solution with high efficiency.


Data exploration systems have become popular tools with which data analysts and others can explore raw data and organize their observations. However, users of such systems who are unfamiliar with their datasets face several challenges when trying to extract data events of interest to them. Those challenges include progressively discovering informative charts, organizing them into a logical order to depict a meaningful fact, and arranging one or more facts to illustrate a data event. To alleviate them, we propose VisGuide—a data exploration system that generates personalized recommendations to aid users' discovery of data events in breadth and depth by incrementally learning their data exploration preferences and recommending meaningful charts tailored to them. As well as user preferences, VisGuide's recommendations simultaneously consider sequence organization and chart presentation. We conducted two user studies to evaluate 1) the usability of VisGuide and 2) user satisfaction with its recommendation system. The results of those studies indicate that VisGuide can effectively help users create coherent and user-oriented visualization trees that represent meaningful data events.


In this paper, a source-assisting differential distributed space time block coding (SA-DDSTBC) scheme is proposed for cooperative networks. Firstly, in most existing works on distributed space time block coding (DSTBC), the destination node is assumed to have perfect channel state information (CSI), thus, signal recovery is straight forward. In practice however, some scenarios exist whereby the destination node is unable to acquire CSI. Consequently, this work incorporates differential concepts with DSTBC to facilitate signal recovery in cooperative networks operating in environments where CSI acquisition is impractical. Secondly, different from most works on DSTBC which assume that the source-destination link is unavailable, the proposed scheme employs a source-assisting (SA) strategy that exploits the additional diversity path provided by the source-destination link. The numerical and simulation results obtained illustrate that compared to the conventional DSTBC schemes, the proposed SA-DDSTBC scheme achieves non-coherent signal recovery and improved BER and diversity performance with negligible increase in decoding complexity.


Article received: July 17,2013. Article accepted: October 30, 2013. ABSTRACT This study discusses approaches for aesthetic correction of nasal columellas, i.e. retracted and hanging columellas, most commonly observed in clinical practice. We describe a chondral-mucoperichondrial nasal septal flap and direct or indirect approaches described by Randall as our preferred procedures to correct retracted and mild to moderate hanging columella, respectively. A combination of procedures is used in more severe cases, in addition to modified Armstrong and Joseph's approaches. These treatment options are compared to other literature reports on this specialty.


Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries recovered quickly to $325 billion in 2010 after the global financial crisis. But they have not kept pace with rising prices in recipient countries. Remittance flows are expected to grow at lower but more sustainable rates of 7-8 percent annually during 2011-13 to reach $404 billion by 2013. Remittance flows to Latin America are growing again in 2011 because of the stabilization of the U.S. economy. Remittance flows from Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to Asia have been strong due to high oil prices. However, weak job markets in Western Europe are creating pressures to reduce migration. The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa has brought a great deal of uncertainty for migration and remittance flows. These political crises and the recent global financial crisis have highlighted, once again, the need for high-frequency data on migration and remittances.


POLICY POINTS
Scarce resources, especially in population health and public health practice, underlie the importance of strategic planning. Public health agencies' current planning and priority setting efforts are often narrow, at times opaque, and focused on single metrics such as cost-effectiveness. As demonstrated by SMART Vaccines, a decision support software system developed by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, new approaches to strategic planning allow the formal incorporation of multiple stakeholder views and multicriteria decision making that surpass even those sophisticated cost-effectiveness analyses widely recommended and used for public health planning. Institutions of higher education can and should respond by building on modern strategic planning tools as they teach their students how to improve population health and public health practice.

CONTEXT
Strategic planning in population health and public health practice often uses single indicators of success or, when using multiple indicators, provides no mechanism for coherently combining the assessments. Cost-effectiveness analysis, the most complex strategic planning tool commonly applied in public health, uses only a single metric to evaluate programmatic choices, even though other factors often influence actual decisions.

METHODS
Our work employed a multicriteria systems analysis approach--specifically, multiattribute utility theory--to assist in strategic planning and priority setting in a particular area of health care (vaccines), thereby moving beyond the traditional cost-effectiveness analysis approach.

FINDINGS
(1) Multicriteria systems analysis provides more flexibility, transparency, and clarity in decision support for public health issues compared with cost-effectiveness analysis. (2) More sophisticated systems-level analyses will become increasingly important to public health as disease burdens increase and the resources to deal with them become scarcer.

CONCLUSIONS
The teaching of strategic planning in public health must be expanded in order to fill a void in the profession's planning capabilities. Public health training should actively incorporate model building, promote the interactive use of software tools, and explore planning approaches that transcend restrictive assumptions of cost-effectiveness analysis. The Strategic Multi-Attribute Ranking Tool for Vaccines (SMART Vaccines), which was recently developed by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering to help prioritize new vaccine development, is a working example of systems analysis as a basis for decision support.


Six patients with skin changes and urinary porphyrin excretion patterns characteristic for porphyria cutanea tarda were treated with hydroxychloroquine sulfate therapy. During treatment periods ranging from five to 13 months, cutaneous symptoms disappeared and urinary porphyrin excretion abnormalities were completely or almost completely reversed. In three subjects, hydroxychloroquine therapy was accompanied by changes in the urinary excretion of iron. The first four patients, followed up for nine to 24 months after treatment, all had relapse, and substantial porphyrinuria developed once more; cutaneous symptoms recurred in two of these. Three of the four patients were re-treated, and their conditions again improved or went into remission with hydroxychloroquine therapy. In two patients, treatment responses were slower than those initially seen, despite the use of higher drug doses; in the third patient, the response to re-treatment was more rapid than that seen during the first treatment course.


Opinions of interested publics and interest groups (n = 640) about fuel reduction (FR) in the Southern Appalachian Mountains were investigated through social survey using both pictorial and written questions. The study identified three discrete groups based on knowledge of forest history in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, attitudes toward social and ecological changes due to FR, credibility of public land management agencies as managers of forests, aesthetics of FR areas, and recreation activity participation. Results identified three groups of concerned publics labeled as conservation oriented, naive perceptual, and preservation oriented. The conservation-oriented group was accepting of FR for specific reasons; the naive-perceptual group disliked even minor charred views and stumps; the preservation group was skeptical of FR and characterized by wanting nature to be left alone. Detail rich results provide guidance in constructing different educational and persuasive messages specific to each of these three groups about forest management through FR in Southern Appalachia.


Enterococcus faecium has become a major opportunistic pathogen with the emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). As part of the gut microbiota, they have to cope with numerous stresses, including effects of antibiotics and other xenobiotics, especially in patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) who receive many medications. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the most frequently prescribed xenobiotics for ICU patients on fitness, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial resistance of the vanB-positive E. faecium Aus0004 reference strain. ABSTRACT Enterococcus faecium has become a major opportunistic pathogen with the emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). As part of the gut microbiota, they have to cope with numerous stresses, including effects of antibiotics and other xenobiotics, especially in patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) who receive many medications. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the most frequently prescribed xenobiotics for ICU patients on fitness, pathogenicity, and antimicrobial resistance of the vanB-positive E. faecium Aus0004 reference strain. Several phenotypic analyses were carried out, and we observed that caspofungin, an antifungal agent belonging to the family of echinocandins, had an important effect on E. faecium growth in vitro. We confirmed this effect by electron microscopy and peptidoglycan analysis and showed that, even at a subinhibitory concentration (1/4× MIC, 8 mg/liter), caspofungin had an impact on cell wall organization, especially with respect to the abundance of some muropeptide precursors. By transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), it was also shown that around 20% of the transcriptome was altered in the presence of caspofungin, with 321 and 259 significantly upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively. Since the fungal target of caspofungin (i.e., β-1,3-glucan synthase) was absent in bacteria, the mechanistic pathway of caspofungin activity was investigated. The repression of genes involved in the metabolism of pyruvate seemed to have a drastic impact on bacterial cell viability, while a decrease of glycerol metabolism could explain the conformational modifications of peptidoglycan. This is the first report of caspofungin antibacterial activity against E. faecium, highlighting the potential impact of nonantibiotic xenobiotics against bacterial pathogens.


Arabidopsis thaliana clade A1 heat shock transcription factors function as the master regulators of heat shock and other abiotic stresses. Members of this clade (HSFA1a/b/d/e) are highly redundant but have individual and collective functions. Transgenic overexpression of one of its members, HSFA1b, in Arabidopsis was shown to have altered developmental traits as well as increased stress and disease tolerance. In this study, plants overexpressing HSFA1b had smaller rosettes in seedlings and mature plants, longer inflorescence and early flowering. A number of candidate developmental genes identified to be regulated by HSFA1b could not be satisfactorily confirmed using the HSFA1 quadruple knockout due to the mutant being a hybrid of 2 accessions (WS-0 and Col-0). Therefore, a new quadruple mutant was generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system to knockout HSFA1a from an existing homozygous triple mutant (bdeKO) in a single accession (Col-0). The new quadruple mutant (QK2) was impaired in physiological responses in relation to abiotic stress along with other developmental defects in normal and ambient temperature. Furthermore, an interaction between HSFA1b (or HSFA1s) and ARGONAUTE proteins was established suggesting another pathway by which HSFA1s could regulate developmental genes under both normal and stress conditions via the action of microRNAs. Alongside confirming HSFA1b-regulated developmental genes, the QK2 was also instrumental in identifying microRNAs precursors that could be regulated by the clade. Together, results show how HSFA1 regulates growth and development during normal and stress conditions.


It is now commonly agreed that the global radial basis functions (GRBF) method is an attractive approach for approximating smooth functions. This superiority does not come free; one must find ways to circumvent the associated problem of ill‐conditioning and the high computational cost for solving dense matrix systems. We previously proposed different variants of adaptive methods for selecting proper trial subspaces so that the instability caused by inappropriately shaped parameters were minimized. In contrast, the compactly supported radial basis functions (CSRBF) are more relaxing on the smoothness requirements. By settling with the algebraic order of convergence only, the CSRBF method, provided the support radii are properly chosen, can approximate functions with less smoothness. The reality is that end users must know the functions to be approximated a priori to decide which method to be used; this is not practical if one is solving a time‐evolving partial differential equation. The solution could be smooth at the beginning but the formation of shocks may come later. In this paper, we propose a hybrid algorithm making use of both GRBF and CSRBF with other developed techniques for meshfree approximation with minimal fine tuning. The first contribution here is an adaptive node refinement scheme. Second, we apply the GRBFs (with adaptive subspace selection) on the adaptively generated data sites, and lastly, the CSRBF (with adaptive support selection) that can be used as a blackbox algorithm for robust approximations to a wider class of functions and for solving PDEs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The course of study of time-of-day effects on human performance has not been an easy one to chart, with many findings that seem to be in opposition. This review examines the difference between group and individual differences with regard to time-of-day effects; time-of-day effects in individuals; morningness-eveningness as an individual characteristic; morningness-eveningness in adolescents; effect of time of day on cognition and academic performance; time-of-day effects on intelligence, testing, and academic achievement; the effect of matching individuals to their preferred time on academic achievement; and motivation as a primary confounding variable in time-of-day preference/academic performance studies. Other possible confounding variables and procedures in testing time-of-day effects are also briefly examined.


The Society for Psychical Research was established in 1882 to "investigate without prejudice or prepossession and in a scientific spirit those faculties of man, real or supposed, which appear inexplicable on any generally recognized hypothesis". Among the committees formed by the fledgling society to undertake this task, one was devoted to mediumship and led to the generation of a wealth of information describing various investigations of notable mediums, including Leonora Piper, Gladys Osborne Leonard and Eusapia Palladino. With some exceptions, this work was primarily concerned with establishing the authenticity of post-mortem communications and paid less attention to understanding the experience of mediumship from the perspective of the medium. This focus on a proof-oriented approach has persisted through to the present day, with most studies being intended to demonstrate whether or not an explanation of mediumship in terms of discarnate survival is tenable. However, such work neglects important process-oriented questions regarding mediumship such as how individuals come to identify with the mediumship role and how they characterize the experience by which mediumistic communication occurs. In this chapter we will take a process-oriented approach by focusing on the pathways to mediumship as practiced within Spiritualism, and the context within which mediums define themselves as a medium, as well as exploring the phenomenology of mediumship in terms of how communication with the deceased is experienced. Having outlined why qualitative approaches are well suited to the study of mediumship and how good quality research might be conducted, we then illustrate this perspective with reference to our own work on the phenomenology of Spiritualist mediumship in the UK. In doing so, we will compare accounts from practicing mediums who took part in our research with those from other qualitative studies, as well as with biographical accounts from prominent mediums


This paper deals with a procedure that recognizes common defects occurring in woven fabric. Images of woven fabric are considered as having a directional texture due to their periodical nature. We used a statistical approach based on the analysis of periodicity of texture images in horizontal and vertical directions. These periodicities correspond to the periodicity of second-order grey level statistical features obtained from a grey level co-occurrence matrix. A set of five significant features is extracted from the matrix: energy, correlation, homogeneity, cluster shade and cluster prominence. The presence of a defect over texture causes regular structure changes and consequently, statistical changes. Detection algorithm is based on the sliding window technique; the window is moved over the whole image area. We counted the test statistic for every window and the multivariate control charts are used as a tool for judging the existence of defects. The results show that the statistical approach is suitable for detection of directional defects or changes in regular structure in analysed simulated and real fabrics.


Today, photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is widely used to study diseases in the skin, brain, cardiovascular, and other parts. However, these studies are often carried out using physiological slices or model animals, which indicate that many PAI techniques can only be used in the laboratory. In order to promote the transformation of PAI into clinical applications or, more specifically, to extend the application of photoacoustic (PA) microscopy to areas such as the oral cavity, throat, cervix, and abdominal viscera which are difficult to detect with conventional PA microscopy systems, a PAI pen was developed. The PAI pen can be handheld and can perform forward detection and lateral detection. The imaging area is a 2.4 mm diameter circular area. In addition, it can provide a high-speed imaging mode of four frames per second and a high-resolution imaging mode of 0.25 frames per second to meet the different needs of clinical users. In this Letter, the performance of the PAI pen was tested by imaging the phantom and the human oral cavity. The experimental results prove that the PAI pen can clearly image the microvessels of the oral cavity, which indicates that it has the same imaging capability for other similar areas and has a good prospect for assisting the diagnosis of related diseases.


Simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the estimation of TetramisoleHydrochloride [TH] in pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The developed methods are validated in terms of Linearity, Accuracy, Precision, Limit of Detection, Limit of Quantitation, Accuracy, as per International Conference on Harmonization Guidelines.UV spectroscopic determination showed absorbance maxima at 214nm using Distilled water as solvent. Beer's law is obeyed by showing linearity in the concentration ranges between 2-10 μg/ml respectively with a correlation coefficient of 0.991. The methods are applied for the determination of drugs in commercial tablets and results of analysis were validated statistically through recovery studies showing results from 98.42±0.41 to 100.01±0.19


The rising importance of bequests as a source of personal income lead to renewed interest in the taxation of wealth transfers. Empirical evidence on distortionary effects of bequest taxation is relatively scarce. On the basis of administrative data for Germany, this paper assesses the extent to which taxable bequests are targeted to the tax code. I investigate bunching at discrete jumps in the marginal tax rate. While there is evidence for tax planning in case of inter-vivo gifts, inheritances do not exhibit bunching. Further heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that tax planning is highest for gifts between close relatives. While the overall tax base responsiveness is rather low, the findings suggest that bequest tax planning almost exclusively occurs for donors rather than recipients of wealth transfers. Beyond, tax planning is more prevalent for close relatives and large estates.


Objective Immigration is a highly salient political issue. We examine the migration preferences of potential emigrants from the United Kingdom to determine whether the migration calculus is primarily economic or political. Methods A conjoint survey experiment was conducted with U.K. subjects drawn from the CESS, Nuffield College, Oxford University, student subject pool to identify causal drivers of emigration preferences. Results Logit estimation of emigration preferences indicates that economics and politics matters. Anti‐immigrant rhetoric, "Trumpian policies," and the United States deter high‐skilled U.K. potential emigrants; economic growth, education, and social benefits attract them. Politics and social benefits are more important for those on the political left, while economics and education weigh more heavily for those on the right. Conclusion What will attract the highly skilled migrants from a post‐Brexit United Kingdom? Economics matters of course but for many of these potential emigrants politics is important—they are particularly sensitive to anti‐immigrant rhetoric.


Orientation: Business coaching is a relatively new approach to leadership development. It is also slowly growing as an academic discipline with only a small number of active researchers and a dearth of published literature reviews. Research purpose: This article is an investigation into the current level of development of the body of knowledge related to business coaching by means of a systematic literature review. Motivation of the study: Previous literature reviews summarised the available published articles. In order to contribute to establishing business coaching as an independent academic discipline, the building blocks for science in the phenomenon under investigation have to be scientifically not only summarised, but also synthesised and explored to ground this new discipline as an academic field of research. Research design, approach and method: A methodological framework has been developed to analyse the information. The data were synthesised according to the following building blocks for science: concepts, definitions, typologies, models, theories and paradigms. Main findings: A total of 84 articles were accessed by the specified search strategy and 36 were analysed according to inclusive and exclusive criteria. Although coaching has not been sufficiently developed as an academic discipline, it is possible to develop a comprehensive definition of coaching, as well as to identify the main models and theories that apply to this field. Practical/managerial implications: This literature review has synthesised and summarised the available data in such a way that it will contribute to the conceptualisation and foundation of business coaching as an academic discipline. Contribution: The building blocks for business coaching as a relatively new and emerging science within the field of business leadership have been defined. This will contribute to the articulation of concepts within this discipline by future researchers and practitioners.